The Press. — London, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

t II N0.232.—V0L.V. Cte Vrtss. LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1857. THE hope expressed by Mr. DISRAELI at New port Pagnell has been amply fulfilled. This was, " That the clergy of our Church, on the " occasion that was impending, would seize " the opportunity afforded to them, while they " supported the spirit of the people by the " consciousness of the Divine assistance, to " impress at the same time on the national " mind that this is a Christian country, and " that the character of a Christian warrior is " not only to be brave, but to be charitable." It would be difficult indeed to conceive any thing more gratifying than the tone taken by most of our metropolitan preachers on Wed nesday last. There were some few exceptions ; but on the whole the views uttered were worthy of Christian pastors, and of the spi ritual leaders of a nation that claims to be the most civilised in the world. To have ad dressed to such the claptrap of the platform would have been a great mistake. The House of God is not the place for the exhibition of such unworthy artifices as these. The duty of His ministers is far removed from that of the recruiting sergeant, and still farther from the business of stirring up those passions which the earnest believer finds already too strong for him without the aid of Heaven to control. Nor do Englishmen require any such stimulus to induce them to defend their country's honour; and that done, they will never, we feel sure, so sully their own as to revel in deeds of blood. Cruelty is generally the accompaniment of cowardice. The brave and manly have ever spurned the work of butchers when the day was gained. It may be that these Indian miscreants have merited a retaliation as abhorrent to humanity as the infamies which have provoked it ; but a nobler revenge than that of repaying atrocity by atrocity will be to show them that we are English warriors and Christian men. Such being the sentiments which we have throughout proclaimed—sentiments which we share with all the most honoured in the land —it was a real satisfaction to see this tone so thoroughly adopted, and discourses so truly worthy of their high calling pronounced by all our most eminent metropolitan divines. They called us not to the work of vengeance, but to the more fitting occupation of humbling our selves before our Creator and asking His pardon for our sins. They reminded us that national judgments are the appointed punish ments, for national iniquities or shortcomings . They told us of the covetousness that had led us to annex kingdom after kingdom in India, and of the pride which had alienated our sub jects there instead of making them our friends. They showed us that the lust of dominion had been too engrossing a topic with us, and that we had too greatly neglected alike the spiritual and the temporal welfare of those subjected to our sway. They taught us that we had thought too little of our duties alike towards LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10,1857. GOD and man, and that Gon through man's instrumentality was now chastising us for this offence. At the same time they infused hope into us by announcing that His mercy was in finite, and that our repentance might still be accepted if we would but turn to Him in time But they explained that the true mode of ex hibiting such repentance was not by question ing His justice or by indiscriminating cries of vengeance against the land where we had been humbled; but by bearing His chastening with fortitude, by limiting our retaliation to the simple requirements of justice, and by a more conscientious discharge in future of the re sponsibilities which we have incurred. Where so many of the discourses were ex cellent, it may appear invidious to select any for more particular notice ; but there were two of them, we confess, that found an especial echo in our hearts. These were the sermons of the Dean of WESTMINSTER and of Mr. LIDDELL, of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge. We do not remember to have heard or read any where a more beautiful and touching rebuke than that administered by the former to the boastful and defiant spirit which has been too much exhibited by many since these misfor tunes first befel us. " They had read," he said, " in ancient story of a fierce tribe who, " when it thundered, shot their arrows into " the air, and threw their javelins in defiance " against the sky. It was thus with some men " now. There was no brokenness of heart, " but rather defiance ; they were stricken, but " not grieved. There were those who said " the bricks are fallen down, but we will build " with hewn stones ; the sycamores are cut " down, but we will replace them with cedars." Then, when the Dean had reproved this spirit, he pointed out the true course of conduct for the nation to pursue, if it would escape the further anger of Heaven for its sin. " JOSHUA " did not give over searching till he had found " out the Achan who had produced shame and " confusion and well-nigh ruin on his camp. " Even so in England ought we, in the hour of " our trouble and confusion, to search as " desiring to find, and as preparing to cast out, " whatever might be bringing on us GOD'S " wrath and indignation. Especially should " we do this with regard to England's dealing " with that land whence the danger had come " upon us." Here, indeed, are true religion and true philosophy combined ; and England may with reason he proud when she can point to such noble and Christian doctrines as the doctrines her clergy deliver from the pulpit of her most venerable fane. Nor less noble, nor less truthful, nor less Christian, were the senti ments which Mr. LIDDELL proclaimed. He said, "In this instance it seemed that our " sins had been our punishment. For what " lands have been the scene of the direst out " rages yet committed against our country " men ? The very lands which we had most " recently taken possession of." He next re buked our covetousness and our pride as our great national vices, and, after instancing the ill-feeling so generally engendered against us on the Continent by the latter, he went on to observe as follows :—" So at the present crisis " how unwilling were we to own that we our " selves, as a people, had been in any way in " the wrong. We could see the faults of " others, the treachery of the Sepoys, the ob " stinacy of the Brahmins, the cruelty of the " Mahomedans, or, in the late war, the " grasping ambition of one country and the THE Li STAMPED STXPENCF. UNSTAMPED ..FIVEPENCE. " inertness of another ; but we were blind to " our own defects, and what made us so was " our pride." Then, again, on the subject of vengeance, he discoursed in the following elo quent spirit, uttering words that are worthy of being recorded in letters of gold :—" When " every vein throbbed with indignation at the " unexampled barbarities which had been per " petrated against our own people, and when " such burning anger was yet more inflamed " by the intense excitement of battle, who " might not fear for the reprisals—that disci " pline might not be lost in excesses justice " be debased into vengeance, and the innocent " he merged in one common destruction with " the guilty, without reference to age or sex. " Prayer should be offered for them, that they " might not lose the vantage-ground which, in " a moral point of view, the Christian ought ever "to maintain above the heathen ; that not " only might victory crown their efforts, but " that justice might also be tempered, where " possible, with mercy ; that they might " steadfastly maintain the justice which " spares as well as that which punishes. It " was by the moderation of our soldiers in " victory, and by their investing as much as " possible every chasetisement of the mur " derers with the solemnity of a judicial pro " ceeding, that they might look for Gon's " blessing on their arms, and for restoring " ultimate peace and order to that benighted " country." These, we repeat, are indeed glorious sen timents ; they aro worthy of the pastors of the most enlightened and the most chivalrous people on the globe. They are fitting doc trines to pour into the ears of a race of Chris tian gentlemen who have ever scorned to sully by atrocities those weapons with which they have not feared to meet the whole world in arms. They touch the chord which will always find response in the breasts of the descendants of the knights of old—men whose first aspiration was to show themselves " sans peur," their second " sans reproch4." While such lessons as these are taught in our pulpits we shall neither fear defeat in battle, nor that worse than defeat, a dishonouring use of victories won. Now, indeed, may we again look brightly in the face of all the nations of Europe that are watching us—some as foes and some as friends. Whenever these shall again taunt us with the brutality of certain of our journals, we can point proudly to the words which our recognised teachers have put forth. We shall be able to appeal to the lan guage of our pulpits in vindication against the charges drawn from the language of our press. While HAVELOCK is restoring our prestige in India, they are restoring our prestige in • Europe by deeds not less brave than his. He earns the nation's gratitude by victories over • our enemies ; they merit it equally by leading • us to a nobler and more glorious victory—a victory over ourselves. to say abol Whig poi ties a.bow wish to If about, so tute for a real p\ said RAIN SON of the Whigs of his day, " have a .----, *, 'HEMINISTRY AND A . 1 - 0401" wk d' DIFFICURT _ft i* :r.."'V.V ..--• !HE Liberal organs seem i:eb .... 1 1 ~.. , - , ima al 1121 o say about " Reform," iiiii7 .l " I 'i litt Vhig politicians are in :eo ' : : :I- les about the whole questio ~' ) e m 6. - vi sh to leave it as a thiniFtnpkilliya”,iii .-ed I.)out, so as that it may Oiler n/Wtirdyltbsti- Ilitl for a real principle. " These people,"