Arizona republican., 1910-07-27
AN ANTI-R|TUAL
 CAMPAIGN IS ON
Renewed Activity of the Low Church
 Wing of the Church of England.

London-s1t is absolutely mon strous that today, with the Knowledge, with the tolerance, with the permis- sion of the bishops of the Church of England there should be numbers of parish churches into which a Protest ant churchman cannot go without feel ing himself outraged by the presence in the service of an element altogether alien to the teaching of the Church of England"
 So ran a passage in a speech by Sir Edward Clarke, K. C., at the annual meeting of the National Church league held at the Church House, Westmin- ster, a couple of days ago.
 Sir Edward was moving a resolution affirming the rights of all Englishmen to have the public services of the church conducted according to the law and doctrine of the Church of Eng land and declaring that the allowance of practices therein which were con fessedIy illegal and which tended to the teaching of Romish doctrines con stituted grave danger both to church and state" The motion was seconded by the Dean of Canterbury and carried unanimously.
 As the terms of Sir Edward Clarke league is composed of low church members of the English church who delight to call themselves Protestants, a term offensive to- their ritualistic fellow churcbmen, who delight to call themselves Catholic and whose prac tices are denounced by the low church men as Roman Catholic"
 There is no doubt that the ritualistic practices in hundreds of English churches are outside the settled or der of the law and church" as Sir Ed ward Clarke puts it, and so great was the movement against this few years ago that a royal commission was ap- pointed on ecclesiastical discipline. For two years the commission sat, meeting twice d week. Sir Edward Clarke was a member and now says:
 T would not have given one after noon to the work or set my name to the report I had dreamt that the re- suit of the commission would not only be that there would be no improvement in the affairs of the church but that the report would be twisted and per verted by the authorities of the church to excuse their indifference to the il- legalities 'practised" --
 If the National Church league can manage it there is every probability of a fresh and vigorous campaign against ritualism. But this time 1t seems likely that the Protestant party will have a less hearty and general support than when it secured the ap- pointment of a royal commission. It is evident that what has stirred the Professionalism of Sir Edward Clarke and the Dean of Canterbury afresh is the modification of the kings declara ton in the accession oath with regard to the Roman Catholic faith.
 This meeting of the league began, as usual, with an address by the chair man, who declared that the council of the league felt that the alteration in the declaration proposed by the prime minister could not be looked upon as a satisfactory solution of the difficulty and it ought to be opposed by every means in their power. Sir Edward Clarke then moved his resolution, and it was seconded by the Dean of Can terbury, who said that the ritualistic practises of the high church party carry with them, if not the Roman system of doctrine and practice, at all events so close an approximation to it as to be practically as mischievous.
 The motion was carried unanimously and toward the end of the meeting the Dean of Canterbury moved That this meeting declares that the amended royal declaration proposed by the gov ernment is wholly insufficient and un- as it omits the specific of cardinal Roman errors contained in the present declaration" This too was carried without dissent.
 An anti-ritual campaign founded up- on opposition to the amendment of the royal declaration on this particular point must lose an enormous amount of support that it might otherwise count upon. The chairman in his opening address admitted that the council of the league, which is unques- tionably a very powerful and influen- tial body, had passed a resolution ap- proving of such a modification of the kings declaration as would render it less painful to Roman Catholics pro vided that a distinct and adequate re-
 
 pudiation of the Romish doctrines was in the declaration" But the council put forward no form of modi- fication of which it would approve. md as has been seen the Dean of Can terbury in his motion complained of he governments proposed alteration because it lacks what, after all, is just what makes the present declaration offensive to Roman Catholics and oth- ITS.
 It is well known that Edward VII vas strongly opposed to the present erms of the royal declaration. It is well known that George V re- used point blank to accept them as hey stood. and in this he undoubtedly l las the great bulk of his subjects be- lind him.