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    *A« THE LEADER. [No. 414, February 27,18...

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    THE IKISH VICE-KING. At.t. parties ia Du...

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    EXETER HALL AND CHESLYN HALL. If we atte...

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    A Pennyworth Of Assassination. The Entir...

    It has become necessary to > watch yrith the xttmost vigilance these ptocee & mgs ia oht cotrrte « f justice . Otherwise , Mr . Jakotice may go too far in treating alleged misdemeanour as felony , Mr . Henry in construing general arguments into personal libels , and Mr . Bodkin in ' hoping that no Government will know its duty so ill' as not to hunt down the antagonists of the Trench Empire with precipitate severity . Then comes the question of tyrannicide . ^ We need not repeat our Belief that assassination is not to he justified upon any grounds whatever . "We will not admire Jael , or Ehud , Brutus , B , avaii . lac , or Chacklotxb Corday . " We do not want to see earthly justice executed by Harmodius in default

    of CBoatWEiJi , or by Orsini in default of the French nation . " We may commiserate the desperate selfdevotion of Milano , and recognise the solitary fanaticism of Pianoki ; even the captive who escapes by stabbing his guard volunteers a doubtful responsibility . But this is , and ever has been , an open question—one that may be leg itimately discussed , and one that has been decided in the negative or in the affirmative by a hundred different controversialists . Now , where is the liberty of debate to end ? According to Mr . Bodkin and Mr . Henry , when Louis Nafo : lbon ia assailed—for the Treasury

    does not protect the Kf-ng of Nahjbs from unmistakable and undenied instigations to the assassin . This pamphlet , then , " advocates the propriety of assassination , and , in terms not , indeed , direct , bat not to be misunderstood , applies this doctrine to the Emperor of the French . " Bat we have lately received from the ex-Attomey-General a lesson in the art of reasoning . If , said that honourable and learned gentleman ( and the Ministers cheered him ) , M . Wai £ ASTski writes an unpleasant letter , and immediately afterwards a Bill suggested in that letter is announced by tke British Government , it

    does not follow , by any means , thai the one circumstance results from the other . Then , what becomes of Mr . Bodkin ' s logic ? Mr- Apams , not having studied the science of allusive and piercing calmness , more powerful than invective , says , " Here is a monster of cruelty , loathsome from the odour of human blood , and the excess of inhuman ; crime , a Tibekius , a Caligula , a Nero . " Who can this be , says Mr . Bodkin , if not IiOUis Navoleon ? Louis Napoleon will lae much obliged to him .

    lut , Mr . Bodkin will say , Mr . Adams mentions > aris—where Fieschi exploded his infernal mahine;—but then the parallel , he would add , is not omplete , for Louis Phiiippe did not massacre the eople . until the conduits ran , not with claret , as at he English Restoration , but with blood , theBoNAarte baptism . We cannot but regard this prosecution as inamous , and as degrading to our courts of justice . Ye should say that a grand jury would throw out he bill of indictment j Jbut , at all events , it is inredible that a jury will convict Mr . Truelove , specially as M . Zbno Swtetoslawski is unmoested , although he is reported to have declared ast Monday , at a public meeting , that * Obsini was _ A- L A , -A ¦ - jMmAm # f IlLfe 4 FIIhAA VA ¦¦¦¦ F « T 1 I I it assassin due win

    . __ _ » _ - _ _^ - _ — — . _ . ^ «* an a patriot . xne xreaaury ert itself in vain if it undertakes to suppress esc doctrines by force of law . It only covers elf with ridicule , and brings the police magisites into contempt . Every Englishman who lues his personal liberty or that of the presa , will sist am innovation so ludicrous and so detestable ; liie the Government pan do nothing but make a artyr . and » popular man : of Mr . Trublovb , stead of leaving him and Mr . Adams to deelaim i the duty of tyrannicide on the plea that , in kriiculjtr eases , killing is not murder but execuon . Very Usvr Englishmen think so ; , but all have right to think and say so if they please . We are ) t concerned to say a word in favour of the

    rudence or propriety , the wisdom or the courage f Mr , W . E . Adams ' s lucubrations , which , we are lformed , a well-known publisher in fleet-street , of jumpeacbably democratic' opinions , very judiicioosly declined to publish , in the belief that uch » pamphlet at such a moment was neither lolitic nor courageous , but , on the contrary , calulateU ^ to ^ eaa ? = if ^ it ^ idiculous charges and conclusions on the part of he French authorities Against the British nation . Jut the folly of dragging into the light of national iU 9 ceptibility and continental jealousy a penny ndworetion of a True iovb , demands our notice aa i stnw that shows the- direction of the wind . Let w hop « that with the new ministry the wind may riowr < free but not unfriendly , towards , and not / frwi , Imperial France .

    *A« The Leader. [No. 414, February 27,18...

    * A « THE LEADER . [ No . 414 , February 27 , 1858 .

    The Ikish Vice-King. At.T. Parties Ia Du...

    THE IKISH VICE-KING . At . t . parties ia Dublin seem to agree in protesting against the removal of the " Viceroy . Conservatives and Democrats equally love the tinsel of the Court —one party because it illustrates the divine right of kings , the other because it gives employmentjust as in Epaesus the supporters of Diana were divided into devotees and silversmiths . It is curious enough to find Irish patriotism asserting that this refic of a time when Ireland was held by an English army ( the Viceroy has still a military style , and retains aides-de-camp ) is essential to the dignity of Ireland . If the Scotch had objected to James I . leaving Edinburgh we could understand the national objection , for in that time the King was a power , and their King was a Scotchman ; but the Dublin folk object to give up a Vice-King with nominal power , and that Vice-King an Englishman . Is Dublin so poor that it requires a British Earl to give it dignity and splendour ?

    One of the Irish arguments is , that the abolition is another measure of centralization . In that lightif it can be truly viewed in that light—the proposal has decided demerits to counterbalance the advantages of removing this mimic Court . There has been too mucli taking into our own hands of the management of Irish affairs , which are iu every way distinct enough from those of England to warrant a distinct administration . Home Office officials , no matter how closely the telegraph and rail may connect Downing-street and Dublin , are overburdened enough without the additional trouble of manaerine Irish business , and if our overworked

    House of Commons could relegate to Dublin some of its Irish local affairs , it would be a real boon . Indeed , it is questionable whether O'Connell would , not have won a real and very practical Repeal if he liad devoted himself to showing Englishmen how a local Parliament in Dublin would save our members many unintelligible debates and much wearisome committee work . In this view , any transfer of the Viceroyalty , if understood as a removal of the Chief Secretary ' s work to the Home Office , would be objectionable . But we do not so understand Mr . Roebuck ' s motion . His intent , we take it , is simply to remove the representative of

    royalty , not to absorb the separate administration . The Chief Secretary and his staff would remain doing exactly the same kind of work as at present , excepting the appearance at levees and the dancing attendance at Viceregal balls . For instance , there is an Irish Treasury : nominally the Paymaster of Civil Services Office . It is retained clearly for purposes of administration , and not ia deference to any popular feeling , for , owing to its obscurity of work , its removal would be scarcely known in Dublin . When the Treasury shows no desire to absorb this Irish branch of itself , why should the Home Office -wish to absorb the office that would do its work for it in Ireland , and with the increased facility acquired through local knowledge ? If , however , we are wrong , if Mr . Roebuck , or the

    English Government contemplate a centralization of work in Downiing-street , then the Dublin citizens are quite right in raising a loud protest , and if the protest is put forward without exaggeration , they will find it echoed in England . The argument that the Viceroyalty is useful to the tradesmen of Dublin we may dismiss with a smile . The day is passed for getting up pageants to put money into the pockets ot any tradesmen in any town . The theory of protection to certain sets of workers is too old for the latter half of the nineteenth century . Some timo ago the laoeworkers of England suffered a terrible loss owing to the new regulation as to military tunics ; some twenty thousand poraons were thrown out of employment . No reasonable Englishman proposed the retention of the lace on behalf of the women employed in its

    manufacture and yet the Dublin tradesmen expect that a tinsel Court should bo kept up for their profit . If it were true that the Viceroy and his Court gave a good tone to the society of Dublin ( as some people say ) , one might indulge a little sentimental regret at any Act of Parliament that would J -eclin 8 e-the-harmIe 88-gaietyi-of ^ DubIin—But-those who know Dublin society , doubt very much whether the removal of the Viceroy would cost any gloom over the dinner parties in Merrion-square , or the p leasant daiujes in Rathminea . True , Lord Carlisle is an excellent , dancer ; his polking is said , ' authority , ' to bo faultless , and his sehoU ische has caused a sonsation in Stephon ' s-grccn . The brighteyed girla of Dublin may ' slied some natural tears' at losing the middfo-aged Adonis of the

    Whigs , but even were he tmretjlaced by BcftMr * toun , famous at the billiard-table aad in mock chivalry , they would surely aot refuse to be comforted . People who take a more serious view of Dublin society hold , and' not unreasonably , that the little Cpurt is productive of & great deal of littleness . The Irish , with their many virtues , have an especial Irish fault—the sacrifices of home comfort for appearances , and this fault has been encouraged by the presence of a Court which gave an excellent opportunity for display . It is natural for the wealthy aristocracy of England to spend their mornings at a Drawing-room , or Levee , and their evenings at a Court ball ; but

    there is no wealthy aristocracy in Dublin . Not a single Irish nobleman resides for three months in the year in Dublin ; it is not the resort in the season of the rich Irish gentry , as London is of the English country magnates ; and , with the exception of Lord Charlemont , the Duke of Leinster , and perhaps one or two more , no Irish nobleman retains a town house in the Irish metropolis . The Court , therefore , is chiefly attended by the military officers and professional men—and we can easily understand that the jealousies , and precedences , and ceremonies of a little Court are not favourable to

    pleasant society among the wives and daughters of hard-working professional men . We cannot well imagine our own leaders of the bar crowding and pushing , and sending their daughters to crowd and ! push , at the levee of Lord Salisbury , who happens to be Lord Lieutenant Of Middlesex . If Lord Salisbury established such a levee , we should be somewhat amazed to see him receive our sisters and sweethearts by kissing them on the cheek ; and we can share the laughter of the House of Lords , when they were asked to imagine Lord Cardigan going through that operation with four or five score of ladies , from the widow of fifty to the damsel of

    fifteen . . The most sensible observers of society in DuWia consider that there would be an immediate improvement were the Court removed . The men of science and of professional eminence would then take natural rank , and the entree at the Castle , accorded sometimes for political or personal motives , woold no longer be obtruded as a letter of recommendation . Edinburgh has no Court , yet ia literary eminence it surpasses Dublin , while its social circles have long enjoyed a high tone . Such an example should to rational of Dublin

    give courage some men , to resist the cry of despair at the threatened departure of the Viceroy . When James I . tlureatened to remove the Court from London , the citizens humbly requested him not to remove the river Thames . Have the Dublin folk no irremovable natural advantages to counterbalance the possible waning of the full-moon of Lord Caelislb ' s genial face , or the absence of some Tory peer set over them because he has engaging manners , or * chivalrous' antecedents , or abilities of a singularly vinadministrative order ?

    Exeter Hall And Cheslyn Hall. If We Atte...

    EXETER HALL AND CHESLYN HALL . If we attempt to explain the hidden causes of all the disgraceful cases of commercial and professional delinquency with which the town pretends to havebeen shocked for the last few years , from Strahak and Paul down to the Brothers Hiauar and Cheslyn Hall , we shall Qnd nothing but this one obvious solution — the passion on all sides lot external appearances . The appearances may vary according to the tastes , habits , education , and environments of the different men , but the motive is in all cases the same . In the persoa of Sir Jorm Dean Paul the appearances took the form ot intense respectability—ostentatious piety—regard for the heathen of all denominations , first stones ot chapels , and white neckcloths of snowy purity shining from the interior of the glowing ianuly chariot . Sir John lived up to the standard oi ms neighbours , for to have done less would have been moan , stingy , poor , shabby-genteel ; and to have done more would have been brilliant , but un--vnrrantably extravagant . Not wishing to bo considered a ' merchant prince' on the one hand , or an ' old hunks ' on the other , Sir John very properly , aTfonifaTiie ' lv i ^^ society . ' It was this « positioin in society' thut was-! , ho predisposing cause , and the irritant ot ins Iroublos . 11 ' his standard of living had been pitoiica upon a lower scale—if ho had walked about IM > streets of London under a decent umbrella—it » £ li < ad removed to a suburban cottage aud had turned Ilia back upon dinner-parties—how long would a i ij ft upon the old bank in the Strand have beta avericttr

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 27, 1858, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27021858/page/14/