THE BISHOPS AS POLITICIANS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPEOTATOR.1
SIR,—Has not the Bishop of Manchester hit upon the true explanation of the want of that "statesmanlike and manly part in the political discussions of the House of Lords" of which you last week complained ?
It is difficult to "sit in lawn sleeves," which are so provocative
of ridicule in and out of the House, and yet in the ridiculous garb to feel manly, and the equal of laymen. Pray use your powerful influence for relieving the Bishops of a demi which is so prejudicial ?to their usefulness.
No one will venture to say of some of their Lordships, such as the two Archbishops, the Bishops of Winchester, Exeter, Man- -cheater, Oxford, Peterborough, Carlisle, that they display any lack of manly and able interest in political subjects in those public meetings where they appear as do other men, in their ordinary Avery-day dress. Nor will any one venture to say that the Bishops whom I have mentioned are unequal to the great raajority of the Lay Peers in judging soundly and expressing -forcibly their judgments on the various questions of the day.
If we except the score of Peers on either side of Cabinet calibre, and the Law Lords, what other Lay Peers possess equal qualifi- -cations with these Bishops, in mental discipline, academical train- ing, and experience of men in all ranks of life?
Which of the Lay Peers in society or any elsewhere, except in the House of Lords, would dare to make poor jokes upon either -of them ? I suspect the poor joker would be set down in a very -easy, playful fashion. Away with the ridiculous and very old- ladylike lawn. And this reform of vestment will smooth the way for a still more important reform.
Let the Bishops in their ordinary every-day dress sit amongst the Lay Peers below the gangway on either side of the House according to their several respective political leanings. Is there -any law, or any etiquette, which forbids this change ?
I hope not. If we can once release the Bishops from their ridicu- dous dress, and allow them the liberty of sitting as independent -members, we should then enjoy the benefit of their individual power And eloquence. Their voice and influence would then be weighed, as in the case of Lay Peers, by the qualifications of the man, instead of individuality being lost in a group, and that group smothered in a soft envelopment of lawn.—I am, Sir, &c.,
W. P.
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