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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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    i I 10 W&Z %tdfott* [Saturday,

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    z^r t (r| -flf rtt**« J_3UlIltC ^lIUIirB* J i+irvn ni1+votio

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    _, ,.„,,-v. «-r,r v^«=o ,-« There is not...

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    SOCIETY AND ITS SALVAGE. " To save socie...

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    THE CHURCH, ITS BISHOPS, AND ITS PRIESTS...

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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.

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

    ¦ ^ N0 Beautiful Parish Church Of St. An...

    [ ______________ but the engine-keeper could perceive that the north-west corner of the chamber was inflames . A crowd of | inhabitants soon collected ; but it was some con- _"lUT _E' _°£ p iSy thaf _TJ 5 _TZ _& ' _gSat dif ficulty that the Reverend George Roberts , the curate and a body of gentlemen , were able to save the parish records : the roof fell immediately after , with a crash like the roar of artillery . The _^^ " _^" _^^ Zh _^ il _^^^^^ _Tho _^ le _^ St _^^ that , though the remains of the roof and galleries are all confined within the four walls , the mass of rubbish does not reach the height of two feet . The bare walls and the six great pillars that supported the roof are now t Te 1 " Town ha ° ll To inqui _' _eTto _& e _£££ of the fire ; but no satisfactory account was arrived at . . The electric telegraph brings the conclusion of the case of Nolan v . Pettigrew for defamation of character , Y - r r _^ - t _. _5--... 5 f- _ . _^ - ' _t *

    I I 10 W&Z %Tdfott* [Saturday,

    i W _& _Z % _tdfott * [ Saturday ,

    Z^R T (R| -Flf Rtt**« J_3uliltc ^Liuiirb* J I+Irvn Ni1+Votio

    _z _^ r _t _( _r | _-flf rtt _**« J _ 3 _UlIltC _^ lIUIirB _* J _i + irvn ni _1 + votio

    _, ,.„,,-V. «-R,R V^«=O ,-« There Is Not...

    _ , ,. „ _,,-v . _« _-r , r _v _^« = _o _,- « There is nothing bo revolutionary , because tnere is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the _strain to keep thmgs fixed when ail the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal _progreas _.-Dn . Arnold ,

    Society And Its Salvage. " To Save Socie...

    SOCIETY AND ITS SALVAGE . " To save society , " that is the great profession of public men in France . " Society" is a something to be saved and they are exemplifying the heroic act . Society , if we are to understand them , is benefiting by their exertions , though you would not suppose it . They are engaged , most of them , ex- cept the extreme popular party , in devising laws to prevent communication between the electors and any persons whatever in any other capacity ; to prevent the People from meeting in clubs , lest the People , meeting itself , should be tempted into some sort of conduct suicidal , or conduct at all events inconvenient if not dangerous to the said politicians . Laws also to prevent the People from reading the newspapers they like , by imposing such high caution-money that papers can only be established by the rich , of course in the interest of the rich , addressed to the rich , and inculcating the doctrines of the rich . M . Mole puts this very clearly : the daily press , he says , is a tribune or speaking-place like the National Assembly , set up in every man ' s house ; and as the writers of the press , to obtain their own profit , flatter men ' s opinions and passions , by such constant action they destroy the free will of men . That is to say , " to save society , " M . Mote must protect it against ' the action of free discussion , and will only allow it to have the mild diluted discussion prescribed by himself and friends . M . Thiers would save society by " putting down detestable publications against society ; " and he thinks the recipe will suceed [¦ forsooth , because " the Laws of September saved ___^ the Monarchy of July . " M . Parieu , Minister of 1 _^ Pu blic Instruction , would prevent universal _^ _T suffrage from heing led astray by anti-Social [ that ks Socialist ] doctrines . These arc specimens of the way in which the public men of France arc " saving society . " They remind you of those who , to save a drowning man , keep down his body by hustling over it in their emulous and exasperated humanity . But what is this society to be saved ? " Good noddy" appears just now in no peculiar want of salvation . Good " society is rather flourishing at present in Paris ; having its parties and its re- unions : the distressed community cannot , there- fore , be good society . It can hardly be society in the widest sense of the word , because in that sense the society with which Frenchmen deal is another term for the whole organized nation of France in its domestic capacity ; and that ; does not appear to be materially altered of late , nor likely to be materially influenced by the volunteer ellorts of political quacks intent on combinations for getting themselves into office . Mere we have the clue to the _enigma . A society that cannot go alone without these vexations police _interventions at every turn , to keep it from com- inuuicating with itself , lest it should seduce itself into courses destructive to itself , cannot be very well worth _saving . Indeed , it . eould not last a wei'k . Society _existing by the _vigilance of the policeman would go out in a few days ; the police- men would be sure to nod . The password of the day , then , is n sort of thieves' cant ; and when the _combined traders of French politics talk of saving society , the thing they mean is the society of bureaucratic persons and their connections . It is 1 to save society of this nature that the French I People is led to the ballot-box by the policeman , is deprived of its newspaper , is driven from its club , and is forced to stay at home when prefects and

    Society And Its Salvage. " To Save Socie...

    — \ generals choose to proclaim martial law . The society to be saved by these expedients must be a i _^ d indeed A truly chivalrous en- ! \ _terp _^ _ise would L one to fave lance from that society .

    The Church, Its Bishops, And Its Priests...

    THE CHURCH , ITS BISHOPS , AND ITS PRIESTS . A strange spectacle the Church of England presents just now of internal dissension , indis- cipline amounting to anarchy , and distracted coun- c _jj s To t _j , e enemies of the church or of religion a _, s tacle for exu ] tation . The main facts of the case which now shakes it to its foundations are already clear to most of our readers , though pos- sibly even yet not to all . Mr . Gorham is pre- sented to the vicarage of Brampford Speke , in the diocese of Exeter . The Bishop examines him as to _*" S doctrines and qualifications , and finds that he holds a doctrine which the Bishop pronounces to be not one ° f the Church of England ; and he .. ., t * .. _•»*• / - _~< -l r _ . a . _i _~ rejects the candidate . Mr . Ijornam relers to the Court of Arches , a tribunal which deals with ecclesiastical affairs , and his claim is negatived by the J udge of that court , Sir Herbert Jenner Fust . He appeals to the Queen in Council , whose autho- ritv m that behalf is administered by the Judicial Committee , a body composed of law lords . While the committee sits in judgment it is assisted by the Archbishop of Canterbury , the Archbishop of York , and the Bishop of London , Privy Councillors , and in this case ecclesiastical assessors , nominated by the Crown to advise the law lords , _Phe Judi- cial Committee searches into precedents and autho- rities , and , after a search more wide than discnmi- nating , it collects a number of texts , which clipped , and patched , and pieced together seem to justify _tlie lucky conclusion—that the doctrine held by Mr . Gorham , and challenged by the Bishop of Exeter , is in such a state of confusion among the authoritative documents and luminaries of the Church of England , that diverse opinions may be held upon it within the church , and , therefore , that diversity of opinion does not disqualify a candidate for induction . The Court of Arches is ordered to do "justice" in the matter ; in other words , to forcc tlie Bishop of Exeter to induct Mr . Gorham . The Bishop , point blank , refuses to do so ; and his superior in the province , the Archbishop of Canterbury , will have to induct Mr . Gorham him- sel f > or by a proxy specially appointed . At that pomt the case stands in the formal proceedings . The disputation has not been stationary . Cor- respondence and writings of all kinds have ap- peared in all quarters . Among them forth comes a great pamphlet in lurid crimson-purple , a violent letter by Henry of Exeter to his metropolitan , the Archbishop of Canterbury , not only protesting that the writer will refuse to induct the schismatic Gor- ham , but also protesting that any one who gives admission to Mr . Gorham is " a favourer and sup- porter of heresy , " and that he , the Bishop , " will not hold communion with any one who shall so i abuse the commission he bears . " The Bishop fur- thermore bestows much labour and penmanship to prove that the Archbishop of Canterbury is a trimmer , that he has held strictly orthodox doc- _trines , but that he now falls off from the high standard , and vacillates in the desire to conciliate , The Bishop dictates to his Metropolitan "the best , perhaps the only safe course : " " Call together your coin-provincial bishops ; invite them to declare what _* s the faith of the Church on the Articles impugned ln this judgment . " A body of most respectable residents in the London diocese has called upon tuc Bishop of London to take counsel with his brethren on the bench , and attempt a settlement ; and the Bishop intimates that he will do so . On the "ther band , Lord John Russell declares that * he judgment has given " general satisfaction , " an ( l that _Government has no intention of taking anv 8 t ( 1 l ) S in _™ e matter . The question on which all the disturbance arises is Mis . The Bishop of Kxeter holds that in the act ° _f baptising an infant , the priest confers that grace of ( _Jod by which the infant is admitted as a member of the Christian community , that he is reborn "in Christ . " Mr . Gorham holds that , "in order to make them worthy recipients of that Sacrament , " the infants " must have been regenerated by an act ° f _gniee prevenient to their baptism , " an act of grace directly performed by the divine power . In other words , the Bishop holds that the priest administers a miracle complete in the act of baptism ; Mr . Gorham holds that the eflicient regeneration is previously performed by a direct manifestation of the divine power . The Bishop of

    The Church, Its Bishops, And Its Priests...

    _i — Exeter arrogates to the priest , as a minister of God , the faculty of miraculous regeneration "in Christ ;" Mr . Gorham deems that the infant is elected before baptism without which the baptism is null . Surely , to the Church of England this must be a very essential point—a question relating to the definition of a Christian according to that church ; determining , therefore , who are or are not the members of the great spiritual state incorporation . And , to us , the Bishop of Exeter , however violent his mode of expression , seems to be not only justified , but bound to act as he has done in refusing to confer the cure of souls on one in his estimation , so « schismatical . " Surely , there must be within the Church of England some authority capable of defining what is or is not the doctrine of the Church . Manifestly the Judicial Committee could not settle so very abstruse a question . The committee only evaded the question : it took the whole case before it in the lump , ignored the essential matter of doctrine , put itself in a state of studious / . • % , ¦ % % . 1 , c 1 „ , confusion m order to decide upon the law , " and , finally , pronounced a judgment which is valued , by those who do value it , for its social expediency . Now , jf _t _^ Church of England is a defined _fco (_ y having specific doctrines , the conduct of the state represented by the Judicial Committee is an act of tyranny , because it forces upon the Church of England , in the ministry of its offices , a man wno does not hold the doctrines of that church _, Here the ban upon free discussion recoils against those who have used it most . Ambiguity is favoured , because it helps to retain a semblance of larger numbers within the establishment . Ambiguity is aiso encouraged by priesthoods because it saves the tenets upon which their influence rests from effective scrutiny . Laities encourage it , because it saves them the trouble of attaching ideas to their words , and also because it enables them to fulfil religious ofiices without too great a strain upon the understanding . The feeling on both sides is , that religious doctrine—the doctrine respecting eternal powers—is a thing so feeble that it will not bear handling . This is to make the power that rules the universe weaker than the thing ruled _, We do not feel that fear in regard to the subject of material truths . A man may dash himself to pieces on a rock , —the stoutest handiwork of man may De scattered like the vessel of the potter , — but no geologist tempers the blow of his hammer iest , perchance , it should crack right through the globe ; surely religious truth , or any other truth , cannot be weaker than the rock ? But the fact is that ecclesiastical authority is the thing desired , and not religious truth ; men prefer to stop at a half truth or some fraction less , lest authority be too much narrowed . But the effect recoils upon themselves . Having created a vast system of discussion , in which words are poured forth , cast and recast on every side without specific ideas attached to them , ecclesiastics now find that the instrument of language is feeble n their hands and fails for their defence . And ambiguity is prolific : had it not been for this habit of un-idea'd discussion , we should not have had these refinements upon shadows , these untangible and undefinable doctrines , " truths" which men pretend to handle , and yet are incapable of explicitly stating . The Church of England has been foremost to quash clear and open discussion , has fostered the habit of ambiguity , and now it is shaken to its centre by what a great authority in its hierarchy pronounces to be an heretical fantasy , some undefinable notion of the Gorham mind about " _proevenient grace ; " and in its day of trouble and humiliation the Church cannot , dares not , defend itself by a direct and unqualified assertion of its principle , but is fain to seek shelter in the lucky intellectual confusion of lay tribunals , or the defence of persons alien to its community . The Church of England lies under a lay tyranny _, which can be tolerated by those alone of her communion who are not whole in their adhesion . She may justly claim equality with the many sects that sever the Christian community in this country _, An incorporation implies organization , order , discipline ; things the more urgently demanded where the object of the corporation is of a grave and serious character . The spectacle which the church now presents , under the influence of this lay intervention , is that of dissension , indiscipline , " and irreverence—priest arrayed against Bishop , Bishop against Primate . To belong to an incorporation is to accept its laws ; those who desire absolute freedom must keep without the pale . Men scruple to accept or to repel the doctrine of a " prtevenient grace , " but not to make the most sacred subjects

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 30, 1850, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_30031850/page/10/