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    October 9> 1852.] THE LEADER, 96?

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    THE CHANCELLOR SCANDAL AT OXFORD. In the...

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    A "WARNING" FROM SHOE LANE. We are " war...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Til 10 Th.U 10 Democracy. At Arbroath, L...

    into a principle of government , and for parodying the Empire as it burlesques the Republic P Enjoying , as we have done , and as we hope still to do , the confidence of those Republicans who spoke for their nation nationally , we c a nnot sufficiently express the indignation which we have experienced in seeing the true Republic Bink between the spectre rouge and that red-handed despotism which rose up to contend for possession of the national soil with that red spectre .

    The distinction between the Moderate Republicans and the Real Republicans was , that the latter had positive ideas and positive intentions , the Moderates negative ideas and trimming intentions . Permitted to act for a time in the name of the Republicans , the Moderates acquired the opportunity of betraying their party and their nation .

    October 9> 1852.] The Leader, 96?

    October 9 > 1852 . ] THE LEADER , 96 ?

    The Chancellor Scandal At Oxford. In The...

    THE CHANCELLOR SCANDAL AT OXFORD . In the antechamber of death the voice of wrangling sounds harshly . The survivors are sweeping up the succession , and sorrow makes room for intrigue ; a family swindle is being accomplished over the body of the beloved testator , scarcely cold . The following paragraph appeared in the Times of Monday last , under the head of " University Intelligence : "— " Oxfobd , Oct . 2 .

    " The Election op Chancellob . " A Convocation will be holden on Tuesday , the 12 th inst ., at twelve o ' clock , for the election of the Chancellor of the University , in consequence of the lamented decease of his Grace Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington . "F . " C . Pittmftbe , Vice-Chancellor . " As this notice is of a nature to amaze many who , never having been initiated into the ethics of the University Convocation , have some regard for the common decencies of common men , we desire to lay before our readers an exact , unadorned recital of the proceedings to which it relates .

    Almost before the breath was out of the Duke ' s body , before the entire nation was aware of the national loss , Oxford was astir in college anfd hall , and secret conclave , to discount a death so opportune for party purposes , and to surprise the good faith of the absent into compliance with the insolent dictation of a knot of magnates . The contest that occurred in July , when it was attempted to oust Mr . Gladstone , had occasioned the subject of a new Chancellor to be talked of even when the

    Duke ' s death was still considered a distant event . The names in especial favour were the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Harrowby . Lord Ellesmcre would have been preferred by a certain number , but his actual supporters were too few to make his candidateship serious . The Mite of the University , in learning , character , and position , were mainly for the Duke of Newcastle , believing him to be the strongest man for difficult times , and as a liberally conservative politician , a consistent advocate of that wise and temperate University reform which all but a few impracticable bigots know to be instant and inevitable .

    Now , wo spoke of the opportuneness of the Duke ' s death tor the operations of the impractical ) los . In the depth of the long vacation , when all tho life , and mind , and movement of Oxford was scattered abroad over tho face of . the earth in search of ideas and adventures , and only a iew dignitaries of that venerable council , composed of heads of houses , and known as the

    - » lobdomadal Hoard , wero left to fossilize at home , nothing wan easier or more congenial to < - « 'inoni (! iil Toryism than to put up Lord Derby , tho Tory Premier and dispenser of sees and deaneries . There was scarcely a man of energy aud independence to oppose- this indecent dictation . One , indeed , Mr . Sewell , the liberal and n-ccoinplishod high-churchman , was at hand to Vl » dieat , o the better sense of better men .

    Moctwero held under his auspicos , and so general wa , H | , ho inclination to support fcho Duke of New-*; n . Ht . lo , that a deputation was sent to Clumber to 'iscertaiii his wishes . On tho very day tho deputation was despatched a now visitor appeared ° ' > tho hcoikv—no less a personage than Sumuol , JJishop of Oxford . This eminent courtier , tho typo of an Anglican mitre adapted to tho nineteenth conlury , half earnest dilettantism , half " (¦ precator y comnromisc , had been , advisod of wuat was doing by eome men whom he Wft »

    ordaining . No time was to be lost . He was well aware that of the few true men then in Oxford some of the more influential were his own clergy , to whom , while he professed to speak as an ocademieus , his words would really be those of their Bishop . Last Monday week , then , escorted by two chaplains , he appeared at a small meeting held at Oriel , and with his blandest and suavest accents of persuasion " he cautioned the Church , which was far dearer to him even than his dearest

    friend , not to offend the Earl of Derby , and he confessed that the clergy unhappily were Protectionists . " So he counselled them to avoid splitting their party , and then and there to decide all for the Earl of Derby . Such were the tactics and such the eloquence of Samuel Oxon in the absence of the man of all others most fitted to cope with this courtier Bishop of the Church acquiescent . The effect was at once to dissolve the High Church feeling for the Duke of Newcastle , and to throw several names into the Derby ranks .

    That same evening an active man of the High Church party , conversant with the poll-book , arrived in Oxford , disposed to the Duke of Newcastle , but timorous . He heard , of the Bishop's advent and advice , doubted , and decided to follow the Bishop into the ranks of Derby . Now came in the more political High Churchmen , and in two days most of the leaders of sections were gained . The list had run up to six hundred names , and the leading advocates of the Duke of Newcastle would give small support to the few

    ¦ w ho were ready to venture even a hopeless contest , if only as a protest against the lamentable committal of the University to Downing-street . It is clear that the inopportune season , and the short period ( not a month ) before Term , for the election , have made Lord Derby's chance a certainty . In Term the candidates would have been warmly discussed , and would have started fair . It is not too much to say that the Duke of

    Newcastle would have had the better chance . The University would certainly have been with him , though perhaps the country parsondom would have rushed to the banners of the Protectionist Premier . Certain it is that all the soundest and truest portion of the University prefer , and confess to prefer , the Duke of Newcastle ; and they scout the absurdity of Derby being a " High Churchman , " as they do the unworthy pretext of conciliating his good graces to the Church .

    Now it is , of course , too late for any force of public opinion , broug ht to bear from without on this gross scandal , to affect the result of an election , which is fixed for a day , of all others the most convenient for its secure perpetration ; for , as a correspondent of the Daily News very truly says , it is never so difficult to bring men up to the University as within a few days of term , when it is too soon to come up , and too late to go back again . But we cannot let slip tho occasion of moralizing tho truth and spirit of the scandal . It throws a sudden glare of light on the obstinate tendencies of that obsolete House of Heads who

    monopolize the government of tho University . For our own part we do not regret this scandal ; no , not even as wishing Oxford well . Wo believe that what has happened is for the best , and that it is wojl that this spectacle of an unopposed election of tho Lord of Downing-streofc should be given to the world . We find High Church ( with the exception of a very few men of exceptional conscience ) allied with Low Church on the common ground of hostility to reform . Who would be the strongest antagonist to tho University Commission was their only thought . Tho literary

    fitness of the man , or his power and inclination to attend to University matters , was nothing . Political and theological considerations did tho reat . Hut tho saddest fact connected with this business—and it is a fact , not hearsay—is , that in the very front of tho Oxford Derby itea , not drawn into the intrigue by pen-mamon , but ostentatiously taking up their position , we find the BiHhop of Exeter nnd Mr . Archdeacon Denison . Having advocated the right of tho Church to convocation , because wo believe it is a right , wo are painod to see men whom wo hold to bo consistent , and

    dovoted to their principles , thiiH soiling their birthright fora meHH of pottage . Tho JJiwhop and his ally have leaped into the firms of Erastianimu at tho ih'Ht temptation . The State Dalilah , it HooniH , had only to pimpcr and they wero caught . Lord Derby modified tho muntigemout uUuhou ; uad Otaorgo Anthony

    Denison , no longer staunch and brave , forgot in one moment his high pr inciples—forgot his love for the Churcb . —forgot his really noble position , and fell headlong into the snare . With what face can he now demand from Lord Derby the right of the Church to manage her own affairs P With what face can he any longer assert that the House of Commons is not a fit body to enact laws for the Church , when he has championed the Apostle of Compromise ? he

    But not only in this Oxford business has , who seemed the Bayard of his party , forgotten the safeguards of that party . Was it as churchman or as layman that Mr . Denison hoisted the flags of Miles and Knatchbull on the tower of East Brent ; accompanied voters to the poll , and stood by while they voted— careful lest one should stray to the advocate of Church principles , Arthur Hallam Elton ! We have fought on behalf of the Church , because we believed that at last there was a party among her professed servants who were resolved to be true and take the

    consequences . Were we deceived ? Is honesty among a priesthood impossible ? It would seem so ; and as far as our humble , but single-hearted efforts are concerned , it will take but a few more exhibitions like those at East Brent and Oxford to make us give up the advocacy , and conclude that honest , consistent conduct in regard to the carrying out of what are called Church principles , is a moral impossibility for Churchmen .

    A "Warning" From Shoe Lane. We Are " War...

    A " WARNING" FROM SHOE LANE . We are " warned ; " not by a French prefect , certainly , but by some one high in the confidence of M . de Persigny—a counsellor of the Morning Herald , and of Lord Malmesbury . He signs himself , " John Bull Slick ; " and to him the columns of the ministerial journal are always open . We treat the matter seriously ; for here is an organ of the Government printing a direct appeal to the cowardice of the British nation ; and warning" us , one and all , to adore M . Bonaparte , or else

    Bombastes Slick says : " ' Now , mark my words ; Louis Napoleon will be Emperor of the French before Christmas ; " and he proceeds to tell us how the imperial crown will be obtained . " He will put the question to the people to vote on it by ballot , and he will be elected Emperor by eight millions . " This is definite information ; and shows that the writer is in the secret—an accessory before the fact—a proof before the letter .

    Not satisfied with announcing the portentous change , he gives us his view of the reason for it : " The Erench nation wishes for order , and for the security of life and property ; " which Bombastes thinks they will get from tho author of the massacres of December , and of the decrees confiscating the Orleans property ; the French nation preferring to live under tho " despotism of one man , " rather than bo " plundered and massacred by the blood-thirsty Socialists , " who , by the way , did not confiscate any property , and who abolished death punishment .

    " Barring assassination , " continues tho ministerial ally , " tho French see the prospect of stability for a time , " as " clearly , tho time in not yet come for the restoration of the Bourbons , " defined as " the legitimate chief , Henry Cinq . " This is pretty plain reading . But IS . Slick , mounting upon , tho high horse , describes at a gallop tho wonderful workn of M . Bonaparte . Wo thought wo were prosperous ; but evidently Franco is tho land of felicity . " The railway system has received an impetus unexampled , quite astonishing . The improvements in Puris are wonderful : no city will bu ul > lo to compote

    with it ; now streets , new brirtgos , tho Boulevards and quays macadamised ; the octroi reduced ; liily millions of fnines borrowed by the Provisional (« ovornnienfc from the Hunk of Kruneo paid oil "; tho palaces restored and beautified ; funds high , and the Bonn do Tresor rising ; besides which fund lions is flu : sting for us ; bere uro the reasons why wo should fall down beforo M . Bonaparte ] n powerful steam-Meet , is buildingwhat its future employment may bo is a very serious question . I assure you UritiHhors it is high time you not your national defences in order , us tho Ouko of Wellington told you . It is impossible to forufal what Btcp tho new Kinporor may 1 ms compelled to take , in order to manage that Colossus , tho French army -a dashing , enterprising set of nimi , ready for anything , nnd who must be employed . " putting on tho tragic turn of a Cassandra

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1852, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101852/page/11/