It would seem appropriate that this Conference assembled in this ancient cathedral and university city of Oxford should pay some brief tribute to the distinguished High Church prelate Dr Robert Skinner, the disciple and collaborator of Archbishop Laud. Especially is this so at the present time when overtures are being made to various nonconformist bodies with a view to their future reunion with the Anglican Church, for it is inevitable that the question of the significance of episcopal ordination and the episcopal system of church government will, in the course of these discussions, receive increasing and critical attention.