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Leader (1850-1860), 15th January 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 82

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      which / these tilings have caused . Councils of Miiiisters sit from day to day . Large reinforcejnents have already been despatched to Italy , and Field-Marshal GLulai is said tb hold secret instructions ; enabling him to place the whole Lombardo-Venetian kingdom ^ state of siege on the first appearance or outbreak . ] . ' . <¦' ¦ ' Ma ; moment so full of interest and peril to the Austrian Empire the intentions of Prussia become a matter of the utmost concern . The ties that h ay e hitherto bound the Court of Berlin to that of St . Petersburg have indeed been loosened * if not

      broken ; and the friendly dispositions known to prevail towards England and Belgium have not unnaturally led the Austrians to reckon sanguinely on the possibility of fonming a counter alliance against Ifrance and Piedmonts The speech of the Regent of Prussia contains nothing which can be construed either into confirmation or these hopesj except in so far as it seems to be a deliberate revival of the high monarchic notions of the . superseded King , and an attempt to resuscitate something of the military spirit of personal government by the head of the State . It is not pleasant to find a priacej whose

      advent to power was so lately vaunted oi as the inauguration of anew regime , wantonly indulging in hereditary heroics about " holding high theTwinner of Prussia , whereon is inscribed kingship by the grace of God , & f Prussia . We have never believed him to be other than a thorough absolutist , rendered prudent by temner and experience , and accessible in matters of

      • detail to . reasonable remonstrance ; but a ; man incapable of conceiving a policy different from the traditional one of his house , utterly devoid of constitutional sympathies or ideas , and mainly bent on applying in , civil affairs the principles 01 vigorous authority arid implicit obedience which as a soldier lie has habitually practised in the camp . His speech on opening the Chambers is full of this spirit . It reads , as if it were set to a running ac-43 onjpaniment of bugles and drums . Although in this respect having a certain similarity to the ad ^ > dress of the King of Sardinia deliverea three days before , it is in all else different , and not less dissimilar seems to have been its reception . The soul-stirring speech of Victor Emmanuel called forth loud and repeated bursts of enthusiastic applause : while the formal and forced appeals of

      the Prussian Regent to the loyalty of the people and , the fidelity of the troops were received for the most part in silence . IE ok our parts we profess to feel no great confidence tliat Austria may not succeed in cajoling 2 ? russia and Bavaria , witn the various minor states that lie between , into a new holy alliance for the maintenance of her power in Italy . We have , indeed , very serious doubts whether , after all , Russia naa ' y not content herself with having helped to set 3 ? rarice . arid Austria at loggerheads , and wlieu the hour of conflict arrives , concur with England in the wisdom of standing aloof and holding herself in reserve , We were amongst the first to preach the doctrine of strict neutrality , as far as arms are concerned , in the Italian quarrel : and it is gratifying

      tp observe that , almost without exception , the entire press of this country has since adopted and ^ forced that opinion . Should the Cabinet of Lord JPerby unfortunately commit the error of lending any dogrpe of countenance or support to Austria , ihp leaders of Opposition , who desire to drag the country into an unnecessary war , would doubtless attempt tb raise a counter feeling , professing themselves enthusiastic friends of Italian freedom , but in reality bent only upon , diverting the thoughts of the nation from domestic eoonomy and Reform . Nothing can be more hollow or more unsound than a Bonapartisfc allianoo for intervention in the peninsula , and [ nothing deserves more unoomprottiiaing opposition .

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      THE CHURCH IN THE CITY . We trust that none of our readers are so poor or so disreputable as never to havp received an appeal for thoir assistance in . the cause of Church extension . You must be far sunk , indeed , in poverty , or dis * Tfiputo , to bo exempt from such applications . Mostr of us receive hundreds of them . We can identify t |» em at first sight , as easily as if thtf ' words " Spiritual destitution ? ' were printed at the oornor of the letter . We know by heart thoir various forma and

      fashions . There is the modest and inexperienced applicant , who' encloses a stamped envelopej and informs y ou that the smallest contribution will be thankfully received ; there is the older and less scrupulous offender , who does not enclose a . stamp , but works on your feelings with harrowing details , and requests an . answer by return of post ; there is the hardened and callous claimant , who does not prepay his letters , but encloses a card with the modest request that you will collect a hundred shillings from a hundred of your friends and acquaintance , and expresses surprise that his last it

      appeal remained unanswered ; The worst of is that our consciences will not allow us to disregard the appeal , while our pockets object to its admission . We may dispute the . good taste of such applications ; we may doubt , we may even say we do doubt , whether this system of solicitation promotes the true interests of charity or religion , but \ ve cannot deny that the evil complained of does in truth exist . We know that in town and country there are large districts almost unsupplied with church accommodation , that in the towns there are vast populations growing up without spiritual teaching and pastoral care .

      The English public have no lack of zeal—still less are they wanting in charity . Before , therefore , we , who happen not to be . enthusiastic in the cause of church extension , are condemned for culpable indifference or undue parsimony , it is only fair that , our defence should be heard . We respect your cause ^ sttch is the substance of our apology to the advocates of further extension ^—we wish well to its success ; if need be , we will contribute to its resources ; but still , after all , we are a commercial people , and like to get our money ' s . worth for our money . The Church is already in the possession of large funds , which in one form or other are derived

      from the resources of , the country . Let us see that you make the most of what you have g 6 t before we contribute more . The labourer is undoubtedly worthy of his hire ; but we like to know how he has spent his earnings before we raise his wages . All this is , perhaps , a very matter-of-fact arid unexalted manner of looking on so important a subject ; but in spite of ourselves it is forced upon , us by the glimpses we get frotn time to time of the internal organisation of tho Church . _ The innovating spirit of irreverent inquiry has invaded even the sacred repose of the City churches . We confess that if it were not for the vital interests at

      stake , we could Jibfc witness this intrusion without a kind of sentimental regret . Those City churches lie so quiet and retired in such quaint nooks and corners ; in . . the heart of warehouses , and wharves , and offices , you come unawares upon the small flagpaved courts in which they stand . Nobody comes near them , nothing seems to go on in them—amidst the noise and turmoil , and bustle of the surrounding ' City , they look like . temples dedicated to eternal rest , where we can fancy that the spirits of departed citizens meditate undisturbed in slumberous and

      solemn silence . The sacrilegious hand which threatens to disturb their repose is that of the Bishop of London . By his desire the incumbents of the City churohes have been required to furnish Earticulars of their cures , and to return tho numers of . their respective flocks , the amount of their stipends , and tho fruit of their labours , as evinced by the attendance at their services . They have had to give an account of their stewardship , and out of their own mouths they are convicted as unprofitable .

      The result of the episcopal inquisition has been to bring to light a variety of curious dotails . Within tho precincts of the City of London thore are to be found nTty-seven pariah churches . Excluding the population of three parishos , tho returns of which aro not given , tho whole population of these fifty-seven parishes is only 40 , 788 . Out of these 47 , 000 parisliioncrs , a very large proportion of whom aro probably Jews , the greatest number who ever attended divine sorvico in the City is found , by adding together the largest attendances in

      each ' ohuroh throughout tho year , to bo only 94 > 7 S . As this is an exceptional and too favourable euleu lation , tho average number of attendants , on any Sunday at oil the City ohurolios , may safoly bo put down as not above 6000 to 7000 . Jtor tho quro of these 4 ) 7 , 000 souls , and tho pastoral ministration to these 6000 chosen , sheep , tho City clergy rcooivo iucoraos which , in tljo wot , amount to 24 > , 987 / . a year . Taking the value of City properly at flvo per cent , nor annum , wo may ' state that a sum of about 500 , 000 / . of Ohuroh property is appropriated to the care of the 4 , 7 . 000 souls who reside within the

      City boundaries . There are , again , four City parishes which rejoice in the quaint designations of St . Margaret Moses , Si . Martin Vintry , St . Mildred Poultry , ami St . Nicholas Cole Abbey , whose joint population is only 1780 , who never , in their days of thegreatost religious zeal , contributed / morp than 95 listeners in all to the services of the Church , and the annual stipends for which amount to 10 GS / . From the printed list we might call out dozens of instances of snug parishes "where there is all pay and no work ; but ' we refrain from doing so , as it is the system itself , and not the individual clergy , we object to .

      Now , if there were plenty of funds to prosecute the work of the Church throughout the country , or even in tin ' metropolis alone , we should be the last to complain of the existence of these City sinecures . They form pleasant retreats for men of education and merit ; and if they do little good , they do less harm . The iniquity consists in the inequality of the system by which the funds , of the Church are applied . " ' Outside the bounds of the City ,

      just beyond this favoured locality , are the parishes . Hoxtou , of St . > Iary s Haggerstbne , and Spitalfields , whose populations amount to 21 , 370 , 26 , 027 , and 17 , 100 respectively ; the value of these livings are only 450 / ., 500 Z ., and 19 S / . a year ; and out of these amounts the incumbents have to provide for seven rates . We might multiply instances ; like these if there were need for it . For any one who can use his own eyes , an hour ' s walk through the courts and iaims of the eastern district of London will be

      enough to convince him of the work that there is for the priest and pastor to perform . The reason ; why that work is not done is the want of funds" . Within " sight . of those half-heathen districts , there are churches without hearers , clergymen without work , and funds without employment . When we ask how these things can be , how it is that the funds of the City churches have not been applied long ago to their proper uses , we find that every effort to remove them has been frustrated ^ iheaded

      by a ery of vested interests , by the pg- resistance of civic beadledom , anq , by more than all , the sentimental opposition-of riven who style themselves tlie friends ' of the Church of England . For the two former class of objectors there is no argument but force ; of the last , however , we hope better things . We would urge on them that for the sake of the shadow they are sacrificing the substance ; that , nftpr all , the congregation is of more importance . than the church , arid human souls than stone monuments .

      The Methodist child , when she was asked by the lady visitor at the Sunday-school whether she believed in the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church , replied , " No , ma ' am ; I believe in the Wesleyan and Congregational Chapel . " No argument could induce her to retract her opinion . To her mind , the Church was the building , and the building was the Church . The idea of an . abstract church , of the Church of this Apostles and Martyrs , of the communion of Christians , of the assemblage of just

      men made perfect , were to her , words without meaning . Apart from the building , tho Church , in her eyes , had no existence . She . believed in bricks , and her t ' txiih was in plaster walls , Strange to say , in support of her material creed the dissenting school-girl might have quoted tho argument of those who opposed the removal of the City churches , of enlightened bishops and university members , of the chosen sons of tho Church of England .

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      ATTEMPTED IIEVIVAL OF THE SLAVETRADE IN AME 1 UCA . A cargo of slavos has bcou landed on tho const of Georgia , and the proceeding appears to bo something like tho landing of Sunday voyagers on a quay near Glasgow—to try tho aoiual utato ' of tho law ; not , indeed , that there is much doubt about tho state of tho law at presont . but tho extreme , freedom of discussion and of political action in the United States has begotten a state of feeling amongst many of tho citizens tlmt they havo a right to act ; not only upon tho law oxiuling , but upon the law of tho future , that which they intouato bi'ing about . AqoarJiug to the reports , wluoh uppoar to bo tolerably oorrcol , tho yudht Wanderer brought ovor the slavos from Africa diroot , and landed them in tho Edgofiold distriot of Georgia . This act , says tho EUfftfteld Jdoorlixor , on tho authority of an authorised statement , has boon done by a Qombiuation of many of tho Ilrst families m Georgia nwd South Ofirolmu from purely putnoUo

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      g 2 THE LEiDEB . [ 3 STo . 460 , January 15 ; 18591

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1859, page 82, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2277/page/18/