Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1886-06-13
ALWAYS FOR WAR.
Annie Besant Quotes Authorities on
the Position Of the Church of
England.

1t is largely to the Establishment
that we owe the breach with Amerl-
ca which rent from the British Com
monwealth the great transatlantic
colonies. When these were resisting
the monstrous claim put forward by
the English government to tax them
at will, the Dssenters in England
threw themselves, us usual on the
side of liberty. The Establishment.
also as usual, threw itself on the side
of despotlsm, and took part with the
crown against the American people.
They stirred up the English every
where against their brothers, and
famed the fame of war:
The clergy are astonishingly warm IN
this American business; and what the
Tories are when embodied and united
with their natural head the crown, and
animated by their clergy no man knows
better than Yourself Letter Of Burke to
j.
Skeats bears the following testi-
mony:
Throughout the pulpits of parish
churches the Americans were reviled in
the most opprobrious language. The re-
bellion was compared to the sin of witch
craft; Franklin was likened to Ahtophel
and Washington to Jeroboam, Porteous
preached tast-day sermon upon the
subject before the king, and defended the
doctrines of arbitrary power with such
zeal that he was rewarded with a bishop
ric for his service. The clergy carried
buked in the House of Lords by the Duke
of Grafton, who referred, in the strongest
language, to the despotic spirit which
they, and especially Archbishop Mark
ham, had preached up" The election
for which Priestly wrote his address
resulted in large majorities for Lord
North-ma jorities which We're furnished
by the country gentlemen and the clergy.
Every measure for carrying on the war
and for adding renewed oppression to the
colonies was supported throughout by
the bench of bishops. twenty four
bishops wrote Franklin, with all the
lords in possession or expectation Of
places, make dead majority that rem
ders all debating impossible" %. 4i5).
This Indictment to war by the
church does not stand alone in its
history. No one is better entitled
than Mr.. Richard, Nj. F., to speak
on this point. He says:
Since the peace of 1916 this country
has been engaged in no fewer than sev~
enty six wars, great and small. Have
the bishops and clergy ever used their in
fiuence to arrest or rebuke all this blood
shed? Let us take one illustration. In
1857 we had war with China, known as
the Lorcha Arrow war-a war which in
volved us in further Chinese war in
1860. There never was such consensus
of opinion among the foremost statesmen
of this country in condemnation of any
act of foreign policy as there was in re-
gard to that war. Lord Elgin,
who went out afterward as plenipoten-
tiary to China, said: The question of
the Arrow is d scandal to rs, and is SO
considered by all except the few who
were personally compromised" In the
House of Lords Lord Derby made
special and most eloquent appeal to the
bishops, as emphatically the servants of
him who came to bring peace on earth
and good will to men" to use their
great and legitimate influence to stay the
uplifted hand of violence and oppression.
and rebuke the shedding Of innocent
blood" But in the division eighteen
bishops voted for the war and five against
it. And, unhappily almost always the
voice of the church has been for war
Observation-Disclosures, PIP. II, ~.
Down to the war in the Soudan
the same reproach is true. and du-
ring that wanton and wicked war the
Establishment taught its children to
pray for the destruction of the
gallant tribes who were only
struggling to be free"