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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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    Dec. 21, 1850.] tRff e QLeaiieV. 925

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    THE GRIZZLY BEARS. Our admirable friends...

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    [In this department, as all opinions, ho...

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    There is no learned man but will confess...

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    BELIGION VERSUS SECTARIANISM. Dec, 10,18...

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    SOCIAL REFORM. Dec. 10,1850. Sir, — Allo...

• Transcript

  • 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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    A Glance At Both Sides Of The Atlantic. ...

    existing throughout the community ; they represent and are based on social facts and necessities . They say America is an unheroic country ; and , with another context , we might say so too . But , certainly , in the business of social management , we of this hemisphere might well agree to exchange some of our heroism for some of their sense . Shall we ever , on this hemisphere , work out our own deliverance from Czarisms , Dualisms , and Balances of Powers ? Or is the Atlantic to sever systems , as it severs Continents ? Is the end of all our

    Democratic agitations on this side of the Atlantic to be that our whole hemisphere , England and France included , shall become ere long definitively Cossack ; and that all in human nature that is Republican shall have to seek a refuge in the hemisphere of the Yankees ? Even in that case , we should have one ground of hope—that fact of the uniform progress of civilization westward round the globe , of which historical philosophers tell us . Republican America , itself recently the most advanced form of human society , has now extended itself to the Pacific j

    from California and Oregon the way is open across the Pacific to China . What , then , if Yankee enterprise should one day dash in amongst the Celestials , and working its way through immemorially despotic Asia , come to the deliverance of us poor denizens of Western Europe , by attacking Czarism in its prodigious rearward ? And so round and round the globe for ever—the progress of the species , like the symbol of Eternity , being but a serpent with its tail in its mouth ! To such vain jesting does the aspect of political solutions like this German Dualismus at this moment incline us .

    Dec. 21, 1850.] Trff E Qleaiiev. 925

    Dec . 21 , 1850 . ] tRff e QLeaiieV . 925

    The Grizzly Bears. Our Admirable Friends...

    THE GRIZZLY BEARS . Our admirable friends , the Grizzly Bears , have been operated on for cataract with perfect success , and can now look out upon the world and make philosophic observations while licking their paws . They have been the victims of benevolent Science j unwilling victims , who would have growled , struggled , and bitten their benefactors at the first approach of the needle , no arguments being plausible enough to make them submit . Fully aware of this ursine insensibility to argument the benefactors used chloroform . Grizzly roared and struggled , and would not accept that sedative to his nerves ; but six stout men hauled him to the bars of his

    cage , and there the beneficent sponge was applied ; he lay moveless , senseless ; the needle was dexterously thrust into his eye ; and the next day he issues from his den with his eyes wide open , and licks his paws with evident relish . Are there not uncaged animals equally in want of chloroform and the needle ? There is a Grizzly Bear , whose home is on the Seven Hills , and whose feeble roars are heard at the Flaminian Gate ; he ,

    poor fellow , is troubled with a very serious cataract , which not only keeps him from seeing , but makes darkness so visible that he mistakes it for the light , the whole light , and nothing but the light . If one could but chloroform him ! "There is another Grizzly Bear whose home is in our City of the Fogs , also troubled with cataract in one eye 5 the other eye is open and sees dimly , which makes this philosopher growl contemptuously at the Bear with both eyes blocked up , and still more savagely at the Bears with both eyes open to the light . He maintains that •* Unity" is the great thing , and that to see with one eye , only one side of the world is the true and fitting vision

    for Bears who wish to be saved . He insists upon light ; insists upon all Bears using their one eye ; but too much light is blinding , and two eyes are misleading . If one could but chloroform him ! There are other Bears also in our City of the Foj ? s . Bears not born with cataracts , but troubled with imperfect vision owing to the abundant use of my Grandmother ' s Ointment , recommended by the Faculty for the preservation of the eyes ; to them all colour is hurtful except grey j but they are thrown into fits by red . The grey tone of antiquity and twilight is so pleasing to their sore eyes that thev are excessively irritated by the presence of

    every other . Our fathers , and our forefathers , they sagaciously remark , must have known what was the right colour , or they never would have flourished as they did . Let us , therefore , stand by the experience of our ancestors j and , oh ! don t mention , chloroform ! It is perfectly clear to all who have the use of both eyes in a healthy condition that these Bears would profit as much by the beneficence of Science as our interesting growlers in the Zoologicalgardens j but it is quite clear that they , too , would resist quite as fiercely any attempt of the kind .

    How they do struggle , and roar , and bite if you but mention it to them ! What ! modern science , the Destroyer of Antiquity—the Infidel—the Radical—Science which has no tithes , no lawn sleeves , no shovel hats , and yet pretends to contravene what has been believed ( more or less ) for nineteen centuries—shall that godless upstart be allowed to thrust its needle into our eyes ? Not if we can help it . " Come , if you dare !"

    Without six men to haul the roaring struggler to the bars , how is the sponge to be dashed on to his nose ? Chloroform him we must , that ' s quite clear ; for he prefers his cataract to sight ; and will not suffer our approach so long as he has teeth . And yet , Brothers , be of good cheer , the time must come ! Science which has conquered Nature and subdued the Brute , making him submit to its beneficence , will surely contrive the means for conquering Man also , and will remove the cataracts from his poor eyes as it has removed them from the eyes of the Grizzly Bears .

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    [In This Department, As All Opinions, Ho...

    [ In this department , as all opinions , however extreme , are allowed an expression , the editor necessarily holds himself responsible for nonb . j

    There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...

    There is no learned man but will confess lie hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to "write . —Milton .

    Beligion Versus Sectarianism. Dec, 10,18...

    BELIGION VERSUS SECTARIANISM . Dec , 10 , 1850 . Sib , —There is a terrible commotion just now about «• Papal encroachments . " An immense amount of nonsense and many violent things are said about the Pope and Popery . Amidst so much that is onesided and furious it is refreshing to see a paper like the Leader retaining possession of its senses , and taking a calm and impartial view of the subject . I think that we Protestants in many Tespects cut a very sorry figure in this agitation . Why are we so horrified ? Why do we tremble so at the idea of Popery gaining the ascendancy ? If it be such an irrational , such a foolish system , why not be content to show that it is so , and then let mankind form their own conclusions ? Why call hard names r they make no converts , strengthen no cause . Why appeal to the past ? it is a sorry spectacle for all creeds to look back upon , and the least seen and said about it the better for all . In good sooth , in . any age of the world , wherever a people has been immersed in ignorance , that people ' s religion , by whatever name it has been called , has exhibited a tyrannical and persecuting spirit ; has branded difference of opinion as heresy , and free enquiry as dangerous .

    This agitation suggests a question which is pregnant ( more so than professors of religion are aware ) with important consequences . It is the duty of ministers of the Gospel to labour for man ' s weal , to improve by all practical means his mental , his spiritual , and , let it be added , his material condition . Have they been labouring to this end ? If so , how happens it they have accomplished so little . The unmoved bthe efforts

    great bulk of the people are y of these tens of thousands of Gospel ministers—those who are under their sway are but a small fraction of mankind . One powerful reason why this is the case may be found in the fact that instead of endeavouring to make men real Christians , just in deed , truthful in word , they have devoted their energies to the spread of mere Sectarianism , and have measured their success and usefulness by the amount of

    Sectarian bigotry they could engender . It is sickening to every man who longs to witness this world ' s efforts directed to the encreaseof human , happiness and the promulgation of truth , of love , and knowledge , to see men putting out their formula * and creeds , and setting themselves up as Popes in everything but the name ; saying really or virtually to mankind , " Believe this , and you will be safe—this is what the B ble means—if you think otherwise you are on very unsafe ground , and your salvation ia jeopardized . " Men and churches , with the coolest assurance , take to themselves the right of interpreting the Bible , find that it means so and so ,

    and forthwith manufacture creeds for the world at large , and for generations yet unborn . It is pitiful , too , to observe the immense , the allabsorbing importance men attach to mere doctrinal points . Pulpits teem with denunciations of this dogma , and eulogies of that , as if believing or disbelieving them were the most vital thing in the world . The amount of evil produced by this teaching is enormous . Seeing so much made of mere belief , men come to substitute it for religion itself , and thousands of professing Christians fancy themselves to be all that the Bible requires , because orthodox in doctrine .

    For a season various sects have merged minor differences to combat the common foe—Popery ; yet let this danger be over , and then as heretofore we shall find their weekly , and monthly organs , *« British Bulldogs , " and «• Zion Trumpets , " with the numerous heads of sects , fighting tooth , and nail for the triumph of doctrines they cannot render intelligible , and men cannot comprehend ; frequently forgetting that men have souls , in their zeal to do battle for formularies and creeds . If religion would become a great fact—if it would obtain hold of the national mind—Sectarian

    differences must become of less importance and divine truths of more . Men may believe any or all the doctrines in the world , and not be a whit the better for doing so . Let such commands as this be enforced and practised , " Do justly , lovemercy , and walk humbly with , thy God , " and we should have less fanaticism , but more pure religion , while creeds and doctrines might be safely left to be arranged between man and his Maker . If religion is to progress its professors must labour more to make men good and wise , instead of unthinking zealots . Yours , & c , A Yorkshire Churchman .

    Social Reform. Dec. 10,1850. Sir, — Allo...

    SOCIAL REFORM . Dec . 10 , 1850 . Sir , — Allow Jtne to majk e a few observations on some positions in Mr . Forster ' s letters on Social Reform , which seem to me erroneous . In Mr . Forster ' s fourth , letter he appears to attribute the excess of population over production to deficient agriculture , when the fact surely is that this evil arises from the limited extent of the earth ' s surface . While land

    does not encrease , and population is continually encrcasing , there always must be an excess of population over production " , unless some means be found to keep down the former . No improvement in agriculture can make up this deficiency , for this improvement can only be carried to a certain extent . Fertilizing agency , employed beyond a certain point , causes not an encrease , but" a decrease , of food ; the result is rank and unfruitful—plenty of straw and but little wheat .

    Again , the obvious objection that the employment found by the Slate will interfere with the private employer is not at all satisfactorily answered by Mr . Forster in his fifth , letter . The persons to be employed , be it remembered , are the surplus population . If their labour be thrown into the market already fully supplied with labour , it must lower the rate of wages , and , by encreased production , bring down the price of the article produced . Added to which , additional capital being introduced into the same sphere , interest will also be lowered . Hencethe result will be a reduction of wages , profit , and interest to the several parties concerned . This supposes the capital which is not likel

    employed to the best advantage , y to be the case , as the Government does not employ its own money , but that derived from the taxpayers , and has not , therefore , so great a motive to lay out this capital to advantage as the private capitalist who employs his own money . Either , therefore , wages , profits , and interest will be lowered , or capital will be wasted on unprofitable labour . Mr . Forster says that , if the paupers produce nothing , the ratepayer will suffer no greater loss than now , when tho pauper is unproductive . This , 6 urely , is not true , for there will be the additional loss of the money taken from the ratepayer for carrying out an unproductive experiment , whether a farm or a factory .

    All such attempts to intcifere with the usual course of things arc productive of no real good to society at large : it is a species of tinkering ; if you mend a hole in one place , you make another elsewhere . A remarkable instance of this kind of oversight occurs in a letter in the Daily Neios , on the employment of the paupers of the Cork Union in making their own clothing : — " Formerly , " says tho writer , " these fabrics were manufactured in England and Scotland , and purchased for houses here , where they

    were retailed ; so that ; the manufacture of them at present by the paupers cannot be said to interfere with the profits of the local trader" ! What ! not when the Cork retailers cease to soil the articles now manufactured in the union ? And arc not the profits of the English and Scotch munufacturers and the wages of their workmen interfered with by the paupers making their own clothing ? Unless I hove misunderstood the writer , a more extraordinary violation of logic cannot be imagined . # # I cannot conclude without expressing my conviction that the popular doctrine of the day about the duty

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 21, 1850, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21121850/page/13/