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    champion of freedom . It is the story of Protestantism , ove *^ again : each man rejects the Pope with all his . heart , but turns round and wants to be Pope over his neighbour ; and the neighbour who resents the tyranny becomes a rival Pope . This lack of respect for freedom of conscience and opinion promotes severance of interests , while hypocrisy

    justice , that the voman whose happiness and comfort are at stake should have no right to appear in the . court where her conduct is under adjudication ; that an injured husband should , have no redress until he has sent in hia "little bill" for damages ; and that divorce , if admitted at all , should be a luxury monopolized by the rich under the restraint of ^ p ^ hibitory ; coats . But what is done with & !^ ej&ree rpfonns ? Two are embodied in a [ bijl thrown out on its second reading ; and

    1 & 9 [ $ hir& jBfcill hirks in the suggestion of the ^ opsuniBsioners , without an attempt at accomplishment . ! Jhe three reforms would indeed not search ¦ fery deegjy , into the evils which result from the indissoluble nature of the marriage compact ^ while present laws compel it to survive eyejfy reascm . for / its continuance . And even so ^ u ^ ltiTjefprni is , gendered very doubtful by t ] he ^ i ^ cti ^; notions which may be said to beset the subject rather i than to elucidate it .

    Mr . Collier discovers that the bill for con-Y § 5 ting ; the damages Into a fine would absolve the ;^ leli ^^^ ta fj ^ l ^^^ amages , and would , not secure Jkjtie , fine . ¦¦ ; § eyeral meinbera--Mr . ^ jliej' y ^ Mr . Phinn , Mr . Montague Chambers i aiid the Attorney-General— -camiot give ^ pl ^ fe SaXoni BpidoQ of 9 money price for , the injui ^ f ? <^ raiife " r sai ^ Mr- Collier , " that afmaacannptas ^ damages for the loss of an affectionate : wife , and' whj compensate him j ^* thd loss of > hisJ&M& ^ y ^ f ^ W&jiOX of his ¦ radius

    }^ fi ^ mmM ^^^ P ^^ r ^^ ' |> iacing ; v a ¦^| gj ^|^ |{^! g (^ pk Jihe or ifte tibia , and literally- making her bone of his , bone . " l ^ vBhito ; pere ^ iyes ^ that if , a man has marriedawoman foi . her : 'money , and divorce be allpTfed ^ the speculator inaj lose the estate— - a result which id ; r the Phinn view is equivalent to : a reductio ,. ad , absurdum . The Attorney-General indeed puts the crescendo in this ease in the form of a monstrous

    hard-6 Ml > * -vr i Suppose the wifeto have a considerajd § , £ qvtune c / jeeured to . her ; jt would be mpB 3 $ rpu 3 i ^ hat \ the husband should be de prived no . tvonly of her affection ^ but also of any benefit from this fortune , and still not be allowed to obtain pecuniary compensation . " It ; waa virtually admitted throughout the 4 e ] bate that a man . may trade in the wife's adultery , and that damages may be the winnings , in the game . ; But unable to cope with

    a subject which numbers dare not penetrate , they . content themselves by shelving it , by throwing out the bill . - And this is all they know about it ! Let us , however , us apply to those who profess a chivalrups desire to sustain a conflict with society in such cases a moral which we have applied to the people at large . It is the aggrieved who are really chargeable with the failure of their ownv redress . There are numbers , —rwe know

    them well , and could designate whole circles O 0 , jaociety . where the fact is as we say , —who revolt against the existing law , and in their practice violate it ; and yet who suffer the consequence of this rebellion by submitting to indignities which they dare not xesent , or by succumbing in a still more servile hypocrisy , and pretending that they are what they are not , that they think what they condemn , and that they worship what they despise . Two reasons dictate this "voluntary

    slavery . In . the first place , it is cowardice . Men dare to act but not to say , and their actions they cover up under false pretence . Secondly , they are as intolerant as others whom they denounce for intolerance . One man who sees the injustice of existing laws , and desires to abrogate them , —who resents the idea of dictation in hia affections , —claims freedom for his own conscience and action ; but then , seeing others , who act somewhat on the same principle , though diftereiitly , on convictions also different , that first aspirant for liberty turns round , and spurns the

    fellowconceals from each other those who are fellows in misfortune : and thus it is that very numerous classes , which united upon the main objects of union might really have some influence to procure a substantial reform , remain impotent and disguisfed , torn by dissension , Belf-condemned , and hnpotently reduced to complaint in lieu of manly exertion .

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    A " STRANGEK" IN PARLIAMENT . The mother-in-lavr is so completely a controlling character in domestic annals , that we do not frequently find her as a personage in national politics . But since Catherine de Medicis swayed France , as an over-just noverca , no such historical influence has been exercised as that emanating this "week from the regretted Lady Grlynne , the mother-in-law of our Chancellor of the Exchequer- For , in consequence

    of her death , there was , on Monday , an . incomplete financial debate on a great war budget , and last night the Finance Minister Toeing still absent , still mourning , there were opinions ., not to say conclusions , arrived at on our financial policy without any one being in a position to define precisely what that policy was . Time was when Brutuses , in and out of office , would sink the " finer feelings of our nature , " &c ., to carry on Governments . But then a mother-in-law—that is a serious affair ; and

    fortunately vre live in a period wiien politics are not so febrile but that our politicians may occasionally arrest history in order that they may have time to weep ^ over their private woes-However , just as when , in Westminster Hall , the senior , suffering from study and stimulant , casually dies , and the junior counsel comes in and makes a reputation , so , last night , Mr . James Wilson had all the advantage of Mr . Gladstone ' s absence . Until last night Mr . Wilson never had the public

    oppor-TO BE DISPOSED OF BY AUCTION , OR OTHERWISE . Russia has hit upon a new kind of Marine Insurance , and friendly feeling for the Czar induces us to suggest to him , as a reward for his ingenuity , that he might extend the application of his principle to affairs on land . More than one Russian vessel has been caught in England under difficulties , but the resource always was , to sell the ship to some British subject . The . same dodge has been used elsewhere . Last -winter three

    ships of war , if we remember right , put into Trieste . They were Russian ships , understood to be laden with ammunition ; but when the war appeared to be probable they . were ¦ " sold" to Greek purchasers , and Greeks are now the registered proprietors . Recently another case has presented the application of the Same principle in a still more direct and obvious form . A Russian warship found itself at Bio do Janeiro , and its captain felt a natural desire to be safe back in some native

    harbour ; so one fine morning he jjot up his steam . But there Was another ship also in the same harbour— an English war-steamer , whose captain also got up his steam . The Russian vessel put out to sea ; so did the English vessel . The Russian put'his helm down , went back upon his wake straight into port , and advertised his ship "for sale . "

    That is the constant resource of Russian mariners in difficulties . Where an American or a Frenchman would lay to , would come close to his opponent , and fire till one or other ship were sunk , the more astute Russian evades the enemy by going into the gazette ; and carries home his ship , if not in the timber , at least in good bills or precious metal .

    Bixt why not apply the same principle to any Russian province that happens to be in danger ? Poland , for example , is rather threatened on various sides ; and the Russian tenure is scarcely , worth two years' purchase . The * ' Kent Guarantee Society , " we suspect , would not take the Emperor for a client . But still the land is valuable . For a royal person , now , in want of an estate , —for a Coburg about to settle in life , or a Bourbon tired of his travels , ft would be the very thing . The Emperor should send the particulars to a

    Continental George Robins— For sale , that fine Kingdom Poland , with all the dues , rents , rights , taxes , &c . ; the timber and the live stock now on the estate to be taken with the land . " The Emperor might thus keep his kingdom , if not in the dirty acres , at least in the money ' s worth Again , " That pleasant shooting district Finland " might be offered " to an agreeable neighbour on reasonable terms : " and the Czar would at once

    realise the value and hand over the impending law-suit to the new man . Something , perhaps , might be got even for the Crimea ; and we are not sure that the Czar might not prove that he had established a nuisance on the L ) amibe , to remove which he might even get something more . Nay , since he must be getting tired of the whole estate , with all the law-suits upon it , it does occur to us that his peace of mind would bo consulted if he were to disembarrass himself even of St .

    Petersburg . It would be a fine way to meet Sir Charles Napier coming up to Cronstadt with n A ^ ost wind , by putting up a great board announcing " For sale—these desirable premises . *

    tunity of justifying his enorxqous reputation , privately , and in " secret history / ' for cleverness : and last night he had the field to himself , and actually delighted the House , in committee , by his perfect tact , miraculous readiness , and unlimited mastery of the " whole subject of our financial system . True " the House" consisted , last night , of about only fifty members , but , then , they were the fifty members -who make and unmake budgets—a committee of millionaires , several of them with orchards of plums ; and one and all of them , even Mr . Spooner , -who was doing Leader of Opposition work , - pronounced the crafty

    Secretary to theTreaaury a man after their ownheart ( so to speak)—for , after all , * ' men of business , " with their acute but narrow ken , prefer as Chancellor of the Exchequer a statesman who can talk only to them . Perhaps , indeed , there were not fifty present ; from six to ten o ' clock—a financial revolution having been quietly accomplished iu those four hours—not more than twenty were there : and how the strangers ( who had frightfully bored their members for tickets , convinced that a war budget night was the night of the session ) did stare , when , on getting in , they found a chatty committee fixing extra taxation upon a self-governed nation . But even unenfranchised democrats would

    admit that it was all right : for by a provision of the God of Divisions there are about ten ex-Exchequer Chancellors in the House . Not that Mr . Wilson seemed to appreciate the blessing of that superabundance ; for he suavely but satirically put them all down , one after the other . Sir Charles Wood , to whom Mr . Gladstone should have delegated his functions , tut didn ' t , was the most difficult to deal with ; for , sitting on the same bench with Mr . Wilson , he had a tendency to give himself airs in the sight of that astute subordinate . Finally , he was crushed in a manner worth relating .

    Somebody , on the other side , suggested somethingan alteration in a resolution , in date , so as to prolong certain duties in the event of a protracted war . Sir Charles , who , if he have a fault , is too quick , jumped up , elongated himself , and commenced to confuse hia consonants— " Wyes—whe reawlly thwouwght , " &c . Sec . —that it was a sensible suggestion , which the Government would a . dopt . Other side said " Hear , hear "—Mr . Wilson stared , got up , and coolly said the suggestion was absurd , and the Government coiild not adept it . Then the House

    stared : Lord John [ Itussell was seen to hide a confidential laugh : and Sir Charles Wood took the earliest opportunity of going home . But the Committee -was also offered [ the assistance of an amateur Chancellor of the Exchequer in Mr . Phinn . Mr . Phinn , who , as predicted here , has got the reward of hia adroit radical speech recommending Lord John Russell to suppress Reform , 1 ms got now close "behind the Ministerial bench ; and , as counsel for the Admiralty , is confessed amicus curice , and , as friend of the people , had last night a plan , which ho frankly submitted , of gotting a froali million or " . two

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    472 THE L E A D E R . [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 20, 1854, page 472, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2039/page/16/