^i-%} 
 
 -A
 
 LI E> RARY 
 
 OF THL 
 
 UNIVLRSITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS
 
 THE BONN PEOPOSITIONS. 
 
 SPEECHES 
 
 BISHOPS OF WINCHESTER AND LINCOLN, 
 
 THE PEOLOCUTOR OF CANTERBURY 
 
 IN THE SESSION OF CONVOCATION, COMMENCING FEBRUARY 15, 1876. 
 
 WITH APPENDIX 
 
 CONTAININa THE RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT THE FIRST 
 AND SECOND CONFERENCE OF BONN. 
 
 RIVINGTONS 
 WATEBLOO PLACE, LONDON 
 
 AND AT OXFOBD AND CAMBRIDGE 
 MDCCOLXXVI 
 
 [Price Threepence.]
 
 [r,-162
 
 THE BONN PROPOSITIONS. 
 
 Speeches of the Bishops of Winchester and Lincoln, and 
 OF THE Prolocutor of Canterbury, in the Session of 
 Convocation, commencing February, 15, 1876. 
 
 UPPER HOUSE. 
 
 His Grace the Archbishop presided. There were also present the 
 Bishops of London, Winchester, Gloucester and Bristol, Llandaff, 
 Lichfield, Lincoln, Peterborough, Bangor, Salisbury, Eochester, 
 Chichester, Bath and Wells, Exeter, Ely, St. Asaph, and St. David's. 
 
 The Bishop of Winchester : I have been asked by a society of 
 which I am President to bring before your lordships' House a very 
 important subject. I refer to the Anglo-Continental Society, which 
 in November last passed the following resolution : 
 
 That the Right Rev. the President of the Society, the Right Rev. 
 the Lord Bishop of Chester, the Yery Rev. the Prolocutor of Canter- 
 bury, and the Yery Rev. the Prolocutor of York, be invited to lay 
 before the Upper and Lower Houses of the Convocations of Canter- 
 bury and York the resolutions adopted at Bonn on the subject of the 
 Eternal Procession of the Holy Ghost, and to take such further steps 
 in the matter as may seem to them expedient. 
 
 This is really a knotty and difficult subject, which might possibly 
 lead to some debate among ourselves. I will not enter into the 
 very mysterious question of the Procession of the Holy Spirit, for 
 I should be sorry by anything I might say to create any consider- 
 able discussion on this subject ; but perhaps it will be right for 
 me to say a few words upon more than one general question which 
 it raises. First of all, then, the Anglo-Continental Society is a 
 private association, not representing any section of the Anglican 
 Church, but instituted and founded for the sake of promoting 
 
 a 2
 
 4 The Anglo- Continental Society. 
 
 greater intercourse with the Churches on the Continent, and 
 especially for promoting reform where reform was needed. I think 
 the meaning of the Society was, that we cannot but look with some 
 anxiety at the state of religion on the Continent of Europe and 
 elsewhere, at a time when Ultramontanism is certainly making 
 great head, when large portions of the world seem likely to be 
 reduced to a greater degree of subjection to Eoman authority and 
 Eoman corruption than they have ever been before, and when, on 
 the other hand, many of the Protestant bodies had lapsed more or 
 less — some more and more — into rationalism and even infidelity. 
 Those who originated the Society, seeing this to be the case, 
 thought it would be an act of charity and kindness to their brethren 
 on the Continent to present to them a phenomenon to which they 
 were perhaps altogether unused, and of which perhaps they had no 
 knowledge whatever — namely, our own Church. The fact is un- 
 known to many persons abroad that we have here in England a 
 Church which is ancient and Apostolical, and which at the same 
 time is thoroughly reformed — a Church which has lost none of its 
 Apostolical character, and which has thrown off all the corruptions 
 of the middle ages. I identify myself with the Anglo-Continental 
 Society, although I was not connected with it at first ; and I may 
 say we thought it might help very greatly in the reformation of the 
 Continental Churches, and at the same time in the retaining within 
 the faith of Christ persons who otherwise might feel inclined to 
 leave those Continental Churches, if they could see presented to 
 them the great fact that there existed such a thing as a Church 
 which was at the same time Apostolical and reformed. Therefore 
 the Society has circulated the English Prayer Book, and the 
 standard works of English divines, not with the intention of 
 proselytising or bringing persons out of the ancient communions on 
 the Continent, however corrupt those communions may be, but for 
 the sake of exciting in some cases the sense of the principle of 
 reformation within the Churches themselves, and in other cases to 
 prevent persons from rushing into rationalism because they could 
 not go the whole way with Ultramontanism. Such a society is sure 
 to have opponents. Those persons — if any — in our own Church 
 who think its constitution is not much better than the constitutions 
 of the various Churches on the Continent, and who seem to sym- 
 pathise more with them than our own, will naturally say we were 
 taking a schismatical course. On the other hand, those who think 
 that the Protestant bodies on the Continent are as good as our own, 
 will as naturally be of opinion that we ought to leave them to work 

 
 The Old Catholic Movement. 5 
 
 for themselves. For my own part, I may say it appears to me that 
 no one who takes the standpoint of the English Church can doubt 
 that we, with all our sense of our shortcomings, are signally blessed 
 in having the ancient Chui'ch of the country preserved to us, and in 
 yet having thrown off the corruptions of the Church of Eome ; and 
 that it is a charitable act to give this blessing to our brethren on 
 the Continent, and to suggest to them the possibility that their own 
 Churches might be more or less by degrees — by very slow degrees, 
 it may be — reduced to a condition something like our own. This 
 was the view of the Anglo-Continental Society, to which I think 
 the greater number of your lordships belong, either as patrons or 
 vice-presidents. 
 
 When the Old Catholic movement came about, it was almost 
 impossible but that the members of the Anglo-Continental Society 
 should lift up their heads in the hope that that very movement 
 should be as like as possible to the movement which the Society 
 had desired to stimulate ; and I think our expectations have not 
 been disappointed. No doubt people in this country looked with 
 very different views on the great movement called the Old Catholic 
 movement on the Continent. Some think it is Utopian and hope- 
 less ; that it has arisen among men of learning, and not from any 
 popular feeling, and that in course of time it will die away ; that 
 some of its followers will return to the bosom of the Church of 
 Rome, while others will go away into rationalism or some of the 
 Protestant sects. It is, of course, impossible to forecast the future 
 of Old Catholicism, but it appears to me to be hopeful. Some 
 people say it is quite wrong for English Churchmen to take an 
 interest in a body of persons who, they think, are not distinguish- 
 able in any marked way from the members of the Chui'ches of the 
 Roman obedience. Now I think it is altogether untrue, and for 
 this reason. I have watched the progress of the Old Catholic move- 
 ment somewhat anxiously ; and with your Grace's full sanction, and 
 instigated partly by the Society I have been speaking of, partly by 
 other English Churchmen, clergy and laity, and partly by one very 
 eminent Nonconformist minister, I went with my Right Reverend 
 Brother the Bishop of Lincoln to Cologne two or three years ago. 
 There we witnessed a very remarkable phenomenon. In that not 
 very large city four thousand people paid a considerable enti-ance 
 fee and stood day after day listening to the eloquent words of Dr. 
 Bollinger, Bishop Reinkens, and others, against the assumptions of 
 the Papacy and the decrees of the Vatican Council. At that time, 
 however, they made comparatively small progress. Some of the
 
 6 The First Conference of Bonn. 
 
 leaders of the movement were then inclined to take their stand on 
 the basis of the Decrees of the Council of Trent, so that we could 
 not have thorough sympathy with them. 
 
 But in 1874, also at the earnest request of several persons, I 
 went to the Conference at Bonn. There I found that Dr. DoUinger, 
 the great leader of the Old Catholic movement, and perhaps the 
 most eminent divine on the Continent, had entirely given up the 
 Council of Trent, and he announced that they were prepared to go 
 back to the Holy Scriptures and the doctrines of the first six centu- 
 ries of the faith. There seemed then good reason to think there 
 might be a basis for a thoroughly good understanding between the 
 Old Catholics and ourselves. I confess it appears to me that the 
 rapidity with which they have moved in the direction of reform is 
 perhaps very encouraging, but at the same time it is almost alarm- 
 ing. I doubt very much, indeed, whether the progress of reforma- 
 tion in this country was anything like as rapid as it has been among 
 these Old Catholics. Therefore I think that as far as that goes 
 there need not be the slightest possible misgiving. Indeed, there 
 might seem to be a danger that the Old Catholics should go on in 
 the direction in which Continental reformers of late years have 
 gone, namely, in the direction of something like rationalism. But 
 as far as I have seen, nothing like rationalism has as yet appeared 
 amongst them. Dr. Dollinger and his colleagues therefore call for 
 our strongest possible sympathy. I was for a time at the Con- 
 ference at Bonn, 1874, but I was not able to continue there long. 
 It was a most interesting gathering, in which Old Catholics, 
 Anglicans of every school of opinion. High, Low, and Broad, one 
 or two Nonconformists of our own country, Lutherans, and 
 members of other Protestant bodies on the Continent, were present, 
 together with representatives of the Eastern Churches. It was, of 
 course, extremely natural that these Old Catholics, finding them- 
 selves excommunicated by their Bishops, should look out for 
 sympathy abroad ; for although strong in their learning, their 
 integrity, and their piety, they were nevertheless a very small 
 body. It is my own opinion that the policy of the great Minister, 
 Prince Bismark, has rather tended to limit their numbers. In 
 some places at one time tlieir numbers were rapidly increasing, and 
 the popular sympathy was very strong with them ; but when the 
 Ultramontane Bishops were imj)risoncd by the new laws in Germany, 
 all the popular sympathy seemed to revert to the Ultramontanes, 
 and was lost to the Old Catholics. Still the latter seem to be 
 advancing on the whole, not only in Germany, but also in Switzer-
 
 The Eastern Church. y 
 
 land, America, and other countries. Well, they naturally looked 
 out for sympathy from other communions and from om'selves* 
 They have come to the full conclusion in their own minds that our 
 position is a legitimate one ; they acknowledge the validity of our 
 Orders and the orthodoxy of our faith. 
 
 But there is that very important body called the Eastern 
 Churches, to which they also, not unnaturally, look for sympathy. 
 They knew that these were ancient Churches like themselves, 
 and that they rejected altogether the Papal authority and many 
 of the corruptions of Eome. Therefore, looking out for fellow- 
 ship, in the hope of effecting Christian unity with the various 
 Churches of the world, they most naturally looked among others, 
 and perhaps chiefly, to the Eastern Church. Youi' lordships all 
 know the condition of the Eastern Church to have been for a long 
 time of a stationary character. 1, for one, should be very sorry 
 to ignore the fact that the Eastern Church has many doctrines and 
 practices with which we, as Anglicans, cannot sympathise ; but 
 still the Eussian section of that Church in particular is desirous 
 of further fellowship with other Churches, and is ready to make 
 certain concessions in order to obtain that end. We had some 
 years ago a very eminent divine of the Greek Church here in 
 England, and it was my lot to have a long discussion with him 
 about the differences between the two Churches. Those differ- 
 ences certainly were considerable, and though we were both as 
 anxious to approach each other as nearly as we could, and though 
 we parted on terms of mutual regard and esteem, yet I acknow- 
 ledge there were still great barriers between us ; and all I was 
 led by our intercourse to hope for was, not that anything like 
 intercommunion can very soon take place between us, but that 
 there is rising up in the Eastern Church an inclination to recon- 
 sider some of their positions, to give up some of those things 
 which we regard as superstitions, and even to contemplate some 
 reconsideration of the great question which has separated the East 
 from the West — namely, the doctrine of the Procession of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 It must be perfectly well known to your Grace, and to my Eight 
 Eeverend Brethren, that at the two Bonn Conferences lately great 
 discussions occurred as to the introduction of the Filioque into the 
 Creed. We do not expect that the Eoman Church will make any 
 concessions on this point. It is also a question — first, whether 
 any concessions whatever can be made by the English Church in 
 settling that important question; and, secondly, it is doubtful
 
 8 The Bonn Propositions. 
 
 whether any concessions would be made by the Eastern Church, so 
 that that terrible line of division and demarcation between ns may 
 be lessened, if not actually overleapt. I was unable to be long at 
 the first Conference, and I do not think I stimulated the movement 
 much, for I thought it was going a little too rapidly. Since then, 
 however, important resolutions have been drawn up by a certain 
 number of divines — Old Catholics, Anglicans, Easterns, and mem- 
 bers of several Protestant and other denominations were also 
 present. They seem to have been almost agreed on certain pro- 
 positions. These propositions are certainly very difficult and in- 
 tricate. I think they contain many propositions which require 
 very careful consideration indeed, and I am not prepared to say at 
 once how far I agree with them, or even how far I entirely under- 
 stand some of them. But all these proceedings have hitherto been, 
 at least as regards Englishmen, perfectly private. It is true that 
 two or three English Bishops were present, and it is true that the 
 Bishop of Lincoln and I asked your Grace's general sanction to 
 go ; but we in no sense represented your lordships. It was truly 
 said, however, by Canon Liddon, in his account of the last Con- 
 ference, that a Bishop must always be in a certain sense a repre- 
 sentative man, and I myself feel there is a very great difficulty and 
 delicacy in a Bishop going to a Conference, because he can hardly 
 represent himself alone. Still, as far as the English Church was 
 concerned, these proceedings were private. Now, a very important 
 series of resolutions have been passed in that private assembly. 
 The assembly, by the way, was authorised by the Old Catholics, 
 and there was a representation of the Eastern Churches, for they 
 had a distinct representation I apprehend from Eussia, and Arch- 
 bishop Lycurgus came from Greece. But it is desirable now that 
 the matter should be brought in some manner before the Convoca- 
 tions of this country. It is not my intention for a moment to ask 
 this house to pronounce any opinion on the subject. Indeed, I 
 am not myself prepared to give an opinion on the particular reso- 
 lutions agreed to at Bonn ; but it seems to me that with justice 
 and propriety the Convocations might in some way give attention 
 and consideration to the subject. The proposition which I shall 
 ask your Grace to allow me to put to this House is, that the reso- 
 lutions so agreed to by this important meeting at Bonn shall be 
 referred to a committee, which I believe exists at present in the 
 Lower House of Convocation, for considering the question of inter- 
 communion with the Eastern Churches. If they take it in hand 
 and consider it, they might perhaps report to us on the subject.
 
 The Second Co7ifcrence of Bonn. 9 
 
 Whether your lordships will consider it desirable to name a 
 committee of your own, of course I do not know. 
 
 One word or two more on the subject. I am glad to b« able to 
 confirm my own views as to the great importance of all that has 
 been going on, and as to the hope which those proceedings may 
 give us of something like a future approach to a closer union 
 among Christians than has hitherto existed. But I neither hope 
 nor desire — nor does anyone who was concerned in this question 
 at Bonn — anything like an identification of one Church with 
 another. Some people entertain a notion that there has been a 
 desire for the absorption of the English Church into the Eastern 
 Church, or the absorption of the Old Catholics into the Anglican 
 Church ; but this is a notion altogether at variance with the 
 feelings of everyone who was present at Bonn. The hope which 
 they entertain, and which I myself entertain most earnestly, is, that 
 all members of the ancient Churches are moving more or less for 
 reform, and will, by degrees, approximate nearer to one another ; so 
 that there may be hope hereafter that there may be more union 
 among Christians, that the Christian Church may not be so divided 
 as hitherto, and that in the end, if it be the will of God, we may 
 be able to intercommunicate with one another as the Churches di<l 
 in the early ages of Christianity. Bishop Sandford, the Bishop of 
 Gibraltar, was the only Anglican Bishop present at the last Con- 
 ference. I do not by any means wish to implicate your Grace 
 by anything he said ; but he kas had the honour of being your 
 Grace's chaplain, and therefore we may look upon him as re- 
 presenting that wise moderation which your Grace has always 
 maintained and advocated. Bishop Sandford wound up the Con- 
 ference by speaking in the highest terms of all that had taken 
 place, and expressed the warmest possible hope that the tendency 
 of the Conference would be to produce a nearer union among 
 Christians than has hitherto existed, while he hailed it as the 
 happiest event which had occurred for a very, very long time. 
 My own impression agrees with his, in regard to the movement, 
 as being more important in the direction of reformation and union 
 than anything that has occuiTed for centuries ; and, indeed, I 
 think it is the greatest and the most hopeful movement that 
 has taken place since the Ecformation in the sixteenth century. 
 Whether it will succeed or fail, God only, in His wisdom, knows ; 
 but I earnestly hope and pray that it may tend to the reformation 
 of religion where religion needs to be reformed, and also to a 
 greater unity among Christians. I think the Bishops and clergy 
 
 A 3
 
 10 The Anglican mid Eastern Churches in i68g. 
 
 of the English Church must naturally take a deep interest in this 
 movement, and that it is only our duty as Christians, as members 
 of an Apostolic Church, and as disciples of the Prince of Peace, to 
 do all we possibly can to give confidence and hope to a movement 
 in itself so important, and promising so much that is good. I beg 
 to move : 
 
 That the resolutions lately adopted at Bonn by representatives of 
 the Old Catholics, certain members of the Eastern Churches, the 
 English Church, and other Christian communities, concerning the 
 Eternal Procession of the Holy Ghost, be referred to the Committee 
 of the Lower House of Convocation on Intercommunion with the 
 Eastern Orthodox Churches. 
 
 The Bishop of Lincoln : I rise with great pleasure for the pur- 
 pose of seconding the resolution. 
 
 In doing so, I will not remind your lordships of the great 
 gratitude which we owe to the great Oriental Church for many 
 centuries, how much we are indebted to the great orthodox Catholic 
 writers of the Eastern Church, St. Athanasius and St. Chrysostom, 
 the two Gregories, and St. Basil, and how much our religious liter- 
 ature has been elevated and spiritualised by the reading of their 
 venerable writings. I would rather remind your lordships of what 
 we owe nationally to the Eastern Church, One of your Grace's 
 predecessors in the See of Canterbury, Theodore, was, in fact, the 
 author of our parochial system in the seventh century. He was a 
 Greek of Tarsus in Cilicia (St. Paul's birthplace,) and was appointed 
 to the See of Canterbury when he was sixty-six years of age, re- 
 maining there till he was eighty. But these are matters of rather 
 remote antiquity, and I prefer to come to the declaration which re- 
 ceived the adhesion of two of your predecessors, Archbishops Til- 
 lotson and Tenison, in the year 1689. At that time there was a 
 Commission with regard to the revision of the Prayer Book and 
 other matters which arose for consideration at that crisis. Among 
 these Commissioners there were two divines, who afterwards 
 were advanced to the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury — Dr. 
 Tillotson and Dr. Tenison — besides other eminent men who 
 certainly cannot be suspected of having a Komish bias, such as 
 Patrick, Stillingfleet, and Beveridge. Well, what did they do in 
 that year, 1689 ? They did very much what we are proposing to- 
 day. In the archives of Lambeth there is a record of what then 
 occurred, and in them there is a note appended to the Nicene 
 Creed. They humbly submitted to the Convocation whether a
 
 The Anglican and Easterit Churches z;/ 1725. 1 1 
 
 note ouglit not to be added to the Nicene Creed, in reference to the 
 Filioque clause, " with relation to the Greek Church, in order to oui* 
 maintaining Catholic Communion." These are very remarkable 
 words, which I wish to recall to your lordships' memories. 
 
 I will now pass on to the year 1725, when we were troubled by 
 the schism made in the Church by the Nonjurors. One of the 
 champions of Anglican orthodoxy in opposition to the See of Eome 
 was your Lordship's predecessor, Archbishop Wake. He addressed 
 a letter to Chrysanthus, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The original is 
 among the manuscripts in the library of Christ Church, Oxford. It 
 contains certain very memorable words — words more memorable on 
 account of Archbishop Wake's well known character and reputation 
 as an advocate of the Church of England against such persons as 
 Bossuet, and other champions of the Church of Eome. The 
 original, I may observe, is given in the book of the Eev. George 
 Williams on the intercourse of the Greek Chui-ch with the 
 Nonjurors. In the letter of Archbishop Wake this passage 
 occurs : 
 
 "We, the Bishops and clergy of the Church of England, as in every 
 fundamental article we profess the same faith with you, shall not 
 cease in spirit to hold communion with you, and to pray for your 
 peace and happiness." 
 
 Another remarkable circumstance took place in England in 1763. 
 It may, perhaps, be said that we at the present time are not suffi- 
 ciently considering our duties towards our Nonconforming brethren ; 
 but I should be sorry it should be thought that we are considered 
 to be at all indifferent to union with them. At all events, in 1763, 
 when John Wesley was about sixty years of age, and was not able 
 to obtain ordination for his own preachers from Bishop Lowtli and 
 other Bishops of the Church of England, under these circum- 
 stances, what did he do ? He referred to Erasmus, the Bishop of a 
 city on the Island of Crete— Arcadia, I think, was the name of the 
 place — and from him obtained ordination for some of his preachers. 
 The circumstance is mentioned in Tyerman's Life of Wesley. 
 John Wesley, therefore, did not feel any compunctious visitings as 
 to approaching the Eastern Chm-ch. 
 
 Not to weary your lordships too much by referring to matters 
 occurring at that distance of time, let us come to our own age. 
 There is extant, in the handwriting of Bishop Blomfield, a trans- 
 lation into Greek by him of a letter dictated by your Grace's pre- 
 decessor. Archbishop Howley, and written in the autumn of 
 
 A 4
 
 12 The Anglican and Eastern CJiiirchcs in 1841. 
 
 1841. It is a letter commendatory from the Archbisliop of 
 Canterbury to Eastern Bishops. I hold in my hand the Greek 
 translation and the English original of it, containing these 
 remarkable words : 
 
 " We trust that your Holinesses will accept this communication as 
 a testimony of our respect and affection, and of our hearty desire to 
 renew that amicable intercourse with the ancient Churches of the 
 East which has been suspended for many ages, and which, if restored, 
 may have the effect, with the blessing of God, of putting an end to 
 divisions which have brought the most grievous calamities on the 
 Church of Christ." 
 
 I am perfectly aware that there are persons who take pleasure in 
 dwelling on the errors and corruptions of the Eastern Church. 
 Now, I do not by any means ignore those errors and corruptions ; 
 but I would rather adopt the words of Archbishop Howley, a pre- 
 late remarkable alike for piety, learning, and charity, of whom it 
 is recorded, that when some person reminded him of certain cor- 
 ruptions and practices that prevailed, he, in the true Apostolic 
 spirit, and with tears in his eyes, said, " I know it ; but I also know 
 perfectly well that we owe the tenderest commiseration to persons 
 like the members of the Eastern Church, who have been in a state 
 of bondage for many centuries. And then he quoted these two 
 lines from Homer : 
 
 rjfJiia-v yap t aperrj^ airoaivvTai cvpvoiTa Zevg 
 avipos, ^VT av /xtv Kara SovXiov rjfjiap eXrjcnv. 
 
 That was Archbishop Howley's apology for the Greek Church ; and 
 if we have any bowels of compassion among us, we must bear in 
 mind that its members have not had the advantages we have en- 
 joyed for many generations ; that they have groaned under Turkish 
 tyranny so long, and that they have been preserved in a marvellous 
 manner almost in the bondage of Egypt, from which I hope they 
 are about to emerge. We see, then, your Grace's predecessors, 
 Archbishop Howley, and Bishop Blomfield, joining together in 
 an affectionate address of fraternal sympathy to the Eastern Church. 
 There was also a statesman at that time, the Earl of Aberdeen, a 
 state paper of whose is extant, in which he speaks of the earnest 
 wish of Archbishop Howley to do what he could to show sympathy 
 and an earnest desire for a better understanding with the Eastern 
 Churches, with a view of removing those differences which have 
 caused so much calamity in Christendom.
 
 The Anglican and Eastern Churches in 1857 and 1870. 13 
 
 And may I here venture to advert to a personal incident ? I 
 had a commission from your Grace's immediate j)redecessor in 
 regard to this matter, having had the honour of being appointed by 
 Archbishop Longley in 1857 to translate the Lambeth Encyclical 
 into the languages of the Eastern and Western Churches. His 
 Grace desired me to append to the translation into Greek a special 
 letter, in which he addressed all Eastern Bishops in terms of very 
 cordial affection. His Grace again showed his sympathy with the 
 Eastern Church in a commendatory letter of Bishop Harris of 
 Gibraltar, who had asked the Archbishop to furnish him with 
 an Encyclical Letter to the Eastern Bishops. The Archbishop 
 assented, and dictated a letter, which I was commanded by him to 
 translate into Greek, and which expressed his fraternal affection to 
 the Eastern Church. I have ventured to mention this incident, 
 and I hope I may not be considered as doing anything which is 
 merely personal, for I can assure your lordships that I should not 
 have referred to it if it had not appeared to me to bear on a grave 
 public question of ecclesiastical interest. 
 
 The last matter I would refer to in regard to intercommunion 
 is this ; it is a letter which I had the honour of receiving after the 
 Archbishop of Syra and Tenos' visit to England. Your Grace sent 
 him with letters of commendation into the Diocese of Lincoln. 
 He came on an interesting occasion into St. Mary's Church, at 
 Nottingham, when the first Suffragan Bishop since the Eeformation 
 was consecrated. Well, I shall never forget the affection "wdth 
 which, when the ceremony was over, on coming into the vestry, he 
 put his arms round the neck of the newly consecrated Bishop and 
 gave him the kiss of peace, exclaiming, "I trust that when the 
 Great Day comes you will be able to give a good account of the 
 stewardship this day entrusted to you." [The Eight Eeverend 
 Prelate here read a letter in modern Greek, which he received 
 from Archbishop Lycurgus, in which the Archbishop said that he 
 and others of the Greek Church prayed earnestly and constantly 
 for union with ourselves.^] 
 
 It would not be fitting for me to refer to the friendly intercourse 
 between various Patriarchs and your Grace since then ; but it shows 
 that we look forward and pray for the time when differences may 
 be smoothed away, and all of us be united in one Lord, one faith, 
 and one baptism. 
 
 I have said little about the Old Catholics ; but I can bear testi- 
 mony thankfully and sincerely to the truth of what my Eight 
 ' See Appoudix.
 
 14 Old Catholicism, 
 
 Eeverend Brother has stated as to the change which has come over 
 the minds of the Old Catholics since the Congress at Cologne. 
 There I declared publicly in the Congress, that in my own mind 
 the Vatican decrees were only the logical result of the decrees 
 of the Council of Trent, and that it was illogical for anybody to 
 profess Eomanism and to reject the Vatican decrees. I must say 
 that this declaration produced a temporary coolness between 
 Dr. Dollinger and myself, but I am happy that it has passed 
 away, and a little before the Bonn Conference I received a com- 
 munication from him of the most affectionate character. The Old 
 Catholics not only acknowledge the validity of our Anglican 
 Orders and ministrations, they have also renounced the doctrine 
 of purgatory and other corruptions of the Church of Rome ; and 
 I believe the Bishop of Winchester has stated most truly that they 
 purpose carefully and prayerfully to investigate the credentials of 
 the Church of Rome, and try them all by the rule of faith — namely, 
 the Holy Scriptures interpreted by the consent, both in doctrine 
 and discipline, of the primitive Church. If we declare that to be 
 our princijDle, I trust we shall meet them in a serener atmosphere, 
 on the common platform of Scripture and primitive antiquity. The 
 question as to the particular declarations of the Bonn Conference 
 are beside the mark at the present time. This is simply a pro- 
 position that we should refer them to a committee, and therefore 
 I abstain entii'ely from entering into that subject. 
 
 Everybody, I think, must recognise the fact that Eui'ope and 
 Christendom ai*e in a critical position, religiously, politically, and 
 socially, being menaced and endangered by Romanism on the one 
 side and infidelity on the other. Now, what is to become of Europe 
 and Christendom, if we have these two terrible powers confronting 
 one another, unless something is interposed between them ? The 
 Church of England is, and I believe the Old Catholics are, doing 
 what they can to become a bulwark against the errors and corrup- 
 tions of the Church of Rome. A document, signed by all the 
 Patriarchs, and almost all the Eastern Bishops, against the 
 Encyclical issued by Pope Pius IX. on his accession to the Pon- 
 tificate in 1848, declared that there could be no peace with Rome, 
 and that they looked to other Churches in the hope of having some 
 intercommunion with them. It may be God's will that we shall 
 see a Christian Power at Constantinople, and it may please God 
 that the Eastern Church, together with the Old Catholics and other 
 Continental Churches and with ourselves, might form a safeguard 
 for Christendom against the evils which threaten to oversvhelm
 
 The Bomi Propositions, 1 5 
 
 the world — Eomanism and infidelity — by providing tliat which, 
 by God's blessing, may be like an ark in the storm and deluge, and 
 in which the souls tossed about by these hurricanes of doubt and 
 superstition may seek refuge, and come to the calm haven of 
 eternal peace. 
 
 The House was addressed by their Lordships, the Bishops of 
 Llandaff, Lichfield, Gloucester and Bristol, London, and by His 
 Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 The Bishop of Winchester : A few words in explanation. There 
 is nothing that I know of that has fallen from my Eight Reverend 
 Brethren which appears to me to contradict in the least degree 
 what I said or what I felt when I was addressing your lordships 
 yesterday. Let me in the first place state, with regard to those 
 resolutions agreed to at Bonn, that I had nothing to do with 
 drawing them up. I did not present them to your lordships for 
 adoption by this Convocation. I had no intention of doing any- 
 thing more than ask that they should be submitted to a committee 
 of Convocation for their consideration. There is a committee of 
 the Lower House on the subject of interconmiunion with the 
 Eastern Churches, and I thought that that was the natural body to 
 refer them to. At the same time, I must confess that I think it 
 desirable that there should be some committee of your lordships ; 
 but all I wish to press is, that the resolutions should be sent down 
 for consideration by that committee of the Lower House. 
 
 I am reported to have said that I was at Bonn when these 
 resolutions were drawn up. May I repeat what I said yesterday 
 — that I was not present when they were drawn up. I was 
 present at only one single sitting of the Conference at Bonn in 
 1874. I was not at the Conference in 1875, when those resolutions 
 were drawn up. At the Conference in 1874, what I did was 
 rather to counsel caution on the subject of this most intricate 
 question — namely, the Procession of the Holy Spirit, and therefore 
 I certainly did not advance in the direction in which these resolu- 
 tions are drawn. For my own part, I am unable to understand 
 fully the two propositions to which my Right Reverend Brother 
 the Bishop of Gloucester has drawn attention. They are trans- 
 lations from John of Damascus. I believe that Dr. Dollinger 
 thought that he was considered to be the last of the Greek fathers ; 
 that, in the language of the Latin Church, he was a schoolman 
 rather than a father ; and that he was supposed to have summed up 
 more or less the whole of the question. But I confess that these 
 propositions arc so serious and so difficult, and on a subject so
 
 1 6 Corrtiptions of Primitive Doctrine in the Eastern Church. 
 
 mysterious, that it would not be in any way desirable that we 
 should as a House consider them at all, and I am far from saying 
 that we should at once subscribe to them ; but it appears to me that 
 the consideration of the question is important. 
 
 There are corruptions of primitive doctrine in the Eastern Church, 
 which, as the Bishop of Gloucester has said, greatly separate that 
 Church from us. But there is one point on which it always dwells 
 as of great importance, the particular question of the Filioque. 
 When I met Archbishop Lycurgus, and discussed with him for two 
 days the prominent points of difference between the Anglican and 
 the Greek Churches, he said there were three classes of doctrine 
 to be considered — one was vital, the second was to be corrected, 
 and the third was comparatively unimportant. The one which he 
 declared vital was that of the Eternal Procession. That, he said, 
 was the vital point of difference between us, and if we could not 
 come to an understanding upon that, there was no possible hope 
 that we could ever have intercommunion. Well, that being the 
 great stumbling block between us, it seems to me important that 
 we should consider the resolutions come to at Bonn. -As the 
 dogma of the Immaculate Conception constitutes a separation 
 between us and the Church of Eome, so this dogma at present 
 separates us from the East. I do not in the least degree desire to 
 underrate any of those subjects that separate us. I feel on them 
 as strongly as your lordships can possibly do. 
 
 All that was said at Bonn is not known, because it is not fully re- 
 ported ; I may say that I wrote to Dr. Dollinger when I found I 
 was unable to go, and I pointed out a number of the differences 
 which it was utterly impossible that we could ignore. I specified 
 the invocation of the saints and the worship of the Virgin. To 
 my mind, the latter is the great practical error of the Eoman 
 Church, and it also infects the Eastern Churches. I think I may 
 say that on the subject of the invocation of saints the great diffi- 
 culty is this — the Eastern Church holds the authority of councils 
 down to the Seventh General Council. Of course, there have been 
 a great number of synods since (which the Bishop of Gloucester 
 has referred to with so much learning and ability), but the 
 general councils are that on which they stand. They do not 
 acknowledge the validity of any general council since the seventh. 
 The difference between us and the Church of Eome is greater, 
 because the Church of Eome acknowledges the authority of many 
 councils since, esjjecially Trent and the Vatican. These are 
 ignored by the Greek Church. The Eoman Church maintains
 
 Corrttptions of Primitive Doctrine. 1 7 
 
 that these latter councils are oecumenical councils, and therefore 
 that their decrees are authoritative. But the Greek Church stops 
 at the Seventh Council. I told the Old Catholics distinctly at 
 Cologne, and again at Bonn, that we of the English Church would 
 not accept the Seventh Council; that we had agreed at the 
 Lambeth Conference; that we abide bj the Holy Scriptures, by 
 the Creeds of the Church, and by the doctrinal decrees of undis- 
 puted general councils. Those are the words, as near as possible, 
 of the Lambeth Conference. Now it was in the Seventh Council 
 that there fii*st appeared anything concerning the invocation of 
 saints. I told them that we could not accept that which was not 
 undisputed, and I gave them my reasons at considerable length 
 why the English Church rejected the invocation of saints, and 
 could not communicate Tvith the Chui'ches that accepted it ; and I 
 must say that the Old Catholics seemed to me heartily to respond 
 to what I said. I remember that Professor von Schult^, the 
 President, said, " You agree as far as the first six councils ? " and I 
 said, " Yes ;" and he said, " And you reject the Seventh ? " and I 
 said, " Yes." However, all I wish to be understood is, that I feel 
 as strongly as any one the great barrier which must exist between 
 us and any body of Christians who practise the worship of images, 
 the invocation of saints, or anything of the sort. The Archbishoj) 
 of Syra told me that he had removed several icons from the 
 churches in his own diocese, and he proved to me that there was a 
 reforming spirit in his Church. Then, as regards Transubstan- 
 tiation, it is perfectly true that the Greek Church holds a different 
 doctrine from oui'S in regard to the Eeal Presence. I had long 
 discussions with Archbishop Lycurgus on the subject. He told 
 me that there are two opinions in the Greek Church regarding it ; 
 that some hold the Eoman doctrine of Transubstautiation, and 
 that others do not hold it, and that he himself felt inclined not to 
 hold it. The doctrine which he propounded was very nearly the 
 Lutheran, and I think we must all feel that there is a vast dis- 
 tinction between the Eoman and the Lutheran doctrine. 
 
 Well, therefore, there seemed to me to be really, as regards the 
 Eastern Church, considerably more hopes than we could form as 
 to the Eoman Church, because the Eoman Church is bound up by 
 a succession of councils, and especially the Vatican Council, and 
 the strange doctrines of the Infallibility of the Pope, and the 
 doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which 
 are utterly rejected by the Eastern Churches. Yet with regard to 
 the Greek Church, I heartily agree that we cannot enter into full
 
 1 8 Gradual Approximation through the Truths 
 
 communion with them so long as they hold those iDaiticular errors 
 to which I have adverted, and the other differences to which the 
 Bishop of London alluded. But I do think that the Old Catholics 
 are deserving of our greatest sympathy. Through the instrumen- 
 tality of these Old Catholics there has been a kind of conciliatory 
 action on the Eastern Church and certain Churches in the West, 
 which it appears to me we ought to foster. As to anything like 
 fully identifying ourselves with the Eastern Church, I never for a 
 moment dwelt upon it. The utmost of my hopes would be that 
 hereafter, perhaps in many generations yet to come, there may be 
 such an approximation of the Eastern Church and the Old Catholics 
 and the English Church, that we may unite as brethren in 
 brotherly fellowship. There is a beauty in variety, and the 
 utmost that I anticipate— and I do not anticipate it in my life- 
 time, or in the lifetime of any individual now living — but I do 
 live in the hope that hereafter differences may be partly explained 
 away; and that as people become more intelligent, and there is 
 more communication between one country and another, reforms 
 may be introduced which may enable us to have intercommunion 
 one with another. But as with sisters — 
 
 Facies non omnibus una, 
 N"ec diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum, 
 
 so I never expect the English Church to be exactly like the Eastern 
 Church, and I should be very sorry indeed if it was. But the 
 great thing that we should bear in mind with regard to the Eastern 
 Church is, that though there is among them a feeling that they are 
 immutable and can never change, yet that nothing human is un- 
 changeable, and that there is not that strong barrier between us 
 and them that there is between us and the Church of Kome, and 
 so there may be the hope that they may one day or other advance. 
 Archbishop Lycurgus was much pleased with his journey to 
 England, and he expressed his most earnest hope that there may 
 be a greater union between the English and the Greek Churches. 
 He said that he had been quite surprised at seeing the beauty and 
 the purity of religion in this country. He also said that he could 
 not see the slightest ground to hope for union with the Church of 
 Kome, and that he did not feel any reason to hope for union with 
 the Protestants on the Continent ; but he felt with regard to the 
 English Church there may be at some future time intercommunion 
 with it. Then, at the last Conference at Bonn, there was a repre- 
 sentative of the Russian Church there — M. Ossinin— who said;
 
 Gradual Approximation through the Truth. 19 
 
 *' Dr. von DoUinger is perfectly right when he says that there has 
 been a time when the object was to make the difference as sharp as 
 possible, and the chasm between us as deep as possible. But we 
 enter upon the question in altogether a different spirit. We 
 sincerely wish for an understanding, and rejoice over each step 
 which brings us nearer to one another." Now that spirit, existing 
 as it does, I hope, at all events, in many members of the Eastern 
 Church, is surely one that we should wish to foster. I cannot say 
 that I feel the kind of hope which the Bishop of Gloucester has 
 expressed, that the Eastern Church will be soon induced to recon- 
 sider their position as a Church, but I do hope that by gradual 
 intercourse with one another there may be a reconsideration of our 
 different positions, and that the Eastern Church may then, in the 
 course of generations, or perhaps of centuries, throw off some of 
 the corruptions which now adhere to it, so that there will be har- 
 mony and brotherly intercommunion with one another. Indeed 
 it seems from what the Bishop of London has said, that much more 
 intercommunion exists now between the Greek Church and the 
 Episcopal Church in some parts of America than I was aware of. 
 If the priests of the Greek Church are called in to the members of 
 the Episcopal Church in America to give them spiritual consolation 
 when they are sick, and if in other parts the ministers of the 
 Episcopal Church are called in to give spiritual consolation to the 
 sick members of the Greek Church, there is already established an 
 intercommunion which I had no idea existed, and which shows that 
 we are, at all events, in the way of progress. As regards the 
 administration of the Holy Communion, I confess that I have this 
 feeling, that a baptized and confirmed Christian who has not been 
 excommunicated, and who has not disgraced his Christianity, and 
 who is living in an English parish, should not be repelled from the 
 Communion, and therefore I should not repel a member of the 
 Greek Church, or a member of the Eoman Catholic Church, who 
 was really willing to accept Communion at our hands. That is 
 the principle of the Church of England. We are comprehensive. 
 
 In conclusion, I would say one word concerning our own people, 
 to whom your Grace alluded yesterday, and to whom the Bishop of 
 Gloucester alluded to-day. Much as I desire union with the Old 
 Catholics and the Eastern Church, there is nothing I desire so 
 much as to see all Christians in this country united in one body 
 and in one spirit. I have always held the doctrine that the Non- 
 conformists of this country have a right to all the Offices of the 
 Church of England. When I was myself a parish priest, I never
 
 20 Christian Unity. 
 
 made any distinction between Churclimen and Nonconformists. 
 If they were sick, I prayed with them ; and if they desired the 
 Communion, I administered it to them. I never looked upon them 
 as fully separate from ourselves. The Church of England is 
 willing to regard them as members of her own body, and it is only 
 by their own will that they are separated from us. And so far 
 from being indifferent to it, I may say that whereas I brought 
 forward this question yesterday as the President of the Anglo- 
 Continental Society, the object of which is to promote reformation 
 and ultimate union among the Continental bodies; so I am also 
 member of a society, of which I have likewise the honour of being 
 President, for the reunion of Christians at home. That society is 
 not as flourishing as the Anglo-Continental Society ; but it has for 
 its object the union of all Christians in England, an object which 
 so recommends itself to me that, when I was asked to be president, 
 I immediately accepted the office, because I believe there is no 
 object for which Christians are so bound to labour as the union of 
 all Christians in one body in Jesus Christ. We are disunited in 
 the most painful and distressing way. Our divisions are doing 
 much harm, and are the cause of a great amount of infidelity ; and 
 therefore I most earnestly protest against being misunderstood, as 
 I fear I have been, as having sympathy with the Eastern Church 
 or with the Old Catholics, or with any other body of persons, and 
 not also sympathy for those who are divided from us here. I have 
 the greatest possible sympathy with our Nonconformist brethren. 
 I have not for a moment shown the least inclination to repel them 
 in any way. The only point on which we are bound to insist 
 is, that whilst opening wide our arms to receive them, we must not 
 give up the fundamental principles of the Church. 
 
 The President said he thought their lordships would agree that 
 their time had been very well spent in this discussion. 
 
 The motion was agreed to, and their lordships adjourned. 
 
 LOWEE HOUSE. 
 
 The Prolocutor, in communicating to the House, at the request 
 of the Anglo-Continental Society, the resolutions of the Bonn Con- 
 ference, said, — I am anxious to take this opportunity of remarking 
 that no one can feel greater or more respectful sympathy for 
 those good men who are striving to promote the unity of Chris- 
 tendom than I do, and I believe that this is a feeling which is shared 
 by every member of the House. At the same time, I feel that the
 
 Committee on Intercommiinion. 21 
 
 question is one of great delicacy and difficulty ; and it seems to me 
 exceedingly doubtful whether it is at this moment advisable that 
 we should, as a reiDresentative body, take up the question and 
 express a formal opinion upon it. I believe that the communi- 
 cations between distinguished men in the Eastern Church, among 
 the Old Catholics, and in our own Communion are going on in 
 a manner for which we have reason to be devoutly thankful to 
 Almighty God; but it might be a hindrance to the great object 
 which those distinguished men have in view if we were to take 
 any formal notice, as a body, of their proceedings at this time • 
 and I would respectfully suggest that the best course we can 
 now pursue is to refer the resolutions to the Committee on 
 Intercommunion with the Orthodox Churches of the East. I 
 am anxious that we should thus testify to Dr. von Dollinger, and 
 the distinguished men who are acting with him, our earnest and 
 hearty sympathy. I consider that the Bonn Conference is par- 
 ticularly favoured in having for its President a man of such great 
 learning and sagacity, such large sympathies, and remarkable 
 eloquence, and I think we may safely leave the matter in their 
 hands, trusting that God, by His Holy Spirit, will guide them to 
 a successful issue. 
 
 Dr. Eraser then moved, in accordance with the Prolocutor's sug- 
 gestion, that the resolutions should be referred to the Committee 
 on Intercommunion with the Orthodox Eastern Churches, with an 
 instruction that they should report upon them to the House. 
 
 Archdeacon Grant seconded the motion, and it was agreed to. 
 
 The Prolocutor suggested that the Committee should consider 
 the desirableness of calling in the assistance of the Divinity Pro- 
 fessors of Oxford and Cambridge, to confer with them on that 
 subject. The Prolocutor added that he made that suggestion 
 advisedly. 
 
 *^* The Committee consists of The Prolocutor (Dr. Bickersteth), 
 the Bishop of Nottingham (Dr. Mackenzie), the Archdeacon of 
 Gloucester (Sir G. Prevost), the Ai*chdeacon of Taunton (Mr. Deni- 
 son), the Ai-chdeacon of Oakham (Lord Alwyne Compton), Dr. Fraser 
 {Chairman), Dr. Jebb, Canon Butler, Prebendary Campion, Pre- 
 bendary Edwards, Prebendary Joyce, Prebendary Perry, Mr. Pigott.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following is tlie Letter of the Archbishop of Syros, read by 
 the Bishop of Lincoln : 
 
 'El/ AovStVo), tt) — Maprtov, 1870. 
 
 ^ejSafrjXLOiTaTi kol ayaTrrjTe iv XpicxTw aSeXcfii, rrjv v/xerepav Trept- 
 G-TTOvSaa-TOv /x-ot ^^fSacrfXLOTTjTa d8cX</)iKCi)s ev Kvpio) Karao-Tra^o/xevos 
 V7r€p')78t(rTa irpocrayopevo). 
 
 "HA-TTtcra /xcj/ Kat aiS^ts ev AovStVo) r-J^v vixcrepav tSetv Kat ao-Trdcrao-OaL 
 Sc^acr/xtoTTyra* dAX' ixj/cva-Orjv, ws pnqiror ux^ekov, Trj'i eXTrtoos, Kat rdAAa 
 Trdvra Aa/xTrpoJs cvri^x^^cras 7ravTa;!(0T} t>}s evSd^ov Kat rpicroX^iov vfxoiv 
 TrarptSos, toOto jxovov r}Tvxr](ra on d7r€p;(o/xev(i) /xot cts to. tSta o{»k 
 e^cyevero tov dpicrrov avSpa koX aptcTTOv e/xot (fiiXov avOts TrepiTTTv^aa-Oai, 
 ov Tr)v TratSetW Kat dper'^v ovSeTTore Travaoixai Oavfxdt,o)v, kol eyKapStov 
 T-^v Trpos avTov dyaar-qv kol evyvmixoa-vvrjv Siarrjpiov. Ov yap ifxc /xovov 
 dXXd Kat rrjv opOoSoiov ^AvaToXiKrjv 'EkkXt^ctiW, Kat avfiTrav ri twv 
 'EXXtJvcov e^i/os etXtKptVcos Kat dSdXcos dyaTra Kat rt/xa. "HXyrycra fxev 
 ovv T7/? eX-TTiSos iK€Lvr]<s if/evcrOets, dXX' dpKoCScrav £;((u TrapafxvOiav avrrjv 
 TTjv KapStav p-ov Trai/Ta^ot) Kat TrdvTore rr/v vp-ercpai/ dyaTriyv o'vp.'TrepL- 
 dyovcrav, Kat Trdvra rov TroXurt/xov v/xcov oTkov cj/ w T0o-avTr]<5 dirr^Xavcra 
 ^evCas KOL €tXtKptvoi5s 8e^tc6(T€to9. 'ATrooTTeXXoov 8e Trpos r-^v vfxerepav 
 ^c/Saa-fJiLOTrjTOi c{)(ji)Toypd<f)rjTOv Trjv ciKOva /xov, dScXt^ov ev 'KptcTTic koX 
 elXcKpLvovs (fiikov fJLVTjfxocrvvov, TToXXa {ip,cov 8eo/xat, ^tXcov dpLcrre kol 
 irepLTToOrp-e dTTOCTTCtXat p-ot rd^to-ra Kat rr/v v/xerepav avTiSoipov i/xol 
 TTpocrffaXicTTaTov re Kat Tro^ctvorarov. 'Ap,a 8e Try etKovt Kat r^i/ ei/ 
 NoTTtyyap.t'a yevoixivrjv dvTLcfiOivrjcrLV fiov cwaTrocrTeXXa). 'Ek fiicrrjs Se 
 if/vx^'S rfj re TroXvcrc^dcrTio koX ttoXvtlijuo vp,wv (rv^vyo) Kat rots vp-erepots 
 T€KV0t9 dfjidovov TTjv c^ vif/ovs cuXoytW CTTtKaXovp.ej'o?, ovSiTTore 7ravovp,at 
 Tup,tv TO. TrpocrrjKOvra CTrtcrTeXXcov, Kat rov ev ^pLcrriJo dcnracrixov aTrovifJuov. 
 "ATTctp-t 8£, ^eot! ^eXovT05, rr/v 7rpocr€)(rj rpiTrjv (k8 Maprt^ov) eu^v et? 
 KwvcTTavTtvowoXtv, eV^a tw navaytwrdra) OtKOi;p,€i/tKa) Trarpidp^^r] rd 
 TC dXXa a €t8ov Kat rjKOvaa ivTCLvOa, Trept^ap'^s dTrayyeXw, Kat TrdvTUiv 
 fxaXia-Ta rrjv vfxiripav dydTrrjv, tov KaXov KayaOov cfaXopOoSo^ov re Kat
 
 Articles of Bomi, iZ'] \. 23 
 
 ^LXiXXr)vo<s, Sta fJuiKpov -rrj Avtov Uavayiorrjrt Stcpjuvyvcvo-w. Kat oXoys 
 dya7rrjT€ fxoL ev Xpwro) dScAc^e, ovSh/ eXXeLxf/oi, ocrq fj.OL Svva/zt?, rov 
 <Tvv€pyeLv TTpos T^v Oedperov ctkottov Trj<; tc3v 'EkkAt^ctcojt/ evojcrcaj?. 
 TovTO yap ecrrt to OiX-qixa rov Soirrjpo? rjfJLCjJv' tovto rj 6p6o6oEoq rjjxQ>v 
 AvaroXiKT] l^KKXrjcria wktos koX rjp.ipas ^eoixivrj ev;)(eraf rovro — avres 
 ot Kara ILpuTTOv StavoovfJievoL kol ^(uvtcs hrt^-qrovGL' koI rei'^ovrat Se 
 Tov ^rp-ovfjiivov, €v otS' OTt, yapLTL KOL cfaXavOpoyTTLa tov VTrep ■qp.iov 
 euav6po)7rycravTO? /cat TraOovros- 'EKCiVov Se rr/v evXoylav i—l rov 
 v/j.€Tepov avOis olkov e7rtKaAorp.evos StareXoj. 
 
 T-^s v/xeripas TrepicrirovhaaTov p.ot Se/?acr/xtoTT7Tos ev Xptorw tw 0€o3 
 dyax7;T09 dSeAc^os Kat evyvoj/xojv 
 
 O ToO S^^por Kat T^vov 'AAe^avSpo?. 
 
 Tai ISe^. €7n(TK07rio AtyKO/Vvtas. 
 
 n, 
 
 1. ApcTicles of Boi^n, 1874. 
 
 1. The apocryplial or deutero-canonical books of the Old Testament 
 
 are not of the same canonicity as the books contained in the Hebrew 
 Canon. 
 
 2. No translation of Holy Scripture can claim an authority 
 superior to that of the original text. 
 
 3. The reading of Holy Scripture in the vulgar tongue may not 
 lawfully be forbidden. 
 
 4. In general it is more fitting and in accordance with the spirit 
 of the Church that the Liturgy should be in the tongue understood 
 by the people. 
 
 5. Faith working by Love, not Faith without Love, is the means 
 and condition of man's justification before God. 
 
 6. Salvation cannot be merited by merit of condignity, because 
 there is no proportion between the infinite worth of the salvation 
 promised by God and the fijiite worth of man's works. 
 
 7. The doctrine of "opera supererogationis'' and of a "thesaurus 
 Tneritorum sanctorum," i.e. that the overflowing merits of the saints 
 can be transferred to others, either by the rulers of the Church or 
 by the authors of the good works themselves, is untenable. 
 
 8. (a) The number of the sacraments was fixed at seven first in the 
 twelfth centuiy, and then was received into the general teaching of 
 the Church, not as a tradition coming down from the Apostles or 
 from the earliest times, but as the result of theological speculation. 
 
 {b) Roman Catholic theologians (e.g. BeUarminej acknowledge, and 
 we acknowledge with them, that Baptism and the Holy Eucharist 
 are " principalia, prsecipua, eximia, salutis nostrse sacramenta." 
 
 9. (a) The Holy Scriptures being recognised as the primary rule
 
 24 A r tides of Bofin, 1 874. 
 
 of tlie Faith, we agree that genuine tradition, i.e. the unbroken 
 transmission, partly oral, partly by writing, of the doctrine delivered 
 by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, is an authoritative source of 
 teaching for all successive generations of Christians. 
 
 This tradition is partly to be found in the consensus of the great 
 ecclesiastical bodies standing in historical continuity with the 
 Primitive Church, partly to be gathered by a scientific method from 
 the written documents of all centuries. 
 
 (6) We acknowledge that the Church of England and the churches 
 derived through her, have maintained unbroken the Episcopal suc- 
 cession.^ 
 
 10. We reject the new Roman doctrine of the Immaciilate Concep- 
 tion of the Blessed Yirgin Mary, as being contrary to the tradition 
 of the first thirteen centuries, according to which Christ alone is 
 conceived without sin. 
 
 11. The practice of confession of sins before the congregation or 
 the priest, together with the exercise of the power of the Keys, has 
 come down to us from the Primitive Church, and, purged from 
 abuses and freed from constraint, it should be preserved in the 
 Church. 
 
 12. Indulgences can only refer to penalties actually imposed by 
 the Church herself. 
 
 13. The practice of the commemoration of the faithful departed, 
 i.e. a calling down of a richer outpouring of Christ's grace upon 
 them, has come down to us from the Primitive Church and should be 
 preserved in the Church. 
 
 14. The Eucharistic celebration in the Church is not a continuous 
 repetition or renewal of the propitiatory sacrifice offered once for 
 ever by Christ upon the Cross, but its sacrificial character consists 
 in this, that it is the permanent memorial of it, and a representation 
 and presentation on earth of that one oblation of Christ for the 
 salvation of redeemed mankind, which, according to the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews (ix. 11, 12), is continuously presented in heaven by 
 Christ, who now appears in the presence of God for us (ix. 24). 
 While this is the character of the Eucharist in reference to the 
 Sacrifice of Christ, it is also a sacred Feast, wherein the faithful, 
 receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord, have communion one 
 with another, (1 Cor. x. 17.) 
 
 2. Further Statements made by Dr. von Dollinger, 1874. 
 
 1. I am empowered by my colleagues in the Old Catholic move- 
 ment to declare that we do not consider ourselves bound by the 
 
 * On this point the Orientals reserved their judgment, on the ground that 
 they had not studied the question. Dr. von DolUnger and Bishop Reinkens 
 expressed themselves as fully satisfied of the Anglican, as they were of the 
 Roman, succession.
 
 Resolutions of Bonn, 1875. 25 
 
 decrees of tlie Council of Trent, that we liave rejected some of its 
 teaching, and that its CECumenicity cannot be defended. 
 
 2. The Old Catholics agree in principle with those pai*ts of the 
 Church which have maintained the undoubtedly primitive discipline 
 of the Catholic Church of giving at the Communion both the Bread 
 and the Wine. Its restitution is with them only a question of time. 
 They await the fitting moment when by synodical action the ancient 
 discipline can be restored among them. 
 
 3. Declaration on the Filioque, 1874. 
 
 The way in which the words Filioque were inserted into the Xicene 
 Creed was illegal ; and with a view to future peace and unity, it is 
 much to be desired that the whole Church should set itseK seriously 
 to consider whether the Creed could possibly be restored to its primi- 
 tive form without sacrifice of any true doctrine expressed in. the 
 present Western form. 
 
 4. E-ESOLTJTiONS ON THE Eteenal Peocession, 1875. 
 
 1. We agree in receiving the CEcumenical Creeds and dogmatic 
 decisions of the ancient undivided Church. 
 
 2. We agree in acknowledging that the addition of the Filioque 
 to the Creed did not take place in an ecclesiastically regular 
 manner. 
 
 3. We acknowledge on all sides the representation of the doctrine 
 of the Holy Ghost, as it is set forth by the Fathers of the undivided 
 Church. 
 
 4. We reject every proposition and every method of expression, in 
 which in any way the acknowledgment of two piinciples or apxaX or 
 aiViat in the Tiinity may be contained. 
 
 II. 
 
 We accept the teaching of S. John Damascene on the Holy Ghost, 
 as it is expressed in the following paragi-aphs, in the sense of the 
 teaching of the ancient undivided Church : 
 
 1. The Holy Ghost issues out of the Father, as the Beginning 
 {apxn), the Cause {alTia), the Soui'ce {irrjyr)), of the Godhead.^ 
 
 2. The Holy Ghost does not issue out of the Son (ex tov Yiov), 
 because there is in the Godhead but one Beginning {apxh)^ ^^^ 
 Cause (aiVi'a), through which all that is in the Godhead is produced.* 
 
 » De Recta Sententia, n. 1 ; Contr. Manich. n. 4. 
 
 2 "Ek tov rtov Se rh Uviv/xa ov Aeyoyite;/, Uyevna 5e TtoG ovofid^ofifv. — Do 
 Fide Orthod. i. 8.
 
 26 Resolutions of Bonn, iZ'j^. 
 
 3. The Holy Ghost issues out of the Father through the Son.^ 
 
 4. The Holy Ghost is the Image of the Son, who is the Image of 
 the Father,^ issuing out of the Father and resting in the Son as His 
 revealing power.^ 
 
 5. The Holy Ghost is the personal production out of the Father, 
 belonging to the Son, but not out of the Son, because He is the 
 Spirit of the mouth of God declarative Qf the Word.* 
 
 6. The Holy Ghost forms the link between the Father and the Son, 
 and is linked to the Father by the Son.^ 
 
 5. Further Statements made by Dr. von Dollinger in 
 Behalf of the Old Catholics, 1875. 
 
 1. In favour of the validity of Anglican Orders. 
 
 2. Against Purgatory and Indulgences. 
 
 3. Against Papal Infallibility. 
 
 4. Against Papal Supremacy. 
 
 * Tb Se Ili'ei'/ia rb a-yiov iK(pavTopLKr] tov Kpvcplov rrjs 0eoT>jTos dvvafxis rod 
 Uarphs, e/c UaTphs /u-ku 5i' Tlov iKiropevofM^ur). — Be Fide Orthod. i. 12. ttov 8e 
 Tlvivi^.a, oux ^s e| avrov, a\?C ws Si' avrov e/c rod Uarphs iKiropevofjieuou. — Ibid. 
 Ata TOV A6yov avrov e| avrov rb Ylvevixa avrov iKTropev6fi€VOV. — Cont. Ifanich. 
 n. 5. Hvevfxa rd ayiov e/c rov Ylarphs 5ta rov Tlov Kol A6yov rcpoi,6v. — De 
 Hymno Trisag. n, 28, Tout' rfiuv icrri rh AarpevS/xevov .... Ilj/eS/^a ayiou 
 rov @iov Kal Ilarpds us e| avrov iKiropevS/jLevou ' oirep koI rov Tlov Aeyerat, us 
 Sl* avrov (pavepovfi^vov Ka\ rfj Krlcrei ix€radi56fxcvou, aAA' ovk e| avrov exov 
 r7}v virap^iv. — Horn, m Sahh. s. n. 4. 
 
 ' 'EIk^v rov Ilarphs 6 Tihs, Kal rod Tlov rh Tlvev/xa. — De Fide Orthod. i. 13. 
 
 ^ Tov UarpSs TrpoepxojJ.&rjv Kal iv rcf A6'ycf auaTravofx^vr]v Kal avruv ovcrav 
 i:K(papriK7]v Zvvaixiv. — De Fide Orthod. 1. 7. Tlarrip Sia Aoyov irpo^oKevs e'/c- 
 (pavropiKov Uuevfxaros. — Ibid. i. 12. 
 
 * To Uu^v/xa ivviToararov iKTrSp^vjxa koX TrpSfiXrjfxa e/c Ilarpds /J-^v, Tlov Se, 
 Kal /iiT] t| Tlov, us Hvev/xa ffrd/xaros Qeov, Aoyov i^ayy^XriK6v. — De IIi)mno 
 Trisag. n. 28. 
 
 ^ Me'croi/ rov ayeuvqrov Kal y^vvrirov, Kal 5i' Tlov rcf Tlarpl (rvvaiTr6^ivov. — 
 De Fide Orthod. i. 13.
 
 The A nglo' Contine7ital Society. 27 
 
 Patron and President. 
 The Right Eev. the Lokd Bishop of Winchester, 
 
 Patrons and Vice-Presidents. 
 
 The Most Rev. the Lord Aechbishop of Caxtereury. 
 The Most Rev. the Lord Archbishop of York. 
 The Most Rev. the Lord Archbishop of Armagh. 
 The Most Rev, the Lord Archbishop of Dublin. 
 The Most Hon. the Marquis of Salisbury. 
 The Most Hon. the Marquis of Lothiax. 
 
 The R 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 The R 
 TheR 
 The R 
 The R 
 The R 
 TheR 
 The R 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 The R 
 TheR 
 The R 
 The R 
 The R 
 The R 
 TheR 
 The R 
 TheR 
 The R 
 The R 
 The R 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 The R 
 TheR 
 The R 
 The R 
 The R 
 TheR 
 TheR 
 The R 
 The R 
 TheR 
 The R 
 TheR 
 
 ht Hon. the Earl of Haerowby, K.G. 
 
 ht Hon. the Earl of Carxarvox. 
 ght Hon. the Lord Lytteltox. 
 ght Hon. the Lord Selborxe. 
 
 ght Hon. and Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of London, 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Bangor. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chester. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chichester. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Ely. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lichfield. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lincoln. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Llandaff. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Peterborough. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Rochester. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of St. David's. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop Suffragan of Xottingham. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Moray and Ross, Primus. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Argyll and the Isles. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of St. Andrew's, etc. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Antigua. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Bloemfontein. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Brisbane. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Columbia. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Fredericton. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Gibraltar. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Blshop of Jamaica. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Xewfoundland. 
 ght Rev. the Lord Bishop of Ontario. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop of Maryland. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop of Xoeth Carolina. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop of Pennsylvania. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop of Pittsburg. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop of Tennessee. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop of Western Xevv York. 
 ght Rev. the Bishop of Haiti. 
 ght Rev. Bishop Abraham. 
 ght Rev. Bishop Chapman. 
 ght Rev. Bishop Hobhouse. 
 ght Rev. Bishop MacDougall. 
 ght Rev. Bishop Trower. 
 ^ht Rev. Bishop Tifnell. 
 ght Rev. Bishop Southgate.
 
 28 
 
 The Anglo-Continental Society, 
 
 Episcopal Referees. 
 
 ' The Most Rev. the Loed Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 The Most Rev. the Lord Archbishop of York. 
 The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Bangor. 
 The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chester. 
 The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lichfield. 
 
 Book Committee. 
 
 The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, Riseholme. 
 
 Kev. the Lord Charles A. Hervey, M.A., Rector of Chesterford. 
 
 Rev. W. Kay, D.D., Rector of Great Leghs, Chelmsford. 
 
 Rev. E. C. WooLLCOMBE, M. A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 
 
 Rev. Frederick Meyrick, M.A., Rector of Blickling^ Aylsham. 
 
 Chris. Benson, Esq., German. 
 Rev. Dr. Camilleri, Italian. 
 Rev. C. G, Curtis, Armenian. 
 Rev. F. S. May, Scandinavian. 
 
 Editors. 
 
 Rev. F. Meyrick, Latin. 
 Rev. M. Powley, Spanish. 
 Wm. Talmadge, Esq., French. 
 
 General Committee. 
 
 Ainslie, Rev. H. 
 
 Anson, Ven. Archdeacon. 
 
 Badger, Rev. George P., D.C.L. 
 
 Blunt, Rev. Walter. 
 
 Bullock, Rev. Prebendary. 
 
 BuRNABY, Rev. F. Gr. 
 
 Carmichael, C. H. E., Esq. 
 
 Clay, Rev. J. G. 
 
 Cobb, J. F., Esq. 
 
 Cook, Rev. Canon. 
 
 Cooper, Rev. J. E. 
 
 Cree, Rev. E. D. 
 
 Darling, Rev. T. 
 
 Dawson, Rev. A. A. 
 
 Du Boulay, Rev. J. T. H. 
 
 Du Port, Rev. J. M. 
 
 Emery, Ven. Archdeacon. 
 
 Finch, Rev. F. C, LL.D. 
 
 Ford, Rev. Prebendary. 
 
 France, J. F. Esq. 
 
 GiBBiNGS, Rev, R., D.D. 
 
 Goring, Rev. John. 
 
 Gresley, Rev. Prebendary. 
 
 Grey, Hon. and Rev. John. 
 
 Hardie, Rev. J. 
 
 Hesse Y, Ven. Archdeacon. 
 
 Hope, A. J. B. Beresford, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Hopper, Ven. Archdeacon. 
 
 Howell, Rev. Canon. 
 
 Hubbard, Right Hon. J. G., M.P. 
 
 Jackson, Rev. Edward. 
 Jacob, Ven. Archdeacon. 
 James, Rev. John, 
 Jeffreys, Rev. Canon. 
 Keble College, Rev. theWarden of. 
 Lee, Rev. Alfred T., LL.D. 
 Lichfield, Very Rev. the Dean of. 
 Nevill, Ven. Archdeacon. 
 Nicholson, Rev. A., LL.D. 
 OusELEY, Rev. Sir F. A. G., Bart. 
 Perry, Rev. W. S., D.D. 
 Plummer, Rev. A. 
 Rust, Rev. J. Cyprian. 
 Scott, Major (of Gala). 
 Scratton, Rev. G. 
 Sharpe, J. C, Esq. 
 Stracey, Rev. W. J. 
 Stuart, Lieut.-General. 
 SwAiNSON, Rev. Professor. 
 Sweet, Rev. J. Bradby. 
 Tombe, Rev. Canon. 
 TooKE, Rev. T. H. 
 TowNSEND, Rev. G. F. 
 Turner, Thomas, Esq. 
 Verney, Sir H., Bart. 
 Vernon, Rev. H. John. 
 Walker, John, Esq. 
 Wood, Rev. W., D.D. 
 Wordsworth, Rev. Prebendary. 
 York, Hon. &Very Rev. the Dean of.
 
 The Anglo- Continental Society. 
 
 29 
 
 Secretaries. 
 
 Eev. Frederick Meyrick, Blickling, Aylsham. 
 
 Eev. the Lord Charles A, Hervey, Cliesterford, Essex. 
 
 Wm. Talmadge, Esq., 135, Bovlevard Eaussmann, Paris, for France. 
 
 Ven. Archdeacon Huxtable, Sutton WaMron, Shaftesbury, \ r- j. ■, 
 
 Eev. E. J. Kevin, D.D., 39, Via della Mercede, Rorae, ] ^^^ ^^^'^• 
 
 Eev. Matthew Powley, Reading, for Spain. 
 
 Eev. Professor Mayor, St. Johis Coll., Cambridge, \ r p 
 
 Chris. Bensox, Esq., 21. Rhdn Strasse, Wiesbaden, j ^°^ Germany. 
 
 Eev. F. S. May, 32, Craven Road, London, W., for Scandinavia, 
 
 Eev. C. E. Hale, Baltimore, U.S.A., for America. 
 
 Treasurers. 
 
 Thomas Copemax, Esq., Upper Clapton, London. 
 
 Eev. Canon AYade, St. Anris, Soho, London. 
 
 Messrs. Rivixgtox, 3, Waterloo Place, London. 
 
 Messrs. Coutts' Barik, Strand, London. 
 
 Messrs. Hoare's Banh, Fleet Street, London, for Italy. 
 
 Eev. F. S. May, 32, Craven Road, Lcmdon^ W., for Scandinavia. 
 
 Auditor. 
 
 M. Burrows, Esq., M.A., Chichele Professor of Modern History, Oxford. 
 
 Corresponding Secretaries. 
 
 Addison, Eev. W. F., Gibraltar. 
 Baily, Rev. E., Lucerne. 
 Blomefield, Eev. C. D., Turin. 
 Boys, Eev. H. A ., Algiers. 
 Broade, Eev. Gr. E., BiXsseldorf. 
 Crofts, Eev. J. D. M., Bonn. 
 Curtis, Eev. C. G-., Constantinople. 
 Davis, Eev. E. J., Alexandria. 
 Fowler, Eev. E. R., Munich. 
 Gilderdale, Eev. J. S., Dresden. 
 Hamilton, Eev. C, Quebec. 
 Heidexheim, Eev. M., Ph.D., Z?<ricA. 
 Henry, Eev. Joseph, D.D., Lima. 
 
 Hill, Eev. J., D.D., Athens. 
 Jones, Eev. Pierre E., Haiti. 
 Meade, Eev. W. S., King George^s 
 
 Sound, Western Australia. 
 Mereweather, Eev. J. D., Venice. 
 O'Callaghan, Eev. E. C. G., Trieste. 
 Parker, J. H., Esq., C.B., Rome. 
 EoLFE, Rev. E. F. X., Cannes. 
 Scott, Rev. T. S., Malaga. 
 ToPHAM, J. T., Esq., Canary Tdes. 
 Wayne, Rev. E. F., Malta. 
 White, Eev. T. A. S., Baden Baden. 
 
 Local Secretaries and Treasurers. 
 
 Augustine's, St., Eev. the Warden 
 
 of, Canterbury . 
 Barnes, Kev. Prebendary, Exeter. 
 Davidson, Eev. B. C, DuUin. 
 Drummond, Eev. S. E., Brighton. 
 Eaton, Eev. Canon, Chester. 
 GoLDiNG, Eev. H., Colchester. 
 Gordon, Eev. E. A., Ro\jston. 
 Lea, Eev. Canon, Droitwich. 
 Meade, Eev. W. E., Ardtrea, 
 
 Stewartstown, Lreland. 
 
 Pearson, Eev. E. L., Little AUngton, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 Potter, Eev. Canon, Lpswich, 
 
 PuRSELL, Rev. J. R., Harlow. 
 
 Rice, Rev. C. H., Cheam. 
 
 RiviNGTON, John, Esq., Great 
 Milton, Tetsworth, Oxon. 
 
 Sleeman, Yen. Archdeacon, Main- 
 dee, Newport, Monmouthshire. 
 
 SwAYNE, Eev. E. G., Salisbury. 
 
 Tatham, Eev. G. E., Fakenham. 
 
 Thompson, Eev. J. H., Datchet. 
 
 The Patrons, and all the above-named Officers, etc., are ex officio Members 
 of the General Committee.
 
 OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 1. To make the principles of the English Church known in the 
 different countries of Europe and throughout the world. 
 
 2. To help forward the Internal Eeformation of National 
 Churches and other religious communities, by spreading inform- 
 ation within them, rather than by proselytising from them. 
 
 3. To save men, whose religious convictions are already un- 
 settled, from drifting into infidelity, by exhibiting to them a 
 purified Christianity which they may be able to embrace. 
 
 MEANS ADOPTED. 
 
 1. The publication, in different languages, of books and tracts 
 illustrative of the doctrine, discipline, status, and religious spirit 
 of the English Church, and of the character of her Eeformation. 
 
 2. The dissemination of these books and tracts, together with 
 the S. P. C. K. versions of the Bible and Prayer Book — 
 
 (1) by the voluntary agency of travellers, of British and 
 
 American chaplains, and other residents ; 
 
 (2) by the agency of foreign booksellers and depot-kee^eTS ; 
 
 (3) by making them known through the agency of foreign 
 
 journals. 
 
 8. The employment of native agents, where it is thought 
 desirable. 
 
 4. The employment of one or more Travelling Secretaries, or 
 Agents, charged with the duty of explaining by word of mouth, 
 and by any other means they can usefully adopt, the nature of 
 the English Reformation, and the example that it offers to other 
 National Churches and religious bodies. 
 
 Prospectus. 
 
 " The purpose of this Society is to make the principles of the 
 Church of England, her doctrine, discipline, and status, better 
 known upon the Continent of Europe, and throughout the world, 
 than is at present the case. 
 
 "That there exist the greatest misrepresentation and miscon- 
 ception of her true character, both amongst Roman Catholics and 
 Protestants in the West, and an almost total ignorance respecting 
 her in a great part of the East, cannot, unhappily, be doubted.
 
 Prospectus, jr 
 
 " Can her children be justified in sitting down without an effort 
 to do away with this misconception and this ignorance ? Is such 
 a course compatible with a true and loyal love for their spiritual 
 Mother, or with a quick-eyed zeal for God's Truth ? If we really 
 love the Church of England, ought we not to defend her from 
 misrepresentation ? If we have an assured confidence that what she 
 teaches is the Truth of God in its purity, ought we not to lift up 
 the beacon-light of her example to others, Eomanists, Protestants, 
 and Orientals ? 
 
 " The Anglo-Continental Society consists of English, Irish, 
 Scottish, Colonial, and American Churchmen. It will not will- 
 ingly go one step beyond, or fall short by one step of, the teaching 
 of the Church of England. Whatever effect it may hope to have 
 upon foreign minds, it will endeavour to produce by a straight- 
 forward exhibition of the principles of the English Church, not by 
 ignoring the differences which exist between ourselves and other 
 bodies of Christians. 
 
 " It is the belief of the Society that, if unity is ever to be 
 restored to the whole body of divided Christians, it will be on the 
 basis of the faith of the Primitive Church, which is likewise the 
 faith of the Anglican Church. 
 
 " There is a Primitive School in Germany, France, Italy, and 
 Scandinavia; and there are in Spain and South America many 
 who have learnt to disbelieve in the Papal theory of Unity. 
 With the former the Society is anxious to co-operate, and is 
 co-operating ; to the latter it desires to point out what it believes 
 to be the more excellent way. At the same time it wishes it to be 
 understood that its object is not to proselytise individuals, but to 
 help towards the reformation and revivification of Chui'ches and 
 communities. 
 
 " Its primary aim, as has been said, is to procure an intelligent 
 appreciation of the principles of the Church of England by those 
 who are now ignorant of them. Such an appreciation can be 
 fraught with no evil result to the English Church ; it may have 
 considerable effect for good on other National Churches and 
 religious bodies. Let it bear its legitimate fruit. 
 
 " The ground thus occupied is covered by no other Society. The 
 place thus filled is left vacant both by the Foreign and Home 
 Societies which serve as the organs of the Church. 
 
 " The Committee invite a much larger support, in order that 
 they may carry out the object of the Society far more perfectly 
 and extensively than they have yet been able to do." 
 
 m
 
 ENGLISH PUBLICATIONS 
 
 ANGLO-CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Notes of a Conference held at the Palace, Ely, between the Archbishop 
 of Syros and the Lord Bishop of Winchester. Id 
 Appeal in behalf of the Old Catholic Movement. Qd. 
 Report of the Congress of Constance. Qd. 
 
 Bp. Reinkens' First Pastoral Letter and Speech on Bible Reading. Qd. 
 Bp. Reinkens' Second Pastoral Letter. 6d. 
 Bp. Reinkens' Speeches on Christian Union. Is. 
 Professor Messmer's Speech on Spiritual Religion. 6d. 
 Memoir of Count Ottavio Tasca. Qd. 
 
 Reform Movement in Italy. By the Rev. W. C. Langdon. 2s. 
 Correspondence of Dr. Biber and Professor Michelis. Qd. 
 
 Correspondence between Members of the Anglo-Continental Society and 
 (1) Old Catholics (2) Oriental Churchmen. With Appendix containing 
 the Articles of the Conference of Bonn, 1874. Is. 
 
 Resolutions of the First Synod of Old Catholics. 2d. 
 
 The Old Catholic Movement on the Continent of Europe. By the Right 
 Rev. the Lord Bishop of Winchester. Qd. 
 
 The Old Cathohcs and the Anglo-Continental Society. An Address in 
 St. Paul's Cathedral. By Rev. F. Meyrick, M.A. Qd. 
 
 Correspondence between the Secretaries of the Friends of Spiritual En- 
 lightenment and the Anglo-Continental Society ; containing Statements on 
 the Validity of Anglican Orders, the Eternal Procession of the Holy Grhost, 
 the Intercession and Invocation of Saints. With a Summary of the Acts 
 of the Second Conference at Bonn, held August 12-16. 1875. Qd. 
 
 The Second Conference at Bonn. An Address in Lincoln Cathedral. 
 With Summary of Proceedings. By Rev. F. Meyrick, M.A. Qd. 
 
 Anglo-American Sympathy with the Continent. A Sermon in West- 
 minster Abbey. By the Rev. W. S. Perry, D.D. Qd. 
 
 State of Religion in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, 
 Russia, Constantinople, in 1875. 2d. 
 
 Summary Report of the Second Conference at Bonn. Id. 
 taibingtonfil : 3, Waterloo iPlaa, Eontron.
 
 :'^: