The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-14
A Move Agalnst Ritualinm.

the General Convention of the Protestant
Episcopal Church now In session in New
York, on Monday, by Judge Conyngham, Of
pennsylvania In the shape of o memorial,
setting forth the necessity for uniformity In
the manner Of worshipping, and expressing
disapproval Of call deviations from the pre-
scribed ritual, Of all acts, intentional postures,
unaccustomed ministerial garments and per-
sonal or church decorations and all conduct
in the celebration Of divine worship which
tends to make the same resemble in outward
seeming that of the Church of Rome" The
memorial was accompanied by proposed
amendments TO the oanons forbidding any
ministerial vestments to be worn by the
ministers of the Church during divine
worship except the accustomed surplioe, stole,
bands, and gown; any ecclesiastical vestments
to be worn'by choirs or other assistants; any
candlesticks, cruciixes, or super -altars to
stand upon or hang over any communion
. table as part of the furniture or decoration
thereof; bowling at the name of Jesus, except
in repeating the creed; turning or bowing
towards the communion table, except so far
as may be enjoined by the Rubric; making the
sign of the cross, except in baptism the ele-
vation Of either of the elements during holy
communion, or of aims and oblations of COM
municants or others; professional singing in
churches, except as provided by the Rubric;
and the use of incense in and during the con-
Quoting of divine service.
The memorial presents the case of the anti
Ritualists in clear, able and temperate man
ner, and if the proposed amendments to the
canons are adopted and made the law of the
Church, they will do much towards settling the
existing difficulties The trouble now is that
neither the canons nor the Rubric of the Epis-
copal Church express clearly and unmistaka-
bly, what may and what may not be done in
the way of ceremonials, the wearing OF vest
ments, and other outward observanoes. The
Ritualists claim that the Church of England is
the Catholic Church reformed, and that the
forms and ceremonies which they advocate are
warranted by primitive practice, and are not
novelties and innovations. The anti Ritualists,
on the other hand, contend that these prac-
tees are part and portion of the Romish errors
which were done away with at the time Of the
Reformation; that they are contrary to the
uniform customs of the Episcopal Church in
the United States; that they are not calculated
to promote the spiritual welfare of any one;
and that they iniure the Church and the cause
of religion by making them ridiculous in the
eyes of other denominations and the great
mass of unbelievers, who are always ready to
make the follies and weaknesses of professors
of religion pretexts for treating the whole sub
ject of religion with contempt.
| The anti Ritualists certainly have all the
arguments of any weight on their side of the
question, and whatever may have been the
customs of the Church at the time of the
Reformation, it is certain that the incense,
intoning, genulexions, vestments, process
sions, crdcifxes, and other performances of
the Ritualists are out of place at the present
day; and 30 far as the Episcopal Church of the
United States is concerned, they are clearly
innovations on the established order of things
and the uniform customs of the Church from
its foundation in this country. Although
these innovations may be advocated and prac-
tised only by limited number, yet, If they
are permitted to remain unchecked and are
given quasi acknowledgment by silence on
the part of the highest authorities, they will
bring reproach upon the entire Church.
The amendments to the canon proposed by
Judge Conyngham, if adopted, will not change
the existing ceremonials and order OF worship
in the least but they will define clearly and
distinctly what is permitted and what forbid
den, thus obviatipg all further cause for dis
sension. The Ritualists are few in number at
present, and there is nothing in these amend
ments that the great majority of the clergy
men and laymen Of the Episcopal Church can
reasonably object to. We hope that they will
be considered oandidly and temperately by
the Convention, and adopted, with such i'm
provements as may be suggested in
the course of debate. The Ritualists
will then either be obliged to yield
obedience to the law, or else, il they are so
welded to their crucifxes, vestments, altar
cloths, and other paraphernalia that they
cannot give them up, they can cut loose from
the Church and start sect of their own which
will allow them to carry out their ideas with
out contention or disturbance. The bicker-
irgs which have been going on in the Episco-
pal Church on this silly subject for number
of years past have brought scandal not only
on it but upon the whole cause of Christi
anity; and now is the time when sensible
Episcopalians should put an end to the whole
disgraceful affair by incorporating into their
canons an exact and explicit declaration of
what the rites, ceremonies, and observances
of their public worship are to be, so that
| - Il