Splendid as was the self-sacrifice shown by the Lords in
question, it would hardly have sufficed had not the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, supported by eleven Bishops, had the courage to resist the pressure put upon them to take no part in the division. The Archbishop of York spoke with great ability and feeling on Wednesday, and on Thursday the Archbishop of Canterbury intervened towards the end of the debate in a manner which we have no doubt had a very great effect upon the division. He told the House that he had hoped to abstain from recording his vote for the Bill. The course of the debate, however, had changed his mind. Especially had he been influenced by the levity with which a portion of the Lords seemed to contemplate the creation of 500 peers. The issue might depend upon a single vote. That being so he would not risk holding the position of one who might have averted that calamity and had not. The Primate showed statesmanship and courage, and we are sure the two Archbishops and the Bishops who supported them will never regret the action they took. It was in every sense worthy of the representatives of the National Church, and affords a strong argument for retaining Bishops in the House of Lords. Only two Bishops, Bangor and Worcester, voted for main- taining the amendments and so forcing a creation of peers.
