THE CASE OF ST. RAPHAEL'S, BRISTOL
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—The letter of " M. A." will not, I think, prevent many of your readers from agreeing with' you in thinking that the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol might have found some better way of dealing with Mr. Ward, than by bringing his work to an end. It would have been more to the credit of the Bishop, if his course of action throughout this case had been different. The following facts should not be lost sight of :— In all his correspondence with Mr. Ward prior to the with- drawal of the licence, the Bishop very clearly implied that if Mr. Wardwould cease from certain ritualistic practices his licence would not be withdrawn. But in his answer to the representatives of the congregation of St. Raphael's, he justifies his conduct by the statement that he knew that Mr. Ward practised reservation, &c. It is therefore evident either that the Bishop would have per- mitted the reservation, of which he was aware, to be continued, if Mr. Ward would have consented to give up the use of vest- ments and some other points of ritual ; or else that the reasons given by his Lordship for the withdrawal of the licence were not his real reasons ; and that when he gave Mr. Ward to under- stand that he might retain his licence on condition of compliance with his monition, he did not mean what his words plainly
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