20 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



bound to stop; and even the administration from 

 the church direct during the service is shown to 

 come under the same head, for it gives an opening 

 to the same abuse. Keservation is, moreover, not 

 necessary. The Prayer Book appoints a shortened 

 service of communion for the sick : and if this was 

 still too long and entailed too much strain upon 

 the mind, the administration to those who are too 

 ill to understand fully what they are doing is 

 certainly not to be desired under any circum- 

 stances. " The holy communion is not to be 

 1 1 rated as if it worked like a magical charm, 

 without co-operation on the part of the recipient. 

 In conclusion, after weighing carefully all that 

 has been put before us," the archbishop said, " I 

 am obliged to decide that the Church of England 

 dues not at present allow reservation in any form, 

 and that those who think it ought to be allowed, 

 though perfectly justified in endeavoring to get 

 the proper authorities to alter the law, are not 

 justified in practicing reservation until the law 

 has been altered." 



The judgment of the Archbishop of York coin- 

 cided with that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 

 lie saying that he could come to no other decision 

 than that " the practice of reservation has no 

 sanction in the Church of England at the present 

 time, that it was deliberately abandoned at the 

 time of the Reformation, and that it is not lawful 

 for any individual clergyman to resume such 

 practice in ministering to the souls committed to 

 his charge." 



The opinion of the Archbishop of Canterbury 

 embodied some observations respecting fasting 

 communion. Pleas were cited to the effect that it 

 was a hardship to be required to consecrate the 

 sacrament in private houses, since this can not 

 always be done in the early part of the day, and 

 to continue their fast till later is sometimes a 

 serious strain. The archbishop quoted the re- 

 marks of St. Chrysostom as fairly representing 

 the general mind of the Church in his day, when 

 fasting communion had become almost universal. 

 That divine treated fasting as not having any 

 virtue of its own, but as a means to the end of 

 making true repentance and amendment of life 

 easier, and admitted bodily weakness as a reason- 

 able plea for omitting a fast. Without taking a 

 full meal, such moderate partaking of food as 

 will relieve any serious strain would be fully con- 

 sistent with any obligation that the early Chris- 

 tians recognized. For to diminish the usual quan- 

 tity of food is to fast, even though the diminu- 

 tion docs not amount to a total abstention. 



Bemoval of Ornaments ordered. In the case 

 of the application of Mr. George Davey, a pa- 

 rishioner, for a faculty for the removal of illegal 

 ornaments from the Church of the Annunciation, 

 Brighton, Dr. Tristram, chancellor of the diocese 

 of Chicbester, in August, ordered the stations of 

 the cross, confessional boxes and their adjuncts, 

 holy water stoups, crucifixes, two " tabernacles " 

 before which red lights wore kept constantly 

 burning, and images of the Good Shepherd, the 

 Virgin Mary, and various saints removed within 

 three months; failing winch the petitioner would 

 have authority to remove them himself. 



A " Bound-Table Conference." In the Lon- 

 don Diocesan Conference, in May, Probondarv 

 Webb-Peploe moved a resolution to consider the 

 desirability of appointing a "round table con- 

 ference'' in which all the parties in the ritualistic 

 controversy might bo represented and exchange 

 and compare their views, the objects of the con- 

 fcr.-ii.-c being, as defined in the resolution, to 

 ascertain what a.L'rcc'iiont about principles exists, 

 where difficulties begin, and what is their exact 



nature. The resolution fras prompted, the mover 

 afterward explained, by special request and de- 

 sire from those in authority; and in moving it 

 he emphasized the fact that it was interrogatory 

 and not affirmative, and spoke as with the con- 

 viction that the calling of a conference of the kind 

 would be futile and absurd unless all the parties 

 were bound by conditions of deference to the law 

 as authoritatively declared. The motion was ap- 

 proved by the bishop and was supported by Lord 

 Halifax. Afterward, in his president's address at 

 the annual meeting of the English Church Union, 

 June 21, Lord Halifax asked: "Is it possible for 

 Christian men, realizing the effects of their divi- 

 sions, not resolutely to determine to take any step 

 which might hold out even the faintest hope of 

 promoting union and peace? They could not 

 sacrifice truth, but they could ascertain whether 

 their differences were really as irreconcilable as 

 they seemed. Prebendary Webb-Peploe had laid 

 it down that such a conference could be held ' on 

 the acceptance of God's Word and the formularies 

 of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of 

 England in their plain meaning.' It was clear, 

 therefore, that there was no question of a differ- 

 ence of first principles. On such a basis, with a 

 careful definition of terms, a sufficient knowledge 

 of theology and history on the part of those sum- 

 moned to meet, and a charitable desire on the part 

 of both sides to put the best possible construction 

 on the explanations which might be offered, a 

 great step might be taken in the direction of 

 peace." But insistence on the acceptance of the 

 judicial commission's decisions as an indispensa- 

 ble condition for entertaining the notion of a con- 

 ference would make the conference impossible. 



The Council of the Church Association, May 24, 

 declared by resolution that it had read with feel- 

 ings of profound regret the proposal to hold a 

 " round table conference " with representatives of 

 the Romanizing party in the Church of England. 

 " They desire publicly and explicitly," the resolu- 

 tion continued, " to dissociate themselves from 

 any recognition of the possibility of finding a 

 modus Vivendi with Romanism. They regret also 

 that any suggestion, either of slackening activity 

 of action or of making a definite appeal to Par- 

 liament, which is now being so prosperously initi- 

 ated, should be even tolerated by professed friends 

 of the Protestant cause. And they can not con- 

 sent for a single moment to relax their own efforts 

 in behalf of the Protestant principles of the Es- 

 tablished Church which are being betrayed on a 

 large scale by its own salaried servants." 



The " Round-Table Conference " was held at 

 Fulham Palace, Oct. 10 to 13, for the discussion 

 of the subject of The Doctrine of the Holy Com- 

 munion and its Expression in Ritual. It was 

 attended by Prebendary Barlow, Prof. H. E. J. 

 Bevan, Dr. Bigg, the Rev. N. Dimock, Canon Gore, 

 Prof. Moule, Canon Newbolt, Dr. A. Robertson, . 

 Canon J. A. Robinson, Prof. Sanday, Prebendary 

 Wace, Mr. W. J. Birkbeck, Viscount Halifax, the 

 Earl of Stamford, and Chancellor P. V. Smith. 

 Dr. Wace was elected chairman. The meeting 

 was private. The report of the proceedings was 

 to be submitted to the Bishop of London, and 

 would then, it was announced, probably be pub- 

 lished by authority. 



Prayers for the Dead. A prayer for the dead 

 having been included in a form of intercession 

 which had been issued for use with reference to 

 the South African war, a number of protests were 

 made to the archbishops against the authorization 

 of such a service. To some of these objections the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury said that it had been 

 decided at law that prayers for the dead were 



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