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124 «!» * &UJ*&*t. [Saturday ,
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THE CHURCH MOVEMENT. In reply to an addr...
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FRANCE.—THE ELECTIONS AND ITS CONSEQUENC...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Public Education Movement. An Important ...
Mr . R . Taylor was proceeding to point out the weakness of the arguments against the national system , -when a member observed that there was no Court .
124 «!» * &Uj*&*T. [Saturday ,
124 «!» * & UJ *&* t . [ Saturday ,
The Church Movement. In Reply To An Addr...
THE CHURCH MOVEMENT . In reply to an address from 200 of the clergymen in Gloucester diocese , on the subject of the late judgment in the case of Gorham versus the Bishop of Efceter , the Bishop of Gloucester ? and Bristol declares that he agrees with the clergy in thinking the constitution of the preseftt Court of Appeal in ecclesiastical matter * unsatisfactory : — 44 reply to the request that I should , in concert with my right reverend brethren , take steps which may aeem most suitable in this emergency , I can inform you that all the members of the English Episcopate are at this time in anxious deliberation on the subject , and I hope that we shall have the prayers of yourself and all who have concurred in this address , that by the Divine guidance we may come to such a conclusion as may obviate what is at present anomalous and objectionable , and promote the peace and unity of our beloved church . ''
The English Review asserts that the Reverend William Palmer , M . A ., Fellow of Magdalen College , Oxford , who some time since joined the Scotch Episcopalians , is about to be reconciled to the Oriental Church . The reverend gentleman , who has never proceeded beyond deacon ' s orders in the Anglican Church , in which he was some time ago one of the most advanced of the Tractarians , is said , on the same authority , to be at issue with it on an article of the Nicene Creed—the procession of the Holy Ghost—rejecting , with the Greek Church , the word filioque . Mr . Palmer is now at Athens . — Church and State Gazette .
The Bishop of Exeter has written a letter in reply to a numerously signed address of sympathy from the churchmen of Nottingham , expressing his gratification at ' such a manifestation of sound Church principles , and earnestness for Christian truth . " He says : — 4 t The time is coming—rather is already come—when every one must declare himself , if he is faithful . " Individual confession of the true faith is now necessary , for we have ceased to have security for the assertion of that faith by the laws of the State—and the very possibility of asserting it by synod is denied to us . "
The Bishop of London has addressed the following letter * on the same subject to Mr . Alexander Beresfofd Hope ; and it has been published , by permission , in the daily papers : — " London-house , March 11 . 44 My dear Mr . Hope , —My knowledge of your devoted and consistent attachment to the Church of your baptism , and the assurance which you have given me of your willingness to be guided by my counsels at the present crisis , seem to impose upon me the duty of repeating in a more connected form , and with some additional remarks , the considerations which I suggested to you in conversation on Saturday last .
" You then stated to me how greatly you were distressed at the recent judgment of the Judicial Committee of Privy Council in Mr . Gorham ' s case , and you expressed your apprehension that some excellent men might be driven by that decision to quit , if not the communion of our Church , yet the offices which they hold in it . 411 remarked , in answer to your statement , that I could readily understand the uneasiness which you , in common with many o-hers , felt at the position in which
the Church appeared to be placed by that judgment , but that I thought it to be your plain and unmistakeable duty not to desert the Church at Buch a moment , when she was most in need of your support and assistance , but to remain firm in your allegiance to her , and to use your best endeavours to remove existing anomalies and defects . This appears to me very clearly to be the line of conduct which you ought to pursue . If a vessel in which you were embarked ehould spring a leak , you would surely do your best to stop the leak before you thought of abandoning the ship and leaving it to the mercy of the winds and waves .
•* I would desire you to consider in what respect the recent judgment has so altered the character of our Church as to justify any of her members in severing their connection with her . That judgment may be erroneous , may be a wrong interpretation of the Church ' s mind ; but it is the interpretation adopted by a few fallible men , not by any body authorised by the Church to settle any point of doctrine ; nor can it have the effect of changing any of the Church ' s doctrines . That of baptismal regeneration stands in her Articles and Liturgy as it did before . That is not denied , or even questioned , by the judgment , the purport of which is that to th < se who admit the Church ' s doctrine of baptismal grace a greater latitude of explanation is permitted than you or I think
right . But this , after all , is only the opinion of a court of law , not the decision of the Church itself in convocation . I hold that until the Church ' s Articles and formularies are altered by the authority of Convocation , or of some synod equivalent to Convocation , her character as a teacher of truth remains unchanged . 11 T cannot regard any sentence of an Ecclesiastical Court « s finally settling a question of doctrine : that can only bo done by a synodical decree ; and even then judges mny err in their interpretation of that decree , and yet the decree itself will hold Rood , and in another appeal respecting the very same point of doctrine another Court might givo a different judgment . I think , therefore , that nothing short of a formal act of iho Church itself repudiating what it has hitherto asserted as truth can warrant a man in quitting her communion .
44 What we really want is a court of appeal so constituted that the members of our Church can place reasonable confidence in its decisions , but it must still be borne in mind that any such Court will be liable to errors in judgment , and that it belongs to the office of a J « dge , not to make laws , but to expound them to the best of Jus ability . " Aeain , then , I say that when the Convocation shall by a solemn act reject the doctrine of baptismal regeneration , it will be time enough to think of quitting the Church's pale ; but till that shall happen ( which Heaven
forfend ) to leave her would be an act of schism . 44 1 will add one other observation . Every member of our Church who is no . t seeking a pretext for quitting her communion must desire to remove whatever blemishes and imperfections there may be in her constitution- But the Way to do this is not to abandon her , and so to render amendment less practicable and probable by weakening her resources and diminishing the number of her true friends , but to abide firmly by her , to be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die . '
" You are at liberty to show this letter to any person who is interested in this roost important question . " Believe me , my dear Mr . Hope , with the truest regard and esteem , yours most faithfully , e J «« C . J . London . " A . J . Beresford Hope , Esq ., M . P . " An important correspondence has taken place between the Reverend W . Maskell , vicar of St . Mary s Church , Torquay , and the Archbishop of Canterbury , in consequence of Mr . Maskell ' s having expressed his determination to resign his living , induced by
doubts occasioned consequent on the decision in the Gorham case . The parishioners of St . Mary ' s , on Mr . Maskell ' s intention being intimated to them , earnestly requested him to defer that intention ; and memorialized the Bishop , in order that the resignation should not be accepted . Thereupon the Bishop wrote to Mr . Maskell , and ( more especially referring to a pamphlet in which Mr . Maskell had explained the reasons which induced him to resign ) expressed his opinion that it was his duty to retain his charge , adding the following censure : —
" The measure immediately necessary—the necessity of which is pressing upon us—is the restoration of synodical action . I am sorry to be obliged to add , that I do not think that you have , in this your late effort , facilitated that restoration ; for you will , I think , have exasperated the disinclination to it in men of authority , though you will probably have increased in many minds , as you have in mine , an earnest longing for it . " Mr . Maskell ' s scruples , however , remaining unsatisfied , he applied to the Archbishop of Canterbury , 44 venturing to ask" his Grace , " not what my duty is with regard to resignation of my cure of souls , but what doctrines I ought to teach my people to believe ? " —
44 It seems to me that , excepting the doctrine of the ever blessed Trinity , I have no doctrines and no faith to teach as certainly the faith and docCrines of the Church of England . I may , perhaps , teach what I believe to be true ; but—as it seems—it is quite open to me , if I thought it to be right , and that I should be no less justified , to teach the opposite . " Ought I to teach , and have I the authority of the Church of England to teach , that the grace of regeneration , together with the remission of original sin , is certainly given to all infants in the sacrament of holy baptism ? 44 Again , upon the same and equal authority , that justification is always concurrent with the due reception of the sacrament of baptism ?
44 , again , that an especial gift of the Hol y Ghost is , in a sacramental manner , given to faithful recipients , in confirmation , by the laying on of the hands of the Bishop ? 44 , again , that orders transmitted through the episcopate are of the essence of the Christian Church ? 44 , once more , that the words of the ordinal , * Whosesoever sins thou dost forgive , they are forgiven , ' & c , convey to the priesthood the power of absolving penitents , to be exercised , in its fulness , only after particular confession , as indicated in the office of the Holy Communion and the Visitation of the Sick ?
14 These subjects , my Lord , I consider to be intimately connected with the foundations of religious faith , and , according as they are believed , with the daily life and practice of every Christian man . It is impossible , I suppose , that the Church of Christ should have left them undetermined . Ifitmaybe , I am anxious to continue labouring and teaching in the Church of England ; and I do sincerely trust that your Grace will pardon the application which , as a pastor of souls , I have now made to you , as Archbishop of the province . My perplexity is the greater becauso of the increased ambiguity which has lately been thrown upon our doctrinal formularies . "
The Archbishop replies that there are many subjects connected with our holy religion upon which wo have no reason to expect the dogmatic teaching of the church . " He disclaims sill right to answer authoritatively , " 44 but will not refuse to state tho few remarks which occur" to him on the subjects of Mr . Maskoll ' s inquiry . Tho Archbishop concludes thus : — 411 can scarcely hope that this superficial reply will appear to you either sufficient or satisfactory . But it may serve to suggest thoughts which deserve your serious consideration , before you take the dangerous step which you have been lately meditating . Especially it may lead you to inquire whether , in the exeroise of your ministry ,
you have not been in the habit of paying too much auction , and attributing too much authority , to something else rather than to that on which we can alone depend and which is the deposit committed to our charg e—the ' Word of God . 44 Commending you , therefore , to God , and to the word of His grace , 441 remain , reverend sir , your faithful servant , 44 J . B . Cantuae . " Still unsatisfied , Mr . Maskell rejoins , inquiring whether he is right in so understanding the Archbishop ' s reply , as to conclude that he ought not to teach , and that he has not the authority of the Church of England to teach , the doctrines treated in his letter . The Primate ' s conclusion is noteworthy : —
44 Are they contained in the Word of God ? ' " Whatever is not there found , and nothing which cannot be proved thereby , is to be taught as an article of belief , or thought requisite or necessary to salvation . —Art . VI . Now , whether the doctrines concerning which you inquire are contained in the Word of God , and can be proved thereby , you have the same means of discovering as myself , and I have no special authority to declare . " Another letter from Mr . Maskell . completes the correspondence : in it he says , despairingly : —
44 It seems to be as I had supposed ; and I have no faith and no doctrines to teach on any subject—except perhaps regarding the everblessed Trinity—as certainly the doctrines and the faith of the Church in which I am a minister . In other words , if there is anything which I ought to teach it is this , that the Church of England has no distinct doctrine , except on a single subject . 44 Nor do I see how such a system , once openly avowed , can fail to lead thousands into infidelity . "
In the Court of Common Plea ? , on Thursday , Sir Fitzroy Kelly moved to stay the Court of Arches from proceeding in the Gorham matter . The motion was , of course , but a repetition of that recently made in the Court of Queen ' s Bench . The Lord Chief Justice , as the case did not originally come before the Common Pleas , thought it would be right to consider the judgment of the other court , and , therefore , took time to consult .
France.—The Elections And Its Consequenc...
FRANCE . —THE ELECTIONS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES . The Paris election has resulted in the triumph of the Democratic party , M . Eugene Sue being returned by 128 , 007 votes , being a majority of 119 , 425 over the number polled by M . Leclerc . The majority is considerably greater than that of the 10 th of March , and it has to be recollected that since then no less a number , it is said , than 20 , 000 Socialists have been expunged from the electoral lists . A majority of the army was also in favour of the democratic candidate . The elections of the Soane-et-Loire , were also in favour of the democrats . The funds fell immediately two and a half per cent .
The question occurs—what will be done now ? And report answers that Louis Napoleon will wait no longer , but , come all hazards , risk a coup de main . As if to prepare for this the 44 Sunday Emperor " ( the Napoleon ) in an ominous article entitled 44 The First Acts of the Consulate , " points out the analogy between the present epoch and the time of the decrees of Brumaire , when Napoleon dissolved the municipalities of Paris , abolished the directorate , and turned out sixty-two members of the legislative bodjr . 44 Once having got rid of revolutionary convulsions , " says the NapoUon * the Charlemagne of the
nine-, teenth century determined upon crowning his task of social restoration by the most august of all coronations , by invoking on his head and on that of France the Papal benediction . * * Now we see another Napoleon defending and restoring the Pope . It is under the Government of the heir of the Emperor that France uses her power to strengthen catholic unity . There is in this something providential , which makes us ponder and reflect . " Of similar signification to this is a passage ( omitted by most of the inurnals ) in the address of the returned Pope to the
Generals and Staff of the French army visiting mm at the Vatican on the 17 th of April . His Holiness remarked : — As order , so deplorably disturbed for the last two years , hus been reestablished in all other European states , so we hope very soon to see the hydra of anurchy crushed in the kingdom of France . ( hperiamo di vodere ben presto l'idra dell ' anarchia pchiacciuta in questo Regno di Francia . ) " The Roman correspondent of the National remarks that the words " the French Republic , " have not once been used by tho Pope , but those of 44 the king dom , of France " frequently .
But even more significant of the desperate intentions of the French President is the manifest endeavour to provoke the Republicans to an untimely outbreak . M . Carlier ' s onslaught upon the Opposition press is the latest instance of this . Relying upon a specinl judgment of the Court ot Cassation , the Prefect of Police has prohibited the sole , within rloors or without , of the Nutional , the J ' resse , the Voix dn Peuple , the Ddtnocratic Pacffigue , the Charivari , the Entaf ° tt . e the Credit , the Eoenetnent , the Sieclc and the Iiepublique . The Evcnement has never been even prosecuted . All the prints of the Opposition , whether on stall or in shop , were aeized wherever found , except at booksellers shops , or in
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 4, 1850, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04051850/page/4/
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