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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd September 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 907, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      « hi % »^ ml >« ff « i& 8 * a ^ rM suiHeient to 80 ( M . SJSedr ' - ^ fl ^ teJ ^ jury ' returned a > ** dict of Not iWfltr Eng ; -W& 0 appearr to have made a victim of Ufc < rae * fl > *** absconded : Ttte Recorder observed that he was ^ aftaid the-Albert is toot the only office -where transactions s * eh « B 4 fc » yhadheard are ca ^ rrifedon . A < JQOTrrAia-Ain > Convictions . — -At the Central tnmitfal Court , Itqmas Clarke , recently in the service of the General Post Office , > has been acquitted of a charge of stealing a letter containing a sovereign . —Frederick Moule has' been declared Not Guilty of forging and uttering a deed purporting to give security for some money advanced to him . The acquittal turned upon ^ a not deed The

      point of law , the paper being " a . --« navvies " charged with the late riot at Penge have been found Guilty , -with the exception _ of one . —^ -The Hacfcetts have also been convicted ; and , in the case of bank-note robbery at London Bridge , Mary Ann Pollett and William Foley have been Acquitted , and the other prisoners have been found Guilty , ' and sentenced to one year ' s imprisonment each . —Henry Watts has been found guilty of'the manslaughter of his wife , under circumstances of great cruelty , in the course of last July . The facts appeared in the Leader at the time . The man was sentenced to fourteen years' transportation . —Patrick and Eliza Hennessey have been convictedof starving their infant child . The circumstances in ' this case also

      have appeared in the Leader . The man , who was recommended to mercy , was sentenced to one year ' s imprisonment , and the woman to two years . ¦ A German Scoundrel . — Baldwin Specht , a German , is under remand at the Mansion House , charged with inducing a young countrywoman of his to come to England , under promise of marriage ( though he had a wife at the time ) , then endeavouring to seduce her , and finally stealing her clothes . An Enohcjsh Scoundrel . —Edmund Keeble , in the employ of a builder in Westminster , has been fined forty shillings for throwing a piece of paper containing -words too disgusting for repetition before a little girl , fourteen years of age . _ has been dis

      * Miss Theresa Grkig , the actress , - charged ; Edmonds , the man stabbed , having personally appeared , and reiterated his statement that he never made any charge against the prisoner , and that he believed the whole affair was an accident . A Good Samaritan . —Mr . John Jacobs , a Spitalfields sponge-manufacturer , found in Whitechapel , a few evenings ago , two young boys , natives of Essex , in a state of the utmost destitution . They had been turned out of doors by their aunt ( their parents being dead ) , and , having in vain applied at the Whitechapel workhouse , had been reduced nearly to starvation . Mr . Jacobs provided them with food , clothes , and lodging , and brought their case before the magistrate , who sent to the ¦ workhouse to make inquiries . In consequence of these , the boys were at length admitted . It is impossible to speak too highly of'the benevolence of Mr . Jacobs .

      Attempted Wife-Murder . —At the Westminster Police Office , Thomas Dodd , a coal-porter , and at Southwark , John Barry , are under remand , charged with such savage assaults upon their wives that the poor women are now lying in hospital . Another Case of Homicide at Bristol . —A man named Newman is in custody at Bristol , charged with killing John Hale , a seaman in a public-house , on account of some ¦ quarrel about liquor . Newman has endeavoured to show that he was first of all struck with

      *^ poker by Hale , who then ran away , and struck his bead against some iron railings with such force that he jfBceived a mortal ^ wound . The ; inquest is adjourned .

      Untitled Article

      THE QUESTION OF THE DAY . ( From the Leader , Oct . 14 , 1854 . ) The question of the day has been raised by Lord Aberdeen in his speech , in answer to the address of the Lord Provost and Corporate body of his county town . Our First Minister , speaking , no doubt , in the name oftthe Crown which views with favour his services , and © £ the Cabinet ¦ which he necessarily controls , has declared that it is a crime to carry on war an hour longer tbbnis absolutely necessary . The question of the day i »~ t ) What is a necessary war ? Lord Aberdeen very probably meant , in laying down thi » Ministerial axiom , that if Sebastopol be taken tho War ought to finish : that is , that tho necessity of tho War ceases when , the Russian fleet and fortress in tho Black Sea being destroyed , the integrity and

      iudepeuthat it was because we could not help it . The English liberal party seemed' to think that it was for the-purpose of doing a mischief to' Austria ; The English press generally seemed to 'think tbratit was for the purpose of defending civilisation . But no one has as yet attempted an accurate definition ; and every one's ideas on the subject become confused by consideration of Lord Aberdeen ' s reference to the criminality of an unnecessary war . One thing alone seems clear , that there could have been peace if the Czar would have permitted it , that he is , therefore , the author of an unnecessary war , and is , consequently , a great criminal ; so that a secondary question of the day is : Should the punishment of so great a criminal be wholly reserved for his Maker ? Lord Aberdeen expects to get at peace now—utterly careless of further punishment of the conscienceless despot . But how does Sebastopol lead to peace ? No doubt Turkey is safe as against Russia , if the Crimea be replaced in her possession ; and no doubt England and France can hand over to her the Italy of St . Petersburg to become the Isle of Wight of Constantinople . Yet what guarantee has Lord Aberdeen ( unless he is continuing confidential communications with the ( fear ) that Russia is as ready as Turkey and as England to come to peace ? Russia , so long as Nicholas represents Russia , will not concede the Crimea ; Russia can afford a long war of mere resistance ; Russia will not accept of the peace which even Lord Aberdeen would now give her . We are , consequently , it would seem , in for & ¦ very long war ; and , at"this point , cabinet and country should come to some understanding as to what is a necessary war . In other words , as to what we are at war for ? The Liberals will have a political war against Rusiia —against the Absolutist system in Europe . They are good enough to accept the alliance of Louis Napoleon and to mourn the loss of the Generalissimo St . Arnaud , who , fresh from the 2 nd of December , headed the troops of France in defence of civilisation ; but they compensate for this stern suppression of principle , in favour of expediency , by repudiating the Austrian alliance . They do not demand that war be declared against Austria , but they rather desire that Austria may be induced to declare war against us . The Government , which has no policy of its own , has to calculate this public opinion , and the more respectfully that the Conservatives are in opposition , and may , in consequence , have a tendency to revolutionary politics . This public opinion will take advantage of the obstinacy of Nicholas to force the Government into following the attack on Sebastopol by an attack on St . Petersburg ; while Louis Napoleon , whose interest it is to sustain a war which amuses his nation and secures him the prestige of the British alliance , will have much to say in demonstration to Lord Aberdeen of the continued necessity of . hostilities . Now , our Government drifted into this war ; and they will go on drifting . Lord John Russell is a clever man at making popular discoveries . He has been in statecraft for half a century , and yet it was only last session that he discovered , " amid cheers , " that the independence , which he thinks we should maintain , of Turkey , would be a delusion so long as Sebastopol harbour menacingly floated a Russian fleet . It is not impossible that he may detect some analogous objection to the fortifications at Cronstadt ; nay , that he may in another exciting session point a " manly " speech by confessing to a life of blunders , in the admission that for the safety at once of the West , and of the East , Poland must reappear on the map . We , for our own part , are counting on such contingencies , arising out of the competitions of public men for public applause , and hence our doubts whether it is not an advantage that , in a . war which develops into a political war , we have been enabled to press two despotisms into our service , while engaged in crushing a third—tho greatest of all . Lord Aberdeen said , in the course of one of his overcautious speeches of last session , that it would bo folly fixing beforehand what should bo tho conditions of peace—that the conditions would depend on tho character of tho war . At that time the saying was endorsed as sagacious , and doubtless it was ; but at this moment Russia is found out ; our war with her is as simple an affair as our war with China ; as States , both are impositions—they are Maps , not Powers . It is , then , quite time that our Government , if it is to lead the nation , should say what will bo tho conditions of peace . By entering on an inquiry of that sort , they would come to a clear definition of what ia a necessary war . Tho political difficulty , as to tho conditions of peace would , perhaps , bo diminished , if tho business-like English people wore to instruct thoir Government that Russia bo required to pay for tho expenses of the war—¦ though it should last longer than tho House of Romanoff .

      dance of the Turkish Empire are not only assorted , but aebured . . Lord John Russell , no doubt , spoke tho views of . the Government when , ia his last speech of tho sesatoni he said that Constantinople could never be considered safe from Russia bo long as Sobastopol was in tho hands .-of Russia . But is tho public , of whom Lord Aberdeen—not being tho Minister of a party—should be-ithe , mouthpiece , in agreement with tho Premier that th » war ought to finish at Sebastopol ? ¦ The question < of the day would seem to be this : What M » we at war fox ? Lord Palmerston seemed to think it "was for the maintenance of tho integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire . Lord Granvillo aeome& > to think that it was for the purpose of securing the French alliance . Lord Aberdoen soomod to think

      Untitled Article

      THE TYRANNY OF PHARISAISM . Wk cannot trust ourselves to express the indignation which wo fool at tho following case recorded by a correspondent of the Times . Happily ( as far as that i « concerned ) , the facts are thoir own damning commentary ;—" On Tuesday , Nathaniel Williams , an elderly labourer , of the pariah of Alfrick , in tho county of Worcester , was brought beforo a bench of magistrates ,

      sitting in petty sessions at Woroester , and fined «? ., with 12 s . lOd . costs , fo * cutting : two perches and a half of wheat , belonging' to himself , on Sunday , the 26 th of August . The poor ' fellow pleaded : tfcat it was a work of necessity—that the wheat woald ~ have been spoilt if he had not cut it — that he <* ra 8 employed from morning till night in farm labour ; ^ ba . i ^ the-magistrates were inexorable . I don't pr ofess to understand the precise definition of law in this regard ; but the Prayer-book tells me that works of necessity , piety , and charity may lawfully be done on ^ the Sabbath . I know that , by the law of the realm , Nathaniel Williams might have played cricket in his own parish on a Sunday if he pleased ; and I think it would have been more graceful if the magistrates had taken a liberal view of the case , and brought the act of cutting wheat on a Sunday under the former category . I am sure it is a monstrous anomaly that a poor man may play at cricketrtn his parish on a Sunday for healthful exercise , but that he must not cut a handful of wheat for necessary subsistence . As you are the great righter of wrongs and redresser of grievances , I implore you to bring this before the public , and am your obedient servant , No Bitter Observer . " No greater invasion of our liberties than the despotism which the Pharisees seek , to erect can be imagined ; and if the evil be not checked by the vigorous action of all honest men , we shall have no right to wag a tongue against the tyrannies of Pope or Czar . The records of Scotland during the worst times of her Calvinism , will show the monstrous cruelty of that description of practical irreligion which takes the form . of ultra devoutness . In no spirit of irreverence ( which we condemn as much as any man ) , but in the bitterness of spirit which proceeds from seeing a noble sentiment debauched , we exclaim to all such Sabbath observers , in the words of Dogberry : — " Thou art full of piety , thou knave , as shall be proved upon thee by good witness !"

      Untitled Article

      NAVAL AND MILITARY NEWS . Loss of the Transport Ship Canterbury . — This fine vessel , of 750 tons burden , commanded by Captain Carvell , has been totally wrecked . She was on her way from Corfu to England , with sixty-three rank and file invalids , forty-nine women , and fifty-eight children on board , all of whom were saved . On the 4 th inst ., she ran ashore on a reef of rocks off the coast -of Viana , in Portugal , owing to the thick state of the weather . The people on shore aided in getting off those on board ; shortly after which , the ship healed over , and her deck burst from her . The Wolverene was lost on the night of the 11 th of August , S . S . E . of the Courtown Bank , while proceeding to Grey Town . No lives were lost . Lord Palmerston inspected Woolwich Arsenal on Wednesday .

      Untitled Article

      OBITUARY . General Sir George Thomas Napier , K . C . B ., died suddenly at Geneva on the 8 th inst ., in the seventysecond year of his age . He served with Sir John Moore , and was present at Corunna at his death ; was with Wellington in the Peninsula ; and was made Governor of the Cape of Good Hope in 1837 . Dr . Gully , one of the canons of Durham Cathedral and vicar of Norham-on-the-Tweed , died at Durham last week in the sixty-seventh year of his age . This liberal divine w as the first person who sought to

      ameliorate the condition of the agricultural labourers in North Northumberland by calling the attention of landholders and the general publio to the then miserable state of the cottage dwellings generally found upon the estates in this district ; and his benevolent suggestions have since been carried out by the Duke of Northumberland and other large landholders . As the author of several works on tho Waldenses , he was the means of raising a considerable subscription on behalf of that interesting Protestant people , and was tho first to draw tho attention of Englishmen to thoir claims upon our consideration .

      Untitled Article

      THE STATE OF THE THAMES . At the Court of Common Council , on Thursday , tho Lord Mayor said ho had received a great number of petitions signed by the bankers , merchants , governors of hospitals and other institutions , medical authorities of tho very highest character , warehousemen residing on tho banks of tho river , and , in fact , persons of tho greatest influence in tho population , of London , upon tuo ht of such

      imatuto of the river , and ho thougthey wore portance that he at once determined to submit thorn to Jio Court , to bo dealt with according to tho J « ff"J ? "J of that body . It appeared from those d ^ " . "' *^ further delay as to the application of « ^ o . nody ° f to evil would be dangerous , and it ^ -Jjg *?^ him to act in auch a caao without tho oo- « P »™ cfllling a members . He had entertained an do « ;^ 20 I 1 meeting on Thursday next «• ^ j _ ta * n ^ tho aubject , with a view to « . i > i W £ \ vithout the conho was resolved to »« Ig »^»™ g \ Zon Council . Dcsent and advice of two court ui w

      Untitled Article

      the meimmi ^ f i&fcl vmM 3 D 3 ba 3 > e-r > . mi

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 22, 1855, page 907, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2107/page/7/