7 MAY 1892, Page 3

There are two or three Bishops who are now, it

is said, con- templating resignation in consequence of the difficulty in performing their duties which is due to age. The Bishop of Chichester is close upon ninety, the Bishop of Bath and Wells is close on eighty-four, and the Bishop of Norwich is eighty. Would it not be well if the Episcopate made it an etiquette to resign at some fixed age,—say seventy-five, an age at which very few men can really discharge duties so laborious and often so responsible as those of the Episcopate ? It is an unpleasant thing for the public to urge individual resigna- tions; but such an order as the Bishops should not be open to the imputation of clinging to office beyond the age at which their duties can be discharged with promptitude and vigour.