The Blue-book containing the Report of the Commission appointed to
inquire into the alleged prevalence of breaches or neglect of the law relating to the conduct of Divine Service and to ornaments and fittings of churches, and to recommend remedies for these abuses, was issued on Monday. The Com- missioners, who are unanimous, state, to begin with, that certain of the practices named in the Report which are plainly "signifi- cant of teaching repugnant to the doctrine of the Church of England, and certainly illegal, should be promptly made to cease by the exercise of the authority belonging to the Bishops, and, if necessary, by proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Courts." These practices, says the Report, are the interpolation of the prayers and ceremonies belonging to the Canon of the Mass; the use of the words "Behold the Lamb of God," accompanied by the exhibition of a consecrated wafer or bread; reservation of the Sacrament under conditions which lead to its adoration ; Mass of the Pr-sanctified; Corpus Christi processions with the Sacrament; Benediction with the Sacrament ; celebration of the Holy Eucharist with the intent that there shall be no communicant except the celebrant; hymns, prayers, and devotions involving invocation of or confession to the Blessed Virgin Mary or the Saints ; the observance of the festivals of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Sacred Heart; the veneration of images and roods. Such practices are (1) clearly incon- sistent with and subversive of the teaching of the Church of England ; (2) are illegal ; and (3) their illegality cannot be held to be affected by any view taken of the Constitutional character of the Judicial Committee.
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