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MABCft 13, 1852.] THE LEADER. 249
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ROEBUCK AND COPPOCIC. Why was there such...
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AN IRI3H AMNESTY. A Movement is going on...
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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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The Pioneer Church Of The Colonies. Act ...
< V should be done . " And so long as -they mamt iin this position , —so long as they abstain from Political intrigues , aad from basing expectations nn political combinations , — so long as they demand their rights as Churchmen , and abstain from seeking temporal as well , as spiritual dominion , —so long , . and * o longer , will they gradually and victoriously advance towards the loal they aim at , until , in the fulness of time , they attain it ; and with it , its immense responsibilities . Convocation cannot be much longer denied There is a righteousness in the demand
. which will ensure its success . The best and the bravest , the most upright and consistent Churchmen , are among its champions ; and it is the intrinsic honesty of their cause which commends it to our advocacy . Here we take our stand , and to this point we limit our exertions . We will not tolerate , for one moment , any attempt to set up an ecclesiastical tyranny . There must be equal recognition of all sects and persuasions , and the rights accorded to the Church must be equally accorded to all . And we venture to prerlmfr , that if in the hour of success the High Church
party attempt to transgress the limits which they have themselves laid down in the reports of the London Church Union , and which we have from time to time favourably cited in our columns , the moment they grasp at secular , as well as spiritual power , that moment will be the signal for their downfall and destruction . It is necessary for us to state this distinctly . Yet are we bound in fairness to state also , that at present we see no signs of any such attempts , and that we are willing to accept the wprd of honest and serious men
as a sufficient guarantee for their future conduct . Our own views on this subject we have stated many times . We believe that no truly religious development can take place , unless liberty be given for all to work out what is in them , free frqm temporal State restrictions ; it is on the " broad ground of equal recognition for all , equal defence by each of the rights common to all "the ground we took on owning this question— - that -wo claim for the Church the right and the liberty to show herself honest , and to do what she can for the benefit of mankind . But what we claim for her , we claim for All .
Mabcft 13, 1852.] The Leader. 249
MABCft 13 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 249
Roebuck And Coppocic. Why Was There Such...
ROEBUCK AND COPPOCIC . Why was there such a shout of satisfaction at Mr . James Coppock ' s exposure of Mr . Roebuck ? Why ia it felt that no reply can " explain away " Mr . Eoebuck ' s false position ? Because the Member for Sheffield is a purist who has been harsh in his construction of others ; because he is one of the shining lights of a utilitarian school relentless towards the frail ; and thus the public is as pleased to see him pilloried as it is when a
prude ia detected in a peccadillo . The facts as he puts them in his rejoinder to Mr . Coppock are by no means incredible . He had declared that " he for one had had nothing to do with Mr . Coppock in any one of his elections , and that Mr . Coppock would never have dared to como where he was a candidato pretending to bo on his side . " These assertions , as they stand in tho report of the Times , prove to be the very rovorso of the fact : Mr . Coppock had dared to como where Mr . Roebuck was a candidato , namely , at Bath , in 18 < U : had not onlv pretended ,
but had acted on Mr . Roebuck ' s sido ; and had done so hy Mr . Roebuck ' s invitation ! Mr . Coppock produces a lotter by Mr . Roebuck , disclosing tho state of election matters in Bath , and urging his correspondent to como down to manage tho cor operation of tho Whigs with tho Radicals , and especially to speak to six " wilful , vain fools , " three entitled " Mr . — -, " and three " Dr . , " wuoso impracticability evidently occasioned much disquiet to the Bath Cato . Coppock did go down 0 Y r 1 esc"o , with Lord Duncan- —and is now oontumo liously disci aimed .
* ^ back ' s explanation is , that he had loiaiiy forgotten tho correspondence rolativo to S ? ^ election of 18 < tl ; " nnd wo heartily born , ° f « o did forget , in si > ito pf appearances . » li ° fJWtion to Mr . Coppock , indood , that ho Bumid como down aocrotly—" incog ., mind "—is j" awkward , accompaniment to the subsequent a acJttunor . But appearances aro of little force gainst charactor , and the very defects of Roo"iwjKB character holp to explain tho awkward of n ?• commonly fastens upon one view ' , ' JGofc , and forgets ovory thing but what is wn «\ T- that viovv - Xn May , 1841 , tho idea was to got m for Bath , with " a Whig , and
something more ; " in 1852 , the idea was , to denounce corrupt election : now there is no belief that Roebuck had any thing to do with corrupt elections for the nonce he was regarding Coppock as the impersonation of the St . Alban ' s system , and that was the thing he was disclaiming ; Bath belonging to a category" of ideas totally out of his field of view at the moment . The fact remains , that Mr . Roebuck has profited by the aid of the contemned Coppock—has solicited that aid—has suggested that it should
be given " incog .. ; " the fact remains that that money for his expenses had passed through the hands of Coppock ; the fact remains that the " chevalier sans petir et sans reproche , " as he implies himself to be , stood in fear of failure , and invited the complicity of the Whigs , "to keep out the Tories . " He now claims and deserves liberal constructions jr but what liberal , constructions did he allow to the members whom he charged with sitting by purchase , in that dramatic scene with which he startled the Commons out pf its monotony , and which led . to the Corrupt Elections Committee ? Those members now laugh to see
Mr . Roebuck admitting the main facts which he vainly endeavours ? to ? explain away * and obliged , after all , to fall back upon ithe good construction of gentlemen * Mr . Roebuck is a stern patriot , a realist in poHticSy a philosophical ORadieal : ¦ what business , then , had he in getting up alliances with , the Whigs to manoeuvre the representation of a city ? What . business had lie to join in the canting : pretence of "keeping out the Tories'Wthat wretched pretext . which has kept in office the most inefficient ministry of England ' s history ? Why does he now speak as if it were less discreditable to deal with a Whig secretary , when negoeiating , than with the agent of that secretary in the same affair P Surely the difference of rank makes no difference in the act .
A really independent member could have had no legitimate vocation in such a work , but still we will extend to the embarrassed truth-teller the liberal construction which lie is so slow to S Ve . He may have thought it so desirable for ath to retain its Radical member , that it might also consent to have that patriotic Whig who has triumphed over the window-tax ; and we think that it was desirable . But it was not desirable that an independent member should commingle with Treasury manoeuvres to dispose of
seats : it was not desirable that the stern critic of other men ' s morals should fall in with a plan which drives so much of England to seek its representation through a Coppock . A man has no right to assume the office of censor , while dallying with the instruments of that which he censures . But in his own untoward position , perhaps the , historian of the Whigs may learn a great lesson—that men of the purest intentions and highest ambition may be betrayed into equivocal courses . Wo will not say , therefore , that he has forfeited the self-appointed office of censor ; but we will express a hope that , strengthened
by this adversity , ho will have outgrown that office . Thore is yet work for sp able and truly honest a man to do , if he could only awake to tho truth , that ability is not linked even to a Sheffield Cato—that honesty is not , attested by harsh constructions—that true chivalry looks to the spirit , rather than , to tho letter of , any . law , and that true patriotism should promote a brotherhood of action among th , e best mon of a country , rather than an isolatod exaltation for no purnoso more practical than that of parading talent in a general onslaught of disparaging criticism .
An Iri3h Amnesty. A Movement Is Going On...
AN IRI 3 H AMNESTY . A Movement is going on' in America and in Iroland which attracts vevy inadequate attention in this country—a popular effort to obtain a free pardon for the political , exiles who shared in tho insurrection of Smith O'Brien , and in , his punishment . Tho feeling that diotatos this movornont in tho two countries , is somewhat differont ; but in both it dosor , vos respect .
In . Ireland tho fooling is , . that tho oxilos havo undergoneJHiniskmontt ; enough for anything but rovongo . , Jfiven their : friends now acknowledge that their attempts at insurrection wore indiscroot ; oven thoir enemies admit that the disorder was a natural product of tho long misrule to which Ireland lias boon subjected , which lent to government tho prostigo noithor of affection nor reason , and which still subordinates justice to oxpQdioaoy . , < TJm > days of violence ia Ireland aro
passed ; the reverses of the patriots hare crushed the hopes of triumph by force . The famine and its concomitants have left no strength for anyinsurgent schemes . Ireland is subdued by the heavy hand of fate . There remains for her to be subdued by generosity— -an appeal to which the Irish are peculiarly amenable , both by their nature and . by the fact that , in . regard to that emotion , Ireland is still the virgin handmaid of England .
In America the feeling is more complex . It is well known that the vast proportion of the immense emigration from Ireland is directed to the United States . 3 y that long-continued process , the republic is rapidly and steadily acquiring a large Celtic , element . One town , Boston , has been virtually abandoned to the Irish ; the true Americans retreating to the suburbs . The " native American" movement attested the growing strength of the element which it was designed to check . Considerable changes , however , are observed to have come over the . Irish mind in America . In the first place , it is a remarkable fact , which we note without attempting to explain
it , that the children of Irish immigrants for the most part become Protestants . Another remark , in the truth of which we have much faith , is , that the anti-British feeling which especially distinguished the Irish citizens of the Union has materially abated , and is giving place to an impression that if the English people were better understood , it would be better both for Ireland and England . Americans as well as Irish are beginning to draw the requisite distinction between Downing-street and England . But the inclination to a closer alliance with England unquestionably awaits some proof that England is disposed to act with generosity towards the sister community .
Now , we have never extenuated the conduct of the Irish insurgents , nor upheld their claim to leniency . - We believed their rebellion to be a miscalculation , criminal , because the elements of success had not been secured—because the people were hurried into a conflict which could not but end in failure . We laaye declared our conviction that men who" brave the laws , must count upon incurring the consequences of failure , and have no right to beg off . But the past has gone bv , and is cut off from the present bv the terrible
changes in Ireland to which we have alluded . Even the recent change of Government in this country contributes to the severance of the past from the present . ' Meanwhile , as to the wishes of the Irish majority , and of very great numbers in America , there can be no doubt . It has not been usual , of late years , to conduct public affairs on a principle of generosity ; it is thought more " practical " to stick to harsh utilitarian calculations . France detains Abd-el-Kader , and " England , "—that is , Downing-street—temporizes with
Louis Napoleon ; but the results are not quite happy . The Governments which act on that mean spirit do not possess the moral influence which is attainod by a more courageous generosity . We havo tho strongest faith in such an influence , though not in its appreciation by a Whig Government . Tho Whig Government , however , is numbered with tho errors of the past ; and wo havo a right to expect a more generous rdgime , if it wore only because wo
cannot expect a loss gonerous one . We daily look out for signs , too , that tho Government of the Empire lias reverted to some regard for national feelings , and some ambition to lead tho nation , rather than to treat Government merely as anaffair of police . In such hope wo cannot help desiring that a gonorous truat in tho Irish people , and an express deference for tho wishes of the Amorican . people , could induce our Government to grant the desired boon , by extending to tho Irish oxilos , freely and without stint , a national forgiveness .
Many discreet and judicious politicians might think it dcsirablo to accompany tho gift with a condition , that mon who havo shown so little scruplo in exciting tho passions of a people , should not return to Iroland ; but wo do not think that "such a condition would bo desirable . In tho first place , it would not , bo necessary . Thrift ) decimated , as tho manhood of Ireland lias
boon , by tho famine , tho pestilence , and tho emigration , — dispirited , enfeebled , crushed ,- ^ conditions against that country at this day would bo noodlesa—a mockery of her weakness . Conditions , too , tako from a boon half its value . Probably the mon who havo oxpondod so much of thoir youthful firo in a disastrous mistake , would not return to the econo of thoir error , but would
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 13, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13031852/page/13/
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