The life of Edward White Benson Author:Arthur Christopher Benson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 64 POLITICAL SURVEY Aet. 56 my visitation charges I uttered because I felt no alarm. Whatever comes, the Church of Christ will not suffer—and I do not think t... more »hat, whatever may be in store, there are any sufficient signs to make one think Mr Gladstone wrong in his view. What is wrong, irredeemably wrong, in his case is that he did not tell his half-informed followers that disestablishment would be a backward and a dangerous step for the State, unjustifiable and unjust. But one thing is visible gain already. The attention excited to the subject will make the Conservatives feel that they dare no longer oppose the reforms which the Bishops and the best of the clergy and the largest part of the laity of the Church have long desired and pressed for. The very hesitation to confess all that is amiss in our ways and works, lest it should arouse people still more against us, will surely now come to an end. The Conservatives threw out the last Patronage reform bill—but they will now feel that they injure what they want to preserve. And that subject, and the starvation of some laborious livings, and the exercise of some control by the laity must meet with more attention—we shall be able, I trust, with this wave to do something. It is rather of bad augury that Lord Salisbury has made political Church Defence a watchword (for the present) with his party— and the effect will be that the Liberals will be afraid of meddling with the support of the Church lest it should cause any doubt of their Liberalism. chapter{Section 4CHAPTER II. PARLIAMENTARY WORK. " Audire magnos jam videor duces Non indecoro pulvere sordidos" HORACE. I DO not propose to give more than a summary of the Archbishop's Parliamentary work. It was not congenial to him; he was convinced of the importance of secur...« less