ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



25 



and consecrated since the formal separation of 

 the diocese of Alabama from the National Con- 

 vention. The General Convention, by an over- 

 whelming majority, recognized both bishops, 

 but with regard to Bishop Wilmer, the House 

 of Bishops waived the examination of " certain 

 canonical irregularities in the election and con- 

 secration," and expressly declared that its pres- 

 ent action should never be construed or accepted 

 as a precedent. The House also passed the 

 following resolution in regard to a pastoral 

 letter of the Bishop of Alabama, instructing the 

 clergy of his diocese not to use the prayer for 

 the President of the United States until the 

 removal of martial law in the State of Alabama : 



Resolved,, That we do hereby express to the Bishop 

 of Alabama our fraternal regrets at the issual of his 

 late pastoral letter, and assured confidence that no 

 further occasions for such regrets will occur. 



This resolution was, however, not entered on 

 the Journal of the Convention. An animated 

 discussion arose in the House of Delegates on 

 the following resolution introduced by the Hon. 

 Horace Binney, a lay delegate of the diocese of 

 Philadelphia. 



Resolved, That this house in most cordially con- 

 curring, as it has done, in the resolution of the House 

 of Bishops, appointing a day of thanksgiving for the 

 return of peace to the country, and union to the 

 Church, most respectfully express to the House of 

 Bishops its most earnest desire that, in the religious 

 services to be appointed for the day, especial thanks 

 be offered to Almighty God for the reestablishment 

 of the national authority over the whole country, and 

 for the removal of that great occasion of national 

 dissension and estrangement, to which our late trou- 

 bles were due. 



This resolution was defeated, as was also a 

 motion to reconsider the vote of the Convention 

 by dioceses. The question to lay the motion 

 to reconsider on the table (the effect of the 

 passage of this motion being to prevent the 

 question from coming up again during the 

 meeting of this Convention), stood thus : Cler- 

 ical 20 yeas, 6 nays; Lay 15 yeas, 7 nays. 

 Seven of the Bishops (the Bishops of Maine, 

 Massachusetts, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, Delaware, 

 and the Assistant Bishop of Ohio) published a 

 declaration to the effect that they had been in 

 favor 'of the adoption of a resolution touching 

 Ihe restoration of the national authority and 

 the abolition of slavery by the House of Bish- 

 ops. "With regard to the Provincial System, the 

 following canon was adopted by the General 

 Convention : 



It is hereby declared to be lawful for the dioceses 

 now existing or hereafter to exist within the limits 

 of States or commonwealths, to establish for them- 

 selves a federate convention or council representing 

 such dioceses, which may deliberate and decide upon 

 the common interests of the Church within that State, 

 and exercise any delegated powers not inconsistent 

 with the constitution and canons of this Church. 



The General Convention also gave its consent 

 to the division of the diocese of Pennsylvania. 

 The Primary Convention of the new diocese, 

 containing twenty-five counties of Western 

 Pennsylvania, met at Pittsburg, on November 



15, and, after debate, adopted the name of " Dio- 

 cese of Pittsburg." The Rev. Dr. John Bar- 

 rett Kerfoot, President of Trinity College, Hart- 

 ford, Connecticut, was elected the first bishop. 



With regard to Home Missions, it was re- 

 solved to increase the number of missionary 

 bishops to five, appointing, in addition to the 

 missionary bishops of Arkansas and Oregon, 

 three others for Nebraska, Colorado, and Ne- 

 vada. 



The expectation entertained by many mem- 

 bers of the Church, that the course pursued by 

 the General Convention of Philadelphia would 

 induce all the Southern dioceses to consummate 

 the reunion without further delay, was not 

 realized. The Second General Council of the 

 Southern dioceses met at Augusta, Georgia, on 

 November 8th. It was composed of the Bishops 

 of Georgia,* Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama, 

 and delegates from the same dioceses, and from 

 South Carolina. The Council did not take 

 decided action on the reunion question. The 

 resolutions adopted by it, commend " the spirit 

 of charity" exhibited by the Convention in 

 Philadelphia, and declare it proper for any of 

 the Southern dioceses to decide for herself 

 whether she shall any longer continue in union 

 with the General Council, or reconnect herself 

 with the General Convention. They change 

 the term "Confederate States," in the standards 

 of the Church, into that of the United States, 

 and adopt for their organization the name 

 " General Council of the Associated Dioceses in 

 the United States." Charleston was appointed 

 as the place for the next meeting of the Gen- 

 eral Council. But a few weeks after the meet- 

 ing of the council, the Bishop of Mississippi 

 issued an address to the clergy and laity of his 

 diocese, in favor of the diocesan return to the 

 normal relations with the General Convention. 

 Bishop Elliot, of Georgia, the. Presiding Bishop 

 of the Southern General Council, in a letter 

 dated Jan. 3-, 1866, notified Bishop Hopkins, 

 the Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episco- 

 pal Church in the United States, that, on that 

 day, he had given official notice to the bishops 

 who were for a time united with him in the 

 confederation of the Southern dioceses, of his 

 withdrawal from that confederation, and of the 

 return of Georgia to the Protestant Episcopal 

 Church in the United States. 



The 30th annual meeting of the Board of 

 Missions was held at Philadelphia on October 

 5th. The receipts of the Domestic Committee 

 were larger than in any former year, and 

 amounted to $72,514, against $66,581 in 1864, 

 $37,458 in 1863, and $35,223 in 1862. The 

 expenditures were $70,126. The receipts of 

 the Foreign Committee were $78,504. 



In November, 1864, the Rev. Dr. Nicholson, 

 who had for nine years been connected with 

 missionary work in Mexico and New Mexico, 

 started on a tour of exploration through Mexico, 

 and on his return, reported that a reform party 

 in the Roman Catholic Church of that country 

 was favorably disposed toward the adoption 



