THE CRISIS IN THE CHURCH
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] cannot believe that those who are now protesting against the Prayer Book in your columns accurately represent average lay opinion. The laity as a whole have reverence for and trust in their Bishops. In the great majority of instances; when individual laymen come in contact with their Bishopfi they find them to be men, not only of ability, but also of great fairness• and reasonableness.
We knOw that the present Bench of Bishops includes men of every conceivable schOol of thought within the Church of England:- We know' that they have been appointed by such Prime Ministers as Lord Balfour, Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman, Lord Oxford, Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, and Mr. Baldwin—none of whom has evei b-een suspected of desiring to pack the Bench with " Romanizers," and all of whom must be considered to have appointed' whom they considered the best men. We find that this Episcopate, by thirty-five to four, have told us that they regard the acceptance of the Composite Book as essential to the peace and health of the Church. We have their assurance, reiterated by both Archbishops, that the acceptance of the Book involves no doctrinal change in the Church.
We find furthermore that this opinion is endorsed by an overwhelming majority of eight to one in the two Lower Houses of the Convocations—again very representative of all sections of the Church. No one who has any knowledge of the Bishops and Clergy in Convocation can identify them as a body with the school known as Anglo-Catholics—indeed, the minority was largely composed of extreme Anglo-Catholics. In fact, this very significant vote comes from those who are in the most intimate touch with the needs of the Church in every part of the country, and whose one object is to increase the efficiency and well-being of the Church.
Such a verdict must have the greatest weight with all reasonable laymen. I am sure that most laymen will feel that those whom we have every reason to trust have spoken with an emphasis which it is impossible to ignore. If we cannot give our Bishops and clergy sufficient confidence to enable us to accept a Book so recommended, it is time we abolished those Orders altogether.—I am, Sir, &c., WOLMER. 3 Chester Gate, Regent's Park, London, N.W .1.
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