The Church Congress was opened at Brighton on Tuesday, th e
Bishop of• Chichester giving the inaugural address. The most striking passage was that on Christian unity, which, the Bishop pointed out with great earnestness, was not the same as uniformity. "Unity is not necessarily uniformity. Unity in aim and object, unity in prayer, unity in charity.— this unity may be maintained in the midst of much diversity in matters not essential, or in the setting of public worship." The Bishop went on to express the hope that the younger clergy would study carefully at least the leading features of the Roman controversy. "It is certain to recrudesce. It is ever with us, working for the most part somewhat silently; yet the Church of Rome is always aggressive, always watchful, ever setting forth the same strange and unhistorical claims to place and power, and demanding the unquestioning obedience of all." That is most sound advice. The greatness of the Roman claim is per as very attractive to the un- instructed, but to those who study the history of the Church as a whole the Roman claim is very soon seen to be either absolutely untenable or else shared by all the branches of the Catholic Church. In no instance does the principle of Omne ignolum pro magnifzeo apply with more force than it does to the claims of the Roman Church.
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