, 1877-10-21
THE EPISCOPAL GENERAL CONVENTION.
The Convention of the Protestant Episc0-

The Ef1SCUfAL ZEN khAI tDN Y ENI1
The Convention of the Protestant Episco-
nal Church in the United States, which has
been in session at Boston for ten days, is an
important ecclesiastical body. Though pos
sessing constituency which, in wealth and
| numbers, ranks fifth or sixth in the country,
! the Episcopal Church embraces much more
| than that proportion OF tha intelligence aud
social influence Of The large cities Tile cor
poration of Trinity Chuch alone. in the City
| Of New York, wields power as enormous rs
that Of great railroad, and the character OF
SOME Of the delegates now in at
tendance upon the Convention is suf-
| fcient testimony to the position Of
the laity in politics, literature, and
| business. The Convention is held triennially
The Bishops are gathered together in one'
House, the representatives OF the clergy and
laity in another. The approval Of both
bodies is necessary to the consunmation OF
constitutional amendments, and it has been
found in practice, as WAS intended in theory,
that the conservatism of the one body has act
cd as q check upon such spirit of innovation
AS may appear in the other. Conserya-
tism is, indeed. the dominating quality of
the Convention. It's occupation seems to be
to consider radical alterations in the polity
Of the Church, for the purpose Of rejecting
them in an authoritative manner. In point
of dignity, learning, and broad, catholic
sympathy with the. cause of true religion,
wherever found or however manifested, the
Episcopal Convention compares favorably
with any similar gathering.
The positive results Of the Convention in
Boston thus far have been small. It has
been distinguished, like most of its prede-
cessors, more for what it has refused to do
than for what it has done. Beyond the max
ing of two new dioceses in Illinois and one
in West Virgniu, we do not recall a single
important change from the order of things
established when the Convention met. On
the other hand, the Convention has refused
to change the name Of tue Church; to short
en- the service to permit missionary juris-
dictions within dioceses already established;
aud to authorize n commission for the rcyis-
ion Of the constitution. A resolution ndvo-
eating the separation of Church aud State in
England was summari1y voted down, as
might have been expected. Tho report
states that hundred delegates were on their
feet in an instant to protest against the con-
sideration Of such q resolution. From any
standpoint OF fdenominational, and above all Of
fraternal, courtesy. such piece of advice to
the Established Church would have been the
sheercst impertinence. An incident of the
session of Thursday, rather amusing than
important, was the introduction of resolr-
ton censuring certain delegates, ex-Gov.
STEVENSON. Of Kentucky, among them, who
had participated in political meeting the
night before. The argument vas that the
appearance in caucus Of churchman rep-
renting the Church in foreign city was de-
rogatory Of the dignity Of the Convention.
Since Gov. STEVENSON went to Democratic
meeting, we are not sure but the argument
was sound if he had attended genuine
love-feast of the Republican party in Boston,
however, the most captious spirit could find
no fault with him. It might possibly be
claimed BY some that, within certain limits