পাতা:বঙ্গদর্শন-নবম খন্ড.djvu/২১৪

২১ e hold themselves, so far as the ceremonies of the Church are concerned, above the law of the land. We are well aware that as the law of England and India at present stands, it is left optional with any Clergyman to perform the marriage ceremony for a divorced person or not as his scruples may dictate....But Bishop Mylne went much further than this, for, referring to the law as it at present stands, he said:– When Parliament sanctioned this (the law about the remarriage of the adulterers), they set Christ on one side altogether. When they made it possible for any wicked woman to run away from her . husband and children and be mar: ried to the partner of her guilt, they did not even pretend that this concession was sanctioned by our Lord...."Christ calls it adultery. The law of tle land calls it marriage. I trust that Chris. tians know which to believe. &c.”. This is exactly the style of arguinent which we hear from the pulpit....On such matters it दश्नम्न मैंन । (छग्नि with a cleric of any persuasion.... But the Bishop of Bombay. went far beyond mere discus. sion...and if he acts up to his expressed intentions find that much as he affects to despise the law he is still not may beyond its reach. Towards the conclusion of his pastoral he is reported to have said —. “For my own part and duty, I hereby give public intimation that no persons who have contrac: ted a marriage after one of them has been divorced for adultery, and during the lifetime of the wife or husband, can be admitted to the Lord's Table in this Diocese, so long as they continue to live together ; and that no clergyman who performs a marri. age ceremony for a person divor. ced for adultery, during the life time of the former wife or husband can continue to retain my licence to minister in this Diocese.” -- A few years ago, in England, a person who had been refused admission to the Lord's Table by the Vicar of a parish for an is a mere waste of time to argue - offence which was against the