PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



651 



more, Mel., June 29th, to investigate charges 

 for neglect of duty which had been made 

 against the Right Rev. William R. Whitting- 

 ham, Bishop of Maryland. The Rev. 0. B. 

 Perry, assistant rector, and the Rev. Joseph 

 Richey, rector of Mount Calvary Church, Balti- 

 more, were presented to Bishop Whittingham, 

 by the Standing Committee of the diocese, the 

 first on the 4th, the second on the 5th of Feb- 

 ruary, 1875, for violation of their ordination 

 vows and of the articles of religion of the 

 Church by offering prayers for the dead. The 

 complaint alleged that the bishop had refused 

 to bring the accused parties to trial. He was 

 therefore presented for trial according to the 

 canons of the Church, upon the complaint of 

 two clergymen and five laymen of his diocese. 

 It was shown before the Board of Inquiry, on 

 behalf of the bishop, that he had, previous to 

 the presentation of the charges against the 

 clergymen, admonished and rebuked them be- 

 cause of their practices and teachings, and had 

 obtained their written promise that they would 

 not so offend again. He had been advised by 

 counsel that he had by such action satisfied 

 the demand of the law ; and it was further af- 

 firmed in his behalf that he had not intention- 

 ally or willfully violated the canons of his dio- 

 cese. The Board of Inquiry, after spending 

 four days in consideration of the subject, de- 

 cided, by a vote of nine to four, that, from the 

 evidence before them, there were not, in their 

 opinion, sufficient grounds to put Bishop 

 Whittingham upon trial. Their decision was 

 accompanied by a resolution, instructing the 

 president of the board to accompany the 

 charges and certificate of refusal of the board 

 to make presentment against the bishop with 

 a statement of their " unanimous and emphatic 

 condemnation of the alleged acts and teachings 

 of the Revs. Joseph Richey and Calbraith B. 

 Perry, of Mount Calvary Church, set forth and 

 complained of in the presentment made against 

 them by the Standing Committee to their bish- 

 op, and for which they have been admonished." 

 This resolution was adopted unanimously. The 

 Board of Inquiry was constituted of two min- 

 isters and two laymen each of the Dioceses of 

 Maryland, Virginia, Central Pennsylvania, and 

 Pittsburg. 



A special meeting of the House of Bishops of 

 the Protestant Episcopal Church was held in 

 New York City, October 28th. Presiding Bish- 

 op Smith, of Kentucky, presided and delivered 

 the opening address. The principal business 

 before it was the election of missionary bishops 

 for foreign dioceses of the Church. The Rev. 

 S. I. J. Scherenschewsky, D. D., was elected 

 Missionary Bishop of China. Dr. Scheren- 

 schewsky declined to accept the office. The 

 Rev. William H. Clarke, D. D., of Augusta, 

 Ga., was elected Missionary Bishop of Cape 

 Palmas. The House also considered the sub- 

 ject of establishing covenant relations with a 

 branch of the Church in Mexico. A commis- 

 sion representing the Protestant Episcopal 



Church had visited Mexico to inquire into the 

 condition of the Church in that country. They 

 reported that a church had been formed there 

 recognizing the episcopate of the Protestant 

 Episcopal Church, and seeking further organi- 

 zation under its care. They also laid before 

 the House a formal covenant, or articles of 

 agreement, between the bishops and " the 

 Mexican branch of the Catholic Church of our 

 Lord Jesus Christ militant upon earth " (the 

 title assumed by the Mexican Church at its 

 synodical meeting in August, 1875). The 

 House of Bishops agreed to the ratification of 

 the articles of agreement, authorized a com- 

 mission to be appointed with full authority to 

 represent them in conclusive action, and em- 

 powered the commission to correspond with 

 the representatives of the Mexican Church, in 

 order to a final ratification of the articles, and 

 also to examine and report upon the evidence 

 of election and testimonials of qualifications of 

 the person or persons who may be presented 

 by the Mexican Church for ordination to the 

 episcopate. The presiding bishop was empow- 

 ered, upon the recommendation of the commis- 

 sion, to take steps for the consecration of the 

 persons so presented as bishops. 



The Rev. S. I. J. Scherenschewsky, D. D., 

 elected Missionary Bishop of China, has been 

 laboring continuously in China for fifteen years, 

 with great industry and success. He assisted 

 in translating the New Testament into the man- 

 darin or court language of the Chinese ; then 

 undertook, single-handed, the translation of 

 the Old Testament into the same dialect, and 

 completed it. 



The Rev. William H. Clarke, D. D., elected 

 Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas, Africa, is 

 a native of New England, and a graduate of 

 Yale College and the General Theological Sem- 

 inary. The early part of his ministry was 

 pass,ed hi educational work in Maryland and 

 elsewhere. He was at the time of his elec- 

 tion rector of St. Paul's Church, Augusta, 

 Ga. 



The second Annual Congress of the Protes- 

 tant Episcopal Church met at Philadelphia, 

 November 9th, and continued in session four 

 days. The Right Rev. William B. Stevens, 

 D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Pennsylvania, pre- 

 sided. He made an opening address, in which 

 he gave a history of the Congresses of the 

 Church of England, after the plan of which the 

 present body was organized, and stated the 

 purpose of the Congress. It was, he said 



To gather light from all points, and reflect it in all 

 quarters. It seeks breadth of view as well as depth 

 of thought. It is neither defensive nor oppressive ; 

 it is designed to cultivate personal and official toler- 

 ation and charity for widely-differing opinions, to 

 make men look each other in the face who have 

 hitherto stood back to back. A Church Congress 

 has no official status ; it is purely the outcome of the 

 popular mind. 



Bishop Clark, of Rhode Island, made some 

 remarks at the opening communion service, in 



