The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-11-08
CHURCH CHRONICLE DISCUSSES
EVENTS.
"The Church Does Not Flourish Under
Bishops Who Have Discipline on
the Mind and Tongue"

Touching on the recent action of
Bishop Willis in revoking the author
ization of the Second Congregation
and the license of its rector, the Rev.
Alexander Macintosh in, the last
number of the Anglican Church
Chronicle says:
Hitherto the bishop has been simp-
ly an autocrat, responsible to no man
and to no body. He had no connection
with the Colonies and he was too far
removed from England. More than
one act of autocracy has been commit
ted, which has met with disfavor, il
not rebuke, from England, but the
distance precluded all hope of perma-
nent relief. Part of the church was
saved from utter annihilation by fore
ing itself free from actual fetters, but
it has not enlarged the place of it's
tent. as much as it might have done,
had its work been fostered. instead of
being cramped at every turn.
X y y y X X
The church does not flourish under
bishops who have discipline on the
mind and tongue all the time. In our
last twenty-five years of work in Ha-
waii, we have heard little more than
''discipline." Personally we have un-
dergone trials. and received formid-
able documents, as though we were
one of the greatest criminals on earth.
We have been reproached for being a
schoolmaster, because of the salary
which increased our income-while in
letter from the late Archbishop of
Canterbury, DR.. TAFT, we were told to
go down on our knees every day and
thank God that He had put it into the
minds of rulers to employ an Angli-
can clergyman in the education of a
country beyond the confines of Eng
land.
But the cause celebre is the inn
peachment for baptizing two candi-
dates, a Jewish gentleman and a Chi
naman. who could not pass a theolog-
| ical examination on the main doc
trne of the Christian religion, but
who had been brought up amongst
| Christians and liked them and their
religion so much as to take of them
| for their wives. Now we hold it con-
trary to our church's law to marry
persons who are not baptized Chris
tians. The ceremony is a religious
sense would be nugatory with such
persons. BaptlSm is OF so pOWer1ul
an efficacy that it binds the receivers
to their obligations, even if the grace
therein conveyed, does not grow and
bring forth ripper fruit. We We're con-
vinced by careful inquiries and prep
arations that we had good ground to
work upon. The very fact that sever.
al ways were open to those persons by
which their marriage would be lawful
and that they chose that of the church
was strong argument in their favor
| The desire to be married was not q
bad motive to arouse them to the ne
cessity of becoming Christians.
We are writing in this way so for.
eign to our taste, and so wounding tc
our feelings, because we feel that some
information is due to those to whom
we minister. We have during the six
teen years of our editorship never pub
lished word of what we have suffered
so that the scoffer or the unbelievel
might hurl the reproach at us, "Set
how these Christians love one anoth
err" 1t is now only from the feeling
that things can go on no longer il
this way, for the good of the churcl
generally and that the laity must ioir
together to frame some way out o.