The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-03-21 00:00:00

liar& 21, 1848.

CORRESPONDENCE.

'HE CHURCH.-PARTY SPIRIT.

TO Tr, D
EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
In (Conclusion.)
tr.u.th, we. have far less to do
if
with the issues of things
one
° with their probation ; and in the latter we have
!our es, we are called pon both b reason and re-
ligion to b
caltm our anxieties upon both by reason and re-
-Igb,, to Calm our anxieties and to reprey ss our anticipa-
lions about the former. We are neither omniscient to
foresee nor omnipotent to rule the event ; but having our
simPle duty prescribed, the safest and only course is to do
it, at the same time exercising the most cautious foresight
and being ruled by the most deliberate wisdom.
:aKeeping this great and consoling principle in view, it is
sz:oto see how the contracted spirit which I have noticed
this letter is utterly antagonistic to its lofty teaching
Erin
Pposed to its guidance. Before, then, we instil simple
ciples of practice, and expound the course of duty,
We enemy to truth must be detected and vanquished.
beforWe must attack the prejudices before we apply ourselves
e
reasons of mankind, and break down the barriers
niree we send truth on its journey. Our affections are
the mistresses of our will, and the will generally rules the
IlUderstanding. Men must be made willing to be con-
vinced before conviction can seize them, and their natural
Predisposition to one course overcome ere we can direct
IPein to another. We might as well hope to awake the
blind
by sounding a trumpet in his ears, or to terrify the
*.„14,d by brandishing a sword before his eyes, as to effec-
Z,41 reach the understanding or alarm the fears of one
Tod by the galling chains and fortified by the unyielding
sti.,naoY of prejudice. But let it not for a moment be
ifienosriedteri :d, that I intend to apply the remarks contained
therto to the principle of state parties ; for however
philosophers may represent the advantages and
tPhaoinc,t the beant of outward seeming unity, and notwith-
standing the specious but hollow and despicable.. cant of
lato by the disruptions of all state combinations and
b-vinpt of all party-honour and obligation. hope to
tviTistitat
uponion the integrity of the Constitution ; partieste
have,, ever been in England the mightiest bulwarks of h
, and the most effectual conservators
.of her
tut
eeerrtyre---e7not, indeed, of that licentiousness to which de-
efe al in
tg. u°yr si'e wont to give the sacred name, and whyh
bears the haggard aspect and revolting
q
God' s (if a monster and a fury, but of that genuine
freeidtoeinxi,stws hich is arrayed in all the graces and
ne
iPPed with all the appliances of a heaven-born Mi-
iirra, and is indeed the brightest treasure we can possess
-13 r in defending die • ' that liberty which may be Ira-
n.fraLelY recognised from the effects she produces on the
c,s;„t on which cherishes her, and which requires not the as-
ance of freezing science, or the illustrations of "political
ennnalY" to discover and display her beauties and advan-
'ages ; which is at once dignified in her demeanour and
ill'acious in her aspect in whose right hand it may be said
Mercy sits to court the suppliant, and in her left justice
stands to restrain the oppressor; which is, in a word,
the aptest model of the moral effects of that religion
which God intended to be her companion and her guide.
Of this liberty I firmly believe the wise system of parties
to be the best preservative that the wisdom of man could
devise or the frailty of man require. But the " party
spirit" I have been endeavouring to explain and dissect,
being most destructive of the end which the other is in-
tended to answer, cannot be identified with it. A consti-
tutional party is established not merely for its own sup-
Port, but for the accomplishment of an end by the most
effectual means, for the good of the commonwealth, the
preservation of order, the protection of religion,—from
Which faction is in the principle widely distinguished, and
the practice should be diligently eschewed. Let us not
'ea mistake that paltry and dangerous spirit which is the
PffsPring of narrow prejudice, and the foster-child of will-
ng ignorance, for the honest, inbred affection,. which is
generally the most salutary preservative from licentious-
ness and infidelity ; nor, on the other hand, must
ial:nityistinake the impartial disinterestedness, which is
Lae first characteristic of an honest man, and the foremost
a sincere inquirer, for the cant of that despica-
blethZeralism which is the most frightful plague-spot and
To g;trAt,nxious disease of this specious and rotten age.
cottut,, !mgether for the support of our religion and our.
S
but surely to form ourselves into a holy comact ,
served tA- two lose sight of that object which at the. first
religion " nuain us together, and put personal motives for
gareenrfl., and faction for country, we break the sacred
.li-
to which and Pollute the sacred bond, we lose the fidelity
Wh' untY oncet •al' dus and the lofty motives with
hick we werecin'sepired. From defenders of a right
or
list ftreasure, we become as candidates in an unhallowed
or dishonourable victory, and degrade the stage of talt,riotisni and religion into an arena for personal contests
arena vindictive opposition. To be engaged on such an
test a as this is, by many, considered to be the surest.
to of orthodoxy, and the only evidence of zeal ; whilst
Cianaent and to discourage the unnatural contests of
'archnten, and to decline inscribing the badge of
less artY on one's banner, is to be denounced as
th:,oonscientious than any, and one who would sacrifice
utbtoearest interests of the Church and the most pipor-
and requirements of truth to the attainment of quietness
lierh:„e.see• But I firmly believe there are some, nay,
°ease:: nianY--nay, perhaps the great est number—whose
dissi 1‘ is, that without wrangling, without envy, without
,„„rndation, they steadily walk the middle path, the
ZIT
fold
-way. which, equally distinguished from heresy
tioa rrinl schism, is characterised staunch affec-
doandreverential adherence to their Evangelical Church,
tioasetrine, in discipline, and in authority. The convic-
'the, of these men are no less deep and serious, though
Unitylna,, be less rife with their protestations, and less
1411 tl'e Performance of their duty ; nay, though they
bony, rtne (who by the noise they make seem toe be the
act6,,nt Who are in reality " ram ayes" eccl )as
111044's and cowards, I strongly believe themtolethe
aien en„aseientious and the highest-principled of Church-
death
'6ut though these men are unwilling to fight to the
*AZ, for trivial oints of controversy, or to adopt as their
it'ovirord the cryp of any party ; though they are unwill-
Ittgt: reflect such a dishonour on their Church as to think
,VeessarY to distinguish themselves by the . name
'hev'a_ingelical" or the name " Catholic" (knowing, as
(=ohs' "0, that their Church possesses all the doctrines
ti47Prised under the first, and all the characteristic fea-
-14 expressed by the latter) ; yet they cannot desert. the
breach, nor
of their Church when enemies are in the
ettlieTl oor shrink from the post of action when they are
fectionto it, not by faction or caprice, but by duty and af-
life to jac, To live " at peace with all men" is doubtless a
Droteetio-hec'veted and admired, and to need no buckler for
MI, ill a BAT 11° sword for battle—to be in a happy as well
li,osition. But it behoves us to see that peace
--",11E With higher motives, and that it is not our
UnliafeeligtnalY which dictate its preservation ; that when we
there L our armour, and lock our sword in its sheath,
that nee no field which demands our presence, and no foe
bo.. needs repulsion. It were but a poor and disgraceful
Ml"t to make, if our country were threatened with inva-
, and enemies already on its shores, that we could walk
abroad without a weapon, and that we kept our distance
from the field of battle. Surely, in such a case, c Would be only the insensibility of selfishness, and tpeahee
..constraint of cowardice. But still it also behoves us to
psht not as partisans, but as Churchmen ; not as if with the
particular opinions of independent sects, but as all united
Chnil One common ground ,• those that cannot do this fall
7 short, or go very far beyond, the principles of true
ilrchrnanship. We should not find it difficult to point to
1,,T e most
.prominent members or ministers of the Church
Who rejoice in almost invidious appellations, and who under
eN,Vractive designations are either almost dissenters in
na-.44.'„ing but outward appearance and communion, or
Alesle Pretended auspices of " High Church" princi-
liatteredt"P°und the destructive doctrines of Popery to their
Chnrel,,,,admirers ; but we want neither such " Low
" High Churchmen"—what we
1:1111313 enlitrtik,BB 7rB2e4e I inuor cr h ms uaenh.
here I must conclude these somewhat desultory
Oliseivntt eaving to future leisure and opportunity further
conoe lona _
A on points directly and indirectly more or less
min n'e,o with and and the Cnurch, when I may
lahieit Your kindness favour.

NIGEI