St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-16
LETTERS FROM The PEOPLE
The Church of England.
Tothe Editor the GLOBE.

Tothe Editor f the GLOBE.
In your issue of the 18th inst. you hav g
made certain statements concerning the
Church England which ought to be cor
rected.
You state that the Church of E ngland
is more aristocratic than aristocracy
Itself, and that the clergy, from the
humblest curate to the archbishop of
Canterbury, are but the creatures of the
nobility, etc. While admitting that the
Church of England is naturally con-
servatlve, as most public bodies are
which have vested rights and privileges,
nevertheless, when you come to consider
tae nature of the church, the elements
of which it is composed, you will find 1t
to be the most democratic institution in
Great Britain, at least. For instance,
there is in that church no difference
made between the poor ana the rich.
The queen and her servants, the prince
and the panper worship in the same
place, and perhaps sit i'll the same seat.
Travellers in England are particular y
struck with this democracy within the
Church of England. Westminster abbey
and st. PaulS cathedral are as free to
the poor as to the aristocracy. 1t is not
so in this country. Dives with his ex-
penSive tabernacle, his saiaried preach
CT, his high-priced opera singers, cannot
afford to share his religious luXuries
with his less favored brethren. 1t is
true he allows poor Lazarus a few
crumbs in the way of 4 mission chapel,
but there the singing is poor and the
seats are hard. In England the church
is the property of the people, not of any
privileged class.
Again, it must be remembered that
the bishops, while nOminally appointed
by the queen, are, III fact, chosen by
Mr.. Gladstone and the leaders of the
Liberal party. Can you or any one i'm
aglne the choice of the q. O. NJ. being
the creature of the nobility, or the OBJ
sequious follower of a party opposed to
progress and individual liberty? Every
bishop who has now seat in the house
OF lords has been placed there by the
choice of the house OF commons. The
Archbishop of Canterbury and, L be-
lieye, the Archbishop of York, received
their positions from the hands of Mr..
Gladstone and his Liberal government.
OF the other clerical appOintmentS,So some
are from the government, Others from
public societies, but most are from pri-
NdlC pdiiOIiSs W IiO lOlu bllC DIiNllSSC VI
appointing the Tectors. These patrons
are usually laymen. and most of them
are not OF the aristocracy. There is
not a body Of men more free
fIom personal influence than the clergy
of the Church of England. You will
find among them all shades of politics,
from the strongest Conservative, who
believes in the divine right of kings,
to the most rabid Radical, who will pre-
side at meeting addressed by Arch or
Burns. | am not at all surprised, there
fore, that Mr.. Mann. the labor agitator,
has chosen the Church of England as a
field to exercise mis- peculiar talent, for
the Workingman has found in that
church his best friend. Its democratic
tendencies, its freedom from prejudces,
its liberal policy in matters of religion,
socially and morally, are elements which
Mr.. Mann will be able TO use in carry
ing on his great mission of relieving the
afflicted workingman..
do not particularly care to defend
the palpable defects and the glaring
faults of the Anglican establishment.
We know too well by our own expert
ence in this country the serious defects
of great institutions. Public bodies are
subject to the blighting influence of
public evils, and the best constitution
of the greatest nation may at times re-
Quire remOdeling. HENRY KITTsoN.