ANGLICAN CHUKOHES. 



21 



provinces, praying them to take measures for 

 promoting the reform of the Courts of Appeal. 

 It also recommended that the particular orna- 

 ments from which Dr. Mackonochie had been 

 commanded to abstain ought not to be de- 

 fended by the Union in any future suit, unless 

 the council was satisfied that the case was one 

 which it was a duty to the Church of England 

 to have submitted to the proper tribunal, and 

 that caution should be exercised in defending 

 ornaments and usages not specifically prohib- 

 ited by the monition, though indirectly and 

 generally coming within the reasonings or 

 principles of the report. A small party advo- 

 cated secession from the Established Church, 

 and a larger one favored the repeal of the es- 

 tablishment, and the entire independence of 

 the church and state, removing ecclesiastical 

 questions entirely from the supervision of civil 

 tribunals. 



The ninth Church Congress, which was held 

 at Liverpool, was the scene of exciting discus- 

 sions between the ritualists and their oppo- 

 nents. The appointment of Eev. Mr. Mac- 

 konochie to read a paper was much opposed, 

 because of his having incurred judicial censure, 

 but prevailed on the ground that he had purged 

 himself of whatever faults he might have com- 

 mitted by submitting to the decision of the 

 ' court. Very strong papers were read by mem- 

 bers of the ritualistic party, and attracted much 

 attention. A very large meeting of working- 

 men was held in connection with the Congress, 

 at which great interest was manifested. Dur- 

 ing the sessions a meeting of the English 

 Church Union was also held, at which the in- 

 crease of the Episcopate and the reunion of 

 Christendom were discussed. 



The case of Bishop Colenso continues in an 

 unsettled condition. The Bishop of Capetown, 

 who, as Metropolitan, had excommunicated 

 him, and deposed him from his diocese, has 

 followed up his act by the consecration of 

 Bishop Macrorie, the act being approved and 

 substantially cooperated in by the other South 

 African bishops meeting in Synod, and who 

 recognize the new bishop, both officially and 

 unofficially. This act is regarded by English 

 churchmen as a substantial assertion of the in- 

 dependence of church and state, and as a first 

 step to the erection of a free church in South 

 Africa. It is not regarded by them as legal, 

 eminent authorities in ecclesiastical law hav- 

 ing declared, when consulted on the subject, 

 that no power existed of calling Bishop Colenso 

 to account for his presumed heresies, and the 

 Privy Council having decided that the Metro- 

 politan had no jurisdiction over him. The pre- 

 vailing opinion is expressed in England that, 

 having been appointed by law, Bishop Colenso 

 had an indefeasible right to the title, emolu- 

 ments, and functions of a bishop, beyond the 

 control even of the royal supremacy. 



On the death of Dr. Philpotts, Bishop of Ex- 

 eter, Dr. Temple, of Rugby, was nominated by 

 the Crown to the vacant see. The appoint- 



ment was opposed by the High Churchmen 

 and the Low-Church "Evangelicals," on ac- 

 count of the association of Dr. Temple's name 

 with the authorship of one of the papers in 

 the celebrated "Essays and Reviews." Their 

 remonstrances did not prevail, however, with 

 the chapter, a majority of which confirmed the 

 appointment of Dr. Temple, and accepted him 

 as the bishop of the diocese. 



The efforts for bringing on an intercommun- 

 ion between the Anglican and the Oriental 

 Churches are continued, by the friends of the 

 movement in England, with great zeal. By 

 far the most important event that has yet oc- 

 curred, in the entire history of this movement, 

 is a letter from the Patriarch of Constantino- 

 ple * to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was 

 written in reply to the address of the Pan- 

 Anglican Synod, which was sent to him in 

 common with the heads of other foreign 

 Churches. The language of the Patriarch has 

 greatly elated the friends of the intercommun- 

 ion movement. They find that his heart 

 beats in response to the desire expressed for 

 union; they consider some of his criticisms 

 upon the English Articles as fully justified, and 

 hope that the convocations may, in particular, 

 repeal the Nineteenth Article, which accuses 

 the ancient Sees of Antioch, Alexandria, and 

 Jerusalem, of false doctrines. The High Church 

 Societies, in particular, the Eastern Church 

 Society, and the English Church Union, are 

 urged to send to the Patriarch of Constantino- 

 ple, and other learned and influential prelates 

 of the East, copies of the best Anglican ex- 

 planatory works on the Articles, and also 

 a collection of the devotional manuals and 

 hymnals in common use in Anglican Churches, 

 and to ask the patriarchs and metropolitans of 

 the East to solicit the prayers of their priests 

 and people that the two churches may be 

 brought into more perfect union. 



The differences of opinion respecting the 

 construction of laws and usages in the Protes- 

 tant Episcopal Church have given rise to sev- 

 eral cases of church discipline, as in the case of 

 the Rev. Mr. Tyng, Jr., who was tried and cen- 

 sured, in 1868, for preaching within the geo- 

 graphical limits of another parish than his 

 own, without previously obtaining the consent 

 of the rector thereof; and in the trial of the 

 Rev. Mr. Hubbard, of Rhode Island, for inviting 

 and permitting a minister, not in Episcopal or- 

 ders, to preach in the church of which he was 

 rector. Of the cases which have sprung up 

 during the last year, the most noted are those 

 of the Rev. Mr. Tate, in Ohio, tried for viola- 

 tions of the rubric in the introduction of sur- 

 pliced-choirs in the church, in which the court 

 decided that it had no jurisdiction ; and of the 

 Rev. Mr. Cheney, of Illinois, for the practice 

 of omitting the word regeneration in reciting 

 the baptismal service. 



* The fall text of the letter is given in the Article 

 GREEK CHURCH, in the present volume of the CYCLO- 

 PAEDIA. 



