The National tribune., 1907-10-03

During the speech of the President
there were attempts at applause from
various parts of the audience, but some
of the stricser clergy cried ''HuSh-Sh,
and the President raised his hand as
if to deprecate any applause. When he
concluded. however, the applause broke
out again, and this time some of the
clergy Joined
The Bishops Reply.
without any pause, the Bishop of
London rose to reply. He said:
Mr.. President. Fellow Bishops and
Brethren of the Clergy and of the
Lai,y:
Il must first on behalf of this vast
assembly, thank the President of the
United States, in the midst of all his
multifarious duties. for being present
with us to-day and giving us those
burning words of encouragement and
inspiration. And may l, on behalf of
myself and of the visitors here to-day,
thank you, Mr.. President, for those
words of encouragement which You
spoke 10 me which will send me back
across the sea inspired for my work
But l come to deliver salutation
from across the seas to you, our breth-
rem, here on this great day. l think
member most was when Archbishop
Vincent came down at time of great
trouble in Wales and he said these
words: L come from the steps of st.
Augustine to tell YOU that by the bene-
diction of God we will not stand by and
see you disinherited' i cannot say
that / come from the steps of ST. Au-
gustine to-day-you had here a few
years ago the successor of St. Angus
n i'm -hut I do hrin hero
with all the love from the old coun-
try, present from the shrine of st.
Augustine which will be part of your
cathedral when ii H. fully complete.
come as the successor of st. Angus
tines companion. Miletus, to bring yon
from the old diocese of London, OF
which one day yCu were Il part, a real
Message of love and Godspeed to-day.
Now. it MAJ be asked. why do we.
who have to tattle SO much with all
The present evil and wrong, why is ii
hat we value so much these historical
links? Why should a Bishop of Lon
Ion have the time Ike this to cross
he sea? For three reasons: First.
because ours is a historical religion;
;ur religion consists in the belief that
1t certain time, at certain place, at
L little spot on this worlds surface the
Son of God came down from heaven
o us That is the Christian religion.
"It is belief, not of good man
named Jesus Christ doing anything.
but in the sacrifice and manifestation
Of God himself And if that happened,
f that is a historical fact, then We
must value, you must value. every link
hat historically binds you to that great
historical fact on which all our faith
'tands: and you cannot afford in Amer
ca, you do not want to afford, to break
hat golden chain.
That glorious Atlantic cable which
binds you to Palestine lay for more
nan a thousand years across the Brit
Sh Isles, and therefore we, in those
British Isles, had the honor of being
he means by which that golden chain
vas brought to you. And if that is
rue of the Christian religion. l thank
Tod we are, as the President says,
Inited in the unity of the faith-every
'hristian denomination-more than the
rorld believes.
f;storical FOundaticn of EpiscOpalian-
Ism.
IF that is true of Christianity as a
eligion, it is especially true-and it
ives my second reason for being here
of the great Anglican communion.
We of the Anglican communion take
bur stand upon history. When some
me says that the Church of England
vas founded by Henry VIII, 1 ask
nem how it comes, then, that the
bishops CT London have lived at Chit
ingham for 1900 years, and why it
: that one of the oldest continuous
pieces of possession in the. whole of
England is the estate of Chittingilam,
wned by st. Paui.s Cathedral? And,
therefore,, our great appeal in the An
;lican communion is to history. We
lold to the old historic faith with
which we were intrusted. We stand
or freedom. One of the most glorious
fentences in English history is that
sentence in the great charter, The
'hurch of England shall be free. We
;tand for freedom of thought, freedom
# study. We stand for historic min
;stry, and we stand for an open Bible,
md that is the reason why that pres
mt which / bring to you across the
sea is so appropriate. because it de-
Oicts in that ambon or pulpit greater
bishop at the head OF the barons bring
ng the Magma Charter to King John.
t is made of stone from Canterbury
Cathedral, the shrine of st. Augustine,
md ii depicts the great fight for an
open Bible which was at last victori-
1us. Therefore, we could bring you
nothing which so speaks in stone what
he Anglican communion stands for
md that present ! bring you from Can
.erbury to-day.
Lastly, for the third time, we value
these historical links because in the
.eeth of infinite difficulties my prede-
cessors, the Bishops of London, tried
to do their duty to the infant American
Church. AS the week comes on in
more detail think / can interest you
by certain documents, some of which
Mr.. President, / have shown you, by
which it vii, be seen with what loving
care those old Bishops of London tried
to do their duty 10 this infant Church.
Therefore, and this is in the third per-
son, it is appropriate ! should speak
this message as the Pishop Of London,
because of how much they would have
reioiced to-day as they gave to this
infant Church this foundation stone OF
what is to be ole of the most glorious,
cathedrals in the Anglican commune
ion, and. therefore, ] give you my sal
utation because, as the President says
we fight against wrong. against tyr
amy, against evil We fight to relieve
the poor and aid the oppressed on both
sides of the Atlantic. Let the Church
of England and the Church of America
fight in generous rivalry as to which
can do the best, and ! say. from my
heart, GodsDeed to your work.
At the close OF the remonies,
which were long, but always interest
ing, the Marine Pand, picturesque in
the yestments they wore, played the
Recessional; the President after shak-
ing hands with mdnv of the PjShonS