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Leader (1850-1860), 7th February 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 10, 136 IlEtlAPEB, Ctt». m g*mm»

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      Political Puospect8. The Queen Lias Been...

      merit and not on account of their fooaily connexions . A wealthy and well-governed nation is always powerful ; its fleets seewe it 8 safety : its ' militia constitutes , va . times of emergency , the materials of a regular army ; low estimates and economical administration are requisite to amplify the fund from which , on occasions of necessity , increased revenues may be drawn . IBut , though IJord pAiiMETisroN lias a "battle to fight , and may meet -with adverse

      votes , a change of Government is by no means among the prospects of the session . The question whether a general election is . to take place this year or the next depends on the spirit of the House of Commons . If the Cabinet can retain a -working majority until the autumn , it is not improbable that Xord P ^ iiMEBSTON" will defer his appeal to the country until the summer of 1858 . "We doubt his capacity in this respect , however .

      Parliament has already exhibited some restlessness ; the Tory leaders have committed themselves to a systematic course of opposition ; Earl Grey and Lord Brougham in the Peers , and ILord John Hussell and Mr . Giadstoke in the Commons , seem disposed to aim . at an active and hostile policy , and Xioxd Paltviekston is in no way inclined to conciliate support by the adoption of a liberal programme .

      We have gone back some steps since the session of 1853 , and it would be well if , besides Mr . Gladstone's Income-tax settlement , we could revive some other elements in the ' situation' of that date . Then , Lord Abebddeh promised an extension of freetrade principles , a great measure of education , and an amendment of the representative system . "What are the promises of 1857 ? A new Bank Charter Act , a scheme of secondary punishments , some legal improvements , and a revised State Church for Norfolk Island . In 1853 the Aberdeen

      ministry was counted a gam to the Liberal cause . It was an official consolidation of all parties in the House of Commons , excepting the Tory Protectionists . It engaged to carry on the work of reform . Sir James Graham declared that he would not have accepted office had not the Government pledged itself to revise the representation of the people . What says now the Knight of Netherby , and what say the electors of Carlisle ? "Unhappily , the Russian war

      intervened ; but now that the Russian war is over , why not resume in 3 857 the policy announced in 1853 and interrupted in 1854 ? Nothing is to be expected from the actual Administration , tinless it be compelled to adopt ' Reform' as an election , cry . Nothing is to be expected from the Tories , wlvo only offer to goad the Treasury on questions of finance . And nothing can be done by the independent Liberals , unless they strain with

      all their power upon the Government , and force it to choose between concession and defeat . It may be that Lord John Russell has a measure in reserve ; but the time for submitting such a proposal will be when Parliament meets imder the stimulus of a general election . Enervated , indifferent , and corrupt , the existing Parliament ia unfit for its duties ; and while it continues to sit , our political prospects can only be vague , narrow and paltry . '

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      Purity Of The Suffrage In France. We Hav...

      PURITY OF THE SUFFRAGE IN FRANCE . We have seen another illustration of < iudicial justice in Trance . The highest court of the Jimpire has decided that tho unlimited distribution of doctoral bulletins is not permissible by law . % a monstrous interpretation ol a legislative enactment , it ia declared that a card , or sli p of paper , bearing simply tho namo of a candidate , conies under

      the head of publications winch , may excite to hatied and contempt of the ( 3-overament , and therefore may not be distributed without perffiisssion from the prefects of departments . That is to say , eighty-six : departmental prefects are to take universal suffrage under their control , to nominate every candidate , to expunge the names of obnoxious persons , and virtually to elect the Legislative Chamber . This insolent mockery of representation must have the effect of

      undeceiving even those complacent dupes of success , who hold that Franco " enjoys more real freedom" under the Empire than under the constitutional government of Louis P hilipp e or the Bepublic of 184-8 . What becomes , we demand , of the notion that Louis Naeoieon is really the elect of the French people ? Why , he declines to trust to

      universal suffrage ; he objects to put his own nominees in ' competition with those of the Liberal , Bourbon , or Orleanist parties ; with all the facilities of pressure and falsification at his disposal , he confessedly apprehends that certain citizens of Paris will print the one word " Cjsjvaigstac" upon a card and distribute it to the electors . This is Imperial popularity , this is to be the representative of

      1789 . ITor the moment , it appeared , after the judgment of the Court of Cassation , that the advocates of abstention had been supplied with anew argument . After two Qpurts of Appeal had displayed the courage and the justice to decide against the pretensions of the local prefects to control the distribution of electoral bulletins , it was , indeed , astounding to discover that the sources of equity in Paris had been so poisoned by official interest , that a

      card bearing only the name of a candidate was declared to rank among political pamphlets , manifestoes , addresses , and other publications amenable to police regulation . What is it to the purpose that twenty days before the election candidates may circulate their professions of political faith , and bulletins , inscribed with their names ? These professions and bulletins , signed by themselves , must have been previously deposited at the office of the Procureur Imperial , whose function it

      is to prosecute all offenders under the law applying to political professions of faith . The Government thus obtains a grasp over the candidate , may condemn his manifesto , prohibit his bulletin , and prosecute him personally for employing language of a land tending to excite to * hatred and contempt ' of the Empire . Besides , the electors may desire to nominate men who have not avowed their candidature , and whose names arc principles .

      The Court of Cassation professes to base its decision upon the purity of tho suffrage —a purity which annuls , from every point of view , tho very essence of political election . Morality , equity , common sense , alike declare that a public vote obtained under such influences is an imposture , a delusion , and a forgery . Tho advocates of

      abstention arguo , then , that the Liberal party should not participate iix an election thus radically vitiated , arbitrary , and illegal . But the party of action , replies that , under all circumstances , abstention is a fatal policy ; that a conflict , without immediate results , is prcfevablo to that immobility "which may bo ascribed to acquiescence or to despair ; that the inertness of tho mass is the concrete

      basis of despotism ; that timidity shelters itself under the pretence of reserve ; and that corruption skulks in the disguise of scruple . It may be that some * honourable and able men will bo deterred from joining in the electoral movement by tho flagitious judgment of tho Court of CnsHation ; bub tho fact is to bo deplored . Tho main body of

      Liberals , -wo trust , wall repudiate th © DoilZ of paralysis , and fulfil & duty to £ S and to themselves . ^*

      "Church In Danger!» —From The Clergy. Un...

      "CHURCH IN DANGER !» —FROM THE CLERGY . Unless something be done to- rescue the clergy from themselves , they will put-flu ! finishing stroke to the Church of England They are committing slow suicide , aid appeal incapable of rescuing themselves from tie rash act . According -to their own confession they cannot keep order , and they are obhVed to seek the aid of the temporal power ia a humiliating manner . In the House of Bishops the Bishop of Chighesteb brings forward a painful case . Clergymen find themselves under the necessity of reading the burial service , making an almost indiscriminate use of the service , even over persons who are unbaptized , excommunicate , or felo de se * The Bishop of Oxford stated . the- case of a person notoriously living in deadly sin , over whom clergymen refused to perform the burial service , and they were threatened with action at law . Proceedings for excommunication are not always successful ; hut the Bishop of Oxford thinks the Bishop has a power to shelter his clergymen from the infliction of punishment . .. " At all events , " says Dr . WiiiBERFOECE , "he has a strong moral power ; or if there be & doubt about the

      legality of the Bishop's power , the only remedy is to _ invest him with that power . " It would be interesting to see a bill brought in " for the better prevention of the burial service in certain cases . " "Would ifc have effect in rendering the Church popular ? Supposing the bill were carried , we should like to see the _ discriminating use which would be made of-its enforcement . It is evident that the clergy in the . diocese of Chichester and Oxford would be refusing to bury right and left ; of course , to the great consolation of ' giving relatives , and f . o -tko xnuuifesfc extension of the Church ! 3 But we should like to know

      whether any clergy of either diocese , or even the Bishops thereof , would refuse to bury all persons " living in notorious sin" or excommunicate . "Would they , for example , decline to perform the service over a nobleman belonging to a Unitarian creed ? Would they object in the case of a Marquis living a fast ' life ; or make a stand against the performance of the service in the case of a ORoyal prince , who , according to the technical reading oi the Church code-, might be " living in

      notorious sin . " Of course we know better ; the act which the Bishop of Oxford desires to ohfcaiu would be enforced against tho poor , who already are excluded from church by the want of room , the supercilious classification of tho richer orders , and the sense of their own degraded condition . In short , such an act would introduce into the graveyard , tho same discrimination between the ' respectable ' classes and the poor which is enforced in the church . The burial-Ground would be limited

      to good society . Another bishop , the Bishop of Exeterand ho does not standalone- —has been objecting to a wall in a cemetery , because it is no higher than eighteen inches , and not , therefore , he thinks , sufficient to divide the consecrated part from tho Dissenting part . ht

      Evidently the Bishop of Exeter , who oug to know , thinks that there would bo a practical difference between a wall of eig hteen inches and one three feet high , or more . A Dissenting houI might be capable , bo thinks , of jumping over oightoen inches , but ; could be kept out by the height , of a five-barred gate ; souls being inferior to hunters in

      leaping , according to tho episcopal estimate . A greater danger threatens tho Oljurch councils , in the endeavour of some pimple

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 7, 1857, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07021857/page/10/