us publication of George Hickes's
(bishop of Thetford) _Constitution of the Christian Church, and the Nature
and Consequences of Schism_, in which he excommunicated all but the
non-juring churchmen. Benjamin Hoadly (_q.v._), the newly-appointed bishop
of Bangor, scented the opportunity and wrote a speedy and able reply,
_Preservative against the Principles and Practices of Non-Jurors_, in which
his own Erastian position was recommended and sincerity proposed as the
only test of truth. This was followed by his famous sermon, preached before
George I. on the 31st of March 1717, on _The Nature of the Kingdom or
Church of Christ_. In this discourse "he impugned the idea of the existence
of any visible church at all, ridiculed the value of any tests of
orthodoxy, and poured contempt upon the claims of the church to govern
itself by means of the state." He identified the church with the kingdom of
Heaven--it was therefore "not of this world," and Christ had not delegated
His authority to any representatives. Both book and sermon were reported on
by a committee appointed by the Lower House of Convocation in May, and
steps would have been taken by the archbishop and bishops had not the
government stepped in (Hoadly denied that this was at his request) and
prorogued Convocation till November. Hoadly himself wrote _A Reply to the
Representations of Convocation_ and also answered his principal critics,
among whom were Thomas Sherlock (_q.v._), then dean of Chichester, Andrew
Snape, provost of Eton, and Francis Hare, then dean of Worcester. These
three men, and another opponent, Robert Moss, dean of Ely, were deprived of
their royal chaplaincies. Hoadly was shrewd enough not to answer the most
brilliant, though comparatively unknown, of his antagonists, William Law.
Though the controversy went on, its most important result had already been
achieved in the silencing of Convocation, for that body, though it had just
"seemed to be settling down to its proper work in dealing with the real
exigencies of the church" when the Hoadly dispute arose, did not meet again
for the despatch of business for nearly a century and a half. (See
CONVOCATION.)

BANGWEULU, a shallow lake of British Central Africa, formed by the head
streams of the Congo. It lies between 10deg 38' and 11deg 31' S. and is cut
by 30deg E. Bangweulu occupies the north-west part of a central basin in an
extensive plateau, and is about 3700 ft. above the sea. The land slopes
ge