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influence. Griven the state of the therm...
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* Tho auarrol between tUo Firo King 1 an...
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private lunatic asylums which answer the...
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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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Parliament, And Winnings In The Press, B...
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 it needs . 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 foundation of naval discipline , and they cannot 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 Manning the Navy ; and in this , as in 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-frbm a contemporary who , last week , referred the present , want of seamen to the rapid extension of our trade and the great demand which the mercantile marine 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 and a logical deduction therefrom , the Economist concluded , that in setting forth the increased demand for men invarions .
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 fox 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 \> y individuals , the fewer there will be at the command of the State . This reasoning overlooks the consideration thatall these artizans are employed b y 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 have , when it needs them , and has funds to purchase their services . Last year it reauirod additional shinwrisrhts : it obtained it required additional shipwrights ; it obtained
1 , 300 by tin advertisement or two . The more seamen , then , the mercantile marine employs , the greater is the number which the State may obtain , if it treats the seamen fairly , justly , and honourably . We are amazingly surprised to find contrary arguments in the Economist , for that journal throws on free trade , because it is the means of extending employment fpr mercantile shipping , the odium of the country being iiiefliciently defended . Our contemporary may nol have intended to defend the authorities which since 1815 have so scandalously neglected the proper measures for overcoming the repugnance of the seafaring population to tlio naval service ; but in effect Tie uoqs this . Ho finds in the oKTeots of free trade the
reasons of the navy wanting men , and so indi rectly attributes to it the necessity which arbi trary and ignorant statesmen say justifies impress uent .
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^^^^^^^^^^^ T ^^^ JL C gwWjjtajfaJjajjjJtSa-JjJ Sfcv 486 . Jterlfc 18 S 9 . T THE LEADED . 843
Influence. Griven The State Of The Therm...
influence . Griven the state of the thermometer and the specific gravity of the atmosphere , we 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 peaee . 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 unprejudiced material philosopher the solution of the problem is obvious . Peace was made 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 prunirig ^ 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
demonstrandum . " 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 or 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 spluttered 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 . Boebuckhas been positively inoffensive . Can it be there is a magic sympathy between the member for Sheffield an < T anything generally unpleasant ? Does the prospect of humanity , groaning beneath the infliction of the heat , afford liim so high a mental gratification that for once he is content to let things alone P The heat , too , has elevated Mr . Vernon Smith into the peerage . He yas 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 ' sake , was removed to t he cooler atmosphere of the Upper House . The reason may appear far-fetched , we have certainly not yet heard a better one- It is the heat , too , and nothing else , that has 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 of the heat is visible upon the 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 . Ey the action of the same sun , three shirts of French linen have ' been unaccountably converted into English calico , tho maker ' s stamp being obliterated in the prooesa . * The real question which engages our mind is , what is to become of us if this weather is to last P Shall we all become vicious or remain virtuous P
THE DOO DAYS . The connection between the physical state of the atmosphere and the moral condition of the world Is a subjeot to which too little attention has avowedly been devoted . Mr . Buckle , indeed , promises us that in tlie inarch of intellect , and the progress of the Buoklcian faith , wo shall be able to read the weather like an open hook , and to declare therefrom the condition of tho individuals subject to ita
Will peace become war , or war peace ? or will both be fused into a common mixture tinder the name of " armed neutrality ? " Will Liberals become Tories , or Tories Liberals P Wm anybod y road books , or will any one go to theatres , or will tlio book writers have to form an audience for dramatic authors , on principles of mutual accommodation P And lastly , is it possible that tho supply of refreshing beverages wul over keep equal to the demand r
* Tho Auarrol Between Tuo Firo King 1 An...
* Tho auarrol between tUo Firo King and tho Emperor of FJro jaust bo duo to the . notion of osfociSBlvo JUont , « " » d tlio advertising column at Hydo Pork Oornoir muot uavo boon conceived by an architect labouring beneath * "coup tie BOleil , " and sanctioned by a board turpid "with boat ,
Private Lunatic Asylums Which Answer The...
private lunatic asylums which answer the great purpose with equal efficacy . It must be an illreo-ulated 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 family 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 oneration . that we advert to , the case of Mr . Philip
. " ^—* . ^^^ __^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ " ^* UNCLES AND 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 are dismissed by the process of the - "happy release . " In France , before the sad times of the revolution they were got rid of by lettres de cachet , arid 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 lettres de cachet , no Cayenne , and no happy release , we have our
Fletcher . This Unfortunate young man . is the only son of Mr . Charles Fletcher , " a partner in the welF-known house of '' Alexander , Fletcher , and Go . " The firm had the reputation of great wealth ; and Mr . Fletcher was brought up as the sons of wealthy merchants are Usually . ; He was educated at Eton , and af terwards at Oxford . With such tuition he had naturally acquired the 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 8 () 0 , 000 £ One of the partnersMr . Fletcher ' s father , -was sent out to India
, to protect the interests of the firm ; but unfortunately died almost immediately on bis arrival there . At a very early age , therefore , Mr .. 'Phili p Fletcher was lef t an orphan and a pauper . His father ' s share of the business was quite swallowed up by the losses of the 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 . Ivot un- < naturally , therefore , young Fletcher conceived an impression that he was being defrauded out o f his just rights by the surviving partners . It is hardly possible to conceive a more unfortunate position for a very young man to be 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 he conceived himself entitled to , is it to be wondered at if he turned out but ill P
The story of Mr . Fletcher ' s life > s too common a one to need much .. dwelling on . The history of all prodigals is sad enough ; but saddest of all is that of the poor prodigal who spends not his own but other people ' s 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 there were constant applications for money , nnd never-ending difficulties ? how dissipation witf AlJowjd Ijr drunkenness \ and how the spendthrift sunk lower and lower in the social scale / beneath the notice ot his respectable Mends , until at last they turned their backs upon him , buttoned up thoir pocket * closed their doors , and prayed Heaven that he S t disappear before he . disced the family . Th % , of course , is their version of the story , lrobably in this , as in all other «« H . g ° TJ » £ j tHe prodigal would be ; somewhat different . The same foots may bo explained differently ,. In addition to these features , which are common to the story of ail spendthrifts , young Fletcher was Kuilty of tlio peoutiar atrocity of having a grievanoo However false the charge may be , it ib decidedly unpleasant to have n relative constantly accusing you of fraud . Things got to such a poser , that , as Mr . Dombey ' fl sister used to say , "An
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 16, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16071859/page/15/
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