The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-15 00:00:00

yet many were prepared to say. "placer," or l%
the case might be. Mr. Ward concluded in the fof/0
—" And lastly, for the sake of the Church of Englan,
sake of that Church of which we are joint members, Lbeseeen
you to pause before you affirm the proposition before you ; .it .may AA am
possibly have an effect far greater than you imagine in accelerating "."`"•
a crisis that may end in the premature dissolution of the present
fabric of the English Church. It may seem strange in me, who
may be considered myself to have contributed so much in the
same direction by the work I have published, to claim at the hands
of others that caution and temperance which they may think I
have been very far from showing myself. And yet, if my book be
really read through, and not judged by a few one-sided extracts, you
will find nothing in it at all inconsistent, but rather the very re-
verse, with the appeal I am now making. A paper put out by
a parochial minister in this town has painted in vivid colours the
evil and the distress which must be caused by any reckless com-
pulsion, on men who are unprepared for it, to choose their side.
I believe that experience will show that he has under-stated, not
over-stated. the amount of the evil. I believe very few of you
realise the perplexity, the distress of mind, which would be felt
by members of opinions much different from my own, if those who
are now urging on their measures of exclusion should succeed in
their attempts, and whether the balance of parties which now
exists, should compelevery one to take his side with the dffeated
or the victorious, the seceding or the established party. Nothing
can be a greater misconception of the general drift of ray work than
to consider It as having any legitimate tendency at all parallel to
this. So far have I been from urging the sudden and premature
adoption of those opinions which I myself must fully hold, I have
been even clamorous in urging on the consciences of my brethren
that it would be a plain sin in them were they to attempt to-do so,
A steady and regular growth in belief naturally be accompanied
by a steady and regular progress towards true opinions; but the
attempt to leap as it were at one bound from error to truth will, I
am sure, in the present state of men's minds, precipitate not a few
in the gulf of hopeless scepticism. 1 ask you to let our present
framework remain, as far as in you 'lies, that under its pro.
tection numbers of humble arid dutiful souls, who are quite unable
to choose for themselves a side, and shrink appalled from the strife,
of words now raging among us, may gradually develop into that-
which they cannot suddenly become—deeply-rooted believers in the
whole truth. I protest that if I thought, as most of you think,
that there my ultra and Roman opinions were wrong, I should
think I could not do them a greater service than by measure. of
punishment on him who holds them. Such measures give momen-
tary strength even to a weak cause, and an ephemeral popularity-
to a naturally unpopular party. It is because I believe from my heart
that the opinions I have humbly advocated are the very truths of
the Gospel, that I believe they will grow and increase among us,
if they be allowed fair play ; do you show equal confidence in the
truth of your views ? I wish nothing better; it is the one thing
I have urged throughout my work, that faithful servants of God
should cease from this disastrous civil war, and turn their united
weapons against the common enemy. Let ' Evangelicals' and
' High Churchmen,' each according to his mariner and opportuni-
ties, carry out their principles in promoting their own holiness,
and waging implacable war against worldliness and covetous-
ness, and self-seeking, and heathenish ignorance. Depend
upon it, in proportion as they do so will they find them-
selves in a wonderful manner approaching to union with each other
and with the truth. I gladly stake the truth of my own opinions
on the issue of this experiment. Why will you shrink from so
staking the truth of yours ? Will you say it has ever been the
maxim of the church to exclude heretics from her pale and rule,
where an unity, otherwise deep and universal, is disturbed by the
intrusion of one heretical party. But is that the case with us ?
If Evangelicals could hope to exclude from the Church of England
all whom they believe strangers to the Gospel; or if ' High
Churchmen' could hope to exclude those who deny our baptismal
regeneration, as well as those who denounce the English Re-
formation, the case might be different. Nothing, indeed, is more
probable than that the fabric of the English Church may fall to
pieces if you begin taking out only a single stone; but a fabric,
large in extent, and yet homogeneous, in its composition it will
nor be one, or any thing in the least like it, merely because you
succeed in dislodging one among its innumerable discordant
materials ; and I do implore you then to consider well what you
do when you take this first step, which may lead to so disastrous
an issue. Let your decision, at least, be the result, not of party
and excited feeling, but of calm, and solem deliberation."
Mr. Want) then handed in a Latin protest.
Dr. GRANT, of New College, then rose o propose this
amendment --

" That the passages now read from the book entitled " The
Ideal of a Christian Church Considered" are worthy of grave cen-
sure, but that Convocation declines to express any opinion upon
the good faith of the author, or to exercise the functions of an
ecclesiastical tribunal, by pronouncing judgment on the nature or
degree of his offence."

The VICE-CHANCELLOR informed Dr. Grant that no pro-
position could be made that had not been previously agreed
on by himself and the Hebdomadal Board.
Mr. DENISON enterest his protest against the whole pro-
ceedings, and Mr. BODE, of Christ Church, entered a protest
against them, as affecting the right and propriety of the
proceedings.
The VICE-CHANCELLOR put the question, when there was
a roar and counter-roar of Placets and Nort-placets. A
scrutiny was then ordered. Tke numbers turned out after-
wards to be—for the proposition, 777 ; against it, 588. It
was therefore declared against Mr. Ward.
The VICE-CHANCELLOR announced the result, saying
" Majori parti placet."
The VICE-CHANCELLOR then proposed the second proposi-
tion—that for the degradation of Mr. Ward.

Mr. WARD again addressed the Convocation, also in English.
He said,—l have only to say, with respect to this particular mode
of punishment, that for myself, whatever others may think of my
opinions, I have shown by my acts and my words that I am most
anxious, most desirous, and most ready—l may say, most eagerly
desirous and ready, to devote all my energies, such as they may be.
and whatever powers of mind or action I may possess, to the ser-
vice of the Church of England, if I may be allowed. It must at
the same time be remembered that certain persona, not holding the
opinions I hold, have renounced orders and left the Church and
have entered into communion with the Church of Rome, and yet
have kept their degrees of B.A. and MA. Therefore it does ap-
pear that the proposed proceeding towards me, who have not re-
nounced the Church of England, but am ready to serve it, is busts
when compared with what has been done with them. At the same
time, I must ever be thankful for the opportunity afforded me of
doing justice to my character and opinions before so many members
of a Church towards which I do feel the deepest attachment.
VICE-CIIANCELLOIt then put it to the vote as before
with the same result.

The Rev. N. Et.usos, of Balliol College, addressed the as-
sembly in Latin, in opposition to the motion.
A scrutiny was then taken, after which the Vice-Chancellor
declared that the proposition had been affirmed.
The numbers turned out to be—Placets, 569 ; Non-
Placets, 511. _ _ _

The 7.10 E-CHANCELLOR then proposed the third proposi-
tion, for the condemnation of Tract 90.
The Senior Proctor rose and said—"Nobis Procuratoribus
non placet," upon which there was a storm of counter-cheer-
ing and hissing for some minutes.
The proceedings then terminated.
Mr. Ward's speech occupied somewhat more than an hour.
Ile spoke with remarkable rapidity, but at the same time with
great calmness and self-possession—with the air of a man, in
fact, who felt a deep conviction that he was right. As he left
the theatre he was cheered by the sndergraduates outside.
The Vice-Chancellor was saluted most indecorously with
hisses from the same source.
The decision against Mr. IN-ard on the second proposition
could scarcely be said to have been expected. Towards the
opening of Ciivrocation, however, the opinion began to gain
ground that Mr. Ward would be defeated.
It should he stated, that the Fellows of Balliol voted
unanimously in favour of Mr. Ward on both propositions.
The following address to the Proctors is in circulation, and
has been signed by nearly 300 names, among which are Mr.
Gladstone's, Judge Coleridge's, Dr. hook's, Archdeacon
Manning's, Sir W. lleathcote's, &e.

"TO TUE SZTEREND THE PROCTORS.
" We, the undersigned members of Convocation, understanding(
that you have resolved to put your negative upon the proposal re-
lating to the Ninetieth Tract, in Convocation, on Thursday, the
13th inst., beg leave to tender to you our cordial thanks for a de-
terminatiou which we consider to have been clemanded by the
principles of our academical constitution."

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