We earnestly hope that the opposition to the Bishop-elect may
fail, and indeed we feel certain that it will. The controversy is a test of strength within the Church on many subjects, and we shall
be greatly surprised if the opponents of Dean Hensley Henson— a class of men who on the whole work for less liberty in the Church, whatever they may say to the contrary—are not found to be
in a very noticeable minority. Our readers will be interested, and we are sure pained, to read the following extract, which
is taken from a leaflet now being circulated in the Hereford
diocese :—
" 0 Almighty God, who into the place of the traitor Judas didst choose Thy faithful servant Matthias to be of the number of the twelve Apostles : Grant that Thy Church, being always preserved from false Apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
These words, of course, are the Collect for St. Matthias's Day. It is difficult to write in decorous language of propagandists who permit themselves to make such an odious application of this beautiful Collect. Here is an instance of the intolerance which, if allowed to take to itself authority, would soon destroy the Church of England as we know it.
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