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SOCIAL AND POLITICAL 
 
 ASPECTS 
 
 OP 
 
 ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 
 
 S S^ri^s of 3iiitin. 
 
 BY DEAN DUDLEY, 
 
 Author of "History of the First Council of Nice," "OflScers of our Union 
 Army and Navy," etc., etc. 
 
 // y?' 
 
 X -^ to :i ■■■■'- 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 1862. 
 
 r 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, 
 
 By dean DUDLEY, 
 
 In the Clerk'a Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 These observations on European society and government were 
 printed in several American journals, and, as the editors informed 
 me, were well received by the public. I now reprint them in a 
 more convenient form, principally with a view to their preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 The causes and mainsprings of many great events, which have 
 since transpired, are clearly discernable in these brief sketches of 
 social and political history. I will candidly confess, that Louis 
 Napoleon has proved himself a more talented man than I sup- 
 posed him to be, but no more generous or true to the interests of 
 the French people. However, any man, on whom that brave, 
 though fickle, nation unite to make their leader, cannot fail to be 
 powerful both in peace and war. 
 
 The ways of Providence are inscrutable, and the sun of Euro- 
 pean liberty may be only temporarily concealed by a small murky 
 cloud. Mr. Garrison says " he could not foresee, that Death and 
 Hell would secede from our Union of States," and he probably 
 thought the cause of emancipation in a desperate condition at the 
 time the Fugitive Slave Law was enacted. Let us never cease 
 to trust in Providence and keep the powder dry, 
 
 D. D. 
 
 Boston, April 13, 1862. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ale, 7, 8, 10, 15. 
 Aristocracy, 7, 28, 54, 90, 
 
 100, 101, 106, 113, 124, 
 
 127, 135. 
 Ancient families, 20, 22, 132. 
 Austro-Italian question, 32, 
 
 125. 
 Austria, 36, 65. 
 Anti-State Church Associa- 
 tion, 50. 
 Adelaide, dowager queen, 59. 
 Antiquities, 78, 120, 132. 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 
 131, 137. 
 British Manufactures, 6, 8, 
 
 9,18. 
 Birmingham, 14, 18. 
 Ballot, 111. 
 
 British Museum, 41, 128. 
 Banvard, 46. 
 " Barry Cornwall," 57. 
 British America, 69, 76, 95, 
 
 103, 130. 
 Bright, John, 71. 
 Books, 131. 
 Baptism, 137. 
 Cathedral of Manchester, 9, 
 
 10. 
 Charity Schools, 1, 28. 
 Cotton mills, 12. 
 Cotton manufactures, 114. 
 Coats of Arms taxed, 14. 
 Churches, 22. 
 Cobden, 33, 34, 43, 51, 68, 
 
 114, 144. 
 Colonies of Britain, 35, 40, 
 
 76, 88, 99, 103, 114, 115, 
 
 133. 
 Coal Exchange, 37. 
 Church separation question, 
 
 54. 
 Carlyle, 59. 
 Canada, 62, 99. 
 Chartists, 63, 75, 81. 
 Crimes in France, 64. 
 Christmas, 67. 
 Chiefs of India, 68. 
 Cotton and tobacco trade, 
 
 101. 
 Chancery reform, 114. 
 California, 117. 
 Degeneracy, 21, 77, 85. 
 Denmark, 97. 
 D'lsraeli, 34, 102. 
 Drunkenness, 104, 140 . 
 Democracy of U. S., 106, 
 
 112,113,115,137, 142. 
 EngUsh landscape, 13. 
 Elliot, Ebenezer, 57. 
 Enterprise and Investigator, 
 
 83, 88. 
 England's debt, 99. 
 Educational reform, 59, 61, 
 
 82, 109, 128, 129. 
 East India Marine Musseum, 
 
 126. 
 
 Female laborers, 6. 
 Fences, 14. 
 Fire in London, 30. 
 French question, 32. 
 France, 36, 38, 39, 64, 78, 
 
 103,113,127,130,134,140. 
 Financial reform, 50, 54. 
 Freehold Land Union, 51. 
 Fog, 53. 
 Genealogical researches, 21, 
 
 24. 
 German question, 32, 39. 
 Guy Fawkes' day, 36. 
 Garrick, David, 63. 
 Greece, 65, 98, 99, 109, 127. 
 Goldsmith, 93. 
 Grecian ports, 96, 112. 
 Hollow iron ware, 14. 
 Hungary, 31, 63, 66. 
 Haynau, 48. 
 Hanging scene, 51. 
 House of Commons, 50. 
 Hayti, 70. 
 Houston, Mrs., her book 
 
 about America, 100. 
 Irish Conferences, 49, 70. 
 Indian manufactures, 74. 
 Ireland, 111, 115. 
 Irish patriots, banished, 115. 
 Jews of Italy, 48 . 
 Judge Talfourd, 144. 
 Kossuth, 5, 33, 40, 47, 53, 
 
 55,65,138. 
 Klapka, Gen . , 48. 
 Libraryofl779, 19, 79. 
 Liberty, 31. 
 Louis N. Bonaparte, 35, 48, 
 
 61,69,88,98,99,100,103, 
 
 111,123,124,141. 
 Lawrence, Hon. Abbott, 29, 
 
 41, 103, 131. 
 London mortality, 47. 
 Lind, Jenny, 84. 
 Levitical code, 110. 
 Mechanics, 6, 7. 
 Manchester, 8 . 
 Marriage certificates, etc., 
 
 24, 110. 
 Marks of the illiterate, 25. 
 Mahon, 33. 
 Mannings, the murderers, 
 
 44, 51, 105. 
 May day, 135. 
 Magyars, 85. 
 Nova Scotia, 40. 
 New Brunswick, 40. 
 Nineveh, 41. 
 Napoleon's, new fledged, 52, 
 
 97. 
 Otho, 98. 
 
 Observations on foot, 117. 
 Oxen not employed in agri- 
 cultural work in Eng.,118. 
 Old records, 132. 
 Pedlers, 5. 
 
 Police, 15. 
 Parish registers, 24. 
 Peace Congress, 32. 
 Prince of Wales, 38. 
 Prince Albert's " Great Ex- 
 hibition," 47, 71, 111. 
 Populaation of England, 50. 
 Poles, 69. 
 
 Prussia, 70, 97, 113. 
 Property, rules, 80. 
 Puritanism, 119. 
 Parliament, 133. 
 Railway disasters, 30. 
 Roman question, 31, 39. 
 Russia, 36, 40, 62, 65, 69, 
 
 79, 88. 
 RolUn, Ledru, 57, 138, 142. 
 Reformers of England, 73. 
 Ragged Schools, 92. 
 Rapping phenomenon, 111. 
 Rome, 113. 
 Shoemakers, 10. 
 Schools, 11, 27, 28, 38, 46, 
 
 54, 59, 61, 82, 121. 
 Sicilian question, 31, 125. 
 Schleswig-Holstein, 
 Suffrage, 52, 108, 134. 
 Sporting life, 66. 
 Sclavonians, 69. 
 Servians, 69, 73. 
 Spain, 70. 
 Silesia, 70. 
 Socialists, 83, 86, 87, 323, 
 
 127,130,135,141. 
 Switzerland, 87, 113. 
 Sweden, 97. 
 
 Slavery in America, 101. 
 Spring in England, 104. 
 Schoolmasters of France,112. 
 Slave Trade, 123. 
 Tyrants of Europe, 31. 
 Turkey, 40, 62, 65, 87. 
 Thanksgiving day, 45, 49. 
 Times newspaper, 55, 64, 69, 
 
 77, 99, 133. 
 Taxes, 62, 99. 
 Tower of Loudon, 94. 
 Thiers, 108, 135. 
 Trance of Ann Connor, 117- 
 TJjaza, 48. 
 
 United States, 69, 70. 
 U. S. Congress, 72. 
 Victoria, 29, 71, 73. 
 Vienna, 62, 64, 73. 
 Voix du Peuple, 128, 134, 
 
 140, 144. 
 Wolverhampton, 14. 
 Wassail, 15. 
 Witch, 30. 
 Wellington, 91. 
 Westminster Abbey, 92. 
 Wordsworth dies, 132. 
 Yankees' rights, 106, 117, 
 
 131. 
 Zoological Gardens, 95. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 
 
 I. 
 
 Peddlees in the streets. — Female laborees. — British 
 manufactures. — mechanics. — specimens of the nobil- 
 ITY. — Ale. — Manchester, the workshop of England j 
 
 ITS EARLY history ; ITS CATHEDRAL. — SHOEMAKERS. — 
 
 Charity schools. — The cotton mills. — The hospital. 
 — Rural scenery. "^ 
 
 On my first evening in Manchester, as I sat by a 
 cheerful fire reading some thrilling lines to Kossuth by 
 James E-ussell Lowell, in the Guardian, a shrill cry 
 pierced my ears, and somewhat startled me, though it ' 
 seemed not to move the rest of the company. Stepping 
 to the door, this strange spectacle appeared on the 
 opposite sidewalk. A cloud of steam was rolling up 
 from an odd-looking four-legged object, which by the 
 gaslight seemed to resemble an excited animal, puffing 
 and blowing with exhaustion ; while a man held it by 
 the ears, and, with horrid shrieks, wide-distended jaws, 
 and protruding eye-balls, called for help. I ran to him, 
 and anxiously inquired what was the matter. " Two 
 a ha'penny," said he very calmly ; " 'ow many'U ye 
 'ave ? " and opening his tin-box, displayed a boiling 
 pot of potatoes. I turned away happy at having made 
 an important discovery in the old world ; and the fellow 
 resumed his cries, " 'o — t ta — te — rs, 'o — t ta — te^rs." 
 
 In the morning the streets were crowded with little 
 carts loaded with coal, cripps or fagots, turnips, 
 1* 
 
6 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 carrots, cabbages, etc., drawn about by ponies and 
 forlorn-looking donkeys ; and mostly driven by women. 
 Occasionally one of the poor, long-eared creatures 
 would trudge along weighed down with huge baskets, 
 or panniers, at his sides, filled with country produce, 
 bottles of ale, and other commodities. 
 
 The women here work at every kind of business, 
 that men only perform in New England. There are 
 bar-maids to hand about brandy and ale, and attract 
 customers by their bewitching smiles, female clerks 
 in every kind of shops, peddlers^ crying their goods 
 through the streets, and teamsters whoaing and geeing 
 their cattle about. In rainy weather, they are seen 
 wading through the muddy streets, covered with old 
 mats, and wearing clogs, or pattens, on their feet. The 
 clogs are thick leather shoes with heavy wooden soles. 
 Pattens are wooden soles, with straps to bind them 
 over other shoes, having also a sort of iron stilts under- 
 neath to keep the feet high and dry. But they are 
 exceedingly clumsy. One of the pattens would weigh 
 nearly a pound. 
 
 The shopkeepers have every article marked with its 
 price. So if one fails in trade, it is not because he did 
 not receive the full value of his goods, but for want of 
 patronage. 
 
 Calico is sold, at retail, by the pound ;* also potatoes. 
 
 The British manufactures are generally much heavier 
 and more durable than ours. In certain articles, par- 
 ticularly of dress, this excessive stoutness is a fault. 
 Their hats and boots are burdensome to the wearers. 
 Their carriages too, and harnesses, retard the speed of 
 horses with needless weight. 
 
 For the most part, the mechanics are mere imitators 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 7 
 
 of their predecessors, and never aspire to improve their 
 arts or " magnify their callings." Being apprenticed 
 very young, before their minds have been expanded 
 and adorned by the ennobling rays of science, they 
 grow up like machines, without original ideas, a taste 
 for study, or even that high sense of their usefulness to 
 society, which elevates and dignifies the character 
 of our Yankee artisans. They seem willing to be 
 esteemed a lower class of men even than traffickers, or 
 idle drones, who live upon their labors, and make laws 
 to keep them where they grovel and vegetate. Men 
 seem entirely wanting, here there being only " nobles," 
 ^'^ gentlemen^^ and " dependants." 
 
 One day the Duke of Cambridge, son of George the 
 Third and brother to George the Fourth, came with 
 his family, and the Earl of Wilton. What a parade 
 wherever they happened to go ! Nobody could tell 
 why such a stir should be made, only because they 
 were nc/i, and their relatives had been kings. The 
 duchess was exceedingly plain looking, and there are 
 scores of as fair ladies in the Lowell factories^ as her 
 two daughters. In fact, as they passed along the car- 
 peted sidewalk at the railway station, attended by their 
 train of liveried servants, I should not have known 
 which were the most noble of the company, but for the 
 bowing and doffing of hats on the part of the plebeians. 
 A splendid car was prepared, and I observed two tall 
 coachmen in gray wigs, pay nineteen pounds and 
 fifteen shillings, for about eight tickets to London, and 
 take their position in front of the car outside^ probably 
 to guide the iron horse, and keep him steady. 
 
 A stranger is astonished at the immense number of 
 alehouses all over England. The temperance cause 
 
8 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 must be in a primeval state here. Why, it is looked 
 upon as a weakness, and singular misfortune, not to 
 like porter, the miserable bitter stuff. Men dine, sup, 
 sleep upon it ; and if their bills should be made out, 
 they would often be like old Jack FalstafT's, " two gal- 
 lons of sack to half-pennyworth of hreadP 
 
 Manchester contains three hundred and twenty thou- 
 sand souls. There are twelve hundred retailers of beer, 
 ninety printers with the letter press, and forty-five 
 libraries. It is the workshop of England, being the 
 greatest manufacturing town in the world. Its present 
 site was originally a dense forest. Celtic emigrants 
 from the continent gradually advanced westward, till 
 they reached and settled the banks of the Medlock 
 Kiver, about the time of King Darius* great expedition 
 to Greece, and the establishment of the Consulate of 
 Home. 
 
 These occupants of the forest, whose sole exercise 
 was in the chase or battle-field, were in the course of 
 time supplanted, or mingled with the Brigantes of 
 York and Durham, who were crowded thence into the 
 wilds of Lancashire and Westmoreland. Aldport (i. e. 
 old port), the original of Manchester, was begun about 
 the era of Titus's reign. The inhabitants then lived 
 in clans, and built their miserable huts around the 
 chief's more conspicuous habitation. Their only orna- 
 ments were trophies of the chase and spoils of war. 
 They wore their hair long, turned over to the back, 
 and never molested the luxuriance of their beards. In 
 battle, they fought naked, being painted with every 
 frightful image. In peace, the skins of wild beasts 
 were their only covering. But the chief was habited 
 in " brags " or breeches, a waistcoat and " sack," with 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 9 
 
 a bonnet, and rude shoes. His mark of superiority 
 was a ring about his neck. 
 
 The germs of civilization were widely diffused dur- 
 ing the three hundred years of the Roman occupation 
 of Britain. " Edwin, king of that part of the island," 
 says Hollinshed, " one much loved and honored by his 
 people, with his daughter Zanfled, were converted to 
 Christianity by Paulinus, and, together with many 
 thousand people, were baptized. But this blessed light 
 of Christian religion was extinguished within two 
 years after the death of Edwin, and the baptized 
 Christians revolted again to paganism. Afterwards 
 came Aridanus, a Scotchman, (King Oswald having 
 sent for him out of Scotland), and lighted the candle 
 again ; and God so blessed his labors, that in seven 
 whole days, he baptized more than fifteen thousand." 
 
 Manchester became a manufacturing town at a very 
 early date ; even in the reign of Edward the Second, 
 there existed a mill for dyeing goods, on the banks of 
 the Irk ; and a few years later, one for fulling was 
 erected. Some of the distinguished men of Man- 
 chester have been the Cheethams ; Stanleys, (earls of 
 Derby) ; Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, died 1519 ; 
 John Bradford, burned by Queen Mary ; Dr. John Dee, 
 died 1608 ; Thomas Barret, a great antiquary, died 
 1820 ; Thomas Henry, F.H.S., died 1816 ; Wm. Har- 
 rison Ainsworth, etc. 
 
 I visited the cathedral, called the " old collegiate 
 church." It is an immense structure, and adorned in 
 the most extravagant manner. The original founda- 
 tion was laid in the eighth century, it then being called 
 St. Mary's ; but it was rebuilt in 1483, and has received 
 several additions. In 1815, one hundred thousand 
 
10 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 dollars were expended in repairs upon it. Going 
 through the churchyard, I was obliged to walk over 
 many gravestones, from which the inscriptions are mostly 
 defaced. Within, the aisles and chapels are paved in 
 the same manner, with monuments of the dead ; and 
 in all parts of the cathedral were attached to the walls 
 .marble tablets, having engraved upon them the epitaphs 
 of rich men and nobles. There were some grotesque, 
 as well as many beautiful, antique specimens of archi- 
 tecture in the oldest apartments. Before the chancel 
 hangs an old tapestry of the most exquisite workman- 
 ship, representing the death of Ananias and Sapphira. 
 The stalls are ornamented with images of rats and 
 mice, puppies and cats, hens and pigs, monkeys and 
 foxes, snakes and crocodiles — some devoutly saying 
 mass, others sitting in judgment with singular gravity, 
 others engaged in solemn devotion with prayer-books 
 spread out before their ministerial physiognomies — all 
 in burlesque of the Roman rites, being made soon after 
 that system was supplanted by Episcopacy. A few of 
 the ancient painted squares of glass remain in the 
 windows, but Cromwell's Puritan soldiers, when they 
 occupied the church, broke up the windows, because 
 there was too much vanity and pride pictured therein 
 for the lowly Saviour's mansion. The Right Reverend 
 James Prince Lee, D.D., is Lord Bishop of Manchester, 
 with a stipend of $25,000 per annum and a suitable 
 residence. There are ten canons or ministers. On 
 leaving, I gave the portly beadle a shilling, for which 
 he heartily thanked me, saying it would get him a nice 
 bottle of ale. 
 
 Seeing a shoemaker at work in his little shop hung 
 round with clogs, I stepped in and asked the price of a 
 pair. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 11 
 
 " Three -and-six," said he. 
 
 He was astonished that I shouldn't have seen any 
 in America, and continued, — 
 
 " Hi 'ad some tho'ts as hi should go there ; but my 
 business wouldn't flourish, think you ? Hi've a friend 
 there somew'ere ; may be, you 'ave seen 'im." 
 
 " What is his name, and what part does he live in ? " 
 said I. 
 
 " Hisaac Bradshort, carpenter, and 'e lives at Howia,^ 
 said he. 
 
 " I've been there," said I, " but didn't happen to 
 meet him." 
 
 " But sure hi'm sorry they don't wear clogs. Hi tho't 
 hi should be ha superior workman there hin my line," 
 said the poor cobbler. 
 
 Seeing a "Wesleyan newspaper in the shop, I said, 
 " You are a Methodist, I guess ? " 
 
 " Ay, sure," he replied, " ay, sure. There be many in 
 Hingland ; but we are oppressed, and compelled to 
 support the Church besides hour hown minister. And 
 the vicars hare 'ard with us. They demand every 
 farthing the law allows them for christening, marrying, 
 funerals and hall, tho' we never go near them." 
 
 There are many charity schools in Manchester, and 
 they are generally connected with the churches, and 
 under the supervision of the vicars. These schools are 
 supported by voluntary contributions, and the munifi- 
 cence of the rich. I asked a bright-eyed girl of ten, 
 what studies she pursued ; to which she replied, " I 
 read in the Testament and History of England, and 
 write, and intend to take up geography soon." 
 
 Americans are unusually desirous of examining the 
 manufacturing establishments, where so much of their 
 
12 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 cotton is changed into fabrics for all nations. It is 
 difficult (the same as at Lowell) to gain admittance 
 without letters of introduction. So, having no old 
 acquaintance in town, I bolted straight into an exten- 
 sive machine shop, informed the owner, Mr. Kershaw, 
 that I was a Yankee, and wished to see the mills, but 
 had no friend to introduce me. " Ah," said he, " never 
 fear ; I'll put you through. I've done a good deal of 
 work for the Americans. I am engaged now on a job 
 for a South American, who emigrated from England 
 at fifteen, a penniless boy ; but having become im- 
 mensely rich, he employs me to make engines and 
 other machinery for his mines in Peru, whither I went 
 two years since for the purpose of putting some in 
 operation." After showing me his numerous ingenious 
 machines and explaining their movements, he intro- 
 duced me to many other iron=works and cotton-miUs. 
 Mr. Kershaw showed me in one foundry, a gin of his 
 late invention, which will clear the dirt and seeds from 
 eight thousand pounds of raw cotton a day. On 
 entering a factory, we stepped into a car and were raised 
 to the uppermost room by puUies. There were men, 
 women, girls, and boys at work among the looms and 
 spinning-mules. The greatest number, however, are 
 children from eleven to sixteen. Each one in the 
 weaving-rooms attends two looms, and all are paid 
 alike, males and females, as Mr. Jenkins told me. A 
 Yankee had his newly patented hand-mule in one 
 room, exhibiting its superiority over others. The old 
 spinners acknowledged that it made the nicest yarn. 
 
 Among all the excellent things in Manchester, the 
 best is the Royal Infirmary, where poor invalids receive 
 gratuitous medical and surgical attendance. As the 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 13 
 
 polite overseers conducted me through the various 
 apartments, very distressing scenes met my sight ; for 
 there were sufferers from all diseases, and a great 
 many children mangled, bruised, and broken by ma- 
 chinery, undergoing surgical operations. 
 
 From Manchester to this town, Birmingham, the 
 railway passes through a delightful country, adorned 
 with antique villages, splendid country mansions, em- 
 bowered and vine-wreathed cottages, and herds of fine 
 cattle grazing in the dark-green meadows divided by 
 hawthorn hedgerows. Many tall chimneys of manu- 
 factories bestud the landscape ; and occasionally an old 
 ruin is seen to lift its gray head from some wood- 
 crowned hill, while the air is filled with the melody 
 of birds and the ringing vibrations of the chiming 
 church-bells. 
 
 " Fair is thy level landscape, England, fair 
 As ever nature formed. Away it sweeps, 
 A wide, a smiling prospect ! Gay and living 
 Meads, gardens, and trees of amplest growth, 
 And sparkling rills, and rivers winding slow 
 Through all the smooth expanse. Upon the eye, 
 Arise the village and the village spire, 
 The clustering hamlet and the peaceful cot, 
 Clasped by the fragrant honeysuckle's arms.** 
 
 Birmingham, England, Friday, Oct. 19, 1849. 
 
14 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 II. 
 
 "Wolverhampton hollow ware. — Taxes on coats of arms 
 
 AND WINDOWS. — ENGLISH HEDGEROWS. — WaSSAILRY AT 
 
 THE INNS. — Aspect of Birmingham ; its churches and 
 
 MEETING-HOUSES. — AnCIENT FAMILIES. — GENEALOGICAL RE- 
 SEARCH NOT ENCOURAGED IN ENGLAND UNLESS UNDER THE 
 AUSPICES OF THE NOBILITY OR GENTRY. — FaVORS NOT TO 
 
 be expected by the poor in pursuit of this study. — 
 The custodians of the old records generally want 
 
 HIGH PAY FOR SHOWING THEM. •— THE PARISH CLERK AND 
 
 VICAR. — Wholesale marrying. — Visits to charity 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 Of the numerous towns through which we have 
 passed is old Wolverhampton. America formerly 
 obtained much of her hollow iron ware from this place ; 
 and the manufacture of that article has greatly declined 
 here, since the Yankees are enabled to make their own 
 pots and kettles. 
 
 My car companions, two Birmingham gentlemen, 
 being very affable and polite, gave me some interesting 
 facts respecting some peculiar laws and customs of the 
 land. They informed me that our countrymen are 
 usually surprised to see so many soldiers in all parts 
 of the kingdom, and think the employment of them a 
 needless expense. They said the Church rates were a 
 great burden to the people, and must soon be dimin- 
 ished. There were many old, inconsistent laws, re- 
 tained solely on account of their antiquity. Each 
 window of a house beyond the seventh is taxable, also 
 coats of arms engraved, painted, or embossed, upon a 
 person's watch seal or other article in his possession, if 
 the arms belong to his family. 
 
 Speaking of the beautiful fences, that intersect the 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 15 
 
 finely cultivated fields, they said the hawthorn bushes 
 spread over the ground so fast that it costs a great deal 
 of labor to keep them from usurping too much soil, and 
 the most intelligent farmers are beginning to substitute 
 wire fences for them. 
 
 Leaving my luggage in charge of the careful police, 
 who attend every station for such business, I leisurely 
 pursued my way through the great town resplendent 
 with gas-illuminations. Many novel spectacles ap- 
 peared around. The numerous inns and alehouses, 
 sometimes marked with the sign, " Ale, stout, and 
 porter for sale here, with the privilege of being drunk 
 on the premises," resounded with the songs and rev- 
 elry of 
 
 " Flaunting wassailers of high and low degree." 
 
 Curiosity impelled me into one of the inns. There 
 were two apartments, as at all English railway sta- 
 tions, and most places of entertainment; one for the 
 first, and the other for the second class. The meaner 
 room was occupied by a company of plasterers, and an 
 itinerant musician with his music mill. These were 
 in the full tide of glorious merriment, and it was rare 
 diversion " to behold the swelling scene." 
 
 Imagine half a score of sirloin-cheeked, beet-nosed, 
 pink-eyed old suckers, ranged round on stout benches, 
 behind clean-scraped, white oak sideboards, and, in 
 their tow jerkins, and whitewashed caps, resembling as 
 many stuffed woolsacks, crowned with the ruby phiz 
 of old Silenus himself ! On this side stands the organ- 
 man, and there, next the door, sit two rosy-cheeked, 
 giggling bar-maids, on tip-toes, as occasion called, to 
 " bowse about the porter." 
 
16 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 "Another pint, Doll," says one, "and a pipe o' 
 backker, ha'penny 'orth." 
 
 " Ay, sir." 
 
 " Two pints, sweet Dolly," says one at the other end 
 of the bench, sliding along his pewter pots, and sing- 
 ing,— 
 
 " And let me the canakin clink, clink, 
 
 And let me the canakin clink." 
 
 i 
 
 Dolly seizes the mugs with a smile and darts away ; 
 returning in a trice, and bringing the foaming liquid, 
 as she urges her way through the crowd. 
 
 " Ha ! Dolly, my pink, as hi live, you're a 'ansome 
 wench. Ha ! w'at heyes ! W'y, they're brighter than 
 these spangled bubbles ! Now sarve old Ton at the 
 
 other hend. 
 
 " 'Ere's a 'ealth to charming Dolly, 
 And you, old Ton of fat and folly." 
 
 The maid laughed, but old Ton was angered. " Poh ! 
 Fie on yer palarvering, Jo," says he ; " it's foolish ; 
 it's d d foolish." 
 
 " Whew ! don't get in a passion, old blubber-sides. 
 Keep cool, or you'll hinflame that hale with yer red 
 nose. If you should explode, there'd be a general 
 hinundation and conflagration, hall at once. You 
 clay-brained, measly-chopped, gimlet-eyed, swollen 
 sack of spleen ! w'at hails ye ? " 
 
 Old Ton was perfectly maddened by this broadside 
 of abuse, and, making a plunge towards his foe, stum- 
 bles over tables and benches, demolishes the mugs, 
 bruises several shins, and strikes his face against one 
 end of the organ. This awkward feat occasioned much 
 mirth in the company ; but the maids look sour as 
 Dutch crout, and go about setting things to rights 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 17 
 
 again. The unlucky old fellow very quietly crawls 
 back to his former position, muttering that, "if he 
 'adn't 'it his foot against the pesky bench he should 
 'ave won ; but," says he, " hi yield to the fate of war. 
 Bring us two pints o' hale and a biscuit, gals. Come, 
 brother Jo, hi confess you've come out first best, and 
 hi'm worsted. Come, come, let's leave contention! 
 It's low. There never did any good result fi:om it 
 since the days of jolly hold Solomon." 
 
 The full mugs being returned, good fellowship is 
 restored, and the late antagonists sit and sip like loving 
 brethren. Now Orpheus begins to grind, the maids 
 resume their smiles, and Josy strikes up a song in har- 
 mony with the music : — 
 
 ** Ho ! ye jovial plasterers, 
 Shove habout the hale j 
 Devils blue hare hafter us, 
 Let ha flood prevail ! 
 
 " 'Earty toil and thirsty mortar 
 Vex the tedious day, 
 But the nightly flowing porter 
 Washes care haway. 
 
 " 'Ere's a 'ealth to hour good master. 
 Life to Johnny Bull, 
 Joy, ye golden sons of plaster ! — 
 Give the jugs ha pull ! " 
 
 Then the air changing, and blithe Josy growing mer- 
 rier, up he bounds into the double-demisemi gyrations 
 and twistifications of a bacchanalian hornpipe. Others 
 break forth in ringing choruses ; the grinder gets 
 excited ; and thus, ungodly glee makes the whole 
 welkin ring till after midnight. 
 
 In the other room, a similar number of well-dressed 
 2* 
 
18 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 men were sitting around fine mahogany tables, discuss- 
 ing politics, reading the papers, smoking cigars or long 
 porcelain pipes, each with a glass of brandy at his 
 elbow. Now and then, as the noise in the other apart- 
 ment became boisterous, some one looking quite philo- 
 sophical, would express his surprise that the landlord 
 should give " those fellows such strong hale ! " 
 
 The next morn arose fairer than any I had seen 
 during the whole week previous in gloomy Manchester. 
 In the yellow sunlight, the neat dwellings, well-swept 
 streets, massive warehouses, and majestic public build- 
 ings, presented a very pleasing aspect. Birmingham 
 is, indeed, a beautiful picture, and rife with animation. 
 The new streets are wide, and firmly paved ; but the 
 old ones are still narrow, though smooth. 
 
 The only manufacture of Birmingham, from its first 
 existence to about 1650, was in iron, which was 
 wrought at a very early day. A furnace at Aston, on 
 the borders of the parish, used to smelt the ore, exhibits 
 certain marks of great antiquity. For, in this region 
 of infernal aspect, there is an enormous mountain of 
 cinders, which I should suppose could not have accu- 
 mulated in less than a hundred generations. Some 
 have even conjectured, that manufactures might have 
 been produced here long before the landing of Julius 
 CsBsar, since the Britons were armed with several 
 kinds of weapons peculiar to their nation. 
 
 After 1650, Birmingham began to assume new 
 beauty, and in her age of perhaps three thousand 
 years, she stepped forth in all the vigor of youth. She 
 added to her iron manufactures the lustre of every 
 metal in the world, and all their various amalgama* 
 tions, together with the garnish of starry gems. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 19 
 
 The situation of this town is near the centre of the 
 kingdom, in the diocese of Litchfield and Coventry, the 
 deanery of Arden, and the hundred of Hemlingford. 
 The soil in the neighborhood is light, sandy, and weak ; 
 and, below it, sand, gravel, and stone (but no ores) 
 prevail. 
 
 A mile from the limits of the parish, in the manor of 
 Duddeston, there is an excellent mineral spring of 
 greenish water. 
 
 The climate here, notwithstanding the smoke, seems 
 to be conducive to longevity ; since many arrive at the 
 age of a hundred years. Indeed, some who work in 
 the brass foundries, enjoy a very green old age; for 
 their hair becomes as green as grass. 
 
 The first public library in town, originated in 1779. 
 It consisted of but a handful of books, till 1782, when 
 Dr. Priestly succeeded in placing the institution upon 
 a durable basis. 
 
 Here are many fine churches belonging to the vari- 
 ous sects. Unitarians, Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, 
 Catholics, and Jews. St. Martin's, one of the magnifi- 
 cent churches of the established religion, is supposed 
 to have taken its original rise, like many in other parts 
 of England, between the sixth and tenth centuries. Its 
 antiquity is too remote for the light of history ; the 
 scanty records of those dark ages having fallen a prey 
 to the ravages of time, and the numerous revolutions 
 of government and customs. Within, I observed three 
 marble figures of very ancient appearance, in a reclin- 
 ing posture, under the south windows. They are be- 
 lieved, as the beadle informed me, to be monuments of 
 the Birrainghams, once lords of the manor, whose orig- 
 inal name, in 1050, was Uluuine (since Alwyne, now 
 
20 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 Allen). One is known to be as ancient as the con- 
 quest, 1066 ; and another is that of Wm. de Birming- 
 ham, who was made prisoner by the French at the 
 siege of Bellegard, in 1297. 
 
 The families of Marrow and Archer were once lords 
 of the manor ; but the most noble families of ancient 
 times, on account of the changes of fortune, are now 
 represented by noble mechanics and artisans. There 
 is many a sable-browed smith in Birmingham, whose 
 ancestors have been kings and queens, both before and 
 since the conquest ; whereas none of the present nobil- 
 ity of England claim peerage beyond Edward the 
 First, who began his reign in 1275. Among these 
 families, are the Mountforts, Colmores, Mays, Small- 
 woods, and Bedfords ; and one by the name of Mid- 
 dlemore, deducible from the conquest, though now 
 sunk in wretched dependency ; and another by the 
 name of Bracebridge, that, for more than six hundred 
 years, figured in the first ranks of life. 
 
 I called to see one by the name of Arden, a painter, 
 who is a lineal descendant of Alfred the Great, the 
 earls of Warwick, Egbert, Cerdic, and so on back to 
 the Saxon god, Woden. There was a servant in his 
 family by the name of Clark, who attracted my notice 
 by his expansive brow, as well as the attentions he 
 seemed disposed to show us. When there was an 
 opportunity, I turned towards him, and remarked, — 
 
 " Perhaps this young man, too, has good blood in his 
 
 veins 
 
 ?" 
 
 " Ho, no ! master ; my blood is not good, my blood 
 is wery bad, master ; but hi thinks as it is howing to 
 lack of good hale. Hi don't get much lately, mas- 
 ter." 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 21 
 
 " You don't understand me. I refer to your ances- 
 tral blood." 
 
 " Ho ! ha ! to my sister Hann's blood. She is not 
 living, sister Hann hisn't. 'Er is been dead a goodish 
 w'ile ; therefore, sure, it was bad, as well, master." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! the poor fellow wont be able to compre- 
 hend your meaning, I fear," says my genealogical 
 friend ; " but I am well acquainted with his family, and 
 can assure you, notwithstanding the present degrada- 
 tion of this worthy young man, he is descended in a 
 direct line from the Willoughbys ; the Marmions ; 
 King John ; William the Conqueror ; Edmund Iron- 
 side, and many other nobles and princes of Europe." 
 
 " Did you know before," said I, " what great men 
 your forefathers were ? " 
 
 " Nay, sure I But, wery like, master! for I've 'eered 
 my mother say, as my grandpa was a good bit of a 
 man, and kept ha stall hin the big market." 
 
 On my way to this romantic old place, I stopped at 
 D — to collect, from the parish registers and the ancient 
 burial-grounds of the first church, (St. Thomas's), a 
 genealogical account of a New England family that 
 originally resided there. 
 
 It was Saturday evening, and very rainy; but a 
 cheerful coal fire dispelled the gloom of my apartments 
 at the King's Head, while the other rooms of the hotel 
 were ringing with O-be-joyful accents. Reading the 
 papers till nine o'clock, I then rang for a servant, and 
 inquired if St. Thomas's Church was near. 
 
 " Ay," said he, " just across the way. That hare the 
 bell now ringing." 
 
 " Can you tell me where the clerk resides ? " 
 
 " Ay, the parish dark, master, Mr. Hinkscratch ; 'e 
 
22 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 lives just a good bit up the 'ill. Would ye like to see 
 'im ? 'e's 'ere e'en now, in the hother room." 
 
 I walked in and took a seat in one corner, without 
 speaking. A most jovial company sat round the table, 
 playing at cards, and sipping brandy. 
 
 " Bravo ! bravo ! Inkscratch ; the stakes are yours," 
 said one of the gamesters. 
 
 " By G — d, I should think it was time for my luck 
 to change. Missus, a gill of brandy ; not so d — d 'ot 
 as the last. Let's double the stakes ; come, this is 
 b'hoy's play ! " 
 
 " Hagreed ! " answered all. And so they went on. 
 After awhile, I introduced myself to the clerk, and he 
 promised to aid me in the research. 
 
 Sunday I attended church at St. Thomas's. It is a 
 magnificent edifice, painted and ornamented in the 
 most extravagant style. Before the chancel, hangs a 
 great picture representing the ascension of Jesus of 
 Nazareth, which was splendidly illuminated during the 
 afternoon service, commencing at six o'clock. When 
 the proper time had arrived, the blooming countenance 
 of the parish clerk, in white robes, solemnly arose from 
 his sanctum like the round orb of night from behind a 
 purple cloud, or a Duchess County cheese from a kitchen 
 cellar, and proceeded to read the hymn. — The following 
 two stanzas would have applied to the clerk's case : — 
 
 " Thrice 'appy they, who may be'old 
 And listen to that hage of gold ! 
 When people in the shops shall swell 
 Resounding Psalm and Ca?^-ticle. 
 
 " 'Be-gin then, brethren, ho he-gin, 
 The hage renew, that sees nose-in, (no sin,) 
 Hand the Or'atur's name prolong, 
 Has gurgling streams return the song." 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 23 
 
 There were many people in attendance, as usual in 
 England ; for this is a very religious nation. The vicar 
 gave us noble sermons. His pronunciation and man- 
 ners were somewhat similar to that of our most pom- 
 pous preachers ; and his personal appearance strikingly 
 resembled our Boston divines. But then this humid 
 climate seems to augment the trunks and inflame the 
 clerical physiognomy^ more than ours. 
 
 Monday morning at ten o'clock the clerk took me to 
 the vicarage, which was within the churchyard. He 
 said he only called thus early at my earnest solicita- 
 tion, for he feared the Rev. Doctor was not arisen yet ; 
 and besides, I had no letter of introduction. Eeaching 
 the house, we rang the bell several times before bring- 
 ing any one to the door. At last a servant came, say- 
 ing his Eev. Master was engaged, and was preparing 
 to go out to his country residence. Bat I insisted on 
 seeing him, for my business was ,of great importance. 
 So out blustered the old parson. " What-what-what's 
 wanting ; what's wanting, now ? " said he. 
 
 " I've come, sir,^ by your permission, to look over the 
 ancient registers of this parish." 
 
 " Oh ! that is difficult, that is difficult. They are 
 mostly illegible ; they — they — What's your object, 
 pray tell ? I'm going away, and you must come next 
 week, or some other time." 
 
 " I'm a stranger from America, sir, and — " 
 
 " Whew ! I don't care whether you're from America ^ 
 or from Africa. There was a gentleman here last 
 week from your country, — a slave^ — whom I enter- 
 tained, and who held a public meeting in my church." 
 
 " Well, can I see the registers or not ? I've taken 
 
24 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 great pains to come here solely for this purpose, and 
 did not anticipate such obstacles." 
 
 " Well, clerk, take the key and open the chest. You 
 know the law requires your presence all the time the 
 books are out." 
 
 As we stood in the doorway thus talking, a poor old 
 cripple came crouching along. " Well, old fellow ! " 
 bawled out the parson, " what good can you do us ? 
 What service can you render us this morning ? Sheer 
 off, sheer off! we've no occasion for your presence just 
 now." 
 
 The clerk took out a huge pile of old manuscripts 
 from the iron box. Thinking it would take me about 
 a week to inspect so many, I asked what they would 
 charge for the perusal. 
 
 " My customary charge is sixpence (twelve cents) 
 for each year passed over, and the clerk makes out his 
 own bill for his services ; however, as you are not 
 looking up titles, but only genealogies, you may ex- 
 amine the registers for five shillings ($1.25) per hour." 
 
 " I must attend to some business at the vestry," said 
 the clerk, " and if you please, we'll carry the books up 
 there." The room was full of buxom brides and merry 
 bridegrooms, who had assembled to get their marriage 
 certificates from the regular minister according to his 
 requirement. Taking a seat by the fire, I began my 
 search, and the church functionaries began their work 
 for Hymen. The first record was in 1539. Parish 
 registers were introduced in England by Lord Crom- 
 well, in 1538. 
 
 " Who are you ? " says the parson, pointing to a 
 crooked-legged little fellow. 
 
 " John Flippington, please." 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 25 
 
 " Do you want to get married ? " 
 
 " Ay, please ye." 
 
 " Which is yer gal ? " 
 
 " 'Ere she be." 
 
 "John Flipper-snapper, come hither, and sign your 
 name." 
 
 " I can't write my name, please ye." 
 
 " Poh ! nonsense ! walk up and sign your name like 
 a man. Well, then, come and scratch your mark." 
 
 " What trade are ye, John ? " asked the clerk. 
 
 " Coal-heaver, please." 
 
 " Blue-eyed wench, what's your name ? " 
 
 " Sarah Singletarry." 
 
 "Sarah what?" 
 
 " Singletarry, please yer reverence." 
 
 " You didn't like that name, did you, Sally ? " 
 
 " Why, master ? " 
 
 " Why? because if ye 'ad ye would akept it, and 
 tarried single^ instead of exchanging it for Flipper- 
 what-do-you-call-it, 'ere, that can't write his name. 
 Miss Singletarry, that was^ just sign yer name 'ere." 
 
 " Can't write, master." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! so pretty a wench as you be, Sally, and 
 never learned to write ! Shame ! shame ! Why 
 didn't ye learn to read and write, at least, if nothing 
 more ! " 
 
 " Cause folks wus pore, and 'ad to work. Couldn't 
 go to school, fur 'ich hi am sorry." 
 
 " I dare say ye be. Well, 'ow do ye spell yer 
 name ? " 
 
 " Can't tell." 
 
 " Worse and worse ! Can ye tell yer age ? " 
 
 " Twenty-one, please." 
 3 
 
26 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 " And yer hintended ? " 
 
 " Thirty-nine." 
 
 " Hush ! call it twenty-nine^ dark." 
 
 " You curly 'eaded man in the green coat, want to 
 double ? " 
 
 " That same, may it plase yer riverence." 
 
 " Can ye subscribe yer name, Pat ? " 
 
 " Hah ! that can I, and niver miss, nor be bothered 
 at all, not I. But jist now I beg yer riverence 'ill 
 excuse me ; for the light is so sthrong there, upon me 
 sowl, I could niver see to write with me eyes." 
 
 The parson insisting on Pat's trying his hand, at 
 last he came forward ; but he couldn't write one letter. 
 He could only make a cross ; which the parson called 
 taking up his cross ; but he remarked, a person unable 
 to make his autograph was unworthy of the Christian 
 name. 
 
 And so the diverting process continued three or four 
 hours, for there were more than fifty applicants. 
 
 The clerk came and whispered to me, saying Mr. 
 Spikenose, a former clerk, had an index of all the 
 records, which he would probably show me for a few 
 shillings. " But keep shady," said he, " about my 
 telling you this. Don't let the old parson know it." 
 
 Slipping away to the office of Spikenose, I asked if 
 he would have the goodness to favor me with a squint 
 at his index, as it would save me much labor. " Pro- 
 vided the Rev. Doctor Gulliver is willing," said Mr. 
 Spikenose. " I am now going away, but some other 
 time you can come and see it, if it will not be detri- 
 mental to the Rev. Vicar's interest." 
 
 Is not such honesty a jewel, rare to view in Amer- 
 ica ? It is found quite often in England. I was for- 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 27 
 
 cibly reminded of the passage of Scripture, where Sol- 
 omon, speaking of a certain excellence, says, " It is 
 like a jewel of gold in a swine's snout." 
 
 One day I took occasion to visit some of the public 
 schools at D. Approaching the building, said I to a 
 policeman, " Is that the schoolhouse, which has the« 
 coat of arms engraved upon the waU ? " " Ay, don't 
 you hear a sort o' chattering, like a flock o' wild ducks 
 in a mud-puddle. "Well, that be the schoolboys." 
 
 Knocking at the door, Mr. B., the worthy teacher, 
 politely invited me to inspect his school, saying he 
 wished more interest was generally felt in regard to 
 education, among the mass of the community ; for he 
 seldom saw a visitor. He had the charge of 250 boys ; 
 and he told me he taught all the common English 
 branches, — sometimes the Latin language also. The 
 boys have to pay only two cents per week tuition. 
 His salary is ^500 a year. The plan of instruction 
 was to set apart particular days for each branch, so as 
 not to mix things together in confusion. He went 
 round to show me the penmanship and drawing, in 
 which the pupils evidently excelled. " Don't walk 
 about bareheaded," said he ; " you'll stand a chance to 
 take cold. The air is so chilly here, I always keep on 
 my cap. My principal punishment for blotting or 
 tearing books, is to require new for the injured ones." 
 The boys were apparently bright, but thin and pale, as 
 if they were meagrely fed. Their clothes were horribly 
 ragged and soiled. On the desk sat a jar of cholera 
 medicine, with which the teacher said he had cured 
 seven patients among his pupils, by administering it 
 on the first appearance of the distemper. 
 
 There was a large clock at one end of the room, and 
 
28 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF , 
 
 several outline maps, published by Robert Chambers, 
 hung from the ceiling, through which they could be 
 drawn up or let down by means of pulleys. 
 
 Another school, connected with St. Stephen's Church, 
 consisted of a male and a female department. The 
 building was composed of freestone, handsomely con- 
 structed, containing six rooms. One master instructed 
 the boys, and one mistress the girls. Children were 
 admitted from the age of six years up to twenty, and 
 had to pay a penny weekly. This school was under 
 the superintendence of the parish minister. 
 
 He had a hall in the building, where the poor^ who 
 were ashamed to appear at the big church, assembled 
 one evening in each week to listen to his religious 
 teachings. 
 
 Order and silence were not the most prominent 
 features of these schools, and the pupils are not likely 
 to make much progress in any studies except reading 
 and writing. 
 
 Many of the English academies, and some of the 
 lower institutions, require their pupils to wear a par- 
 ticular kind of uniform. 
 
 The advantages of this custom are entirely unknown 
 to me. But the gowns and tight hose, with which 
 great boys are seen scampering about the streets, appear 
 singularly comical. Far too many marks, both of dis- 
 tinction and inferiority, are seen here among the young 
 and old. Too much exclusiveness and partiality exist 
 in the public schools. There are sown the first princi- 
 ples of English aristocracy. May America studiously 
 avoid the adoption of such fashions. The/ree system 
 of New England education is the pride and glory and 
 hope of our nation? 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 29 
 
 " Nurse of my country's infancy, her stay 
 In youthful trials und in danger's day, 
 Diffusive education ! 'tis to thee 
 She owes her mountain-breath of liberty ; 
 To thee she looks, through time's illusive gloom, 
 To light her path, and shield her from the tomb." 
 
 Kenilworth, Oct. 23, 1849. 
 
 ni. 
 
 The queen. — Hon. Abbot Laweence. — Weekly mortality 
 IN London. — A destructive conflagration. — Trial of 
 
 murderers. — A WITCH OF FlFE. — A CAVERN DISCOVERED. 
 
 — Imprisonment for church rates. — Irish anti-rent 
 leagues. — French news. — Gen. Haynau's bloody deeds 
 in Hungary. — The spirit of democracy cannot be 
 quenched, but will yet triumph in europe. 
 
 Great preparations are being made for the queen's 
 visit to this city, next Tuesday, by water. When it 
 was announced to the committee appointed to make 
 arrangements for her reception, that two of the young 
 princes would accompany Her Majesty, there was im- 
 mense applause among those loyal gentlemen ! 
 
 The Hon. Abbot Lawrence, our new Minister Plen- 
 ipotentiary, was presented to the queen last Sunday, 
 at Windsor Castle, by Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B., 
 Her Majesty's principal Secretary of State and Minis- 
 ter of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 During the week ending Oct. 20th, in London, there 
 were forty-one deaths by cholera, sixty-three by typhus 
 fever, and fifty-one by diarrhoea. 
 
 A tremendous fire, occasioned by the accidental 
 3* 
 
80 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 ignition of a can of camphene, broke out last Tuesday- 
 evening in Lower Thames Street, near London Bridge 
 — on the very spot where the great fire of London 
 commenced — and raged furiously for several hours. 
 A vast amount of property was destroyed, among 
 which was a clump of warehouses occupied by Messrs. 
 Baiss, Brothers & Co., wholesale chemists. The prop- 
 erty was mostly insured. 
 
 In Great Britain and Ireland, during the last half 
 year, there have been ninety-six persons killed and 
 seventy-five injured on the railroads. 
 
 The trial of Fred. George Manning, and Maria, his 
 wife, for the supposed murder of Patrick O'Connor, 
 under very aggravated circumstances, is exciting a 
 great deal of interest here. 
 
 A reputed witch died lately at Fife, in Scotland. 
 The fishermen had been, for many years, accustomed to 
 secure her favor and their own success on the sea, by 
 giving the old woman a fish. After her death there 
 were found in her house, concealed in bags, 2,000 six- 
 pences, 1,020 shillings, 9 sovereigns, X7 bank notes, 
 and £4:0 in additional notes, — the amount being equal 
 to p85. 
 
 On Wednesday, Oct. 12th, the miners at Llandudno, 
 broke into an extensive cavern. From the entrance, a 
 beautiful mass of stalactite reflected back their lights 
 with great splendor. It was probably a Roman work, 
 and their benches, stone hammers, etc., remained there 
 just as left two thousand years ago. Some bones of 
 mutton, which they used for food, were found entire, 
 but impregnated with copper. The cavern is forty 
 yards in length. 
 
 By a recent act of legislation, the old penalty of 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 31 
 
 indefinite imprisonment for church rates, has been 
 altered to a length of time not exceeding six months. 
 
 The cause of liberty and humanity appears rather 
 gloomy in all parts of Europe. 
 
 In Ireland, the extensive formation of Anti-Rent 
 Leagues is increasing the disgust and animosity of the 
 English, although that movement has caused some of 
 the landlords to " strike" for the present. 
 
 At Paris, on Sunday, Oct. 20, the Hon. Richard 
 E/Ush, our American Minister Plenipotentiary to 
 France, delivered letters to the President of that Re- 
 public, from our government, terminating his mission 
 there. 
 
 The accounts from Hungary for the past week have 
 been truly heart-sickening. The bloody deeds of that 
 foul hyaena. Gen. Haynau, have shocked the feelings 
 of all Europe, and disgusted even his satanic master, 
 insomuch, that Nicholas has sent a despatch to suppress 
 the butchery. 
 
 But all these appalling scenes of human cruelty, 
 enacted by the aristocrats of Europe, for the extermina- 
 tion of the late-kindled flame of freedom, and light of 
 democracy, in the hearts of rising millions, can never 
 scare avi^ay the omnipotent and all-pervading Spirit, 
 that haunts those golden palaces and thrones, disturb- 
 ing the sweet dreams of tyrants and their abettors, 
 until the emblems of hereditary honor shall yield to 
 the staff and cap, and titled idiots and crowned fiends 
 shall give place to the able and meritorious representa- 
 tives of the whole people. 
 
 Throughout Europe all is yet in a foment. Nothing 
 has been really settled. 
 
 The Roman question, the Sicilian question, the 
 
33 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 Austro-Italian question, that of Schleswig-Holstein, the 
 German, the French, and even the Irish questions, are 
 awaiting a great solution. 
 
 There are myriads of brave men, left still in each 
 nation, whose growing hatred of unequal legislation 
 and their bloodthirsty oppressors, will, ere long, drive 
 them to grasp the sword and torch of their fallen but 
 glorious predecessors. 
 
 These adamantine castles of tyranny, founded in the 
 dark ages, and strengthened by the efforts of a hundred 
 servile generations, must needs withstand a mighty 
 siege, and fall with an awful crash, shaking the vast 
 world, and burying millions beneath their ruins. But 
 the great sacrifice is required, and future times will 
 gaze back upon the sublime scene with rapture, and 
 with thanksgiving to that omniscient Being who holds 
 in his hand the destinies of all nations. 
 
 London, Friday, Oct. 26, 1849. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Peace meeting. — The speakers. — Cobden. — Democratic 
 
 OPINIONS expressed CAUTIOUSLY. — D'ISRAELI. — ThE TiMES 
 
 newspaper on the Canada question. — Opening of the 
 
 NEW COAL exchange ; THE PrINCE OF WALES AND PrINCESS 
 
 Royal present with their father. — Louis Napoleon 
 
 DISMISSES HIS cabinet. — KoSSUTH. — ThE SuLTAN OF TUR- 
 KEY FEARS Russia and Austria. 
 
 There was a great and enthusiastic meeting of the 
 Peace Congress last Tuesday evening, at Exeter Hall. 
 That vast edifice was crowded to the doors, with appa- 
 rently the freest-minded men and women of this com- 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT, 33 
 
 munity — W. Ewart, M.P., in the chair. Among the 
 speakers were Kichard Cobden, M.P., the popular 
 champion of the corn-law reform, KeVo W. Broek, 
 Rev. Mr. Kichards, former Secretary of the League, 
 President Mahon, of Oberlin College, Ohio, U.S., 
 M. Bastiat, Member of the National Assembly of 
 France, M. Plorace Say, son of M. Baptiste Say, the 
 distinguished political economist, and M. Garnier, 
 editor of the Journal des Economistes, of Paris. Mr. 
 John Scoble acted as interpreter to the meeting. 
 
 The principal speeches were made by Messrs. Cob- 
 den and Mahon. The substance of Mr. Cobden's 
 objections to war, were, that it does not promote the 
 cause of justice, is a burdensome expense to the people, 
 greatly injures commerce and all the operations of 
 nations, and hinders the progress of the world in sci- 
 ence, arts, civilization^ and political liberty. He con- 
 tended strongly against standing' armies and naval 
 armaments, saying the present deplorable state of 
 European affairs, exhibited the dreadful effects of such 
 institutions. And yet, within a year, in the face of all 
 their bloody consequences, the bayonets of Europe 
 have been increased by one-half. Indeed, he was 
 utterly unable to account for the insane course the 
 legislators were pursuing, unless they meant to plunge 
 their governments into such an hopeless condition, that 
 nobody else would be desirous of undertaking their ad- 
 ministration ; like an old device of schoolboys, who, to 
 prevent other boys from taking away an apple or an 
 orange, go and rub it in the dirt. Pie sometimes won- 
 dered they did not advertise for sensible politicians to 
 come and help them out of their difficulties. 
 
 Mr. Mahon made quite an impression on the minds 
 
34 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 of the audience. He said the great mission of this age 
 was the conception and realization of the idea of the 
 universal brotherhood of man. As a striking evidence 
 that a war between two nations is detrimental to each, 
 he alluded to the fact, that the immense quantity of 
 grain in the market of the Western States of our Union 
 is a stronger defence against the invasion of any people 
 in want of such a commodity, even than our armed 
 fleets and fortifications. 
 
 M. Garnier made a very bland and brilliant speech, 
 in French^ however ; " For," said he, " had I learned 
 English at school, instead of Greek and Latin, I should 
 now have the pleasure of proving the superior advant- 
 age of such an educational course." 
 
 The expression of democratic opinions on the part 
 of the speakers called forth the most rapturous applause 
 from the audience. As Mr. Cobden was advocating 
 the rights of the masses, a noble old fellow became so 
 enthusiastic, that he sprang upon the settee, and 
 swinging his old hat, cried out, " Three cheers for the 
 people ! " But the proposition proved abortive ; for 
 the English are almost afraid to hurrah for themselves, 
 lest it may be interpreted as a sign of disloyalty. 
 
 The Earl of Albemarle, aged seventy-eight, and Sir 
 J. Hawkins Whitshed, Bart., Admiral of the fleet, have 
 died here, in the last week. 
 
 Mr. D' Israeli, a few days since, delivered an elabo- 
 rate political speech at Aylesbury, in which he advo- 
 cates the protective system, that is probably to be the 
 policy of the next session of Parliament. 
 
 The Times has had a good deal to say this week 
 about the Address by the citizens of Montreal. It 
 cannot believe that the document contains the predom- 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 25 
 
 inant opinions and wishes of the United Canadas. If 
 such were the case, then perhaps England had better 
 give them up. The editor admits the logical merit of 
 the address, and the skill, tact, and adroitness, but not 
 the honesty^ of its authors. He doubts whether such 
 sentiments will spread far in the provinces, surely not 
 on account of the people's love of Republican insti- 
 tutions. But one thing they may depend upon, and 
 that is, whatever accessions England may be induced 
 to make in acquiescence with their wishes, she never 
 will quit her hold upon those parts, that strengthen her 
 empire of the sea. She never will yield, on any 
 account, the province of Nova Scotia or Cape Breton, 
 those points which are destined ever to control the 
 mouths of the St. Lawrence, and much of the Atlantic 
 navigation. 
 
 Punch is unusually merry at the opening of the new 
 Coal Exchange by Prince Albert and two of his 
 children, the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal. 
 Victoria was prevented by indisposition, from being 
 present on the occasion. Punch gives an illustration 
 of the fact of opening the Exchange, — and publishes 
 the portrait of the real unearthly looking old coal-man 
 that pried it open with his crowbar, while Their High- 
 nesses and Royal Highnesses were making desperate 
 efforts to witness the interesting scene, with their heads 
 and eyes entirely overlooking the prime mover and 
 principal seat of the great operation. 
 
 There is important news from France. Louis N. 
 Bonaparte, President of the Republic, falsely so styled, 
 has taken upon him the responsibility of dismissing 
 his Cabinet and appointing a new ministry. In his 
 addresses, he assumes insufferably haughty airs, and 
 
36 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 says the Republic needs a Napoleon for her head and 
 guide, and, because his wrangling ministers refused to 
 acknowledge him as the proper director of affairs, he 
 would no longer endure them. This seems to be the 
 drift of his language. 
 
 The Assemblee Nationale reports, that despatches 
 from Tancrede announce that Kossuth and his asso- 
 ciate chiefs are authorized to depart for America, but 
 the English Ambassador opposes it. The French 
 Ambassador favors the proposition, and there is a mis- 
 understanding between the two functionaries. 
 
 The Sultan is said to be exceedingly anxious to 
 extricate himself from his embarrassing responsibility, 
 and greatly dreads to encounter the united power of 
 Kussia and Austria. 
 
 London, Nov. 2, 1849. 
 
 V. 
 
 Thanksgiving day. — Guy Fawkes's day. — New coal ex- 
 change. — Coal thade of England. — Price of labor. — 
 Public instruction. — The pope to return from exile. 
 — Kossuth. — Haynau. — Great Britain to lose her 
 American provinces. 
 
 The queen has appointed Thursday, Nov. 15th, for 
 a day of national Thanksgiving on account of the great 
 decrease of the cholera in this kingdom. 
 
 Last Monday was the anniversary of the notable 
 Gunpowder Treason ; and boys as usual on that day 
 had a high time. Poor old Guy Fawkes, arrayed in 
 garments and trappings of every fantastic hue and 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 87 
 
 shape, was paraded through the streets, mounted upon 
 donkey carts, and carrying his lantern, while his tatter- 
 demalion lord resounded the well-known doggerel, — 
 
 " Remember, remember, 
 The fifth of November, 
 Gunpowder treason and plot ! " etc. 
 
 in sweet accordance with the shrill notes of the " Fifer- 
 fellow." 
 
 Some one asked me, if Guy ever made his appear- 
 ance in my country. I told him he had not ; for his 
 attempt was so far from being esteemed treasonable, 
 there, that sometimes a man gained much honor by 
 " blowing our national legislators sky highJ^ 
 
 The new Coal Exchange, lately opened with great 
 pomp and ceremony, is attracting large numbers oi 
 visitors, tickets being in circulation for admission to 
 the interior of the magnificent edifice. The main body 
 seems to be composed of freestone ; the great central 
 hall within is in a circular form, and surrounded by 
 four galleries, on a level with as many stories. 
 
 When we visited it a vast crowd of an equal pro- 
 portion of men and women were urging their way 
 through the wide gate, and it was a difficult and tedi- 
 ous task to gain admittance and ascend to the upper 
 gallery. From that we had to pass round, descend to 
 the next, make another revolution, and so on to the 
 bottom floor. In the centre of this there is painted a 
 sheet-anchor, as being emblematical of commercial 
 traffic in coal, which employs constantly seven-twelfths 
 of all the coasting vessels of England, and furnishes 
 labor for five thousand seamen. 
 
 The walls are adorned with fLn.e paintings, represent- 
 4 
 
38 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 ing, first, the occupations of the miners and the process 
 of mining, and, higher up, the various ferns which 
 geologists have discovered petrified or charred in the 
 coal formations. 
 
 There are many offices in all parts of the building, 
 and some of them appeared splendidly furnished for 
 the use of merchants. The temporary platform and 
 chairs, which Prince Albert and the royal children 
 occupied at the ceremony of the opening of the Ex- 
 change, were remaining, and, simple as it may seem to 
 democrats, every person eyed those things with intense 
 interest, merely because the little princes had sat upon 
 them. Three feathers — his peculiar crest — were 
 bending over the Prince of Wales's chair, the feathers 
 being made of spun glass. On leaving the Exchange, 
 not less than a hundred men and boys met me with the 
 salutation, — " Please buy a medal of New Exchange ; 
 a 'ansome medal of the New Coal Exchange ! " 
 
 The value of the coal shipped along the English 
 coast averages ^37,000,000 yearly ; and the amount 
 shipped to London alone, is worth $12,924,120. 
 
 A few days since, the "Wiltshire Agricultural laborers 
 struck for higher wages, these having been reduced to 
 only $1.50 and $1.75 per week. This is the way proud 
 England rewards her honest tillers of the soil. 
 
 French affairs appear to be in an exceedingly preca- 
 rious condition. The bill on Public Instruction, drawn 
 up by M. de Falloux, one of the old Cabinet, has been 
 withdrawn. This will probably be a popular act, 
 because it placed the schools under the supervision 
 of the clergy, allowing them dangerous authority in 
 directing the young mind of the nation. 
 
 From Paris we learn that the National Guards of 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 39 
 
 France, being feared by the President, who declares 
 them to be an element of disturbance, are to be dis- 
 solved in all towns containing 12,000 inhabitants ; and 
 the army on active service has been reduced from 
 500,000 to 200,000 soldiers. The victorious general at 
 Kome is said to be a personal friend to Louis Bona- 
 parte, and perhaps the latter is looking to him for aid 
 in case of an insurrection on account of his late tyran- 
 nical course. He seems to be meditating a re-estab- 
 lishment of the vast national police of the Consulate, 
 for his own protection. It is thought the Versailles 
 prisoners, whom the jury have pronounced guilty, will 
 not be executed, but transported to Madagascar, or 
 some of the French islands in the Indian Ocean. 
 
 Affairs at Rome are becoming more quiet. An 
 embassy from that city having been sent, inviting the 
 pope's return on the 25th of this month, the anniver- 
 sary of his flight thence, it is expected he will comply 
 with the request, which seemed to afford him high 
 satisfaction. 
 
 The French Government have accordingly ordered 
 one of their frigates to be placed at the disposal of His 
 Holiness for a safe conveyance back. 
 
 It is conjectured by some, that the pope intends to 
 remain at Rome only a few days, and then retire to 
 Velletra, where he will be under the protection of his 
 faithful Spaniards. He has directed 70,000 medals to 
 be struck, commemorative of his return. 
 
 Nothing very interesting is at present transpiring in 
 Spain or Ireland. 
 
 The Ministry of the German Empire have ordered 
 the frigate Gefion to be captured, burnt, sunk, or 
 destroyed in any possible way, to prevent her from 
 falUng into the hands of the Prussians or Danes. 
 
40 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 A circular with the signature of Kossuth, has been 
 circulating in Pesth and Ofen, assuring his country- 
 men that he removed the crown of St. Stephen solely 
 to render the coronation of a Hapsburgher impossible. 
 
 Haynau has granted amnesty to the patriots con- 
 demned — for political crimes only — to one year's 
 imprisonment. At a trial in a place called Arad, the 
 bloodthirsty baron was so offended because some pris- 
 oners were sentenced to confinement instead of the 
 gallows, that he started up and left the room in a very 
 abrupt manner. 
 
 There are strong indications of a war between Tur- 
 key and the two empires of Russia and Austria. 
 
 Several Americans at Paris have sent word to the 
 Porte that he has our country's sympathy, and they 
 offer any American vessels at Constantinople, to con- 
 vey away the magnanimous Kossuth and his friends, 
 whenever they shall choose to depart. 
 
 There is a letter in the London News to-day, by 
 some gentleman of the kingdom, in which he affirms 
 his conviction, that unless concessions are made to the 
 Canadians, this nation will surely lose, not only the 
 Canadas, but Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and 
 Newfoundland. He confesses it to be evident and 
 undeniable, that the separation principles are fast gain- 
 ing popularity all over those provinces. " We have got," 
 says he, " to allow them the rights and privileges of 
 British subjects at home, — Parliamentary Represen- 
 tation, Free Trade, a full and equal representation 
 based upon the population, and a voice in the whole 
 policy of the government, or they will unite themselves 
 with others^ ' who owe us no subscription.' " 
 
 London, Friday, Nov. 9, 1848. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 41 
 
 VI 
 
 The British Museum ; its wondees. -- Sculptures from 
 Nineveh, Nimroud, etc. — The scenes portrayed. — The 
 
 OTHER CURIOSITIES. — ThE LIBRARY OF BOOKS AND MANU- 
 SCRIPTS. — COBDEN J HIS STYLE OF ORATORY AND POLITICAL 
 PRINCIPLES. 
 
 By the generous aid of our excellent Minister Plen- 
 ipotentiary, Hon. Abbott Lawrence, and our former 
 countryman, Henry Stevens, ^sq., now of London, I 
 obtained an introduction to many noble institutions of 
 science, literature, and art. It is far- more difficult to 
 make the acquaintance of distinguished persons in 
 England, than in our democratic country. That stu- 
 pendous display of wonders, the British Musseum, is 
 open to all honest individuals for study or research. 
 Here I was deeply interested with those late excavated 
 bas-reliefs and statues from the site of old Nineveh. 
 They are representations of landscapes, modes of wor- 
 ship, battles, the persons of heroes and other distin- 
 guished characters — all embossed iipon a kind of hard 
 stone resembling flint-rock. One is the picture of a 
 river, with an island in the midst, crowned by a strong 
 castle. Fugitive warriors appear swimming for life, 
 upon goatskin wind-bags, to gain the fortress, while 
 pursuing foes hurl impetuous shafts at them from the 
 forest shore. Some war-steeds are seen, cleaving the 
 waves. Several pieces exhibit a dignified personage, 
 wearing a cap in the form of a truncated cone, out of 
 which rises a horn. To him the rest pay homage. 
 Here he appears holding a basket in one hand, while, 
 with the other, fruits are offered, as if for sacrifice. 
 4* 
 
42 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 There he is seen boldly dashing on before armed troops 
 of horsemen, like the restj poising on high his beamy 
 lance, or aiming a winged arrow from his far-bent 
 bow. I was forcibly reminded of those poetic pas- 
 sages in Habakkuk, — 
 
 " For lo ! I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and 
 hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth 
 of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not 
 theirs. They are terrible and dreadful : their judgment 
 and their dignity shall proceed of themselves." — "God 
 came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount 
 Paran. Selah." — " He had horns coming out of his 
 head : and there was the hiding of his power." — 
 *^ Was thine anger against the rivers ? was thy wrath 
 against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses, 
 and thy chariots of salvation ? " — " The sun and moon 
 stood still in their habitation ; at the light of thine 
 arrows they went, and the shining of thy glittering 
 spear. Thou didst march through the land in indig- 
 nation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger." 
 
 One figure seems to be of another nation, wearing 
 the Trojan cap. Some ladies are represented in beau- 
 tiful headdresses, slightly ornamented. Servants stand 
 waving feather-fans around them. Both the male and 
 female forms are very symmetrical. That must have 
 been a fine race. Each of these Ninevites, like his less 
 fair contemporary of Egypt, has his crinkled locks and 
 beard elegantly plaited over a noble brow. Their 
 peculiar dress consists of a square, tasselled blanket, 
 embroidered with flowers and words in an unknown 
 tongue. But humbler persons have them short and 
 plain. Many wear two or three horns on each side of 
 the head. The principal characters of each sex have 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 43 
 
 pearl necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and various badges 
 about them. Their shields, made of reeds woven 
 together, are sometimes square, but oftener round. 
 One stone bears a pastoral scene — sheep, goats, oxen, 
 etc., grazing in presence of their shepherds. Another 
 shows a city besieged, whose ramparts are beaten with 
 huge battering-rams. These are suspended from roll- 
 ing towers, at the top of which soldiers are striving to 
 scale the high walls, often falling pierced by opposing 
 darts. Battle-fields are common, where birds of prey 
 hover above, or devour the mangled bodies of unfor- 
 tunate combatants. War must have been a favorite 
 amusement with that forgotten nation. Many stones 
 bear long inscriptions in a very fair, unique character. 
 A shrewd linguist has lately learned to read them. 
 Their mythological figures seem but an improved edi- 
 tion of the highest order of Egyptian gods, being simi- 
 lar in form and raiment. 
 
 The MussBum consists of a vast collection of speci- 
 mens from the animal, vegetable, and mineral king- 
 doms, antiquities, fossils, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian 
 statues, and a great library containing many original 
 manuscripts from the most celebrated writers of many 
 ages. 
 
 I had the pleasure of listening to an eloquent speech 
 of Richard Cobden, M.P., a few days since. Mr, C.'s 
 personal appearance is manly and democratic ; but 
 English orators are accustomed to speak with rather 
 too much assurance. In stature he is somewhat below 
 mediocrity, possessing a fair share of physical energy, 
 a nervous-bilious temperament, dark and slightly curled 
 hair, which he twists and tangles with his right hand, 
 when in want of a strong climax. His flow of Ian- 
 
44 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 guage is interrupted by occasional repetitions. He is 
 far more particular about the matter, than the manner 
 of sentences, and lays hold of any words that will 
 clearly convey the meaning of his majestic ideas. He 
 is said to be a good scholar and linguist, being accus- 
 tomed to declaim in French when on the Continent. 
 As a statesman his energies seem entirely devoted to 
 the moral and political advancement of the nations. 
 His philanthropy is boundless as the light or breath of 
 heaven. 
 
 London, Nov. 12, 1848. 
 
 vn. 
 
 Execution of mukdeeers ; their appearance on the scaf- 
 fold. — Effect of the shocking scene. — Banvard. — 
 Public school association. — The great ExmsiTioN 
 SCHEME. — Kossuth. — Klapka and his compatriots going 
 to America. — Haynau. — Louis Bonaparte's arbitrary 
 course.— 'London fogs. 
 
 There has been a great excitement here in conse- 
 quence of the execution of the Mannings, who mur- 
 dered Patrick O'Connor for his money about three 
 months ago. 
 
 The hanging took place last Tuesday morning at 
 nine o'clock. Thirty thousand men, women, and 
 children were present, a large part of them having 
 assembled on the ground during the night. 
 
 Manning confessed that his wife shot O'Connor 
 through the head with a pistol, as she walked behind 
 him down the stairs, and he fell almost into his grave, 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 45 
 
 which they had prepared a month previous, under the 
 kitchen floor. 
 
 Maria made no confession, except a fictitious one, 
 and walked forth to the gallows which stood on the 
 roof of the jail, with a firm step and calm expression 
 of countenance, but George turned pale and trembled 
 like a leaf. They shook hands and bade each other 
 an affectionate farewell. While standing under the 
 drop, the sheriff* asked Maria if she had anything fur- 
 ther to disclose, she replied, " Only to thank you much 
 for your kindness, and bid you adieu." 
 
 It must have been a shocking spectacle to witness, 
 and far from beneficial to the moral feelings of the 
 beholders. Two young persons, and one a beautiful 
 woman, standing with halters about their necks — in ^^ 
 full view of an ocean of their neighbors and fellow- 
 beings, ready to fall into eternity reeking with the 
 blood of their unhappy victim. 
 
 In a few moments they were launched forth, and 
 the heart-sick wretches who had come to see the show, 
 ■turned away to their haunts of vice, and homes of ^ 
 wretchedness with more hardened hearts than ever. 
 There were swearing, low jesting, fighting, hurrahing, 
 fainting, laughing, crying, gambling, thieving, and I 
 hear, three persons luere pressed to death by the crowd. 
 
 Yesterday was Thanksgiving day, but not like ours 
 in New England. The shops were all closed, and 
 people went to church to express thanks to the Lord 
 for abating the cholera in England. 
 
 The religion of this country consists of forms and 
 the observance of holy days ; and the nation could not 
 worship the good Father without churches, prayer- 
 books, long robes, feasts, fasts, Sabbaths, &c., &c. 
 
46 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 Our distinguished countryman, Mr. Banvard, pub- 
 lishes a letter in the Times, showing the nmean and 
 dishonest course of a fellow by the name of John 
 Smith, who brought over a panorama of the Missis- 
 sippi to take precedence of Mr. Banvard's, having — 
 as his own correspondence with a friend plainly proves 
 — stolen the idea, and even some of the sketches from 
 Mr. Banvard's magnificent picture, while it was in 
 Boston. 
 
 The Lancashire " Public School Association " is 
 about commencing a spirited winter campaign. Meet- 
 ings have already been held in Manchester and vicinity. 
 Last Wednesday there was a large meeting at the 
 Athenaeum building, attended principally by the oper- 
 ative class. They meet with much opposition from 
 the clergy of the established Church, who have an un- 
 accountable horror for secular schools. In their opinion, 
 even ignorance is preferable to knowledge acquired 
 by such means. At the great meeting in the Manches- 
 ter Town Hall last spring, the regular clergy appeared 
 with most bitter and vehement opposition ; but they 
 seem not to constitute the majority of Lancashire min- 
 isters. At the Wednesday meeting, letters were read 
 from the Hon. Horace Mann, and also from H. Bar- 
 nard, Secretary of the Connecticut Board of Educar 
 tion, by which, the Association were almost convinced 
 that our system of public instruction operates admira- 
 bly, and that even the common people like the institu- 
 tion. 
 
 The country newspapers are full of accounts of 
 bloody affrays between poachers and gamekeepers, 
 robberies, murders, burglaries, etc., far too numerous 
 to mention. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 47 
 
 The deaths in London last week ending Saturday- 
 were 893 — exceeding those of the previous week bv 
 
 Prince Albert's recommended " Exhibition of the 
 Productions of all Nations," is becoming immensely- 
 popular. I hope Brother Jonathan will come over 
 without fail, and exhibit some of his notions. Baby- 
 jumpers, locomotive cradles, and such like, will take to 
 a charm with the prince ; and there will be a great 
 curiosity to see some of the Connecticut clocks and 
 wooden nutmegs. As for natural productions, don't 
 forget to bring a pocket full of acorns from the tree of 
 true democracy for free distribution among the assem- 
 bled nations of Europe ; and also some quills from 
 the American eagle's wings, with which to write 
 Declarations of Independence, charters, protections, 
 passports, etc., in the old world. Those written with 
 gold and silver pens, and Turkey quills, fade ; and the 
 French eagle has been plucked to make the President 
 a plume, except a few tail-feathers ; and the Roman 
 bird has been cooked, feathers and all, for the Pope's 
 dinner, to be served up at the Vatican on the 25th 
 instant. 
 
 A farewell address of the great Kossuth to his coun- 
 try is published this week in the London journals. I 
 t)elieve some portions of it to be interpolations. He is 
 made to say, " My principles are not the principles of 
 Washington^ nor of TellP And in another place, he is 
 represented as bidding an affectionate adieu to the 
 young Prince of Hungary, " whom he would have 
 made king,^^ as it is said. 
 
 The German Reform newspaper says, " The fate of 
 
48 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 the Hungarian refugees is now decided by the media- 
 tion of the American envoy in London. 
 
 Gen. Klapka has obtained a sufficient tract of land 
 in five different parts of the Northern States of our 
 Union, for founding a Hungarian colony. The price 
 of the soil is considered very moderate. 
 
 Ujaza, civil ex-governor of Comorn, was to quit 
 Hamburg on the 15th of this month, accompanied by 
 engineers, for the United States, by the steamship 
 Hermann, to survey and divide the territory into allot- 
 ments for the new settlers, who were to embark the 
 same day with Klapka, in a sailing vessel. 
 
 Haynau, the savage, and his compeer Radetski, go 
 on still in their career of blood and destruction. Of 
 late E-adetski's crimes even surpass those of Haynau. 
 
 At Arad, fifteen more prisoners ha^e been sentenced 
 to death. Their execution is to take place next week. 
 
 The Jews in Italy are being plundered without 
 mercy by the Pope's officials, who lay hold of all the 
 hard cash they can discover. 
 
 The arbitrary course of Louis Bonaparte is said to 
 be rather more popular than was expected, and even 
 well pleasing to the majority of Frenchmen. They 
 like to see the mustachioed Napoleon " show some grit, 
 and let folks know he is more than a cipher." Their 
 weak and disgusting idolatry of the name will be the 
 ruin of the republic. 
 
 A parliamentary club is about to be formed, consist- 
 ing of the personal friends of Louis, among whom 
 there are to be several of his relatives. 
 
 There has been no snow here yet, but the air feels 
 very much like it to-day. November fogs obscure the 
 sun most of the time ; and easterly winds have begun 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 49 
 
 to dispel blue devils from coal stoves and tailors' 
 shops, blowing them into ice-cream saloons and the 
 habitations of the poor. The swallows have taken 
 French leave, and the parks begin to turn pallid at the 
 approach of winter. 
 
 How I want to be in Yankee land at Thanksgiving! 
 There are no such days here, as the Yankee Thanksgiv- 
 ing, Independent, and Election days ; nor can I enter- 
 tain the people by describing them. 
 
 London, Nov. 16, 1849. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Irish affaies. — Anti-State Church Association meeting. 
 
 Financial Reform meeting. — Population of England. — 
 
 Capital punishment ; its bad effects on the masses. 
 
 A freehold land union to be formed. — Cape of Good 
 Hope colonists refuse to receive banished criminals 
 
 FROM England. — Trouble among the Napoleons. 
 
 Democracy in France waning. — The London Times de- 
 rides Kossuth, and is hatefully aristocratic. 
 
 Tranquillity prevails in the metropolis, and there 
 is little of interest to describe, except public meetings. 
 The Irish National Conference was held last Tuesday 
 evening at Music Hall, at which the principal speakers 
 were C. G. Duffy, Feargus O'Connor, John Martin, 
 etc. The following were the first two resolutions 
 adopted, and constituted the principal subjects of dis- 
 cussion : — 
 
 " 1. Resolved, That legislative independence is the 
 clear, eternal, and inalienable right of the country, and 
 5 
 
50 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 that no settlement of the affairs of Ireland can be per- 
 manent until that right is recognized and established. 
 
 " 2. Resolved, That this Association shall be called 
 the Irish Alliance, formed for this end, to take the 
 most prompt and effective measm^es for protection of 
 the lives and interests of the Irish people and the attain- 
 ment of their national rights." 
 
 The Orange Association are taking wonderful pains 
 to publish their indignation against Lord Clarendon, 
 for his opposition to their proceedings. 
 
 On Tuesday evening the Committee of the South 
 London British Anti-State Church Association held a 
 meeting in Sutherland Chapel, Walworth. Their 
 object is to promote the Separation of Church and 
 State. There were present, on the platform, Rev. John 
 Turnbull, A.M., and S. Green, Messrs. Apsley Pellatt, 
 John Scoble, C. T. Jones, Schwaites, Cockshaw, etc. 
 — Secretaries, T. P. Alder and W. Freeman. 
 
 A great Parliamentary and Financial Reform meet- 
 ing took place at Edinburgh last Monday night. 
 There were present Lord Dudley Stewart, George 
 Thompson, M.P., Joseph Hume, etc. One object of 
 the meeting was to consider the question of suffrage. 
 They demand a more equal representation of the 
 British people in the legislative assembly of the na- 
 tion. 
 
 The population of England is 27,000,000. 
 
 The adult population, in 1841, was 5,873,772. 
 
 The House of Commons consists of 658 members, 
 representing probably only about 7-12ths of the peo- 
 ple. 
 
 A great deal of talk has been occasioned by the late 
 execution of the Mannings, and an Anti- Capital Pun- 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 51 
 
 ishment meeting has been held, at which a letter was 
 read from Mr. Cobden, protesting strongly against 
 the death penalty altogether, contending that its 
 effects are wholly injurious to the community, whether 
 administered publicly or within the prison walls. 
 
 Punch has much to say on the subject, and several 
 choice hymns for " Aristocratic Hanging Amateurs," 
 adorn his columns, not to mention his portraits of dis- 
 tinguished members of the same class, who paid sev- 
 eral guineas each, for convenient boxes at the interest- 
 ing exhibition. He says, some, being unable to obtain 
 near views at any price, took advantage of " hopera 
 glasses to see the hagonies of the man and voman being 
 ''angedP 
 
 This is the way one of the bo'hoys describes the 
 scene : — 
 
 " Now thicker flocked the crowd apace, and louder grew the glee, 
 There was little kids a dancin', and fightin' for a spree j 
 But the rarest fun for me and Bill, and all our jolly pals, 
 "Was the squeakin', and squallin', and faintin' of the gals. 
 
 " 'Twas over. Well, a sight like that afore these heyes of mine, 
 I never had — no sort of mill, cock fightin', or canine, 
 Hurrah ! you dogs, for hangin', the feelin's to excite j 
 I could ha throttled Bill almost, that moment, with delight." 
 
 A Freehold Land Union is about being formed at 
 Birmingham, and it has been proposed, at one of their 
 late meetings, to establish a journal to be devoted to 
 the reform, by the title of Freeholder. Richard Cob- 
 den has written a letter to the committee of the asso- 
 ciation, expressing his hearty concurrence in the move- 
 ment, making suggestions in regard to the procedure 
 of the Union, and enclosing £10 for financial purposes. 
 
52 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 The right of suffrage here depends on the unencum- 
 bered possession of forty shillings' worth of Freehold. 
 
 The latest accounts from the Cape of Good Hope 
 exhibit a determined opposition, on the part of the 
 colonists, to receiving any more criminals banished 
 from this country. Such a course seems clearly jus^ 
 tifiable. And the policy of England in respect to the 
 custom of turning over, to dependent colonies, persons 
 deemed unfit for citizens at home, is exceedingly sel- 
 fish, to say the least ; but that is a distinguishing 
 characteristic of John Bull. Any foreign people under 
 his control, may rest assured, that their remonstrances 
 and petitions will never receive much attention, if, 
 indeed, his ineffable haughtiness will allow him to give 
 them a casual perusal. 
 
 There is trouble brewing between the new-fledged 
 Napoleons. Louis has published a decree depriving 
 his cousin, Pierre, of the office of Chef de Bataillon in 
 the 1st regiment of the Foreign Legion, because he 
 disobeyed his general's orders. It seems that Pierre, 
 hearing about the dismissal of the Ministry, and other 
 arbitrary acts of Louis, thought they would occasion a 
 great excitement, and his presence would be required 
 in France, and therefore suddenly left Algeria, even 
 when an engagement was expected with the Arabs, 
 and on his arrival in Paris, refused to give any reason 
 for this course, affirming that, " as a representative of 
 the people, he had a right to judge when it was proper 
 to return, and should render no account to any one." 
 
 The French Government have resolved on the re- 
 moval of several Prefects, and other similar changes, 
 for the benefit of the President ; and monarchical prin- 
 ciples are rapidly supplanting republicanism throughout 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 53 
 
 the nation. There is not intelligence enough among 
 the majority of her people, to support free institutions, 
 and all their noise, quarrelling, and bloodshed will 
 prove but the idle brawls of infatuated factionists. 
 
 Letters from Widdin, of the 4th inst., state that the 
 Hungarian and Polish refugees have been transferred 
 from Widdin to Shumla. 
 
 The Times, being the organ of the aristocracy here, 
 and therefore breathing such a spirit as doubtless 
 pleases that heartless, hateful class, invariably speaks 
 of the noble Hungarian refugees in an ironical manner, 
 and even makes an effort occasionally to deride the 
 democratic manners of that godlike man, M. Kossuth. 
 It frequently denominates those brave patriots " rene- 
 gades," and calls their sojourn in Turkey " captivity on 
 Ottoman soil." 
 
 London, Nov. 23, 1849. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Fog. — Progressive schemes agitated. — M. Pierre Bona- 
 parte. — Kossuth. 
 
 The weather here is of a medium temperature, no 
 snow having yet fallen. I notice carts laden with ice 
 about half an inch in thickness passing along the 
 streets. A fog hangs over us most of the time, so 
 dense as to render lamps indispensable nearly all day, 
 and when Sol does show his face, it looks shamefully 
 red and aristocratic. 
 5* 
 
54 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 The more northern parts of the country, and the 
 north of France, have been visited by snow-storms. 
 
 The Parliamentary Financial Reform movement, 
 the Public School question, the Freehold Land ques- 
 tion, the Church Separation question, and several other 
 progressive schemes, in most of which the leading 
 Nonconformists and Republicans of this kingdom are 
 deeply engaged, engross the public attention at present 
 to the entire exclusion of trivial party politics. Con- 
 siderable praise is awarded to our government, as well 
 as four or five of the Continent, for the liberal changes 
 lately made in the laws of foreign trade. 
 
 The colonial subjects of England are everywhere 
 complaining of uncomfortable and insufferable griev- 
 ances laid on them, or at least permitted to weigh 
 them down, by the mother country. 
 
 And even at home, John Bull is beset and haunted 
 with immense numbers of desperate beggars and starve- 
 lings, which would humble the pride of almost any 
 other robustious periwig-pated fellow upon the empir- 
 ical stage of the world. 
 
 Just draw aside the deceptive curtain of aristocratic 
 pomposity, and inspect the substrata of this oppressed 
 people. The County of Dorset, for example, contain- 
 ing a population of 175,043 souls, has 3,000 convicts 
 in her prisons, being a proportion of one in sixty, or 
 one in every twelve families. 
 
 But how much more pitiful does it appear, when 
 we consider that half of them are driven to the com- 
 mission of crime by honest poverty. 
 
 There is little important news from the Continent. 
 It is thought a change will be made in the French 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 55 
 
 Constitution, to permit of Louis Bonaparte's re-elec- 
 tion to the presidency. 
 
 M. Pierre Bonaparte has given himself up to duel- 
 ling and rowdyism, since his return from Algeria, hav- 
 ing already had half a dozen disgraceful fights with 
 some of the editors and representatives of the people, 
 as unprincipled as himself. 
 
 The Times* " own correspondent " at Vienna, writes 
 Nov. 21st, that Kossuth made a long speech before 
 leaving Widden, to his fellow-emigrants. This writer 
 speaks of his " honeyed " tongue and " his old tricks " in 
 hostile tone, which I forbear to copy. Probably such a 
 spirit suits the Times. He says the Emperor has been 
 received with unexampled enthusiasm at Prague; 
 that on the 19th he visited the theatre, where he was 
 greeted with loud shouts of " Vivat," and the city was 
 to be illuminated in the evening. Would that Ms 
 heart were illuminated and warmed by enlightened 
 principles of liberty and philanthropy. 
 
 The address of Kossuth, above alluded to, is a very 
 pathetic and poetical production, in his own peculiar 
 style. I hope it will not be misconstrued, as was a 
 former speech, by the lovers of monarchical principles. 
 The aristocratic editors here have a wonderful skill in 
 garbling the language of democratic foreigners. 
 
 London, Nov. 30, 1849. 
 
56 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 X. 
 
 WOEKING men's meetings. — POVERTY AND WEAKNESS OF THE 
 BeITISH GOVERNMENT ; HER HAUGHTY BEARING NEVERTHE- 
 LESS. — Wainwright, the author. — Linen factories. — - 
 Ledru Rollin. — Tyranny in France. — Postage. 
 
 The weather here is moderate, but very moist, and 
 the dense vapor in ,the air, renders lamps indispensablo 
 at midday. 
 
 The working men continue their strenuous exertions 
 for more liberal institutions. They are holding fre- 
 quent public meetings, and circulating cheap publica- 
 tions in advocacy of their claims, all over the United 
 Kingdom. Such a movement rejoices the heart of 
 philanthropy. When the meritorious producers of the 
 world shall have obtained their rights, and ascended to 
 their proper position in society, there will be an end to 
 aristocracy and tyranny, England is the most incon- 
 sistent government on the face of the earth. 
 
 She owes the most, and yet is the most extravagant 
 in all her expenditures. She is the fairest on one side 
 of the picture, and the foulest on the other ; her empire 
 is a huge " humbug," with all its legs broken or lame ; 
 her children boast loudest of their freedom, and yet are 
 constantly struggling, writhing, and groaning for more 
 privileges ; her philosophers are half antediluvian, and 
 half transcendental ; it is the same with her statesmen 
 and legislators. She pretends to detest slavery, and 
 yet makes her Church a tool to instil servile sentiments 
 into the popular mind. She is the only government 
 in Europe, except Spain and Portugal, that retains the 
 abominable law of primogeniture, which so unjustly 
 exalts one member of a family above all the rest for 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 57 
 
 the sole purpose of keeping up a false display of gran- 
 deur, " to split the eyes of gaping groundlings." She 
 prides herself on her enlightened state, and yet makes 
 no provision for public instruction, but allows far the 
 largest number of the schools to depend on charity. 
 
 Her most worthy sons die in poverty, while those of 
 the basest profession behold their own monuments 
 arise in magnificence, before their eyes are closed by 
 the bishops or archbishops, who try to pray their souls 
 into Paradise. 
 
 Ebenezer Elliot, the corn-law bard, and the people's 
 good friend, has departed from the stage of life, leaving 
 behind, in the scene of his glorious misery, a widow, 
 five sons, and three daughters. 
 
 Wainwright, once a literary lion of London, has 
 lately died in obscurity and misery. From literature 
 he turned his attention to forgery, if the decision of a 
 court can be taken as credible proof; and since quitting 
 that profession, he has painted respectable portraits. 
 Many old friends, and among them Proctor, (" Barry 
 Cornwall"), the author of several good poetical works, 
 never forsook him. They say his last exclamations 
 were very indecorous towards sacred doctrines and 
 solemn warnings. 
 
 In Ireland, Mr. Dargan has been giving an impetus 
 to the business of linen manufactures, and the growing 
 of flax — a plant seemingly indigenous to that island. 
 Mr. D. is the celebrated railway propagator. Fifty -two 
 linen factories are now in operation in that country ; 
 though in 1828 it was only a rural employment. The 
 Irish exports of the manufacture reach .£4,000,000 
 in value, per annum. 
 
 Ledru RoUin, who is residing in this city, with many 
 
58 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 of his partisans, has written a history of the insurrec- 
 tion last year, entitled, " The Thirteenth June," which 
 has been published at Paris. The French government 
 are trying to suppress the work, and have already seized 
 15,000 copies, and arrested the publishers. 
 
 One of the insurgents of June, 1848, to whom an 
 amnesty was granted, landing at Havre, exclaimed, in 
 the spirit of old Galileo, notwithstanding the remon- 
 strances of M. Victor Toucher and others, ",Long 
 live the Republic, democratic and socialistic ! " for 
 which he was hurried aboard the same vessel that 
 brought him away from the prison of Brest, and sent 
 back. 
 
 The Postmaster General of England informs the 
 people again, that each newspaper to be sent to the 
 United States must be prepaid, the postage being one 
 penny. None but stamped papers can go by mail 
 except as letters. 
 
 London, Dec. 7, 1849. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Funeral of Queen Adelaide. — Public school association. 
 — Illiteeateness of the people of England in compar- 
 ison TO OTHER countries. — FRANCE. — ViENNA. — ThE 
 
 Czar meditates war against Turkey. 
 
 The past week has been much the coldest of the 
 season, and it is pitiful to see the poor wretches of this 
 magnificent city shivering about the streets half naked, 
 many without shoes or any sort of covering for their 
 feet. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 
 
 59 
 
 The funeral obsequies of the late excellent Queen 
 Adelaide, Dowager, of William IV., were celebrated 
 yesterday, Dec. 13. A very great procession followed 
 her remains to Windsor Castle, where they were de- 
 posited. She was an amiable, kind-hearted woman, 
 and bore her honors with modesty and remarkable 
 propriety. According to her request, very little osten- 
 tation appeared at the funeral, and no embalming of 
 the body. 
 
 A great and enthusiastic meeting of the Lancashire 
 Public School Association was held last Sunday even- 
 ing at Manchester — chair occupied by Alexander 
 Henry, Esq., M.P., for the southern division of Lan- 
 caster County. Some of the gentlemen on the plat- 
 form were the Rt. Hon. Thos. Milner Gibson, M.P., 
 W. J. Fox, Esq., M.P., James Simpson, Esq., of 
 Edinburgh, Samuel Lucas, Esq., Thos. Bayley, Esq., 
 Geo. Wilson, Esq., and many others who had attended 
 the Conference held in the morning on the plan of the 
 Lancashire School "Association. 
 
 Letters were read from William Ewart and Thomas 
 Carlyle, stating their regret that indisposition should 
 prevent their attendance ; for the movement had their 
 hearty concurrence and sympathy. 
 
 Mr. Carlyle said this seemed to him the most legiti- 
 mate and necessary of all the public questions that 
 had been in agitation for a long time. He said the 
 course the government was pursuing in regard to pub- 
 lic instruction, was nothing less than a defiance of 
 Omnipotent Power, and the penalty would assuredly 
 follow. He said the worst plan ever proposed by the 
 friends of popular education, was infinitely better than 
 the " leave alone plan of ours hitherto." 
 
60 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 There were from 5,000 to 6,000 persons in attend- 
 ance. The Chairman said in his brief address, that 
 their only opposition came from those who set their 
 own peculiar dogmas of faith above the sublime de- 
 velopment of human understanding, without which 
 man is little above the brute creation. The Estab- 
 lished Church opposed the movement, for the same 
 reason they would oppose any system of instruction, 
 of which they were not to be the head and directors. 
 The Catholics and many other Dissenters opposed 
 it, because their own theological opinions would 
 not be the sole doctrines inculcated, deeming the man- 
 ufacture of proselytes paramount to that of enlighten- 
 ing the nation. He said this country's policy, in respect 
 to education, was below that of any European country, 
 and immeasurably short of that of the United States. 
 
 Mr. Gibson said the government deserved much 
 praise for the favor it had shown the Sunday School 
 system, but the people were still poorly supplied with 
 facilities for acquiring knowledge. He stated that the 
 parish registers showed one-half of all the women, and 
 one-third of all the men married in England, unable to 
 write their names. Probably nearly as many are unable 
 to read. I would ask the haughty churchmen, in the 
 name of common sense, how much good they can 
 expect their sublime and mysterious religious teachings 
 are likely to do such barbarians. But we must bear 
 in mind, British religion has little to do with reason. 
 
 Mr. Gibson said he could state from experience that 
 the clergy were losing their influence at the University 
 of Cambridge. Attendance at chapels there was used 
 as a punishment for young students guilty of little 
 irregularities, that happened quite often. But they could 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 61 
 
 pay the penalty in attendance by proxy^ which was 
 frequently done. 
 
 Mr. Fox, in his speech, stated the proportion of 
 scholars to the whole population to be as follows in 
 several countries ; viz., in Scotland, part of Holland 
 and Bavaria, 1 in 8 ; Denmark and Norway, 1 in 7 ; 
 Friesland, Overeissel, and most of the Swiss Cantons, 
 1 in 6 ; Massachusetts, 1 in 6 ; Saxony, 1 in 5 ; Berne, 
 1 in 4 ; England, according to the common estimate, 1 
 in 13 ; and the most sanguine estimate, that of Baines, 
 was 1 in 8 1-2. In some localities, the proportionis much 
 less ; for instance, in Middlesex, 1 in 19 1-2 ; in the dio- 
 cese of Chester, 1 in 20 ; and in Blackfriarsford, 1 in 36. 
 In Massachusetts, 1 in 166 is unable to read ; in New 
 Hampshire, 1 in 310 ; in Vermont, 1 in 473 ; in Con 
 necticut, 1 in 568 ; in great and illustrious England^ 1 
 man in 3 and 1 woman in 2, .have to make their marks 
 when they get married. I believe the usual sign is the 
 cross ; probably recommended by the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury. How large a proportion of the British 
 provincials can read and write, judging from the con- 
 dition of the parent realm ? Massachusetts would 
 doubtless appear in a very different light, compared 
 with the other States of New England, were there as 
 small a proportion of foreigners in this Commonwealth 
 as in the other States. 
 
 According to the French papers, the festival given 
 by the city of Paris in honor of the President, on the 
 anniversary of his election, was a splendid affair, and 
 conducted with wonderful propriety. 
 
 The editor of the Travail, of Dijon, has been fined 
 IjOOOf. and sent to prison for one year, for insulting 
 Louis Napoleon. 
 6 
 
62 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 At Vienna, considerable agitation was occasioned on 
 the 9th inst, in consequence of the suspension of seven 
 public journals by the government of that city. 
 
 The difficulties between Russia and Turkey seem 
 to be as far from a settlement as ever. Nicholas is 
 thought, by some, to be endeavoring to keep the ques- 
 tion in suspense till spring, and then invade Turkey 
 with all his prepared forces. 
 
 London, Dec. 14, 1849. 
 
 xn. 
 
 Canada. — Taxes occasioned by war. — Chartist prisoners. 
 David Garrick's letters. — Ages of criminals. — CmNA ; 
 ITS population, etc. — The Times and Kossuth. — First 
 SNOW. — Turkey. — Ungodly aristocrats supported by 
 the Times newspaper. — Bell's Life in London. 
 
 Great preparations are being made here for Christ- 
 mas. It is celebrated in the old Catholic manner, with 
 feasting and amusements. 
 
 The liberal journals are highly gratified at the tran- 
 quillity of the public mind in America on the subject 
 of Canadian annexation. 
 
 The News^ in speaking of the evils that would result 
 from a war, quotes the language of Henry Brougham, 
 the " thunderbolt of eloquence," not a relation to the 
 present Lord Brougham, the Tory. 
 
 He says this nation is qualified by experience to 
 inform Jonathan what are the inevitable consequences 
 of being too fond of glory : " Taxes on everything 
 pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste ; taxes upon 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 63 
 
 light and locomotion ; taxes on the poor man's salt 
 and the rich man's spice ; at bed or at board, couchant 
 or levant, we must pay. The youth manages his taxed 
 horse with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road. When a 
 man makes his will, he must pay ^8, that is, about 
 $40, for the stamped paper on which it is written. 
 Then, being helped out of worldly troubles and taxa- 
 tions by an apothecary, who had to pay <£100 tax for 
 a license, his whole property is taxed two per cent, 
 besides large probate fees for laying his body in the 
 chancel, where he may rest with his fathers, and be 
 taxed no more." 
 
 Last Wednesday three Chartist prisoners, convicted 
 at the Old Bailey in 1848, were liberated by order of 
 the Secretary of State for the Home Department. 
 They had been incarcerated fourteen months. Their 
 names are Wm. Poole, Thos. Irons, and Thos. Her- 
 bert. 
 
 The Winston collection of autographs, letters, and 
 MSS., was sold at auction last week. There were 
 many letters of David Garrick, one of which was writ- 
 ten by him on his first appearance in London. He 
 says : " My mind has always been inclined to the 
 stage. . . . Last night I played Richard IH., to 
 the surprise of everybody, and I shall make very near 
 X300 per annum by it, and as it is really what I doat 
 upon, I am resolved to pursue it." 
 
 A party of Hungarian refugees left Leith in Scot- 
 land of late, en route for Glasgow, from whence they 
 are going to New York. The people of Leith and 
 vicinity gave them money by subscriptions, sufficient 
 to pay their fare over, and have ^150 left on their 
 arrival. The Directors of the Caledonian Railway 
 
64 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 carried them free of charge. The communication 
 between London and Paris has become so good that 
 papers printed here in the morning, have reached that 
 city, by the way of Folkenstone and Boulogne, at 
 1 1-2 o'clock P.M. the same day. 
 
 The French government have abolished passports, 
 so that we can go over now without the trouble and 
 detention which formerly attended the journey. 
 
 M. Ch. Giraud, of France, has collected from the 
 archives of public justice there, the following items: — 
 
 The gross number of persons accused of crimes 
 before courts in 1847, was 8,704, of whom 1,463 were 
 under 21 years of age. Of these, 837 could neither 
 read nor write ; 496 could do so but imperfectly ; 119 
 well ; only 11 had received a good education. 
 
 The corresponding numbers of those from 21 to 
 24 years, were 4,868 ; neither read nor write, 2,648 ; 
 but imperfectly, 1,508 ; well, 620 ; had received a good 
 education, only 92. Of those aged 24 and upwards, 
 these were the numbers : 5,373 — 3,313 — 703 — 298 
 — 53. Thus correspond the proportions of all : 8,704 
 accused, 4,798 barbarous, 2,707 half-civilized, 1,037 
 civilized, 126 enlightened. 
 
 At a recent meeting of the Statistical Society, Gutz- 
 lafF, the Chinese traveller, who acts as interpreter to 
 several English merchants there, made some interest- 
 ing statements relative to the Celestial Empire. He 
 said the area of China Proper measures 1,298,000 
 square miles ; the population 367,000,000. The fami- 
 lies are divided, according to King Alfred's manner, 
 into tens, hundreds, and thousands. 
 
 The Times' Vienna correspondent has been brought 
 out, of late, and you can now plainly see his cloven 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 65 
 
 foot, horns and all. One of Kossuth's aides-de-camp 
 sent him a letter, protesting against his unmanly mis- 
 representations, which the calumniator answered, by- 
 making many foul charges against Kossuth himself. 
 He charges him with gambling, cheating poor orphans 
 out of money they put in his hands, lying, and all sorts 
 of crimes. He is a sprig of the noble aristocracy. 
 
 The first snow I have seen in London, is now flying 
 in the air, and the children are all in ecstasies at the 
 rare sight. Some are on the roofs of the houses, and 
 the windows look like so many inimitable pictures 
 from the artist's pencil, being thronged with little rosy 
 faces spangled with starry eyes, and sweetly decked 
 with smiles. 
 
 Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Russia 
 are still suspended. The ministers of Nicholas and 
 Austria continue their complaints to the Porte, as 
 haughtily as ever. Remarkable activity is observed in 
 the Russian dockyards of the Black Sea. 
 
 The Turko-Russian difficulty is far from a settle- 
 ment. Should a war break out between these nations, 
 as there is much probability now, it will bring ruin 
 upon the Turkish empire in Europe. The Christian 
 rulers of the more liberal nations will not espouse the 
 cause of the Mahometan Sultan with sufficient zeal to 
 withstand Russia and Austria, together with their 
 allies. The Greeks are supposed to be enemies to the 
 Turks, and in fact they have few friends to be depended 
 upon in the day of trial. England will not help them, 
 except out of a selfish motive. She is somewhat 
 desirous of retaining the favor of Turkey, on account 
 of her commerce with that nation, and through them, 
 with Persia. 
 
 6* 
 
66 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 What, then, have the friends of freedom to hope from 
 ungodly aristocrats ? They will only fight for domin- 
 ion and their own aggrandizement. 
 
 The Hungarians are to be taxed to pay their op- 
 pressors for crushing them down. The Times' corre- 
 spondent calls this nothing more than "fair play 
 towards the lazy, indolent, sauntering peasantry." But 
 he says he hopes they will deal tenderly with the 
 landed proprietors for a couple of years to come, on 
 account of the general confusion and distress. 
 
 Isn't he a compassionate soul ? Behold a sprig of 
 aristocracy ! Isn't it lovely ? 
 
 The British fleet lies at Bresika Bay. I am fain to 
 mention the British sports about coming off. Look 
 into BelPs Life in London, if you feel disposed to like 
 English hilarity. You wont need any more of Brand- 
 reth's pills, after digesting the news items of that jour- 
 nal of the gentry. Horse-racing, bully-fighting, walk- 
 ing-matches, rabbit-hunts, boat-racing, rooster-contests, 
 and a hundred other polite amusements are therein 
 delightfully portrayed. 
 
 Stakes taken at the celebrated London betting offices. 
 
 London, Dec. 21, 1849. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 67 
 
 xm. 
 
 Christmas jubilee. — British encroachihents in xndia.— 
 Cold weather and suffering in London. — Cobden on 
 the colonial question. — The Czar. — Louis Napoleon's 
 DEBTS. — The Socialists are oppressed by his police. — 
 Vernon, the Chartist leader. — Democrats or Prussia. 
 — Emperor op Hayti. 
 
 Christmas has passed with all its accustomed pleas- 
 ures. For several days before the 25th, the show 
 windows throughout the city glittered with beauty, 
 and green foliage adorned every shop. When the day 
 came, all places of business were closed except drink- 
 ing-houses, and they seemed thronged. At night they 
 roared with crazy glee. Men, women, and children, 
 were staggering about, alternately crying, fighting, and 
 laughing. 
 
 The poor beggars looked portly, but got more pots 
 of ale than pounds of beef. 
 
 " Ivy, holly, and mistletoe, 
 Give me a penny before I go." 
 
 This was their song. Many carried their arms full 
 of small printed sheets, containing songs and facetious 
 stories, chanting the verses as they went, and offering 
 their wares for sale. 
 
 The night before Christmas was enlivened with 
 numerous bands of serenaders, who sang sacred songs ; 
 but their tunes were very lively. The instrumental 
 music was fine. 
 
 Social gatherings were the order of the day, and 
 every family circle was joyous ; for they made it a 
 point to be merry. The theatres were crowded, as 
 
68 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 well as all places of amusement. Every social board 
 was occupied by red, white, black, and blue spirits. 
 Balls were rife at night, both in high and medium 
 circles. I think no Christian nation makes more 
 account of Christmas than this. 
 
 The Chiefs of India are becoming indignant at the 
 treatment they receive from this government, and are 
 uniting to oppose its unjust encroachment upon their 
 dominions. They are said to be slow to wrath, but 
 hard to appease when thoroughly aroused ; and serious 
 difficulty may grow out of British indifference to their 
 complainings. 
 
 This is the coldest day we have had. The streets 
 are spread with a thin carpet of snow, and the wind 
 stings like a swarm -of enraged gnats. I just came 
 past a cruel scene. A mother and four little children 
 in rags, hovering under the lee of a great house. I 
 hear them this moment crying bitterly with the cold. 
 
 Several meetings have lately been held in different 
 towns of the kingdom for the purpose of greeting 
 E-ichard Cobden, and expressing to him their thanks 
 for his former efforts in the cause of reform, and also 
 to stimulate him to march boldly forward in the noble 
 campaigns upon which he and his coadjutors have 
 recently entered. He has made some elaborate and 
 eloquent speeches on these occasions, which are to be 
 published in a convenient form. His stock of political 
 knowledge seems as inexhaustible as the water of a 
 lake whose inlets are much larger than its outlets. 
 
 Mr. Cobden thinks England should permit her colo- 
 nies to act their own pleasure in regard to remaining 
 longer under the sway of the mother country. He 
 says the Canadas are not profitable provinces, which is 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 69 
 
 well known both to this nation and the United States. 
 But it is quite certain British America would assume 
 a brightening aspect under our free government. 
 
 A great insurrection has broken out in Servia, a 
 province of Austria, near the Turkish border. It 
 may be the beginning of another war like the late one 
 in Hungary. I am inclined to the opinion that hostil- 
 ities will soon commence between Turkey and Russia, 
 in which the Servians, Sclavonians, Hungarians, Poles, 
 and several neighboring nations will take part. 
 
 The Times is coming round with accelerated velocity 
 to the support of the Bear. It begins to see virtue in 
 the Czar and his government. He has lately reduced 
 the tariff on some English articles accustomed to be 
 sent to his empire for sale. 
 
 Louis Napoleon, President of France, is said to be 
 making preparations to pay his debts. His cousin, the 
 Duke of Leutchtenburg, has loaned him £100,000 
 sterling. 
 
 Fifty thousand soldiers were lately paraded through 
 the streets of Paris for the amusement, it is presumed, 
 of the children. Something must be done to keep 
 them quiet. It is confidently expected that something 
 or other will take place in that funny country during 
 Louis Napoleon's two years' administration to come. 
 
 The Socialists are much perplexed by the police. 
 Their banquets, and all other public meetings, are 
 broken up as soon as discovered. Still they persevere 
 in their course, and continue to threaten another revo- 
 lution. 
 
 A bill lately passed the National Assembly, remov- 
 ing the tax on liquors, but the President vetoed it. 
 French liquors may be very unlike American rum and 
 
70 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 whiskey ; nevertheless I should think they were the 
 most proper articles in the country to be taxed, because 
 they are not generally useful or necessary for the com- 
 fort of the people. 
 
 Six Spanish naval officers have lately been sent to 
 L' Orient, France, by their government, to study naval 
 architecture. 
 
 In Prussia, the democrats, particularly in Silesia, 
 have resolved not to take any part in the elections for 
 the forthcoming sham parliament at Erfurt. A bill 
 has passed the legislative assembly, reducing the post- 
 age on letters. After January 1, 1850, a letter weigh- 
 ing only half an ounce, can be sent forty-eight miles, 
 for a silver groschen (12 1-2 cts.) ; one weighing an 
 ounce is to be charged double that sum. 
 
 The Rothschilds have lent Spain X 50,000, on secu- 
 rity of the future produce of the mines of Almaden. 
 The sum is borrowed to pay their half-year's dividend 
 in the three per cents in London and Paris. 
 
 We are informed that the renowned Bombastes, 
 Emperor of all the Haytiens, has declared vengeance 
 against his internal foes, and unsheathed his glittering 
 sword. He has issued a proclamation, denouncing the 
 " Insurgents of the East," who, he says, have filled the 
 measure of their iniquity by piracy and plunder within 
 his dominions. 
 
 A great number of suicides, murders, and other 
 crimes are recorded by the papers, but it is not well to 
 dwell on such things. I forbear to recount them. 
 
 London, Dec. 25, 1849. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 71 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The geeat exhibition of 1851 peomoted by Victoeia. — 
 Meeting of Ieishmen. — Beight's eemaeks on Ieeland. 
 — The cotton teade and manufactuee. — The steuggling 
 PEOPLE. — Child staeved to death. — Hee Majesty's 
 supeeb ceadle. — Vienna. — Manufactuees of India. — 
 
 CiDEE. 
 
 The Queen has issued a commission for the pro- 
 motion of the " Exhibition of the Works of Industry 
 of all Nations, to be holden in the year 1851." Many 
 of the leading men in the country are appointed to 
 make inquiry into the best mode by which the produc- 
 tions of the British colonies and of foreign countries 
 may be introduced into the kingdom ; respecting the 
 most suitable site for the Exhibition ; also for deter- 
 mining the nature of the prizes and their distribution. 
 
 Last night a very crowded and enthusiastic meeting 
 of Irishmen was held at Manchester, to present an 
 address of thanks to Mr. Bright, for the honest and 
 direct manner in which he had laid the wrongs of the 
 people of Ireland before the people of England, at the 
 late meeting in Free-Trade Hall. Mr. Bright has 
 lately returned from a tour in Ireland. He states that 
 nearly four millions of acres in that despised and neg- 
 lected island are only producing four shillings an acre, 
 while the same soil might be made to yield £6 per 
 acre. He said, " the landlords were detested for their 
 extortion, and the people were leaving their homes. 
 The exports of Ireland. were in men. And they were 
 going, not to found new colonies, but to cherish a 
 never-dying hatred towards England. Only 150 years 
 ago William Penn and the Pilgrims founded the 
 
72 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 colony of Pennsylvania, and there all was prosperous 
 and happy. Ireland, under the same treatment, would 
 have been in the same condition." He said, he " would 
 restrict the tying up of landed property beyond the 
 lives of those who were alive at the time of the death 
 of the proprietor, and where a man died intestate, 
 instead of allowing the eldest son to seize upon the 
 whole to the exclusion of the other children, he would 
 have the property equally divided among all the chil- 
 dren." 
 
 Very beneficial effects are said to have resulted, 
 during the past year, from the more liberal policy as 
 regards the cotton trade and manufactures of this 
 country. By a review of the exports as compared with 
 those of 1848, it is found that an increased demand 
 has been made for the highly finished goods of Man- 
 chester, especially from the United States, Mexico, the 
 Brazils, and Italy. The steamship Europa arrived at 
 Liverpool on Sunday, Dec. 30, having left Boston on 
 the 19th, and Halifax on the 21st. The perseverance 
 of the contending parties in our Congress, is scarcely 
 noticed by the English journals ; it not being consid- 
 ered dangerous to the cause of impartial freedom, or to 
 the welfare of the republic. In any other republic, 
 however, war, and the ruin of the government, would 
 be expected immediately to ensue. 
 
 The late published free constitution of California, 
 calls forth unbounded praise from all the friends of 
 liberty in Europe. Such documents are intensely 
 interesting to the struggling people of these old despot- 
 isms. They show how men can make good laws for 
 themselves, without the aid of anointed tyrants. That 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 73 
 
 constitution will be printed in every language of Eu- 
 rope, except the Russian. 
 
 I am daily made conscious of the vast influence our 
 national institutions are exerting over the politics of 
 the Old World. 
 
 The noble reformers of England are constantly 
 pointing to Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and New 
 England, for examples of glorious popular independ- 
 ence, free schools, universal franchise, impartial justice, 
 the equality of honest men without regard to wealth or 
 lineage, and the unprecedented prosperity of the people 
 amid such institutions. 
 
 A few days since Mrs. Elizabeth Biggs died of star- 
 vation in Southampton. The physician being called 
 in, found the poor woman on a bed of chaff unable to 
 speak. Food was offered her, but it was too late ; she 
 could not swallow it. A little child two years of age, 
 was with her, and Mrs. B. was far advanced in preg- 
 nancy. A jury of inquest has pronounced a verdict of 
 manslaughter against the officer, whose duty it was to 
 help her into the workhouse. A man died of starva- 
 tion and cold, in Gray's Inn Lane, London, this week. 
 
 Her Majesty, Victoria, is having a magnificent 
 cradle made for her coming child. The sides, which 
 are finished, are carved in the choicest box, the diffi- 
 culty of procuring which wood, has been one of the 
 causes for the delay attending the work. " In the upper 
 portion are friezes in relief, having an alternate intro- 
 duction of roses and poppies, designed and executed 
 with the purest feeling of Italian taste. Beneath them 
 is a bold torus moulding with pinks inserted in fluted 
 hollows. The interiors of the rockers are ornamented 
 with foliated dolphins, and even the fiat edges of the 
 7 
 
74 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 feet are elaborately carved into scroll work." Mr. 
 Rogers, the artist, is expected to gain great fame by 
 this splendid sample of the carving art. 
 
 A writer from Vienna, under date of Dec. 29, says 
 he is assured the attempt to prepare the Croatians for 
 the reception of the March Constitution, has excited 
 disturbances of a serious character in that province. 
 The clergy were commissioned by the government, to 
 set forth from their pulpits, the great advantages which 
 would accrue to the peasantry from the abolition of 
 rohot^ or feudal service, and other excellences in the 
 new charter. Their sermons were anything but well 
 received. In upwards of thirty places riots have taken 
 place, and three of the priests have been hanged. Six 
 battalions were sent from Agram, to reduce the dis- 
 turbed districts to obedience ; and, in many places, 
 conflicts ensued between the military and the people. 
 Some of the peasants have been hanged. He says he 
 had not obtained any further information respecting 
 the movement in Servia. It is exceedingly difficult to 
 ascertain the state of those distant countries on the 
 Turkish frontier. 
 
 The Overland Mail from India brings dates to Dec. 
 3, from Bombay, and Nov. 24th, from Calcutta. The 
 news is unimportant. Wars and rumors of war^, 
 which have, till within six months, constituted the 
 interesting tidings from that part of the world, are no 
 longer rife there. 
 
 Preparations are being made at Bombay, for furnish- 
 ing contributions to the great Exhibition of 1851, before 
 mentioned. 
 
 The most remarkable manufactures in Western In- 
 dia, are silks and damasks, black wood furniture, and 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 75 
 
 open carved work, inlaid work of ivory, colored woods 
 and metal, lapidary work, especially in agates, jaspers, 
 and cornelians ; silver work, arms, bows, arrows, swords, 
 shields, and matchlocks. 
 
 Vernon, the Chartist leader, who was sentenced in 
 June, 1848, to two years' imprisonment, has been par- 
 doned and released. 
 
 A steam engine on the North Kent line. Tan away a 
 few days ago, and came to the London terminus, a 
 long distance, without the slightest accident or injury. 
 The fire and water had been replenished just before it 
 started. It darted by the stations with such velocity, 
 that no one who looked on, remembered whether the 
 engine or coke carriage came past first ; or whether 
 any man stood upon it. I believe the prevention 
 of accidents was owing to the telegraph despatches 
 sent ahead. 
 
 A vessel lately arrived from New York, has brought 
 some barrels of cider, consigned as a portion of her 
 cargo. This is a very remarkable and unusual impor- 
 tation from the United States at this season of the 
 year. 
 
 An association has been formed in this city, to pro- 
 mote the practice of decomposing dead bodies by 
 means of fire. The members propose to burn, with 
 becoming solemnity, such of their dead as shall have 
 left their remains at the disposal of the association. 
 The entrance fee is one shilling. 
 
 London, Jan. 4, 1850. 
 
76 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 XV. 
 
 Female emigeation. — President Taylor's message. — The 
 French President. — Russia. — Curious discovery. — "A 
 seamstress for sale" in our democratic country. — 
 Shameful. 
 
 The emigration of unmarried young females to the 
 
 British Colonies in Australia and New Zealand, is quite 
 a favorite topic here at present. It is asserted that the 
 ^irls are in ecstacies at the prospect of embarking from 
 the chilling climate and solitude of Maidenhood, for 
 those sunny regions. There is a great deal of specu- 
 lation about the most proper kind to take, how to 
 choose them, and how to distribute them. Some think, 
 in accordance with the request of the colonists, none 
 but large, tall, rosy-cheeked ones should be accepted 
 Others say that kind are apt to be shrews and idlers, 
 and they propose neat, tidy, needle-women, no matter 
 
 ^ if they look delicate. Some declare for a free emigra- 
 tion, hoping thereby to relieve the city of the numerous 
 fancy population. It is said poverty extinguishes their 
 natural love of honor, and after great efforts to preserve 
 it, at length they give up, and struggle merely to keep 
 soul and body together. The Yankee girls will hardly 
 comprehend such a state of society as this. 
 
 It is confessed here, that the condition of women in 
 
 ^ the United States is far more elevated than in any 
 country of the Old World. They deem it unaccount- 
 able, that men should choose their wives without regard 
 to their inheritance and family distinction. The ugli- 
 est, drunken hag in Europe would not lack suitors, if 
 she had a rich father. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 77 
 
 Several meetings of the friends of temperance have 
 lately been held in Exeter Hall, Strand. The laboring 
 class are the principle supporters of the unpopular 
 cause. They have not yet, as in our country, suc- 
 ceeded in bringing over to their aid, the lovers of fame 
 and old wine. This is a cause in v^hich hypocrites 
 are soon betrayed ; therefore the pot-bellied class keep 
 in the background. 
 
 For the week ending last Saturday, there occurred 
 1.133 deaths in this city, and 1,542 births. This is an 
 average return, showing the state of life and death here. 
 
 The mean elevation of the barometer at Greenwich 
 during last week, was 29,867 in. ; and that of the ther- 
 mometer, 35 deg. 
 
 The weather is now mild and damp ; there is no 
 snow on the ground. 
 
 The steamship Hibernia arrived at Liverpool last 
 "Wednesday, bringing our President's Message. As a 
 literary production, the document is highly praised for 
 clearness and strength of style. The friendly spirit, 
 which it breathes, meets the warmest approbation of 
 all parties on this side the Atlantic ; but not so the 
 protective principles it seems to favor. The Democrats 
 are delighted with Taylor's manly simplicity, and 
 business-like go-aheadativeness. I must confess my 
 heart bounded up with patriotic pride, at the sight of 
 this truly republican Message, given complete, in such 
 old time-serving papers as the Times, and many other 
 European journals of the same aristocratic spirit. 
 
 How beautiful it appears beside the edicts, decrees, 
 bulls, and other pompous, disgusting proclamations, of 
 these self-sufficient monarchs and tyrants who vainly 
 endeavor to augment their importance, and swell 
 
78 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 out their diminutive souls by large sounding titles pre- 
 fixed and annexed to their extensive names. 
 
 The President of France is said to be ail the fashion 
 of late. Persons of all parties are paying their ad- 
 dresses to him at the Ely see. 
 
 The President has conferred the decoration of the 
 Legion of Honor upon twenty naval surgeons, as a 
 recompense for their exertions during the cholera, at 
 the various naval ports. As if titles were a recom- 
 pense for noble deeds ! 
 
 The Commissary of Police at Lyons, a few days 
 since, made a seizure at the house of M. Faucon, a 
 tailor of that city, of a clandestine library, composed 
 of from 8,000 to 10,000 works on Communism and 
 Socialism. 
 
 In Paris lately, great numbers of Socialist almanacs 
 were seized, from the various booksellers. There 
 must be a remarkable kind of freedom of the press in 
 the New Republic. 
 
 A curious discovery has been made at the village of 
 Ormoy (Oise). In a rocky field, a vault was opened 
 beneath a large stone, containing two skeletons com- 
 pletely cased in bronze armor, with conical helmets 
 and round bucklers. The latter were ornamented in 
 the centre with a knob incrusted with silver. The 
 quivers and lances of bronze were perfect. Several 
 vases were in the vault, one of which contained a thin 
 leaf of gold inscribed with 150 characters, exactly 
 resembling those on Celtiberian medals. 
 
 Italy is in a very unsettled state. A short time since 
 the druggists' shops in all the principal towns of Ro- 
 magna, were simultaneously broken open, and all the 
 poison they contained was carried off, nothing else 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 79 
 
 being disturbed. There was enough of it to kill all 
 the inhabitants of the pontifical States. 
 
 Russia refuses to renew commercial relations with 
 the Porte. Nicholas cannot swallow the insolent in- 
 tervention of England, and declares the insult must be 
 entirely erased, before he will resume his former posi- 
 tion towards Turkey. 
 
 I see in every paper an article headed ^' Land of 
 Liberty." A seamstress for sale ! And then follows 
 an account of a colored girl of very superior qualifica- 
 tions, who is now in Mr. Hall's jail in Norfolk, Va., 
 waiting to be purchased. She is described as being a 
 fine-looking girl, remarkably neat in her person, and 
 rather accomplished. Have you heard of the case ? 
 It looks rather mortifying to a Yankee here. 
 
 London, Jan. 11, 1850. ^ 
 
 XYL 
 
 Sufferings of laboreiis. — Tpiey are flogged in Kent. — 
 Greeks flogged by Sir H. Ward, British High Com- 
 missioner. — Public Education in France. — The Social- 
 ists. — Jenny Lind. — Conspiracy in Russia. 
 
 The weather has been quite changeable of late, for 
 this climate. Three or four light snows have fallen, 
 but disappeared the next or the third day. I perceive 
 much suffering in the streets, too shocking to describe. 
 The population, who depend on physical labor for food 
 and clothing, are awfully oppressed, as well as slighted 
 and despised. Young persons come here from the 
 country towns expecting to find immediate employ- 
 
80 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 ment. After begging and praying a long time for the 
 privilege to toil, perhaps they meet with some vile 
 sponger, who pretends to befriend them, but only to 
 cheat, and rob them of what they possess, and then 
 turn them off penniless, under pretence that they 
 " wouldn't suit." The Morning- Chronicle is publish- 
 ing some accounts of these outrageous proceedings. 
 
 Property rules everything, morals and immorals, 
 religion and law. Hundreds in this vast city, roam 
 about the streets day and night, without a place to sit, 
 stand, or lie. If they creep into a doorway or any cor- 
 ner, to avoid the stinging blast, the police directly rout 
 them ; if they ask charity, the person petitioned growls 
 at them, and calls them idle vagabonds ; if they beg 
 for employment, the overbearing " Master " insolently 
 demands, " Who are you ? what recommendations 
 have you ? what do you know ? where did you come 
 from ? No, no, I don't want you. You look too 
 weak and pale. I want stout, iron-framed fellows." 
 But if, perchance, the applicant is able to answer every 
 such inquiry satisfactorily, and looks robust, the master 
 takes him, thinking it, still, a great act of benevolence, 
 and lets his " servant " toil early and late without 
 praise, honor, or reward, except just enough coarse fare 
 to keep soul and body together. This is a true pic- 
 ture of the condition of working men in England. 
 They are not respected. They are not educated, like 
 other people. They seem thoroughly impressed with 
 the idea, that merchants, lords, parsons, lawyers, and 
 doctors, whether men of sense or blockheads, are a 
 higher order of beings than themselves, and objects of 
 their veneration. Some, to be sure, possess self-respect. 
 Such ijien were the Chartists ; but they are scarce. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 81 
 
 I just observed a pamphlet in one of the show win- 
 dows, called the " Working Man's Friend," the leading 
 article of which is entitled, " The Working Man ; his 
 behavior and conduct^ How dignified ! 
 
 A host of wretched creatures fill up the jails and 
 prisons, whose crimes were alone caused by want. I 
 do hope this state of society may never exist in our 
 country. It is half as bad as slavery. In fact the 
 slaves of America enjoy many more physical comforts 
 than the common laborers of England, and we must 
 never refer to this class as the representatives of free 
 labor, or to this country, as the home of popular liberty, 
 ftee principles, or free soil. 
 
 The Hon. John Cleave, a distinguished leader of the 
 Chartists, expired to-day in this city. His disease was 
 bronchitis. Since the suppression of the grand Chartist 
 movement, his circumstances have become embar- 
 rassed, and misfortune probably hastened his dissolu- 
 tion. 
 
 Many sons of Britain have recently been flogged in 
 West Kent, by order of Earl Romney, for stealing 
 bread. The News thinks he is attempting to revive 
 the old flogging custom. Very likely, from the fore- 
 going statements. 
 
 Sir H. Ward, the English Lord High Commissioner 
 in Ionia, has actually flogged several hundred Greeks 
 (perhaps some of them descendants of Leonidas). No 
 apology has appeared for the barbarous act. A Greek 
 resident here, has published some letters on the sub- 
 ject. He says that kind of punishment often proves 
 fatal to the people of those southern countries. Haynau 
 and Ward are compeers. 
 
 The National Assembly of France has of late been 
 
82 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 engaged in discussing the bill on Public Instruction. 
 The document is a most impudent, and anti-republican 
 affair. It places the schoolmasters under the surveil- 
 lance of public officials, who would be priests or at 
 least Catholics,, as well as members of the favored 
 political party. It is totally a partial, sectarian, Jesu- 
 itical scheme ; and I rejoice to see such men as M. 
 Barthelemy St. Hilaire, and M. Victor Hugo uniting 
 in determined opposition to it. 
 
 You will, doubtless, see the late speech of Hugo on 
 this question, though not in the government journals. 
 He is evidently a man of world-wide religion and uni- 
 versal philanthropy. He boldly asks the friends of 
 the Catholic plot to cast their eyes toward the coun- 
 tries where their religion has enslaved the souls of men 
 for centuries — old Italy and Spain — if they wish for 
 an ocular demonstration of the darkening effects of 
 priestly sway. 
 
 " Behold the mother of arts, science, and literature, 
 unable to read I Instead of enlightening the people," 
 said he, " your clergy have ever striven to stifle the 
 aspirations of genius. Seven times did they torture 
 Campanella for having affirmed that the number of 
 worlds was infinite ; long years they kept Galileo in 
 prison, persecuted Columbus, and anathematized Pas- 
 cal, Montaigne, and Moliere. Your clerical party is 
 alarmed at the spread of Socialism. It sees waves, 
 and imagines it will have saved society, when it shall 
 have placed a Jesuit wherever there are no gens d)arme. 
 Gratuitous instruction is obligatory in the first degree 
 and in all degrees ; from the infant school to the Uni- - 
 versity. It is as sacred a right as life, and ought to be 
 regulated by the State. Primary schools should be 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 83 
 
 established in every village, a college in every town, 
 and a faculty in every chief town. The floodgates of 
 science should be set wide open, so that every one, 
 high or low, great or small, may drink as deep as he 
 likes of the sweet, invigorating waters." 
 
 His opponents often interrupted him with exclama- 
 tions of horror at such " infamous," " impious," " scan- 
 dalous," assertions ; while the mountain party loudly 
 applauded, with " Bravo," " He's right," " No personal 
 allusions," etc. 
 
 The Socialists have announced a banquet for the 
 21st January, the anniversary of the execution of Louis 
 XVI. The Moderate Republicans intend to hold one 
 on the 22d February, the birthday of Washington. 
 
 A conspiracy has been suppressed in Russia, as I 
 stated last week. While the rest of Europe was being 
 aroused by the voice of liberty, first heard in France, 
 Russia was not entirely insensible to its sweet sound. 
 Many young men in various parts of the empire 
 leagued themselves together, and carried on a secret 
 correspondence, aiming finally at the overthrow of the 
 Autocracy. Among them were men of high standing, 
 but they were mostly ardent young students, officers 
 of the army, and professors of science. 
 
 The Enterprise and Investigator are about starting 
 on another cruise in the Arctic regions. A celebrated 
 aeronaut here, proposes to go with his balloon, and 
 occasionally pop up into the eternal sunshine for a 
 squint over the ball through his spyglass. . He says he 
 shall be able to see far and wide up there ; and he can 
 also take up a flock of young balloons, now and then 
 despatching one on its errand of mercy, with a letter 
 tied to its tail ; so that Franklin, finding it, would 
 
84 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 know what course to pursue, in order to reach the 
 ships of his friends. 
 
 . Prince Albert has subscribed .£500, and Victoria 
 £1,000, for the Exhibition of 1851. 
 
 Jenny Lind has signed a contract to go to America 
 and sing next August or September. She required 
 £30,000 to be put into the hands of Baring and Com- 
 pany of this city, and one-fifth of the profits, for her 
 services, besides the privilege of singing for charitable 
 purposes as often as she pleases. 
 
 London, Jan. 18, 1850. 
 
 XYII. 
 
 Position of Europe in respect to Eepublicanism. — France 
 
 TO BE DEMORALIZED BY LOUIS NaPOLEON. — THE POOR OF 
 
 France. — Cape of Good Hope colonists oppose the 
 British Government. — Arctic expedition. 
 
 The position of Europe is intensely interesting to a 
 republican. Those monsters of humanity, who claim 
 to have been born to rule, are everywhere secretly 
 plotting the extinguishment of the divine flame of 
 freedom lately kindled on the Continent. You may 
 not see their vile machinations, but, nevertheless, they 
 are going on. The outward appearance of a couri 
 here, can no more be taken as a fair representation ol 
 their inward feelings and intentions, than the exterior 
 of a stranger. In our country all things are open for 
 the scrutiny of all men ; because honesty fears not the 
 light, and the government belongs to the people, not 
 the people to government. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 85 
 
 Oh ! the people of Europe have yet a load of chains 
 upon their souls and bodies hard to break. Every- 
 thing seems being done, that lies in the power of lords 
 and nobles to accomplish, for the perversion of liberal 
 governments. 
 
 America is out of danger, and I hope her encour- 
 aging voice will never be wanting to stimulate the 
 oppressed inhabitants of every land, in their efforts 
 to be free. 
 
 A time is coming when there will be but two polit- 
 ical parties on this planet, one democratic, and the 
 other aristocratic. And the glorious career of the 
 United States will have induced the great change in 
 the phase of human affairs. I pray, in the most Yan- 
 kee fervency, that our soil may scorch the feet of every 
 foe to equal freedom, that ventures to press its hal- 
 lowed breast. We should not fail to let them know 
 how revolting their assumptions appear to the friends 
 of human right. 
 
 The British nohility have never sympathized with 
 the Magyars, or any other revolutionists, although the 
 people gave them their whole hearts, and deeply feel 
 their woes. 
 
 I notice the Times of late often refers to the Czar's 
 dominions in North America, Our great Republic 
 does advance in extent and power, much to the dread 
 of Royalists. 
 
 France, too, under the administration of Louis Bo- 
 naparte, is being turned away from justice. 
 
 There is no doubt in my mind but Louis means to 
 
 take the first favorable opportunity to place himself 
 
 upon the throne of his uncle ; and he will find enough 
 
 allies out of France to establish him in such a position. 
 
 8 
 
86 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 Even now we see the open advocates of royalty more 
 respected at the Elysee, than the true, uncompromising 
 friends of equal democracy. The foolish choice of 
 such a president will prove the ruin of the new Re- 
 public. 
 
 The Socialists, though very numerous and rapidly 
 increasing in the country towns, receive still the most 
 outrageous treatment from the government officers, 
 pretending to be endeavoring to preserve the peace. 
 Why, if the Socialists are so powerful as to be formi- 
 dable, do they not deserve, at least, respect in a repub- 
 lican country ? I don't imagine their persons or their 
 souls are inferior to Legitimists. The few, who dis- 
 graced themselves on the 13th of June, 1848, have 
 been punished sufficiently. Is their guilt any cause 
 for persecuting other honest men of certain similar 
 opinions ? Our government might, with as much 
 propriety, denounce the Whigs, Freesoilers, Demo- 
 crats, or any other party, because certain individuals 
 professing their peculiar views, had engaged in a Phil- 
 adelphia riot. The fact is, they are the only honest, 
 whole-hearted republicans in France, and their sound 
 principles are feared alone by Aristocrats, who know 
 the might and majesty of truths and descend to 
 the basest means to suppress it. See what they have 
 been doing for the last few weeks ! Presses have been 
 stopped, thousands of books seized, and the venders of 
 them imprisoned, public meetings broken up, and even 
 small tea-parties dispersed by the miserable tools of 
 Louis and his own ministry. 
 
 Socialism doubtless has some bad features, but we 
 must consider that all parties are fallible, and every 
 scheme of government has some weak points. The con- 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 87 
 
 dition of these old, populous countries, requires reform- 
 ing much more than that of our American States. 
 How far we are in advance of them ! Our people are 
 respected according to their merits, they are educated, 
 allowed to govern themselves, and supported in mis- 
 fortune. What need have we of Socialism ? But 
 France is full of poor, naked, starving men, women, 
 and innocent little children, who might earn a good 
 living if properly situated in society. Now they can 
 find no employment; or if they get work, the low 
 price paid for it will not supply them with bread. 
 
 All the advantages asked for by the Socialists 
 would not place the nation in a more equal, comforta- 
 ble, and happy condition, than New England already 
 occupies. 
 
 The editor of the Gazette de France^ a Legitimist 
 journal, has been tried for publishing an article against 
 the Republic, and acquitted by the jury. 
 
 At Lyons, on the 23d inst., two bales of Socialist 
 pamphlets forwarded from Paris, were discovered and 
 seized by the police. 
 
 The department of the Inde, at Vierzon, is said to 
 be " infested " by " multitudes " of Socialists. 
 
 Letters from Constantinople, up to Dec. 2, state that 
 Ahmed Effendi was about to start for Shumla, to see 
 Kossuth before his departure. 
 
 In Switzerland, some of the members of the Feder- 
 ale and the clubs, have lately frightened the govern- 
 ment by their processions, drumming, fifing, and sing- 
 ing the Marseillaise Hymn through the streets. At 
 one place the musicians were gagged, but soon given 
 up to the clamorous mob, who seem to take great 
 delight in demolishing the old fortifications. 
 
88 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 The Colonists at the Cape of Good Hope still perse- 
 vere in their refusal to permit the convicts to land from 
 the ship lying in their harbor. Theiv governor is, how- 
 ever, in favor of obeying British commands, and doing 
 as bidden. 
 
 Mr. Sidney Herbert's Sub- Committee ,appointed to 
 report the best method of procedure, have come to the 
 conclusion, that the girls must be entirely free from 
 any mental or bodily defect to impair their usefulness 
 as settlers, and their characters for industry and moral- 
 ity must be satisfactory. It is proposed, that guardian 
 matrons shall accompany them, and that they shall go 
 ,in small parties, since in that way they will be less 
 likely to get into snarls and puUing-hair affairs. On 
 their arrival, they are to go out to service, till they can 
 manage to fascinate some likely young men, and 
 make them double in " bliss or trouble." 
 
 The two ships. Enterprise and Investigator, sailed 
 from Plymouth on the Arctic Expedition the 20th of 
 January. They are to go direct to Valparaiso, thence 
 to the Sandwich Islands, and thence to Bhering's 
 Straits. Sir Wm. Parke, with the British fleet in the 
 Mediterranean, is on his way to Athens. 
 
 The Czar of Russia says, the total number of his 
 subjects now residing in foreign countries, is 8,785,719 
 of both sexes. More than half the number profess 
 the Christian religion. The number of idolaters is 
 153,343. 
 
 London, Jan. 25, 1850. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 89 
 
 Aspect and chakacter of London life. — Statue op Wel- 
 lington. — Westminster Abbey. — The Tower. — The 
 Zoological Gardens. 
 
 Pm surfeited with sights and sounds. Oh, how much 
 pleasanter are the quiet hills and vales of New Eng- 
 land ! I love to look back to my native wild-wood 
 home, among the mountains, while this ocean of life 
 is whirling and roaring around, allowing me no oppor- 
 tunities for reflection. 
 
 It is often asked, " Well, what do you think of 
 London ? " 
 
 I must confess the extremely poor here are rather 
 degraded; but they so much the more deserve com- 
 miseration. For it is not their fault. The public 
 gives them no education, withholding even the light of 
 nature. If all classes mingled together, as in our glo- 
 rious republic, knowledge would become more diffused. 
 The low would learn of the high, and still not thus 
 injure their fortunate neighbors ; for imparting knowl- 
 edge really increases one's original stock. 
 
 Sometimes it is sarcastically said here, " I've heard 
 there are certain aristocracies in your cities. You 
 seem to be unable to get along without two classes, 
 notwithstanding all the sublime declarations of your 
 democratic philosophers to the contrary." 
 
 I have a ready answer, of course, to such a base 
 libel. The only aristocrats we have are foreigners; 
 and I sincerely hope our country may never be cursed 
 with a native race of such monsters. It is evidently right 
 for people of similar tastes to associate most intimately, 
 8* 
 
90 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 but property and pedigree should divide no class. Let 
 us never have any lords in our calendar except the Lord 
 of Hosts. There's no particular objection, however, to 
 the late Lord Timothy Dexter, since the glory of his 
 name will not be likely to induce others to imitate his 
 lofty example. 
 
 As I was strolling through Hyde Park yesterday, it 
 occurred to me there was room for a great show of 
 Cockneys. St. James' Park adjoins. Suppose all the 
 human beings living in the city could be assembled on 
 those open grounds, wouldn't the sight be worth a 
 voyage across the Atlantic ? The queen, standing on 
 the roof of Buckingham Palace, could see a large por- 
 tion of her English subjects. Each class would keep 
 separate from the rest, and the whole would be arranged 
 in streaks of divers shapes and hues, resembling a 
 square chine of roast beef. On the upper part would 
 appear the light-colored streak of fat with abundant 
 trimmings, — that's the pampered nobles' part ; next, 
 the ruddy, juicy streak, — that's the commercial class ; 
 then the real muscle, all made up of nerves, — that's 
 the laboring class ; and last, the bare, marrowless bone, 
 — that is the beggar's. There is a hundred times as 
 much lean as fat. As for the bone, in France it is good ; 
 or will be, when the Socialists establish their improved 
 system of cookery. So might it be made useful every- 
 where. It should never be cast away to the dogs. 
 Kill the dogs and save the bones for social soups. 
 What would be Her Majesty's reflections on this 
 
 scene 
 
 ? 
 
 " Poor creatures ! " she would exclaim, " I deeply 
 deplore your hard fortunes ; but it is the will of God 
 you should be thus circumstanced, and I do heartily 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 91 
 
 thank him for all his blessings. Albert, the soldiers 
 are all prepared, in case of any disturbance of the 
 peace, I suppose ? The garden gates are well secured ? 
 No danger of any one's getting over those long spikes, 
 you think ? I always feel nervous at the sight of so 
 many wretched people." 
 
 " Oh ! lay aside all fears, Victoria ; we are guarded 
 by fifty thousand armed men, besides five thousand 
 policemen. * The Lord will protect us from all harm, 
 if we put our trust in him,' as our divine said this 
 morning." 
 
 It's my opinion, the principal causes of so much pov- 
 erty, are the low price of labor, want of education, and 
 the free sale of spirituous drinks, all which evils ought 
 to be remedied by laws. 
 
 Statues of Wellington are to be met with in all 
 parts of the city. There is one in Hyde Park set up 
 by the ladies. The monument was cast from cannon 
 taken at Salamanca, Waterloo, etc. It represents 
 Achilles in a defensive attitude, with his shield up- 
 raised, and a headless human body standing by his 
 side. 
 
 While examining the- statue, a gentleman came up, 
 to whom I remarked, people seemed to honor the hero 
 of Waterloo more than any other, although his exploit, 
 in the estimation of many, was not so wonderful after 
 all, as it would have been, if he had not been aided by 
 half of Europe. 
 
 The trees in these parks are of many kinds, but most 
 of them are elms, plane trees, limes, and poplars. 
 There was a gale, night before last, that overturned 
 quite a number of the old gnarled elms. The wind 
 has so fair a rake, that trees cannot grow tall. They 
 
92 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 are all low and very irregular in shape. The boys 
 were sailing their little crafts across the pond, called 
 the " Serpentine." It is a quarter of a mile in width 
 and a mile or two long, being spanned by a stone 
 bridge. Recently, a cold night having made thin ice, 
 hundreds of the gentle boys and girls sallied forth for 
 a skate or slide. But, getting rather too thick in the 
 midst, the slender floor gave way, and down went the 
 whole company in a heap. 
 
 I see another class, however, not so happy. Passing 
 by a vacant place one day, I noticed a company play- 
 ing ball. One of them said they belonged to the 
 " ragged school." The rules of their game seemed to 
 be similar to ours. Their ball of walnut would knock 
 a lad over whenever it hit him fairly on the head. 
 
 I was interested in walking through Westminster 
 
 Abbey, on account of the associations awakened 
 
 there, remembering all of England's illustrious men 
 
 have contemplated the same scenes. It did not seem 
 
 that they make the gloomy place their spiritual home, 
 
 and we know their bodies have left the tombs taking 
 
 new forms. 
 
 There were magnificent monuments to men I never 
 
 heard of, or you either, unless you met them in some 
 ancient blue-book (as the Court Directory is named). 
 Shadwell, Triplet, and Knipe are there, but not Shel- 
 ley, Hume, or Gibbon. 
 
 Visitors are permitted to see the geniuses free, but 
 they must pay for a sight of the lords and sovereigns. 
 This rule is observed in many places. 
 
 The principle it teaches is, that nobles are above 
 men of genius — that it is worth more to see kings 
 than philosophers. You may be sure the English miss 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 93 
 
 no opportunity to divide the two classes, and exalt 
 the aristocracy in the eyes of the gaping world. The 
 creation of new nobles should be understood, as an 
 unwilling step in most cases, without which the 
 favored race would degenerate. 
 
 Goldsmith came to see the monuments, and on his 
 return described his visit in the " Citizen of the World." 
 He stooped to converse with those men in black, who 
 still walk about taking in the pennies. On seeing a 
 very fine marble stone, he says he expected to find the 
 epitaph of some great man, a king, or hero, or at least 
 a wit ; but the attendant explained to him that a per- 
 son might be laid there without being any one of those 
 characters. Oliver was in a quandary* to account for 
 his presence, until the guide informed him the man 
 was rich. 
 
 " Leaving this part," he proceeds, " we made up to 
 an iron gate, through which my companion told me 
 we were to pass in order to see the monuments of 
 kings. Accordingly, I marched up without further 
 ceremony, and, was going to enter, when a person who 
 held the gate in his hand, told me I must pay first. I 
 was surprised at such a demand, and asked the man 
 whether the people of England kept a show ? Whether 
 the paltry sum he demanded was not a national re- 
 proach ? Whether it was not more to the honor of 
 the country to let their magnificence or their antiqui- 
 ties be openly seen, than thus meanly to tax a curios- 
 ity which tended to their own honor ? " 
 
 " As for your questions," replied the gate-keeper, " to 
 be sure they may be very right, because I don't under- 
 stand them ; but as for that there threepence, I farm 
 it from one who rents it from another, who hires it 
 
94 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 from a third, who leases it from the guardians of the 
 templcy and we all must live." 
 
 Oliver paid the fee and walked on, listening to the 
 attendant's numerous lies. Soon they came to Gen. 
 Monk's rusty armor ; and again money was demanded 
 for the servant, who remarked that every gentleman 
 put some change into the old helmet for him to spend. 
 But Goldsmith declared he would give no more, and 
 retired. Every traveller in this country will have a 
 similar account to give. He was honored with a mar- 
 ble medallion, in the poet's corner, on account of writ- 
 ing the " Vicar of Wakefield." 
 
 Major Andre, the spy, is there in alto-relievo. John 
 
 Gay, the pastoral poet and satirist, has these two of 
 
 his own lines inscribed on his tomb : — 
 
 " Life is a jest and all things show it : 
 I thought so once, but now I know it." 
 
 On visiting the Tower of London, the porter sold 
 me a ticket for twelve cents. The showman is a rare 
 sight himself, wearing red apparel, trimmed with shin- 
 ing tinsel stuff, and having a string of ragged poppy- 
 fiowers round his tarpaulin. 
 
 The first room we entered, called the Horse Armory, 
 is one hundred and fifty feet long, being filled with 
 finely carved horses, bearing mailed knights and kings 
 of the old school. Henry the Eighth is the largest of 
 the lot. Gen. Monk has monstrous crooked legs. 
 Queen Elizabeth looks like the personification of van- 
 ity, riding out to dazzle the eyes of fools with strings 
 of pearls and diamonds. Oliver Cromwell is the most 
 sensible looking man of all. The best armor was 
 made in Italy. In another room, they have an im- 
 mense collection of war implements. It is truly shock- 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 95 
 
 ing to see what labor and ingenuity have been spent 
 on such manufactures in past times. There was an 
 arrow head, picked up on the field of Marathon, and the 
 block is exhibited on which some were beheaded in 
 the Tower, and the ugly old axe, used to cut off heads. 
 
 The oldest muskets were without locks, being made 
 to be touched off by matches. Some of them termi- 
 nated at the butt end in lances. Some of the shields 
 have pistols inserted in their centre. I saw many 
 instruments of torture, intended to pinch, gall, and 
 cramp the bodies of men and women. There is one 
 collar, weighing fifteen pounds, with knobs on the 
 inside to gall the neck. A person fond of horrors can 
 be satisfied in the Tower, England's proudest fortress 
 of antiquity. 
 
 It is very interesting to walk through the Zoological 
 Gardens on a pleasant day. There are many rare 
 birds and beasts from every clime. The South Amer- 
 ican and East India birds are most beautiful, but not 
 the sweetest songsters. The North American animals 
 are apparently most active and healthy, but a great 
 many have their cages labelled " America," so a stran- 
 ger would not know from which part they came. 
 People here have a small idea of our continent. The 
 English birds are particularly pointed out, and we see 
 from what little county each was brought ; while the 
 polar bear, the Canadian elk, and Southern panther 
 are merely called " American." Most of them are not 
 described at all, because there is a prejudice against 
 our quarter of the world. One philosopher says in a 
 late work, that America is not well adapted to the 
 production of animals ; that all living things there 
 have a tendency to vegetate. 
 
96 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 One of the sharp editors, hence, infers that the 
 human race will not flourish as well in that continent 
 as in Europe. " After all," says he, " the infant Her- 
 cules may be nothing but a young Indian." I noticed 
 one golden eagle and several bald eagles. The ani- 
 mals from Africa and New Holland are generally awk- 
 ward, sluggish creatures, like the natives. Those most 
 grotesque are the giraffe, orang-outang, ostrich, pelican, 
 kangaroo, ant-eater, etc. Here are some of the finest 
 specimens of lions and tigers I ever saw. 
 
 A great variety of aquatic birds are seen in the 
 extensive pools of the parks, where they are permitted 
 to wander freely among the green islands. 
 
 The reptile house is a place of deep interest. 
 There are snakes as big as small trees, wreathing 
 themselves into many fantastic shapes, and climbing 
 over their cages with considerable activity. 
 
 London, Feb. 8, 1850. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Russia. — Denmark. — Condition of the people of Eueope. 
 — The name of "Napoleon" a syren sound. — The 
 Greek kingdom. — Socialism. — Mrs. Houston's Travels 
 IN the United States. — Eugene Sue. 
 
 The blockade of all the Grecian ports still contin- 
 ues. This Government has some other motive for the 
 step than that published by Palmerston. If I may 
 form an opinion by the movements of the two great 
 powers, rather than their proclamations, England and 
 Russia are becoming exceedingly jealous of each oth' 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 97 
 
 er's influence over the affairs of Europe. Nicholas is 
 evidently willing to lend his aid to any sovereign for 
 the suppression of liberal reforms. He is also ambi- 
 tious, and means to extend his empire as much as pos- 
 sible, by fair means or foul. Hitherto the limited mon- 
 archs have flattered and caressed him, perceiving the 
 probability that they might need his barbarians to 
 crush democratic insurrections. England has done as 
 much of this contemptible fawning as any other gov- 
 ernment. But she cannot bear to see the Czar increas- 
 ing his power and dominion. 
 
 Denmark is also looking to Russia for assistance in 
 settling her quarrel with Prussia. Glorious old Swe- 
 den is the only peaceful country in Europe. All who 
 put their trust in the Russians, will come off as the 
 Britons did, when they called over the piratical Sax- 
 ons ; and I hope the consequences will be as benefi- 
 cial to the races. But the wars that are inevitably 
 approaching will hinder the progress of art and science 
 more than any one can imagine. 
 
 For awhile the late rising of the people in Europe 
 will tend to some evil ; but on the whole it will be 
 beneficial to mankind. Now greater restraints will be 
 put upon the diffusion of learning; newspapers will 
 be subject to surveillance ; many books will be sup- 
 pressed ; public discussions will be prohibited ; and, 
 worst of all, priestcraft will be allowed the privilege of 
 bending and distorting young minds in all schools. 
 
 But the ^eop^e will not forget this shaking of thrones, 
 and will be more wise in planning the future cam- 
 paign of liberty. The name of Napoleon has, like 
 the voice of a syren, led the French into an island of 
 desolation and death. Their charmer is devouring his 
 9 
 
98 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 dupes. Isn't this a lesson for all who are disposed to 
 allow their passions to overrule sound principles in the 
 exercise of their elective franchise ? 
 
 Will any party in America ever be base enough to 
 nominate a man for President or Vice-President for 
 the same reason that Louis Bonaparte was elected ? 
 
 There is certainly a prospect of war. The English 
 have seized the two islands, w^hich they demanded at 
 first, and we occasionally hear that Russian vessels 
 encounter some difficulties in passing those of Parker's 
 fleet. 
 
 The Italian papers say that Palmerston was induced 
 to act with so much promptitude in this matter, on 
 having discovered that the Emperor of Russia had 
 been making overtures to King Otho to resign his 
 crown to his son-in-law, the Due de Leutchtenberg, 
 and that Athens was full of Russian spies and agents. 
 
 " There is one fact certain," adds the Opinione of 
 Turin ; " namely, that the Greeks are becoming every 
 day more attached to Russia ; that the latter maintains 
 numerous and active agents in Greece, and that she is 
 anxious to aggrandize the Greek kingdom, both for 
 her own purposes, and to oppose it as a maritime and 
 commercial power to England in the Mediterranean. 
 The islands, Elaphonessus and Sapienzi, claimed by 
 England, would render her mistress of the whole west- 
 ern coast of the Morea." 
 
 The army of France has been divided into four 
 parts to occupy as many sections of the country. The 
 President has appointed four generals whom he fan- 
 cies, I suppose, to be his particular friends. His real 
 design is, to be prepared to put down the people when 
 they attempt to prevent his personal aggressions. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 99 
 
 Socialism is dreadfully opposed to Louis, and he to 
 that. The Times speaks against it: therefore I am 
 confident it is democratic and right. Louis means to 
 make himself an emperor. 
 
 Parliament has been discussing the Greek affair, 
 the affairs of Ceylon, and some colonial matters. 
 Much is written and spoken about Canada annexa- 
 tion. I believe it is generally admitted that the North 
 American colonies are able to take care of themselves. 
 The people there have only to manifest their sincere 
 wish for separation, and it will be allowed. At least 
 England will never expend a cent more in a war like 
 our Revolution, having similar men to deal with. 
 
 Milner Gibson made a proposition of late, to repeal 
 the " taxes on knowledge," as he calls them, which 
 was postponed ; also the Chancellor's bill, for regulat- 
 ing the woods and forests, was laid aside. The head- 
 money for pirates killed, is to be abolished. 
 
 Lord John Russell's colonial speech may be thus 
 interpreted : At present, the Queen forbids any of her 
 colonies leaving their mother ; but by and by some of 
 them may go out. Will they be contented to wait 
 as Ireland has? It is pretty clear she has a very 
 dissatisfied family, and some of the children are a lit- 
 tle unruly. 
 
 Some say England's debt would not exist, but for 
 her first war against the United States. It now 
 amounts to $3,850,000,000. Canada must wait till 
 the debt is paid, and then she can go. 
 
 A Mrs. Houston, having travelled through the 
 United States, has written an account of her observa- 
 tions. I have not read the book, of course, but from 
 a very few extracts, should judge it a very shallow 
 
100 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 affair. In the space of two or three pages, she ridi- 
 cules temperance, both in eating and drinking ; charges 
 the ladies with vanity and stupidity ; has a vast deal 
 to object to in republican manners, such as calling 
 laboring men " gentlemen " instead of " servants," and 
 
 ft speaking loud and bold whatever we think. In one 
 place she says the men are too dark, and in New 
 England too white. The beef also received her 
 decided disapprobation. The sheep, she says, degen- 
 erate in America, as well as the men and women. 
 Upon my soul, if losing a quantity of the spongy, 
 toad-goose flesh and measly cheeks of certain English- 
 
 ^ men is degenerating, I am glad we have become so. 
 The aristocracy here invariably object to Sue's 
 works. Louis Bonaparte is using means to suppress 
 the publication of them. If perused in a right spirit, 
 I believe there are no works of the kind, in any lan- 
 guage, more useful, and breathing more holy principles. 
 Sue is acknowledged to be the greatest novelist in the 
 world. The " Mysteries of the People " will be likely 
 to make him a martyr to his philanthropic opinions. 
 
 Louis Bonaparte has, from the first, endeavored to 
 play the part of Octavius Caesar, and obtain the impe- 
 rial sway by craft. Lamartine seems to take Cicero, 
 or rather Virgil, for his pattern ; but, fortunately for 
 the cause of freedom, there are many Brutuses, and 
 one original, incorruptible Eugene Sue. 
 
 London, Feb. 15, 1850. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 101 
 
 XX. 
 
 England will favor the slaveholders out of a selfish 
 MOTIVE. — Standing armies of Europe barbarous. — The 
 United States are not all free from unsightly stains 
 
 UPON THEIR escutcheons. — EDUCATION IN FRANCE. 
 
 If the slavery question should ever cause a separa- 
 tion between the Northern and Southern States of our 
 Union, this Government would aim to retain its friend- 
 ship with the South rather than the North ; because 
 the cotton and tobacco trade is of immense importance 
 to England. But the interests of the North are 
 directly opposed to those of this country. A mon- 
 archy is far more heartless than a republic, and there 
 is none but would set its soldiers fighting to preserve 
 its commercial interests, and enrich the State. 
 
 I observe much less moralizing on the question of 
 peace here than in New England. Surely, in compar- 
 ison with other nations, we are remarkably pacific. 
 We have no great standing army, ever impatient for 
 employment. What a dreadful thing to contemplate 
 is a vast multitude whose sole occupation and inten- 
 tion is the destruction of their fellow-men ! Yet these 
 nations, who make such wonderful pretensions to 
 Christianity, maintain them, and the priests say amen 
 to the bloody institution. I should think it probable 
 that England pays as much for the support of fighters 
 as preachers. She is constantly at war with some 
 people or other ; and nobody receives so great praise 
 as the successful warrior. How long must this 
 wretched state of human affairs continue ? Will 
 there always be strife among reasonable beings^ as 
 there ever has been since the world began ? 
 9* 
 
 
 
102 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 Perhaps it is not true, that men are distinguishable 
 by that high characteristic. For our follies and vices 
 exceed those of every other race of living creatures. 
 The British lion has ever disgraced the tribe from 
 which he was taken, by his wanton aggressions in 
 many lands, even against his own kind. The Roman 
 eagle set the example, and gorged itself to suffocation. 
 How little men have learned in eighteen hundred 
 years ! At this very time, just as it was in the dark 
 ages, the brightest men of France are seen opposing 
 the free diffusion of knowledge ; and England's pom- 
 pous statesmen are desperately enraged with any man 
 who dares to advocate the expediency of unbiased 
 public instruction. Sheer selfishness directs them in 
 all their actions. Oh, that men would cast the foul 
 demon behind, and give up all for the general welfare 
 of mankind ! Then we should see the world begin to 
 to shine and bloom like the vales of Paradise. But, 
 alas! judging from the past, I fear such a good time 
 will never come. Here are vast numbers in the most 
 splendid city of the world, who are as barbarous as 
 the wild Africans. The United States deserve more 
 praise from mankind for their high and liberal institu- 
 tions than any other country. But the States are not 
 all free from stains unsightly to true republicans ; ay, 
 shameful, and not to be mentioned among our rivals. 
 I do hope the independent States of the New World 
 will be enabled " to see themselves as others see 
 them," and not entirely overlook the interests of the 
 future. 
 
 Mr. D' Israeli pretends to be very deeply concerned 
 for the interest of the Agriculturists. He says more 
 than any other member of the House, but I can't 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 103 
 
 learn that his talk accomplishes anything of impor- 
 tance. 
 
 In respect to the Colonies, Parliament will pursue a 
 different course from that of George III.'s reign.- 
 Small concessions will be granted to pacify the chil- 
 dren, as they are called, instead of the reins being 
 more tightly drawn. 
 
 In France, the excitement of the various parties 
 continues unabated. The Education bill has caused a 
 great deal of wrangling. One party wishes to have 
 schools free from sectarian influence, like ours ; the 
 other says it is awful risky to let children learn to read 
 and write, without a constant sprinkling of religious 
 doctrines as they advance. Some argue mightily for 
 keeping up old fashions and antediluvian studies, 
 instead of devoting all the schooldays to useful 
 branches of science and literature. The Papist party 
 seem to be most prominent, and so probably the Latin 
 fathers will have to be read, to the neglect of " modern 
 infidel philosophers," as they denominate the greatest 
 scholars of their own country, England and Germany. 
 
 Louis, the President, frequently visits the soldiery, 
 and distributes presents among them. He and his 
 ministry have decided to erect a statue of Marshal 
 Ney, on the spot where he was shot. 
 
 The Swiss have sent away the principal refugees to 
 prevent an invasion from their neighbors, but it is 
 doubtful whether even this step will be satisfactory. 
 Switzerland is in a fearful position. The monarchs 
 seem determined on its overthrow. 
 
 A great meeting was held here the other day, by the 
 friends of the proposed Exhibition in 1851. Lawrence 
 was there, and made a good, sensible speech. Many 
 
104 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 other distinguished foreigners were present, and spoke 
 in favor of the project. 
 
 London, Feb. 22, 1850. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Signs of Spuing. — Intemperance respected in London. — 
 The Yankee among the bold Britons. — Opinions re- 
 specting THE aristocracy. — EDUCATION. — FRANCHISE. — 
 
 M. Thiers, the monarchist. — Lamartine, Arago, and 
 Favre. 
 
 Spring weather has really begun. Little children 
 run about the streets barefooted, and burly-looking 
 Englishmen bluster along with their overcoats on their 
 arms. The greengrocers' shops put on fresh hues, the 
 songs of birds in the parks grow livelier, and every 
 chimney in London draws down instead of upwards. 
 
 There is an evident change in the outward world, 
 but very little in the internal. Politics are down, the 
 same as usual, and the common people, instead of 
 bothering themselves and their masters with small dis- 
 cussions, as they do in France, assemble as often as 
 possible at the gin-shops, and drown their cares and 
 wits in floods of " hale." The misery, vice, and bru- 
 tality caused by strong drinks in this kingdom cannot 
 be conceived. Drunkenness is actually respected ; and 
 wherever I walk in the evening, I meet crowds of be- 
 sotted wretches staggering about, sometimes attended 
 by poor ragged wives and children. As I was passing 
 the jail one evening, where the Mannings were hanged, 
 I had the curiosity to inquire of a policeman how that 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 105 
 
 scene appeared to him. He said he never witnessed so 
 excited a crowd as there assembled. The sharp iron 
 fences were lined with eager spectators, and all the 
 house-tops around were thronged, their destruction being 
 threatened. Nearly all the police in the city were obliged 
 to be present. He said the people of that neighborhood 
 were mostly of the worldng class. I remarked that the 
 gin-shops were exceedingly numerous, and apparently 
 better patronized than any other shops. " Oh, yes," 
 said he, " they are doing nicely." " Such places would 
 be considered nuisances where I live," I told him. 
 " Well," said he, " they give us a great deal of trouble, 
 but there must be some houses for drinking. What 
 places do you have in New England where a traveller 
 might obtain refreshments ? " " Oh ! " I replied, " we 
 have a plenty of hotels and restaurants, where all sorts 
 of wholesome food and drink can be had ; but such hells 
 as these would suit a very insignificant portion of my 
 countrymen." " Why," said he, " you surprise me. I 
 never thought of the uselessness of liquors before. 
 Everybody here esteems them as essential as bread, 
 and you would be astonished how much all, even the 
 children, require. I've no doubt but that little boy 
 there would drink a quart at a single draught. Fathers, 
 mothers, and children are frequently all drunk together 
 at these public houses. There is gambling to excess, 
 quarrelling and fighting every night ; but we don't 
 notice such things, as long as they keep it to them- 
 selves." 
 
 In view of this state of society, judge of the morals 
 of the people in all respects. A single glance at the 
 social condition of the working classes, will sicken the 
 
106 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 most selfish Yankee that ever took the trouble to give 
 the subject a thought. 
 
 It seems to me that England's lawmakers look with 
 pleasure on the degrading sins of the plebeians, because 
 these people, by thus quenching the spirit of manhood, 
 render themselves more docile and asslike for the dom- 
 ination of their masters. An American surely has 
 cause, even here, in the greatest city of the world, to 
 refer with pride to his native land. Thank Heaven 
 that I was not born in London ! When a poor Eng- 
 lishman boasts of the splendor of old Britain, he acts 
 like the dog in the fable, that took pride in the clog of 
 wood dangling from his neck to impede his movements. 
 Long may our country be kept free from the evils 
 of overgrown private wealth, and individual power ! 
 It is a beautiful sight to see the princely estates of our 
 fortunate brethren divided at their decease, according 
 to the laws framed by those clear-minded philosophers, 
 who first legislated for the States. 
 
 In the presence of these haughty Britons, a stray 
 Yankee can plainly show that no people are so well 
 supplied with the comforts of life, so generally edu- 
 cated, so temperate and so independent, as his own 
 countrymen. What glories can any nation possess, 
 equally desirable ? Penury is actually deemed a crime 
 here, for which a man is indirectly punished both by 
 the laws and by the persons with whom he has deal- 
 ings. So far from trying to raise the indigent, the 
 affluent take every means to keep them down. It 
 needs only to look at the educational laws, in order to 
 see the infernal policy of aristocrats. I don't be- 
 lieve there is a school in the kingdom free from sec- 
 
^ 
 
 ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 107 
 
 tarian influence. Every one has been established for 
 some selfish end. 
 
 Sometimes I meet with an American who is might- 
 ily pleased with these self-sufficient lords. I saw one '^ 
 the other day. " Well," says he, " how do you like 
 England ? " I answered that it appeared to be a 
 healthy climate, and a fertile soil, and there were many 
 rich men, but I was deeply disgusted with the assump- 
 tions of one class over another. " Oh," says he, " there '^ 
 are noble souls among the nobility." So there have 
 been, according to some accounts, noble souls among 
 robbers. Give a man superior advantages, and he can 
 afford to be noble ; but what have the poor to bestow 
 in hospitable entertainment and gratuities? These 
 very noble souls would, just as likely as not, refuse to 
 pay their servants more than two or three shillings a 
 day, and yet try to make us believe they are generous. 
 If any will renounce their unjust pretensions to exclu- 
 siveness, and admit that " all men are by nature free 
 and equal," then I'll believe in their generosity. 
 
 Mr. W. J. Fox asked leave to introduce a bill to 
 promote the secular education of the people of Eng- 
 land, and made quite a speech upon it. 
 
 Sir K. Inglis opposed Mr. Fox in some respects. 
 He said, however, he should not oppose the introduc- 
 tion of the bill, but he hoped the ultimate assent of 
 the House would not be given to a national system of 
 education to terminate with this world. The fact is, 
 he wants the principles of Episcopacy instilled into 
 children's minds, because he fears their riper judgment 
 will reject his peculiar tenets of faith. 
 
 On Wednesday the Marriage Bill, providing for the 
 
108 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 marriage of a husband with his deceased wife's sister 
 was discussed. 
 
 Mr. Hume asked leave to bring in a bill to amend 
 the national representation by extending the elective 
 franchise so that every man of full age and not subject 
 to any mental or legal disability, who shall have been 
 the resident occupier of a house or part of a house, as 
 a lodger for twelve months, and shall have been duly 
 rated to the poor of that time, shall be registered as an 
 elector, and be entitled to vote for a representative in 
 Parliament ; also by enacting that votes shall be taken 
 by ballot ; that the duration of Parliament shall not 
 exceed three years ; and that the proportion of repre- 
 sentatives be more consistent with the amount of pop- 
 ulation and property. 
 
 Sir J. Walmsley seconded the motion. Sir G. Grey 
 opposed it. Lord John Russell opposed it. 
 
 On a division of the House, it was found there were 
 ninety-six for the motion, and two hundred and forty- 
 two against it ; therefore it was lost. 
 
 M. Thiers, the old monarchist, in a recent speech, 
 made a violent attack on the republicans, on those 
 who brought about the glorious revolution of Febru- 
 ary, and all those who held the reins of government 
 during the early period of that epoch. This drew up 
 Gen. Cavaignac, who, after protesting his unwilling- 
 ness to enter into a discussion of a personal nature, 
 said that the men of February could, at all events, 
 boast of one fact — that of having proclaimed, de- 
 fended, and constituted a republican government, 
 which he trusted would be useful to the future pros- 
 pects of the country. 
 
 M. de Lamartine, Emanuel Arago, and M. Jules 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 109 
 
 Favre replied to Thiers in the most gentlemanly man- 
 ner, receiving unbounded applause from the Socialists, 
 and hisses from the Monarchists and Bonapartists. 
 
 The Greek Government is protesting against the 
 British blockade, and calling on Russia and France to 
 protect the shores of Greece, and the commerce of 
 Europe, from the evils with which they are menaced. 
 
 It is stated that Eussia has protested against the 
 measures lately adopted by the British Government 
 with respect to Greece. 
 
 London, March 1, 1850. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 The Educational Bill. — Manner of voting in England. 
 Spirit-rapping discovered in Western New York. — 
 Socialism in France. — The British fleet in the Medi- 
 terranean seizes Greek ships to satisfy England for 
 spoliations. 
 
 There is a world of talk in Parliament about the 
 most trivial questions, so that it is almost impossible 
 to ascertain how any reform measure gets disposed of. 
 As often as a sensible man brings in a good bill, the 
 contemptible sloths, who fear to move, lest the people 
 may become elated by a seeming success, these inert 
 creatures thrust their huge corporosities in its way, and 
 thus obstruct the advancement of right and liberty. 
 
 Whenever the Educational Bill is discussed, the fat 
 bishops are on hand to oppose the diffusion of light 
 among the people, declaring that religion is all the 
 light they need, and that it is better to let mankind 
 grovel in total darkness, than to give them secular 
 10 
 
110 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 instruction ummixed with Episcopalianism. Here we 
 see the beauty of a national religion. The dissenters 
 are too numerous to be forced into acquiescence with 
 a sectarian system of education, and so there can be 
 none at all. 
 
 The bill providing for marriage with a deceased 
 wife's sister, has been gravely discussed. Many, logi- 
 cal, learned, and most eloquent, have been the speeches 
 for and against the momentous measure. The ground 
 of one class of arguments is its unscriptural character, 
 and that of the other is the expediency of such a 
 change in the laws. The stupid hypocrites refuse to 
 listen to reason, and pretend that people at this en- 
 lightened day are bound to follow the old Levitical 
 commands. What would become of us, if we should 
 adopt all the Levitical code ? I really believe there are 
 good men, who would sooner renounce Leviticus in toto, 
 than the free institutions of their country. But this law 
 of intermarriage is not understood alike by all theolo- 
 gians ; and some even contend that the Jews deemed 
 it advisable for a widower to marry his deceased wife's 
 sister ; only the man should not take the said wife's 
 sister for a concubine to vex the said wife, while she 
 was yet living. There is a prospect that this astonish- 
 ing reform will be accomplished. 
 
 Hitherto the few peoble who have been allowed to 
 vote, have been obliged to walk up to the polls and 
 speak out the name of their candidate, and thus expose 
 themselves to the good or ill will of patrons, employ- 
 ers, etc. The English plebeians being much less inde- 
 pendent than Americans, are very often prevented 
 from ever exercising their right of franchise through 
 fear of their masters. Hence some of the liberal men 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. Ill 
 
 in the House of Commons have been trying to get the 
 laws altered, so that people may vote by ballot. This 
 measure cannot be carried. 
 
 There has been some talk in the House of Com- 
 mons about Feargus O'Connor's Irish land scheme, 
 but too strong prejudice exists against Ireland, for the 
 progress of any measure useful to that country. Mr. 
 Stanley proposed to introduce a bill for the social ele- 
 vation of the poor, but his brother Commoners hushed 
 him, and quenched his zeal in the cause. 
 
 We often hear of a wonderful phenomenon in 
 Western New York, where several men of veracity are 
 said to have discovered a rapping from the under or 
 upper world. Some write us that the Socialists gen- 
 erally believe in it, and others say the Swedenborgians 
 countenance the marvellous statements of the investi- 
 gators. I should think from all accounts, it must be a 
 sort of telegraphic communication between the empires 
 of Apollo and Pluto. The rapping is certainly on 
 Morse's telegraphic principle. Do take good care of 
 the girls who possess this marvellous power, and send 
 them over next year to the great National Exhibition. 
 
 The experiments mentioned by the Rochester com- 
 mittee are worthy of notice, and men of learning look 
 upon them in the same light as Dr. Franklin's electri- 
 cal experiments were regarded. 
 
 It is advisable that all parties should write and speak 
 only what they know.) and avoid such a loose, licen- 
 tious, and prejudiced style, as many use in treating of 
 all apparent innovations. 
 
 Prince Louis Napoleon's aunt, a German princess, 
 is paying him a visit. The English reporters in Paris 
 give us information of every step and motion the Pres- 
 
112 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 ident makes, just as much as if he were an absolute 
 monarch. Democracy is invariably classed with So- 
 cialism by the enemies of freedom, and therefore we 
 must not be deceived into a belief that those called 
 Socialists are bad men. Nearly all the schoolmasters 
 in the republic are Socialists. Can men of sense sup- 
 pose that so noble a class of persons are incapable 
 of deciding wisely what political principles are most 
 excellent in France, and best suited to the disposition 
 and character of that people ? 
 
 When despots laud a chief ruler, republicans will 
 find very little in him to praise. These newspapers, too, 
 that scarcely ever mention the name of the American 
 President, are constantly crammed with panegyrics on 
 the crushing rulers of France. 
 
 On the 24th ult., several persons were arrested for 
 singing patriotic songs. 
 
 The British fleet in the Mediterranean has left 
 Greece, having secured Grecian ships enough to satis- 
 fy the government for the pretended spoliations. 
 
 It was surely a shrewd way to collect debts, but such 
 is the policy of this nation. They are disposed to 
 take advantage of every opportunity to make money. 
 How could they, otherwise, support all their fleets ? 
 The government is the poorest in the world, being 
 much worse off than an individual without cash, a 
 spare shirt, or even friends of whom to borrow. The 
 government is indebted to the aristocratic families, and' 
 they are glad of it, for their money is well invested, as 
 long as the power of the empire lasts. The interest is 
 paid by taxes on windows, paper, books, etc., all which 
 serves to keep darkness generally prevalent, and the 
 people harmless. Tithes are another object ; but still 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 113 
 
 England is exceedingly charitable. The people in the 
 streets show how much they are accustomed to be 
 helped, by their inveterate habits of beggary. 
 
 In any public place, you speak to a stranger, and ten 
 to one if he will deign a reply, so haughty is the Eng- 
 lishman's manners ; but perhaps the very next one you 
 come to will beg a halfpenny to buy bread with. This 
 state of society looks worse here than it would any- 
 where else, because no people place so high an esti- 
 mation on property as the British. 
 
 Prussia will not probably send any armies into Swit- 
 zerland, because France objects to it. Democracy pre- 
 vails to a very great extent in Prussia ; but the dem- 
 ocrats are perfectly quiet. They refuse to vote, a 
 course quite unexpected by the monarchists, and such 
 as they consider unprecedented. They will do nothing 
 at all in regard to the new constitution. One man 
 invited his democratic friends to the baptism of his 
 little child, and there they held an enthusiastic meet- 
 ing. Since then, all democratic meetings are of the 
 same kind. The churches are filled, and " scandalous 
 scenes " are said to take place, even with loud cheer- 
 ing, right in the meeting-houses. 
 
 Republicanism is gaining ground in Rome. The 
 Pope dares not return, and, it is said, soon even the 
 French will become out of patience with him, and 
 oppose his jurisdiction. The enemies of democracy 
 are deeply detested in Rome, and frequently their lives 
 are boldly threatened. Almost anarchy appears to 
 prevail there. 
 
 London, March 8, 1850. 
 10* 
 
114 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Cotton and tobacco. — The French Republic to be sup- 
 planted. — A YOUNG WOMAN, BAYING LAIN IN A TRANCE 
 
 thirteen years, revives. 
 
 In Parliament Lord Brougham has made considera- 
 ble talk about a reform in the Chancery Court pro- 
 ceedings, so that cases may be more speedily decided, 
 and with less expense. 
 
 Mr. Ewart gave notice that on Tuesday, the 16th of 
 April, he would move for a repeal of the taxes on 
 knowledge. 
 
 Mr. Cobden gave notice that on the 20th of April 
 he would move that an humble address be presented 
 to Her Majesty, praying her to direct the noble lord at 
 the head of foreign affairs to enter into negotiation 
 with France and other governments, inviting them to 
 concur in a general reduction of warlike expenses. 
 
 Mr. H. Berkeley gave notice, on behalf of an honor- 
 able relative, of his intention to move, at an early day, 
 for the imposition of a fixed duty of 8s. per quarter on 
 the importation of foreign corn ; also for the total 
 exclusion of slave produce from the markets of this 
 country. This last matter is all gammon. All the 
 proposed changes above mentioned will be very unpop- 
 ular. What could England do without American 
 cotton and tobacco ? Even the ladies here say they 
 consider smoking and snuffing the vile weed " accom- 
 plishments." Cotton furnishes employment for a large 
 portion of the people of this kingdom, who, without 
 it, would suffer for the necessaries of life. 
 
 The Australian Colonies Bill is soon to be disposed 
 of, and the Irish Franchise Bill. It is vain for the 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 115 
 
 Colonists or Irish to hope for very essential changes 
 and concessions. This government cannot be induced 
 to give up its domination over its dependencies, though 
 it may be entirely incapable of understanding and 
 providing for their political necessities. 
 
 The Irish patriot, Smith O'Brien, and his compan- 
 ions have arrived in Van Dieman's Land. They were 
 offered tickets of leave on condition that they would 
 not try to escape. All accepted the offer except 
 O'Brien. One took up his residence in one town, and 
 another in another town ; but O'Brien was despatched 
 to Maria Island, where he will be under strict surveil- 
 lance. 
 
 Republicanism is apparantly gaining strength in 
 France. The President has ruined himself by his 
 aristocratic proceedings. The soldiery are giving un- 
 mistakable signs of their preference for equal liberty 
 and Socialism. 
 
 At Caen, of late, a sergeant, corporal, and soldier of 
 a regiment stationed at that place had been degraded 
 and ordered to be sent to the condemned regiments in 
 Algeria, for voting for Democratic candidates at the 
 election. The regiment showed great dissatisfaction, 
 and it was found necessary to send off the men by 
 night, but there was no disturbance. Many arrests 
 are taking place in all parts of the country, in conse- 
 quence of the Republican demonstrations on the part 
 of the soldiery. 
 
 A proposition of M. de Laroche Jacquelin in the 
 National Assembly to appeal to the people on the 
 question of Monarchy or Republic, has created a great 
 excitement among the Legitimists, Bonapartists, etc. 
 M. Dupin, President of the Assembly, was much en- 
 
116 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 raged. The Mountain rose and shouted " Vive la 
 Republique ! " It seems the most inconsistent of all 
 the French follies. The silly demagogue, who con- 
 ceived the plan, probably did it only to make himself 
 and his party appear in favor of obeying the popular 
 will, well aware that his proposition would never be 
 sanctioned by the Government or even seriously con- 
 sidered by the people. 
 
 Accounts from Chateldon, in the department of 
 Puy de Dome, state that five trees of liberty, orna- 
 mented with red ribbons, were planted there on the 
 13th inst. They were immediately removed by order 
 of the authorities. 
 
 The French ambassador has been officially recalled 
 from London, because the " good offices " of France 
 were not accepted by England, in settling the Greek 
 difficulty. 
 
 When the minister reported in the National Assem- 
 bly, that he had ordered the ambassador to quit this 
 city, there was considerable cheering on the part of 
 the aristocrats, and a little from the democrats. 
 
 In Parliament, Mr. Ewart, member for Dumfries, 
 has produced his bill providing for the establishment of 
 public libraries. The aristocrats treated it with con- 
 tempt, and Colonel Sibthorp said he should move 
 " that it be altogether rejected." Certainly ; what do 
 aristocracies want of laws for the enlightenment of 
 the poor ? The more knowledge common people pos- 
 sess, the more they love liberty and equality, because 
 they perceive these to be their natural rights. 
 
 The crops in Ireland are not promising. Emigration 
 still goes on. The parishes are sending their paupers 
 to America, but some of the poor are leaving of their 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 117 
 
 own accord, and have money to pay their expenses to 
 the West. 
 
 A young woman of some country town, by the 
 name of Ann Corner, who has been lying in a trance 
 for thirteen years, recently revived, and prayed aloud 
 for hours. She requested her mother to see that her 
 body was not touched after her death. Then the 
 insensible state came on again. Her heart beats 
 faintly, but she manifests few other signs of life. 
 
 I assure you California is exceedingly tempting to 
 Europeans, and our Government will have to use 
 much prompt energy in defence of the Yankees' rights 
 there. 
 
 London, March 29, 1850. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Observations on foot in the eastern counties of England. 
 
 Leaving Northampton I wended my way on foot 
 through several counties in the east of England. 
 
 Observing some shepherds feeding their sheep in a 
 pasture near the road, I stepped over to have a little 
 chat with them. 
 
 The boys were gathering turnips in an adjoining 
 field. " This is fine, healthy work," said I. " Yase, 
 zur." " What is to be done with all these turnips you 
 are heaping up here ? " " Wa gie hum to tha yowes, 
 zur." 
 
 I asked what made them pronounce their words so 
 improperly. They didn't " know ; " but it was the 
 
118 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 way folks spoke " theere." They didn't know " mooch 
 larnin and sich loike." 
 
 An old shepherd came from the opposite side of the 
 lea, his shaggy dog following after. " How d'ye do ? " 
 said I. 
 
 " Toidy loike," he responded. " A noiee day, massa." 
 
 The poor old fellow, clad in rags, staggered on about 
 his business, and his lean dog, driving the sheep from 
 one trough, began, himself, to eat. " Why! do dogs 
 like such food ? " said I. " Oh, yase, zur ; I niver 'ad 
 woon, but would ate swate tarnip." 
 
 As I pursued my way, a poster-up of public notices 
 came along. He had much to say about the gypsies, 
 that used to wander about in that region, their herds 
 grazing by the wayside as they went. The farmers 
 have succeeded in driving most of them off, allowing 
 them to stop but one night in a place as the law pro- 
 vides they may. Some of them have built houses 
 to live in, and go about collecting old truck for the 
 London market. 
 
 I noticed a great many black cattle in the pastures. 
 These, my companion said, were brought from Ire- 
 land. But few are reared in this part of the kingdom. 
 Oxen are not employed in agricultural operations, but 
 are bought and fattened for the great markets. 
 
 The farmers were sowing their grain. This is usu- 
 ally done by a machine, which, as it rolls over the 
 glebe, makes drills, stows the corn along in them, and 
 covers it up. 
 
 Some fields were green with a new growth, and 
 rollers of wood were being passed over them to fix the 
 roots firmly in the soil. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 119 
 
 In rough places clod-breakers were rolled over the 
 ground to crush the lumps. 
 
 Many women and children were at work in new- 
 ploughed lands heaping up the turf and burning it. 
 
 I asked some young men who were planting hedge- 
 rows how much pay they got for this labor. " Eight 
 shillen a week," they replied. That is, two dollars, 
 on which they have to subsist, taking no thought for 
 a day of sickness. 
 
 They are noble, athletic men. " Can you live com- 
 fortably on eight shillings a week ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh, it is too little ; but we can get bread enough. 
 Very little beer." 
 
 " This is a hard kind of work. You need a plenty 
 of meat." 
 
 " That's true ; but we come far short of it. At 
 least I know I do for one," said the most intelligent 
 speaker. 
 
 They told me some men with large families never 
 tasted meat, except on election-days, when their can- 
 didates give them public dinners and oceans of ale. 
 
 I noticed men in Rutlandshire turning over the 
 greensward with hand-plows. This is called " breast- 
 plowing." It is a neat way of removing the turf, but 
 exceedingly laborious, I should think. 
 
 The parish of Faxton, in Northamptonshire, was 
 once a flourishing place, and fourteen farmers of 
 wealth resided there. But after the death of the 
 judge, and especially after the fall of Puritanism, it 
 began to decay. It now contains only eight or nine 
 houses, and the inhabitants are reduced to pauperism. 
 I was obliged to bring the third ladder before I could 
 
120 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 get one strong enough to bear me up — a fact indica- 
 tive of the condition of the parish. 
 
 The site of Judge Augustine Nicolls' house is 
 plainly marked by the remains of a cellar and fish 
 pond. 
 
 Rothwell is an interesting place. Every town has 
 some remarkable feature to distinguish it from all the 
 rest in the country. 
 
 At Northampton there was a castle, and a very 
 ancient monastic institution. Robert Brown, founder 
 of the Independents, was born at N. 
 
 At Naseby was fought the battle that ruined Charles 
 the First. 
 
 At Peterborough is the great and magnificent cathe- 
 dral. 
 
 But Rothwell has a feature very different from all 
 the other towns. A few years since the sexton, while 
 digging a grave beneath the old church, broke into a 
 cavern, till then undiscovered. The entrance was 
 found to be through the solid wall, which was opened. 
 Who could guess what such a place contained ? The 
 sexton, taking lights, with me descended the narrow 
 winding passage down, down into that cave of horrors. 
 
 What thoughts and emotions were awakened by 
 the ghastly spectacle ! There lay the naked skeletons 
 of forty thousand men. They remain just as when 
 brought to light. Not a woman or child are among 
 them. 
 
 No one can tell whence they came, or why they 
 should have been deposited there. The skulls appear 
 rather smaller than common, and some are those of 
 negroes. The vault is large, made of solid graystone, 
 being overarched in the Gothic style. I am of the 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 121 
 
 opinion that they were collected from some unfortu- 
 nate battle-field, and carefully deposited in that subter- 
 ranean place. 
 
 There is a curious old market-house at Rothwell 
 having the arms of ancient gentlemen of the county 
 represented upon its walls. 
 
 The rector of Clipsham receives a salary of fifteen 
 hundred dollars a year, and the schoolmaster one hun- 
 dred and thirty dollars. There are two hundred and 
 fifty inhabitants. I have visited several schools, and 
 found the teachers good-natured men. They often 
 invited me to drink brandy with them, but thought our 
 school system rather faulty in regard to religious in- 
 struction. The pupils were generally wretched-looking 
 children. They learn to read and spell from single 
 leaves of old spelling-books, a heap of which usually 
 lay in one corner of the room. The masters said they 
 were unable to keep boys longer than to the age of 
 ten ; still worse, many could attend only two or three 
 days in the week. 
 
 The common people of Lincolnshire are in a pitiful 
 condition. Pointon, joining Sempringham where the 
 Clintons, earls of Lincoln, used to live, is inhabited by 
 four hundred people, — perhaps more, — but contains 
 no literary institution, or even common school. There 
 are several drinking-houses, however, and a church- 
 living of considerable value ; not less, I think, than 
 fifteen hundred dollars a year. 
 
 My hostess at the principal inn, being quite commu- 
 nicative, gave me all the statistics I desired respecting 
 the state of society. She said the temperance cause 
 prospered well in that place, because the people could 
 11 
 
122 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 not afford the luxury of getting drunk oftener than 
 once or twice a year, " poor creatures." A pint of ale 
 cost threepence, and the best of men got only eighteen 
 pence a day, leaving out Sundays and all the holidays, 
 such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Lent, Good Friday, 
 Easter, etc. She said it required about ninepence to 
 " tosticate a decent man," but some would drink " a 
 whole day's work," and bear up manfully under it. 
 The old host, seeing me drink a glass of cold water, 
 remarked he should " hate to have that in Ms stomach." 
 " Do you suppose," said I to the hostess, " there are 
 any persons here who can't read ? " 
 
 " Oh, yase, master, hi'm hafraid there be a many. 
 Theer's no school 'ere noo. A school be needed for 
 hour childurn once hin awhile." 
 
 " Certainly," said I, " no children should be permitted 
 to grow up in ignorance, when it is so easy to give 
 them learning." 
 
 " Hou, yase ! but some his only worse for their hedi- 
 cation. Hi don't think so much of 'igh edecation, 
 jogriphy, fractions, Latin, hand them loike harts, as 
 some does." 
 
 " Why," said I, " it is necessary to know the names 
 and situation of countries, cities, seas, etc., in order to 
 comprehend what we read of them. We must have 
 some knowledge of numbers, in order to reckon time 
 and money. There is nothing so useful to man as 
 knowledge. Oh ! it is a solace^ too, in adversity, a 
 companion in wearisome solitude, and makes a beggar 
 as good as a princeP 
 
 " Well," the old lady replied, " after all, it wont sat- 
 isfy ha choild's hungry maw, nor keep one warm. All 
 the hedication hi wants is to know the rules of figures 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 123 
 
 as far as diwision, to read the history of Hingland 
 through, to go to London, and see the queen ; hand hi 
 wouldn't gie one fard'n to know or see anything moreP 
 
 London, April 4, 1850. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Slave teade. — The Peince Pkesident. — Americans at 
 Naples and Rome. 
 
 A PROPOSITION has been made in Parliament to 
 abolish all the English laws enacted for the suppres- 
 sion of the Slave Trade on the coast of Africa. There 
 seems to be a prospect that this change will take 
 place. The advocates of the motion state that the 
 efforts of the government have proved unavailing, and 
 that nearly 100,000 Africans are annually transported 
 to South America and the West Indies. 
 
 There is a prospect of another famine in this king- 
 dom, among the Hebrides islands. 
 
 In France, Prince Louis Bonaparte and his ministry 
 are making a desperate effort to suppress liberty of 
 speech, liberty of the press, and liberty of action among 
 the common people. The fate of the two bills intro- 
 duced into the Assembly for the indirect annihilation 
 of all the Socialist organs and clubs, is creating an 
 intense excitement. Hundreds of provincial editors are 
 arriving in Paris, to pray the government forbearance 
 in its course of partial and unequal domination. But 
 Prince Louis is endeavoring, by all the means in his 
 power, to prevent another democratic triumph. Twenty 
 thousand voters are to be struck off the list for some 
 
124 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 pretended fault, the whole of which number voted for 
 the Republican candidates. Fifteen hundred men of 
 the workinsf class have been driven out of Paris, and 
 
 •& 
 
 hundreds more arrested for the most frivolous offences. 
 
 As the Prince President was returning on Saturday 
 from inspecting the troops at Vincennes, his carriage, 
 and the escort of cuirassiers, which surrounded it, were 
 encountered at a point of the road called La Tourelle, 
 by a dense crowd of persons of the working orders, 
 called "lower orders " by the aristocrats. The cortege 
 was obliged in consequence to move at a slower rate, 
 while an array of menacing faces (!) and gestures on 
 either side the road, showed that " the mob " was ani- 
 mated with anything but friendly feelings to the first 
 (Prince) magistrate of their republic, " A bas les 
 tyrans ! " " Coquins, vous nous le payerez," etc., saluted 
 and offended the prince's ears, but no greater violence 
 was offered. Changarnier, seeing a soldier among the 
 people, rode up to him, and knocked off his hat, to 
 show him he ought to uncover before the chief. 
 
 On Monday, as the prince was reviewing the troops 
 at Vincennes, they shouted, " Vive la Republique, 
 democratique, et sociale ! " 
 
 Many Americans are said to be at Naples and Rome. 
 An English writer finds much fault with them for go- 
 ing round " in gangs," and making themselves conspic- 
 uous at public places. The principal event of the 
 week ending March 24th, at Rome, was the restora- 
 tion of the Austrian arms to the exalted and honored 
 position which they heretofore occupied on the facade 
 of the Palazzo di Venezia, from which, on the 21st of 
 March, 1848, they were insultingly rent down by an 
 infuriated populace, and dragged in the mud at the 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 125 
 
 tail of a donkey the whole length of the Corso, to the 
 Piazza del Popolo, where the battered and bespattered 
 escutcheon was consigned to the flames, amidst uni- 
 versal shouts of derision. 
 
 All Austrian Italy is under military rule. The 
 prisons of Vienna are literally choking with human 
 life. The unhappy inmates are half-starved, badly 
 clothed, and, from . their numbers, half suifocated. 
 Hundreds are incarcerated daily. 
 
 The cardinals of Italy complain much of the un- 
 bridled licentiousness of the press in Piedmont, believ- 
 ing its tendency to be the overthrow of the holy mother 
 Church. 
 
 In Sicily, Baron Regilifi, well known for his cow- 
 ardice in 1848, and for his arrogance after the Restora- 
 tion, has again provoked the public of Palermo, and 
 pounced on new victims for oppression. During the 
 performances at the theatre, he stood up and shouted, 
 " Long live the king ! " Every one maintained a dead 
 silence. He then repeated his cry, which drew forth 
 from the whole house cries of " The Constitution of 
 1812 ! " and " The Constitution of 1848 I " The baron, 
 irritated, ordered the doors of the theatre closed, sur- 
 rounded the pit with guards, and arrested fifty-two 
 persons, who have been transported to the isle of 
 Favigna, and there immured in an underground dun- 
 geon, formerly used for murderers and assassins. 
 
 London, April 5, 1850. 
 11* 
 
126 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Visit to the East India Museum. — Its curiosities. — The 
 LIBRARY. — The sculptures and paintings. — The per- 
 sonal aspect of the East Indians. — Their Idols. 
 
 Yesterday I visited the East India Museum in 
 Leadenhall Street. It contains, among other things, a 
 large library of books and manuscripts in various 
 Asiatic languages, Hindee and Hindostanee, Chaldaic, 
 Abyssinian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, etc. I noticed 
 one manuscript of Tippee Sultan, in which he re- 
 corded his dreams and the interpretation thereof. 
 There are some stones covered with inscriptions found 
 at the sites of Nineveh and Babylon. 
 
 In one place I observed a frame containing a paper 
 written by Oliver Cromwell, directing his commission- 
 ers on foreign navigation to aid in establishing the East 
 India trade. 
 
 The Indian paintings resemble the Egyptian, being 
 very deficient in shading and perspective. The statu- 
 ary is chiseled with much skill, but bad taste, accord- 
 ing to our ideas of the sentimental. There is little 
 propriety of form, and no elegance displayed. 
 
 The East Indians appear to be a diminutive race, 
 much inferior to the Turks in personal strength and 
 beauty. The latter race have a fine physique. The 
 Asiatic's superstition is manifest in all his works of 
 art. His idol Thoth, the sun, is represented in one 
 piece of sculpture as decorated with pearls and bands, 
 while he leans against a huge snake, coiled up and 
 extending its numerous heads over that of the god, for 
 a canopy. Aurora walks before his chariot in the form 
 of a woman beautifully adorned with pearls and jewels. 
 
 London, April 7, 1850. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 127 
 
 XXYII 
 
 Blockade of the Pireus. — Lamartine. — Piedmont. — 
 " Secular EDUCATION " OPPOSED. 
 
 In Parliament the bill for the abolition of the win- 
 dow tax was discussed in the House of Commons on 
 Wednesday. On a division of the members it was 
 found that eighty were opposed to the reform, and sev- 
 enty-seven in favor of it, showing to the world that 
 even the Commons of England " love darkness rather 
 than light." The result of the division was received 
 with loud cheers. 
 
 Lord Palmerston said, the other day, " it was not 
 the fault of the Greek nation^ but of the Greek Gov- 
 ernment, that the British Government had been 
 obliged to blockade the Pireus." 
 
 In the National Assembly of France, M. Grey^s 
 amendment proposing that the Paris and Avignon 
 Railway should be executed by the State, was re- 
 jected by four hundred and thirty-three votes to two 
 hundred and five. M. Lamartine made a beautiful 
 speech in favor of the amendment. He said he wished 
 to have the State undertake the work for the sake of 
 furnishing employment to the poor laboring classes. 
 They greatly needed such means of an honest support. 
 His remarks being received with insolent ejaculations 
 from the aristocratic Right of the Assembly, he 
 became more clear and energetic, declaring that he 
 " was a Socialist," but not a " Communist." He did 
 not desire to see all property divided equally among 
 the good and bad, the idle and the industrious, but he 
 did ardently desire that the State should provide em- 
 
128 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 ployment for the people, as they had a right to de- 
 mand. 
 
 La Voix du Peuple^ the Socialist journal, was seized, 
 on Tuesday for the sixth time. 
 
 The latest intelligence from Naples states that a 
 large French fleet and an American squadron are there 
 but no English ships of war. 
 
 Some interesting measures are being agitated in the 
 Senate of Piedmont. A bill has been introduced for 
 the abolition of all ecclesiastical privileges. The Min- 
 ister of Justice is strongly in favor of it. It is believed 
 the Pope does not intend to go to Rome, but to put 
 himself under the protection of Austria, in some place 
 where she has the sway of affairs. Austria is highly 
 offended at the conduct of Piedmont. 
 
 The Irish Roman Catholics are decidedly opposed to 
 the National Education system, proposed by the Man- 
 chester people. The editor of one Dublin paper ex- 
 claims : " See what secular education has done to 
 religion in the first two or three centuries ! ' Secular 
 education ' means education without religion, which is 
 infinitely worse than no learning at all ! " It seems to 
 me the best argument his opponents can use, are refer- 
 ences to the state of the Catholic countries, which are 
 the most ignorant and wretched of all in Christendom. 
 Much of the poverty of Ireland is no doubt attributable 
 to unskilfulness in agriculture, and the degradation of 
 the Irish mind ; which is susceptible of such exalted 
 endowments when polished by the hand of liberal 
 instruction. 
 
 By a return relative to the British Museum, it 
 appears that the total receipts during the year ending 
 Christmas, 1849, amounted to £50,612, and the total 
 expenditures to £41,791. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 129 
 
 A great educational meeting was lately held in 
 Edinburgh, from which it appears that the Scotch are 
 greatly in favor of a national system. 
 
 London, April 12, 1850. 
 
 xxvm. 
 
 Duty on paper not to be repealed. — The Education Bill 
 DISCUSSED IN Parliament. — Emigrants from England to 
 America. — Bohn's publications. 
 
 In Parliament, on Tuesday, after a long discussion 
 about the expediency of repealing the duties on paper, 
 the House divided upon the first resolution proposed; 
 viz., " That such financial arrangements ought to be 
 made as will enable Parliament to repeal the Excise 
 duty on paper." The numbers were : for the resolu- 
 tion, 89 ; against it, 190. 
 
 The resolutions for abolishing the duties on news- 
 papers and advertisements were then put and negatived. 
 
 The resolution that the Customs' duty on foreign 
 books ought to be repealed was then put and nega- 
 tived. 
 
 On Wednesday the Paper Duties Bill was disposed 
 of. The motion made and put was, that whereas all 
 taxes which directly impede the diffusion of knowledge 
 are highly injurious to the public interest and are most 
 impolitic sources of revenue, this House is of opinion 
 that such financial alterations ought to be made as 
 will enable Parliament to repeal the Excise duty oii 
 Paper," The House divided; Ayes, 89; Nays, 190. 
 
130 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 A lengthy discussion took place on the Educational 
 Bill. Some wanted to adjourn the debate six months, 
 but finally it was postponed two weeks. 
 
 On the 11th inst., a large party of emigrants, con- 
 sisting of one hundred and twenty-eight persons, went 
 from here to Southampton. This body was joined by 
 other parties at Woking, Basingstroke, and Andover, 
 bringing additions from various places, from Godal- 
 ming, Wallingford, Faringdon, Andover, etc. They 
 were of the agricultural class, sent out by their 
 respective parishes — being generally stout country- 
 men, and of a class to make good backwoodsmen 
 in Canada and the Western States whither they were 
 bound. This is the language of the newspapers ; but 
 I fear the emigrants are a miserable, beggarly set of 
 invalids, whom the parishes sent off for their own ben- 
 efit. I am too familiar with the disposition of these 
 country parish people, to believe they will despatch 
 good laborers to America, 
 
 The news from France is very exciting. The Social- 
 ists have nominated M. Eugene Sue for Representative 
 of Paris, and there is every prospect that he will be 
 elected, notwithstanding the unprincipled course of the 
 oppositng party. 
 
 News is received each day, from some town, of the 
 rebellious manifestations of the soldiers in favor of 
 Socialism. The officers of some regiments have re- 
 fused to cease shouting, " Long live the Republic, 
 Democratic and Socialistic ! " 
 
 From France we hear that the National (newspaper) 
 has been seized for accusing the President and his min- 
 isters of contemplating a coup d^etat. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 131 
 
 Bohn is publishing many books at a shilling each. 
 Among them I see living's " Life of Mahomet," " His 
 Successors," "Life of Goldsmith," etc.; also" Emer- 
 son's Representative Men," and the " Autobiography 
 of Dr. Franklin." 
 
 One of the lords in Parliament protested strongly 
 against the National School Bill, because such com- 
 mon learning led to the evils now being exhibited in 
 the cheap and licentious American books republished 
 here. 
 
 I wonder if Bohn pays for copyrights ? It will soon 
 be the Yankees' turn to complain of literary theft on 
 the part of these English publishers. 
 
 London, April 19, 1850. 
 
 Hon. Abbott Lawrence and family. — Visit to the Arch- 
 bishop OF Canterbury at Lambeth Palace. — Library 
 THERE. — Old manuscripts. — My reception unsatisfac- 
 tory. — Heralds' College and Doctors' Commons. 
 
 This morning at ten o'clock, I walked to the United 
 States Legation, No. 138 Piccadilly (street), to see our .^ 
 minister plenipotentiary, Hon. Abbott Lawrence, and 
 obtain some needful papers. He was engaged with 
 several callers. However, the secretary filled out for 
 me a passport to Paris, and Mrs. Lawrence and daugh- 
 ter received me very cordially. Mr. L. gave me a note 
 of introduction to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in ^ 
 order that I might be admitted to Lambeth Palace, 
 
132 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 his residence, and be allowed to inspect the great col- 
 lection of parish registers, and other ancient records 
 there deposited. 
 
 Mr. L. requested me to inform him how the arch- 
 bishop received me ; but, through fear of troubling him 
 too much, I did not fully disclose all the facts of the 
 case. The reception was all show and pretense. 
 There was no valuable opportunity given me to search 
 the vast stores of manuscript history which we know 
 that old depository contains. No extensive catalogue 
 of the books was put into my hands. There seemed 
 to be a disposition to avoid the labor of showing the 
 4really desirable objects, and yet avoid giving me 
 offence. I was made to feel more like a favored guest 
 than a favored antiquary. Mr. L. would have taken 
 more pains for me, if I had claimed further aid from 
 him, as he gave me assurance from the first. 
 
 At the Heralds' College and Doctors' Commons, I 
 found r could search the old records as much as 1 
 pleased by paying exorbitant fees. 
 
 London, April 24, 1850. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Slave-geown sugah. — Univeesal suffeage. — ViCTOE Hugo. 
 — Eugene Sue. 
 
 The weather is pleasant, and unusual good health 
 prevails in the British metropolis. 
 
 Wordsworth, the poet-laureate, died at his residence 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 133 
 
 in Westmoreland, on Tuesday. He was born in 1770, 
 at Cockermouth, in the county of Cumberland. 
 
 The business in the House of Lords last night was 
 unimportant. Several petitions were presented against 
 fpost-oiiice labor on Sunday, against licensing beer- 
 houses, and against the import and consumption of 
 slave-grown sugar. I observed the last two were cast 
 aside with very little consideration. 
 
 I went into the House of Commons, and found the 
 Australian Government Bill was being discussed. The 
 question seemed to be whether the different colonies 
 of that island should not be united, and have one con- 
 gress. I could only hear a word now and then spoken 
 with energy, and that was, generally, " the noble lord," 
 or " my noble lord." 
 
 Some gentleman near me remarked that the Austra- 
 lians wanted two Houses, like the two Houses of 
 Parliament, but there didn't seem to be the material 
 for an upper House. 
 
 Lord French made a long, drawling, stammering 
 speech upon the " Securities for Advances " (Ireland) 
 question. The members sat with their hats on, or off, 
 just as they pleased. 
 
 Some American clergyman has been painting a pan- 
 orama of slavery in the United States and elsewhere, 
 and now offers it for a show here. It is said to be a 
 slim affair. 
 
 An anti-capital punishment petition from Edinburgh 
 has received upwards of seven thousand signatures. 
 
 The French Government seems determined to goad 
 the people into an insurrection by its violent and arbi- 
 trary measures. 
 12 
 
134 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OP 
 
 Universal suffrage and the right of holding public 
 meetings are two of the fundamental laws of the con- 
 stitution, and yet electors are prevented from meeting 
 for the purpose of choosing their candidates, and can- 
 didates are forbidden to express their opinion to the 
 electors, whose confidence they ask. Entire liberty of 
 the press was one of the proudest triumphs of the 
 Revolution of February, and is guaranteed in the 
 most explicit terms by the constitution, and yet the 
 Prefect of Police not only assumes to himself the 
 right of prohibiting the sale of newspapers, but actu- 
 ally selects those which are to be sold in the streets, 
 and forbids the sale of all others. The sale of the 
 Evanement and the Estafette is now prohibited, as 
 well as all the Socialist journals. M. Victor Hugo, 
 the poet and orator, is the editor of the Evanement, 
 
 M. Proudhon has been fined many times for express- 
 ing his convictions of truth in The Voice of the People, 
 and is now a close prisoner in a castle, merely for the 
 expression of his opinions. 
 
 Carlier, the Prefect of Police, is worthy the detesta- 
 tion of all lovers of liberty. 
 
 Since last Friday there has been much excitement 
 in France. Leclerc was extolled as another Aristoga- 
 ton for two or three days, until the Democrats discov- 
 ered and published a true exposure of his character, 
 which most people now believe. It appears he was 
 not the champion they reported him, and the witness in 
 the case is his own son. So Leclerc is down flat. The 
 army are giving daily demonstrations of their prefer- 
 ence for citizen Sue. In one place where they voted 
 it proved that sixty -five of the soldiers were in favor of 
 Sue and only ten for Leclerc. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 135 
 
 Continual changes are taking place in the army offi- 
 cers, Socialists being replaced by their opponents. 
 
 The National (newspaper) announces that at the 
 military election at Orleans, Sue had forty-eight votes, 
 and Leclerc only four. 
 
 The aristocrats said Sue was disqualified for the 
 office of a Representative of Paris. A deputation was 
 immediately sent to him to ascertain the facts of the 
 case, and has just returned, bringing abundant evi- 
 dence that Sue's disqualification was interdicted in 
 1830. 
 
 M. Thiers having lost all his reputation in Paris, is 
 about to retire in the dumps. 
 
 The Prefect of the Dorogne has dismissed two com- 
 panies of the National Guard for selecting a Socialist 
 captain. 
 
 London, April 26, 1850. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 The cmMNEY-swEEPS. — The son of Robert Burns in Bor- 
 neo. — Baptism of infants. — Louis Napoleon. — Wel- 
 lington. 
 
 Yesterday and the day before the chimney-sweeps 
 went drumming and dancing through the streets, col- 
 lecting as many coppers as possible from spectators. 
 One bore a Maypole hung about with garlands upon 
 his shoulders, and the boys and girls capered around 
 it. I should think the performance was intended as a 
 a burlesque of the ancient custom of welcoming the 
 return of May with rustic glee, and crowning a 
 queen with the first flowers of spring. I don't under- 
 
136 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 stand why the sweeps should alone engage in the 
 pastime. 
 
 Another prince was born Wednesday morning at 
 Buckingham Palace, and we hear of nothing so excit- 
 ing as this incident. 
 
 A grandson of Robert Burns, the poet, has been 
 travelling in Borneo, and writing a history of the isl- 
 and. His name is Burns. I see by the last news he 
 has married a daughter of the Sovereign Dyak. If his 
 grandfather were living, he would write a splendid 
 poem about it no doubt. But Robert was a democrat 
 I think, and wouldn't like the idea of his descendant's 
 marrying such a mistress. It was he that wrote, 
 
 " Cursed be the man, the poorest wretch in life, 
 The cringing vassel of a tyrant wife ; 
 Who has no will but in her high permission, 
 Who has not sixpence but in her possession." 
 
 There's a great deal of indignation manifested here 
 about the treatment of certain persons of color, who are 
 forcibly taken from British ships, and imprisoned in 
 some of the Slave States, while the ships remain in 
 their ports. 
 
 The great Gorham case, about the importance of 
 sprinkling cold water on little babies' faces, is to be tried 
 in a still higher court. The Bishop of Exeter means to 
 die hard. He has already expended <£ 14,000 in the suit. 
 I perceive he is the one who declares the vital necessity 
 of this kind of regeneration. 
 
 Mr, Goode^ in his letter to the Bishop of Exeter, 
 says : " One thing, besides the Trinity, the Church 
 distinctly, clearly, and dogmatically teaches ; namely, 
 that all infants are born into the world ready for lielV* 
 
 A Mr. Maskell has written to the Archbishop of 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 137 
 
 Canterbury, to inquire if he ought to teach that remis- 
 sion of original sin is given to all babies by the appli- 
 cation of cold water. 
 
 To this, his gracious lordship gravely makes reply : 
 " What is included in the grace of regeneration is not 
 declared in the Articles of our Church, neither is regen- 
 eration limited in Scripture to the sacrament of bap- 
 tism," etc. 
 
 Oh, what fuss is made about this affair ! The theo- 
 logians are all aroused to action. The bookshops 
 are full of sermons, pamphlets, and letters touching the 
 matter, and there's a regular crisis in the Church. I 
 have not noticed how much stocks have fallen in con- 
 sequence ; but probably the birth of the prince No. 7 
 will restore the healthy state of the markets. 
 
 The Empress of China " went to roam with spirits 
 on the 16th day of the 12th moon of the 29th year of 
 of Tano-knang (January 18)." 
 
 In Parliament, the House of Commons have lately 
 rejected the bill proposing a reduction in all salaries 
 and wages of persons in the employ of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Captain Austin, C.B., has received orders to sail 
 to-morrow with the Arctic Expedition, consisting of 
 four ships. He is to enter Davis' Straits, and proceed 
 past Melville Island. 
 
 The Parisians have decided in favor of Eugene Sue 
 by an overwhelming majority, four-fifths of the soldiers 
 voting in favor of the Socialist civilian. Every part of 
 the city has been perfectly quiet during the election. 
 When the Democratic newspaper-sellers were snatched 
 away to prison, and their shops shut up, some friends 
 of the cause were always at hand to supply their 
 12* 
 
138 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 places. These noble fellows mounted upon chairs in the 
 midst of the crowds, and read aloud from the doomed 
 journals. We hear of no opposition from the eager 
 listeners. 
 
 This was declared by the aristocrats the great 
 decisive contest between the two parties. They 
 boasted ten days ago that Leclerc would receive 
 25,000 majority. Only consider what a humiliating 
 defeat ! But you would look in vain for one word of 
 exultation from the victors. There never was a more 
 beautiful illustration of the magnanimity and true 
 politeness of the Parisian plebeians. 
 
 Many plans are suggested to get rid of universal 
 suffrage. Some think it best to alter the constitution 
 so as to prohibit all under twenty-five years of age 
 from voting, others propose property qualifications, and 
 others want to go into an investigation of characters, 
 allowing none to vote, who have ever been convicted 
 of any " misconduct." 
 
 ^e is much slandered and abused by the Times and 
 Chronicle, So they stigmatized Mazzini as a robber, 
 Kossuth as a thief and adulterer, and Ledru R-oUin as 
 everything bad. 
 
 A great ohange is to be made in the ministry. 
 Prince Louis is aiming to assemble around him 
 more subservient men, or those he can rely on in any 
 emergency. It is my opinion he intends to have him- 
 self proclaimed Consul for life, and then in case of 
 necessity to call on other governments to support 
 him. He is using all sorts of means to please and 
 conciliate the favor of the Roman Catholics. 
 
 Democratic candidates have all been returned for 
 the Soane et Loire. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 
 
 139 
 
 In the contest just ended, M. Sue had 128,071 votes. 
 M. Leclerc had 119,626. 
 
 General Changarnier will be the Legitimist candi- 
 date for President in 1852, and they hope he will turn 
 out another General Monk. 
 
 Victoria tells Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Welling- 
 ton, that her new prince shall be christened " Arthur," 
 out of respect to him, the birthday being Wellington's 
 birthday also. 
 
 Eight hundred of the nobility called at the palace 
 the same day, to show the interest they felt in the 
 affair. 
 
 A writer from Rome says, the Pope has been received 
 with respect, but not with enthusiasm. He goes to 
 visit the French military hospital and distributes 
 crosses, beads, etc., to the sick soldiers. How affec- 
 tionate to his backers ! 
 
 London, May 3, 1850. 
 
 xxxn. 
 
 Sunday laboe in the post-office. — M. Eugene Sue's per- 
 sonal APPEARANCE. — ThE FrENCH REPUBLICANS. — ThE 
 
 Pope. — " Decline of England." 
 
 In Parliament, petitions against Sunday labor in 
 the post-office were presented last Friday, by Lord 
 Stanley,from several places, and by other lords and bish- 
 ops, from other places, some in Ireland. Many people 
 have a great horror of doing anything useful to the 
 public on Sunday, but I hear of few petitions against 
 allowing intemperance in the drinking-houses on the 
 
140 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 first day of the week. Ten times as much drunken- 
 ness may be seen here on Sunday as on any other 
 day, but you cannot get a postage-stamp, as I have 
 tried to do, after a certain hour on Saturday evening, 
 nine o'clock, perhaps. 
 
 On Monday, another shower of petitions against 
 Sunday labor in the post-office, fell upon the two 
 Houses. 
 
 The New Electoral Law was moved in the Legis- 
 lative Assembly of France on "Wednesday by M. 
 Baroche, Minister of the Interior, and urgency was 
 demanded for its consideration. The Mountain pro- 
 posed the previous question, which was rejected by a 
 majority of four hundred and fifty-three to one hun- 
 dred and ninety-seven, and the Ministerial proposition 
 was carried. 
 
 Generals Lamorici^re and Cavaignac voted against 
 the Government. By this bill, the right of voting is 
 restricted to a residence of three years instead of six 
 months. The payment of personal taxes is to be 
 taken as an evidence of domicile. The number of 
 disqualifying causes is to be greatly increased. 
 
 Just before Baroche came and introduced the bill, M. 
 Eugene Sue entered the hall, his bland countenance 
 and sturdy form engrossing all attention. It was ob- 
 served that he walked to the seat of Messrs. Vidal and 
 De Flotte, shook them heartily by the hands, and sat 
 down beside them. Sue is forty-nine years old, but 
 looks not more than forty-five or forty-six. He is 6f a 
 dark complexion, and very prepossessing in his appear- 
 ance. 
 
 The editor of the Voice of the People has been fined 
 four thousand francs, and condemned to a year's im- 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 141 
 
 prisonment, for some unpleasant saying in his paper 
 against the parti-preter. 
 
 Many rumors are in circulation of an intended 
 insurrection, on account of the proposed Electoral 
 law. The Socialists and others declared it contrary to 
 the constitution, and say when the constitution is vio- 
 lated an insurrection will be justifiable. 
 
 The celebration of the Declaration of the Republic 
 passed off in the most delightful manner. The whole 
 of Paris was in the streets and public gardens, yet not 
 one accident occurred to mar the tranquillity of the 
 occasion, 
 
 It was the people's glorious holiday, and heart- 
 rending to the aristocrats. But they had to bear it. 
 The formidable parade of troops in the city must hav< 
 looked exceedingly foolish. 
 
 An emeute is much feared. Divisions of the army 
 which were prepared to leave Paris yesterday, received 
 contrary orders, and were returned to their barracks in 
 the city. 
 
 Conscious guilt makes cowards of the despotic 
 knaves. 
 
 The Socialist leaders warn their party against mak- 
 ing any resistance to the passage of the new Electoral 
 Bill. They have ascertained that an emeute of the 
 common people is greatly desired at this time, and 
 some have been heard to say they must and would 
 have an insurrection, which is the only way they can 
 gain their points, and make Prince Louis Dictator. 
 
 Three ships of the United States squadron in the 
 Mediterranean — the Independence, Cumberland, and 
 St. Lawrence — are lying before Naples. 
 
 The Pope seems to be growing unpopular at Rome, 
 
142 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF 
 
 on account of his increasing severity to political offend- 
 ers. The Americans are in some favor with him, on 
 account of certain good offices performed there during 
 the revolution, by our minister, Mr. Cass. He is said 
 to have prevented the destruction of a university and 
 other buildings, by the exasperated populace. 
 
 A writer in the Times states that M. Ledru Rollin 
 is composing a work on the " Decline of England." 
 There are surely abundant materials for such a book. 
 The rich have heaped up wealth, but the great major- 
 ity of the people have continually sunk since the res- 
 toration of monarchy. Some of the signs of decline 
 are: the enormous debt of the nation, .£3,800,000,000 ; 
 the old age and decay of her navy ; the disaffection of 
 her colonies and Ireland; the wretched condition of 
 small towns ; the poverty and ignorance of most of 
 her people ; the dependence of manufactories on for- 
 eign products ; the scarcity of men of genius ; the 
 debasing luxury of the nabobs, and the reckless loy- 
 alty of the nation in this time of light, the dawn of 
 free democracy throughout the world. 
 
 The Advocate of yesterday says within the last eigh- 
 teen months, forty-eight persons in the parish of Balli- 
 nakill, county of Galway (Ireland), have received 
 £686 from their friends in America, two-thirds of 
 whom are common laborers. 
 
 London, May 10, 1850. 
 
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 143 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 Strikes of laborers. — Louis Napoleon determined to 
 
 MAKE HIMSELF EMPEROR. — SOCIALISM. — ACQUITTAL OF 
 MURDERERS AGAINST JUSTICE AND COMMON SENSE. — ThE 
 TRULY NOBLE NEED NO TITLES. 
 
 I NOTICE frequent accounts of " strikes," on the part 
 of laborers in various sections of this country. They 
 must suffer, and perish by famine, unless the Govern- 
 ment intercedes in their behalf. How can men sub- 
 sist, and support families on one shilling' a day ? This 
 is the price of labor in Bedfordshire and elsewhere. 
 The poor workmen struck for eight shillings a week ! 
 
 Wednesday was Victoria's birthday, and the loyal 
 ministers, lords, and gentry observed it as a holiday. 
 Neither the Russian nor French ambassador was 
 present at the celebration, which circumstance was 
 referred to in the House of Lords yesterday. 
 
 I believe Louis Bonaparte is resolved to become an 
 Emperor of France, by some means or other. He will 
 make the attempt, and if it fail, call on Nicholas for 
 the necessary force to put down his enemies. It is said 
 the Bourbons have made overtures for him to turn 
 " Monk," and cause another " Restoration ; " but he 
 wants to be first, or not at all, like the devil in Milton. 
 
 There was scarcely ever such a time in France. To 
 enumerate all the acts of tyranny committed by the 
 Prince President's agents would require months. Dur- 
 ing the last few days, the strongholds of Paris have been 
 filled with weapons and stores. Some of the editors 
 have been sentenced to prison for years, and to crown 
 
144 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS, ETC. 
 
 the work of oppression, the Voix du Peuple^ the Repub- 
 lique and the Estafette have been suppressed, and their 
 printing-presses sealed by the Commissary of Police. 
 Even the enemies of Socialism are horrified at such 
 proceedings against the freedom of the press. 
 
 The trial of Robert and Sarah Bird who beat that 
 poor girl, Mary Ann Parsons, to death, has taken place, 
 and resulted in their acquittal. Judge Talfourd charged 
 the jury that the Government had failed to prove the 
 prisoners guilty of inflicting the last and fatal blow on 
 the child's head.* It is said that the most important 
 evidence was designedly withheld to save the accused. 
 
 The poor working people of England are little re- 
 garded. Their wrongs, their misery, and their death 
 occasion no more sighs or words of regret than the 
 fall of faded leaves, and the fate of worn-out beasts of 
 burden. 
 
 The oppressed class are not even permitted to vote 
 for men whom they desire for their lawmakers unless 
 they possess a certain amount of property. When 
 some godlike man becomes conspicuous by his uncom- 
 mon deeds, they give him a title similar to their own ; 
 thus endeavoring to make it understood that they, 
 without talent, perhaps, or even common sense, are 
 above the untitled Miltons, Shakspeares, Cobbetts, and 
 Cobdens of the land. It is astonishing to me that 
 men whom God makes great, will condescend to own 
 titles indicative of a rank inferior to many others. If 
 Socrates had been an Englishman, the king would 
 have ennobled him ! 
 
 London, May 17, 1850. 
 * This was a servant-girl, whom the Bird s had taken from a poor- 
 house to work for them. 
 
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