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I No495 Sept. 171859.] THE LEADEB. 1Q 59
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I wT-rn nmn?T>-Nras> rrirp -R-cQT»rkxraT...
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LECTURES AND LECTURERS. Turn month of Se...
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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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- Pauperism.—The Times Blundering, The P...
. . , I pose , and an Employment Act was passed to set I them to work and feed them . An immense num- I ber was then taken care of , and in 1849 , after the I worst was passed , there were no less than 620 , 747 I paupers in ' Ireland—two-thirds as many as in ¦ E _ngland , while the population was only one-third I as great . This could not continue , and Ireland I gradually returned to her normal condition . By I the last return the number of paupers was 44 , 866 . I The great number of paupers in England is deeply I to be regretted : it will not be lessened , though I we might become as badly off as the Irish , were I we to do as they do in Ireland . Contrasting I the number of the labouring multitude here and I there , and contrasting the continual turbulence I there with the peace here , our habitual I pauperism , it is plain , is better than their habitual I starvation . If the Times be now an advocate for I abolishing the provision for the poor in England , I its conversion is miraculous . Blunders like the I one exposed are for it an every-day occurrence . I ¦
I No495 Sept. 171859.] The Leadeb. 1q 59
I No 495 Sept . 171859 . ] THE LEADEB . 1 Q 59
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I _wT-rn nmn _? T > -Nras > _rrirp _-R-cQT » rkxraT I WHO GOVERNS?—THE RESPONbl- I _ , . _JifLJ . xuii & _ujj _Ltuuif _^ _ifX _^ iU . _^ _ I Those who are not so deeply immersed . in the stream of events as to be _ unable to see _whether at I _™™ : must have remarked how much the responsi- I _J _f 8 _ftf ? fi ° ple _haVe mereas _^ d _™ _^ freedom That the press representing the public sentiments , was very _msti-umental m lashmg the I lagging Aberdeen ministry into the war with Russia is certain _., That it also in the same manner sup- ported and promoted the war against Canton _^ equally certain . Neith _er of these wars could have been waged had not the multitude given _^ _bothageneralandacordialsupport _^ . They now find themselves hampered by another _^ Chinese war , and when they are about to combine to secure financial reform-they will have to _incuigreater expense and submit to heavier taxation They have taken on 2 _SS _5 _^? _J \ ? t _? ° rS m _31 _^ 5 ° _?^ w- _S _guaranteeing its debts , and the last loan bears a _'ffiRTi _^ _- iT _^^ _W 8 " _^ _ih _^^??^ e _rf _^ l _^ _i ™ _U . ? 2 ?? T so much the masters of the Government _* hat the _SSrtS _^ S _^ t _^ n _J 6 3 ° * £ * _t ° r ¦ _£ & » _* ' mantled iind + sailors turned adrift when both are needed for the national defence , and must be , if possible , restored at a great cost , is , that the im- patient people would nx > t bear the expense . By ministerial advocates they are said to have forced the _mighty _. Palmerston and the powerful Derby against then- inclinations , from a miserable-spirit of _Cril _^^^^^ bl _& fcSJ _SSfkSS the right arm of . the public force . Of the justice of the charge we speak not—we only refer to it as _ZTdt _administSih _^ _oVer _^ already administer the government , and cannot Th ? s n ° ew _nSsItX _^ n _wSch not _^ the Russell ' s and the Gladstone _^? and _^ _thcT D _^ _smeU the _5 eaS _S 2 «« S +, _ii _! % _r _Dls _? aehs—the S 11 _^ _^^ _to _^ B £ _s _^^ _T _bJnSSDlM S unkn _^ vn _wrLt « _nf t _^^ l o ~~ S * S . J _^ ffi _;^ , I _S _^ Se _S _^^ _WaS _^ _rf _^ _SSS _? _Serves _rnTchcoiS Kv n * _^ _orfnn _^ SS _? nil _« _rt _^« A _^ _^ 1 ' _«; which implS _^ coe ? c 7 on as i ? iS _fbundelS _^ _I- wmen implies coeicion , as it is founded on _loroe— " Force first made conquest , and then conquest law . " It still carries with it the idea of coercion , and can only exist by force . But now-that the _, < multitude " governs , there is nothing distinct from i the Government to coerce . The multitude coerces , | itself . The very condition of society which anti- $ reformers dread—to avoid which they , on all A kinds of pretexts , refuse to extend the fran- M chiae—already exists . The multitude , by old _5 1 pustom or foolish theory ' dented a voice v im the elections , exercises its influence otherwise , . ; and hurries peaceful , ministers like Lord Aber- ; . '} deen into war , and dashing ministers like Lords ;| Palmerston and Derby into parsimoniously crip- If plmg the naval defences . Political theories are EU Put to the route , by such facts . Society cannot t go back to despotism and slavery : tho demand is _< to go forward to more freedom , which carries with it more deference to the multitude , a more open [• acknowledgment of its supremacy , and a more j compete _Tdentity of _thu thing _coerced with _* he j _. coerotog , poWeT . e * | wa F ? r J _^ e P _^ ple this pew position actually reached is more worthy of consideration than for _jyyed politicians . Justly are the inhabitants I oi U _) _o United States accused of continuing to act
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on the old principles and prejudices of Europe , in regard to government and diplomacy , after they have professedly discarded them and established a government of and by the people . Now the people of England find themselves , without pro- fessedly designing it , in a situation similar to that of the Americans . The power exercised by old despotism and old kingcraft has actually fallen into their hands , and they continue to carry out against themselves the old practices which were intended to confirm and secure despotism . Both in the United States and in England democracy has walked into the place of old coercion , and , as if suitable to itself , occupies it with apparent delight . __ Democracy , acting on despotic principles , is , however * unbearable . Democracy enforcing a great system of coercion on itself is suicidal . Its power goes where that of the despot cannot reach , into everv house and every family ; and the co- ercive principles of a despotism enforced by democracy must be the worst of all political and social conditions . " We would make shift , " says Lord Macaulay , " to live under a debauchee or a tyrant , but to be ruled by a busybody is more than human nature can bear . " Obviously , the busybody rule of jotrrnalists and the multitude is _i _^ fi nif _^ ly more penetrating than any other _pos- sible rule , and if the all-powerful democracy here , as in th ; United States , is to maintain the old principle of coercion , we and our children may _gid long adieu to ease and comfort . The enor- 6 nuinber of punishments for trivial acts , to _which we adverte ( | a fortn ight ago , is democratic mter ferences on despotic principle carried out against One portion of society . There are n ° merous _indications of its gradual extension ; and the resistance to it of the master builders tells us how Uttle the other classes will like to be governed by the multitude , on the coercive prin- _| xple of dep _^ tism . ' . ¦ ¦ Alegislator was originally a man much more wise ° d enlightened than others . Perhaps he _was _supposed to be inspired , andwas _honouredas a P rG P _^ - But now _** _plater of England is the House of Commons , and the House of Com- mons is the _oveu _. _txxxe of the 10 / . householder . Amongst them are numbered grocers who inanu- facturl coffee out of rotten coffins and sugar out of _^ hl ican 3 who doctor their beer with just enough poison to stimulate thirst and not imme- _^ J _^ toper ; manufacturers of shoddy Out of devil ' s dust and paste , which they sell for cloth concoctors of _companies to plunder the c _^ dulous _^ ithin th e J _^ ouSds Of law _^ ; discount brokers who have no objection to deal in forged warrant ' s railway directors who cook accounts ; and bank _direct who appropri ate the deposits f their customers and the capital of their con- Stituents « _and this 8 _^ body _<> annot P 088 _^ be corrupted , though it maybe purified , by any ex- tension of the franchise . The legislator which it Calls into existence is _the _mere representative of G _^ 3 se _^ _™ itl _™ exclusively worthy nor exclusively hone . ' He has no more authority than they have , and is no more deserving of respect than they are . At present this legislator acts on preoodent—runs » _^ tracts of _# e _Plantagenets , ' the Tudors , and tho Stuarts . Proceeding from the 10 ? . house- holders , it acts in the _spn * it of all that was des- _$ otiQ * n tlie frame of our government . The uPPer classes , and their enlightened organs , al- Eeady complain of the caprice and sometimes of tllQ fo % of this instrument of the 10 Z . house- holders , and are , in consequence _^ generally op- Ppsed to any enlargement of the constituency . Every extension of the franchise 'implies a greater ascendancy of the multitude , and makes legislation , on tho principle of coercion , utterly unbearable for aU - Now , then , tho principle of legislation is of in- finite more importance than its form ; and it is now the duty of the multitude to impede and prevent despotio legislation , and all despotic and coercive proceedings , in the name of freedom .
Lectures And Lecturers. Turn Month Of Se...
LECTURES AND LECTURERS . Turn month of September is tho opening of the autumn , season " , There are certain to be falling stars in August ; gales are sure to arise at sea about the time of the equinox . As certainly a will the doors of Mechanics ' Institutes and pro- vincial Athenwums be open during the present month to evening leoturers . Looal committees
Lectures And Lecturers. Turn Month Of Se...
are drawing up their programmes ; local lecturers are puzzling their own or somebody else ' s brains for something to lecture about ;—and , strangest of all , local subscribers are taking out tickets for the coming season . . The lecture is an institution peculiar to England . Nobody but an Englishman would have the courage to deliver an evening lecture , or the patience to listen to one , Take the prospectus of any provincial institute , and the chances are yOu will find amongst the entertainments provided for the season a lecture on the " Study of Conchology , " by the parish doctor ; a discourse on the " Geography of the Holy Land , " by the curate ; an essay on the " Wars of the Roses , " by the intellectual squire , and a recitation of * 'Komeo and Juliet , " by the poet of the place , " interspersed with original comments on the modern stage . " The chances are , we repeat , that in any given prospectus you find the above lectures . If you do not , you are certain to find something equally uninteresting . What — speak in the name of the patient public—do _we care for any of these things ? Prawns and periwinkles are the only species of " Crustacea " in which we feel the slightest interest . Whether the Jordan runs into the Red Sea . or the Dead Sea , or neither , is a matter on whfch our ignoraDCe is only surpassed by our indifference . It is so Ion-sinci our school-days that we have _forffOtter _£ and don't care to remember , which was the _tkitTrose and which was the red—and , as to Shakespeare , of course we appreciate his genius , burstill we prefer to read him by ourselves after dTnner , when we can go to sleep in an easy chair , instead of on a hlrd bench without a bacl These sentiments may be those of gross ignorance , but they are doubtless those of _nine-tentus of the audiences at local lectures . Perhaps some candid . and _ingenious inquirer may ask , If this is the ease , why Xpeople go to lectures at all ? The question i doubtless a ° difficult one , and will only be answered when we are able to tell why it is that _oratorios arelSred by people who cannot tell a note _ofTus _^ and who in their he art s prefer the " Trab Trab " polka to the _symphonies of Mendelssohn ; why _Madame Ristori was voted the _greatest of actresses by audiences who did not _Understand a single word of Italian ; why _ST ou _" and 1 , of persons 2 went miles at night th hear some one preach at St . Paul ' s , whom they _^ _oiTld not _Svegone as many yards to hear at theh- parish _chS'ch in the d _" ay-time ; why _subsSerVgo on year after year buying the _^ m-Turgh Review , and never cut the pages 3 and why Mr Martin Tuppcr has the greatest circulation _amoi _^ sTUving P 6 ets . When these , and a thous _^ nd SLr _sfmiFar mysteries are solved , we shall be able to tell why people go to Mechanics ' _^ Sto _lectures , but not before _, The reasons why people are found willing and anxious to lecture are more intelligible . We are _« o ? speaking now of paid _lecturersfor of men who , like Mr . Gough or Mr . Vincent , deUver lectures in order to _promote some spepifi ' c purpose ; but of that numerous class of volunteer lecturers who have , doubtless at this moment , undertaken to deliver a lecture Bomewhere on some subject or other . There is a decided pleasure in laying down the law in being a man of imp ortance for the time—in having an audienco to listen to you—in hearing the sound of your own voice—in fact , in lecturing . It is pleasant , too , to bore your friends _with the perusal of your composition , and to nourish a vague and generally a vain hope that yOu may be requested to publish your lecture t > y general subscription . Nobody ever knew a clergyman , from a curate to a bishop , who was not , fond of preaching . No clerical reformer over prepared to cut dow _^ i the length or number of sermons _; and a lecture is , in short , nothing more nor less than a lay sermon . . If leoturors would only lcoture on _something they care to speak about , and thoir audiences core to hear about , we should have much fewer lectures . _X _^ _wbly , however , we should have larger audiences . Wo are not sanguine , however , as to any _deyjation occurring from the beaten track , and enter- * tain but little doub < ithat m the course of _nextiweek some _gentleman m blaok , with a » tx _« _y _^" _* _FJJ and blue _speotooleB _, vrUl be tracing _; on aJow 4 , _jittj piece of creaking chalk , u _. diagramof tie nvw Jordan before a Sleepy and a weary _awaienoe . May their slumbers bo sound 1 is our parting prayer .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 17, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/sldr_17091859/page/15/
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