ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



comings of Convocation, insisted that action 

 should be taken against those bishops who "in- 

 terposed in favor of lawlessness," and stated 

 that the condition of disintegration of Evan- 

 gelicanism was the most depressing feature of 

 the time. Among the resolutions passed was 

 one directed against the bishops as a body for 

 their conduct in dealing with ritualism. 



Free and Open Church Association. A general 

 meeting of the Free and Open Church Associa- 

 tion was held in connection with the Church 

 Congress, at which resolutions were unani- 

 mously passed, declaring that " all parishion- 

 ers, without respect to class, have an equal 

 right to the free use of their parish churches, 

 and that the pew system, under which seats are 

 permanently appropriated to individuals, to 

 the exclusion of the many, is opposed alike to 

 scriptural precept, to the law of the Church, 

 and to the spiritual requirements of the peo- 

 ple; that every church should be open and 

 free of access to all at all times as a house of 

 prayer, especially for the use of those living in 

 crowded neighborhoods, who have little op- 

 portunity for privacy in their own homes " ; 

 and that "the weekly offertory, especially en- 

 joined by the Church in accordance with script- 

 ural injunctions, is the most fitting means of 

 providing for the expenses of Divine worship, 

 and for other pious and charitable uses, inas- 

 much as it enables every one to give according 

 to his means as an offering unto the Lord, in- 

 stead of limiting the contributions to fixed 

 payments by the few for the enjoyment of 

 special privileges." 



The Chnrch Congress. The Church Congress 

 met at Portsmouth, Oct. 6. The Bishop of 

 Winchester presided, and in his opening ad- 

 dress called attention to the list of topics on 

 the programme of discussions, and reverted to 

 the origin of the Congress in 1860, in the de- 

 sire among a number of persons connected with 

 the Church of England to see a field provided 

 in which laymen and clergymen could meet 

 for the consideration of all subjects bearing 

 upon the welfare of the Church and nation. 

 The first subjeot taken up was " The Revised 

 Version of the Old Testament," on which pa- 

 pers were presented or addresses made by 

 the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rev. Dr. 

 Driver, of Christen urch College, Oxford, Can- 

 on Kirkpatrick, of the University of Cam- 

 bridge, the Rav. Dr. Wright, and Archdeacon 

 Palmer. The next topio was " The Responsi- 

 bility of the Church as regards the Spiritual 

 and Moral Welfare of our Soldiers and Sail- 

 ors," on which the speakers were the Rev. 

 J. B. Harbord, Chaplain of the Fleet, the Rev. 

 Canon Beach, principal chaplain at Aldershot, 

 Lieut.-Col. Walker, and other persons connect- 

 ed with the forces. The subject of " Church 

 Work among Young Men " was considered by 

 the Rev. George Everard, with especial refer- 

 ence to the time between school and marriage ; 

 Mr. William Inglis, President of the Church of 

 England Working-men's Society, Lieut.-Col. 



Everitt, and Mr. J. G. Adderly. The second 

 day's discussions were opened with the consider- 

 ation of " The Work of Women in the Church," 

 under three heads : " As Sisters and Deacon- 

 esses," by Mr. John Pares; "Rescue Work in 

 Towns," by the Rev. Arthur 0. Thynne ; and 

 "The Girls' Friendly Society," by Mrs. Towns- 

 end ; and these speakers were followed by the 

 Bishop of Oxford, the Rev. R. C. Billing, the 

 Bishop of Carlisle, and the Rev. G. J. Athill. 

 " The Influence of Art on Religion and of Re- 

 ligion on Art " was considered in papers by Mr. 

 J. D. Sedding ; Mr. F. T. Palgrave, on the " His- 

 tory of Art"; Mr. J. 0. Horsley, R. A., on 

 " Art Schools and Art Practice in their Rela- 

 tion to a Moral and Religious Life " ; and Mr. 

 W. J. Courthope, on the " Reasons for the An- 

 tagonism between Art and Religion in Eng- 

 land," with volunteered addresses. On "Evan- 

 gelizing Agencies supplementary to the Pa- 

 rochial System," papers were read by the 

 Dean of Manchester and the Rev. W. Carlile, 

 and were followed by verbal addresses. The 

 other topics for this day were " The Cathedral 

 in its Relation to the Diocese and the Church 

 at large," on which the papers and addresses 

 were by the Dean of Wells, Archdeacon Han- 

 nah, the Bishops of Carlisle, Southwell, and 

 Winchester, Mr. Beresford Hope, and others ; 

 and " The Doctrine of Holy Scripture and the 

 Attitude of the Church with respect to War," 

 considered by Prebendary Row, the Rev. A. 0. 

 Edersheim, the Rev. Aubrey L. Moore, and 

 others. At an evening working-men's meet- 

 ing, over which the Bishop of Winchester pre- 

 sided, and at which the Bishop of Carlisle made 

 the address, a request was received from the 

 Secretary of the Railway Servants' Congress, 

 asking co-operation in discouraging the in- 

 crease of Sunday duties imposed on railway 

 servants, to which a favorable response was 

 unanimously made. The subject of " The 

 Teaching Work of the Church " was discussed 

 in the three departments, " Exegesis of Script- 

 ure," by Canon Westcott ; " Doctrine and Eth- 

 ics," by Prebendary Stephens ; and " Church 

 History," by Canon Creighton, of the Univer- 

 sity of Cambridge, whose papers were folio wed 

 by a general discussion. The subject of " The 

 Church in India " was considered, as to " Eu- 

 ropeans and Eurasians their Spiritual and 

 Educational Needs," by Archdeacon Baly ; and 

 " The Native Races," by the Rev. J. 0. Whit- 

 ley, Sir Charles Turner, late Chief-Justice of 

 Madras, and the Rev. W. R. Blackett. On the 

 subject of "Church Defense," "The History 

 of Chnrch Property and Endowments" was 

 presented by the Rev. Thomas Moore, and 

 " The Social Defense of the National Church " 

 was considered by Mr. Beresford Hope, M. P. 

 The Church Defense League was commended, 

 and an expression was voted against free ele- 

 mentary schools. On the last day of the ses- 

 sion, the subject of " The Spiritual Life " was 

 considered, with reference to its "Intellectual 

 Trials," by the Rev. H. Footman, the Rev. J. E. 



