BISHOPRIC OF DUNEDIN.

Southland Times, Issue 946, 6 May 1868, Page 3

BISHOPRIC OF DUNEDIN.

• (TO THE JDITOB 05 THB SOUTHXAKD TIMES). Sib,— ln the "Times" of the 27th April appeared a set of resolutions passed by the Invercargill Vestry, referring to Bishop Jenner, accompanied by extracts .from, certain letters of his. I cannot .commend either the tact or the taste • which has brought up this subject again 'in the public papers. I utterly disagree with the resolutions however, and have no idea of letting the matter pass, feeling that the members of the Church of England ought to be warned now, that the fault may be theirs if in future years they complain that the " Puseyism " of their Church drives them from her communion. The first resolution is as follows : — "That since Bishop Jenner has distinctly declared that High Eitualism is a .matter of taste, and nothing more, and since he has honestly told us that he has such tastes, but at the same time has assured us that he can fairly sympathise with those who have different ones, we accept his assurances, and' acknowledge him as our Bishop." It is utterly incorrect to say he declares that high ritual is a matter of taste and nothing more. He does not Bay so ; and if he did, he would state an absurdity. Does theframer.of those resolutions mean to say that bowing down to the ground before the consecrated elements elevated before the " altar," is a matter of taste and nothing more ? Or when we hear of innumerable candles being lighted just before the beautiful Scripture hymn of the Blessed Virgin or Magnificat is sung, and, immediately after it, all those candles extinguishedj are we to understand that is a matter of taste and nothing more ? paying honor to the Virgin, as well as to the consecrated Host, may be abstractly right, to use an expression of the Bishop ; but our Church and our people think not. "We can hardly concede, however, "that it is a matter of taste and nothing more. I regret I cannot " accept his assurances" on this subject "and acknowledge him as my Bishop." The second resolution runs : — "That though we still believe the formation of the Bishopric to be premature, yet on account of the advanced action now taken, we request the vestries of the several parishes in this Eural Deanery to join with us in inviting the Bishop of Dunedin to come at once to his Diocese, since he has been twice accepted by the. Eural Deanery Board, and has pledged himself to be a liberal and constitutional Bishop. I am thoroughly acquainted with the arguments for and against his coming out at once, if at all, but I adhere to my deliberately formed, conviction that it is most undesirable lie should come at all — and that for good and serious reasons. I have no personal feeling against Bishop Jenner whatever. There may be untutored minds which fancy a man cannot oppose another man without personal animosity. I thank Grod I can : indeed, if I consulted my personal feelings I should very much incline to welcome him among us, but in.conscience I could not. I have long and frequently corresponded with him and can appreciate his worth as a man, neither have I the •lightest fear of his forcing anything upon me. I am perfectly disinterested in the course I have taken, for surely it would seem to be my interest, if anything, to worship the rising ■ sun. The great objection is that a Tractarian Bishop must, in the nature of things, prove a source of future division, weakness, and unseemly conflict. This, I think, is selfevident; and that- Bishop Jenner belongs to the party known by that name is perfectly well-known 'to all but those blind ones who will not see. He has never denied it, but invariably professes that his sympathies are with what he mildly calls the High Church party, and Lave been for the last five-and-twenty years, the exact period over which the Oxford or Tractarian movement extends. If any other proof were required, it would only be necessary to state that his Lordship ia an old member of the English Church Union, the organisation of the Tractarians and Eitualists, which the liberal and learned Bishop of St. Davids said the other day every churchman ought to oppose, and from whose ranks such numbers have consciously seceded to the Church of Eome. Are we then to lay the flattering unction to our eouls, that we need not expect in years to come such spectacles aa : congregations contending with Tractarian clergymen, and all the scandal we see now at home to the great injury of the cause of God. Can we import such an active principle as " Eitualism " and expect it not to spread ? Why are we afraid of naturalising the beautiful thistle of Scotland? I have heard the Bishops scattered throughout the world spoken, of as the seed from which the future crop of clergy was to spring. Then, aa to the constantly reiterated determination not to introduce extreme ritual or any ritual but what "people are prepared for and desire." Query — who are to prepare them to desire the vestments, incense, &c. If people do not see danger ahead it is not because it does not loom large enough. lam afraid the good Bishop's defence must be summed up something in this way, "lama Ritualist, but I have no intention of forcing it upon anybody, and its a very hard and uncharitable thing of men and newspapers to have made me out a Eitualist." Nobody will attempt to deny that the guilt rests upon him of arranging in every way the movements which is causing such uneasiness and indignation at home, and which it is the plainest duty of every Churchman, (much more Bishop)^to oppose. But let us take a common sense yiew of the iralfect. Is it wise deliberately to

bringoutasour Chief Pastor and representative man, one who will go about preacher ing more or less prominently the t doctrines which are most distasteful, and rightly so, to the great body of the members of our Church in all classes of society, when, if necessary, we might have the choice of scores of learned and godly men who would be blessings ines- , timable to the society of this young and I rising country ? — I am, &c, 1 yr. H. Oldha.il ! Eiverton, 30th April, 1868, P.S. Since writing the above I have [ seen an advertisement of a Lecture to be delivered in Invercargill by a Mr ' Deck, on the subject of Ritualism. [ It is a pretty generally understood thing, ! I believe, in a mixed community, that t members of one religious body refrain '. from interfering — publicly at least — in the concerns of another, except where - 1 sensation and controversy are the order ; of the day; and a very good and) necessary rule. I have threatened however, to do exactly what Mr Deck is doing, but have been restrained hitherto by the ettiquette which forbids one Clergyman of our Church to interfere in the parish of another. Unless, therefore, Mr Deck abuses the Church of England generally, I shall tender him my thanks for his services.