truth and power to heathen lands and peoples. From lliis date the (lunch seems t0 have experienced more fully than before the goodness and mercy of Cod in Sending his -race upon ii. and to have given plain indi- cations of healthy increase in the various parts of our country.— Following the uniform plan, adopted under bishop White's gentle but firm guidance and ti of keeping clear of entanglements, the convention, in 1820, refused to allow the officiating of persons not reg- ularly ordained; and such i~ the law at the present day: "No minister in charge of any congregation of ibis Church, or. in case of vacancy orabsi nee, no church- wardens, vestrymen, or trustees ot' the COngTl shall permit anj person to officiate therein without Buffi- cienl e\ idence of his being duly licensed or ordained to
minister in this Church." Hence, whatever individual
PROTESTANT EPISC. CHURCH 679 PROTESTANT EPISC. CHURCH
clergymen may venture to do in such cases in the way of inviting ministers of various sorts into their churches, it is always to be borne in mind that they do it of their own will and pleasure, and in violation of the canon which they have promised to obey. As a further illus- tration of the Church's policy, it may be noted that, in 1823, an offer was made by the Colonization Society that the Episcopal Church should send a delegate to act with that society in its benevolent plans. It was deemed inexpedient to accept the offer, the bishops holding that the objects of this society were "more of a political than religious nature." — At the convention of 182(3 bishop Hobart presented a plan for shortening the morning service, in respect to the Psalter, the Les- sons, Litany, etc., and also for improving and rendering more effective the confirmation service in the Prayer- book. Quite unexpectedly, considerable excitement fol- lowed this proposal, and three years later, when the sense of the state conventions became known as ad- verse to any changes in the services, the plan was quietly dismissed from all further consideration. 80 strung is the conservative element in the councils of the Church, and so great is the unwillingness to make any — even the least — changes in the Prayer-book, that daily morning and evening prayer, with all that be- long to them, have continued to be, and are, obligatory in their entire fulness. It is tolerably certain, however, that some, if not many, of the wisest and most devoted among the clergy would gladly welcome a permissory use of a shorter form of daily service for certain occa- sions, and under certain circumstances, where it would tend to greater edification and obviate some of the vulgar objections against liturgical forms and services. Something looking to this result was accomplished by an expression of the views of the bishops, at the General Convention of 1856 ; but at the next convention (1859) it was evident, from the course of debate on the " Memo- rial," as it was called, and the general sense of the House of Deputies, that the Church was not then, nor has it since been, ready to make any ventures in the direction of liturgical relaxation and Church comprehension.
In the " Great West," as it used to be called, it be- came plain at this date that the Protestant Episcopal Church had a work of no ordinary interest and impor- tance to perform. The rapid filling-up of the states west of the Alleghanies, and the sad fact that, in the race for life and increase of wealth and power, religion, in any and every form, was almost wholly ignored, caused no little anxiety and concern to thoughtful men in the older states; for it was too certain not to be clearly seen that if the West were to be abandoned to chance efforts and the zeal of a few religious men here and there, the result would be that that portion of the country would grow up into might and wealth virtual- ly heathen or infidel, and would be without the restrain- ing bonds of Christian faith and morals, and the civiliz- ing and elevating influences of the Gospel of Christ. In the good providence of God, there was a man, named Philander Chase, whose heart was turned in this direc- tion. After considerable experience in missionarv la- bors in various quarters, Chase set out for Ohio in 1817, determined to give himself to the work of an evange- list in that part of the United States. His labors were blessed, and he seemed to be the very man for the work to be done; hence, in 1819 he was consecrated bishop of Ohio. Every kind of labor and toil came upon him, but he bore up under it all. Yet the deep conscious- ness that, if the Gospel was to be preached, there must be men to do it — men, too, educated and trained for this special work, in a new country and among new settlers — pressed heavily upon his mind, and caused him to re- volve anxiously what he was to do in such a state of affairs. He concluded to visit England, and to beg for means to found a college and seminary in Ohio for the education of young men for the ministry. I be voyage was undertaken (though its expediency was doubted liy many), and bishop Chase obtained in all some thirty to