TOPICS OF THE DAY.
. EFFECT OF THE GORHAM .1 UDGMENT.
Mon unsatisfactory is the position in whieh the decision on Gor- ham's case leaves the Church of -England. Not only is a Vicar forced upon his Diocesan by a lay tribilnal, but he is established in a relation which at once provokes future .differences and forbids a hose of any effectual authority to settle. snob. differences. The judgment nakedly exposes the untoward fact, that the Church of Yogland is without a supreme court of appeal on questions of dis- cipline and doctrine ; and at the same time it illustrates the want of such a tribunal. "Constitutionally," it appears, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is competent to actin that behalf; but in this case the delegation of the royal,autherity to the Com- mittee violates the spirit of the usage bY jivhich the Eiecutive',
supremacy of the Crown is carried out. • .
By a somewhat violent wrench of spiritual doctrine, the Sete- reign is recognized as "the head of the Churell," The recognition had its conveniences at the time of the Reformation.; , indeed, it had virtually been hinted before and not :only in ‘Ragland—bi-, goted Spain has throughout maintained to a remarkable degree her national independence of Rome. But the recognition multi:es-. tionably places the corporation which inherits the_ ApoStolieal sne- cession in the position of vassal to a civil suzerain. • The eViIS to be apprehended from so anomalous a position would be minimized so long as the relation of lord and liege was limited to the Aionarch and the Clergy, and was not extended by delegation to any other . tribunal ; but when that broad relation is extended by admitting the subordinate authorities of the civil power to interfere in the details of spiritual discipline, a new and highly incenvenient ar- rangement is introduced. In some respects we may consider the three -great orders of the Clergy, the Law, and the Army; to stand towards the Crown in a similar relation. They all have a common head in the Crown, but each is governed by its own internal laws ; and the several codes are of necessity so distinct that the professors' of each are to a con- siderable extent incapacitated for administering .the others.. But. especially does that incapacity apply where the doc&ine mooted may be said intellectually and spiritually to :transeend:the scale of elevation proper to either profession. It would be very inconve- nient if the Crown were to delegate its supremecnthority in mat- ters concerning military doctrine and disciplinu . to lawyers the judgment of lawyers, for example, on :the question,' What is obedience to Orders ? " or " What is cowardice ?" would be -Very little likely " to hit the right nail on the head," or to give satis- faction: but how much more incompetent would any trilinnal of soldiers be to decide urn questions of Jaw! Met unaitisfeetery of all is it when questions of apiritual diacipline are carried before an inferior tribunal of lawyers.: it is worse than trying a question: of cowardice before the Exchequer Chamber; or carrying a point . reserved in Westminster Hall before a court-martini. In each of the two professions, military and legal, the Croain is understood to exercise its supreme authority according ti) the spirit of the pro-. - feasion by and with the advice of persons ehosen from that pro- fession, with only so Much of advice from without as is sufficient to keep the Crown in mind of its own general hts'ead general responsibilities to the nation at large : in •thl por4S.ht. Crown,. derives concurrent aid frora without in forniiuk, .t4 oiali opinion; but thus enlightened, it proceeds within the .pro ssiouite act, in. technical matters, mainly by the . advice of .per,sonuribelonging to the profession. The Church; which is least- of,all-rAtted ,to be an .
exception to that rule, :does form the most signal exception.' .
The result in the Gorham case is very LiThe Bishop of Exeter rejects Mr: Gorham fer inductiOnAtiritlffiviceragtof Brampford Spike, on the ground that his doctrinelitOU4Ong, &ally on the efficacy of baptism as ai,i s4G#.1wgeneration in spiritual grace. - The Judicial Cominittee cleclareathat the doctrine itself has been doubtful in the Church, and,,-thitAilfOreuees ou, are not sufficient to disqualify for induction. H.-Are they sufficient to disqualify for administering the rites of the Church?...thot lathe question ; and it is manifestly one which lawyers are not qualified to decide. Lord Langdale and his colleagues :My,' that at least :the onus is thrown upon the rejecting ,Bishop to prove the sufficiency - of the disqualification : but before'whoni? 1Before 'temporal law- yers, who cannot pronounce upon the valiWorthe disqualidea. tion when it is laid before thern., It nicty §0,14'iltfif temporal lawyers had the benefit of the 'advice given. jby'llie Prelates sat as spiritual assessors : but it is manifektlyfundbri a .inueh lees rigid responsibility that an assessor 'eyes. advice :ion quest ions laid before him in terms frameaby.thelactaaljudge;', than *here he is himself the judge. The inevitable couclualint is,that the Char& of England is without a supreme co ;,-`and is obliged to accept in lieu a supreme court ,ftaul,iguktihr 41,4"aXinferior pro- 9 1141var. '119FAied, as they. fession; as though ultimate cpieOlo
have been in conquered countries, bdoeomp,
But the position of the .1,:bareh is iferse;itlam.that.'- It not only appears that the Establiehment is Withent, a suprerae court, but also that it is without any governing council to 'give .direction to its general conduct. It thus appears in the world,-":ameng com- petitors and foes, treacherous friends koplill-advised: friends,. with- out an acting head, Unguided by a pelini..„.:Oat • may account :for: the frequency with which these scandals .anpply the plaoe in the -public sight of any activity more genuine and more vital..! The Church, shorn of its Convocation, is perhaps the sole instance of a great public body without a directing head or a guiding policy.
The constitutional "Head of the Church" has abdicated in favour of the Judicial Committee ; and the acting " Head " now usurps the post of " Fidei Defensor " in such fashion as to invite the Gor- hams that people the Church with unseceding dissent, and work for its disruption from within.
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