Page:Hints towards peace in ceremonial matters.djvu/9

 HE increased appreciation of ceremonial and art in the worship of the English Church within the last forty years is intimately connected with the higher tone of spiritual life, more thorough grasp of dogma, and wider munificence in giving to sacred purposes also characteristic of the period. Within due limits, therefore, it deserves all praise and encouragement. We must, however, own that it has, in various cases, transcended both the allowable licence of the Church of England and the counsels of prudence and charity, and has therefore provoked retaliation. Nor can we deny that, alongside of this growing taste for art and ceremonial, the older spirit of Puritan simplicity has strongly asserted itself in many directions. The collision of these two principles has resulted in a series of vexatious lawsuits, all originating with the anti-ceremonial party, and variously successful either way—the upshot being a condition of Church law which may well be termed chaotic. The latest of these suits which has been adjudicated on is the recent one of the Exeter reredos, and two more are now pending. No suit has, during the same period,