66

MORAL OF THE TALE.

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but for the fulfilment of a public duty, and with the determination to show that if money-making men would only be a little more attentive to the direction of their Bibles, and more set upon seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness," than upon turning all things into a money value, there would be less occasion to denounce the fraudulent practices of mankind, inasmuch as they would be prevented. But so long as Mammon usurps the place of the Almighty, the ledger is converted into a Bible, and the cash-book is turned into a book of Common Prayer, those who are losers by such policy must not be surprised if others, who stand at a distance and can watch the playing out of the game, should reiterate the decision of one wiser than the generality of men, that all is indeed "vanity and vexation of spirit."

454

Quarterly Report of Farts and Progress.

THE quarter which has just terminated has been productive of many events full of interest for the Church, some of them, indeed, involving principles of the greatest magnitude, and making it extremely probable, that though a really efficient system of Church reform is not to be looked for in our days, yet that some of the most prominent abuses may probably be mitigated, if not altogether removed. We shall commence our remarks with some notice of the new system of

RETIRING PENSIONS TO BISHOPS.

It will be hardly necessary to remind our readers that the Bishops of London and Durham, feeling themselves, through age and infirmity, unequal to the administration of their respective dioceses, have resolved to seek the relief of retirement from active life. Hitherto no precedents had existed for such a step; and the fact that the incapacity of a bishop to manage the affairs of his diocese had rarely hitherto produced any serious inconvenience in the diocese itself, was beginning to tell on the public mind. Indeed, the question was occasionally asked, of what use is a bishop at all, since he rarely makes his appearance in the House of Lords, and the diocese can do very well without him? It was time that queries so mischievous should be stopped, and the intention to do this had, perhaps, some share in the determination of the Bishops of London and Durham.

It was found that an Act of Parliament would be necessary to enable them to execute their wishes, and such an Act has now passed the Imperial Legislature. We think a wellfounded objection has been taken to the course of proceeding adopted on the present occasion. If an Act of a general nature had been passed enabling bishops, under certain well defined circumstances, to retire from their sees, we should have seen no reason to complain. As it is, a case by no means uncommon is treated as though it were altogether exceptional; and the same arguments, the same objections, the same compromises, will all have to be gone through again when the next similar instance may occur, and all the trouble and difficulty of a fresh Act of Parliament will have to be encountered. For the sake of the Church, it is earnestly to be hoped

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that before long some general measure will be passed, of which individual prelates may, when situated like the Bishops of London and Durham, easily avail themselves, without the necessity of a separate Act in each separate case. We may be sure that the public will not now quietly tolerate the spectacle of a bishop utterly incompetent to the duties of his see remaining in it, merely because he was a bishop: the example set by Drs. Maltby and Blomfield will prevent this. Nor is it well that episcopal infirmities should be paraded, whenever they occur, before the Houses of Parliament. It is by no means sure that the House of Commons, if called upon frequently to pass Bills like the late enactment, will always be willing to do so without a little further intermeddling; and the small end of the wedge once inserted, it is difficult to say what the result would be.

On these grounds we hold it to be essential to the welfare. of the Church, that ere long a Bill should be brought in enabling bishops, whose infirmities deprive them of the power of managing their sees, to resign their posts. That some retiring pension should be provided is self-evident. It is quite true that a poor curate may spend the greater part of his life in hard labour, and when worn out with age and work, or attacked by disease, there may be, unhappily, no provision for his last days: he and his family may suffer every kind of distress and privation. But while we admit all this, we do not see that the matter is at all mended by committing an injustice similar in kind, but smaller in degree, in another quarter. The invalided bishop has just as much right to a retiring pension as an invalided general or an exchancellor, and it ought to be one bearing a due proportion to what may be called his working income. No one would object to a pension of two thousand pounds per annum ; and in spite of many severe observations, not altogether without cause, there does not seem to have been much objection expressed at the sums required by the bishops now retiring. It is borne in mind, that although six thousand pounds per annum is a larger sum than any bishop, save those of London, Durham, and Winchester, will ultimately receive even during their period of labour; yet, that the present holder of the metropolitan see has enjoyed for many years an almost fabulous income, and that he might, if he had chosen, have kept it all and managed his diocese by the aid of his archdeacons. The same may be said of Dr. Maltby; and hence we do not think that there was anything unreasonable in their propositions.

But it is one thing to be unreasonable and another to

evince a somewhat too worldly and grasping spirit; and we should have been glad if the retiring bishops had simply said, "we feel ourselves unequal to our duties, let us be relieved from them; we leave to those who have the management of church affairs in their hands to decide whether we should have any retiring pensions, and, if so, what should be their amount." Had they done this they would have stood in a much higher position before the world than that which they now occupy, and the lustre of their example would have been reflected upon the Church.

We shall dismiss without notice the absurd cry of simony raised, against both government and bishops, by some hotheaded and enthusiastic writers. And here, perhaps, may be a fitting place to notice the general character of the government carried on during a tolerably long episcopate by the retiring prelates. We shall begin with the more conspicuous of the two, the Bishop of London. We may speak more freely, both by way of praise and blame, than we could have done had he been removed by death from the see over which he has so long and so energetically presided. We have little sympathy with the motto "de mortuis nil nisi bonum," we would rather say," de mortuis nil nisi VERUM:” We look on the former maxim to be a very erroneous one; the great departed leave reputations which are the property of the world, those who follow them are to be warned by their failings, as well as to be encouraged by the praise given to their virtues. Hence, while we reject the idea that we should abstain from the condemnation of evil acts because the perpetrator of them may be no more, we are always glad when we are able to weigh the character, acts, and influence of a distinguished man while he yet remains with us.

No one who is at all acquainted with Dr. Blomfield will dispute the extent, accuracy, and elegance of his classical scholarship, the variety of his acquirements, the brilliancy of his abilities, or the general kindness of his disposition. As a theologian he has never taken a very high rank, probably because his earlier studies were directed into a different channel; and since his elevation to the bench, his great talent for business has kept him employed too closely to allow much attention to anything else. He was a good, practical, and impressive preacher, and rarely lost the opportunity in his sermons of inculcating the necessity of moral excellence as well as of doctrinal truth.

On the great questions which have agitated the Church during his episcopate it would be difficult to say exactly what

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were his views. He appeared to favour each party alternately, so that in the earlier part of the controversy both Evangelicals and Tractarians claimed him as their advocate, and of late both have disowned him. Perhaps his published declarations may be generally taken as favourable to what is called the evangelical school in point of doctrine, though not without exceptions and variations; while, on the other hand, the distribution of his enormous patronage has been almost wholly in favour of the highest class of high-churchmen. This kind of division of good words and good livings could not fail to provoke much acrimony as well as much disappointment, nor was this result at all modified by the manner in which the bishop carried out his views on church government. The celebrated "surplice" charge may be taken as an instance in point, and as a proof that the judgment of this active prelate was far from being, on all occasions, equal to his abilities. His charities are said to have been large and discriminating; and it is also asserted that he is far from being a rich man, great as was his annual income. It is probable that this statement is true; and, if so, it will make the ample retiring pension for which he has stipulated by no

excessive.

means

To one taking an impartial view of the public conduct of the ex-bishop, there will appear three defects, to which all that was not admirable in his conduct may be referred,—a temper somewhat too hasty and impetuous, too lofty an idea of the powers and prerogatives of the episcopal office, and a desire, sometimes morbid, to stand well in public opinion. We say these things will appear to be, we do not say they were, the causes of much that has been regretted in the career of Bishop Blomfield. Thus his hospitality was rarely, if ever, extended to curates. He was in the highest degree impatient of opposition. He is accused of having frequently formed his decision upon insufficient evidence, and of having visited comparatively slight faults with very severe punishment; and it was with a feeling akin to trepidation that the humbler portion of the "inferior clergy" found themselves in his presence.

With regard to the externals of public worship, his feelings appear to have been with the Tractarian clergy throughout; but he could never be depended upon to support them against any decided expression of public opinion. Hence, his alternate encouragement and censure of Mr. Bennett, Mr. Liddel, and others; and to the same cause may, perhaps, be attributed the fluctuation in his proceedings which so