Church of England Year Book, 11,99. (S.P.C.11 ) — The
six hundred and fifty-six pages of this volume contain so great and so various a mass of facts that it is quite impossible to give any adequate epitome or analysis. Taking one set only of these facts. as being related to a subject which has lately been brought into special prominence, education, we find much that is note- worthy. Here are the figures that concern elementary educa- tion :—
Accommodation. Beg:eters. Attenclai ce.
Anglican 2,730,939 2,297,659 1,871,653 Non-Anglican.. 908,024 738,559 594,266 Board 2,433,411 2,336,771 1,950992 Separating the non-Anglican into Roman Catholic and Pro- testant Dissenters, we find that the former have increased by about 10,000 accommodation, 12,000 average attendances ; the latter decreased by 34,000 accommodation, 19,000 attendances. The Anglican schools have increased by 28,000 accommodation and 24,000 attendances. Passing to voluntary contributions, we find the Church giving £643,386, Prctestant Dissenters £100,134, and Roman Catholics £97,443, giving an average to the first of Os. 9d. per scholar in attendance, to the second of 5s. 7d , and to the third of 8s. 3d. The last figure is distinctly creditable, con- sidering that the community is supposed to be generally poor. If we go further back to 1870, we find that Church contribu- tions have been doubled. Nor do the Education Department returns give the whole sum expended by Churchmen on their schools. In 1896 tLis amounted to £1,341,349, In " Bell's Cathedral Series," edited by Gleeson White and Edward F. Strange (G. Bell and Sons. ls. 6d. each), we have to notice three volumes, Norwich, by C. H. B. Quennell ; Exeter, by Percy Addleshaw, B.A. ; and Peterborough, by the Rev. W. D. Sweet- ing, M.A. These " guide-books," as they are modestly called, are so well done, written as they are by specially qualified persons, and so well illustrated, that it would be particularly invidious to make any comparison between them. If one f them has any claim for preference over another, it is rather on account of some intrinsic superiority of interest which its subject may possess. Even here it is not easy to make a choice. There is not a cathedral, when treated by a writer who deals sympathetically with its history, architectural and personal, but makes an admirable theme. Few, we might say, have had the good fortune of having such illustrious architects among its Bishops as Exeter. Peter- borough, on the other hand, has the less enviable distinction of having raised a very fierce architectural controversy, the echoes of which are not yet silent. (Mr. Sweeting, we see, is strongly on the side of the Dean and Chapter, and indeed, whatever the merits of the controversy may have seemed d priori, actual ex- periment seems to have proved that they were right.) We heartily commend all three volumes to our readers. It would be an excellent plan if they were on sale in all the cathedrals. They would serve the purposes of a guide, and a fair division of profits might benefit both publishers and cathedral authorities.
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