The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 29, 1901, Page 6

THE DAY CALL. HE triennial convention of the Prot- estant Episcopal church of the United States of America will have some discussions which will surely catch the popular ear, for human interest that appeals to every man and woman pertains to some of them, and to others there is enough of political com- plexion to draw the attention of all who watch the progress of the world that moves This body, which meets so seldom and adjourns sine die, is the fountain head of power for the whole branch of the Epls- copal church which had its beginning when America separated from the mother It s significant that among the delegates to the first convention, one hun- dred and twenty-five ago, were many of the men who signed the Declara tion of Independence. who are coming to dlscuss tions are even more interesting the subjects of debate, Foremost them from a popular standpoint J. Plerpont Morgan, the modern Alex- der of the commercial world. It will be a new light in which to see him; this man vire affairs laying aside the vast by that appals the carth with its magnitude and calmly listening to reports missions and Sunday schools for a week at a time Morgan is rapidly succeeding in rolling the commercial world into a unit. Wheth- er he can in time so bring men’s minds to meet together that the churches shall all unite in one is a question which may well be asked, for heretofore the reverse ocess has been always in force and there o been more divisions and offshootings country years The mong an ces. he introduction of such forcible men hurch, men whose h of life has success, into the councils of th every action along the been marked by ur but aid in the practical work which foundation for its pros- interrupted can is perit During Morgan's stay in San Franclsco he, with his family and guests, will take possession of the old Charles Crocker man- sion on California street, the use of which has been exiended to him by the Crocker Estate Company. It is probable that dur- ing the short time of Morgan's stay more will be seen of the interior of the house by San Franciscans than in many years last past, as it has been secluded as a tomb during the greater part of the time. That much entertaining is intended is shown by the fact that Sherry, the famous New York caterer, who has officiated at such notable affairs as the Bradley-Mar- tin ball, will be brought out to superin- d the cuisine. This will-certainly be a relief to Miss Morgan, who has, according to reports of correspondents, been baking her own flapjacks while on her present hunting trip in the Rockles. When J. Plerpont Morgan stops attend- £ to business and devotes himself to religious affairs it is enough to make peo- ple look around When the Bishop of Shanghai and the op of Africa and Bishops from Japan, Canada and England, together with sev- enty-five other Bishops, come to S8an Fran- discuss with Mr. Morgan and her laymen on such living questions as the necess ‘8 innocent parties to a divorce be prevented from remarrying?’ it is an Eve Some other subjects which will be de- bated closely are of concern to the gen- eral public, as well as to church mem- bers. Among them is one which has gro adirectly out of the Spanish war. It is, “Does the church follow the flag?” This would not have arisen under any other circumstances the broad world over except the present. Bishop Potter of New York, who left a life of luxury to go and live in the slums th he might know what are the needs of the poor, will be accommodated in the Will Crocker house, which stands in the corner of the homestead lot. Bishop Pot- yn ter is of a family of Bishops; his father as Bishop Alonzo Potter of Pennsylva- nd his uncle, Horatlo Potter, pre- him in office as Bishop of New York From England there will come the Right Rev. E. Jacob, Bishop of Winchester, who has been delegated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to officially represent the Church of England at this convention of the American church. Another delegate from the Church of England, whose religion will perhaps be better classed If stated as being in a con- dition of metamorphosis, is Right Rev. Alfred Willis, lord Bishop of Honolulu, who was there in charge of the missions of the Church of England. On the annex- ation of the islands to the United Bta the territory could manifestly no longe: be controlled by the Church of England, which is more closely united with the state than is consistent with existence un- der the Stars and Stripe Another class of foreign Bishops are really Americans, although they hall from alien lands. The Bishop of Cape Palmas, Africa, is a representative of the Protestant Episcopal church of the Unit- ed Btates, in charge of the forelgn mis- glons on the dawning continent: so, too, the Bishop of Hayti: the Right Rev. J. T. Holly, Bishop of Jamaica; Lucien Les Kinsolving, Bishop of Brazil; the Right Rev. Sldney C. Partridge, Bishop ot Kioto, Jupan; the Right Rev. John McKim, Bish- op of Tokio, and Frederick R. Graves, Bishop of Shanghal—all are Bishops of American foreign missions and are Amer- jcans in every sense of the word and en- tirely under the control of the convention, About seventy-five Bishops of the differ- ent dioceses of the United States will be present and with the others mentioned will constitute the House of Bishops or upper house of the legislative body, which deals with the canon law. The lower house will consist of clergy- men and laymen in equal numbers, us- ually four c.ergvmen and four laymen from each diocese. Among the prominent laymen will be Robert Treat Paine of Massachusetts, a lawyer of note; Henry E. Pellew of Wash- ington, D. C.; Richard 8. Conover of New Jersey; George C. Burgwin of Pittsburg, who is a world-wide authority on consti- tutional and canon law; Hon. L. Bradford Prince, ex-Governor of New Mexico; e nE Kok 7 TEV iy Ve 70 Myo7ro Henry E. Plerrepont of Long Island. Edwin Augustus Stevens is another lay delegate whose name is familiar to Amer- icans, as he is the son of the famous engineer of the same name who founded the Stevens Institute of Technology. Mr. Stevens is a trustee of that institution, and, besides being president and director of various transportation lines, is the in- ventor and designer of the new type of screw ferry-boats, of which the Berkeley is the first to be seen on this coast. Some people are o busy that they do not have any time for church. Mr. Mor- gan is attending to all of his own busl- ness very nicely and incidentally finding time to take in as many other businesses as he can consolidate into fifty trusts. Still, he has time, not only to go to church, but take an exceedingly active interest in the administration of its at- fairs. It has not been geperally known before that he has been gradually earning for himself the title of “the Angel of the Church,” and probably nothing will please him less than to have it known, for his charity is of the kind that balks at im- practicable or ostentatious distributions. The Episcopal church in New York has by the aid of his large donations and loans entered upon a class of work Which will commend itself to those who believe that indiscriminate giving works more harm than good and is always an injury to the recipients. In the parish of St. George in the East side in New York there are many of the unfortunate extreme poor who are des- tined to pass their lives in a combination of hard work and hard times. One of the practical charities which has helped without causing them to lose in- dependence and self respect is the pur- chase of coal by shipload lots in the sum- mer, when it is cheap, and then retailing it out to the poor parishioners by the bucketful in the winter time at just what it cost, plus a low rate of interest and actual expense of handling. Another which has lightened the load of many a parent is the parish store, where second-hand garments are sent to be =old at rates which make the cost of clothing a family a matter of secondary consideration. Schools of household econ- omy are also established by the parish, where those who have never learned kitchen economies are taught to make the richest and most deliclous dishes from the cheapest materials that the market af- fords. To all such charities as this Pler- pont Morgan gives, and gives without limit, except In ko far as thers Ig needed intelligence in the distribution, for he cannot personally look after those de- talls, This is one of the great goods which comes from the centralization of alth and power; the money is diverted into channels which lead only to the bes Bishop Potter of New York will ha many things of interest to tell the con- vention, for he has made & trip to Hono- lulu, the Philippines and China for the purpose of extending the influence of the Episcopal church in our new possessions, and I8 one of the strongest advocates of the necessity of having the church follow the flag. During his trip he was present at the convention of clergymen of the Anglican church in the Hawallan Islands, at which time it was agreed that it was best for the welfare of the church there to withdraw from the Church of England and place itself under the spiritual juris- diction of. the United States whenever it tves an invitation to do so, B0 while the political annexation of the islancs has been completed they are more adrift than ever as far as spiritual af- flllations are concerned, being nelther English nor American, This has left the entire burden of administration upon the Right Reverend Lord Bishop himself, and the result has been that he has been ac- cused by some who have disagreed with him pf attempting to arrogate to himself the power of a Pope, merely because he had no superior. This Bishop Willls de- nies strenuously, asseriing that he is do- ing nothing more than his duty in at- tempting to hold together and preserve the church, which has thus fallen between two supports, vntil it is again picked up and placed under the spiritual dominion of one or the other of them. The Right Rev. Edgar Jacob, Lord Bishop of Newcastle, who comes as the personal representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is another who is con- cerned in the question of transfer of spir- ftual jurisdiction of the islands. He will be the most notable figure among the vis- iting Bishops, for the reason that he is a peer of the realm—a spiritual peer, it is true— but none the less,a real lord. Bishop Jacob is the son of the archdea- con of Winchester, an Oxford man, and was consecrated as successor of Bishop ‘Wilberforce. Between Bishops Jacob of Newcastle LFARTRIOGCE. 2D, IONARY BLEOP IGHT FLEV BSHOP PLERFRINV o7, and Willls of Hawall will probably be ar- ranged the terms upon which the Church of England property in the {slands will be turned over to the Eplgcopal church of the United States. Bishop Graves of Shanghal will have storfes of the most wonderful fascination to tell those who are so lucky as to hear them, for ‘he has been living at Hankow, that great Chicago of China, which though a midland city is yet on a river navigable, like tH® Amazon, for ocean go- ing steamships. There, too, at or near Hankow, lives the Viceroy of Wuchang— the ogre of the middle kingdom he has been called, for he has shed enough inno- cent blood during the last few years to float his vice regal junk. Over 1000 non- combatant sympathizers of the patriots have been put to death by him since the time of ‘the Emperor's dethronement. Through this and all of the Boxer up- risings Bishop Graves has been the keen- est of observers, and armed with a knowl- edge of inside affairs which has cnabled him to profit more than most. Bishop Graves is a brother of Hiram T. Graves, the well-known ploneer of this clty. Liberia is a place which every schoolboy remembers on the map, but as no news has come out of there for twenty years or more most people have come to regard the curious little republic as a sort of half-forgotten myth. Now comes the liv- ing, talking Bishop of that place to San Francisco, the Right Rev. Samuel D. Fer- guson, who went there with his parents when but 6 years of age and recefved his education in its schools. He can tell why 80 little news has come from that forgot- ten sister of the great republic. The republic of Hayti is another curious place, which m'nds its own business and has also passed into the list of forgotten countries, just because it I8 good, proba- bly. James T. Holly is the Right Rever- end Bishop of the Episcopal church there, and he, too, is coming here to take part in the great council and tell what is be- ing done so busily but quletly in that semi-tropic commonwealth. Nearly every Episcopal Bishop in Amer- ica will be present. Among them are many men who have won themselves fame by thelr writings aside from thelr work and office in the church. The importance of the questions which will be decided has made the attendance much greater than was expected. The old question of the change of name, which has usually been kept down owing to the chance of oppo- sition, will probebly be brought up with more strength behind it, and the question of divorce is one which the clergy have at last declded to make thelr strongest fight upon. Thelr ground is that a man and woman once morried must stay sb until death parts them; that no separation for any cause can justify the remarringe of either. The chairman of the house of Bishops 1s the Right Rev, Willlam C, Doane, Bishop of Albany, a son of the former Bishop Doane of New Jersey and a brother of the Roman Catholic prelate Monsignor Doane of Rome, Italy, Bishop Doane haw taken degrees at both Cambridge and Ox- ford, as well as at Columbla and other American colleges, and {8 a connection by marriage of the Rev. Condit of the Chinese missions in California. Among the most noted American authors on religlous subjects is Bishop I'rederick D. Huntington, who will represent Cen- tral New York in the house of Bishops, graduate 6f Harvard dlvinity school, who has been editor of many religlous papers and has written over a score of books on moral and religlous subjects. Another Right Reverend writer who will attend is Bishop Batterlee of Washington, author of “Christ and His Church,” From Bitka, Alaska, there comes Bishop Peter T. Rowe, who has the largest dio- cese In the world, as it runs almost with- out limit, except as bordered by the do- minions of the Frost King. Bishop Whit- taker of Nevada, who has for so many years conducted his famous school in Reno, will be welcomed by the Nevadans here with that warmth which only the citizens of the Sagebrush State can feel, for he has endeared himself more than casually to so many of them, Of California’s Bishops the Right Rev- erend Willlam Hall Moreland of Sacra- mento has the honor to be remarkable for having been at the time of his conse- cration the youngest Bishop in the world. He is the author of “What Is Christ?” and “The Church or the Churches.” For many years before his consecration Bishop Moreland was rector of St. Luke's Church here in San Francisco. B. 8. Lines is another of San Fran- cisco's former rectors who will return here as a delegate, coming to represent the clergy of Connmecticut. He will be VAN COUVER. o & 4 S FUERPINT wlaHr REY ALEFED WL LORD Fa/540: OF LNeZLr. remembered as having taken original methods of working among the poor, Whenever he heard of a family in want of food or wuffering for clothing he did not waste time in vain, but went directly to houses of his parishioners where he knew he was sure to find round roasts and fat fowls ready for the oven. These he would calmly and quletly put into a capacious basket, tuck in plenty of trim- mings and relishes, with perhaps a few more substantials if there was room for them. Then, taking ®imself to the house where they were needed, he would leave the basket with as little ostentation as possible and go on his way. Clothing was obtained and distributed in the same manner. The hint was so plain that it was not long before cases were attended to. before even he had a chance to hear of them, and to this uay there are those that thank him. It was supposed when the convention was called to meet here that there would be the greatest difficulty in getting a fair attendance, but the reverse has been the case, as there has been active rivalry among the different eligibles to secure the position of delegates and many who were not selected ‘declare their intention of coming as spectators, and most of those who do come will bring families and friends. It will be another object lesson to the Easterners who think that Californians wear feathers and war paint, or red shirts and cowhide boots, to find that such an eminently peaceful convocation can gather on the far shores 4 BIGHT FEV. X CPOrTER, iy, KreHT BEYy JACOS BISHOP OF WINCHESTER of the Pacific with no more discomfort than M an inland metropolis. Bishop Willlam Ford Nichols of San Francisco, to whom so much credit is due for bringing hither the convention, has led a busy life. Graduating at Trinity College, Hartford, in 187, he took his degree of A.-M. in 1873 and D. D. in 1878, was ordained deacon in 1§73 and priest in 1874, was consecrated Bishop Coadjutor of California in 1890 and Bishop of Califosnia BISHOP OF NEW Ve NS m Yors RS ey In 1893. He has been rect churches in the East and church history at HMerkele; v 'Y Divinit; School. He had already declined n: invitation election to the office of Bishop Coadjutor of Ohio before receiving that of California. During the conventfon it was pl d that he should be domleiled in the Seott gouse, where the President lived while eTE, or of many professor of FIoHT BEV. JOHN L7<E17. LD, s 0P aF 70K10 J4PAN, Four FEY L Z\ ANsOIVING 2D, Bussur N BRAZIL The world's center is ever moving closer to San Francisco and each time that naticnal or international delegates co gregate here the importance of the is increased. The present convention will be a memorable one not only by reason of the men who take part z1d the topics discussed. but everything points to e: pansive efforts on the part of the church, in keeping with those which are moving the country at large.