18 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



ginning of the year 270 branches and 19,930 

 members and associates, having received 2,450 

 accessions during the preceding twelve months. 

 The twenty-third anniversary of this society 

 was celebrated June 10th, with special services 

 in more than three hundred churches in Lon- 

 don. At the regular annual meeting of the 

 society, Mr. Wood, its president, speaking with 

 especial reference to the case of Mr. Green, 

 said that the Union, it must be understood, 

 rejected the authority of the Privy Council, 

 and of the courts subject to its jurisdiction, in 

 spiritual matters; it maintained the integrity 

 of the ornaments rubric, and held that the 

 Church of England had drifted into a position 

 where, if any reform was to be hoped for, 

 resistance to the encroachments of the civil 

 power had become an absolute necessity. If 

 imprisonments had been stopped only to sub- 

 stitute deprivations, it must be understood that 

 the Union would strenuously resist depriva- 

 tions by civil courts. 



RITUALISTIC STATISTICS. The annual tables 

 of statistics show that the number of ritualis- 

 tic churches in London and vicinity is gradu- 

 ally increasing. According to the summaries 

 published early in 1882, eucharistic vestments 

 were used in 37 out of 907 churches, against 

 14 in 1869: incense in 10, against 8 in 1869; 

 altar-lights in 59, against 36 in 1874; candles 

 on the altar in 45 ; and the " eastward posi- 

 tion " was taken in 270 churches against 74 in 

 1874. Forty-six churches had daily commun- 

 ion, 473 surpliced choirs, and 319 free seats. 



CONTROL AND PATRONAGE. The annual 

 meeting of the Society for the Liberation of 

 the Church from the Control and Patronage 

 of the State was held May 3d. Mr. H. R. 

 Ellington presided. The society had distrib- 

 uted during the year about a million and a 

 half of publications, and had held 368 meet- 

 ings. The treasurer's receipts had been 

 9,759, and his expenditures 9,194. The 

 report of the secretary, referring to general 

 events bearing upon the objects which the 

 society has in view, as well as upon its own 

 particular transactions during the year, recited 

 that among the unusual number of legislative 

 measures dealing with the interests and posi- 

 tion of the Church Establishments was a bill 

 introduced by Mr. H. Richard, to simplify the 

 law with respect to interments in cemeteries, 

 which would remove many anomalies in the 

 existing Burial Acts, lighten the burdens on 

 ratepayers, and facilitate the work of burial 

 boards. A bill had also been introduced by 

 Mr. Brinton to reduce and equalize burial fees, 

 and to abolish the payment of such fees ex- 

 cept for services actually rendered. A select 

 committee had been appointed to examine into 

 the operation of the law of burial fees. The 

 committee reported, with great satisfaction, 

 that during the year the principle of religious 

 equality had had an important extension in its 

 application to the Universities of Oxford and 

 Cambridge. The new statutes framed by the 



universities commissioners went far to abolish 

 clerical restrictions; and, speaking generally, 

 the offices, honors, and emoluments of the uni- 

 versities and colleges would in future be con- 

 ferred without reference to ecclesiastical dis- 

 tinctions. The three bills before Parliament 

 dealing with the ecclesiastical and charitable 

 endowments of London, proposed to take prop- 

 erty which belonged to the public at large, 

 and to devote it afresh to sectarian purposes. 

 On the subject of church patronage, the report 

 stated that Mr. Stanhope's bill only touched 

 the fringe of the evil, and gave fresh legislative 

 sanction to the rest. The society opposed that 

 bill, but supported the measure prohibiting 

 generally the sale both of advowsons and next 

 presentations. The Lord Chancellor's Aug- 

 mentation of Benefices Bill was open to simi- 

 lar objections. The committee declared their 

 belief that it would be impossible effectually 

 to secure church reform until by disestablish- 

 ment the Church gained the power of self-gov- 

 ernment. In regard to the disestablishment 

 of the Scotch Church, it was urged that steps 

 in support of Mr. Peddie's motion should be 

 taken throughout Scotland by means of peti- 

 tions, etc. At home the tension in the estab- 

 lishment caused by the conflicting views of the 

 different parties within it had rather increased 

 than diminished during the last twelve months. 

 The decision in Mr. Mackonochie's case, and 

 the failure to obtain the release of Mr. Green 

 from prison, had made a deep impression on 

 the minds of those who were already chafing 

 under the yoke of the establishment. The re- 

 sult had been that the principle of spiritual in- 

 dependence had been increasingly dwelt upon 

 by the members of the English Church, and 

 they were slowly coming to see that for its 

 sake all the perils of disestablishment and dis- 

 endowment might be safely encountered. The 

 tendency of public opinion in favor of dises- 

 tablishment had been strengthened by the -dis- 

 closures of the recent census taken by local 

 newspapers. 



Resolutions were adopted urging the neces- 

 sity of supplementing the Burials Act of 1880 

 by further legislation ; expressing gratification 

 at the provision in the new statutes of the 

 universities commissioners for the abolition of 

 clerical restrictions in connection with the 

 headships of the Oxford and Cambridge Col- 

 leges; approving Mr. Peddie's motion relative 

 to the early disestablishment of the Church of 

 Scotland ; and insisting that the parliamentary 

 oath should be optional, with the provision of 

 an equivalent alternative declaration. At a 

 public meeting following the business meeting 

 of the council of the society, resolutions were 

 adopted expressing gratification at the further 

 progress that had been made during the year 

 toward the attainment of religious liberty at 

 home and in the colonies, as well as at the 

 growth of public opinion on the question of 

 disestablishment ; invoking the hearty support 

 of the Liberal party in the House of Commons 



