life. The reason given for its revival, as expressed by its supporters, was "for increasing the efficiency of the Church."
In July, 1851, the House of Lords decided that Convocation should be reopened again, and Wilberforce gave a powerful speech in its support, but, unfortunately, Archbishop Tait was against the Movement. That was one of his great mistakes, and he lived long enough to acknowledge this. It was in 1852, on November 1st, that Convocation met for business, but through the Archbishop's opposition, who was president of it by virtue of his office, nothing was accomplished. There was brought under discussion a Bill before referred to, for the "Discipline of the Clergy." In 1860, royal letters were issued authorizing Convocation to proceed to business. That Convocation was allowed to meet again has proved to be one of the great blessings of the Church in modern times. It has been a safeguard to the Church's doctrines. It kept in check the sweeping changes of the Broad Church party. It represented the opinions of the great body of English Churchmen, and its decisions on important matters are not to be lightly estimated. One of its first important acts was to give its opinion on a book, Essays and Reviews, which at that time agitated England. This book consisted of Essays written by several Churchmen and it contained, to say the least of it, doctrines dressed up in a new garb. If it taught the old doctrines of the Church at all they were represented so as to lose much of their old significance. Convocation considered the subject of its heterodoxy or orthodoxy. In 1864 the Upper House condemned it, and in this decision the Lower House agreed by
