2 SEPTEMBER 1899, Page 2

Lord Halifax's address to the lay members of the English

Church Union is more recalcitrant in phrase than in subs stance. It, no doubt, in explicit words advises the laymen "to stand by their priests" whatever those priests may decide to do in the matter of obeying or disobeying their Bishops when those Bishops put in motion the Archbishops' judgment, but by inference it suggests that the clergy may and will obey, though under protest. At the same time, Lord Halifax attacks and condemns the decision root and branch. His method of doing en strongly confirms our regret that the Archbishops gave the grounds of their decision, and did not confine themselves to a simple order, If they had done so, Lord Halifax's protest would have been impossible, and obedience woald have been made mtxth easier for the extreme men