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    - ,1,,^-— ' ^' : ^ gE I.EABEB. an ¦ ¦ ,....

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    Land Reform.—-That part of the Queen's s...

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    SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. We have received the...

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    Mr. ConDKN.-This gentleman, in a letter ...

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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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    "The Organ Oe The Mandarins." Newspapers...

    Wped in a little bark . and to the joy of the 3 ful it was announced that a . scion of the old SSf sort of literary Jehoida - had been rS ^ to . maintaui the creed , of the chosen people . We aS remember the classical perorations with Soh tne advent of the infant prodigy was L ^»* It w as to be reared in com-K ^ -o ^ -rseHy Metersof . Arts , suckled by Boctors of Divinity , As we . think upon it a sort of University aroma floats around us Giadnates alone were to be its contributors ; the very c ompositors were to be attired iu academical cos-Se ° the editor—we tremble to think , nud cannot even surmise , what heights of - University distinction he must have attained to , and therefore refrain from an attempt at description Everythin- about t was to be classical . ¦ " Mehercle ! " and "P roh Jupiter ! " were to be the only forms of adjuration allowed even tinder the bitterest provocation ot short copy and illegible contributions . Our regrets become too poignant for us to proceed . Why , O cruel Fate , were we not born some years later into this wicked world ? Then , at least , as competitors at the " middle-class examinations , we might have had the honour of a University certificate . Like the pauper who , " faute de mieux , rubbed his bread against the bottle which hacUield the cheese ; we might have had the shadow , if not the substance . ; and now—now we . shall go down to the grave unlettered , uncertiuQated , and unclassed—not even a University A . A . _ Recollections of our " Commercial and Proprietary" school days crowd upon us . Tag ends of the Eton grammar buzz about our cars . MS- e iancy

    we have heard somewhere that ' ¦ ^—— Ingenuas didicisse fideli ter artes Emollit mores nee sinit esse feros . We conclude at once that a paper so produced , so Conducted , and so supported , must be distingiushed by the enlightenment of its vicWs , the generous ardour of- its aspirations , its elevation above vulgar prejudices , and its strict regard for truth and justice . We take up the Saturday Review , , our dream vanishes , and we find that even Masters of Ai-ts arc but common men . The one desire of the Saturday Reviewers , the Pharisees of periodical literature , has been to establish the fact that they are not as other men are . On everv question of pujjlic interest which lias arisen during their brief existence , they have taken the line opposed to that of the country at large . The public has neither conscience nor understanding . Whatever has the suffrages of the multitude , is necessarily wrong . " Vox populi , vox diaboli . " According to such a creed , the studv of politics becomes an easy matter . The national feeliimevoked by the Crimean war , the outcry of healthful indignation which proclaimed and redressed the wrongs and sufferings of the British army , were the . peculiar objects of their derisionand . attack . Throughnut , flint , omat stm

    of the Aberdeen Ministry appeared to bo the only subject in which their interest was lively . We were acquainted with an old member of Parliament who used to boast that he had uovcr voted in a majority while he held his scut . This legislator should be the patron saint of the Sal unlay Reviewers . On the topics of military and naval reform , qu the attempt to throw open the Government scrvioos to the general public , on the Chinese war , and upon tho Indian mutiny , on university and church reform , their opinion lias been at variance with that of the nation . It must be some consolation io them for having unwillingly coincided with public feeling about tho Conspiracy Bill to reflect that they have attacked the Palmcvston and Derby administrations with equal ferocity . A degroo of povsonal virulence , whioh has grown out of dntc elsewhorc , has boon , throughout , tho characteristic of tho organ of the enlightened elect . Iu politios , Lord Pftlmorstou and Mr . Disraeli—in churoh matters , tho evangelical party — in litoruturo , tho Times and Mr . Dickons—havo boon tho favoured objects of their most ; invotorato sarcasms . Of late times , however , Mr . Bright has boon their peculiar bugbear , their " pieoo do resistance" at wluoh thoy aro always ooniing and culling again . Fortunately for the mombcr for Birmingham , lie is strong onougji to survivo philippics in the stylo of . au emasculated .. Tunius . Tho writers in tho Suturfa y " Rooiew havo au undoubted right l-o their own opinions . If , boing pf the press , and living by tlio pvoas , they choose on every occasion to deny their connexion with tho pross , that is tliou * ooncorn ana not ours . We only notice theso opinions because

    we are afraid they are but top truly representative of the public for whom they are promulgated . . This want of sympathy with popular feeling—this dislike to every measure" of reform—^ this ignorance of the spirit of the age , and this personal bitterness against all who labour in the great cause of popular-progress , are only too characteristic of common-rooms and colleges . . . The truth is , that college dons , and ; - . clerical Uivines , and the whole class of University celebrities , are very good people in their own way -. but according to the vulgar saying—they are not everybody , and , unfortunately , they believe that wisdom is confined to them . We should be very sorry indeed to see a system of government in which they were debarred from the proper influence they exert at present . We should be almost as sorry to see that influence of theirs disproportionately developed . There is a story told pf a French peasant , -who was employed by his parish priest to make a crucifix for the viilage market-place . One day they were both passing in company before the cross , when , to the surprise of the priest , the carpenter omitted to remove his cap . " How can it be , my son , " said the priest , " that you , of all men , omit to do honour to the symbol of our faith ? " " Ah , " said the peasant , with a shrug of his shoulders-, " you see , father , I knew it when it was only a pear-tree . This , in substance , is our reply , when classical attainments and university education are put forward as claims to superior knowledge and peculiar enlightenment . Alas ! we have known colleges and universities too closel y , and too well . " Nous aussi nous l ' avons conuu poirier . "

    - ,1,,^-— ' ^' : ^ Ge I.Eabeb. An ¦ ¦ ,....

    - , 1 ,, ^ - — ' ^ ' : ^ I . EABEB . an ¦ ¦ ,. ¦ correct geograpmcat designation is

    Land Reform.—-That Part Of The Queen's S...

    Land Reform . — -That part of the Queen ' s speech which refers to some measures for securing to the landowner an indefeasible right to his land would have been more noticed , probably , than it has been had the people been duly ; represented in Parliament . Then the representatives of the landless , the homeless , and the graveless—those who , living or dead , are denied a fair share of the common property—would at once have perceived that the time was come for them to make good the just claims of their constituents . The landlords ask the representatives of the people for favour and protection . On what conditions ? What will they give for what they require ? In this mercantile age let us have a good bargain , let the homeless and the landless dictate concessions , such as do away with game laws , entails , primogeniture , and make the ' land perfectly free . Let it be possessed by living men in complete ownership , but take from the possession all . privileges whatever , and enforce not the will of dead men , nor any continuous holding after death . The representatives of the people ought to infuse the spirit of the statute of mortmain , and of free trade into the new , laws' guaranteeing the landlords the possession of the land . The subject is worthy of being further referred to .

    Schleswig-Holstein. We Have Received The...

    SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN . We have received the following communication from a reliablo source , and thereiore givo it insertion , although we consider the question one of so complicated a nature as to render it diflicult to get at the oxaet truth . A number of German patriots have of late addressed petitions to the Diot of Holstein , ' calling upon it to protect tho rights of the suflbring sister province of Schloswig ngninst the despotic encroachments of the Copenhagen Couvfc . One of these petitions has oomo from Bradford ( Yorkshire ) , bearing tho signaturo of fifty Gorman morohants residing there , three Gorman profossors , one a physician of that nationality , and so forth , together in all sovonty-njno signatures . A similar address has been sent to . Itzohoe by nineteen Gorman merchants at Liverpool . It is reported that in London , io in tuuiou vi

    too , a memorandum o » wio amno kiiiu signature among Germans . In Germany itself , tho Constitutionalist Schioswig-Holatein party have also sent an address to tho Diot . All those demonstrations havo created a groat impression , and wore recoivod as important signs of tho reawakening fooling of nutional independence . The daao of tho . Duchies is known to be one of groat hardship . Thoy aro oppressed by a foreign stntowhieh doos nil in its * power to break asunder their tlniohonourod union , and to ronxlo ' r them virtually Danish provinces . This attempt is one In opposition to law and public treaties , In contradiction with the sentiments of tho population , and tyrannic in the oxtrome . King l'Vodurlok VII . hns , however , not Hcruplcd to omploy moans the most vloiont to carry out this measure . lie him doorood that to uso tho moro name of " Schloawig-Holstoln" Is n sort of treason , livory letter bearing

    that perfectly rumlessly opened and returned to its sender . The tyranny exercised against the German tongue is equally odious . German parents in Schleswig have been fined for having employed German instructors to bring up their children in their native languagel At times the Court of Cor penhagen has been so ridiculously enraged against everything German , that it , made the deaf and dumb * , asylums the vehicle of Danish propaganda ! Within the last few weeks the King has suppressed all Schleswig * Holstein societies , whether of a purely literary , artistic ,, or even agricultural character . In his opinion , the two provinces ought to have nothing in common . Add totbis that the German Duchies are filled with Danish empiotjes , many of whom are not even sufficiently versed in the German idiom ; that Danish preachers are forced ; upon German parishes , and that churches , therefore ,, often become desert , because people see no use in listening to a sermon they do as little comprehend as they would one in Russian- Remember , further , that the same galling system is introduced into the schools ^ that the Schleswig army is drafted away into that oF Denmark , and the Holstein troops sent into banishment to the Isle of Seeland ; that Danish soldiers garrison , and dragoon Holstein ; and that repeated attempts have been made by the King to rob the German provinces of their domains , which have a , value of some 40 , 000 , 00 * dols . No doubt it is easy , under such circumstances , to understand the feelings of the Schleswig-Holsteinersaa well as of German patriots and Liberals at large . The King of Denmark , in order to break all resistance of the down-trodden Duchies , has even prohibited " collective petitioning , "—thus taking from the German : population the last shred of a right generally respected by the worst tyrants , Not even the members of the Schleswig Diet are exempted from this despotic prohibition In order to make their opinions known , they have , therefore , found themselves compelled to _ addressv iu & »¦•

    individually a memoranuum- mo j . ^^ ,. - —— - * demand the re-establishment of the political independence of their province . Many of them have conferred also with the Holstein Deputies to induce them toa similar course of policy . The patriotic petitions above alluded to wiil contribute their part to keep toe members of the Itzehbe Diet in the path of nationai right and justice . . . . . . . We have received a letter from Bradford on the same subject , which says ;— . It has created a painful astonishment among Germans here to see a correspondent of the Leader , who writes oh the Bradford Address , display , at the sam & time so complete a want of knowledge with regard tofacts , and so bitter an enmity against what he supposes to be ' ^ o urpoor Yorkshiremen , " , ashe calls them also ,, ignorant " silly persons . " The correspondent has wished himself that his letter may " meet the eyes of these-Yorkshiremen , " so that they may learn how wrong they were to meddle in foreign affairs hot concerning them ,, and which they , as Englis h men , do not un derstand . Well , the reply to all this is very simple . The alleged " Yorkshiremen" only exist in imagination ! The signersof the Bradford Address are all natives of Germany * . who , no doubt , have some right to make their voice heard in matters concerning their fatherland . Many ot them aro , besides , men . of position , whom the correspondent , Ave think , would not willingly treat cavalierement . The rest of tho article against the imaginary wicn uhui

    English sympathisers me c »« no « v . ^ Duohies is also full of misstatements . The assertion ,, for instance , that there is a « Schleswig-t folstein Diet , now in session at Itzehoe , in Holstein , " doos not statethe facts properly . There is a separate Holstein , and a separate Schloswig Diet , prevented from uniting by Danish dominion . But it is needless further to take upthe errors of a paragraph wl ^ ch is writton on an entirely wrong foundation . Wo oan only say , in answer , that we have generally found our corresppndent correct and ot liberal feelings ; and having but tho one intention—that ot giving tho truth in publio matters—wo readily insert the foregoing reply to his communication . A toloffraphio despatoh , arrived a few days ago , informs x 7 e that the addresses to which releronee is above made , havo produced much impression m Holstein .

    Mr. Condkn.-This Gentleman, In A Letter ...

    Mr . ConDKN .-This gentleman , in a letter gro ssedto tho Ballot Society , gives the reason * whiah will ^ prevent his attendance at tho annual dinner of that body . Mr . Cobdon says that , from his retirement , ho has boon ; wa ching the progress of Mr . Blight ' s movement , and )» struck will the similarity of tho ordeal through which nKlond ha » had to pa ** , and the ordeal he had himself to encounter in tho onrllest stages of tho League agita-Uon " The . ^ s tatements and misrepreflontations woro tho samo . But tho triumph would oomo . In a fo . w voura Sir Brig ht will , if able to persevere , gain theoSoct o » i fl Sshea , and tho clamour will bo transformed Into praUo . Mr . Oolklon montions his ntondod v alt to Amorloa , a » d concludes by intimating that ho is likely to filvo Ms experience when ho rotumjrof tho practical working oC tho Ballot iu tho United States .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 12, 1859, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12021859/page/19/