The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-11 00:00:00

Wiltri) ition

SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock.

JUDICIAL COMNIITTEE OF THE
PRIVY COUNCIL-(THIS DAY).

GORHAM V. THE BISHOP OF EXETER.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. TURNER continued to say, he had dealt with the
question as if their Lordships had to consider whether
Mr. Gorham's doctrine was the doctrine of the Church
of England. But that was not the question. The
question was, whether the doctrine of Mr. Gorham was
disaffirmed by the doctrine of the Church of England.
Unless they proved that the doctrines of Mr. Gorham
were opposed to the Articles of the Church of England,
their Lordships could not affirm the sentence of the
Court below. Those doctrines of the Church of England
were laid down at the dawn of the Reformation, when it
was necessary to °nib a-,e as many denominations of
Ca. istians as p ,s,ible. Article 6 said, " Holy Scripture
containea: all that was necessary to a man's salvation."
Was not that a declaration that the framers of these
Articles meant that nothing was required as an article of
faith but what was contained in Scripture ? Article 20
said the Church had power to order rites and
ceremonies, yet it was not competent to decree
anything not contained in Gou's %\r, rd. The
frame of those articles was, that they contained
certain things as proved and as nec,ssary to be believed,
and they lett other things as not proved as not necessary
to a man's salvation. They :left undetermined various
questions, and those various questions the Crown in
ha declaration had said were to ne collected from Scrip-
ture by those who read and interpreted the Scripture, and
who were entrusted by the Church of England with
that interpret ition. The Learned Judge in the court
below had said the Articles of the Church of England were
open to doubt ; was that doubt to be solved by a person
iu the position of a single judge of the Ecclesiastical
Court? He contended if tnose Articles were open to
doubt that doubt was to be settled in a full convocation
of the clergy, and not by the dictum of a judge in the
Ecclesiastical Court. What was the effect of the
decision of the Leaned Judge? If the bishops might
lay down rules of faith trom expressions in the de-
votional services of the Church, where was to
be the limit to that authority ? A clergy-
man might be capable of holding a living
in one diocese, and incapable of holding a living in
another, owing: to: a: diversity of opinion between the
bishops of those dioceses—nay, more, a clergyman
might be deemed unworthy of holding a living in the
life of one bishop and worthy in the life of another. To
affirm the sentence of the Court below would be giving
the opinion of the Bishop of Exeter, on expressions used
in the devotional services of the Church of England,
the force and effect of an Act of Parliament. The
Learned Counsel read from an early liturgy in use in
1519. end b ;fore th I Artic!os wore framed, certain expres-
sion from the various offiees, from which he deduced that
„there was in them as clear and express a declaration
of the regeneration of baptism, and as plain a litany for
that blessing as was contained in the Book of Common
Prayer. Scripture from the beginning to the end had
been silent with respect to infant baptism; and the
Church of England had wisely abstained from giving
its opinion upon it. He would found another argument
upon the usage that bad prevailed in the Church of
England on the effect of infant baptism. Bishops
and writers of great eminence in the Church of Eng-
land had entertained different notions upon infant
baptisn , and they had, nevertheless, still retained their
petition in the Church of England ; and now it was
-
said that a clergyman, who ventured to differ in some
respects from his Bishop on points of doctrine, was in-
eto.acnat, d from holding preferment in the Church.
After the publication of the Articles in 1562, bishops
:Ina writers of great eminence in the Church of Eng-
land, had hell opinions iu favour of the doctrines of
elecYon and predestination, which were diametrically
ppo•e-1 to:V. e Articles of the Church. It' the Ecclesi-
astical Court could not determine the interpretation to
be put upon the Articles, neither could the Bishop, in-
asmuch ai an appeal lay from the Bishop to the Eccle-
sia,tical Court.
The Learned Gentleman had not concluded his ad-
dress at the rising of the Court at twenty minutes to
four o'clock.
Tho Court intimated its inability to sit either on
Thursday or Saturday next, so that the further hearing
of this c .se will proceed to-morrow and on Friday.
Dr. Bay ford is counsel, with Mr. Turner, for the ap-
pellaut, and Dr. Addams and Mr. Baddeley represent the
Bishop of Exeter.