10 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



loyalty to the bishops and the directions of the 

 existing Prayer Book. 



At the session of the Convocation, May 3, a 

 petition was presented from members of the medi- 

 cal profession urging that there were many ex- 

 ceptional cases in which the office for the com- 

 munion provided in the Prayer Book is too long, 

 and its use detrimental and occasionally even 

 dangerous to the sick person. The discussion 

 of the petition related to the difficulty of pro- 

 viding such a service as was called for in it, 

 and was terminated by an observation by the 

 archbishop that he thought it would be very 

 much better if, after prolonged consultation, they 

 were to endeavor to devise some means of meet- 

 ing the difficulty, instead of leaving it, as they 

 did at present, to the bishops and clergy very 

 much to adopt their own means. A report was 

 unanimously adopted on the fasting reception of 

 the holy communion, which the bishop said he 

 hoped would be a valuable help not only toward 

 .relieving consciences that were spiritually per- 

 plexed when such demands were made upon them 

 as were made in the insistence upon fasting com- 

 munion, but also in emphasizing the spiritual 

 character of the preparation which was required 

 for the holy sacrament. Resolutions were adopt- 

 ed in both houses condemning the issuing of 

 newspapers on seven days in the w r eek. 



Joint Meeting of the Convocations. The 

 upper and the lower houses of the Convocations 

 of Canterbury and of York having severally re- 

 solved themselves into committee, the four 

 houses met in the Church House, London, in 

 joint session, July 6. The archbishops presided 

 jointly, but the Archbishop of Canterbury took 

 the lead in the proceedings. The meeting was 

 held with closed doors. Resolutions were sub- 

 mitted as " propositions for consideration as re- 

 gards the appeal to the Crown and to the 

 perpetual court": 1. That an appeal to the 

 Crown for lack of justice shall be allowed in all 

 cases. 2. That the subject of the appeal shall 

 be limited to the question whether the defendant 

 has done or taught what the Church of England 

 has directly or by necessary implication forbid- 

 den, or omitted to do what the Church of Eng- 

 land has expressly enjoined. 3. That the right 

 of appeal shall be allowed to both parties, but 

 only when there has been a difference in the 

 judgments of the diocesan and provincial courts, 

 unless the Crown shall give leave to appeal. 

 These resolutions were approved. A fourth 

 proposition " that the Crown shall refer the 

 appeal to a permanent committee of the Privy 

 Council learned in the law, being also members 

 of the Church of England " raised discussion, 

 in which important differences of opinion were 

 made evident. After the conclusion of the joint 

 session on the second day the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury gave out as its ultimate finding a 

 resolution, unanimously carried, that "the meet- 

 ing of the committee of the whole houses of the 

 Northern and Southern Convocations, after con- 

 sidering the various propositions which have 

 been discussed during its sessions, is of opinion 

 that further consideration of these propositions 

 is necessary before practical steps are taken in 

 the direction of legislation, and that the arch- 

 bishops be requested, in accordance with the law 

 and custom of Convocation, to bring the matter 

 before their respective convocations at their next 

 sessions." A resolution was also passed declar- 

 ing that " in the interests of the Church it is 

 desirable that a joint meeting of the two con- 

 vocations should be held in each year." The 

 resolutions adopted by the four houses were con- 



sidered by the houses of laymen of the two con- 

 vocations in joint convention, which, while thank- 

 ing the archbishops for submitting the proposi- 

 tions, expressed the opinion that " it is undesirable 

 to press forward new legislation for courts to 

 deal with questions of doctrine and ritual when 

 opinion is so much divided upon the form which 

 it should assume, and when the archbishops are 

 taking steps to place church discipline upon a 

 better footing by the establishment of better 

 relations between the episcopal bench and the 

 parochial clergy." The laymen also resolved 

 that, " in the interest of the Church, it is desir- 

 able that a joint meeting of the two convocations 

 be periodically held, and that power should be 

 given them for that purpose, and letters of busi- 

 ness be issued for their action as the representa- 

 tive body of the Church of England " ; that " it 

 is desirable that the houses of laymen should 

 have a more recognized position as consultative 

 bodies of the Church, and should meet jointly 

 when the two convocations do so " ; and that " it 

 is desirable in the interests of the Church that a 

 joint meeting of the two houses of laymen should 

 be held from time to time at Westminster." 



The Ritualistic Crisis. The controversy over 

 ritualism was the predominant topic in all cir- 

 cles of the Church during the whole year. Mr. 

 Francis Peek, in the Contemporary Review for 

 January, charged certain of the bishops with 

 ordaining candidates whom they knew, from the 

 character of the colleges whence they came and 

 of the churches to which they were to be ap- 

 pointed, would violate their obligations to use in 

 service the forms prescribed in the Prayer Book 

 and no other. Regarding the distribution of 

 patronage by the present bishops, he claimed to 

 show that they had appointed 28 supporters of 

 ritualism as archdeacons, 25 to residentiary 

 canonries, and 318 to honorary canonries; and 70 

 members of the Confraternity of the Blessed 

 Sacrament to livings, with a pecuniary benefit 

 to the ritualists of 47,000 a year. The writer 

 further called on all friends of the Reformation 

 to withhold contributions from those religious 

 societies on whose boards members of the Eng- 

 lish Church Union are represented, and from the 

 building of all churches " which are not pro- 

 tected from ecclesiastical patronage." A Church- 

 men's Council was formed in Liverpool, compris- 

 ing about 100 clergymen of the dioceses and about 

 200 laymen, many of whom held the office of 

 church warden; and a laymen's league, under 

 the direction of which meetings were held in vari- 

 ous parts of the city, and which had a bill drafted 

 for the suppression of illegalities in the Church. 

 A similar bill, drafted by the laymen's league, 

 and approved by a committee of the National 

 Club in London appointed to consider legisla- 

 tion in the Protestant interest, and also by the 

 Church Association, dealt specifically, under the 

 head of offenses, with the word mass, the issue 

 of mass books, everything like compulsion in 

 regard to confession, and all unauthorized rites,' 

 ceremonies, and services, and made them cog- 

 nizable under two comprehensive clauses; con- 

 templated the abolition of the episcopal veto, 

 while granting the bishop not less than a month 

 during which he could bring his own disciplinary 

 powers to bear upon the offender; after the lapse 

 of which period, upon the repetition of the of- 

 fense, proceedings might follow before a lay 

 judge, with an assessor appointed by the bishop. 

 The bill provided that the trial be held at the 

 nearest place to the one where the offense was 

 committed. Any two members of the Church of 

 England resident in the diocese might, be the 



