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September 30, 1854.] THE LEADER. 921
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AN AMERICAN DIFFICULTY. Mr. George Peabo...
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MONBODDO REFUTED. It is said that " the ...
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ENGLISH NEWS FROM RUSSIA. Tux Jawnal da ...
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A STAFF FOR OLD AGE. Perhaps a practical...
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THE KNOW-NOTHINGS OF ENGLAND. <c Diogens...
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FLAX CULTIVATION IN CORK. The cultivatio...
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LORD PENMAN, Lojw Denma^ nwi ™ « ^ — * ;...
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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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September 30, 1854.] The Leader. 921
September 30 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 921
An American Difficulty. Mr. George Peabo...
AN AMERICAN DIFFICULTY . Mr . George Peabody is a well-known American milliannaire . He gave a great dinner in London on the 4 th of last July in honour of American Independence . It appeared that the affair did not go off quite satisfactorily , and Mr . Peabody has rushed into print . We find the following in the Neio York Courier : — " The Boston Post publishes a letter from Mr . George Peabody of London , in answer to an anonymous letter recently published hi the Post , containing reflections on the patriotism of Mr . Peabody on account of the manner In which the dinner , given by that gentleman at London on the 4 th of July last , was conducted . Mr . Peabody states that the conduct of D . S . Sickles , Esq ., the American Secretary of Legation , at the dinner referred to , stamps him as the author of the anonymous letter to the Post .
¦" The anonymous letter contained the following statements : — ' This being an entertainment avowedly given in commemoration of our national independence , the Americans present were greatly surprised to meet a number of Englishmen at the table ; and also to observe full-length portraits of the Queen and Prince Albert , on each side of a small picture of "Washington , at the head of the table . The absence of any likeness of the President of the United States was noticed . When the toasts were given , what was the surprise of the American
portion of the company to hear the Queen proposed with a most servile speech , and tbisj too , on a national holiday , before the President had been named ! The result was , that several gentlemen ; did not rise , either for the toast itself , or when the air of 'Rule Britannia , ' yhdeh followed , was performed by the band . The President of the United States was next given * with some lukewarm introductory remarks , when the whole company rose , without exception , and drank the toast with all the honours , spontaneously cheering the chief of our Republic . '
"In answer to the above , Mr . Peabody says that it was well known among the resident Americans that English gentlemen were to be present , as they had been on all similar celebrations given by him ; that the picture of "Washington was a fine half-length one , and the only one that could be procured for the occasion , and that it was the same one which he , at the request of Mr . Sickles , sent to him to be transmitted to Mr . Belmont for a celebration sd the Hague on the 22 nd of February last ; that no portrait of the President could
be obtained ; that he did not propose the health of the Queen in a servile speech , that Rule Britannia' was not performed at all , and that only one person refused to rise when the " Queen" given . With reference to toasting the Queen before the President , Mr . Peabody says it was simply according to the rules of courtesy , amd that Mr . Buchanan , to whom he had before spoken on the subject , sanctioned his course in doing so , and stood , at the dinner , doing honour to the Queen , while his Secretary of Legation was sitting , silently looking on . "
Monboddo Refuted. It Is Said That " The ...
MONBODDO REFUTED . It is said that " the great feature" of the proceedings of one of the days of the meeting of tine British Association at Liverpool was the discourse of Professor Owen , on the subject of anthropomorphous , or man-like apes , and their relation to the human
apecies : — " The small concert-room in St . George ' s-hall , where the address was delivered , was crowded to excess . The arguments , founded uron osteological and anatomical facts , which the : learned professor adduced for the purpoao of proving the perfect distinctness of species between man and animals of tho hi ghest group of quadrumana , wore illustrated by a sorioa of anatomical sketches and crania of man , tho chimpanzee , and tho orang-outang .
The quiet but withal irresistible mode in which tho professor demolished tho theories of those who , confounding * gradation' with 'development , ' have recently revived a transitional or development theory , the germs of which wore enunciated by Lord Monboddo , was received with muoh applause \ and his arguments , founded upon tho structure of tho vertebrae , tho crania , and , above all , upon tho development of tho dental aorios in both man and other animals , againat tho possibility of any transmutation of species , wore locrical and conclusive , "
English News From Russia. Tux Jawnal Da ...
ENGLISH NEWS FROM RUSSIA . Tux Jawnal da Ht . PStcrsbourg ia a remarkable paper . Its dealings with Russian nfruirs are unfortunately sometimes liable to correction ; but of tho extraordinary accuracy of ita information on mutters connected wuh tlio array and navy of England , the following extract gives decisive proof : — " Lieutenant Perry , who was on board tho Tiger when it was taken Iry tho ltuasiuina at Odessa , has boon ' brought boforo a court-martial . Tho young man has been acquitted on account of tho long and loynl sorviooa of hia rutUor , but ia obliged to leave tho royal navy of England and soil Inn commission . This has caused great excitement , and numoroua subscription Uata uro already opened » n favour of lieutenant Perry . "
A Staff For Old Age. Perhaps A Practical...
A STAFF FOR OLD AGE . Perhaps a practical pun is intended by the appointment given by the Minister of State in France to an aged actress . She is to support herself on all the sticks in the Exhibition neat year , fox we hear that—M . Fould , Minister of State , taking in consideration the advanced age and straitened circumstances of Mdlle . Georges , the eminent tragic actress , has accorded to her the privilege of taking charge of the umbrellas and canes at the Exhibition Palace next year . This may be thought a miserable resource for the latter days of a lady who basked so long in the sunshine of public admiration , but the truth is , Mdlle . Georges has obtained a splendid appointment , and one which many a gallant colonel ' s widow , who wears her heart out in making interest for the privilege to keep a cigar-shop , may be content to envy . The Constituticmnel calculates that the net profits of the guardianship of the canes and umbrellas will amount to 100 , 000 fr . Mdlle . Georges is Napoleoman , and was worthy of some nobler functions in the reign of the nephew of the uncle Of whom she has suclv touching souvenirs .
The Know-Nothings Of England. <C Diogens...
THE KNOW-NOTHINGS OF ENGLAND . < c Diogenss" has art article on tlie Know-Nothings of England . This may prove an important suggestion at the present moment to Lord Derby , who has declared himself , recently , at Liverpool , to be qualified to lead some such party . What Diog enes remarks as this : ^ - The papers . have recently been a good deal taken up by accounts of a new party which has sprung up in America , calling themselves the " Know-Nothings . " A correspondent of the Times has given a long account of the constitution and opinions of the party r - as well as speculations on their probable influence upon the future of that country .
But we have Know-Nothings in England too . How is it that so little thought is devoted to their principles and influence upon society ? We have them here amongst u 3 , not as in the United States , " a secret society , its members bound by oath both to secresy and obedience , with well-organised councils , signs and symbols ; " the Know-Nothing race in England make no secret of it , but at every turn we meet them face to face , thrusting their Know-Nothingism , with distressing prominence , upon our notice ; bound by no laws , ruled by no councils , but one vast floating mass of ignorance .
The American Know-Nothings exert their influence chiefly upon the elections . Not so in England . Here the Know-Nothing element acts in a far wider sphere . It is the English Know-Nothings that filL our gaols ; that vegetate in festering holes and cellars , spreading disease and death around them ; that make our streets unsafe to walk at night . It ia the Know-Nothing spirit that expands into the cunning of the pickpocket ; that bursts out in the ruffianism of the wife-beater ; that sinks into the sensuality of the drunkard . Dangerous may be the increasing power of the Know-Nothings in America . But how infinitely more so is the tremendous body of Know-Nothings which our own neglect has suffered to grow up among ourselves !
Hoary-headed thieves , who have been Know-Nothings from their cradles . Children , mere babica , left to the teaching of such men , or sent to gaols instead of schools ; Know-Nothings , who in time will be as dangerous as their ciders . Female Know-Nothings growing up in brutal ignorance , until wo wonder why they arc depraved . Know-Notlungs of all ages , -whom our negligence has made so , until they have at last gofpast our bearing , when we imprison them or hang them for some outbreak of tho Know-Nothing spirit which turns round and scourges us . What is tho influence of tho American Know-Nothing party when compared to this ?
Flax Cultivation In Cork. The Cultivatio...
FLAX CULTIVATION IN CORK . The cultivation of tlax as a product of Ireland , seems to bo gaining ground , and not without results . The Cork Examiner states that tho guardians of that city have passed the following resolution : — " That wo find , with tho greatest satisfaction , that tho groat ( lax operations of Edmund Burko Roche , Esq ., M . P ., have boon so successful as to en « M « him , in addition to tho extomivc employment given by him in Jii » own union , to tako out of this workhouse fifty young women , with a view of planing thorn in a position to earn thoir livelihood by thoir own industry ; and wo earnestly wish that sill lnndud . proprietors , who are in a position to do so , would imitate such an excellent example j and that > vo tender him our bent and warmest thank * for tho rcliof bo far afforded to tho ratepayers of this union . "
It appears tho annual support of these fifty women in tho workhouse , > wn » between 300 / . and 400 / . a year , ami us Mr . Roche is about to employ fifty boy » in tho flmno innnnur , ho ia said to bonollt at one © 100 human beings , mid diminish rates of the union by 700 / . a year .
Lord Penman, Lojw Denma^ Nwi ™ « ^ — * ;...
LORD PENMAN , Lojw Denma ^ nwi ™ « ^ — * ; ras - g - _ _ Albany , Northamptonshire . He was in his seventysixth yean Although for the last three or four years Lord Denman has passed from before the public eye , his death will recal many events of interest with which he was intimately connected . During the exciting summer of 1820 liis name -was , with his " brother Brougham ' s , " in every mouth . For long years after he was a sort of popular saint , through the virtuous sympathy that our people have the happiness of being subject to with those whom they understand to have sacrificed worldly objects for something higher . In the conflict between the claims of law and Parliamentary privilege , from 1836 to 1841 , he was the central figure ; and with these salient points of the history of our time the name of Thomas Denman will ever be associated .
His personal history may be summed up thus : — He was the only son of the well-known Dr . Denman , and brother-in-law to Dr . Baillie and Sir Richard Croft . He married the daughter of Mr . Vever , a Lincolnshire cl ;;^ vman « and had fifteen children , of whom eleven survived , five sons and six maTrieoj daughters , when Lady Denman died in 1852 . He was called to the "bar and went the Midland Circuit , and his professional career became early an honourable one , and his name was connected especially with causes and trials in which the liberty of the press was concerned .
Mr . Denman was introduced into Parliament in 1818 , by Mr . Calcraft , who had him returned for the borough of Wareham . He immediately distinguished himself by his earnest advocacy of popular freedomside by side with Brougham and Lambton—oh all the many occasions furnished bythe troubled years of 1819 and 1820 . In those times of" a Manchester massacre , a Cato- street conspiracy , Burdett letters , and prose , cut ion of authors and printers , Mr . Denman was always found vigilant and eloquent in opposing Seizures of Arms Bills , Seditions Meetings Bills , Blasphemous and Seditious Libels Bills , and doing his best to spoil the whole machinery of moral torture and intellectual restriction framed by the Eldons , Sidmouths , and Castlereaghs of those days . His popularity was already great when liia advocacy of the cause of Queen Caroline , on her return in 1820 .
made him the idol of more than " the populace , " with whose admiration ho was taunted so scornfully . He accepted the office of Solicitor-General to th « Queen- —at the sacrifice , he -veil knew , and everybody knew , of his fair professional pi ' ospoets . From the hour that , ns one of her Commissioners Q Mr . Brougham being the other ) , he met the Duke of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh as the King ' s Commissioners , it was felt that he had ruined himself , if professional advancement was the object of his life . Not only were all the liigh offices of the law closed io him during : the reign of the King , who was not yet crowned , hue his " brothers , " who were in the courso of nature to succeed him , were almost as virulent as the King against nil aiders nnd abettors of the Queen ' s claims . Mr . Denman suffered , as he knew ha must , a long abeyance of professional advancement .
The city of London , however , elected him their Common-Serjeant . In 1830 ho was m « de Earl Grey ' s Attorney-General ; and on the death of Lord Tenterden , in 183 J , lie became Chief Justice of England . In a short time , Lord Denman pronounced the decision that brought on the perilous quarrel between tho Law Courts and Parliament . Tho history of tho controversy need not ho given here , as it may be found in the chronicles of the time , and seen to involve much moro than Lord Dennnui ' a share in the business . It waa ho who brought on the struggle by his decision , in November , 1836 , tliut tho authority of Parliament could not justify tho publication of a libel ; whcre : is the Mouse of Coin mons could not
surrender thoir cluiin to publish whut they thought proper , in entire independence of the Law Courts . Tho " Hansards" were bandied about between law nnd privilege ; the sheriffs of Londom wore imprisoned , quizzed , pitied , iinil caricatured ; but thoughtful men felt that tho occasion was ono of extreme seriousness ; and Lord Penman hnil to bear tho responsibility of linving perilously ovexstrnincd one of the indispensable compromises of the constitution . He waa confident throughout that he was right , and patriotically employed in vindicating tho liberty of theMibject from oppression by JPurlluaiiunt : nmllartho national
Ihuncnt was equally convinced that liberties depended on thoir repudiating the control ot the law courts . A more rfiflicult < iucstion can never occur under u constitutional government ; ana it is pretty sure to come up from timo to time . In ttio controversy opened nnd conducted by Lord Don man , the respective claim * wro loft unsettled ; « nd nothing was done but doubtfully providing for thosinglo case ' of tho publication of parliamentary reports . Lord Denninn ' o Horvico In thy onac was depositing in tho armoury of tho law courts a quaverful ofargutnoiita for tin : uses of suooeBMive coinbuftanta whenever tho battle ahull be renewed .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 30, 1854, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30091854/page/9/
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