On this page

• Departments (1)
  • 
• Text (6)

  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.

  • 

    November 26, 185a.] THE LEADER. 1143

  • 

    THE UNIVERSITY OP DURHAM. Not long ago, ...

  • 

    %ttr (tonal

  • 

    | iir Trim DnrAnTMHNT, ah am, opinions, ...

  • 

    Thorn in no 'lournud irinn but; will eon...

  • 

    UN,SECTARIAN EDUCATION VOlfc WO UKING M ...

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    The Governing Classes. No. Xi. The Earl ...

    a church door . But the Earl of Shaftesbury is strongly believed in by those who meet him at his meetings , and that is , perhaps , more than can be said of any other hero of the same scenes . He is , clearly , a man heartily and nobly in earnest ; and though , with great faults of temperament , that forbid a graceful manner , and a rigid countenance , that suggests a champion not readily to be put down by Satan , he impresses you with a conviction that he is an enthusiast , perhaps of the Knox sort , but still a practical enthusiast . As far as any man ' s life affords evidence of purity of purpose ,

    Lord Shaftesbury ' s evidences the sincere—shall we say ?—fanatic . Men do not work as long and as hard as he has worked , without direct profit in what he would call this world ' s goods , for a whim . A " man of the world , " as the most stupid of Britons denominate themselves , when they have found out human nature , —viz ., —themselves , —has a right to suspect a bishop , who is virtuous : it is a bishop ' s business . But it may be shown , by those commercial lights which alone illumine the mind of your average Englishman , that Lord Shaftesbury ) cannot be a hypocrite : for ,

    that at any rate , the hypocrisy doesn ' t pay . Your poor peer , in England , has various methods of inducing his order to keep up its dignity , by handing him public money . He can get a ship , or a regiment , or a governorship , or a sinecure . The late Lord Shaftesbury got 5000 £ . a-year , with great ease ; and the present Peer , being started in the governing trade , was getting on with the usual success , and would have had his sinecure in due course , had he not deliberately , and in the prime of his manhood , resolved to be good : which means impracticable , and

    which therefore means his exclusion from all the pleasant things going . You could not convince them at a tradesman's club-that the Peels and Russells don't go into public life merely for the 5000 Z . a-year ; but what Great British bagman would refuse this astounding evidence in Lord Shaftesbury's favour— -that there is no salary attached to his walk of piety ? In . that extraordinary protest against civilization , the novel " Margaret , " Lord Shaftesbury is sketched in virulent colours ; he is described as a mere platform Christian , in his place on the platform , but useless elsewhere—in

    other words , not the sort of pious personage to apply to for money . Because he only preaches , and does not give , his sermons , it is suggested , very often are shams . Now , Paul occasionally had , unquestionably , to throw into his waste basket impossible begging letters . If Lord Shaftesbury were so blessed as to be enabled , like his Master , to distribute interminable loaves , he would , with the best heart in the world ,

    frightfully derange the flour market . But if he hasn ' t the money , and can ' t work miracles , should he therefore cease from preaching ? The world in England Beems to bo divided into two classes—the class who talk unreserved Christianity and act inevitable hypocrisy , and the class who do not talk this Christianity , but who act not a whit better than the men they attack . The defenders of Lord Shaftesbury arc met with this sort of taunt : " Wens ho a truo Christian ho

    would share his loaf . " That is to Hay , ho would never have more than one to ( share ! How an austere Poor of the reuhn , with Km prejudices and his lady to connult , can gefc over such a technical dilemma , it in not easy to s ; iy , though it i . s clear Lord Shaffccsbury ' fi conscience in reconciled to keeping a decent hoiiHo over hi head , and mo . st respectable livery . servants to wait upon him . And assuredly it would bo a melancholy tiring for thousanda if , from a pious punctilio ,

    Lord . SUaftcsbuiy withheld himself from the complacent career , in which directly , but more indirectly , he ( 'fleets such vast and to him unexpected benefits . It in a whamo , of eonine , that our bi . shopn are clean , and don ' t livo in . ' Rag . Fair , and don ' t sustain their spirits on polonies and Thames water ; but until the spiritual Peers tako their places with hitft , year's lawn , wo may excuse Lord ShaftoHbury keeping a good coat on hiu l > aok , : uul wending the little AhIiIov Coopom to . Eton .

    A man like Lord Mhafteflbuiy ; i . h often goes wrong as right ; but he at leant oonforH this good , —ho shows that Hocioty is not ho heartlesrt as it if » Hupponed to bo . I" a country liko England , Huch n man in of inestimable v .-ilue ; ho leads where nearly all aro ready to follow , —in the aid of misery . His Christianity may not bo absolutely accurate , but , it would noom , tho best we can gv . t , and an near an approach an poHNiblo to . the mihlhuo impracticability of tho Apostolic period . Ho < Iooh put up prayom to

    Providence to arrest the cholera ; but he does cleanse the sewers too , so far as Tie can . In looking thus at Ms character , we are considering Lord Shaftesbury solely under his aspects as the social reformer . Lord Shaftesbury , the Protestant , is doubtless an illogical , because a parochial personage ; and how the social reformer who is perpetually pointing out what a dead failure is Protestantism , can so eloquently urge the necessity of looking after the heathen , who does not seem physically so badly off as the Christian , is a perplexity which must be left to the solution of those learned in Exeter-hall ethics , A Protestant gentleman who demands religious ; toleration in Italy , and

    insists on an Anglican State Church in Ireland , and demands that Roman Catholic bishops shall be in partibus in England , is in an unsyllogistic state of mind , in which , if he be a good , and well-meaning , and earnest man , it is best to leave him , no logic being likely to have the slightest effect where Protestantism is mere parochiah ' ty . But watched in his parish , Lord Shaftesbury becomes admirable . So far as he has seen his way , he has accomplished miracles . The parish is in a frightful condition of social anarchy , and he has not set all to rights yet . But he has insisted on a recognition of the facts of our appalling civilization , and that was a good deal to do , which none other than a Peer and crack Christian

    could hope to do ; for who would attend to an . infidel mentioning that Christianity had broken down , or to a Radical suggesting that our enlightenment was a swindle ? Lord Shaftesbury could afford to admit the hideous truths he encountered in English life , for he had no system to substantiate , no principle to defend , no theory to manipulate , and he does not concern himself with either causes of the misery or effect of his remedies of it , —he only wants to get at the Jmmediate , swift remedy . Reckless of politics and of political economy , he sees suffering , and he makes his

    appeal to meetings , to literature , to Parliament : and he says " Let us subscribe . " And the answering subscriptions have been , grand . He has flattered the rich by appearing to believe in their interest for the poor ; and the interest has turned out to be a fact . The divisions in the social scale in Great Britain are awful ; the " two nations" are terribly distinct . But the rich did not master the poor by treachery , and do not remain the rich by a conspiracy . Equally victims , with the poor , of the rush and crush of tho " progress" of " civilization , " the rich lament the anarchy , even more than the

    poor—perhaps because the rich are men , and men in the mass are sympathetic and noble—but partly also because the conviction deepens daily among the rich that it is not their interest to have this anarchy . If the successful could see their way to put the failures on their legs , there would be no suffering in the world ; but there is political economy , inexorably warning off sensitiveness in life ; and the profoundest cynic must recognise , from his daily experience of tho latent holiness in the most careless , that oven those who gain most rapidly , by existing social disorganization , lament

    that that organization is so dismally inchoate . As men grow rich they refine- ; poverty is odorous ; misery is ugly ; and tho front streets do not prefer the back streets as backgrounds—would revolutionise choleraic towns into valloys of poaco—if they knew how . But they don't know how ; and perhaps the truth of a man ' s apathy , which grows gradually into blind hardness , in the presence of nineteenth century horrors , is—despair . Tho Christians who go to church in grand clothes , and eat a good dinner , are not necessarily hypocrites ; all men are struggling to keep their plaeos in the crowd :

    not being even sure that tho devil would tako tho hindmost , wo must keep our places as near front as wo can ; and the true interpretation of tho good Samaritan ntory is—that all the other passers-by hiul appointments and couldn't wait . Wo , men of tho world , Englishmen , enduring lectures upon our villany , on one aide from Shaftesbury and on the other from Carlyle , are riot by any meanu so bad as we . flatter ourselves we are . ToRting national virtue by national saeriliee , we are

    a magnificent race . Charity properly covers a multitude of sins ; wo have time t <> give , but not ; time to remedy ; stud in public charity England expends tho rovonuoH of a first-rate ompiro . Our poor law may be a blunder an an organization ; Tmfc in principle and in intont it is a sublimo inst , ituti « u ; il , would bo better not to create the poor , but th < i next bent tiling , after tho creation , is to help in sornti hiioIi way . And the poor-law w law demanding charity ; but M . Guizot

    said truly that our " voluntary contributions" were pur glory . And that is not all ; ceaselessly would the affluent give if they knew to whom , how , or when ; ceaselessly do they give , pity , sustain , struggle , and legislate when a Shaftesbury presents himself to lead ; to do Samaritanism by " association ; " to undertake Christianity by contract . There is no faith in private charity ; not only does political economy condemn it , but we ourselves observe its mischief . " ¦ Voluntary contributions , " associations , benevolence , are not justified by political economy ; they do also a vast

    proportion of mischief ; but it is less mischief than to leave things as they would be without associations and public dinners ; and so long as the State—the nation—will not extend the principles of the poor-law , and organize social organization , we must be grateful for the discovery of a Shaftesbury . In George Sand ' beautiful fable of "Mauprat , " the rustic charities of " Edmee " are described in language which is universally applicable : — "On les trompait tous les jours , en leur tirant de l ' argent pour en faire une mechante usage , tandis que les journaliers , fiers et laborieux , manquaient de

    tout , sans qu on put le savoir . Elle craignait les humilier en allant s ' enquerir de leurs besoins : et lorsque de mavrais sujets s ' adressaient a elle , elle aimait mieux & tre leur dupe que de se tromper au detriment de la charite " . De cette maniere , elle de " pensait beaucoup d ' argent , et faisait peu debien . " It is a social mistake to continue the necessity of one class protecting the other : but there is such a necessity ; and while England lives on in . the glorious conviction that she is the freest and most enlightened of nations , let . us—it cannot be too often repeatedhonour Lord Shaftesbury , noblest of national almoners .

    May he long remain in innocence of what he is doing ! The Ten Hours' Act was an act of State Socialism ; the Lodging- Houses Act , and the Shoeblack Brigade Association , were the deeds of a desperate communist . For his advances in this direction it would be premature and not practical to rejoice . But we may rejoice that he , more than any living man , has convicted the Church of being a delusion and our civilization of being a mockery . In time he may make us religious and rational ; and if he succeeded in that we might even forgive him for maintaining to the last both Bishops and Peers . Non-Electok .

    November 26, 185a.] The Leader. 1143

    November 26 , 185 a . ] THE LEADER . 1143

    The University Op Durham. Not Long Ago, ...

    THE UNIVERSITY OP DURHAM . Not long ago , a Debating Society was formed among tho younger members of ( ho University of Durham . The Warden was applied to for a room , and , without apparent hesitation , consented that ( lie weekly meetings should bo held in tlio Divinity School . Under tho fostering influence of the supreme authority , the society attained considerable growth . Free discussion was promoted , and opportunity was afforded for the expression of opinion on subjects not included in the general routine of University education . In short , tho Hellenic was too successful . The University authorities were startled by ko rapid a development , of intellectual power , and the' tender plant of thought was doomed to perish . The Warden has issued an order countermanding his previous decision , and refusing 1 the use of the Divinity School on tho plea that " Debating Societies tend to tho formation of opinions before- young men are capable-of judging as to thoir soundness ! " I / , is impossible to impugn tho wisdom of this d «; ciniou . What could bo more fatal to tho existence of such a University thnu to allow young men to think , or to extend ( heir rango of stud y beyond tho narrow limits laid down by the ceelesiasrical wisdom of infallible ( although . Protestant ) authorities P

    %Ttr (Tonal

    % ttr ( tonal

    | Iir Trim Dnrantmhnt, Ah Am, Opinions, ...

    | iir Trim DnrAnTMHNT , ah am , opinions , nowitvKit kxtkumb , AIMS AI . I . OWJSl ) AN KXl'IIKS . 'UON , TIM ! KIUTOIt N 15 CKHHAUIJ . Y : IKIliU !) IllAlSKU ' ' lllt . SI'ON . SIIll . U 1 'OR NONIi . j

    Thorn In No 'Lournud Irinn But; Will Eon...

    Thorn in no 'lournud irinn but ; will eon Co mm ho hat , ) i much profit'xl by rnadinfi con t . rovuraion , hi . i iicitiiion : uvnlconod , and hin judtfirinnt , uhnrporuxt . II ' . t . h < iu , ik l ) o ] iroh' cabin ( or him U > mud ., wiry iihouid it , not ., ivt ; lo : v . it ., bo t . olomblo tor hiti sid vnr ; : iry l ; owiii . u- —Mii / row .

    Un,Sectarian Education Volfc Wo Uking M ...

    UN , SECTARIAN EDUCATION VOlfc WO UKING M K . N . ( 7 , > Ih o MUCor of tho Loader . ) Novllo-Htroot , LutidH , Nov . 15 , 185 !* . Mrn , —Ah you are doubtki . sN awaro , them ia a ,. nociety in London called tlio "Working Mena' ¦ " * * ' ¦ , ¦ : ¦* Educational Union , " having- for its object tho oljavk ^ tajit .. ' ,. A ' of tho working- olaasen , an it rogardn thoir , physical !; , ¦ "" . ' % >" i , !' intellectual , moral , and religioiiH condition by jW |^ U"V v ^ following moaiiH , -l ( d ; , Encouraging tho 'deJiverywF **¦ '" - ' , "' ' ' ' ^' i > popular literary and Heientifio rjisoTun'MH , imbued With , •'*' , ' •"> . T * a Kound Chrifitiau npirit , by preparing * auitab ^" , ' ' f «' " r ;| dia { jframn mid other aidn to lceturorn ; an < l ijnd , - By ^>^ '"" * * ' ' . !• • '" . ' ' promoting the formation of popular loading tttwarityj T * . ; : '' ' ¦ ' ; and mutmtl instruction oIiwhch . /

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 26, 1853, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26111853/page/15/