The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-08
STOOD Up F()RlHE RITUAL
BISHOP WELLER, OF FOND DU
LAC, AT DIOCESAN
BANQUET
Id OFFICERS REFLECTED
Banquet at the Ryan Was Followed
by Some FOrcefuI and Eloquent
Addresses-Financ
Prosperous.

Rt Rev. R. H. Weller Jr, bishop CO.
adjut0r Of Fond du Lac, Wis, and Ven.
w. G. McCready, archdeacon of Lexing-
the annual meeting of the Church club,
of the diocese of Minnesota, held at the
Ryan last night The former, in force
full address, defended ritualism against
the attacks which have recently been
leveled at it in the Northwest, and the
latter, in a most graphic manner, pre-
scented the claims of the church in its
work among the mountaineers of Ken
lucky.
The gathering was presided over by
Hon. r. R. Nelson, and at his right and
left sat the two guests of noncr. A ban
quet opened the proceedings, and after
the menu mad been disposed Of the rou-
tine business of the club was transacted.
Then the president requested Rev. John
Wright, D. D., to introduce Bishop Wei
Ter, of Fond du Lac.
This the venerable divine did in his
Enthusiastically happy way. He re-
counted conversation he had held with
the father of the distinguished guest
some years ago, in which the former
told how at the outset of his SON
ecclesiastical career, he had, with a
fathers pride, predicted that the young
man would live to do great service for
the cause of his choice.
The fathers hopes had been ali real
lied, more than realized, for the fond
parent had never dreamed that the pres
ent bishop would one day wear the mitre
So, in like manner, he believed that the
expectations of those present would be
more than realized when they heard the
bishop speak.
Thus introduced, the bishop in COM
mencing his speech remarked that he
OF ND hr,r
he was. Passing to more serious things
he said the church in Minnesota and
in Wisconsin labored under largely the
same difficulties and both states were
confronted with the same problems.
Both were originally settled with peo-
pie from the New England states and
in both the native-born American popu-
lation had gradually moved West and
had been replaced by a Heterogeneous for
eign population, drawn from almost all
the countries of Europe.
The diocese of Fond du Lac was
founded in 1871 and for many years had
struggled under difficulties that had
almost threatened to swamp the work
of the devoted pioneers. To Bishop
Henry Brown was due the principal cred
it for the growth that the parish mas
had since he was removed. He worked
with a steadfastness and devotion
which laid the foundation for future
expansion and the speaker, though he
might he spared to Continue his work
for a few more years, could not forget
the magnificent foundation on which all
subsequent success was based.
In recounting some of the difficulties
under which the clergy even now labored
he told the story of a sermon he preach
ed at a small place not long ago. The
congregation Bs French and could not
understand English He could not
speak French, but sermon was insisted
upon, so he did the best he could. He
used the simplest language, and soon
women in tears. Before he was through
many of them were weeping copiously.
Alarmed at this astonishing exhibition
of emotion, he inquired of a friend the
cause, and the reply was:
"Oh, that's all right, they think it's
the proper thing to do when the bishop
breaches. They didn't understand a
word you said.
AS TO RITUALISM.
1t was often said nowadays that rit-
ualism was making the clergy effimi-
nate. In reply he might say that at
Masonic and other secret organization
meetings, at which he had been present,
the ritualism was more gorgeous and
more symbolic than any he had ever seen
in a church, and yet no one ever charged
the Masons with becoming eliminate
The fact was that Americans could not
organize a simple benevolent society
without a cooked hat and sword.
Americans are born ritualists," de-
clared the bishop amid burst Of ap-
plause 1t was time to wake up 10
the fact that the man who used pray
erbook was intelligent and broad
10 ha min
the forms in the book stood for. Ritual
ism, in short, serves to conserve spir-
ituality.
The Anglo-Saxon race was carrying
civilization to all parts of the world and
was dominating the globe, and in the
movement of the race he could see that
the church of the Anglo-SaXon race was
to spread Christianity and assist in the
grand work Of unifying the churches
founded on the teachings of Christ
WORK ON THE KENTUCKY.
The bishops address was literally ap-
plauded and then venerable Archdeacoa
-McCready was introduced by frank ..
Osborne He, after his Introductory re-
marks, spoke of church in the mountains
of Kentucky and the difficulties encoun-
tered by those engaged in 1T. The noun
taineers, in the War of the Rebellion,
in spite of their environments, were al
most without exception supporters of the
Union cause, being guided 3y a peculiar
sense of their duty to the nation. They
We're poor, often miserably 50. They
had, up to a few years ago, NO railways,
and scarcely any schools. There were
even now boys who did not know how
to sing or whistle, much less how to read
or write
The concrete examples of self-sacrifce
and love manifested by those who We're
teaching In the often miserably made
quate schools were doing much to teach
the boys that the highest thing in life
was not the wearing of guns and knives.
They were beginning to understand a
higher standard of manhood.
The schools were maintained under con-
ditions that the people in the East had
no idea of. The state gave a grant OF
SIS per capita, and the citizens were
generally too poor to supplement it,
Eastern people, ignorant of the strug-
giles of the church in educating the white