1-150-701 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The Liberation Society', 1873. The Archbishops of York and Canterbury carry a scroll entitled Auricular Confession. Behind them, Edward Miall thanks them for their 'support'. This cartoon illustrates how ritualism in the Church of England was causing concern. In May, an Anti-Ritualist Petition, seen on the floor, had been presented to the Archbishop at Lambeth Palace. This besought the Church to exercise its authority to eliminate rituals seen to be Catholic, and thus undermining Protestant principles, from Anglican ceremonies. Mr Miall had long been a critic of the Church. He was the author of The British Churches in Relation to the British People in 1849. This had been very critical of the Church's lack of relevance to the lives of the great mass of working people, describing three quarters of ministers as ignorant and schooled in corruption and worldliness. From Punch, or the London Charivari, July 12, 1873.