The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-12 00:00:00

CONVOCATION.

Yesterday both Houses of Convocation assembled at
Westminster for the transaction of businekii.
LOWER HOUSE.
BISHOP COLENSO'S BOOK.

Several petitions having been presented from the clergy
in different parts of the kingdom,
Archdeacon DENIS oN moved the suspension of the stand-
ing orders, with the view of submitting the motion of which
he had given notice.

The motion was seconded by Dr. M'CAUL, and carried.
Archdeacon DENIS orr then moved an address to the Upper
House, to direct the appointment of a committee to examine
a book lately published in London, within the province of
Canterbury, entitled "The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua
Critically examined," by the Right Rev. John Wm. Colenso,
D.D., Bishop of Natal, Parts I. and 11. ; and to report whe-
ther any, and if any, what, opinions heretical or erroneous
in doctrine are contained in the said books. His objections to
the book were that in the preface the truth of Holy Scrip-
ture was denied ; and that in the book itself the authority
of Christ as perfect God and perfect man was called in ques-
tion by the explanation given of the references to the Pen-
tateuch in the words of the New Testament. The policy of
the course which he felt it his duty, upon the publication of
this most heretical work, to pursue was questioned by some,
it being alleged that it interfered with the regular business
of Convocation; but he apprehended that Convocation had
no higher duty to perform than to protect the Church when
it was assailed by the publication of works such as this,
emanating from one bolding high authority in the Church.
He would not upon that occasion enter into a discussion as
to the merits of particular passages in the work, having
already stated sufficient to justify the motion which he had
placed upon the paper. In conclusion, he desired only to
express his entire conviction that the truth of the Holy
Scriptures, and the authority of the Saviour were as near and
as dear to the hearts of every member of that house as to his
own, whether they agreed or not to the course which he felt
it his duty to take in this matter, but he left the motion in
the hands of the house, in the full conviction that it would
command the support of the vast majority of the members.
Dr. M'CAVL said he seconded the motion most heartily
because the book to which it had reference had caused a
very great deal of scandal. The object of the motion was
to institute inquiry into the work, and he would neither
waste time by speaking of matters that were so well known,
nor in any way anticipate the judgment of the house
upon the subject. But there was no doubt that very great
alarm had been excited by the publication of the Bishop of
Natal's book in all the friends of the Church of England,
and that alarm had extended not merely to the uneducated
and to those who were not acquainted with theological sub -
jects, but amongst the clergy themselves. In order, there-
fore, to satisfy the minds of the clergy and laity, and parti-
cularly the operatives, to whom the book was especially ad-
dressed, the Convocation should inquire and come to a de-
termination as to the character of the work, and should
declare plainly whether the Bishop of Natal spoke the truth
respecting the ,Pentateuch and respecting the Saviour, or
whether the book was full of error based upon fallacious ar-
,..t....o.crary to tho private, convictions of the groat
body of the clergy. Bishop Colenso stated unmistakeably,
that the Pentateuch was based upon a legend, and as a proof
of the injury which the reasoning of the writer had done ho
mentioned the case of a young man on the eve of ordination
expressing publicly his views in favour of the book, and
insisting that its arguments were conclusive. The book
therefore encouraged immorality, for he held that the highest
degree of immorality was for any man, upon the most solemn
occasion of his life, standing in the presence of God, the
angels, and the people, to declare that he unfeignedly be-
lieved the canonical Scriptures when he rejected as untrue
a most material portion of the Bible. On these grounds it
was absolutely necessary that an inquiry should be insti-
tuted with regard to the book, for the protection of candi-
dates for holy orders and the salvation of the souls of the
people. There were tens of thousands who could not in-
quire into the truth of these things for themselves, who had
not the means, the leisure, or the necessary preparation,
and they were looking to Convocation to show them that
the arguments of Bishop Colenso were false and unfounded.
Two years ago they were called upon to inquire into another
similar book, and the minds of candidates for orders were
the most readily poisoned by such writings, as their Uni-
versity training prepared them to receive such seeds of
infidelity. But the very existence of the Church depended
upon the clergy and the laity of the Church repudiating all
such doctrines ; for he was convinced that the straightfor-
ward, honest, practical minds of the people of England
would never consent to have a clergy of hypocrites teaching
from the pulpit what they did not believe in their hearts.
If then they loved the souls of the people and the Church
which they had inherited, he hoped the Convocation would
lift up its voice in condemnation of this book. (Hear, hear.)

Archdeacon HONEY rose to move an amendment, a course
which he felt some reluctance to pursue, because it might
be constructed to some exte4 as sympathising with the
writings of the Bishop of Natal. Ho felt that that book was
as mischievous as any that had ever come under the notice
of Convocation ; but at the same time he was of opinion that
the proceedings proposed to be taken by the Convocation was
the commencement of a system which, if carried on, would
be injurious to Convocation, and perhaps at last fatal to its
continuance. Convocation was only in theory a true repre-
sentation of the clergy of this country, and under those cir-
cumstances it was necessary that in a matter of this kind
they should proceed with caution. The result of censuring
such books as this, and the "Essays and Reviews," was only
to give them publicity and to give them a circulation which,
upon their own merits, they would not be likely to attain.
He was not saying that the writers of such works should
not be punished, but the prosecution in the "Essays and Re-
views" cases only proved how impossible it waste bring down
upon the offenders a punishment at all adequate to the
offence. This was an era of free writing, and upon all sub -
jects books would be published which were not considered
strictly orthodox, and believing that for Convocation to take
cognisance of such cases would lead them much farther than
it would be safe for them to go, he moved an amendment to
the effect that it was not safe that any steps should be taken
in Convocation with a view to the revival of the power of
censuring books or writers.

Archdeacon MooRE seconded the amendment, concurring
in the opinion that it was extremely unwise for the house to
establish itself into a court of heresy to pronounce judgment
upon heretical books. Formerly Convocation had the right
of judging, not only of books, but of the men who wrote
them, but since they had now no longer the power to call
the writers before them, it would be most unjust to con-
demn the writings, and more especially in this case, where
legal proceedings might be prejudiced by the expression of
their opinion. If they proceeded to synodical judgment
upon the book it could have no practical result whatever,
except to send the writer into a court of law with the weight
of the opinion of Convocation against him, and that was a
course that neither the wisdom, the charity, nor the justice
of Convocation would be thought to sanction. (Hear.)
Canon BROWN thought the decision in the case of the
"Essays and Reviews" highly unsatisfactory and inconsis-
tent with the dignity of the house,after the anxious inquiry
which it had instituted, and the unanimous opinion which
it had expressed with regard to the book in question. He
was afraid that in this case also, if they adopted Archdeacon
Denison's motion, no practical result would be come to, and,
pass,i‘
ckondsidtoering that they ought not to permit a question of this
in
he
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from the publication of the
Bishop of Natal, but doubting
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desirable to take in order to
stuesstehf is Grace the presi-
dentto take counsel as to the wisest and most
th and their lord-
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the Upper House
and most likely to
and their lordships the bishops
proceeding, and this house assures his Gracewi
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be fruitful and good."

The Dean of CANTERBURY thought the course pointed out
by Archdeacon Denison led to the very wide proposition of
asking the Upper House to appoint a permanent committee
to consider books said to have an heretical tendency, and