of the Protestant Episcopal churches of Charleston, S.C. Not long ago
the Convention appointed a special committee to consider and report upon
the subject of the admission of negro clergymen and laymen as members of
that body. Their action was taken with the view of bringing the
Charleston churches, if possible, into harmony with the other Episcopal
congregations of the State. In 1887, the former had seceded in
consequence of the adoption of a resolution which the Charleston
brethren regarded as a virtual obliteration of the color-line.

Thursday, the report of the committee was made public. It proposes a
separate convocation for the colored churches under the ministration of
the bishop, and consents to the admission to the Convention of colored
clergymen who have been associated with the church for twelve months
prior to May, 1889. If the report is adopted, three negro ministers will
sit as members, but no lay delegates will be eligible. The committee
were willing to forego their prejudice out of deference to the holy
office. They felt that the color of a clergyman's skin, although it was
no doubt a very serious ground of objection when it happened to be
black, should not overcome the respect due to the sanctity of his
official calling. His cloth, so to speak, saved him, and what would have
been denied to the man it was possible to concede to the priest.

Under these circumstances the gravity of the question, "Do colored folks
retain their complexion when they go to heaven?" is obvious. The
concession which the committee of the Diocesan Convention make is but a
re-affirmation of the Charleston brethren's aversion to anything that
smacks of an approach to association of the two races on terms of
equality. If there are colored saints in Paradise, it will be utterly
impossible for the Charleston white saints of the Episcopal denomination
to feel at home there. The only chance of reconciling them to a heaven