The Bishop of Peterborough hes been giving an amusing lecture
to the two Houses. He was consecrating a church at Loughborough on Tuesday, and, speaking after the ceremonial, he said "it was one of the privileges of a British Senator to dis- play any amount of ignorance on any subject whatever," and he was especially ignorant on the subject of the Church. The British Senator desired a "gentlemanly Clergy," a pleasant sort of fellows, who would dine with the Squire, and not be too active in rebuking vice, or doing any sort of work ; and wished "for solemn Bishops," who "would deliver themselves of a Charge every three years and about a dozen sermons a year," and would confirm "great groups of un- happy children from great distances," and "then go home and dine with a Peer." British Senators accused the Bishops of to-day of "morbid activity," and were quite frightened by the sparks thrown off by the fast-moving machine. He was happy to believe that the days of such a clergy were over, and that the clergy from among whom the Bishops were taken expected their spiritual chiefs to lead, and not merely to give orders. If we had given that de- scription of the country gentleman's ideal of a Church, we should have been accused of profane ill-nature, but a Bishop with Dr. Magee's tongue and Tory proclivities may say a bitter thing, even when it is quite true, and yet be blameless.
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