The Express.
London, England, 1851-01-09 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENT'S.

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9.

CERTAIN members of parliament from the sister
kingdom have signed • kind of circular profession, or
protest, declaring their readiness and their common
usderstandiog to oppose any legislative act for laying
restrictions on civil and religious liberty. These
gentlemen are singularly sharp.sighted. For our
part, we neither dread nor can discern any likely
Misting of civil and religious liberty by parliament,
least of all in Ireland. Fettering of liberty, indeed, we
do perceive in Ireland, fettering of the parent from edu-
cating his child, and fettering of the state from attempt-
lag to supply the inability of parent and child in the
matter of education. But this proceeds from the
power and intolerance of mookdom, not from the
power and intolerance of parliament. And if any
set of liberal men were called upon at the present
moment to meet and consider without party spirit,
from what side civil and religious liberty was
threatened, they must or might, we think, in
fairness admit, that it is much more seriously
inenseed by the Pores Prime Legate than by her
BIAJEATT's l'rime Minister.
In the divided state of opinion amongst liberals and
amongst protestants on the subject of what is called
the papal aggression, it is evident that nothing can
be dace through the legislature of any serious import
• efficiecey. What might have been done by taking
advantage of the movement in opening the universities,
laying the foundation of national education, eon-
Reefing the church with the laity, and strength-
ening it by the large sympathies of public opi-
nion, rendering the church at the same time more
simple and homogeneous in its rites and comprehensive
in its principles—every such hope of reform, of im-
provement, of increased strength and widened founds.
tionto the church, has been utterly flung away. And
by the perverseness and party spirit, which have thus
neutralised a great national movement, we firmly
believe that the great cause of protestantism and
freedom in religion has been weakened, and the
cause of catholicism and of intolerant and dictatorial
religion seriously and largely strengthened.
All that government and parliament can do, is to
take care of the state church, keep its ministers and
prelates from the vain effort to gain iocressed ascen-
dancy over an English flock by recurring to Itlman
principles and superannuated practices. Of the power
and preponderance of their church, its dignities and
titles, courtly rank and parliamentary privileges, form
as important portion ; and in those it should
be protected from insolent and idle rivalry
and competition of that kind, for which no
real claim can be put forward, or necessity
pleaded. Government in • free country, and even in
countries not free, most bow to facts. In a popula-
tion of which seven-eighths are determinedly of one
eased, that creed must be respected, not only in itself,
but is its hierarchy, taking such care and provision
as the civil government is bound to do for the im-
provement, the freedom, and the instruction of that
population. But government is not bound to respect
a factitious hierarchy, or the assumption of dignity
and authority by men who assume it not by virtue of
the numbers within their spiritual jurisdiction, but by
the numbers which that very assumption of dignity
in to attr-ct.
The Roman cardinalate of an English town is the
speculation of a charlatan, and should, in truth, be
as amenable to the LORD CHAMBERLAIN, as any other
theatrical and interested exhibition. Nor do we see
how civil or religious liberty is menaced by any act
disavowing and forbiddiug the assumption of such
eselesiutical titles.
It might be both possible and preferable to ignore
these things altogether. It might be better to
sever church and state, allow each church
silently and undisturbedly to erect what empire
sad amass what wealth and power it pleased. And
it might be admissible to all kinds of bigotry, or
of religions perversion to exert their influence, pro.
Tided the grated counteraction were established of a
free, and full, and national education. Bat we have
SO national education, and we hive a state church.
And the worst policy certainly to adopt would be to
grant the enemies of Protestantism all the advantages
they could possibly claim, whilst not securing to Pro-
teetantism any one of the counteracting advantages
which it has a right to expect Tail' would
be for government to enact the teaching
of PCSET and Newmao in a political sense, and to
attempt to drive Englishmen, like an ignorant flock,
to Rome, in order to their home assimilation with
Austrians and Bavarians, and the other degraded
rams of mankind.
With respect to the quiet conduct of this nation, to
the strengthening of its great protestant principle,
which is that of religions freedom, ministers or go-
vernment have very little power. Can govern-
ment establish • system of public educa-
tion, against Mr. DVeisoN and Mr. &mese and
Bishop Wiseman ? Can government reform the
Marv, can it compel the Bishop of Erma
to have gammon seam or Christian charity ? None
at these things can a British government do. Bat
they are things that a British public can always
attempt, of which the public, by the mere expression
of its voice, can prevent most of the evils, and pre-
clude their recurrence, even when failing in the im-
mediate or apparent efforts of summary condemna-
tion.

Now, this precisely is what the British public have
bean doing. It has expend its indignation, its
mown, its hopes, its advice. It has given warn-
ing to the Anglican clergy, and warned the
Pore that his insolent ' in Rug-
land, fir from profiting there, may
contribute to shake his seat even as the Beres Hills.
We shall have no more Cardinal Avatars. It has
warned Puseyism of its folly. It has not instantly
cured or quenched the rash abuses se they existed,
nor prevented the dowers from farming into the fruit.
Oa the contrary it has precipitated the conversion of
those whose idiocy was nearly ripened. Bat it his
scorched op the roots of the tree by scattering on
it the hot cinders of popular reprobation. All
these results of the effervescence of opinion have
best good, minter/ion:: legitimate. Instead of
leading to either or intolerance, they have
rendered it inexcum to recur to either. Inatead
of impelling ministers in the path of persecution,
public opinion, by its fall expression, has spared thoM

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