Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-11-03
CLOSE OF THE EPISCOPAL
CONVENTION.
Pastoral letter of the Presiding
Bishop.
From the New York Tribune, occtober3O

Bishop.
From the New York Tribune, 0ccto berSO.
At71 o'clock the Right Rev. Bishops o
the various dioceses Of the United State
appeared and occupied the seats provided
for them.
The Introductory services consisted O.
the usual evening prayer. The General
Confession was read by the Right Rev.
Bishop of California, The Right Rev.
Bishop of Arkansas read the Lid chapter
of Isaiah as the First Lesson. The Second
] Lesson was the XIIth chapter of Hebrews
and was read by the Right Rev. Bishop OF
Colorado. The Right Rev Bishop Of
Ohio, read the Greed, after which the Right
Rev. Bishop Of Tennessee, escorted the
Right Rev. Bishop of Kentucky, to the
pul pit TO read his Pastoral Letter. The
| letter was in substance as follows:
1t is EoI nine years since We me. with
full representation of all our dieceses. In
this period sixteen of our venerable
brethren in the Episcopate, Of whom two
were presiding bishops, have departed this
life. A mortality so unususl impresses
your bishops with deep sense of the
shortnefs and uncertainty Of their future
uHDu cdItus anu itAu5 lHGll VI huufcrb lOu
with greater solemnity. Great has beez
our consolation amid many trials Of our
Faith and Patience in the entire restora-
ton Of one unity as National Church.
Among the unusual excitements of the
day let US bless Almighty God that one
great Council has met, with a full repre-
sentation of our churches in all parts of
the land, and with wonderful harmony of
purpose and action is about to close a long
session, from which many who understand
us not had argued confusion and every
evil work. We lament that while the la
bOrs of our missionaries at home and abroad
have been so noble and so faithful, the Of
ferings of the churches, By which they
should have been bountifully sustained,
have not been commensurately abundant.
Christian education is receiving an enlarged
measure Of practical attention, and schools
Of the parish and the diocese have been to
a cheering extent multiplied and efTectu-
ally worked. The Christian family il more
and more regarded among US as the Divine
institution on which the church itself
mainly relies for its prosperity, and to
which nothing less than the sUccors and
heavenly consultations of the Church of
Christ can impart the means of prosperity
and perfection. Much thought has
been given by your Bishops to
the necessity Of enlarged associated
effort in works Of mercy and education
Much that needs to be done can be accom-
plished in an other way. Let it be under.
stood that the sort Of associations we must
commend, must be wholly free from en-
during views or enforced confession, an
in all things subject TO canonical and do
cesar authority. Il is a matter of painful
observation 10 your Bishops, that, more
especially in larger towns and great cities,
where the need and the opportunities for
continual worship are greatest, the churches
are 100 little used, at all seasons, aad often
in the summer months Iare closed,
even upon the day of the Lord
While we rejoice in the multiplca-
ton of churches profes5edly free, provided
they are properly maintained, we suggest
tina. hundreds of our churches, apart from
the ordinary services of the Lords Day,
might be freely opened to all corners for
the miaistration of the blessed Gospel.
City missions might thus be carried on, in
many places, without the expense of erect
ing more churches, and the means thus
saved might be used for the support Of the
requisite missionary clergy. But every
thing must languish in the Church until
all our families are made truly Christian,
and until there il, as Of old, church in
every house. We fear that examples of
manly piety are rot abundant, and
fathers too often forget that they are
priests in their own houses.
The unscriplural and uncatholic preten.
sions Of the Bishop of Rome as in time
past up now, are a fruitful source Of error
and OF evil. They constitute to-day, as
they have done for many centuries, the
great bar to the restoration ofthe unity of
Chriitendom. We deprecate most earnest
" those extravagances is Ritualism, re-
Gently introduced, which tend to assimi!ate
our worship 10 that Of church not secta-
rian but hostile to our own. And We must
also urge you to remember that the urgent
obedience to our Bishop and other chief
ministers promised by the clergy at the or
dination would, if faithfully rendered, pre-
vent these evils.
In the former pastoral letters your Bish-
ops have warned YOU concerning worldly
amusements, and of the tendency of many
forms Of them to create distaste fer pure,
simple, domestic pleasures and innocent
enjoyments, and especially fo= the stern
duties and elevated sympa.hies of holy
life. But, in our day, there Is licentious-
ness and grossness in theatrical and like
entertainments which would have been
shocking to even the least refined in the
days of our fathers. We exhort you to
flee these things, and above all, to separate
from all contact with these pollutiOns the
young and precious souls for whom you
have answered in the Holy Baptism.