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No . 494 . Sept . 10 , 1859 . ] THE LEADEB , 1 O gg
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passed over as a juaere question of local finance , though tliis be for us peculiarly interesting . Paper , as the rule , is made from refuse , and all civilised peop le have found out the means of making it . Water , which plays such a very important part in all the -works of creation , is the great menstruum by which this refuse is converted into a mucilage . It can then be spread in tlitf thinnest of all possible sheets , except leaf gold ; bo run or pressed into the finest of moulds , and be : hardened like stone so as to form durable ornaments in our most lasting buildings . To find this very curious art , and the important knowledge which exercising it implies , almost universally practised , is in reality
a social p henomenon of the highest interest . Now to advert to the material phenomenon : is the water , let us ask , or the refuse , _ or the human gkiH everywhere apparently similar— -the chief agent for bringing about these extraordinary results , making in the end stone ( carton pierre ) out of rags and water ? To us it seems a p henomenon closely allied to many which are now engaging the attention of earliest scientific inquirers into natural philosophy , and which we may describe , in our unscientific terms , as changes in the powers and qualities of bodies without any change in their substances other than changes in form . If the conversion of water and rags into
stone be rightly classed with these curious phenomena , financiers mi ^ ht as well tax electricity or thought as paper-making . But no argument , drawn either from science or suffering , reaches them . They are callous to all the mischief they inflict . They act on a theory , and no human beings are so impenetrable to reason as theorists determined to make mankind good and happy .
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PEDANTS AND PEDAGOGUES . Once upon a time there was a Jew who united an extreme respect for the law of . Moses with an ardent passion for pork . Iii his case the wish of the wicked alderman was realised . He had the double pleasure of eating pork and sinning . Alas ! our Jew was not a member of a corporation , nor had he the callousness of a civic conscience . He was one of the weaker sort , and halted between two opinions—between pork and piety . A pig ' s face came into his possession : how , it matters not . The temptation was too great ; the bacon was so
streaky , so tender , and so prime . With trembling hands he cut ofF a slice , and placed it over the fire . The bacon frizzled gently , the savoury smell filled the room , the heart of the Jew was g lad , and the precepts of the law were forgotten . Of a sudden there was a clap of thunder , the unclean food was hastily withdrawn from the fire , and cast out as an accursed thing . _ The thunder ceased , and the Jew rose from his knees . He sniffed sadly at the fading smell , gazed wistfully at the frying-pan , and then , raising his eyes to heaven , murmured plaintively ., " Surely , Father Moses , surely you make a great deal of noise about a very little bit of bacon . "
. Often and often as this saying of the pork-loving Israelite has come into our minds , we never felt its application so strongly as when we found the daily papers filled with a lengthy discussion as to whether a certain Master Vousden ought or ought not to have been birched . It is true that you must , ' perforce , " chronicle small beer , " when you have no strong ale to -talk about . Still , in this case , wo think the beer was small—uncommonly small . Meanwhile , with this apology for telling Master Vousden ' s tale at all , wo will tell it as it was told to us . The particulars , indeed , are scanty ; much that wo should like to have known is barbarously hidden from us . For instance , we feel an extreme curiosity on tho point whether Vousden junior
wore stick-ups or turn-down collars , tau-coats or jackets . Our curiosity is loft ungratificd . Wo are not even acquainted with the amount of pocket-money the boy received weekly , or whether ho had had tho measles or the whooping-cough . All wo know . with certainty is , thnt ho was a scholar at tho King ' s School , Canterbury ; that his father was an offioer in the army , and that his Bohoolmastor ' d name was Mitohinson . One memorable morning Mr . Vousdon , senior , sent a note to the head master , requesting that his son might bo allowed leave ¦ of absence for tho day . On Vousdon , junior , presenting tho note , he was told m reply that his father ' s request oould not be granted . Unfortunately the denial , though
positive , was couched in ambiguous language . The boy was told he could not be allowed to go " then . " The whole dispute , according to Gibbon , between the Homo-otKiasts and the Homoi-ousKistS i * ested on the insertion of a single letter . The whole Vousden-Mitchinson controversy arose from the insertion of the pleonastic " then . " When young Vousden went home after morning school , he found a message from his father , telling him to come oh to the race-course . Such a temptation was sufficient to excuse a boy ' s playing truant—certainly great enoug h to excuse a slight amount of casuistry . " Then , " the boy
argued , " might mean morning school only , and need not necessarily apply to afternoon school as well . " The argument was ingenious if not conclusive . At any rate it answered its purpose . Youn" - Vousden joined his father at the races , and we hope enjoyed himself . Sorrow came in the morning . On his return to school he was summoned before Mr . Mitchinson , and informed by the indignant pedagogue that so flagrant a breach of discipline as that of being absent after leave had been refused , would be punished by a public flogging in the afternoon . " Les jours se suivent et ne se resemblent pas . " The French
proverb held good with Master Vousden . One day he saw horses whipt to make them run : The next he was to be whipt himself to teach him to stop at home . Boys , too , have a natural objection to being whipt . In itself the operation is not a pleasant one , and the ulterior consequences are equally unpleasant . It is a fact we have observed , whenever a grown-up person meets a schoolboy and is at a loss for something to say , the invariable question is , when were you flogged last ? Why , it is hard to tell . You don ' t ask a casual acquaintance what is the date of the last writ out against him . You don't question a of her false teeth
sino-le lady about the number . You don ' t allude to dead patients in the presence of a doctor ; or to ruined clients in the pi-esence of a lawyer . Master Vousden might calculate with absolute certainty , that" any middle-aged o-entleman he met for the next year or so would ask him when he was going to be birched next , or how many stripes he got ? or whether he could sit comfortably ? or make some other equally jocular and acceptable remark . The boy went home and appealed to his father , who was , not very unnaturally , indignant at so severe a punishment for so trifling an offence , if offence there was . Mr . Vousden applied to the schoolmaster , and pleaded that the boy ha d acted in obedience to his own instructions , but in vain .
The fiat had gone forth . In the school-room the authority of the parent was absorbed in that of the teacher ; discipline must be maintained ; the word of the schoolmaster must be like the law of the Medes and Persians , which altereth notand , in short , Master Vousden must either submit to be publicly flogged or expelled the school . An angry correspondence ensued . Neither father nor master would give way ; and finally the boy was dismissed the school , unwhipt , impenitent , and unreo-enerate . The matter was referred to the Dean and Chapter , who , in the true spirit of cathedral beadledom , confirmed the decision of tho schoolmaster . The correspondence was sent to the papers , and one morning this week young Vousden , ike Lord Byron , awoke and found himself
. We own that on the whole our sympathies are with the boy , and not with the master . Of late years an exaggerated opinion of their own < % " % has been too prevalent among pedagogues . I he Btory goes , that when William IV . went to visit Westminster during tho rule of the late Dr . Busby , tho doctor refused to remove his hat in the presence of lioyalty , because ho conceived his influence with the boys would be lost if once they world than
knew there was anyone in tho . greater himself . The spirit of Dr . Busby is not extinct . Every schoolmaster now-a-days fancies himself n second Dr . Arnold , a great moral teacher , and a law-giver for juveniles . Potty pedantry , like tlmt of Mr . Mitehinaon , only servos to lower tho true dignity of tho profession . At the some time , wo own it scorns to us a matter of very small linportauce whether Master Vousdon was flogged or not ; and wo ainooroly hopo wo have hctml " » o last of this youthful martyr to the causo of learning . Tho bacon ie too small for another poul ol thunder .
THE TUSCAN DEPUTATION . Tub King of Piedmont has at length received the formal offer of the annexation of Tuscany to the Kino-dom of Sardinia . The deputation so long expected has finally arrived at Turin , and been oreetcd by the Turinese with a fervour of acclamation which leaves no doubt of the wishes of the people . Their demeanour has been such as how wotild welcome
to demonstrate g ladly they the Tuscans as fellow subjects . Most fully as the proposed union is known to accord with the desires of Victor Emmanuel himself and the policy of his oovernment , he has found himself obliged to return an evasive answer to the Tuscan deputation It appears to suit the convenience and wishes of superior powers , that the settlement of the Italian auestion should be deferred indefinitely , and theret
fore Tuscany and Piedmont muspenorce continue to submit to the delay . The proiect of a great representative monarchy under the sceptre of the House of Savoy meets with extensive favour throughout the Peninsula , while that of the Italian Confederation , which prevailed in 1849 , and is the basis of the peace of Vulafranca , seems to be almost universally rejected . The distaste for the Confederation would appear to have arisen from the experience of 1848 . Thoucrh it was at that time warmly greeted by the people and openly professed by the Italian nrhicps . it was found impossible to realise it ; the
national movement could not be made to assume that form . At the present moment the want ol cordiality and confidence manifested towards each other by the Italian powers , the continuance oi Austrian domination in . Italy , notwithstanding the promises to the contrary of the French lanperor , and the successes of the late war , the improbability of any change for the better in the theocratic of the Churchthe anti
Government of the States , - national policy of the petty princes , whose return to their voluntarily-vacated thrones is strongly opposed by their former- subjects , all seem to render a Confederation utterly impracticable at present . The " movement which tends to unite the Duchies to the principality of Savoy is neither new nor unlooked for , but is the natural result of the events of the past three centuries have been
While the other parts of Italy suujocieq to continual decay , corruption , diminution and estrangement the one from the other , Piedmont has been perpetually extending its boundaries , improving its internal condition , increasing its civil and ^ military resources , and becoming more and more Italian . This tendency of Piedmont to enlarge and progress—more especially after every foreign invasion—to become the initiator and the centre of the ItaUan union , to win credit , respect , and influence among the other European powers by valour on the field of battle , by political acumen manifested in the congresses of potentates in which she has been permitted to take part since tho fifteenth century , may be looked upon as the
germ of the nationality of Italy . Piedmont has long taken her stand as an Italian power . In the seventeenth century she began to be considered the legitimate representative of the whole nation , and openly assumed tho defence of the Italian cause . This may be looked upon as mere ambition and state policy , but it w » . at all events a commendable ambition , ami a wso policy . The thought , tho desire , the dream of » "dopendence was ° unceasingly n ourished by la manuel Philibcrt bv Victor Amcdeus 11 ., w-u again by Charles femmanuol , who made various lengucs and c ^ wl ^^ dinner days , did not sullloiently , « l » Wj £ £ o Ml
tt . For a hundred years ™™™«\™ $ ^ l « oS ocas oni have presented themselves m little more years On tho first , wars wore fought Z Italy In Italian soil , and circums anccs not the priuooM of Savoy , were found wanting . Ihis was undoubtedly the gruntoBt and most important race associated its destinies wvth tlioBfip l the Italian nation , and awaited a tardy but infallible reword , in tint supremacy which is deservedly aocfuirod
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 10, 1859, page 1035, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2311/page/15/
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