New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-01-08
BRITISH TOPICS.
NOTES FROM LONDON.

AGAINST HIM.
rynoM rrn REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNEl
IoxDoN. Dec. l9-Mr. Moran QUITS London in
ahout fortnight. His appointment to be Minister
NJ Lisbon is an honor which no has abundanty do
s.rved: but his departure from the American Lega-
tiop is not an event in which Americans living IN
LONDON con be expected to rejoice We are heartily
clad thai Mr. Moran's services and abilities should
at last be recognized in a not unsuitable way py ms
own Government. But a regret not wholly seiIsn
minglcs with our satisfaction. Mr. Moran Is great
iOss personally aud to the country. Ills suceesSol'
Col. Hoffman, is an eStimablo and capaDle maui
with eight years experience at ParS. l ne'oi
heard anything but good of him. Bat MI SiVi"n
has had l8 years experience of London, ana now
Is thai to be replaeedi BE has boon tho uus'ou
adviser Of successive Minister'S VINO iounu nm
1orsod in offairs. sound in Judgment acquainted
with ENGLISH feeling and expert In Oil the multi
fa,ions business of the Legation, which Is neces-
,arily novelty to each successive Envoy. lie has
often had charge of the mission, and always shown
himself competent TO conduct it. lie has won the
respeot and regard of Englishmen as we'll as OF ms
own countrymeu. 1t is difficult to imagine the Le-
CATION without him, and 1t must be long before his
successor, with all bis tact and good sense can re-
place him. England is not to be known in day or
n year. Probably it is the country in which an
American is most likely to make mistakes. lie sees
MANY things on tho surface which remind him OF
his own country. and apt to fancy the points OF
identity and of sympathy more numerous than they
are simply because the language Is similar. IN
other countries the mere diversity OF speech puts
him on his guard. Here he can stumble against
many surprising prejudces, and. without suspecthg
it. exasperate people who would willingly DO on
good terms with him. 1t is not easy for an
American to understand the English; not
easier than for an Englishman to understand
tVDOfl
agreed was difficult Mr.. Moran is to
this day one Of the most American Of Americans
but no has studied the people he lives among, and
knows how to deal with them To Mr. Adams and to
Mr. Motley he was a valuable coadjutOr. Under Mr.
Reyerdy johnson and the present Minister he has
made the legation respectable. He was never sus-
peo.cd of synpathlzng with Rebellion. lie never
made tipsy speeches after dinner He has had moth
ing 10 do with stockjobbng. No fraudulent enter
prise has been put on the market by help OF his
name. His official position has clOaked no CONNER
Cia scandal. His place in society has not been used
to canvass for dishonest scheme, nor to augment
too meager salary by introducing new form OF
gambling. This ought not TO be high praise, but
circumstances have made it SO. We should have
liked to keep Mr.. Moran till it was so no longer As
we cannot we bid him farewell most reluctantly,
and with all sorts of good wishes.
Bishop ColensO is not to preach in Westminster
Abbey. Dean Stanley has asked him, and he has
declined. The Bishops decision may be a mistake
from certain point of view, but tho grounds Of it
are such as do him great honor. To appreciate them
fully we must remember that Bishop COlenso came
to England last Autumn to get justice done to GER
tain natives in his diocese, especially to the chief
LaDgalibalele, whom the colonial authorities had
cruelty wronged This he undertook. in face of the
public opinion of Natal and at the sacrifice Of
friendships and of his dearest prospects. He was
successful He convinced the Government that
croVOus injustice had been committed. and they
have attempted to repair it. The self-imposed mis-
sion of the Bishop is at an end, and he sails on
Christmas Day for Africa to resume his missionary
work. well knowing the hatred and OblOquy he
must meet from his own countrymen in Natal, who
identified themselves with the oppression he has
overthrow. In such circumstances, every token
Bishop Colenso could carry back with him of respect
and good will shown him at home would be dOubly
valuable But it is in such circumstances that
three Bishops of the Church of England have
thought fit to offer him the greatest aifrOnt that can
DO put upon clergyman. The Bishops of Oxford,
of LincOB, and of London inhibited him from
preaching in their dioceses. 1t was subsequently
TO these inhibitOns that Dean Stanley in
yited him to preach in Westminster Abbey,
church exempt from Episcopal jurisdiction, and
holding place in general consideration not inferior
10 the greatest OF the cathedralS Inc 1act Oh MS
preaching there would have gone far to outweigh the
inhibition upon bis preaching elsewhere. More than
that Bishop CoensO desired, as he tells u.s. an OPP
portunity of appealing to the English people to
sanction his view that their rulo over many
weaker communities means something more than
the amount Of property they can squeeze out Of sub
Iect peoples-"that if England extends her sway
over tho earth TO enforce justice to practice mercy
TO show and pity for the weak and helpless, to
redress the wrongs of tho down-trOdden and op-
pressed and to raise its dependents in tho scale of
humanity there u.s. then, reason for the existence
of her vast colonial empire; that it is only such acts
rs these which will show that religion is
ality and not mere name, AID that the passionate
love Of right and justice which God has planted in
the bosom OF His children is sign that Father
ihinL- and feels as we do" But he puts even this
wish aside. There are others who will teach these
things when he is gone. He did not come home, he
tells us to assert bis personal position in tho
Church OF England, il that were doubtful which
has been Recognize d by His Grace the Prmate Of all
InC!aud and, above all, by the Crown" And he
docs not wish to occupy the few remaining days Of
his stay in EAPlaud with such a contention might
seem 10 bc implied by Lis preaching at Westminster
after the recent action Of tho Bishop of London,
though of course aware that the Bishop has no
jurisdiction theIe.
One wonders If the Bishops who have been
launching Il unmagem thunderbolts at their
brother of Natal will feel the position in
which this answer leaves them. Possibly,
says Dean Stanley in bis reply to DR.. Co.
ienso, "the moderation and love of peace
which have acuated you in this resolve tend to
soften those bitter feelings and unreasonable preu-
diCes which it was no less my own hope in making