The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-08 00:00:00

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1856.

NECESSITY OF COMBINED ACTION UPON
THE PART OF CHURCHMEN.

THAT " the children of this world are wiser than
the children of light," we are assured by authority
which precludes doubt or question : and yet, unless
- men are strangely altered within the last eighteen
hundred years, we may venture to say that He Who
spake the above quoted words, in speaking them
rather remarked upon a self-evident fact, than revealed
a previously hidden truth : for certain it is, than no
one can pay the least attention to the ordinary course
of things without perceiving that far more practical
wisdom is manifested by those, who have mischievous
ends to accomplish, than by those, who profess to be,
and no doubt generally are, anxious to do good. The
ends proposed by the former are bad : but they
manifest skill in their selection of means ; and, when
they have selected them, they use them with diligence
and perseverance. The ends proposed by the latter
are good : but, when they have proposed them, they
too frequently blast every prospect of success by want
of skill and energy, or, worse still, by intestine divisions.
And by no parties is the general truth of all this
more clearly exemplified than by those, who are
anxious to uphold and defend the Church, on the one
hand ; and, on the other, by those who are anxious
for her overthrow, or, which is the same thing, for
her being reduced to the same level as is occupied by
the multifarious sects by which she is surrounded.
-The Church's foes are of various parties, separated
from each other in doctrine and discipline as widely
as the poles ; yet, having a common object in view,
they wisely combine for its accomplishment, their
differences notwithstanding. As regard discipline,
what difference can be greater than that which exists
between the Wesleyan and the Independent P as
regards doctrine, what greater than that between
either of these and the Baptist ? or between all three
and the Romanist P And yet, if an attack is to be
made upon the Church, we find them frequently
combining their forces, and alivays employing them
upon the same side. But Churchmen, whose dif-
ferences are nothing like so important, and who, being
members of the same body, have one grand interest
in common, viz., the defence of that body, regard each
other with suspicion ; and fritter away in internecine
contests that strength which, if directed against the
common foe, would be irresistible. We are no ad-
vocates for that indifferentism which constantly urges
men to sink their differences, and keep them out of
sight, as if they really were of no consequence ; but
we do think that, when common interests are at stake,
it_would be wise either to postpone their consideration,
or at least so to discuss them as not to interfere with
that combined action which is absolutely necessary
for successful defence. What would be thought of
the Politician, who, though convinced of the justice
and necessity of the present war, should refuse to vote
the supplies necessary for carrying it on, because they
were asked for by men upon the other side of the
House ? or, what would be thought of the citizen,
who should refuse to arm against an invader of his
native country, because some of his neighbours
already in arms differed from him upon the corn-laws,
or the bill for reform of Parliament ? And yet to
our poor thinking Churchmen are acting just as
absurdly, just as wickedly and unpatriotically, when
they permit their differences to hinder combined action
with refer cm to ends, which are admitted by all to
be desirable, if not absolutely necessary.
Thoughts of this kind are, from time to time, forced
upon us by various circumstances, and just now by
the near approach of the time when Parliament will
re-assemble. What have Churchmen been doing
during the recess ? They know that, whenever
Parliament meets, the Church will be threatened
with various measures, the carrying of any one of
which would be confessedly injurious to her. They
know also that, in order to her efficiency, much is
needed, which, as things are at present constituted,
only Parliament can provide. There are attacks to be
met and defeated, and wants to be provided for ; and
yet Churchmen, rather than combine for either pur-
pose, are willing to leave everything to the chapter of
accidents. We are aware that there is a growing
disinclination upon the part of many Churchmen to
have anything to do with, or to seek anything from,
Parliament ; and, no doubt, a careful study of the
history of the past is calculated to strengthen it. The
State never gave the Church anything for nothing;
-and-while its best-intended acts have frequently
proved most detrimental, the Church has been reduced
to a state of absolute bondage by the submissions
which have been exacted from her in return for them.
All this we admit ; but, still, we maintain that it is
necessary to deal with things as they are. The fact
is, that Parliament possesses the power of injuring
the Church; and there are many, both within and
without its walls, ready and anxious to put that
power in motion. If we can persuade it to give up
this power, to relinquish all claim to legislate upon
matters in which the Church is interested, well : but
until we do this,—(of which there is as much likelihood
as there is of a railway to the moon, or of the reali-
sation of any other incredible or impossible scheme,)—
it is our duty and our highest wisdom to endeavour,
by all lawful means, to hinder such damage as Parlia-
ment has the power to inflict. We ask nothing but
simple justice,—protection as regards that which is
our own, and the rejection of measures calculated to
inflict injury and injustice. But, besides what the
Church already possesses, there are many things
. 1 4.
I 3-
in order to ner efficiency, she sore y nee us ;
and which, as things are at present, only Parliament
can bestow. But herein also we simply ask for justice.
We ask not for State-grants, or subsidies, the very
bestowal o? which would only serve to rivet still faster
the fetters with which the Church is already bound.
What we do ask, is the removal of restrictions. Now
it may be all very well to argue, that Parliament had
no right to impose them, and that the Church, as a
spiritual corporation, ought to be free from all inter-
ference from such a quarter, at least so far as regards
matters in which her efficiency is involved ; but, again,
the simple fact is that she has been interfered with—
restrictions have been imposed ; and, without a revo-
lution, which every true Churchman would deprecate,
no power but that of Parliament can remove them.
These, then, are the two objects for which Churchmen
of all parties should combine, first, to procure the
rejection of all measures calculated to inflict injustice
and injury upon the Church ; and, secondly, to obtain
the removal of those restrictions upon her free action,
by operation of which she has been reduced to a state
of almost helpless bondage. We spoke last week of
the necessity which exists for an increase of the Epis-
copate. We ask for no State-grants for this purpose;
but we do ask for liberty of action, which, while at
present denied to the Church, is enjoyed by every sect
in the country. Suppose the funds necessary for an
additional Bishopric to be given by a single individual,
or raised by subscription among many, nothing fur-
ther could be done without Parliamentary permission.
Not all the clergy and laity of England, with the
bench of bishops at their head, could subdivide the
most Populous diocese, or add one to the existing
number of the Church's chief pastors.
But we are glad to think that we can perceive in
some quarters signs of change, which lead us to hope,
that Churchmen may possibly be more drawn together
than heretofore for the purpose of advancing those
objects wherein all, or nearly all, are agreed. A con-
temporary remarks that, on the subjects of coadjutor-
bishops, and free and open sittings in churches, we
may anticipate the co-operation of that party which