The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-14 00:00:00

The Bristol Church Congress.

COLLEGIATE CIIURCTIES.
On Wednesday morning two sections again sat, as on
one being presided over by
,ristol, and the other by the
the Tuesday,
Bishop
otfh
Ge VI iucct
eo
sr it
ea rRa onotimßs
Archdeacon of Bristol.
Mr BERESFORD HOPE read a paper on Collegiate Churches
in Great Towns.—This was the age in mercantile concerns of
co operation and limited liability, and he proposed to apply
the principle in a manner to the maintenance of collegiate
churches. The early Churoh thoroughly understood the co-
operative centralised agency, and worked step by step that
complex system of med:teval dominion which went on ad-
vancing until it broke down at the Reformation, through
the very minuteness of its organisation, to pass over other
reasons. The Reformation left England with the organisation
of collegiate bodies entirely submerged, with a few excep-
tions. No one would now dream of restoring monastic in-
stitutions in England—(hear, hear) ; but on the other hand,
collegiate churches and institutions founded on the Reformed
Church of England might be employed as antidotes to that
seething vice and identity of our towns, in the same way as
a company with limited liability. As to details, he thought
towns should be divided into portions of 2,000 to 3,000 po-
pulation, and collegiate districts should be formed embrac-
ing a population of about 8,000 each. The larger parishes
would thus be served by a body of clergy organised on the
collegiate principle, and thus have a central church, ar
ranged far more with free sittings, and subservient chapels,
permanent or temporary, consecrated cr licensed, and
either exclusively used for worship or for schools and
lectures. A special advantage of the system might be
summed up in the phrase " centralisation of power." After
giving his idea of the limit of the collegiate stipends, he
acid he had no wish to use the collegiate system as a lever
to revive celibacy. (Hear, hear.)
Papers were then read by Mr KNOTT and Mr CLABON
on the organisation and action of parishes in defence of the
Church.

Archdeacon DENISON did not think Mr Clabon's propo-
sal practicable. He had some experience of country pa-
rishes. In many of them when the parishioners had finished
their milking and cheesemaking, they liked to sit down and
smoke their pipes and drink cider until it was time to go
milking again. (A laugh.) How many of them could be got
when they had finished their milking to go into the vestry
and begin agitating for Church defence ? (Hear.) In his
parish there were few people who would not do anything he
asked of them, but ho was afraid if he proposed to them to
form themselves into a committee, they would ask him to be
chairman, secretary, treasurer, and in fact the whole com-
mittee. (Laughter.)
Lord LYTTELTON expressed his concurrence in the view
taken by Archdeacon Denison.
Canon TREVOR, in a humorous speech)
approved of Mr
Hope's suggestion.
APPEARANCE OF BROTHER IGNATIUS.

At this stage a a mewh it exciting incident took place.
The PRESIDENT (the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristo,
announced that the Rev. Mr Lyne would speak next on
this question.
The so-called " Brother Ignatius" presented himself on
the platform, clad in his peculiar costume_oostame of the
Benedictine model, and resembling more nearly than any-
thing else a rough:lnverness cape many sizes too large, with
sleeves and hood—his head completely shaven, with the
exception of a narrow ring. He was greeted with a storm
of disapprobation such as one would hardly have believed
clerical throats to be capable of, though at the same time
there was a large minority which cried out to give him a fair
hearing. The ladies certainly did not join in the hisses and
cries, but many of them were conspicuously vehement in
waving him away, and in encouraging their male friends to
compel him to silence. Mr Lyne faced the storm bravely
for several minutes, but finding it impossible after one or
two attempts to make his voice heard, sat down in a chair
which Lord Lyttelton vacated for him ; and
The PRESIDENT, who for some time had been vainly
endeavouring to calm the storm, when silence was thus
restored, said—l hope you will listen to the counsel of your
Presiient. A member of the congress—a clergyman of the
Church of England—has sent in his name to speak. Let us
show that we are Christian men; let us hear what he has
to say in a Christian spirit. I am sure that we shall do
wisely, and respect ourselves in so doing. lam certain
also, though I have never had the pleasure of seeing him
before, that Mr Lyne will only say what is proper and con.
formable to an occasion like the present, Let us be
eal to you to give me a few
large-
hearted, whatever we are, (Cheers.)
Mr LYNE, who speaks with considerable energy and
fervour, and with the graceful action of
a consummate
actor, then stood forward and said :—Fellow countrymen
amnodmfeenl 1:87
with the help of Almighty
God, that I shall not abuse your indulgence. The subj: ct
under consideration iF, how our national Church of England
audience,-C hu ichm
can be enabled to reach the heathen masses of our home
population. I have laboured in some of the worst districts
anden hope,app
among the most degraded masses of our home heathen, 1
have seen as much misery as most of my fellow clergymen
have seen, and the more I see the more I feel convinced that
our present parochial system cannot grapple with the fearful
misery around us. It our present church system is unable
to grapple v ith these evils, the question is, how is she to be
put into a position to do it ? By the establishment of col-
legiate churehes in our large towns. In this I feel a solemn
and:dcep interest. I do not wish to stand before you to con-
tend for names, to bring beforo you anything which may bo
obnoxious—anything which may bo considered of a party
character. All I long for is, that our mother Church of
England should be the mother of the people and the
nurse of the sick and spiritually dead. (Applause.) The
question is, how ? It is of no use our meeting together in
large numbers, either in congresses or other assemblies, if
we only deal with the theatrical part of the question. We
must be up and doing, for souls are perishing_.
This Bristol
Congress should begin by establishing some such bodies of
men. They must be bodies such as our Churchof England
can sanction as scriptural. (Hear.) Suppose we got toge-
ther a certain number of men devoted heart and soul to the
service of God; it would be impossible that such men could
go without rules. Rules must be laid down, which those
men would faithfully agree to submit to. If rules are to be
laid down, where shall we find them? If you will look for
yourselves into the rules of St. Benedict—(loud cries
of disapprobation)—l am sure those who cry "Oh I"
cannot have read fur themselves you will find
that the essence of that rule is the love of Jesus for
Hiutself mid the lore of our fellow-men for His eake. No