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    the true heir , the Duke de Nemours the son of the last of the Bourbons . They have united claims of course for the purpose of re-occupation . Jfow we never countenanced the claims of Louis Napoleon , nor oil the other hand are we prepared to aeny that in many respects his present policy appears to be advantageous to France and to Europe . It is conceivable , indeed , that a truly patriot party might set him aside , and might establish some better rule in that great country . But the idea of disturbing him—a man at all events of vigour , of sagacity , and of a large ambition , in order to replace Mm either by the friend of the Duke de Praslin , or by the young gentleman with a wen upon his neck and a very ancient bee in his bonnet , would be about the silliest and wickedest

    act that could be committed . Yet there is reason to suppose that such a substitution is not only in the mind of both those gentlemen , but in the minds of others who possess some power to bring it about ! The claims of the two men are not quite so competitive as miglit be supposed . Sacred as he may be , Henri Cinq is now understood to anticipate that he can have no issue . Should he attain to the throne it will be but a personal occupation , lio son of his succeeding . The Duke de Nemours is not heir of Louis Philippe , though he is the most ambitious and astute man of his family .

    We do not know whether he is acting for himself —it may be for his nephew—his own share of the proceeds being a regency . It is thus apparent that the claims of Chambord , Nemours , and the CountofParis , are all reconcilable . Now by whom is the meeting of these two worthies countenanced ? They meet on the territories of the Emperor of Austria , who professes to be partly in alliance with Prance ,- —that' is , the Emperor Napoleon—on the subject of Turkey and the peace of Europe . Yet that same Emperor affectionately receives this insidious Nemours , introduced to him by the legitimate Chambord . The fusion of the two branches of the Bourbon was .

    if not originally proposed by M . Guizot , vehemently advocated By that statesman-historian M . Ghikot was the minister of Louis Philippe , and we never shall forget the cold reprobation which he east upon the people when they shook off the rule of the Icing of the umbrella . The coldest man in Europe is M . Guizot , and the harshest oalctilator . He has recommended this fusion , and he conducts that paper in Paris called the AssemblSe Nationale , which is the devoted organ of the Russian policy . From this we have indications of a conspiracy , which comprises the

    hep ^ of Charles X ., the heir of Louis Philippe , tho Eiiiperor of Austria , the Emperor of Russia , and the doctrinaire party in Paris . The fusion has also been supported in London by journals which have been distinguished for the consistency with which they have magnified the merits of Russia and disparaged tho rights of Turkey—journals which are understood to represent tho views of our prime minister , " cc chcr Aberdeen" of Louis Philippe . While some dynasties revive , others fall . Tho unhappy Queen of Portugal has jusfc gono to her

    account , and we trust that she will be able to put in many a plea of " extorruating circumstances ; " for she has been indeed an ill-used woman , tho sport of dynastic intrigues and national revolutions , of illregulated passions , and official manoeuvres . It is calculated that since Portugal is relieved from a queen who was fat but neither fair nor forty , its fortunes may bo redeemed by the worth and abilities of her son , Pedro V . —a youth sixteen years of a £ o . Upon such sorry banes do dynasfio politicians found their calculations . Now , instead of anticipating salvation for Portugal from the accession of a boy , wo rather anticipate new intrigues , aud

    therefore new disturbances—tho more since -King Fordinandhaa proclahnedhiinHolf regent , has alread y been feebly dallying with intrigue , if not coquetting with revolution . That king , however , is a prince of tho Coburg family , cousin to our own A nueo Consort , and it would bo consistent with Usage in such matters tlmt tho people of England "houhl bo ( jailed upon to provide snips , men , and money , to rescue from tho consequences of his own HtatoHinan flhip tho Portuguese King Consort , jmouM lie bo in trouble . We have before sus" ¦ inod the throne of that country , which wo enrich l > y talcing its wine , though ifc refuwos us even an suitable tariJf .

    We can only guess aJb these things . We observe- that wretched families , allied by marriage lore and thoro with princes who coukl not keep l'ie » r thronoe , like Charles X . and Louis Philippe ;

    or with hereditary idiots like the hereditary perjurer of Naples , are manoeuvring to keep or recover their footing upon the necks of nations . We know that professional diplomatists , form the love of art , and trading statesmen , from the love of lucre , will help them . We know that great ' . armies are at the service of Bureaux ? and Princes , and we know , as we deplore , that the educated classes in most of the European countries , who " miglit , if they pleased , control this universal mal-appropriation of public means , look on in positive supineness and wink at the

    confiscation of States for the benefit of kings and-their creatures . To set up a young gentleman with a wen on his neck , or a friend of the Duke de Praslin's , not only may France be disturbed by civil war and invasion , but Europe may be convulsed , and the people of England may find their means , their power , and the pride of their country sacrificed . They may find it out when all is done—for the arrangements carried on to these ends are

    always conducted in secresy under the double veil of official and confidential diplomacy , and we never know what England has been doing until the mischief is irrevocable . We only know that members of this intriguing Orleans family have been , received at our court , and that we are still in alliance with that Emperor of Austria , in the precincts of whose authority these two men have met .

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    CHURCH POLITY : OUK POSITION . We have been accused , with some show of plaiisibility , of refraining , through fear , from making attacks upon high churchmen and high church absurdities , and our advocacy of high Church claims has been set down to the mean desire of compensating for our heterodox opinions , by tagging ourselves to a " respectable" cause . It may also be urged that our course has been destructive :

    that under the pretext of combating for high Church rights we have really contributed somewhat towards the destruction of the Church ; and that we have nothing to offer in its stead . Of the former accusation we should have said nothing , had not respected correspondents drawn our attention to it ; of the latter we have something to say , in order to obviate the necessity of future explanations , and to set down a brief outline of our point of view in matters theological .

    Had we desired to bo trimming and " respectable" we should have imitated journals like the Guardian and the Oxford- Herald , and have advanced principles which we should shirk in the hour of trial . We should have urged tho revival of Convocation as desirable in itself , and talked big about Church principles , but when Convocation was sitting we should have given it the cold shoulder , alarmed at tho thunders of powerful

    journalists . Wo should have , contended that clergymen ought to bo judged for heresy in somo fitting Court of the Church , but when Mr . Maurice was dismissed for heresy wo should have endorsed the decision of Dr . Jelf , and admitted tho competency of the petty Sorbonno at King's College . Wo should sneer at the Evangelicals one week , and dofeml Dr . M'Neill from tho Edinburgh Jteview the next . In fat ; I ; , we should trim .

    Such has not been our course . Wo lent our humble support to the demand for Convocation in 1851 , because we believed that the State Church had a right to her Parliament , while a State Church she remained ; and because wo believed that such was tho only honest policy for churchmen . We believe so still . Tho Church is one , or she is not at all ; tho Church lias doctrines or she has not . If she bo not one but many , then she is a pretence ; if she lmvo not ono lioraogoneous doctrine , or set of doctrines mutually dependent on each other , but . several incompatible doctrines , then she is an imposturo . National health , demands that sho should bo honest and

    consistent above all things ; for she in . still the perplexed" Quoon of millions of consciences , and her example in fatal to national honesty ; for if tho . spiritual guides err why may not tho ilo . de followP iSho in a state establishment not iu unison with the state authority ; for arc there not Catholics , Nonconformists , Unitarians , and what not in the Supremo Legislative Assembly of the realm P It is not fitting that tho mixed soeular assembly should take thought for the Church . flho ought to have a Court of her own . Her -wide-spread rankling discords are known from tho meanest hamlet up to tho mighty metropolis . Why does she not set herself titraight ; with tho nation , or

    perish in the attempt ?¦ ¦ Why does she permit the charge to go unanswered , that her strongest bond is property ?• Perhaps she cannot answer it , perhaps she finds the state-connexion convenient , inasmuch as it secures the property ; if it were not so , would she not sever her connexion to-morrow ? . It is for the Church to show that this reproach is unjustly levelled at her , by asserting her independence . It is for the Church to sIiotv that she is independent , by obtaining unity at all costs . If she cannot do this , still it remains our

    duty to urge it upon her ; and if she fail to do it , still we are bound to insist upon her endurance of the consequences . And it is because there is a party in the Church anxious to assert her independence , thus making the bond something ' more than property , and willing to take the consequences , that we have supported that party . " And on the same principle we give , and shall give our support to whatever party may endeavour to infuse honesty into our . national life , to promote out-speaking , and to make practice accord with profession .

    In " material affairs , in war , in trade , in politics , it is permissible to look to consequences before commencing actions ; but compromise in morality and religion is not permissible . Professor Maurice must believe as he does , and publish his belief ; and Dr . Jelf must eject him for the same . It is not permitted either to Mr . Maurice or to Dr . Jelf to calculate the consequences of their conduct . It is wicked to talk of compromise where absolute truth is at stake . The Church of

    England must reconcile herself to herself , -must suppress or cast out what is-alien to her doctrines and rites , or surrender for ever the claim she so ostentatiously makes to he the only true Church of Christ . In no othenvay can she fling back the flagrant reproach so justly aimed at her , that she is a fascicle of sects , whose only bond is property , whose prestige is the tradition of an elder Church , and whose internal contests are the scandal of tho a ^ e .

    Thus we have not proceeded with merely destructive views . We do not pretend to predict tho consequences which may ensue from their accomplishment ; sufficient be it that they are right . All we desire is , that truth may prevail , and with it a spirit of meekness and charity . W ^ o hold ourselves bound in duty to accept and follow out that truth Avherever it may lead . If it should turn out that the doctrines of the Church of England , and the other forms of thoso doctrines existing collaterally with her , are not rcconcileable to truth , surely every single-minded man will rejoice that truth is found , conscious that no institutions , no forms , no faiths , are of tho least moment , in comparison with the truth .

    But as it is only from outspeaking and honest speaking that tho truth can be ascertained , wo look with less regret at the spectacle of religious dissension before us . All we would stipulate for in tho conflict is , that the speaking bo free , and tho opinions spoken honest . And thus , in . this profoundly discordant period , in and out of the Church of England , we find tho bent guarantee ) of tho future .

    Looking deeply into the heart of tho matter , wo shall see that the conflict is imposed hy inevitablo necessity ; and that it is a conflict of : 'which nono now living will sen the end . As tho art of printing , the study of / he Bible , and tho corruption of the Papacy , nmde Luther find tho dogmas and tho Hy . stem of . Rome too narrow —• that is , not sufficiently true for him , ho tho thoughtful and the single-minded of the present

    day , livinir as thov do in si Hood of intellectual day , living as they do m a ilood of intellectual light , compared to which the brilliant ago of * the Reformation was darkness , find die basis of the religion of the scots too narrow for them . They feel as Professor Maurice appears to feel , perhaps unconsciously , that religious truth is not ; to bo ascertained wlulo tho dictates of the great heart , of our common humanity we- excluded and . eondenmod . The modern system of belief

    dethrones tho human heart , and proclaims tho sovereignty of the intellect ; for does not tho body of religious doctrine consist of logical inferences from a supposed revelation direct from ClodP Whatever is contrary to those inferences , although if / be supported by the strongest testimony human nature is capable of comprehending , in declared untrue ; and thus religion , is erystulizod and remains in a mechanical tmiipo , producing- no practical effect upon the masa of men ; belief vital belief , is replaced by a form of words , mechanically repealed and mechanically aBsontcd to

    Untitled Article

    November 26 , 1853 ] , THE LElDllR . 1139

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 26, 1853, page 1139, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2014/page/11/