The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-06-08

post houses. and rebuild or repair the
offices and dwellings rs thew were needed,
Many are now resuming their occupations,
and the reads are everywhere passable.
Observation-Disclosures of the English
Cnurcn.
from John Bull
The great event Of the week has been
the debate III the House OF Commons on
the discStahli> hment Of the Church of Eng
lana: We cannot join in the general
OPINION that the Church has achieved a
great victory. That ninety-sx members,
'nc'uain% pairs, should have voted for
diSeStahllShmcnt is surely very Sly
niiicant circum,tancc and rs the Lib
erai Bishop of Manchester watched
the debate, he had grounds for believing
that he might live TO see the day when Mr.
Malls seeming defeat shall be Turned into
a great victory. The very facts generally
admitted that the debate was worthy the
occasion. that the House was full. and that
both political leaders spoke, show the posi-
ton AZ which the question has arrived. The
result has certainly iuSt1fi Il Air. Malls de-
ciSion to provoke alike debate and a diyi-
sion. While, then, we would warn church.
men not to believe that they have achieved a
great victory when only one hundred and
one unofficial liberals were found to vote
for church establishment, Go we DESPAIR
OF the future: By no means. MIR. Mail
deserves the sincere thanks Of every sup
porter Of the Church and State for arous-
ing churchmeu from their lethargv.
We believe that in the attempt to convert
| the people Of England, With their eyes
open. to his policy, MIR. Mail reckons with
out his host. The Disorders will awake to
| the fact that the Church, ii flScStabliShed,
| in, .1.S i,,,l
prcteusionS, while the social condition of
| the Non-comformiSts would not he one
whit improved. Or, even admitting that
Sectarian luminosity should triumph, the
people 1T large. hitherto Indifferent TO the
Church. are beginning 10 learn that dis
| establish and diSendow" are very ugly
words, having very unpleasant conse-
Quences to others than churches. The story
| OF the prisoner who pleaded the other day
| in the country that he had only followed
the example OF the Government in discs
tabliShing the gcntleman's legs and dSen-
dowing his pockets, may read men les
son.
What the Conservative and Church party
should now do is to raise in every consttu-
ency the flag OF Church and State, and
leave no stone unturned till the large
town>-where the effect of dsestablishment
would be comparatively little felt-return
good men and true. The Church is not
merely strong by prestige and for social
reasons, but she is daily winning back the
| alienated affections of the people. We
have no fear of the Church from external
foes. Her danger Is from trcachery, dis
union, folly, and judicial blindness within.
1t is 10 be hoped that the Church Institu-
ton will arouse from its lethargv. aud that
churchncn will emulate, if not the zeal of
he Liberation Society. 1T least the united
liberal, and prompt action of the licensed
yictuallerS. They do not know their own
strength: and it is most desirable that
there should he one central organization,
rather than multitude Of small societies
such as that set on foot this week ut Biz
nlin2hain.
[From the Saturday Review
That the Established Church does much
good was not denied by any speaker in
Tuesdays debate. Even the alleged ten
dency Of establishments to deudcn religious
enthusiasm is, from secular point OF view,
| 10y no means an unmiXed evil. 1t tends to
maintain the influence of religion over Il
large class OF persons who, if the control of
every denomination were exclusively in
| the hands OF ardent partiSanS, would in>en-
| sIhlv drift into an attitude OF complete alb
strmtiun. Something Of this kind seems to
! be visible in the United States, where the
religious organization Of the country may
! be described aS q series OF adjacent cir
cleS. each providing for the wants of its
| own members, but none so much as touch
in- those who lie outside its circumter-
cnce. If the composition Of a public meet
me. called to promote some general church
| object. such as the building of churches or
the foundation Of schools, he compared
with meeting OF the English Church
Union, or the Church Association, the
| germs Of the same distinction may be seen
1t home. On none OF these occasions is
there any ditiieulty in getting a good at
tendance, but in the two latter cases
the feeling Of those present will be
zeal for the promotion Of interests of the
| particular section of the Church to which
they belong, while in the former case it will
| be the tar colder sentiment Of men who ac-
cCpt the object for which they are called to-
! ~ether rather lis one among the duties of
| their station than us the main object of
| their lives. 1t Is not too much TO say that
! the cooperation of men Of this class in va
ricty Of religious enterprises is in part due
to the moderate and, so to say, secular
character which naturally belongs to 4
State Church.
The result Of di:establishment would
probably be to throw these undertakings,
which now supply Il sort OF neutral ground
on which the auherentS OF all the great par
ties Of the Church Of England can work
with those who belong TO none of them,
into the same hands that now guide the
| purity organization TO which we have re-
| TERED. But the bulk Of those VINO sup.
port them would not, theieupon, become
pronounced High or Low Churchmcn.
| They v ould simply cease to take any part
| in such matters. 1t may be argued, no
| doubt, that religion would gain in intensity
| aS much as it would lose in extension, but
we question whether this would prove true
- .CL.tA u, q rAnnti.II,