The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-14 00:00:00

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FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAL
GLOBE.—The protest of the nine Bishops of the
Irish Church against the system of National Educa-
tion in Ireland, is a document of portentous import
in the present state of that country. It is not merely
a manifesto against the policy of the Government,
from a quarter which wields immense influence
over the minds of the party that materially as-
sisted in bringing Sir Robert Peel into office ; by
whose support he must be upheld, or fall. This
would, in a party sense, invest the document with
importance ; but in this only. It would, indeed,
indicate a deeply-seated dissatisfaction, embedded in
the minds of the clergy of the Irish Church, with the
course which tke Government had marked out for
itself. It breathes a mortifying sense of the decep-
tions which had been practised upon them, under which
they had been induced to invest Ministers with power,
in the expectation and belief that the power they con-
ferred would be employed for purposes materially op-
posed to those for which it has been employed ; and that
the first opportunity would be taken to rectify the
mistakes they had made, and to undo the mischiefs
they had wrought against themselves. To mere poli-
tical partisans this state of things would be a source of
satisfaction. The disappointments and complaints of
the Episcopal Protesters and Remonstrants, and the
sympathies they have moved in the clergy and laity
of the Irish Church, would be regarded as an admis-
sion of their chagrin. Having allowed themselves to
be duped into a belief that Sir Robert Peel would
abolish the National Education Board, and consign
Ireland to the curse of ignorance, to please the bigots
of the Church, they mourn their disappointment.
But this would be indeed a narrow and unworthy
view of the subject. The question is too important in
its character and consequences to admit of its being
confined within the contracted space of party politics.
The protest of the Bishops is a manifesto against the
Roman Catholic religion—the religion of the great
mass of the Irish people. It is, in effect, a denial of
their right to the benefits of secular instruction by
means of funds provided by the State, except they
submit to have those benefits conferred under the di-
rection and control of the Established Clergy. The
creeds, prayers, and other formularies of the Protes-
tant Church are to be in constant use in the schools,
which the Protestors and Remonstrants insist are the
only schools which the State can consistently recognise.
To these schools, then, the Roman Catholic children
are to be brought for education by their poor Roman
Catholic parents, or to be excluded from the benefits
of secular instruction. It is even deemed a concession
—a large and liberal concession—that participation in
the use of these Protestant creeds, prayers, and formu-
laries is not exacted as an imperative condition. The
Roman Catholic children, we are told, are only to be
present when these Protestant prayers are used by the
Protestant children—they need not pray ! They are
required to be present when the creeds are rehearsed
by the Protestant children—they are not required to
express their assent to the articles of Protestant
belief. Roman Catholic children are to be the daily,
and almost hourly, spectators and auditors of
these religious practices and prayers, in the schools
to which they are to obtain admission only on
these terms. This is the modest request—the
rational desire of these Protestant Prelates, and
those who labour to advance the object at which they
aim ! The spirit of proselytism is so powerful in
Episcopal 'bosoms, and the means they would employ
to win poor deluded Papists from the errors in doc-
trine and practice of Rome, so well-adapted to effect
their purpose, that they would debar them from se-
cular instruction as a proof of the pious regard they
cherish for their immortal interests ! This may be,
and probably is, perfectly consistent with the spirit
of proselytism—we know that it is diametri-
cally opposed both to the genius of Protestantism
and to the precepts of Christianity. But what
will be its probable effects on the popular feel-
ing in Ireland ? There it will be regarded as an
aggressive movement of the Protestant Established
Church against the religion of the people. The ani-
mosities of rival churches will be roused by its means ;
and the hopes of returning quiet will be disappointed
by the animosities it will fan into a flame. The heads
of the Protestant Church are, we fear, answerable for
this. The flames of agitation will be stimulated by
the materials it supplies. Those who make a gain of
the dissensions and dissatisfactions which disturb
society in Ireland, and fan the feelings of discontent
when they appear to subside, will thank the nine Pro-
testant Bishops for their manifesto against Popery ;
and appeal to its contents as a justification for re-
newed vituperation of Protestantism.

A LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE
CLERGY AND LAITY OF HIS PROVINCE
BY WILLIAM, LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CAN-
TERBURY.

For a considerable time past my attention has been
anxiously turned to the divisions in the Church, occa-
sioned by differences of opinion with respect to the in-
tention of certain rubrical directions in the Liturgy, and
diversities of practice in the performance of Divine Ser-
vice. These questions, relating to matters in themselves
indifferent, but deriving importance from their connexion
with the maintenance of uniformity and order in the solemn
ministrations of the Church, are rendered difficult by the
ambiguity of the rubrics in some instances, and in all,
by the doubts which may arise as to the weight which
should be allowed to general usage when it varies from
the written law. It is partly on these accounts, and
partly from uncertainty with respect to the extent of the
powers committed to the Archbishop of the Province, in
the preface to the Book of Common Prayer, for the reso-
lution of doubts in regard to the contested points, that
I have not felt myself justified in expressing an
authoritative opinion upon questions occasionally sub-
mitted to me on these subjects. I was, indeed, willing to
hope that these controversies, like many of much greater
importance which have for a season disquieted the Chutch,
would be suffered to die away of themselves, when the
arguments on each side had been thoroughly sifted,
from the good sense of the parties engaged in them.
and the general conviction of their unprofitableness.
But having been disappointed in this expectation, and
considering the tendency of continued agitation to weaken
the sacred bonds of affection which ought to unite the
clergy and laity as members of one body in Christ, I
hold it a duty to come forward, in the hope of allaying
animosities, and putting a atop to dissensions, which are
shown by experience to be not only unedifying, but mis-
chievous. With this view I would call your attention to
a few considerations, which, with persons who are de-
sirous of peace, will, I trust have their due weight.
It has long been observed that, in the performance of
Divine Service in the genrality of our parochial churches,
there has been a deviation, in certain particulars, from
the express directions of the rubric, and that, in some
cases, a difference in respect to the sense of the rubric
has led to a diversity in practice. In regard to such
points, in themselves non-essential, the most conscien-
tious cleygymen have felt themselves justified in treading
in h
allt departurepredecessorsheirfromrule is irregular),
; and hence the
irregularityesteps of
which seems, in some instances at least, to have existed
t (for
from the beginning, became inveterate. There have; I
apprehend, at all times been clergymen who have been
distressed by this inconsistency ; and of late years it
has been regarded by many excellent men as irreconcile-
able with the obligations which they took upon them.
selves on their admission into Holy Orders. Under
the influence of these scruples, they thought it right
to adhere as closely as possible to the letter of the
rubric in their ministration ; whilst others of their
brethren, not less conscientious, have been deter-
mined by considerations, in their estimation of
great weight, to follow the usage which they found
established in their respective churches. Under
these circumstances a diversity of practice has
arisen, which is not only inconsistent with the
principle of uniformity maintained by the Church,
but is sometimes associated in the minds of the
people with peculiarities of doctrine, and gives
birth to suspicions and jealousies destructive of the
confidence which should always subsist between the flock
and their pastor. To prevent the increase of an evil
which might terminate in actual schisms was confessedly
most desirable ; and the most effectual mode of accom-
plishing the object, it has been thought, would be found
in general conformity to the rubric. Universal concur-
rence in this easy and obvious regulation would have
combined the several advantages of securing compliance
with the law of the Church and the land, of putting
a stop to unauthorised innovaticns, and of excluding
party distinctions, in their character decidedly un-
christian, from the public worship of God ; and I can-
not but regret that measures which, with a view to these
good purposes, have been recommended by high autho-
rities, should not have been received with unanimous
acquiescence, as the means of restoring order and peace,
without any departure from the principles of the Church,
or offence to the most scrupulous conscience.
At the same time, I am sensible that those who
object have much to allege in their justification.
If the written law is against them, they plead an
opposite usage, in parochical churches at least, reaching
back, perhaps, to the time when the intention of the
lawgiver was best understood, superseding its literal
sense, and determining its real meaning ; they appeal to
the general consent of bishops, clergy, and laity, implied
in the absence of any effectual interference during so long
a period, they object to the sudden revival of rules, which
in their opinion are obsolete, and still more, to their
rigid enforcement after so long a term of abeyance,
In fairness to them we must allow, that this dislike of
alterations in the manner of worship to which they have
been accustomed from their infancy, proceeding, as it
does, from attachment to the ordinances of the Church,
ought not to be visited with unkindly censure ; and we
can hardly be surprised at any change being regarded
with suspicion when so many attempts have been made
to introduce innovations which are really objection-
able, and tend, as far as they go, to alter the cha-
racter of our Church. It must also be granted that the
intention of the Church is not always clearly discoverable
from the language of the rubric, nor determinable with
absolute certainty from the records of early practice.
In such cases it may with some show of reason be said,
that, as the eminent men to whom the several revisions
of the Liturgy were successively entrusted, did not see
the necessity of giving directions so precise as to insure
a rigid conformity in every particular, we may be con-