The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-05 00:00:00

1172 expect to hear speedily that the authorities at I►ublin will command the police force to cease its connection with the Jesuits. CHURCH MOVEMENTS. THE various observations upon the position and prospects of the English Church which from time to time we have submitted to the consideration of our supporters have all been more or less openly pervaded by one funda mental idea. We have aimed at bringing home to the minds of our readers an im portant truth, the neglect of which has been the cause of many evils now generally deplored, as the observance of it would, we believe greatly conduce to their removal. That from all the Church's transanctions with any political party political considerations should be entirely eliminated is surely an extravagant expectation. We are using the word political in its most comprehensive sense—meaning those considerations by which all men must inevitably be influenced whose duty it is to overlook the machinery of the Constitution, to regulate conflicting forces, and to maintain our careful graduated system in the best working order possible. It is clear that men in this position must constantly be confronted with difficulties not of their own creation, and originating in a policy which they would have been the first to disapprove. Yet it may not be possible to undo it ; and it may be in evitable that they should occasionally find themselves giving effect to political theories not at all in accordance with their own private opinions. Yet it is absolutely necessary to the continuance of Representative Government that men should not shrink from the discharge of this inevitable duty. And it is in our opinion one of the best traits in the English character that our statesmen in general perceive this necessity, and act upon it. BURKE invented the formula in which this truth is embodied when he said that politics was the science of compromise. Political con siderations, therefore, are those which teach a man the necessity of squaring theories to facts, and not fact to theories. By so doing, be it remembered, he does nut give up one iota of theoretical truth. He may believe in the theory as firmly as ever. He only sees that PROVIDENCE having cast his lot where diver sities of opinion are permitted, it is necessary for him to act upon that fact, and to take care that his theory be not shipwrecked in the attempt to hold a straight course through a crowded channel and a stormy sea. It was upon this understanding that the ancient alliance between the Church and the Tories was founded ; and every attempt, either on the one side or the other, to depart from the spirit of it has been attended with disastrous results. But whether, in the estrangement which has unhappily taken place between a large number of the clergy and the Conservative party, the former or the latter be the most to blame, we leave the world to determine. The abo‘e remarks have a special reference to the language adopted by a correspondent whose conununication will be found in an other portion of our columns, and who seems to be labouring under that fatal mistake we have so long been endeavouring to dispel— namely, that any great political party can ever adopt the exclusive objects or identify itself with the peculiar watchwords of any one party in the Church. We are happy to see, however, that many Churchmen are at present engaged in the pur suit of objects which meet with our entire sympathy. The speeches of the Bishop of OXFORD and Sir PAGE WOOD upon the sub ject of Indian missions are proofs of the revival of practical energy. The observations of the Learned Judge upon the superior effi cacy of an organised and corporate body in the promotion of missionary enterprise were opportune and felicitous. These are the weapons Will which in the nineteenth century the Church must combat the world and vindi cate her spiritual supremacy, and not by noisy protestations and unpopular ceremonies. The movement so imperatively demanded for obtaining a repeal of the iniquitous Divorce Act has elicited from the Bishop of EXETER an able and well-timed address, in which he THE PRESS, DECEMBER 5, 1857. deprecates agitation, and trusts for the re moval of the nuisance by means less repug nant to the usual attitude of the Church. Fastening with his well-known sagacity upon the one obnoxious feature of the bill, the Right Rev. Prelate expresses his conviction that the insertion of this clause was mainly owing to the precipitance with which the bill was finally hurried through the Legislature, and that no deliberate assault was intended upon the liberties of the clergy. At the same time he manfully says that he will issue no licence in his own diocese for the celebration of such marriages as those contemplated by the act. And he trusts that not only the known sentiments of the clergy, but also the public disgrace of the proceeding, will have a tendency to confine such marriages almost wholly to the Registrar's Court. We trust sincerely that the Bishop's view of the case may be correct. It is clear that the brunt of the fight must he waged, where we have always recommended that it should, upon the clause sanctioning the infringement of our• ancient parochial system. Whether the intro duction of this was or was not due to that precipitance so loudly complained of by Mr. HENLEY and Mr. GLADSTONE remains to be seen. his perhapscharitahle to suppose that Govern ment was actuated rather by selfishness than malignity ; by a reckless resolve to give effect to their vulgar vaunts than to inflict a perma nent injury on the Established Church. Such a supposition is certainly more in accordance with the smiling indifference of Lord GRANVILLE and the versatile vacuity of Lord PALAIERsTON —of whom, the cne would not understand if he could, and the other could not if he would, the outrage thus offered to the clergy. But the mischief is almost equally great, whatever the motive which prompted it ; and the Church must not rest till vigorous measures are adopted for its excision. Again, we observe that our own suggestion of a fortnight ago respecting the discon tinuance of the Exeter-hall services has re ceived the semi-sanction of the leading journal by the appearance of a letter in its columns ad vocating a similar course to that recommended by ourselves. Services for the working classes in Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral would open to the Church of England a wide sphere of usefulness and in fluence. Perhaps no better opportunity could be devised for regaining some of her lost ascendancy o‘er the popular mind; and we sincerely trust that none of the Church authorities will so far play into the hands of their opponents as to interfere with the pro• posal. That objections will readily be raised to it we carnot far a moment doubt ; but we trust sincerely it will triumph, and we would feign hope that all honest and impartial non conformists would share in the aspiration. It cannot be expected that they should attach the same importance to differences of creed as members of the Church of England do ; but they will at least admit that it is only by minds of the highest order that such distinc tions can be overlooked with impunity, and that with the uneducated classes of which the mass of all communions must consist, observ ance of essentials is seldom dissevered from observance of non-essentials, and that indif ference to religious distinctions means indif ference to religion itself. LORD PALMERSTON AS A LEGISLATOR. THOUGH politicians will dispute about the principles applicable to the present crisis, there is no difference amongst them as to the vast amount of legislative work before Parlia• ment. The reconstruction of machinery for ruling India is an intricate problem, and there are innumerable difficulties about " amend ments "on Reform. The law of real property is also to be subjected to Parliamentary con sideration, and the commercial interests of the country must be reviewed. That tile Cabinet should possess special legislative ability to meet the coming crisis is demanded by the progress of events and by the character of the time. Nobody would single out any of Lord PALMERSTON'S colleagues as being able aml successful legislators. The best of them can not be rated as being higher than clever men, ready at routine and decently fluent. But what are the pretensions of their chief as a legislator? Lord PALMERSTON at no period of his pro tracted career was ever distinguished as a law giver. There never was any eminent member of the House of Commons who sat so long a time in Parliament, and whose name was so little linked with the legislation of his age. To administer an established system, rather than to create a new one, has been the vocation of the Premier. His genius in politics is more active than fertile, more ready to keep people about him in constant agitation than to build new social structures or remodel ancient establishments. At no time was Lord P.ti.- MERSTON ever distinguished fur embracing a large principle, and adhering to it in face of an adverse majority. With all his cleverness and his personal talent for keeping upon his legs, while never joining any one party, there is, it must be confessed, a vast amount of commonplace in the mind and character of Lord PAntErtsroN. After the occasion of mak ing them has passed away, the Premier's speeches are useless for reference. They dis play no profundity ; they enforce no high political ethics ; they appeal to no wide or permanently pervading class of emotions. To veer skilfully with the ephemeral changes of passing opinion is not to divine the character of an era or to discern the destiny of an empire. A mind of this order is not suited for directing Parliament in original legislation for India, or in positively settling a complicated question like Parliamentary Reform. We rate very highly the address of Lord PALmEasTos ; and there can be no dispute on the fact that he has had great social and personal success in life. But as a statesman and a politician, the Premier took an enormous time to arrive at his present exalted position ; nor could he have obtained it if Lord JOHN. RUSSELL had not been untrue to himself, or if the NVilig party had not been wanting in leading intel lects. The fall of the Duke of NEWCASTLE and the absence of leaders at the Liberal aide, with the long experience of Lord PALMERSTON, rather than any striking fitness for his post, placed him in the Premiership. He is a Prime Minister, not by party connection, nor by superiority of talents, nor by the favour of the Court, but simply by accident. Can it therefore be cause for wonder that with such a man nominally the leader of the Liberals, there should be so much distrust. and uneasiness in the various sections of the Liberal party? At such a time, and with the stupen dous problem of legislation for India before the Queen's advisers, we should be prepared to expect much divergence of opinions. But society has heard of more than animated dis cussions inside the Cabinet. It is no secret now that there have been bickeriugs, dis putes, and decided antagonisms. The waiters on Providence who have supported Lord PALMERSTON are beginning to be very uncom fortable, and politicians who have staked their credit with the Cabinet are changing their tone. The nomination of Lord ST. GERMANS to succeed so stanch a Whig as Earl SPENCER is certainly of much significance. Lord ST. GERMANS has been a Cabinet Minis ter and a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. As a canvasser for a new combination and a courtly promoter of Ministerial alterations, the (Alice of "Lord Steward" gives great advantages. The post was at one time considered as not beneath the acceptance of the Marquis of WELLESLEY. The Liverpool Ministry, under which Lord PALMERSTON served his long apprenticeship from 1812 to 1827. was a series of personal combinations under one political head. The idea of a Cabinet of transmutation is probably in Lord PALMERSTON'S mind ; and the progress of his Ministry, if he retain office, may see him with a new assortment of colleagues. Such a finale would be a fitting termination to his career as a " Minister of unavowed comhina• tions." But the time has long gone by when we could hope that Lord PALMERSTON could display the talents of a legislator on so great a scale as is demanded by this crisis.