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1^ THE LEADER. [No. 302, Saturday,
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THE DUCAL DECREES. The Duke of Argyle is...
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Tins Imi'Isvial Guard.—A dooroo ban boon...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Progress Op The Na.Tional Church. High O...
i ^ Kai ^ vr ^ f ^ TVT ^ zs . 'vsrvc'rj : ^^ f ^ twv-vgsng ^ ffjft ^ satT- ^^ -r * -- » w - ' **» = »* - >—• . — - » - * - * * - . — - * . - » -iAii » , v ; i « adEpiflistratiGii , which we have not , the Government woul < J see that the whole num"ber of the p $ p ; tttatida should be provided with edifices , a , 7 X < £ that they should be provided and endowed for coming numbers . But while we repel the claim of the Church to rule over us and command Qirr temporal ' affairs , we do not provide in the temporal Government any department to take care of our ecclesiastical affairs . The
Church of the State stands at once as a monopoly , and a thing repudiated . It insists upon attempting to levy rates from the people ; the people repudiate it , although it has a right of compulsory tax for the purpose of its maintenance ; and the whole question is in a state of suspended litigation . Now that a grand extension of the Chtirch is to be made in the metropolis , we want to know whether the
extension will be based upon principles that will tend to perpetuate discord ; or will it be made the opportunity of introducing new principles ? If so , it might really be constituted a fresh ground upon which our national ecclesiastical administration may rest as upon a basis , while the oldei part of the Church is reformed . This Would indeed be to double the utility of the Metropolitan Church Endowment scheme .
. Let us explain our meaning somewhat further . If we take a very stern view of the church-rate question , we might say , —either church-rates should be abolished , and not "be levied for a Church which only represents a minority ; or , if they be retained as universal local imposts , payable by every parish , then the parish , as in the Free Kirk of Scotland , ought to choose its own pastor , and the whole body of the churches thus constituted should be represented in their Synod . In that case , we should have , however heterogeneous it might be , a really National Church . It is quite possible that a material foundation of that kind
would occasion many changes in tJie doctrinal unity of the Church ; and already we see unmistakeable signs that the doctrinal unity is daily-growing feebler . Not to mention diversities of opinion on subjects of praevenient and subvenient grace , of the imposition of hands , of the essential character or merits of different kinds of church furniture , we may point to the last case of diversity in opinion—the Reverend B . Jowett's speculative divergencies on the subject of the Atonement ! In his treatise on the
Epistles of St . Paul , Mr . Jowett declares " satisfaction" to be " inconsistent with the divine attributes , " anger to be impossible in a real Godhead . " Such a thought refutes itself by the very indignation which it calls up in the human bosom . " " Human feelings revolt at attributing to the God in whom we live , and move , and have our being , the momentary clemency of a tyrant . " God cannot be " reconciled " to us through Jesus , says Mr . Jowett
, because God is unchangeable ; it is we who are reconciled to Him , not He to us , through the Sacrifice which was the greatest moral act ever done in tins world . This argument is most impressive , and undoubtedly , while powerful in itself it reconciles many difficulties felt by inquiring minds . But here a fundamental dootrine of Christianity , as it ha * hitherto been understood , is stricken ; but , again we aisle , what becomes of the thirty-nine articles .
Irite the vital spirit of Christianity has Bometlring superior to disputations on special points ; , It is not the human interpretation of any particular doctrine which is essential to the tri * th 6 £ religion , 'for truth is sufficient and absolute in itself , whether we understand it or ndt . > Each sect may be amid < to bo refuted by the existence of all the rest ; but all of them unite itti the greatest truths , of all . This is the true naiityj The sum of the broadest opinions coaatiifcwtes the national creed ; and it really
might "be possible to witness , out of the present chaos , the growth of a National Church , permitting local diversities , such as our common law permits , with a general unity , and that capacity for change and progress that belongs to true organic vitality .
1^ The Leader. [No. 302, Saturday,
1 ^ THE LEADER . [ No . 302 , Saturday ,
The Ducal Decrees. The Duke Of Argyle Is...
THE DUCAL DECREES . The Duke of Argyle is Harriet Martineau in reverse . While that unwearied lady applies her powerful mind to expose the abuse of intervention , the Duke of Argyle , regarding himself , apparently , as the father of his j > eople in the island of Tirree , constitutes himself in detail the manager of the house and of the men , for each one of his tenants . His agent in that island has issued a notice announcing , that after the 16 th of November last , " no tenant
paying under £ 30 of rent is to be allowed to use whisky or any spirits , at weddings , balls , funerals , or any other gatherings ; and all offenders against the terms of this notice . will be dispossessed of their lands at the next term . " We are at present without any complete explanation of this notice , and are left , therefore , to the internal evidence . It is clear that the Duke is no friend to intoxication , and " so far he must be considered to
entertain meritorious opinions . It is something to catch a Duke who objects to intoxication , even in other men . We will not ask whether he indulges in it himself ; for , although Dukes have been known to cultivate alcohol , and have been seen , yea t in the House of Peers , in an alcoholic condition , the Duke of Argyle is far too refined and conscientious a man ever to be under the influence of any spirits but the most exalted . It is rather remarkable ,
however , that he stands on the l'ight side of the line . Evidently , the notice does not preclude the Duke himself from using whisky or other spirits at weddings , balls , or funerals , if he be so minded . It -appears , therefore , that he is not absolutely against whisky and other spirits ' , but that he limits the prohibition to persons on one side of a given line . He yields , perhaps , to the dogma , that " one must draw the line somewhere . "
But why fix upon . £ 30 of rent ? Is it that , in the island of Tirree , all persons paying that amount in full , have the self-possession or the refinement to contemn the abuse of whisky and spirits ? If this is the case in the island of Tirree , then we must say that that island is more blest than the remainder of Scotland . We have seen men paying more than . £ 30 of rent , who showed , that they were as little to be trusted with whisky , even at funerals , as
men of the lowest conceivable rent . Rent is not a test of morals , or of self-control , and we have some difficulty of understanding how it comes to be taken for such by the accomplished Duke . The only conclusion at which we can arrive is , that the qualification is a tribute to property . The Duke , perhaps , thinks he can do what he likes with his own , when his own are tenants , qnd poor ; but men above £ 30 have a right to a will of their
own . If it were otherwise , and all sober people had a right to refusd a restraint upon the unsober , how would either House of Parliament fare ? Surely some non-ducal Argyle , who has joined the Teetotal Society , though lie is not paying £ 80 of rent , might morall y impose hia veto upon members in both Houses of
Parliament . Notice might be hereby given that — " After this date , no Member or Pe « r is to be allowed to use whisky or any other spirits white the Si'EAKku in at prayers , at dinner time , or before ten o'clock , in order to protect the decorum of debsite . " We all know how desirable such a rule is . Mr . Hall , the magistrate , is an authority ; ho says that fill
persons requiring to use such drinks after ten o'clock in the evening are either thieves , drunkards , or prostitutes . And perhaps he would not be a bad person to be appointed as commissioner for the entitled Argyle , who would introduce sobriety into either House , as the ducal Akgyle is introducing it into Tirree . Another Duke has been proposing to regulate the agriculture of this country , beginning with his own farms . For , as ' the Model of Dukes said , " May not a man do what he likes with his own ? " The Duke of Nokthu 3
Iberland will not allow a tenant to remain on his estates who will not sign an agreement forbidding him various agricultural proceedings under penalties . The farmer sliall not grow his own turnip-seed ; he shall not break up grass-land without leave , on penalty of £ 50 for every acre so broken up , in addition to the rent ; he shall pay " £ 5 an acre for every acre of fallow not manured with 20 tons of rotten dung ; £ 5 an acre more for every acre not cultivated in the four-course rotation : £ 10 an
acre more for every acre of potatoes grown beyond a specified quantity ; £ 5 an acre more for every acre of certain fields then in tillage which should not be laid to permanent grass after the first rotation ; £ 5 an acre more for every acre of grass-land which should be mowed without having been previously dressed with 12 tons of dung- ; £ 5 per ton more for every ton of hay or straw sold . " And even these are not all the penalties to be incurred by an experimental and enterprising farmer on the Duke of j ^ orthum-Berland ' s estates .
We know there are landlords who dictate how many children a man shall have in a family ; others point out the proper church to attend ; some the proper costume to be worn : those persons are all the self-styled " fathers " of their tenantry . And we do not see so much objection to the encroachments of the Restoration , for this is the paternity of feudalism . " We very much doubt whether the farmer who has ceased to be a resident dependent upon his landlord is in so much better a condition
than the old occupant by base tenure . The correlative of all authority like this * is the dependence of the inferior . The Duke oi Northumberland will not allow a man to cultivate his own land in liis own way good ; but then the Duke must be expected to guarantee the tenant against adverse seasons , fluctuations of the markets , mistakes in farming or in trading . To guarrantee , in short , the whole results of agriculture . Will lie do so ? Will he who directs the
fanning of the farmer undertake to give his tenants a handsome income irrespectively oi agricultural success . The Dmkc of Argylk will not allow his subordinate tenantry to make merry at weddings , balls , or funerals , with the usual means of conviviality . Will ho , then , give those superior means of
enjoymen t , which arc not whisky ox other spirits ? For that is exactly the correlative . If the Dukes will undertake for their people , lot the people ask the Dukes to fulfil the contract . It tlic Dukes make themselves felt only by dictation and prohibition , the people are very likely to » sk , wlint is the good of Dukes ? Is there an y Duke able to jmswer / £ question ?
Tins Imi'isvial Guard.—A Dooroo Ban Boon...
Tins Imi'Isvial Guard . —A dooroo ban boon iaauod for tho roorganiuafion of the Imperial Qunrd . It iH intended to onlnrgo tho " Wain of th-o Guard " b y introducing , ' . ' to quote tho language of tho Minister of War , " tho excellent olomouta which tho aruxy of tho
Jblast can now provide it with . " It ia bolioved that tho Guarda and uomo of tho otlior ( jroopn which havo served in tho Crimea will form tho nucloun of an army of picked raou , which con bo directed uganst any point whenever occasion may requiro . A campaign on tho Rhino i » talked of ; and 1 ' rusain , which jh much Iohr popular now in Fi-iuico that it was ft » Uort time baolt ) m « y hove to look to it « frontiera .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 5, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05011856/page/14/
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