The New York herald., 1868-03-29
The Rev. stephen Fl. Tying and Re-
ligiOus Liberty.

York public has heard so much and with the
merits Of which it has become 80 familiar,
is not, as we had begun to believe, altogether
dead. The incumbent of the Church of the
Holy Trinity has been tried, has been found
guilty, has been formally admonished, has sub
mitted like an order loving churchman, and has
refrained during the entire proceedings from
taking advantage of the means at his command
to influence the public mind. Now, however,
that the trial is over, and that the public mind
has had time to cool, Mr.. Tying gives us bit
of his mind, tells us what he thinks of ecclesi-
astical justice as administered in the diocese
of New York, and clearly and with fair
amount of emphasis states his future policy in
the matter.
satisfied. In the letter which he addressed to
Bishop Potter, and which we published in the
HERALD on Friday, the reverend gentleman
protests ''against the whole course, con-
duct and conclusion of the ecclesiastical
trial. in which he has appeared as the re-
spondent In Mr.. Tyng's opinion the course,
conduct and conclusion of the trial ''are op
posed to the principles of the common law,
the canons Of the Protestant Episcopal Church
and the doctrine and discipline of Christ"
Denying the regularity of the proceedings, Mr.
Tying appeals from the Oppressive ruling
predetermined decision and insinuating cen
sure" of the court which condemned him to
the general judgment Of the Protestant Epis-
copal Church, to the impartial review Of the
other Christian Churches of this land, to the
word of the living God, and to Jesus, the Chief
Shepherd and Bishop of us ALL" In addition
to all this Mr.. Tying takes exception to the
style, circumstances and manner Of the bishops
admonition. The presence of the city police,
the selected clerical witnesses, the SER
vices, predatory and conclusory, the refusal
to receive the protest of his venerable father
all these Mr.. Tying not unjustly concludes
were ''intended to aggravate the attempted
disgrace"
Such is the case as il now stands between
Mr.. Tying and the Protestant Episcopal Church,
and between the Protestant Episcopal Church,
including Mr.. Tying, and the public. We are
not particularly anxious to 60 into the merits
of the whole case. 1t is not at all impossible
that Mr.. Tying may have been guilty of an
error of judgment at the outset We are not
unwilling to believe that the canons of the
Protestant Episcopal Church are SO constructed
that when literally interpreted they do for
bid one ecclesiastc from poaching on the pre-
serves Of another ecclesiastic, and that the
conduct Of Mr.. Tying was thus open to GER
tain amount of censure. The preserves Of
Boggs and Stubs were not only encroached
upon; the game was exposed to skilful and
dangerous shot. We are willing to admit all
this--that there was an error of judgment
that the canons were violated that Boggs and
does the public care for these things The
one thing which the public does see, and which
it will not lose sight of is this: that Stephen
II. Tying, in doing what he did, was obedient
to the command 'sGo ye into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature" and
that the Protestant Episcopal presbyters ofNew
York. with Bishop Potter at their head, were
disobedient to the same. Throughout the entire
controversy two laws-the law of God and the
law of man--have been distinctly visible; and,
so far as matters have gone, we dare not re-
fuse to admit that Mr.. Tying has been obedient
to the former, and that the presbyters and
Bishop Potter have been obedient to the latter.
There is only one possible ground, SO far as we
can see, on which Mr.. Tyng's friends can now
entrench themselves and that is that the pro-
test written Immediately after the trial to the
bishop, and since printed ought to have been
presented in the church, and directly the ad-
monition was concluded. 1t is, however, suf-
fcient to silence this objection to say that
when the protest was offered by the elder
Tying he was put down in manner which was
disgrace not merely to the Protestant Epis-
copal Church, but to Christianity itself. If
bishops in this country persist in acting as
Bishop Potter acted on the occasion, the
remedy win be as swiftly as easily found. In
the closing years of the nineteenth century, in
the United States of America, and in the city of
New York. the struggle as between Mr.. Tying
and his co-presbyters with the bishop at their
head cannot, with safety to the latter, be re-
peated
AS matters now stand the public is pre-
pared to stand by Mr.. Tying. In spite of laws,
customs, usages, presbyters and bishops Mr..
Tying, it is felt, is on the right side. He
represents the divine rather than the human,
the law of God rather than the law of man.
If he has erred, he has erred by adopting
course which all sensible men, in every branch
of the universal Church to which he appeals,
pronounce to be right. Mr.. Tying has our
hearty approval in carrying his case to higher
court. BY doing so he will give proof to the
Church and the world that he is an order
loving churchman. It will be seen and felt by
all that If division is the result the blame rests