The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-05-31
;.,,,,:. mn, :7ones. of Richmond, acting

by Rev. DIR. MInnlSetouc' IUhittIe. Rev.
Sprfgg and Ingle, Blshop ossrs McKim,
DR.. Peterkin, and Key rbe mr resolution was
Withers, and others 1ho
tnGn aoopseMN Marry offered the followi..sg md
| .sPnsoircd. THAT this Society reco1ilne l.,
.t,,t tho sunday schools be supported ny
tha churches with which they hre III III
nccted. and that the contributions Vi th bnr
children be used for MISSIONS anu ''N''
charitable objects" Dd,oton and
Do, Mr. IIvia1d, this was also adopIeui
'1 ~, motion Of Rev. Mr.. Dashicli, the EN- :,
oout;va Committee was. instructor w II"
cr ,';ro into thc expcdicncy of hoiain2 !"
dnonfcrcncc of the clergy and laity lot lrl,g
cbnnoe of views on the Sunday-sc!nn1o.it " nnxt
The Society then djourned un''' 'i'' i''
| regular meeting.
FOURTH DAY. -,
On Saturday the Council was opcnco, WIN ~
the reading of divine service ny ho''
Dashicll, of St. Marks, Richmond.
coLoRED CONGREGATIONS.
Tho Standing Committee on Colorcd Con-
oreoations were reelected for inc ensuing
| year. o,.,o fol,ow;po oen.
.,on,on under Rev. DR.. AndrewS's Tesolu-
ION ohout the relations of the colorcd peo-
,,ln to the Church Rev. DIR. Andrews,
| Pev. G. J. Gibson, Rev. Mr.. Morrison,
Judge Parker, Judge Moncure, ana Judge
| Shelley.
R1TuALrsM AGAIN.
The special committee to which was re-
ferred 90 much of the Bishops address as
relates to innovations i'll the doctrine ana
Worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church
submit the following as their report
of these innovations which the BISHOP
asks the ColnciI to consider II may DC oD-
served that, rs the word imports, they arc
comparatively of recent origin, ana tllat tHc
nresent reaction toward RomanlSm,, IN
which they have eliminated: docs not aaIc
further back than the year 800.
That it was provoked by any preceding
snccial neglect of Church-tcachinS or order
| is the easy but fallacious account sometimes
Given of It. There neither was or had Dcch
anv such special neglect, nor has there Dc zee
since TO Give any colorado prctcNt 10 THIS
anostacy from the Protestant rellsion hoI
is it necessary TO look further for the cause
than that which has produced all inc u3c-
trinal and moral corruption Whlcn tlIc
Church has suffered from the b,,Siiiillhscc
1t is the adversary inducing q rC]ec. VI, ~ y
the testimony which God has given respe ~
ing his son Jesus Christ.
That the spirit of the Lord would raise
up standard against this enemy, though
coming in like Il flood, was, OF course, GER
tain from the start, as the event has c1ni-
nently proved both III the Church OF Eng
land and in our own.
This enemy had not sooner made his APP
pearancc in the Church than, in the true
spirit of the admonition to the ministers OF
| God contained in the thirtv-third chapter OF
Ezekiel, official warning of his approach was
given to the Diocese Of Virginia.
1t was by Bishop Moore in his address to
/ the convention for the year 1889. The con-
tinual vigilance Of his successor, and the
unf,ltering courage and integrity OF bis lea
! dcrship against false doctrine and immoral
! itv in the Church, are fresh in the minds OF
all. The circumstances Of the case hccom-
! ing annually more urgent, our present Do
! ceSon has, if possible, in still stronger terms
called the attention of the Councils OF 1857.
/ 1868, and again Of that now in session,
to the steady advances of party whose
leaders are not ashamed to avow their pur-
pose to unprotastanizc the Episcopal
! Church, and who. in executing this purpose
have thus far encountered no cllcctual
check by discipline or otherwise. 1T Is to
this fathfulncss Of its Bishops to their
sworn trust-thc dccp-fclt and grateful ap-
probation of which IS here rccordcd-that
the Diocese owes in no small degree us
preservation i'll the purity of the Protestant
faith.
No single instance of scandal or cause OF
offence on this account, calling Tor dlscl-
plinc, has occurred, and probably at no
time has the spirit of resistance to Romlsli
innovation been more intelligent. more uni
verSal. or more determined than it is now.
Objection has been urged against the sim,
plcity Of our scr:icc, which Is sti@nafiZen
as "buldne>s the old plea of cXternallsm
, irit ,ynr-bip This object ion
had never less weight with the great body
OF our people, both clergy and laity, than at
present. On the contrary, they find Ii rich
and adequate to all the purposes Of Il scrip
tural devotion.
But though thus gratefully assured Of our
present standing, we are not without need
of the warning of the apostle in the 10th
chapter of First Corinthians, or ofthat given
by this Council in its first and prompt Off
cial action upon this same subject through
It's chairman ofthe Committee on the State of
the Church Or. Empic), which is in these
words Gle knows little OF the weakness
and dcpravity of our nature who thinks
either that the orthodoxy ofall the members
of our Church is proofa%ainSt hcrcSy, or that
the wisdom of all our people Is superior to
The wiles Of the arch Adversary
After the lapse of thirty years we find
that our dangers, instead of being dimin-
iShcd, have very much increased. Part and
parcel as we are of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church, which, through its General Con-
vcntion, is extending it>authority more and
more over subjects formerly under the jurls-
diction of the Dioccses, there is Il restless
and uneasy feeling among our people-a
consciousness of pcril-attended by sense
of wrong arising from the fact that no dis
cipline is exercised or measures taken adc-
quate to the necessities of the case.
Believing, ourselves, that this state OF mind
i not without cause, we are anxious TO as
sure those who look to us as their represent
tative> that we leave nothing undonc which
it is within our power to do in order TO
maintain the purity of the Church. If ritl-
alism were Il new thing, the case would be
different but it is no novelty at all. ~.
Augustine speaks Of it as growing Ill his
day He bitterly deplores Its effects, and
declares that it had rendered the condition
of the Christian Church more lntolcrablc
than that of the old Gispensation.
But the quarrel which Christianity has
with ritualism is not confined to its cum
brous and childish ceremonies, or to the
doctrnal hereSy which underlieS them, but
extends to the immortality and vice which
are their natural result for though not di-
rcctly producing them, it ncutralZes the
/ power of the gospel to hinder them.
Look ut the map Of Christendom, and it
will be found that in those countries where
this system (Which it is now sought to relm-
pose upon reformed Church, has had long
est and most lmresiSted sway, there the
clergy are most licentious and most oppres-
sive; life and property are most Insecure,
the rich are fewest and most inclined to inf
delity-the poor are most numerous, igno-
rant, superstitious, and degraded, and crime
the most frequent. The Reformation of the
sixteenth century was in fact the reaction of
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