26 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



recovering the Classes alienated from the 

 Church " (Canon Murray, for Canon Kyle, J. 

 G. Talbot, M. P., Lord Forbes, the Rev. T. 

 Hugo, Dean Fremantle, the Rev. J. F. Kitto, 

 Earl Nelson, Mr. Paterson, of Bradford) ; " Aids 

 to Spiritual Life " (Prebendary Clark, Canon 

 Bell, the Hon. Charles Wood, and others); 

 "The Due Relations of Church and State" 

 (the Earl of Devon ; the Rev. J. Bardsley, on 

 the special topic of " The Court of Final Ap- 

 peal ; " Dr. Phillimore, "The Supremacy of the 

 Sovereign over the Church ; " Arthur Mills, 

 M. P. ; the Rev. Bradmore Corapton, and others). 

 Papers were also read on "Church-Bells" (in 

 which competitions for prizes and ringings on 

 secular occasions were deprecated), the " Pe- 

 riodical and Daily Press of the Country" (in 

 which ideal journals were delineated by which 

 the Church was to attract all readers toward 

 herself), and "Ministrations to the Sick." Res- 

 olutions were adopted declaring "that the 

 promotion of the reunion of their Noncon- 

 formist brethren with the Church is a duty 

 binding on all faithful churchmen," and com- 

 mending to hearty sympathy and active sup- 

 port the " Home Reunion Society," an organi- 

 zation having for its object the promotion of 

 unity without compromise of the faith or con- 

 stitution of the Church. 



The Archbishop of Canterbury in September, 

 1876, sent the following letter to the Colonial 

 Bishops, in relation to the calling of a Pan- 

 Anglican Synod, to meet in 1878 : 



EIGHT EEVEREND BROTHER: A wish has been ex- 

 pressed by many bishops of the Protestant Episco- 

 pal Church in the United States of America, by the 

 bishops of the Canadian Dominion, and by the West 

 Indian bishops, that a second Conference of our 

 brethren should be held at Lambeth. Before I de- 

 cide upon the important step of inviting the bishops 

 of our communion throughout the world to assemble 

 at Lambeth, I have thought it right, after consulta- 

 tion with the bishops of England, to give all our 

 brethren an opportunity of expressing their opinion 

 upon the expediency of convening such a Confer- 

 ence at this tune, and upon the choice of the subjects 

 which ought to engage its attention if it be convened. 

 I therefore beg leave to intimate to you our readi- 

 ness to hold a Conference at Lambeth in or about 

 the month of July, 1878, if it shall seem expedient 

 after the opinions of all our brethren have been as- 

 certained ; and I need scarcely assure you that your 

 advice is earnestly desired, and will be respectfully 

 Considered. May I ask for our guidance whether 

 you are willing and are likely to be able to attend 

 the Conference yourself? Those who were present 

 at Lambeth in 1867 thankfully acknowledge that, 

 through the blessing of Almighty God, the bishops 

 of the various branches of the Anglican Communion 

 were drawn together in closer bonds of brotherly 

 love and sympathy. The help and comfort which, 

 are due from the branches of Christ's Church to 

 each other are more readily rendered the more fully 

 each is made acquainted w'ith the wants of the rest. 

 In this time of religious activity and increased inter- 

 course between all parts of the world, there is greater 

 need than ever of mutual counsels among the bishops 

 of our widely-extended communion. The bishops 

 of England, therefore, earnestly ask you to join with 

 them in prayer that we may ail be guided to a wise 

 decision on this important matter, and if it should 

 be resolved to hold the Conference, that its delibera- 



tions may issue in greater peace and strength and 

 energy to the whole Church of Christ. Anxiously 

 awaiting your answer, 1 remain your faithful brother 

 and servant in Christ, A. C. CANTUAE. 



The General Synod of the Irish Church met 

 in Dublin, April 20th. The Rev. Lord Plun- 

 ket offered a motion directing that an alter- 

 native form of the service for the ministration 

 of baptism to infants, shorter than that now 

 in use, be added to the present baptismal 

 formularies. The motion was supported by 

 nearly all the laity, but failed to receive the 

 requisite majority among the clergy. The fol- 

 lowing declaration on the subject of baptism 

 was inserted in the new preface to the Prayer 

 Book: 



In the formularies relating to baptism, we have 

 made no substantial change, though some have de- 

 sired to alter or omit certain expressions touching 

 which diversities of opinion have prevailed among 

 faithful members of our Church. At the same time, 

 we desire fully to recognize the liberty of expound- 

 ing these formularies hitherto allowed by the gen- 

 eral practice of the Church, affirmed on occasion, by 

 judicial interpretation of law. And as concerning 

 those points whereupon such liberty has been al- 

 lowed, we hereby further declare that no minister 

 of this Church is required to hold or teach any doc- 

 trine whick has not been clearly determined by the 

 Articles of Eeligion. 



The rubric which required the reading of 

 the Athanasian Creed on certain occasions was 

 removed, but, in connection with this act, a 

 declaration was passed, that in removing the 

 rubric the Church did not withdraw its witness 

 to the truth of the articles of the Christian 

 Faith contained in the creed. 



The annual meeting of the Church Mission- 

 ary Society was held in London, May 2d. The 

 Earl of Chichester presided. The ordinary in- 

 come of the society for the year, from as- 

 sociations, benefactions, legacies, and other 

 sources, had amounted to 189,457 17. Id. ; 

 the society had also received funds for special 

 objects, sufficient to make the total income 

 195,116 8s. Id. The expenditures had been 

 191,237. The report of missionary opera- 

 tions showed that the society had at present 

 170 stations, 211 European clergymen, 181 

 native clergymen, 38 European schoolmasters 

 and lay agents, 11 European women-teachers 

 (exclusive of missionaries' wives), 2,411 native 

 Christian catechists and teachers, and 24,550 

 communicants. The society had withdrawn 

 from 78 stations, which had been added to 

 parochial establishments in the West Indies, 

 or transferred to the native Church in Sierra 

 Leone, containing 10 native clergy, 4,356 com- 

 municants, and 12,866 scholars. New missions 

 had been opened in Persia, and in the Nyanza 

 district, Africa; and the missions in China, 

 Japan, to certain classes of the population in 

 India, on the west coast of Africa, in the trans- 

 Jordanic districts of Palestine, and in the dio- 

 cese of Saskatchewan, Northwest America, had 

 been extended. At home a conference had 

 been held on missions to Mohammedan people > 



