The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-20 00:00:00

(FROM JOHN BULL

MAW' are the causes of discouragement which in the
present` day tend to. damp the zeal of those who are
labouringlor the • welfare of mankind;, and for the glory
of God. The serkus dangers which, in. more than one
direction,: threaten to. interrupt the peace of the world,
and to .disturb the relations of amity in ,which it is to our
and their''common interest that we should live with all
the nations and , kingdoms of the earth ;—the various
causes of dissension*. and' tendencies to.. disruption, which
have. grown up inc the body politic:; . the consequent
weakening.of the ties,which attach tuthe mother country
the vast. foreign and colonial possessions of the empire,
and of, the, bonds- by which the dfferent • parts of the
United Kingdom are, cemented togsther ; and the fac-
tiousness of spirit which the conflict of opposite principles
and,of autagonistia.class-interests has engendered;—the
marked deterioration; of our social condition ; the relaxa-
tion ,of the ties by which, both in domestic life, and in the:
wider circles of scoisty, man hangs on to man, as well as.
of the bonds of mutual sympathy and of moral obligation,.
resulting from an-increase of selfishness, and from a mul—
tiplicity of causes-and opportunities of alienation ;—last!y,
most distressing: of all, the irreomeileable differences
vs)aich have rent Christendom asunder, and have arrayed
large portions eV' it in open hostility against each other,
and against that truth which is the: only sure foundation
of unity, as. well as, with regard. to our own Church, in
particular, the spirit of sectarianism which has givere,rise
to numerous separatist movements, and actual schisms,
and which, within her pale, is constantly begetting jealous
suspicions and,bitter animosities,-r--all these work together
to produce a state of things most painful and disheartening
to every rightly constituted, every. truly Christian mind.;
In the midst of these discouraging facts it is not:a.littlC
cheering to ilnd that the one influence to which a Christian
mind looks,. as to the only source of solid improvement
and of real;peace, is gaining strength in a manlier at once
striking ant unexpected. With our readers we need not
labour to establish the point that the principles of the
Church form the only true head of union, the-only foun-
dation efi lasting peace ; noerneed we be at the.pains-of
casting about for arguments toprove that to the Angl-
o race belongs, in the order of Divirie•Providencei
the. high privilege of exhibiting the character of the
Church, her doctrine and her constitution,. in these later
ages ofthe world, in the form which makes. the nearest
approach to primitive privity and integrity :: whilst to the
sanae•race is likewise assigned the task ofspreading by its
widely-extended commetee the arts of cbilization,inevery
quarter of the globe, and of upholding. by, its infbannee
and example the ascendancy of right; against might in
the. political world.
We cannot look hack to the history of this country
without perceiving that she was greatest and most power-
ful at those periods at which her peoplewere religiously
united ; that her seasons of internal weakness have been
those at which the-nation was tome by religious discords.
No one can doubtt, that the dissimilarity of the course
which the Reformation took in the northern and in the
southern part of the island, greatly retarded the union,
and still obstruets the hearty amalgamation, of the two
kingdoms. Ne one will call in question the fact, that
the neglect of the Church in the, sister island, in not car-
rying out the work of the Reformation, but allowing the
old stock of superstition to spout afresh, and to extend its
vicious growth in rank luxuriance, has been the main
cause of all the calamities which have fallen upon Ireland,
and of all the embarrassment* which she has created, and,
continues. to create, to the Imperial Government. No
' one will deny that to the supineness and indifference of
the authorities in Church and State, in making no promi-
sion for the planting of the Church in our transatlantic.
settlements, the separation of the United States of America
from the mother-country is mainly attributable. Nor is
it possible to cast a glance over the present condition, of
our colonial empire, without discovering the fact, that it
is on that part of our colonial populations which is
attached to the Church, that the greatest dependence is to,
be placed for loyalty, that they form the link by which
the connection of the colonies with the mother-country
may be preserved.
It is not only as Churchmen, therefore, but as citizens,
as true patriots, that we have cause to regard with deep
satisfaction every indication of the increasing influence of
the Church of England, both within and beyond the
limits of the British Empire. And that that influence has
been of late greatly on the increase, in spite of many ad-
verse circumstances, is a fact altogether beyond dispute.
Amongst ourselves, at the very centre, the asperities of
party divisions and sectarian animosities within the pale
of the Church have been greatly softened during the last
few years, and it is not chimerical to hope that the next
generation may enjoy the blessing of a united Church,
undisturbed by the admixture of Genevan ingredients on

the one hand, and of Romish elements on the other ; nor
need we, considering the marked revival of spiritual life
within the Church, be alarmed by the convulsive efforts
of Popery and Dissent to impede her progress and to
undermine her position. In Scotland we see the sister-
communion of the English Church rising afresh from the
state of deep depression to which she had been reduced ;
and her Irish sister is achieving the most astounding
conquests over the darkness- of Popish superstition. At
the very same time we find in all our foreign possessions

and settlements the influence of the Church growing
apace, under the fostering care of a Colonial Episcopate.
And, to complete the pleasing picture, we behold the
auspicious renewal of intercourse of the closest and most
brotherly kind between the Church of England, and that
branch of the Anglican Church which flourishes with in-
creasing vigour in the United States.
Viewed in this light, the report presented the other day

by the English dep-utittion on its return from America to
the " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," is no
less deserving of the attention of Statesmen, than it is
gratifying to the heart of every Church:mat. It is not
merely the promise of a more united, more consistent, and
therefore more effective proateution of the .missionary