DULL SERMONS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—The article by Padre Clayton on "Dull Sermons "- one of the most refreshing from his inimitable pen—contains the statement that to preach two sermons a Sunday is not enjoined by " any law of Church or State." If this is true, I should like him to explain the following experience. When I was instituted and inducted to a vicarage in the Diocese of York in, 1922, I received—among other documents—a paper Containing these words.
" In Conformity with the provisions of the 80th Section of the Act of Parliament 1 and 2 Victoria, cap. 106, We hereby order that there shall be two full Services, each of such -Services to include a Sermon or Lecture, on every Sunday throughout the Year, in the Parish Church of . . . aforesaid, to the Vicarage . . . whereof you have this day been instituted by us. '
On the other hand, when I was licensed to my present benefice, which is a perpetual-curacy, and not a " Vicarage " in the technical sense, I received no such document. When Mr. Clayton was instituted to All Hallows, Barking-by-the-Tower, did he receive no such an injunction, or has he forgotten about it? Or has the Church Assembly passed a Measure on to Parliament repealing the 80th section of 1 and 2 Victoria, cap. 106 ? Or did Mr. Clayton know of this Act and merely mean that the sermon or lecture should be delivered walking about the aisles, and not from the pulpit ? If so, how would that cure " very
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