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Leader (1850-1860), 12th June 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 16

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      Church Anarchy. Hopelessly Confused Are ...

      " eores and wonuds . " Nobody can deny , nobody does deny the existence of Tractarianlsfti , and of its opposite in the same diocese , in the stime county , nay , in the same town . Oxford XJniyersity itself is represented by two members as different in belief as they are in , mental stature . The Church of England , indeed , includes in her

      wide embrace the Atheist and the Trinitarian , the Christian Flatonist and the disciple of Calvin , the preacher of a religion of material comfoi'ts , and the dealer-out of abstract and abstruse doctrines , the high and dry and the low and humid churchman , and every one of these men has sworn , in a natural or " non-natural" sense , that he believes in the Thirty Nine Articles !

      And all our active public men are alive to this state of things . Parliament takes note of it ; orators deplore it ; sometimes even the Courts of Law ring with it ; the public journals comment upon it and register tlie progress of the disease . Yet so large , and so complipated , and so widespread is the evil , that no one authoritatively attempts to deal with it , or enable others to do so . Jjord Derby professes gigantic but vague intentions ; even Mr . Disraeli prattles of a " national" Church , to be evolved from

      Derby-Disraelite governance ; and Sir John Pakmgton , with a touch of epic woe , refers all the misery to " that portion of the clergy of the Church of England who have pursued the line which Mr . Bennett has taken . " But neither Lord Derby , wno rejoices in a " compromise , " nor Mr . Disraeli , who suffers the word " national" to flow so softly from his pen , nor the heavy baronet of the Colonial Office , who has so magically discovered the cause of the evil , attempts to propound a remedy . We look abroad for that in vain .

      The fact is , that at the present moment there are not ten men in the House of Commons who can agree upon a definition of the Church of England . We have nothing to do with this , Ate have no interest in it , except in so far as every man has an interest in that which concerns humanity . But being out of the fray , and having eyes undimmed by the dust of the conflict , we do see that there is but one honest course for the Church to take in its extremity . It is not , certainly , the building of churches for the" poor in Portman Market ,

      and charging pew-rents , or the coming round for 1000 Z . more to complete the endowment thereof , as we see by an advertisement certain well-intentioned low church sympathisers are doing in Marylebone . It is not by harrying this or that bishop ; providing for this or that distribution of revenue ; instituting this or that inquiry by select committee of a secular House of Commons , which can havo no practical result . It is not by repealing the grant to Maynooth , and

      bullyragging tho JLloman-catholics ; nor is it by iostering a certain kind of political clmrehmanship prevalent among lay patrons and their nominees . But it is by following that course which wo havo pointed out before , and which reckons among its advocates some of tho most honest , and some of the bravest of churchmen ; it is by granting to the Church of England power to regulate her own concerns , and thus , if possible , to redueo her affairs to order , and her ministers to peace .

      564 F E | Beades. Pafctatiuy;

      564 f E | BEADES . pAfctatiuY ;

      Notes Foll The Elections. I. Tborobtion ...

      NOTES FOll THE ELECTIONS . I . TBOrOBTION THE ONLY PKACTICAL POLICY . Thebk are two kinds of advocacy ever going on in a free state—one speculative , the othor practical . The iirst is intended to act upon tho people : tho second upon tho Government . When those modes arc confounded together 1 —as thoy often aro—confusion onsucs , find progress is delayed . Tho first kind of advocacy is personal ; it includoatho propagation of ull thoso views which havo penetrated tho conscience—all thoso aspirations which tho patriot entertains for tho fntnro of his country—all that ovght" to bo , in contradistinction to what , at tho present point of transition , can be . Tho

      dream of tho poot—tho Utopia of tho philanthropisttho millennium of tho Christum- —are included . in this advocacy . To forbid these speculations—to discourage thorn- —to disparage them- —would imply groat want of insight into the processes of amelioration : great want of stateamtmly sympathy with tho natural dovolopinmits of civilization . ' Honco all free governments , and all wise rulers , havo loft freo this species of speculation ; but though it is of tho utmost importance , though it is tho wmrco of inspiration to a peoplo , it has its place : i'rtr if it oomea to over-rido practical realizations of principles , it delays rathor than stimulates Improvement . 11 m km grand ,. but not Ices useful kind of advocacy ,

      is that which keeps a steady eyb on what is pdssible- — whiqh ¦ distinguishes between what is desirable , and what is practical at the present hour . All progress is a series of steps , and to be ever intent on taking the next , is neither to stand still , nor to retreati Thanking the philosopher for , tho chart , the practical politician is occupied , in' making the voyage : and if he cannot induce the public to accompany him to his extremest destination , he will carry as many as he can as far dn the way as possible . A survey of his impediments and conclusions may not be out of place at this season of reviving political action .

      Many of my readers may be astonished to hear that there are certain , theorists who feel that the long agitated « ' Six Points" would ill satisfy them as a final measure . They deem it unmanly , unfair , selfish , contrary to private interest , to family independence , to public progress , that the suffrage should be denied to Women . Yet it is equally plain to these politicians , that to insist upon the double suffrage , would be , in effect * to adjourn the Male suffrage indefinitely , and to raise up a premature and prolonged , if not a fatal prejudice against the possible claims of Women . Froin one point of view it does seem absurd to demand Political reformation as a means to an end ,

      and keep silence as to the end sought . It is now well understood , that no political reform-can be more than a means . The Six ; Points , as Cobbett once outraged Mr . Attwood , and the Birmingham Political Union , by saying of the Reform Bill—might as well be a blank paper , unless they insured something beyond . Political Reform were worthless , unless as the precursor to Social Reform . From the social point of view , unquestionably , it seems absurd to keep , silence on the Emancipation of Labour—and not to demand the

      abolition of the restrictions which favour the monopolies of Land , Capital , and Knowledge . The omission of these demands in a popular political programme > has , indeed , been made an offence by the Government , who say , ( as Colonel Thompson expresses it ) "Do you think we are going to put knives into your hands to cut our throats ? JIVhat do you want to do with your Universal Suffrage ? " is their imperative challenged Let us guard against being drawn from the right line of practical success , either by the seduction -of our own desires , or the taunts of our adversaries .

      To others , all demands for national representation seem narrow and ill-considered , which make no claim for tho representation of our Colonies—peopled as they aro with English citizens , who carry with them British rights , and who , it is affirmed , should thereforo forfeit no portion of their title to share in the Government of tho Empire to which they belong by blood , language , and habits—and who would so well repay imperial protection with colonial energy of progress . However just this last demand may seem , even " Six Point" men havo been silent upon it , seeming to caro only for themselves . Tho great domestic wants of the day are still moro numerous . Yot because a man believes in them all at

      once , is ho to demand them all at once ? If we are to accept the doctrine of tho Six Point men , it would

      seom so . Now , the most ultra man of principle , if compelled to swallow his repast at one mouthful , would pray for " concessions , instalments , and compromises . " Thereforo if it bo humane not to choko your friend , may it not be patriotic not to choko tho nation ? Tho peoplo whom wo sock to enfranchise may be fit for it , but tho question is—aro all othor persons , who havo quite as much right to bo consulted , fit to concede it ? If not , wo havo to do one of two things—either to reason them out of it , or to fight them out of it . If our policy is

      to bo ( as wo insist it ought to bo ) peacoable and orderly , wo havo to consider how largo n measure of what wo want tho nation is able to boar , and willing to concede . Wo must decido upon that measuro which tho body of tho people , of all classes , would be likely to support . For to force upon tho nation more than tho nation feely tho want of , or dosires , is simply tyranny under tho namo of democracy , and would lend to another of those fatal reactions from which honent and practical Reform has suffered too much already .

      , There aro not wanting peoplo to whom it seonis that to demand loss than you bcliovo to bo just and right , is expediency . Bo it so . Wo toll such persons , that a just and considerate oxpedioncy is of moro worth than an intolerant adhorenco to impossible principle . Tho politician of tho ultra school thinks it derogatory to accept loss than ho deems right to bo demanded—but if all men act ou tho same rule , thoir common rights will not bo won for centuries to come . . Moat of thoso

      who accept tho " Six Points , " accept much moro besides ; and if each insista upon all ho holds to bo just , tho already divided political ranku will be split up into a hundred new suctions . To denounce a wise expediency , which incrwiy mean *—projiortion in demand—wluu *

      latioa of the chances of suceess- ^ unity of action , and the acceptance of what you can get , ivhcn you cannot get air you want—to denounce this policy may be " standing by principle , " but it is obstructing progress . Th 6 re is m > occasion to suspend the advocacy of even extreme conscientious opinion . Wo owe all civilization to men . who , to borrow the words of Milton , " prompted the age to quit its clogs ; " It is more than ever necessary , that each man having advanced notions , should strive to educate the people up to his level , in order that to-morrow the common demand may be lrio-her than But unless

      to-day * politicians consent to realize what they can as they go along , the world will owo them nothing but a barren admiration for excellent promises , never ripened into the smallest practical performance . Without the capacity to realize what we can , as instalments of what we want , every new thinker becomes an impediment rather than a helper ¦ — his theory not so much a benefit as a crotchet—and the public afflicted , by a new distraction are bound over to the guidance of those political obstructives- —the direst invention of a declamatory demagogisnv—your self-styled " men of principle . " Ion .

      ' Bimii/E For Poptjxab Use. "She Lies Li...

      ' BIMII / E FOR POPTJXAB USE . " She lies like a chamber-inaid i" says an angry dupe of the frail girl who gives the name to Mrs . Opie ' sWhite Ides . We do not see why poor Fielding should cast such a backhander on the chamber-maid , and in our day we shall be more scrupulous towards the unappreciated class ; but yet we shall not be without a model for the comparison , demanded by Fielding . " Lies like a chamber-maid , " we shall no longer say j but a . substitute will easily be found for the last word . By the bye , you have read the official correspondence in Mr . Mather ' s case : does not Malmesbury , the vendor , ap . pear before England under an aspect too ancillary to Austria . ?

      8a.X Not A Chanceixoit Is Ii.Ii. Some Ol...

      8 A . X NOT A CHANCEIXOIt IS II . Ii . Some old ladies are offended at being thought to be well , others cannot abide being supposed to be ill ; and a reporter of the Morning Chronicle seems to have encountered one of the latter species . On the 31 st of May , the Lord Chancellor came into coiirt , " pale , and apparently feeble , speaking with a weak and broken voice , and occasionally leaning his head on his hand , as if exhausted . " The reporter of thoMorning Chronicle , " moved by no unkindly feeling , " expressed " regret that the , Lord Chancellor appeared to be still suffering from the effects of his recent illness : and it was by a strong effort that he got

      through the duties of his office . " The consequence was , a cross-examination at the next sitting of the court , by tho Lord Chancellor ' s Secretary , as to " tho fairness and properness" of the remark , and tho reporter ' s intention of " inserting such , paragraphs in future . " Undismayed by the menacing character of these questions , tho reporter firmly replied , " Just as I think fit . " Tho answer was alarming— "Oh ! very well . " The Mokai ; ov the Matiieb , Outrage . —Let us

      recommend to tho attention of our readers , tho two last letters published in tho newspapers on Mr . -Mather ' s case—tho one from the Foreign Office , dated May 24 , in whioh Mr . Addington , writing for Lord Malmesbury , informs Mr . Mather ' s father that " after long and vexatious negotiations with the Tuscan Government , Mr , Scarlett has succeeded in obtaining a practical atonement for the unmerited and brutal treatment Mr . Mathor received at Florence , by the paym ent by that Government of tho sum of 1000 franccscom ( 24 , 01 . \ i tho othor tho admirable and spirited reply ot

      Mr . Mather ' s father , dated May 27 , in which , with true English fooling , ho scouts the proposed atonomonc as totally wrong in kind , and points out to i ^ ru Malmesbury that tho true satisfaction to havo been insisted on was tho punishment of the offending Austrian officer . " This man , " says Mr . Mathor , " I frequently saw in all tho pride of military array and overbearing insolence in the streots of Florence ; a public o ™™?* to his brother officers and the world of the impunity wu which British subjects may bo treated , and » n eViac " of tho low estimation of his superiors for British lipnou and British power—this , too , all tho while that Untie > urgent

      statesmen and diplomatists were making mands for redress—youinolf among tho number . Mather is right ; in his just indignation iwafatlioi | i has seized and stated tho real flict of tho case , vrj o » our diplomatists , with thoir coinplnisnnco and t « o » » ' 1000 francosconi" would minco and pass over , fact is this—and Englishmen should not Ioho wgw it-tbat , in proportion oh a utato becomes despoticf ^ becomes also the insolent onomy of England . An ! inforonco—lot Englishmen lay this to heart Itkewsu id , that wo ought to nook our allies in natmis wi aro otornal , rather than in governments , wlucMi oiw b With tho persons of tho mon in powerr- *™ " ^ i'ord Of the Friend * ofltofyi

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1852, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12061852/page/16/