Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-10-11
c-sEp.- PROTESTANT EFIs1o7aL coNvEN
:. DAY. Tnumsp,r. Ger. t, 1850

The Committee OF Credentials made re
MOI. that they find the credentials corrcc
iram all tuc DiucrSes except Western New
York. From that diocese they had received
credentials from OIL Y three clerical and two
Law delegates. The Chairman however sup
posed the others would be received III uu'
time.
On motion. the names Of all the delegate
from Western New York, were directed I" br
entered on the roll of the Con'c"'''"' - II '''
credentials had been received
Assistant RISnors.
Eov nr ADAMS, of Wis, wished I" move
81, adJ,,;Cn to Canon VI, Of 1892, which is a>
follows. 49,,
..Whcn Bishop ola Diocese is unable by rta
.,r If oldagc. or other permanent Cause OF mfr
mtv, to discharge hiS Episcopal duties, one ~,
sistan, Bishop may be elected by and for the SAID
Diocese, who shall in ali cases succeed the
Bishop in case of surviving him. The ASSIST
ant Bishop shall perform such Episcopal dutitS'
and exercise such Episcopal authority i'll !"v
Diocese. as the Bishop shall assign 10 hiin'
and in case Of TIE BishoP'S inability to assign
such duties declared by the Convention OF thc
Diocese. the Assistant Bishop. shall during
such inability, perform all the duties ana en-
crcisc all thr authorities which aYperta!n 70
the Office OF Bishop. No person S!'a'I Dc
elected or coasecrated Suitragan Bishop nor
shall there he more than one Assistant h'Sh"s
in Diocese at the same time
lie Saw deficiency in this IaHn''; mas
much as it does not suppose case III winch i
man NAV recover from his iD!ir;nIty' ve' VIC
had all seen such cases, where the ASSISTANT
Bishop performs all the duties and the bis-
hon has recovered from his iniirWlty-and Is
ike the Thaue of Cawior IN Shakespearc:--
Tie Thane o. Cawdor is prosperous gen.
tcman"
We have instances where Assistant Bishops
have been elected, and where afterwards the
R;shon, have recovered their health and are
prosperous gentlemen" having two votes in
the Horse Of Bishops and double influence
there They can come in under this Canon,
and one who has permanent ihiirInity, when
his Assistant is appointed, may vote IN the
House OF Bishops and he has no permanent III.
lirmi,y then Laughter no permanent IN.
trinity which prevents hirn from going thcsc
and exercising his Constitutional rights. The
speaker knew Of one good Bishop who has 4
permanent intrm;ty in the shape Of sick
headache. but he has never asserted his Con.
st,utional rights by applying for ar Assistant
Bishop, and he never will. lie is the Bishop
of Maryland. He did not blame these gentle
men 10 any extent whatever for this exercise
Of their Constitutional rights He would not
he understood rs attaching the slightest blame
to any Bishop for applying iorau Assistant on
account OF his permanent lntiiuIty, but there
were such gentlemen now acting IN the House
oc Bishops. Notwithstanding Al! this permanent
intirmi.y.
But ;!.is matter Of having more than one
Bishop in Diocese Is wrong. In the rrimi-
tive church no more than one Bishop was per.
mt;cd, until the time OF Constantine, when
a certain Bishop waited an assistant and chose
Augustine. aud from that time there have been
assistant Bishops in the Church. The practice
is injurious to the rights Of the Clergy and to
the rights Of the Lalty who are supposed TO have
something 10 do in electins the Bishops; but
the Bishop has an influence equal TO % per
cent. Of ali the votes given, and. in fact, elects
his successor jgHn ride. He could mention IN
stances where such has been the case. In this
way the Bishop may pcrpetuate his own stripe
until the end Of time; Laughter;)-it the
Bishop is predominant individual, man Of
great s;lrewdncSS a strong man, as all Bishops
ought to be, and have been, since the days ot -.
Augustine daughter II a Bishop has not
anvil ofhiS own, he is not wort! a snap; the days
are gone They are and ought TO bc
men who know how to influence and control
men. liza Bishop Is such man, he will, IN
fact, accua!iy elect his successor the clergy,
and laity TO the contrary notwithstanding, and
the succession in his Diocese is fixed forever,
more There IS ulan!eSty deficiency IN this
Canon, inaSmuch, as i does not provide for The
possibility tina; 4 man may recover from per
mancnt inlirmiiy. I.aushteT.) Yet they Go
recover, aS We have seen, again and again. lie
did rot make this movement Tor any Other
purpose than starting the mind Of the Conven'
ton upon the matter. We are growing
church It is likely we shall have fifty or one
hundred Bishops in few years, and we want
to guard against what may occur. There
is suc!. thing As fighting fire with fire What
one Iuan NAV have the constitutional right 10
do. another may lave the same constitutional
right 20 Do. He wished 20 guard against dill
cu,icS, con(iiSioEs, icaiouSicS, hard words and
disturbances in future. The Roman Catholics
elcc: Assistant Bishops, and the bishops find
great ail in maintaining permanently OF doc
Urine in the Church by the use Of Coadjatants;
and TIA: ,aay DC a reason Tor the practice in
our church, Is tie Bishop vii! be sure to Sc
cure an Assistant who will maintain the same
doctrines which he advocates He proposed to
add a; the end Of toe Canon, Is it now stands,
provision, tina, in case the Bishop RECEIVERS
from his intrn!ity the Diocese shall be divided
in accordance with the principles provided in
The Constitution and CanOnS of the Church.
Rev. DR.. Hawks of y. Y, said that ifthc OBJ
icct OF the gentleman was only to refer the mat
Ter TO the Committee on Canous he should not
oppose il, bat !: was evident that his work re-
CURED somc addition. The Canon which lie
proposed to amend, was adopted after great de-
liberation Old age aud permanent iniirrnity
are the only causes for which lie election Of an
assistant Bishop is permitted. and as he had
never met with arccovery from old age By
lapse OF time, and as any recovery from pcrlna-
ncnt disability mast be an Irish recovery
tlsughterJ he lid not think the proposition OF
the gentleman would answer III the form il,
which he had stated it.
Rev. DR.. Adams explained that his PROPOSE
ton applied 10 cases of recovery from disability
which was supposed to be permanent.
Rev. DR.. Hawks remarked that il may be
yery proper, for aught he knew, to provide for
cases of recovery by dividing the dIocescS, but
there might bc instances where II could not be
done There were dioceses in the West which
did no, contain clergy or churches enough TO
admit of division. lie had no objection, how
ever to the matter going 10 the Committee on
Canons.
The proposition was accordingly referred.
Re-. Nj. Hill, Of California, moved that q
proposition 10 repeal the canon Of lS32, pro-
viding for the election Of Assistant Bishops, be
referred to the Committee on Canons.
Rev Dr. Mead, Of Conn, hoped that the
proposition would 90 to the Committee on Ca
mons. he knew of an instance where an AS
sistant Bishop could not be elected under the
general canon and Il special canon was obtain
Ell for the purpose. lie thought it would be
better to repeal he general canon and provide
special canon FOR each specific case as il should
arise
\ message from the House of Bishops was
here received, which the reporter could not