Mr. Hall, the leading tenant in Redbottrne, the parish in
which the Duke of St. Albans has asked the congregation to nominate a vicar, writes to the Times to explain what kind of vicar he wants. It "is not the preaching simply, but the external conduct which is of much importance in the rural districts. The rule is for the incumbents to hold their heads high, and to look down upon the farmers as an inferior class ; and where the clergyman is on intimate terms with the resident squire, great tyranny and much mischief are often inflicted on the tenantry. . . . Especially are we desirous of finding a vicar who would think it no degrada- tion for himself and his wife to enter our houses as a social, and not formally a parochial visitor." That is precisely what we said last week. The new patrons want a tea-drinking parson, who will " mix " and be "affable" not only with Mr. Hall, but with everybody else who voted for him, whatever his culture or his habits. The desire is natural enough, but we contend that is not what the State wants, and it is the policy of the State, not the fancies of farmers, that Dukes in possession of Church patronage ought to further. Mr. Hall says unless the congregation are unanimous they will resign their trust back to the landlord. But suppose they are unanimous, "unanimous as Jonah in the whale," they will not, if they unanimously prefer equality to superiority, make a good selection. In all other departments of life when men choose a teacher, they prefer one who knows more than they do,—and one part of a pastor's function is to teach civilization.
