19 APRIL 1856, Page 2

Convocation has met, to remind the world of its existence

; to tXpress the aspirations that throb in the heart of the Church ; and to adjourn. It has discussed the practicabilities of establishing a fit court of supreme jurisdiction in doctrine and discipline,— 'without present result. The St. James's petition for union with certain Congregational Dissenting bodies was presented, but was met with a cry against "schismatics," and barely suffered to "lie on the table." A. clergyman bringing forward "gravamina" had scarcely touched upon the immense difficulty entailed upon the Church by clerics too old or too young—" cotti e crudi "—when he was stopped with the rule against "discussion." Dean Mil- man, indeed, proposes to petition the Queen for the discontinuance of the anniversaries of "Charles Martyr," the Restoration, and the Gunpowder Plot,—anniversaries that have ceased to serve any re- spectable purpose ; but it hardly needed Convocation to tell the Queen or the Parliament that truth. All thanks to the excellent Dean, notwithstanding, for advancing it. Convocation, in short, is only a memorandum ; and so perhaps it must remain while "the Church" represents only a part of the community.