The Express.
London, England, 1864-10-12 00:00:00

THE CHURCH CONGAS=

BRLSTOL, TUBSDAY.
The Bristol Church Congress was opened this
thermal, the members and • large number of visitors at-
tending divine worries at the iri&tal is the nioniiig.
The serrom wag preached by the Dean of Bly, who took for
hie text Luke x., part of v. 37, "Go and do." On We
brief teat the very rev. percher spoke eloquently arid
practically on the objects of the congress, in the rams of
which be expressed hin approval of the migratory thwacks
of the emogrese, and alluded to the program that had been
made in Wieool4 social scram, medical jurisprudence and
practice, sad archeology by the holding of these migratory
ureter. He did not see why religioc should sot move a
stimulus by the same meths. In conclusion. be alluded to
the amorous embruts which it was proposed to disease at
the present coopers: elilleSioo of the episcopate. subdivi-
sion of dioceses, the education of the clergy, pews sod open
rota, dm., and 000demned the recent changes in cathedral
management. He concluded by esjoining temperer* in
their dmersioes.

At two o'clock aseetiags were held simultaneously in two
rooms at the Victoria Rooms, Claims.
The Bishop of Gimucninna and Thugrot. presided in the
section No. 1, and sitar offering up prayers delivered •
brief inaugural addram.
Rev. Canon Kitinawar road a paper on the increase of
the episcopate. Ho urged that the increasing population of
the country demanded that there should be an lacrosse of
the episcopate. Glancing at the history of the episcopacy,
be specite regretted that the confirmation of the young
was imperfectly performed by reason of this deficiency, and
urged suffragette might be appointed or dicommi sub-
divided. _ _ _

Rev. Preheodary H•Cithaevaa also read a short paper on
the mama subject, urging the appoiotmeot of suffragans, sad
suggesting that convoostioa might defies their duties.
The subject of synods of the church and rural deans and
dermal chapters was set down for the sectional meeting,
in the small ball room, which was filled to overflowing;
Mr. P. W. S. Mane presided.
Prayer having been read by the Rev. J. T. Lc Low,
The Rev. Prebendary TROVE read a paper oa " Synods
of the Church." He said that when the visible church of
Christ was described io the 19th Article as a congregational
of faithful men, in the which the pure word of God should
be preached and the imminent& duly administered, it im-
plied the 'raceme of a power to determine what was requi-
site and reforming what MA amiss, while the 20th Article
held that the power to declare rites and ceremonies resided
in the church itself, and not in any extraneous au-
thority. The church was spoken of as a corporate
body, capable of doing right or wrong, and reepoosi-
hie for its actions ; but he cooteoded that without
some kind of repreentative assembly this ems impossible.
Such assemblies were to communities what 00026013 CO was
to individuals, and they could never accept the political
assembly and the state tribunal is place of the synod. In
the earliest form of ecclesiastical government the bishop pos.
seemed little authority @part from his clergy, and the dio-
cesan synod was the most coosistent likeness of the church.
He adverted to the coustitutioo of ocaventiou, and said it
had advanced as far as it could advance, and was an
Imperfect mode of representation. He warmly advocated
the revival of diocesan synods, and argued that
sa episcopate without a synod was not scriptural.
The Rev. T. LATIIBC11; of Bristol, followed, contending
that ecclesiastical matter could rely properly be settled in
ecclesiastical assemblies.

Dr. PTszT, who was greeted with loud sheen,
advocated the revival of synodical aeries, more especially in
view of the moot lodgment ef the Privy Omer&
The Viewable Archdeacon Dsoisoo. the Rev.
aid the Right Hee. J. Napier, also spoke la favour of the
revival of synods.
The Archdeacon et ELY then read • paper am " Basal
Di.. sad Daiwal. Chapters." sad was followed by the Rev.
Prsbasolary Mayas, sad the saw= adjoaraed at 5 o'clock.

Hie Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury com-
mend his printery visitation of the clergy of his diocese at
the Netropolithal Church, Canterbury, yesterday morning,
After morning se vise the archbishop was conducted to the
ancient chair of St. Augustine, in the south treneept of the
asthedrel, where be delivered a long charge to the dean and
chapter.
The ARCM/MOP, in the courts of hie address, mid
the issue of a Royal Commission to nesider and revie
the forms of subscription and declaration had
naturally attracted the attention of churchmen te
its proceedings. The Idea of abolishing all clerical aubscr
tin met with but little favour. The church had the right
•
to exact nbeeription from her minister, and to demand
their teachiop should be in woodman with her doctrines.
Bat the forms of eubseriptioa wen Oninefolle and weep&
cote& and seemed fairly to admit of sense medificstista
without loss/aid the moral obligation ea the part of the
nheoribers to maintain the tenets of her farthing lade.
late. The labours of the oemandies had ban
bet very nearly to a oonernion, and be mai-.
heady satteipated that the result would peon eitasfeeterje
to the church ia general. The proposal made ia 1883 for
altering the teems of the enbseriptlon woe ameba
in such language as ownestrily prorated him frost
✓acing to it. The Famine of oodermity to the
Liturgy without say declaration of 0611111MORC with
its doctrines did not seem to hiss to afford suffi-
cient security. If the clergy who conformed to
the Liturgy had • enstiention belief Is in doctrine', why
slued they hasitata to @Ay so? but if they subscribe the
foranderim while they dianthus the troths *cyan nag •
dishonest part and betraying the trust mend in than.
An application having been made to him to be-
come • member of the oommiselon instructed to
inquire into and report bow far the forms of
subewiption tend be altered and simplified, eon-
neteetly with doe rsgard to the declared agreement of
the claw to the inning of the church, and their con-
formity with its ritual, he did not fail to give it his hearty
consent. Hs could sot deny that the declaration of us-
feigned assent and consent to every minute detail of
ritual consined In the Book of common Prayer by the Act
of Uniformity, would be felt to be a burden au the eon-
sciences of many of the clergy, although the preamble of
that en, from ILA language, might give a colour to a lees
Wringer. iatingretation of its words. There were other
toms engrossing the attention aof churclunee which could set
be so soon dismissed. There had existed within the pole of
the church daring the bat two generations didn't,' of two
distinct schools of thought. The buds of one section had
been rather an enrage of individual liberty in the inter-
pretation of the sawed writings, with Ws referent to the
laid down by church eathority ; while the other
forOsiikesto that authority for direction and aid in nose-
tasting the meaning of Holy Scripture. Both were
equally asinine to retsin the Scripture as God's Word.
Recently, however, a third party had gringo, small indeed
in number, who named the right of tostaisining that al-
Omagh the Holy Bible tritons the Word of God, the Word
of God is not co-extensive with the mond rhtenand that it
is left to mob individual to decide which ie the Divine *lamest
and which is the human, and to rejen that which does not
approve Shelf to • man's verifying family. This new prin-
ciple struck at the root of all fixed doctrine as deducible
from Holy Seripeore, for each mining, sad each lay member
would fed at liberty to eliminate all each tamer se were
regnant to his own views, feelings, tad osanclioes. It
might well be asked what would become cd Christianity if it
was to be surrendered to the apnea of every moo& It
might be urged that the Arnim of the °horn mould sot as
a cheek as them dinewone innovations ; bet how bog wadi
that be edged to exist when the bedded been gapped to its
foundation 1 Boob distinctive doctrine of OheisYanity wcdd
dimmest to turn from the formularies of the church, spd
the result would be simple deism—that dern which
r
its bead towards the close of the 17th oentary. But
fries& of the ebureh seed not feel any adegivinp, fee
as she had outlived other assaults, she would outlive the
preset. Another error to be combated at the present
momed was Net which had been rind with respect to the
ingrain of Holy Scriptures. It might have plumed
Almighty Gal to have oanimunicated His ward sad will is
some nth mpernateral manner as to have ocoveyed it b
every awe to the ear sodshet of toes without the inter-
nale= of say subordinate ei,ency. There would this have
been no wanton of the Diver and the human element.
But ttseemed good to him that men should be the irks-
sent and eleansal by which the revelation of Himself ad
His ormansals tons& men should be imputed. and to
intrude( the prophets and spottlim with that commiesima
He did an divest each individual of his paseharitim of
tatipermosal sad bled Thee far we mar be epaid
le &How tee hems alemsak sad to asimenlepr- Id
those who were the appointed damns of memmotier
hoe were not men teething. Then was • wide older-
saes between the authority which teaches the very
heart of aa Umpired writer and Qs absolute dictation
of even weed by the Holy Spirit. All we ought to sesin-
win was the absolute ad universal authority of e=
tin of Scripture as written under the Divine so
dense which ended the writer hem error—thee aced
words in some ern bong dictated, as is the case of the
Dembigna The theory of complete verbal inspiration
was an to the mainteneant of the podtion
held by the eh that the canon of flariptun sot ealy
contain God's word, but God's word written • nee wen the
teeth= of the church called upon to lay down any new
theory of inspiration, but rather to invite her eon to adept
the deadantlea of unfeigned belief in all the cenosical
furs of the Old and New Testament se the written word
of God, end to teen the people from it as having that
divine antheelty. It was manefeet to him to find that
this view dinspiration was in issase with the orris
expresed by his predecessor seven yeast ago. It might be
asked, "If than be your views of the authority of scrip-
ture, bow will yea remade some of its datmainte with the
more recent discoveries of science? He thought that too
moth alarm had been felt in some quarters on that point
The Word of God did not prime to ran no dere. The
object of revelation was not teach us as to the secrets of
nature, but to make us wise unto salvation. The Weed of
Gad might incidentally touch on subjecte haulm on
cal seines, hut it sere introduced them withUe v of
alarming 1101111111110 truth. Unless the Word of God dis-
tinctly initiated • propo 'tin to be received as revealed
truth we need sot allow °ordain to be perplexed by any
app Memnon betweenthe two. Leiden' pursue
her own course, and let us not be ever imagining that she
ever entwines designs hostile to the truth of God's Ward.
Let us devote onselves to our holy calling, in the fell
assurance that our faith rests on a foundation which IS le
impodble for any human efforts to subvert. It was most
saWastary to dad that so many able replies had bees
published to the attacks which had been made ow the
authority of the Holy Scriptures, and particularly to, the
critical examination of the Pentateuch and the Book of
Joshua. It was his Arm *lief that if the septic, school
of theology pursued its course to the same direction sod in
the same spirit, it men before long work out its own eon.
demolition. It magneto exhibit the oensequewo to which
the principle leads—in negation of all that is die timers
in Christianity—ad then would follow what had been wh-
ored in Germany, • yearning after • definite mum of
religious belief, to men the wane sad cravings of fallen
enure, sod • rehire to that belief which alone can satiety
is. Considerable alarm bad been felt as to the recent de-
cline of the Privy (Unveil, but he thought that no general
coachman as to any future decisions could be drawn front
the tenor of that decision, and much of the approberian
which prevailed was, he thought, quite groundless. His
desire waa to abate the alarm which was not unnaturally
felt whoa the decision was supposed to have had • much
wider scope, and to dissuade his rev. brethren
from committing themselves to any particular line
of conduct in consequence of appreberions which
might have less foundation than many persona imagined.

Tao ENGLISH SYNOD 07 THE UNITED PIIZSBY-
TEBIANIL —Yesterday the usual annual seesioo of this or-
ganisation was commenced io Albion Chapel, Finsbury, a
sermon having been preached to the same place oa the
previous eveniog by the Rev. Hugh Crighton, D._ ,L). of
Liverpool, the retiring moderator. The Rev. Robert
ltedpsth, ILA., presided over the assembly. The formal
business having been immolated, thei overture of. the
presbytety of London, and also that of Lanceshirs, oa
the peculiar position of the English synod in relation to
the supreme court, and on the best means of promoting the
work of church extension in England, were considered. The
remainder of the sederuot was oceopsed with the consider'.
tion of vital religion in the Presbyterian churches sad their
neighbourhoods, and the best waste to be adopted for its
promotion. In the course of the proossidiop some amuse-
ment was created by the clerk to the mood producing a
large handsomely bound and massively-gilt clasped album,
which he stated contained the photographs of the member'
of the synod, sad was open to members for inspection. In
the evening a meeting wee held for the exposition of
United Presbyterian principles. Amongst the speakers
wers the Rev. J. Cairns, D.D., of Berwick, the Rev. J.
Edmond, D.D., of Highbary, and the Rev. Alexander
ll'Leod, of Clairghtes. The synod Meets again to-day.—
Morning Advertiser.

ISiWiWzi46l.lfTllllll7lll'.—Tbe following gentle-
roes have bleu litmonni :—Th• Rev. Thus Grabham, MLA.,
to the earner o( the ocoveotiooal district of Bittingbonme ;
the Rev. Wm. • MLA., to the core of Harbledown
the Rev. Fred. Hy. ILA., to Patti:bourn ; tho
Rev. Josh. Williamson, .A., to &Madge ; the Rev.
Prodk. Harriman Hioharre, 8.A., to Speldbarat ; the Rev.
Alfred Child, to lamikna Chapel, Speldkore. ; all in the
county of Kent.
MIDDLZSILI R ZOISTRATION B. —The business of
the revidoo, which occupied the court till 7r/clock was yes
terday brought to a elms. The detailed llbnl return of
the molt of the revision for each poll* IBMs% will be
gives ha day or two.