On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• 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

    those terrible regions . But . the men who stand , there ^—whpse Vbest fbpting . " is . me ' , slippery ; and unstable ice : —whose surest patli is ; . tnat ^ directed by courag ' e ~ whose command o , f life ( lies in their ability to conquer , day , by day * . tour "by hour , the gangers around tHem—whose very £ ome . might be crushed in an instant , but for tlie extraordinary ciertion of foresight , vigilance , promptitude , and Strength- —these nie , u do not Shrink from facing these dangers , from cpnjbinuing to face them , from repeating the enterprise . It is not to h& supposed that Belief was ignorant of the fate which , lie had to encouhter— -tliat he was unaware how incessantly thai fate watched his footsteps ,

    to seize him on an unwary or hesitating step ; nor Wjks he alone , / There never lias been any difficulty in filling up tjie posts of these expeditions ; aM frpm ; the character of the men who have sought them , w ith perhaps one lamentable excepr tioh , it is to be inferred mat they knew far better wliat they had to meet than any general reader can possibly do . Yet they competed for the post . JSTay , when young Captain * 3 ? eel was one of the competitors , it is to be supposed that

    a man of Peel * s slow , but distinct and jngorous imagination , would thoroughlyunderstand that to which his son proposed to risk himself ; yet it is not recorded that the father impeded the son in his ; honourable ambition . Franklin , who is now g <> ne , ' , had encountered those dangers repeatedly before . Rbssllas been twice .. In short , many of tnese' officers knew their hardships and perils , personally and experimentally , and yet they have not hesitated . 'iWhat is it , then , that impels men to depart from a country where life . is said to be , rendered more comfortable , than in any country ( of the world ; where , with the opportunities cprnnianded by . men pf ability and connexion , it is , possible to attain distinction through paths of , ¦ ease ; and where indeed far grea , terQi * dinary distinction may be attained by easier paths ? Was it the love of rank ? There is many , a noble family on the list of the Peerage whose liistory would show , easier and lower paths to rank andwealth than thpse

    selected by the Arctic voyagers . Indeed , an I ndian campaign presents but a comparatively sjnall share either of endurance or mortal risk , in comparison with an Arctic voyage . Js it the love of being immortalized ? ^ unvb injght suflioe for the leaders , but it cannot operate with all , nor can it operate with . any man in the ; most , tryinghour . It is . possible that the troubled dreams of Pranklin and his companions , when , amidst that cruel climate their sufferings were aggravated by , the , feebleness pf actual starvation , may have been alleviated by their dreams of . a , country ' s respect and gratitude for their endurance . But

    there is some niotive more permanent still than any one of those , by which a man altogether withdrawn from the world , never expecting to return tt > it , liopoless of realizing the Sense that h'd is recognised ; fearing perhaps that accident may erase his name from the roll of history , is still upheld under those-privations : It is : not even the love of ' science , for although that will draw him on so long ns an ' object remains to bo puttmed , it cannot sustain him when the' pursuit of that object is ended , and whew n-otliitigremains before him but his own ' destruction---a fate which so many-an Arctic hero has confronted , sometimes to survive

    it , sometimes to attest his 'fortitude even by undergoing the extremity . There is still , then , some motive which can sustain men nt these last hours , and enable them to endure , in the icy solitude Of-ah Arctic desert ; , tho highest dignity 1 of their nature . That motive ; though unrecognised perhaps by ¦ ¦ themselves When they aspire ; to join thewo enterprises , in probably the iiioBt abiding and the strongest .

    The Hd . il . or in tho humoroussong , who coinplains of * the dangers which attendi the traveller at home , utters '» . deep jiiid beautiful truth . j ( , is thoi ' ' riyerso ' of that sensation which every nmu of hoine-kce ' pniig life has fell ; , Wheii ho eomeri al ; firnt from Jus confinement , goes forth amid the purer eJeinontH , and is conscious of thd indriui ^ lil ; of lifo Svliitfli he Inkes in with J > ifcl' breath .

    Hiimnn ] lfb'ift ' hiiBtfoin < tf l * y't 1 i 6 same ] h > v . « J"M » tfcsustain fmul direct l !> Us elements in jhoir wildesl moods . The fiercest wind that blows over hill and dole , ' land' and writers-over tho ' toaririfr fbrosi art well M tlio whjsfliiig ic ' pihriaole—aUd sweeps destruction to orgrt / nie life , also conveys'lifc to t ; li < 3 living ei ' oaiiion , removing the' cimseh Iliiif ; abate that life , juid re-n'ovatiilg it « Boiti'ccfl . Organic < ixisirinuo Jilts'boon' forfetott'tbdoVblop ^ tsclt ' Amidst the

    changes of the elements , and ,. it derives its fullest strength wliere it is most healthily tried . Health , therefore , rather challenges , this trial than avoids it " ; feels conscious of its own strength in meeting what it might conquer . ; and knows that it is increasing its strength Tby the contest . The same healt ] ay .. life ' shrinj £ ^ . ; witii- ' a kind of sturdy appreT hension from tlie baser causes that sap the vigour of existence ; flitd . the home-keeping writer , who doubts the utility of tliese Arctic e ! xpedition 3 ,. is felt by the Voyager to be himself surf rounded , by poisons and enervating influences

    more terrible -to , a healthy , love of life than any rude wind or slippery , pathway in the wildest region of the north . It is a love of healthy life , therefore , that leads men forth from the midst of quietude , in order to try their nerve and strength in the midst of perils and endurances . . , ¦¦¦ ¦ But if the motive stopped there , being a selfish one , it would be insufficient for any such sustaining virtue as we see in these .. enterprises . ¦¦ Physiologists- have observed in the artificial changes which civilization introduces in abatement of

    natural types , that tliere is a , constant tendency to return .: to ; the natural type ; and that tendency appears to be as strong in the spirit-as it is in the flesh . In- the mutations of society , sects rise and fall , with the shifting tendencies of human knowledge , andthe caprices of human presumption ; but the one religious element at . the kernel is constant ^ and . is continually correcting , these temporary and collateral aberrations . Artificial manners , set up new objects , new laws of morals , new standards of virtue ; but still in the midst of all these

    dictates * there is a- ^ ofistant tendency in the mind to go back to the instinctive standards , and to revolt against artificial substitutes . , The human foot will ever to the most . cultivated apprehension be more beautiful in its '' natural form , when deve « loped by free exercise into full growth , than the broken foot of the Chinese woman , or the narrow flat in which English women prefer that the figure of Venus shoiild terminate ,. So it is in morals . At one time society sets up "' tlie standard of rank to worship ; at another , the possession of

    so much in Consols leads the general mind enslaved ; but the nPbler spirit , Avhich is fullof life , labours ' with , the constant impulse to break away from these things , and to recognise as the qualities of the true nobility towards which it must Work , tlie very simplest impulses ' , of human ^ nature—courage ,, love , obedience to tlie la ^ vs of life , exertion for the attainment of . good . % tappears ' to be the strongest impulse of tliat whicli has been called natural piety , to bring both body and mind'into direct obedience to the laws of the .

    Creator as they arc themselves Worked out with the least adulteration . ' Amidst our own society man , guided b y shifting standards of ' morals , may ''' become the servile tool of a spiritual priesthood , or \]\ 6 slave of some " legitimate" fool ; may be by turn ' s a revolutionist against tyranny , or a traitor to the revolution . Uut in the rougher' seeno it is still the-naked elements , and'the primary qualifies of human nature , with wlu < ili inen deal j and liion seeking this enterprise , hot Only identify themselves With that which ik noblest in tlieir race , but 1

    become a practical evidence to " theirfellows , that that which is noblest eve , r seeks to identify itself with that Which is niost naiiiral , most boristant , and most simple . It is , 1 mjjossible for' living sOul to look forward . to 1 ; ho time wlien the njirrative of the simple endurance undergone W Franlclin , or M'Cluro , " or tlie devoted ' cbmr ^ wfo whose death all the brave'hehrta' of liluropo . nowlament arid enVy , shall ( tease'to possess it ' fi uji'teiWst-T-shall (• ease to . teach man the iaoHJb ' geiicroii ' s ' a . nd healthful emotions of whidli he is em )! ible . " It ; is impossible

    to H ' npposo a day when both . France and . ' hngland Avill cenno ' 10 look back witli ! a conimon pride to tlio death of that yoUng oflicdr whose tiame henceforth belongs to both , and ' who could declare in the face of death , ¦ Btahdin ' g ' on . ' tho . m 6 st ' 'ii ' nsfciiblp footing thnii tlie hunljui imaginiitiou ( ioijld ' invent , that hestill desired to be whof fi ho Was embodying a fluty , still belied upbri lawn winch perhaps might bring bta'death , l ) iit ; whicli Oviir suslahi thii life of mankind , us they do the govoriim ' ont of tlio universe . ' " ! " ¦ • ' ' .- '

    Untitled Article

    CO-OPERATION AND \ S PHIKKS . Wji / iTac dt ^ eiuling iluvvight of ltjeii to strike fov higher wages , and th < 5 pdicy of w >{ . ubamloniug tyft b i ^ . ^' t , we luweju'Vei * i ' orgoM ^ n V P' ?! ' ^ '' tij the workj . ug nien , , tba , « . for uviyvy .. « | jrike >( th ^ ro i ' H 11 ducstion of policy . The panic nia , y bo said

    of eofoperation . "We believe , . that it is an ^ admirable platt , and that , where it is really carried out " it is sure .: to tsring benefit ! to all : engaged hi it * while it illustrates for others a ; sound princi ple * which may ultimately elevate labour to a rank infinitely above its present position . . But the veryreasons that make us regard the < strike as a . weapon nptto be abandpned ; and co-operation as the most valuable of * principles for developing the returns ofmdustry , make us also , regret any abuse ofagood weapon , ; or the mingling of co-operation ¦ with the heat and haste pf contest . ,

    , "We doubt whether the cotton trade can afford higher wages , because , it has undergone serious , disturbances * and tliere has been a progressive decline in the value of the manufactured article . But to : press a demand wjiich cannot be granted is to ensure defeat , and thus , while wasting the present x'esources , of the men , apid . diminishine : ^ he very fund out of which they have to be paid ^ it is dainaging the moral effect of well-conducted strikes .:

    , The question of co-operation , is still more seripus , j ' or working men to collect their modest capital , to begin the work : of prpductiou . for themselves , and thus , while taking profits as w ^ llas . wages , to . becometheir owh , masters , is to sliow ; tlie way towards real , independence . JBut the . work is one that requires nice care in the planning , great pmdence in making the commencement not on . too great , a scale , and ; mfuiite patience in carrying it out , with , zeal , pertinacitv .

    and temper . Astnkeis npta favourable prelude to . any sucji work ; ' ^ d ' . to'base .-: a ' ^ . -operatiye . $ n-. terpriseon a conflict , is to risk tlie , failure of a cphspicuous experiment , . and . so to ; add another instance to"the many which make the pubiic ; depreciate co-operation . It must , at the best , entail disappointment . A class of men depending on weekly Wages , neither command the funds nor the connexions , to supply capital sufficient to absorb the labour of the whole ; and hence the

    vast majority must be left out of , the speedy benefits . V : . There are , besides , other modes in which the condition-. of . the working ' classes , can be improved . Better informafipn has . made , masters aware that willing workmen \ are more valuable than ¦ unwilling j hence a growing disposition to court the gp . od will , of work-people , by attention to their wants and comforts . From a Birmingham master painter , who raises the wages of liis men , on , demand , to . Wiili . aTii Dargan , avIiq volunteers to do

    so , and to Mr . Salt , of Bradford , who surrounds his new 'factory-palace with '' improved dwellings for his people , there are many degrees in this cooperation between masters and men ; and it will advance , as the principle of concert advances , by favour of enlightenment and , mutual good faith . A still more direct source of independence for tlie men will be , to obtain information on the value of labour , —just as dealers in hides ,, or shares , or any other commodity , arrange their prices , by ascertaining the demand for the article , and the aniount of stock pii hand . Men have often neglected , 'through jgnorauce , to press demands

    which ' would have been successful ;¦ and , tltrougn tho same cause , they have pressed demands destiiiecl , from the necessity pf <; ircumstancca , to refusal . The corrective to these mistakes would be sound information . Dealers in labour oug ht to know the rate of wages , the supply ° f hands , and ilio state of employ incut , thrpiighout tho (? ountry , in foreign Countries , and inthc colonies ; and commercial information , generally , would add k > tlie yaluo of that on wages . If they had pucli information they would not Bufler their labour to be sold ' under a fair price ; nor would they , as they rioVv do , at times , refuse . to pell it at tJie only price that can be paid for it . , ,

    Untitled Article

    THE { pUtJGEK EMl'IUE NOTION . Somk weeks ag (> wo gave an outline of wi ° "Gvfiak Umpire notion , ¦ as it is disseminated'p r its advpejil ; c » .: ; Wo th ' eti promised to difiwisfl tlio (| uefltip ) i > . moi ( 'o fully as pcciision might denmnu , and : tho t ; iju ( . i is oo'Yno Wlien silence ^ yonld no «» " - })!» . blc . It is uwdoH . s to conceal tho fuct ' of the « xwtonco of ai Kuswm b « £ s -in- the Cabinet , and jmposfliblcto . doubt thrtt there is a'party in i <» country who would be . willing to puroluwo peace

    even ftt the pj'ice of ( liwhonour . ' . SeUiflh | ie # * iasgnwn up Avith woalth , and mew M'tt m « n M * KQi would flamtiuo ih < i faitli of intern' *" tjojin l ^ n ^ wcinentfl to the sordid iuUsro » ts oi con - mi ^ cH sm ^ il w ' o WP Bt *^ WW . tt » d , poJi | aoian » J w ] Uo do not ^ hitih to mako tho yvoidmont * of I urKey

    Untitled Article

    996 T » E ^ ^^ ^ L ^^ JS ^^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 15, 1853, page 996, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2008/page/12/