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Leader (1850-1860), 26th August 1854, Edition Town of 2, Page 807

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    • /lA»+rt. *v /* ?">?+*?*£ I (Mint (!UllUlUU r '
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      Untitled Article

      " qu ' avec le temps la flotte russe jouera uft grand role et etonhera le monde . La force de la Russie croit de jour en jour sur terre et sur mer , et son influence s ' augtnente datts la mcinie proportion . " La flotte RuBsie a ordre de n ' accepter de combat qu ' etant trois contre un , et jamais l'influence Russe n ' a e * te plus discreditee . Mais revenons it Instruction publique . II y a 2183 e ' coles en Russie et le nombre des 61 e " ves n ' est q « e de 118 , 47 O . Dans toute la Siberie il n ' y a que 3770 eeoliers !

      H y a 6 universites ; celle de Petersbourg avec 569 etudiants , de Moscou avec 821 , de Dorpat avee 587 , de Kharkov avec 407 , de Kievavec 595 , de Kazan avec 329 . II n ' est done pas vrai que le Tzar a , en 1849 , limite le nombre des etudians a 300 , § chaque university comme on fa pretendu a diverses jeprises . Si la philosophic et le droit public ont 6 be bannis de la Russie , la langue Grecque a ^ te , dans laplupart des gymnases , rern place par renseignernent des sciences natureHes , mesures que nous ne pouvons qa ' approuver , car nous preferons toujours les sciences vivantes auxlangues mortes .

      XiAcadeniie des sciences est composee de 45 membres . On sait que e ' est riniperatrice Catharine H < quiTa . form . ee en riornniant pour presidents ICadame la Princesse DasbJfcof qui a fait ua bon , disco > u . rs a ce sujet . Depuis ce corps s ' est recrute par des nominations jgouyernmentales . On ne s'est pas douteque H . Polenof , chef des archives efc : d ' tm departement aux affaires e'traTOgeres , decede en 1851 , a 6 te president de la section litteraire de 1 ' jicademie , et a ete remplace par le coiiseiller d " etat actuel Davidofil ; La bibliotheque decette academie a 93 , 000 tomesw

      Avec "un budget 4 e moins ^ e troismillions de roubles £ 400 , 000 / . ) on ires pent giiere fairebeaucbup pour Instruction p-ttbHque . Le chiffre ; des livres Kusses paraissant dans rempire , or igihaus , ii ' atteint pas mille par anetcelui des e'ditions perioifliques y compris les journaux ; , est de 102 . II a ete einporte 767 , 000 volumes de Tetranger dont 11 , 000 ont ete refcourne s comme defendus . Le roy aume de Pologne introduit a pas 30 , 000 volumes , en nombres rc-nds , par an . ; . " ' . ' - . ' ¦ ¦;¦¦¦ ¦ . ; , ' ;¦; ' : '¦ ' ¦¦ ¦ ' ' ' ¦¦ ¦ ' Ivan Golovin .

      P , S . Joukovsky , le ppete Russe et l'instf ucteur du Grand Due Heritier est mort a Baden-Baden en Avril , 1851 j et avec lui iiieurt ramienne litterature Russe . Le journal de l'instruction publique a insere une pompeuse relation de sa niort faite par le ptetre Russe a Stuttgart . Apres avoir cOmmunie , il a vu apparaitre Jesus Christ , que ne fait pas l'iinagina-¦ tipn . surex citee d un poete picux ! Sa figure , apres sa inort portait "l ' enipr ' einte d ' un honune juste . " II avail ; dit a son domestique : "Basile , dqs que je serai niort place sur ines yeux deux pieces < le florin et bahde moi la bouche pour que ma yue ne soit pas effirayante . "

      Derwfere son cercueil on porta 30 decorations et ordres difFerents , etle gouvernement payn ses ceuvres 38 , 000 roubles argent . On en conclut qu'il protege les talents , mais le Satan lui-me " nie aiine ses amis ; et Joukovsky e " tait l'auteur du Russiaii " Save the Czar . "

      Untitled Article

      There is no learned man but will confess ho hath much profited by rending controversies , his senses avvaKened . and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to rend , -why should it not , at least , be tolerablofoi his adversary to write . —Milton .

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      INDIA . ( To the JUdilor of the Leader , ' ) Sir , —I said in my last letter that the natives wore tolerably apt at learning the names of historical personages , and the dates of ovonts . But I did not render thorn full justice ; they are at least as < nuok in confusing and forgetting ns in acquiring information . About two years ago the first class at the Calcutta Madrcsaa—or university—competed for a prize , and tho following answers wero returned by some of the most promising youths : Q . Who was tho fntlior of King Ilonry I . ? A . Harold- — . Rufus—Kiclmrd the Lion-hearted . Q , Who was tho son of King John ? A . Riclmra II . — -Henry V . —Edwiml I . —nnd Edward II . y . Was liiohard I . a good and dutiful son ? i Tip p' ° 'lftr ( l tl » o Utm-heurted of cuursa was a good and dutiful e ^ n to Iuh father .

      addressing a superior , -whose omnipotence and omniscience it would be bad manners to appear to question . Many young men at the Delhi College—an institution singularly fortunate in having for its Principal a Cambridge gentleman of vast and varied attainments—have seemingly become thoroughly acquainted -with the lower branches of the mathematics ; and yet when they were sent to the Engineering College at Roorkee they failed to turn their previous training to any account . They were totally at a loss how to apply their theoretical learning , and it was found that they -were not one-half so useful as the noncommissioned officers and privates of her Majesty ' s regiments , who knew almost nothing before they went up . You cannot get a , native to think . He is like a man humming an air , and skipping the half notes . He has a glimmering of the troth , but only through a hazy medium .

      This " fogginess" of intellect is a great drawback to their holding judicial appointments . But there is a still greater objection : they have an itching palm . Erora time immemorial it has been the custom of the East xieyer to address a superior , or even to open a negotiation of any kind , without making some sort of offering to conciliate favour . It is a pleasant and kindly custom , but , unfortunately , very liable to a And it is dreadfully abused . The consequence is , that the native courts are one iaass of corruption . Mr .. Wilson , pf lloradabad , broiight to light the nefariouspractices of the Agra TTmlah , arid many of the most guilty "vrere ; dismissed . Further investigationj however , proved that the judicial

      administration of the entire country was tainted rn an almost equal degree , and it was found neoessary for the time to connive at such universal Infam ^ . The vakeels , or attornies , are enormously richj o ^ ving to the presents they receive from both parties ; and in a suit of any importance there is not a single . persoiJrr-froni the door-keeper to the native judge— "Who is not presented with a gift of greater , or less valnre . They will tell you that their gifts are not bribes in our acceptation of the . term- —they are nothing more than tokens of respect . But an Asiatic prince discovered some centuries ago that gifts pervert the "wisdom of the wise , and I am inclined to think that human nature is not much changed since the days of Solomon . It is very certain , however , that Ave do not give

      sufficient salaries to the native officials , There is a niistaken notion that a native can live upon , less than an European . And so he ^ can , if " living" be piily the quantity of " comestibles" copsuined in the course of twelve months . "But a native is-valued by his own countrymen according to the display he makes . If he '¦' would be respected he is compelled to be ostentatious—to clothe himself in bra . ve attireto have a large retinue of servants—to make largesses to the poor-7-and at times to construct public woxks , Tvrm-ke zvastt / , " for the sake of the name . " He feels that he must make a parade , and he will do it . If his salary is suited to his rank and social position , he may do his duty like a man of honour . Otherwise , he will certainly make up tUe deficiency as best he can . As there are still some other points to be noticed , I must ask leave to trouble you once more . J" . H .

      Tho four leaders wero unanimous on this point , jsut these answers arc . Bcarcely so comical ati one given to Sir Henry Elliott , by a pupil at tho Delhi College . 1 ho lad was singled out for his proficiency m mathematicnl and sciontino knowlodgo , aud many ot hisroplies evinced consideraWo fnmUlarlty with the ordinnry phenomena of creation . However , when b » r Henry inquired why tho earth revolved , ho made % J } ° \ ' P ^ " « 8 fti ( ^ " « y your good pleasure , bahib —a iavourito expression of tho natives when

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      this moment to destroy the freedom of the press and freedom of speech throughout America . They have succeeded in their nefarious efforts in the South ; and if they have not succeeded in gagging the North we must thank the Garrisanian Abolitionists . The American slaveholders would gag all Europe if they could . They feel that their accursed institution cannot stand if men are allowed to speak and write against it . If the democrats of Europe were in the hand 3 of the American slaveholders they would be gagged before to-morrow . Would the men that imprisoned Mrs . Douglass , that shot ILovejoy , that offered five thousand dollars for the head of Garrisan , that gnash their teeth at

      Theodore Parker , and are as impatient as famishing tigers for his blood , be tender of the democrats of Europe ? Would the men . who murder democrats in America , in defence of the most infamous institution on earth , risk their own lives , or sacrifice their own gains , in behalf of freedom in Europe ? Vex the slaveholders of America as you may by a faithful and consistent denunciation of their injustice and cruelty , democracy "will be no loser in consequence . It will be a gainer . The anti-slavery men of America have both the will and the power to aid democracy in . Europe . And ; their power is daily increasing . And when they see the Leaders of democracy in Europe espousing the cause , not of a nation , hut of MCanj they will aid them to the utmost .

      The anti-slavery men . in . America xire aiding the democrats of Europe continually- Every bloyr they strike at the monster slavery is a blow at 61 d-world despotism . American slavery is the disgrace and the weakness of democracy . The aboUtiohists are labouring to wipe away that ; ( liagiace , and tq > ieniDve that "weakness . If American republicanism had been consistent with itself—^ if it had riot been hampe red and cursed by an minatuTal alhande with slavery , it ^ vould have shanaed or driven the despotisms of Europe out of existence long ago . The existence of American slavery is the life of European despotism : the abolitioh . of American slavery will be its death . The slaveholders do not sympathise with the democrats of Europe : the abolitionists

      do . I have mixed with them both , and I knpw what I say . The slaveholders do hot sympathise \ yith the oppressed popples of Europe . They would like to be ^ their rulers ; but they have no desire to see them free . They laugh at the Declaration of Independence , and call it a rhetorical flourishi They lay down principles which would justify the enslavement of whites as well as blacks . They do enslave whites . Many of their slaves are not only more than half white , but quite white . No tinge of African blood can be ^ detected in them . And ; they would as readily enslave the whites of Europe as the whites of America , if they could . Mi . Sanders hiinseli lays down principles in justification of American slavery , which are just as applicable to the enslavement of whites as blacks . The American slaves

      " are not a refined and civilised people , he says , " but a benighted race . " Here the principle is laid down ,, that any people who are not " refined' ^ andcivilised "any people who are " benighted , " may rightfully be enslaved . Are the peoples of Europe all refined and civilised ? Who are to judge ? The slaveholders , of course . And we may guess what their judgment would be , if they "were short of hands . Besides , saya Mr . Sanders , slavery has a good influence , —it tends to elevate the benighted races . * ' The American slaves are advancing , under the care of their American masters , from barbarism to a highly

      respectable grade of civilisation aad Christianity . " Why , then , should not its refining , elevating , civilising , and sanctifying influences be extended to the peasantry of England and Ireland , and to the serfs of Poland and Russia ? I repeat , the slaveholders of America are the foes of popular rights , of popular freedom , the world orer . There is a . depth of depravity , an intensity of villany , in the hearts of those traders in men and women , and in the hearts of many of their apologists , of which those who are not acquainted with them can form no just conception .

      MR . G . N . SANDEES ' S LETTER . ( To the Editor of tfie Leader . ) Sire , —With your permission I will make a few remarks on Mr . G . ^ . Sanders ' s letter to Kossuth and others , which appeared in your paper somo weeks ago . The object of tho letter was to induce the leading republicans of Europe to refrain from speaking or writing against American slavery . Mr . Sanders ¦ would fain persuade the democrats of Europe that by interfering in any "way with the question of American slavery they will injure the cause of freedom on both sides of tho Atlantic . I thinlc otherwise . In my opinion the democrats of Europe would aid

      the cause of flreorjotn in both worlds by writing and speaking against American slavery . Kvery censure tutored by them against the revolting institution tonds to weaken the slavcholding despotiem , and to strengthen and encourage the friends of the slave . Nor will the faithfulness of European domocrats , in denouncing American despotism , lesson their power to grapple with despotism in Europe . It will increase it . It will vox the slaveholders wo grant : but what of that ? It will please the friends of freedom , and they arc the only people in America that have the will or tho power to aid European republicans . The

      slaveholders have enough to do at home ; and thoy always will huvc , so long as they havo suclx an unnntural and inhuman in&titutiom as slavery to uphold . Besides , it Avould bo madness to expect slaveholders , tho worst of all despots , to aide with thorough-going democrats . Thoy will side with thoir like . Tho oimso of despotism is one , and the doepota of every land will rally round it . TUo cause of freedom is one tho "wide world through , and tlio slaveholders kftow it . Thoy know thut to catnbllati freedom in Muropo is to endanger their pet institution j hence they had rather limit than extend tho liberties of tho nations of Europe . Thoy are doing thoir utmost at

      But I must draw to a close . I wish I coiild have the privilege of reviewing this letter of G . N . Sanders at full length . It is one of the most discreditable and revolting productions I ever read . The man that can rend it without disgust and indignation , ns Koseuth seems to havo done , can be no consistent , world-wide republican . If the representatives of republicanism in Europe do not spurn tho suggestions or Mr . Sandeva with contempt and scorn—if r like Mitchell , of Ireland , they tlirow themselves on thoir faceB in tho dust , before the most heurtlosa and

      cruel of all tyrants , and pledge themselves never to remonstrate with tlio persecutors and munlerera of some of tho beat and bravest reformers that earth over saw—if they form nu alliance with kidnappera and monhuntera—witlx tho firiuners of Fugitive blave Laws and Nebraska Bills—in vain will bo their professions of disinterestedness ami philanthropy , thoir love of freedom and humanity . Their power toelevate nnd bloss mankind will be at an end , and tho masses of tho oppreased and suffering will lose all faith in them for over . —Yours respectfully , Jobkpu Barker .

      /La»+Rt. *V /* ?"&Gt;?+*?*£ I (Mint (!Ulluluu R '

      cD-peit CntmriL

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      [ IN THIS DKPAKTStK ^ T , AS Ul OI'INtONB , UOIVlfcVEIt KXTJIKWE , AUK AI . LtWEU A ? f UJCI'KESaiOtf , THE KDITOR NKCliSSAlULV HOLDS 1 I 1 MB 13 LF UKBl'OKSlBI . li IfOU NONIiJ

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      August 26 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 8 # 7

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 26, 1854, page 807, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2053/page/15/