A Pan-Anglican Washing Day

A Pan-Anglican Washing Day by John Tenniel. Punch. Image from Internet Archive. Text and formatting by George P. Landow [This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose without prior permission as long as you credit this site and the Internet Archive.]

Chorus of Old Washerwomen. “There! Take'em away — we can't be bothered with them things.’

“If the seventy-five members of the Pan-Anglican Synod have not a single word to say upon any of the great questions, theoretical or practical, which concern the very existence of the Church of England, their imptent caution and misplaced decency will do more to endanger it than any external attack with which it is at present threatened.” — Pall Mall Gazette

According to Tenniel's caricature, members of the group who have supposedly met to resolve devisive issues crucial to the Anglican Church busy themselves instead with discussing missionary work abroad. Mr. Punch meanwhile struggles with the heavy burden of the church's dirty linen — Bishop Colenso, rationalism, unbelief, and High, Low (or Evangelical), and Broad Church factions.

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Last modified 28 February 2011