The Express.
London, England, 1850-12-07 00:00:00

ght erpreoo.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
AlN"Somme& Intro.led foe The klikeloh" Loodon Temkin er,
went be at the moor, 10, llonowileekelet, by Two o'clock on the
limy of pub: Wallow.
MOH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tens it,e —Morning, 4h. 40. ...nlinnewen,, 40. '2 :W.
TO-Nellull —Mersin, lk. Vow. Aliens" 4h... SMA.

LONDON, SATURDAY. DECEMBER 7.

Till two latest " Catholie• contributions to the
present crisis sad controversy are Cardin il Wts•-
SIAN'S stout.hearted speech on his " enthronisa-
tioa," amid yesterday's congenial fogs, in the
slight and slim Cathedral of St. George's, and Bishop
Paihrovra's insidious dissent from a supposed Ad-
dress of the Episcopal B. nch to the QUEEN, which
has not as yet, and which never will be, presented to
HER MAJESTY. Bosh are courageous, most people
will think audacious, effusions : the one chars:ter.
istic of that senseless obstinacy which so generally
follows a first false step; the other of that unscru-
pulous e iger supersu b: lety which so commonly leads its
possessor into • quagmire, 'room which escape is only
possible by scrambling out on the wrong side of the
min.
The Cardinal's last display of Eomish assertion
has, however, this advantage over the bishop's fresh
burst of" catholic" pessios ; it is consistent with the
daring position be has assumed, it is faithful to the
edicts of the church of which be is • dignitary, and
obed'ent to the papacy of which he is the servant; whilst
the bishop's is only another instance of how unhappy
a temper, bow vindictive • dispoeition, how disorderly
a habit, and how treacherous a heart, may be united
and toui.d in the highest office the unhappy and lx-
treyed church of England has to bestow on her

Indignant, then, as we are with Cardinal WISE-
MAN'S Resumption of power in this the QUEEN'S
realm; desirous as we are to abate his insolence
and reduce his pretensions ; still, when the
same dry places these two prelates in juxta-
position, as events this day do, all the respect
that can be extracted from the humiliating installa-
tion of ultra-raocume pspery in Westminster and the
s3andalour betrayal of protestantiem at Exeter, be-
longs to Dr. WI.EMAN all the shame to Dr.
rows, So, levies the former to the coceideratiin of
the law officers of the Crown if an offenos have
thereby been committed, or of the ministers of the
Crown if so unprecedented an act escapes the meshes
of law, let us muse for a few minutes over the latest
scandal of the Eishop of EXETER.
In one respect at least, if not in more than one, Dr.
PMILVOTTA resembles leno ; for," he is nothing if not
critical." He lathe I sIIStAIL ot the clauch of England;
"his hand is against every man." The gaoler of
Mr. SIIoRE, the persecutor of Mr. CORIUM, the
reviler end troducer of l'rimwe Seusts, hse now
recorded kis diluent and proclaimed his repudiation of
an addetss which ho had reason to suppose contained
the opinions and expressed the desire of every other
bishop of his church. Without seeking explana-
tion, wiihunt waiting foe communication, without
deigning to address his episcopal brethren in this
their presumed concord and unanimity, this disorderly
prelate immodestly, indecently, and rudely ruses, es
it were, into the very preseeci of his Sovereign, to
make known his siogularity, to controvert their
stateme cue, to depreciate their opinions, to pick
holes in their arguments, to dray their conclusicns,
and to deprive, if it were possible, the QUEeN
of use of her royal prerogatives. And Ito preci-
pitate in he in his anger, so eager in his
spite, so reanhee in his mitchieeonenese, that he
Lae 'madly explained to flea Mount his reasons
for dissenting from an address which can never be
presented to the tlezee, because, though prepared
tor, it reeve received the assent of, the Prelates, from
whom, at any price and in any manner, he appears
determined to have differed, ant, in differing, to have
insulted.
To know this man thoroughly, std to appreciate
properly his motives, it is important in this transac-
tion to math its dates and to trace its progress. On
the lath ult., the PRIMATE transmitted to him an
address, to which his signature was requested. On
the Itoth, he curtly repli: d that he could not honestly
subscribe to it, but without stating any of his ob.
jectious. 0. her pis laces, it would set m, also dissented
from pots of this d wuruent ; but they, alter
the neerl manner of English gentlemen and
Christian clergymen, explained to the PRIM CTE
their trit.one fur such dissent ; and he, wi/h
that elerit of conciliation which distinguishes his
mild career, revised the original document, an as, if
possible, to secure unanimity. And, on the 22nd, a
espy of the revised address was sent to Bishop Putt-
ee/17s. But, ere it reached hint, on the 23rd, that
amiable pre late, always assuming the worst, never
disposed to act charitably, had actually despatched a
count/ r-missive to the original address to Sir GEORGE
GREY, to be by his laid before the QUEEN. And
thus he protested to HEE MAJE,TY against &document
which, as an address from the Bishops of the/ church
of England, has no existence.
This, as a matter of form, involving a display of
temp. r nod discretion, at such a crisis as the present,
MIA bud enough; but worse remains behind. For it
does sr happen, that two out of three passages in the
draft addre se, which Dr. Puterons deemed so objec-
tionable es to feel compelled to airings thereon the
QUEEN specially and at length, are not to be found
in the addens scut illy tuir-cribcd by every prelate
but himself and the Bishop of St. Dam's —and not
subscribed by the latter because, it is understood, of
an ex. n-sion deemed by him too Web to be applied
to any Christians. So that Bishop PIIILPOTTS has
placed himself in the ridiculous position of explaining
to the QUEEN his dissent from expressions never used
by his brother prelates.
And what does this precipitation, this anxiety, this
cagetneu to dissent from, to differ with, to ungene-
rously criticise the proceedings of the episcopal bench
generally—this scorn anti indifference to the scandal
that such discord and antagonism were certain to
bring on the church—this sacrifice and abandonment
of order, and propriety, and decenct —what does it
all show ? What does it indicate ? Popish tendencies'
—Tractanandevotion ? Nothing so reputable; nothing,
so creditable. It shows a want of self-control, it
indicates the raging of internal passion, mortified
vanity, disappointed ambition, and personal spleen
and spite. lo it there was not the poor excuse of
good motive+, deep convictions, or weak, but honest
purpose; it was a manifestation of low, coarse, vulgar
irritability and vindictiveneee, such as imprisoned
Mr. SIMIE and tortured GOGGAM j such u would
now risk the ruin and destruction of the Church of
England, rather than endure the triumph of proles-
egotism, which would witness the victory of Cardinal
WISEMAN in prefererce tositting down quietly nudes
the primacy of Archbishop Surest& The man has
been wrangling, squabbling, disputi, scribbling
slandering, and libelling all his lire, and age has not
dolled his propensities, nor danger mitigated his
animosities. lie must have some parson to quarrel
with; at last he has fallen oat with the whole bench
of bishop., and has taken to reviling at and abusing
them in the very court of hie Sovereign, after having
been ignominiously expelled from every court of law
in the kingdom.
Would a b shop who loved the church of which he
is a dignitary act thus? Would • clergyman really
oaring for the continuance of that church seize on
such a moment as this to express his doubts? Is it
the part of a loyal subject, in the presence of an
assault on his Sovereign's prerogative by a foreign
prince, to argue it away ? In the midst of danger and
excitement, can it be the duty of an English gentle-
man to promote disaffection and to spread discord ?
If it be not, what, in the name of truth, and honour,
and loyalty, and honesty, is to bs thought of liz.Nav
Pitneoers, Bishop of Exeter
This much at least is now very lain, that as his
notiots of propriety of duty and of integrity are wholly
opposed to the habits and practice of English gentle-
men ; so is the church of which he holds himself to be
a prelate, an institution very different from the church
of England. What his church may be we will not
undertake to say; for, as it ence changed with his
interests, so now it appears to vary with his positions.
But the church of Primate EttIINER, either in theory
or in practice, either in doctrine cr In form, it is not.
And the question for the consideration and decision
of the English people is, which chureh—whether that