THE CHASUBLE.
[TO THE EDITOR 07 THE "SPECTITOR."1
SIR,—The objection to the alternate use of the chasuble would speedily cease if, as Canon Cowley-Brown suggests in your last issue, the fact that it does not involve doctrine were stated on authority. But the simple chasuble involves the alb with a girdle, the maniple and tunicle, the variously coloured stole, and has a close connexion with the ceremonial mixing of wine and water, the elaborate cleansing of the sacred vessels, the " lavabo," the " In principio," the constant genuflexion, and there is a constant temptation in the sup- posed interests of Catholicism to approach more and more closely to the Roman ritual. The biretta and the use of incense are probably habitual in some churches. There is no remedy for the parishioner if the rector or vicar adopts these usages, and as he is often an excellent man and a good parish priest, all they can do is to summon up all their equanimity a Id for the sake of peace submit. One of these ceremonies, the mingling of wine and water, was distinctly declared un- lawful in the Lincoln judgment; but if the authority of the
Court can be disputed disobedience becomes a duty, and there is no penalty to be apprehended. The Bishop has no authority, and prosecutions for ritualism are in abeyance. A mere permission to use the chasuble, if that were the only vestment sanctioned, would not satisfy the ritualists. The word " catholic " furnishes an answer to all objections.—I am,
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