The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1883-03-07
(From the Belfast Witness.)
The Position of the Bishops in
the Church of England.

=
public life more exposed to hostile rrti-
cism than the bench of Bishops. They
still havea great place in English 90
ciety, yet there is manifest disposition
among Churchmen themselves to mini
mise their ecclesiastical importance. The
time was when Bishops were either
scholars, strong on the Greek aors or
mere worldly politicians, whose public
career was one of unbroken ease aud
splendor, for they left to the undgnified
mob of their brethren the undivided
privilege of preaching the gospel and
ministering to the poor. Times have
changed, and the modern Bishop qmre
as learned as his predecessors, and very
much less worldly, is the hardest worked
man in all his diocese. He may sill be,
legally, the only irresponsible official Ia
the kingdom, but his position does not
save him from the most severe and often
bitter criticisms in quarters where they
might be least expected. There has been
much talk lately about Bishops on aC-
count OF the death of Archbishop Tai,
and the appointment of DIR. Benson a.
his successor. The Daily NeaoS complains
that the Government should have ap
pointed none but High Churchmen to
the Sees lately filed up-Dr. Benson t.
Canterbury. Canon Wilkinson to Truro
and Archdeacon Lewis to. another See
The Spectator denies the fact, and man
tains, especially in regard to DR. B
son, that he is divine of the theological
school of DR.. Lightfoot, whom it classes
among High Churchmen. We should
10 fO hali +1o4 II d
one of the men who could frankly admit.
with the Durham Prelate, that the EplS-
copal constitution had no apostolic au-
thority whatever. The Spectator is either
gravely misinformed or attempts to blow
dust in our eyes; for DIR. Benson is a
High Churchman of the most pro nounced
type-the highest, says somebody. in the
See OF Canterbury since the days OF
Laud. His chaplain, Canon Mason, mas
declared that the loss of the apostolic
succession would involve the overthrow
of Christianity itself DIR. Benson has
all the bitterness of the old race of Blsh-
ops toward Dssenters. He accepted the
Burials Bill alter it became law, but
would not allow his clergy to toll the
bell over the dead body of a Dissenter.
II he is strong man, prepared to take
line of his own. dIsregardIng all The tuI-
Grant and kindly courtesies of his prede-
cessors, he will likely live to. wreck the
Church of England in the coming day of
Democratic power.
The appointment of such man to the
Primary gives great emphasis to the
weighty sentences of Mr.. Hatch, the
hampton Lecturer, in the February num-
Der of the Contemporary Revie,O. He
holds that the canonical VOW Of obedience
does not flow from anything inherent
in the Bishops office" "The obligation
is that of a contract" 1.-THE conception
of Bishop as being entitled to obedi-
enee, and that an almost unlimited ODE
dience, on the part of his clergy, by
virtue of the spiritual character which
his conservation has conferred upon him.
is as much at variance with ecclesiastical
history and present fact as it is with the
great currents of Christian opinion which
are already shaping the policy Of the
| Churches Of the future Mr.. Hatch
then, does not believe, any more than
Dissenters, in the Bishop being the chan
mel Of spiritual grace. 1t is a curious
idCI, lhueeu, CndJ CnaC very 1lBh Ohufcn
party, which holds so firmly by the idea
Of apostolic succession and ritual grace,
should be the most hostile to the whole
bench Of Bishops. 1t is strange irony
in human circumstance. There was a
time when DR.. Newman regarded the
condemnation of the Tracts for the
Times by Dr. Bagot, Bishop of Oxford
as a very serious thing, q sore check. an
inexplicable phenomenon. But the spirit
Of generation for Bishops, as such, was
destined to carry him farther still, and