published in "Gleason's Pictorial" a romantic story, for which she received five dollars. Mr. Alcott never achieved worldly success, and, as the family were in straitened circumstances about this time, she engaged in teaching in Boston, where she took a "little trunk filled with the plainest clothes of her own making and twenty dollars that she had earned in

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT.

writing." At one time she aspired to become an actress, and had perfected her arrangements for a first appearance, but was prevented by her friends. She occasionally appeared in amateur performances, and wrote a farce entitled "Ned Batchelder's Adventures," which was produced at the Howard Athenæum. She also wrote a romantic drama, "The Rival Prima Donna," the manuscript of which she recalled and destroyed on hearing of dissension among the actors regarding the arrangement of the cast. In December, 1862, she entered into Government service as a hospital nurse, and was stationed in the Georgetown Hospital, near Washington, D. C., until prostrated by typhoid fever, from the effects of which she never recovered. In 1865 she visited Europe as a traveling-companion, and soon after her return to Boston published "Little Women," which pictured her home life, and brought her fame and fortune. This was received with such favor that when "Little Men was issued the publishers received advance orders for 50,000 copies. Miss Alcott addressed herself to children, and no author's name is more endeared to the young than hers. Although there is little in her writing that is not drawn from personal experience, this is so colored by her imagination, and so strong through her sympathy with life, that her books represent the universal world of childhood and youth. But while they are characterized by humor, cheerfulness, good morals, and natural action, their healthfulness may be somewhat questionable on account of the sentimentality that is woven

into her work and breaks the natural grace of childhood by introducing the romantic element, and a hint of self-importance and independence that tends to create a restless and rebellious spirit. She devoted herself to the care of her father, and in "death they were not divided." The sale of "Little Women" has reached 250,000; that of all her works together, over 800,000. Her publications are: "FlowerFables" (Boston, 1855); "The Rose Family" (1864); "Moods" (1865; revised ed., 1881); "Little Women" (1868); "Hospital Sketches" (1869); "An Old-Fashioned Girl" (1869); "Little Men" (1871); "Aunt Jo's ScrapBag," a series containing Cupid and ChowChow,' My Girls," "Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore," and "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving" (1871-'82); "Work, a Story of Experience" (1873); "Eight Cousins" (1874); "Rose in Bloom" (1876); "Silver Pitchers" (1876); "Under the Lilacs" (1878); "Jack and Jill" (1880); "Proverb Stories" (1882); "Spinning-Wheel Stories" (1884); and the first of a new series, "Lulu's Library" (1885).

66

ANGLICAN CHURCHES. General Statistics.-The "Year-Book" of the Church of England for 1888 shows that the gross amount of money raised voluntarily and expended in 1886 on the building and restoration of churches, the endowment of benefices, the erection of parsonages, and the provision of burial grounds, while it was considerably less than in 1884, exceeded £1,000,000; and of this sum £53,000 were raised in the four Welsh dioceses. The details of this particular branch of church effort as carried out at Bristol and Plymouth are recorded for the first time in the present volume. They show that while the population of Bristol has increased by nearly 55 per cent. the net gain in church accommodation has been 70 per cent., while the whole expenditure upon church extension has been more than £500,000. A similar work has been going on in the three towns of Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse, at a gross expenditure of £131,000. Nearly £500,000 (£445,398) were raised during twelve years for founding the six new sees of Truro, St. Albans, Liverpool, Southwell, and Wakefield; £50,000 in six years to complete the Bishop of Rochester's "ten churches scheme." The Universities and Public Schools Missions" for the supply of destitute places in the large towns and parochial missions for the laity have increased steadily. Activity in work for the promotion of temperance, for the rescue of the victims of vice, and for reform, has gone on with growing activity. The statistics of ordinations show that during fourteen years 10,020 persons had been admitted to the order of deacons; and of these admissions, the annual average for the former half of the period was 660, and for the latter half, 770. The statistics of confirmations show that while the average number annually for the nine years ending with 1883 was 166,000, the average for the succeeding three years was nearly

66

204,000. During 1886, 77 new churches were built, and 185 restored, raising the number of new churches, between 1877 and 1886, to 809, and of restored churches to 2,572. Under the Church Buildings Acts 838 new parishes or districts were constituted beween 1868 and 1880. The number of permanent mission buildings other than parish and district churches is given as 4,717, with accommodation for 843,272 persons. Confirmations were held during 1887 at 2,361 centers; the whole number of persons confirmed being 213,638. The voluntary contributions toward the maintenance of Church schools between 1884 and 1886 were given as £1,755,958; the contributions between 1873 and 1887 to the "Hospital Sunday" collections as £727,250, the whole number of collections being 33,134. It was claimed that during the twenty-five years, 1860-'84, Churchmen voluntarily contributed £528,653 for the education of ministerial candidates, £35,175,000 for church building and restoration, £7,496,478 for home missions, £10,100,000 for foreign missions, £22,421,542 for educational work, mainly elementary, £3,818,200 for charitable work (distinctively Church of England), and £2,103,364 for clergy charities, making a total of £81,573,237, Contributions to parochial purposes, unsectarian societies, and middle-class schools are not included in the estimate.

Missionary Societies.-The annual meeting of the Church Missionary Society was held May 1. Sir John Kennaway presided. The total receipts of the society for the year had been £221,330, but they had not covered the expenditure, and there remained a debt of £9,000 to be cleared off; and to meet the demands of various funds, the incomeof the preceding year must be exceeded by £37,000. Forty-three candidates for missionary work, twelve of whom were women, had been received during the year. A resolution was passed approving the action of the Executive Committee in calling for picked men to work among Mohammedans.

The income of the Church Zenana Missionary Society was returned at £23,268. The society includes 900 associations and more than 500 working parties laboring in support of the mission. From the missions-in West Africa, East and Central Africa, Egypt and Arabia, Palestine, Persia and Bagdad, India, Ceylon, Mauritius, China, Japan, New Zealand, Northwest America, and the North Pacific-were returned 280 stations, 247 foreign and 265 native ordained missionaries, 62 European and 3,534 native lay and female workers, 44,115 communicants, and 1,859 schools, with 71,814 pupils. The native contributions had amounted to £15,142.

The annual public meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was held in London, July 10. The meeting was distinguished by the presence of many of the bishops who had come to attend the Lambeth Conference. The Archbishop of Canterbury

presided. The secretary's report showed that the number of ordained missionaries, including nine bishops, on the society's list at that time, was 596, viz., in Asia, 187; in Africa, 139; in Australia and the Pacific, 17; in North America, 183; in the West Indies, 33; and in Europe, 37. Of them, 114 were natives laboring in Asia, and 19 in Africa. There were also in the various missions of the society about 2,000 catechists and lay teachers, mostly natives, and more than 400 students in the society's colleges. Papers were read and remarks made in reference to various aspects of the missionary work in their several fields of labor by the Bishops of Calcutta ("Provincial and Diocesan Organization in India "), Japan, Rangoon, North China, Cape Town, Zululand, Equatorial Africa, Sydney, Fredericton, Missouri, North Dakota, and Guiana, and the Archdeacon of Gibraltar. A paper by the Rev. R. R. Winter, of Delhi, on "Woman's Work in Missions," was read by the secretary.

At a meeting of the Board of Missions of the Province of Canterbury, held July 21, the Archbishop of Canterbury, presiding, said that the board did not seek to work as a new missionary society, or wish to collect money; but that it desired to bring before the Church the necessity of doing a great deal more for missions than was being done at present, and to give proper information to the vast numbers of persons who knew nothing of the missions or of the immensity of the interests centered in them. Several of the American and colonial bishops spoke of the condition and requirements of missionary interests in different parts of the world, and of the importance of giving greater unity to the missionary work. A resolution was adopted assuring the bishops of the various dioceses and missionary jurisdictions abroad of the desire of the board "to aid them in the work of extending the Master's kingdom."

Free and Open Church Association. It was reported at the annual meeting of this society, in March, that the council had decided to issue an address calling upon the people to defend the Church by uniting in a great effort to get rid of the pew system. The Bishop of Rochester had written that the church which "blandly encouraged her wealthy children to build stately churches for their own enjoyment," leaving the poor to worship in a cold school-room, "forfeited her claim to be the church of the nation."

The Church House.-A plan for the establishment, in London, by a company, of a "Church House," to serve as an informal "headquarters" for the adherents of the Anglican churches, their societies and associations, and as a place of deposit for archives, libraries, and collections, took form in July. The final report of the Executive Committee, which had been appointed by the movers of the project to consider the subject, was presented to the General Committee June 7. A charter of incorporation had been granted for the enterprise on the 23d of February. The receipts in its behalf up to June 30 had

amounted to £45,853, while a balance of £2,681 was remaining at the banker's, besides investments and deposits to the sum of £35,868. The total liabilities incurred and to be incurred in the purchase of the site-which is on the south side of Dean's Yard-amounted to £42,431, for the provision of which the resources of the corporation were amply sufficient. The Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on the adoption of the report, remarked on the practical value of the scheme, which would provide a house not only useful as a place of business for the Church of England in England, but also as a general meeting-point and rallying-ground for the Anglican communion throughout the world. He was anxious that a good reference library should be formed as soon as possible. A full collection of reports of church work in all parts of the world was needed. Valuable contributions concerning the transactions of the American Church Conventions had already been received from the Bishops of Iowa and Albany. Formal possession was taken of the site on the 21st of July, when the first annual meeting of the corporation was held, and suitable action was taken for accepting the property. The purpose of the scheme was defined to be for facilitating intercommunion among the churches throughout the world. The buildings already on the ground will be occupied for the present, and the erection of others or of better ones will be left to the fut ure, as the means and needs of the enterprise may be developed.

Church of England Temperance Society.-A breakfast was given by the Council and Executive of this association, July 11, to the bishops attending the Lambeth Conference, for purposes of consultations respecting the progress of the society; the movement against the liquor traffic among the native races; and methods by which the organization of the society abroad might be accelerated and made more effective. The Bishop of London presided. A letter was read from the Bishop of New York representing that great benefit had been derived in America from the influence of the society. Resolutions were adopted declaring that the importation of spirituous liquors from England and other countries was having a disastrous effect upon native races in the colonies and dependencies of the British Empire, and recommending the formation of diocesan branches of the society. The resolutions were supported by the Bishops of Sydney, Cork, Pennsylvania, Huron, Colombo, and Zululand, and the Bishop Coadjutor of Antigua. The Bishop of Sydney declared that it was absolutely impossible to exaggerate the utterly disastrous effect which the traffic in spirituous liquors was exercising everywhere.

Powers of the Archbishop.-The case of Read and others vs. the Archbishop of Canterbury, involving an appeal of four members of the Church of England resident in the diocese of Lincoln against the refusal of the Archbishop of Canterbury of their request to cite the

Bishop of Lincoln to answer allegations of offense in matters of ritual, was decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Aug. 3, after an ex-parte hearing. The Bishop of Lincoln was charged by the petitioners with having offended in respect to the celebration of the Communion by using lighted candles on the Communion-table when they were not required for the purpose of giving light; by making at the same service and when pronouncing the benediction, the sign of the cross; by standing while reading the prayer of consecration with his back to the people; and by deviating in no fewer than ten ways from the ceremony prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer. The petitioners prayed the archbishop to cite the inculpated bishop to answer these charges, referring as precedents for the exercise of this power to the case of "Lucy vs. the Bishop of St. Davids" (1695), and of the Bishop of Cloghan, which was cited in 1822 by the Archbishop of Armagh. The archbishop replied that, "Considering the fact that in the course of 300 years since the Reformation, there is no other precedent" (than the Bishop of St. David's case), "and considering the political and other exceptional circumstances under which this particular case was decided," he objected to acting without instruction from a court of competent jurisdiction. The decision of the Judicial Committee was to the effect that their lordships were of the opinion that the archbishop had jurisdiction in the case. They were also of the opinion that the abstaining of the archbishop from entertaining the suit was a matter of appeal to Her Majesty. They desired to express no opinion whatever whether the archbishop had or had not a discretion whether he would issue the citation. They would humbly advise Her Majesty to remit the case to the archbishop, to be dealt with according to law. The decision is considered an important one, in that it establishes the right of the archbishop to call bishops to account.

Water in the Communion Service.-A case was heard before the Court of Arches of the Province of Canterbury, February 14, in which the Rev. S. J. Hawkes, of Pontebury, diocese of Hereford, was charged with having administered to communicants water instead of wine at the celebration of the holy communion. The defendant admitted that he had used water on the occasion, as charged, but pleaded that he had intended no offense against the rubrics. He had not been aware beforehand that there was to be à communion service. Finding no wine in the flagon, he in his surprise ordered the clerk to get something. The clerk had brought water, and he had used it without thinking to examine it. Lord Penzance, in giving his decision, while admitting the defendant's excuses, thought that he had erred in judgment; he should have made an explanation or dismissed the congregation, and postponed the service. The court would do no more than admonish the defendant against a

repetition of the offense, and condemn him in the costs. The conduct of the minister in instituting the proceedings was, however, justified. Such a departure from the order of proceedings in the celebration of the holy communion was no light matter. The rubrics of the Prayer-Book were not merely directory, but were in their smallest incidents nothing less than positive commands of law, strictly to be followed and faithfully obeyed. So serious a departure as this case disclosed could not be passed over, in the opinion of the court, without ecclesiastical censure, except at the risk of implying that the breach of them was venial, trivial, or unimportant.

The Convocations.-Both houses of the Convocation of Canterbury met for the dispatch of business, Feb. 29. The archbishop exhibited to their lordships of the upper house letters patent, dated Sept. 16, 1887, conveying the royal assent to the newly amended canons as to the hours of marriage, agreed to by both houses, and gave notice that it was necessary that the two houses should meet together, in order that the new and amended canons might be made, promulgated, and executed. The ceremonial of summoning and receiving the lower house, in full official form, was then performed for the first time, it was said, since 1603. The archbishop read, in Latin and English, the new enactments which brought the law of the Church into harmony with the law of the land, after which the document of assent was signed by the archbishop and bishops, and by the prolocutor, deans, archdeacons, and proctors of the lower house. A resolution of the lower house relating to the election of incumbents by parishioners in cases where the living is vested in the parishioners, was amended and approved. It recommends the insertion of a clause in the Church Patronage Bill providing for the selection of a permanent committee by the parishioners, through which the election shall be conducted. A petition was presented from the Lord's Day Observance Society on the subject of the relaxation of Sunday observance, which appeared to have increased of late years, and to the great increase of Sunday labor; to which the house responded that it deemed it its duty" to appeal to the clergy, to all instructors of the young, and to all who exercise influence over their fellowmen, not to suffer this Church and country to lose the priceless benefits of the rest and sanctity of the Lord's Day. Its reasonable and religious observation is for the moral, physical, and spiritual health of all ranks of the population, and to it our national well-being has been largely due." Sympathy was expressed with the clergy in the difficulties to which they were subjected in the collection of tithes, and the efforts of the house were pledged in favor of measures for remedying them. The president (archbishop) was requested to appoint a committee to consider the question of an increase of the episcopate. A desire was expressed to

have an opportunity of considering the details of certain proposed bills dealing with the ecclesiastical courts before they are settled in the parlimentary committees.

The lower house, recognizing the urgent need of an increase of the clergy, declared by resolution "that it will welcome the accession of duly qualified persons possessed of independent means who will offer themselves for the work of deacons; but that it deprecates any alteration of the law and of the ancient usages of the Church which would involve the relaxation of the solemn obligations of holy orders." The governmental measure for the restriction of the opium-trade with China by giving control of the matter for a period to the Chinese authorities was approved, and the hope was expressed that measures would be taken to prevent the importation of opium into Burmah, and that the Government might see its way clear to " bring about the final extinction of the Bengal monopoly." A further development was suggested of parochial guilds, in which, the house declared, might be discerned a wide possibility of increased spiritual good, both in town and country parishes.

The Convocation assembled again April 24. A report was presented in the upper house from a joint committee of the two houses on the relations of the Convocations of the Northern and Southern Provinces, the consideration of which was deferred. A motion was carried for the appointment of a joint committee to report as to any new organization required to enable the Church to reach the classes of the population now outside of religious organizations. Satisfaction was expressed at the unanimous passage of the House of Commons of the resolution of Mr. McArthur in regard to the traffic in drink with native races. The bishops acted favorably upon an articulus cleri of the lower house respecting the exclusion of the clergy from the county councils proposed to be erected under the new Local Government Bill, asking them to take steps to obtain such alteration in the measure as would prevent such exclusion. The lower house having, without instruction from the upper house, acted upon motions suggesting additions to the Church Catechism, dealing with questions of doctrine concerning which the Episcopate claimed the exclusive right of origination, a resolution was passed by the upper house, declaring itself unable to consider the action in question, because it could not regard it "as regular and desirable that synodical validity should be given to formularies professing to set forth the doctrines of the Church for the drawing up and circulation of which the consent of the president had not been applied for and obtained." A report was made in the House of Laymen recommending an increase of the Episcopate, and the adoption, as far as possible, of county boundaries as the bases of the boundaries of dioceses. Concerning the principles which should regulate a system of pensions for disabled or aged

clergy, the house expressed the opinion that "a considerable portion of the fund should be provided by the laity, or by non-beneficiaries; that every clergyman, in order to become eligible for a pension, should be expected to contribute an adequate amount to the pension fund; that the pension should be free from seizure by creditors; and that the age at which, as a general rule, the pensions should commence, should be sixty-five." The house approved the purpose of the Tithe Rent-charge Recovery Bill as a measure for facilitating the collection and recovery of the charge in question.

The Convocation of York met for the dispatch of business April 17. The archbishop, in his opening address, remarking upon differences that had occurred between the two houses at previous sessions, said that the present position of the Convocation had occasioned much anxious thought with him, and that he feared that the two houses would not be able to cooperate in the future. The prolocutor of the lower house (the Dean of York) regarded these remarks as a reflection upon his official course, and offered his resignation, which was accepted. The Rev. Chancellor Espin, D. D., was chosen prolocutor. Resolutions were adopted in the upper house urging the need of the Church for legislation on the ecclesiastical courts, and, without committing itself to the approval of particular recommendations, indicating the report of the Royal Commission, dated July 13, 1883, as the suitable basis of such legislation.

The Lambeth Conference. The third Lambeth Conference of Bishops of the Anglican Communion—often designated the "Pan-Anglican Conference "was opened June 30. While the idea of holding a conference of this kind had been frequently mentioned before, the proposition for the first assemblage took serious form in the Canadian Provincial Synod of 1865, which unanimously resolved to urge upon the Archbishop and Convocation of Canterbury that some means should be adopted "by which the members of our Anglican Communion in all quarters of the world should have a share in the deliberations for her welfare, and be permitted to have a representation in one general council of her members gathered from every land." This appeal, it is said, was prompted by the condition of affairs then existing in South Africa, in view of the pronunciation of a sentence of deposition against Bishop Colenso. In compliance with the request, which was seconded by the Convocation of Canterbury, the archbishop issued in February, 1867, an invitation to all the bishops in communion with the Church of Eng land, 144 in number, to meet for purposes of Christian sympathy and mutual counsel on matters affecting the welfare of the Church at home and abroad; explaining, at the same time, that the meeting would not be competent to make declarations or lay down definitions on points of doctrine, but would tend

to promote unity of faith and to bind the bodies represented "in straiter bonds of peace and brotherly charity." Seventy-six bishops responded to this invitation, while the bishops and Archbishop of the Province of York declined to join in the movement. The conference met on the 24th of September, 1867. Its time was largely occupied with discussions of the affairs of the South African churches, while several questions were submitted to committees to be reported upon by them to a meeting of the bishops then remaining in England, in the following December. The second conference was called, again at the suggestion of the Canadian Synod, in July, 1877, and, the bishops of the province of York having concluded to take part in it, was attended by 100 bishops. It met on the 29th of June, and adjourned on the 27th of July, 1878. The subjects discussed regarded "The best mode of maintaining union among the various branches of the Anglican Communion"; " Voluntary boards of arbitration for churches to which such an arrangement may be applicable "; "The relations to each other of missionary bishops and of missionaries in various branches of the Anglican Communion acting in the same country"; "The position of Anglican chaplains and chaplaincies on the Continent of Europe and elsewhere"; "Modern forms of infidelity and the best means of dealing with them"; and "The condition, progress, and needs of the various churches of the Anglican Communion." The reports on these subjects, as adopted by the Conference, were incorporated as a whole in a combined "letter," and put forth to the world in the name of the hundred bishops assembled; which letter was also published in Latin and Greek translations. The following invitation to the Conference of 1888 was sent out to 209 bishops:

LAMBETH PALACE, Nov. 9, 1887.

RIGHT REVerend and Dear BROTHER:

I am now able to send you definite information with regard to the Conference of Bishops of the Anglican Communion to be held at Lambeth, if God permit, in the summer of next year.

In accordance with the precept of 1878, it has been arranged that the Conference shall assemble on Thursday, July 3, 1888. After four days' session there will be an adjournment, in order that the various committees appointed by the Conference may have opportunity for deliberation. The Conference will reassemble on Monday, July 23, or Tuesday, July 24, and will conclude its session on Friday, July 27.

Information as to the services to be held in connec

tion with the Conference, and other particulars, will be made public as the time draws near.

I have received valuable suggestions from my episcopal brethren in all parts of the world as to the objects upon which it is thought desirable that we should weighed by myself and by the bishops who have been deliberate. These suggestions have been carefully good enough to co-operate with me in making the preliminary arrangements, and the following are the subjects definitely selected for discussion:

1. The Church's Practical Work in Relation to, (a) Intemperance; (b) Purity; (c) Care of emigrants; and, (d) Socialism.

2. Definite Teaching of the Faith to Various Classes, and the Means thereto.