The Express.
London, England, 1867-02-16 00:00:00

coNvocATION _ ar_THE PROVINCE OP

CANTERBURY.

The Upper House met yes terday at the Queen Anne
Bounty Office at half-past two, the Archbishop of Canterbury
presidmg. His grace said he had received a letter from the
Bishop of Norwich, expressing his regret that he had been
prevented attemling the meeting from ill health, but
heartily ooncurring in the resolution that had been passed
concerning ritualism. Subsequently the prolocutor and a
deputation brought up a resolution from the Lower House,
concurring in the resolution of their lordships on Wednes-
day last. A discussion took place with regard to the pro-
posed Pan Anglican Synod, their lordships declaring it was
' not intended to be held for any doctrinal points to be set-
tled, but loving Christian communion betweenthe members
of the mother and the colonial episcopate. Their lord-
ships' house was then prorogued to Tuesday, the 4th of
June next. _

The Lower House resumed its sittings in the Jerusalem
Chamber, under the presidency of the Veit Archdeacon
Bickeniteth, D.D., the prolocutor. Dr. Leighton read a
petition from himself, addressed to the Upper House,
stating that certain alterations in the Stith sad following
canons were fully enacted by the last session of Canon-
' tion in 1865, that such alterations, as he was credibly in-
, formed, received the sanction of the crown, but that the
printed canons did not contain such alterations ; the peti-
tioner therefore prayed that their lordships the bishops
might be pleased to take steps to correct such canons in
all future issues. After a brief conversation the petition
was made an arties(as eieri, and ordered to be presented to
the bishops as the petition of the whole house. The
Dean of Canterbury moved :—" That this house concurs
r, in the judgment of the Upper House, that no ahem-
, tion in ritual should be made in our churches until the
sanction of the bishop of the diocese has been obtained
) thereto." Some discsueion took place as to whether this
motion committed the house to a concurrence in the whole
'I of the resolution--the premises as well as the conclusion.
The Warden of All Souls moved that the house concur
in the last two lines of the resolution—viz., " That no
alteration from long sanctioned and usual ritual ought
to be made in our churches until the sanction of the
bishop of the diocese has been obtained thereto."
Archdeacon Oxenilen seconded Dr. Leighton's motion,
which he thought would tend more than anything else
to restore to the church those who Lind, in a manner,
- separated themselves from it. He characterized the
I motion as being of the most moderate nature, and trusted
' it would meet with the unanimous sanction f the house.
Dr. Jebb coneidered the resolution of the Upper House to
be of a very vague character. It spoke of the alteration of
,ritual. What did that mean' Did it mean a recurrence
) to an ancient custom 'r That could not be called an al;era.
I tion of ritual. In short, there was nothing in the docu-
ment to show that there had been an alteration. Then,
again, "ritual" and " usual " were very comprehensive
. words. Also " long.sanctioned "—sanctioned by whom!
• By the metropolitan and the bishops ; by the law of the
I land ; by the law of the universal church ; by the great
• weight of public opinion ; or by the opinion of some of the
most eminent members of the church in anciest times
The words were capable of an infinity of intopretations.
So far from settling the question, debates would arise as
to the meaning of " usage," " long-sanctioned," " ritual,"
and so on. People would go from this lawyer to that
lawyer, and there would be no end to the subject.
Archdeacon Denison moved an amendment to the effect
that the house should concur in the whole resolution sent
, down from the Upper House, and to this he said be should
I add a rider in the following words: "That the house, in thus
concurring in this resolution, is not making any general
imputation of disloyalty to the church of England upon
1 those who adopt the observances in question, and as
expressing their opinion that offendsare caused in the
church not only by undue or excessive ritualism, but also
by departures from the rule of rubrical observances and
church order." After some conversation the archdeacon
separated the first part from the rider. The Dean of
Caaterbury seconded the amendment thus altered.
The Dean Or IV .eatn,tet" Concurrence
in the resolutions of the bishops, but he regretted that
the subject should have been discussed in private, inasmuch
as the clergy and the public were interested in the opinions
which had led to this result. (Hear.) Archdeacon Utter-
thorne said this was a great crisis in the church, and he
was of opinion that the views of the laity should be
brought to bear upon this subject. He proceeded to say
that the ritualists had gone on to carry out practices
opposed to the teachings of the church. Mr. Summer
supported the amendmen,, and said that the resolutions of
the bishops were couched in an unobjectionable form, and
while they did not bind the church to an iron rule, they
held that no changes or alterations should be made by a
clergyman without consulting the bishop placed over him
to guide him. The matters treated of were not matters of
mere indifference, for whole congregations were being
alienated by those very questions. Archdeacon Freeman
held that the bishops had gone beyond their powers
in giving judgment. At all events, it would have been
kindly if tbey had made use of the word "counsel" instead.
Canon Blakesley said, that although the house could not I
' tell what discussion took place among the bishops on this
question, yet they knew from the papers that the Bishop
of Oxford proposed the resolution, and this fact he looked
upon as a proof that those with whom the bishops would
have to deal in this matter would be treated in a kindly
spirit. He himself was no ritualist, and he had not said
anything disrespectfully of those who were, and he thought
that those who followed those practices could hardly oh-
ject to a resolution which requested them topsy obedience
to the pastors set over them. Archdeacon Wordsworth
spoke in favour of the resolution ; Mr. Hughes for the
amendment, and Archdeacon Sandford for the amendment,
but, he added, without the rider. Archdeacon Denison
wished to move his rider, andon being told that the Dean of
Canterbury, his seconder, objected to it, he said, amid some
laughter, that he should vote against his own amendment.
On a show of hands the numbers for and against the
amendment were equal—til ; but on a division it was re-
jected, there being for it 27, against 20. Mr. Joyce then
moved another amendment, to bring the rubric quoted by
the bishops( into the resolution. This was seconded, but
was also negatived, there being for, 20 ; against, 34. After
the proposal of another amendment, the original rem-
lution. fur the adoption of the bishops' judgment, was
carried by 47 to 3. A preface by Lord Alwymme Compton
in these words —" That this house, having regard to the
ritual observances treated of in the report of (his house,"
having been placed before the " judgment " by the vote of I
the house, the rider was withdrawn. The Prolocutor then
proceeded to the Upper House, and when he returned the
house was prorogued until June next.

Yesterday, the Lord Bishop of Chester conse-
crated a new church at Liverpool, built at a coat of
14,0001., the whole expense being defrayed by Mr. T. D.
Anderson, a local merchant.