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Leader (1850-1860), 5th November 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 1071, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      leaving unreligious or unorthodox or heretical persons , to get liberty how they could . He pleaded for fair play to all parties—Secularist as well as Christian . Differing widely from Mr * Holyoake , Mr . Gordon yet bore generous testimony that the privilege of free speech would be perfectly safe in his hands . Despite the memorial of all the Clergy , the Mayor ( all honour to his name ) granted the use of the Hall , and Mr . Holyoake lectured on '' Secularism the Positive Side of Free Inquiry , " to a large audience on Friday , 21 st of October last . The place and subject were conceded . The triumph was legitimate and complete . It was a stand up battle of reason , influence , numbers , fairplay > heresy , and progress — against prejudice , precedent , coteries , intolerance , and standstiUism . The great party of things as they are in the Churches , foughtand the modern party of things as they ought to be ,

      won . . Other ministers—let the fact be recorded— -Jnay be supposed friendly to equal liberty in Coventry 38 well as Mr . Gordon . The Rev . Mr . Delf , ind <*^ dent Minister , said publicly afterwards , that bitd ^ «< 3 been present , he too would have spoken also for'a ftfe public Hall for Secularists . Very good—respect for those who would have done it— -reverence for him who did it . Conservative Coventry shared the advanced sentiment . Various persons unconnected with these proceedings , Bent presents of money to cover any possible costs of the contest—and the working-class , at the bottom of the movement , conducted their part with good sense . They displayed resolution without invective , and the town ( as it always will in such cases ) went with them .

      Did not the press in Coventry take part ? '' Didn t they ? " Didn ' t the glorious old Standard shake its banners—in exactly 39 tatters ? It predicted massacres , insubordinations , rapes , immoralities in general , and French Revolutions in particular . It wove prophecy out . Insensate Coventry , it heeded not the aged Mrs . Harris . The Standard is a fine old Tory fossilrather clipped and dulled by being shown week after week as a new living literary organism . But there is a live fibre in it . Its petrifaction is perfect . It is , as was said on Friday the 21 st , in St . Mary's Hall- —it is

      the Rip Van Winkle of Warwickshire politics . Winkle , that immortal , immovable , and unalterable patriot , described by Washington Irving , slept twenty-five years under the Catskill mountains , and on awaking , laudably proceeded to lecture his fellow villagers on the necessity of loyalty to old King George , twenty years after the Declaration of American Independence had been signed ! -And with like relevance , the Coventry Standard talks homilies and municipal politics of the days of Lady Godiva to the people of the 19 th century .

      The Coventry Herald took the part of the people and progress , and rendered honourable and vigorous service to principle . It rose in the estimation of the inhabitants in consequence , showing that decision and courage are honoured in the city of spires as elsewhere . Other provincial pape rs with half the ability of the Coventry Herald , attract the metropolitan eye , and rule local opinion . The Coventry Herald has shown the power to do this . Good men pray that it may be exercised oftener . N . O . I .

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      WORKMEN AND MACHINES . { To the JMitor oftho Lander . ) Sin , — In your "Open Council" of tho 22 nd ult ., there wan a communication , which as it has some interest for " between three and fourthousand persons in Scotland , " we have ta ken the freedom of asking for a small nook in your paper , therein to outer our protest against the extermination that your learned correspondent so naively encourages \ m , tho block printers , to submit to ; and as if the names of Archimedes and Euclid wcro potent enough to induce us quietly to yield our breath , quotes them , wo know not to what purpose . Wo nhall loavo all mention of these ancient gentlemen , Noting of Archimedes , that had anything of tho kind boon proponed to him , the lover to pitcli tho world out « f itH couvso , and into destruction , would , in all probabilit y , have boon in instant requisition ; Euclid , wo may HuppoKo , would , more rationally , bavo taken his land Hurveyor ' n chain , and moted out hi . s hIku-o of alma inator , Hooing that his artificial pap had been taken « "Way , by inan ' H wicked invention . Ah wo < : an mako jiothiiifjj more cIoho , at bent , than a vaguo fuinniso aa «> how these , persons would liavo domeaned thomselvoH , had they been nhawl printers , in Ihefio our times , I pant * to tho consideration of tho lant paragraph in your cor-N'Mpondent ' s opiatlean tho mattor that I would mainly

      , ° ' >]«)« t to . It runneth thus : ' " MothinkH , thon , it ^ ro wel l to pause , hoforo ho ( tho printer ) blamo . " y oil and wisely said . No light thing is it , undor any (! hcuihhUikh > h , to blame , till , at loant , a panne , nay a y « ry lonjr panne , has boon made . In a quofltion liko "' in , of tho politico-economical kind , a reading ' of Adam ^» nl , h and his commontiitorH , would as naturally nug-K ^ 'Ht itHtilf as would a visit from tho doctor to a flick pont on—a task , this , implying panne that , ovon woro your eorroHpondont of tho Lord Eldon flohool , muot "Urojy Hoom of tmflioiont length . In addition , tho writing of otic who hat ) obtained Homo Hmall roHpoot among liis follow-men , homo and foreign , might bo

      advantageously glanced at : as , for instance , what think you of this , in Carlyle ' s Past and Present , treating of a Manchester strike ? "And this was what these poor Manchester operatives , with all the darkness that was in them ; and round them , did manage to perform . They put their huge inarticulate question , ' What do you mean to do with us V in a manner audible to every reflective soul in the kingdom . " Your correspondent has probably read this—surely may profit by reading it again . But allow uS , in the meantime , to assure him that there are printers * though , it may be , not of his acquaintance , who have paused and reflected on this subject , long before his advice had

      reached the light , yet , nevertheless , do continue to throw blame , heavy blame on all discoveries that diminish the amount of labour to be done , no provision being made by society for those who are thus supplanted . As a grateful return for the doubtlessly wellmeant advice to " pause , " we will give to the readers of the Leader , who take an interest in shawl printers , apart from their mechanical value , and as men , our notions on this particular aid to production . It is intended , then , by a good many of the operative printers , to club their shillings , purchase machines , and work them , too . What think you of this ? You must surely give us credit for thought here , and to some

      purpose , too / about machinery , and its effects upon our temporalities . Our forefathers would have thought of breaking , burning , preceded by , of course , long denunciations of the m achine , because of its unfitness . We act differently . We propose waiting till those who have become fat in their purses by our labour , shall have demonstrated the fitness of this discovery , to effect the printing of a shawl or plaid , and then to step in and share with them . We think ourselves fully entitled to this favour at our employers' hands , in return for our having elevated them , or many of them , at any rate , to a position they could never , unaided by our order , have reached . Will this satisfy Tim ? Oct . 26 , 1853 . PlSTIS .

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      HOTEL CHARGES . { To the JEditor of the Leader . ) Boulogne-sur-Mer , 19 th Oct . 1853 . Sir ,- —Your kindness in giving room in your columns to the few lines suggested to me by what I had read in the Leader respecting the new system of hotels , projected by the " Crystal Palace Company , " makes me bold enough to submit to your consideration the rate of charges that might be established in hotels at Paris conducted on a similar system ; as also the gi'eat advantage that it would be to the many English who come to Franco cither for pleasure or for business . One may well suppose that the wealthy who travel from place to place in company with their " ennui , " care very little whether they spend " much" or " so much . " But the artist—we do not mean the " millionaire "—the observer , the poet , who wish to visit a country for the sake of instruction , the artisan of a certain class , * will be glad when the sum which brings them as far as the natural limits of home will give them a much larger field for exploration . For instance , take the present charges of secondary hotels on our side of the water . You will find : — breakfast , 2 francs ; dinner , 3 f . ; wine , ordinaire , 2 i .-, tea , If . 50 c ; bed , from 2 to 3 f . ; servants—we can't say . But we pick one from among " the lot , " and say If . ; altogether rather above than under llf . 50 c . That sum of course < loes not include the many items so overcharged in hotels of all description .

      Now , let us calculate what it might bo undor a new syHtem : —Breakfast , If . ; dinner , 2 f , ; good sound wino , If . ; tea , Of . 7 ?) C ; bed , If . ; servants , 50 c . Altogether 6 f . 25 c , allowing at onco a Having of 5 f . 25 c . per diem . ... Of course "items" would bo in tho same proportion ; and , again , a tariff might allow a reduction cither for a family , a party , or for travellers staying a certain number of days in tho hotel . Nay , wo have no doubt even , that hotels could bo established under the following rate of charges , viz . : — Breakfast , 75 c ; dinner , If . 50 c ; tea , < iOc ; bed , 75 c ; wine , 75 c ; servants , 50 c Altogether 4 f . 85 c

      JSTow , who would not bo satisfied to live as well , or better perhaps than many respectable families live , that is—cold meat , coilee or tea , and bread and butter for breakfast . A good substantial uinnor , composed of : potar / c , fish , a good joint , salad and cheese , with pudding or pie . Admitting , therefore , that many would be satisfied —and many do not require- more—with a good breakfust and dinner , including half a bottlo of wino , it would reduce tho expense to Uf . 90 c , that is } $ « . 2 d . per day with Horvantn .

      Another great advantage that might be added to tho now system of hotels , would bo to organize it so that in each hotel there would bo » person for tho almost exclusive purpoHo of giving tho travellers all tho information they generally require , and that with sincerity and truth . . . . I n fact tho traveller should bo conwidered as 11 friund . visiting another friend . Some people will Hay , but how is it possible to realize ho ideal n . thought' ? Wo think it just as easy as it is for any company to havo good agents , for wo

      suppose , of course , that each hotel would be conducted by a director chosen by the company , and who would be responsible for the comfort and welfare of his guest . It must , become dear to every one that the traveller , whether travelling for pleasure , instruction , or business , would in either case know that the moment he had intrusted himself to the protection of the company , he would be surrounded with every kind of attention , and that , free from the mercenary motives which prompt the many idlers that assail him and settle upon him like so many flies on a lump of sugar . And , again , what a comfort for those travellers having to make several stations on their way to the point of destination . . . . How often have we known travellers who could

      not afford outrageous impositions , or defenceless ladies suffer from want of refreshments sooner than submit to extortions . Hoping again that you will excuse the "English " of a Frenchman , I remain , Sir , your very obedient servant , P . Bonnefoy .

      Untitled Article

      ME . GOUGH AND HUMANITY . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Burrhead , 24 th October , 1853 . Except an accidental allusion to Mr . Gough in the " Non-Elector ' s" sketch of the Earl of Carlisle , I confess to my disappointment not to be aware that any distinct mention of him , or his orations , has appeared in your journal . Now this much I can say for Mr . Gough , that in this thriving village where I reside , his appearance as an orator was the greatest event of the kind which has happened in it . With difficulty our Mechanics' Institution sells 300 tickets , at Is , each , for a course of lectures , while twice within one week , tickets 6 d . each , Mr . Gough filled a church which holds eleven hundred persons . His popularity was greater than that of Padre Gavazzi .

      In some lights this fact is a moral triumph . Consider what a motley audience had to be kept awakethose who would otherwise have been chewing tobacco , and chuckling over the last " clever dodge" at the treet corners . The overtoiled mechanic , who otherwise would have been yawning on a chair , the farmer , whose eye scarcely ever grew irradiate , save over healthy cattle and enormous turnips , the man , whose soul swayed most particularly with the markets and the funds , the young lady , who had got little else to think of hut a party or a prayer-meeting , the young gent , whose smartest remark was a feeble echo of " Bell ' s Life , the person whose loudest laugh was sacred to the card-party , and the well-balanced individual who never laughed at all ; these were all of tho audience , and their attention , upon the whole , was remarkably vivid during three hours of Gough .

      Then consider what was the subject-matter which produced this unusual intellectual activity—personal reform ; not upon authority , but by the recommendations of experience . Every one in that audience wu told he had in his constitution the test of the truth or falsehood of the orator ' s remarks . For once , in talking about morality , a Scotch audience failed to hear of Palestine . Moses and the prophets were no longer seen in a glare . But positive conviction was sought to be established , regarding many social duties , upon knowledge furnished by the senses , or by information .

      the best quality of which was , that it was always ready to become our knowledgo by further inquiry . Many of the < 5 rator ' s similes were vividly condensed accounts of interesting- natural and social phenomena in America , tending to arouse interest in such things . Altogether , although I would havo been prouder to havo seen Mr . Emerson attended liko Mr . Gough , I must say the latter ia such a vast improvement on our clergy with their own subjects—bo much of tho human and progressive element was in tho man ' s discourse—that , sinco hearin g him , I havo grown more hopeful of humanity . Tim .

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      November 5 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 1071

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      * Until travelling bo brought within tho means of alnioat ovory claeo .

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      NOTICES TO COItltKHPONDENTS , No . IX . of tho " Oovornhifr ClnsflOH "—Sir . Tames Graham—is unavoidably deferred till next weok . We havo forwarded tho remonstrance of n " Stookport Mormon" to tho writer of tho lottom against which ho protend . Wo cannot inulortako to correspond with unpublinhe < l poetn , still less to return tins tons of v < irso which wo nro in the liubit of reeeivintf from ^ cittlomon who writo In tho . Speimeriiui otnnza .

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      AttTivioiAX Ki , owim-MAKirt (» . —Artificial flower-making in not an insignificant trado . ' An inquiry was nindointo tho industrial statistics of Paris in eighteen hundred and fortvsevon , which lots us into ft little secret in thin mat tor . Tho totul manufacture of cambric ( lowers in that year -was prodigious , amounting in valuo to more than Jour hundred thousand pounds sterling . Wo , in England , only took twolvo thousand pounds' worth of this valuo ; lor we prulo ourselves on boin / r able to mako our own artificial flowers . The cambrit ) , muslin , miuza , volvot , silk , and other materials wore procured from St . Etionno , St . Quoatin , and Lyons ; tho dyes and colour *) m > r » prepared expremly Jbr the purpose bv manufacturing c'honiWWj tho buds , leaves , petals , HtamonH , pistils , ami other component ports , woro mado in small workshops by porsoua imb oaoh attended to only one part ol ' a flower ; whilo the Whole wore fitted toirother in other workshops . ISvon theno worknhopn are , frequently limited to ono niuplft kind of flower otush ; bo completely iu tho division of lalour carried out .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 5, 1853, page 1071, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2011/page/15/