The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-07-04 00:00:00

NOTES OF THE WEEK..

I. A STATE BALL and the presentation of
addreeses on the birth of the infant Prince
have alone diversified the monotony of Court
life for the week. We only keep up the
record in this place thereforepro forma and
in deference to those readers who would
deem their newspaper imperfect unless it
touched, however slightly, on the movements
in high life. In one respect we may remark
that the Royal hospitality exhibited itself in
the reception of the Civic deputations of
London, Edinburgh, itc., in its usual aspect
of a truly English type and model. unlike
seine great folks Who hate boWed out deputa-
tions without" bite or sip" we are told by the
Court newsman that in the case of Her
Majesty, "Luncheon was served for the
deputations in the dining room and shortly
after the various members who had attended
returned to London." At one o'clock on
Friday the Princess of Wales was churched
in the Chapel Royal St. James's. The
Queen of the Netherlands has likeviise been
visiting Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle.
And the Prince of Wales has been dining
with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lam-
beth Palace.
11. The Church has like the Parliament
he prospeCt Of it general election for Con-
vocation before it—for the expiry of the one
legislative period, brings with it the extinction
of what properly ought to be another—the
Parliament of the Church; and the time was
when the Parliament, the Offices of State and
the principal judicial functions of the King-
dom were all in the hands of churchmen, the
laity in general being ill calculated by educa-
tion or inclination to discharge such duties.
Now, however, the state of affairs would
seem to have oscillated almost to the opposite
extreme; and whilst we have become accus-
tomed to pronounce parliament omnipotent
we have allowed ourselves to think little or
nothing of Convocation at all. Still the
Convocation whose passing knell is even now
about to toll has achieved something. With
the essential assent of the Crown, it has
obtained at the eleventh hour permission to
ratify those Canons which regulate subscrip-
tion to the articles of religion. The Times
in an article hostile as usual to the Church
asserts Convocation to have set before it the
point whether it is not better to have matters
strictly pertaining to religion discussed in
Convocation than in the secular Legislature?
If it be so, the more essential it is we should
have good men and true returned to Canto
-
cation, men in whom confidence can be
thoroughly reposed for expressing the mind
of the Church. But we do not think it is so.
The growing vitality of Convocation is slow
of development; arid the checks and counter
checks its operation must constitutionally
experience will continue to preclude Con-
vocation from speedily, if ever, attaining the
old .statas of legislative power. In this state
of things we are glad to see brought forward,
if without aseistance still without discourage-
ment from Government, such propositions as
Mr. Bentinck got mooted on Friday night for
the elevation of our Cathedral bodies by
enhancing the emoluments of the minor
canons. We may depend that what the
Church of England most requires is an in-
vigoration of the central stamina of the
Episcopate, and a stronger development of
the Diocesan part of her organization.
Many things point in this direction, and
we are always glad to hail any indications
pf *he favouring 911 that shall waft us
pieltard in the desired.
W. If -
' is employing its last days
in Measures more or less ire-
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