A rather foolish memorial has been presented from certain laymen
to the Archbishop of Canterbury, no doubt originated by Lord Shaftesbury, but signed by some very powerful Peers,. the Dukes of Portland, Westminster, Abereorn, and others, the object of which is to "protest against the toleration within the Church of England of any doctrines or practices which favour. the restoration of the Romish Mass, or any colourable imitation thereof." Of. .such a memorial, one can only say that its strength lies in its vagueness. If it means to. ask that all that portion of our present Liturgy and. Rubrics which favour doctrines or practices in any way allied. to those of Rome should be erased, and others of a strictly Protestant character substituted, it should say so, and confess. that it wants to pull the Church to pieces. But if it only means to say that no change in the present Liturgy or Rubries. favourable to 'Rome should be made, the answer is that no one has asked for anything of the kind. All that has been asked. for is, that where congregations prefer a different ritual well within the meaning of our Rubrics, to the ordinary ritual, they should be- allowed by Church law to have it, just as they are already per- mitted, if they will, to hear doctrines preached to them which, are certainly much nearer to the prohibited line than the most
Ritualistic ritual has ever been shown to be. •
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