Judgment has been delivered in the ecclesiastical prosecution of Archdeacon
Denison at the snit of the Reverend Mr. Ditcher. The charge was, briefly, that Mr. Denison preached the doctrine that there is a real presence in the consecrated elements of the eueharist, which is communicated to the recipient, worthy or un- worthy ; this doctrine being repugnant to the 28th and 29th of the Thirty-nine Articles. The defence was based upon the ar- gmnent of Mr. Denison, and upon divers texts of Scripture ; coupled with the facts, that such interpretations have been sanc- tioned by very eminent writers of the Church, and that consider- able latitude of interpretation is confessedly allowed. Neverthe- less, Dr. Lushington, in the name of the Archbishop of Canter- bury, pronounced a judgment sustaining the charge. He re- marked that the Thirty-nine Articles are appointed by the Legis- lature as the tests of a clergyman's accordance with the Church of England ; and that a clergyman cannot go back from the Ar- ticles and in a single sermon set against them disputed passages of Scripture. Sentence, however, is suspended for three months ; giving to Mr. Denison an opportunity of recanting. Not of ap- pealing ; for no sentence has been pronounced. There appeared to be no alternative for the Ecclesiastical Court, viewing the sub- ject in a purely legal light ; and yet it is felt that the prosecu- tion and the judgment may entail very disagreeable if not peril- ous conflicts upon the Established Church.
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