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sent Emperor disapproved the invasion of Turkey , it needs but a very little good will on t he part pi vour Cabinet to restore to Europe the blessings ot peace . It would be imprudent just at this moment to rouse the serfs already agitated by successive levies ; arid when the Czar declares that be shall pursue the policy of his father , we have yet to learn whether it is the policy of the Four Points , or the call of the population to arms . The acquaintance 1 have with political opinion in Russia ( only ignorance imagines that no such opinion exists ) authorises me to say that the new Emperor will accept an honourable peace if it is offered him , but if it is refused , he will pursue the war with more vigour than ever . On this point I am at issue with the Times , and I will state my reasons . The Times states that the late Czar had created means of resistance , and could demand of his soldiers a devotion to which his
successor has no claim . That is a purely gratuitous supposition . At the beginning of a reign there is an enthusiasm which never accompanies the end . The malcontents of the last reign will rejoin the standards , and young Russia will gather round Alexander II ., whose goodness of heart promises a reign of justice , of mercy , perhaps even of liberty . I would declare solemnly to . Lord John Russell that if he is charged to demand the conversion of Sebastopol into a commercial port , peace is impossib ^ for the young Emperor can never accept it on those terms . The great difficulty for the new sovereign at the present moment is the question of maintaining or countermanding the arming of the militia . this
In the first place it should be known that ^ measure cannot possibly raise more than 80 , 000 inefficient soldiers . In 1812 , those warriors dragged from the plough were absolutely useless . If the corps francs , commanded by men like Davidoflfj attained some distinction , they were special corps ; the present levies would create nothing but vexation , and furnish subordinate functionaries with the means of extorting the price of exemptions . It is to be hoped that the young Emperor will listen to the advice of Prince Paskiewitch and the whole noblesse , and abandon the idea-of arming the militia , especially now when the hostility of Austria and of Prussia is less probable than ever . Let me , say a
few words about the late and the present emperor . History will place Nicholas among the sovereigns who have been most fatal to Russia and to Europe . If he displayed a ^ certain force-6 f character it was because -an enormous empire obeyed him blindly , as it wiFTobey his successors . But when it is said that Nicholas developed the resources of Russia , it is riot considerei that Russia was an almost virgin soil . Intellectually and morally , Russia has receded finder . Nicholas from the position assigned to her by Alexander I ., whom the Emperor of Austria used to call a Jacobin , and who was the crowned advocate of universal peace , even when he was dragged into the most terrible of wars by
Napoleon I . Alexander II . is commonly reported to resemble his uncle , Alexander I . ' Our angel is in Ke ^^ 7 "" w ^ tG ~ tlie'Em ' press ~ Elizabeth--at-the'death of her husband . * Our angel is on the throne , ' are the words of a Russian friend writing to me on the accession of Alexander II . In him is the same goodness of heart , the same yearning after a liberal policy , and , it is added , the same weakness . But this weakness , after the fall of Nicholas , who blindly crushed every obstacle in his path , Russia will bless . If Alexander II . forgets the teachings of
his father , I predict for him a prosperous and happy reign , for Russia has need of repose . All the energy expended upon the army * has resulted in the reverses of ISilistria , Alma , and Inkorman . Let us hope that a policy of peace will bring happier results . Nicholas used to confess that his education had been deficient ; not so his son ' s . Alexander II . has been educated under the care of one of the best heads and hearts in Russia—tlio poet Joukoffsky—and a little poetry in the sombre and sullen Government of Russia will be a real blessing .
" The wifo of the new Emperor , the Princess of Darmstadt , whom he married for love , is a superior woman , simple in manners , and brought up in those traditions of duty and of virtue which belong to tlio petty courts of Germany Among the intimates of the new sovereign , Jean-Tolstoi is one of the most distinguished noblemen in Russin , and M . de Lnbenski is a person of the highest capacity . Poland herself may welcome-the now Czar , for ho has none of tlio prejudices of his fathor against that
valiant nation . In 1815 , Nicholas said to his brother Michnel , who was talking in the Polish language , What makes you talk that cursed tongue ? ' When General Krasinski asked the Grand Puke now on the throne whether ho spoke Polish , ' I have quite forgotten it , ' the Prince replied , in Polish , with perfect grace . ' May your Imperial Highness , ' rejoined tho General , ' apply those words somo day to all tho grievances that divide tho two peoples . ' Tho rivalry that existed botween Alexander and Constantino hat shrunk to tho proportions it should never have exceeded—a child ' s quarrel : or rather , it has
completely disappeared . The German party of the new Emperor will be the party of progress and of civilisation , and while it contains no elements hostile to the national party , it will have no reason to fear it . "
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TAMPERING WITH FAITH . A . clergyman of the Church of England , who , for a . long time evinced opinions extremely inconsistent with the fundamental dogmas of that Church , has been detected in . tamperingwith the technical arrangements of a marriage license , and sentenced to a severe punishment . He is effectually disqualified for the offices of the Church . He might previously have committed yet more serious ecclesiastical offences . He might have thrown forth views of Hebraical profundities which could not be maintained
simultaneously with the official Church doctrine ; but it was difficult to grapple with a profound scholar on the subject of nonconforming- views . Contests on the subject of prsevenient and subvenient grace are baffling enough . To place in the dock a sturdy champion whose quiver was filled with weapons from the store-house of real knowledge , would have been a formidable opening . Dr . Giles tripped himself up with a marriage license , — and then his-Bishop pounces upon him , and
the penal court condemns him . He appealed to the Bishop of Oxford for a merciful intervention to procure the withdrawing of the Chancellor ' s information against him ; but the Bishop would not receive this hint at an " enforcement of our Saviour ' s precept to forgive injuries . " Dr . Giles is condemned and sentenced to a 'twelvemonth ' s imprisonment without hard labour- —something more lenient than a sentence of death . The Church must have her victims—if they can only be caught at a disadvantage .
Dr . GilesV defence ^ established upon evidence some facts upon which we have already insisted . The case is " exceptional" in the recklessness to which he confesses , and in the candour which he shows . He states exactly how he came into his present position , and into the mood of mind that led him there . He is by nature audacious , he is not inclined to clerical pursuits and restraints , but his father forced him into the Church . So far his case
is not singular . - There is many a man who odght to be in the army or navy , following literature or commerce , engaging in some eager pursuit , possibly of a rough kind , who is tamed , chained , and spirit-broken in order that he may conform to the rules of the profession , because " there is a living in the family . " We know such men . They do not * fly out into overt indiscretions like Dr . Giles . They conform . Many of them acquire a peculiar disbelief , by the " familiarity" which " breeds contempt" in sceptical minds ; but they pretend that they believe in order that they may draw the tithes . Dr . Giles , therefore , is only more
ingenuous than such persons . It is the natural effect of compulsory belief , that it makes infidelity to conscience respectable . Put penalties on disbelief , and you may exact the most ridiculous pretence , until at last hypocrisy become superstition , and men believe against all reason . In this country we do not maintain the paraphernalia of the Church of England only—we have other institutions . It is decreed by the wisdom of our law that oaths shall be
administered with religious tests , in order that the oaths may bo efficacious ; for here , conformity does not attain its-own end . Oaths must be administered in the faith of the testator . Chinamen arc sometimes witnesses in our courts ; and in order to secure the due sway of . superstition over the Chinese mind , our public officers maintain Chinese religious institutions . We , are not saying this upon presumption ; tho fact was
illustrated at the Thames-police this week . Two Chinese men were defendant and prosecutor ; the latter having been wounded they had to depose on oath , and in conformity with the faith of their country the solemn part of the oathrtaking consists in the breaking of a china saucer . The saucers were produced . Prosecutor dashed his to pieces with enthusiasm ; the defendant threw his upon the floor several times
without breaking it . He wa 3 ^ perhaps , at firs following the trick which Irish prisoners . often play when they pretend to place their hand upon the cross , outside the New Testament , but hold it at a short distance , that the solemn part of the oath may not fix the perjury upon their souls ; Protestant witnesses effect the same evasion by kissing their thumbs . The unbroken state of the saucer appeared to visit the Chinese soul with awe . Who could not
see in it " a direct interposition of Providence ? " In the course of the case , came but the fact we have already stated—that the public officers of the State in this country maintain the religious institutions of China . Denny , the housekeeper of the Thames police-court , keeps on hand two dozen saucers for the administration of Chinese oaths . In short , the Chinese faith is , to a certain extent , amongst the established religions of this country ; and that faith the ' . State respects , though the love of truth , which makes men avow their doubts , is suppressed by punishment .
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[ IS T . niS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , IlO / HTKrKB BXTREMB , AKK ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE KCITOE NECES 3 ABILY HOLDS UWS ELF RESPONSIBLE FOR NOXE . 3
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THE GAME LAWS . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib , —The late game conviction at Berkeley is an instance of the not unfreqnent legal and moral anomaly , a wrong without a remedy . The conviction will probably be supported , though the balance in its favo ur is not more t han a feather weight ; but . even if it be quashed , the sufferer will have sustained the penalty . The maxint , cujus est soturn , &c , is not without ambiguity . If a fruittree stretch across a boundary , and fruit fall on another ' s ground , the fruit will belong to the owner of the ground . But it is not clear that he might cut off the overhanging bough . The party entitled to
the game in this instance might have shot the bird on Mr . Cox ' s tree , but had the bird been wounded on Mr . Cox ' s land , and he had followed it into his neighbour ' s field , he could not have been liable for trespass / as he had express permission to pick up game so fallen . This breach of forest law is very microscopic ; but , as it is just appreciable , the more urgent concern is with the punishment . This ia tangible enough ; suitable to a wanton trespass or an unqualified poaching , but here so far exceeding the offence as to raise suspicion of some predetermination against the sufferer . The plaintiff , the evidence , the magistrates , and the pheasant , all appear to have belonged to Earl Fitzhardinge . Libkb .
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There is no learned man but will confess he hath much , profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , -why should it not , at least be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Mii / roH .
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Mabch 10 , 1855 . ] THE LEADE It . 233
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Natubai . History . —From nature man derives everything . Tho apider taught him weaving ; the fiah furnished the idea of tho boat "; the swan thp pleasing model of tho sail ; tho palm led to tho erection of tho pillar ; the skin of brutes gave us tho idea of dress ; and the cocoa-nut led to tho beer-jug . Tho tax on wood alono appears to mo to bo a purely human invention . Alltuxs WoRfcuV . A Stachc-TJw author demands hia entrance money back . Ho ' a not beeu able to find a ¦** 5 £ tubai . Mi . sTAKK .-An agricultural gentleman , in reading a fashionable newspaper , exploded in a guffaw . On being outroated to communicate tho cause of lib mirth , ho pointed to tho description of a marriage in hlii-h lift , in which tho reporter stated— " > Vo have beon i £ uro with a peep at t&o bride ' , trousseau . " « To ha ' - « m made aforehond , " tho farmer said , » allowed , pretty well as how tho lady had mado up her mind to woai ' em artorwiirds . "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1855, page 233, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2081/page/17/
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