Page:Distinguished Churchmen.djvu/61

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THE ARCHDEACON OF LONDON
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has, as far as possible, to visit all the parishes in the Archdeaconry, and to be sufficiently well acquainted with the clergy and churchwardens as to render reports to the Bishop about their work. In a sentence, an Archdeacon, by virtue of his position, becomes the Bishop's right hand.

Enough, perhaps, has been said to convince the reader that Archdeacon Sinclair is a man altogether above party spirit in matters affecting the Church. His preference is clearly to live in charity with all men. If one may go by his public utterances, he holds it to be a pity that the Church of England, with its strong historical position, should not be on terms of courtesy and kindness towards those who differ from her in Church government. He does not appear to think, however, that corporate re-union is at all likely, since each body of Nonconformity has a strong tradition and esprit de corps of its own. He thinks the encouragement of friendly relations and mutual co-operation in philanthropy generally would help to that end. To sum up the position of the Archdeacon, he does not go beyond the recommendations of the Bishops at the Lambeth Conferences in 1888 and 1897.

In social, as well as in religious circles, the Archdeacon is a prominent figure. Freemasons have valued him as one of the Grand Chaplains of England for the last eight years, and he has also been a Chaplain to the Order of St John of Jerusalem since 1900. He has made no secret of