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" Downing Street" is not the only Augean repository needing the arm of Hercules . Our Statute Book is yet uncleansed , and the accumulated rubbish and barbarism of bygone centuries form and regulate those powers and responsibilities which are the basis of a nation ' s weal and wo . The fatal results lately chronicled were preventible by human means , if due regard had been paid to the just restraint and the rational delegation of human power . The girl at "Bideford , how could she escape oppression ? the oppressed are generally the friendless ; had there been responsibility resting with guardians or
overseers , an active no ' t a passive responsibility , the deed had not been done . Many persons in this , and in the other cited instances , were cognizant of the cruelties perpetrated , yet as it was not imperative on any one in particular to restrain the wrongdoers , injury grew to murder . We can set on foot and work effectively an organization for seeking out cases of cholera , why not of cruelty ? The race of Neros and Domitians is not extinct in modern life . Turn over the newsfile only for the thirteen weeks of the present year , and we shall find record during that short neriod of time , of the murder of four wives by
their husbands , of six instances of brutal assaults and attempts at murder on wives by their husbands , of five cases of cruel treatment of children by their parents , and about a dozen cases of infanticide and desertion of children . The despotic power which the law accords to the husband over wife and children , speaks loudly in these facts its gross injustice . It is not credible that Mrs . Moir or any other wife would suffer day after day the cruel blows , or the nameless tyrannies harder to bear than blows which make life worse than death , if redress could be obtained ; it is folly to refer them to the law , they have not the means to purchase it . Canova , when dying , refused the offices of the priest because the crucifix was so bunglingly executed . So last
many , deeply injured , will suffer to the extremity , refusing the services of the law , rather than trust themselves to its cruelties and bunglings . In the classes of life where these wrongs are most flagrant , the wife has no alternative but to remain with the husband or starve ; the law regards her but as a chattel or property of the husband , who also has absolute power over the children , and can utter not vainly the heartless , cruel taunt , lately heard in the judicial court at Paris , " Dare to thwart me and I will send your sons to the colonies , you shall never see them again . " The law recognizes nothing of mother s wretchedness , stares blankly at a mother s wo ; and domestic
the father , secure in his castle of privacy , exults in malicious triumph ; a triumph which the law concedes , and which even now in many a home trembles upon the very verge of murder —there needs but " the crowning act . " The statistics of the French courts supply us with instruction , with warning if we will . 'In the year 1847 there were in France 1168 applications for personal separation , almost exclusively presented by wives , 94 only having been made by husbands ; 1074 for illtreatment and excesses . There were also 5724 applications for the separation of personal property . From these numbers judge how many there must be who would not bring their cases before the public , — who lrom their
prefer to endure all rather than be parted children ; how many cases of revulsion and antipathy , more frequent , yet making life as miserable as any actual violence—and then ask , can the domestic life of the age be healthy , connected in such unrelated relationships ? and is it strange that children reared in such pernicious influences leave the homes where coercion and wrangling embitter existence , and enlist in the army or navy , or take up their quarters to swell the abodes of infamy and vice ? Society shuns _ these
questions , hushes them up , is exquisitely fastidious ; smiles contemptuously on reading of Philip the Third of Spain suffering himself to be scorched to death rather than transgress court etiquette ; yet Society will bear any agony rather than have its inherent diseases spoken of , is touchy of personal remarks , will paint , wear masks , or any falsities , only— " consider the privacy of domestic life , pray change the topic . " But there is a time when all diseases break up , facts will speak , the most sacred relations of life will not go polluted and outraged and make no sign . Signs are before us if we will read them . The time coming will demand a wholesome revision of those laws which relate to the property and position of
husband and wife , of parent and child . Power is too much on one side ; there is lamentable proof of it : limit that power , and the individual will restrain his actions ; what is true of the state is true of the family , we make tyrants by allowing them the power wherewith to tyrannize . The master knows his power over the slave , presumes upon it , proceeds from taunts to blows ; wrong grows by that it feeds on ; we may stand aghast and appalled when life is sacrificed in the abuse of power , but for the growth of that abuse society is responsible and reaps its reward . The crime of infanticide increases through the absence of any salutary provision to allay the last delirious struggle of maternal instinct in the choice of starvation or death ; vain is it to look around for asylums like those in Paris for tho helpless and unfortu-
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THE NEW MAKRIAGE BILL . Sib , —The third reading of this bill has been again adjourned until Thursday , the 18 th instant . These continuous delays are adopted solely for the purpose of getting up a few petitions from Scotland , on which to hang Mr . Fox Maule ' s notice of motion , *« that Scotland be excluded from the operation of the Bill ; " Colonel Chatterton has given notice of another motion , that Ireland be excluded also ; and Mr . Roundell Palmer has also ' given notice of several other amendments !
A very curious meeting took place on "Wednesday at the city of Durham , which speaks volumes as to the general feeling of the country on this subject . Durham , it will be recollected , is the richest see in the kingdom , and the clergy in that city are in great force . On Wednesday week two of the dignitaries of the church called a snug little * ' hole and corner meeting , " to get up a petition against Mr . Wortley ' s bill . As a matter of course , the clergy mustered all the force they could influence to attend the meeting . Somehow or other the intended meeting got wind , and , instead of " a nice little snug party" assembling together , there was a tolerably large gathering ,
when—after certain speakers had gone through the usual string of unfounded assertions , —to wit , that marriage with a deceased wife ' s sister was contrary to the law of God , —that such marriages were never countenanced by the Jews , but were always condemned , and so on , —a respectable layman rose to move an amendment , " that , instead of petitioning against the bill , they should petition that the bill do pass into a law . " He then went on to show that in no part of the Bible was there a single clause and he of
condemning such marriages , was one those who were ready at all times to believe that the word of God was only to be traced to the sacred volume . That so far from the Jews having always spoken against such marriages , it was now known to be a decided falsehood , as the evidence of the Chief Rabbi himself , before the Royal Commissioners , expressly declared , that such marriages were always considered highly praise worthy , and the usual period of mourning was in such cases materially shortened . " The amendment in favour of Mr . Wortley ' s Bill
was then put to the vote , and was carried m proportion of three to two . Thus then is the assertion of Mr . Roundell Palmer , " that if all England were tested there would be found a great majority against the Bill "—put to the proof , and surely a more favourable place for such a test could not have been found , than in the rich Church establishment of the Palatinate of Durham ! There is no manufacture of any kind carried on there ; and its College , although only lately founded , is rising into very great importance . It was , however , well observed by Mr . Cobden , when this braggart oi tne
statement was made on the reading Bill : — " Then why do you not attend the public meetings from whence have emanated so many petitions ? " Which it appeared was a question too difficult to be answered by any of the High Church party in the House of Commons ; and , consequently , they all of them stood mute on the occasion . We shall now , however , soon see how all this turmoil will end . It is sincerely to be hoped , that such a large majority will accompany the third reading that the House of Lords will not attempt to act contrary to the wish of so large a party of the people of England , who have so earnestly petitioned that the Bill become the law of the land . I am , Mr . Editor , your obedient servant ,, Observer .
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nate . We spend hundreds of thousands in untenantable Nelson columns and Wellington statues , and call ourselves proudly " practical people " ; devpte millions annually on foreign missions , and foreign slavery , while home-slavery is told to console itself in the dispensations of Providence , and home-wretchedness may " go hang . " Pity ' tis that so much talking is to be done before action is afoot . Truly we need ever the strong voice of a Carlyle ringing in our ears , " Do the work that lies nearest to thee—do that and live . " B .
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THE TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE IN RELATION TO THE TEACHER . Sir , —The cose of the Artizan I have stated—that of the Teacher I now submit . In whatever position the Teacher is placed , whatever class of the people he attempts to improve , he has to regret the dearness oi books . It is a common thing in a factory for a mechanic who knows , or thinks he knows , more than his shopmates to attempt to impart his reputed knowledge to them . He is , however , seldom so fortunate as to find books to aid him , or to which to refer them . The reason is that various learners require various statements , and books are neither various enough nor accessible enough . Most teachers of powers of original thought see the same subject from different and peculiar points of sight , and as each operation is published , the chances are increased whereby others may learn . Ihe unguided learner may find confusion in the multiplicity of books , but the Teacher finds in them
multiplied adaptations . But these facilities are limited by all taxes which enhance the cost of materials . Undoubtedly fiscal concession , trade enterprise , and artistic ingenuity , have cheapened elementary works—undoubtedly they are more numerous and cheaper than they were ; but the inquiry is notare they more accessible than formerly ?—but , are they as accessible as they might be , and as they ought to be ? The question is not—is the evil oi their cost reduced ? but , does it still exist in any degree , and can the Legislature cancel it ? ^ We have lately seen that many excellent periodicals have ceased through the pressure of the taxes ^ on the materials of their production . The real evil ,
however , is to be estimated not alone by works which have been brought to an end , but by works which have beenpreve ? ited existing at all . Better works have been conceived than any that have yet been , executed . All works are primarily designed to pay , and to pay they must be adapted to the public , and the public being partially ignorant , their prejudices , caprices , and even vices have to be consulted * In proportion as books can be produced cheaply , in that degree can they become purer and more independent in aim , Therefore—but it is also a fact as well as an inference , that books of elementary knowledge and genuine ability are scarce , and good books of all kinds are dear .
At the London University there exists a class , founded by "A Patriot , " , taking the wisest course patriotism can take to save a country , made the highest knowledge accessible to the humblest students . To this class Schoolmasters and Ushers are admissible , at a nominal charge . But the very necessities which make Teachers grateful for this class also limit their power of profiting by it . For the books used are like the knowledge imparted , of the highest kind , and all the new editions even of old classics are dear ; and it is not uncommon to hear him who praises the memory of the one " Patriot" pray for another who shall complete what the first began , making books as well as expounders accessible to the poor Teacher .
Let the statesman , however , who lacks incentives to repeal the taxes upon knowledge , go into the manufacturing districts and witness their operation there in paralj'zing the efforts of the Teacher . When in Lancashire , two years ago , I delivered several lectures , by request of factory operatives on topics pertaining to the acquisition of knowledge . By some who sought a practical end out of these instructions , a meeting was convened at the Commercial Room , Staley-bridge . The attendance was numerous , and
the men were in earnest . It was proposed to form a society , and devote the collective funds to personal improvement , and buying books was a chief feature of the experiment . The subscription was fixed at one shilling per quarter—when cleanly-dressed , well-behaved , thoughtful-looking , anxious men came forward putting down their names , but intimating that it would take them twelve tcecks to pay twelve pence So long were they daily worked and so poorly paid that the entire resources at their command was one
penny per week . I felt almost ashamed at having advised these men to get knowledge , and in such districts I have since preferred to deliver lectures on " Knowledge without Books , " endeavouring to make those scholars of Society who plainly can be scholars of nothing else . But this is not half the question ; and were it not that I fear to occupy your space disproportionately , I should trace how the Teacher in the class-room , and the Lecturer at the mechanics' and literary institution are also hindered by other and serious impediments arising out of the pressure of the taxes on knowledge .
How many solemn adjurations have passed over the people like the idle wind—how many lectures have been thrown away—how many earnest hortatives have fallen like seed on stony ground , because those who were made curious could not gratif y their curiosity—as to gratify it being costly beyond their means . How often have I seen knowledge offered like the cud of Tantalus , when it should have been free and flowing as a well-spring of life .
Now I will trouble you with but one remark more , and that of present relevance . Mr . Fox ^ has a bill before the House of Commons for the Secular Instruction of the people . Whether the people are wise enough , or awake enough to implore the House in language not to be disregarded to concede tho provisions of that important bill , remains to be seen . But this I know , that if the taxes were off all knowledge , and it could be plentifully diffused through the land , the Legislature would
know no more peace until a bill like that was passed . Those who have never tasted the sweots and power of knowledge may be supine about it , but those once inspired become susceptible of that noble thirst which time can never quench . Open schools now in every tenth house ( as dram-shops are opened in Scotland ) , though these school-facilities ought instantly to exist , it is easy to see that they would not be fully used for some time . The precursor in all education of tho people is an utterly free and an entirely cheap press . A school ( if a school to any purpose ) is a
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April 13 , 1850 . ] gEftl jtiaftet * « V _
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Leader (1850-1860), April 13, 1850, page 61, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1840/page/13/
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