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838 THE LEADER. [Kg 4g9 ^ AuCTsT _ 2y»ft...
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THE FRUITS OE IGNORANCE. The peasantry a...
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INDIAN TACTICS. All sides seem agreed tl...
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Over-house Tei-kgravits.—The Society of ...
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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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838 The Leader. [Kg 4g9 ^ Auctst _ 2y»Ft...
838 THE LEADER . [ Kg 4 g 9 ^ AuCTsT _ 2 y » ft 58 >
The Fruits Oe Ignorance. The Peasantry A...
THE FRUITS OE IGNORANCE . The peasantry about Kilkenny have begun to destroy machinery . This is an improvement from murdering meu to breaking their instruments . The Irish have now readied the stage which the English occupied half a -century ago ; and we rejoice at their progress . They have come to he sensible of the value of labour , and they resent the use of machinery because they suppose , erroneously , that it reduces the rate of wages . The English labourers made exactly the same mistake half a century ago , but now the veriest clodhoppers amongst them know that the use of machinery increases produce , increases employment , and increases the rate of wages .
The-2 ?& ry and Norwich Pest supplies a useful illustration of the present state of opinion in the agricultural districts , which for these very reasons is in favour of machinery . It was only ignorance , therefore , of the eifects ' of . machinery which made the English destroy it half a century ago , and it is only ignorance of the effects of machinery which makes the backward Irish destroy it at present . Both , did wrong in the eyes of others ; iu their own eyes , both did what they thought was right . It is good philosophy to say that there are not two causes for the same effect ; and as ignorance is the source of the wrong done by Irisli labourers , and was the source of the wrong done by English labourers , it is not straining logic too far to infer that ignorance is the source of all the wroncr that ever is or
ever has been doue in the ' world . Mr . Roebuck enunciated a similar conclusion at Tynem . ou . th , and we beg to quote a portion of his eloquent remarks : — - There are pleasures derived from knowledge which are not merely the intellectual pleasures I am speaking of . There « re moial pleasures . Por , depend upon it , no man can . tie really a good man . -who is an ignorant man . ^ ow , that Is a bold thing to say , but , depend upon it , it is true . I have no doubt that Hildebrand and S t . Dominic fancied they were doing- good -when they were destroyiaig human beings . I have no doubt the wretched King 1 of Naples fancies he is ddin £ rood
when he is treating- his unfortunate subjects with all the horrors with which he does treat them ., Why is this ? Because virtue is made up of two things—you must wish to do good , and you must know how to do it . It is not enough to-wish and intend good things , you ought to know what things are good . The Spaniards have an old proverb , -which I "will just quote , though it begins -with a word which is not generally mentioned to ears polite , " Hell is paved with good intentions . " The greater part of mankind intend well , but they don ' t know how to do well . They persecute , they are intolerant , they turn round upon their fellow-raan because he differs from them on some simple matter about which they are both equally ignorant . They pinch his
unfortunate flesh -w Uh red-hot irons because he differs from them . Knowledge , and knowledge alone , will do away with this , and as men become learned , and appreciate the v * alue « f knowledge , they will learn to b . e tolerant , and thus they will know that the human mind , fully and fairly employed—many minds being employed on the same object—arrives at different conclusions , and if honestly arrived at , they ought not to be persecxited . Therefore , 1 say , that a really good man cannot be mnde out of an ignorant man . He may intend well ; he may have all the wishes to be a good man , but he has not the intelligence j he does not know what is good ; lie will be a persecutor ; lie will be a bigot ; he will be a bad man , although intending to be n good one .
We must always , therefore , give rulers credit for good intentions , and always believe that it is merely ignorance which has made them , as it makes the Irish peasant , very often excessively mischievous or destructive . The same may lie said of moat criminals . They intend less to do wrong than merely to serve some purpose of their own . When they steal , they falsely suppose that it is easier to steal from others tlian to gain wealth by honest labour . ThUnis n palpable mistake . Were they right , theft would be the rule of our lives . The exertions to steal , and the exertions to . resist theft , necessarily diminish the of
sum -wealth which might exist , and the share of each one , including the thief , would be so much the larger were he not to steal . The first Napoleon , did not mcau to depopularise himself , to destroy his throne , and restore the Bourbons , by his successive wars and his final attack on . Russia . He did j ^ reat wrong to Fiance , to Europe , and himself , from sheer and deplorable ignorance , cxaol , ly like that of the Irish peasantry . His vast power , liko their extreme poverty , pro vented him getting n . u accurate knowledge of facts . Ujhe p * esent Napoleon docs not mcau to make the JPrenoU poor and discontented by his wasteful , deflpotic , and restrictive system ; he designs to secure Ida
throne and his ' dynasty , but lookers-on , satisfied that he is ignorant of tho consequences of what he is doing , know that he is only pro-paring the way for another revolution .. Louis Philippe did not mean to dethrone himself by fortifying- Paris , but his system of government , of which this was a-consequence , lod to that incvil able conclusion . Lord Pahnerstou did not intend to turn himself out of office and break up the Liberal party when be assented to the French view of Englishmen's duties , but he effected it . What will he the consequences of our actions is known to us only within the immediate and
limited sphere of our own vision . The remote consequences , which are as inevitable as those we immediately will , arc unknown to all . We know , for example , * that what we write will be-printed , but what effect it will produce in others we cannot possibly foresee . Some know more of these remote consequences than others , and they are sagacious and successful in proportion ; though probably wellbeing , contentment , and happiness are on the whole more the result of following submissively and blindly some well-accredited principles than of acting from attempts to ascertain what will ensue iu the distant future .
We all desire to avoid evil , and try to avoid it . iNTone intentionally do wrong—we all desire to do Tight and achieve good for ourselves , or what we suppose will be good ; -. nevertheless , there is an immense quantity of wrong done and evil suffered , which arc entirely the consequences , like the destruction of machinery'by . the . Irish peasantry , of ignorance . To secure well-being , therefore , we must possess a knowledge of the effects of our own conduct as well as of the motion of the planets , of the . geological formation of the earth , and of the structure of insects . How we are to get this
indispensable knowledge nobody can tell , for nobody is in possession of it . The Legislature does not possess it , or it would never make laws whicli produce evil . The clergy do not possess it—they are notoriously ignorant of the ways of the worla , of existing facts , and cannot teach what they . dp not know . It is only to be gathered'by experience , aud just as the English labourers have learned , within the last fifty years , to form right views of the . effects of machinery , so , in time , similar necessary knowledge will come to all . It is not to be attained by education . Teachers , each in his sphere , are as little acquainted with it as their pupils . All that the State
can do to promote the acquisition is to allow men to learn . Our experience of the effects of machinery may be told to the Irish ; probably , as far as it can be , it has been told ; but it has not , given them knowledge . For one man's experience to become a part of another man's life a common medium of communication is necessary . To understand language , which is si \ ch a medium , many previous associations are necessary , and till these have been formed words arc mere sounds . The uneducated Irish , and the uneducated multitude generally , have not formed these associations , arid are , consequently , not capable of learning from the experience of others .
Their own experience is a swre teacher , and from seeing railways and railway carriages , they learn all about them as easily as the educated classes . It is impossible to travel by rail and not perceive that tlie rude multitude who use only third-class carriages are as well acquainted with all the mysteries of railway travelling , novel i hough it be , as travellers by first class carriages . The men and women who , hall ashamed of their coarse or untidy dresses , or
uncouth behaviour , can scarcely be persuaded to enter a drawing-room or a church , slinre with glee all the advantages of the rail with their betters , and at once adapt themselves to its exigencies . To personal experience they show themselves docile pupils , what happens as to rnils , happens in every part " of existence . Everywhere people are learning great truths by personal experience , and not by the medium of words from professed teachers . The men who \ o . m \ snniol . v «••« r ^ nii ' im ,. llv teachers . I he men who lend society arc continuall
y making discoveries ; they are not taught them by other men . No teaching has prepared society for the rail and tho telegraph , and their consequences ; they arc not yet known , and can only be learned as they are developed . Of lute years both the State and the Church have become very diligent , iu teaching the people , to which they seem to huv ' c been driven rnt . licr by what the multitude had learned and was learning by personal experience than by what tho multitude was ignorant of . The knowledge of tlio multitude rather alarmed than pleased the leaders in State and Church . By personal experience the people will continue to learn much more than tho Si ate and tlio
Church can teach them ; and it seems doubtful JT y-hat thoy have learned in past times has boSid ? feront from the knowledge these iiicowl ? jrculd * ish to ineulcateAvhothcr S ?] fS k-arn . hereafter will he agvcoablc to then T teaching ot the matorial world through our ' scr . T , is very different from the teaching of the f'U i and the State . The former , however cunn ft avoided , and is the paramount means of correcting the ignorance of Irish labourers and memw ! % Parliament , both of whom , undesigned ^ ^ ^ ranee , do a great deal of wrong . J ° " ° "
Indian Tactics. All Sides Seem Agreed Tl...
INDIAN TACTICS . All sides seem agreed tliat the Indian mutW ;„ quelled ; that we have fought our last pitched battle begged our last city , and that nothing reS to be done but to hunt down straggling parties « r mutineers , and to cut them up root and Wncli whS we come up with them . We are willing to accS tills ' statement as a true picture of the existing condition of affairs and future prospects ; ve sincerely hope the picture will be realised . But cerfciinll
there ' are materials for doubting whether it will b £ realised as rapidly as the friends of order could wish . We have already felt it to be . our dut y to direct attention to the dilatory , and , to our unmilitary mmd , the erroneous tactics of the Com mander-in-Chief . From what we learn from private sources we have reason to believe that a more active and suitable plan will henceforward be -adopted than thatofmakingscicntificwaronfug itivebri ^ ands . This
we apprehend , lias been the mistake throughout of the Commander-in-Chief . What is wanted for India is light cavalry . It is inconceivable how the cavalry arm could have , been permitted to dwindle down to such an inefficient point . The fruits of our bloodiest battles and sieges liave been almost neutralised by the want of a sufficient cavalry force ; we trust the mistake will be remedied fully and without more than necessary delay . But what is to be the future of our rule in India ? We shall never again stand in the same relative position in which we stood to the natives , Mahometan and Hindoo , before the mutiny . The wide gulf will never again be bridged over . On the one side will be perpetual distrust , on-tlic other a knowledge that distrust exists , and is well founded . We shall
be stronger than ever in India , but our hold on that country will be material and military , not as before with a large element of the moral . The powers to govern India in future must be composed of men " a little lower , than the angels , " if they discharge their high functions wisely ' and impartially , and resist that temptation to jobbery and patronage which the recent change has placed so completely at their command .
Over-House Tei-Kgravits.—The Society Of ...
Over-house Tei-kgravits . —The Society of Arts have been furnished by Messrs . Waterlow and Sons with the details of making the telegraph connexion between their premises in Bircbin-Iane , London-wall , and
Parliamentstreet . The lino of wires commences at Loudon-wall , proceeds direct to Birchin-lnne , and tlience , supported at different intervals , terminates at Parliament-street , the total distance traversed by the wires being 1-1 , 584 feet , or nearly three miles . The wires are supported on poles fixed to the tops of tho houses ; avid Messrs . Wntorlow have for this purpose used a kind of saddle of cast iron , carrying a socket , into wliich the supporting pole is fixed . The saddle fits on the ridge of the house , and is held in its place by two screws into tho ridge tree and four into tho rafters . Tho polo is kept steady and firm by menus of guy wires from its extremity to the roof . No injury whatever is done to tho houae hy the iixing of the supports , and when removed
all that has to be done is to till up and make good the holes whence they are withdrawn . Tlio telegraph wires are of ateel , a little larger than common bell viro , combining strength with liglitncss . The telegrap h used by Messra . Wuterlow is the singlo-noedlo instrument , requiring only a single line of wive . The cost of erecting tho wires is at the rate of about 501 . per milo , including poles , wires ( double line ) , insulators , labour , mid everything , except the instruments , tho cost of which , with * singlo needle , is f >/ . each . Messrs . Waterlow oiilciilnle that tho whole of tho police-stations and / Ire-eng ine establishments in tho metropolis might bo brought into communication with ea < h other for an outlay not exceeding fiOUO / . —Aayrea * .
This IlANititurruY A 2 ) i > Liquidation Act , 18 o 8 . — This Act , which was presented , by tho Lord Chancellor at the cloao of tlio session , is now published . It ' , nn act to amend tlio law of debtor and creditor , and of insol-voncy and bankruptcy , and to cnablo and fjiuiUtnto the liquidation hy creditors of a debtor ' s estate , and tlio administration of enfnte « of insolvent traders decenncfl It consists of 880 clauses , and occupies 145 folio l ^ 'os
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 838, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_21081858/page/14/
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