The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-10-02 00:00:00

ecclesiastical intilligroct.

TIIR Chiprift &tiros stye, that from a recent analysis,
of petitions for the abolition of the Irish Church, nbich
I have bren lately presentcd to l'arlianient, it appear.
that of ten parbilio• (the Homan Catholic g opul•Iion of
the smallest of which is 1,200) one ionridi conttibutc:
one sig, mature, four parishes two signatures swish, titivee
parishes oostributes threat signatures ouch, till, ',wish
: zontribut • firs Nignatures, awl one parish .even.
such for the bitter feeling wbich English Liberal
politicians would have us believe la chorally,' by the
Rousso Catholic population tow: As tho
*doh Chug.

Tits arrangemente for the Church rowels at York
are now mill to be ooreplete. A temporary hall It*
been eructed for the meeting., eta ouot F. 5,000, by the
liberality of the Yorkshire churchmen. It will accom-
modate 2,800 peewees, all within eany range of eye and
ear. The proeeedingw open on Tuesday. October 9, with
weevil* at the Minster, and a sermon by the Archbiwhop
Csnterbety, and will occur.) that and two following
days. The tones and discussions embrace • wide range
of subject., all of which, however, have special refereeoe
to tho work of the Church, spiritual, moral, and woad ;
or to matters intimately connected with iti position en
• national establishment. The names of those who are
to read ripe* or speak to them *nivel* clergymen and
laymen of every section of opinion within the pale of
the Chneeh—lligh, Low, and Itremd ; and it is antici•
pitted that a very large number of her member, will be
easemblod la the northern capital,

VinTII6NTO AT Yong.—Tast autumn one of the great
attractions at Norwich during the Congress week
was the " F.oelesiastiaal Art Exhibition." This, as
moot of our readers are probsbly •ware, was
simply • collection of vestments, alter.cloths,
meioses, and other appliencr• of revived ritualhun,
most, if not nearly all, in actual one in different
English church..., and all of tho kind commonly
in use among us. That this exhibition considerahly
astonished. by its extent and completeness, many who
had previously fancied themselves pretty thcroughly as
rowan' with the progress of the Cetholio revival ham
been admitted often enough. It was not merely
that the exhibition itself included specimons from
too large a number of churches habitually using
, the vestments to admit of any such limitation,
but still more, that the crowds both of clergy
and laity by whom it was visited, and the feel.
ing exhibited in their demeanour end observations,
showed clearly how strong • hold the ritual question had
taken upon vast moms both of clergy and laity, and
how strongly the current of popular feeling had already
begun to bet in • direction hitherto so utterly unsus.
pe gad. In a word, the Norwich exhibition marked an
epoch in the history of the Anglo.C•tholie movement.
This year the experiment is to be repeated at York;
and so far as we can at present judgo, it is likely to
evince a yet more decided progress in the same direction.
It is inaugurated under the auspices a • committee
containiug representatives both of clergy and laity bum
every diocese in the Englinh Church ;end it is guaranteed
by the pecuniary responsibility of • long list of supporters
among whom are to IDS found the names of many who
have long been reckoned ainneg the West and most
cautious of all whose adhesion has yet been given to the
Catholic movement in its most unxlified form. It is as
impossible as it would be unwise to ignore the signifi-
cance of such fact, as these. Regard the question as we
will from ou- own individual standpoint of prejudice or
opinion on either side, it Is useless any longer
to pretend a belief that this peculiar phase of
the great movement of the day can he any
longer regarded as the mere eccentricity of an 'nib.
vidual or • clam. For good or for evil, it has taken its
else.) as a great and indinputable fact, and as such it
must for the future be dealt with by all, of whatever
view% who would not desire to be hopelessly stuki'lod
by results,—The CA arch and Stoic Patric.