"
Hysterical as all this was, the Upper House was little more
self-contained. Both Tait and Thirlwall, trying to make some
headway against the swelling tide, were for a time beaten back by
Wilberforce, who insisted on the duty of the Church to clear itself
publicly from complicity with men who, as he said, "gave up God's
Word, Creation, redemption, and the work of the Holy Ghost."
The matter was brought to a curious issue by two prosecutions--one
against the Rev. Dr. Williams by the Bishop of Salisbury, the other
against the Rev. Mr. Wilson by one of his clerical brethren. The
first result was that both these authors were sentenced to
suspension from their offices for a year. At this the two condemned
clergymen appealed to the Queen in Council. Upon the judicial
committee to try the case in last resort sat the lord chancellor,
the two archbishops, and the Bishop of London; and one occurrence
now brought into especial relief the power of the older theological
reasoning and ecclesiastical zeal to close the minds of the best of
men to the simplest principles of right and justice.
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