WI GLADSTONE AND HIS CHURCH PATRONAGE.
MR GLADSTONE will soon, for the first time in his life, have to make a Bishop, very probably more bishops than one. The public watches with interest, and in some quarters, it may be supposed, with considerable anxiety, for the choice which he will make. He has a great advantage over former Premiers in possessing that thorough knowledge of Church affairs which only genuine sympathy and interest can give. Mr. Disraeli, indeed, showed something of the same capacity, and it was one of the most striking proofs of his genius, exciting the same kind of admiration as we feel when we hear a foreigner speak faultless English. But Lord Russell was never able to look upon these matters except from the point of view of a Whig statesman ; and Lord Palmerston, to whom a good or bad fortune gave the opportunity of filling half the Bench, was notoriously ignorant and indifferent, —appointing in one instance, it is said, an obscure divine, under the impression that he was promoting a really distinguished man of the same name, then long dead,— and commonly acting under the inspiration of partizan advisers. Mr. Gladstone, on the contrary, is thoroughly acquainted with the conditions of the problem with which he has to deal, and he will feel a scrupulous anxiety, which may possibly be even too scrupulous, to satisfy them to the utmost. His own prepossessions are supposed to be with the High Church, but it is evident that he has long been moving in a line which may be described as a parallel to that of his advance in political opinion. He has now a very difficult task to perform, and, it may be added, a great oppor- tunity to seize. A thorough Churchman, and at the same time an acknowledged leader of the people, profoundly attached to the English Communion, while he is honoured, trusted, and loved more, we may almost say, than statesman has been for centuries, by multitudes of Englishmen, he may do a great work for the Church, he may do much to reconcile it to the age, to help it to move along with the great advance of political and intelleotual freedom.
His immediate opportunity consists in the appointment to high ecclesiastical dignities. The See of Salisbury is already vacant by the death of Dr. Hamilton, and the Bill for facili- tating the retirement of Bishops, which is about to become law, will probably have the effect of placing others at his disposal. It may be doubted, indeed, whether it will offer any sufficient inducement to the Bishop of Winchester to resign. The £6,000 a year which it offers to the retiring incumbent bears but a very small proportion to the princely revenues which that prelate, who dates from before the Ecclesiastical Com- mission, still enjoys. But the Bishop of Carlisle, who is, we believe, incapacitated for business, and the Bishops of Chiches- ter and Bath and Wells, who havelong been unequal to the work Of their dioceses, may be expected to avail themselves of its provisions ; and the Bishop of Exeter, though his rich canonry at Durham, far exceeding, as it does, his slender episcopal revenue, has always afforded him an opportunity of retiring, may not improbably put the appointment of a successor into the hands of an orthodox premier. Rumour, of course, has been busy in filling some, at least, of these possible vacancies. It is said that Mr. Liddon is to go to Salisbury, that the Bishop of Oxford is to be translated to Winchester, and that Dean Stanley is to fill his place at Oxford. These appointments would be not unsatisfactory. Mr. Liddon is a great preacher, and bishops are now required to be preachers, and would thus surpass the oratorical reputation itself, not inconsiderable, of his predecessor. At the same time, he is a skilful and prac- tised theologian. Dr. Hamilton did much to mar the influence of a blameless and zealous life by inconsiderate utterances on subjects of which he was not master. Even an apostolic character must suffer from the ridicule which attaches to such a statement as he made in the House of Lords, when, wishing to assert himself a successor of the Apostles, he declared "that the blood of the Apostles ran in his veins." Mr. Liddon would be incapable of such a mistake, and even if he had to declare himself on the dangerous and difficult subject of Christ's Presence in the Eucharist, would be able to express Anglican doctrine without causing the scandal of a public protest. At the same time, the diocese of Salisbury would not have to suffer a violent break in the continuity of its ecclesiastical traditions. This is an important con- sideration, and one which that is certain frequently to occur. It would be both inconvenient and improper to make a fixect territorial distinction between various schools of thought in the English Church, to order, say, that Evangelicalism should permanently rule in the East, and Anglicanism in the- West. But it would be a great disaster, as directly leading on to a- catastrophe which is already only too imminent, if an uncom- promising partizan were to be sent into a region which had before been ruled by a prelate of an opposite bias. The bishop,. it must always be remembered, though he can do little or no-- thing directly to the two-thirds of his clergy who are beneficed, has nearly absolute powers over the remaining one-third, who are curates ; and he can consequently often make the position, of an incumbent untenable by refusing to accept his nomina- tions, or by withdrawing the licences of his curates. This power, added to his patronage, gives him more influence than might be supposed in determining the character of his clergy, though. the preponderating mass of lay patronage acts as a check, and is probably the safety-valve, while it is certainly one of the most depressing influences in the Church. The difficulty would present itself in another of the changes of which Aiour speaks, and would be fairly met by the suggested; appointment. The Bishop of Winchester has now for forty years continued with a steady perseverance to distribute his- large patronage among the adherents of the Evangelical party, and has probably succeeded in making his diocese more homo- geneous than any other in England. Next to a like-minded' successor, the Bishop of Oxford would probably provide most effectually for the interests of peace. As the ingenious draughtsman of Vanity Fair remarks, "He is no brawler ;" he might be trusted to do what had to be done in a most con- ciliatory spirit, and to give, if the simile may be allowed, • the depressed end of the see-saw its turn in the air without any violent shock to that which at last has to sink. At the same time, he would bring to the administration of a vast diocese the qualities which those who like him little allow to him, great capacity of government, and a love, which amounts to a positive hunger, of work. But beyond all doubt, the chief advantage of his appointment would be his removal from Oxford. The jealousy between the- University and the Bishop, always easily excited, has risen, we believe, to an unparalleled height. Many of the ablest and. most promising men are said to regard him with a suspicion and dislike which must injuriously affect their whole relation to the Church. Nor are his gifts, great and various as they are, such as are specially suited to the place. He does not possess profound learning, either theological or secular, nor has he enthusiasm ; these are things which cultivated men respect ; they are auspicious of the art of managing, of the- facile adaptation to divers men and divers circumstances, and even of the gift of persuasive oratory. Dean Stanley, on the other hand, would, we believe, be exactly in his right place. He made his reputation in the University ; he is an Oxford man to the backbone ; he loves the place with a love which could not fail of a return. And he has the genuine- liberality and manysidedness of thought which fits him for a close connection with what is and will, we trust, always be one of the great theological schools of England. Our readers will readily understand that such an appointment would be- thoroughly to our mind; bat we do not wish—we are con- scious, perhaps, of some little effort in saying it—that all vacancies should be filled up in a similar way. The Broad Church, though it may be the English Church of the future, represents a minority in the present. Anglicanism, in its various shades, attracts a very large proportion of the young- in whom the religious sense is strongly developed. Evangeli- calism, though it seems to have lost its expansive power, is still strong in the older generation; and cannot be treated with neglect. It is credited, not altogether unjustly, with the scandal of having given to the Church some of its most illiterate prelates, but the reproach may be easily exaggerated.. Bishop Baring, of Durham, and Bishop Waldegrave, of Car- lisle, both attained the highest classical honours of Oxford ; nor could a fitter man for the Episcopal office be found than Dr. Miller, of Greenwich, who may claim the same dis- tinction.
If Mr. Gladstone find men who, without leaving their own stand-point of opinion, can help by a broad sympathy with all men to keep or make the Church the Church of the nation, let him look for them where he will ; he will be worthily using one of the great opportunities which Providence seems to be -
throwing into his hands.
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