thereon to His Majesty, stating the nature and legal effect of the measure, and their views as to its expediency, especially with relation to the constitutional rights of all His Majesty's subjects." If the report is favourable the Measure will go before Parliament, but will not be presented for the Royal Assent until each House has asked for it.
Parochial Church Councils. Under the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure, which received the Royal Assent in 1921, a church council is to be formed in every parish, elected by the registered parishioners or non-resident attendants at the parish church. The electors, male or female, must be 18 years of age, and have been baptized, and must subscribe a declaration that they are not members of any religious body out of commun- ion with the Church of England. To these councils most of the powers of the churchwardens have been transferred; they will be responsible for raising and spending money for parochial purposes, and they are charged to cooperate with the incum- bent in all matters concerning the welfare of the parish.
Ruridecanal Conferences. These are elected by the parochial church meetings from their own members. In most cases they elect the members of the Diocesan Conferences.
Diocesan Conferences. In their turn the Diocesan Confer- ences elect the lay members of the Church Assembly in given proportions for each diocese. They form also the financial and business authority of the diocese, to which all the immovable Church property within their area must be legally transferred. To them are affiliated the Boards of Finance which are to act as the collecting and spending authorities of the dioceses.
Reform of Convocation. In Nov. 1920, the Church Assembly performed its first legislative act by passing a Measure declaring that the Convocations have power, with the Royal Assent, to make canons for the amendment of their constitution. This assent having been given, the Convocations, in Feb. 1921, drew up new constitutions which made the following provisions: The Upper Houses will consist, as now, of all the English diocesan bishops; the Lower Houses will consist of all the deans, in- cluding those of Westminster and St. George's, Windsor, the two senior archdeacons in each diocese, one proctor for every hundred electors, with one more for every incomplete hundred not being less than fifty ; the electors will be all clergy- men beneficed in the diocese, or possessing the bishop's licence, or holding office in a cathedral or collegiate church ; all clergy- men in priest's orders will be eligible for election as proctors; the voting is to be on the lines of proportional representation.
Prayer Book Revision. The revision of the Prayer Book authorized by the Royal Letters of Business first issued in 1906, and since renewed, to the two Convocations enjoining them to consider " the desirability and the form and contents of a new rubric regulating the vesture of the ministers of the Church at the times of their ministrations, and also of any modification of the existing law relating to the conduct of divine service, and to the ornaments and fittings of churches," had in 1920 been completed subject to the assent of the National Assembly of the Church. The proceedings were necessarily slow and com- plicated, since each of the four Houses of Convocation had to debate every proposal in detail. Many of the emendations were merely verbal; others raised questions the most sharply con- troverted between sections of opinion in the Church.
The Athanasian Creed. One of the sharpest controversies raged around the Athanasian Creed, of which a new translation, prepared at the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was published in 1917. After prolonged discussion it has been decided by both Convocations that the Creed shall be retained in the Prayer Book, without the existing rubric, and with a new rubric prescribing that on Trinity Sunday it may be said in place of the Apostles' Creed.
The Holy Communion. The revision permits the priest to celebrate in a surplice or in " a white alb plain with a vestment or cope." He is to say the service " in a distinct and audible voice." The Commandments are shortened: thus the tenth reads simply " Thou shall not covet." They may be omitted altogether at a given service provided that they are said once
every Sunday. The collects for the king are omitted; the reader of the Epistle and Gospel is to turn towards the people; the sermon is permissive; ceremonial mixing of the chalice is permitted; in the Exhortation the words " eat and drink our own damnation " are corrected to " eat and drink judgment unto ourselves." An altered Proper Preface is provided for Whitsuntide and several new Proper Prefaces are inserted. In the Canterbury revision only the Canon is rearranged, the Prayer of Humble Access following immediately after the Com- fortable Words, and the Lord's Prayer following the Prayer of Consecration. The latter is lengthened by the addition of thanksgiving and prayer. Of the Prayers of Oblation and Thanksgiving, one or both may be said. The words of Admin- istration may be said once " to the whole number " of com- municants, either the first or the second half of the words being recited to the individual, or the whole words may be said once to each railful of communicants instead of saying them to each separately. A declaration is added to the effect that the Order of Holy Communion ought not to be diminished or added to, " nor should the private devotions of the minister be such as to hinder, interrupt, or alter the course of the service." The Convocation of York concurs in these emendations, with the exception of the amended Canon.
The Psalter and the Lectionary. In the main the revision of the Prayer Book Psalter has consisted of the emendation of unintelligible, misleading or obscure phrases, archaic punctua- tion, and the discarding of words which have changed their meaning or fallen into disuse, such, for instance, as " leasing " for which " lying " is substituted. As regards the recitation of the Psalter, Psalms are appointed for every Sunday in the year and for certain Holy Days. Otherwise the Psalms, with a few omissions, will be read through in order once a month. Psalms have also been selected for use on various occasions instead of those for the day, but others may be substituted with the approval of the bishop. Certain Psalms and portions of others are discarded altogether from public reading. Coming to the Lectionary, we find that alternative first and second Lessons have been provided for Sundays. To make it possible for congregations to hear selections from the less familiar parts of the Old Testament and from some Books of the Apocrypha, alternatives have been chosen to the Lessons taken from the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, and the Book of Proverbs. Two series of Second Lessons have been provided, one from the Gospels and the other from the Acts, the Epistles, or the Book of Revelation. The First Lessons for week-days follow a co- herent plan the principle of the arrangement of the Second week-day Lessons is that when a Lesson from the Gospels is read at Matins, one from the Acts, Epistles, or Revelation should be read at Evensong, or vice versa. Special Lessons have been provided for Holy Week, Easter Week, Rogation Days, Whitsun Week, Holy Days, and Dec. 29, 30 and 31. It is recom- mended that Lessons should be prefaced by a brief Introduction. The New Calendar. A new calendar has been prepared, to which have been added, among others, Saints Polycarp, John Chrysostom, Thomas Aquinas, Patrick, Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Leo the Great, Anselm, Catherine of Siena, Athan- asius, Basil, Bernard of Clairvaux, Aidan, Ninian, Francis of Assisi and Clement of Alexandria. All Souls' Day is added, and the Saints, Doctors and Martyrs of the Church on Nov. 8.
Other Provisions. Alternative Epistles and Gospels are provided for Christmas Day and Easter Day, and collects for St. Mary Magdalene, the Transfiguration, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints' Day, Harvest Thanksgiving and Saints' Days in the Calendar not otherwise provided for. In the Exhortation in the Marriage Service the second of the causes for which matrimony was ordained now reads " that the natural instincts and affections, implanted by God, should be hallowed and controlled." In the Lesson in the Burial Service (i Cor. xv.), verses 27 to 34 inclusive are omitted and an al- ternative Lesson is provided from 2 Cor. iv. i6-v. n, " Though our outward man," etc. In the Ordinal an important alteration has been made in the Questions to Deacons as to their belief in
