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Leader (1850-1860), 19th March 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 20

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      Mutual Assurance Societies, No. I. Liabi...

      gent arid generally highly-rediicated class of young men , who ; from the gentlemanly nature of the duties , seek and find engagements in assurance companies , it is imperatively necessary to draw attention to it , that they may be encouraged to persevere in those studies which may place them in the most lucrative , honourable , and influential official positions . Cheap , facile , and popular legal processes , are immediate and essential conditions for extending the blessings of life assurance , and to obtain these advantages our efforts will be directed ; but in the meantime it is obvious that the co-operation of those assured in mutual life offices is

      necessary to urge the importance of the subject on the law officer of the Crown . The perilous condition of those assured in all classes of mutual life offices is conclusively shown by the decision of Vice-Chancellor Kindersley ; and in our subsequent articles on this subject we shall endeavour to show the legal changes necessary in respect , not only to . the past transactions of existing companies , but also in regard to those into which they may hereafter enter , and which should form the legal basis on which future limtual companies ousrht to be established .

      We can , in the meantime * only again express our regret that the state of the law should , under any possible circumstances , so seriously and so ruinously coinpromise the position of any mutual policy-holder . ¦ ¦ :

      Orth ^.^¦^¦^¦™^^^^^—. 1—-• ' - ~ —¦ —— M...

      orth ¦¦¦ 1 ¦ i t o o THE LEADER . [ No : 469 , March 19 , 1859 .

      Long Ago All There Is To See There—"Not"...

      long ago all there is to see there—" not" w seeing in the way '' of sights—we joined in ^ what appeared to be the almost universal occupation of the Turinese ptiblic , and which consisted in following the militia regiments as they walked up and down the Via del Po to thp sound of military music . Still with all this playing at war , there was a sort of look about these civic heroes and their attendant satellites , as if they all meant ¦ business .-Certainly , if wre had-been officers in . the . Austrian' service , we should have decidedly preferred being in plain clothes if we had happened to meet any of these patriotic gatherings .: Wishing to learn the way ourselves to some lieighbouring gallery , we made inquiries of the most benevolent-looking amongst the

      passers bv , and , as we conceived , in our very best Italian . ' Whether long residence in .. Germany has really given us an Italian accent , or . whether , what is more probable , all broken Italian bears a . strong family resemblance , we know not . but , from some cause or other , we saw that our friend took us for Germans . There was a sharp and evident strugg le in his mind between his national sympathies and his feelings of politeness . At last he shrugged his shoulders , and turned half away with tlie words , " Tedeseoin Piemonte , " accompanied by certain whispered ejaculations , which we conceived to have -been-anything- 'biit-favour-able , to the prospects of our . eternal welfare . We hastened to undeceive him with the assurance -that we were

      true-born Britons , when iimnediately his manner changed from polar cold to summerheat ; and if we had asked liii ' n for his jmrse instead of for a street direction , we believe our request would have been as freely granted . The strangest sight at Turin , to one much used to' continental- ¦ cities , - was the absence of soldiers . All the regular regiments were on the frontier . About the streets you met , every now and then , with one of the Bersaglieri , in their Crimeanfamed . costume . ; and that was all . The sentries-at ~ T : he palaee doors were all , as at Genoa , towns-, people armed Avith muskets ; The only soldiers of

      STREET VIEWS OF ITALY—^ o . 2 . : -. ' ' . . TURIN . ' ¦ ' ' ' . What can be the law of -nature ,-we ' , have often wondered , by virtue of which' the northern and southern districts of a country possess relatively to each other the same invariable characteristics . ? The north is the abode of energy ,-and trade , and power—the . south is the region of agriculture , and repose , and ; inactivity . The rule holds good , at any

      rate , of France , -Spam , Germany , and Ireland , not to mention Italy . The- fact is obvious ; the explanation not equally so . If we found that the further we went due north the more energetic each succeeding population became , there would be no difficulty about the matter . This , however , is not the case ; and , therefore , we think . that , on the whole , we had better begin by admitting what all social philosophers only acknowledge at the . end of their arguments that the fact is so because it is so ..

      Nowhere , perhaps , is this difference . between north and south more appai'ent than in Italy . As you travel north wards' —as we did the other day , across the snow-covered Apennines , over the bleak , dreary table-land which surro \ inds the city of Turin—you seem to have possod—as , indeed , you have- —into another country . The men are small , stunted , and wiry ; the women swarthy , and , _ to speak the truth , uglier than French women , which is saying a great deal . ' Woful is your disappointment , if you enter Italy for the first time by Piedmont , with your head full of Madonna faces , and "Venetian senators , and CJaude-like scenes . Driven at last to universal 'scepticism , yon take refuge in tho consolatory coiiviction that the Italy of noets . and nainters . and lovers is a sort of Fata

      Morgana , which vanishes as you approach . Subsequent expei'ience impairs your belief in this negative article of faith , and forces you to tho sounder conclusion that Piedmont'is-no more Italy than Wales is England . There is no good in talking sentiment about an Italy- ^ -ono and indivisible—when there is no such entity in existence . Italy is not one , and is divided by the eternal laws of fact , and raoo , and climate . If over Italy should be made into ono coxintry it will be by tho southern states becoming subject to some ruling I'ace , whether their name be France , or Austx'ia , or Sardinia . .

      At every station along the line ve took m troops of the militia , who were being called out on aotivo service . They wore active , briBk-looking fellows . With thorn tho prospect of war was clearly popular . There were fraternal embraces from jgrievmg relatives , parting glances from admiring friends , and cheers from sympathotjo boys . Our road , too , was enlivened by patriotio songs , in ¦ wliion we trust tho exalted oWiiotor of the sentiments made up for tho villainous discord of the melodies . When wo got to Turin , tho military ardour was at its height . Of nil dull capitals Turin is probably the dullest ; and a little thing , in consoquonco , goos a long way thoro . Having soon

      the line we saw on duty were- two sentries before the Teatro lleggio , wLere"we went to hear" Robert the'Devil , " and to see the King . ; however , Victor Emmanuel did not appear , and the . singers sung one worse than tlie other . We should advise the emissaries of Drury-lane , who are prowling through Italy on JMr . E . Tl Smith ' s behests , to avoid Turin and the Teatro Reggio , or , ' in Captsiin Cuttle ' s words , " when found to make a note on . " In spite , however , of its dillness ,: and shabbiiiess , and dirt , there are three good things about Turin .: there are few priests , no soldiers , and numbers of bookshops ; and even if some of tlie stall fronts bore

      an unpleasant resemblance to the shops of our native I-folywell-streei , we consoled ourselves with the reflection , that in Turin . alone , amongst Italian capitals , you can buy the Bible from out pf a shop window . The churches , too , bear some proportion to the amount of the population ; and , according to the invariable rule in Italy , tho number of beggars increases and decreases exactly in tho same ratio as the number of churches . Beggars , therefore , arc comparatively rare in Turin . The railroads that bore us towards Tuscany are capitally managed . It is a curious fact , that these are the only continental railroads we are acquainted

      with where they allow you to take your seat at once , as . in England , without boxing you up first , h'ke oxen in a pen .- Whether this is a px * oof of independence and liberty wo can hardly say , but wo know that the Turinese trains exhibited a perfectly democratic irregularity of arrival and departure . Why should a free railroad never keep its time ? The other day we travelled 900 miles by an oxprcBS train through Franco , without being at any station a minute before or after our time . In coining next day ninety miles—^ Dovcr to London—we wore throe quarters of an hour lato . Surely this is a groat fact for Mr . Froude and the admirers of an enlightened despotism .

      Tub Duke Ov Buokxno. Haw's " Mjeiuoius."...

      Tub Duke ov Buokxno . haw ' s " Mjeiuoius . "—A lot tor has been addressed by Sir Watlcm W . Wynn to the daily jourimls . complainingof tho " unwarrantable publication " by the present Dulto of Bucking-1 mm of letters addressed in the strictest confidence to tho lato Duke by hla father , which hia Grace 1 ms thought flt to give to tht ? world in a niutilatod form , ¦ without tho Blitrhtesb communication of hlu intention to the surviving ropreaontatlvo or relatives of the writ or .

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      W ¦ — . ¦ ¦ France. Paris, Thursday, 6.J...

      w ¦ — . ¦ ¦ FRANCE . Paris , Thursday , 6 . J p . m . THE XEW rKQTESTATION OP THE GOVElikjIKSl " . Since I last wrote , the long-expected declaration of the ' Prene'h Government , which was to restore confidence in the maintenance of peace rind conciliate the estranged sympathies of the world , as well as disarm " united " Germany , has made its appearance , and anytliing more disastrous in result it Avoiild be difficult , to imagine . When a * Government makes the most solemn asseverations , possible , and they are met , on the part of its subjects , with unmistakeablc signs of increasing ! , and deepl y-rooted disbelie f that , I presume , must be disastrous to its

      credit and moral position . When the Moniteur opened the dullest portion—that is to say ; the commencement— of its non-olScial columns to the startled and dreary platitudes ' . pf the Imperial scribe , the Three per Cents , fell a half per cent ., and even Bank Stock , the most stable of all investments , gave way , and the depreciations hi . the value of public securities cannot be interpreted , I presume , to signify , anything else but . a ' proportionately increased distrust in the security of the declarations of the Government communicated in a " non-official "

      manner to the public . Whether deeds are known to have been performed in secret which belie fairspoken works , or whether public suspicion is excited merely because the Government doth protest too much , I know notj but one thing is certain—namely , the oftener « nd | more energetically the authorities affirm their intention to maintain peace , the less they ai * e believed . Were such' a tiling to happen in private life it would constitute an unpardonable and deadly affront , tantamount to openly proclaiming 1 a man-a liar at once ; I doubt much if Lord ThurloV ' s

      coarse , but admirable characteristic of corporate or aggregated bodies of men , would justify , in the present instance the passing by unnoticed the stigma affixed to the . Government by public opinion , for it is an assembly of individuals having neither' a body lu he kicked nor soul . to , be damned ; but is the willing unreason- ' imj agent of an individual . In the governing task of lYance , Ministers are the mere agt-nts , while the Emperor is the principal —¦ so , at least , say the . constitution , and all the partisans of the present

      regime ^ . Whence , I prcsumc . tliut if disci-edit attaches to the agent , it is only , as far as he stands , in the l > laoe of " the principal , and whatever slight or . insult is addressed to him is intended Tor the personage he represents . Now , I apprehend there is great danger in this . For if the Emperor should be led to fancy that Ms personal honour . was engaged , or that a slight was intended , his personal . IV'elings would be roused and override all other considerations , rendering 1 him deaf to the inspirations of wisdom , or oven of personal safety .

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      Tju3 Roim«And Oalaaihy, Bktilont-Stukkt....

      TJU 3 rOim « AND OAlAAiHY , BKtilONT-STUKKT . Tun private view of this very interesting gallery of modern artists' productions takes pliu-c this day , and tho general public are a'dmittcd on Monday . Although it is to bo deplored that men of mark , even among those who have mado it here , will abandon , what we might term their artistic almu muter , ana trust themselves wholly to tho tender mercies ot exhibition autoorats , who permit no divided » ylcgiance , there is still , wo aro glad to say , no tailing ot risen

      off , but tho contrary , in the year ' s crop , x'isiiig , ami pi * omising painters . Young artists can here command , at least , tho certainty of being seen . If hero condemned , they can have no appeal , ana nmy , - without vainly looking back , adopt other ana safer callings ; if hero approved , limy may « s eafoly accept tho oracle a 3 on eneonrnngeinont to new labour . Wo cannot noto , without regret , tho absence of Lander , Oalcos , and other ornaments of former exhibitions , ono of whom , ami not tlie least distinguished among Scottish painters , death has moved from among us—but wo aro glad to seo upon tho walls and seroens of tjie spirltou little association the " makings " of a lio » t ol reputations . Tho landscape pivintora avo in groiilcM

      foroo . Hulmo ' s " Nowark Abbey , burrey , u wu » utiful work : Kavon ' B bits of lioalli and clovor aio marvellous In thoir way j and nil readers who nmy know thoso mon by their " works aro , by this wmu , awaro that thoir way is tho highway ol nnturc , n-Ituskin might rovol in Moore ' s soonos from Cloven / , of which , especially , that with tlio bactyroyiu lot hyacinths is a spexiimon of loyal , mmilaotod Indus n . I ' ettltfs clioico of subjects rs , iw . « Biuil , ox « ojitioiwbio , though thoy ave finely pnlntoil . IMcturos in tlw «» " ° school by Pitt , Hayos , Nalsh , mul Adams , will not fail to b ' u ' admired . I » fluurofl , wg Una J > uk <» ft »

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 19, 1859, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19031859/page/20/