New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-15
lutte hand IT will tumble into nothineneSs' ""'
there seems to be no such hand in Europe
RITT4LISM ~ THE EPISCOPAL CHtKCH.

RTTT4LISM ~ THE EPISCOPAL 'hc"""'
The dedication this last week Of the handsome
new Protestant Episcopal Church OF 81. Mary
the Virgin in this city, will he taken by many
az an indication that the riualstic movement
is growing in the Episcopal Church. InIor'"
nately. there are no statistics at hand 10 se''e
this question perusal Of the denominatioha'
organs however. makes II evident That me TONE
of churchman ship has been generally raised our
Ing the last twenty-five years, and. on the who'e'
10 the great advantage Of the Church. Inc ser
vice in the average parish today is more rever-
cnt and less slovenly than in the old days OF
High and Dry" Guardianship, while at the
same time II has been so enriched as to appeal
more strongly to the growing aesthetic sense IN
the community.
But everybody knows that rltuallsm has come
70 mean much more than a deepening OF the
old spiritual lines in the Episcopal Church. Its
ultimate ascendancy in the Church wouiu oe
nothing less than a revolution, in which almost
every distinctive characteristic Of the protestant
Episcopal Church would disappear. and In lis
place would arise n reproduction Of the medae-
val Church The oxford movement In 1877 De-
gan by defending and explaining i'selr IL Iei'
that II must fight even for tolerated EXISTENCE
and for some years it seemed az though, IN spite
Of all its efforts, it would find no permanent
Judgment in the Anglican Communion But thar
day of apology and defence has passed. Instead
of trying to show that they are not dishonest
ouibblers and traitors the leaders Of the ritual
istic party have now got to the point or de-
nouncing dishonest quibblers ana traitors
those in the Church who interpret its doctrines
I'm the light Of modern critical investigation ana
modern life. This change of attitude Is IN itseir
a striking indication that, in its own opinion at
least, rtualsm has grown TO position or
power 1t is no longer question whether IL
shall be driven out Of the Church, but how long
it will be before it will drive everybody else out
Of the Church.
The really strange feature Of the situation is
the meekness with which it is accepted by the
Broad Churchmen and Low Churchmen, VINO
constitute the overwhelming majority In the
Episcopal Church Once in a while some OF
them venture to say that they are not disOyal
tricksters. and occasionally, as in The Contem-
porary Review" for December, an Old-fashiOned
churchman has the courage to declare and prove
to his own satisfaction that the rtualsts are
both disoyal and dishonest, because as he says,
they hold and teach doctrines distinctly repudi-
ated in the Prayer Book But, as rule, whether
because they think rituasm merely passing
fad, or because they secretly believe 1t to be the
best expression of the Church's system the non
rtuasts in the Church have let it pretty much
alone during the last few years. II rltuasm
fails to become dominant in the Church, it Will
not he because OF any organized opposition 1t
has encountered; for there Is no such opposition
Though rituasm has thus conquered for itself
a secure place in the Episcopal Church. there Is
little possibility Of its ever doing more than
that. The insuperable obstacle to its acceptance
by the Church as the exclusive type Of church
manship is the fact that 1t Is a recrudescence OF
outworn religious ideals Doubtless ii has an
attraction for people Of a certain religious tenn
permanent, those who love to dwell on the past or
who appreciate the aesthetics Of religious wOr-
ship. Its doctrines and beliefs. however. will
appeal in vain 10 the vast majority of the men
and women of to-day who live in the present
and for the present, and who are striving, how
ever imperfectly. to free the world from the alb
iect slavery to the past. which did so much TO
weaken and benumb the Church Of preReforma-
ton times.