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PUBLIC MEETINGS. XHB SOUTHWARK REPRESENT...
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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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diplomatist of this country—the sometime Foreign Secretary , now Prime Minister . Sir Charles Nakder is an 'independent' man- —which in . the present day means a crotchety man—whose ohief business is to vindicate hirrwSf against tlifc sus » - picions created by his fussy bravado in the Baltfe , " and his total failure as a BritiSi Admiral in tfig greatest duty ever entrusted tan him . Mr , Kb bock is about tHfi * most * jgnlly inde ] 5 fflritifent
man of the country , but we may gravely ask him -what he has effected ? He is tie denouncer of abuses , but we want at present- a man who can make himself the leader- of the people of this" country , not to make amendments in the detail of particular courses , but to regain for the people the political influence they have lost . The House of Commons is not appointed " by the people of this country : it is appointed by
railway contractors and their trading connexions , by country gentlemen and their dependents ; and the only- key to a recovery of the national resources for the nation , to re-establishing a control for England over the influence of England , is by giving to the people at-large the right of appointing ; its own House of Commons . But in the interviews which Members Have been holding- with tbeir constituents about the country , we do not see a -word on this subject .
The only powers who can vie with the diplomatist or the money magnates are the garottei and the swindler . These two interests decidedly ilave gsiined the ascendancy in the lower worlds The garotter represents the military autocrat ; the swindler communities are the Credit Mobilier of the jenal world . Just as we are sending the German legionaries to found a new Carthage between the British colonists and the Kafirs at the
Gape of Good Hope , legionaries German and Italian are conducting their controversies with the stiletto against the British population , male and female . \ Ve have three or four cases this week . The stiletto , we say , is " not a British weapon : " the Englishman uses the ' garotte , * imitated from the instrument of execution in Spanish America , and the 'life-preserver , ' invented by the peaceful citizen Tor his own defence . The life-preserver is in fact to John Gilpin exactly -what the standing army is to the European people . Invented for defence , it is used for oppression . Marlet
mayplead that m using his weapon on Cope —who has died this week—he was only copying the example of Austria , who murders the Italians to make them give up their money , or to punish them for refusing it . The elevation of society has extended to the outlaw class ; they have , in fact , recovered in our great towns the aristocratic position once occupied by gentlemen of the road . Mr . Agajr , who planned and executed the great robbery oi 15 , 0001 of gold from the travelling safe of the Soutli-Eastera Railway Company , occupied a good house
used good hotels , and could give to waiters or porters those eloquent shillings which stop inconvenient questions and purchase active assistance . The autobiography of Agab in this adventure is as interesting ; as any tale in the Causes Celebres . Socially , perhaps , it is less interesting than tlie story of Leopold Rbbpath , that eminent gentleman Vho had a fashionable house in Chesterterrace , was a governor of Christ ' s Hospital and of St . Ann ' s Society , a director of several charitable societies , an ornament to charitable subscription lists , and an essential in many a
Westend party ; and who condescended for a paltry sum , under 3001 : a year , to be chief register clerk to the Great Northern Railway Company . Hedp ath made an interesting , discovery , that by simply writing " 0 " after figures in the register , he could create stock . He did create it , and the directors found themselves paying fifteen or twenty thousand a year in dividends , more than the whole stock of the company would have paid ! It bad gradually increased
to tliat figure , and had probably extended over some years , during which Redpatii adorned society and fed charity , before the directors were struck with the brilliant idea , that it would bcas-well to have a thorough overhauling i fi . 9 I > 1 a"y' 8 fcooks . The clerks begun tS read the books , and Redtath bolted . Too 1 ato , however , . to reach Copenhagen . How many Keiths would forthwith take their passage for Calms , Ostend , or New York , if the clerks o ? somo Companies were to begin to read the books !
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. . .. . ¦ ¦¦ .-. ¦• ¦ - - ¦ ' ^ "" V ; ¦ . ¦ ¦ . . . - ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ "¦ ^ 1082 THE LE A t > JE B . , - [ Ko . 347 , Sattoay ,
Public Meetings. Xhb Southwark Represent...
PUBLIC MEETINGS . XHB SOUTHWARK REPRESENTATIVES . About five ^ hundred of the inhabitants of Southwark assembled'on Tuesday night in the theatre of , the Literary , Institution , Borough-rt « a > , to hear addH » fc «» from their- representatives . Mri Pellatfc first s ^ fcSSe , dttd declared 4 himself in favour-of tlf « voluntary prin * lf < le in chureft > mattertF and in edncatioft , and an adVoiSAte of non-itrterventttwl in the antes of other countries * SiiS ' GharlGs Ifapier thei »; came forward , antfi said h & had fulfttttxHhis promisor giyjftg a general * support to the Government of Lord Palmerston , but that , in some matters , he had been compelled to vote against it ; as , for instance , in the case of the bill which was "brought in to enable contractors to sit in the House . H 6 opposed this because he thought all contractors would vote in favour of Government . " Let them give him a good contract * and he would vote for the Government himself . " ( Laugkter . J Having explained his various political views , which were for the most part similar to those enunciated by Mr . Pellatt , Sir Charles came to his old grievance about the Baltic expedition . He said , with reference to bringing the matter before Parliament , that " he was opposed by the Government , and by Sir James Graham , one of the most unscrupulous men that ever sat in the House ( cries of ' No , no /) , and , though he had the materials to make out his case ( and it would come out some day ) , he had not the talent to do it against such opponents , ( ffear , fiear . ) Ho went to
Cronstadt { cheers and laughter ') because he was extremely anxious to examine it with liis own eyes , to see whether he was right or wrong , and he must confess that the fortifications were much stronger than he believed they were when he was off it . ( Hear ) He considered it was entirely impregnable . The Grand Duke Constantine had favoured him with an interview , and showed him the plan of the defences of Cronstadt , and a more judicious and proper plan : was never entered into . The Grand Duke Constantine was a man of talent and ability , and was perfectly hone 3 t and plain with him . He said that , if the British fleet had attempted to go into Cronstadt , it would have been destroyed . More than a thousand guns , he said , could be brought to bear upon the fleet ; that there was not water for the large ships ; that the channel was narrow and filled with infernal machines ; and that even the
Russian ships in passing were in danger of being blown up . He ( Sir Charles NapieT ) then asked the Grand Duke why they did not meet them at Kiel when they were badly manned and disciplined ; and the Graud Duke held out his hand to him in a most frank and sailor-like manner , and said he did not know it until it was too late : but perhaps it was very lucky he did not meet them . " Alluding to Sir Eobert Peel ' s recent speech , Sir Charles said : — " I have laid the case before Lord Palmerston , and begged of him to lay it before the Cabinet . I have not received an answer to my letter , and I have written him a second letter ; but I think it proper to preserve a discreet silence on the present occasion until I get Lord Palmerston ' s answer . I am not afraid of my conduct being investigated ; and , if Government do not grant me an investigation , it is a strong proof they are afraid that things will come out that will he prejudicial to them . "
A vote of thanks to , and confidence in , Mr . Pellatt and Sir Charles Napier was proposed and seconded , and , after a long discussion , which in its progress occasionally assumed a stormy character , the motion was agreed to , and the meeting separated .
PLATITUDES PROM IVLATDON . The first anniversary of the Blaydon News-room and Literary Institute was celebrated on Thursday week by a soiree , which took place in the schoolroom of St . Cuthbert ' s Church , Blaydon . About three hundred and fifty sat down to tea , after which a meeting was formed . Lord Ravensworth occupied the cliair ; and among others present were the Hon . H . G . Lidclell , M . P ., Rev . Dr . Davies , Rev . R . G . Moncrieff , & c . After tlie report had been read , the Chairman delivered an address on the subject of " Revealed Religion . " The Newcastle Daily Express has thought fit to burden its columns with the heavy weight of platitudes which liis lordship uttered on that subject ; and , far more wonderful , the Times has actually
carted the rubbish into its own pages . More hopeless imbecility—here and there illuminated by little spiteful gleams of feoble malignity , trying to wear nn air of charitable allowance—a more garrulous , yet stammering utterance , as of some old lady whose rapid fury makes her forgot the beginning of her sentences before she has reached the end , so that the one half is [) in preposterous warfare with the other—we have rarely experienced even in the region of noisy talk . His lordship said ho rose with no small anxiety , because ho was expected—CBpecially by the visitors of tlie female sex—to amuse and
instruct , and ho was afraid ho should not be able to do either , for , although " accustomed to public spenking" in " another arena , " lie had never Bpoken " ex cathedra " before—if lie might " use a strange lnnguago . " Therefore , the sense of what ho had to say " weighed very strongly ; on his mind ; ' but he thought ho might do somo good to religion by being " neithor amusing nor instructive" on tho subject , so he sailed straightway into his platitudes . First , ho complimented tho institute on excluding all " irreligious" books from tho library , nnd forbidding all " irreligious" lectures ; then ho upbraided
other inttitutidns for not doing likewise- ncv + T quoted'Sir- William Blackstone on the necessity if ™ tiAtStig Christianity as part of the law of the land ad 3 ' mg , with-aa eye to comfortable ' respectability '— « a j let me tettlyou tMs , that not only upon the higher ' i £ ? cipleso * religion and morality have the promoter ? ««• this in « itttte . acted well and wisely in withdrawing frl & Jorta * t one and promoting a new one , but , as amSZ . of men pr « dtnc & , ofmere worldly prudence thev hT aotoai ^ rfl and wisely , for there is xot the slight ! < foSJ 'fftatany open-defiance of . Christianity , « r oS ??*' pugninr the doctrines of revealed religion , becomes ™ ; offence in the eye of the law , and might , if necesL ? ii £ CS l l ^ t under the cognh *
^ ^^ !^ ^^^^ of the Secretary of State of this country ; ami ! letT tell you that those Avho may attempt it may p , ^ , ° find themselves under the prosecution of her Maiestv ' Attorney-General . " However ( kind soul !) , he recognize the right of private judgment , and repudiates persecu tion—though not prosecution . He " would not willintrlv call into action the terrors of the law ; " he only " pities " the condition of those who do not think "«« cathedra " - that is , in accordance with himself , the chairman Finally , he declared that he didnotwish to hurt any one ' s feelings , hut that he desired "to show a bold front in the cause of religion and morality ; " and , having exhibited the said front with a degree of boldness which will certainly not be denied , he sat down .
Then up rose the Hon . G . H . Liddell , M . P ., and making-a preliminary flourish about the " eloquence the powerful reasoning , and the carefully-- \ veighed arguments , " by which " high moral truths had been driven home" ( by the noble chairman ) , straightway opened his budget of platitudes . He repeated , in other language , some observations recently put forth by the 77 ? 7 ies , in favour of working men reading romances ; but he-warned his auditors against translations of French novels as immoral
being and irreligious . If they wanted light reading-, let them go to " a Scott and a James . " Not a word of our older novelists ; not a word of Dickens , Thackeray , Bulw « r , and other eminent writers of fiction of the present day . Mr . Liddell ' speech , however , was far above Lord ltavensworth ' s . He exhorted labouring men to attend to the education of their children , and especially warned them to study the question of cholera , so that they might be the better enabled to guard against the disease .
rKOFESSOK BLACKIE ON SCOTCH LBA . RNINO . Professor Blackie has deliveredhis introductory lecture to tho . Greek classes , his audience being both large and distinguished , and including Mr . Thackeray , Professors Donaldson , Macdougull , and Fraser , the" Kev . Dr . Hannah , & c . The upshot of Professor JJhakie ' s discourse was to the effect that the university of Edinburgh wants reforming , and that academical learning , ami indeed learning in general , is at a veTy low ebb in Scotland . Enumerating the chief branches of . study , he asserted that in none of these has Scotland distinguished herself as she should do . She had some few distinguished men , he admitted ; but these were the exceptions , and they arose in spite of " the beggarly system , " and "the scurvy manner" in which the professors arc treated . Dr . Chalmers he held to have been no theologian .
though a noble man . ( This was received with some hisses . ) He complained of being obliged to tench boys , and claimed a higher status for the professors . He asked : "Why should a professor be thought inferior to a Sheriff-substitute ? In fact , he looked upon himself as being as great a man as the Sheriff of Edinburgh . ( A laugh . ) But how did the country mark the two positions ? Why , by giving Professor Blackie 301 . a rear from tlie Queen ' s Exchequer , and by giving Sheriff Gordon 1600 J . or 1800 ? . a year . He had his fees , no doubt , and he was comfortable enough ; but was it not a very paltry tiling to think of the Queen doling out to him 11 . 10 s . a quarter ? Indeed , if he was not forced to take it because he had not yet furnished his house properly—( laughter )—ho would throw it away altogether . " Finally , the professor indicated the nature of tho reforms which ho considered necessary .
Bill . IIADFII 5 I . D AND MR . UOEHUCK AT SIIKKI'IKM ) . A numerous meeting of the inhabitants of Shefliclil was liclcl on Wednesday at noon in the Towii-liall , 1 ° hear an address from Mr . Had field , M . P . Mr . Koebuek , M . P ., was also present . Tho members were attended by many of their supporters , and were received with loud applause . The Mayor of Sheffield ( Mr . J . AV .. Pyc Smith ) took tlio chair and introduced Mr . Had Held , who requested that Mr . Roebuck , as tho senior member , wfiht bo allowed to speak first . That gentleman , however , declined in favour of Mr . Iludficld . A rather Jong address was tlicn delivered by the latter . Ho reviewed inions
hia Parliamentary career , and explained liis op with respect to general politics , his support being always given to measures of a Libentl tendency . Unopposed , however , the intervention in the intermit nfluivji of other fitntcs , and disliked " that vagabond bill , tho Foreign Enlistment Hill , which had compromised us ° » l'lC Continent , and all but involved us in war with the United State * . " Alluding to American slavery , ha s ««' " it wns a vnst question . Kmnncipntiou cost ijs 20 , 000 , 0007 . for 800 , 000 Hlavos , and » t the name rate it would cost America 87 , 500 , 000 / . The sluveowncrs demanded mucli more . Thoir valuation wns JJ 50 , , 000 / . Ho should oxult beyond measuro if the wealthy pe ° p'e
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 15, 1856, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15111856/page/2/
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