ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



25 



minion than that employed by Overbeck; 

 MM'! Unit his srlu-iii'' fur opming a chapel in 

 Loinlon for tin- rr]r!ir:ttion of the Liturgy of 

 -torn iu English could only result in 

 ii M. -w schism. Chancellor Massingberd in 

 lik- manner expressed his regret at learning 

 that tin- Holy Governing Synod of Russia bad 

 iiutliorixi'd Dr. Ovorbeck to open this chapel. 



Tin- I-'ivo Church of England, an ecclesiasti- 

 cal body which originated in the dissatisfac- 

 tion of some members of the established 

 Church with ritualistic practices, is reported to 

 ic larger dimensions. Established by the 

 enrolling of its constitution in the Higher 

 Court of Chancery in 1863, the now church 

 has already a respectable number of congrega- 

 tions in different parts of the country, and has 

 a regular ecclesiastical organization, with a 

 bishop. The organ of the Church is the Free 

 Church of England Magazine, and a convoca- 

 tion was held on Juno 29th. The Free Church 

 of England has appealed to the public for an 

 extension fund of 50,000, the subscriptions 

 up to the time of the appeal having been 

 8,500. According to its manifesto, the ob- 

 ject of the Free Church of England is, not to 

 interfere with tho labors of any Evangelical 

 Protestant community, whether established 

 or non-established, but to introduce the Gos- 

 pel of Christ into those parishes in which the 

 clergy, by excessive ritualism and departure 

 from the faith, are leading the people to Rome, 

 and to assert the right of the laity in all mat- 

 ters affecting the agency and tho work of the 

 Church, especially where the laity are suffer- 

 ing from an undue or arbitrary authority of 

 the clergy ; not to engage in religious contro- 

 versy, but to conduct the public worship of 

 the Church with a pure liturgy, in accordance 

 with the doctrine of the Reformation. The 

 promoters further declare : " We are free 

 free to go into any parish and preach the Gos- 

 pel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

 Free to use a revised book of Common Prayer. 

 Free to unite laity with the clergy in the gov- 

 ernment and work of the Church. Free of 

 all state support and control. Free to inter- 

 clmnge services with the clergymen of all 

 Evangelical denominations. And free to hold 

 communion with all who, in every place, call 

 on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both 

 theirs and ours." Among other "explanations 

 of the scheme of the Free Church, is one that 

 it adopts, with certain exceptions, the thirty- 

 nine articles and rubric of tho Church of Eng- 

 land ; that its government endeavors to com- 

 bine tho chief advantages which are offered 

 by the three prevailing forms of ecclesiastical 

 polity, as seen in Episcopacy, Presbytery, and 

 Independency ; that, in addition to the baptism 

 of children, tho Free Church of England, fol- 

 lowing the rubric of tho Church of England, 

 gives full liberty to its ministers to baptize 

 adults, by immersion, on a personal profession 

 of their faith ; and that tho Free Church of 

 England is different from other religious bod- 



ies, but does not separate itself either from tho 

 ministry or communion of any other part of 

 tbo Catholic Chun-h. 



Tho disestablished Church of Ireland was 

 actively engaged in tho work of reconstruc- 

 tion. A general convention met at Dublin on 

 February 15th, to decide on the draft of a 

 constitution which had been prepared by a 

 committee. It adjourned in March, met again 

 on tho 18th of October, and closed its delibera- 

 tions in November. The Duke of Abercorn's 

 motion for a separate House of Bishops, with 

 tho proviso that seven must agree upon any 

 veto, passed. As regards the question of tho 

 length of time which the veto of tho House 

 of iiishops should operate, the Duko of Aber- 

 corn again prevailed with a motion, which was 

 carried by 346 to 110, which allows the bishops' 

 veto to be valid even at the next synod, what- 

 ever the majority of the other orders, provided 

 that two-thirds of the bench, are present, and 

 agreed, and that they give their reasons in 

 writing. The bishops will be elected by tho 

 diocesan convention, but the House of Bishops 

 will in all cases be the court of selection, when 

 the diocesan synod does not elect by a ma- 

 jority of two-thirds of each order a clergy- 

 man to fill the vacant see. The Primate 

 (Archbishop of Armagh) shall be elected by 

 the bench of bishops out of their own num- 

 ber. The property of the church is to bo 

 vested in a " Representative Church Body," 

 which is to be permanent. It is to be com- 

 posed of three classes the ex-officio, or arch- 

 bishops and bishops; the elected members, 

 who are to consist of one clerical and two lay 

 representatives for each diocese ; and tho 

 coopted members, who are to consist of per- 

 sons equal in number to the number of such 

 dioceses, and to be elected by the ex-officio and 

 representative members. The elected mem- 

 bers are to retire in the proportion of one -third 

 by rotation. On motion of Master Brooks, 

 amended by the Duke of Abercorn, a com- 

 mittee of twenty-four persons was appointed, 

 one-half selected frdhi the bishops and clergy, 

 and one-half from tho laity, "to consider 

 whether, without making such alterations in 

 the liturgy or formularies of our Church as 

 would involve or imply a change in her doc- 

 trine, any measure can be suggested that may 

 be calculated to check the introduction and 

 spread of novel doctrines and practices op- 

 posed to the principles of our Reformed 

 Church." 



The income of the Church Society of the 

 Scotch Episcopal Church, in 1870, amounted 

 to 3,078, and the applications for aid were 

 sot down at $4,289. With regard to the in- 

 come of the clergy, tho annual report stated 

 that the minimum stipends of 150, which it 

 was the desire of the society to attain, are still 

 far from being reached. 



The question of disestablishing the Anglican 

 Church begins to be discussed in India. Tho 

 government of India has, it appears, consulted 



