The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-03-28
THE DIOCESAN CONVENTION.

The DlOCESAN CON NfENI1ONs
Mr.. McCrady's sViews-Ordination Gives no
Right to Sit in the Convention--TheL Laity
Advised to Abstain for the Present.
To the Clergy and Laity of the Pro-
testant Episcopal Church in South Car
olina-Dear Brethren: I see by the
Bishops late pastoral of March 10th, in
stant, there is danger Of very serious
misunderstanding between our clergy
and laity, which T think may be avoided.
The pastoral seems to declare that the
laity condemn the clergy for their vote
on the admission of colored clergy
man. This is total risapprehension.
As one of those who retired from the last
Convention, I beg leave to say (and I
think my years, being one Of the Oldest
members of the Church now living, en-
title me to speak, that We have never
objected to the votes of the clergy, be-
cause that was the exercise of an un-
doubted right; but We have retired after
the presiding officer had deprived us Of
our right to vote.
The clergy and the Bishop being
firmly resolved together, our safety only
rested on our right to call for vote by
orders, and in that way to prevent the
action contemplated by the clergy. This
was our right under the constitution,
and we had good ground for our action,
and our action was strictly under the
constitution of the Convention. We
denied no ones right as we recognized
it under that constitution.
The pastoral says we deny the right OF
an ordained minister of our Church to
exercise his privileges under our consti-
tuticn on account of his color. We deny
that clergyman has any privileges by
virtue of his ordination under our con-
stitution. This is the question between
the clergy and ourselves, and is a con-
stitutional one. and the only difference
is as to the construction of the words OF
that constitution, and certainly, upon
the construction of that instrument, the
laity have as good right to their opinion
as the clergy. But the real difficulty is
that some Of the clergy hold that their
ordination entities them to sit in our
body, while the laity insist that the Con-
vention is not the Church, and their
ordination gives them no such right,
while others of them hold to the mean
ing of the word clergyman, as used in
our constitution. On both these ques-
tons We maintain that the laity have as
much right to their opinion as the clergy.
Now, the only wey IN which We can
express our opinions is by our votes,
Whenever the vote is to be taken by
orders, and our right to call for a vote
by orders, whenever two delegations
agree to call for it. 1t was on vote by
orders, as to the organization, that the
question in the last Convention came up.
Upon an appeal from the decision of the
Chair in favor of the clergy's views, to
which large majority of the laity was
opposed, the Bishop, after stating that
he would receive no further appeal, but
would go on to the regular orders, as
though the body was organized, put the
question fairly to the Convention, and a
vote by orders was called for, and he
announced that his decision was not
sustained by the Convention but was re-
iected: and then turned to the secretary
and directed him to proceed to the order
of business and declared that he would
entertain no appeals. Upon this decla-
ration the majority of the laity retired,
believing it to b1 their duty so to do, as
their votes were not respected, and, by
retiring, considered the Convention as
ended.
The laity certainly cannot go to the
| Convention at Anderson without &C
knovledging the validity of the acts of
those who remained in the last Con7en-
ton, which they cannot do without put
ting themselves at the mercy Of the
clergy, while the constitution puts them
on an equal footing when they disagree.
Their remedy is to abstain from Con
ventions until their rights are recognized,
or some arrangement made to compose
the difficulty. We do not ask the clergy
to give up anything, but simply to SUBJ
NIT to the constitution. We are not
asking them now to do more than to
submit to a proper rule governing all
| legislative assemblies; that when the de-
cision of the Chair is appealed from, the
body itself is TO decide, and its decision Is
final.
I shall say nothing more now, when
there seems to be q possibility Of healing
our differences, than this: Kindness may
do much, but such attempts to force
the colored clergy upon us, however IN
willing, may possibly bring on all the
troubles anticipated in the pastoral.
EDWARD McCRADY.
The Episcopal Conference.
One of the lay delegates to the Episcopal
conference which was Leld on "Wednesday,
in relation to the coming Diocesan Con.
vention, was asked yesterday if he could
give for publication some Of the details OF
the conference.
He said that he had no reason to with
I hold any information as to any action taken
by the conference, for the reason that no
action was taken. As a matter of fact, the
basis of whatever agreement might here
after be arrived at was not formulated by
the conference. There were no resolutions
passed expressive Of the views submitted
a. how hN6E