tions pledging support to the government were adopt- ed; and a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer was observed, October 8, 1862, in view "of the present af- flictive condition of the country." At the next con- vention, however, held in Philadelphia, October, 1865, the Church was entirely reunited ; harmony and con-; cert of action were restored ; and those who for some years had been acting apart gladly joined again in combined efforts for the good of the whole Church in the United States. There was held a service of thanks- - giving to Almighty God for the restoration of peace to the country and unity to the Church. At this conven- tion resolutions were adopted, urging that Christian parents, in the discharge of their bounden duty, should not only train their children in the ways of truth and godliness; should not only furnish them with sound, healthful reading and education in the Church's schools and colleges; but should also strive, by prayer and spir- itual culture, to form in their sons a desire to serve God in the sacred ministry. In the House of Deputies it was also li Resolved, That, m the judgment of this house, there has never been a time in the history of our Church when the demand for missionary effort, at home and abroad, was so urgent and imperative as at the present moment ; and that we earnestly call upon our constituents, in every diocese of this Church, to arouse themselves to realize the exigencies of the hour, and to labor and give and pray with a freer heart and more fervent zeal." Further resolutions advocated a system of itinerancy, and the due use of lay aid in carrying forward the work of the Church. The most recent controversy through which the Protestant Episcopal Church has been called upon to pass, or, perhaps, more exactly speaking, is still passing, is that which is familiarly known as " ritualism." The question took a definite shape as early as the General Convention of 1868. Two reports, a majority and mi- nority, were made in the House of Deputies, on the eon- duct of public worship. The former pleaded for "lib- erty in things indifferent or unessential, so long as uni- ty can be maintained, and spiritual edification promoted, in any other way ;" it also deprecated " the enactment of any canon on the subject of ritual as unwise and in- expedient at the present time." The minority report urged strongly "the maintenance of our wonted uni- formity and simplicity in public worship." and de- nounced "all innovations on the common order of the Church which wound the consciences of many of its true and loving members," such as, "the burning of lights in the order for the Holy Communion, the burn- ing of incense, reverences to the holy table or the ele- ments thereon, the elevation of the elements." etc. Af- ter much debate, the action of the convention resulted in referring all matters of doubt in these respects to the godly counsel and judgment of the bishops in their re- spective dioceses, and the appointment of a committee of five bishops (viz. bishops A. Lee, Williams, Clark, Odenheimer, Kerfoot), to consider whether any addi- tional provision for uniformity in matters of ritual, by canon or otherwise, is practicable and expedient, and to report to the next General Convention. In October, 1871, the convention again came together, on this occa- sion in Baltimore, Md. The attendance was very full; distinguished visitors from England and from some of the colonial churches were present; and a spirit of for- bearance and good-will seemed to prevail, notwithstand- ing so exciting a subject as "ritualism" was before the convention. A very elaborate report was presented by the committee of five, in which, after much sound rea- soning on the importance and value of uniformity in the public services of the Church, and the statement of the fact that "diversities of use" had grown and spread, the committee urged that some legislation was certainly necessary. They specified the various additions in the way of ornaments in the Church and novel practices, such as having a crucifix or carrying a cross in proces- sion, bowings, prostrations, mixing wine and water for the Holy Communion, solitary communions, surpliced
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choirs, additional vestments freely used in some church- es, and such like; and they recommended the appoint- ment of a joint committee of three bishops, three pres- byters, and three laymen to consider and report upon these matters to the convention then in session. Such a committee, consisting of able and well-tried men, was appointed, and, through bishop Whittingham and Dr. \V. C. Mead <>n behalf of the committee, reported a "canon of ritual" In this proposed law it was affirmed that " this Church recognises no other law of ritual than such a^ ii shall itself hav< accepted or provided;" and the provisions for ritual in this Church were Btated to be (1) the Book of Common Prayer, with the offices and ordinal thereto appended; (2) the laws of the Church of England in use in the American provinces before 1789, and not subsequently superseded, altered, or repealed by legislation, general or diocesan, of this Church; (3) the legislative or judicial anion or decis- ions of this Church in its conventions, general or di- ocesan, "i" by its duly constituted authorities. Ani- mated discussions followed in the Bouse of Deputies. Amendments and substitutes were proposed again and again, and though the House of Bishops passed the can-