The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-10-08 00:00:00

gam her name in full—" for by so doing you will he partakers
In her crime" Then, again addrealcw the coma., by name,
be continued I declare U at you are excommunicated, in
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,- a decimation
to which a nie one meerut loudly restanded " Amen This
`lllOOlll who had been sitting by the declared .ionsr left their
mate, eotne children having previously been removed ft a. too
doe, proximity to the ogees mimic:wed mentber, and she was
left to Wt alone during the service. At the end of the prayen
Mr. Po lock changed his yeatmente, mounted the pulpit, and
went through the form of a hat he celled public one mumnlese
tion, his meson for no doing being, as he explained. that the
culprit had disregarded hi. private emcommun cation. What
the form of either the "private" Of the pubic- excommuni•
cation may have been, we know not. The geneial tenor
of the public one, however, may be, se believe, gathered
with tolerable accuracy by a pseud of the sitory of the
Jackdaw in the lapottliby Lematto, or the Curse of
Ennilphus recorded in the pages of Tristram Audit.
Such, so far as we have been able to ascertain, Is a substantially
accurate account of what took pace bat Wedneday evening at
vit. Alban'. There Is, of 00111113, side to the adr.
• Juvenile eceksimile, fired, we presume, with the ambition
of signaliang the late oelebrations In hie chapel by a perfor-
meow widen sl 1111 l Id outdo all contemporary alaurtiltios of
the kind. by Ringing a alum mediaeval maledletaon at the
had of a helpless woman, I. about aa Immensely ri.licolom a
spec ode as thbi gelieratliin is likely to witness. We with that
It were nothing more than ridiculous. But these things
prodoce an effvet on ordinary minds of • fearfully injurious
ckiracter. Either the superstition. formula carries, a teal
weight, and the tjraony of ',rasters'% ethrthe, a stronger
and e.er drama influence over thoa subjected to it, or eh.
the Intelle t at one. indignantly revolt., and the hearer,
disgusted with superstition, runs no mmll danger of rejecting
religion Itself. But it Is not in this aspect that we wads to
call attention to this extraordinary escalade. A chum
chief. grates harshly on the ear of the Slum Laic gentry is
particularly dear to Kuullile Englkluaen : "the Church of
Engithd us by law established." What ha. the law by which
the Church of England is establithed to my In each an
imolant freak m this

There is a specimen of what these priests mean to do,
when they have the power ; they begin with a poor
weak woman, but let them alone, and pea will find the
weight of their yoke; there is no tyrant like a coward,
and a bully, when he has force on his side; and what
else is a creature who can thus insult a WOM2III in
church? Can we wonder if the people become violent,
and use strong measures to put down this growing
nuisance? They see it boo use appealing to bishops:
they are wholly engrossed in magnifying themselves.
And now for another specimen, estraeted from one of
the Ritualistic papers : -
"

• •
Now that the custom of wearing ranusteches is Do general
It wrens imperative on the part of the clergy to adopt
measurso for guarding the blessed Sacrament from the con-
sequent irreverence and sacrilege. Do the clergy speak
on Ors eubJect (nen the pulpit. Of have they printed
direct'. no with cautions to distribute am.ng their people, and
frOlOOSUOITC• fail can they MUM tb give the increment to
such tenons? My questions an prompted by witneedng the
conduct or the memben of the congregation of Christ Church.
clepham. There you may ree Lae Men User A. after teo/4 their
stwetetootwelteetnord Ina tke Prodowe Blood, awl lA. poor Clergy
after maw hew to po clown ow the, Lwow to eeord for teat
wain he. been wlerat to drop. What en awful thing to have
to adulate to suet it congregation; such it deg I 141•0 only
seen when an Anglican ilishop he. been the niebrant."

There, gentlemen. what must we do? We can't
shave ; we don't like to be excommunicated : could not
the writer of the ahoy.. precious article sugge.t some
remedy; a straw, for instance, to he kept on purpose
"for eommunicati le —men that have beards, or perhaps
a small comb, to fasten up the heretical appenge of
the upper lips? Can folly go further
It is a matter of thankfulness that there still are some
to lift up their voices against this nonsense. In his
recent chug° the Bishop of Winchester nays :

"Thin I. no time for folding the arms In thiumber, or In
acquiescing in any low, cold mandsrd of noffenslveness,
snisfy.og it may be the requirements of tse law, but not of
esiocience. The very ischnolonster will shame the cleneyman
If he do not keep ahead of blur In kn.o ledge and intelligence
and aptitude to teach." As 40 Ritualism, he odd —"I can-
not affect to disregard the tandencles of those extreme
Ritualistic practices chick have become so notorious as to
attract the attention of the Legislature, and have celled Into
being • Royal Commission for menti.ation an regula, ion.
I need not particularise them. You s 111 not confound them
with the decent observances of Divine worship, the reverent
posture, the ready response, the keeping the foot end putting
eh/ the .hoe of the worthipier In God'. LO u. the
se 1.e..' of Holy Scripture itself, the outward
amorum, in a word, which mark, the presence and evidence.
the rerawy of inward devotion in congregational peal. and
prayer hut. on the other hand.our ministrations must not ap-
proach that form of worship which steaks to the e)e and to the
MIMS, rather than to M. heart—or, worse still, which sym-
bolises duct. inc. repudiated by our Church at the Refor-
mation, carefully excluded from her liturgy, but surrep-
titiously reintroduced by what is called the elucatimal
power of Ritual. . . Referring to Ritualism being
avowedly .ymb Seal of doctrine, he said They disclaim the
tee of vestments, rennet.., creme, and the like, simply as
ornaments and object. .0 attraction. They value then) for the
thing syniboliscd. and they admit that they me only wurth con-
tending for, and they contend for them as conveying dec.
trine—the ex Itation of the priestly once, the sacrifice on
the enee_the nal presence, if not In the iernivonew the
Rotlllol MI., In a sense no suht's m to be undisUnguish-
ablo from it in any intelligible interpretation—the re .1 ob-
jective prosence of Christ, in, with, or user the conse-
crated els rents not the Memel truth of out Liturgy end
our Articice—th; real presence of Chile% in the faithful com-
municant, in the whole ordtnance to be sought for, its
ilo.ker .ay• not In the mermen', but in the worthy
recelpient of tite increment." lie should express no opinion
as to the Rep it of the Royal Corned isomers, as it wo hi not
be fair to do m till the Ilnal Report; bnt means bile be feared
that the' ultraisol• and extravagences of • comometively few
were bringing descredit ort the s hole body. Like the
sufferere nn&r mme contagious disease, they bring the
suspicion. of taint on .11 their companions, end subject the
who/e ship's company to quarantine. The whole Church is
brought into disrepute, its prestige lemene I, IL authomty
shaken. Veeentiale and non-enentials bee ale confounded, and
calm end thoughtful men themselves find it difficult to know
where to draw the line, where t insist, and where to yield."
I Here 1. no flinching from the danger, no equivocal
language, but • sound open protest and warning. Would
that there were more like hi- lordehip. Meanwhile the
memorial to the Archbishop from this Diocese
haa been doing it. work. From every part of
England we hear of the welcome it has met with
London newspapers, that usually disregard each
things, .peak of it as "unanswerable," Itesidenta at
Oxford and Cambridge mention it in terms of admira-
tion. There is still the spirit of the Reformation
abroad, but men have been so deceived by those whom
they trusted, that they are slow to act but we believe.
in our conscience, that this Epiacopal Synod has done
the work for us. We only fear that in getting rid of
the nuisance, the house will come down. As the
Bishop of Winchester says, "Like the sufferers under
some contagious disease, they bring the suspicion of
taint on all their companions, and subject the whole
ship's company to quarantine. The whole Church I.
brouglt into disrepute, it. prestige lessened, it.
authority shaken."