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    September 20 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER , 903

    Untitled Article

    THE CHARTISTS AND THE CHARTER . Op course , when the admirers of Mr . Johit T ? : rgst assembled last Monday to give him a ' public welcome , tliey expected to be ridiculed : They expected that shopkeepers ¦ would smile derisively as they went by , and that middle-class newspapers would call them " dregs . " That is the fashion of our times , and it has no effect except in tending to a separation of interests and feelings in the different orders of the community . The persons who composed the ' demonstration' were

    not the dregs of ihe populace , but for the most part * espectal ) le men—quite as respeet--able as the shopkeepers whose windows they did not break , or the gentlemen who described them in oner line as an " immense concourse , " and in another as " the dregs of the democracy . " They maintained excellent order , molested no one , and received so little protection from the pickpockets , that on Primrose-hill , where a vast meeting had assembled , only a single police constable was in attendance — -offduty—to represent the constituted forms

    of society . Indeed , a large proportion of the persons present were hard-working artizans , and it cannot be disputed that they had as clear a right to offer an ovation to Mr . Fjbost ns other folks have to present a sword to the Earl of CAKDiGAjr , or an address , full of unctuous flattery , to the French Emperor . If it be said they nurse conspiracy in their hearts , that they desire to overturn the constitution under which they live , that their hero had

    caused some bloodshed , and would have risked a civil war , so did . Louis Napoleon , on a much larger scale , and with infinitely less reason for his discontent . If we discuss the matter with our working-class friends , it is distinctl y upon the ground that their enthusiasm is as much to be respected as that of any other class , and that they have an indisputable right to choose the objects of their public praise and welcome . -

    insurrection by which several lives were lost , promoted it indirectly while he was still under the responsibility of his oath as a magistrate , and was fairly amenable to the penalties of a court of justice . We will say nothing as to the justification of the Monmouthshire riots . They were unsuccessful , and , as they had involved bloodshed , as they had held up a dangerous example , and , demonstrably , came under the operations of the law against treason ,

    resulted , unavoidably , in a penal sentence awarded against their leaders . Then " Hail , brother victim . ! " is an outcry which proves that the men who utter it are deficient in political knowledge . The English Government is not a . despotism , as they ought to ¦ know , for were it a despotism , they would not have dared to meet , or to declaim , or to parade Mr . 3 ? kost in a carriage . Moreover , their hero would never have reappeared in the streets of London to receive their

    exaggerated eulogies . He would have been put to death Tinder martial law , or kept in chains for life , or buried in some prison depth ; but he would never have been allowed to exclaim , upon a hill-top , close to the metropolis , that he bitterly detested the class that governed the country . The working classes have , politically , much to do , and muct to acquire , but their old methods are of very doubtful wisdom . To those who are susceptible of persuasion we would suggest one remark . Let them listen to one of their orators , hoarse with passion : could he talk of slavery and oppression more violently if he were suffering the tyranny of Austria ? And the difference between Austrian and English principles of government represents the difference between the Chartist sectional leader and the practical politician .

    Having said this , we are the more at liberty to say that we object altogether to such a demonstration as that of Monday last . , In point of fact , it was purely sectional , and not ijepresentative of that" large body of men formerly known sis Chartists , Those who know how this body has been split tip will l 3 e enabled to estimate the value of the

    procession and the address , when they learn that only two or three divisions out of seven or eight figured in them . Indeed , we may almost say it was an act . of folly to pretend ± hat the Charter ngitation is alive , or that its ¦ vitality was manifested on the occasion of Mr . Fhosx ' s return . The Charter has been dead ever since the hoax of the monster petition .

    Assuming , however , that which may not be assumed—the political existence of the Chartists as a body—the demonstration was singularly indiscreet . Why cannot men , advocating their political claims , avoid exaggerations , aiul theatrical puerilities ? " Why do they apply the colour of the Continent to their oratory and their emblems ? The phrase , " The Archangel ia here : his name is Democracy , " is one at which every seriously-educated man , artizan or not , must smile . It is , therefore , damaging to their cause . " Pnos-r

    , Wim . ia . mb , and Jones , the victims of tyranny , " is still more objectionable . Was John Frost a victim of' tyranny ? With every disposition to sympathize in the sentiments of a great class , aspiring to an improved political position , we must say that the ex-Mayor ot Newport , let his motives haVe been what they may , fell naturally under the sentence of the law- A government is not a government unless it suppresses insurrection , find a law is not a law unless its violation , bo punished . Now , Joiin Frost violated the law of the land , assisted in an

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    THE PHILANTHROPIC CONGRESS AT BRUSSELS . There have been five international Conferences at Brussels within the last ten yeai's The subjects of discussion have been—commerce , the penitentiary system , agriculture , the public health , and statistical science . In the present year two will be added to the number , the Free-trade Congress , which is about to assemble , and the Philanthropic Congress , which assembled last week . Its object , as defined by 3 M . Charles' Rogier , the President , is to discuss the means by

    which the material position of the industrious classes may be improved . Plans for their intellectual and moral elevation are to be considered afterwards in succession . The Congress , divided into three sections , will first discuss and report upon the meaus of subsistence possessed by the workman in connexion with agriculture , political and charitable economy , science , industry , and machinery and inventions calculated to facilitate manual labour . It will also consider

    Spain , Italy , < and Holland . Nor should we forget to distinguish the name of Duopetiatjx , who is literally bek > Fed by the Belgian people . This , then , is a real Congress , though few of its members are accredited by their Governments . Or , rather , it should be described as a Conference s the intension of Ifc 8 promoters being to deliberate upon the principles which , if applied , would enhance the positive well-being of the poor . As M . Rogues expressed it , some ofthe ideas thus

    propounded and debated will be carried away by the four winds , or deposited in a barren soil , but others may fructify ; and , at all events , a concord of benevolent opinions established between the philanthropists of the several European countries cannot bub have a satisfactory result . Indeed , in reference to former assemblies of the kind , M . Rogieb , upoiL opening the first session , declared that several public bodies had adopted

    positive reforms in their constitution and in their methods of action , under the pressure of the Brussels agitation ; and he pointed , as he was justified in doing , to the spacious hall of the Academy of the Muses , crowded in every part , to illustrate the interest tliat had been excited by the plans of the Philanthropic Congress . Scarcely a civilized Country in the East' or West was without its representatiVe .

    TJie idea dates from 1847 . At a conference on the subject of penitential establishments , lield in Brussels in that year , the proposal received an informal exposition ; and sixjears later the Statistical Congress resolved unanimously that it would be desirable fox a number of men belonging to different courttries to unite , and to examine the possible methods " of improving the physical , moral , and intellectual condition of the poor and industrious classes . " In 1854 the

    International Chanty Conference , held at Paris , resumed the consideration of this scheme , and the Congress now sitting was appointed to meet in Brussels . Among the questions to be determined , however , is one concerning " the place and time the most generally convenient for the future meetings of the Congres de Bieaifaisance . " In addition to oral discussions , a system of international

    correspondence will be established ; a periodical record of books , and documents connected with works of philanthropy , will be published ; and local societies will be formed ., in order to give a practical and permanent development to the idea . " Without advocating the adoption , of any paternal policy towards the industrious classes , we cannot but admire the spirit and the purpose of the Brussels organization .

    the sanitary condition , of the various trades and professions , and the ameliorations possible in the dwelling-houses and clothing of -the poor . A number of collateral topics are to be introduced when the operations of the Congress are sufficienly advanced . Among tho English representatives at the Congress are , the Honourable William Cowfeb , of the Board of Health , Lord Stanley , Mr . Chad-wick , Sir Jom *

    Ramsden , Colonel Sykes , Messrs- Twining , WraicwoB / ra , Russell Soott , Lumley , Hillieb , Sanddiison , Pope , Robb , Roberts , and REDcntAvJc , with Dr . " Waller Lewis and Dr . " Wtivd , all known as earnest' active men , though some are Icbs popular than others . Dr . Metz , too , is at Brussels , with Dr . Halm , from Wurfcemberg , Dr . Susa-nt , from Milan , MM . Gosse , Viande-Pa . tiiy , and Maynieu ,, from Geneva , and others from the great towns of Germany ,

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    MR , DISRAELI'S ERIENDS . Tee public , in all probability , haa not heard ofthe latest posture assumed ibr Mr . Disraeli by his friends . Having been employed for six months in arg-uing that intensely interesting question—" What lias become of the Tories ? they now exclaim that , wherever the Tories may bo , the Bight Hon . Member for

    Bucks is among us . And what is the ' Right Hon . Member for Backs ? The ¦ pioneer of Social Reform , the architect of his own political fortunes , the representative of intellect as opposed to mere aristocracy . On these grounds his friends claim for him some part of tho public sympathy , promising that his conservatism , in ofKce , will bo more progressive than tlie indiscreet and insincere

    liberalism of other leaders . These platitudes about mere rank , and Mr . Disraeli ' s intellect , do not come with much grace from , those high-bred gentlemen who , at the beginning of each session , count tho dukes , earls , and largo proprietors at tho

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 20, 1856, page 903, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2159/page/15/