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Leader (1850-1860), 16th July 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 843, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      33 per cent ., respectively , of the whole , are paid and do nothing . Till this be altered , and all the superior places thrown open to all volunteers—till the distinction between the classes -who serve her Majesty be annihilated , and till the State funds are appropriated to pay the seamen required and employed , not officers unemployed , the navy ought not to get , and will never get an abundance of

      seamen . We have confined our remarks to a brief outline of the principal circumstances which prevent the navy from at all times finding , like every other employment in the community , as many candidates to enter it as ifneed ' s . The Admiralty-: —the heads of the navy , the red-tapists—will be unable to agree with our remarks . Their habits of . thought are formed on the facts and principles of the old system : in their minds coercion is established as the cannot

      foundation of naval discipline , and they conceive , much less comprehend , and still less can they form a system . compatible with principles of freedom . The public cannot reasonably have any hope of rational improvement from such men ; there is no trace of it in the report of the Commissioners to inquire into Maiming the Navy ; and in this , as m all other cases , the public must dictate to the Admiralty what it should do , or what is right and necessary on this subject will never be done .

      Before closing this article , we must express our strong dissent from a contemporary whip , last week , referred the present want of seamen to the rapid extension of our trade and the great demand which the mercantile rnarine now makes for their services . Admitting the explanation to be reasonable , it is limited to the period since 1840 , and leaves the want of seamen felt long before that year quite unexplained . After an elaborate statement of principles arid a logical deduction therefrom , the Economist concluded , that in setting forth the increased demand for men invarious . employments since 1840 , especially in the mercantile

      marine , it " had told the whole tale of the navy wanting men . " Pushed to its proper consequences , our contemporary ' s doctrine , that " a certain portion of the people only is available for certain calllings , and the portion devoted to the sea being absorbed by the mercantile marine leaves none for the Royal Navy , " leads to the conclusion , contradicted by all experience , that the more extensive is the mercantile marine of a country the fewer seamen there will be for the navy . On the same principle , the more shipwrights , the more engineers , the more machine makers there are in the community employed by individuals , the fewer

      there will be at the command of the State . This reasoning overlooks the consideration thatall these artizans are employed by means of capital , and that wherever they are in existence those who possess the means of hiring their services—which the State may have to any extent—can command them ; the more there are of any such classes devoted to certain callings , the more of them the State may havo when it needs them , and has 4 ' u . nds to purchase their services . Last year it required additional shipwrights , it obtained 1 , 300 by an advertisement or two . The more seamen , then , tho mercantile marine employs , the greater is the number which the State may obtain , if it treats tho seamen fairly , justly , and

      honourably . Wo arc amazingly surprised to find contrary arguments in the Economist , for that journal throws on tree trade , because it is the means of extending employment f or mercantile shipping , the odiunvof * the country being inefficiently defended . Our contemporary may not have intended to defend the authorities which since 1815 have so scandalously neglected the proper measures for overcoming tho repugnance , of tho seafaring poptilation to the naval servico 5 but in effect no docs this . lie finds in tho effects of free trade the reasons of tho navy wanting men , and so indirectly attributes to it tho necessity which arbitrary and ignorant statesmen say justifies impressment .

      Untitled Article

      UNCLES AOT NEPHEWS . In every well-regulated country there exists some recognised method of removing troublesome relations . In Russia , they are deported to Siberia , and heard of no more . . In-Japan , they aye dismissed by the process of the " happy release . " In France , before the' sad times of the revolution they were got rid of by lettrea de cac / iet , and even now-a-days , if scandal lies not , the same object is attained by deportation to Cayenne or Lambessa . England , which stands in the vanguard of civilisation , is not behind other countries in this important respect . If we have no lettrcs de cachet , no Cayenne , and no happy release , we have our lums hich the

      private lunatic asy w answer great purpose with equal efficacy . It must be an illregulated mind that can perceive any defect in our method . Does not the whole fabric of modern civilisation rest upon the idea of the family ? Is not the fimily system the keystone of our social and religious polity ? If in individual cases the enforcement of the family theory presses somewhat hardly upon the victims to this great principle , is that a cause of complaint ? Has not every theory its involuntary martyrs ? It is with no wish of disparaging ^ the family system , but simply of pointing out its practical operation , that we advert to the case of Mr . Philip Fletcher . This unfortunate young man is the only son of Mr . Charles Fletcher , a partner in the well-known house of "Alexander , Fletcher ,

      and Co . " The firm had the reputation of great wealth , and Mr . Fletcher was brought tip as the sons of wealthy merchants are usually . He was educated at Eton , and afterwards at Oxford . With such tuition he . had naturally acquh-ed . tlic tastes and habits of men of fortune . During the famous panic of 1847 the losses of " Alexander , Fletcher , and Co . " amounted to the enormous sum of between 700 , 000 ^ . and 800 , 000 ? . One of the partners , Mr . Fletcher ' s father , was sent out to India to protect the interests of the firm ; but unfortunately died almost immediately on his arrival there . At a very early age , therefore , Mr . Philip Fletcher was left an orphan and a pauper . His father ' s share of the business was quite swallowed up by the losses of th $ last year . This fact , which is established on indubitable evidence , seemed

      at first incredible to the heir , who , from his father-s will , made shortly before death , imagined himself to be the heir to at least 10 , 000 / . Any one acquainted with partnership accounts can easily understand the difficulty of rendering- them speedily , or of making them intelligible to persons who have no knowledge of business . Not unnaturally , therefore , young Fletcher conceived an impression that he was being defraxided out

      of his just right s b y the surviving partners . It is hardly possible to conceive a more unfortunate position for a very young man to bo placed in . Reduced from wealth to poverty ; rendered dependent on the charity of relatives whom he distrusted ; with every taste for spending money , and with no power of acquiring it ; deluded by an idea that some day he might recover the wealth lie . conceived himself entitled to , is it to be wondered at

      if he turned out but ill ? The story of Mr . Fletcher ' s life is too common a one to need much dwelling on . The history of all prodigals is sad enough 5 but saddest of till is that of the poor prodigal who spends not liis own but other peopled substance m riotous living . Most families can fill up the picture for themselves ; can guess how the lad took one situation after another , and lost them all ; how tliero were endin

      constant applications forinoney , and neyor . g difficulties ; liow dissipation was followed by drunkenness ; and how tho spendthrift sunk jowcr and lower in the social scale , benenth tho notice ot his respectable friends , until at lust they turned their backs upon him , buttoned up their pnokets , closed their doors , ond prnyod Heaven that he might disappear before he . disgraced ^ tlio family . This , of course , is their version of the story . . Probably in this , as in nil other oases , tho version of the prodigal would be somewhat diflorent . Tho same fhots may bo explained differently . In addition to those features , which are common to tho story of all spendthrifts , young Fletcher was cuilty of the , peculiar atrocity of having a grievance . Howbver false tho charge may be , it is deoidodly unpleasant to . have a relative constantly accusing you of fraud . Things got to such a pass , that , ae Mr . Dombey ' s eister used to say , " An

      The Dog Days

      influence . Given the state of the thermometer and the specific gravity of the atmosphere , ye shall be able to predict with mathematical certainty the variations in the increase of vice or Virtue , the relative proportions between the numbers of the dissolute and the temperate . Failing :, - however , this perfect consummation , we are obliged to betake ourselves to empirical systems ; and must , therefore , contribute our few vague observations on the effects of the recent extreme heat , as mere data for discovering the principles of weatherlore .

      Political sages are bothering their heads as to the causes of the sudden peace . ¦ We are confounded on all sides by elaborate conceptions of intrigues , so mysterious that Machiavelli would have ° spent a lifetime in trying to understand them , and without success . To the tinprejudiced material philosopher the solution of the problem is obvious . Peace was niade because it was too hot to make war . As long as the rain and cool weather continued , the war went on with resistless fury , The moment the heat commenced the war collapsed . The sword was turned into a pruriing-hook . The lion became a lamb , and the wolf put on his sheepskin . While it was cold there was war ; when it rew hot there was peace ; therefore the heat was the cause of the peace . " Quod erat demon-1

      strandum . ' ' ' It was the heat that demolished the great Reform Bill . There was no particular reason that any one can assign why there should not have been a Reform Bill ; on the contrary , there was every reason why there should be one , if it had not been for the heat . Some time of other , simultaneously with the dogdays , the passionate ardour , the wild desire for reform , which characterised the Liberal party , oozed away , dribbled ; off in drops , and finally sp luttered out ' in a manner not altogether savoury . If any sceptic observes that the cold was contemporaneous with opposition , and the heat with office , we scorn the insinuation as unworthy of a philosopher .

      The minor effects of the heat in political life are equally curious . Since the heat Mr . Roebuck has been positively inoffensive . Can it be there is a magic sympathy between the member for Sheffield and" anything generally unpleasant ? Does the prospect of humanity , groaning beneath the infliction of the heat , afford hini so high a mental gratification that for once he is content to let things alone ? The heat , too , has elevated Mr . Vernon Smith into the peerage . He was so dry and parched up that graVe apprehensions were entertained of his setting fire to the House of Commons

      by giong off beneath the heat in sun-kindled combustion , and therefore , for safety ' s sake , was removed to the cooler atmosphere of the Upper House . The reason may appear far-fetched , but we have certainly hot yet heard a better one . It is the heat , too , and nothing else , that lias re-kindled the Protestant ardour of the Tory supporters of the late Ministry . If the Roman Catholic Relief Amendment Act had been brought forward a month ago , in cool weather , the result might have been different ; but now the action ofJjhe lieat is visible upon tho resuscitated Orangemen . Tolerance is abused with a thermometer at a hundred

      and a Derby out of office . In the theatrical world the extreme heat of the weather has produced three original dramas in instantaneous succession from one fertile brain . By the action of tho same sun , throe shirts of French linen have boon unaccountably converted into English calico , the maker ' s stamp being obliterated in tho px'ocess . * The real question which engages our mind is , what is to become of us if this weather is to last P

      Shall wo all become vicious or remain virtuous P Will peace become war , or war peace ; or will both be fused into a common mixture under the name of " armed neutrality P" Will Liberals become Tories , or Tories Liberate P Will anybod y read books , or ¦ will any one go to theatres , or will the book writers havo to form an audience for droinatio authors , on principles of mutual accommodation P And lastly , is it possible that the supply of refreshing beverages will ever keep equal to the demand P

      THE DOG DAYS . Tiub connection botweon the physical state of the atmosphere and the moral condition of the world Is a subject to which too little attention has avowedly been devoted . Mr . Buokle , indeed , promises us that in tho march of intellect , and the progress of-tho Buokleian , faith , we shall bo able to read the vteather like an open book , and to declare therefrom the condition of the individuals subject to its

      Untitled Article

      * Tho quarrel between tho Flro King and tho JsJmporor of Firomuutboduo to tho notion of oxcoaslvo hoat , and tho advorUHlng column at Ilydo Jftrk Corner wuathnvo boon conceived by an arohitaot labouring beneath * "coup 00 BOleM , " » nd ennotloned by a board turpld with hoat .

      Untitled Article

      ¦ No .. 486 . Svly 13 , . 1839 . 1 THE IEADEIR . 843 - ¦ ¦ " ¦ . ¦ —^— I——IM ^—i ^ B ^—^——————^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ " ^¦^^¦¦¦'' . . ¦¦¦¦¦» ' ¦¦ _ ¦¦¦! i ., i ¦ . ¦ , _ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ . — ¦' .-¦¦¦ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 16, 1859, page 843, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2303/page/15/