The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-08-14
VOL. V.


as 1t pretends, directly from the Supreme BsiDo
human laws interfering with those risbts e
and should be, Of no force and to solemnlv s,...
late, as Is done in this instance, that their .l.r
ton OF Church property shall be binding so,.v.-
IS TO proclaim from the house-top, that the pon,
knows his claims for his Church To be b...,.tN
But in this thinking age, do what State ch,,s,
will for its own protection, it pulu throw itself -
rules governing secular society, which are in
principle directly in the teeth of the verv doo..
that form the foundation OF all its claims
One branch OF the Concordat is WORTHY NJ No
tice, as contrasting wonderfully with the sn;so.
pal surfeit in England, on which we had occss;,,
TO comment last week. The reader NAV rslv -
1t that its tendency will be to throw We. hl.DL1.
on the frequent occurrences Of changes from ths
Episcopal Church to that of Rome, which has 80
late marked the career of quite number Of A.
tinguished English Church ministers We ,a,..
TO the comparatively paltry salaries allowed ~
the Pope to his Spanish bishops and other chic,
cbarchmen in lssbella's dominions. Trus whon
compared with bishops salaries here thsv g.
enormous as paltry as they may appear in the
iand where the Church is as much mere asVlum
Tor the younger sons of the aIistocracv as ha
army and navy. will not enumerate the dstsils
OF TINS part Of the bargain, merely remarkipg
that the forty-ive bishops and nine arch b;shoDa
OF SPAN are to receive, in the aggregate but
too,oOO per annum-s sum only equal 10 that
pocketed by law by Englsnd's four first urelatea
10 say nothing or their other emoluments Eng
iand has but twenty-seven bishops, who, in all,
are legally entitled to receive about El99 200 per
annum Their palace money is extra, and is put
down this year at fi43,O0O. This Spanish Cath.
Ollie provision is also for SPANS Indies or in
other words, for a population exceeding that Of
England and Wales by millions, and having no
dissenters> IL is clear, from this COncordat that
Papacy keeps clerical cats to catch mice, rather
than to sleep on the hearth-rug after the English
fashion. Though its miracles are a sham. such
is not the with its machinery for its priests
are emphatically pastors, and its bishops their
overseers. There is much in its determined in
dependence, it's historical associations its original
services to the cause of civilization its worldwide
organization, and its strong vitality which, to.
gether, inspires respect from all which is by no
means the case with the English State Church
wnlUn rs f,tsfe tnOss s~v ,ros,ts >oa irt>scS
ernment the conventionalism Of the middle class
and the tool Of political party.
The Church of England, by its mismanage-
ment of property in Its hands, has wasted sum
quite as great as ten times the cost the Spaniards
are forced to pay for their whole Episcopal sstab-
lishpent Thus a single English bishop of the
inferior grade receives, in addition to his left
handed emoluments, and the enjoyment of parks
and palaces, a sum equal to three times the pay
Of the Spanish primate, exceeding that Of the
three archbishops of Valencia Seville, and Gran.
ada and equalling the aggregate allowed to any
five Spanish bishops, with the extra salaries Of
two Spanish cardinals thrown in for good meas
urei Bless US, how much more fercely would
English bishops have taken up the cudgel to de
fsnd England against "popish aggression" had
Rome dared to fix any such financial enormity on
her as this Does any one fancy that the modest,
moderate, and good Jewish fishermen of old
dreamed what legacy OF taxation upon the sim
ews Of the world they were leaving TO both sets
Of their successors OF all misused peoples, that
Of England gets the least return for it's greatest
expenditure in this line. They get but Protest
ant church, which almost vies with Rome in con-
secrating the dark dogmas Of the middle ages at
which, in this era, treason stands aghast, and
faith herself is half confounded;" a church,
claiming the right to monopolize the titles con-
ferred by the New Testament on pastors, and
threatening to visit pains and penalties for their
use by others, while at the same time il takes due
care to obstruct every effort to extend mere civil
rights; q Protestant church, which, having
snatched its temples from Catholics, taxes dis
senters to keep them in repair; a church which
will neither freely educate the people nor permit
others to do so and which, while having its legal
existence by an act of uniformity and compelling
its clergy to smear adherence to a string Of dog
mas, contains, VIGOROUSLY, within its privileged
boundaries, each and every description Of heresy,
from socialism to semi-popery.
The enactment Of the Ecclesiastical Titles bill
in the House Of Commons is pregnant with evil
dence that British public opinion still groves in
the mire of illiberality. As originally framed,
the bill took from all but the Government the
right to prosecute for conscience sake but, as
amended, that "msnly sport, as against Cstho-
lies, is made cormon property for all the realm II
it passes the Lords in its present shape it cannot
become dead letter, for bigotry is luxury as
sure to be INDUCED in by certain classes Of the
English, on passing occasions, as Milling" dog
fighting" or eAr-bsitingn by others. IL the
spiritual liberties of England are really in danger
from what the worn-out Pope aud his effete Coun-
Gil may do In this age, which no well-informed
and sensible American can believe, the com
mon danger implies 4 common right. So IL was
proper thus to allow not only the Government
but the people to act, each man on the defensive,
when his rights might be trenched on by any
thing done at Rome. The Governments view Of
the auestion-its demand Of the exclusive right to
prosecute the Catholic bishops-implies Its secret
conviction that there is something radically OBJ
jec,ionable and inherently unconstitutional IN
the measure; otherwise, why not intrust its en-
forcement to every citizen, as that of every other
general law is devolved2 So surely as pubic
wrong implies an universal right OF remedy, 80
surely should the law Of the kingdom be open 'n
this connection to the REQ uistion OF every
The indisposition Of the Government 10 maze
general his right, however, proves that IL origin
ally brought forward the measure IN ooou''"''
to what il believed to be unfcunded popular ina
tionaD prejudice, which it despised, but ooeyeo'
wholly in order to strengthen its clutch on power
1t Ia worthy Of note that in the consideration Of
the measure, the ministry set Its face earnestly
against every proposition 10 amend orig'ns'ns
on the Catholic side Of the House, while Jus Up
position to the amendatory propositions from 'n'
side Of greater bigotry were bat nominal.