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fix, 31, 185?.] ' ¦ ¦ . ¦¦' Mftt -JLttLi...
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THE ."TRIAL" OF THE ORINOCO. We have, of...
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POLITICAL, LETTERS. Ill ,—TlIB PllQCUtES...
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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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Honour To Whom Honour Is Due. By The Mos...
~» i , » r uraa onlv desirCHi * of seeing the Salle des SSfer ' yet visited : in a word , none would avow the rial motive , but all begged and prayed to be , invited to thTPiesidenfs ball . It may he fairly estimated that at feast half the number of cards i sued were the result of earnes ^ and persevering sohcitaUon . The President of the Frencli iRepubliccalls round him a well-dressed Parisian mob , and a herd of travelling foreigners , who . leave ¦ ' principles " . « $ home ; and white the throng is gathering in % palace , to honour the hospitality of brigandage hy accepting it , another throng is dispersing , ana
wandering away from France . We turn from tttf invited to the proscribed—Lamoriciere , Gharwif , and the chivalry of France , cowardly surprised at midnight , and carried forth like thieves ; Victor Hugo , and the poetry of France ; George Sand , a woman , a master genius the power and melody of whose magic genius have overcome the grossest prejudices ever raised up against a reformer ; Agricdle jPerdiguier , the honest but not dangerous politician , who had won the esteem of his fellow workmen by the courageous reformation of their —^ annerss ^ mile-de ^ irardmj ^ he-indefatigable-aiid
fearless pioneer , with a host of writers and thinkers , the living faculties of their country—in short , the hearf and brains of France . These are driven forth ; those cherished are the . triflers that will come at the , bidding of a Louis Napoleon . And France endures this ! Likes it , apparently . Wonder will never cease to wonder at this strange spectacle of national humiliation 1 ^ It may be true that the French people were disappointed in former governors . Cavaignac , more soldier tnan statesman , defended the Republican form , as it was
entrusted to bim , against its own authors and creators , and estranged the working classes while he failed to win the confidence of the middle classes , because his name seemed radically unsympathetic to authority and " order "; but how did honest Agricble Perdiguier disappoint them ^ when did George Sand swerve from her long cherished principles ? when did Charras forfeit fiis spurs ? Never > Yet no protest for them bursts through the restraint of prohibition—no following honours their parting footsteps . While Count Fathonv . at the Tuileries , can't find room for his guests and
adherents , France sees her chivalry , her science , her poetry ; her genius * he £ ( statesmanship depart , and does not follow even to ' say farewell . There ib no time ; for the air is perfumed with beauty , the sparkling music and the brilliant lustres ,, and the wiicnery of . tye whirling waltz ; and the supper tables , festal with rarest wines and dainties , leave no thought for the murdered and tha exiled that are gone , for the widowed and orphaned that remain to mourn . But to many the floor is slippery—with blood ; and the very atmosphere of success is heavy with crimes and tears .
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fix , 31 , 185 ? . ] ' ¦ ¦ . ¦¦ ' Mftt -JLttLittt . ¦ ____ — l 0 < 5
The ."Trial" Of The Orinoco. We Have, Of...
THE . " TRIAL" OF THE ORINOCO . We have , often said that the warlike spirit—the spirit that confronts danger and overcomes difficulty , that dares with a , purpose and as a duty—is not extinct in the breasts of Englishmen . The gentlemen of England are not like Pompey'a cohorts , afraid of spoiling their beauty and damaging their personal appearance ; the workmen of England are not effeminate and cowardly , like the Roman mob who bawled for bread and brutal spectacles . ' We have still among us plenty of men the equals in pluck and hardihood of the early voyagers ; the soldiers of Peterborough , and Clive , and Wolfe ,
and Wellington ; and the sailors of Howard of Effiingham , and Blake , and Nelson . We have had thirty-seven years of peace , thirty-seven years of mohey-mohgering and money-getting , thirty-seven years of arrant materialism , and we are not tamed . We are , in spite of our sedentary occupations and Bhonkeeping , as familiar as ever with the elements , as daring as ever in the use of them , as coolly dauntless as ever in facing them in their fury . We fear neither wind nor wave , nor firedamp nor fire . We meet and daunt and vanquish every kind of foe—but in the advancement of civilization , in the enterprise of Art triumphantly achieving a mastery over Nature , in the cause of Humanity .
A striking illustration of this great truth is afforded by a recent incident . But two short weeks ago the Amazon perished by flood and fire , and the majority of the brave souls in her shared her doom . As the coastguard are picking up hero and there the charred relioB of that noble ship , another , destined to run the same course , leaves the sheltering river and dashes proudly out into the stormy ocean . The Orinoco , a huge roads of timber and iron , one
hundred yards long and eleven deep , steamed down the Thames on a " tria # rip" on the 23 rd , at the rate of twelve miles an hour . But this was to be no freshwater trial ; she was to be pushed through any weather , the •' dir tier * ' the more to the taste of her captain and crew . ; and , if . weather sufficiently f dirty * ' was not encountered between the Nore and Southampton , she was to seek it 6 ft Lizard Point or the Rock of Lisbon .
To seek it ? Yes ; because it was a duty the West India Company owed to the public , and they were willing to run the risk themselves before asking the public to have confidence in these vessels . And , as will be seen , this generous risk has been amply rewarded with perfect success . Passing the night at the Nore , the anchors of the Orinoco were weighed on Saturday morning , and the nautical men on board , looking to windward , ** cheered each other" with the prospect of " plenty of wind " and " dirty weather . " They wanted a gale ; they brightened at the promise of a gale , and a gale they were destined to have with
a vengeance . ¦ On she went in a glorious style . ^ ilbrei ^ inslant , ^^^ trip , "the wind rose higher , and . with it the spirits of those on board . " And their courage mounted up as they pointed out where " the Royal Adelaide was lost with all on board , " or where the So and So went downi " in % . dirty night last year . " But on she went—the wind rushing " fiercely over the low lands of " Sheppey from the south-west , and tearing away as harass it could to the North Sea /' Small vessels flew before it ; clippers , with all sail
on , bowled away at the top of their speed , challenging the huge steamer , and being beaten . And when she got under the lee of the North Foreland , there was a sight to stir the blood and string the nerves . In that secure mooring rode countless ships . In Ramsgate Harbour , capable only for small craft , " a forest of masts / . ' ; They had all run in out of the "fury of the gale . " Gentlemen on board the Orinoco had the " satisfaction" of seeing them safe ; and in the Downs " an Armada of ships , " including the " celebrated American clipper ship
Oriental , " in the same predicament . The pilot thought it would be better to run in too ; but no ; the Orinoco was to be tested , ' and tested she should be , the more severeT ^ the better . What pluck , what resolution , what ironofletermination not to be turned aside ! On she must and should go ; and " ere darkness closed in ) 0 the Orinoco was pushing past the Goodwin , on which for miles vast toppling mountains of water ,, crested with foam , ran their terrible course , and bursting upon the sea that rushed to meet her from the Channel . "
We quote from a report , apparently the work of a landsman , astounded at the sight ; but still it was a night to be remembered . A man could with difficulty stand against the wind . Rain fell like iron points in the squalls ; nothing could be seen from the deck but the black , starless sky , which seemed to rest upon the waves—nothing heard but the blast , roaring over the decks and screaming
through the rigging , and the waves hissing against the ship ' s sides . So stout was this gale , that the mighty vessel could only make sixteen miles in eight hours . Yet all the while her machinery worked " as blandly almost as the watch in one ' s pocket , " and she drove along as steadily as a line-ofbattle ship . The gale lasted six hours—and the Orinoco was the victor .
We know few higher proofs of physical and moral courage than specimens of voluntary daring like this . The gallant fellows on board the Orinoco deliberately chose to encounter the most tremendous dangers . They were not surprised in a storm ; they drove into it from a sense ot public duty . We honour them for so doing ; and while England possesses men of this sterling metal , can she not afford to smile at the threats of all her enemies ? Yet this instance is only one of a thousand where ships put to sea , in weather quite as tempestuous , in the fulfilment of an ordinary duty . What then , need we fear i
Political, Letters. Ill ,—Tlib Pllqcutes...
POLITICAL , LETTERS . Ill , —TlIB PllQCUtESS OP PH 0 OBB 88 . January 27 , 1852 . •* Have you not gone back from your principles " ? "Are you not retrograde , in ; giving up free trade , in supporting a Church , and in counselling war ' ? I know that neither you , most excellent friend , nor any other who has vouchsafed to me a close attention , will ask those questions ; but I also know , that many do whom I truly esteem ; and while Tfeel that our journal is manifestly as little retrograde as the world itself x « . I wish to answer the questions
now , not for self-vindication— -the idlest employment in the world—but for a right understanding of what is " progress . " In the matter of industry , for example , we are getting on bravely , although we have ceased to regard free trade as the be-all and end-all of social organization . Free trade is not the whole of social oeconomy , any more than trade is the whole of industry * I do not underrate the value of commerce when I say that trading , as we understand it ,
is not essential to human existence , whereas industry is essential . It has been said that trade , by its law of supply and demand , could regulate the industry of society so completely as to create everything that is needed ; but we , who see great numbers wanting food and comfort , while large tracts of land lie idle , and no steps are taken to set industry to work upon that desert in the midst of industrious want , know that trade fails to fulfil the promise . And society is beginning to recognise that most vital truth . Trade philosophy naturally considers
goods as the great object of industrial oeconomymarketable goods ; trade ^ phUogophy talks of " p rg ^_ _ TtectingTcapitaU' * " " protectihg property , " and will sacrifice thousands , hundreds of thousands , millions , of human beings to the prosperity of cottons and iron goods . We < know that human beings ought to rank first , goods afterwards ; and that the object of industry is to sustain life . It is better that two human beings should live , with half a given amount of goods between them , than that one should have much wealth and the other starve , even though twice the amount of goods should be born into the world . To hear trade philosophy talk about "the rights of property , " " giving the
vote to property , " and bo forth , you would think that the national religion must have taught how God had made cotton goods after his own image ; and truly © economists would monopolize for their beloved goods the blessing of the mandate to multiply . Now , I think we are learning to understand this better : it is not by waiting for supply and demand to promote production , but by simply going direct to the duty , that we secure its performance . Production is the means by which industry supports life , and even trade ; trade cannot set all men on work , nor adequately excite production for the behoof of all living souls ; and we are beginning to perceive that where trade fails we had belter set about the duty forthwith .
We perceive , further , that we can do that best if we introduce to our industry the principle of concert . Competition has driven " cheapness" to such a point that trade is obliged to get its profits out of the substance of the thing sold : the coffee seller sells his " coffee" so cheap , that he must keep back some of it to reimburse himself . Thus trade has outwitted itself . And this corruption , which is a real spontaneous decay of trade , is eating into it at every point : retail trade cheats society ; contract trade cheats Government
—as in the flagrant case of the " preserved " meats . English spirit used to exist eren in trade , which was proved to " do the thing handsomely , " to be " sound to the heart , " " sterling " : now , while the Cyclopean walls of races that existed before history still stand like eternal rocks , outliving the empires of Italy , our contract walls , like that at Whitehaven , will scarcely stand to be finished ; and manufacturers themselves , like the black " silk " lacemakers at Nottingham , are growing alarmed at the effect of counterfeit and adulteration on the very life and
existence of their trade . Is that " progress" ? The lace men of Nottingham are making a stand against the " shoddy cloth " of their business" combining " for that purpose ; and that stand I do call progress : Poor law reformers , theoretical and practical , are calling out for the able-bodied poor to be set to the work of producing . So are prison inspectors ; so are Irish reformers—as at . the great Rotunda meeting this week . All these persons say they will thus make the able-bodied " selfsupporting . " I call that progress ; I call the extension of that idea progress . The Amalgamated
Engineers have left the unproductive " strike " to their masters ; and , being forced into a strike , have resolved , by cooperative and productive industry , to make their organization self-supporting . That is progress . Yes , immense numbers , in all classes , are reverting to the natural laws of industry—productive labour for the good of the human beings concerned , division of employments , and concert in the division of employments . It does not matter that I happen , to have been the first to use that last phrase—I have only unfolded the meaning of Adam Smith ' s idea , as he only unfolded the meaning of the fact itself ; the law always existed , so as to bo
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011852/page/13/
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