To whom, we beg, in conclusion, to offer our best thanks for his courteous notice of our efforts in this difficult matter; and especially for the opportunity he has thus afforded us of brushing away another batch of the cobwebs which intercept the light of TRUTH from illuminating our Sacred Cause. I remain, yours, &c.,

Oct. 22, 1860.

"INGOLDSBY."

LETTER XCVIII.

THE BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL (BARING) ON THE

REVISION OF THE PRAYER-BOOK.

"When Greek meets Greek then comes the tug of war."

SIR,-Whatever be the ultimate fate of the Revision movement (which seems just now hanging in the balance) one thing is certain-the name of Bishop Baring will go down to posterity inseparably connected with the occasion, as having displayed an amount of moral courage rarely exhibited by those in place of authority in the Church. He has dared to espouse an unpopular cause. He has not shrunk from openly expressing his opinions, though he has reason to believe "his views do not coincide with those of the large majority of his reverend brethren."* He might have added, "of his right reverend brethren,"—if we may believe all that has been said of them by those who are determined, coûte qu'il coûte, that "the Prayer-book shall not be touched in their day."

It is barely six months since the Bishop of Oxford, in

Convocation; nor will our breaches ever be healed but by a true English Parliament." (Life of Calamy, vol. i., p. 204.)

Charge of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol (Dr. Baring, now Bishop of Durham); p. 14. Seeley, London. 1860.

BISHOP BARING A REVISIONIST.

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almost insulting language, bid Lord Ebury not to trouble Israel any longer, seeing that "their lordships (the Bishops,* we presume) had determined not to give their sanction to his proposal." And yet here behold an ally starting from the episcopal ranks in most admired disorder, bringing an amount of support in aid of the noble lord such as he little dreamed of receiving from any of the right reverend prelates; and such arguments as will carry a moral weight with the public more than counterbalancing all the forcibly-feeble oratory of his chief opponent.

It is true, the Archbishop of Dublin (Whately†) and the Bishop of Durham (Villiers ‡) have of late not obscurely hinted to their respective clergy that the time for further resistance to revision is gone by, and that it would be well to yield to a cry founded on reason and common sense. But we cannot say that the trumpet of either of those eminent individuals has given forth the clear sound that has issued from the episcopal chair at Gloucester within the present month, and which has met ere this with responsive echoes from every quarter of the kingdom. At any rate, we have at this moment the most conspicuous of the Irish prelates, one of the most noted of the English northern bishops, and a bishop of the province of Canterbury, against whom the tongue of envy can say no evil, pledged to the advocacy of revision, and, what is more,-" at this present time." Away, then, with the bugbear of the "unanimity of the bishops against the measure"-a falsehood from the beginning, and now not bearing a shadow of the semblance of truth.

The Bishop of Oxford would seem to have undertaken to speak in the name of the entire British peerage. See Letter xcvi., p. 150.

+ See Letters LXXXVIII.-XCI., pp. 107—124.

This prelate was shortly afterwards removed by death; but his place being supplied by Bishop Baring, it may be said—

"Uno avulso non deficit alter

Aureus, et simili splendescit virga metallo."

And then for another alleged "difficulty," which we have heard put into the mouth of one high lately in her Majesty's councils-"A Commission !-Where on earth am I to find the men to form a Commission?"*

Behold here the nucleus of an efficient Commission. Ireland represented by her most learned and most distinguished divine (Whately). The province of York by a prelate standing as high in position as he does in the esteem of the people of those parts (Longley). The province of Canterbury by a bishop second to none in his antecedents,† and whose age is just that which gives the greatest amount of mental power, combined with soberness of judgment, experience, and knowledge of the world.

If a competent Commission cannot be constructed upon such a foundation, we have yet to learn what qualifications are requisite for that mysterious and almost fabulous body. Let these three individuals have the nominating of two clergymen apiece as their coadjutors, and let the Minister of the day, under the correction of his colleagues, add thereto four laymen (one at least of whom should be learned in the canon law), and beheld at once a solution of the problem. Behold thirteen Commissioners, of whom five or seven to form a working quorum-et voilà tout !

We shall not enter at present into the details of the Bishop of Gloucester's charge, but we shall hope to recur to it on a future occasion. Meanwhile, our exhortation to those

*This is undeniably a considerable difficulty; but should not be more insurmountable now than on former occasions.

+ Bishop Baring was a double first-class man in 1829, and was popular as a preacher in Marylebone before his elevation to the Bench in 1856.

The sanction of a clear majority of the whole should be sufficient for drawing up the report of the Commission. It is ridiculous to look for unanimity in such a matter; and the Protests annexed to the Report of the Commission of 1867-70 effectually annulled any good it might otherwise have done,-small as it was at the best. See APPENDIX to Vol. I., p. 427.

BISHOP BARING ON REVISION.

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who have fought side by side with us through evil report and through good report in this uphill battle, is this-Be united, be moderate, be persevering:

"Nil sine magno

Vita labore dedit mortalibus."

Let not weariness seize upon your spirits on account of the protracted nature of the campaign, for assuredly in due season. we shall reap if we faint not. We want not now for leaders, as was once the case with us; let it not be said that the leaders failed for want of unity, good sense, and moderation in the ranks of their followers.*

I remain, yours, &c.,

Oct. 26, 1860.

"INGOLDSBY."

LETTER XCIX.

BISHOP BARING ON THE REVISION OF THE PRAYER-BOOK.

"But soft, behold, lo where he comes again.”—HAMLET.

SIR, The Charge of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol being now published by authority,† it is desirable for those who are interested (as which of us is not) in the satisfactory settlement of this matter to study it carefully, as being upon the whole, perhaps, the most important document which has yet appeared in advocacy of the measure.

We say, "the most important upon the whole "—as it at once dispels the bugbear of Episcopal Unanimity against the entertainment of the subject, which has been long made use of as a Mumbo Jumbo by the Anti-Revisionists, to deter people

* Perhaps the greatest "difficulty" the cause has to contend with is the determination of some Revisionists to have all they ask for, or nothing.

A Charge delivered at the triennial visitation of the diocese, Oct., 1860. By Charles (Baring), Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. Seeley.

from giving their minds to its consideration. So long as it could be made to appear that the bishops were unanimous against Revision,* so long was it thought by many hopeless to attempt it; however plainly the case might have been set. forth in Parliament by its undaunted champion, or however unanswerably its expediency might have been demonstrated in all the pamphlets, articles, and letters with which the press has teemed for the last five or six years.

Bishop Baring has come forward at a most seasonable moment to revive the spirits of those who were beginning to despair of obtaining a hearing; and to scatter dismay amongst the ranks of those who were flattering themselves that their Fabian policy had tired out, if it had not conquered, their opponents.

The Bishop observes that "the further Revision of the Liturgy has been strongly recommended by persons of learning and piety at various times since the last Revision of 1662.

Indeed, all true friends of the Church must, in the abstract, be advocates of Revision." (Charge, p. 14.)

This is calling a spade a spade. It is the boldest assertion, connected with the subject, that we have yet met with. And though the Charge has been now delivered above a month, we have not heard of any one rash enough to step forth from the opposing phalanx, to pick up the glove thus manfully thrown down.

"There is no one," proceeds the Bishop, "who can deny that there are some alterations which would render the Prayer-book more perfect. Every one must esteem it as a service done to the Church of no little moment, if any defect in her ritual were remedied, any acknowledged deficiency

*The Bishop of Oxford is fully alive to the value of the above exaggeration. "If," says he, "the authority of a body is shaken by those within it, we cannot hope to be much respected by those without." (Speech in Convocation, May 14, 1861.)