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    January 24,1857.] THE LEADBB. 87

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    The American Mission.—Mr. Benjamin Mo'ra...

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    Shall Turkey Be Kegenera.Te ? ( To The E...

    n eighbours , is not very likely to take much trouble to lead a godly , righteous , and sober life . And com-Humftiea are governed by precisely the same principles and natural laws as individuals . Turkey , we are told , is guaranteed by foreign bayonets against all apprehension of external danger , -while the conduct of her internal administration is confided to a statesman imbued with theEuropean notions of polity , and particularly well affected towards this country . Ergo , there is every reason to anticipate the inauguration of a happier era , and the progress of a Christianized civilisation .

    I am afraid , sir , that a directly opposite result xaay be more truly predicted ; and in support of this conviction , I appeal to the experience afforded by the so-called independent States of India , under exactly similar circumstances . It -will be more convenient to alLude to one instance only in this place , though there is no lack of tempting examples ; but , at this moment , the case of the kingdom of Oude is the most familiar to the English public . Here there ¦ was a fertile and populous country , peopled by a fine , manly race , and possessed of great natural resources , guaranteed against foreign aggression , and—at least in . the time of Lord William Bentinck—ruled by an honest and able Minister , cordially supported by the

    Resident . Some little improvement did certainly take place , but the change was quite ephemeral . "Within a very few years the Minister was ignomiuiously disraiseed , through the intrigues of those whose corrupt practices he had exposed and repressed . As it happened to him , so will it be with Kedschid Pacha . It is scarcely possible that the Sultan , the Minister , and the Ambassador shall maintain for any lengthened period an uninterrupted co-operation . -Points of difference are certain to arise , when -the Minister will hardly fail to offend one , or both of his patrons : in either case his downfai , will inevitably follow , and , falling , he will drag down the edifice he was so laboriously constructing .

    But it is not merely within the limits of our Indian Empire that we need search for parallel instancesthey also occur in the old times of Roman supremacy . How often did those conquerors content themselves with a nominal conquest . They left the king on his throne , secured him from all danger from , without , and allowed him to govern his people after his own fashion . And what was the result ? Free from all anxiety as to the safety of his throne , and at the same time sensible of the degradation implied in his very security , he resigned himself to sensual

    indulgences , and abandoned his subjects to the rapacity and arrogance of his subordinates , until the Romans were compelled to interfere and lay the phantom , as they had previously destroyed the substance , of independent power . It is true , Turkey has not been nominally subdued by any other state , but it is equally true she is held in pupilage by many states , each striving to be her chief guardian and director . And in the selfish intrigues of the different European Ambassadors , the various candidates for the Wuzeerut will seek their own

    advancementeach regardang that alliance as the most desirable which forwards his own individual views , while the interests of the country and the welfare of the people will be utterly ignored , or used only as a stalkinghorse . Besides all this , the elements of decay have been steadily developing from the time when the tide of conquest av . is stayed , and the fervour of fanaticism began to wane . The practice of polygamy is , in itself , fatal to the generation of a . free , manly people —the more so when women are treated as mere female animals . There is little hope of a man whose first lesson in life is to despise hia mother , and his second to purchase a brood-woman . So long as the

    Turks were in a position to obtain mothers for their children arms in hard , the evil was not so sensibly felt . Their wives captured in war from the Christian nations were generally superior to themselves in mental capacity as well ns in physical organization . And from tlie mixed parentage it race was produced little , if at all , degenerate from their warlike ancestors , who overran so large a portion of three continents . But when the capture of female prisoners became of rare occurrence , the O ttoman stock rapidly declined ; and so sensible were they themselves of this fact , that they lost all confidence in their own pxowess . and trusted to Janissaries or Mamelukes for the maintenance of their power . These props also

    nave now tailed them ; nnd it is vain to shore up the tottering edifice with protocols , or to bind it together with red tape . TIio sapless trunk puts forth no green boughs , even in an " Indian summer "—tristc lignum , certain to fall with a crash in the first hurricane that B-weops over the plains , and threatening destruction to all within its reach . The wise landlord would cut it down , dijr up the roots , . and plant in its stead a healthy sapling . To expect to impart vigour to this bedridden Turkey is about as reasonable ns to ask two Wizard of the North for the Maclean prescription to convert age into youth . Alas ! tho fountain of Jouvnnco" has long since dried up even in minstrels imagination , or its waters might bo found serviceable elsewhere than in Turkey .

    Grand dommage est que cecy soit somettes ; Filles connoys qui ne sont pas jeunettes , A qui cette eau de Jouvance viendroit . Apologizing for the extreme length of this communication , I remain , sir , your obedient servant , J . H .

    January 24,1857.] The Leadbb. 87

    January 24 , 1857 . ] THE LEADBB . 87

    The American Mission.—Mr. Benjamin Mo'ra...

    The American Mission . —Mr . Benjamin Mo ' ran has been appointed by President Pierce Assistant-Secretary of the American Legation at London . The office of Assistant-Secretary is newly created , and is , we believe ,

    intended to oe permanent , partly in order to serve as a connecting link for the proceedings of the Legation on the change . of the Minister and the Secretary . Considerable car « , therefore , was exercised in selecting the first occupant for the office . Mr . Moran . was private secretary to Mr . Buchanan when that gentleman was American Minister to this Court . For the last four months of MCr . Buchanan's stay Mr . Moran was Secretary of Legation pro iempore , and for the last eight months lie has been Yice-Consul of the United States at London . — Globe .

    A JoiiUrrcATiosr , and What it led to . —The case of " Smith v . Lakenaan" was gone into before the Lords J ustices of Appeal in the Court of Chancery on Monday . The dispute relates to an account of 10 , 000 shares in the Liberty Mining Company , -winch Captain Smith , of Virginia , int the United States , placed in the hands of Mr . Lakeman to dispose of , and upon which transaction Captain Smith claims to be entitled to 9000 ? ., or more , while , on th . e part of Mr . Lakeman , it is insisted that the Captain is a . debtor to him in a larger amount . Captain Smith alleges that on the 19 th of February , 1855 , he went to the Adelphi Theatre with Mr . Lakeman , and tlat afterwards they both adjourned to No . 3 , Parkplace , Regent ' s Park ( near Hanover-gate ) , where , after

    drinking wine and partaking of supper , the Captain , being overcome by the festivity , was helped to bed by a man servant in livery , who called him early next morniaig , and , upon repairing to the dining-room , Mr . Lakeman obtained from him his signature to a statement of account -which lie , Captain Smith , now declares was grossly incorrect in many respects . Two "ladies" -were in the house on the night of the 19 th of February ; and they appear to have conducted themselves with not a little freedom . Captain Smith , in his cross-examination , said that lie left the house as soon as he could after breakfast on the following morning . He had been there

    once since , and that was to leave a 2 07 . note for one of the '' ladies , " wlio passed as the wife of Mr . Lakeman , who at that time , © r in that house , was called Captain Marknam . He did not remember ever again to have seen the other " lady . " Mr . Lakeman contended that Captain Smith had dishonestly influenced the market-with reference to tie shares of the Liberty Mining Company . This was denied by the other . Their Loidships finallydetermined that they could not settle the dispute without the assistance of a court of law , and expressed their regret that Captain Smith , after a delay of three years , should be put to the additional inconvenience of awaiting another trial .

    The Ba ^ kuuftcy Leopold Redpath . —Redpath - \ vas brouglit up on Monday to pass his examination . The court was crowded to see him ; and he is described "by the reporters as a brawny , athletic man , nearly six feet high , and looking more like a stage-coach driver , or frequenter of prize fights , than a gentleman accustomed to move in elegant circles . He had intimated his intention not to answer any questions that might bo put to him touching his estate and effects . No accounts had been filed , and it was therefore determined to adjourn sine die , a private meeting being held in the mean-while An Extejipore Clergyman . —A singular fact came out on Monday in the Insolvent Debtors' Court . The

    Rev . Joseph Charles Edwards , a clergyman of the Church of England , applied to bo discharged from prison , -where he had been confined since the 15 th of last February . His total debts amounted to 4206 ? ., for 920 / . of which he had received no consideration . lie had officiated in various places , and had eked out hia income by writing in magazines and newspapers , and by composing pamphlets , for ono of which , on the right of Jews to sit in Parliament , he had received ono hundred and fifty guineas from Mr . Alderman Salomons . In tho course of tho proceedings , the insolvent desired to ask a few questions of Mr . Mason , an attorney -who had conducted somo previous proceedings in tho matter at York , and who was himself a creditor of Mr . Edwards . Tho first

    interrogation was as follows ;—" Did you over officiate in the pulpit of a Church of England bcoauso a client of yours had been arrested and taken to York Castle ?" Mr . Mason : " 1 decline to answer . "— " Did you not put on tho hands and gown of a minister , and in them ascend tho pulpit , mid then read to the congregation a written sermon ? " Mr . Mason : " I decline to answer . "— " Did you not go to tho Archbishop of York , and confess what you hud done ? " Mr . Mason : I have already Haiti , I decline to answer . " Insolvent : " Then , your Honour , I think , if a man . could bo guilty of auch conduct in tho house of God , I may look with complacency upon any opposition ho may attempt t « make . " Tho Chief Commissioner : " Tie is not the first of the profusion who h ( cs done such a tiling . " This ia really startling news for church-goers . When you fancy you aro listening to the Apostolic eloquence

    of the . Rev . Mr . Sawder , you may in fact be simply beiooled . by the Old Bailey advocacy of some gentleman of the long robe . —The case -was adjourned , the schedule requiring amendment . The insolvent , it appeared , had recklessly incurred debts at a time when he knew he was unable to pay . ML Kossuxa ; delivered , on Monday , in the Lowe * Hall , Ashton , under the presidency of the Mayor , an address on " The Political State of Continental Europe . " St . Giles's , Cripflegate . —The dust and ashes of John Milton have been said to lie within , a very old building , which goes by the name of St . Giles ' s Church , Cripplegate . The vestry of the parish ia which this church stands have memorialised the Dean and Chapter

    of St . Paul ' s , who are the patrons of the living , on the subject of a successor to Archdeacon Hale in the vicarage . They express a Lope that , looking at the present alarming spiritual destitution of the parish , the Dean and Chapter will select a gentleman who will consider the income of the living ( 1500 / . a year ) a sufficient remuneration for his services without retaining any other preferment whatever , and who will , by residing among his parishioners , and by his encouragement of schools and societies calculated to promote the social and religious welfare of the people , show a deaire to ameliorate existing evils , and improve the moral and sparitual condition of the large and populous parish . TV ' s all know what Milton said against the ' hirelings of the Church ; ' and what the vestry evidently want is , that

    their pastor should not be a pluralist and a hireling . There is , unfortunately , a necessity for them to say so . Milt-On has been dead for some one hundred and seventy years , and we are glad steps are taken whereby his ashea may at least repose in peace . —Morning Star . The Blasting Operations in Holyhead Harbousj . —TJie stupendous operations by which enormous masses of the hardest kind of quartz rock are removed by gunpowder , to facilitate the works now going on at Holyhead Harbour , are proceeded with every now and then witB complete success . An explosion , on -avast scale took place on Friday -week . One hundred thousand tons of stone were on that occasion violently torn from the quarries in the adjacent mountain . Tlie object of this immense supply of rubble is to form the basis of the breakwater which is now in course of

    construction . . . - . ' ¦¦ ¦ .. ' The Representation op Southampton . — - Tie Board of Inland Revenue has restored Mr , Falvey , tie distributor of stamps , to his position , and great satisfaction , is felt throughout the town at the fact . Mr . Falvey was suddenly suspended about three weeks since , some one having lodged a complaint with the Board of his having spoken at one or two election meetings in support of Mr . Andrews ; and none of the events of the present protracted election contest have given l ) irth to more irritation and bitterness of feeling . The election will take place immediately upon the assembling of Parliament «

    . . Freehold Movement uflScoTLAND . —A movement was lately commenced in Edinburgh , and has since extended to other Scotch , towns , having for its objects the extension of the Parliamentary franchise to the proprietors in counties of freeholds yielding a clear rental of 40 s ., as in England ; the conferring on 40 s . freeholders witlin burghs the right to vote in their respective counties ; and the extension of the English system of registration to the Scottish counties , for whicl a bill was introduced last session , applicable both to- burghs aad counties , but which , being opposed by the Scotch county members , was then restricted to the burghs .

    The late Captain Graves , R . N . —The Council of Government at Malta lias voted a gratuity of 2001 . to Mrs . Graves , the widow of the late Captain Graves , K . N ., who , it will T > e recollected , was assassinated by a Maltese wh ile in the execution of his duty as Superintendent of the Ports . The Governor stated that Mrs . Graves had been granted a pension of 150 / . per annum from the Admiralty . Thiieis Casualties to Little Girls . —A little girl , the daughter o £ a grocer at Townend , Dewabury , has been killed by sucking the ends of lucifer matches . —A

    girl , about livo years old , -was found lying exhausted on the green at Townend , in Scotland . Every effort was nia < le to recover her , but she sank , Sho liad gono out with her grandmother , who ia upwards of eighty yeats of . ago , and whoso faculties are almost entirely gone . The two lost their way , and , lying down on the ground , slept there during the night . The next day , tho old woman waa found wandering about tho streets , drenclied to the akin . —A third girl , seven years of age , has b « en accidentally shot by her brother , who , after playing with a loaded pistol , suddenly let it fall , on which it explo-ded , causing the girl's death in a very short time .

    Thic Emi > jcuor ov Austria at Milan-. —Tho reception of the Kmpcror at Milan is described na extremely cold on tho part of the populace . They looked ou in silence . Lieutenant-Colonel Sisimondh , — Tho annual soiree of tho Bristol Athenaeum -was held on Wednesday evening . Tho attendance , was scarcely Icsb than 2000 persons , and ninongat those present waa Licutonant-Coloncl Simmons , her Majesty ' s military coiuinisHio > nor at the hond quartcru of Omcr Pacha . Hia recoptWm was extremely cordial . Lom > Naimkh . haa boon gazottod as our minister to th-c United States .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 24, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24011857/page/15/