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September 2, 1854.] THE LEADER. g^ 7
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dT)|tm Cmttml VJ/jJ-vu VIAUWU U*
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Cl» THIS DEPABTIIENX, AS ALL OPI.VIOK8, ...
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There is no learned man. but will confes...
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THE DOMESTIC MOLOCH. (ToiheEditor of the...
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DUTIES OF THE CLT2RGY. (To the Editor of...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Stokeij Or Strayed —Ah Angel Of R : ; ¦¦...
ilways conceived that drops of water did not , so to speak , hold a meeting and resolve themselves into an association proprio inotu , nor : an we reconcile the ^ atomic theory with Christianity . However , we venture this Ipubtful expression with great deference * laving a dread lest Miss Bremer should hunder down upon us with Lucretius and as great wort in . defence of Christianity . It is rather remarkable that the rescue
vhich Miss Bremer proposes is neither ap-> lied specifically to the East , warred upon by he West , nor does she propose to blockade : the bleeding wound" against the intruders ; > ut she proposes that the Association of I / adies hould devote themselves to the care of the lestitute , the education of the children , the > rotection and help of the sick and . aged , lompassionate exertions for prisoners and alien fellow-creatures , and the encourage- * nent of institutions to -promote such pur-) oses . The fair philanthropist has been omewhat anticipated in tier good intentions ,
a this country at least ; since a subscription ias been opened for the relief of the wives aid children pf the soldiers sent to the East , without waifein ^ ibr their being wouiided . Much ^ also , is already done for the education ) f children and the succour of the sick and iged— -as ^ muc h . as the sectarian differences > f Christians will permifc . ~ Ebx unluckily- it lappens that altHough Christians can execiita heirdutiestolexably by themselves , especially f they are allowed to preach while they are ) enefi . ting , yet if they come together for such
) urposes , they forget their protegesto quarrel ibout their own doctrines . " We seriously ippreliend that if , under the presidency of Miss Bremer , tlie ladies of Sweden , England , Russia , prance , Grermany , and America , were ill collected together , especially in their ' Christian" capacity , the disputation of the loptors jwbuld pale its ineffectual fire before ; liat coiifusion of tongues . It appears , therefore , that we should only be introducing coniusion into those things which our excellent adies are already busy about .
" We do » ot know what more slie would bave us do ? Oyes ; there are the *' prisoners . " We find , them , by the logical me-; hod of differences , to bo the special object ) f ! Rliss Bremen ' s anxiety . What prisoners , indeed , we can have in this country exjept Russian we do not at present see , md therefore we must regard Miss Bremer ' s affectionate epistle to the Times as a plea for the [ Russians . Let her he pacified ; tor if any Russians fall into our hands and come so far as ^ Eng land , she may rest assured bhat not a liair of their heads will bo hurt .
We do not scalp or eat our prisoners in this country . If , indeed , it were permissible to enter into ti controversy with tho lady , we might ask her whether slio is improved upon tho old relations which womanhood had to Jill ? We havo an affection for that old chivalrous picture in which " a gqntlo knighfc was pricking on theplain , " and . tho lovely representative of Christianity rode upon an ass ty his side , lowly and yet so splendid in tho purity of her loveliness , that when slio entered into tho
wood , " she unado a sunshine in that shadowy place , " But tho lady of that day , not entirely fictitious , loft statesmanship and war to men ; and remained heradf in gentle rotrcat , to soothe tho Avonry warrior , or tend his wounds—tho wounda oT her own knight , not those of tho oneiny . Tho Una of our day , it seems , cvieB out upon tho cruel ways of St . Qoorgo , nnd want a a gront association , taking in Duosan as well nw Gloriann , to counteract hop own vuasnl . Is thoi-o , in the lamed Land of Turnips , no faithful Jraight , who will , courteously and kiudly , replace tho gqntle Una on her lowly steed , and lead the wandering Indy homo P
September 2, 1854.] The Leader. G^ 7
September 2 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . g ^
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Cl» This Depabtiienx, As All Opi.Viok8, ...
Cl » THIS DEPABTIIENX , AS ALL OPI . VIOK 8 , nOWBYZTl EXTREME , ARS . AU . OWE 1 ) AN EXPRESSION , THE EJOITOlt KKCESSABILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOli NONE . 1
There Is No Learned Man. But Will Confes...
There is no learned man . but will confess he lath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and bis judgment sharpened . If , then it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , betolerablefor his adversary to write . —Milton .
The Domestic Moloch. (Toiheeditor Of The...
THE DOMESTIC MOLOCH . ( ToiheEditor of the Leader . ) Sm , — -As you kindly inserted our former letter in . the Leader of the 19 th inst ., we resume the subject at greater length . The only use of ¦ writing' upon such painful topics lies in the power of the pen to make people act . There was once a poor porter , who , in carrying a
heavy load uphill on a frosted pavement , fell and broke his leg . A crowd collected , and all were profuse in expressions of pity . " Poor fellow . " "lam so grieved for Mm , his occupation is gone . " "What wiU become of him . " "I am so sorry . " A Frenchman standing by at first said nothittgj but presently pulling off his hat , put a sovereign into it , and handing it round , said : "It makes are one pound sorry , how much sorry makes it you ?"
l 3 ut on such a subject as this , open , discussion ; is so great a sjbepin advance , tliat it may really be held as action . The abolition of prostitutioa as a natural institution is not to ; be effected by money , or by the forming of societies ; the only hope lies in such a \ viderspread knowledge and feeling on the subject as may act on the daily conduct of individuals—^ nd in a vigorous support to all endeavours towards attaining better marriage laws , « nd giving to women other means of gaining their tread . As regards the first point ; the arousing of pilblic opinion . The most careless observer of the public journals cannot but be struck at the weekly details bearing on the topic in hand , which start into upper air , and cause remark in every
circle-In May of this , current year , the Law Review gives an article on tlie laws relating to women ; in which among many liberal ; opinions , the writer opines that the subject of prostitution is best left in a decent obscurity , and says that , a But ! for that unhallowed association , some think that females of purity . would not be so secure as they now are . " The writer is alluding to attempts to restrain'the " unhallowed association" by law , but it is evident that the reasons he adduces would equally bear against public discus- ? sion of such , since he says that " if it be possible to refrain from crowding the statute-book with misdemeanours , the Common Law will be morehonoured , tho abominations of iniquity will outrage the eye and ear with less frequency , and tlie vices of our country bo withheld from an impolitic publicity . "
Such ia the opinion of an eminent leading periodical ; one which would bo echoed in tlie most respectable domestic circles , an < l which would bo most of all urgently enforced by tho guilty themselves . Yet during the wiiolo of the present summer , sine * the above lines were penned , England has been ringing with one instance after another of a sin and a cruelty not now for tho first time perpetrated , but for the first time brought to light . We now know something of what is going on around us . Hfrom the pages of low novelists , "the peculiar theories of life Bupposod to hexinflt for tho very knowledge of respectable ladies , arc dragged into the high class pubepectablo ladies , arc dragged into the high class
public prints , and Baron Pollock cannot prevent that " ho who runs xnay road , " And , aide by side with paragraphs illustrative of prostitution , as practised among us , come curious collateral facts concerning our conjugal relations , ttio connexion between which and tho former must strilco every unprejudiced mind —vide Evans v . Robinson , where a couple , separated from each otlior , nnd supposed to live celibate , « ro loft to form other relations in life without the sanction of society , and are respectively driven , tho man , probably , to proatitutofl , and tho wife to the cluinco of cruel publlu reprobation and remarks of tho most distrusting description .
Wo would draw attention to tho prize essay on tho Laws for the Protection of Women , by James Edward Davis , barrister-ut-law , where , speaking ( page 22 ( 1 ) of tho progrcas of refinement in the details of vice , ho saya : — "In lieu of tlxo disorderly housea vo havo whole streets presenting nothing olf ' uneive by day or l > y night to tho oyo or car of the casual obsorvor , but every house , uad every inmate of every house in which , is noverUuilcfSS supported , by prostitution .
The arrangements are very frequently of this natures —The house is taken by a man and woman—husbutd and wife they may or may not be . The woman ' s history is soon told . She has either been engaged in a vicious course from earliest infancy , or , perhaps originally chaste and happy , was seduced , brought or fled to London , or some other large town , where , from the mistress of one man , through misguid ed , affection and lust , she becomes the prostitute of many and any for food and money , -until she grows too old to maintain a subsistence in that way . An alliance is then formed with some one of the other sex , equally abandoned as herself . The house taken by them is underlet in single rooms to ' girls of the town , ' who bring men there from the streets . The ' landlady' is not
seen ; a servant or child , perhaps , makes her appear ance with wine , of which a stock is kept > it being the duty of the girl to press the men sHe entraps to order it , the price forming part of the gains of the woman . In proportion to the quantitysold , and the punctuality -with which the rent Is paid , the girl is esteemed . When her attractions cease , she is turned into the streets to take a lower grade in her profession , until she perishes miserably , or has the doubtful good fortune to postpone that evil hour by taking a house on her own . account . " Mr . Davis's essay , laid before the " Associate Institution , for improving and enforcing "the Laws for the Protection of Women " in 1853 , has / been illustrated for many months by disclosures such as that of Alice Leroy and Margaret jEteginbal .
.- __• Now , however difficult to cure— -however ancient in date—¦ hovreyer interwoven , with those coarse elements of humanity whose en-tire eradication woulcl be almost equivalent to a millenium ^ we are quite safe in asserting that this form of intercourse between men and women is essentially Unnatural , abnormal , destructive to either sex , and a disease : a £ the verycore of society . Some way of cure there ^ ms < be ^ aficl we must find it . Society is , indeed , off the balance when tlie census tells us that ; while inert are drivett down almost uniTersaily to the dregs of female society , nearly 360 , Oda unmarried wpmea over fortyare left in old age stranded , as it were , off the sea of humanity on to a barren shore without husband , without children , without a hold on the next generation , a sacrifice to the very " institutioa '' said to be set uji for their protection * B >; --tB .
Duties Of The Clt2rgy. (To The Editor Of...
DUTIES OF THE CLT 2 RGY . ( To the Editor of { . he Leader ?) Sir , —Your correspondent " Archer Gurney , Cura . te of Buckingham , " seems indignaiit that the Clergy of the Church of England should be thought shams and pretenders , and labours under some difficulty in reconciling the conduct of that Clergy with their duty , as well as in defining the duties of their office . He protests against the . Englisli Church being judged on the testimony of one who seesms incapable of esti-r mating 1 the needs of the age , & c . Now , Sir , I propose to furnish Mr . G-urney with testimony y hich he will not object to , and by which the clergy of the English Church must stand or fall , viz ,, the 59 th canon : —
" Evory Parson , "Vicar , or Gurate , upon every Sunday and Holyday before Evening Prayer , shall fbr kalf an hour or more examine and instruct the youth and ignorant persons in his parish in the Ten Commandments , tho Articles of the Belief , and in the Lord's Prayer ; and shall diligently hear , instruct , and teach them tho Catechism set fortli in the Book of Common Prayer . And all fathers , mothers , masters and mistresses , shall have their children , servants , and apprentices , whicli have not learned their Cateehism , to come to tho Church at the time appointed , obediently to hear and to bo ordered by the Minister , 'until they have learned tho same . And if
any Minister neglect his duty therein , lot him bo sharply reproved upoit tho first coniplaint , and notice thereof given to the Bishop or ordinary of the place . If he shall oflond therein again , let him bo suspended ., if tho third tinic , then excommunicated , and so remain until ho be reformed . And likewise , if any of the said fathers , mothers , -masters or mistresses , children , servants , or apprentices , shall neglect their duties , ns tho one sort in not causing them to come , nnd the other in refusing to learn as aforesaid ) let them be suspended by their ordinaries ; and if they so porsist by the space of a month , then let them bo excommunicated , " Does this canon contain an importnnt part of tlio duty of ovory parish ¦ Priest , whether Rector , Vicar , or Curate , and how is that duty performed ? There can bo no doubt of its importance . How it is performed I leave Mr . Gurney to any , nnd reconcile its non-pwibrmaiieo with tlio ordination vow a ot lunweU and 909 of every 1000 of llio Kntf lish Clergy . It s impossible to lwondlu tho neglect or evasion ot tills most important duty ( and it ! h offlir more impOTtnnoo than tlio Bormon or Common Prayer ) , wUU common honesty . . . . . , I iMlmlro Mr . Guwoy ' aoonduot in giving hlfl name , and follow liis oxumnlo by miliscribing wine . Jamks Domvikws , 22 , Acro-li \ ne . BrpdtQn .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 2, 1854, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02091854/page/11/
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