ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



years by the clergy and synodsmen of the diocese. 

 When the Bishop wisues to act as accuser, his Chan- 

 cellor takes his place on the Bench ; but in such a 

 case, if the charge is one involving doctrine, ques- 

 tions of fact only are decided by the Diocesan Court, 

 and sentence is given by the Court of the General 

 Synod. Charges may also be preferred by the Dio- 

 cesan Council or by private members of the Church 

 who have signified in writing their submission to 

 the General Synod of the Church. But charges in- 

 volving doctrine, if not promoted by the Bishop or 

 Diocesan Council, must be brought by four male 

 communicants of full age, who reside in the diocese, 

 or are personally injured or aggrieved by the act 

 complained of. There is an appeal from the sentence 

 of a Diocesan Court to the Court of the General 

 Synodj w^ich consists of one of the Archbishops, 

 who sit in turn, one Bishop, chosen by the Arch- 

 bishops, and three laymen. The laymen are taken 

 by ballot from a list chosen by the General Synod, 

 which list contains only the names of persons who 

 arej or have been, Judges in some of the superior 

 civil courts. Any charge against an archbishop or 

 bishop comes before the Court of the General Synod, 

 and, if it involve doctrine, must be preferred by an 

 archbishop or bishop, or by six male communicants ; 

 and no sentence of deposition, deprivation, or re- 

 moval against an archbishop or bishop can be passed 

 without the consent of the two prelates on the Bench. 

 The same consent is required to any sentence of 

 deposition from the ministry. 



Sustentation Fund. Commutation. The Conven- 

 tion and Representative Body have also passed reso- 

 lutions on the subject of finance, with a view to the 

 formation of a General Sustentation Fund for the 

 future support of the ministry. To understand their 

 resolutions on this subject we must recollect the po- 

 sition in which the Irish Church has been left by the 

 Act of Disestablishment. The Church is completely 

 disendowed, but the life-interests of the present clergy 

 are preserved to them. The property of the Church 

 is taken by the " Irish Church Temporalities Com- 

 missioners," who will pay to every clergyman during 

 his life an annuity equal to his present income, the 

 clergyman being bound to perform his present duty 

 as long as his health permits. There is, moreover, a 

 provision in the act enabling the Temporalities Com- 

 missioners, with the consent of all parties concerned, 

 to hand over a capital sum equal to the estimated 

 life-interest of any clergyman in his annuity to the 

 Representative Body, who thereupon become respon- 

 sible for the payment of the annuity. And when, 

 three-fourths of the clergy in any diocese "com- 

 mute "that is, accept this change of paymasters 

 12 per cent, will be added to the whole capital sum 

 paid over on account of that diocese. This bonus is 

 added to compensate the Church for the risk and ex- 

 pense incurred in the management of so large a sum 

 of money. Commutation would be no direct gain 

 to the Church, but the Representative Body see so 

 many advantages to be indirectly derived from it 

 that they have determined to accept it in every dio- 

 cese where the three-fourths of the clergy agree to 

 it. There are at present more clergy in the Church 

 than will be required to do the work efficiently under 

 the new system. Some of these will wish to " com- 

 pound "that is, to receive in hand part of the com- 

 mutation capital, leaving the remainder to the Church, 

 the clergyman being freed from the obligation to 

 duty. Thus a clear sum will be secured at once 

 toward the future endowment of the Church, and the 

 clergyman will be at liberty to seek another field of 

 labor. * * The principal advantage expected from 

 commutation undoubtedly is, that, by the scheme 

 proposed by the Representative Body, a definite ob- 

 ject is set before the members of the Church to com- 

 mence subscribing at once toward its support, and 

 7iot to wait until the deaths of the present clergy. 

 * If all the clergy commuted, the whole commu- 

 tation capital, including the twelve per cent, bonus, 



would amount to about five and three-quarter mill- 

 ions, which, at four per cent., would yield 230,000 

 per annum about half the sum required to pay the 

 annuities of the clergy. As yet the annual subscrip- 

 tions promised, and acknowledged in the published 

 lists, amount, perhaps, to between 30,000 and 40,- 

 000. To the Guarantee Fund, for which the Repre- 

 sentative Body asked for one million, donations to 

 the amount of from 300,000 to -100,000 have been 

 promised. Many donations and subscriptions, but 

 especially small subscriptions, have also been prom- 

 ised to the local treasurers, which have not yet been 

 announced to the central body. 



The first meeting of the Synod of the Irish 

 Church was held on the 13th of April. In ac- 

 cordance with a resolution passed to that 

 effect, copies of the Bible and Prayer-book in 

 Irish were placed on the table along with the 

 English Bible and Prayer-book. Archdeacon 

 Stopford brought up the report of the Judica- 

 ture Committee, who had prepared a new set 

 of canons, a number of which were designed 

 for the repression of ritualistic practices. 



In accordance with a compromise suggest- 

 ed by the Duke of Abercorn, a committee had 

 been appointed, at the head of which was Wil- 

 liam Brooke, Q. 0., Master in Chancery, " to 

 consider whether, without making any such 

 alterations in the Liturgy or Formularies of 

 our Church as would involve or imply a 

 change in her doctrines, any measures can be 

 suggested calculated to check the introduction 

 and spread of novel doctrines and practices 

 opposed to the principles of our Reformed 

 Church," who brought in a report in which were 

 suggested changes going to the root of Sacer- 

 dotalism. It recommended that a new ques- 

 tion and answer be added to the Catechism, 

 declaring that in the Lord's Supper the body 

 and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ are taken 

 and received only after a heavenly and spirit- 

 ual manner ; that a declaration be added to 

 the Communion service, that "no adoration 

 whatever is to be done to any presence of 

 Christ, or of Christ's llesh and blood, supposed 

 to be in the elements after or by virtue of 

 their consecration ; " that the form of absolu- 

 tion be omitted in the visitation of the sick ; 

 that the words in the ordination service, 

 "whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remit- 

 ted," etc., be struck out ; and that the form, 

 "Receive the Holy Ghost," etc., be changed 

 to a prayer ; and that the word priest, wher- 

 ever it occurs in the book of common prayer, 

 be defined as equivalent to presbyter. A set 

 of canons were also submitted by the com- 

 mittee, condemning and prohibiting in de- 

 tail each and all of the symbolic practices 

 which the ritualists are seeking to incorporate 

 in the services of the Church. In connection 

 with the introduction of this report, a num- 

 ber of the members of the committee, con- 

 stituting the minority, sent in statements of 

 their objections to it. A motion, declaring 

 that no revision of the Prayer-book was de- 

 sirable except so far as the disestablishment 

 act and the new situation of the Church had 



