The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1868-02-11 00:00:00

eultstastical Intrilignut.

THE Eng= OF RITUALISII ON THE KINDS
OF THE PEOPLE.
(From the Chtrrch A 410666011 Moetel, In4sitipessar.)
It wee in the earlier series of pipers entitled the
"Church and the World." in whirds, ii vre mistake not,
we read what was intended to be a very
description of the pouted confusion in which trpt
endeavoured to follow our ordinary Chunk Berries, and
&laudatory notice of the superior efficacy of • highly
musical and rituelietie service in attracting their atend.
aece and in drawing forth the *fit of • more
intelligent worship. The picture represented an
illiterate wilier, present for the first time at chunk
endeavooring to follow the mil inter through the alleged
intriceeim of the morning service, it. change' from
prayers to psalms, from Nelms to prayers, from morn-
ing lessons to creeds and collect", and front passages
in one service to an article, creed, or epistle in another.
The writer not without humour, although 'radioman&
and a little ill-placed, finally Imes's the poor roan at the
door of the Church shaking his heed, and saying,
" Enough of Sunday hide and seek! Pm off to the
Ranters. I don't like to look • fool amongst folk what
I know. their book. I'm no **bollard_ so Chervil ekes
t'place for me." The picture a.fanesful,even it applied
to the fret visit of a collier." whew heart is touched
and who reads indifferently," but serves as a on
which to hang the aseumptioe, that the poor d?not
understand or like the old Genies, and that what will
attraet end keep them is the modern ritualistic one. To
show how distant this amumptiou is from the feet, we
mill a few extracts from the journal of one who was
recently engaged in sozertainiug the feelings of the
agricultural poor in the diocese of Oxford with militia°,
to the recent introduction inW their °hurdle, of
ritualistic genie's. We shall preface them only by •
statement, that the person in question was In every
respect well qualified, both by intelligeses and ex-
perience for making the inquiry; wed by stalling our
leader's attention to the foot, as noted in this Journal,
viz., that during a period of three weeks spent ln
ing the respectable poor of villages In which a greater or
lesser amount of unusual ritual had been introduced,
only one advocate of the system was met with amongst
them. This was • poor woman at Tilehuret, whose
testimony as to its advantages went, however, no
farther than this, that "she weld not go to sleep in
it. Mistress," said a bystander, and perhaps it was
as suggestive an answer to her defence as could beeves,
"Mistress, if you go to Churehito sleep, I fanny you'd
better not go at all l"
Oar leading objeetbeing to illustrate the feeling of
the great mese of the poor with reference to ritualistic
eerviees, we turn to such evidence ae is contained in the
statement of villagers on the subject, confirmed as it is
by the numerical attendance at the great majority of
their Churches. First thee of
DOICHWITIM.
• village in the vicinity of Ozford, the population of
the living being 1,097. The Church of this village is
one in which have been adopted the Cross on or near
the Communion table, elaborately worked at" dot"'
candles, flowery, ho.; and • fresece painting of a
crucial, which bad lain buried under a healthy layer of
whitewash sines the time of the Reformation, has been
revived to adorn • new altar-shaped table, and to form
an object for the minister to bow before. The Choral
Service and Choristers are, in the language of a respect
able villager, thus appreciated. The opinion was
elicited by an inquiry as tolbow the recent altera-
tions were liked. We: give as nearly as possible the
exact !menage need.
o Well, I think the money our person spends on =rm,
for them ere boy, of hi.',, might be mucb better spent, or to
my mind it is nothing but pomp and mid.. that makes 'am
dream 'em up ex Booties what do we want with so much
ceremonies f They don't make the soul say better Why
innk at the singing, we can't understand what these 1,,,y1 be
seYieg. Before we could Join in with it, which is more than
you can (1., now. However. I am lit, a good many of the
farmers round about 'ere. I go nowhere to Church now. The
old Church I used to go to, but .1111,0 they've made this 'ore
change, I don't go anywhere. I make the Gelds and the
badges my churA now. It's there Imy my prayers, sad
that is one Diming, God lOU hear me there."
Others of the villagers expressed their opposition to
what they called the Roman work in similar terms.
At the merlee attended at this church (a week day one)
the attendance was eight. This number was composed
of four chorister boys from the school, throe ladies
from the parsonage, and one old hely reeding I. the
village. Not one poor parishioner attended the servies,
although one of them observed, "The Parson was •
good man to make work, but having lately begun what
folks call the High Church, that is going on like
Catholic. you see, people don't like it."
The following are the views of three or four amongst
many of the villagers of

oleo a village in the neighbourhood of Oxford. and the
village church of which is decked out with the now
common ritualistic) paraphernalia. The drat are
those of • respectable farmer in the neighbourhood.
"Well you see one hardly knows what to think of matters
In these da,lo4ar my part I hare left of going to Church
nines they deem It like a bell.rooom." At this I
smile I. • Alt, mid, you may laugh, but be bothered if
they are not mom like a hell-room than a place of worship
Are y,n • Churchman r " I replied, " Well then," he
said,s'.o ma I, a good old Chnrchman, and en were my father
and all my friends, but we had none of them singliura and
going on In the Church in those days. The ministers may
to It on but they s on't make no Catholic. again. No, to,
we ha I too much of that before."
• second said,
"lb. farmers don't libel it, and they ?gyeerall• my they
mitt as sell stop at home e. go to Church, ter they don't
know what is going on."
A third said,
" The fact 1., Mr, one hardly knows what to think of our
murch in them dm) Our ...rah* teal a 4 ..g nod mars
like • ooncert room than a place of worship. Our Prayer
Gook my., •We ought to bumble ourselves before God,' but
where t. the humility In our churches? To see these little
boys dreamed up se they are, to hoar all this fine singing, to
see the Communion table decorated as it is, and then to look
at the minister runniog about from this place to that place
Well Sir, this fa Just the pride of this world, and not humbling
ourselom before God. • • I hare taken to go to Chapel.
• • I consider the ministers no better than Roman Catholics.
They have gone as far as they ma go, and if something is not
done they will go further."
Again, at