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

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LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 16.

Ir is well that before the session closed, the at-
tention of Parliament has been called to the
recent proceedings of Convocation, so scandalous
to English liberty and the English Church, in
reviving its claim to condemn books which may
be displeasing to a majority of its members.
The assertion of an authority which is more
congenial to the Romish than to any Protes-
tant Church is an act of incredible folly, but the
arbitrary and irregular manner in which it has been
exercised has disgusted all right-minded English-
men. Lord Hocotrrow, in a speech full of
the results of learning and research,
brought the subject under the notice of the
House of Lords, and inquired of the Government
whether its attention had been given to the
acts of Convocation. The Lotto Cautcsir.oa's
reply will dispel a crowd of doubts that have
gathered about the whole subject. First of all, the
pretended "synodical judgment," prepared with
infinite precaution, introduced with solemn for-
mality, and passed by only a email majority, is no
judgment at all. It is directed against " a vo-
" lume," and does not strike at the writings of
one of the Essayists, each of whom is entitled to
say that the condemnation does not apply to
him. The Loan CRANCIILLOR told the House
that "what was denominated a synodical judg-
" ment was a set of what he might call well lnbri-
" cated words, but it was a sentence so oily, so
" absurd, and so saponsceous, that no one could
" grasp it, but, like an eel, it slipped through bis
" fingers. It must mean something, or nothing,
" and he was glad to be able to tell his noble friend
" that it had literally no signification at all."
No doubt it was intended to affect somebody, but '
in fact the attempt was abortive ; nobody could
declare that he was injured by it, and, having re-
gard to the impotence of the form of words, her
Msreerr's Government heel no intention to inte-
fere in the matter. The Loan CeAsestroa, how-
ever, gave his most reverend and right reverend
hearers fair warning. Although this time Convo-
cation has been saved by its own timidity from
doing what its leaders wanted the public to think
it was doing, it has been on dangerous ground.
Convocation of itself has no legal jurisdic-
tion, and the " synodical judgments" it pre-
tends to issue are no more judgments
than a Birmingham token is a Queries penny.
The ecclesiastical constitution of this country is very
intelligible, and it is dominated everywhere by the
supremacy of the Crown, the only security of the
laity against the pretensions of an established
clergy. The final exercise of all ecclesiastic?!
jurisdiction is in the Crown, by way of appeal.
But from Convocation there is no appeal: there-
fore Convocation has no jurisdiction. Let Bishops
or any others really distress the Quaan'n subjects
by usurping an authority which they have Doty
and the law is amply sufficient to reach them.

LORD RORKRT Curl. will not reckon the Report
of the Select Committee appointed chiefly through
his zeal and industry, to inquire into the dealings
of the Committee of Council with the Inspectors
of Schools, among the trophies of his Parliamen-
tary campaign. It will be remembered that last
April the noble lord opened an elaborate attack on
the Council-office by charging it with mutilating
the reports of the Inspectors, for the purpose
of excluding from them statements and
opinions adverse to its own views, thus
violating its obligations to Parliament, and
destroying the value of the reports. It was,
he said, a question involving the truth and purity
of information upon which the House
legislated in regard to large sums of money derived
from the taxes of the people. Referring specifically
to Mr. Lows, the Vice-President of the Committee
of Council, he said,—"The right loi. gent's
" man was a formidable man for his subordinates
" to deal with, and he could not therefore venture
"to quote the authority for the information he
" had received, for fear of bringing down upon
" some unfortunate persons the vengeance 43! their
" chief. But he asked the house to believe him
" when be told them that the sort of things cut
" out were such as he had stated."
Warming with his subject, he proceeded to demand,
" Could the House trust to reports which the
" Minister who presented them had submitted to
" an expurgating process by which he excluded all
" that was hostile to himself, and admitted all
" that was in his favour f What would the owner
"of a distant estate think if his land steward
" kept back the reports of the bailiff because they
" contained opinions with which he did not agree?
" He asked any gentleman who was the possessor
" of property to say how long a man acting in
" such a manner would retain his position. The
" remedy was in the hands of the House." The
House, most rashly, as it was convinced too late,
accepted Lord ROBERT CECIL', assurances, and
passed a resolution in accordance with his speech.
But Mr. Lowe very properly refused to sit down
n ider this intolerable imputation, and persisted, in

the face of a strong

the charge as personal Chafer 'lowing ts
the firmness of Lord Pazirissrow, he
obtained a Select Committee to inquire into the
practices of the department. The Committee was
compered of Mr. Howls, who acted as Chairman,
Lord Hornam, Mr. HOWARD, Mr. Doneorr' and
Sir P. ROIRTON, the Loan ADVOCATI, and Lord
ROBRRT CICIL himself also serving on it to examine
witnesses but without the power of voting. The
witnesses examined were Mr. LINOMN, the Rev.
F. WAT/LINR, the Rev. H. LONOUBVILLZ
Mr. TILLTARD, Mr. J. R. Moans, Mr. M.
Amoral, Mr. Thmuro, Earl Gaarrvu.r.s, and Mr.
Lows. The Committee made a searching investi-
gation, and have presented • very fall report, of
which the following is the ea/curial passage :
The principle Involved la the subject of this *airy and
In the resolution is important. Your committee have cors
full, considered the action of the department, and bars cocas
to the condole° that the sepervieion exercised in objecting
to the insertion of irrelevant matter, of mere dissertation,
and of controversial argument, is consistent with the powers
of the Committee of Council, and has, on the whole, been
exercised fairly, and without evasive strictness. If pas-
sages occur in the reports, as printed, consisting of infer-
ior* or arguments which may tend to support tie edger
tional views of the department, other nemeses may be
found which have a contrary tendeacry. No abjection is
made to statements of facts observed by the impactors
within the circle of their official experience, whatever may
be their bearing on the policy of the Committal of Council.
The knowledge, or even a reseoeable suspicion, that the
Inspectors' reports are subject to alteration, either directly
or indirectly, at the instance of the department, luta,
without doubt, a tendency to lower their value, if they
are to be regarded as iodependent sources of testis:Gay
is matters of opinion or controversy touching the
educational views or policy of the Committee of Council.
It appears, however, to your committee that, whatever may
have been the nederstaoding node, which the appointment
of Inspectors was originally sanctioned, parliament canact
be presumed to be ignorant (since the year 1858 at latest),
that the heads of the office have exercised a authorship over
the inspectors' reports as to the insertion of argumentative
or irrelevant matter ; sad your committee are of opinion
that some such power is essential to the effectual working !
of the department so long as it retains its present coestitu•
tics and functions.

The Council-office may thank Lord ROPIRT
CIVIL for having elicited this impartial and
thorough vindication of its practice. As for the
noble lord, we do not know whether it is too
much to hope that this exposure will teach him to
restrain in future that fatal facility of imputation
which has in tl4s instance carried him away and
led him to make a personal charge which is proved
to have no heals of fact.