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    3*74 The Queen, the Openitiff 0'f Parlia...

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    • . ¦¦ '"' . •' , The Queen, The Opening...

    construe these manifestations of inactivity , fexcept in an ill sense . Tne community are avowedly ill-taught ; and who are to teach them , if not the well-taught ? Certain persons profess to be our leaders , and who < are to tell us what we

    Otight to do , if not they ? Suppose the Earl of Durham were a general , and it were proposed to him to leave the " initiative" of all his military manoeuvres to the soldiery

    Suppose he had the enemy before him , and were thus to harangue his troops , " Gentlemen , I see you are not ripe for attacking the foe ; and far be it from me to lead you , instead of being guided ; far be it from

    me to thrust my opinion upon you . I have observed in the history of all wars , that victories have always been

    prevented by officers taking upon themselves to anticipate the judgment of their rank and file , and not waiting till they were forced into action . "

    x he great teachers of mankind , Socrates , and a Diviner Name , did not talk thus . They did not wait for opinions , i ^ hich it was their business to produce;—for declatations by Greeks and Jews , which they themselves were to teach them

    to declare . The lesser teachers , the Hampdens and JVIarvells , did not Wait for otheT people to be stirring and witty , in order td get justice done them ; for toligf intervals , and ludky moments , and mighty occasions , and teachings of the teacher . They gave us what we wanted ,

    • . ¦¦ '"' . •' , The Queen, The Opening...

    their better knowledge ; considered us > daily informed tisj incessantly acted , for us ; and the consequence is , that they are great iiafnek ; not iherely at court or for a day , but in the hearts of mankind ; and for all ages . —But wait and see what will be said on this subject by others , before the present article is closed .

    We do not find this bashfulness of individual opinion * this " backwardness at being forward , " when courts and titles are concerned , of the hesitatOr fears the loss of any cherished

    ascendancy , —a local otie , for instance , —not exactly dependent upon adhering to the letter or spirit of an opinion . Neither are statesmen

    scrupulous at leaving opinion ^ , or bodies of men either , at the mercy of those chances of fete , from which they think it no loss of their dignity to entreat to be delivered themselves . It is always time to s & ve tketn . It is too often not time to sate the

    country . And when tli < e interests of the country , a , iid those of a form , contend fdr precedence , the form tiiugt always give way . We iriust

    own we think differently . " Words govern the woiffe };" and first words are tfttf apt t 6 carry the pampered principle of the initials in old books s #

    far , that not content with beltfig dressed and ilkuiiirMted beyfend any othet in the chapter , > they swallow up all the atiemim paid to . itf or At best jftifc tfie gewgaw tm & par tfrlth the edification . We think , therefore ,

    3*74 The Queen, The Openitiff 0'F Parlia...

    3 * 74 The Queen , the Openitiff 0 ' f Parliament , and the

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 1, 1837, page 374, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_01121837/page/6/