re an Episcopal Synod, which assembled in Cape
Town, Southern Africa, on November 27th, 1863.

The charges against Colenso were:--his denial of the atonement; belief
in man's justification without any knowledge of Christ; belief in natal
regeneration; disbelief in the endlessness of future punishment; denial
of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and of the truthfulness of
what they profess to describe as facts; denial of the divinity of our
blessed Lord; and depraving, impugning, and bringing into disrepute the
Book of Common Prayer. Having been adjudged guilty, he was deposed from
his office as Bishop of Natal, and thenceforth prohibited from the
exercise of all ministerial functions within any part of the
metropolitical province of Cape Town. Being absent in England at the
time of the trial, Colenso was represented by Dr. Bleek, who protested
against the legality of the proceedings and the validity of the
judgment, at the same time giving notice of his intention to appeal. But
the Metropolitan of Cape Town refused to recognize any appeal, except to
the Archbishop of Canterbury, which must be made within fifteen days
from sentence. Immediately after the deposition, the Dean of Natal, the
Archdeacon, the parochial clergy, and the church-wardens of the diocese,
signed a declaration, by which they pledged themselves not to recognize
Colenso any longer as their Bishop.

Before Colenso was served with a copy of the decree against him, he
issued a letter to his diocese, in which he denied the power claimed by
the Metropolitan and the other bishops of Cape Town to depose him. He
maintained that, of the nine charges brought against him, four had
already been disposed of by the late judgment of the Privy Council in
the case of the _Essays and Reviews_. In the meanwhile, his friends at
home collected a fund of more than two thousand pounds to enable him to
plead his cause before the English courts. The first proceeding in Great
Britain commenced in 1863, before the judicial committee of the Privy
Council. The case has finally been decided in Colenso's favor, the Lord
Chancellor declaring the sentence pronounced by the Bishop of Cape Town
illegal, in the following words: "As the question can be decided only by
the sovereign or head of the Established Church and depositary of
appellate jurisdiction, their Lordships will humbly report to Her
Majesty their judgment and opinion that the proceedings taken by the
Bishop of Cape T