14 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



distinct rule in the matter, conformable to 

 the usage which has prevailed in the Church 

 for the last two hundred years. The resolu- 

 tion was unanimously adopted in the Upper 

 House after some discussion, but was lost in 

 the Lower House. A resolution was passed 

 for the appointment of a committee to con- 

 sider, with a committee of the Convocation of 

 Canterbury, the constitutional relations be- 

 tween the ecclesiastical and civil authorities, 

 ami the best methods whereby common action 

 may be taken by them in matters affecting the 

 Church. 



The Archbishop of Canterbury moved in the 

 House of Lords, March 7th, the resolution 

 which had been approved by the Convocation 

 of Canterbury, for the appointment of a royal 

 connnis>i<>n to inquire into the constitution 

 and working of the ecclesiastical courts as 

 created or modified under the Reformation 

 Statutes of the 24th and 25th of King Henry 

 VIII, and any subsequent acts, and the reso- 

 lution was adopted without a division. 



The Archbishop of Canterbury, with the 

 advice and consent of the bishops of both prov- 

 inces, published a letter in September in an- 

 swer to a memorial which had been presented 

 to the convocation in May, concerning what 

 further steps could be taken toward grappling 

 with infidelity and indifference to religion, and 

 particularly suggesting the extension, with 

 some modifications, of the plan for employing 

 lay agents in directly spiritual work which had 

 already been partially introduced in a few dio- 

 ceses. After reviewing what had been accom- 

 plished so far by the employment of lay agents, 

 the archbishop recommended that in every 

 diocese laymen should offer themselves to the 

 parochial clergy for the distinct work of read- 

 ers; that the clergy should widely make known 

 their desire to receive the co-operation of such 

 laymen ; and that when suitable men had 

 come forward and been approved, they should 

 receive a formal commission from the bishop, 

 solemnized by an appropriate religious service. 

 Such lay readers, the archbishop advised, 

 should occupy a definite office, distinct alike 

 from that of the ordinary lay helpers, and 

 from that of women engaged in similar work. 



The annual conference and annual meeting 

 of the Society for the Liberation of Religion 

 from State Patronage and Control were held 

 May llth. Mr. H. R. Ellington presided. The 

 executive committee, in its report, congratu- 

 lated the friends of the society on the revival 

 of public interest in domestic questions, which 

 would be certain to prove advantageous to the 

 cause of disestablishment. Three quarters of 

 a million copies of publications had been circu- 

 lated, and about three hundred and fifty meet- 

 ings had been held, during the year. Some 

 advantage had been and would be taken of the 

 interest shown by the fanners in the question 

 of tithes. The passage of the Burials Act and 

 its successful working were referred to in con- 

 gratulatory terms. Resolutions were adopted 



in respect to the death of Mr. Miall, the founder 

 and chief promoter of the society, and a reso- 

 lution was passed to the effect that 



While the Council will gladly support measures 

 which will put an end to the traffic in church living 

 in the Church of England, it feels bound to oppose 

 proposals which provide for the perpetuation of the 

 traffic under whatever conditions, believing that the 

 corrupt and illegal practices disclosed before the Royal 

 Commissioners will not cease until the right to ap- 

 point to benefices ceases to be treated as property ca- 

 pable of being sold or beoucathed. And the Council 

 expresses great surprise that the present Lord Chan- 

 cellor should have brought in the Augmentation of 

 Benefices Act Amendment Bill, which aims at increas- 

 ing the value of crown livings for the express pur- 

 pose of making them salable, and of thereby con- 

 verting public into private patronage. 



At a private conference of persons interested 

 in the work of the Church Defense Association 

 held March 28th, the Archbishop of Canter- 

 bury presiding, a resolution was passed declar- 

 ing 



That in view of the strenuous and persistent efforts 

 now being made to prejudice the public mind against 

 the national Church, it is indispensable that a corre- 

 sponding effort be made on the part of all who are at- 

 tached to her, without distinction of religious or po- 

 litical party j to take such steps as may be needful for 

 putting distinctly before the country the truth as re- 

 gards the work, "history, and position of the Church 

 of England. 



Efforts to add to the funds of the associa- 

 tion were also resolved upon, in pursuance of 

 which the Archbishop of Canterbury shortly 

 afterward addressed a letter to the clergy di- 

 recting their attention to the objects and opera- 

 tions of the Liberation Society, and the neces- 

 sity of giving increased support to measures 

 for counteracting them. 



The twenty-first annual Church Congress 

 was held at Newcastle-on-Tyne, beginning Oc- 

 tober 4th. The Bishop of Durham presided. 

 The question of ritual was discussed under the 

 topic of "The Limits within which Variations 

 of Ritual may be permitted," by the Dean of 

 Durham, Archdeacon Bardsley, Earl Nelson, 

 the Dean of Chester, the Rev. Berdmore Comp- 

 ton, and the Rev. P. G. Medd. The question 

 of "the Ecclesiastical Courts; the Principles 

 on which they should be constituted, and the 

 Methods by which their Decisions can be made 

 more effectual," was considered by the Hon. 

 and Rev. W. II. Fremantle, Dr. H. Cowie 

 (Chancellor of the diocese), the Hon. 0. L. 

 Wood, Sir W. Worseley, and others. Other 

 subjects which engaged the attention of the 

 Congress were : " The Relation of the Church 

 of England to Churches in Communion with 

 her in (a) Scotland, (&) Ireland, (c) Ameri- 

 ca and the Colonies"; "The Duty of the 

 Church in Respect to the Prevalence of Secu- 

 larism and Spiritualism " ; " The Organization 

 and Development of Lay Work in Connection 

 with the Church, that of Men and that of 

 Women " ; " The Connection between Church 

 and State, what we gain by it and what we 

 lose by it " ; " The Adaptation of the Parochial 

 System and of Public Worship to the Require- 



