

ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



19 



to Mr. Peddie's motion for the disestablish- 

 ment and disendowment of the Church of 

 Scotland; and declaring that "the meeting, 

 while sympathizing with the Episcopalians in 

 their desire for greater liberty and for the re- 

 moval of evils which now restrict the useful- 

 ness of the Church, is of opinion that that 

 liberty can not be enjoyed, and those evils can 

 not be effectually cured, until the Church ceases 

 to be established by law, and becomes a self- 

 supported and self-governed religious commu- 

 nity." 



The Execative Committee of this society, in 

 October, issued a circular to its supporters 

 relative to its contemplated operations during 

 the coming session of Parliament. It antici- 

 pated that domestic questions would receive 

 more attention than they had during the past 

 two sessions, and that new demands for re- 

 form would exercise a stimulating influence on 

 the public mind, and make it possible to press 

 the subject of disestablishment with increased 

 earnestness. Preparations were, therefore, 

 making for greater activity. The London 

 School Board elections would be used as a 

 means of urging that the surplus city charities 

 should be applied to educational instead of to 

 ecclesiastical purposes ; agitation in support of 

 Mr. Peddie's motion for the disestablishment 

 of the Scottish Church would be renewed ; 

 the questions of cemeteries, burial fees, and 

 the training colleges would be dealt with ; in- 

 formation was being collected relative to vi- 

 cars' rates, church rates to repay borrowed 

 money, and other ecclesiastical exactions, and 

 also to the proceedings of the Charity Com- 

 missioners in regard to endowed schools. The 

 committee stated, also, that as soon as it could 

 do so with advantage, it would deal direct- 

 ly with the Establishment in England and 

 Wales. 



The annual meeting of the Church Defense 

 Institution was held in June. The Archbishop 

 of Canterbury presided, and remarked, in his 

 opening address, that very little had been 

 openly done during the past year to encour- 

 age an attack upon the Church of England. 

 It was, however, to be remembered that the 

 most dangerous periods were sometimes those 

 when there was little outward appearance of a 

 violent assault. He did not look with any sat- 

 isfaction upon those who thought it their duty 

 to resist all attempts at reform made within 

 the Church herself. He hardly thought it was 

 a fair mode of action, and was certain that 

 those who were conscientiously desirous of 

 seeing the Church of England with other in- 

 strumentalities in the country doing as much 

 good as possible for the promulgation of the 

 gospel, would not be likely to endeavor to 

 thwart the usefulness of the Church by oppos- 

 ing reforms where they thought reform neces- 

 sary. An impression seemed to be sometimes 

 disseminated at meetings of the Liberation So- 

 ciety that the Church of England had done 

 very little for the education of the working 



classes, but he maintained that the contrary 

 was the case. 



The question of the amendment of the sys- 

 tem of patronage and the abolition of purchase 

 in the Church has been discussed with consid- 

 erable interest, the discussion centering chiefly 

 around the bills on the subject proposed in Par- 

 liament by Mr. Leatham and Mr. Stanhope. 

 The subject was considered in the Convocation 

 of York, at its meeting in February, in connec- 

 tion with a resolution offered by Canon Gore, 

 of Chester: 



That, with a view to remove abuses now incident 

 to the sale of the right of patronage in the Church, 

 it is expedient (a) That the sale of the new presen- 

 tation to a benefice be forbidden ; (b) That an interval 

 of not less than five years intervene between two sales 

 of the same advowson ; (c) That provision be made to 

 prevent donative benefices from being used to create 

 vacancies in presentative benefices ; (a) That diocesan 

 boards of patronage be incorporated, with the power 

 of acquiring advowsons, whether by gift or purchase ; 

 (e) That all deeds affecting the advowson of a bene- 

 fice be registered publicly in the diocesan registry ; 

 (/) That large additional powers be granted bishops 

 to refuse institution to unworthy presentees. 



The Central Council of Diocesan Confer- 

 ences, at its meeting, March 7th, adopted a 

 resolution declaring 



m That, in view of the report of the Eoyal Commis- 

 sion of 1879, and of the decisions of diocesan confer- 

 ences, the most strenuous efforts should be made to 

 obtain the passing of an act without delay, which 

 should enforce the principle that " patronage partakes 

 of the nature of a trust to be exercised for the spir- 

 itual benefit of the parishioners," and should contain 

 clauses (1) for the abolition of the sale of next pres- 

 entations : (2) for the due regulation and registration 

 of the sale of advowsons ; (3) for the conversion of 

 all donatives into presentative benefices ; (4) for giv- 

 ing increased powers to the bishop to refuse institu- 

 tion in certain cases and under express limitations and 

 conditions. 



At the annual meeting of the Liberation So- 

 ciety, May 3d, Mr. Ellington, chairman, criti- 

 cising Mr. Stanhope's measure, said that the 

 main defect in it was, that it dealt only with 

 next presentations and failed to touch advow- 

 sons. The society could not see that there was 

 any material difference between presenting to 

 the cure of souls in perpetuity and the presen- 

 tation of any particular minister. A conference 

 of clergy and laity, convened by the Council 

 of the National Church Reform Union, met in 

 London, June 20th, to consider the various 

 measures on the subject which were before 

 Parliament. Mr. Albert Grey, M. P., who pre- 

 sided at the meeting, said that neither Mr. 

 Leatham's nor Mr. Stanhope's measure was 

 adequate to meet the evil. Resolutions were 

 adopted declaring that no reform of patronage 

 could be regarded as satisfactory which did 

 not confer upon the parishioners, by vote or 

 otherwise, directly or indirectly, a voice in the 

 choice of their clergymen ; and that no dealing 

 with the subject would be satisfactory that did 

 not provide for its total abolition as soon as 

 possible. Popular discontent with the system 

 of selling advowsons and next presentations 

 found expression on several occasions when 



