What I wish to impress on your Grace is, that I have studied to declare it; and, in doing so, to maintain the Articles of the Church. As some evidence of this, I would refer to my volume of Parochial Sermons, which has never been attacked. I have written, therefore, humbly to request that your Grace will give me a hearing, if there be any thing alleged against me which appears to demand an explanation on my part. May I be allowed also to say, that, in undertaking the responsible office of Regius Professor of Divinity, my heartfelt desire is to acquit myself faithfully of my duty as a member of the Church of Christ, to whom a high trust has been committed; and to take peculiar care never to do or say what may injure the sacred cause to which I have devoted myself. I would further earnestly embrace this opportunity of stating that I am most ready, as in duty bound, to receive any admonition from your Grace as to the most effectual mode of discharging the office. I feel confident that the Bishop of Llandaff, who has long known me, will bear testimony to the sincerity with which I express these sentiments. I have the honour to remain, my lord, with the greatest respect, your Grace's faithful humble servant, R. D. HAMPDEN. (Signed) St. Mary Hall, Oxford, Feb. 27, 1836. P.S. I have written this letter from London; but I have dated it from my residence, as I shall return to Oxford to-morrow, and there await the favour of an answer from your Grace. Copy of the Answer of Dr. Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury, to Dr. Humpden. Lambeth, March 1, 1836. REVEREND SIR, I have to acknowledge your letter of the 27th of last month; and feeling that it would be no less painful than useless to enter on a discussion of the subjects to which it relates, I shall touch on those points only to which you more particularly call my attention. You express your "trust that you shall be fully believed when you affirm, as you do in the most solemn manner, that you have had no thought in any thing that you have ever said or written on theological subjects, but to uphold, to the best of your ability, the doctrines and established formularies of the Church of England; that your Bampton Lectures' are simply a history of the technical terms of theology, nor have they the slightest tendency, in your view and intention, to impugn the vital truths of Christianity." To this affirmation I cannot refuse credit: but the question turns, according to my apprehension, not on your views and intentions, of which you are the proper judge, but on the impression which certain parts of your writings are calculated to make, and have actually made, on the minds of common readers, as well as of persons well versed in theology. You proceed to " request that I would give you a hearing if there be any thing alleged against you which appears to demand explanation on your part." In respect to this, it is evident that explanations, if necessary, should be given to the University rather than to me, as I have not authority to pronounce judicially, and my private opinion would have little weight in a matter on which any ordinary divine is qualified to judge for himself. You further "state your readiness to receive any admonition from me as to the most effectual mode of discharging the office." This I conceive is unnecessary: you doubtless fully understand the nature of the instruction required from a professor of divinity in our Church; and the system of teaching adopted by your immediate predecessor, the late Bishop of Oxford, and Dr. Burton, has received the general approbation of the Church and the University. In the assurance that you will not suspect me of any unkind feeling, or want of personal respect towards you, I remain, Reverend Sir, your humble and obedient W. CANTUAR. servant, Rev. Dr. Hampden. (Signed) BATH AND WELLS DIOCESAN CHURCH BUILDING ASSOCIATION.-At the Quarterly Meeting of the General Committee, held at the Palace, at Wells, the Lord Bishop of the Diocese in the chair, among other business transacted, grants were voted of 100, in addition to a former sum of 3002, towards building a church at Bridgewater; of 1167. towards building a church in the hamlet of Cleeve, in the parish of Yatton; of 1601. towards enlarging the parish church of Burnham; of 651. towards enlarging the parish church at Chilcompton; of 50%. towards erecting a gallery in the new church at Burrow Bridge, for the building of which a grant of 1501. was given last year; of 150l. towards building a church on Beacon-hill, Bath; of 50%. in addition to a former grant of 801. towards building a chapel at Downside, in the parish of Midsomer Norton; and of 170l. towards the building of the parish church at Paulton. An application was also presented for aid towards building a church for the hamlets of Coxley and Polsham, in the parish of Saint Cuthbert, Wells, which will be again taken into consideration at the next quarterly meeting. The sum of 100%, part of a grant towards rebuilding the parish church at Stoke Lane, was ordered to be paid, and an order for payment of the grant of 100l., voted towards building the new church in the parish of Weston, near Bath, was also given. The sum of 230. has been collected, after sermons preached in some of the churches and proprietary chapels at Bath, in aid of this most excellent Institution; which, since its establishment in August 1836, has contributed towards providing 4,388 additional sittings, of which 3,240 are to be free and unappropriated for ever. INDIAN CHURCH.-We hear that the Bishop of Calcutta is collecting materials for the early history of Christianity in India; and that he has already obtained several important documents respecting the antiquities of the Nestorian and Armenian churches. ARCHBISHOP OF YORK.-The Archbishop of York is the oldest prelate on the Episcopal Bench, and the next in seniority is the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The former having been consecrated in 1791, the latter in 1812. NEW CHURCH AT LECKHAMPTON.-A subscription for a new church about to be erected in the parish of Leckhampton, Gloucestershire, has been commenced with a liberality that bids fair, if continued with similar spirit, to realize, in a very short time, the sum required for the erection, which is estimated at 2,000l. H. N. Tyre, Esq. has handsomely presented the site. ARCHBISHOP OF COLOGNE.-The conduct of the Popish Archbishop of Cologne (Droste) has occasioned some trouble in that city and province. He refused to bless or sanction marriages between Protestants and Catholics, unless the children were to be educated in the latter persuasion. This being contrary to the principles of the Prussian government, they urged the Archbishop to resign. He refused; and a body of Prussian troops having surrounded the palace, took the prelate into custody, and carried him off to Magdeburg, for committing a breach of the public peace. The following is the reply of the Archbishop of Cologne to the manifesto issued against him by the Prussian government:— "TO BARON D'ALTENSTEIN. "In answer to the letter your Excellency addressed to me on the 24th, I have the honour to say, that I do not remember having afforded you any ground to suppose that I charged myself with indecorum in several steps I had taken in the affair of the doctrine of Hermes. All this being a mere question of dogma, and belonging to purely spiritual matters, the Church alone has a right to decide upon them. "As regards mixed marriages, I reiterate my statement, which will be found to agree with the written declaration I had the honour of transmitting to your Excellency, previous to my election, in an official and confidential correspondence, that 'with respect to mixed marriages, I would be guided by the brief of Pope Pius VII., and the instructions addressed by the Bishops to the Vicars-General; that I would do my best to reconcile the instructions with the brief, but that in all cases where this should not be possible, the brief should be the sole rule of my conduct. "Nevertheless, I have the honour of observing, that in the declaration I transmitted to your Excellency before my election, no mention was made of the instructions addressed to the Vicars-General, merely because your Excellency had not referred to them in your letter. I moreover add, that the declaration does not contain a series of scruples of conscience, but that it is based on the full conviction that it is not in the power of any bishop to make a declaration contrary to mine. "Finally, I feel under the necessity of claiming liberty of conscience, and the free exercise of spiritual power, which the Church has confided to me in order to defend its rights. I moreover observe, that my obligations towards the diocese committed to my care, as well as towards the entire Church, do not admit of my ceasing my functions or resigning my see. In all temporal affairs I shall obey his Majesty the King in a manner becoming a faithful subject.-Receive, Sir, &c. 64 Cologne, Oct. 31." CLEMENT AUGUSTUS, CHRISTENINGS AND BURIALS IN THE CITY OF LONDON.-A general bill of the christenings and burials within the City of London and bills of mortality, from Dec. 13, 1836, to Dec. 12, 1837.-In the 97 parishes within the walls-christened, 958; buried 958. In the 17 parishes without the walls-christened, 6,363; buried, 3,863. In the 24 out parishes in Middlesex and Surrey-christened, 25,948; buried, 13,883. In the 10 parishes in the city and liberties of Westminster-christened, 2,437 ; buried, 2,359. Males. . . . 17,701 Females. . 18,005 Males 10,605 Christened Buried ... .... Total 35,706 ... 21,063 Females... 10,458 Total GRESHAM GOLD MEDAL.-Mr. Edward Dearle, Mus. Bac. of Queen's College, Cambridge, and organist of Newark, Notts, has obtained the Gresham gold medal, for the best composition in sacred music. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON.-At a late meeting of the council, a munificent contribution of 1,000l. to its funds, and in aid of the hospital, by Mr. Brundrett, of the Temple, was announced by Mr. Tooke. OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE CLUB-HOUSE.-The opening of the Oxford and Cambridge Club-house is postponed till the 1st of February, and it is doubted whether it will be ready even then. |