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mastered . M . Louis Blanc was not simply capable of making himself understood in English ; he succeeded in making himself admired . The manner was unforced and unconstrained ; the language terse , idiomatic , and well-arranged ; and , as will be judged from his peroration , the historian of the Revolution and the orator of the Constituent lias learned to trust the wings of his ambitious eloquence to our strong and searching English air . We think men of all op inions will be glad to hail so distinguished a man of letters to the communion of o \ ir literature and language . Nothing but good can result from such a fellowship . French impetuosity , abusing perhaps occasionally both logic and declamation , will become sobered and chastened by contact with steady and practical common sense ; while moderation will learn not to disdain spirit and vivacity . After a lucid exposition of the true principles of the French Socialists , M . Louis Blanc concluded as
follows : — Those are the principles which have kindled such great animosities ; which have been represented as the sinister theory of pillage and murder ; and for preaching or adoption of which so many honest men have been driven from their country , torn from their families and their friends , deprived of their property , and consigned to the hatred of mankind ! Perhaps it will seem strange that such a triumph of calumny should have been possible . But let us remember
that it was the result of the most formidable propagation of falsehood ever organized . You know for what end the famous league , called in France la Hue de Poitiers , was established . This league opened a subscription , by means of which it succeeded in collecting nearly a million francs , a sura equivalent to forty thousand pounds of your money ; and this immense sum was entirely spent in calumniating Socialism by an astonishing inundation of libels , which were distributed in profusion , and given away in every town , in every village , even to the remotest hamlets . What was the conseq uonce P
Wonderful indeed , and worth to find a record in the annals of calumny ! It so happened that the enemies of socialists , the leaders of the majority in the National Assembly , were pierced by the very sword imprudently forged by themselves ; for it was their implacable selfishness which invested Louis Wapoleon with the power that he employed at last to oppress them . In hatred of Socialism , they had assisted Louis Napoleon in disarming the citizens ; in hatred of Socialism , they had allowed Louis Napoleon to assemble around Paris more than a hundred thousand soldiers , instructed through our infamous Algerian war to act as wild beasts ; in hatred of Socialism , they had robbed the nation of universal suffrage , and thus placed Louis Napoleon in a condition to draw over the people by restoring what had been
stolen : stupid and fatal victories ! When they thought they had put Socialism down , and they could get the mastery , they found an enemy where they looked for a tool . Louis Napoleon seized on Paris by dint of falsehoods and assassinations ; and as it is enough , for enslaving France , to enslave Paris , they were crushed by the ver y tyranny of which they had so blindly collected the materials . Now , it remains to be seen whether , in that fearful struggle which is not at an end , you may depend on it , the struggle of truth against , error , of light against darkness , of right against might , Louis Napoleon will succeed better than those ; of whom lie was first an accomplice , then the conqueror . Eut what ! It is not true- that France has nceepted the yoke of that man . No , this is not true , in spite ; of all reports made by papers bought or terrified .
If he had really been considered by the whole of France as her necessary saviour , would lie have been obliged , in order to obtain the . supreme power on the 2 nd of December , to imprison the representatives of the people , to massacre so many peaceful citizens , to lill every street in Paris with drunken soldiers , to tinge every paving-stone with innocent blood , ( o proscribe virtue , eloquence , and genius ? Jlad lie really been elected byseven millions of votes , representingseven millions of families , —that is the whole of France , —would he be obliged now , on pain of being immediately hurled down , to maintain an army of five hundred thousand hired killers , to stab the liberty of the IVosb , to count , by his thousands of spies , the beatings of the heart of France , and to awo around himself every one into silence , ho that no breath could bo heard but his own ?
Such a situation i . s too violent to last . I think 1 know my country . Consequently , 1 know tliat sho is enamoured of grandeur . Uninvested as ho in witli an unexampled power , Louis Napoleon proves incapable of accomplishing great things , lie will not escape universal contempt ., and to fling him down , nothing more is required . Now , will lie attempt to realize Socialism , the true tank of our century P No , because Socialism is essentially inconsistent witli the dominion of a single man , and cannot possibly exist when * liberty and dignity of human nature are not .
Will Louis Napoleon aspire to the blood y glory of war P But as soon as be had war before himself , ho would have revolution at his buck ,- and , on the ; other hand , how could ho succeed where the iiionI , extraordinary genius , after a prodigious series of triumphs , so miserably failed ? Tljo time of conquests is decidedly passed . One day , two men met . One said to the other , - " You shall have Kuropeuu Turkey , and all the conquests which your armies shall mold m Asia . As to me , I shall make myself muster of Spain nmt Portugal ; 1 nhall re-unite Homo and her dependencies to the kingdom of Italy ; I shall possess Malta ; 1 h 1 hi . 11 invade Kgypt ; the Mediterranean shall know only your nlupH uml my own . That is well understood . You lulu ) the Hast , and leave the West to me . " Since tluifc , the Kmperor Alexander went and sunk with languor inn wild rojrio ,, Wh ,, n , he W || H o ||(> n ho ( U . , ox (! laiminf r , "I ahull lull by tho corner of uuino wood , and uo ono will think
of it . " How tho other died , and where he died . . . . who knows not ? What , then ! will Louis Napoleon limit himself to imitate his uncle in having an enormous civil list , in making himself called your Majesty , in occupying a palace , in creating lords , chamberlains , and pages ? In that way , imitation is too ridiculous not to be dangerous . It is said , in a very interesting French fable , that , a ship having been wrecked , a dolphin—you know "that dolphins are reputed to be very fond of human species—took on his back one of
the passengers , who was on the point of being drowned ; but , after going a little way , the dolphin wishing to converse with his protege , he perceived that he had mistaken a monkey for a man , and indignantly sunk the monkey in the sea . So will France do , as soon as she comes to say , the new Empire is despotism , without glory ; ridiculous lords and their embroideries , without heroes and their scars ; courtiers over our heads , without the world at our feet ; it is a great name , without a great man ; it is the Empire , without the Emperor .
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HOMES FOR UNMARRIED LABOURERS . This is the title of a small pamphlet on a subject of great importance ( socially and politically ) to every agricultural district in the three kingdoms ; nor can it be a matter of indifference to our townships , great and small , when it is remembered that " the unmarried labourers" are the stuff out of which , for the most part , the soldiers , sailors—the moveable and excitable masses —the neck-or-nothing folks , and the criminal classes of England , are made . They have not yet " given hostages to Fortune , " and being not too old to learn , may be taught successfully the best way of winning that lady ' s favour , and retaining their own esteem into the bargain . The pamphlet in question is composed of three letters , by Mr . Arthur Hallam Elton , addressed to the Bristol Mercury ; the first bearing date Oct . 13 th , 1852 . In this first letter Mr . Elton states with force and brevity the discomforts and temptations which beset the daily life of young unmarried men in villages : — " Nature , even in the roughest organizations , peremptorily demands some sort of diversion and refreshment . There is little recreation for a village youth , except ; such as is mischievous and sinful . Consider him of a winter ' s evening ; his work over , sauntering down the street , tired and chilly . Home has no great attractions for him ; the cottage is small , and the children troublesome ; the fire is diminutive ; the solitary candle is lighted late , and extinguished early . He finds himself in the way at home ; he treads on the children , amidst an explosion of screams ; is perpetually taking his father ' s chair by the
chimney-corner ; is constantly leaving dirty thumb-marks on the fine linen his mother is getting up for the squire ' s lady . If he goes to bed early , his elder brother , who sleeps with , him , awakes him an hour after with a kick ; if late , he is scolded by his mother for disturbing the four children , who sleep in the next bed to his own . He saunters down the village street , and sees the red light of a blazing fire through the windows of the beer-shop . He hears jovial voices , and possibly the sound of a fiddle . He stops , hesitates , turns in , and is soon seated by the fire with a pot of bad beer before him . But it is not so much the beer as the warmth , and light , and companionship which he seeks . Sottish liftbits may spring up , but at first it would seom to bo chiefljNa natural craving for ordinary comfort that draws the
him to oiK ^ of only places where ho finds a friendly greeting ; wKe ^ e- ^ ieJuuirg ^ voiees more cheering than tho austere master ' s shout , or tTurwhino of children , and can forget the toils of tho past day . Thus his only consolations are such as are derived from bad companions and dangerous habits . It is natural he should acquire low and brutal tastes , whilst lie loses tho better feedings of his earlier years . . 11 e bogins to look at those whom he once regarded as his benefactors not merely with indifference , but with sour discontent . He is at first ashamed to meet his clergyman , but shame wears oil' and ho becomes reckless ; and , finally , often hardens into a state of stupid apathy , or surly hostility to every ono who is better off than himself /"
He then discusses the difficulty of the clergyman in gaining and exercising authority over young agricultural labourers , especially in largo parishes ; mid lie ends the letter by mentioning some laudable attempts made by the Rev . K . Onnnanney , of Chew Magna , and the Rev . Henry Thompson , of Wrington , to druw the attention of their brother clergymen and of landed proprietors to the practicability of establishing lodging or boarding bourn's for young agricultural labourers . A particular plan for this j ) urjM ) se , submitted to the Chew Decanal Chapter , then follows , which for various reasons Mr . Klton does not approve thoroughly . In the second letter he states the grounds of his disapproval . In our eyes they are good and sufficient . There should be nothing of charity , or of patronage and dependence , in any such establishment . To work well , it must be sclfibupportinir , and free from the interference and formal
coercion of any religious body , whether orthodox or dissenting . Mr . Ml ton ' s own plan bus the advantage of simplicity , facility of trial , and provision for that " glorious privilege of being independent , " which every British heart yearns for , whether it beat beneath fustinn or superfine broadcloth . We ^ ivo the ^ eneml outline of this ] fcjun : — " Lot a house be built or rented capable of containing , by way of commencement , nome > twelve or eighteen lodgers , each of whom ubuuld have a oopuruto bcdrooMi , however
small , to himself . A good-sized hall or living ' room , a kitchen , and other offices would occupy the ground-floor , whilst the bedrooms would be above . A couple of rooms would be allotted'to a steady man and his wife , who should have the charge of the whole establishment . The inmates would simply pay for their lodging and washing . They would provide their own food . , Iron bedsteads , with , straw mattresses , would be fixed in each bedroom , and there would be a certain quantit y of strong p lain furniture required for the hall , besides kitchen utensils , &c . The regulations of the house ( for some regulations there musfc be ) should be few and simple . The whole establishment would be conducted ostensibly on a business principle . A young man would be able to get a clean , comfortable
bedroom at as cheap a rate as he would have to pay elsewherefor one noisy and dirty . In the hall the lodgers would take their meals , which would be cooked by the woman of the house at a trifling charge . They might , if they pleased ,, contract for board with her , paying weekly w hat was agreed upon , or they might cater for themselves . Those in regular work would probably have their victuals together according to the same scale ; but their meals would be im correspondence with , their earnings , and they would , as ifr were , cut their coat according to their cloth . We will suppose the establishment to be set on foot by the influential residents in the . parish ; these would form a committee for the primary organization and general management of the concern . "
The rest of this letter , and the whole of the one which follows it , show how carefully and how broadly Mr . Elton has considered the evils to be avoided in the ordinary condition of the young labourer , and how they may be avoided , and in part destroyed , by the establishment of judicious homes , provided with the means of recreation and instruction as well as with comfortable bed and board . We sincerely hope that this gentleman s benevolent exertions may lead to the ivnprove 1 - ments he so much desires .
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ELEMENTARY DRAWING A BRANCH OF NATIONAL EDUCATION . A ciECtri / AE has recently been issued from the CWnmittee of Council on Education to the authorities of the several training schools under inspection , calling their attention to the steps which have been taken towards organizing local means of instruction in drawing , as part of elementary education . The circular proceeds to state
that" It has , however , occurred to my Lords of the Education Committee , and to their Lordships of the Board of Trade , that the various training schools for masters and mistresses , which are under inspection , are the points at which the most effectual impetus can be given to the promotion of the object in view . My Lords have felt sure that the authorities of the institutions in question appreciate the importance of this object , and will not have been slow toavail themselves of tho means alread y at their disposal , for obtaining supplies of apparatus , and tho services of competent instructors . "
And an intention is announced of causing an inspection to take place into the system of drawing which * may be pursued in the training schools . " My Lords would contemplate it as one of tho results ; to follow in time from this step , that evidence of a certaim proficiency in drawing should be afforded by each student on account of whose examination the training school receives a grant , and their Lordships would expect each training school , desirous of receiving Queen ' s Bcholars , to > make adequate provision for imparting this branch oiT instruction .
" like manner my Lords might , sooner or later , regard it as improper to sanction the apprenticeship of pupil teachers to masters or mistresses who had neglected to profit by the means now about to be made generally available for acquiring a practical knowledge of elementarydrawing . " You will observo that elementary drawing in mentioned both in the minutes of 1840 and in tho earliest document , explanatory of them , as ono of tho subjects in which an . ' , apprentice ought to be instructed , and as one of the attainments to be expected in a certificated teacher .
"My Lords would , however , be most caroful not to onforco any requirements of this nature until ample time had been allowed for making the necessary provision to moot them . They desire , however , emphatically to reeordi their opinion that the power of accurately delineating the forms of objects ought no longer to bo regarded as an accomplishment only , or the result of some rare natural ! aptitude , but as an essential part of education . " This circular was issued before tho late change of . Ministry , but there can be no doubt that the intentioni will be fully carried out under the present OovermneiiL .
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AC 11 ILLI versus NKWMAN . Loud Cami'iikm ., beard nrgmnciitH in thin case thini week . Sir Frederick Thesiger and Sir Kitzroy Kelly appeared , and showed cause why u new trial should not , , be granted . At great length Sir I'Yederick TheHiger entered minutely into the evidence ) taken on the trial * pointing out , the individual conch , and declaring thenu unHUKtuined . He argued that , from 182 (> to IHUl , Dr .. Aehilli occupied high a ,, d important points in tho Cu ~ tholic Church , and therefore it wns improbable Unit , ho should have been guilty of tho crimon imputed to him at Viterbo ; or led an immoral life , and at tho Numo tune enjoyed the CHtecin and confidence of Lin HiiperiorN . He < yHii ) inHuil tho charge of debauching the young
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78 THE LEADER . _ [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 22, 1853, page 78, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1970/page/6/
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