The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-04-20
Bishop Potter at the City Club.

Bishop Potter at the City Club.
At the City Club on Monday evening
| Bishop POTTER remarked that he had heard
1t said that for a minister who claimed
| some sort OF lineal descent from the Apos-
| ties to have even an opinion. and much
more to express his opinion. about political
reforms or the best methods OF securing
| them. was a most unapostolic business"
Such talk the Bishop treated rs dismal
| rubbish" We should rather call 1t pure
nonsense. absurd rather than dismal. So
far as wo know. the right OF the clergy to
nave political opinions. and to exercise all
the political privileges which their citizen
ship gives them. has never been questioned.
for 1t is unQuestionable. II they think
about political subjects at all. how can they
help forming opinions as to them? As
citizens. also. 1t is their duty to think
about them and to express their opin-
ion as to them by voting at cleo
tons; and. II they are SO impelled
by their consciences. they have as
much right as any other citizens to
proclaim their political views. II they are
ever restrained from such expression, the
ItStEdiuluk ptWcE 10 tuo ShuiCh LiS
they belong. and not public sentiment. One
branch Of the Presbyterian Church. for in
stance. denies to its ministers the exercise Of
the right of suffrage because the Federal
Constitution contains no explicit acknowl-
edgment OF the existence OF GOD: but 1t
extends the prohibition to the laity also.
II in Bishop PoTTER's own diocese the Epis-
copal clergy generally should engage
systematically in public political discussion.
he would probably admonish them against
the proceeding. though the number who
vote is very likely as large proportionately
as it Is In any other profession.
In times past some OF the most flustrious
Of European statesmen were ecclesiastics.
The clergy were powerful in stirring up the
patriots Of our Revolution. and some of
them were equally active and influential on
the Tory side. Bishop PRovoosT. the first
head OF the diocese now presided over by
Bishop POTTER. was actively interested in
the politics Of his day. and he would nave
been made a delegate to the Provincial
Congress II he had not declined the place.
Bishop POLK Of Louisiana served as q Cen
eral in the Confederate army during the
civil war. he having been trained as q SOL
der at West Point before entering the
sacred profession: yet he remained in the
~bishopric. and was only discha rged from it
by the cannon ball that ended his life at
Pine Mountain in 1854. Many ministers have
held elective civil offices. and some OF them
are now in such places. There is nothing In
the Constitution. nothing In civil precedent.
to prevent Bishop POTTER himself from run
ming for Office. that Of Mayor. for example.
however it may be with his own Church. He
is free to vote. to mount the political stump.
and to run for any Office. Public sentiment
does not debar him from n political &C
tivity whatsoever. The great mass OF the
people OF New York refuse to acknowledge
his episcopal authority. and deny his
right to exercise it: but none OF
them questions his right to exercise
the full privileges Of his citizenship. He
had as much right as President Low to talk
political reform at the City Club: but
when he discusses politics he speaks as a
citizen. and not as q Bishop. and what he
says Ia entitled only to the consideration
to 1t intrinsically. He does not speak
as a successor OF the Apostles. whose
religious opinions nave special weight
q branch OF Christendom. but as
a civilian and a citizen whose political
views are tested according to their
actual substance. His episcopal authority
gives him no political authority: and the
very circumstance that no Is a Bishop,
whose Office and calling hav kept him |
apart from practical politics. tends rather
to lessen confidence In the value OF his
political counsel. Wisely, therefore. his |
speech at the City Club on Monday night
WaS mnltlv m Daparal moral aoaor /
A particular suggestion made by Bishop
POTTER was that the situation OF the City |
Club. or locality" as he called 1t. is unfor- |
tunate. Instead OF planting the club in the
Fifth avenue he would have it at " about |
the middle OF Lafayette place" We ques.
ton whether the situation Of he a~ssocia-
tion is a matter OF any importance, SO long |
as 1t Is convenient for the members: and for |
the mass OF these We suppose that upper |
Fifth avenue Is more accessible than Lafay-
ette place. No objection to the Fifth ave-
nue. as the seat OF a political movement can
exist In the public mind and be the
cause OF injurious public prejudice. for
during the last campaign the political head
quarters OF both the Democrats and the
were in hat avenue. In
tho same avenue. too. both the great Dem
and Republican clubs Of the town
are situated. with only a few blocks be-
tween them. Tammany Hal! would be as
powerful with the people II 1t were situated
on Murray Hill as now in Fourteenth street. |
The strength OF Tammany Hal. consists |
In the fact that it is the Democratic organ |
OF the city. and that two-thirds Of
the citizens Of New York are Democrats. |
Bishop POTTER said on the same evening
that "in certain quarters the organization
and existence OF the City Club have been
and that the intimation that there |
Isor can be anything in Dur municipal affairs
is not precisely as it ought TO be. Is
as u suggestion Of infinite au.
Wherever such quarters arc. they
are very silly. for the organization of any
movement against tho Democracy Is within
the political rights OF Its opponents. and
any Individual or Any body OF men is free
TO ~criticise the Democratic Government OF