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Leader (1850-1860), 11th December 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 1180, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      the sources of fat beasts and fat farmers have not dried up ; "but , on the contrary , are more plentiful than ever . After all , " foreign cattle" cannot compete with the unprotected British Bull . The entries have been larger than ever . The novel feature in the show is the new classification of animals into breeds . ' The classes were 83 in number , and the entries 333 , an increase of 20 . over last year . The show was remarkable , also , for the sustained excellence

      throughout ; and it is observed that , on the whole , the farmers and graziers exhibit cattle superior to those sent by the great amateur agriculturists—Prince Albert , the Duke of Richmond , the Earl of Leicester , the Earl of Aylesford , the Marquis of Exeter , Lord Radnor , Lord Spencer , and others . In fact , the merits of the show may be considered quite independent of the aristocratic contributions . With reference to the great fault of previous shows , the Times has some sensible remarks : —

      "The grievous cruelty and waste of over-fattening is less to be complained of than on former occasions , especially among- the cattle , and we sincerely hope that Freetrade , among other advantages , will at length teach our farmers that there are limits to oilcake feeding , and that they manufacture for the butcher—not the tallowchandler . While on the subject of feeding , a point strikes us as of some importance in connexion with these winter exhibitions . The conditions imposed by the club upon competitors , require them to specify the kind of food given , but not the quantity . Now , in going through the country , nothing is more common than to find agriculturists pampering animals which they intend to send to Bakerstreet at an unheard-of outlay—one far beyond the limits

      of possible recompence in the market , and which , besides outraging every rule of economical management , is the secret cause of the rage for over-fattening , against which Earl Ducie and all our great authorities on farming , have long vigorously protested . We have known instances of bullocks maintained at a weekly outlay equal to the support of a labourer and his family . This is , upon the face of it , a monstrous extravagance , and the Smithfield Club might surely do something in their regulations , if not to suppress , at least to discourage it . Might they not , for example , make the cost of feeding an element of coneideration with the judges , or at least take some step by which economy of management would have its due reward ?"

      Prince Albert , the Duke of Richmond , and the Marquis of Exeter have carried off some prizes ; but , on the whole , especially considering the advantages of the territorial aristocracy , the farmers are masters of the show-yard . The annnnl dinner was held on Wednesday at the Freemasons' Tavern . The Duke of Richmond was in the chair . It was very well attended . In proposing " Success to the Smithfield Club , " the Duke admitted that notwithstanding the depression of the times , the present show was better than almost any which had preceded it . The health of the President and of Mr . Pusey were drunk with applause . Then came the " Judges , " the " Stewards , " the Successful and Unsuccessful Competitors , the Secretary , Mr . UrandrethGibbs , the Royal Agricultural Society , and Prosperity to the Labouring Classes . The Duke of Richmond said—¦

      " All persons present must feel deeply the- importance of having labourers on their fanny who felt an interest in tho welfare of their employers . Though , from their station and grade in life , labourers were too often placed in a position in bud years of not being ablo to got a iiiir day's wages for a fair day's work , he was happy to Kay that that was seldom tho case ; in thin country , for the oi'eupierHof land m England had everywhere shown themkoIvoh the best and fastest friends of tho labouring community . Thero wim not ono present who was not fully aware of tho kindness of flu ; / armor to tho labourer and hit * family , when they were in sickness and temporary distress . ( ClioerH . ) JIo believed that tho labouring classes

      were sound—( Cheers)— -that they looked up to their employem as their best friends , and he fell , that in any mooting huoIi an tlic present , or in any meet . ing of tho tenantry and landowners of England , they ought to drink prosperity to the labouring clauses . ( Cheers . ) They were the nt . rongt . li nncl smew of our land , and if ever —which ( jlod forbid•— they should bo culled upon to engngo the enemy , where were , they to look for men to man their ships und rocruitH for our army , but to the sturdy yeomanry of England . ( ClieerH . ) ( Jivo him disciplined English labourers , and ho 1 cured not , the conflict with any men . lie had had Home little knowledge of the value of the labouring cIuhsch of thin country in Ibis respect ,. In times long gone by ,

      when a boy of 1 H years <> 1 age , it wiih bis honour to be , under the late I ) uke of W ellington , in the Peninsular war . There ho had often met with British troops recruited from the labouring classes , and liad sooii them cheerfully uy , and energetically too , hazard their lives in the protection of the- oflieerH placed over tliem . ( Cheers . ) lie felt , justly proud of the agricultural labourers of this country , and he bolievcd thont WiiH not afnriner who would not cheerfully , not . only drink to their prosperity , but do biH utmost to promote thoir welfare . ( Cheers . ) 11 " the landlords , tenants , and labourers would acknowledge ( hat their interests were one and the sumo , and cordially pull together in ono direction , ho should like to see tho people that would daro to ntand up against , this country . ( Cheers . )"

      The totiHl was drunk with three times three . Colonel SiUUiorp responded for the labourers . This wus the final tout )! ., and . the company bepanitod about nine o ' clock .

      Untitled Article

      MR . CHARLES PHILLIPS IN 1852 AS IN 18 : 14 . In the Insolvent . Court over which his Honour Mr . Commissioner Charles Phillips presides , Mr . Pettigrow applied , on December 4 fh , to be admitted to bail . One of Hie proposed sureties was Mr . ( j . . 1 . Holyonko , <) i Woburn Buildings . The particulars of what then occurred , variously stated by the papers , were we believe as follows : — Tho Clerk of the Court informed his Honour that there would bo object , ion raised us to tile oath . Mr . Commissioner Phillips . -Lei . us hear that liral ,. The Clerk of tho Court handing the New Testament to Mr . Holyoako . — Do you object to be sworn F Mr . Holyoako . —Please to road to the Cowl the low

      words on this paper—handing to the Clerk a paner on which he had sought to express , in the least obiectior , able manner to the Judge , the explanation , he had to The Clerk read as follows : — « This gentleman wkhes to state to your Honour that upon a late occasion when called to make . oath in a Chancery suit , he , before ' beine sworn , obtained permission of the Judge to declare--that while the oath was legally binding upon his conscience it was not a confession of his faith , and he prays leave to make the same declaration now . " The Bar manifested some surprise at this proceeding in that Court , where scruples of conscience are somewhat ra # fi .

      The Commissioner ( after a pause ) . —What do you mean by the oath not being a confession of your faith p I don't understand it . Not seeing how he could assist his Honour ' s understanding the deponent said nothing . Commissioner resuming . —I suppose you mean that you do not wish to be bound by the faith of a Christian . Deponent . —I do not wish it , your Honour . Commission . —T thought so ( in a harsh tone ) . Pray what do you call yourself ? Deponent . —If I must give myself a name I should call myself a Secularist . Commissioner . —What ' s that ? I never heard of that . What ' s Secularists mean ?

      Deponent . —A Secularist , your Honour , is one who gives the precedence to the duties of this life over considerations which pertain to another world . Commissioner . —O ! you mean , that you consider your duties to man superior to your duties to Gfod . Is that it ? Deponent . —I cannot , your Honour , answer such a question with the brevity which the Court will require . Commissioner : ( In a louder voice . )—Do you believe in God ? Deponent . —In the Chancery Court , the judge Commissioner . —I don't want to hear what the judge said . . !

      Mr . Holyoake proceeded no further . He wished to have added that Mr . Commissioner Ryland said he should follow a precedent set by Lord Brougham , and the Court would administer the oath in the sense in which it was binding on the deponent ' s conscience . Commissioner : ( More peremptorily . )—Do you believe in God ? Deponent . —I am not prepared to answer that question with the brevity the Court will require . Commissioner . —What do you come here for , and offer yourself as bail , if you are not prepared to take an oath P Deponent .- —I am prepared to take the oath , after making the declaration the Court has heard read . Commissioner . —It , is a scandal that a man should

      come forward in a Court who is not prepared to wiy whether he believes in God . ( After a pause : )—I will not hear you . Deponent bowed to the Court , and left the box . Commissioner : ( In a coarse tone . )—Go and attend to your Secularism . Mr . Holyoake left the Court , that tho Commissioner might have no opportunity of recalling him , us ho did Julian Hibbort , in 1834 , whom he grossly outraged .

      At that time , Mr . Phillips received the thanks of Mr . Alderman JJrown , for the course he had pursued , and the jury joined in crying " Turn him out , "—meaning Mr . ' Julian Hibbert . In this case , however , the Court gave his Honour no encouragement to proceed . ^ a voice was raised , and rather disapprobation than otherwise glanced in the eyes of the Par and tl «« auditors . Tho public have improved , hut , not so tho

      judge . It is certainly not conducive- to tho reconcilement ot discordant faith ' s that the strictest exactors ol comp liance- with eereinomiil Christianity should so frequently display , even in high places , a harsh , gross , and intolerant spirit .

      Untitled Article

      MO 11 M OK THE " M KL 1 KHJRNK . " Having boor , disagreeably fascinated by tho ^ I " * this discreditable Screw , wo may state , wi" > W . , Jl satisfaction it is pon . siblo to fed , that afc" J « w ( lt JuHl ^ Lisbon to mii-Hiii ) her voyage toward A us rat hi . J » » » f > a month in the TaguH , ' her « - « ew were dew > rting « luuy-IMino had descried on ma ** o . Home <» f < ho potty ollieors included . Portugueae sailors woro ahippod , ult . lioii K U »> oflieoron board understood ( Loir language hpinta ™ luiiuwltM ] » ii board almost ovory night , and tho "" tu eon « er | uoneo was drunkonnoH » and violence among MO crow , resulting in downright mutiny and bloodshed . When tho Tagus ateamor loft Lisbon about ulj iiiuMniurfn-M rniniiiiind llmro , of whom a great nuniboi woo

      eoumolTod by nhoor imcowitv to continue their voyage tho Mclbonrnv . Many had upon I all thoir money , ami woro ovon obliged to soil their watcheu , and hoiho tliou clothes . ., . , i < nn According to the report on tho taniUry » tate < A tho Mcttonrnorttw the repftiw » ho hud undwBono at hubm

      Untitled Article

      1180 THE LEADE-R . [ Saturday .

      Untitled Article

      THACKERAY IN AMERICA . Thebe could be very little doubt in the large circle of Mr . Thackeray ' s admirers here as to the sort of reception his lectures would meet with among the cultivated audiences of America ; but it is very satisfactory to find our anticipations so thoroughly verified as they haye been by the New Tori ; Tribune , The critic , or rather notifier , of the lectures , in that paper , seems to have given the prevailing opinion of the crowded

      audience in his reports of the first two of these celebrated lectures , delivered before the Mercantile Library Association , in a large church in New York . Most of our readers are too well acquainted with the course to require any reminder of the subject matter ; but they will be curious to know the impression produced by the lecturer on the elite of Yankee society—the crime de la creme of New York . We quote from the ample and able report in the Tribune : —

      "The spacious church ( Rev . Mr . Chapin ' s ) was filled to the extent of its capacity at an early hour , by an audience comprising a large proportion of young men , and an unusual number of the distinguished literary and professional celebrities of New York . The fashionable circles were fully represented by an imposing array of ladies . Mr . Thackeray stood on an elevated platform in front of the pulpit . He was introduced by the Chairman of the Lecture Committee of the Mercantile Library , and was welcomed with the subdued expressions of applause due to

      an eminent author , with whom the audience were to form an acquaintance in a new capacity . In personal appearance , which in respect to the curiosity of the public we maybe permitted to allude to , Mr . Thackeray is a fine , well-proportioned specimen of a stalwart Englishmanover six feet in stature—with an expression of quiet intelligence—and the self-possessed bearing of a man of the world , rather than the scholastic appearance of the occupant of a library . His intellectual head , which bears many silvery traces of the touch of time , is carried erectly , not without an air of reserve , some would say of defiance . "

      We cannot agree with the writer in the Tribune , when he says that " the English journals have not done Mr . Thackeray justice in respect of his elocution /' We believe that all English journals , whose opinion would be worth anything in such matters , praised it highly ; though we are quite ready to acknowledge that no English journal ( as far as we remember ) ever praised Thackeray ' s style of delivery more happily and gracefully than our Trans-Atlantic contemporary ; e . g ., " Tho calm flow of his speech is so transparent that the sense shines through it without subjecting the mind ' s eye to a too severe trial . His voice is rich , deep , flexible , and equally expressive of emotion and thought in its intonations—tho words are delivered with that clean finish which

      so often distinguishes the cultivated Englishman—his emphasis is pregnant , with meaning—and , without any apparent effort , his ringing tones fill the ear of the most remote listener . Mr . Thackeray uses no gesture , except occasionally a convulsive clinching of the fist , or an emphatic thrusting of tho hand into his pocket or under his coat . In short , his delivery was that of a well-bred gentleman , reading with marked force and propriety to a large circle in the drawing-room . " As to the style of composition , the enthusiastic critic e . onti nues :

      " The eomposit ion of hia lecture was masterly . Graphic , torse , pointed , epigrammatic , abounding in keen dashes of wit , alternately gay and pathetic , it displayed tho same subtle perception of character , and condensed vigour of expression , which distinguish Thackeray above most , Hhn . ll we not Bay all , modern writers of fiction . No report can do anything like justice- to the numerous felicities of tho lecture . Their effect , would b « i ruined by changing ono word of tho language . We might as well transmute tho inimitable dialogun of ' Pcndonnia' into an article for our daily columns as to attempt to reproduce tho brilliant humour and sententious crifieismH of this unrivalled specimen of literary art . " Then follows a full and faithful account of the first

      two lectures , without any criticism ; without even a query as to the possibility that Thackeray overrate- !* Addison immensely , and is u great deal harder upon Swift , than that unhappy genius deserved . In 'New York , sis in England , tho lectures were " received by the audience with that profound attention which shows an intelligent appreciation , better thun all outward signs , though several of its most , admirable passages could not be heard without interrupting the prevailing intense stillness of tho bouse . "

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 11, 1852, page 1180, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1964/page/8/