Mr. H. Vivian did not put a very wise question
to the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer on Thursday, when he asked whether, "after the condemnation of the Society of the Holy Cross by the Upper House of Convocation, the Government would take any steps to exclude members of that Society from the ministry ? " Ten or twelve years ago, the doctrines of "Essays and Reviews" were condemned by the Bishops, as well as, we believe, by the Lower House of Convocation, but it would have been idle to ask whether Dr. Temple was therefore to be excluded from the ministry. The opinion of the Bishops is not ecclesiastical law, and until all the encouragement which the Church's rubrics offer to confession is expunged, and an Article of faith rejecting confession as a dangerous practice, and one based on dogmatic error, is included in our formularies, the members of the Society of the Holy Cross will certainly be quite safe from the grasp of the law, so far as regards their view of Confession. Of course, Sir Stafford Northcote replied that the Government were in no position to institute any proceedings against the members of this voluntary society.
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