Lord Oranmore was eloquent again yesterday week in the House
of Lords on the wickedness of those clergy who privately confess and absolve their penitents before giving them the Sacrament. But all he could do was to move for the paper in which an adverse opinion on private confession had been expressed by the Bishops of the Province of Canterbury, and to rail generally at the practice. That is very natural, but very fruitless. Lord Common should try to get the Rubrics altered, if he wants to get rid of clergymen who do what the Rubrics certainly permit, and in some cases even advise. We should quite go with Lord Granmore for a reformation of the Church, but before the Church can be reformed, it must have a more or less representative government, and in the meantime, it is childish to complain that clergymen do what the Rubrics never forbid, and directly suggest that in many cases they shall do.
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