The Express.
London, England, 1864-07-16 00:00:00

OON VOCATION AND THE " ESSAYS AND
REVIEW&"

Lord HOUGHTON rose took her Ilajoity's government
whether they had taken or were willing to take the opinion
Of the law officers of the crown u to the powers of the con-
vocation of the province of Canterbury to per • synodical
indignieet oe books written either by clergymen or by lay-
men ; as to the uumuoity of the members of that hotly
frees puce/chop at common law consequent on such jade-
/Bra* and es to the forms aecardiog to which such judicial
power nines be exercised if it belonged to that body.
It appeared to him that the act*of convocation
not only be legal but also privileged. He could
not for • moinut admit that this censure was not of
oath • asters an to Maim panithment It cram iotooded,
when • MUM* was pared, that it should be injurious
to the individual censured, sad it was regarded an a
rest. Take the mine of Dr. Tempi*, the muter of
mesa A mann upon him was calculated to is-
Pare hie school, became it might 'adore pareota to
reesovo their children from it. Again, Professor Jowett,
had he not heft injured He coatended that convocation
bed so right to pick eat this one book for censure. They
should direct their atheatioa equally to the writings at •
seismal bishop which had mostly mused so much excite-
seat They should deal with all books of this kind ;
sad then who could may how far they would have to go?
(ither, bear.) Supposiog thoy bad thaw powers and prtvi.
hp., yet assuredly they ought to be accompanied by some
dignity of form and legal procedure. It had been argued
as an essential vim, in the caastitation of coavooatioa that
it had no power to call for papers, sad did not pours the
other attnbutee of courts of junco. He therefore wished
to know what it was they were compelled to do, and under
what form or restriction they could exercise their powers.
Ba bad mideratood that hitherto they could only exercise
their powers under the license of the crown. Another evil
of which Dr. Williams complained was that the COOVOOIaOII
wilesed to hear him. Dr. Jemmy had said :—"lfwe go on
is this way we shall be involved in endless diffioultica. I
belies* the whoio tide of public sympathy, cow in our fe-
rvor, will be turned apiaat us, and that we shall lose the
powers we really pongees sakes we imoiloo our atteutioa to ,
informs of • practical nature." In conclusion, noblelard asked the question of which be bad given notice.

The LORD CHANCELLOR said the speech of the
noble lord was so able that it relayed him in • scull degree
from the difficulty of giving en answer. Thera were three
Medea of dealing with onyoustion. The hest was to take
se nodes of their proesediop where they were harmless ;
the second was, when they were likely to do nom
Wog to prorogue them, and thus put an end to their
power ; and the third was, to bring them to the bar of a
met of justice. All them laws were passed at the time of
the Reformation, for the purpose of securing that which i
was dearest to the heat of the government, Dazing, I
the supremacy of the crown ; but the caution
of the legislature did not stop there ; it did not only pro-
vide that the lionise of the crown should be 110,0“317 to
!sable convocation to consider any me, but also that its
asateaces should be utterly destitute of validity until they
received the sanction of the crown. It was also provided
that any usurpation of these privileges of the crown should
be punished by the penslties of powaiunire, end they would
lave to appear se penitents in sackcloth and ashes. &tool
the right reversed prelates had sentenced a writer
.f the Reviews to twelve months sequestration.
TAM that as the measure, an archbishop having
two votes would be entitled to two years' mustratioThe.
Be had not uncured seriously to parapet this grandee to
boo Majesty's government, tor only let their lordehips •
Imagine the extent of profit that would bares toe the ex- 1
'lamer if the realties were Worried, sot only apart the
bebop', but *amnia the dune, meltdowns', rectum
sartors, •ed vicars, who bad raised oft common wren
bad rendered themselves liable to one commas peaky.
Wear.) He could not contemplate the possibility of that
owes, sod therefore their lordships would not be surprised
to bear that be had shrank from the task of taking the
first step in the matter by consulting the law officers. Of '
=l2 if be hail Mime that step, sod had been advised
there had been a gimbal judgmeat, there had
lima a violation of the law, he would have Imes
placed is the disagreeable position of Melia" •
prosecution. He hid, therefore, appealed to his noble friend .
to relieve him from that embarrassment, and their lordships
front the difficulty of entertaiaing the subject. The question
was • most serious our, and ia order that he might relieve
the minds of the right reverend beach, be was extremely
anxious to know from them what was thematic°, that they
deumiaated 'Toadied pediment ; but he reminded them
that they were under so asoessity of producing the records
of convocation if they thought Ham prudent sot to do so.
The most revered prelate had acted upon that suggestion,
sad he had boon obliged, therefore, to have recourse to the
ordinary means of informatioa. He was hippy to inform their
lozdships that what was denominated • goodies] judgment ,
was • set of what he might call well lubricated words, but
it was &sentence moody, so absurd, ad so sapoomons, that
se one could grasp tt, but, like ea eel, it slipped through his
=(Laughter.) It most mean something, or nothing,
was glad to be able to tell his noble (rimed that
it had literally no deification at all. (" Hear. haw,"
and laughter.) He had bad moons foe informatioe to a
pablicatko which seemed to bare some authority, in which
be found the following: "That this synod haying appointed
• committee of the Upper and Lower House to
examine acd report upon the volume endtuled
•Itssays and Reviews,' and the committees bitchy
earreeally reported thereon, cloth hereby synodi.
silly condoms the said volume "--(Uefertunator volume!
brighter) —" as coataining leading controry to the doe-,
trim received by the united church of England sad Ire-
bad, in common with the whole catholic church," If this
volume bad been the work of one man the sautimos might
hays had some effect. bat seeing that it was nothing in the
world but • pair of covers bolding together seven egaral
emu, and seeing that the sentencedid sot extend to any-
thing but the volume. so one of course was ocrodemed, and
snob of the levee authors might my it did not apply to him.
&avocation could not have beat more sucessefal if they had
deliberately sat down to probers • senteace of oo meaning
whatever than they were is this ridicules mas. (laughter.)
judgment was so judgment at all, and though if he
were strict and severe, which he had no desire to be, he
might bring the whole body that sought to exercise this
jrariadictioc, within the Lagoa,. of the statutes, Dotivith- I
Mending that the attempt bed ben abortive, he was happy
tourney his noble friend that nobody could complain of this
wily form of words— no on. could say that be was Injured
by them, and having regent to the impotent effect in which
this thing had issued, her Majesty's preeminent isteeded
to take no e.ctioe is the matter. (Hear, hear.) flolvuotur
labeler risu. (laraghter.) Still be must reenied the right I
reversed hooch that the question was • very sinious ooe,
sad is order to provost, if possible, cocvocatioe beteg misled
hersafter. ha wished to explain exactly how the case
stood. This question did not depend, as be had seen it
stated, upon the language of the act of Hoary VIII. alone.
That was one at of a number of statutes ; but the legisla-
ture was Noxious to repeat mein and a the great
principle of the law on which the asatitutia of the
must: r, as regarded the anima of church end state, de-
pended—Lamely, the sepreosacy of the crown. Far the
remit purpose that principle was more elearly stated in
the 17th emetics of the bit of Elizabeth, asp 1. If
soaves:alien had had tea doximad times the amount
of jurisdiction that belonged to it, the whole
would hay* been annexed by this seed°s to the
Grows, for the act of Henry VIII. coatirreed by the
act of Eiir itictb bad declared that the final exercise of
all juriaPetion should be in the crown by way of appeal.
Tut from convocation no appeal was given. (ffeer, hest.)
It was impressible for soy body lu the state to exerinse
ecclesiastical jurisdiction coesiMestly with these statutes
without rich an appeal. From convocation there could be
so appeal, and therefore they could have no jurisdiction. The
prinmple did not depend upon one section, but it was also
set forth in the :nth Henry VIII., mp 19 ; end nth
Beery VIII., cop. 17, and under these it was forbidden to
soy body claiming to exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction to
cite as, man to appear before it out of his own dio
sees except in the case of the Archbishop of Ceaterbary,
Irish he exercised appellate jurisdiction. It was
dearly the intimation of the legislature to marshal the soda
aisstioiljunerliction upon the subject of heresy and schism
sad other ecclesiastical °deem is this order : first, the
dicreesan ; thou the archbishop, by way of appeal; and
body, the crown. Convocation was sot controlled by a
wart of appeal, and it would therefore be an semalons
body, esercisieg ammislous power, not falling at all within
the order mid arraegeroent, and not mumble to the head of
the church, if is atsempted to exercise jurialictioe. With
regard to that body taking epos itself to declare
that s certain book wasbad, it was a very serious thing,
keg"e it placed those who took part is the proceeding I. dr-
IlatollillUCtl, which might be of great peril. Suppose the
author of one of these mays was pressatad to • living our
say other ecclesiastical preferment and one of the bishops
who bed Ives • party to these proceerlinp was called upon
be institute him ; the bishop would naturally ask hew as as
boast men he could institute one whom be had been a party
b soedionniug for heretic.' opieioos. But if the bishop re-
!need he Meat puibly god himself, is addition to the
pestkiee of • memoirs, involved is all the courquinces of
esether hard word, • duplex riserela. (Hoar, sad laughter.)
Me asked them, therefore, to pause before they again
1111011ined such a power, for their own sakes, even it
they had no regard to On jujubes, to the
maul?, to the usrusatable speetteleof eoodemeig a man
11411•11 they had no power to convene, whom they bad no
amiherity to bear. and whom, what be presented kismet(
as • esophagi to be heard, their owe timidity sad fear of
gpiog bey°, d their tether compelled them to damies. Those
Who/ did not concur in the promedinp might think that by
pesauties against them they saved themselves from the
Illienqueaus, but he wouldrasommend such perms, if ay
alums were in luta* mask to carry convoutios layered
Its proper limit., for their best esearig, atm

protesting, to gather up their garments aid have the place,
aid remeeibense the pillar of sale est east • leek behind
them. (" Hear," and Linghter.) mere was • great deal
of smoke aid very little fire. Under the circumstasces he
assured the noble lord who put the question that it was not
the iateation of the government to take coy steps in the
matter. (Hem)
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY was wire their lord-
ships would feel the peat disadvasiteges ander which he
mast labour after the two speeches they bed jos* beard.
(Hear.) At the earns time he must be allowed to exprees
his very sincere regret that in the concladieg words of the
noble and learned lord be should have attributed motives
to the members of coovocatiso. (Cheers.) He could aware
b:m that their decision was dictated by no malice,
that their object simply and solely wee to vindicate the
• of En land how a complicity with opiaioce which
they eoosi heretioll. (Hoer, bear.) He regretted that
the noble and learned lord bed not taken the advice of the
kw Oaken of the crown, sad it was not his fault that it
had sot been taken before. Before be took a Wilk step be
said he would sot move until be had attained himself that
they were proceeding is • legal worse. A case was laid be-
fore the law °Boers of the wove, sad the answer they gave
; was that they were advised that they ought not to give any
. opinion. He regretted extremely that they should bare
been so advised, for he thought it specially behoved
the government to shield ow:vocation from pursuing
• wrong comm. He could only hope that three or
four clergy owe of the church of &stead would never
again be found combining—for that be must still meat
was • proper term in this case—to publish opinions of such
dangerous tendency. He bad only to repeat hie regret
that the matter had not been referred to the law officers
of the crown, when it would have been seen that cc..
vocation was fully authorised.
The Bishop of LONDON urged that oonvooatioo bad •
right to complain of the government in not allowing their
law officers to give the opinion 'eked of them. This was no
matter for ridicule, and in religious diapatee it eras desirable
to Bettie there in their earliest sieges, sad before they grew
miens.

---Lend WENSLEYDALE said the Archbishop could ob-
tain, by • motion in the house. the *mina of the judges as to
the validity of proceedinp proposed to convocatioe.
The Bishop of OXFORD 000teoded that authJrity wse
giveo to oonvocatiOn to act by the royal beam that called
the body together. He complaised of the toes in which the
Lord Chancellor bad spokeo, which was calculated to lower
the character of the home. Hit denied that they had at-
tempted to usurp any powers indepeodeot of the crown, and
contended that convocation had only attempted to hold
men to their engagements. That was not potting down
opinion.
The subject then dropped.
ACCIDENTS COMPENSATION ACT ANULNDMENT
BILL.
This bill passed through committee.
JUDGMENTS. hc. LAW AMENDMENT BILL.

Tbj bill wad redi secood limo, sad ordered to to »-
torrid to select oommittee.
. . .

—Ws; it Tile 44pHs) 871 coma through corn.
mitts..
ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS AND REGISTRIES
_ _ (IRELAND) BILL.

The Commove' a;;;;;h7sW4l6thiablll were conaidmed
and agreed to.
The College of Physicians Bill and the Inlaid Revenue
(Stamp duties) Bill were read • second time.
Tito Factory Ache &Masao. Bill was reed a third time
and pawed.
The Railway, (Ireland) Ante Amendment Bill sad the
Draieaje and Improreamot of Lands (Ireland) Bill went
through oommittos.
The Indemnity Bill, ledia Stocks Tranifer Act Armed-
merit Bill, sod the Dotenca Act Amendment Bill were
read s third time sod pasted.
The lorlorme (Nob 2) Bill and the Trespass (Ireland) Bill
were reed a mooed time.