The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-28 00:00:00

CHURCH ITEMS.

If, as it has been suggested, the Privy Council
gave their decision in the Martin v. Mackonochie
case just before Christmas Day, in order to check
the ritual which has for some time past been usual
on that day in the " advanced" churches, the pre-
caution was of no avail. At St. Alban's, where a
larger congregation than usual assembled, if that
were possible, the incumbent disregarded the
judgment altogether. The candles were lighted
at the usual time, and the celebrant knelt
after the consecration of the bread, and again
after that of the wine. At St. Mary Magdalene's,
Paddington, the chancel during the three early cele-
brations, at six, seven, and eight o'clock, was one
blaze of light, among which the altar candles burnt
somewhat feebly. The effect of the whole as seen
from the nave during the darkness of a winter's
morning was very impressive, the more so as the
chancel in this church is probably the most raised in
England, except that at Canterbury Cathedral. At the
mid-day celebration only the altar candles were lighted.
There was no prostration on the part of the
celebrant, but in this case prostration had not
been usual. It is supposed that the absence
of any alteration in the ritual at St. Alban's
was due to the fact that no official intimation
of the judgment had been given to the defendant.
It is to be presumed that it will be complied with
when it has been received. The preacher at St.
Mary Magdalene's, Paddington, evidently contem-
plated the carrying out of the injunction as a proxi-
mate fact, remarking that, " ornaments or no
ornaments," the same offering of the body and blood
of Christ would be made daily.
Westminster Abbey was crowded to overflowing
on Christmas Day. The preacher was Dean Stanley,
who did not forget to touch upon his favourite
subjects—the uselesness of party and the nationality
of religion. Ile took for his subject the taxing of the
world by Augustus, and Christ in the manger,
and spewed how, by a " strange predestination
of events, Augustus was unconsciously aiding the
work which was to be accomplished by the infant.
From this he passed to the consideration of exterior
circumstance, which ho declared to be something,
though not everything. He deprecated very
earnestly the party spirit which now prevailed. It
was better, said he, to belong to the nation than to a
part of it. It was better to belong to the Church
than to a sect. In the impure air and the
confined limits of the one the spirit was apt to
become impure and to contract. But in the purer
and more enlarged atmosphere the soul would also
become purer and enlarged. Christmas Day, he
continued, was a national as well as a religious
festival. So also, whether his hearers conformed or
rtrt. if they were national they belonged to the great
•a_ -nal Church.

The Bishop of Rochester (Dr. Claughton) was
lately holding a confirmation at °layering, Essex.
He found the chancel well jacked with " respect-
ability," anxious to get a good view. Whereupon
he advanced to the front of the chancel, and caused
the candidates to be brought to him separately, and
each knelt on the chancel step, and received the
laying on of hands there. After the confirmation, the
Bishop went into the body of the church and
addressed the candidates there, so that the chancel
folk, who had come to see a spectacle, were, to use a
Derbyism, " dished."

The Bishop of Bangor has issued a pastoral letter
inviting the clergy and the laity of his diocese to a
Synod, to be held at Bangor on January 12. He
suggests the following topics of discussion :—The
erection and endowment of new churches in popu-
lous places ; the procuring inexpensive buildings in
hamlets remote from the parish church, to be used as
lecture and school rooms, and for Church work ; the
supply of curates,. and the increase of services ; the
providing of salaries for Scripture-readers, who shall
act under the guidance of the clergyman of the
parish ' • and the establishment of a Welsh news-
paper, to be conducted on Church of England prin-
ciples. Bishop Campbell is clearly alarmed at the
condition of the Welsh Church, and fears that it will
before long share the same fate as the Irish.
The John Bull • has several Church items. The
Bishop of St:Helena is to reach Capetown in the
same vessel as Mr. Macrorie, and will assist the
Bishops of Capetown and Grahamstown in his con-
secration. "Should Bishop Colenso's friends move
an injunction from the Supreme Court to restrain
the consecration in the cathedral, it has been arranged,
with the full knowledge and concurrence of the late
Primate, that • it shall take place at sea, beyond the
limits of the British Crown.' We confess that we
do not understand how a consecration at sea can
confer jurisdiction over the see of Natal ; but that is
Mr. Macrorie's concern. The John Bull has informa-
tion that the Bishop of Winchester has had another
stroke of paralysis, and that the confirmation of the
Bishop of London's election has been postponed.
It appears to be pretty nearly certain that Arch-
bishop Manning will be made a cardinal next
March.

" TIIE SEASON."

Christnias, the merriest season in the year, is in
one respect, like Holy week, the saddest---it is not
the time for marrying. The Times of Saturday con-
tained but one marriage, and that was four days old,
and took place abroad. Marriage seems to be too
serious an event for jocund Yule -tide. This particular
Christmas would seem to be as little given to dying
as to wedding. " Green " though it be, there are but
twenty-one deaths recorded in the column of "hatches,
matches, and despatches."