The Press.
London, England, 1856-10-04 00:00:00

DIVISION OF BISHOPRICS.

THE division of the metropolitan see into the
two dioceses of London and Westminster, and
the contemplated division of the see of Dur-
ham, ate measures which the friends of the
Church cannot pass over without comment.
Precedent and presc►iption are so deservedly
strong in this country, that it has almost come
to be an established maxim never to allow
mere inconvenience of detail to be made a
pretext for tampering with any long recognised
minciple ; and that where any reforms are
necessary in our institutions to suit the
changes of the times, we should always endea-
vour in the first place to effect them through
such machinery as the institutions themselves
afford, and not proceed to any radical innova-
tion till all else has failed. Had this rule been
acted upon in the case of our Ecclesiastical
Reforms, we think it possible that the measure
now under discussion might never have been
found necessary, and that the desired results
might have been produced by expedients less
injurious to the dignity of the Church and
more in accordance with the spirit of the Con-
stitution.

We suppose we may assume that the
more new bishops are created, the more
bishops will there be without seats in the
House of Lords. But if the design of in-
creasing our Episcopate be followed up on a
scale sufficiently extended to exercise a prac-
tical influence on the position of the Church,
and does not stop where it has begun, after
merely gratifying Government with a little
additional patronage, it is very clear that the
number of prelates without seats will before
long bear no small proportion to those who
possess them. It is very easy to foresee the
use to which this circumstance will bo turned.

939

Here are eight or ten bishops, it will be said
without seats ; the system works well. Why
not relieve the remaining number of the
onerous duty of attendance upon the House of
Lords? That the multiplication of sees with-
out seats would be the first step towards the
ejection of the bishops from the House of
Lords altogether, and that their ejection from
the House of Lords would be a great step
towards the separation of Church and State,
are probabilities at least sufficiently imminent
to deserve the attention of all those states-
men by whom this consummation would be
considered undesirable.

We may fairly grant that it was beyond the
power of any one man to superintend in de-
tail so extensive a diocese as that of London
had become. But we deny that a division of
it into two was the only possible remedy.
That division should only have been adopted
as a last resource. For, independent of the
objections we have already pointed out, this
measure tends to lower the dignity of the
highest bishopric in the Church, a loss which
cannot readily be afforded at the present day,
as her friends would do well to consider. Some
half-dozen ecclesiastical dignitaries, of widely
felt influence and considerable wealth, are, we
believe, necessary to the welfare of the
Church at present. Nor will any man of
common sense assert that she ought to revert
to the example of the Apostles, and give up
all the aids which are afforded her by worldly
position. Such notions are absurdities which
in discussing practical reforms require no-
thing beyond a passing notice. If then her
social rank could be maintained without de-
triment to the confessedly more important in•
terests of Church extension and supervision,
it ought to have been done; and it is, further-
more, our opinion, that it could have been so
maintained

There are two ways in which this might
have been effected. The revenues of our
cathedral establishments might be made con-
ducive to the assistance of the bishop, and
the deanery converted into an active office,
instead of the resemblance to a sinecure which
it is at present. This is a plan which we
believe would be by no means distasteful to
the majority of the chapters, and which many
of the younger deans would accept with
pleasure. This is one alternative. The other
is to recur to the ancient system of suffragans,
against which we have never heard a single
argument even so much as attempted. At the
Reformation provision was made for no less
than twenty-six suffragans ; and we cannot
discover any valid ground why the scheme
was abandoned, except that in those days,
after the creation of several new bishoprics,
one man was probably sufficient for the duties
of one diocese, and it was found, consequently,
that the aid of suffragans was unnecessary.
It seems to us that the revival of this plan at
the present day would be a far more legitimate
measure of reform than the creation of new
bishoprics under the conditions imposed by
the Legislature, which seem equally adverse
to the interests of the Church, and the in-
tegrity of the Constitution.

THE CLERGY OF LONDON on the 27th ult. presented
an address to the Bishop upon his retirement, ex-
pressing their high sense of his vigilant, able, con-
scientious, and affectionate administration of the
duties of his office. The Bishop replied :
I had long felt that the duties of tha► see required all
the energy and activity of a younger and stronger man
than myself; and it has pleased God to visit me with such
a measure of sickness and infirmity as not only to justify
me in seeking to be relieved from a burden which has
become too heavy for me, but to impose upon me the ab-
solute necessity of doing so. An act of Parliament has
been passed enabling me to resign my bishopric. For the
provisions of that act I have great cause to be thankful ;
though I must confess that I would rather have seen a
general measure applicable, with certain safeguards, to
the cases of all bishops of our Church disabled by age or
infirmity from the active discharge of their duties."
After making an allusion to his friendly intercourse
with his clergy, the Bishop observed :

Let me aid that i am not conscious of having ever
allowed any difference of opinion upon matters not affect-
ing the foundation or essential doctrines of our holy faith,
to influence my conduct towards any individual of my
clergy, but that I looked only to his faithfulness and dili-
gence in winning souls to Christ.
He concluded with an earnest appeal to his clergy
to keep up the system of personal intercourse with
their flocks.

940

lortign 6orrtsponbente.

BRUSSELS, October 1.
Born the " Congres de Bienfaisance" and " Des Re.
formes Douanieres " have closed their session. The
benefits resulting therefrom will be long acknow-
leged and brought into play by the proposition to
establish a permanent and international association
"pour propager l'etude des principes du libre
echange, et continuer ainsi l'teuvre du Congres, pour
la liberte du commerce." This motion, made by M.
Molinari. was carried by acclamation, there being
only one dicsentient,—M. Matias Gomer de Villa-
boa, the representative, not of Spain, but of the
Spanish Government. MM. Fiquerola and Colmeiro
protested against this dissent as unauthorised by the
commercial interests of Spain that they were de-
puted to represent. In answer to the observation of
Mr. Ewalt, that England was the centre and origin-
ator of the free-trade movement, M. Cateaux Waffel
remarked, " Mais la reputation Anglaise du libe-
ralisme commercial est elle bien pure?' Commercial
England, assuming to be the champion of free trade,
has high protective duties upon all articles of foreign
commerce, and prohibits its colonies from the con-
sumption of aught that does not come from the
mother country ; and this to our damnification.
' MM. les dilegues d'Angleterre ' cannot deny that
English commerce, having emancipated itself from
the effects of a corn law, persists for its own ends to
impose un droit protecteur maritime et industrial:
They have made more than one admission of the
commercial opposition in England to the principles
of free trade being put into operation against the
pecuniary interests of the merchants and master
manufacturers. For example, the hostility to lower-
ing the duties on wine proceeds from the brewers of
London, who claim and possess a monopoly of
Anglican beverage. This is not la liberte commer-
ciale, nous la voulons sans limites.' Neither can it
be called a system of reciprocity, since we do not
insist for a reciprocity 'de poche narrowminded
and selfish, betwixt merchants and against con-
sumers. No ; the principles we propound are those
founded on equity and justice. Let not those, there-
fore. who pompously proclaim themselves 'les pro-
moteurs du systeme abolitioniste,' restrict them-
selves to simple professions of faith. Do not let the
merchants of England give us an example of a Der-
sonal denial of their own articles of commercial
faith, and cause us to base our opposition to free
trade upon the practical evidence of their own con-
duct; but let them set about forthwith A FAIRE
APPLIQUER CHEZ ETA, les principes commerciaut

qui dominent aujourd'hui chez nous.' " (Long and
protracted cheering.) " MM. les deleguis d'Angle-
terre " did not venture to reply.
Considerable sensation has been created in Europe
by the manifesto of the Emperor of Russia, issued
through his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Gorts-
chakoff. It is a document of sterling importance—
more frank, perhaps, than judicious, more clever than
wise. But it has its merits, and therefore challenges
investigation. The first paragraph treats of "Pitat
normal des relations internationales," and lays down
as a guiding rule the principle of non-interference.
In basing the political creed of Russia upon the doe •
trines propounded at the Congress of Paris by the
powers coalesced antagonistically against the Mus-
covite empire, the manifesto is careful in describing
those precepts to be "a respect for the rights of
others, and the independence of Governments."
Russia accepts them without reservation, remarking,
" They have never ceased to be those upon which we
have always acted, although we do not wish to raise
a sterile discussion on the historical bearing of the
question." In conformity to this political axiom the
presence of foreign troops in Greece, and the dicta-
tion by foreign Governments to the King of Naples,
are censured as invasions of an admitted principle.

The Emperor Alexander says boldly- and says
well :

Russia is accused of being sullen (la Rassie boucle).
Russia does not silently brood in ill•temper—uhe retires
within herself to concentrate her energies ; and the solici-
tude of her Emperor will be directed to the development
of the interior resources of the country and the well being
of his subjects (au bien etre de ties aujets), which will be
secured by measures conducive to the wealth and prosperity
of the nation.

These are sentiments befitting an upright and en-
lightened monarch. They are believed and trusted.
Agricultural improvements, commercial establish-
ments, and a s)stem of railroads, each and all in
active progress, make good the words and keep the
promise in such wise that the people will reap sub-
stantial benefit— a benefit, be it observed, that
cannot fail in its necessary ramifications to extend to
other countries.

In a circular addressed to the powers of Europe,
bearing tho date of July 31st, the Sultan protests

THE PRESS:

against a union of the Danubian principalities, and
resists ally diminution of his sovereign rights over
those provinces. The document commences by ad-
mitting the lull integrity of the rights and privileges
acknowledged by former sultans—the fact of their
decadence, otherwise their violation by Ottoman
force—and of the necessity of a systematic reorga-
nisation, under European guaranty, in consonance
with the social and political progress of the present
age. The Imperial Government will consent to the
appointment of a governmental executive, national
and independent, provided always that such admi-
nistration will own itself to be a vassal of and tribu-
tary to the sovereign power of the Porte. Inde-
pendence thereby becomes an empty sound. This
administration shall be subject to national control
exercised by representative assemblies, always obe-
dient to the suzerainty of the Sultan. Thus inde-
pendence can be nullified and representation vitiated
by an act of absolutism. There, however, even the
shadow of liberty and reform is to stop. The cir-
cular does not deny that a strong desire exists for a
Moldo-Wallachian union under one prince. Two
objections are urged against this popular scheme.
First, that the principalities of themselves, and under
one government, would not be able to repel foreign
aggression ; and secondly, in case of successful de-
fence they would he equally able to resist the suze-
rainty of the Porte.
With a view of pandering to national and Moham-
medan prejudice, an act of savage barbarity has
been recently and officially perpetrated against a
Christian criminal at Beyrout. Two Maronites
broke into a house at night for the purpose of rob-
bery, and were confronted by two women, one of
whom was killed and the other ran away. The rob-
bers were taken and imprisoned. The most guilty,
the actual murderer, bribed the gaolers and made his
escape, leaving his less guilty and less fortunate
companion to be condemned to death. He remained
in prison for more than a year. Suddenly, and with-
out any preparation, ho was called upon to undergo
bis sentence. Dragged by force from his place of
confinement, he begged for momentary mercy and
for a Catholic priest. He was denied this act of
grace. Persevering in his refusal to kneel! in a
proper position for the convenience of the execu-
tioner, he shrieked an appeal to the crowd to rescue
him or to subscribe the stipulated sum for his libe-
ration. Then he petitioned for the protection of the
French consul, or the interference of the Pacha. At
last one of the executioners, after having stabbed
him with his yataghan, caught him by the ears ;
another held him by the legs, until a third, after re-
peated blows, and amidst a deluge of blood, severed
his head from the body. This barbaric cruelty was
permitted and applauded by the Mussulman crowd
because the sufferer was a Christian. Some English
who were examining the Mosque of Osman, at Con-
stantinople, were loaded with reproaches as Giaours,
and were stoned and nearly massacred by the inha-
bitants of the neighbourhood. They barely escaped
with their lives.

Since Pio Nono has taken to read foreign news-
papers, Cardinal Antonelli has betrayed symptoms
of uneasiness. This unquiet position has not been
improved by the frequent visits of Cardinal Viale
Prela to his Holiness. The influence of the Minis-
ter will be still further interfered by Monsignor de
Reibach, Bishop of Munich, who has lately been
made a cardinal, and is now residing at Rome. He
has been called upon by the commissioners of Nur-
temburg to mediate between Stuttgsrd and the Holy
See, and his having been for many years the private
confessor of the Empress of Austria, when Princess
of Bavaria, will greatly augment his power, if that
Imperial personage should visit Rome. Unusual
scandal has been given to the Ultramontanes, by
the announcement of &concordat with the Sultan,upon
which the College of Cardinals is to deliberate. This
recognition of the Ottoman power and faith by the head
of the Roman Catholic Church, greatly prejudices the
satisfaction experienced by the Roman Church upon
the Austro-Papal Concordat. There has also been a
crusade against miraclemongers, at one time, and
in the palmier days of Rome, in such high repute.
A tailor in Rome had a picture of the Madonna,
which visibly perspired in grief for the sins of man-
kind. Handkerchiefs steeped in this holy fluid were
sold to the true believers, and realised an abundant
profit. Cardinal Patnzzi, having been made ac-
quainted with this sudatory manifestation, had the
image taken away, and imprisoned the tailor. The
miracle ceased. A priest, hitherto of a high station
and character, lately turned "contrabandista ;" his
frequent journeys to Leghorn, and his pastoral solici-
tude for two pretty " modistes" in the Corsa, excited
suspicion. On his last return from Leghorn, he was
stopped at Civita Vecchia, his baggage was opened,
and, instead of stoles and rosaries, was found to
consist of unclerical silks and feminine tiaras. :Great
sympathy has been felt for him in certain quarters.

Fresh differences have arisen between Cardinal
Antonelli and General Farina, on the subject of mili-
tary conscription, the general having refused
.to
resort to such an unpalatable set. A 1314811111 tOll2-

SAlittimey,

forcements are about to occupy Imola, Forli, and
Ancona, and the French army is immediately to be
increased. The English Ministry must have been
egregiously ignorant of the true state of the Italian
peninsula when, at the end of the session, they
declared the probable withdrawal of the foreign
troops, on account of the tranquillised state of the
country. Their claims to prophecy are proportionate
to their statesmanship. . _

At Naples the Government trials have again been
adjourned. C. A. H.

(From a Correspondent.)
BURGOS, SPAIN, September 2(t.
THE feeling as to the durability of General
O'Donnell's Administration in the centre and north
of Spain is decidedly adverse to the Minister, and
the semi-expulsion of the Finance Minister from the
Cabinet is looked on as the result of a well-concealed
intrigue between the Premier and the Crown. The
proposal for sale of the ecclesiastical property was—
if not actually popular—certainly not the reverse;
for, in truth, the Spaniards have as little attachment
to the monkish order as any Puritan oould desire.
Bigoted and blind followers of the Papacy on
religious matters, the Spanish people have never
been Ultramontanists ; in fact, the character for in-
dependence so long and so justly celebrated in the
past of this people is a bar to the civil despotism of
the Romish clergy here, and since the suppression of
convents in 1833 throughout the Peninsula there
has been no attempt to exempt ecclesiastical
property from the taxes, &C., levied on civil
domains. Thus the recent Ministerial project
would, in fact, have been popular with the mass of
the nation, and O'Donnell's conduct in suffering his
Finance Minister to be expelled for a measure to
which he had himself given his sanction, yet con-
tinning to hold office after the expulsion of his col-
league, has, it is said, seriously shaken his Adminis-
tration ; in fact, it is openly boasted of by his
opponents. But, like everything else in this wretched
country, it is the result of intrigue and favoritism,
and Espartero's warning to the Queen on her refusal
to accept O'Donnell's resignation is but too likely to
come true ere long, and that " on his (O'Donnell's)
head will be all the mischief and bloodshed that
may follow from his obstinacy at grasping at the
Premiership." Narvaez is looking on meanwhile at
the game being played out in which he takes no
visible part, but fancies he sees things ripening for
his reaccession—infact, a kind of Spanish Lord

John—and, like the latter statesman, though usually
out of the country when nothing is going on, is quite
sure to be found at the scene of action when any
mischief is brewing at head-quarters. Montpellier
was to him a few weeks since what Vevey is to your
own statesman and ex-Premier at the present
moment. Some Spaniards will have it that the
Emperor Napoleon's prolonged sojourn at Biarritz,
and the partial adoption of Spanish customs (hull
fights) and costumes (mantillas), by the Im-
perial Court there, is not purely from a love
either of the one or the other, nor yet of the sea
breezes which impart a fresh bloom for the coming
season in Paris to the fair cheeks of the Court
beauties. In fact, they hint that political motives
have had no small influence in fixing the imperial
residence so near the Spanish frontier. I need
hardly say that this must be all set down to the
spirit of jealousy and intrigue with which all natives
of this country are so richly imbued. To be sure
Bayonne, Napoleon, and old Charles IV., are always
associated with the infamous Godoy in the minds of
Spaniards, so some allowance must be made for
them and for their not rightly comprehending the
wide distinction between Napoleon I. and Napo-
leon 111.
The railway to Madrid has been put up for public
sale ; to whom the concession will be made no one
knows, but it is hoped to an English company.
Several persons in the railway interest have lately
passed through here from London. No country
needs a" caminho de hierro " more than this, for
roads, diligences, and posadas are alike execrable;
but till something like stability is given to the Go-
vernment here there is little hope of any good being
effected. The Queen, it is said, has seen the error
of her royal ways, and is about to reform and look
after the welfare of her subjects; but the error
seems too firmly rooted, and the public welfare too
long neglected, to warrant any great faith in the
amendment of either. One fact, however, is certain
and much talked of at Madrid, that of late (since
June last) her Majesty has become a political
character, and forms opinions, right or wrong, of her
own. To be sure they generally are wrong ; bnt
then, considering that the royal life has been hitherto
one of mere pleasure—and that by no means of an
immaculate character—great must be the surprise
of those who surround the throne to find any exer-
cise whatever of the royal faculties of reason and