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Leader (1850-1860), 21st August 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 14, THE FRUITS 01? IGNORANCE. -The peasantry...

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      838 The Leader. [No. 439, August 21, 185...

      838 THE LEADER . [ No . 439 , August 21 , 1858 . - ^— - — ¦ - ¦¦ - - ¦ > - . - J ^ J ! 1 Z ' ¦ ' -:

      The Fruits 01? Ignorance. -The Peasantry...

      THE FRUITS 01 ? IGNORANCE . -The peasantry about Kilkenny liave begun to destroy machinery . This is an "improvement iVoni murdering men to breaking their instruments . The Irish have now reached the stage -which the' English occupied half a century ago ; and we rejoice at their progress . They have come to be sensible' of the value of labour , and they resent the Use of machinery because they suppose , erroneously , that it reduces the rate of wages . The English labourers made exactly the same mistake half a century ago , but now the "veriest clodhoppers amongst them know that the use of machinery increases produce , increases employment , and increases the rate of wages . The Bury ana Norwich Pest supplies a useful illus

      tration of the present state of opinion hi the agricultural districts ^ which for these very reasons is in favour of machinery . It was only ignorance , therefore , of the effects of machinery which made the English destroy it half a century ago , and it is only ignorance of the effects of machinery which , makes the backward Irish destroy ¦ it at present . Both did wrong in the eyes of others ; in their own eyes , tooth did what they thought was right . It is good philosophy to say that there are not two causes for the-same effect ; and as ignorance is the source of the wrong done by Irish labourers , and was the source of the wrong done by English labourers , it is not straining logic too far to infer that ignoxance is the source of all the wrong that ever is or ever has been done in the world .

      Sir . Hoebuck enunciated a similar conclusion at Tyriemouth , and we beg to quote a portion of his eloquent remarks : — - There are pleasures derived from knowledge which are not merely- the intellectual pleasures I am speaking of . There Are moral pleasures . For , depend . upon it , no man can be really a good man who is an ignorant man . Now , that is a ; bold thing to say , but , depend upon it , it is true . I have no doubt that Hildebrand and St . Dominic fancied they were doing good when they -were , destroying human beings . I have no doubt the wretched King of Naples fancies he is doing good When he is treating his unfortunate subjects -with all

      the horrors with which he does treat them . Why is this ? Because virtne is made up of two things— -you most wish to do good , and you must know how to do it . It is not enough to wish and intend good things , you ought to know what things are good . The Spaniards have an old proverb , which I will just quote , though it begins with a word which is not generally mentioned to ears polite , " Hell is paved with good intentions- " The greater part of mankind intend well , but they don't know how to do well . They persecute , they are intolerant , they turn round upon their fellow-man because he differs from them on some simple matter about which they are both equally ignorant . They pinch his unfortunate feah with , red-hot irons because he differs

      from them . Knowledge , and knowledge alone , will do away with this , and as men become learned , and appreciate the value of knowledge , they will learn to be tolerant , and thus they will know that the human . mind , fully and fairly employed—many minds being employed on the same object—arrives at different conclusions , and if honestly arrived at , they ough t not to be persecuted . Therefore , 1 say , that a really good man cannot be made out of an ignorant man . He may intend well ; he may have all the wishes to be a good man , but he has not the intelligence ; he does not k now what ig good ; he will be a persecutor ; he will be a bigot ; he will be . a bad man , although intending to be a good one .

      We must always , therefore , give rulers credit for good intentions , and always believe that it is merely ignorance -which has made them , as it makes the Irish peasant , very often excessively mischievous or destructive . The same may be said of most criminals . They intend less to do wrong than merely to serve some purpose of their own . When they steal , they falsely suppose that it is easier to steal from others than to gain wealth by honest labour . This is a palpable mistake . Were they right , theft would be the rule . of our liv « s . The exertions to steal , and the exertions to resist theft , necessarily diminish the sum of wealth which miht existand

      g , the share of each one , including the thief , would be so much the larger were ho not to steal . The first Napoleon did not mean to depopularise himself , to destroy his throne , nnd restore the Bourbons , by liis successive wars and his final attack on Russia . He did { jrcat wrong to France , to Europe , and himself , Irom sheer and deplorablo ignoranoe , exactly like that of the Irish peasantry . His vast power , like their extreme poverty , prevented him getting an accurate knowledge of facts . JCne present Napoleon does not mean to make the JSrenoh poor and discontented by his wasteful , deepotio , and restrictive system ; lie designs tosccure his

      throne and his dynasty , but lookers-on , satisfied that lie is ignorant of the consequences of what he is doing , know that he is only preparing the way for nnol . her revolution . Louis Philippe did not mean to dethrone himself by fortifying Paris , but his system of government , of which this was a consequence , led to that inevitable conclusion . Lord Palmcrstoii did not intend to turn himself out of office and break up the Liberal party when he assented to the French view of Englishmen ' s duties , but he effected it . "What will be the consequences of our actions is known to us oiily within the immediate and

      limited sphere of our own vision . Ihe remote consequences , which are as inevitable as those we immediately will , are unknown to all . We know , for example * that what we write will be printed , but what effect it will produce in others we cannot possibly foresee . Some know more of these remote consequences than others , and they arc sagacious and successful in proportion ; though probably , wellbcihgv" contentment , and happiness are on the whole more the result of following submissively and blindly some well-accredited principles than of acting from attempts to ascertain what will ensue in the distant future .

      We all desire to avoid evil , and try to avoid it . IKfone intentionally do wrong- —we all desire to do right and achieve good for ourselves , or ¦ what we suppose will be good ; nevertheless , there is . immense quantity of wrong done and evil suffered , which are entirely the consequences , like the destruction of machinery by the Irish peasantry , of ignorance . To secure well-beings therefore , we must possess a knowledge of the effects of our own conduct as well as of the motion of the planets , of the geological formation ! of the earth , and of the structure of insects . How we are to get this

      indispensable knowledge nobody can tell , for nobody is in possession of it . The Legislature does not possess it , or it would never make laws which produce evil . The clergy do not possess it—they .. are notoriously ignorant of the ways of- 'the world , of existing facts , and cannot teach what they do not know . It is only to be gathered by experience , and just as the English labourers have learned , -within the last "fifty ' years , to form right views of the effects . ' of-. . machinery * ' so . ; in time , similar necessary knowledge will come to all . It is not to be attained by education . Teachers , each in his sphere , are as little acquainted with it as their pupils . All that the Stale

      can do to promote the acquisition is . to allow men to _ learn . Our experience of the-effects of machinery may be told to the Irish ; probably , as far as it can be , it has been told ; but it has not given them knowledge . For one man's experience to become a part of another man ' s life a common medium of communication is necessary . To understand language , which is such a medium , many previous associations are necessary , and till these" have been formed words are mere sounds . The uneducated Irish , and tlie uneducated multitude generally , have not formed these associations , and are , consequently , not capable of learning from , the experience of others .

      Their own experience is a sure teacher , and from seeing railways and railway carriages , they learn all about them as easily as the educated classes . It is impossible to travel by rail and not perceive that the rude multitude who use only third-class carriages are as well acquainted with all the mysteries ¦ of railway travelling-, novel though it be , as travellers by first class carriages . The men and women who , hall ' ashamed of their coarse or untidy dresses , or uncouth behaviour , can scarcely be persuaded to enter a drawing-room or a church , share with glee all the advantages of the rail with their betters , and at

      once adapt themselves to its exigencies . To personal experience they show 'themselves docile pupils . What happens as to rails , happens in every part of existence . Everywhere people arc learning great truths by personal experience , and not by the medium of words from professed teachers . The men who lead society arc continually making discoveries ; they are not taught them by other men . No teaching has prepared society for the rail and the telegraph , and their consequences ;

      they arc not yet known , and can only be learned as they are developed . Of late years both the Si ate and the Church have become very diligent in touching tho people , to which they seem to have been driven rather by what the multitude had learned and was learning by personal experience than by what tho multitude was ignorant of . The knowledge of the multitudu rather alarmed than pleased the leaders in State and Church . By personal experience the people will continue to learn much more than tho State and the

      Church can teach them ; and it seems doubtful ^ what they have learned in past times has been dL ? fcrciit . from tho , knowledge these incorporate is would wish to . niculcatc-whcthcr what thcyS cam hereafter will be agreeable to them . Tho leaching o ! the material world throujjh our scmo ! is very different from the teaching of the PI ,,,, 1 and the State . The former , however , c « t avoided , and is the paramount means of correcting the ignorance ot Irish labourers and members oi Parliament , both of whom , undesigucdly from i ^ mo rauce do a great deal of wronaj . °

      Indian Tactics. All Sides Seem Agreed Th...

      INDIAN TACTICS . All sides seem agreed that the Indian mutiny f . quelled ; that we have fought ourlast pitched battle besieged our last city , and that nothing remains tobe done but to hunt down straggling parties of mutineers , and to cut them up Toot and branch when . we come up with them . We are willing to accept this statement as a true picture of the existing condition , of affairs and future prospects ; we sincerely hope the picture will he realised . But certainly there are materials for doubting whether it . will be realised as rapidly as' the friends of order couli wish . We have already felt it to be our duty to direct attention to the dilatory , and , to our unrinlitary mind , the erroneous tactics of the Com--mander-in-Chief . From what we learn from private sources we have reason to believe that a more active and suitable plan will henceforward be adopted than thatof makingscientific war on fugitive brigands . This , we apprehend , has been the mistake throughout of the Commander-in-Chief . What is wanted for India is light cavalry . It is inconceivable how the cavalry arm could have heen permitted to dwindle down to such an inefficient point . The fruits of our bloodiest battles and sieges have been almost neutralised by the want of a sufficient cavalry force ; we trust the mistake will be remedied fully and without more than necessary ' . ' delay 1

      But what is to be the future of our rule in India ? We shall , never again stand in the same relative position in which we stood to the natives , Mahometan and Hindoo , before tlie mutiny . The wide gulf will never again be bridged over . On the one side will be perpetual distrust , on the other a knowledge that distrust exists , and is well founded . We shall be stronger than ever in India , but our hold on that country will be material and military , not as before with a-large element of the moral . The powers to govern India hi future must be composed . of . men " a little lower than the angols , " if they discharge their high functions wisely and impartially , and resist that temptation to jobbery and patronage which the recent change has placed so completely at their command .

      Ovrcn-Irouse Telegraphs.—The Society Of ...

      Ovrcn-irousE Telegraphs . —The Society of Arts havo been furnished by Messrs . Waterloo and Sons with tho details of making the telegraph connexion between their premises in Birchin-lane , London-wall , nnd Purlinmentstreet . The line of wires commences at London-wall , proceeds direct to Birchin-lane , and tlience , supported at different intervals , terminates at Parliament-street , the total distance traversed by the wires being 1-1 , 581 feet , or nearly three miles . The wires aro supported on poles fixed to the tops of tho houses ; and Messrs . Watorlow have for this purpose used a kind of sadillo of cast iron , carrying a socket , into winch the supporting-pole is fixed . The saddle fits on tho ridge of the house , nnd is lield in its place by two screws into the ridge tree and four into tho rafters . Tho polo is kept steadv and firm 03 ' means of guy wires from it .- *

      extremity to the roof . No injury whatever is done to the house by tho fixing of tlie supports , and when removed nil that has to bo done is to fill up and make good tho holes whence they aro withdrawn . Tho telegraph vires nre of steel , a littlo larger than common boll wire , combining strength with lightness . The telegraph used by Messrs . Watorlow ia tho single-needle instrument , requiring only n single lino of wire . Tho cost of erecting the wires is at tho rate of about 50 J . per mile , inchiiliny polos , wires ( double line ) , insulators , labour , nnd everything , except tlie instruments , the cost of which , with n single needle , is 51 . cadi . Messrs , Watorlow calculato that tho whole of the police-stations and firc-ong ino establishments in tho metropolis might be brought into communication with each other for an outlay not exceeding 5 COO / . — Express .

      Tuifi UjVNiuiurrcY and Liquidation Act , 1858 . — Tl » is Act , which was presented by tho Lord Cuancfilloi at tho clone of the session , is now published . It in an act to amend the law of debtor and creditor , and of insolvency and bankruptcy , and to enable and facilitate tho liquidation by creditors of a debtor ' s estate , nnd the administration of estates of insolvent traders deceased It consists of 880 clauses , and oecupioa 116 folio nagea

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21081858/page/14/