New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-10-19

anu the secret WOuVo6 Oh b u0tlOQ lie are
among the most precious of the curiosities
which it can prefer to the inspection of q
curious world. ! claim the right to speak
to you frankly as a brother freeman i
has been my lot to live and work in botk
England and the United States, and l car
teela peculiar degree the true fraternity o.
those great nations. / believe their desti
MES to be inextricably interviewer. Oul
problems of to-day may be yours of to-mor
row. and your solutions may be the precur
sors of ours. The prominent thing which
stands out in the condition of England
to-day is the number and power OF
vested interests. The crown, the arts
tocraey, the clergy, the liquor sell
snl bar, railways, schools, one and
al have their vested interests. You
can not legislate in any direction without
driving against these obstructive interests
Hence reform in England and America
however alike in principle, is in practice a
far different thing. Here society yields
more readily to the exigencies of change.
In Great Britain principles are advanced
against tremendous opposition, their adop.
ton is slow, and their adoption not only
laborious but difficult. In proportion to
the number of vested interests existing in a
country, is it locked up from freedom, and
as the action of the majority of the people is
restrained by the privileges of the minority,
so is its advancement to healthy and
pure political life imperied. 1t is a mill
stone hung round the neck Of society; il is
like Sinbad's old man, which clings round
the shoulders of nation with ever. tight
ening grasp. Such interests may exist
to some extent wherever human societies
are; but the aim of wise statesmen
and Of wise people will be to keep or reduce
<hn,sS 70 r;v,sv H. 81, ~
very shortest tether. The most formidable
of these vested interests in England just
now ia the Established Church, endowed
with $450,000.0O0 Of property, its bishops
sitting in the House Of Peers, its clergy of
every grade scattered over the country,
prescribing in rural districts the feligion Of
the people, managing the endowed schools,
its graveyards, those OF the parishes, and
therefore closed to all services save its own,
it's schools the principal media Of education
in England. 1t is not only wealthy and
politically powerful, but not to belong to it
is a disability. This mighty institution is
being supported now by another formida-
BILE vested interest-the licensed victualers.
In this crisis Of their fate, the clergy
and the publican no longer stand apart, but
have joined handle, and four elections out
of five are won by this unh0ly alliance. The
Estab lished Church has no conscience
Three centuries ago it was the ally of a
tyrannical monarchy, and throughout its
whole history it has ever been on the side
OF privilege against equality, OF patronage
against liberty, and Of power against right.
Internally it is conglomerats Of irrecon-
cilables. within are fgh,ings and with
out are fears" In Westminster Abbey you
may hear the Dean declare that Father,
Son and Holy Ghost are simple names for
one and the same person in different devel-
Dpments Of humanity; the canen preaching
from the same pulpit the dogmas of the
Athanasisn creed, while the Bishop des-
,ants on the power of the church and the
efficacy Of the sacrament. Christ's in
junction about the tare and the wheat is
strictly followed, and here you may find the
'heep and the goats lying down together.
such a body, you say, must be on the eve of
but no, one thing keeps them
ogether. 1t is the vested interest; in other
words irreverently designated, "loaves
ind fishes In many places the vicar
IT the parish is magistrate as well.
Hence, those who hear in the church on
sunday that all men are equal in the sight
# God, has to hear on the week day from
he same lips on the bench of magistrates
hat the laws Of England have Introduced
important amendments to the Sermon on
he Mount in favor Of land and money.
lp sectarian bitterness or detract from your
dmiration of Episcopacy ! should ecorn
o to do, but speak of them that you may
ave some idea of the policy and the system
Which from end to end of Eng land is foster
1g envy, hatred malice, uncharita bleness |
nd strife. Even here, believe, among your |
elves ale some people who seem to think |
necessary that the State, in its laws OF con.
titution, should indicate the existence Of /
rod. have often thought that the God !
those name is not mentioned in the Amer. |
rod who, in England, shares with her majes. |
? the headship of the church. believe reli- |
ion here is more earnest and more self.sac-
ficing than in any other Anglo Saxon
Dmm unity, and ] attribute it to the alb
,nce of what is called the patronage Of the
tate. Great, also, in England, is the
over of privilege. You would have thought
lat the last reform bill would have less
ned the power of privilege in the House of
OmmOns. But the present House. elected
We years ago, is almost as much represen-
tive of. land and capital and aristocracy
was the last. Privilege holds every
,int. As an instance, NAV mention the
ct that recently a bill to enable the Biz
ingham Town Council to erect a sewage !
rm near the estates of Sir Charles Adler
and Sir Robert Peel was rejected on the
ird reading by the friends of these two
lrOnets, although it was of the highest i'm
'rtance to the health of Birmin CHAM, and
I'd been promoted at an immense cost. The
ton OF Parliament in passing the crimi-
j law amendment act. which provided
nalties tor ofenses supposed to be pecu-
II to trades unions. was another piece of
ass legislation. So, also, is the discour-
ement of the endeavors made since the
ssing Of the reform act to get working
lss representatives into Parliament
ON this and other causes has arisen the |
publican movement. That movement is |
pOrtant, but not at present dangerous.
may become SO at any critical juncture
:. Bradlaugh, its principal leader, is an
lie man, and has a very large following. !
sympathy with him. though silent, are
my men Of position. In one or two towns
3 republicans control the elections.
ere are nearly 200 republican clubs in I
. country, and these. are imbued with the ! {
nciples Of the Internationale and atheism
Mr.. Bradlaugh, besides being mixed up
tn the ingenious schemes of single-eyet
itat0rs. The next most noteworthy {
ng in England after its vested interests I
d privileges, is its amazing system of {
al government, which is q very /
del of Bambledom. There are YES I
rs, and boards of guardians, and mayors g
corporations, and local boards, and
ards OF health. The parish beadle i. the {
rit of the government. The lecturer here I
erely satirized the beadle as a man a
ose dignity was the mere dignity of liv- t
:, and whose gown was his chief 'qualif- I
ion.. He would take any oath you like !
get Office, and break any to keep one /
might rise to become Cabinet minister. !;
even Prime Minister, or President, but c
rays and evervwhere would ha carry | u
h him the spirit Of the beadle. These f
al dignitsrles are too powerful for the v
to attack. Mr.. Gladstone re- | b
lily made an incautious threat against q
city of London. The whole bevy of d
went into Mysteries. There is r
y one way in which the EnglishInan pre- r
es for battle-he saws his PRAYERS and al | n