The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-09 00:00:00

THE RITUAL JUDGMENT

" Lex " lays down the law as to the effect of the
Ritual judgment. He says in the Times that all which
the Privy Council had to decide with respect to the
posture of the celebrant was, that the posture was to
be that of standing, not kneeling, throughout the
consecration prayer ; and that no decision was given
as to whether or no the celebrant should stand with
his back, face, or side to the people ; this point is
determined by the rubric directing him to break
the bread before the people, which he could not do
with his back to them. The judgment did not
even indirectly refer to vestments, and " Lex "
says on this point : " The court having before them
the question of the two lights, held that in order to
be lawful they must have had express authority of
Parliament—i. e., specific mention in King Edward
L's (me) Prayer-book. The question whether all
ornaments having such express authority are now
lawful or obligatory was not before the
court, and it was not competent to the committee
therefore to decide it. Had they thought it requisite
to deal with this question in their judgment, it
would have been requisite for them to notice the
argument of Mr. Archibald as to the effect of the
word retain' in the rubric as to ornaments—viz.,
that it did not operate to revive or restore any ' orna-
ments' which at its date (1662) were not in
lawful use, having also had express authority
of Parliament in the second year of Edward
VI." The most important part of this letter,
however, is the statement made positively, and
we presume with the authority of the Church
Association, that " the vestments and other matters
not covered by the present judgment will shortly be
brought before the same tribunal." It would seem,
therefore, that we are shortly to be favoured with
another Ritual suit.
ARCHDEACON BENTINCK'S WILL.

The e'en. W. 11. E. Dei,t'nck, rector of Siggles-
thorne, East Biding, and formerly Archdeacon of
Westminster, has left personal property sworn under
£BO,OOO. Cf th's about £30,000 is bequeathed to
various religious and charitable uses. For instance,
the Additional Curates Aid Society gets £7,000, the
S. P. G. £4,000. There is one feature of his will
which deserves special notice. Archdeacon Bentincli
was during his life greatly interested in the erection
of the handsome church near "Vauxhall Bridge. Tie
has left £3,000 on trust, the interest of which is to go
to the incumbent of that church, and £2,000 which
is to be held in like manner for the benefit of the
curate. This form of bequest is somewhat novel, and
is worthy the consideration of would-be benefactors
of the Church, who in the troublous times that may
be in store find it difficult to carry out their inten-
tions.
WOMEN DOCTORS. •

Miss Isabel Thorne, a most accomplished and suc-
cessful woman doctor, writes expressing a hope that
" before long some of those young ladies who have
passed with honours ' through the Cambridge ex-
aminations, instead of swelling the overcrowded
governess list, will qualify themselves for the medical
profession." They have an opportunity for doing
this at the Medical College for Women, 4, Fitzroy-
square, London, where they have the advantage of
studying anatomy alone, instead of being, as on the
continent, compelled to study together with male
students.