PROTESTANT EPISC. CHURCH C7G PROTESTANT EPISC. CHURCH
cation of the Holy Spirit, as round in the iir-t Prayer- book ol Edward Vl.and also in the Scotch Communion Service. This was due mainly to bishop Seabury, who was under something of a pledge to the Scotti ops to secure this change, if possible. The meekness and wisdom of bishop White were clearly evident in i his matter, as in everything. He was always ready to yield where principle was nol violated, and he puts il 1,11 record that his discussions with bishop Seabury were entirely amicable and satisfactory to both parties. " I" this day," he says, "there arc recollected with satisfac- tion the hours which were Bpenl with bishop Seabury on the important subjects which came before them, and especially the Christian temper which he- manifested all along." The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds were adopted with hearty assent by the convention. A ru- bric was prefixed to the former, as follows: "And any churches may omil the words 'he descended into hell,' or may, instead of them, use the words 'he went into the place of departed spirits.' which arc considered as words of the same meaning in the Creed." Bishop Seabury desired much to have the Athanasian Creed inserted, not as obligatory on all. as in the Church of England, but as permissory lor those wishing to use it ; but, as bishop White states, the House of Deputies " would not allow of the creed in any shape." The consideration of the " Articles of Religion" was postponed to a subse- quenl convention. The Book of Common Prayer was formally ratified by the bishops, clergy, and laity in convention, Oct. L6, 17.s:»: " This Convention having, in their present session, set forth .1 Book of Common Prayer,and Administration of the Sacraments, and oth- , r Rites and C( remonies of the Church, do hereby estab- lish the said Book; and they declare it to he the Lit- urgy of this church, and require that ii he received as such by all the members of the same: and this Book shall be in use from ami after the first day of October, in the year of our Lord i<nf thousand seven hundred and ninety." A number of canons were passed in re- gard to episcopal visitations, publishing a list of the clergy, observance of the Cord's day. etc. The conse- cration of Dr. I'.ass was deferred. Dr. Madison, .it Vir- ginia, was consecrated bishop in England, Sept. I'.'. 1790; and thus the full number ol bishops was secured through the English line. Two years later the conse-
crati >f Dr.Claggett as bishop of .Man land united
both lines in the American episcopate, bishop Seabury being present ami joining in the solemn act.
I he convention of 171)2 met. in New York Sept. 11. There were five bishops, nineteen clerical and fourteen
lay deputies in attendance, and the session lasted seven
days. The Ordinal ua- revised and set forth, the alter- ations being few. An alternate form at the ordination of priests was furnished ; instead of " Receive the I loh Ghost for the office and work of a priest in the Church of (iod. now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands; whose sins thou dost forgive, they are for- given; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are re- tained. And he thou. "etc.; the bishop ordering is al- lowed to say, "Take thou authority to execute the office of a priest in the < Jhurch of (iod. now committed
to thee by the imposition of our hands. And he thou." etc The consideration of the Articles was further post- poned. An act was passed " for supporting mission- aries to preai h I he < lospel on the frontii ra of the United states." in which it was recommended that annual sermons he preached in all the churches, that collections he made, and missionaries he sent out as :.i\ be. these being under the canonical juris- diction of the bishop of Pennsylvania. "Agreeably to i he requirement of a canon adopted at the last con- vention, a list of the clergy of the Church is printed in the appendix to the journal, [ncluding the bishops, the number given is one hundred ami eighty-four, no lists having been handed in from New Hampshire ami Massachusi tts, and there being no mention of the nnm-
n at that lime in North ( aiolina and
on the Western frontiers. 'With every allowance there could not have been more than two hundred, the rep- resentatives of nearly two thousand who. with English orders, had labored on the American continent since its earliest attempted settlement, two hundred and fifty years before" (Perry). One other matter deserves to he put mi record here, not only because of the impor- tance of the object had iii view, both a- n uard- one of the most influential denominations in the United States ami the Protestant Episcopal Church, but also because of the entire failure at that date of so earnest and truly catholic a movement. We give it in the language of bishop White : " Bishop Madison had com- municated to the author, mi their journey from Phila- delphia to New York, a design which he had much at heart that of effecting a reunion with the Method- ists; and he was so sanguine a- to believe that by an accommodation to them in a few instances, they would he induced to give up their peculiar discipline, and conform to the Leading parts of the doctrine, the wor- ship, and the discipline of the Episcopal Church. It is to he noted that he had no idea of comprehending them, on the condition of their continuing embodied, as at present. On this there was communicated to him an intercourse held with Dr. Coke, one of the su- perintendents of that society which might have shown I., bishop Madison how hopeless all endeavors a junction must pmve. Nevertheless, he persisted in his well-meant design. The result of this was his in- troducing into the House of Bishops a proposition, which his brethren, after some modifications, approving of the motive, hut expecting little as the result of it, consented to send to the other house." 'I he proposi- tion (as given by bishop White) was placed on a broad and liberal hasis. leaving most of matters to future discussion and settlement at a subsequent convention. ••On the reading of this in the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, they were astonished, and considered it as altogether preposterous; tending to produce distrust of the stability of the system of the Episcopal Church, without the least prospect of embracing any other re- ligious body. The members generally stated, as a mat- ter of indulgence, that they would permit the with- drawing of the paper, and no notice to he taken of it. A few gent lemon, how e\ cr. \\ ho had -ot some slight in- timations of the correspondence between Or. Coke and the author, who would have been gratified by an ac- commodation with the Methodists, and who thought that the paper sent was a Step in measures to be taken to that effect, spoke in favor of the proposition. Hut it. was not to he endured; and the bishops silently with- drew it, agreeably to ]ea\ e gh en." Bishop White gives, in addition, the letter of Or. Coke, and an account of several interviews had with him. The letter is ai instructive one in many respects, and Bhowswhal Dr. Coke thought of his supposed "episcopal" character, derived from John Wesley; bishop White's remarks and statements also are worthy of grave consideration. The subject lias been more than once agitated, and sunn limes men ha\ e l« come sanguine of t» ing all. to effejcl the end desired: hut as the question of ordina- tion still holds the place which it did in Dr. Coke's