The Victorian Church in Decline by Peter T. Marsh

Author:Peter T. Marsh [Marsh, Peter T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, 19th Century
ISBN: 9781317222378
Google: LBtqDAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-06-17T16:17:23+00:00

the best way of allaying the excitement is not for us to use honeyed words which may be misunderstood, but boldly and clearly to pronounce those convictions of our hearts by which we are deeply attached to the existing constitution of our Church, deeply attached to its Prayer-book, conscious of the many blessings which for centuries it has conferred upon the country; and anxious to prevent any thoughtlessness even in the best men from leading themselves or their people or us astray from the plain principles which have guided the Church of England since the Reformation.96

Cowed by this unusually candid and uncompromising speech, the House agreed to refer the question of the ornaments rubric back to a committee of the whole, and Convocation was immediately prorogued for the summer. Tait tried to turn this debate to political advantage by telling Disraeli that it proved the need to stop agitation by enacting the Bill; otherwise even the bishops could be intimidated into proposing concessions to High Church extremists which the Protestant people of England would indignantly reject; thus another year’s clamour might bring on disestablishment.96 Disraeli was not convinced.

On 9 July the Bill was presented to the House of Commons on behalf of the archbishops, still without any pledge of government support, by Russell Gurney, an eminent legal figure on the Conservative backbenches respected on both sides of the House.* He was followed almost immediately, to general surprise, by Gladstone. Since the election Gladstone, true to his word, had been coming down from his home in Wales to the House of Commons infrequently. Almost no one had expected his descent on this occasion. Tait had not even bothered to make sure of his acquiescence. Granville and Hartington who led the Liberals in Parliament during his absences were forewarned of his intentions, and had tried to dissuade him.97 For, as Gladstone himself had recognized,98 the one subject on which he was most out of touch with his party was religion. He insisted however that especially in view of the government’s neutrality, the question at hand was non-partisan, and that since he had studied it deeply and had strong feelings upon it, he would have his say.99 He thought Tait had acted with little insight and much partisan feeling, and he was full of foreboding.100 The Bill would strike near at home: one of Gladstone’s sons who was ordained and in charge of Gladstone’s parish church belonged to an extreme high church society, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.

Gladstone’s speech,101 while it lasted, had the effect of an enchanter’s wand over the Commons except when he showed signs of smarting under the recent ingratitude of the electorate. The pith of his argument was twofold. In the first place, the Bill did not measure up to the requirements which during his Ministry he had regarded as necessary before ecclesiastical legislation could expect enactment by a modern Parliament: the Bill was not supported either by a consensus within the Church or by the government. His second point went deeper.

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