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day with Captain Lefroy by a deputation from the committee for managing this fund , I , as acting- chairman , beg leave to address you on the subject then adverted to . " This fund—the existence of irhich is presumed to have been unknown to Ins Grace the Duke of Newcastle —emanated from Lloyd ' s at the outbreak of hostilities in 1803 , by a grant of 2 O , 000 £ . Consols , voted as an example to other public bodies , and the appeal made to the mercantile world and the public in general on its behalf was so nobly responded to , as to enable the committee
fully to carry out the original intentions of the subscribers during the long and arduous contest up to its termination in 1815 , the fund remaining open for the reception of claims up to 1825 , wTien it Was closed so far as regards the sufferers in that war ; and the resolution passed in May of that year left the balance remaining of the fund as a nucleus for any subscription likely to be raised in the event of a future war . That resolution , " with a statement of the subsequent purposes to -which the fund has been applied up to May , 1844 , are stated in the accompanying printed circular :
" In consequence of the late declaration of war with Russia , and in order to carry out the resolution of 1825 , the committee were specially summoned in May last , but ^ active measures were deferred until some naval or military operations of importance occurred , and upon which an appeal to the public to aid us in carrying out the objects of this institution could be founded . The battle of the Alma afforded this opportunity , but in the interval which elapsed before the meeting of the committee yesterday the Uoyal Commission for collecting a Patriotic Fund was issued . The committee , consequently , thought it would be "better , and at the same time be more courteous to the commissioners , before coming to any resolution , to communicate with you , for the information of his Grace the Duke of Newcastle , as to the most advisable way in which we should make our appeal , so as to go hand in hand with you in furtherance of the great objects in view .
" You will please understand that there are annuities remaining on our fund to be paid , and we have other duties which make it incumbent on us to keep our institution distinct and separate from any other association . Our unappropriated balance has grown to be considerable . Our funds now are 77 , 500 / . Reduced and 35007 . Long Annuities , but the duration of the latter is only for a few years , and we shall then have to rely solely on the interest of the Reduced , and the present charge on the fund is about 1 G 007 . a year ; and therefore , if out funds are to be extended to the sufferers in the present war , an appeal for additional support from ihe public would bo necessary , and to make an appeal now on behalf of Lloyd ' s Patriotic Fund might seem to be something like opposition to the Royal Commission .
" It will be observed that by our regulations the widows , orphans , and dependent relatives of both officers and men in the army and navy whoso circumstances require assistance are entitled to relief , as also are those disabled from woimds , which latter class does not appear to come within the scope of the Royal Commission . " I may further add , that there has been distributed by our committee a sum amounting to nearly 6 O 0 , 000 £ , from the commencement up to the present time . " We have constantly in G-reenwich Hospital schools between fifty and sixty boys—a privilege obtained by a grant in 1806 of 4 O , 000 A to the Royal Naval Asylumand wo have also provided for twelve boys in perpetuity in the Royal Naval School , boarded and educated gratuitously , and admitted on our nomination in virtue of a grant of 8000 / . in 18-14 to that establishment , nnd secured by an Act of Parliament , paid for out of the funds of this institution .
" Allow mo , in conclusion , to state that , if any explanation or further information be required by Ms Graco the Duko of Newcastle , or yourselves , I shall bo happy to wait upon you at any time you may please to appoint . This letter is to be submitted to the Royal Commissioners at tlieir first nn ! i ; tin < r . In the meantime the question of the new fund has been taken up in the best spirit nil over the country . _ Meetings are being hold everywhere—to mention plneos would only be a catalogue of names of almost every town , district , nnd
corporate body in the country . The Corporation of London has voted 2 , 000 / , ; the first subscription list 1 ms been published , howled by tlie Queen with a donation of l , O 00 Z . ; the Crystal Palace uivea a foto this day , nb which will be assembled fifteen military bands ; its own band , and lnat , but by no moans least , the band of the Guides has boon " sont over , for the oxpronH purposo of aiding th « j fund , by thu Emperor of the French . There scorns to bo no reason why there should not bo u fund of hnlf a million before Christmas ; nnd let us trust Mint that will bo too muoli .
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On Thursday Xord John went to Bristol to attend the opening pf'the Athenaeum in that city . - In company with the local magistrates lie went over the building , and had his health drunk at ~ a dejeuner In the evening the inaugural ceremony took place , and Loid John delivered an . address . It was not long , and remarkable principally for an attack on David Hume as a writer of history ( a subject of study which Xord John strongly recommended to his audience ) , whom he declared to be unfitted for such a work , because he was deficient in the elements which should go to make up a historian , literature , liberty , and religion . IiOrd John ' s principal topic was the void in the history of our country , which he declares has still to be written by an author possessed of the attributes , in which he declared all our previous historians to be deficient . Beyond this his address was con Sned to generalities .
bir Kobert Peel , who was present , delivered a good speech . He made a point worthy of reproduction . He said- — "I am glad to find , as one important feature of your institution , that your reading room is well provided with the current literature of the day , as represented by the newspapers . I once asked that veteran friend , of education , Mr . Joseph Hume , what he thought of the introduction of newspapers into institutions of this kind , and he told me that he , for one , would never support any . institution which did not admit newspapers . I know that some people talk of excluding politics from mechanics ' institutions . Why , good God ! political knowledge is that which we all feel to be of the utmost importance to
this country ; and I for one would impress iipon all the artisans and mechanics of England , that they ought to inquire into the nature of our institutions , and , as the noble lord has said , into the history of our liberties , so that they may bo fitted to take their part in the working of those institutions which aro gradually and rapidly developing , so as to bo extended to them . It is only in this way that those classes can gain tbnt knowledge without which popular power has more than once degenerated into an instrument of oppression . And I would further suggest , that by reading the works of great and good men many prejudices would bo removed . which have hitherto operated most bitterly to the prejudice of the working classes . I have
been given to understand that tliia institution was established hi 1845 , in order to a / Ibrcl rational occupation to those young portions who aro now released from thoir hours ) of work at an earlier period than th « y used to bo , through the generous efforts of another association—the Early Closing Association . Now , in connexion with this subject , tlicro is ono question that hns struck mo , which would lio of vast advantage to us nil to advocate . It is a question which is equally intoroBtnig to the indiiBtxiou . H ltiboiircr , to tlio employer , and to tho public at largo—tlio ([ uostion of having public holidays at certain
fixed periods . 1 think that thin question is ono of grout public importance 1 find that it is recommended in the report of a committee that Nat lately on tlio subject of tlio l \> nt .-olllo «) , ho that you huo it conies recommended by j { roat , Authority . If you givu a rolaxution to tbo labourer—of course without diminution of bin wagesoh , of emiruu without diminution of his wages or nalary —Unit nuirtt nlwnyrt bo mxlortttoou—I tun « uro it will add nuitih to tho friendly fooling botwoou master and man ; uitd , instead of oiiorvnting tho lalxmrera of this country , 1 am nuro it will invlgoruto thoui . "
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SIR JOHN FRANKLJN'S PiVItTY . Tina lust Arctic expeditions have scarcely roturned homo without tidings of Sir John Jfironklin ' s ships and crows , when ovidonco na nearly conclusive na possible of tho melancholy fata of that unfortunate party hns boon supplied by a private individual , Dr , Hno , a well-known Arctic traveller , was surveying
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speech , in which he argued the value of such institutions to those who are occupied in the business of life , although he did not say that lectures were absolutely necessary for the purpose of study and writing , for John Bunyan had composed hi 3 great work in an adjacent prison . This illustration afforded an opportunity for contrasting the freedom of thought and liberty enjoyed now with the fetters imposed on Bunyan and his like . He then argued that England
was not liable to decline and fall , and objected to Macaulay ' s New Zealander on a broken arch of London-bridge . Other states had fallen through luxury ; but we were more luxurious than any ancient ever was , and yet look at the officers of the Guards how they bore the transition from Pall-mall to the Crimea . Nor was England likely to fall like states which despotism , religious persecution and bigotry , or financial difficulty , or the institution of slavery , had brought to decay . He thus concluded : —
" As to other sources of danger , our means of political defence will tend to ward them off . There are events in progress the results of which we cannot conceive . No one can claim foresight in a nation ' s history ; events may arise which we little anticipate ; but upon this subject you and your successors have a duty to perform as well as liberty to enjoy . It devolves upon you to maintain your liberties and your religious privileges , and not merely to hand them down unimpaired but strengthened ; and by your researches in science , and promotion of literature , and cultivation of arts , you may do much to ensure this . The more your young men proceed in this study the more you will discover that a steadfast adherence to the institutions of your country is likely to
conduce to the enjoyment of your liberties and to your temporal and eternal safety . With regard to your political liberties , you enjoy a constitution which , while it gives no scope to the noisy demagogue , neither does it to the military dictator . With regard to your religious institutions , they leave entire freedom of conscience ; and it is only by perfect freedom of conscience that a belief can be engendered to which man can steadfastly adhere . I met a gentleman only a short tirne ago , who , when in . Portugal , happened to give ex- ; pression to opinions thought to be objectionable , when in the night he had a . visit from guards , who had liis house searched , and in the morning he found himself in prison ; he discovered that it was his uncle , -who was at . dinner with him , who had him confined merely as a warning to him not to indulge in such free expressions of opinion .
in future . It is that spirit from which we are freenothing but the most complete freedom is sufficient to guard against the decline of national prosperity . It ia not enough to say ' this opinion is so very mischievous ; ' the only rule is complete freedom . It is only when men act contrary to the state or the claims of morality that the ministers of justice can lay their hands upon any one in this great and free country , While it is mere thought , mere expression , and mor « language , depend upon it no danger will arise even to opinions the most erroneous . And such is the force of truth that it will triumph in the end . I have pleasure in . moving tho following resolution : — ' That literary and scientific mechanics'institutions hn \ -o greatly tended to the benefit of tho people in this country ? by cultivating their minds , refining their tastes , and improving their social habits . ' "
Sir Hamilton Seymour also spoke , regretting that ho was " so poor a specimen of diplomacy to be produced before the assembly . " Ho talked of John Howard as connected with Bedford , and whose name was also associated with that Crimea , which was in every one's mind just now . Referring to the present state of Europeun affairs , he said : — " It is totally impossible that , by any concurrence of events , tho state of affairs on tho Continent can bo restored to tho position in which they were a few months ago . lie thought that already great results had boon effected ; ho was not referring to tho captxiro of that fortross which was intended to have been a most strong ono , nor to what had Intoly transpired . Ho would take tho enso of that groat man tlio Emporor of Russia , who had bean weighed in the balance and found wanting . That man had liacl wrostod from him a power which no
power on earth can restore him . Ho was no longer the important personage ho was a few months ngo in ovary European Court . That was ono groat thing to have obtained . Ah sin immediate result , tho Courts of G ormany would bo freo from those chains with which they had boon no long confined 5 and that ho took to bo a matter of tho gmvost moment . Ho winhod to observe that tiirt iduiw wore not worth inuclt , for ho was a ' gwtlonmn out of place' lJCo did not wirth it to bo umlor-Htood that thoHO woro tho views of tho Government ; but tlioy wore hit ) own . Well , what did they think of tho union between England nnd Franco ? Tho battle of Waterloo -was called glorious ; but on the part of tho Crunch it was a fostering wound . Tho triumph of England over France would only havo rnmlo matter * w « r »<> 5 and tko triumph of France over England wax ho unplonsftiit an . eventuality that . lio could not ' ontortaUi it . Tho ndvuntngo of tlio union of tho two nations wah a
LORD JOHN RUSSELL IN MOTION . Tub President of tho Council is testing his personal popularity . He has returned from his minor starring in tho North , and on his wny to Bristol broko ground at Woburn , at n soirdc of tho Literary and Scientific Institution . Ho moved a rosolntion and mmdo a long
sentiment in which all concurred . There was another matter to which ho might rofor . Wo bad now enjoyed poaco for forty years j \ ra hud all tho time thought oursoIvcb very flno follows ; ho did not know what rcuaon
we had for coming to such a conclusion , but now there was no doubt of it . Perhaps the sons and brothers of some in that room had lately displayed their military prowess ; and it was a matter of high gratification that the mantle which fell from the shoulders of Wellington had fallen upon such a successor . There were some people who found fault with the expedition , and inquired —* Are you not helping the infidel ? ' Yes , we axe , " said Sir Hamilton ; " and God forbid that we should not help every infidel when he is so cruelly oppressed as this one . Bat for this no second opinion could be tolerated . Let the principle be applied to individuals which was applied to nations- A person is charged before a city magistrate - with stealing a watch—what would be thought of the individual who would say to the justice : ' There's no doubt that the offence has been committed , but the gentleman who lost the watch is a Jew a nd the other is a Protestant . '"
Referring to religious persecution on the continent lie said : " They must surely thank God that they lived in a gloriously free country . During the thirty-six ; years he lad resided abroad wonderful changes had taken place ail England . The poor were better housed , the churches were better serve d , and amongst other things , to show the advance of the nation , he might refer to the meeting of to-night , to attend which afforded him the very greatest ' gratification . "
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1012 THE LEADER . [ Saturday
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 28, 1854, page 1012, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2062/page/4/
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