CHURCH OF ENGLAND NOTES.

The late Angli- All readers of this Review will can Editor. unite in deeply regretting that the Anglican Editor finds his manifold duties too pressing

to allow him to continue those brilliant notes on passing events which since its foundation he has contributed to its pages. Throughout the Church of England, in all parts of the world, there is no more powerful pen; there is no writer whose works are so universally known and read, or in so many languages; there is no preacher who, whatever pulpit he occupies, will have so overflowing a congregation. Dr. Farrar occupies a unique position in the English Church, a position which could not be increased in importance if he were selected by Mr. Gladstone or Lord Salisbury for a bishopric, except that his unrivalled eloquence could then be heard in Parliament. Preaching alternately, at the very heart of the British Empire, from the pulpit of the Abbey and from that of his own church hard by, which he has made one of the most beautiful and famous in London; meeting daily with the members of the Legislature and the Government in virtue of his office as chaplain to the Speaker, and having unlimited opportunities of discussing with them the welfare of the people in things moral, social, and religious; standing apart from all the trammels of party, whether political or ecclesiastical; with the encouraging consciousness that his books exceed all other contemporary religious literature in popularity and influence; gifted with an extraordinary memory, and an absolutely indefatigable power of work; he can speak with an authority and can command an attention that is given to very few. From his uncompromising and enthusiastic zeal for total abstinence, his pungent and dauntless hostility to all attempts to alter the primitive simplicity or to narrow the glorious width of the National Church, and his passion for outspoken and uncalculating plainness of speech, he has concentrated against his shield certain critics and opponents; but there are none of them who in their secret hearts are not proud of him as a frank, fearless, and characteristic Englishman. In a most difficult audience, the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury, there is no speaker who is listened to with such unfeigned admiration and attention. His great literary gifts made his writing for this Review particularly important.

"The attitude of the Anglican Communion towards the religious bodies now separated from it by unhappy divisions would appear to be this: We hold ourselves in readiness to enter into brotherly conference with any of those who may desire inter-communion with us in a more or less perfect form. We lay down conditions on which such inter-communion is, in our opinion, and according to our conviction, possible. For however we may long to embrace those now alienated from us, so that the ideal of the one flock under the one Shepherd may be realized, we must not be unfaithful stewards of the great deposit entrusted to us. We cannot desert our position either as to faith or discipline. That concord would, in our judgment, be neither true nor desirable which should be produced by such surrender."

Such principles, so avowed, will be respected by all readers of this Review. The Fathers of the Church of England continue :—

"But we gladly and thankfully recognise the real religious work which is carried on by religious bodies not of our Communion. We cannot close our eyes to the visible blessing which has been vouchsafed to their labours for Christ's sake, Let us not be misunderstood on this point. We are not insensible to the strong ties, the rooted convictions, which attach them to their present position. These we respect, as we wish that on our side our own principles and feelings may be respected. Competent observers indeed assert that not in England only, but in all parts of the Christian world, there is a real yearning for unity-that men's hearts are moved more than heretofore towards Christian fellowship. The Conference has shown in its discussions as well as its resolutions, that it is deeply penetrated with this feeling. May the Spirit of Love move on the troubled waters of religious differences."

To that real yearning for unity the existence of this Review is a continual testimony. It is not likely that all will be able to agree with its methods or its phraseology; but none can ignore the genuineness of its aspirations. The proposal of the Committee of Bishops on this subject, on which the language of the Encyclical Letter was founded, is much to the point :

'They respectfully submit to the Conference the following Resolution: That the constituted authorities of the various branches of our Communion, acting, so far as may be, in concert with one another, be earnestly requested to make it known that they hold themselves in readiness to enter into brotherly conference (such as that which has already been proposed by the Church in the United States of America) with the representatives of other chief Christian Communions in the English-speaking races, in order to consider what steps can be taken, either towards corporate reunion, or towards such relations as may prepare the way for fuller organic unity hereafter. They cannot conclude their report without laying before the Conference the following suggestion, unanimously adopted by the Committee: 'That the Conference recommend,