The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-10-18

| Fifth Avenue Hotel.
The Protestant Episcopal Convention and
Another of the Same Sort.
If benefit Of clergy, a phrase which once
had meaning, has anything to do with num-
beers, New York city during the last two weeks
has had no reason to be ungrateful. We have
had the lights Of the Unitarian body; we have
still in the midst Of us the lights of the Epis-
| copal body. How we ought to have been en-
lightened In darkness, certainly, we ought
not to be. From such a concentration of light
1t would not have been unnatural to look for
a baptism of fire. We dare not say that New
York did not need such q baptism. But
the benefit I'VE know not where to find evil
dence of it. Appealing, as we do, to public
which, whatever its faults, has at least some
measure of intelligence, we ask whether such
miserable trifing in the name of religion, in
the name Of the Christian religion, has ever
been witnessed since councils, synods, assem-
blies or conventions had place in the world
| One day in one convention we had men call
ing themselves Christians proposing measures
loose enough to admit to communion those of
any religion or of no religion. Another day
in the same convention we found o brother
who had threatened secession 80 overcome
| by little attention, 80 wrought upon by bou-
| quet of flowers which had been knocked down
at sale in the holy assembly-we suppose
no one remembered the scourge and Him who
used it on not dissimilar occasion-that,
yielding to vanity all too natural, but never
| beautiful, he smiled again upon his friends and
graciously withdrew his secession threat.
Of the Unitarian Convention who remembers
much beyond the falling away and the restora-
| ton of Dr. Bellows?
How much better has it been with the Pro-
testant Episcopal Convention, Convention
which represents very large proportion of
the wealth and culture of the United States
This is the first convention in which the Pro-
testant Episcopal Church, South as well as
North, has been fairly and fully represented
since the close of our late unhappy civil war;
How much there was requiring attention
How much there was demanding grave and
serious consideration! War has seldom, if
ever, been the parent of virtue in the high and
holy sense in which we now use that term. 1t
is not to be denied that our civil war has left
behind it large amount of evil which testers
and breeds corruption morally and relgiously.
There are evidences not few, especially In
our large cities, that Satan never had so firm
hold of the American people as he has at the
present moment. Look at the daily chronicle
of suicides, OF murders, Of burglaries,
and Of offences, if possible, worse than
any of these. Look at our theatrical
amusements and the openly avowed pre-
ference Of our people for what is undis-
guisedly impure. Black Crookism has sown
its seed-a seed which is already in luxuriant
vegetation and gives fair promise of abundant
fruit. The worst that is told Of the stage
during the Restoration period in England gives
but an imperfect idea Of the scenes nightly
witnessed on the boards Of our most fashion
able places of amusement.
To stem this growing tide Of iniquity would
surely have been fitting work for the
congregated bishops and their clerical and lay
associates. But how have they girt them
selves for the task? What have they done ?
What evidence have they given that they have
any proper notion of the actual condition Of
society and Of their duty in connection with
the same. We have had fruitless discussions
on the meaning of councils and 'conven-
tons" We have had precious time wasted in
determining the question where an Episcopal
clergyman might legally preach the free Cos
Al ng Chria Va hou tba
Church and the High Church parties on the
verge Of final separation because they could
not agree on the subject whether little boys
with sweet voices and draped in short surplices
could be allowed to take part in the choral
service at their morning meetings. We have
had manifestations abundant of the spirit Of
the sixteenth century. We have seen little
evidence Of the spirit Of the nineteenth. We
have had everything but the one thing which
was specially needful.
Was ever such man millinery, such women s.
rights women's weakness, witnessed in connec-
ton with any causes OF nothing do our Epis-
copal friends 20 much remind us as of story
which IN told In connection with the name OF a
celebrated English humorist. On one occa-
sion this humorist happened to be in the House
of Lords While waiting for the assembling
Of the Peers the bishops, in their lawn sleeves
made their appearance. "Who are these ?"
said some stranger in the immediate neigh
lsorhood of the humorist ''These,' said he,
are the Peeresses of England in their own
right Old witty enough in their own right
certainly are the bishops and clergy Of the
Episcopal Church of the United States, so far,
at least, as we are warranted TO judge from
the proceedings of the Convention now being
held in this city. The Episcopal Convention
has not yc; brought its proceedings to close.