The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-10-13
A BATTLE OF BISHOPS.

THE CHURCH CONGRESS AT NEW YORK
BISHOP POTTER SETS HIS FACE AGAINST IT.
THE HIGH CHURCH AND THE Low.
On the morning of the day on which the
Episcopal congress met the Sun thus sur
veyed the scene: The Episcopal Church
Congress, which will organize this afternoon.
has been convened in opposition to the
wishes of Bishop Potter and many other &C.
clesiastical dignitaries who have refused to
attend, is body hitherto unknown in Amer
lea. One of the reasons given by the vener-
able bishop of this diocese for not sanction
ing the convention was that the time
for which it was called was iniudiciouslv
chosen, AS it's latter session would encroach
upon the sittings of the triennisl general
convention, which will commence its labors
tomorrow. and as many speakers and Off
GERS OF the congress are also members of the
convention, much confusion and upueces-
sary delay must be caused. Tho general
committee Of the Episcopal Church Council.
however have so arranged their sessions
that they viii not conflict with the
sittings of the convention. Among the
rules laid down TOR the govern
menJ of the congress at this and ali its sub
sequent meetings was one in effect that the
bishop of the diocese in which the confer
ence should take place, should be invited to
Bishop Potter. and as he declined, the Rev.
DIR. Alexander II. Vinton, of Massachusetts,
will take the chair. Among the most dis
tinguished of the vice-presidents are the
bishops of Central New York, Niobrara, and
Rhode Island, the assistant bishop of Vir-
Supreme Court, ex-Gov. J. w.
Stevenson, of New York. Judge
81. w. Sheffey, of Virginia, Judge r.
P. Spalding, of Ohio; Judge James Emmett,
of New York, and the Rev. Alexander II.
Vinton, who will preside. Among the
general committee are the bishops of Rhode
Island, Connecticut, and Minnesota. In
his letter declining 10 preside over their de-
alterations Bishop Potter calls the members
of the congress a crowd of excited
and declamatory spirits" and adds his as
surance that large body of candid ard con-
servative Episcopalian clerGymen will re-
pudiate their action. Bishop Coke, of Western
New York, one of the most determined
opponents of the congress, calls the
movement a d" lobby" organized TO influence
the action OF the general convention. Such
strong expressions of opinion, coming from
such prominent sources, have, as might
have been expected, aroused feeling of
some bitterness among the low churchmen
throughout the country, and many of the
members of the general convention being
also supporters of the church congress, it is
more than propable that Bishop Coxeis as
sertion that The meeting of the latter
is intended to influence the move
ments of the former may be verified.
The Episcopal General Convention will
open in st. Johns Church tomorrow morn
ing. The chief danger which threatens ii is
a clash between ritualism and radicalism.
For some time past the Low Church adher-
ents have been protesting against the grow
ing tendencies of the High Church party,
which, during the past twenty-five years,
has been steadily moving in the direction of
the Church of Rome. This movement, they
say, has not only detractec from the dignity
of the Episcopal Church, but has bred and
fostered superstition Of the worst kind. The
differences of opinion existing between the
High and Low Church parties center most
decidedly, perhaps, upon theprayeT bo0k:nu-
merous alterations have been suggested from
time to time by one party or the other, and
as often rejected by their opponents. Some
of the adherents of the Low Church have
proposed that the gradual moving away of
the ritualists from the established practices
of Episcopalianism should be checked by
fresh legislation but this would have been
so entirely contrary to all the rules and
usages of the church that the great majority
declined to entertain the proposition. 1t
was also proposed To allow each bishop TO
deal with the ritual in his own diocese rs
seemed best TO him, bat this did not meet
with anything like general favor, as il would
not only confer a dangerous and unprece-
dented power upon the bishops, but prOba-
bly, cause even wider and more alarming
divisions ia the church than have yet Oc-
Cured.
1t seems that Mont Blanc is no longer to
be regarded as the monarch of European
mountains. There are strong if not con-