Untitled - Electric Scotland

1 863-68] A QUESTION OF CEREMONIAL 529
is not entirely that of taking possession of the Metropolitical
dignity, and whether the part assigned in this second enthroning
to the Archdeacon of Canterbury, does belong to some officer of
the Provincial College, having been given to the Archdeacon in
days when the whole thing was done without ceremonial, no
Bishop being present, and the smallest number of deputies
employed, and, therefore, the Archdeacon appearing in more than
one capacity. It is no easy matter to disentomb a mediaeval
ceremonial without making great mistakes, and it is rather im
portant that when the Bishops of the Province are summoned to
be present on a State occasion, they should not be ignored in
their official capacity. Probably the so-called attendant Bishops
may be a mixture of Bishops from York, the Colonies, and Scotland,
the Provincial College and its officers being quite another matter.
"You will be amused at my new-born zeal in such matters,
but if a thing is to be done, it ought to be done properly. Ever
yours,
A. C. LONDON."
In the end, within a few hours of the ceremonial, the
programme was re-issued in an amended form, and the
Provincial Dean took his anciently appointed place.
The popular dislike in those years of anything ap
proaching to Ritualism led to many irregular attempts
being made, especially in suburban parishes, to open a
rival place of worship, where the old-fashioned doctrine
and ritual should be retained, and the Bishop had many
extremely troublesome quarrels of this kind to deal with,
the dissentients sometimes including the bulk of the former
congregation of the parent church. A single example
of the advice he gave in such cases will be enough. The
letter is written to the vicar of a suburban parish who
had applied to him for counsel :
The Bishop of London to the Rev. -.
"LONDON HOUSE, S.W., 6th March 1865.
"
-
MY DEAR MR. -, Much business and the difficulty of
the subject have made me delay longer than I could have wished
my answer to your recent letter.
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