16 



ANGLICAN CHUKCHES. 



then explained how he came to use them, and 

 told him that they were introduced in 1876 

 without any consent on his (the bishop's) part, 

 and without any reference to him. Mr. Green 

 made no change in those matters, and in 1878 

 mine a petition from 320 persons, and later 

 still, in December, 1878, there came a repre- 

 sentation. He had now laid the whole case 

 before the convocation, and he asked them 

 frankly he was not at all afraid of what 

 might be said, for he could justify entirely to 

 his own conscience the course which he had 

 taken he asked them as Englishmen, fairly 

 minded, whether they were not willing to 

 make allowances for the difficulties in which a 

 bishop was placed by a clergyman who would 

 neither acknowledge the law of the land nor 

 submit to his decision or advice ? " 



Sunday, March 19th, was the anniversary of 

 Mr. Green's consignment to prison, and was 

 celebrated as such with special observances 

 and prayers in a large number of metropolitan 

 and provincial churches. Meetings in view of 

 its near approach were held during the week 

 preceding the anniversary, by branches of the 

 English Church Union and the Workingmen's 

 Society, at which resolutions thanking Mr. 

 Green for his consistent defense of the prin- 

 ciples at stake, and expressing sympathy with 

 him and with his wife and family, were passed. 

 At the sixth anniversary of the Church of Eng- 

 land Workingmen's Society, in August, resolu- 

 tions were passed expressing indignation at 

 the imprisonment of Mr. Green by a court of 

 at least doubtful validity, and declaring that 

 " Churchmen should at once make known 

 clearly to their rulers in church and state that 

 they can not and will not recognize the au- 

 thority of Parliament, and courts created by 

 it, to deprive a priest of the cure of souls 

 committed to him by Almighty God, acting 

 through the appointed ministers of his 

 Church." A bill designed to open the way for 

 the relief of the suffering clergyman, which 

 had been introduced in the House of Com- 

 mons, was lost. Thereupon, the Archbishop 

 of Canterbury wrote to Mr. Gladstone, Au- 

 gust 16th, representing to him and to the Gov- 

 ernment that the three years which the law 

 required to elapse before an order of inhibi- 

 tion could operate a deprivation of the offend- 

 er's benefice had that day expired, and that 

 Mr. Green appeared to be no longer the in- 

 cumbent of Miles Platting. His Grace, there- 

 fore, urged upon the Government the duty of 

 at once putting an end to the imprisonment. 

 Mr. Gladstone replied, promising careful con- 

 sideration of the matter. On the 8th of Sep- 

 tember, the Diocesan Conference of Carlisle 

 adopted a memorial to the Home Secretary, 

 showing: "1. That, according to the provis- 

 ions of the Public Worship Regulation Act, 

 the Rev. S. F. Green is no longer legally in- 

 cumbent of Miles Platting. 2. That, this be- 

 ing so, it appears contrary to all principles of 

 justice that Mr. Green should still be kept in 



prison. 3. That the Bishop of Carlisle, and 

 the other members of the conference, would 

 gladly learn from her Majesty's Secretary of 

 State whether there is any reason why Mr. 

 Green should not be set at liberty." On the 

 16th of September, Mr. Gladstone informed a 

 committee of the Church of England Work- 

 ingmen's Society that the matter of Mr. Green's 

 release from imprisonment was in the hands 

 of the Lord Chancellor, who was "most anx- 

 ious to carry it through." On the 27th of 

 September, the Archbishop of Canterbury 

 gave to Sir Percival Heywood, the patron of 

 the living, the formal notice required by the 

 Public Worship Regulation Act, that the bene- 

 fice of St. John's, Miles Platting, had become 

 void, and expressed the hope that his taking 

 this step might facilitate Mr. Green's release. 



Sir Percival failed to pay any attention to 

 this notification; but a few days afterward 

 Mr. Green wrote to the patron from his prison 

 in Lancaster Castle, tendering his resignation 

 of the benefice. He also wrote to the congre- 

 gation and parishioners of St. John's, stating 

 the reasons by which he had been influenced 

 in taking that step. Alluding to the fact that 

 the Bishop of Manchester had made a motion 

 in Lord Penzance's court for his release, he 

 said that, feeling it his duty to resist the usurpa- 

 tions of Lord Penzance to the utmost of his 

 power, he must deprecate the appearance of a 

 bishop in court, even by proxy. He was, how- 

 ever, of the opinion that the patron of the liv- 

 ing ought not to be permitted to embark on a 

 new venture in disputing the legality of his de- 

 privation, for that would entail much expense 

 on what was probably a foregone conclusion. 

 Lord Penzance, on the 4th of November, deliv- 

 ered judgment on the application of the Bishop 

 of Manchester for Mr. Green's discharge from 

 his imprisonment. He reviewed all the facts 

 in the case, and said that Mr. Green could have 

 been discharged at any time, by satisfying the 

 contempt. The law must be obeyed, and the 

 Court considered it had been satisfied, though 

 not willingly, by Mr. Green. As he was no 

 longer vicar of Miles Platting, the Court was 

 enabled by a reasonable interpretation of the 

 statute under which he was imprisoned to put 

 an end to the imprisonment which Mr. Green 

 himself seemed so little desirous of terminat- 

 ing. Mr. Green was accordingly released Sun- 

 day morning, November 5th, after an imprison- 

 ment of one year and ten months. The Rev. 

 W. Ruthven Prym, curate of the parish church 

 at Lytham, was appointed by Lord Penzance 

 to the charge of the vacated benefice. The 

 church- ward ens, however, representing the con- 

 gregation to whom Mr. Green had ministered, 

 refused to acknowledge him, and addressed him 

 a note informing him that they would not 

 accept him. Subsequently the benefice was 

 offered by the patron to the Rev. Henry Cow- 

 gill, who had been for a long time Mr. Green's 

 curate, and was accepted by him. 



CASE OF MARTIN vs. MACKONOCHIE. The 



