5 OCTOBER 1907, Page 19

The Bishop concluded his address by putting before his hearers

three simple considerations concerning the union of Church and State :—(1) Establishment is only of value, and should only be maintained, if it is of real moral and spiritual benefit to the nation. (2) It would not be justifiable, even if possible, to bolster up the Church as an Establishment against the convictions and the will of the people of England. (3) Our one paramount object in this, as in all matters, must be the glory of God and the salvation of souls for whom our Saviour died. The Bishop's address certainly fulfilled his avowed object of dealing frankly and impartially with the subject. But in view of the fact that so keen a Disestablisber as Mr. Lloyd-George realises that "Disestablishment makes only a limited appeal to the democracy of to-day "—we quote from the Daily Chronicle—his choice of such a theme certainly lends support to the view that the movement is gaining ground within the Church itself.