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 Cornell University Library 
 BX5110.H72 R96 
 
 Saint Alban the Martyr. Holborn : a hist 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 445 123 
 
B Cornell University 
 fj Library 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029445123 
 
SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 HOLBORN 
 
ALEXANDER HERIOT MACKONOCHIE 
 
 From a Painting b\ 
 Adolphtis Venables 
 
SAINT ALBAN THE 
 MARTYR, HOLBORN 
 
 A HISTORY OF FIFTY YEARS 
 
 BY 
 
 THE RIGHT HON- 
 
 GEORGE W. E. RUSSELL 
 
 "Founded upon a Rock, but planted in the sea." 
 
 Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 THE YOUNG CHURCHMAN COMPANY 
 MILWAUKEE, WIS. 
 
l^A.r. 
 
 7 6 3| 
 
 Printed by Ballantyne> HansOn &* Co. 
 At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh 
 
 
 
TO 
 THE REVEREND 
 
 ROBERT A. J. SUCKLING 
 
 VICAR OF ST. ALBAN'S 
 
 WITH DEEP RESPECT FOR HIS NAME 
 HIS CHARACTER AND HIS WORK 
 
NOTE 
 
 This work was undertaken at the suggestion of 
 some who have long known and loved St. Alban's. 
 It has not been accomplished without difficulty ; 
 for, in the lapse of even fifty years, there is time 
 for traditions to die out, and for recollection to 
 grow vague. As regards printed authorities, I have 
 relied chiefly on Alexander Heriot Mackonochie : a 
 Memoir by E. A. T. ; The Church in Baldwin's 
 Gardens; the Life of Archbishop Tail; the &t. 
 Alban's Parish Magazine and Monthly Paper ; and 
 the Church Times. 
 
 My cordial thanks are due to all those friends of 
 St. Alban's who have placed letters and records at 
 my disposal- — more especially to the representatives 
 of the late Lord Addington, and to the present 
 clergy and officials of the Parish. 
 
 G. W. E. R. 
 
 St. Michael a?id All Angels, 1912. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. 
 
 Beginnings .... 
 
 - 
 
 
 PAGE 
 I 
 
 II. 
 
 The Shepherd and the Flock 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 III. 
 
 At Work 
 
 
 
 41 
 
 IV. 
 
 Law v. Gospel 
 
 
 
 m, 
 
 V. 
 
 Men and Methods . 
 
 
 
 99 
 
 VI. 
 
 Fathers in God 
 
 
 
 123 
 
 VII. 
 
 Fightings and Fears 
 
 
 
 138 
 
 VIII. 
 
 A Lull in the Storm . 
 
 
 
 164 
 
 IX. 
 
 The Return of the Storm . 
 
 
 
 180 
 
 X. 
 
 Continuity .... 
 
 
 
 201 
 
 XI. 
 
 Peace and Progress 
 
 
 
 221 
 
 XII. 
 
 Personality 
 
 
 
 243 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Source and the Stream 
 
 
 
 271 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Retrospect .... 
 
 
 
 289 
 
 XV. 
 
 Permanence amid Change 
 
 
 
 310 
 
 Appendix I. — Clergy and Churchwardens of St 
 
 
 Alban's, with Dates of Appointment 
 
 325 
 
 Appendix II. — " The Battle-ground of Ritualism ' 
 
 326 
 
 Appendix III. — Parochial Organizations 
 
 330 
 
 Appendix IV. — St. Martin's League 
 
 336 
 
 Appendix V. — Confession at St. Alban's 
 
 347 
 
 Index 
 
 
 
 351 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Alexander Heriot Mackonochie (Colour) Frontispiece 
 
 Baldwin Pedigree To face p. 12 
 
 Mission Room in Cellar, Greville Street 
 
 (Jrom a drawing by W. Walcot) . . „ 24 
 
 East End of Church, 1863 . . . „ 86 
 
 The Clergy House, Brooke Street (from 
 
 a drawing by y^ . Walcot) ... „ 164 
 
 Lord Penzance's Court (jrom a sketch by 
 
 W. Mallett) 
 
 Memorial Cross in Mamore Forest 
 The Faithful Dogs (jrom a drawing by 
 
 Selwyn Image) 
 
 Cenotaph in Mackonochie Chapel 
 Interior of Mackonochie Chapel . 
 East End, with Rood .... 
 West End, with Font and Cover . 
 Reredos and Sanctuary .... 
 Shrine in Courtyard (after Luca della 
 
 Robbia) 
 
 Map of the Original Parish . 
 
 I> 
 
 208 
 
 )1 
 
 216 
 
 On p. 
 
 220 
 
 To face p. 
 
 220 
 
 ]i 
 
 221 
 
 1) 
 
 224 
 
 )) 
 
 240 
 
 11 
 
 308 
 
 )» 
 
 324 
 
 At end 
 
SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 HOLBORN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BEGINNINGS 
 
 " Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit 
 whence ye are digged." — Isaiah. 
 
 The origin of St. Alban's Church is inseparably 
 connected with three names. I can best begin my 
 narrative by describing the bearers of those names, 
 and recording the circumstances which brought them 
 into contact with one another. 
 
 (i) William Henry, 2nd Lord Leigh (1824- 
 1905) was a fine specimen of the class to which he 
 belonged ; a great gentleman in speech and bearing ; 
 a high-minded, upright, and conscientious man, 
 with a strong sense of responsibility for wealth and 
 position. He had inherited from his great-grand- 
 mother — Lady Caroline Brydges, sister and co- 
 heiress of the last Duke of Chandos — a valuable 
 property in the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn ; 
 and part of this property — Baldwin's Gardens, 
 lying just off Gray's Inn Lane — was notorious, even 
 in a deplorable neighbourhood, for the amount of 
 poverty and crime which it harboured. Like all 
 similar property, it had been let and sublet, and 
 
2 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Lord Leigh had no personal knowledge of its 
 condition. 
 
 (2) John Gellibrand Hubbard (1805-18 89), 
 created Lord Addington in 1887, was head of 
 the firm of Hubbard & Co., Russia Merchants in 
 the City of London ; a Director, and sometime 
 Governor, of the Bank of England ; and M.P. 
 successively for the Borough of Buckingham and 
 for the City of London. He was, by birth and 
 training, a churchman of the old school, and took 
 his views of churchmanship from the Prayer Book. 
 He was not directly affected by the Oxford Move- 
 ment ; but he was a staunch ally of Bishop Wilber- 
 force, and was closely associated in good works 
 with Gladstone, Manning, Hope-Scott, Beresford- 
 Hope, and Lord John Manners, afterwards 7th Duke 
 of Rutland. He had no sympathy with Romanizing 
 eccentricities in doctrine or practice ; but he was a 
 most munificent supporter of all religious works 
 conducted on the lines of strict Anglicanism. 
 
 (3) Alexander Heriot Mackonochie (1825-87) 
 was a Scotsman by descent, though born in England 
 and educated at Oxford. He was ordained Deacon 
 in 1849 and Priest in 1850; and, after serving 
 curacies at Westbury and Wantage, he joined the 
 staff of St. George's in the East, under the incum- 
 bency of the Rev. Bryan King ; being attached to the 
 Mission Church in Wellclose Square, which was 
 the forerunner of St. Peter's, London Docks. 
 
 Mackonochie was a man of absolute self-devotion, 
 untiring energy, and invincible will. In 1859 St. 
 George's in the East became the scene of some 
 disgraceful riots, due nominally to the Rector's 
 ritualistic practices, but, according to the late Mr. 
 
A RUMOUR 3 
 
 J. M. Ludlow, "largely stimulated by the Jewish 
 sweaters, whose proceedings Mr. Bryan King's 
 curates, Messrs. Mackonochie and Lowder, had the 
 unheard-of temerity to denounce and interfere with." 
 Amid these disturbances, Mackonochie displayed a 
 signal courage, and an even more remarkable calm- 
 ness ; and these qualities, superadded to his pastoral 
 zeal, attracted the attention of Mr. Hubbard, who, 
 like every other churchman in London, was watching 
 the scandals at St. George's in the East with anxious 
 interest. 
 
 So much for the three persons most closely con- 
 nected with the beginnings of St. Alban's. Let me 
 now recount the circumstances which brought them 
 together. 
 
 In the year 1858, the large and densely-populated 
 parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn, was still undivided, 
 and the Rector was theRev. Jonathan JamesToogood. 
 One day Mr. Toogood's curate informed him that 
 there was a rumour flying about the parish, to the 
 effect that Mr. Hubbard thought of building a 
 District-Church there. " I don't believe it," said 
 the Rector, " and what's more, he can't do it ; there 
 is no site available." 
 
 Soon after this, the Rector met Mr. Hubbard, and 
 sgid : " Do you know, I hear you have expressed 
 a wish to build a church in Holborn ? " Mr. 
 Hubbard did not admit the soft impeachment, but 
 the Rector went on : "I don't see how you could 
 do it if you wished to. Every inch of suitable ground 
 is occupied." This remark led to some further con- 
 versation about the overcrowded poor of Holborn, 
 and their spiritual destitution ; and, before the 
 
4 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Rector and his friend separated, Mr. Hubbard said 
 that, if only a site could be found, he would build 
 a church in the parish. Only a few days later, Mr. 
 Toogood received a letter from Lord Leigh, with 
 whom he had no acquaintance, enclosing a cheque 
 for £,20 for the poor of Holborn. In acknowledg- 
 ing the gift, Mr. Toogood said that, as Lord Leigh 
 seemed to be interested in Holborn, he might like to 
 hear that Mr. Hubbard, the ex-Governor of the 
 Bank of England, intended to build a church in the 
 parish, if only a site could be secured. Lord Leigh 
 promptly replied that he would give a site on his 
 estate ; and so the work began. The Rev. Adam 
 Clarke Smith, at that time Senior Curate to Mr. 
 Toogood, gave the following account of the pre- 
 liminary negotiations : " When we came to examine 
 the site, we found that it lay back of the frontage 
 of shops in Gray's Inn Lane, and that the only access 
 was by Baldwin's Gardens ; it was therefore deter- 
 mined to try and purchase a portion of the frontage, 
 otherwise the church would be entirely shut in from 
 the road. I got access to the rate-books ; I ob- 
 tained the names of the owners of this frontage, 
 and went to each of them to know the price at 
 which they would sell." However, the prices asked 
 were too extortionate, and the new church was 
 placed in the middle of houses and factories which 
 wholly concealed it from view.-' 
 
 The business connected with the building of the 
 new church, and the delimitation of the new parish, 
 brought Mr. Toogood into personal relations with 
 Lord Leigh, and Lord Leigh first met Mr. Hubbard 
 in Mr. Toogood's study. " Things," said Lord 
 * See p. 35, 
 
SYBIL 5 
 
 Leigh in after-years, "work out strangely. I'll tell 
 you what a small incident led to my share in the 
 work. I was reading Disraeli's Sybil, and a passage 
 on the latent responsibility of rich owners to the 
 needs of the poor touched me as I read it; and 
 knowing that I had inherited some property in 
 Holborn, I sat down on the spur of the moment, 
 and sent a cheque for £20 for some use amongst 
 the poor of the parish. The rest you know." 
 
 The church and its endowment being promised,^ 
 the site given, and all requisite consents obtained, it 
 now became necessary to determine the area of the 
 new parish. This was eventually done by detaching 
 from the mother-parish of St. Andrew's an irregular 
 parallelogram, bounded by Holborn, Leather Lane, 
 Gray's Inn Road, and Clerkenwell Road, and erecting 
 the space thus enclosed into a new ecclesiastical 
 district. Its extent was 500 yards by 200, and it 
 contained some 8000 souls. Though sunk in 
 squalor, the place was rich in historical interest, and 
 the local annals were precise and unbroken. 
 
 Holborn was originally known as Holeburnstrate, 
 and obtained its name from the Holeburn, or 
 Hollow-burn, once a swiftly running stream which 
 started from Ken- Wood in Highgate and emptied 
 itself into that creek or backwater of the Thames 
 mediaevally known as The Fleet. This burn was 
 afterwards known as Turnmill Brook, and, much 
 attenuated, it still flows through a bricked-in 
 channel under Farringdon Road. 
 
 ^ Mr. Hubbard gave the church and its furniture, the use of the 
 Clergy House, ;^5ooo in the 3 per cents., and ;^ioo a year for each 
 of two Curates. The grant for the Curates was discontinued in 
 1881. 
 
6 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Leather Lane is a name corrupted from' Le 
 Veroune Lane {anglici, the Round Lane), by which 
 designation it was known in the thirteenth century. 
 Disguised at first in the form of Liveroune Lane, 
 the name afterwards became quite lost in that of 
 Liver Lane, which in turn was corrupted into 
 Leather Lane. But there is nothing to show that 
 the lane was ever connected with the leather- 
 merchants or their business. For centuries it was 
 bounded on the east, throughout its whole length, 
 by the grounds belonging to the palace of the 
 Bishops of Ely, whilst its western side was 
 mostly laid out in gardens. But in the thirteenth 
 and fourteenth centuries It was the only road, 
 other than that by Holborn and Cow Lane, that 
 led round to Clerkenwell. 
 
 Gray's Inn Road is quite a modern name, though 
 for three centuries, and until it was recently widened, 
 it was known as Gray's Inn Lane. In the thirteenth 
 and fourteenth centuries, however, it was known 
 only as Portpole Lane. The name Portpole is said 
 to mean " Market Pool," an ancient market having 
 been situated at Holborn Bars, and afterwards 
 removed to Brooke Market and Leather Lane. 
 
 Clerkenwell Road, or that part of it which 
 forms the northern boundary of St. Alban's parish, 
 was in the eighteenth century known as LIquorpond 
 Street, possibly because two very large breweries 
 were then situated upon its south side. This street 
 probably had no existence earlier than the days of 
 the Stuarts. Where Leather Lane now meets 
 Clerkenwell Road there once stood a windmill, and 
 the high ground which formed its site was for a 
 long period known as Windmill Hill. But in 
 
BALDWIN'S GARDENS 7 
 
 Edward Ill's reign it was known as " le Hanging," 
 and in Tudor times as " the Hanging Acre," a 
 name which suggests a gibbet and public executions.-' 
 
 At the beginning of the seventeenth century there 
 stood in Holborn a mansion belonging to William 
 Bourchier, Earl of Bath, with lands stretching to 
 Leather Lane, at the back of Furnival's Inn. In 
 1 6 1 9 this mansion was bought by Sir Fulke Greville, 
 afterwards Lord Brooke of Beaucharap's Court, who 
 changed its name to Brooke House, made it his 
 abode, and in 1628 was murdered in it by a servant 
 who committed suicide. The house was destroyed 
 in 1 690, and a hundred years later the property was 
 sold by the Earl of Warwick, then head of the 
 family of Greville. The gardens of Brooke House 
 are now covered by Brooke Street, Greville Street, 
 Market Street, and Beauchamp Street.^ The house 
 itself seems to have stood at what is now the 
 entrance to Brooke Street. Malcolm's Londinium 
 Redivivum (1803) has this quaint note : 
 
 "The residence of the ancient family of Brooke 
 was situated at the corner of Brooke Street and 
 Holborn, where the name is still used to point out 
 the extensive warehouses of Mr. Oldham, whose 
 assortment of every description of ironmongery is 
 very great indeed." 
 
 Where the new parish of St. Alban's abutted on 
 Gray's Inn Lane (as it was then called) lay " Bald- 
 win's Gardens," which according to tradition were 
 laid out by Richard Baldwin, sometime gardener to 
 Queen Elizabeth. Some vague rights of " Sanctu- 
 ary," though not recognized by the law, seem to 
 
 * For these particulars I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. 
 E. Williams. 
 '^ Thomas Chatterton died in Brooke Street, August 25, 1770. 
 
8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 have attached to the spot, for "Baldwin's Gardens" 
 is specified, among the places to be abolished, in 
 the Act of Parliament passed in 1697 " for the pre- 
 venting the many and notorious and scandalous 
 practices used in many pretended and privileged 
 places in and about the Cities of London and West- 
 minster and the Borough of Southwark." By this 
 time Baldwin's Gardens had become a choice 
 abode of lawlessness and ruffianism. Some trace of 
 lingering respectability seems to be implied in the 
 record that, in 1643, "Jane Smitheys, an antient 
 lady, wife of Sir Arthur Smitheys, Knight, died in 
 William Smith's house in Baldwin's Gardens " ; and 
 in 1748 Richard White, of Baldwin's Gardens, left 
 ;^5oo for almshouses ; but the chronicler remarks 
 that to " the east side of Gray's Inn Lane there 
 is a crowded neighbourhood of the most filthy 
 description " ; and of this district Baldwin's Gardens 
 was the centre. It formed a very convenient 
 refuge for criminals, as it was connected by 
 narrow alleys with a network of courts, and con- 
 tained several Common Lodging-houses of the lowest 
 type. In its purlieus, the Cato Street Conspiracy 
 of 1820 was hatched; and the precise site of St. 
 Alban's Church was a notorious Thieves' Kitchen. 
 That this ill-famed quarter was not allowed to sink 
 into absolute heathenism was due in great part to 
 the influence of a leading man among the Evangeli- 
 cals in the first half of the nineteenth century — the 
 Honourable and Reverend Baptist Wriothesley Noel, 
 who was Incumbent of a Proprietary Chapel called 
 St. John's, Bedford Row. Mr. Noel, a most elo- 
 quent and moving preacher, gathered round him a 
 large and wealthy congregation, fruitful in good 
 
SITE 9 
 
 works. His District- Visitors went in and out 
 among the courts and alleys of Baldwin's Gardens, 
 and he maintained a first-rate school, which was 
 also the centre of many social activities, on the site 
 now occupied by the schools of St. Alban's. In 1 849, 
 Mr. Noel seceded from the Church of England, being 
 unable to endure her undue subordination to the 
 State.^ St. John's Chapel was closed in 1857, and 
 the good works which had been connected with it 
 came to an end; though the school remained, the 
 Secretary being Mr. John Martin, whose name 
 subsequently became conspicuous in the history of 
 St. Alban's. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Hubbard had made his brave 
 and generous resolve to evangelize this squalid 
 slum, he entrusted the task of building the new 
 church to his friend William Butterfield. The 
 work was full of difficulties. The site was so closely 
 hemmed in by the adjacent houses, that it was ex- 
 tremely hard to secure a proper entrance. If the 
 church was not to be quite dark, it must be carried 
 to an unusual height, and yet, inasmuch as the 
 east wall backed on some tall tenements, it was 
 impossible to make an east window. The east 
 wall was therefore adorned with ten large mural 
 paintings of sacred subjects, from designs by an 
 
 ' " His more than three score years and ten were dedicated, by 
 the day and by the hour, to a ministry not of mind, but of spirit. 
 His refined yet vigorous eloquence none who listened to it, but 
 for once, could forget; and having, in earliest youth, counted 
 birth and fortune and fashion but ' loss for Christ,' in later age, 
 at the bidding of the same conscience, he relinquished the church 
 which was his living and the pulpit which was his throne, because 
 he saw, or thought he saw, danger to Evangelical truth in State 
 alliance, and would go forth at the call of duty, he knew not and 
 he cared not whither."— C, J. Vaughan, D.D., 1873. 
 
10 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 artist of real genius, Mr. H. L. StylemanLe Strange, 
 of Hunstanton Hall, who had with his own hands 
 painted the " Lantern " of Ely Cathedral. A con- 
 temporary observer thus described the church : 
 
 " It possesses in a marked degree the usual 
 characteristics of Mr. Butterfield's designs. It con- 
 sists of western narthex, a kind of terminal transept, 
 of the same height as the nave, with south and 
 west doors, and bearing a picturesque saddle-backed 
 belfry. The west wall has no entrance, but is 
 pierced by two of the tallest and most beautiful 
 three-light geometrical windows that have perhaps 
 ever yet found their way into an English church. 
 The nave, of four bays, opens into the narthex by 
 an arch of the largest dimensions that could be 
 inserted between the walls. The chancel is of two 
 bays, and the nave-aisles are continued one bay 
 beyond the chancel-arch." A tablet over the south- 
 west door bears this inscription : 
 
 "To the 
 
 Glory of God and 
 
 In memory of Saint Alban Martyr 
 
 Upon a site given by 
 
 William Henry, 2nd Baron Leigh 
 
 This church is erected by 
 
 A Merchant of London." 
 
 Over the north-west door : 
 
 " Free for 
 
 Ever to Christ's poor this Church is built 
 
 And endowed in thankful 
 
 Acknowledgment of His mercies 
 
 By a Humble Steward of God's bounty." 
 
 An. Dni. 
 i860. 
 
INTERIOR 1 1 
 
 Red brick, then scarcely known in ecclesiastical 
 interiors, was freely used in the scheme of decora- 
 tion. Behind the altar was an extraordinarily ugly 
 reredos of stone and tiles, its centre being a lozenge- 
 shaped frame with a white marble cross in high 
 relief.^ A gorgeous triptych and a startling rood, 
 added in recent years, have greatly changed the 
 aspect of the east end ; but the rest of the church, 
 with its beautifully harmonious proportions, and its 
 unequalled arches, remains as it was. Perhaps by 
 accident, perhaps by design, the organ and the 
 vestries were so arranged, north and south of the 
 choir, as to make a side-altar impossible. 
 
 An interesting fragment of history was embedded 
 in the west wall. In 1850, when the Judicial 
 Committee of the Privy Council seemed, by its 
 decision in the case of the Rev. G. C. Gorham, to 
 imperil the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 two great meetings of protest were held in London, 
 — one in St. Martin's Hall, and one in Freemasons' 
 Hall. At the former Mr. Hubbard presided ; and 
 on account of this circumstance (for the chairman 
 of the other meeting soon seceded to Rome), the 
 written Protest, reaffirming the Nicene doctrine of 
 Baptism and repudiating the spiritual authority of 
 the Judicial Committee, was entrusted to Mr. 
 Hubbard's keeping. The document was drawn 
 mainly by Dr. Pusey, and was signed by a vast 
 number of clergy and laity. By Mr. Hubbard's 
 direction, the central portion of the inscription over 
 the font of St. Alban's — " I acknowledge one 
 
 ^ It is recorded that Bishop Tait "grumbled" at this cross, but 
 eventually let it pass. 
 
12 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Baptism for the remission of sins " — was left un- 
 fixed, and in the cavity behind it the tin box con- 
 taining the Protest was deposited, and then built 
 into the wall.^ 
 
 Such was the material fabric of St. Alban's 
 Church. The living stones which made it a spiritual 
 temple will be described as the narrative proceeds, 
 
 ^ The Protest was in after-years removed to the hbrary of 
 Lambeth Palace. 
 
 Archdeacon Denison wrote thus concerning the Gorham Judg- 
 ment : " I was present with my dear friend Lord John Thynne, 
 when it was declared, March 8, 1850. As we came down the 
 steps of the Council Office, I said to him, ' Well, what do you 
 think will come next?' He said, ' I suppose you mean something 
 about the other Sacrament ? ' ' Yes,' I said, ' and it will come 
 very soon ! ' I did not think, when I said it, that it would come 
 in my own person within four years from that day." 
 
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CHAPTER II 
 
 THE SHEPHERD AND THE FLOCK 
 
 "He fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them prudently 
 with all his power." — Asaph the Seer. 
 
 As Patron of St. Alban's, Mr. Hubbard soon began 
 to look about him for a priest, suited in all respects 
 for what promised to be a very arduous work. 
 He was deeply impressed by the responsibility 
 which he had incurred, the immense possibilities 
 for good involved in a right decision, and the evil 
 consequences, not only to the new parish but to 
 the church at large, which might result from an 
 unwise appointment. The two friends on whose 
 judgment he placed the greatest reliance were W. J. 
 Butler, then Vicar of Wantage,^ and H. P. Liddon, 
 then Vice-Principal of St. Edmund Hall. Both 
 concurred in strongly recommending Mackonochie. 
 He had served as a curate under Butler, and Liddon 
 had been one of his fellow-curates.^ From Wantage 
 he had gone to St. George's in the East, and there, 
 as I said before, he fell under the watchful eye of 
 Mr. Hubbard, who was deeply struck by his zeal 
 and devotion, though at the same time he demurred 
 to certain small ritualisms practised by the clergy 
 of St. George's. Mr. Hubbard now was in a strait 
 
 1 Afterwards Dean of Lincoln. 
 
 ' Liddon and Mackonochie were nicknamed at Wantage St. 
 John the Divine and St. John the Baptist. 
 
14 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 betwixt two; he saw that Mackonochie was by 
 his personal qualities admirably fitted for the charge 
 of the new church; but he felt a misgiving lest, 
 coming from a church where the ceremonial was, 
 according to the notions of those times, " ad- 
 vanced," he might exceed the limits which the 
 founder of St. Alban's deemed judicious. 
 
 The following letter bears on this perplexity : 
 
 Wantage Vicarage, Nov. 28, i860. 
 Dear Mr. Hubbard, — I quite agree with all 
 that you say respecting the folly of an unnatural 
 development of Church Ritual, and I look upon 
 the crossing oneself at meals to be exactly of that 
 description, but, in the particular case of Mac- 
 konochie (I speak pretty confidently), I feel sure 
 that (i) his merits are so great that they would 
 counterbalance many things ; and (2) he is quite 
 sensible enough not to offend. I was most anxious 
 that you should secure him before he went to St. 
 George's, and I did all in my power to persuade 
 him not to go thither. Being once there, he found 
 himself in a system to which of course he had no 
 personal objection, and, even if he had, he was not 
 in a position to alter it. But this is very different 
 from creating it, or carrying it on in a new locality. 
 I, therefore, exposing myself to the charge of giving 
 toujours perdrix, do still, after balancing the evils 
 on each side, strongly incline to recommend Mac- 
 konochie. — I am, yours very truly, 
 
 William Butler. 
 
 Now Hubbard on the one side, and Mackonochie 
 on the other, were busily consulting their friends 
 
NEGOTIATIONS 15 
 
 about questions of duty and prudence contingent on 
 an offer not yet made. Mackonochie's diocesan, 
 Bishop Wilberforce, decided that it would be right 
 for Mackonochie to accept the charge if it were 
 offered to him. Bishop Tait was unexpectedly 
 cordial about the suggested appointment. Mr. 
 Keble's judgment was invoked, and was strongly in 
 favour of Mackonochie. The venerable Sir John 
 Taylor Coleridge was not much disturbed by the 
 novelties which had distressed Hubbard ; while 
 Liddon, in season and out of season, implored 
 Hubbard to make the offer, and Mackonochie to 
 accept it. 
 
 A vast mass of correspondence bearing on these 
 perplexities has been preserved unto this day, and 
 from it two or three facts conspicuously emerge. 
 Mackonochie had not the slightest wish to leave the 
 Mission at St. George's in the East. His whole 
 heart and soul were there, and the outbreak of 
 Protestant fury had only bound him more closely to 
 the altar so rudely assailed. He had already de- 
 clined the Vicarage of St. Saviour's, Leeds, and he 
 had not the faintest ambition to be the first Incum- 
 bent of St. Alban's, Holborn. Mr. Hubbard, in 
 his meticulous care for the prosperity of the work 
 which he had so munificently started, was inclined 
 to treat Mackonochie as an enthusiast, whose eager- 
 ness about trifles would very easily carry him 
 beyond the bounds of discretion ; and he was 
 anxious to make all sorts of conditions and " under- 
 standings " before he appointed Mackonochie to the 
 living. Mackonochie, on the other hand, was 
 reluctant to enter into any engagements which 
 should bind him when he had become Incumbent of 
 
1 6 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 the parish. Pending the appointment, he was 
 willing to discuss with Mr. Hubbard the points on 
 which they disagreed ; to argue, and explain, and 
 defend his position. All this he was ready to do, 
 so long as he was not in a responsible position ; but 
 he would make no promises, and would be no party 
 to " understandings," which might fetter his action 
 if and when he became Priest of the parish. These 
 are his own words : " The point I kept before 
 myself, and as forcibly as I could pressed on others, 
 was that, when once a Priest was licensed to the 
 parish, and the church consecrated, the work would 
 be neither his nor Mr. Hubbard's, but God's. 
 With the priest, as God's steward, would rest the 
 responsibility, and therefore, with him alone, after 
 such security for sound judgments as he might be 
 able to take, must rest the decision for which he 
 alone would answer at the Judgment." 
 
 The following abstract, made with business-like 
 accuracy in Mr. Hubbard's own hand, gives a notion 
 of the length to which the correspondence ran, and 
 also illustrates the minuteness of the points which 
 fifty years ago sufficed to set good men by the ears : 
 
 1. iVo^'. 29/60. — Butler strongly recommends 
 
 Mackonochie. 
 
 2. March ^/6i. — Butler encloses Mackonochie's 
 
 letter to him, in which M. says he must 
 be absolutely unfettered in his work if 
 the church is offered him. Protests 
 against this or any other letter being 
 considered as a " pledge." Considers the 
 sign of the Cross and Vestments (in some 
 form) desirable — lighted Altar-candles, 
 
LIDDON ? 17 
 
 position of Celebrant essential. Ex- 
 presses his own sense of unfitness for the 
 work, fears that Hubbard's political 
 position might be affected if his (Mack- 
 onochie's) views or acts should be 
 clamoured at. Butler says M. will pro- 
 bably do not " half so much as his words 
 imply," that he has " unintentionally 
 exaggerated his angles." 
 
 [At this point I interrupt Mr. Hubbard's abstract, 
 in order to note that in July 1861 he offered the 
 living to Mr. Liddon. Both Dr. Pusey and Mr. 
 Keble advised Liddon to decline it, on the ground 
 that he was specially required to fight the good 
 fight of faith at Oxford, and Mr. Keble recom- 
 mended Mackonochie for the vacant post. On 
 Liddon's refusal, Mr. Hubbard renewed negotiations 
 with Mackonochie, and I here resume his abstract 
 
 3. Aug. 13/61. — Butler sends letter from Liddon, 
 
 suggesting that Mackonochie should write 
 again in a calmer mood on the subjects 
 of which he treated in the former letter. 
 Expresses Keble's hope M. should have 
 St. Alban's. Butler suggests that Liddon 
 should be written to. 
 
 4. Dec.^/6i. — Mackonochie, after personal inter- 
 
 view with me, writes to-day he cannot 
 retract anything in his former letter. 
 
 5. Dec. 10/61. — Mackonochie endorses Liddon's 
 
 advice that " Eucharistic vestments should 
 not be made a sine quS^ non,''' but repeats 
 (what he wrote to Butler) that a " Priest 
 
1 8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 ought to introduce Eucharistic Vest- 
 ments " ; that they are to be " the point 
 of Ritual aimed at." 
 
 6. Dec. 13/61. — Mackonochie says his line has 
 always been to consider Ritual as second- 
 ary to direct work for souls, though 
 valuable as assisting people to grasp the 
 Faith. Candles and chasubles not to be 
 an obstacle to the acceptance of Mission 
 work. 
 
 [I omit 7 and 8, which refer to the opinions of 
 Sir John Coleridge on Ritual.] 
 
 9. Dec. 18/61. — Mackonochie about "crossing"; 
 would consent for a time to suspend it, 
 " but unwilling to submit to any judg- 
 ment as to when to resume it." Proposes 
 a temporary agreement, but reserves to 
 himself the decision of length of period, 
 and actual degree of suspension of the 
 practice. 
 
 10. Dec. 21/61. — Mackonochie, after conversation 
 
 with Liddon, offers to forego the sign of 
 the Cross at table. 
 
 11. Dec. 21/61. — Liddon reports substance of con- 
 
 versation with Mackonochie — considers 
 position of Celebrant, cleansing of Vessels, 
 and Veils, important as signs of belief in 
 Real Presence. Altar-lights he considers 
 a legal point. Expresses his belief that 
 M. is the man to whom of all others he 
 would entrust souls. 
 
"A FALSE POSITION" 19 
 
 12. Dec. 24/61. — Liddon describes correct position 
 
 of Celebrant ; desire to hasten a practical 
 issue to the suspense about Mackonochie, 
 
 13. Dff. 27/61. — Liddon writes that Mackonochie 
 
 says he can no longer continue this cor- 
 respondence about details, that he cannot 
 take a Church hampered by conditions, 
 that the decision should be on the broad 
 ground of confidence in his loyalty to 
 the Church, and the possession of prudence 
 as well as zeal. 
 
 [This letter of Liddon's, together with the two that 
 follow it, must be printed in their entirety, if the 
 disagreements between Hubbard and Mackonochie 
 are to be understood.] 
 
 I 
 
 Dec. 27, 1861. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Mackonochie writes to me that 
 he " cannot well continue this correspondence about 
 details." 
 
 " It puts me," he says, " in a false position, and is 
 calculated permanently to interfere with my future 
 opportunities of usefulness. If ever I become Incum- 
 bent of a Church, I shall give conscientious considera- 
 tion to all matters of practice and ritual. Beyond this 
 I can say nothing. It is agreed on all sides that I 
 could not take the Church hampered by conditions." 
 
 He is anxious that you should decide on the broad 
 ground of confidence in his loyalty to the Church 
 of England, and in his possessing the prudence as 
 well as zeal necessary to a post such as the Incum- 
 bency of St. Alban's. 
 
20 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 I can therefore say no more. I am very sorry 
 that this renewed negotiation has not been more 
 successful. Possibly the unyielding side of my 
 friend's character is allied to much in it which is 
 most precious and elevated : and I heartily wish that 
 the aesthetical points which he raised in his note to 
 Butler had never come into question. But I must 
 thus leave the matter in your hands, thanking you 
 for your enduring kindness and consideration. — 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 H. P. LiDDON. 
 
 11 
 
 Zth January, 1862. 
 
 Dear Mr. Mackonochie, — I was so anxious 
 you should not think me bent on exacting from you 
 pledges which you were indisposed to give, that, 
 having gratefully received your intimation that you 
 would disuse the personal crossing, I abstained from 
 persisting to you the points on which I first desire to 
 inform and assure my own mind. 
 
 I wrote, however, to Mr. Liddon, from whom 
 (and possibly from the Bishop of Salisbury) I 
 hoped to receive information which might assist 
 my own conclusions upon the points I submitted 
 to them. Mr. Liddon sent my letter on to you 
 with a view to hastening our understanding, but 
 it was not intended to be so used, and it failed to 
 accomplish his object, if I may judge from your reply 
 of 26th December which he communicated to me. 
 
 Let me assure you that I should much regret 
 your being put in " a false position which would 
 permanently interfere with your future usefulness " 
 — -and that I should have no wish to " hamper you 
 
THE OFFER MADE 21 
 
 with conditions" before I ask you to accept the 
 cure of St. Alban's. 
 
 You had once enumerated certain things as essen- 
 tials which did not seem so to me, but that statement 
 you have (as I understand) qualified or revoked, 
 and you express yourself willing to entertain the 
 consideration of what may be the wisest course to 
 pursue upon points which, being neither matters of 
 faith or essential discipline, may fairly be decided by 
 you after consultation and discussion with those whose 
 interest in the work, or whose age, experience, or 
 position might warrant their being consulted. 
 
 I need hardly say how deeply solicitous I feel that 
 I may act as a wise and faithful steward in a step 
 which may either bring to naught, or crown with 
 success, the results of years of anxious thought and 
 toil; but I have entire confidence in your devotion 
 and loyalty to the Church of Christ established in 
 this land, and I trust in the truth and wisdom of the 
 course you will pursue under that Divine guidance 
 which I am sure you will sincerely and humbly seek. 
 
 Will you then accept the charge of the new 
 Church and District of St. Alban's which I now 
 offer to you ? 
 
 Believe me, dear Mr. Mackonochie, — Yours 
 faithfully, 
 
 J. G. Hubbard. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Mission House, 44 Wellclose Square, 
 Jan. II, 1862. 
 
 My dear Mr. Hubbard, — You will wonder that 
 your kind letter of Wednesday has been so long 
 
22 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 unanswered. The delay has arisen from my absence 
 from home. I only received it on my return 
 to-day. 
 
 I have to thank you for many things, in the 
 course of the correspondence : but will only say 
 that I owe you more than I can say both for your 
 forbearance towards myself and for your persever- 
 ance in seeking to assure yourself that you might 
 safely commit to me the charge of the Church and 
 District of St. Alban's. I accept it most thankfully, 
 and (I hope) humbly. I believe that God's Will 
 is shown in the kindness with which you have 
 borne with me ; and, therefore, feel that I may 
 rightly hope for His help and guidance in fulfilling 
 the trust. 
 
 I shall most gladly talk over with you any 
 matter of detail — in fact, anything which you may 
 desire to discuss with me — and give to all you say 
 the value to which your " interest in the work," 
 your "age, experience, and position" — and, let me 
 add, your great love for Christ and His people — 
 "entitle you." 
 
 I have felt it my duty to express myself anta- 
 gonistically in all the preliminary negotiations, 
 because I desired not to move from the Mission 
 except under the Will of God. I may now say 
 that I am always glad to find laymen who will discuss 
 questions of practice, &c., in the Church. I thank 
 you much for your expression of confidence. I 
 value it because I believe that it is placed in God 
 and not in me. I must conclude by asking you 
 for that which I am sure that I have, and which is 
 more valuable than confidence — your prayers that 
 God will bless me in this new work to the good of 
 
THE OFFER ACCEPTED 23 
 
 souls and His great glory. Believe me, my dear 
 Mr. Hubbard, — Yours most truly, 
 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 It will probably be better for my work, both here 
 and there, that as few people as possible should be 
 told about my going to St. Alban's till I do go. 
 I would rather, as far as possible, be my own herald, 
 than be announced by the Record, et id genus omne. 
 
 [t4 and 15 relate to Letters II and III. The 
 abstract is now resumed.] 
 
 16. Jan. 16/62. — Liddon thanks me for instituting 
 
 (qu. appointing ?) Mackonochie, hopes M. 
 will feel the "moral obligation" under 
 which he is placed to me. Discusses 
 position of Celebrant. 
 
 17. Jan. 18/62. — Mackonochie tells me of his inter- 
 
 view with the Bishop, thanks me for the 
 terms in which I spoke to Bishop of the 
 understanding with which I asked him to 
 accept it, viz. " with the confidence that 
 he will carry out the work with the same 
 feeling with which I commit it to him, 
 with a hearty and loyal allegiance to the 
 Church of England, neglecting none of 
 the means of edification which she supplies 
 either in doctrine or Ritual — but using the 
 large liberty which she allows with a wise 
 discretion, keeping in view that the great 
 object for which the Church is founded is 
 the salvation of souls." 
 
 Mackonochie, having now definitely accepted 
 the charge of the new district, felt that he ought 
 
24 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 at once to begin work there. The church was not 
 yet consecrated, but the Clergy House was ready 
 for occupation, and there Mackonochie established 
 himself (with the Rev. Edmund Ibbotson) on the 
 Thursday in Easter Week, 1862. He was not 
 yet technically Incumbent, but only a licensed Curate 
 of St. Andrew's Parish. The first service, consisting 
 of a Litany and Instruction, was held on Sunday, 
 May II, in a room over a costermonger's fish- 
 shop, at the corner of Baldwin's Gardens ; and in 
 the following month the services were moved to 
 the basement of a house in Greville Street, where 
 a cellar had been converted into a chapel. There 
 was a simple altar, with cross, candlesticks, and 
 flowers ; the floor was covered with matting ; and 
 there were a few sacred pictures on the walls — only 
 this, and nothing more. But from the first the 
 Holy Communion was celebrated with lights, the 
 Priest wearing alb and chasuble of white linen, with 
 black stole and maniple.^ Here the services were 
 conducted for nine months, and from Whitsunday 
 1862 they consisted, on Sundays of Holy Com- 
 munion at 8 A.M. ; Mattins and Sermon at 10 a.m. ; 
 Litany and School at 3 ; Evensong at 7 ; with extra 
 services on Holy Days and other occasions. 
 
 December 1 862 was marked by one of the happiest 
 incidents in the history of St. Alban's. Mr. Arthur 
 Henry Stanton, who had already been working 
 as a layman in the district, was ordained Deacon 
 by the Bishop of London at his Advent Ordina- 
 tion, and licensed to the new parish. What his 
 fifty years' work at St. Alban's has meant for God 
 
 ' Mr. Hubbard presented a similar chasuble to St. Alban's 
 Church. 
 
CASSOCKS 25 
 
 and human souls can never be known till the books 
 are opened and the record of life is revealed. 
 
 All legal formalities being now completed, and 
 the District of St. Alban's duly constituted, the 
 Bishop of London instituted Mackonochie to his 
 new charge on the 3rd of January, 1863. 
 
 Scarcely was this all-important act performed than 
 fresh trouble arose, this time, as it would appear, 
 from the gossip of busybodies. Here I resume Mr. 
 Hubbard's abstract, omitting unimportant entries, 
 18 and 19. 
 
 20. Jan. Sl^2i- — Mackonochie, having heard from 
 Butler of my distress at some reports 
 which had reached me, explains his acci- 
 dental appearance twice in the street in a 
 cassock, asserts his devotion to Church 
 of England, begs me to tell him directly 
 of any rumours. Offers to resign at once, 
 so as not to be a worry to me ; makes the 
 offer now, because when church is conse- 
 crated, and the work fairly begun, he could 
 not do it. 
 
 [This entry refers to two letters which Mr. 
 Mackonochie wrote to Mr. Hubbard on the 5 th of 
 January, 1863. They need not be printed in their 
 entirety, for they relate in part to the endowment, 
 and to the approaching consecration, of the church. 
 But the points at issue between the Founder and 
 the Incumbent must be set forth in full.] 
 
 From Letter I 
 
 The same post which brought me your own 
 kind letter brought me also one from Butler about 
 
26 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 our afFairs here. He says : " Mr. Hubbard is very 
 much annoyed — quite beaten to the ground — by 
 the various reports that reach him." Before I go 
 on to speak of the different points in the Vicar's^ 
 letter, may I be allowed to say one thing ? I should 
 be so very much obliged if you would kindly speak 
 to me about any reports you hear. I have suffi- 
 ciently strange things said to me, to be quite free 
 from any feeling of vexation at your reporting what 
 you hear. About a year ago, you expressed a hope 
 that I should not mind talking over with you any 
 matters which might concern the church. I then 
 said that I certainly should not, only guarding my 
 duty of ultimately deciding on my own responsi- 
 bility. I quite meant what I said at that time. I 
 always try to do so, although it is sometimes a 
 difficult matter in these days of compliment. Next 
 to my duty to God in the matter of the souls com- 
 mitted to me, I have naturally set it before me as 
 my main object that you should be able to look 
 with satisfaction on the manner in which the work 
 is being done. . . . 
 
 Now, as to the Vicar's remarks, I believe that as far 
 as they relate to myself they consist of two points. 
 
 1. The assertion that we go about the district 
 in our cassocks. I think I have once taken my 
 mother across the pavement to a cab in my cassock : 
 and once I found that I had turned out of the gate 
 towards Bell Court without remembering to tuck 
 it up. I believe these are the only two occasions 
 on which we have crossed the threshold without 
 carefully tucking it out of sight. 
 
 2. That we have worn long cloaks of serge. 
 
 ' " The Vicar " here means Mr. Butler. 
 
CLOAKS 27 
 
 This is true. We found such things very con- 
 venient for going down to the room ^ and into any 
 immediate neighbour's house, as it took less time 
 to put on, and involved less rolling up of the 
 cassock. Doran has been adopting it as a general 
 upper dress, and Walker has worn it once or twice 
 at night. However, we have no special affection 
 for them, if they annoy anyone. On Saturday or 
 some day last week Doran was announcing his in- 
 tention of having his own curtailed. I did not feel 
 at liberty to pledge others to a relinquishment, as 
 the dress was no device of mine, and only adopted 
 for convenience ; but I find that both my brethren 
 are quite prepared to meet any wishes of yours in 
 this respect. 
 
 I think much might be said for a thoroughly 
 recognisable dress of the kind in a wild district like 
 this ; but we did not adopt it with that object ; 
 and, if we had, it is just one of those little things 
 which, if you had expressed your dislike to it, 
 might have been laid aside without your being 
 " beaten down to the ground." 
 
 The rest of the Vicar's letter consists of an 
 onslaught upon some imaginary system of Compul- 
 sory Confession, Roman devotions, and a certain 
 " old Chalice grievance " which does not apply to 
 me. I cannot make out from the context whether 
 it relates to rumours which you have heard. If so, 
 I think I can satisfy you on their falseness. A 
 little time ago Mrs. Worthington ^ asked me if I had 
 taken a vow not to marry ; also if I meant to have 
 service every two hours. Now, as a matter of 
 
 ' i.e. the subterranean chapel in Greville Street. 
 
 • Wife of the Vicar of Holy Trinity, Gray's Inn Road. 
 
2 8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 speculation, I see no objection to Vows of Celibacy, 
 or very frequent services ; but, as neither entered 
 into my plans, I could give a very satisfactory 
 denial. I have no doubt that there are hosts of 
 equally veracious rumours. I can only say that I 
 am not, nor ever have been, specially in love with 
 Modern Rome ; and therefore am not going to be 
 frightened by these rumours from continuing stead- 
 fast to the whole Catholic teaching of the Church of 
 England, so far as God shall give me strength. 
 
 From Letter II 
 
 I have been thinking again about the letter 
 from Wantage. ... It grieves me much to be the 
 cause of so great anxiety to you, in a matter which 
 must be so near your heart. I said at first : " Do 
 not oiFer it me, if you do not trust me." I may, I 
 think, still say, as the church is not consecrated and 
 so my work un-begun, I will resign at once if you 
 wish it. When once I am embarked fairly in the 
 work, I could not say so ; but now I think I may. 
 I am fully conscious of my own utter unfitness for 
 so great a work, and tremble before it. I shall 
 therefore gladly be released. 
 
 Should you accept my offer, I need not say th&t 
 I will go on all the same and try to do my best 
 till you find a successor. You will thus confer 
 a favour on me, by releasing me from a work 
 beyond my power ; and, I hope, get ease and peace 
 for yourself. . . . 
 
 I do not know exactly your movements, so send one 
 letter to Prince's Gate and another to Addington. ^ 
 
 ^ Mr. Hubbard's residences in London and Buckinghamshire. 
 
"YOUNG DONKEYS" 29 
 
 [21, 22, 23, and 24 relate to other matters. The 
 abstract is resumed.] 
 
 25. Jan. 18/63. — Butler expresses his regret at 
 
 Mackonochie's obstinacy about trifles. 
 
 Suggests one more effort being made 
 through Liddon's influence. 
 
 Here are some extracts from Mr. Butler's letter : 
 
 Jan. 18, 1863. 
 I have had much painful thought about St. 
 Alban's since I saw you on Monday last. I spent 
 Tuesday morning with Mackonochie, and earnestly 
 begged him to consider most of these points which 
 came before us. It seemed to me piteous that so 
 good and able a man should think for a single 
 moment of giving up such a work. . . . He is 
 much changed since his migration to that unhappy 
 " Mission." A number of young donkeys have 
 got about him, and pushed on a mind only too 
 willing to go ahead, and, after the true Scotch 
 fashion, to carry out, as he thinks, certain pre- 
 mises to their legitimate conclusions. I am very 
 glad that you have put off the consecration of 
 the church, and I only suggest one effort more 
 to» be made with Mackonochie. I will write to 
 Liddon, and try his influence with M., if you like. 
 
 [I resume Mr. Hubbard's abstract.] 
 
 26. Jan. 19/62. — Butler sends me James Mack- 
 
 onochie's letter, proposing that the points 
 of contention should be submitted for 
 Butler's decision.^ 
 
 ' Mr. James Mackonochie was brother of A. H. M. 
 
30 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 27. Jan. 21/63. — Butler writes that he and Liddon 
 
 had seen Mackonochie and urged him to 
 yield on minor points ; wishes me not to 
 accept the resignation. 
 
 28. Jan. iilS^,. — Liddon presses me to an interview 
 
 with Mackonochie ; thinks M. is prepared 
 to talk over matters in a satisfactory spirit. 
 
 29. Jan. 23/63. — Liddon hears from Mackonochie 
 
 that he abandons his intention of calling 
 on me; regrets he ever accepted the 
 charge. 
 
 Here is Liddon's letter : 
 
 Jan. 23, 1863. 
 
 My own instinct would have been to have trusted 
 Mackonochie — I had almost said — against the world. 
 In losing him, you lose an apostle. Such men 
 as he is do not abound. They are not made to 
 order — at least in Oxford. You will easily get 
 a man who will take his place as far as the services 
 are concerned, and the avoidance of such points as 
 have challenged criticism. But his single-hearted 
 goodness — his sublime indifference to the idols of 
 99 clergymen out of 100 — is not to be met with 
 every day. 
 
 Forgive me for speaking of my friend as I feel 
 in my inmost heart. It is indeed sad that such a 
 church as St. Alban's and such a man as he must 
 part company. But I see no remaining move. 
 
 30. Jan. 23/63. — Mackonochie says " details are to 
 
 him and me equally simply means of 
 furthering or hindering the work of which 
 the object is the glory of God, and the 
 
"ON TRIAL" 31 
 
 salvation of souls." Therefore he hopes 
 we may come to a mutual agreement, and 
 suggests we should talk over the matter 
 together. 
 
 31. Jan. 24/63. — Liddon writes that evidently Mac- 
 
 konochie regrets sending his resigna- 
 tion and by his desire withdraws all that 
 he had said in his name about it. Says 
 Mackonochie believes I refused to accept 
 the resignation. 
 
 32. Jan. 30/63. — I write to Mackonochie suggesting 
 
 that he should remain for a time on trial 
 at St. Alban's, give up the Crucifix in 
 Oratory, the habitual wear of cassocks, 
 unsanctioned Ritual practices. I remind 
 him his own friends do not think me un- 
 reasonable. 
 
 To this strange suggestion of a temporary engage- 
 ment Mackonochie made the only possible reply. 
 
 February i,th, 1863. 
 
 My dear Mr. Hubbard, — I thank you very 
 much for an exceedingly kind letter of 30th January. 
 I have left it unanswered for two or three days, as 
 I was anxious to consider how I could best bring 
 your uneasiness to an end. 
 
 I feel bound first of all to say that the impression 
 created on my mind with reference to what passed 
 as to my offer of resignation was different from 
 your own ; but I will not now dwell upon this, as 
 I earnestly hope, after what I am about to write, 
 that it may not be necessary. 
 
 I cannot help thinking that you will see on con- 
 
32 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 sideration that there may be great difficulties in the 
 way of my being here on trial. If I felt myself to 
 be in this position — that I might have to leave my 
 post here at any time if my efforts were not visibly 
 blessed with success — it would probably be out of 
 my power, however much I might strive, to work 
 with the same heart as if I knew that here my lot 
 was cast for life. And again, how would it be 
 possible to discover whether the results of my 
 particular work were satisfactory or not ? and how 
 long would it take to test those results ? The only 
 results which either you or I care to effect would 
 be the salvation of souls, but how far this work is 
 going on is not always known by crowded con- 
 gregations, or by the praise of men, but in the quiet 
 unseen life of those whom the world knows not ; 
 and on these and other grounds, I do not see how 
 it would be possible for me to enter into an agree- 
 ment to leave this charge, in case the results of my 
 work did not appear satisfactory. 
 
 But while I say this, I assure you again of my 
 deep and earnest wish to carry on the work here 
 in accordance with your desires, so far as I possibly 
 can. Though most unwilling to speak of myself, 
 perhaps I ought to do so for a moment. In a few 
 weeks I shall have had fourteen years' experience 
 in rough, hard work with souls, four of them 
 having been spent in London, and I venture to 
 appeal to the testimony as well of those who have 
 differed from me as those who have agreed with 
 me to the fact that God's blessing has apparently 
 not been withheld from my work. I almost shrink 
 from writing this, but believe the law of Christian 
 manliness obliges me thus to speak out. 
 
CONCORD 33 
 
 After having reluctantly said thus much, may 
 I venture to propose what follows ? As I now 
 know some of the details to which you have 
 objected, I will gladly endeavour to avoid them so 
 far as I can without the surrender of any funda- 
 mental principle ; but I feel that it will be quite 
 impossible for me to do my duty here thoroughly, 
 unless you kindly trust to my judgment. You 
 will remember that I left my former work and was 
 appointed to this, without any seeking on my part, 
 and only on your expressing entire confidence in my 
 loyalty and devotion to the Church of England. 
 I came then, believing it to be God's Will that I 
 should come, and I believe it still. I can therefore 
 only appeal to you to trust to me to do what is good 
 and right for the highest success of this great work ; 
 and to believe me that the deep interest which you 
 have in it shall never be forgotten. If you do trust 
 me, and leave me unfettered, it shall be my en- 
 deavour, as in the sight of God, to act as a faithful 
 and true Priest of the Church of England with 
 prudence and discretion. — Believe me, my dear Mr. 
 Hubbard, yours very truly, 
 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 To this well-grounded and well-expressed appeal, 
 Mr. Hubbard made a generous response. 
 
 Feb. s, 1863. 
 
 Dear Mr. Mackonochie, — I am not insensible 
 
 to the disadvantage under which you might feel 
 
 yourself labouring if you remained at St. Alban's in 
 
 uncertainty as to the duration of your work there. 
 
34 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 And you state 'so distinctly " your deep and earnest 
 wish to carry on the work there in accordance with 
 my desires as far as you possibly can," and to " act 
 as a faithful and true Priest of the Church of 
 England, with prudence and discretion," that I accept 
 as quite satisfactory the assurance which those words 
 import. " Faithful and true " in purpose, you will 
 teach the whole Gospel of Christ, and enforce it by 
 all the means of edification which our Church has 
 provided and enjoined. " Prudent and discreet " 
 in action, you will avoid unauthorised novelties and 
 doubtful revivals, which may excite suspicion and 
 mistrust, and you will guard against assuming an 
 outward conformity to the Church of Rome, in 
 language, ritual, or garb. (She excludes a real 
 conformity by her un-Catholic addition to the 
 Creeds of the Church of Christ.) Charity towards 
 Rome does not require, and charity to your own 
 people forbids, the exhibition of an external confor- 
 mity, so long as we are divided in Communion. — 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 J. G. Hubbard. 
 
 This letter seemed to clear the air, and Macko- 
 nochie replied as follows : 
 
 Feb. s, 1863. 
 
 My dear Mr. Hubbard, — I have to thank you 
 most heartily for the great kindness and generosity 
 of your letter. I can assure you that it shall not be 
 for any want of care and thoughtful consideration 
 on my part, if 1 fail to deserve your goodness. I 
 most earnestly hope, by the blessing of God, that, 
 as you know me better, you will have no cause to 
 repent the trust which you have placed in me. 
 
THE CONSECRATION 35 
 
 Now that I have obtained this full expression of 
 trust, I have no difficulty about at once removing 
 the crucifix, and discontinuing the ordinary use of 
 the cassock. — Again thanking you most sincerely, 
 I am, my dear Mr. Hubbard, yours very truly, 
 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 All difficulties being now happily removed, the 
 consecration of the new church was fixed for 
 Saturday, February 21, 1863. On that day, Mr. 
 Hubbard issued an Address " To the Inhabitants 
 of the District of St. Alban's, Holborn." It was 
 headed by a neat map, showing the position of the 
 new church and the legal boundaries of the 
 " District." It ran as follows : 
 
 My Friends, — When I was seeking, a few 
 years since, a site on which I might erect a church 
 for God's service in some destitute portion of the 
 Metropolis, it was intimated to me by Mr. Toogood, 
 then Rector of St. Andrew's, Holborn, that Lord 
 Leigh, hearing of my enquiry, and anxious to pro- 
 mote the spiritual welfare of the neighbourhood in 
 which you dwell, off^ered a site upon his own 
 property, if I would build the church there. To 
 this proposal I willingly agreed. 
 
 In fulfilling his offer. Lord Leigh met with serious 
 obstacles. He found that only on extravagant 
 terms could he obtain possession of some of the 
 tenements he desired to remove, but which were 
 let on lease ; and I felt bound to restrain his liber- 
 ality, and accept a diminished site, rather than 
 subject him to an unreasonable outlay in effecting 
 the larger gift he generously desired to make. 
 
36 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 The site, at much trouble and cost, was at last 
 cleared, and conveyed to me by Lord Leigh ; and 
 upon the site so given now stands the church, 
 consecrated to-day by the Bishop of this diocese, 
 and which, dedicated to St. Alban, commemorates 
 the earliest English martyr recorded in the Calendar 
 of our Church. 
 
 St. Alban's Church is free. It has been built 
 especially for the sake of the poor ; but, rich or 
 poor, all alike may enter it without fee or payment, 
 and may find in it a place where they may kneel to 
 pray and stand to praise God, and where they may 
 sit to hear the good tidings of the Gospel. Rich 
 and poor may often meet in that church ; but as 
 rich and poor are alike in the sight of God, so in 
 that House of God they will meet with no dis- 
 tinctions. But although the church is free, and 
 you will not be permitted to pay for entering it, 
 you will not be debarred from the privilege of 
 making your own free offerings to God. The 
 clergy will be provided for without your aid ; but 
 there will be many purposes immediately connected 
 with God's honour, in the maintenance of the 
 church and of its services, to which your alms can 
 be applied. Your district is far from being wealthy 
 — many among you live very hardly upon wages 
 hardly earned ; but there are few among you who, 
 if so minded, will not be able to contribute to the 
 offertory, and none who will not find that the habit 
 of giving for God's service tends to their own 
 happiness, and even promotes their wealth, by pro- 
 viding a motive for industry in their calling and 
 for temperance in their living. 
 
CHURCH AND SCHOOL 37 
 
 It is now acknowledged that the English have 
 as much ability and taste for singing as any other 
 people ; and you will do well to apply your voices 
 to their noblest use, by singing heartily in your 
 Parish Church. An organ has been provided to 
 assist and guide your voices, and means will be 
 found to instruct those who desire more perfectly 
 to enjoy together the delightful religious duty of 
 praising God with the voice of melody. 
 
 The necessity of raising the windows of the 
 church to a great height, and of making the east 
 end a solid wall, has given occasion to paint the 
 east wall with representations of the chief events 
 connected with our Redeemer's Life and Mission, 
 as they are recited in our Litany. It is hoped that 
 these pictures will assist the young especially, in 
 realising the petitions which they offer, by impress- 
 ing on their minds the Humility, the Love, the 
 Sufferings, the Power, and the Majesty of their 
 Divine Lord. 
 
 The district of St. Alban's, as now constituted, 
 contains more than 6000 souls. Its existing 
 schools, admirably directed by excellent men, are 
 quite insufficient to receive all the children needing 
 religious instruction, and we must look forward to 
 the erection of other schools, which may commence 
 the religious ' training to be continued at St. Alban's 
 Church, and assist the efforts of its clergy. 
 
 I desire that the church, the building of which 
 is now, by God's help, completed, may serve as an 
 expression of my loyal and dutiful allegiance to the 
 Church of England, and I heartily pray that it may 
 be the channel of many spiritual blessings to you 
 
38 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 my friends. It will not, I feel sure, fail of its 
 object from any lack of self-denying zeal on the 
 part of him whom the Bishop has set over you. I 
 have the strongest assurance for my confidence that 
 Mr. Mackonochie, as a true and faithful Priest of 
 the Church of England, will affectionately teach 
 and discreetly guide the souls committed to his 
 charge. 
 
 To the residents in Baldwin's Gardens is especially 
 commended the care of a Fountain provided for 
 their convenience, and erected close to their own 
 dwellings. The church and the fountain they will 
 protect as their own property — for they are theirs 
 — given to them that they may, without money and 
 without price, draw at the fountain pure water for 
 the refreshment of their bodies, and at the church 
 pure Gospel truth for the refreshment of their 
 souls. 
 
 He whom God has favoured by making him, in 
 the bestowal of these gifts, the steward of His own 
 abundant bounty, earnestly entreats your prayers, 
 that he may become less unworthy of the signal 
 honour he has enjoyed in being privileged to raise 
 an house to God's Holy Name — an honour which 
 he would humbly and gratefully record in the 
 words of the pious King David — " Thine, O Lord, 
 is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and 
 the victory, and the majesty . . . both riches and 
 honour come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all : 
 in Thine hand is power and might ; and in Thine 
 hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto 
 all. Now, therefore, our God, I thank Thee, and 
 praise Thy glorious Name. But what am I, that I 
 should be able to offer so willingly after this sort .'' 
 
BISHOP TAIT'S BLESSING 39 
 
 for all things come of Thee, and of Thine own 
 have I given Thee." — I remain, my friends, your 
 faithful Servant, J. G. Hubbard. 
 
 BiRCHiN Lane, 
 
 February 21, 1863, 
 
 The service of Consecration began soon after 1 1 , 
 and was followed by Morning Prayer and Holy Com- 
 munion, with special Psalms, Collects, and Introit. 
 The Bishop of London was Celebrant. Mackonochie 
 had wished that the Epistoler should be Bishop 
 Hamilton, and the Gospeller Bishop Wilberforce ; 
 but their places were taken by the Rural Dean 
 of Holborn, and the Bishop's chaplain, W. H. 
 Fremantle, afterwards Dean of Ripon . The Bishop 
 preached from 2 Cor. xii. 10 : " When I am weak, 
 then am I strong," and " spoke in terms of kindly 
 encouragement of the difficulty and hopefulness of 
 the new work begun in so poor a district." The 
 Responses, Creed, Sanctus, and Gloria were sung by 
 the choir ; there were some 200 communicants, and 
 the alms amounted to £16^. 
 
 " It is a solemn act to set apart anything for all 
 time, particularly anything which will not end with 
 time, but will live in its results after time is dead ; 
 and when the thing separated for ever is a Temple 
 of the Living God, wherein souls are to be fashioned 
 anew according to His image, then the work is 
 lovely too, as well as very solemn — a work upon 
 which angels surely look, and in which they 
 minister with joy." ^ 
 
 ' W. E. Gladstone. 
 
40 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 St. Alban's Church had now fairly started on its 
 course. The staiF consisted of the Rev. Alexander 
 Heriot Mackonochie, " Perpetual Curate " (who in 
 later years became " Vicar," in virtue of an Act of 
 Parliament passed in 1868), and three colleagues — 
 the Rev. John Wilberforce Doran, Priest, and the 
 Rev. Henry Aston Walker and the Rev. Arthur 
 Henry Stanton, Deacons.^ The churchwardens were 
 Mr. J. G. Hubbard, nominated by the Incumbent, 
 and Mr. C. C. Spiller, elected by the parishioners. 
 As churchwarden, Mr. Hubbard retained an official 
 connexion with St. Alban's till 1868, when he re- 
 tired, and as patron, till 1881, when he transferred 
 the patronage to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. 
 But, having once entrusted the church to the In- 
 cumbent of his choice, he was free from all further 
 responsibility for what was said and done in it. 
 From 1863 to 1883 the history of St. Alban's is the 
 history of Mackonochie. 
 
 1 Mr. Walker was ordained Priest at Advent 1863 and Mr. 
 Stanton at Trinity 1 864. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 AT WORK 
 
 " Never at even, pillowed on a pleasure, 
 
 Sleep with the wings of aspiration furled, 
 Hide the last mite of the forbidden treasure, 
 Keep for my joys a world within the world." 
 
 Frederic W. H. Myers. 
 
 The clergy of St. Alban's were not the men to let grass 
 grow under their feet. They threw themselves into 
 their new work with incredible energy ; and, sup- 
 ported by a goodly company of lay workers, men and 
 women, they soon made their mark on the moral 
 and spiritual life of Baldwin's Gardens. In five years 
 from the consecration of the church, the number 
 of baptisms rose from 295 to 417 ; of marriages, 
 from 5 to 22; of Easter Communicants from 291 
 to 569 ; and the collections from ^£541 to ;^ 18 64. 
 
 The parochial machinery was elaborate and 
 thorough in a very high degree. True to their 
 vocation as " fishers of men," the clergy of St. 
 Alban's made ample provision for the needs of 
 the body and the mind as well as the soul. The 
 purely spiritual ministrations of the church — Cele- 
 brations, services, sermons, and the like — were of 
 course frequent, reverent, hearty, and full alike of 
 outward attractiveness and inward edification. Out- 
 side the church, the agencies for good included a 
 Sisterhood, supplied (in 1869) from Clewer; a Burial 
 Society, with a parochial burial-ground ; Guilds and 
 
42 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Associations for Men, Boys, Women, and Girls ; a 
 Working Men's Club; a Mothers' Meeting; an Infant 
 Nursery ; a Choir-School ; Parochial Schools, built 
 at a cost of £6000, and educating 500 children ; 
 Night-schools for Boys and Girls ; a Soup Kitchen ; 
 a Blanket-loan Fund; a Lying-in Charity; a Clothing 
 Fund ; a Coal Charity ; a Savings Bank and Clothing 
 Club ; a Shoe Club ; a Cricket Club ; provision and 
 food for the destitute, and relief for the sick, to the 
 amount of some ;^500 a year.^ 
 
 All this was the work, directly or indirectly, 
 of Mackonochie and his brother-Priests. Men of 
 good position, of private fortune, of University 
 education, of abilities certainly not below the average 
 — in some respects, which conduce to professional 
 success, conspicuously above it — they gave up, to 
 the work of the Church and the service of the 
 poor, health, means, ease, comfort, the countenance 
 of their ecclesiastical superiors, and all hope of 
 preferment. They made the surrender, not in a 
 sudden gust of soon-repented enthusiasm, but by 
 a deliberate and sustained act of calculated sacrifice. 
 At morning, at noon, at night, in summer and 
 winter, in sickness and in health, in work-days and 
 holiday-time, in popularity and in persecution, these 
 men gave themselves, body and mind and soul, 
 to the work which they had undertaken. Inde- 
 fatigable in the duties of their sacred office, they 
 laboured far beyond its limits for all that could 
 serve the material and moral interests of those among 
 whom their lot was cast. They worked for public 
 health, for higher and wider education, for all 
 innocent and rational recreation. Not content with 
 ^ For a full list of these agencies, see Appendix III. 
 
THE MASS 43 
 
 teaching, and preaching, and visiting the sick, and 
 guiding the perplexed, they instructed the ignorant, 
 and comforted the sorrowful, and fed the hungry, 
 and clothed the naked, and helped, without pauper- 
 izing, the industrious poor. "There is nothing 
 fruitful but sacrifice," said Lamennais, and the 
 sacrifice of the St. Alban's clergy was rich in ethical 
 and social results. 
 
 As regards the services of the Church, Mac- 
 konochie, acting under the strong advice of his 
 former Vicar at Wantage, determined that the Holy 
 Eucharist, as being " The Lord's Service for the 
 Lord's Day," should be the most conspicuous act of 
 Sunday. He therefore established the " High Mass " 
 at 1 1 on Sunday morning, which, amid various per- 
 mutations, has lasted till the present day. His own 
 plan had been to begin with a sung Eucharist at 8 
 and Mattins at 1 1 . 
 
 From the first, the Mixed Chalice, Unleavened 
 Bread, Lights, and white linen Vestments were used 
 at the Altar. Later, some silk Vestments were 
 presented by members of the congregation ; but 
 they were not brought into use until the Vicar 
 was satisfied that the ground was well prepared 
 for further advances. At Christmas 1864 white 
 stoles were substituted for black ones, and in 
 1865 Mackonochie, with characteristic avoidance 
 of fuss, " surprised everybody, and displeased 
 nobody, by appearing at the Altar, on a weekday 
 morning after Trinity, in a green chasuble." 
 The use of Incense was begun at Epiphany 
 1866. 
 
 As regards the music, it should be said that 
 Mr. Doran was Precentor when the church was 
 
44 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 opened, but was very soon succeeded by Mr. 
 Walker. It was Mr. Walker who, conjointly with 
 Mr. Stanton, compiled a book of devotions for 
 the "Three Hours" Service, which was observed 
 (for the first time in the Church of England) at 
 St. Alban's on Good Friday, 1864. 
 
 " Mr. Walker was an accomplished and refined 
 musician, and had a musician's horror of a choir that 
 attempts to flourish out into musical exploits which 
 it is unable to perform satisfactorily. When he 
 succeeded to the Precentorship, the choir consisted 
 wholly of volunteers. The amount of time that 
 such choirs can give to practice and training is 
 limited, and consequently in most cases all that can 
 be safely attempted by them is good steady unison 
 singing in time and tune. This was all Mr. 
 Walker would allow his choir to aim at in the 
 beginning. The music chosen was of two sharply- 
 contrasted types ; each type was presented in its 
 most uncompromising form. When one recalls 
 the character of the music in most ' High Church ' 
 places of worship at that time, one is reminded of 
 the preference of one of Gilbert and Sullivan's 
 assthetes for ' a not too French, French bean.' 
 Gregorians were used, carefully trimmed and cur- 
 tailed so as not to be too Gregorian. Hymns were 
 sung, sometimes even to popular tunes, but the 
 tunes were severely toned down to a genteel placidity. 
 But at St. Alban's, Gregorian music pure and unde- 
 filed (as it was then understood) was used for the 
 liturgical forms in the services, for the Psalms and 
 Canticles, for Office Hymns, and so forth, while 
 modern devotional hymns were sung to tunes of 
 a modernity of style that sometimes verged on the 
 
MUSIC 45 
 
 rampant. An Oxford musician referred to the St, 
 Alban's tune-book, when writing to Mr. Walker, 
 as ' your collection of jigs and groans' ! 
 
 " Such was the music in St. Alban's at the begin- 
 ning. It has passed through many differing phases 
 since then, and has gained a name and fame for 
 great artistic perfection, but from the first it had 
 a note of distinction which one could not but be con- 
 scious of; some did not like the 'jigs,' some did 
 not care for the ' groans,' but whatever was sung, 
 was sung perfectly after its kind. Mr. Walker 
 was a man of marked personality, who drew forth 
 feelings of strong attachment from those who became 
 his friends, but he was rather a terror to evil-doers. 
 He ruled his choir with justice, but with a rod 
 of iron ; his word was law. 
 
 " In all his ways, Mr. Walker was ably and loyally 
 seconded by Thomas Morley, the first organist of 
 the church. Morley was a man with many charm- 
 ing qualities, and was a most brilliant executant. 
 Unlike many brilliant musicians, Morley was a 
 fervent admirer of Gregorian music ; he used to 
 declare that in the eight tones might be found the 
 concentrated essence of all music. The volunteer 
 choir of those distant days should always be had 
 in grateful remembrance, as being a body of men 
 and youths who gave their services to the Church 
 and parish when help was most urgently needed, 
 and gave it ' all for love, and nothing for reward.' " ^ 
 
 By the year 1866, St. Alban's had reached a 
 standard in ritual matters which was then indeed 
 highly exalted, but is to-day quite commonplace. 
 The Holy Eucharist was the principal service of 
 
 ' The Very Rev. Provost Ball. 
 
46 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Sunday. It was duly performed by Celebrant, 
 Gospeller, and Epistoler ; vestments, lights, and 
 incense were used ; the music was carefully rendered ; 
 a sermon was always preached in its appointed 
 place ; there was a large body of worshippers, and 
 there were a few communicants ; the majority of 
 the congregation having, of course, communicated at 
 the earlier celebrations. 
 
 The devotional effect produced by this order of 
 service was happily described in a letter addressed 
 to Mr. Hubbard, in January 1866, by an old ac- 
 quaintance, who desired to thank him for " the 
 beautiful church of St. Alban the Martyr," and 
 the staff of clergy who served it : 
 
 " I am no enthusiastic young proselyte ; but was 
 born of, and carefully educated by. High Church 
 parents, and have for thirty years of active life 
 steadily held High Church principles — at some 
 periods under circumstances of no ordinary difficulty. 
 
 " I can say that never, till the complete develop- 
 ment of the Eucharistic Services at St. Alban's 
 Church, did my mind realise the great and distinc- 
 tive obligations of Eucharistic worship and Euchar- 
 istic Communion, or the fearful, the urgent, necessity 
 to seek out some ' discreet and learned Minister of 
 God's Word, and open my grief,' to the end that 
 I might with ' a quiet conscience ' communicate 
 with the Faithful, as well as adore with the 
 Believers," 
 
 The standard of worship now established at St. 
 Alban's was not more exalted than that of several 
 other churches; but somehow or other it acquired 
 more notoriety. Those were the days when the 
 Ritualistic Reporter was abroad in the land. He 
 
THE RITUALISTIC REPORTER 47 
 
 described Clergy " habited in simple chasubles, 
 with their academical hoods trimmed with ermine." 
 He saw " Green and golden priests," Thurifers 
 swung in procession, and Acolytes suspended from 
 Rood -Screens. He reported that one priest rode 
 round his church on a donkey;^ that another sacri- 
 ficed a lamb on Good Friday, and that the curates 
 of a third " practised celibacy in the open street." 
 When he visited St. Alban's, he was startled to 
 find " a sexton sitting by the door, with a black 
 cap on his head such as judges wear when passing 
 sentence on the worst of criminals." Another of 
 the same craft found " a desk like that used by 
 musicians, from which the lessons are read, and a 
 stool entirely devoted to the Litany." A third 
 reported that all the chorister-boys " wore chasubles 
 over long gowns." A fourth saw a priest in "a 
 white dimity dressing-gown with green trimmings." 
 Very pleasant is this touch of personal description. 
 " Mr. Stanton's hood was fearfully and wonderfully 
 put on, and the effect of his dark, fine-cut face against 
 the deep crimson silk was very monastic indeed." 
 
 One lyrical outburst claims insertion. It forms 
 part of a poem, in which all the Ritualistic leaders 
 of the period passed in imaginary procession before 
 the poet's mental gaze : 
 
 " Stanton, with hyacinthine locks, 
 Bore a portable confession-box, 
 While ' Father Mac,' in a purple vest. 
 Was looking his very illegallest." 
 
 The venerable Lord Shaftesbury, who was nothing 
 
 ' As late as 1872, Mackonochie received a letter, asking if it 
 was true that on the previous Palm Sunday he had ridden " an ass " 
 in procession. See p. 67. 
 
48 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 if not rhetorical, thus described the service at St. 
 Alban's on the 22nd of July 1866. " In outward 
 form and ritual, it is the worship of Jupiter and 
 Juno. It may be Heaven itself in the inward sense, 
 which none but God can penetrate. A high altar, 
 reached by several steps, a cross over it, and no end 
 of pictures. The chancel very large, and separated 
 from the body of the church by a tall iron grille. 
 Abundance of servitors in Romish apparel. Service 
 intoned and sung, except the Lessons, by priests with 
 white surplices and green stripes. 
 
 " This being ended, a sudden clearance. All dis- 
 appeared. In a few minutes, the organ, the 
 choristers, abundant officials, and three priests in 
 green silk robes, the middle priest having on his 
 back a cross embroidered as long as his body. 
 This was the beginning of the sacramental service 
 (quarter-past eleven), the whole having begun at 
 half-past ten. Then ensued such a scene of theatrical 
 gymnastics, of singing, screaming, genuflections, such 
 a series of strange movements of the priests, their 
 backs almost always to the people, as I never saw 
 before even in a Romish Temple. Clouds upon 
 clouds of incense, the censer frequently refreshed 
 by the High Priest, who kissed the spoon, as he dug 
 out the sacred powder, and swung it about at the 
 end of a silver chain. The Priests in the chancel, 
 and the Priest when he mounted the pulpit, cross- 
 ing themselves each time, once on the forehead, and 
 once on his right and left breast. A quarter of an 
 hour, or thereabouts, sufficed to administer to about 
 seventy Communicants, out of perhaps six hundred 
 present ; an hour and three-quarters were given to the 
 histrionic part. The Communicants went up to the 
 
THREE MEN IN GREEN 49 
 
 tune of soft music, as though It had been a melo- 
 drama, and one was astonished, at the close, that 
 there was no fall of the curtain. 
 
 " God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must 
 worship Him in spirit and in truth. Is our Blessed 
 Lord obeyed in such observances and ceremonials ? 
 Do we thus lead souls to Christ or to Baal ? " 
 
 But other visitors displayed acuter perceptions. 
 According to the gossip of the time, Dean Stanley 
 told Bishop Tait that he had been to St. Alban's, 
 and, when the Bishop asked what he had seen, 
 replied, " I saw three men in green, and you 
 will find it difficult to put them down." We 
 learn from Bishop Wilberforce's Life that, being 
 minded to see for himself what Ritualism was, 
 he attended the High Celebration at St. Alban's on 
 Sunday, February 11, 1866. "Walker, Cleaver,^ 
 and Stanton officiating ; Walker, Celebrant. Stanton 
 preached an earnest, useful, practical sermon on 
 Fasting, its duties, uses, difficulties, and temptations 
 — thoroughly Evangelical, but rather an imitation 
 of Liddon. Congregation grave, earnest, devout ; 
 large proportion of strangers ; but, except the pros- 
 tration and the incensing, I thought it far better 
 in effect than I expected." 
 
 One who, as a layman, was closely associated with 
 St. Alban's in its early days writes as follows : — 
 
 " I have never been able to come to a reasoned 
 conclusion as to exactly what it was that constituted 
 the attractive charm which St. Alban's certainly 
 exercised during its first period. People of all 
 classes seemed drawn to it from near and far. 
 
 ^ The Rev. W. H. Cleaver was an occasional assistant at St. 
 Alban's. 
 
fo SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Why ? One has stood at a window of the Clergy 
 House on a Sunday forenoon and seen Brooke Street 
 lined, down to Holborn, with carriages of all de- 
 scriptions, (there were no motors in those days,) 
 conveying persons of all ranks to the service. But 
 why did all these people come? The personality 
 of the clergy accounted for something, for a great 
 deal ; but not for everything. The church itself, 
 and the services, went for something. And yet the 
 church, at that time, though stately, was singularly 
 bare, and the altar crudely severe even to ugliness. 
 The music of the services was (as has been described) 
 either sternly ecclesiastical, or simply popular, and 
 the ceremonial was as yet undeveloped, and of the 
 mildest character ; yet those who were drawn felt 
 that there was a charm about the church and services 
 quite in addition to that which emanated from the 
 personal qualities of the clergy. In what did this 
 charm consist ? I really do not know, but it did 
 exist, and was an attractive power." 
 
 The question asked in the foregoing extract is to 
 some extent answered by the following statement of 
 a beneficed clergyman, who thus describes his early 
 acquaintance with St. Alban's : — 
 
 " My first visit was on an evening (I think the 
 Wednesday) of Holy Week 1866, and the only 
 association I have with that service is the tune 
 'Abridge,' no doubt sung to the hymn 'Some sing, 
 O Christ, Thine awful power,' to which, I see, it 
 is set in the St. Alban's book. I went again the 
 following Easter Eve, when, kneeling in a long 
 queue, Mr. Mackonochie's penitents (it was ' Mr. 
 Mackonochie' in those days, I think, rather than 
 ' Father ') waited their turn for confession, not, as 
 
COR AD COR 51 
 
 soon afterwards was the case, in the open church, 
 but in the old vestry, the door being left open. 
 
 " As far as I can remember, my first Sunday 
 morning service at St. Alban's must have been in 
 the following September. I had just been abroad 
 for the first time and had attended services in the 
 Belgian churches, but had not seen an ornate 
 ceremonial in England, and the vestments were quite 
 a novelty in our churches then. It was the Trinity 
 season, and at the altar were the ' three men in 
 green,' reported by Dean Stanley to Bishop Tait. 
 More notable than the ritual was the preacher, for, 
 so far as I can recall, I must have then heard Stanton 
 for the first time. I can only remember the text, 
 a striking and characteristic one — no doubt from the 
 Epistle for the day — ' From henceforth let no man 
 trouble me ; for I bear in my body the marks of the 
 Lord Jesus.' I think there was in the early time 
 more of the French element in Stanton's preaching, 
 more of the abstract, and perhaps less of the home- 
 liness and humour which soon came to characterize 
 his preaching, but in the main it was the same. 
 From the first there was his charm of sympathy. 
 It was always cor ad cor loquitur. 
 
 "Among the minor contributory causes of the un- 
 failing interest Stanton creates, is his capacity for 
 surprising ; as on a celebrated occasion, at a critical 
 moment in the Ritual troubles, with the church 
 crowded, and all in suppressed excitement, eager to 
 hear what at such a moment would be the message 
 from the pulpit of St. Alban's. Then the text, 
 ' He giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoar- 
 frost like ashes,' and a sermon, quite admirable, on 
 the Weather, with no allusion whatever to the Privy 
 
52 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 Council. I do not know what the reporters made 
 of it. At another time, when everyone's feelings 
 were wrought to the highest degree of afFectionate 
 sympathy, and fear of some extreme measure against 
 the beloved vicar, Stanton expressed and relieved the 
 universal feeling and deeply moved everyone by his 
 address, preached (with Mr. Mackonochie in his place 
 at the sedilia) on the words ' O man, greatly beloved , 
 fear not, peace be with thee; be strong, yea, be strong.' 
 
 " His intense spirit of fraternity came out parti- 
 cularly in the sermons on successive St. Martin's 
 Days,^ which probably brought his audience nearer 
 to the secret of his work than anything else. It 
 is in this respect and in this direction, I expect, that 
 the influence of St. Alban's has reached quarters 
 that would perhaps have been insufficiently touched 
 by the type of worship that it set ; and here was 
 kindled the burning and shining light that has 
 lightened distant places, which hardly knew the 
 origin of the flame that warmed them. 
 
 " During the years of which alone I can speak 
 the evening sermons, and also those on some 
 other important occasions, such as the Three 
 Hours on Good Friday,- were preached by Mr. 
 Mackonochie. However advantageous it may 
 have been to the cause of ' Ritualism ' that it 
 should be represented before the public by one of 
 Mackonochie's saintly and lofty character, it has 
 always appeared to those who loved him a per- 
 versity of circumstance, that the teacher who guided 
 them with such wisdom and love in the Christian 
 life should have been entangled in the turmoils 
 which are recorded in his Life. That beautiful 
 
 ' See Appendix III. 
 
GOOD FRIDAY 53 
 
 and pathetic story gives a faithful picture of the 
 man. I am not sure that I have ever read anywhere 
 what seemed to me quite an adequate estimate of 
 his preaching. For people concerned first of all 
 for the salvation and sanctification of their souls, 
 Mackonochie was, I really think, a perfect preacher 
 — of course I am speaking of the substance and 
 effect of his preaching, for his voice was poor. But 
 drawbacks such as that were as nothing when, from 
 the pulpit, this true man of God fed us with God's 
 word and inspired us by his own transparent sin- 
 cerity and devotion. I have sometimes thought he 
 must have been rather like Ravignan in style, and 
 still more in character : I should think there was 
 much of the same dignity, simplicity, fervour, and 
 directness. The Good Fridays were wonderful ; 
 the ' Three Hours ' were to him, apparently, nearly 
 the only change of occupation which he took from 
 the long hours of' Confessions. At night, when 
 a full round of services had been completed, and 
 the church partly darkened, Mackonochie appeared 
 again in the pulpit, to give, with voice weakened by 
 the day's labours, a closing Meditation on the En- 
 tombment, or a kindred subject. The next morn- 
 ing, Easter Eve, immediately after his Eucharistic 
 Thanksgiving, he gave another Meditation, bearing 
 usually on preparation for the Easter Communion. 
 The Passion, as is noted in his Life, was the 
 supreme subject of his teaching ; as one looks back 
 that is the theme that stands out, and it was im- 
 possible not to feel that it was a school in which he 
 was perpetually learning, as well as the dominant 
 topic of his preaching. I should think that, when 
 the circumstances of his death, in some aspects so 
 
54 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 sorrowful and desolate, were first known to those 
 accustomed to his guidance and teaching, there must 
 have been many who, though they could not, of 
 course, have anticipated it, were yet prepared for 
 some special sign of conformity to the Cross, and 
 some token of response to his devotion to it, and 
 who recognised it in what was appointed him. 
 
 " As I have said, Mackonochie had a poor voice. 
 It was indeed a singularly unmusical one, but 
 this never deterred him from taking his full part 
 as celebrant ; and years after, when I have had to 
 sing the Preface in my own church, I have often 
 encouraged myself by the reflection that however 
 bad the result, it could scarcely be worse than 
 Mackonochie's singing of it. Mention of his voice 
 recalls his peculiar emphasis in giving the notices, 
 when, as occasionally, it fell to him to do so. ' Our 
 Holy Mother the Church of England' occupied 
 for years the first place in the long list of sick 
 persons (and was once mistaken by a Protestant 
 visitor for a prayer for the B.V.M.), and the high 
 note to which the speaker raised his voice in notify- 
 ing that ' There are pickpockets in church ' has 
 impressed that disturbing phrase for ever on the 
 memory of more than one of his hearers. 
 
 " I have mentioned that I could find nothing by 
 which to mark my first visit to St. Alban's but an 
 old-fashioned hymn-tune. But I am sure that in any 
 story of St. Alban's, and in any account of its won- 
 derful appeal and influence, the St. Alban's hymn- 
 book should be mentioned.^ Of the music in general, 
 of course, I can say nothing whatever, and specially 
 
 ' The book consisted of The Hytnnal Noted, with appendices 
 added by the Rev. H. A. Walker and the Rev. T. I. Ball. 
 
HYMNS 55 
 
 of the ' grand music ' which I suppose began to be 
 developed to its perfection after the early years. 
 But the hymns have always been a feature. I sup- 
 pose that the limited use of this book in other 
 churches is accounted for by its cost and its clumsi- 
 ness ; it consists so largely of supplements and ap- 
 pendices, and the smallest and least characteristic 
 part of it is that which gives it its name. But apart 
 from these inconveniences, it seems to me incompar- 
 able among English Church hymn-books. What 
 other, e.g., could one think of using as a book of 
 devotion ? There is nothing to compare with the 
 great Wesleyan book except the St. Alban's one. 
 Together with some of the best hymns from medi- 
 aeval sources, it contains a really rich selection of 
 those of evangelical writers, and the hymns of Charles 
 Wesley, Montgomery, Doddridge, Watts, Bonar, 
 are found in abundance, and intact. The musical 
 part, I should think, is equally strong. How well 
 chosen too were the hymns for the seasons ! What 
 lover of St. Alban's does not associate Easter with 
 Faber's 'AH hail, dear Conqueror!' and the Epiphany 
 with ' Lo ! the pilgrim Magi ' .-' and, above all, 
 where are the hymns of the Passion sung in England 
 with such devotion as there ? In this surely im- 
 portant matter touching the worship, I imagine that 
 much was owing to the late Rev. H. A. Walker. 
 
 "As to the look of things in the old time, of 
 course, it was much less rich than now. Not 
 only was the Font without its gorgeous cover, 
 but at the east end, in place of the magnificent 
 reredos, was one that was far from magnificent; 
 though I must confess that it has occurred to me 
 that the church loses a little in apparent length 
 
56 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 by the present great work which imposes itself as 
 one enters. The only Crucifix was the one opposite 
 the pulpit. ' This church of ten thousand draughts,' 
 as Stanton called it, looks now as if it must be 
 draughtier still, with the more open appearance at 
 the south-west corner, with aisles or passages leading 
 to the chapels ; but I have never heard that it is so. 
 
 " I will say no more. It is quite impossible to say 
 what one feels most about this place ; as, after all, 
 St. Alban's is not a ' memory ' ; and what we all 
 treasure most there are ' the things ' — and above all, 
 the persons — ' that remain ' ; and of these how can 
 one speak .'' " 
 
 I said just now that the " Three Hours " service 
 was first introduced into the Church of England at 
 St. Alban's ; and a description of it by an eye- 
 witness who attended St. Alban's on Good Friday, 
 1866, may be inserted in this place. 
 
 " Handbills bearing on the subject of Good 
 Friday had been left with every family in the parish, 
 a step which seemed to have had a very salutary 
 eflFect. Last year, the church was fairly full. The 
 year before, it certainly was not full. Yesterday, it 
 was as certainly over full ; kneeling-room was not 
 to be found in the accustomed places, and chairs 
 and benches had to be provided for the crowd of 
 people. Such a sight, of so large a body of men — 
 one-half the church being filled with the sterner sex 
 — I do not suppose could be seen elsewhere in 
 England. And it is with much satisfaction that I 
 can assert that "The Devotion of the Three Hours, 
 which St. Alban's has had the honour to restore to 
 the English Church, has proved itself to be, in the 
 best sense of the word, so thoroughly popular. 
 
THE THREE HOURS 57 
 
 Perhaps, for the sake of some readers, I may be 
 allowed to repeat the order employed. First, Mr. 
 Mackonochie gave an explanation of the service, 
 and on this we meditated awhile in silence ; and I 
 may say that the sight of that vast assembly (for the 
 most part) on their knees in rapt meditation was as 
 striking as it was cheering. At the close of this 
 meditation a hymn was sung — ' Oh, come and 
 mourn with me awhile ' — with a heartiness, swing, 
 and devotion which surprised those who were 
 strangers to St. Alban's. Then came the orderly 
 arrangement, which was repeated six times. The 
 preacher first read aloud one of the Seven Last 
 Words of our Divine Lord. The choir then 
 chaunted them with music. The preacher next 
 preached on them with devout eloquence, and gave, 
 at the close of each sermon, the three points for 
 private meditation. The congregation then knelt 
 awhile, and followed out in mental prayer his 
 directions, while the organist played a very devo- 
 tional selection of sacred music. Lastly, we rose 
 from our knees, and sang, with organ accompani- 
 ment, a hymn appropriate to the ' Word ' which 
 formed the preacher's text. After this was gone 
 through seven times, Mr. Mackonochie ' gathered 
 up the fragments that remained,' gave us some 
 sound advice for future guidance, enjoined mutual 
 intercession, and sent us away with God's blessing. 
 
 "Such was the Good Friday which we had the 
 good fortune to be allowed to spend at St. Alban's. 
 I trust that many churches have this year followed 
 so worthy an example, and that many more may 
 do so next year. Why some churches, where it 
 might have been expected, failed to provide so 
 
58 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 edifying a service, in the very portion of Good 
 Friday which seems to cry aloud for such devotional 
 exercises, their Incumbents can best say. If we 
 believe in the effectual and fervent prayer that 
 availeth much, a special Office seems to be required 
 to make some, though small, reparation for the 
 hideous desecration of this Day of Days, in this 
 country and this metropolis. May I then venture 
 to appeal to many brethren, who are doubtless 
 anxious to do something in the cause, to follow the 
 example of St. Alban's next year, if God permits ? 
 The above details may prove that if the will be 
 present, the way can easily be found." 
 
 The present writer may be allowed to add his 
 deliberate opinion that, in conducting the " Three 
 Hours " Service, Mackonochie was supremely good. 
 Of sensationalism, sentimentality, mawkishness, and 
 gush — the besetting sins of preachers on the 
 Passion — there never was a trace. The addresses 
 were simple, direct, searching, and intensely practi- 
 cal. All through, there was the solemn reminder 
 — sometimes expressed in words and sometimes 
 only implied, but never forgotten — that He to 
 Whom these things were done was Very and 
 Eternal God. And this tremendous truth gave a 
 constraining force to the lesson of practical duty 
 which was elicited from each Word. To take 
 one example only : those who fondly believe that 
 nothing is ever heard from a " Ritualistic " pulpit 
 except formalism and dogma, would have been de- 
 livered from their curious delusion if they had ever 
 heard Mackonochie enforcing the lessons latent in 
 " Behold thy son. Behold thy mother." Many 
 a woman must have been saved from heart-piercing 
 
RITUALISM 59 
 
 sorrow, and many a man from self-accusing re- 
 trospects, by that plain insistence on the mutual 
 love of son and mother. 
 
 So far, the work of St. Alban's had been pros- 
 perous and happy ; but now trouble was nigh at 
 hand. By i860, the "Tractarian" Movement, 
 issuing from Oxford in 1833, had done its work. 
 It had survived the two tremendous shocks of 1845 
 and 1850; it had established the theoretical sound- 
 ness of the Catholic position ; and it had won to 
 its side a considerable number of the wealthy, the 
 learned, and the highly placed. But, so far, it 
 had failed to reach the poor ; and the consciousness 
 that this was so gave rise to what was soon nick- 
 named "Ritualism." A generation of young and 
 earnest men, fresh from the Universities, were be- 
 ginning to make proof of their ministry in London 
 and other large towns; and, seeing that the old 
 Tractarianism somehow failed to lay hold on the 
 common people, they determined to appeal to the 
 eye as well as the mind and the conscience. Their 
 theology was what the Oxford leaders had been 
 teaching ever since 1833, and what one great 
 historic school in the Church had taught ever since 
 the Reformation ; but hitherto it had never been 
 expressed in visible and intelligible forms. Now, 
 what had only been preached verbally in the pulpit 
 began to be preached by act and deed at the Altar. 
 The new development centred in the Altar, pro- 
 ceeded from it, circled round it. The most 
 characteristic feature of the Tractarian theology 
 had been Its bold assertion of the Objective Pre- 
 sence in the Eucharist under the forms of bread 
 
6o SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 and wine. The successors of the Tractarians saw 
 that, if this great Reality was to be understood, it 
 must be expressed by such a form of worship as 
 should be intelligible and significant, not only to 
 trained theologians, but also to the least-instructed 
 worshippers — to the young, the ignorant, the poor, 
 and even the indifferent. This was the genesis of 
 Ritualism. 
 
 The revival of religious ceremonial was full of 
 zeal, but the zeal was not always according to 
 knowledge, nor indeed could it be. The riches of 
 English liturgiology were known only to a few 
 experts ; and those who desired to impart dignity 
 or splendour to English services were perforce re- 
 duced to copying Continental practices, and con- 
 sulting the oracles of Italy or Belgium. This was 
 done freely, and the result was an unfortunate 
 approximation to the external aspect of Roman 
 worship, even in churches where the doctrine taught 
 was thoroughly and loyally English. That approxi- 
 mation — sometimes degenerating into slavish imita- 
 tion — gave Protestant malcontents and Puritan 
 persecutors exactly the occasion which they re- 
 quired. " This," they said, " is Popery " ; and, 
 as far as externals were concerned, it was difficult 
 to contradict them. 
 
 Some distant but ominous growls, which had been 
 heard in the earlier 'sixties, were the precursors of 
 disturbance; and in 1866 a storm of anti-ritualistic 
 fury burst upon the church. ^ The Ritualistic re- 
 
 1 On the I2th of May 1865, Bishop Tait said in the House of 
 Lords that, in consequence of information which he had received, 
 he had requested the Archdeacon of London to visit St. Alban's 
 Church, and that the Archdeacon's report was in the hands of the 
 Chancellor of the Diocese. 
 
SEMPER PAVIDI 6i 
 
 porter plied his craft, and by his strange burlesques 
 of what he saw made confusion worse confounded. 
 The Bishops, more than usually pavid, huddled to- 
 gether for protection against the storm, and uttered 
 their fears in Charges, and Addresses, and Replies to 
 Deputations. The Lower House of the Convocation 
 of Canterbury showed stronger nerve, and tried to 
 find a way of compromise, distinguishing between 
 what were and what were not lawful practices. The 
 English Church Union sought a legal Opinion on 
 the points at issue ; and this Opinion, which bore 
 among others the signature of Sir Robert Phillimore, 
 the chief ecclesiastical lawyer of the day, affirmed 
 the legality of the vestments and the altar-lights, but 
 pronounced the ceremonial use of incense illegal. 
 The Times opened its columns, during the "Silly 
 Season," to letters on Ritualism, which in their 
 dimensions exceeded the Enormous Gooseberry, 
 and in their demands on public credulity rivalled 
 the Sea Serpent. Early in 1867 the Upper House 
 of the Canterbury Convocation passed a Resolution 
 ending with these words : " Our judgment is that 
 no alterations from long-sanctioned and usual ritual 
 ought to be made in our churches until the 
 sanction of the Bishop of the Diocese has been 
 obtained thereto." Parliament had now met, and 
 the indefatigable Lord Shaftesbury introduced into 
 the House of Lords a Bill for giving the force 
 of law to Canon 38, which enjoins that every 
 minister officiating in Divine Service shall wear " a 
 decent and comely surplice, with sleeves." His 
 hope was that he could thus make the vestments 
 illegal, and the Bishops were disposed to support 
 him. But Bishop Wilberforce was strongly opposed 
 
62 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 to this "suicidal" policy, and sought the powerful 
 aid of Mr. Gladstone, who, hearing from Arch- 
 bishop Longley what was proposed, gave it " the 
 worst reception I could possibly give it, without 
 departing from any great personal respect and 
 deference to the Archbishop. ... I am afraid it 
 would throw me into a very anti-Episcopal position." 
 This energetic intervention frightened the Bishops, 
 who dropped their project with all convenient speed, 
 and consented to take instead a Royal Commission, 
 which should enquire into all the rubrics govern- 
 ing the celebration of Divine Worship. It sat, 
 examined, and reported innocuously at a later date ; 
 and thus, as Bishop Wilberforce said, Gladstone 
 was " enabled to stay this counsel of fear which 
 threatened destruction." Meanwhile, Mackonochie 
 had taken an important step towards concilia- 
 tion. In January 1867, he issued an address to 
 his parishioners, reminding them of the danger 
 of losing charity and thinking evil concerning 
 those who differed from them. "People," he 
 said, " have taken to call us ' Ritualists.' Know- 
 ing how small a share in my own thoughts (and 
 I believe in yours) the mere question of ritual 
 occupies, I confess to thinking the name a some- 
 what unsuitable one ; but if we are not to be called 
 what the Prayer Book calls us — Catholics — we may 
 as well be called by one name as another. Having, 
 however, called us by this name, they, not un- 
 naturally, attack the ritual of the church. I will 
 say, then, a few words about this, as it is most 
 desirable that you should know as much as I can 
 tell you." He then went on to refer to the Report 
 on Ritual presented by the Lower House of Con- 
 
CONCESSIONS 63 
 
 vocation in the previous summer, to the legal 
 Opinion obtained by the English Church Union, and 
 to the recent Charge of the Bishop of London. 
 " All these considerations (but especially the wish of 
 the Bishop and the opinion of Convocation) have 
 movqd me, after consultation with other parish 
 priests, to make such alterations as will bring our 
 service into harmony with the expressed wishes of 
 the Lower House of Convocation. These will 
 consist in discontinuing the use of incense for 
 censing persons and things, and in discontinuing 
 the Elevation of the Blessed Sacrament as at present 
 practised. I must tell you, for your own satisfac- 
 tion, that the less obtrusive Elevation indicated in 
 the words of the Prayer Book, ' Here the priest is 
 to take the paten into his hand,' and ' here he is to 
 take the cup into his hand,' is quite sufficient for 
 the ritual purpose, that, namely, of making the 
 oblation of the Holy Sacrifice to God. The use of 
 incense will now be discontinued at the beginning 
 of the service, at the Gospel, and at the Offertory. 
 Before the Consecration Prayer the censer will be 
 brought in. At the Consecration, incense will be 
 put into it by the thurifer, but it will not be used, 
 as at present, ' for censing persons and things.' 
 This is a mode of using incense allowed by the 
 ecclesiastical 'Opinion,' and not disallowed by the 
 legal one." 
 
 These changes were introduced at Epiphany 1 867 ; 
 and Mackonochie, with characteristic regard for 
 all the proprieties which should mark the relation 
 between Parish Priest and Diocesan, notified them 
 at once to Bishop Tait, who replied on the 8 th of 
 January as follows : " I hail the desire which you 
 
64 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 express in your letter to make the service at St. 
 Alban's more accordant with my wishes, and with 
 what I feel convinced are the requirements of the 
 Church of England, and I shall be glad to learn 
 that the changes which you, on full consideration, 
 make in the service, go so far as to remove what 
 is a serious stumbling-block to so many attached 
 members of our Church." 
 
 This courteous and even friendly acknowledg- 
 ment (followed by a willing consent that the Bishop 
 of Dunedin ^ should confirm at St. Alban's in Lent), 
 must have left Mackonochie wholly unprepared for 
 the next stage of the controversy ; but a new and 
 unpleasant agency had begun to operate. 
 
 "The Church Association " had been founded 
 in 1865, and Haydn's Dictionary of Dates says, 
 rather jejunely, that " it was formed to counteract 
 Popery and Ritualism." Its ruling spirits were not 
 exactly men of light and leading, but many of them 
 were rich ; for, as Archbishop Benson remarked, 
 " there is something in ' Protestant Truth ' which is 
 very concordant with wealth." They had, like all 
 Low Churchmen, an intense belief in legalism, and 
 they attached great value to the intrusion of the 
 State into the province of the Church. A lawsuit, 
 which should result in the suppression of Ritualism 
 by judicial authority, was an enchanting prospect, 
 and, casting about for a victim, they found him 
 ready to their hand. By this time St. Alban's, with 
 its modified usages, was by no means in the fore- 
 front of churches called Ritualistic. There were 
 several others, both in London and in the provinces, 
 where more elaborate ceremonial was used. Why 
 * H. L. Jenner. 
 
MALEVOLENCE 65 
 
 then was St. Alban's singled out for persecution ? 
 Partly, perhaps, because the newspapers, ever since 
 its consecration, had been describing, misrepresent- 
 ing, and misinterpreting its services. Partly, as Dr. 
 Littledale once suggested, because the Church Asso- 
 ciation was " quick to see much more danger in the 
 spread of ornate services to the classes represented in 
 the congregation of St. Alban's, than had threatened 
 as long as they were confined to such churches as St. 
 Paul's, Knightsbridge, and St. Barnabas, Pimlico." 
 It is difficult to repress the thought that, besides 
 these considerations, there must have been an 
 element of personal malevolence in a series of per- 
 secutions which spread over nearly twenty years, 
 and pursued its victim from one parish to another, 
 though the incriminated practices went on unchecked 
 when others were responsible for them. 
 
 The inner history of these things is for the dis- 
 closures of the Great Day. Here it must suffice 
 to say that early in 1867 the Church Association 
 determined to prosecute Mackonochie. The diffi- 
 culty was to find a "Promoter" for the suit, 
 and after some delays, that unpleasing task was 
 entrusted to Mr. John Martin, a solicitor residing 
 in the parish of St. George, Bloomsbury, but techni- 
 cally qualified for the purpose by the fact that 
 his name stood on the rate-book of the district of 
 St. Alban's, as Secretary of a school situate therein. 
 This was the very school which was described in 
 the first chapter as having been a centre of good 
 works in Baldwin's Gardens, before St. Alban's was 
 erected — a curious conjuncture of circumstances. 
 It is due to Mr. Martin's memory to record his 
 own account of this transaction : 
 
66 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 " The then Bishop of London ^ considered I was 
 more suited to be Promoter of the suit than the 
 resident parishioner whose name had been submitted 
 to his Lordship on the sudden death of the first 
 Promoter. I personally should not have moved, 
 and was reluctant to give my consent." 
 
 Archbishop Tait's obsequious biographers assign 
 no reason for the fact that, not three months after 
 Mackonochie's concessions and Tait's acknowledg- 
 ment of them, the Bishop signed " Letters of Re- 
 quest " transmitting the Church Association's charges 
 against Mackonochie to the Court of Arches. It 
 is within a Bishop's absolute discretion to grant 
 " Letters of Request " or to refuse them ; but the 
 temptation was too strong to be resisted. From 
 his early days as a tutor at Oxford till the last 
 autumn of his life, Tait showed a peculiar fondness 
 for persecuting the Catholic party, and in him the 
 Church Association found a tool made ready for their 
 purpose. 
 
 Mr. Martin's letter, just quoted, proves that, 
 before the suit was actually begun, there had been 
 some unseemly colloguings between the Bishop and 
 the prosecutors; and on the 28th of March 1867, 
 the Letters of Request were signed. 
 
 So began the memorable suit of " Martin v. 
 Mackonochie," but the details of it and of its 
 consequences belong properly to the next chapter. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT TO p. 47 
 
 Rev. Sir, — I have heard a report that on Palm 
 Sunday last the procession in St. Alban's, Holborn, 
 > A. C. Tait. 
 
PONS ASINORUM 67 
 
 was composed of the usual number of acolytes, 
 choir, and Priests bearing palms, and an ass, 
 ridden by yourself in imitation of the entry into 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 I need hardly say my utter disbelief that an ass 
 was introduced into the procession, but I should be 
 very glad if you will give me leave to contradict 
 it on your own authority. — Your obedient servant, 
 
 T, Malet. 
 
 Dear Sir, — St. Alban's Church is not the Pons 
 Asinorum — at least, in the absence of your infor- 
 mant. — Yours very truly 
 
 In our Blessed Lord, 
 
 A. H. Mackonochie. 
 
 Whitsun Monday, 1872. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 LAW V. GOSPEL 
 
 " The true spirit is to search after God and for another life with lowliness 
 of heart ; to fling down no man's altar, to punish no man's prayer ; to 
 heap no penalties and no pains on those solemn supplications which, in 
 divers tongues, and in varied forms, and in temples of a thousand shapes, 
 but with one deep sense of human dependence, men pour forth to 
 God."— Sydney Smith. 
 
 "The Court of Arches," says Mr. Justice Black- 
 stone, " is a court of appeal belonging to the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, whereof the Judge (who sits 
 as deputy to the Archbishop) is called the Dean of 
 the Arches ; because he antiently held his court in 
 the church of St. Mary-le-bow (Sancta Maria de 
 Arcubus), Many suits, also, are brought before 
 him as original judge, the cognizance of which 
 properly belongs to inferior jurisdictions within the 
 Province, but in respect of which the inferior judge 
 has waived his jurisdiction, under a certain form 
 of proceeding known in the Canon Law by the 
 denomination of Letters of Request." 
 
 The Church Discipline Act (3 and 4 Vict. c. 86) 
 enacted that no criminal proceeding against a clerk 
 for an ecclesiastical offence should be brought in 
 any ecclesiastical court otherwise than by Letters of 
 Request from the Bishop to the Dean of Arches ; 
 but the Bishop could issue or withhold those 
 Letters at his discretion. If he withheld them, the 
 suit fell to the ground. 
 
 68 
 
DOCTORS' COMMONS 69 
 
 Before the rupture with Rome, an appeal lay 
 from the Archbishop's " Court of Arches " 
 to the Pope, but by the statute of 25 Henry 
 VIII, c. 19, appeals to Rome were abolished, 
 and a fresh Court of Appeal was erected. This 
 was called "The Court of Delegates" — -judices 
 delegati — " appointed by commission under the Great 
 Seal, and issuing out of Chancery, to represent the 
 Royal Person and hear the appeal. This Court 
 commonly consisted of three puisn^ judges from the 
 Courts of Common Law, together with three or 
 more civilians." 
 
 A vivacious account of these Ecclesiastical Courts, 
 which were held in Doctors' Commons, and which 
 Dickens had attended as a reporter, is to be found 
 in Sketches by Boz, and is supplemented in David 
 Copperfield. 
 
 " A small, green-balzed, brass-headed-nailed door, 
 yielding to our gentle push, at once admitted us 
 into an old quaint-looking apartment, with sunken 
 windows, and black carved wainscoting, at the upper 
 end of which, seated on a raised platform of semi- 
 circular shape, were about half-a-dozen solemn-look- 
 ing gentlemen, in wigs and crimson gowns. At a 
 more elevated desk in the centre, sat a very fat 
 and red-faced gentleman, in tortoise-shell spectacles, 
 whose dignified appearance announced the Judge ; 
 and at a long green-baized table below, something 
 like a billiard-table without the cushions and pockets, 
 were a number of very self-important-looking 
 personages, in stiff neckcloths, and black gowns 
 with white fur collars, whom we at once set down 
 as Proctors. At the lower end of the billiard-table 
 was a gentleman in an armchair and a wig, whom 
 
70 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 we discovered to be the Registrar. Seated behind 
 a little desk near the door, were a respectable-look- 
 ing man in black ; and a fat-faced body in a black 
 gown, black kid gloves, knee-shorts, and silk 
 stockings, with a silver staff in his hand, whom we 
 had no difficulty in recognizing as the Officer of 
 the Court. The latter, indeed, speedily set our 
 minds at rest upon this point, for he had communi- 
 cated to us, in less than five minutes, that he was 
 the Apparitor, and the other the Court-keeper ; 
 that this was the Arches Court, and therefore the 
 counsel wore red gowns, and the proctors fur collars ; 
 and that, when the other courts sit there, they don't 
 wear red gowns or fur collars either, with many 
 other scraps of intelligence equally interesting." 
 
 This description of the material aspect of the 
 Ecclesiastical Courts should be read in connexion 
 with Mr. Spenlow's account of their procedure. 
 " He launched into a general eulogium of Doctors' 
 Commons. What was to be particularly admired 
 (he said) in the Commons, was its compactness. 
 It was the most conveniently organized place in 
 the world. It was the complete idea of snugness. 
 It lay in a nutshell. For example : You brought 
 a Divorce case, or a Restitution case, into the Con- 
 sistory. You made a quiet little round game of 
 it, among a family group, and you played it out 
 at leisure. Suppose you were not satisfied with 
 the Consistory, what did you do then ? Why, 
 you went into the Arches. What was the Arches ? 
 The same Court, in the same room, with the same 
 Bar, and the same practitioners, but another Judge ; 
 for there the Consistory Judge could plead any 
 Court-day as an Advocate. Well, you played your 
 
THE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE 71 
 
 round game out again. Still you were not satisfied. 
 Very good. What did you do then ? Why, you 
 went to the Delegates. Who were the Delegates? 
 Why, the Ecclesiastical Delegates were the Advocates 
 without any business, who had looked on at the 
 round game when it was playing in both Courts, 
 and had seen the cards shuffled, and cut, and played, 
 and had talked to all the players about it, and now 
 came fresh, as judges, to settle the matter to the 
 satisfaction of everybody." 
 
 The Court of Delegates was abolished by Act 
 of Parliament 2 & 3 Will. IV, c. 92, and the appel- 
 late jurisdiction which it had heretofore exercised 
 was transferred to the King in Council. By the Act 
 3 & 4 of Will. IV, c. 41, the Judicial Committee 
 of the Privy Council was constituted as the tribunal 
 for exercising this appellate jurisdiction ; and so, 
 though no one then suspected it, the way was 
 prepared for a controversy which has lasted to our 
 own time. It is to be borne in mind that the 
 Court of Delegates had exercised its appellate juris- 
 diction over all the wide field which was then 
 covered by the Civil Law. Besides strictly ecclesi- 
 astical offences, such as "brawling" in church, it 
 dealt with all matrimonial suits, all testamentary 
 suits, and even with appeals from the High Court 
 of Admiralty. And these departments of the business 
 bulked so large in the public eye that, when the 
 Court was abolished, its spiritual jurisdiction seems 
 to have been overlooked. In 1 850 Lord Brougham, 
 who as Chancellor had carried the alteration, said 
 that " the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 
 had been framed without the expectation of religious 
 questions being brought before it " ; and Bishop 
 
72 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 Blomfield of London said that "the question of 
 doctrinal appeals was not alluded to, and the con- 
 tingency of such appeals came into no one's 
 mind." ^ 
 
 But, though the Court of Delegates was abolished 
 and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 
 set up in its place, the Court of Arches remained, 
 very much as Dickens had drawn it ; and to that 
 tribunal the suit of Martin v. Mackonochie was 
 referred by Bishop Tait. When the Letters of 
 Request were issued, the Dean of the Arches was 
 the Right Honourable Stephen Lushington, D.CL. 
 (1782-1873), who had first attained celebrity as 
 Counsel for Queen Caroline and one of her executors. 
 He followed the profession of a civilian ; held a 
 great many offices of profit in the Ecclesiastical 
 Courts ; and as Assessor to Archbishop Sumner, 
 condemned Archdeacon Denison for teaching the 
 Real Objective Presence. 
 
 In a court thus curiously constituted, and before 
 a judge in his eighty-seventh year, Mackonochie 
 was cited to appear. The citation was issued on the 
 5th of April 1867, and the hearing of the case 
 began on the 15th of June. In his Annual Address 
 to the congregation on St. Alban's Day 1867, 
 the Vicar thus commended the cause to their 
 consciences : 
 
 "The battle must be fought in your prayers, 
 and before God's Altar. If our daily Eucharist 
 be attended by double the present numbers; if 
 
 1 These observations were made in the House of Lords on the 
 Second Reading of a Bill, brought in by Bishop Blomfield, to 
 establish an Ecclesiastical Court of Final Appeal in ecclesiastical 
 causes. 
 
JUDGMENT 73 
 
 there be a great and growing increase in communi- 
 cants, and in the frequency and devotion of their 
 communions, we shall prevail. If we lose, it will 
 not be because we have broken the law, but because 
 we have not deserved God's help." 
 
 On the 30th of July, Dr. Lushington resigned 
 his office ; and he was succeeded by Sir Robert 
 Phillimore (1810-85), who was generally considered 
 the first ecclesiastical lawyer of his time. On the 
 4th of December the hearing of the case was resumed 
 before the new judge. A similar case, " Flamank v. 
 Simpson," had been transmitted to the Court of 
 Arches from the Diocese of Exeter : the judge con- 
 solidated the two, and tried them together. 
 
 The charges against Mackonochie were : ( i ) 
 elevation of the Blessed Sacrament ; (2) use of 
 Incense ; (3) the mixed Chalice ; (4) kneeling during 
 the Prayer of Consecration; (5) lighted candles on 
 the Holy Table. It was alleged by the prosecution 
 that all these things were " in effect, rites and cere- 
 monies other than, and additional to, those prescribed 
 in the Prayer Book and the Act of Uniformity." 
 
 After a long and patient hearing, and much forensic 
 display on both sides. Sir Robert Phillimore's Judg- 
 ment was delivered on the 28th of March 1868. 
 It was honourably differentiated from previous rulings 
 of Ecclesiastical Courts by the fact that it clearly re- 
 cognized the continuity of the Church of England, 
 before, through, and since the Reformation, and 
 repudiated the notion that the Church was a new 
 body dating from the sixteenth century. Through- 
 out the Judgment, all questions of rubrical direction 
 were interpreted in the light of Anglican tradition 
 and usage. As far as Mackonochie's case was 
 
74 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 concerned (and we have no business with the other), 
 the points decided were as follows : 
 
 1. That it is not lawful to elevate the cup and 
 paten during the celebration of the Holy Com- 
 munion in a greater degree than is necessary to 
 comply with the rubric. 
 
 2. That it is not lawful to use incense for cens- 
 ing persons and things, or to bring in incense at 
 the beginning of, or during, the Celebration, and 
 to remove it at the end of the Celebration. 
 
 3. That it is not lawful to mix water with the 
 wine during the Celebration (though perhaps such 
 mixture might be made before the service begins). 
 
 4. That it is not unlawful for the Celebrant to 
 kneel during the Prayer of Consecration ; at least, 
 unless the Bishop has in his discretion made an 
 order forbidding it. 
 
 5. That it is lawful to place two lights upon the 
 Holy Table during the Celebration. 
 
 No order was made as to costs ; and, as regards 
 the points ruled, it will be remembered that Mac- 
 konochie had already, before the suit was begun, 
 altered his mode of elevating so as to bring it 
 strictly within the requirements of the rubric, and 
 had discontinued the practice of censing persons 
 and things ; so the way was prepared for compliance 
 with the Judgment, and on the 31st of March 1868, 
 Mackonochie wrote as follows to Bishop Tait : 
 
 My dear Lord Bishop, — It is due to your 
 Lordship that I should communicate to you as soon 
 as possible my intentions with regard to the Judg- 
 ment of the Arches Court in the case sent to it by 
 your Lordship by Letters of Request. According 
 
SUBMISSION 75 
 
 to the account of that Judgment in the public papers 
 (which I assume to be correct) I am " admonished to 
 abstain for the future from the use of incense, and 
 from mixing water with the wine, as pleaded in 
 these articles ; and, further, not to recur to the 
 practice, which I have abandoned under protest, 
 with regard to the elevation of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, and the censing persons and things." 
 
 I have taken a few days to consider what course 
 it is my duty to take under this Judgment, and 
 have decided to abide by it, without appeal to the 
 higher Court, unless compelled to do so by any act 
 on the part of the promoter. It will, I know, be 
 most satisfactory to many of my friends that I 
 should thus accept the decision of the highest 
 Court which claims spiritual authority, rather than 
 appeal to a civil tribunal. At the same time, I 
 cannot but feel the deepest thankfulness that a 
 Judgment, conceived in such a spirit of deep and 
 true catholicity, should have been pronounced at 
 this time. It will do more than anything to calm 
 the minds of those who have been much troubled 
 by many past events. 
 
 Believe me, my dear Lord Bishop, — Yours very 
 truly and respectfully, 
 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 To this second act of submission the Bishop 
 replied on the 6th of April : 
 
 " I could not doubt that you would at once drop 
 any practices in the celebration of Divine Service 
 which were formally decided by a competent tribunal 
 to be contrary to the law of the Church, and I 
 gladly receive your assurance in respect of the 
 
76 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 points which you specify. Most earnestly do I 
 trust that your hearty zeal for the spiritual welfare 
 of the people committed to your pastoral charge 
 may be directed aright ; and that, both in point of 
 doctrine and of ceremonial, being kept safe from 
 dangerous extremes, you and the clergy who work 
 with you in so self-denying a spirit may find 
 your usefulness daily increased by being more 
 and more enabled to give yourself to spread among 
 your flock the simple gospel of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Two days after this pleasant and pious letter was 
 written, the persecution entered on a new phase. 
 The Judgment of the Court of Arches was highly 
 distasteful to the prosecutors, who had hoped for a 
 more radical extirpation of ritualistic practices ; 
 and on the 8 th of April Mr. Martin addressed the 
 following letter to Bishop Tait : 
 
 My Lord Bishop, — The circumstance that I 
 received your Lordship's permission to promote 
 your office against the Incumbent of St. Alban's, 
 Holborn, would by itself entitle your Lordship to 
 early information of my purpose to appeal from 
 some parts of the decision lately given by the Judge 
 of the Arches Court, and of my principal reasons 
 for taking this step. But, even more, as an attached 
 member of the Church of England, as loyally 
 solicitous for its intestine peace as for its purity, 
 I seem bound to satisfy your Lordship that — grave 
 as were the exigencies which constrained me to 
 initiate these proceedings — the Judgment lately 
 delivered points, with even greater urgency, to what 
 is the path of duty now. 
 
AN APPEAL 77 
 
 It was open to some besides myself to seek to 
 have the novel practices, symbolical of dangerous 
 doctrines, with which the clergy of St. Alban's had 
 so long troubled us, declared illegal by a competent 
 tribunal. Mr. Mackonochie having announced his 
 willingness to accept Sir Robert Phillimore's ruling, 
 I am thereby constituted the sole dominus litis. 
 Inaction on my part, therefore, at this juncture 
 would practically impose upon the Church, with 
 the binding obligation of law, several conclusions 
 which, as I am persuaded (and I venture thus to 
 write, with great deference to the very learned judge 
 who has stated them), are by the great majority of 
 Churchmen not believed to be the law, and, until 
 confirmed by the tribunal of last resort, will not be 
 acquiesced in as the law, which governs our Reformed 
 Church. My Lord, if has now for the first time 
 since the Reformation been judicially held that "it 
 is lawful to place two lighted candles on the Holy 
 Table during the time of the Holy Communion, 
 for the signification that Christ is the very true 
 Light of the World." The learned Dean of Arches 
 bases this his ruling on a Constitution of Archbishop 
 Reynolds (a.d. 1322), "Tempore quo Missarum 
 solennia peraguntur accendantur duae candelae, vel 
 ad minus una " ; and on an Injunction of Edward VI, 
 permitting " two lights upon the High Altar, before 
 the Sacrament." 
 
 But in "Westerton v. Liddell," in a portion of 
 his judgment in no way touched (as it seems to me) 
 by the appeals in that case, Dr. Lushington said, 
 "I hold the Ordinance of Archbishop Reynolds 
 and the Injunction of Edward VI to be utterly 
 incompatible with the doctrines and ritual of the 
 
78 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Church of England." That distinguished judge 
 showed that the Ordinance of Archbishop Reynolds 
 "referred to the celebration of the Mass." But, 
 he argued, " the Mass is gone, root and branch. 
 The accessory is extinguished with the principal. 
 Were this otherwise, what would be the result ? 
 Protestant worship would be mixed up with Popish 
 rites." " The lighting of those candles," he asserts, 
 " was intimately connected with a rite of the Roman 
 Catholic Church." And as to the Injunction of 
 Edward VI, he asks : " Where is the High Altar 
 now.'' Abolished, and a Communion Table estab- 
 lished in its stead. How can lights upon the High 
 Altar apply to the present Communion Table .'' " 
 And he interpreted the expression in the In- 
 junction, " before the Sacrament," to mean the 
 Mass, and not the administration of the Holy Com- 
 munion. 
 
 Here is high authority that, if Sir R. Phillimore's 
 late decision should pass unchallenged, the result 
 would be that " Protestant worship would be mixed 
 up with Popish rites." And, my Lord, we know 
 too well from recent publications by eminent advo- 
 cates of extreme Sacramental views, that in practice 
 this is so now. In the teaching of that school, the 
 use of two lighted candles on the Table during the 
 administration of the Lord's Supper, is avowedly 
 prized as an important symbol of the asserted 
 Objective Presence of the Son of God, both in His 
 Godhead and Manhood, localized in the consecrated 
 elements. 
 
 Even were this not so, the Church and the nation 
 of England surely have a right to know, at the 
 earliest possible date, to which of these two Judg- 
 
POLITICS 79 
 
 ments, so directly in conflict, they are to look as 
 law. 
 
 But, farther, the judicial permission now given to 
 any clergyman to kneel during the Prayer of Con- 
 secration, although the rubric (as it has always been 
 read) directs that he shall stand, and the painful 
 extra-judicial hint as to the possible legality of 
 mixing water with the wine provided for the Lord's 
 Supper, if only it be done before the service com- 
 mences, concede (as I venture to believe and hope, 
 erroneously) points of far too vital importance to 
 be acquiesced in. 
 
 For these and other weighty reasons, with which 
 I need not trouble your Lordship, I can entertain no 
 doubt that I owe it to the Church, and to the 
 interests of religious truth, to prosecute an appeal 
 from the late decision, to the fullest extent that 
 my learned counsel shall advise. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, my Lord Bishop, 
 with every true respect, — ^Your Lordship's faithful 
 and humble servant, John Martin. 
 
 At this point of the narrative, it is important to 
 recall the political situation as it stood in the 
 summer and autumn of 1868. 
 
 At Christmas 1867, the veteran Lord Russell had 
 announced his resignation of the Liberal leadership, 
 which now passed to the hands of Mr. Gladstone. 
 In February 1868, Disraeli had become for the 
 first time Prime Minister (succeeding Lord Derby) ; 
 and in March 1868, Gladstone had announced his 
 determination to compass the disestablishment of 
 the Irish Church. This announcement, and the 
 Resolutions in favour of Disestablishment which 
 
8o SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Gladstone carried in the House of Commons, pro- 
 duced great agitation in the Protestant world. 
 Disraeli announced that he would hold on till the 
 autumn, and then appeal to the new constituency 
 created by the Reform Act of 1867. On the 20th 
 of August, Lord Shaftesbury wrote in his diary : 
 " The Government is a compound of timidity and 
 recklessness. Dizzy is seeking everywhere for sup- 
 port. He is all things to all men, and nothing to 
 anyone. He cannot make up his mind to be Evan- 
 gelical, Neologian, or Ritualistic ; he is waiting for 
 the highest bidder." Apparently, it did not take 
 him long to decide that " the highest bidder " was 
 the Protestant voter, for on the 28th of September 
 he wrote thus to Bishop Wilberforce : 
 
 " I hold that the long pent-up feeling of this nation 
 against ultra-Ritualism will pronounce itself at the 
 impending election. The feeling has been long 
 accumulating ; its expression might have been re- 
 tarded ; circumstances have brought an unexpected 
 opportunity. ... It will be a Protestant Parlia- 
 ment, though it may not be a Church Parliament. 
 But there can be no doubt that every wise man on 
 our side should attract the Protestant feeling, as 
 much as practicable, to the Church of England." 
 
 When these sentiments were present to the mind 
 of the Semitic Prime Minister, whose attitude 
 towards religious questions as a rule resembled that 
 of Gallic, it was only natural that they should 
 prevail with double vigour in Lord Cairns, an ex- 
 representative of the Orange town of Belfast, 
 whom in the previous March Disraeli had made 
 Chancellor. With Cairns, the " Protestantism of the 
 Protestant Religion" was the most sacred of be- 
 
LORD CAIRNS 8i 
 
 liefs ; his powers of intellect made him a formidable 
 combatant ; and his imperious will rode roughshod 
 over all obstacles. Parliament was dissolved on 
 the nth of November. "The Tory Government 
 had thought it wise to raise an ultra-Protestant 
 cry. It soon became apparent that this watchword 
 would fail, and that the administration was doomed 
 to fall. In this case, Lord Cairns, realizing that 
 his time as Chancellor was short, got the St. Alban's 
 case advanced, out of its turn, from the bottom 
 of a long list to the head of it ; and although, in 
 the ordinary course, it would not have been taken 
 till late in 1869, it was forced to a hearing on 
 the 17th of November 1868." 
 
 The appeal was limited to the permission of 
 kneeling during the Prayer of Consecration, the use 
 of the Altar-lights, and the disallowance of costs. 
 The Court which sat to hear it consisted of Lord 
 Cairns, then Chancellor, Lords Chelmsford and 
 Westbury, Sir William Erie, Sir James Colvile, and 
 Archbishop Thomson of York. Disraeli, having 
 been beaten at the General Election, resigned on the 
 2nd of December, and Cairns of course ceased to be 
 Chancellor, though he remained a member of the 
 Judicial Committee. On the 23rd of December 
 he pronounced the decision of the Committee, 
 which was adverse to Mackonochie on all three 
 points, and also allowed the costs of the appeal 
 to the prosecutors. "This partisan finding was 
 discredited alike by the dissent of the two ablest 
 lawyers composing the Court, Lord Westbury and 
 Sir William Erie ; by the neutral position taken by 
 Sir James Colvile ; and by the adhesion of the Arch- 
 bishop of York, by whose vote it was thus carried." 
 
 F 
 
82 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 Technically, the decision of the Judicial Com- 
 mittee was only a Report, to be submitted to Her 
 Majesty; who, on the 14th of January 1869, ap- 
 proved of the Report, and by Order in Council 
 directed that it should be "duly observed, complied 
 with, and carried into execution." On the 19th of 
 January, a Monition was issued from " Her 
 Majesty's Court of Appeal " to Mackonochie, ending 
 with the following words : 
 
 "We do therefore hereby command you, the 
 said Reverend Alexander Heriot Mackonochie, to 
 abstain for the future from the elevation of the 
 Cup and Paten during the administration of the 
 Holy Communion, and from the use of Incense, 
 and from the mixing water with the wine during 
 the adniinlstration of the said Holy Communion, 
 and from kneeling or prostrating yourself before 
 the consecrated elements during the Prayer of Con- 
 secration, and also from using in the said Church 
 lighted candles on the Communion Table during 
 the celebration of the Holy Communion, at times 
 when such lighted candles are not wanted for the 
 purpose of giving light. — And hereof fail not." 
 
 Mackonochie took the Monition, as he took every- 
 thing else, with unruffled composure. He announced 
 to a gathering of his friends and supporters at 
 Freemasons' Tavern that, though he demurred on 
 spiritual and constitutional grounds to the authority 
 of the Judicial Committee, still, having appeared 
 before it, he intended to fulfil its requirements. 
 But he went on to say, first in his speech, and after- 
 wards in a letter to the press, that in his judgment 
 the true remedy for the Church's troubles was Dis- 
 establishment. Here is a quotation from the letter ; 
 
ESTABLISHMENT 83 
 
 " I suppose everyone has more or less been think- 
 ing over the question of Establishments. If I may 
 judge from the reception which was given to a 
 few words of mine at the meeting in Freemasons' 
 Tavern, the conviction is gaining ground that the 
 time has come for the Church to claim deliverance 
 from the yoke of State-control. I do not believe 
 it to be a question belonging to any political school, 
 for I constantly find myself at one on this point 
 with men of views diifering as widely as possible 
 from one another and myself on political questions. 
 Even if we look at the matter from a State point 
 of view, the principle for which I contend lies 
 deeper than any differences of modern politics ; 
 for, thus regarded, an equitable union of Church 
 and State is only possible where the two terms are 
 coextensive. In any other case one of two diffi- 
 culties will arise — either the influence of the Church 
 in the affairs of State will be a burden to those 
 subjects of the State who do not belong to her 
 pale ; or else (which is the more probable alternative) 
 the yoke of the State will press heavily upon the 
 conscience of the Church. The English Establish- 
 ment dates from a time when the two were co- 
 extensive ; and a continuance of this condition was 
 assumed at the Reformation, but has not been 
 realized, nor will anyone dare to predict that it 
 is likely to be realized ; so that, even from this 
 point of view, the union of Church and State is an 
 anachronism, and ought to be swept away. But 
 it is in the interest of religion solely, not in that 
 of politics, that the question has to be viewed by 
 us. What right has the Spouse of Christ to ally 
 herself with the powers of the world ? . . . The reign 
 
84 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 of Constantine was the beginning of the decline 
 of Christianity in spiritual things, quite as much 
 as it was the beginning of its rise in temporal 
 grandeur. Let us then, as citizens as well as 
 churchmen, move every power to obtain a dissolu- 
 tion of this ungodly alliance. . . . Once free from 
 State -control, we shall begin, I trust, to feel as a 
 body, and not merely as individuals, that we belong 
 to a kingdom which is ' not of this world.' Our 
 Bishops will know that their power is that of the 
 servants of Christ, not of Lords of Parliament. We 
 of the clergy shall be free from the temptations to 
 worldly gain and ambition, with which an Establish- 
 ment surrounds us ; and our people will receive or re- 
 ject us for Christ's sake, not as Ministers appointed 
 by the State. Let us see all our brethren taking 
 courage out of defeat, and rallying themselves in their 
 proper posts for the glorious contest which is before 
 them — Freedom for the Church of their Fathers." 
 And again : "I for one say, let the State send forth 
 the Church roofless, and penniless, but free, and I 
 will say ' Thank you.' " 
 
 Gladstone was now Prime Minister, with a major- 
 ity of a hundred pledged to the Disestablishment 
 and Disendowment of the Irish Church. The spring 
 and summer of 1869 were engrossed, so far as poli- 
 ticians were concerned, by the progress of the Irish 
 Bill, which became law on the 26th of July. But 
 among the general public there seems to have been 
 an interest quite as eager in the fortunes of Ritual- 
 ism generally, and of St. Alban's in particular. 
 Henry Kingsley wrote in Stretton, which was pub- 
 lished in this year: "Lord Shaftesbury at Field 
 
SOME HEADINGS 85 
 
 Lane, and Mr. Mackonochie at St. Alban's, Hol- 
 born, are working and civilizing most nobly. God 
 speed them both ! " The newspapers of the time, 
 daily and weekly, morning and evening, metropolitan 
 and provincial, plain and illustrated, teemed with 
 discussions of rites and ceremonies ; with impassioned 
 attacks on " Popery in Disguise " ; and with amazing 
 mare's-nests discovered by Protestant investigators. 
 I cull a few headings, taken quite at random 
 " The Halfway House " ; " Creeping Priests " 
 " Bleeding Lies " ; " Ritualism in London " 
 " High Church Shrines " ; " Christmas Mum- 
 meries"; "High Jinks at St. Alban's"; "Pernici- 
 ous Nonsense in the English Church " ; " Ritualistic 
 Spoons"; " Fire and Faggots " ; "Mr. Mackonochie, 
 his Fooleries and his Flock " ; " Signs of the Times " ; 
 "The Tactics of Ritualism"; "The Ritualistic 
 Dilemma " ; " The Many Manoeuvres of Mr. Mac- 
 konochie " ; " Mr. Mackonochie on Shuffling " ; and 
 " Pigheaded Ritualism." Here we may discern 
 an allusion to a " Pig's-Head-and-Pat-of-Butter- 
 Function," ^ which inspired the following ditty : 
 
 " Unutterable follies seem habitual 
 With those who pride themselves on rigid Ritual ; 
 And Piety is shocked, and Satire falters 
 At the sad sight of desecrated altars ; 
 While eagerly the officiating priest 
 Receives fresh gifts to glorify the feast, 
 And Hodge the labourer, born to plough and dig. 
 Presents the huge head of his favourite Pig ! " 
 
 Of the flock of visitors who now constantly 
 invaded St. Alban's, some no doubt were actuated 
 
 '■ A Harvest Festival at Haydock. 
 
86 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 by a laudable desire to judge for themselves ; many 
 by the love of novelty and the lust of sight- 
 seeing ; and some by the less creditable motive of 
 espial. Subsequent disclosures revealed the fact 
 that hired spies were sent by what Bishop Magee 
 nicknamed " The Persecution Company, Limited," 
 to watch the gestures and actions of Mr. Mac- 
 konochie when celebrating the Divine Mysteries, in 
 the hope of detecting some offences on which further 
 proceedings could be founded. 
 
 And here a certain peculiarity of Mackonochie's 
 mind laid him open to attack. He was profoundly 
 Scotch in his love of logical coherence ; and to him 
 there was no such thing as a distinction without a 
 difference. If he might not elevate the Paten 
 above his head, he would elevate it to his chin. If 
 he might not mix the Chalice at the Altar, he 
 would mix it before the service began. If he 
 might not prostrate himself, he would bow ; if he 
 might not bow> he would genuflect. If he might 
 not have two candles on the Altar, he would have 
 seven lamps above it.^ Now each of these " dis- 
 tinctions" was in very truth a "difference," but it 
 was precisely that sort of difference which the 
 ordinary Englishman does not recognize. Typically 
 English was Dr. Johnson's scorn of the " poring 
 man," who, to the remark " There's no fruit in 
 this orchard," should reply, "Sir, you are mis- 
 taken ; I have found two apples and three pears." — 
 " I should laugh at him ; what would that be to 
 purpose.?" Probably "Mr. Pond," who was sent 
 by the Church Association to spy out the Holy 
 
 1 The Seven Lamps which hang in the Sanctuary of St. Alban's 
 were presented at Septuagesima 1869. 
 
EAST END OF CHURCH, 1863 
 
COSTS 87 
 
 Mysteries at St. Alban's, was of the same mind as 
 Dr. Johnson. 
 
 At this point an extract from the Bill of Costs 
 presented by the Proctors for the Church Associa- 
 tion to Mackonochie may be profitably pondered. 
 
 July 1869. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Attending Mr. Pond, instructing him to attend St. 
 
 Alban's on Sunday, July nth . . .068 
 Taking his statement and fair copy . . .0184 
 Paid him for his attendance 220 
 
 Attending Mr. Pond, instructing him to attend the 
 early Communion on July 12th (i.e. the next 
 day, Monday), and four following days . .068 
 Taking his statement and fair copy . . .0184 
 Paid him for his attendance 5 5° 
 
 (Two guineas for Sunday, one each week-day.) 
 Three persons were employed. 
 
 Similar entries occur all through, exceeding in the 
 whole One Hundred Pounds. 
 
 While these amiable inspections were in progress, 
 Mackonochie was making ready for a great experi- 
 ment. For some years past small " Parochial Mis- 
 sions " had been conducted up and down the country 
 by such preachers as Robert Aitken of Pendean, 
 Richard Twigg of Wednesbury, Charles Bodington 
 of Willenhall, and George Wilkinson of Seaham ; 
 and, on rather different lines, by Bishop Wilberforce, 
 acting with bands of selected clergy. But in 
 October 1869 a "Twelve Days' Mission" for all 
 London, or at least such parishes as would accept 
 it, was announced under the sanction of the three 
 bishops in whose dioceses London was included 
 
88 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 — Bishop Jackson of London, Bishop Claughton 
 of Rochester, and Bishop Wilberforce, who had 
 just been nominated to the see of Winchester. The 
 enterprise aroused widespread curiosity, enthusiastic 
 hopes, and keen hostility. Old-fashioned High 
 Churchmen regarded it askance, as new-fangled ; Low 
 Churchmen dreaded the almost certain introduction 
 of Confession ; Broad Churchmen, to whom the very 
 ideas of Sin and Repentance are obnoxious, were 
 extremely angry with their brethren who took part 
 in the Mission and the diocesans who sanctioned it : 
 but the Ritualists threw themselves into it with 
 passionate zeal. The Mission began on Saturday, 
 November 13. St. Alban's of course led the way, 
 with Father S. W. O'Neill, of the Society of St. John 
 the Evangelist, as chief Missioner. 
 
 " The Penitential Psalms were chanted slowly to 
 the most unmitigated Gregorians, and the prayers 
 monotoned very low down in the gamut. One 
 cannot help wondering whether a little cheerful 
 music written in round notes on five lines would not 
 suit these simple folk as well as the dreadful square- 
 headed notes on four lines. Why must we go back 
 to imperfect musical notation when we want to sing 
 about religion? The hymns, however, were more 
 lively, and ' There is a fountain,' followed by its 
 refrain of ' I do believe, I will believe,' put one in 
 mind of the meeting-house. In fact, the whole affair 
 is a wonderful congeries of the Roman and Ranter 
 elements, grafted on the stock of the Church of 
 England as by law established." 
 
 But, as the days went on, the preacher's zeal and 
 fervour began to affect his hearers, and through them 
 to draw larger congregations. Qui non ardet, non 
 
THE RENEWAL OF VOWS 89 
 
 accendit. But Father O'Neill burned with the fire 
 of evangelistic passion, and hearts all round him 
 were kindled by the flame. Before the end of the 
 Twelve Days the success of the Mission, as far as 
 St. Alban's was concerned, was assured. It con- 
 cluded with the ceremony, then unheard-of, of a 
 Renewal of Baptismal Vows. "I sallied forth," 
 wrote an observer, " prepared to renew mine ; though 
 I had never formally renounced them, and fancied 
 that they were renewed once for all at Confirmation. 
 I must look, up my theology." 
 
 "At eight o'clock," wrote another, "St. Alban's 
 Church was crowded, the whole of the centre part 
 of the church being railed off for the penitents, one 
 side for the men and one for the women. . . . The 
 scene was very striking ; the body of the building 
 was a perfect blaze of light, while the chancel was 
 very nearly dark. Father O'Neill, addressing the 
 penitents, said : ' This is indeed a happy time ; you 
 are in the presence of God, and stand like the wise 
 virgins with their lamps trimmed.' He then said 
 very slowly and solemnly : ' Do you here, in the 
 presence of God and of this congregation, renew the 
 solemn promise and vow that was made in your name 
 at your Baptism .? ' To this there was a loud and 
 startling response of 'I do,' and so ended the 
 London Mission of 1869." 
 
 So ended the " Mission," but it was followed 
 by a Confirmation in St. Alban's, which, at Mac- 
 konochie's request. Bishop Jackson held on the 23rd 
 of December. Furthermore, the practice of hearing 
 Confessions openly in the church dates from this time. 
 
 It has been said that the worst attempt at an 
 
90 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 antithesis in the English language occurs in Sir 
 Spencer Walpole's Life of Lord John Russell. " While 
 Lord John was resting from his labours, a different 
 man was otherwise occupied." If a similar man had 
 been otherwise occupied, or if a different man had 
 been similarly occupied, it might have been worth 
 noting. And yet I feel inclined to write in this 
 vein of false antithesis, when I think of Alexander 
 Heriot Mackonochie preparing for the Mission, 
 and Edward John Pond scrutinizing the ritual of 
 the Altar — a different man indeed, and how dif- 
 ferently occupied ! 
 
 On the 2nd of December 1869, the Church 
 Association, through their old friend Mr. Martin, 
 delated Mackonochie to the Privy Council for dis- 
 obedience to the Monition issued in the previous 
 January, relying on the sworn evidence of Edward 
 John Pond, Henry Dangar, Francis Beames, and 
 William Preston Willins, who all testified to 
 Mackonochie's disobedience in continuing to elevate 
 the Chalice and Paten, in using lighted candles 
 when not required for light, and in kneeling and 
 prostration during the Prayer of Consecration, On 
 the 4th of December the Judicial Committee 
 decided that he had cleared himself on the two 
 counts of Elevation and Lights, but that he had 
 disobeyed it in genuflecting. Kneeling and genu- 
 flecting were, in the eyes of the judge, two names 
 for one thing, and Mackonochie was condemned 
 in costs. Ten days after the delivery of this 
 Judgment, the spies again visited St. Alban's ; and 
 on their report, the Church Association, again 
 through Mr. Martin, delated Mackonochie for 
 renewed disobedience to the Monition, alleging 
 that he sanctioned on the part of others what he 
 
THE FIRST SUSPENSION 91 
 
 was forbidden to do himself, and that the Clergy 
 at St. Alban's had on specified dates elevated the 
 Blessed Sacrament above the head, and knelt or 
 prostrated themselves before It ; and in a further 
 affidavit Mackonochie himself was charged with 
 the same offences. 
 
 The case went dawdling on through the summer 
 of 1870. There was a remarkable conflict of 
 evidence, the Clergy and the spies being orally 
 examined. On the 25th of November Judgment 
 was pronounced, by the mouth of Lord Chelms- 
 ford, to the effect that Mackonochie had not 
 complied with the Monition in respect of Eleva- 
 tion ; that the low bow which he had substituted 
 for genuflexion was equally forbidden ; and that 
 therefore he must pay all the costs of the applica- 
 tion, and be suspended from his office and benefice 
 for three months. The finding of the Judicial 
 Committee was of course reported in the papers ; 
 but the formal notice of Suspension was not 
 served on Mackonochie, and posted on the door 
 of the church, until just before the beginning of 
 High Mass on Advent Sunday, November 27. 
 
 Mackonochie at once submitted. He took 
 his seat in his stall, and the service proceeded, 
 though with no incense and no lighted candles. 
 The sermon was preached by Mr. Stanton, who took 
 for his text the Monition of the Privy Council,"and, 
 as an admiring hearer wrote at the time, "simply 
 raved." He' spoke with passionate indignation of 
 the gross injustice which had marked the whole 
 proceedings; of the ambiguities and uncertainties 
 which pervaded each successive decision of the 
 Courts ; of the bitter hatred which the world feels 
 for Sacramental truth ; of the unequal measure 
 
92 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 dealt out to Socinianism and to Ritualism. And 
 then he burst into a strain of noble eloquence. " It 
 is the crowning honour of a Priest of Jesus Christ to 
 suffer for his Master's sake. You will not hear the 
 voice of your beloved Priest for three months, but, 
 as he sits in his stall, his silence will speak more 
 powerfully than the rarest eloquence. Remember 
 the words of the Psalmist : ' I became dumb, and 
 opened not my mouth, for it was Thy doing, O 
 Lord of Hosts.' Dear St. Alban's people, you are 
 dearer to us than ever, for we are not only one in 
 faith, but one in suffering also. And you men 
 especially, you who love what is noble and true 
 and just, let this sink into your hearts, and say : 
 ' What must the tree be which bears fruit like this ? ' 
 . . . Let us not forget that it is our duty to re- 
 gard those who have done us this great injury with 
 feelings of kindness and love. We must look for- 
 ward to the time when the mists shall have vanished, 
 and all things have become clear." 
 
 One curious result of the Suspension was that 
 it brought Mackonochie the only recognition in 
 the way of worldly honour which he ever received. 
 William, Lord Eliot (i 829-1881), afterwards 4th 
 Earl of St. Germans, was summoned to the 
 House of Lords in his father's lifetime — Sept. 14, 
 1870. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Mack- 
 onochie, and shared his views on Disestablishment ; 
 and, being now a Peer, he wrote as follows to the 
 suspended Vicar : 
 
 Dear Mr. Mackonochie, — I am going to make 
 a request that you will, I hope, at least not think 
 an impertinent one. 
 
A DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN 93 
 
 As a Peer, I have a right to name a Domestic 
 Chaplain ; it of course entails no duties, and I fear 
 conveys no privileges ; and, if I venture to offer you 
 such a title, it is only with a sincere desire to give a 
 proof of my gratitude for the comfort, and, I hope, 
 profit, which I have derived from the Service which 
 the Privy Council is attempting to put down. That 
 the attempt will be successful I do not fear ; but, 
 feeling that it is the duty of everyone to do what 
 he can to protest against this monstrous iniquity, 
 I venture to make this offer, well knowing that 
 all the honour will be on my side if you kindly 
 consent. — I have the honour to be, Yours very faith- 
 fully, Eliot.^ 
 
 The offer was accepted, and eleven years later, 
 Mackonochie wrote in his Annual Address : " The 
 late Earl of St. Germans . . . put himself forward 
 to identify himself with us in the most marked way 
 he could, at a time of great difficulty ; and to the 
 end of his life on earth, never ceased to take the most 
 prominent position in our yearly Festivals, always 
 in everything interesting himself in our welfare." 
 
 On the 6th of December 1870, Mackonochie 
 addressed to the Record a letter setting forth with 
 great clearness the successive steps of the litigation ; 
 and he subsequently published it, with some amend- 
 ments, as a pamphlet. The following extracts are 
 worth considering : 
 
 " At the risk of being tedious, I will, for the sake 
 of distinctness, put down once more each article as 
 
 ^ He laid the Foundation-Stone of the Schools in Baldwin's 
 Gardens on St. Alban's Day 1873. 
 
94 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 pleaded, in parallel columns with the Judgment 
 and my action upon it. 
 
 Article. 
 
 Judgment of 
 Arches Court. 
 
 Action Thereon. 
 
 1. 'Elevation of the Paten 
 
 and Cup above the head 
 duringthePrayerof Con- 
 secration,' i.e. the use 
 followed in 1866 but dis- 
 continued in January 
 1867 before the suit 
 began. 
 
 2. ' Kneeling or Prostration 
 
 before the Consecrated 
 Elements during the 
 Prayer of Consecration.' 
 
 ' Lighted candles on the 
 Communion Table dur- 
 ing the celebration of 
 Holy Communion.' 
 
 4. ' Use of incense for cens- 
 
 ing persons and things,' 
 i.e. the use which was 
 given up before the case 
 began. 
 
 5. ' Use of incense, alleged 
 
 to be unlawful, but not 
 for censing persons and 
 things.' 
 
 6. Mixing water with the 
 wine used in the ad- 
 ministration of the Holy 
 Communion. 
 
 Do not recur 
 to it. 
 
 Not illegal. 
 
 Legal. 
 
 Do not recur 
 to it. 
 
 Some use of in- 
 cense lawful 
 but not this. 
 Abstain for 
 the future. 
 
 Abstain for the 
 future. 
 
 I have not recurred. 
 
 Continued till the 
 Privy Council re- 
 versed the Judg- 
 ment; then given 
 up- 
 Continued till the 
 Privy Council re- 
 versed the Judg- 
 ment ; then given 
 up. 
 
 I have not recurred 
 to it. 
 
 I have abstained 
 from it. 
 
 I have abstained 
 according to the 
 Judgment. 
 
A CIVIL TRIBUNAL 95 
 
 " What, then, about the Court ? Was it an Eccle- 
 siastical Court in such a sense that its Judgments 
 were of force in the name of the Church ? In form, 
 no doubt, it was so. The Judge was appointed by 
 the Archbishop and sat as his representative, deliver- 
 ing judgment in his name as Primate of all England, 
 invested with powers which belonged to him (I 
 believe) originally as Legate a latere from the Pope. 
 So far all seemed in order ; but then, by a more 
 recent arrangement, this Court has entirely lost its 
 ecclesiastical character by being reduced to the posi- 
 tion of a mere function of a civil tribunal — the 
 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. If, there- 
 fore, a civil Court interfered with Church law, this 
 could be no ground for leaving the Church of Eng- 
 land, but rather ground for clinging to her in order 
 to protect her from such attacks from without. 
 The only question, then, was whether or no it were 
 possible to comply with the demands of the Court 
 without thereby being untrue to the Church's 
 Catholicity. As far as my own conscience was con- 
 cerned, it could not be necessary to recur to what I 
 had already (though under protest) given up ; but 
 could I give up more ? Two things, lights and 
 kneeling, were declared legal ; while the ceremonial 
 mixing of water with the wine was the most import- 
 ant of the things forbidden. This was, no doubt, 
 a very great matter to yield, even under protest ; 
 still, upon the whole, it seemed possible to comply, 
 and by pleading before the Court I had almost, if 
 not quite, pledged myself to obey. Therefore, at 
 once, without waiting for any Monition, I yielded 
 and obeyed. Then came the Appeal against the 
 small remainder which was left to us. Should I 
 
96 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 plead again? Should I own any authority in the 
 Privy Council ? It was a difficulty. I did not 
 believe it to have any. But still, if the State could 
 be hindered by my pleading by counsel from doing 
 a great wrong to the Church, it seemed as if I 
 ought to plead. Then came the ' Cairns ' Judg- 
 ment. Should I yield to this.'' The difficulty in 
 this case was no doubt very much greater. The 
 Court had not a shadow of ecclesiastical authority. 
 Still there came again the complication of having 
 pleaded. So I gave way. I was forbidden to ' use 
 lighted candles on the Communion Table during 
 the celebration of Holy Communion.' I disused 
 them. We had been accustomed to use them during 
 Morning Service for some time, so that use, not 
 being impugned, was continued. I was directed not 
 to kneel, so I did not kneel. The Church knows 
 two acts, quite distinct — kneeling and genuflecting ; 
 being forbidden to kneel, I genuflected. As a 
 matter of course I believed my Lord to be there, 
 and must show Him some reverence. The very 
 principles of my duty to God obliged me to save 
 as much for His Honour as I could, and thus for- 
 bade me to obey to a hair's-breadth beyond the mere 
 letter of that which seemed to me to assail His 
 Honour. 
 
 " Then came the motion of last year, and the 
 Judgment thereon, and with it a new definition, 
 making genuflection — indeed, all bending of the 
 knee — to be the same as kneeling. I found refuge 
 in the Rubric of the Ancient English Liturgy, and 
 substituted an ' inclination ' of the body, without 
 bending of the knee, for genuflection. Now I am 
 told that inclining the body over the Altar is pros- 
 
THE BENDED KNEE 97 
 
 tration ; am fined in the costs, and suspended for 
 not having found it out myself: and am told that I 
 am guilty of ' evasion,' &c., for the same want of 
 foresight, while you own yourself that I could not 
 have foreseen it. Much has been said about the 
 littleness of fighting over such details. But who 
 fights over them ? I find myself in the Presence of 
 my Lord and am conscientiously bound to do Him 
 reverence ; nor am I forbidden by my own branch 
 of the Church Catholic from doing that which all 
 the rest of the Church has done, in one form or 
 another, from the beginning. I adopt, therefore, a 
 different act of reverence from that which has been 
 forbidden — one which is ecclesiastically quite distinct. 
 Who fights over this distinction and seeks to force 
 me from it ? Clearly the Promoter. Again, I get 
 a definition from the Court, ' all bending of the 
 knees is kneeling.' Truly it is a most unforeseen 
 definition ; but I obey, and now at least I am safe — 
 my act of reverence must be without bending the 
 knee. I do not bend the knee. Who follows me 
 to prove that I may be held to kneel — nay, more, 
 to prostrate myself — without bending the knee at 
 all, and with an altar of considerable height immedi- 
 ately in front of me ? Surely it is not I who raise 
 such an apparently impossible proposition, but the 
 Promoter. . . . 
 
 " I accept this Suspension as purely and simply 
 a legal compulsion. I must accept it, or do 
 that which 1 believe would displease God more ; 
 but it is only the world's Suspension. In the 
 presence of God, and in the forum of my own 
 conscience, I am as free as if no Suspension whatever 
 had been issued. Having elected to obey it, I will 
 
98 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 do so in all ways in which I can obey it without 
 disobeying God ; but I do not for a moment accept 
 it as depriving me of privileges, or releasing me from 
 duties, which God has enjoined upon me as a Priest, 
 and from which He only can release me." ^ 
 
 After this plain statement of the facts, the voices 
 of controversy took a rather more decent tone, and 
 the newspapers overflowed with letters admitting 
 that Mackonochie was an honest man, but urging 
 him to seek a refuge from his perplexities in some 
 other communion than his own. Lord Shaftesbury, 
 himself one of the most honest, and also the most 
 impracticable, of mankind, wrote thus in his diary : 
 " ' To me,' says Mackonochie in his letter to the 
 Record, ' the Church of England is, in God's provi- 
 dence, the only channel ordained of Him, through 
 which His grace can reach my soul.' That is his 
 plea for not leaving it : the decisions of the Judicial 
 Committee of Privy Council are his plea for not 
 obeying it. It is lamentable to see a high, self- 
 denying, and self-sacrificing spirit in such a quandary 
 of conflicting duties. But he could leave the Estab- 
 lishment without leaving the Church of England. 
 Unless civil laws and temporalities are essential to 
 his notion of a Church, the channel of grace would 
 be as open to him after, as before, his severance 
 from the external fabric." 
 
 1 Mackonochie preached, for the first time after his suspension, 
 on Sunday evening, February 26, 1871. His text was St. John 
 i.4- 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 MEN AND METHODS 
 
 " Remember your guides, who spake to you the Word of God; and, 
 reviewing the close of their life, imitate their faith." — Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 The period now to be considered was marked by 
 a temporary cessation of the hostilities which beat 
 on St. Alban's for fifteen years. The moment is 
 therefore opportune for an enquiry into the methods 
 of religion pursued in that much-vexed church, and 
 for some attempt to describe the men who minis- 
 tered there. It may be convenient to take the 
 men in the first place, and the methods by which 
 they worked in the second ; and among the men 
 there towers pre-eminent the figure of Alexander 
 Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 As has been already stated, and as his names 
 imply, Mackonochie was of Scottish extraction. His 
 father had been a Colonel in the service of the East 
 India Company, and on his return from India settled 
 at Farnham in Hampshire. There Alexander 
 Mackonochie was born ; and, after some tuition at 
 private schools and then at the University of 
 Edinburgh, he went up to Wadham College, 
 Oxford, in January 1845. The crisis of the 
 Oxford Movement was then at hand, for Newman 
 seceded in the following October ; but the agita- 
 
loo SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 tions and perplexities of that distracting time seem 
 to have had very little effect on Mackonochie. 
 
 He lived in college a quiet, laborious, and self- 
 denying life ; and in matters of religion was a good 
 deal influenced by Charles Marriott, Fellow of 
 Oriel, whom Bishop Edward King described as 
 " the most Gospel-lilce man I ever knew." In youth, 
 as in later life, Mackonochie was apt to keep his 
 deepest feelings locked in his own bosom ; but there 
 is plenty of contemporary evidence to show that his 
 temperament was profoundly devout, and that his 
 conduct corresponded to it. In June 1848 he was 
 placed in the Second Class of the great school of 
 Literce Humaniores ; and, after nine months of 
 earnest preparation, he was ordained Deacon by 
 Bishop Denison of Salisbury in Lent 1849. He 
 was licensed to the curacy of Westbury in Wiltshire, 
 and three years later he removed to Wantage, then 
 beginning to be a centre of religious activity, under 
 the energetic rule of W. J. Butler, afterwards Dean of 
 Lincoln. From Wantage, as was stated in an earlier 
 chapter, he moved in 1858 to a Mission Church 
 in the Parish of St. George's in the East ; and 
 thence in 1862 to the still unformed Parish of 
 St. Alban's. 
 
 So much for the history : now for the personality. 
 In many aspects of his character and constitution, 
 Mackonochie was the ideal Priest. In early youth 
 his health had been delicate, but strength had come 
 with years, and long self-discipUne had rendered 
 him almost insensible to fatigue, and impervious to 
 common ailments. A doctor who attended him 
 after an accident gave this signal testimony to his 
 powers of endurance. " Walking from St. Alban's 
 
SELF-MASTERY loi 
 
 to Hackney on a very slippery night, he lost his 
 footing and grasped a lamp-post, the sudden mus- 
 cular effort causing a dislocation of the left arm. 
 He walked a long distance, and, on his arrival at 
 the Clergy House of St. Alban's, sent for me. I 
 found him perfectly calm, and, on my arrival, so 
 unruffled was he that I thought I was only going 
 to see a simple sprain. A very slight examination 
 showed me the condition of matters, and, as the 
 dislocation had occurred some hours before, I knew 
 there would be some difficulty and much pain in 
 reducing it. Under the circumstances, I advised 
 him to have an anaesthetic to save pain, but he 
 replied, ' I think I can bear any pain you give me, 
 or at least I will try ' ; and, with the assistance of 
 one of the Sisters, the head of the bone slipped into 
 its position. During the whole time that I was 
 manipulating him, he never moved an inch, and he 
 never uttered a word of complaint." 
 
 But, if Mackonochie's body was hard, not less so 
 was his head — clear, cold, and strong. His habit 
 of mind was characteristically Scotch, in its dry 
 logic and theoretical consistency. No one would 
 have described him as a very clever man ; but his 
 astonishing power of " grind " enabled him to attain, 
 at the University and subsequently, a degree of 
 intellectual success out of proportion to his purely 
 mental gifts. Nothing was more characteristic of 
 the man than the dogged resolution with which he 
 would address himself to the study of some quite 
 uncongenial branch of knowledge — such as an un- 
 familiar school of painting, or a fresh discovery in 
 science. At these he would " toil terribly." The 
 present writer has seen him peruse, with apparent 
 
102 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 enjoyment, an alarming periodical called Mind ; for 
 metaphysic comes natural to a Scotsman. Holding 
 that a religious teacher should keep abreast of 
 all new knowledge, he would dutifully endeavour 
 to familiarize himself with ideas and phenomena 
 which, in themselves, had only the faintest interest 
 for him. This intense habit of conscientious study 
 was only a form of his invincible will. A more 
 resolute man never lived. When once he had de- 
 liberately adopted a course, he pursued it with grim 
 tenacity, and his power of resistance to pressure 
 was at least as strong as his constructive volition. 
 Nothing could turn him back, or modify his judg- 
 ment, or stay his hand. Prosecutions, persecutions, 
 admonitions, abuse, ridicule, calumny — all ran off 
 this robust constitution like water off a duck's back. 
 And yet, except in matters where his ecclesiastical 
 conscience and judgment were involved, he was the 
 humblest and most teachable of men. He was 
 modestly aware of his intellectual defects, always 
 ready to be informed, and full of touching con- 
 fidence in the superior wisdom of much younger 
 men. By them in turn he was greatly loved, though 
 he was about the last man in the world with whom 
 they would have ventured to take a liberty. His 
 absolute honesty, sincerity, directness, and fearless- 
 ness commanded their respect. His contempt for 
 wealth, ease, enjoyment, and honours fascinated 
 their imagination. He had acquired, in the most 
 sacred of all confidences, a deep insight into the 
 inner springs of character and conduct, which was 
 as helpful as it sometimes was startling. His in- 
 tense and most practical sympathy with poverty, 
 sickness, pain, and trouble, whether material or 
 
A GREAT CONFESSOR 103 
 
 mental, endeared him to thousands who would have 
 been repelled by his stern fidelity to the letter of 
 an unpopular creed, by his prosaic and unimagina- 
 tive temperament, and by the dignified austerity of 
 his personal demeanour. 
 
 Something has been said in a preceding chapter 
 about Mackonochie's powers as a preacher ; but 
 an attempt to describe him would be glaringly 
 incomplete, if it left out of sight his exceptional 
 skill as a Confessor. " Apart," says one of his 
 colleagues, " from the special grace of Holy Orders, 
 he owed this largely to his lifelong habit of careful 
 self-observation, and to his knowledge of Holy 
 Scripture. The usual text-books of Moral Theology 
 reposed upon his shelves, but the dust upon them 
 was seldom disturbed. As a Confessor he was 
 exceedingly popular. All kinds of persons, learned 
 and unlearned, rich and poor, found their way to 
 him, literally in hundreds. Doubtless the intense 
 reality of the man attracted them, his unclouded 
 faith, so calm, masculine, and strong ; his quick 
 sympathy, and really heroic patience. Whilst they 
 knelt by his side, they seemed to catch the con- 
 tagion of his courage. Heart and hope revived, 
 and the horizon brightened. And then they knew 
 that for the time he was wholly and without 
 distraction at their service. If occasion called for 
 it, he would give hours to a single soul, and betray 
 no signs of impatience or weariness." 
 
 In the first years of the work at St. Alban's it 
 was inevitable that the attention alike of friends 
 and foes, admirers and critics and mere observers, 
 should be concentrated on the dominating figure of 
 
I04 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 Mackonochie. But at the period which we are 
 now considering — 1871 to 1874 — another person- 
 ality had sprung into prominence ; and, so far as 
 the unwelcome attentions of the ecclesiastical re- 
 porters were concerned, " Father Stanton " was at 
 least as great a favourite as his chief. The require- 
 ments of history demand that I should write of 
 this remarkable man, without reference to the fact 
 that he may read what is written. 
 
 Arthur Henry Stanton was born in 1839, the 
 youngest son of Charles Stanton, a manufacturer at 
 Stroud. He was educated at Rugby, under the 
 headmastership of Dr. Goulburn, and at Trinity 
 College, Oxford. He took his degree in 1862, 
 and, after six months at Cuddesdon under the 
 beloved Edward King, he was ordained Deacon by 
 Bishop Tait at Advent 1862. The most edifying 
 page in the Clergy List is that which records the fact 
 that he has spent the fifty years of his ministry in 
 the curacy to which he was ordained. 
 
 It may have been observed that when, in 1866, 
 Bishop Wilberforce attended High Mass at St. 
 Alban's, and heard Mr. Stanton preach, he described 
 the sermon as " thoroughly Evangelical " ; and the 
 epithet may be applied with the strictest accuracy to 
 every department of Stanton's ministry. For half 
 a century he has laboured by word and act, in 
 season and out of season, through evil report and 
 good report, to set forth Christ crucified before the 
 gaze of perishing sinners. It has been said that 
 " The Bible and the Bible only is the religion of 
 Protestants." Those who through all these years 
 have worshipped and listened and confessed their 
 sins at St. Alban's, Holborn, will be disposed to 
 
AN EVANGELICAL CATHOLIC 105 
 
 reply that Jesus and Jesus only is the Religion of 
 Catholics. 
 
 But not only is Mr. Stanton's ministry Evan- 
 gelical : it is in some respects characteristically 
 Protestant. The open Bible and the English Sunday 
 are among the national boons which he most highly 
 prizes. The idea of authority, exercised by one 
 human being — even though that being be the Pope 
 — over the soul of another, stinks in his nostrils. 
 Though himself one of the most experienced and 
 most helpful of Confessors, he leaves the practice 
 of Confession, as the Church of England leaves it, 
 absolutely voluntary and free. Instead of labouring 
 by a system of minute directions to shape the 
 spiritual life of his penitents to his own ideals, 
 he bestows all his energy on quickening the indi- 
 vidual conscience, nerving the individual will, and 
 building up the habit of self-reliance and self- 
 discipline in the things of the soul. 
 
 The following letter was written in reply to a 
 Harrow boy, who wished to begin the practice of 
 Confession, but found that his parents were opposed 
 to his doing so : 
 
 Feb. 9, 1 87 1. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You are certainly quite right 
 in your conclusion ; no man ought to stand between 
 any man's soul and God — not even father or mother 
 — and, if you come to Confession, of course I shall 
 receive you. As a Priest, I have no alternative and 
 no other wish. 
 
 The difficulty does not lie here. 
 
 Next to the obligations of religion are the obliga- 
 tions of home. Both are sacred, and, linked together 
 by the Hand of God, cannot be severed but at the 
 
io6 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 greatest risk, and therefore ought only to be so on 
 the gravest grounds. 
 
 Now you yourself say of your parents that they 
 are " devoted Christian people, and equally devoted 
 Protestants." Both these facts ought to have their 
 weight with you, and influence your decision. 
 
 You have announced to them, you say, your inten- 
 tion of Confessing, and have thereby given them the 
 opportunity of expressing their disapproval. This 
 disapproval you are bound to respect. I am sure 
 you will see this. 
 
 It is true that you are eighteen years old, and at 
 a great Public School. It is true that your parents, 
 in our opinion, have no right to interfere with the 
 religious Instincts of your soul. But they are your 
 parents; they believe in the Lord Jesus, and, out 
 of love for Him and zeal for His honour, they 
 are deeply pained at your making, as they think, 
 the very mistake we are grieved to think they are 
 making — i.e. putting a man between the soul and 
 God. 
 
 Without doubt, unless the case is imperative, you 
 must not put yourself in opposition to their wishes. 
 Is it imperative .? 
 
 Confession is not, as you know, essentially neces- 
 sary to salvation, any more than Confirmation ; and 
 if, on account of all these considerations, you hold 
 its practice in suspension for a time, I feel sure 
 of your " peace with God," Who only, after all, asks 
 for genuine sorrow, and Who knows that your will 
 is in submission to the will of the Church. Of 
 course you are bound to do all you can to remove 
 the difficulties now in your way, and I cannot but 
 think that your yielding up your own wish to that 
 
FREEDOM 107 
 
 of your parents for a time would be the surest 
 way to secure their acquiescence in what you know 
 must be very painful to them. 
 
 Beg them to reconsider their objection ; remind 
 them how hazardous it is, in these days above all, 
 to place restraints on deep religious instincts ; be 
 liberal-hearted yourself, and ask for the same 
 measure which you mete to others. Pray for the 
 time when, without a shadow of doubt, knowing 
 that you are giving joy to God, you may, as all 
 Catholic Christians ever have, confess your sins. 
 But do not think that you are unforgiven of God 
 because you have paused to respect instincts which 
 He Himself has woven about our hearts. 
 
 Of our Master it is written, " He pleased not 
 Himself"; and we often forget that, if we are 
 to have His mind, we must let the element of 
 self-sacrifice come even into our religious duties. 
 Believe me. 
 
 Very truly yours in our Lord, 
 
 Arthur Hy. Stanton. 
 
 There is another characteristic of Mr. Stanton's 
 nature which, from first to last, has had a marked 
 influence on his theology and work. He is a Liberal 
 to the backbone. " The Freedom of the Spirit " is 
 his ideal. "Ye shall know the truth, and the 
 truth shall make you free," is the divine promise 
 to which he most closely clings. One Easter Day, 
 addressing the school-children in St. Alban's Church, 
 he pointed to a representation of Our Lord with 
 a banner in His hand, and thus explained it : 
 " There you see Him, rising victorious from the 
 grave. And what does He carry ? A banner. Yes, 
 
io8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 and what banner ? The Banner of Liberty — the liberty 
 which by His death He bought for every human 
 soul." 
 
 It is natural that a mind built on these lines 
 should have scant respect for authority; and Mr. 
 Stanton is never better pleased than when proving, 
 from Scripture and history, that Infallibility resides 
 neither at Rome nor at Lambeth, but in that inner- 
 most sanctuary of the conscience, where alone God's 
 voice is heard. In matters social and political, he 
 is always, by the very law of his being, " for the 
 under dog." All his politics are governed by his 
 religion. "I know," he once exclaimed, "no 
 Liberalism, except that which I have sucked in from 
 the breasts of the Gospel." 
 
 It is interesting to see that these two characteristics 
 of Mr. Stanton's ministry — its Evangelical fervour, 
 and its impatience of restraint — impressed the more 
 intelligent visitors to St. Alban's in the distant 
 days which we are now considering. Here is an 
 account of New Year's Eve, December 31, 1872 : 
 
 "The Priests of St. Alban's are wise in their 
 generation, and know that their church, situated in 
 one of the poorest neighbourhoods, cannot, without 
 extreme unwisdom, let slip this golden opportunity 
 of appealing to the sympathies of the people. Con- 
 sequently, St. Alban's is thrown open for a Midnight 
 Service on the last day of the year. ' No bell is 
 rung,' said the Rev. Father Stanton, the chief pro- 
 moter of this and many other methods of getting at 
 the poor of Baldwin's Gardens, ' and yet the people 
 come.' Come they did, at all events that night. 
 Working men and women and children came literally 
 in crowds, notwithstanding the pouring rain. Nay, 
 
WATCH-NIGHT 109 
 
 more ; Father Stanton succeeded in what it had 
 been supposed that only Roman Catholics and Dis- 
 senters could do — getting them to come in their 
 working clothes. And what did this zealous young 
 priest do with them when he got them there ? Did 
 he receive them with a ' correct ' and aesthetic 
 service, which certainly would have driven them all 
 out again, and prevented them from coming any 
 more ? By no means. There was not a symptom 
 of Ritualism to be seen. The beautiful chancel 
 was not used. The hymns were special ones, 
 culled from Wesleyan manuals. There was no 
 choir. Father Stanton was the sole 'minister,' 
 and he wore no vestments, not even the possibly 
 obnoxious surplice. It was the most simple, un- 
 ornate, but on that very account the most Catholic 
 and appropriate service that could have been devised 
 for the occasion. 
 
 " Precisely at half-past eleven. Father Stanton 
 mounted the pulpit, and requested the congregation 
 to follow him in the first hymn, after he had sung 
 it to them, which he did in a not very musical solo ; 
 but the chorus was very effective. It was as follows : 
 
 * Shall we meet beyond the river, 
 
 Where the surges cease to roll, 
 Where in all the bright forever 
 Sorrow ne'er shall press the soul ? 
 Shall we meet ? Shall we meet ? 
 Shall we meet ? Shall we meet ? 
 Shall we meet beyond the river, 
 Where the surges cease to roll ? ' 
 
 "After the hymn Mr. Stanton read a single 
 verse from Psalm xxvii. : ' I should utterly have 
 fainted, but that I believe verily to see the goodness 
 
no SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 of the Lord in the land of the living' — and de- 
 livered a brief address on the duty of recognizing 
 the goodness while in ' the land of the living.' The 
 problem started by the preacher was : How is it, if 
 God be good, that anybody has a chance of going 
 to hell ? In solving this problem by the answer of 
 Free Will, I make bold to say that this Ritualistic 
 preacher outpreached any Wesleyan in the great 
 metropolis. Matter, manner, and energy were of 
 the very essence of the conventicle ; and the con- 
 gregation, which was essentially a poor one, literally 
 hung upon his lips, as he contrasted God's goodness 
 with man's misrepresentations of Him. Lest men 
 should only fear God, he turned their attention to 
 the story of the Incarnation — God at Christmastide, 
 cradled at Bethlehem, the very revelation of Love. 
 ' Do not say you must be damned, dear friends,' 
 he concluded ; ' do not harbour the black sin of 
 despair. It is a lie. Say, '* O God, Thou art my 
 God." If a fellow only hates his sins because he 
 thinks they will pitchfork him into hell, that is not 
 repentance. Love God as perfect goodness ; then 
 you will see all with a new light. Then you will 
 be truly penitent, as frosts melt and flowers spring 
 up when the sun shines.' 
 
 " A long, silent prayer ensued, as the church chimes 
 rang in the New Year, followed by an extempore 
 prayer by the minister, after which ' Guide us, O 
 Thou great Jehovah ' was sung. At the last verse, 
 ' Come, Lord Jesus, take Thy waiting people home,' 
 Mr. Stanton desired us all to ' sing out loud,' and 
 I can answer for it that every man, woman, and 
 child followed his injunction. He then continued 
 his address. ' Go either to church or chapel. I 
 
CANDLEMAS in 
 
 know many reasons why you may not like 
 church. But, at all events, put yourselves on 
 the side of God. Be on the side of the good, good 
 God.' 
 
 " So did the congregation of St. Alban's inaugurate 
 the Year of Grace, 1873." 
 
 A month passed, and the same visitor was again 
 at St. Alban's, drawn thither by the same personal 
 attraction. 
 
 "Sunday, February 2, 1873, dawned in a snow- 
 storm. I had ascertained that Father Stanton 
 was to preach at High Mass, and so, though omni- 
 buses had struck and cabs retired into private life, 
 I struggled along against a biting east wind and 
 blinding snow, eventually reaching Brooke Street when 
 Mattins were about half over. Mr. Mackonochie 
 was intoning on a wildly wrong note, and the choir 
 sang a hymn on the Purification to a distressing 
 Gregorian tone. When Morning Prayer was over, 
 two persons in surplices advanced and censed the 
 altar, leaving their censers, I believe, in a side 
 chapel, so as to keep up the fragrance. An introit 
 was sung, and then the procession of Acolytes, 
 Celebrant, Epistoler, and Gospeller entered the 
 church, preceded by a large cross borne aloft. 
 The mise en sdne was magnificent ; and the effect 
 of all the congregation kneeling, when the In- 
 carnation was asserted in the Nicene Creed to deep 
 and solemn chords of accompaniment, was solemn 
 in the extreme. The sign of the Cross was devoutly 
 made when ' the life of the world to come ' 
 was mentioned, and, at the close of the Creed, 
 Father Stanton mounted the pulpit. He prefaced 
 his discourse with the publication of banns, prayers 
 
112 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 for the sick, and prayers for the repose of the soul 
 of one departed. Then he gave out his text from 
 the Epistle of the day — 'The Lord, Whom ye 
 seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple.' 
 
 " In the Temple, he said, how simple was the scene ! 
 An old man takes the child, and a thrill of joy passes 
 through his heart. He had waited for the Consola- 
 tion of Israel. He speaks a few words, and then a 
 woman stricken in years comes in. She utters her 
 prophecy. She recognizes the Lord of Lords in the 
 Child. The offering is made, the Purification is 
 over, and they leave. Night closes, and the Temple- 
 doors are shut. The Lord had suddenly come to 
 His Temple. He for Whom they yearned had 
 appeared. God and Man had met. 
 
 " Then came the personal application : 
 
 " ' Simeon had been promised that he should see 
 the Lord's Christ. He waited patiently, " full of 
 the Holy Ghost," and at last the Lord suddenly 
 came to His Temple. Simeon did depart in peace. 
 So too Anna — she had long fasted and prayed. 
 Day and night she had waited for the Consolation. 
 It had not come ; but day after day, night after 
 night, she went on — still fasted, still prayed. Then, 
 in eternity, time struck the hour, and Jesus Christ 
 came. She had not waited in vain ; and henceforth 
 she could talk of nothing else to those others who 
 were waiting too. 
 
 " ' And have you not felt this ? You groan and 
 pray to see God — to press Him to your heart and 
 feel Him yours. You want to grasp what is 
 behind all your prayers, Communions, Confessions. 
 You want religion to be a personal affection for 
 Christ — something you can never let go. 
 
"A GREAT FACT" 113 
 
 " ' It shall come to you ; when or how I cannot 
 tell ; but it shall come. 
 
 " ' Perhaps it may be at the end of your life, when 
 the shadows of this world pass away, and the morn- 
 ing breaks over the Everlasting Hills. You shall 
 see the King in His beauty. Whom you had tried to 
 follow at such a distance ofF. Then will you say : 
 
 " ' O God, Thou art my God. Jesus Christ, 
 Thou didst come to earth for me. 
 
 " ' Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in 
 peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation.' 
 
 " So the sermon ended, and the Mass proceeded. 
 It was bright with colours, odours, flowers, and 
 music. When the great bell of the church boomed 
 out among the snow-clouds at the moment of Con- 
 secration, a Broad Churchman might not be able to 
 realize the fact in its intensity ; but to those who 
 knelt, or rather prostrated themselves, there, the 
 Sacramental Act was a great fact. 
 
 " When, after the service, I interviewed Father 
 Stanton, he said, ' The only two points in which we 
 have made concessions are, that we do not light 
 candles or burn incense during the Celebration. All 
 else is as before.' The great influence at St. Alban's 
 is, he says, in the Confessional, and that influence 
 he attributes to the fact that confessions are made 
 openly in church, not in the vestry with closed doors. 
 As an instance of the geniality which pervades 
 the whole system at St. Alban's, he told me, after 
 describing the numerous guilds, sisterhoods, crgche, 
 orphanage, and the like, that at a Mothers' Meeting 
 a lady once came in and said, ' I suppose. Father 
 Stanton, that you read these women a chapter in 
 the Bible while they are at work ? ' 
 
 H 
 
114 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 " ' Not so,' he said. ' I am now reading Nicholas 
 Nickleby, and have just finished Adam Bede.^ 
 
 " ' Then, at least, you begin with the collect for 
 the week ? ' 
 
 "'As that collect happened to be: "Blessed 
 Lord, Who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be 
 written for our learning," I did not think it quite 
 appropriate to Nicholas Nickleby.^ " ^ 
 
 St. Alban's has always been pre-eminently a 
 layman's church. The male element in the congre- 
 gation is remarkable. It is one of the few churches 
 in London where the men's side is as full as the 
 women's. Laymen have been its most devoted 
 servants in all departments of parochial activity ; and, 
 at time of stress and struggle, laymen have been 
 its most vigorous champions. Whatever else might 
 befall — the chilliness and even, as Mackonochie 
 called them, the " kicks," of clerical brethren ; 
 the persecuting zeal of Bishops, the rebukes and 
 rebuffs of dignitaries less highly placed — the Clergy 
 of St. Alban's have always been able to rely on the 
 inflexible loyalty of the laymen who frequented 
 their ministrations. This fact has been, indeed, the 
 special note or characteristic of St. Alban's, and 
 therefore it is fitting to assign a prominent place in 
 this narrative to a layman who, during the period 
 which we are now considering, played a leading part 
 in the life of the parish. 
 
 Theodore Mansel Talbot was born in 1839. He 
 was the only son of Mr. Christopher Talbot, of 
 Margam, a man of great possessions and position in 
 South Wales, who sat as a Liberal for Glamorgan- 
 
 ' See Appendix III., p. 334, 
 
THEODORE TALBOT 115 
 
 shire from 1830 till 1890, and was Father of the 
 House of Commons. Theodore's mother died 
 when her son was only seven years old. He was 
 brought up at home, and taught by private tutors 
 under the careful superintendence of his father, 
 himself a man of high attainments in mathematics 
 and physical science. At the age of eighteen he 
 went up to Christ Church. He hunted, he debated 
 (taking always a vehemently Liberal line), he culti- 
 vated music, he practised Freemasonry, and he read 
 sufficiently hard to obtain a Second Class in the 
 Final Mathematical School. On going down from 
 Oxford, he threw himself with great energy into 
 the Volunteer movement, becoming successively 
 Captain, Major, and Lieutenant-Colonel of his 
 county corps. He was an admirable shot, a strict 
 disciplinarian, and a thorough master of drill. He 
 took a farm of his father's, and worked it on com- 
 mercial principles. But volunteering and farming 
 were scarcely the pursuits best adapted to his im- 
 petuous and daring spirit. As heir to his father's 
 immense possessions, he had been brought up to 
 no profession. Without occupation he would 
 have been miserable, and he was repeatedly in- 
 vited to stand for Parliament ; but he seemed 
 to shrink from the unrealities and insincerities of 
 public life. He realized, no one more keenly, 
 that God had duties in store for him ; but his 
 discovery of the direction in which those duties 
 lay was, as men judge accidents, accidental. From 
 his early days his temperament had been thought- 
 ful and devout; but, like many another man of 
 similar type, he was drifting rather aimlessly 
 through life, when, during the London Mission of 
 
ii6 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 1869, he chanced to wander into St. Columba's 
 Church, Haggerston, when Mr. Stanton, who was 
 acting as Missioner, was preaching. As soon as the 
 sermon was over, Talbot came to the preacher, told 
 him his circumstances, and said : " Here I am. 
 What can I do ? " The answer was immediate. 
 " Come down to St. Alban's, and help us there." 
 Talbot obeyed the summons, and in obeying it 
 found his true vocation, and developed the most 
 characteristic parts of his noble nature. 
 
 From this period he practically disappeared from 
 society. When he was in London, his time was 
 spent in the slums of Holborn instead of the 
 drawing-rooms of Belgravia and the clubs of Pall 
 Mall. He lived in Brooke Street, close to St. 
 Alban's Church. He joined the St. Alban's Paro- 
 chial Guild, of which the object was to bring young 
 working-men and lads together in a real brother- 
 hood. He stood God-father for the street-arabs at 
 their Baptism ; he would sit up all night nursing a 
 sick child ; he carried the dead to burial ; he fed 
 the hungry, reasoned with the sceptical, and taught 
 the ignorant in the Sunday Schools. He walked in 
 procession with his Guild in the Parish Church, and 
 freely spent his money and his time on the adorn- 
 ment of the sanctuary to which he was so deeply 
 attached. It is recorded of him that once, when 
 the child of some poor parents lay dead, and, because 
 their abode was outside the parish, the undertaker 
 had refused to be at the trouble of bringing the little 
 coffin to the church, Talbot, with some friends of 
 the Guild, went and fetched it himself, so that the 
 sorrowing parents might not be deprived of the 
 consolation of that last Eucharist. 
 
THE CHURCH MOUSE 117 
 
 After the early Communion, he would often 
 bring back some of the ragged lads whom he found 
 in the street, and give them breakfast, and try 
 to bring them under the influence of one of the 
 Guilds. One day, when he was kneeling in church 
 during Mass, he saw one of these little urchins 
 pounce upon a trap which had been set for the 
 benefit of the proverbial church-mouse, and secrete it 
 in his pocket. As soon as they got out of church, 
 Talbot collared the offender and demanded restitu- 
 tion of the mouse-trap, which the urchin handed 
 over with the tearful protest : " If I'd a-knowed it be- 
 longed to you, Guv'nor, I wouldn't a-' pinched ' it." 
 
 On his father's estate Talbot laboured earnestly 
 in the same cause ; promoting the restoration of 
 neglected churches, and the improvement of Divine 
 Worship ; serving at the altar ; and in all possible 
 ways strengthening the hands of the clergy, and 
 forwarding the work of the Catholic revival in Wales. 
 But our concern is with his life in Holborn. One 
 who observed it closely writes thus : 
 
 " He had wonderful sympathy and love for 
 the working man. He loved him for the sake of 
 the Divine Workman of Nazareth. That was his 
 Liberalism — a pure, unselfish, disinterested love of 
 the poor and helpless." He possessed in a singular 
 degree the gift of a child's little faith in the 
 Unseen, and the mysteries of the Mediatorial 
 Kingdom. From the Fatherhood of God, he learned 
 the Brotherhood of Man ; and in the social and 
 religious work of St. Alban's he embodied the idea 
 of that brotherhood in its most practical form. 
 We shall hear something more of his life — and 
 of his death — in the succeeding chapter. 
 
ii8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 In describing the " Men " of St. Alban's, inci- 
 dental mention has been made of their " Methods " ; 
 but, in order to make this chapter complete, those 
 methods must be described in rather fuller detail. 
 
 From the beginning, St. Alban's has had the 
 inestimable blessing of a daily Eucharist.^ We 
 have seen that the Altar was the centre of its 
 system ; that frequent Communion, with careful 
 preparation and thanksgiving, was diligently en- 
 forced, and that the " Choral Celebration," if not 
 " High Mass " with all liturgical accessories, was 
 •from the first the principal service of Sunday. 
 Presently a Communicants' Roll was instituted, and 
 the names of communicants departed were trans- 
 ferred to a Mortuary Book, so that they might be 
 perpetually remembered at the altar. We saw also 
 that the clergy, from the very outset of their work, 
 began to create a variety of agencies for material 
 and intellectual benefit, which now are common- 
 places of parochial activity but in 1863 were as rare 
 as they were admirable. 
 
 As years went on, the work inside and outside 
 alike, developed. The development of Eucharistic 
 ritual, as we have seen, involved Mackonochie in 
 perpetual worry. " Every device and industry that 
 he anywhere heard report of, as likely to increase 
 in others a faith in, and love for, this most Holy 
 Sacrament, he would enquire about, and, if possible, 
 employ." There were loyal friends of St. Alban's 
 who would have been glad to see some of these 
 exotic usages abandoned, and the enemy thereby 
 deprived of an occasion to blaspheme. But it 
 is to be borne in mind that whenever Mac- 
 ' But see p. 144. 
 
CONFESSION 119 
 
 konochie, in obedience to a legal Judgment, in 
 deference to his Bishop, or for peace' sake, gave 
 up any particular practice or symbol, the conces- 
 sion was immediately interpreted as justifying past 
 persecution, and made the signal and starting-point 
 for renewed attack. 
 
 Mr. Stanton, in an " Interview " reproduced above, 
 is reported to have said that " the great influence of 
 St. Alban's was in the Confessional." The saying 
 attracted a good deal of notice, and not a little 
 alarm among the readers of the Record, the Rock, 
 and the Christian Standard ; and with good reason, 
 for it was absolutely true. From the first, 
 Mackonochie and his colleagues had taught the 
 Doctrine of the Keys with a plainness which could 
 not be misunderstood, and had applied it in practice 
 with scrupulous diligence. But those were the days 
 when " the Vestry " was regarded as the place 
 divinely set apart for pastoral intercourse, and 
 it was there that Mackonochie administered the 
 Sacrament of Penance. But after the Mission of 
 1 869 a change was made, enormously to the advantage 
 of all concerned. It was notified that the Clergy 
 would hear confessions in church at fixed hours, 
 and each chose a station where he could be found. 
 There were no " Confessional-boxes," if by that 
 term are meant the solid structures seen in Roman 
 Catholic churches ; but only a seat for the Priest 
 fixed crosswise in the open sittings, with a curtain to 
 screen the penitent from curious onlookers. Four 
 or five of these stations were dotted about the 
 church, and henceforward Confession was robbed 
 of all its mystery and half its terrors. The present 
 writer once heard a workman, who had been ad- 
 
120 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 miring the picture of the Humiliation of St. 
 Elizabeth in the Tate Gallery, say, instructively, to a 
 neighbour, "That's Confession." If only he had 
 visited St. Alban's on a Friday or Saturday afternoon, 
 his notion of one of the means of grace would have 
 been clearer and also less alarming. The alteration in 
 the way of hearing confessions marked a stage in the 
 history of the Catholic Revival. It was one thing — 
 and a very difficult one — to write to an unknown 
 clergyman and ask for an appointment in his study. 
 It was another — not much more agreeable — to slink 
 into a dismal vestry, like an intending criminal bent 
 on some unlawful act. It is altogether different, 
 and vastly easier, to take one's place among one's 
 fellows in the aisle of a well-lighted church, and 
 then, when one's turn comes, to do one's business 
 without fuss or mystification. This freedom of 
 Confession is a boon which the Church of England 
 owes to St. Alban's. 
 
 To the many organizations of the parish were 
 added in process of time a Guild of " Perseverance," 
 intended to keep young communicants steady in the 
 faith, at a time when life is specially difficult, and a 
 " Brotherhood of Jesus of Nazareth," intended to 
 unite working men in the service of the Divine 
 Carpenter. The " Perseverance " was started by Mr. 
 Russell, who, as he said, " stole it from St. Sulpice " ; 
 and the Brotherhood by Mr. Stanton. The Easter 
 Procession of Guilds became one of the most beautiful 
 and attractive ceremonies of the church. The Public 
 Luncheon on St. Alban's Day has grown in popu- 
 larity and renown every year. The Parish Magazine 
 became a valuable organ of connexion between all 
 who loved St. Alban's. School Treats, as every- 
 
MRS. GRUNDY 121 
 
 where, attained gigantic proportions. A Boxing 
 Day Dinner to parents of scholars promoted good 
 fellowship, but was censured by the enemy as 
 tending to gluttony and drunkenness. A Working 
 Men's Club fell under the wrath of Mrs. Grundy, 
 because it tolerated cards and beer. Dramatic enter- 
 tainments, enlivened by the Parish Band, and pre- 
 senting the perilous adventures of Aladdin, Blue 
 Beard, Box and Cox, and Villikins and his Dinah, 
 were criticized as savouring of frivolity. But a 
 Cookery School, in which girls and women could 
 be taught to "serve. a simple meal with cleanliness 
 and propriety," made so strong an appeal to our 
 common humanity that it passed without rebuke. 
 
 In 1873 it was announced that, early in the next 
 year, a second " London Mission " would be held. 
 This Mission was much blessed by Bishops, and 
 Evangelicals and Broad Churchmen took part in 
 it, according to their respective fashions. At St. 
 Alban's the way was prepared for it by a " Novena 
 of the Holy Ghost." Mackonochie issued a stir- 
 ring address on a Mission as a call (i) to open 
 sinners ; (2) to God's pledged servants ; (3) to the 
 earnest seeker after the truth who had not yet 
 found it ; and he laid great stress on the paramount 
 necessity of earnest prayer, if the Mission was not to 
 end in spiritual failure. The Mission began on 
 Saturday evening, February 7, 1874. The chief 
 Missioner at St. Alban's was the Rev. E. A. Hill- 
 yard, of St. Laurence's, Norwich, and the proceedings 
 followed the usual course. The Instructions were 
 received with deep attention by crowded congrega- 
 tions, and Confession was freely used. A special 
 
122 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 address to men was given at 1 1.30 p.m. on Friday the 
 13th. On Monday evening the i6th there was a 
 Service of Thanksgiving, with Te Deum and incense 
 and all manner of pomp. It was noticed , with amuse- 
 ment or indignation according to the temperament 
 of the onlooker, that, while the Mission was in pro- 
 gress, a kind of rival Mission was held in the parish 
 by Mr. Martin, who had promoted the litigation 
 against Mackonochie ; but in his closing address 
 the Missioner expressed his joy that " others in this 
 parish, with whose theology he had little sympathy, 
 had joined in the work of saving souls, and wished 
 them, with all his heart, God speed." It was half- 
 past ten before this Farewell Service was over ; and, 
 as the people poured slowly out, the Missioner came 
 down the nave, and stood at the end of the church, 
 shaking hands and exchanging kindly words with all 
 who went out. 
 
 "What mark will the Mission leave at St. 
 Alban's ? Let those who sneer at it come to this 
 church three or four times, and judge whether the 
 axe, laid to the root of the tree by a stranger, is 
 resigned to feeble or uncertain hands." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FATHERS IN GOD 
 
 " The title, ' Father in God,' has never disappeared, whether from the 
 language of the Church, or of the law, or of general literature ; and the 
 reality, even in the worst times, has never been wholly without a witness." 
 — H. P. LiDDON. 
 
 Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford from 1845 
 to 1869, and of Winchester from 1869 to his 
 death, was a prelate who played a most important 
 part in the revival of the Church of England. He 
 was in truth what his admirers called him, " The 
 Remodeller of the Episcopate." As an Evangelical 
 by birth and training who had by degrees adopted 
 at any rate some portions of the Catholic position, 
 he was specially fitted for the work of mediating 
 between the High Church and Low Church parties ; 
 though he once ruefully asked in a letter to his 
 brother : " Qucere, have I hardness enough not to 
 be ground to pieces between the Evangelical and 
 Newman mills ? " Hardness was indeed the quality 
 which he lacked; his geniality, sympathy, and desire 
 to please made him appear " all things to all men " 
 in a sense not contemplated by the Apostle. He 
 abhorred Romanism, and had no great liking for 
 Ritualism ; but Ritualists were men of flesh and 
 blood, many of them trained under his own eye at 
 Cuddesdon, not seldom his personal friends ; and he 
 would not, if he could prevent it, allow them to be 
 
 123 
 
124 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 crushed. An amusing instance of the methods by 
 which he tried to serve them is recorded in the pro- 
 ceedings of the Royal Commission on Ritual in 
 1867. The Commission adopted a draft-Report, 
 which, though presented by Mr. Hubbard, had been 
 drawn by the Bishop; "and the secret of its 
 success was . . . the judicious use of the word 
 ' restrain ' with regard to vestments, instead of the 
 word ' abolish ' or ' prohibit.' The main body of 
 the Commissioners failed to perceive the elasticity 
 of this word, which in fact did leave a loophole for 
 the regulated use of vestments." ^ A Ritualistic 
 Incumbent of the London diocese, when his atten- 
 tion was called to this judicious word "restrain," 
 said : " Yes, I see. The Report only means that 
 one may not wear two chasubles at once. That is 
 quite good." 
 
 As long as Bishop Wilberforce lived, it was im- 
 possible for Archbishop Tait, whose leading notion 
 of governance was to persecute Ritualists, and for 
 Archbishop Thomson, whose ambition was "to 
 stamp out Ritualism," to accomplish their amiable 
 designs. The Bishop outmanoeuvred them at 
 every turn, and, though he shook his head at the 
 "extreme men," he restrained the forces of Episco- 
 pal intolerance. 
 
 Ritualism had yet another protector in the greatest 
 layman whom the English Church ever produced. 
 Mr. Gladstone was an English Catholic of the 
 historic school. He was no Ritualist. " I am," he 
 said in old age, " too independent of symbol ; " but 
 he loved freedom and justice. In 1867 he wrote : 
 
 1 Life of Bishop Wilberforce, vol, iii. chap. 7. 
 
ANTI-RITUALISM 125 
 
 " Yesterday I saw, for the first time, the service 
 in a Ritualistic church proper. There was much in 
 it that I did not like, could not defend as good, 
 perhaps could not claim toleration for. But that 
 must be in the last — the very last — resort." 
 
 Eleven years later he wrote : " My sympathy with 
 the Ritualists is founded entirely on the one-sided, 
 shabby, cruel treatment of them " — and no doubt it 
 was a deep and strong foundation. 
 
 With the most influential Bishop on the Banch 
 for one of their defenders, and the Prime Minister 
 for another, the Ritualists had nothing to fear ; but 
 it might be said without irreverence that in 1873 
 " the Lord began to cut Israel short." In July of 
 that year Bishop Wilberforce was killed by a fall 
 from his horse ; and the General Election of Febru- 
 ary 1874 drove Mr. Gladstone from office — as 
 people supposed, for ever. This combination of 
 events let loose the persecuting zeal of the Arch- 
 bishops, who thought that the moment had now 
 arrived for a final attack on such of the clergy as 
 were labouring to restore the dignity of Eucharistic 
 worship. 
 
 Early in March 1874, some articles appeared in 
 the Times foreshadowing coercive legislation against 
 the Ritualists ; and the enemy took heart of grace. 
 On the 27th of March 1874, it was announced at 
 the Annual Meeting of the Church Association 
 that " as Mr. Mackonochle was the great offender, 
 he was to be brought before the Courts of Law 
 in a new suit for the offences which he was con- 
 stantly committiiig in his church." The proceed- 
 ings would include not only those matters which 
 had been already decided, but would also raise the 
 
126 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 question whether Mackonochie was right in having 
 " erected a Confessional " in the church, and in 
 having given notice of the times at which Con- 
 fessions could be heard. 
 
 On this declaration of war, the congregation of 
 St. Alban's began to bestir themselves in self- 
 defence, and their first move was to apply for 
 guidance to the Bishop of London — Dr. Jackson, 
 who had succeeded Tait at the beginning of 1869. 
 Bishop Jackson was chilling and unfatherly in 
 manner, but a truly devout Evangelical. " I own," 
 said Liddon after his death, " that I think of him 
 with pleasure. He was not a strong man ; but he 
 was, according to the tenour of his convictions, 
 a servant of our Lord and not of the world." 
 The Bishop, with a view to promoting peace, 
 recommended Mackonochie to remove a large 
 crucifix, which had been found very helpful in the 
 Mission of the previous February, and also the 
 curtains which protected people making their Con- 
 fessions from ill-bred curiosity. Mackonochie at 
 once complied, but, as usual, his compliance failed 
 to pacify the foe. 
 
 Easter was observed with its accustomed cere- 
 monies, "the whole spectacle," according to the 
 Daily Telegraph, " being sumptuous and joyful." But 
 the Paschal season was rudely disturbed. On the 
 20th of April 1874, Archbishop Tait introduced 
 the ill-starred Public Worship Regulation Bill into 
 the House of Lords, with a good deal of plausible 
 rhetoric about " young and inexperienced men," 
 " the just rights of parishioners," and " the substi- 
 tution of summary process for the present system 
 of protracted litigation." The Bill, considerably 
 
LORD PENZANCE 127 
 
 altered for the worse at the instance of such violent 
 partisans as Lord Shaftesbury and Lord Cairns, 
 soon passed the House of Lords. In the House 
 of Commons, Disraeli, who had become Prime 
 Minister on Gladstone's defeat, welcomed it with 
 effusion. "This," he said, "is a Bill to put down 
 Ritualism." As such, he believed that it would 
 be popular, and, with his assistance, it became law, 
 in spite of Gladstone's vigorous and single-handed 
 opposition. It was to come into operation on the 
 1st of July 1875, and thenceforward, all ques- 
 tions about the mode of performing Divine Service 
 were to be referred to a lay judge, appointed by 
 the Archbishops jointly to hear and determine all 
 representations under the Act, in either Province. 
 This was indeed a short and easy method of crush- 
 ing Ritualism ; and, in order to make it offensive 
 as well as unfair, the two Archbishops chose as 
 their judge and representative Lord Penzance, who 
 had hitherto presided over the unsavoury business 
 of the Divorce Court. 
 
 Such is the early history of the Public Worship 
 Regulation Act. Before long the instrument of 
 tyranny broke in the clumsy hands which had 
 forged it, and its fragments to-day lie rusting in 
 the lumber-room of archiepiscopal failures. But 
 in 1874 this particular failure was not foreseen, 
 and it seemed as if Ritualism, and indeed all 
 decency in public worship, were doomed to im- 
 mediate extinction. 
 
 As the Act was not to come into force till 1875, 
 the Church Association was constrained to institute 
 its new suit against Mackonochie in the old Court of 
 Arches. The indefatigable Mr, Martin applied to 
 
128 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 the Bishop of London for the usual " Letters of 
 Request " ; but the Bishop held that, as Mac- 
 konochie had removed "the screens or curtains 
 used for Confession," there was now no ground 
 for proceeding against him for having erected a 
 " Confessional." With regard to all the other 
 points — Lighted Candles, Undue Elevation, Pro- 
 cessions with Crucifix, Banner and Candles, the 
 Agnus Dei, the Sign of the Cross, Kissing the 
 Prayer-Book, Wafer-bread, Vestments, and the 
 Eastward Position — the Bishop granted the " Letters 
 of Request," and the suit was begun in the Court 
 of Arches on the 22 nd of May 1874. 
 
 In view of what followed, it is expedient at this 
 point to describe another lawsuit which had lately 
 taken place. The Rev. John Purchas, Incumbent of 
 St. James's Chapel, Brighton, had been charged in the 
 Court of Arches with a variety of Ritualistic actions, 
 some of which indeed were so curious as to be even 
 laughable, while some were the commonplaces of 
 Eucharistic worship. Mr. Purchas declined to 
 appear either personally or by counsel. The Dean of 
 Arches decided against him on most of the points, 
 but justified him in the use of the Eucharistic 
 Vestments, the Eastward Position, Wafer-bread, and 
 (when not mixed ceremonially) the mixed Chalice. 
 The Promoter, ill-satisfied with this very partial 
 victory, appealed to the Judicial Committee, and 
 on the 23rd of February 1871 the Judicial Com- 
 mittee delivered their Judgment, which has been thus 
 described by the present Archbishop of Canterbury : * 
 
 " It was a very long and careful document . . . 
 and from the elaborate arguments it adduces, and 
 ' R. T. Davidson. 
 
THE PURCHAS JUDGMENT 129 
 
 from the constant references to authorities more 
 or less ambiguous or obscure, it was naturally vul- 
 nerable at many points. Briefly summarized, it 
 reversed the decision of the Dean of Arches on 
 all the important points which he had decided 
 in Mr. Purchas's favour. It declared the Vest- 
 ments, the Eastward Position, the Wafer-bread, and 
 the mixed Chalice to be all illegal, and condemned 
 Mr. Purchas in the costs both of the suit and the 
 appeal." 
 
 No sooner was this Judgment delivered, than 
 a storm of indignation began to roll up from all 
 quarters. A protest signed by 4700 clergy was 
 presented to the Archbishops and Bishops. An 
 extract from a letter of Bishop Wilberforce to 
 Archbishop Tait expressed a widespread feeling : 
 
 " We are in sad trouble as to this last decision of 
 the Privy Council, and I greatly fear the result. 
 The mere suppression of vestments would have 
 passed quietly enough, but the imperative injunction 
 to consecrate at the north end cuts far deeper, and 
 will not be obeyed. Men feel the one-sidedness of 
 the Judgment, the playing with words in deciding 
 that ' standing before the Table ' is not to mean it 
 when Purchas is condemned, and is to mean it when 
 Mackonochie is. . . . It is a very distracting time, 
 and unless God hears our prayers will end in a great 
 schism." 
 
 The Archbishop replied with a good-tempered 
 contempt for the victims of persecution, and with 
 his usual lack of insight and foresight : 
 
 " I have read the Purchas Judgment carefully. 
 ... I confess I think it will be a great mistake if 
 the High Church party generally excite themselves 
 
I30 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 respecting the position at the Communion Table, 
 Of course the Vestments will be dropped, because 
 they will be legally complained against, and Bishops 
 will be called to enforce the law ; but in minor 
 matters we do not all observe all the Rubrics, and, 
 till there is formal complaint, no harm is done." 
 
 Such was the law of Ritual as defined by the 
 Court of Final Appeal in Ecclesiastical Causes, and 
 endorsed by both the Primates, when Mr. Martin 
 began his fresh suit against Mackonochie. 
 
 On the 28th of May 1874, a crowded meeting 
 of Parishioners and Communicants was held at the 
 School in Leigh Court, and the following Memorial 
 and Protest were unanimously adopted : 
 
 " MEMORIAL 
 
 To THE Right Reverend Father in God, the Lord 
 Bishop of London 
 
 " The humble Petition of the undersigned Parishioners 
 and Members of the Congregation of the Parish 
 Church of St. Alban the Martyr, Holborn 
 
 " Sheweth : 
 
 "I. That your Petitioners learn with great sorrow 
 that the Clergy and congregation of the above Church 
 are threatened with a renewal of the annoyances 
 and prosecutions to which they have been before 
 subjected with regard to certain observances which 
 are highly esteemed by them as exponents of the 
 Catholic Faith professed by the Church of England. 
 
 "II. That your Petitioners knowing, from past 
 experience, the grievous injury done to the work of 
 the Parish by that which they deem to be an un- 
 
A MEMORIAL 131 
 
 warrantable interference with their privileges as 
 loyal members of the Church, and fully believing in 
 your Lordship's sympathy with every work which 
 tends to the glory of Almighty God and the salva- 
 tion of souls, beg very respectfully to lay the fol- 
 lowing statement before your Lordship : 
 
 " (a) This petition emanates solely from the 
 laity who worship at the Church of St. Alban 
 the Martyr, and they have taken this step in 
 order to show to your Lordship that they con- 
 sider themselves deeply aggrieved. 
 
 " (i^) The ritual that has been gradually 
 developed has been requested at each successive 
 stage by the laity, so that there is no pretence 
 for saying that it has been forced upon an un- 
 willing congregation. 
 
 " (c) We feel that the interest taken by us 
 in the work of the Parish sufficiently warrants 
 us in petitioning your Lordship ; and although 
 unwilling to speak of our personal deeds, we 
 cannot on this occasion forbear to state that 
 a great amount of actual work is done by the 
 laity, and that a very large sum of money, not 
 less than ;^ 5 0,000, has been expended during 
 the past eleven years upon the services of the 
 Church, the Schools, and various works of 
 mercy. 
 
 " (^) We firmly believe in all the doctrines 
 of which Ritual is but the outward sign. We 
 value lights, incense, and kneeling, because 
 they teach the Real Presence of our Blessed 
 Lord in the Holy Eucharist. We lament the 
 removal of the Crucifix, because it so eloquently 
 preached Christ crucified. And we regret the 
 
132 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 removal of the Confessionals, which has been 
 caused by an interference which is inconsistent 
 with religious liberty. 
 
 "(e) We feel that if the opposition be 
 honest, it is aimed rather at doctrine than at 
 ritual ; so that while we have the plain words 
 of the Prayer Book to teach us the former, we 
 claim the right of having the latter to set it 
 forth more clearly. 
 
 " (/) We further believe that the ritual 
 used is entirely in accordance with the law of 
 the Church of England, and with the spirit of 
 the Prayer Book, which cannot be interpreted 
 by the neglect of past years, and upon which 
 the conflicting Judgments in recent suits throw 
 no light whatever. 
 " III. That your Petitioners in laying this state- 
 ment before your Lordship, simply ask for tolera- 
 tion. And that they pray your Lordship to protect 
 the Priests of this Church, whose self-denying 
 labours have, under the blessing of Almighty God, 
 resulted in such a marked way in the spread of our 
 Holy Religion and in the due observance of its 
 ordinances. 
 
 " And your Petitioners will ever pray, &c." 
 
 " PROTEST 
 
 To THE Right Reverend Father in God the Lord 
 Bishop of London 
 
 " My Lord, — Before the preceding Memorial 
 could be presented, we learnt that a prosecution had 
 commenced, and therefore venture to protest to your 
 Lordship, as strongly as we can, against the course 
 
A PROTEST 133 
 
 adopted by our opponents, and to submit that we 
 feel most deeply, in the first place, the great evil 
 which must result to this Parish from the interfer- 
 ence with the work of our Priests ; and secondly, 
 our annoyance at the attack on religious liberty to 
 which as Englishmen we feel that we are justly 
 entitled. 
 
 "My Lord, this question touches the laity very 
 deeply. We ourselves feel that the time has 
 arrived when we must speak and act publicly in 
 this matter, and declare that we fully believe in 
 all those doctrines which are really being attacked 
 under the pretence of an attack on the outward 
 symbolism of Ritual. In this belief, my Lord, we 
 do not stand alone ; there are thousands of 
 Members of the Church of England who think as 
 we do ; and we venture to assert that the events of 
 past years point unmistakably to the fact, that the 
 laity will not be content unless their faith is set 
 forth by a corresponding ritual. 
 
 " In conclusion, we declare our unfeigned devo- 
 tion to our branch of the Church Catholic. We 
 beg your Lordship to remember that the Church of 
 England has under its present constitution always 
 embraced men of various schools of thought. And 
 we venture to leave in your Lordship's hands this 
 our strongest possible protest, desiring only that 
 liberty and toleration which is extended to all other 
 schools in the Church. 
 
 " We must consider this letter, together with the 
 draft Memorial and your Lordship's reply, as 
 intended for publication. 
 
 " We are, my Lord, your Lordship's humble and 
 faithful servants." 
 
134 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 (This document was signed by 191 8 Commu- 
 nicants.) 
 
 At the same meeting the following Resolution 
 was adopted, and the chairman was directed to 
 transmit it to the Vicar : — 
 
 "That this Meeting desires to express its 
 entire sympathy with Mr. Mackonochie and 
 the other Clergy of St. Alban's in this fresh 
 outbreak of persecution, and hereby pledges 
 itself to uphold and protect them to the 
 utmost of its power." 
 
 Mackonochie's reply was as follows : 
 
 My dear Mr. Fifoot, — I have to thank 
 you, and, through you, to express to those whose 
 kind resolution you have sent me, my most hearty 
 thanks for it and all their goodness. 
 
 We, your clergy, have had such unceasing proofs 
 of that sympathy and support, of which the resolu- 
 tion is a renewed expression, that the knowledge of 
 it can never be absent from our hearts, or fail to 
 animate us with fresh vigour in the great cause 
 of Truth. 
 
 There are parishes in which the duty of the 
 priest compels him to make a stand for certain 
 points of esssential truth, when his people, even 
 where well-disposed as to things in general, cannot 
 bear the full teaching of the Truth. In yourselves 
 God has given to us, your priests, a body of lay 
 communicants ready to receive and to co-operate in 
 the promulgation of all that the Catholic Faith 
 requires us to teach and practise. We are " all of 
 one heart and of one mind," thank God, and both 
 people and priests know that they are so. You 
 
"UP AND DOING" 135 
 
 regret that you cannot more fully share the trial 
 which falls upon us : but then we, on our side, 
 cannot help feeling, that, in many ways, you have 
 much more at stake than we. So long as we have 
 hands and a tongue, we can only by being deprived 
 of liberty be kept from saying Mass ; but for you 
 the bad times may come back — though I do not for 
 a moment believe that they will — when you shall 
 be deprived of priests to give you the Sacraments 
 at all. It is a great blessing that you are alive to 
 the fact that God rarely helps those who do not 
 help themselves. You are up and doing. " Be 
 strong, and He shall comfort thine heart ; and put 
 thou thy trust in the Lord ; " or, if I may give you 
 another rendering, " Wait on the Lord ; quit you 
 like men : and be your heart strengthened : and 
 wait on the Lord." With kind love to you all, 
 from myself and your other priests. — ^Your most 
 affectionate Father in our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 The Memorial and Protest were presented to the 
 Bishop of London at London House by a Deputa- 
 tion of Parishioners, headed by the Churchwardens. 
 The Bishop opened the proceedings by reminding 
 his hearers that the case, having now been remitted 
 to the Court of Arches, was out of his hands, and 
 that therefore he could not be expected to say 
 much. In this he was as good as his word. He 
 listened to the Deputation " with the most courteous 
 attention," but confined his remarks to an expres- 
 sion of sympathy with all conscientious persons in 
 distress. When he had made an end of speaking, 
 Mt. Theodore Talbot spoke as follows about the 
 
136 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 changes which, for peace sake, Mackonochie had 
 introduced : 
 
 " I beg to urge upon your Lordship the fact that 
 the congregation of St. Alban's feel themselves very 
 harshly treated. For example, we consider that 
 the removal of the curtains used in Confession is a 
 gross insult to Penitents, who are thereby exposed 
 to the rude gaze of any profane idler who desires 
 to gratify his prurient curiosity, or display his bad 
 manners. The congregation practise Confession as 
 before, as they have a perfect right to do, and they 
 feel that they ought to enjoy this right, free from 
 annoyance and indignity." 
 
 Other members of the Deputation addressed the 
 Bishop in a similar strain, but his Lordship kept 
 silence, yea, even from good words, and his peti- 
 tioners departed. On the 22nd of June another 
 meeting was held in the Schools to receive the 
 report of the Deputation. The meeting, as might 
 be expected, unanimously resolved that it " regarded 
 with much dissatisfaction the Bishop's reply to the 
 Memorial and Protest," and some strong speeches 
 were made. The conclusion of the whole matter 
 was, in the words of an eye-witness, that " everyone 
 seemed determined to defend real religious liberty, 
 and to defeat the attempts to stamp out Ritualism." 
 
 Amid all this hurly-burly, the calmest figure on 
 the scene was that of the persecuted Vicar. His 
 Annual Letter to the Parish on St. Alban's Day, 
 1874, ends on a note of characteristic courage. 
 
 "So now we buckle on our armour afresh, and 
 renew for another year our vows as Christ's soldiers 
 to fight the bad within us, and the enemy without. 
 It is easy to see that the latter is strengthening 
 
"THE INNER CITADEL" 137 
 
 himself against both Faith and Holiness in every 
 part of Christ's Church ; and we must know little 
 of ourselves if wc do not perceive that the keeping 
 of the inner Citadel for our Lord and Saviour 
 against the treachery of personal sin, is no easy 
 matter. But courage, Brethren ! Humility and 
 love, faith and prayer, will, with the Blessing of 
 the Father, keep us, by the operation of the Holy 
 Ghost, in that knowledge of Him, and of His dear 
 Son, which is Life Eternal." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 FIGHTINGS AND FEARS 
 
 " Lord Houghton met me on the steps of the Athenseum. ' You are as 
 triumphant as Laud in his worst times : I hope it is not to end in the 
 same way.'" — Archbishop Tait's Diary (July 19, 1874). 
 
 It Is difficult, except for those who passed through 
 it, to realize the stress of 1874. The Ritualists saw 
 arrayed against them a powerful and unscrupulous 
 Prime Minister ; the two Archbishops, both able 
 men and both bent on destroying Ritual ; a bench 
 of pavid bishops ; an absolutely united House of 
 Commons ; ^ a House of Lords bewildered and 
 divided ; and the whole weight of the Press, Society, 
 and, so far as it could be ascertained, Public Opinion. 
 No wonder that men's hearts were failing them for 
 fear, and for looking after those things which were 
 coming on the Church. It is true that the older 
 men were less perturbed than the younger. Dr. 
 Pusey wrote : " For ourselves I fear nothing. We 
 are persuaded that the law is with us in all that is 
 important for the truth's sake." Dr. Liddon said : 
 " Of course there is no reason for despondency. 
 We shall live to see the drowned Egyptians on the 
 shore even yet." Dr. King wrote : " We must 
 turn-to again, and teach in the quiet Early Tract- 
 
 * Mr. Gladstone could find no support for six Resolutions by 
 which he tried to render the P. W. R. Bill less noxious, and they 
 were accordingly dropped. 
 
 138 
 
STRESS 139 
 
 arian way. That seems the thing to do — not to 
 lose heart, or get hard with disappointment, but to 
 get a help in Humility, feeling that Parliament does 
 not like us or want us. We have perhaps lost of 
 late by gaining the masses — I mean lost in purity of 
 intention and unworldliness." 
 
 Yet the present writer remembers that Dr. Bright, 
 then Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, 
 was seriously uneasy : and Archdeacon Denison 
 promoted a Memorial, very largely signed by dig- 
 nitaries and beneficed clergy, against any attempt to 
 enforce uniformity of ceremonial. But it was on 
 the younger men that the stress of the time weighed 
 most heavily. They had grown to man's estate in 
 the love of the Catholic faith, expressed in Catholic 
 ritual. Their zeal was not always according to 
 knowledge. Perhaps they were inclined to think 
 too much of the sign, and too little of the Thing 
 Signified. At any rate the sign and the Thing were 
 so closely associated in their thought and feeling, 
 that the threatened destruction of the one seemed 
 to imperil the other. Under the distress of 1874, 
 some of them proved to be "too quick despairers." 
 They could not wait twelve months to see what 
 actually would happen when the P. W. R. Act 
 came into operation. They assumed the worst. 
 They persuaded themselves that all was over. 
 Henceforward the Church of England was to be 
 something new and strange : something to which 
 they had never sworn their allegiance; something 
 in which they could never feel at home. Many 
 seceded at once to Rome ; others, restrained in 
 several cases by Newman's influence, held back 
 for a while, but with ever-decreasing confidence in 
 
HO SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 the Anglican position. Again, there were some 
 who were less troubled by attacks on Ritual, or the 
 doctrines which Ritual expresses, than by the in- 
 trusion of a secular Parliament into the afFairs of 
 the Bride of Christ ; and these found their way into 
 unestablished communities, such as the Irvingite Body 
 and the Plymouth Brethren. And yet again there 
 were men who had intended to offer themselves for 
 Holy Orders, but who, foreseeing a holocaust of 
 Catholics, declined to give themselves up as a living 
 prey to the ex-Divorce Judge, and, while remaining 
 in the English Church, changed their scheme of life. 
 
 On the 13th of August 1874, Archdeacon 
 Denison wrote: "The particular Evil Spirit who 
 has it in charge to corrupt, and in the end destroy, 
 the Church of England is Cosmophilus, the Spirit of 
 Compromise. He writes all the leaders in the 
 Guardian, and has done so for many years. He 
 writes also a great deal in the 'Times. 
 
 " I don't know what to say about the Brighton 
 Congress. Congresses muddle all things, and fix 
 and clear none. Cosmophilus will be there with a 
 great following." 
 
 This prediction concerning the Church Con- 
 gress, which assembled at Brighton in October 
 1874, was verified to the letter. There were, in 
 the Archdeacon's vigorous phrase, " very offensive 
 speeches, lay and clerical, and an immense row." 
 The confusion and perplexity of the Ritualistic 
 party were made painfully apparent. " Some cried 
 one thing, and some another, and the assembly was 
 confused." The only point which emerged quite 
 clearly was that every one regarded the P. W. R. 
 Act as a monstrous invasion of the Church's rights, 
 
THE SECOND SUSPENSION 141 
 
 and full of danger to the Catholic cause. How to 
 vindicate those rights and how to defend that cause 
 were questions on which no two people seemed 
 agreed. As soon as the Courts re-opened after the 
 Vacation, the actual hearing of the case against 
 Mackonochie began in the Court of Arches. Mac- 
 konochie appeared under protest. Counsel and Judge 
 retraversed the familiar ground, for the only fresh 
 point — the erection of a Confessional — had been 
 omitted by the Bishop of London from the Letters 
 of Request. Now appears the importance of the 
 Purchas Judgment, to which reference was made in 
 the last chapter. The Dean of Arches regarded 
 himself as bound by that decision of the Judicial 
 Committee, although it conflicted at several points 
 with his own previous rulings. In his Judg- 
 ment, delivered on the 7th of December, he ac- 
 quitted Mackonochie of undue Elevation, but 
 condemned him on all the remaining counts, and 
 sentenced him to six weeks' Suspension. Here- 
 upon Mackonochie gave notice of appeal, believing, 
 as he subsequently stated, that the Appeal would 
 be heard by the new Court of Judicature created 
 by the P. W. R. Act. " Although," he said, " the 
 new Court will have no more valid spiritual juris- 
 diction in spiritual causes than the present, yet its 
 constitution gives more hope of an impartial ad- 
 ministration of justice." 
 
 However, in the earlier part of 1875, it became 
 apparent that the Appeal would come on before the 
 1st of July, and therefore must be heard by the 
 Judicial Committee. Accordingly, on the 21st of 
 May, Mackonochie withdrew it, and notified the 
 fact in a dignified letter to the Archbishop of 
 
142 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Canterbury. "The whole history of the Judicial 
 Committee of the Privy Council from its first ex- 
 istence makes it impossible to trust its impartiality 
 as constituted for ecclesiastical cases, and my own 
 personal experience has taught me that 1 have no 
 ground to expect from it either consideration or 
 fairness." 
 
 The letter concluded thus : 
 
 "I cannot forbear from laying before your Grace 
 the following facts as to the position of myself and 
 others who value more than life their fidelity to 
 Christ in this Church of England. I have been 
 now more than twenty-six years in Sacred Orders. 
 During the whole of that time I have endeavoured, 
 to the best of my power, to obey the laws of that 
 Church, and minister her offices for the glory of 
 God and for the edification of His people. How I 
 may have served in that capacity for the first of 
 these objects it will be for the Great Day to show : 
 as to the latter, it would be a foolish assumption of 
 ignorance not to own that God has blessed me. 
 What has been the result .? With the very rarest 
 exceptions, I have received not one word of en- 
 couragement from my superiors in the Church : I 
 have now been four times dragged before Courts : I 
 have stood in Court side by side as a fellow-culprit 
 with a Cleric charged with adultery ; I have found 
 in the Highest Court of Appeal every door for his 
 escape obsequiously held open by his Judges, and 
 the one door of justice and equity as vigorously 
 barred by the same hands against me. 
 
 "I do not, your Grace, complain, but venture to 
 state facts." 
 
BISHOP AND CURATE 143 
 
 On the withdrawal of the Appeal, the sentence 
 of the Court of Arches took effect, and on the 
 13th of June 1875, Mackonochie found himself 
 suspended for six weeks. 
 
 This event was the signal for some very deci- 
 sive actions. The suspended Vicar, like a wise 
 man, took a holiday, and retired from the strife 
 of tongues to Italy, leaving the parish to the care 
 of his loved and trusted colleague, Mr. Stanton. 
 On Sunday the 13th of June, the services were 
 performed as usual, Mr. Stanton preaching an 
 impassioned sermon on the Suspension, and the 
 legal system under which such an outrage had been 
 possible. On the 20th of June the proceedings 
 were the same, Mr, Stanton laying stress on the 
 fact that a poor parish was persecuted, while rich 
 parishes, where the same ritual was used, were 
 left undisturbed. 
 
 On the 2 1st of June a large meeting of 
 the Congregation and Communicants was held in 
 the School - Room. A strong Protest against 
 Mackonochie's Suspension, and the Purchas Judg- 
 ment on which it was founded, was unanimously 
 adopted, and a copy was sent to the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, with a request that he would " receive 
 a Deputation to present the Protest in due form." 
 
 On the 24th of June, Mr. Stanton, as Curate in 
 charge of the parish, was admitted to an interview 
 with the Bishop of London, who directed him to 
 conduct the services according to the Purchas 
 Judgment : he was to wear no vestment except a 
 surplice — not even a stole — and was to celebrate 
 the Holy Eucharist with such bread as was in 
 ordinary use. 
 
144 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 The immediate result of this interview was that 
 the following notice was affixed to the doors of 
 the Church : 
 
 " N.B. There will be no celebration of Holy 
 Communion in this Church until further notice. 
 All other services as usual. 
 
 "A. H. Stanton. 
 " St. Alban's Clergy House, June 24, 1875." 
 
 On the 26th of June the Archbishop replied to 
 the request of the meeting held on the 2ist. He 
 stated that it would be inconsistent with his duty 
 to receive a Protest against the decision of the 
 Judge of his Provincial Court; but he expressed 
 his willingness to advise any who thought fit to 
 seek his counsel.^ 
 
 On Sunday, the 27th, Mattins was said as usual. 
 At the end of the office, Mr. Stanton mounted 
 the pulpit, and announced that the absent Vicar 
 thoroughly approved of the course which he had 
 taken. He spoke very gently of the Bishop of 
 London, who felt himself bound to regulate the 
 service according to the Purchas Judgment. The 
 Clergy, on the other hand, felt that it would 
 be irreverent in them, believing as they did in 
 the Eucharistic Presence, to celebrate the Sacred 
 Mysteries with the maimed rites which the Judicial 
 Committee enjoined, and he believed that the whole 
 congregation felt as they felt. " Would any of 
 you," he exclaimed, pointing to his surplice, " have 
 me stand at the Altar in such a vestment as this ? " 
 
 ^ A second application to the same effect received the same 
 response, dated July 9, 1875. 
 
A PILGRIMAGE 145 
 
 What then was to be done ? He asked them all to 
 follow him out of church, when the collection had 
 been made, and, without fuss or demonstration, to 
 accompany him across Holborn Viaduct'and through 
 Newgate Street, to St. Vedast's Church, Foster Lane, 
 just behind the old General Post Office, where they 
 would find a Solemn Celebration at twenty minutes 
 to twelve. 
 
 The suggestion was enthusiastically adopted, and 
 the congregation followed the clergy to St. Vedast's, 
 which they filled to overflowing. There Mr. 
 Stanton preached from the text — " Be ye therefore 
 merciful, even as your Father also is merciful." 
 This lesson, he said, was illustrated by the action 
 of the Rector of St. Vedast's, who, when the Clergy 
 at St. Alban's were considering their course, came 
 to the Clergy House and offered them the use of his 
 church for a special Celebration every Sunday, while 
 the Suspension lasted. The service then went 
 forward with the accustomed adjuncts, the Cele- 
 brant being one of the curates of St. Alban's, the 
 Rev. G. R. Hogg. 
 
 This dramatic action evoked a chorus of indig- 
 nation, astonishment, and disgust from all such 
 as expected the Ritualists to submit uncomplain- 
 ingly to every species of injustice ; and in that 
 chorus the papers which speak for " Churchmen of 
 the Old School," and the "respectable" classes gener- 
 ally, bore their full part. This outburst had its 
 due eflTect on the Bishop of London, who on the 
 3rd of July prohibited the Clergy of St. Alban's 
 from officiating in any church where the illegal orna- 
 ments were used. On Sunday the 4th, Mr. Stanton 
 preached at Mattins, and suggested that, as the con- 
 
 K 
 
146 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 gregation was too large for St. Vedast's, those who 
 could not find room there might attend the Midday 
 Celebration at St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 On Sunday the nth and Sunday the i8th of 
 July, the same procedvire was observed ; but between 
 those two dates a striking incident had occurred. 
 Some of the working men belonging to the con- 
 gregation formed themselves into a committee for 
 the support of their Parish Priest.-' In a few days 
 they procured 525 signatures to a Protest against 
 Mackonochie's Suspension, and they obtained the 
 favour of an interview with the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury. The interview took place at Lambeth 
 Palace on Thursday evening, July 1 5 ; and there 
 was an entertaining dialogue between the Arch- 
 bishop and his visitors. 
 
 In the first place. His Grace said, as he had 
 said before, that he could not receive a Protest ; 
 " but," he added, " if you, individual members of 
 the Church of England, want to have a talk with 
 me, who am the Chief Minister of the Church of 
 England, I am quite willing to hear you and give 
 you advice." 
 
 The Secretary of the Deputation said that it 
 had been a very great surprise to him and his 
 friends that all of a sudden they were debarred 
 from Holy Communion. " By whom .'' " asked the 
 Archbishop. The Secretary replied that the Clergy 
 of St. Alban's would not celebrate according to 
 the Purchas Judgment, and that, if they did, he 
 and his brethren would not receive. 
 
 * Out of this Committee grew " The Church of England Working 
 Men's Society." 
 
A DEBATE 147 
 
 "Then," said the Archbishop, "it is not your 
 Clergy who debar you, but yourselves." 
 
 The Protest, modified into a " Memorial," was 
 then read. It set forth that the Working Men of 
 St. Alban's considered themselves deeply aggrieved 
 that their freedom of worship should have been 
 attacked, and begged His Grace to take their 
 Memorial into consideration. 
 
 Archbishop. " What do you want me to do ^ " 
 
 Secretary. " We want your Grace to allow the 
 Services to proceed as before." 
 
 Archbishof. " You ought to go to the Bishop 
 of London. St. Alban's is not in my diocese." 
 
 The Secretary then asked for a public expres- 
 sion of sympathy, and the Archbishop replied that 
 he felt great sympathy with anyone who found 
 his connexion with his pastor interrupted, " whether 
 by the pastor's fault or by whoever's fault it is." 
 In this case, he thought it was the pastor's. 
 
 The dialogue then went on merrily. Tait's 
 chief gift was his skill in debate, and the workmen 
 who now tackled him gave him opportunities for 
 some shrewd replies. 
 
 They objected to Mr. Martin as a non-parishioner. 
 The Archbishop had no doubt that the point had 
 been considered at the trial and overruled. 
 
 The Secretary wished to read " Extracts respect- 
 ing the uncertainty of the law " ; and the Arch- 
 bishop remarked that, in the case of an appeal, 
 the inferior Court was bound to obey the superior. 
 " If a man is to be allowed to set his own will 
 against the declared law of the land, what on earth 
 is to become of us ? What do we keep judges 
 for, except to declare the law .'' and, when once 
 
148 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 they have laid it down, it must be obeyed." The 
 Secretary "did not want to be entrapped into a 
 legal argument. We came here for advice." The 
 Archbishop was ready to give advice. 
 
 Secretary. "Where and how are we to get Holy 
 Communion } " 
 
 Archbishop. " In any church you please to enter." 
 
 Secretary. " We want it as we have it at St. 
 Alban's." 
 
 Archbishop. "You can't get it. . . . Supposing 
 you belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, and 
 you said that you wished to receive the Holy Com- 
 munion according to the law of the Protestant 
 Church, of course you wouldn't get it." 
 
 The Secretary complained that the Bishop of 
 London did not come and explain matters, and 
 preach to the people, and take Confirmations in St. 
 Alban's. The Archbishop replied : " And quite 
 right too. If he were to go to St. Alban's, and mix 
 himself up with your ceremonies, it would be taken 
 as a recognition of them." 
 
 The Secretary complained that Mr. Stanton had 
 been misrepresented. What Mr. Stanton had really 
 said was that he would not celebrate the Sacrament 
 in a common choir-boy's dress. 
 
 Archbishop. " If Mr. Stanton used those words 
 relating to the surplice, he spoke unadvisedly with 
 his lips, and I am ready to tell him so if I have the 
 pleasure of meeting him." 
 
 Then followed a brisk and prolonged debate on 
 the doctrine and ritual of Holy Communion, the 
 Archbishop relying of course on law and authority, 
 but affirming his willingness to " be of use in 
 smoothing matters," He professed himself to be 
 
FULHAM 149 
 
 "A Catholic — both a Catholic and a Protestant," 
 and surprised his hearers by saying : "In all respects 
 I suppose you will allow the Bishops are good 
 Catholics — and none of them have worn these vest- 
 ments and used these ceremonials." 
 
 After some further dalliance, the Secretary said : 
 " This is a Working Man's question ; and, when 
 the working classes of this country become aware 
 of the manner in which their heritage in Church 
 matters is being attacked, they will rise up, and the 
 Church of England, as an Established Church, will 
 fall. The Working Men of themselves could cause 
 the whole fabric to fall about your ears." 
 
 Archbishop (smiling). " Oh nonsense, nonsense. 
 As to refusing to receive the Communion without 
 these dresses, you show little appreciation of the Holy 
 Ordinance which our Lord Himself appointed." ^ 
 
 On the 19th of July the Secretary, undaunted by 
 his experiences at Lambeth, tried the same methods 
 at Fulham, requesting that a Deputation might 
 wait upon the Bishop, to ask his advice and assist- 
 ance ; but the Bishop would not receive them unless 
 he were apprised beforehand of the points to be 
 submitted, and, when he had read in the Church 
 Times the report of the proceedings at Lambeth, 
 he emphatically declined to receive the deputation. 
 
 By the 23rd of July, Mackonochie was back 
 among his flock. On that evening an Address of 
 Welcome was presented to him at a crowded meeting 
 
 * The only paper in which this interview was reported was the 
 Church Times of July 23, 1875. A-s given here, it is condensed 
 from The Church in Baldwin's Gardens. 
 
ISO SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 held in the New Schools. In presenting the address 
 (which bore 3350 signatures), Mr. Theodore Talbot 
 made a vigorous speech. 
 
 " Let me," he said in conclusion, " remind you 
 of two of the great measures carried in this country 
 within the last fifty years — first, the Reform Bill, 
 and then the Repeal of the Corn-Laws. Take the 
 trouble to look back, and what do we see .'' That 
 not only were the advocates of Free Trade de- 
 nounced as foolish, but they were called rebellious. 
 It was said : ' If these measures become law, the 
 sun of England will soon set.' I venture to say 
 that, in years to come, it will be acknowledged 
 throughout the length and breadth of this land that 
 the clergy and congregation of St. Alban's have 
 been in the right, and that the Church of England 
 owes them a deep debt of gratitude. Then we 
 have been accused of believing, and our clergy of 
 teaching, that ritual, lights, vestments, and the like, 
 are essential to the validity of the Blessed Sacrament. 
 Now I desire, on your and our own behalf, to 
 repudiate in the most public and emphatic way a 
 belief in any such nonsense. The ritual has no 
 more to do with the validity of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment than it has to do with the building of 
 Holborn Viaduct or London Bridge. All Catholics 
 know what are the essentials of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment : I, A Priest ; 2, Bread and Wine ; and 3, the 
 Words of Institution ; and, where you have these 
 things, it does not signify whether the Blessed 
 Sacrament is celebrated at the High Altar of St. 
 Peter's by the Pope himself, or in the desert, on a 
 stone, by the humblest priest. That is not the 
 question ; the question is whether we, as members 
 
"OUR RIGHTS" 151 
 
 of the Church of England, having certain rights, 
 have not a right to see, and assist at, the celebra- 
 tion of the Divine Mysteries according to a certain 
 ordering. Now I believe that we are one and all 
 of us convinced that any fair interpretation of the 
 intention of the Reformation and the rubrics of 
 the Prayer Book must absolutely bear out our view 
 of the question, and that, although the Church 
 of England does not enforce the ritual, it is clearly 
 the mind of the Church that the Eucharist should 
 be celebrated with a high ritual. And believing 
 that, as English Churchmen, these are our rights, 
 we ask Father Mackonochie not to celebrate the 
 Blessed Sacrament with mutilated rites — not as a 
 question of validity, but because we refuse to dis- 
 honour It. We are determined on the point our- 
 selves. We intend to obtain our rights by showing 
 that we will not attend a Celebration at St. Alban's 
 Church if conducted according to the ruling of 
 the Purchas Judgment. 
 
 "In conclusion. Reverend Father, I desire again, 
 on the part of this Congregation, to express as 
 strongly as I possibly can that we do not desire 
 to offer you the slightest dictation as to the course 
 you should pursue. We know that the case is 
 surrounded by many difficulties, but we say that 
 the Congregation will uphold you, and stand by 
 you, be the consequences what they may, up to 
 the very end. 
 
 " I wish I could find language more forcibly to 
 express the intense love and devotion we pay to 
 you for all you have done for us. We have perfect 
 confidence in the judgment you will form. We 
 leave the matter entirely in your hands, because we 
 
152 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 know that you will not come to any rash decision. 
 We know you will have spent very much time in 
 fervent prayer and meditation. We know too the 
 fervent intercessions which have been going on for 
 the last week. We need hardly say that you have 
 been remembered in those intercessions, and we feel 
 positively certain that you will decide, not according 
 to your own feelings — not according to the mere 
 private feelings of individuals — but in such a way 
 as shall be best for the care of the parish, and for 
 the interests of the Church of England." 
 
 To this Mackonochie replied with admirable 
 cheerfulness : 
 
 "The clouds seem to have cleared away so far, 
 and to be clearing away day after day. One knows 
 not whether every hindrance will be taken away. 
 One thing only I will say. You may be perfectly 
 certain that, as long as I hold the position I do, the 
 Blessed Sacrament will never be celebrated according 
 to the Purchas Judgment. Whatever else happens, 
 that won't happen ; and I am thankful to stand 
 with my brother-Priests and Church-workers, and 
 hear such a shout as assures me that I shall have 
 them with me whatever happens." 
 
 The Suspension expired on the 24th of July, and 
 on the previous day Mackonochie addressed the 
 Bishop of London in a Letter which deserves to be 
 given in full. 
 
 My dear Lord Bishop, — The circumstances 
 under which I resume the Sacred Ministries of my 
 Office demand from me some few words of comment. 
 For many reasons, there is no one to whom I can so 
 fitly address these words as to your Lordship. 
 
THE CODE OF HONOUR 153 
 
 My Suspension compelled me to leave to your 
 Lordship the Pastoral care of God's people com- 
 mitted to my charge ; the guardianship of the 
 liberties of the Clergy associated with me in the 
 work of the Parish ; and the office of strenuous 
 Protector of the Church of Christ, and her Rites 
 and Ceremonies, against the tyranny of the enemy. 
 I must crave leave, with the most profound defer- 
 ence for your Lordship's office, to remonstrate as 
 respectfully, but also as earnestly, as I can, against 
 the manner in which the duties thus devolving upon 
 you have been discharged. Generally, I do not 
 find that your Lordship has once come to the Parish, 
 to give to the people smarting under the injustice 
 done to them one word of sympathy or comfort, 
 either in church or otherwise. I do not find that 
 you have addressed to my brother Clergy any advice 
 but such as the mere axioms of the code of honour 
 between man and man forbade them to accept ; and 
 I find them, in consequence of their endeavour to 
 minister to our people without compromising your 
 Lordship, desired in your letter of the 3rd inst., to 
 desist from taking part in the Service of God in any 
 Church in your Lordship's Diocese except this. I 
 am aware that the wording of your letter restricts 
 the direction to the not officiating in any Church 
 " where the same ornaments and ceremonies, or any 
 of them, are in use." I cannot say for certain, but 
 I greatly doubt there being a single Church in the 
 Diocese where none of the prescribed ornaments are 
 used. But let me speak somewhat more specifically. 
 
 L It will be said that it was your Lordship's 
 duty to enforce the Law, and that you believe the 
 discredited " Purchas Judgment " to be Law ; there- 
 
154 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 fore you could not help yourself. Let it be granted 
 that you were bound so to enforce a Judgment 
 given in one case without a defence, in the other 
 without a hearing. Was it therefore necessary to 
 call upon the Clergy of the Parish, in the enforced 
 absence of their head, to Inaugurate a new policy 
 in direct contradiction to the plan of his work ? 
 Could they in common honour have consented to 
 lend themselves to such action ? Your Lordship 
 was once a Parish Priest. Imagine some enemy 
 stirring up the Courts against the Rector of St. 
 James', Westminster, thirty years ago. Imagine 
 a sentence of Suspension unjustly obtained against 
 him, for some part of his work which he knew 
 himself to be absolutely bound to uphold. We 
 must suppose such an one to have had some con- 
 victions of the positive obligation of something — 
 an obligation going beyond human Courts, up to 
 the Court of God. Imagine him to find that 
 during his Suspension a Senior Curate, whom he 
 had trusted as himself, had consented to be made 
 the agent for upsetting that which his Rector knew 
 to be of such vital importance to his own very 
 existence before God. What would he have thought 
 of his Curate .? But still it will be said, " What was 
 the Bishop to do ? " I would venture, my Lord, 
 to suggest that there was only one course — that 
 which St. Peter or St. Paul would have adopted — 
 that which even in these degenerate days a Wilber- 
 force or a Hamilton would have followed — to 
 have himself taken charge of the Parish, releasing 
 the Parochial clergy from their obligations, and 
 himself, with the aid of his Chaplains, carrying 
 on the Services for the time. No doubt the Parish 
 
THE CURATES 155 
 
 would not have liked the course, but it would have 
 respected it for its courage and straightforwardness. 
 
 II, But your Lordship "will not anticipate any 
 unwillingness" on the part of the Clergy here, to 
 directly reverse the whole principle of my work 
 as regards the externals of Divine Service, and 
 to strip the highest act of the Church's Worship 
 of the commonest requirements of decency. It is 
 true that your Lordship only requires a compliance 
 with this direction on the part of the Assistant 
 Clergy during my absence ; but it is manifest that, 
 had they consented to act in accordance with it, 
 they would at least have compromised to a great 
 degree any action on my return. 
 
 It may have been your Lordship's surprise at 
 finding an unwillingness which you had not antici- 
 pated, that induced you to show so great harshness in 
 your action towards Mr. Stanton and his colleagues. 
 1 mention Mr. Stanton specially, both because of 
 the wilful misrepresentations of his words and acts 
 by the daily press, and also because his position as 
 Senior of my Brethren working with me, and his 
 standing of nearly thirteen years as Curate in the 
 Diocese, during the whole of which time he has 
 worked entirely without remuneration, place him in a 
 somewhat different position from most of the others. 
 How stands the question with regard to them ? 
 After the interview with your Lordship on St, John 
 Baptist's Day, they found themselves in this position : 
 
 (i) Responsible to me, as Priest of the 
 Parish, and more still to the Great Head of the 
 Church, for giving the Bread of Life to our 
 people. 
 
156 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 (ii) Debarred by your Lordship from giving 
 It to them in this Church, in such a way as 
 they could conscientiously give It, or the people 
 conscientiously receive It from them. 
 
 Your Lordship's demands, although in some 
 points greatly exceeding the decrees of the Court, 
 were without question minutely obeyed by the St. 
 Alban's clergy. But to minister the Holy Sacra- 
 ment of the Eucharist was impossible, even if your 
 Lordship had asked it of them, when they could 
 only do so standing at the north end, with no 
 Priestly Vestment — with a Surplice only, not even a 
 Stole. Some will say, " Well, but surely the Con- 
 secration of the Sacrament is valid, even so." Yes, 
 my Lord. Just as a subject needs only personal 
 soundness to serve truly and loyally his Sovereign ; 
 but would be thought hardly respectful if he there- 
 fore went in dressing-gown and slippers, instead of 
 Court attire, to the Levee. 
 
 In this dilemma the kind offer of Mr. Dale — a 
 kindness which I hope will never be forgotten, 
 either by St. Alban's people or by Catholics at large 
 in the Church of England, and for which it has been 
 my privilege to return him, in their name, hearty 
 thanks — enabled them to direct the people to a 
 Church in which the Sacrament was to be found 
 ministered in a manner which did not shock their 
 religious sensibilities, or in any way compromise 
 your Lordship. Accordingly the congregation went 
 to St. Vedast's, and by the request of Mr. Dale 
 (partly in order to facilitate the addition of a 
 Celebration for the better accommodation of our 
 people), two of our clergy officiated, strictly accord- 
 
THE POUND OF FLESH 157 
 
 ing to the usages of that Church. Your Lordship 
 was aware of the fact that they had thus taken part 
 in the St. Vedast's services, on Monday morning, and, 
 on the same day, of the fact that they would again 
 take part in them on St. Peter's Day. You did not, 
 however, express any disapproval of their doing so, 
 or any wish that they should not do so ; you did 
 not see Mr. Stanton about it, or write to him asking 
 him to desist, till on Saturday, after mid-day, when 
 all the arrangements for Sunday had necessarily been 
 made, a quasi-forma.1 letter came from your Lord- 
 ship directing them not to officiate there, and that in 
 terms which practically — as I have said — extended 
 the direction to a prohibition, during my absence, 
 from officiating in any Church in the Diocese. Was 
 this dealing fairly with either Church ? 
 
 Allow me, my Lord, to put a case. Some 
 very eminent lawyers have thought that the Vest- 
 ments are not only legal, but obligatory. Suppose 
 that the Judges in the Purchas Case had taken 
 that view, and that the decision had been forced 
 upon some congregation, which could not conscien- 
 tiously receive Communion where the Vestments 
 were worn. They take refuge in a neighbouring 
 Church, in which the Judgment has not been as yet 
 enforced, and where their Clergy are invited to 
 assist. How would your Lordship have dealt with 
 such a case ? I venture to think that, whatever 
 might have been your line of conduct, you would 
 have thought it very hard that the persecuted 
 Clergy and Congregation should be further molested. 
 It is especially hard, then, that the " pound of flesh," 
 to say nothing of the blood of souls and sundry 
 additional ounces of flesh thrown in, should be 
 
158 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 exacted of us. The Primate does not obey the 
 Judgment ; the Archbishop who drove it through 
 the Court does not obey it ; scarcely any Bishops 
 give the least heed to its decrees in their own acts ; 
 and it is at least very difficult to find a Church in 
 which some kind of Stole or Scarf is not worn, 
 although just as illegal, according to the Judgment, 
 as a Chasuble. Yet are we driven to bay in this 
 manner. 
 
 I must not conclude this part of my letter 
 without expressing my deep sense of gratitude to 
 my Brother Clergy, and even more to our most 
 staunch and brave Churchwardens and Laity in this 
 Parish (but especially to Mr. Stanton), for the 
 manner in which they have acted in my absence. 
 I have indeed to be very thankful for the hearty 
 support of my Churchwardens through the whole 
 of the years of persecution, but more than ever 
 now, because the effort is so much greater. The 
 circumstances have been very difficult, and had it 
 not been for the energy and zeal, combined with 
 the wise and careful thought, and the self-restraint 
 exhibited by all, I should find my return to my 
 Office a far more difficult matter than it is. 
 Furthermore, the grand and perfectly independent 
 action of the working-men has been a great 
 strength. It has been entirely their own work in 
 its origin and in its conduct, and sets, I venture to 
 think, a notable example to English working-men 
 in general. I am glad of this one bright spot in a 
 very painful letter. All are telling me how, by the 
 blessing of God on the prudence and fortitude of 
 their Clergy, and this responsive energy of the 
 Laity, a deeper bond of union than ever has been 
 
A PERSONAL PLEA 159 
 
 formed amongst the Members of the Parish and 
 Congregation. 
 
 I conclude with three further points of remon- 
 strance. 
 
 I. Why have I been singled out of the whole 
 Diocese during these eight years, as an object of 
 persecution? I was almost the only Priest who, 
 after a consultation amongst ourselves, made 
 certain alterations in the details of Divine Service, 
 before actual persecution began. I have honestly 
 and exactly obeyed each successive Monition, and 
 have been kept in an almost unceasing warfare the 
 whole eight years. I was, much against my own 
 will, placed in this church, the very grandeur of 
 which called for a corresponding dignity in the 
 conduct of the services. I was avowedly a man of 
 extreme views as to Ritual, and of deep convictions 
 as to the essential connection between a sound faith 
 and the Ritual expression of it. 1 refused to think 
 of accepting the charge of this Parish unless I could 
 do so unconditionally, without any sort of agree- 
 ment to be guided by the wishes of the Founder 
 as to the management of its Church or its Services, 
 beyond a general desire to consider those wishes, 
 so far as my duty to God, to His Church, and to 
 my people should allow. I thus deferred for ten 
 months my being nominated to it ; during the 
 whole of which time and ever since I have stood 
 firm to this resolution. My nomination was 
 intimated to the Bishop by a letter, in which the 
 Patron said of me, " He knows that it is my desire 
 that the work at St. Alban's should be carried out 
 with hearty allegiance to the Church of England — 
 neglecting none of the means of edification which 
 
i6o SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 she supplies either in Doctrine or Ritual, but using 
 the large liberty which she allows with loyalty and 
 discretion." It has been for the loyal use of this 
 liberty that I and my people have been persecuted 
 for eight years. I was presented at the outset by 
 the Founder with Alb, Girdle, Stole, and Chasuble ; 
 the latter, no doubt, of linen, but, I believe, the 
 only Chasuble then worn in the Diocese. St. 
 Alban's has never, since I gave up wearing that 
 linen Chasuble, been in the front of those Churches 
 called Ritualistic. We clergy had other matters 
 before our minds — the conversion of sinners, the 
 gathering in of the thoughtless, the edification of 
 the faithful, and the glory of God, to which Ritual 
 was only a means. By God's blessing we have 
 succeeded in these things : our Ritual has done its 
 work. Is it therefore that we are prosecuted? If 
 so, surely we might have hoped that our Bishop 
 would not have been on the side of the persecutors. 
 It is remarkable that till within the last few days 
 the persecutions in this Diocese have been directed 
 against us only. Why ? What is the private spite 
 against us that has made us the continual butt for 
 Protestant bullets .? We have not done anything to 
 injure anyone. We and our Congregation are one, 
 and have throughout been one. The Parish does 
 not distrust us. If it did, there would be no need 
 to seek a non-parishioner to head the persecution, 
 and to pay spies to furnish Information. Our 
 Schools are so full, although they were only built last 
 year to give us more room, that we shall be obliged 
 to send away from the Boys' School a considerable 
 percentage of the less regular, to keep our average 
 within the Government limit. These children are 
 
ALIENATION? i6i 
 
 mostly Parishioners, so that this does not look like 
 mistrust. We are said to alienate as many as we 
 draw ; but where are they ? It must be remembered 
 that we came to a new Church, without a con- 
 gregation, so that we could not alienate those in 
 possession. We may have failed to attract some, 
 but we have filled the Church and that mostly with 
 parishioners. What could we do more? Then 
 again, the non-parishioners who come must have 
 been repelled from somewhere. No one asks 
 whence ; — but whence can it be, except from the 
 empty Church-Association Churches round us ? 
 
 This last St. Alban's persecution is avowed by 
 the organs of the persecuting party to have been 
 instituted simply to enable them to obtain the 
 services of a particular Counsel, when two other 
 suits, raising nearly the same points, were already 
 before the Courts. Surely I might have expected 
 that your Lordship's authority would have been 
 exerted to prevent this fresh attack until the other 
 cases were decided. 
 
 2. Why have the Bishops broken faith with us 
 in regard of our Ordination vows? When we 
 were ordained, we accepted as the Church's standard 
 that which this " Church and Realm " hath received ; 
 and we have still in divers places in our Prayer 
 Books very clear statements of the relative positions 
 of Church and State. Now we are told by our 
 Archbishops and Bishops that it is the " Queen's 
 Prerogative " to define how the Sacraments are to 
 be administered ; to whom they may or may not be 
 administered ; and what doctrine may or may not 
 be taught in our pulpits. What would be thought 
 of the Directors of any Limited Liability Company 
 
1 62 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 who kept such bad faith with the shareholders in 
 temporal things, as in spiritual things the Bishops 
 of Christ's Church are keeping with His people ? 
 
 3. Why have the Bishops consistently, for at 
 least forty years, done all that they could to 
 alienate the only section of the Church that cares 
 one straw for their sacred office ? Why does each 
 Bishop as he attains that high position — whatever 
 may have been his convictions before — turn round 
 upon those who might have expected him to carry 
 to the Episcopate some idea of their minds, motives, 
 and intentions, and show himself, almost invariably, 
 as unstatesmanlike and unsympathetic as those who 
 went before him ? Is it wise, my Lord, in a time 
 when Disestablishment, if it be not upon us to- 
 day, is certainly not far off, for the highest order 
 of the Ministry to repel so determinedly the only 
 Members, either of the Clergy or Laity, who will 
 retain any respect for their office when it is no 
 longer gilded with a Peerage ? We may learn from 
 the action of the Disestablished Church in Ireland 
 with what scant courtesy a Puritan majority is 
 likely to treat its Bishops. Do your Lordships 
 wish to be equally destitute of a body of Priests 
 in the Second Order, ready to support you ? We, 
 Catholics, know that what is under the gilding is 
 far more precious than the gilding ; but we know 
 it only by virtue of those principles for which we 
 are persecuted. If the great Sacrament of the 
 Altar is no more than the Church Association 
 would have it to be, the lesser Sacrament of Orders, 
 and with it the Episcopate, is certainly less than 
 nothing. 
 
 I have made my remonstrance. If I have 
 
A JUST INDIGNATION 163 
 
 put things strongly it has not been out of dis- 
 respect for your Lordship, or for that office, which, 
 in spite of the Privy Council, I still believe to be 
 sacred. We are indignant — most deeply indignant 
 — but our indignation is against the things done, 
 and not against your Lordship, who has indeed 
 been the agent, but whom we would gladly exonerate 
 from the blame of those things. If in anything 
 this indignation has expressed itself too boldly, I 
 can only crave the indulgence due to those who 
 smart under the sorest injustice to which earnest- 
 minded men can be exposed. 
 Believe me, 
 
 My dear Lord Bishop, 
 
 Yours most respectfully, 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 July 23, 1875. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 A LULL IN THE STORM 
 
 " The thunder was still muttering like a baffled enemy in the distance, 
 but the wind, after its late fury, was sobbing gently and fitfully like a 
 repentant child."— F. W. Farrar. 
 
 The Public Worship Regulation Act came into 
 operation on the ist of July 1875. On Sunday the 
 8 th of August the celebration of the Holy Eucharist 
 was resumed at St. Alban's, with the modified cere- 
 monial proper to a Missa Cantata. As regards 
 the Parish there was for the moment a lull in 
 the storm ; but there were ominous sounds in the 
 distance, and the weather was distinctly unsettled. 
 It was not to be supposed that the two Arch- 
 bishops who had engineered the P. W. R. Act 
 would allow it to lie idle ; and, even if they had 
 been so minded, the forces of belligerent Puritanism 
 would have kept them up to the mark. But this 
 was not all. They were mindful of the fact that, 
 in times past, persecuted priests had (as Mac- 
 konochie did) submitted themselves to the Court 
 of Arches in the deluded belief that it was truly a 
 spiritual tribunal ; and they sought to beguile the 
 simple by making them believe that its spiritual 
 character was transferred to the new Court. The 
 Act provided that, upon the avoidance of the 
 Judgeships of the Provincial Courts of Canterbury 
 
 and York, the Judge of the new Court, created 
 
 164 
 
THE CLERGY HOUSE, BROOKE STREET 
 From a drawiiig by W. Walcot 
 
BONDS AND AFFLICTIONS 165 
 
 by the P. W. R. Act, should succeed to both 
 offices, and should exercise all jurisdiction thereto 
 attached ; and that, as regards the Province of 
 Canterbury, proceedings taken in this Court should 
 be " deemed to be taken in the Court of Arches." 
 Archbishop Tait always spoke of his new Court 
 as though it were the old Court of Arches ; and, 
 from the time when Sir Robert Phillimore resigned 
 the office of Dean of Arches, Lord Penzance 
 claimed that title. This claim was disallowed by 
 the Lord Chief Justice and two of his colleagues in 
 the Queen's Bench ; and it appears that, in Dr. Little- 
 dale's words. Lord Penzance " was merely the Secular 
 Judge of a Secular Court for the trial of spiritual 
 causes " — a sufficiently anomalous position. 
 
 However, the persecuting party were quite satis- 
 fied with their Court, from which they expected 
 the most satisfactory results; and they now went 
 merrily to work. They attacked in turn the Rev, 
 C. J. Ridsdale, Vicar of St. Peter's, Folkestone ; the 
 Rev. Arthur Tooth, Vicar of St. James's, Hatcham ; 
 the Rev. Charles Bodington, Vicar of St. Andrew's, 
 Wolverhampton ; the Rev. C. H. V. Pixell, In- 
 cumbent of Christ Church, Wolverhampton; the 
 Rev. C. F. Lowder, Vicar of St. Peter's, London 
 Docks ; the Rev. R. W. Enraght, Vicar of Holy 
 Trinity, Bordesley; the Rev. T. P. Dale, Rector 
 of St. Vedast's ; the Rev. John Edwards, Vicar of 
 Prestbury ; the Rev. J. M. Rodwell, Rector of St. 
 Ethelburga's, Bishopsgate ; the Rev. T. T. Carter, 
 Rector of Clewer; the Rev. S. F. Green, Vicar of 
 St. John the Evangelist, Miles Platting; and the 
 Rev. J. B. Cox, Vicar of St. Margaret's, Liver- 
 pool. 
 
1 66 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Even their enemies being judges, these priests 
 were men of exemplary character, and devoted to 
 their sacred duties. Yet some of them were cast 
 into prison ; some were condemned in ruinous 
 costs ; some escaped through technical flaws in 
 the proceedings; some, through the Veto which 
 the P. W. R. Act entrusted to the Bishops.^ 
 
 To this long list, many more names might be 
 added. Before the P. W. R. Act was four years 
 old, the Church Association alone had initiated 
 proceedings in seventeen cases ; and there were 
 other persecutors. It would be out of place to 
 give the details of all these trials ; but something 
 must be said about the Ridsdale Case, because it 
 was the first which arose under the P. W. R. Act, 
 and had an important bearing on others which 
 followed. "As this," wrote Archbishop Tait, "is 
 the first case under the Act, the greatest care must 
 of course be taken." In August 1875, complaints 
 were lodged against Mr. Ridsdale's mode of con- 
 ducting Divine Service, and the Archbishop, as 
 Diocesan, let the case go forward to the new Court. 
 On the 3rd of February 1876, Lord Penzance 
 decided against Mr. Ridsdale on all the points 
 at issue. Mr. Ridsdale appealed to the Judicial 
 Committee on the question of Vestments, Wafer- 
 bread, the eastward position, and a Crucifix on the 
 rood-screen. Unusual importance was attached to 
 this proceeding. The P. W. R. Act had not indeed 
 
 ' It is only fair to say that Archbisliop Tait vetoed the pro- 
 ceedings against Mr. Bodington, Mr. Pixell, and Mr. Lowder. 
 These cases came before him because the Bishop of the Diocese, 
 being in each case Patron of the living, was precluded from acting. 
 The proceedings against Canon Carter were vetoed by Bishop 
 Mackarness, and other suits by other Bishops. 
 
"A JUDGMENT OF POLICY" 167 
 
 altered the substance of the law. But the Court 
 from which the appeal came was new, and, as 
 Mr. Purchas had declined to appear either person- 
 ally or by counsel, his case had never been argued, 
 though a hostile Judgment had been delivered. 
 It was therefore determined to hear the Ridsdale 
 Case on its merits, and a tribunal of imposing 
 strength assembled for the purpose. There were 
 ten lay Judges, and five clerical Assessors. Judg- 
 ment was delivered by Lord Chancellor Cairns on 
 the 1 2th of May 1877. As regards the position at 
 the Altar, the Celebrant was left free to face the 
 east or to face the south, provided that his Manual 
 Acts could be seen by the people. The use of 
 wheaten bread was enjoined, but it had not been 
 proved that Mr. Ridsdale used any other ; so on 
 these two points Judgment went in his favour. 
 The Crucifix was disallowed, and on the question 
 of Vestments he was condemned. " It was a 
 strong, and in England an almost unknown, thing 
 to condemn an accused person when he had on 
 his side the words of a rubric which was part of 
 an Act of Parliament." In the Judicial Committee 
 of the Privy Council there is a rule (which obtains 
 in no other Court) that, if the members disagree, 
 the minority are precluded from stating their dissent, 
 and the report to the Sovereign is made to appear 
 unanimous. In this case the rule was disregarded. 
 The Lord Chief Baron (Sir Fitzroy Kelly) stated 
 that Lord Justice Amphlett, Sir Robert Phillimore, 
 and himself dissented from the majority of their 
 colleagues on this question of the Vestments. " It 
 was," he said, " a Judgment of policy, and not of 
 law." These words of the Lord Chief Baron were 
 
1 68 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 uttered in private conversation, but soon found 
 their way into print, and never were repudiated. 
 
 Even more emphatic was the language of Lord 
 Justice Amphlett. " After regretting the Chief 
 Baron's indiscretion in talking about such matters 
 to a stray clergyman, he said, ' He was right, 
 however.' He added with an emphasis I can 
 never forget, ' It was a flagitious Judgment.' The 
 Lord Justice was a cautious man, who habitually 
 weighed his words." ^ 
 
 The next step in the proceedings was rather 
 curious. Mr. Ridsdale, having willingly undergone 
 all this worry and expense, now asked Archbishop 
 Tait to dispense him from his obligation to obey 
 the Ornaments Rubric. This of course the Arch- 
 bishop gladly consented to do ; and when (being 
 temporarily in charge of the Diocese of Rochester) 
 he had to deal with Mr. Tooth, he wrote in his 
 diary, " I fear I shall not find him so amenable to 
 authority as Mr. Ridsdale." 
 
 This apprehension was justified by the event. 
 Mr. Tooth was made of sterner stuff, and went 
 to prison with resolute composure. Dr. Liddon 
 wrote : " Mr. Tooth's sick face, in that cage in 
 the court of the gaol, quite haunts me ; " and, on 
 a later occasion : " I feel half ashamed of myself 
 for going off for a time while Mr. Green is shut 
 up in Lancaster Castle." Dean Church remarked 
 that Dignitaries were allowed to " make open ques- 
 tions of the Personality of God, and the fact of 
 the Resurrection, and the promise of Immortality," 
 while Mr. Cox was sent to prison " for having 
 lighted candles, and mixing water with the wine." 
 
 1 Herbert Paul, A History of Modern England, vol. iv. p. 352. 
 
A LAYMAN'S WITNESS 169 
 
 Such were some of the incidents of " the Victorian 
 Persecution," as it was called in the polemical 
 literature of the time ; but for a while the storm 
 spared St. Alban's. 
 
 Yet St. Alban's was not free from trouble of its 
 own. Theodore Talbot — the " young man of great 
 possessions" who during the Mission of 1869 heard 
 the Master's call, and followed it — took, as we 
 have seen, a prominent part in the agitation of 
 1875. When peace was restored, he left London 
 for his home in Wales, where, to his activities as 
 a servant of the Church, he added those of a fox- 
 hunter and Master of Hounds. Early in the 
 hunting season of 1875 he had a serious fall, 
 pitching heavily on his head and chest, breaking 
 his collar-bone, and probably doing himself some 
 internal injury which was not diagnosed at the time. 
 He gradually recovered, and, at the very end of 
 the season, he obtained his doctor's leave for one 
 more day's hunting. This was his last day of 
 active life. In jumping a small ditch he seems to 
 have received a slight concussion of the spine, 
 though he did not fall. For some weeks he lay 
 on a sofa, hoping against hope, but making no 
 real improvement. At intervals he suffered very 
 great pain, but he would brace himself to meet the 
 paroxysms, by God's grace, with a resignation and 
 fortitude all his own. At the end of May he 
 was removed to London, and taken to his father's 
 house in Cavendish Square. As he lay on his sofa 
 at the window, and watched the passers-by, he 
 would sometimes say : " When I see them pass, I 
 am tempted to wish to live, if only as one of them ; 
 but God's Will is best, isn't it .? " 
 
I70 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 During his last illness he repeatedly received the 
 Holy Communion, and always with the greatest 
 faith and fervour. " Every preparation in his sick- 
 room that might honour the advent of the Blessed 
 Sacrament was scrupulously attended to. His de- 
 votion to the Sacrament of the Altar was supreme. 
 He revelled in the thought of all the honour that 
 was done to that Mystery ; and the last Corpus 
 Christi Day of his life, when he lay waiting for 
 death, he made the clergyman who attended him 
 promise that no Catholic rite should be omitted in 
 his last agony. As an English Churchman he 
 believed he could live as a Catholic, and he wished 
 to die as one." 
 
 On the 17th of June 1876, Mr. Stanton wrote 
 to a friend, " Dear Theodore Talbot is, I fear, 
 dying. Pray for him as such. No words of mine 
 can describe this heart-breaking calamity. He is 
 simply at peace with God." 
 
 The day before his death was St. Alban's Day, 
 and his heart was at St. Alban's Church. " I have 
 been thinking," he said, "about all you will have 
 done. Give my love to the dear Priests, and wish 
 them all happiness and prosperity at St. Alban's." 
 This was the message sent by the dying man, whose 
 own happiness never dimmed as the loss of all 
 earthly joy became imminent ; whose faith and love 
 flamed up, as life was flickering in the socket. In 
 the early morning of June 18, he fell asleep in 
 the Lord, his last words being " Let God's Will 
 be done in me." He died in the Everlasting Arms. 
 His life had been hid with Christ in God, and death 
 was swallowed up in victory. 
 
AN INTERRUPTED FESTIVAL 171 
 
 In his Annual Address to the Parish on 
 St. Alban's Day 1876, Mackonochie wrote as 
 follows : 
 
 " It is two years since we kept our Dedication, 
 the events of last year making it an impossibility. 
 But yet the troubles of that time are matters for 
 additional thankfulness now. Out of them has 
 come great good, both to ourselves and to the 
 Church at large. It will be well to impress this 
 deeply upon our own hearts, to increase thereby 
 our gratitude to God for the past, and our con- 
 fidence in Him for the future. 
 
 " In the first place stands the debt which we all 
 owe to Mr. Stanton, Mr. Russell, and the other 
 Clergy whom I left in charge, together with the 
 Churchwardens and Committee of the Congrega- 
 tion, for the courage and wisdom with which they 
 met the difficulties. Had it not been for this, we 
 might have suffered a very serious defeat, such as 
 to have embarrassed very greatly others as well 
 as ourselves ; whereas, we have to be very thankful 
 for a great success. Then, besides this, the usual 
 effect of community in danger and suffering has 
 been granted to us in an uncommon degree, in the 
 closer cementing of the bonds of our union with 
 one another and with our Lord. We feel that 
 we know one another better, and can trust one 
 another more, for the union produced by those 
 six weeks of reverse. If it were only for those 
 weekly journeys to St. Vedast's for the Sunday 
 Mass, the time will be ever memorable in the 
 history both of St. Alban's and of the Catholic 
 Movement. Nothing could have better burned 
 into our hearts the great truth of 'The Breaking 
 
172 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 OF THE Bread ' as the great central act of a 
 Catholic's life, than those journeys ; and what has 
 burnt this into our hearts, has also sent out its 
 sound into all lands." 
 
 It is not surprising that Mackonochie's ex- 
 periences as Incumbent of St. Alban's, and in the 
 Courts of Law, should have directed his attention 
 rather forcibly to the question of the relations 
 between Church and State. As long ago as 1856, 
 when Archdeacon Denison was condemned for 
 teaching the Real Objective Presence, Gladstone 
 said : "It is pretty plain that not only with 
 executive authorities, but in the sacred halls of 
 Justice, there are now two measures, and not one, 
 in use — the strait one for those supposed to err 
 in believing overmuch, and the other for those 
 who believe too little." If this was true about 
 prosecutions touching Belief, it was certainly not 
 less true about those which touched Ritual, and 
 Mackonochie had occasion to feel the full force 
 of it. By nature and training, and in general 
 politics, he was a Tory ; but when Toryism in- 
 sisted on the subjection of the Church to the 
 State, he parted company with his political allies. 
 
 In his Annual Address to the Parish, on St. 
 Alban's Day 1871, he wrote, with reference to 
 his first Suspension : 
 
 " As a beneficed Minister of the Establishment — 
 an office from which I hope God will soon set me 
 free, by dissolving that most sinful union of 
 Church and State — i.e. of Christ and the World — 
 I am not only Christ's Priest to your souls, but 
 also the Queen's Servant, having certain things to 
 
DISESTABLISHMENT 1 7 3 
 
 do In a particular building, which, though it belongs 
 to God and not to the Queen, yet she claims to 
 have under her power. You must remember that 
 although, in strictly spiritual things, the Queen 
 has less authority over me than you, my dear 
 Children in Christ, have ; yet in the temporal acci- 
 dents of spiritual things, such as gold, silver, brick, 
 stone, and mortar, she has some definite jurisdic- 
 tion. . . . So I fell back upon those positions which 
 I hold of a purely spiritual character, wholly exempt 
 from any rights of Civil Courts, and in them ful- 
 filled my duty to God ; while, within the brick 
 walls of St. Alban's, the dominion of which is 
 usurped In the name of the Queen, I continued 
 silent." 
 
 Such was his language in a season of storm and 
 stress ; and now, in an interval of calm weather, he 
 did not change his view. Indeed, the events of the 
 Intervening six years had only strengthened his 
 conviction. 
 
 This conviction found utterance in a paper on 
 "Disestablishment and Disendowment " which, in 
 June 1 877, he contributed by the Editor's request, 
 to the newly started Nineteenth Century. It Is 
 significant of the position which he had now come 
 to occupy in the public eye, that among other 
 writers in the same number were such men as 
 Lord Stratford de Redcllffe, Cardinal Manning, 
 Tennyson, Froude, James Spedding, Edward Dicey, 
 and Frederic Harrison. 
 
 In this paper, Mackonochle set forth, with 
 characteristic clearness and precision, his view of a 
 great controversy. 
 
 " It is," he said In his opening sentence, *' with a 
 
174 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 feeling akin to sacrilege that the pen is taken up 
 against the institutions of old times; which have 
 weathered many storms, and still hold up their 
 heads, claiming to have made good their rights by 
 the very remoteness of their origin." 
 
 But this consideration did not long deter him 
 from unflinching speech. " No one can doubt that 
 the whole state of things as regards the relation 
 of the Church to the State, and of the State to 
 the Church, has altered entirely since Constantine 
 first declared himself the patron of the hitherto 
 despised Church of Christ, and ever since St. 
 Augustine first planted his Mission to the English 
 at Sandwich. Is there anything in those changes 
 to show that what was good for past generations 
 is bad now ? Or is there even anything to lead to 
 the conclusion that from the first the ' Establish- 
 ment' and 'Endowment' of the Christian religion 
 were a mistake ? " 
 
 After carefully defining his terms, he went on to 
 examine the practical working of Establishment, 
 and found it wholly bad. 
 
 Remote history and recent events supplied him 
 with abundant illustration, and he decided, with 
 trenchant clearness, that, in the interests of spiritual 
 religion. Establishment ought to perish. But he 
 did not stop here. " Our demand for Disestab- 
 lishment must be a demand, at least as earnest, for 
 Disendowment. It will not do, in an age of realities 
 such as this is, to claim liberty, and yet keep the 
 fetters which have made us slaves. The simplest 
 can see through such a demand. It carries on the 
 face of it that, however honest and self-sacrificing 
 the man may really be who urges it, he has not yet 
 
DISENDOWMENT 1 7 5 
 
 weighed the meaning of his claim. Even the 
 ornaments of the Egyptians, which God Himself 
 had ordered the Hebrews to take from their 
 neighbours, became their Golden Calf; how much 
 more our Endowments, if we, not by God's Com- 
 mand but by our own choice, tempted by the 
 wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment, cling 
 to the accursed thing ! " ^ 
 
 It will be readily believed by those who know the 
 even painful devotion of English Churchmen to the 
 principle of Establishment that this remarkable 
 utterance drew down upon its writer a shower of 
 criticism. It is true that there was a knot of young 
 and eager devotees (among whom the assistant 
 clergy of St. Alban's were numbered), who had 
 always shared Mackonochie's convictions on this pro- 
 foundly important question, and who now banded 
 themselves together in a " Church League for pro- 
 moting the separation of Church and State." Arch- 
 deacon Denison, who, though not young, was eager, 
 joined it ; but the great mass of steady-going and 
 "respectable" Churchmen, whether High or Low, 
 stood stolidly aloof. In 1865, Gladstone wrote: 
 " The Church of England is rnuch more likely, of 
 the two, to part with her faith than with her funds. 
 It is the old question — Which is the greater, the 
 gold, or the altar that sanctifies the gold ? Had this 
 question been more boldly asked, or more truly 
 answered, in other times, we should not have been 
 where we now are. And by continually looking to 
 the gold and not the altar, the dangers of the 
 future will be not diminished but increased." If 
 Mackonochie could have known those words, he 
 ^ The paper covers twenty pages |of the Nineteenth Century. 
 
176 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 would have felt the truth of them in June 1877. 
 Among those whom his utterances gravely per- 
 turbed was Mr. Hubbard, who never ceased to take 
 a fatherly interest in all that concerned the fortunes 
 of St. Alban's. On the 14th of June he wrote to 
 Mackonochie, citing various phrases from the paper 
 in the Nineteenth Century, and adding : 
 
 " I beg very anxiously to inquire whether these 
 expressions represent your deliberate opinions ; or, 
 if not, would you point out either the quotations 
 which you reject, or, if more convenient, those 
 which you affirm. The opinions which seem to 
 be expressed in these quotations diiFer widely from 
 those which I believed you to entertain when I 
 offered you the charge of the Church and District 
 of St. Alban, and they are to my mind irreconcilable 
 with the disposition faithfully and efficiently to 
 discharge the duties of a parochial clergyman of 
 the Church of England." 
 
 Mackonochie's reply was prompt and to the 
 
 point. 
 
 June IS, 1877. 
 
 My dear Mr. Hubbard, — " What I have 
 written, I have written." Even if a man were 
 wont to scatter abroad rash sayings on grave sub- 
 jects, he would hardly do so in a paper so widely 
 exposed to intelligent criticism as an article in the 
 Nineteenth Century. 
 
 The question whether my convictions are, or are 
 not, consistent with my position as a Parish Priest 
 in the Church of England is a matter for the 
 decision of my own conscience, not another man's. 
 It will be in your recollection that, when you sought 
 me out to take charge of this Parish, you did not 
 
CHURCH V. WORLD 177 
 
 find me ready to accept it on condition that my views 
 were always to coincide with yours, but, on the con- 
 trary, when it seemed to me — as it ultimately proved 
 needlessly — that you wished me to accept the post 
 on such terms, I firmly and consistently refused 
 to have anything to say to it, till it was made quite 
 clear that nothing of the kind was required. If 
 I am wrong in the view I have taken, I am quite 
 open to be convinced ; and the pages of the Nine- 
 teenth Century are at the disposal of anyone (as I 
 know from the Editor's remarks to myself) who 
 should wish to insert an article from an opposite 
 side of the same question. 
 
 I am very sorry indeed, as I have always been, 
 that anything which it becomes my duty to do, 
 either for the Parish or for the Church at large, 
 does not meet with your approbation : but I cannot 
 give up the responsibility of acting to the best of 
 my power upon the dictates of God in my own 
 conscience. Believe me, my dear Mr. Hubbard, 
 — Yours very truly, 
 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 At this point it may be conveniently mentioned 
 that in the following year Mackonochie published 
 another paper in the Nineteenth Century on the 
 "Separation of Church and State." The funda- 
 mental position assumed throughout the paper was 
 that the Christ-power and the World-power are now 
 and always in inevitable conflict, so that any attempt 
 at conciliating them with one another must be both 
 unscriptural and useless. The writer stated with 
 force and cogency the practical evils which, in his 
 opinion, arose from the attempt to reconcile these 
 
 M 
 
178 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 irrcconcileables, and he appended to the paper a 
 draft- Act "to carry into effect the Separation of 
 Church and State in England and Wales." The 
 Act was to take effect on "The First Day of 
 January 1881." The preamble is worth quoting: 
 
 " Whereas in former times the Religion of the 
 Land of England and Wales was one and the same 
 in all places and among all people ; and whereas 
 in those times, and since then up to the time 
 present, many as well private persons as Kings, 
 Princes, and Parliaments have granted to the 
 Church of England many social and political privi- 
 leges, much land, and many payments in money, 
 as well of tithes as of other emoluments ; and 
 whereas more recently, and especially since the 
 Reign of King Henry VIII, great difference of 
 Religious opinions has arisen, and has caused numer- 
 ous divisions and separations from the said Church 
 of England ; and whereas many of Her Majesty's 
 Subjects are aggrieved at the preference granted 
 to one form of Religion over all the others ; and 
 whereas, moreover, great differences of opinion have 
 arisen of late years within the said Church of 
 England, the settlement of which differences, and 
 the restoration of unity and peace, is hindered by 
 the union of Church and State as at present existing : 
 
 " It is therefore expedient that the said union of 
 Church and State, whether created by Acts of Par- 
 liament, or arising out of ancient and immemorial 
 usage, should be dissolved." 
 
 In his Annual Address to the Parish on St 
 Alban's Day 1877, Mackonochie said : 
 
NO ESTHETICS 179 
 
 " We reach another St. Alban's Day in peace — 
 a peace which has been granted to us by our dear 
 Lord for nearly two years. During this time the 
 Holy Eucharist has indeed been shorn of its due 
 and reverent Ceremonial ; but in the most essential 
 points we have preserved our liberty. Ceremonial, 
 purely by itself, is an infinitely small thing ; but, 
 looked upon as the Divinely-chosen form of wor- 
 ship, in which sense Holy Scripture of both Testa- 
 ments witness to it, it is great. In this latter sense 
 God has taught us to value it, and therefore the 
 loss to us is no mere deprivation of an assthetic 
 adjunct to Divine Worship, but the taking away 
 of that which belongs to the honour and dignity, 
 although not to the essence, of the Church's Service, 
 which she offers to her Head in Heaven. Its 
 absence, therefore, has been a severe trial to many 
 of yourselves, as well as to us your Clergy. Still, 
 I do not think you have any of you regretted the 
 trust you so kindly placed in me at our meeting 
 in the summer of 1875.^ Some faint murmurs at 
 the privation have indeed reached me, but only 
 such as might most fitly be spoken to the appointed 
 Pastor of the Lord's work in this parish. The 
 day may yet come for a restoration of what has 
 been lost." 
 
 ^ See p. 151. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE RETURN OF THE STORM 
 "The clouds return, after the rain." — Ecclbsiastes. 
 
 A CLOUD, no bigger than a man's hand, now made 
 its appearance on the horizon. The hand was, 
 of course, a Bishop's. On the 27th of June 
 1877, the Bishop of London wrote to Mackonochie, 
 informing him that the Archdeacon reported that a 
 crucifix and a picture of the Blessed Virgin had been 
 placed in the Church without a Faculty ; and the 
 Bishop hinted, not obscurely, at legal proceedings; 
 but the Clergy were able to prove that both these 
 objects had been in the church when last the Arch- 
 deacon ^ visited and approved it ; so this small worry 
 came to nought. But it was one of those clouds 
 which, as Ecclesiastes says, return after the rain, 
 and when one hopes that fair weather has set in. 
 The two years' lull in the storm was over. 
 
 On the 23rd of March 1878, an application was 
 made to Lord Penzance, as Judge of the new 
 Court, to enforce on Mackonochie obedience to 
 the Judgment concerning Ritual acts, which Sir 
 Robert Phillimore had pronounced in 1875. Lord 
 Penzance said that, as in three years no attempt 
 had been made by the complainants to get the 
 Judgment enforced, he would not then pronounce 
 
 ' P. C. Claughton, sometime Bishop of Colombo. 
 
 z8a 
 
NO CROSS, NO CROWN i8i 
 
 a fresh sentence, but would give Mackonochie 
 the opportunity of conforming his practice to 
 the decision of 1875, on the understanding that 
 he would incur a severe sentence if he refused 
 to comply. The application was renewed on the 
 1st of June 1878, and Mackonochie was suspended 
 for three years. 
 
 In his Annual Address for 1878 Mackonochie 
 made a significant reference to this renewal of perse- 
 cution. 
 
 " The causes for gratitude with which we have 
 year by year approached the throne of God on 
 St. Alban's Day, are, to say the least, unabated. 
 We have not been without trial, both in our own 
 weaknesses and sins, and in external difficulties — 
 and this is one ground of thankfulness and hope. 
 ... If the Cross were absent from us, we should 
 fear that God had forsaken us, while, on the other 
 hand, if our life were all Cross, our faith might 
 be so sorely tried as even to give way under the 
 strain. But the goodness of God still guides us, 
 and keeps us by His Providence both from the 
 sloth and carelessness which are bred of prosperity, 
 and the despair which may spring out of human 
 infirmity in times of over-severe hardness." 
 
 The next step in the legal proceedings was that 
 Mackonochie applied to the Queen's Bench for 
 a Writ of Prohibition against Lord Penzance, 
 to prevent him from enforcing this sentence of 
 Suspension. This Writ was granted, on the ground 
 that there should have been a fresh trial before the 
 issue of a fresh sentence. The persecuting party 
 appealed from the Queen's Bench to the Court 
 of Appeal, which by a majority of one pronounced 
 
1 82 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 in favour of Lord Penzance. Mackonochie did 
 not at this stage appeal to the House of Lords, 
 so on the 15th of November 1879 Lord Penzance 
 again pronounced the sentence of Suspension for 
 three years, to take effect upon Sunday the 23rd 
 of November. Two days before that date, Mac- 
 konochie wrote to a friend : " We do not an- 
 ticipate any row next Sunday, although of course 
 there may be one. The Bishop and I have, 
 through his Secretary, made an amicable arrange- 
 ment." 
 
 When the day arrived, an official of the P. W. R. 
 Court appeared at St. Alban's Clergy House, tendered 
 to Mackonochie the sentence of Suspension, and 
 then nailed the document to the north door. It 
 set forth that the " Rev. Alexander Heriot Mac- 
 konochie, for various offences against the Laws 
 Spiritual, was suspended from ministering the Sacra- 
 ments and preaching the Word, for a term of three 
 years, and further until he had recanted his errors." 
 The Churchwarden and Sidesmen, "as trustees for 
 the parishioners in respect of all uses of the Church," 
 made a formal protest against this use, or abuse, of 
 the Church-door, and the official departed. 
 
 Shortly before ten, the Bishop's Legal Secretary, 
 Mr. Lee, and his Domestic Chaplain, the Rev. W. M. 
 Sinclair,^ arrived at the Clergy House. When they 
 had stated the object of their visit, they were invited 
 into the Vestry, where they found the Vicar, 
 with the Churchwardens and Sidesmen. Mr. Lee 
 stated that the Bishop, having received notice of 
 Mackonochie's Suspension, found it his duty to 
 provide for the due conduct of the services, and 
 
 ^ Afterwards Archdeacon of London. 
 
THE THIRD SUSPENSION 183 
 
 had licensed Mr. Sinclair as Curate in Charge of 
 the parish till other arrangements could be made. 
 The license having been read, Mackonochie made 
 a solemn and dignified reply, of which a portion 
 is here given. 
 
 " I regard, as in duty bound, with very great 
 deference and respect the document from his Lord- 
 ship the Bishop of the Diocese which has just been 
 read to me. Notwithstanding this, however, it is 
 my duty to God to refuse to recognise you, or any 
 other priest not sanctioned by me, to supersede me, 
 even for a time, in the cure of souls in this parish. 
 The charge of souls in this parish was duly and 
 canonically committed to me by his Lordship's 
 predecessor on the 3rd day of January 1863. It 
 is a charge, as so given to me by the Bishop, of a 
 purely spiritual character, conferred by him, not in 
 his private capacity, or as a State Officer, but as 
 the successor of the Apostles, and, through them, 
 of Christ our Lord, Who was Himself sent by 
 God the Father in the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 Of the holding, using, and surrendering of this 
 charge I must give account to the Giver at the 
 hour of death and on the Day of Judgment. That 
 office was given me by God, through the due and 
 regular order of His Church, and what has so been 
 given me by Him, I dare not, at the peril of my 
 soul, give up, except to Him acting according to 
 the same due and regular order." 
 
 When Mackonochie had concluded his reply, 
 Mr. Sinclair said that he understood that he was 
 not to take the service, though he had come 
 prepared to do so. Mackonochie replied " Dis- 
 tinctly so," and the interview, which had been most 
 
1 84 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 courteously conducted, came to an end. Mattins 
 soon followed, and then the Celebration — a Missa 
 Cantata — with an overflowing congregation. Mac- 
 konochie was Celebrant. Mr. Stanton preached 
 from the text, " He giveth snow like wool." Every- 
 one was listening with breathless eagerness for some 
 allusion to the recent proceedings, when the preacher 
 began his sermon, thus : " There is one subject 
 which has been the topic of the week. It has 
 been the topic of conversation of nearly everyone 
 throughout the length and breadth of the land, 
 and that subject is — the weather." 
 
 On the afternoon of this eventful day, Mac- 
 konochie wrote as follows to a friend : 
 
 " You will, I suppose, have heard that all went 
 off well. The Notice was served by my poor old 
 friend the officer of the Court, who seemed much 
 the worse for the fog, but declined breakfast. The 
 document was put on the door, but torn down by 
 unknown hands (if not unseen). The Bishop's 
 Chaplain and Secretary did their duty, and I (to 
 the best of my power) did mine. The church was 
 crowded — women almost crowded out by the men. 
 Everything perfectly orderly ; two Nonconformist 
 Ministers of eminence quite delighted. A few 
 enemies, but perfect order. One so far forgot 
 himself as to genuflect at the Incamatus. Father 
 Stanton preached from Psalm cxlvii., on (as he 
 announced) the absorbing subject of the week — 
 the weather. The evening has yet to come, but 
 I suppose will be quiet. About four hundred 
 members of the C.E.W.M.S. were in church, but 
 nobody, I believe, knew that they were more than 
 ordinary church-goers." 
 
BUNN AND JONES 185 
 
 Among the " few enemies " mentioned above were, 
 as it subsequently appeared, " Mr. W. G. Bunn of 
 Hammersmith," and "Mr.F.E. Jonesof MaidaVale." 
 
 The much-harassed Vicar of St. Alban's was 
 allowed to spend his Christmas in peace ; but in 
 January 1880 Mr. Martin renewed his activities. 
 The Bishop of London again granted Letters of 
 Request, and on the i6th of April a fresh suit 
 was opened in the P. W. R. Court, having for its 
 object to deprive Mackonochie of his benefice, 
 as a penalty for his " contumacy and contempt, 
 and incorrigibleness and obstinate disobedience to 
 his Ordinary." Bunn of Hammersmith, and Jones 
 of Maida Vale, gave the necessary evidence as 
 to what Mackonochie had done when celebra- 
 ting on the 23rd and 30th of November; but 
 on the 5th of June Lord Penzance refused to 
 pass the sentence of Deprivation, hinting, not ob- 
 scurely, that Mr. Martin's right course would 
 have been to delate Mackonochie for his disobedi- 
 ence, with a view to getting him imprisoned. On 
 the 14th of June Mr. Martin, who had retired 
 from the suit, publicly stated that he would be 
 no party to a policy of imprisonment, and that 
 his one object, from first to last, had been to 
 get the law declared. Meanwhile Mackonochie, 
 who, as a friendly critic said, " had a genius for 
 litigation," appealed from the decision of the Court 
 of Appeal to the House of Lords, which on the 7th 
 of April 1 88 1 dismissed the Appeal, and affirmed 
 the three years' Suspension pronounced in 1878. 
 
 At the same time the Church Association appealed 
 against Lord Penzance's refusal to pronounce De- 
 privation, and the Judicial Committee, on the 
 
1 86 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 22nd of February 1882, decided against Lord 
 Penzance, and remitted the case to him for punish- 
 ment. The storm which had been gathering ever 
 since the end of 1877 was now ready to burst. 
 
 As a slight refreshment in the midst of these 
 anxieties, Mackonochie was on the 2nd of March 
 1882 examined before the Royal Commis- 
 sion on Ecclesiastical Courts, which had been ap- 
 pointed at the instance of Archbishop Tait. The 
 Commission could scarcely have found a witness 
 whose acquaintance with the subject was more 
 intimate than that possessed by the Vicar of St. 
 Alban's. In writing to his brother, he gave an 
 amusing account of his examination. "As a 
 remedy short of Disestablishment, I gave free elec- 
 tion of Bishops by the whole Episcopate, subject 
 to a vote of either the clergy or the lay-communi- 
 cants of the diocese. This, I believe, is the ancient 
 state of things. They asked me how long I 
 thought this lapse dated from, and I said Constan- 
 tine. They thought this a long time ; but I said 
 I could not help that — it was not my doing." 
 
 In his Annual Address to the Parish for 1882, 
 Mackonochie announced the fact that Mr. Hubbard 
 had resigned the patronage of the benefice. 
 
 " In June last year, he worshipped for the last 
 time as Patron in the Church which his munificence 
 had built and endowed, and formally took leave 
 of us, handing over all the property which he had 
 in the Church and its surroundings to the Dean 
 and Chapter of St. Paul's. You will, I am sure, 
 continue to remember him in your prayers as our 
 Founder, although he has ceased to be our Patron." 
 
 In the course of the Address, he paid the follow- 
 
•'SISTER GEORGY" 187 
 
 ing tribute to a very remarkable woman who had 
 been, for thirteen years, head of the band of Sisters 
 working in the Parish : 
 
 " One prominent figure in all that was good 
 and active in the Parish disappears from the midst 
 of us this year — I mean Sister Georgina Mary. . . . 
 Her capabilities were exceptional. Her former life 
 and associations, as well as divinely-given gifts, 
 adapted her most admirably, not only for women's 
 work of ordinary or extraordinary kinds, but to 
 carry all a woman's tact and perseverance into 
 work which belonged rather to men, if not such 
 as few men would care to attempt. She has been 
 removed from us by the vote of her Community, 
 calling her to a position more important in itself, 
 though far less attractive to her than what she 
 was doing here. We must thank God that she 
 has been sent to us for a time — the time of great 
 difficulty — and pray for His blessing upon her 
 wherever she may be called to serve Him." 
 
 On the 2 1st of July 1882 he wrote to a 
 friend : " Another Suit — for deprivation 'and de- 
 gradation — will most likely put a stop to any holi- 
 day." Meanwhile, it may be presumed that Lord 
 Penzance, though his hands were pretty full of 
 cases remitted to him from other dioceses, was 
 thinking over in his mind what he should do 
 with the incorrigible Mackonochie when he came 
 up for judgment. The working of the P. W. R. 
 Act had been beset by many and curious diffi- 
 culties, and the proceedings in Mackonochie's case 
 
 '■ " Sister Georgina Mary," of the Community of St. John Baptist, 
 Clewer, was Georgina Sophia Hoare, sister of Sir Henry Hoare, 
 5th Bart., of Stourhead. She was professed on the 30th November 
 1865, and died in her seventy-ninth year, on the 23rd October 1905. 
 
1 88 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 were strangely delayed. He was cited to appear 
 before the P. W. R. Court on the 29th of July; 
 but the case was postponed till after the Vacation. 
 Before the Courts reopened, a fresh element, as 
 momentous as it was unexpected, was introduced 
 into the situation. 
 
 At this point it is expedient to give some 
 account of Archbishop Tait, who has figured so 
 frequently in the narrative, and who was now about 
 to play a decisive part in the history of St. Alban's. 
 Archibald Campbell Tait was born in 1 8 1 1 , and 
 educated at the University of Glasgow, and at Balliol 
 College, Oxford, of which he became Fellow and 
 Tutor. In 1842 he succeeded Dr. Arnold as Head 
 Master of Rugby, and in 1 849 he was made Dean 
 of Carlisle. A tragical bereavement which there 
 befell him — the loss of five little children through 
 scarlet fever — attracted the sympathetic notice of 
 Queen Victoria ; and in 1856 he was recommended 
 by Lord Palmerston for the See of London. It 
 was from all points of view an amazing appointment. 
 
 Tait was especially and essentially a Scotsman. 
 His intellectual habits and interests, his religious 
 sympathies, his temperament and feelings, all were 
 characteristic of the land from which he came. 
 After all, blood is thicker than water, and racial 
 affinities count for much in the social and political 
 intercourse of mankind. This Scotsman, by the 
 accident of his education, became established for 
 life on English soil ; but he never took root in it — 
 never thoroughly understood the English people ; 
 never quite comprehended the beliefs of those over 
 whom he bore rule. 
 
 But Tait was not only a Scotsman : he was 
 
A PRESBYTERIAN PRELATE 189 
 
 more than half a Presbyterian. He was a devout 
 and orthodox Christian, but on those topics which 
 distinguish Anglicanism from other systems of 
 Reformed religion, his sympathies were rather with 
 the Scottish Kirk than with the Church of England. 
 He believed profoundly, even fanatically, in the 
 principle of religious Establishment ; and, as he 
 had determined to make England his home, it 
 followed of necessity that he should join the 
 Established Church of England. But on all ques- 
 tions affecting Sacramental doctrine, the structure 
 of the Church, and the nature of the Ministry, 
 he remained to the end of his life what he had 
 been in his Presbyterian youth. 
 
 While Tait was thus essentially a Presbyterian, 
 he was not at all essentially a clergyman. " He 
 was," as one said who knew him well, "a Whig 
 laird, with a strong dash of the lawyer." He had, 
 as far as one can judge, no special vocation to 
 Holy Orders. He would have been a religious 
 lawyer, or a religious merchant, or a religious 
 squire, according to the circumstances in which he 
 had been placed ; but his early history gives no 
 sign either of peculiar aptitude, or of strong 
 desire, for the work of the Priesthood as it is 
 understood by Churchmen, or even for any form 
 of the clerical profession. Still, Tait was ordained 
 as a matter of course. He was a Fellow of Balliol, 
 and, as such, he was bound by law to take Holy 
 Orders within a given time from his M.A. degree. 
 He had not the least desire to do otherwise. In- 
 deed he felt that the clerical character would help 
 him in his tutorial work ; and, when once ordained, 
 he became an active clergyman, though his parochial 
 
I90 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 experience was of necessity confined to some odd 
 jobs of clerical duty which he undertook during 
 his residence as Fellow and Tutor at Balliol. 
 
 Such was the divine whom the astonished Diocese 
 of London received as its Bishop on the retire- 
 ment of Bishop Blomfield. Churchmen soon dis- 
 covered, if they did not know it before, that their 
 Diocesan's churchmanship belonged to that un- 
 pleasing variety which is called " Broad-Low." It 
 was neither Evangelical nor Sacramental, but it 
 had a marked affinity to latitudinarianism. His own 
 words were : " I feel my vocation clear — greatly 
 as I sympathize with the Evangelicals not to allow 
 them to tyrannize over the Broad Churchmen." On 
 the 28th of September 1862 he wrote in his diary : 
 " Last night brought the announcement of Longley's 
 appointment [to the See of Canterbury]. My 
 anxiety is lest the Evangelical and Liberal sections 
 of the Church may lose what they have gained of 
 late years." But, when it came to dealing with the 
 Catholic party, the case was changed. The Bishop 
 was reported to have said : " If I am Bishop of 
 London for ten years, I will not leave a Tractarian 
 in the diocese " ; and, though the words were pro- 
 bably invented, they are exactly in tune with his 
 lifelong policy. He had been one of the " Four 
 Tutors" at Oxford, who, in 1841, protested against 
 Tract XC, and so began the process which drove 
 Newman out of the English Church. 
 
 Tait's whole subsequent conduct was of a piece with 
 that inauspicious beginning. As with doctrine, so 
 with ritual. As Bishop of London, he had attacked 
 Mr. Liddell of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, and Mr. 
 Stuart of St. Mary Magdalene's, Munster Square, for 
 
VEX AT CENSURA 191 
 
 having Altar-lights. He revoked the license of a 
 wretched curate for venturing to hear Confessions. 
 At the consecration of All Saints', Margaret Street, 
 he sent for a large white table-cloth to hide the 
 beautiful Altar; at the consecration of St. Michael's, 
 Shoreditch, he rated the clergy who wore coloured 
 stoles. And all this time he was abetting Bishop 
 Colenso, and apologizing for Essays and Reviews. 
 In 1865 Newman wrote to Pusey : "The Bishop 
 of London is tender towards freethinkers, and 
 stern towards Romanizers. Hat veniam corvis, 
 vexat censura columhas. Now the Church of Rome 
 is severe on freethinkers, and indulgent towards 
 devotees." 
 
 Tait became Archbishop of Canterbury at the 
 end of 1868. He appears perhaps in his most 
 characteristic aspect at the interview with the 
 Deputation of Working Men on the 15 th of 
 July 1875.^ In his dealings with Ritualism from 
 first to last, he had been, to borrow Ruskin's 
 words, "wrong with the intense wrongness which 
 only an honest man can achieve, who has taken a 
 wrong turn of thought at the outset and is follow- 
 ing it regardless of consequences." But at the 
 beginning of the 'eighties, a curious change became 
 apparent, and it had its origin in pathetic events. 
 
 In May 1878, the Archbishop lost his only son, 
 a young clergyman greatly beloved, and in the 
 following December his devoted and exemplary 
 wife. Such afflictions could not leave a Christian 
 just what they found him, and Tait became a 
 sensibly gentler and less imperious man. His 
 health, which had never been robust since a desperate 
 ' See p. 146, 
 
192 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 attack of rheumatic fever in 1848, began to decline, 
 and it can scarcely be doubted that in moments 
 of quiet meditation he was led to question the 
 rightness of the ecclesiastical policy which he had 
 so persistently pursued. 
 
 At Easter 1880 Gladstone became Prime Minister 
 for the second time, and in the following winter 
 the Archbishop approached him with various sug- 
 gestions intended to promote the peace of the 
 Church, Some of those suggestions were not 
 accepted ; but Gladstone promised that, if the 
 Archbishop would himself move in the House of 
 Lords for a Royal Commission to enquire into 
 the constitution and working of the Ecclesiastical 
 Courts, the Government would render all the assist- 
 ance in their power. The Commission was accord- 
 ingly appointed, and began its work on the 28th 
 of May 1 881. The Archbishop was Chairman, 
 and conducted the main examination of every 
 witness. Among those witnesses, as we have 
 seen, was Mackonochie. The present writer was 
 told by a member of the Commission — the late 
 Mr. Beresford-Hope — that the signs of a softened 
 temperament were clearly visible in Tait's method of 
 conducting the business, and that he suffered to 
 " go by the board " a good many points which a 
 few years before would have excited him even to 
 vehemence. The Commission continued its sittings 
 throughout the year 1882, but by now the Arch- 
 bishop's last illness had begun, and he fully realized 
 his own precarious condition. On the 30th of 
 July 1882 he wrote in his diary: "So ends this 
 Session. It must be very doubtful whether Lambeth 
 will another year be the centre for the same 
 
SERA NUNQUAM 193 
 
 friends." On the 7th of August, he travelled with 
 great difficulty to Osborne, in order to confirm the 
 two sons of the Prince of Wales,^ and, after return- 
 ing to Addington Park, he took to his bed. His 
 illness lasted, with various ups and downs, till 
 Advent Sunday, the 3rd of December, when he 
 passed away. From his sick bed he began a cor- 
 respondence with Mackonochie, which led to im- 
 portant results. 
 
 We saw just now that, when the Law Courts 
 were about to reopen after the Vacation of 1882, 
 it seemed as if Lord Penzance must proceed to 
 extremities. During the month of October the 
 Archbishop received an intimation that the Sentence 
 of Deprivation would be pronounced ; and he felt 
 himself constrained to intervene. On the loth of 
 November he wrote as follows : 
 
 My dear Mr. Mackonochie, — My thoughts, 
 so far as I am able at present to give steady thought 
 to public matters, have naturally dwelt much upon 
 the troubles and difficulties which have made them- 
 selves apparent in connection with recent ritual 
 prosecutions. I am exceedingly anxious that the 
 result of the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical 
 Courts should, by the blessing of Almighty God, 
 be such as to allay disquiet, and, by meeting any 
 reasonable objections to existing procedure, to set 
 men's minds free for the pressing duties which 
 devolve upon the Church in the face of prevailing 
 sin and unbelief. Anything which at this moment 
 increases bitterness of feeling may do permanent 
 mischief to the cause which we all have at heart. 
 
 * Prince Albert Victor (who died in 1892), and King George V. 
 
 N 
 
194 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Anything which tends to preserve peace now will 
 make a satisfactory solution of our difficulties far 
 easier. I venture, therefore, privately to write to 
 you, though I cannot yet do so with my own 
 hand, to invite you seriously to consider whether 
 you can in any way minimise the present feeling of 
 bitterness which undoubtedly exists in some quarters. 
 I need not assure you that I do not wish in any 
 way to dictate to you a course of action, but if 
 you feel it possible, consistently with duty, to 
 withdraw voluntarily by resignation of your benefice 
 from further conflicts with the Courts, I am quite 
 sure you would be acting in the manner best cal- 
 culated to promote the real power and usefulness 
 of the Church to which we belong. I make this 
 appeal to you under a strong sense of responsibility. 
 You will, I think, feel with me that the circum- 
 stances under which I write are altogether excep- 
 tional, and you will, 1 know, give prayerful thought 
 to the subject. I commend you to the guidance 
 of Almighty God, and ask that He may give to 
 us in these difficult times a right judgment in all 
 things. — I remain 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 A. C. Cantuar. 
 
 To this letter Mackonochie at once returned the 
 
 following reply : 
 
 November ii, 1882. 
 
 My dear Lord Archbishop, — Your kind 
 
 letter of yesterday reached me last night. Your 
 
 Grace will understand that in a matter of so deep 
 
 importance I shall not answer definitely without 
 
 that time for earnest seeking after the guidance of 
 
THE DECISION 195 
 
 Almighty God to which you refer me, although, 
 indeed, your Grace will not doubt that I have en- 
 deavoured to gain it and to act upon it throughout 
 the troubled circumstances of the last sixteen years. 
 It is a great regret to me that any of my concerns 
 should be adding to the pressure of your Grace's 
 anxieties under the severe illness which our Lord 
 has sent to you. Therefore my final answer shall 
 reach your Grace with as little delay as possible. 
 With earnest prayer for your Grace's restoration 
 to health, — Believe me, my dear Lord Archbishop, 
 yours truly and very respectfully, 
 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 As in duty bound, Mackonochie took ample 
 time to consider the proposal, and postponed his 
 decision until he had taken counsel with his wisest 
 and most trusted advisers. On the 23rd of Novem- 
 ber he wrote to a friend : 
 
 "The meeting which I was asked to wait for 
 did not help much ... it was opposed for the 
 most part to my own convictions ; and yet with 
 me it is immensely difficult to decide. The illness 
 of the Archbishop and the tone of his letter, as if 
 from his grave, has certainly weighed mostly with 
 me ; which perhaps is hardly right, as even the 
 most pressing personal considerations have to give 
 way before the public interests of the Church. 
 However, I suppose I have determined to comply 
 with the Archbishop's request. It seqms to be 
 God's Will. I do believe I am quite indifferent 
 personally. Indeed personally the line I am taking 
 is a certain loss — not in money perhaps, but in 
 leaving this place. . . . Whatever happens, my 
 
196 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 leaving this will be, at first at any rate, set down 
 as a victory for our enemies, both by friends and 
 foes. I feel myself a little like Rehoboam, between 
 his father's counsellors and his own, with the ex- 
 ception that I am following the elder counsellors and 
 he the younger. ... I have promised to send off my 
 letter to the Archbishop not later than to-morrow, 
 so that the suspense will not be much longer." 
 
 Here is the actual decision : 
 
 Nov. 23, 1882. 
 
 My dear Lord Archbishop, — I am sorry to 
 have been obliged to add to your Grace's anxiety 
 by a less speedy reply to your letter than I could 
 have desired. The subject of your letter has, I 
 think, rarely been out of my mind since I received 
 it, except when at times driven out by the press 
 of active work. 
 
 The conclusion at which I have arrived is to 
 acquiesce in your Grace's wish that I should resign 
 my benefice. You will understand that it is to 
 myself and will be to my people a great sorrow, 
 but one which I hope we shall be willing to bear, 
 if the true peace and liberty of the Church can be 
 obtained by my compliance. 
 
 My life hitherto, since my ordination, has had 
 for its object the seeking of those gifts for the 
 Church, and I am contented, if so it be, to give 
 up my peace for this. 
 
 Your Grace will, I am sure, understand that I 
 cannot in this matter act otherwise than with that 
 obedience to my conscience to which you refer me, 
 so that you will not think that I have changed my 
 conviction as to the State Courts. I accept the 
 
1874 AND 1882 197 
 
 line of action which your Grace has indicated simply 
 in deference to you. as supreme representative of 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ in all things spiritual in 
 this land ; and not as withdrawing anything I have 
 said or done in regard to those Courts. This I 
 cannot agree to in any way whatever. 
 
 No one can deny that the bitterness which your 
 Grace would abate is altogether an exceptional cir- 
 cumstance, giving rise to exceptional remedies to 
 avert, if it may be, by the Goodness of God, ruin 
 from His Church ; and leaving her free for the 
 future discharge of her great mission, at home and 
 in foreign lands. For myself I hope I may depend 
 upon your Grace's good offices with the Bishop of 
 London, so that I may be licensed or instituted 
 at once to whatever work in the diocese may offer 
 itself to me. Thanking your Grace for your com- 
 mendation of me to the guidance of Almighty 
 God, and with my own unworthy prayers for your 
 Grace in all your sickness, — Believe me, my dear 
 Lord Archbishop, yours truly and very respectfully, 
 Alex. Heriot Mackonochie. 
 
 This announcement of Mackonochie's decision 
 was acknowledged with touching gratitude by the 
 dying Archbishop. On the 9th of August 1874, 
 he had written in his diary : " Thank God, the 
 Bill has passed. I received congratulations on all 
 sides." That Bill became the Public Worship 
 Regulation Act, and "it received its fatal shock 
 from the Archbishop's deathbed." 
 
 On the 1st of December 1882 Mackonochie 
 resigned his benefice. On the 5th of December 
 Bishop Jackson wrote as follows : 
 
198 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 Dear Mr. Mackonochie, — I did not write 
 to you on Saturday when I accepted your resigna- 
 tion, because I understood from Mr. Lee that I 
 was about to hear from you ; but having read, as 
 you are aware, the affecting correspondence between 
 the dying Archbishop and yourself — so honourable 
 to both — I wish to be allowed to express my satis- 
 faction with the conclusion at which you arrived, 
 and my appreciation of the motives which led you 
 to it. I can well understand the difficulties of 
 your position, which must have been great and 
 perplexing, and only to be met by courage of the 
 true stamp and under a firm sense of duty. God 
 grant that it may tend to the Church's peace ! I 
 have never ceased, I can say in all sincerity, to 
 value your own worth or that of your work ; and 
 I venture to hope that under altered circumstances 
 those strained relations may be relaxed which arise 
 so readily between those whose duty it is to ad- 
 minister the law and those who consider them- 
 selves unable in conscience to observe it. Believe 
 me to be 
 
 Very faithfully yours, 
 
 J. London. 
 
 On Saturday evening, the 9th of December, 
 Mackonochie assembled his flock in St. Alban's 
 Church, and gave them a full, clear, and definite 
 statement concerning the steps which he had taken, 
 and the reasons for them. He read the corre- 
 spondence which had passed between himself, the 
 Archbishop, and the Bishop. 'He reviewed at length 
 his connexion with the district, beginning before 
 the church was built, and he earnestly commended 
 
A SORROWFUL CHRISTMAS 199 
 
 his successor to their sympathy and support. He 
 ended thus : 
 
 " I urge St. Alban's people to stick to St. Alban's 
 Church. It is not the priests, but the congrega- 
 tion, that have made St. Alban's what it is ; and 
 it is only by holding together — trying to knit them- 
 selves together more and more — that St. Alban's 
 will become more worthy of its name than it has 
 ever been in the past. That can only be by your 
 sticking and holding together more and more, and 
 by making St. Alban's the home of your life. 
 So may it be, in the Providence of God — St. Alban's 
 people for St. Alban's Church." 
 
 Mackonochie spent his Christmas at St. Alban's. 
 " Probably," he wrote, " we have had a certain 
 sense of farewell which did not at first brighten 
 the Angels' Song. . . . Happily, we are all be- 
 having very well, and talking at least, if not 
 thinking, little about it." 
 
 At Evensong, on Sunday the 7 th of January 
 1883, he preached his farewell sermon. The text was 
 Isaiah liii. 10: " When Thou shalt make His soul 
 an offering for sin, He shall see His seed. He shall 
 prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
 prosper in His hand." It was a strenuous and even 
 passionate assertion of the necessity of sacrifice. The 
 Cross, he said, was the sign of self-oblation. Suffering 
 was a Christian's life. God had now sent him and his 
 hearers something hard to bear — he did not like to 
 call it suffering — and they must not only bear it, 
 but they must thank God for it. Above all, he 
 implored them not to let the change which was now 
 impending make the slightest difference in their 
 devotion to their church and its Altar. " If," he 
 
200 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 said, "Almighty God has blessed my ministry in 
 these twenty years, the only testimony which you 
 can show for it is your adherence to this church in 
 which you have received grace. You do not come 
 to church to receive knowledge, or to have your 
 ears tickled with oratory. You come to church 
 to receive grace. And, if God has been pleased by 
 His Holy Spirit to shed upon you grace in this 
 Church, then return Him thanks for that grace, 
 and show your thankfulness by still worshipping 
 at its Altar. Otherwise, it must be said, either that 
 the Grace of God has failed, or that all that has 
 been done for this congregation has fallen to pieces 
 — twenty years of work expended, and no greater 
 result to show for it than a scattered congregation 
 at the end of those twenty years. I hope better 
 things of you all. You may have many tempta- 
 tions in many different ways ; but, if you are St. 
 Alban's people, then care for St. Alban's Altar, for 
 that Altar which has fed many and many of you, 
 from your first Communion, right on to this time." 
 When in his closing words Mackonochie implored 
 his hearers' prayers, "remembering that the priest's 
 place in the Church is the most dangerous of all 
 places," a deep hush fell upon his hearers; strong 
 men were shaken by emotion, and there was the 
 light of tears in unaccustomed eyes. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 CONTINUITY 
 
 "The Survivorship of a worthy man in his Son is a Pleasure scarce 
 inferior to the Hopes of the Continuance of his own Life." — Richard 
 Steele. 
 
 The family of Suckling was established on its lands 
 at Woodton in the County of Suffolk before the 
 year 1500. The head of the family is still Lord 
 of the Manors of Barsham and Shipmeadow ; and 
 the Sucklings have intermarried with all the best 
 blood of East Anglia. Three notable members of 
 the family may be comimemorated here : Sir John 
 Suckling, whose dainty lyrics, full of Elizabethan 
 grace, " left former song-writers far behind in gaiety 
 and ease"^; Captain Maurice Suckling, "the pro- 
 fessional tutor and early patron " of his nephew 
 the great Nelson ; and the Rev. Robert Alfred 
 Suckling (181 8-1 851), who, having begun life in 
 the Royal Navy, chose rather to dedicate himself 
 to God in the sacred ministry, and was ordained 
 in 1843. He was the first Incumbent of Bussage, 
 in Gloucestershire, where, in 1846, a church was 
 built by the contributions of twenty Oxford men, 
 who had been prompted to the act by Newman 
 in the days of his ministry at St. Mary's. Mr. 
 Suckling's life and labours in this place made a 
 deep and lasting impression on those who knew 
 
 '■ Henry Hallatn. 
 
202 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 him, and can be read in a delightful memoir written 
 by Isaac Williams. He died quite unexpectedly 
 in 1 85 1, leaving a son, Robert Alfred John Suck- 
 ling, born in 1 842, who succeeded to his grand- 
 father's estates in 1856. 
 
 This R. A. J. Suckling, whose Godfather was John 
 Keble, having early destined himself to Holy Orders, 
 entered St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, in the time of 
 Liddon's Vice-Principalship. From Oxford he 
 moved, in due course, to Cuddesdon, where he fell 
 under the direct influence of Edward King. On 
 the 2nd of November 1862, Liddon wrote to 
 King : " It is very delightful to hear such good 
 accounts of Suckling. The son of so many prayers, 
 and the heir tanti nominis, ought to do well. And 
 I am much rejoiced that you like Stanton " — a 
 curious conjunction of two names destined to be 
 closely associated just twenty years later. 
 
 Mr. Suckling was ordained Deacon in 1865, and 
 Priest in 1867. He served the curacy of Rowde, in 
 Wiltshire, for three years. In 1868 he became 
 Rector of his old home, Barsham ; and in 1880, 
 by a singular act of self-denial, he forsook "his 
 own people and his father's house " to succeed 
 Mr. Lowder in the Incumbency of St. Peter's, 
 London Docks. He had only been there two 
 years when the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's 
 invited him to become Vicar of St. Alban's in suc- 
 cession to Mackonochie ; and he was instituted 
 to that benefice by Bishop Jackson on the 7th of 
 December 1882. The Institution was performed 
 in private, for fear of possible disturbances by 
 angry Puritans. 
 
 The circumstances under which Mackonochie 
 
BEHIND THE SCENES 203 
 
 resigned St. Alban's were narrated in the last 
 chapter ; but it is expedient that the narrative 
 should be supplemented by a more detailed state- 
 ment of the facts. 
 
 " After the deprivation of Mr. Green/ and in 
 view of the probable action of Lord Penzance at 
 the solicitation of the Church Association, some 
 of Mr. Mackonochie's friends suggested the idea 
 of his effecting some exchange. This proposal he 
 rejected, preferring to fight out the matter in his 
 own parish, where, I may say, he was more strongly 
 entrenched than is generally understood. Then 
 came the letter of the Archbishop, asking for a 
 resignation simply. Although Mr. Mackonochie 
 consulted his friends and advisers, he has told us 
 that, from the moment of reading that letter, he 
 had virtually no doubt in his own mind as to the 
 course which he must take. The ' Council of 
 War ' advised No Surrender ; but, when it became 
 clear that Mr. Mackonochie had determined to 
 give way — he did, in fact, resign the next day — 
 the idea of an exchange was revived, and it was 
 found that the Bishop of London was in no way 
 opposed to allowing Mr. Mackonochie other work 
 in his diocese.^ St. Peter's, London Docks, was 
 
 ^ The Rev. S. F. Green, Vicar of St. John the EvangeHst, Miles 
 Platting, was "deprived" on the i6th of August 1882. 
 
 * On the 4th of January 1883, Bishop Jackson wrote thus to 
 the Chairman of the Church Association : 
 
 "If there are those, who, knowing, as I do, the good and self- 
 denying work done among the poor and ignorant by such men as 
 Mr. Mackonochie and the late Mr. Lowder, are yet, on account 
 of differences in discipline and doctrine (the seriousness of which 
 I do not wish to extenuate) unable to appreciate it or afraid to 
 acknowledge it, I cannot sympathize with them ; I can only pity 
 them." 
 
204 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 not the first place thought of, and indeed, at one 
 time, there was a suggestion that our Vicar should 
 take a curacy in another East-end parish. Mean- 
 while, he had resigned, and St. Alban's, Holborn, 
 was vacant. The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's 
 offered it to Mr. Suckling, who was at first, for 
 obvious reasons, reluctant to accept it, but was 
 finally prevailed upon to do so. Then the living 
 of St. Peter's, London Docks, was offered to Mr. 
 Mackonochie, who was not, however, either nomin- 
 ated or instituted, until two days after Mr. Suckling 
 had been instituted at St. Alban's, Holborn. So 
 far from the matter being a pre-arranged scheme, 
 it was throughout a history of divided opinions 
 and confused counsels. The considerations which 
 finally triumphed were — the Archbishop's dying 
 appeal for peace ; the Bishop of London's generous 
 appreciation of the value of those clergy in his 
 diocese who are not satisfied with the law as it 
 stands ; Mr. Mackonochie's resolution to listen to 
 the Archbishop rather than to his more ardent 
 advisers; and last, but not least, Mr. Suckling's 
 consent to sacrifice his own feelings for the peace 
 of the Church." ^ 
 
 At this perplexing juncture in the fortunes of St. 
 Alban's, Mr. Hubbard intervened with good effect. 
 To one of the Trustees of St. Peter's, London Docks, 
 he wrote as follows on the 3rd of December 1882 : 
 
 " With your letter there arrives one from Charles 
 Wood,^ rejoicing in the prospect of averting a great 
 calamity through the exchange of Suckling for 
 Mackonochie. The plan was either suggested or 
 
 * A letter from " A Parishioner of St. Alban's, Holborn," to the 
 Pall Mall Gazette, Feb. i, 1883. ^ Afterwards Lord Halifax. 
 
A DIFFICULT SITUATION 205 
 
 supported by Archbishop Tait, as conducive to the 
 peace of the Church.-' I quite approve of it, for it 
 baulks Lord Penzance of the exercise of his usurped 
 jurisdiction, and the Church Association of their 
 victim. 
 
 " Do pray accept Mr. -Mackonochie." 
 This was done, and on the 28th of January 1883 
 Mackonochie " read himself in " at St. Peter's. 
 
 The situation which confronted Mr. Suckling 
 when, in January 1883, he began his work at St. 
 Alban's, was not, at the first glance, reassuring. 
 He came, as a stranger, to become the official 
 superior of men who had worked in the parish 
 ever since their ordination ; who knew every inci- 
 dent in the life of the district, and were on the 
 friendliest terms with the inhabitants. Had these 
 priests been jealous or pettish or ill-conditioned men, 
 the very fact of their popularity would have made 
 them difficult coadjutors. Reared in Tractarian 
 traditions, and in a scrupulous loyalty to the practice 
 of the Church of England, the new Vicar found 
 himself in a church where every detail and adjunct 
 of Worship had been studiously arranged to look 
 as Roman as it could. Then again St Alban's was 
 a church which, whether by design or by accident, 
 had always stood rather aloof from the main stream 
 of the Catholic Movement. The attitude of the 
 congregation might have tempted a modern Job 
 to the ironical compliment : " No doubt but ye 
 are the people, and Wisdom shall die with you." 
 The church had been, from the very beginning, 
 dominated by forceful characters — one indeed now 
 * This point seems doubtful. 
 
2o6 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 removed, but not to a great distance, and others 
 remaining — and to those characters had been con- 
 ceded a liberty of individual speech and action 
 which clashed violently with the Anglican tradition 
 of parochial discipline. Himself a gentle Tory 
 and a lover of the established order, Mr. Suckling 
 found himself surrounded by Radicals, and Dis- 
 establishers, and Semi-Socialists ; and, whereas he 
 believed in the sacred duty of teaching dogma to 
 school-children, he was faced by an unabashed pro- 
 posal to let the Church's Schools go, and trust the 
 children to the tender mercies of the State. 
 
 If these were (or even resembled) the difficulties 
 which greeted Mr. Suckling on his first arrival 
 at St. Alban's, how did he overcome them ? That 
 they were overcome, is a fact patent to all men ; 
 but how was it done .? The answer is— by the 
 " meekness and gentleness," the " mildness and 
 sweet reasonableness," which we learn from the 
 Highest of all Examples ; and through the grace 
 of a most sincere humility. 
 
 " Humility, so far from destroying moral force, 
 protects and strengthens it ; it sternly represses 
 the petty vanities through which the strength of 
 the soul evaporates and is lost ; it keeps even a 
 St. John the Baptist ' in the desert till the day 
 of his showing unto Israel ' ; and then, when the 
 hour is come, it opens upon the world the force 
 of a soul which is strong precisely because it has 
 been humble." ^ 
 
 Enough has now been said to indicate the causes 
 of the admirable continuity which merged the first 
 and second Incumbencies of St. Alban's into one, 
 > H, P. Liddon. 
 
AS BEFORE 207 
 
 though the timid and the faithless and the half- 
 hearted " prognosticated a year of sects and schisms." 
 A change of vicars generally means a change of 
 methods, but this Mr. Suckling most wisely avoided. 
 Everything went on as before. The modified ritual 
 which Mackonochie had introduced was continued, 
 and all the parochial agencies and institutions 
 were still maintained on the accustomed lines. On 
 Good Friday 1883 the Three Hours Service, 
 which Mackonochie had so long conducted with 
 never-failing helpfulness, was taken by Mr. Stanton. 
 On Easter Day the chief Service was, as usual, 
 a Missa Cantata^ and there were 456 com- 
 municants. On St. Alban's Day Mr. Suckling 
 issued his first Address to the Parish, beginning 
 thus : 
 
 " The first thing that presents itself to the minds 
 and hearts of the readers of the Annual St. Alban's 
 Address, must be the great change that has taken 
 place in the Parish. I allude, of course, to the 
 resignation of the first Vicar, the Rev. A. H. 
 Mackonochie. 
 
 " You will naturally expect that this subject should 
 be the first noticed by his successor. It is a great 
 event, often a sad event, in the history of any new 
 parish to lose their first Vicar, but I think all must 
 regard your loss with exceptional sympathy ; and 
 from letters and communications I have reason 
 to know that many, entire strangers to yourselves, 
 have felt deeply for you ; and the separation has 
 been spoken of as a ' cruel ending,' both to 
 Priest and people, ' of a noble work.' ' I do feel 
 for Father Mackonochie ; ' ' What must the people 
 of St. Alban's think .'' ' were some of the expres- 
 
2o8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 sions used by certain members of my old flock. 
 It certainly was hard for you to lose one in whom 
 you naturally placed such confidence ; to lose one 
 who had, under God, led you through so many 
 battles ; who by his courage, determination, and 
 perseverance had won respect for St, Alban's 
 throughout the Kingdom — nay, throughout the 
 world ; who had been the means, in God's hands, 
 of vindicating, at so great a cost to himself, the 
 Spiritual authority of the Church of England; 
 who, by the beautiful way in which he took his 
 various insults, insinuations, and slights, had taught 
 us, not only by words but by actions, how to live 
 the life of the Cross, and also had shown to thousands 
 the truly supernatural power of suffering. 
 
 " There is in all that has happened a bright side, 
 I am sure you will admit. It is a comfort to many 
 to know that Father Mackonochie is at hand, ready 
 and willing as ever to give all help and counsel 
 at St. Alban's. His weekly visit reminds many of 
 this, and also of his readiness to help, and this 
 year it must be a satisfaction to a great number 
 to present him with a Testimonial amounting to 
 
 [This Testimonial was presented to Mackonochie 
 at the Parochial Luncheon on St. Alban's Day. It 
 is symptomatic of the impression made by his 
 self-sacrificing character, that his friends would 
 not entrust him with the capital, but bought 
 him an annuity with it.] 
 
 After reviewing the work and institutions of the 
 Parish, Mr. Suckling said, towards the conclusion 
 of his Address : 
 
 " Last I eome to the Assistant Clergy of St. 
 
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THE FINAL BLOW 209 
 
 Alban's, and I cannot close without expressing my 
 many obligations to them. They have most kindly 
 continued to work with me. You can, I am sure, 
 easily understand what I owe to the Rev. A. 
 H. Stanton, for the generous and most unselfish 
 way in which he has helped me. For twenty years 
 he has worked amongst you, and yet he still keeps 
 his position as Assistant Curate under a new Vicar ; 
 this, I am sure, speaks for itself." 
 
 There were, as we have already seen, some 
 who thought Mackonochie's retirement from St. 
 Alban's a wise step, and some who thought diiFer- 
 ently ; but all alike believed that it would of 
 necessity terminate the harassing litigation in which 
 he had been so long involved. Not so. His 
 opponents, guided by something which looks more 
 like personal malignity than zeal for law, hunted 
 him yet once more into the P. W. R. Court. 
 
 On the 2 1 St of July 1883, Lord Penzance de- 
 clared that no substantial change had been made in 
 the situation by the exchange of benefices; that, 
 if Mackonochie had been unbeneficed, the appro- 
 priate sentence would have been perpetual inhibition 
 from officiating ; but that, since he still held a 
 benefice, its situation was immaterial ; and, on this 
 ground, deprived him of his living. The Bishop of 
 London — one cannot help thinking, much against 
 his will — issued a Writ of Sequestration, and the 
 wretchedly poor parish of St. Peter's was mulct in 
 the sum of £2^0 a year. 
 
 This was the final blow, and it fell upon an 
 enfeebled frame, and a nervous system worn out 
 by incessant anxiety. Dr. Pusey once said to his 
 
 o 
 
2IO SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 doctor : " One hour's harass is worse than ten 
 hours' work " ; and Mackonochie had now borne, 
 in addition to the burden of incessant labour, twenty- 
 five years of "harass." With touching simplicity 
 he wrote : " After all, I must own that, since 1858,1 
 have had little except strife — so that I may be thank- 
 ful to have survived at all." But now the time had 
 come when, in order to save St. Peter's from 
 pecuniary ruin, it was best for him to retire. He 
 resigned his living on the 31st of December 1883, 
 a broken and beaten man. His old home at St. 
 Alban's welcomed him with open arms, and in the 
 chivalrous devotion of Mr. Suckling and his col- 
 leagues he found some balm for his wounded 
 spirit. 
 
 On New Year's Day 1884, an excellent addition 
 was made to the institutions of St. Alban's by the 
 establishment of the St. Albans Parish Magazine, 
 which, as the Monthly Paper, still serves as a re- 
 cord of all parochial sayings and doings, and as a 
 method of communication between scattered friends 
 of the church. 
 
 The year was made memorable by the restoration 
 of full ritual at High Mass ; and in the winter pre- 
 parations were begun for the third London Mission. 
 This Mission opened on the 7th of February 1885, 
 and closed on the 17th. The Missioners at St. 
 Alban's were the Rev. C. R. Chase, Vicar of All 
 Saints', Plymouth, the Rev. William Scott, Curate of 
 Prestbury, and the Rev. James Frampton, Chaplain 
 at Ascot Priory. One result of the Mission was 
 a large number of candidates for Confirmation ; 
 and, at Mr. Suckling's request, backed by Mac- 
 
ST. SEPULCHRE'S 211 
 
 konochie, Bishop Temple, who had succeeded 
 Bishop Jackson in the previous January, himself 
 administered Confirmation in St. Alban's Church. 
 In his Annual Address, Mr. Suckling wrote : " The 
 announcement that Bishop Temple would hold a 
 Confirmation at St. Alban's soon disposed most of 
 the faithful of St. Alban's to receive him with open 
 arms. And, now that we have seen him and heard 
 him, I believe I may say that that feeling is in- 
 creased tenfold." 
 
 The year of 1886 was at St. Alban's a year of 
 bricks and mortar. In January, the new Schools 
 and Parish Room were opened with appropriate 
 ceremonies. In March, the new Vestry was com- 
 pleted, and on the 22 nd of June a new Mortuary 
 was dedicated. The Prayer Book tells us that St. 
 Alban's Day is the 17th of June, but Dr. Dryas- 
 dust says it is the 22nd, and Dryasdust prevailed. 
 In 1886 the Festival of the Patron Saint was cele- 
 brated at St. Alban's on the 22nd of June, and 
 this dislocation of the Kalendar has since remained 
 in force. The first incident of the day was the 
 Benediction of the exquisite Shrine of Rest, suitably 
 and solemnly furnished, which now exchanged the 
 grim title of "Mortuary" for another, full of 
 soothing association, "The Chapel of the Holy 
 Sepulchre," or, for short, "St. Sepulchre's." The 
 Benediction was performed by Mackonochie, just 
 before High Mass, at which the preacher was Canon 
 Carter of Clewer. 
 
212 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 The year 1887 was engrossed, to a degree which 
 no later celebrations have equalled, by the Jubilee 
 of Queen Victoria. A kind of loyal passion, ex- 
 uberant, romantic, and picturesque, swept the nation 
 out of all its habitual pre-occupations ; and all 
 local and sectional interests were by common consent 
 adjourned to a more convenient season. St. Alban's 
 shared the universal emotion, and the only parochial 
 event of that summer was the visit of the beloved 
 Bishop of Lincoln, Edward King, who preached at 
 Evensong on St. Alban's Day. His text was St. 
 Matthew v. 14: "A city that is set on a hill 
 cannot be hid." St. Alban's Church, he said, was 
 such a City, and the sermon ended with a fervent 
 prayer for its welfare. 
 
 " God grant that St. Alban's may for many a 
 long year still continue to witness that she is a 
 City offering sympathy and support to men — 'set 
 on a hill ' — that is, built upon the Rock ; and that 
 her members may find that they have been made 
 ready by the life here, to be transplanted to the 
 City that is set upon the Everlasting Hills. 
 That is the City that 'lieth foursquare,' having 
 three gates upon each side ; that is, Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost looking out. North and 
 South, East and West, upon the whole world, to 
 welcome in all to that home where there is room 
 for all." 
 
 Among the worshippers, though not among 
 the officiants, on that St. Alban's Day was the 
 ex-Vicar, who noted in his diary the peculiar 
 pleasure of meeting the Bishop of Lincoln. It was 
 stated at the outset of this book that the history 
 of St. Alban's is inseparably connected with Mac- 
 
AN AMBASSADOR IN BONDS 213 
 
 konochie's person and work ; so it is necessary at 
 this point to retrace our steps. 
 
 We have seen that when Mackonochie resigned 
 St. Peter's, London Docks, he took up his abode 
 at St. Alban's Clergy House; and, holding the 
 Bishop's General Licence, he continued to do a 
 good deal of priestly work in the diocese. He 
 was constantly at St. Saviour's Priory, Haggerston, 
 of which he had long been Chaplain ; and he 
 went on Celebrating and hearing confessions in St. 
 Alban's Church. While his headquarters were at 
 the Clergy House, he paid frequent visits to friends 
 in the country — to his brother, Mr. James Mac- 
 konochie, at Wantage, and to the Bishop of Argyll,^ 
 an old ally of St. Alban's, at Ballachulish, near Oban. 
 While staying with the Bishop at Passiontide 1884, 
 he preached the Three Hours, and in the autumn 
 of the same year he gave a Retreat for Clergy at 
 Cumbrae. It was about this time that his friends 
 began to notice a certain hesitation in his speech, 
 accompanied by some slight confusion of thought, 
 and these disquieting symptoms increased as the 
 months went by. Being blessed by nature with 
 what seemed invincible strength, he had tried it 
 too severely ; and his total disregard of self had 
 made him unconscious of any departure from normal 
 health. But now he began to heed the warnings, 
 which had been too long neglected, and dutifully 
 obeyed all medical directions. In 1885 he wrote to 
 a friend: "I am quite well bodily. Almost every 
 priest of any standing seems to have had to get 
 through the same difficulties." In the following year : 
 " I am still not able to do much writing, or anything 
 1 J. R. A. Chinnery-Haldane. 
 
214 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 else. This is very much due to my folly in trying 
 (from about November 1884 to about this time last 
 year) to do some work ... I cannot think to any pur- 
 pose, or speak what I want to say even in a common 
 conversation. I sometimes see what I want to say, 
 and the moment I begin to speak the sentence has 
 flown from me." Thus cut off from most of his 
 sacred activities, the stricken priest found an en- 
 tirely new delight in the beauties of nature. " It 
 is interesting," says the Rev. E. F. Russell, "to 
 note that at the last, when all spiritual responsibility 
 had been completely removed, the sense of natural 
 beauty welled up like a flood to fill the vacant 
 place, and he became keenly appreciative of scenery, 
 especially of the wilder Highland scenery." 
 
 This love of the Highlands gave a special zest 
 to his visits to the Bishop of Argyll, who was 
 the kindest and most considerate of hosts. " As 
 to the condition of his mind," the Bishop writes, 
 "during his abode with us, there were no fancies 
 or delusions such as come to most people. He 
 was only forgetful of names and words, and in- 
 capable of expressing himself clearly." To this 
 should be added a tendency to forget his where- 
 abouts, which caused him sometimes to alight at 
 a wrong station, or even to lose his way on the 
 Berkshire Downs, though he had been familiar 
 with them ever since his Ordination. It is per- 
 haps remarkable that his letters, written in these 
 years and reverently preserved, are not only 
 perfectly coherent, but vigorous and even beauti- 
 ful.i 
 
 As his infirmities increased, he withdrew more 
 ^ See p. 277 of his Memoir by E. A. T. 
 
NUNC DIMITTIS 215 
 
 and more from London, and made his home with 
 his brother at Wantage. Here he still continued 
 to serve the Church, according to his limited oppor- 
 tunities ; visiting the Aims-Houses, conversing with 
 the poor, distributing the Parish Magazines, and 
 the like; but he rarely preached after 1885, and, 
 though he occasionally heard a confession, he would 
 not trust himself to Celebrate except on very special 
 occasions. It was the supreme sacrifice of his life. 
 
 He left Wantage, for ever as it proved, on the 
 19th of October 1887, and, after paying visits to 
 some friends on the way, he reached Ballachulish 
 on the loth of December. 
 
 " The place lies in a curve of the Lochaber shore, 
 about ten miles from the head of Loch Leven. 
 Beyond it, stretching inland, is the desolate and 
 almost trackless forest of Mamore, separated by 
 the Kinloch Hills from the Pass of Glencoe." 
 
 The Bishop was obliged to leave home on the 
 day of Mackonochie's arrival, but Mrs. Chinnery- 
 Haldane welcomed the honoured guest, and found 
 him very cheerful in his quiet way, and ready to 
 talk with interest on all manner of topics, domestic 
 and foreign. He was a good deal confined to the 
 house by hard frost and heavy snow ; but he set 
 out on Wednesday, and came back two hours 
 late for luncheon, having apparently missed his 
 way. That evening he said Compline in the 
 Private Chapel, and this office proved to be his 
 last earthly ministration. Thursday the 15th of 
 December broke clear and fine, and he set out 
 for a long walk to the head of the lake. He took 
 some luncheon with him, and two of the Bishop's 
 dogs bore him company. He reached Kinloch 
 
2i6 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 before two o'clock, and was seen by a gamekeeper 
 eating his luncheon on the hill. From this point 
 all is conjecture ; but it seems probable that the 
 baffling loss of local memory came on ; that he 
 mistook his bearings, and pursued his way, ever 
 further and further from friendly Ballachulish, 
 towards the Mamore Forest. That afternoon the 
 Bishop returned. Darkness fell, and no Mackonochie. 
 Knowing his friend's infirmity, the Bishop was 
 seriously alarmed by this long absence, and organ- 
 ized search-parties. The search continued, all 
 through Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday. 
 On Saturday afternoon, the Bishop's dogs were 
 sighted ; and, when the searchers approached them, 
 they found him for whom they were searching, 
 dead, and half shrouded in the snow. 
 
 Rose-red o'er Ballachulish 
 
 The sunset dies away, 
 And glorious to the last expands 
 
 The short December day ; 
 The purple islands of the West 
 
 Stretch down the ocean-way ; 
 The great and lonely mountain-land 
 
 Looms inland ghostly-grey. 
 
 Oh, dark upon Loch Leven 
 
 Comes down the winter night ; 
 The desert spirits that love not man 
 
 The lonely hills affright ; 
 The blinding whirlwinds and the snow 
 
 Beat out all sound and sight ; 
 No moon is there, nor stars to give 
 
 The wanderer any light. 
 
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SLEEP 217 
 
 Oh, awful is the wilderness, 
 
 And pitiless the snow ; 
 But down in dim St. Alban's 
 
 The Seven Lamps burn aglow, 
 And softly in the Sanctuary 
 
 The Priest moves to and fro. 
 And with one heart the people pray ; 
 
 And this is home below. 
 
 And higher, in the House of God, 
 
 Seven Lamps before the Throne, 
 The golden vials of odours sweet. 
 
 The voice of praise alone ; 
 With the beloved, the redeemed. 
 
 Whose toil and tears are done, 
 And this is in the Father's Home 
 
 That waits for everyone. 
 
 O Priest, whom men unkindly judged 
 
 Too fixed on rule and rite, 
 In this thine hour no ritual comes 
 
 To help thee through the night ; 
 None but the Everlasting Arms 
 
 Support thee with their might. 
 None but the unseen Comforter 
 
 Upholds thy soul in flight. 
 
 Sleep on in Christ. " O Lamb of God ! " 
 
 Resounds the Passion-hymn ; 
 And Heaven is opened, and we join 
 
 The song of Seraphim : 
 One Presence fills, unites, transforms. 
 
 Beneath these arches dim, 
 And they who wake and they who sleep. 
 
 Together live in Him.^ 
 
 Late on Saturday night the 17th of December, 
 Mr. Suckling received at St. Alban's the following 
 
 ' H. E. Hamilton King. 
 
2i8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 telegram from the Bishop of Argyll: "Our dear 
 brother Mackonochie has been taken to his rest." 
 Next day came the details : " He lost his way 
 among the hills at night in a storm. I found him 
 after long search lying in a snow-drift with a 
 peaceful expression on his face." 
 
 Mr. Russell immediately left London for Balla- 
 chulish, where he arrived on Monday evening, the 
 19th of December, and returned with the body, 
 reaching London on Wednesday morning. The 
 sacred deposit was borne, through reverent crowds, 
 to the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, which the 
 departed priest had himself dedicated. There the 
 Holy Mysteries were celebrated, and there lay the 
 coffin, guarded by faithful watchers, till Thursday 
 evening, when it was placed in the church. On 
 Friday morning, after a solemn Dirge and Requiem, 
 it was conveyed to St. Alban's Burial-ground at 
 Woking, the procession to Waterloo Station being 
 received with striking manifestations of public as well 
 as personal respect. " I did not," said a local trades- 
 man, " agree with him ; but he was a holy man, 
 and did more for London than most of us ; so I 
 for one shall put my shutters up." At Woking, 
 the body was laid in a grave lined with ferns and 
 evergreens, near the foot of the great Crucifix which 
 guards the ground. Mr. Stanton said the last 
 prayers, and then the mourners sang the strangely- 
 appropriate hymn which prays the "Kindly Light" to 
 
 " Lead us on, 
 O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till 
 The night is gone." 
 
 A message of Benediction from the Bishop of 
 
TE DEUM 219 
 
 Argyll brought the service to a close, and Alexander 
 Heriot Mackonochie was left lying wrapt in the 
 Peace of God. 
 
 "Be it that the passage is rough and the day 
 stormy, by what way soever He please to bring me 
 to the end of it, I desire to finish life with this 
 temper of soul in all cases — Te Deum Laudamus. 
 
 >' 1 
 
 The following words are from the pen of Mr. 
 Stanton : 
 
 " It is ungracious, and beyond just surmise, to 
 say that the enfeeblement of his manly, strong, 
 loving life was the necessary result of the repeated 
 prosecutions which the Church Association thought 
 it their duty to maintain ; but there can be little 
 doubt that underneath the brave cheerfulness with 
 which he met all the reverses, and submitted to the 
 indignities consequent upon them, there lay a very 
 keen sensitiveness, and that the ' iron entered his 
 soul.' For, although never admitted by him, it was 
 observable, so that no one wondered at the storm- 
 beaten expression on his face and the broken 
 utterances of his lips, which marked the two de- 
 clining years of his life. 
 
 " The mystery of his stern, hard, self-devoted life 
 completed itself in the weird circumstances of his 
 death. He seems to have walked round and round 
 the hollow in which he had taken shelter from the 
 mountain storm, trying to keep life in him as long 
 as he could ; then, as if he knew his hour had 
 come, deliberately to have uncovered his head to 
 say his last prayers, and then to have laid his head 
 upon his hand and died, sheltered in ' the hollow of 
 ^ Daniel Defoe. 
 
220 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 the hand ' of God, Whom he served so faithfully ; 
 and at His bidding the wild wind from off the 
 moor wreathed his head with snow." 
 
 Thou who hast fallen upon the days 
 That see the ancient strife renewed, 
 
 Seek not the meed of present praise, 
 But, " as resisting unto blood," 
 
 In quiet confidence hold on, 
 
 Like him that layeth stone on stone — 
 
 In the undoubting faith, although 
 
 It be not granted him to see. 
 Yet, that the coming age shall know 
 
 He hath not wrought unmeaningly. 
 When gold and chrysoprase adorn 
 A city brighter than the morn. 
 
 G. J. Cornish. 
 
INTERIOR OF MACKONOCHIE CHAPEL 
 From photograph by R. HuTH 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 PEACE AND PROGRESS 
 
 " We went through fire and water, and Thou broughtest us out into a 
 wealthy place." — David. 
 
 This narrative has now reached the beginning of 
 the year 1888. On the 2ist of February in that 
 year, St. Alban's Church kept its twenty-fifth 
 birthday, and its friends could look back on a 
 quarter of a century marked, through the greatest 
 part of the time, by trials and troubles, fightings 
 and fears. But now the long-continued storm had 
 spent its force ; and they who had fought through 
 those dark and agitated years were permitted to 
 see the result of toil and sacrifice and suffering 
 long and patiently endured. 
 
 On the 14th of May 1888, the Bishop of the 
 Diocese again administered Confirmation in the 
 Church ; and during the Octave of St. Alban three 
 Bishops took part in the services. Regarded in con- 
 trast with the doings of 1868, 1875, ^^^ 1882, these 
 events, not in themselves remarkable, were welcome 
 signs of brighter weather, and Mr. Suckling and 
 his colleagues might well thank God and take 
 courage. 
 
 The year 1889 was marked by a death which 
 woke some deep and stirring memories. On the 
 1st of October Mr. Suckling wrote in the Parish 
 Magazine : " It pleased God to call to himself, on 
 
222 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 the 28 th of August, the soul of John Gellibrand 
 Hubbard, the first Lord Addington. To him our 
 parish owes a deep debt of gratitude. He it was 
 who built our church, and gave to St. Alban's, as 
 its first Vicar, Father Maclconochie. One of the 
 daily papers, speaking of this gift, calls it ' a strife 
 of tongues ' ; but we know that no Parish Church 
 in modern times has had such a history ; and, if 
 in the battle that was here fought there were 
 wounds, they in time (D.V.) will be healed and 
 forgotten. But I hope that we shall never forget 
 what we owe to Lord Addington, our Foundei-. . . . 
 Let us, as we think of him, say %eqmescat in Tace^ 
 
 Lord Addington was a man of peculiarly 
 English mould ; straightforward, persistent, and 
 transparently sincere. As a patriarchal head of a 
 family, a thorough man of business, a fine horseman 
 and sportsman, a munificent giver, and above all 
 a devoted son of the Church of England, he com- 
 bined the best features of the English character. 
 To these must be added an ingrained and con- 
 scientious Conservatism which profoundly mistrusted 
 changes in Church or State, and a masterful will 
 which did not readily tolerate opposition or dis- 
 agreement. But his name must always be held in 
 honour as that of the first layman who, in the 
 earlier days of the Catholic Revival, recognized 
 the duty of bringing the beauties of religious 
 architecture, good music, and expressive ritual, to 
 the very doors of the poor and degraded. 
 
 " He looked for the city which hath the founda- 
 tions, whose architect and maker is God." ^ 
 ^ Hebrews xi. 10 (R.V.). 
 
THE MACKONOCHIE CHAPEL 223 
 
 One of Lord Addington's last acts of kindness 
 towards St. Alban's was to approve the scheme 
 for a Memorial to Mackonochie, which had been 
 submitted to his judgment as Founder, as well 
 as to that of the Bishop and the Patrons. This 
 scheme involved the purchase and destruction of 
 a squalid and filthy row of cottages, backing on 
 the narrow pathway by which the south door of 
 St. Alban's Church was reached. A portion of 
 the cleared site was left open, to the great ad- 
 vantage of the neighbourhood, and planted with 
 planes ; and on the portion nearer the West End of 
 the church a Memorial Chapel was erected. On the 
 24th of June 1 8go, the Foundation-stone was laid by 
 that munificent and devoted churchman, Frederick, 
 6th Earl Beauchamp, and the Chapel was dedicated 
 by the Bishop of Argyll on the 15 th of December 
 1891. There is no need to describe the Chapel or 
 its contents, for it stands, and will stand long after 
 this generation has passed away, as a memorial of 
 one who was at least a Saint and a Confessor — if 
 indeed we might not claim for him a higher title. ^ 
 
 At the Public Luncheon on St. Alban's Day 
 1 891, allusion had been made to a project for 
 placing a Rood in the Chancel-Arch. This project 
 originated in a word let drop by Mr. Stanton in 
 preaching the Three Hours on the previous Good 
 Friday ; and, after some considerable diiFerence of 
 opinion, it was carried into effect, chiefly by the 
 generosity of Henry, 7th Duke of Newcastle. 
 
 At the Public Luncheon in the following year 
 
 ' The fund raised for the Mackonochie Memorial had, by July 
 1893, amounted to ^^6849, 13^. \od. A Memorial Cross was 
 erected in the Mamore Forest. See Illustration facing p. 216. 
 
224 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Lord Halifax presided, and made an efFective allu- 
 sion to past and present persecutions. " Every day 
 makes it more clear that the peace which we now 
 enjoy, and the peace which we trust to go on 
 enjoying, under God's mercy, is due, more than 
 anything else, to the courage, the determination, 
 the patience, and the steadfast attitude of clergy 
 like Mr. Mackonochie. Of course, it is true that 
 Mr. Mackonochie, unlike some whose names are 
 present to our minds, was not actually shut up 
 within prison-walls for the sake of the Faith ; but 
 he probably had to endure what is far worse, for 
 he — and I feel it is no exaggeration to say this — 
 had to endure something like a lifelong martyrdom 
 for the sake of the Cause." 
 
 The new Rood was dedicated on Shrove Tuesday, 
 February 14, 1893, and made the Crucifix, which 
 in distant days had so perturbed good Bishop 
 Jackson, seem indeed a small thing. On St. Alban's 
 Day 1894, the Vicar boldly demanded a sum of 
 ;^5000 for the enrichment and beautification of 
 the church. The original Altar had come to be 
 regarded as inadequate to the increasing splendour 
 of its surroundings, and a sumptuous structure 
 of marble and bronze (in which the old Altar 
 was encased), was dedicated on the 21st of 
 June 1895. A new organ, occupying the Choir- 
 aisles on both sides, was opened at the same 
 time. But still more magnificence was to come. 
 In 1896, the church was illuminated with electric 
 light, and a most gorgeous and elaborate Triptych, 
 representing the martyrdom of St. Alban, was 
 placed above the new Altar, and dedicated on 
 Easter Eve 1897. It had been remarked with 
 
TEMPLA QUAM DILECTA 225 
 
 interest that Bishop Temple (who was then near- 
 ing the close of his episcopate in London), 
 having personally inspected the new Altar with its 
 very conspicuous Tabernacle, the Rood, and the 
 Triptych, passed them without a hostile word, 
 and without putting the parish to the expense 
 of a Faculty. He was no lover of ecclesiastical 
 gauds, but he could appreciate devoted work for 
 God and souls. 
 
 On the nth of October 1896 Archbishop Benson 
 was suddenly called to rest. On the 22nd of 
 October the Prime Minister ^ requested Bishop 
 Temple to undertake the vacant Primacy. The 
 Bishop consented, and was enthroned at Canter- 
 bury on the 8th of January 1897. On the i8th of 
 January he bade farewell to the Diocese of London 
 at a great gathering of clergy and laity assembled 
 in the Guildhall. The Editor of the St. Alban's 
 Monthly Paper paid this striking tribute to the 
 new Archbishop : 
 
 " For eleven years he has presided over this great 
 diocese, the hardest worker of us all, scrupulously 
 just, and fearlessly outspoken. Of the three Bishops 
 who have ruled the diocese since the Consecration 
 of our church, no one has shown us so much con- 
 sideration as Bishop Temple. That he was not 
 in sympathy with many of our ideas and methods 
 did not prevent him, as it prevented other Bishops^ 
 from giving us what help he could." The new 
 Bishop of London was Mandell Creighton, translated 
 from Peterborough. 
 
 "Jhe year 1897 was much occupied by the ob- 
 > Lord Salisbury. 
 
 P 
 
226 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 servance of Queen Victoria's second Jubilee ; and, 
 as the 22nd of June was the day chosen for the 
 Queen's triumphal procession through London, that 
 very " Moveable Feast," St. Alban's Day, was trans- 
 ferred to the 24th of June, the Feast of the Nativity 
 of St. John Baptist. " Persons with a taste for 
 prophecy foretold the most lamentable things, and 
 pictured the Holborn Town Hall empty and the 
 tables bare. As a matter of fact, the numbers 
 showed no falling-ofF, and the food was as abundant 
 and varied and well-served as it has always been." 
 
 The year 1898 dawned on a church at peace. 
 Nothing seemed less probable than a recrudescence 
 of that ignorant and violent Puritanism which 
 prevailed in the years when the Public Worship 
 Regulation Act was in full swing. But the un- 
 expected happened. " Early in the year a Protestant 
 bookseller, who had long been endeavouring to 
 get himself taken seriously by the public, rented 
 an office in the parish of St. Ethelburga, Bishops- 
 gate, in order that he might be legally qualified 
 to communicate at the Parish-Altar, and to disturb 
 the united congregation which worshipped there." ^ 
 Firm and tactful treatment averted disturbance : 
 but the bookseller soon sought further notoriety 
 by violently interrupting the Service of the Venera- 
 tion of the Cross on Good Friday, at St. Cuthbert's 
 Church, Philbeach Gardens. The outrage at St. 
 Cuthbert's was followed by similar performances 
 — notably at St. Michael's, Shoreditch, and St. 
 Thomas's, Liverpool ; but decent Evangelicals soon 
 became disgusted with their self-chosen champion 
 ^nd his niethods. It was found impossible to main^ 
 '■ The Church Times, 
 
THE LAST ERASTIAN 227 
 
 tain the reign of terror. Churchmen, all over the 
 country, banded themselves together for the defence 
 of their religious liberty ; and the promising scheme 
 of a thousand riots in as many churches on the 
 first Sunday in November was abandoned as im- 
 practicable. 
 
 That stout champion of Erastianism and other 
 lost causes, Sir William Harcourt, renewed his 
 youth like an eagle, and flew into the fray. His 
 last achievement in this field had occurred dur- 
 ing the debates on the P. W. R. Bill in 1874, 
 when Gladstone inflicted on him a deserved and 
 memorable castigation.^ Since that unpleasant 
 but salutary evening, Sir William (who after 
 Gladstone's return to power in 1880 had become 
 an enthusiastic Gladstonian) had kept aloof from 
 religious controversy. But now Gladstone was in 
 his grave, and the attack on Ritualism might be 
 renewed with comparative safety. Accordingly, 
 Sir William broke loose in a series of speeches 
 filled with the coarsest abuse of the Ritualistic 
 Clergy, and enlivened the Parliamentary recess with 
 a series of furious letters to the Times. Encouraged 
 by this heroic example, smaller fry began to talk 
 airily of coercive legislation ; of the abolition of the 
 Bishop's Veto on ecclesiastical prosecutions ; of the 
 substitution of Deprivation for imprisonment ; and 
 of sundry other short and easy methods for de- 
 catholicizing the Church of England. The threats 
 of 1873 and 1874 were heard again; and we were 
 told once more that "the Mass" and "the Confes- 
 sional " must be put down by law. Beset by all 
 this clamour, the new Bishop of London took an 
 ambiguous and unsuccessful line. He was, as all the 
 ' See ante, p. 127. 
 
22 8 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 world knows, a very clever man ; he was also good- 
 natured and obliging ; and furthermore, he saw that 
 these disturbances threatened the security of the 
 Establishment. So he set himself to mediate be- 
 tween the warring factions ; and played off Pro- 
 testant against Catholic, Ritualist against Puritan. 
 To men fanatically in earnest about saving souls, he 
 made bad jokes about curing herrings. He gave a 
 point here, and withdrew a point there ; chaffed a 
 Ritualist, and snubbed an Evangelical ; and all the 
 while had his eye most manifestly fixed on the 
 Times, the House of Lords, and the Man in the 
 Street. Mr. Suckling, writing of him after his 
 death, said that he " spent hours of his precious 
 time in personal and individual interviews with his 
 Clergy. In this noble work his broad sympathies 
 and personal kindness touched us deeply, for, while 
 he tried to understand our position and gave us 
 credit for good motives, he patiently explained his 
 own position, and in a way that showed most 
 clearly that, with a wonderful liberality, he had his 
 own strong personal convictions." That is kindly 
 and well said, but it is difficult for the dispassionate 
 outsider to praise Creighton's dealings with the 
 "Crisis" of 1898-9. 
 
 On the 5th of November 1898, the Bishop wrote 
 as follows to the Vicar of St. Alban's : 
 
 My dear Mr. Suckling,— My attention has 
 been called to the report in the Church Times of 
 a service held in St. Alban's, Holborn, on November 
 2. According to that report, the Holy Communion 
 Service was begun with the Collect of the day ; 
 the Creed and the Gloria were omitted ; at the 
 
ALL SOULS 229 
 
 end of the service an " Office of the Absolution of 
 the Dead " was performed ; and, after that, a 
 sermon was preached, instead of in the place pre- 
 scribed by the rubric. 
 
 This is contrary to the instructions which I 
 issued to the Clergy of the Diocese. I there dis- 
 tinctly requested that "the Service for Holy Com- 
 munion should be said as it is appointed in the 
 Book of Common Prayer, without additions or 
 omissions." I also asked that all additional Services 
 should be submitted for my sanction. 
 
 I should be glad to receive from you some ex- 
 planation on these points. 
 
 I am, yours truly, 
 
 M. London. 
 
 Mr. Suckling replied on the 7th of November : 
 
 My dear Lord Bishop, — Our services on All 
 Souls' Day were exactly the same as they have 
 always been since I have been here. 
 
 Your Lordship will remember that I stated to 
 you in my letter of May 20 that I could not enter 
 into the consideration of any modification of these 
 services until the intimidation of mob law was at 
 an end ; and it is a matter of public notoriety that 
 we were threatened with disturbances on Sunday last. 
 
 I will forward to your Lordship, as you request 
 me to do so, a list of our additional Services as 
 soon as I can, as I gather from your Lordship's 
 request that in your opinion these outrages are at 
 an end. 
 
 I beg to be. 
 
 Yours sincerely and respectfully in Christ, 
 R. A. J. Suckling. 
 
230 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 The Bishop replied on the loth of November : 
 My DEAR Mr. Suckling, — I am not quite 
 certain about the meaning of your letter, and I 
 should like to make it clear. While sympathizing 
 with your unwillingness to seem to act under 
 threats of disturbance from outside, I think that 
 such threats are now abandoned. It is admitted 
 on all sides that questions in dispute must be settled 
 by orderly means. 
 
 May I take it that you accept this position, and 
 are now prepared to act upon my request in the 
 points to which I called your attention in my 
 previous letter ? 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 M. London. 
 
 Mr. Suckling's last letter was written on the 
 nth of November : 
 
 My dear Lord Bishop, — ^Your Lordship is 
 quite correct as to the meaning of my last letter, 
 and, as you assure me that this tyranny is overpast, 
 I am hoping to submit to your judgment all the 
 extra Services which we have in the church outside 
 those in the Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 I hope that this attitude is perfectly plain to 
 your Lordship, and to the public. 
 I beg to be. 
 
 Yours sincerely and respectfully in Christ, 
 R. A. J. Suckling. 
 
 The whole correspondence appeared in the Times 
 of November 14. In the Monthly Paper for 
 December 1898, Mr. Suckling touched on "a 
 matter which is of interest to you all, and, I fear. 
 
CANONICAL OBEDIENCE 231 
 
 a cause of anxiety to many." He would not at 
 present enter into details, but he wrote as follows : 
 
 " First — I hope it is a mere truism to state that 
 I am prepared to give Canonical obedience to my 
 Bishop. The Bishop is a constitutional officer of 
 the Church ; and, while he cannot ask obedience 
 to his own private views, he can ask obedience to 
 the laws of the Church, and, when those laws are 
 indisputable, the request from a Bishop that they 
 should be carried out, is a ' godly admonition,' 
 and the Priest, by trying to carry out such an 
 order, is endeavouring to render to his Bishop 
 ' Canonical obedience.' 
 
 "Secondly — I should like to answer a question 
 that is being asked both publicly and privately, by 
 saying that no alteration in our services will be 
 made while the matter is under consideration." 
 
 On Sunday morning, the i8th of December, the 
 following Letter was distributed to the congregation 
 as they left the church : 
 
 My dear Parishioners and Friends, — The 
 Bishop of London has sent for and revised all the 
 additional services that we have been accustomed 
 to use in this church, some of them for many 
 years. 
 
 He has made many emendations in some, and 
 some he has refused to sanction altogether. 
 
 Of course, as Ordinary, it is entirely within his 
 rights to make these changes ; and, whatever it 
 may cost us, it is entirely within our duty loyally 
 to obey. 
 
 "What we shall feel most is the exception his 
 Lordship takes to our Requiem services, which, as 
 
232 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 you know, are exceedingly dear to us all ; to touch 
 them is to touch us at a very sensitive point, viz. 
 our love for the dead. In the Mass we are to be 
 content with a collect from " The Order for the 
 Burial of the Dead," and in the place of the ordi- 
 nary prayer he allows us to use the following : 
 " May the Lord of His Mercy grant unto us, with 
 all the faithful, rest and peace. Amen." Practi- 
 cally this is all we shall be able to do, and I can 
 only suggest that you fill up with your private 
 devotions what you feel is lacking. 
 
 'The Sunday Services 
 
 In these you will miss the Asperger, a simple 
 and beautiful and evangelical introductory ceremony, 
 which we had all unfortunately learnt to love. He 
 wishes the singing of the Gradual to be discon- 
 tinued, but otherwise the Morning Service will 
 remain as it was before. Evensong is not to be 
 enriched by Antiphons ; and the Stations of the 
 Cross, if used, must be so without the legend of 
 St. Veronica. 
 
 The Weekday Services 
 
 The Bishop cannot permit us to have the proper 
 services for the Black-letter Saints' Days. If any 
 special occasion arises we must apply to him for a 
 special permit. He wishes the Creed and Gloria 
 said at all Masses, and the Commandments at every 
 Sunday Mass. This will oblige us, with this 
 exception, to repeat the Sunday service throughout 
 the whole week. We must, therefore, wait, with 
 Bishop Wilson, " until it shall please God to put 
 
CHANGES 233 
 
 into the hearts of such as ought to do it, to restore 
 us a service more conformable to the appointment 
 of Christ and His Apostles." 
 
 We do not wish to disguise from you that we 
 feel that this is a great blow to our services, which 
 we, the clergy and the congregation, must bear as 
 we can between us. But so many churches are 
 now suffering, that perhaps it is right that St. 
 Alban's should take its share of the trouble which 
 is felt by all who love the Catholic Faith and 
 Catholic practice. 
 
 The specified changes will begin with the New Year. 
 We beg to be, yours affectionately in Christ, 
 
 R. A. J. Suckling. 
 
 A. H. Stanton. 
 
 E. F. Russell. 
 
 G. R. Hogg. 
 
 E. A. Harris. 
 
 St. Alban's Clergy House, 
 
 Brooke Street, Holborn, E.C. 
 December ijth, 1898. 
 
 This letter was published in the Times of December 
 19th, and Mr. Suckling received the following letter 
 from his former Principal, Bishop King : " I have 
 read your letter in the Times to-day, and I cannot 
 go to bed without saying how thankful I am 
 to you all for it. I know it must have cost you 
 much, but I believe this will be a crown and glory 
 to the noble work of self-devotion which you have 
 carried on for the last thirty years. You know I 
 have not always been able to agree with all you 
 have done and taught at St. Alban's, but I have 
 always admired, and thanked God for, the example 
 of your loving devotion to the souls of the poor 
 
234 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 and sinful, and now I thank God again for this 
 example of Obedience." 
 
 In January 1899, Mr. Suckling thus addressed 
 his congregation : " I think you will all know that 
 the changes which we have made, have been done 
 under a sense of duty. It is not that we were 
 unmindful of the distress that they must cause to 
 many. On the contrary, we know full well that 
 the traditions of St. Alban's are very dear to our 
 large and united congregation, and also to a large 
 number of Church people ; but, speaking for myself 
 — though I think I may venture also to speak in 
 the name of all our Clergy, when I say that — 
 nothing could have induced me to be the means of 
 causing so much pain to such a large number of 
 devout English Catholics, save my solemn duty 
 of rendering Canonical obedience to my Bishop." 
 
 In February Mr. Suckling returned to the subject. 
 
 " I know this ' Crisis ' is a great strain on many 
 priests and on many of the faithful laity, but at 
 St. Alban's we ought to be both calm and brave, 
 for (D.G.) the Clergy, Churchwardens, Sidesmen, 
 and people are united,^ and to some extent hardened 
 — I hope not in the wrong sense of the word — for 
 two of our deeply respected Priests have been 
 through fifteen years of persecution. . . . 
 
 " I was told that in a time of public panic Father 
 Mackonochie was reminded of all such circumstances 
 that seemed so against him and all that he held 
 dear, and was then asked how it was that he did 
 not even appear to be worried ? His simple answer 
 was : / believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of 
 Heaven and Earth. May this precious spirit of trust, 
 through your continued prayers, be ours to-day." 
 
FIRE 235 
 
 In the midst of these ecclesiastical worries, St. 
 Alban's Church was threatened by a more material 
 peril. In the early morning of the 9th of March 
 1899, the inmates of the Clergy House were woke 
 by a violent noise of rattling gates, pealing bells, 
 and shouts of" Fire ! " In ten minutes, all the Clergy 
 were in the church, and the men of the Fire 
 Brigade were pouring in from all parts of London. 
 A fire had broken out in a closely-adjacent factory ; 
 the flames spread rapidly, and by 5.30 a.m. it 
 seemed as though the Church, the Schools, the 
 Hall, and the Clergy House must perish. The 
 factory was burnt to the ground, but the church, 
 though damaged by smoke and water, was saved. 
 On Mid Lent Sunday, the 1 2th of March, a solemn 
 Te Deum was sung after High Mass, as an act 
 of thanksgiving for this signal deliverance, and 
 the alms were given to the Widows' and Orphans' 
 Fund of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. 
 
 Easter was celebrated with its accustomed joy and 
 pomp ; but trouble was again nigh at hand. 
 
 A curious transformation had occurred in the 
 high places of the Church. Archbishop Temple, 
 who when Bishop of London had let the Ritualists 
 alone, and even defended them against their enemies, 
 was suddenly seized by a desire to sit in judgment 
 on them. He announced that, acting on the 
 direction given in the Preface to the Prayer Book, 
 he would be prepared to hear cases where doubts 
 had arisen about the proper mode of conducting 
 Divine Service, and would judge such cases with 
 an open mind. Hereupon, the Rev. Henry 
 Westall, Vicar of St. Cuthbert's, South Kensington, 
 
236 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 and the Rev. Edward Ram, Vicar of St. John's, 
 Norwich, were compelled or persuaded by their 
 diocesans to submit themselves to this extemporized 
 and anomalous jurisdiction. The Archbishop of 
 Canterbury summoned to his aid the Archbishop 
 of York, who had no more right to sit in judgment 
 at Lambeth than at Rome or at Antioch ; and on the 
 loth of May 1899, the two Primates opened their 
 mock Court ; which indeed more closely resembled 
 a Debating Society than a spiritual tribunal. The 
 questions argued before them were whether (i) 
 Incense and (2) Portable Lights might be used in 
 public worship. 
 
 On the 31st of July, the Archbishops gave their 
 joint decision. Archbishop Temple wrote it, and 
 Archbishop Maclagan concurred. It condemned 
 alike the Incense and the Portable Lights. As it 
 was unfolded, the hearers learned, with varying 
 emotions, that the Archbishop had overridden all 
 considerations of Catholic usage, ecclesiastical pro- 
 priety, and the practice of the English Church 
 before or after the Reformation, and had based their 
 decision simply on the Act of Uniformity. Mr. 
 Westall and Mr. Ram had been trapped. They 
 had expected spiritual judgment : they got carnal, 
 and even musty, law. 
 
 The Archbishops seemed to expect that their 
 " Opinion," as Temple subsequently called it, would 
 be universally obeyed ; but they were soon un- 
 deceived. Bishop Creighton, through letters to 
 his Rural Deans, exhorted the Clergy of his Diocese 
 to obey. Some of the weaker brethren immedi- 
 ately surrendered ; some sturdier spirits stood firm ; 
 and others rendered various degrees of compliance. 
 
RESERVATION 237 
 
 The clergy of St. Alban's took a line of their own. 
 The Vow of Canonical Obedience had weight ; and 
 the Vicar issued the following Notice to the Con- 
 gregation on the 14th of September 1899 : 
 
 "Until further Notice, Sung Mass will be 
 substituted at 11 for ' Solemn ' High Mass, and 
 ' Solemn ' Evensong will be discontinued." 
 
 After all said and done, Incense and Portable 
 Lights, though decorative adjuncts of worship, were 
 not religious necessities ; but Archbishop Temple 
 now proceeded to a matter of vastly deeper im- 
 portance. Dismissing his brother-Primate, he took 
 upon himself to adjudicate on the Reservation of the 
 Blessed Sacrament ; he listened, as before, to various 
 arguments, and then, on the ist of May 1900, he 
 condemned Reservation in any shape, adding some 
 remarks on Eucharistic doctrine which could scarcely 
 be reconciled with Catholic theology. 
 
 At this point, even the patience of the St. Alban's 
 clergy seems to have felt some strain, for in his 
 Annual Address on St. Alban's Day 1900, the long- 
 suffering Vicar wrote as follows : 
 
 "On the 31st of July last year, the first of these 
 Opinions was delivered at Lambeth Palace. It in 
 no way concerned us until the Bishop of London 
 thought fit to take action. We rather hoped that 
 he would have followed the example of Bishop 
 Temple when Bishop of London, who, when the 
 ' Lincoln Judgment ' was given, issued no order 
 to his diocese. But such was not to be. We had 
 done our best to meet the request of our Bishop, 
 and had signed a letter, which appeared in the 
 'Times of December 19, 1898, giving him our 
 promise so to do. But the second request, that 
 
238 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 we should give up the Ceremonial use of Incense 
 and Portable Lights, we felt a greater difficulty. 
 . . . Our deep sympathy was and is with the com- 
 plete resistance made by the Vicar of St. Peter's, 
 London Docks, backed up by the assistant clergy 
 and congregation, and other congregations ; but 
 especially with our own devoted people we felt, and 
 we now feel, how utterly unsuited such a service ^ 
 is for such a Church as our own. But we had con- 
 siderations to take into account, which made our 
 present line of action necessary. I am quite unable 
 to express my thanks to our people for their loyalty 
 and for their wonderful patience. It is no small 
 satisfaction to me — and I think to others — to know 
 that our Clergy are all of one mind as to the line 
 we took then. 
 
 " If we had a great difficulty with regard to the 
 'Opinion' from Lambeth given on the 31st of 
 July last, what must be thought of that delivered 
 on ' Reservation ' on the Feast of SS. Philip and 
 James ? There can be no one who believes in the 
 old traditional Faith, who has not been both 
 wounded and distressed by it. It came from one 
 whom many had learnt to love and respect. But, 
 though it may be a real trial to us, we must take 
 care not to exaggerate the perplexity of our position. 
 When we believe the teaching of a Bishop to be 
 in opposition to that of the Catholic Church, we 
 should grieve over and deplore such a sad state of 
 things ; we should hate to be in opposition to our 
 Bishop, but we should be in no perplexity as to 
 how we ought to act. We learnt our faith from 
 the Church, and every Bishop, however exalted in 
 1 " Sung Mass," as distinct from " Solemn High Mass." 
 
RESTORATION 239 
 
 position, is as much a servant of the Church as 
 the youngest Deacon ordained on Trinity Sunday 
 last. And, if we are asked which we put first, 
 our Bishop or the Church, we answer with Dr. 
 Pusey rather than with Dr. Newman, that we 
 put the Church before the Bishop; for then to 
 disobey our Bishop would be our duty, lest ' obe- 
 dience to the lesser should be disobedience to the 
 greater. 
 
 On the 14th of January 1901, Bishop Creighton 
 died, worn out, as his friends said, by diocesan 
 worries. He was succeeded by Dr. Winnington- 
 Ingram, theretofore Bishop of Stepney ; and the 
 ecclesiastical tension of the last two years was 
 gradually but sensibly relieved. The " Sung Mass," 
 or Missa Cantata, which had been established in 
 September 1899, continued to be the principal 
 service on ordinary Sundays ; but on great Festivals 
 High Mass was celebrated with all its ceremonial 
 adjuncts. By Confirming in the church on the 
 14th of May, the new Bishop of Stepney ^ was under- 
 stood to signify the sanction of the Bishop of 
 London to this arrangement. In the process of 
 time, and " by steps unknown," High Mass resumed 
 its old position as the regular service at 1 1 o'clock 
 on Sundays and Holydays. 
 
 The local annals of the next few years yield no 
 material for the historian of St. Alban's Church, 
 but the fact that Mr. Charles Booth's judgment 
 on the state of the parish (contained in his Ltfe and 
 
 "• N.B. — The Blessed Sacrament, which used to be reserved in 
 the Sisters' Chapel, is now reserved in the Mackonochie Memorial 
 phapel, with the sanction of the Bishop of London (19 J2). 
 
 ? C. G. Lang, afterwards Archbishop^of York. 
 
240 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Labour of the People in London) was published in 
 1902, justifies its insertion in this place. 
 
 " The congregation comes from far and wide. 
 In the hold which the Clergy obtain on the neigh- 
 bouring poor, they owe much to the work of the 
 Clewer Sisters^ — work which, although devoted, 
 seems to be based to some extent on gifts. The 
 character of the people reached, and, perhaps, to 
 some extent, the character of the work itself, 
 appears to be reflected in the complaint that the 
 power of the Church does not make itself felt 
 among the inhabitants of the Block-buildings, who 
 are described as being ' too respectable ' to be 
 amenable to the influences brought to bear upon 
 them. 
 
 "But failure on these lines, and hollow advantages 
 obtained (which are only another form of failure) 
 are accompanied by an extraordinary success in 
 personal relations between the Clergy and many 
 individuals amongst those who form the congrega- 
 tion, and v/ith the men and lads who join the Clubs. 
 
 " The Clergy, two of whom have worked here for 
 more than thirty years, are a veritable brotherhood. 
 Nowhere is the spirit that actuates the High Church 
 Movement better represented — a spirit of devoted, 
 impassioned work, based on strong convictions of 
 definite doctrine, and carried on without pause 
 or faltering ; sustained, they would unhesitatingly 
 claim, by inspiration from above. . . . The work 
 of this Church is very much bound up with its 
 services, and its main care is the religious life thus 
 reflected. Its local influence rests mostly upon 
 the eff^ect that must gradually be produced by the 
 devoted lives of the Clergy." 
 
SILVER WEDDINGS 241 
 
 When Mr. Booth spoke thus warmly of the 
 " personal relations between the Clergy, and many 
 individuals amongst those who form the congrega- 
 tion," he rather understated than overstated the 
 truth. From the beginning of the work even to 
 the present day, it has been marked by a deep 
 affection between the clergy and the people of 
 St. Alban's, even including those who are not 
 habitual Church-goers ; and this affection has mani- 
 fested itself in the most practical forms. The 
 Church is indeed endowed, but ;£i50 per annum 
 is such an endowment as to afford plenty of scope 
 for the liberality of the congregation ; and this 
 has been most bounteously exercised. Over and 
 above the regular collections in church, and liberal 
 Easter Offerings to the Vicar and clergy, the con- 
 gregation has shown a laudable desire to improve 
 every possible occasion by a timely gift. When a 
 clergyman has been ill, or has wanted a special 
 holiday, or has been put to unusual expense, or has 
 left the parish for work elsewhere, or has presided 
 for ten years over some parochial organization, the 
 congregation has marked the event by some appro- 
 priate present. The fact that the Vicar and three of 
 his colleagues have all kept their " Silver Weddings " 
 with the Parish, has given abundant opportunity for 
 graceful recognitions. In Mr. Suckling's case the 
 recognition has taken a permanent form, for the 
 money subscribed in honour of the twenty-fifth year 
 of his incumbency he bestowed on the beautiful 
 Font-Cover, which now testifies to the eye (what is 
 too often forgotten) that Holy Baptism is one of 
 the Two Great Sacraments of the Lord's ordaining.^ 
 
 1 This Font-Cover was blessed by the Bishop of Stepney (H L, 
 Paget) on the 27th of June. 1909. 
 
242 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 The mention of these pleasing courtesies between 
 people and priest justifies the insertion in this 
 place of a detailed narrative concerning an event 
 which stands out, conspicuously and significantly, 
 in the later history of St. Alban's. It is given 
 in the ensuing chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 PERSONALITY 
 
 "Fort comme le diamant; plus tendre q'une mke." — H. D. Lacoedaire. 
 
 The Puritanical outbreak of 1898, fomented by 
 episcopal cowardice and political wire-pulling, 
 spread from London to the provinces ; from the 
 churches to the streets ; and from the streets to 
 the House of Commons. If the English mind 
 had not long been inured to anomalies in the re- 
 lations of Church and State, it must have realized 
 the grotesqueness of the situation. A Parliament, 
 rightly comprising men of all religions and none, 
 was invited to consider the niceties of Sacramental 
 worship, while the old hacks of the Treasury 
 Bench laid down the law about Children's Euchar- 
 ists and the Ministry of Penance. " To see men 
 whose real self belonged to a kind of negative Hel- 
 lenism — a state of moral indifFerency without intel- 
 lectual ardour — was," as Matthew Arnold once said, 
 " even painful." 
 
 At the General Election of 1900, religious con- 
 troversy, though overshadowed by the South African 
 War, yet played a considerable part ; and a Con- 
 servative M.P. thought it expedient to retire from 
 the English Church Union lest his churchmanship 
 should cost him his seat. In the new Parliament, 
 the attack on the Ritualists was renewed; and in 
 
 1904 the Conservative Government, hard-pressed 
 
 243 
 
244 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 by their Puritan supporters, fell back on the vener- 
 able device of postponing action by issuing a Royal 
 Commission on Ritualism. This Commission was 
 directed " to enquire into the alleged prevalence 
 of breaches or neglect of the Law relating to the 
 conduct of Divine Service in the Church of England, 
 and to the ornaments and fittings of churches ; and 
 to consider the existing powers and procedure 
 applicable to such irregularities, and to make such 
 recommendations as may be deemed requisite for 
 dealing with the aforesaid matters." This Com- 
 mission sat for two years, and reported on the 
 2 1 St of June 1906. The only point in the Report 
 with which this book has any concern is to be 
 found under the head of "Manuals." By a con- 
 siderable stretch of their terms of reference, the 
 Commissioners made it their business to examine and 
 report upon several books of private devotion which 
 had been brought under their notice by Puritan agi- 
 tators. Among these books they assigned the most 
 conspicuous place to " Catholic Prayers for Church of 
 England People, 6th edition (21st thousand), 1904." 
 " The preface," they said, " is signed ' A. H. S.' ; 
 and the book is advertised by the publishers as 
 to be by the Rev. A. H. Stanton, Curate of St. 
 Alban's, Holborn." They then gave a detailed 
 analysis of its contents, and, in the chapter of their 
 Report dealing with " Causes of the failure to check 
 irregularities," they inserted this significant para- 
 graph : " The control of a Bishop over the curates 
 of his diocese is, we need not say, very much 
 greater than in the case of Incumbents, and is no 
 doubt exercised to a greater extent than the public 
 realize. Some instances of the exercise of this 
 
"CATHOLIC PRAYERS" 245 
 
 control occur in the evidence. On the other hand, 
 we have difficulty in understanding how, for ex- 
 ample, the author of Catholic Prayers for Church of 
 England People — described by the present Bishop 
 of London ^ as ' a thoroughly disloyal work ' — 
 has been allowed to hold a licence in the Diocese 
 of London under successive Bishops, without being 
 required to withdraw the book from circulation." 
 
 What the Royal Commissioners found it difficult 
 to understand may be made intelligible by the 
 record of what took place in Holborn Town Hall 
 on the 26th of June 1907. For several years, 
 Mr. Stanton had been in the habit of conducting 
 special services in St. Alban's Church on Monday 
 evenings in Advent, Lent, and August. Among the 
 men who frequented those services there had been 
 growing up a desire to testify in some unmistakable 
 fashion their gratitude for spiritual benefits received; 
 and the slur publicly cast on Mr. Stanton by the 
 Report of the Royal Commission helped to convert 
 what had been a vague desire into a definite resolve; 
 but those who first suggested that an Address of 
 appreciation and gratitude should be presented to 
 Mr. Stanton had no idea that so small a fire would 
 kindle so great a matter. The subject was broached 
 after one of the Monday Evening Services in Advent 
 1906, and no more was contemplated at that time 
 than that the men who had found these Services 
 helpful and inspiring should make an opportunity 
 of saying so, and of thanking God for it, and of 
 thanking the man through whom God gave His 
 gifts. The following Address was prepared and 
 adopted at that time and for that purpose : 
 
 ^ A. F. Winnington-Ingram. 
 
246 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 "Dear Father Stanton. — The signatures which 
 follow this are the names of some only of a large 
 body of men who count themselves deeply indebted 
 to you for your teaching and influence at St. 
 Alban's, Holborn, in particular, but also in many 
 other churches. 
 
 "For some time there has been an impression 
 amongst us that you could only imperfectly know 
 how singularly helpful these services have been 
 to us. Year after year we have listened to and 
 profited by your words, and our appreciation and 
 gratitude for them has grown until we can no 
 longer keep silence, but, simply, for our own relief, 
 must tell you, in the simplest and most direct way 
 we can, just what we feel. Your labour of love 
 on our behalf has not been a wasted labour ; it 
 has done great good to many people, in particular 
 to many men, who thank God for having given 
 them the opportunity of knowing you. It has 
 been not only the charm of your speech which has 
 drawn us to you, but, what is of course of far 
 higher value — the depth and reality of your religious 
 teaching, your devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and your conspicuous ability to enter with sym- 
 pathy into our thoughts and needs, and into all 
 that which at this time makes faith and life difficult 
 for men. 
 
 " We do not forget that there are women, in 
 numbers not less than our own, who share our 
 gratitude to you, and who would like, if oppor- 
 tunity were given, to express that gratitude, but 
 it seems to us that your message has been pre- 
 eminently a message to men, and has proved itself 
 pre-eminently serviceable to men. For this reason 
 
CARDIPHONIA 247 
 
 we have kept this expression of appreciation and 
 thanks to the men only who have profited by 
 your ministry. 
 
 " Accept, dear Father Stanton, the heartfelt grati- 
 tude and prayers of us all, of those of us whom 
 you know personally, and of many more whom 
 you can never know ; and believe us to remain, 
 
 " Your greatly obliged and affectionate friends." 
 
 It should be remembered that the Address was 
 drawn up for a much simpler purpose than that 
 which it ultimately served. It was for the " Monday 
 Evening men," and the first two or three hundred 
 signatures were exclusively theirs. In time, however, 
 the rumour of the proposal spread, and other men 
 who were not within reach of St. Alban's, Holborn, 
 but who counted themselves deeply indebted to 
 Father Stanton, asked to be allowed to join with 
 the promoters in an expression of love and gratitude. 
 This was felt to be only reasonable. 
 
 The difficulty now was how to make the Address 
 known to this wider, almost world-wide, circle of 
 men, and this difficulty was in the event only partly 
 overcome. For, large as were the number of signa- 
 tures (over 3600), there were still many, not only 
 in England but beyond, and especially in America, 
 who would, assuredly, have wished to sign, but who 
 did not even know of the existence of the Address. 
 A dropping fire of signatures followed the announce- 
 ment that the list was closed. 
 
 Quite early in the course of proceedings it was 
 debated whether or no some gifts of a suitable 
 sort should go with the Address, but after some 
 discussion it was agreed that, in the first instance. 
 
248 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 no appeal for contributions should accompany the 
 invitation to sign. Mr. Stanton had many friends 
 among those to whom even pence are a serious 
 consideration, and it was felt that he would de- 
 precate any appeal, direct or indirect, to such as 
 these. When, however, the signatures had in great 
 part come in, the promoters of the scheme felt 
 that they were at liberty to invite any who were 
 disposed, and able, to send a donation, small or 
 great, not with the aim of securing a large sum, 
 but simply of raising enough to cover the cost 
 of one or two things which Mr. Stanton might like 
 to have for use and for remembrance. The money 
 came in almost at once, and with it the various 
 objects were purchased which were presented at 
 the meeting. 
 
 THE PRESENTATION 
 
 The day announced for the Presentation was 
 June 26th, 1907, at 8 p.m., the Chairman, Mr. 
 George W. E. Russell, and the place of meeting, the 
 Holborn Town Hall. Long before the advertised 
 hour a queue of men stretched from the door, 
 along Gray's Inn Road, waiting patiently, and at 
 the opening of the doors poured into the Hall, and 
 soon filled every one of the 650 chairs, leaving 
 about a hundred to stand at the end or the sides. 
 
 The platform was decorated with festoons of 
 evergreens and roses ; baskets of flowers hung 
 between each festoon, which were tied up with 
 knots of ribbon, blue and gold, the colours of 
 the shield of St. Alban's Abbey. Tall palms and 
 sprays of foxglove and blue larkspur closed in the 
 
"A FRIEND TO TRUTH" 249 
 
 ends, and a line of roses and Canterbury Bells ran 
 round the edge. Above the wreaths and their white 
 background was the following inscription, on white 
 calico, framed with leaves and flowers : 
 
 " . . .A friend to truth ! of soul sincere, 
 In action faithful, and in honour clear ; 
 Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end, 
 Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend." 
 
 The words are taken from Pope's eulogy of his 
 friend Addison.^ 
 
 The order and comfort of the meeting were 
 entrusted to fourteen Stewards, recognizable by their 
 blue-and-gold rosettes, and each of the Stewards 
 represented some association with Father Stanton. 
 Gloucestershire was represented by Mr. R. B. Abell ; 
 Rugby by Mr. J. L. Pirie (who shared his study 
 at the School, unfortunately absent) ; Oxford by 
 Mr. Philip Sidney; Cuddesdon by Mr. Hugh 
 Embling ; the Brothers of Jesus of Nazareth, by 
 Bro. Denne ; St. Martin's Postmen's League by 
 Mr. Walter Schroder, and the following Postmen — 
 Mr. Peach, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Browning, and Mr. 
 Grace ; the Nonconformists by Mr. Finbow ; the 
 Churchwardens by Mr. F. Gill and Mr. H. 
 Longden; and the Sidesmen by Mr. Alison, Mr. 
 Wrentmore, and Mr. Williams. 
 
 Within a few minutes after the opening of the 
 doors, the Orchestra, under the direction of Mr. 
 T. Adams (the Organist of St. Alban's), began to 
 play, and played until the meeting began. Between 
 the pieces the whole audience, led by the men of 
 
 ^ The singular appositeness of this quotation was remarked by 
 everybody. It was suggested by one of the Churchwardens, Mr. 
 F. E. Sidney. 
 
2 50 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 St. Alban's Choir, sang hymns, with the band 
 accompanying. The time passed rapidly, and, 
 punctually to the moment, the Chairman with 
 Father Stanton came upon the platform, followed 
 by the Mayor of Holborn and the speakers. At 
 the appearance of Father Stanton the whole audience 
 rose, and waving their programmes, cheered him 
 again and again with great enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. George W. E. Russell, on taking the Chair, 
 said : " Men and brethren, this is essentially a 
 religious gathering — an assemblage of Catholic 
 Churchmen — and I should like to begin the pro- 
 ceedings by asking you to recite the Nicene Creed." 
 
 The Nicene Creed was then said, and the hymn, 
 " Faith of our Fathers," was sung. 
 
 The Chairman then announced that many letters 
 had been received expressing the writers' regret at 
 inability to attend. Among others was one from 
 Father Hogg, who was undergoing treatment at a 
 Nursing-Home ; another from the Rev. C. Silvester 
 Home — (applause) — who wrote with all imaginable 
 goodwill, adding, "I signed the Address to Father 
 Stanton with the greatest pleasure, in token of my 
 appreciation of his social work." Lord Halifax — 
 (applause) — wrote to say how deeply he regretted 
 not being able " to give my personal expression of 
 my deep sense of gratitude for all that the Church 
 of England and we all owe to our very dear 
 friend." Mr. F. A. Rogers, an old Council-man 
 of St. Martin's League, wrote to testify to his 
 affectionate regard for " the dear old Dad." 
 Another came from " a sporting and agricultural 
 gentleman in Derbyshire," who had not forgotten 
 the Mission preached by Father Stanton more than 
 
VICAR AND CURATES 251 
 
 thirty years ago ; and another was dated from 
 Johannesburg. 
 
 The Chairman. — "I will now ask Father Suckling 
 to make a few introductory observations." 
 
 Father Suckling. — "Mr. George Russell, Ladies 
 and Gentlemen, I am placed here no doubt because 
 this happens to be within the Parish of St. Alban 
 the Martyr, Holborn. I feel somewhat ashamed 
 really to be here, because anybody who knows of 
 this grand meeting would know that I have done 
 very little, compared with — may I say (he would 
 not like me to mention his name, but I will 
 mention it) Father Russell ? (Applause.) There- 
 fore, by way of preface, as I am put down to say 
 something by way of preface, I will say this : Our 
 Address is of course not only from this parish, 
 but it is from a large number of parishes, not only 
 in London, but up and down the country, which 
 have been indebted to Father Stanton for his broad- 
 cast sowing of the seed of the Gospel ; and we are 
 gathered together here, representatives of those 
 parishes no doubt, for that very purpose, in token 
 of our common affection and gratitude. (Applause.) 
 If that is the case, and this large assembly represents 
 some of the parishes which owe a vast debt of 
 gratitude to him, I may venture to say that I 
 think that chief amongst those parishes should be 
 the Parish of St. Alban the Martyr, Holborn. 
 (Applause.) I will tell you why. First, because, 
 if Father Stanton has done anything, the chief 
 work that he has done has been in this parish. 
 Secondly, I am quite sure that where Father 
 Stanton's name is known, throughout England and 
 throughout the world, it is always coupled with 
 
252 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 the name of St. Alban the Martyr, Holborn. And 
 then, if anybody ought to know anything about 
 him, I suppose I must be one of those who would 
 be bound to know a great deal about him. I have 
 known him — I have been trying to think back, and 
 I fancy the first time I met him was in i860. 
 That is a long time. But there are three things 
 which, according to an American writer, would 
 really make the knowledge of a person worth having. 
 They are these. First, says this American writer, 
 ' Have you travelled with that individual ? ' — I 
 have. (Laughter.) Second, ' Have you lived with 
 him ? ' And I answer — I have. (Applause.) The 
 third, says this writer, is the most important, because 
 it is very often a test by which many persons fall, 
 and that is : ' Have you had any money transactions 
 with him?' (Great laughter.) And to this also 
 I answer — I have. Now, having been in those 
 three positions, I want to bear my unhesitating 
 testimony, and say how fully in accord I am with 
 this splendid meeting in trying to do the utmost 
 honour to him — we cannot do too much. I had 
 rather be in my own shoes, though, than his to- 
 night. (Laughter.) But I will just conclude by 
 saying how heartily, as Vicar of this parish, I am 
 in sympathy with all that is being done and said 
 to-night." (Applause.) 
 
 ne Chairman. — " I hold in my hands the Address 
 which we are assembled here to present. I need 
 not read it to you, because you have all signed it, 
 and you are familiar with the terms of it. I will 
 not read it to Father Stanton, because I know he 
 would shrink from hearing in public the just 
 language of eulogy which it contains. I therefore 
 
THE PRAISE OF CiESAR 253 
 
 only place it in his hands, asking him to accept it 
 with our love — (loud cheering) — and with it the 
 Despatch-Box which contains the actual signatures." 
 
 A great storm of cheering having subsided, Mr. 
 Russell proceeded : " Of the other gifts which we 
 shall offer later, I will speak at the conclusion of 
 my address. Men and brethren, I thank you with 
 all my heart for the kindness which you have done 
 me in allowing me to be to-night the medium 
 through which the assurance of your love and 
 loyalty and gratitude goes out to Father Stanton. 
 (Applause.) I said just now that I would not 
 read the terms of the Address, because I thought 
 that perhaps Father Stanton would shrink from 
 hearing so much eulogy in public. Now I am 
 going to violate the very rule which I seemed to 
 lay down. It is a commonplace of gatherings of 
 this kind for him who makes the presentation to 
 say, in words or in effect, ' I will not say before 
 our friend's face what I should say behind his back.' 
 (Laughter.) But no such subterfuge will avail to- 
 night. I am here to say something, though it be 
 barely a tenth part, of what is in the hearts of all 
 of us. There is one Shakespearean tag, almost 
 better known than any other, which says that ' We 
 come to bury Cassar, not to praise him.' I venture 
 to invert the order of the tag. I say that we have 
 come to praise our Cassar, not to bury him — please 
 God — (applause) — for many a long year to come. 
 
 "If it were not that we intend thus, in his 
 presence and before his face, to testify what we 
 feel, I hardly know why we should have come to- 
 gether — why such labour and successful pains 
 should have ; been bestowed on the organization of 
 
254 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 this gathering ; we might just as well have sent 
 an Address by post — though it would have been 
 a little over-weight — (laughter) — and have handed 
 in the larger gifts at the door of St. Alban's Clergy 
 House. But we felt that no such unceremonious 
 way of treating the occasion would be fitting, and 
 we have gathered, in these satisfactory, and almost 
 overwhelming, numbers, to tell our friend to his 
 face the reasons — or some of the reasons — why 
 we hold him in such veneration and affection. 
 
 " I believe that there are present here to-night 
 some whose acquaintance with Father Stanton runs 
 back to a date long anterior to my own, but they 
 must be few. In the year 1871 a Harrow boy, 
 tired, perhaps, of that undogmatic religion which 
 is beloved of all Public Schools — (laughter) — of 
 his own free choice, and without any intervention 
 or advice, placed himself, while still a schoolboy, 
 under the spiritual guidance of Father Stanton. 
 That Harrow boy is no longer a boy ; he is the 
 chairman of to-night's meeting. (Applause.) He 
 looks back over all those years to the day when 
 he first was brought into personal relations with 
 Father Stanton, and he esteems it as one of 
 the happiest and most profitable days of his life. 
 And what he feels, countless other men, old and 
 young, through all the intervening years have felt ; 
 as may be witnessed by anyone who chooses to 
 attend the Sunday High Mass at St. Alban's, and 
 sees the crowd — not of mere listeners attracted by 
 itching ears, but of devout and respectful and in- 
 telligent learners, who Sunday after Sunday through 
 all this time have hung upon the ' lessons of life 
 and godliness ' which Father Stanton has delivered 
 
THE GOSPEL 255 
 
 from the pulpit of St. Alban's church. (Applause.) 
 I have said it before, and I say it again, that I, 
 born and bred an Evangelical, an Evangelical to 
 the backbone, have never heard the free and simple 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ set forth v^ith more un- 
 hesitating plainness or persuasive force than by our 
 friend here, and from the pulpit of St. Alban's. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 " Something not very far short of 4000 men 
 have signed this Address in order to testify their 
 affectionate gratitude. (Applause.) It is a common 
 complaint — we hear it everywhere up and down 
 England — that it is difficult to get men to Church. 
 In some places they go even further, and say it is 
 impossible to get men to Church, and that you 
 must give up Church to women and boys. The 
 remedy for that state of things — if, indeed, it 
 exists — is to multiply Stantons. (Applause.) I 
 see that that sentiment is shared by you gentlemen 
 who fill this hall, and I hope it is not unaccept- 
 able to the ladies in the gallery. (Laughter and 
 applause.) 
 
 " But there are other people who seem to regard 
 Father Stanton and his work in a different light. 
 Not long ago I read with some care, and not a 
 little amusement, the Report of the Royal Commis- 
 sion on Ecclesiastical Discipline. (Loud laughter.) 
 I found, amongst a great deal else that was interest- 
 ing, a statement that the Commissioners ' have 
 difficulty in understanding ' why Mr. Stanton has 
 been, under several successive Bishops of London, 
 still allowed to officiate at St. Alban's, Holborn. 
 (Renewed laughter.) These grave and learned 
 men ' have difficulty in understanding ' what to us 
 
256 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 is plain enough. It would be a work of charity 
 and mercy if we were to try and enlighten them. 
 Let me, therefore, tell them, as plainly as I can, 
 the reason why all these years Father Stanton has 
 continued, under successive Bishops, to officiate at 
 St. Alban's. It is the fact that it is very well 
 known that any attempt to harass him, or to in- 
 terfere with the exercise of his ministry, would 
 arouse such an agitation as would penetrate to the 
 quiet lawns of Fulham Palace — (prolonged cheering) 
 — which might shake the Lollards' Tower at 
 Lambeth Palace — (cheers) — and might even ad- 
 minister uncomfortable shocks to that idol of 
 Establishment, to which Anglican Bishops are 
 inclined to pay an almost superstitious worship. 
 (Renewed cheering.) 
 
 " With the best will in the world to be respectful 
 to my superiors and just to all men, I cannot help 
 feeling that this remark in the Report of the Royal 
 Commission was intended as a twofold insult. It 
 was an insult to our friend who sits on my right, 
 and it was an insult to the excellent Bishop who 
 now presides over the See of London. (Applause.) 
 As Christian men and ministers of the Gospel, the 
 Bishop and Mr. Stanton would not wish that insult 
 to be avenged ; but our answer to it is the gathering 
 of to-night. (Applause.) 
 
 " Now I come to the conclusion of my business. 
 In a moment I shall ask Father Stanton to accept 
 at our hands a picture of that glorious Cathedral 
 in which he was admitted to the priesthood ; a 
 picture of the Altar at which during all these years 
 he has exercised that priesthood ; and this Chalice 
 and the accompanying Paten, which we hope for 
 
LOVE 257 
 
 many a long year to come may be associated with his 
 ministry at the Altar of St. Alban's." (Applause.) 
 Mr. Russell then presented the gifts, with the 
 following words : " And now, reverend Father, 
 dear and honoured friend, we ask you to accept 
 these gifts ; and we also ask that you will some- 
 times remember the givers when you offer the Holy 
 Things in the Holy Place. And, when the changes 
 and chances, when the joys and sorrows, of this 
 chequered life are over, may we all meet once more, 
 and meet for ever, in the eternal blessedness. 
 
 ' Fame is a fleeting breath ; 
 Hopes may be false or fond : 
 Love shall be love till death — 
 And perhaps beyond.' " 
 
 The Chairman. — "I will now call upon Father 
 Stanton to reply." 
 
 Father Stanton. — " Mr. Chairman, fellow-men, I 
 want just to thank you all for your presence here 
 to-night, and for your beautiful presents. As 
 regards the pictures, I should like you to know 
 that they are done by an artist who, I think, is the 
 very best artist for drawing dear old London that 
 London possesses.^ About this beautiful chalice, 
 I should like to say this : it is a beautiful Renais- 
 sance chalice, and it shall be used, I hope, at St. 
 Alban's at High Mass on great festivals, and as I 
 use it I hope to remember you all and this occasion. 
 
 "Now in what I am going to say to you, I 
 
 wish you to understand that I say it because it 
 
 gives significance to this most extraordinary meeting. 
 
 In the year 1862, Bishop Tait, just about this time 
 
 1 Mr. W. Walcot. 
 
258 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 of year, said to me, ' If, Stanton, you go to Mac- 
 konochie of St. Alban's, you must never expect any 
 Church preferment.' I never have. (Great cheer- 
 ing.) It is perfectly true that one living, only one, 
 has been offered to me, and that came from Chicago. 
 It was a good living. It was j^iooo a year, and 
 a house, and all my expenses paid with American 
 generosity. My refusal was on two grounds. First, 
 I said, I was too old, for you cannot transplant 
 a tree when it is of many years' growth. And 
 secondly, I have made such a mess of it in the 
 Anglican Church, that I could not go and make 
 the same trouble in the American Church. (Re- 
 newed laughter.) No sooner was I ordained — 
 while I was a Deacon — than my troubles began. 
 A Scripture-Reader represented my teaching and 
 action to Dr. Tait, then Bishop of London, and 
 made certain charges, which were so absurd in them- 
 selves, that Dr. Tait told me he could not consider 
 them — only I was to look out, for they were 
 watching me. (Laughter.) After I was ordained, 
 two of the chaplains of a Garrispn Town asked 
 me to preach a Mission to the soldiers, which I 
 did. I threw all my heart and soul into the 
 Mission, and we had some success. But the dread- 
 ful thing about the Mission was this, that some 
 few of the soldiers came to Confession and Com- 
 munion, and — as was reported in a city church, 
 when the Archdeacon asked whether any availed 
 themselves of the privilege of private prayer in 
 the church, which was open for the purpose, 
 the verger said, ' Not many, but,' he added, ' I 
 " ketched " two at it once ' — (great laughter) — so 
 it happened at the Mission. Those who made 
 
A HEALED WOUND 259 
 
 their confessions were, I suppose, ' ketched ' at it. 
 At any rate, it was reported to the Chaplain- 
 General, who sent to me and told me that hence- 
 forth and for ever I was never to preach again in 
 a Garrison Chapel. 
 
 " Well, I took this very much to heart, for I had 
 put all my soul into the Mission. And then, for 
 the first time, I asked myself, 'Am I right in 
 ministering at all in the Established Church ? ' 
 Then came to my rescue the kindness, the con- 
 sideration, of my people at St. Alban's, Holborn. 
 It healed the wound, and I went on again. 
 
 " Then, as some of you know, there came another 
 great trial to me. Forgive me speaking about 
 myself, but it emphasizes the reason of your being 
 here. Mr. Mackonochie was suspended, and that 
 brought me into direct relations, as Curate in 
 Charge, with the Bishop, who ordered that nothing 
 should be worn at Divine service over the cassock 
 but the surplice, and we at St. Alban's went to 
 Mass every Sunday at St. Vedast's, Foster Lane. 
 I don't know why it was, but that seemed to be 
 a very wicked thing to do, and the Press made it 
 rather hot for me, because they talked about a 
 wily curate having got round a poor simple Bishop. 
 (Loud laughter.) After that I was continually 
 prohibited or inhibited. The Bishop of London 
 prohibited me from preaching anywhere but at St. 
 Alban's ; the Bishop of Gloucester inhibited me ; 
 the Bishop of Rochester inhibited me. (The Chair- 
 man : ' LlandaiF.') Yes, the Bishop of LlandafF 
 as well. I remember sitting round a table one 
 day, when we at St. Alban's asked ourselves 
 plainly this question, ' Can we go on ? ' ' Is it 
 
26o SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 possible ? ' And then again the old thing came 
 back — the consideration and the love and the help 
 of the people who supported us ; and on we went 
 again. (Applause.) 
 
 "But, mind you, never from that moment have 
 I preached a Mission, and never taken a Retreat. 
 I never could think again that I should consider 
 myself a prophet in the Anglican Israel. I felt I 
 must keep as quiet as I could, and do all that I 
 could for St. Alban's, Holborn, and that was to 
 be my ministry. Mind you, I could give a Retreat, 
 you know. (Laughter). At the last one I ever 
 took I had sixty old women, and the food was 
 very good, and the weather was very hot, and we 
 were very sleepy ; so I made the Retreat as lively 
 as I could to keep 'em awake. When it was over 
 a Sister asked one of the old women, ' How did 
 you like the Reverend Father's Retreat ? ' ' Oh,' 
 she said, ' it was beautiful ; it was better than the 
 " theayter." ' (Roars of laughter.) I tell you that 
 story to show you that it was not from any inability, 
 but I did not wish after what had been done in 
 any sense to come forward as a prophet in Israel. I 
 have never stood on a polemical platform since that. 
 
 " Then, you know, I threw myself with all my 
 heart and soul into my Postmen's League. (Ap- 
 plause.) People didn't quite understand why it 
 was the League was rather social than clerical, 
 and I got a little soured by the perpetual religious 
 controversy ; but the kindness and friendliness of 
 the old St. Martin's League put me right again. ^ 
 Well, then, the next trouble that came upon me, 
 when I thought everything was going on all right, 
 ' See Appendix IV. 
 
PLAIN SPEAKING 261 
 
 when everybody was kind to me, and all you people 
 came to my Monday Evening services — (applause) 
 — there is one thing I hope you will never forget ; 
 there is nothing so inspiring to a man as to meet 
 his fellow-men in this way — everything was going 
 well till one evening, when I was taking a class, I 
 was told a reporter wanted to see me. I went 
 down, and he said, ' Have you heard about the 
 Royal Commission ? ' I said : ' Well, I have heard 
 about it, but I don't care anything about it.' 
 (Laughter and applause.) Then three more came, 
 and I began to get a little irritated. One shouted 
 up : ' Well, but supposing they turn you out of 
 the Church, what are you going to do ? ' And 
 then I dzd shout down : ' Sell cats'-meat.' (Loud 
 laughter. ) 
 
 "Well, of course, as you know, the Bishop of 
 London sent for me. He was exceedingly kind. 
 It never entered into his head for one moment to 
 take away my licence — (applause) — and he knew 
 perfectly well that, as far as I was concerned, he 
 might throw me out to fill the maw of the 
 Protestant wolf, rather than that he should be 
 torn to pieces. He would not think of it for a 
 moment. But he asked me to withdraw my name 
 from the preface of the little book. Catholic 
 "Prayers, which, it seems, had brought me into 
 trouble. Of course, I consented. But I did say 
 this to him : * You may think Catholic Prayers 
 disloyal to the principles of the Reformation and 
 to the Advertisements of Elizabeth, but this I 
 will say to you about the book — there is not 
 one single word in it against the inspiration of 
 the Word of God — (applause) — there is not one 
 
262 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 word in it against the perpetual virginity of the 
 Blessed Virgin Mary — (applause) — there is not one 
 word in it against the Atonement of our Blessed 
 Lord and Saviour on the Cross, or His Resurec- 
 tion ; nor is there a word in it against the Sacra- 
 ments or the Saints.' (Applause.) 
 
 " But, of course, I could not help feeling it, and 
 sometimes, as the shadows of life begin to gather 
 round me, I ask myself, as every man in my place 
 would ask himself, ' Well, now, am I right .f" Why 
 should I be right and the others wrong } ' There 
 are always moments when a man asks himself those 
 questions when he has passed through vicissitudes 
 like those I have named, and been inhibited over 
 and over again. 
 
 "And so it is that a meeting like this is an 
 assurance which I shall carry with me to my very 
 end. (Prolonged applause.) Mind you, there is 
 nothing in the whole world like flesh and blood 
 to help a man on, and a living heart of love. 
 This is a remarkable meeting, and you must 
 account for it. There you are come together ; 
 and here am I — nothing but a miserable curate. 
 (' No, no,' and laughter.) Why should you come .'' 
 I have not ' kidded ' you. (Laughter.) What is 
 it ? I will tell you what it is. 
 
 " Don't make any mistake. Why are you here 
 like this, to do me this honour and to show 
 your love for me? It is because God has given 
 me something better than emolument and far better 
 than position. God has given to me, blessed be 
 His Holy Name, the love of my fellow-men. 
 (Applause.) And y4mor vincit omnia — love conquers 
 everything — and the one verse in God's Holy 
 
AN EPITAPH 263 
 
 Word that I pick out, which I should like to be 
 written over my grave, is this : ' God hath made 
 of one blood all nations of men.' (Applause.) 
 Those words lie at the bottom of all credal and 
 social difficulties and differences, to unite all men 
 together. It is blood and heart that make men 
 one ; for love ever, as you can see it to-night, is 
 reciprocal, and the words I should like to end 
 with are Lowell's : 
 
 ' He's true to God who's true to man ; wherever wrong 
 
 is done. 
 To the humblest and the weakest, 'neath the all-beholding 
 
 sun, 
 That wrong is also done to us ; and they are slaves most 
 
 base. 
 Whose love of right is for themselves, and not for all 
 
 their race. 
 
 God works for all. Ye cannot hem the hope of being 
 
 free 
 With parallels of latitude, with mountain-range or sea ; 
 Put golden padlocks on Truth's lips, be callous as ye will, 
 From soul to soul, o'er all the world, leaps one electric 
 
 thrill.' 
 
 "So I end with the words of St. Paul, in the 
 Fourth Chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians : 
 ' Therefore, my brethren ' (do not forget the my), 
 ' dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, 
 so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.' " 
 (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 Here a photograph of the platform was taken, 
 and Mr. Robert Grice sang " Father O'Flynn," the 
 audience joining heartily in the chorus. 
 
264 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 The Chairman. — " I have peculiar pleasure in call- 
 ing upon the next speaker, for, if I am rightly 
 informed, he was the originator of the movement 
 which has culminated in the proceedings of to-night. 
 I call upon Sir John Buchanan-Riddell." 
 
 Sir John Buchanan-Riddell. — " I represent three 
 sets of people ; first, the Committee, and I must 
 say two members of that Committee ought to have 
 spoken — Father Russell and Mr. Sidney — but they 
 are too modest to allow themselves to be put on 
 the programme. Then I represent the men who 
 so greatly value Father Stanton's addresses in 
 August, Advent, and Lent. Perhaps I may say 
 that anybody who has not attended one of Father 
 Stanton's ' Mondays ' is received here only as a 
 visitor to-night. The idea originated among those 
 men. What I really wish is, that every member 
 of the Royal Commission could be made to come ; 
 for we think that it would be a good thing to 
 get them there, and perhaps afterwards they would 
 come and do penance at St. Alban's. I hope 
 everybody who is here to-night will feel it his 
 duty, if he has not been before, to come and hear 
 one of those sermons. 
 
 "Then the parishes. I represent one of many 
 congregations who remember, and look forward 
 year after year to Father Stanton's coming among 
 us to preach. I well remember at one time he 
 used to preach, as some of you know, on one 
 single word, and I remember him preaching on 
 the word ' Nevertheless.' Though it was preached 
 many years ago, I can remember much of that 
 sermon now. It shows how his sermons do touch 
 people. The first question always is, as our 
 
A BAPTIST'S TRIBUTE 265 
 
 Festivals come round, ' Is Father Stanton coming ? ' 
 He comes again and again to the same places, and 
 always lives in our affection. 
 
 ' We are here to-night to do a popular thing, 
 in testifying our love to the most popular man 
 we have in the Catholic Movement in the Church 
 of England. I make way for my friend Father 
 Spurr — Mr. Spurr, I mean — with the greatest 
 possible pleasure. In coming here he is doing a 
 noble, generous, and kind thing, which is encourag- 
 ing in every way, and shows what Christian tolera- 
 tion and charity and love do lead us to, when 
 we find men like Mr. Spurr coming to do honour 
 to Father Stanton, and coming to his sermons and 
 bringing others with him. He comes to testify 
 to the good Father Stanton is doing and must do. 
 
 "You will allow me to say that, though all of 
 us have known in various degrees the great love 
 and affection that Father Stanton has for us men, 
 some of us never quite realised how intensely deep 
 that affection was till we stood by the side of 
 him at the open grave of a dear friend two years 
 ago."^ 
 
 'The Chairman. — " In the charity and goodwill 
 of this evening, all ecclesiastical distinctions seem 
 to be merged or forgotten, because I notice that 
 Sir John Riddell referred to the reverend gentleman 
 on my right as ' Father ' Spurr. (Laughter and 
 applause.) I enter with all my heart into what 
 Sir John Riddell said about the evangelical 
 charity which transcends all ecclesiastical differences. 
 But I must ask ' Father ' Spurr to restrain his 
 
 1 The Rev. W. B. Hankey, Curate in Charge of St. Mary's, 
 Graham Street. 
 
266 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 eloquence for half a minute, because we are going 
 to be photographed again." 
 
 A photograph of the audience having been taken, 
 the Rev. F. C. Spurr, Minister of Maze Pond 
 Baptist Church, delivered a generous eulogy of 
 Father Stanton both as Man and as Preacher ; and 
 was followed by Mr. William Richards, who spoke 
 as a native of the Parish, a working man, and a 
 member of the Brotherhood of Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 When Mr. Richards had finished his speech, the 
 Chairman said : "I have this moment had placed 
 in my hands a cablegram from America. It is 
 short, sharp, and sweet : ' God bless him always. — 
 Ben Greet.' " (Applause.) 
 
 The Churchwardens, Mr. Gill and Mr. Longden, 
 then proposed and seconded a vote of thanks to 
 the Chairman, who in his reply laid stress on the 
 presence of the Mayor of Holborn, as a most satis- 
 factory proof of the relations between the Church 
 of St. Alban's and the Municipality. He concluded 
 thus: 
 
 " We began our meeting in a Christian way by re- 
 citing the grandest of all Catholic Creeds. We will 
 bring it to an end, in a not less Christian way, by sing- 
 ing one of the most moving of Evangelical hymns." 
 The hymn, " God be with you till we meet again," 
 was then sung with deep emotion ; Father Suckling 
 gave the blessing, and Father Stanton, as he left the 
 platform, turned round to the audience saying, 
 " Good-night to you all." 
 
 At the close of the meeting, there were many 
 who gathered round the platform to try and get 
 a grip of Mr. Stanton's hand. His trials, however, 
 did not end here, for, outside the Hall, in Gray's 
 
HEART TO HEART 267 
 
 Inn Road, a great crowd was waiting for him, which 
 cheered him again and again, and followed him, 
 still cheering, until from a quick walk he broke 
 into a run, and gained at last the shelter of the 
 Clergy House. Even here the crowd tried to bring 
 him to his window, but in vain, and the day was over. 
 
 IMPRESSIONS 
 " I am asked to give my ' impressions ' of the 
 gathering in Holborn Town Hall on Wednesday 
 evening, June 26th, 1907; and the task is easy 
 enough. It was the most successful gathering of 
 the kind that I have ever seen. The organization 
 was perfect. The business went with a swing from 
 start to finish. There was not a solitary hitch, 
 nor a dull moment, nor a discordant note. The 
 atmosphere, though heavily charged with emotion, 
 was radiant and joyous. Everyone was happy ; 
 everyone was in earnest ; everyone meant every 
 word he said. As far as I could judge, the speak- 
 ers were in spiritual touch with the whole company 
 of hearers, and spoke from heart to heart ; while 
 the hearers, on their part, supported the speakers, 
 and bore them along by the force of a vivid and 
 uplifting sympathy. I called it at the outset of 
 the proceedings a religious gathering, and so it 
 was ; and, just because it was perfectly religious, 
 it was frankly human. Deep in every heart was 
 the consciousness that, by the good hand of our 
 God upon us, we were allowed the opportunity, 
 which so seldom comes, of telling a tried and loved 
 and honoured friend, freely and to his face, dome- 
 thing of what we had felt for him and had owed 
 
268 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 to him for twenty and thirty and forty years. It 
 was, in every sense of the words, a night to he much 
 observed, and observed unto the Lord. 
 
 " Here perhaps a personal reminiscence may be 
 admitted. A few years ago, I said in a letter to 
 Mr. Stanton : ' If you were to die, you would have 
 the most wonderful funeral that a clergyman ever 
 had.' My special thankfulness is that we have 
 been enabled to offer, not posthumous honours and 
 unavailing tributes, but living love to a living friend. 
 
 " As I gazed upon the great assemblage, and felt 
 what it must mean to him whose name had brought 
 us together, there came back upon my memory 
 some words which Mr. Gladstone wrote, years ago, 
 upon a similar occasion, and which may well serve 
 to epitomize and conclude my ' impressions ' of 
 the gathering : ' It makes the heart bound to feel 
 that, even in this poor world. Truth and Justice 
 sometimes claim their own ; and I thank God that 
 it has not been in the power of jealousy, or coward- 
 ice, or spite, "or any other" evil "creature" to 
 detract one jot from the glory of that truly great 
 ministry, the records of which have been written 
 alike in the visible, outward, history of the Church, 
 and in the fleshly tables of the heart of man.' " 
 
 G. W. E. R. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT 
 
 " This record ^ of a memorable night is for friends. 
 To a stranger it may seem an extravagance ; to 
 those who took part in it the meeting was, from 
 
 ' The official record of the proceedings ; published by W. 
 Knott, Brooke Street, E.G. 
 
TRUTH AND SOBERNESS 269 
 
 first to last and in every detail of it, absolutely real, 
 and all its words, words of truth and soberness. 
 The seven hundred or more men who were there, 
 representing five times as many who had signed 
 the Address, were there to say straight out the 
 love and gratitude they felt, and they said it. 
 
 " The short-hand report of the speeches has had 
 the benefit of correction by the speakers themselves, 
 who have, I am glad to say, altered nothing, but 
 have let their words stand, without garnish, as they 
 were spoken. But no report of what was said or 
 done can convey to those who were not present any 
 idea of the enthusiasm which filled the Hall that 
 night, and which needed but the excuse of a word 
 to break out again and again into rounds of applause. 
 After all, it is not to be wondered at, for many 
 grey heads were there who had known Father 
 Stanton for many years, and all these years had 
 carried about with them the weight of a great 
 gratitude silently, with never a chance to tell him 
 what they felt towards him. Now that the chance 
 had come, is it wonderful that they should use it 
 to the full ? It was good to see and hear it all, 
 good especially to hear them sing, with the deep, 
 supporting music of the strings and drums, the 
 Hymns, and the song of ' Old Acquaintance,' and 
 the health to the 
 
 * Pow'rfulest preacher, and tinderest teacher, 
 And kindliest creature in ould Donegal.' 
 
 " To the one in whose honour we had met it 
 must have been a trying ordeal : to many, many of 
 his friends it was — they have said so — one of the 
 happiest and most inspiring moments of their life. 
 
270 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 " Now that it is all over, and the music, and the 
 cheering have died away, and life returns once 
 more to its normal temperature and level, what 
 fruit remains to us of all that happened on that 
 night? Well this, I think, amongst many other 
 things : Father Stanton has himself told us that 
 the world has no sweeter reward to offer a man 
 than the love of his fellow-men. Hitherto he may 
 have had reason — more reason perhaps than most 
 men — to suspect, to hope, that that love was given 
 to him ; but now — he knows it ; and we, his friends, 
 are happy, knowing that at last — thank God — he 
 knows it." E. F. R. 
 
 July 1907. 
 
 N.B. — For the materials of this chapter the writer is indebted 
 to the kindness of the Rev. E. F. Russell. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE SOURCE AND THE STREAM 
 
 "This day, as I believe, the Blessed Sacrament has been in the qhurch 
 before our eyes, and what can you or I desire more ? " — J. II. Shorthouse. 
 
 We all know, by observation and experience, that 
 where the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is 
 made the central point of devotion Its influence 
 is incalculably diffusive. Like the Supreme Power 
 of which It is an energy, It 
 
 " Lives through all life, extends through all extent, 
 Spreads undivided, operates unspent." ^ 
 
 From the day when St. Alban's Church was 
 consecrated even until now, the Blessed Sacrament 
 has been the heart by which it lived, and the centre 
 from which its activities proceeded. Its trials and 
 troubles, not less than its blessings and glories, have 
 sprung from its Eucharistic worship, and its Altar 
 has been, in more senses than one, a shrine of sacri- 
 fice. The life of St. Alban's has been a Eucharistic 
 life ; and for the characteristics of that life, wher- 
 ever it is found, we may go to a living theologian : ^ 
 
 "First, it is marked by a wonderful Awe^ and 
 that awe is the more wonderful because famili- 
 arity seems to replenish it, instead of dissolving or 
 disturbing. The man who has realized the secretlof 
 
 ' Pope, Essay on Man. ' The Rev. H. S. Holland, D.D. 
 
 271 
 
272 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 life in the Blessed Sacrament insists on constant near- 
 ness to It ; he surrounds It with incessant attention, 
 with the routine of order and regular service, with 
 accurate rules of preparation, with formal methods 
 of intimacy. He himself is felt to be living, year 
 by year, and day by day, in unfailing and familiar 
 intercourse with Its grace. It is to him necessary 
 and near as his daily food. It has all the common 
 and unquestioned frequency of air, and earth, and 
 sky. Yet ever his awe and wonder grow. Nothing 
 ceases of the hushed and thrilling rapture which 
 belongs to strange surprises, to unanticipated dis- 
 coveries, to sudden initiations. Nay, his reverence, 
 his humiliation, his trembling, his fear, all seem to 
 increase with the increase of familiarity ; there is 
 ever in his voice the sound of searching alarm, the 
 sense of the Fire about the Mount, into which no 
 unclean thing may enter lest it be consumed. That 
 Altar, near and dear as it is, is ring'd round to 
 him with unflagging terrors ; his tones shake, his 
 knees bow, his soul quivers, with the same wonder- 
 ful awe as that with which a young child kneels, 
 for the first time, in the hush of some still sanctuary, 
 and hears the murmuring words of the priest who 
 bends over him to lay, in the child-hands uplifted, the 
 adorable Gift over which the bowing Angels stoop, 
 and gaze, and adore. It does not surprise us that 
 Moses, when he looked and saw in sudden amaze- 
 ment the Bush that flamed before him unconsumed, 
 should turn aside, and take his shoes from ofi^ his 
 feet, and hasten to bow his head to the ground ; 
 but it is most wonderful to us, with our shallow 
 emotions and jaded hearts, to see that, at the end 
 of the years, there should be those who still, as 
 
THE BURNING BUSH 273 
 
 the Bush burns on continually, can hasten with 
 untarnished freshness of soul to bow the head and 
 worship, as fearfully and as tremblingly as when 
 first they turned aside to see the strange sight. Awe 
 can only abide when deep answers unto deep. 
 
 " Then in the second place, we must observe the 
 Spirituality of this Sacramentalism. Surely it should 
 be impossible for anyone to indulge in crude con- 
 trasts between the carnal form and the inward 
 spirit, or between technical dogmatism and the 
 living faith. Everyone can see that the entire 
 belief rests on the robust reality of the actual 
 event, which takes place on this or that Altar, 
 through the mediation of a consecrated formula, 
 used with exact ritualistic definiteness, over earthly 
 elements that have been duly presented before God, 
 and in the sight of the people, in literal obedience 
 to sanctioned usage. And, yet, the external and 
 formal fact glows through and through with the 
 warmth of a heartfelt devotion, as a coal filled 
 full with the splendour of flame. The outward 
 form intensifies the heat. It supplies it with scope, 
 and radiation, and vent. It feeds it with fuel. 
 The flame leaps and rejoices, just because the 
 material is given ; it knows a new strength, it glows 
 with a new ardour, as it lays hold of this external 
 matter, and fills it, and inhabits it, and absorbs it. 
 A fire lives on the fuel given ; and, to the flame 
 of adoration, Sacramental fact is the fuel that 
 feeds. 
 
 " Lastly, we should note that it is this explicitness 
 of apprehension which causes the third characteristic 
 of Eucharistic devotion — its marvellous Richness. 
 The inner strength of the faith, which has been 
 
 s 
 
2 74 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 enabled to emerge, and to lay hold of its objective 
 material, and to develope its distinct impression, 
 exhibits itself in the fulness and the variety with 
 which it can apply itself to the whole round 
 of practical life, and make use of the entire wealth 
 of the imagination and the emotions. Through 
 devotion to the Eucharist, everything seems to 
 become Eucharistic ; everywhere the Sacramental 
 blessing reaches. Look at the sun as it shines on 
 all things, how in each it gives a new colour, and 
 wakes a new revelation. It is on the flowers, and 
 they leap into blue, and scarlet, and yellow. It 
 is on the waters, and they shimmer and glisten. 
 It is on the far hills, and they are steeped in the 
 glow of purple and grey. It is the same light, 
 yet for each object it is a new and differing glory. 
 So, in the Eucharistic life, we are always in face 
 of one thought — the thought of that Most Blessed 
 Presence under the forms of Bread and Wine — yet 
 ever the thought offers novel variety of guidance, 
 of direction, of illumination : ever it prompts a 
 new motion of the desires, a new effort of the 
 will, a new hope of the affections. So it is that 
 we learn something of the unfading efficacy of 
 the Sacramental theology — the unfailing attraction 
 of the Sacramental life — why it is that all other 
 forms of adoration and communion, however real, 
 appear imperfect, partial, inadequate, thin, meagre, 
 sliadowy, to those who have once felt this abun- 
 dance, and have tasted of Its treasures, and have 
 sat at Its feasts." 
 
 I have adapted these words of a loved and 
 honoured teacher, because I know no others which 
 could so perfectly express the devotional life of St. 
 
SOCIAL REFORM 275 
 
 Alban's. They are epitomized in the heading of 
 this chapter. In the constant realization of " that 
 Most Blessed Presence, under the forms of Bread 
 and Wine," we have the Source. In "the fulness 
 and variety with which it can apply itself to the 
 whole round of practical life," we see the stream. 
 
 The application of the temper nurtured by 
 Eucharistic Communion to " the whole round of 
 practical life," has been from first to last one of 
 the most striking features of St. Alban's. It has 
 produced that ardent love of souls which we have 
 seen recognized, even by opponents, and which 
 has made the life of its clergy a living epistle, 
 known and read of all men. But St. Alban's has 
 not dealt only with the things of the spirit. It 
 has realized the tripartite composition of man, 
 and has ministered to intellects and bodies as well 
 as souls. In days when " the Better Housing of 
 the Poor " was little accounted of, Mr. Mackonochie 
 laboured, amid multifarious discouragements, to 
 abolish slums and rookeries, and to promote morality 
 by a crusaae against overcrowding. He approached 
 the holy war in the spirit, and almost in the words, 
 of Charles Kingsley : 
 
 " How dare you, in the face of that Baptismal 
 sign of the sprinkled water, keep God's children 
 exposed to filth, brutality, and temptation, which 
 festers in your courts and alleys, making cleanliness 
 impossible, drunkenness all but excusable, prosti- 
 tution all but natural, self-respect and decency 
 unknown ? In that Font is a witness for education 
 and for sanitary reform, which will conquer with 
 the might of an archangel, when every other argu- 
 ment has failed to prove that the masses are after 
 
276 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 all not mere machines, or ' hands ' to be used up 
 in the production of a wealth of which they never 
 taste, with their numbers as far as possible kept 
 down by economical and prudent rulers, to the 
 market-demand for members of Christ, children of 
 God, and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven." 
 
 Again, the provision of cheap and wholesome food 
 has been only a small part of the ministry to the 
 body; yet a most real service, and too often contemned. 
 Education, with all the possibilities which it opens 
 up for the humblest and the poorest, has claimed a 
 full share of attention, and the schools have been 
 as carefully tended as the church. Innocent re- 
 creation and social intercourse have been generously 
 encouraged : the best fruits of culture and art and 
 travel have been presented, in intelligible forms, by 
 Lectures and Penny Readings ; and, in brief, there has 
 been a sustained and many-sided effort to make the 
 lives of the poor brighter, sweeter, and more humane. 
 
 An attempt to describe the "Ethos" of St. Alban's 
 would indeed be glaringly incomplete if it failed 
 to notice the Social character of the church and 
 its surroundings. The church is, so to say, the 
 centre of a Society or Sodality ; differences of 
 worldly station and political opinion have always 
 been wonderfully merged in the sense of a common 
 life. Here again the influence of the Blessed 
 Sacrament is unmistakably at work. Those who 
 share the One Bread and the One Cup are united 
 in membership of the One Body ; and this, which 
 should be the ideal of Communion everywhere, 
 but is too often ignored, has been realized at St. 
 Alban's. The sense of Brotherhood and Equality, 
 not less than the allied sense of Freedom, seems to 
 
THREE GREAT WORDS 277 
 
 pervade the devotional atmosphere. In days long 
 anterior to the Catholic Revival, and when even 
 Christian men had forgotten the supremacy of the 
 Eucharist, a writer, little touched by ecclesiasticism, 
 testified thus : " Every time Social Worship is cele- 
 brated, it includes a virtual declaration of the Rights 
 of Man." 1 Fifty years later Charles Kingsley spoke 
 thus, in a memorable and much-censured sermon : 
 
 " I assert that the business for which God sends 
 a Christian priest to a Christian nation is to preach 
 and practise Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood, in 
 the fullest, deepest, widest, simplest meaning of 
 these three great words : that, in as far as he so 
 does, he is a true priest, doing his Lord's work, 
 with his Lord's blessing on him : that in as far as 
 he does not, he is no priest at all, but a traitor to 
 God and man ; and that if he perseveres in his 
 mistake — and a wilful mistake it must be — about 
 his own work, the Lord of that priest will come 
 in an hour when he is not aware, and in a way that 
 he thinketh not of, and will, in fearful literalness, 
 cut him asunder ! and appoint him his portion 
 with the unbelievers, where will be weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth. 
 
 " I assert this in solemn earnest. I believe that 
 the awful words which I have just spoken mean 
 far more than I can conceive, I believe that they 
 apply to me as much as to any one else : that in 
 saying them I have testified against myself, and 
 called down on my own head the curse of God, 
 if I do not preach the message of God. But I 
 must do so. I must confess the truth, and give 
 every man here a handle against me, on the strength 
 1 A. L. Barbauld. 
 
278 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 of the words which I have chosen for my text/ 
 I say those words express the very pith and marrow 
 of a priest's business. I say that they preach Liberty, 
 Equality, and Brotherhood to the poor and rich 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 " What, my friends, is the message of the Lord's 
 Supper ? What more distinct sign and pledge 
 that all men are equal ? Wherever in the world 
 there may be inequality, it ceases there. One 
 table, one reverential posture, one Bread, one Wine, 
 for high and low, for wise and foolish. That 
 Sacrament proclaims that all alike are brothers of 
 each other, because they are all alike brothers of 
 One — and He, the son of a village maiden ; that 
 Sacrament proclaims that all are equally His debtors 
 — all equally in need of the pardon which He has 
 bought for them — and that that pardon is equally 
 ready and free to all of them. That Sacrament 
 proclaims that they all equally draw from Him 
 their life, their health, their every strength and 
 faculty of body, mind, and heart. All, therefore, 
 equally bound to live for Him, and therefore for 
 those whom He loved, for whom He laboured, 
 and for whom He died — for whom He lives and 
 reigns for ever — whose every suffering, and oppres- 
 sion, and neglect He will avenge to the uttermost 
 in the day of His wrath — in a word, for the people. 
 That Sacrament has told me. Men are thy brothers 
 still. God has made them so; and thou canst not 
 unmake it. Oh, my dear friends, if the heartfelt 
 experience of one man can bring home to your 
 minds the power of that blessed Sign, hear me, 
 
 * St. Lukeiv. 16-21. 
 
BROTHERHOOD 279 
 
 this night, and believe me, when I tell you, in the 
 hearing of God the Father, and Jesus Christ the 
 Poor Man — that to this Blessed Sacrament and 
 pledge of brotherhood, I at least owe all the little 
 lukewarm love for the people, which I do trust 
 and hope I feel. When I have been proud, it has 
 humbled me, and said to me. These toilsome 
 labourers, and stunted drudges, are as great in 
 God's sight — greater, for aught thou knowest, than 
 thou. When I have been selfishly superstitious, it 
 has said to me, Think thou not of thyself alone, 
 in the presence of the Father of all. Whose mercy 
 is over all His works. Thou must worship with 
 thy brothers ; thou must claim teaching, light, life, 
 only as a member of a body, or thou shalt have 
 none of it. When I have been inclined to enjoy 
 myself at ease, and let the world run past me, 
 heedless of its moans, Sunday after Sunday has 
 that beloved Sacrament rebuked me, and seemed 
 to say to me with the voice of the Poor Man of 
 Nazareth Himself, Look what God would have 
 these poor creatures be, and look what they are. 
 Art thou not living in a lie, fighting against Him 
 whom thou professest to serve, if thou dost not 
 devote thy every energy to give them those blessings 
 of the Kingdom of God, of which they here have 
 claimed their share, to educate, civilise, deliver them 
 in body, mind, and heart .? " 
 
 Here again we see the Eucharist working, with 
 Its supernatural power, for Social Brotherhood ; and 
 yet one more quotation may be added. The story 
 of Tom Brown — to the full as much a man's book 
 as a boy's — leaves the hero kneeling in solitary 
 grief at the Altar of Rugby Chapel, beneath which 
 
2 8o SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 his great Master has just been buried — and " where 
 better could we leave him, than at the Altar before 
 which he first caught a glimpse of the glory of his 
 birthright, and felt the drawing of the bond which 
 links all living souls together in one brotherhood — 
 at the grave of him who had opened his eyes to 
 see that glory, and softened his heart to feel that 
 bond?" 
 
 It seems to the present writer that these words, 
 though written with a quite different reference, 
 exactly express the Social Gospel of St. Alban's. 
 
 It is interesting to find that, in quite early days, 
 the Social work of the St. Alban's clergy was re- 
 cognized in very unecclesiastical quarters. In 1867, 
 the Holborn Branch of the Reform League (founded 
 to promote Household Suffrage) asked for a special 
 Service in St. Alban's Church, and this was held 
 on Sunday afternoon, the 28th of April. Mac- 
 konochie preached from St. John i. 14, exhorting 
 the citizens to fashion their lives according to the 
 Life of the Divine Workman of Nazareth. " The 
 sermon," said a contemporary observer, " was de- 
 void of political allusions." Good Words for July 
 1868 said, in the course of a very sympathetic 
 account of St. Alban's, "When the Reform Leaguers 
 marched with their banners from Clerkenwell 
 Green to St. Alban's Church, the only reason they 
 could assign for their procession was that they 
 believed Mr. Mackonochie to be ' a Friend of the 
 People.' " 
 
 So far, we have spoken of the work done for 
 humanity within the Parish; but the "diffusive" 
 character of the Eucharistic life which we noted 
 at the outset has been conspicuously manifested 
 
ST. SAVIOUR'S PRIORY 281 
 
 in the exterior activities of St. Alban's. In the 
 first place, there was Mackonochie, who, though 
 pressed beyond measure by parochial cares and 
 the torments of litigation, yet found time to be 
 Master of the Society of the Holy Cross, a leader 
 of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, and 
 for twenty years Warden and Chaplain of St. 
 Saviour's Priory, Haggerston. The service that 
 he rendered there is thus described by the Mother 
 Superior : " He helped in, and arranged, every 
 detail of plan and work, and through all his own 
 labours and troubles he came over to the Priory 
 several times each week, bright, patient and cheery ; 
 putting aside his own great anxieties, he was ready 
 to listen to every little worry and difficulty of the 
 Sisters of Haggerston. . . . He lived so entirely 
 in the presence of God and the Company of 
 Heaven that every little detail and interest, because 
 it was in God's sight, became of great interest to 
 him. Does one not recall the sight of him walking 
 through the dingy streets which lie between St. 
 Alban's and St. Saviour's Priory, with his Office- 
 Book under his arm ; in his shabby hat and well- 
 worn coat, wrapped in the devotions which the little 
 spare time of the walk gave him ? " 
 
 In the Society of the Holy Cross and the Con- 
 fraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as 
 in the charge of the Parish, Mackonochie was 
 succeeded by Mr. Suckling, who also became 
 Warden of the Priory at Ascot in succession to 
 Dr. Pusey. Mr. Hogg, who joined the staff in 
 1874, succeeded Mackonochie as Chaplain at St. 
 Saviour's ; founded the Guild of St. Edmund 
 for the benefit of Teachers in Board Schools ; and 
 
282 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 has acted as Chairman of a large school under the 
 London County Council in Clerkenwell.^ 
 
 Mr. Stanton (besides preaching the Gospel of the 
 Kingdom wherever the Bishop would suffer him) 
 founded St. Martin's League, with the object of 
 uniting the London Postmen in a bond of Christian 
 living and good fellowship.^ Though not, as a 
 rule, successful in winning Episcopal approval, Mr. 
 Stanton secured for this particular work the em- 
 phatic praise of Archbishop Tait, who wrote 
 thus in his diary for the 26th of February 1882: 
 "To-day I have preached at St. Martin' s-in-the- 
 Fields to 500 postmen who form ' St. Martin's 
 League.' Stanton deserves immense credit for 
 getting together these young men. Sad that there 
 should be such quarrels in the Church, and that 
 men like Stanton should be mixed up in them." 
 In the course of his sermon the Archbishop said : 
 
 "One word as to the name of your Society, 
 'St. Martin's League.' I do not know whether 
 there is any thought of the old legend of St. Martin 
 and his cloak, and that you, like him, are ready 
 to give one half of the good things with which 
 God has supplied you, if by any means you may 
 help others who are less privileged than yourselves. 
 But you take your name really from St. Martin' s- 
 le-Grand. It was so called because, from the 
 Conquest to the time of Henry VIII., there was 
 a great monastery, and a Sanctuary which spoke 
 of Christian kindness and mercy in those dark 
 ages when violence stalked unrestrained abroad. 
 All the old ecclesiastical buildings that stood in 
 
 ' See Appendix III. ' See Appendix IV. 
 
NOT FAMOUS BUT FAITHFUL 283 
 
 St. Martin's-le-Grand are long since gone. There 
 is the centre of the busiest part of our life, com- 
 municating with every portion of the habitable 
 globe. But is there anything to prevent that great 
 mart of the world's industry from being as truly 
 a centre of religion as were the old ecclesias- 
 tical buildings which they superseded ? If Christ is 
 honoured, He will be honoured in the mart of 
 commerce and in the hurry and din of the Post 
 Office as much as in any church. God grant that 
 you, associating yourselve^ together in the name of 
 Christ and helping one another for Christ's sake, 
 may be the means of strengthening every Christian 
 influence in the midst of the hurry and business 
 of this greatest commercial city in the world." 
 
 The history of St. Alban's, following the facts 
 as they occurred, has of necessity brought into 
 prominence the names of Mackonochie, Stanton, 
 and Suckling. But this would be a most unworthy 
 record if it ignored the devoted but unobtrusive 
 labours of other men who from year to year served 
 under the two Vicars, or, as it might be more 
 properly said, served with them in the common 
 cause. ^ These men brought various gifts and graces 
 to the work, and pursued it for various lengths of 
 time, and with varying measure of popular recogni- 
 tion. But, as George Eliot said, and Dr. Liddon 
 repeated after her : " The growing good of the 
 world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts ; and 
 that things are not as ill with you and me as they 
 might have been is half owing to the number who 
 lived faithfully a hidden life, and now rest in 
 unvisited tombs." 
 
 ^ See Appendix I. 
 
2 84 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Among these most true but self-efFacing servants 
 of the Cross, the author cannot forbear to mention 
 the Rev. Edward Francis Russell, who after gradu- 
 ating at Trinity College, Cambridge, and studying 
 theology at Cuddesdon, joined the staff of St. 
 Alban's in Lent 1867. The old John Bull, reprehend- 
 ing some early and too Liberal utterance of Mr. 
 Russell, observed with acrimony that he was " a rela- 
 tive of the author of the ' Durham Letter.' " ^ He is 
 also a "relative" of the present writer; and this cir- 
 cumstance makes an attempt at personal description 
 unseemly. But one or two incidents of his ministry 
 may perhaps be introduced without offence. 
 
 Being early in his career convinced that the voca- 
 tion of a Fisher of Men included care for the body 
 as well as the soul, Mr. Russell determined to acquire 
 some practical knowledge of medicine, and to take 
 a Medical Degree, in addition to his Degree in 
 Arts. With this end in view he became a pupil of 
 Huxley's, and attended his lectures on Biology in 
 1876. He then became a Medical student at 
 St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and worked there till 
 a severe illness warned him, and warned his doctors, 
 that he could not manage this enormous and trying 
 addition to his priestly work. But the time spent 
 in the hospital was by no means thrown away ; it 
 brought him into close acquaintance with doctors, 
 medical students, and nurses, and gave him a 
 peculiar tact and judgment in the Ministry of the 
 Sick Room. For the benefit of the Nurses, he 
 
 1 On the 4th of November 1850, the Times published a letter 
 from Lord John Russell to the Bishop of Durham (Dr. Maltby), 
 in which the " Papal Aggression " was indignantly rebuked, and 
 the Tractarian clergy were accused of " leading their flocks, step 
 by step, to the very verge of the precipice." 
 
"POPULAR MONDAYS" 285 
 
 helped Miss Antrobus to found the Guild of St. 
 Barnabas, now numbering 5000 members, which he 
 served devotedly as Chaplain, and as editor of the 
 monthly paper Misericordia. But the interests of the 
 body by no means distracted Mr. Russell from the 
 concerns of the soul. He possessed in a peculiar 
 degree that Missionary spirit which, far more truly 
 than the doctrine of justification by faith, is the test 
 of a standing or falling Church. Inspired by the 
 friendship and example of Bishop Smythies, he 
 threw himself with fervour into the work of the 
 Universities' Mission to Central Africa, serving on its 
 Council, and preaching for it wherever he saw an 
 opening. It is worthy of note that the annual 
 contribution made to the Mission by St. Alban's is 
 the largest made by any Church in the country. 
 
 And now, before this chapter closes, we must 
 turn again to the place from whence we set forth — 
 from the social enterprises of St. Alban's, and from 
 its exterior activities, to the purely spiritual ministry 
 which, after all, has been its chief glory through 
 all these fifty years. I quote the description, given 
 by an eye-witness in a provincial paper,^ of what 
 he saw and heard on Monday Evening, the 22 nd of 
 August 1 9 10: 
 
 "Attracted by the reports of friends, I have 
 been to St. Alban's, Holborn, to hear the Rev. 
 Arthur Henry Stanton preach on one of his 
 ' Popular Mondays.' An analysis of Mr. Stanton's 
 character would here be out of place. I am 
 concerned only with his qualities as a preacher. 
 ^ The Manchester Guardian. 
 
2 86 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 To begin with, though no longer young, he is 
 strikingly handsome. Then he is a natural orator, 
 with all the orator's gifts of speech and voice and 
 gesture, and can ring the changes on every phase 
 of human emotion. And yet again he has a sense 
 of humour which he allows to play with unfettered 
 freedom round the subject of his discourse, and he 
 can turn with the ease and lightness of a bird from 
 grave to gay, and back again to graver. 
 
 " Every Monday in August (as also in Lent and 
 Advent) Mr. Stanton holds a special service at 
 eight o'clock in the evening in St. Alban's Church. 
 What Puritans pleasantly call ' meretricious attrac- 
 tions ' lare utterly banished. The service is plain 
 enough to satisfy Dr. Clifford. Even the choir is 
 absent. Yet an hour before the appointed time a 
 great company of men and women, old and young, 
 is pouring up Brooke Street, or winding into the 
 Church through the more devious paths of Baldwin's 
 Gardens. By half-past seven the church^men's 
 side and women's side alike — is full. A quarter of 
 an hour later it is uncomfortably crowded. Every 
 seat is occupied. Late-comers are driven into the 
 chancel. All the choir-stalls are full. Rows of 
 extra seats are brought in. Men who can find 
 no room to stand or sit, crouch on the Altar- 
 steps. 
 
 " As the clock strikes eight, Mr. Stanton climbs 
 into the pulpit, huddling on his surplice as he goes. 
 From the pulpit he conducts, in a slightly shortened 
 form, the ordinary Evening Service of the Church. 
 We read the Psalms, verse by verse, as if we were 
 in some old-fashioned village church, untouched 
 by the Ritualistic movement ; but, when we come 
 
A SPELL 287 
 
 to the Magnificat, ' Our Blessed Lady's own Song,' 
 we sing it, as the preacher bids us, with a will. 
 When the prayers are ended, we burst into a hymn 
 — perhaps of Faber's type, perhaps of Sankey's ; 
 but, in either case, ' burst ' is the right word ; for 
 the whole congregation sings with a fervour of 
 devotion, pent-up but now liberated, and the great 
 volume of male voices gives the singing a massive- 
 ness not usual in mixed congregations. Then Mr. 
 Stanton rises from his knees, and begins to preach. 
 His sermons are not easy to describe. They follow 
 none of the conventions of the pulpit. They range 
 widely over the broad field of faith and duty. The 
 appeals to conscience are vivid and pointed ; but 
 they are interspersed with touches of humour and 
 sarcasm which provoke a responsive sound danger- 
 ously like a laugh. Most notable is the preacher's 
 wide-mindedness — his intense grasp of his own 
 beliefs, his absolute charity towards those who do 
 not share them, and his abounding humanity. 
 
 " Backwards and forwards he sways his graceful 
 form, unbent and undisfigured by age. He turns 
 to the sea of faces in front of him. He wheels 
 round to the ' overflow ' in the chancel. His 
 voice, as Mr. Gladstone said of Bishop Wilberforce, 
 is ' sometimes like a murmuring brook, sometimes 
 like a trumpet-call.' Now it sinks till it is nearly 
 inaudible, and now you see the preacher's hold 
 upon his hearers, for they stretch forward with 
 hands to ears, and strained and anxious faces, lest 
 they lose the smallest word of the spell which this 
 great magician is weaving round their hearts. And 
 all this, remember, year after year, in a slum-church, 
 in the holiday season, on a week-day evening. I 
 
288 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 know no triumph equal to it, at any rate in the 
 Church to which I belong. 
 
 " Now the preacher has come to an end. The 
 service has lasted a little over the hour. Two 
 thunderous hymns again shake the roof. The 
 blessing is given, and we stream out towards Hol- 
 born and Gray's Inn Road. It has been, for all its 
 frequency, a wonderful experience ; and what is 
 the meaning of it ? 
 
 " 'Dynasties come and go, Empires rise and fall, 
 literatures vanish from the memory of man, forms of 
 polity wax old and perish, and the ancient homes 
 of great peoples survive only as the sepulchres 
 of the dead ; but the broodlngs of the soul on 
 the dim hereafter never fade or die. To any 
 fresh or earnest word on those most solemn and 
 mysterious of themes men listen with the eagerness 
 which a fond imagination ascribes to the Ages of 
 Faith.' 
 
 " That is a true testimony, and on these Mondays 
 in August it is verified anew." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 RETROSPECT 
 
 " One look back, as we hurry o'er the plain, 
 Man's years speeding us along — 
 One look back ! From the hollow past again. 
 
 Youth, come flooding into song ! 
 Tell how once, in the breath of summer air, 
 
 Winds blew fresher than they blow ; 
 Times long hid, with their triumph and their care, 
 Yesterday — many years ago ! " 
 
 E. E. BowEN. 
 
 Having, so far, traced the history of St. Alban's 
 in some detail, I pause for a moment in my task, 
 and cast a retrospective glance over the ground 
 which we have travelled. In doing this, I cannot 
 isolate St. Alban's from the general movement of 
 the English Church. Though distinguished above 
 other churches by the Evangelical marks of per- 
 secution and calumny, St. Alban's has yet been part 
 of a greater whole. Certainly the history of the 
 Church in the Victorian age could not be written 
 without frequent reference to St. Alban's; and the 
 history of St. Alban's cannot be understood unless 
 it is placed in its true relation with the life and 
 fortunes of the Church at large. 
 
 For the spiritual origin of St. Alban's we must 
 look back to a date long anterior to its Consecration 
 —anterior even to Mr. Hubbard's Venture of 
 Faith, and Lord Leigh's generous response. Two 
 pictures of the Church of England, as it appeared 
 
 289 rp 
 
290 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 to the eye in the days which preceded the Oxford 
 Movement, may here be placed in instructive con- 
 trast. The first is drawn by Cardinal Newman, 
 and depicts his recollection of things as they were 
 before the "happy magic" of The Christian Tear^ 
 had begun to transfigure them. 
 
 " A ritual dashed upon the ground, trodden on 
 and broken piecemeal ; prayers clipped, pieced, torn, 
 shuffled about at pleasure, until the meaning of 
 the composition perished, and offices which had been 
 poetry were no longer even good prose ; antiphons, 
 hymns, benedictions, invocations, shovelled away; 
 Scripture lessons turned into chapters ; heaviness, 
 feebleness, unwieldiness, where the Catholic rites 
 had had the lightness and airiness of a spirit ; vest- 
 ments chucked oS, lights quenched, jewels stolen, 
 the pomp and circumstance of worship annihilated ; 
 a dreariness which could be felt, and which seemed 
 the token of an incipient Socinianism, forcing itself 
 upon the eye, the ear, the nostril of the worshipper ; 
 a smell of dust and damp, not of incense ; a sound 
 of ministers preaching Catholic prayers, and parish 
 clerks droning out Catholic canticles ; the Royal 
 Arms for the Crucifix ; ugly huge boxes of wood, 
 sacred to preachers, frowning upon the congrega- 
 tion in the place of the mysterious Altar ; and the 
 long Cathedral aisles unused, railed off like the 
 tombs (as they were) of what had been and was not." 
 
 The second picture is drawn in a " Letter on 
 the Catholic Question," addressed by an anonymous 
 writer to " The Freeholders of the County of 
 York," in the year 1826, when the cause of Roman 
 Catholic Emancipation was fighting its way. 
 ' The Christian Year was published in 1827. 
 
"A MASS" 291 
 
 " Go to a Cathedral, hear and see all the magnifi- 
 cent things done there ; behold the regiments of 
 wax tapers, the white-robed priests, the mace-bearers, 
 the chaunters, the picture over the Altar, the wax 
 lights and the burnished gold plates and cups on the 
 Altar ; then listen to the prayers repeated in chaunt, 
 the anthems, the musical responses, the thundering 
 of the organ, and the echoes of the interminable 
 roof, and then say. Is not this idolatry ? It is all 
 the idolatry that the Catholics admit ; it is the 
 natural inclination that we have to those weak and 
 beggarly elements — pomp and pride — and which 
 both Catholics and the High Church party think so 
 important in religion. I boldly assert that there is 
 more idolatry in the Church of England than 
 amongst English Catholics ; and for this simple 
 reason, because the Church of England can better 
 afford it. Two-thirds of the Church service Is 
 pomp and grandeur ; it is, as Charles II used to say, 
 ' the service of gentlemen.' It is for show, and 
 for a striking impression ; the Cathedral service is 
 nothing more or less than a Mass." 
 
 It is probable that the writer was not very exactly 
 informed as to what constitutes " a Mass " ; but there 
 is a startling contrariety between his impression, and 
 Newman's, of Divine Service in the Church of Eng- 
 land. Yet probably both the writers described what 
 they saw. Whatever richness and dignity the Church 
 continued to retain during the dark century of 1750- 
 1850, was to be found in the greater Cathedrals, the 
 Collegiate Churches, and the Chapels Royal. The 
 Parish Churches and their services had sunk to a 
 pitch of squalor which Newman's mordant pen did 
 not exaggerate. The influence of The Christian 
 
292 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Tear, ever extending over a wider circle, and work- 
 ing more deeply as years went on, set men on the 
 pious task of restoring their Parish Churches to 
 something like order and decency. 
 
 With the restoration of the fabric came a more 
 intelligent use of it. The beauty of the material 
 sanctuary seemed to demand some corresponding 
 expression in the forms of public worship. And, 
 while Keble and his Tractarian friends were thus 
 influencing the Church from within, there had been 
 great forces at work outside the Church, which 
 tended in the same direction. These were literary 
 forces, and beyond all doubt they played a most 
 important part in preparing the mind of Eng- 
 land for the movement which issued from Oxford 
 in 1833. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), by his genius for 
 historical romance, did wonders in clearing away the 
 masses of Puritan prejudice which surrounded the 
 Church of Rome. He made men forget the fires of 
 Smithfield, and remember the charities, the sanctities, 
 and the beauties of Romanism ; the perennial attrac- 
 tiveness of Catholic ritual, and the heavenward in- 
 fluence of Gothic architecture. Cardinal Newman 
 has told us how profoundly Sir Walter's spell 
 wrought on his young intelligence, and whatever 
 aff^ected Newman afi^ected the Church of England 
 more widely and more deeply than we have the 
 power to estimate. 
 
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772- 18 34), after some 
 bewildered wanderings in " Pantisocracy " and 
 Unitarianism, found rest and tranquillity in the 
 Church of England, and expounded the trans- 
 cendental ideals of Church and State with all the 
 
LITERARY INFLUENCES 293 
 
 vague but suggestive beauty of a born Platonist. In 
 a word, he supplied Anglicanism with a philosophy. 
 
 Robert Southey (1774-1843), with his lively 
 sympathies and vivid style, set himself, in his 
 Book of the Church, to instruct English people 
 about the history, rights, and functions of their 
 national Church, and its relation to other parts 
 of Christendom.^ 
 
 William Wordsworth (1770- 18 50) led men by 
 his poetry to realize the symbolical, almost Sacra- 
 mental, character of natural beauty, as the visible 
 vesture under which divine truth is made mani- 
 fest to men ; and in his Ecclesiastical Sonnets he 
 brought out the poetical aspects of the Church's 
 common offices of devotion and charity. 
 
 To this list of authors must be added yet another, 
 whom one does not habitually associate with the 
 Catholic Revival — Lord Beaconsfield (1804-81). 
 In Sybil, of all his books the only one which sug- 
 gests a genuine sympathy with the poor, he has 
 some striking passages on the influence of sacred 
 architecture, and the service which the Church, if 
 she would, might render to the masses. " In the 
 centre of the town of Mowbray, teeming with its 
 toiling thousands, there rose a building which might 
 vie with many of the Cathedrals of our land. 
 Beautiful its solemn towers, its sculptured western 
 front ; beautiful its columned aisles and lofty nave ; 
 its sparkling shrine and delicate chantry ; most 
 beautiful the streaming glories of its vast orient 
 
 1 Southey was the first Anglican writer who urged the de- 
 sirability of forming communities of women devoted to works 
 of mercy. The founders of the first English Sisterhood took the 
 idea from him. I state this on the authority of the yth Duke of 
 Rutland. 
 
294 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 light ! " But the Parish Church of Mowbray was 
 useless ; it ministered only to a handful of well- 
 to-do families who frequented it because it was 
 more fashionable than the Chapel. "The Church 
 deserted the people, and from that moment the 
 Church has been in danger, and the people 
 degraded." 
 
 There is no need to multiply citations ; but we 
 should remember that it was by reading Sybil that 
 Lord Leigh was reminded of his duty towards 
 the dwellers on his property in the slums of 
 Holborn. 
 
 The Catholic Revival dates from 1833; the 
 restoration of Ceremonial began twenty years later. 
 The last eighty years have witnessed the free de- 
 velopment of principles which had never died out. 
 In the Eighteenth Century they had been strug- 
 gling for bare existence amid diverse and desperate 
 perils. The dogmas, the traditions, the usages 
 of Catholic Christianity had all but perished out 
 of the Church of England. Her candlestick had 
 gone very near to being removed. Yet, through 
 all that time, even in its darkest and deadest 
 hours, God "left not Himself without witness." 
 His prophets were hidden in the cave ; and no 
 Catholic doctrine or practice was ever left, even 
 for a season, without its believers and upholders 
 in the English Church.^ The leaders of the Oxford 
 Movement brought these things, which had been 
 buried in holes and corners, into the light of 
 day, called public attention to them, vaunted of 
 
 ^ Even Unction was retained ; though, as has been caustically 
 remarked, "the Church, with characteristic devotion to Casar, 
 retained it only in the Coronation of the Sovereign." 
 
THE CHASUBLE 295 
 
 them, bade men recognize that they were no 
 modern growths, nor morbid accretions, nor obsolete 
 antiquities, but the pith and marrow of the Church's 
 life. This was the special work of the years 
 
 1833-53- 
 
 Then came a new stage of the Movement ; and 
 it was the stage which for convenience sake we 
 must call Ritualistic. Speaking more fully, we 
 may say that, very gradually, the men whose duty 
 it was to teach Catholic doctrine to popular con- 
 gregations found it expedient, and even necessary, 
 to express that doctrine in acts and things, as 
 well as in words. It is an interesting study, though 
 outside the scope of this book, to trace that 
 development in detail. The Leaders of the Oxford 
 Movement had nothing to do with it. They were 
 fully occupied with the history, theology, and 
 philosophy of the Faith, and they had no time 
 to spare for external forms.^ 
 
 It was the second generation of the Movement, 
 and the men who were called to pastoral work 
 rather than to study, that first tried to restore the 
 visible beauty of worship. Far back in the 'forties, 
 there were scattered attempts to mark the dignity 
 of the Holy Eucharist by a special garb, and about 
 the year 1850 the Eucharistic Vesture was, here 
 and there, restored in fuU.^ There was no playing 
 at ceremonial, no passion for man-millinery and 
 " solemn foppery," as the enemy politely said ; but 
 
 ■■^ But it is to be remembered that Mr. Keble maintained the 
 obligatory force of the Ornaments Rubric, and that Dr. Pusey felt 
 that he " could not contend too stoutly " for the Eastward Position 
 and the Vestments. 
 
 ' A red chasuble was worn by the Rev. T. Chamberlain at 
 St. Thomas's, Oxford, on Whitsunday 1854. 
 
296 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 simply a desire to show forth the greatness of the 
 Eucharist, as the manifestation of our crucified, 
 risen, and ascended Lord. " This," said Dr. Pusey 
 in 1866, "is from its very centre a lay-movement. 
 The clergy have taught it [the Faith] the people, 
 and the people have asked it of the clergy. We 
 taught it them ; they felt it to be true ; and they 
 said, ' Set it before our eyes.' " 
 
 It is true that some of the restorers of Ritual 
 rather obscured what they meant to teach by in- 
 sisting on symbolic meanings in everything which 
 they wore, or used, or did. Every article of the 
 Celebrant's dress was made to mean something. 
 The Eastward Position was held to teach the 
 Euchafistic Sacrifice, and the " North End " to 
 deny it. Lighted candles on the Altar pro- 
 claimed the Lord's Presence, and Seven Lamps 
 before it typified " the Seven Spirits of God." 
 With regard to Incense Dr. Pusey wrote, " I do 
 not know that censing persons and things has 
 anything to do with the Real Presence. . . . 
 To the mass of the English people (and among 
 them to me) it is an un-understood rite. Three 
 different explanations of it have been given me by 
 Ritualists." 
 
 But when this tendency to attribute significance 
 to trifles was avoided, and Ritual was used, like 
 the High Priest's vesture in the Tabernacle, "for 
 glory and for beauty," it told its tale and worked 
 its way. Everything which helped to make the 
 Service of the Eucharist more glorious- and more 
 distinctive taught, as no words could ever teach 
 it, the central truth of the Sacred Presence. 
 " Heaven itself seemed to have opened, and One 
 
THE "ZEIT-GEIST" 297 
 
 fairer than the fairest of the Angelic Hosts to have 
 come down to earth." 
 
 Such was the Genesis of Ritualism ; and that 
 revival of the ^Esthetic Sense which was the most 
 striking characteristic of the Mid-Victorian age 
 co-operated in its development. The revival which 
 has made itself seen and felt in the truer feeling to 
 Nature, in the cultivation of a higher art, in the 
 adornment of common things, in every detail of 
 dress and decoration, and building and furniture, 
 ministered to the restoration of religious ceremonial. 
 Ritualism was in the air. The culture of beauty 
 was the Zeit-Geist ; and the Church, who in her 
 outward aspects always reflects and embodies the 
 spirit of the age, became ritualistic as society became 
 assthetic. 
 
 Society expressed its own convictions — such as 
 they were — by the splendour of decorative art ; the 
 Church expressed hers by the splendour of liturgical 
 worship ; and people who had become accustomed 
 to the one saw nothing to startle them in the 
 other. 
 
 " Ritual," said Mr. Gladstone, " is the clothing 
 which, in some form and in some degree, men 
 naturally and inevitably give to the performance of 
 the public duties of Religion." The "form" and 
 the " degree " of Ritual, as revived in the Church 
 of England, were extremely various ; and chiefly 
 because those who were attempting to revive it had 
 no authoritative guidance. But study and patience 
 gradually brought to light what had been so long 
 concealed. As the labour of architects had dis- 
 covered the hidden beauties of sacred fabrics, 
 obscured by stucco and upholstery, so the labour of 
 
298 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 liturgiologists discerned the ancient and glorious 
 service of the Church of England, embedded in the 
 directions, the allusions, and the historical setting 
 of the Prayer-book, but long concealed from view by 
 the uncomely accretions of Puritan tradition. 
 
 These various causes have combined to produce 
 the external aspect of the English Church as it is 
 to-day. It must be admitted that this aspect is 
 highly variegated. In some quarters the hideous- 
 ness of Puritanism still survives ; in others, it is 
 difficult to tell at a glance whether one is taking 
 part in the English or the Roman Liturgy. But 
 in the great majority of churches called " ritual- 
 istic," the statuesque dignity which is characteristic 
 of the English use, the clear enunciation of the 
 English words, and the loyal fidelity to the 
 "prescript order" of the Prayer-book, tell the 
 worshipper at once that he is in an English Church. 
 
 Much, of course, remains to be done, both in the 
 way of " levelling-up " and of " levelling-down," 
 before we can attain to the general harmony of 
 use which befits the public services of a national 
 Church ; but, even amid the confusions and per- 
 plexities which must beset an age of reconstruction, 
 the Church of England presents a type of Divine 
 worship which may fairly rank among the glories of 
 Christendom. 
 
 If I have at all rightly told the story of the 
 revival in the English Church during the last sixty 
 years. It Is expedient to trace the relation of St. 
 Alban's Church to that revival, and the mutual 
 influence of each on the other. The Founder of 
 St. Alban's may be taken as a personal link between 
 the earlier stages of the revival and the later. 
 
CHURCH-BUILDING 299 
 
 When once the Tractarian theology had laid its 
 compelling hand on the minds of English church- 
 men, it began to energize in church-building. 
 Men were ashamed to " dwell in cedar, when the 
 Ark of God dwelt within curtains." Their devo- 
 tional instinct found its natural vent in building " a 
 House for the Lord, exceeding magnifical." When 
 such a " House " was built, they rejoiced that it 
 " would be a mute prophet of faith and reverence 
 long after we have passed away." This pious 
 impulse was seen at work in St. Saviour's, Leeds, in 
 the Parish Church of Hursley, in St. Michael and 
 All Angels, Bussage, in All Saints', Margaret Street, 
 and indeed wherever the Oxford Movement even 
 indirectly penetrated. 
 
 Mr. Hubbard, as we saw at the outset, was no 
 disciple of any school or section. His churchman- 
 ship was in part inherited, in part acquired by 
 patient study and earnest consultation. He be- 
 lieved devoutly in the Apostolic Succession, in 
 Baptismal Regeneration, and in the Eucharistic 
 Presence. Concerning Confession he wrote : " If it 
 be found that, through private Confession and by 
 the Grace of Absolution, the depraved can be 
 purified, and the pure become holier, who shall dare 
 to deprive either class of their liberty of action ? 
 The attempt would be as futile as it would be 
 profane." In all these points he was at one with 
 the Tractarian leaders ; and his churchmanship, 
 like that of Dr. Pusey, and Mr. Keble, and Mr, 
 Beresford-Hope, and the anonymous founders of 
 Bussage, expressed itself in the resolve to build a 
 church. The church was to be beautiful ; and 
 furthermore it was to be built in a slum. It was 
 
300 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 to be a visible thank-offering for God's mercies to 
 the donor, and it was specially designed to help 
 " Christ's Poor." The modern way of expressing 
 thankfulness and helping the poor would be to 
 enlarge a Hospital, or to endow a Public Library, or 
 perhaps to create an Institute with billiard-tables and 
 a swimming-bath — all excellent in their way, but 
 lacking the idealism of the earlier method. 
 
 So far, then, as his theology was concerned, and 
 so far as he was a church-builder, Mr. Hubbard 
 belonged to the earlier stage of the Catholic Revival. 
 What about Ceremonial, which has played so con- 
 spicuous a part in the later stage ? It would seem 
 inappropriate to speak of Mr. Hubbard as a 
 Ritualist ; yet he was profoundly impressed by the 
 necessity of dignity and comeliness in Divine 
 Worship. On all points of Ceremonial he took 
 counsel, carefully and thoroughly, with Butler of 
 Wantage, Liddon, Sir John Taylor Coleridge, and 
 Bishop Hamilton of Salisbury ; and, when their 
 opinions were conflicting, he chose his own line and 
 pursued it fearlessly. " He would always, even in 
 early days, support any Incumbent in placing a 
 Cross on the Altar " ; and we have seen that, 
 before St. Alban's was consecrated, he presented, 
 among his other gifts to the church, a chasuble of 
 white linen, with stole, alb, and maniple. In 1868 
 he said, in a Letter to the Bishop of London, 
 "For St. Alban's Church, as I delivered it into the 
 hands of your Lordship, I was alone responsible; 
 and, such as it was then, I would alone have de- 
 fended it against any hostile proceedings." 
 
 I traced in an earlier chapter the gradual develop- 
 
DEVELOPMENT 301 
 
 ment of the Ceremonial used at St. Alban's, and of 
 the various fluctuations and permutations through 
 which it has passed. While that development was 
 in process, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce wrote some 
 words which deserve to be reproduced. "A 
 moderate and sober development of Ceremonial 
 belongs necessarily to the Church as a living body. 
 Life implies, of necessity, change. Death alone 
 secures immutability. ... In any normal condition 
 of the Church, the spiritual necessities of the body 
 necessitate changes. Every varying phase through 
 which it is passing renders some change expedient, 
 perhaps essential to life. The bark-bound tree, the 
 hide-bound animal, must suffer, and too often die. 
 The rigid clasp of an unalterable ritual may fatally 
 repress zeal, generate formality, or nourish super- 
 stition. In the normal condition, therefore, of the 
 Church, Ritual must be and ought to be, elastic and 
 subject to variations. . . . The sober flow of re- 
 viving Ritual is not hostile to primitive truth, and 
 need not tend towards Papal corruptions ; it may 
 tend, if rightly guided, only to restore to us what 
 our fathers had before those corruptions arose ; to 
 revive old English, not to ape new Roman, ways ; 
 and it may be a movement of God's Spirit reacting 
 against the too-prevalent inclination to remove all 
 mystery from religion — a holy desire to mark more 
 clearly, in act and sign, that the worship of the 
 Church even here, for each one who has faith to 
 read aright its true character, is but the shadow cast 
 on earth of the Intercession and the Worship of the 
 Heavenly Temple. Only let it never be forgotten 
 that every increase of outer Ceremonial must be 
 accompanied by an equal increase in the simple 
 
302 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 preaching of the Gospel of Christ and in the 
 heart's devotion of the worshippers ; for, without 
 this inward breathing of the soul under the inspira- 
 tion of the Blessed Spirit, all external imagery 
 soon passes into the Second Death of an hypocritical 
 formality." ^ 
 
 With those wise and edifying words, as true to- 
 day as when they were written, I dismiss the " nicely- 
 calculated less or more " of Ritual at St. Alban's 
 — only remarking that, in all its phases, it has shown, 
 in Newman's words, " the lightness and airiness of a 
 spirit " ; or, to use a homelier simile, has fitted the 
 congregation like a glove. When troubles were 
 thickening round St. Alban's in the distressful year 
 1874, Dr. Pusey wrote to Mackonochie, "Your 
 strength is, and will be, in the hearts of your people. 
 Courts cannot really move you when you have them. 
 ... It was a grand Roman boast — Volentes per 
 populos dat jura." 
 
 Seven years later, when he was nearing the end 
 of his long life, the great Doctor wrote to the 
 Times : 
 
 " Whatever mistakes any of the Ritualists made 
 formerly, no Ritualist would now, I believe, wish to 
 make any change without the hearty goodwill of 
 the people. But all along those who have closely 
 observed the Ritual Movement have seen that it is 
 especially the work of the laity. While the clergy- 
 man has been hesitating, his parishioners have often 
 presented him with the Vestments which they 
 wished him to wear. Mr. Enraght^ and Mr. 
 
 '■ Abridged from the Bishop's Triennial Charge to the Diocese 
 of Oxford, 1866. 
 ^ One of Lord Penzance's victims. See p. 165. 
 
WHERE ARE THE POOR? 303 
 
 Mackonochie have not been struggling for them- 
 selves, but for their people. St. Alban's was built 
 by a pious High Church layman, in what was 
 one of the worst localities in London. It is now 
 full of a most religious population, who join in- 
 telligently in the service provided for them, and 
 love it." 
 
 These last words of Dr. Pusey's force our atten- 
 tion to another point in the retrospect. How far 
 did St. Alban's fulfil its Founder's purpose of 
 ministering to the very poor ? To answer positively 
 is difficult. Those who were present at the service 
 on the evening of the Consecration, and on the 
 succeeding Sunday, were emphatic in their testimony. 
 " The congregation was such as one, judging from 
 past experience, would scarcely have expected or 
 hoped to see in so stately a pile. Not merely those 
 fairly well-to-do were there, and the less struggling 
 class of poor ; but those whom want of means, and 
 insufficient apparel, too often keep away. The 
 bonnetless and shoeless were in numbers amongst 
 them, and, as there are no pew-rents and no appro- 
 priations, they were enabled to feel that they had as 
 good a right to their Church as anybody else." 
 Three years later, the Times sought to enliven the 
 " Silly Season " by sending its reporter to describe 
 the High Mass at St. Alban's, and the report — 
 rather an exact one, as things go — concluded as 
 follows : " Although the Church is situated in a 
 very poor neighbourhood, the congregation is by no 
 means composed of humble persons. Some evi- 
 dently belong to decidedly fashionable society, while 
 scarcely any are below a very respectable middle 
 class. The spirit of devotion that pervades the 
 
304 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 whole assembly is remarkable, and foremost, perhaps, 
 among the devotees are young men of nineteen or 
 twenty years of age, who seem to have the intricacies 
 of Ritualism at their fingers' ends. Yesterday 
 morning (August 26, 1866) the Church was 
 completely filled, the male and female portions of 
 the congregation being apparently equal to each 
 other." 
 
 To this account of St. Alban's, two replies were 
 immediately forthcoming. Mackonochie wrote as 
 follows about the class of people composing the 
 congregation : "A little reflection as to the habits 
 of the very poor in our large towns will, I think, 
 convince you that a service beginning at 11. 15 a.m. 
 is not the one at which to expect many poor. 
 Indeed, had I been at liberty to consult only for my 
 parishioners, I should not have had my service at 
 that hour.^ Still I may say that, knowing my 
 people by sight, I could see not only several of the 
 aristocracy from a distance who were strangers to 
 me, but also many whom, though dressed so as to 
 pass muster, I know to be living by hard daily 
 labour. A poor man or woman does not come to 
 Church for many Sundays in bad clothing. He 
 gives up buying gin, and gets good clothes. I 
 ought to thank you for your testimony to the 
 manner and heartiness of the congregation — made 
 up, let me observe (after allowing for a few rich 
 and a good many poor), of shopmen, warehousemen, 
 tradesmen, professional men, students of medi- 
 cine, &c.; the very men whom the Church generally 
 finds it so hard to hold together." 
 
 1 Mackonochie had intended to have the choral Eucharist 
 at 8 A.M., but was over-persuaded by Mr. Butler. 
 
CLEAN AND CLOTHED 305 
 
 " W. E. J." wrote as follows : 
 
 " St. Alban's is pre-eminently a Church for the 
 poor. The number drawn into the fold by Baptism 
 from among the very lowest and most wretched 
 class is truly astounding. The clergy are indefati- 
 gable in their labour of love among the poor, and 
 there is a goodly muster of this class in the con- 
 gregation every Sunday. 
 
 " I hail the fact that they were not recognisable 
 by your informant as one of the signs of the 
 thorough manner in which the work of conversion 
 has been accomplished. Many who have been 
 gathered in from the surrounding neighbourhoods 
 have been taught that it is fit they should appear 
 decent and clean when they come up to the 
 Temple of God. They who before were beside 
 themselves, as it were, are now sitting clothed and 
 in their right mind. One other reason, perhaps, 
 why the poor were not easily distinguishable from 
 their richer brethren is, that the abominable pew- 
 system (now happily dying out) has never existed 
 here ; but the ' rich and poor meet together in the 
 name of the Lord, for the Lord is the Maker of 
 them all.' No more striking illustration of the 
 mixed character of these congregations could well 
 be given than the following : a poor woman found 
 a book that had been left by the lady who sat next 
 her, and, on giving it to the verger, it was found to 
 belong to a lady of exalted rank. This was on the 
 Eve of Whitsunday." 
 
 One can discern in these extracts the beginnings 
 of a change which gradually overtook St. Alban's. 
 Its enemies advertized it. By repeated descriptions, 
 some calumnious, some laudatory, some grotesque, 
 
3o6 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 in the newspapers ; by the resulting correspondence, 
 often necessary for self-defence ; by caricatures and 
 burlesques ; by incessant persecutions ; by repeated 
 litigation ; by all the arts which could be devised 
 by men of ill-will with the object of destroying 
 a great work for God, St. Alban's was forced 
 into an undesired but unavoidable publicity. In 
 the 'sixties and 'seventies of the last century, no 
 other church had such a name. Others might 
 be excellent and exemplary, more showy, or more 
 " correct," or more fashionable, or more popular ; 
 but there was a sound of adventure and romance 
 in the very name of St. Alban's — a kind of 
 glamour about the fabric and the priests — which 
 attracted adherents from far and wide. One 
 might not wholly approve its ways — one might 
 prefer, as a matter of taste, another form of ritual, 
 or another style of music — some might perhaps 
 desire that the truly English character of the 
 religion taught in it were more clearly displayed 
 in liturgical action — but, let these things be as 
 they might, St. Alban's was what no other church 
 was or could be. It was the " Jerusalem " below, 
 which was " the mother of us all." More especi- 
 ally, as time went on, the characteristic noted by 
 the Times — the number of young men in the 
 congregation — became more and more conspicuous. 
 Pious women there were in abundance — was there 
 ever a church where they did not congregate .? — 
 but St. Alban's was from the first a Man's church, 
 and a Young Man's church before all. 
 
 What was the bearing of all this on the parish, 
 and on the Founder's purpose .? An overflowing 
 congregation, drawn from all parts of London, and 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM 307 
 
 the suburbs, and the country, who could so order 
 their Sunday as to arrive at whatever hour they 
 chose, and pick their seats, and make themselves 
 comfortable, of necessity tended to exclude the 
 poor, whose church-going must be made to fit in 
 with the requirements of rest and food, and the 
 daily routine — not lightest on Sunday — of domestic 
 labour. 
 
 Then again, does the experience of the Catholic 
 Revival, and of all that has been done in the way 
 of building and restoring churches, teach us that 
 the solemnity of sacred architecture attracts the 
 very poor ? Is elaborate music an aid to their 
 devotion ? Are they edified, or bewildered, by 
 what Newman called the " sacred dance " of the 
 Ministers at the High Altar ? I can ask these ques- 
 tions, but I cannot answer them. Perhaps the 
 Church has really not yet emerged from the Cata- 
 combs. Perhaps the ritual of the Upper Chamber 
 is what speaks most movingly to the followers of 
 the Nazarene. 
 
 But, even if we were forced to admit unre- 
 servedly that St. Alban's had only won the poor 
 to friendliness and goodwill and sociability, and 
 had never made them feel that its gorgeous Altar 
 is the centre of their life, should we be forced, on 
 that account, to say that the prayers and alms- 
 deeds of the Founder were thrown away ? No — 
 and a thousand times No. Is it nothing to have 
 diminished human misery, and brightened human 
 lots, and won the love of human hearts, and broken 
 down the walls of prejudice and mistrust ? Is 
 it nothing to have made a Den of Thieves a 
 centre of Christian beneficence ? Nothing to have 
 
3o8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 enlisted the active sympathy of wealth and privi- 
 lege on behalf of the overworked and the 
 underfed, the ignorant, the downtrodden, and the 
 oppressed ? 
 
 As to the spiritual ministrations of the church, 
 has not the Founder's faith been abundantly re- 
 warded? It is of the very essence of devotion, 
 that what we oiFer to God we offer to be employed 
 as He sees best. It is not for us to play the part 
 of Providence, or to prescribe the workings of 
 Grace. We must not murmur if a sacrifice, which 
 we made with one purpose in view, has been used 
 for another. It is honour enough that our offering 
 has been accepted ; happiness enough to see it used. 
 St. Alban's may have been designed to be a poor 
 man's church, and others, not poor, may have 
 crowded in. But whatever else is true about it, 
 this at least is beyond contradiction — that for fifty 
 years God has used it, to an extent which no 
 human prevision could have anticipated, for the 
 fulfilment of His gracious purpose in " bringing 
 many sons unto glory." To thousands of men and 
 women it is to-day what it has always been — " a 
 shadow of a great rock in a weary land, a haven of 
 rest in this tumultuous world, a breakwater for the 
 waves upon waves of human hearts and souls which 
 beat unceasingly around its island shores." ^ 
 
 Of the Faithful Departed, and of their present 
 concern in things here below, we know all too little ; 
 but surely it is not beyond the permitted limits of 
 reverent surmise to believe that there are many 
 who in the invisible world still remember, with a 
 thankfulness for which human language has no 
 ' A. P. Stanley. 
 
"THE BANQUETING-HOUSE" 309 
 
 adequate expression, the day which first guided 
 their footsteps to St. Alban's Church; the arrow 
 of conviction which there pierced their heart ; the 
 assurance of Forgiveness which there spoke to them 
 in Holy Absolution ; and the knowledge, there 
 first vouchsafed, of Eucharistic blessedness. 
 
 " I sate down under His shadow with great 
 delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste. 
 
 " He brought me to the banqueting-house, and 
 His banner over me was love." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 PERMANENCE AMID CHANGE 
 
 " And now, Lord, Thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto 
 Thy servant : now therefore let it please Thee to bless the house of Thy 
 servant, that it may be before Thee for ever : for Thou blessest, O Lord, 
 and it shall be blessed for ever." — David. 
 
 It has been impressively said that " those who 
 dare to invoke the blessing of God upon a human 
 institution, and to believe that they see graven upon 
 its front those more than human words, for ever, 
 should know what they mean. God does not give 
 His blessings lightly or arbitrarily ; nor, when they 
 are once given, are they never withdrawn. Europe 
 is strown with the ruins of great buildings and 
 great societies on which once His blessing deigned 
 to rest — buildings beside which ours are humble, 
 societies of world-wide fame and activity. 
 
 " England is rich in such memorials of bygone 
 grandeur. When we have visited the ruins of some 
 magnificent Abbey, and have endeavoured to picture, 
 not merely the outward aspect of the vast mass of 
 associated buildings, but the minds of the men who 
 designed those glorious forms, or inhabited those 
 sacred walls, the thought must often have occurred 
 to us — The blessing of God was once here. The 
 Lord was once in this place. It was a true House 
 
HOME 311 
 
 of God. It seemed once as though it would abide 
 for ever. 
 
 " It seemed so alike to builder and to inhabitant : 
 
 ' They dreamed not of a perishable home 
 Who thus could build.' 
 
 And, to those who dwelt in them, the Abbeys and 
 Monasteries of England may well have seemed to 
 be marked with the broadest stamp of Permanence ; 
 as much a part of her vital frame-work as her 
 Cathedrals, her Universities, or her Parliaments. 
 In each case, no doubt, they believed that their 
 house would stand for ever ; and now it is a holy 
 desolation and a nest for sparrows." ^ 
 
 A similar thought forces itself upon the mind 
 when we close this retrospect of fifty years. We 
 look back — and we look forward. It is a human 
 instinct to peer into the misty future, and to 
 speculate on the life and activities of St. Alban's in 
 the years that are to come. Perhaps our thoughts 
 turn first to the material fabric which we have so 
 long known and loved. "To some," it has been 
 beautifully said, " to some, every feature of the 
 church stands deep in memories, and dear with the 
 tenderest associations. Our soul is at home in it, in 
 its brooding silence, and strangely tranquillizing air. 
 Beyond other buildings, this is to us our Father's 
 House, the scene of His paternal care, and of those 
 hours of fellowship with Him which, 'better than 
 a thousand,' have brought us life and peace and 
 the happiness which leaves no regrets. 
 
 " In saying all this we are only claiming for the 
 church we love what anyone, anywhere, may claim 
 ^ Condensed from a sermon by Henry Montagu Butler, D.D. 
 
312 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 for the sanctuary which has been his spiritual home. 
 To him his church is as no other church, whatever 
 the pretensions of that church may be. The more 
 or less of art, the splendour of its ritual, the sweet- 
 ness of its music, do not enter into the question of 
 its charms. It is dear, not for its intrinsic beauty, 
 but for the associations which cling to it, and for the 
 share it has had in his own spiritual history. The 
 motto carved above the door of a simple wooden 
 house in the Black Forest — Mein Nest ist das Best 
 — commends itself to us as wholly true. What 
 other nest in all the world could be to us so true a 
 nest as Home .? And so, if any one of us — man, 
 woman, or child — is overheard, as some have been 
 overheard, saying, ' There is no church like St. 
 Alban's,' do not judge us hardly. It is not ignor- 
 ance, or arrogance, or exclusiveness, but only the 
 loyalty of a steadfast love, which, in the scene of 
 God's habitual gifts, thanks Him for all that He 
 has given." ^ 
 
 In those words, many a heart finds the utterance 
 of its habitual thoughts. Men cling with an even 
 passionate fondness to the very bricks and stones 
 which are hallowed by such sanctification. And 
 yet here, obviously and visibly, are the possibilities of 
 change. The memory of March 9, 1899, when the 
 church so narrowly escaped destruction by fire, is an 
 enduring reminder that even the most beautiful work 
 of human art has no stamp of permanence ; and that, 
 when God sees fit to employ the agencies of flame 
 or storm or earthquake, we have no assurance that 
 they will spare even the holiest shrine. It is thus, 
 I suppose, that He teaches us to seek the true 
 ' The Rev. E. F. Russell. 
 
THE FAITH AND THE FABRIC 313 
 
 Shechinah in the temple of the heart, and to 
 remember that the things that are seen are 
 temporal. 
 
 I turn to other possibilities of change. It were 
 a thousand times better that fire should come down 
 from Heaven and consume every altar in Christen- 
 dom, than that a fabric once hallowed by the 
 Christian Mysteries and the Word of Life should 
 be perverted to the propagation of blasphemy 
 or misbelief. The desecrated Church of the Holy 
 Wisdom at Constantinople stands as an enduring 
 memorial of this awful possibility ; and we have 
 from time to time been threatened with similar 
 pollutions of those English sanctuaries which the 
 world calls " National." Some men think that the 
 separation of Church and State in England is near 
 at hand; some, that it is infinitely far off; some 
 look to it as a blessing, others shudder at it as a 
 curse. Some believe that the Church would be 
 stronger and more effective when stripped of her 
 possessions ; others that she would be weaker and of 
 less account — all agree that she had better surrender 
 her fabrics than her faith. But, whatever changes 
 the future may have in store, it is unthinkable that 
 the State can ever lay its sacrilegious hands on a 
 church like St. Alban's, built only half a century 
 ago, with the most definite and explicit purpose 
 of providing the poor with the Word and Sacra- 
 ments according to the use of the Church of 
 England ; and sustained, in beauty and working 
 power, by the freewill offerings of a devoted people. 
 No. So long as the material fabric of St. Alban's 
 lasts, we may be as confident as mortals are allowed 
 
314 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 to be confident about anything, that it will continue 
 to be the home of a spiritual society. 
 
 But will the essential nature of the Church 
 remain unchanged ? I pause upon those words, 
 because they bear directly on the thought which 
 guides this closing chapter — " Permanence amid 
 Change." What is the essence of a Church ? What 
 are its accidents? What is the amount, what is 
 the kind, of " change " which can befall it, with- 
 out affecting its " permanence " ? Questions such 
 as these, though concerned with other matters, 
 perplexed the philosophers of the ancient world, and 
 afforded abundant employment to the Schoolmen 
 of the Middle Age. No very clear answer emerged 
 from all those theoretical disputations ; and we find 
 ourselves a long way from certitude when we apply 
 the same questions to practical issues of the present 
 day. How, for example, is St. Alban's — not the 
 material fabric, but the spiritual institution — to 
 preserve its essential nature, and to find the secret 
 of Permanence amid Change ? One generation can- 
 not answer for another — nay, it cannot even answer 
 for itself. Most probably there are men to-day, 
 worshipping at St. Alban's Altar, and drink- 
 ing in the Gospel from St. Alban's pulpit, who, 
 ten years hence, will have reconsidered some of 
 their present theories about things unseen. If that 
 happens, they may find their spiritual home else- 
 where ; or they may still find it at St. Alban's 
 though under altered conditions. If we look a 
 little further ahead, we know that a new genera- 
 tion of priests and worshippers will have arrived ; 
 and, with them, changed ways of thought, changed 
 modes of expression, changed tastes in things ex- 
 
ETERNAL AND TEMPORAL 315 
 
 ternal, even changed beliefs about matters which 
 now seem finally closed. Some of these changes 
 have actually begun : some seem to be looming not 
 far oflF. Through all the permutations, actual and 
 impending, can St. Alban's maintain its continuity 
 with the work of the last fifty years, and preserve 
 its permanence amid the unknown possibilities of 
 the future ? 
 
 To these questions, and others like them, no two 
 people will make the same answer. Some, indeed, 
 will think it wiser to waste no thought on a future 
 which they cannot control. But this attitude im- 
 plies, I think, an imperfect apprehension of our 
 own place in the scheme of the world, and our 
 own responsibility towards the time in which we 
 live, and, so, towards that which will succeed it. 
 
 " Enough, if something from our hand have power 
 To live and move, and serve the future hour, 
 And if, as towards the silent tomb we go, 
 Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent 
 
 dower, 
 We feel that we are greater than we know." 
 
 It seems to imply no arrogance, but only a duti- 
 ful attempt to be true to our time, if we endeavour 
 to form a clear notion of what is essential to the 
 continuity of a spiritual work, and to its Permanence 
 amid Change ; distinguishing as carefully as we can 
 between the substance and the accidents ; the en- 
 during and the mutable ; the Eternal and the 
 Temporal. 
 
 And, just as I found it impossible to trace the 
 history of St. Alban's apart from the history of the 
 Church of England, so I find It impossible to fore- 
 
3i6 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 cast, however tentatively, the future of the Part, 
 except in so far as it is the future of the Whole. 
 Surveying, as steadily as I can, all that has happened, 
 is happening, and is likely to happen, in the religious 
 life of England, I conclude that the fortunes of St. 
 Alban's will follow the fortunes of the English 
 Church, whether Established or set free. If the 
 Church maintains her Permanence amid Change, and 
 retains her continuity with the historic society which 
 first planted the Christian Faith in this land, St. 
 Alban's, in its lesser sphere, will do the same. The 
 life of the whole will be the life of the part. What, 
 then, is the outlook for the Church ? 
 
 Everybody, I suppose, is at liberty to indulge in 
 dreams. Everybody may foster ideals. The dream 
 of to-day may be wrought into the substance of the 
 future ; and a high Ideal may serve to elevate 
 reality. 
 
 It would overtax the powers of one who was 
 both saint and genius — some Fra Angelico of the pen 
 — to depict even faintly the outline and the colour 
 of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, 
 as the Divine Master willed her to be : " comely as 
 Jerusalem, and terrible as an army with banners " ; 
 one, even as the Sacred Persons of the Undivided 
 Trinity are One ; covering the whole face of the 
 Earth with supernatural blessing ; presenting every 
 day on every altar the Lamb slain from the founda- 
 tion of the world ; speaking everywhere the same 
 clear language of dogmatic truth ; separated by a 
 holy severance from the world and its pollutions ; 
 gathering together the redeemed, out of every kin- 
 dred and tongue and people and nation, to the worship 
 and service of God Incarnate ; and living her life 
 
THE IDEAL CHURCH 317 
 
 from day to day in the glad hope of His most 
 glorious appearing. 
 
 " Hark what a sound, and too divine for hearing, 
 Stirs on the earth and trembles in the air ! 
 Is it the thunder of the Lord's appearing ? 
 Is it the music of His people's prayer ? 
 
 Surely He cometh, and a thousand voices 
 
 Shout to the saints and to the deaf are dumb ; 
 
 Surely He cometh, and the earth rejoices 
 
 Glad in His coming Who hath sworn, I come." 
 
 Perhaps that Ideal Church will some day be a 
 reality, and then the end will not be far off. 
 " Earthly words are indeed all worthless to minister 
 to such high anticipations. Let us close our eyes, 
 and keep silence." ^ 
 
 So much for the dream ; I turn now to the 
 waking. We see that Christendom, like some rich 
 estate which has been divided between the various, 
 and perhaps contending, members of one family, 
 is separated into portions ; and of necessity no 
 one portion contains all the treasures which were 
 included in the undivided property. This fact 
 must be admitted ; and St. Alban's belongs to 
 that portion of the whole which we call the 
 Church of England. Will this Church of England, 
 in the years that are coming, prove the validity of 
 her title by Permanence amid Change ? It is my 
 confident belief (as it was Mr. Gladstone's) that 
 " The Church of England will do nothing, in regard 
 to faith and discipline, to compromise or impair her 
 character as the Catholic and Apostolic Church of 
 this country." She will maintain her priesthood, 
 
 1 J. H. Newman. 
 
31 8 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 derived in unbroken descent from the Apostles, 
 and will hold unwaveringly the Christian faith as 
 professed by the whole Church before the disunion 
 of East and West. Valid Sacraments and orthodox 
 Creeds are essential conditions of a " Catholic and 
 Apostolic Church." 
 
 But, if the Church is to do her Master's Will, 
 she must be not Catholic only, but Evangelical. 
 Of course, in theory there is no antithesis between 
 the two epithets ; and yet, in practice, that antithesis 
 has been too often found ; and some churches, 
 which have been the most tenacious of their 
 Catholicity, have been lamentably wanting in Evan- 
 gelical fervour. 
 
 No Apostolic commission, no orthodox Creed, 
 will save from inanition and paralysis a Church 
 which forgets to Evangelize.^ The sole aim of a 
 living Church must be, in every act and word of 
 her sacred ministrations, to exhibit before the gaze 
 of perishing sinners the Deliverance once for all 
 accomplished, and the Pardon once for all pro- 
 cured. She must point every son and daughter 
 of Adam to the Cross of Calvary, and proclaim 
 to the whole world the glad tidings of a present 
 salvation. Once Mackonochie spoke of those who 
 " have received the Gospel from the Altar of 
 this church " ; and the phrase aptly conveys the 
 close relation between Sacramentalism and Evan- 
 gelization. 
 
 If the Church of England is to hold her own, she 
 must, in my humble judgment, be not only Catholic 
 
 ' Vae mihi est, si non evangelizavero j i Cor. ix. i6. 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE POOR 319 
 
 and Evangelical, but also, in a most real sense, 
 Protestant : she must, in common with the Holy 
 Orthodox Churches of the East, protest against and 
 abjure the usurpations of the Bishop of Rome. 
 She cannot acknowledge the monarchy which he 
 claims without disloyalty to the Divine King of the 
 Church, and to that Catholic Society of which 
 Rome is only a part. Equally must she resist all 
 attempts to erect new and unauthorized papacies 
 within her own precincts. She must remember that 
 the constitution of the Catholic Church is not 
 modelled on the type of an Oriental despotism ; 
 and that the ultimate seat of authority is not in an 
 individual, however highly placed, but in the entire 
 Spirit-bearing body of baptized people. 
 
 Then again, the Church of England, if she is to 
 be Permanent amid the impending Changes of the 
 social world, must show herself to be the Church of 
 the People. She must remember that the note of 
 the Christian Kingdom is that " the poor have the 
 Gospel preached to them." She must recall the 
 warning word that " not many mighty, not many 
 noble, are called." She must not long to " rear her 
 mitred front in Courts and Parliaments." She 
 must repudiate the control of a Godless State, and, 
 with it the patronage of comfortable Philistines, the 
 wealthy, the worldly, and the well-to-do. 
 
 The Church which is to win England for Christ 
 must go out into the highways and hedges, into the 
 slums and the cellars and the reeking garrets of a 
 population which lives twelve in a room ; and there 
 proclaim the Acceptable Year of the Lord — the 
 simultaneous deliverance from moral and from 
 physical degradation. " She shines alike on the evil 
 
320 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 and on the good. She offers the Supernatural to 
 all who choose to come." She invites the outcast 
 and the downtrodden to find within her holy walls 
 a resting-place, a sanctuary, and a home. She tells 
 them that, as members by birth of the Kingly 
 Commonwealth of England, and by Baptism of 
 the Catholic Church, they have the right to claim 
 a share for themselves, and for their children 
 after them, in the soil, the wealth, the civilization, 
 and the government of this professedly Christian 
 land. 
 
 The world is full of intellectual, as well as 
 social, unrest ; and, if the Church of England means 
 to keep her children from rebellion, she must show 
 herself the Church of Freedom. She must claim, 
 not only freedom to regulate her own concerns and 
 to fashion her own worship ; but also freedom to 
 consider the great problems of life and thought in 
 the full light of History and Science and Criticism. 
 In Bishop Westcott's animating words, she must 
 combine " the sovereignty of soul of Antony, the 
 social devotion of Benedict, the humble love of 
 Francis, the matchless energy of the Jesuits, with 
 faith that fears no trial, with hope that fears no 
 darkness, with truth that fears no light." Founded 
 on the Impregnable Rock of the Divine Incarnation, 
 she can look with equanimity on each fresh dis- 
 covery of physical or literary fact. She knows that, 
 whatever scholarship may have to say about the 
 text of the New Testament, " the Church is older 
 than the oldest of her documents," and that she 
 still has the Catholic tradition which sufficed the 
 Church before the Canon was completed. She 
 rejoices in the fresh light which competent criticism 
 
CRITICISM 321 
 
 casts upon the dark places of the written Word ; 
 but all the while she calmly recollects that critics 
 are fallible, and that the peremptory decisions of 
 one generation are commonly reversed by the next. 
 A brilliant child of Israel once wrote : " Europe is 
 not even a quarter of the globe, as the philosophers 
 pretended it was. There is already a fifth division, 
 and probably there will be more, as the philosophers 
 announce it impossible." Our reverence for criticism 
 is conditioned by a similar consideration. 
 
 Catholic, Evangelical, Popular, Free, the Church 
 of the Future, if she is to be one with the Church 
 of the Past, must be profoundly Sacramental. She 
 must realize that Humanity is compounded of 
 body and soul ; she must bear in mind that as 
 long as God has held intercourse with man He 
 has expressed spiritual truths in material forms : 
 and that visible beauty is the vesture of the Divine. 
 Therefore she must press forward, open-hearted and 
 open-handed, to offer her children the sevenfold 
 treasure of Sacramental blessing. Outside the 
 Service of the Eucharist, she will provide a multi- 
 plicity of popular devotions, fitted to arouse the 
 attention and warm the heart of the poor and 
 the uncultivated, to whom, of course, the whole 
 area of the church must be absolutely free. Nor 
 must the Ministry of Preaching be neglected in 
 a country which has a passion for oratory. The 
 clergy must remember that they have no business 
 to oiFer unto the Lord that which cost them 
 nothing, and must bestow their best gifts of 
 thought and knowledge on the sacred function 
 pf speaking to God's people in God's name. 
 
 But, after all, " the Word preached is mingled 
 
 X 
 
32 2 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 with human imperfections ; whereas That which is 
 received in the Sacrament is wholly Divine " : ^ and 
 therefore the Church must gather all her energies 
 of faith and love, all her resources of splendour 
 and devotion, round the Divine Mystery of the 
 Altar. The Most Blessed Presence, under the 
 forms of Bread and Wine, is the sun and centre, 
 the heart and soul, of the worship to which she 
 invites her children. " She rests on the robust 
 reality of the actual event which takes place on 
 this or that Altar." 
 
 Yes — on this or that Altar. The Church fears no 
 crude sciolisms about a " local presence." With 
 St. Chrysostom, she acknowledges that " He lies 
 on our altars Who lay in the crib of Bethlehem." 
 She knows by sacred and incommunicable experi- 
 ence, that the Divine Presence is as real and close 
 as ever it was under the older dispensation, when 
 the Invisible Godhead condescended to dwell between 
 the adoring Cherubim of the Mercy-Seat. The 
 Christian Altar is the Mercy-Seat of the New 
 Covenant, and Christian ritual is the visible ex- 
 pression of an assured belief in the Eucharistic 
 Presence. Beati qui non viderunt, et crediderunt. 
 
 Round this central mystery of the Catholic faith 
 the Church will arrange her worship with a generous 
 latitude in details and incidents, and with an elastic 
 richness which shall in its way resemble the pliant 
 growths and many-coloured raiment of the natural 
 world. But, amid all diversity of detail, the 
 Church, if she is truly the Church of the English 
 people, will remain faithful to certain guiding 
 principles of worship. She will take heed tha| 
 » W, E. Gladstone. 
 
THE RULE OF RITUAL 323 
 
 her ritual shall be intelligible, reverent, dignified, 
 harmonious, free from fuss and excitement, con- 
 sonant with the grave but intense temper of 
 English devotion ; and, above all, that every action 
 and every adjunct shall be so ordered as not to 
 distract or disturb; but to concentrate alike heart 
 and intellect on that transcendent Reality which is 
 enacted at the Altar; 
 
 " Incense and a pure offering, O Lord of Hosts, 
 Thy holy Church presents unto Thy Name : 
 And, when the cloud covers the Mercy-Seat, 
 Look forth upon Thy people, and speak peace." 
 
 So much for the general principles of public 
 worship. On the " nicely-calculated less or more " 
 of ritual I have forborne to speak, for, in a matter 
 where elasticity is of paramount value, pedantic 
 precision is to be sedulously avoided. The order 
 of Divine Worship was guided, under the Old 
 Covenant, by the direct command of God Himself; 
 and, under the New Covenant, an Apostle has 
 laid it down as a subject worthy of the careful 
 consideration of the Christian mind. "Let all 
 things be done in right, graceful, or becoming 
 figure, and by foreordered arrangement." ^ Sanctified 
 common-sense will adapt all details of rite and 
 ceremony to the devotional needs of a great people 
 really " seeking after the Lord, if haply they may 
 feel after Him and find Him." It has been truly 
 said that direct preparation for the future is made 
 in worship ; and, in the worship with which the 
 Church adores the Sacramental Presence of her 
 
 * I Cor. xiv. 40, 
 
324 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 risen Lord, men may best prepare themselves to 
 bear their part in the Ritual of Heaven, and to 
 gaze for ever upon the Beatific Vision. 
 
 " Friend, when the dews are falling, 
 
 When the red sunset fades, 
 When summer owls are calling 
 
 Deep in the darkening glades : 
 Some day we shall see beckoning 
 
 A spire over the hill, 
 A Church beyond our reckoning, 
 
 One Church still. 
 
 Dirige, De prof units. 
 
 For the Churches of the past, 
 Deus obruimur undis — 
 
 Is this Church to be last ? 
 And the lights will seem to us lower, 
 
 The altar-candles dim. 
 And the voices softer and slower, 
 
 A funeral hymn. 
 
 Yet our hearts shall not falter 
 
 Kneeling behind the priest. 
 Turning still to the altar. 
 
 Looking still to the East : 
 IIM hard admonebor — 
 
 The present is as the past, 
 Tuum vultum intuebor ; 
 
 In that Church last." 
 
 J. M. Falkner. 
 
APPENDIX I 
 
 CLERGY AND CHURCHWARDENS OF ST. ALBAN'S, 
 WITH DATES OF APPOINTMENT 
 
 CLERGY 1 
 
 
 CHURCHWARDENS 
 
 A. H. Mackonochie 
 
 1862 
 
 J. G. Hubbard . 
 
 1863 
 
 E. Ibbotson . 
 
 1862 
 
 C. C. Spiller . 
 
 1863 
 
 H. A. Walker . 
 
 1862 
 
 R. Baker . 
 
 1868 
 
 *A. H. Stanton . 
 
 1862 
 
 T. Layman 
 
 1869 
 
 J. W. Doran . 
 
 1863 
 
 E. Cornish 
 
 1869 
 
 F. E. Warburton 
 
 1864 
 
 W. Knott 
 
 1874 
 
 H. E. Willington 
 
 1866 
 
 H. S. Warr . 
 
 1874 
 
 *E. F. Russell . 
 
 1867 
 
 H. Winstanley . 
 
 1878 
 
 J. D. Bradley . 
 
 1867 
 
 J. D. Sedding . 
 
 1882 
 
 *G. R. Hogg . 
 
 1874 
 
 *H. Longden . 
 
 1889 
 
 H. G. Maxwell . 
 
 187s 
 
 J. H. Belfrage . 
 
 1892 
 
 *R. A. J. Suckling 
 
 1882 
 
 F. GilP . . 
 
 1900 
 
 E. A. Harris . 
 
 1887 
 
 *F. E. Sidney . 
 
 1908 
 
 *W. A. Pearks . 
 
 1900 
 
 
 
 ^ To these should be added several who rendered occasional service at 
 St. Alban's, and among them Dr. Chinnery-Haldane, Bishop of Argyll and 
 the Isles, the Very Rev. Provost Ball, the Rev. H. T. Howes (who for 
 many years took the High Celebration on Sunday), the Rev. W. H. 
 Cleaver, the Rev. Orby Shipley, and the Rev. W. H. Lanphier. 
 
 " N.B. — Mr. Gill was a member of the choir which sang in the cellar 
 before the church was opened. 
 
 Still in office. 
 
APPENDIX II 
 
 "THE BATTLE-GROUND OF RITUALISM" 
 
 The following extract from the Holborn Journal of 
 April 1 8, 1868, is reproduced in order to show the diffi- 
 culties which Mr. Mackonochie had to encounter in the 
 earlier days of his incumbency. 
 
 The Annual Vestry for the election of a People's Church- 
 warden was held in the Schoolroom in Leigh Court on 
 Easter Monday, April 13, and was thus reported : 
 
 " For the first time since the opening of St. Alban's the 
 parishioners appeared to be alive to the fact that they had 
 a right to elect a Churchwarden of their own on Easter 
 Monday. The past apparent indifference arose, no doubt, 
 from so few of the more substantial rate-payers ever attend- 
 ing their Parish Church. During the latter part of last 
 week, however, large quantities of bills and placards were 
 distributed throughout the neighbourhood, calling upon 
 the rate-payers to elect a Churchwarden who should repre- 
 sent their own principles. The bill was characteristic in 
 its way, and bore evident marks that it was compiled by 
 the party who are determined, if possible, to put down 
 Ritualism in the Church. The following is an extract from 
 the same : 
 
 " ' Fellow-Citizens ! Your district has become the battle- 
 ground of Ritualism for all England ; have you so little 
 regard for your religion, so little public spirit, as to let ten 
 priest-ridden Ritualists choose the legal representative of 
 the Protestant ' People ' of the district ? 
 
 " ' Let every man remember, that besides his duty to him- 
 self he has duties to his neighbours, to his country, and 
 
 to posterity ; and if the people of England do not perform 
 
 326 
 
APPENDIX II 327 
 
 those duties now as faithfully as their ancestors did in the 
 reigns of Queen Mary and James II, the Mass will again 
 be established throughout England (as it already is in your 
 own District Church), and every one alike will be com- 
 pelled to bow before an arrogant Priesthood claiming to 
 have divine powers over the souls of their fellow-men.' 
 
 "The above had the desired effect. Before half-past twelve 
 an excited crowd met in the schoolroom in Leigh Street, 
 attached to the church. Some little difficulty was experi- 
 enced in questioning as to whether all who sought admit- 
 tance were bona fide rate-payers, which the crowd appeared 
 little disposed to relish, and accordingly a rush was made, 
 before which the officials at the door were compelled to 
 give way. Some of the more excited spirits in the meeting 
 then called upon the meeting to divide themselves — r 
 ' Protestants to one side,' and ' Papists on the other ' — 
 whereupon a division immediately took place, and it is 
 needless to say the * Papists ' were left greatly in the 
 minority. The appearance of Mr. Mackonochie was 
 greeted with groans and other noises, and upon taking the 
 chair he at first appeared a little nervous, but quickly re- 
 gained his composure. After reading the notice calling 
 the meeting, he proceeded to nominate Mr. Hubbard, of 
 Prince's Gate, as his Churchwarden, and who, he said, had 
 kindly consented to act during the ensuing year. 
 
 " Mr. Valpy, solicitor, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, asked 
 whether Mr. Hubbard was a rate-payer and a resident. 
 
 " Mr. Mackonochie : He is a rate-payer, but not a 
 resident. 
 
 " Mr. Valpy said he had instructions from Mr. Munting, 
 of Gray's Inn Road, to protest against the election of 
 Mr. Hubbard on the ground of non-residence. 
 
 "Mr. George Sutcliffe then nominated Mr. Baker, of 
 36 Gray's Inn Road, as People's Churchwarden. 
 
 " Mr. Pallett seconded. 
 
 " Mr. Knott, of Greville Street, moved as an amendment, 
 and Mr. Daniel seconded, that Mr. Spiller be elected 
 People's Churchwarden. 
 
328 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 " The amendment was put by the Chairman amid much 
 uproar, and cries of ' Now for it, Protestants,' ' Shut up 
 the Confessional-Box,' ' Down with Papists in disguise,' 
 'Show your colours,' &c., &c. Upon order being a little 
 restored, there were found to be eight hands held up for 
 Mr. Spiller, and the rest against. The motion for Mr. 
 Baker was put and carried with tremendous cheers, and 
 somebody who mounted on the form, with excited gestures, 
 proposed three groans for Mr. Mackonochie, which was 
 responded to with much earnestness. Mr. Mackonochie, 
 under the very trying circumstances in which he was 
 placed, displayed much composure, and we are bound to 
 say did not once lose his temper. 
 
 " Mr. Libbis drew the attention of the Chairman to the 
 overwhelming majority of parishioners against the doings 
 of his church. 
 
 " Some little discussion ensued as to whether Mr. Baker 
 was elected, Mr. Knott demanding a poll, but ultimately 
 it was withdrawn, and Mr. Baker declared duly elected. 
 
 " Mr. Spiller then rose to speak, but could not be heard 
 for some time. He said it was only fair between man 
 and man, however much they might differ in certain 
 matters, that everybody should have his due. Mr. Mac- 
 konochie was their legal Chairman, and as he had conducted 
 himself in a fair and open manner he moved that he be 
 given a Vote of Thanks. 
 
 " Mr. AUdis, of Gray's Inn Road, seconded. He said as 
 a conscientious Dissenter he opposed the Chairman all 
 he could, but he deeply regretted the personal feeling intro- 
 duced into the affair. He believed Mr. Mackonochie in 
 one sense to be consistent, for he had been told that day, 
 by one of the clergy of St. Alban's, that it was not a 
 Protestant church, and if he could properly put the question, 
 he would like to ask Mr. Mackonochie whether he really 
 admitted this. (Cheers.) That very fact would make 
 his (Mr. AUdis's) opposition more urgent and determined, 
 and he trusted the gentleman they had made Churchwarden 
 that day would aid them in that object, but at ihe same 
 time sustain his office in a gentlemanly and Christian 
 
APPENDIX II 329 
 
 manner. (Hear, hear.) He also thought all Englishmen 
 liked fair play, and though they differed from Mr. Mac- 
 konochie in the church, as Chairman he was entitled to 
 their thanks. 
 
 " The motion was then put and carried, although there 
 were few hands held up either for or against. 
 
 " The Chairman said he thanked the meeting very much 
 for their kindness in passing the motion. He said he was 
 Very glad to meet his parishioners, and he hoped Mr. 
 Baker and himself, however much they differed, would 
 associate together in a friendly spirit.^ 
 
 " The meeting was then declared dissolved, several of 
 Mr. Mackonochie's friends shaking hands with him. One 
 lady, decently dressed, evidently labouring under some 
 excitement, went up and took the Chairman by the hand, 
 and after stating how long she had been in the neighbour- 
 hood, and how long she had known Mr. Mackonochie, 
 concluded by stating 'she would do anything for him 
 if he would only give up his idolatrous practices.' The 
 Reverend Gentleman, however, preserved his equanimity 
 in a wonderful manner, and merely bowed. However 
 much Mr. Mackonochie's practices in connection with 
 the order of worship at St. Alban's may be condemned, 
 it is but justice to state that, as Chairman, everything was 
 fair and open, and that under circumstances of a very 
 trying nature he exhibited much Christian courtesy and 
 evenness of temper." 
 
 ^ This hope was abundantly fulfilled. 
 
APPENDIX III 
 
 PAROCHIAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 
 St. Alban's Curates' Fund. — Treasurer, Rev. R. A. J. 
 Suckling ; Secretary, Rev. G. R. Hogg ; Deputation, Rev. 
 A. H. Stanton. 
 
 St. Alban's Schools. — Managers, The Vicar, Rev. E. F. 
 " Russell, Messrs. H. Longden, F. E. Sidney (Secretary), 
 Alderman W. Donaldson Rawlins, K.C. {L.CC), and 
 Lacy W. Ridge {Borough). — Chairman and Correspon- 
 dent, Rev. R. A. J. Suckling. 
 
 The Care Committee. — The Vicar, Rev. E. F. Russell, 
 Mr. H. Longden, Mr. F. E. Sidney, Mr. Lacy W. 
 Ridge, Miss Winstanley, The Sister Superior, Miss Baker, 
 and Miss W. Buckley, Hon. Sec. 
 
 Day Schools. — Head Master (Boys and Mixed Standard), 
 Mr. C. W. Rule. Head Mistress (Girls and Infants), 
 
 Miss Matthews. 
 
 Penny Association in aid of Parochial Schools. — Sec- 
 retary and Treasurer, Miss Rosa Macdonald, 4 West- 
 minster Mansions, S.W. 
 
 Children's Penny Dinners. — Miss Baker, 37 Brooke 
 Street, Holborn, E.C. 
 
 Sunday Schools. — Superintendents : Boys, Mr. Rule ; Girls, 
 Miss Matthews and Miss W. Buckley; Standard, Miss 
 Marion Robinson ; Infants, Miss Leonard. Secretary 
 and Treasurer, Mr. R. E. Alison. 
 
APPENDIX III 331 
 
 The Old Scholars' Class. — 
 
 For Young Men. — Superintendent, Rev. E. F. Russell. 
 For Young Women. — Superintendents, Miss Baker and 
 Miss Welch. 
 
 Brotherhood of Jesus of Nazareth. — Superior, Mr. W. 
 O. Croft; Chaplain, Rev. A. H. Stanton; Secretary, 
 Mr. D. Denne. 
 
 Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (Branch). — 
 
 Superior, Rev. R. A. J. Suckling ; Treasurer, Miss 
 
 Winstanley ; Secretary, Miss Arbuthnot, 2 7 Ashley 
 
 Gardens, S.W. 
 
 Meetings in Church — ist Thursday in the month at 8 p.m. 
 
 Black Mass in St. Sepulchre's every Monday (as far as 
 
 possible) at 8 a.m. 
 
 Altar Decoration Fund. — Collectors, Miss Greenstreet, 
 Miss Millner, Miss Tompson, Mr. Croft, Rev. G. R. Hogg. 
 
 Finance Committee. — Members : Ex Officio — The Vicar 
 and Clergy. Elected — The Churchwardens and Messrs. 
 Alison, Bennett-Powell, Dr. Champneys, J. Arthur Price, 
 G. J. Smallpeice, John H. Wrentmore, H. Percy 
 Winstanley {Secretary). 
 
 Church Burial Society. — President and Manager, The 
 Vicar; Hon. Treasurer and Secretary, Mr. W. O. Croft. 
 Attendance at Old Scholars' Club, Baldwin's Gardens, 
 every Tuesday evening from 7.30 to 8 o'clock. Vespers 
 for the Dead are sung in Church on last Friday in 
 each month, at 8 p.m. 
 
 Association in Support of Foreign Missions, and especi- 
 ally OF the Universities' Mission to Central 
 Africa. — Treasurer, Mr. Alison. Meetings in Church, 
 2nd Thursday in month after Evensong. 
 
 Working Party meets on Fridays at 8.30 p.m. under the 
 direction of Miss Prichard at 35 Brooke Street. 
 
 English Church Union (Branch). — Secretary, Mr. C. 
 David Cornwell. 
 
332 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 St. Alban's Mission. — Branch House of the Sisterhood 
 of St. John the Baptist, Clewer. Mission House, 9 
 Greville Street, E.G. 
 
 Guild of the Holy Family (for Married Women). — 
 Mission House, Meetings every Monday, 8.15 p.m. 
 
 Guild of St. Mary the Virgin, under the Sisters of 
 St. John the Baptist. Services on the Feasts of Our 
 Lady. Monthly Meetings. Warden, The Vicar. Occa- 
 sional Meetings in Church. 
 
 Guild of St. Monica. — Monthly Meetings at St. Monica's 
 Home, Brooke Street. Warden, The Vicar; Superior, 
 Mrs. Blois ; Assistant Superior, Miss Richardson. Occa- 
 sional Meetings in Church. 
 
 Bible Class for Women. — Mission House, Thursday 
 evenings at 7.30. 
 
 Sewing Class (vi^ith Bible Class) for Women. — St. 
 Alban's Hall — Monday afternoons at 2.30. 
 
 Mothers' Meetings, held at 34 Brooke Street. Monday 
 evenings, 6 to 8 ; Wednesday afternoons, 2 to 4. Lady 
 Superintendent, Miss M. Millner ; Mission- Woman, Mrs. 
 Jones, Greville Street, E.G. 
 
 Maternity Society. — Bags of linen lent to poor married 
 women in their confinements. Apply to Miss M. 
 Millner, 34 Brooke Street. 
 
 Girls' Friendly Society (Branch). — Occasional Meetings 
 in Church. Bible Class on Sunday afternoon at Mission 
 House. Meetings in St. Alban's Hall — Sundays, for 
 Tea ; Thursdays, for Recreation. 
 
 Sewing Classes for Girls. — Mission House, Thursday 
 and Friday evenings. 
 
 Girls' Night School, under Superintendence of the Sisters. 
 Monday and Wednesday evenings. 
 
 Children's Guild, under Superintendence of the Sisters. 
 Meetings in St. Alban's Hall. Girls — Wednesday, 6 to 
 8 P.M. Boys — Saturday, 3 to 5 p.m. 
 
APPENDIX III 333 
 
 St. Joseph's Infant Nursery. — 9 Greville Street. 
 
 St. John Baptist Dorcas Society. — The Sisters, St. Alban's 
 Mission House. 
 
 St. Monica's Hostel, 19 Brooke Street, E.G. — For Lady 
 Clerks, Students, Governesses, and young people of 
 limited means. For information as to Terms, &c., apply 
 to Mrs. Blois, 120 Mount Street, W., or to Miss 
 Richardson, 19 Brooke Street, E.G. 
 
 St. Ursula's Home, Brooke Street, E.G. — For daughters 
 of Clergy and Professional Men. For information as 
 to Terms, &c., apply to Miss H. Frere, 3 Norfolk 
 Square, W. ; or Sister Caroline, St. Ursula's Home, 
 Brooke Street, Holborn, E.G. 
 
 Ladies' Choir Association. — Secretary, Miss Sidney ; 
 Treasurer, F. E. Sidney, Esq., " Moreton," Holly Place, 
 Hampstead, N.W. 
 
 St. Alban's Hall Ladies' Committee. — Mrs. Blois, Miss 
 H. Frere, Miss O'Neill. Secretary, Miss Jane Garrett, 
 12 Highbury Crescent, N., to whom applications for 
 use of the Hall should be made. 
 
 Father Stanton's Sunday Afternoon Teas. 
 The Mackonochie Home at Bognor. 
 
 " St. Alban's Mothers' Meeting was begun in July 
 1863, by Father Mackonochie, and placed in the hands of 
 Miss Millner as Superintendent. The Parochial Mission- 
 Women's Society has always provided a Mission-Woman 
 to help. A kind of shop is kept, and the women having 
 put away weekly their pence, when they have sufficient to 
 pay, have tea, sugar, calico, shirting, and books, and this 
 benefits others as well as the Mothers' Meeting. A lady 
 every now and then visits us from the Parochial Mission- 
 Women's Society to see how we are getting on. We 
 began with thirty and now number two hundred. We do 
 
334 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 not admit anyone outside the parish — but if they leave the 
 parish we do not turn them out. Two of the clergy visit 
 the meetings, which happen twice a week, and read and 
 talk and amuse them. The meetings are not conducted as 
 a specially religious occasion, for it is thought with so 
 many services at the Church the mothers have plenty of 
 opportunity of going when they wish. 
 
 "Every summer we have an Excursion, generally to 
 Southend, and in the winter a Treat with music and acting, 
 and a present of a blanket or quilt. The money collected 
 by the Mission-Woman altogether from the mothers and 
 parish amounts to nearly ;^300 a year. 
 
 " Apropos of not introducing religion. On one occasion 
 the lady from the Parochial Mission-Women's Society said, 
 ' Surely you say a collect, for example the collect for the 
 week, before you begin your reading.' It was the second 
 Sunday in Advent, and the reading was from Nicholas 
 Nickleby." 1 A. H. S. 
 
 " Our Sunday Afternoon Tea sprang from the Brother- 
 hood of Jesus of Nazareth, and it was the members of that 
 Society who managed it. 
 
 " It is an endeavour to bridge over that great gulf fixed 
 between the roughest of the lads and ourselves, the gulf 
 fixed so that we could not reach them, neither could they 
 pass to us. 
 
 " The tea is from 4 to 6 on Sunday afternoons, all except 
 the first Sunday in the month, when the Church lads come. 
 Any lad from fourteen to twenty-five can come if he 
 belongs to the parish, and needless to say the parish is 
 stretched considerably. It doesn't matter what religion 
 he is, Anglican, Roman, Jew, or nothing ; we meet on the 
 common ground of our common nature — which can enjoy 
 a good tea and smoke and sing the songs of the streets, and 
 dance the dances we know, and tell the yarns of the week. 
 Needless to say they are very popular and very amusing, 
 but the games of the occasion can only be seen and not 
 described. 
 
 I Seep. 114. 
 
APPENDIX III 335 
 
 " Well, what good do they do ? That's an appraisement 
 impossible — we keep out of the way of the * coppers,' we 
 have a sense of comradeship, fellowship, and friendship, we 
 follow the little religion we have, if we have any, in our 
 own way. But the Religion of the thing remains in the 
 fact that we meet together, sit down to a meal together, 
 smoke together, and are happy together. And that is 
 something which helps to bridge over the yawning gulf fixed 
 in society betwixt men and men." A. H S. 
 
 THE MACKONOCHIE HOUSE, BOGNOR 
 
 " I don't believe there is a home in England which has 
 been so much appreciated as the home Miss Stewart makes 
 for anyone who needs it at her house at Bognor. There 
 arc no rules or restrictions, save only that visitors must 
 behave themselves as decent people should ; and everything 
 that can be done to make them comfortable and happy is 
 done. ' The proof of the pudding is in the eating,' and 
 the numerous applications for admittance, many more than 
 can be entertained, testifies how far and wide Miss Stewart's 
 kindness is appreciated. 
 
 " It isn't St. Alban's parish only that has benefited, but 
 many others ; nay, almost anyone from anywhere who 
 wants care and rest and comfort and good food, claims 
 Miss Stewart's help, and sooner or later always gets it. 
 
 " Those who can pay, pay something, and those who 
 can't, pay nothing ; but the untold good that for thirty years 
 the Mackonochie House has done can never be written of 
 or estimated. It lies deep down in the memories of many 
 a sufferer, and is beyond appraisement. 
 
 " Miss Stewart started it in memory of Father Mac- 
 konochie just after his death, Christmas 1887. No monu- 
 ment to him could be better than the living one at Bognor, 
 which still bears witness to his devoted life among the poor." 
 
 A. H. S. 
 
APPENDIX IV 
 
 ST. MARTIN'S LEAGUE 
 
 May 1877. Three or four letter-carriers met in Father 
 Stanton's room and suggested that he might form a Society 
 or Club for Postmen. After a few meetings he decided to 
 do so and call it St. Martin's League, to which employes 
 of the Post Office could belong. Rules were drawn up 
 and a medal designed, bearing the device of St. Martin and 
 the motto " Non recuso laborem." 
 
 June 6, 1877. The League was founded. A service was 
 held in St. Alban's, Holborn, and an address given by Father 
 Stanton when fifty members joined. Father Stanton became 
 President, and from the commencement of the League till 
 its close was practically responsible for its maintenance. 
 Membership meant employes at the P.O. belonging to the 
 Church of England ; Associates^ employes at the P.O. not 
 belonging to the Church of England and paying a sub- 
 scription of IS. annually ; and friends of the League subscrib- 
 ing not less than is. bd. a year. 
 
 The objects of the League were Love to God and Man. 
 
 To God : by endeavouring to lead good lives. 
 
 To Man : by having at heart the common brotherhood 
 of humanity, and trying to live up to the principles of 
 fraternity. 
 
 This being interpreted, meant : To provide for London 
 letter-carriers and sorters, houses of rest where they could 
 sleep, eat, or read in quiet. From the nature of their work 
 they had many hours "ofF" during the day, and as the 
 men and lads lived in the suburbs, it was a great advantage 
 to them to have a place near the Office where they could go 
 
 during these times ; at any rate it was an alternative to th^ 
 
 33S 
 
APPENDIX IV 337 
 
 crowded coffee-house or public-house. The admission of 
 members was at a short religious service. 
 
 The first " House " was 5 Greville Street, where Father 
 Stanton was already carrying on other work. Mrs. Alison 
 was the Lady Superintendent and Father Stanton the 
 Warden. The affairs of the League were managed by the 
 President, Hon. Treasurer, Hon. Secretary, and a Council. 
 
 1878. A Branch House was opened in the Eastern district, 
 with the Rev. L. S. Wainwright as Warden and Mrs. 
 Aubert Lady Superintendent. The opening of this house 
 was followed by requests from postmen for Branch Houses 
 in other districts. 
 
 1879. Father Stanton obtained a house in the S.E. dis- 
 trict and opened a branch of the League there. Mr. R. R. 
 Dolling (afterwards Father Dolling) subsequently became 
 Warden, and Miss Rogers Lady Superintendent. The 
 League now numbered about 550. Mr. Walter Schroder 
 (who had been an Associate and the Auditor of the 
 Associates' accounts from the foundation of the League) 
 became Hon. Treasurer. Miss Bannister offered accom- 
 modation in her house at Brighton for a limited number 
 of the members to spend part or whole of their holidays. 
 This was so appreciated that Father Stanton moved to 
 obtain a house of the League's own. He leased a small one 
 at St. Leonards, and Mrs. Roberson was the Matron. The 
 men had the option of going to St. Leonards or Brighton 
 on payment of lOi. weekly. The S.E. and Brighton 
 Railways gave facilities for travelling at reduced fares. 
 
 1880. Major (afterwards Colonel) Foote interested him- 
 self and his friends in the League. The work was again 
 extended, and by his and Mrs. R. Tomkinson's help a bi-anch 
 in the S.W. district was opened. Major Foote becoming 
 President and Mrs. Tomkinson Lady Superintendent. 
 
 1 88 1. Up to this time contributions from the members 
 had been by voluntary offerings at the monthly meetings. 
 At the Annual Meeting it was decided to have an annual 
 subscription of 4^. from each member. The Brighton 
 House was no longer available as a holiday home, and Father 
 Stanton took action to get a larger and more convenient 
 
 y 
 
338 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 house at St. Leonards. He appealed for pecuniary help, and 
 succeeded in obtaining the bulk of the necessary sum. 
 The lease of a house in Carisbrooke Road, St. Leonards, was 
 purchased ; the building was altered to the special require- 
 ments, and the cost of purchase and alteration, about £ijoo, 
 was met mainly by Father Stanton and his friends directly 
 or indirectly connected with St. Alban's. The Postmaster- 
 General, Lord John Manners (afterwards yth Duke of 
 Rutland), and the Dean of St. Paul's (Dr. Church) became 
 Patrons of the League. 
 
 1882. On February 26th the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 preached at the Church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields to 
 the League and in aid of its funds.^ 
 
 1883. The first official report was issued. The League 
 now numbered 646 members and 168 associates : 352 
 members spent their holidays at the Seaside House. Two 
 Concerts were given, one organized by Miss Tennant and 
 under the patronage of Mrs. Gladstone. A Bazaar was 
 held in the Marlborough Rooms and realized ;£soo. The 
 members voluntarily increased their subscriptions for the 
 Seaside House board and residence to 12s. 6d. per week. 
 Musical At Homes were given on various occasions at the 
 houses, and Sing-songs organised by members and friends 
 on each Tuesday evening from November till March, each 
 Branch being visited once a month, Mrs. R. Tomkinson 
 and the Misses Layton always helping. 
 
 1884. Father Stanton and those closely associated with 
 him in the League were of opinion the membership should 
 be unrestricted. The League had been cradled by Church- 
 men, and the members had ever respected the traditions 
 of its infancy, but it had grown, and to continue its 
 work outside help was necessary. The League had become 
 a Subscription Society, and must so continue. A growing 
 uneasiness arising from a sense of unreality led Father 
 Stanton to take the opinion of the members at the Annual 
 Meeting, and the meeting decided that membership should 
 imply only employment at the Post Office, and so it came 
 about that, from 1884, to all inquiries as to the League 
 
 ^ See p. 282, 
 
APPENDIX IV 339 
 
 the answer was : " The members are employ6s of the Post 
 Office, without religious distinction, and its objects are to 
 supply pfaces of rest for the postmen during the intervals 
 which necessarily occur, when they are not actually engaged 
 in the delivery of letters." The men again raised the Sea- 
 side House subscriptions, the payment being 145. weekly. 
 A Concert was given at Grosvenor House under distin- 
 guished patronage by eminent artists, when ;£i8o was 
 obtained. 
 
 1885. The year's expenses amounted to nearly ^1300, 
 the four London houses costing £7^0 and the seaside 
 house ;^530. Towards these sums the members con- 
 tributed by subscriptions to the General Fund ;^I25 and 
 by payments at the Seaside House £,2^$. The League 
 now numbered 677 members and 196 Associates. In this 
 year Father Stanton went to America. The Commemora- 
 tion was somewhat curtailed, but the Church Service was 
 one of the best ever held. The choir, trained by Mr. 
 Sampson, the organist of St. Alban's, and the Misses Layton, 
 did splendidly, and the congregation of Members in uniform 
 and Associates led Father Stanton to remark that it was the 
 best " welcome home " that he could have had. 
 
 1886. The Second Bazaar — held at Grosvenor Hall 
 — realized £^^2, and met the deficit over the subscrip- 
 tions. 
 
 1887. The Expenditure was £i2S^ and the income £']'i'i. 
 The deficit of ;^545 was discharged by the President, but 
 he found it necessary to state that he could not guarantee to 
 do so again. The Treasurer endeavoured to ascertain the 
 names of Friends and Associates willing to help : and 
 special efforts were made by Father Stanton and his friends 
 to keep the League afloat, which at the end of the year 
 appeared to be in a state of dissolution. 
 
 1888. The membership had fallen to 400, in the belief 
 that the London houses would be closed in March at the 
 end of the agreements. There had been many difficulties 
 and changes. A great loss was the resignation from ill- 
 health of Mrs. Roberson as Matron of the Seaside House. 
 Mrs. Barnes succeeded her, and started with a devotion 
 
340 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 and attention to the work which will ever remain associated 
 with St. Martin's League. 
 
 Before the year closed the League started a new existence. 
 Public help was solicited, and subscriptions to the amount 
 of ;^Soo per annum were obtained. Hitherto whenever 
 necessary the deficit had been made up by Father Stanton 
 and his personal friends. In 1888 for the first time he was 
 exempt. His friends joined the ranks of subscribers, and 
 the outside public showed a willingness to support the 
 League which gave him the greatest gratification. Major 
 Barrington Foote had advocated the League's cause, and 
 was instrumental in obtaining the help of Mr. Meiggs, who 
 practically took upon himself the expenses for five years 
 of the S.W. Branch House. The Patrons of the League 
 were now the Duke of Rutland, the Dean of St. Paul's, 
 and Major Barrington Foote, and the Officers were Father 
 Stanton President, Mr. Walter Schroder Hon, Treasurer, 
 Miss Cole Hon. General Secretary, Mr. Alfred Ellerton 
 Hon. Auditor, and Dr. C. Baker Gabb the Hon. Surgeon 
 to the St. Leonards House, with Secretaries and Council 
 elected from members of the League. 
 
 A friend of the lady who managed the S.E. House 
 undertook the expenses of that house for two years, and 
 half of those of the Eastern House were discharged by 
 the Lady Superintendent. During the year £7 66, los. 6d, 
 was received from outside subscriptions and donations, 
 including ^21 from the Merchant Taylors' Company : the 
 members' subscriptions brought in £"]! to the General 
 Fund and ;^25o towards the Seaside House Expenses. A 
 Pastoral Performance by Mr. Ben Greet and his company 
 at Lowther Lodge by kind permission of the Hon. Wm. and 
 Mrs. Lowther and under the Patronage of H.R.H. the 
 Princess Louise ; a Concert at the house of Sir James and 
 Lady Walker under the Patronage of H.R.H. the Princess 
 Mary of Teck and H.H. the Duke of Teck ; two Drawing- 
 room Meetings, and a Concert by members of the League, 
 brought in £i<)J. After payment of all expenses of the 
 Seaside and London Houses, the Treasurer carried a balance 
 of cash in hand of j^ioS, gs. iid. to the following year. 
 
APPENDIX IV 341 
 
 1889. Bazaar at Duke of Wellington's Riding School 
 realized ;^504, oj. 7^., and a subsequent sale ^^67, 4^-. dd. 
 A Branch House for the Western District was opened with 
 Mrs. Ringer and Miss Everard as Lady Superintendents. 
 The League now numbered 800 subscribers, and 500 used 
 the Seaside House. The total expenditure was ^^1641, and 
 the year's accounts were closed with ^^226 in hand. 
 
 1 890. Appeal was made by the President, Hon. Treasurer, 
 and Hon. General Secretary to the City Companies, which 
 met with a generous response by six of the Worshipful 
 Companies, who gave collectively ;^i52. 
 
 The Duke of Westminster, K.G., became Patron in 
 place of Dean Church. 
 
 1 89 1. Concerts realised ;^72, the OflFertory at St. Alban's 
 and Donations at the Festival gave ^310, iqs. <)d., and a 
 Rag Fair brought in £2^, 12s. The expenses were £1600. 
 The members contributed ;^I44, 8s. by subscriptions and 
 £4-2'j, 1 45. by payments to the Seaside House. Miss 
 Cole on account of other work resigned the General 
 Secretaryship and Mrs. Keen was appointed. 
 
 1892. Bazaar at Portman Rooms, opened by Sir James 
 Fergusson, Postmaster-General, and managed by Mr. Walter 
 Schroder, realized ;^626, js, i\d., all expenses paid, and a 
 later Sale of Work at St. Alban's Hall brought in ;£44, 
 171.3^. 
 
 1 893. Expenses of London Houses totalled £?)6o, y. <^d. 
 and St. Leonards ■£,d']2y i8j. 3^. There was a falling off 
 in donations and subscriptions from outside sources. 
 
 1894. Leases of two of the London Houses fell in, and 
 after careful consideration it was decided not to renew 
 them, and to also close a third House. The necessity 
 for the Houses was much less. The men's working 
 hours were more concentrated, and the general working 
 conditions improved. Subscriptions diminished, and Father 
 Stanton and those best able to judge felt there was not 
 the same cause to ask for help. 
 
 1895. The expenses were ^1328, I2s. 8d., and the year 
 closed with a deficit of ;^24, 3^. 8d. The relinquishment 
 of the S.E., the S.W., and the W. Houses cost over ;£300, 
 
342 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 and drained the exchequer. Father Stanton wrote at the 
 time of closing the Houses, " They were happy, exuberant 
 days which we shall never forget, but both the President 
 and Treasurer — who have been associated with the League 
 all along from its very commencement — are not what they 
 were, and could not have gone on with increasing respon- 
 sibilities and advancing years." 
 
 Greville Street House had been closed, and the League 
 Headquarters were now at St. Martin's House, 21 and 
 22 Brooke Street, a house built to suit the requirements 
 under lease by the Prudential Asssurance Company, 
 
 A great loss was sustained by the death of Mrs. Alison. 
 She had ever been indefatigable in her work, and her 
 interest in the League never wearied from the days when 
 she managed huge annual suppers in Holborn Town Hall, 
 planned and furnished the new house in Brooke Street, and 
 managed it till her illness. 
 
 1896. Interest in the League and appreciation by the 
 members continued. A Concert at Westminster Town 
 Hall, the OfFertory on St. Martin's Day at St. Alban's, 
 and a Sale of Work brought in close on ;^ioo, which with 
 the subscriptions and donations met the expenses. 
 
 1897. The numerical strength of the League was main- 
 tained, and it was as much appreciated by the members as 
 ever. Subscriptions and donations from outside sources 
 amounted to j^3S2, 14s., a Sale of Work at St. Alban's 
 Hall at Martinmas realized £,$"], 3^. 3^., and the OfFertory 
 at the Service in St. Alban's was ^63, 75. 6d. The mem- 
 bers' subscriptions and passes to St. Leonards amounted to 
 ^^507. After payment of all expenses there was a balance 
 in hand of ;^i45, os. gd. on December 31. 
 
 1898. The lease of the Eastern Branch House was nearing 
 its end, and it was thought well not to renew it. Mrs. 
 Aubert had been responsible for the upkeep of the house 
 from the closing of the others. Better accommodation was 
 available for the members at their work, and the great 
 necessity for a continuance of the house did not now exist. 
 
 The League by the death of Mrs. Barnes, the Matron 
 at St. Leonards, lost one of its chief and most devoted 
 
APPENDIX IV 343 
 
 workers. The difficulty in obtaining anyone to take her 
 place was great. Could it be done ? To keep the Seaside 
 House open meant Bazaars, Concerts, subscriptions, and 
 donations. The special need had passed. Was it not well 
 to close ? After much thought and consultation with those 
 intimately concerned Father Stanton decided the time was 
 opportune to limit the League's work and premises to the 
 E.C. House, and September saw the ending of the St. 
 Leonards Holiday Home. £4-1, is. yd. was in hand. 
 
 1899. "^^^ Treasurer had set his heart on obtaining 
 a certain price for the lease of the Seaside House, but for 
 some months it seemed as if a lower sum would have to be 
 accepted. He ignored the suggestions of several house 
 agents, being of opinion that the sum he was asking was 
 both equitable and reasonable. Eventually a gentleman, who 
 when the house was first announced for sale was pleased 
 with its condition, position, and surroundings, came to 
 terms with Mr. Schroder, and the transfer was concluded at 
 the amount originally fixed. The furniture and other 
 effects, save a few transferred to the London House, had 
 been sold, and realised £<)2, a sum within a few pounds 
 of the estimated value. Had the house remained open 
 another year it must have been practically refurnished 
 throughout. After meeting all expenses incidental to the 
 caretaking and closing of the house and the sales, a balance 
 of ^814, 4^. 2^- was carried to the General Fund. There 
 was now only the E.C. House to deal with. The Treasurer 
 at the end of 1899 had £7^0, is. bd. in hand. 
 
 1 900-1. Father Stanton and Mr. Schroder had many 
 consultations as to the future for the League. The ex- 
 penses of the E.C. House were annually about ;^35o. 
 The lease could be determined in 1902 ; if that passed 
 another seven years would have to run ; dilapidations would 
 have to be provided for whenever it closed. Could the 
 money be found to continue the House, and if it could 
 was there the need ? Finally, they decided to end the 
 League in 1902. Mr. Schroder estimated that the cash 
 in hand, supplemented by some outside subscriptions 
 anticipated, and a few from old friends of Father Stanton 
 
344 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 who might be disposed to assist until the last London 
 House closed, would be sufficient to carry it on till 
 March 1902. They agreed not to invite further con- 
 tributions, but inform the donors and subscribers who had 
 so generously aided the League for many years that the 
 time had arrived when the necessity for invoking their 
 generosity had ceased. 
 
 1902. A sale of the elFects of St. Martin's House was 
 held in February, dilapidations estimated at ;£l4S were 
 settled by payment of -^115, and on March 25 the keys 
 of the last League House were handed over to the 
 owners. Mr. Schroder, after payment of all accounts, 
 had £<)0, 8^. id. in hand, and that sum was given to the 
 St. Alban's Curates Fund. A fitting finish to an original 
 and great work initiated and founded by Father Stanton, 
 carried on by the help of his friends, those interested 
 in St. Alban's Church, and others who recognised its 
 good. A sum of about ^30,000 had been spent on St. 
 Martin's League. 
 
 There was no decay at the finish ; the work was laid 
 down because the necessity for its continuance did not 
 exist to so great a degree. 
 
 Whenever and wherever tried, the experience had been 
 highly appreciated by the postmen. It engendered good 
 feeling and fellowship, and kept them healthy and happy, 
 breaking into the monotony of their daily "walks." It 
 was not pretended that anything further was attempted or 
 performed. Its idea was social rather than anything else, and 
 whatever work God-ward was effected was done by good 
 feeling and brotherly kindness amongst the members them- 
 selves and by the Associates and other friends by their 
 interest and help. The "outside" subscribers had recog- 
 nised the work was sound and deserving of assistance, 
 and that the members of the League were entitled to 
 help for their public duties, performed, as they were, at 
 all hours and in all weathers to the benefit of the com- 
 munity at large. 
 
 Was there any lasting good ? Those best able to judge 
 reply "Undoubtedly yes," and probably Father Stanton 
 
APPENDIX IV 345 
 
 would be the first to say that his twenty-five years of 
 labour and love for St. Martin's League show some of the 
 best results of his life's work. W. S. 
 
 THE GUILD OF ST. EDMUND 
 
 The Guild of St. Edmund was started in 1892 at the 
 instance of a few Board School teachers for the purpose 
 of: (i) Providing opportunities for social intercourse 
 among those who, unlike Church School teachers, were 
 more or less isolated from the surroundings of their schools ; 
 and (2) Promoting a better understanding amongst clergy 
 and others concerning the regime of Board Schools, and thus 
 removing any prejudices which might be felt against them. 
 It was inaugurated by a Service held in St. Mary's, Charing 
 Cross Road, when a sermon was preached by Father Stan- 
 ton, and since then it has been the custom to hold a religious 
 service twice a year — generally in one of the City churches. 
 On fouc occasions this has been held in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 with sermons by the Bishop of London, the present Arch- 
 bishop of York, and when in conjunction with the Guild 
 of St. Peter,'' by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 The social side of the work has, however, chiefly occu- 
 pied the attention of the Guild, and a programme of 
 lectures, excursions, visits to places of interest, social gather- 
 ings, an annual dinner, and a Cinderella Dance, is drawn up 
 every year. The membership of the Guild increased rapidly 
 during the first ten years— at one time reaching to nearly 
 a thousand — but when Mr. Balfour's Education Act of 
 1902 abolished the School Board its rahon d'etre was 
 practically taken away, and another, in accordance with its 
 original principle, had to be instituted, viz. the promotion 
 of good relations between all who are occupied or interested 
 in educational work in London. The Guild is gradually 
 recovering from the denouement, and there seems to be a 
 fair prospect before it. 
 
 Having been a School Manager under the Board and 
 
 ' A Guild of similar intention, but more definitely ecclesiastical. 
 
346 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Council for eighteen years, during twelve of which I was 
 Chairman of one of the largest groups of Schools, including 
 the Hugh Myddelton with its personnel of 40 teachers 
 and 2000 children, I have naturally felt a deep interest in 
 the work and all those who arc associated with it. 
 
 G. R. H. 
 
APPENDIX V 
 
 CONFESSION AT ST. ALBAN'S 
 
 What sort of place is St. Alban's ? We will not ask the 
 Protestant controversialist — it is so plain that he knows 
 nothing about it, and in that ignorance lies the only excuse 
 for his senseless opposition. But put the question to any 
 other chance people you meet, and most likely you will get 
 some such answers as these. " Oh ! it is a fashionable 
 church in such an unfashionable locality, so hard to get to 
 when one is in London," or " A place where at any rate 
 you're sure of a fine service and good sermon." This 
 person will blunder out something about the recent Judg- 
 ment,^ and that one, remembering perchance how there he 
 laid down the burden of years, will feel, if he does not say, 
 that it is a Haven of Rest in a troubled world, a shelter 
 where help and counsel and relief are always awaiting the 
 sin-stricken soul. 
 
 This circumstance should be carefully noted by those 
 who imagine that Confession cannot be introduced among 
 the poor, and is inseparably connected in their minds with 
 Romanism. It should be noted, too, by the poor themselves 
 beyond the region of St. Alban's, for Christ's people often 
 feel the want of someone to help them in knowing them- 
 selves, someone " to say the absolving words, and ease a 
 laden breast." Witness the following incident. 
 
 There was a ring one day at the gate of the Clergy 
 House. It was raining heavily. Two labouring men 
 stood outside. "Whom do you want?" "One of the 
 priests." " Where do you come from ? " " Out of Kent." 
 " And what do you want ? " " We've come to Confes- 
 
 * Pronounced by Lord Cairns on the 23rd of December 1868. 
 
 347 
 
348 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 sion." "Are you Roman Catholics?" "No, we're 
 Church of England." " Who told you about Confession ? " 
 "We read it in the papers." "Why don't you go to your 
 own clergyman?" "We did." "Well, what did he 
 say ? " " He said he knew he could hear Confessions, but 
 he wasn't accustomed to it, and they managed all those 
 things at St. Alban's." 
 
 So the pilgrimage had been made from Kent, and the 
 penitents, soaking with rain and travel-stained, received the 
 ministry of reconciliation with God. Edward Monro's ^ 
 expectations, over-sanguine as he was deemed when he 
 looked for their fulfilment in this generation, are accom- 
 plished at St. Alban's. The English peasant, with all his 
 reticence, his shyness, his sturdy independence, comes to 
 make special confession of his sins, desires Absolution, and 
 receives it. 
 
 Take another instance. 
 
 One day a soldier appeared at the door : "I want to see 
 
 Father ." " He's not at home." " Any of the other 
 
 priests, then " — showing that his faith was not personal but 
 sacramental. 
 
 The clergy are persuaded from their experience in this 
 place that no real conversion is likely to take place in the 
 heart of any of their parishioners without Confession. 
 They have learnt to be very distrustful of any superstructure 
 that is not based upon it. How can we be surprised at 
 this ? In his quiet Hampshire parish, where he knew every 
 child of every family, from Baptism onwards, Mr. Keble 
 wrote, " I find myself more and more oppressed with the 
 consciousness of my own ignorance, and how blindly I go 
 about the parish not knowing what men are really doing. 
 Our one great grievance is the neglect of Confession." 
 And again, " It is sad to think how little one knows of 
 one's people. We go on working in the dark, and in the 
 dark it will be until the rule of systematic Confession is 
 revived in our Church." 
 
 No wonder, then, that the St. Alban's priests, working in 
 the locality they do, feel everything superficial that is not 
 
 ' The Rev. Edward Monro (1815-66), Vicar of St. John's, Leeds. 
 
APPENDIX V 349 
 
 based on Confession ; that they have their misgivings unless, 
 like the Ephesian converts, their penitents confess and show 
 their deeds. The parishioners may be Confirmed and 
 brought to Holy Communion without Confession, but they 
 are made clearly to understand that in such a case the 
 responsibility of a devout Communion rests with themselves 
 alone. In point of fact, few of them would desire to 
 Communicate without Confessing first ; and the number 
 of parishioners form no inconsiderable proportion at the 
 Festival Communions. 
 
 S. W. 
 
 " The Churchman's Companion" 
 November 1869. 
 
 "They that say such things, declare plainly that they 
 seek a country." — Hebrews xi. 14. 
 
INDEX 
 
 All Saints', Margaret Street, 299 
 Amphlett, Lord Justice, 167, 168 
 Anti-ritualistic disturbance, 60 seq. 
 Arches Court, 95 
 Judgment, 94 
 Arnold, Matthew, 243 
 
 Baldwin's Gardens, i, 41 
 Account of, 7 
 Fountain, 38 
 Ball, Provost, 45 and «., S4 «•> 
 
 325 »■ 
 Ballachulish, 215 
 
 Bath, Lord, Mansion in Holborn, 7 
 Beaconsfield, Lord — 
 On Public Worship Regulation 
 
 Bill, 127 
 Prime Minister, 79, 80 
 Sybil, S, 293 
 Beauchamp, Lord, 223 
 Benson, Archbishop, 64, 225 
 
 Death, 225 
 Beresford-Hope, A. J., 192, 299 
 "Better Housing of the Poor," 
 
 27 s 
 Blackstone, Mr. Justice, on Court 
 
 of Arches, 68 
 Blomfield, Bishop, 190 
 Bodington, Rev. Charles, 87, 165, 
 
 166 «. 
 Booth, Charles, Life and Labour of 
 the People in London, quoted, 
 240 
 Bradley, Rev. J. D., 325 
 Bright, Dr., 139 
 Brighton Church Congress, 140 
 Brooke House, 7 
 Brougham, Lord, 71 
 Brydges, Lady Caroline, I 
 
 35' 
 
 Buchanan-Riddell, Sir John, 264, 
 
 265 
 Bussage Church, 299 
 Butler, Dr. H. M., 310 and «. 
 Butler, Rev. W. J., 13 and «., 25, 
 
 29, 100, 300 
 Recommends Mackonochie, 13, 
 
 14, 16 
 Butterfield, William, designs St. 
 
 Alban's, 9, 10 
 
 Cairns, Lord, 80, 127 
 
 Carter, Rev. T. T., 165, 166 «., 2H 
 
 Cassocks, 26 
 
 Cathedrals, 314 
 
 Catholic Revival, 294 seq. 
 
 Cato Street Conspiracy, 8 
 
 Chamberlain, Rev. T., 295 n. 
 
 Chandos, Duke of, I 
 
 Chelmsford, Lord, 81, 91 
 
 Chinnery-Haldane, Bishop, 213 
 
 and «., 214, 218, 223, 325 «. 
 Church, its essence and accidents, 
 
 314 
 Church and State, relations be- 
 tween, 172, 313 
 Church Association, 64, 185 
 
 Proceedings against Mackonochie, 
 
 65 seq.,90, 125, 127, 219 
 Proceedings against Ritualists, 
 
 166 
 Sends spies to St. Alban's, 86 
 Church Congress, 1874, 140 
 Church Discipline Act, 68 
 " Church League for promoting 
 
 Separation of Church and 
 
 State," 175 
 Church of England, future of, 317 
 
 seq. 
 
352 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Church of England — 
 
 Services in early nineteenth cen- 
 tury, 290, 291 
 Type of public worship, 298 
 
 Church of England Working Men's 
 Society, 146 and «. , 184 
 
 Church Times, on interview be- 
 tween Archbishop and work- 
 ing men, 149 n. 
 
 Church Times, report of service at 
 St. Alban's, 228 
 
 Claughton, Bishop, 88, 180 
 
 Clergy prosecuted under P. W. R. 
 Act, 165 
 
 Clewer Sisters' Work, 240 
 
 Cloaks, 26 
 
 Coleridge, Sir John Taylor, 15, 
 300 
 
 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 292 
 
 Colvile, Sir James, 81 
 
 Confession, 50, 89, 103, 105, 
 
 347 
 Confraternity of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, 281 
 Constantinople, Church of Holy 
 
 Wisdom, 313 
 Court of Arches, 68, 69, 72 
 Court of Delegates, 7 1 
 Cox, Rev. J. B., 165, 168 
 Creighton, Bishop, 225, 236, 237 
 Characteristics, 228 
 Death, 239 
 Letters to Suckling, 228, 230 
 
 Daily Telegraph, on Easter Service 
 at St. Alban's, 126 
 
 Dale, Rev. T. Pelham, 156, 165 
 
 Davidson, Archbishop, on Judg- 
 ment in Purchas Case, 12S 
 
 Denison, Archdeacon, 72, 100, 
 
 17s 
 Memorial against uniformity of 
 
 ceremonial, 139 
 On Church Congresses, 1 40 
 Teaching, 172 
 Dickens' Sketches by Boz, David 
 
 Copperfield, 69 
 Disestablishment of Irish Church, 
 
 79.84 
 Doctors' Commons, 70 
 Doran, Rev. J. W., 27, 40, 44, 
 325 
 
 Ecclesiastical Courts, 69 
 
 Edwards, Rev. John, 165 
 
 Eliot, Lord (Lord St. Germans), 
 
 92, 93 
 English Church Union, 61, 62, 
 
 243 
 Enraght, Rev. R. W., 165, 303 
 Erie, Sir William, 81 
 Establishment, 83 
 
 Gill, F., 325 
 
 Gladstone, W. E., 61, 62, 79, 175, 
 192, 322 
 Attitude towards Ritualism, 124, 
 
 125, 127 
 On ritual, 297 
 On Wilberforce's voice, 287 
 Good Words on Reform Leaguers at 
 
 St. Alban's, 280 
 Gorham Judgment, protest against, 
 
 11,12 and «. 
 Gray's Inn Road, 6 
 Green, Rev. S. F., 165, 168, 203 
 and n. 
 
 Halifax, Lord, 204, 224, 250 
 Hamilton, Bishop, 39, 300 
 Harcourt, Sir William, 227 
 Harris, Rev. E. A., 233, 325 
 Hoare, Georgina Sophia (Sister 
 
 Georgina Mary), 187 and n. 
 Hogg, Rev. G. R., I45> 233, 250, 
 325 
 Guild of St. Edmund, 281, 345 
 Holborn, origin of name, 5 
 Holborn Journal, Election of 
 People's Churchwarden, 326 
 seq. 
 Holland, Rev. H. S., on Eucharistic 
 
 life, 271 seq. 
 Howes, Rev. H. T., 325 «. 
 Hubbard, J. G. (Lord Addington), 
 1.325 
 Abstract of correspondence, 16 
 
 seq., 23, 25, T.'jseq. 
 Address to inhabitants of St. 
 
 Alban's, 35 seq. 
 As Patron of St. Alban's, 13 seq. 
 Characteristics, 222 
 Churchmanship, 298, 299 seq. 
 Churchwarden, 40, 325 
 Death, 222 
 
INDEX 
 
 353 
 
 Hubbard — continued 
 Gives church, furniture, &c., 
 
 5 and ». 
 Letters to Mackonochie, 20, 33, 
 
 176. See alio Abstract 
 Letter to Trustee of St. Peter's, 
 
 204 
 Offers living to Liddon, 17 
 Offers living to Mackonochie, 
 
 21 
 Resigns patronage of St. Alban's, 
 
 186 
 Suggests temporary engagement 
 
 to Mackonochie, 31 
 Hughes, T., Tom Brown quoted, 
 
 279 
 Hursley Parish Church, 299 
 
 Ibbotson, Rev. Edmund, 325 
 
 Jackson, Bishop, 88, 89, 126, 
 180, 224 
 Letter to Mackonochie, 198 
 On work of Mackonochie and 
 
 Lowder, 203 n. 
 Reply to St. Alban's parishioners, 
 135. 136 
 Judicial Committee, 95, 71, 186 
 Judgment in Purchas Case, 128 
 
 Keblb, Rev. John, 15, 17, 299 
 Christian Year, 290, 291 
 On Ornaments Rubric, 295 ». 
 
 Kelly, Lord Chief Baron, 167 
 
 King, Rev. Bryan, i 
 
 King, Bishop, 100, 104, 202 
 Letter to Suckling, 233 
 
 ;. On Ritualism in 1874, 138 
 Sermon at St. Alban's, 212 
 
 Kingsley, Rev. Charles, 275, 277 
 
 Kneeling and genuflecting, 96 
 
 Lang, Bishop, 239 
 
 Lanphier, Rev. W. H., 325 ». 
 
 Le Strange, H. L. Styleman, 9 
 
 Leather Lane, etymology, S 
 
 Leigh, Lord, i 
 Gives site for church, 4, 35 
 Interest in Holborn, i, 4, S 
 Reading Sybil, 5, 294 
 
 " Letter on Catholic Question " on 
 Cathedral service, 291 
 
 Liddon, Dr., 13, 283, 300 
 Declines St. Alban's, 17 
 Letters to Hubbard, 19, 30 
 On Bishop Jackson, 126 
 On humility, 206 
 On Ritualism in 1874, 138 
 On Suckling and Stanton, 202 
 On Tooth in prison, 168 
 Recommends Mackonochie, 13, 
 
 15 
 " Lincoln Judgment,' 237 
 Littledale, Dr., 65, 165 
 London Missions, 87, 1 15, 121, 210 
 Longden, H., 249, 266, 325 
 Longley, Archbishop, 62 
 Lowder, Rev. C. F., 2, 165, 166 «,, 
 
 202, 203 n. 
 Ludlow, J. M., 2 
 Lushington, Stephen, Dean of 
 
 Arches, 72, 77 
 
 Mackonochie, Rev. A. H., 40, 
 
 325 
 Accepts living of St. Alban's, 
 
 22 
 Address of welcome to, 149 
 Address on Mission, 121 
 Addresses to parishioners, 62, 73, 
 
 93, 136, 171,172, 178, 181,186 
 Appointed to St. Peter's, 203, 
 
 205 
 As Chaplain of St. Saviour's 
 
 Priory, 281 
 As Confessor, 103 
 As Preacher, 52, 53, 103, 280 
 At Clergy House, 210, 213 seq. 
 At St. George's in the East, 13, 
 
 IS 
 At Wantage, 213, 215 ^ 
 Before Royal Commission on 
 
 Ecclesiastical Courts, 186 
 Burial, 218 
 Characteristics, 2, 13, 16, 29, 54, 
 
 100 .fc^., 185, 214 
 Charges against, 73, 90, 94, 128, 
 
 141 
 Cited before P. W. R. Court, 
 
 188 
 Concessions, 63 
 Condemned in costs, 90 
 
 Z 
 
354 
 
 SAINT ALBAN THE MARTYR 
 
 Mackonochie — continued 
 
 Correspondence with Hubbard, 
 
 l6 seq., 21, 23, 25, 29 seq., 34, 
 
 176 
 Death, 216 
 Declines temporary engagement, 
 
 " Disestablishment and Disen- 
 
 dowment," 173 seq. 
 Domestic Chaplain to Lord Eliot, 
 
 93 
 Farewell sermon, 199 
 ' ' High Mass," 43. See also 
 
 under St. Alban's 
 Instituted to St. Alban's, 25 
 Letters of remonstrance to Jack- 
 son, 152 seq., 300 
 Letters to Record, 93, 94 
 Letters to Tait, 74, 142, 194, 
 
 ig6 
 Memorial to, 223 and n. 
 Monition to, 82 
 Offers to resign, 28 
 On Disestablishment, 82 
 On Judgments and his action, 94, 
 
 142 
 Prosecuted, 65, 72, 90, 130, 141 
 Reply to parishioners, 134 
 Resigns benefice, 196, 197, 203, 
 
 210 
 " Separation of Church and 
 
 State," 177 
 Sketch of, 99 seq. 
 Suspended, 91, 143, 181, 182, 185 
 Testimonial, 208 
 Three Hours, 56 seq., 207, 213 
 Voice and singing, 54, III 
 Mackonochie, James, 29 and «., 213 
 Malet, T., letter to Mackonochie, 
 
 66 
 Manchester Guardian on Mondays 
 
 at St. Alban's, 285 
 Martin, John, 65, 127, 147 
 Letter to Tait, appeal, 76 
 Retires from suit, 185 
 Rival Mission, 122 
 "Martin v. Mackonochie," 66, 68, 
 72 seq. 
 Appeal, 79j 81 seq. 
 Judgments, 73, 81, 90, 91, 94 
 Mass, 78, 291. See also High 
 Mass under St, Alban's Church 
 
 Maxwell, Rev. H. G., 325 
 Mind, 102 
 
 Missions, see London Missions 
 Morley, Thomas, 45 
 Music, 44 
 
 Newcastle, Duke of, 223 
 Newman, Cardinal, 190, 191, 239, 
 306, 316 
 Account of Church in early 
 
 nineteenth century, 290 
 On ritual at St. Alban's, 302 
 On Sir Walter Scott, 292 
 Nineteenth Century — 
 
 "Disestablishment and Disen- 
 
 dowment," 173 seq. 
 " Separation of Church and State," 
 177 
 Noel, Hon. and Rev. B. W., 8, 9 
 and n. 
 
 O'Neill, Father S. W., 88 
 Oxford Movement leaders, 294, 295 
 
 "Parochial Missions," 87 
 Pearks, Rev. W. A., 325 
 Penzance, Lord, 127, 180, x8l, 
 
 187, 193 
 Dean of Arches, 165 
 Deprives Mackonochie, 209 
 Refused to pronounce depriva- 
 tion, 185 
 Phillimore, Sir Robert, 61, 165, 
 167 
 Dean of Arches, 72 
 Judgment in Martin v. Mackono- 
 chie, 73, 74 
 Preaching, ministry of, 321 
 Press on " Popery in Disguise," 
 
 Public Worship, principles of, 320 
 
 seq. 
 Public Worship Regulation Act, 
 126, 127, 139, 140, 164 seq., 
 226, 227 
 Court, 164 
 Working, 187 
 Purchas Case and Judgment, 128, 
 129, 141, 143, IS3, 157, 
 167 
 Pnsey, Dr., 11, 17, 239, 281, 299 
 Letter to Mackonochie, 303 
 
INDEX 
 
 355 
 
 Pusey — continued 
 Letter to Times, 302 
 On censing, 296 
 
 On Eastward Position and Vest- 
 ments, 295 n. 
 On harass and work, 210 
 On Ritualism in 1874, 138 
 
 Ram, Rev. Edward, 236 
 
 Record, Mackonochie's letters to, 
 
 93.94 
 Reform Leaguers at St. Alban's, 
 
 280 
 Reynolds, Archbishop, Constitution 
 
 of, 77 
 Ridsdale, Rev. C. J., 165 
 
 Case, 166 seq. 
 "Ritualism," 59 seq., 295 seq. 
 Developments of, 301. See also 
 
 under St. Alban's 
 In 1874, 138 seq. 
 Ritualistic reporters, 47, 60 
 Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical 
 
 Courts, 186, 192, 193, 197 
 Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical 
 
 Discipline, Report, 255 
 Royal Commissions on Ritual, 62 
 
 Reports, 124, 244 
 Russell, Rev. E. F., 171, 214, 218, 
 
 233, 251, 264, 283, 311 and 
 
 «., 325 
 
 Account of Presentation meeting, 
 270 
 
 Guild of St. Barnabas, 284 
 
 Sketch of, 284 
 Russell, Rt. Hon. G. W. E., at 
 presentation to Stanton, 248, 
 250, 252 seq. 
 
 Impressions of Presentation meet- 
 ing, 267 
 
 St. Alban's Church — 
 Area of Parish, 5, 37 
 Building, 10 
 Built for poor, 10, 36, 300, 303, 
 
 307 
 Celebrations stopped, 144 
 Churchwardens, 325 
 Clergy, 40, 41, 42, 240, 283, 325 
 et passim 
 
 Prohibited, 145 
 
 Position in 1875, 155 
 
 St. Alban' Church — continued 
 Clergy House, 24, 210, 213 
 Communicants' Roll, 118 
 Confession, 50, 89, 103, 105, 119, 
 
 126, 347 
 Congregation, 50, 114, 240, 241, 
 
 303, 304, 30S> 306 
 Consecrated, 35, 39 
 Daily Eucharist, 118 
 Easter Procession of Guilds, 120 
 Endowment, 241 
 Eucharistic life, 271 seq., 317 et 
 
 passim 
 Fire, 235, 312 
 First Services, 24 
 Font-Cover, 241 
 Future of, 316 seq. 
 Good Friday : " Three Hours," 
 
 44. 53. 56 -f^?-. 207 
 Green Vestments, 43, 49, 51 
 "High Mass," 43, 49, 91, 113, 
 
 118, 210, 235, 237, 239, 254, 
 
 303 
 Hymn-book, 54 and «. 
 Incense, 63 
 
 Missions, 88, 119, 121, 210 
 Mortuary book, ri8 
 Music, 44, 5°. 54 
 New Schools and Parish Room, 
 
 211 
 New Year's Eve Service, 108 
 Parishioners' Memorial to Bishop, 
 
 130, 135 
 Parishioners' Protests, 132, 135, 
 
 143, 146 
 Parochial organizations, 41, 120, 
 330 seq,, et passim 
 
 Guild of St. Edmund, 344 
 
 Mackonochie House, Bognor, 
 
 335 
 St. Alban's Mothers' Meeting, 
 
 333 
 
 St. Martin's League, 260, 282, 
 3 36 je^. 
 
 Sunday Afternoon Teas, 334 
 Patronage transferred to Dean 
 
 and Chapter of St. Paul's, 40, 
 
 186 
 People's Churchwarden, election 
 
 of, 326 seq. 
 Persecutions, 65 seq., 99, 1 19, 125 
 
 seq., 143, 161, 180 
 
356 SAINT ALB AN THE MARTYR 
 
 St. Alban's Church — continued 
 Public Luncheon on St. Alban's 
 
 Day, 1 20, 223 
 Renewal of Baptismal Vows, 89 
 " Reservation," 237, 239, «. 
 Rood, 223, 224 
 St. Alban's Day, 211, 226 
 St. Sepulchre's, 211 
 Services on All Souls' Day, 229 
 Site, 4, 8, 35, 36 
 Social character, 276, 279 
 Spies, 86, 90 
 Standard in ritual, 43 sec;., 64, 
 
 159, 160, 300, 301 
 Twenty-fifth Anniversary, 221 
 Visitors to, 85 
 St. George's in the East, Mission, 
 
 13, IS 
 St. Peter's, London Docks, 203, 
 205 
 Sequestrated, 209 
 St. Vedast's Church, 145, 259 
 Schroder, Walter, 249 
 Scott, Sir Walter, his influence, 
 
 292 
 Shaftesbury, Lord, 61, 127 
 On Disraeli's Government, 80 
 On Mackonochie's letter to 
 
 Record, 98 
 On Service at St. Alban's, 48 
 Shipley, Rev. Orby, 325 n. 
 Sidney, F. E., 249 «., 264, 325 
 Sinclair, Rev. W. M., 182, 183 
 Sister Georgina Mary, 187 and n. 
 Sisterhoods, 293 n. 
 Smith, Rev. Adam Clarke, 4 
 Society of the Holy Cross, 281 
 Southey, Robert, 293 and n. 
 Stanley, Dean, 49, 51 
 Stanton, Rev. A. H., 24, 40, 155, 
 171, 209, 233, 32s 
 Address from men, 24S, 246 
 Presentation, 248 seg., 256 
 Appreciation of Mackonochie, 
 
 219 
 Catholic Prayers for Church of 
 
 England People, 244, 261 
 Characteristics, 105, 107, 108 
 Letter to G. W. E. Russell at 
 
 Harrow, 105 
 Mondays at St. Alban's, 245, 
 285 seq. 
 
 Stanton — continued 
 On Monition of Privy Council, 
 
 91 
 Preaching, 51, no, 112, 116, 
 
 254 
 Prohibited and inhibited, 259 
 Refuses to celebrate in surplice, 
 
 144, 148 
 St. Martin's League. See under 
 
 St. Alban's 
 Sermons on Vicar's "Suspension, 
 
 143. 184 
 Sketch of, 104 
 " Three Hours " Service, 44 
 Suckling family, 201 
 Suckling, Rev. R. A. J., 325 
 Address on crisis, 234 
 Addresses to parish, 207, 208, 
 
 211,237 
 Instituted to St. Alban's, 202 
 Letter to Creighton, 229 
 Letter to Parishioners (1898) on 
 
 changes in services, 231 
 On Creighton, 228 
 Sketch of, 202 
 Speech at Stanton Presentation, 
 
 251 
 Twenty-fifth Anniversary, 241 
 Warden of Priory, 281 
 Work at St. Alban's, 205 seq. 
 
 Tait, Bishop (Archbishop), 15, 
 39. SI. 63. 190, 2S7, 258 
 
 Attitude towards Ritualism, 1 24 
 
 Correspondence with Mackono- 
 chie, 193 
 
 Death, 193 
 
 Family bereavements, 1 88, 191 
 
 Interview with working men, 
 146, 191 
 
 Letter to Mackonochie, 75 
 
 Public Worship Regulation Bill, 
 126. See also that title 
 
 Signs " Letters of Request," 
 66 
 
 Sketch of, 188 
 
 Vetoes proceedings against 
 Ritualists, 166 «. 
 Talbot, Theodore Mansel, 135 
 
 Death, 170 
 
 Sketch of, 114 seq 
 
 Speech, 150 
 
INDEX 
 
 357 
 
 Temple, Bishop (Archbishop), 211, 
 225, 235 
 
 At St. Alban's, 225 
 
 Enthroned, 225 
 
 On " Reservation," 237, 238 
 
 "Opinions," 236, 237 
 Thieves' Kitchen, 8 
 Thomson, Archbishop, 81 
 
 Attitude towards Ritualism, 124 
 Times — 
 
 Correspondence between Bishop 
 and Suckling, 228, 230 
 
 "High Mass" at St. Alban's, 
 
 303 
 Letter from Lord John Russell, 
 
 284 n. 
 On Ritualism, 6l, 125, 227 
 Pusey's letter on Ritualism, 
 
 302 
 Suckling's letter, 233, 237 
 Toogood, Rev. J. J., 3, 4, 35 
 Tooth, Rev. Arthur, 165, 168 
 " Tractarian " Movement, 59 
 Tractarian Theology, effect of, 299 
 
 Unrest, intellectual and social, 
 320 
 
 Vows of Celibacy, 28 
 
 Walcot, W., 257 
 
 Walker, Rev. H. A., 27, 40, 55, 
 
 32s 
 As Precentor, 44, 45 
 Warburton, Rev. F. E., 325 
 Westall, Rev. Henry, 235 
 Westbury, Lord, 81 
 Westcott, Bishop, 320 
 "Westerton v. Liddell," 77 
 Wilberforce, Bishop, 2, 15, 39, 61, 
 62, 80,87, 88 
 At St. Alban's, 49 
 Letter to Tait on Purchas Judg- 
 ment, 129 
 On development of ceremonial, 
 
 301 
 Sketch of, 123 seq. 
 Willington, Rev. H. E., 325 
 Winnington- Ingram, Bishop, 239 
 
 Printed by Ballamtvne, Hanson &' Co. 
 Edinburgh (t* London 
 
I