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    836 THE LEADER. [Saturday,

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    jy&&<sws& ss^ csms* ' .. The foe is leag...

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    instance . In a parish not far from my own was a young girl , who had become imbued with what is called Puseyism . The leaders of that school were wise in their generation . Among them werfe consummate masters of human nature . Full of learning , ripe in scholarship , of fervent piety , they could not but command the admiration of men . With men they argued . So far as it went , their logic was stern and forcible , sometimes piercing to the very core of things , always clear and conclusive within its own limits . But bow marvellously did they attract the devotion of girlhood ! How beautiful was that picture of the early Churchy with its perfect system ,

    adapted to every want , a shelter for every sorrow , a home for every joy . Only think of some young creature , believing , with the force of instinct , all the doctrines of Christianity ; to whom religion was a passion—all absorbing , all embracing . She whom I am speaking of was in that position . She had never been at school , but had passed her sixteen summers under the eye of her mother . To use the common phrase , no pains had been spared with her education . Abo-ve all , she had been carefully instructed in religion . But this was not enough . A woman does not care to knew . It was nothing to her—that Church of which men talked—unless she could love it . She could

    not love an abstraction ; and assuredly she could only shrink from that repulsive image presented by the establishment . How different was the Church of earlier times , in-which woman had won sainthood ! She would fain see it revived ; fain become a part of that old Church whose mission was one of love . She thought that , in carrying out the precepts of her religion , she would find the realisation of her hopes , the satisfaction of her absorbing passion . Now , why is there no place for such in the Church of England , Do not tell me that you have Sunday-school teachers and district -visitors . If ou are not attractive . You rouse no enthusiasm ; , you are cold , hard , and sternly practical . You ; cannot expect in your votaries that intense devotion which can alone ensure success , xou drive all earnestness ¦ jtp lloine or Exeter . Is thiswise ? '¦•¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦;¦ ¦ •¦ ' : ¦ . ; . ' : ¦ ¦ , ¦ ¦' . ¦ :-.. : : ' ' : ' ' / ''' ¦ . '¦ - - ¦ / ' ¦ : ¦' September 7 -18—•

    . . . . , - What a picture of inconsistency , uncertainty , and disjpintedness , was presentedthe other day ! A man , whose thought has produced a rjaagical effect bn his generation ., -was accused of unorthodoxy . He had denied the doctrine or eternal punishment , and a number of clergymen and laymen met together and decided that he had denied a doctrine of the Church . He was dismissed frpm ah pffiee which he held in connexion with a well-knoTim educatibnar institution . But , inspiteof this : sentence , he : " is still a teacher in the G / hurch , and , to this day , no recognised authority has determined whether he was right or wrong . This is the more curious , since , whenever a clergyman , wishes to be efiectiye , he appeals to the fear of eternal torture as his strongest motive . * * * * ;

    To come to a practical test . Ilnless you admit that but few persons are to be saved- —and to do this is to beg the whole question— - what effect is the Church of England or , indeed , any other Church producing ? What is the life of nine-tenths of men in the very heart of civilisation ? In point of fact , how many believe ? What explanation can you supply for social difficulties ; Vwha ^ r ^ for social evils ? Can you check or destroy the seven deadly sins ? , Of the million hearts that beat in London , how many belong to you ? ^ Can you cure what has been well described as the great sin of great cities ? " Can you reclaim an outcast ? Christian woinen , does your charity go so far as to shelter—nay , as not to spurn- —one who has violated social laws ? Iknow the difficulties of the case , but I dare to speak a word on behalf of millions who perisli , whilereligion turns aside in disgust—at allevents , unable to provide a remedy . He , whom you all revere , spoke some hard words on this subject . * ' * * * I am very willing- to admit that Christianity has produced the most astounding social results , and all I ask is , that you Sllrtlllfl lftt it hflVA fail * nlntr nr > w : Tin rn-if . iirivo oirnTwl-mrlir toixratr ••• rT . ^ -.. Ill «_*¦ ¦ ¦—¦ ¦ fi ¦ t # t * r jt AAVf XkM

    — ^ t — ~^ ~^ " — — -w - — . — - — < -n , «» vn "" -T »* - ^*» v »* « ¦ -v * v » ^« " ^ v vt j * % » i m » »< ¦ TV . Xk \ J \ receive truths which I know that hundreds of your clergy , in their hearts , reject . State your position proudly smd independently , and you will be motfe successful as well as more respected . As it is , it seems a madness to talk of a religious country , in your sense of the word . I believe , with all my soul , that \ re are a religious people . We have splendid faculties , noble purposes , and we work them out with all-conquering energy . We are deficient in imagination , we have no national love of art , and we have not tried to cultivate it , but , with all this , there is no lack of religious feeling . We showed it long ago , when we built St . Paul ' s and Westminster Abbey . We show _ it now in the churches which rise on every side , in our charitable institutions , our Crystal Palaces , our enduring deeds , our self-development . Be wise , you are angry enough with men who strive to reproduce the Church of early days . Why , you are doing the same thing yourselves . You have been sleeping in . your churches . Wjtb railway speed , the world has stolen a march . It has entered upon a new phase of belief and existence . Flow on with the tide , or stand like Virgil ' s rustic on the bank , and perish in your obstinacy !

    . , , ,, SopUmber 10 , 18— . Among the reraavkable phenomena , in the Established Church , the popular preacher holds a prominent rank . He is to bo found , for the most part , among the clergymen of the Evangelical School , one reason for which may be that the High Churchman puts maore faith in the Services of the Church than in all -the preaching in the world ; whereas the popular preacher depends for his success upon the might of his eloquence . I am astounded , beyond measure , at the effect such men produce . Their congregations—the weaker part , especially—are at their feet . The splendid robes which form las Sunday costume , the cushion that soothes his aching brain , the footstool which he rests his wearied

    on foot , the elaborate slippers and embroidered kerchief , are the offerings of pious gratitude . With what a lordly attitude he surveys the assembled crowd . lie it is who scans all hearts , and portions out to each his doom . You might hoar a pin drop to the ground . Painful is the neTaixpiop of silence , « s the preacher looks at this one and at that one , before ho gratifies their quivering curiosity I What a position for a human being to command , and to what vile purposes is it degraded I What mean those rounded and portentous sentences ? It is very grand , no doubt , to listen to a torrent of-words ; but how much bettor would it bo if the worda had sense oa well as noiso . Your popular preacher will hear no avgumont . His rehgion has nothing to do with logic . The pretensions of the man are mar-¦ veUbuB . He denounces and vituperates priestcraft , and , behold , ho is the

    most intolerant of priests himself . He is the incarnate Church . He is the inspired authority—the appointed interpreter of the Sacred Book . You sit in the presence of a master ; let no se llable be lost ; treasure up the morsels which are to feed your soul . But it is no wonder that such men are vain and tyrannical . They must be sickened—none more—with the flattery they receive . When every member of the congregation is ready to offer incen se , can human nature refuse to accept it ; can the humility of a priest withstand such flattery ? I have written of the shams who would be a disgrace to any religion . I do not conceal my belief that there are many earnest teachers in the Establishment , preaching with success what they believe with all their souls—men who have no reputation in the ecclesiastical world , but who , in spite of their position , and , as it were , unconsciously , are working out great results . H " or do I denounce all popular preachers . I only loathe the men who batten on , while they pervert , the religious instinct of the

    country-They are selfish despots , and only lack the power to persecute . Another striking anomaly , of which the world is almost sick , is presented by the Bishops . It only excites surprise that the absurdity of the institution has not long ago destroyed it . Of course , the Church must have rulers , but why are they so encumbered with temporal affairs that they have no time for the discharge of spiritual functions . Altogether , until you thinlc of her lands and money , you marvel that the Church exists . The doctrine has ceased to have any hold upon the national mind ; men are gone after other gods ; and the Church , at once the wealthiest and poorest of human institutioiis , can only repeat old words which have no meaning for the many . October 4 , 18—v Now , -what , after all , is the upshot of the matter ? Eor the sake of its system must I upheld the Roman Catholic Church ? Must X accept its superstition ,: its tyranny , its bigoted ' -and unconquerable intoleranice ? Must I bind my soul in chains , in order that I too niay lord it over the human naind ,

    slaying this one and that one -with the breath df my priestly indignation £ I slaying this one and that one with the bre ath of my priestly indignation ? I trow not-V Truth owns no limits—she is not wrapt up in the brains of Popes and Cardinals . ' . '¦ : ' v"i '¦ ¦' : . ' . ; - v . , ;¦ ' :. ¦ ¦¦ ¦¦¦' . ¦ - ¦ : ¦ : ¦¦ ¦'¦' , ¦ ' . "'¦ ¦"' . . " . :. '¦ ' You kaow what I think of the position occupied by the Church of England ^ halting ever between two opinions , serving Grod and Mamnapn , founded in liist , nursed by tyranny , supported , by opinion . There is no other alternative . Face to face ^ ith the great fact of huiaanity I will strive to solve the problem of existence . II .

    836 The Leader. [Saturday,

    836 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

    Jy&&<Sws& Ss^ Csms* ' .. The Foe Is Leag...

    jy &&< sws & ss ^ csms * ' .. The foe is leagues from our homes— -who ' s afraid ? and Procrastination— - who takes off his cares with his clothes—pulls his night-cap over his ears and falls into a sleep as dull and heavy as that of the dead But a terrible cry breaks the stillness of the nightj and the great city is smitten with a sudden fear—the foe that all believed so distant is at the gates—nay , in the very heart of the careless town . What is to be done ? If

    you would not die in your beds be up and doing—buckle on your armour while there is time , and make ready your fighting gear , for to hesitate is to fall . But where are our leaders ? Procrastination , who holds the keys of the arsenal , where is he ? Where !—here , in ^ the easiest of beds , in a cap whose red tape strings are tied so tightly that you cannot lift it from his ears ; awaken him , and quickly , if you would make head against the foe . But , alas ! his brain is drowned in the most leaden of sleeps , and your efforts but elicit a snore .

    The foe has , indeed , possessed , himself of the town ; the poor are dying by hundreds a day . Cholera smites them beneath their rags , rejoices in their squalor , and leaves a corpse behind him each time he visits their miserable homes . " Alas 1 " says Procrastination , looking up drowsily from his pillow , " things are very bad indeed ; but it was ever the rule of our family to leave for the morrow the work of to-day , and "—and with a weary groan he sinks to sleep again . Cholera , grown bold with success , has ceased to recognise the difference in earth ' s clay ; yesterday , content with tatterdemalian Jack and slovenly unwashed Pat , to- < lay ho grows dainty in his diet , and raises a sacrilegious hand against a lord . The breath of the pestilence that has swept so often over St . Giles now falls upon St . James ; the strawberry-leaves recognise the dreadful presence , and droop before the poison of its breath , and the

    whiteness of the ermine is defiled by the pollution of its touch . Yes , " things are very bad indeed , " and our rulers may sleep no longer . Come here , and I will show you one of the many plague spots wliich man ' s wickedness and avarioe have permitted to remain and poison the air wo breathe ; one of those hot-beds of fever , nurses of pestilence which abound in tliis crowded town . We are standing in a London graveyard . Night , that " mother of darkwinged dreams , " has cast her shadow over half the world , and the moon sheds its saddening light upon the teeming graves . At each stop your feet sink deep into the rottenness of the soil ; skulls crumble benoath your trend , and

    scattered bones protrude from the black surface of the ground . There is no grass , no trees , but ono , old , sapless , and deformed , that stretches out its black misshapen arms lilco some weird thing that cursos , instead oi blessing the graves m-ound . A damp , stifling , and postilontial atmosplicio arises on all sides ; a heavy rain has lately fallen—fallen bo heavily that it is still filtering through the earth , downwards , over downwards seeking the cold breast of the corpse There is n dreary silence though the churchyard stands in the middle of a broad thoroughfare , and a hundred tall houses towor around ; a silence so complete that the strained scnao can almost hear the creeping worm and burrowing rat—the rat that with sharp teeth gnnwa through the stoutest wood , and the worm which fastens with its linlesa kiss

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 2, 1854, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02091854/page/20/