The Portland daily press., 1874-01-03
The Enuland Of Tad Y.

sh satirst and reformer, opened the Y. M. {.
A. course with his lecture entitled The Eng
and of To day." The house was naturally
Thin, for people don't care to be instructed New
Years night; they merely wish to De amused.
Mr.. Jenkins a tall, slight man. with sanguine
complexion, and head prematurely bald, with
deep-set blue eyes and full auburn beard, made
his appearance with slight bow, and began
with very rapid but distinct utterance, the de.
livery of his lecture, Save his eyes and the sup
pressed intensity of his tone, there is nothing
remarkable about the man. In his manner of
speech he is very like an American, having
'carcely the trace of all English delivery. Only
once, when he forsook his notes for
noment did he indulge in that STAN
nerIng, hestaling toue which, for the
last generation, has been characteristic
IF English orators The picture he drew of
England was dark, but he showed infinite
faith in her potentialities for good. His sa
tire, never playful, was marked by all the Bit
terness of Swift, and his voice, tinged with the
solemnity of the pulpit, seemed at times a
vail of despair. While strongly condemnpg
The abuses of English government, he pro-
fessed profound belief in that system of gov
,rnment itself, and had little faith in English
Republicanism, which, he said. combined the
.riuciples of the internationaists with the
atheism of Bradlaugh. He began his lecture
by observing that of the crowd of Americans
who landed at Liverpool, and overrau the little
island, which they threatened one day to an
mex, but few of them could say that they had
seen, in the sense in which he used thu term,
the England of to-day. They might have seen
England in its picturesque aspects; might have
visited cities where everything suggested new
problems of society; they night have observed
manufactures ringing with the clank of iron,
warehouses storing up the riches OF hundred
elimes, and might have noticed a country show
ing in her old age an energy and vitality rival
ing that of the New World, yet have no expert
ence of the England of to-day. They might
nave seen English ecclesiasticism, politics, and
society in their various aspects, yet return with
only dim idea of that wonderful cosmos, with
its prospects, contingencies, and perils. He
had not come before his auditors, he said, to
amuse them, nor to bring under their Observa-
zion such aspects of English life as everybody
,ould observe on the surface, but rather to give
Americans some ideas of the hidden life of the
English nation. He would have them know
something of the composition of its warp and
woof. for it was highly important in this interna-
iional age that England should be understood of
America. and that America should be known
TO England. Let both countries crIticise each
lther's institutions honestly and fairly, but at
the same time profoundly, and there need be
10 Jealousy on either side. He did not, how
ever, come before an American audience to re-
all memories which were trite-tO speak to
hem about their common race, their common
language, their common literature, their COM
mon Shakespeare. their common Holloway's
pills. Ii was much better to crIticise each other
freely, but at the same time in the spirit of De
rOcqueyille, whose criticism had had the effect
Of bringing American institutions to their pres
ant condition of excellence. One of the diff
:ulties, he said, which lecturer experen-
ces in dealing with such a subject was the
lifficulty of knowing where to begin; but for
his part he wonld select for his topic feature
which an observant person would notice stand
ing out prominently in the England of to-day.
That topic was vested interests. 1t was the Que
thing which permeated every grade and class
Of society in England. The crown, he said,
had its vested interests. and the aristocaacy had
theirs; so had the church. and the army, and
The nary, and the bar, and railways, and poor
aw boards and municipal cOrpOrations-all had
such innumerable vested interests that it was
impossible to drive the char OF of legislation
through without knocking against some of
them. Reform in England could scarcely reach
them, for great was the potency of those vested
interests. A vested interest was characterized
by impudence in the position which it asserted,
md was always exOrbitant in its claims. 1t
was milestone round the neck Of a country;
it was opposed to liberty, and by its presence
he health ana purity of the political life OF a
nation were imperiled. Such interests, he ad-
mtted, must exist to a certain extent, but the
law which encouraged their creation was i'm
polite, and the law which exaggerated their
over was criminal. The Established Church
Of England had vested interests to the extent
Of $45O, 900 900 in the shape of endowmerts, and
was one of the greatest politicel powers in the
country. rlvalling its strange ally, the Licensed
VIctuallers' Association. MANY time elections
were carried by the ungOdy combination. 1twas
the champion OF privilege against freedom, and
Of tyranny against liberty. Under its regim
religious equality was impossible, and religious
bigotry was the result Its livings were bought
and sOd and it existed on vested interests ir-
reverently designated loaves aud fishes 1t
was an important amendment to the Sermon on
the Mount in favor of land and property, and
was political institution in the meshes of the
State which was fostering unchristian maligni-
ty, bigotry, and strife. He then proceeded to
consider the extent to which privilege exists in
England, and on this branch of his subj ,ct
paid high tribute to the incorruptibility of
English craftsmanship. English statesmen, he
>aie, would do maDy things for party purposes;
but it had never been sugg sted in his time that
a member of the House of Commons could be
DOuSOU Dy WOuty. lut uiSu CudfdCtcI vi Dtit-
,sh statesmen placed them beyond suspicion or
reproach ia this respect. Privilege, like vested
interests, existed in nearly every grade of Eng
lish society-among the legsla ors of the coun-
try, in the Church body, in the army. and in
the navy. 1t resisted reformers, got benefits,
and discouraged the unprivileged classes In
connection with this part of his subject, the
lecturer referred to the unequal constituencies of
England, which he characterized as the harbar
GUS relics of Pitt craftsmanship, and condemn
et class legislation directed against the working
man, Local government in England was the
next subject considered by the lecturer, and he
defined it to be the very motley of Bumbledom.
The spirit of the parish beadle was, the spirit
of local government, and ignorance and knav-
cry had particular tendency to crystalize in its
institutions. He then referred to the amazing
wealth and vitality of England, and described
its underlying poverty, making brief allusion
to English pauperism 1t might be asked he
observed, whether any reform could reach the
evils which he had pointed out. He answered
yes. England bore her burdens stoutly, and
with every promise of redress. He believed
that reform would come. not reform bought by
a deluge of blood, but that true and gradual re-
form which would win its way from pebble to
pebble. and, like an advancing tide gain access
to those institutions such as vested interests,
circle round, AID Overwhelm them.
The lecture was the best that has been deliv-