aper, the _Providence_ (R. I.) _Journal_ is worth
reprinting: "It is still quite usual even for intelligent persons
to misunderstand the purposes of the English Reformers, and the
result of the English Reformation. . . . The supremacy of Rome has
never been borne patiently by the English people, whose church
organization was established long before Rome took the trouble to
interfere with it; and several English kings had quarreled before
Henry the Eighth's time with the Holy See. What the English
Reformers wanted, and what they accomplished under Elizabeth,
was Reform _within the Church_. It was on the continent that
Protestantism _without the Church_, built up a new ecclesiastical
organization. All this, it may be, is a matter only of historical
value to the busy nineteenth century. But even if facts in a
historical aspect are of small importance to an intensely practical
generation, it is as well to have these facts right as wrong."
(See UNDIVIDED CHURCH).

Anglican Communion, The.--The term used to designate the churches
that are in communion with the Church of England and hold the same
Faith, Order and Worship. Under this term are included the Church
of England, the Church of Ireland, the Church of Scotland, the
Churches in British North America, the West Indies, Australia, South
Africa and in all the English colonies {21} throughout the world
wherever established. The Episcopal Church in the United States is
also included in the Anglican Communion, being identical with the
Church of England as is set forth in the Preface to the Prayer
Book, in which it is declared, "This Church is far from intending
to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of
doctrine, discipline and worship; or further than local circumstances
require." The Anglican Communion is one of the most powerful
forces in our modern religious world. From statistics we learn
that it has a larger membership than any other religious body
among English-speaking people. The following Table taken from the
New York _World_ Almanac for 1901 gives some idea of

THE RELIGION OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE.

Episcopalians 29,200,000
Methodists of all descriptions 18,650,000
Roman Catholics 15,500,000
Presbyterians of all descriptions 12,250,000
Baptists of all descriptions 9,230,000
Congregationalists 6,150,000
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