The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-10-23 00:00:00

Yours faithfully,
REGINALD &Int

SALISBURY DIOCESAN SYNOD.
To the Milo,.

my last letter I expreseed • desire to request
the attention of your readers to a statement of some of
the evils which have already remited from the mis-
representation of Churchmen in Synods and Convocations.
One of the most evident of those evils has been clearly
exposed by a committee of the House of Commons, which
was appointed last year to enquire into the operation of
.11 i,ct that had been prepared in Convocation, and had
'bused thrsigh Parliament in 15712. In their "report"
they express the opinion that the Act "has deprived the
Clergy
of
tall power of acting in their own matters, of
heir own ads-leers, and of all practical appeal,"
whatever the .übject of that Act may he, it ix
achoo
site clear that, in the opinion of a committee of the
House of Commons, it hos plated the Clergy of the Chorch
lof ffligtood (for whose benefit it was oetensibly enacted)
in the position of minors and lunatics. How it c mid have
happened that such an Act should ever have passed
the ugh the British Psrliament,l and how It is that it
still remains uurepealed, and, not even amended, are
question, worthy of the consideration of the clergy.
There is no difficulty in ascertaining the cause, which
every one who looks for it may easily perceive to be
"misrepresentation." The Act was prepared in
Convocation, in which Synod the representatives of about
200 Bishops, Deane. &c., so far out number the represent.-
. tis,s of about II,(000 clergy, that they can, at any time
command a majority, and carry out any design, even
though it be to place all the 12,000 clergy in the position
of children and lunatics, and themselves in that of
Guardians, or commissioner* in lunacy. Representation
; of this nature can give the clergy no other advantage than
' that of appearing to give their own consent to he placed
in • very undesirable position. Such an Act 94 that to
which I refer would never have passed the House of
Commons, if, when the Bill was laid before them, it had
not been considered as the voice of the clergy, by their
representatives. This Act affords a lively illustration of
the evils of misrepresentation ; and it goes farther still in
the same direction, foe it was prepared by is Comniiityy
It is desirable that an churchmen should
take heed and beware of the Commitber of Synods, and of
C invocation to which the Synod, are tributaries. It is 4,
the cmniiiiitees that the real evil is done. The Synod,
meeting for • day or two only in the year, can do little
else than relegate the consideration of important pointe to
a cominittee, the members of which are selected aa the
1,70991 of the party for the particular purpose that may be
in view. It is much to he regretted that Proteetant
clergymen and laymen, should be found handing over
their names and influence to the use of others whose
Protestaatisin is (to use the mildest form of expression)
doubtfu'. Committees of this nature, once formed, have
the power of making enquiry, with a sembollicial
authority, on the subject before them, of all persons of I
different views, and of gaining information Which will I
enable them to carry their own point, and to make, if I
needful, the worse appear the better cause. Let it not be
forgotten that the Act which reduced the clergy to the
position (so far as its influence extends) of children and
lunatics, was prepared by a Committee of Convocation ;
and that Synods and their committees are handmaids to
that "representative assembly. If the 'position"
assumed by the Right Reverend President of the Synod,
enabling him to reduce all shades of opinion into one by
the summary process ot "extinguishing" the light,
should be conceded to him by the general assent of the
churchmen of the diocese; and if the claims openly
preferred by the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester,
asserting e.s they have done for their order, the inherent
independence attaching to a Divine rnstitution, and
declaring that each Bishop is "Ruler by Divine Hight in
his own Diocese," and by the Bishop of Oolombo,
Instructed as he acknowledges that he is from home, of
'Authority over all congregations throughout his Diocese,
and all who minister in than" ; =amity which gives-him

• 'Right to assume the control over any part of the •
church's work; awl to compel Missionary Societies to
submit to him. If these and such like claims are
admitted, then ritualism with its idolatries; the eon-
fessional, with its demoralising immoralities; priestly
absolution with its initulgencies, Ac.. &c., may be manly
re-established if their I •rdships should ever he disposed
that way; and the cupile lighted by Ridley and Latimer
I may be extinguished. Is there no remedy / There is a
safe and eert tin method of disallowing such Claimi,
I which are as unscriptural as they are un-Enslish ; and of
recovering the rightful position of the clergy as sane men.
I That remely, however, does not consist in eeteliog
' representatives to those Synods and Convocations which
have placed the clergy in the position of children and
, lunatics. As one of the clergy I feel aggrieved at heing
' placed in such a p ; and I fear that if my clerical
; brethren should be content to remain in it, the laity of
I the Church of England may begin to iroasine that it is :
not altogether unonited to our capacities and intelligence.
, I believe that the clergy of the Church of England are as
intelligent as any body of men in the world, and as
I capable of managing their own affairs, but they have
hitherto been so absorbed in promoting the spiritual
and temporal welfare of their own parishes. that they
have not been sufficiently alive to the dangers which have
surrounded them through the action of "Convosation,"
since the day that its dewily wound was healed in 1811.
I believe also that the Bishops of the Church of England
ere not more arbitrary than other gentlemen who think
that they can successfully prefer a claim to irreoponsible
power. Nonconformist Deacons, as described by the
leading Nonconformiststuinisters of the day, are more to he
dreaded even now, and what wouldthey be if they should
ever grow to the dimensions of Bishops! Imagination
fails to supply an adequate answer. The remedy, safe in
its application and certain in its result, if applied without
delay, consists of two parts. 1. To withdraw from all
Synods in which any one individual ham the power of
blending all shades of opinion into one by putting out the
tight; and from all Convocations which offer us only the
contemptible privilege of giving our own consent to be
placed in the position of children and lunatics. 2.
Petitions to Iler Moot Gracious Majesty to put an end to
the action of Con vocation; and to the 11011AeS nf
Parliament to repeal the objectionable Act, OT at least to
amend it so as to restore the clergy di the position of
men of is mod mini. It it were lawful for St. Paul to
appeal to Caoar, a heathen king, for protection against
the chief priests, much more to it lawful for us t u appeal
to onr Christian Queen, aci our fellow Christians in
Parliament ; and if we do SO we shall sneered, for the
House of Commons is evidently with us Protestants. It
io necessary, however, to make
months
at mice, for if
the remedy should be applied,many will lie
reqiiired for the preparation o the petitions, and their
circulation for signatures. But will the remedy be
applied! I fear not. In all hirman prohability the lot of
this letter will lie that few will read it, and those few
will soon lay it aside and forget it. I will only remind
niy clerical brethren that there is one position more
undesirable than even taut of lunatics, which is that of
an unfaithful servant who fails to make lase of the talent
committed to him by his Lord. If we have the power of
remedying the evils which afflict our Church, and fail
even to attempt to do so, it will be required of us. I trust
that through the grace of Christ, I shall stand at least in
the position of the Noah, Daniel, or Job, as described by
the prophet Ezekiel.
Yours faithfully,
SEPTIMUS HOBBS.