Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-10-02
EP|SCOPAL|AN
 CONVENTION Hundreds of the Most Dis tinguished Clergymen and Laymen Assembled in Session at Richmond BISHOP OF LONDON And Other NOtables Present-J. Pier. pont Morgan Among the New York Delegates Problems Are To Be Considered.
BISHOP OF LONDON

Richmond, Va, Oct. 2.-In St. Paul's, the church where President Jefferson Davis happened to be when he learned that Lees army had been defeated and that the last hope of the Confedefacy had crumbled, hundreds Of the most distinguished clergymen Of the Protestant Episcopal church and many equally famous 1aymen as- sembled today for the triennial con ventiOn of the American church. The opening sermon was preached by the Rev. A. F. Wilmington Ingram, lord bishop of London. The meeting, which is expected to last three weeks, is especially notable, since it marks the three hundredth anniversary of the landing of Englishmen at James town and the consequent establish ment of the Anglican church in Amer ica.
 The house of deputies of the con vention will hold it's sessions in St. Pauls, and the services and other gatherings of the general convention will be held in the equally historic St. Johns church. erected in TAO, two years before Richmond was incor- porated. It was in this edifice that Patrick Henry made his famous speech: "Give me liberty or give me death," and here, later. the conven tion met which ratified the constitu tion of the United States.
 Nearly 100 bishops of the church, many of whom are famous through out the Englsh-speaking world as orators and theologians, will partici- pate in the deliberations of the house of bishops, whose sessions will be he'd in the state capitol. There are also in attendance the missionary bishops to all the heathen lands in which the Episcopal church maintains mission stations. The consecration service of the convention was held this morning in Holy Trinity church.
 Among the famous churchmen from other lands in attendance at the con- vention are the Bishop of London, the Right Rev. Dr. Edgar Jacob bishop of St. Albans, England; the Right | Rev. Dr. Henry Montgomery of Lon don, secretary of the Society for the | Propagation of the Gospel; Bishop | Partridge of Kioto; Bishop Brent of | the Philippines: Bishop McKim of 1 Tokio, Japan; Bishop Graves of Shanghai, China; Bishop Roots of l Hankow, China; Bishop Restarick of l Hawaii; Bishop Knight of Cuba; ] Bishop Ayes of Mexico, and Bishop | Van Buren of Porto Rico.
 Perhaps the most notable among the many famous Iaymen here is J. Pierpont Morgan, the New York finan- cier, who has leased for six weeks | fashionable home near the Jefferson | hotel and will occupy it with his family and guests during the conven- tion. He will pay $5,000 month | rental. MT. Morgan is a member of l the house of delegates, some 600 strong, composed of four clergymen and four laymen from each diocese
 Among other well known members | of the house of delegates are General l E. s. Bragg of Wisconsin, General l John M Brown of Maine, General w. | E. Craighill of West Virginia, Con- gressman Richmond P. Hobson Of Ala bama, Thomas Nelson Page of ash ington, Robert Treat Paine of Boston, and George Foster Peabody, the fam ous Brooklyn educator and philan thropist
 In addition to the sessions e. the general convention. many me2 .9gs will be held in the interests or .nis- sionary work by the woman's aaXil i iary of the Board of M.S ;oNS sad similar bodies.
 Several important problem Will be considered during the session. The divorce question is likely to be brought up again, and the advisability of establishing court of appeals for the trial of clergy will be discussed
 Another burning question will doubtless be whether the negro mem- bers of the church shall have mis- sionary bishops of their own race, or whether suffragan negro bishops shall be consecrated to work among their own people in one Or more existing dioceses. 1t is contended by some that to put negro bishop over ne- gro diocese would have the effect of alienating the race from the church, and thus setting the negroes to drift