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September 20,18&6.] THE IiEAtTE^. 901
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.REVEREND ABDUCTION AND IRREVEREND DEDUC...
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THE PANIC. Never, has the commercial wor...
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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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Coronation Policy. Jotrbwaxiisiswho Affe...
he would receive the emblem of his superhuman authority . " When he banqueted with the younger and elder Empresses , the representatives of all the powers of Europe stood in front of his table , and when he called for wine , all but the privileged disappeared , as though they had been the slavish guests , wearing golden fetters , who stood in the imperial tent of ( Jensebic . He came oufc of the cathedral into the
street , wearing the white mantle of the empire , with the crown on his head ( " flashing like a blaze of blue light , " says a smitten correspondent ) , / the sceptre in his right hand , and the orb in his left , and we are told that , while he trod the ground like a lion , his eyes flashed , as in a moral intoxication . And such would be the appropriate effect of the worship he had received . His nostrils had been fed with the fumes of incense ; he had been anointed in the name of the Most High ; he had heard , and vowed , that his commission was from Grod ; he had seen men of all nations—the most cultivated as well as the
rudest—staring at his countenance , as though it had been divine , and he anticipated the flutter of fame that would be produced wherever a newspaper can be spelled , . by the reports of his honour , glory , praise , and power , for that was the extent of the ovation . Moreover , every form of flattery having been exhausted , the Czar is pitied . Literally , there have teen bursts of compassion for this being , the proprietor of ^ Russia , There is sympathy for his isolation , for his friendless dignity , for his position in the centoe of millions , the master of all , the companion of
none . In time , we shall learn that when , at such , a cost as the ambitious are willing to pay , a crown is obtained , its acceptance implies a sacrifice . Among the secrets of human , nature "there may be a mystery of sorrow suffered only by the possessors of thrones . But the one palpable and undeniable fact is , that rulers prize their regalia next to their lives , and would often prefer to lose life itself than to live without the regalia . The meaning we discover in the Moscow ceremonial is , that the world adores material power ; and that though there is far more significance in an American Presidential election , than in . the coronation of a Russian
Emperor , plain principles of government have no chance of attracting the attention of Europe , while "there is a rustle of purple and a gleam of jewellery to dazzle the eye .
September 20,18&6.] The Iieatte^. 901
September 20 , 18 & 6 . ] THE IiEAtTE ^ . 901
.Reverend Abduction And Irreverend Deduc...
. REVEREND ABDUCTION AND IRREVEREND DEDUCTION . The ' romance of real life' means , real life disclosed ; for , with the exception of the quietest part of the middle class in this country , and rather a large but scattered minority of comfortable and quiet people , it is quite evident that real life has its constant element of romance—that is , its unforeseen incidents , its play of passion , its triumph of wrong ; and the redress , when effected , has sometimes to take very picturesque aspects , even in houses with window sashes and street doors of the most ordinary nnd passive countenance . The Berkshire Chronicle tells one
of these tales , and tells it very imperfectly . The place of action appears to have been Reading ; the first scene opens in St . Giles ' s church on a Sunday evening . There was seated a party of friends , amongst whom was a lady . ' While they were sitting , they were startled to see a gentleman enter the church , and take his seat a few yards from the pew in which they were . It was the husband of a lady in the party ; and , strange to say , even in England , tho sight of the husband created a consternation . Nor will the reader wonder wbon he hears the sequel , After the
conclusion of the service , as the party were leaving the pew , the husband approached , and took hold of his wife , and compelled her to accompany him into the vestry . This happened , it will be remembered , in a church ; and the husband that thus exerted his authority was himself aclergym an—Mr . Chebbt , the rector of Burghfield , a rectory near Beading . The vicar hastened to the vestry , we can understand with what motives ; for already
the decorum of the church appears to us to have been invaded by this intrusion of a personal dispute . In the vestry Mr . Chebbt turned to the viear , and asked , him , as a brother clergyman and as a friend , to use his influence " for promoting a reunion . " The vicar declined ; he suffered the lady to retire into his vicarage , and the husband , after some hesitation , retreated , professedly to go home . Here the first scene closes of this two-act drama .
~ We are told none of the reasons why the lady left Tier husband , but we simply point to the fact that the vicar declined to interfere , and that he permitted her to find a refuge in his house . Also , let us note , the husband sought the intervention of a stranger "to promote reunion . " " We can hardly venture to guess what could be the arrangement "between husband and wife in which the
husband could desire a reunion brought about by third parties . The next scene is at a private house in Southampton-street , where , we conjecture , Mrs . Chebbt resided with her friends . Mr . Chebbt appears with a solicitor , a superintendent of police , two constables in plain clothes , and his own gardener . The lawyer and the superintendent knock at the door , are admitted , and the door is closed . Presently one of them reopens it , makes a sign to Mr . Chebbt , who rushes into the house , followed by his gardener . A great bustle is heard inside , and loud screams . A lady is
seen to come forth into tlie passage , without bonnet or shawl ; on one side of her is the gardener , on the other the police superintendent , and behind , the husband , all urging her forward . She is forced down the steps , through a garden , into a carriage , and borne off , it is said , to Burghfield Eectory . On lier passage from the house , she cried , " Is there no one to save me ? " Here closes the second scene ; and , as the story-books say , we ought to presume that Mr . and Mrs . Cherkt , having retired to the sacred precincts of Burghfield Rectory , " lived happy ever after , " The scene which we have described made
a great sensation m the populous street of Heading , and well it might . When the public have presented to them this plain evidence of domestic discord and of niaritnl constraint , they are shocked . It is frightful to see a woman pursued into a place where she has sought a refuge , carried away by the force of three men , and crying in vain for rescue . Unquestionably that lady must have had strong motives , right or wrong , for dreading the interposition of her abducer . " We know nothing of the merits of the case , if such a case can have ' merits . ' The facts before the
public are enough for one judgment at least . It is to be presumed that tho husband was moved l ) y strong affection for the lady ; because , if we are to cast aside the idea of affection , if we are to view the sceno simply as an exercise of authority without that motive , it becomes so revolting that wo can scarcely comprehend how any of the bystnnders could have tolerated the scene , how they could liave suffered the helpless woman to be carried ofF into simple bondage . We must suppose , therefore , that there was something which must be called affection , and which restrained the hands of Mrs . Cheriiy ' s friends . But hbw are we to apprehend tho naturo of a love
which can evince itself in this manner ; which can place the violence of a . man's grasp upon gentle flesh ; which can extort compliance with its wishes in spite of screams and appeals for rescue ? The couple probably were married in , due course—Mr . Chubby has his marital rights —it is all in form according to the law arid customs of this country . The law and customs of this country , therefore , are such , that love assumes an aspect of tyranny , and takes its satisfaction while inflicting terror and agony upon the helpless . Such are the boasted morals of England !
We are not at all assured that tlie case is even very bad , or worse thaamany others . It is true that all women have not the moral force to make a public appeal ; that many are restrained by woman ' s shamefacediiess from screaming , or displaying their sufferings . Many , perhaps , would not go the length of leaving their husband ' s home , whatever might be tne penalty of remaining . Is the suffering the less ? Is the tyranny of necessity milder ? Is the outrage upon natural feeling diminished ? It was no doubt the consciousness that there was no peculiar calamity which prevented the bystanders from obeying the natural impulse to rescue helplessness from -violent attack . The forbearance
of the bystanders , therefore , tells us much that tlie quiet veil kept over English life conceals . If the incident were exceptional , it would have created a sensation , which could not have been repressed , and the outraged woman would necessarily have been rescued . She was not rescued . The bystanders , then , and those whom they represent—and they appear to hav . e been amongst the most respectable class of
Heading—do not regard such aspects of affection as anything exceptional or revolting . It is a logical inference that such aspects of affection are not unusual , and that Englisli society is reconciled to them by habit . " Would it be possible for the strongest arguments which have been used on this subject to pre ^ - sent a more painful test of the state of English society than , the direct , immediate , and natural deductions from this romance of real life in the quiet county town of Heading ?
The Panic. Never, Has The Commercial Wor...
THE PANIC . Never , has the commercial world of this country been in a state at once more hopeful or more instructive . The wealth of the country is continually increasing ; a larger portion of that wealth is continually , though far too slowly , finding its way to tlie hands of the working classes ; we are as continually diminishing the risks which have proverbially attended upon trade , even as we are diminishiiyor the risks whioli have attended tlie
commerce of tlie seas . As shipwreck has been reduced to a per-centage and can be covered by insurance , so the risks of trade have been counterbalanced by its certain successes , and commerce is bringing- comfort to larger numbers by every reform m its operations . Still , however , we see the most experieneed men declaring that the supply of money , and the manner of , arranging the
money , are not sufficient for lies actual dimensions of trade . We see the most exper ienced men proclaiming that bankruptcy , tho rot of commerce , is eluding the supervision of tlie Bankruptcy Court , and is eating into the very body of trade far more deeply mid widely than wo are permitted to see ; and the cleverest of all confesses that he cannot account for the fluctuations that disturb the
reckoning of the merchant , bringing to him insolvency when he counted upon profit , nnd scattering dismay' upon all who depended upon him .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 20, 1856, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20091856/page/13/
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