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December 22, 1855.] T H E L E A D E R. 1...
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THEORY OF CONSUMPTION. (To the Editor of...
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WHAT WOULD THE LATE SIR ROBERT PEEL HAVE...
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INDIA.—SUBSIDIARY STATES. (To the Editor...
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PEACE AND WAR. (To the Editor of the Lea...
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~ T,if Chb«hmmh Hoi-ida vs.—Several prov...
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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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December 22, 1855.] T H E L E A D E R. 1...
December 22 , 1855 . ] T H E L E A D E R . 1227
Theory Of Consumption. (To The Editor Of...
THEORY OF CONSUMPTION . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib , —If an Irishman , now , like myself , were to review , or propose to review , a book which he had not at hand to refer to , as Dr . Balbiraie does by mine , we should set it down to that peculiar obfuseation of intellect for which zny dear countrymen so often obtain credit . Let Dr . Balbiraie sustain his theories as he is able . I desire to fling no discredit on him or them . He has ; however , mis-stated , or rather understated , my own views . This is doubtless through inadvertence , or rather the singular pretension of reviewing a work without taking the trouble to look at it—a feat which even you , Mr . Editor , with all your critical experience , would find it difficult to emulate . At page 23 of my work on Consumption occurs a passage which embodies my presumed discovery : — "An imperfect respiratory process fails to purify and renew the blood , which , thus loaded with excretions and foulnesses , has , as it were , no alternative bict to deposit them , as tubercles , with all their consequent train of evils , in the different tissues . " The detritus of the tissues cannot possibly be got entirely rid of bo long as respiration is conducted in foul air . This detritus accumulates in the cleansing vessels or veins , passes into the arteries , and finally , as I have said , unless ha > pily eliminated , is deposited as tuberculous matter throughout the frame . The inadequacy of a vitiated atmosphere to purify the blood , and the identity of tuberculous matter with the waste and dead excretions , I have fully pointed out elsewhere . This briefly I claim as my discovery in phthisis and the cognate maladies—a discovery which brings the theory of consumption within the pale of natural science , tears the disease out of the hands of empiricism , promises immunity to the myriads whom festering rottenness and premature decay now hurry to the tomb . I ana , sir , very respectfully , Henry M'Cormac , M . D ., Consulting Physician to the Belfast General Hospital . Belfast , Dec . 12 , 1855 .
What Would The Late Sir Robert Peel Have...
WHAT WOULD THE LATE SIR ROBERT PEEL HAVE DONE—WITH THE BANK OF ENGLAND ? ( To the . Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —What would the late Sir Robert Peel have done ? is a question which has already in more than one case been asked and answered—but not hitherto , so far as I ana aware , has the vexy natural question been propounded—What would the late Sir Robert i Peel have done with the Bank of England ? I To thut question the following is the answer : it was his conviction that the Bank of England ought to be separated from the State , and this , had he lived , | it would have been one of the objects of his life to effect . My authority for this statement is Mr . John McGregor , M . P ., who communicated it to me in the j course of an interview I had with him in London not long after Sir Robert Peel ' s death . That interview was sought by him with the object of inducing me to become trustee of a New Bank it was at that time proposed to establish in London ; and thus it was the conversation took this turn . The conclusion as to the necessity of this separation I had already derived from intercourse with my accomplished friend and neighbour , Thomas Doubleday , and from reading in MS . his interesting Financial History of England ( since published by Effinghain Wilson ) ; and I had moreover been led to suspect this conclusion in tho mind of Sir Robert Peel from remarkable passages in some of his speeches , indicating tho terror in which he lived nn to the action of the Bank of England . I therefore took the opportunity of questioning Mr . McGregor on tho subject , aud hiss reply was emphatic and distinct ; that had Sir it . Pool lived , it Would have been an objoet with him to have separated the Bank of Euglaud from tho State , aud to this he had looked forward . Of thin circumstance , so dwtinot is my rooolleotion , that I am prepared to make affidavit of it . „ , L < ¦> , I give publicity to id , in the hope of thus stimulating inquiry , ' and in tho full conviction that , as in the conueotioii of the Hank of England with tho Stato originated tho National Debt , ami all our financial disorders ; ho in tho dissolution of that connection is to besought tho only source of remedy . G . ClUWdHAY . Gateshoad , Dec . 10 th , 1855 .
India.—Subsidiary States. (To The Editor...
INDIA . —SUBSIDIARY STATES . ( To the Editor of the Lcadtr . ) SjjY ^ / rhe article in tho last Leader haw aono of the b , ftzy ptylu of tho lato Mr . Chapman , to whom , on his death , you stated the Leader was indebted for much on Indian aubjectw . Thoro is no mistaking your Hitentiou ; for a long , and somewhat -vituporfttivo , article is closed by hoping Lord Cunning will auuex
the states spared by the present Governor-General ; and yet Lord Dalhousie annexed oi' conquered the Punjaub , Nagpore , Sattarah , and Pegu , to say nothing of minor states , nor of those he would have annexed , such as Kurrowly , had he been permitted . The subsidiary treaties with native states , entered into by the Governors-General Wellesley and Hastings , were , at the time , thought admirable strokes of policy , earning for the named noble lords a " material guarantee" from the soil of India , though disbursed by the East India . Company . By those treaties we pledged ourselves to perpetual friendship , never to look with the eye of oovetousness on the possessions of our allies , which , generation to generation , we guaranteed them to . Have we , Sir , in the cases of Sattarah and Nagpore , fulfilled our pledge , kept our name unsullied ?—or have we made it synonymous
with falsehood in the mind of every native , and many Europeans , in India ? Falsehood is a strong word , yet applicable , but to it the native , who deplores the gradual extinction of all nationality , would add the word " craven ; " for he says we first induced the Princes to disband their French aud other mercenaries , promising to supply their place—that we , in every instance , received a large accession of territory for the troops to be thus substituted—that , when strong enough , we first questioned the propriety of giving the services of the force thus entertainedand that we finished by employing those very troops to overawe the ally in the first instance , concluding with the absorption of the ally ' s territory , already occupied by the troops he had handsomely paid us for retaining as a contingent to uphold him and his successors , according to treaty and promise .
And such a view of the case I contend is a correct one , borne out by history , gainsay it who may . We have increased our territories and our revenue , but at what a cost ? No native of India thinka that , as a government , wo are other than perfidy itself . When weak we cringed to . them , but in power we cast aside the mask , and iippeared in our true colours—a people devoid of truth , a race that would do aught for gain . They know we mercilessly , and with malice aforethought , sacrificed their manufacturers , by prohibiting customs when we had acquired all the harbours , and allowed them not to trade with other nations ; and they know , too , that our steam-manufactured goods
were admitted to India almost free of customs . Think you , Sir , that the native of India sees not that all worth having in situations we keep to ourselvesthat the act of Parliament , as to there being no distinction of colour , creed , or-caste , was a practical lieor that he believes not there must bo a deep subsoil of hypocrisy and assumption in the civilisation and Christianity that would set itself up as perfection compared to them ; while we cared but for turning the hour to the best advantage , no matter at what cost , the inheritance of him whose offspring we by treaty pledged ourselves to uphold , and for which we were paid—or the entire manufacturers of the land that we might benefit those of our own civilised and Christian
island . The Rev . Mr . Kingsley is reported to have . said , in a lecture on Mahomedanism lately , at Edinburgh , that he hoped the day was not far distant when the Moslem would no longer have grounds for saying , " There ia a devil—in fact , there are many devils—but none equal to an European , in a round black hat . " In one sense we have played the winning game in India , and I feel certain the game will not bo played out until we absorb all . Titles and pensious , aided by the press and missionaries , will do tho deed ; and we here , Sir , will rejoice at after-dinner Hpeeches on the growing prospects of peoples aud nationalities . Shore
Allow rno to recommend to your perusal " 's Letters on India , " aud " Bishop Hoher'a Journal , " though our utfuirsaro now much bettor managed than they used to be when thesu works appeared ; aud , regarding our respect for treaties , any chapter where ouo is involved you will , in the death-dealing diatribes , as Blackwood wuid of James Mill , h ' nd abundance to bear out tho view entertained of our honour by tho people of India . In tho cUnptor referring to Bhurtpoor you will nee , by the continuation to the work by Professor Wilson , you are quite wrong . Religious tliwcord in Oudo , mxy you ? Why , is there none elsewhere—none in Europe —and has nono existed for three hundred yeiuv » in thin country and in Ireland V 1 am not palliating ; but 1 do not , therefore , approve of your milking tho oireinnstanco a handle whtU'oon to build an annexation article .
Tho cause of tho attack on Brigadier Maokenssio js Hiiffieiently well known to bo a necessary result of his insulting language to tho Muhomedous . Ho ia an European—a civilised Christian , very desirous of " Having Huulti . " Jlis indiscretion in covered by his wouudn ; but a native , undor like circumstances , would be dismissed the service . Ah for the murder of Mr . Conolly , tho Mapthals , at whose bauds ho nuffured , avo , and have ever been , a ruthless race , I boliove . They should bo disarmed an tho Soiks and Soindees were . I have lived much in native states , and I declare to you my urn * belief thftt tho people , ou the whole , are
more satisfied and happy than they are under our own sway ; and this I say after many years' residence in India , holding official appointments both in native states and our own much-lauded provinces . By your insertion or otherwise of this letter I shall be enabled to judge of your impartiality . If you insert it I shall ask the favour of a place for more letters on the same subject . An Old Ikuiak . [ We trust that our correspondent will conform to our rule of brevity in any future letter he may desire to see inserted in our columns . * The most generous impartiality cannot find space for inordinately long communications , to the saorifice of other matters of equal interest to our readers . ]
Peace And War. (To The Editor Of The Lea...
PEACE AND WAR . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib , —Your correspondent , "Arthur H . Elton , " deserves credit for the very ingenious and original expedient by which he proposes to put an end to the present war . Certainly , nothing can be more simple than for the Allied armies to retire from the field of battle , and thus , by ceasing to fight , to obtain a peace . To ensure the success of this very simple project , however , it is necessary that the Russians should ^ be equally content to retire from the scene of hostilities , simultaneously with Generals Pelissier and Codrington . It is usually held that there must be two parties to a peace , as to a-war ; and , unless Sir A . Elton can assure us that the Russians will reciprocate our pacific dispositions , he will hardly persuade the Allies to run away from the field of battle .
Setting aside the minor conBiderations of honour and glory , as matters not comprehended in the philosophy of a peace apostle , let me be permitted to point out to Sir A . Elton the . chief impediment to the success of his scheme , viz ., the extreme improbability that the Russians , struck by the magnanimity of our retreat , will emulate our forbearance , and for ever refrain from the rights of aggression . Are we to believe that we can secure by flight that which we have been unable to achieve by fighting—or that our retreat is to effect what our victories have failed to produce— " the humiliation of our enemies ? " Sir A . Elton declares that Russia " now knows our strength , and recognises her comparative weakness . '' But what evidence have we that Russia has arrived at this
knowledge ? What has happened , in the course of this war , to impress Russia with any newer or higher idea of our strength , and any clearer conviction of her own weakness ? The utmost efforts of the two greatest and most enlightened nations of the world have been for two years directed against the single barbarian power of ' the North ; and yet , what have we done , in that interval , to prove our high superiority ? It is true Sebastopol is in ruins , but at what cost to us , and with what fruits ? That siege , if it has proved anything , has proved the indomitable valour , the fertile genius , and the admirable discipline ia
of our barbarian enemy , and has exhibited J » superiority to ua in every military qualification , except mere animal courage . The siege of Sebastopol will be , to history , an illustration not of our strength but of our weakness . As for the other achievements of the Allies , thuy are too insignificant to be matter of congratulation to them , or of discouragement to the enemy . In short , we have done nothing by which Russia may form a . higher notion of our prowess than she doubtless entertained before she commenced # us way ; and , entertaining it , did not fear to provoke our hostility . It in preposterous to assert , therefore , that RuHsia onlv waits the retreat of our own armies to
withdraw from the prize she hm so long courted and still courts . It is probable , indeed , that she would not immediately renew her attempts in Turkey ; but who shall guarantee us , in the event of a present peace , iigaiiiHt a revival of Russian ambition , and another crossing of the Pruth 1 And who shall ensure iin , in tho next Ruhhiuu war , a Hocond Anglo-Galliu alliance ? Sir , I nm no thiok-and-thin supporter of the present war . There * in nothing in it , indeed , that I approve , except its object , and tho noceaaity of pursuing that object to a definite and honourable end , Iho alliance with Franco I regard an a political nocoHHity—not a « an unmixed good . It is a necessity which muHt for the present override the olaima o * tho nationalities ; nor < k > f think that any greater juinchiof can bo done
to tho cuuso of Hungary and Poland , than by a peace under present cirou instances , and oupoiMilly fluou a peace as Sir Arthur H . Elton reeoinmoudu- * pomo which demand * tho unconditional wt" ^ f * ur soldier * from tho field of battle , wlwoh ° »™ £ Crimea in tho hamln of Ruwaia , awl tho i unoipantieH in the keeping of Austria . f ,, ; t ) , r ,, nv 1 urn , Hir , yours taitliliiuy .
~ T,If Chb«Hmmh Hoi-Ida Vs.—Several Prov...
~ T , if Chb « hmmh Hoi-ida vs . —Several provincial and . i nlmrlcHmen have determined to grvotheir m ' ¦ VlfciaioSay Tom this ( Saturday ) night till tho mo" ! : « fof WollnLday tUo 20 th ; thua allowing throo whole day « fov wjwjw uwl rocr « atw » .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 22, 1855, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22121855/page/15/
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