Jolin li. --o^^lting 
 
 Defence of the Convention 
 of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, in the stpte of 
 Massachusetts ., • 
 
 4H7 
 
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 "^^^o^Aimi^'' 
 
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 v:.^^ -■ '^///^ 
 
 DEFENCE 
 
 CONVENTION 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
 
 IN THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 AGAINST CERTAIN EDITORIAL STATEMENTS 
 
 OF THE PAPER, CALLED 
 
 THE BANNER OF THE CHURCH' 
 
 V^v 
 
 ^a>V. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 STIMPSON & CLAPP, 72 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 
 18 3 2. 
 
3J. 3S. JSincfelcs & do., i)rintera, 
 
 NO. 14, WATER STREET. 
 
DEFENCE. 
 
 To the Clergy, Laity and Friends of the Protestant Episcopal 
 
 Church. 
 
 For the first time in his life, the undersigned is compelled to 
 become party to a controversy. Arraigned, together with 
 many others, before the public, upon the editorial authority of 
 two of his clerical brethren, he has been advised and requested 
 by those whose judgment lie respects, and by one especially, 
 whose character and office entitle him to peculiar reverence, to 
 write the present statement, as a defence against grievous mis- 
 representation. He would not have undertaken so painful a 
 task, on his single conviction of its propriety. He knows the 
 evils of dissension too well, and deplores its mischievous efi'ects 
 too deeply, to enter into it, however provoked, for his own 
 sake alone. But when called to sustain the truth, in a case 
 v^hich not only affects the reputation of many amongst his 
 friends and brethren, but which implicates the government of 
 the church, and the just influence of his Bishop, he does not 
 consider himself at "liberty to shrink from the claim of duty, 
 however distasteful the requisition to his habits and feelings. " 
 
 The subject matter of remark, was presented by the publica- 
 tion of an editorial article in the paper called the ' Banner of 
 the Church,' issued on the 30th of June last, and detailing, at 
 great length, and with extraordinary asperity, the doings of the 
 Massachusetts Episcopal Convention, held in Boston on the 
 20th and 21st days of the same month. The author of this 
 
account styled it a Manifesto, but whatever its appellation might 
 be, we regret to say that its character was libellous, inasmuch 
 as 'it charged seventeen members of the Convention by name, 
 together with several others who were not specified, with con- 
 duct unbecoming their profession, not only as Christians, but as 
 honest and honorable men. The intemperance of this pubhca- 
 tion, however, was thought a sufficient protection from the 
 assault. It was believed that no mind of common discernment 
 could fail to perceive the high coloring of personal excitement 
 which marked it throughout, and it was presumed that silence 
 would be its best reply. As friends to the peace and reputa- 
 tion of the church, the accused have reason to lament that then- 
 expectations were disappointed. Tlie work which they thought 
 it needless to do for themselves, others did for them, and a 
 popular gazette of the day was unhappily occupied by both 
 sides of the question. At length it was found that a most 
 respectable gentleman of Pittsfield, Edward A. Newton, Esq. 
 a member of the Convention, and high in the esteem of the Epis- 
 copal community, had conceived it expedient to visit several ot 
 the parishes, and obtain the signatures of fourteen clergymen to 
 a letter addressed to the Delegates elected to the General Con- 
 vention, advising that three of them should resign in favor ot 
 certain others who were not elected, but who, it was alleged, 
 ought to have been ; and threatening in very kindly, but very 
 substantial terms, that if this overture of peace was rejected, 
 the future conventions of the Church, should exhibit a warfare, 
 in which the subscribers to the letter promised themselves a 
 
 certain victory. 
 
 The gentleman who distinguished himseli by his zeal in this 
 novel proposition, did not stop at this point, but undertook, 
 very sincerely no doubt, to be a voucher for the truth ot the 
 'Manifesto,' professing his entire conviction that the charges 
 recorded in it were correct. This, to the parties accused, was 
 a painful surprise indeed, and showed them that the extent of 
 the mischief was far greater than they could have anticipated. 
 It was not enough that they had quietly borne the attack ot their 
 clerical brethren. It was not enough that fourteen clergymen 
 should dictate terms of complete submission to the Delegates 
 elected by the Convention of the Church. It was not enough 
 that two of the clergy, who signed this letter, were not even 
 present at that Convention, and that several of them, m age, m 
 experience, and in the ministerial office, were many years 
 
younger than the men to whom they thus voiunteeied their 
 unprecedented counsel. All this was hard enough, but in 
 addition to It all, the parties accused, discovered that they had 
 a new and active accuser; a gentleman, whose leisure, whose 
 influence, and whose warm inclination to use it, made him 
 truly, a serious antagonist. The more especially, as the author 
 01 he Manifesto had given him a very uncommon character, 
 declaring that ' by the devotion of his whole fortune to the 
 interests and service of the Church, and by the exemplification 
 of her prmcijyles m his tvhole life, he was raised above the 
 shadow of selfish or unworthy imputation.' This intelligence, 
 indeed, the writer rejoiced to learn, because Mr. Newton is 
 well known to be in affluent circumstances, and the age stands 
 in need of such examples. But he found upon inouiry, that 
 liowever zealous and liberal the course of this respected gen- 
 tleman had conlessedly been, yet the statement of the editor 
 was, to say the least, an extravagant exaggeration. The in- 
 lerence was obvious, that the Muses had presided over that 
 sentence, as well as many others in the Manifesto; but the 
 consistency of the author was not to be denied, since it cer- 
 tainly was fair that his readers should see a little of the poetry 
 ot praise, where there was so abundant a supply of the poetry 
 oi censure. ^ ^ 
 
 Thus assailed by reiterated and fresh attacks, the accused 
 are compelled at last, however reluctantly, to believe that a 
 defence is necessary. In order to present this defence with 
 perspicuity, it will be necessary to quote from the ' Manifesto ' 
 the several points on which the parties are at issue, and this the 
 writer will endeavor to perform in as succinct a manner as 
 possible, consistently with his undertaking. 'To the railin- 
 ol the accuser,' in the words of the admirable Hooker, he 
 desires to ' sa)- nothhig.' To the alleged facts and arguments 
 he makes the following reply. 
 
 • .!\TiT ^'''Z ^^'i^S^^'O" °f the Manifesto, demanding notice, 
 IS Xh^i^ though there was no extraordinary business done at 
 the Convention, some of the ordinary business was done in an 
 extraordinary manner.' It will be shown that, on the very 
 contrary, the business done was transacted in the ordinary 
 manner,— the manner used in that body for more than thirty 
 years, without a single instance to the contrary 
 
 2. The second is, that the circumstances connected with 
 the elections for the members of the Standing Committee and 
 
6 
 
 the Delegates to the General Convention, were ' so peculiar, 
 so wholly unprecedented, and so ominous of evil to the Church, 
 that a detailed account is called for. The evil is now done,^ 
 continues the Editor, ' representations of it, distorted and ex- 
 aggerated, are of course abroad. There should he somewhere, 
 an authentic and unquestionable narrative. Such ours shall 
 he. We shall state facts, and only such as can be siibstantiated 
 by legal evidence. We meet this necessity not so much in self- 
 defence as for the benefit of others, that they may be on their 
 guard against the stratagems which we have been compelled to 
 witness, that they may see, that when injuries so sustained can- 
 not be retrieved, a protest may at lea^t be recorded.^ 
 
 It shall be shown that all this is imaginary. That the cir- 
 cumstances connected with the elections were of the common 
 kind, when men do not happen to agree upon the same can- 
 didates. That there was nothing in the case unprecedented, 
 peculiar, or ominous of evil to the Church. That no evil has 
 been done by the accused, and that no good end has been, or 
 could be served by this Manifesto. That it may perhaps be 
 called an authentic narrative, because its paternity belongs to 
 the editors of the ' Banner,' but that it is the very reverse of 
 unquestionable. That its author has not confined himself to 
 stcUing facts only, but that the observations on these facts, the 
 sweeping asseverations and general imputations of the piece, 
 are its leading, and by far its strongest features. That many 
 of the allegations of fact are unsupported by any evidence, and 
 that the accuser witnessed no stratagem, and sustained no in- 
 jury, of which either he, or any other man, has a just right to 
 complain. 
 
 3. The Editor proceeds to declare, in capital letters, that 
 the record of the elections is not a true expression of the prin- 
 ciples of the Church in Massachusetts. It shall be shown on 
 the plainest Episcopal principles, that this declaration is a total 
 mistake. 
 
 4. The next paragraph of the Editor introduces the 
 reader to a sketch of the state of the Church, previous to the 
 late Convention, in which he avers that ' until two months be- 
 fore that period, nothing tvas heard of dissatisfaction or di- 
 vision. There appeared to be a perfect unity of interest in 
 the prosecution of the affairs of the Church. The persons,^ con- 
 tinues he, ' of whom we now complain, were sedulous and con- 
 stant in public declarations, that we ivere all united.^ By at- 
 
tending to the declarations of those well qualified to judee, this 
 statement will be found to be erroneous and visionary. 
 
 5. The Editor goes on to mention a case determined by the 
 Standing Committee tuo months before tiie Convention, which, 
 he admits, produced considerable dissatisfaction. He declines 
 detailing the particulars, but asserts that the committee de- 
 cided, as they believed ' conscientiously according; to the Ca- 
 nons, that menaces of ' reform ' were made, and that great 
 pains were taken, under the ^favorable circumstances of an 
 ±.cclesiastical visitation, to enlist clerical influence ' to carry it 
 into effect This decision of the Standing Committee shall be 
 iully detailed, and the grounds of dissatisfaction shown, and the 
 allegation about enlisting clerical influence under the circum- 
 stances of an Ecclesiastical visitation, shall be distinctly refuted 
 by the testimony annexed. 
 
 6. The account given of the mode in which die Editor says 
 the^ tickets were formed on his side of the question, as exhib- 
 ited in contrast with the conduct of Mr. West, shall be exam- 
 ined, and It shall be shown, by the very state of the votes, on 
 the authority of the « Manifesto' itself, that there was no suffi- 
 cient ground for the accusation o^ stratagem or concert. 
 
 7. Ihe next subject presented by the Editor consists of a 
 set of charges purporting to be founded on the previous state- 
 ment of facts, accusing the majority of the voters of beine 
 organized ' on party principles,' of entirely ^ proscribins; those in 
 xohom former conxentxom had reposed their confidenct, of con- 
 certing ctnd carrying into effect their design secretly, by all the 
 aids and appliances which, in political xoarfare, are but tol- 
 erated and that in accomplishing its purposes, neither the wel- 
 
 Jareoj the Church, nor the rights of parishes and individuals 
 nor the proprieties of time or place or person xcere to be at all 
 regarded: All this, with much more of the same kind, will 
 dation ^° S''^f"'tous hyperbole, without any just foun- 
 
 S. The Editor next asserts that acquiescence in these elec- 
 tions was ' treason to the Church.' This assertion will be briefly 
 tested, by Episcopal principles. ^ 
 
 9. The Manifesto proceeds to the motion made to annul the 
 elections, on the ground that they were unconstitutional and 
 
 ih 5=°'""i^"^s, severely on the parliamentary devices, 
 quibbling, &c, by which this motion was evaded, settinp; ouJ 
 all the formality of names, in order to fix the personal odium 
 
8 
 
 of the course taken, upon the individuals accused. And after 
 arranging the votes in such a manner, as to make the majority 
 appear to be the minority, and repeating the charges of evil 
 done and wrong suffered, the Editor concludes by applying to 
 the accused the scriptural text, ' Every one that doeth evil 
 bateth the light, lest his deeds should be reproved ; but he that 
 doeth truth' (to wit, the Editor, we presume,) ' cometh to the 
 light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are 
 wrought in God.' All this will be easily interpreted, when 
 compared with the simple facts of the case, and cleared from 
 the mists of rhetorical amplification. It is a weary road to 
 travel, for the writer, and, it may be feared, for his readers; 
 but truth demands the real statement of the question, and, hav- 
 ing put his hand to the plough, he will not look back. 
 
 To commence then, with our history ; — it is a melancholy 
 fact that for two or three years past, a growing disunion had 
 been generated in the Church of Massachusetts. Of this, the 
 present writer has no personal knowledge, because his connex- 
 ion with the Eastern Diocese has been of little more than one 
 year's standing. He refers, for the evidence of the assertion, to 
 the positive declarations of others, who knew and deplored the 
 change. He can only say, for his own part, that before he 
 had been four months in his present situation, he had received 
 abundant proof, that the boasted unity of the Church in this 
 quarter, was sorely defective. That, in truth, the leading cler- 
 gymen were not united in sentiment with their Ecclesiastical 
 Head, and that the Bishop did not govern this portion of his 
 Diocese with that comfort and harmony, which belongs to the 
 theory of our system, and without the exemphfication of which. 
 Episcopacy must always be a very inefficient institution. 
 
 Several instances of disagreement between the views of the 
 Bishop and the leading clergymen in the Standing Committee, 
 were detailed to the writer, which fully showed the unpleasant 
 state of the executive department. But the decisive conflict 
 of opinion occurred in the case, obscurely alluded to in the 
 Manifesto, at the meeting of the Commhtee in April last. 
 
 The facts were these. Two candidates for Holy Orders, 
 Messrs. McBurney and Babcock, were induced by the pressing 
 wants of the church and the advice of their friends to apply for 
 ordination. They had been entered on the books of the Bish- 
 op more than two years. They were graduates of Harvard 
 University, of good standing, and some years older than the 
 
period of twenty-one, which the Canon requires. The Bishop, 
 (the same who has presided over the diocese for twenty years, 
 with the purest character,) had appointed a committee to ex- 
 amine them, and had himself assisted at the examinations. 
 They were found qualified and worthy, and received, as they 
 well deserved, certificates testifying their fitness for the sacred 
 office. The Bishop addressed a letter to the clerical mem- 
 bers of the Standing Committee, stating his satisfaction, and re- 
 questing them to concur with him in dispensing with the re- 
 niamder of the three years, in consideration of the pressing 
 wants of the diocese, there being, at that moment, six vacant 
 parishes, in Massachusetts alone. Under these circumstances 
 it was, that the two clergymen, then composing the clerical branch 
 of the Standing Committee, thought fit to refuse their consent, 
 and prevent the supply of these suffering parishes, and the de- 
 clared wishes of their Diocesan. 
 
 But a reason is assigned for this, viz. that the Canon required 
 three years' candidateship ; and therefore, it is said, that these 
 clergymen were only obeying the law. Do they mean to in- 
 sinuate that the Bishop wished to violate the law ? Does not 
 every cleric of our Church know, that the Canon in question 
 expressly gives the power to the Bishop to dispense with 
 two years out of the three, whenever he shall deem it expedient, 
 provided the clerical members of the Standing Committee con- 
 cur } The fact is, therefore, that the very words of the law 
 give the discretionary power which Bishop Griswold wished to 
 exercise, to double the extent required. The Canon allows 
 two years out of three to be dispensed with, whereas the Bish- 
 op asked for a little less than one.* Plainly, therefore, it was 
 
 laop'^^^i^^""" ^"*^'^^^^*°" was passed in the General Convention of 
 Ib^b, and provides tliat every person who desires to become a Candidate 
 for orders in this Church, shall, in the first instance, give notice of his 
 intention to the Bishop, &c. ; and if he be admitted by the Bishop, &.c. 
 he shall remain a Candidate for the term of three years before his or- 
 dination, unless the Bishop, with the advice and consent of the clerical 
 members of the Standing Committee, shall deem it expedient to ordain 
 the Candidate, after the expiration of a sliorter period, not less than 
 one year.' Vid. Swords' Ed. of the Canons, 1829, p. r;0. 
 
 ^7 'r to be regretted that in p. 76 of Swords' valuable Pocktt M,na- 
 nnck for 1832, the above Canon is not cited verbatim. In the text, the 
 dispensing power is omitted altogether, and the period of three years 
 is set down absolutely, without any qualification. And although in the 
 note at the foot of the page, the omission is designed to be "supplied 
 2 
 
10 
 
 a question, not whether a law should be broken, but whether a 
 license given by the very words of the law, should be used. 
 And who was the fittest judge of this discretion, the venerable 
 Bishop, whose office obliged him to provide for all the churches 
 in his diocese, or the Rector of a single parish, with little more 
 than half the Bishop's years, and not half his experience, to 
 say nothing of the great principles of ecclesiastical subordina- 
 tion. 
 
 It is perfectly obvious, that this transaction must have ex- 
 cited a great deal of remark. The friends of the candidates, 
 the parishes which were waiting for aid, and the advocates of 
 the Bishop's authority, would all unite in condemning the un- 
 seemly spectacle of a presbyter, or two at the most,* thus tying 
 up their Bishop's hands, in a mere question of expediency, un- 
 der authority of the office of member of the Standing Commit- 
 tee. By the constitution of our Church, this Committee is elect- 
 ed by the Convention, once a year : and it was freely said, by 
 many, that the Convention owed it to their Bishop, to elect, on the 
 first opportunity, such clergymen as should be understood to har- 
 monize with him on the point in question. Some were for drop- 
 ping both the clergymen who had taken this discordant course ; 
 others thought it better to continue Mr. Doane, who was the 
 President of the Committee, and elect with him two others, who 
 could control the decision of similar cases, for the time to come. 
 And of this latter sentiment was the writer, because he felt per- 
 sonally desirous to spare Mr. Doane all unnecessary mortifica- 
 tion. 
 
 This free expression of opinion was the threatening alluded 
 to by the Manifesto, and constitutes the head and front of the 
 offence. But where is the sin or impropriety ? Have we some 
 
 yet we read, there, that the Bishop may, upon the recommendation of 
 the clerical members of tlie Standing- Committee, dispense with the 
 period in question. It is manifest, that in the language of the Canon, 
 the Bishop is the prime mover, but in that of the Almanack, he is only 
 alloivcd to move upon the recommendation of the Committee. Tlie com- 
 mon construction of this would be, that the first act must come from the 
 Committee — tiiat it was for the Bishop to follow, instead of leading, in 
 the matter. We have positive knowledge of the existence of this 
 misconception ; nor is it strange, when we recollect that the Almanack 
 is consulted so much more frequently than the Canons. 
 
 * Owing to the lamented departure of the Rev. Alonzo Potter from 
 the diocese, the clerical branch of the Standing Committee consisted 
 at this time of two clergymen only, Rev. Messrs. Doane and Boyle. 
 
11 
 
 hitherto unheard-of law about lese-majesty, which protects the 
 clerical members of a Bishop's Council of Advice from the 
 frank judgment of their brethren? Is not every member 
 of such Committee, the agent of the Convention, and are the 
 members of Convention to be denied the privilege of utteuring 
 their disapprobation of his official course ? And above all, shall 
 the opinions and influence of the Bishop, whom the clergy have 
 solemn])^ promised to obey, be forced to bend to the notions of 
 one or two of his own Presbyters, merely because, in the exer- 
 cise of a little brief authority, they may choose to think them- 
 selves wiser than he ? Familiar it is to all, who know but a little 
 on the subject, that Standing Committees are a modern inven- 
 tion. There was no such thing in ancient times. There is no 
 such thing in our INIother Church of England; and in no Epis- 
 copal Church on earth, except our own, was a Bishop ever 
 subject to the judgment of one or two of his own presbyters, as to 
 the propriety of ordaining a Deacon. Doubtless, however, the 
 institution is a good one, because it is designed to strengthen, 
 not to paralyze the Bishop's authority. But if its clerical mem- 
 bers forget that they were appointed to be a Council of Advice, 
 and fancy themselves a Board of Control, it is manifest, that 
 the Bishop must lose the proper influence of his office, and that 
 the duty of governing the diocese, one of the most unquestion- 
 able parts of his sacred responsibility, must fall into other 
 hands.* 
 
 * It may be thought by some, that the writer's views of the power 
 of the Bishop's Council of Advice, or Standing Committee, would make 
 this respectable and important body a mere nullity. But this would be 
 a total misconception. The institution of this Council obliges the Bish- 
 op to lislen to advice, and if necessary, to remonstrance, before he acts, 
 in many important questions, particularly in those which relate to or- 
 dination, the most important of all. And when this point is secured — 
 when Bishops are preserved from the danger of acting hastily and 
 without due deliberation, all is gained which is desirable ; because no 
 man, worthy to hold the Episcopal office, can be supposed likely to pro- 
 ceed in an improper course, after he has had the benefit of a full dis- 
 cussion with his Council. Upon a similar principle, the Cabinet Coun- 
 cil of the President of the United States is not a useless body, although 
 they can only advise, without being authorized in any degree to con- 
 trol liim. There are, however, those, who prefer the analogy of the 
 Senate of the United States, and we care but little for the difference ; 
 since this analogy can only apply in the single instance of tlie control 
 which they exercise over the appointing power. In all other respects 
 that body is of far higher dignity and importance in the State than 
 
V2 
 
 With these ideas, honestly entertained, and freely avowed in 
 conversation by the writer, and he presumes by many others, 
 the Convention assembled. There was no organization among 
 the persons accused, of any sort or kind ivhatever. The writer 
 asserts this on the assurances of all the gentlemen implicated, 
 and their personal testimony will be found annexed. Religious 
 meetings were held, as he was told, but he was not present at 
 any of them ; and he has the most absolute confidence in the 
 declaration founded upon the subjoined proofs, that these meet- 
 Standing Committees are in the Church, not only forming an indepen- 
 dent branch of the Legislatm-e, but also constituting the High Court 
 of Judicature, in cases of impeachment. Yet even in the Senate of 
 the United States, a refusal to concur in an appointment of the Presi- 
 dent, would always be construed as an act of party opposition, unless 
 where plain reasons of personal unfitness in the candidate, were alleged 
 us the ground of disagreement. But an Episcopalian would greatly 
 err, who should place his Bishop on no higher ground of authority than 
 a President. By apostolical appointment the Bishop is the Patriarch 
 and Ecclesiastical Judge of the Church Avithin his diocese. These 
 powers are recognized by the title of Father, and the obedience prom- 
 ised by the clergy, in their solemn ordination vows. Our form of civil 
 government, therefore, cannot be expected to furnish a perfect parallel 
 to the relation which a Committee of Presbyters bear to their Bishop ; 
 although the writer believes that the nearest on the whole, is the rela- 
 tion which a Cabinet Council sustains to the President. In ancient 
 times, the whole body of Presbyters in a diocese formed the Bishop's 
 Council of Advice. But dioceses were easily convened in those days, 
 consisting chiefly of one large town and a small district of surrounding 
 country. When, however, in adopting Episcopacy into the United 
 States, the sparseness of population and the great extent of territory 
 made it necessary to give a Avide boundary to dioceses, and it Avas 
 therefore thought best to fix the limits of each State, as the most conve- 
 nient limits for each diocese, the impossibility of convening all the clergy 
 for consultation Avith their Bishop, dictated the propriety of appointing, 
 each year, a Committee, Avho, residing convenient to him, could as- 
 semble Avhenever it might be expedient, to give him the benefit of 
 their advice and counsel. And, as it was judged best to admit a large 
 representation of the laity into the Legislative Conventions of the 
 Church, consistency required that the knowledge and experience of 
 the laity should be represented also in this Standing Committee. 
 Hence an equal number of both orders compose these Committees in 
 each diocese, although it must be recollected that the question in dis- 
 pute, and the principles of Church government which Ave have been 
 discussing, concern the clergy alone. 
 
 Such, as the Avriter conceives, Avas the origin of Standing Commit- 
 tees ; and he holds them in high respect, as a most admirable proof, 
 
 amongst many others, of the wisdom Avhich governed in the adapta- 
 . tion of Episcopacy to the condition of things in our oAvn day. But the 
 
13 
 
 iiigs were lor religious purposes alone. When the Convention 
 proceeded to the elections complained of, which was in the 
 afternoon of the first day's session, the writer saw his friends 
 and brethren, on both sides, talking together in the aisles of the 
 church, as is customary on all similar occasions ; and tickets 
 were offered to him by ditferent persons, one of which contain- 
 ed no name that was not generally understood to coincide with 
 Mr. Doane ; and the other contained only such as were supposed 
 to concur with the Bishop. The writer declined both, and 
 framed his own ticket for the Standing Committee, with the 
 clerical names of Messrs. Doane, Stone and Edson. 
 
 And now we arrive at the plain fact admitted by the Manifesto 
 itself, which proves, that at this period of the business, there 
 could have been no concert. It is the fact, that the first vote 
 produced but one clerical election, and that was the election 
 of jMr. Doane. The same men, who, fifteen minutes after- 
 wards, elected the delegates to the General Convention, on 
 the principles of ^proscription, by secret management, and 
 stratagem, and under drill, by all the aids and appliances, 
 ivhich in political warfare are but tolerated,'' according to the 
 hardy assertions of the Manifesto, were so little of one mind, so 
 entirely without party organization, that Mr. Doane was elected 
 on the first ballot, and the votes given for the other two clergy- 
 men were so scattering, that the requisite majority did not exist 
 in favor of any one ; and the House proceeded accordingly 
 to vote the second time, for the two clergymen required to 
 complete the Committee, when Messrs. Stone and Edson were 
 chosen. 
 
 Of the conference, stated by the Editor, between himself 
 and Mr. West, the writer knows nothing beyond what is de- 
 tailed in the Manifesto. But from that statement it is sufficient- 
 clergy composing these Committees should recollect, that they are 
 substitutes for the whole Council of Presbyters in ancient times. As 
 it was a maxim with the famous Cyprian to do nothing without his 
 Presbyters, so it is and ought to be a maxim with every I3ishop in our 
 country, to do nothing without his Council of Advice. But their influ- 
 ence over him should be the kindly influence of mind upon mind, in the 
 form of advice and recommendation, and not the stern contradiction of 
 presumed control. Nor is it to be supposed, for a moment, tliat the fa- 
 thers of our modern Ecclesiastical constitution intended to authorize 
 two Presbyters, as a Committee from the rest, to do more towards re- 
 straining their Bishop in our day, than the whole body of Presbyters 
 could do for the first eighteen centuries of the Christian era. 
 
14 
 
 ly plain, that the proof of organization is strongest on the com- 
 plaining side. The Editor allows, that ' at the time of Convention 
 there was, among the clergy and laity, more or less consulta- 
 tion as to the manner in which the vacancies in the two tickets 
 were to he supplied, the Rev. J\Ir. Potter having removed, 
 and Mr. Clark having died ; and as to the other changes 
 necessary to he made, for ensuring, in regard to the General 
 Convention, a full attendance. JVo caucus,'' indeed, he pro- 
 ceeds to say, ' was held, and no plans were organized, hut it 
 was generally understood that the vacancies in the Standing 
 Committee were to he filled hy Rev. Mr. Coit, and Joseph Foster, 
 Esq. while, in the delegation to the General Convention, the 
 Rev. Mr. Stone was to succeed the Rev. Mr. Potter, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Parker give way to the Rev. Mr. Edson, who had 
 been before in the representation. For convenience sake, some 
 tickets were written, in accordance with this understanding, but 
 there was no general concert and no plan of efforts to ensure 
 success, simply because, being thought a good ticket, and made 
 without personal or party interest, it would go, it was supposed, 
 of course, and perhaps unanimously.'' This long quotation is 
 only made for the purpose of showing, that by the Editor's own 
 statement, there seems to have been more concert among 
 the accusing party, than among the accused. There was, 
 he informs us, more or less consultation — names were sug- 
 gested and agreed upon, — there was a general understand- 
 ing, and, for convenience sake, tickets were prepared; but 
 no caucus was held, for the candid reason, that none was 
 thought necessary. The Editor, however, and every other 
 man of common sense, must know, that the benefits of caucus- 
 ing can be had in more ways than one, and there is little use 
 in adopting an unpopular name for a thing, when the design 
 can be attained without it. As to the remainder of the evi- 
 dence, it consists of a conference which resulted in nothing ; 
 but the attempt to accommodate, whether it succeeded or not, 
 exhibits no more concert on the one side, than on the other. 
 All the rest of the Editor's statement goes to prove a prepara- 
 tion, a consultation, a general understanding, and the actual 
 writing of tickets, by the party that wished to continue in 
 power; while the simple fact, that the majority, (who were able, 
 immediately afterwards, to carry an exclusive ticket for the 
 General Convention,) could not hinder the election of Mr. 
 Doane on the first ballot, distinctly shows that the organization 
 
15 
 
 of Mr. West's friends was, at least, less perfect than that of 
 their adversaries. 
 
 The writer will not dwell on the amusing idea, that the 
 tickets were to be formed on the principle of filing vacancies, 
 as if our right of suffrage at Ecclesiastical Conventions were 
 not as free as the air we breathe, or as if those gentlemen who 
 like to remain in office, are to be indulged with a perpetuity. 
 Far more reasonable, surely, and far more christian, is it, to 
 adopt the principle of rotation, in order that the burden and 
 the honor of office, whatever they may be, may be shared, as 
 far as possible, in the spirit of fraternal accommodation. 
 Neither would the writer be understood as condemning concert 
 and agreement amongst any body of men, who, laboring 
 under a grievance, in church or state, peaceably and lawfully 
 meet together to make arrangements in reference to an ap- 
 proaching election. True, indeed, the necessity which calls 
 for the exercise of this privilege is greatly to be deplored, and 
 the writer would be among the last, needlessly to recommend 
 its adoption. But the right itself, is part and parcel of the 
 elective franchise, and he would consider any man ready to be- 
 come either a despot or a slave, who should seriously call it in 
 question. If the Editor's friends, therefore, thought fit to have 
 a previous concert, they had a right to do so. If they thought 
 fit to form their tickets, and have them written for convenience 
 sake, they had a right to do this likewise. But having done 
 thus, the Editor had no right to censure other men, who, pos- 
 sessing the privileges of clergymen and freemen as well as him- 
 self, do not appear, by his own showing, to have gone half so 
 far in exercising them. 
 
 We pass on to the next stage in this Conventional history. 
 After the election for the Standing Committee was held, the 
 delegates to the General Convention were chosen, and Messrs. 
 Edson, West, Baury, and Stone, were elected, instead of 
 Messrs. Morss, Doane, Edson, and Stone. With the failure of 
 Dr. Morss and Mr. Doane, the writer had nothing to do. His 
 own vote was given for them, and he would have been gratified to 
 see them elected. The difference, however, between the two 
 tickets, only affected half the clerical members of the delega- 
 tion. Whatever may have been felt, no voice was raised 
 against the result, and the Convention adjourned, to meet the 
 following morning, with the general impression that the main 
 business of the session was over. 
 
16 
 
 Thus far, let it be remembered, the mode of conducting the 
 Convention was not questioned by any one. The elections 
 were made by ballot, each clergyman and each layman giving 
 one vote. The tellers counted the votes, and the result was 
 declared, acquiesced in, and recorded, in all respects in the 
 usual way. There had been frankness, but no heat, — difference 
 of choice, but no disagreement ; and the Convention adjourned 
 with as little appearance of agitation or disturbance, as the 
 writer has usually witnessed in similar bodies. And at this 
 stage of the proceedings it is, that the Editor of the Banner 
 presents the Episcopal public with the following reflections, 
 which we shall extract, with a brief running commentary. 
 
 ' Thus was it seen, for the first time,'' says he, ' that an organi- 
 zation on party principles existed in the Church in JWassachu- 
 setts.^ What sort of party principles does the Editor mean ? 
 The desire to sustain the Bishop, by giving him officers with 
 whom he could act in concert, was the only principle which 
 seemed to actuate the majority in the Convention ; and in the 
 Episcopal Church, the writer has not been accustomed to hear 
 the friends and supporters of their Bishop, called a party. That 
 term, he has hitherto known to be applied, chiefly, to those who 
 opposed their Diocesan. But the Editor proceeds to say that 
 this organized party contemplated nothing less than ' an entire 
 proscription of those in whom former Conventions had, year 
 after year, reposed their confidence.'' This is certainly a novel 
 doctrine, that electing new candidates amounts to vl proscription 
 of former ones. A very slight inspection of the records will 
 show, that the gentlemen, who have been passed by, were not 
 always the choice of the Convention. Others, quite as old, 
 and probably as capable, were once set aside in order to pro- 
 mote them ; but there was no complaint of proscription then. 
 Why should there be any now, only because they have to sub- 
 mit, in turn, to the common lot of earthly mutation? Had not 
 the members of Convention a right to vote for whom they 
 pleased? And what is to become of the liberty of choice, if an 
 unsuccessful candidate employs the press to impeach its ex- 
 ercise ? 
 
 ' Certainmen,'' continues the Editor, ' because they held certain 
 principles, — no matter how long their connexion with the coun- 
 sels of the Church, 7io matter how identified the parishes which 
 they represent, with its existence, — no matter hoiv great the self- 
 devotion and self-sacrifice of their past, nor the acknowledged 
 
17 
 
 value of their present services, were to be / roscribed. It is 
 to be presumed that these ' certain men ' are the unsuccessful 
 candidates already mentioned, and assuredly it is refreshing, 
 in those degenerate days, to hear of so much self-devotion and 
 self-sacrifice; but one is tempted to think of the proverb, ' Let 
 another praise thee, and not thine own mouth,' as entirely ap- 
 plicable to one, at least, of the gentlemen so highly commended. 
 The Editor proceeds, however, to give his readers the antithe- 
 sis. ' Certain men,'' says he, ' because they did not hold certain 
 principles, or held them lightly and to the ivind, no matter how 
 unconscious of jicist services, nor how incompetent of future, 
 were to be elevated to places of confidence and responsibility.^ 
 Alas ! to which of the clerical delegates is this intended to ap- 
 ])ly ? Is it exactly the language of truth and soberness, to talk 
 of ministerial brethren, who are in good repute for faithfulness 
 and efficiency, as being unconscious of past services and incom- 
 petent of future ? Who is this that judgeth another man's ser- 
 vant, and saith to his brother, ' Stand by, for I am holier than 
 thou ? ' 
 
 Let us pass on, however, to the next clause of this extraor- 
 dinary paragraph, in which the Editor speaks of the way in 
 which this Conventional victory was achieved. ' If,^ says he, 
 ' this were the fair expression of the Church in Jvlassachusetts, 
 if the people tvould have it so, there was nothing to be done 
 but to submit in patience. But when it appeared clearly to 
 be the effect of concert and exertion ; xohen clerical strength 
 teas brought into the State tvithin three weeks, and parishes 
 were galvanized into a spasmodic vitality for this special pur- 
 pose ; when it was seen and known that the act of Providence, 
 or the consciousness of a good cause, or pressure of engage- 
 ments, or, it must be added, culpable indifference, had pre- 
 pared the way for an unquestionable and confessed minority, 
 under drill, and loith auxiliary influences from another State, 
 to force men upon the Convention tchom the Convention did 
 not approve, and to give to the world the appearance of a 
 dynasty in its counsels which does not, and ivhichwe pray God., 
 never may exist. When these things were so, it seemed that 
 in no sense of duty to the truth, could silence be permitted, and 
 though submission to such a result might be matter of necessi- 
 ty, acquiescence in it icere treason to the Church.^ 
 
 The writer does not profess to understand these allusions. 
 But verv manifest it is, that they are totally unsupported by 
 3 
 
18 
 
 proof. It has already been shown, that the stronger evidence 
 of concert and preparation was clearly on the Editor's side. 
 What clergyman was brought into the State, and by whom, 
 he does not inform us ; but it may be presumed that the Bishop 
 knew, because it was necessary that such clergyman should 
 have obtained his approbation in order to take his seat in Con- 
 vention. What parishes were galvanized, and how this curious 
 application of Natural Philosophy was effected, he leaves his 
 readers to conjecture. By what mode he discovered, that 
 these operations were carried on for the special purpose of 
 leaving Dr. Morss and Mr. Doane out of the delegation to the 
 General Convention, he does not intimate. Who the clergyman 
 from another State was, that contrived to perform a feat, hith- 
 erto, certainly, unattempted in our Ecclesiastical history, viz. 
 forcing men upon the Convention whom the Convention did not 
 approve, and that too, by the very original instrumentality of 
 an unquestionable and confessed minority, remains equally the 
 subject of mystery. What he means by these proceedings 
 having given to the Church in Massachusetts, the appearance 
 of a dynasty, which does not, and, he prays God, never may 
 exist, it is as difficult for a common mind to conjecture. As- 
 suredly, if the term Dynasty be applicable to our Church at all, 
 it must bear reference to the government for the time being ; 
 and that government, when lawful, is vested in the Bishop, to 
 whom the clergy are bound, by vow, to render canonical obe- 
 dience. Wo be to that branch of our Church, wliere any 
 other dynasty is attempted to be established, than that which 
 is united to its Bishop. And wo to that Convention, in which 
 the influence of the members is found to be too strong for the 
 just influence of its head. The dynasty of the Church in 
 Massachusetts, is the dynasty of Bishop Griswold. The 
 Editor does not insinuate that this has been weakened or im- 
 paired. 
 
 As to the last strong expression, the Editor's notion of treason 
 must be somewhat peculiar. Acquiescence in the acts of any 
 legislative body, is usually supposed to be the characteristic of 
 a good citizen. It is the opposition to government which is 
 commonly considered as treasonable ; and how the desire to 
 sustain the Bishop, by putting into office, at a regular election, 
 those clergymen whose views harmonized with his, can be 
 called treason, or how this term can apply to an acquiescence 
 with such an election, it passes ordinary intellects to discover. 
 
19 
 
 But we leave this branch of accusation without further remark, 
 only referring to what was said, at the beginning, that the Edi- 
 tor does not, as he promises, confine himself io facts, but makes 
 his worst and heaviest accusations without any evidence what- 
 ever, assuming the grievances of which he complains, and in- 
 timating, in strong, but mysterious asseverations, charges alto- 
 gether distinct from his proofs, so cloudy and obscure, that they 
 insinuate far more than they express, and so undefined, that 
 disproval becomes impossible. If this be the style in which he 
 should like to be put upon his own trial, he must have as pe- 
 culiar an idea of justice as he appears to have of treason. 
 
 The concluding item of cur arraignment is, at last, at hand. 
 The Editor says, that, ' examining the elections under these con- 
 victions, and ivith these views, and appealing to former records 
 and to the constitution of the Church, it was ascertained, beyond 
 the shadow of a doubt, that the proceedings of the Convention 
 on the first day of its session, and of course the elections, were 
 in contravention of the express provisions of the 2d and 3d 
 articles of the constitution, and it was determined on, as due to 
 truth, to the Convention, to the Church every where, to estab- 
 lish the conviction. Accordingly, at the opening of the Con- 
 vention on the second day, Edward Jl. JVewton, Esq. rose and 
 called the attention of the Convention to an examination of the 
 unconstitutionality of the elections made by this body yesterday. 
 Whereupon it was moved by the Rev. Dr. JMorss, that the elec- 
 tions for Standirig Committee and delegates to the General Con- 
 vention, made by this Convention yesterday, being contrary to 
 the 2d and 3d articles of the constitution be hereby set aside 
 as null and void. This motion gave rise to an animated and 
 protracted debate ;' and after an amendment offered by Col. 
 Apthorp, which did not essentially vary the question, the mo- 
 tion was lost, the clergy being in favor of annulling the elections 
 by a vote of fourteen against eight, and the laity being opposed 
 to the motion by a vote of five congregations against three. 
 
 ^ Of the manner,'' says the Editor, ' in which the resolution of 
 Dr. Morss was opposed and its consequences sought to be 
 evaded, we will not speak. It will be sufficient in the sight of 
 all candid men, that it was opposed at all. To shrink from 
 the revisal of unconstitutional acts, to shrink from the expres- 
 sion of the sense of the Convention, whether they were or were 
 not constitutional, to resort to every parliamentary device, to 
 seek to apply to the proverbially informal proceedings of an 
 
20 
 
 Ecclesiastical Convention, the strict rules of the highest judicial 
 courts, and the specialities, the technicalities, the quibbling 
 criticisms that perplex the lowest, — short of an explicit confession 
 of it, we knoiv no more conclusive admission than this, of 
 wrong done, but to be sustained because the doers of it have the 
 power.'' Truly these are grave charges, and the writer ought 
 to feel thern the more, because, if there were wrong done in 
 opposing this nullifying motion, he had a full share in the doing 
 of it ; and therefore, the merits of the question must be explain- 
 ed, so as to show what arguments were used, and why they were 
 persisted in. 
 
 The constitutional provisions on which the motion was found- 
 ed, were these. 'Art. 2. The clergy and lay deputies in 
 Convention shall deliberate in one body, but shall vote in two 
 distinct orders, and the concurrence of both orders shall be ne- 
 cessary to give validity to every measure.' ' Art. 3. Each 
 congregation represented in Convention shall have one vote.' 
 
 The elections were unconstitutional, it was contended ; first, 
 because the clergy and laity did not vote in two distinct orders ; 
 2dly, because the lay delegation voted as individuals, and not by 
 parishes. This constitution was adopted about forty years ago, 
 and there was a new one which had been once approved, and 
 was at this time only waiting for a second vote to become the 
 law. In effect, it was passed the same day, within a few hours 
 after the motion to nullify was rejected. The difference be- 
 tween the language of the new and the old constitution on the 
 subject in debate, was, that the new constitution required the 
 same course to be taken, tvhen a division ivas called for , leaving 
 the Convention to vote in the common way, when a division was 
 not called for. 
 
 Now there is no doubt, that, on the mere letter of the old 
 constitution, it might well be questioned whether the proceed- 
 ings of the Convention on, the first day of its session, were regu- 
 lar. But in an instrument under which the Convention had 
 been acting for forty years, the first question was, what con- 
 struction had the Church in Massachusetts put upon it } for it 
 would evidently be idle to seek for a new practice under so old 
 a law, the more especially when that law was just about being 
 superseded by a new constitution, which provided the very same 
 course, in express words, that the Convention had actually 
 taken. 
 
21 
 
 As soon, liowever, as the motion to nullify was explained, the 
 question of practice was anticipated in a manner wliicli the 
 Editor of the Manifesto totally forgets to mention. Bishop 
 Griswold arose from his chair, and declared that he could not 
 sit tiiere if such a motion prevailed ; because, upon the principles 
 contended for, the Convention had been doing nothing for up- 
 wards of d)irty years. He added, that so far as he knew or 
 had ever heard, all the business had been done in the very 
 same mode as the business of yesterday, and that, in practice, 
 the course marked out by the constitution was only used, wdien 
 a division of the house was called for. 
 
 This statcmeuf, thus made by the venerable President of the 
 Convention, suggested to the mind of the writer a clear course 
 of action, in opposing the motion to nullify. And he sustained 
 the ground taken by the Bishop, upon the principle, tliat al- 
 though practice could not annul the law. yet it might restrain 
 the application of the constitution to the case of a division being 
 called ; 1st, because the instrument contained no negative words. 
 It provided indeed, one mode of voting, but did not declare that 
 there should be no other. 2dly, because its peculiar provisions 
 could always be enforced by any member of the Convention 
 who chose to call for a division, and those who did not choose 
 to make this call, hut actually united in the common mode of 
 electing, had no right to complain ; and odly, because the 
 framers of the constitution had the best opportunity of know- 
 ing their own meaning, and that they had established the prac- 
 tice which had continued, without interruption, ever since. The 
 writer relied chiefly, however, upon the necessity of rejecting 
 the principle contended for, because it would effectually destroy 
 the Convention, and be an act of legislative suicide. For if, as 
 It was insisted, every measure, in the words of the constitution, 
 must be voted for by orders, then the vote of adjournment 
 which continued the session must be nullified also. And since 
 the constitution directed the Convention to be held only on 
 Wednesday, and the day on which the objection was made, 
 was the Thursday following, and since it is unquestionable that 
 unless the House were regularly adjourned by a legal vote, its 
 session must expire on the day named, therefore it neces- 
 sarily resulted, that as soon as the house resolved to nullify the 
 measures of the preceding day, it would, by that very decision, 
 destroy its own being, and so the whole session must break up 
 in disgraceful confusion. Upon the same principle, it was 
 
22 
 
 shown, that we could have neither record nor constitution ; be- 
 cause we could only know that these were our records by our 
 faith in our secretary ; but the secretary was elected in the 
 same way, and therefore if we nullified one act on the princi- 
 ple insisted upon, we should reduce ourselves to the situation 
 of having neither officer or constitution, and thus bring ourselves 
 to the position presented by the Bishop, that the Church in 
 Massachusetts had been doing nothing for more than thirty 
 years. As for those who now complained, they had no right 
 whatever, because they had estopped themselves by their own 
 consent. Their alleged ignorance of the constitution was no 
 ground of objection, because it was their duty to have known 
 it ; and it is a well-settled maxim that ignorance of the law ex- 
 cuses no one. At the time the elections were made, they 
 thought the mode of voting as correct as others. They ac- 
 quiesced ; the tellers reported the result ; the secretary recorded 
 it ; it was as much a portion of our record as the constitution 
 itself, and it was too late to oppose it now. 
 
 In contravention of the Bishop's declaration that this was the 
 invariable practice, one or two instances were adduced from 
 the records, where it appeared that two of the parishes voted by 
 parishes, and not by the individual vote, or by the poll. But 
 these instances occurred about forty years ago, and they were 
 not cases of elections ; so that it remained uncontroverted by 
 any evidence whatever, that certainly for thirty years past, at 
 least, the proceedings of the Convention had been conducted 
 in no other mode than that which was now attempted to be set 
 aside, as unconstitutional and void. 
 
 A very able argument was delivered by Mr. Metcalf, of 
 Dedham, turning not only on the grounds above stated, but on 
 the additional point, that the word measure in the constitution 
 did not refer to elections, but to questions of debate ; an opin- 
 ion which was rendered very plausible by the fact that the con- 
 stitution prescribed no particular mode of voting in elections, 
 whether by ballot or otherwise, as if it were designed to leave 
 the whole matter to the discretion of the Convention. Two 
 other gentlemen of the legal profession, being all the lawyers 
 who were present, concurred. The Bishop addressed the 
 house several times during the debate, in order to convince the 
 advocates of this nullifying motion of their error, but in vain ; 
 and the question was put to the vote, after the day had been 
 almost consumed by it, and lost, as already mentioned ; the laity 
 
23 
 
 on this occasion, &s they have often done elsewhere, sustaining 
 their Bishop, and saving the credit of the Churcii. 
 
 These votes, when compared with those of the previous day, 
 are worthy of attention, because they demonstrate the fact that 
 two clergymen, the Rev. Mv. West, and Rev. jMr. Wolcott, 
 and more than half the laity, making togelher not less than nine- 
 teen members of the Convention, had gone home. The first 
 voles polled, show fifty-three votcrsjthe last shows only thirty-four. 
 The elections being closed on the first day, and no other business 
 of importance being expected, the second morning exhibited a 
 body very differently constituted from the first, so that even if 
 the elections could have been legally annulled, there was no 
 possibility of obtaining the sentiments of the whole Convention 
 upon another ticket. For all these reasons, of which the fact 
 last mentioned is a reason of equity, the accused resisted the 
 destructive motion, so unexpectedly made and so pertinaciously 
 urged upon them, in utter disregard to the best efforts of the 
 Bishop himself; and assuredly, they have never reflected upon 
 the course which they pursued, without increasing satisfaction, 
 to the present hour. 
 
 This, then, is a full and detailed account of the unworthy 
 parliamentary devices, the quibbling criticisms, the admission 
 of wrong done, and the sustaining of the wrong because ive 
 had the power, &ic. &lc., of which the Editor so hotly com- 
 plains. True, indeed, the writer was ready to acknowledge 
 that Dr. Morss and Mr. Doane wxre well entitled to the re- 
 spectful consideration of the Convention. He had himself 
 voted for them, and would have been gratified if their ticket 
 had succeeded. But after the elections were closed with the 
 acquiescence of all parties, he could not consent to throw the 
 Church into confusion, and make the Massachusetts Convention 
 a public laughing-stock, by nullifying and destroying its very 
 being, in order to please even these esteemed brethren. The 
 very idea seemed then, and seems still, so reckless and so wild, 
 that it furnishes a phenomenon in the history of the human in- 
 tellect to find good and well-meaning men carried away with 
 it. Had they succeeded, the Bishop must have left the house, 
 all who accorded with him must have followed, and the ' Ban- 
 ner of the Church ' would have been compelled to clothe its 
 columns in typographic mourning, when it recorded the suicide 
 of the Massachusetts Convention ; along with the edifying story 
 of the sagacity of Episcopalians, who could not find out the 
 
24 
 
 meaning of their Ecclesiastical constitution, although practising 
 under it for forty years, until the very day when they super- 
 seded it by a new one. 
 
 But the accused must take leave to complain, that in print- 
 ing this bitter invective against them, the Editor forgot to give 
 them the benefit of their Bishop's countenance. If they have, 
 indeed, committed such a grievous error in the construction of 
 Ecclesiastical law, it would have been but fair to tell the public 
 that he, who is by office an Ecclesiastical Judge, maintained the 
 same opinion. But either by a lapse of memory to which even 
 young men are sometimes liable, or for some other reason, 
 the Editor totally omits the sentiments and conduct of the 
 Bishop. He gives sundry little facts which, to the writer's 
 understanding, appeared altogether out of place in a public 
 history of a Convention; while he passes by the official course 
 of the President of that Convention. He speaks very strongly 
 of the majority of fourteen clergymen against eight, as afford- 
 ing conclusive evidence that the eight were in error ; but he 
 does not seem to have asked himself, how many of the opinions 
 of the younger clergy should be thrown into the scale, in order 
 to be a fair balance to the deliberate judgment of their Bishop. 
 The accused, however, desire it to be well remembered that 
 the course which they took, their Ecclesiastical head marked 
 out to them. And although it is true that a majority of their 
 clerical brethren preferred the opinion of Dr. Morss and Mr. 
 Doane, — although it is true that even the youthful deacon who 
 was ordained only the day before, with his solemn vows of 
 obedience fresh upon him, rose up and expressed himself in 
 preciseoppositiontothe declared sentimcntsof hisspiritual father, 
 — yet no man shall deprive the accused of the consciousness 
 that the Church in Massachusetts is that which adheres to her 
 Bishop, rather than even a majority of the clergy who choose 
 some other guide. And in this or in any other decision upon 
 Ecclesiastical questions, we maintain, by the fundamental law 
 of Episcopacy, that the sentiment of the Bishop, with a 
 minority of the clergy and a majority of the laity, is the senti- 
 ment of the Church in Massachusetts, — the declaration of the 
 Manifesto to the contrary notwithstanding. i his principle 
 follows from the very definition of the Episcopal Church. It 
 is the only Ecclesiastical principle v.hich can keep us in the 
 unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. It is the only 
 principle which can preserve us from confusion and strife and 
 
25 
 
 every evil work. We all know that it is much easier to say 
 ' Lord, Lord,' than to ' do the things wliich he commands us.' It 
 is much easier to contend about the apostolical succession, 
 than to ' obey them that have the rule over us,' ' esteeming 
 them highly in love for their works' sake.' But the Editor 
 and his adherents may rest assured, however unable they may 
 at present feel to relish the maxim, that if theoretica' Episco- 
 pacy be a good thing, practical Episcopacy must be much 
 better. 
 
 To sum up the whole, the writer believes it to be sufficiently 
 manifest from the narrative given, taken in connexion with the 
 demonstrative evidence subjoined, that the ' Manifesto ' is in- 
 deed an eloquent Philippic, displaying abundant talent and 
 ingenuity, but sadly deficient in sobriety and justice, to say 
 nothing of christian charity and discretion. That the accused 
 have formed no party and belong to none but the Church, of 
 which it is the first and cardinal peculiarity that they be united 
 to their Bishop. That in the whole of this affair they have 
 been endeavoring to exemplify a principle which their accusers 
 are always ready to praise, viz. the well-known maxim of 
 Ignatius, ' Do nothing without your Bishop.' And, finally, that 
 if there be either disturbance or strife in the Church of Massa- 
 chusetts, it only furnishes another commentary on the impor- 
 tance of keeping the Episcopal portion of the Ordination vow.* 
 
 * Inasmuch as these pages may possibly be perused by some who 
 are not familiar witii the system of our Church government, it may be 
 proper to state that Episcopalians maintain the establishment of three 
 orders in the ministry by the authority of the Apostles. To the first 
 of these three orders, viz. the Bishops, arc committed the permanent 
 functions of the Apostolic office, Ordination and Government, and the 
 other two orders, namely Priests and Deacons, promise obedience and 
 submission to their Bishop at the time of their ordination, respectively, 
 in the following terms. The Bishop asks llie Candidate for Deacon's 
 orders, 'Will you reverently obey your Bishop and other cliief minis- 
 ters, who, according to the Canons of the Church, may have the charge 
 and government over you, following witli a glad mind and will thsir 
 godly admonitions?' And the Candidate answers ' I will endeavor so 
 to do, the Lord being my lielpcr.' The same question is put to the 
 Candidate for Priest's orders, only with the additional words, ' and sub- 
 mitting yourself to their godly judgments ; ' and the answer is a little 
 more positive : ' I will so do, the Lord being my helper.' It may be 
 observed here, that although in the motlier Church of England, there 
 are many ranks in the hierarchy to whom tlie words 'other chief min- 
 isters' apply, such as Archdeacons, Deans, Canons, Prebendaries, &c., 
 in our branch of the Episcopal Church, the primitive simplicity pre- 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 That the Church has sustained any harm by the doings of 
 the Convention, is utterly denied. It is probably true enough, 
 that the violent and partial statement against which the accused 
 arethus compelled to defend themselves, together with the various 
 anonymous publications to which it gave occasion, has injured 
 the Church, and degraded her ministers in the opinion of many, 
 far and near. It is very probable that the author of the Mani- 
 festo has done more mischief by the rashness of that single act, 
 than the labors of many years may repair. And it ought to 
 teach all men, especially clergymen, a lesson of caudon, how 
 the dangerous facilities of the press are abused, since the same 
 intemperance which, when confined to conversation, evaporates 
 and is forgotten, when transferred to type, may become a 
 moral epidemic, diffusing its baneful influence to an incalcula- 
 ble extent, and invading the peace and comfort of thousands. 
 It is a wholesome adage that ' litera scripta manet,^ and those 
 who are fond of writing, and particularly of printing what they 
 write, would do well to adopt it for a motto. But all this is 
 wide of die doings of the Convention. That body assembled, 
 listened with great pleasure to an excellent sermon from Mr. 
 Doane on the Unity of the Spirit, elected its officers in quiet, 
 and adjourned in peace. And although on the next day some 
 members of the Convention produced a very painful fermenta- 
 tion, by attempting to nullify and destroy the proceedings of 
 the previous session, yet the Convention refused to sanction 
 the disorganizing principle, and closed its proceedings in har- 
 mony and order. There the matter ought to have ended. 
 Too much had been said already ; but it was only right to set 
 it down to the score of human infirmity, and the sooner it was 
 forgotten the better. The Convention did not enter a libel 
 on its journal, and scatter it to the winds of heaven. The 
 Church did not direct the printing of a ' Manifesto,' nor appoint 
 its author as the organ of her sentiments. The Bishop who is 
 the only permanent Executive of our Ecclesiastical system, did 
 
 vails, -which at present confines the application of these vows to the 
 Bishop only. And very manifest it is, that promises so made, at the 
 time of ordination, with an appeal to the help of God, and under all the 
 circumstances of an oath of the most solemn character, cannot lawful- 
 ly be trifled with, or lightly construed away. Good men may differ as 
 to the definition of this obedience and submission, and it is easy to 
 imagine times and circumstances when the effort to play the Episcopal 
 tyrant would make resistance a duty. But in our day, all the danger 
 seems to be upon the other side. 
 
27 
 
 not directly nor indirectly countenance an assumption, for which 
 it is believed that the experience of the American Cliurch 
 contains neither precedent nor parallel. And, if it be asked, 
 who has set up this new tribunal of censorship over Bishop 
 and clergy? we answer, in the language of the Prospectus of 
 the 'Banner' itself, that the paper was ' established solely on 
 iridividual responsibility.'' On the same individual responsi- 
 bility, then, let the doings of its Editor rest, and let the evil 
 consequences of this extraordinary arraignment, in which he 
 fulfils the treble office of party, witness, and judge, be placed to 
 his credit, and to the credit of those who choose to vouch for 
 him. The Church is free ! 
 
 But wc do not think it fair to rest this question here. The 
 doings of the Convention gave the Bishop a Standing Commit- 
 tee, the majority of whom, in the clerical branch, may be relied 
 on to accord with his views and strengthen the wholesome in- 
 fluence of his advice and example. The candidates formerly 
 rejected, have been ordained, and are now quietly and happily 
 performing their ministerial duties to regular parishes, previous- 
 ly destitute, and in danger of falling into decay. And the laity 
 of the Church have discovered the value and importance of that 
 admirable feature in our Ecclesiastical constitution, which en- 
 ables them, in times of difficulty, to rally round their Bishop 
 and sustain him in the official government which belongs to his 
 station. Nor, after all, is it so much to be lamented that even 
 the delegation to the General Convention should be so consti- 
 tuted, as to show to the Church at large, the substantial respect 
 in which the character of Bishop Griswold is held in Massa- 
 chusetts. It is well that the principle of unity should be car- 
 ried out as much as may be, so long as there is, in our Bishops, 
 no desire to usurp authority, and so long as there is, in our 
 clergy and laity, no tame and implicit servility of acquiescence. 
 Of neither of these can any man be afraid, who knows the 
 Cliurch in Massachusetts. A ruler more meek, and a people 
 more free, the dream of the poet could hardly picture. 
 
 And now that the writer has closed his task, he trusts that 
 he has redeemed his pledge to perform it, without ' returning 
 railing for railing,' or forgetting the maxims of christian tempe- 
 rance and moderation. Any serious departure from these 
 maxims he would be among the first to acknowledge and deplore. 
 He is fully aware that he should make the largest allowances 
 
28 
 
 for the errors of his brethren, 'remembering that he himself, 
 also, is compassed with infirmity.' Personal unkindness to- 
 wards any of them, he has none 5 and his unwillingness to dis- 
 play even the appearance of it, would have led him to bear the 
 imputation of being one of those who ' hate the light, lest their 
 deeds should he reproved,'' rather than take up the pen of argu- 
 ment, if the character of others and the interests of the Church 
 had not induced his friends to put this defence upon him. The 
 truth indeed required ' plainness of speech;' but the writer has 
 anxiously endeavored to be on his guard against the common 
 vice of controversy, where the necessity of self-defence is made 
 an excuse for aggression. If he does not greatly deceive him- 
 self, he has long since framed the best apology he could for the 
 very mistakes which he has been called upon to rectify. He holds 
 himself ready to allow the virtues, to admire the talents, and to 
 rejoice in the usefulness of those, whose Ecclesiastical and edi- 
 torial course he has been compelled to disapprove ; and while 
 he does not affect to be insensible to injury, as he trusts that he 
 is not ungrateful for favor, he feels that it ought to be very 
 easy for him to forgive, who has so much to be forgiven. 
 
 JOHN H. HOPKINS. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The foregoing Defence has been submitted to me in manu- 
 script. So far as my knowledge and recollection of facts stated, or 
 circumstances alluded to, extend, it appeared to me to be cor- 
 rect; and I humbly hope that its publication, through God's 
 blessing, may serve to rectify some wrong impressions, respect- 
 ing our late Convention. Alexander V. Griswold, 
 
 Bishop of the Eastern Diocese. 
 
 I have examined the foregoing Defence, and have no hesita- 
 tion whatever in certifying, that I think it substantially correct. 
 
 T. Edsox, 
 Rector of St. Ami's Church, Loivell. 
 
 Having read the foregoing very able and conclusive refu- 
 tation of the Manifesto, the following testimony is offered in re- 
 lation to facts within my personal knowledge. 
 
 It is a matter of notoriety that the state of the Church in Massa- 
 chusetts was peaceful and harmonious until recently. This re- 
 sulted, however, not from the absence of diversity of sentiment 
 in polity and doctrine, but of any such intolerant measures on the 
 part of those who were in power, and who assumed to be higher 
 than mere churchmen, as rendered resistance a conscientious 
 duty. During the last two or three years, the church, under 
 the conduct of the Rev. Mr. Doane, has been assuming a bellig- 
 erent attitude. In the management of the 3Iissionary Society, 
 of the official concerns of the church, and of the more private 
 subordinate means of giving character to a cause, the gener- 
 al aspect of measures was decidedly partizan. Harmony 
 was preserved by submission and conciliation on the part of a 
 minority of the clergy, in which they were in no small degree 
 aided by the able counsels and peaceful spirit of one whose re- 
 moval we have had occasion to lament, and still more by those 
 
30 
 
 of him who has been so eminently an example of christian 
 meekness. 
 
 The peace of the Church might have continued undisturbed, 
 but for the occurrence of some such oppressive and high-hand- 
 ed stretch of power as that of the Standing Committee in re- 
 fusing to extend the dispensary provision of the Canon to two 
 Candidates for orders, in the face of ample testimonials to their 
 fitness, of the most pressing necessities of the Church, and of 
 the anxious desire of the Bishop. This, and not any party ob- 
 ject, was the single cause of division in the recent elections 
 of the members of the Standing Committee ; and it was in an- 
 ticipation of another still more intolerant measure that a di- 
 vision occurred in relation to delegates to the General Con- 
 vention. I refer to a threatened opposition on the part of Mr. 
 Doane and his friends to the consecration of the Rev. Messrs. 
 Smith and Mcllvaine as not ' apt and meet ' for the office of 
 Bishop on the sole ground of their not being high Churchmen. 
 
 It would extend this communication too far to go into the 
 particulars of the palpable misapprehension of facts which per- 
 vades the unfortunate Manifesto. It may be sufficient to op- 
 pose a denial, and to challenge proof in regard to the charges 
 of unjustifiable measures and partizan arts in accomplishing 
 the results of the late elections. An examination of one or two 
 of them will afford a clue to the explanation of the residue. 
 
 The prayer meeting which was held on the morning of the 
 Convention at Bedford St. Chapel, of which public notice was 
 given, and which was begun, continued, and ended in the 
 spirit of devotion, has been branded with the charge of being 
 perverted to unholy and partizan purposes, on the ground of a 
 single inquiry being made, after the conclusion of the services, 
 and as we were about separating, in relation to what was in- 
 tended to be done in the Convention ; although the question 
 was instantly met and silenced by an intimation that the time 
 and place were unsuitable for the subject. The explanation 
 was given by the writer to Mr. Doane as being susceptible of 
 the clearest proof, and he professed himself satisfied with it. 
 Yet it was subsequently repeated, and at length found its way 
 into a public journal, in the form of a deliberate charge. 
 
 The only remaining point that I shall notice is the perver- 
 sion of a conversation held between the writer and Mr. Newton 
 respecting the ticket for delegates, so as to implicate my char 
 acter to a painful, if not a ruinous extent. The charge is as 
 follows — ' For the delegation to the General Convention, it 
 was expressly stated to Mr. Newton, that no ticket in opposi- 
 tion to that formed by filling the vacancies in the old, would 
 be run. But little confidence, of course, could be placed, 
 
31 
 
 after the recent experience in relation to the Standing Com- 
 mittee, in such a declaration.'' 
 
 I subjoin the testimony of ]\Ir. Newton and the acknowledg- 
 ment of Mr. Doane as to the utter groundlessness of this cruel 
 and libellous charge. In answer to a request on my part for 
 explanation, Mr. Newton wrote me as follows: — 'I did not 
 so report the conversation that took place between us as to 
 justify the accusation of Mr. Doane, that you disavowed the in- 
 tention of running a counter ticket. The instant I saw that 
 statement in the " Banner of the Church," 1 wrote to Mr. 
 Doane, and acquainted him that no such understanding existed; 
 and he has promised to make the proper explanation at the proper 
 time. So careful was I, in this respect, that I did not allow a 
 single post to escape me without this explanation being made.' 
 
 These explanations may be sufficient to demonstrate that the 
 rashness of this public accuser of his brethren in taking up with 
 loose reports, aided by a misguided imagination and excited 
 feelings, gave the coloring of criminality to the most guiltless 
 and justifiable occurrences in connexion with the late Conven- 
 tion of Massachusetts. John West, 
 
 Rector of St. Thomas''s Church, Taunton. 
 
 Having read, in manuscript, the foregoing Defence, &c., the 
 subscriber freely offers, in reference to it, the foIlo»vinT: — 
 
 He had been a clergyman of the Diocese of JMassachusetts 
 for a few days only before its late Convention ; and is, therefore, 
 destitute of any personal acquaintance with the state of the 
 Church previous to that time. With the doings of the Conven- 
 tion itself, however, and with what has since transpired as its 
 consequences, he is familiar. 
 
 So far, then, as the facts, embraced in the foregoing defence, 
 fall within the period of his residence in Boston, he can testify 
 that they are not only substantially, but even minutely cor- 
 rect ;— while the reflections and reasonings upon them are such 
 as meet his entire and cordial approbation. 
 
 With regard to the meeting, at which he was present, for 
 early devotion on the morning of the first day of the Conven- 
 tion, he declares his entire ignorance of any circumstance, de- 
 rogatory to its character as a meeting for purely religious ex- 
 ercises. It was begun, continued and ended in a reljo-ious 
 manner, and without any consultation, in reference to the busi- 
 ness and Elections of the Convention. The only remark even, 
 which he heard after the close of the exercises, in relation to 
 that business and those elections, was promptly met by the sen- 
 timent, that neither the time nor the place was appropriate to 
 
32 
 
 the subject. No religious meeting, he believes, was ever more 
 strictly confined than this to its proper object, prayer and ex- 
 hortation to christian duty. 
 
 During the transactions of the first day of Convention, he 
 saw no evidence of previous party organization amongst those 
 who made the elections, which, on the succeeding day, were 
 sought to be set aside. He was aware of no general ticket 
 agreed on by them. He witnessed no stratagem. He heard 
 of no secret concert. That there was a disposition, on the part 
 of different individuals, to elect different candidates, he was, in- 
 deed, apprized. But, during the whole election, he saw nothing, 
 at least amongst those, who are defended in the foregoing state- 
 ments, which is not usual in all similar Conventional elec- 
 tions ; — nothing, unbecoming the serious importance of the 
 business in which they were engaged. 
 
 As to the debate on the second day of Convention, although 
 the motion, which introduced it, was, to him, a matter of utter 
 surprise, yet he saw nothing in the spirit, with which, on the 
 part of those who maintained the constitutionality of the elec- 
 tions, it was conducted, but what was dignified and befitting 
 an Ecclesiastical Assembly. To his mind, the arguments 
 used by both the Bishop and the members who accorded with 
 him, were singularly convincing ; and to the very close of the 
 discussion, he was constrained to admire the propriety as well as 
 the force with which the latter, in support of their Bishop and 
 of preceding Conventions, met and resisted what appeared to 
 him an altogether unparalleled movement in the annals of Con- 
 ventional doings. 
 
 Finally, as to what has transpired since the Convention, in 
 the article in the 'Banner of the Church,' and in the proposal of 
 E. A. Newton, Esq. to the delegates to the General Conven- 
 tion, he fully concurs in the statements and Defence by the 
 Rev. Dr. Hopkins, to which this is appended. 
 
 JoHX S. Stone, 
 Rector of St. PanPs Church, Boston. 
 
 Having read the foregoing Defence, I hereby declare that, to 
 the best of my knowledge and belief, it is substantially correct. 
 
 So far as my knowledge and belief extend, the elections 
 were conducted as they have been from time immemorial, and 
 effected by as fair and honorable means as on any former occa- 
 sion. 
 
 It has been said, that the Episcopal visitation holden at 
 Taunton and at other places in May last, was abused, by the use of 
 partizan arts, and for the promotion of party purposes. Having 
 
33 
 
 been present on these several occasions, it affords me much 
 satisfaction to state, that such was not the case ; unless the piety 
 and zeal evinced by the Bishop and clergy present, in perform- 
 ing divine service, and preaching the gospel, for several succes- 
 sive days, can be so construed. 
 
 Nor have I knowledge of any parish being organized, or re- 
 vived for temporary purposes, or by artificial means, with a 
 view to any special results having relation to that Convention. 
 
 As it has been more than intimated, however, that such was the 
 case, in regard to the ancient church at Hopkinton, perhaps the 
 following facts, may serve to show that such an assertion has 
 no foundation in truth. 
 
 The church in that place was first established about the year 
 1747, by the Rev. Roger Price, Commissary to the Bishop of 
 London. That gentleman endowed it with a valuable glebe, of 
 nearly two hundred acres, for the benefit of a clergyman per- 
 forming service, according to the Liturgy of the Church there, 
 forever. This Church, like many others in our land, from mea- 
 sures growing out of the revolutionary war, became almost ex- 
 tinct ; nor, until 1810, was any attempt made for its resuscitation. 
 At that time, an act of incorporation was obtained from the State 
 Legislature. A small, but neat edifice was erected, and consecra- 
 ted to the service of Almighty God, by Bishop Griswold, in 1818; 
 since M'hich, to the present time, it has been considered a mis- 
 sionary station, supplied at intervals, and for a longer or shorter 
 period, by the Rev. Addison Searle, Wm. T. Potter, James H. 
 Tyng, James Morss Tappan, 6lc, 
 
 For more than ten years past, being the nearest Episcopal 
 clergyman, I have occasionally visited tiiis vacant parish, for the 
 purpose of holding divine service, &c. ; and during the greater 
 part of 1831-2 officiated there one Sunday in almost every month. 
 So favorable was the prospect of this little church becoming 
 numerous and flourishing, that, in the spring of the present year 
 the Rev, Messrs. Doane, Wells, Blake, Croswell, Boyle, Price, 
 &LC., at the suggestion of the Rev. Dr. Eaton, consented to offici- 
 ate there, each one Sunday, until some clergyman could be found 
 disposed to assume the charge of this congregation. 
 
 At the visitation before referred to, the Rt. Rev. the Bishop, 
 admitted Mr. Ephraim Munroe to the holy order of Deacons, in 
 St. Thomas's Church, Taunton. Being in the city soon after 
 endeavoring, in conjunction with Mr. Doane, to secure the 
 services of some one of the clergy to officiate the following 
 Sunday at Hopkinton ; finding this impracticable, as it was the 
 plan just named, of the settled clergy supplying tiiem regularly 
 for a time ; Mr. Doane inquired why Mr. Munroe, would not 
 go there? In reply, it was stated, that there was a disposition 
 
34 
 
 evinced to retain him in R, Island ; and that being a native of 
 that State, he might prefer remaining there. The question was 
 then proposed, whether the Missionary Society would appropriate 
 a hundred dollars for Mr. Munroe's benefit, should he consent to 
 become their missionary at Hopkinton ? Mr. Doane did not 
 know the amount of funds the society might have at their dis- 
 posal, but thought, that on application, such an appropriation 
 would be made. 
 
 I held no correspondence with Mr. Munroe, in regard to his 
 going to Hopkinton, nor had I the pleasure of again seeing him, 
 until he very unexpectedly called at my residence, and requested 
 a letter of introduction to the wardens of that Church. This 
 being cheerfully granted, he proceeded to the place of his desti- 
 nation, and has continued there to the present time, in the faith- 
 ful, and it is hoped successful, discharge of the duties pertaining 
 to his sacred oflice. 
 
 Mr. Munroe, of course, attended the annual Convention, and 
 took his seat among the members of that body, as other clergy- 
 men in like circumstances had always done, no man forbidding 
 him. He was attended by a lay delegate ; and it will be found 
 on inspecting the journals, that, no Church in this Common- 
 wealth, destitute of a settled Pastor, has so uniformly been 
 represented in Convention as St. Paul's, Hopkinton. 
 
 It may also be proper for me to state, having been present at 
 a 'prayer meeting' held in Bedford Street Chapel, on the morn- 
 ing of June 20th, that said meeting was not, to the best of my 
 knowledge and belief, used in any way for party purposes. And, 
 further, that the sole object of the clergy in remaining, for a few 
 minutes after the congregation had retired from the chapel, was, 
 to make arrangements for similar services during the session of 
 our Convention. This, and no other business was transacted 
 there. 
 
 That God may overrule these unhappy divisions to the glory 
 of his name, and for the good of his Church, is the fervent 
 prayer of Alfred L. Baury, 
 
 Rector of St. Marifs Church, JYewton. 
 
 As it respects the alleged charges in the 44th number 
 of the Banner of the Church, against a number of the 
 clergy and laity of this Commonwealth, — I hereby testify to 
 the following facts : — 1st. That, until our Convention of 
 1829, the most perfect harmony and union existed among 
 our brethren. Since that period, however, an increasing dif- 
 ference of opinion has prevailed, on several important sub- 
 
S5 
 
 jects. — 2d. As it respects the late visit of our beloved Bishop, 
 to Bridgewater, Hanover, Marshficld, Stc, it was not abused 
 to any party purposes whatever, to my knowledge or belief. 
 — 3d. No parish has been organized or revived in this Common- 
 wealth for any temporary or party purpose, to my knowledge 
 or belief — 4th. I was present at the prayer meeting in Bed- 
 ford Street Chapel, on the morning of June 20th ; but am 
 wholly ignorant of its being abused to any party purpose what- 
 ever, nor do I believe it was so abused. — 5th. As it respects 
 the choice of Standing Committee and delegates to the General 
 Convention, I know of no stratagems or unfair means being 
 used, but believe the result of the elections to be the honest 
 and conscientious voice of the Church in this Commonwealth. 
 
 Calvin Wolcot, 
 Rector of St. Andreiv^s Church, Taunton. 
 
 With respect to the alleged charges which appeared in the 
 44th number of the Banner of the Church, against a number 
 of our brethren, (clerical and lay) in allusion to the proceed- 
 ings of our late Convention, I hereby testify to the following 
 facts. 
 
 1st. That when I took charge of the Parish of Trinity 
 Church, Bridgewater, in April, 1831, I was perfectly sensible 
 that a serious difference of sentiment and opinion then existed 
 among our brethren, upon some points greatly affecting the 
 prosperity of the church. 
 
 2d. That if the elections of Standing Committee and dele- 
 gates to the General Convention, (in this State) were effected 
 as the result of jiarty organization, or secret concert, I can 
 only say, / am ignorant of it. That we frequently spoke to 
 one another, however, upon the subject of existing evils, and 
 how they might be remedied, I do not deny ; but so far as my 
 knowledge extends, it was done in the most frank and open 
 manner. 
 
 3d. That, as it respects the late visit of our venerable Dio- 
 cesan, to Taunton, Bridgewater, &c., it was not at all abused 
 by the use of any partizan arts, or for the promotion of any 
 partizan purposes whatever, to the best of my knowledge and 
 belief; and 1 humbly hope and pray, that the purposes for which 
 it was undertaken, viz., the glory of God, and the extension 
 or building up of the Redeemer's kingdom, may be fullij real- 
 ized. 
 
 4th. That no parish has been recently organized or revived 
 for any temporarij or party purpose, within the limits of this 
 
36 
 
 Commonwealth, to my knowledge, with a view of securing any 
 special result in the elections or other doings of the late Con- 
 vention. 
 
 5th. That I attended the prayer meeting at Bedford Street 
 Chapel, on the morning of the 20th June last, but am entirely 
 ignorant of its being abused to any party purposes whatever. 
 
 Matt. Munroe, 
 Minister of Trinity Church, Bridgewater. 
 
 Whereas an editorial article in the 44th number of a paper, 
 called the ' Banner of the Church,' sets forth allegations which 
 charge a large portion of the clergy, and a majority of the laity, 
 who were members of the Massachusetts Convention in June 
 last, with unfair and dishonorable conduct in relation to the 
 election of Standing Committee and delegates to the General 
 Convention, the undersigned, lay delegates to the Convention 
 first named, do hereby declare that we believe said allegations 
 to be both unjust and untrue. Henry Codman, 
 
 James C. Dunn, 
 Benjamin Howard, 
 Thomas W. Haskins, 
 Theron Metcalf, 
 Elisha Thayer, 
 John Howard, 
 John Parnell, 
 Stephen B. Ives. 
 
 The construction given to the constitution of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of the State of Massachusetts, by the late 
 Convention, on the second day of its session, having been cen- 
 sured in the 44th number of the Banner of the Church, as detailed 
 in the foregoing defence, I have been requested to state a fact 
 within my own knowledge, which shows, that the question was 
 not a new one, but had been settled, as far as the opinion of 
 the Convention could settle it, in the manner stated by the 
 Bishop of the Diocese. 
 
 Some eight or ten years ago, at a Convention held at St, 
 Paul's Church, Boston, one of the members called for the read- 
 ing of the constitution. I was at the time a member. I well 
 recollect, that there appeared to me an apparent difference be- 
 tween our manner of proceeding, and the words of the con- 
 stitution. 
 
 I had never known an instance of voting by orders, though I 
 had often been a member of the Convention. One of the clergy 
 
37 
 
 r 
 
 stated, that the construction of the constitution had been settled 
 by practice ; that from the adoption of the constitution, voting 
 by orders had not been deemed necessary, unless called for by 
 some member present. To this there appeared to be a general 
 assent. On this occasion no motion was made, and I presume 
 no notice was taken of it on the record. I know not whether 
 any member then present, except myself, recollects the dis- 
 cussion ; but I considered it as settled, that unless a vote by 
 orders were called for by some member, the votes might be 
 given in the usual way. James C. Merrill. 
 
 Although it is entirely unusual to insert the whole of any publication, 
 to which it is thought necessary to reply, yet, in the present instance, it 
 has been determined that the original ' Manifesto ' should be given ver- 
 batim, in order that every reader, who desires it, may judge for himself, 
 both as to the accuracy of the quotations, and the violence of the provo- 
 cation. 
 
 [Extract from tlic ' Banner of the Churcli,' published Juno 30th, 1832.] 
 
 CONVENTION OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 This Ecclesiastical body held its annual session, by appointment, on 
 Wednesday, the 20th instant, in Christ Church, in the city of Boston. 
 The Rt. Rev. Bishop Griswold presided; and 2G Clergymen, and 
 39 lay delegates, representing 21 parishes, were present. The Rev. 
 Thomas W. Coit was re-elected Secretary, and, in his absence, on a 
 journey for the recovery of his health, the Rev. William Croswell 
 was elected Secretary, and the Rev. William T. Potter Assistant 
 Secretary, pro tern. Morning prayers, at the opening of the Conven- 
 tion, were read by the Rev. Titus Strong, Rector of St. James' 
 Church, Greenfield, and the Convention Sermon preached by the Rev. 
 George W. Doane, Rector of Trinity Church, Boston, from Philip- 
 pians i. 27; Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for 
 the faith of the Gospel. The Convention, by a standing rule, declines 
 to print any sermon delivered before it. At the request, however, of 
 the members of the Convention, presented as individuals, the Sermon 
 has been put to press. — The Rev. George C V. Eastman was admit- 
 ted to the order of Deacons, and the holy communion administered 
 by the Bishop, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Strong. — There were also, dur- 
 ing the session of the Convention, and by an unanimous vote, early 
 morning prayers on Thursday, in Trinity Church, by the Bishop; and 
 on the same day the usual morning service at the opening of the Con- 
 vention by the Rev. James Monss, D.D., Rector of St. Paul's Church, 
 Newburyport; a sermon in Trinity Church, at 3, P. M., by appointment 
 of the Bishop, by the Rev. Salmon Wheaton, Rector of Trinity 
 Church, Nev.'port, R. 1., from St. Luke xi. 32; The men of Nineveh 
 shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and con- 
 demn it, for they repented at the j)reaching of Jonas; and a sermon in 
 
38 
 
 St. Paul's Church at 7, P. M., also by appointment of the Bishop, by 
 the Rev. Titus Strong, from Amos vi. 1 ; IVo to them that are at ease in 
 Zion. 
 
 There was no extraordinary business transacted at the Convention, 
 though some of the ordinary business, as will be seen below, was done in 
 an extraordinary manner, and led to extraordinary results. Passing this 
 over, which occupied the greater part of Thursday, the remaining busi- 
 ness was the adoption of the new constitution, certain amendments to 
 which were laid over for adoption at the next Convention ; the appoint- 
 ment of the Rev. Daniel L. B. Goodwin and the Rev. William T. Potter, 
 as preachers before the next Convention ; and the nomination of the Rev. 
 Dr. Eaton, the Rev. Mr. Doane, the Rev. Mr. Ballard, Dr. E. H. Robbins, 
 and H. Codnian, Esq., as Trustees of the General Seminary. — The next 
 Convention is to be held in Trinity Church, Boston, on the third Wednes- 
 day in June next ensuing. 
 
 Standing Committee, the Rev. George W. Doane, the Rev. John S. 
 Stone, the Rev. 7'heodore Edson, George Brinley, Esq., Henry Codman, 
 Esq., Joseph Foster, Esq. — Delegates to the General Convention, the Rev. 
 Theodore Edson, the Rev. John West, the Rev. John S. Stone, the Rev. 
 Alfred L. Baury, Edward A. Newton, Esq., William A. Crocker, Esq., 
 Solomon D. Townsend, M. D., Edward Tuckerman, Esq. The circum- 
 stances connected with these elections were so peculiar, so wholly unpre- 
 cedented, and so ominous, as we think, of evil to the Church, that a de- 
 tailed account is called for, as well to prevent misunderstanding as to 
 enforce upon our brethren in other places, and those who may come after 
 us, in these, a salutary admonition. We shall proceed to furnish it with- 
 out fear or favor, speaking the truth, and endeavoring to speak it in love. 
 If it be said that statements so particular and personal are of questionable 
 propriety, we answer, that before the adoption of the measures which we 
 feel called upon to discountenance, no consideration should have led us to 
 such a course. The evil is now done. Representations of it, distorted 
 and exaggerated, are of course abroad. There should be somewhere an 
 authentic and unquestionable narrative. Such ours shall be. We shall 
 state facts only ; and only such as can be substantiated by legal evidence. 
 It is a painful necessity that we feel is thus laid on us. We meet its 
 requisitions not so much in self-defence, as for the benefit of others, — that 
 they may be on their guard against the stratagems which we have been 
 compelled to witness ; that they may see that where injuries so sustained 
 cannot be retrieved, a protest may at least be recorded. We should gladly 
 have kept silence. It is pain and grief to us to speak. But the record of 
 the election.s will be supposed to carry with it the expression of the prin- 
 ciples of the Church in Massachusetts. Such is not the truth. We 
 are concerned to make this contradiction, not more in justice to ourselves, 
 than to obviate the influence of a contrary belief on the interests of the 
 Church at large. 
 
 We musi go back a little to make our Manifesto the more intelligible 
 and the more complete. Previously to the Convention of which we 
 write, whatever divisions in sentiment there may have existed among the 
 Churchmen of Massachusetts, they were never made apparent in the Con- 
 vention. There, the proceedings have been almost always in perfect har- 
 mony ; or, if an honest difference of opinion were expressed, it bore no 
 marks of a division on those great and permanent principles which indi- 
 cate the existence of parties. In the Convention of 1831, for instance, 
 several important measures were earnestly debated, but it was with the 
 warmth of individual conviction, not of partisan devotion. There were 
 diff'erent opinions maintained, but a single interest. The elections were, 
 as in all former cases, harmonious : no division of tickets, no disagreement, 
 
39 
 
 it is believed, as to a single individual. These were, for the Standing 
 Committee, the Rev. Messrs. Doane, Potter, and Boyle, and Messrs. Brin- 
 ley, Codman, and Clark ; for the dilcgation to the General Convention, the 
 Rev. Dr. Morss, the Rev. Messrs. Potter, Doane, and Parker, and Messrs. 
 Newton, Robbins, Sargent, and Crocker. During the whole recess of the 
 Convention, until within two months, nothing was heard of dissatisfaction 
 or division. There appeared to be a perfect unity of interest in the prose- 
 cution of the affairs of the Church. The persons of whom we now com- 
 plain were sedulous and constant in /juWzc declarations that we were all 
 united, — that there was no party in the fhurch in Massachusetts. In the 
 latter part of the month of April, the Standing Committee were to hold a 
 regular quarterly meeting, at which'an application of some importance was 
 to be made, — the particulars of the case for simplicity's sake, we now omit, 
 but are in perfect preparation, if called for, to defend it to the uttermost, — 
 the result of which, interesting to several individuals, was to be determin- 
 ed by a reference to Canonical provisions. Previous to this meeting, great 
 pains were taken to prejudge the case, and foreslal the decision of the Com- 
 mittee ; and it was more than intimated that if the leading thus suggested 
 was not followed, the Standing Committee must be, in tlie dialect of the 
 day, ' reformed.' They met, and decided the case, as they conscientious- 
 ly believed, according to the Canons, and, as their unanimous resolution 
 on record declares, in reference to the best interests of the Cliurch. After 
 this, it is well known that the menaces of ' reform ' were repeated, and 
 that great pains were taken, and in one instance at least, under the favor- 
 able circumstances of an Ecclesiastical visitation, to enlist clerical influ- 
 ence to carry it into effect. At the time of the Convention, there was 
 among the clergy and laity more or less consultation as to the manner in 
 which the vacancies in the two tickets (the Rev. Mr. Potter having re- 
 moved, and Mr. Clark having died.) should be filled, and as to other 
 changes necessary to be made for ensuring, in regard to the delegation to 
 the General Convention, a full attendance. No caucus was held, and no 
 plans were organized : but it was generally understood that the va- 
 cancies in the Standing Committee were to be filled with tlie names of the 
 Rev. Mr. Coit, and Josepli Foster, Esq.; while, in the delegation to the 
 General Convention, the Rev. Mr. Stone was to succeed the Rev. Mr. 
 Potter, and the Rev. Air. Parker give way to the Rev. Mr. Edson, who had 
 before been in the representation : — the lay delegation to be, E. A. Newton, 
 J. T. Apthorp, H. Codman, and J. W. Treadwell, Esqrs. For conveni- 
 ence' sake, some tickets were written, in accordance with this understand- 
 ing, but there was no general concert, and no plan of efforts to ensure suc- 
 cess ; — simply because, being thought a good ticket, and made without re- 
 ference to personal or party interest, it would go, it was supposed, of 
 course, and perhaps unanimously. It was not until after the religious e.x- 
 ercises at the opening of the Convention that any intimation to the con- 
 trary was heard. It was tlien stated to the present writer that a ticket was 
 in circulation, from which, with the exception of a single layman, the for- 
 mer members of the Standing Committee were entirely excluded, and he 
 was referred to the Rev. Mr. West, as one with whom any conference on 
 the subject might be held. The Convention had just been exhorted earn- 
 estl}', and in terms of which a very unanimous approbation was expressed, 
 to stand fast in one spirit, and strive togrtlicr with ojie mind for the faith of 
 the Gospel ; and in that spirit it was felt that the matter ought to be, and, 
 it was believed, might be, adjusted. To the desire expressed to Mr. West, 
 that all division of interest should be avoided, and but one ticket run, he 
 witii apparent cordiality assented ; and after a conversation, which it is be- 
 lieved was as free and frank and friendly, on the one side, as it certainly 
 was on the other, the parties separated, with a general agreement as to the 
 
40 
 
 persons to be supported, and a promise on the part of Mr. West, that, if 
 found possible, on consultation with his friends, but one ticket should be 
 run. The Convention then adjourned for dinner, and the feeling on the 
 writer's part, which he heartily expressed and encouraged in others, was, 
 that the Convention would go on, as always before, in perfect harmony ; 
 and that, the fears of division and dissension being dispersed, the exhorta- 
 tion of the Apostle would be felt and followed by all. At the opening of 
 the afternoon session, Mr. West was called on for the answer of his friends, 
 and, to the astonishment of all who had lieard of the former conversation, 
 his reply was, that no agreement could be made, and that the ticket for the 
 Standing Committee was the following : Rev. Messrs. Baurj', Edson, and 
 Stone, and Messrs. S. A. Parker, Codman, and Howard. The election then 
 ensued, and resulted, without effort or intervention on the part of those 
 who voted for the former Committee, as follows : 
 
 ' The Rev. Mr. Strong, from tlis Committee, reported that tlie whole number of votes 
 collected was 53 ; necessary to a choice, 27 ; — ;ind the following gentlemen, having re- 
 ceived more than that number, were returned as duly elected ; From the Clergy, the Rev. 
 George W. Doane ; from the Laity, George Brinley, Esq., Henry Codman, Esq., Joseph 
 Foster, Esq. 
 
 ' The places of two of the Clerical membsrs of the Standing Committee being still 
 unsupplied, the Convention, on motion, proceeded to a second ballot, the same Committee 
 as before acting as tellers, and the followng gentlemen were returned as duly elected to 
 supply those vacancies, viz. the Rev. John S. Stone, and the Rev. Theodore Edson.' 
 Journal, p. 10. 
 
 The conference thus far alluded to, it will be seen, was entirely in 
 reference to the Standing Committee. For the delegation to the General 
 Convention, it was expressly stated to Mr. Newton, that no ticket in op- 
 position to that formed by filling the vacancies in the old, and which, so 
 far from being an exclusive ticket, contained three of the names returned 
 as elected, would be run. But little confidence, of course, could be placed, 
 after the recent experience in relation to the Standing Committee, in such 
 a declaration. It was, however, too late to agree upon any course ; and if 
 it had not been, there was no disposition to attempt an organization, even 
 on the ground of retaliation. The result of tlie election, which immediate- 
 ly ensued, appears from the Journal. 
 
 Thus was it seen, for the first time, that an organization on party prin- 
 ciples existed in the Church of Massachusetts; that it contemplated no- 
 thing less than an entire proscription of those in whom former Conven- 
 tions had, year after year, reposed their confidence ; that it was concerted 
 and carried into effect secretly, by all the aids and appliances which in 
 political warfare are but tolerated ; and that in accomplishing its purposes, 
 neither the welfare of the Church, nor the rights of parishes and individu- 
 als, nor the proprieties of time, or place, or person, were to be at all re- 
 garded. Certain men, because they held certain principles, no matter how 
 long their connection with the councils of the Church ; no matter how 
 identified the parishes which they represented with its existence ; no matter 
 how great the self-devotion and self-sacrifice of their past, nor the ac- 
 knowledged value of their present, services, — were to be proscribed. 
 Certain men, because they did not hold certain principles, or held them 
 lightly, and to the wind, no matter how recent their connection with the 
 Church ; no matter how unconscious of past services in her behalf, nor 
 how incompetent of future, were to be elevated to her places of confidence 
 and responsibility. Under whatever circumstances this might occur, it 
 were bad enough. But if it were the fair expression of the Church in 
 Massachusetts, if the people would have it so, — there were nothing to be 
 done but to submit in patience. But when it appeared clearly to be the 
 effect of concert and exertion, when clerical strength was brought into the 
 
41 
 
 State within tliree weeks, ami parislies were galvanised into a spasmodic 
 vitality for this specical purpose, — when it was seen and known, that the 
 act of providence, or the consciousness of a good cause, or pressure of en- 
 gagements, or, it must be added, culpable indifference, had prepared the 
 way for an unquestionable and confessed minority, under drill, and with 
 auxiliary influences from another State, to force men upon the Conven- 
 tion, whom the Convention did not approve, and to give to the world the 
 appearance of a dynasty in its councils which does not, and which, we 
 pray God, never may, exist ; — when these things were so, it seemed that 
 in no sense of duty to the truth, could silence be permitted ; and that 
 though submission to such a result might be matter of necessity, acquies- 
 cence in it were treason to tiie Church. Examining the matter under 
 these convictions and witli these views, and appealing to former records, 
 and to the constitution of the Church in Massachusetts, it was ascertained, 
 beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the proceedings of the Convention on 
 the first day of its session, and, of course, the elections, were in contra- 
 vention of the express provisions of the second and third articles of the 
 Constitution ;* and it was determined on, as due to truth, to the Conven- 
 tion, to the Church every wliere. to declare, and, if possible, to establish 
 the conviction. At the opening of the Convention, therefore, on the sec- 
 ond day, the subject was proposed by one who was himself elected, and so, 
 by that circumstance, as by the devotion of his whole fortune to the inter- 
 ests and service of the Church, and by the exemplification of her principles 
 in his whole life, is raised above the shadow of selfish or unworthy im- 
 putation. 
 
 ' Edward A. Nowton, Esq., rose and called tlio uttciitioii of the Convention to an ex- 
 amination of the unconstitutionality of the elections made by this body, yesterday ; — 
 Whereupon it was 
 
 ' Moved, hy the Rev. Dt. Moiss, that tho elections for Standing Committee, and dele- 
 gates to the General Convention, made by this Convention yesterday, being contrary to 
 the provisions of the second and third articles of the Constitution, he hereby set aside., as 
 null and void. 
 
 'This motion gave rise to an animuted and protracted debate, whicli continued till two 
 o'clock, when a motion was made for an indefinite postponement of any farther consider- 
 ation of the subject,' Journal, p. 11. 
 
 Of the manner in whicli the resolution of Dr. Morss was opposed, and 
 its consequences sought to be evaded, we will not speak. It will be suf- 
 ficient in the sight of all candid men, that it was opposed at all. To shrink 
 from the revisai of unconstitutional acts, to shrink from the expression of 
 the sense of the Convention, whether they were, or were not, constitu- 
 tional, to resort to every parliamentary device, to seek to apply to tlie pro- 
 verbially informal proceedings of an ecclesiastical Convention, the strict 
 rules of the higiiest judicial courts, and the specialities, the technicalities, 
 the quibbling criticisms that perplex the lowest, — short of an explicit con- 
 fession of it, we know no more conclusive admission than this, of wrong 
 done, but to be sustained, because the doers of it have the power. — To have 
 reversed the proceedings of the previous day, however just, might not 
 have been desirable, and was not desired. Had it been desired, it could 
 
 * The constitutional provisions alluded to are these : 
 
 ' Art. II. The clergy and lay deputies in Convention shall deliberate in one body, but 
 xhall vote as two distinct orders ; and the concurrence of both orders shall be necessary to 
 give validity to every measure. 
 
 Art. III. Each congregation represented in Convention «AaZi Aaoe one ro^f.' 
 
 The elections were unconstitutional, it was conlcnd.nl ; first, because the clergy and laity 
 did not vote as two distinct orders ; secondly, because the lay delegation voted as individuals, 
 and not by parishes. To the argument of usage, it was alleged in reply, that though it might 
 explain of modify, it could not annul the letter of the Constitution. 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 h:asily have been done. Two thirds of the Clergy were in favo; oi' it, 
 The lay delegation from two parishes who would have voted with them, 
 were within reach, and could have been brought in, to create an even lay 
 vote, and so give the vote to the Clergy. But it was not attempted. All 
 that was aimed at, v;as an expression of the Convention, condemnatory 
 of tlie spirit and manner of the elections. It was conclusively afforded. 
 All that v/e now purpose to add is the evidence of this expression, as con- 
 tained in the several votes. In the morning, after much discussion of the 
 subject, an attempt was made for an indefinite postponement of the Rev. 
 Dr. Morss' motion, and the vote was taken under the consciousness that 
 those who voted against it, were liable to the charge of protracting an 
 irritating discussion, and that an attempt had been made, to fix upon them 
 the responsibility of involving the whole proceedings of the Convention 
 in the unconstitutionality alleged against the election, and thus dissolving 
 its session. Yet the votes were, /or the indefinite postponement. 
 
 The Rev. Messrs. Baury, Edson, 
 
 Everett, Fenner, 
 
 Goodwin, Hopkins, 
 
 Stone, E. Munro, 
 
 M. Munro, Shaw.— 10. 
 
 Against the indefinite postponement; 
 
 The Rev. Messrs. Ballard, Blaisdale, 
 
 Blake, Boyle, 
 
 Croswell, Doane, 
 
 Eastman, Eaton, 
 
 Jones, Morss, 
 
 Potter, Price, 
 
 Strong. Wells.— 14. 
 
 Now let it be noted, that, of the first named, the Rev. Mr. Everett in 
 the afternoon voted both for the Rev. Dr. Morss' motion, and for Col. Ap- 
 thorp's amendment, — that the Rev. Messrs. Goodwin* and Shaw repeat- 
 edly declared, in their places, their conviction that the proceedings were 
 unconstitutional, — and that the Rev. Mr. Haskins,t who, at his own re- 
 quest, was excused from voting, made the same declaration ; — and the 
 Clerical votes will virtually stand seven for, and eighteen against, the in- 
 definite postponement. 
 
 The votes of t!ie laity on the same motion were as follows ; 
 
 For the indefinite postponement, 
 
 C Codman, 
 
 St. Paul's Cliurch, Boston. <. Dunn, 
 
 ( Davis. 
 
 /, f^t 1 i» t ^ Howard. 
 
 Grace Church, boston. i r»- 
 
 ' ' ( DlX. 
 
 St. Paul's Church, Dedliam, Metcalf. 
 
 St. Paul's Church, Hopkinton, Walker. 
 
 St. Michael's Church, Marblehead, Russel. — 5. 
 
 * The case of the Rev. Mr. Goodwin was one indicating a sense of honor, or rather a 
 tenderness of conscience, not often met witli. Because at the time of the elections he 
 thought thein unconstitutional, and did not say so, he felt hound to sustain them. 
 
 t The Rev. Mr. Haskins, though a member of the Convention, also declined voting, 
 from a very commendable delicacy, on the ground that he had been for some months tem- 
 porarily absent in Rhode Island. We are sorry that aU the delicacy should have been on 
 one side. 
 
43 
 
 Jigaiiist the indefinite postponement, 
 Trinity Church, Boston, 
 
 Christ Church, Boston, 
 
 Christ Churcii, Cambridge, 
 
 St. Stephen's Church, Pittsfield, 
 
 Apthorp. 
 ' Bacon, 
 [ Wilson, 
 ' Ingraham. 
 ' Foster. 
 
 E. A. Newton. — 4. 
 
 On the motion of Dr. Morss, and the amendment of Col. Apthorp, which 
 was in tlie words following : 
 
 ' Whereas, npon an ex.Tmination of the Constitution of this Convention, it appears that 
 the elections, made yesterday, of the Standing Committee, and delegates to the General 
 Convention, to be held in New York, in October next, were irregular, the same are hereby 
 declared null and void ; and it is therefore voted to proceed to a new choice of a Standing 
 Committee and delegates, for the purpose aforesaid, in a constitutional mnnner.' 
 
 — the votes were as follows : 
 
 For the resolution and amendment. 
 
 The Rev. Messrs. Ballard, Blaisdale, 
 
 Blake, Boyle, 
 
 Croswell, Doane, 
 
 Eaton, Everett, 
 
 Jones, Morss, 
 
 Potter, Price, 
 
 Strong, Wells. — 14. 
 
 Against them. 
 
 The Rev. Messrs. Baury, Edson, 
 
 Fenner, Goodwin, 
 
 Hopkins, E. Munro, 
 
 M. Munro, Stone. — 8. 
 
 — or, counting, as before, the votes of the Rev. Messrs. Goodwin and 
 Haskins, where they properly belonged, in the affirmative, the virtual 
 strength of the Clerical part of the house was divided, 16 against, and 
 7 for, the elections. 
 
 Of the Lay Delegation the votes were. 
 For the resolution and amendment, 
 Trinity Church, Boston, 
 
 Christ Church, Boston, 
 St. Stephen's Church, Pittsfield, 
 Against them, 
 
 St. Paul's Church, Boston, 
 
 Grace Church, Boston, 
 
 St. Paul's Church, Dedham. 
 St. Peter's Church, Salem, 
 St. Paul's Church, Hopkinton, 
 
 Apthorp. 
 
 Bacon, 
 
 Ingraham. 
 
 E. A. Newton. 
 
 C Codman, 
 < Dunn, 
 ( Davis. 
 C Howard, 
 
 I DiY. 
 
 Metcalf. 
 Howard. 
 Walker.- 
 
 In other words, taking the whole house, the votes, reckoning the lay 
 delegation, (as the constitution provides,) by parishes, the elections were 
 declared unconstitutional by a vote, virtually, of 19 to 12, and, actually, of 
 17 to 13. Or, even taking the whole house by individual votes the 
 
 ELECTIONS WERE STILT. DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL, BY A VOTE, VIRTU- 
 
44 
 
 ALLY, OF TWENTY TO FIFTEEN, AND, ACTUALLY, OF EIGHTEEN TO Sli' 
 
 TEEN.* 
 
 We have no more to say. We have stated these things because they 
 were true; and because, being true, they ought to be so knowrn. We 
 have confined ourselves to facts. We impugn no man's motives. A 
 great wrong has been done, both to individuals, and the Church. Meas- 
 ures and modes of action have been introduced into her councils which 
 should never have been known there. And the charge of party operations 
 was advanced, even before the session had ended, against those who, as 
 we have shown, acted throughout on general principles, and in the spirit 
 of compromise. The statement thus made places the charge where it 
 should lie. " Our withers are unwrung." — We have now done with the 
 subject. Perhaps forever. We had resolved never to be engaged in such 
 a controversy. We were drawn into it by surprise. We shall not be sur- 
 prised again. Could we have suffered without involving the interests of 
 the Church, we should have suffered in silence. We could not; and we 
 have deemed firmness of action and plainness of speech our bounden duty. 
 We have done no more than Paul, who at Antioch withstood Peter to the 
 face, because he was to be blamed. If there are any, to whom the truth is 
 troublesome, we can only say, that for the past the blame is upon them- 
 selves, and advise them for the future to keep out of the way of it. There 
 is nothing proper to be done that is not proper to be known. That which 
 it was not proper to do, being done, should be made known, that it be not 
 done again. Eeer]f one that doeth evil hatetk the light, lest his deeds should 
 be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may 
 be made manifest that they are wrought in God. 
 
 * The only evasion of this arithmetical argument, that we can imagine, wrill be found 
 in the allegation, that some were absent on the second day, who would have sustained the 
 elections. We reply, that it was still the Convention duly in session, and the Clerical 
 members absent had no leave of absence. We answer farther, that others, who would 
 have voted against the elections, were also absent ; some of whom were present in the 
 morning, and, had the slightest intimation been given, would have been present in the 
 afternoon. — We make one more remark, — several of the contested elections were by a 
 tnajority of one vote .' 
 
, GAYLORD BROS. Ir 
 I Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 Stoclton, Calif. 
 
BX5918.M4H7 
 
 Defence of the convention of the 
 
 Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00020 5601