On Tuesday the Divisional Court, consisting of Mr. Justice Darling,
Mr. Justice Bray, and Mr. Justice Lawrence, gave judgment in the case of a refusal of Holy Communion. A rule 'nisi had been obtained by Canon Thompson calling upon Sir Lewis Dibdin, the Dean of Arches, to show why a writ should not issue prohibiting that Court from proceeding with the decree against Canon Thompson. It will be remembered that the Court Of Arches decided that Canon Thompson had no right, since the passing of the Deceased Wife's Sister Act,1907, to refuse the Holy Communion to a person who had married a deceased wife's sister. Mr. Justice Darling, who delivered the judgment of the Court, and Mr. Justice Lawrence, Mr. Justice Bray dissenting, refused Canon Thompeon's application. The effect of this is to uphold the 'decision of the Dean of Arches that the Communion cannot be refused to a parishioner on the ground of marriage with a deceased wife's sister. We Presume that the decision of the Court will go to the Court of Appeal, and ultimately to the House of Lords, but we have ourselves very little doubt that the decision is as sound in law as in policy, and that it will be upheld in the higher tribunal.
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