New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-11-10
about all the points that are quite clear in
4; Il, q. ,,oliiical a.rnnd


MIR. Disraclfs early political creed.
In reviving these theories for moment,
Mr.. Disracli feels no return Of the confidence
with which he first gave them forth. The
"aspcct of the world and this country" he
says, Ito those who have faith in the spiritual
"naturc of man is at this time dark and dis
"tressful" The Olgarchy is more powerful
than ever. The peasantry and the lords arc
still far apart. The Church is going to the
bad, and skepticism and superstition between
them are running the nation. True this is
hardly consistent with the picture of that
aristocratic social paradise drawn in Lo-
"thair :" but old men have their hours of
detection, and Mr. Disraeli perhaps wrote his
Apologize at time when he had not recently
been feasting in ducal castles. The Young
England movement having failed and the
prophecies of tho triogy come to naught, he
offers now an explanation of the failure. Our
readers will be surprised TO learn that
the man who defeated the great Tory rcvi-
val and did more than any other Except
one) to bring about the present ozark and
"distressful" state of things, was John Henry
Newman! The Church was to be the main
machinery of the new movement; but the
Church fell into the hands of monks and
schOomen, "and little more than year after
"the publication of 'COningsby' the secession
"of Dr. Newman dealt blow;to the Church
"of England under which it still reels" That
was a mistake and misfortune. The Church
of England had the inestimable privilege OF
Hebrew descent and the seceders cut them
selves oft from this fountain of inspiration to
xrbts oh,
have purely pagan origin. Why, if the An
gican Church was, as Mr. Disraci says, one
of the few great things left in England" it
had not Hebrew vitality enough to with
stand the secession of few of its MEM
bers, is unfortunately not explained. We
are only assured that its influence is
gone and its situation altogether perilOus
and dshcartening. There is, as we have
already intimated one other disorganizer as
bad as Dr. Newman. This is Professor Hulk
ley. Modern science has undermined the prln-
ciples of religious reverence, by shaking mems
faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures.
every step in scientific discovery seems fur
ether to remove them from the path of primeval
" inspiration" But the veteran statesman
takes heart in the reflection that religion has
survived many SUCH dSSduIJS DelOIc, anu oul
progress in scientific discovery is not so very
rapid after all. We quite agree with him that
the existence of Creator is not geological
problem, and that we are in no danger OF
learning so much that belief in God will cease
TO be possible. But it is not necessary to go
back, as Mr.. Disraeli would have us,
to tho GLORIOUS past" in order to find
true happiness and comfort We arc not sure
that the present age is so very bad the Church so
very weak, or so very rotten, science purely
athestical, or the prospect of the world in gem
eral entirely dark and distrcssful. The decay
of British aristocracy, and even the limitation
of the power of the throne, are not catastro-
Plies which will fill the majority of mankind
with dismay. 1t is certain that the further
we get from the golden time which the au-
thor of "Coningsby dcplorcs, the better upon
the whole is the social condition of the peO-
ple and the purer is the morality of the COM
munity. But your true old conservative, even
though he be brilliant man of society and
connoisseur of the world like the cx-premier
and novelist, never yet understood either his
own age or any other.