24 JANUARY 1976, Page 5

See of troubles

the In your Westminster Succession survey, almost h me only ray of light was the idea that the traditional Present might soon return as an alternative to the were "aweful rites." One had begun to assume we irre committed irrevocably to the disillusioning ..ugnoni compromise, with its variations authorised, unauthorised, makeshift, impromptu.

„._8efore Cardinal Heenan's successor is announced, one salute the nomination as potentially the 'urriest since that of Cranmer? Or shall we, against

Th °st exPectations, be mercifully spared?

P. J. Barwell

6 Almoner's Avenue, Cambridge