It appears to be true, incredible as it seems, that
a pseudo- Bishop of Natal is to be consecrated in England. The Arch- bishop of Canterbury, it is stated, has applied for a Royal mandate permitting such a ceremony, and the Duke of Buck- ingham expresses his readiness to grant it. In other words, the Secretary for the Colonies is prepared to upset the formal decisions by which Her Majesty's Courts have decided that Dr. Colenso is entitled to the name, style, and title of Bishop of Natal, that he has a right to his stipeud, and that the control of Church property in his diocese vests in him. The Duke of Buckinghain to the extent of his power surrenders alike the Royal supremacy and the supremacy of law, and sets up above both the supremacy of the illegal tribunal of priests which affected in the name of the Church to depose Dr. Colenso. Fortunately, consecration, even under a mandate, conveys no legal rights, and Dr. Macrorie, when consecrated, though he will be a Bishop, will be no more Bishop of Natal than he was before. He will be only one more element in the confusion of the Colonial Churches.
