Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 23rd October 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 1017, Untitled Article

Page 1017
Page 13
13 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • Transcript

    • 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.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      . , f raores the more restless spirits of America ; 1 a desire to have possession of the great fpr key of the Mississippi , a possession which m American statesman is bound to acquire for r ountry if he can ; the more so , since Spain , So holds it , is a feeble state , at the mercy of rnv stronger power in Europe . It isi like leaving + i kev of your street-door , out of doors , in the i rids of a drunken man or an idiot . Thirdly , believe that the Americans are impelled by I ? impatience to join issue with Europe , which Sns hitherto had the aggression mainly on its own A Shall we be accused of a Yankeeism for S lJLff that America feels peckish for lunching

      on Cuba , before dinin g on Europe f _ The hopelessness oi the enterprise suggested h the Daily News as a demonstration on behalf f the Black population in America , is shown by the writer ' s own hand . It is the free states , which have had a majority throughout the measures in question , and which have given " their vote , and a heavy vote , " for all that has

      been done . The measures , therefore , are the deliberate conclusion of non-slave-holding opinion in the Union ; that opinion , moreover , being national opinion , as contra-distinguished from sectarian fanaticism or extraneous interference . At the same time , the Daily News confesses that " the noble band of citizens" with whom it sympathizes " is scantily represented in Congress , "

      while " it is clear that American honour and integrity are not safe in the hands of the existing American representation ; " in other words , the freely-elected representation of the whole Union , including the non-slave-holding majority , is against those peculiar doctrines for which the writer in the Daily News is pleased to monopolize the epithets " honour and integrity . " " The American press , " says the Daily News , " does not or cannot tell the truth on this subject , and at present there is no press in any other country but ours . In reply , let us point to the opinion

      amongst several of our London contemporaries ; and for the Leader , than which no paper is more absolutely unpledged to the views of any party or interest , let us express the sympathy which we have for the truly national spirit of the American Republic .

      Untitled Article

      A VOICE PROM THE ARCHDEACON OF WELLS . As when upon the appearing of tempestuous seas , Mother Carey ' s chickens nutter and . scream over the swelling waves , so when the hour of \ travail approaches for ourglorious constitution inCJhurch , do Mother Church ' s chicks venture to spread their sable pinions and open their little bills . Convocation is nigh at hand , and all th ye " interests" are alarmed . There is fear An the Chapter House and the Chancery ; and / as the Kale rises , little pennons of opposition and affright rise up and dance beforo us . The great Church of England , wo are told , fears itself ; and the ministers of the Gospel of Christ cannot embark on the open aca of discussion among themselves without inaugurating an internecine war . We <; u'e not speaking " without authority . " Indeed , ''• is rather too abounding for the reputation of tho ^ . Htabliishmont . Eleven days ago , to wit on the 12 tli of October , ' iiiiom- whispered in the ear of a Somersetshireelergynian that " the Houses of Convocation

      W'ghtjm permitted to proceed" to the despatch () 1 business in . November . So the gentleman in MUestion Hat him down in his study , at Weston l l )( M " Mare , drew up a petition against the J'X'usiiiv , wrote a letter to bis clergy inviting . 'ii > to Hi gn it , and . subscribed himself , " Your l ; "J > iul servant , Henry Law . " Henry Law iH tho A rchdeacon of Wells ; and , 11 "' <' lire not misinformed , be is tho very ill iclmel ° Ull (! faithful who love to set the lance of their lluKl't iindei- th <> fifth HI ) of the High Church part y Wrapped in tho wot blanket of the Kvii . ii-^ ' '" 'al Hiv . t , and looking through the spectacles ^ ' . y provide for their followers , Archdeacon Law 7 h lllu "K" ' <> ii light which , under tho conditions ¦

      »< Hetir , ih not at nil surprising . Mo sees a jjj ! ' ^ ' "fu r oil " , and he cackles over it , and « im !' al ) uul / ' ' " ¦ startling manner , which '" "n iih many apprehensions for his safet y . ; i <|| . < ' <)( "mil ( -n '' which ho has inoulmteiei , and ( on ' ' St !( . 1 l (> ll 'H ( 'l (! 1 "'t ;!> l coinatcs in tho Archdoa-^ l . y <> l Wells , is an address to the (^ ueon . ili / K iu Uu > collective name , Mr . Law adwC H ( lH H "" - J <*' y "< appointed of God ;" 11 nil tho world , Mr . Law included , known

      that she is appointed under the Act of Succession . Having made his bow in the Eastern fashion , Mr . Law , from " motives of allegiance , " " duty to the Church , " and what not , expresses the apprehension and regret with which he and all the supposed signataries " regard the desire now strongly expressed that your Majesty would permit the Houses of Convocation to resume the active functions which have been so long and so wisely suspended . " The next paragraph ends , not in a shower of fire , but a shower of verbs . Mr . Law admits , and " deplores the divisions" of the Church . He declares

      that they are a " constant humiliation" to his soul ; but he is only anxious to cover them up . Mark , it is not really their existence that he deplores—it is their exposure . For he says , " The restoration of synodal action , instead of being a remedy for such evils , would tend to widen , and irritate , and aggravate , and multiply them to a fearful and inconceivable extent ; " that is , these evils , otherwise divisions , would assert themselves , instead of remaining hidden . " What Mr . Law ' s

      opinion of his fellow Churchmen is , may be guessed , when he says , we " would not conceal from your Majesty our dread lest unseemly and intemperate discussions should bring discredit on the Church . " And then , again fearing only the visible , he writes with tender trepidation , " We are also tremblingly alive to the possibility lest extreme views of doctrine and discipline might be advocated , which would prepare the way to a separation ; " apparently not feeling the scandal of the existence of extreme doctrine so

      long as it is not advocated in an official way . "A sudden spark , " he remarks with profound originality , " may kindle a flame which no waters can quench ; " not even Lord Maidstone ' s Deluge . Having delivered himself of his fears , he continues with a respectable sniff " , "We have heard , indeed , much of visionary advantages ; " but he cannot imagine " any practical benefit" likely to result from the revival of convocation . Possibly not ; that is not one of the gifts attached to an archdeaconry . On another subject he may be supposed to be better informed . He says that he and his possess every " facility for the full discharge of their ministerial duties . " Is this a delicate allusion to the Chancery at Wells ?

      But the cream of this address lies in the specific proposed by Mr . Law , as the remedy for all evils . What do you think it is , reader ? Listen . " We would further state , that the great blessing which the Church of England seems to need , under God , is—repose I" After remaining torpid for above a century , the Church is awakened in great pain , and one of her most unctuous soothsayers suggests as a soothing syrup for her troubles — MORE REPOSE ! Some hundreds of years ago , it was said , " Go ye out unto the ends of tho earth and preach the gospel ; " it was not said , " Go ye out into all the snug places ye can find , and—repose . "

      It is therefore in full consistency witli this sleepy morale that Mr . Law implores the Queen not to open a door in the Houses of Convocation , for " the outbreak of further distractions . "

      Untitled Article

      ABD-10 L KADER AND HIS LIBERATOR . Curtain acts forbid criticism , and Louis Napoleon's liberation of Abd-el Kader is one . If we wero to compare this last act Avith the- same man ' s previous achievement , wo might find grounds for . suspicion as to its single-mindeunesH ; but let us reject such grounds altogether . To look suspiciously into the motives of acts wliicli are great in themselves , is poor spirited : it is treachery

      oven to the greatness which it professes to defend . If sin act of generosity is greater than him who performs it , that man , so to speak , extorts the tribute of our respect by stepping into a , higher grade than that which he had previously occupied . It is tho very essence of a sanctuary , that it should avail for all , from tho noble-trespasser to tho basest mercenary ; nnd the . sanctuary of generous spirit should avail for all who enter it .

      In this matter , Louis Napoleon has at least . shown himself superior to thosowho went before him , — -to Louis Philippe , to I jamoriciere , to Cjivaigmir , and all tho Governments which might have done what bo has done , but which neglected it . II' ho lias now shown himself superior to hiuiHelf as bo was while bo delayed so long , wo lire bound to accept ( his confirmation as proof that ho meant what ho said , when ho promised to rclouHo Abil-cl Kuclor , sooner or later . If wo

      say that it is cunning in him to take advantage of the respect which such an act extorts , his cunning is at least of a nobler kind than the dulness of Louis Philippe and the others who could not perceive the moral influence of generosity . If we say that he is taking advantage of moral feelings which he does not share , then the very fact of his subserviency to those moral feelings is a great testimony to their rightful sovereignty ^ He admits that " the Emperor" is less than the generous man , and in so doing , though he himself may have belonged to an inferior caste , he helps in sustaining the nobility of generous feeling . Some of us are amused at the lecture which he

      insinuated to the Arab chief on the subject of good faith . It is possible that the creature of bad faith may now feel , in his own case , the paramount necessity of good faith as the real governor of States , and if so , how striking the testimony to the hfgher influence ! It is possible also , however , that Louis Napoleon may not know that he has broken faith ; so complex are the self-deceptions of human nature . But whatever may be the inner workings of his mind , he has at all events shown that the man who has

      waded through treachery and blood to the throne of a day — who has deceived tho whole world , and filched an Empire from a people that has lost its way—who has attained to the summit of power by vulgar means—still in his heart has the faculty to feel the highest motives of humanity , still trusts to that feeling in others , and still rests the crowning glory of his pageantry on an act of generosity to an almost forgotten prisoner . JRate the man and his motives at the worst , and you cannot destroy the greatness of the act .

      Untitled Article

      TAXATION EEDUCED TO UNITY AND SIMPLICITY . * V . THE TAXATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM . In our preceding article we pointed out that which we take to be the true subject matter of taxation—viz ., visible and tangible property . Our next step would be to discuss the principles of assessment ; but since our remarks on that branch of the subject , however susceptible of general application , will be best read with a special reference to tho particular circumstances of the United Kingdom , we shall show , in this paper , how our own taxation would stand under the proposed system .

      From this view of the s \ ibjcet we exclude all debate on the amount of our present taxation , on the fitness of the purposes to which it is applied , or on the economy , judgment , or fidelity with which it is administered . We take it for granted that our present revenue must be raised ; our inquiries relate to the forms and incidents of ' the taxation by which it is to bo raised , and to nothing- more . We first need to know what is the amount of visible and tangible property—that is , of taxable property—in the United Kingdom . Stutieians , we believe , have not arrived at any very certain conclusion on this point . Probably , however , tin ; following facts and opinions will supply . sufficient guidance for our present illustrative purposes .

      In Porter ' s 2 ' rogress of the . Nation ( Sec-. VI ., Chap . 2 ) the real property of ( Jroat Jnitaiii is estimated , from the returns of the Income Tax in 1842 , to be of the value ot " 2 , ; J 82 , 112 , 425 / . This assumes the- average value to bo that of 25 years' purchase ; and it , is said not to include properties of less than 150 / . per ann . We ought to add , that tho income , tax returns of 1850 and 1851 , under schedule A . treated in like manner , do not give more , than 2 27 : * , < . > 5 K , <) 00 / . ami 2 , 2 (> 4 , 254 ,: H ) 0 / . respectively . These ; numbers do notsodiller from each other as to require us to depart from Mr . Portrr ' f ) estimate for 1842 , which , considering the ; evasions known to have been practised of late , is more likely than those ; of subsequent years , to have approximated to tin ; true value of tho real property . In the same chapter of the same work , the personal property in ( ireat lirituiu is estimated from the legacy duties at , 2 , 200 , 000 , 000 / . in 1845 . Hut those dulirs are not , payable on properties under 20 / ., and , from that < uu . se-, with or without others nm ! ribut . ing to tho Hiinii ! oHee . t , I . Ik ; property lei ' l , l > , y only three-tenths of tin ; heads of families , eoiiMvi under tho operation of the legacy duties : much personal properly also pusses at or in anticipation of death , under arrangements which do not subject it to duty at nil . The sum above given , then , probably docs " not , fully represent the personal property in 1845 ; an increase too has taken plueo since ; that date ; . I'Yom 1814 to l 845 Uuifcincrca . se . was estimated at 1000 millions , e > r M 2 millions per aim . * fcjco Leader , No * . 109 , 111 , lir > , VM > .

      Untitled Article

      October 23 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1017

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1852, page 1017, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1957/page/13/