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Leader (1850-1860), 27th August 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13

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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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      ¦ . ¦ , T ¦¦ - . ¦•' . . ¦.- .¦ ¦ No. 49...

      ¦ . ¦ , t ¦¦ - . ¦•' . . ¦ .- . ¦ ¦ No . 492 . Aua . 27 . 1859-1 THE XEADEB . . 985 ~—^^^^^^^^^ M ^ MMMM ^ W ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^—^ m ^^^ m ^^^^^^^^ " ^^^^^^^^*^^^^^^ ¦

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      B ft STTBSCRIPTION TO « THE LEADER . " ONE GUINEA PER YEAR , UNSTAMPED , PREPAID . ( Delivered Gratis . ) ^ NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS , for publication , but as a guarantee of his good [™™ ^ ^ EIiS ^^! fS , SiH ^ $£ quite independent of the ' merits 0 ? the commumca-We ^ annot undertake to return rejected communications ^ OFFICE , NO . , CATHERINE-STREET , STBAND , W . C .

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      Saturday, August 27, 1859. ¦¦

      SATURDAY , AUGUST 27 , 1859 . ¦¦

      29 Tvttit Ql4v*V * • {P' Tl-Ultx[ " ≪&J^ Axvh* »¦ ' ,:

      §\ xhlii { affairs ,

      Thereis Nothing- So Revolutionary, Becau...

      Thereis nothing- so revolutionary , because there is nothing « o unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep thing-s fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dn . Arnold . ¦ . .- ¦

      ¦ ¦ .. . ¦ ' ¦ » : . Italian Progress. B...

      ¦ ¦ .. . ¦ ' ¦ » : . ITALIAN PROGRESS . Before the recent Italian war It was the custom with , those sham Mends of liberty who deprecate all great changes , whether right or wrong , to speak of the Italians as unfit for freedom , and destitute pf those moral qualities on which national independence must rest . The behaviour of "Venice and of Rome during the struggles of the last revolutionary period ought to nave been . proof enough of the absurdity of tins defamation of a race to which civilisation is so profoundly indebted ,

      • " _^ — ' - . «¦ m ' . . « ' a * « < . _ ¦ ances of honourable conduct which have been so repeatedly given . He may wish to see a Bonaparte occupying a throne in Central Italy ; but , unless forced into antagonism by the misconduct of other powers , it is improbable that he will incur the general hatred of Europe by forcibly OTer-riding the declared wishes of the people . His interest is to come handsomely out of the Italian war . This Villafranca peace satisfied nobody , and in France as well as out of it , produced the impression of incompleteness , if not of entire failure . Now , there is a chance that diplomacy , well backed by force , may induce Austria to make further concessions , and recognise a settlement of Italy which , if not final , will be good in

      itself , and show the way to further progress . It is In vain to hope anything from the good feeling or the honour of the Hapsburg Court . Its conduct in the Venetian territory is that of shameless tyranny and spoliation ; it behaves like a burglar in temporary possession , not like a sovereign at home in his dominions , and no potentate ever fathomed a deeper gulf of disgrace than did Francis Joseph when he offered to drive an Imperial jew bargain with the people of Venice , and promised them liberty if they would become parties to the compulsory restoration of the deposed potentates ^ Tuscany and the Duchies . No dynasty has violated so many promises as that of Austria , and the Italians know-full well that they can enjoy no

      safety while the power of overthrowing the hands of their unscrupulous foe . Some security might indeed arise if the character of the Austrian Government were changed by the promised reforms , but no one believes any valid improvements will be effected until popular power has grown too strong to be withstood . In the army of Sardinia , in the League of Central Italy , and the forces under Garibaldi , w . e see the commencement of a strong physical organisation that may make Austria pause before she renews a conflict that could not for the second time be restricted within such narrow limits ; and if the Emperor of the French is earnest in his proposal for a European Conference , it should be regarded as a sign of sincerity , as Russia and Ehgcertain to ort the hts

      land would be pretty supp rig of the Italians against the pretensions of the Court of Austria and its adherents , while Prussia could not oppose their constitutionally declared will without establishing a principle inconsistent with her own hopes of becoming the head of a United Germany . The conduct of ' the-Emperor of the French will be more bewildering than ever if he should follow up his unconditional amnesty by a flagrant attack upon the liberties of Italy , such as wotild he involSed in the forcible imposition of rulers whom they refused to accept . Had a republican outbreak occurred instead of the moderate monarchical course adopted in the Chambers of Tusqany and Modena , he would have had an excuse for putting it down , but not the faintest pretence can be sustained that the cause of order has been

      injured by the patriotic and prudent course which the Italians have pursued . To invite back to France thousands of deeply-injured individuals who will publish throughout the land the horrible Sufferings under which so many of their companions perished in the deserts of Al geria or the swamps of Cayenne , and to give vigour to their complaints by plunging the Empire into a now sea of crime , would be an act of aimless folly not reasonable to expect . The natural anticipation is that the amnesty is intended to bo the commencement of proceedings calculated to remove some of the odium attached to the Imperial rule . Our Government ie justified in thus regarding it , and the French Emperor is additionally entitled to frank and fail' treatmont in his , Italian policy .

      and whose misfortunes could be clearly traced to the prolonged meddling of extraneous ]) owers , and the consequent obstruction of the natural process by which unity is obtained . But we have now no need to make any reference to past times , or to conjecture from the conduct of a few cities how valid are the claims of the Italians to the enjoyment of their own beautiful country , and the management of their own affairs . Nearly eleven millions of people in Sardinia , Lombardy , Tuscany , and the Duchies , have exhibited a steadfastness of purpose , a moderation , in the use of suddenly

      acquired power , and a unity of feeling which has won the respect and commanded the admiration of Europe , even more than the chivalrous valour displayed in battle , or the dignified modesty with which their military glory has been worn . Not less worthy of commendation has been the attitude of the sadly disappointed Venetians , and of the inhabitants of Pnpal legations , still smarting under atrocities that might have excused the outburst of a wild spirit of revenge . The whole of Northern Italy has proved its capacity for , and right to self-government , and most wisely have all old jealousies been forgotten , all visions

      of republics put aside , in order to do the best practicable thing of the day—effect a union under a King who has made himself the legitimate centre of Italian hopes . ^ It may be said that Victor Emmanuel is ambitious , but surely it is a good thing to find a kihjg who in a time of suffering and danger does cherish the noble ambition of being the political saviour of his race . No man who was not ambitious could bo fit for the occasion , and the sort of persons who blamo the Sardinian sovereign for the kind of ambition

      that he has displayod would , if they had lived in other times , have blamed tho ambition of Alfred to rescue England from the Danos . The Italians ' and their chosen King aro clearly entitled to tho support of Europe , in order that tho doctrino of nou -intervention , which has been , so long talked about , shall at length bo carried out ? and , if England , Russia ana Prussia con agree to maintain the causQ of publio justice , no circumstance was yet occurred to wax'rant tho expectation that the French Emperor will depart from the ft 8 uur »

      ' D _. 1 —»*¦. «H«* _ «4 ' «^L^ * S\ W*M...

      ' d _ . 1 —»*¦ . « h «* _ « 4 ' «^ l ^ * S \ W * m 4 * 1 * j-i *¦*»•* *^^ * »^ r ^ il «* v * *^'_— - * « 4 * L _ »_ . _ Palmer , in which the criminal moves througii circumstances of mystery , surrounded by what vulgar minds take for a halo of romance , and keeps brains puzzling , and hearts throbbing , and betting books going , until the verdict is given , the sentence passed , and the convict is suspended upon society ' s great educational apparatus which is to mollify hearts and dulcify manners until the reign of force is at end . The Smethurst case scarcely came up to the mark in the minds of those who suffer under a moral jail fever ,. and look out as eagerly for an exciting murder as a Murray-taught tourist the mountains

      watches for a sunrise among , or a well mounted squire for a dashing fox . Some sense of disappointment with the case will account for much of the ferocity with which j udge , jury , doctors , and chemists have been abundantly attacked . It was not easy to make a pet of Dr . Smethurst , for , most of the assailants of the legal machinery brought to bear against him unite in believing him guilty , and not a single circumstance was elicited at his trial to indicate a redeeming feature , or the faintest suspicion of palliation . His conduct was not that of a fond admirer , " loving not wisely but too well ; " his crime was not the could he lead

      aberration of a noble nature , nor p the excuse of brutifying circumstances , such as surround the dwellers in unventilated courts and alleys , who are exposed from birth to an atmosphere of physical and moral filth ; and thus the only thing left for those who were discontented with this cause celebre , was to assail various details in the process by which the decision was obtained . The most absurd piece of fault-finding is with the promptitude of the jury at the close of the scene ; the writers strangely ignoring the days of patient attention , which there is no reason to doubt were followed by anxious nights of thought . Other grumblers pour out their wrath upon the Lord Chief Baron , who may , in one or two particulars , have been < milty of inadvertence , but whose

      summing up was , in the main , both fair and able , although it undoubtedly showed plain enough the bias of his own mind . Some of these , critics appear to mistake vacuity for impartiality , and would have judges either to form no opinion at all , or hypocritically conceal it . It is a fair ground of complaint if a judge substitutes rhetoric for logical arrangement of' facts or if he omits important incidents or perverts evidence ; but it is impossible to sum up a long complicated case in a clear , intelligible way without forming an opinion of some kind , and efforts to conceal such opinion would not leave the case without prejudice in the hands of the jury , but would infallibly throw into it elements of bewilderment and confusion .

      It is not difficult to see the process by which the jury arrived at their conclusion , and it will appear the best they could adopt . The scientific evidence was incomplete . Twelve ordinary men could not implicitly rely upon portions of Professor Taylor's analysis where he was probably right , after the awkward confession that the arsenic he found in one bottle had been supplied by himself in the copper which he used . The quantity of arsenic usually present in copper does not appear to bo sufficient to nttect tho result in the ordinary operation of what is called Reinsch ' s test , part of which consists in boiling tho liquid suspected to contain

      arsenic with a little muriatic acid and a piece ot bright copper . A professed analyst , ¦ however , ought to have remembered , and especially in a case Of life and death , that many substances would dissolve tho copper fast enoug h to vitiate his conclusion , and to us it appears inexcusable that any impure article should have been used m vn extremely delicate inquiry , upon which such awful consequences depended . Whatever excuses Professor Taylor and his friends may make , the chemica ! evidence , after one important admission of m ? o _ atn + Omnnt and blundering , could only be

      re-MURDER AND SCIENCE . Du Quincy considered murder as a fine art , and , thus contemplated , gave the palm , not to those skilful notices to quit this vale of tears which mediaeval poisoners served upon their unconscious victims in tho shape of aqua to / ana or some similar compound , but to tlie brutal and terrific catastrophe that overwhelmed the family of Mr . Muor . Tho spread of polite learning has unhappil y not yet deprived us of the class of atrocity to which the last-named event belongs , but the favourite artiolo for home consumption , which sells the largest number of penny papers , and demands its separate editions and copies by the million , is ft good , poisoning oaso like tUftt of

      ffardod as aflbrding a probability that required cor-? obomtion L oW facts . The inedica ! evidence for the prosecution , although free from any stam like that which rests upon tho chemical portion , could not in itself be doomed conclusive , and , separated from the conduct of Smothurst , would not--, certainly ought not-rto have been hold sufficient to establish the main fact that a poisoning had taken plaoo , although it would have justified a very high degree of suspicion . In spite or tne opinions of certain doctors wUo did not see tho oase , we must believe that' tho symptoms did not ooinoido with known forms of disease ; ' but , on the .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 27, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27081859/page/13/