On Thursday, in the House of Lords, the Bishop of
Winchester opened a debate on the Church by a very striking speech, in which he showed how unfair and untrue was the accusation that the Bishops had deliberately used their veto to prevent prosecutions, and so to protect the Ritualists in illegal acts. There were only three cases in which Bishops now living had vetoed prosecutions. In answer to this, however, Lord Kinnaird stated that there were twenty-one instances of veto since 1854. Lord Kimberley, who intervened in the debate, did not say anything very remarkable, though he let drop the ()biter chceum. that "the Church of England is not a Congregational Church." That. in a certain sense, is true no doubt, but surely it should not be insisted on too strongly by those who desire, and very rightly, to protect the rights of the laity. The Archbishop of Can- terbury closed the discussion by a speech that should inspire confidence in all fair-minded men. He denied the alleged connection between Romanism and Ritualism. The present agitation was based upon the notion that there was a great deal of Romanism in the Church. He had taken great trouble to ascertain the facts, and he believed that "the amount of anything like Romanism is exceedingly small." The Archbishop ended his speech by a declaration of his determination that the rights of the laity should be respected and regarded.
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