The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-07-30 00:00:00

CLERICAL INTELLIGENCE.

THE GORHAM CASE.—A meeting of sympathisers of
the Bishop of Exeter took place on Tuesday, in St.
Martin's Hall, Mr. J. G. Hubbard in the chair. The
Bishop of Bath and Wells, Lord Nelson, Archdeacons
Wilberforce and Manning, Mr. Hope, M.P., Sir C.
Anderson, Messrs. Dickinson, Sewell, and Kenyon, were
the principal speakers. The body of the ball was crowded
with clergymen and laymen. The resolutions comprised
the adoption of, firstly, a protest against the judgment in
the Gorham case ; secondly, a petition to the Queen,
praying that hereafter all questions touching the doctrines
of the Church of England, arising on appeal in the tem-
pers:l court. may be referred to the spiritual heads of the
Church of England, and that the impediments which now
uvSLrwu clAu
church may be removed ; thirdly, an address to the arch-
bishops, bishops, and laity of the Church of England,
for co-operation and assistance ; all of which were carried
unanimously. The meeting lasted a considerable time.
The London Times, in commenting on the meeting re-
marks, " we can discover in the lists of this assembly few
names which convey to us any impression of wisdom, ex-
perience or authority. The chair was occupied by Mr.
Hubbard. The Episcopate was represented by the Bishop
of Bath and Wells ; the peerage by Earl Nelson ; the
House of Commons by Mr. Hope. Of Archdeacons and
doctors of divinity there were, indeed, a goodly muster ;
but in public meetings intended to appeal from a sen-
tence delivered with the highest authority of the church,
and corroborated by the highest decision of the courts of
law, the presence and the zealous co-operation of the
public at large are not unessential requisites. Thesewere
wanting. If we are to attach any definite object to this
meeting, we presume that object is to be found in the
address to the bishops, moved by Mr. Sewell, and in the
declaration of that gentleman, and some other speakers,
that ' the Church in Synod assembled may have freedom
to judge matters of doctrine and discipline;' and though
Mr. Hope deprecated' the introduction of any un-
authorized Synod, it was clear from the self-gratulatory
tone of the meeting that the sacred audience regarded
this present assemblage as a fair instalment of their sy-
nodical rights. Alas for the infirmity of human wishes !
That meeting in Longacre bore such a resemblance to the
two Houses of Convocation for the province of Canter.
bury as the late Mr. O'Connell's unanimous and enthusi-
astic audiences in Emancipation-hall bore to the promised
Parliament of Ireland on College-green." The Herald
says :—" It appears that at the great Protest-ant
meeting,' a good number of Dissenters were present. The
names of several--such as the Rev. Thomas Binney, the
Rev. Robert Philip. the Rev. William M. Bunting, were
mentioned to us. There is no obscurity as to the circutue
stance or point of the case which attracted them there.
They heard, both before the meeting and at the meeting,
that there was a prospect of a schism, a disruption, the
establishment of a Free Church. And they came, very
naturally, to watch the proceedings, and to learn how
soon Archdeacons Manning and Wilberforce, Dr. Pusey
and Mr. Sewell, ware likely to join the ranks of English
dissent. But they got little information. One and all,
the speakers declaimed about the ' slavery, ' the
' bondage,' the thraldom,' under which the English
Church was groaning;' but exactly how its ' chains'
were to be broken, was not all explained. The
language held could not but remind all who remembered
the Scotch disruption, of the orations of the Candlishes
and Cunninghams of that stirring time."
The Archbishop of Dublin held his Triennial Visitation
at Kilkenny on the 17th inst. His Grace delivered a
charge, which contained an approval of the recent judg-
ment of the Judicial Committee of Privy Council in the
Gorham case.
THE BISHOP OF EXETER'S PROTEST.—Much to be
deplored is that wild concluding passage of the protest in
which every one, " let him be who he may," from the
Queen to the least of the clerical and legal officials, is pro-
nounced to be smitten with heresy and worthy of excom-
munication who dares to take part in the institution of
Mr. Gorham ! The bishop is, in his own mind, evidently
deposing the Lord Primate from his greatness, for pre-
suming to obey the law. But the Bishop of Exeter does
the same, and there is this difference between them—the
Lord Primate, without sharing in Mr. Gorham's opinions
on one point, obeys the law according to his conscience ;
while the Bishop of Exeter, in bringing in Mr. Gorham's
presentation, obeys the same law, not according to, but
in spite of, his conscience. The bishop says, that his
Grace shares in Mr. Gorham's heresy if he dare to pro-
ceed to Mr. Gorham's institution. What share, then, in
the same heresy, may be ascribed to the bishop, without
whose presentation the archbishop could not institute ?
The archiepiscopal institution is the legal and proper
sequence to the episcopal presentation. If the institutor
be a heretic, so is the presenter. If the presenter be
afraid to meet the penalties of refusing to present, why
should he denounce the institutor who sees no reason why
he should meet them by refusing to institute, and whose
act of institution takes place because the bishop deems it
advisable to present ? Less bitter terms than those of
the protest would have better become the protestor, and
would have been less censured even by that portion of
churchmen who are disposed on church questions to follow
the instruction of the diocesan of Exeter.—Church and
State Gazette.
The Crown has appointed to the valuable living of
Stoke Climstand, which is in the Bishop or Exeter's
diocese, a clergyman who is a thin opponent of the doc-
trines of the Tractarian party.
It is anticipated that the extensive and rich living of
St. Mary's, Southampton, at present under the incum-
bency of the pluralist Earl of Guilford, will be divided
into several rectories at the resignation of the venerable
lord in September.
STONY STRATFORD, Bucxs.—Sermons were preached
in the Baptist chapel on behalf of the Sabbath schools on
Lord's-day, July the 14th, by the Hon. and Rev. Baptist
W. Noel, AM. The attendance was so large in the
evening that the audience was compelled to retire into an
adjoining field, where Mr. Noel preached.
NEW CATHEDRAL AT GRAVESEND.--The ceremony
of laying the foundation-stone of the church about to be
erected on the property of the Earl of Darnley took place
on Wednesday. The ceremony was performed by the
has munificently given the site, which is at the
western extremity of the town, also a donation of £2OO.
DarnlEarl Of
y' Darnley high steward of the borough. Lord
,
The chief portioe of the fund for building the church was
raised by s.`l4Be2iPtims, not lees than £2,000 being already
collected. The Church Building Society will, of course,
give a consieCtak sum.