In contrast to the disorganizing and disintegrating action adopted by both Romish and American dissenting missionaries in the far East, the wise, tolerant, and charitable counsel given by the Bishop of Gibraltar in the following correspondence with the Patriarch Nerses is of double price : "In any project which Englishmen may entertain for promoting education among the Armenians, if such project is to meet with success, great care should be taken not to interfere with the religion or Church of the people. From conversations which I held at Constantinople in 1875 and 1879 with Monseigneur Nerses, Patriarch of the Gregorian Armenians, I gathered that the authorities of his Church, which is the old historical Church of the nation, were anxious to improve the education of both clergy and people, and would gladly welcome a helping hand from England; but I am sure that assistance from us would be unacceptable if it were rendered with the view of detaching Armenians from their national Church, or of planting among them a Church constructed on the model of the Church of England, or of any other Church, actual or ideal. It is essential to the success of any educational enterprise on which we may embark that we should keep clear of all religious or ecclesiastical entanglements. One reason why Englishmen are regarded with such feelings of friendliness and confidence by Armenians and by Eastern Christians generally is that we are known to abstain from all proselytizing raids among their flocks. The Armenian Patriarch expressed to me his gratitude-and several other Eastern archbishops and patriarchs have expressed the same-for the policy of non-interference adopted by members of the Church of England towards his people in religious matters, and contrasted it with the opposite policy adopted by another great Church of the West, which, partly by intrigues conducted secretly at embassies, partly by missions sent from Rome to sow the seeds of schism among his people, was endeavouring to disintegrate, and so to absorb the ancient and hitherto independent Church of the nation. The Armenians cling jealously and tenaciously to the independence of their Church, and not without good reason, for the Church has been the great instrument by which, scattered far and wide as they have been for centuries, living in many different lands amid alien races and creeds, they have preserved their separate national individuality. For promoting education and civilization in Asia Minor, as elsewhere, the policy of Englishmen should be to foster independent and spontaneous growth, and to uphold the principle of national self-governed Churches. As we respect and value our own liberties, we should respect and value the liberty of others; otherwise we are sure to forfeit confidence, provoke antagonism, and fail of success. Reform, no doubt, is sorely needed by the Armenian Church, as by other Oriental Churches. But such reform should proceed from within; and the kindliest, the most brotherly, and, at the same time, the surest and most effective way of promoting reform within a Church is to provide its members with the means of obtaining a good education. "Cannes, Oct. 25, 1881." "C. W. GIBRALTAR. 7 The first letter was addressed to the Editor of the Times. 66 "Patriarcat Arménien, "Koum-Kapou, Constantinople, "Le 28 Octobre (O.S.), 1881. Monseigneur et cher Frère en Jésus Christ,-Les journaux Arméniens viennent de publier la traduction de votre excellente lettre au Times, au sujet de l'éducation en Arménie et de l'œuvre bénie de l'Association Anglaise qui se propose d'ouvrir une souscription au profit des 32 écoles des Sociétés Unies Arméniennes. J'ai lu cette lettre avec une profonde satisfaction, et je m'empresse de vous exprimer mes plus chaleureux remerciments pour cet esprit de tolérance Chrétienne qui vous ranime et pour le noble intérêt que vous prenez à notre Église et à notre nation. "Je me souviens avec bonheur des entretiens cordiaux que nous avons eu ensemble, et je continue à admirer en vous cette mansuétude évangelique dont vos paroles et vos écrits portent toujours le cachet. Je fais des vœux au ciel pour la conservation de votre précieuse existence, si utile à la grande Nation Anglaise et jusqu'au peuple Arménien. Veuillez agréer à ce sujet, Monseigneur et cher frère en Jésus Christ, l'hommage de ma plus haute considération, en même temps que mes salutations fraternelles. "Le Patriarche des Arméniens de Turquie, "ARCHEVÊQUE NERCEZ. "The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Gibraltar.” "Cannes, Alpes Maritimes, France, November 20, 1881. My dear Lord and Brother in Christ,—Most heartily I thank your Holiness for your kind and friendly letter. It gives me very great pleasure to find that you approve of the views which I expressed a few weeks ago in a letter to the Times newspaper respecting the way in which Englishmen might help the authorities of the Armenian Church and nation in extending education among the Armenian people. As I am away from England, I am not aware what steps are being taken by the Society lately formed in furtherance of this excellent work. It will be a great satisfaction to me if I can in any way lend a helping hand towards the promotion of this, or of any other work, for the good of your venerable Church and your suffering flock. The cordial welcome which you gave to me on the two occasions when I had the pleasure and honour of seeing you at Constantinople, and the interesting conversations and pleasant interchange of brotherly sentiments which passed between us at those interviews, are continually present to my thoughts. With great sorrow I heard from the Earl of Carnarvon last year that you had been seriously unwell. My hearty prayer to God is that He may preserve your life, so valuable to your Church and nation, and that He may grant to you, and to your flock, His Fatherly blessing. "Believe me to be, my dear Lord, "Your affectionate friend and brother in Christ, ANGLICAN CHURCH PROGRESS ON THE CONTINENT. HE annual pastoral letter of the Bishop of Gibraltar is this year confined to what may be called the home-work of his diocese; but for all who interest themselves in the progress of the English Church in Continental countries, it contains some interesting pages. As in all Church history, there is progress in some parts, retrogression apparently in others. The greatest blow has probably been the withdrawal of State grants from the chaplaincies of Corfu and Leghorn; the greatest success, the fact that the income of the Diocesan Spiritual Aid Fund was almost 400l. Archdeacon Cleugh, the veteran clergyman of Malta, has died during the past year, and the two Society chaplains have been withdrawn from Cyprus; on the other hand, the English Church at Rome is rising slowly, but we may hope surely, from its foundations, and a fourth church is likely to be required ere long at Cannes. Special attention has as usual been paid to spiritual ministrations among English-speaking sailors at the several ports, and some interesting statistics are published as an Appendix to his lordship's letter. We gather from this that no less than an average of about 20,000 British sailors touch at the port of Odessa every year, while at Constantinople 13,000 call, and several other ports show no mean averages. Some of these ports present peculiar opportunities to a suitable chaplain for spiritual ministrations among sailors, and at Marseilles the long-established Sailors' Home has been placed on a satisfactory basis financially during the past year. It does seem hard, on reading the Bishop's report, that the Parliamentary grants are being withdrawn by degrees from a diocese where so many thousands of British sailors are annually to be found (beyond, of course, those of ships of war), but in this case the Bishop of Gibraltar and his chaplains are nobly stepping into the gap which the Government is leaving, and are doing an arduous and peculiarly important duty faithfully and well. It seems a pity that no annual bird's-eye view of the no less interesting and even more numerous chaplaincies in Northern and Central Europe is annually forthcoming. It is true we have the London Diocese Book, and the reports of the Societies, and newspaper paragraphs now and then; but nothing like Bishop Sandford's pastoral letter is published, because there is no bishop specially appointed for the superintendence of these chaplaincies. The greatest successes recently obtained appear to have been at Moscow and at Paris. At Moscow a very large sum has been paid or promised for an English church in that distant city worthy of our nation. And at Paris, the new chaplain at the Rue d'Aguesseau has collected 35,000 francs during the past year for church renovation and a new organ. The Churches of the Resurrection at Brussels and of All Saints at Dresden are carried on as usual on a thoroughly Anglican basis, and can boast at the great festivals of Christmas and Easter their 200 to 300 communicants each. The temporary Swiss and other summer chaplaincies are well served in the “ season" by clergy from England, and in this department the Colonial and Continental Church Society displays extraordinary activity. The sailors at the ports are well looked after, especially at Antwerp, where there is a Mariner's Church and Institute, under influential patronage. Miss Leigh's well-known Home in Paris, too, must not be overlooked in any summary of the work of the Church of England on the Continent at the present time. Nor has the American Episcopal Church been idle of recent years. In one respect they have the advantage of us, in another the disadvantage. Their churches are not so numerous, and therefore they have been able to concentrate their energies and benefactions more exclusively upon those few, than the English, who frequently have more than two in one city. Whereas we have nearly if not quite 200 temporary and permanent chaplaincies occupied, the American Episcopal Church has only half-a-dozen-Paris, Rome, Florence, Dresden, Geneva, and Nice. An extraordinary sum has recently been subscribed for the erection of a magnificent new American church at Paris; and under the able direction of the Rev. Dr. Nevin, the Church of St. Paul's, within the walls at Rome, has been rendered a worthy monument of the munificence of American Episcopalians, and of the principles they represent, at the headquarters of Papal authority. But while we circumscribe the efforts of the vast numbers of Americans travelling every year upon the continent, we must not forget to acknowledge that wherever there is an English service established, in any other town than the half-dozen mentioned, among the most munificent subscribers and devout worshippers are the Americans. Their six chaplaincies are at present under the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Long Island, who has been represented this year in a confirmation tour by the Bishop of Iowa. Some effort is being made by the American Church to procure a special bishop for the Continent of Europe. A few words in conclusion on the religious movements in France, Germany, and Switzerland, so closely in principle related to our own Church. M. Loyson (Père Hyacinthe) continues his uphill work in Paris. The Old Catholic movement in Germany progresses, under the guidance of Bishop Reinkens; Bishop Herzog has his usual report of success and failure in Switzerland; and there is a living if feeble body of Old Catholics in Austria. Even from Spain we hear reports more or less distinct of a real reform, and a bishopelect has been chosen by a recently formed synod. May Italy also be enabled to strengthen the stakes of her reform movement ! T. A. S. W. THE NORWICH DIOCESAN CONFERENCE ON FOREIGN CHURCHES. N several occasions the Old Catholic question has been brought before the Church Congress for discussion. We are glad to see that it is now being taken up by Diocesan Conferences. This shows that it is penetrating more and more into the consciousness of the Church. The following is a report of the speeches of the mover and seconder of a resolution at the Norwich Diocesan Conference, held Nov. 4, 1881. "The Rev. Prebendary Meyrick moved for a committee 'to consider the relations of the Church of England to Foreign Churches, and the duties arising out of them.' He said that if he were to state his own opinion on the relations of the Church of England to foreign Churches and the duties arising out of them, he should be trespassing upon the time of the Conference; he would not do that, but he asked them to appoint a committee to consider those relations. For he was sure this was a subject which had been much neglected in the Church of England. They must have relations with foreign Christians, and yet how little did they regard them. They had machinery —not too much, but a great deal of machinery-for doing their work towards those who were at home, and they had machinery, too, for doing their work among the heathen abroad, but how little had they for doing their duty towards foreign Christians, towards foreign Churches. Yet the Church was one, or ought to be one, and they must have some relations, good or bad, friendly or hostile, with their brother Christians, divided from them by some reason or other-for the sin of the one or of the other. "It would be said, 'We know well enough what our relations are with foreign Christians. We know that through the greater part of |