The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-16 00:00:00

PRA MUNIRE.

The Bishop of EXETER then rose, pursusnt to
notice, to present a petition from certain clergy of
Buckinghamshire, praying that so much of the
statute of the 25th of Henry VIII. as subjected
deans, chapters, and bishops, to the penalties of
premunire might be repealed. It was no wish
on the part of the petitioners to interfere
with the prerogatives of the Crown, or the
appointment and consecration of the bishop ;
and for himself, he believed that the exercise of that
prerogative was highly essential and necessary for the
peaceful regulation of the Church. The petitioners
did not refer to what had taken place at a late
election of a bishop, or of the proceedings that had
taken place upon it, but he trusted that the opinion
of two of the Learned Judges, who were of opinion
that the confirmation of a bishop was a judicial and not
a ministerial act, would be declared to be the law of
the realm. The fact of two of the Learned Judges
being of that opinion gave him great hope that the
object which the petitioners had in view would
be acceded to. The Right Reverend Prelate,
after adverting to what had taken place in the Court
of Queen's Bench with respect to the election
of the Bishop of Hereford, and the judgment
pronounced in that case by the Lord Chief Jus-
tice of the Court of Queen's Bench, stated that,
in his opinion they must put an end to the
apostolic jurisdiction in England if they wished to
support the judgment of that Learned Judge. If the
• law that had been laid down by that Learned Judge
was the law of England, he would ventuie to say that
it was without precedent. He was sure if the Noble
and Learned Judge reflected for one moment on
the effect of the construction he had put on the
statute of the 25th of Henry VIII., he
would recoil -from his own (pinion. The Bishops
of England were ready, and willing, and desirous to
obey the law; they would give up all their honours
and their possessions; but he believed he stated the
opinions of all of them when he said that they would
be no parties, for the sake of worldly welfare, to the
disobedience to the laws of the great Founder of their
religion. So capricious was the Act of Henry VIII.
that although the dean intimated that he intended to
violate the law, it seemed that he broke no law, inas-
much as the election took place. If, however, there had
not been an election, every oue who refused to vote
would have been subject to the penalties of prcemuxire.
He wished the Crown to retain the right of nominating
to vacant bishoprics, but he hoped the opinions of the
two Learned Judges who thought that confirmation and
consecration were judicial acts, might be found to pre-
-1 vail and be the law of the land. The arguments which
they had used declared the law of England to be in con-
formity with the Gospel, with the rights of theiChutch,
and with the liberty of man. He hoped such a magna
charta of tyranny as the Act of 25th Henry VIII.
would not continue while a doubt existed, and it had
been declared by the highest court in the land to be of
adoubtful character, and that court also doubted whether
the Bishop of Hereford had been legal!) confirmed. It
'was clear that the Court of Queen's Bench had not been
able to prove that he had been. In the course of the
argument a case was put, whether, if a person who had
been convicted of felony was nominated to a bishopric,
the dean and chapter would be obliged to
elect him, and the archbishop to confirm and consecrate
him, and the Attorney-General bad boldly asserted that
they had no choice, and must obey the Act of Parlia-
ment. He would, however, waive the subject of confir-
mation and consecration, if a sufficient check were placed
upon Ministers of the Crown is the first instance in the
nomination of a person to a bishopric. He had alluded
to the opinion expressed by the Attorney-General, but
he might go on to say that a judge (Lord Denman)
elevated by his rank, but more by his character—who
would go down to posterity as one of the most able,
learned, and independent judges this eountry had ever
produced—(Hear, hear)—had said that if in the con-
scientious discharge of his duty the metropolitan could
not confirm the election of a bishop who had been
nominated by the Crown he might resign his office.
The law must, indeed, be in a most atrocious state if
such was to be the result of the honest convictions of
an archbishop ; but be hoped it would still be found
—in spite of the opinion of the Noble and Learned Lord
—not to be the law. What would be the consequence,
however, of such a step ? He had never heard in the
history of the Church of an archbishop resigning ;
but if it were so, in such a case as that supposed, a dis-
honest man must take his place—somebody must go
about with a lanthorn, like Diogenes, but with a very
different purpose—to find a dishonest man. Who, how-
ever, was to consecrate this dishonest archbishop ? The
Crown must find four dishonest bishops to do it,but who
would consecrate them? Why, they must put an end
to episcopacy—to the apostolic succession in England
altogether to carry out such a law. He was, therefore,
certain that no man, be he Churchman, Dissenter, or
infidel, would advocate the continuance of such an Act.
This law, if ever it had been law. was without prece-
dent. The Noble and Learned Lord near him (Lord
Campbell), who was a good communicant he believed,
would shrink from the imposition of so tyrannical a
law in Scotland. The presbytery there had the power
of refusing the ordination of ministers whom
they thought morally disqualified, and would
their Lordships be content to see their privi-
leges trampled under foot ? His Right Rev. Brethren
would, with himself, suffer the pains of prceminire
or any other persecution, rather than submit to
have a person thrust upon
.them who was unfit for the
office. Since the discuFsion in the Queen's Bench he had
referred to a book published by Cranmer, with the au-
thority of the King (Henry VIII.), and entitled " The
Institution of a Christian Man;" and he might say in
passing that he thanked the Noble and Learned Lord
for his vindication of the memory of Cranmer, to whom
we owed the prayer-book, the great body of the articles,
and this book to which he had referred—but he still