10 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



sources from which its endowments have been 

 received, or by any other cause " ; and ex- 

 pressed " its deep sense of the cruelty and in- 

 justice of the Established Church (Wales) bill, 

 as its inevitable effect would be to cripple the 

 Church's power of usefulness, or most unfairly 

 to interfere with efforts for its extension." 

 Resolutions were adopted declaring the impor- 

 tance of a clearer definition of the relations be- 

 tween elementary and secondary education : 



That in arranging a more comolete system of sec- 

 ondary education it was essential that the voluntary 

 principle should have free scope ; that any attempt 

 to inaugurate a system of secondary education on 

 the principles that have been acted upon in Wales 

 was very much to be deprecated ; that the Church, 

 as well as every other religious body, has a right to 

 claim that her children shall be properly instructed 

 in the principles of their faith ; and that Churchmen 

 be earnestly invited to watch and oppose all en- 

 deavors to alienate local Church education endow- 

 ments from their original intention. 



The Houses of Convocation met again July 4. 

 In the upper house the Committee on Ecclesi- 

 astical Fees reported that the question had been 

 found so complicated that it was impossible to 

 make any recommendations at the present time. 

 The joint committee of both houses on the Sun- 

 day opening of museums reported resolutions: 



1. That this house desires again to press upon the 

 clergy the duty of warning the rich and leisured 

 classes against the increasing misuse of Sunday for 

 purposes of mere amusement, as (a) tending to impair 

 both for themselves and others the sacred character 

 and distinctive value of the Lord's Day, and (6) in- 

 volving addition to the Sunday labor of those who 

 are called upon to minister to such amusement. 2. 

 That it is the duty of the Church to remind the people 

 of England that the foremost privilege of the Lord's 

 Day is the privilege and responsibility of worship, 

 and that this must be safeguarded at whatever cost. 

 8. That since it is evident that an increasing number 

 of pei-sons, for whom Sunday is the only day of lei- 

 sure, find the reasonable use of libraries, picture gal- 

 leries and museums on that day to be wholesome and 

 profitable, it is necessary, in the highest interest both 

 of visitors and attendants, that sucn Sunday opening 

 should be carefully guarded against unfairness or 

 misuse. 4. That in no circumstances ought any li- 

 brary, institution, gallery, or recreative resort to be 

 permitted to be open on Sundays for payment. 5. 

 That if these conditions are observed, the cause of 

 true religion has, in the opinion of this house, nothing 

 to fear from the reasonable and careful extension of 

 the system of Sunday opening described in the report. 



Without passing upon the resolutions, the fur- 

 ther consideration of the subject was postponed 

 to the next group of sessions. A petition was 

 presented against the ecclesiastical teaching of 

 some of the clergy, in which was included the 

 statement that 



It it* generally known that certain clergymen of the 

 Church of England in possession of influence and 

 authority are deliberately undermining, by their teach- 

 ings and public writings, the faith of this country in 

 the trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures, and are 

 altogether repudiating the common faith of Christen- 

 dom. 



The lower house adopted, on the subject of re- 

 ligious teaching in public elementary schools, 

 resolutions 



That the great progress in popular education is a 

 matter for which the Church has cause to be thank- 

 ful, the original impulse to which was given chiefly 

 by its members, and the furtherance of which has 



been steadily maintained by them ; that the system 

 of religious teaching in board schools under the act 

 of 1870 is unsatisfactory in principle, and ... has 

 been found to be far from satisfactory in working, 

 and requires to be seriously considered and steps 

 taken for its amendment ; and that ... it is impor- 

 tant that all pupil teachers in Church voluntary 

 schools should receive definite religious teaching 

 from the clergy of their parishes. 



A resolution was adopted as an articulns deri 

 concerning the formulation of a scheme of united 

 action for the preservation of Church schools, and 

 for the proposing of sources from which the 

 requisite funds are to be obtained. The house 

 urged the furtherance of every means calculated 

 to remove the evil of intemperance. The House 

 of Laymen invited the archbishops to confer re- 

 specting the formulation of a corporate policy 

 on the question and concerning the provisions 

 of a bill to be introduced into Parliament. The 

 House of Laymen resolved concerning the Sun- 

 day opening of museums 



That the day of holy rest is a divine institution ap- 

 pointed by God at the beginning as a day for rest 

 and worship ; that the observance of Sunday has been 

 an incalculable blessing to all classes of society, espe- 

 cially to working men and women, and this house 

 deprecates every movement which tends to increase 

 Sunday labor or to make the Lord's Day a mere day 

 of amusement, and is of opinion that such public in- 

 stitutions as museums, picture galleries, and libraries 

 should not be opened on Sundays. 



Convocation of York. The Convocation of 

 York met Feb. 7, and discussed motions refer- 

 ring to the incomes of the clergy ; fees charge- 

 able by registrars and bishop's secretaries, to 

 consider which a committee was appointed ; and 

 shorter services. 



At a special meeting of the convocation, held 

 March 16, the Church Patronage bill was con- 

 sidered and, certain amendments having been 

 suggested, was approved as amended. A com- 

 mittee was appointed in the lower house to take 

 into consideration the present circumstances and 

 prospects of the Church elementary day schools, 

 and advise whether any action, concerted or 

 otherwise, ought to be taken. Concerning the 

 Welsh Suspensory bill it was resolved 

 This house affirms and urges that (1) the Church 

 in Wales is the lineal descendant of the ancient Brit- 

 ish Church known to exist at least as early as the 

 Council of Aries, 314 A. D. ; (2) the scheme now be- 

 fore Parliament, as the first step toward disestablish- 

 ment of the Church in Wales, involves a wholesale 

 desecration of the Church property ; (3) Church prop- 

 erty is not national, but (almost, if not wholly, with- 

 out exception) the gift of individuals to the Church 

 for the work of God, and the clergy receive no pay- 

 ment whatsoever from the state or state funds ; (4) 

 the voice of the majority of the people in Wales can 

 never make the plunder of property just or right ; 

 (5) if carried, the bill will be a national crime, for 

 which it will be difficult to find a parallel in the his- 

 tory of England since England became a nation; (6) 

 this house calls upon every parish and every member 

 of the Church (of whatever political opinion) through- 

 out the country to take active and immediate steps to 

 arouse opposition to the present action of the Govern- 

 ment as regards the Church in Wales. 



The clergy were admonished by the archbishop 

 to be very careful not to make the movement in 

 this matter a political one. 



The House of Laymen met in special session 

 April 4. On the presentation of the report of 



