PASTORAL L]TT]]R
HOUSEOF BISHIOPS
OF
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHUIRCH 
RE1AD BE~FOREJ THET GENERiAL CO)NVENTION AT TRININTY CHlUR~l
BOSTON, M\ASS., O-N
'vednesday Evening, Octo-ber 24, 1877.
AUTHORIZED EDITION.
BOSTON, MA.SS.
1877.
Q
rr TT
.i
OF THE
110 SE 
1.) I
COPYRIGHIT,
1877,
BY'BENJAMIN POPWO0RTH SMITFL.
ALFRED MUDCE,& SON, PRINTERS, BOSTON. 
PASTORAL LETTER.
DEAR BIETtREN OF TIlE CLEILGY AND LAITY:
The glrace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and with all the Isirael
of God.
WVe, your bishops, assembled in greater numbers thlan ever before,
complying with the request of the llouse of Deputies, and impressed with a
sense of our responsibility to our Lord Christ, set forth and address to you this,
our Pastoral Letter.
Our clerical brethren will beart in mind that our address to them flows
fiomi hearts fuill of syinpathy and. affection, as bearing the same  commissio
under the same Captain of our salvation.
Permit us, then, to remind you; whose representatives we are, with
what message we are intrusted, and for what end.  Is it not to repeat, as far
as we can, to every dweller on this earth, the story of the Cross?  We dwell
in the midst of those whom we know to be lost sinnlers; but who amongst listless crowds, or throngs of busy men, feels this truth?  Until men realize it, in
vain we offer to them the gospel of a divine, compassionate, all-sufficient
Saviour.  This is the message the apostles bore, and this the secret of their
wonderful success.  We received it fiomin our Lord and I-lis apostles, through
our fathers of three hundred years  ago; and we renew the chlarge to-day,
preach " Christ, and him Crucified, the power of God unto salvation to eveiy
one that believeth."
But you will vainly endeavor to impress upon others a sense of the
value of this gospel, unless your own lives are examples of its power.   With
what face can you exhort others to become new creatures in Christ Jesus,
unless the minid which was in Him be also in yout?  Character is the tiue
source of ministerial influence.  Only character renewed by the lIoly Ghost,
;v:) t s! 
and motilded after the image of Chi ist, can secure for a minister the fullest
success. Therefore, we remind you, that on the power of your personal religion and that of your famnilies, as well as on your fidelity in preaching the pure
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principles of our holy religion, our Church must depend, in great measure, for its
success in impressing the obligations of personal holiness.
On this topic of personal holiness, which concerns every member of the
church, we address ourselves with all affectionate earnestness to our dear
brethren of the laity, not less than to the clergy.
Any true church is a light in a dark place; but our ancestry runs so
high that, in this country, we stand like a city set upon a bill, which cannot be
hid; and by every claim which we put forth, our responsibility becomes the
more manifest to testify what is Scriptural, what is wise, and what is holy.
In the namne  by which  the Church  Catholic is commonly klnown,
one august epithet is especially impressive.  The Church is "Holy."  That
term not only marks the divine origin, the sinless headship, and the glorious
consummnation of this body of our Lord, but it points to a personal obligation
laid on every one of its members.   Holy, in Him who planted it, loves it,
and nourishes it, its holiness is to be manifested in the human lives it consecrates and fashions.  The unbelief of our time in the supernatural elements
of the Gospel, is largely due to the want of a visible and vital connection
between that which comes down  froin above, and the daily life of men on the
earth.  Plainly, therefore, it becomes a direct duty of our ministry, to proclaim,
with its utmost energy, that the law of holiness in the New Testament, is a law
of holiness for men under all conditions, and under all circumstances of life.
Many of the religious guides and teachers of the people address themselves too
little to the conscience, and aim at other ends, than the formation of character
iui the principles of Christian righteousness; therefore, the land is daily huniliated by financial crimes, frauds, defalcations, and betrayals in its trusted citizens.  Patriotism fails to restrain men from robbing their country, or natura
pity from ruining the orphan, the widow, the Indian. Violated contracts, fiduciary perversions, forgery and perjury makze up the alarming records of the public
press.  Nothing will prevent these crimes but a fearless affirmation of the commandments of the Most High, with all their sanctions and penalties.  ~We are to
follow the steps and deliver the message of the Great Shepherd, as well as to
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sit at His feet.  We are not to rest until a "Holy Church " reaps its fruit il  a
holy nation, whose Godcl is the Lord, doing the things which the Lord says.
The church of God needs a high standard of morals and a pure practice
as urgently as it needs an increased Episcopate or multiplied  missionaries.
We exhort those of you who preach Christ, to preach right living, and to
preach it not in generalities, but in definite particulars.  Multitudes in all commnunities weigh our worlk, and learn the claims of our system, not from our
literature, but fiom the lives of those whom we baptize and confirim.  We are
sent to call sinners to repent of specific sins of dishonesty and double dealing,
of lying and cheating, of slander and swearing, of lust and idleness, of
excesses in eating and drinking and dress, of gambling and rioting, of desecration of the Lord's day; and of the beginnings of all of these iniquities.  We
are to uncover all their modifications, disguises, and  apologies.   We  are to
rebuke selfishness in all its ungodly shapes, impiety il all its practical profanrations; and on the othei hanld we are to instruct in, and encourage by precept and consecrated lives, all the viutues of a godly character; honesty and
truthfulness, sincerity and constancy, moderation, sobriety, and purity of life,
gentleness, compassion, and charity.  Brethren of the laity, we beseechl you so
distinctly to practise the precepts of our holy religion, that men who see your
manners, may be able to gives names to the graces and virtue, which you illusti'ate. Let your holy living be outspoken, and never justly liable to misinterpretation, nor marred by inconsistencies.
Practieal thinkers in these days are looking to the Church for a visible
Gospel.  They will not shut their ears to the blessed tidings of God's mercy if
they see with their eyes, that it is woriking out holiness in the character of those
who possess it.
Closely following on this line of thought is the subject of practical
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religion.
Religion in action has more force in this world than religion in theory.
The life of God, if it be ii a chuich, will manifest its vital activity through the
members thereof.  If it flows through means of grace, it will flow into persons.
It will show its power in the individual, as well as by the organized pa'ish.
Lwivin  members will not be content with cultivatin  personal holiness, but  ill
work for Christ by every means which the church sanctions. 
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WTe rejoice with you, beloved, that under the impression of these truths
our Chuich has recogniized the value of lay agency; and is rapidly systematizing it. Our pulpit faiils to reach a large class of the community, but the Gospel
can be successfullv carried to them, as has been proved by well-tested expeience, by lay people, through men's and women's Bible classes, mothers' meetings,  church  gutildls,  workingmen's  clubs, industrial  schools  and Parish
missions.  We particularize these instrumentalities not to exhaust the enumneratioLn, but to emphasize the methods.  In the full work of such institumentalities
opportunity is offered to all our lay people, both men and women, and all
peculiarities of disposition, and of taste, may find occupation.   But we caution
3-ou that this field of labor is so nearly allied to the responsible labor of your
ministers, that it will be most successfully occupied by those whose religion has
become experimental, and whose spiritual character has been tested, developed,
and well rounded.
In pressing these duties we exhort you, brethren, to remember your selfconsecration. The breadth of your sacramental vows is the measure of your duty.
We are reminded by our Brethren of the house of Clerical and  Lay
Deputies of this General Convention, who have asked oar counsel in the matter, that on one point cautions may be expedient to guide the enthusias  of
your Christiaun zeal. We speak plainly, for it has become necessary to warn the
men and women in our congregations, against any measures, in the management
of ecclesiastical or charitable affairs, which are liable even to the suspicion of
moral ambiguity.  There are easy opportunities in our parishes for devices
which in secular business are barely tolerable, but which in the Church  have
nothing whatever to excuse their Sordidness or their vulgarity, except that
they bring needed money to a worthy cause.  It is not necessary to specify
these abuses, or to characterize them as they deserve.  It is enough that they
lie close to the border of forbidden ground. If associations with the gaming
table, the lottery, the race-course, the playhouse, are inconsistent with Christian
character, how much more when a church thus associates itself for the purpose
of advancing the interests of Christ's kingdom!
They put upon the lips of scoffers and apostates the sneer, that the
people of God, to compass an inferior end, are as ready as men of the world
to postpone duty to expediency, or to sell truth and honor in the markets.  It 
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becomes you, brethren, to hold our church life and church economy aloof fiorm
these unhallowed concessions.  We may well walk long with our Maste  in
His path of poverty, and bide our time.  We can suffer no real defeat if we
cling to thle rules of His kingdom.  True charity can never be made one thiug
with self-indulgence, or turned into a thrifty traffic.  As soon as we are ready
to welcome the principle of sacrifice as the Saviour has revealed it, bringingthe
due proportion of all we have to His service, these dubious resorts of a halffaithless policy will disappear, and the kiingdom will come with power.
It has been our habit on thliese occasions, to walrn you against any danger which seems imminent, especially if it be a luiking danger.
Accordingly we utter our solemn warning against the dangers which
now threaten Religion and Society, from want of fidelity to sacred obligations.
First.  From want of fidelity to parcental obligations in the education of
children.  Fathers and  mothers, chlarged of God with the duty of training
children, are bound to a personal discharge of that duty, using such proper
helps as may be furnished by Parishl or Siunday Schools, and schools and colleges und(e r our Chturch's care; nevertheless, the responsibility for principles im
bibed, and habits formed by their children, rests on themselves as parents.  They
have accepted the sacred relationship, they must accept its obligations.  Befoie God they are charged to employ every influence and instruction, to use
every proper check, and all authority to faishion their offspring for usefulness in
society, and for the hig,hest service of Christ.  Mtuch of the corruption in public
and social life which startles us, has its root in defective family training.
Where instruction in regard to the baptismal covenant is infrequent, or is Iot
giveni at all, while wealth, with its accompanying influences, is regarded as the
chief good in life, the children of the Church cannot be expected to grow up
into Christ in all things.  When children must quit the family to enter school
life, parents should provide against their exposure to flagrant contradictions of
the truth which they have received at home, and which has been confirmed to
them by this Church.
It is inconsistent to send your children to schools administered in the
interests of Rome, or in sympathy with any of its dangerous errors.  Your
obligation is to brineg thelm up in the nturtLre ad admonition of the Lord.
Let nlo man deceive himself withl the thoulght that no influenlces w ill b~e
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exerted by such schools to withdraw our children from the truth in which they
have been nurtured. It would be as dishonest in Romish teachers, who believe
that their salvation is imperilled by nion-commullnion with'the Church of Rome,
not to influence the children committed to them, as it is sinfull ill you and perilous for them, to submit their susceptible years to such religious impressions.
The perversion of your children is a predetermined end of receiving them into
Romish schools. Your children will become negative Protestants, if not positive Romanists.  Is it worth your while, for the sake of accomplishments in
needlework, and painting, and music, and dancing which they offer fi-eely, to
invite your children to accept errors which your fathers escaped only at the
price of blood?  Hold fast, beloved, for your households  and yourselves, the
Faith once delivered to the Saints, recorded in the Scriptures of truth, and witnessed unto by the creeds of your church. Upon that faith, both we and ours
may stand by the grace of God, unmoved as upon a rock.
Second(. The danger to religion and society fi'om wanit of fidelity to the
sacredness of inarriage.  In giving these our counsels to the Church, we feel
constrained to advert to a subject which is of painful interest to many persons,
and which, firom its very nature, we would gladly leave untouched, did our
sense of duty permit us to be silent. That subject is the great and growing
disregard in our country of the sanctity of marriage.  The evil is shown in the
levity with which marriage is contracted, in the unscrupulousness with  which
it is entered upon by men and women to whom it is forbidden, by the laws
of the ancient Chuurch of God, by the laws of the Christian Church, and, in some
instances, by the laws of nature itself.  The same unhappy tendency is shown
in the readiness with which divorces are obtained on slight and insufficient
grounds; and subsequent unions forned which are called marriages, but which
oui Lord has pronounced to be adulteries.
The baneful and unchristian state of public opinion which tolerates and
frequently even legalizes such acts, is a portentous omen for the future of religion
and society in our country. The sanctity of marriage is the moral power which
mainly binds together and upholds the duities, the interests, the charities, and
the decencies of social life. Without it conjugal love decays, parental love is
weakened, the nurture and training of childilen are neglected ord perverted;
the purity and peace of the Christianl home ar~e exchzanged for thle cor~ruptionl, the 
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strife, the firequent homicides, the anarchy of heathen society.  All humanl  history teaches us that in an age or country where marriage is lightly esteemed,
the people become degraded, effeminate, and at the same time fierce, cruel, and
lawless. The great nations, the heroic, the free, have been marked by this
characteristic, that they honored marariage.  And what is of immeasurably more
importance, where marriage is disregarded, the souls of men al e grievously imperilled and many times lost; for lie who is our Judge as well as our Saviour,
has distinctly forewarned us that he who marries after divorce obtained upon
insufficient grounds, commits adultery, and, living and dying in that state,
lives and dies ill deadly sin.  The Church has already forbidden her ministers to
perform such marriages; and if fuller and more efficient legislation on her part
be needed, it will no doubt be provided.
Meanwhile, we urge it upon our brethren in the sacred ministry to instruct the families committed to their charge, with renewed care and diligence,
in those principles of moral purity whichl give honor and strength to Christian
wedlock.  We urge it upon parents to train their children to a clear knowledge
of what the law of God requires in the relations of the sexes, as well as in
guarded habits in whatever pertains to the manniers and intercourse of social
life; and we urge it upon all our people to preserve the chastity and constancy
of that divine bond between husband and wife, which our Lord has chosen as a
living image to represent the mystical union of Himself with His Bride, the
Church.
Ttird. The danger of society, and the stability of the (commonwealth,
from the unsettled relations between the classes which represent capital and
labor. To state the question is to expose the danger. We do not purpose to
trace the causes of it. Our duty is to teach the rich and the poor, both the
worlkmani and his employer, their several obligations, not only to themselves
but to each other.  Our aim as a church is to bring these classes into harmony,
upon the common plane of a redeemed humtnanity.
The representatives of capital and labor are brothers, made in the same
Divine image, amenable to the same Divine law, charged with different duties,
but under the same responsibility, answerable to the same common Father, and
bound by the same moral rule of right and wrong.
That social science which attempts to adjust the varying relations of 
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meii, as to work and wages, rank and condition, but leaves out of view his rela,tions to God, and to his brethren in the family of God, call never give a true
philosophy of life, or furnish a remedy for the evil complained of. No legislatioii can satisfy this need which busies itself solely about restrictive laws or
directive enactments touching labor an(l capital, but takes no cognizance of
the Divine command, " Thou shalt love thy neighlbor as thyself."
The Church of God presents this remedy.  It lies in the practical application of these two trutths: " God is no respecter of persons," and " Christ died
for all."  ()n that basis men's relatiols to each other may be satisfactorily readjusted. No reform can regenerate the surface of society that does not first
regenerate.its inner life.  No  power  can grapple with that inner life but the
power of the Holy Ghost.  The basis of all reforms that shall meet the necessity
of all times and all classes is a renewed life of the individual soul.  Consequenitly the church must meet all the outcropping of evil, not by a new remedy,
but by a more thorough application of the oe only remedy, the Gospel of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Personal efforts of pastors comiing down fi-on
the pulpit into homes, and'personal communicatioii of Christian emplovels with
the laboring classes, in practical maiifestations of brotherly sympaLthy, the
bridging over of the chasm betweeii capital and labor by Clhristian brotherliness; such is the remedy.  The defence of society is the lmag,netism of Christ's
love in the hearts of Chriist's children, attracting anid drawing together those
elements of human life which are antagonistic, or would otherwise be r epelled.
We turn now from topics of social concern to a topic of imminent interest to our beloved Church.
On the subject of our missions, your bishops speak in earnest
expostulation.
Whilst many occurrences awaken gratitude and hope, we are pained by the
general apathy, which has prevented our ChuLircl, during three years past, from
meeting opportunities and from facing its difficulties.   Financial depression has
disturbed the courses, and diminished the sources, of supply.  We do not under
rate this cause.  But we deplore the fact, that neither the faith, nor energy, nor
self-sacrifice, nor generous alms of the Church hlave adequately met the need.
In hours of depres ion, faith should show its power.  In emergencies, energy
should be increased.  When the exigencies of God's church call His missionary 
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servanits to anxiety and suffering, they call all other members of the Body to
self-sacrifice.  When the missionary treasury is embarrassed, then God is bidding His people to moire generous gifts.  But we hlave not seen these results,
beloved!  Instead, we have seen that whilst luxuries  have  been scarcely
diminished, your offerings for the Lord's work have sensibly decreased.  We
notice little chalnge in your habits of easy living or ecclesiastical expense, but a
maiked change for the worse in your habits of giving for missions.  Instead of
cutting off extravaganlces, too many of our dear brethi'en ini Christ have cut of
their charities.
We might reprove this spirit of selfishness as the Lord hath given us
authority. But i'ather we will put you in remnembrance of what our gracious Lord
hath said, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive": and we argue as the
apostle did, "Ye know the grace of otlr Lord Jesus Christ, that thoug,h  e
was rich, yet for your sakes lIe became poor, that ye through His poverty might
be made rich."  Being therefore now enriched by Himi iii all things, wve play
you, out of your abundance, to supply in all thiings the necessities of our missionary work.
With different emotions we  address those members of our spiritual
household, who, out of their abundanc'c, have given liberally to missions, and
those who, out of their poverty, have given still richer offerings to Chlrist.
And our hearts have been much lmoved by the constancy with which the
chiidren of our Church have poured gifts into the treasmuy of the ILord.  I
the midst of much depLession these thiigs comfort our hearts.
But nothing yet done by our Church is commensurate with our duty and
our opportunities.  A  living church is a missionary church. A  church which
feels the love of Christ must be busy in extending the area of that Divine
love.  True devotion of soul is thorough devotion of life.  A church imbued
with the  Gospel manifests the  power of the Gospel.   We  remind you,
beloved, that the life and teachiDgs of the Saviour were immediately followed
by the acts of the apostles; and that the disciples to whom lie said, "Go,
preach my Gospel, in all the world," obeyed and went.  No Church can defend
its apostolic claim which is not a missionary church.
Therefore we beseech you to pray for and to encourage a missionary
spirit.  We entreat our brethren of the clergy to inform their peo)le fully con                                                        *'..''::-!: iV!. 
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cer-ning the principles, methods, claimns, and success of our missionary woik.
We  advise all theological seminaries of our Church to provide a thorough
course of study of the history, condition, and obligations of missions.  We
counsel you all to read and ponder our missionary journal - " The Spirit of
Mlissions."  It fturnishes information concerning opportunities opening before
our Church in every part of the world.  It records labors and sacrifices  and
successes of our fellow-helpers, Bishops and Presbyters, laymen and women,
instant in season and out of season, at home and abroad.  No intelligent interest or charity for the missionary work can exist, until Christian judgment has
been enlightened and affections moved by facts which exhibit spiritual nleed,
and by the motives which lie beneath them.
Your Bishops regard the missionary workl as at this time demanding of
every member of our Church renewed consecration  and concentrated effort.
Systematic giving and systematized labor are pressing needs, together with
unanimity in both. Parochial systems differ, but no parish is properly organized which has not some defined and established system in these charities.
It is a critical period in the moral history of the world.
At this moment commercial activity h:is opened avenues for Christianity
into every nation. Even the interior of Africa has now been traversed by
Christian exploration. Ease of communication and constant intercourse are
rapidly dissolving barriers between heathen and christianized peoples.
Heathen nations are curious as to the source of our civilized superiority.
At this moment Indians, Chinese, and Africans, by peculiar providences, are
brought into immediate relations to our Christianity.  They expect to find in
our WVestern and Southern Missionary Districts the same religion which our
missionaries carry to their ancestral homes.   Domestic missions and church
extension become all the more engaging, because of the imminent pressure of
foreign missions.  Our emigrants should carry, and immigrants should find,
the pure Gospel of Christ, withiii the safegutards of our Comnmuniion, in every
State and Territory of our country; and this Christianity should meet these
heathen inquirers everywhere, and everywhere the same.
This is our opportunity, as a Church, in a nation whose commerce binds
it to every people on the earth.
... eee
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It has pleased Almighty God, in His wise and wonderful providence, to
place side by side on this continent two colonies of the most vigorous race of
men. Coming to America at periods somewhat distant and under very unlike
circumstances, yet they are contiguous to each other, and their territories reach
through many degrees of latitude, and stretch fiom ocean to ocean across the
continent.   The Churches of the United States and of the Dominion, both deriving their origin through the Church of England, and adopting from her
Reformation their government, ministry, and liturgy, form two branches of the
same Church of Christ, in North America, which traces its history back to the
apostles' times.    The last twenty-tive years have brought us very neartogether; never so near as during this session of our General Convention. The
delegation from this sister Church, youi have received with the honor and warm
affection due alike to their mission and their personal character; and we feel
that they have left a benediction behind them.
It has pleased the Great Head of the Church to place in the hands of the
two branches thereof, the sacred deposit of His word, His sacraments, and His
ministry, to be used for the benefit of the millions who are crowding into North
America.  WVell may we exclaim 11 Who is sufficient for these things?"
By the help of Almighty God, and in the power of His Spirit, we may prosent the Church in her life, her services, and her teachings, purely, simply, and
with effect, in every portion of this continent.  In our North and South westef'n
States and Territories, and in the Dominion of Canada, every acre of land is
now covered by the jurisdiction of a Bishop of the Angli(can Communion. Our
Episcopal organization affords us  great  advantages.  Every  movement  is
guided by a wise forecast, and experience teaches us that the rough miner, and
the bold huntsman of the West, when aroused to a sense of the value of his
soul, easily learns, and soon prefers to worship his reconciled Father in the
forms of our liturgy.
Up then, brethren! The land is large, and it is a goodly land which
the Lord hath blessed.  Up! enter in, and possess it.
These triennial assenmblings of our College of Bishops, and this closiilg
hour of the session, remind us of that solemn occasion when the Apostles gathered around our blessed Lord, to listen to hois last words anid hear His last
....:. 
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command.  We have been greatly refreshed by communing with our brethren
of the clergy and laity, and taking counsel with them of the things which con
cern the gospel of the grace of God, and the Church which Christ hathli purchased with His most precious blood.  But we hear again His command, "o
ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." We, your Bishops, and
these your Ministers are obedient to that sacred word.  We are going fiom
this place north, south, west to the Empire of ChiuLa, and east even to the shores
of Africa, each on his several errand.  Every State and Territory of our own
country, Japan, China, Greece, Liberia, ialiti, and M~exico, in foreign lands,
our Freedmen and our Iiidians, will witness to the fidelity of our Church to that
command.  We beseech you, beloved in the Lord, to follow us with your fiith
and charity, your hope and sympathy, your prayers and alms.
And nlow, dear Brethren, we commend you to God, and the word of his
grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance amongst
all those who are sanctified through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom
with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all glory, dominion, and power world
without end!
-.k