Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1869-11-17


wishes Of The rector by any me mber of il that he
kaew OF. He knew OF no high church or no low
church party. The rector had said that nc had
| not room enough in the chancel and
| After his return last summer, he 1.-THE rector)
4 was understood to approve what had been done
| inregard to improving the chancel Afterwards,
| it was found that he did not approve of our
| plans for further alterations, and we at once
\ rescinded our acts. He alluded to the difference
Of opinion between the rector and yestry in re-
ference to the alterations Of the chancel, and
! described the conversation that had taken
| place, and seemingly in a spirit of ridicule, re-
| hearsed portions of conversations held with the
| rector on the subject of repairs, creating con-
| siderable merriment in the audience He alluded
to the subject Of the dome, saying Mr.. l.. wanted
TO have it taken down. As to the expenditures,
| He went to New York and Philadeiphia to com
pare the prices of different articles required in
refurnishing the church, and was instructed to
do the best that he could, 1t had been proposed
| but he had opposed this, as he did not desire
they should appear on the church records. The
friends Of the rector had been trying to find
some cause of fault with the vestry, and had cut
open the cushions of the pews to see If they were
| not made of something else than hair.
Here Mr. Lewis interrupted the speaker, say
ing that he desired to give the greatest latitude
to debate, but could not allow such statements
| to be made.
Mr.. wetmore continued, saying that gentle
men who had travelled extensively i'm Europe
| expressed the opinion that st. Johns was the
handsomest church they had ever seen. He read
from an act of the Maryland Legislature vestirg
the rights of church property in the vestry alone.
They had not attempted to make any alterations
In the chancel to interfere with the conduct OF
the church service.
General E. d. Townsend attempted to get the
floor.
The Chair stated that the only business before
the house was the consideration of the reso-
luton.
General Townsend again attempted to get the
| floor, but the call was made for the question.
Gen. Townsend did not see why discussion
should be gagged. he had been attacked and
| wanted to reply. He thought the resolutions
placed absolute power in the rector, and he was
opposed to them. On a certain occasion he had
heard remark from the rector that he had
never failed to have his own way, and il he could
not get one way he would get it another. The
speaker had been one of the managers of ST.
Johns Home, and found the rector rather ex-
travagant in his notions about expenditures, and
having an entire ignorance Of the value Of mo-
| ney. He had proposed the purchase of lot of
ground valued at so, 700, and house worth
ney enough in the treasury to pay the debts ow-
ing by the church. He alluded to the circum-
stance of clergyman having been placed in st.
Johns Home by the rector with his family.
Two rooms had been fitted up for his accommo-
dalton at acOst of $40. He alluded to the rec
tors having employed assistants at divers times
and paid them out Of the funds of the church,
without having consulted the yestry. He had
persisted in bringing up plans for alterations OF
the church four times after the vestry had
disapproved them. He did not say these things
IN unkindness towards the rector. He did not
believe 1t was the rector's right to insist upon
the vestry doing everything as he wanted it, He
(the speakerl had been charged with bringing
proxies to vote at the last vestry election. This
charge was as gratuitOus as it was unfoundcd
in fact. 1t had also been charged that the vestry
had voted themselves in to compel the Rector to
resign and caucc him to accept call he had
received from another city. This was not true,
for the rea;On that the call was not received
until three days after the election of vestrymen.
He then referred to the rector's ritualstic pro-
clivities, saying that Oh All Saints Day year
ago and on Good Friday they had been treated
to sermons which smaeked strongly of a cathe-
dral service. They had been told that they could
pray for the dead, and that on Good Friday the
altar could be draped in black, procession be
formed, a choir service sang. and everything
looking to cathedral ceremonies could be done
as we'll as the limited means at their disposal
would allow. lSensation.l
Commodore HarwoOd bad not the least fear
of being taken to Rome. If the rector was
wrong he should he presented to the Bishop,
and not tried by the vestry. He objected to this
manner of conducting affairs. The Ritualistic
movements which were suspected amounted to
nothing. The congregation had better wait
until some overt act Is committed.
Col. w. ii. Philip hoped harmony would pre-
vail. He was in favor of the rector, and thought
the whole trouble Observation-Disclosures ve.s-
try looking at the affair from a secular view
while the rector took an ecclesiastical view OF
1T. He thought the decision Of the parishiOners
If against the rector, would be of far more in
jury to the church than to the rector
Mr.. Huntington thought that while this affair
CATION, it would appear to the people outside of
the church as great farce, and such it was. He
was conscious that no member of the vestry had
attempted to interfere in any way with the
rights Of the rector, but, the contrary, that
he had been uniformly treated with the greatest
kindness and consideration When he entered
the vestry last April he prejudiced against.
Messrs. Campbell and Wetmore; but he very
soon ascertained he had been misinformed, and
would here confess, to the gentlemen and before
this meeting, that he was mistaken, and that no
members OF the vestry had treated the rector
with more courtesy and consideration than the
gentlemen named He thought the whole cor
tfoveIsy was unnecessary, as it was deplOrable
and disgraceful.
Mr.. Wetmore read the canon of the church
and argued that the matter must be submitted
to the Bishop. The pastoral letter had infiu-
enced persons against him, Mr.. W. and he had
frequently met fellow COMMITMENTS, vino
passed him on the street without speaking, put
ting up cOntemptuOus noses, &c. [Laughter.l
Hon, T. l.. Smith thought it an outrage to i'm
pugn the motives of the rector in this manner
and strongly condemned the remarks of MIR.
DR.. Reyburn thought the action of the vestry-
men right and proper, although his sympathies
Hon. Montgomery Blair alluded to the difficult
ties, characterizing them as q row, because the
vestry had attended to their proper duty. 1t had
been attempted to whip in this vestry. The
manner and style of the rector was not the man
ner and style Of the old rectors Of ST. Johns
parish: The yestry have done nothing wrong
requiring resolutions Of censure to them.
Mr.. B.-Then they amount to nothing; the
resolutions are indefinite, and he moved that
they be laid on the table.
This motion was lost, by vote Of 30 to g.
Mr. Blair then offered the following resolu-
ton as an amendment to DIR. Clymer's:
ResOfred, That we approve the cOurse of the
vestry in administering the tempOralities of the
After some debate, the roll OF pew-holders was
caied, and the amendment Of Mr.. Blair was
adopted by vote &c ayes to IS nays
MT. huntington moved that the resolutions as
amended he adopted as the sense of the meet
ing; which motion prevailed, and the injecting
adjourned.
The CHORAL SOCIETY held its r. ,.x~.r
meeting last evening, when'' .SEusa. W. ky
tlemen were unanimope' ale f0uowlns gem
bers Hon. A. G.. ~ elected inact.ve MEM
H. d. Noble. . eddie, DR.. d. s. Evans DR..
Recorder ~,ol, ID. +. Harnlnk, Simon Wolf
WI u Deeds; Messrs. WIN. p. Sherman,
~ -.AAvidge, Ssm1 l.. Phillips, John j. Beall,
"a. e. Kennedy, Geo. b. McCartee, Superin-
tend6at Bureau Of Printing and Engraving,
TreasaGy Department; II. A. Chadwick, James
Rankin Young, +. w. Pratt, j. w. WetheraIl,
Geo. Weed, 8, r. Wrisley, Geo. Morris, Samuel
NOrment, Ihos. Wilson, Henry 8. Davis, John
b. patterson, VIM. nj. TilestOn, q. s. Gait, X.
II. Taylor, Samuel Lewis and Prof. X. g. Dyren-
forth, who has translated into English the Ger
man songs sung by the society.
RoBBRRY By BoYs.-This morning, Lands
wood Emery, small boy, on leaving Tomln-
no a<Atf< xrC<or n