2 FEBRUARY 1918, Page 15

" OPEN COMMUNION."

(To TEC EDITOR OP THZ " 8pecuTos."3 Sta,—Does "An Old Churchwarden " really think that the King can, by a " decree," abrogate a rubric which is part of an Act of Parliament? We should have to go back to the reign of James II. for a precedent, and then it would not be auspicious. Supposing that the Crown were so ill-advised as to make the attempt, who would obey P Our Erastians maintain the supremacy of the law in ecclesiastical matters, and the "decree " would be illegal. Those who believe in the authority of the Church hold that no secular authority can override her rules. And "all places of the King's dominion " include Canada, Australia, and South Africa, where the Church is free alike from Crown and from Parliament..