It is remarkable that Lord Shaftesbury has promised to take
the chair at a meeting to promote the Reform of the Church of England, to be held at St. James's Hall next Thursday week (15th February), at 8 p.m., of which it is to be one of the prin- ciples that the creed called the Athanasian is no longer to be pub- licly used in our Church services. Dr. Barry, the principal of King's College, Dr. Miller, of Greenwich, and, as it is hoped, even Mr. Ryle, will support its programme, which is briefly this :—(1) Reform, not disestablishment ; (2) the increased liberty in the use of the Prayer-book proposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury ; (3) the disappearance of the Athanasian Creed, so far as re- gards the public Church services ; (4) increased influence to the laity through representative Parochial Councils ; (5) a reform of the system of patronage and of Convocation. lie accession of such men as Lord Shaftesbury, Dr. Miller, and Dr. Barry to the proposals of Mr. Cowper Temple and his friends, is an event of considerable importance to the prospects of the liberal Church- men's movement.
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