USA > North Carolina > Lives of the bishops of North Carolina from the establishment of the episcopate in that state down to the division of the diocese > Part 18
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In commenting on the probable effects of the Lambeth Con- ference, Bishop Lyman used this language: "Whatever serves to promote a better understanding, and an increase of unity, in all the constituent parts of the widespread Anglican Com- munion, must be a singular advantage. And in thus realizing the blessings of true unity among ourselves, we are naturally led. to yearn more anxiously for unity, in God's good time, among all the branches of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic- Church, and among all who profess and call themselves Chris- tians. Such meetings as that which took place at Lambeth last Summer can hardly fail to exert a powerful influence over the entire body, thus represented, in restraining all doctrinal and ritual divergencies, in awakening on every side a higher sense of the value of unity, and in deepening, at the same time, the love for those primitive and truly Catholic principles upon which alone any larger and more widespread unity can be effectually established."
The Lambeth Conference of 1878 adjourned on July 27th in that year, with solemn services in Saint Paul's Cathedral. After that, Bishop Lyman visited Leamington, Warwick Castle, Stratford-on-Avon, and other places of interest. At Farnham Castle, the seat of the Bishop of Winchester, he met with a num- ber of other Bishops of the Anglican communion, and also with Bishop Herzog of the Old Catholic Church of Switzerland-a communion in close accord with the Church of England. An- other Old Catholic there present was the celebrated Pere Hya- cinth. From Farnham Castle, Bishop Lyman went to Wells Cathedral to attend a missionary service inaugurated by the Bishop of Bath and Wells; and, after that, was a guest of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. While in England he saw for the last time Bishop Joseph P. B. Wilmer, of Louisiana, who died soon after returning to America. Referring to this inter- . view, and to Bishop Wilmer personally, he said: "At the rail- way station near Great Malvern I parted from Bishop Wihner. who remained there for a day to give comfort and consolation to
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a valued friend who had lately been sorely bereaved. Little did I think, when parting from my dear brother, that this would be our last meeting on earth. Let me only add that I cannot but esteem it a great privilege to have been thrown, so much as I was, with this pure and holy man during the time of his sojourn in England. It is indeed a sad loss which the Church has sus- tained, in what I might almost call his translation to a better world. His wonderful child-like simplicity of character, his singular purity, his large-hearted generosity, his genial loveli- ness, his deep devotion to the Church, and his advocacy of her claims, won all hearts wherever he went during his sojourn in England. Long shall I mourn his loss, as one of the truest and dearest friends of my life."
In August, Bishop Lyman visited the old Abbey Church of Saint Albans, and was later a guest at the handsome seat of Mr. Beresford-Hope, in the county of Kent. Afterwards he went to Ireland, where he was a guest at the palace of the Bishop of Down and Connor, by whose invitation he preached at the consecration of a handsome new church in the suburbs of Bel- fast, on August 22d. He also visited the Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland. From Ireland he went to Scotland as a guest of the Bishop of Edinburgh. On a visit, later paid, to the Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, he was placed in a seat by the side of that Church dignitary during the progress of a Synod, before which he delivered an address. While in Scotland, Bishop Lyman was also a guest of the Earl of Glasgow on a yachting party. In the course of this cruise the Earl's yacht touched at the Island of Cambrac, where the Bishop preached in the Cathedral of the Isles. Going back to England, he was the recipient of many more courtesies, both from Bishops and other clergy, besides the laity. He also, while there, had an opportunity of renewing his acquaintance with the Vicar of Adderbury, who had once been one of his travelling companions in Egypt and Syria many years before. Of the treatment accorded himself and his brethren from America, while in Great
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Britain, Bishop Lyman said: "Nearly every Sunday while I was in Great Britain, I was preaching in one or more of the parish churches, and I was greatly cheered by the warm and affectionate welcome which greeted the American Bishops in every part of the United Kingdom. It was quite impossible for me to respond favorably to many of the invitations to preach, which I was constantly receiving, or to accept one tithe of the hospitality which was so generously tendered. In fact, we were all treated, not like strangers, but as brethren beloved, and we were welcomed with a heartiness and warmth which made us feel more like kindred than as foreigners. I am sure that we have all of us brought away very sweet memories of our sojourn, which we shall never fail to recall with the most grateful emo- tions."
After being joined by some members of his family during the month of October, Bishop Lyman left England, going to France, Spain, Algeria, the Island of Corsica, and Rome, which last- mentioned place (as heretofore stated) had once been his home. Recording his impressions of this scene of his earlier labors, he said: "This visit to Rome was one of peculiar interest to me. It afforded me no common satisfaction to officiate in the beauti- ful church which has been erected there, and to witness the great ecclesiastical changes since the day when I was ministering in an humble chapel outside the gates of the city. The noble church which now stands in a conspicuous spot, in the very heart of Rome, has attracted great attention in the city; and, at all its services, very considerable numbers of the Roman people are seen, looking on with no ordinary interest. I trust it may not be long before arrangements can be made for conducting a regular Italian service within its walls, for it is only by such a service that the Italian people can be led to see and understand the true position of the Anglican Communion. And there is greater need of this because of the multiplied so-called Protestant services now held in Rome, by many varying sects, advocating, as some of them do, the most extreme and fanatical opinions. If the
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only ideas of a Reformed Church are to be supplied by such teachers, the very name of Protestant is likely to be brought into contempt."
Going from Rome to Paris, and thence to London, Bishop Lyman received a pressing invitation to spend Christmas in the last-mentioned place with the Reverend Doctor Tremlett. This invitation he accepted, and found, at the home of his host, Bishop and and Mrs. Lay, who had just arrived from America. Bishop Lay, it will be remembered, had participated in the con- secration of Bishop Lyman in Raleigh six years before, and had preached the sermon on that occasion.
Leaving his family in Europe and embarking for New York from Liverpool on December 31, 1878, Bishop Lyman spent the first few days of the year 1879 on the Atlantic Ocean, experi- encing a stormy voyage, but landing safely on American soil, January 11th. From New York he went to Baltimore, and reached his home in Raleigh on the 24th of January, Shortly thereafter he went to visit and consult with Bishop Atkinson in Wilmington, later setting out on his Spring visitations, which were brought to a successful close.
In his journal for May 23, 1880, Bishop Lyman refers to an interesting branch of the Church's work, saying: "On the even- ing of the same day I took part in the service at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Raleigh, when the Rev. Job Turner, a deaf- mute, and Deacon of the Diocese of Virginia, rendered the ser- vice into the sign language, the pupils of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum being present. He also baptized a child of deaf-mute parents, and afterwards preached-the baptismal service and the sermon being also read by the Rector. I was much pleased to learn from Mr. Turner that he expects to spend most of his time in visiting the larger towns and cities of our country, holding services for this very interesting class of persons, and thus enabling them to enjoy occasionally the privileges of our public worship."
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The first official act by Bishop Lyman after the adjournment of the Diocesan Convention of 1880 was on May 30th, in that year, when he ordained to the priesthood the Reverend Joseph Blount, Cheshire, Jr., afterwards Assistant Bishop under him and eventually his successor as Bishop of North Carolina, which office he now holds. Another deacon raised to the priesthood a few years later (November 15, 1885) by. Bishop Lyman was the Reverend Robert Strange, now Bishop of East Carolina. Later still (May 24, 1891), Bishop Lyman also ordained, as priest, the Reverend Junius Moore Horner, at present Missionary Bishop of Asheville, in the State of North Carolina.
Upon the death of Bishop Atkinson, January 4, 1881, Bishop Lyman succeeded to the full Bishopric of North Carolina without additional ceremony, and presided over the Diocesan Convention which assembled in Raleigh four months later, in May. On the latter occasion he spoke feelingly of his past associations with Bishop Atkinson, saying, in part: "From the day of my entrance into this Diocese as his associate, he gave me his fullest confidence, and rejoiced in every way to aid and strengthen me in my work. And to me it was a great comfort to enjoy the benefit of his wise counsels, and that fraternal sym- pathy which he always manifested in the fullest measure. Now that so great a source of strength is taken from me, and I am left to carry on alone the burdens and responsibilities of this widely extended Diocese, I feel that I shall not ask in vain for your sympathy and prayers, your hearty and cordial co-opera- tion."
In 1881, while on a visit to Detroit, Michigan, Bishop Lyman went, by invitation of Bishop Harris, to Ann Arbor, and there (October 16th) preached at the ordination, as deacon, of the eminent author and educator, Moses Coit Tyler, afterwards Pro- fessor of American History in Cornell University, at which . place he was advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Coxe. Pro- fessor Tyler had formerly been a Congregational clergyman.
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Some brief mention has already been made (in the sketch of Bishop Atkinson) of the unsuccessful effort to establish an edu- cational institution for boys, at Morganton, in Burke County. This was to be called Wilberforce School, as a memorial of the Right Reverend Samuel Wilberforce, Lord Bishop successively of Oxford and Winchester, in England, who had died in 1873. This eminent Anglican dignitary was the same Bishop of Oxford of whom Bishop Ives had so often spoken in terms of admira- tion in years gone by. Bishop Atkinson having urged upon the Diocesan Convention of 1874 the desirability of providing re- ligious educational facilities for boys, a committee was ap- pointed --- consisting of the Reverend Messrs. Benjamin S. Bron- son, Edward M. Forbes, and Robert B. Sutton, together with Messrs. William H. Hardin, and Claudius B. Denson-to take the matter under consideration. At its own request, this com- mittee was continued, and authorized (with the concurrence of Bishops Atkinson and Lyman) to determine upon a place of location for the school; also to take any other action by them deemed advisable. Having been requested by Bishop Atkinson to assume chief direction of the matter, Bishop Lyman person- ally inspected various sites, and finally (with the unanimous con- currence of the other members of the committee) selected a tract of two hundred acres-called Vine Hill-a mile or two south- east of Morganton. At the Court House in the latter town, on July 6, 1874, Bishop Lyman addressed a mass meeting of citi- zens of the vicinity. Afterwards a fund was raised by popular subscription and the Vine Hill tract purchased, besides about one thousand dollars being pledged to aid in erecting buildings. At the Diocesan Convention of 1877, a committee was appointed to take into consideration the condition of Wilberforce School, this committee consisting of General William R. Cox, Colonel Joseph J. Erwin," and Colonel Thomas George Walton -- the two
* As a memorial to Colonel Erwin and his wife, a beautiful stone chapel was erected at West Durham in 1907-'08 by their son William A. Erwin, a never-tiring worker in the interests of the Church.
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last named being citizens of Morganton and delegates from Grace Church in that town. This committee recommended that some person should be appointed to solicit funds for the erection of the school building; and, in accordance with this suggestion, Colonel Walton was chosen for that purpose. To the Diocesan Convention which met in May, 1878, Bishop Lyman reported that work on the building would probably be begun by the fol- lowing September. The intention of the committee, he said, was to rent a house in Morganton for the temporary work of the school. Early in 1879, matters looked promising, for Bishop Lyman was able to announce that sufficient funds had been raised to pay for the erection of the building on plans gratui- tously drawn by an architect in Baltimore. During that year the erection progressed as far as the windows of the second story, and then ceased for lack of funds. By way of making matters worse, reports began to be circulated that the building was unsafe - in danger of collapsing - and a committee was ap- pointed to investigate its condition. This committee consisted of the Reverend Robert B. Sutton, D. D., the Honorable John S. Henderson, and Colonel Roger B. Atkinson. One of these gen- tlemen, Mr. Henderson, was detained from the investigation by public business, but Doctor Sutton and Colonel Atkinson found the building entirely safe, though unsatisfactory in some other respects. At a later period Bishop Lyman tried to find some person who would be willing to lease the property on easy terms, complete the building, and run the school as a personal enter- prise under the auspices of the Church. This effort was unsuc- cessful. The final failure of the Wilberforce School movement was announced to the Diocesan Convention of 1882 by Bishop Lyman, in these words: "On Friday, July 29th, 1881, I met the Trustees of Wilberforce School; and, after mature deliberation, and a full consideration of all the difficulties surrounding the enterprise, it was resolved to go no further with the work, but let the property be sold and the proceeds divided pro rata among the contributors. It was a great disappointment to see this
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scheme prove unsuccessful, but the unsatisfactory character of the building, and other weighty considerations, induced us to adopt this course. I trust that the day is not distant when a school for boys, under the auspices of the Church, may be suc- cessfully established."
The failure of the efforts to establish Wilberforce School was indeed a disappointment to Bishop Lyman, who had not only labored for its success, but personally was a liberal contributor. to the fund raised for its erection. Another zealous worker, who raised funds by personal appeals in New York, Maryland, and other States besides North Carolina, was the Reverend Neilson Falls, Rector of Grace Church in Morganton. This gentleman also personally supervised a good deal of the work. Nor were efforts in behalf of the school limited to Episcopalians, as Col- onel Samuel McDowell Tate, and other public-spirited citizens of Morganton who belonged to different communions, nobly aided in the work by which it was vainly sought to build up a useful educational institution. The trustees of Wilberforce School, named in the act incorporating it (chapter 139 Private Laws of 1874-'75) were the Right Reverend Thomas Atkinson, the Right Reverend Theodore B. Lyman, the Reverend Benja- min S. Bronson, the Reverend Neilson Falls, and Messrs. Wil- liam R. Myers, Thomas G. Walton, Joseph J. Erwin, Kemp P. Battle and Samuel McD. Tate.
While referring to the educational work which has been car- ried on, from time to time, in the interests of the Church, men- tion should be made of the labors of the late Reverend Francis J. Murdoch, D.D., of Salisbury. Though not conducting a divinity school, this gentleman personally instructed upwards of twelve candidates for orders, some of whom are now among the most useful clergy of the Diocese. A private Church school, for girls, under the Reverend Francis Hilliard, of Oxford, also did much good work.
In 1883, the Diocese of North Carolina was divided by sever- ing therefrom a territory out of which was created the Diocese
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of East Carolina. While, as early as 1866, there was some in- formal discussion as to the desirability of erecting a new dio- cese, probably the first definite action with this end in view had been taken at the Diocesan Convention of North Carolina in May, 1868, when a special committee was appointed, con- sisting of the Reverend Alfred A. Watson, the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire, Sr., the Reverend Benjamin S. Bronson, Armand J. DeRosset, M.D., and Mr. Richard H. Smith. This committee issued a pamphlet of thirty-seven pages, entitled An Address to the Several Dioceses of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States on the Subject of the Division of Dioceses. This memorial was presented to the General Con- vention by the Reverend Alfred A. Watson, chairman of the committee, but nothing seems to have come of it. At the North Carolina Diocesan Convention of 1874 the Reverend Francis J. Murdoch, Rector of Saint Luke's Church in Salisbury, again brought up the matter for consideration with a resolution look- ing to such division. After an amendment to Mr. Murdoch's resolution by General James G. Martin, the question was re- ferred to a committee consisting of the Reverend Edward M. Forbes, the Reverend Alfred A. Watson, the Reverend Joseph C. Huske, Armand J. DeRosset, M.D., and the Honorable Robert Strange. In 1875, on motion of General Martin, a committee was appointed to report a plan of division, and this committee consisted of the Reverend Aldert Smedes, the Rev- erend Matthias M. Marshall, the Reverend Edward R. Rich, General James G. Martin, and Mr. Richard H. Battle, Jr. This committee recommended to the Diocesan Convention of 1876 that the State should be divided into two dioceses, to be known respectively as the Diocese of Raleigh and the Diocese of Wilmington. The chairman of this committee, Doctor Smedes, died in the ensuing year. At the Convention of 1877, the question of dividing the diocese was made a special order for May 31st; and, on that day, a report from a majority of the committee was submitted for the consideration of the Con-
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vention. This report recommended that, with the consent of the Bishop, a new Diocese should be established (though this was not on the geographical lines adopted when the division finally took place in 1883), and another committee-Reverend Jarvis Buxton, Reverend Alfred A. Watson, Colonel William L. DeRosset, Judge Henry R. Bryan, and the Honorable John S. Henderson-was appointed to fix other limits of the pro- posed Diocese. The limits recommended by this committee were also different from those eventually adopted. An ad- journed meeting of this latter convention was held in Raleigh during the month of September, 1877, chiefly to consider the question of establishing a new Diocese. After a free discussion of the matter, however, the Reverend Joseph C. Huske offered a resolution (duly adopted) which indefinitely postponed action in consequence of the wide diversity of opinion existing in the Convention as to the wisdom of the proposed course. During the sittings of this body, General Martin offered a minority report, proposing a division on geographical lines different
from any of those theretofore suggested. His report rec- ommended the establishment of a new Diocese in the eastern part of the State. As the central and western section of North Carolina would even then be too large, this minority report also recommended that the General Convention should be peti- tioned further to subdivide that part of the State by establish- ing the Missionary Jurisdiction of Asheville, for work still further west, in the mountain section. This was the course pursued some years later-the Diocese of East Carolina being established in 1883, and the Missionary Jurisdiction of Ashe- ville in 1898. General Martin's resolution also provided that all three dioceses should be under one legislative assembly, to be called the Synod of the Province of North Carolina, and that this body should be presided over by the senior Bishop residing within the State. This latter plan was never adopted.
The proposition to divide the Diocese remained in abeyance for several years, and was brought up again at the Diocesan
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Convention of 1882, when the Reverend Matthias M. Marshall, D.D., offered a resolution setting forth that the welfare of the Church demanded a division of the Diocese, also specifying how the two separate dioceses should be bounded, and instructing the deputies to the ensuing General Convention to obtain that assembly's sanction to the proposed change. These resolutions were referred to a committee of seven, consisting of the Reverend Messrs. Joseph C. Huske, Jarvis Buxton, Matthias M. Mar- shall, and Benjamin S. Bronson, together with Messrs. Wil- liam L. DeRosset, James S. Battle and John Wilkes. A ma- jority of this committee made its report to the effect that "the welfare of the Church in North Carolina demands a division of the Diocese," but recommending boundary lines other than those specified in Doctor Marshall's resolution. In the same report it was provided that the deputies to the next General Convention should apply to that body for authority to make the change, etc. From this report one 'member of the committee, Mr. James S. Battle, dissented on the ground that the question had been brought up unexpectedly, without either consulting the Bishop or obtaining the consent of the various parishes throughout the Diocese for such an important change to be made. Colonel William L. DeRosset, another member of the committee, also dissented as to the boundaries proposed, though he favored division. After a motion to postpone indefinitely the consideration of this matter had been voted down, and the minor- ity reports had been tabled, the report of the majority was adopted by the following vote : 41 clergymen for adopting report and 9 against adoption; 23 parishes for adopting report and 10 against adoption. Later the following resolution was adopted :
"RESOLVED, That a committee consisting of the Rev. Edward R. Rich, the Rev. Joseph B. Cheshire, Jr., and the Rev. E. N. Joyner, with A. J. DeRosset, M. D., and R. HI. Battle, Jr., Esq., be appointed by this Convention to confer with the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of the Diocese, in reference to the division of the Diocese of North Carolina, and that they report to the next Annual Convention the result of the said conference."
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Upon motion, the Reverend Francis J. Murdoch was added to the above committee. This committee found that Bishop Lyman was, as he had always been, opposed to division, but he said that he would not withhold his consent to such division if a large majority of both orders in the Diocesan Convention, clergy and laity, should express a preference for that measure. At the Diocesan Convention of 1883 Bishop Lyman gave, in a full and strong way, the grounds of his objections to division- adding that his predecessor, Bishop Atkinson, had formerly favored division, "but later, when he realized more fully the many difficulties in the way, he entirely changed his opinion and became fully convinced that division would be likely to prove a disastrous experiment." When the final vote was taken during the latter Convention on the question of division, the ballot resulted as follows: 42 clergymen for division and 11 against; 29 parishes for division and 10 against.
The boundary between the dioceses was finally fixed in ac- cordance with a recommendation by a committee at the above Diocesan Convention of 1883. The committee at first made a report to which the Reverend Doctor Cheshire, Jr., offered an amendment. Leave was later obtained by this committee to alter its report, and Doctor Cheshire thereupon withdrew the amendment he had offered, as, in the new form, it obviated his objections. Amendments as to boundary were also offered by Colonel William L. DeRosset and the Reverend William S. Pettigrew, but these were voted down, after which the com- mittec's report was unanimously adopted. It was in these words :
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