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    posed the greater part of the working majority , of which the Doctrinaires formed a small nucleus ; and . the Doctrinaires themselves accepted office , either in the university , the administration , or the . Council of State . In vain did several of them protest at different times against the acts of the Ministry ; in vain did they profess their independence ; they became so enveloped and compromised by the policy of hi . Decazes , that the same obloquy covered both . Royer Collard , therefore , determined to retire from office . As head of the Education . Board he was not always able to resist the demands of the clerical party , or to obtain thai support of the Prime Minister against them which he desired . He foresaw the overthrow of the balanced system of administration ; and deemed it "wise to withdraw in time , not to be overwhelmed " and identified with its fall . " Here is Mh Crowe ' s own "doctrinaire philosophy ; it is the best comfort mankind will find in his hook : —

    " In politics , as in morals , and indeed in everything human , it is vain to look and wait for those solid and imperishable foundations , which defy time and preclude change or decay . Great and even lasting edifices , with vast and magnificent cities , have been built on heaps of faggots and on piles of wood . So in politics and in morals : taking man , so imperfect , so ignorant , so brittle , empires and bodies politic and institutions may he built up and perftcted of men , of man ' s , faoulties , and energies , and -virtues , and vices , such as they are . Bat there are some who refuse to build on any foundation , but would build on nothin g but granite ; so there are some who in religion seek for demonstration of the unseen , who in philosophy insist on some irrefragable and primitive truth , and who do not consider politics as stable , unless they have established some principle or found some basis which they consider immutable . Unfortunately nothing is immutable in any part of the scene of life . All that such men can do therefore is , to- pretend that the principle which they have found is immutable and immortal , and that it is impiety to doubt and profanation to question it . Having thus raised a political dogma to the rank of a superstition , they think they have cot a solid foundation for government . "

    One remarkable circumstance has . struck us in turning over these volumes * Few-Englishmen are such masters of French literature ami French politics as ^ Mi \ Crowe ; French society is perhaps more familiar to him . than English . And yet we have not noticed a single gallicisin in all this writing . We do not- knoTV-whether that is a merit , but it is a curiosity **

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    GATHOIilC UNIOK . Catholic T 7 hion : Essays towards a Church of the Future as the Organisation of Philanthropy . By F . W . Newman . John Chapman It were well for mankind , and for the progress of free inquiry , if all its champions brought to their solemn task the straightforward simplicity mingled with genuine tenderness and consideration for the feelings of others , which characterise the writings of Mr . Isfewtnan on religious subjects . There never was a style in which personal egotism \ ras so little apparent ; the most devout sectarian lias not to shudder at finding subjects dear and sacred to him . treated with , levity and sarcasm : the toleration Mr . Newman contends for 13 genuine , and in ^ him is never found wanting ; ' and strono- iu the sincerity of this moderation and charity , lie utters his earnest convictions with an intrepid directness -which gives peculiar force to his writings on these subjects , usually so conventionally axi& indirectly dealt with . ° ¦ ¦

    JLniS ; spirit ot toleration—characteristic of all Mr . Newman ' s books—is especially so of the one before us , which is indeed , from beginning to end , a plea for toleration as the only basis of union . It asks , in the first place , what has made the establishment of a really Catholic Church hitherto hopeless ? and the anwer is too obvious—the impossible condition imposed upon all the members , of agreement upon theological truth . It asks , in the secon d place , how may it be possible to form such a Church ? and endeavours to show that it can only be by the exercise of the widest toleration , or , to speak more properly , by obtaining a clear idea of the propositions to which it is reasonable to demand universal assent . What is the present state of opinion on this subject among the body who restrict to themselves the name of Church ? Many wise and good individuals , religious men in the deepest sense of the term , if religion imply a recognition of moral responsibility , do not believe

    in the doctrines ot Christianity . They do not seek to persuade others , who think differently , they do not wish to deprive the Christia n of a belief which brings him comfort , they contend only for the same right of free opinion , they demand only not to be forced to subscribe doctrines to which their reason refuses assent . The evidence which satisfies some minds , is not convincing , we all knowj to others of a different constitution , and on every other subject we are accustomed to admit the justice of this plea , but on this , the most important of all subjects , the Christian Churches , one and all , practically deny it . They offer the choice between faithless assent or virtual excommunication ; these men , who have enquired earnestly , who have decided'honestly , find themselves compelled to choose between the position of , social Pariahs , or the depression and degradation of a life-long lie . Many have scarcely the choice—many , to whom truth is dear and precious above id ] things , could only purchase the power to be true at a cast of wronc and misery brought upon others , which they have neither the cournse nor the

    right to mflicfci I he Christian . Churches justify their conduct towards disflentienta by ; various articles of their compulsory creed , they not only insist <* n < tho ? duty of belief ; making belief a voluntary act—which is absurd ; but they , declare that the eternal happinesss of man is dependent on this belief ; in other words , that the just and merciful Creator whom they proclaim and acknowledge , -vyill punish men f « r opinions consequent on the constitution of mmd wherewith He has endowed them—which la worse than absurd : it is incredible and abhorrent . Tfet it is impossible to put a different interpotation upon the doctrines contained in the creed of 9 t . Athanasius , and > n the 8 th , 13 th , 17 th , and 18 th of the Articles of Religion . have alluded to these

    Wo , tenets of the Christian creeds , which appear to us so umusfc and erroneous , not in any spirit of rancour or bitterness , but simply because this doctrine of iufallibiUty is , as Mr . Newman says , the rock upon which all Churches have hitherto split ; indeed , such a system is obviously lH-oalculatod to solve the great problem of Catholicity , as it at once converts disscnttonts into antagonists . Hence , for eighteen conturios the Church has been fighting a losing game ; and the ovila of internal dissension and . extended sectarianism have become so glaring , aa to have in aome measure created their own remedy . Mr . Newnitn draws a parallel between this movement * and the analogous process which takes placu in the 4 Qvelopmont of different nationalities .

    and in many a Protestant prelate , a belief of his right to universal obedience . But the resistance of man , claiming equal rights with m : in , gradually teaches nations that universal svray is impossible , and that each nation must submit to co-ordination with , others . Before this stage is reached , each is seeking the destruction and absorption of the rest ; no moral relationship of nationalities is conceded . But after each is convinced that all have an equal right to existence , moral action between them becomes possible and commences . " So too , as long as different churches ^ are under the delusion that they have , eacli of them , a divine right to command the obedience of the rest , they remain in implacable hostility , and no moral relations can exist . It is said that persons afflicted -with monomania , are sometimes cured by mere juxtaposition , since each sees the error of the other in so vivid and ludicrous a light . Something of the kind has gone on among Protestants . Members of different churches see that a claim which is made by all over all is self-destructive ; that no church lias any divine guarantee of infallibility ; that therefore no one has any power or riglib authoritatively to declare' the truth ; ' and that it is pride , misanthropy , and folly i ? i a church to disown other churches , just as in a nation to disown other nations , or a man other men . In short , thousands of us have learned , that though as a matter of convenience separate churches or sects must exist , yet each sect ought to be in friendly relations to every other , and moreover ouglit to desire that every other may perfect its best fruit , so that each may learn whatever another has to teach . "

    We agree with the author : thousands among us have arrived at these conclusions ; thousands there are , -we hope and believe , who will echo the profession of faith contained in the following passage : — " But now recurs the other question , —Are we to abandon as a dream the idea of Catholicity ? Rather , have we not laid a new foundation for that idea , from the day in which we have begun to recognise , as in moral amity -with us , other churches , having different tenets from ours ? Hereby we admit moral union in spite of ecclesiastical separation . Indeed , to deny the propriety of this is inhuman , and is almost unimaginable in those who have renounced the principle of persecution . If it is not right to treat a man as a felon , because he has what we think to be a false creed , we must treat him as an innocent fellow-citizen ; in other words , we must be in moral relations with him . It is true , these relations need not be intimate . We cannot associate with many , nor directly co-operate with many ; and we need to select our coadjutors . I do not expect or hope that men will follow the results of their theories to the sacrifice of their prejudices . Still , in spite of reaction towards forms

    and creeds , the winning principle of the Age seems to be this : The M " oral is higher than the Ecclesiastical . We are learning that right creeds arc but means of becoming better men ; and that goodness ( in the truest sense ) is the end pyojJosed ; and we have daily proof that persons who agree with us more minutely in theological creed arc by no means always so trustworthy in various virtues as others ' who differ from us . The true union between man and man in the highest and closest human friendship turns on a reciprocal trust in one another ' s virtue ; and thousands are become so sick at heart at the pretensions of creeds , that theyoften ask , . whether the unionof good men , as suck , . isfor ever to be impossible . This question is nothing but the aspiring of the heart ' towards the . true Church of the Future , a union qC those who look on that part of ' ,, in . which he is said to belike to God , as liis best and noblest ; and who dedicate themselves to the cultivation of this . Such a catholic union would have no religious creed whatever : and so far from bearing within it the sectarian principle of Protestantism , it would embrace Jews , Turks , Arabs , Hindoos , Chinese , —Christians , Theists , Pantheists , and Atheists , —whenever they were sincereand personally

    , virtuous . They might retain their religious distinctions , like the ' Orders in the Church of Rome : yet in the contact of friendliness the stronger element would attract and gradually overpower the weaker , exactly as we see in scientific truth . As the doctrine of Ptolemy was superseded by that of Copernicus , and Copernicus was swallowed xip in Newton so will it be in regard to relig ions , when that misanthropic and pernicious bigotry is tained , wliich continues to . disgrace the theory of Christianity aud the . practice of so mauy of its professors . Those who believe their creed likely to win proselytes by closer contact will rejoice in the breaking down of the barriers by which at present every sect in its turn fortifies itself against the access of argument and evidence . One who is confident in tho truth of his own creed ought to be anxious that it may have friendly opportunity to diffuse its light ; and one who has weak convictions ought to feel it absurd to shut out other men ' s light . Only , let that chicanery and crookedness be excluded , which fanaticism and wnrldlv

    interest propagate . Indeed , they will exclude themselves by their overweening pretensions . " The question of Human Brotherhood , as Mr . Newman remarks , " takqs us into the regions of Communism and Politics , as departments of Morals . " For if the principles of brotherly unity and sympathy be truly grafted in a man ' s heart , he will not rest contented with speculating upon ; the wrongs of his fellow-creatures "in the abstract ; " and even the crudest and mosfunjust of socialist theories will make him thoughtful rather than indignant , looking upon such as they should be looked at , as the inarticulate ° ry of unreasoning sulFering , the evidence of social evil , to be deplored , and , if possible , remedied , not to be ignored and suppressed . Politicians have too long dealt only with the symptoms , leaving the disease itsulf uuattaclcea . Mr . Newman ' s views on this point are well-considered .

    Here are some very true observations on tlie subject of the . dependence of a Church upon the State . That this union doqs sensibly paralyse the energy of ecclesiastical reformers , is doubtless true ; but it is no less true that the evil lies deeper , in , —we return to the point , —the Ckurclis' own constitution . "In no one . instance hua tho episcopal bench initiated efforts for moral reform in every instance ( as far aa I am aware , ) the majority haa weighed heavily ngainst reformers , when , they arose among tho laity . In short , tho ecclesiastical organs have been ho paralysed by then- dependence on the State , na to retain energy for nothing except to resist any reform decisryo enough to improve thorn . Protestantism has done much good . W unfcttorin « - tho energies of individuals ; but tho good is done oftenor in spito of ehurah-orrauiimition than br means ot it . Iho laity and tho diswntora , or the low church , work ; tho hi « 'U church obstruct : —until decorum brings them over , when tho buttle iu alt but won . bueh considerations , and others beside ^ lead many of tho more onorcotiu disaontars ti > lay ' great stressoni t ho importance of separating OhnroU nnd State ? which they believe not only to bo required by justice and by tho Christian religion (»• . e . by tho rule of tho Now ToHt-imemt , ) but also to bo important Jar giving energy to the ecclesiastical organs themselves . 1 am notftbout to differ from this judgment ; in fact , I fundamentally u Sreo with it . Tlio aenoiu niaphiof done to England by hoc- Eatabliahod Church is . I thin \ forcibly soon by turning to tho United States of America : -whero all tho snino roleioua h « V . « «*¦« .- M . « uT .

    us j where tho Jtipiaoopnliaiw arc not only as loftily ecclesiastical an hero , but ovon inoro uniformly ao . Nevortholow , they lay no claim to rogulnta tho public education , and do not otatruot it . In consequent , in Now England and Now York a very ciUoiunb Hyatom of public education la at work , and is oxtoiulfng itself into Ohio and other parts of tfio Union But horo , tho kstablmhod Church baa long lost tho U > vo and roveranuc of throo-ouartors of tueina ion . and therefore cannot educate thorn ; yol , uuob hor political position and iuUuauco to huide * tho btato from doing it iu tho only way in which tho pooplo will accept it . Manileatly this obstruction 3 s gratuitous . It in not noooauitatud by tho oretid of tho Ohuroh - tor tlio . American hniscopaliana , with tho same orood , liuve no douiro thus to obstruct . Tiio true cuuao ia , pride of station ; and inaanmuh as to separate tho Kpiaeomil Ohuroh from tho btato , and make it co-ordinate with other bodies , would bring it into a liko mind with that ot Amoncn , it would exceedingly promote ) that grout cause , national noliooliiig . It would alaoglvoto the Church tho dignity of » ulf-govominunt , iu place of Uio degradation of iua jm mulaWo parliamentary creed . " Hut whon our dkumtoro go farther , and expect aomo groat regonorution from Bopiiriiliniz UlmroU and Mate , the oxarnplo ot Amor mm again is nu hiatruotion . It dooa not apponr tUut tho Ibpitwopnl Ohuroh then la very active for moral good : nor yot that tlio Oongrogatignuliata Aero uroimuih djunagod at present by our Katabliahod ciiurclii—for they nro iwcfflolont on Una « ido of U , o Atlantic * u ou Uwit . Nauo of tho Amui-ioan chtucheH lj [ tho iJiS ? hvoulo or moral rctwma ot tha day . Among a largo part of tho community thuro ia au uotlvo

    ow-Stn " « ill : tiinefl « £ " confkaaion and violence , every rude and atrong pooplo ondoavoura to oxtond n £ r ^ T £ ' ^ " ^ T 1 , " i " "TOTjr Bucoowful power bogina to dream of Uaivgnml JCm-W i . ft * word t . mpice probably oxoitod in Olwdoiiwgnc , aa the word Chtwoh in tlio Popoa

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    714 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 29, 1854, page 714, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2049/page/18/