See of Southwell was formed in 1884. Wakefield was also made a diocese. An Act was passed, as we said before, in 1884, to separate Gloucester and Bristol. The separation has now been made.
The movement for forming new bishoprics was not confined to England alone. With the growth of the Catholic revival, a greater impetus was given to missionary work, and Bishops had to be sent abroad to govern dioceses. Within the last sixty years the missionary spirit has spread rapidly. This part of its work the Church in times past had not attended to. Archbishop Laud had a scheme in hand, in the reign of Charles I., to found dioceses in America, to counteract the work of the Pilgrim Fathers, but it did not come to anything. However, during this century the missionary movement has advanced by bounds and strides. The Colonial Episcopate has been enlarged, and in 1840 ten new Sees were formed. We must not forget in this connection the good work done by the Church Missionary Society, whose duty it is chiefly to carry the Gospel to the heathen, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, whose work chiefly is to carry the Gospel to our Colonies.
In speaking of the renewed life of the Church during the last sixty years, we should remember what it has done for the cause of education. I do not intend to detail the work in this connection, but it has not been behind the Dissenters in this duty, as statistics will clearly show, although it is a favourite saying of some men that the Church desires to keep the people in heathen darkness.
I desire to refer more especially to what the Church has
