MODERN DECISIONS ON RITUAL AND KINDRED SUBJECTS. BY GEORGE JOHN TALBOT, M.A. OF THE INNER TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW; LATE FELLOW OF ALL SOULS' COLLEGE, OXFORD. STANFORD LIBRARY LONDON: WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS, LIMITED, 27, FLEET STREET. 1894. PREFACE. THE following pages profess to give some account of the principal judicial decisions which have been pronounced during the last fifty years upon questions relating to the rites, ceremonies, ornaments, and decorations of the Church of England. These questions have arisen as a result of the movement begun at Oxford in the early part of the fourth decade of this century, which had for its primary object the revival of Catholic doctrine and practice in the Church. The movement appealed to antiquity, and many of those who took part in it naturally desired, along with ancient doctrine and ancient practice, to restore as much as possible of the beauty and symbolism of ancient worship and decoration. How far such a restoration was compatible with the Law of the Church as declared in her authoritative formularies, has been the question agitated in each of the cases which are the subject of this book. And when it is considered that for the decision of this question it has been usually necessary to ascertain the construction of documents two or three hundred years old, many of which had wholly or in part been for many years neglected or forgotten, and further, that on both sides the changes sought to be introduced were (rightly or wrongly) associated with doctrines deemed to be of vital importance, neither the variance of judicial opinion which has been manifested, nor the ardour with which litigation has been pursued, will excite much surprise. The difficulties attending the discussion of these matters have been further greatly increased by controversies respecting the authority and constitution of the Courts before which they have been brought. With these controversies (which in great measure deal with topics rather constitutional than legal) this book does not concern itself. Neither does it make any pretence to be a general treatise on the subjects with which it deals its aim is merely to describe the decisions which have in fact been pronounced upon them, with such short explanations and comments as seem desirable in order to enable the reader to appreciate the points at issue. The plan adopted has been to go through the various questions which have been litigated, and to consider under each the decisions which have been pronounced upon it. The purport of those decisions has been fully explained, and abstracts of all the principal judgments given, so that it is hoped that the book may supply to those who have not easy access to a law library an accurate summary of cases, the full reports of which are dispersed over many volumes. With a like object the material passages of the chief documents referred to have been extracted and given in full. The cases treated of form a somewhat interesting chapter in the judicial history of the country; but more especially, it seems that in the confusion which now. surrounds these questions anything which diffuses accurate knowledge of what has actually been decided upon them is likely to be of some value. To promote such knowledge is the object of this little book, and I venture to hope that it has been pursued at any rate honestly and carefully. TEMPLE, Nov. 1893. G. J. T. |