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Leader (1850-1860), 11th October 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 12, v_^ \^y : —¦ - . - . . . - . . SATURDAY,...

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    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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      972 Tee Leader. [No. 342, Sattjkday,

      972 TEE LEADER . [ No . 342 , Sattjkday ,

      Notices To Cobbespondents. We Do Not Und...

      NOTICES TO COBBESPONDENTS . We do not undertake to return rejected communications . No notice can bo taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion must to authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It Is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters -we receive Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press " of matter ; and whonomitted . it is frequently from rea- ' " sons quite independent of their merits .

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      V_^ \^Y : —¦ - . - . . . - . . Saturday,...

      v _^ \^ y : —¦ - . - . . . - . . SATURDAY , OCTOBER 11 , 1856 .

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      ¦ • . '. •¦ ¦ » Tbere Is Nothing So Revo...

      ¦ . ' . •¦ ¦ » Tbere is nothing so revolutionary , because tnere is no tiling so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed wneii all the world is by tnevery l & w of its creation in eternal progress .-De . Aehoxd .

      The Sign Erom1 France. "We Have Another ...

      THE SIGN EROM 1 FRANCE . "We have another glimpse into the Neapolitan mystery , concerning which misinformation has been unusually profuse . The three GJovernments ^ -lirance , Austria , and Englandhave been engaged in a new course of reasoning with the King of N " api . es . This time the argument does not appear to have been sov ineffectual as formerly . So far as the

      cipher of Napolzeon is intelligible , it means that if N " aples will- yield , or consent to consider about yielding , one or two points , France will take care that English intervention does oiot become a danger to the Governments of Italy . The secrecy of St . Cloud does not hide that fact . The alliance is a partnership of suspicion . Nevertheless , the public -will do well carefully to disbelieve alL the positive statements afloat ; as to the settlement of the

      Neapolitan question . It is not settled . Were King 3 ? E : RDiNA 3 rD to propose that his plenipotentiary should attend a deliberative Congress at Paris—a scheme to which Austria and France are favourable—that would imply , not the adjustment of affairs in 7 iis dominions , hut an avowal that many other affairs elsewhere

      are in a condition so disturbed as to render a European council necessary for their settlement . Any distinct reference , however , to such a Congress is premature . We have long foreseen it , but no one is in a position to say when , or with what objects , it may assemble . At present it is more essential to discriminate between fallacious versions of

      the Neapolitan affair and versions which , tliough necessarily less complete in their outlines and details—the quid nwie abhors a vacuum—may be accepted as authoritative and , so far as they go , precise . Many circumstances combine to explain the shrinking attitude of the Trench Government . The fnan who has " raised to an unprecedented height the reputation and prosperity of France , " finds himself , in October , 1856 , face to face with a panic , "with scarcity , ¦ with general despondence , and in the near prospect of an , insolvent exchequer . The provinces begin to understand how they liave

      teen preyed upon for the benefit 6 f the capital ; the capital itself , in addition to the exhaustion of public credit , is reminded , morning after morning , by spectral placards , that vast numbers of the working classes are still organ ized , and that their organization is directed against the Government . The general population , of all classes , is anxious , restless , conBcious of coming trouble . The Empire , haunted by the apparitions of Cayenne , first prevaricates , through ita police , in reply to M . X . OUIS BtANo , and then prevaricates , through its . MmiBter of finance , in reply to the universal murmur , accusing it of bankruptcy . Inthis position , the French Government

      faltering in a manner that proves either hesitation in the mind of Lotjts Napoleon , or an imperfect understanding between him aud his Ministers , first decided upon an armed demonstration against Naples , then delayed it , and now , "without having induced the British Cabinet to decide against it , clings tenaciously to the idea of a compromise . In London , it seems that a less peremptory tone has been adopted , though the squadron a + ill -arai 4-. c < ¦ frv » v rvrrioirQ : Wn V » r » li 4 vinn 1 Wvn _

      U \ J 3 r , & IT KJtVkJ JkW «¦ V ** t « v * m *• . ^ U i ^ r l ^ v ^ a- *>•*^ Wfc * - » - ^ S ' i ^ .+ j , cessions are now claimed from Ferdinand ; the intervention is described as a pure act of humanity ; and it is not impossible that upon this narrow ground an agreement may " be effected which will be expected to relieve England from the necessity of challenging Russia , France from the dangerous contagion of civil war , Austria from an Italian crisis , and the " Western allies together from the embarrassment of the Piedmontese

      claims . Here , the practical fallacy consists in the notion that , upon the decision of the deliberating Governments , the movements of the Italian people depend . A Congress , convened at Paris , may undertake to give securities for the tranquillity of Europe . But let us be assured that the Italians do not count upon the assistance of official England La their projected struggle for independence- The whole peninsula is preparing for an outbreak ; from Otranto to the Alps , the common enemy may at any moment be startled by an insurrection . Neither the French nor the Austrian

      Governments , neither the British nor the Piedmontese , know where the danger is most imminent , and it is the policy of the national party to keep them in ignorance . Further than this ; reserve is unnecessary , and would be ineffectual . To tell the military Governments that they are on the eve of a revolutionary war , is to tell them nothing . They hear it from every quarter ; they heard it at the Conferences of Paris . It is the rumour of English offices and arsenals- But the Italian nation , also , has its peculiar knowledge . It knows that France and Austria are rivals in

      Italy , that England cannot take arms with either of those powers against Piedmont , that Piedmont may he impelled into a national war , that an Italian revolt within the dominions of the Emperor Francis Joseph would be a signal to his Cisalpine provinces , that Sicily , once cut off from N " aples , has always the means of overpowering her garrisons , and they foresee that , whatever delays may intervene , their own opportunity will at length arrive . The best information we can obtain from Italy is to the effect that Count

      Catotjb , fully understands that he may be drawn into a conflict against the stranger , that the national party is resolved to act with the utmost discretion , and that if any miserable failures occur , either in Naples , or on the Austrian frontier , they will probably be initiated by the police . It is very important , though difficu l t , to distinguish between a genuine and a forged insurrection . The Italians understand these artifices too well to be deluded into despair by unsuccessful outbreaks that are only contrived to discourage them .

      "We join earnestly with those who would discountenance premature attempts which are sure to be abortive . The sign from France means , it ia perfectly true , that the influence of the Empire will be exerted against every form of revolution . Lord Pai / mehston , it is also true , is by habit an enemy of real liberalism on the Continent . But wo must take into account events and probabilities . As long as we liave foreign relations , we must be concerned in foreign politics . Movements will take place , whether we aupport them or not . There will be intervention , there will be a crisis , and , in some shape , England will

      interfere . The public , consequently , will not be deceived into the belief tbatit has nothing to do but to ignore the troubles and agitations of the Continent , in order to eseape from all danger and all responsibility .

      British Rights Over Wites And Paupers. T...

      BRITISH RIGHTS OVER WITES AND PAUPERS . The parish is exalted just now . Its guardians " and its clergy appear as the defenders of British rights and British morals . Marylebone stands up stoutly for local independence and the right of girl beating . The girls are abandoned' girls , and the humane guardians do not like to abandon the unfortunate ; so they let them be caned . Discipline must , of course , be enforced ; and what chance had the master and his two men , unarmed with sticks against enemies so formidable as the girls ' . The Poor Law Commissioners have some romantic notions of chivalry , and object to the flogging of females ; but does not even Mrs . Jameson say that the chivalrous worship of women was only one disguise of female subjection ? The authorities of Marylebone seorn to veil the slavery of the c frail sect ' in the flimsy veil of chivalry ; they are for women ' s rights and the equality of the sexes ; so they give the girls their due—as they would the Devil ; and recognize the equality of the sexes before the law of the cudgel . Besides , the Poor Law authorities are going

      beyond their province . The parish dedicated to St . Mary la Bonne , in which JRiagdalens are bastinadoed , is under a local act , and the Poor Law Board have as little right to interfere in the New-road as France and England have to interfere in Naples . The cases are exactly parallel . The worst that Actjti did was to use the stick , and the master is only the Acuti of Marylebone . The guardians have governed their Naples according to their judgment , and if the Commissioners overrule them , what is it b ut proclaiming the law of the strong over the weak ?—a cowardly law

      which the guardians abominate . They vindicate local independence , and in that noble cause they are prepared to ' fall . If there is a noble spectacle , it is a great parish struggling with adversity ; a brave people " warred on by cranes , " and meeting death rather than deserting principle—or Green , the porter that caned the girls . Pancras is scarcely behind : it has been vindicating social order among its boys a la

      Naples ; but the vindication' ^! " authority and local rights has not been carried so far . St . Pancras vacillates , and only withholds its sternest censure , because , when the children were flogged , no blood was drawn . But what if it had been ? Is the blood of a pauper boy to be compared with the blood of soldiers , of heroes , and of martyrs , tliat we should think it so precious ? St . Pancras has not equalled Marylebone , but ifc has had its

      merits . " Spare the rod , and spoil the child , " said the wisest of men : a teacher who derives his lesson from the source of all wisdom , gives us a further moral on the same pattern" Spare the rod , and spoil the wife . " The magistrates of "Whitehaven have been vulgar enough to commit one James Scott to a month ' s imprisonment for brutally beating his wife . The wife , indeed , pleaded for her

      husband : she would not press for punishment , she said , insidiously , if her husband would not treat her so again ; but ho refused , and the magistrates were guilty of the gross persecution which we have mentioned . We say persecution , because Scott had a juBt reason for the eager persuasion which he had used . Ho Bimply wished his wife to attend a proper place of worship—namely , the place at which he attended himself . " What could be more proper , more considerate . The wife rebelled ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 11, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11101856/page/12/