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Leader (1850-1860), 19th November 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 1118

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      > : I J ^ ¦ . ¦ tive / -4 iroreditable . * ¦ jacts .-- -We- -ard ¦ a . moral and a religious ppople ; . but , , we assented , coinplacently t ° th ^ : ^ wbl «^ ent * tt 4 ^^ PFPP ^ of ; .-the-., illegitimate , children , of King . William r !; and ( should , indeed ^ fc ^ lfla ^ redtote'ttqti ^ d by tKeiol in " society . We admire Thin-low , for attacking "the accident of ftn accident , ' . ' and y ^ e Ty ' Qnd . ^ r afy the prpfljgacy of English ji \ anners , when phases , the Secpnd could mate his , bastards J ) ukea ; but we were by no means , astonished when a gentleman Ntfhose pedigree didn't go beyond the delightful Mi ^; 'J 6 rdaln ; was made an Earl ;

      and the other . day " we Witijessecl without . horror a high . ludian , command conferred upon ^ hat - nobleman ' * younger brother . { an , energetic officer ) , also a Lord byy- < f - courtesy ? of a generation of what Mr . Thackeray calls " snobs , " Our Queefcrecognises those cousins , arid . why should not . we ? We should be shocked , jf we . were , asfced to dinner to meet the G-iafinn von Lansfeklt , ; but there , are a couple of British Dukes who are descendants of celebrated prostitutes , who are not ashamed of their origin , and we as a people are ratlier proud of them , or else , we shouldn't ; pay , as we dp -annually , to this day , for the maintenance - of their dignity *

      We are , therefore , Very tolerant of Royal foibles , and it is to be regretted that we are : riot more confided in by our contemporary Princes of the Blood , We are very glad to see them when they come among us . '' public-. " . perhaps a , le . ss brilliant or less fascinating old gentleman-than the late Duke of Gambridge never existed ; but we loved him , he came so often to our public dinners , and on those occasions used the pr ivileges , of his nearness to the throne to mangle her Majesty's English . In the same way the JDuke of Sussex , who was also condescending ^ was a very popular man ; arid we deeply regretted our laws which prevented him marrying his mistress , as his ' brother George did .. .. .....,.... /

      fHowever unwqrthy a royal , duke might be , we would like him ; and a royal duke would ,, consequently , lose nothing by letting us know the truth about him . We had a strong suspicion iii George the Fourth ' s lifetime that he was an objectionable gentleman ; but we can remember how we , cheered him , particularly in Ireland . The Puke of Cumberland got on , despite his reputation , and all good Protestants wept when he was found out , in an Orange conspiracy . ... .

      The Duke of Cambridge of the present period costs the country , about 30 , 000 ^ a-year ; and we are really entitled to know a little of . so . expensive a . Prince . He ought to come to our dinners and our meetings , not that we should find out anything about him then , but that we like to sep , qur princes , if only as figures in the pageants of our public proceedings . Archbishop

      WJUatcly could succeed in proving tluit there never was a , Itfappleon Bonaparte , and would have Jittle difficulty in demonstrating that the Puke of . Cambridge is a myth . Hehfis been seen in , , a private box at a theatre , and rode a groat many people down on the day of his first battle — the Wellington funeral ; but doubts about his existence would have their justification . In a few , years' he wi | t , hitV < i the Homo

      Guards ; and then wo can go and Katisfy ourboIvcs any day at four o ' clock , that our bent dragoon officer —( ho really rides people down veiy well )—iri really a royal Duko . But , . moanwUilu , it ¦ would bo well if ho threw himself into some movement of the day which would bring him occasionally face to face with the pw > i > le . We are muck obliged to him for commanding a cavalry regiment and ranging a park or two ( before dinuor ) ; but Prince Albert coiuuiandH regiments and rangca parks alno ; a , nd iiiulu time to be tlie loader in tho great movement of the century . A

      royal Diuko tjhould , have ji pronpuueed character , —even if only a cl * air « Mitur- for liking dinmuH ; unil tlm preaont Dnko of Cambridge in unfortunate ) 'in that , Iiih nam < s conVoVn no idea of pertonality to tho enquiring popular mind JSTobotly will t » i > . bold enough to object when h « succeeds Lord llanniigo ; but ifc will JM > verfchele / ji , H bo felt by tvaelf-g ' o . veniod nation that it oufjUtto know a lititlo- about the man who BHh tho oiHco whUth nan beeki hold in turn by Hill , Wellington , arid Hardingo . With' rogpeot to the " rent of ( ho lfoyal I'Yvmily , '' who coald toll ovuu tlieir iiamiotfl But X have , drank thuir'health v « ry often : and Jim uuifco * uiro . , that fclio

      toABt , as the Ohairman alwwya obHervcH , noedn no hi * trotluction : —that in to Kay , 'that aM wo know nothing about them , wo had bettor continue roHpeetful aiul ij ^ leixuily tfiluut . Ah tho toawfc i « alwuytf drunk with

      three * im « s * hreer we- ra » y eonelude that that is -the number of the . persons we reverence , r ^ wbiph js something to be sure of . , / Ngn-Electob .,

      Untitled Article

      RUSSIAN . SERF POM . :.- ¦ - ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ v- ' ' [ c 6 nsroi . prpiBra . 'A . lE , Ttoijfi . ]; ' ¦ ¦ ¦ : - - ¦ : /' JTtfsT before I left Russia , in 1846 , a trial peculiar to those latitudes ! w ^ s cre ating" great excitement in Moscow . A Prince , possessing large' domains in the province of Ozel ,, had one qf his serfs ; flogged . Tta serf died under th \ e punishment . ' According ; to custom , a priest an . d his deacon , attended by the Sacristan , were present at the burial , and drew up the registry certificate of the man ' s death . The goo < $ . priest si gn ed ; ' fhe good deacon signed the said . certificate ; but k > , on perusihg ' their j oint declaration , the Sacristan made the remark that " this was not a Case of natural deaijh , buta murder . . The priest stared in ardazement at the

      observation , arid endeavoured , to coriyirice him of of his error , and to persuade : him . to sign . ' The Sacristan obstinately persisted in Ms refusal . As ! soon as the Prjrtce was infonned of this difficulty , presuining that the Sacristan would scarcely let such a good opr potttiriity slip without improving it , he sent the poor Wretcli ^ few hundred roubles . Still the . Sacristan held , put , and calling on the priest and deacon to attest the bribe , he disappeared from thence , to re-appear at O ? el ,. where he penetrated into the presence of his archbishop , p , nd tohim related the affair , ^ e archbishop , unprepared for such an emergency , wrote to consult the

      governor , arid the superior priest of the district , Now , the governor of Ozel happened to be a near relative of the murderer . It may be imagined he spared no effort to hush up the affair altogether ; but the inflexible Sacristan stuck fast to his allegations . The affair got abroad , and placed the police in a situation of considerable embarrassment , for the crime was but too evident . The secret police gave information of the whole story to the Emperor . The governor was Removed ; the inquest resumed on a different footing ; proof after proof established the fact that the Prince . of Trubeskoi and his wife had been in the habit of practising the most abominable cruelties towards their serfs .

      Subtertfariean dungeons vi ^ ere discoypred in the seigneurial maijsion , in which prisoners languished in chain ' s . Dungeons and irons ,,, it should be . understood , are equally foreign to Iliissian customs / The Prince was tried , condemned , degraded , deprived of all his titles , and , accompanied by his worthy helpmate , packed off to Siberia . Nor did the Emperor stop there , but ordered all the marshals of the district , since the installation of the Prince in his domains , to be tried for the cririie . As might be expected , however , tbjis measure was not carried out . ' 'Ch— , the then Minister of Justice , was among these marshals , and the matter was jiot pushed any further , out of deference for one of the most mediocre of administrators .

      The relations between the nobles and the peasants are anything but sound . Indeed they are as strained arid insecure as reciprocal distrust cm make them . The patriarchal' relationa of which Haxthausen speaks , where then did lie find them ? The great lords , in tho time of Catherine It ., treated , tjieir peasantry with » sort of aristocratic consideration and ., tutelary regard ; the small proprietors also , because they , had not yet cast off tho manners of the peasants , among whom they lived in extreme simplicity . But the succeeding goneration separated themselves more and more from the

      peasants , and from their simple manners . , Civilization suggested t , o the nobility new wa , nts , and with these wants new ways and means . Tl ^ e developments of industry ' and manufactures , the diffusion , of the principles of political economy adapted to local liabits , fur-Yiished fresh means of iililhincj the peasants . The seigneur , th # . t " patriarch , " that " chief of thockn , " that "father of tho comiuune ,, '' from an aristocrat became by degrees manufacturer , planter , slaveowner . Mr . Haxthausen has ween all thia and is aa well aware of it art I can be , but in his capacity of an absolutist demagogue he in , doubtless , obliged to piiSH it over i » nileuce . Tliii 8 author , who has unfortunately marred hi . s intcrcHting work liy . an , iii . dcHQr . jl > . a , l )| y frantic paHaion for royalinn ) , * known tQO . Well the organisation , of , tli , o IkUHHia

      n oommiuie , not , to have known that ^ ho power of the HeJIgmnir in an excrescence upon the comiuuno into whicsli it haa ontorcd < -ih an elemont altogether foroign ,. p ^ raKiticiU , and destitute , , of , normal l ) asiHi Ho HifecewlH ati , lit | , le . i » , i opfpla '^ nng , |> y a pretended ]> atr iarcbaliHiM the Hoignoutfajl prur (> AJ « 'itjy « s , a » in ju » tit , fyu » g _ the oppreHHiye ucHpotiHin . Of PeterHbur / jfli by tho 8 nt > VriMtJiof [ obcdw > t , c <} t a paHsion which tljjfi ( UiliLrhteiu : d C ) enri ; vn orIIh tlie diHiiviguiHlnng virtue <> f . tho Ku . s « ian people . Tluj r « al patriarcl ^ al chief of tho communo w , t'lie Btiu-oH | , ^ oluctjtid by the conuttuwc frexut amoij / yf \ i , n ow » uwji « l )( irH II , jH " ho WJ , ' (^ Icch , tUo , ^ a , c o , o , f ; th . , f ; i . tner of tho fivinUy ho jnii ^ o . repi'eHcn ^ a ^ ve ,. tho , guardian , tho natural profyWtior , oi" ' \\\\ \ . coranwflo ., Wlint , , then , in tlwipffico , tlw ( tuty of tho Hoign « 'in-, ' that : dien intruder who makes , from thno . to * ;•»> % » fc " ><> wf <> v le « a

      * Whidi Iviw 1 < .. 1 him < Mm to . ' c&iob ' riiko iViii }» r ' ftiH <> H ol | , ho IiihTi lor «! h « HoJ < li ( ' ( - ' H bmflc . Ito Hj )(> akti ofllWv wliii ) with nfttaitiiiK tmMiunitiHih , and ^ t . tnbut ;^ i <> it all ' tli « gloryof Itoxne , ( iukinff for hi « uuthority 1 , ho ovidonoo of houu » " JionouruWo . mh \ royal ( Kvnu / Usch l * rma » isi ) h ) Juoobin taoMior . —A , If .

      irregtriar intervals , irraptions upon his estates , like the Baskah Tartar .., upon the towns , and Jeyies cojotributiojip ? . The Starpsiq , on the other hand , is not , and : can ^ 9 t be ^ a , despot were he so disposed , the force of custqm . and traditional rights would crush the attempt The ! ' united ¦ commune ( Mra ) . ^ ould , by it ' s . . . universal will ,. redfjoe him at once . to the limits of lis authority and . of his duty > Eljected by the free suffrage of all the working member ? of ttie . commune for a limited term he knows . well enough that he / will have . to become a simple mpyjik again , if not re-elected . He knows that after haying governed the vfllage he will be obliged ( as 2 VI- Haxthauseip sO , poeti , calJy describes ) r"to come and kneel ^ elore , the cornnaqn assembly , Jay down before it the staff and insignia ' . oi his office , arid ask pardon of the' conimtirie for afi ^ wrongs he may have comiiii ' tted agajristiC" "" . [' ,: ' / '' [ ' . ' ... , ' ' ' " ' ' : "''' ' '; " . : ; . ;'

      Surely there is no Vant of another adoptive father of a , step-father who lives away from the commune , and who appears , from ! tirae to time Only to snatch away the liori ' s share of its produce . If the seigneur were nothing iriore than the proprietor of the soil he could exact nothing but the rent of his land , but he afflicts the peasant with a . capitation tax ,, he taxes his labour independently of the land , he ransorias his right of locombtioii . . Thus , to employ an admirable expression escaped froni ] VIr , Haxthauseri , " on the , basis of a St . Simonistri Reversed , lie makes . the impost more severe in proportion as the subject ' of the impost has more talent . " '¦ : ' ' . . ' ; ' ¦ . / ' ' ' . . ¦ , ... ¦ . ' . ¦

      Beyond the comriiune there should be nothing but the national unity , the res piiblica ( Semskoie delo ) or the directing power . The free communes are assembled by districts ( volost ) , and , according to Russian law , every commune having its ' Starost ^ , this aggregation of communes elects its popular chief , called Golova . There is many a Golova who has thirty thousand men under his orders . Together with this chief there are two judges , a sort of justices of the peace , elected by the peasants . - for the legal administration of communal affairs , and of the police . The police is exercised in the villages by centurions , and decurions elected ; the distribution of taxes arid of offices is administered by the Golova and the aJncierits . It is a complete socialisticself-goTeiiivtient , and it Worked very harmoniously till we became indoctrinated with the policy of German or Byzantine order .

      One Minister , M . Kisseleff , was capable of apjjreciating a part , at least , of the magnificent institutions on which the commune is based . His reform of the administration would biave been almost the beginning of a recognition by the Government of St . Petersburg of Jlussian common law , if the personnel of the administration were not so profoundly vicious . One of the great misfortunes of our Government is , that it governs to excess . It mingles in and with everything

      and everybody ; regulates everything , fidgets about everything : the length of the Jewish Caftan on the Polish frontier ; . the length , of hair worn by the students of our universities ; at one moment it is recommending a husband , to reprimand Iris wife , at another it is advising a young man not to lose all his fortune at cards . Our Emperor is not only the head of the Church and of the State—he is also the principal clerk , and the busybody in chief . Ho marries , he unmarries ; he manages all , and mars ' all . Tails rex .

      M . Kissoleff , while he preserved the grand communal institution , contrived to ' neutralize tho purely national and healthy characteristics of his scheme by that oxcc ' sh of administrative intermeddling , that intemperance of regulation , in a country , too , to which all fonnaliflmin repugtnant , and which , in truth / does not want any artificial supplement to tho forco of long habits and traditional customs . By way of administrative interference " with all the affairs of tho peasantry , lie introduced a thief into evory commune ; he ' oponod in every village an Australian mino of spoliation for his bureaucratic d-iffffem . ThepTobity of the Minister in not here In " question ; but was ho not old enough to know that tho subaltorn employe ' s throughout . Untwiu are nothing but patented brigand ?) and veteran i <>' bers ? ¦ ¦ "" ' '

      Tho Rolution of continuity botweon tho world » J omploy ^ a and the people , aa between the pooj > lo and tli < vGovernment , in evident enough . Tho Governineii t of Potorttburg is a temporary , jn-oviHioiuil govonimdnt ; it is a terrorist dictattmthip ; a 'Ofloanrism carried «<( abmr'dum . Itft peopli in th (» nobUiuc , jWhI that only »» fai ^ « m « it iB tho enemy of the people . M . Huxth » w «« n tri «« f to provo tho cohtwiry- ^ that tho imporiftl povv . r Much an it oxiBtu now is Tieccm-. try , national , logical , iu « i popular . Thin veiy Oatholio cennor' . appoalH to t «» < Hia « i-fttli « i 8 ttcai philosophy of Hegol in mipjx . rt of tlio Hohismatic aCmifecor . We know that Hegel luw-tiinu '

      ii £ ? t > o ( lmany " JMawlM by presenting tho mmpleHt tl »« « y in-tho woVU . as moBt ^ tmordLT » ary—" itll that rea ly iH wiaaoinablo . ' . ' Nothing can bo ch » ror ; -mid w ) mn "' outoriapc mto HcholantiO dmihicthw bohwoan tl »« »« ' »»« tho mkmmv- wa coxueedo . that-ovory \ wnomviwn liM <™ ramm ,, cl'ttr « aud bhat an abmUwto al . Hiirihby l » -n »» " ' lutoly imv « HMibl « . Om n ed not- ho a tfreat «» . ' " motaphyHH ^ H to bo aw , u « that whoro thoni w rjf ' ¦ tUeJ mtmt b « a cam ,:. « o « ft . » y « t " , lan ; . , < h covered m , « J d « H « ri 1 u » d the very « xa « L lawn tdU ** toiogy ; ho Huocoeded aduiirably hi jwHtily"H ? " abnormal development of tho fintiw , but ih « moMtu

      Untitled Article

      1118 THE LEADER . [ Saturday , —•— . — " — , . ^ i ^ ^ b ^^^ iib ^ .. jj . 1 ^ . —m —^^^^ ^ fc ^ —* - ¦¦ »

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 19, 1853, page 1118, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2013/page/14/