CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 



devotion to the Redeemer, in opposition to ritual- 

 ism ; and the sanctifying and saving efficacy of a 

 personal faith in Christ, in opposition to Broad 

 Churchism. 



Convocation consists of two chambers, termed 

 the Upper and Lower Houses. The Upper House 

 is composed of the archbishop and the bishops 

 of the province ; and the Lower House, of the 

 clergy of the second order. Meetings of Convoca- 

 tion, long in abeyance, have been lately resumed, 

 particularly in the province of Canterbury ; and 

 among other things, Convocation has resolved on 

 a new and revised translation of the Holy Scrip- 

 tures, which is now being executed by a committee 

 of their appointment, including distinguished and 

 learned representatives from other leading Protes- 

 tant Churches. 



The position of the Church of England as 

 respects its Convocation is anomalous. As essen- 

 tially interwoven with the state, the Church pos- 

 sesses no independent action ; its articles, liturgy, 

 organisation as to benefices, &c. are all regu- 

 lated by parliament, while its discipline falls within 

 the scope of the ecclesiastical courts, the affairs of 

 which are carried on by laymen, being a class of 

 tribunals apart from the ministering clergy. The 

 Church, therefore, in its distinctive capacity, is left 

 little to do in the way of jurisdiction. 



The number of benefices in the Church of 

 England, which has 2 archbishops and 26 bishops, 

 is now about 13,000, and the clergy of all classes 

 are estimated at 23,000. A large proportion of 

 the church property is managed by the Ecclesias- 

 tical Commissioners, appointed in 1836, who pay 

 fixed incomes to the prelates of from ,15,000 (to 

 the Archbishop of Canterbury) to .2000. The 

 deans, numbering 30, have incomes of from ^3000 

 to ,700, 1000 being the general average. The 

 bishops are assisted by 71 archdeacons, who, for 

 the most part, also hold other preferments, and 

 who have under them 610 rural deans. The 

 revenue from tithes received by the clergy is 

 about ,2,500,000, and the income from church 

 property is about ,5,000,000. The Church of 

 England has over 50 bishops and about 2500 

 clergy in the colonies. The amount contributed 

 to missions by Church of England societies in 

 1871 was ^324,782. 



The Anglican Church embraces in her com- 

 munion the Episcopal Churches of Ireland and 

 Scotland, all the colonial Episcopal Churches, 

 and the American Episcopal Church. All but 

 the latter use the English Book of Common 

 Prayer : in America, this has been slightly 

 altered. 



The Act disestablishing the Episcopal Church 

 of Ireland came into operation on the 1st January 

 1871. Existing interests were provided for. The 

 private benefactions left to the church were re- 

 tained to the amount of .500,000, together with 

 the national historical edifices, including several 

 venerable cathedrals. The government is exer- 

 cised by the Irish Church Representative Body, 

 which comprises the two archbishops and ten 

 bishops, and 36 elected and twelve other members, 

 for the greater part laymen. The number of bene- 

 fices is 1548, and of curates 622. The Church 

 population is about 683,295. There are two arch- 

 bishops and ten bishops. The whole number of 

 Episcopalians in English-speaking communities 

 is estimated at 17,050,000. 



THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 



At the commencement of the I5th century, 

 Scotland was involved in the errors and corrup- 

 tions then prevalent throughout Christendom, and, 

 in ignorance and immorality, the Scottish clergy 

 were amongst the worst in Europe. The opinions 

 of Huss and Wicliffe having found their way 

 into the country, were taught in several places, 

 particularly in the south-western counties, where 

 the followers of the latter went under the name 

 of the Lollards of Kyle. When, a century later, 

 by means of intercourse with the continent, the 

 views of Luther became known in Scotland, and 

 produced an impression, deepened by the martyr- 

 dom of Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart, 

 the persecution to which the recipients of the 

 Reformed opinions were subjected by the bishops, 

 aroused and fanned the spirit of independence 

 inherent in the Scottish breast, so that, on the 

 return of John Knox from Geneva, in 1559, he 

 found a fitting soil in which to deposit the new 

 seed, and a ready response in the hearts of the 

 people to his bold projects. Encouraged by the 

 strength of their party, the accession of Queen 

 Elizabeth, and the return of Knox, the Reformed 

 section of the nation known as the ' Congrega- 

 tion' having triumphed in open warfare, ob- 

 tained a complete ascendency in the parliament 

 that met at Edinburgh in 1560, which passed 

 several acts, abolishing the jurisdiction of the 

 pope, proscribing the Mass, and ratifying a Con- 

 fession of Faith, drawn up by Knox and his 

 associates. This Confession embraced all the 

 essential articles in the ancient creeds, and though 

 substantially the same as that afterwards com- 

 piled at Westminster, was considerably more 

 liberal. The First Book of Discipline followed, 

 setting forth the government and discipline of 

 the Church. Three principal orders of office- 

 bearers were established ministers, elders, and 

 deacons chosen by the several congregations, 

 and publicly ordained by the ministers and elders 

 of the Church. A temporary order of superin- 

 tendents, having power to plant churches and 

 appoint ministers, was instituted. The legislation 

 and judicial power was vested in a General 

 Assembly, which met once or twice in the year, 

 and which consisted of ministers, superintendents, 

 and representative elders. A simple form of wor- 

 ship was adopted, and the Sabbath only set apart 

 for religious services. 



On the accession of James VI. to the throne 

 of England, he conceived a strong predilection 

 for that form of religion which he found existing 

 in the southern part of the island, with a corre- 

 spondingly violent antipathy to Presbyterianism ; 

 and he endeavoured by various means to effect a 

 change in Scotland. The attempt to revive prel- 

 acy succeeded for a short time. Bishops were 

 again promoted to the several sees. But a new 

 struggle, headed by Andrew Melville, the disciple 

 of Beza, ended in the adoption by the General 

 Assembly (1581) of a still more stringent system 

 of Presbyterianism, embodied in the Second Book 

 of Discipline. Charles I. endeavoured to intro- 

 duce into the Scottish Church a Book of Canons 

 and a Liturgy framed on the model of those of 

 England ; but the popular indignation, which 

 found vent in the National Covenant, presented 



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