We have received :—The Official Report of the Missionary Con-
ference of the Anglican Communion. Edited by George A. Spottis- woode. (S.P.C.K.)—A. word of hearty praise is due to the remarkable speed with which this volume (containing more than seven hundred pages) has been put together and carried through the press. The Conference was opened on the 28th of May in this year, by a sermon from the Bishop of Durham, and was carried on during the four following days. This notice is being written before the end of July. In the rush and bustle of modern We— in which topics of grave interest succeed each other with such haste—it is of essential importance that the record should not be delayed. The sections into which the proceedings were divided may be briefly indicated. These are—(1), The Missionary's Vocation and Training ; (2), Religions to be Dealt With ; (3), The Presenta- tion of Christianity; (4), Problems to be Solved (divided as to coun- tries); (5), Dangers to be Avoided ; (6), Methods to be Employed ; (7), The Building-up of the Church (8), Relations of Missions to the Church at Home. There was also a "Woman's Section," in which some of the subjects were discussed with special relation to the work which women can do for the missionary cause. The topics discussed, both in written papers and in the debates which followed, were very various, and we cannot pretend even to enumerate them. It must suffice briefly to indicate the lines followed in one discussion, this subject being "Polygamy," one, by common consent, of extreme difficulty. Father Puller unhesitatingly affirms that no man can be admitted into the Church who remains a polygamist, nor can a woman who remains with a polygamist husband. Mr. R. Needham Cust excludes the man, but admits the woman. The Rev. W. S. Price (late C. M. S. Missionary) would admit both. The Bishop of Bloemfontein would exclude both. The Bishop of Lahore would admit both. The Rev. J. P. Farler (late Archdeacon of Magilo) would exclude both. Mr. Sydney Gedge would admit both. Bishop Selwyn and the Bishop of Idaho and Wyoming take the adverse view. Lord Stanmore is for admission, so is the Bishop of Jamaica. The Rev. Henry Barter is adverse. The Rev. I. Barkley Wood refuses baptism to the polygamist, but not to his wives. Finally, the Bishop of Capetown summed up adversely. To summarise, we have :—For denying baptism to both husbands and wives, seven ; for denying it to the husbands, but conceding it to the wives, two; for conceding it to both, five.
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