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im . THE LEADER. [No. 308, Saturday,
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LOKD STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE'S APPEAL. It...
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The Princess Mathilda has quarrelled w i...
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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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How To Win Sabbath Observance. Those Who...
the success of . their mission to carry it on in the ri g ht spirit , and to give their address the right aim . They will not make the working classes of this country religious by speaking in a tone that begs the question , and th ^ t demands submission upon presumption . Neither to cant nor arrogance will the working classes yield , though they will open their hearts largely and generously if the ad-dress is directed to their hearts ; they -will give attention if an appeal is made to their
understanding . A public meeting was convened on Monday evening by " Th « Sunday Rest Association , " and about seven hundred persons assembled in a large room in Kentish Town . Lord Shaftesbury took the chair , and called upon a religious minister present to open the proceedings with prayer . Many working men loudly protested against this preliminary , their objection causing great scandal and wonder to Lord Shaftesbdey , who said " he was at a loss to account for the senseless noise and
upfoar ; with which his proposition was received . " " Being on the most friendly terms with the working met , ' it was with no little cha , grin and surprise , " he said , " that he should there be met not only with indignity , but with something like insult . " He seemed quite liable to understand when those who resisted the proposal deprecated that construction of their conduct . A distinct motion
• was made and seconded , that the business proceed with ' oiLt prayer f Lord Shaftesbury declared that in , all his experience lie had never heard such a resolution ^ and he declined ^ put it ; There was greater uproar ; he abandoned the chair , another chairman was citibsjen , and the proceedings went forward WtK perfect order . Resolutions were passed in favour of opening the British Museum , the National Gallery ,, Maryborough House ,
ancjl similar institutions , on Sunday afternoon . JL motion pf jthe sa , xne kind was , all but car-Tied at a meeting called by the Loxd ' s-day Society in Chelseg ,. "there is , in fact , a strong' feeling amongst the working classes against any compulsory interference with their freedom of the Sabbath , and in favour of giving them access to places where the understanding and the taste can be improved , instead of driving them to places where the
understanding , taste , conscience , and life itself are imperilled . We do not , however , at present intend _ to reopen the Sunday question . The Sabbatical agitators will oblige us to do that presently ; but just now we have other work in hand . "We have to deal more particularly with the unpleasant incident at Lord Shaftesbury ' s
fleeting . We are not exactly surprised at his surprise , although if he understood his o \ yn position a little better all wonderment would cease . It is very bad to prescribe without knowing the state of the patient ; and those who are so , anxious for the soul of the working class ought to know exactly the condition of that soul . The fact 5 s , that sceptical opinions , # , * % strongest kind not oiily exist amongst
t yje forking class , but are shared to a very 7 $ < Je extent , fi . still larger number of the forking class feel th , at absolute indifference J jfWcIi makes theia dislike even to discuss , # h . ey care less about the question of religion j $ kan the Atheist cares , for he will argue it ; M' % T $ ^ number hold it to be npt worth $ iS ? . pW ^ < Amongst thia sceptical or W ^ TT ^^ * SB are some of the mpst intelligent ^| MAe order - & is notorious that wo do W ' $$ & % . ¦ $ *§* ' opinion ; but it would be a v M /^ W ^ nonesty if wq were to deny the J ^^ . ^^ - ^^ wtiiwswea ? of that num-S ^^' - ^ ft ^ <**» wl * o enfiartaia such SjIv ^• th < * 0 l * S 9 abGv * them fve > - ^ en « ly conform to T eUglouaoraiaances- ^ whU «
it is notorious , is indeed almost avowed in the manners of many people , that they attach no grave meaning to religion—the working classes , who have less motive for " keepin g up appearances , ' * are filled with repugnance at that organised insincerity . Their feeling is not the less bitter since the conforming classes are also
the classes that " look down" upon the workers . Many an intelligent and independent working man retorts the supercilious manner of the churchwarden class with at least equal contempt . Such working men , then , associate with the professions , manners , and customs of " respectable" religionists a kind of settled insincerity , which they heartily despise .
Independently of this class feeling , which is strong among many , the working class have a very reasonable dislike to the obtrusion of religious observance at public meetings . The assemblage convened in the school-room at Kentish Town was gathered for the particular purpose of discussing a point in religious poEty . It maybe said that religious observance was represented on the one- side , free opinion on the other- Now , Lord Shaftesbury's request to begin the proceedings with
prayer unphed an attempt to beg the question in favour of religion . It was presumed by the ortho dox side , that , at least in that ceremony ,, the great body of the meeting must submit to a religious form . Logically , the allowance of that form would have given an advantage on the side of the religionist as against the free opinionist , and the working men have quite sufficient logical faculty to make a stand against any such beggiHig of the questions which they were convened to discuss and
decide . Many , therefore , who would not be disposed to decide the question against religion would resent" that endeavour to steal a march upon the sense of the meeting . It may be true , and we believe it is , that no work can prosper which is not carried on under the blessing of € rOD ; it may be true that no man enjoys his full strength unless he is a conscious instrument in the same work : but
religious observance is desecrated , not exalted , when it is made a means of contention , and is flaunted in the face of those who return the arrogance with scoffing . Appropriate as prayer is to begin the proceedings , wlien those who are agreed upon the spirit and form of prayer are alone assembled , the intrusion of the form amongst people prepared to dispute the very principles upon which it rests , is nothing more lefty than impertinence .
It is generally admitted now that laws only follow the manners and customs of the people . The Sabbatarians would do well to consider this truth . According to their own statement , it is in districts inhabited by the working classes of the metropolis the custom to trade on Sunday . We may regret that custom , and wo do so ; but we can only put it clown coinpulsorily at the expense of religion . Religion is npt to be produced by statute or coerced by the constable ' s staff or the bayonet . It is the result only of instinct , confirmed by conviction and , feeling ; and no statute can awaken
instinct , produce conviction , or rouse feeling . It is not through Parliament that the worlcing classes are to be driven away from Sunday trade and Sunday unrest . If those who profess to speak in the name of divine power really have a " mission" they will not need appeals to Aots of Parliament . Their endeavour should bo to remove every such false reliance , —to abolish all species of compulsion , —to leave the city and the field equally open , —to let the Museum and the Gallery of Art be as free as the public-house or the church , and to trust entirely in the voice of religion speaking to the instincts of mankind . If they did so , they might perhaps learn to
speak in accents like those by which James Caird has compelled attention from Prince , Peer , and people , and has delivered accents that have been equally eloquent from the pulpit of the Scottish church , of the English church , or of the Unitarian chapel ; for the sermon of Catrd , published by royal command , has been preached from established pulpits , and from ever y Unitarian pulpit iu the country . If the
museum and the gallery can call the multitude from the tavern , rouse their dormant instincts , elevate their tastes , it is quite possible that a genuine minister of religion , unaided by the constable , might draw people from museum and gallery to the , church . But this is a mission not to be performed by a canting arrogance that begs the question against the working classes , and presumes the judgment which they are invited to pronounce .
Im . The Leader. [No. 308, Saturday,
im . THE LEADER . [ No . 308 , Saturday ,
Lokd Stratford De Redcliffe's Appeal. It...
LOKD STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE'S APPEAL . It is understood that Lord Stratfokd Dk Redcliffe has earnestly entreated the Government to lay before Parliament with the least possible delay , the whole of his correspondence respecting the Asiatic frontier of Turkey , the defence of Kars , the expedition , into Circassia , arid his own position with reference to the conduct of military questions . We eail imagine no grounds on which , this appeal could be fairly resisted . Lord Stratford de Redclifive
is under imputations "which affect his diplomatic and personal character . If lie can rebut the charges that have been made , the Government is bound to give him the opportunity , me English interests can be served by concealment . If other interests are consulted , which might be ^ compromised by the full publication of the despatches , they are consulted at the expense of justice , and of the reputation of a public servant . Whatever may be Lord
Stratford de Rebcliffe ' s faxilts of temper , he has been made obnoxious principally by his overweening devotion to a purely English policy , which he has opposed to many rival influences at Constantinople . It is easy to understand whose object it is to preserve a mystery which comprises our Ambassador . Lord Stratfoud de Kedcliffp is willing to take his trial , and the public , sullenly suspicious , desires to hear him . What will Ministers do ?
The Princess Mathilda Has Quarrelled W I...
The Princess Mathilda has quarrelled w ith the cure of Saint Philippe du Roule , M A . uzou 3 , for having denied laor the honours due to her rank wliou she otuaxe to " assist at" diviue service . The curd has been removed to another pariala , but his former parishioners have petitioned for his return . Such arc the relations of the Church and the Empire . Mr . Costa ' a oratorio * ' J 3 U" waa perfonned It'at evouiug for the first time in London by the Snored Hp . rm . onic Society at Exotor Hall in the presence of her Majesty and Princo Albert and a densely-crowded audience . Mr . Costa experienced an enthusiastic inception , and fclio performance waa a triumph .
VA . V . M , SEWVANT 3 j ; n SlOlCNBSS . —In a oiuso heard at the Wiugham Petty Sessions , Mr . Rioe , M . F ., oho ol " the magistrates , said farm aorvauts should distinctly understand thab , during tho tiina they iiro disabled by illness from working , their masters are bound to Isoep thQttLf- ^ South JU astci'n Gtwette , Tme Manchester Stiukjs . —Tho wtrike of spinners at Manchester , which hap now lastod nonrly thirteen weokfl , has no-b yet been brought to a clone . There woo a meeting ol about 800 only on Wednesday night , at which groat diejsatiflfoctiQn was oxprosswd by tlio mooti ng with tho coin ^ iifctoo managing the Htriko , mul a motion waa mado for its dissolution . Much confusion and re-crimination followed , and tho mooting wan ultimately dissolved by the pint form lig hts boiug extuugtuehed before ft voto could bo taken .
Oji'oamuN to tew Nkw Pojack Bill —At a mooting of tho town oouucil of Leeds , on Wmluondsiy , Alderman Shaw said that ) tho Police bill of Sir Ooorgo Gvoy containh ao much of tho appoaranoo of its pvodoooseor thftfc W ) thought it would bo vmdem'a'jlo to hco i , t odoptod by tho logtalntnre . A petition win subsocmontly adpptpd in objection to hoiiio of tint cluwsoB of the bill .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 16, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16021856/page/14/
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