22 



ANGLICAN CHUECHES. 



tion, it is the judgment of this house that the 

 acceptance of a new bishop does not impair the 

 connection or alter the relations existing be- 

 tween the members of the Church in the prov- 

 ince of Natal and the Church of England, 

 provided: 1. That the bishop be canonically 

 consecrated according to the use of the Church 

 of England. 2. That there be no invasion of 

 the title of the Bishop of Natal conveyed by her 

 majesty's letters-patent." 



As regards the third question (the proper 

 measures to be taken to secure the election of 

 a new bishop), the Bishop of Oxford proposed 

 that the House of Bishops should recommend : 1. 

 That an instrument should be prepared declara- 

 tory of the doctrine and discipline of the Church 

 of South Africa, which every priest and deacon 

 appointed to any office should be required to 

 subscribe. 2. That a godly and well-learned 

 man should be chosen, with the consent of the 

 communicants of the Church, to be the bishop. 

 3. That the person BO selected should be pre- 

 sented for consecration either to the Archbishop 

 of Canterbury or to the bishops of the Church 

 in South Africa, as might be hereafter deemed 

 most advisable. The Bishops of London, St. 

 Davids, and others declared themselves opposed 

 to the appointment of a new bishop, but after 

 being submitted to some verbal alterations, the 

 first resolution of the Bishop of Oxford was 

 carried by six to four. The second resolution 

 was also agreed to. The lower house assented 

 to both resolutions. Notwithstanding these 

 proceedings against him, Colenso continued to 

 perform his episcopal functions in his diocese. 

 Of the seventeen clergyman of the diocese, only 

 one sided with him ; but, on the other hand, 

 the secular authorities of the colony gave him 

 all the support that was in their power. Colenso 

 also obtained, in October, a decision in his 

 - favor by the Master of the Eolls (Lord Eomilly), 

 who decided that *the trustees of the Colonial 

 Bishopric's Fund were obliged to pay to Dr. Co- 

 lenso the arrears of his salary which they had 

 deemed themselves authorized to cut off. But 

 about the same time when this decision was 

 rendered, the majority of the clergy and laity 

 of Natal took the last step for a complete sev- 

 erance of their ecclesiastical connection with 

 Colenso. On October 25th a meeting was held 

 of the clergy of the diocese of Natal, to con- 

 sider the replies sent out by the English con- 

 vocation to the queries forwarded through the 

 metropolitan, hi 1865, from the Church in Natal, 

 and, in accordance with the advice tendered, 

 to elect a bishop for the vacant see. Fourteen 

 clergymen and about fifty communicants were 

 present. The two clerical supporters of Colenso 

 were present, but not allowed to vote. A letter 

 was read from the Bishop of Capetown, urging 

 them to elect a new bishop, and, as regards the 

 mode of election, giving this advice: "The 

 clergy elect ; communicants assent. They alone 

 have to do with the matter. AJ1 communicants 

 have a right, I apprehend, according to the cus- 

 toms of the primitive Church, to express their 



assent, if they so will." The Bishop of Grahams- 

 town wrote " to express his general concur- 

 rence in the views as to the election of a bishop 

 contained in the metropolitan's letter to tha 

 dean." The discussions extended over two 

 days. The final result was that the clergy 

 present were evenly divided, seven voting for 

 the election of the Rev. William Butler, Vicar 

 of Wantage (of the diocese of Oxford), as bishop, 

 and seven voting against such election, holding 

 such a course to be illegal, and opposed to the 

 advice of the convocation. Dean Green gave hia 

 casting vote in favor of the election. Twenty- 

 eight laymen also voted for it. The dean then 

 pronounced that the Eev. William Butler had 

 been duly elected. The congregation of St. 

 John's Church, Pinetown, held a meeting, repu- 

 diated this election, ejected their incumbent, the 

 Eev. James Walton, for the part he had taken 

 in it, and then called upon Dr. Colenso to ap- 

 point a new minister. On October 30th, a meet- 

 ing of the supporters of Dr. Colenso was also 

 held at the cathedral, to protest against the elec- 

 tion, at which about 200 persons were present. 

 A protest, the adoption of which was moved by 

 the Colonial Secretary, and seconded by tho 

 Secretary for Native Affairs, was unanimously 

 agreed to. The protest declared th at th e clergy 

 and laity concerned in the election had, by that 

 act of legislation, renounced the queen's suprem- 

 acy, and forfeited their membership of tho 

 Church of England. Dr. Colenso, on his part, 

 contended that all persons taking part in conven- 

 ticles or private meetings to consult on any 

 matter or course impeaching the doctrine of 

 the Church of England or of the Book of Com- 

 mon Prayer, or of any part of the government or 

 discipline now established in the Church of 

 England, wei'e ipso facto excommunicated, in 

 terms of the 75th canon of the Church, and 

 that Dean Green and his supporters were 

 therefore excommunicated by their own act 

 in electing a bishop without her majesty's 

 authority. The English Government instructed 

 the officers of the crown in the colony to ob- 

 serve a strict neutrality in the controversy. 



Another controversy in the Church of Eng- 

 land, which, during the past year, obtained a 

 great importance, was that of the ritualistic 

 changes in the worship of the Church. A num- 

 ber of clergymen had for some time past intro- 

 duced into their churches practices for which 

 they claimed both the authority of the Anglican 

 Church of former centuries and of the ancient 

 Christian Church, but which by another party 

 were viewed as " a deviation from .law and 

 long-established usage, and as . disturbing the 

 peace and impairing the efficiency of the 

 Church, and as disquieting the minds of many 

 devout members of the Anglican communion." 

 Some of the opponents of "ritualism" were 

 of opinion that the Book of Common Prayer, 

 in its present form, gave some encouragement 

 to the "ritualists, and they desired the appoint- 

 ment of a commission by the Government "for 

 the revision of the Liturgy." To this schema 



