The proper mode in which to view the Episcopal authority is to consider the Bishop 1. As the Prelate the Ecclesiastical Head of his diocese. 2. As the Pastor-the Spiritual Guide of his diocese. 3. As the Divine-the Theological Leader of his diocese. 4. As the Peer-the Legislative Representative of his diocese. Under these four heads are all the Episcopal duties comprised; nor let it be supposed that the political part of those duties springs from modern and adventitious circumstances. It is quite true that, in the early ages of the Church, there were no Lord Bishops, because there were then no Christian councils of state; but directly Christianity was publicly recognized, and it became possible for nations, as such, to acknowledge their obligations to obey the divine law, then the ministers of that law were called to assist in the legislature, and the codes of all Europe bear testimony to the beneficial effects of such provision. Never was equity more equitably administered in this country than when a Bishop was always Lord Chancellor. Wolsey, ambitious as was his character, and worldly as were his designs, is yet allowed by one who was well acquainted with his conduct, "to have spared neither high nor low, but to have judged every estate according to their merits and deserts." We should be sorry to see the Chancellorship restored to the Episcopal order; for even then, when the duties of the Bishops were less urgent, they were neglected for those of a judicial character. Fox, Bishop of Winchester, who was Chancellor during part of the reign of Henry VIII., says, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, "Truly, my singular good Lord, syns the Kynges grace lycenced me to remayne in my chyrche, and thereabouts, upon my cure, wherein I have been almost by the space of xxx yeres so neglegen, that of foure several cathedral chyrches that I have had successyvely, there be two, scilicet Excestre and Wellys, that I never see, and innumerable sowls whereof I never see the bodyes; and specially syns by hys lycence I left the keepyinge of hys privy seale, and most specially syns my laste departynge fro your goode lordship and the counsell I have determyned, and betwixt God and me utterly renouncyed the medlyng with worldly maters." We should be very sorry to see such a state of things as this restored; but justice to the Episcopal order requires an acknowledgement that the law was admirably administered by the Bishops, and that under their management the Court of Chancery was a court of strict equity. They were councillors of state in the times of the first Christian Emperors; they had a voice in the deliberations of the Gothic Kings who succeeded; they had their separate house in France; and, in fine, there never has been a nation making a public profession of Christianity in which the chief ministers of religion have not had a share of authority; and it is to their humanity and learning, their practical wisdom and their devotional feeling, that we owe nearly all that is valuable in our more ancient laws. Was the mail-clad baron, who could not read, but who most characteristically signed his deeds with the engraved hilt of his sword, best fitted to judge of political expediency, or the lordly prelate, whose lettered leisure had been passed amidst the records of past wisdom: who could trace the course of events along the stream of history to ascertain their consequences, or roll them backward to develope their causes? Whether was the more likely to lean to the side of mercy and moderation—the legislator "Whose dinted casque and bucklers plight Bore the signs of a stubborn fight ?" the man whose fierce and more than semi-predatory habits made both life and property lose their sanctity in his eyes-the turbulent noble, whose sword was drawn alternately to controul his sovereign and to oppress his neighbours-or the dignified ecclesiastic, ambitious if you will, unspiritual if you will, but who nevertheless had felt (before it was a common-place to quote it) that " ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros ?" But though we might enlarge, to a very considerable extent, on the advantages which Europe has derived from Episcopal influence in legislation, we should prefer, on the present occasion, to speak of Bishops, as they exist in this country, and at this time. We shall assume (for we write to churchmen) that it is proper to commit the government of the Church to an order distinct from, and higher than, the presbytery; we shall assume that the order so governing the Church should be admitted to a share in the councils of the State; and we shall rest satisfied with the coronation oath, which binds the Sovereign, under whatever Ministry the machinery of State may be carried on, to maintain the Reformed Catholic Church as at present established. Now, with this view, applying our four-fold division of the Episcopal duties to the living Prelates of our day and nation, we shall be struck with the extreme fidelity with which they are fulfilled. Yet, because the idiosyncrasy of men's minds will always exhibit itself, and lead us to view the men under different phases, we shall find that, as each particular division of these duties impresses itself on the mind of the Bishop, with a greater or less vividness, according to the constitution of that mind, so one will be more remarkable for his diocesan activity and judgment— another for his soundness of theological and scholastic attainments—a third for the pure spirituality of his life and government -and a fourth for the energy with which he devotes himself to defending the assailed rights and properties of the Church. The others may not be neglected, but it will be one which characterizes the Bishop. We shall be made sensible of this if we cast our eyes along the present bench-a bench distinguished above that of any other age by learning, talent, piety, and judgment. Much as we detest the proceedings of our present Ministers little as we account either of their patriotism or their religion -we are yet impressed with gratitude to the Almighty that their Episcopal patronage has been well exercised. There may possibly-though we put this merely as a possibilityhave been men having stronger claims to the Mitre than Drs. Longley, Otter, Bowstead, Davys, and Denison; but' even if so, none could have been found more fitted for their high station, more qualified to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things in their private life; their characters as scholars, Christians, and gentlemen; in their zeal and activity, in their freedom from revolutionary partizanship,* in the extent and variety of their attainments, in their unassuming piety, and in their conciliating manners-none could be found among any party more adapted to adorn the bench, and the Church has reason indeed to thank the Supreme Disposer of all events, that a Ministry, which evidently "cared for none of these things," should have been led to make choice of such men. Dr. Musgrave, too, though his elevation occasioned no little surprise, is a most active, useful, and exemplary Prelate; and with regard to Dr. Stanley, the most unpopular, perhaps, of all their appointments, we shall quote the opinion expressed by the most decided, and certainly one of the most eminent of Tory publications. Speaking of some part of the Bishop's conduct, which the writer deemed it necessary to condemn, he says, "This conduct arose, in a great measure, from his own frank and unsuspicious temper-he may have supposed that all men were as well disposed as he was himself."+ Again, "We must notice the admirable spirit and temper with which Bishop Stanley behaved towards Archdeacon Bathurst; the latter felt aggrieved, because, having walked in all the ways of his father, the late Bishop, his hereditary Whig-Radicalism did not make the see of Norwich an heir-loom in the family of Bathurst; he *It must be acknowledged and lamented that most of the lately created Bishops voted for the Appropriation clause. + Fraser's Magazine, November, 1839. took an early opportunity of interfering, and that, too, in a very ungentlemanlike way, with the Episcopal functions of Dr. Stanley; and most mildly and quietly, yet most effectually, did the Bishop repress him." After having spoken thus much of late appointments, we might proceed to instance, by way of showing in what way the four-fold duties of the Episcopate should be discharged, the examples of the Bishops of London, Lincoln, Chester, and Exeter. We are, however, quite sensible that the task would be too delicate-quite persuaded that the rest of the bench, though we know less of their labours, are not behind their brethrenquite aware that these excellent Prelates seek not the praise of men, but the glory of God; and that the undertaking, difficult in itself, would be made still more so by the necessity under which we should be placed of taking a portrait, as it were, of every individual in a different light-of presenting the reader with a one-sided view of each character, in order to illustrate our ideas of the Episcopate generally. Fortunately, they are all allowed to be active and eminently useful Prelates-all to be scholars of the very highest class-all to be admirable divines--and all to be conscientious and consistent legislators. We speak of their present state and opinions-we are neither inclined nor obliged to search whether their political or theological sentiments have suffered any change; we take them as we find them, and are quite sure that we should not speak too highly of them. Circumstances have brought these Bishops more prominently before the world than the majority of the rest, and thus their names have suggested themselves to our minds as illustrations, or we should not have particularized even so far as this. The duties of the Prelate are in no points more important than those which relate to discipline and patronage. It forms no part of our present design to notice the proposed Discipline Bill; we will only observe, en passant, that the more power be lodged in the hands of the Bishops, the better will that power be exercised. Nothing requires more judgment, nothing more intrinsic amiability of character, than to have authority over a large body of men, all equals by office, all differing in station; and, to no small degree, all differing, also, in amount of educa tion and talent. The clergy, as a body, are, without doubt, a learned body; but the amount of literature that may fairly be deemed satisfactory in the literati ordained to some remote district in Wales or Northumberland would be thought very insufficient in the graduate of Cambridge or Oxford: and here, too, we find the regular gradation from the lowest of the "oo" or "pass-men"-from those who at Cambridge are facetiously called "Elegant Extracts," and placed πολλοι,” in a list by themselves as unworthy to be classed at all-to the men who have carried away all the highest honours of the year. But the inequality, in point of learning, is by no means the only, or even the most important, inequality subsisting among the clerical body. It is composed of men of all kinds of home education: some brought up in the lap of affluence, men of rank, and family, and fortune, with all the intermediate classes down to the son of the artisan, or even of the labourer. Men, too, of all characters and dispositions are part and parcel thereof. We do not mean to assert that all characters are so common as to make any impression upon the community, but specimens of all characters are to be found; and it is but too evident that there is a large class on whom the feelings of religion are insufficient to keep down the workings of ambition, or the ebullitions of party spirit. It must be remembered, too, that the Episcopal rule is not a military despotism; it is stringent only upon certain points, and leaves free latitude upon others. A clergyman, if beneficed, may neglect nearly the whole of his duties without bringing himself within the reach of his diocesan; he may embroil his parishioners, may neglect the poor and the sick, may preach a mere cold and profitless morality, may live an openly worldly life, be continually leaving his church, and providing inadequate supplies; may be haughty, insolent, and overbearing-yet, if he abstain from gross vice, the power of the Bishop will not extend so far as to punish him. Nay, there may be strong suspicions against his moral character; there may be even proof, in point of conscience, of his delinquency, but if that evidence does not amount to legal proof, the Bishop must sit still-he has no power to interfere; he would be accused of violating vested rights, and bring upon himself the ill-will of his clergy. A curate may be dealt with more summarily-his licence might be withdrawn; but even here public opinion will have some weight, and no Bishop would take a step so decided without having full conviction of its necessity. Thus a curate may, if he be at once captious, and quarrelsome, and cautious-qualities by no means rare-occasion his diocesan considerable annoyance; may tease him with frivolous complaints and plausible misrepresentations; may induce him to interfere in cases where no interference was necessary; or may throw himself into the arms of some semi-dissenting society, which will gladly support him against his superior. These are difficulties which beset every Bishop in carrying out measures of discipline. But to these are to be added many peculiar to each diocese; and all must be considered and |