The Press. — London, England, 1858-07-10 00:00:00

of late years the facilities for obtaining educa tion, and for entering the Church, have b ecn so multiplied—so ninny side-doors, so to speak, for a dmission have been opened—that a very dif ferent class is finding its way largely into Holy Orders. Young men, who were only the other day be hind the counter or the clerk's desk, pick up a smattering of classical learning ; become filled with aspiring thoughts ; leave their proper calling ; go and keep a few terms at King's College ; or go to Durham, St. Begh's, or Birkenhead —not being able to bear the ex pense of the greater Universities—or become Scripture Readers for a time, with an ulterior liew to a loftier leap ; and lo ! in a short time we meet them as clergymen ! Now, far be it from us todiscourage honourable ambition, or to say that a man should never aim to rise above the condition in which he was born ; if a man of humble birth has superior talent, let it be brought into exer cise: but what we do say is, that very few of these men have superior talent, and that if large numbers of such men are admitted into the Church the whole status of the clergy will go down—their order will sink in public estimation. This is a point to which, we think, our Bishops should look. We are quite aware that there is great difficulty in finding a sufficient number of well-educated, well-qualified men to fill the num berless new district churches that are springing up in our large mercantile towns, where the work is great and the income small. It is only men of the class above referred to, who will be willing to take these unendowed district churches; and they are willing, because to them it is a real elevation. But then, if the evil is to be guarded against of which the Archbishop spoke, we must not overlook the consequences. Such men will be almost certain to introduce their acquired propensities along with them ; and nothing is more to be deprecated than the turning the calling of the clergymen into a trade. This will be Popery, though under the garb of Protestantism. We have thought it right to draw notice to this point, because we have for some time felt concerned for the Church in this respect. We feel certain that a change is coming over the Church, which, if allowed to go too far, will reduce its whole status with the country. Gentlemen will not enter it, and that will help to lower it. It will come to be, as we are told it is now in some of the remote districts of Scotland, that the ministers of religion will not be associated with by the gentry, because they are not them selves gentlemen. This will obviously be as much an evil to the State as it is derogatory to the Church. It is one of the advantages arising out of our having a National Church in union with the State, with a select and highly educated clergy, residing, with recognized authority, in their several parishes among the people, that religion becomes mixed throughout the whole mass of life, and blended with all the classes of society. The clergyman being a gentleman does not unfit him for intercourse (if he has proper feelings) with the lower classes, while it does fit him for Intercourse with the higher : thus, by this cir cumstance, both are benefited. But reverse it, and both advantages are sacrificed; for none are quicker than the poor in perceiving whether their clergyman is a gentleman, and none more thoroughly appreciate the qualities of the true Christian gentleman. Our Bishops will do well, we think, to be a little more particular about what sort of men they admit into the Church. In our own opinion, iit s not wise to make the way of access into Holy Orders too easy. The clergy of the Established Church, it should be remem bered, have to come into contact with the insolent great as well as the provoking poor. Ile) , ought therefore to be men of high edu cation —men of manners—men of dignifiFd self-respect. They ought to be able to curb the insolence of wealth, or title, or any other species of proud pretension that may think to set itself above them. In this the good sense of the people will always support them ; for, much as the English people respect rank, they will never allow that acquired personal nobility to be trampled under foot which they intend to be always the reward (in the classical profession it is often the only reward) of industry, learning, and piety. of 1. tion, mull adm ferel Ordi day up calli Coll Birl pen! Seri vie% mec to d mai in has cise the: nur Chi dov Thi sho gre we] ber up woi mei wil chi it i be spc Sui the an( tur tra ga: thi col fee Ch its wi: It so! tb wi sel mi th ha St re se. be lit TI hi wi in cu RI ql th th C lit tb it H E bi T 84 tl sl 84 0 n ti it THE PRESS, JULY 10, 1858. ROBINSON v. ROBINSON—THE " TIMES" v. TIIE BENCII. Jr is always annoying to be reminded that we have wasted our pains. An amateur gardener who does three hours heavy watering just before a thunder-shower—a pamphleteer just forestalled by an elaborate essay in the Quarterly—a Radi cal M.P. who has "gotten up" his pet grievance well, and sees it swept away by a Government measure before he has even delivered himself of an indignant harangue, are but half-consoled by the knowledge that their several objects have been obtained. Like Sir Anthony, they have their own way, but not their own way of having it. The result may be well enough, but alas ! for the lost labour ! Very sore, no doubt, were those Members of our Legislature who read the astounding article in last Tuesday's Times of which we have ven tured to borrow the heading. There had been a general feeling that our new Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes had supplied a great de sideratum. Some, indeed, might grieve to see so many unions, supposed to be for life, on the verge of dissolution ; or might sigh over an arithmeti cal calculation as to the possible results of a year's decisions at the rate of one divorce in eleven minutes. But all felt that a great evil was miti gated—a great scandal abated :we had a good presiding Judge, and a competent Court, and might hope to see much necessary work well done at a moderate cost. Oh! miseras homirmm mentes ! oh, peetora caeca! It was all a mistake. Legislators, jurists, the public, were all as blind as beetles. There was no need of any court, any judge. A few affida vits filed at Printing-house-square were all the machinery required. The Times would have done the judicial work gratis ! would have arrived at infallible conclusions on the slenderest data, without the trifling inconvenience, which now attends on its ex-cathedra decisions, of appear ing to contemn or supersede the constituted tri bunal ! So compendious a blessing have we lost by hasty legislation! There is now a fresh in stance of " double government." The Judges are still in default, perplexed, it may be, by the evidence, or doubting (poor creatures!) as to the law ; but the Times has already pronounced. Sir C. CRESSWELL may be " King of the Island," but "our legal contributor" is " Vice roy over him." In short, the inspiration of the Times is to the superfluous " Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes " what " clairvoyance " would be to the detective police, were it only organized and believed ! To uninspired mortals the case of " Robinson v. Robinson" seemed fraught with difficulty. Mrs. ROBINSON . S diary was a novelty in evidence of the most perplexing kind. The unhappy husband who petitioned for a divorce from her on grounds disclosed by her ()mil written confes sion, had a strong prima-facie case to show. Mrs. ROBINSON might have been sane when she penned that shameless record, and so the circum stances recorded might be true. Or she might have been of questionable sanity, and yet have been quite sane ad hoc—might have been ren dered the slave of sense by uncontrollable physical impulse, and at the same time have been quite trustworthy in her sensual reminiscences. Or, lastly, her's may have been one of those mysterious cases where not the thought only but the fancy is diseased—where Vitiis carentem Ludit imago Vans, gale porta fugiens eburna Somnium ducit. We do not say that the last of these hypotheses— the one fatal to the petitioner's hopes —may not be the true one. We only say, that ordinary minds might well shrink from the responsibility of pronouncing it so ; that even a judge as able as Sir C. CRESSWELL might well hesitate to dis miss, on a mere psychological theory, statements as clear and as coherent as those entered in Mrs. RoBINSON'S journal. But the Times " never 653 hesitates." Bolder than the " Hermit of Vauxhall" (now, we trust, restored to his old domain), wiser than the wisest prophet of the Omnia novit Qua' sint, (lute fuerint, (lute mos veutura trahantur— it clears up the mysterious past, expounds the perplexing present, and, with a voice potential as the State's, dictates the future. " Mrs. ROBINSON," so runs the oracle, "lived in an " inner world of her own. She held prurient " dialogue with vacancy, made assignations with " herself, and was undone in vision or metaphor." She lost herself in a dream—not precisely RorssEAr's dream, but a dream to a most im pure melody—and the honour of tracing her wanderings was reserved for Printing-house square. Dr. I,AxE, again (who may probably yet be examined in the case), "is substantially " acquitted from all charges of impropriety "—in fact, " has been an innocent and injured man " throughout." Argal, the only conclusion yet arrived at by the Court is wrong—doubt is wrong—the adjournment of the case is wrong— Mr. ROBINSON cannot have the relief he prays, and the sooner he is told so the better ! We must protest emphatically against this usurpation of the judicial functions by a not very scrupulous journal. For the perpetra tion of one kind of wrong the Times already enjoys a sort of prescription. Working on the system of which one portion was ably exposed in an article in last week's Satur day Review, it begins by publishing an anonymous letter containing grievous charges against some persons more or less eminent. If the accused refuses to plead, his guilt is taken for granted, and the allegations of " Publicola's" letter are reproduced in a "leader," with rhetorical amplification and ornament. If he replies by a denial, his fate is no milder. Dicer*, gen tentee nlignid,tecitueve recedes Tantundem est—feriunt periter. The denial is incomplete or ambiguous, or too general, or too minute, or ill-worded, or some way assailable, and the comment thereon is a beautiful combination of the libellous and the critical element. This sort of despotism is bad enough, and works much cruel injustice. But the remedy is in the hands of the public. Let it once be an understood rule that individuals are not expected to answer attacks by " unknown correspondents," and the libels will lose their sting. But if the decisions of our courts of law are to be forestalled by newspaper articles, a heavy blow is dealt to the one power which can maintain its independence in spite of the irresponsible influence of the press. There should be some check on those indecent and mischievous comments, "pendente lite," which, though they fail to bias the judge, may at least prejudice the public. Thirty years since it would have been a contempt of court even to report proceedings before the evidence was con cluded. We have outgrown that restriction, and judges are now content to let the public see the pleadings and the evidence on which their own decrees or the verdict of a jury are yet to be founded. This is a great privilege ; but it con cerns the honour of the Bench to guard against its abuse. The Press may report, but the Bar must plead, and the Judge pass sentence. And we do earnestly trust that on the next repetition of the offence which we have now done our duty in denouncing, the dignity of the Bench and the independence of our Courts will be asserted with a vigour proportionate to the impudence of the assailant. TIIE ATLANTIC .The Niagara and Gorgon arrived at Queenstown on Monday morning with the news that the cable had parted on board the Agamemnon when about 1,000 miles from the coast of Ireland, after paying out 250 miles. The steamers bad experienced bad weather, and would proceed after receiving a supply of coals. The Aga. memnon had not arrived at Queenstown, but she was expected. This information was received with uni- versal regret on the Liverpool Exchange, bnt owing to the uncertain nature of the intelligence, it had little or no effect on the Stock Exchange. The weather in the Atlantic and Irish Channel has this year, most unfortunately, been the roughest ever known in June, and for some time past fears have been entertained that the squadron would meet with disasters. 1 ~.