The Express.
London, England, 1848-10-11 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 11, 1848.

The quarter's return of the customs also preasats
as WWII* of 400,000. open the ding
quarter, which, however, does not yet Wing up he
lam upon the year. The other seems St Manes do
not present sae meterhable trerlation. The crown
Lade metess atm striding lawmen which, indeed,
was aseemary te ease them from the glino*g mar
Nuptial' which theeseend to wtftgeM alto.
gather. If we ham this year, reason to look for no
renewed dehhiellea of meetpis. there are pordble or
peibehledlemeds expediters, which
gresinde the hope etas Osseo Mk year comps..
=thr the Midi et the last. newest of Ireland is
isirieft he hod. Amebas" Halle war re-
eels the sad a half spent in
=down a read estbreak. A rebellion in
too threatens to bums ea item in colonial
mea the geed people of Jamaica say,
t=meithnocsnatry and pay the charges of their
jadeite 7 and pollee, envying_ no doubt the privilege
tal Ireland an this respect. Meantime, the dhardend
state of Europe, in which we cannot meddle, will still
be made the excuse for keeping up, if not increasing
military estimates, in order to pay which Joan BULL
must be industrious in importing and producing and
consuming, for every act of which the tax-gathertr
will be sore to demand his tythe.

Ts' question of Communism, which is simply the
claim of the poor to share, not merely in an eleemosy-
nary degree, but as equals and partners, in the
amused capital as well as in the occupied and, of a
countr,y, has, by the bold which it has laid on the
French mind, and the influence which it has
had and has on French policy, thrown every
otner question and consideration connected with
that country quite into the shade. The most
serious potent of a nation's fundamental law have of
late been discussed in the French National Assembly,
and press and publio have attended to and joined
in the discussion. The system of two chambers, of 1
an executive to be chosen by universal suf- 1
frage or by the Assembly, the liberty of the press,
and of association, the policy of helping adjacent
countries to recover natiooality and liberty, or to leave
them under the yoke of a despotism and a race foreign
and abhorrent to them—all these have been brought
before the French National Assembly, and have pro-
duced the most brilliant discourses and the most elo-
quent essays from philosophers and statesmen. But
what might be called a debate, or what could be de-
scribed as interesting or exciting, has not taken place
during these sittings. For everything else is absorbed
or suspended until the great decision takes plies as to
whether the proprietorial or the proletariat clones
shall prevail, or whether a lasting compromise may
not be made between them.
Never, certainly, was so portentous a discovery
made, as the finding of this rich vein of "political
mOtal," which is called the Organisation of Labour.
It le. perhaps, the only idea left that could excite the
French people. They had exhausted and thrown
aside almost all the sentiments which have power over
the popular mind—religious liberty, civil freedom,
equality of ranks, love or -hatred of king, of noble, of
bishop, military glory, natioual predominance. 01
every one of these elixirs have the French drunk, and
far none do they longer are. Of later years the
democrats and republicans could take or keep
AD hold of the popular mind. Socialism, however, has
decidedly done this. Though struggling into life
some years bark as an insignificant sect, it the isle r
day raised 60,000 combatants behind the barricades of
June, and the nearness of its triumph was such as
still to appal those classes to whom the firmness of
CAVAIGNAC gave unlooked-for victory.
The days are past. however, when man can extir-
pate popular credence with the sword. 'lhe individual
rack or wholesale massacre are as impossible as se-
vere penal laws, the proscription of tenets, or the
exile of millions. The English must find out
the secret of living with the Irish, and
contenting them. The French citizens, officers,
and statesmen, must convince or conciliate the helots
of the capital, and of the large manufacturing towns.
For it is evident that even the prevalence of the strong
arm, that triumph of military force so complete is
both countries, and which in former ages would have
decided the moral and the physical question at the
same time—it is plain that they in the present day
leave the evil of a froward and revengeful population
quite as unsettled and as perilous as before.
It is thus, therefore, most interesting to observe the
struggles of these great contending parties, carried on
in the legitimate field of argument, and by the fair
weapons of persuasion. Within the last few we. ke
M. THIERB has taken the field on behalf of the
proprietorial class, and M. Lows BLANC has answered
him on behalf of the proletariat. Unfortunately,
betle combatants, although they exchange a few
mem of logical fence, drive quite wide of each other
la their main arguments. M. Tomas depicts, with
moth truth, the immense improvement in the well-
beim and numbers of the class actually in receipt of
sign their increased command of the comforts sad
AVM luxuries of life, which the much decried
principle of competition has brought within
their means and to their doors. M. Louis
Bietze confines his p2ncil to that portion of
the labourers who are in receipt of either insuMelsat
or to wages. This happmed to be just the epoch la
France, when capital was beginning to be invested is
large manufacturing establishments, in the substitu-
tion of machinery for hands, and of combined, in lies
of individual, productiveness. It is at the mamast of
this great change, that the artisan class &a meta
suffer most, and it was precisely this moment, that
the late government of France dui not sufficiently ob-
serve or care for, and which, in a country of un-
settled principles of either creed or government, is
naturally so dangerous.
We must coshes that we consider socialist prineisl
tales 'inevitable in any thinking country which has
off religious belief. If the Christian dispenew
tin does not rise as the great and all-explaining truth
before man's eyes, the philosopher cannot be contented
with the inequality of human conditions, or avoid do-
vish( sastenal plans for its removal. The more un-
hhemed intellect of the poor will eagerly follow in 1
Oh path. And happiness being considered a coin-
plan of somierts, he will infallibly ask by what right 1
lie is nraising from his share of what the earth and
palace, when his creed cannot enjoin the
' etyv pathoor, or point out any present or future
comp swans.
M. Tomes 'tore of the improved peados of
the
eimpitilmtrai
slava does in reality hureitssrath
the im dOs unemployed, and Win
a fair he M. Loots Butte's popular math
mental appeal. Nor is M. Tuisaa's fudesositni
theory more proof against the logical sane el the
assuswiist. AL Tuna hands all property wpm
Inner. But labour anon is nothing, and Is of itself
impossible; it must hays wiesthing to work on. And
it is this something whisio enneitnes property. II this
something isantowoblsgwo &eh see h ovi property in
it could ever be digned. Nor do we See how property
which is immoveable can be disputed, without 1
flinging sainiginl beck to barbarism.
But when M. TEMPI sets out with the pro-
positions that property is founded solely upon
lebrmr, sad that labour has a right to what
A 'lmam% he lays himself open to M. Lows
1 Butescit *ender that, if
isproperty be founded
open Mon, the labour which precluded from pro-
= ffmvroperty and which is limited to the parson's
ar half subsistence is unjust. But pro-
=moist' not of labour, but of material on which
can be employed, and of that material after
Maar his been spent upon it. Nature furnishes a
atscanty portion cf that materiel, and without the
of property that material would never increase.
the right of property grow the materials of
labour, and with the destruction of the right of pro-
party the materials of labour would gradually dis-
avow and perish. We cannot say, then, thog we
en satisfied with the philosophy of M. Times more
than with the eloquent sophisms of M. BLANC. The
an against the latter was never better stated than
by the first antagonist that entered the field against
hLy M. LION FAUCHER.
Ms waited pint of the socialist system, however,
bee net best urged against them; and that • l.' sup-
psis. ow owaseded in rendering all the present
llsrtablei by the annihilation of the
"11111 sua
what ars they to do with the generations that
ere to follow in increased proportion ? Some of them
have modes of checking population. If so, why not
aly those modern at once which, by diminishing
the apply of labour,. would take away_ the great
necessity for communistic revolution? 'this is what
the Westonituter Review and Mr. MILL lay such
stress on. We cannot see that either solves the pee-
bl ,m. In most of the countries adduced by . Mr.
MILL in evidence of successful prevention of marriage,

the revolts on the morals of the lower clues' ere fear-
fid. We need instance bet Bavaria sad Switeerland.
We are ea the eve, however, of great political
changes in Frenoe—changes which may modify or
perhapotha ow intothe shade this philosophic and social
riot). The heir of the buousysars name and
will in all probability be head of the republic,
laid he will become so against the wishes and efforts
of all republicans, whether moderate or ultra. This
will bleed them in a common partyy and socialism will
be tined the elements of strength of that patty. if
President BUONAPARTIS considers the republicans hie
foss, he must appeal to other popular passions. He
wid try, perhaps, to resuscitate the military one. We
doubt its success. Tho French viople love fighting,
no doubt, bat we question much their willingness to
take up arms, for a long time to come, in any other
cause, or under any other leaner, than their own.

Viz Morning Pod is wedged by our remarks on
the Bishop of OXFORD. We ventured, it will be re-
membered, to touch very slightly upon. the het that
the Bishop had bten denominated—with what truth
we did not presume to decide—the Peat of the epi-
scopal beech." Now," says our puzzled contemporary,
"we have very often board the ex-premier described
as 'slippery rEFX.' and we hare sometimes heard the
same epithet used in too familiar allusion to Bishop
WILBBRFoRCE ; yet we cannot recognise any general
resemblance betw, en these pe " The Past is
evidently fishing for knowledge. t " has heard " the
s tine epithet used, but it can't make out why. Will
the Express enlighten it? As the matter is of
some public interest, we will oblige our anxious eon-

temporary
There are Tow persons acquainted with religious
politics at all who do not know that the bishop
began his career in the church as a tractarian. The
fact to embalmed in the only pun of which the quietest
bishop on the bench has been guilty. This dignitary
remarked that Mr. WILBERFORCE had, from a tree-
terian. become a retractarian. We do not notice the
jest for its wit, but for its truth. Now, this change
coincided with the epoch in the future bishop's life
when he commenced the race in the politico-religious
world, in which he has distanced all competitors. lie
has attained the very summit of clerical ambition, at
an age when few clergymen feel firmly fixed on the
first step of the ladder. We do not think it, then,
very uncharitable, and certainly not very unreason-
able, to surmise, as is genteelly surmised amongst the
clergy, that the Pueryism which was esttemed
so eteential a vesture for a churchman by
his lordship, while a simple clergyman, was
deemed rather an incumbrance when he
was preparing to start as a competitor for political
honours. Ile would have tripped at the first bound
hid he been swaddled in the monkish paraphernalia
of the middle ages. The bishop "peeled," in sporting
phrase, for the race, and won it. With Puseyism he
would have " carried weight."
Now it is here, the inquiring Post must be in-
formed, that common sense mortal., who have not the
fear of bishops before their eyes, begin to trace the
similarity b tween the Feet temporal snd the PEEL
spiritual. Sir ItonERT commenced his political lite
by supporting all the fallacies of the stationary party.
Catholic restrictions and torn laws were apparently
the great articles of his political faith. But the
future premier, like the future bishop, found that no
progress could be made in the new age, while fettered
with a chain that reached back to the middle ages.

While Sir 'tonere saw, however, that there was no
safety for a stet( sman but in marching with the spirit
of the age, he felt that his objects would be aehievea
with much greater certainty by making his own party
accessories to the passing of liberal measures. He
fat that he wee competent to this task, and it is cer-
tain that in spite of the well known tact that he has
passed more measures daniagitig the conservative
cause than any liberal premier would have been able
to paw, he is still looked up to by the conservatives as
one of themselves, and these escapades have been
ascribed to the exigencies of the times, and not to the
spirit of the man. Bishop WILBERFORCE has acted
ur n the s,me principle. He has never lost
his position amongst the high church party, even
while advocating liberal measures. He always dis-
courses with unction on the peculiar subjects.
which are supposed to form the shibboleth of the ex-
treme party in the church, although he does not shrink
from advocating such changes as may obtain him the
reputation of an independent thinker. His conduct
on the corn laws was beyond all praise. He at
tempted to act liberally on the Hampden cast, but was
disconcerted by the honesty of Or. HAMPDEN. At
the National Society he wins the hearts of the bigot
party by hie eloquent advocacy of as many of their
principles as will not entirely comtiromise him; and
then, when he has gained their entire confidence,
turns round and tells them in the pleasantest manner
in the world what naughty children they are. All
this is done with the most persuasive eloquence and
consummate logic. Ile makes himself, in fact, so
useful to his party in some cases, that he is
allowed a latitude in others ; and the density of
the heads of his charmed listeners will not allow them
to perceive the consequences of their good nature.
He has the art of persuading his high church brethren
that, as to all their most deeply-rooted prejndices, be
is one of them. A most instructive instance of this is
noticeable in the " charge." He is speaking in those
exaggerated forms, so dear to Anglo-catholic hearts,
of the wondrous dignity and importance of the office
of a bishop—it is "the earthly centre of the Christian
ministry"—" on account of its vast importance audits
boundless aims, the greatest saints shrunk from the
burden of so great a charge"—" the bishops them-
selves were a sacred army of martyrs, devoted to the
spiritual good of God's people, and the appointed chat..
eels of his grace—then, when the rapt minds of his
tries:tan brethren were transported with &-
NIA at these bold amplifications, he names
examples of men to whom these phrases were te
apply. Of whom does he speak ? Of any bishops':
later times ? Of any of the protestant fathers of oar
church ? Assuredly not ; he lifts his hearers up to
the seventh heaven by going back to the period when
the church was a spiritual despot ; he exhibits to
their admiring gaze the " pious spirit of AMBROSE
and the earnest piety of Garamv.* Fancy the
shiver of delight which rustled the silks of hie robed
listeners, and concave how ready after this they
would be to pardon a few liberal expressions on the
subject of education or any other trifling heresy.
If the Post wants any more instruction on the
subject of the parallel in question we can ware it that
a perusal of his lordships speeches for the year put
will serve the purpose. In the meantime we can only
afford • short answer to another of its innocent
fishings for information. It is at a loss to understand
what we mean by the "universal onward movement"
which Bishop WILBERFORCE recognises, while the
rest of the bishops do not. " The New Testament has
nothing to do, adds our contemporary, " with the
anis,. real onward movement." Now, if the Post
thinks that it can establish the extraordinary propo-
sition contained in the words just quoted, we would
advise it to bestow a portion of its columns daily to
this purpose. For assuredly the enterprise, from its
very novelty, would attract crowds of readers. We,
who have pieced up a little history from a few of the
writers of the day, find that all those who have any
pretensions to philosophy, whether English, German,
orFrench,coinculeinone assertion—that the "universal
onward movement" which hasbeen the greatfeatureof
modern history since the breaking up of the Roman
empire, has been mainly due to the Aew Testament.
All agree in this, that the old world bad died out and
that a new spirit was wanted, and that this spirit
appeared at the proper time, under the form of
Christianity. But the columns of a newspaper are not
the place, either for a lecture on history or a disser-
tation on theology, and we must conclude by inform-
ing the Post, which is animated by so earnest and
laudable a desire foe knowledge, that ample instruc-
tion, as to the allied of its inquiry, can be found in
a book to be obtained at a very cheap rate at any
book-stall—" Guisot's Lectures on Civilisation."