The Express.
London, England, 1862-12-04 00:00:00

cite erpregos.

00VENT HARDIN.
THIS }NEMO, LOVWS TRIUMPH. Mtn LOlll6/1. Pya
and Madame Laura Baxter ; Means. 0. Perron, W. H.
Weirs. H. Corr', Ayneley Cook. sad W. Harrtion.—Cooductor,
Mr. A. Melba—Commence at B.

nAnuaum.
Ems E'vErnie, A DAUGHTRIL TO MARRY. Miss R. Romer.
OCR AMERICAN 001381 N. Messes.Bothsco. Backskons
K Pitonlllam.—DUClE HUNTING. Mrs.Hllklna.—And JACK S
RETURN FROM CANTON. The Laclerco.

PILINCiera.
gVZ/MIO, A.S.& Mr. litalanala and MON Handerbon.
—THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE. Mr. G. Thing. Miaow Allmar,
Mears., and Mra. & White.—And THE HONEYMOON.
M Vezln ana R. Rosby ; Mtn Y. Oliver.

BRITANNIA.
Tilts 'gmMa, CART ON TUB IitRCY OF THE WORLD.
Mrs. S. Lana.--Singing by Mt. W. RandMß•—DSneinF by %Wk.
C. Btepban.--OILK 10111eZ1 LY.—And THE BEVRN BEEFS
TO RtIN. M Lacey.

HIGH WATLIt AT LONDON =IDOL
Tito DIT Noralog, OIL )01L.....An0t0504 Oh. 552.
No4lolaow—llorabGA It 1b......An1nh0311. lb. 3.55.

LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4.

THE Bishop of LONDON has bad the courage to
speak frankly and intelligibly on some of the
serious difficulties with which the Church of
England in•these days has to contend. His Charge
is moderate and guarded in ezpresaion, but it is
that of a Bishop anxious rather to promote the
lasting peace of the Church than to gain a quiet
time for himself. Whatever prudent reserve
policy may dictate to the leaders of parties, it is
certain that by important sections of the Church
it will be received with feelings little short of
indignation. The Thence is resolved that a stand
shall be made against a movement which, under
pretence of resisting the temporary errors by which
the mind of the age is purging itself, would totally
obliterate the Protestantism of the Church of Eng-
land. That there was need of such resistance

no one can doubt who has even a superficial

-- _
acquaintance with the polemical literature to which
a certain unhappy volume has given occasion. Now
respecting the character of the age, out of which
the present difficulties have grown, we believe it
is more than an "inquisitive age," as it is some-
times called. Surely the audacity of speculation
was as great in the days of BtmEn as it is now.
We must look for something more than the intel-
lectual boldness of these times if we would discover

what there is peculiar in that spirit of free inquiry
which is giving ecclesiastics so much trouble. And
we shall find it in the greater share which the
heart now claims in the questions relating to
religion. In the last century an unfeeling scepticism
was sufficiently answered with " analogies", the
product of the dry intellect. If the worth and need
of the profound satisfactions of religion were leas
felt than they are, men of liberal views might, as
they did then, go out of the Church without a
pang, and indulge a cynical unbelief. A belief is
now abroad that the Church is a place to which
men may rightly bring their human perplexities
and human weaknesses ; and from within the
voices of ample, deep, and sympathising natures
have been heard confirming that persuasion. The
Bishop of Lennon has again and again shown him-
self alive to this state of things, and in so doing
excites us to be grateful to the PROVIDENCE
which has placed him in a position of commanding
influence.

The BISHOP acknowledges in his Charge that the
unrestrained spirit of free inquiry which claims the
right to sift and test all theories, and bows to no
authority, however venerable, which cannot make
good Be claims by argument, is a suurceof immense
difficulty. What are we to do with it 4 The
question has been answered by another prelate
in a notable sermon. The motive of inquiry is
doubt, and doubt, according to the Bishop of
OXFORD, is to be dealt with as you would deal with
a shell that should fall on deck in a sea fight, throw
it overboard the moment it alights. The Bishop
of LoNDON says, on the other hand, that he will
not ask any man to give an unreasoning assent
to the Church's teaching. Precisely because be
is so firmly convinced that the truths of which the
Church is a witness came from Heaven, he will
not, " from a craven fear lest those truths should
"be shaken, disparage the use of that great
" instrument which Got) has given to man for the
" investigation and defence of truth."
It would be wrong, however, to represent the
BISHOP as anxious to save the old Protestant
right of private judgment merely in the interest of
human liberty. He maintains that it is equally
required in the interest of truth and orthodoxy.
Observing that a religious attitude of mind is a ne-
cessary condition of successful inquiry after religions
truth, he sees that, as a preliminary, the fullest free-
dom must be conceded. He teaches distinctly—and
here he will give offence to the Popishly inclined
of whatever name or party—that a man's first
duty is to his own moral nature, and that in ful-
filling that he is ou the way to all Divine truth.
" GOD has intimated that he who has mastered
" even that simplest of all religious truths—viz.,
" that he ought to obey conscience—and clings to
" this, is on the road to learn all religious truth."
It is true that this is only what the blessed
FOUNDER of our kingdom taught in the Temple;
but it as much angers the Scribes and Pharisees
in our days as it did in His.
These considerations, put forward by the BISHOP,
concern the whole Church, and we confess we
attach even more importance to them than to the
remarks which the BISHOP made on the position and
duties of the Clergy in relation to freedom of
inquiry. The liberty of the Clergy is regulated by
the law as administered by the Ecclesiastical Courts,
and the Bishop can neither contract nor enlarge it.
But for laymen, who are under no similar obliga-
tion, the aspect of the character of the Church,
the features which attract men to it or drive
them away, are very much determined by the
living words proclaimed by the Church's chief
ministers. From this point of view we regard
the counsels which we have been considering as
infinitely more " practical," that is to say, more
fruitful of consequences, than what the BISHOP
says about the way of dealing with clergymen who
are in error. Still, even on this latter ground,

LATEST INTELLIOZNOS.

PRUSSIA.

BERLIN, Dvo. 2.

News has reached Berlin that M. de Kanitz,
Prussian Minister at Rome, has become insane.
There is talk of replacing him by Count Perponcher,
formerly Prussian Minister at Naples, and who was
one of the group of diplomatists who went from
Rome to visit Francis 11. at Gaeta, from which
unpleasant abode they speedily retreated (with two
or three exceptions), when that sovereign unfeel-
ingly proposed that they should remain to bear
him company during the siege. M. de Kanitz is
married to an English lady, sister-in-law of the
amiable and accomplished Duke of Sermoneta. He
is the second Prussian diplomatist who has re-
cently been overtaken by the same affliction ;
the other being Baron Meuseboch, formerly
Minister at the Court of the Brazils, and who is
since dead. There is a report here of approaching
changes in the Austrian diplomatic corps. Baron
Bach, of Concordat celebrity, is to quit Rome, it is
said, and to retire into private life ; Count Apponyi
is to go from London to Rome, and Count Karolyi
from Berlin to London.

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 4, 1862•