Vice-Chancellor Sir Charles Hall decided an interesting case on Tuesday,
in relation to the trust-deed of an Independent chapel at Huddersfield. The trust-deed lays down that the chapel is for the teaching of certain Calvinistic doctrines, of which three are as follows The universal and total depravity of man, and his exposure to the anger of God on account of his sins,"—" the predestination, according to God's gracious par- pope, of a multitude which no man can number unto eternal salvation by Jesus Christ,"—and " the eternal happiness of the righteous, and the everlasting punishment'of the wicked." The present minister of this church, Mr. Stannard, who appears to be a thoughtful and wide-minded man, had declined to take these doctrines quite literally, and more or less explained all three of them away. Predestination especially he interpreted as meaning that all are elect who " will " to be elected, while the non-elect are those who will not to be elected. Vice- Chancellor Hall declared that this way of interpreting so clear and explicit a trust-deed would not do. Mr. Stannard was not competent to teach as he did under that trust-deed. And uo doubt Vice-Chancellor Hall is right. The moral is clear. Congregational trust-deeds should be extremely elastic, leaving to each generation of worshippers power to interpret their own creed, or let their teacher interpret it for them, as the light of the hour enables it to be seen. The government of a trust-deed is the government of the dead-hand.
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