21 DECEMBER 1844, Page 1

The ferment in the Church shows no symptoms of abatement.

The parishes of Devon exhibit a strong disinclination to obey Bishop PRILLPOTTS'S orders for restoring the Rubric in its integrity. Meanwhile, the Hebdomadal Board of Oxford University has ac- tively taken up the case of Mr. WARD of Balliol College ; has de- termined to submit the unorthodox passages in his Ideal of a Chris- tian Church Considered to a Convocation in February ; and will propose to degrade the author, stripping him of his degrees. Mr. WARD promises to justify himself; there will be a conflict, and he will emulate in martyrdom for conscience-sake many a more celebrated man. This appears to be of a class of scandal that could not very well be settled, like the surplice question, by an appeal to law; though it might be prevented, or at least its worst effects might be neutralized, by the interposition of some higher authority within the Church, to say what shall and shall not be deemed right and orthodox.