Chapter 17 - Between the Two Reform Bills - G.M. Trevelyan

G.M Trevelyan - SHE - Chapter XVII

[alert-success] BETWEEN THE TWO REFORM BILLS

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[alert-primary] REFORMATION IN THE CHURCH [/alert-primary]

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     We could call the time between the Great Reform Bill of 1832 and the end of the 19th century the "Victorian Age," but the economy, social norms, and intellectual climate changed so quickly and often that we shouldn't think of these seventy years as being exactly the same, just because "the Queen" was in charge for more than sixty of them (1837-1901). 

    The Reform Act of 1832 gave political power to the middle class and took it away from the lords and landowners. This broke up the power monopoly of the peers and the big landowners. It was the first time that Parliament was run by the people. The balance of power in national politics changed because of it. It was just the start of the change from aristocracy to democracy in government. The Reform Act of 1832 changed the way England's government worked.

Peel's Church Reform 

    Peel and the Whig statesmen worked together to make the Church Reforms happen. Between 1836 and 1840, the Ecclesiastical Commission and an Act of Parliament got rid of the worst problems with how endowments were given out.     The number and wealth of the Cathedral Clergy went down. The money that was saved was used to give the poor priests and ministers more money. For the growing number of people in the industrial north, the boundaries of the diocese were changed, and new bishoprics were set up in Manchester and Ripon. During this time, big salaries were cut. 

The Tithe Exchange Act of 1836 

    The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 got rid of the tithe system, which had been in place since the beginning of time. Under the tithe system, a person had to give away 10% of their income. Before the Marriage Act of 1836, a legal marriage could only be done by a priest of the Church of England. But the new law said that religious ceremonies could be held in the parsons' different places of worship as long as they were registered with the Register. Births, marriages, and deaths were all written down in a Civil Register. Even so, the upper class still had control over the clergy in the old-fashioned parts of England. During the Industrial Revolution, a new group of people called "slum parsons" came into being. The slum parson was different from the church leaders in the old hamlet. The Church of England was open to people with different ideas and ways of life. 

John Henry Newman 

    The other part of English religion in the Victorian era was the Anglo-Catholic movement and the fight between religion and science. John Keble and John Henry Newman wrote a series of articles for The Times with the goal of getting the clergy of the Church of England to join the Church of Rome, where he was honoured and made a Cardinal. 

Christian Socialism 

    Christians from many different groups made up the society. Christian socialism put more of an emphasis on the useful parts of Christianity than on the dogmatic parts. Charles Kingsley, F.D. Maurice, and Thomas Hughes were in charge of it. Kingsley wrote books like "Water Babies" to show his countrymen the bad things about industrialism and to show that the only way to fix this problem was through practical Christianity. 

Conclusion 

    At the end of the 20th century, the fight between science and religion shook the Evangelical faith to its core. In the 19th century, when new ideas about Biology came out, they were a big blow to religion. Some people stayed true to their religious beliefs. But many people started to follow the rules of science, which made the fight between science and religion worse.

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