In the Times of Saturday last is published a letter
from Canon Gore on "Lawlessness in the Church" which, in our opinion, should go far to settle the present difficulties. Not only is its whole tenour wise and restrained, but it breathes the true spirit of comprehension,—the spirit which has always belonged, as of right, to the Church of England, and has in the main always been preserved by her. The letter is too long to quote whole and too concise to be satisfactorily com- pressed, but we may note two passages of special moment, "Almost all of us desire," says Canon Gore, "that the two great historical parties in the Church of England—High Churchmen and Low Churchmen—should be able to live in peace side by side on the basis of a common Creed and a common Prayer-Book, making whatever relative progress they are able to make by purely moral and intellectual forces." Canon Gore goes on to declare that "every layman has a right in every church to find the same services intelligibly and completely rendered, and not to have prayers or devotions of the source of which he may know nothing thrust upon him in the public services." At the same time omissions or additions will sometimes be necessary, and the power to authorise these may safely be left to the Bishops. "We must abide," ends Canon Gore, "by the Prayer-Book as our basis of unity, and that, thank God, will allow us plenty of room for liberty." If Canon Gore truly represents the High Church party, a settle- ment in the spirit of his letter should prove an easy task.
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