The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-11 00:00:00

RITUALISM IN THE METROPOLIS.

• At All Saints, Lambeth, on Sunday morning, the service
abated in none of that elaborateness of ritual observance
for which it has become noticeable among the most ad-
vanced ritualistic churches of the metropolis. The move-
ments of the vicar, the Rev. Dr. Lee, have additional signi-
cance attached to them from the fact that that gentleman is
one of the committee appointed at the meeting of Ritualists
last week. at Freemasons' Hall, to consider the most
becoming attitude to be assumed by the ritualistic party,
consequent on the late decision of the Privy Council in the
ease of the Rev. A. H. Mackonochie. The atmosphere
was heavy with incense. The altar was profusely deco-
rated with flowers. Prayers having been said, and sermon
preached by the Rev. Dr. Lee, the administration of the
holy sacrament was proceeded with. A procession emerged
from the vestry, headed by a youth clothed in a long scarlet
tunic and embroidered surplice, bearing the processional
cross, embellished with flowers, and followed by others—
n umbering al together thirty-one—carrying banners, crosses,
staves, and other distinctive insignia, and wearing vest-
ments of various colours. At the commencement of
the Prayer of Consecration, the celebrant (the Rev. Dr.
Lee) remained standing before the altar, with his back
to the congregation. At the words " who in the same
night that He was betrayed," he laid his hands upon the
paten without lifting it up, and bowed his body low down,
so as to bring his head below the paten. At the words,
"Do this in remembrance of me," he took hold of
the chalice containing the consecrated element, and
elevated it above his head, so that the upper
part of the cup was visible to the congregation kneeling
behind, bending very low before it on replacing it upon
the Communion table. The service was intoned through-
out, and at its conclusion, on pronouncing the benediction,
the celebrant turned and made the sign of the cross upon
the audience with his finger, there being profuse
bowings and crossings during the service. There
were not more than between forty and fifty
adults present, and an almost equal number of chil-
dren, some of them very young. The galleries
of the church (which is one of the most spacious and
handsome structures in the district, the whole of the
sittings being free) were entirely empty, and the manner
in which the services were conducted contrasted strangely
with the meagreness of the congregation. There were no
,ramunicants from among the congregation.

CARLETON, TUE NOVELIST.—It is stated that
Carleton, the eminent Irish novelist, is lingering between
life and death, without hope of recovery. His intellect is
undimmed, but his last hours are clouded by anxiety
respecting the future of his family. They are now utterly
dependent on his Government pension of £2OO a year, and
he often says that if it were secured to them after his
death he should die happy.
The Rev. Newman Hall has been in
America, and has written a pamphlet on the state
of religion in that country, for a title to which he
was in a fix. As the story goes, he sent the proof
to Mr. Thomas Binney, with a request that he
would read it, and furnish him with the required
title. Now Mr. Binm y, who is the patriarch of the
Independents, is a noble, simple, plain, hard-headed man,
the very antithesis of Newman Hall, who, with great
ability, is rather frothy. The pamphlet was duly returned
to its author ; and on the title-page Mr. Binney had
written " ` Go to the Devil,' by the author of ` Come to
Jesus,'" a work of which Mr. Hall is the writer.—Elgin
Courant.

A PUZZLED WELSH JURY. —At the Montgomery-
shire Quarter Sessions, at Welsbpool, before the Earl of
Fowls and Mr. C. W. Wynn, M.P., a tramp was indicted
for stealing a jacket. The prisoner aas proved to have
sold the stolen clothes. After a lengthened consultation
the jury returned a verdict of guilty against the prisoner,
to the surprise of everyone in court, accompanying the
verdict with a recommendation to mercy. The chairman :
On what grounds, may I ask? The foreman (evidently
puzzled): I don't know. (Laughter.) The chairman;
We are generally glad to take cognisance of such recom-
mendations from juries, but we like to know upon what
grounds the recommendations are made. The foreman
then turned round to his colleagues in the box, and another
lengthy consultation ensued, and after the lapse of a few
minutes the foreman suddenly started up, and explained
the recommendation by saying, "We recommend him to
mercy because no one see'd him commit the crime " an
explanation which elicited a loud burst of laughter from a
crow ded court.