, 1874-06-28
REGULATING THE RITUALIST9.

| The Church Of England ia again oonvulaed
with the RituAlistic controversy. IA bill for
| the regulation Of public worship has passed the
| House Of Lords" It means tho regulation OF
/ the public worship Of the Ritualists evidently,
! for the kilograms inform us that they ''are fu-
rious about it, and declare that il it is carried
! the immediate consequence will bo tho accession
OF large number Of both ele1gymen and. lay
men from the Established Church, and the or
ganization Of Church Of their OVID, With one
or two Of the ex-Colonial Bishops at their head.
It is also 'srumored" that the bill has been
prepared under the direct inspiration Of the
Queen" This is very improbable. partly be-
cause the Queen has never been IN the habit OF
bestowing her "direct inspiration upon Par
1iamentary measures, but mostly because she ia
q lady Of pronounced Broad-Church sympathies.
While her averaion for both the Abstemious Lows
and the excessive Highs is probably as vehement
as any other Of her animosities, it would be in
consistent with her policy as constitutional
Monarch, and as Broad- Church head Of the
English Church, for her to "inspire" her Pri-
mate to the extent Of bill, or bull, designed to
''regu]ate the RituaIists- Truo to the attitude
Of the 3roads, Bhe would rather tolorate I'll par
ties than amputate any Of them.
There can be no doubt that tho conduc. Of the
Ritualists has been enough to harrow up the
souls Of their Evangelical brethren. For ex-
ample, the Thirty-frst Article Of the Church Of
England declares that tthe sacrifices OF Hasses
in the which It was commonly said that the
priest did offer Christ for the quick and the
dead, to have remission Of pain or guilt, were
blasphemous fables and dangerous dsceits." All
OF which to the contrary notwithstanding, ~
1fis.a Defunctoruna was celebrated" recently ut
St. Mary's Church, Soho, London. for the ropose
Of the soul OF tho late esteemed Vicar. The
sacred minister's we're In rich black vestments,
and the body lay with facs westward in
the coffin. Even the Ritualists, however,
seem 10 sec the need Of regulation" in their
doctnnal paraphernalis, for their organ (the
Church Hraa) sayB: "The altar WAS ntually
incorrect in its details. There wc7s 80 may
ca ldles, instead OF the TWO or six Of unb1eachad
wax, sud such numerous bouquets, that its ap~
pesrsoce presented rs,her the idea that the Ro-
man Catholic rite Of Benedction was going on
than solemn Mass for the dead." The fact is
that, Notwithstanding the inhibition which MAS
laid upon the Highs few years ago, their
ngacred minister's have become as obstreperous
as over. Even tho anub administered to them
bY the popular Catholic preacher Monsignor
Capel did not daunt their High spirit The
candles disappeared from st. Aargaret's only. to
be replaced by gaseous Imitation. Tho chasu-
bic still decorated the back Of the priest. and
tho holy wafer" continued to be rendered to
the mseling commuricant Neither confessional
nor professional have been entirely abandoned
and the faithful have never ceased to drop On
one kneo in the aisle, and to oross themselves 1t
every repetition Of the tsiuns pnraseology.
Eut whatsvss tho Inspiration o. provocation,