The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-01 00:00:00

%PHUT •f the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE MORNIN• PAFERS OP THIS DAY.

TlMES.—Great things has the Archbishop of Canter-
bury done, and great things has the Bishop of Exeter
done, in allaying the innovation fever, and restoring health
and peace to the suffering Church! As might have been
expected, and was expected, and as we foretold, the im-
petuous zeal of the younger clergy, wherever disposed
to annoy their parishioners, has greedily seized upon the
latitude of Archiepiscopal tenderness for the lovers of
change, and continued those offensive rights which the
laity have resolved to dispense with. Small thanks,
then, to the two prelates for the part they have taken in
the matter—a civilian has done more for the satisfaction
of the laity than either the Archbishop or his suffragan.
The long-pending cause in the Court of Arches between
the Rev. Mr. Faulkner and the Camden Society has been
happily and finally terminated in favour of the former.
The grounds of this decision, reversing that of the
Chancellor of Ely, deserve to be read with the utmost
attention by all who feel interested in the question at
issue. Sir H. Jenner Fust has bestowed the greatest
possible pains in consulting the various authorities upon
which he he has founded the sentence now pronounced.
Some ideas, indeed, may be formed of the carefulness and
extent of his labours from the time occupied by the de-
livery of his judgment in this important case. Thus it
is that patient deliberation, combined with scrupulous
research, has triumphed over the fantastic whims and
hasty acts of a self-constituted ecclesiastical censorship.
In going through his preliminary details, the Learnt d
Judge developed much useful information on the true
merits of the disputed point. And certainly it is a most
remarkable fact that altars are nowhere recognised or
mentioned by the canons or rubrics of our Church. At
the ere of the Reformation this was made one of the
substantial differ. nces between the two churches, and
thus our 82.1 canon is he eded " A Decent Communion
Table," and, assutnieg that it exists in every church,
gives directions for its being kept. in proper repair. The
altar was proscribed for this specific reason—that the
sacrifice of the mass being rejected, there was no further
occasion for its appearance. With what pretence, then,
has the Camden Society, in the face of such evidence,
which it was their duty to have investigated, per-
sisted in setting a rector at defiance in his own
church, and displacing the table which they found
there for the altar, which is entirely foreign
to our Protestant Church ? Indeed, for what one
good or useful purpose was the change attempted,
and why was it contumaciously adhered to, in direct
opposition to the wishes of the incumbent, with whom li
they had no right to interfere—over whom they could
have no conteol ? We cannot help fearing that among
some individuals in the Church there seems an inherent
and dogged anxiety to unsettle and confound all that is
reverent and sacred within her walls for mere confusion's
sake. Nothing can satisfy them but movements of a
certain tendency, not merely unnecessary, but which
the experience of each day proves to be the main-springs
of endless contention and bickering. They appear to
delight in raising questions of difficulty, to interrupt tho
goodwill and good understanding between pastor and
people. For thfsir very tender consciences on subjects
which never before troubled any generation of their
predecessors, we may give them just so much credit
as we are willing to detract from those good men
now gathered to their reward. They served God and
ministered in his congregations faithfully, as we sup-
pose no ono will doubt, and yet they stirred not these
evil elements of disorder as a matter of duty. Here,
however, is a severe blow to the fosterers of all ecclesi-
astical novelties. The altar must disappear. Accord-
ing to the principles of the Reformed Church of England
it cannot be execused anywhere. Either we are Roman-
ists, or we are not. If not, we want not their symbols
nor their ceremonies. If we are to play the Protestant,
but look Romish, would it not be far better to throw off
one creed or the other, and proclaim ourselves at once
what we are ? If we are Protestants wishing to be
Romanists, why delay the result ? Why not vow fealty
to the Pope and be received again under his dominion ?
If we choose to remain what our fathers were, and what
they have taught us to be, assimilation with Rome can-
not be. It is full time we knew what we were. But
when the bishops are so undetermined, and the clergy so
divided, what is to become of the laity, unless, com-
pelled as they are by the necessities of the case, they
show a bold front, and avow their unshaken deter-
mination to check all advances in the direction of
Rome? Already, we say, to a civilian are we indebted
for the first impression on the adverse ranks of the in-
novators. Thei will not easily escape the truth of the
Learned Judge s deductions, nor dispute the propriety
of his decree against their representatives—the Camden
Society. This is a good lesson and a happy omen. The
laity must follow up the timely victory by proceeding in
the calm, temperate, and firm tone they have hitherto
adopted. The surplice in the pulpit must follow the fate
of the altar in the chancel. Insignificant as a mere vest-
ment, it is no longer so when the occasion for quarrelling
and ill-blood between a clergyman and his parish. In-
nocuous in itself, it is no longer so when the laity have
reason to regard it as the ensign of a suspected party.
Good feeling, therefore, at any rate, ought to influence
every parish priest to abandon it, when he perceives
what extensive, and too often hopeless injury, the con-
tinued use of it will cause. If this motive is powerless,
other more cogent arguments must be found.
CIIRONICLE.—Recent events have confirmed the
impression, that important measures in reference to aca-
demical education in Ireland will be brought forward in
the. course of the ensuing session. The erection of one,
or perhaps two Roman Catholic Universities is an object
which Sir Robert Peel is said to have in contemplation.
We have all along feared that Ministerial ingenuity
would be driven to this mode of evading the real diffleul