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Leader (1850-1860), 18th November 1854, Edition 2 of 2, Page 14, BABEL. (From a various Correspondence.')...

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    • - ' .... . , .. J ry * i iDHf II IbflHtiril vj^-^ *4- viyu-w+M- «-* ?
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      Captain Nolan. Why Is It Captain Nolan S...

      the suicide-murderer . The tale is so easilymade up , that it is evidence against itself until we have more trustworthy and positive evidence . Xet us have an . enquiry .

      1094 The Leader. [Saturday,

      1094 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

      Insurance For The Working Classes. Okce ...

      INSURANCE FOR THE WORKING CLASSES . Okce more an endeavour is made to bring the benefits of Life Assurance within the reach of the indus - trial classes , and this time , we believe , with a certainty of success . Assurance is the best of all forms of saving for any particular contingency ; and it is , therefore , most especially desirable for those classes ¦ which most need to make provision for the contingencies of life , and which have the most limited

      means to . spare for saving . The provision whicli a man can make for his wife and family by laying up cash in a savings' bank is paltry compared to that which he can secure by the same saving invested in a life policy . The difficulty with the working classes is to make the payment in the usual way , by lumps of money half-yearly or quarterly . This difficulty is met in . the new office exactly in the proper modeby granting policies on premiums payable in small sums weekly .

      Heretofore endeavours to establish life offices for the worting classes have failed , for want either of capital , commercial experience , or of time to attend to the business . Only this week an insurance office , addressing itself to those classes , has been brought "before a . police court for failing to make good a policy of insurance . The men who are trustees and directors of the new office are guarantees for its stability and efficiency ; among them are Lord Goderich , Henry E . Gurney , of the banking firm , Richard Cobden , John Bright , John Biggs , of Leicester , J . S . Lindsey , of the shipping firm , George Wilson , of Manchester ; one of the auditors is Joseph Burnley

      Hume , son of the Hume ; one of the medical officers is John Simon ; the deputy-chairman is Joseph Mallaby , the chairman is Sir Joshua Walnosley . The rate is a trifle higher in this office than in , some of the newest , for the same reason that it is called . « ' The Safety "—not only the character , but the fortune of these men is pledged to make good all its engagements . These reduce its security and efficiency to absolute certainty ; and we congratulate the -working classes that these , their recognised political " friends , " are applying commercial knowledge in a commercial undertaking to promoting the social welfare of men who , unhappily , are not very able to do ¦ without directing assistance .

      - ' .... . , .. J Ry * I Idhf Ii Ibflhtiril Vj^-^ *4- Viyu-W+M- «-* ?

      cfltyra Carom ! ,

      [In Tiiis -Depantmenr, A3 Aix Opinions, ...

      [ IN TIIIS -DEPAnTMENr , A 3 AIX OPINIONS , TTOWBVEIJ EXTREME , ARB ATXOWED AN ICJCPRESSrONT , TUB KDIT 0 K NEOKSSAKILV HOl . ca H 1 MSKI . JF R 1 E 9 PONSI 1 JLI ! FOR If ONE . ]

      There Is No Learned Man Bat Will Confess...

      There is no learned man bat will confess be . hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awalceaed . ana hi 3 judgment sharpened . If , tken , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for bis adversary to write . —Hilton .

      Babel. (From A Various Correspondence.')...

      BABEL . ( From a various Correspondence . ') — " Never , mind the head , if the heart is in the right place , " is a common saying , and a very foolish one ; aa most common sayings arc when thoy are not kept under proper restraint . " H . L . Powys , Major , 60 th Hides , Honorary Secretary , " we take to be a good-hearted man , and a man of active frame ; but his "brain has proved unequal either to heart or limbs . Ho has had the energy to get up a " Central Association in Aid of the Wives and Children , Widows and Orphans of Soldiers ordered to tho Eiwb ; " but wheix ho has got it up and arnasspd the fuads , tho poor man cannot administer thorn . Ho fuila , evidently not for want of good intent , but sheer lack of insight . A . certain man of tho name of Briglit-\ vell enlisted in a regiment " ordered to th < j Euet ;" ho is a man of bad character , and ho porj urcd lumeclf when taking tho oath , in declaring that ho was einglo , and in giving a wrong name ; ho left behind him a well-behaved and industrious wife . Several people Uuvo subscribed to tho fund out of , pity to the dependants of eoldiers who nro loft behind . Mnny would not give their money to worthless ¦ women , but Powys has conceived the idea that ho must withhold from worthy women if tho men bo Avonthless . The subscribers intond the roliof , not for tlxo wives of meritorious husbands , but for tho meritorious wives of absent husbands ; and the Rev .

      Henry Newland , vicar of Westbourne , in whose parish Mrs . Brightwell lives , recals the "honorary secretary" to his duty towards the woman . " Honorary secretary" retorts that the vicar is " encouraging perjury and falsehood . " He has tlie money in his hand to relieve deserving poverty , and he feels bound not to give it up because reprobate improvidence has "been inflicting an injury upon deserving poverty . It seems to us that he is an excellent man to get up an association , but nearly the worst man that could have been selected to administer the funds .

      For all the fogginess of his understanding , however , Powys has detected an alarming plot ; it is no less than a combination between " a clergyman of the Church of England "—Henry Uewiaud to wit" and the editor of the most disreputable newspaper in the kingdom , " for " the encouragement of perjury and falsehood . " The " most disreputable paper" is the Times ; but if that journal were never convicted of anything more discreditable than its vindication of claims like those of Martha Brightwell or Ellen M'Connell , it might laugh , at thethunderings even of a Powys .

      — Mr . William Hazlitt has been appointed to the Registrarship of the Court of Bankruptcy , in consideration of the eminent literary services of his father . The post is worth about 1000 ? . a year . The gift is creditable to Government . Mr . Hazlitt has proved himself a man thoroughly up to the mark in intelligence and industry ; has been made acquainted as a journalist with public affairs ; has employed his pen in fitting many standard works for modern readers or more extended classes ; is in middle life ; and has yet a good deal of work in . him . He will be a useful and creditable public servant . But there is a peculiar credit in the very reasons of the appointment . The Hazlitt was no time-server or

      flatterer , even among Liberals . With a peculiarly clear understanding for a"ny subjects that he chose to take up , he was jealous , suspicious , cross-grained , and inclined to show his independence by severe , back-handed blows upon his friends . He was most esteemed by those vr } io knew him best ; political friends often regarded him as a political foe . He never meant to be unfair , for he preferred truth to friend , fame , or fortune ; and it is this sterling quality , combined with the wonderful vigour and clearness of his intellect , that stamped such an

      extraordinary lucidity and force upon his style , and made him so highly valued , even by those who most severely felt his personal faults . It is handsome and " plucky" therefore of the Whig Ministers to give his son . a post worth l , 0 O'O 2 . a-year , out of consideration for the father wliose hard hand they had so often felt . There is one reason , indeed , "Why the present appointment J with reference to Hazlitt ' s services is peculiarly suitable . Amid all his political doubts , he had an unswerving , unquestioning , unmeasured admiration of tho : firsfc Napoleon , uncle to our present ally .

      — When the Russians made their sortie of the 26 th , and were repulsed with such gallantry on our side and so much loss on tlieirs , there was one striking peculiarity in the vigorous assistance afforded to the attack on the enemy by the picketsthose parties who are advanced to some distance for the purpose of keeping watch , and , if possible , of delaying the enemy ' s approach . It is not usual , however , to reckon upon obstructions by this m « ans , and nothing 1 but the highest personal daring can render it effectual . Ifour men greatly distinguished themselves—they were three captains and a sergeant— 'all of whom received honorable mention in the public despatch of Sir Do Lacy Evans ,

      Lieutenant-General . Lord Raglan recapitulates this affair in a despatch to the Duke of Newcastle , and duly mentions the three captains and not a word of the sergeant . Wlia-t can be the reason for the omission ? Was there something wrong in Sir De Lacy Evans ' first desx > atch ? Did Lord Raglan suspect that the Lietttenant-General had some improper motive ? lias Sullivan ft vote for Westminster , or does the General cornmanding-in-chief ignore sergeants ? The Duke of Wellington used to say that non-commissioned officers could not have commissions

      because their untrained heads would not stand tlio intoxicating lifjuors necessarily consumed at mess . Does Lord Raglan apply this rule to the intoxication of praise ? Does ho play the Ganymede with that delightful stimulant to captains while ho insists on temperance for sergeants , nay , on teetotalism ? Assuredly the public will not ngreo with Raglan . If sergeantB behave themselves like bravo cavaliers , aa they can , we like to hear their prais e , and like to see thorn mentioned by generals eonimandlng-inchief .

      — How does it happen that young ladioa and young gentlemen resort to oflicos like tho Matrimonial Institution to bo brought togotlier ? They evidently have some money , if they cmi pay respectively 25 A and 10 / . for an interviow . Is It that fathers und mothers are too particular and give no dcsirtiblu opportunities , or do thoy choose for theweelYea rather than for tUoic children ? Tlicro in no roul social iatercourso in this coimtry among tho middle class }

      and thus , it may be , the young ladies , as they cannot be made happy at home , determine to try their fortunes , so to speak , " in the streets . " No doubt the institution may be the means of making occasionally happy marriages , as far as the immediate parties are concerned , but the young peoples' only chance of a happy family is to make one for themselves . — Lord PaLmerston lias really gone to Paris . The Paris correspondent of the Observateur Beige sUtes that he has good grounds for knowing that a portion of the British Cabinet , particularly Lord Aberdeen , is opposed to the projected visit of Lord Palmerston to St . Cloud .

      When a great actor of the old s chool dies , we are apt to hear it said , that he was the last of tho Romans . Charles Kernble was the last of a great school and a great tradition , but it -would be unjust to the living to deny that actors as good survive . Charles Kenible had a fine presence , and a certain nobleness of air and dignity of manner peculiar to the old school . He "will be missed "by a host of friends , and deserves to be regretted and to be remembered with respect and gratitude by all . — The Record ( "The Record has few ideas , and half of tho 3 e are nasty . "—Leader , on the Nude Statue question ) is very angry with the Leader for its recent compliments to royalty on the Sundayplaying of the Guides at Windsor ; and the Nasal organ warns her Majesty of the fcccHis descensus dangers : —

      " The downward path , in morals is always slippery , and never more than in the case of those who are surrounded by ihe temptations of royalty , / The laws of God are supreme alike over princes and positive philosophers . We have no doubt that the music of the French Guides is far superior to the cornet , flute , harp , sackbut , and dulcimer , which were listened to by tlie king and his prime ministers on the plains of Dura ; but counterpoints , mezzo-forte , and mezzo-piano , "vvill do little , we fear , to justify an open breach , of the commandment of God , or to make listening to opera-music on the Lord ' sday a fitting employment for our rulers , when a world . is rushing to arms , and every post is bringing us thesolemn tidings of bloodshed and . deatl . The positive philosophers may have invented a new history of the world to su . it their views of human progress . But we still believe that Exeter-lialL whatever its faults or

      virtues , is mot the birthplace of the Fourth Commandment ; and that other sounds than either nasal moanings or boisterou . 9 spoutings were heard , when ' Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy , ' was uttered amidst the thick 'd . arkness , the thunder , the lightning , and the sound of tb . « trumpet waxing louder and louder , by the lips of the Almighty King of earth and . heaven . Nero fiddled whilst Rome -was burning . We rejoice to think of the inverse contrasts between our Queen and Prince , and the Roman parricide . And we are pained all the more at this solitary resemblance , that after a public Fastday in th . < 3 spring , and a Thanksgiving-day in the autumn , tbiey should be attending an opera in . the open air , on the day which . God has commanded them , to keep holy , at tlie time when the roar of a thousand cannon , charged with death , may be heard wafted to us hourly from tho Crimea , and the destinies of mighty empires aid trembling in the balances of heaven . "

      This is cool : but it is a pity severe piety should lead to impertinent disloyalty . But these intense Protestants are strange creatures . Does the editor of the Record know anything of this advertisement ? which is taken from tlie Times ;—T O A . NTI-ROMANISTS . —The editor of a weekly periodical , which has been of more effloient service in resisting tho aggressions of Homo and in serving the interests of true religion than any Protestant contemporary , is for tbo moraont In urgent WA . N'T of 4 O 0 Z ., at S per

      cont ., to enable him . to carry on tlio wur with vigour , ilo will satisfy any capitalist who feels an adequate intor < isc in the hply struggle , now at tlio hottest , of his thorough responsibility , and on-u nrovo that the investment would l > o as safe as if tho security wore veal and not personal . N " o monoy-lornier , bill discounter , or MIL agoat need apply . Address , Kota , Rastall's , 21 , Ebury-stroot , Chester-square . Going the Pope , for 400 / . 1 Anti-Romanism and impertinence to the Queen , weekly , for 400 / . ! It '& very cheap .

      — How is it tliat Mr . flkieutonant ) Perry has not answered tho indignant intimation of tho Muyorof Windsor ? Should not tho subscribers of tho fund , dubious as to tho reality of their martyr , insist on having their money back , with a view to hand it over to the patriotic collection ? — What is tho meaning of tho rumoured reeal of Sir Henry Bulwer from Tuscany ( the Marquis of Normiunby to give tho authoritative dinner pnrtio 3

      in Florence , in hia place )? And when such men as Bulwer and Seymour arc unattached , what is tho moaning of Bonding out an Hon . C . Murray , wliora no one ever hoard of , least of all tho Shah , to take the post of British Minister at Teheran ? Tho very ablest man that could bo got hold of ought to be sent to fih'ht Kusain . out there . No < lo « bt it is , in routine , n tliird-rutu post , with a third-rate salary , l >« t , At such a . orieifl aa thia , our Government should , in all directions , get out of its routine .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 18, 1854, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18111854/page/14/