Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1865-08-21
THE EksEsCOPAH. CHURCH.
LETTER FROM BISHOP ELLIOTT

HIS CONDITIONS OF UNION-MEMORY
OF GEN. BISHOP POLK-THE LATE
SOUTHERN BIS aOPS-" NO FRA
TERMINATION WITH THOSE WHO
WOULD WILLINGLY DISTURB THEIR
ASHES"
The following letter from Bishop Elliott,
of Georgia, touching the possible reunion
ofthe Episcopal Church, appears in the York
Church Journal, to letter from the editor
Of which it is a rejoiDder. The letter is
dated Augusta, August lst, 1865
am very glad that you have gone so much
at large into the question Of the reunion of
the Church, as it gives me an opportunity of
placing before you my views in regard to The
matter, which differ somewhat from your
own, as expressed in your letter to me, and
also from the action OF the Church in the
Diocese of Texas.
Ny objection to the action of the Diocese
of Texas is not so much as 10 what she has
done, as TO her manner Of doing it. That
reunion will take place and that very soon,
/ have no doubt, but it ought to take place
in such wise as to preserve our good faith to
seems to have forgotten that as the Protes-
tsnt Episcopal Church in the Cohfeder ate
States we performed certain acts which need
recognition and conformation, and which
should not be left, in justice t6 others, with
out settlement in the very act OF reunion.
Of these, the conservation OF Bishop Will
mer is the most important, not only on his
own account, but because it involves all his
official acts since his entrance upon his epis-
copate. Besides this We have admitted Ar
kansas as diocese and have elected Bishop
Lay as its Diocesan Bishop. These acts do
not indeed involve such mOmentous conse-
quences as the other, but they are, never
theless, OF Importance enough to demand
recognition.
Besides, Think that il is our duty TO guard
the memory of or deceased Bishops, Meade,
Oteu and especially oar beloved Polk. Not
that we should expect any endorsement from
the General Convention Of their views and
actions, but that we should feel assured that
no reproach, either direct or implied, will
be cast upon their graves. About ourselves,
the living, we care but little, we are here
and can defend ourselves bat the reputation
of The dead is in our keeping, and los can fra
ternize nth nobody lrhO lc0u!d oiRngly disturb
their ashes. They hare l,ued and died for as,
and ho~euer lcrong others may think them, lce
rerers their memory and loeep over their graves.
Nor, frankly say it, do | anticipate, when
| recalling the worthy high-toned men who
| once formed our General Convention, any
action that would be disparaging to them or
| painful to us; but yet feel it to be the duty
ofthe Church over which have been called
| temporarily to preside, to guard against any
such possibility. Silence, il y5u please, but
| let ii be distinctly understood that there shall
not be lcord OF oJloq,y or diSpraiSe. Let
| them stand or fall to their Master and our
Master; one far more competent to Judge Of
them and us than we are Of each other.
In pursuance of these preliminary views
nv opinion is, as / have already expressed
| to Bishop H. Potter, in reply to the letter
| to which you make allusion in yours, "that
| if at the meeting Of the General Convention
in October, that body was to pass joint re-
solution, returning thanks for peace, and ex-
pressing the hope and desire that it might
| lead to reunion of the dioceses, and ap-
pointing a committee Of Bishops, Clergy and
Laity TO meet like committee from our
Council, which sits in November, with full
power to conclude an arragement, there will
be no further difficulty.
cannot now speak authortatiyely for any
body, but my opinion is that by this method
we can be saved from much trouble in the
future. God knows that / for one desire
nothing more heartily than peace, but then
it must be peace which is pure, sincere, and
without hypocrisy. / have beer, probably,
as earnest a Southern man as anybody, and
yet never found any fault with the Church
up TO the moment Of our secession. What
has happened since on either side has not
arisen from the normal action Of our organi-
cation, but from extraneous influences which
have nov partially ceased, and will soon en-
trely cease"
al like this plan better" so | continue to
Bishop Potter, ethan our going back and
casting ourselves upon mercy and sufferance,
not because of any false pride, but because
| think that the reunion will be more cordial
and the feelings of sef.respect will be bet
ter preserved on both sides. And the Church
should desire to maintain and uphold the
self-respect of all its members, remembering
that they are of the Body of Christ. In this
way shall we become, in our reunion, the
admiration of the country, as We were for 50
many years, during all the fierce wrangling
which preceded secession, its wonder, for
our reticence and control"
So much for the Church now for myself.
You wonder in your letter, that the Bishop
OF georgia ulu HOt lthu tue Nsl III suCu dC-
ton as the Bishop of Texas has taken.
could not conscientiously have done so, for
the reasons given above, even had | desired
it, and / confess that l was not anxious to
be first to submit myself to the yoke which
had been prepared for me. II is very easy
for you, sitting in the midst OF plenty, with
everything hourishing about you, with the
world fawning upon you because of success,
with a future seemingly as bright as pros