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" sores and wounds . " Nobody can deny , nobodydoes deny tie existence of Tractarianism y and of its opposite in the same diocese , in the same county , nay , in the same town . Oxford TFniversity itself is represented b y 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 Plafconisfc and the disciple of Calvin , the preacher of a religion of material comforts , and the deaieJtsout of abstract and abstruse doctrines , the laigh . and dry and the low and humid churchanany 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 the progress of the disease . Yet so large , and so complicated , and so widespread is the evil , that no one authoritatively
attempts to deal with it , or enable others to do so . liord Derby professes gigantic but vague intentions ; even Mr . Disraeli prattles of a " national" Church , to be evolved from Derby-DisraeJite governance ; and Sir John Pakington , 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 , " who 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 cajose 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 , we 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 asecular House of Commons , which can have no practical result . It is not by
repealing the grant to Maynooth , and bullyragging the Roman-catholics ; nor is it by fostering a certain kind of political churclimanship prevalent among lay patrons and their nominees . But it is by following that course which we have pointed out before , and which reckons among its advocates some of the 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 , ir possible , to reduce her affairs to order , and her ministers to peace .
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NOTES FOK THE ELECTIONS . I . TBOfcOBTION THE ONLY PBACTICAI . POLICY . There are two kinds of advocacy ever going on in a free state—one speculative , the other practical . The jHbt'st is intended to net upon the people : tho second upon tho Government . When these modes are confounded together—as they often are—confusion ensues , and progress is delayed . The first kind of advocacy is personal ; it includes tho propagation of all those viows which havo penetrated tho conscience—all those aspirations which the patriot entertains for the futuro of his country—all that ought to ho , in contradistinction to what , at the present point of transition , oan 1 ) 0 . Tho dream of tho poot—tho Utopia of tho philanthropisttho millennium of tho Christian—ate included in this advoeiicy . To forbid those speculations—to discourage thorn—to disparage them—would imply grout want of liiRigllt into tho processes of amelioration : great want of wtateumanly sympathy with tho natural developments of civilittition . Hbhco all froo governments , uiul all wise rulers , havo left ) free this special of speculation ; Imti though it is of tho utmost importance , though it is tho noureo of inspiration to a people , it has its place : for if it comes to over-ride practical realizations of $ rirtcipleBi it < Sekyb rather than stimulates improvement . The )»» ft grima , but not less Useful kind of advocacy ,
is that which keeps a steady eye on what is possiblewhich distinguislies between what is desirable , and what is practical Jit 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 retreat . Thanking the philosopher for . the chart , the practical politician is occupied in making the voyage : and if he cannot induce the public to accompany him to his extreme ' st destination , he will carry , as many as lie can as far on 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 asm 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 , tliat 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 . Prom 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 iio 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 tlie 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 ? What do you want to do with your Universal Suffrage ? " is their imperative challenge . 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 moke no claim for the representation of our Colonies—peopled as they are with English citizens , who carry with them British rights , and who , it is affirmed , should therefore forfeit no portion of their title to share in the Government of the 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 care only for themselves . The great domestic wants of the day are still more numerous . Yet because a man believes in them all at
once , is ho to demand them all at once ? If wo are to accept the doctrine of tho Six Point men , it would
seem so . Now , the most ultra man of principle , if compelled to swallow his ropast at one mouthful , would pray for " concessions , instalments , and compromises . " Therefore if it bo humane not to choke your friend , may it not bo patriotic not to choke the nation P The people whom we seek to enfranchise may bo fit for it , but tho question is—are all other persons , who havo quite as much right to ho consulted , lit to concede it ? If not , wo havo to do ono of two things—cither 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 ) peaceable and orderly , we havo to consider how large a measure of what wo want tho nation is able to bear , and willing to concede . Wo must decide upon that measure which tho body of tho people , of all classes , would bo likely to support . For to force upon tho nation more than the nation feels tho want of , or desires , is simply tyranny under tho namo of democracy , and Would lead to another of thoso fatal reactions , from which honest and practical Reform has suffered too much alroady . .
There are not wanting peoplo to whom it seems that to demand loss than you bcliovo to ho just and right , is expediency . Bo it so . Wo "tell well person *) , that a just and considerate expediency is of more worth than an intolerant adhoronco to impossible principle . Tho politician of tho ultra school thinks it derogatory to accept loss than ho dooms right to ho demanded—but if all mon act on tho same rule , their common rights Will not bo won for centuries to come . Mob !; of thoso who accept tho " Six Points , " accept mmrh more besides ; and if each insists upon all ho holds to bo just , tho already divided political ranks will be split up into a hundred new sections . T 6 denounce n wine expediency , which merely mean * - —proportion in demancU'
-calculation of the chances of success— -unity of action and the acceptance of what you caw get , when you cannot get all you want ^—to denounce this policy may be " standing by principle , " but it IS ' obstructing [ progress There is no occasion to suspend the advocacy of even " extreme conscientious opinion . We owe all civilization to men who , to borrow the Words of Milton , " prwnpted the age to quit its clogs . ' * It is more than ever necessary , that each man having advanced notions , saonld strive to educate the people up to his level , ia order that to-morrow the common demand may be higher
than to-day . But unless politicians consent to realize what they can as they go along , the world will owe them nothing but a barren admiration fbr 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 — bis theory not so much a benefit as a , erotchetr—and the * public , affllicted by a new distraction , are bound over to the guidance of those political obstructives—the direst invention of a declamatory demagogism—your self-styled " men of principle . " Iojsf *
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SIMILE TOE POPTTBAE TJSB . " She lies like a chamber-maid , " says an angry chip © of the frail girl who gives the name to 'Mrs , Gpie 8 WMt& Lies . We do not see why poor Fielding should cast such a backhander on the chamber-maid ^ and in our day we shal l bemore scrupulous towards the unappreciated class ; bufe 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 , appear before England under an aspect too ancillary to . Austria ?
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SAT NOT A . CHAy . CEIiI . OK IS" IIli . 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 Cffronicle seems to have encountered one of the latter species . On the 31 st of May , tho Lord Chancellor came into court , " pale , and apparently feeble , speaking with , a weak and broken voice , and occasionall y leaning his head on his hand , as if exhausted . " The reporter of the Morning Chronicle , " moved by nounkindly feeling , " expressed " regret that tho Lord Chancellor appeared to be still suffering from tho effects of his recent illness : and it was by a strong effort that ho got
through the duties of his office . " Tho consequenc e was , a cross-examination at the next sitting of tho court , by the Lord Chancellor ' s Secretary , as to " tho fairness and properncss" of tho remark , and the reporter ' s intention of " inserting such paragraphs in futuro . " Undismayed by the menacing charactor of thoso questions , tho re porter firmly replied , "Just as I think fit . " Tho answer was alarming—" Oh ! very well . "
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564 THE LEADER . ¦ ^^ a ^ pkoax ,
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true English feeling , ho scouts tho proposed atonom J as totally wrong in kind , and points out to Jjo Malmesbury that the true satisfaction to have been . » sisted on was tho punishment of the offending Austria officer . " This man , " Bays Mr . Mather , " I ^™ saw in all tho prido of military array and ovorbcau » fa insolence in tho streets of Florence ; a public oxain to hi * brother officers and tho world of the impunity ^ which British subjects may bo treated , nnd an ovi of tho low estimation of his superiors forlintm n and . British power—this , too , all tho while tlmtl in Mr . ' s , May , ami Jmtisn power—wu "> «'"» " "" . ffnlfc
do-The Moral ov the Mather Outrage . —Let us recommend to the attention of our readers , the two last letters published in tho newspapers on Mr . Mather ' s case—the ono from the Foreign Office , dated May 24 , in which Mr . Addington , writing for Lord Malmesbury , informs Mr . Mather ' s father that " after long and vexatious negotiations with the Tuscan uovernmont , Mr . Scarlett has succeeded in obtaining a practical atonement for tho unmerited and brutal treatment Mr . Mather received at Florence , by the payment by that Government of tbo sum of 1000 francosconi ( 240 n ; tho other the admirable and spirited reply oi Matherfatherdated 27 in which , wtu
, statositicn and diplomatists wore umkmff W ^ mauds for redress—yourself among tho iuimi ) c . ^ Matlior is right ; in his just indignation us a »« J 1 , ; .,,,, has seized and stated tho real fact of the en ¦ > ^ our diplomatists , with their eompliusa ™ «»• ^ « 1000 franccseoni" would minco and pass ovc . d fact Is this—and Englishmen should not Km « b .,. it-thnt , in proportion as a ntato »^" W IMi flio becomos also tho insolent enemy of Ji-nffHMMU . iH 0 — . inforonco-lofc Englishmen lay this to « eI * 1 i" 1 vv , 1 | (! h is , that wo ought to fifclc our nlliOB in w ^ T cllflng o arc eternal , rather than in government s , wm ^ with th 6 persons of the mon in power . — Monu n cord of the Friends of Italy .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1852, page 564, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1939/page/16/
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