The Express.
London, England, 1858-07-20 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS,

gogues are trying to joke it off; but they are checked
in the attempt, They are called firebrands, and are
held up u warnings to constituencies. The Northern
newspaper press produces more and more evidence,
derived from the seafaring population, that Eng-
land has never abused the Right of Visit, and that
but for her the sets would swarm with pirates.
Then follow remarks on the duties of great maritime
nations in time of peace—questions what better can
be done with a navy like that of England than
guarding rising industry and commerce on coasts
like that of Africa, slid suppressing the marau-
ders who would destroy the growing civilisation.
Scouring the anchor may be good in its way, we are
told ; and maritime survey is a noble exercise; bst
these done, there is still left a surplus of power,
leisure, and moans. Why not employ them against
the piracy which is the chief plague of the world?
Any power, in either hemisphere, say these Ameri-
cans, which can make a difficulty of such an employ-
ment of such means most have some bad reason for
its opposition ; and the constituents of that power
ought to look to it, and find out what the reason is.
Such has been the reception in the United States
of the eagerly expected news from England. We
might quote a good deal more; but, on the one
hand, there is still some bluster like that which we
were entertained with six weeks ago ; and on the
other, there is some such exceedingly plain speaking
about the balance of credit and disgrace that we
would rather leave it to work its effect at home than
hold it up to public view in England. On the
whole, our readers will think that the method and
tone of comment are highly creditable to the
writers, public and private ; and that we may fairly
join them in being "well pleased at a fresh de-
" parturs." "The chances are always better," they
say. It rests with them to make them so; and
there will be no failure of sympathy on our side. 7,

THERE are still people to be found who believe in
ghosts; and his Grace the Duke of MARLBOROUOII

a evidently one of them. At particular periods the
spectre of OUT FAWKES, of BRADSHAW the regicide,
and of Father PETRI& of glorious Revolution times,
wen said to walk o' nights, troubling the honest
hearts of many elderly senators of both sexes, and
disturbing occasionally the quiet of some whose
childishness could not be ascribed either to
their immaturity or advanced age. At the mere
mention of the names of these historic personages,
or any allusion to the memorable scenes in
which they figured, orthodox politicians of the
species we allude to, were wont to go off at score
in alternate hymns of fierce party triumph, and
anathematintions of all who might in any degree
be suspected of compission for them or extenuation
of their sins. The ghosts of the gunpowder plotter,
of the sainted despot's judge, and of the over-bur-
dened confessor of silly and vicious King JAMES,
were seen by the eyes of modern bigotry in form as
palpable as though they lived again and trod the
Anglican and Monarchical soil of Britain in
flesh and blood once more. To keep up the
imposture, solemn though somewhat irreverent
and extremely uncharitable prayers were " ordained
"to be said in Churches" on certain set days
throughout the year ; whereby the young were
taught to fear and shudder at the mention of certain
obscure names before they could tell or be made to
understand why, and the oblivious mercies of for-
giveness and forgetfulness were periodically exor-
cised as though they had been evil spirits. The
Church, indeed, in its legislative capacity, had never
had any part in the imposition of these
resentful ceremonies. They were invented and
enacted by ruthless and graceless politicians
for their own official or electioneering pur-
poses ; and though the clergy had no choice but
to obey theolbdinances enjoined in the name of the
SOVISRLION as temporal head of their Church, it is
only justice to them as • body to remember that
they seldom dwelt upon or pointed to those factious
and angry Thanksgivings ; and it is notorious that
they were in numberless instances carefully for-
gotten to be said or sung by the wise and
humane. Still they were kept in type by
Royal command as sacred extras to the Liturgy ;
and every edition of the Book of Common Prayer
was sullied by these relentless groans of political
gratitude, and ill-disguised insinuations of blood-
guiltiness and heresy, sedition and schism, against
all who did not heartily thank GOD for the restora-
tion and reign of the profligate and shameless
CIIAxuEs IL ; and for all the arts and devices,
treacheries and falsehoods, by which the constitu-
tional rights won during his father's faithless reign,
were for a season made away with at the Restoration.

Of late it has indeed been found daily more hope-
less to impose these things upon the laity ; and the
bishops and clergy have long been desirous of being
relieved from the irksome duty of performing a part
which their improved cultivation taught them to
despise is unworthy, and the instincts of their profes-
sion taught them to regard as calculated only to raise
awkward questions amongst their intelligent flocks.
As the Bishop of LONDON said list night in the
House of Lords when the abrogation of these services
was unwisely impugned by the Duke of MARLBO-
Boman and Lord DUNGANNON—they have been
always understood to cast wholesale and indiscrimi-
nate reproaches by implication on large bodies of
persons who dissent from the Established Church,
and as such they are highly objectionable. The
Catholics are no more deserving of being twitted
and taunted with the conspiracy to blow up the Par-
liament of 1805, than the Nonconformists are worthy
of being branded as traitors by impious insinuation, be-
canes the Long Parliament maw fit to turn Bishops out
of the House of Lords or to abolish" the thing called
king-craft." A great diversity of opinions among
the most learned and accomplished men arc enter-
tained, moreover, regarding the justifiability of some
of the means resorted to by WILLIAM of ORANGI and
his aristocratic accomplices in the great revolution of
1688. To make one particular version of their con-
duct a matter of faith, and to require all true church-
men to mix up the matter in their prayers to
Atmtairry Con, is a proceeding as impolitic as it
is revolting. Lord DERBY truly said, that a
thanksgiving service for the Reformation would be
somewhat more to the purpose, and much less
difficult to defend on religious grounds; while the
failure of the Spanish Armada would be a far more
appropriate theme of grateful reminiscence in a
national point of view. But happily there has
ceased to be any need to argue the question elabo-
rately. After wasting an hour-and-a-half yesterday
evening in a vain effort to re-open the question in the
Upper HOW!, his Grace of MARLBOROUGH CORM get
nobody to support him but poor Lord DUNGANNON ;
and after the House had actually been cleared fur a
the minority, who were ready to side with
him, was obviously about to be so small that he con-
sented to have his motion negatived without going
through that formality.

OXFORD Palzes.—The Vice-Chancellor announces
that the following subjects are wormed for the Chancellor's
Prises for the ensuing year. mfr.: Foe Lelia Verse—lndic
Oriental's. For an &flub Berg—The ettpF.tuat:diteed by
the gold of America on the greatest's ty
For • Latin Rear —Qoatrates bbeietairn
Argonanterom corms marithno? The subject of 81, Robert
Newthgate'e prize la Lucknow.

•
gig Court.* • •
OSBORNE. Juir.r 19.

Her Majesty, the Prince Wand, Prince Alfred,
Princess Alice, Primer Helena, and Prince Leiningen, at-
tended divine sank* at Whippingham church yastarday
mousing. The Rev. G. Prothero officiated.
The Ravi and Countess of Darby, and the Ladies and Gen-
tlemen in Waiting, were alio prement

The Karl wad Countess of Daley arrived in town yester-
day from a visit to her Majesty, et Osborne, Isle of Wight.
Despatches were received yesterday at the Colonial-office
from the Governors of the Australian Colonies and Malta,
the Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islanda, the
Governors of the West Inge IMands, Ceylon, the Mauritius,
Hong Kong, and Laboan.