ANGLICAN CIin:cil!-:s. 



45 



';ir.i;in was adopted, unanimously in tlio 



ul in the Lower House by 28 to 



laring the introduction of "certain vest- 



and ritual iil.-ii-rvaiifiv-" into the SIT\ i<-> --i 



::-eh of England as "tending to favor 



h-d by the Church." The bishops 



Irish Church unanimously signed a r.-ply 



address from a committee of laymen, in 



i.i adherence to the established usages of 



.iiiivli ami against, "excesses of ritual." 



K.iH y in Juno the Queen of England appointed 



a c imission, to inquire what were the prac- 



orders, and rubrics of the Church, and the 

 ..itcrprctation of the same, to suggest such 

 orders and amendments to them, and additions 

 to the service and alterations in the lessons, as 

 they ini^ht deem fit and proper. The majority 

 ut' this commission were supposed to be or to 

 syinpathi/.e with High Churchmen. On the 19th 

 ut' August they rendered their first report, in 

 regard to the use of vestments, to the effect 

 that they considered it expedient to restrain in 

 the public services of the United Church all 

 variations in respect of vestures from that 

 which has long been the established usage of 

 tho Church, and that this may be best secured 

 by providing aggrieved parishioners with an 

 easy and effectual process for complaint and 

 redress. 



As regards the relation of the Church of Eng- 

 land to the State Government, the Convocation 

 of Canterbury, in June, adopted the following 

 resolution, which was offered by Chancellor 

 iugberd: 



That an humble representation be addressed to his 

 grace the President, and their lordships of the Upper 

 House, as follows : That, according to the constitu- 

 tional principles of this Church and realm, no altera- 

 tion should be made in the Book of Common Prayer, 

 or with the rubrics thereof, until the advice of the 

 clergy in their convocations has been first obtained, 

 touching the same, and that the fact of such altera- 

 tions having been so adopted by the synods of the 

 Church, ought to be formally recited in any act of 

 Parliament by which the same may be enforced, in 

 accordance with the precedent finally established by 

 the words recited in the statute 13th and 14th of 

 Charles II., cap. 4, sec. 1, to that effect. And, fur- 

 ther, to represent the deep conviction of this House, 

 that if such a course was thought necessary when all 

 members of Parliament were deemed to be, or were 

 required to be, members of the Church of England, 

 the abandonment of that course of proceeding, now 

 that Parliament is composed of persons of all diver- 

 sities of creed, must, in all likelihood, be followed by 

 most disastrous results. 



The seventh annual session of the Church 

 Congress was opened at Wolverhampton on the 

 15th of October. Tho Congress was again at- 

 tended by many prominent men, including a 

 number of English and American bishops. The 

 next meeting will be held in Dublin. 



Tho Colenso case continued to cause consid- 

 erable trouble. None of the bishops of tin- 

 Anglican Church, and but few of the clergy and 

 laity of tho diocese, held any communion with 

 him, and the episcopal functions in his diocese 

 wore performed by another South African 

 bishop, lie was not invited to the Pan-Angli- 



can Synod, and strong resolutions against him 

 were passed by this Synod. The Rev. Mr. Hut- 

 ler, who, in I860, had been elected successor 

 of Dr. Colenso, and who, at first, had accepted 

 tho office, declined toward tho close of the year 

 1867. The Natal clergy and laity having left 

 tho choice of their new bishop to tho Bishops 

 of Capetown and Grahamstown, with the con- 

 currence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, they 

 offered it in turn to two clergymen, both of 

 whom declined. The bishops had a number of * 

 names on their list, however, and would perse- 

 vere until they found the right man. 



The tendency toward an increase of dioceses 

 continued both in tho United States and in 

 England. The Diocese of "Wisconsin was di- 

 vided into four convocations, with express ref- 

 erence to a future division into four sees as 

 speedily as possible. In the diocesan conven- 

 tion of Indiana, a resolution was carried in favor 

 of small dioceses and the provincial system. 

 The Maryland diocesan convention provided 

 for the erection of the Eastern Shore into a new 

 diocese. The diocesan convention of Western 

 New York also adopted a report in favor of 

 division. The diocesan convention of New York 

 declared in favor of erecting Long Island and 

 nineteen northern counties of New York into 

 new dioceses, and to request the general con- 

 vention to enact a permissive canon, authorizing 

 a federal council of tho dioceses now existing, 

 or which may be hereafter erected within the 

 limits of the State of New York ; and that it 

 be referred to a special committee of five, 

 to be appointed by the bishop, to report to the 

 next convention a draft of a memorial to that 

 body on the subject, together with a plan of 

 such council, in conformity with the principles 

 of this report. 



In Australia the new Diocese of Grafton and 

 Armidale was erected. 



An important resolution, concerning the re- 

 lation of the colonial Churches to the Church 

 of England, was taken by the diocesan conven- 

 tion of Adelaide (South Australia). At a spe- 

 cial meeting it formally resolved, " That it is not 

 desirable that all bishops in the British colonies 

 should receive their mission from the See of 

 Canterbury, and take the oath of canonical 

 obedience to the archbishop." This resolution 

 was carried by twenty-four to seven. By 

 another resolution it was decided, by eighteen 

 to seven, that it was desirable that future bish- 

 ops of the diocese should be elected by the dio- 

 cese. 



In June the Lower House of the Convocation 

 of Canterbury passed an important resolution 

 on the reform of convocation. The committee 

 on Gravamina et Keformanda made a report, 

 of which the following is a summary: 1. It 

 does not appear that the representation of the 

 clergy in convocation might not be amended by 

 a canon enacted under royal assent and license, 

 but without the authority of Parliament 2. It 

 does appear that, if ancient precedents were to 

 be followed, each archbishop might constitution- 



