The Express.
London, England, 1862-06-26 00:00:00

THE E

But the question remains—Hot do the Foreat-,
laries of the Church require the deny to treat
the Bible T According to Dr. Lusunioxott's inter-
pretation, the answer demanded of deacons at
ordination implies " a bond fide belief that the
" Holy Scriptures contain everything necessary
" to salvation, and that to that extent they have
" the direct sanction of the Aunourv." And the
Sixth Article teaches the Divine authority of all
the canonical books, which are declared to contain
all things necessary to salvation. From the lan-
guage of this Article the learned Judge derives
the doctrine of an inspiration which is distin-
guished by a preternatural and Divine interpo-
sition from the extraordinary exaltation of the
human faculties in men of genius. This derived
doctrine he declares to be an indispensable part
of the Sixth Article ; therefore he holds that any

clergyman who maintains, directly or indirectly,
that the Holy Scriptures proceed from the same
mental powers as have produced other works, even
with the qualification that these powers in the one
case and the other differ in degree, thereby con-
travenes the Articles of Religion. Al to the ex-
tent to which criticism proper might be exercised
on the sacred text, he held that he was not re-
quired to hold guilty of an ecclesiastical offence
persons who should affirm that certain passages
were wrongly introduced, and were not entitled to
keep their place, in Scripture ; but they must not
reject the whole Book—that would be to deny its
canonicity, and so to violate the Article.
These being the general principles of the
Judgment, we may pass very rapidly over their
application to the case of Dr. WILLIAM. The
learned Judge sometimes finds it difficult to affix a
sense to the language of the eseayist, and when
that has been done it is not always easy to ascertain
when his words represent his own opinions, and
when he ought to be considered as merely repeat-
ing those of Baron BUISSZN. But Dr. Lcannwrois
finds the declaration that "the Bible is an expression
" of devout reason" inconsistent with the Twentieth
Article, in which it is denominated "GOD'S written
" word." Dr. Wrisaams's recognition of " the
" Eternal Spirit" as informing and inspiring the
writers of the Bible is not brought into connexion
with this passage by the Judge : on the contrary,
Dr. Lusantorox lays down that "devout reason
" belongs to the acts and doings of man, and not to
" the works of the ALMIGHTY." This panne, there-
fore, Dr.Lusumorosi condemns. A passage in which
Dr. WILLIAM says that the evidences of Scrip-
ture are " not adequate to guarantee narratives
" inherently incredible or precepts evidently wrong,"
does not appear to the learned Judge to impugn the
Articles or Formularies, and so it escapes, although
it enunciates the portentous doctrine of the ve-
rifying faculty. Again, the declaration that "the
" Bible is the written voice of the congrege-
" tion," although it is admitted to be " not a
" denial that the Bible is inspired," is declared to
be contrary to the Sixth and Seventh Articles.
The doctrine of propitiation put forward by Dr.
Wrwans, according to which a merely subjective
change, and not a new relation brought about by
a mediatorial act, is signified, is condemned as
contrary to the Thirty-first Article, and similarly
his doctrine of justification is declared to violate
the Eleventh Article.
A large class of opinions, held byDr.
i are mentioned in the course of the Judgment as

militating against doctrines held by the most vene-
rated divines, but as to which Dr. Lugar/taro& has
not been able to come to the conclusion that in
promulgating them the Articles in the Liturgy
have been violated. Such are the denials of the
Messianic element in Hebrew prophecy; the re-
jection of the commonly received belief as to the
authorship of particular books of Scripture—
s& the Book of DAwax, the Second Epistle
of Sr. Para; and the Epistle to the Hebrews ;
the interpretation in a figurative sense of certain
quasi-historical narratives of the Old Testament.
The last allegation of the Bishop of SALIM:TRY,
that " the tendency, object, and design of the
" whole Essay is to inculcate a disbelief of the
" Divine inspiration and orthodoxy of the Holy ,
" Scriptures; to deny the truth of parts thereof,
" and to deny the doctrines of original sin, justi-
" fication by faith, atonement, propitiation, and
" the incarnation," is rejected by the Court as
unprecedented, and as contrary to the fair rule
established by the Judicial Committee in the case of
" Boan=a v. Mum," viz., that the words or writ-
ings of the person accused must be pleaded ; that
the meaning, which they are alleged by the prose-
cution to convey, must be pleaded ; and the parti-
cular Articles of Religion, orparts of them, asserted
to be contravened, must be pleaded aim.
The proceedings in the Court of Arches yester-
day, although important, are but preliminary.
Many of the articles are rejected, others are to be
reformed, a liberty of appeal is givenin the present
stage of the case, and the course of the respective
parties is uncertain. As the Judgment stands,
however, it will be apparent to any one
who will be at the trouble to compare it
with the Essay impugned, that it recog-
nises a much greater latitude of public teach-
ing than has generally been thought to have the
sanction of law in the Church of England, espe-
cially in the sphere of Biblical interpretation. And
on the whole this decision, whatever may suc-
ceed, cannot fail to have an important place in the
religious history of England.

PADPIRIBM. —The number of paupers in receipt
of relief (indoor and out-door) in England and Waled on
the last day of the first week in May wee 905,678, being
71,857 more than the number in the corresponding week of
1861. The amber in the second week was nearly th•
mane; in the third week it was slightly less, but was
72,120 above the number last year. In the last week of
last month the numbers were 894,692, which is 67,424 in
exams of 1861. There is an increase in every division but
the eastern one. In the north-western division the in-
mese amounts to 0'73 percent, ; in the metropolis the in-
crease in 013.

THE INTERNATIONAL DECIMAL ANSOCIATION.—
At 3 o'clock yesterday a number of the members and
friends of the International Decimal Association assembled
in the philosophical iustrumeut also, north gallery of the
Exhibition, for the purpose of inspecting the collection of
coins and weights and measures of venous countries there
exhibited. At 5 o'clock the members sat down together in
M. Veillard's half of the grand *loon to a dinner, James
Yates, Esq., F.H.8., V.P., in the chair. Amongst those
pelmet were—J. B. Smith, Fol., M.P.. Colonel Sykes,
M.P., E. Baines, Eq., M.P. Pollard Urquhart,
Fag M.P., Y. Volcker., the Belgic Commissioner, IL
Michel Chevalier, M. Laxoo and the Count de Rip Ma.
°Dauphine:4mm for Spun ; M. de Hermann, commissioner for
Bavaria ; Count Cabral, commissioner for Portugal ;
Moran, Esq. Secretary of the United States Embassy; C.
Jollier*, Esq., President of the Institute of Actuaries Dr.
Farr, F.E.S., S. Brown' req., V.P., Professor Lame Levi,
the waretary, and Mr.D'Eyncourt. Among the company
were ix or seven ladies. Amon the spoken after dinner,
besides the chairman, were M. Chevalier, Mr. Baines,
Colonel Sykes, end Dr. Lome Levi, and theprooesdings were
°optioned to a late hour.
THE " MAIICII7I3TER GUARDIAN."—A meeting
was held yesterday af toupee, at the Clarence Hotel,
Manchester, attended by about 100 gentlemen, when it was
resolved to nine a fund as an expression of sympathy with
the Menateeter duisrdien in the result of the late trial,
" Mums v. Allen." Mr. Scott (of the firm of Mews. Jones,
Brothers, end Cr) presided. Numerous letters had been
received trees different parte of the district proffering
moisten°s far beyond what was considered requisite. It
WY desired that the subscription should be as general as
possible, and the sum to be accepted from each individual
contributor was limited to one guinea, while tee amownl to
be given by firms was left to their option. Three hundred
members of the Manchester Exchange have already given in
their none' ea subscribers.