The Bee-Hive : — 1869-01-16 (London, England)

THE BEEHIVE, SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1869.  The Ritualists, who are now, since the last judgment of the Judicial Committee of the rrivy Council, enjoy- 1 ing an exceptionally large share of public attention, have decided on addressing a memorial of protest to the archbishop and bishops of England and Wales, and, so far as the accredited leaders of the Romanising movement in Church are concerned, it is their intention to conform to the law as laid down by Lord Cairns and his colleagues. An important rreeting of the party, composed of clergy and laity, was held on Tuesday last, at Freemasons' Hall, and the proceedings show with what reluctance the more moderate—shall we say also the more crafty—have decided upon the adoption of this course; but vestment men of such an ultra stripe as Mr. Bennett, of Frome, and Mr. Le Geyt, of St. Matthias, both sufficiently notorious in their way, vehemently advocate unconditional resistance, and developed a very fierca determination to fight al cuchillo for the lighting of wax candles in .the blaze of noonday. The majority of those present did not, however, quite see their way to an abandonment of their livings; but though they would not declare themselves for overt orposition, they were equally disinclined to pledge themselves to obedience to the legal requirements of their position. Indeed Archdeacon Denison who pre sided, had to threaten to vacate the chair before the meeting could be brought even to pass a resolution leaving the acceptance or rejection of the decision to he determined "by each priest who had been accustomed to use the ceremonies in question." Whi his another illustration of the traditional ingenuity with which theologians of a certain school Call exercise the Godly gift of evasion. But the end is not yet. After all, the war is not about ritual, but about doctrine: and it is impossible that one section of a national church should be permitted to preach and teach what another section of the same institution stigmatises as blasphemous idolatory. A good deal may be said in behalf of comprehension and broadness in the Church; but if some may (utterly deny the real objective presence in the sacrament, while others affirm it with acts of prostrate worship, then on what grounds are non-conformists excluded from participation in the "good things" of the ecclesiastical establishment? Why were the Wesleyans expelled? The matter is one which will pro.. ',Ably soon be brougi.t to some definite issue, as it is understood that the Church Association are about to impeach both the sacrificial vastments and the peculiar doctrine they are worn to set forth.  Agrarian outrages in Ireland have only been too fre_ quent, and however landlord shooting may be extenuated by some on the ground of bag continue oppression, the practice is none the less reprehensible. People may talk about "the wild justice of revenge' but we only recognise an act of ccoaardly murder where an aggrieved tenant pots his landlord from behind a hedge. Happily these dastardly attempts are of exceed, ingly rare occurrence in England or across the TweEd where the relations between tenants and landlords are of a more friendly description; and certainly we should greatly regret any development in our midst of this species of criminal ferocity. It is, therefore, with considerable indignation we observe that the following threatening notice has been sent to Sir Charles Slingsny, of Yorkshire :—" C. Slingsby, you know they are shooting their landlords in Ireland. I have got my discharge. I think it is time you had yours. his time you followed your mother.—A