[Footnote 31: Journal of 1859, pp. 55, 72, 100, 143.]
[Footnote 32: Ibid. p. 382.]
And thus the golden opportunity of Protestant Episcopalianism passed by. The terrible events which followed in the next six years, put far away that quiet calm in which religious differences grow dim, and love for God and man overcomes human pride. Through her own bisection into Confederate and Federal her unifying influence has sustained a shock from which it will not, for long years, recover. The evangelical churches have, at once, lost confidence in her disposition to meet them with a fair and open compromise, and in her separate ability to do the work which, in the providence of God, is placed before her; while her internal difficulties have augmented year by year, and rendered less and less likely the revival of that spirit which promised such achievements only fifteen years ago. Her golden opportunity passed by. But that hour of trial, in the great crucible of national emergencies, can never be forgotten, either by her friends or foes, and both will look to it for the disclosure of her real abilities, and for the revelation of her character, as human or divine.
The Memorial, the report of the commission, and many of the communications which were received in answer to the Circular, were collected into one volume, and published by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Potter, of Pennsylvania, in 1857. For some reason, (which we never could explain,) the publication of this volume was soon afterward suspended, and such portions of that edition as could be reached were called in and destroyed. The last monuments of the great uprising were thus levelled with the dust; and, to-day, except for the few copies of Memorial Papers which escaped destruction, and the scattered records of Convention Journals, reliable statistics of that eventful period are almost unattainable.
Fortunately, however, we have these authorities at hand, and thus are able to try the Episcopal Church by her own evidence, and rest the truth or falsehood of her claims to be the "church of the people" on her own solemn and well-weighed admissions.
First, then, in the Memorial itself, which bears the date of October 14th, 1853, we find the following statement:
"The actual posture of our church, with reference to the great moral and social necessities of the day, presents to the minds of the undersigned a subject of grave and anxious thought. Did they suppose that this was confined to themselves, they would not feel warranted in submitting it to your attention; but they believe it to be participated in by many of their brethren, who may not have seen the expediency of declaring their views, or, at least, a mature season for such a course.
"The divided and distracted state of our American Protestant Christianity; the new and subtle forms of unbelief, adapting themselves with fatal success to the spirit of the age; the consolidated forces of Romanism, bearing with renewed skill and activity against the Protestant faith; and, as more or less the consequence of these, the utter ignorance of the gospel among so large a portion of the lower classes of our population, making a heathen world in our midst, are among the considerations which induce your memorialists to present the inquiry whether the period has not arrived for the adoption of measures, to meet these exigencies of the times, more comprehensive than any yet provided for by our present ecclesiastical system; in other words, whether the Protestant Episcopal Church, with only her present canonical means and appliances, her fixed and invariable modes of public worship, and her traditional customs and usages, is competent to the work of preaching and dispensing the gospel to all sorts and conditions of men, and so adequate to do the work of the Lord in this land and in this age? This question, your petitioners, for their own part, and in consonance with many thoughtful minds among us, believe MUST BE ANSWERED IN THE NEGATIVE." [Footnote 33]
[Footnote 33: Memorial Papers, p. 27, et seq.]