The Express.
London, England, 1868-10-02 00:00:00

THE SPEAKER'S COMMENTARY.

WHAT has become of the BrnaxEs's Commen-
tary ? Five years ago the work was promised
amidst a flourish of trumpets, but it has not oven
yet seen the light of publicity. In the spring of
1863, when Bishop COLEN3O'I3 criticisms upon the
" Pentateuch" were disturbing the ecclesiastical
world, the Right lien. the SPEAKER of the
Rouse of Commons conceived the idea of
inducing a number of our bishops to pub-
lish a commentary which should be regarded
as the judgment of churchmen upon the points
that had been raised. There was a dinner or two
we believe, over the matter, and the dinners were
followed by the announcement of a plan. Every-
body was in a glow. Mr. Mt azty was to bring
out the work, the Rev. F. C. Coox was to edit it,
and the names were made known of numerous
scholars who had been appointed to write
the several portions, as well as of the
right rev. bishops under whose authority
it was to be issued. Two years rolled by when a
correspondent, a biblical scholar probably, one
who was yearning for opponents who should be
worthy of his lore, sought information through
the columns of a contemporary respecting the
work. Ile was quieted for the time by the assur-
ance that it was making steady progress, and
that some part of it was already in type. This
was in 1865. Two years later, in the autumn
of last year, that is, Dr. CoLraso, either
in earnest or in irony, complained that
the threatened answer to his criticisms
was kept neck. Stray shots from volunteers and
adventurous amateurs were flying about, but the
great guns were silent. had they been spiked %
The official editor assured the world through the
Time, that the Commentary was really in hand,
and that the Pentateuch was the part that would
be published first. This is October, 1888, and
we are still at the mercy of " unauthorised "
I productions wherewith to overwhelm the heretical
bishop. The Commentary, says rumour, has been
written, and has been printed ; but the patron
bishops refuse to sanction it in its present form.
We should like to know how far this is true. If
the gossip is substantially correct, we have in it
another illustration of the divided state of opinion
in the Church and of the folly of expecting, as
things are, effective declarations from ecclesiastical
juntas in matters of exact criticism. At present the
laugh is unfairly against tho SPEAKER, whose sur-
prise and disappointment must be as complete as
anybody's.

We read in the Etoile of Namur :—" About 20
years ago a young curate of the province of Namur
fell in love with the daughter of a rich proprietor,
at whose house he visited. The two young people
fled to England. There the young priest embraced the
protestant religion and married her whom he loved. Me
obtained the curacy of a small village, the income being
exceedingly limited. Children were born and have grown
up, and the parents, finding in their love the necessary
courage and resignation, nobly supported their
poverty. The mother of the lady desired long ago again
to see her exiled child, while the father would never con-
sent to recognise the marriage. The latter recently
died. The wife of the clergyman desired very much to
return to her mother in Belgium, but with a recognition
of her married state. It is said that the former abbE in-
tends to demand this from the tribunals of his country."