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1066 THE LEADER. [Saturday ,
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THE WAR OF WIG AN. " The Strikes," as th...
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Britain And Ireland Is To Be Found In Th...
tween imperative doubts , but more imperative interests , parties rose into sharp distinctness , and the anarchy of the Church became a visible tiling . An institution based less securely than this wonderful product of a thousand years would have been ere this in . ruins . But fortunately , at least for the Church , Henry ' s Reformation made her , and Charles' and William ' s Settlement left her , one of the most
complete organizations , as a political institution , the world ever saw ; Bound . in the State , her chief officers appointed by the responsible Ministry of the Sovereign , and made subservient to political purposes ; half her property under lay patronage , a mass of it in the hands of the Lord Chancellor ; her Ministry opened as a " career " to the ambitious , like law , arms or physic , and her so called sacred office classed as one of the
learned professions ; welded into the very fabric of society from its highest to its lowest platforms , the Church has survived the roughest handling , and lost very little of her real power . Fortunately , also , she was deprived of temporal power , and disappeared as a Church militant ; and with-unconscious prescience , or unusual foresight , the suspicious patrons of the Church even
locked up her Parliament House , and deposited the keys in the safe keeping of the Crown . Everything that worldly wisdom , could do to strengthen and uphold her politically has been done . Gold , reputation , honours , even veneration , have been hers . One thing alone was wanting ; and had that been attainable , perhaps the clergy of the Church of England would have been " content to dwell in decencies for ever . " The
Church lacked the dogma of infallibility m its head . Ministers of no day could stop theological controversy ; the human mind , even when environed -with , formulas , and . often lulled to sleep in substantial luxuries , could not be at rest . Hence came divisions ; hence bitter feuds . ; lience anathemas hurled here and there ; hence secessions and concessions ; hence flagrant inconsistencies ; hence disbelief , misbelief , unbelief , all lodged in the same groat almshouse , all fed at the same buttery , nil clothed with the same external attributes , and all
making , officially , the same professions . The astute politicians who fixed the status of the- Church of England , made its temporal conditions of existence so strong , so entirely one with the interest of the ruling faction in the state , so blended with the whole system of tenure in the country , that even the passionate disputes and profound antagonisms of its members cannot split it asunder . At the present moment the property of the Church is its true rcl / f / o , without which its members would split up into the fifty sects they really are , though apparently one .
We should have the Low Church , the- High Church , the Broad Church , and all their offshoots . Some would cling to the Apostolical Succession , and ' Baptismal . Regeneration , some to justification by faith , and conversion by grace ; some would recognise only the elect , and damn all the rejected ; and some would reconcile all the doctrines , and explain them—with the utmost haziness , but with apparent self-content . Takeaway the bond of property , and where would bo the Church of England , one and indivisible ? Wo do not even exclude the Record parly from the
condemnation implied in this sweeping charge . We put the question point blank to the Record , for is it not tho organ of purity and uiurorldliness P Do not let it bo said that wo are supposing an . impossible—wo had almost said , an improbable case . Tho olemonts of separation and ncision arc all at avoHc ; the formations to which they give birth crop out hero and there , jutting up afresh daily , and demonstrating tho anarchy of Iho central fires of tho system . I Fare we not seen how tho scalpel has " boon remorselessly applied by the MiUn-hwyh . Review , laying bare tho anatomy of the Church , apparently for tho sake of its natural his
making an useful contribution to - tory , utterly forgetful of tho eU'eel ; -produced upon the ingenuous mind of tho public ? Do wo not hoc ono bishop returning from tho consecration of a Protestant Church at Conova , only to meet the indignant reproaches of his own party who , red-hot Cnh'iniMts , accuse the prelate of consorting with ArianH and SociniansP and another bishop , Avho protoHtod against tlio act of tho Church in appointing a . Bishop of Jomsa . lom , and has now renewed that protest V Is there not a Hlmnboring Ktnn in tho diocese of Bath and Wells , where Mr . Donison , only a Few months ago , was quarrelling with his superior about tho
real presence P And , lastly , has not the Reverend Frederick Maurice just been dismissed from the chair of theology at Xing ' s College , London , for teaching which was dangerous , unsettling , and liable to misinterpretation . . ' We pause over this latest fact . Mr . Frederick Maurice is a man well known to our readers . Those who do not agree with him respect and admire him . So subtle , so profound , so eloquent have been his expositions of divinity , that bishops are proud to acknowledge how much they owe to him . High Churchmen ' consider him " one of
the most original and independent thinkers of the day . " The Chronicle and Guardian express open sympathy with him ; he is the favourite aversion of the lowest of Low Church papersthe itecord . Indeed , it is whispered that two members of the C ollege Council vainly opposed the removal of Mr . Maurice ; and that they were —the one , a bishop , —the other , Mr . Gladstone ! The dismissal of such a man , therefore , is no ordinary symptom of the anarchy of the Church ; and on both sides we hear prognostics of strife and mischief .
Well may what is called the " religious world feel some alarm ; well may the Chronicle eagerly deprecate controversy—nay , almost the exercise of the power lodged in the Council . Well may the G-itardian , which is never " good at need , " and always flinches in an emergency , give personal praise to Mr . Maurice , but profess to look at the act of the Council only as a bystander , and to dare no opinion . Here is one of the lights of the Church , one of the foremost men , practically considered an unsound teacher
of youth . Here is private society already agitated with the rising tempest ; here are the vindication of Mr . Maurice , and the justification of the Council issuing from the press ; here is the pugnacious Record rubbing its fat palms with glee , and predicting , more sico , " a fierce and lengthened controversy . " It is not for us to prophec } r ; but , noting that the controversy will rage over the doctrine of eternal punishmentsomething to contend for—Are shall stand by and look on , keeping a record of the progress of the battle , and handing it now and then to our readers .
1066 The Leader. [Saturday ,
1066 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
The War Of Wig An. " The Strikes," As Th...
THE WAR OF WIG AN . " The Strikes , " as they are called , present several questions Avhich arc in their nature really distinct , and a great contemporary has not rendered the whole more clear by mixing them up with a totally distinct subject—that of the franchise . We see as strongly as any politicians the culpability of using violence without the hope of success by that means ; but if tho doctrine is to bo maintained that those who resort to violence in
vindication of Avhat they conceive to bo their just rights , ipso facto prove thomselves worthy to bo disfranchised , then the AvholeEnglish nation , which has obtained most of its valuable political rights by moans of force , ought to be disfranchised at the dictate of closet philosophers . Let us , however , dismiss that question , with tho single remark that the subject of the franchise is not to be decided by the impulses of the hour .
Tho most important questions Avhieh are mixed up in the discussion under the conspicuous title of " tho Strikes , " are the adjustment of wages , tho method of arranging differences , tho right of * the men to act in concert with each other , and tho preservation of the public pence . Tho last ; point we hold to l ) o aw important us any . We would have tho -public peace- preserved at all evonts . Wo do not indeed regard with . so much abhorrence those who renort to the ultima ratio . Where a subject cannot bo decided by logic , where philosophy has not yet arrived at any final decision , force is a very convenient and a . yery time-honoured method , of' settling- a dispute
provisionally , —of finding out Avhieh parly is tho stronger , and leaving that party in possession of the adminiHlrution undisturbed by the discontents of a , weaker and less able party . Where two Hides are essentially arrayed Hgiunst each other , it is manifest that the victory for the time must remain with the stronger ; and it in for the interest of bo | , h sides that the victory should bo ascertained as soon as possible , and with as litllo waste as possible of penalty to either . Tho stronger party in the factory districts—( . bat party which is most united with the whole body of tho nation , and is in fact both ablo and bound to dictate the municipal law , ought to bo prepared to maintain its authority , happen what may . With
all our sympathies for the working-classes , we are not prepared to admit that the rioters at Wigan ought to administer the law in those districts . / "We consider that the law ought to be administered by the constituted authorities , we . do hold that the constituted authorities , ' and those who hold themselves peculiarly interested in siding with the constituted authorities , were grossly culpable for not having provided more efficient means to sustain the uninterrupted jpower of the la \ v . With four thousand colliers , aUmore or less disaffected ; with six thousand op eratives in a similar mood ; with masters not only resisting demands , that the men regard as just , but resisting in a spirit not unadulterated by perverit is manifest that the
sity , peace of the town was very likely to be disturbed by large bodies of a vigorous and impulsive population , not greatly under the moral control of public officers appointed liy mill-owners and coal-owners . It was necessary , therefore , that forces should beprovided to maintain the law against crowds of colliers and working men . The forces which tie local governors provided consisted of eleven men , one of whom was sick , and another absent . To sustain the majesty of the law as against hundreds and thousands of a justly angered population , the Mayor had nine men ! It became necessary to summon the military ; but the local governors had taken no steps to prepare the military for the summons . The weakness of the force was no doubt one of the causes which
tempted the rioters to violence ; and the blood which was afterwards shed in suppressing violence must , in part at least , be laid at the doors of those who tempted aggression by exposing the deplorable weakness of the local government . The employing classes , who are really the governing classes in . those districts , wish to cat their cake and have it . The men have offered negotiations , but the offer has not been accepted . Some of the employing class have actually tried conference ^ with the men , and successfully . We have mentioned one manufacturer in Manchester , who , by showing his books , convinced his workpeople that he could not maintain his trade if ho granted their demands ; and they revoked those demands . Another instance has come to our
knoAvledge , of a coal-owning proprietary , Avho appointed one person , to meet one person appointed by the men ; and , after a single conversation , we believe , those two persons arranged matters to the satisfaction of both sides . In their OA er-land circular for India , Messrs . M ' audsley andCo . —a firm whose eminence is known throughout the world—specially recommend councils of sage men , like those in Eranee , for the adjustment of differences . In an excellent letter to . the committee of working men at Preston , Mr . Hume , while deprecating strikes , says"You declare , that workmen have always been for arbitration , and that tho masters have refused that
fair courao . I am not in a condition to know whether you are correct or not ; but Avhichever party have refused to refer their differences to arbitration , have much to answer for , both to the public , and to the parties who have become tho sufferers thereby . " I see on tho list of advocates for arbitration to settle the disputes of nations , instead of having rocour . se to war , many master manufacturers who « iro . 'it this moment in strife against their men . "
The masters at Preston , however , as represented in a circular just issued by Messrs . J ^ irley and Co ., not only refuse negotiation , but cull upon tho men to abandon their union , without Avhieh abandonment no niau shall bo emp loyed . Tho masters then refuse all terms except -their own ; and require the men to pay no attention to . / Esop ' s fable of the Lion and tho 1 < W Hulls . For our part , wo recommend that book to nil classes as a store-house of practical wisdom ; * " »« that fablo is most especially pertinent to th ' <{ uestion of union . There is no doubt that many of these pem >» ' who are now refusing arbitration , which tnoy recommend to nations at Avar , have been unu >» f ? fl <
tho most prominent to attack the standing army-They have opposed tho estimates in the Ilouso o Commons ; they have got up public meetings an " resolutions against the forces ; and now , m tu ( Ml tribulation , they are only too glad to accep t U >< assistance of the forces Which they vilify , » 11 * XXV ' p ressing the men with whom they refuse to trc » - Hur . h is tho practical manner in which tho <•<>» * lnoreial adherents of tho Peace warty cany outturn- oavu doctrine in conduct 1 They roluHO «»*«' which they recommend ; they nwo \> t iwniHt » "f >» from that which they reprobate ; and they wii "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 5, 1853, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05111853/page/10/
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