THE ARCHDEACON OF LIVERPOOL 365
of the Church of England nearer to Rome. You perhaps recall the circumstances of the case which elicited that decision. It was that of the Bishop of Lincoln, who, it transpired, preached in a certain church where Ritualistic proceedings were indulged in. As a result action was taken against him. The question arose whether the Archbishop should try the case or not. Dr Benson, how ever, did investigate the charges, including the Eastward position, the introduction of the Agnus Dei, the Sign of the Cross, etc. The Archbishop somehow arrived at the decision that all these things were, more or less, lawful on certain con ditions. Lights, if not lighted during the service ; mixed chalice, if done in the vestry ; ablutions, if after the service concluded, etc. Much dissatisfac tion was aroused thereby, and the case was taken to the Privy Council, which, by a small majority, practically endorsed all Archbishop Benson s decisions save that on lights. On these they pronounced no judgment, because the Bishop was not responsible, but the vicar of the church. You may make this plain, that the Church Associa tion has, during its existence, at considerable cost, obtained the condemnation, by the highest eccle siastical courts, of more than sixty ceremonies and practices symbolical of Romish doctrines, illegally introduced by the Ritualists into the ser vices of our Reformed Church. There has never been any desire for the imprisonment of clergy-
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