The Convocation and the Crown in Council. By Henry Edward
Manning, D.D. (Longman and Co.)—Cardinal Wiseman is said to have expressed his readiness to return to the Church of England all the converts from her except one, and this one is unierstood to be Dr. Manning. Cer- tainly it is not easy to overrate his value to any church as a polemical writer. It is impossible to surpass the cold clearness of his statement, the cold elegance of his style, or the cold cruelty of his logic. The utter inconsistency of the Anglican theory which distinguishes between the Church of England and the Establishment, and affects to find in the voice of Convocation the authoritative voice of the Church, is relentlessly exposed in this masterly pamphlet. There is no resting- place between the theory of an infallible church and the theory which founds truth on human discernment and historical criticism. To lean on an infallible book is to lean on a rotten reed, unless the book has also an infallible interpreter. For ourselves, we see no need for any greater amount of certainty or uniformity of opinion in theology than in any other branch of study. Physical truth is revealed in God'a works, moral truth in the Bible ; but it is part of the plan of the universe that man must interpret the writing in both cases for himself. The theory of an infallible church is of course logical, but unfortunately it rests on facts which are untrue, and in practice has led to results which are inimical alike to moral, intellectual, and material progress. But the theory which calls on people to hear the voice of the church in Convocation is absurd. Even if Convocation included both provinces and the laity its decisions would only express public opinion. As it is it expresses only the opinion of certain of the clergy. And their opinion is to be tested by reason, and is entitled to just so much weight as reason attributes to it. Inherent authority it has none. So far we entirely agree with Dr. Manning.
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