to her children. But more than that, it is her best policy. It will make every one feel that she loves her children, and is solicitous for their spiritual welfare; and this feeling will produce an effect, and that a sure one, not only on the attachment of her members, but also on the light in which she is regarded from without. She will likewise be taking the only means whereby she may regain her foothold in places where she has been long unknown.

THE ELECTIONS TO CONVOCATION.

Now that the whirl of elections has somewhat subsided, the clergy are also indulging in the excitement of the poll. In spite of the sneers of the Times, the Convocation is working well and daily gaining influence. It may be said it has no power. Its representation is still very imperfect, but still it on the whole represents very fairly the feeling of the Church of England. It is very important that there should be some Parliament before whom grievances should be laid. Whilst indulging in every sarcasm at the Convocation, the Times takes very good care to oppose every attempt to remodel its representation, and impart to the Church its legiti mate and constitutional powers. It is continually flinging in the face of way its the Church that it is devoid of all power, whilst it throws in the whole influence in opposing every attempt to restore this power. anxious to carry out the theory of Bishop Colenso that the Church is a mere creature of Parliament-that the Church of England should be possessed of no legislative or judicial powers-thereby placing it in a position unknown in any other part of Christendom, and thus clearly unreasonable and indefensible.

It is

That lay tribunals are to define her doctrine, and that a Parliament in many ways hostile to it should determine her legislation—is the assertion of so clear a paradox, that we feel assured none of our readers will one moment defend it.

This state of things cannot last. To say that the Church ist bein a worse position than any dissenting sect-to say that she is to have no powers of self-government-is to degrade her to a worse position than the Greek Church under Turkish tyranny. In the meantime, however, it is a great matter that she has a Convocation at all. It is rising in influence from the moderation and wisdom it has shewn amidst every kind of provocation. It has disavowed any very active opposition by its patience, its firmness, and its good sense. Government and Parliament now equally acknowledge its official position.

We trust that this line of conduct will be continued. It is only by

such a course that opposition can be overcome and a further extension of its powers procured. Forming as it does an integral part of the Constitution, it will prove as the Civil Parliament before it the palladium of the liberties of the Church. It has at any rate amended a canon, and has shewn its sympathy with the Bishop of Cape-Town in his trying position.

In this as a free and voluntary body, we possess a great advantage over the Church of England, even though we too have to encounter our difficulties and undergo our trials. We, therefore, all the more wish the Church of England God speed in her gradual emancipation from the tyranny of State control. At the proper time, Providence will enable her to re-assert her legitimate position as a branch of the Church of Christ, and the scandal will be removed of retaining ministers within her fold who repudiate the first principles of the Christian creed.

INTERCOMMUNION WITH THE CHURCH IN SCANDINAVIA

THE very able letters of Dr. Pratt upon this subject, which appeared in our columns, and which we rejoice to see, have been reprinted, have imparted a great interest to the whole position of the Scandinavian Church amongst Scottish churchmen.

A long and very remarkable discussion upon the mutual relations of the Anglican and the Scandinavian Churches took place at the Diocesan Conference of Roeskild, held upon the 15th June. We do not complain of the conference having been unable to arrive at any conclusion; for it was evident, from the tone of the discussion, that there was as yet very imperfect knowledge as to the distinctive principles of our Church, and so convinced were many of the speakers of this that they gladly hailed a postponement as the only way of at present settling the matter. It is satisfactory to think there is a periodical, the Almindelig Kirketidende, which warmly advocates the intercommunion, and that the Rev. Dr. Pjetursson, Principal of Reykiavig College, Iceland, writes thus to it: "I am of opinion that your periodical, conducted as it is with tact and circumspection, as well as with accurate knowledge of the actual position of the Churches on both sides, will greatly contribute to prepare and advance a closer connection between them. As you already know, I take a lively interest in the intercommunion movement, the more so that I find the Augustan Confession in such complete harmony with the symbolic formularies of the Anglican Church, and therefore I believe that it would infinitely strengthen our own

communion, both outwardly and inwardly, if all these Churches, already one in faith, were comprehended within a closer visible bond."

The speeches of Provost Hjort and Licentiate Rothe, in a similar strain, are cheering signs of the times. The delicate question of the consecration of the Bishops appears to be the real obstacle in the way. That this should offend the national pride, and be in a certain sense a humiliation, we can quite imagine, and doubtless the whole question must undergo further ventilation before any practical result can be arrived at. In the mean time negotiations, if judiciously conducted, are very likely to terminate ultimately in success.

This of course opens up the whole question of our relations to the Lutheran body. The original cause of the irregular consecration of Bishops was the want of means of having them consecrated. The Church in England having been mixed up with the State, and consequently with national politics, the communication with foreign Churches was hampered and constrained; and hence the providing even her own offspring, the Church in America, with regular Bishops was first attended to by the Church in Scotland. The Lutherans are, therefore, to some extent, free from the original blame, and having remained in this position for centuries, it is not unreasonable that they should hesitate in acknowledging the false position originally forced upon them, and for which they were not responsible. At the same time, there can be no doubt the irregularity exists. Luther himself was perfectly conscious of the weakness of this point, and in his various writings always speaks of his system as provisional -as forced upon him by the arrogance and persecution of Rome. The fact of intercommunion being broken in consequence, and the advantage which the Calvinistic bodies derive from this irregular position, shew the importance of the question; and when it is considered what benefit will be derived from intercommunion, we trust this matter will be dealt with in a manner befitting the momentous consequences involved. The great defect in our position is doubtless our having no Church in direct communion with us upon the Continent, which to the Romanist is an argument powerfully used against us. The ideal of the Catholic Church is thereby rudely broken upon, and contrasts sadly with early times. The importance of complete intercommunion with the Lutheran body, especially in Scandinavia, and with the Eastern Church, cannot be too highly estimated, for we would thereby improve each other, and present a strong front against the legions of the Church of Rome. The divisions in the Protestant world are the true cause of the progress of Romanism. Its compactness, its organisation, its untiring energy, triumph over scattered bodies. bound together by no common bond, though agreeing in great

essentials. The Evangelical Alliance was a proof of the consciousness of this great defect, even amongst Calvinists. It failed because there was no accordance in doctrine, and because each meeting led to a compromise of truth. It led to a series of negatives, and threatened to endanger the Catholic Faith altogether, even as regards those points of it held by Calvinists themselves. It was fortunate it did fail, for it clearly demonstrated that there could be no union unless through the means provided by the Catholic Church of all ages— belief in the Creeds, and the preservation of the Apostolical succession of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, as appointed by Christ Himself. The difference between the positions of the Lutherans and Calvinists towards our Church is exactly this. The one, though retaining all the desire to continue within the Church, according to the ordinary rule, were driven from it by the tyranny of Rome, and made the best of a difficult position. Being deprived of certain important privileges, they retained all the machinery of a Church they could retain. The Calvinists, upon the other hand, started a new theory of government, repudiated indeed by Calvin himself, which they defended not as a necessity of their position, but as the only government recognised by Scripture, and proceeded to anathematise all those Churches which did not adopt their form of government. We can hold no communion with Calvinists, because they repudiate the government of the Church as it had existed for 1500 years; but we can hold communion with Lutherans, who agree with us in the main as to Church government and general doctrines, and who only do not possess our government in full, because they have hitherto had no means of acquiring it. The Church of England is quite as much to blame for this as the Lutheran body themselves; and in a matter of such infinite importance to the mutual interests of both, we trust that no mere question on matter of detail will prevent a satisfactory adjustment of a course of negotiations, which will alter the whole face of Christendom. The services which Luther rendered to the Reformation movement entitle the Church with which he was associated to every consideration. He first burst the bonds of Roman tyranny, and the sin of schism does not lie at his door; it lies at the door of the Roman Bishops, who refused all concession, connived at the corruptions of the Church, and gave an official sanction to the worst abuses of a corrupt age. The Church of Rome having further refused the constitutional privilege of a free council of the whole Church, Luther was obliged to organise his communion as he best could. It became a ques-, tion whether he should submit to a Church which has so overlaid religion with heresies and corruptions, that it well nigh extinguished the truth, or whether he should form a separate community which freely read the Word

of God, and held the doctrines of the early Church, as confirmed by the Ecumenical Councils. There was no choice in the matter. Providence has preserved the Lutheran Churches in Germany, Prussia, Denmark, and Sweden; and we trust no national jealousies will prevent the consummation of an intercommunion, based upon the clearest principles of the Catholic Church and the plainest commands of Scrip

ture.

Denmark, in especial, has many claims upon our national sympathies. Like ourselves, a small nation, surrounded by powerful neighbours, she has maintained her independence, and earned their respect by her gallantry, her nationality, and her love of civil liberty. A recent alliance with our own throne has confirmed this long historical connection. With prudence, forbearance, love of truth, and Christian charity, the wall of separation may be removed.

GAELIC CHURCH FUND.

THOSE members of our Church interested in the imparting of religious instruction to our Gaelic congregations, will be glad to learn that energetic steps are at length being taken for the supply of this most urgent want.

The letters and articles which have recently appeared in our Magazine, have led some to look into this matter very carefully, and we are happy in being able to announce that the result has been the formation of a Gaelic Church Fund," which will stand in the relation of a Supplemental Fund to the Church Society's General Fund, and will be meanwhile administered for the special behoof of the Gaelic members of our Church in the hands of a "managing committee composed exclusively of laymen." This committee will be formed out of those lay members of our Church who are resident amongst, and most interested in the spiritual welfare of, our Gaelic people, whilst the Church Society will gladly lend any aid in its power towards carrying out and co-operating with the present effort.

The paucity of Gaelic Students of Divinity, and competitors at Glenalmond for the "Houblon Gaelic Exhibition," is no doubt occasioned by the want of funds wherefrom to assist and educate boys preparatory to their going to college. Again, when in college, there is no provision made towards helping young students preparing for holy orders. And as most of these are taken, at the present, from a class of society in which friends are ill-able to aid them, they consequently are so treated at the outset of their course, as to lead them to believe that little interest is felt in them,