A STATE CHURCH AND CANDIDATES FOR ORDERS.
[TO THE EJHTOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.']
Si,-.-The late discussions on the Tooth case raise anew a ques- tion that has long troubled the heads of the Church, and indeed all who believe that the welfare of the State is closely bound up with that institution. Many reasons have at various times been adduced to account for the falling-off both as to quantity and quality in the supply of candidates for Holy Orders. The growth of a questioning spirit in the educated youth of the country has, no doubt, much to do with it, and perhaps the greater attractions held out by the other professions. But neither of these seems to be sufficient. May I suggest another, which is of interest in connection with recent Church polities? An Under- graduate's opinion is not worth much on any point, but it is per- haps worth most on a question which lies to a large extent in his own hands. The prospect of Disestablishment, not Disendowment, is perhaps to-day a greater deterrent than either of the other causes that I have mentioned. It is not, I believe, that men fear the loss of preferment, or a more precarious future, but that the more thoughtful amongst them at least look with sus- picion on the prospect of being at some future time under the control of a Disestablished Convocation, elected by the Clergy, in which the real lay element of the Church will be unrepresented. It is not to be denied that the majority of the newly-ordained deacons are men who have taken no honours at the Universities, and are at the same time too apt to attach themselves to one or the other of the extreme schools in the Church. The only safeguard against the preponderance of an intolerant spirit rests in Parlia- ment. If once this check be withdrawn, I have my fear that, as Dean Stanley says, "Liberal theology and a broad charity will be impossible in the Church It is not the State, it is not the congregations, it is the Clergy that Undergraduates who would follow Fraser and Arnold most fear."—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
