The gold leaf., 1897-05-27

we have occasion to rejoice over the
fact that this church in her broad and
broadening catholicity, in her freedom
from narrowness is growing into a
freedom from specialists, for in law,
IL medicine, in science, in theology,
specialists are the producers OF narrow
ness and lopsidedness and antagonize
the full orbed, enlightened view of the
roundness of the truths as freed from
petted crockets, favorite dogmas and
dangerous angularities.
"The American church man is not
obliged to go very far hack to find the
causes which still retard the growth oi
the church in this young, vigorous Re-
public. Prior to the revolution, which
resulted after seven years Of war in the
freedom Of the Colonies from the
mother country, the truth of history
justifies this sad statement that for
long years the Episcopalians who had
come to America were denied the help
and safeguards of one important ele-
ment in the autonomy or organism Of
the Apostolical church. Our fore
fathers were depressed by their failure
to secure Bishop. The war continued
quite long enough to deepen the pref
udice of the American people against
everything that savored of the scarlet
uniform of England. Human nature
is queer jurnble and medly of per-
picking contradictions. The same
people, who, prior to 1776, had fought
fiercely around the battlements of Que
bee, under the cross of St. George, in
1918 had learned to hate the English
flag, and almost every form Of English
institutional life. We began the cen
tury with a deep-seated prejudice
against the English church, because
the great body of the people of the
United States, in their far-reaching
love for the Republic and popular gov
ernment, readily imbibed the teach
ing of the Romanists, the Baptists and
the Quakers that the Protestant Epis
copal church was under the sanity
White was in full sympathy with and
natural outcome of English arlstoc-
racy.
SOME FALSE NOTIONS.
"Nearly century has passed away
and yet SO amenable is poor human
nature 10 any and all forms of false
teaching, that, here in North Caro-.
lima, to this very day the great mass
of the people are very much prejudiced
to the Episcopal church. They have
been industriously taught that as Epis'
copacy came to America from Eng
land during the goddess 18th century.
the church stands for everything like
aristocracy that one dares maintain
and that the standard of personal piety
is very low in her communion. Rad
ical Protestantism failing fairly to diff.
feren,ia,e goodness from godliness
prudery from piety, righteousness from
religion, stopping over emotionalism
from emotion, the great body of thei,
rank and file fatty affirm that the
dress parade religionists have an in.
defensible pre-emption on the kingdom
of Heaven. Is it any wonder, with
these false views SO prevalent among
the great body of the population o.
the United States, the growth of the
Episcopal church should be so slow!
The suspicion of Anglicanism in some
form or other accounts for it. Coming
from ignorance it seems to have come
to stay, for with the ignorance come:
prejudice and from such parentage a:
these two comes the numerous progen,
of envy, hatred and malice.
"Comparing the Episcopal church
with the large numbers of the Baptists
Methodists and Romanists, surely i
we are right in coming by show, bulk
numbers, our growth, except in the
cities, has been and continues slow
Yet the history of the church, unde!
both dispensa,ions, attests the fact tha
while among men. in matters secular
the rights Of minorities are over-ridder
and dispised, yet Jehovah has eve1
wrought out His purposes by minorl
ties and most generally by a minority
of minority. And yet, dear friends,
what are we to do in the matter o
this prejudice against the church be
cause of the real or imaginary Angli
canism?
APING THE ENGLISH.
"sIs it wise or expedient if one know
that popular prejudice against th'
Episcopal church, by being just a
English as we can be, in one thing
and another, in dress, in pronuncia
ton, in nomenclature, in the use o
official titles wisely inhibited by tn
General Convention, some of ou
Bishops wearing knickerbockers, ane
tying up their hats, bedight with 70
settles, with shoe-strings, in the wear
ing of aprons, in this and that and tn
others, to indulge these practices
With popular opinion about US as it is
does loyalty to the American brancl
Of the church ca tholic, permit one t.
be ever acting as though this we're tn
American church, the English church
"The truth is the average citizen Q
this busy, hustling young Republic
far too busy TO sit down and CAREFUL
compute the hindrances to the growt
Of the Episcopal church from Angl'
canism and Romanism and settle
upon an intelligent basis which OF tn
two does the more. Candid, thought
full, well-informed people know IN
fact, the alleged seeds of Romanisr
in the American Book Of CommO
Prayer have brought forth a painful
| plenteous harvest of error and prelu