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    * Q. THE;LBA. D E B. [No. 334, Saturday,...

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    OtJR NEW SERVANTS. Whbst Gkobq* Ill.'a t...

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    Floods in Lancashiuk and Chkshiue.—Tho c...

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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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    Dove As A Conveet. Habemus Conjitentem R...

    Hopes of a reprieve have gone , he is handed over to the religious minister , and he becomes o ne of the " converted . " Converted must be a technical expression , for to our perception the regenerate Dove is still the lame concentrated brute that he was , before . Only- he " believes in a future state , —mr . "Weight has told him so , —and he is very anxious to be comfortable in his next lodgings . The grand object now is to " save his

    soul . " He is not quite satisfied on that point , even at the last . On the very scaffold he asks his " spiritual adviser" if he " knows of anything that can be done to save his soul that has not been done already ?" No " excited" anxiety about the soul of his poor wife , whom he had sent out of the world without any religious aid ! Previously , and by a sudden conversion , he Lad an unmistakable assurance of salvation :

    he writes to his spiritual guardian : — " . . . . Dear Sir , while I was meditating on the goodness of God , and thinking of my past sins and wickedness , all at a moment a thought flashed . across my mind that there was a reprieve for me . And what do you -think that reprieve was ? Well , bless God , it was this—¦« Thy sins , which were many , are all forgiven you . ' It was no delusion , for it was so impressed on my mind that I could not help bat make the remark , and tell my fellow prisoners and the officer that was there . "

    So that it must be true ! Thus writes he on the 4 th of August . By the 8 th he has discovered that " my Judge is my advocate and friend ! " He is now quite a saint . He has the very language of the saintly ; he can rattle out whole sentences in their peculiar Blang . Indeed , he had long been favoured ; for he once had a dear friend who said to him— " William , if you are determined to go to hell , you shall wade through seas of tears and mountains of prayers ; " which convinces him that he shall not be remitted to that place worse than York Castlev Besides , he

    reads" I the chief of sinners am , But Jesus died for me ;" and "Oh ! the consolation derived from this passage ! " Evidently Dove is one of the elect ; the Kingdom of Heaven is peopled by such as he . But he reveals another consolatory fact . His crime , his murdering his wife , was not without a purpose , —

    " I am saved through fire and by death ; ordinary means God had used , but they failed . He has , therefore , used extraordinary means , and blessed be His holy name . I believe it is in answer to the prayers of my dear mother , and that I shall have reason to bless and praise Him through all eternity , that He checked me in my mad career , and adopted this plan to save me . " Such is the result of " religious teaching" as it was carried on at York ! Any one to minister to his comforts—he cares not who —HabdoastIiE his hind , Habbison the bad man , " Dear Devil , " or . " We refrain from completing the list . It is all one to Dove . And this is the example of a " converted !"

    What , then , does the moral of his story teach P That so long as a man will chant a dogjjrel , profaning holy names , so long as he will cant AWigliteously , he shall have a special Providence looking out to keep watch for the life of poor Dovb . And the murder of a wife is the very means of opening a direct path to heaven . We must confess that , as teachers , we do n ^ fc see the vaat difference between Wiught and Habbison .

    * Q. The;Lba. D E B. [No. 334, Saturday,...

    * . THE ; LBA . D E B . [ No . 334 , Saturday , jo * ^ — ^_^_ — ^ ^^ . ^^_______ ___^____^^^ .. . —

    Otjr New Servants. Whbst Gkobq* Ill.'A T...

    OtJR NEW SERVANTS . Whbst Gkobq * Ill . ' a turnspit was a Member of Parliament no particular qualifications were required in , the holder of a public office . JNot many persona are aware , perhaps , how much of Gjbjohghb III , » « system remained before the establishment of public competition tor official appointments . We have not ,

    indeed , penetrated the Palace household , that service , though " public , " not being " civil ;" so that gentlemen candle-snuffers , bearers of silver trumpets , and white-handed squires carrying coal by deputy , have it all their own way , and enjoy large salaries on the " civil " list . But if corruption be confined to turnspits and candle-snuffers , we have not much cause to complaiu , especially as we hope , in due course , to amend some of our most prominent and least useful institutions . It is

    something to know that Somerset House , though no longer a palace , bas been visited by a reformation ; that public competitions are realities , and not shams ; and that young men able aud willing to become , at first in humble capacities , the servants of the State , have a good practical chance of attaining their object . One well-bred pedant objected that the competitive system would bring in persons of good education , but bad

    manners ; another , that to encourage this kind of ambition would be to rear a class of dangerously clever officials , by which the liberties of the nation might be imperilled . "We have not yet seen reason to deplore the overpowering abilities of Downing-street or Somerset House ; but it is a fact upon w hich much comment has been made , that the flippant self-sufficiency of the original race of Government clerks has been a little toned

    down since the order in Council of May , 1855 . We recommend persons having business to transact at the public offices , to compare the spirit that reigns in them with their reminiscences of the elder " system . Special observers have made one remarkable note in connexion with this change . It was long held , and in certain departments is still held ,

    a proof of middle-clasB breeding to possess a competent knowledge of the common things necessary for Government clerks to know . Who has not heard a gentleman at the Colonial Office inquire whether anybody knows where Bermuda is ? This sort of affectation will become obsolete in departments where the clerks have had to pass an examination in arithmetic , history , geography ,

    and other vulgar sciences . JFrom the new Blue Book and other official sources we find that , of three persons who have applied to the Examiners for certificates of proficiency , two , on the average , have been successful . That is to say , to five hundred certificates refused , a thousand have been granted , within thirteen months . How much this will tell upon the old system of private favouritism and electioneering patronage , it is unnecessary to point out . We are

    effectually liberalizing the Civil Service . It has been objected that the subjects of examination are needlessly difficult , or needlessly remote . Why should an Inland Revenue clerk be asked to give the date , according to popular chronology , of tho Deluge , of the Exodus , or the Hegira ? Why should he be required to trace the descent of the reigning Queen from Geobge I ., or to name all the English kings of the seventeenth century ? If he understands double entry , what would it avail him to have a clear notion

    of circumscribed parallelopineds or obeliscal quantities ? If he can carry on the business that belongs to his desk , what would he be better for knowing where Pathariecaloru is , who was Manoo Capao , or what was pure Snbooanism P It is easy enough to suggest frivolities of this kind ; but there are great difficulties in the way of inventing a satisfactory test , and it is of some importance that a Government officer , besides peingfitfor tho mechanical processes of his initiatory probation , should have had some general culture , that may fit him for future advancement . The inconvenience , however , has not been practically felt . Of the candidates who have been battled , few

    can complain that the Examiners hunted them through historical mazes , or broug ht them to bay by " puzzlers . " The majorit y have had their claims rejected , not because they were unprepared to state the Gregorian rule , to explain KepijEb's theory , or to say what important question was raised by the protracted trial of AVabben Hastings , but because their grammar-school culture had been neglected .

    They were not pronounced unqualified on account of weak memory or limited studies , but because they could not spell with ordinary accuracy . Their failures consisted chiefly of " discreditable mistakes in words of every-day use . " Now , it is not very hard to refuse Government situationsto young gentlemen who write " facalty , " " medriocrity , " " preducicies , " " enthuisium , " and " nessasary . " Nor does it seem superfluous to impose on them the task of reading Heeben , and the Geographical Dictionary , and ( considering they are to be paid for it ) Russell ' s Modern Europe . To most of the candidates these requirements have not appeared inordinate . Since the

    promulgation of the order in council examinations have been held almost weekly ; more than three hours have usually been given for the arithmetical exercises , a whole afternoon for orthography , and sometimes three or four days for the general course . Passages for dictation have been read aloud three times to allow opportunity for correction ; no one has been hurried or embarrassed by sudden questions ; nor do the commissioners , as we have heard from unsuccessful candidates , assume a magisterial or severe deportment . These are encouraging circumstances , which induce us to hope for many excellent results from the competitive principle .

    As we have said , the business of the public departments has apparently been conducted , since the introduction of this reform , with a celerity and precision not always observable under the " individual responsibility " system . If the reader desire to know what " individual responsibility" means officially , he should learn that heads of departments are fond of patronage , and would be happy to revive the power of private choice . That , in departmental English , signifies responsibility . Non-departmental people call it patronage , and are tired of it . It is something to say that the contrary principle has begun to succeed already .

    Floods In Lancashiuk And Chkshiue.—Tho C...

    Floods in Lancashiuk and Chkshiue . —Tho continuous fall of heavy rain during the whole of Saturday , following upon heavy showers and thunderstorms during several preceding days , filled all the rivers and streams in tho south of Lancashire and Cheshire to overflowing , and led to vast floods over all tho low land in the vicinity of them . The Manchester and Sheffield Railway was flooded , and tho traffic stopped for a time . Near Stockport , part of a cottage was washed down by tho overflowing of tho Mersey . Several bridges have been carried away , intercommunication was stopped for a time , and some lives were lost . Similar floods have occurred in Ireland , where two or three persons have been struck down and killed by lightning .

    The Cholkra it * Mameiua . —Cholera is raging at Madeira . Tho Avon was detained at that island twelve hours in consequence of tho men engaged to coal tho aliii > being afraid to enter the town , as they wore immediately taken off by tho soldiers to assist in burying the dead . However , after a little delay , an order from the Governor of tho island was procured , by which tho mon were protected from molestation while they wore coaling . ln «> English are flying from tho island as rapidly as they can , and it is reported that there is a total want of > n <»» c ' ' with low

    men and of medicines . Five thousand cases , deaths , have occurred at Funchal among a population of only 28 , 000 . A perfect panic prevails . According to the accounts brought by the Avon , tho dead lay «»» - buried in tho cemetery , and flro . s wero kindled thore to mitigate tho evil effects arising from tho putrefaction oi tho bodies . Tho Government at length got twolvo mon to dig graves , and six of them literally dug their own , for they died ulmost immediately , and wore buriod ift U > (< graves they had made for others ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 16, 1856, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16081856/page/16/