The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-23 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS-LAST EVENING.
NOTICE OF MOTION.
The Earl of DEVON gave notice that he intended to
move, on Thursday next, for letters relating to instruc-
tions issued by the Poor-law Board concerning country
workhouses, and bearing date August, 1866.
DIOCESE OF SALISBURY.
Lord PORTMAN said that he was instructed to present
to their lordships a petition from a large number of the in-
babitar ts of Salisbury. It was very painful for him
)o do so for many reasons, and he wished that
porno one else had been asked to do it. The petition was
signed by 3,000 persons of all conditions: some were
clergymen, Sqlrif, men of large property, some of the largo
body of yeomanry, some small tradesmen and churchwar-
dens. He was told that out of this number two thirds
belonged to the Established Church, and that many
others were members of Dissenting bodies who had left
the Church of England because they disagreed with the
opinions against which this petition was presented. What
the signers of this petition complained of was the charge of
the Lord Bishop of Salisbury, and it directly named that
portion of it which states and claims fur the bishops of the
Apostolic Church to have qualifications inhei ited from the
Apostles, that in the Lord's Supper the body and blood of
Christ is really present, and that the bishops have power
to retain sin or to remit it. It was not for him to enter
into a theological discussion, but he must tell
their lordships that this charge had created
great consternation in that diocese, because they
were not aware of any bishop of the Established
Church having put forward such doctrines as these as
those of the Church of England. The noble lord was then
reading the various extracts complained of, when
The Bishop of SALISBURY, interrupting, said that he
was perfectly prepared to discuss the whole charge para-
graph by paragraph, but he did not think that it was fair
to cull out pieces bore and there.
Lord PORTMAN said that he only desired to save their
lordships time. He did not wish to discuss the question,
but to make their lordships aware of what was complained
of. Meetings had been held in many parts of the diocese,
and the answer of the bishop had been to all appeals that
he would answer by and by. He (Lord Portman), how-
ever, was not aware that he had enforced any of the clergy
to carry out his doctrine, but the opinion of the great mass
of the inhabitants of the diocese in presenting this peti-
tion was, that there was no remedy for them in the eccle-
siastical courts, and no sensible man could dream of seeking
it. He would impress upon their lordships what
A disturbed and unsettled state such a charge
as that of the Lord Bishop's had created
among all those residing within his diocese.
The noble lord then entered into the insufficiency and
dissallefactory process which was necessary to obtain any
decision from the ecclesiastical courts and the ruinous
expense which was thus incurred, and, worst of all, the
denial of justice. Therefore they came to their lordships
to obtain some protection from what they feared might
possibly ensue. (Hear, hear.)
The Bishop of SALISBURY said that as the noble lord
opposite had not entered into spiritual subjects, it would
not be becoming in him to speak about them, although, if
it were not in that house, he should be happy to discuss
the whole of the charge. Several charges had been made
against him. They would recollect one of them had been re-
ferred to a committee, and he was by that committee justi-
fied. As to the whole of the charge, the Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper, Absolution, and Ritualism, he now did
again most solemnly declare that not one word of that
charge, which was written after deep consideration, did he
now withdraw. A petition had been presented to the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury that he had abused his position as a
bishop, and made an authoritative declaration to his
people. Now he denied this entirely, he had done no
more than a simple clergyman did every Sunday in his
life, that was to instruct his people. He denied that
there was any diocese where there was so little ritualism.
Ile had been 30 years in Salisbury, and had never at-
tempted to interfere with anything in the diocese either in
cathedral or church. His diocese was one of the most
healthy in the kingdom, and he had over been a thoroughly
English churchman. It was a very hard thing to say that
a high churchman was not a good churchman. High
churchmen had fought the hardest against the encroach-
ments of Rome, and therefore he felt no shame in saying
that he was a high churchman, and he could distinctly de-
clare that he had never practised any intolerance.
The petition was then ordered to lie on the table, and
The house adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—LAST EVENING.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
ITALIAN AFFAIRS.

Sir H. W. BARROW gave notice that on Friday next
he should call the attention of the house to the desir-
ability of the proposed Conference on Italian affairs.
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY (IRELAND).
Mr MAGUIRE asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland
what course the Government intended to adopt with refe-
rence to granting a Charter for the Catholic University of
Ireland?

E trl MAYO said the matter was under consideration,
but he hoped to be able to state what was to be done when
Parliament met at the ordinary time.

TIIE BREECH-LOADER COMPETITION.

Lord ELCHO asked the Secretary of State for War
whether the decision of the committee composed of offi era
of the regular army and of civilians, which was appointed
to consider and report upon the various arms submitted
for trial, in accordance with the terms of the War
Office advertisement issued in October last, by
which " guntnakers and others" were invited to propose
"breech-loading rifles which may replace the present ser-
vice rAts in future manufacture," would be considered
final; if not, what were the grounds for not accepting as
final the decision of a committee which was invited " to
report upon the best breech-loading rifle for use in the
army ?" And, also, to what further inquiry would those
arms be submitted, by whom would it be conducted, and
within what period of time might it be expected that a
final decision would be come to as to the future service
rifle ?

SirJ. PAKINGTON said the competition for breech-
loaders, arranged by the gallant member for Huntingdon,
had taken place only to a limited extent, as about
70 of the 100 rifles sent in for competition
did not comply with the regulations laid down,
and, therefore, the prizes given by
.that committee
could not be considered final. The first rifle conferred for
the first prize did not necessarily carry with it the
arra' gement that the rifle should be selected for
general use in the army. With respect to the large
number of rifles not complying with the regula-
tions it became necessary to make some arrange-
ments, and it had been decided that further experiments
should be carried on, and from the extreme difficulty of
selecting the best weapon for the army it would perhaps
be about two years before the matter was fully decided.

Mr. NEWDEGATE asked whether there would be any
objection to lay a return of the number of converted En-
fields, and tho number of those fit for conversion, on the
table. _ _

Sir T. PAKINGTON thought such a return was already
on the table.

STORM WARNINGS.

Colonel SYKES asked the Vice-President of the Board
of Trade whether any further correspondence on the sub-
ject of storm warnings with the Scientific Committee of
the Royal Society would be presented to the house.
Mr. CAVE said he hoped to lay the final arrangements
on the table of the house within a very few days.
ORNAMENT AL WATER IN REGENT'S PARK.

Mr. T. CHAMBERS, in reference to the snbject of the
ornamental water in Regent's Park, and the nature of the
alteration which was proposed, asked whether the large
quantity of clay and other matter now collected in the
neighbourhood of the park was to be thrown into the
water, because the inhabitants looked upon such a pro-
ceeding as highly objectionable ?
Lord J. MANNERS said there was no ground for
anxiety on the subject. The water of the lake was to be
drawn off, the mud left to drain, a covering of clay would
then be placed upon it, and upon that a layer of concrete
would be placed, and thus by decreasing the depth of
the water all fear for the recurrence of such an awful
calamity as that which occurred in the beginning of the
present year would be avoided.