654 



PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHUECH. 



sacraments to a penitent person in imminent 

 danger of death." The subject of the relations 

 of a bishop to churches that have been conse- 

 crated was referred to a joint committee to re- 

 port to the next General Convention. An 

 amended canon was adopted on the subject of 

 the dissolution of the relations between a 

 minister and his congregation. Resolutions 

 were adopted in favor of retaining the Bible in 

 the schools, and declaring it to be the duty of 

 the clergy and laity of the Church to take an 

 active interest in the education provided in 

 their States, with the purpose of infusing into 

 it as much religious influence and instruction 

 as possible. A joint committee of the two 

 Houses was appointed to consider the whole 

 subject of education, and report to the next 

 General Convention. The House of Bishops 

 was requested to have prepared translations 

 into English of the Creed and other acts of the 

 undisputed general councils of the primitive 

 Church. Consent was given to the erection of 

 the new dioceses of Quincy and Springfield, in 

 the State of Illinois, and of the diocese of West 

 Virginia. A resolution was adopted, having 

 especial reference to Church fairs, entertain- 

 ments, and festivals, requesting the bishops "-to 

 express their opinions as to the impropriety of 

 the various instrumentalities adopted for rais- 

 ing funds for the support of the Church." A 

 resolution was offered to the effect that the 

 Church should express its sympathy with the 

 movement made in England toward disestab- 

 lishment, but it was promptly laid on the 

 table. The joint committee on the prepara- 

 tion of the Prayer Book in the German lan- 

 guage reported progress, and was continued. 

 The House of Bishops recommended to all the 

 theological institutions of the Church to intro- 

 duce, as soon as practicable, a thorough course 

 of instruction on foreign missions, and the 

 present religious condition and needs of the 

 world ; resolved henceforth to communicate 

 all sentences of deposition and suspension to 

 the bishops of the Anglican Church in British 

 North America, and approved the plan pro- 

 posed by Dr. Schereschewsky, Missionary 

 Bishop-elect of Shanghai, to establish in China 

 a collegiate institution " for the educating and 

 training up a native ministry, and for other pur- 

 poses of Christian education." The committee 

 of the House of Bishops on Correspondence 

 with the Hierarchy of the Holy Eastern Church 

 made a report, and was continued. The Rev. 0. 

 0. Penick, D. D., who has been elected by the 

 House of Bishops as Bishop for the Heathen in 

 Africa, was consecrated as Bishop of Cape 

 Palmas at St. Paul's Church, Alexandria, Vir- 

 ginia, on the 13th of February. The House 

 of Bishops have nominated the Rev. D. H. 

 Knickerbocker as Missionary Bishop of New 

 Mexico and Arizona, in place of Bishop Ad- 

 ams, who has resigned. The Rev. Samuel I. 

 J. Schereschewsky, who had been elected 

 Missionary Bishop of Shanghai, China, was 

 consecrated to that office in Grace Church 



in the city of New York, on the 30th of Oc- 

 tober, 1877. 



The first diocesan coavention of the newly- 

 formed diocese of West Virginia met at 

 Charlestown, December 5th. An election 

 was held for bishop of the diocese, and result- 

 ed in the choice of the Rev. J. H. Eccleston, 

 D. D., of Newark, N. J. Dr. Eccleston was 

 elected Bishop of Iowa in 1875 ; but the legal- 

 ity of the election was disputed, and he de- 

 clined to accept the office. He also declined, 

 in January, 1868, the tender of the bishopric 

 of West Virginia. 



The diocesan convention of the dioceses 

 which the General Convention directed to be 

 formed in Illinois decided to call their dioceses 

 respectively the dioceses of Quincy and of 

 Springfield. The first diocesan convention of 

 the diocese of Quincy met at Quincy, 111., De- 

 cember 12th, and elected the Rev. Samuel 

 Smith Harris, D. D., of Chicago, 111., to be 

 bishop. Dr. Harris, however, declined to ac- 

 cept the office. The diocesan convention of 

 Springfield met at Springfield, 111., December 

 19th, and elected the Rev. George F. Seymour, 

 D. D., Dean of the General Theological Sem- 

 inary in New York City, to be bishop. Dr. 

 Seymour was elected Bishop of the diocese of 

 Illinois in 1874, but was rejected by the Gen- 

 eral Convention of that year on account of his 

 supposed strong ritualistic tendencies. 



The fourth Church Congress of the Protes- 

 tant Episcopal Church was held in the city of 

 New York, beginning October 30th. Bishop 

 Potter, of New York, presided, and delivered 

 the opening address, in which he referred to 

 the general character of the topics that were to 

 be considered, and recommended temperance 

 in discussion, moderation in tone, and respect 

 for the opinions of persons of different views. 

 The first subject discussed was " The Church 

 Architecture that We Need," on which papers 

 were read and addresses delivered by Mr. 

 Richard M. Hunt, Mr. Emlen Littell, the Rev. 

 W. A. McVickar, D. D. (read by the Rev. Dr. 

 Neven), and the Rev. C. W. Ward. The sec- 

 ond topic of the first day's session was "The 

 Relation of the Christian Church to Local and 

 National Life in America," and was discussed 

 by Bishop Littlejohn, of Long Island, the Rev. 

 Hugh Miller Thompson, D. D., the Rev. J. S. 

 Hanckel, the Rev. John Fulton, D. D., the 

 Rev. R. H. McKim, and the Rev. W. W. Bat- 

 tershall. On the second day, the subject of 

 " The Spiritual Forces of Civilization " wns 

 considered by the Rev. F. C. Ewer, D. D., the 

 Rev. Francis A. Henry, the Rev. Percy Browne, 

 the Rev. Drs. Abercrombie and Mornhert, the 

 Rev. S. D. McConnell, and the Rev. A. S. 

 Noodle ; and " The Relation of the Popular 

 Press to Christianity in America," by the Hon. 

 John Jay, the Hon. Erastus Brooks, Bishop 

 Dudley, of Kentucky, Bishop Clark, of Rhode 

 Island, and Bishop Schereschewsky, of Shang- 

 hai, China. The first topic for the third day 

 was " The Influence of the Pulpit upon Mod- 



