The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-12 00:00:00

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testimony to which, we .441Inie,
forthcoming if wanted. It does not directly-font*. S
that because our Reformers had certain ideua,
therefore the Church of England, as a religions
has exactly the same ideas now. Still less,
are w-eltt-litTrty to go to the Church of the future,
and, let it decide the question for us. Prophesy-
ing is not arguing. People have always been ready
enough to prophesy; they have it all their own.
way in prophecy, and nobody can contradict them..
Religious speculators have been prophesying for'
ages that the world would come round to their
opinion, but the world takes its own course
notwithstanding. It seems quite certain to some
persons that all the world will in due time be
scientific in its religious belief. We agree with
Lord Macaulay in seeing no signs of such a time
approaching. The religious world is tolerably
stationary, and shows no great tendency to pro-
gress or alteration of ground, though individuals in
all ages speculate. Let us give over prophesying,
then, and look to facts. If Dr. Williams can show
the Judicial Committee that the body of the religi-
ous community in which he is officiating accepts the
ideological interpretation of Scripture it will listen
with the greatest attention to any evidence he can
bring forward, and he will prove his right to officiate
in that body. But if the whole weight of evidence
is on the other side, if it should appear that all
parties and schools in the Church join in denouncing
this view of Scripture as fundamentally subversive
of the faith, and if the congregations will not list en
to it for a day, he will then have an uphill affair of
it. He may look forward, indeed, to a bright future
radiant with ideological truth, and his own learned
labours may contribute to bring on that future, but
in the meantime he is officiating in a body which is
opposed to his whole religious, view of things, awl/
this is an unsatisfactory relation of a minister to
his flock. In fact, we must identify his position
with that which he assigns to his teacher, the 'me
Chevalier Bunsen, whom he describes as " philoso-
pher, sitting loose to our Articles ;" a position which,
however respectable in itself, is hardly consistent
with the office of a clergyman of the Church of
England.—Times.

PRICE .4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

upon him one of the strongest titles to respect which
a man in his high and responsible position can
acquire. How imperatively these reforms were re-
quired, and how great are the difficulties with which
the Government is surrounded, is amply proved by
its increasing debts, in addition to which may be
placed the fact that the revenues of the next three
months have already been anticipated, two months
thereof being of the new financial year, which com-
mences on the 10th of September.
Dr. Forbes and Mr. Haywood, the Secretary of
the Cotton Supply Association, arrived here by last
mail, and in the course of the next day or two will
probably have an interview with the Viceroy.
There is no doubt that the production of cotton in
this country might be very greatly increased, though
I do not think there is any chance of attaining the
object by a displacement of other crops. If it were
desired to introduce something entirely new, there
would no doubt be a large amount of obstinate pre-
judice to overcome, but it would be a mistake to
imagine that the Fellahs do not possess a lively
appreciation of the respective profits and
advantages they derive from the various crops
they are in the habit of growing, if the
balance were in favour of cotton, it would require
no pressure whatever from without to stimulate its
culture in preference to grain, pulse, or other arti-
cles. I apprehend it will be found that the pro.
duction of Egyptian cotton can be increased to any
material extent by only two means—the one by
introducing the growth of short stapled cottons,
whereby a heavier crop would be gathered off the
same breadth of land; and the other by bringing
fresh lands into cultivation. The first is, of course,
amere question of profit and loss, upon which, as
yet, °
b Pinionslare greatly divided, and which can
only e settled by actual experiment. A fair trial
must, however, before long be made, and herein
the Viceroy, as well as some of the large landed
proprietors of his family, may be able to give some
useful assistance.

With regard to an extension of cultivation, the
obstacles arise chiefly from the scarcity of hands
and of capital. The want of labour might be par-
tially remedied by the introduction of improved
machinery, especially for separating the cotton
from the seed. The M'Carthy gin has already
been, to some small extent, brought into use upon
the estates of the large landholders, and with a
considerable degree of success ; but, whether it be
owing to mere prejudice or to some more substan-
tial reason, it is found that the greater number of
the Manchester spinners object to it, and although
there are a few who actually give it the preference
over cotton cleaned by the old method, upon the
whole the produce of the M'Carthy gin has to be
disposed of at lower prices, and is, moreover, of
much slower sale.

With regard to the want of capital, the difficulty
might be met by offering advances to the villagers
on fair terms. A system of supplying money to the
fellahs already exists, though to an insufficient ex-
tent. The business is chiefly carried on by Greek
and Levantine traders ; but owing perhaps partly
to the great difficulty that is often experienced in
obtaining reimbursements, either in money or in
goods, the advances are made at such exorbitant
rates that even 3 or 4 per cent. per month is con-
sidered moderate.

In this matter, should it be deemed proper to
enter into arrangements for the purpose, the Go-
vernment might possibly render some useful assist-
ance by enforcing and, to some extent, superintend-
ing the observance of the contract that might be
entered into by the villagers; but I believe that
any such undertaking would be altogether foreign
to the views of the Cotton Supply Association, and
it must be confessed that it would probably be found
difficult to carry it on under any system not open
to objection.

THE BISHOP OFSALISBURY'S CHARGE.

The Bishop of Salisbury is now before the world
as the Bishop who has resolved to bell the cat.
He tells us in his charge, just delivered, the rea-
sons for this resolution, as well as those which
made him hesitate in taking it. They are briefly
that, though " the Church allows great latitude,
there must be a limit somewhere ;" and that the
whole bench of Bishops and Convocation have de-
clared that the Essays and Reviews have exceeded
that limit. Accordingly he does not consider that
he has any option as the ruler of a diocess, respon-
sible for the teaching that goes on in it, but that of
giving force to this declaration.
We do not envy any party in this affair its share
in the responsibility of it—not the writers for stir-
ring up these questions to begin with, not the
Bishops for pursuing them, and still less the respon-
sibility of the Judicial Committee in deciding them.
They are new questions, and, whichever way they
are settled, there must be a recourse to large consi-
derations and general principles. It will be abso-
lutely ridiculous to see a row of ex-Chancellors and
Judges poring over all the Articles and Canons to
see what clause, paragraph, and section is opposed
to the " ideological" interpretation of the Book of
Jonah. It is a large and general question of the
interpretation of Scripture which is now opened.
It is a new question—a question we cannot say
exactly of the day, for it has been agitated long,
but of the age ; a question which had not arisen
in our Reformers' times, and of which they had no
notion. It is absurd to expect, therefore, that the
more letter of Articles and Canons will throw much

light upon it. In these documents there is not the
most distant allusion anywhere to what is called
the ideological interpretation of Scripture, simply
because the idea had not been mooted in those days.
The Articles, therefore, nowhere condemn that
idea ; at the same time, they imply throughout the
contrary idea. Nobody can doubt for a moment
that all the Church formularies and services suppose
throughout the ordinary, natural, literal interpre-
tation of the Bible; though, admitting this, some
will say it is for the same season,—that no other
idea had arisen at that time. This is the state of

the case, then. There is no express condemnation
of a particular view, but there is everywhere imply-
ing the contrary view. Each side, then, will appeal
to what favours itself, and will also explain on its
own principles what is against itself. The Bishop
of Salisbury appeals to the implied literal view, and
to the way in which the Bible is used and read in
our Services. The Essayist says, " True, but
wherever the Bible is road, out of church or in
church, this liberty of interpretation accompanies it.
Here is the debatable ground, then, on which both
sides will fight. We will not anticipate the alter-
nations of the combat, but this much, as We have
said, is apparent,—that this question cannot be
settled by the mere letter of our formularies, and
1 that recourse must be had to large and general con-
sideration. The question is what is, as a matter of
' fact, the belief of the Church of England on this
question, and by the belief of the Church we do not
mean the belief of the Bishops or the belief of Con-
vocation, but the belief of the congregations which
compose the actual religious community called the
Church of England. Dr. Rowland Williams will
excuse us if we say that, with one broadly-marked
exception, there is not a .single Dissenting sect in
this country that would tolerate his scheme of Bible
interpretation for a day ; but it does not follow from
this that the Church of England does not tolerate
it. The Church may be, rind we believe it is, a
more tolerant body than any Dissenting sect in
this country. But the question is, how far this goes
—what is the actual belief of the body of people
who compose that Church,—and this, as wesay, •
a simple question of fact which we
is
must decide
itn
i
the best way we can. But, whichever way is
decided, this is the fact which must determine
whether Dr. Rowland Williams has opinions suit-
able and proper for a minister of the Church of
England or not. There can be no doubt as to
the general principle that a minister of a com-
munion ought to have the same belief that the
communion has ; for it never could be designed
that the minister should be of one religion
and the community of another: Nor would
it be anything to the purpose to say that, if the
Church of England is not of Dr. Williams' way of
thinking now, it will be so a hundreds years hence,
because truth' must prevail. For, supposing the
Church by a course of indoctrinating were brought
round to the ideological view a century hence, the
question is—what is her belief now ? If, on the one
hand, she repudiates Transubstantiation, Mariola-
try, and Papal infallibility, does she, on the other,
permit every article of the Christian faith to be ex-
lained away and volatilzed by some new process
P
of theological chemistry? Dr. Rowland Williams
is, we have no doubt, an excellent scholar and an
ingenious divine ; nor do we enter at this moment
into the question whether he is right or wrong. It
is evident, however, that if upon a plain and lucid
exposition of his mode of interpreting the Bible
nine. tenths of his congregation would shut their
ears and rush out of the church, he is not a suitable
and advantageous minister for the parish of Broad
Chalk.
It is upon some such grounds of ecclesiastical
equity as we have here mentioned that this
question must be settled. We must not be roman-
tic, and go exclusively to the past ; nor must
i
we be visionarwey,
havee t
and atotezeapie i
attempt to a
question of forestall the
future. What

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