The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-06 00:00:00

MEETING OF CONVOCATION.

The two Houses of Convocation met yesterday, at
the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey.
Shortly after twelve o'clock, his Grace the Archbishop of
Canterbury arrived, accompanied by Sir John Dodson,
Knight, the Queen's Advocate, nud Vicar-General of the
province of Canterbury, Francis Hart Dyke, Esq., her
Majesty's Proctor and Registrar-General of the province of
Canterbury, and Felix Knivett, Esq., his Grace's secretary.
His Grace was attired in his state and archiepiscopal robes.
The members of the Upper House present were the Bishop
of Exeter, the Bishop of Oxford, the Bishop of Salisbury,
the Bishop of Chichester, and the Bishop of Bath and
Wells.

The Lower House assembled at the same time. There
were present the Venerable Thomas Thorp, D.D., Arch-
deacon of Bristol, and Rector of Kemerton, Gloucester-
shire; the Venerable Archdeacon Harrison (Canterbury) ;
the Very Rev. William Rowe Lyall, D.D., Deau of Can-
terbury and Prolocutor of Canterbury ; the Rev. William
Hodge Mill, D.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew in the
University of Canterbury, and Canon of Ely ' • the Rev.
Gabriel Edwards Gillett, M.A., Rector of Waltham,
Leicestershire, and Rural Dean, &c.

The Lord Archbishop having.taken his seat, the usual
preliminaries were gone through, when
The Bishop of CHICHESTER ruse and said he hail to
present a petition from the clergy and laity of the province
of Canterbury. It had been entrusted to the bishop in
whose diocese they were at present assembled (London) ; but
in consequence of that right rev. prelate's inability to
attend, the duties of presenting the petition devolved upon
him. His lordship then handed to his grace a petition
setting firth the grievous injuries experienced by the
church through the continued suspension of her synodal
action, whereby she had been prevented from exercising
her proper authority for the maintenance of sound doctrine,
the exercise of discipline, and the development of her
' internal resources. The petitioners express a belief that the
recent measures of the l'ope having directed the attention
of the Queen and the people of England to the religious
position of the country if, at this time, the real cause of
the decoy of true religion, as well as of the growth of
popery, and other grievous errors, and of infidelity itself,
were represented to her Majesty by the bishops of the
church, 'to whom it especially belongs to advise the kings
of the earth in regard to spiritual matters," there is great
reason to hope that by their representations and entreaties
her Majesty might be moved to restore to the church the
freedom of her synodal action uin ancient time. The pe-
titioners conclude with a prayer that the most reverend and
right reverend fathers in God will use their influence in
obtaining for the two houses of convocation license to de-
liberate in order afterwards to take such measures as may
seem for the good of the church.
The petition was then read by FRANCIS HART DTIR,
Esq., the Registrar, and ordered to lie on the table.
While these proceedings were going on in the Upper
House of Convocation, the Lower House had assembled in
an adjacent chamber, under the presidency of the Very
Rev. William Rowe Lyall, D.D., Dean of Canterbury.
The Venerable Archdeacon Taoars presented a petition
similar to that submitted to the Upper House by the Bishop
of Chichester. _ _ _

A long discussion arose as to whether the Lower House
was sufficiently constituted to receive the petition. Upon a
wish being eirpreased through the prolocutor that the arch-
bishop's opinion should be ascertained prior to any further
proceeding, the lower house was summoned to an interview
with the Upper House.
Upon being admitted, the PitoLocuron stated that a pe-
tition had been presented, and it was the wish of the mem-
ben that the opinion of his Grace and the Upper House
should be obtained on the question of their competency to
receive it.

The Archbishop of CANTERBURY said that the Lower
House wax legally constituted, and was in a position to re-
ceive the document alluded to by the Very Rev. Dean.
The members of the Lower House then withdrew, and,
an re-aa.embling in their chamber, the petition was received,
and an order for recording it was made. The Lower Rouse
vu about proceeding to the consideration of other business,
' when the members were again formally summoned to the
llpper House, and on being admitted into the chamber,
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY directed Mr. Francis
Bart Dyke to read a precept proroguing the convocation to
August 28.
The proccedin. gs immediately terminated.

PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.—The members of a cer-
tain officious fraternity which nestles on the borders, en-
countered, the other day,: in the prosecution of their voca-
ton, a formidable foe. A box of questionable shape arrived
Tweedmouth from a Scottish town in the west, with an
address directing its further conveyance southwards. It
was raised by the officers of excise, and found heavy; it
wts shaken but gave no satisfactory reply. The outer cover-
inr, which was of wool, was removed, but the inner cue
orily excited greater curiosity. It was composed of lead
securely soldered round the edges. It was evidently a prise.
Btt how to get at it was the question. One of the searchers
suggested that they should have the railway office poker
?tested, and with it melt the soldering. All agreed to this,
but during the heating process one of the officers wiser
that his fellows, suggested that as they must ultimately
have a plumber to renew the fastening they had better have
himat once to undo it. This proceeding, though delaying
thengratification, was acceded to. The plumber was pro-
curet, and he decided that it would be wiser to cut than to
meltthe solder, which he presently did ; when an °peen
was made the contents were discovered to be—gunpowder
Had the heated iron but come in contact with this, what
wouk hare been the consequence? With " bated breath"
the spetators congratulated each other on their escape, and
beastly wished the suspected package a safe and speedy
onveAuce to its destination.—Aorth British Moil