THE admirable speeches at the anniversary meetings of the English Church Union and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament emphasize the fact, which cannot be emphasized too often, that it is the Mass that matters. Birmingham, represented at both meetings by Fr. Kirtland, is fighting for the Mass and for all that belief in the doctrine of the Real Presence, the doctrine specifically taught in the Prayer Book, stands for, and Birmingham will make no surrender. . . It is the Mass that is giving the Church back its life. Without the Mass it is nothing. It is this great truth that will cause considerable apprehension among Anglo-Catholics when they read the careful statement by the Bishop of Bombay, which we print this week, of the suggested union of the Church of England with the Protestant sects in Southern India. The Bishop urges Churchmen at home not to take a party view — an admonition that is frequently made. But how is it possible to avoid a party view on questions of fundamental importance? As we have said, the Catholic believes in his soul that the Mass is the one thing that matters. On the other hand, the Protestant regards the Mass as gross superstition. Interchange of pulpits, mutual recognition of Orders, and so on, are meaningless and misleading in face of this tremendous difference. The Bishop of Bombay explains that union is demanded by the native Indians, who are apparently definitely Protestant. If this be so, then such union is inevitable. But the English Church, firm in its assertion of its Catholic character, must stand aside, however great may be the temporary loss.