Laymen in the province of Canterbury. The proposed house, therefore, would be in connection with the York Convocation only. Resolutions were passed favoring the formation of boards of conciliation and the extension of cooperative associations for production; approving, in its main features, the Tithe Rent-Charge Recovery and Redemption bill; and approving the proposed new code as conducive to the best interests of elementary education. The lower house likewise approved the proposed new educational code and the Tithe Rent-Charge Recovery and Redemption bill; disapproved the Parish Councils bill; and declared the proposals contained in Mr. Osborn Morgan's Burial bill in many respects objectionable and hostile to the ancient rights and laws of the Church, and not required by liberty of conscience and freedom of worship.

The Liberation Society.-The annual meeting of the Society for the Liberation of Religion from the Patronage and Control of the State was held in London, May 7. Mr. John E. Ellis, M. P., presided. The income of the society had been £5,536, and its expenditure £5,334. A hundred more meetings in advocacy of disestablishment had been held during the past year than in the previous year. The division on Dr. Cameron's motion for disestablishment in Scotland was regarded in the annual report with great satisfaction. The committee believed the tithe bill, whether passed or not, would advance the cause of disestablishment. A dozen measures were before Parliament designed to promote religious equality, but the appropriation of so much time by the Government prevented any progress being made with them. Attempts were made to secure the power of self-government for the Church without lessening its privileged position; but such attempts must be resisted while the Church remained established. Resolutions were passed expressing satisfaction at the progress of disestablishment in Scotland; favoring disestablishment in Wales; affirming the necessity of popular control as an accompaniment to free education; calling for the national appropriation of tithes; and opposing the inquiry into religious professions, which it was proposed to include in the decennial census about to be taken, as being beyond the province of the state and likely to produce untrustworthy and misleading results. At the public meeting of the society Mr. Campbell Bannerman, M. P., asserted that the cause of disestablishment was moving forward in Parliament "by leaps and bounds.' In 1886, only 366 persons, including pairs, had voted on Mr. Cameron's motion for Scotch disestablishment; in 1888 the number rose to 528; and in the vote taken a few days before it was 560. Forty-three Scotch members were in favor of it, to 24 against it.

The "Bell Cox Case."-Final judgment was given by the House of Lords early in August in the case of the Rev. J. Bell Cox, of Liverpool, who was imprisoned for illegal practices in ritual, but was discharged on habeas corpus. The promoter of the suit appealed, and the judgment of the court below was reversed. The judgment of the House of Lords is to the effect that no appeal court can interfere with a subject when once set at liberty under a habeas corpus.

The main question, concerning the legality of Mr. Cox's position on ritual, is not affected by this decision.

The Church House.-The annual general meeting of the Church House Corporation was held on its newly purchased premises in Westminster, June 26. The Archbishop of Canterbury presided and set forth the present condition of the Church House enterprise. The greatest difficulties had been overcome; the body was in possession of its property, a corporate seal had been obtained, and the library had grown to nearly 9,000 volumes. It was agreed to begin immediately the erection of a permanent building, the estimates for which called for the sum of £35,000. Of this, £9,200 were in hand.

Church Congress.-The annual Church Congress met at Hull, Sept. 30. The Archbishop of York, who was to have presided, being ill, the Bishop of Durham occupied the chair and delivered an address in which he discussed the " social question" as in its amplest range a religious question. The subject of Church and State" was considered under the heads of Different Forms of Relation in our Own and Other Churches and Results of Relation to Church and State respectively" and "Experiences of Disestablished and Free Churches," by Mr. J. G. Talbot, M. P., Bishop Barry, the Rev. T. Moor, and Chancellor Dibdin. The discussion of the next subject, "The Church's Attitude toward Strikes and Wages' Disputes with Reference to (a) Laborers, Skilled and Unskilled, (b) Combinations of Employers, and (c) the General Public," was participated in by Prebendary Harry Jones, Mr. David Dale, and several impromptu speakers; that of "Systematic Instruction in Religion (a) in Schools and Universities, (b) in Pulpit Ministrations, and (c) by Literature and Lectures," by the Bishop of Edinburgh, the Rev. Principal Moule, the Rev. Canon Woelledge, of Imro Cathedral, and the Rev. A. R. Buckland. Questions respecting sanitation were presented under the three heads of "Acquaintance with and Obedience to Sanitary Laws a Christian Duty: Present Condition of Laborers' and Artisans Dwellings, in View of Recent and Proposed Legislation; Duty of the Church in the Promotion of Practical Reforms," by the Bishop of Bedford, the Rev. Arthur Robins, Dr. Alfred Carpenter, and volunteer speakers. The discussions of the second day's session included

Home Reunion-Common Grounds of Union; Differences which most hinder Reunion; and Suggested Schemes of Reunion and Intercommunion," by the Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishop of Glasgow, the Rev. Prof. Lumb, Canon George Venables, the Rev. Principal Moule, Mr. P. V. Smith, Bishop Barry, Major Seton Churchill, and Canon Fremantle; Foreign Missions, with Special Reference to Africa-(a) Present Condition and Prospects, and (b) Equipment and Training of Missionaries," by Sir John Kennaway, M. P., Bishop Smythies, Commander Cameron, the Bishop of Sierra Leone, and others; "Betting and Gambling," by the Rev. and Hon. E. Carr-Glynn, Major Seton Churchill, the Rev. W. Allen Whitworth, the Dean of Rochester, and in general discussion; "Faith as a Principle of Action, considered as a Duty, (a) as a Natural Principle, and (b) as a Christian Prin

ciple," by the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rev. Dr. Wace, the Bishop of Sodor and Man, Canon Woelledge, Sir Andrew Clark, M. D., and others; "Women's Work among Women, at Home and Abroad," by Mrs. Sumner, of the Mothers' Union, Winchester, Miss E. Mulvaney, the Bishop of Southwell, and informal speakers; and Socialism (a) Modern Theories and Aims of Socialism; (b) Examination of them in the Light of Christianity," by the Bishop of Durham, the Rev. M. Kaufmann, the Hon. Judge Hughes, Sir John Gorst, M. P.. Bishop Barry, and general discussion. The third day's session was opened with a discussion of the subject of Brotherhoods: Recent Proposals for their Formation; Alternative Schemes," by Archdeacon Farrar, the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rev. W. H. Hutchings, and speakers in general debate. Other subjects treated of during the day were "The Due Limits of Ritual: how to define them and how to secure them," by the Bishop of Guildford, Viscount Halifax, the Dean of Windsor, the Dean of Peterborough, Canon Bardsley, Archdeacon Straton, and others: "The Inspiration of the Holy Scripture," by the Dean of Peterborough, Prof. Margoliouth, the Rev. Canon Tristram, Principal Waller, and the Dean of Armagh; "The Work of the Church and the Responsibility of Employers with Respect to the Spiritual Welfare of those whom they employ, (a) Ship-owners and Seamen; (b) Contractors and Navvies: (c) Manufacturers and their Workpeople," by the Bishop of Newcastle, the Rev. E. Grimston, the Rev. C. M. Woosnam, and the Rev. W. B. Forwood; "Free Elementary Education; its Results in Foreign Countries; its Effect on Education generally; and its Effect on Religious Teaching and Voluntary Schools," by Mr. J. R. Diggle, chairman of the London School Board, the Rev. J. C. Thompson, and the Rev. C. Dunkley. The subjects for the fourth day were "Reverence (a) for the Name and Power of God; (b) for God's Holy Day; (c) for the Holy Spirit in Young People and Children," considered in papers by Canon Newbolt, the Rev. J. E. C. Welldon, the Bishop of Wakefield, Archdeacon Blunt, the Rev. E. A. Stuart, and Canon Girdlestone; "The Ethics of Commerce, (a) Christian Conception of Commerce; (b) Speculation and Christianity; (c) Commerce and the Spread of Christianity in Other Lands," by Archdeacon Farrar, Mr. Sydney Gedge, M. P., Canon W. H. Fremantle, Mr. Stephen Bourne, the Rev. Dr. Cunningham, of Cambridge, Sir Albert Rollit, M. P., the Rev. J. Grant Mills, and the Bishop of Wakefield; and "Country Parishes, their Difficulties and Needs and Modes of meeting them," by the Rev. Chancellor Espin, Canon Temple, the Rev. Prebendary Ainslie, and other speakers.

A General Synod in Canada.-A scheme was approved at a meeting held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in August, for the formation of a general synod to embrace the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland, in which the several synods shall be represented by delegates. It provides for the retention of the existing systems of diocesan and provincial synods, so that the organization of the Canadian Church will be in three grades of jurisdiction, represented by the diocesan, the provincial, and the General synods. The president of

the General Synod-having the title of primatewill be elected from among the provincial metropolitans. The plan of representation contemplates that dioceses having fewer than twentyfive licensed clergymen shall be entitled to one delegate for each order; those having more than twenty-five and fewer than fifty, two for each order; dioceses having more than fifty and less than a hundred licensed clergymen, three for each order; and larger dioceses four for each. The synod shall consist of two houses, the bishops constituting the upper house, and the clergy and laity together the lower house. The primate shall hold office for life, or so long as he is a bishop in any diocese in the General Synod. Such objects will come properly under the jurisdiction of the General Synod as matters of doctrine, worship, and discipline; agencies employed in carrying on the work of the Church; missionary and educational work; the adjustment of relations between dioceses in respect to clergy, widows' and orphans', and superannuation funds; regulations respecting the transfer of clergy from one diocese to another; education and training of candidates for holy orders; constitution and powers of an appellate tribunal; and the erection, division, or rearrangement of provinces. The synod is to meet for the first time in Toronto on the second Wednesday of September, 1893. ANTI-SLAVERY CONFERENCE. The general act of the Berlin Conference, signed Feb. 22, 1885, contains an article whereby the powers exercising rights of sovereignty or any influence in the territories of the conventional basin of the Congo undertake to watch over the preservation of the native races and the improvement of their moral and material conditions of existence, and to co-operate in the suppression of slavery, and especially of the negro traffic; also to protect, without distinction of creed or nationality, institutions created for this object or tending to instruct and civilize the natives. At the suggestion of the British plenipotentiaries another article was added containing a declaration of the same powers that the territories over which they exercise sovereignty or influence can not serve as a market or means of transit for slaves, and a promise on their part to employ all means in their power to put an end to the traffic and to punish those who take part in it. In March, 1889, pending the blockade of the coast of Zanzibar, the British House of Commons adopted a resolution calling on the Government, in view of the increasing and extending desolations in Africa caused by the slave trade, to take steps to ascertain the willingness of the powers to meet in conference for the purpose of devising measures for its suppression that should be at the same time effective and in accordance with justice and international law, giving complete effect to the declarations delivered by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the Conference at Verona in 1822. The British Government resigned the initiative to King Leopold, who consented to summon a conference of the powers signatory of the Berlin general act to meet at Brussels in the autumn to consider the present condition of the slave trade by land and sea, and to deliberate on measures for arresting or mitigating its evils. The object, as defined in his circular, was to "effectively prevent the slave

trade in the interior of Africa, the capture of slaves destined for sale, and their transport by sea," which can only be stopped by "the organized display of force greater than that at the disposal of those taking part in the traffic." The states represented by plenipotentiaries or delegates at the conference, which met on Nov. 18, 1889, were Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Congo Free State, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands. Persia, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Norway, Turkey, United States, Zanzibar. The Prince de Chimay requested that Baron Lambermont, whose knowledge and labors in connection with African matters specially fitted him for the office, should be chosen in his stead to preside over the meetings. The circular of invitation left it for the powers to decide on the programme of the conference and on the scope and nature of the measures to be considered, and the British plenipotentiaries, as representing the Government that was jointly responsible with the Belgian Government for convening the conference, offered their views of the subjects requiring consideration, placing first in order, as being the most susceptible of effective treatment, the maritime slave trade, to deal with which they proposed an international understanding, not conflicting with the rights of powers not bound by treaties, affecting only the circumscribed zone within which the traffic is confined, and especially the shores of the Red Sea; next, joint action against slave raiders; then, the suppression of the markets of destination; and finally, restriction of the traffic in liquor and in arms and ammunition, as affecting the social and moral condition of the natives, and thus indirectly the slave trade also. Committees were appointed to deal simultaneously with the slave trade in its three manifestations as defined in the scheme presented by Baron Lambermont: (1) Its inception and the inland traffic; (2) the maritime traffic; (3) the destination or ultimate market of the slave.

The English Government took the lead in presenting propositions, and in bringing forward at the outset the subject of the maritime traffic the British plenipotentiaries designed to place France in the position of obstructing the whole treaty unless she conceded a limited right of search. In 1841 she joined the United States in opposing the proposed mutual right-of-search convention for the suppression of the slave trade, and refused to subscribe to the convention that was contracted between Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia. The United States in 1862 entered into a right-of-search treaty with Great Britain; yet France has firmly adhered to the ground then taken against the searching of vessels bearing her flag in time of peace by the men-of-war of any other country. The British naval officers who have been charged with the duty of patrolling the Zanzibar coast have sometimes accused the French of protecting the slave trade by granting registration to slave dhows, and the French have complained of the violation of vessels carrying their flag. The article proposed for the consideration of the conference by the British plenipotentiaries provided that within the zone infected with the slave trade the signatory powers should jointly and severally have the right of supervision over all sailing vessels

under any flag, either on the high seas or in territorial waters, and that they should have power to detain vessels suspected, directly or indirectly, of being engaged in the slave trade, and to bring or send them to port for judgment before an international tribunal. The phrase "visit and search" of the old treaties was changed into the words "supervision" and "detention," in order to appease French public opinion as far as possible. The French Government took a month to reflect on its course, and then gave notice of a counter-project based in part on the British proposition and in part on a confidential instruction drawn up by the British and French governments in 1867. The French scheme accepted the British limitation of the contaminated zone, more precisely defined. and approved the creation of an international tribunal. The crucial point of detention and supervision was reduced to the right of stopping sailing vessels and ascertaining that their papers were in order. Stringent new regulations were proposed for preventing improper persons from obtaining leave to use the flag of any of the signatory powers and for officially inspecting the crew and passengers and checking the lists at every port, which, in the opinion of the French Government, would render further supervision unnecessary. The British Government, for the sake of promoting an agree ment, proposed to limit the class of vessels subject to supervision to craft not exceeding 500 tons, and to restrict the application of existing right-of-search treaties to the infected zone. The proposal for instituting an international tribunal was dropped, and provision was made for liberating slaves and dealing with slavers on the spot, without conveying them to the country whose flag the captured vessel displayed, as required in the old treaties. The propositions from both sides were framed into a single project by Prof. F. de Martens, one of the Russian plenipotentiaries, which was made the basis of the deliberations of the maritime committee.

The premature disclosure of the proposed prohibition of the traffic in firearms stirred up the manufacturers of Birmingham and the speculators who supply African slave hunters with discarded army rifles, who influenced the British Government to recede from its first intention. The Dutch, German, Italian, and Portuguese plenipotentiaries, as well as the British, favored the mere regulation of the traffic, though the French contended strongly for its entire suppression. The English proposition in regard to the liquor traffic was to impose the prohibitive duty of 200 francs per hectolitre in the coast and Lower Congo regions where the trade now exists, and to forbid imports elsewhere. Though warmly seconded by the French plenipotentiaries, this and the subsequent proposal of a duty of 50 francs were rejected through the influence of the German distillers and Dutch traders, who obtained a tariff that they declared would not disturb trade or reduce consumption, as it raises the price of spirits in Africa, which was five cents a quart, to eight cents only. The German Government was non-committal; but the representatives of the Netherlands strenuously opposed any duty on the ground that it violated the Congo general act, which guaranteed freedom of trade for twenty years. Mr. Sanford, one of the rep

resentatives of the United States, suggested the exclusion of spirits unfit for use by condemning and confiscating those that are found imperfectly rectified or adulterated.

Baron Lambermont offered a proposition to enable the Free State of the Congo to levy duties on imports not to exceed 10 per cent. ad valorem. The representatives of the Congo State pointed to the development of trade and civilizing activities in the Congo region, surpassing the expectations of the framers of the general act of 1885, and urged the necessity of a larger revenue to enable their Government to protect that trade and to carry out the duties imposed on it by the treaty under consideration. Mr. Terrell, representing the United States, questioned the competence of the conference to revise the general act of the former African Conference, and the Government of the Netherlands, encouraged by this unexpected support, stubbornly adhered to the stand it had taken, refusing to give its sanction to either a duty on liquor or a general tariff in the conventional basin of the Congo. Turkey and Persia reserved their rights of sovereignty over the ports where it was proposed to watch against the landing of slaves, while accepting the duty of co-operating in the suppression of the African slave trade without disturbance of the existing status of domestic slaves. Caratheodori Effendi did not sign the general act, as his Government, with its habitual slowness, wanted more time to examine its provisions. Turkey and Holland were given six months to sign. The plenipotentiaries of all other powers put their names to the general act on July 2. On July 18 it was signed by the Turkish minister at Brussels.

The first chapter, dealing with the suppression of the slave trade by land, declares the most effective means to be the organization of civil administration, justice, and religion; the introduction of roads, railroads, and steamboats; the establishment of military posts and scouting expeditions; and the restriction of the importation of improved firearms. The powers exercising a sovereignty or protectorate in Africa engage to make laws punishing as felonies slave hunting, mutilation of male infants, transportation of slaves, and mercantile dealings in them, and to extradite persons charged with any of these offenses. A fugitive slave shall receive asylum in the camps and stations or on board the cruisers of any of the signatory powers, but private stations or boats without the authorization of the state are not permitted to extend the right of asylum. Slaves liberated on the stopping of a caravan must be sent to their homes, if possible. The prohibition of the importation of firearms is laid down as a principle, with exceptions for the case in which the sovereign or protecting power thinks it desirable to permit it on its territory. In this case the arms are to be deposited in a public warehouse, and can only be withdrawn by permission of the authorities, though flint-locks and common powder may be stored in private warehouses. No arms must be sold in districts infected with the slave trade, and no breech-loaders, repeating rifles, or cartridges can be taken out of bond except by persons having a license to bear arms. The zone to which the regulations relating to firearms apply extends from 20° of north latitude to 22° of south latitude and

from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, including islands within one hundred marine miles of the shores. A power occupying a coast district giving the only access to the inland territory of another power can not forbid the transit of munitions destined and declared to be for the use of the public authorities, except provisionally in the case of disturbances.

The second chapter deals with the caravan routes and binds the powers having possessions in Africa to establish posts for intercepting convoys and to examine caravans at their places of destination. Any person previously condemned for taking part in the slave trade will not be permitted to engage in a commercial expedition without giving security.

The third chapter contains the provisions for. the suppression of the slave trade by sea. The maritime zone is bounded by the coasts of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf from Quilimane to Beloochistan, by a line extending obliquely to Cape Ambre, then by a line passing round the island of Madagascar and westward along the 26th parallel of south latitude, till it meets the meridian of Cape Tangalane, and then by that meridian running northward to Quilimane. The limitation of the right of search to vessels under 500 tons shall be revised if larger vessels engage in the slave trade. international office for the exchange of information regarding the slave trade and persons engaged in it will be established at Zanzibar.

An

The fourth chapter relates to countries of destination. The contracting powers having possessions in or out of Africa in which the institution of domestic slavery is recognized bind themselves to prohibit the importation, transit, and exit of African slaves and all trade in them, and to exercise stringent supervision at all points of entry and exit. Fugitive slaves entering their dominions shall be free. Penal laws will be enacted against importers and traders in African slaves and perpetrators of mutilations. The Sultan of Turkey promises to watch the western shores of Arabia; the Shah of Persia engages to exercise a close supervision in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and the inland routes; and the Sultan of Zanzibar binds himself to assist in repressing slave-trade offenses and to establish a liberation bureau. The next chapter contains provisions relating to the International Maritime Bureau at Zanzibar, the exchange of documents and data between governments, and the protection of liberated slaves.

The powers possessing territories in the zone between 20° of north latitude and 22° of south latitude agree to prohibit the importation or manufacture of distilled liquors in districts where, on account of religious belief or for other reasons, their use has not been introduced, and in other districts where they are freely admitted or are subjected to a duty of less than 15 francs per hectolitre they engage to levy a duty of that amount for three years. The duty may be increased to 25 francs for a fresh period of three years, and at the end of that time the powers have a right to maintain higher duties where they have them already and to increase them. At the end of six years the article shall be subjected to revision for the purpose of fixing a minimum duty throughout the whole extent of