16 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



nition. Other subjects treated in the papers read 

 ^nd the discussions were The Duty of Public 

 Worship, its Ideal, and the Adequacy of the 

 Prayer-Book Services; The Miracles and the Su- 

 pernatural Character of the Gospels (as to which 

 Prof. Swete spoke upon the Miraculous Concep- 

 tion, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection, and 

 Prof. Sunday sought for a definition of a mira- 

 cle) ; The Sermon on the Mount in its Applica- 

 tion to Modern Life; The Maintenance of Re- 

 ligion in the Home under the Changed Condi- 

 tions of Modern Life; The Position and Respon- 

 siliility of the Clergy and Laity in Relation to 

 Modern Criticism and its Influence on Theology, 

 both as Students and as Teachers; Religious 

 Work among Sailors; The Direction of Individ- 

 uals in Spiritual Matters (in which the subject 

 of confession was brought up) ; The Observance 

 of Sunday (at a women's meeting) ; Grievances 

 arising out of the Exercise of Patronage, the 

 Alteration of the Mode of Conducting Services 

 by the Incumbent, and the Continuance in 

 Office of an Inefficient Incumbent; The Church 

 And Working Men; Prayer, its Obligations, its 

 Conditions, and its Results; The Duty of the 

 Church in regard to Education, in the discussion 

 of which the Bishop of Hereford advocated the 

 establishment of equitable and friendly relations 

 with nonconformists, and insisted as fundamen- 

 tal principles in any scheme that fair dealing as 

 between citizens of different denominations re- 

 -quired an efficient school within reach of each 

 <;hild, managed by a committee of which the 

 members were publicly appointed or by the 

 religious denomination to which the parents 

 belong; that the expenditure of public money 

 be under public control; and that small schools 

 be not needlessly multiplied, that being contrary 

 to efficiency and economy; and laid down a 

 scheme conforming to those principles. The 

 Bishop of Coventry defended the attitude of the 

 Church in opposing undenominational manage- 

 ment of the schools, and was followed by other 

 speakers to a like effect. Earl Spencer criticized 

 the provisions of the Government's education bill, 

 which did not give genuine public control over 

 the expenditure of public money, and laid em- 

 phasis on the strong feeling which prevailed in 

 the country upon the subject. The Causes and 

 Remedies for the Diminution of the Supply of 

 Candidates for Holy Orders from Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge were the subject of papers by the rector of 

 Exeter College, Canon Hicks of Manchester, the 

 Rev. Canon toakes- Jackson, and Canon W. John- 

 stone. The subject of Church reform was consid- 

 ered in papers on (a) the lay franchise, qualifica- 

 tions of electors and elected; (ft) Houses of Lay- 

 men their constitution and work; and (c) re- 

 formed Convocation and a national synod. 



The Irish Synod. The financial reports made 

 at the meeting of the synod of the Episcopal 

 Church in Ireland showed that a considerable 

 decrease had taken place in the revenue of the 

 Church from voluntary sources. A diminished 

 income was feared from mortgages and land, 

 but the dioceses were now in much better posi- 

 tion 'to meet such reductions. They had already 

 ntered into possession of the profits of commu- 

 tation* to the extent of 800.000. with 900,000 

 wore to accrue in a not distant future. 



In respect to the question of a Roman Cath- 

 olic university, the Primate observed that Ire- 

 land was not large enough for two really great 

 inhibitions of this kind: but why might there 

 not \ie two. or perhaps three, constituent colleges 

 in what might deserve to be called a university 

 of Ireland? 



In the synod, the duty of the Church in rela- 

 tion to religious instruction in primary and in- 

 termediate schools, and to the general conduct 

 of the state system of primary education, was 

 discussed. The archbishop and bishops were re- 

 quested to enter into communication with the 

 Board of Trinity College with reference to the 

 position of the Church of Ireland toward the 

 divinity school. 



A declaration by the archbishop and bishops 

 was issued to the synod reminding members of 

 the Church of the increasing misuse of the term 

 Catholic to describe those only who acknowledge 

 the supremacy of the Pope. The matter was de- 

 clared to be " not a mere question of words or 

 names. ... If we now surrender our title of mem- 

 bership in the Catholic Church we give up an 

 important point in that faith which was once 

 for all delivered to the saints." 



The General Synod of Canada. The General 

 Synod of the Church of England in Canada met 

 in Montreal, Sept. 3. The Primate, Archbishop 

 Machray, being ill, Archbishop Bond, of Mont- 

 real presided. Canon Matheson, of Winnipeg, 

 was elected prolocutor of the lower house. The 

 business regarded as of most importance was the 

 passage of a canon organizing the mission work 

 of the Church under a board for the whole Do- 

 minion. The Ecclesiastical Synod of the Prov- 

 ince of Canada had decided at its session in 

 September, 1901, to merge its Mission Board into 

 that of the General Synod if it would take over 

 the responsibilities of the provincial board. The 

 organization of the General Board was effected, 

 and the Rev. N. L. Tucker, of Vancouver, British 

 Columbia, was appointed its general secretary. A 

 canon was passed by the House of Bishops abso- 

 lutely barring any divorced person from remar- 

 riage during the lifetime of a former partner, but 

 was defeated by the adverse vote of the laity in the 

 lower house, although the clergy of that house 

 were overwhelmingly in favor of it. Triennial 

 meetings of the synod were decided upon, with 

 double the former diocesan representation, mak- 

 ing the largest representation of any diocese eight 

 of each order. A resolution was introduced ask- 

 ing for the appointment of a committee to con- 

 sider the question of a change of the name of the 

 church the name Church of England in Can- 

 ada being considered by the movers not suffi- 

 ciently descriptive. After some discussion, the 

 consideration of the question was postponed. 

 Committees were appointed to prepare drafts of 

 extra prayers and services required by the con- 

 ditions of the Church in Canada, to be submitted 

 to the next meeting of the synod for adoption 

 as an appendix to the Prayer-Book. No altera- 

 tion in the body of the Prayer-Book was con- 

 templated. Authority was given permitting the 

 optional use of the Revised Version of the Bible 

 at the services of the Church. A minute was 

 adopted, to be brought before all the synods and 

 convocations of churches in the communion, with 

 a view to the discussion of it in the Pan-Anglican 

 Conference in 1907, contemplating the extension 

 of the diaconate and the making of it a perma- 

 nent order. In the bishop's pastoral as read to 

 the conference all the members were called upon 

 to increase their interest in missions, in the 

 sanctity of the Lord's Day. in the study of the 

 Bible, in family worship, and in Sunday-schools. 



The Synod in Japan. The seventh General 

 Synod of the " Holy Catholic Church in Japan " 

 (the Nippon Sei Kokwai) was held in Kioto, 

 April 10 to 15. A course of procedure intro- 

 duced by the English and American bishops for 

 the election of a Japanese bishop was almost 



