New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-01-09
CHURCH CGI7aGIlASI.
NO Bishop, No Church.
From the Comm ,cial Advertiser.
~, Wainwright to Rec. Or. Potts.

~, an DfAR SiR,-E had really supposed
.sfor asserting to your proposition, to inject
uia &c vav al the prclinainarcs were definitely
,..,a5 and that having challenged me to the
s.a ..o,prsv and pledged yourself TO the proof Of
An qfflrmati0e proposition you would o. course
en ~ 't ,he discussion What was my establishment,
Psn 10 discover from your letter, winch appeared
~ SATURDAY., that most important point IS stu
.,n3ecided in your own mind, and that you have
mt o. vet concluded which side oftac discussion
VI! 7 b S, now to understand what you mean fy
.hat g freedom which you consider one Of tie
a5-,ntagcs Of al. oral debate. One of lis privi-
Ices seems to be the liberty to change sides at
raSr Measure. have good reason, therefore, to
congratulate myself that | am not tempted to
ooncpde more than did rs 10 The form IN which
o,,r dsuutaticn should be conducted, and allow
NV adversary to draw me into an arena where
,bs dangerous propensity would be under less
control than / mean ii shall! be, now that we are
both tied down 10 Cur deliberate, recorded Ian
rnare IT, after the interchange Of several letters
Considerably wrilteIl-ior YOU say 81 trust ana
rots;s the habit Of using words at random "--our
respcc,iye positions arc not defined donot know
bow many hours worth of eXtemporaneous words
would have been consumed before we fairly got to
work in good logical stylc-f VIC ever did.
In your first letter you throw out to me con-
tnrent challenge u case uttered certain sen
tnsnt and then you distinctly enonciate an
Affirmative proposition, and express yeur read!-
mss TO prove It. Let me recall 20 you your own
words Sc / VIII hold myself ready to prove that
this proposition, (yiz: that there cannot be
Church without Bishop IS pregnant with IN
Vulnerable evil consequences, theological, social
and civil; and that IL is a:nScriPtpfai, anchor-
fable ScaiS.Raticat and Gnti-rGpN6t1cGn IN It's
character In your second letter you confess
that your attitude is that Of the challenger, by
acknowledging that yon have prccluded yourself
from any richt to insist upon the oral or any other
form Of discussion, this being mig privilege as the
challenged party. This is your language ="
haze, however, precudod myself from any right
to insist upon this, and indeed any other form,
but the object Of this notc is to request you to
meet me half way," &c. And noiq in your let
ter of Saturday you cooly turn round ard tell
me in effect that am tie challenger and call
upon me to commence the discussion. And not
only so, but with singular modesty, and very
charitable regard for my incapaclty to conduct
my own side of the question, you suggest to me
the very mode in which l am to begin, and select
for me the words which it will be necessary for
me to define.
This is sufficiently extraordinary but what
is more remarkable still, and tang, suspect,
unheard Of before in any scholastic dlsputatlon,
the very words you ask me to define are c0RStli-
uent terms in y0ur orn Affirmative proposition !
Thus you make an affirmation, pledge yourself TO
prove it, and then in the very outset, ask Of your
opponent to defac the terms which govern Its
meaning, | can hardly believe that you are
aware Of the position in which you have placed
yourself. You say that with unaffected sln
certy it pains you to see INC IN certain posi-
ton" Gin which by the way do not find my
self, and in which, | think, shall convince
the community, ii not you, that am not)
and still more it pains you to be the lnstru-
mcnt of exposing it to public view Now with
a sincerity at least as unaffected mast say that
it gives nc no pain at all TO expose your logical
naccuracv You have controvcrted u proposl-
ton OF nine, and YOU g desire to have the oppor
tunity 10 prove that this dogma IS pregnant with
mnumcrable evils theological, social and that ii
Is unscriptural," &c.-and IN the very same
breath you ask for three definitions, (which are
indispensable to right understanding o. my pro-
POSITION
Now if these definitions are Indispensable to
the understanding of my proposition, and YOU
have not yet obtained them, you certainly DO not
understand it. And thus youhavc undertaken to
prove that proposition which you confess you
do not understand SIS pregnant with innrmera-
bic evils" sc. You may select either horn OF
the dilemma, as YOU please. Ii YOU DID UNDER
STAND Ny PROPOSITION II WORSE THAN TRt-
RI
IT MEANS. Il YoU DID NOT UNDERSTAND IT, WHAT
RIGHT HAD YOU TO PLEDGE YOURSELF To PROVE
IT TO BE ''unScriptUrqt. aacharitG6{e, Sc7lSm2t7
cal dRd aRti-repu53icQa% Besides, as theoo-
glan YOU oug}t1 to know the meaning of q. MAXIM
which has been eXtant IN ecclesiastical language
Tor centuries upon centuries; and within the last
'1Eee hundred years thoroughly debated by the
ablest theoiogisns.
You advert again to mr. speech at the New
England dinner. Prcsuming that you have not
yet taken the pains to examine an accurate re,
port OF 1t, little as 1t deserves to be obtruded BE-
lore the public, | append one IL order that you
may have TO farther a2oiogy for disappearing
It's bearings.
Now Will you be kind enough to examine my
language Do | say that | throw down the
gauntlet, or wish or intend TO throw it down No
-but that i thrown down shall be ready to
lake ii up. YOU have thrown It down, and [
have taken il up You bear on your shield the
motto propoundcd some three centuries Ago--E'c,
clesia sane Episcopo-a Church ,ritbout q Bi&6
OF, bear on miro the same which WAS on the
banner of the Universal Church, without dispute
or challenge. for 1850 years, and which, though
sncc challenged, IS vet borne without wavering
by far the Greater portion OF Christondom. Malta
Ecclesie sine Episcogo--No Cturcb 1clthoat q
Bishop. These NOTES we have respectively
berno ard gloried IN since We became teachers OF
the Gospel. and we might have continued to bear
them peacefully, each IN hls own separate 'lleoio-
s'cal walk; bat you have gone our OF your way
TO challenge mine; nave accepted the OYER ;, OF
combat, however reluctantly, from my u''er as
hke of polepica strife, but h0oe accepted II