15 SEPTEMBER 1883, Page 13

THE ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS COMMISSION.

[To TES EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

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Sin,—Canon Trevor and the Rev. G. R. Portal contend that the proper method of governing the Church [meaning the Clergy] is by Bishops and Synods, and not by Lay Courts. The result of allowing the Clergy to manage themselves is apparent in the Church of Rome. Is it expedient to follow that precedent P—I

[Nobody has proposed, that we know of, that the Governing Synod shall be exclusively clerical. The Scotch Assemblies have not corrupted, if they have narrowed, the Churches.— ED. Spectator.]