On this page

• Text (4)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    t ii78 . me &ea*ev. [Sawm**,

  • 

    ARCHDEACON DENISON AND THE NATIONAL SOCI...

  • 

    London, December 4, 1851. My Dhar SfH,^-...

  • 

    VOLUNTARY EDUCATION. A Conference was he...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Church Matters. On Tuesday The London Un...

    and which we cannot consider as capable of being « xtenuated by any apology . " It may be some apology for former anomalies , that Churchmen were over willing to trust the bishops and the principal laity of the Church , who under the Sovereign , without the admixture of-members of any other religion , formed that august assembly ; but changes in its constitution , and still more in its dispositions , have opened our eyes , and we can no longer submit to what used to be tolerable . "

    They ask for a new law to enable the Church to make laws for itself . They cannot consistently or rightfully appeal to Parliament for the removal of grievances either in the framework of the Church or in exterior matters . And from this stand point they ¦ censure Parliamentary legislation for the Church , whether at the hands of the bishops or other eminent persons . The only thing they are prepared to admit is , that the assent of Parliament should be necessary for the validity of synodical decrees . The colonies snust not be omitted . But to the decrees of their synods the assent of the local Legislature alone should be sufficient without reference to the Imperial Parliament .

    Looking to the two sources from whence authority to hold synods may be derived , they decline the royal licence , because its validity has been questioned , and ask for an act of Parliament . " The committee , therefore , consider that the first , and for the present the only step in Church reform , ought to be the introduction of a bill to give the royal licence to the convocations of the provinces of England and Ireland to make canons that shall provide for the reform of those bodies , and the fitting of them to be hereafter the legislature of the Church in each province—a legislature ¦ that should have full power to enact canons which should

    mot need the sanction of Parliament seriatim . And further , that the bishops and the governors of the different colonies should have liberty to call together , with the like licence , the bishops , the clergy , and deputies of the laity , in such a manner and within such limits as they may agree on . And that the provincial Parliaments , or the governor , where there is no provincial Parliament , shall have the same power of ratifying the canons made by common consent of the bishops , clergy and laity for their several colonies , and of granting to the legislatures so constituted civil rights , as is possessed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom for these islands , excepting only changes in the Prayer-book . "

    Whether there shall be a central authority for the -wbole Church of the empire is discussed and then left on one side as too premature for practical action . " The course proposed by the committee likewise gives Parliament and the different local legislatures in the colonies , including , of course , her Majesty , or her representatives , as the case may be , the full power hereafter of confirming or rejecting what may be proposed , and of granting such powers , and such powers only , as may be thought expedient . It deals as lightly as possible with the great question of who are the laity- —a question on which it is not becoming that Parliament , as at present constituted , should dictate ; but which your committee conceive can only be settled by a Church assembly to mean those in actual full communion , as regular communicants of some standing . "

    And further : — " This plan , therefore , seems to > give every security + i . ~ h \ t caution can demand , for the wholesome and gradual iintioduction of what cannot fail to be most important and momentous changes . Each step will be under the "Contrf . 1 of Parliament . If prerogatives of the Crown need U > be modified , they must be given up on behalf of tthe Crown distinctly and explictly by the Minister of the day . JKach step must be matter of separate treaty . 'Uliere can be no possible room for what is culled Church usurpation ; and it is fitting that anything which tends to alt er'the relations of Church and State should be dealt with thus cautiously .

    " What the ultimate arrangements of the future might be if . in plainly impossible to predict . The temper of ParJituxient ., however , and the habits of the . age may enable uh to lay down two or three landmarks . " There ran be no doubt , your committee think , that t ( . he power of appointing courts of appeal on questions of . doctrine ; will l > e freely conceded to the Church legislatures , when constituted in such away us Parliament , can . ¦ approve of . That tin * power exercised over the courts of ' . the Church by those of the Crown will remain an heretofore , and that the control over property and rights of patronage , whether vested in tho Crown or in others , -will iie jealously watched . The drown and the ; .

    Legislature are , in / act , the great protectors of persons and property , and may not part with any share in these duties without the greatest circumnpection ; they are not tin-judges of doctrine ; and , whatever maybe the ( ears of individuals , a Cujsaropapacy is a monster that will not . nt . aml the close inspection of the nineteenth century . What we have to feav is an unwillingness to admit , changes , or to nee the reasonableness of what , we demand ; and against this tendency , which is , in fact , to maintain a . parliamentary papacy , we can but . urge the hardship that a body comprising all denominations should < : ontinuc to i ule the Church of Knglund , and we can but lemleavour to place our cau . se in the dearest light , and to free it from . misapprehension . "

    The paragraph relating to tho question of tho ' burial of Dissenters , and all it involves , contains curious matter . " Those who contribute to the maintenance of the ' ( 'huich have civil rights connected witli it . We cannot , « cL rid , ot' tUts civil jiglita of purbluoncra without » um «

    modification of their liabilities ; and such civil rights are so connected with the ordinances of our religion as to be an outrage on us . When the laity are enabled to assent as a body to the decisions of the Church , we cannot doubt that they will prove themselves reasonably disposed to establish discipline , since there will then be no pretence for jealousy of the clergy . The Legislature of the state and that of the Church will hereafter have to arrange together the powers of a secular kind which the State will have to concede to the Church for her independent self-government , and the corresponding concessions the Church will have to make . It is not difficult to see that a

    modification of the law of church-rate will have to be made , and that the powers and operation of the Church courts will have to be reconsidered . All compulsory power over dissenters , and such as may declare themselves no longer members of the Church , must be abolished , as well as the power of enforcing censures or punishing contumacy with imprisonment ; and means must be found to diminish costs . Ifanyofthe existing powers are suffered to remain , as probably they must in questions of matrimony , and because ( even if the jurisdiction over wills is taken away from the Church ) questions of property may still arise in her courts , it must be clearly understood that they remain for the good of the community generally , and not for the honour or advantage of the Church . Such powers as are particularly null for all purposes of discipline , we should gladly see abandoned ; they were granted under widely different circumstances , and we must look to facts , and not to antiquarianism . "

    The education question they desire may be postponed , as the difficulties of adjusting sectarian interests are inexplicable . Other matters of minor , though great , importance are treated in detail . Thi report is one of those documents which mark an epoch in the life of a movement .

    T Ii78 . Me &Ea*Ev. [Sawm**,

    t ii 78 . me & ea * ev . [ Sawm **

    Archdeacon Denison And The National Soci...

    ARCHDEACON DENISON AND THE NATIONAL SOCIETY . The Archdeacon of Taunton has forwarded to us the following correspondence : — East Brent , December 6 , 1851 . Feli-ow Churchmen " , —The resolutions -which j purpose , God willing , to move at the annual meeting of the National Society for promoting the Education of the Poor in the principles of the Established Church throughout England and Wales , 1852 , are now before you .

    I appeal to you—as you value the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England—as you would not have the teaching and the training of her schools frittered away piecemeal , till both fall " facili descensu" into the lowest latitudinarianism- —as you would not have the great Educational Society of the Church reduced into a branch agency of a state department—I appeal to you to insure the carrying of these resolutions by a great majority . The thing will be done , and well done , if each one of us will make it his personal concern to see that it is done , and not trust to others to do it .

    A little of that spirit so wonderfully expressed by the great historian will go far towards redeeming the present unhappy position of the Church of England : — 6 V TOVrCfi T 6 K € KC * ikuCrOxi €$ OK € l C / C « O"T 0 ) TOC . it ^ Xy ^ OLtCCy co [ A . yj Tiq uvioq itxpecTTOCi . It will be necessary that the division be taken , not as on previous occasions , by a show of hnnds , but by tolling of votes . 1 am , your faithful servant in Christ , Ghough A . Denison , Archdeacon of Taunton .

    London, December 4, 1851. My Dhar Sfh,^-...

    London , December 4 , 1851 . My Dhar SfH , ^ - " Will you have the goodness to acknowledge the receipt of the inclosed copy of re-Kolution . s , which I am about to publish , and to lay them before the Committee of tho National Society ? Very faithfully yours , Gi : orok A . Dhnison , Archdeacon of Taunton . Reverend the Secretary of the National Society . " HDHOI . UTIONH TO HI ' . MOVHI ) AT Till' ) ANNUAL MBHTINO or Till ! NATIONAL HOC 1 HTY , 1852 . " I . Whereas the following sentence—referring to the alleged practice of managers of schools in union with the National Society in abstaining from leaching , and giving instruction in , the Catechism of the Church of Kngland to all . scholars admitted into such nchools—is found in the report of Joseph Fletcher , JKuq ., her

    Majesty ' s Inspector of Schools : — " ' If I . am rightly informed , the practice of at least half of the national schools is to respect the feelings of Dirtsenters in this particular , so strongly does the moral sense protest aigainst the fundamental rule of their union which refuses to do so ; and as the real interests of the Church are on the side of the more liberal course , I would fain persuade myself that a majority of her clergy will avow , as well as practise it , and tluin enter upon a new era in our history , that , of the est .: iblinhed school . '

    " And whereas the Lord liishop of Manchester , in a speech delivered at a meeting of the promote ™ of the Manchester and Salford education scheme , held at Manchester , December 2 , 18 . 01 , has used the following language : — " ' My grief for years has been both openly and privately expressed that the charter of the National . Society has been imposing on the great body of the clergy , of the community , of the kingdom , conditions the most degrading , amd a situation the most humiliating . It lias made it » iirat term of union and condition that , the

    cUUdren in the schdols shall learn the Ca + *^ - ~ - Church of England . Now , I believe mSS ? " * , ° he the Catechism ; but I will a . k m ^ w ^ ES ^? £ ** around me , and in the diocese not only ofMM t * W 11 but in the whole of England , in ho J maX ^ f , l 8 ter schools has not that article of union been taken £ v « and in how many of these schools is it not » t f ' sent moment , deliberately and systematical ly vioLt ^ l So far from contravening the charter of the l ! i Society , I have ever regretted , and I still regret tw charter so ill advised in wording was ever issupd w ? v , Crown ; and I have sought , and g seek tTJauTSfiVto night , to aid with us in carrying the measure from a " higher authority , the three estates of the Lecislatnr ? t this kingdom , which shall override and ovXrn ? h ° conditions of that charter , and release the clerU f England at large from this most improper and ' unwortbJ thraldom . « j . my

    And whereas the practice herein publicly imputed ir > managers of schools in union with the National Societv is a departure from the principles of the charter and « violation of the terms of union : ' " This meeting hereby respectfully requests the com mittee—in whom the government of the society is vested by charter—to make public declaration that it is not with the sanction and approval of the committee that such practice is pursued in any case by managers of a school in union with the National Society . *< II 1 - That this meeting deeply regrets the continued refusal of her Majesty ' s Government to make a building grant to founders of a school who require it to be inserted in the trust deed that the management of the school be

    solely in the clergyman of the parish , with appeal to the bishop of the diocese . " III . That this meeting deeply regrets the continued refusal of her Majesty ' s Government to make a building grant to founders of a school who require it to be inserted in the trust deed that the master and mistress of the school be ' Communicants . ' " ( Signed ) George A . Denison , " Archdeacon of Taunton . " National Society ' s Office , Sanctuary , Westminster , December 4 , 1851 . Dear Sir , —I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day ' s date , together with a copy of certain resolutions to be moved at the annual meeting of this society in 1852 . I will submit these documents to the committee of the society at the first opportunity . I am , dear Sir , yours very faithfully , John G . Lonsdale , Secretary . The "Venerable Archdeacon Denison .

    Voluntary Education. A Conference Was He...

    VOLUNTARY EDUCATION . A Conference was held at Crosby-hall , on Tuesday , by the members of the "Voluntary Education Society . Of course , they are equally opposed to the Manchester scheme of secular instruction , and to the system adopted by the Congregational Union , of giving intruction through their own denomination alone . There were not more than 100 persons , the half of whom were ladies , present on the occasion . Mr . G . " \ V . Alexander took the chair ; and on the platform there were also Mr . Sturge , of Birmingham ; Mr . Charles Gilpin , of London , and others ; Dr . Cox , the Keverend Howard Ilinton , and the Reverend Mr . Brock , Baptist ministers , of London ; the Iteverend John Burnet , Independent ; and Mr . Ihlwnrd Miall .

    Paj > ers were read on education , and the following resolutions agreed to . " That in the judgment of this Conference it is not only important , but indispensable , that the education supplied by public schools should be religious , not merely by comprehending periodical scriptural instruction , but as impregnated habitually with a religious spirit on account of the momentous relation of religious culture to the present and future welfare of the scholars , of the inestimable value of the opportunities a / lorded by the years spent under scholastic training , and of the obligations arising out of the occupation by the schoolmaster , during the period , of a parental position towards the children committed to his care . And it is further tlie

    judgment of this Conference , that no arrangement for religious instruction collateral to a system of secular education can effectually supply the religious culture required ; That , in the opinion of this conference , any attempt to bring the children of the poorer classes under school instruction by means of compelling rates levied for the supply and maintenance of educational institutions , would bn an application of the powers of law to P »> J »" ' " beyond the proper sphere of its authority ; and , much " followed up by measures equally impolitic and " »« I > . " ' cable , for compelling school at tendance , would M " 1 adding to those ; already under instruction aiiytlunf , " | ^ proaching to the number commonly anticipate , < ^ obviously required to justify ho serious a change to cxttmi ci

    course hitherto pursued in this country , ^ tional advantages to such an cannot out ot " * ( means command them ; and That , in the judg «» » l . ^ this conference , where different denominations <>< '' timid can cooperate in promoting education ivithoi . y sacrifice of truth , or surrender of principle , il . i * « " — that they should combine in <>»<« orK- 'unzation , in that each should act in its denominational en ^^ union would give strength and dignity to 1 .. » >>« ™ ^^ J ^^^ T t ^ zx ^^ zv ^ ^ accompUalimeut of u common good .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1851, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13121851/page/6/