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"RECORD OF THE WEEK. HOME AND COLONIAL.
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ledge of the past history of England and Europe ? What nations of Europe were greater in commerce and agriculture , of held larger foreign possessions than England , from the fall of the Roman Empire till the Avars of the roses ? What was France during" that , period ? What Spain , Portugal , Holland , Germany , Denmark ^ Sweden , Russia ? Did- any of these nations possess a city that equalled in commerce and wealth the Iiondon ' of that period ? What the Times is made to say about the state of the arts and scientific knowledge in England , applies to every nation of Europe except Italy . A person ignorant of the history of Europe , would imagine , on reading the Times' article , that England was little better than a Continental colony of yesterday ' s planting , instead of the native country of Wijtifekd , Alcvin , Wilhead ,
and other civilisers of the north-western countries of Europe . How long did France , Spain , Portugal , and Holland , possess ? colonies before England ? The chance discovery of America and the sea passage to India was made during the reign of Elizabeth's grandfather , while England was almost prostrate from the effects of a sanguinary devastating civil war of forty years' duration . Hy this drea . iful civil war the energies of England were exhausted in her own destruction . Free play was left to France , Spain , Portug-al , and the Hansa . The Parliaaient at London recalled all the English nobles with their English vassals from France , and the extensive possessions of England fell to that country . But , notwithstanding this , the position which England occupied in Europe during the reigns of Henbt VII . and Heket VIII . was not by any means
prebend the reluctance of any free man to join it . I see , by the journals , that the working men or artisans hold aloof , and that this circumstance is a source of regret ; but , as a consolation , I can savin at in all countries of civilized Europe the working men or artisans are always the most indifferent to the honour and progress of their country . The-working men of England , perhaps , being practically , if riot literally , better educated , may evince more active patriotism than the continental people , but the daily struggle for subsistence demands all their attention : and energy . In this country we have plenty of rifle corps , but-very few indeed of the working or artisan class belong to them . Daring thft war of Independence against the first Napoleox , it was a general complaint
that the common people were regardless of their national existence . The foremost defenders of Germany were the sons of the middle class ; ultimately the artisans were forced to fight whether they cared abonfc it or not . If , then , the artisans of England refuse to join the Volunteers it may cause regret , but can excite no astonishment . Had they joined , it would only have proved that they were better oif , more intelligent , and more patriotic than the artisans of tlve Continent ; as it is , if they give no reason to think them better , they are at any rate no worse . In the Bremen Hcltiltzen Verein , which'is one of the most numerous and best organised corps on the Continent , I do not think there is a single artisan or peasant . The whole corps is composed of merchants , clerks , and shopkeepers ; and I believe it is the same in all the corps of Germany . I have already exceeded my allotted space , so I must reserve what trifling political news there is till next week .
contemptible . France and Spain might claim a superiority , but not a proud one . As for Holland , Queen Elizabeth was virtually the ruler of that country , for three important towns were garrisoned by the Queen's troops , and one or two Englishmen sat in the Privy Council of Holland . A reference to the chronicles of the Hanse towns will show whether or not England had an extensive foreign trade three hundred years ago . It will be found that in 1474 , nearly four hundred years ago , and while England was still in a disordered condition , a treaty of peace was concluded between Ejowakd IV . and the Hanse towns , upon the following terms Edwaed consented to pay the Esterlings , or Sterling merchants , i . e ., the Hansa , the sum of ten thousand pounds sterling : from the .. English ' Customsj as redress for the losses which the merchants of the Hanse towns had suffered by , thqjreprisals hV had made upon their trade in , Consequence of theeapture of four English trading vessels at
Iceland by vessels of the Hansa . On the other hand , the English were to trade freely to and in all the Hanse towns as far as the laws of each place allowed .: The conditions of this treaty-at such a period are . quite , sufficient , without goingnback to more ancient and niore flourishing tinies , to refute the assertion , that JUngland had rib trade three hundred years ago . As for her—military prowess in ¦ ancient times , the Volunteer movement , patriotic and admirable as it is , can hardly be put in comparison with it , much less brought forward as a proof of the untried . ' powers- ' of our race . With the exception of Rome , England is . the only country in Europe that has produced generals who never fought battles without gaining them , and never besieged towns without taking them . It is only since the slavish system of conscription or pressing- was adopted by the tyrants and tolerated by the slaves of the Continent , that England ceased to be a military nation in the Continental sense of the term . The Volunteers have by their noble patriotism and courageous defiance
of the ridicule which at first was directed against them proved to the world the truth ' of-the saying , that " What is bred in the bone , " ¦ &c .. that they sire of th ? old race that Spain knew at Aljubarota ., and France at Poictiers . Finally , I would ask the writer of the article iii quest ion whether he can tell me of any nation north of the Alps that can boast of so ancient and indigenous a literature as England ? But really I must beg" the reader ' s pardon for troubling 1 him with such questions . Those who have resided on the Continent , and are acquainted with the prejudices , . or'rather credulous ignorance as regards England and the English , will easily comprehend how such an article as that of the Times affects the Englishman abroad . An article in the Observer , in which it wus said that the music bands in the Volunteer Corps appeared to be
composed of Germans , judging by their faces , . figure , and style of play , has been widely translated . This has set all the German journals praising the bunds of the Volunteers , and proclaiming them us superior to the bands of the regular army . How very much astonished the writer in the Observer and the German journalists would be if told that once upon a time the English were the teachers of the Germans in music , or if not positively their teachers , the English , according to Erasmus of Rotterdam , considered themselves to be the most musical nation in Europe ; and I think it would be no difficult task to prove that the north-western nations of Europe have appropriated a good number of old English songs . This sounds rather absurd from an Englishman in the country of Hanpel ; ' tis true r . evertheless .
Your readers will perceive , from the tone of the foregoing remarks , that the review hntt hud a considerable influence on this tudu of the sea ; and— -I cannot - doubt that at-will -ufl'ord a -certain degree of satisfaction to any Volunteers whose eyes this may < hiuice to meet , to hear that Engliishnien iibx . ad , who by the ( dree of circumstances are prevtnted from being comrades , feel very proud of them as countrymen . And if those Englishmen at home who have not yet joined the " ranks of the Volunteers could be made to understand how Englishmen abroiul ore raited in the esteem of the natives by the jL'Vfut of the 2 iJrd , they would permit no trifling inconvenience to stuiid in the way ol a patriotic duty . Thone who have long reoidtd in foreign countries Lest know the importance of tho Vcluutttr Movement , and tht-y , of all Ent-libliniui , can leu « t com-
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The model steamer Stanley arrived safely at Kotree on the 7 th of May . having encountered in the Delta of the Indus a cyclone and subsequent storms . In the year ending the ' 3 lst of March last the duty collected from railways amounted to £ ' 359 , 212 , the duty on stage-carriages to £ 127 , 673 , and on hackney-carriages to £ 36 . 203 . We have to record the demise of Thomas Addison , Esq ., M . P ., late consulting phvsician to , Guy ' s Hospital , which occurred at
Brighton , on Friday last , at an advanced age . Tile deceased became an M . D . at Edinburgh in 1815 ; was senior phy > ic « in at Guy ' Hospital , and lectured on the practice of physic at that institution . He was president of the Royal Medicu-Cliirurgical Society of London ; consulting- physician of the-South London . Dispensary ; was . formerly house-suipreon to the Lock Hospital , and physician to the Infirmary for Children , and to ~ the public dispensary , Carey Street . He was author of several popular medical works . .
In the year ending Michaelmas last 56 , 101 persons in England and Wales were punislu-d by magistrates for being drunk , or drunk and disorderly : 10 , 4 S 0 of ¦ them were women ; the number charged was 89 , 903—24 , 395 of them , women . In 3015 cases in the year 1859 , on coroners' inquests , a verdict was found of " Died from , excessive drinking . " We took toll upon the 6 , 775 , 911 gallons'of foreign wine and the 4 , 909 , 847 gallons of foreign sp i rits that were TnTplM ^ 'liHd ^ et ain ^ home-made beverages , the Inland Revenue Office has just informed , us that in the year ending March 31 . 1800 , the Excise duty collected on spirits amounted to £ 10 , 000 , 1 !> L , on malt to £ 6 , 852 , 458 , on hops to £ 402 . 881 .
Oa Saturday night an accident , resulting in the loss of two lives , occurred to the passenger train which left Bishop Auckland at 8 . 40 for Durham . The train had got to the Red Hills cut , when , from some unexplained cause , the engine got off the rails , dragging after it the carriages , several of which ( fortunately empty ones ) Were smashed to pieces . The engineman and firemtm were killed on the spot , but the passengers escuped without serious injury . The firework explosion at the Belle Vue Gardens , Manchester , has resulted in the deaths of Baker and Royle ; and it is feared that the third man , James Doyle , will not recover .
The inquest on the body of Francis Saville Kent , aged four years , who was so barbarously murdered on Saturday morning , at a village called Kond , fourmilesfrpm Frome , washeldon Monday , iittho Temperance Hall , Road , before Mr . Sylvester , coront-r Tor Wilts , The hall was crammed to excess . Mr . Rod way , of Trowbridge , solicitor , attended to watch-the case on behnlf of Mr . Kent . The nursemaid out of whose room deceased was abstracted ; the housemaid who examined the drawing-room fastenings the night . before the murder and found thorn undone : nnd the persons who discovered tho doiid
body of tho child in the water-closet were examined , hut no fresh facts of any kind were elicited , and the barbarous affair still remains in inexplicable obscurity . Constance sihd William Kent , a halfbrother and half-sister of the deceased , also wero examined , hut no nuw information was gained . Thesuperinteiideuta of . police Ir ^ u Froine , Trowbridge , and Devizes , nnd the chief constable of tin * \ Vilt . s force were in attendance . After a five hours' inquiry , the jury returned a verdict of " Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown "
An inquest was held at the Manchester Royal Infirmary , on Momlny evening , on tho bodies of lid ward Baker and . J tunes Royle , the two men killed by the explosion afc Relle Vuo Ganlons , on Saturday . Tho cause of the accident could not bo ascertained from the evidence . A verdict of Accidental death was returned . Tho first meeting 1 of the proposed Commercial Excluuigo at
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638 The Saturday Analyst and Leader . f July 7 , 1860 .
"Record Of The Week. Home And Colonial.
"RECORD OF THE WEEK . HOME AKD COLONIAL .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1860, page 638, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2355/page/14/
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