The sun., 1896-03-15


OF them that came to him in doubt with al
the confidence In tho Church of EnRlan,
| which, M yet, filled his own heart Safe a
Manning" passed almost into n provcrb In tina
day OF panic. His voice was like that of en-
crying In the wilderness; the scattered remnan
| OF the Tractarian vanguard turned to him in
stinctivey, for he spoke rs one inspired of tn,
| divine certitude OF his faith in the Anglican
| Church. One thing alone. he said was wantinl
TO the absolute perfectability OF the Church o
England. and that was her liberation from tn,
bondage imposed upon her by the usurpation.
| Of tho civil power.
| 1t was no. until 1850, when the Gorham judg.
ment made 1t evident that the one thing want.
ing to the Church of England would never be
supplied, and that che was never to be liberated
from the bondage imposed upon her by the civil
power; IL was not, we repeat until 1880 that
Manning found that no could no longer remain
in the Anglican communion. II will be remem-
bered that. In the year last named, there were
two parties In the Church of England who held
antaRonistic opinions in regard to faith. and
professed antagonstic principles in regard
to civil and spiritual authority in the
government of the Church. The one party,
calling itself Protestant. disbelieved in sacra-
mental grace. and repudiated altogether the sac
ramental system; in the matter OF church gov
ernment it recognized as supreme in things
spiritual not the Church. but the state; not
the spiritual. but tho civil authorities. Tho
other party. calling itself Catholic, believed in
the spiritual efficacy and divine origin of the
sacraments. and denied to tho civil power au-
thority over matters of faith, which. as they
held. fall by divine right and appointment
under the supreme authority OF the
spiritual power The clergy on both sides
had subscribed to the Thirty-nnc Articles, and
had taken the oath of supremacy. Unquestion-
ably. 1t speaks well for the elasticity and COM
prehensiveness of the Church OF England that
disputes such as that decided in the Cor
ham case have been of such rare occur
renee. The name OF Gorham would have re-
mained obscure had 1t not been made the SYM
Dol of the triumph of one party over the other;
had 1t not been for the effect produced on Man
ming and SO many others BY Gorham's appeal
from the Judgment Of the spiritual courts to the
civil power to decide whether or no article Of
the creed was to be held as a matter OF faith In
the Church Of England. The Rev. George c.
Gorham took orders in 1871. In that lax day 1t
was apparently n matter of little or no concern
whether n candidate for orders accepted or
neglected an article OF the creed. for in spite OF
his heterodox views on baptismal regeneration
he was ordained. In 1s47. however. when the
living near Exeter, Henry Phillpotts. then
Bishop Of Exeter. refused to institute him un-
less he could satisfy the Bishop Of his orthodoxy.
On examination, the delinquent was found to
deny the doctrine of baptismal regeneration,
and the Bishop refused to intrust him with the
cure of souls. Mr. Gorham took the case into
tho Court OF Arches. which. In 1919, decided
against his claim to compel the Bishop to insti-
tute him to the living. MIR. Gorham appealed
from the decision Of the spiritual court to the
judicial committee Of the Prvy Council. This
court deriving its authority from the royal
was essentially lay court. though
on the occasion of Gorham's appeal it had for
assessors the Archbishop OF Canterbury. the
of York. and the Bishop Of London.
For two years or more the Il orh am case agtated
the minds of men. The Low Church party de-
clared that, il the doctrine of baptismal regen-
GRAFTON was imposed upon them by the highest
court in tho land. they would quit the Church
or England in Il body. and fraternize with Dis.
senters. The High Church party. upon their
side. uttered equally grave words. the ultimate
issue Of which. in many instances. was idle pro-
tests. whistied down the wind. The Gorham
Judgment to the effect that the appellant could
not be kept out Of his living because he denied
the doctrine of baptsmal regeneration inflicted
upon the High Church party n twofold blow.
1t practically struck out article OF the Greed,
and it asserted afresh an inherent right the
royal supremacy in matters OF faith. To Man
ming the blow seemed fatal. for on tho ono
hand he had.always believed in beptismal re-
and on the other had contended
for years that the exercise OF the royal SUI
premncy in the Church Of England was an nc
cident temporary encroachment Of the civil
power on the riGhtful domain Of things spirit
ual He now became convinced that the royal
was no accident: that. the Gorham
appeal did not differ in principle from all pre-
vious appeals: and that, since the Reformation.
tho ultimate jurisdiction over all ecclesiast tical
causes had rested in the Crown.