The Bishop of Lincoln has written a short letter to
his clergy, announcing his intention to discontinue at once all the practices of which the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his judgment, has disapproved, and expressing his satisfaction that such a judgment has been given, based as it is on inde- pendent inquiry and on the acceptance of the traditional prac- tices of the ancient Church. It seems to us greatly to be desired that the Archbishop's judgment should be upheld on appeal. It holds out the only chance of vindicating the compre- hensiveness of the Church of England in the right spirit. For the first time, probably, a genuinely ecclesiastical Court has shown itself decidedly the superior of a lay Court, not only in knowledge, but in impartiality and breadth of spirit. We could almost wish that Archbishop Benson could become an active ecclesiastical Judge, so singularly qualified has he proved himself not only to marshal the historical facts by which judgments of this kind should be controlled, but to
enforce his judgments in a sober and gentle fashion which does not provoke animosity, and does render obedience easy.
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