378 



The Review of Reviews. 



October I, 1906. 



DISCIPLINE OR DISESTABLISH? 



The Report of the Church Commission. 



The Nineieenih Century devotes the first thutv- 

 two pages of its August number to a symposium on 

 the Report of the Church Discipline Commission. 



The first position is rightly given to the energetic 

 and determined lady to whom, the appointment of 



Morning Leader.] 



THE BISHOP: Dear me! it appears from this that I am 

 I to supei — "- "-- — J- . .. . — 



re! 



expected to supervise the conduct of your services 

 a DO ' ■" 



What 



[The report of the Eoyal Commission on Ecclesiastical 

 Discipline lays stress on the fact that the Bishops do not 

 carry out the powers conferred upon them by the Public 

 Worship Act.] 



the Commission was originally due. But for Lady 

 Wimbome there would have been no Commission ; 

 she ought to have been a member but for the handi- 

 cap of sex. She foimd compensation, however, in 

 getting up the evidence up>on which the Commis- 

 sion reported. Xow that she has got a report she 

 is by no means satisfied with it. She accepts its 

 finding as to the facts, but she rejects its recom- 

 mendations. She remarks with some complacency 

 that the Protestants have abundantly proved their 

 case against the extreme Anglicans. The Commis- 

 sion admits that Roman practices exist in 559 

 churches, but that in no sense represents the extent 

 of the evil, as the inquiry was by no means ex- 

 haustive, and no evidence was received after a fixed 

 date. No fewer than fifty-four illegalities are re- 

 ported as being widely practised in the Church of 

 England. For the sake of reference it may be well 

 to quote the list of Illegal Practices: — 



1. Vestments. 9. Incense. 



2. Conflteor and last Gospel. 10. Portable lights. 



3. Ceremonial mixing of the 11. Lights upon the holy 



chalice. table. 



4. Wafers. 12. Holy water. 



5. Lavabo. 13. Blessing of palms. 

 6- The hiding of the mauaal 14. Tenehrse 



acts. 15. Washing the altars. 



7. The sign of the Cross. 16. Paschal c.-indle. 



8. Sanctns Ijell. 17. Stations of the Cross. 



The evil being admitted, the question now arises. 



What must be done? Lady Wimbome has quite 



made up her mind about one thing, and that is that 



the first recommendations of the Commission shall 



not be carried out: — 



The recommendations are ten in nomber. bnt the chief 

 importance centres in two. These are a revision of the 

 rubrics and a reform of the ecclesiastical conrts. 



She remarks that: — 



The main idea seems to be an endeavour to drive a 

 wedge into the ranks of the Anglican party, to divide it 

 Into two groups, which might be termed " reconcilables " 

 and " irreconcilables." It is recognised that the latter, 

 who are evidently looked upon as a small croup, must 

 either conform to the law or leave the ChurchT The other 

 and larger group it is boi>ed to retain by relaxing the 

 rubrics in their favour. 



Its refusal to illegalise the rubrics rouses her to a 

 state of indignation, for she points out that the le- 

 galisation of the rubrics means the legalisation of 

 vestments, which are at present illegal: — 



We may take it as an accepted fact that no revision cf 

 the rubrics which would satisfy even the less advanci. t 

 members of the RituaJist party wonld ever be assented 1 . 

 by the more Protestant section of the Church. In alter- 

 ing them in the interest of the minority, who would have 

 successfully defied their bishops, the law of the land, and 

 the strongly-expressed feelings of the community, we 

 should risk the break-up of a Church which in the" main 

 is loyal. 



A victory achieved by them on this point would, there- 

 fore, be a victory all along the line. It would be the 

 height of folly on our part to give way. Our present 

 position with regard to vestments is an impregnable one. 



Her last word is that: — 



Of one thing we may be certain — viz.. that if Parliament 

 cannot find means for maintaining law in the Church, its 

 disestablishment and disendowment will speedily follow. 



Canon Henson thinks that the Report is a great 

 victor)- for the High Church party, the greatest 

 victoiy which Tractarianism has yet won ; but al- 

 though he thinks that the Report must directly pro- 

 duce some legalisation of some kind, it may ulti- 

 mately lead to disestablishment of the Church: — 



Any serious attempt to restrain Eitualistic vagaries by 

 revising the Establisned system on Tractariau principles, 

 or, which comes to the same thing, to pass into law the^ 

 recommendations of the latest Royal Commission on 

 Ecclesiastical Discipline, will precipitate Disestablishment. 



Sir George Arthur states the view of the Ritualists. 

 He hates the Commission, and says : — 



The Government of that day created the Commission 

 under Parliamentary pressure from an Orange-Erastian 

 group, backed outside by the crusade of the Kensitites. 



And he states under five different heads that he 



thinks the Report impracticable. He says : — 



It is putting no unreasonable gloss on this suggestion to 

 interpret it as an attempt to tinker the Prayer-book, or 

 — more specifically— to arrange a bargain under which High 

 Churchmen are to be indulged with a " distinctive ves- 

 ture " for the Communion service, on the condition that 

 they will consent to an authorised modification in the use 

 of the Quicunque vuU. 



Mr. Herbert Paul scoflfs at the idea of acting upon 



the recommendations of the Commissioners. He 



says : — 



The idea of a new Ornaments Rubric for the total or 

 partial recognition of " vestments " is, on the other hand, 

 chimerical and visionary. The House of Commons has 

 something better to do than to regulate ecclesiastical mil- 

 linery. The only change in the rubric likely to be car- 

 ried is the removal of the Athanasian Creed, for which, 

 I believe, St. Athanasius is in no way responsible. 



