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    1290 TH E LEA T> IE It. [No* 453, Novemb...

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    FAMILY DISUNION, £x is high time that ju...

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    No. 111. Three proposals may bo said to ...

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    Life Assurance In India. Of The Many Ind...

    It must be admitted , without question , by all inquirers of candour and liberality , that a calamity so -wholesale and so anomalous could never have been included in an actuary ' s calculation of probabilities . To have charged a premium for assurance against a revolt of the Sepoy array , and its atrocious results , would have been regarded ! a few years since as a lunatic provision on the part of directors , or as & a ti & warrantable extortion . But it may . be ' fairly asked whether the losses of the society oy this revolt are not justly chargeable upon the public

    exchequer or the revenues of India . Had a parallel chain of events occurred at our own doors , can any douht for one moment exist that ample restitution would have been obtainable from the State ?¦ And , can it be imagined just , then , because it is a far cry to Iiucknow and Delhi , to Meerat and Cawnpore , where these outbreaks arose against the commonwealth , and where damages accrued to its members , that those members , whether individuals or copartners , should be deserted by the community for which they have suffered and will still suffer ?

    Tne logical and respectful letter of the Company in question to tlie commissioners for investigating Indian chums , and adopted , it is to be presumed , by all others interested , contains the following paragraph : — The directors Bubmit that the policy already initiated by Sir John Lawrence should be adopted all over India , and that each district should be made to pay for losses ¦ arisini ; therein * The penalty of a pecuniary fine as the price of blood is a primal law and custom among

    Eastern nations . The infliction of such a fine on . a town or a tribe would at once be recognised by all nations of India as a just and proper punishment in the place where such a crime as murder had been peipetrated . On the other hand , if , while the insurgent districts are suffered to remain untaxed , the provident subscribers to this and similar institutions in this country are compelled to pay for misdeeds committed therein , then it is no exaggeration to sav that for the future a premium will be offered lo the murder of Englishmen in India , and a penalty inflicted on their industry and frugality .

    This appeal demands more than ordinary attention at the hands of the authorities ; for not oh sentimental or equitable grounds alone should the Cjovernmerit of India entertain this question . . Sound policy demands of them to recognise their liabilities promptly and efficiently . The State cancot honestly leave upon the shoulders of offices losses that were never contemplated in the contracts between those bodies and individuals , for which no extra premfunis were ever paid or received , aud to avoid which no premium at all was ever paid by the State itself . And were -even the foregoing arguments of no avail , it must be remembered that Efe assurance lias now become so great a necessity to the Anglo-Indian tliat any blow struck at the stability of the insurance interest , and any discredit thrown upon it , will be felt throughout the

    peninsula . Unless Indian officials can insure—insure with confidence , and insure at reasonable " peace " rates—the maintenance of both services at their present high level in point of education and social standing will be found a difficulty , unless Government itself either undertakes the business of assurance , or increases official salaries part passu with excessive and increasing premiums . In one or other shape , the rejection of these claims , as they arise , will surely entail anxiety upon the authorities who assume such a responsibility , and upon the Anglo-Indian community who will find . themselves debarred , or , at all events , interfered with , in the epjoyment of one of the commonest advantages of civilised life . So important does this matter appear , that we shall watch its progress with much interest .

    1290 Th E Lea T> Ie It. [No* 453, Novemb...

    1290 TH E LEA T > IE It . [ No * 453 , Novembeb 27 , 1858 .

    Family Disunion, £X Is High Time That Ju...

    FAMILY DISUNION , £ x is high time that justice should be done to one of tlie most misrepresented teachers of the human race . Ages have passed , away sinoe Procrustes expounded his doctrines , and enforced their practice on the Attio banks of the river Cepbisus . In the symbolic language of legendary lore , that great silent prophet possessed one bed , and one bed alone , on which he compelled all passers-by to repose symmetrically . The area of the bed was constant : the dimensions of the travellers various . One bed must suit all bodies . This was the fundamental article of tho Procrustean code . Given the bed , to make anybody suit it was tlie problem he proposed to solve . lake oil great discoveries , his solu tion . wa 3 eminently simple : all travellers who were too short were protracted to tho requisite dimensions by the application of the raokj all who were

    too tall had their superfluous limbs lopped off till they were brought down to the conventional standard . With the common fate of prophets , Procrustes had no honour in his own age and countrv ., He fell , indeed , a sacrifice to the force " of popular ignorance embodied in the form of Theseus . Tne faith , however , has survived the teacher . The doctrine expressed by the allegorical symbol of the Procrustean bed has framed strength and flourished . The other gods

    and heroes of heathendom are in exile and deposed , their faith discarded , their temples overthrown , and their worshippers dispersed ; old faiths have died out , new creeds have arisen , but the worship of Procrustes abides for ever . Theory is greater than fact , tie form is more than the substance—such is the interpretation of his creed . To the present hour that creed reigns supreme . In art , in politics , aud in religion we proclaim his doctrine and enforce his practice . W ~ have one bed , and ill-luck to those who are too tall or too short to suit its

    dimensions . Great indeed is our god Procrustes , and marvellous are his works ! It is , however , upon our matrimonial system that the stamp of the Procrustean creed is branded most indelibly . " Matrimony , " says the ritual of the Church of England , " was ordained for the mutual society , help , and comfort of husband and wife that the one ought to have of the other , both in prosperity and in adversity . " The doctrine is a beautiful one , aild when fact and theory are coincident , the practice is most excellent . Unfortunately the theory is at times not only inconsistent with , but antagonistic to , the facts * There are cases—not few nor far bet ween--when' the society of husband

    and of wife , instead of being a mutual comfort and help , is a mutual misery and a mutual-degradation . ' For them , prosperity has no common source of p leasure , adversity has no common bond of suffer ing . What is to happen then ? To this question there is no answer in our matrimonial law . The teaching of Procrustes has prevailed . If the bed does not suit , the sleeper must be made to suit it . Society has decided in its wisdom that tlie contract made void in the spirit shall be performed in the letter . When the spirit is dead the letter ' shall keep alive . Those whom God hath joined let not man put asunder- We have reversed the law , and assert that those whom God ' s law of truth and fact have

    characters , informed her that she was kind , truthful loving , & c . & c , while he was unkind , harsh and unfaithful— the virtues in her case bein ° - COun terbaianced by the corresponding vices & in his The honeymoon was scarcely begun before the dream of connubial bliss had vanished Though Mr . Miir ' chmont had pleaded o ^ i ^ to every defect , and endowed his future wife * with every merit , he was still of opinion that he was more competent than herself to manage their pecuniary concerns . Mrs . Marchniont , unfortunately * did not share in this impression—she refused to part with the disposal of her own funds . This was the real point at issue . Given these facts and the

    position . of the parties , any reader with a knowledge of the world can predict tlie result without referring to the reports . There were demands on the one side , and reproaches on tlie other—the husband was irritable , and the wife' was exacting . Disputes Jed to ill blood , and ill bloodied to violence , until the Marchinont household resembled that state of things which is do scribed , , graphically as well as poeticallv , as a hell on earth . " Both part ics longed , for a separation , but could not agree as < o terms : the husband wanted 23 , 000 / . as the price of his absence ; the wife considered that , ' great as was tho nuisance of his presence , 10 , 000 / . " was a long price to pay for this ncfrsitive consideration . At . Isisf . timing ii ^ T-a lor this negative consideration . At last tilings have

    gone to such a length that Mrs . Marchniont has had to apply for a judicial separation in the courts of lavv .-The immediate question , whether or not Mrs . Marchmout shaH'be allowed to live , apart- from her husband , . concerns few ' . except ' -the parties to ihe case . For our own part we arc unable to . feel much , sympathy for either phiintill' or defendant—for the prudent widow or-the pastoral widower . The broad question for the public is , whether such eases are not a scandal and a shame ? " What conceivable object , either human or divine , is accomplished by two persons in the position of Mr . and Mrs . Marchinont reniaini-nrr united hv t he name of matrimony ? ^ No

    power on earth can make them either love or respect each other . As Thackeray words it-: — How can you love what is not lovable , . or admire what is not admirable r" On whichever side- the fault may be , there is no human possibility that this illstarred partner-ship should ever be productive of aught but misery , Why then should you declare it indissoluble by law ? We shall , doubtless , be told that the interest of the children demands the indissulubility of the marriage union . As far as the moral interests of the children arc concerned , what course oi

    educaput asunder , man ' s law shall keep united . We have no wish to deny the popular belief . We are orthodox believers , in the Procrustean creed . There are times , however , when our orthodoxy is sorely tried . The case of Marchmont v . Marchmont , which throughout this week has filled the columns of the daily press , is we admit an obstacle in the path of implicit and undoubting faith . Into the details of that singular illustration of conjugal and domestic felicity we have no wish to enter . Tlie rights and wrongs of the Protestant husband and the ltoman Catholic wile , the respective grounds of complaint between Mr . and Mrs . Marchiuont ; the question which of the pair . was more sinned against

    tion can possibly be worse than tlie daily spectacle of domestic discord ,, than , the life of such a home as that of the Murclimonls ? For their temporal interests , the law can and ought to niakc provisions . " We are no advocates for a system of voluntary divorce . Matrimony is the most solemn ot all partnerships , and should not be dissolved . without due notice and compensation . Divorce > s ut au times an evil , and no power can turn an evil into good . But of all evils , the most monstrous to our eyes is , that t )» oso who are separated in mind , ana heart , and soul , should be kept together by the force of law . The adherents of the Procrustean faith should bear in mind the fate of their teacher .

    than sinning , arc all matters for legal decision . Ihe interest that tlie case possesses for us consists in the curious light thrown by it upon our social life aud in the singular illustration it affords of the manifold disadvantages of our marriage system . The facts with which we arc concerned are unfortunately simple and commonplace enough , Mr . Marchmont was a dissenting minister of some little reputation . Whether through the fault of the shepherd or the stinginess of his flock , the ministry ol Mr . Marchmont does not appear to have been profitable in the worldly sense of the word . The minister supplied the deficiencies of the chapel by labours of a literary character . Commercially speaking , writing would appear to have been a better trade than preaching ; but still , after

    all > the ministry and the press are but precarious sources of permanent income . Mr . Mnrchmont , too , was a widower , with four cluldron . Such being the state of his temporal affairs , the Independent pastor appears to have come noross a certain Mrs . Lookot , the widow of a publican , the owner ol' fifty thousand pounds settled on herself , and a member of the lioman Catholio persuasion . There was some difference of age between tho two — 'there was also some difference of fortune . With all respect for literature and the ministry- —it is not often that fifty thousand pounds sterling settled in the funds is realised by either—Mr . MUrohmont became enamoured of the widow , and wooed and won her . Hard-hearted , indeed , must Uuvo been the woman who oould resist a lover who , on being asked for a candid opinion of their rospootivo

    No. 111. Three Proposals May Bo Said To ...

    No . 111 . Three proposals may bo said to lw fairly before the country for the extension of the franchise , in the measure of the Coalition Government "i " * 0 ""?™* by Lord John ltussjell in March , 1 S 5 ] . , a (>/ . rating wfts inado the test of qualification . Jit cities nnu towns ; the noble lord anil those who were then ws oolleagues have ncvor sinco intimated ftny , clia T ^ of opinion outbid point , aud as bolvoou n 5 * . »»«» 6 / . tost of fitness there would bo no diflorcnco oi principle , and but a slight dilleronoo ol W !» " not worth while to dwell on the diaUnolion botuoon

    THOUGHTS , FACTS , AND SUGGESTIONS ON PABLIAMENTAKY BEFORE .

    thorn . This inny bo termed Bidding No . l . The noxt propowil is that which vviih fir * I . »« l 0 _ many years ugo attho instance or urn or t in . a «» pioes of Mr . Joseph Sturgo , of Jiirmuifir li «»» . /" . ^ "S ioi ) e of obviating some of tho objections onto , t imoa by the upper classes to whut was called tho t . mi ° CVrtism was foumlud on the demand lor uv yoi « u sullW and instead tlioroof Mr . Btuwjo piopoajj to substitute registered mwihood sulU'ugo . * Northern Union , having its head-qunvtoi-a aL now

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 27, 1858, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27111858/page/18/