Morning journal and courier., 1883-10-25
News by Telegraph
 FROM ALL QUARTERS. THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Its Condition at the Pres
 ent Time. THE FATE OF CHARLEY ROSS. A Promising Clue Spoiled
 By Reporters. REFORMS BEGUN IN RUSSIA. Greater. Freedom Promised
 To The People.
REFORMS BEGUN IN RUSSIA.
Greater. Freedom Promised
 To The People.
PENNsYLVANIA.

The Episcopal Convention - A Report
 Showing the State of the Church-The
 PIaa to Meet the Expenses Of Future l Conventions.
 1 PHILADELPHIA, Dot. 24.-In the general Episcopal convention this morning the Rev Dr. Hills of New Jersey. from the committee
 on the state of the church, to whom was re-
 ferred preamble and resolution of Mir.
 James H. Fisher, lay deputy of the diocese
 of western NewEYork, concerning common l runlor that certain ministers of this church
 have long introduced during the celebration
 of the holy communion ceremonies not au- thorizsd in the book of common prayer and symbolizing erroneous or doubtful doctrines, reported that they have given the same the most careful consideration and have reached the unanimous conclusion that this subject is beyond the competency of this committee, and that it is amply provided for by canon g. title l, entitled ''Of the use of the book of
 common prayer" to which they earnestly
 call the attention of the church. The com
 nittee's request to be discharged from fur
 ther consideration of the subject was granted
 The committee on the state of the church
 presented a final report through the Rev.
 Dr. Hill. It began by referring to the estab-
 lishment in this country of the American
 branch of the Anglican church and said that there are at present in the Protestant Episco- pal church of the United States, AS dioceses, 15 missionary jurisdictions, 67 bishops 2,5OO other clergy. 5000 organized parishes. and more than 353, 900 communicants Since the last meeting of the convention four Il sa1 bishops have resigned their jurisdiction, and eight clergy have been elevated to the epis- copate. The report referred to the inade- quate number of candidates for holy. orders, l and called special attention to the work of 1 the church temperance society. Church mu- sic, it says, has made progress. The enrich ed book of common prayer is hailed with de- light. The report concluded with resolu- 1 ton, that the view of the state of the church 1 there presented be transmitted to the house of bishops, with the request that they pre- pare 8 pastoral letter for publication. The | resolution was adopted.
 The committee on expenses presented reso- Iutions that in future each diocese should | provide for the expenses of it's bishop and | clerical deputies attending the convention, and that no part of the personal expenses should be borne by the parishes or people of | the ely in which the sessions are held. The | Rev. Dr. Adams, of Wisconsin, moved as aa | amendment that the church of any city in | which the general convention meets be re- quested to provide hospitably for one bishop and one clergyman from each diocese, and no more. The Rev. Dr. Knight, of central Pennsylvania, from the committee, said it was possible for the committee to recon mend that the assessment should be two or three times the present assessment on the dioceses. The larger dioceses would have no difficulty in raising the money, butthe smaller ones think they have a more serious use for their funds.
 Rev. Dr. Dix, from the committee for the observance of the centennial of the American church, submitted report setting forth that partial arrangements have been made for the celebration of the anniversary of the oonse cration of Bishop Seabury on November 14 1784, and asked to be continued, which was agreed to. Rev. Dr. Huntingdon mentioned that there had been some dissatisfaction as to the result of the vote upon the disposition of the resolutions. of fered by Judge Sheffney of Virginia, Judge Wilder of Minnesota and himself. A long discussion then took place and Mr. Prince moved to lay the resolution upon the table and held that it was the only way out of the difficulty and that after the resolutions had been laid upon the table greater progress was made in the report of the joint com mittee on the enrichment of the prayer book The motion was defeated and the discussion continued.