§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURYasked the noble Earl the Secretary of State for the Colonies, At what time the Ritual Commission would make their Reports? In connection with this subject he desired to read an extract from a letter which had appeared in The Globe, written by the Hon. and Rev. E. V. Bligh—
The Ritual Commission has been sitting three years! The questions referred to it admitted of being answered within three months. Tillotson's Commission, in 1689, sat for six weeks, meeting 18 times; and, with the aid of six sub-committees, revised the Prayer-book, from the Calendar of Proper Lessons down to the Commination Service. Their recommendations are deficient neither in extent nor in wisdom, covering the whole ground of the Church of England formularies, and dealing with most, if not all, of the disputed or doubtful passages.He (the Earl of Shaftesbury) would remind their Lordships that, in 1867, he brought forward a Bill for the regulation of the Vestments used in the Services of the Church. It was met by an Amendment on the part of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, supported by Lord Derby, then Prime Minister, that the debate be adjourned for two months, and that in the meanwhile a Commission should be appointed to inquire into all these matters; and hopes were held out that the Committee would report at the end of two months, in time to proceed with legislation if necessary that Session. It was added, moreover, that Vestments should first be inquired into and first reported on. Up to the present time, however, there had only been a Report on the Lectionary, although Vestments stood first in order in the terms of the Commission. He would not give an opinion on this delay until he knew all the circumstances; but he wished to know when the Commission would make its final Report?
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, he had made inquiry of a right rev. Prelate who was a member of the Commission, but who was not at that moment in the 733 House, and had learnt from him that the Report would be ready in a short time.
THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTERsaid, he should he glad to explain exactly how the matter stood. The Commissioners would meet to-morrow, and also on Thursday and Friday, for the purpose of going consecutively through, he trusted, the small remaining part of the business intrusted to them. That business had, it was true, occupied them a long time, but he did not think that time had been in any way wasted; and there had, as he could testify, been no want of care and labour in inquiring into the matters which Her Majesty submitted to them. They had already made two Reports, though the noble Earl, he understood, had mentioned but one. The noble Earl had referred to the Commission which sat under Archbishop Tillotson, contrasting the rapidity with which it reported with the tardiness of the present Commission; but he (the Bishop of Winchester) would beg their Lordships to observe what the result of that rapidity was. The Report was never accepted—nothing came of it. This was the consequence of that rapidity which the present Commissioners had avoided—although some persons, perhaps, would have liked to have seen them show more hastiness. Considering that the questions to be inquired into touched the deepest feelings of many parties in the Church, great rapidity of decision, however wise it might have seemed, and whatever its advice might have been, would have been, he thought, unwisdom. It was essentially necessary that those out-of-doors, as well as those engaged on the Commission, should proceed with great deliberation in these matters. Indeed, he believed that the publications which had issued from the Commission from time to time—the large publication of evidence supplementing their first Report, and the like—had been of great use in allowing persons to form an opinion on these subjects, and thus to assist the Commissioners in giving their answer to Her Majesty with some hope of a really good result. As a constant attendant on the Commission he could positively state that there was no desire to lose time; but the difficulties of the question had been very great, and the matter needed to be thoroughly exhausted if the result was to be satisfac- 734 tory. He trusted that now within a very short time their final Report would be issued. The Commissioners had already given an important Report on the Lectionary of the Prayer Book, which, he believed, owing to the time devoted to it and the time necessary to consult those outside as to what they were prepared to recommend, had met with a most unusual degree of acceptance in the Church. That had been finished, and it now rested with Parliament to adopt it or not. The remaining subjects would, he hoped, very soon be disposed of; and he trusted that their Report would bear the marks of care, of prudence, of the absence of hastiness, of a resolution to maintain important principles, and of a readiness in things indifferent to consult men's feelings as far as possible.