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Leader (1850-1860), 20th November 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 13

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      Extension Op The Militia And Volunteer F...

      rors cJF Algiers many of them have to the t ? lish eye something of the squat appearance , A to th is day the Ligurians , those sturdy sub-. of the Ecman Republic , are , to speak in i . Serais , a rice of little men , and we have ^ n their cavalry mounted on ponies . 86 , however w ^ may account ' for the low t dard of the ¦ militia-men , here and there , one It is unques tionable certain—that these short tlemen , the number of some sixty or seventy fhousand hitherto enrolled , are not exactly ident al with the flower of English young manhood . spirited ielbws havedoubt

      There are very wo , no ; e have as little doubt that they will do their rlutv as occasion may arise ; but you ask for the flower of English young manVood , we are convinced you might call forth somewhat larger numbers with somewhat larger proportions . When all parties are recognizing the expediency of placing the English nation in a prepared state for her own defence , it is most desirable that the flower of English young manhood should have the opportunity of showing itself , of drilling itself , and making ready . We should like to see that flower . It would be a beautiful sight . The

      mere sight of it would be a political event , and aright even go to supersede the necessity of calling the right hands of the people into action . For national defence there is nothing like armin ? the people . No class fights so well in defence of its own country as the people itself . General Sir Charles Napier has nobly testified to the advantage which a commander of regular forces would derive from the support of an irregular force , impelled by national motives . Lord Hardinge has Dome excellent testimony to the conduct of the short young gentlemen , who have been foremost at the call of honour : and

      he , aided by the great Indian commander whom Wellington nominated as his best substitute in the last Indian war , would well know how to use the national force . As opinion on this subject hecomes more distinct , and a more liberal view is taken , both the necessity and the safety of making the wider appeal will become apparent . Our army approaches to 150 , 000 men in number , while we have only Parliamentary licence to enrol 80 , 000 militia out of the twenty-seven millions .

      This is more than inverting the rule of that cognate nation which furnishes our best practical model at the present day . The army of the United States for the current year is set down at 10 , 129 , " all told ; " the commissioned officers being in number 896 ; non-commissioned officers and men , 9 , 233 . We are quoting- the official reports for the current year . The militia and volunteer force amount to the total number of 2 , 180 , 486 . Thus , in a population of many millions less than ours , the national force exceeds two millions . Of

      course it would be a jolco to talk of conquering the United States . It is true that the volunteer force of the United States is , in great part , self-supporting , as all really Volunteer forces will be ; especially where , as in the United States , permission is given for the spontaneous enrolment , as an alternative to an enlistment in the militia . It is true Uiat this species of army is neither so costly nor so available for aggressive purposes , as a regular army ; tn at it in , therefore , much more harmonious with peaceful intentions . At the same time , the politician will perceive , at a glance , that tho two or j | — < i ' - » ^ ' J % . v 1 / t % * Ql Jt I « J » ¦ * ' ^ -r J ¦»* ¦¦ - *¦¦ . ¦* - ~ - — — - - uiree

      million soldiers , which the alliod despots of ¦ Europe might possibly bring to bear , can never 1 ) 0 trusted , as these ' citizen-soldiers can be , for lll « faithful defence of their own soil . The jj'Kukr soldier is a hotter tool for tho despot , liouf-U i | , | H . wllc - m ihe jian ( | s () f that despot ; Y | it- is not for tho true defence of nations . N the success of the experiment which has ) 0 ( ; »» made in l , ] io Eiiglinli . militia , appears to us 0 justify ( , ] , „ extension of t , hat experiment ; and ™ < " * iro to Heo tho review of ( 50 , or 70 , 000 llo " ™ (> ' ' rulIovv by a review of the ^ <> wor of . lOngland ' H young manhood : that would (! " •» noosing spectacle for England , and her llU (> wien ought not to delay it too long .

      November 20, 1852.] The Leader. 1113 ~ ¦...

      November 20 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1113 ~ ¦ — ... _ . . —————^^—

      K 'Un Church's Parliament. Uh't' T '" Nu...

      K 'UN CHURCH'S PARLIAMENT . Uh'T ' t '" nuili ' » t , tho Hymptomn of a rising n <> ii '(! n tft < n < - "i » g tendency towards a more oar-Hi . development of national life , wo plaeo tho ind l r ( J (> MVO < ''ition . That ; i » tho groat moral Urn I i > U fllrniHjl «< l by this momentous fact , in } i ( Dalanees of fa | , o , Convocation revivified , and | i | , ' , V ^>« influx of a new life , will outweigh "urial of a Wellington , or tho ratification o

      Free-trade . And it is a momentous fact , and it will outweigh those great events , because it contains vaster consequences than either , and because it marks a rise in the barometer of public morality . For were not the age seriously betaking itself to make theory and practice less lamentably discordant , were not the age disposed to put an end to shams , the honest and earnest party in the Church could not have insisted iipon

      the exercise of her deliberative functions , since the powers of expediency would have been too strong for them . So far as it goes , and it is a vital advance , the sitting of Convocation indicates that public opinion has at length agreed that earnestness of purpose , with open-minded honesty of belief , let it lead whithersoever it may , is preferred to the divorce of conviction from conduct . The Church of England has certain principles which involve certain consequences ; and it

      remains to be seen whether her members will follow where those principles lead , or continue that " repose" which has brought upon them the stigmas of corruption , worldliness , and an evasion of the conditions of their existence as spiritual pastors . What we applaud and assist is the movement which accepts the consequences ; what we condemn is the disastrous temporalmindedness which prompts obstruction to that movement ; what we specially rejoice in is the success of that movement .

      How it has been brought about , whether by the connivance of Lord Derby , as a quid pro quo for his Oxford election ; or by the want of steadfastness and the over - abundance of timidity betrayed b y the Primate , or by the force of events which controls Premier and Primate , it is not necessary to determine . There it is ; waking the echoes of old Westminster ; silent for nearly a century and a half . There it is ; and we wish all men to watch it , as well the foes as the friends of the Church , calmly but steadily pursuing its

      work . The Bishops and the clergy have openly consulted and acted ; the Church is organizing herself ; fair warning is given to all opponents ; and perhaps , among the best results of a revived Convocation will be the concurrent appearance of a revived people , earnest to act out whatever faith they may profess , and to fight once for all the last great conflict for pure religious freedom in thought , in speech , in writing , and in act .

      Considered in its characteristics , Convocation is very remarkable . Not one of the predictions —and they were many—has been fulfilled . It was taunted as being an effete assembly : it has proved a vivacious one . It was said that matters of doctrine Avould be fought about and that acrimonious disputes would convulse both Houses . Publicity has been given to their proceedings ; yet doctrinal subjects have not been discussed , neither have we heard that the clergy have torn each other in pioccs . But the laity were absent ; the Church was not fully represented : these facts

      are deplored on all sides . There baa been a general admission that objections lie not so much against Convocation acting at all , as against action under tho imperfect conditions of its jpre-Hent constitution . We observe also that fears exist , aa potent as ever , lest the great sores and scandalous dissontions of the Church should be made public ; as if they were not public already . The Bishop of Winchester and Archdeacon Oarbetfc , the ablest members of their party , — nay , ovtm the Bishop of Salisbury , and possibly Samuel Oxon himself ,- —look with fear and

      trembling into tho dim future , threatening inevitable exposures of what all seem to think is now hidden . There seems a desire to give the facts the slip , to appease dissentionH by refusing to recognise them , and to remedy by ignoring the evil , which will havo most disastrous results . The excesses of tho I < Yenoh Involution might ; have been averted , if theCourt had manfully and honestly mot Hit ) crying evils of the time , instead of hiding them up until too late ; and the English ecclesiastical revolution Avill have issues more beneficial to the Church and the nation , if grievances bo acknowledged , disHontioiiH fought out , and corruption cauterized . . The opponents of Convocation , whether in Lambeth or

      lVintinirhouso-squaro , are like the Court of Versailles . Art ; they prepared for a similar fatoP There lion the whole of the question of Hynods and Convocations : gradual and matured change , whatever it may bo , arrived at by that , exorcise of the highest wisdom , " doing right , in scorn of conaequonce , " or— " tho GouoraLOverturn . "

      But , in fact , though inhibited by the address to the Crown , Convocation is so placed that it must , sooner or later , enter upon the forbidden ground of doctrinal discussion . It cannot recede with dignity or consistency , it cannot stand still by the law of things ; it must advance , therefore , under the pressure of the same law . The very fact that the address so solemnly disclaims all intention of entering upon that inconvenient discussion , forms a curious complement to the fears loudly expressed by the Winchester spokesmen , and shows that the leading minds of both houses tend strongly to one point , full discussion of the grievances of the Church .

      Looked at by this light it is impossible to read the speech of the Bishop of Exeter and not be struck by the fact , that he alone was logical ; that he alone had no fear of consequences ; that he alone was prepared with strong faith to put the doctrines of the Church and her members to the test of the fullest discussion . " I should deplore , " said he , " as the greatest calamity that could befall the country , and certainly not the least that could befall the Church , if ever the time should come that the Church should declare itself incompetent for the discharge of its essential duties and vital actions . I , for one , will leave that Church if ever that time should come . But

      I would not go to Home—nothing "would induce me to go to that corrupt Church , —but never , never , never , will I act as a bishop of the Church of England , if the Church of England be placed in hopeless impotence under the feet of the temporal power of the state . " It is impossible to overlook the force of those sentences . And it is equally impossible to forget that Lord Shaftesbury has inaugurated an agitation , to which the Archbishop of Canterbury has supplied the watchword—let public opinion settle Church differences—avowedly for the purpose of abolishing theTractarians . The reply to the Evangelical nobleman is the Session of Convocation in November , 1852 . ,.

      Matters have arrived at a very fine point . Ministers clearly have connived at the sittings in Westminster Abbey ; or they have encouraged them , hoping probably to make political capital thereby , and to cement the Oxford Compact , by providing a retreat among ecclesiastical fastnesses . The Archbishop of Canterbury , unsupported by Ministers , and awed by the great energy and overwhelming ability of his leading suffragans , finds tliut lie cannot control , and only under strong protest prorogue Convocation without the consent of his brethren . And thoso

      brethren , acting upon the favourable opportunity afforded by the address , not unmindful of the fact that lawyers say they may transact almost any business short of making canons , and adopting the most judicious tactics , have actually carried their own address , and appointed committees , in the one house to consider a clergy discipline bill , and in the other 1 , 6 consider grievances . Therefore , though unreformed , inadequate , neither full , free * , nor fair , as a representative assembly , the Church , at last , has her Parliament .

      The Cape Colonv A(Iain Mutinies. Onck Mo...

      THE CAPE COLONV A ( iAIN MUTINIES . Onck more the popular party in the Capo of Good Hope has placed itself in a . position of direct antagonism to the Government of tho mother country . We do not say that it is the popular party which has taken the initiative or spontaneously assumes an aggressive attitude ; tho provocation exercised by the Home Government , towards the colonists has been the gravest and tho most , exasperating . After a very long controversy—after many times discussing the

      question of representative rights ¦ -a Government , on the English model was spontaneously offered to tho Capo of Good Nope by Lord John Russell's Government , apparently as a reproof to the Austral ins , who had been demanding a similar institution . Lord Grey seemed to say l <> tho Australians , " You shall have what , y < n \ Jhr < - < - mo to give you ; but the good ( 'ape settlors , who have mado no noise , shall be better served . " After that spontaneous oiler , after tho eonnt . it . ut . ion was

      actually grunted , the local ollieers did their bent to defeat its being carried out , practically caused its suspension , and throw the wliolo colony into hot water by raising a party to frustrate tho -practical application of tho MiniHterial boon . A sort of constituent assembly , summoned to difleuss tho mibjeol ., wan disturbed in its deliberations by tho Government and a Govorumonfc

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 20, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20111852/page/13/