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Leader (1850-1860), 6th September 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 850

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      Untitled Article

      police , and was engaged . There is , then , " a foreign department" in our police ! Many or our readers—we cannot say all , for our circulation has multiplied since that time—will remember our statement , before the opening of the Exposition , that foreign policemen had been added to our force ; and now they have the proof in a court of justice . We have reason to believe that the woman von

      Beck , or Racidula , was an Austrian spy ; and perhaps it will not be far wrong to say— if at present only as a conjecture—that she acted in the system of Oliver and Edwards . Thus we find her in many capacities— " friend of Kossuth , " authoress , refugee , hired spy under Kossuth ' s Government , hired spy under the English Government , and also—as we verily believe—spy , throughout , belonging to Austria . Now , knowin g these things , read the following passage from the Court Circular of Thursday : — " M . Berenger , President a la Courde Cassation , at Paris , had an interview with Mr . Waddington , yesterday , at the Home-office . "

      M . Berenger was President of the High Court of Justice that tried the prisoners of the 15 th of May , ' 48 , at Bourges , and the affair of the 13 th of June , ' 49 , at Versailles . Very well : now read what follows , from the telegraphic intelligence in the Morning Post of the same day—the Morning Post being an excellent authority on the class of affairs that come within the province of the Foreign Office : — " Forty-seven arrests have been made to-day ( Wednesday ) , in Paris , in consequence of the discovery of a conspiracy , having connection with the Democratic refugees of London . "

      Need we say much more ? Here is an Austrian spy in the pay of English commissioners : here are conferences of our Home office and the Judge of a partisan Government . Does not the reader understand the disgrace which has been inflicted on England by her own public servants ?

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      BISHOPS WHERE THEY SHOULD NOT BE . Once upon a time it was fit and right that mitred abbots should sit beside mailed knights in the council chambers of kings . The Church at that period wasunmistakeably militant ; and the club of many a Bishop , as he rode at the head of his menat-arms , dealt thwacks as heartily as the boldest Front-de-Boeuf of the day . But Bishops have ceased to be military men . Charles James London does not head a corps of sharpshooters , nor Henry Exeter command a regiment of Heavy Dragoons . The temporalities of the Church had of yore to be defended by the strong arms of its servants , ordained as well as unordained . Now they are protected by the Judge and the policeman .

      An idea is gaining ground on all sides , even in the Church itself , that the fittest place for Bishops is not the House of Lords , but a very different House . What have men of the closet and Lhe study to do among worldly men of business ? It only affords the opportunity for worldly priests , tempted on by ambition , to use the altar as a hustings . More than one instance could be named of sleek and slippery prelates , having the gift of tongues , who run the race of worldly ambition , preaching all the while that the kingdom of their Lord is not of this world ; yet they , his servants , cannot do without a share of Caesar's coin , or Caesar ' s armed power .

      But Bishops , it is said , are useful in the Upper House as " assessors" in spiritual affairs . They must be there to sec fair play and to correct error . What would not wicked or unenlightened laymen do with the Church , provided her ordained champions were not there to watch over her interests and guard her rights ? Now , there is a fallacy in this which even Bishops must confess . They do not help the discussion of Church matters in the House . If a debate arises , what but distracting and perplexing detail do the prelates impart , to it ? They only make the House privy to the discords of the Church , the conflict of doctrines and discipline ; and thus they only distract , not facilitate counsel . How many bills on ecclesiastical discipline brought in by the Bishop of London have not the peers quietly shelved ? Ah we pointed out nomc weeks ago , the remedy is Convocation . Dr . Knox , the Bishop of Down and Connor , admirably stated this question in a charge delivered last week . We do not remember ever to have seen it put no clearly . " The strango anomaly of their position as u Church deprived of aU self-government , naturally suggested that something ought to bo done , to meet preaont

      emergencies . The necessity of a representative body , lawfully appointed and legally constituted , to deal with all such matters and things , in reference to the Church , as might come before it , was becoming more and more apparent . Controversies on doctrinal points , and errors on various matters , were increasing in the Church like ivy on a tree , till , in a short time , no part of the stem would remain visible to attest its original form . He trusted their rulers would see that it would be no longer safe to deny to the Church its ancient power of self-government , or to destroy its legitimate representative action in all temporal and

      spiritual matters in which its interests were concerned . It was not too much to expect that the same privileges which every other Christian body possessed should be granted to their own , and that its doctrine should be decided and defended , and its discipline altered or abrogated by the deliberate consent expressed by its own members exclusively . Its right to such an assembly must be admitted by all , and could not be objected to by any other Christian body . Unauthorized meetings by different dioceses , so far from correcting evil , increase it , as the judgments thus come to on controverted topics only serve to

      render more visible the want of uniformity that prevails , and the inability of the Church to secure uniformity . A convocation of the Church at large , whose decisions would be binding on all , could alone meet the requirements of the case ; and when he spoke of the Church , he spoke of it in its broad and Scriptural meaning , as embracing all members in communion , the laity equally with the clergy . A synod representing the clergy and the laity would , in his opinion , add strength to the Church , and remove the many differences now existing , as , in the consideration of the solemn circumstances in which

      they would be placed , a due regard would be had in their discussions to the altered circumstances of the age , and the necessities which , in the course of time , must inevitably arise . " But so long as Bishops remain in Parliament can they consistently demand Convocation ? Their only pretence for being in the House of Lords is that they are there for Church government purposes ; and we have seen that such purposes cannot be accomplished by that assembly . The uttermost

      result they can hope to obtain is such deplorable spectacles as Bishops bickering on doctrine and voting on temporalities for their own interests . In Convocation they would form a necessary part of the collective representation of the Church ; they would appropriately debate details in their own conclave , would agree on broad conclusions , and would command the deference of Parliament . Thus they would actually and practically aid the government of their own Church .

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      TERMS FOK THE SALE OP CUBA . On authority which we believe to be quite trustworthy , we learn the terms of the negotiation now going on in London for the sale of Cuba to the American Government . It is anticipated that General Lopez will be repulsed ; but after the Spanish Government has thus cleared its honour , the island will be sold to the United States for a round sum of money . More than one douceur will be given . Amongst others an immense sum to the Queen Mother of Spain . But the most remarkable bonus is the allotment of half the purchase money to the JKnglish holders of Spanish Bonds . It is said that Lord l ' almerston dislikes these terms : — Credat Judoeus .

      We do not know how far the late explosion in Cuba and New York will affect this negotiation ; but , according to our authority , it will make no difference ; General Lopez , the English Bondholders , and other influential purtteH , having been engaged in the negotiation before the untoward event , recounted elsewhere , occurred at Ilavunuh .

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      T 11 K FLUNK 1 KB OK "OKDKK . Thkhk is a certain class of Knglinh travellers who are ever to be found clinging to the skirts of unrecognized aristocracies from one end of Europe to the other . In every petty principality and du < : hy , from linden to Vienna , they encumber the antechamber * of very small potentates , and they may be found living " like piinccs " upon an annual income that a Hinall unfurnished Hulmrban villa at Iligl'gatc may cost a London citizen . In the midst of a society of gamblers , refugees , invalids ,

      half-pay oflicers with inuny daughters , and broken-down " swells , " they form a quasi select , and exclusive caste ; and a certain degree of vagueness and mystery in their reminiscences enhunccu our belief in the probable importance of their " antecedents . " Their political sympathies ( for they have no opinions ) are all devoted to defunct legitimacies and exploded Toryisms . They are a full century in arrear . la ' 48 their disgust at the revolution * amounted to rage : talk to them of the People , indeed ! they recognize only courts . So they had a tear for Louia Philippe ( not forgetting the balls at the Tuilerieu ) , and a heap of

      curses and " Canards " for the Provisional Government Their idols in the course of that memorable year wera Windischgratz , Radetzky , Jellalachick , Haynau ! Thei horrors Lamartine , Kossuth , Mazzini , Blum ! "We m «» f the other day a representative of this class of denationalized Britons . He had just read a review of Mr . Glad stone's letters to Lord Aberdeen . Very wroth he was at these improper insinuations against " the best fellow in Europe " —the King of Naples . He had been at Naples last winter : he did not believe a word of the lette rs . He never had known Naples more gay . The Court Balls were delightful . Florence , too , he found all the more comfortable for the presence of the Austrians . " That glorious old fellow , Radetzky , " keeps the " canaille" in order .

      And this man has free English blood in his veins : and was born in a land where a man may think the thing he would !

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      A POMTIOAli COOLING-DRAUGHT . In the midst of our feverish task of collecting Continental notes , we were refreshed by the following cooler . It was a morsel of moral " Wenham" to a pen parched with polemics . It was a drop of comfort in the troubled German Ocean of Absolutist reaction . At the same time , we are bound to confess that it was a severe blow to a conscientious belief we had always entertained in the ubiquity of our political eye . We did not know of the Diet of Iceland ! So when we read that " The Diet of Iceland was opened on the 5 th of July , at Reihiavik , " we involuntarily exclaimed , —•* What may the diet of Iceland be ? Very wholesome , no doubt , and cool , especially in the Dog-days !"

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      SOCIAL REFORM . [ I postpone the second part of my letter on the interest of the middle class in Association , to make room for the letter of a friend whose words will speak home to many of our readers . —Th . H . ] Epistola Obscuri Viri . association the only resource of the small tradesmen . To Thornton Hunt . 36 , Threadneedle-street , City , August 28 , 1851 . Dear Sir , —In your last letter you touched upon a subject I have long thought on It may be possible for one who is of the trading class , and who knows by experience the difficulties of its position , to render a statement that may be useful . We are in that unfortunate position which binds us to support the present system , though many of us feel it is our destroyer . We support it because we do not yet perceive safety in change . Not because we are prosperous , but from fear of losing what advantages we have . The dire necessity and difficulty of making both ends meet so occupy our thoughts in scheming , after business hours , that little time or inclination is left for inquiring into causes , or for perusing those journals that might direct us . A glance at the Times is the extent of

      the literary efforts of most of us . A few innocent persons still think a want of industry is the cause of the numerous failures , and cite instances of persons arriving in London with a few pence battling their way to fortune . They forget these instances are rare , and we have no record of the failures . The sacrifice of intellect and morals necessary to insure success is also overlooked .

      So eager is the strife for the necessaries of lite , that no notice is taken of those who are displaced and trampled under foot by the successful , lo those who do observe , there ia no lack of indications of suffering and failure . Could we each put down and compare the facts we come across in our individual experiences , a startling result would be arrived at . The number of tradesmen that

      disappeared in four or five years from the busy scene , could they be counted , would teach a lesson to their own class that it much requires , rresli victims rush forward to fill the gaps ; the ranks are kept full , the destruction is little noticed , and least of all by the victims . Personally , I am acquainted with at least a dozen persons who have lost then position as tradesmen , and are now earning a veiy precarious subsistence . Some of these are young mon , having been in business two or three years , others are elderly men who have been from twen y

      to forty years in business . . . . 1 It im necessary to look a few facts steadily in u « face , and see to what they lead . To do so may aid the conclusion . The trading class in now hu numerous a « to render it difficult for a parent 1 choose a trade for his son . There is also the uih culty for a beginner to find an opening ; ? * ! t ° found , so great is the competition for »'» . * ^ id , enormous premium ia demanded ; which , « ^ ' deprivea the young tradesman of the lwrgw po ™» of his capital . Do tradesmen increase in num »

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      $ 50 Wt ) t VLe &tiet * [ Saturday , \ i

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 6, 1851, page 850, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1899/page/14/