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deems necessary . The preacher , he thinks , ought to possess a " command of language and readiness of expression . " Imagine a man venturing to ascend the pulpit without a command of language ! Another qualification is " Such an acquaintance with the elements of modern science , as an intelligent congregation would expect in their instruction . " The clergyman should also know something of " mental science" and " the philosophy of morals . " . " The highest authority in ethics is the Bible" of course , and
there is , we are told , a theory there , implied though not expressed ; but it requires " study and reflection to comprehend" the theory ; and the Venerable the Archdeacon opines that the clergymen should at least master the works of Bishop Butler . That , he thinks , " would be sufficient . " Also , he thinks , that the clergymen should understand something of Political Economy ; for although " political economists overlook '' moral and religious influences , sound views
of economic science , he assures his class , are " quite compatible with sound Christianity , '' and " it is not safe for the clergy in the management of large and populous parishes , to disparage or neglect this most useful as well as practical branch of study . " Composition , also , is another " branch of study " to which the Archdeacon invites his pupils ; as good thoughts do not well reach the mind unless they are conveyed in clear and appropriate words .
The very simple course of adult education here recommended for the neglected clergy implies that our appointed preachers , expositors of the "Word , successors and vicegerents of the Apostles , have neglected to learn things so elementary as the use of language and composition , the theory of morals conveyed in the Bible , and the economy of the class to whose moral state they are to minister . It is , therefore , high time that Archdeacon Sinclair should begin his new labour of teaching " common things . "
But the cautions that he finds it necessary to convey to the clergymen standing before him in . class imply a state of mental neglect so distressing , that we only wonder that the order has been able to maintain its position at all . ¥ e will not talk of its avoiding exposure in the pulpit , for that has not always been accomplished . But we do wonder that persons placed over congregations at the present day , in the condition implied by
Achdeacon Sincxaib , have not immediately emptied the churches of the Establishment . Perhaps the true reason is , that as most religious professors think secular education out of their line of business , there is the same neglected state in other sects besides that of the Established Church ; so that the clergy of the privileged sect are exempt from the competition to which they might otherwise have been exposed .
He has told them to learn something of the elements of modern science in orc ) , er to be up to the mark of their own congregation ; where at least every tenth man knows what Onit and Chambers can teach him ; but the Archdeacon adds the caution that the Christian preacher is not to give lectures from the pulpit on geology , optics , or astronomy . The Archdeacon , wo must romeraber , is adapting himself to the state of
intelligence in his pupils , and ho supposes that state to bo such that , if ho tolls thorn to look into modorn scionco , they will straightway plunge into optics , geology , and astronomy , as the subjects of lecturos from tho pulpit , confounding tho Church with tho Lectureroom , and competing with Professor Anderson's lectures on Astronomy in tho Adolp lu Theatre during Lent ! Ifceally this is very sad .
Even good morals , says Archdeacon SinoiiAiB , ought not to be couched in the language of good society during the days of Queen Elizabeth or Charles I . ; for it seems these ignorant persons , for want of knowing more recent models , chatter oh subjects which they do not understand in language aping Hookes and Jebemy Taylor . It would not be proper for us to put
into positive terms the form of the mental complaint implied by these precepts and cautions—to describe in plain English the degree of natural capability , the lucidity of perception , the schooling or the qualification for teaching . Mr . Horace Mann has done much to raise our poor and our juvenile classes from the degraded state into which they have been sunk : Archdeacon Sinclair follows with the same admirable mission on
behalf of our neglected clergy . It is not in any spirit of invidiousness if we remark that if the clergy were rescued from this benighted state , and were converted into qualified teachers , a considerable indirect progress would be made in the instruction of those classes for whom the clergyman has been regarded as the appointed teacher .
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BOARD AND LODGING . Government appears resolved to make a determined stand against administrative reform , and it adopts the strongest opposition by concentrating itself , and minimising change into partial concessions . In the first place , it is proposed to collect the offices bodily , in a topographical sense . At present they lie scattered ; some of the executive departments in the City , some in Westminster , and some half way between . Way , some particular departments are actually divided into halves .
While we have the India House in the City , the Irish Office in Park-street , the Foreign Office in Downing-street , we have the Colonial Office in that same cul de sac , with its off-lying department , the Emigration Office , in Park-street ; the Treasury is in Whitehall ; the Exchequer Bill Office some distance over the way ; the Exchequer Loan Bill Office in the City ; the Navy Pay Office in some obscure street in Westminster ; and the Admiralty , which has to do with Navy pay , is divided between Whitehall and Somerset
House . To the public , the consequences are rather serious . A man with a warrant for certain payments will probably have to attend at the Admiralty , Audit Office , Treasury , Navy Pay Office , and the Bank of England , with others intervening , and will positively be detained in town a night , because it is impossible to compass the journeying to and fro between the public departments . Similar inconveniences attend even the public servants , and constitute one grand excuse for delays . Well , Government intends to remedy this state of things . Downing-street is to be the centre ; but a considerable tract of land to the soutli and north of that official
street will be devoted entirely to a new building—a grand quadrangle , 250 feet long by 150 wide , with the present entrance oi Downing-street for its grand portal . The contemplated building is described by tho Times : — " The right of this quadrangle , aa you enter , after passing the present buildings of tho Privy Council and tho Board of Trade , would bo occupied by the residences of tho Eirst Lord of tho Treasury and tho
Chancellor of tho Exchequer , thrown back from their presont position , and covering the space now occupied by tho Treasury-gnrdons . Tho north-western portion of tho quadrangle would bo occupied by tho War Office ; tho centro rooms appropriated to Ministerial recoptions : the south-west by the Foreign Office , with tho State Paper Office in its rear ; tho south by tho Colonial Office ; and the south-east corner , facing tho Privy Council , by a * building not 1 yot appropriated to any public eervico , but for which
there will be , undoubtedly , numerous claimants . The plan seems to be a good one , and made in a spirit of comprehensive simplicity . The situation of the Foreign and Colonial Offices is such that th ey may be completed before the present dens in which those departments at present burrow have been pulled down , and thus the , expense and loss of more than one removal may be spared . The total cost of the undertaking , including 25 , 000 ? . for fittings and 54 , 0007 . for the purchase of properties required , will be 585 , 000 / . It is proposed to commence with the new Foreign Office , as supplying a want most urgently felt , and being , besides , to be built on land a considerable portion of which is vacant . For this purpose 90 , 000 / . will be required . "
The grand concession in departmental reconstruction is the reorganisation of the war department . Bat here , Lord John Russell says , the improvement is to stop . He does not think that the Foreign Office , or the Colonial Office , or any of the other offices , needs extensive reconstruction . Exactly the same kind of objections were made against the very reforms now conceded . Iiord Aberdeen objected to Lord Joiin himself , that there was no necessity for appointing a War Minister . The concentration of buildings has been
urged upon Government , with the same reasons that now exist , but not . granted , " account of the expense . " If G-overnment faces the expense in a year of war expenditure , what is the reason ? It is , that the Executive is concentrating upon the ground , in order to prevent a thorough administrative reform , by presenting a closer front and making such concessions as cannot be avoided . Press them , we say , and they will concede more . This it is the function of the Administrative Reform Association to accomxilish , and their address , which we published last week , implies that they are not without a perception of their right duty . What they have
to deal with is—the public departments . They have to meet the declaration of Ministers , that all which is required is conceded . It is not true . The whole system is essentially defective , and tho concessions made from time to time still leave defects . For example , it was only within tho last few years that a good system of registration has been introduced . That system orig inated with the Treasury , and has-been carried out iu all offices under control of the Treasury ; but the offices not within the same control , such as the Foreign Office and the Admiralty , arc left to follow what system of registry they like . The Audit Office has to audit the payments of salaries to the officers of various
establishments throughout England . It audits the accounts of the payment of salaries to all the Custom-house officers in Liverpool ; but to be able to audit them properly , it should have the Treasury authorities for each salary ; since even genuine payments might be niado without authority . Yet , will it be believed that it is only within the last few years that tho Audit Office has organised what are called " Establishment Books , " that is , books allowing tho names and salaries authorised for each Customs establishment in the kingdom ? Previously tho officials did not know whether tho salaries were authenticated or
not , and had to refer back and forward lrom office to office to discover tho authority lor a new or increased salary . So far good ; but wo aro still behind : Customs Accounts lor 1850-1 and for 1851-2 remain still unaudited for want of establishment books ; while the Customs Accounts for 1852-3 and 1853-4 , are being audited with novel oaso and rnpiuity , bocauao their establishment books nro ready . Tho Foreign Office was specified by Lora John as not requiring improvement ; w rests secure in superiority . It can ^ translate foreign documents into neat J ! aign » > and tho official version of Baron Ut ° " kesu Osten ' h German-French contrnstoa favourably with tho hasty versions ot tno
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618 * THE LEADER , [ Satubpay ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 2, 1855, page 518, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2093/page/14/
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