The times., 1898-10-18
The Proposed Marriage and
Divorce Clause Defeated.
HUNTINGTON AMENDMENT
1t Was Made "a Canon Instead of n
BE Made to Chnnge the Name From
the Protestant Episcopal to That
of the American Church.

Church on marriage and divorce. which
has attracted such universal attention
since the beginning of the triennIal Epis-
copal convention. was finally settled in
the House of Bishops yesterday afternoon,
after debate which lasted over an hour.
by the rejection of the entire substitute
canon proposed by the joint commission
on the revision of the constitution. and
canons submitted by Bishop Doane. of
Albany. together with the minority re-
port, submitted by Bishop Potter, of New
York. and all amendments to each.
The vote resulted 81 to "a in favor of re-
lection. This leaves the question as 1t
has always stood, the existing canon
reading:
No minister. knowingly after due inquiry, shall
soiefhhize the marriage Of any person who has
divorced Il husband wife still living IL such
husband or wife has been put away for any cause
arising after marriage, but this canon shall not
be held to apply to the innocent party in di-
sorce Tor the cause of adultery, to parties
divorced seeking 10 be reunited again
The section of the canon proposed in
the report of the joint commission, which
referred to the question of divorce. said
simply:
No minister OF this church shall soemnize the
marriage of either party TO a divorce during the
lifetime of the other party.
To this Bishop McLaren, of Chicago
offered an amendment providing that if
either party 10 divorce were remarked
outside oe the church they shor<l not
be denied the sacrament of the church
If they desired to re-enter it.
The Minority Report.
This amendment was accepted by Bish-
op Doane and Incorporated in the revised
canon. The phase of the question thus
presented appeared Inconsistent TO Rlsh-
op Potter and his supporters, however.
and Bishop Potter submitted a minority
report as follows:
The undersigned hereby dissent from the action
OF the joint commission in recommending the
adoption of Canon "a. paragraph 5, which read,
as follows:
No minister Of this church shall solemnize the
marriage of either party to divorce during
the lifetime OF the other party
They recommend that the said section shall be
made to read follows:
No minister of this church shall solemnze the
marriage of any person who has divorced hu,-
band or wife living. This shall not apply to the
innocent party in a divorce suit on his or her
filing with the ministers, as evidence of such in
nocence, a legally certified transcript Of the
record, showing final Judgment or decree Of a
court OF record. having jurisdiction on the sub
ject-matter. awarding him or her divorce "a
vinculo matrimonii on the ground Of adultery"
To this was added yesterday, during
the consideration of the canon, the fol-
lowing:
No minister of this church shall be obliged
under the previous section OF this canon TO
solemnize the marriage OF any divorced person.
n In lT-t,S.,
offered an amendment providing for the
Insertion of a provision that the inno-
cent parties to a divorce granted for
causes arising before marriage, as well
as the innocent party to a divorce for
the cause of adultery. should be entitled
to remarriage in the church This amend
ment was accepted by Bishop Potter and
Incorporated in the minority report.
Lively Discussion.
This was the way the question stood
when the minority report of Bishop Pot
ter came to vote, after a discussion
somewhat livelier than those which usu-
ally mark the proceedings of the Sc
date body of church legislators, on
Thursday of last week.
Notwithstanding the vigorous opposi-
tion of the members of the Joint COM
mission and their adherents, notably
Bishop Doane. Bishop Parett, of Mary
land; Bishop McLaren, of Chicago. and
Bishop Dudley, of Kentucky, aided by
the moral support of a letter on the SUBJ
ject from the venerable Bishop Williams.
of Connecticut, the amendment was
adopted by a vote of 81 to 81.
While the vote was regarded as signifi-
cant of the spirit of the liberality in the
matter which influenced so many mem
bers of the body, none ventured to
predicate the final action on the canon
in its entirety, and Bishop Doanes oppon-
ents did not cease from their efforts to
eliminate doubt of the ultimate issue
Owing to the pressure of other business
and the loss of a day at Jamestown
however the consideration of the canon
as a whole was allowed to go over until
yesterday. when it was made the special
order for O'Clock.
When the hour came, Bishop Potter. of
New York, moved the adoption of the
canon as amended In support of his mo-
ton he urged the Inconsistencies of the
canon as proposed and amended by
Bishop Doane and his supporters.
Bishop Doane replied to Bishop Potter
on behalf of the report of the commits
sion, setting forth the growth of the evil
of divorce. because of lax national laws
on the question, and urging that it was
the duty of the church to do all in its
power to check such growth by making
the penalty equal in effect to eXcommuni-
cation.
The Proposition Rejected.
Bishop Dudley, of Kentucky, also spoke
in favor of the commissions report. and
Bishop Seymour, of Springfield. spoke in
favor of the minority report. The debate
was participated in by others. whose
names were not given out after adjourn
ment. At o'clock the vote was taken
on the entire canon, resulting in its rejec-
ton, as stated.
This action on the part of the House of
Bishops practically settles the matter for
the present convention. 1t could not b.
taken up by the bishops again except on
a two-third majority vote, and judging
from yesterdays showing, it would BE-
impossible to obtain such a Majority. 1t
will come up for discussion in the House
of Deputies. in all probability. but the ac-
ton of the House of Bishops will w.
doubtedly influence it's consideration
there.
In addition to discussing the marriage
and divorce canon yesterday the bishops
devoted an hour of the afternoon to con-
sidering the report of the special COM
mittee on the marginal readings of the
Bible. 1t was resolved to continue the
committee with power to revise the re-
port on the new testament presented this
year.
The morning session was devoted to
routine business of interest chiefly to