THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S DECISION. [To was Emma or rag
" eramerea."1
Snt,—Forgive my pertinacity, but a poor parson who wishes to obey the law must do his best to understand what the law is. You tell me that I must "prevent [children] coming to Communion until they are confirmed, or are ready and desirous to be confirmed," but that "the case of grown-up men and women is quite different." Apart from the difficulty of defining "children," I find no justification in the Prayer Book for excluding children which does not apply to those of riper yeare. The rubric at the end of the Service of Baptism to Such As Are of Riper Years rune "It is expedient that every person, thus baptized, should be confirmed by the Bishop to soon after his Baptism as conveniently may be; that so he may be admitted to the holy Communion." The words "that so" imply to my mind, as clearly as any words can imply, that he may not be admitted otherwise. The "expediency" clearly refers, does it not, to the early date, not to the necessity of confirmation P—I am, Sir, &a,
S. Mary's Vicarage, Nottingham. T. FIELD, D.D.
[We must refer our correspondent to the answer given by us to Mr. Macmillan in our issue of last week. A similar point was made by Mr. Macmillan, and we dealt with it at length.—En. Spectator.]
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