The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-26 00:00:00

CONVOCATION.

Canterbury Convocation re-assembled on Thursday at
Westminster. In the Upper House, in which the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury presided, the Bishop of Peter-
borough presented a petition from the London Free
and Open Church Association, representing that by the
law of the Church and of the land all classes of the people
were equally entitled to the use of the means of grace
provided under the parochial system ; that it is the
fundamental principle of the parochial system that the
" body of every parish church belongs of com-
mon right to all the parishioners alike ;" that
this departure from the fundamental principle of
the parochial system has been detrimental to the cause
of religion, and a fruitful source of irreligion and of
lissent. The petitioners further represented that church.
wardens ought to appropriate seats in parish churches
among all parishioners equally ; and, in cases in which
Parish churches will not accommodate all the parishioners,
there ought not to be any appropriation.—The Prolocutor
brought from the Lower House the address to the 'Queen
which the archbishop and bishops had agreed to, and sent
down for consideration. He said the Lower House had
made additions, to which their lordships' assent was
asked, relating to the:lrish Church.—The bishop of Oxford
said the first amendment was most objectionable. It was
not at all within the province of Convocation to deal in
the way proposed with measures which were coming
forward in the House of Commons. To pray her Majesty
not to agree to anything that Parliament might determine
was entirely beyond the scope of their body. He thought,
indeed, the prayer was unconstitutional and unfitting. While
he considered that the address which had been sent down
from their lordships contained all that was right and neces-
sary on the subject, he did not object to the addition of a
few words which would make the address run thus:—
" We look forward with deep anxiety to the measures
which may be proposed to Parliament respecting the
Church now by law established in Ireland, and we trust
that the interests of true religion and the just claims of
that ancient and reformed communion may not be lost
sight of amidst the conflicts of political parties." After
a brief discussion this was agreed to, and both the
amendments of the Lower House were rejected, as were
also some others in reference to the increase of the Epis-
copate and the better representation of the clergy.
In the Lower House the question of discipline has occu-
pied some time. Mr. Joyce moved a series of resolutions
to the effect that " clergy discipline should be had by
canon, and only enforced by statute when necessary ; that
steps should be taken to expedite and cheapen proceedings
in the ecclesiastical courts; that the system of appeals from
the ecclesiastical courts to the Crown should be amended ;
and that the Upper Home should be requested to appoint
a committee to investigate and report further to the Upper
House." Archdeacon Denison seconded the motion, and
said the new bill consisted of 130 clauses, besides a great
deal of preliminary matter, and from what he had seen
of it he was convinced that attention shouldat once begiven
to the subject.—Dean Stanley said he could not assent to
the statement that the clergy should be governed by canon
and not by statute law, and he declared that such a declara-
tion and demand might lead to a catastrophe like that
which was so much deprecated in Ireland.—Canon Selwyn
moved that the first three clauses of the resolution should be
left out, so as to ask simplyfor a committee. By this course,
he said, the House would be taking the least difficult course:
—The Archdeacon of London seconded the amendment.—
Mr. Joyce having replied, the question was put to the
House, when there appeared—for the motion, 36 ; against,
22. The motion was then declared to be carried.
—Archdeacon Denison read a very long petition,
signed by himself and a large body of the clergy, on the
doctrine of the sacraments. It set forth that the Eucharist
was a sacrifice, and that the elements were in deed and
truth the body and blood of Christ. The prayer of the
petition was :—" Your petitioners ask that in affirming
the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist, exhibited in the
passage above cited, they be protected by the synods of the
Church of England from the imputation of unfaithfulness
to the Church of England, inasmuch as they are con-
strained to affirm further, in the name of Christ and His
gospel and His Church, that to repudiate on the part of
the Church of England the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist,
exhibited in the passages above cited, is ipso facto to cut off
the Church of England from the Church Primitive and
Catholic." The Ven. Archdeacon was much interrupted
during the reading of the petition, which was very long, and
when he had read it partly through the interruption was such
that he stopped, and, apparently deeply affected, declared
that he would leave the House and never return' . Some
members said the House was not to be called upon to hear
such opinions as those in the petition ; but, on the inter-
vention of two members of the House, who, however, did
not speak in favour of the opinions and views expressed
by the Archdeacon, the House was induced to allow the
petition to be read to the end. After a sharp discussion,
the presentation of the petition was ultimately allowed
with the usual references to the Committee on Privi-
leges.

The Convocation of York has been discussing the ques-
tion of the Irish Church. The question was brought before
the House on a motion of the Prolocutor, who moved
" That this Convocation views with sorrow and alarm
the proposed attempt to disestablish the Irish
branch of the United Church of England and Ireland
as seriously affecting the interests of the Church in that part
of the British dominions, as a fatal encroachment upon the
prerogative of the Crown, as upsetting the Constitution in
Church and State, guaranteed by the international parlia-
mentary engagement entered into by the acts of the
Union, and conferred to the members of the Church by
the solemn sanction of the Coronation Oath.—An amend.
meat was moved postponing the consideration of tL
matter until after the introduction of the Governmel t
bill, but the resolution was passed by 29 against G.

THE PROSECUTION AGAINST TIIE " MONETARY
TIIIEs."—A curious prosecution for libel has for some time
occupied the attention of Alderman Besley at Guildhall.
Mr. Scott, the proprietor of a weekly paper, the character
of which is indicated by a portion of its title, Monetary
Times, was charged with a libel on Mr. Clench, who, it stated,
in an article referring to the Doultou case in Belgium, was a
getter up of sham companies, or something of the sort.
Mr. Clench instituted a criminal prosecution against Mr.
Scott, but after giving his evidence before the magistrates
Ali. Clench disappeared, in consequence of proceedings in
another court against him. The hearing was, therefore,
postponed from time to time, and on Thursday; Mc
Clench being still al?sent, the summons was dismissed.