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practical power of removing him from a post he i s * in any case , unqualified to hold , j . TBe bishop has nominal ; power- of suspending any incumbent in his diocese , who has-been found guilty of immorality by the ecclesiastical tribunals , Ind of sequestering part of his income . This power , however , is seldom exercised . In tne first place , the clergy , from the natural esprit decorps * are most unwilling to drag before the public the delinquencies of a brother clergyman . Alien , again , the ecclesiastical tribunals are uncertain , tedious , and expensive ; and lastly , the cost of the ±
prosecution falls practically upon the tnsnop . ae consequence is , that such a case as Mr . Bonwells is by no means singular . We ourselves were acquainted with an instance of a clergyman who had a charge-of gross profligacy brought against him , The charge was investigated privately by a committee of clergymen , who reported that there was ground for further investigation . The suspected clergyman could not , or would not , abide the result of the inquiry . He left the diocese ; the charge was dropped , and after a short time , he obtained duty in another diocesej and , before long had to leave again , in consequence of open immorality . Any one acquainted with country life would be able to mention some case or other of a
clergyman , who led notoriously an immoral life , and remained entrusted with the cure of souls . We do not say that such cases are anything but the rare exception . The eyil worked , however , by one such case is astonishing , and the scandal given to religion outweighs the influence of hundreds , of clergymen who do their duty well and manfully . The evil is a crying one , but the remedy is obvious . A clergyman charged with immorality should be tried by a lay tribunal empowered to remove him from his post in case of conviction . It is rank heresy to say so , but after all a living is the property of the congregation , not _ of the clergyman . There can be no such thing as a vested interest in the cure of souls .
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OUR CONSULSHIPS . There are few departments of British misgovernment in which patronage is more frequently misused than in the appointment of consuls , and it is impossible for any one to travel , or have transactions with foreign ports , without becoming acquainted with instances of lamentable incompetency . It might , on the other hand , be remarked that there are likewise many cases in which gentlemen of great ability and aptitude fill these situations , but even here the system merits condemnation , as from the demarcation between
the diplomatic and consular services they are excluded from honours and emoluments which are their due . It is well known that consuls and consuls-general are often , and sometimes continually , employed in diplomatic work , but nevertheless their seclusion is maintained , in order that the superior appointments may be reserved for fortunate members of the privileged order . The whole system needs revising ; but pending the introduction of a reformed scheme , every appointment should be jealously watched , and none tolerated in which the interests of commerce and
the dignity of the country are sacrificed to considerations of family advantage and political jobbing . As an illustration of the class of appointments we condemn , we may mention that a most important commercial port was recently supplied with a British consul , who did not know the language of the country to which he was accredited , and to the day of his death never took-the trouble to learn it . Perhaps it was fortunate for all parties that he was usually away from his post for nine months put of the twelve 5 but being afflicted with chronic impecuniosity , even his absence from the soene of duty did not succeed in preserving the credit of his country unimpaired .
Such foots as theso cannot bo unknown to the Government ; and the . mercantile community will have good ground for dissatisfaction , if any more appointments arc made without consulting their viewa . No . one ought to hold the offioe of consul in an important town , who Uoe not already proved his capacity , and acquired the confidence of the mercantile class ; and where duties have been well performed by subordinates , they should be preferred to the chief office when it becomes vacant , in preference to strangers , wliose only recommendation is their relationship to eomo family , able to command , the attention oftho ministry of the day .
ASSASSINATION OF COLONEL ANTTX 1 The dissipation of the calm which has . so long overhung Italian affairs by the murder of Colonel Anviti has produced the most painful impression upon the . mind of every friend to order and legality . It is , however , matter for grief rather than for surprise that the recent quiet march of events in Central Italy should be thus suddenly interrupted . For weeks past the admiration excited by the self-control of the Italians has been accompanied by uneasy fears lest it should give way under the trials of patience to which it was subjected;—subjected , as we fully believe , mainly
for the purpose that it should so give way . That it has thus yielded at Parma is the cause of open reproach and secret exultation among the enemies of Italy , though they have but very insufficient grounds for their triumph . The universal regret and horror expressed , whether by friends or foes , at the commission of a single crime of this nature during weeks and months of continued political a < ntation and excitement at least speaks eloquently for the admirable conduct pursued , in the main , by the people and their rulers . Nor ought it to be lef t out of view that the crime was committed independently of political considerations , and was
ah outburst of natural indignation against a monster who was a disgrace to human nature . Without seeking for a moment to palliate the enormity of the bloody act of vengeance , we can but feel that the punishment , though irregularly administered , was richly deserved . The truth of the biblical passage—which we hold to be declarative and not preceptive , — ' ¦ ' ¦ Whoso sheddeth man's blood byman shall his blood be shed" has received a striking exemplification in the present unfortunate and tragical occurrence . The victim wantonly sacrificed the lives of his fellow creatures , and his own has now paid the penalty . succeeded to
Charles III ., Duke of Parma , who the government on the abdication of Charles Louis , in 1848 , was a prince who seemed desirous of imitating the mingled ferocity , sensuality , and buffoonery of the worst of the Roman Emperors The state groaned beneath his tyranny and suspicion ; an immense number of persons of note were exiled or imprisoned by him on the most frivolous political grounds , and the taxes were raised to an unheard of extent , to supply his almost fabulous debauchery . At length he carried his vices too far for human endurance . He had determined on possessing himself of the revenues of the great hospital of Parma , and various other charitable institutions . The whole city was in consternationbut no redress was possible while Austrian
, troops held the chief citadel and countenanced him in his iniquities . In 1854 he was mortally wounded by the dagger of an assassin . When carried in a dying condition to his palace , the only fear apparently entertained by his subjects was that the stroke should not prove mortal ; and his death was felt by all , and perhaps most especially by his wife , as an escape from hated servitude and thraldom . The first public act of the widowed Duchess , Louisa of Bourbon , conveyed an assurance of redress to the population whom he had so grossly outraged . The same edict which announced her assumption of the government during the minority of her son , Duke Robert , notified the dismissal of the ministers most obnoxious as
abettors of the Duke ' s tyranny . Tins promise was , however , but partially carried out . Colonel Luigi Anviti , the late Duke ' s chamberlain , was still suffered to possess almost unlimited power , until he so shamefully abused it that the Duchess was compelled , after the lapse of a few months , to insist upon his withdrawal from the city , when he retired to Piaoenza , of which place he was a native and member of a good family . In an unlucky hour for himself he unexpeotedlymade his appearance , on the 5 th instant , upon the scene of his
former cruelties , after an absence of some years . He was well known as one of the very vilest tools of one of the worst monarohs who ever disgraced and tormented poor down-trodden Italy , Ueoogniscd by one who had personally suffered . from his brutality , the fact of his presence was immediately communicated to the populace . In spite of 'the efforts made by Colonel Doda and others to insure his safety , he was quickly surrounded by those whom he had injured , either directly or through their nearest and dearest connexions , and his hfe fell a sacrifice to their natural though unjustifiable rage and fury . Surely there is nothing in this isolated act to
warrant the exaggerated indignation expressed against his assassins and the civic authorities by those who upheld him in committing wholesale murder in open day as well as in the secret dungeon , as he is declared to have done , and who applaud the conduct of the Papal rulers in the late foul massacre at Peiug iay Again , it seems to us an unealled for flourish of trumpets on the part of one who has shown himself so utterly unscrupulous in the sacrifice of human life as the Emperor of the French , publicly to declare that unless justice was immediately done diplomatic relations should cease between France and Central Italy . Why would fail
assume that the Parmesan rulers in their duty ? Everything , on the contrary , seems to prove that the utmost promptitude was employed in endeavouring to bring the offenders to justice . The morning after the catastrophe the Intendent-GeiieraL issued a most appropriate proclamation , deploring the occurrence , and inviting the co-operation and assistance of the citizens m his efforts to restore and maintain public order . It appears equally certain that as early as circumstances would permit , Signer Farini lef t Turin to see that inquiries were instituted with a view to the administration of justice against the real offenders . Most grievous , indeed , must it have been to him thus to inaugurate , so to speak , his official eareer at Parma . Scarcely more than a
fortnight prior to the sad event , he terminated his reply ° to the decree of the Assembly conferring upon him the Dictatorship of Parma by these words : — " Ours is not the cause of a party , but of a whole people ; or , rather , it is the cause of order , both moral and civil , without which States can have no firm foundation , and the European commonwealth must in vain look for equilibriunv of forces and stability of empires . " Justice will , we doubt not , be dealt in due proportion to the offence , and vre trust the occurrence will have taught the Parmesans , as well as the rest of the Italian aspirants for freedom , that they cannot for a moment afford to relax the most vigorous selfcontrol , or to depart in any degree from strict moderation in the future . -
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POLITICAL FORESHADOWINGS . Ax the repent meeting of the Worcester Agricultural Association Sir Johh Pakington spoke of the new rupture with China : —and said Whatever might have been the cause of the great and unfortunate disaster—for it would be folly to deny that it was a great disaster—whether or not mistakes had been committed , and if so , by whom—however that might be , he hoped the British public would consider the m as matters of comparatively no importance , and he hoped that instead of our policy with respect to-China being , as had been heretofore , the subject of party struggles , all parties and the great mass of the British public would be of opinion that any defeat of British arms was a tiling that must be
redressed , We could not afford to have our prestige impaired , nor our honour doubted , and he believed that the general feeling of the public would be that this unfortunate reverse must some way or other bo redressed . Before he sat down he desired to do justice to those brave men who fought at the Peiho . Many of them were personally known to mm , and , he was proud to be able to call Admiral Hope his friend , He had the honour of appointing him to the command in the Clunese seas , and he had selected him solely becausb he was well known as a man of great experience , and an officer of great ability and skill . It was unnecessary to add that he was alsoa nmn 1 ofthe mostundoubted bravery . Adm . ral Hope had been doubly unfortunate in that engagement of tho Poiho , in suffering what to a British « fflplWJ , the most painful of all things-defeat -,
and also in being himself severely wounded . Mr Mjiwbow , 1 M . P ., « gentleman connected with the Chinese trade , and who has been in Chrao , has in a speech made to some of Ins constituents , given his opinion on the present state of our relations with the Chinese . The hon . gentleman say a ho does not believe that anything serious will arise from what has occurred , because , as ho imagines , when a reasonable force makes its appearance , the Chinese will viold as they have yielded before . According thenf to lii vie ^ of the case , it U the duty of -her Majesty ' s Government to send out such a force as will compel them to obey the commands of our En ' ftimiveraary meeting of tho Norwich Eldon Conservative Club was held on Monday evening si * SAMnmL Bignold congratulated his heareys on
the result of tho late election potltion , which had relieved the city of its former Whig-JfcAdical repwsontativee , and proceeded to refer to his . own , position and that of the electors as affected by tho pro-
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ro 4 QO Iter . Mi 1859 . 1 TflElEAPgB , 1155
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 15, 1859, page 1155, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2316/page/15/
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