THE altered condition of things which is the result of the war calls for the relaxation of rules that, in other times, justified themselves. Now, however, the country, and London especially, is thronged with people who are Catholics but either are not accustomed to the ways of the English Church or are quite unacquainted with it. In our opinion, it would be a graceful act, and one tending to a closer union with the Holy Orthodox Church, to place one of the London City churches at the disposal of the Serbians, in order that they might celebrate the Holy Mysteries according to their own rite. The Old Catholics before the war were permitted to worship in their own way in St Cuthbert’s, Philbeach-gardens, and St Mary’s, Soho; and the Armenian rite was once performed in St John’s, Westminster; so that there is precedent enough for the departure from rigid uniformity. Many Scottish Churchmen also have left their homes and found their way southward. To some of these it would be a great boon to hear their own liturgy here. Not that they always get it in their own country, but that is no reason why they should not enjoy it in England; rather, it is all the more reason why they should do so. We commend these proposals to the Bishops, hoping that they will perceive the reasonableness of them.

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