The Express.
London, England, 1851-04-01 00:00:00

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LONDON. TrESDAY, APRIL 1.

Wr mu.4t confess to share in the opinions which
Lord IA Nl.ltr t: • r professed in the House of Lords,
last tsitlit. rtinir to the transfer of church
patronave tram the Lord Chancellor to the head of
the udunuistration. .I.lw entire question of church
patronage -and. intittd. of all patronage in England
—is so anomalous. so winds- beside all grounds ul
ori-
ginal retesm and egnity.thiit to examine it canmerely
tscite a marvel how such a system could hate
p,reli,ailetl so lung. .tucient usage. however. and the
.d. •a.
ritynnage or power monopolised and coumntrated.
have led to Illt tolirtutee of all kiwis of anomalies and
abuse as preferable to the greatest of all abuses. the
absorption of power into the hands of the chief

minister of the crown.
If we regard our East India Company. and ex-
plain, or try to explain. to a foreigner, for example. I
that 'Kali:uncut deprived that company of what was
originally its character and aim—the commeree with
their colony that they at the MUM" time deprived it
in a great measure .4 the government. whilst they
left the entire patronage and appointment of officers
at itsdisposul. such au arrangement would be psYtect Iv
inexplicable to any save an Englishman. But the
jealuusy of conterriag such immense patronage
upon a government prevailed even in the lust cen-
tury over the loyal tendencies of the time. And
the aristutracy of wealth luw succeeded in keeping
to hear a patronage, on which the aristocracy of
birth is allowed to poach but in respect of some kw

and high preserves.
A similar principle may be pleaded for the distri-
bution of the- patronage of the church, divided as it
is. and not onvvisely, in lay and in ecclesiastical. in
private and in goveniment. hands. We are tar. in-
decd. Iron saying that the present system is satisfac-
tory. or that it is the best for procuring effi-
tient pastors fur the church. We have testimony
every day how an exclusively clerical education 1
leads into by-paths. and whims. and errors those
whose first duty it is to you/mend the svmputhics
and share the ideas of their blow men. for du we
see any satisfactory remedy for the evil. which goes i
to the utter separation of ecclesiastics and laymen.
unless, in the entiferring upon lay congregutions some
shun• or control of patronage or power of objection to
the nomination ur to the maintenance of an obnoxious
clenrytuan.
That. however, is not the present question. It is
whetter the power of conterring those livings which
fall to the rocal patronage is best given to the
Chancellor, or • wielded hr the Prime Minister.
We do not deny that there have been several Prime
Ministers in whose hands we should prefer seeing
such patronage than in those of many Chancellors.
But Lord Jolts Resist:Li himself gives as a reason for
maintaining the high office of Chancellor. that
it was eminently one that was won by assiduity and
talent. and attained in general by men who had
clamlerred upwards from the humbler grades of life. In
England patronage is very much governed by pros
pinquity. Personages in office must bestow places
un those whom they trust. To trust. they intuit
know them. And our English modes of knowing our
fellows. save through personal contact. are few
whilst that personal contact is limited. The First
Lord of the freasury is a man. the friends of whose
youth and mature age arc, in ninety-nine Wales out
Ot a hundred. of the aristocratic clam. The Loup
Citasentott's circle has been in general very dif-
ferent. Ills, at all events, are not mere political
friends. Ile has had his feelers out throughout life
in quite a different stratum from the politicians.
Sufficient for the Prime Minister should be the ap-
pointment of the higher clergy. When the
lesser clergy. that are nominated by the Crown. had
far better look to the Cal-ecti.tuu than to a Prime I
Minister. Lord LYNDUCIisT said. that there was •
a feeling as u CrtaxcXkLoit to often appoint men of
a family opposed to him in politics. lordship
instanced that he it was who gave SYDNEY SMITH
1,6 PrvhvaddrY stall. This suggests another advan-
tage. that a lawyer may pass from the liberal ranks
to the tory one. and even in his tory ascendancy
be liberal enough to remember the friends and the
ideas of his youth. I.urd LTNl)lltitsT'S appointment
of Sytortv Sortti puts us in mind of an anecdote.
honourable to Lord 'llw son of SOUTHEY, a
clergyman. wan long neglected by tore ministers.
lb. whose father did so much fur the church. found
it difficult to get bread from the church. notwith-
standing his high qualifications. Even Sir IL PEEL
ignored his claims. No sooner. however, was Lord
MEMO appointed Lord Chancellor. than. having his
attention called to the case of Mr. Socrtixr, his
lordship forthwith nominated him to a living.
As we have not yet heard the ministerial reasons
fur the transference of the church patronage. and as
Lord Tarn° himself was nut prepared to say any-
thing un the subject, further comment may be de-
ferred.
Lewd Tat RO., uebnce of the more important por-
tion of the ministerial measure strikes us as exceed-
ingly tame. Ills lordship declared that the appel-
late jurisdiction could in no wise be removed from
the Linda. because it would diminish their impor-
tance. Neither could the Lotto CHANCELLOR. who
presided in the Lords. be removed from the duties of
• judge in Chancery. because that would diminish
the im of the Lords. So that the entire scheme
and e cicncy of justice in this country, togeher
with the economy, facility. fullness. and fairness sith
which it ought to be administered. arc to
the one idea of keeping up the dignity of the Howie
of Lords. We can regard such policy or such argu-
ments as the mere result of monomania. They are
calculated not so much to preserve to the lionise of,