HL Deb 06 July 1877 vol 235 cc883-4
LORD ORANMORE AND BEOWNE

rose to call the attention of the House to the notice which appeared in the "Ecclesiastical Gazette" of the 15th of June, that the Lord Chancellor had appointed the Rev. Edgar Herman Cross to the Rectory of St. Nicholas, Lewes, Sussex; and to ask the Lord Chancellor, Whether he was aware that the name of the Rev. Edgar Herman Cross appeared in the list of members of the Society of the Holy Cross, the Society which countenance the use of the book called "The Priest in Absolution?" The noble Lord said the public opinion—and he believed it to be right—was that no one more than the noble and learned Lord himself disapproved the proceedings of this Society, and it was difficult to understand how this appointment was made. It might be said that the Rev. Mr. Cross was an excellent man; but he hardly expected that would be said by the noble and learned Lord, because there were excellent clergymen in every Church. What we wanted in the Church of England were clergymen who would work honestly and consistently in accordance with the doctrines of that Church.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, my answer to the Question of the noble Lord must be in the negative. I am not aware of the fact he has stated in the Question.

THE BISHOP OF CHICHESTER

said, he had instituted this gentleman to the parish referred to in the parish church, and in the presence of the parishioners, after having taken every possible precaution. With regard to this particular Society, how could the Lord Chancellor know anything of it, when the very existence of it he (the Bishop of Chichester) thought was unknown in that House until attention was called to it by the noble Earl the Chairman of Committees? Therefore he hoped their Lordships would under these circumstances extend their indulgence to the Lord Chancellor and to himself with regard to this subject.

LORD ORANMORE AND BROWNE

said, that he understood the answer of the noble and learned Lord on the Woolsack in the sense that he had made no such appointment. ["No, no!"] The answer meant, therefore, that the noble and learned Lord did not know that the gentleman in question was a member of the Society of the Holy Cross.

House adjourned at half-past Seven o'clock, till Monday next, Eleven o'clock.