New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-20
THE EPISCOPAL PASTORAL LETTER.

Bishop George T.. Seymour. Of Springfield. Ill.
who for two years has been 50 ably and per
slsienty waHng warfare against tn" lati-
tudnarians In the Episcopal Church. has ut
last scored signal success. His charge was
that many clcrgymcn and laymcn in the Episco-
nal Church are guilty Of trIckcry. evasion and
deceit I'm that they do not believe some of The
fundamental doctrines Of the Church; and he
called upon the Bench Of Bishops to issue
pastoral letter conforming these unbclicvcrs.
The issue which he thus raised taken NJ
by the extreme High Church wing In the Church,
who look upon him their leader Gradually
the discussion centred around the two questions
of the Divinity Of Christ. and the authority Of
the Bible. In regard TO which the latitlllnnranS
were alleged to be especially herclcal. Then
statements appeared in the dcnonlnational
PAPERS intlmaiing that the Episcopal Divinity
School Of Cambridge. Mass. taught loose doe
trines i'm regard 10 the Divinity Of Christ. and
especially His miraculous virgin birth: and
little later 1t was stated that the Philadelphia
Divinity School was unsound on the question
~ Biblical inspiration The air Of The Church
became surcllarged with suppressed excitement
and fear Many good. odfashioned Churchmcn
who had ut first looked coldly on Bishop Sey-
Inour's crusade became convinced that there
was some reason for II. The demand that the
Bishops say something became more urgent.
II was felt that II crisis was at hand. For red
sons that will he readily understood nothing
was said In the public prints about the one
dogma Of the Church that everybody felt was
really the issue at stake namely. the miracu-
Ious virgin birth OF Christ. Ever since Mr..
Howard MacQucnry was dcposed from the min
istry for dcnying that dogma the extreme High
Churchmen have believed that there are others
in the Church who Mt heart reject it. and they
have been determined to smoke them out
II looks now as II they had succeeded IN doing
so; for the House Of Bishops has just issued Il
pastorul letter In which the traditional doctrines
concerning the Divinity OF Christ, His incarna-
ton, .IIs miraculous virgin birth, and the In
SEPARATION Of the Bible are defined and affirmed
I'm the most uncompromsing way. 1t U.s. indeed,
difficult to see how any clergyman who is in
doubt MS to these doctrines can any longer re-
main in the Episcopal Church unless the Bsh-
opl are much mistaken in declaring. rs they do,
that they speak under the guidance Of the Holy
Ghost" The authority under which they thus
assume 10 net Is. in effect the same that
which the Pope claims to exercise, and 1t must
be presumed that all good Epscopllians will
recognize the fact.
But the triumph Of Bishop Seymour was made
even more emphatic by the circumstance that
he was one Of the committee of six Bishops who
were appointed TO draft the pastoral letter. the
others being Bishops Williams Of Connecticut;
Doanc. Of Albany; Huntington, OF Central New
York: McLarcn. of Chicago. and Potter. Of New
York. Ii Is an open secret In Church circles
that some Of these distinguished prelates were