PREFACE. THE restless attacks, the systematic organization, and the avowed purposes of the opponents of the Church of England, encouraged by the indifference of the apathetic, and backed by the support of the irreligious, awakened a short time since the minds of Churchmen from their characteristic disregard to the signs of the times, and urged them to use every effort for the preservation of their constitutional rights and privileges. Hence the year 1859 witnessed the formation and development of various Church Defence Associations through the country, and of the central Church Institution in London. The progress of such Associations was a good omen for the Church, but it appeared to the Committee of the Church Defence Association in Cambridge that, to give full effect to the combination of Churchmen, the union should be not merely local but general. It was their opinion that this union would be greatly promoted if representatives of the various Church Defence Associations were invited to consult with Churchmen eminent for their religious zeal and for their advocacy of Church interests. A precedent for such a gathering was supplied by the annual meetings of Societies for the advancement of Science, Archæology, &c.; and it further appeared to the Committee that Cambridge, by reason of its historical and academical traditions, was the most suitable centre, at which a Congress of Churchmen might in the first instance be held. Letters of invitation, extracts from which are subjoined, together with the accompanying questions on the subjects proposed for. discussion, were sent to the Secretaries of the various Church Associations, and to certain distinguished Churchmen, clergymen and laymen. The result of these measures has fully justified the expectations of the Cambridge 334031 |