The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-13 00:00:00

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

(THIS DAY.)

ECCLESIASTICAL TOPICS.
Observing that the general question out of which
the controversy between "S. G. 0." and the Bishop of
Salisbury has arisen affects the peace of every district in
England, the Times puts it to the bishop and his friends
whether they have any hope that a majority of the
English people will accept a system which is evidently
Identical with that of the church of Rome. They have
the letter of several formulas on their side, and
in the Arches Court and Privy Council the victory
would be uncertain, but they are the paid ministers of a
state church, distinctly servants of the state, and as much
bound to study the convictions, the habits, and even the
prejudices of the country, u if they were political ad-
ministrators. If after a sufficient trial has been made by
a clergyman of any doctrine, practice, or ceremony which
he desires to restore, there is such a plain and unmistakable
repugnance as to prove to a reasonable man that the in-
novation will not be accepted, the clergyman is bound to
give it up. If hie conscience forbids him to do that, he
should no longer minister in the national church.
Is it not the case that wherever these extreme views obtain
among the clergy in parish churches, there is extreme
bitterness and division? Carried yearly further and fur-
ther, these innovations are producing a serious effect on
English society. Among the middle classes there is a
growing dislike of the church, which is supposed to be
represented by the priestly propaganda. A religious census
taken at the next decennial period would show the extent
of this movement. Among the more cultivated class
there is a growing weariness and indifference with regard
to all church questions. Men of intelligence hold them-
selves apart from the futile disputes, the narrow ecelesias.
ticism, the frivolous tastes of the clergy. The end is not
difficult to see. The bishops may one day awaken to the
_ _

discovery that the numerical majority of English pe-ple I
have become dissenters ; that among the great number of
those who go to church there is no zeal for their creed or
sympathy with its preachers ; and that the intelligent
laity, who always had • kindly feeling for the church,
have come to regard it as an institution which has had its
day, and for the maintenance of which no man need bestir
himself.

The Daily Nru•sreturna to the judgment of Lord RomillY I
in the case of the Bishop of Natal, questioning whether his
lordship has quite accurately estimated the real character
of the judgment of the Privy Council in the =lse of " Long
r. the Bishop of Cape Town," and in the case of " The
Bishop of Natal r. the Bishop of Cape Town." As the
Dailp News reads the matter the Queen as Head of the
'Church of England, may nominate bishops, who, when
consecrated according to its customs, are true bishops of
the whole church, in whatever part of the world they
may be. But since the Head of the Church cannot create
dioceses in England without the assent of the legislature,
neither can she in the colonies, having independent legis-
latures, except by assent of the members of the church.
This assent, however, will give to the bishop, and to any
so-called metropolitans, all the powers necessary for the
performance of their Christian functions, and with such
powers the subscribers to the fund for their support may
reasonably be inspected to be contented.
To the Tdefsruph the only possible solution of the
ritualistic controversy seems to lie, either in a submission
t.) the claims of the high church party, or in a secession of
the members of that body who should deliberately elect to
abide by their extreme tenets. The present state of things
in the established church is an opprobrium to the states-
manship of the establishment, which should hold itself
specially responsible to discover those defects in the
human part of the ecclesiastical institution that give occa-
sion for doubt and dispute, with a view to devise a practical
remedy. For it is tolerably certain that if those who have
at heart the stability of the national church and the main-
tenance of its sway could devise any amendment which
should terminate so disastrous a warfare, their present-
ment would have a ready support from the Lords and
Commons in parliament assembled, and from the vast bulk
of society.

LEGAL CHANGES.

The Times repeats the rumour of Sir NV. Erie's retire- .. cat.
4ing. -
never dreamt of changing the face of society, and never
scent, and that of Vice-Chancellor Stuart, at the end of
the present term, and remarks that it may thus very well • allowing self-denial to interfere with the chances of
be that neither the present Attorney nor Solicitor-General material prosperity."
may meet parliament, and that government, having p The Atlantic and Pacific Railway from New York
to San Francisco will be 3,200 miles long. It passes through
vided for the principal of its parliamentary legal sup-
St. Louie, Kansas city, the heart of New Mexico, and gets
porters, will have to meet the house with law officers little
into California, near the head waters of the Colorado river,
versed in its proceedings, and not having acquired its ear,
or become familiar with its practice. The Times is also by a low pass in the Rocky Mountains. The railway is
rapidly being made from both termini. By January, 1804,
informed that it is the intention of the government to
make a readjustment of the circuits, and to increase the it will be extended 1,870 miles from New York
number of judges for England from fifteen to eighteen ; to within 200 miles of the Rocky Mountains.
and it thinks it not surprising that England, with a popu-
In two or three years' time a person will
lation twice as large as that of Ireland and Scotland put reach San Francisco from England in little odds
together, should require three more judges than Scotland of a fortnight, and he will have made during that
and six more than Ireland. The expenditure in salaries, period an ocean voyage 3,000 miles long, and performed
occasioned by this addition, will he just fifteen a land journey of greater length. When the Atlantic and
thousand a year. This change can, of course, Pacific railroad is completed the route to Japan and China
via New York and San Francisco from this country will be
only be effected by act of parliament, but it is not too
early et,. nnow to express a hope that in the distribution much the best and quickest one.
of the patronage which must arise the claims of non- TIIE FORTHCOMING REFORM BANQUET AT MAN-
political lawyers will not be overlooked, and that this CHESTER.—We understand that the banquet committee
great improvement in the administration of justice will be are making rapid progress with the numerous arrange_
accompanied with some consideration for the men whose scents necessary for the banquet. The large hall is to be
attention has been wholly and exclusively directed to law decorated, and the drawing-room, leading out of the ladies'
u s profession. refreshment-room, is to be carpeted, furnished with
I
ottomans, &c., and rendered quite a comfortable lounge
MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS. for the ladies. All the entrances and stairs will be car-
The Daily News thinks that the effect of the present peted, anti profusely adorned with plants of various
elections in America will probably be to ensure the passage descriptions, and placards giving directions how to proceed
of the constitutional amendment, and that thus the in- to the various parts of the building will be posted in con-
fluence on the future politics of the Union will be very spicuous places. The exterior of Ithe building will be
great in redressing an unequal distribution of power. brilliantly illuminated with the oxygen light, which, be-
The civil war was the rebellion of the privileged class in sides being in itself an attraction, will greatly facilitate
defence of its privileges, anti no healthy permanence of the preserving of order during the arrival and departure of
civil or political peace can be hoped for till the last of the public. It is intended in a "day or two to advertise a
those privileges is abolished. Such privileges are always list of complete instructions to ticket holders in reference
defended with immense tenacity, as the present resistance to the respective doors at which they will be admitted, with
of Southern statesmen shows ; but the perseverance of the all other arrangements.—Manchester Guardian.
Northern people, in spite of Presidential opposition, proves THE METEORIC SHONVER.—Rain fell during last
that a sense of right and justice is more tenacious still. night and has continued almost without intermission
Political inequality has endangered the Union in the past during the whole of the forenoon. Nothing has of course
—political equality between all its sections, leading as it been seen in London of the " meteoric shower," and Sir
will do to political equality between all its races, can alone A. S. Herschel telegraphs a short note from Glasgow, in
secure it for the future. which he says that if they were not visible this
Several references having lately been made to the sup- morning they should be looked for to-morrow
posed increase of the Russian army, a correspondent of morning before sunrise. Up to the present time
the Testes at Vienna writes to say that no increase has the continued absence of meteors in the morning
really taken place. The present organisation of the also makes the latter date more probable. The
Russian recruitment is as follows :—A conscription takes meteoric shower of November is invisible from sunset until
place annually ; a ukase is published ordering the period midnight, and only makes its appearance during the hours
when it will take place, and the number of men per 1,000 from midnight until sunrise. Observers are on the watch
which will be required. When the conscription is finished, for its appearance at the following places :—Oreenwieh,
the recruits have joined their depots, and their total Cambridge, Durham, Wisbech, Manchester, Birmingham,
effective strength is known, then the old soldiers of eight Sidmouth, Ramsgate, Sevenoaks, and London; besides
years' service and upwards, supernumerary of the fixed observers at other places—among others, at Kingstown, in
establishment of the army, are sent to their villages, Ireland.