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    866 THE LEADER, [No. 338, Satubmy

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    BIGOTRY RAPPED ON THIS KNUCKLES. Fob onc...

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    ¦ ¦ ¦ " Tt - * . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . .: ¦. ¦ . ¦ •...

    the depute between the two Houses of Congress , and tie Government is preparing to arrange for paying the army out of the existing resources of the department ; in other words , preparing to do ¦ without the army appropriation for the current year . The one reminiscence of our pwn Parliament is Mr . Baxteb circulating among his own constituents , addressing them in the several towns of the Montrose district of bowmghs , criticiJ ^ jjg the class of ' bores' in the House of Commons who

    have crotchets and whom he would . hang , and cenr suring old members who do not know how to bring forward measures , the Generals in the Crimea , and foreign affairs comprehensively . Arguing for the doctrine of non-intervention , Mr . Baxter expressed horror at the massacre of Ciceiitjacchio , declared Austria to be as bad as Naples , and proposed to waste mo more' words or paper , but to send a fleet to the Bay of Naples , to open the gates of its hateful guard-houses , and set the prisoners free ! "Whatever Mr . Baxteb may say , if lie would offer himself as a minister on the

    promise of doing that , we believe that the people of England would carry him into office within a year .. ¦ . ¦; . ;• ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦" . ¦ '¦¦ ¦ . ' ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ; In the meanwhile Government have announced a measure whicl may usefully engage Mr . Baxtee in Jjoth capacities , —that is , as the successor of Mr . HtiME , cutting down our military expenditure , and as the crusader in Naples , demanding a more efficient military policy . Siuee we have arrived at a ' state of peace , ' it is a . matter of etiquette that we should have a ' peace

    establishment , ' and a notification has issued from the War Department that there will be a reduction of all the regiments in the army . It will , however , not be very great . The total proportion of the army reduced will be one-sixth , the Queen's forces in India not being included in any part of the arrangement . A . bout six hundred officers will be placed upon half-pay , principally from , the ranks of lieutenant - colonel , captain , and lieutenant . The cavalry regiments will be reduced , to six companies in lieu of eight ; the number of infantry reginaents will remain as it is , but it will be reduced to one thousand men , eight hundred in eight

    service companies , and two hundred divided into four dep 6 t oonipanies . The engineers . and the artillery will not be reduced , —indeed we fully expect to find that they are rather augmented than otherwise . The Land Transport Corps will be reorganized and partially cut down . The reduction will be a means of removing from the army the diseased , the stunted , the -worn-out , and the discontented . The camp system will be maintained . The forces will be permanently organized into separate •¦ armies , ' each with its proper equipment of artillery , cavalry , and other arms . And the whole scheme includes a school for officers of

    a very high character . If the reduction m the number of men . be only one-sixth , we can scarcely expect that the reduction in the estimates will be so nvueh . Here then is the field for Mr . Baxter : as the besieger of Naples , he may say , Give mo transport and generals for this army , and I will nee it ; and , as the heir of Hume , he may say , Bring forward your estimates that I may reduce them . While Government is announcing the reduction of the army , the public is entertaining every Crimean soldier it can meet at banquets hero and

    there . Sheffield followed up its annual feasting of itself with a feasting of dragoons stationed in iUeitown ; a distinguished cutler presenting every man -with appeketknife . Folkestone has followed ; Ireland and Scotland nro both aspiring to bo hosts in the same wanner . In general terms , wo may say that the speaking at these entertainments lias not been of a very high character . The speakers eeem to have been ovwlaia with a sense of what was expected of them , and wo have effort without corresponding success or spontaneity .

    TheSBoftt stirring events have been m the region of commerce . The failure of the Royal British Bank not only removes one of the banking institutions of the metropolis from the field , but subsequent disclosures have shown that the managers had not been able to avoid the poorest temptations and worst risks of management . They had advanced money on such securities as Westminster Bondt , and to cover an advance of 25 , 000 / . had advanced 75 , 000 ^ . more in some iron enterprize . The directors and shareholders talked of ¦ winding

    up the affairs of the bank without an appeal to law ; but now Chancery is invoked ! In . short , the breakdown exhibits the usual characteristics of an ! E » glish bankruptcy . The case of Ttiek presents the newer characteristic of English "bankruptcy . The bankrupt , who was making some 3500 ? . a year , was paying 4375 / . on loans , the motive for which does not appear . We have seen many such cases , andwithout intending to insinuate anything in the present instance—we have usually found that these apparently motiveless loans w ere employed in

    speculative enterprizes which -were to make the speculator rich . Now there is no doubt that in many cases ventures of this Mnd have been successful ; many a man receives after-dinner speeches and testimonials , and walks about amid the doffed hats of his fellow-creatures , who has gone through exactly the same tribulation with the unhappy bankrupt whose delinquencies are exposed . The unhappy gentleman at Liverpool appears to have been the sport of our system of fiist money-lending . His case is treated t > y our contemporaries . ' as . exceptional ; we know / that it represents a class , and a very numerous class .

    The conflict in the Unity General Insurance office brings important principles to the test , but the warfare belongs to a larger contest than that which appears upon the surface . Mr . Thomas Batu . 3 is one of a clever and active family , who have laboured to promote the practice of insurance for a variety of contingencies never contemplated under the old system , and they have endeavoured more exactly to apportion tie annual investment required for the several kinds of insurance . They were at once denounced by

    the old offices as unsafe ; the ne-w offices retaliated that the old were decaying properties ; and each division has laboured for years at blasting the character of the other . Any little accident to Mr . Baims would be nectar and ambrosia to the champions of the old office . An agent of the Unity lately effected an insurance at Glasgow , on the life of a lady of some property , who had married a man -with little property . The lady died ; the agent sa ^ w , or thought he saw , some degree of suppression in the original statement

    respecting the lady ' s health ; the husband was in want of money , and he consented to receive as a compromise—750 ? . in lieu of 2000 / . The compromise was sanctioned by Dr . Lloyd , the physician of the Company , and approved by Mr . Bayms , the manager . Subsequently , however , Mr . Bayus discovered that the lady actually died from natural causes ; that notwithstanding the casualty of her speedy death , there had been no suppression of her symptoms , and that ttto credit of the office would not be promoted with persevering with the compromise . He advised , therefore , that the ^ ivhole sum

    should be paid . Tho agent was angered at this ^ disappreciation of his cleverness ; Dr . Lt-oyd appears to have thought that his own character for professional ability and honour would bo tarnished by reversing the original decision ; tho directors stood by Dr . Lio-yd , and Mr . BAYMs ' was forced into a resignation . An appeal was then mado to the shai'eholders , and they , by acclamation , reversed tho decision of the directors , and cafried a motion for reinstating Mr . Bayxis . The decision is interesting , as confirming tho principlo that a liberal construction is almost always nearer to

    pure justice than a carping technical reliance upon weak points in the case of a claimant . It is to be regretted that there should have heen any dispute on the point , but as there has been a dispute the mischief is minimized by the decision .

    866 The Leader, [No. 338, Satubmy

    866 THE LEADER , [ No . 338 , Satubmy

    Bigotry Rapped On This Knuckles. Fob Onc...

    BIGOTRY RAPPED ON THIS KNUCKLES . Fob once in & way , the Government has acted -with equal fairness to infidels and bigots . It will be recollected that some time ago permission was granted to certain , religious sects to preach on Sundays in Yictoria Park . Orthodox godliness ( as interpreted by a doze , n different ' persuasions ') and apostolic al temperance ( as expounded by very loud-mouthed teetotallers ) were free to sow their little patches of rancour , bitterness , and egotism broadcast over the park ; and they availed themselves of the permission . But presently there appeared on the scene eleven infidels , members of the working orders , who preached Atheism in language -which , unquestionably , -was calculated to shock the feelings of many very honest and estimable people . We believe there can be no doubt in the minds of reasonable persons that these were demonstrations which should not be tolerated in a public place ; and we think the authorities acted very wisely and properly in putting a stop to the plague of open-air preaching , making no distinction between the godly and the ungodly . It was hardly to be expected , ho-weVer , that the former would submit without an effort to secure for themselves exclusive liberty to ' hold forth , ' without fear of being Contradicted by the unbelieving . Accordingly , the Rev . G . T . Driffield , Eector of Bow , and chairman of the general body of " ministers of various denominations lately interested in promoting the practice of preaching in the public parks , " addressed a letter , dated the 2 nd inst ., to Sir Benjamin Hall , in -which the writer says : — , ¦; : . - ' . ¦ ; ¦ ¦

    " A general notice has been issued inferring to certain objectionable addresses and expressions -which have been publicly delivered by parties in the Victoria Park , and . prohibiting -for the future not only the recurrence of such blasphemous and infidel addresses , but the efforts also of those parties who , being members of respected xeligious bodies , have endeavoured on such occasions to disseminate troth and to promote the cause of morality and religion . ... " We have now to prefer a request that you Tvill , en reconsidering the subject , consent to make such arrangements as will permit of our proceeding -with a work so obviously useful ; while , should any violation of public morality or religious feeling be repeated by any parties , wo submit that it would become your duty to repress such occurrences by all lawful means .

    " We beg , in conclusion , to express onr regret that , when you first became : informed of the anti-religious proceedings -which you justly stigmatize , you did not intimate to us your desire that wo should desist from the plan of preaching previously to issuing the notice in which -wo find ourselves by implication classed ' with blasphemers and Athoists . " To this wail , Sir Benjamin ' s secretary replied by intimating that the Hirst Commissioner of "Works , although anxious to consult the-wishes of the gentlemen addressing him , could not allow any more preaching in the public parks . The communication proceeds : —

    " He ( Sir Benjamin Hall ) regrets extremely that you should suppose that ho could , even by tho slightest possible implication , class those excellent clergymen , who were actuated by tho purest and tho highest motives , with those persons Svho mado use of the blasphemous language which was uttered on Sunday , tho 21 th \ ilt ., iii " Victoria Park . He cannot see how tho orders issued by him can in any way wliotsoevex bear such an interpretation . " The Government could not , consistently -with justice and common sense , come to any other conclusion than that which it has promulgated . With what fairness can the Rev . Ebenezer Cantwell be allowed to send the promenaders in tho parks to oternul lire ,

    while John Brown , workman and materialist , is denied the right of disputing his first principles?—or what can be thought of the honesty or courage of those " excellent clergymen " who wish to have tho argument to themselves , and to " repress" by force of law all those who disagree with them ? Tho readers of the Leader know that we do not sympathize with the opinions advocated by John Brown ; but we dislike petty tyranny and unfairness , and , on the other hand , we nro glad to see that the parks—the truo objects of "which are to invigorate tho body and tranquillize the mind by the influenco of Nature ' s diymo calmness and benignity—are not to bo turned into the battle-grounds of sects , whether theological or anti-theological .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 13, 1856, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13091856/page/2/