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JtjyE^ 1^2.] THE LEABIE. $3r
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COLONIAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. We may be some...
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THE PATH OF THE TWO WRECKS. Were the two...
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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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Is Not The Depth To Which Gambling Has E...
,, j « ii which some Peers Were indiscreet enough Efbofifess . K tte British gentlemen tad a right S demand liberty as amatter of justice , and of Aefexenqe to this country , there could have been a necessity to accept their liberation as a make * height in a bargain at the expense of Mr . Mather , ft snould have been sufficient that their cause was just , and that this country had determined to support it ; but we do not rest much even on that act of gross indiscretion . Still less do we ht Prince
accept as a makeweig Schwarzenberg ' s " e xpression of regret at the occurrence , " that is , at the cutting down of Mr . Mather . The value of such regret may be estimated , to borrow the words of Mr . Mather ' s father , by the sequel : — » The Austrian officer who stains the honour of the Austrian army by his bloodthirsty and cowardly act , has been allowed to go free and untouched . " But we repeat , it is useless to balance these discrepancies , these makeweights , and fhese concessions . The one startling fact is , that
the representative of the British Empire cannot obtain justice in the name of the nation which he claims to represent , but is fain to accept a money compromise ; nay , worse ; - — he does not seem even to understand' the cause of indignation which his conduct has excited , and imagines that Mr . Mather's anger arises from the insufficiency of the payment !
The last paragraph of Mr . Addington ' s letter implies a desire to silence the persevering James Mather , the father , by flattering him on " the patriotic manner , " & c . Public spirit , it is presumed , will induce an Englisb ^ eentlemanto hush up a great public wrong . " Were you not very uncomfortable , " asked a friend of Pauline Bonaparte , the Princess Borghese , " at sitting naked to an artist as a model ? " " OK no I" replied
the princess , ' * there was afire m the room . ' You are a patriot , says Lord Mamiesbury , by his subordinate , Mr . Addington—you are a patriot , and therefore will put up with a small money compromise , in this case , considering , that besides your satisfaction , we have bought off two English subjects who were in jeopardy . And this is the man whom the British-nation permits to be its representative before the world ! It is not , we say , the pauperism pressing upon the country which marks its degeneracy j it is not the incapacity of its public servants to conduct its colonial or Indian affairs ; it is not the craven
hearing , of its young men , its betting-house demoralizations , that impress upon it the worst stamp of disgrace—its principal stamp of disgrace is Malmesbury . Unluckily , however , there are Malmesburys even in the body of the people , and we are fain to use an argument for which we mi ^ ht blush . this conduct is not only craven , but it incurs the risk hoth of danger ana of expense j that the imperial Government is willing to compromise an insult , when the insult is , unfortunately , bruited before the world , is a fact , and not to be forgotten 1— , M . A J ^ t a ^^ ^ M MWp * l B K A * m \ bother
¦ y nations . Mr . Mather is correct in describing the arrogant demeanour of the soldiers who appear as conquerors in so many states—ho is correct in saying that the English Government I'easos to bo regarded as one wnich seeks immun % , or oven justice for its subjects—nay , even Jor its military servants . A British soldier has boon marched in chains at Leghorn : an insult * ° a British subject has boon compromised by a ¦ witish Minister at Florence , and to extenuato tflu ^ last cringing act , we are told that the man who was the immediate instrument for perpetratmnr u r . + llrrm ; i H i , » i r _ « nrl rrone to bed !
VVlfc « such facts as these before the world , with Buch doctrines avowed as these , which have boon mtorod by statesmen of lofty bearing in both houses of Parliament—aye ! and echoed by P pul ar orators , it is not surprising that tho wutal soldiery of foreign states should now begin i , J ° gard tho English people as one that may 0 'funded with impunity . We do not say , in" opa , that it will always bo so . Tho spirit « vincod by our corrosoondont . " A Retired
Offi-« vl ? y ' " Jai"cs Mather , " is not altogether tl . n ? to tli 0 nation , though it is paralyzed for b Umo b y the crawling connivance of a Malmos-¦ H iir 5 in * meanwhile foreign sorvants ' incttauro English toleration by tho acts of its inon ^ f vants « » nd tho sport of worrying English"Wftai in indulgod with an increasing zost . tion , Uall .. nave more of these outrages in propor-Bion mu ttb j ° otnoss of our present submisrahln -r oy S ° on until fooy become intolo-U 1 ° - Xw tho interval , it is impossible to say
how much injury majr be done to British interests , andeven to British property . The next step will be , not to stop at the person , but to commit an outrage on the property ; and , perhaps , some outlying English bank ; some company of merchantsresident abroad ; or , perhaps , evensome British merchant snip , may test the toleration of our Government , and the passive acquiescence of Manchester , to a- degree of tension that will strain to bursting the spirit of retribution . But , if so , how much more will it cost in labour , in blood , and even in money outlay , to recover the prestige which England is daily forfeiting by the unworthy conduct of her foreign aiiairsr
Cromwell wrote sham < letters , and hanged a Spaniard j and , if itj ^ sul been necessary , he would have hanged an Austrian officer in the chief square of Vienna j and the consequence of his resolute energy was , that the moral influence of his diplomacy was powerful and sufficient . We have a quarrel to pick even with the more spirited of our epipntrymen . Here is Mr . Mather writing letters full of English feeling to
the Joreign Minister ; , but we should like to Jcnow what is the conduct of that same Mr . Mather in his capacity as elector ? "We should like toJcnow what steps he has taken for an appeal to the spirit which he feels in bis own bosom , and which he must know to be smouldering amongst his countrymen P We sympathize with the " retired officer" who wishes for a Cromwell
that Austrians may be taught how to behave to Englishmen ; but what is our correspondent doing within the sphere of his own influence to awaken the feelings of his countrymen P how far is he abstaining from the paltry politics of the day , and letting the state drift whither it will , under the guidance of a compromising
MalmesburyP True Englishmen who hold back while their country is helpless , and in the hands of untrue Englishmen , are more to blame than the bad statesmen and false patriots who have forgotten what it is to uphold the honour and ftie influence of their country .
Jtjye^ 1^2.] The Leabie. $3r
JtjyE ^ 1 ^ 2 . ] THE LEABIE . $ 3 r
Colonial Self-Government. We May Be Some...
COLONIAL SELF-GOVERNMENT . We may be sometimes accused of magnifying the traits of colonial exasperation , but the reader may take three passing instances in proof of our frequent assertion , —that the mismanagement of distant provinces from the centre is exasperating the colonists to the last degree of impatience , and is provoking feelings extremely adverse to the continuance of British rule . In the quiet little district meeting of All Saints , St . John ' s Wood , last Monday , Mr . Smith , of Sydney , a plain business man , confessed that the feelings of the colonists , under the pressure of their painful crisis , aggravated by the neglect of the English Government to send labour in return for the emigration money already lodged with the Government , has produced feelings of which it will be very difficult to foresee the consequences . Mr . Smith spoke guardedly , but plainly ; and intimated very distinctly that although he might uphold the British connexion , his brother colonists could not bo expected to do so . __ . In a letter to the Times , Mr . Francis Hincks , alluding to the sudden overturn of arrangements made between the British American Colonists and the late Colonial Secretary , Lord Grey , makes this startling declaration : — « I have reason to believe that Mr . , tho avowed opponent of the colonies , is in communication with parties actuated by motives of tho most nnti-Uritish character . Communications havo bcon made to tho Colonial-office on tho subject of this railway , hostile to tho views of tho Governments and Legislatures of tho three provinces of Canada , Nova Scotia , and Now Brunswick , supported as those viows are by tho Queen's able representatives in thoso provinces . No communication of those papers , tho existence of which I only know by current rumour , has bcon made to us . Our position has been in , no way recognised by Her Majosty ' s Govornmont ; and I cannot but express my conviction that such withholding of confldonco has not conduced to tho interests of tho Queen ' s service . "
Tho merits of tho ease to which Mr . Hincks alludes , aro not fully before ns ; but wo well know that Canada has , more than onoo , been thwartod by official caprices and delays ; that she has sought refuge in rebollion , and that she has succeeded in obtaining by that process what was denied to her in , tho numo of justice .
In his latest despatch , brought home , it may be said , by himself ; Sir Harry Smith , the late governor of the Cape of Good Hope , declares ow much he was embarrassed in his military operations by the political discontent amongst the British subjects ; many of the Hottentots , lie says , possessing just sufficient education to make them mischievous and capable of observing what occurred at public meetings held within the colony , —• "toresistandopposeeverymeasurepfthe Government , which the colonists regarded as the exercise of constitutional rights , though in point of fact , such proceedings approached the brink of
anarchy and confusion" —were encouraged , to conspire with the Kafirs beyond the frontier . ^ " When the war broke out , " he says , " I relied most fallaciously on the inhabitants rallying around her Majesty ' s troops , but , as they did not turnout en masse , to resist the torrent , I encountered a revolt , as I have alread y shown , most Unexpected , of nearly the whole of the eastern Hottentot population , formerly so useful against the Kafirs . " We all know how that discontent has been
created—by the fast and loose conduct of the Downing-street officials and their local representatives , in the matter of the constitution ; by the attempt to break faith with the Cape colonists in forcing convicts upon them , and above all , by preventing the colonists from dealing with the savages on the frontier , border fashion ; and so entailing upon them the inconveniences , the losses and disasters of accumulated war .
In all these cases , we see the supremacy of Great Britain endangered by a violation of local government . Permit Australia to regulate her emigration affairs for herself , and every colony would have , in this country , its own commission , selecting emigrants , and snipping them off $ o the place where labour is in demand . Endow the British American colonies with full powers , or , if the Imperial Government interposes in their affairs , keep faith with them , and
one way or other we should have railways established throughout the provinces , and so remove that contrast with the neighbouringrepublic which is so exasperating to the British colonist . Untie the hand of the Cape colonist , and he would know how to deal j as he has before dealt , with the vermin that infests the border . The reason for the disaffection is as plain as its existence . The want of local self-government is , in every colony , abating the affection for the Imperial Government .
The Path Of The Two Wrecks. Were The Two...
THE PATH OF THE TWO WRECKS . Were the two ships alleged to have been seen on an iceberg about the middle of April , 1851 , really seen from the deck of the Renovation , or were Captain Coward , " Mr . Simpson , and Mr . Lynch deceived by an " optical illusionP" and if really seen , were these ships the JZrebus and Terror ? The controversy on these questions is great , and instructive also , as it shows that neither time nor failure can weaken the deep interest felt by every Englishman in the fate of Sir John Franklin . We incline to think that the ships seen were real ships , and not optical illusions . Tho accounts given by the persons alleged to havo seen them aro clear , consistent , and only sufficiently contradictory on some minor points to guarantee tho absence of collusion . Add to this , that Captain Coward doscribes the air as being " very clear" at tho timo ; and further , that there or
was " no appearance of fo ^ gy threatening weather . " Captain Coward is an old seaman , Mr . Simpson , tho mate , is a clever and promising young one ; Mr . Lynch is described by commander Herbert as a " very intelligent person , " " conversant with ships , " " careful not to exaggerate , " and " prepared to affirm all his answers . " Beside tho evidence of thoso three credible persons , there is that of two apprentices ) who also saw tho ships , although they did not minutely examine thorn .
In opposition to their testimony , is tho opinion of throo gentlemen engaged in commerce at St . . John ' s , Newfoundland ; especially that of Mr . Thomas , Prosidont of tho Chamber of Commerce at that place . Ho thinks tho ships wore " deceptive appearances , " and ho argues that it is " almost impoBBiblo" but that , if they wore real ships , on an iceberg , so largo as that described , the icobcrg must have been soon by some of the numorous vessels constantly intersecting the icefield in March and April . It is obvious that the
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05061852/page/13/
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