We have dealt 'elsewhere with Mr. Balfour's admirable speech, a
speech which we believe represents the feeling of the wiser minds in the Church of England, and we will only say here that his main point was to insist upon loyalty to the true Church of England, that is, not the Church as conceived by Lord Halifax and the extreme men, bit that branch of the Universal Church which we have now possessed for three hundred years,—a Church which has a character and a nobility all her own, the Church of comprehension, the Church alike of Hooker and Butler, of. Simeon and Keble, of Maurice and Duey. Mr. Balfour also, wisely as we hold, dwelt upon the advantages which would accrue from increasing the spiritual autonomy of the English Church. Though our sympathies are with Mr. Balfour in the stand he takes between the two opposing camps, we must admit that Lord Hugh Cecil put his own view with moderation and sincerity. Sir Edward Clarke's speech was also a noteworthy contribution to the debate. Tliough speaking as a High Churchman, he desired to support not only episcopal authority, but also the authority of the estab- lished law of the land.
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