ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



11 



Episcopal Church in Ireland gave a more satis- 

 factory account of the financial condition of the 

 Church than did the previous report. The con- 

 tributions from voluntary sources amounted to 

 156,597, showing an increase of 5,695 over the 

 amount in 1892. The parochial assessment ac- 

 count for stipends amounted to 2,144, showing 

 a considerable decrease. The contributions re- 

 ceived from voluntary sources since disestablish- 

 ment amounted to 4,376,197. The total revenue 

 was 487,681, and the total expenditure 421,- 

 553, leaving a balance in hand of 66,128. 



At a meeting of the bishops of the Church of 

 Ireland, held Feb. 20, letters were read from the 

 Archbishop of Dublin and the Bishops of Clagher 

 and Down, in reference to the consecration of 

 bishops for the Reformed Churches- of Spain and 

 Portugal. The letters recited that the decision of 

 the bishops in 1889 adverse to the consecration 

 of these bishops under the sanction of the Irish 

 Church was not based upon the ground of prin- 

 ciple, but upon a difference of opinion which ex- 

 isted on the subject, and upon a hope that the 

 churches mentioned might before long obtain 

 consecration from some other source. The dif- 

 ference of opinion had now undergone consider- 

 able modification, and the hope had been disap- 

 pointed. Further, the lapse of time had mate- 

 rially strengthened the claims of the churches 

 requesting the service. During the fifteen years 

 that had elapsed since they first came with their 

 petition they had met with much discourage- 

 ment and hostility, but, had nevertheless " ad- 

 hered with singular patience and steadfastness 

 to the resolve that, come what will, their churches 

 shall be organized after the primitive model." 

 The writers were determined, unless they met 

 with formal protest from the bishops or General 

 Synod of the Church, to visit Spain and Portu- 

 gal, and there consecrate for each of the two 

 churches a bishop provided the synods of those 

 churches affirm guarantees similar to those which 

 they offered, of -their own accord in 1883, and 

 that provision is made for an endowment fund. 

 A resolution was adopted authorizing the course 

 marked out in this letter. 



The Reformed Church in Spain. The Arch- 

 bishop of Dublin with the Bishops of Clogher and 

 Down, representatives of the Irish Episcopal 

 Church, proceeded to Madrid in September, and 

 with due form consecrated Senor Cabrera as the 

 first bishop of the Reformed or Protestant Con- 

 gregations of Spain and Portugal. The new 

 bishop at one time held a Government office at 

 Gibraltar, but, having been converted to Protes- 

 tantism, resigned his position and engaged in 

 missionary work at Seville. He soon became the 

 recognized leader of the Spanish reformers, and 

 was subsequently elected bishop, but failed to 

 secure consecration. The Lambeth Anglican 

 Conference of 1878, when the question came be- 

 fore it, declined to sanction the election. The 

 Conference of 1888 passed resolution son the sub- 

 ject that did not commit it, but expressed a hope 

 that the reformers " may be enabled to adopt 

 such sound forms of doctrine and discipline and 

 to secure such Catholic organization as will per- 

 mit us to give them a fuller recognition." These 

 resolutions were afterward supplemented by a dec- 

 laration that ' without desiring to interfere with 

 the rights of bishops of the Catholic Church to 



interpose in cases of extreme necessity, we depre- 

 cate any action that does not regard primitive 

 and established principles of jurisdiction and the 

 interests of the whole Anglican communion." 

 While the Irish bishops at that time declined to 

 consecrate Bishop -elect Cabrera, Archbishop 

 Plunkett, in his private chapel, ordained a Mr. 

 Cassels, in 1891, to serve in Spain. The discus- 

 sion which this act aroused in England resulted 

 in a protest deprecating interference on the part 

 of the Church of England with the Church in 

 Ireland in the conduct of the relations between 

 itself and the Spanish reformers who had ap- 

 pealed to it for help. Among the signers of this 

 protest were the Deans of Llandaff and Canter- 

 bury, the Master of Corpus, the late Prof. Jowett, 

 and Archdeacon Farrar. Subsequently, the 

 Archbishop of Dublin went to Spain and opened 

 the church at Madrid of which Senor Cabrera 

 was the pastor. * The adherents of the Reformed 

 community in Spain are represented by Arch- 

 bishop Plunkett to number nearly 3,000 souls. 

 They are found in Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Sal- 

 amanca, Valladolid, the neighborhood of Barce- 

 lona, and other centers of life. The congrega- 

 tions among which they are distributed have 

 their vestries, and each sends a clerical and a 

 lay delegate to a central synod, which meets 

 when occasion demands. They have a liturgy 

 and a hymnal of their own. Their buildings at 

 Madrid include a handsome church, a synod hall, 

 a residence suitable for a bishop, and accommo- 

 dations for students for the ministry. 



The Church Congress. The Church Con- 

 gress met at Exeter, Oct. 9. The bishop of the 

 diocese presided and delivered the opening ad- 

 dress, in which he touched upon a number of 

 topics relating to the condition and interests of 

 the Church and its work. The first subject dis- 

 cussed was the relation of cathedrals to the work 

 of the churches; upon which the Bishop of 

 Peterborough read a paper on " Cathedrals in 

 Relation to the Cathedral City, the Diocese, and 

 the Church at Large." Archdeacon Robeson 

 discussed the financial aspect of the subject, 

 Canon Cornish considered the attitude of the 

 parishes toward the cathedrals, the Earl of 

 Mount Edgecumbe spoke on the management of 

 new cathedrals, the Dean of Chichester on cathe- 

 dral worship, and the Dean of Norwich on the 

 ministry of hospitality as a duty of cathedrals. 

 On the subject of biblical Criticism papers were 

 read by the Bishop of Gibraltar on " The 

 Grounds of our Belief in the Divine Origin and 

 Authority of the Bible " : by Prof. Driver, on 

 "The Growth of the Old Testament"; by Dr. 

 Stanley Leathes. on " The Organic Unity of the 

 Old Testament " ; and the Rev. Dr. Sanday, on 

 " The Fullness of Revelation in the New Testa- 

 ment." Papers relating to the Catholic Church 

 were read by Canon Meyrich on " National 

 Churches," and Canon Overton on " The Church 

 of England and Nonconformity." The subject of 

 " Christian Doctrine in its Relation to (1) Agnosti- 

 cism ; (2) Indifference; and (3) Anarchy and 

 Atheism," was discxissed by R. H. Hutton, editor 

 of the "Spectator," in reference to Agnosticism ; 

 and the Rev. R. Bayne, of Whitechapel, in ref- 

 erence to Anarchy and Atheism. Other subjects 

 presented in papers and general discussion were : 

 "Temperance Work and Legislation"; "Ele- 



