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THE AUSTRIAN "CUTTING DOWN" REGULATION. ...
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IRELAND'S OPPORTUNITY. Our present Minis...
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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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A True Champion Op The Church. Oub Reade...
was a hindsotne Bible , of great size , very substantially **&& tastefully bound . It was presented with an addressemphaticallyrecording the sense entertained by the working classes of their rector ' s value ; arid > at the same time , two poems , written , by Mb ^ parJ ^ one ^ s , were sung to established < nn 6 s . ^ W © have here , therefore , not only that general sense of Joseph BrownV goodness , wMch must take possession of the multitude under his charge , but also a testimony from the jnore active , the oratorical portion of the working classes , who are so apt to hold aloof from the
recognition of established authority . If Mr . Brown were a man exercising authority with a more pompous and power-lining demeanour , such a result could never have been attained 5 but the active minds amongst the working classes nioved by the nobler sentiments which animate all men , have as greiat a faculty for recognising the value of practical services and natural character as any class of people whatsoever . In this formally recorded acknowledgment from the working classesj however ; we have a certain test of the degree to which authority discreetly exercised
and personal kindness evinced with sincerity ' -and painstaking may win over the most independent . Christchurch has been torn not only by political or even sectarian disseritions , but by those intestinal discords within the church itself , which are more destructive than any other division to an establishment . ETot a , hundred years since , the pastor and his parishioners were at open war ; the church was deserted ; the vestry was a scene of anarchy , and the Trustees of Marshall's Trust were in a peculiar state of hostility towards the rest of the world , having retired into their
fastnesses , and holding aloof from the public * The fund was left for the repair of the church , and for some other charges beneficial to tlje parish ; and its proper application , when it should be freed from the consequences of litigious warfare , would he beneficial also to the rector . In their presence at the festival the Trustees evinced their disposition to fall in with the renewed harmony of the parish $ and in expressed statements , while acknowledging the toast , the senior of the Trustees declared the wish of himself and his colleagues to cxfcrieato their charge from its embarrassing
position arid place : it at the petvice of the parish , for its original purposes , From the opposite extremity of parish society , therefore , we have a not less emphatic testimony as to the power with which the new rector nas drawn together the severed classes . The greatly increased attendance alone might have indicated the same thing : the presence of 2000 or more of the parish—some estimated the -number 2500—and the manifest increase to the " party in the garden , spoke clearly enou gh {& to the general popularity of the rector ; but in the address of the working classes , and in
the expressed friendliness of Marshall s Trustees , the two extremes of the alliance are registered in characters that place it beyond mistake . It has always surprised us that the Church of England should not have employed the vast opportunity which it possesses to retain and extend its influence . It has still more surprised us , that the danger of the Church should not have been met by reourring to the natural sources of social power . The Church possesses an officer in every parish , it possesses local authority of the highest kind generally , with all
the instruments that it needs , including considerable wealth . The minister has the power , by his position in the vestry , of becoming the leading councillor of his parishioners in public affairs . Being usually the best instructed man of the assembly , he is able to combine a comprehensive viow of the affairs under consideration , with a certain judicial advice upon mattors of detail . By means of the sermon , and the access which his offices give him to the homo of each parishioner , } ie is able also to be the instructor and adviser of those who need instruction and
advice in matters of personal difficulty . If , indeed , this opportunity be used solely to propagate doctrinal refinements and niceties of mystical dogma , the clergyman , will be welcomed only by minds suited to such contemplations , ond amongst them , most likely , by such minds alone as are trained to agree with his own . But if , leaving doctrinal considerations to their proper tome , if in extending the hand of help rather than ° f reproof to , the perplexed , he brings the faculties of his superior training and the more catholic spirit which he ought to derive from his sacred studies , to the assistance of hia fellow-creature 3 .
he will supply the most valuable servicethat one man can render to another , and he will be appreciated accordingly . It appears , from the testimony to which we have already pointed , that such is the method in which Joseph Brown exercises his calling within' the parish entrusted to his charge . Whether from jjast errors , or . the naturally republican bent of the English mind , it is no longer a question of expediency , but a matter of fact , that parishes are divided by an endless variety of sectarian organizations and doctrines . Through all these varieties , however , the truths
which are the most essential to the development and satisfaction of the religious instinct are common , and are not only independent of sectarian differences but actually over-ride them . A proof of this over-riding force is seen in the attraction which ministers possess who can appeal to the instinctive feelings , even when they accompany such appeals by somewhat marked or even vehement expression of dogma ; and men like Dr . Cumming , Dr . Dale , or Dr . TJllathorne , find hearers amongst Churches the most opposite to their own . The eloquence
of Egbert Hall is full in the recollection 01 many high churchmen , and the sayings of Saint Francis de Sales form a text-book in the hand of many a Protestant , or even of some whom Protestants would riot reckon amongst Christians . When a clergyman rests his most powerful appeals on those broad truths , he is able , even in the midst of our sectarian conflicts , to introduce a certain spirit of religious unity which has striking practical results ; when his voice is not confined to the Church , made by hands , but he leads forth Ms flock under the roof built by God
himselfwhen he speaks to them in the broad voice of nature , and teaches them to study the laws of Grod in the works of God—he speaks to them with an authority that can be subjected to no challenge , and in a language that can be misunderstood by the speakers of no dialect . It appears to us tliat , whatever may be the technical description of the doctrinal tenets of Joseph Brown , he has taken his degree in that great language which never will be a dead language . Assembling his parish , as represented by all its classes , in the presence of nature—speaking to them in the voice of human affection—consulting the interests of each and all for the sake of their own welfare - —he is unquestionably the minister of no sect ,
but " the servant of servants . " Hence his power . In him we see the full enjoyment of that opportunity which is afforded most especially to the Church of England . If all Bishops were to make that sagacious choice which the Bishop of Winchester has made , if all ministers were to improve the opportunity as Joseph Brown has done , we should hear little about " the Church in danger . " The only danger would be , that men , thus acting , might acquire too great an influence for perfect freedom of thought . But as in the new plan of Customs Unions , combination involves freedom , so a broad doctrine , tending to religious unity in feeling , would inevitably result in a freedom as broad .
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The Austrian "Cutting Down" Regulation. ...
THE AUSTRIAN " CUTTING DOWN " REGULATION . It is a rule of the Austrian service , that if an officer on duty be struck , he must cut down the man that strikes him , smiting even unto death . Inasmuch as the officers of the Austrian army are men—although English prejudice may admit the fact with difficulty—the rule mostly operatos to make them pacific ; for few men like to slay their fellow-creatures wantonly . On the other hand , it operates to make their civil opponents submit at onco , when they find themselves confronted by an officer sword in hand ; and the relish for marching through yielding crowds is so strong , that the soldier in the black and yellow livery inevitably bocomos puffed up with insolence . Hence much of the arrogance which disgusts Englishmen , unused to military interference ; hence the contempt of Eadotzky for civil testimony . A civilian is nobody . We nave been assured by working men , that ladies of rank will do things before them not usually transacted before men ; and tho uniform explanation is , that being only of tho "lower orders they are thought to be no more than inferior animala or furniture . What tho working man is to the English fine lady , the civilian is to the Austrian officer . Some humane persons in England scruple to smash a beetle ; some Austrian officers draw a distinction
between , cutting down weeds and cuttmg ^ down civilians . There are parallels in all conditions of humanity . . . , The rule is not exactly conformable to English ideas ; but it is a sound rule . Bound , that is , from a particular point of view . We hold it to be essential to the standing army . A standing army is quite a distinct thing from a national army . It is a force not only under the command , but at the service of the executive government ; implicit obedience is necessary to render it effective in that relation : the civilian has no
authority ; if civilian and soldier clash , one must give way ; and the soldier must execute orders without hesitation . The soldier on duty must not criticise his orders—any Duke of Wellington will uphold that canon ; he must not question orders—his sole business is to execute them . To " ShoTer hupp , " to bring the middle finger smart down to the seam of the trousers , or to cut down civilians , are equally duties to be performed at the word of command ; and the
Austrian drill is excellent . A soldier who takes opinion of counsel before obeying the word of command , or discusses constitutional scruples , is not fit for the service . To obey , and to abolish obstacles to obedience—these are his two essential duties . Without the Austrian rule no standing army is perfect in its organic action . Mr , Erskine Mather was only the corpus vile sive Anglicanum , on which Austria tried satisfactorily the true temper of its steel .
There is , indeed , an idea that a " standing army" is the only kind of " army . " Military men arid ( strange conjunction !) Manchester men repeatedly talk of "the army' * as something contradistinguished from a militia or volunteer force . But this is quite a delusion . The greatest military states have not dealt in standing armies except to their decline . The Boman army , Vfith its social distinctions and class legions , in spite of the allowances for its support , was more like our militia or volunteer force than anything which we now call an army . The men that won at Cressy and Poitiers were a local militia , " mobilized . Nor is it a question of chronology : the
armies which conquered in Mexico were mostly volunteers , on a footing very like the old Roman militia , only more republican ; yet Franklin Pierce can tell how they behaved at Cherabiisco , for he was there—can tell how a fraction of an army took " impracticable" fortifications from manifold greater force . Armies are not necessarily " standing armies : " it is a modern idea , in part borrowed from oriental despotism , only much enlarged . The distinction is , that a national army is the people—the fighting men of the people ; a standing army is the liveried corps orservants for the sovereign , in the fighting department .
Division of employments reconciles Englishmen to the modern monstrosity of Absolutism , naturalized amongst us since English and tho Continental Courts have been too closely allied ; and trade does not see how to revive tho stimulus to the use of arms amongst our sedentary population . Yet nothing would be easier . A Saturday ' s half-holiday is already half conceded , in banking-house , counting-house , and factory . A premium of 50 Z . to tho best rifle shooter in each county , and ono of 1000 £ . to the best of those best in all England , would call forth all the young men that want to shine " before the mouths of
their fathers" or thoir sweethearts , all who would like a littlo something to sot up in business and matrimony ; and the rifle would bo tho trustiest friend in every household . To have a national army is a thing so easy and cheap , that it would bo a perfect pleasure to furnish it . Wo have left nationality to our younger brothers in America , and have submitted to hayo a standing army put over us to defend tho official routine that overruns our institutions .
Ireland's Opportunity. Our Present Minis...
IRELAND'S OPPORTUNITY . Our present Ministers have tho strangest fancy for timing their public acts , that wo over saw in public men . Their very entry into office as Protectionists , precisely when they themselves had rix > onod to a knowledge that Protection was no longer possible , was a singular selection of public attitudes ; but thoir subsequent achievements have grown more and more fantastic . After declaring that Lord John Russell's Anti-Papal letter from Durham was a mistake , tho Premier of the now Cabinet rather ostentatiously confossos to an Anti-Maynooth bias—just before
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26061852/page/13/
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