The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-04-01
EASTER SUNDAY.

EASTER SUNDAY.
ELABORATE DECORATIONS AND I'M
PRESsIVE5SERKLgNa e. Iii
mn. s,r,,v Tide fssttvairoSfhs Church
Tho Blooming OF Flowers and thu
Rising Of Christ-Its Observance o1
the Churches.
!'''r''s',-''.- -.----.
Easter Sunday, the brightest and most 1ey'
ous festal season of the year, dawned DARE
and gloomy, yesterday morning, and tne
first feeling of the whole city was one OF ols
appointment. The morning services, now
ever, were well attended, and the attendants
were more than repaid by the eloquent ser
mons and Impressive ceremonies at eacn
of the churches. Toward noon the clouds dis
persed and bright and glorious afternoon
succeeded, inviting every one to evening
prayer. To the disappointment Of the morn
ing succeeded the consolation Of the after
noon, and the traditional Easter was realized
. after all in all Its wealth OF beauty and Sig
nlhsance.
CHURCH OF TIE HOLY COMMUNION.
The floral decorations OF this oeautl1ul
church were, as might have been expected,
among the most tasteful aud effective IN the
city. The new and gorgeous chancei OF tne
editice afforded an excellent opportunity Tor
the display of taste, and the decorations were
mainly confined to this space, making up, in
beauty of sentiment and dellcacy of execu-
tion, what was lacking in the quantity OF foW-
ers and evergreens. The most prominent
feature of the display was bed Of hot-house
plants and flowers, In bloom upon the stem,
wbicS was arranged just IN the rear OF the
chancel rail-. Reclining in the midst OF this
parterre of flowers was a white marble cross,
thrown down upon its slde,yand surmounted
by the living blossoms and symbolizing the
triumph of life over death, as shown IN the
resurrection Of the. Saviour, succeeding MS
death on the cross. The altar In the rear was
covered with baskets of cut flowers, including
japonicas, mignoneltes and jessamine, and
above this was cross of jessamine leaves
and blossoms also reclined. The reading
desk, organ front and choir stalls were also
ta:tefully decorated. ant In the body of the
church long garlands of evergTeens were fes-
TONED between the windows, and hung from
pendants of the roof.
1t is well known that the services at this
church are Of more elaborate and ceremo-
nious nature than have yet been adopted by
the other Episcopal churches In the city, and
1t was perhaps partly due to this fact and the
expectation that the Easter services would De
particularly impressive, that the presence OF
the large congregation that crowded the
church at both Of the services yesterday was
owing. In the morning there. was q full choral
service, professional and recesslonal, con-
Quoted BY the rector, the Rev. A. Toomer Por-
ter, assisted by the Rev. Mr.. Murdock. Tne
quartette choir ofthe church, under the direc-
tion of Mr.. Senior, chorister, was augmented
by chorus of boys from the Parochlal school,
who have been In training but few weeks
under the direction of the accomplished Or
ganist, Mr.. Ransome, but who already display
credpable degree Of proficiency. The mem
bers of the choir and the organist were clothed
in surplices, in accordance with the recent
custom of this church. The sermon was
preached by the rector from st. Luke xxiV,2-
"ADd they found the stone rolled away from
The sepulchre"-snd was vindicatlon OF the
doctrine of resurrection. Prominent among
the ideas advanced was that the church, which
was represented as the body Of Christ, must
rise again to be rejoined to Its head In Christ
and that the Saviour, who is the King of Heav.
en-, would in eternity be surrounded by his
subjects, the faithful members of His church.
At evening prayer, at half-past four r d.,
there, was crowded congregation. Every
pew IL the church was tllled,s and double rows
of seats were placed along the aisles. The
full choral service vas conducted by the rec
tor, and at its conclusion Mr.. Porter took oc-
caslon to make a statement IN relation TO tne
changes that had been introduced in the ser
vice of his church. He said that ever since
he had witnessed in England the forms OF
praise employed in the Church OF England
and had listened with pleasure for six montns
TO those services, he had felt strong desire
to enrich the service of bis own church IN q
similar way, although, perhaps, to less ex-
tent. He had since, by the advice aud with
the consent OF his vestry and parishloners, in-
troduced the choral service and the surpliced
chair. At the last general convention OF the
Episcopal Church, be had been glad to see Q
wide range of discussion upon this subject
and he believed it was there settled that
whenever any parish desired to enrich their
service of praise by the Introduction OF either
of these features they hal perfect right TO
do 30. Since that general convention, ne
had had one interview with the late Bishop
Davis, and during that conversation he had
asked the bishop one question, in order 10
obtain his opinion in regard to these changes
In the form of praise. He had said to the
bishop, ''Now, suppose that parishes adopt
Ing the choral service and surpliced choir are
not TO be called Ritualistic ?" Bishop Davis
replied, "No, cir, we shall have to concede
that; and thank God that have attended
this convention, for I have returned With
broader and more catholic views" Mr. Porter
explained that the essence of rituallsm was
the adoration of the emblem-the belief that
In The bread and wine partaken .of by COM
municants was to be found the actual body
and blood of the Saviour-and he Invoked
upon himself most solemn curse If By any
act of his should permit-not to say lead
any form of worship that should be an In