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830 • _ T 3ELJS REAPER. . ^ ¦j;No 1 4g9 ...
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IRELAND. The Kilkenny Rxots —As an insta...
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ACCIDENTS A2TD SUDDEN DEATHS. A Pkiwbytk...
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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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Egypt A1sd Syria. ~ Western Influence. (...
the supposed Prussian consul can only get himself backed by one or more ambitious ecclesiastics , as tools and co-operatives in the great continental -work of humbling England , and edging her gradually out of her position in the East , the cabinet of Potsdam may congratulate itself on being able to drive a tolerable business in the East , and bring on political complications , of which Latins and Greeks -will take prompt advantage . It would be a very shallow mistake to suppose that the capture of Sebastopol ended the quarrel between the Greek and Latin churches ia Palestine . The conflict vras suspended for a season , till sword and cannon had done their work in the Crimea . Had Russia conquered .
the Syrian crisis -would have been precipitated , and European influence would have ere this been ebbing out of Jerusalem . The church of the Holy Sepulchre would have been in ler hands , and the imposture of the Pentecostal fire would have been triumphant . Had she , on the other hand , carried on the contest a little longer , say even for another year , the state of the East would have heen entirely altered , and England would by this time lave had the whole of Syria at its feet . Russia was exhausted ere her Crimean fortress fell , and would have lad to withdraw her pretensions in Jerusalem as head of the Greek Church . But Prance , too , was no less exlausted ; and by the time that another campaign had terminated , England would have been the only power
capable of lifting a sword . The dictatorship of the East ¦ would have fallen into her hands without a struggle . IBut Russia paused in time ; and by pausing as she did , in . January , 1856 , she saved herself from total humiliation , and prevented what , by January , 1857 , would have been the inevitable conclusion of the warfare , the establishment of British supremacy both in Syria and Egypt . Our statesmen were terrified at the prospect of having to carry on the . war alone against the Northern Emperor , as in a few months longer we should have had to do ; bnt the conflict was one to which our resources were thoroughly equal , and the issue would have been worth all the cost , —though the disturbance of the balance of power yrould lave been great indeed .
The . warfare having ended in the Crimea before Prance and Russia were drained of men and gold , it could be revived , after a season , on the spot where the quarrel originally began . Accordingly it has been so renewed . The church of the Holy Sepulchre is ' suimounted by a dome , large and somewhat clumsy . In 1853 this dome had fallen somewhat into disrepair . On its south side , some feet from its base , time and weather had worn away the outer covering , and a large rent or hole disfigured the outward aspect of the building and made it uncomfortable within . It must be repaired . By whom ? Greeks or Latins ? "For to both the church belongs . Let it be remembered that this was not a case in-which the parties were desirous of evading the expense of repair , and of casting the burden off their own shoulders . Nor was it a case in which each party was
merely claiming the honour of doing such a work . It was not the honour , but the jiotoer which the doing of the thing would confer upon the party doing it ; for in tlie East the man who assists in repairing ; a house has a claim over the house , almost amounting to actual property . Hence France stepped in , and in the name of the Latin Church insisted on her right to be the repairer . Russia stepped in , and in the name of the Greek Church maintained her right in the matter . The Pasha quietly made offer , it is said , to take the cost upon himself . But Trance would not yield to Russia ; Russia would not yield to France ; neither -would yield to the Pasha . The power at stake was too great to be easily conceded . Hence to this day the dome has remained in miserable disrepair ; and the last accounts were , that the rent was getting so wide that the rain poured in .
It was the question , " Who is to repair the dome ?" that lei . to the Crimean war ! During that war the question was held in abeyance , in the hope that Crimean victories would settle it . The war ceased , but the question remained unsottled ; the dome , of course , remained unpatched . The point has been stirred again . M . de Thouvenel , a French envoy at Constantinople , has revived the latin claim to the cupola ; and Russia is mustering all her diplomatic influence to maintain the rights of the Greek Church . Around the euppoBed tomb of the Prince of Peace , the tattle of the two Churches is again renewed . Neither nation is in a condition for war ; yet both have sufficient power to fan the ecclesiastical animosities of a thousand yoara , and to hinder any adjustment of the
question . No one can tell -when this old cupola may bo repaired-, for a compromise between the parties seems almost impossible . They will rathor allow the ddifico to go to wreck . Another -war may at any time be the result . The direct interest of Britain in these disputes about sacred edifices is not very obvious but her indirect interest ia great in the extreme . It is of no moment to her who patches the holy dome , or who possesses the " Church of the Resurrection , " in bo fax as the dome and the church aro concerned . Why should Bhe then be drawn into the strife ; and why should aho Incline to the side of tho Latin rather than the Greek Church ? The reason lies close at hand . The preponderance of the Greek Church in the preponderance of Russia in the East ; and the first exercise of Russian eupromacy in the East would bo to bar out England
from India . Better , then , that any other power than Russia should have sway in Syria and Egypt . Foiled in her first attempt to seize Palestine , Russia will le more wary now . Her object is now to gain silent influence , while she avoids open rupture . Nor will any effort , direct or indirect , be spared to accomplish this . As , during the war , she made Prussia her servile tool ; and , by means of her , threw daily impediments in the way of the allies ; so will she continue to do now . The game that Prussia is playing in Palestine , is as much for Russia as for herself ; and while Russia carries on the diplomatic war with France , she with wily sagacity confides to Prussia the work of assailing and affronting Protestant England . The Prussian consul at Jeiusalem is quite aware of the part that he is expected to play .
After paying a just tribute to the energy of our present consul , the . writer goes on to say . ' — England is the more called on to support her consuls in the East , because at present , as will be seen from Mr . Porter ' s able letters in the Times , the Turkish authorities are doing their utmost both to bully and to overreach them . The Pashalic of Damascus is in a critical position , and Turkish fanaticisni is gathering strength and fury . Strange to say , it is specially against England that this fanaticism is showing itself ; probably because continental hatred of our land bands European consols together , and leads them to unite their influence and intrigues in stimulating against our consuls the smothered bigotry of Islamism . Should our Government show anv vacillation in this matter , or any
shyness in supporting vigorously the counsels and measures of its representatives , our peril is great and imminent ; the Jaffa tragedy will be re-enacted at Jerusalem , and Mahomedanism will rush , forth , scimitar in hand , from El-Khulil , Nablus , Esh-Sliam , to do for the Christians of Syria what it has been doing for the Christians of Oude . A little moTe trifling and indecision on our part , a few more indications of timidity and submissiveness , and we have irremediably destroyed both our prestige and our power in these Eastern regions . Speaking of the condition of the Jews in Syria , the writer declares that "the Jew is a stranger in Palestine—nowhere can ; a Jew feel insult and injury more than in his own land , and at uo hands can . lie resent wrong more than at tliose of a Christian Gentile : —
Among Englishmen tlie interest in the Jew is much greater than among other nations . One does not wonder that the men of France ,, or Spain , or Italy should be so contemptuous towards the Israelite , Romanism lias taught them this ; and even the Protestants in these nations have imbibed , not perhaps dislike , but at least indifference . It is among the Christians of Britain that the Jew has ever found his truest , warmest friends . Somehow or other there seems an affinity , or at least a sympathy , between the Israelite and the Englishman , such as does not exist between the Israelite and the German . Among English consuls , too , there is a disposition to protect the Jew such as is not displayed at the consulates of other nations . And it is remarkable that the greatest friend of Israel in the whole East is the British consul of Jerusalem .
The writer states , we fear with too much truth , that—England is not loved in the East , any more than in the " West . She is great enough to be envied , or perhaps admired , but too great , too strong , to be loved . That she is feared , is obvious enough ; and much more feared might she be , were she as punctilious in claiming he * position , and insisting on her rights , aa some nations are . Her conscious strength makes her too easy and too patient ; she lays aside needful vigilance and jealousy ; she concedes to weakness what she would deny to power . The Moslem , indeed , if he does not love her , yet in some measure trusts her ; for she is much more honest than otliera , and little disposed to aggression or cruelty ; so that , unlike all others , she would rather suffer wrong
than inflict it . But by all there is a recognition of her greatness ; and oven they that dislike it most , are proud when placed in circumstances which enable or entitle th « m to wield her power . A Syrian consul or a German ecclesiastic , entrusted with British power , ia n proud man indeed . Ten chances to one , however , that ho will abuse it . To have the power of such a nation committed to them , even in humble offices , is sufficient to turn aome men ' s minds , Some of the most " funtastio tricks" that havo been played in the East , have como about in this peculiar way . The position , which would not for a moment elato an Englishman , " would at onco upset a foreigner ; nor does anything gratify him moro than when he can wield English power against some unhappy Englishman that may havo fallen under his displeasure by his boldness nnii independence .
England is by far too remiss in regard to her own interest in Syria ; mid if our Government at homo is not more vigilant and energetic , aho will find herself gradually edged or elbowed out of the land . Franco , Russia , Austria , and Prussia bnvo all their schemes of national a-ggrandisomont there . The courts of Paris , retorsburg , Vienna , and Berlin , aro quite alivo to the importance of B-ocuxing a Btrong position in the Eaat . Thoy instruot
their consuls on this point , and they warmly backn , ~ There is nut-one of their officials but knowftW i . etn " be vigorously supported by his Govern ent £ 5 " scheme , however ambitious , or in anv blan < W V ny gross , if only that scheme or thS ^ ntr ' £ 3 ? aggrandise his nation , or humble its rival . These remarks are very smr ^ esrivp + i . i i article , we repeat , * Ul repay Ssal ^ *
830 • _ T 3eljs Reaper. . ^ ¦J;No 1 4g9 ...
830 _ T 3 ELJS REAPER . . ^ ¦ j ; No 4 g 9 ATOi 7 aT 21 , 1858
Ireland. The Kilkenny Rxots —As An Insta...
IRELAND . The Kilkenny Rxots —As an instance of the audacitv of the rioters , we read that a party of them 7 ceeded to the residence of an extensive farmer cut dL ° n his crops , and peremptorily demanded payment ^ wise they ^ vould visit him on the following uZ ^ l a ~ party of police , however , were there before tuenfW the rioters beat a retreat . . ' The Tenant Lkague . —A general meetinff was 1 , aU in Dublin on Tuesday , to consider the preitp ^ and prospects of the cause ; Archdeacon l-itz-erald in the chair . Mr . Maguirc , M . P ., bitterly complained tW although Lord Palmerston had been false to this question yet that some supporters of tenant right in tlie House of Commons had continued to give him their support His advice was not to allow an impenitent party into power again until they went down on their knees and begged for mercy , lie was no partisan of the present or oi the late Government ; he would give the present ministry a fair trial , but he would not extend that triil a moment beyond All Fools' Day—the 1 st of April 1859 . lie might say , for himself and his friends that ' if they did not see siu-h a bill as the Government could have a hope to carry laid on the table of the House of Commons at an early period of the session , the Government Would then have the same hostility from them as they now had of their support . Mr . Blake , M . P ., concurred in the views of Jlr . Maguire , but Mr > G . II . Moore somewhat dissented from them . ¦¦
Tiie . Banqukt of . the . Hoyal Agricultural Society of Ireland came off at Londonderry on Wednesday . ¦ The speech of the evening was delivered by the Lord-Lieutenant , He congratulated the society upon the success which it had achieved , and took a ' -most ¦ ' . encouraging view of the present state of Ireland . ' Lord Talmekston- lias delivered a speech at Sligo , on the occasion of the . presentation of aii address by the Town and Harbour Commissioned / The noble lord did not refer at all to bis rumoured retirement' from public life ; bis speech was chiefly a panegyric upon tlie deeds of the Administration of which he was the chief . Me . SruKGEois' made his . first appearance at . Belfast on Tuesday in a Presbyterian church . . The lucal journals say that his preaching was a failure hi the opinion ! of his Irish hearers .
A Private Investigation has been commenced at Iinisborough , with respect to alleged misconduct uii the part of some officers of the South Down Militia Staff , who , in a drunken freak , played an 'indecent and . scandalous practical joke upon an elderly ¦ waiter at an hotel , from the effects of which , ho became so ill that he was admitted into the hospital .
Accidents A2td Sudden Deaths. A Pkiwbytk...
ACCIDENTS A 2 TD SUDDEN DEATHS . A Pkiwbytkrian clergyman , the Kev- William Smith was drowned at Aberdeen on Saturday last . In company with a friend ho Iiad strolled to the bench , and was tempted to bathe . After being a short time in tlio water , h « -was observed by a gentleman who was bathing near the same spot , to be showing signs of distress . The alarm w « s given , the life-boat launched , and encouragement by shouting meantime given to the ( struggling swimmer , who was still seen keeping afloat . Tliero seemed to be every hope that Mr . Smith would besaved ; but the current proved too powerful for hia strength ; -when tho boat was not more than ten yards from him ho sank , and though evory exertion was in ado to recover liis body , it was not found . The unfortunate gentleman Las left a widow and i » numerous family .
Two distressing cases of suicide havo occurred ( hiring the past weok , the locality Hclucted being tlie same in both cases—Ilampstead llcatli . The first -was that of Mr . Edward Prior , a hosier in Fiusbury-placo North , who has terminated his existence by the use of laudanum . JiOVG-pnsH ( tgc . 3 nppeni' from the evidence to be tlie . causo of tlio aberration of mind which led to tlio Jclo tie se . The second enso was tlmt of Mr . "William Ashcombc , surgeon , of King-street , Chenpsirtc It appeared that the deceased hud an execution put i » his houso for »!/ ., nnd that this proved upon bid jnind . Carlisle
A Inrncntablo occurrence Iwim taken plneo nt , a little girl , seventeen months old , ( wiving been drnwiiou by her mother , who afterwards destroyed her own h'e . A man employed at the . waterworks , nonr ( ho foot <> ' t | river Potteril , observed something Moating down tlio river Kilen . Upon bringing it to tlie shore lie found it was tlio bo < ly of n female child . Il <> coiiveri'd it to t ' Turf Hotel , where it was afterwards idi'iitilled ' lts father , Kobert Irving . Him wife , having left h * r hoinc with t ; ho child on Moiulay nftcrnooii about live o'dodc , and not returning ngnin , In- aviih nimblo i <» nnicrivo whoru * lio linil gone ; but I . la- finding of Ihu body <>' ' tllt ! child govo rise to suspicions that she hud inudo « wny
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 830, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_21081858/page/6/
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