New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-02-27
THE TRIAL OF THE REV MR. TYING.

THE TRIAL OF THE RET MR. TYING.
The general interest excited by this case
throughout the Episcopal community proves that
more was involved than appears on the surface.
TO an Indifferent observer the question at issue
seems very trivial. at is lean case" said one
of the counsel. The young man who sat among
the dignitaries, the center of attraction, was
charged with no private vice, no social crime, no
oifcnse against the laws of the land or the Gus
toms of respectable people. He was not accused
of nfdelty or heresy or unbelief of any grade.
Yet here were doctors of divinity, with clergy OF
lesser rank; and here were eminent counsel,
proceeding according to the solemn usages OF
secular courts as if the matter concerned the
most momentous interests of men. The charge
is briefly stated The Rev. Stephen II. Tying, jr.,
was accused of violating the section of a canon
of the Church, which provides: THAT no
minister belonging to the Church shall
oficate either By preaching, reading
prayers, or otherwise, in the parish or
within the parochial cure of another clergy
"man. unless he have received express pcrInis-
Z" sion for that purpose from the minister of the
parish or cure, or, in his absence from the
church wardens and vestrymen or trustees OF
the congregation, or majority of them"
Mr.. Tyng had preached, on the morning and
evening of the 18th of July, 1867, in the City
| of New Brunswick, in the Diocese of New
Jersey, which city then constituted the pas
| toral care of Drs. Stubs and Boggs Symbol
zeal names apparently. He had not only
preached, but read prayers, and "oihclated'
without any of the pcrmissions above named
| in fact disregarding written request to re-
| frain from his purpose. His trespass was even
crayer than this, for he had not conformed
strictly to the Prayer-BOok he had read
HYMN from q Methodist Manual and he had,
instead Of the usual robe, worn suit of black
cloth. These, however were incidental enormi-
ties. The real offcnse charged was preaching
in another cergymans parish when he was
not wanted.
The points made by the counsel were few,
but they were strongly pushed and amply ex-
banded Twenty finely printed newspaper col
umns do not contain all that was said. The pro-
secutors take their stand on the printed ordi-
nance, which was lcgible and ineligible to
everybody who could read. The ordinance was
no new thing, but a very old thing, framed for
n purpose, and for this purpose precisely, to
keep the sheep within sound of the shepherds
voice, and to protect them from the misleading
voices of other shepherds What is the use of
ordinances if they are not to be keptY Mr..
Tying had neglected these ordinances which, as
minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
he had sworn to respect. He had willfully yio-
lated them. Having large parish Of his own,
to which he seemed to have been less faith
full than he should have been, he had
gone into his brothers vineyard in express dis
regard of a written note, and tried to tamper
with his vine stocks. An excited and exciting
speaker. proud of his eloquence he intruded
upon the domain of another clergyman, to
"interfere with his people" He has subjected
himself to the penalties for misdemeanor I'M
der Canon 3. "When the reverend defendant
became an officer in the Church, he swore to
"obey the articles of his war; and these were
the articles: The Church grants no rowing
commissions She finds herself best served
when her ministers stay in their own places,
and tend their own focks 1t may be q very
fine thing to preach the gospel to every crea-
ture; but the Church has its own way of doing
it, and that way of doing it is not Mr.. Tyng's
way. IL is of small moment that he should go
about preaching in NewJersey; it is of great
moment that the canOns of the Church should
be kept inviolate. The Church is more than
its ministers. They pass sway, but it endures
The greatest of them fall under her rebuke
and she is the stronger for rebukng them and
displacing them. To have done what Mr.. Tying
did may seem venial offense, but it assumes
alarming proportions when regarded as an act
of INSTRUMENTATION against rules that are essen
tial to the organization of the body of Christ
the least infringement OF the least of which is
an affront offered to the Lord.
To this the counsel for the defense make re-
ply: The canon in question is an old one, passed
in 1892, to meet a special local and incidental
emergency. which has passed away. AS worded
it admits of an Interpretation which completely
exonerates Mr.. Tying from the charge of insub-
ordination against authority. or infringement of
statute. This Interpretation was the one usu-
ally accepted, and under it, so far as it was
considered at all, many of the most eminent
ministers of the Church living in the City of
New-York had, by their own confession then
and there made. done repeatedly what Mr.
Tying had done in New Brunswick. without be-