A LIVING CHURCH.
Church and Reform : being Essays Relating to Refonn in the Government of the Church of England. (Bemrose and Sons. 2s. 6d.) —It would be difficult to overestimate at the present time the value of this volume of essays, and we most heartily recommend it to the attention of our readers, both lay and clerical. Apart from the various controversial questions here discussed with admirable moderation and balance, the volume contains much valuable information relating to the government and prospects of the Church in India, the Colonies, and the United States. The essay on "Autonomy in the United States," by Dr. Hunting- ton, the rector of Grace Church, New York, is of much value. Professor Cody, in an equally admirable essay on "The Autonomy ef the Church of England in Canada," declares that "the question of Church Autonomy has no necessary connection with Establish- ment or Disestabliehment. An Established Church may be self- governing ; so may one Disestablished or Free." The object of this volume is not only to press forward this opinion, but to show practically the way in which the autonomy of the English Church can be brought about. The Bishop of Liverpool in his introduction declares that three reforms are imperiously called for: "Bishops and clergy must no longer regard their benefices as their freehold. Capacity, not legal right, must be the condition of their tenure " ; "The laity must be admitted to an adequate share in the government of the Church" ; "Our present ecclesiastical assemblies must be re- formed, and the Church must have its own Parliament, repre- sentative alike of its clergy and of its laity, which shall possess the power to transact the business of the Church with freedom and authority." Canon Denton Thompson in a well-reasoned essay argues for the priesthood of the laity, and maintains that "if every layman would but claim his priestly rights and fulfil his priestly duties in the government, worship, and work of the Church, the spiritual results upon the nation, the empire, and the world at large would be great beyond conception." The Dean of Norwich shows that the laity have historically a voice in the affir- mation and publication of doctrine. If therefore the Church can regain her legitimate capacity of corporate action—the supreme necessity of the hour, as pointed out by Canon Hay Aitken, in view of the disloyalty of certain professing members of the Church— clergy and laity will combine in council for the purpose of regu- lating the Church from within. Three questions arise on this : who are the laity ? what shall be the system of government ? how can the powers be obtained? The first question bulks as a great diffi- culty in the minds of the various writers. Appendix B on "The Church Franchise," by the Rev. H. J. Bardsley, purports to deal with the law on the subject of Church membership, and is not altogether satisfactory. The Lord Chancellor in the case of "Baker v. Lee," decided in 1860, did not "definitely reject" the proposition that every parishioner is in law "a member of the Church." The truth is, the law recognises the status of Dissent, and does no more. The principle of the Church of England is inclusive, not exclusive. The other points are the system of govern- ment and the obtaining of powers. The present writer believes that if all parties in the Church combine to ask for "power of legisla. tion with the assent of the Sovereign and subject to the veto of Parliament," they will get it. The legislative body, as pointed out by Dr. P. V. Smith, should be a Church Assembly composed of the Bishops and representatives of the clergy and of the laity. An early subject of legislation should be the formation of Parochial Church Councils. In the meantime much can be done by forming these Councils provisionally. Mr. Brooke Lambert at Greenwich had for twenty years an effective and widely representative Church Council. While we are waiting for the formation of a statutory Church Assembly, Bishops and pastors should busy themselves in organising this machinery throughout the country. The laity are ready to act, and in every parish are looking for the initiative of the clergy.
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