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March 6, 1852.] THE LEADER. 227
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WHAT EUROPE MAY EXPECT FROM FREE ITALY. ...
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AN "INCUMBENT;" ONE WHO ENCUMBERS. Assur...
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HINT TO LOUIS NArOIiEOtf. We regret to b...
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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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Louis Bonaparte's Tory Friend In The For...
but , as straws in the wind , significant of Imperial intrigues . _ _ . . The Earl of Derbygave us a taste of his quality when as yet he only snuffed authority , on the first night of the session . He then told us that the press did not represent England . In our turn , we have now to ask Lord Derby and his aide-de-eamp IjordM ^ almesbury , '' the intimate personal friend of Louis Bonaparte , " whether tliev and their foreign friends represent England better than the English press—and what they are going to do in the affair of Switzerland ?
March 6, 1852.] The Leader. 227
March 6 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 227
What Europe May Expect From Free Italy. ...
WHAT EUROPE MAY EXPECT FROM FREE ITALY . « It is a proud characteristic of the Italian mind , " said Mazzini , at the conversazione of the Friends of Italy last week , " that it naturally and continuously aims at the harmonizing of what we call synthe ' and analysis—theory and practice , and ou ° ht to call heaven and earth . "It is a highly religious tendency—a lofty , instinctive aspiration towards the ideal , only coupled with a strong irresistible feeling that we ht to realize as much as we can of that ideal
oug in our terrestrial concerns ; that every thought ouo-ht to be , as far as possible , embodied into action . From our Etruscan towns , built and ruled according to a certain heavenly scheme , down to the 16 th century—from the deep religious ideia with which the soldier of ancient J & ome was identifying his duties towards the City , down to the religious symbol , the Carroccio , led in front of our national troops in . the middle agesfrom the Italian school of philosophy , founded in the south of the Peninsula by Pythagoras , a
religious and a pol itical society at once , down to our great philosophy of the 17 th century , in each of whom you will find a scientific system and a political tXtopia—every manifestation of the free , original , Italian genius has been the transformation of the social earthly medium under the conjunction of a religious belief . Our great Lombard league was planned in Pontidad ; in an old monastery , the sacred ruins of which are still extant . Our republican parliaments in the old Tuscan cities were often held in the temples of God . We are the children and inheritors of their glorious tradition . " We feel that the final solution of the
great religious problem , emancipation of the soul , liberty of conscience , acknowledged throughout and for all mankind , is placed providentially in our hands ; that the world shall never be free from organized imposture before a , flag of religious liberty waves high from the top of the Vatican ; that in such a mission to be fulfilled lies the genius of our initiative , the claim we have on . the heart and sympathies of mankind . " This passage is , perhaps , the most profound expression that coula be given of an Italian ' s view
of what constitutes the characteristic peculiarity of the development of the Italian mind . Some nations—as , for example , the Germans—are characterized by a devotion to abstract speculation for its own sake ; and this gives to their whole activity the appearance rather of a pure spiritual gymnastic than of energetic labour applied to real and tangible ends . Other nations , again , Buch as the French , are distinguished by an oxcossivo tendency to political activity—a disposition to bo continually working at express social problems . In this respect , according to M . Mazzini , the Italian occupies a kind of mean .
uoss remorselessly speculative than the German , and honco , perhaps , content with loss magnificent and extreme speculative results , yot , on tho other Jiaiul , less bont on incossant political experiment than tho Frenchman—the Italian , as M . Mazzini Jioldn , 13 actuated , moro than tho man of any other nation , by tho desire to wed speculation to jwcial fact , thought to action , theory to practice , Jioavou to oarth . Whatever thought ho has , and above il
n , whatever religious thought , it is his national habit not to rest until somehow ho has jiouaod this thought in social forms and institutions adequate to retain and represent it . To establish a unity , in short , bofcwoen his spiritual Ju iurationg and porcoptions and his worldly conjiiuoii and environment—this , says M . Mazzini , "as boon th 0 characteristic of tho Italian all . " oner , as . may bo proved by a reference to all ¦ unliftu thinkers arid systems , from tho earliest ^'"^ to this . J
Xl turn is a correct delineation , it certainly asbiu'oh to tho Italian nation a high function among ° l'l » or nations , if the Italians aro the nation viioso peculiarity it is that , on tho one hnnd , way lunit tho icloal to tho possibilities of tho
actual , and , on the other , drive the actual to the bounds of the ideal , —then they are precisely the nation from which the world should naturally expect the successive initiatives of civilization on the great scale . For what is civilization but the perpetual reconciliation of practice with new and ever-advancing thought ? If the Italian mind can do this best * then it .. is for the Italian mind to give , period after period , the new words , or ordinances which the nations require . And such , certainly , has been its function hitherto . Twice - —first in old Rome , and then in the Papacy—has
the world received unity from an Italian source . Nay , as nOw , it would seem that Italy must either fulfil this function to the world at large , or be herself nothing , —alternating , as it were , between a state of personal death , and a state of such vitality , that the life will not be restrained within herself , bxit overflows all around . And all this , as M . Mazzini hints—even if we treat it merely as a vague semblance of a conclusion from the past—tends to a grand possibility in the Italian future . What if the solution of the religious , or , rather , the ecclesiastical problem of the age ( ecclesiastical , we say , for this is
the proper word to express the external embodiment of the religious sentiment , ;—what if the solution of the ecclesiastical problem of the age is to come anew from Italy ? One negative contribution , at least , to the solution of this problem must come from Italy—the destruction of the Papacy . This , at least , the world must get from Italy , if it is to be obtained at all ; and it is the height of infatuation in our champions of Protestantism not to see that the grand aim of all their efforts is irrevocably bound up with the question of Italian emancipation and unification , and can
never be attained independently . Italy , however , may have more to do with the solution of the ecclesiastical problem of the age , than this negative contribution would imply . The Protestantism of English dissent may not be the only form of outcome from the ecclesiastical system of Papal Rome ; and it may be-for the Italian mind —once more setting itself to its favourite exercise , the reconciliation of practice with thoughtto excogitate for the world , and deliver over to other nations a more universal and more positive attempt at a Church of the future . Well , then , may all the nations be interested in Italy .
An "Incumbent;" One Who Encumbers. Assur...
AN " INCUMBENT ; " ONE WHO ENCUMBERS . Assuredly the Church of England will die of that sickly portion of it which is called " low . " There seems to be no end to the astounding revelations which daily come upon us , illustrative of the low church party . Nothing , in fact , is too low for them . Under " the reign of phenomenal primates like " John Bird , " the most wonderful facts come to light : and we are bewildered when we reflect , that an institution of such moment can contain at once an Archdeacon Denison , a Henry of Exeter , a Gorham , and a D . F . Morgan ! " The last-namod gentleman deserves , and shall have , a niche all to himself
byand-bye . But first let us look facts in tho face . Here is a proposition to build a church at Paddington , costing ten thousand pounds . " Tho district is chiefly notable for the poverty of its population ; tho pretext for building tho church is , that tho gospel may bo preached to these hard-lived people ; and—that wo should live to write itthe source from whence tho ton thousand pounds
is to be repaid is—the pew-rents ! This church is to bo plain—less than plain , an ugly composite ; for has not tho low church the instincts without tho heroism of Puritanism P An ugly barn of brick and stucco , thon , bo it—and paid for by pew-rents . Honco may wo not fairly infer , tfmt this low church has altogether given up its mission to the poor , and intonds henceforth to try and save only those souls who are capable of paying pow-ronts P What an amazing " dcvolopmont" !
But iH it only at Paddington that thoso things aro visiblo in open day , shaming tho , sun P Havo wo not bishops rieh / m purple and palaces , and cuhitoa whoso fortune is poverty P Iho church , as it goes with tho Quoon to oppn Parliament , is dignified , solemn , vonorablo . Tho surface of things ia fair to boo . But underneath tho lawn and tho mitre , whore tho works arc , what do wo behold P Poor ( uiratos , poor incumbentfl ,
poverly of all kinds . Tho blood of tho mure . lias , by good living , determined to its head , and must not apoplexy oiisuoP Lot " John Bird "
and Thomas Musgrave look to it while there is yet time . We have mentioned a reverend gentleman named Morgan as deserving separate pinning out as a specimen . Lately he has been installed at Leamington as incumbent of St . Mary ! s , and it is he who has suggested to us the title of this article , " ' Incumbent / one who encumbers . " In the . gay town of Leamington , long before the shadow of Morgan darkened its pavement , lived in
a musician named Merridew , a lady who , addition to her domestic and work-day duties , had played on Sundays the organ of St . Mary ' s for twelve years . She had also given an annual concert , engaging artists like Sontag , Ernst , Sivori , Lablache , Sims Reeves , and Bottesini ; and , in due course , one of these performances happened shortly after the arrival of Mr . Morgan . Horrible offence ! He could not bear it . Friends were consulted in London , and their convictions coinciding with his , he sat down and wrote the
following epistle to the sinner : — I / AKTSDOWNE HOUSE , LEAMINGTON , Feb . 6 , 1852 . Mrs . Mebridew , —However painful and apparently hard to you , I think it highly desirable that your services , as organist to St . Mary ' s , should not continue any longer . My own deep convictions have been strengthened by the opinions of friends whom I have consulted , not only here , but in London , of the extreme undesirableness of an organist of a church giving public concerts ; with these convictions , I feel I have no alternative left but to inform you , that your engagement as organist of St . Mary ' s will terminate at the end of the quarter , March 31 st , 1852 . I am , your obedient servant , Mrs . Merridew . D- F . MOEGAN .
Did Mawworm or Tartufe ever speak more to the purpose ? Note the exquisite vagueness of the language—the air of injured innocence it wears — perfumed with pity , as the cambric " front" of the writer when he ascends the pulpit is probably perfumed with musk—how gently it cuts off" the resources of an industrious woman , whose earnings partly supported a large family ; and how gracefully the writer bears the pain Seeing such facts as these , how can we help
asking , What are the rules , the beliefs , the heavenly message of the Church of England ? That in Oxford they are interpreted one way , and in Leamington in another—nay , that in Leamington alone a new policy begins with a new incumbent ! But why persecute music ? Simply because High Church wishes to spiritualize art , and Low Church cannot tolerate any rival attraction to the discourse" beloved of the " better half" of
the congregation . Farewell to Morgan ! Let the dews of Warwickshire fall lightly on him . Let not a hair of his sanctimonious head be ruffled , not a plait of his unexceptionable shirt be disturbed by monitions of ours . Lot his effigy be set up in the market-place , so that even the fowls of the air may know who has the monopoly of holiness . Great is he—in the eyes of tho " unco guid ;" tolerant is he—in tho eyes of St . Dominic ; but small is ho , and bigoted is he , in tho cyos of heartwhole and generous men .
Hint To Louis Naroiieotf. We Regret To B...
HINT TO LOUIS NArOIiEOtf . We regret to boo tlio vast number of docrccs which emanate , directly or indirectly , from fcho President of tho French ltopublic . Merely different versions of tho samo idea , tho absolute power which ho possesses , they aro a griovouB wasto of inventive energy on his part , la tho East , they have managed that sort of thing better : tho power of tho Sultan ia simply absolute ; docrcos , edicts , and all other lawn being nurphi . sa « jo . Wo recommend Louis Nnpoleon to take a holiday on the strength of that hint .
In tho East , indooil , they find tho necessity of somo code for tho many occasions of doubt in daily lilb , and they hho the Koran for that purpono : Islam is govornod by tho Bull an and tho Koran . Thoro would , howovor , bo a difficulty in applying tho name rule to tho Fronch Sultan , since tho volumo which would bo hold aacrod by tho clorgy on whom ho relies , is full of passages that would refuto and rebuke his every act . M Low could ho tolorato any- limitation of such precept as the recognition of a rulor ' n right to « ' tho things which aro Owsar'H , * ' whon ho accounts all things to bo Citisur's , and will make good that pi ; otonsiou by spelling Soizor in tho English way .
No ; ho mint ; be absolute , without any rival authority , howovor Huored . Any other authority is incompatible with hia . Kin HiibjeclH « w lotmiing tho practice ) of consulting him directly , and will hooh havo to ask hi . s permission for nmrn'ing or ( jiving in niairiiigc , for transacting
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 6, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06031852/page/15/
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