British Church Discipline Bill
AN illustration of the confusion and strife which are ever ready to spring out of an alliance of the church with the state, is furnished just now by the “British Church Discipline” bill which is under consideration in Parliament, its purpose being to curtail the power held by the bishops of the state church. There is a great deal of opposition to the measure, which passed the House of Commons by a majority of one vote. If the bill is passed, the bishops will no longer have the power to veto an action brought against a clergyman charged with violating a church law according to the thirty-nine articles of the prayer book, and such action can be brought against a clergyman by a layman. A split in the church is threatened when the attempt is made to control the “high church” prelates in this way by the arm of Parliament. Sir William Harcourt, who champions the measure, says that if laymen are not given their rights in things ecclesiastical as well as civil, the church had better be disestablished.