The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-07-18 00:00:00

ULTRA-RITUALISM

Wiru. reference to the recent controversy at St. Paul's,
Knightsbridge, where a. portion of the congregation have
expressed their determination to sing the Litany in spite
of the order to the contrary, and referring also.to• the per-
version of the Rev. T. A. Pope, incumbent of St. Matthias,
Stoke Newington, we extract the following from The
English Churchman. of Thursday last :—When a bishop
and an incumbent agree in their judgment that the
Litany should' be said (in a monotone) and not sung, in a
certain Church, it is an improper thing for the congrega-
tion to set their joint authority at defiance,. and to depart
from the example of the choir, by singing instead of say-
ing the responses to the Litany, thus introducing disorder,
discord, and rebellion into the Sanctuary,where all things
should be done decently and in order. We say that it is
not only an improper thing, but it is an, illegal thing, and
we really cannot allow any one, however highly we may
estimate their judgment, to persuade us to the contrary,
so long as the following sentence forms part and parcel of
the Prayer-Book, and, consequently, of the law of the
land

" And forasmuch as nothing can be so. plainly set forth,
but doubts; may arise in the use and practice of the same ;
to appease all such diversity (if any arise) and for the
resolution of all doubts, concerning the matter how to
understand, do, and execute, the things contained in the
Book : the parties that so doubt, or diversely take any
thing' shall always resort to the Bishop of this Diocese,
who, by his discretion, shall take order for the quieting
and appeasing of the same ; so that the same order be not
contrary to anything contained in this Book. And if the
Bishop of the DMcese be in doubt, then he may send for
the resolution thereof to the Archbishop."
Upon this law of the Church, our comments upon St.
Paul's, Knightsbridge, were mainly founded : we did not
discuss the question as to whether the Bishop of London
and Mr. Liddell were consistent and judicious : that is
quite a separate question: and what we had to consider
was, whether the notice that the Bishop and the Incum-
bent desired the Litany should be said, and not sung, was
legal, and therefore obligatory upon obedient and faithful
church-people. It is a plain matter of law and fact, and
we must express our earnest desire that in all such mat-
ters the law and fact of the case may be preferred before
mere private feeling, sentiment, and prejudice. This is
the ground we have always taken, and we really cannot
consent to alter it now that we have to vindicate the law
of the Church, and the authority of the Bishop, from the
encroachments and innovations of men who were formerly
well content that we should quote that law and that
authority to condemn the encroachments and innovations
of the (so-called) " Evangelical" Clergy. Our STANDARD
has been, is, and shall be, the same for all parties in the
Church—viz., the Book of Common Prayer and the Canons
of the Church, plainly, honestly, and sensibly interpreted.
We firmly believe that Secessions to Rome will continue
to follow wherever there is not a moat anxious and vigilant
care taken to keep to the letter and the spirit of the
Prayer-Book, and to avoid and discourage Romanizing
practices on the part of both clergy and people. The mo-
ment that the individual judgment of either is allowed to
exercise itself in postures, movements, or gestures unsanc-
tioned by the laws and usages of the English Church, the
foundation of Romanizing is laid, and the superstructure
of Romanism is often a mere question of time and circum-
stance. Romish Doctrines, Romish Devotional Books,
and the Roman Church, will eventually follow, in many
cases. Emotions have been excited, instincts and tastes
have been created, which gradually demand more than
the English Church deems it right and lawful to afford to
her children, and therefore her authority is first exceeded
and then despised. This, we do not hesitate to say, is the
evil—the disease—of the extreme party among the High
Churchmen in the present day, and deeply do we regret
that it prevails so extensively, and that it is tolerated and
apologized for by men who must acknowledge that it
strikes at the root of a sound, healthy, and consistent
obedience to the Church of England. Nay, we do not
hesitate to say that some of the greatest adepts in
" Romanizing" ars deficient in some of the most eminent
Christian graces, such as earnestness, reverence, humility,
and self-denial, however much they may preach, or pro-
fess to admire, those virtues. The recent events at St.
Paul's, Knightsbridge, show the value of such professions,
when a Bishop's and a Pastor's authority comes in the
way of such men's personal tastes and private judgment.
With each facts and such evidenco before u; it appears