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Leader (1850-1860), 17th May 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 458, Untitled Article

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      ( cheers )—and that neither education nor religion could do anything useful until the way had been paved for their ministrations by cleanliness and decency . ( Hear . )"" Of what avail was it to send missionaries to that miserable man condemned to work in a foetid court , with every sense bestowed upon him for his health and happiness turned into a torment—with every month of his life Adding to the heap of evils under which he was condemned to exist ? What human sympathy within him was that instructor to address ?—what natural old chord ¦ within him was he to touch ? Was it the remembrance of his children ?—a memory of destitution , of sickness , of fever , and of scrofula ? Was it his hopes , his latent hopes , of immortality ? He was so surrounded by , and

      habedded in , material filth that his soul could not rise to the contemplation of the great truths of religion . Or if the case was that of a miserable child bred and nurtured in some noisome , loathsome place , and tempted , in . these better days , into the ragged school , what could a few hours ' teaching effect against the ever-renewed lesson of a whole existence ? But give them a glimpse of heaven through a little of its light and air ; give them water ; help them to be clean ; lighten that heavy atmosphere in which their spirits flagged and in which they became the callous things they were ; take the body of the dead relative from the close room in which the living lived with it , and where death , being familiar , lost its awe ; and then they would be brought willingly to hear of Him whose thoughts were so much with the poor , and who had compassion for all human suffering . Cheers . )"

      In connection with the Board of Health they were always hearing a very large word , which , was always pronounced with a very great relish—the word centralization : — " In the time of the cholera they had had a pretty good opportunity of judging between this so-called centralization and what he might , he thought , call ' vestrylization . ' ( Loud laughter . ) He had the honour of belonging to a constituency which elected that amazing

      body the Marylebone vestry—( laughter )—and he thought that if the company present would look to what was done by the Board of Health at Glasgow , and then contrast those proceedings with the wonderful cleverness with which affairs were managed at the same period by his vestry , there would be very little difficulty in judging between them . His ( Mr . Dickens ' s ) vestry even took upon itself to deny the existence of cholera as a weak invention of the enemy—( laughter ) - and that denial had little or no effect in staying the progress of the disease . "

      Another objection to the Board of Health was conveyed in a word not so large as the other— " delay : ''" He would suggest , in respect to this , that it would be very unreasonable to complain that a first-rate chronometer didn ' t go when its master never wound it up . ( Laughter . ) The Board of Health might be excellently adapted for going , and . very willing and anxious to go , and yet might not be permitted to go , by reason of its lawful master having fallen into a gentle slumber , and forgotten to set it a-going . ( Laughter . )" With the toast he would couple the name of Lord Ashley , a nobleman who had the courage on all occasions to face that worst of cants—the cant about the

      cant of philanthropy and benevolence . ( Cheers . ) Lord Ashley responded . —Mr . M . Milnes briefly proposed the health of the chairman . —Mr . G . Cruikshank proposed " The Visitors , " and Mr . Rogers proposed " The Ladies . " The company separated about eleven o'clock .

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      MAY GATHERINGS . The Gist annual dinner of the Royal Literary Fund took place at the Freemasons' Hall , on Wednesday , M . Van de Weyer , the Uelgian minister , in the ehuir . The Reverend Dr . Russell , in giving a statement of the income and expenditure of the society , said they hud helped 38 persons during last year , who were thus classed : —History and biography , 4 ; Biblical literature , 5 ; science and art , 3 ; topography and travels , 4 ; education , 5 ; poetry , 4 ; essays and tales , 7 ; drama , 1 ; law , 1 ; medicine , 1 ;

      and miscellaneous , 3 . Their income during the past year hud been £ 2178 Is . 2 d . ; which they accounted for thus : — . 'JH grunto for relief , £ 1035 ; expenses ( including salaries , £ 220 lla . 3 d . ) , £ 538 14 s . Id . ; purchase of £ 300 stock , £ 21 ) 5 10 s . ; balance , £ 308 17 s . Id . ; total , £ 2 , 178 Is . 2 d . The persons relieved comprised 29 men and 9 women , 6 being authoresHt'H and 3 widows . Among other toasts given in the course of the evening was that of " Mr . Thackeray and the Novelists . "

      " Mr . Thackeray acknowledged in fitting terms the compliment paid him . He wished , however , to protest in the strongest manner aguinat an impression which the speech of their respected chairman might have contributed to foHter in the ininda of their foreign visitors , namely , that the literary men of this country were ,-t moHt unfortunate , degraded , and seedy people . ( Laugh t < ir . ) Captain Absolute , he knew , might make love to Lydia Languish , in thcordinary modern continue of the country , but when Sir Anthony came on tho stage

      folks would not believe in him uiiIcbh ho wore red boots , a George the II . coat , and a hu ^ o Raniillun w \ ^ . ( Loud Laughter . ) That was the tradition of the old men of the dramu ; and there wuh also a tradition us to the distressed author , but he considered that disreputable phantom ought now to be hissed out of noddy . { Laughter and cheers . ) Jle did not believe that a man of talent and character wub obliged to do anything that an honest rnun might lie ashamed of ; and , therefore , he hoped that from that day forward tho oppressed

      author would disappear from amongst them . ( Cheers . ) It was true that in the days of Queen Elizabeth a worthy writer stood in the pillory ; and in the time of another monarch , Queen Anne , —thank God she was dead — { loud laughter ) — an author for a first offence might have his arm struck off , and for a second might be hanged ; but that was all gone by . ( Cheers . ) Else what a position would his august friend and patron , Mr . Punch , be in . What would become of his arms , his head , his neck , and his bowels . ( Laughter . ) The author now-a-days did not want patrons—he required friends ; and he ( Mr . Thackeray ) altogether protested against the idea that there was anything like degradation in their profession . He had himself been in all sorts of

      society , in which he should never have been despised that he knew of . ( Cheers . ) On the contrary , he had greatly advanced himself by his literary efforts , and had been admitted k into circles which but for them he should never have reached . ( Cheers . ) Then there was Mr . Disraeli , the leader of a large party in an assembly in another place ; and he , when he went down to contest the representation of his county , and was asked what interest he had , replied boldly that he stood on his own head . ( Loud laughter . ) Another eminent novelist ( Bulwer ) wrote letters to John Bull , touching his landed property , and John had bought eight editions of those letters . It was true it might be said that they were inadequately remunerated ,

      and certainly Signor Twangadillo , or M . Petitpas , might get more for the exercise of their chests or toes in one night than he could earn by weeks of hard labour ; but it was impossible to fix what was the rate of remuneration to which writers of fiction were entitled , for their market , like all others , was liable to gluts , the importation of foreign articles , and the like . They should , however , remember that what was an ill wind to them blew success toothers . ( Hear , hear . ) He had himself experienced at one period of his career the advantage of temporary assistance , and therefore he was anxious to extend by means of the institution that aid to his brethren which he had found so useful to himself . ( Loud cheers )"

      The seventh annual public meeting of the Anti-State Church Association was held on Tuesday evening at Finsbury Chapel , which was crowded in every part by a respectable and enthusiastic audience . The chair was taken at half- past six , by Charles Gilpin , Esq ., who was received with much applause . The chief speakers were the Reverend H . Richard , the Reverend John Burnet , Mr . John Harrison , the Reverend John Howard Hinton , and Mr . Edward Miall , editor of the Nonconformist , who moved a resolution expressing a hope that at the next general election " those constituents who desire a peaceful separation of Church and State will feel it their duty to give a constitutional expression to their wish , not only on the hustings , but , wherever prudence will admit of it , in the poll-both also . "

      The anniversary festival of the London Philanthropic Society was held at the London Tavern Bishopsgate-street , on Wednesday . The distinguishing feature of this society is that of extending relief , in bread and coals , to those who have been reduced to poverty and distress . Every subscriber is his own almoner , and is supplied with tickets for four pound loaves of bread and fifty-six pounds of the best coals , to the amount of his subscription , and an additional

      number arising from the contributions of benevolent donors to the charity , thereby giving to its supporters the full benefit of its collection , and insuring the most efficient means of widely and judicioualy carrying into effect the object it was designed to accomplish . Since the 1 st of December last upwards of 8000 tickets for four-pound loaves of bread and fiftysix pounds of coals have been distributed among the subscribers , and by the committee , in ull parts of the metropolis . The twenty-third anniversary festival in aid of the funds of the Licensed Victuallers' Society was held ut the Highbury Barn Tavern , Highbury , on Wednesday . The company numbered about four hundred of the members and friends of the society .

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      ROBERT OWEN'S BIRTHDAY I One hundred friends and admirers of Mr . Owen met at the Cranbourn Commercial Hotel in Cranbourn-street , Leicester-square , on the 14 th , to celebrate Mr . Owen ' s eightieth birthduy . Mr . G . A . Fleming , formerly the editor of the New Moral World , and now editor of the Northern Star , presided over the party . He proposed the toust of the eveningthe health of Robert Owen , tho man who had done more by moral force to revolutionise the world than all the kings , princes , and mighty warriors of modern days . Mr . Owen , who looked remarkably well , acknowledged the tonnt with hisuuuul warm and heartfelt enthusiasm , narrating his early career , and insisting at great length on the necessity of educational training , and incorporating with hia » pcoch the following

      paper—For May 14 , 1851 . Tt has been a practice on my hirth-duy to give to the world Home important advanced truths for the benefit of the human race ; and having on thin day attained the full period of eighty years , when the existence of another year in health of body ahd mind he < uuneH very uncertain , it . may be useful to leave the following statement of the ; convictions which have been made vivid to my mind , through the experience of ho long a life—a life devoted to investigate the ciuiKo . Hof human misery , and to devise a permanent effectual remedy for their removul . Thut man hus firnt come into « 'xintenco composed of tho general qualities of varied , animal life , with additional

      faculties or powers of perpetual progress . That this complicated compound forming humanity was , at its commencement , more imperfect in its development than any of the less complicated animals not endowed with the additionalpower of perpetual progress . That the additional powers of progress were the faculties of imagination and invention , enabling man to acquire new ideas by experience , and of becoming ultimately , through the accumulation of ideas , a rational being . That during the progress of acquiring these new ideas he has been less rational , and more miserable , than any other animal , but yet continually progressing towards a state of rationality by the slow discovery of one truth after another . . . . . .

      That the imagination has been , in its early development , first attracted by error , and made false conjectures , which had to be corrected by experience . That it has required all the experience of the past , until now , to enable any portion of the human race to discover a sure criterion by which to ascertain the difference between true and false ideas , and associations of ideas , and thus to become conscious that through past ages their imagination has led them astray , by impressing them with all manner of false ideas , and false associations of ideas . That these misleading imaginations have been slowly corrected by the progress of the fixed or certain sciences . That the only sure criterion of truth is , that it is always consistent with itself , and with all facts .

      That each science to be true must be , therefore , consistent with itself , with all other sciences , and with all facts . That by this criterion it is discovered that society over the world has been at all times based and constructed upon the false supposition , that man forms his own qualities ; an error which has proved fatal to the happiness of the human race , and a formidable obstacle to their progress towards a rational state of existence .

      That this criterion of truth proves , that all the varied and opposing superstitions called religion have been based on this error , have emanated in all their variety from man ' s inexperienced imagination , that they are inconsistent in themselves , opposed to each other , and in direct opposition to all ascertained facts ; that they are , therefore , false , and most injurious to every member of the family of man , and now the chief obstacle in his onward progress toward goodness or virtue , rationality , and a state of terrestrial happiness .

      That all governments , laws , institutions , and customs , among all nations , have emanated from the same fundamental error ; are inconsistent , and opposed to fact ; and are , therefore , false , and whatever is false is permanently injurious to man . Truth , which has been hitherto violently opposed by wild imaginations , can alone serve man in his onward progress . Thrt nature alone has formed , unknown to man , the original general qualities of humanity , and led him , step by step , from generation to generation , through his past existence to the present , apparently by unchanging laws of necessity ; the past being necessary to produce the present , and the present to produce the future . That it is , therefore , useless to find fault with the past or present , or with man , who is evidently one of nature ' s beings , formed to be what he has been , and is , through nature ' s laws , of necessity .

      That this knowledge , to which the laws of necessity have conducted him , will , of necessity , expand bis development , increase his power of mind , enable him to detect truth from error , create within him new true ideas , and new true associations of ideas ; thus giving him a new mind , and a new spirit , based on the fundamental truth , that nature creates each individual , and gives him all his qualities , and power of thought , will , action , and life . That , therefore , for good or evil , for misery or happiness , each man is nature ' s production , from the original seed of humanity to his death and decomposition .

      That man , through the laws of his nature , has been obliged to discover , by experience , that good and superior , external , animate and inanimate circumstances , or persons and external objects , essentially tend to make him good and superior ; and that vicious and inferior persons and things as essentially tend to make him become vicious and inferior . That the knowledge now thus acquired of the causes which tend to form the character of e-vecy one , will , of necessity , soon compel all to desire to remove vicious and inferior circumstances from around all , and to replace them with good and superior .

      Thy ; this knowledge of the causes which form the characters of all , will , of necessity , change the feelings and conduct of all , ho as to regenerate man , and remake him from , and in part , before birth , and so to remake him , by the change of external influences around him , that ho will grow up , without anger or ill-will to any of his fellows , and with the spirit of universal charity and love for all , because he will know how he has been formed , and how they have been formed from their birth . And with this knowledge , all will , of necessity , be trained and educated in good and superior habits , so as to have lovely qualities only , and , consequently , that all will be , from necessity , loved .

      That with this kriowledge of the formation of character , and of the influences of external objects and arrangements upon all , the past and present having done their part through the laws of nature , will bo graduall y abandoned , as an outer skin or garment no longer requi nite ; and from an irrational will cotnc forth a rational being , reborn to a life of truth , goodness , and happiness . That tho passing revolution in men ' s minds , and the present excitement among nations , is nothing more than the necessary agitation previous to throwing oif thcoo irrational coverings and emerging from the shell of ignorance and prejudice . That tho meeting of tho human race , by its delegates at the World ' * Fair , U *« been aa necessary as all tho po » t

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      458 Pe % f « D ^ [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 17, 1851, page 458, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1883/page/6/