The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-08 00:00:00

THE CHURCH IN DANGER.

THE gauntlet thrown down by Mr. DISRAELI on
the Church-rate question has been quickly taken
up by the avowed enemies of the Church. It

has been proclaimed loudly and universally
throughout the ranks of Infidels, Dissenters, and

Roman Catholics, that next session of Parliament
the Church-rate question is to be made a grand

rallying point for the whole strength of the dis-
affected) the schismatic) and the irreligious. Nor
is it pretended that the issue then to be deter-
mined is to be Confined to the immediate question
named: Quite the, contrary. The Radical Press
has carefully expounded and illustrated the inten-
tions and principles of the abolitionists: Nothing
will satisfy than short of the eittinction of the
National ChUreli, as established iiy 16.*) and the
ikithdrawai from her of all State•mainteuance

and endowments. "In plain words," says a
London contemporary, " the leaders of the anti-;
Church-rate agitation, and the great bulk of its
supporters', am hostile to the very acid ti)
deVeloptherit of the §tate bhiirch:"

ThescWordS are not, more plaiii than th 6, are
trUe. The fight Will nut be betiveeii Men of
different vie*4 to the best mode of dealing
with this or that particular species of Church
property—that is to say, the contest will not be
between those who would maintain the rate
intact and in full force, and those who would
agree to or accept a compromise: " Last year?
sa3,l this haille mithdfity idieady quoted,
" the minority *as so unusually large that it was
felt to have virtually changed the position of the
question, and to haw omt Ppm the abolitionists
the necessity either of strenuous exertions 'to
recover their lost grountl)or of submission to a
eoraprothisel They adopted the
for Mer: alternatikT, committed theMselves to a
resumption of the field at the Opening of the neit
T'arliameOtait campaign., and Spurned the idea of
snrrenderin* atiot oft ieII tieihantis.; his blear,
•
therefore, that to talk of any sort of compromise
is :entirely beside the question. Sir JOHN
TRELAWNY, it is expected, will, early in the
ensuing session, re-introduce his: bill for the
uneonditiorial abolitiOn of Ohnrch-
- •
rates; and he *ill then doubtless 'receive the un-
hesitating support even of thOse Dissenters who
hai,e hitherto ghc4n afiiilelinatiOii to adopt a less
extreme the deihint attitide tio4
assumed by the opponents of Church-rates.

Are Churchmen fUlly alive to this fact P •Do
any friends of the ChurCh still talk of the expe-
diency of folioviitig some tiloderate policy such as
niight contiliate arid gain (Wei theii opiioiients
there be any stich,—afid. we `eat• they are riot d

Ebw,--let them remember that the character of

the struggle has now been entirely changed. The
war is no longer directed merely against a rate,
Oragainst the mode Of leVying it, but against the
Prineipie ot any nieasnre of State siippett and
countenance to religion. Will it not be time
enough to talk of re-adjusting, amending, or
reforniing what may appear to be susceptible of
iniprovenieiit in this or any other part of the
external machinery of the church, when the pfin,
ciple has been affirmed that the Church's alliance
with the State is a blessing to both the civil and
ecelesiaStical powers; arid that it is still sustained
'by the hearty approbation and devotion of a 'Vast
majority of the people of England. This has
been denied. It is for Churchmen to rebut it.
Every stratagem is to be had recourse to to
force the present Government to adopt the
Church-rate Abolition- Bill as a Government
measure; with the hope of securing etery atiVeiv•
titious, hoWeter unnatural, aid, in the attack
Upon the Establishinent, Thus we are told by
the orgaiis of the abolitionists that there is now
going on a secret but effective process of prepara,
tion for the fray. The leaders of the anti-
Church-rate party, working through the organi-
sation of what has been oddly enough designated
• as the " Religions Liberation Society;"—" Reli-
gious Degradation Society" would appear to be
a more appropriate title,—cunningly recommend,
by way of striking out a new system of tactics,
and in contrast to the other side, " no renewed
petitioning) but ti reservation of strength for
methods yet to be announced." They tell us, with
characteristic plausibility, that as the petitioners
of last session in favour of abolition were more than
three times the number of petitioners against it,—
(the truth being that no effort was then made in
that direction by the friends of the Church)—the
abolitionist party may now abstain from a further
display of mere numerical strength. That is to
say, it is feared that the Church—lay and clerical
—being now about to be thoroughly aroused to a
sense of duty in presenting petitions from every
parish, the result of any competitive effort of the
same kind on the part of dissenters would prove
how thoroughly false is the assertion that the
people of England have, to any great extent,
become indifferent to their National Church. The
malcontents, therefore, wisely propose to shrink
from the attempt. They will hereafter, no doubt,
appeal eloquently to the preponderating number
of signatures formerly attached to petitions got up
against the Church-rate at a time when Churchmen
scarcely felt called upon to bestir themselves.
No doubt it is also confidently hoped that this
temporary abnegation of the right to petition on
the part of the Radicals and Dissenters, may
operate so as to reduce the enthusiasm tf Church-
men and throw them off their guard. But the
hope is vain. The faithful are not now to be
seduced into supineness and relaxation of their
efforts in getting up numerously signed petitions
by any'such transparent trick. Even assuming
as a fact that the abolitionist petitioners of 1860
exceeded those from the other side in the propor-
tion of three to one, we venture to predict that
this year the state of the facts will be entirely
reversed ; and that there will be found a far more
overwhelming majority on the right side. Let
every clergyman and every layman in every parish
throughout England see to it that every loyal
parishioner devoted to our venerable parochial
system, signs a petition to Parliament not merely in
favour of Church-rates—which in itself is a compa-
ratively paltry question—but, in the first place, in
favour of the continued maintenance of the Church
of England as established by law; and, in the second
place—but merely, as it were, incidentally—in
behalf of the Church-rate as one of. her imme-
morial and inalienable rights.

But there are other means, the employment of
which are most essential to success. To impress
the House of Commons in favour of abolition, a
very knowing attempt is about to be made by our
opponents. They seem to contemplate getting up
a requisition to Government by Liberal M.P.'s
to make the abolition of Church-rates a Minis-
terial measure. They seem afraid, however, to
entrust the matter wholly to Ministerial keep-
ing. They take their cue, in making this
move, from the success which attended their
action last year on the religious clauses of
the Census Bill. Now, it is clearly the duty
of every member of the Church, and especially
that of the clergy, to bring to bear every legiti-
mate influence they can exercise over their
representatives in Parliament, be they Liberal or
otherwise, in connection with this vital question,
affecting as it does the very existence 'of the
Established Church. Let every clergyman eon-
sider it as his bounden duty to state plainly to
any member of the House of Commons to whom
he has any access the duty he, as an M.P., owes to
the Church, in giving his vote uponlany measure
involving the momentous interests now at stake.
Much, very much, may be done in this way. The
clergy never take earnest action in this direction
without proving that their influence for good is
all but irresistible. Let them see to it. Truly
and plainly the question now mooted is not one
between Churchism and Dissent—but between
Religion and Infidelity. Even upon this low
footing we feel that we might safely appeal to
what are called mere common sense and worldly
men, apart altogether from a sense of religion, as
to the importance and advantage of an Estab
•

lished Church as a bulwark against fanaticism
and intolerance. We ask them would not a vie-.
tory for the enemies of the Church in all proba-
bility ultimately result in a triumph for that most
insufferable of all despotisms, the power of an
uncontrollable and irresponsible priesthood, and
let loose upon society all the bitterness, virulence,
and unscrupulousness of those clerical candidates
for popular favour, who have ever shown them-
selves regardless df Maintaining a just balance
betWeeii faith and reigiiii;
collective unity,—indifferent to any revolutionary
changes,—and united only in the endeavoUr to
pull down and cast out of Universities, pulpits,
and all places of influence, whosoever may hap-
pen tii differ from themselves, or show their
deterrninatidii td Stistain the present drthr of

tllidgs:
The Chin-eh-rate question, in its present aspect,
is about to become the great home question of the
day. England expects that every Churchman, in
this emergency, will do his duty.