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duty when , as sentinels on the watch-towers of society , we signal -them to our fellow men . "We admit that there is something in England called its Church , which is respected and reverenced ; which thousands of men would cling to at the peril of their lives : there is something , ' but what is it ? That is the question which puzzles llS Judged by its pretensions , the Church is an institution which claims the entire guidance of the human being . Wlien we are born , the minister steps in to baptize us ; as we grow up he claims to control our education ; when our young
men and maidens arrive at maturity , the Church must marry them ; when they die , the Church must bury them . If a will is made , the Church takes possession of it ; if a couple sin one against the other , the Church alone can divorce them . Haunting us from the cradle to the tomb , with the menace of eternal burning for misdeeds , the Church alleges that it alone holds the key which can open the portals of heaven and save us from the horrors of hell . Moreover , this Church claims to have a unity of doctrine , claims to be " one and indivisible , " deriving its rights mediately from Christ himself , and standing before us as his vice-gerent on earth . It pretends to have doctrines immutably
true ; it has a creed of Thirty-nine Articles ; it has rubrics , and liturgies , and prayers , and canons . All these are set down in black and white ; and all are said to have for their object the salvation of souls , " peace on earth and good will to men . " Described by " X ., " a correspondent of the Timesi the Church is " that institution , so admirably adapted for good , whether temporal or spiritual , so favourable for charity , comfort , and teaching , so purchased by suffering , so established and continued by learning ; " and another writer , a clergyman , calls it the " poor man ' s church . " To carry out these aims to which it is said to be " so admirably adapted , " and so " favourable , " itftias a vast hierarchy , and a regal revenue .
Has it carried them out ? Is it solvent ? Certainly not . But the negative does not settle the question : for in the belief of many , it may still carry them out . That reflection leads us to what is one of the most portentous questions of the day , —Is the Church in a condition to carry them out ? If , again pardoned , for she has been convicted more than once , can she start fair and fulfil her promises P There is only one possible , one honest way , the way we have always pointed out , and it lies through Convocation , heartily and earnestly carried out to its utmost consequences . No other is honest ; and it is doubtful whether the conditions under which
Convocation would be called into activity would enable it successfully to make the Church at one with itself and the popple . For there are signs of decomposition thrust upon our notice daily , which startle belief . ? Strangely as it sounds , an incredible array of discordant opinions'is ranged , like an army of mercenaries , under the banner of the Thirty nine Articles . Wkmwn speak of the Churcli , what do wo moanP Upon what particular section is the mind brought to bear P Is it 'lio Church of Lord Derby , whoso principle is
' compromise "—compromise in a matter which involves eternal felicity or eternal torment ! or <> i Whately , the "junta mitieit' churchman ; or <> f Samuel Oxon , who is as much at home in the t ' ourt as in the Synod ; or of the Times , which ' ys , " tho Church , like all other institutions in thin age , will bo jurlgod by tho quantity of . good H' » e can edeet , nnd Mint will again depend , like tho «'« i |) il . iil of any private enterprise , upon Uio ainx > iint ° ' w'ork she obtains in return for tins capital hJuj l
< inp | oy "~~ roduein £ the- Church to the levol of a '" » ulway company ; or of . ( Jodolphin Otfbomo , who advocates u " ooinrnon-seiiso view of things ;" O |> of IJishop i'liilpoMs , tho rigid Laudian ^ who Ht ' |> j > or ! a I , ord I ) erby , tho rigid ComproniiHer ; or 7 UH '"ppoiN'nti (" , ! orhsiiii ; or of Sii" i Robert "K'ih ; or of tho hiiowv I mi ids arid adorabhs _ iih . 'v < . )\ s which appear in tho Wen !; IOimI pul |> iffl ; ° }'<> l H ( Min
praic-. ; ici ! M ; or () f |{ lorivlicrId , who condtriniiH tho Imml > l ( » . while trim in in ^ with bin party ; or of the 1 »« ui-iiIim | , h , like all tIuiPn » UynmiiH , H . ii ! l 1 . 1 m Moores , "' . ' <> preach CIh-ih ! ,, and practice Magus ; or ot Iri loy and Mmiruio , who advocate ( JhriHfJaii ™«»» . 1 ihi » , and nobly illustrate it in . tlioir livoH '; ,, 1 S | . " ^ . V'liid Sowill , all rigi « l doctrine , bid , '" 'l prayer and tftiutloneHH , all purity and l -O"KCiuHi-. o ; or lastly , of" W . J 3 . " ami Lho J ^ sex .
battling with High Church over the confessional ; rectors and laymen refusing to send children for confirmation to the Church appointed by the Bishop . What has been done at Oxford we all know . What is doing at Frome we know ; and what has been done in a parish churchyard in Cornwall Mr . Sidney Godolphin Osborne has described in the Times . There the clergyman insisted on burying a lady according to the strict forms of the rubric . Two sons and some ladies
Trallibers , who hate the " rabble , " love their tithes , follow the hounds , and excommunicate labourers who are discontented with seven shillings a week ? The Church may be " adapted" to all that " X . " avers ; it may be a " poor man ' s Church , " as Mr . Godolphin Osborne defines it , and as we fail to see it ; but facts are indisputable , and sadly impair these beautiful definitions . What is doing near Plymouth ? Low Church
nearly related to the deceased followed the body to the grave . The clergyman intoned the service , and kept the mourners at their mother ' s grave while that grave was being entirely filled in , suspending the service meanwhile ; and when entreated to continue and close the service , he replied , " You can leave if you like it . " This has excited great indignation , and has begotten a host of complaints , which show to what lengths distracted laymen and clergymen are disposed to
go . One innocent person asks , " Are we to have peaceful congregations , or are we to suffer these youthful innovators to introduce discord and dissensions , desolating our churches ? " And he , fatal man , even decries obedience to the " letter of the rubric"in favour of obedience to the " spirit of the Church , " which surrenders , the question ; for what is the spirit of the Chnr ^^ These remarkable signs are followed by a ^ trong demand for the intervention of the laity to save the Church ! The Reverend Godolphin Osborne says
roundly" I have no hope in the clergy , they are too divided , or in the bishops , as a body , they are far from united —individuals among them might as well be cardinals , or , act as members of the Propaganda . " And he " sees no refuge for the truth in this struggle but in the expressed voice and energetic action of pious laymen ; " but he admits , at the same time , and offers to prove , that " the laity are fast weaning in heart from the established Church . " Are not thcs % strong symptoms of disease in one of the most important organs of our national life ?
Nor can we soo but one alternative for all honest Churchmen . Either to accept the real literal teaching of tho Church , painful though it may be , as it shall be declared by convocation ; or to adopt tho suggestion which " Catholic " broached some time since in our columns , and , frankly admitting its spiritual insolvency , throw the Church open to all without restriction , by localizing Church property .
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LOST , STOLEN , OK STRAYED—THE ENGLISH , PEOPLE . Wiimui is the English poople ? Wo see great crowds about the streets indeed , and persons are to bo mot with on every highway ; but the people which . once made it . solf so conspicuous amongst nations , seems to have retired into private lii ' c , it is so totally absent from public affairs . We arc inclined to fear , indeed , from tho behaviour of the persons who are seen in English . streets that the peoplo Ikih departed altogether , perhaps emigrated . The peoplo . which lms nothing to way for itHolf can Kay nothing also lor ol . lu . xs . Xhe- pruplo that no longer carcn to kfund up for its own rights is alao not to bo found , an it used to bo , standing
up for lair play . Tho report from Lumboth JL ' oIice-otlieo supplies a disgusting example of what we mean . At Ciiiuborwell tlinrM has lived a corlaiji Jain's ( J .-iliiM / on , ¦«< chimney sweeper ^ notorious for his / j ^ yil , pliytficml ulivngth and for his mitn . moal > lo violence . On the J .: Hh . of last month ho . Imga / u l ; o break the windows of : i public .
house with halfpence from his pocket ; Michael Dwyer , a , policeman , wan summoined | , o arrest him " , and Cannon t \ i ( irat . appeared to submit quietly ; but , prowniitly he surprised the constalde , throw him on liin bank , jumped throe tiiuott upon his chest and abdomen , and tried toHl > r ; mg . lo linn ; by another doilgn Cjiinnon again threw tho policeman down , it ml kicked him several Uuioh with a malignant' aim . ait inlHeliug l-ho mo . sl . iugonioun torturcB . All thin while two or three Uioumind ixu-houh
stood round , and not a soul interfered to stop the brutal coward . Cannon , indeed , was not unknown , for somebody in the crowd called to him by name to encourage him , as you might wave a red flag in the face of a bull ; and it was only then , on learning the identity of his assailant , that Dwyer , the unfortunate badger of this bait , used his staff . Ultimately Cannon was taken to the stationhouse by seven policemen and some " civilians , " who after witnessing the sport , now lent their officious help . It was not an ignorant dislike of the police , therefore , that had held them back before ; it must have been cowardice , or even a more
degrading deference to the ferocity of this Camberwell savage . But while England can stand by and let its Malmesbury , by his agents , play the Maltese accomplice to Austria , while English working-men can petition the Legislature for " more statute " to protect them against employers who exact too much work , it is not wonderful that Camberwell should stand by and see a sturdy brute kick a fallen man .
There was a time when tho English ' people would indignantly interfere to protect the weak against the strong , and to stand up for fair play , but assuredly that people must now be sought in America , or in Aiistralia , anywhere but in England . Indeed , so indifferent have the Englishmen at home become to the welfare of their remote relations in the colonies , so disgusting is the treatment of those distant Englishmen by the officials appointed to represent the mother country , that our brothers in Australia , Africa , and America , avowedly think of cutting the connexion .
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TAXATION REDUCED TO UNITY AND SIMPLICITY . * IV . THE TKUE PRINCIPLES . In" April , May , and June of the present year , we laid before our readers three papers on the principles of taxation . Public events rendered it inexpedient to press the subject further at that time . We resume it now in anticipation of the unavoidable debates of the coining session of Parliament , nnd with the advantage of the Keport of the Committee on the Property and Income Tax , which sat during the two last . A brief resume of our former papers is needfi ^ y . Taxation , naturally a common and duly proportioned contribution to a common expense , has descended to us from times of disorder and unregulated power , and has passed through varied forms of authorized or unauthorized violence , settling down at last into demands of the most anomalous and empirical forms . Although a most reasonable requirement , it is always met with a repugnance felt towards no other kind of expense . This repugnance arises from the absence of obvious relation between the payment and the service , where the taxation is indirect ; and it is increased by the inconvenience felt from the extreme pressure put by indirect taxation on some few articles generally used or desired . The imposts of indirect taxation are in some rases easily evaded ; and in others , where ( hey cannot bo evaded , they an ; often painfully oppressive . Where they are evaded by giving up t lie use of tho article taxed , they allow the tax-payer to shift his share of the public expense- from his own shoulders to that of his fellows ; where they are evaded by smuggling , they encourage the fraud and often violence which it ought to be the first object of rfocid . y to put ; down ; and where they cannot be eVadcd they < tft . cn require severe sacrifices beyond the share ol" the common expense due from the persons on whom they fall . Indirect , taxes dOMi ' ol associate public , feeling with the , measures for which 1 hoy pay ; and the quietness with which it is assumed they may bo collected is gained , if gained at all , at ; the expense of that eheck on the rashness or meddlesomeness of ( Jovcrnnients , which t lie direct , and known pressure of the Cost , could not fail to supply . Thtise ill consequences follow on the adoption of u principle which does not answer even its own purpose . Indirect taxation is , at best , : ui at . tempt lo ussess n man by means of assumed mcncurcs of his ability to pay , which arc ulwnys imccrtsmi and commonly false . Taxation should assess itself on each responsible member of the , state , in the proportion of the cost , of fullilling thtt du ( ies of the stitlo ton arils him . These duties are mainly , if not cschiHively , those of justice and protection ; and the cosl ; incurred by the whole body on account of ench of its members , when duly equalized on I he principle of iiMsuriiiice , is nearly if not , Smi Leader , Noa . 108 , 111 , II 5 . . .
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October 16 , 1852 . ] T HE LEADER . 993
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 16, 1852, page 993, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1956/page/13/
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