usefulness. Its primary object is, in pursuance of a very
cordial invitation received and accepted by the Archbishop, to present the salutations of the Church of England to the forthcoming Triennial Convention of the sister Church in the United States, and to enter into counsel with the prelates and other leading divines of that Communion on matters of common concern. The relations thus exhi- bited between the two Churches form a happy contrast to the state of things which prevailed during the Colonial period of the history of the United States. For more than a hundred and eighty years the Church of England as planted in America was allowed to carry on a truncated existence, essentially at variance with its own theories, both as to organisation and ordinances. The blame for this rested by no means only on one set of shoulders. Among the Nonconformist Colonists there was doubtless much aversion from the strengthening of the Episcopalian interest, and the increase of its dependence upon England which, it was imagined, would ensue upon the reception of Bishops consecrated at home. And even among Colonial Churchmen there was probably not a little reluctance to acquiesce in the establishment of more systematic discipline, the powers for which, if not the persons endowed with them, would have their origin in the Mother - country. On the other hand, devout and convinced Churchmen in the Colonies felt severely their altogether abnormal and inconsistent position, and there can be no excuse for the failure on the part of the Bishops at home to pay any continuous or prac- tical attention to a situation so extremely unfavourable to the maintenance of any vigorous Church life among their fellow-countrymen across the ocean. When the War of Independence was over, it was not until the resolute Seabury of Connecticut, turning from the indifferent and timid Bishops of England, had obtained consecration from the non-juring Scottish prelates that the former recognised the necessity of acceding to the prayer for episcopal Orders pressed upon them by White and Provoost on behalf of the Churchmen of the Middle States. From the two lines of episcopal succession thus created descend the prelates who in October will welcome Archbishop Davidson at Boston. Several of them, of course, have attended Pan- Anglican Conferences at Lambeth, and in the invitation on which our Primate is now acting they have shown, as he is showing, the conviction that nothi g but good can result from the greatest possible development of intimate relations between sister Communions. Each must have much to learn from the other. The conditions under which they have reached their present respective stages of growth afford many points of striking contrast, but the problems with which they have to deal are in many respects closely alike, and certainly quite enough so for the experience gained in treating them to afford much reciprocally helpful light to members of both Churches. Among such problems are the limits of right and prudent comprehension in regard to diversities of doctrine and ritual in churches which, while protesting against what is conceived to be mediaeval or modern error, cherish as of vital value Catholic formularies of faith and Catholic traditions of organisation and worship. Both Churches, again, must recognise as among their most essential functions the provision of guidance and inspiration towards the treatment of the tremendous social questions of our times, and especially those connected with the responsi- bilities of wealth to the community as a whole, and the relations between Capital and Labour.
No doubt the services rendered by the American Episcopal Church in grappling with these great human problems are limited by its size. It does not possess any of the numerical preponderance in the States which is enjoyed by the Church of England here. But it holds, we believe, a high place in the respect and good-will of the American people, as comprising among its membership an important representation of religious thought, at once reverent and liberal, and religious purpose, at once strenuous, sober, and enlightened ; and as standing, with emphasis, for that spontaneous attachment to historic con- tinuity, that love of liberty combined with order and a touch of stateliness, which are the special marks of the Anglo- Saxon race in the religious, not less than in the secular, sphere. There is a great part for such a Church to fill in the development of the life of the mighty democracy of the West, alike in its domestic and in its lately realised Imperial aspects. No member of the English Church can fail to be glad that through the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury sympathy and interest are to be definitely manifested from here in the work and aspirations of the sister Communion, and none of us can fail to feel that in the intercourse thus advanced we shall gain at least as much as we shall give. It is not, however, merely as the spiritual chief of the Church of England visiting the American Episcopal Church that the Archbishop will be seen in the States, but as the most prominent official representative of English Christianity. The occupant of the chair of St. Augustine personifies as no one else can the most sacred part of that heritage which is held in common by the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race. Whatever divisions, civil and ecclesiastical, have come in long-subsequent centuries, none of them can ever forget that they received their religion from common sources, and that for many ages their life, both spiritual and. secular, flowed an in one unbroken stream. Herein, with the common possession of language, literature, and law, lie influences of most potent force, if not for the ultimate re-welding of a single national life, yet for the building up of a friendship and brotherhood which, under reasonable guidance, should attain an indissoluble strength.
Towards that happy consummation the Archbishop's journey is one of those events which are calculated to form a sensible contribution. Visiting the States on an errand which will excite general interest and sympathy— for the inter-ecclesiastical jealousies, of which too much is seen and felt here, have little, if any, place in the American Republic—the Archbishop will inevitably be brought into touch, in the most favourable circumstances, with many of the most influential leaders of American thought ; and being the statesman, as well as excellent Churchman, that he is, such intercourse on his part cannot fail to be of service towards the promotion of that in- creasing mutual understanding in influential quarters on both sides of the ocean which is of vital value to inter- national friendship. Meanwhile, before the visit to the States actually begins, the Primate passes first direct from New York to Canada, where his presence at the hundredth anniversary of the consecration of the Anglican Cathedral at Quebec will be a much-valued assurance of the deep interest of English Churchmen at home in all that works for the welfare of their brother Churchmen in the Dominion. This visit to Canada is very happily timed, and will contribute both to the strengthening of inter- Imperial ties and to the growth of happy relations between our North American fellow-subjects and their kindred in the great neighbouring Republic.
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