PARTIES IN THE CHURCH
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—With reference to the discussions about party con- troversies in the Church of England, may I point out that such disputes are the reverse of representative of the general life of the Church ? It is inevitable that mistakes or errors of judgment should occur among the 80,000 churches in England ; and it is, of course, the business of the Press to report matters that are out of the normal. In a similar way, a case of wife- beating is naturally reported, while the far more numerous cases of conjugal affection do not get into the papers.
Throughout the vast majority of parishes,* England the clergy are loyally carrying out. their duties in accordance with the Prayer Book, and have the cordial support of their parishioners in so doing.
Much is sometimes said about alleged " Romeward " ten- dencies of certain clergymen. May I suggest that it is only a small body, and that body by no means in a leading position as regards learning, about which such complaints can be made with any plausibility ? Also it may be worth mentioning that it is a mistake to feel alarm about a supposed great advance of the Roman 'Catholic Church in England. It is true that active proselytizing efforts are made all over the country, and that certain people join the Church of Rome, just as others leave it and join the Church of England or other Churches. The fact, however, seems well established that the Roman Catholic Church in England does not increase in numbers in proportion to the general population, but that its ratio thereto remains as it was about 100 years ago.—! am,
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