ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 





In May, 1874, a daughter of the Rev. Henry 

 Keet, a Wesleyan minister at Owston Ferry, 

 county of Lincoln, died, and was buried in the 

 parish churchyard. Mr. Keet ordered a tomb- 

 stone set up over her grave, to bear an in- 

 scription, u ln loving memory of Annie Au- 

 gusta Keet, the younger daughter of the Rev. 

 II. Keet, Wesleyan minister, who died at Ow- 

 ston Ferry, May 11, 1874, aged seven years 

 and nine months. Safe sheltered from the 

 storms of life." The vicar of the parish for- 

 bade the erection of the stone on the ground 

 that in the inscription the term " Rev." was 

 improperly assumed by Mr. Keet, a person not 

 in the orders of the Church of England, and 

 having therefore no right to bear it. Mr. Keet 

 appealed to the Bishop of Lincoln. The bish- 

 op sustained the vicar. Mr. Keet then brought 

 suit in the court of the chancellor of the 

 diocese for a faculty for the erection of the 

 tombstone. The chancellor gave a judgment 

 refusing to issue the faculty, and sustaining 

 the decision of the vicar, that Mr. Keet had 

 no right to use the title Reverend. Mr. Keet 

 then appealed to the Court of Arches. This 

 court reaffirmed the decision of the diocesan 

 court. The case was then carried by appeal 

 to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Coun- 

 cil. The judgment of this court was delivered 

 by the Lord Chancellor, January 21, 1876. It 

 reversed the decisions of the lower courts, and 

 ordered a faculty issued for the erection of the 

 tombstone. The case was remitted to the 

 Court of Arches. 



The first proceedings taken under the Public 

 Worship Regulation Act, 1874, were had in 

 the case of a complaint brought by three pa- 

 rishioners of St. Peter's, Folkestone, against 

 the Rev. C. J. Ridsdale, incumbent of the 

 parish. The complainants charged the defend- 

 ant with violations of ecclesiastical order in 

 the following points : Using lighted candles on 

 the communion-table during the time of the 

 celebration of the Holy Communion when 

 their use was not necessary for giving light ; 

 the mixing of water with the wine for the ser- 

 vice of the communion ; the use of wafer 

 bread in the communion ; standing during the 

 administration of the communion in the east- 

 ward position, with his back to the people; 

 kneeling during the prayer of consecration, 

 and singing the hymn Agnus Dei; walking in 

 processions with ornaments and observances 

 not sanctioned by the rubrics of the Book of 

 Common Prayer ; wearing illegal vestments, 

 as the chasuble and the alb ; the use of the 

 crucifix; the adoption in the church of the 

 representations called the " Stations of the 

 Cross ; " and administering the communion to 

 only one person. Mr. Ridsdale made no de- 

 fense to any of the charges except that of ad- 

 ministering the communion to fewer than three 

 or four persons. In regard to this, he said 

 that he had entered upon the service " with- 

 out any positive expectation one way or the 

 other." Lord Penzance gave judgment in the 



case, February 8d, against the defendant. He 

 decided that the incumbent had offended 

 against the law in ofiiciating in the chasuble 

 and alb ; that he had also offended in admin- 

 istering the communion without having as- 

 sured himself that the number of persons re- 

 quired by the rubric, " four, or three at least," 

 would participate in it ; that the so-called 

 Stations of the Cross, which were described 

 as consisting of fourteen groups of u figures in 

 colored relief, a plastic figure attached to the 

 walls of the church, purporting to represent 

 scenes of our Lord's Passion, and such as are 

 commonly used in Roman Catholic churches," 

 were decorations forbidden by law ; and that 

 the erection of the crucifix, " or figure of the 

 Saviour on the cross in full relief," was unlaw- 

 ful. The judgment of the court on the points 

 as to the position at the communion-table, and 

 as to the vestments, was modified by the ad- 

 mission that the decisions of the superior 

 courts on these points were conflicting, and 

 an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the 

 Privy Council might be necessary. An appeal 

 was taken by the defendant to the Judicial 

 Committee of the Privy Council on the four 

 points of the eastward position of the minister 

 at the communion service, the vestments to be 

 worn, the form of bread to be used, and the 

 exhibition of the crucifix in the communion 

 service. 



The eighteenth annual session of the Church 

 Congress was held at Plymouth, beginning Oc- 

 tober 8d. The opening sermons were preached 

 by the Bishop of Winchester and the Rev. 

 Canon Miller. The opening address was 

 delivered by the Bishop of Winchester. He 

 spoke of the character of the Congress, as in 

 no sense representing the whole Church, but 

 consisting rather to a disproportionate extent 

 of men of extreme views; of the peculiar 

 dangers to which it was exposed by reason of 

 such men occupying its attention ; and of the 

 safeguards against such dangers, which lay in 

 the Congress itself. If they were avoided, the 

 meetings might be made productive of great 

 benefit. Papers were read, and discussions had, 

 during the meetings of the Congress, on the 

 following topics : " The Bonn Conference and 

 the Old Catholic Movement" (Bishop Perry, 

 late of Melbourne, the Dean of Lichfield, and 

 the Rev. Lord Plunkett) ; " The Formation and 

 Management of Parochial Temperance Socie- 

 ties;" "The Causes and Influences of Unbe- 

 lief in England " (Dean Cowie, of Manchester, 

 Archdeacon Reichel, the Rev. G. Greenwood, 

 Dean Lake, of Durham, Archdeacon Denison, 

 the Bishop of Winchester) ; " Central Africa, 

 in Relation to Mission-Work, the Slave-Trade, 

 and Commerce " (Sir Bartle Frerc, the Rev. W. 

 S. Price, Lieutenant Cameron, Arthur Mills, 

 M.P., Archdeacon Badnall, and others); " How 

 to increase the Number and improve the Train- 

 ing of Candidates for Holy Orders " (the Rev. 

 W. S. Smith, Archdeacon Earle, Archdeacon 

 Emery) ; " The Best Means to be adopted for 



