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Leader (1850-1860), 13th January 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 39

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      to the point ,, that the Commissioners think the doctrine taught in the sermons contrary to the dectrine of the Church , of England , amd , therefoj-e , heresy ,, a conclusion as easily arrived at ; without as with an inquiry . But liere is- the peculiarity of the business : the Commissioners ,, while putting forward the accusation of heresy , feel bound to state that in these very sermons Mr . Denisocn" gives his assent and' consent to the doctrines of the Church of England ^ and expressly repudiates the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation .

      Could anything more nicely illustrate the charming ambiguity of the world-famous doctrines of this English Church of ours ? ] Mr . Djeijtsoit clearly believes what he utters , and it cannot be questioned that his sermons contain * not his own views , self-evolved , but what he conscientiously thinks he finds in the Articles of Religion . We are . bound to believe- that the five Commissioners are

      equally conscientious and equally learned , yet they arrive at an opposite conclusion ! Such is the Church of England . Whether Mr . Denison is justly or unjustly accused we cannot say . It is not our province to decide on doctrinal or on legal questions . But there are one or two other points on which we may speak— - the motives of the chief movers in this matter . Is it true , as alleged at the inquiry , that one or more of

      the inquisitors was personally hostile to Mr . Dehstson ; is it true that the whole , of them are known to entertain doctrinal opinions contrary to those of the accused ; is it true , as the grocer stated , that Archdeacon Law urged him , almost prompted him to act in the matter ; is it tru < 3 that Mr . Denison , some years ago , mortally offended Mr . Law by removing a monument from the church of East Brent which Mr . Law had caused to be

      set up there : ? - Is it not true that only two years ago * Mr . Law publicly prescribed , as a remedy for the evils of the Church , the calmant " repose ¦; " if so , how is it that we find this apostle . of " repose" suddenly becoming- alert and aggressive as the promoter of contention ; this rector , too unwell to do liis proper duties , yet who suddenly awakes , engages in active converse with tliat most distinguished of grocers , Mr . Eveeett , and stands two days . in court , _ witness . at . an

      exciting inquiry ? Is it true that more than one Low Churchman round about the neighbourhood of Wells would willingly abolish both the sacraments , and yet still retain their hold if they could upon those goodly benefices they received to teach the doctrines of the Church of England ? Certainly there would be more " repose" if there were fewer conscience-troubling dogmas and duties .

      3 ? or our part , we have no personal interest in this matter , other than that which every citizen has in the triumph of justice . Clearly somebody is wrong down iu those pleasant wostern places . Clearly the doctrines of the Church of England are not definite , but indefinite things ; for if there be two , why not three or four interpretations of the articles ? Yet inou of the two or three or four

      interpretations all sign , we will not say subscribe , the articles ! As we have often said before , such proceedings cannot promote tho moral health of tins nation ; cannot help to sustain , its conscientiousness ; cannot strengthen its honesty , but the reverse ; cannot elevate the spirit and purify the substance of tho whole

      poox > le . If a Bknison bo found heretical and subjected to deprivation , how many more ought to quit the Church voluntarily who think with liim ; but if Denisotst should not go forth nn . excommunicate , ought Law and DiTQUEit . to remain ? £ > o they boliovo in tho whole of the articles ; do they revore both the sacraments as sacraments ? Yot it ia with these vital differences existing within her

      that thie Church of England parades hersel f before the nation aa the one true Church , through whose portal alone lies the narrow path , that leadetn into eternal life .

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      UliTDERNEATH THE PALL . A mtttjdebotts fit seems to have come over the community ,, and the domestic tragedy which , places , a Barthelemy before the court of justice—which affrights a neighbourhood with the ; suicidal murder of a . Bucanelli , and renders police' -officeirs familiar with the pistols of maddened and melodramatic lovers—frequently reveals something , beyond the crime committed . We discover some anomalous

      relations of the criminals with then ? victims , of the victims with others , and- of those others with- persons beyond . There is commonly " a lady in the case" —or more than one lady . Indeed , these exposures seldom rend the surface of society without disclosing a state of custom amongst us very different from that which is recognised on the surface . We have commonly insisted upon this distinction between the fact and the theory , aa showing that neither custom nor theory could be quite correct . ! For a theory which cannot be carried out must contain a moral as well as

      logical blunder in it ; and that which is unrecognised receives the taint of lawlessness , if no worse taint . It is time that society should gravely consider whether it acts as it professes , and professes correctly . It does not always , follow , however , that in the worst of these cases the bad is unredeemed by something better . The last . " domestic tragedy " will serve as an instance " . what we mean . We do not seek to redeem

      the culprit from the consequences of his act . If in the former case Bartnelemy stands convicted of a cold-blooded murder , . unredeemed by the necessity of self-preservation , he Reserves to be hanged , so long Us hangings is the appointed retribution of murder ; and we have seldom felt so little desire to rescue any particular man from the fate that he has sought . Buranelli , too , dealt death upon others , and braved it for . himself ; and we cannot readily discover any reason why he

      should not be treated as one who has cast away _ _ every _ cl , airn to . jt © lease ;_ j __ Hi 9 _ story __ is perfectly intelligible ; whether it is true or not , a judicial investigation may determine . Supposing that it were true , however ; it would leave the culprit a murderer still ,, an assassin , yet not unredeemed by some traces of a better nature . His affections were trifled with by those who seem to have had none but a calculating interest in the object of his regard , who thwarted him ; and if hia story can be trusted , persuaded her to violate the

      laws of nature , and his instincts as a father . His blood rebelled against that which is unquestionably indium in se . If his hand was reddened , it was in mutiny against something in its essence worse than his own crime . It is thus frequently that when we penetrate beyond the latest act , and beneath the surface , we find that convicted criminals are not devils , and that there are elements in tho recesses of their nature which might have mado them , under happier conditions , better men . Nor is it conceivable that a man

      impelled by tho motives which Buranolh . professes to have obeyed , could havo passed a life ttnvisitod by gleams of happiness and hope . Wo see him only on the stage of murder , and in the court of justice ; but he has not lived in that room tainted with crime , in that prison , or that police-court . His sense of , existence , for a far longer period , has been , drawn , from other sources' and otlier scenes . And whatever weaknesses , orrors , and misdeeds may even , before this have rendered him culpable , ho appears to have had

      strong affections and therefore , he ^ must have had strong enjoyments ,, strong sympathies with what is right . Poetical justice is not , only the creation of fiction . It exists in . real life- It is-the life of . real life . Man ' s life is in > great part , whafc he makes it . His mistake ustjaHy lies in taking the part for the whole . The miser who hoards succeeds in hoarding ' , and it is poetical justice which reduces him to the condition of a strong box whose vitality is concentrated in : a nervous sense of its own . contents .

      The man who devotes himself with sufficient application and self-knowledge to the business of " getting on in life , " succeeds ; and it is poetical justice which makes him , when he comes to the end , discover that " there is nothing in life " - —when he has made for himself nothing , in it , except the " getting on . ' * But men who often seem to . fail ,, succeed most perfectly . The scholar cannot pay his milk bill , but he earn command the intellectual riches of centuries , The man that loves , may command neither intellectual riches nor dairy ; neither get on , nor hoard s —but hehas tasted life . We must know the whole story before

      we can judge it ; and . if these " domestic tragedies " often tear up the veil and . disclose to ; us what is underneath ,, there are many places in which the veil is not torn , and many things live and palpitate- underneath as real as the things we see . " Trust not appearances" is the commonest , of the rules which society makes for itself—and' breaks . Pass down any London street and say in . what house there may not be a tragedy , in . which not a domestic poem ; but it is the : tragedies only that are brought out at . the : grea . t theatre in the Old Bailey ; the poems remain unpublished .

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      MEMOIR ON THE CONDUCT . OF THE - WAR . ( "The following Memoir lias been , sent to us by a friend in Paris . It is the substance of the opinion of a distinguished foreign General * on . the conduct of the mili tary operations of the Allies . It is , we think it right to assure our readers , essentially a military , not a political , criticism . —Ed . Leader . ^ This war which is now carried on against Russia has been undertaken with the object of preserving the European equilibrium ; that is to say , to maintain the _ actual partitiqn of Europe into small states oppressed , and Into great and strong states the oppressors . Nevertheless it is proclaimed every day by the Governments of the two « reat Western Powers that the purpose of the war m the civilisation , the independence , and the

      liberty of Europe . According to these Powers , therefore , the Turk—that is the despotism of the sabre , the slavery of woman , and the oppression and degradation of the Greek p opulation , in short , the Koran , represents civilisation and liberty 1 The Government of the House of Hapaburg , the chivalrous Government of Francis Joseph , which rules over the most beautiful and the richest provinces of Italy , over Hungary ,, and over many and various Sclave . populations , presents the symbol of liberty and independence for the peoples of Europe ! What irony is this ! It annoars . then , that morality , justice , and political

      wisdom have disappeared and been falsified , as well as logic ! In fact the allied Governments on the subject of Turkey argue thus : It is necessary , they contend , to sustain the equilibrium of the Great Powers in Europe ; but this equilibrium would bo broken were Constantinople occupied by the Russians ; and Constantinople is not secure so long as Russia prevails in the Black Sea . But Sebastopol is the key of the Black Soa , and thorefore it is necossarv to destro y Sebastopol in order to

      preserve the balance of Europe . Does it not appear to you that this argument resembles that ot the Grecian ' orator , who reasoned thus : Greece rules in the world—Philip commands Greece-Alexander , son of P hilip , command * his fathertherefore Alexander commands the world . Ji-xactly such has boon , and ra now , the logic of the two groat Western Powors ., ; , Even if this argument were , jub * , oertauv it is that tho mode of making war is , erroneous

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      i ' ' - - ¦ jAyfrAiey 13 , 1855 . ] ffmB IEABEE 30

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 13, 1855, page 39, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2073/page/15/