Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.

Excerpt from Sisterhoods and Deaconesses: At Home and Abroad This volume was mainly ready for the press some months ago, but has been delayed, partly by the desire to make it as nearly as possible a complete history of Sisterhoods and Deaconesses Associations in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. This it is believed to be; while in the accounts furnished of similar organizations abroad, it is hoped that there will be found an impartial description of societies which, differing widely from one another, are recognized as representative in their character. Whatever measure of information the following pages may furnish, is largely due to the kind assistance of the venerable Bishop of Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Whittingham, of whose prompt and generous help, the undersigned desires to make grateful and affectionate mention. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Algernon Sidney Crapsey: “The Last of the Heretics,” is a biography about a man whose life reflected the religious, social and cultural conventions of late nineteenth and early twentieth century America. The fascinating changes that Crapsey experienced in his personal life paralleled the intellectual developments that attended the nation as it moved from a Protestant, Christian culture to a primarily secular one. Recognizing those transformations in the life of Crapsey helps us to understand them at the societal level as well. After a short stint in the military during the Civil War, Crapsey began his career as a young man caught up in the pomp and ritual of the Oxford Movement and Anglo-Catholicism. He maintained a long romance with the medieval communitarian- based Anglican institution. He eventually became a leading missioner or, one who brought instruction and Episcopal evangelism to various places both at home and abroad. He was, at one point, the leading candidate for the Bishopric of Omaha, Nebraska though he ultimately declined the offer. But as he became more successful at one point traveling to Great Britain, he eventually witnessed the discrepancies between the hierarchical church and the laity. The seeds of socialism both Christian and secular were set at this point. He became more and more broad- minded and liberal in his thinking leading to his utterances of heresy and eventual excommunication between 1905-07. His trial captivated the nation twenty years before the Scopes Monkey Trial, and every major newspaper carried its developments. As he moved on in years his life deepened becoming more interesting and legendary as a favorite circuit speaker, author, avowed communist and New York State’s first youth probation officer. For many, his death at the end of the decade of the twenties marked the end an era of modernism in America. As a true progressive, Crapsey had not only helped to initiate a process that brought successive modification to society, but he also helped to establish a tradition of liberality within the Episcopal Church. The subsequent controversies surrounding Bishops Pike and Spong attest to this tradition, as does the current controversy concerning the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1883.

In late Victorian and Edwardian England, says Steven Maughan, foreign missions had a broad resonance and significance not adequately explored by historians of English culture. Mighty England Do Good fills that lacuna by examining the rapid growth of foreign missions in the Church of England between 1850 and 1915, culminating at the height of the missionary enterprise in Britain. Maughan's book bridges the gaps between religious, cultural, and imperial history to give a full picture of the movement's importance. Maughan explores Anglicanism as a microcosm of the larger religious culture of Britain, particularly in light of the expanding British empire. This book provides a multidimensional reassessment of the power that foreign missions had to shape belief, institutions, culture, and practice not only within the Church of England but also in the broader culture of the time.