The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-14 00:00:00

MR. GLADSTONE AT BOOTLE.

Mr. Gladstone's speech at Bootle referred, in short, to
two subjects—the calumnies which have been uttered
against him, and the position of the Church of England.
On the former subject he shelved at great length that
people had been telling a great many lies about him. In
one case—in nearly all the cases—the facts might have been
got by a little trouble. On the calumny that he was the
executor of the will of Mr. Blundell of Ince, who had left
£200,000 for Roman Catholic purposes, Mr. Gladstone
exclaimed "There is not a word of truth in it. But
what I want you to observe is this—the condition of the
minds of our adversaries. Now, the love of truth is a
great security to us as we walk through a wicked world.
A. man ought to be able and desirous to sacrifice
everything for truth. How much, gentlemen, do you
think that any one of us ought to sacrifice for the li
truth? Well, £lOO perhaps? No. I bid you down £5O.
£2O? No. £10? No. £5? No. One shilling? No. A shilling!
There, now, what do you think of a party who won't
sacrifice a shilling for the truth? Well, gentlemen, you
probably are all aware that all executors are constituted
by will, and that all bills are deposited in
registries, and that by paying the fee of a shilling
it will be open to any one of these gentlemen
to ascertain whether I was the executor or not;
and yet, strange to say, the very men who grudged a
shilling for the sake of ascertaining the truth have spent
hundreds of pounds in printing and circulating placards
all over the country to disturb the minds of her Majesty's
lieges, by assuring them that this Mr. Gladstone was no
better than, some say a Papist and some say an atheist
in disguise, and that he bad himself been executor to the
will of Mr. Charles Blundell of Ince." Ma. Gladstone
reserved his opinion on the subject of female franchise.
Passing to the position of the Church of England as regards
lay agency, ritualism, &c., the right hon. gentleman
said: "The first question put to me is whether I am
favourable to an extension of popular privilege in the
Established Church of Englar.d, with regard either to the
appointment of the clergy, which is a very difficult sub-
ject, or with regard to the position of the laity as members
of the congregation in general. On that subject, gentle-
men. I have no difficulty in replying. Mr. Grenfell stated
at Wigan that he, looking to the state of the Church of
England, could not help being impressed with the idea
that in some way or other it was required to give
some greater development to its energies from within—
meaning, of course, not from within the mere body of the
clergy, but from within the body of the Church, in which
the laity are included, and of which they form the greatest
part. That, I own, is an idea to which lam very greatly
inclined, and I may, perhaps, point out to you that within
the last two sessions of Parliament I have been instru-
mental in passing a bill introduced by me into the House
of Commons, in conjunction with my hon. friends
Sir R. Palmer and Sir G. Grey, for the settlement
of the question of church rates—the whole prin-
ciple of which has been this, that the granting
of the rate out of which, as • you know,
the cost of service is usually defrayed, shall be
dependent upon the voluntary votes of the laity, and not
upon any obligation of the law. I considered it a great
recommendation of that bill that it would bring the laity
forward in the concerns of the Church on the one hand,
that it would render them more effective supporters
of the clergyman and more liberal co-operators
with him in works of mercy— a matter which is
very greatly wanted ; and that, on the other hand,
it would give a much more effective control upon the
clergyman—a matter which is also, in my opinion,
greatly wanted—with respect to the conduct of services of
the Church, and with respect especially to the introduc-
tion of alterations in those services. Now, gentlemen, I
am a Churchman by birth, by education, and by
conviction ; and I am not about to purchase, either here or
elsewhere, any one of the weak brethren, or of the doubt-
ful votes, or any other description of support, by conceal-
ing or qualifying that fact ; but my belief is, that the wel-
fare of the Church of England, which, upon the whole, is,
I think, most happily at this moment in the possession
of a very zealous, active, and devoted clergy, depends
to a very great degree, with reference to the dangers
that surround it in the present, and that menace it in the
future, upon the sound and healthful development of the
energies of the laity. Stating that general principle,
gentlemen, you will perceive that it is susceptible of a
wide application." Mr. Gladstone went on to consider
the question of legislation on Ritualism. " Now I must
beg of you to observe that in the case of a subject of this
kind it is one thing to state opinions and another thing to
promise action. No conscientious or intelligent person, in
my opinion, should promise to support a particular mea-
sure for a particular purpose until he is satisfied that the
time has arrived when he can support that measure with
a prospect of atta.ning, or furthering the end in view. I
must therefore beg leave to reserve, with regari to every
question, and especially with reference to those questions
which bear upon religious feeling and conviction and
fashion, freedom of action and judgment ur (ler the respon-
sibility which I ask you to commit to me. If we were to
quibble as to the meaning of tilt word `Ritual' and
' Ritualism,' we should find that it is a word that bears a
hundred signii;cations, and, generally speaking, by
' Ritualism ' each man means something that lie, the indi-
vidinil man, happens to disapprove of. But I lay down
these two principles as sound : first, that this is not the
place where I am to pronounce any censure or disapproval
of anything in the religious profession or practice of any
portion of the—Christian world. But I cannot hesitate
to say that the deliberate imitation of the professions
and practices of another religious communion in the
Church of England, contrary to the law and
spirit of the Church of England, is a grave
and serious evil, to which it is quite right that
the attention of the public and of the State should be
directed, and which it is desirable to put down by persua-
sion and moral means, if it be possible ; but if it be nob
possible, then, in the last resort, by the unbending autho-
rity of the law. Now, with respect to Ritualism, it
appears to me that that word does in point of
fact, grammatically considered, include every kind
of external religious observance other than the
mere simple expression of the feelings of the mind.
If you take the word in its strictest sense, you can't go
into a Dissenting chapel without finding what may be
called Ritualism. There is a great controversy about
Ritualism at this moment, and there has been for many
years past, among the Presbyterians of Scotland. There is
evidently arising many bodies of Christians, and
particularly Protestant Christians other than those of the
Church of England, a desire—l know not whether it be
legitimate or not ; I "will give no opinion upon that— a
desire for a greater amount of ritualistic observance than
their fathers were contented with. You know the controver-
sies about organs. In some Dissenting chapels lam told there
are surplices ; and a highly respected Dissenting minister
lately published in his lifetime a fixed form of prayer.
All these are matters a wise man will watch and observe,
and not be too precipitate in giving his opinion
about. What I understand of Ritualism in a
bad sense is this. Whatever in the sacred and solemn
worship of God comes bet Ween the soul of man and his
Almighty Father and his Redeemer in heaven, in such a
way as not to elevate and raise his feeble faculties
;towards the contemplation of the eternal and supreme,
but to bar him from it that, in my opinion, is
Ritualism. There may be many things that are good in
the way of external observance ; but even with regard to
some of those things which are good, great care and
caution ought to be observed in introducing them to the
use of those who have not given their consent to them,
and who are not prepared to use them for a beneficial pur-
pose. The apostle says : `Let all things be done to edifi-
cation ; let all things be done which build up the
Christian man.' Let us take that for our rule. There
''s an opinion that in many cases the introduction of music
.n churches, and other things that probably may be
very simple, very innocent, and very beneficial in them-
selves, may have a very bad effect when introduced either
contrary to the will of the congregation or when the con-
gregation are not in a state to turn them to spiri-
tual account, and therefore I confess my great
anxiety is that congregations in these matters should
learn to recognise and admit their responsibility,
so that they should be able to defend themselves
against that sole and autocratic act of the clergy-
'man, which very often may be due to the
best, the highest, and the holiest motives on his
part, but which at the same time ought not to be
attempted except with the concurrence of the Christian
congregation. And now, gentlemen, having said that, I
think I Lave given an explanation of my general opinions,
and I am bound to look to the views of the existing
Government, whatever they may be. This certainly is no
question of party. It would be a terrible misfortune
fit became one—if questions concerning the internal
loetrine and discipline of the Church of England over
became questions of party. Rely on it, the day they
become so will be the day you may bid farewell to any
hope of a satisfactory settlement. We must watch fur
opportunities of time and circumstance, and must
have the opinions of the Government and ef the heads
of the Church. I have endeavoured to describe to
you the general circumstances under which my conduct
will be guided, and I venture to think it is your belief
that I should, as far as I could, endeavour to ensure
a faithful application of that principle." The right
hon. gentleman concluded by claiming for the Liberal
party that they had done the work which had led to legis-
lation. The opposite party had first denounced Mr.
Bright, and then accepted his policy. "If the resistance
of 1866 has been followed up by the resistance of 1868,
why are not the odd numbers to agree with one another
like the even, and why is not the tergiversation of 1867 to
be followed by a like tergiversation in 1869 ?"

FOREIGN NOTES.

Amzr.ica.,

The General Convention of the American Episcopal
Church has been in session, and has devoted much of its
time to the subject of Ritualism. A committee—was
appointed to consider the question first, and this com-
mittee adopted a compromise report, the majority con.
sidering that decency, order, and harmony should be
maintained in the Church, but that it was inexpedient to
enact any cianon against Ritualism. The matter
was then discussed at great length in convention,
the delegates, lay and clerical, sustaining the con-
troversy with great ability. The result was the adoption
of a series of compromise resolutions requesting the House
of Bishops to " set forth for the consideration and adop-
tion by the next General Convention of such additional
rubrics to the Book of Common Prayer as in their judg-
ment may be deemed necessary ;" and that " meanwhile,
in all matters doubtful, reference should be made to the
ordinary, and no changes should be made against the
counsel and judgment of the bishop." This virtually
gives the Ritualists the victory for the next six or nine
rears.

The Convention has passed resolutions of condolence at
the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Toronto Globe states that the great majority of the
girls taken out to Canada by Miss Rye have turned out
remarkably well. Nothing could be more unfair than to
assert that U..) introduction of these girls had been an
injury to the country.