Bishop Blomfield and His Times.

CHAPTER I.

Introduction-Retrospect of the condition of the Church towards the close of Archbishop Sutton's Primacy-Relaxation of DisciplineNeglect of Church Societies-Disuse of the Ruri-decanal OfficeNon-residence-Pluralities-Pluralist Curates-Simoniacal Titles -Low Standard of Theological Attainments-Letters Dimissory -Irregularities of Bishop Bathurst-Inadequate discharge of Ministerial Functions-Occasional Offices-Parochial DutiesPublic Services-Uncanonical Services-Religious PartisanshipDoctrinal Unsoundness-Corrupt Distribution of Church Patronage-Earl Grey and Bishop Bathurst-Shameless Avowals of Archdeacon Bathurst-Literary Relics of Archbishop SuttonDangers Impending over the Church-Infidelity-Hostility of Dissenters - Revival of Popish Pretensions - Rising Spirit of Innovation Disuse of Synodal Action- - Prognostications of Bishop Howley and Bishop Bethell-Death of Archbishop Sutton.

MAN of mark has vanished from the scene. Prostration of physical strength, induced by excess of mental activity, has deprived our Church of one of her most gifted and most efficient rulers, at a moment when, more than ever, she stands in need of all the energy and zeal, all the ability and wisdom, that can be enlisted in her service. Were the Church a human institution, we might, without exaggeration of language, dwell on the irreparable loss which she has sustained: but since she is a Divine institution, it behoves us to remember

B

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BISHOP BLOMFIELD'S INFLUENCE.

that her office-bearers, the highest and the humblest alike, are no more than instruments in the hands of her Great Head in heaven, Who raises them up and lays them aside as He sees to be most conducive to her welfare,-by Whom, whatsoever events befall her, are well and wisely ordered. And because such is our faith, because we believe, as we are taught, that in the varying fortunes of His Church, the finger of Him Who ordereth all things after the counsel of His own will, is, even more expressly, nay, visibly marked than in the vicissitudes of the world which that Church is to leaven, and in which not a sparrow falls to the ground without His sovereign will and all-directing Providence, it would assuredly be unmeet that an event like the one alluded to should be allowed to pass by unheeded, like those common occurrences of life, the ephemeral record of which, after furnishing matter for the talk of the passing hour, sinks into oblivion, until, the sap of living sympathies having had time to evaporate, the dried fragments are gathered up by the biographer or the historian.

However different may be the judgments passed on Bishop Blomfield's occupancy of the metropolitan see during the last eight-and-twenty years, all are agreed that his influence has made itself felt, not only within the limits of his diocese, but far beyond it; over the whole Church of England, and over her sister and daughter churches throughout the world. How vast has been the reach, how powerful the effect, of that influence, those only can fully estimate who have had opportunities of closer observation,-who are aware how much weight was attached to Bishop Blomfield's advice by those with whom he was in the habit of acting, more especially by the late Primate,-who know, too, in how large a measure the leading statesmen, even those who considered him more or less in the light of an opponent, deferred, or at any rate shaped their course in reference, to the opinions

CLOSE OF DR. SUTTON'S PRIMACY.

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which he expressed or was known to entertain. That the history of the Church for the last quarter of a century bears the impress of his character, will scarcely be denied. To what extent that character was originally his own, imposed, by that power which is inherent in masterminds, upon the age in which he lived; and to what extent it was moulded by the character of the age, which thus, through him, reflected its own character upon itself, is a question to which the progress of the history upon which we are about to enter, will supply the answer. In any event, the retrospect of his Episcopate, and of that portion of the Church's history which it occupies, cannot fail to be deeply instructive, suggestive of important considerations for the guidance of churchmen in that new era the commencement of which, significantly enough, coincides with his withdrawal from the scene of action.

In order to form a right estimate of the changes which the aspect of the Church and her position have undergone during the period in question, it is necessary that we should have a correct idea of the state of things which obtained at its commencement, when the generation which is now rapidly declining was starting into life. For this purpose the episcopal charges of that day obviously furnish the most reliable information; and it is upon their high authority that the following sketch of the state of Church affairs towards the close of Archbishop Sutton's Primacy is founded.

What at once strikes the reader of the present day, on the perusal of most of those documents, is the low state of spiritual attainmert, and the low view of their sacred calling, which they presuppose in those to whom they were addressed. A tone of elementary teaching pervades them which involuntarily betrays the very moderate estimate formed of their hearers by those who penned them,

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LOW STATE OF THE CHURCH.

and which no Bishop would think of adopting in the present day. The explanations given touching the Church, her origin, her character, and her constitution, are invariably such as would, in these days, be almost misplaced when addressed to candidates for ordination; and points of church discipline and of clerical duty are urged, which are now taken for granted as matters of course.

One Bishop, after endeavouring to kindle the enthusiasm of his clergy for the Church of which they are ministers, by an elaborate argument to prove that the via media is her way in all things, deems it necessary to remind them, at the close, that to the question of faithfulness or unfaithfulness in the discharge of their duties the via media principle does not apply. Another Bishop, entering upon the government of his diocese with an eager desire that it should prove fruitful of good, laments the "relaxation of discipline" which had caused episcopal visitations to become a mere matter of form, from which no practical results flowed, or were expected to flow. The great Church societies are recommended to the attention and the support of the clergy in terms which seem to indicate that they were not only regarded with lamentable indifference, but that the nature of their operations, and their very objects, were but imperfectly understood. The ruri-decanal office had very generally fallen into disuse, and meetings of the clergy, for purposes of conference and mutual edification, if mentioned at all, are spoken of as novel arrangements, which some of the Bishops were willing to encourage. To united action the clergy appear to have been altogether strangers; each man, within the limits of his cure, and sometimes beyond them, doing as was right in his own eyes.

Non-residence prevailed to an extent which, in our days, seems almost incredible. In most of the charges of the period it forms a prominent topic. It was not confined to incumbents, but extended even to stipendiary

NON-RESIDENCE.-PLURALITY.

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curates, who, as well as their employers, absented themselves from their parishes as often and as long as they thought fit. In one diocese, containing upwards of 200 benefices, there were more than 100 in which neither incumbent nor curate was resident. In some cases licenses were obtained by the non-residents, the plea being that the glebe-house was not fit for occupation; and, as is observed in one of the charges, the license being once granted, no steps were taken to put the glebe-house into tenantable repair; on the contrary, it was left to fall into dilapidation, or was let, occasionally for purposes singularly incongruous with its original destination. Many of the clergy, however, were non-resident without the Bishop's leave or knowledge, and great difficulty was experienced by the Diocesans in procuring information on the subject.

Closely connected with the evil of non-residence was that of plurality, facilitated by the numerous grounds on which the law permitted the holding of several benefices by one and the same incumbent. The least objectionable case was that,-which under certain restrictions is still permitted, of one clergyman holding two poor benefices within a practicable distance of each other, and serving them both by giving one service, on the morning and afternoon alternately, to each. Sometimes the same incumbent would hold and serve as many as three benefices, travelling from one to the other on the Sunday, and performing on each a hurried service. Or, if the distance between them was too great to admit of the circuit being made, or if the incumbent was not of a sufficiently active turn of mind to dispose him to do so, he served them in turns, giving to each of his parishes the benefit of his presence once a fortnight, or once in every three weeks. Nor was the evil of plurality confined to benefices. Beneficed clergymen undertook, in addition to their livings, the charge of stipendiary curacies; and if the latter were