29 JANUARY 1848, Page 1

The new Bishop of Manchester has safely travelled through all

the stages of his troubled progress ; but the Bishop of Hereford is not yet out of the wood : Dr. Lee was consecrated on Sunday; but Dr. Hampden's confirmation has been the subject of daily argument in the Court of Queen's Bench. The cardinal point of the discussion is the question whether the nffice of the Archbishop, in confirmation, is purely ministerial and formal, or whether it is a substantial and judicial duty. Judg- ment is to be delivered on Tuesday. The conduct of the case has in some respects been as curious as its origin. It came before the Court as an application in the name of the Crown, for a mandamus to compel the Archbishop of Canterbury to perform his duty ; a mode of application which exhibits with almost ludicrous appositeness the redundancy of forms in our political and legal constitution: the suit was a di- rect attack upon the prerogative claimed for the Crown by its public servants ; it was resisted by the Law-officers of the Crown ; and yet the attack was made in the name of the Crown. The nature of the arguments was remarkable for variety and nicety of refinement, splitting many a hair 'twist South and South- west side ; and the authorities cited were of all kinds, sacred and profane, clerical and laical, historical and legal, learned in the civil law, the common law, and the statute law. The arguments of counsel less resembled a discussion in a law court than a lite- rary controversy : it was like a search at the British Museum for materials towards a new chapter in the Curiosities of Literature. Nor is the literary character of the controversy lessened by the fact that, whatever its issue, it cannot dispossess the Bishop, who has been confirmed before the question of the right to confirm him came thus solemnly before the Court!