The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-03-09

England in America" should have woI-nieh
collapsed with the Revolution: mo marvel ia
that any fragments uf it should have escaped
pulverzailon. 1t is truo that many lavmen Of
the communion would not suffer nice scruplcs
about doctrine TO stnc tho gush Of pniriot
ardor. and il should not bo overlooked that tho
hrst Chaplain OF Congress was William White
n clergyman Of the Episcopal Church. But il
seems that you might almost reckon on your
fingers those of the Anglican clergy. Mt nil
events Of those on the Virginia Establishment
who could roconcis to their conscienccs mn
overt act OF treason against the head Of their
Church. Nor In their case il It easy to see how
such course could be made to square with
logic or with honesty. An absolute fusion OF
temporal and spiritual authority In the last re-
sort. an investiture Of the civil ruler with SUI
premo arbitrament In the field Of doctrine and
discipline, constituted u capital article Of their
creed; indeed. 1t might be- called the sole dis
tinctive article during the first twenty yenrs OF
the English schsm. Whit was disloyalty,
therefore. in the layman seemed aggravated
with the deeper sin OF basphemy in the Angli-
can clergy. and the latter instinctivcly were
Tories almost to a man. As Tories. OF course.
they were exposed TO odium. contumely. and
persecution. and the result WAS tho abandon
ment OF their fields Of labor by the great major
ploy OF the Society for Propngatng the Gospel.
In Virginia alone 95 parishes were presently
extinct or forsaken. while Of the remaining ~
there were "a without incumbents The closing
OF nearly all tho churches. and the disgraceful
ruin and denlement Of many Anglican edinces
followed the exodus OF tho mil istry. Here and
there. rdri nd,des IN 0uroue rdst0 tinfrequent
swimmers In mAelstrom widel. the dispos-
sessed and dscredted survivors found tho old
beacons gone the lfeboat shattered and the
last planks OF safety drifting from the nerveless
grasp.
In one decisive respect the state OF things was
much more des psratc than would exist in tho
event OF rupture between the English crown and
any OF its present colonies Each OF the latter
IL provided with regular episcopate. but as
we have said. no bishops had been consecratod
for any OF tho thirteen revolted provinces
Moreover considerable proportion OF the lay
men belonging to the Episcopal communion
had been so thoroughly leavened during the
war with the prejudiccs OF Disorders. that they
vehemently denounced the introduction OF
Bishops as hurtful and dangerous to liberty
and patriotism. Owing to the fcrvor character
istic OF more recent converts. such objections
were less often urged in the Northern churches
but in Virginia. where the people had suffered
most keenly from Anglican Toryism. the pre-
vailing wish was TO reduce the function OF n
bishop to the narrowest definition. to use him
simply for ordaining and confirming to make
him serve as parish minister. and
10 hold him amenable on all points
10 the General Convention. In South Caro-.
lima. where the feeling against the Church
Of England was especially bitter. II was
expressly stipulated that In the case OF
Protestant Episcopal union there should be no
RfQhgp eaftia1 "a az mil
Of the Church there. Meanwhile. there seems
TO have been difficulty in Obtaining Episcopal
orders Doctor William Smith. for instance.
was chosen by Maryland Convention to 20 to
England for the purpose. but he failed to Sc
cure tho proper papers. and was never conse-
Grated. little later DR.. Seabury selected for
Episcopal functions in Connecticut. met with
SO many distractions and delays in England
that he had recourse 10 the Scotch nonjurng
Bishops. from whom he received orders OF
doubtful validity. So general became the ap-
prehension that the remnant OF the Anglican
Communion in the United States might have
to forego the hope OF obtaining the Apps
tolieal succession from England. that Or.
(aiterward Bishop White. advocated in a
pamphlet the formation OF a new body with
out Episcopal orders in tho regular line-in
fact. "A new Presbyterian denomination. Three
years. later however better success having at
tended the application for the Episcopaie. Drs
White and PROVOST were consccrated in Lam
beth Chapel by two Archbshops aud two Dish
ops. or one more than tho number which ac-
eordng 10 the more authoritative judgment OF
cRnonists should unite in the act OF comforting
the Apostolic succession. Thus at last was Sc
cured for the Protestant Episcopal Church In
the United States lonR-coveted privilege es-
teemcd an indspen sable step toward national
accumulation MA ma ,ntp ant hot Al
though the General Convention OF 1850 saw ut to
declare DIR. SeRbury's orders valid. yet he was
not suffered 10 Join in the ac, Of conservation Of
new Bishops until Dr. Madison Of Virginia had
received the succession in the regular English
line, thus making up the proper canonical num-
Der OF prolates unclouded by the doubt attach
ing to nonjurng conservation.
1t is especially noteworthy, how much more
vigorously tho dogma OF the apostolical sue
cession in the Anglican Church. and derya-
lively in the American offshoot Is maintained
by the Episcopal clergy in the United States
than by their brethren in the parent country.
We 90 not propose to enter into the controversy
about the validity Of Anglican orders. includ-
Ing the antiquarian doubts touching Machyn's
diary. II will suflice to remind the reader Of
Lord Macaulay's argument that whether an
Anglican clergymen be a priest 10y succession
from the apostles depends ON the question
whether. during long period. some thousands
OF events took place. any one Of which may,
without any gross IMPROPERLY. be supposed
not 10 have taken place. and for any one Of
which, he adds, there is not a little OF evidence
In the review containing this statement. the
writer Of course, merely amplihed and embe-
lished, by copious illustration. Chilingworths
impressive proposition. that OF ten thousand
requisites. whereof any one may fail. not one
should be wanting. this 10 me is extremely i'm
probable. and even cousin german 10 impossi-
ble.' The fact Is that the apostolical succession
It's necessity, and its grace. seems to be rather
a tradition incidentally found in the Anglican
communion. than vital dogma inseparable
from that Church. Thus in the first part of
this century. Blomneld. Bishop OF London. is
credited with m OF hand saying that belief In
the succession had gone out with the Non
jurors. We can count you. " he said 10 some
Of the gravest and most strenuous uphoders OF
the tenet. We may add thrt 50 late MS l373. when
the Evangelical Alliance" composed OF dele
gates from various Protestant denominations
foreign ms well as American held n conference
in New York, one Of the representatives present
was the Dean Of Canterbury. who brought with
him n letter OF sympathy from the English