ANGLICAN RITUALISTIC CONTROVERSY. 



This, I conceive, no person whatever is entitled to 

 demand of me. Besides, I have always understood 

 that n<> bishop can make an order contrary to what ia 

 contained in that book. . . . Were I, your Grace, to 

 surrender, or even seem to surrender, the great prin- 

 ciples at stake, I should be for ever troubled with the 

 curse of a guilty conscience. 



The archbishop, publishing the result of this 

 correspondence, expressed regret at the want 

 of success of his attempt to secure Mr. Green's 

 release, but did not think that the attempt had 

 been wholly in vain, for it had proved to him, 

 he said, 



That the cell from which we should be glad to lead 

 him (Mr. Green) forth is locked on the inside. Mr. 

 Green will not accept the ruling of the archbishop's 

 courtj nor the opinion of the assembled bishops of the 

 Anglican communion throughout the world, nor the 

 resolutions of convocation, nor the determination of 

 hisi-wn bishop, nor the invitation of the archbishop 

 of the province. So long as this attitude is preserved, 

 I do not see any further means that can be adopted to 

 effect his much-desired release. 



A systematic agitation was organized by the 

 English Church Union, to be promoted by 

 public meetings held under the direction of the 

 district and branch unions, and the circulation 

 of petitions for Mr. Green's unconditional re- 

 lease. 



A general meeting under the direction of 

 the English Church Union, appointed to be 

 held in connection with the Church Congress, 

 was held at Newcastle-on-Tyne, October 5th, 

 Mr. C. L. Wood, president of the union, pre- 

 siding. Addresses were made defining and de- 

 fending the position of the union and of the 

 friends of Mr. Green ; and a letter was read 

 from the imprisoned clergyinan, in which he 

 said: 



If any one asked me why I was here. I should 

 reply, "For the kingdom of Jesus Christ." It is the 

 honor of the Church for which we have been content 

 to strive, and, by God's help, hope to continue to 

 strive as long as 'life shall last. The awful insult of- 

 fered to the Church by the Public Worship Regula- 

 tion Act is such as will not be endured by the hum- 

 blest sect in the land. That a Parliament, not even 

 professing to be Christian, should set up a court and 

 prescribe rules for the worship and discipline of the 

 Church of God, is going, to my mind, beyond the en- 

 durable. 



Resolutions were adopted thanking Mr. Green 

 for refusing to acknowledge the authority of 

 the Privy Council and the courts subject to 

 its jurisdiction in matters touching faith and 

 worship ; denying while the duty of submis- 

 sion to the canonical orders of the bishop was 

 recognized the canonical authority of epis- 

 copal directions avowedly controlled by and 

 based upon the decisions of the judicial com- 

 mittee as overriding the inherent discretion of 

 the episcopate, and declaring that no change 

 in the ecclesiastical courts could be acquisced 

 in which did not restore the final determination 

 of spiritual matters to the bishops and synods. 



A bill, called the Ecclesiastical Courts Reg- 

 ulation Bill, was introduced in the House ot 

 Lords, with especial reference to the case of 

 Mr. Green. It proposed the amendment of the 

 act of 1813 and of " Thorogood's act " of 1840, 



providing for the release of a prisoner incar- 

 cerated under a writ de contumace at the expi- 

 ration of six months, with the consent of the 

 other parties to the suit, by omitting the pro- 

 viso requiring the consent of the other parties. 

 The Archbishop of Canterbury supported tins 

 bill on its second reading in August, but said 

 there would be a difficulty in applying it satis- 

 factorily, because it would be hard to keep a 

 gentleman like Mr. Green from getting into 

 prison again after he was discharged. The 

 Lord Chancellor, remarking that Mr. Green 

 was charged with no fewer than eleven acts of 

 disobedience, said that in fact that gentleman 

 would appear to be of the opinion that no 

 obedience was due from him in matters of cer- 

 emonial to any decisions of the ecclesiastical 

 courts. Under the bill now before their lord- 

 ships, the person proceeded against might be 

 imprisoned for six months over and over again 

 until he ceased to be contumacious. That 

 would require amendment. 



A committee of ritualists, selected on ac- 

 count of the attention they had paid to the 

 subject, held a series of conferences on the 

 Prayer-Book and its rubrics, and for the dis- 

 cussion of ritual conformity during 1880 and 

 1881, and published its report in September, 

 1881. The promoters of this step admitted 

 that it had become apparent that the ritualistic 

 movement, in the absence of any system of 

 rules, had resulted in the introduction of a 

 great diversity of practice, and that some of 

 the clergymen, in the excess of their zeal, had 

 adopted usages which could not be justified by 

 any reference to the Prayer-Book ; and it was 

 believed that if the whole subject were revised 

 in a scholarly manner, and if what could be 

 supported by appeal to the Prayer-Book were 

 exactly defined, a standard of extreme ritual 

 might be fixed, under which uniformity of 

 practice would be promoted, the irritation and 

 friction felt in the Church would be dimin- 

 ished, a fair trial of the Prayer-Book, as the 

 ritualists understood it, would be had on its own 

 merits, and the advance of liturgical revision 

 would be sped. The report of the committee 

 embodies the results of its inquiries into the 

 true meaning of the rubrics, deals with cases 

 where a conflict of rubrics exists, and decides 

 in some instances that certain practices which 

 have been insisted upon are not sustained with 

 sufficient clearness, and ought to be abandoned 

 or modified. 



The English Church Union returned in its 

 reports for 1880, 19,410 members, showing an 

 increase during a year of 1,684 members; six 

 new district unions and 264 new branches had 

 been organized. The income of the union had 

 been $24, 9 70. Th e rep ort said , referring to th e 

 results of the prosecutions of clergymen for 

 alleged illegal practices, "The apparent want 

 of success which has attended the defensive 

 efforts to maintain the civil rights of the per- 

 secuted clergy should not be regarded with 

 feelings of despondency." 



