The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-25 00:00:00

nirintiii 2int

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1844.

very brief interval has elapsed since we directed
the attention of our repilers to one of those unseemly
controversies between an orthodox congregation with
their Pusey ite-paison, that the gentle Lord Bishop of
LONDON never interposes in, without furnishing us—
his constant aimirers—with new occasions for mar-
vellink at his meekness, and for commending his ur-
banity. In the last communication addressed by that
lowly-minded Bishop to the Churchwardens of Ware,
some may fancy, indeed, that they detect the heredi-
tary style of schooling which a pedagogue may be
supposed to lave transmitted to a Prelate. But with-
out entering into that question, we would
if we could, exonerate the Right Reverend Father
from a more grave and unbecoming imputation. It it
said—and we believe it—that hiS Lordship is a favourer
of the Tractarian doctrines. We do not mean to say
that be upholds the atrocious trumpery which some
of the NEwre.tN-iac divines have lately been re-pub-
lishing,. with the most fulsome of editorial commen-
dations from " Golden Legends," and " Lives of the
Saints." We do not suppose, for a moment, that the
sleek dioce'an, who moves between the Palace at
Fulham and the Palace at.S.t. James's between St.
Jamees-square and the Home of Lords—with all the
precise getting up of an elaborate Abbe, a century ago,
is the 'salons of 'Versailles, or the Luxembourg, has
any community of taste with the PaLmiiit and the
PIISEYS, the WARDS and the NEWMANS, who seem to
insist that their " Englih Saints," or their German
Monks of the twelfth century, must have died
in the odour of sanctity in proportion as their
persons were disgustingly filthy, and their fusty
habits never changed! But, as we have before
remarked, our Right Reverend CHARLES JAMES
iS, in such controversies, ever an interested par-
tisan who has a decided leaning to the universal
Tractarian doctrine of enlarging 'the temporal,
and multiplying the spiritual, powers of Church-
men—(ranking above curates)—as .well as of the
Church. Ile can away with the mummeries, NOT—
provided they tend, in the•words of their rhapsodical
advocate (the Rev. W. G. WARD), " to that sus-
tained and vigormis attack on 'the principles. of the
Reformation" (which he, a minister of theAnz i ,
Anglican
Reformed and Established Church, ad o
but, provided they
_;tend,tfie
..v
.-blas-
ter of Arts elsewhere wiitea',' (in his " Ideal
of a Christian Church ")—" to the religious carrying
out of those great principles which the Reformation
,Llet • —obedience and faith." Who can doubt -Whit
th "shop of LONDON'S notions of " obedience" are,.
witg moves the clergy of his diocese to stir up
theii ks three or four times in a year to subscribe
VA; building new churches (of which his Lord-
• ship ther " means to pocket the patronage) ? Who
bt what the Bishoo's version of "faith" is,

when he would persuade all the congregations within
his extensive diocese, and even his quondam friends
of Bishopsgate Without, that the effectual way to
feed the hungry, intense, starving wretchedness of the
pauperised districts of Spitalfields, is—to subscribe
funds for purchasing and dispensing bread ?—soup ?
—clothing ?—lodging ? No ! but—to build new
churches for them.
We shall not renew here the censure we have so
lately ventured to pass upon a course of Episcopal
policy that, we repeat, is daily making- an enormous
sacrifice of high and substantial interest—moral,
social, and religious—for vain forms and em?ty cere-
monies. Nor is it necessary to enlarge on the gravity
of the offence which a Bishop commits, by upholding
it when its results—not as they are to be inferred
from theoretical reasoning merely, but as they are
practically developed by every day's experience—
clearly are the sowing of disunion and heartburnings
between pastors and their flocks; and the en-
couragement, nay, the artificial-forcing, as it were,
of present dissent from the ritual, and final
estrangement from the communion and doctrine of I
the Established Church. We have asked whether the
Bishop is prepared to countenance the extension of
Puseyism at the price of the decline of Protestantism ?
And the ultra reverence for, and observance of, obso-
lete directions and formularies (still, indeed, retained
in the Rubric, but distinctly as offensive to the
opinions and feelings of the Church at large, as they
have been foreign to her ritual, rites, and ceremonial,
for the last century and a half—this overweening
passion for reviving " things indifferent," simply be-
cause some fanciful preference for the mere pantomime
of a more ancient ritual, we have taken the liberty
to treat as an " idle fooling." We are rejoiced to be
so soon in possession of high Episcopal authority for
these views. It is gratifying to us to have one of the
ablest servants and champions of the Church corro-
borating and strengthening our own unprofessional
impressions on such matters. The late distinguished
Principal of Brazenose, one of the lights of Oxford,
and now Bishop of CHICHESTER, at his Lordship's
primary visitation of his diocese in the cathedral
church of that city on Tuesday last, delivered a
charge, very remarkable in many particulars—excel-
lent in all—and in none more distinct or more sensi-
ble than in that portion which he devoted to the repro-
bation of this Puseyite tampering with the venerable
structure of that Church, which it would unhesitat-
ingly demolish for the sake of planting upon its ruins
a few exploded genuflections, and relighting at the
altar table a few extinguished wax candles; putting
on a white gown at one portion of the service, or
taking off a black one at another—with other such
worthless trifles. The Bishop of CHICHESTER, we
observe, addresses his clergy in a tone of brotherly
kindness and personal humility, worthy of a pri-
mitive Churchman, and very little, if at all,
marred by that unconscious egotism which in some
other Bishops (nearer "London") is so exceedingly
offensive. He inculcates with eloquence and ear-
nestness the duty of consulting and relieving the wants,
physical as well as moral, of the poor. To this sub-
ject he returns more than once, with increasing force
and emphasls. lie warmly enjoins on his hearers the
truly Christian, as well as clerical, duty of aiding,
with sincerity and energy, the diffusion of education
among the lower classes of society; and he concludes
his animadversions upon the progress of Puseyism in
terms to which it would be as vain as presumptions
in us to attempt to add one word :

" Judging from a review of their progress, as given
by one supposed to be of their number (the Rev. W.
Palmer), one must arrive at the conclusion that those so
long unable to form their own course must be especially
unfitted to guide others in the formation of their theo-
logical opinions. With respect to some usages which
are supposed to take their origin from this school, it is
much to be desired that more correct notions should
prevail, more especially amongst the laity. Whatever
may have been the object or intention of those writers
of whom we speak in reviving attention to those
matters, the advocates of rubrical observances are
more frequently found in the persons of those who
have no sympathy with their doctrines or peculiarities.
The laity should be made aware of this fact. At the
same time, I must caution the clergy always to bear in
mind that the edification of God's people is the object of
all their ministrations, and that they will sacrifice the
end to the means if they needlessly offend their congre-
gations in such matters. I will not say that the interests
of religion would not be advanced if our ritual were
brought back to what it formerly was. On the con.
trary, I believe the reverse would. be the fact ; but I
certainly am convinced that a minister takes a wrong
and entirely inadequate view of his duty if, by adhering
too strictly to the rubrical directions of the Book o't.
Common Prayer, he alienates the affection of his con-
gregation. Let him fully and clearly explain its nature
and uses, and so he will win their minds towards him."

The universal stir among the agriculturists of
England, from the Land's End to the Tweed, is a
feature of no ordinary occurrence in the history of
the country. Formerly the aristocratic landowner
followed religiously in the footsteps of his predecessar
—left " well alone"—hunted during the day—spent
the evening in libations—kept the peasantry as igno-
rant of any real knowledge as the beasts that perish
—mortgaged part of his property as dowries for his
daughters—supported the Tory Government, because
the Tory Government was bound neck and heels by
the landed interest—cried for war, because war pro-
vided situations for his sons, and raised his rent-rolls
—opposed with a- fury approaching to madness every
species of reform—and declared all men traitors to
their GOD, their KING, and their country, who dared
to touch one pin of that sacred ark—the Constitution
in Church and State. What an awakening has been
since I It can be likened to nothing so aptly as the
scene described by the inspired Prophet, when " there
was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones
came together, bone to his bone, and they stood up an
exceedingly great army." The reformers, which in
bygone days were scarcely visible, are now to be met
with in every part of the island, and in every depart-
ment of the State. But even great and unexpected
as has been the change, no portion of it is so stir •
prising, and so pregnant with happy prospects, as,
the resuscitation of the old, sleepy agriculturists of
England. In almost every county and town meetings
have been held, for promoting agricultural improve-
ments. The landlords now tell their tenants they
must be up and'doing- "the Philistines are upon
them." The burden of the speeches is "tile-draining,"
"guano manure," "subsoil ploughing," " turnip
drill," and many other new-fangled systems imported
from the north, or. from the best cultivated plains of
the Netherlands and Lombardy. 'The speech of
Lord STANLEY, at the Liverpool Agricultural
Association on Tuesday, is in excellent keeping
with the late movement. "In every quarter of the
kingdom," said his Lordship, " we find, within the
last few years, that societies similar to this have been
springing up, and agriculture is partaking of the
great movement which has been pervading all the in-
dustrial branches of this country. Farmers are find-
ing out that it is necessary for them, with a view to
their own interests, to take a very different course
I from that which was followed by their grandiVhers
it and great grandfathers. In these days no man is allowed
to stand still. Improvement must go on. And I
see throughout the country, in every part of
it, gratifying proofs that improvement is going on
as actively in the agricultural as in the manu-
facturing districts and operations of the country.
Now we ask his Lordship what has caused this
movement, this rattling of dry bones, this revivifica-
tion of a race which, generation after generation,
followed the preceding race like automatons. It is
the cry for cheap bread—the universal shout raised
by the friends of the poor, and, above all, by an as-
sociation but a few years old—the National Anti-
Corn-law League. If Mr. COBDEN and his sup-
porters never do another good act in their lives—if
they should fail in carrying into full effect their grand
object, which we deem impossible, they deserve to be
immortalised for rousing into activity a body of men
idle and haughty, yet vainly claiming for themselves
the title of the real protectors of their country, and
the source of all its wealth. The League—the abo-
minated League—is the main cause of this extraor-
dinary commotion. But there are many others en-
titled to great merit in furthering the good work.
The skill, ingenuity, perseverance, and industry, of
the manufacturing classes must come in for a large
share. Their labour has obtained its reward.
Merchant princes have sprung from the lowest
of the people—the Cotton Lords are tread-
ing upon the heels of the titled Lords ;
the intelligence of the operatives of Birmingham,
• Manchester, Leeds, and fifty other great hives of
industry, stands out in broad relief, when contrasted.
with the half-fed, the uneducated, the helplessand
almost hopeless children of the soil. The h of
Lord STANLEY, 8114 hia:Canada Corn Bill, are, =signs
of happy omen to men who have struggled so man-
.