Cornell University Library 
 BX 5995.W58W74 
 
 Memoir of the life of the Right Reverend 
 
 3 1924 008 663 670 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924008663670 
 
MEMOIR OF THE LIFE 
 
 JAMES KAY, JUN. & BROTHER, 122 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 PITTSBURGH; — C. H. KAY & CO. 
 
 1839. 
 

 Entered, according to the act of congress, in the year 1839, by James Kay, Jun. fit Bro- 
 ther, in the office of the clerk of the district court of the United States in and for the east- 
 ern district of Pennsylvania. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The preparation of the following Memoir was 
 undertaken by the Author at the request of the Fa- 
 mily of Bishop White, and also of a meeting of the 
 Episcopal Clergy of the city of Philadelphia and its 
 neighbourhood, together with some of their brethren 
 who had come from other dioceses to attend his fune- 
 ral held on the 21st of July 1836, a few days after 
 the Bishop's decease. As soon as his papers could 
 be examined, and other materials collected, the work 
 was commenced, and was delivered in a state for pub- 
 lication in September 1837. The authentic materials 
 from which it has been composed, are stated or re- 
 ferred to in the course of the Memoir itself, and need 
 not be here particularly detailed. I have only to 
 express my acknowledgements to Dr William H. 
 Hobart, for the obliging readiness with which he fa- 
 voured me with the letters of Dr White to his father, 
 the late Bishop Hobart, in the course of an extensive 
 
IV prefacj:. 
 
 and long continued correspondence between them. 
 Unexpected delay has occurred in the publication of 
 the Memoir. It was prepared with an intention of 
 prefixing it to the proposed collection of the Bishop's 
 Posthumous Works, and was consequently affected 
 by the difficulties connected with so extensive an 
 undertaking. This circumstance will account for the 
 delay stated, and also for some expressions and refe- 
 rences which will be found in the text and notes sug- 
 gested by the expected connection of the Memoir with 
 those works ; and which it has not been thought ne- 
 cessary to expunge, though the Memoir is now pub- 
 lished separately. 
 
 B. W. 
 
 Theological Seminary, New York, August 10, 1839. 
 
EMBELLISHMENTS. 
 
 1. Engraving and Portrait of Bishop White (taken 
 in 1834), from the original Picture, by Inman, in the 
 possession of the Right Reverend George W. Doane, 
 D.D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
 the state of New Jersey. 
 
 2. Fac-Simile of Bishop White's Handwriting — 
 the Record of Bishops consecrated by him. 
 
 ■ 3. Engraving of Bishop White's Study, from the 
 Original Painting by Sartain. 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 The life of the subject of this Memoir, extended to 
 a length much exceeding the period usually allowed 
 to man, was passed in the retired and unostentatious 
 performance of the duties of his sacred profession in 
 the same city and parish. No great variety of inci- 
 dents, affecting himself individually, can therefore be 
 reasonably expected. But there are still circum- 
 stances which may render a detail of his principles 
 and conduct through life interesting to every reader ; 
 but especially to those who have enjoyed the pleasure 
 and advantage of social or official intercourse with 
 him. To these the interest will be increased by the 
 tender and respectful feelings associated with their 
 recollections of him : and to all, there will be supplied 
 sources of gratification and improvement in the exhi- 
 bition of a character of uncommon excellence, dignity 
 
 B 
 
10 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and loveliness; and in a history of the part which the 
 revered possessor of it was led to take in the civil 
 affairs of his country, during an eventful and trying 
 period; and more particularly in the concerns of an 
 important branch of the Christian Church; in reviv- 
 ing, organizing and establishing which, after it had " 
 been nearly extinct in consequence of the calamities 
 caused by the war of the revolution, he was, under 
 Providence, a leading, able and influential agent ; and 
 which he lived to behold in a state of prosperity and 
 stability greater than his most sanguine expectations 
 anticipated. 
 
 As Bishop White lived to a very advanced age, 
 and survived all those intimately acquainted vsdth him 
 in early life; and as no remains have been discovered 
 of any correspondence which may have then taken 
 place; it would have been difficult, and probably 
 impracticable, at this time, to obtain more than a 
 very meagre account of the incidents of that period 
 of his existence. Happily, the probability of the 
 occurrence of such difficulty was foreseen by his 
 friend, the late Bishop Hobart; at whose request he 
 reduced to writing, in a letter directed to that gentle- 
 man dated in September 1819, a brief account of the 
 events of his life, until the commencement of the pro- 
 ceedings for organizing the Church, after the peace of 
 1783. From that letter, together with some additional 
 statements in the form of notes, appended to a copy 
 of it retained by himself, and written in 1830, after 
 the death of Bishop Hobart, this Memoir of the period 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE'. 11 
 
 above mentioned will be almost entirely composed; 
 only a few facts having been gleaned from other 
 sources. 
 
 The letter commences with this characteristic re- 
 mark-: '"A few years ago you requested of me to 
 prepare for you some notices of the most material cir- 
 cumstances of my early life. Compliance was in- 
 tended, but has been delayed, in common with many 
 things which may be done at any time. It is now 
 undertaken, with a protest against being understood 
 to believe, that there have been such events as can 
 make up a volume of biography; otherwise than by 
 the help of that art of book-making, which has been 
 much employed of fete years on private history; but 
 the exercise of which I should be sorry to foresee, on 
 a life of so little variety or celebrity as mine." 
 
 The autobiography of a man so distinguished and 
 beloved, in the very language in which he had him- 
 self thought fit to clothe it, may probably be eagerly 
 desired. But it has not been deemed proper so to 
 publish it, in consequence of his own expressed wish 
 that it should not be. Nor would it be found to pos- 
 sess an attraction equal to what might be expected. 
 A characteristic feature in the Bishop's disposition 
 disqualified him for the task of writing a memoir of 
 himself which would be perused with lively interest. 
 The feature alluded to is his great modesty, and strong 
 aversion from every thing approaching to self-display; 
 an aversion which always distinguished him, and 
 seemed even to increase with advancing ag^e. The 
 
12 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 consequence has been, that while the incidents im- 
 mediately affecting himself are related with brevity, 
 and in very simple language, those affecting the va- 
 rious contemporaries, of whom he has taken notice, 
 are detailed in a more full, free and engaging manner. 
 Passages of the latter kind will be transferred very 
 liberally into these pages, in the language used by the 
 Bishop himself The others will be employed in such 
 a way, and with such enlargements^ as will be better 
 adapted to exhibit his character, and the spirit and 
 principles by which he was governed. 
 
 His subsequent life was so identified with the 
 general history of the Church over which he so long 
 presided, as to warrant a full detail of that history 
 since the revolution. But so extensive a design is 
 little suited to the situation and duties of the author, 
 or to his opportunities of collecting the materials, 
 within a reasonable period. He therefore does not 
 profess to give such a history. The history of our 
 Church will be only so far introduced as may be 
 necessary to illustrate the talents and disposition of 
 the Bishop; his useful services; the spirit and prin- 
 ciples on which he acted, and the steadiness and 
 consistency with which he maintained and pursued 
 them. 
 
 William White was born in Philadelphia, on the 
 24th day of March, the last day of the year 1747, old 
 style, and corresponding with the 4th of April 1748, 
 according to the new style. His father. Colonel 
 Thomas White, was a native of London; but having 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 13 
 
 in infancy lost his father, "was separated from his 
 family, at the age of sixteen, to seek his fortune in 
 Maryland, without any pecuniary aid or outfit, except 
 an apprentice fee of one hundred guineas. The slen- 
 derness of this provision was a consequence of his 
 father's having dissipated his property, and died at an 
 early period of life, leaving his wife and six children 
 (of whom Thomas was next to the youngest) in 
 straitened circumstances. Thomas was bound ap- 
 prentice to a Mr Stokes, who at that time happened 
 to be in England, and was clerk of the county of Bal- 
 timore, then extending to the Susquehanna. The 
 apprenticeship took place under a belief that Mr 
 Stokes was a professional lawyer; which was, how- 
 ever, a mistake. This gentleman his apprentice ac- 
 companied to Maryland, and on the expiration of the 
 apprenticeship became his deputy. Having purchased 
 and studied law books, Mr White commenced prac- 
 tice in the legal profession, and was successful. With 
 his gains he was fortunate in purchasing lands, then 
 cheap: a considerable proportion of those in that 
 country remaining vacant, not having been yet taken 
 up from the proprietary office. He had the advantage 
 of holding, at this favourable time, the office of sur- 
 veyor of the county, which, with other county offices, 
 was conferred upon him by Governor Ogle. He was 
 also one of the two colonels of the militia of the county. 
 With Governor Ogle he possessed considerable influ- 
 ence; and his intercourse with that gentleman was 
 followed by a similar one with the succeeding gover- 
 
 B* 
 
14 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 nor, Sharpe. The latter was twice in Philadelphia 
 while William was a boy, and lodged each time in 
 Colonel White's house. One of the occasions was not 
 long after Braddock's defeat, to attend a meeting of 
 the governors of certain provinces : the other was on 
 the controversy between the proprietaries of Pennsyl- 
 vania and Maryland, concerning the boundaries of 
 their provinces. 
 
 At an early period of life Colonel White married 
 the daughter of Colonel Edward Hall, a man of very 
 extensive property in Baltimore county. Some of the 
 best farms, in the division of it now named Harford, 
 are still held by his descendants. Two of the chil- 
 dren of this marriage lived to be women; of whom 
 one died single, at about the age of forty, and the other 
 married her cousin, Mr Aquila Hall. There are now 
 numerous descendants from her in Harford county. 
 
 Colonel White removed to the city of Philadelphia 
 when about forty-two years of age, being then a 
 widower, and two years after married Esther, the 
 widow of a Mr John Newman. Her maiden name 
 was Hewlings, and she was of a family in Burlington, 
 New Jersey; left in straitened circumstances, but 
 without any child. Her ancestors of that name were 
 among the early settlers of west Jersey, under the 
 purchase made by William Penn, before the settle- 
 ment of Pennsylvania. Although among emigrants 
 principally of the Quaker society, they were, and have 
 been all along, of the Episcopal Church. They were 
 reputable in the middle stations of life; but the name 
 
LIFE OP BISHOP WHITE. 15 
 
 no longer exists in the family, except in an individual 
 instance, though there are many descendants from 
 the female branches. 
 
 The only children of Colonel White, by this second 
 marriage, were William, the subject of this Memoir, 
 and his sister Mary, one year younger than he. This 
 lady became the -wife of Robert Morris, Esq., who, 
 after being a member of congress under the articles 
 of confederation, and of the legislature of the state of 
 Pennsylvania, conducted, with distinguished abiUty 
 and reputation, the financial concerns of the United 
 States during the revolutionary war; and afterwards 
 filled the office of senator, in congress, from Pennsyl- 
 vania, under the existing constitution. Colonel White 
 died in September 1779, at the age of seventy-five. 
 His widow survived him until the last day of the year 
 1790, and died in her seventy-first year. Their son 
 thus speaks of them, in his letter to Bishop Hobart : 
 "There can be no impropriety in my here bearing of 
 testimony to the merits of my parents. My father 
 left the world with the reputation of unsullied integ- 
 rity through life; and I think, I may say that, he 
 possessed a remarkably correct judgment of men and 
 things. In his domestic character he was indulgent 
 and exemplary. During the last twenty-two years of 
 his life, he was so far a cripple, in consequence of a 
 fall from a carriage, as to walk on two canes with 
 handles. This kept him out of all society, except 
 such as could be had at his own hospitable table and 
 fireside; and, except in afternoons, of some of the 
 
16 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 principal gentlemen of the city, of his owa age, who, 
 in those days, habitually assembled at the public cof- 
 fee-house, for society merely. My mother, if I am 
 not misled by partiality, possessed an excellent under- 
 standing, with sincere, but unostentatious. piety." In 
 a note is added: "In my letter to Bishop Hobart, I 
 said the less concerning my honoured mother, as she 
 must have been within his remembrance. But I 
 ought not to introduce the mention of her in this note, 
 without the acknowledgement of the early impressions 
 on my young mind from her religious instructions ; 
 for which I owe gratitude to her memory, and to the 
 grace of God for the benefit received from them." 
 
 At the age of seven, William White was transferred 
 from the school of a mistress to the English school of 
 the newly erected College of Philadelphia, of which 
 his father was a trustee, having been so from the com- 
 mencement of the institution, while it was yet only an 
 , academy. "The master of the school was Mr Ebe- 
 nezer Kinnersley, who often appears in the early 
 works of Dr Franklin, as a co-operator with him in 
 his electrical experiments." When about ten years 
 old, William went into the Latin school of the college, 
 the master of which was Mr Paul Jackson, " a man 
 considered as possessed of a fine genius, and of classi-- 
 cal attainments." But he soon after left the school; 
 which proved a misfortune to his young pupil. For 
 his successor, Mr John Beveridge, " a thorough gram- 
 marian, with little else to recommend him," found it 
 convenient to reduce the number of his classes; and 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 17 
 
 in consequence that of William White was elevated 
 to the one above it; passing from the beginning of an 
 easy book to the latter part of a difficult one, to boys 
 of their st9,nding. "I record this incident," says the 
 Bishop, in his letter, "for the purpose of censuring 
 this, and every similar expedient, for the hastening of 
 boys through grammar schools ; which is frequent." 
 When he arrived at the age of thirteen, his class was 
 examined for college by the provost, and the vice- 
 provost. Three were rejected, but he was not one of 
 them. Notwithstanding which, he did not then enter 
 a college class, in consequence of his father's prohibi- 
 tion. This was, at the time, felt by him to be humili- 
 ating, although softened by the permission, granted at 
 his father's request, that he should be with the head 
 class in the Latin school in one part of the day only, 
 and spend the other part in the school in which arith- 
 metic was taught, and in which, usually, one hour of 
 the day only was spent by that class. But he after- 
 wards reflected upon it with satisfaction, as one among 
 the many instances which he recollected of the sound 
 discretion of his father, and was persuaded that, had 
 it not been for this postponement, he would not have 
 gone through college with reputation. And he re- 
 marks, " there have since occurred frequent occasions 
 of comparing the conduct of my father with that of 
 others, much to their disadvantage." In thei next 
 year he entered college, in which he continued three 
 years, and passed through the various studies with 
 reputation. He left it just when he had completed 
 
18 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 his seventeenth year: his examination, previous to 
 graduating, being finished on his birth-day, in 1765, 
 although the commencement did not take place until 
 a month after. 
 
 During his collegiate course, the provost and vice- 
 provost w^ere Dr William Smith and Dr Francis Alli- 
 son; but, at the juncture of his entering college, the 
 former embarked for England, " on his well conducted 
 and successful mission of collecting for it;" and his 
 place was supplied, during two years, by Mr (after- 
 wards Dr) Ewing: but the provost returned in the 
 beginning of the third year. Of Dr Smith and Dr 
 Ewing, only the following remark occurs in the letter 
 to Bishop Hobart. " As the talents of these reverend 
 gentlemen are well known by subsequent occurrences; 
 and as they were living for several years after your ar- 
 rival at the age of manhood, they have no need of any 
 thing from my pen, to inform you of their characters." 
 Of Dr Allison, he remarks : " The vice-provost being 
 long since deceased, and there being few remaining 
 who were personally acquainted with his merits, I avail 
 myself of the opportunity of expressing the opinion, 
 that in addition to his unquestionable ability in his 
 department, he was a man of sterling integrity, of real 
 and rational piety in the Presbyterian communion, of 
 which he was a minister, and singularly liberal 
 minded. His only visible fault was proneness to 
 anger, which, however, was always accompanied by 
 generosity and placability." One of the notes added 
 to the said letter, in 1830, relates to Dr Smith, and is 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 19 
 
 here inserted. "It may seem to require to be ac- 
 counted for, that neither here, nor in the many places 
 following, recording transactions in which the Rev. 
 Dr Smith bore a conspicuous part, there should be 
 said so little concerning either his agency or his cha- 
 racter. He was provost of the college when I entered 
 the lowest school of its academy, at the age of seven, 
 and when I left the seminary, at the age of seventeen. 
 Besides other causes of frequent intercourse, I was 
 connected with him as a trustee of the college, from 
 the year 1774. I also united with him in the oppo- 
 sition made to the act of assembly of 1779,* and in 
 his subsequent endeavours for the repeal of it; which, 
 but for his labours and perseverance, would probably 
 never have been effected, notwithstanding the justice 
 of the cause. His talents are in no need of my recom- 
 mendation; and had they been devoted to literature, 
 and not too much directed to politics, and to specula- 
 tions in land, there is no knowing the measure of ce- 
 lebrity which might be thought too great to be attained 
 to. Why, then, the reserve in the letter? It was 
 owing to this. In the beginning of the organizing of 
 our Church, I thought it my duty to oppose myself 
 to his being recommended by the general convention 
 to the episcopacy, to which he had been elected by 
 the convention of Maryland; and to me his failure was 
 
 * By this act the estate and powers of the trustees of the College of 
 Philadelphia were taken from them, and vested in the trustees of the 
 University of Pennsylvania, thereby erected. The subject will be here- 
 after explained. 
 
20 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 principally owing. My reasons are not detailed, partly 
 because there has been no reproach cast on me on that 
 account, and partly because, in our frequent collisions, 
 I ought not to claim the commendation of an impartial 
 narrator. During his subsequent years, we were on 
 very amicable terms; and he manifested his confi- 
 dence in me by associating me with his brother, and 
 with Jasper Yeates, Esq., in a trusteeship of certain 
 lands, conveyed to us by a deed of gift in favour of 
 his younger daughter. In his will he bequeathed to 
 me a ring." 
 
 On leaving college the final choice of his profession 
 engaged William White's attention, and he was led 
 to decide in favour of the ministry. 
 
 It has been thought that the bent of the genius, 
 and the probable future pursuits in life, are sometimes 
 indicated by the amusements most attractive in early 
 youth. A few circumstances of that nature, occurring 
 while he was very young, have been communicated 
 to me. They were repeatedly related by a lady who 
 was his intimate playmate from a. very early age, and 
 about a year and a half older than he was; a daughter 
 of Mr Stephen Pascal,* a member of the society off 
 Friends, residing in the house adjoining Colonel 
 
 * Afterwards married to Mr Levi Hollingsworth, and the mother of 
 my brother-in-law. She died only a few years before the Bishop. The 
 circumstances were communicated by Mrs Susan Eckard. 
 
 f Dr White was much esteemed and beloved by the members of that 
 society. After he became a bishop, it was not uncommon for some of 
 them, even of the most plain and strict, to speak of him as " our good 
 bishop." 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 21 
 
 White's. That lady bore testimony to his early piety, 
 and was wont to say, when she was herself advanced 
 in life, "Billy White" (so she continued to call him) 
 "was born a bishop. I never could persuade him to 
 play any thing but church. He would tie his own or 
 my apron round his neck, for a gown, and stand be- 
 hind a low chair, which he called his pulpit ; I, seated 
 before him on a little bench, was the congregation ; 
 and he always preached to me about being good. 
 One day," she added, " I heard him crying, and saw 
 him running into the street, and the nurse-maid after 
 him, calling to him to come back and be dressed. 
 He refused, saying, I do not want to go to dancing- 
 school, and I won't be dressed, for I don't think it is 
 good to learn to dance. And that was the only time 
 I ever knew Billy White to be a naughty boy." The 
 lady who gave me these anecdotes, and in whose own 
 language nearly they are related, added that she had 
 the pleasure of repeating these reminiscences of his 
 childhood to the Bishop : they amused him ; and he 
 told her that his mother, finding that he was so averse 
 to learning to dance, gave it up; "though," he said, 
 " I am by no means opposed to others learning, if they 
 like to dance." 
 
 The circumstances which led to his final determi- 
 nation, after leaving college, to enter into the ministry, 
 will be most satisfactorily stated in his own language. 
 They manifest the reflecting mind, calm and sound 
 judgment, and nice sense of moral and religious obli- 
 gation, remarkable at so early an age, and which 
 c 
 
22 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 always distinguished him through every period of his 
 life. And they comprehend several interesting facts, 
 relative to the state of religion in this country, at the 
 
 time. 
 
 " It may be recorded with truth," he observes, " but 
 let it be with humility, and with sorrow for innume- 
 rable failures, and for the having fallen far short of 
 what was due to the advantages of early years, that 
 there is not recollected any portion of my life, during 
 which I was altogether regardless of the obligations of 
 religion, or neglectful of the duty of prayer. But in 
 about the middle of my sixteenth year, there occurred 
 some circumstances, particularly the decease of an 
 amiable young lady, of my own age, but in whom I 
 had not felt any farther interest than as an acquaint- 
 ance of my sister. This event gave to my mind a 
 tendency to religious exercises and inquiries ; which, 
 were also promoted by its being understood that a 
 visit wa:s to be expected from the Rev. George Whit- 
 field.' His former visits had been principally before 
 my birth ; and the last of them had been when I was 
 too young to have retained the recollection of his per- 
 son. His coming, at this time, caused religion to be 
 more than commonly a subject of conversation; and 
 this added to the existing tendency of my mind. I 
 heard him with great delight, in his wonderful elocu- 
 tion; although informed that it was greatly impaired 
 by the state of his health, which evidently affected his 
 throat, and had swelled his person, reported to have 
 been naturally slender. Under this disadvantage, his 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 23 
 
 force of emphasis, and the melodies of his tones and 
 Qadences, exceeded what I have ever witnessed in any 
 other person. It is a proof how much depends on the 
 mechanical part of us, and on sympathy excited by 
 occasional incidents, that although the preaching of 
 Mr Whitfield must have had the same general com- 
 plexion, and been at least as well considered as in for- 
 mer years, there was nothing seen under it of those 
 agitations which were still subjects of report. Wher 
 ther it were owing to this cause, or to my being other- 
 wise fortified, I found myself in no danger of being 
 one of his converts. The first consideration which 
 weakened his authority with me was, a comparison of 
 his obligations assumed at ordination, with his utter 
 disregard of them; a subject new to me when his case 
 presented it. Subsequently to this period, when I 
 considered the questions between the divines of the 
 Church of England and those of the Puritan separa- 
 tion, although I disapproved of the scrupulousness of 
 the latter, not without lamenting the unbending atti- 
 tude of the former, the relaxing of which would pro- 
 bably have broken the party, by detaching the honest 
 from the factious ; yet there appeared respectability in 
 the plea of conscientious refusal. The impression has 
 been often since revived, to the disadvantage of some 
 who have intruded within our pale, without such a 
 plea for their irregularity. 
 
 "That Mr Whitfield had some expedient, reconcil- 
 ing his mind to his deviations, cannot reasonably be 
 doubted. But in consideration of what he has said in 
 
24 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 print, of his having been carried away by impressions 
 and feelings, it is not uncharitable to class his case 
 among the many in which enthusiasm, consistently 
 with general good intention, leads to results not con- 
 sistent with moral obligation. Of the effect, in former 
 times, of his violation of the order of the Church, 
 there was evidence in the many families who were 
 known to have been drawn from it by becoming fol- 
 lowers of his ministry. Facts also were related, which 
 had a tendency to caution against the delusions of 
 sudden impressions and violent agitations; it being 
 remembered of many, that they had been subjects of 
 such extravagances, without any lasting effect, either 
 on their religious state or on their moral conduct ; and 
 of many others, that they had been similarly affected, 
 and continued to be professors of religion, but of such 
 a sort, as not to induce in me an inclination to resem- 
 ble them. These things did not hinder the observing 
 of some persons, who had received their first impres- 
 sions under the display of the extraordinary elocution 
 of Mr Whitfield. That this was the engine by which 
 he wrought such wonders, must be evident to all who 
 have perused his printed sermons. Of his disinter- 
 estedness, and of his generous affections, there is here 
 entertained no doubt. 
 
 "He made another visit to this country in the year 
 1770. When he was on his way from Philadelphia to 
 Boston, late in the summer, he had been prevailed on 
 to promise to cross from Bristol to Burlington, and to 
 preach there. I happened to be in the latter, and staying 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 25 
 
 in the house of a relative, when it was announced that 
 Mr Whitfield was at a tavern on the other side of the 
 river. He was expected to be escorted by my rela- 
 tive. I went with him; and we returned in a boat 
 with Mr Whitfield and his company. He preached 
 to the assembled citizens, in the front of the court- 
 house, and afterwards dined at the house of my rela- 
 tive. During dinner, he was almost the only speaker, 
 as was said to be common ; all present being disposed 
 to listen. This narrative has been given for the in- 
 troduction of one of his speeches; which may be seen 
 to show a great change from his early track of senti- 
 ment. The speech was : ' In Heaven I expect to see 
 Charles the First, Oliver Cromwell and Archbishop 
 Laud, singing halleluiahs together.' Mr Whitfield 
 would not have said this in the days in which he in- 
 veighed against Archbishop Tillotson from the pulpit. 
 It was but a few weeks after, and a few days before 
 my embarking for England, on the 15th of October, 
 when tidings reached Philadelphia of the death of this 
 celebrated man, in Massachusetts." 
 
 In one of the appended notes, the Bishop adds: "It 
 has been urged, in favour of the animal feelings ex- 
 cited by the preaching of Mr Whitfield, and of other 
 preachers of the same stamp, that however many the 
 subsequent declensions, a portion of the converts are 
 reclaimed from sin, and continue faithful. The ques- 
 tion of the expediency of any specified mean of con- 
 version should rest, not on this ground, but on Scrip- 
 ture, in alliance with the dictates of reason and of 
 
 n* 
 
26 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 prudence. But the fact being presumed, before ad- 
 mission of the inference there should be a probable 
 estimate of the number of persons, who are brought to 
 a religious state and a suitable life, by a preaching not 
 attended by the extravagances, referred to, and whom 
 the other would rather repel ; and further, how many, 
 after having been captivated by this, and after having 
 traced it to its causes in sympathy and animal or- 
 ganization, resolve all religious feeling into delusion, 
 and live and die impenitent. So far as my personal 
 observation extends, what are sometimes called revi- 
 vals would suffer much by the comparison." 
 
 Let it be recollected that the personal observation 
 here mentioned, had extended through a life of eighty- 
 two years; and that his situation during the greater 
 part of this period, afforded him advantageous means 
 of correct observation. The sentiments early im- 
 pressed upon the Bishop's mind, on the subjects no- 
 ticed, were consistently maintained by him through 
 life, and received increased confirmation from his long 
 experience and attention to human nature. 
 
 Before his graduation, it was expected that his views 
 would be directed to the ministry. This circum- 
 stance, even then, and still more afterwards, drew to 
 him the kind attention of the clergy ; particularly of 
 Dr Peters and Mr Duche, the rector and one of the 
 assistant ministers of Christ Church and St Peter's, to 
 the former of which his family belonged. The only 
 means of instruction and direction in the proper course 
 of study, then possessed by candidates for orders in 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 27 
 
 America, were furnished by the voluntary private aid 
 of the clergy; and what advantages, in this respect, 
 were enjoyed by William White, will be understood 
 from his OAvn statement. 
 
 "Although I shall always remember those two 
 gentlemen" (Dr Peters and Mr Duche) " with respect 
 and affection, on account of their merits and of their 
 kindness to me; yet there was in each of them a sin- 
 gularity of religious character, which lessened the 
 profit of an intercourse with them. 
 
 " Dr Peters was a native of England, and had come 
 to this country nearly forty years before the time now 
 spoken of He was then a young clergyman, of a re- 
 spectable family in Liverpool, of an excellent educa- 
 tion, and of polished manners. It was said that his 
 acquaintance had been cultivated by the genteelest 
 families in the city ; but that, being no favourite with 
 the then rector of Christ Church, the Rev. Archibald 
 Cummings, he accepted from the proprietary govern- 
 ment the secretaryship of the land office, which laid 
 the foundation of a considerable fortune. He was also 
 secretary to a succession of governors; and continued 
 to be of the governor's council until his decease. At 
 an age turned of sixty, he gave up his lucrative offices, 
 and became more serious in religious concerns, than 
 at any former period of his life; although his morals 
 had been correct, his attendance on public worship 
 constant and solemn, and his preaching occasional. 
 Soon after, the rectorship of the church becoming va- 
 cant by the decease of the Rev. Dr Jenney, the sue- 
 
28 MEMOm OF THE 
 
 cesser of Mr Cummings, Mr Peters* was chosen to it. 
 The singularity alluded to, was his adopting of the 
 notions of Jacob Behmen and William Law ; in conse- 
 quence of which his sermons were not always under- 
 stood. In social discourse, he could be exceedingly 
 entertaining, on any ordinary, and on any literary 
 subject, especially if it regarded classical or historical 
 learning. Yet from the moment of turning the con- 
 versation to religion, he was in the clouds. 
 
 " Mr Duche was of a respectable family in this city. 
 He was in the first class of graduates of our college; 
 and having finished his studies in it wdth reputation, 
 spent some time in the English University of Cam- 
 bridge. A remarkably fine voice and graceful action 
 helped to render him very popular as a preacher. His 
 disposition also was amiable. The greatest infirmity 
 attending him was a tendency to change in religious 
 sentiment. A few years after his ministerial settle- 
 ment, he took to the mysticism of Jacob Behmen and 
 William Law. From this he became detached for a 
 time; and his preaching, which was more zealous than 
 either before or after, seemed to me to border on Cal- 
 vinism ; although, probably, he was not aware of, or 
 designed it. In this interval, my personal intercourse 
 with him began; and ha^dng one day asked of him the 
 loan of Law's works, then much talked of, I received 
 a refusal; the reason given being the danger he had 
 formerly been in from the reading of these books. He 
 
 * On the 6th of December 1762. He received his degree of D.D. 
 from the University of Oxford, near the close of the year 1770. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 29 
 
 relapsed, however, to the theory of the mystics, and 
 continued in it until the troubles which drove him 
 from his native country. In England he became a 
 convert to the opinions of Baron Swedenborg ; and in 
 these he continued until his decease. There can be 
 no impropriety in stating this property of the charac- 
 ter of my deceased friend ; it being known to many 
 still living, and currently spoken of by them. In re- 
 collecting the pleasure taken in his conversation, I 
 think myself singularly happy in not having been 
 drawn by it from what then, and ever since, I have 
 considered as correct views of our holy religion." 
 
 Besides the friendly aid of Dr Peters and Mr Duche, 
 and his familiar intercourse with them, he met with 
 another assistance in his preparation, from which he 
 thought that he derived much benefit, in conjunc- 
 tion with four other youths designed for the ministry. 
 This was a theological exercise, instituted on the pro- 
 posal of the Rev. Dr Smith, the provost of the college, 
 of which he gives this account. "During three suc- 
 cessive seasons, and within the space of a few months 
 of each, on Sunday evenings, these exercises were 
 performed in the hall of the old college, then not much 
 less in size than either of our two churches, and in the 
 audience of numerous and respectable assemblies. 
 The groundwork of what we wrote and delivered was 
 the history of the Bible. On each evening two of our 
 company delivered their compositions, previously cor- 
 rected by the provost, who afterwards enlarged on the 
 subjects. Although this was far from being a com- 
 
30 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 plete course of ecclesiastical studies, it called to a 
 variety of reading, and to a concentration of what was 
 read. There was also use in the introduction to pub- 
 lic speaking. The young men with whom I was as- 
 sociated, were Thomas Coombe, who will be spoken 
 of hereafter; Thomas Hopkinson, brother of the late 
 Judge Francis Hopkinson, and since settled as a cler- 
 gyman and deceased in Maryland ; John Montgomery 
 deceased, who also settled in Maryland, but went to 
 England during the revolutionary war, and obtained 
 a parish from the bishop of Hereford ; and Joseph 
 Hutchins,* whose long residence in this state, and 
 late return to Barbadoes, his native country, are known 
 to you." 
 
 From the time of his graduation until his departure 
 for England, he profitably employed himself in atten- 
 tion to sacred and other literature. Of his progress 
 and attainments, however, he appears to have had a 
 more humble opinion than was formed by others, and 
 than the extent of his information, both in theology 
 and general literature, might have justified. " That 
 portion of my life," this is his own modest language, 
 " is now looked back on, as what might have been 
 much more improved by literary cultivation, and thus 
 have prevented the deficiencies which have been the 
 unavoidable result of a multiplicity of concerns." 
 
 * Afterwards the Rev. Dr Hutchins. He subsequently returned to 
 Philadelphia, where he died in the year 1833. He was about eighteen 
 months older than Dr White. Their friendship began in the grammar 
 school, and continued without interruption until his death. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 31 
 
 He embarked for England in October 1770, with 
 recommendations for holy orders. Dr Richard Ter- 
 rick was then the bishop of London, and, of course, 
 diocesan of all the Episcopal churches in America. 
 After being examined by this bishop's chaplain, Mr 
 White was ordained a deacon, under letters dimissory, 
 by Dr Young, Bishop of Norwich, at the ember sea- 
 son, in December, and in the royal chapel, of which 
 the bishop of London was dean. He continued in 
 England about a year and a half, until he attained the 
 age requisite for priest's orders. It was not then 
 usual for American candidates, who depended on the 
 English bishops for ordination, to leave their own 
 country for that purpose, until they were of the age 
 required for their being ordained priests, that they 
 mighty by one voyage only, obtain both deacon's and 
 priest's orders without material delay; the latter being 
 conferred, in such cases, very soon after the former. 
 The reason for Mr White's going so long previously, 
 was his desire, partly of being somewhat familiarized 
 to the country, and partly of spending some time with 
 two aunts, the sisters of his father. The incidents 
 which happened, and the observations which he made, 
 during his continuance in England, will be most in- 
 teresting as detailed by himself 
 
 " My father had kept up an affectionate correspon- 
 dence with his family in England; and it is necessary 
 to an account of myself, to give a few facts relative to 
 them. His three sisters, after losing their mother, and 
 two of them having lost their husbands, the eldest 
 
32 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 having never been married, lived chiefly on jointures, 
 and on annuities purchased by their profits in busi- 
 ness, at Tvv^ickenham, in a genteel competency. The 
 greater part of vi^hat they had in their power to leave, 
 became mine, and amounted to about three thousand 
 pounds sterling. One of the sisters, Mrs Midwinter, 
 died within a year of my going to England. I was 
 received by the survivors, Mrs White and Mrs Weeks, 
 as a son. They were excellent women, which was 
 also the character of their deceased sister. The eldest, 
 in particular, has been ever since considered by me 
 as one of the finest women I ever knew. With an 
 excellent understanding, exemplary piety, and great 
 dignity of manners, she possessed the vivacity of 
 youth at above the age of seventy. 
 
 "In consequence of my father's recollections of his 
 boyhood, and in order to make me cautious on politi- 
 cal subjects, he apprized me that I might probably 
 find his sisters of the description of people who were 
 friends of the family and of the claim of the Stuarts. 
 For although he had been put to a grammar school in 
 St Alban's, eighteen miles from London, he remem- 
 bered sundry incidents to the above purpose. Among 
 them, was his mother's taking of him to Newgate, to 
 visit a clergyman confined there as dangerous to the 
 government. He was a Mr Howell, the author of a 
 'History of the Bible;' formerly a book in vogue, but 
 now superseded by the later work of Stackhouse. 
 After a while familiarity banished reserve on the sub- 
 ject of politics, when I learned from these ladies that 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 33 
 
 they had been educated in the principles of Jacobit- 
 ism, but had long given up the cause as desperate ; 
 the readier on account of their respect for the personal 
 character of the present king. I did not fail to ac- 
 knowledge to them, that both their brother and his 
 son, although neither of them had ever entered zea- 
 lously into political party, were attached to the prin- 
 ciples of the British constitution as confirmed, not 
 introduced, by the revolution of 1688. 
 
 " During my stay in England, I was treated by my 
 aunts with truly parental affection. I had lodgings 
 in town, but spent a considerable proportion of my 
 time with them in Twickenham; where I took plea- 
 sure, not only in the society of an agreeable circle of 
 friends, to which I was admitted in that earthly para- 
 dise, but in rambles in the neighbourhood, and in 
 beholding what the old vicar of the place, the Rev. 
 George Costard, who pointed them out to me in our 
 walks, called classic ground. He was a very learned 
 man, and had been a celebrated instructor, when fellow 
 of Wadham College, in Oxford. In the library of this 
 city there is a small tract of his on some points in 
 astronomy. 
 
 " While in England, I made several journeys to dif- 
 ferent parts of it. The longest of them was a range 
 of about six hundred miles, with a friend from my 
 very early years, Mr John Benezet; the most distant 
 counties of our tour being Lancashire, as far as Liver- 
 pool, and Derbyshire, where we visited what are called 
 its wonders, which are described in books. Not far, 
 
34 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 from them are Shenstone's famous Leasowes, and 
 Lord Lyttleton's as famous Hagley Park; both, of 
 which we saw with very great delight. We also 
 visited, near Manchester, the Duke of Bridgewater's 
 coal pits, with his wonderful bridge over the river 
 Irwell; and, on our return to London, the Duke of 
 Devonshire's magnificent seat of Chatsworth. 
 
 "The most interesting of my excursions was to 
 Oxford and to Bath, in May 1771. In each of them, 
 my stay was between two and three weeks. In the 
 preceding holidays of Christmas, I had become ac- 
 quainted with a Rev. Mr (since Dr) Burroughs, a fel- 
 low of Magdalen College ; and with a Mr Robearts 
 Carr, a student of Worcester College, of about my own 
 age, and designed: for the ministry, into which he 
 entered before my leaving of England. With his 
 elder brother, the Rev. Colston Carr, I had previously 
 become much acquainted; there having been an heredi- 
 tary friendship between the families. He is still living, 
 and is the father of Sir Henry Carr, who distinguished 
 himself in Spain, under General Moore, and was since 
 married to the widow of the murdered prime minis- 
 ter, Mr Percival. The Rev. Colston Carr was vicar 
 of Feltham, near to Twickenham; and was presented, 
 some years after, by Bishop Terrick, who had been a 
 friend of his deceased father, to the parish of Eling. 
 His younger brother, and the said Mr Burroughs, 
 were of great service to me in Oxford. The former 
 lodged me in his college, that of Worcester, in the 
 chambers of a friend then absent. It would be super- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 35 
 
 fiuous to give you an account of this wonderful col- 
 lection of colleges, of which the most minute particu- 
 lars are in books. But let it be mentioned, that 
 besides the sight of all the objects of curiosity, not 
 only in Oxford, but in the most magnificent seats in 
 the neighbourhood, the most splendid of which are 
 Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, and 
 Stowe, that of Earl Temple, it is a source of even pre- 
 sent gratification, to have had a sight of characters, of 
 whom some were then, and others have become since, 
 illustrious. From the. said Mr Costard I carried a 
 letter to Dr Kennicot, a canon of Christ Church Col- 
 lege, who was then making progress in his great 
 work, since given to the world. He was very polite 
 to me, and presented to me a copy of his Collections, 
 as far as they were then made. One evening, on the 
 then favourite walk of Merton College, there was 
 pointed out to me, as a rising character, a Dr Moore, 
 then also a canon of Christ Church ; and this was the 
 gentleman who, about fifteen years afterward, conse- 
 crated me a bishop. 
 
 " The morning after my arrival in Oxford, Mr Ro- 
 bearts Carr took me to the house of the Rev. Mr 
 Swinton, the keeper of the archives of the university, 
 to whom I carried a letter from Mr Costard. We 
 were told by a servant, that Mr Swinton had gone to 
 St Mary's, the university church, to the visitation. 
 My friend confessed that he had forgotten the occasion, 
 and proposed our going to hear the bishop's charge. 
 He was the celebrated Dr Lowth. We entered the 
 
36 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 church soon after he had begun and was proceeding 
 to a commendation of the character of Archbishop 
 Seeker, who had died since the last charge, and who 
 had preceded the speaker in his diocese. In the fol- 
 lowing winter, I was present at the same bishop's 
 anniversary sermon before the Society for Propagat- 
 ing the Gospel. And fifteen years afterward, I visited 
 him under the decay of his great powers; he being 
 then bishop of London. 
 
 "Dining on a Sunday in Worcester College, I was 
 asked by a young clergyman who sat near me, a Mr 
 Walker, whether I took pleasure in sacred music. On 
 being answered in the afl&rmative, he proposed our 
 going to the chapel of Magdalen College. We went, 
 after dinner, and the music was as delightful as can 
 be imagined. My attention being attracted to a di- 
 vine, who, from his dress and from his stall, appeared 
 to be the principal person in the chapel, I inquired 
 his name, and was told that he was Dr Home, the 
 president of the college. This was the excellent man 
 since bishop of Norwich, and well known from his 
 writings. He was handsome, and of a good pre- 
 sence.* 
 
 '* " Bishop Home has recorded, in one of his publications, that the 
 highest seat to which he aspired in Heaven, was to sit at the feet of Dr 
 Launcelot Andrews, the celebrated bishop in the days of Queen Eliza- 
 beth and James the First. Bishop Hobart, in one of his publications, 
 referring to this saying of Bishop Home, has remarked, that it is difficult 
 to decide in which of the seats each of the two bishops might be the 
 most fitly placed." (Note in 1830.) 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 37 
 
 "On the other Sunday of my stay, I dined with 
 the fellows of the same college, on the invitation of 
 the above named Mr Burroughs. One of the fellows 
 had come from a distant parish, held with his fellow- 
 ship, to take his turn of preaching at St Mary's. After 
 dinner the beadle of the university came, with the 
 ensigns of his office, to precede the preacher to church. 
 The subject of the discourse was, the harmony of the 
 evangelists in the event of our Lord's resurrection. 
 It was highly commended, and the vice-chancellor 
 was reported to have expressed a wish for its publica- 
 tion. The preacher was a Mr Townson ; and as a 
 divine of this name has since published a much 
 esteemed book on the subject, I take it to be an en- 
 largement of what I heard in outline and within the 
 compass of a sermon.* 
 
 "In the morning of the same day, and in the same 
 church, I heard Dr Thomas Randolph, since dean of 
 Canterbury, and the author of two volumes of works, 
 published after his decease. 
 
 * "Since my letter to Bishop Hobart, I found, in tlie shop of a seller 
 of second hand books, the work of Dr Townson ; and perceiving from one 
 of the English periodicals, that there had been published a posthumous 
 volume of his discourses, I obtained it through the agency of a bookseller. 
 It appears from a memoir of D.- Townson's life, prefixed to the volume, 
 that the first discourse in the work before procured by me, was the one 
 which I heard at St Mary's ; the place and the time of the first delivery 
 of it being specified ; and that the other discourses are enlargements of 
 it. They are first rate performances, and worthy of the attention of stu. 
 dents of theology. It appears from the memoir, that the sermon in the 
 university was printed at the desire of the learned audience." (Note is 
 1830.) 
 
 D-* 
 
38 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 "^One day the above named Mr Walker invited me 
 to the examination of two candidates for the degree of 
 A.B., to be held in a building- ef greaiantiqnity, called 
 the public schools. The course taken on such an 
 occasion was, that each of the candidates chose any 
 three of the resident masters of arts, to be his exa- 
 miners. At pi*esent Mr Walker was one of such 
 three. The examination of each took about an hour. 
 It was slight; although, except in Hebrew, not in such 
 a ludicrous degree as isdescribed by Vicesimus Kndx, 
 in one of his essays. On seeing this essay, some years 
 after, I could not but testify that there was ground for 
 the representation ; until there came out ' A Scale or 
 Chart of Truth,' by Dr Tatham, the head of one of 
 the colleges ; being the compressed contents of eight 
 sermons, preached by him at the Bampton lecture. 
 He treats Dr Knox with great contempt ; and accuses 
 him of giving to the world what is substantially false, 
 because a pari only of the truth. Dr Tatham states, 
 that the exercises in the public schools are kept up 
 only pro forma, being accommodated to the obsolete 
 philosophy of Aristotle; but not a test of the real edu- 
 cation conducted in the different colleges. Dr Ta- 
 tham wishes that the university system were restored, 
 with accommodation to the improved state of philoso- 
 phy; but he contends, that to describe what is done 
 in the university schools, as a test of what is taught 
 to the youth, and required of them in the colleges, is 
 deceptive. I have not met a contradiction of Dr Ta- 
 tham's statements. Under this view of the subject, I 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP-WHITE. 39 
 
 suppose that Jhe Hebraic questions referred to, were in 
 compliance with ancient requisition, under the change - 
 of times ; when the kiiowledge of the language was no 
 longer thought necessary for a degree in the arts, The 
 questions were, to one of the candidates : What is the 
 English of ' gabbathaV and to the other: What is 
 the Hebrew of 'My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me?' 
 
 " I was present in the convocation, when Dr Nowell, 
 the public orator of the university, presented several 
 young gentlemen for honorary degrees. Although he 
 made a Latin address, highly commending them, my 
 friends informed me, that the course now taken for 
 that kind of. degree, was often adopted by young men 
 of fanciily, who could not have obtained it in any other 
 way. This seems to strengthen Dr Tatham's account 
 of the matter. The convocation consists of the vice- 
 chancellor, who presides; the two proctors for the 
 year, who are a sort of sheriffs under him ; and all who 
 have attained the degree of master of arts. 
 
 "Having mentioned some literary characters, who 
 became personaHy known to me in the university, I 
 will not omit, although extraneous to it, that giant of 
 genius and literature, Dr Samuel Johnson. My in- 
 troduction to him was a letter from the Rev. Jonathan 
 Odell, formerly missionary at Burlington. The Doc- 
 tor was very civil to me. I visited him occasionally ; 
 and I know some who would be tempted to envy me 
 the felicity of having found him, one morning, in the 
 act of preparing his dictionary for a new edition. His 
 
40 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 harshness of manners never displayed itself to me, 
 except in one instance; when he told me that had he 
 been prime minister, during the then recent contro- 
 versy concerning the stamp act, he would have sent a 
 ship of war, and levelled one of our principal cities 
 with the ground. On the other hand, I have heard 
 from him sentiments expressive of a feeling heart; and 
 convincing me, that he would not have done as he 
 said. Having dined in company with him, in Ken- 
 sington, at the hou^e of Mr Elphinstone, well known 
 to scholars of that day, and returning in the stage- 
 coach with the Doctor, I mentioned to him there being 
 a Philadelphia edition of his 'Prince of Abyssinia.' 
 He expressed a wish to see it. I promised to send 
 him a copy on my return to Philadelphia, and did so. 
 He returned a polite answer, which is printed in Mr 
 Boswell's second edition of his Life of the Doctor. 
 Mr (since the Rev. Dr) Abercrombie's admiration of 
 Dr Johnson had led to a correspondence with Mr Bos- 
 well, to whom, with my consent, the letter was sent.*^ 
 " This reminds me of another literary character, a 
 friend of Johnson, Dr Goldsmith. We lodged, for 
 some time, near to one another, in Brick Court, of the 
 
 * " There was sent, not the letter, as I supposed, but a copy of it. 
 The fact was not known to rae, until the following incident. Dining at 
 the table of President Washington, and sitting near to Mr Swanwiclt, 
 then a member of congress, this related anecdote having been given by 
 me to a few gentlemen within hearing, Mr Swanwick, hearing of the 
 sending of the letter, corrected the error ; and declaiming on the subject, 
 expected to see the time when the letter would be worth two thousand 
 guineas." (Note in 1830.) 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 41 
 
 Temple. I had it intimated to him, by an acquaint- 
 ance of both, that I wished for the pleasure of making 
 him a visit. It ensued; and in our conversation it 
 took a turn which excited in me a painful sensation, 
 from the circumstance that a man of such a genius 
 should write for bread. His 'Deserted Village' came 
 under notice; and some remarks were made by us on 
 the principle of it — the decay of the peasantry. He 
 said, that were he to write a pamphlet on the subject, 
 he could prove the point incontrovertibly. On his 
 being asked, why he did not set his mind to this, his 
 answer was; 'It is not worth my while. A good 
 poem will bring me one hundred guineas: but the 
 pamphlet would bring me nothing.' This was a short 
 time before my leaving of England, and I saw the 
 Doctor no more. 
 
 "In June 1772, I was ordained a priest by the 
 Bishop of London (Dr Terrick). This prelate not 
 having given any work to the world, the only ground 
 of his being supposed by me to possess talents, is his 
 having risen from humble life. He had a fine voice, 
 and was an excellent reader of the service, being also 
 said to be a good preacher. I heard much concerning 
 him in Twickenham, and it was entirely in his favour. 
 He had been vicar of that parish; and in my first in- 
 terview with him, on my mention to him of the family 
 in which I proposed to spend part of my time, I found 
 he had been acquainted with them. I will relate an 
 anecdote to his credit, learned in my subsequent visit 
 to England. It is of a transaction which took place 
 
42 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 within a few hours of his death. He had long in- 
 tended to provide for my friend the Rev. Colston Carr, 
 the son of a clergyman who had been his curate, and 
 was esteemed by him. When the vicarage of Eling 
 fell in his gift, Mr Carr was appointed to it. Matters 
 were in preparation for a legal settlement, when the 
 bishop, who had been in a decline of health, was 
 seized in such a manner that he perceived his end 
 approaching. On this, he charged a young noble- 
 man, who had married one of his daughters, to relate 
 the case to the lord chancellor, into whose gift the 
 parish would fall, with the dying request, that Mr 
 Carr might not be disappointed of his reasonable 
 expectations. The request was complied with." 
 
 In the same month of June, Mr White embarked 
 for Philadelphia, and, after a tedious passage, arrived 
 there on the 13th of September. He was chosen by 
 the vestry of Christ Church and St Peter's, an assist- 
 ant minister in those churches, in the succeeding 
 month; as was also Mr Coombe, before mentioned as 
 an associate with him in theological studies. That 
 gentleman had returned from England in the preced- 
 ing spring, after having spent two or three years as a 
 curate and a lecturer in London. " He was," says 
 the bishop, "my senior by about five months. We 
 had been companions from the English school, but I 
 had graduated a year before him. He had a fine 
 voice, and was considerably conversant in what is 
 called polite literature; but had no turn to the study 
 either of the dead languages or of the sciences." 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 43 
 
 Some circumstances, connected with Mr White's 
 appointment, and appearing on the minutes of the 
 vestry, prove his disinterestedness, and the esteem in 
 which he was hqld. While he was yet in England, 
 a meeting of the vestry was held on the 19th of June 
 1772; at which the rector, Dr Peters, represented the 
 necessity of additional aid in the pastoral duties of the 
 two churches, in consequence of his own infirmity 
 and the resignation of Mr Sturgeon, and added : " I 
 am further told, that, under this exigency, several, I 
 may say almost all, have turned their eyes on two 
 young gentlemen, Mr Coombe and Mr White, who 
 are both born and educated in this city, both of excel- 
 lent moral character and known abilities, both in full 
 orders, and licensed by the bishop of London for this 
 province." The vestry "voted that two assistant 
 ministers were necessary;" and after considering the 
 state of the funds, "expressed their good opinion of 
 the merits of Mr Coombe and Mr White, and that 
 they were desirous to invite them as assistants, if ways 
 and means can be devised to raise money for their 
 support; the present revenues of the church being 
 barely sufficient to provide for the rector and Mr 
 Duche." At a subsequent meeting, on the 16th of 
 November, the rector, after referring to the above 
 proceedings, remarks: "In consequence of your de- 
 claration, these two gentlemen have favoured me with 
 their assistance, and have given the congregations and 
 myself great satisfaction; but, notwithstanding our 
 personal affection for each other, it cannot be expected 
 
44 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 that they will be willing to continue their assistance, 
 unless it shall be put into my power to make them, in 
 your and my own name, such offers as shall afford 
 them a decent and suitable subsistence." On the 30th 
 of November, a report on the church revenues was 
 read in vestry, and also the following letter from the 
 Rev. Mr White: 
 
 Philadelphia, November 30, 1772. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 I find it to be the intention of the vestry to divide 
 between the Rev. Mr Coombe and me, whatever can 
 be spared of the money arising from their funds, and 
 and that they are desirous of raising from the congre- 
 gations a further supply, which they likewise mean 
 to divide between us. 
 
 This letter is intended to inform you, that whilst I 
 officiate in these churches, I shall always be satisfied 
 with what they can afford to offer me from their regu- 
 lar funds, and not expect to receive any part of what 
 may be raised by some new way. If a proposal be 
 made to the congregations for a further supply, I am 
 sure the vestry will do me the justice to express it in 
 such a manner, as that none may be led to suppose 
 me interested in the success of it. Perhaps they will 
 think it proper to mention, in their proposal, that I- 
 am excluded by my own desire, in order to make 
 known their intention to preserve an equality between 
 Mr Coombe and me. 
 
 I submit it, sir, to your judgment, whether this let- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 45 
 
 ter be read to the vestry, or the substance of it be de- 
 clared to them by you. 
 I am, reverend sir, 
 
 Your affectionate, humble servant, 
 WILLIAM WHITE. 
 Rev. Dr Peters. 
 
 The rector communicated his intention to give to 
 each of the gentlemen one hundred pounds per an- 
 num. The vestry added a salary of two hundred 
 pounds per annum from the churches for Mr Coombe, 
 and adopted the following resolution : "And whereas 
 the vestry are sensible that the same salary ought to 
 be allowed to Rev. Mr White, yet, as he has so gene- 
 rously and earnestly expressed his desire not to re- 
 ceive more than the church funds can allow, and will 
 be content, as they are informed, for the present, with 
 one hundred and fifty pounds; Resolved, That the 
 annual sum of fifty pounds be paid out of the church 
 funds to the Rev. Mr White, over and above the rec- 
 tor's gift of one hundred pounds per annum." 
 
 In February 1773, Mr White married Miss Mary 
 Harrison, an amiable lady of much merit, to whom he 
 had been tenderly attached for two or three years be- 
 fore his voyage to England. Her parents were from 
 Lancashire in that kingdom. Her father, originally 
 a sea captain, became a considerable and successful 
 merchant; and was an alderman, and for some time 
 mayor of Philadelphia. He was also an efiicient 
 warden and vestryman of Christ Church, when it was 
 e 
 
46 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the only Episcopal church in that city. With this 
 lady Mr White lived in uninterrupted harmony until 
 her death, on the 13th of December 1797. He was 
 not again married. He never ceased to deplore her 
 loss, with the tenderest recollection of her merits. 
 
 No material incident occurred after' his marriage, 
 until the troubles between Great Britain and her co- 
 lonies became more serious, and led to the war of the 
 revolution. Mr White carefully and fully reflected 
 upon the principles involved in that great contest. 
 To such reflection he felt himself bound by a strong 
 sense of his duty as a frfee subject, a Christian and a 
 minister of the Gospel ; and in th& last character, on 
 account, more especially, of his connection with the 
 Church of England. His talents and sound judgment, 
 united with extensive information, well qualified him 
 for an examination of the dispute. He had, long be- 
 fore that period, carefully studied the English history, 
 and the principles of the English constitution; and 
 his reading on those subjects had been considerable. 
 The result of his careful reflection was a decided 
 opinion in favour of the claims of the colonies; to 
 which he adhered, and on which he uniformly and 
 consistently acted, during the whole contest. His 
 account of the course adopted by him, and of the mo- 
 tives which led to it, is too interesting not to be given 
 in his own language. 
 
 "The principles which I had adopted, are those 
 which enter into the constitution of England, from 
 the Saxon times, however the fact may have b»en 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 47 
 
 disguised by Mr Hume; and were confirmed and 
 acted on at the revolution in 1688. The late mea^ 
 sures of the English government contradicted the 
 rights, which the colonists had brought with them to 
 the wilds of America; and which were, until then, 
 respected by the mother country. The worst state of 
 dependent provinces has been that which bound them 
 to a country itself free. This is a fact sufficiently 
 illustrated in the case of those of Rome ; which were 
 more miserable under the republic than under the 
 emperors, monsters as the most of them were. Our 
 quarrel was, substantially, with our free fellow sub- 
 jects of Great Britain; and we never objected to the 
 constitutional prerogatives of the crown, until it threw 
 us out of its protection. This it did, independently 
 on other measures, by what was called the prohibitory 
 act, passed in November 1775, authorizing the seizure 
 of all vessels belonging to persons of this country, 
 whether friends or foes. The act arrived about the 
 time of the publication of Paine's 'Common Sense.' 
 Had the act been contrived by some person in league 
 with Paine, in order to give effect to his production, 
 no expedient could have been more ingenious. To a 
 reader of that flimsy work at the present day, the con- 
 fessed eff'ect of it at the time is a matter of surprize. 
 Had it issued six months sooner, it would have excited 
 no feeling, except that of resentment against the au- 
 thor. But there had come a crisis, which the foremost 
 leaders of American resistance were reluctant to rea- 
 lize to their minds. 
 
48 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 " Even in regard to war, there is a fact which shows 
 how fax it was from being sought for or anticipated 
 by the American people. The congress of 1774 con- 
 cluded their address to them, with advice to be pre- 
 pared for all events; and yet, until the shedding of 
 blood at Lexington, in April 1775, there was no pre- 
 paration, beyond the immediate vicinity of the British 
 army in Boston. The secretary of congress, Mr 
 Charles Thomson, subsequently expressed to me his 
 surprize at its not being generally understood, that the 
 congress perceived the probability of what came to 
 pass ; and were of opiaion that it should be prepared 
 for, by being provided with the means of resistance. 
 
 "These things are said without disrespect to the 
 personal character of the king of Great Britain. He 
 took the part into which, perhaps, any man would 
 have been betrayed by the same circumstances. You 
 know my construction of the scriptural precepts, on 
 the' subject of obedience to civil rulers. It engaged 
 my most serious consideration ; and under the sense 
 of my responsibility to God, I am stUl of opinion, that 
 they respect the ordinary administration of men in 
 power; who are not to be resisted from private regards, 
 or for the seeking of changes, however promising in 
 theory. In a mixed government, the constitutional 
 rights of any one branch are as much the ordinance 
 of God as those of any other. This view of the sub- 
 ject would be abandoned, if it could be proved to be 
 more fruitful of disorder than its opposite. The latter 
 is rather the cause of civil wars, as in the rebellions 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 49 
 
 of 1715 and 1745. To talk of hereditary right, when 
 the question is of the sense of the scriptural precepts, 
 is beside the mark; for they look no further than to 
 the present possessor of the power.* The contrary 
 theory lands us on despotism; and if any should be 
 reconciled to this, by the notion of its securing of tran- 
 quillity, there cannot be a greater mistake. If there 
 be no constitutional check, it will be found unconsti- 
 tutionally, in some such shape as that of the preetorian 
 guards of Rome, or of the janizaries of Turkey, or of 
 the combinations of grandees in Russia. 
 
 "However satisfactory this train of sentiment, at 
 the crisis referred to, the question of expediency was 
 problematical, considering the immense power of the 
 mother country. Perhaps, had the issue depended on 
 my determination, it would have been for submission, 
 with the determined and steady continuance of right- 
 ful claim. But when my countrymen in general had 
 chosen the dreadful measure of forcible resistance — 
 for certainly the spirit was almost universal at the 
 -time of arming — it was the dictate of conscience, to 
 take what seemed the right side. When matters were 
 verging to independence, there was less to be said 
 for dissent from the voice of the country, than in the 
 beginning. Great Britain had not relinquished a par- 
 ticle of her claim. Her commissioners did not pre- 
 
 * "In support of my ideas of the British constitution, I might refer to 
 many whom I esteem among the soundest divines of the Church of Eng- 
 land ; but will name one only, Bishop Sherlock. There is alluded to the 
 thirteenth of the fourth volume of his Sermons." (Note in 1830.) 
 
 E* 
 
50 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tend to any power of this sort from the crown; and 
 had they pretended it, there was no power in the 
 crown to suspend acts of parHament, or to promise the 
 repeal of them. On this ground, it must be perceived, 
 that the least defensible persons were they who gave 
 their services to the engaging in the war, and then 
 abandoned the cause. In proof of the fact of the 
 almost universal disposition of the Americans, you 
 may be referred to Bisset's History of the Reign of 
 George the Third, written in opposition to the anti- 
 government history of Belsham. It vnll not be un- 
 profitable to you, to bestow your serious attention on 
 the details made by the former, not merely of the in- 
 justice of ministerial measures, but of the foUy of them; 
 indications of the utter ignorance of our country, and 
 of the consequent incapacity for the governing of it. 
 Government confided, for information, on the persons 
 whom they ought the most to have distrusted : and 
 repeated failure did not cure them of the delusion, 
 until the effect was irremediable. 
 
 "Although possessed of these sentiments, I never 
 beat the ecclesiastical drum. My two brethren in the 
 assistant ministry preached animating sermons, appro- 
 batory of the war, which were printed; as did the most 
 prominent of our clergy, Dr Smith. Our aged rector, 
 in consequence of increasing weakness, was retiring 
 from the world. Not long before this time he resigned 
 his rectorship, was succeeded by Mr Duche, and soon 
 after died. Being invited to preach before a batta- 
 lion, I declined; and mentioned to the colonel, who 
 
LIFE OP BISHOP WHITE. 51 
 
 was one of the warmest spirits of the day,* my objec- 
 tions to the making of the ministry instrumental to 
 the war. I continued, as did all of us, to pray for the 
 king, until Sunday (inclusively) before the 4th of July 
 1776. Within a short time after, I took the oath of 
 allegiance to the United States, and have since re- 
 mained faithful to it. My intentions were upright, 
 and most seriously weighed. I hope they were not in 
 contrariety to my duty." 
 
 At the time of Mr White's taking the oath of alle- 
 giance, as above mentioned, the following incident is 
 -said to have occurred. When he went to the court 
 house for the purpose, a gentleman of his acquaint- 
 ance standing there, observing his design, intimated 
 to him, by a gesture, the danger to which he would 
 expose himself After having taken the oath, he re- 
 marked, before leaving the court house, to the gentle- 
 man alluded to: "I perceived, by your gesture, that 
 you thought I was exposing my neck to great danger 
 by the step which I have taken. But I have not 
 taken it without full deliberation. I know my danger, 
 and that it is the greater on account of my being a 
 clergyman of the Church of England. But I trust in 
 Providence. The cause is a just one, and I am per- 
 suaded will be protected." 
 
 Early in the contest, and before the declaration of 
 independence, he had publicly avowed and maintained 
 
 * " The colonel alluded to was Timothy Matlack ; whose ardour in 
 the American cause cannot but be still remembered by many." (Note in 
 1830.) 
 
52 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 those principles relative to the duty of obedience to 
 established government, vs^hich justified the resistance 
 of the colonies to the unconstitutional measures adopt- 
 ed against them by the mother country. The occa- 
 sion was on the 5th of November 1775. That day 
 was then observed here, as in other parts of the Brit- 
 ish empire, in commemoration of the two events of the 
 gunpowder plot, and the revolution of 1688; and, hap- 
 pening then on Sunday, furnished a suitable oppor- 
 tunity of introducing the subject in a sermon from the 
 pulpit. The same sermon w^as twice delivered subse- 
 quently ; and after the last occasion, which was on the 
 25th of April 1799, v^as published, with only small 
 alterations relative to circumstances then existing. It 
 is on Romans, ch. xiii., v. 1 and' 2. His reasoning in 
 it is clear and close, and appears to be conclusive. An 
 abstract w^ould not do justice to it; but the general 
 principles sustained should be mentioned. The text 
 inculcates, and enforces by the proper motives, the 
 duty of subjection to the "higher powers." But he 
 maintained that it gives no support to the opinion of 
 the indefeasible right of princes to the obedience of 
 their subjects; nor to another opinion, which it had 
 been brought to countenance, of the duty of submis- 
 sion to the civil authority, in whatever hands it may 
 be lodged ; to whatever extremes it may be abused ; 
 and whatever constitutions and laws it may contradict : 
 that the latter is inconsistent with an universally ac- 
 knowledged characteristic of Christianity ; viz. its not 
 intermeddling with the civil constitutions of countries ; 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 53 
 
 and its leaving of their different policies to the princi- 
 ples on which they have been respectively founded : 
 that let the opinion mentioned be admitted and acted 
 on in Christian states, it would immediately follow, 
 that all legal boundaries of prerogative are done away; 
 that one simple and absolute dominion supersedes the 
 various modifications of power; that the first prince, 
 or the first robber, who will seize all, shall from that 
 moment possess all, to be governed by himself, and by 
 his successors, as their lusts or fancies may direct : 
 that the true sense of the Gospel precepts on the sub- 
 ject is, that they inculcate, in general, the duty of obe- 
 dience to the civil magistrate, without any nice dis- 
 cussions concerning the origin, or the extent, or the 
 discontinuance of his power ; but leaving the doctrine 
 to be applied, in these respects, according to the nature 
 of the duty and the end for which it was ordained : 
 that the doctrine is left on this footing in the Scrip- 
 tures, in common with all the other social obligations ; 
 as, for instance, the authority of father and that of 
 master, with the corresponding duties of child and of 
 servant ; the one of which is required, and the other 
 asserted, without limitation or exception; not that 
 there are no limitations or exceptions, for there are 
 confessedly ; and it is the business of judgment and of 
 conscience to ascertain and to regard them, and to 
 apply principles to cases, as they occur. That the 
 case of an extreme abuse of power was not at all in 
 contemplation of the apostle; as appears from the 
 verses immediately following the text (v. 3 — 6), in 
 
54 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 which, he reasons from the nature and the end of go- 
 vernment, which are always good, to the suitable sub- 
 mission and obedience ; the relation of which reason- 
 ing to a wanton abuse of power, or the perversion of 
 it from its true end, cannot be shown. That the pas- 
 sage does not speak of such a case, but leaves it to 
 what reason, under the guidance of religion and mo- 
 rals, shall point out, as the proper means of ascertain- 
 ing and securing civil rights. That in the same 
 spirit the passage concludes : " Render therefore to all 
 their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to 
 whom custom; honour to whom honour." That the 
 most reasonable measure of those dues is the venera,- 
 ble authority of constitution and of law; and there can 
 be no occasion of asserting against these the cause of 
 mere power : and that the duty enjoined is, that when 
 the civil magistrate is in the exercise of his authority 
 agreeably to constitution and to law, it is criminal to 
 resist him, on any pretence whatever. 
 
 In September 1777, Mr White retired, with his 
 family, to the house of his brother-in-law, Mr Aquila 
 Hall, in Harford county, Maryland. The British 
 army were then advancing to Philadelphia, of which 
 they took possession soon afterwards. " At this event- 
 ful crisis," he says, " I received notice that congress, 
 who had fled to Yorktown, had chosen me their chap- 
 lain. They chose, with me, the Rev. Mr Duffield, of 
 the Presbyterian communion. Nothing could have 
 iuduced me to accept the appointment, at such a time, 
 even had the emolument been an object, as it was not, 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 55 
 
 but the determination to be consistent in my princi- 
 ples, and in the part taken. Under this impression, I 
 divided my time between congress and my family, 
 which the double chaplainship permitted, until the 
 evacuation, of the city, in the June following. My 
 acceptance of the chaplainship was a few days before 
 the arrival of the intelligence of the capture of Gene- 
 ral Burgoyne; which tended to a revival from the 
 general depression occasioned by the capture of Phila- 
 delphia, and by the advance of an army on the fron- 
 tier of New York ; the success of which would have 
 severed the eastern states from the southern." The 
 circumstances attending his acceptance of this appoint- 
 ment were sometimes detailed by him, in conversation 
 with his friends, in a lively manner. Bishop Kem- 
 per, of Missouri and Indiana, who was present on some 
 such occasions, mentions to me that he related them 
 thus : " That he had removed with his family to 
 Maryland ; and being on a journey, stopped at a small 
 village between Harford county and Philadelphia, at 
 which he was met by a courier from Yorktown, in- 
 forming him of his being appointed by congress their 
 chaplain, and requesting his immediate attendance : 
 that he thought of it for a short time ; it was in one of 
 the gloomiest periods of the American affairs, when 
 General Burgoyne was marching, without having yet 
 received a serious check, so far as was then known, 
 through the northern parts of New York : and after 
 his short consideration, instead of proceeding on his 
 journey, he turned his horses' heads, travelled imme- 
 
56 MERfOIR OF THE 
 
 diately to Yorktown, and entered on the duties of his 
 appointment." These circumstances manifest the 
 firmness and decision of his character, and his con- 
 stant adherence to the principles which he had deli- 
 berately embraced. 
 
 While officiating as chaplain, he had opportunities 
 of observing some tokens of the difficulties under 
 which congress laboured, in procuring the means of 
 carrying on the war, and the very reduced state of 
 their finances, at some periods. The two following 
 facts, related by himself, are striking proofs of their 
 destitution of funds, and the very low state of their 
 credit. On one occasion, going into the chamber of 
 congress to perform his duty as chaplain, he remarked 
 to one of the members; "You have been treating 
 yourselves, I perceive, to new inkstands." "Yes," 
 was the reply, "and private credit had to be pledged 
 for the payment." At another time, observing that 
 the clerks had removed from their usual room, and 
 inquiring the cause, he was told that there was no 
 wood to make a fire there, nor money to buy it. 
 These incidents must have occurred after congress 
 returned to Philadelphia. 
 
 He continued chaplain until that body removed to 
 New York. When, after the adoption of the existing 
 constitution, the congress of the United States returned 
 to Philadelphia, he was again chosen one of their 
 chaplains; and continued to be so chosen, at each suc- 
 cessive congress, by the senate, until the removal of 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE., 67 
 
 the seat of government to Washington, in the year 
 1801* 
 
 Before Mr White's return to Philadelphia, his 
 friend, Mr Duche, had gone to England. "To his 
 country," says the Bishop, "he had become obnox- 
 ious, in consequence of a letter written by him to 
 General Washington, entreating him to use his influ- 
 ence with the congress, for the putting of an end to 
 the war; and, in the event of their refusing, to nego- 
 tiate at the head of his army. It was a very incorrect 
 measure, but induced by despair of the American 
 cause, and to spare the effusion of blood. On the 
 other hand, Mr Duche must have been aware, that 
 his having ofBciated as chaplain to ccHigress, even 
 after the declaration of independence, was known to 
 his superiors in England. To appease in that quarter 
 was the professed object of his voyage. 
 
 " He had already suffered, in a degree, for the coun- 
 tenance given by him to what was considered as rebel- 
 lion. But on the Sunday after the entrance of the 
 British army, in September 1777, after officiating in 
 Christ Church, and after praying for the king in the 
 service, he was arrested at the door of the church by 
 an officer, and conducted to jail, under the immediate 
 command of Sir William Howe. He remained there 
 
 * Being consulted, in December 1830, by the Rev. Henry V. D. 
 Johns, then one of tlie chaplains of congress, on some difficulties met 
 with in the performanco of the official duties, he wrote a reply, explain- 
 ing his own practice as chaplain, and containing some other interesting 
 particulars. It is inserted in the Appendix, No. 1. 
 
 F 
 
58 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 one night only; his friends having, in the mean time, 
 made known his change of sentiment ; and he, as may 
 be presumed, having taken the oath of allegiance. 
 This is one instance, among very many, of the breach 
 of a promise made in a proclamation issued by the 
 said general at the time of his landing from Chesapeake 
 bay, in which people were invited to stay at their re- 
 spective homes, under the assurance of not being pun- 
 ished for the past. The instances of the violation of 
 this promise were too many and too public, to have 
 been matters of oversight ; and being during a tide of 
 success, were an awful intimation of the probable 
 consequences of submission. 
 
 "In my last visit to England, there was a renewal 
 of my friendly intercourse with Mr Duche; and I 
 spent the greater number of my Sundays in his family, 
 and in the asylum to which he was chaplain; and 
 you are old enough to have been a witness, when a 
 youth in my neighbourhood, of a subsequent renewal 
 of it, 'on his return to this country, in May 1792. 
 His decease was in March 1797. In a note append- 
 ed in 1830, he adds: "On the return of Mr Duche, 
 he lodged, for a few weeks, at my house, with his 
 family. During their being with me, there took place 
 the interesting incident of his visit to President Wash- 
 ington; who had been apprized of and consented to it; 
 and manifested generous sensibility, on observing, on 
 the limbs of Mr Duche, the effects of a slight stroke 
 of paralysis, sustained by him in England." 
 
 Within a few days after the evacuation of Philadel- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 59 
 
 phia by the British army, Mr White returned to that 
 city. The circumstances in which the Episcopal 
 churches wer« placed, and the state of political feeling, 
 shortly rendered his situation difficult and embarrass- 
 ing. All his brethren of the clergy retired from the 
 state of Pennsylvania. He was left alone in it to 
 watch over and support the interests of the church, 
 which was exposed to dangers, from causes both inter- 
 nal and external, arising from the circumstances of the 
 country. But the confidence universally felt in. his 
 integrity and judgment; his well known political 
 principles, favourable to the liberty and independence 
 of the United States, and giving him an influence with 
 those in power which he could not otherwise have 
 possessed ; and the steady, prudent, and conciliatory 
 course which he pursued, were of signal benefit to her, 
 and enabled him, under Providence, to conduct her in 
 safety, though diminished in extent, through the 
 threatening dangers. Prejudices, not unnaturally ex- 
 cited by her former connection with the established 
 Church of England, were removed or weakened by the 
 knowledge of the public station, and acceptable poli- 
 tical sentiments, of this her leading and influential 
 advocate, which were a security that her principles 
 could not be unfriendly to the liberty and welfare of 
 the country. Incidents occurring during the revolu- 
 tion .called upon him, and rendered it indeed incum- 
 bent on him, in consequence of the prominent station 
 in which he was placed, to defend the Episcopalians, 
 as will be hereafter shown, from the suspicion and 
 
60 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 charge of combining, as a body, political with their 
 religious principles, which, if believed, would subject 
 them to odium, and greatly injure the advancement, 
 and even safety of their church. But he was enabled 
 to guard her from the apprehended effects. 
 
 He thus describes his situation, and that of the 
 church, after his return to Philadelphia: "My col- 
 league, Mr Coombe, was still here; deliberating whe- 
 ther to stay or to go. He determined on the latter. 
 We renewed our acquaintance during my short stay 
 in England. He had then been in Ireland, chaplain 
 to Lord Carlisle, who was, for a short time, lord lieu- 
 tenant there; and Mr Coombe, besides obtaining the 
 degree of doctor in divinity from Trinity College, 
 Dublin, had been presented, by his patron, with a 
 parish. He is now a prebendary of Canterbury, and 
 one of the forty-eight chaplains to the king. 
 
 "The present state and prospects of our church 
 exhibit a contrast fruitful of satisfaction, compared 
 with the period when I was the only oflB.ciating clergy- 
 man of our church in the state. Our settled clergy of 
 the province, exclusively of the city, had been never 
 more than six; and these were supported principally 
 by stipends from England. During the revolutionary 
 war, some had died, and the others had retired to Eng- 
 land; except Dr Smith, who remained until what 
 took place subsequently in the college. He then 
 removed to Maryland, and set on foot his measures 
 for the founding of a college in Chestertown ; in which 
 he had accepted the parish ; and another in Anna- 
 polis. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 61 
 
 " I was now in a trying situation, in the parochial 
 cure of the churches to which my services had been, 
 and have been ever since, devoted. The difficulty 
 was in regard to the warm spirits of whigs and tories, 
 as they were called. With the latter, the danger was 
 the absenting of themselves from the churches ; in the 
 devotions of which, the new allegiance was acknow- 
 ledged. That some took this part, for a time, is cer- 
 tain; but it is remarkable, that of these, there were 
 scarcely any who had professed conscientious scruples 
 against resistance; and that they were chiefly persons, 
 who had engaged in it without calculating the con- 
 sequences, and had afterwards inconsistently relin- 
 quished it. The prejudice wore away gradually. 
 With the hot whigs it was more difficult to deal, be- 
 cause of the present season of success; and because 
 they who staid in the city had become, in some mea- 
 sure, identified with the enemy; whose conduct had 
 been, in many instances, wantonly oppressive; al- 
 though, it must be confessed, with very little discri- 
 mination between friends and foes. There arose great 
 danger of the introduction of a political creed into the 
 churches, which might have distracted them for many 
 years. But the heat became allayed by some judi- 
 cious men on the same side in politics ; who convinced 
 them, that instead of endeavouring to annul the last 
 election of vestrymen, it would be best to let all things 
 remain quiet until the next Easter; the time appointed 
 by charter for the annual election. On the arrival of 
 that period, the changes were very few ; and consisted 
 
62 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 chiefly in restoring members who had been left out, 
 for no other reason than because, being out of the lines, 
 they could not attend to the duty." 
 
 The newly elected vestry declared the rectorship 
 of the united churches vacant, in consequence of Mr 
 Duche's departure; and they unanimously chose Mr 
 White rector. The manner in which he accepted the 
 station exposed him to some hazard of sharing in the 
 public resentment against his predecessor ; and proved 
 his disinterestedness, the steadiness of his friendship, 
 and the firmness with which he adhered to what he 
 deemed a duty, notwithstanding evils which might be 
 apprehended from compliance with it. "This" (pro- 
 ceeding of the vestry) says he, " was not unexpected, 
 but placed me in delicate circumstances, on account 
 of my long friendship for Mr Duche ; whose return, 
 considering his attainder, and the indignation excited 
 by the aforesaid letter, was at present out of the ques- 
 tion. There was run the hazard of some share of the 
 same indignation, when it was stated, in the accept- 
 ance of the rectorship, that if ever the former rector 
 should return to this country, by the permission of 
 the civil authority, and with the wishes of the mem- 
 bers of the churches, I should think it my duty to 
 resign. It is so entered on the minutes, at my de- 
 sire.* When he returned, in 1792, his engaging in 
 
 * The following is a copy of the letter, taken from the minutes : 
 
 « Philadelphia, April 15, 1779. 
 " Gentlemen : 
 
 " Your appointment of me to the rectorship of the churches you repre- 
 sent,' is the most honourable testimonial my past ministry among you 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 63 
 
 the ministerial duty was to be despaired of, as you 
 must remember." 
 
 Mr White's friendly and generous conduct towards 
 Mr Duche and his family, is thus acknowledged by 
 that gentleman, in a letter dated at the asylum, Lam- 
 beth, 2d April 1783. "An early determination, pru- 
 dentially taken, to write to no person in Philadelphia, 
 but my father, hath prevented me, hitherto, from in- 
 dulging my earnest desire to write to you, and many 
 
 can receive, except that which with humble hope I aspire to from our 
 Redeemer and Judge. I accept it, therefore, with the full confidence, 
 that the same candour and affection which you have hitherto manifested 
 to me, as your assistant minister, will be continued to me in this more 
 distinguished and difficult station. At the same time, be assured, gen- 
 tlemen, that I shall always esteem the honour you have this day con- 
 ferred on me, an addition to my many obligations to conduct myself in 
 such a manner, as to receive your approbation, and satisfy my own con- 
 science. 
 
 " I beg leave further to accompany my acceptance of the rectorship 
 with the declaration, that if ever, at the desire of the vestry and members 
 in general of these churches, and with the permission of the civil autho- 
 rity, the former rector should return to this country, I shall esteem it my 
 duty, and it will be my pleasure, to resign it. The peculiar delicacy of 
 my situation will excuse the liberty I am taking, when I make my earnest 
 request to the vestry that this letter be recorded with their minutes. 
 
 " With my best wishes and prayers for yourselves, gentlemen, and 
 the churches you represent, 
 
 " I am, your much obliged 
 
 and very aflfectionate, humble servant, 
 
 "WILLIAM WHITE. 
 
 " To the Churchwardens and Vestrymen of the united churches of 
 Christ Church and St Peter's Church." 
 
 On the 20th of May 1779, a letter from a number of the members of the 
 congregations, to the vestry, was read at a vestry meeting; from which 
 
64 MEMOIR or THE 
 
 Other valuable friends. The happy return of peace, 
 puts an end to every obstacle ; and I take the earliest 
 opportunity to congratulate you on an event, which 
 every lover of humanity, and above all, every sincere 
 Christian, hath long and ardently desired. In the 
 first place, I most sincerely thank you for your kind 
 attention to my dear family, whilst they remained in 
 Philadelphia. I was happy to hear that you, whom 
 I always loved, was among the number of those who 
 treated them with singular respect, and assisted them 
 in the hour of difficulty and distress. Such an act of 
 friendship can never be forgotten by me. I am also 
 to acknowledge the liberal, generous, and Christian 
 manner, in which you accepted the rectorship of the 
 churches, and the affection you showed for me by the 
 declaration you caused to be entered on the minutes 
 of the vestry. Though I am very comfortably settled 
 here, yet my affection urges my return to Philadel- 
 
 the following is an extract : " We the subscribers, members of the con- 
 gregations of Christ and St Peter's churches, embrace this opportunity 
 of returning you our most sincere and hearty thanks for the regard you 
 have manifested for the welfare of these churches, in the appointment of 
 the Rev. Mr William White to be rector of the same. 
 
 " It is with pleasure, gentlemen, that we inform you we foresee many 
 advantages arising from the nomination of so distinguished a character, 
 for his steady and faithful adherence to the cause of virtue and liberty, to 
 preside over these churches. And were we to omit giving you this pub- 
 lic testimony of our approbation, we should fall short of that duty and 
 regard we owe to him, for his past services, care and attention." (The 
 residue of the letter suggests the propriety of calling the congregations 
 together to judge whether any changes are necessary to adapt the con- 
 stitution of the churches to the changes effected by the revolution.) 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 65 
 
 phia, if there should be any prospect of its being ac- 
 complished in a way agreeable to my fellow citizens, 
 
 to my friends and myself. If the churches of 
 
 Philadelphia should be desirous of receiving one of 
 their old shepherds, I am ready to return to my first 
 love; but then it must be unanimously, without divi- 
 sion, with full approbation of rector and vestry. As 
 to rank or title, I seek for none ; I wish only to do good, 
 to be made an humble instrument, in the hands of God, 
 of converting sinners, or confirming the faithful." It 
 appears from subsequent letters, that various incidents 
 occurred, from time to time, which postponed his re- 
 turn to Philadelphia until the before mentioned period 
 of 1792. 
 
 The friendship of Mr White for Mr Coombe, his 
 colleague in the assistant ministry of the united 
 churches, has been already mentioned in his own lan- 
 guage. It is pleasing to be enabled to add here, in a 
 part of a letter of Mr Coombe to him, a proof of that 
 gentleman's affection and esteem for him; and that 
 their mutual friendship was not destroyed by their 
 difference in political sentiments. The letter is dated 
 the 29th of November 1777, and was written from 
 Philadelphia, while Mr White was with his family in 
 Maryland. "Your worthy mother having been so 
 kind as to apprize me of this conveyance, I could not 
 let it pass without a line, acquainting you that I am 
 still among the living, and that my affection for you 
 has suffered no diminution by absence, or the differ- 
 ence of our political opinions Unhappy com- 
 
66 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 motions prevailing in our country, and the difference 
 of our ideas concerning them, first produced a coy- 
 ness, and hath, at length, separated us from each other : 
 but be assured that, amongst the friends whom you 
 have left behind, no one more cordially regrets your 
 absence than myself, or is a warmer advocate for the 
 sincerity and consistency of your character. I wish 
 we could have seen things through the same perspec- 
 tive ; but since it is otherwise, let us at least cherish, 
 by our example, sentiments of liberality and candour, 
 and let not public dissensions have the power to obli- 
 terate friendships begun in early youth, which have 
 grown up with us to manhood, and which nothing 
 but the clear conviction of each other's want of integ- 
 rity, ought to destroy. I hope we may yet live to 
 brighten the chain in happier days. At all events, our 
 disagreement on subjects of public concern, however 
 it may furnish me with an occasion for sorrow, can 
 never lessen my regard for you. Thus much I longed 
 to say, as my heart overflows with good wUl to you, 
 and an opportunity of writing may not happen again." 
 In 1779, by an act of the legislature of Pennsylva- 
 nia, the estates and powers of the trustees of the Col- 
 lege of Philadelphia were taken from them, and trans- 
 ferred to the trustees of the University of Pennsylva- 
 nia, thereby established. Of this transaction, and 
 some circumstances following it, this account is given 
 in the letter to Bishop Hobart. " The next material 
 incident of my life was a crisis of the concerns of the 
 College of Philadelphia ; of which I had been a trustee 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 67 
 
 about six years. On this point I shall be more exten- 
 sive than as it relates to myself; in order to leave v^^ith 
 you a document of the vievs^ taken of it, as the subject 
 relates to our church. Of the concerns of this institu- 
 tion, vi^hich is of about the same age vs^ith myself, I 
 knovir the more, in consequence, not only of my being 
 connected with it ten years as a pupil, and now above 
 forty-five years as a trustee, but of my having heard 
 much of its earliest transactions from my father. 
 
 "It was established on what has been called the 
 broad bottom. My own opinion is, that it is impor- 
 tant to a religious society to have literary institutions 
 under its jurisdiction. But they who have supposed 
 the College of Philadelphia to have been Episcopalian, 
 are mistaken. Still, the greater number of the trus- 
 tees were of our denomination; and this, with some 
 other circumstances, was sufficient, and apparently 
 would always be so, to prevent its being under a di- 
 rection subservient to any other religious body. When 
 Dr Smith was collecting in England, Dr Samuel 
 Chandler, then the most efficient minister of the dis- 
 senting interest, had countenanced the collection; but 
 having been informed, from this side of the water, of 
 apprehensions lately excited, that the liberal founda- 
 tion of the seminary was about to be narrowed in fa- 
 vour of the Church of England, the matter drew the 
 serious attention of all who had patronized the design 
 in that country. The issue was the framing of an in- 
 strument, which was signed by the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, by the two proprietaries, and by the said 
 
68 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Dr Chandler. It states the above circumstance ; and, 
 in order to allay the apprehensions, recommends that 
 the trustees should make a declaration, to be signed 
 by themselves, and by every trustee to be subsequent- 
 ly chosen, that the seminary should be conducted ac- 
 cording to the comprehensive scheme then in opera- 
 tion. On the arrival of this communication, although 
 it was a measure never thought of among the trustees, 
 they complied with the proposal, from respect for the 
 persons who made it, and from gratitude for favours 
 received. Be the merits or the demerits of the act 
 what they may, it was done for the quieting of anti- 
 Episcopalian jealousy ; and there was not a voice raised 
 against it, until the close of the year 1779 ; when the 
 legislature framed an act grounded on this very mea- 
 sure,* which was construed to give the church a pre- 
 ference, because of the then provost's being a clergy- 
 man of it. The seminary, and all the estate, were 
 taken from its trustees, and a new board was con- 
 structed, consisting of six officers of government, the 
 senior ministers of six denominations, and thirteen 
 others by name,. In the preceding summer, the pre- 
 sident of the state had sent a message, advising the 
 
 * It is referred to by the act in the following wtjrds : " And whereas 
 the QoUe^e, academy, and charitable school of the city of Philadelphia, 
 were at first founded on a plan of free and unlimited Catholicism ; but it 
 appears that the trustees thereof, by a vote or by-laws of tlieir board, 
 bearing date the 14th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1764, have 
 departed from the plan of the original founders, and narrowed the founda- 
 tion of the said institution." Section 2. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 69 
 
 not holding of an intended commencement. But this 
 was predicated on an alleged breach of the charter, by 
 a late election of several trustees, who were admitted 
 to take their seats, without an oath of allegiance to the 
 king. Compliance with the charter, in this respect, 
 was out of the question; which showed, it was said, 
 that the corporation could not act, under the present 
 system of things. It may be supposed, that the futility 
 of this was afterwards perceived ; the oath having been 
 abolished, but the chartered rights not forfeited, by 
 the revolution. Accordingly the aforesaid declaration 
 was fastened on.* 
 
 " During the session of the convention which framed 
 the first republican constitution of this state," (in 
 1776) " at the instance of Dr Smith, there was held, 
 at his house, a meeting of sundry gentlemen interested 
 in the inviolability of religious and scientific corpora- 
 tions. I was present. On request, Dr Franklin, the 
 president of the convention, met us; and cheerfully 
 
 * " It was my opinion, and I still think, that what principally gave 
 offence was the political complexion of the trustees lately chosen. They 
 were gentlemen prominent in the revolution, but, in the politics of the 
 state, opposed to those who then governed it. Party spirit had risen to 
 a great height ; and between the first attack on the college, in preventing 
 the commencement, and the consummating of the design by a legislative 
 act, had broken out in violence involving bloodshed. I allude to the 
 attack on the house in my neighbourhood, long after known bythe name 
 of Fort Wilson, so called from the name of my friend, who owned and 
 occupied it. When this outrage happened, I was in Maryland, attend- 
 ing on the funeral of my father." (Note in 1830.) An account of the 
 attack is given in the Life of James Wilson, in Delaplaine's Lives of the 
 Sio-ners of the Declaration of Independence. 
 
70 MEMOIR or THE 
 
 promised to propose to the body an article drawn up 
 by Dr Smith, securing all chartered rights. The 
 article may be seen in the instrument," (section forty- 
 five) " and, in connection with the subsequent act of 
 assembly, invading the charter of the college, will 
 remain a proof of the feebleness of constitutional re- 
 straints on a single legislature. The convention 
 thought they had provided against the danger of a 
 breach of the constitution, by the expedient of a sep- 
 tennial council of censors. When the council met, 
 they were under the political bias of the former as- 
 sembly. But, ' quis custodiet custodes ?' They accor- 
 dingly sanctioned the injustice. 
 
 " It is wide of my purpose to give an account of the 
 repeal of the act, in 1788; of the restoration of the 
 charter and of the estate ; and of the subsequent trans- 
 actions of the college, under the name of ' University.' 
 Perhaps, however, justice requires mention of the 
 plea, by which members of the legislature of 1779 
 repelled the charge of perjury ; for they had all sworn 
 obedience to the constitution. They said, that the 
 estates were continued to the promotion of science. 
 On a like pretence, they might have seized on the 
 churches of any offensive denomination, continuing 
 them to the promoting of religion : themselves being 
 the judges how this may best be done. 
 
 " I was present* when the subject was argued in 
 the council of censors. Arguments against the legis- 
 
 * A note added in 1830. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 71 
 
 lative measure were powerfully urged, from the well 
 known rights of chartered bodies; and from the article 
 in the constitution, framed for the express purpose of 
 creating additional security to those now existing. 
 All was made to give way to the plea, that the pro- 
 perty would be still applied to the promoting of lite- 
 rature. Such is the feebleness of an oath, opposed to 
 passion. One benefit, however, may have arisen from 
 the event. It may remind a rash legislature, that 
 their acts are liable to the review of their successors. 
 
 " On the evening but one before the meeting of the 
 new board of trustees, under the said legislative act, I 
 received a message from the president of the state, 
 through my friend Mr Francis Hopkinson, who had 
 been in the old board, and was in the new board in 
 his oflicial character, intimating that my attendance 
 being expected, as one of the senior ministers of the 
 Gospel, comprehended by the charter, a request would 
 be made to me to open the meeting with prayer. Mr 
 Hopkinson, at my desire, and in my presence, wrote 
 to the president information, that I should not be at 
 the first meeting, for reasons which I thought it the 
 most respectful to state to his excellency in person; 
 and that this should be done within a few days. He 
 thought it worth his while to spend a considerable 
 portion of the night, in drafting a long answer to what 
 he supposed to be my reasons. This answer filled 
 several sheets of paper, which he sent to Mr Hopkinson 
 for my perusal, but required the return of them. 
 
 " Agreeably to promise, I waited on the president; 
 
MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and after reminding him of an argument held between 
 ■us, at the beginning of the public procedure, I thought 
 it my duty to declare, that besides the reasons then 
 given against it, there was another, in the charge 
 made by the legislature concerning an act to which 
 my father, recently deceased, had been a party ; but 
 which that body, under the influence of some un- 
 founded suggestion, and not possessed of the know- 
 ledge of circumstances, had misconstrued and con- 
 demned. These things, I added, would not hinder, 
 that, being included in my clerical capacity, I should 
 lay the case before the vestry of the churches with 
 which I was connected, and should act agreeably to 
 their desire. A meeting of the vestry was called, re- 
 latively to the subject. The greater number of the 
 members had not made themselves masters of the 
 question. A few of them had been hearers of what 
 passed in the house of assembly ; and were of opinion 
 that it was a most arbitrary act; but that, as to a right 
 accruing under the new arrangement, it ought not to 
 be lost to the church. The vestry expressed the opin- 
 ion, that I should attend the meetings. 
 
 " The new modelled institution had not been longf 
 in operation, when an unexpected scene opened to me. 
 The leaders in the change had been principally of the 
 Presbyterian communion, which was also the general 
 cast of the legislature ; and the contemplated president, 
 who was the Rev. Dr Ewing, had been active in 
 bringing matters to the present issue. Without any 
 personal ill-will to him, or to any other person, it had 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 73 
 
 been a source of dissatisfaction with me, to contem- 
 plate the apparent tendency to the putting of the semi- 
 nary under an influence, which seemed likely to 
 control all the literary instruction of the United States. 
 But great was my surprize, on finding that there was 
 a corps of resistance, consisting of trustees with whom 
 I had held very little intercourse. It so happened, 
 that they determined on pushing me to be provost; 
 and I struck in with them, under the hope that my 
 station of rector might be put on so reasonable a foot- 
 ing, in point of labour and of emolument, as that my 
 time would be more devoted to literature, than on any 
 other plan ought to have been permitted. Dr Ewing 
 gained his election by one vote. It was that of a 
 trustee, whose vote in my favour had been presumed 
 on, and who was probably secured on the other side, 
 by a circumstance not then generally known, but after- 
 wards ascertained. The party had become liable to 
 a prosecution, by an act done during the possession 
 of the city by the British army, and known to the 
 gentlemen at the head of the government. That this 
 was the motive, cannot be positively aflirmed, but was 
 rendered probable by circumstances. The opposite 
 side were assiduous in offering to me their votes for 
 the vice-provostship, but my zeal did not carry me 
 quite so far as to comply. After all, the ecclesiastical 
 ascendency proved to be far short of what had been 
 apprehended. 
 
 " In the spring of 1782, I received the honour of a 
 doctorate from the university; and was the first per- 
 
74 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 son, on whom that degree was conferred by the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 "The injustice done to the college* gave birth to 
 the Episcopal Academy; which would have greatly, 
 flourished, but for two causes. One was — what I had 
 no opportunity of opposing, it being during my ab- 
 sence in England — the projecting of a building which 
 was disproportioned to the object, and which the sums 
 subscribed did not warrant. But the principal cause 
 was the legislative act of justice, in restoring to the 
 former trustees of the college their chartered rights 
 and their estate. From the wreck of the property of 
 the academy, there has been rescued a remnant of it, 
 which may be made essentially serviceable to the 
 Episcopal church, whenever there shall be a vigoxir of 
 endeavour tending to that end." 
 
 The internal dangers arising from the operation of 
 political principles, tending to produce dissension in 
 the church, were mentioned in preceding pages. 
 Others were produced by the existence of warm poli- 
 tical parties in the country. The jealousy of those 
 then in possession of the powers of government in the 
 state of Pennsylvania was excited, and their unfriendly 
 opposition might be apprehended, in consequence of 
 a suspicion that political principles had been combined 
 among Episcopalians, with religious; and that they 
 had been led, by the latter, to unite generally with the 
 party opposed to the existing government of the state. 
 
 * Note added in 1830. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 75 
 
 The contending parties were then distinguished by 
 the names of Constitutionalists and Republicans : the 
 former advocating the principles of the constitution 
 framed for Pennsylvania in 1776, and being in pos- 
 session of the offices of government; and the other 
 disapproving of those principles, particularly those of 
 a numerous executive, a single legislature, and a de- 
 pendent judiciary, holding their commissions for only 
 seven years, but capable of a reappointment by the 
 executive council. The repubUcans carried their 
 opposition so far as to refuse to hold offices under that 
 constitution; and party feelings were highly excited. 
 Dr White's own sentiments were favourable to the 
 republican party, though maintained with moderation 
 and calmness. He was very independent in forming 
 his political opinions, and reflected upon them for 
 himself. And though he freely expressed them, with 
 his reasons for maintaining them, and also constantly, 
 and from a sense of duty as a citizen, gave his vote at 
 elections, he would never condescend to become an 
 active political partisan ; much less to make religious 
 profession an instrument of policy. He was decidedly 
 opposed to the combination of religion with politics, 
 and desired that the members of the Episcopal church 
 should harmoniously unite, in conducting their eccle- 
 siastical affairs, without regard to their differences in 
 political opinions; and he used his influence among 
 them to effect that desirable object. He was led, 
 however, in consequence of his situation in the church, 
 to defend her interests from the evils to be apprehended 
 
76 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 from the suspicion above mentioned. For that pur- 
 pose, a correspondence took place between him and 
 General Joseph Reed, the president of the supreme 
 executive council. This was conducted in a polite 
 and friendly manner, and vs^ith very respectful senti- 
 ments expressed by General Reed of Dr White's cha- 
 racter and principles personally. As these circum- 
 stances are introduced only to exhibit the temper and 
 principles of Dr White, and his attentive care of the 
 welfare of the church of which he was the senior mi- 
 nister, some extracts from his only remaining letter to 
 the president, dated January 31, 1783, are here in- 
 serted. 
 
 " I hope you will not think me impertinent, in re- 
 questing your attention to a distinction, which was 
 perhaps obscurely expressed in my last, between your 
 being opposed, on account of your religious profession, 
 and the opposition on this principle proceeding prin- 
 cipally, if not exclusively, from the members of the 
 Episcopal churches: the former, I told you, I had no 
 reason to believe, though it was not my intention to 
 remark on it; and the latter, I was sure, you never 
 meant to assert; the reason for both was my observing 
 among the opponents of the late administration, many 
 members of the Presbyterian church, and my know- 
 ing many of its advocates in the churches with which 
 I am connected. There never existed a dispute, in 
 this state or province, in which these societies were, 
 as such, in opposition, 
 
 " I believe that you abhor the introduction of reli- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 77 
 
 gious ideas into politics, and can add, with truth, that 
 so do I. No doubt it is necessary, in public elections, 
 to have a mixture of men of different religious socie- 
 ties; but this is to avert the evil which we abhor; 
 because we know there are men of every society, who, 
 if they had the power, would appoint none but those 
 of their own to places of power and profit. 
 
 " Defamation is, I trust (as you are so kind as to 
 believe), abhorrent to my disposition: both parties 
 agree in charging the principal guilt of it each on the 
 other. Having all along conversed familiarly with 
 some gentlemen on either side, and been convinced 
 that each imagined the other to harbour more resent- 
 ment than appeared to me to exist, I have always 
 hoped that the day would come, when either mutual 
 explanation, or social intercourse without explanation, 
 would efface their prejudices. 
 
 " I am not, sir, without uneasiness from the appre- 
 hension of my being troublesome. If I am, you will 
 candidly impute it to the true cause. Having always 
 endeavoured, in my ecclesiastical employment, to im- 
 press the idea of an agreement in religious concerns, 
 where difference exists as to the civil, and having ob- 
 served our church members of opposite parties har- 
 moniously promoting the good of our communion, it 
 hurt me to see even an apparent imputation of mixing 
 religion and politics, applied chiefly, if not only, to 
 this quarter : for the churches which I serve contain a 
 great majority of the Episcopalians in this city; the 
 only part of the state in which any considerable so- 
 ciety of them is to be found." 
 
78 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 By the events of the revolution, Dr White suffered 
 considerably in his property; principally by the de- 
 preciation of the paper currency, but vs'hich, notwith- 
 standing, continued to be a legal tender in payment of 
 debts. " My father," says he, " being an exact judge 
 of the value of his lands, vphenever he could sell any 
 of them to advantage, brought the proceeds to this 
 city, and lent them on bonds and mortgages. It was 
 discreet to do so, as he could not have foreseen the 
 losses, which would be the result of the depreciation 
 of paper currency, in an event not then likely to hap- 
 pen, the war of the revolution. It became a serious 
 loss to his children ; although at his death, in Septem- 
 ber 1779, he left to them what was thought no incon- 
 siderable property at that time. What with the loss 
 of almost all I possessed from his bounty at the time 
 of my marriage, and of Mrs White's share of her fa- 
 , ther's fortune, and with my proportion of the loss sus- 
 tained by my father during his life, I have always 
 supposed that I suffered by the said disaster, not less 
 than to the amount of ten thousand pounds ; as money 
 was then called" (twenty-six thousand six hundred 
 and sixty-six dollars and sixty-seven cents). 
 
 An incident occu:rring when one of those bonds 
 was discharged furnishes one of the very few in- 
 stances in which he in some measure yielded to warmth 
 of feeling, excited by injurious conduct towards him- 
 self; but which, probably, will be generally thought 
 warranted by a just indignation at the dishonesty and 
 hypocrisy of the parties concerned. The man in- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 79 
 
 debted to him on the said bond, called, in company 
 with his wife, to discharge it; at a time when the 
 continental money was so far depreciated, that there 
 was a general reluctance, even in those not marked by 
 their regard for moral honesty, to offer payment in 
 such a currency. These individuals made a very 
 high profession of religion. When Dr White remon- 
 strated with them on the dishonesty of their conduct, 
 in offering to pay the debt in such a mode, they re- 
 plied that it was their duty to take care of and provide 
 for their family. He was under the legal necessity 
 of accepting the money offered. And they left him, 
 using some canting language expressive of their 
 wishes for his welfare, spiritual and temporal. His 
 indignation at their behaviour, was expressed by a call 
 to his servant, in their hearing, to see that there were 
 no silver spoons in the entry, while those persons were 
 passing through it. This was, however, the effect of 
 unusual excitement; for he was distinguished by his 
 mildness, courtesy and self-command. The incident 
 is well known to his family, and was related to me by 
 himself, without naming the individuals. 
 
 When peace was concluded, in January 1783, mea- 
 sures were contemplated by some of the few remain- 
 ing clergy of the Episcopal church, for effecting its 
 revival and organization. In these Dr White took an 
 active, influential and useful part; and his concern in 
 them led to the most important and interesting trans- 
 actions of his life. Great difficulties existed in the 
 way of a successful prosecution of this object, arising 
 
80 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 from the condition of the country ; from strong preju- 
 dices generally prevailing against that church, partly 
 from her former connection with the established 
 Church of England, and partly from opposition to her 
 principles of ecclesiastical government; and from the 
 want of union in opinions and feeling among Episco- 
 palians themselves, in the different states. To over- 
 come these, Dr White laboured assiduously; and his 
 well known character and principles, and his wise 
 course of conduct, enabled him to be signally useful, 
 in gradually obviating the difficulties, and successfully 
 completing the desired organization. An extensive 
 correspondence took place between him and the influ- 
 ential friends of the church in the several states. To 
 him their varying, and in several respects opposing 
 opinions were communicated; and he zealously en- 
 deavoured, with prudence, abilities and perseverance, 
 aided by the confidence reposed in him, to produce 
 mutual confidence and friendly feelings, an harmo- 
 nious union, and as general a concurrence of senti- 
 ment as can be reasonably expected in large bodies of 
 men. The important facts contained in this corres- 
 pondence, and such parts of it as he tliought expedient 
 to publish at large, have been inserted in his Memoirs 
 of the Church. 
 
 To illustrate his course, it will be proper to intro- 
 duce the circumstances of a previous transaction, 
 which was often afterwards a subject of discussion. 
 Before the conclusion of the peace, the condition of 
 the church, and the apparent danger of her total 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 81 
 
 dissolution, had drawn his serious and anxious atten- 
 tion ; and his mind had been engaged in devising a 
 plan for her preservation, by an organization of her 
 government adapted to existing circumstances. And 
 early in August 1782, "despairing of a speedy ac- 
 knowledgement of our independence, although there 
 was not likely to be more of war, and percei^jng our 
 ministry gradually approaching to annihilation,"* he 
 wrote and published a small pamphlet, entitled, " The 
 Case of the Episcopal Churches considered." At that 
 period, the late debates in the British Parliament, and 
 the conciliatory propositions communicated by Sir 
 Guy Carlton and Admiral Digby, had produced a 
 general expectation that hostilities would cease. But 
 as those propositions did not contain an acknowledge- 
 ment of the independence of the colonies, congress 
 refused to enter into a negotiation on them. The 
 first transaction, which opened the prospect of peace 
 with the recognition of our independence, was a letter 
 from general Carlton to the commander in chief of the 
 American army, dated August 2d, 1782, and commu- 
 nicated to congress, and read on the 8th of August. 
 Before any knowledge of this, the pamphlet was pub- 
 lished and advertised on the 6th of August, and some 
 copies had been distributed a few days before. These 
 dates are necessary to explain the views of the author; 
 which were directed only to a temporary organization, 
 called for by an existing necessity, but allowed to be 
 
 * Letter to Bishop Hobart. 
 H 
 
82 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 imperfect, and designed to be completed as soon as 
 an opportunity should occur. But it was perceived to 
 be impracticable, at that time, to obtain the Episcopal 
 succession. This could not be expected from any- 
 British bishops; nor would an intercourse with their 
 church be regarded without jealousy iii the United 
 States. Should application be made to any other 
 Episcopal church, the apprehension of the resentment 
 of Great Britain would present, it was thought, an 
 insurmountable difficulty. Under such circumstances 
 the pamphlet was written. In an appendix to his 
 episcopal charge, in 1807, the Bishop expresses still 
 his belief, " that under the state of things contemplated, 
 some such expedient as that proposed must have been 
 resorted to ; although, had the proposal been delayed 
 a little longer, the happy change of prospects would 
 have prevented the appearance of the pamphlet, unless 
 with considerable alterations." 
 
 The general principles embraced were, that the 
 church should be free from subjection to any spiritual 
 jurisdiction connected with the temporal authority of 
 a foreign state ; that every thing should be avoided 
 which might give the churches the appearance of 
 being subservient to party, or tend to unite their mem- 
 bers on questions of a civil nature ; that the laity as 
 well as the clergy should have a share in the govern- 
 ment of the church; that the power of electing the 
 superior order of ministers ought to be in the clergy 
 and laity together, they being both interested in the 
 choice; that the deprivation of the superior order of 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 83 
 
 clergy should also be in the church at large, without 
 any interference of the civil authority; that is, " de- 
 privation can only be under regulations enacted by a 
 fair representation of the churches, and by an autho- 
 rity entirely ecclesiastical;" that there should be an 
 equality among the parochial churches, and not, as in 
 England, the subjection of the parish churches to their 
 respective cathedrals ; and each church should retain 
 every power that need not be delegated for the good 
 of the whole; and that, as the churches were unable 
 to provide a support for the superior order of clergy, 
 the duties assigned to that order ought not materially 
 to interfere with their employments as parochial cler- 
 gymen, and their superintendence should consequent- 
 ly be confined to small districts. 
 
 The particular organization then proposed, compre- 
 hended permanent superintending ministers, with 
 powers similar to those of bishops: and the provisions 
 suggested were, that the individual churches should 
 be associated in small districts, in each of which there 
 should be a convention composed of representatives 
 elected from the vestry or congregation of the several 
 churches within it, the minister being one; that they 
 should choose a permanent president, who, with other 
 clergymen appointed by the body, might exercise 
 powers purely spiritual ; in particular, those of ordi- 
 nation, and discipline over the clergy, according to 
 reasonable laws-, that the United States should be di- 
 vided into three larger districts, in each of which 
 should be an annual assembly, consisting of members 
 
84 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 seiit froiii the smaller districts within it, equally com- 
 posed of clergy and laity, and voted for by those or- 
 ders promiscuously, the presiding clergyman being 
 always one : and that there should be a body repre- 
 senting the whole church, consisting of members from 
 each of the larger districts, of clergy and laity equally, 
 and among the clergy equally of presiding ministers 
 and others, to meet statedly once in three years : the 
 use of this and of the preceding representative bodies 
 being to make such regulations, and receive appeals 
 in such matters only as shall be judged necessary for 
 their continuing one religious communion. 
 
 As to episcopacy, he held that the churches were 
 not to depart from episcopal government. But as the 
 succession could not at present be obtained, his re- 
 commendation was " to include in the proposed frame 
 of government a general approbation of episcopacy, 
 and a declaration of an intention to procure the suc- 
 cession as soon as conveniently may be; but in the 
 mean time to carry the plan into effect, without wait- 
 ing for the succession" (p. 17) : and when "the epis- 
 copal succession" was " afterwards obtained, any sup- 
 posed imperfections of the intermediate ordinations 
 might, if it were judged proper, be supplied, without 
 acknowledging their nullity, by a cpnditional ordina- 
 tion, resembling that of conditional baptism in the 
 liturgy;" which " was an expedient proposed by Arch- 
 bishop Tillotson, Bishops Patrick, Stillingfleet and 
 others, at the revolution, and had been actually prac- 
 tised in Ireland by Archbishop Bramhall" (pp. 19, 20). 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 85 
 
 He maintained the propriety of not waiting for the 
 episcopal succession, on the ground that the worship 
 of God, and the instruction and reformation of the 
 people, are the principal objects of ecclesiastical disci- 
 pline ; and these paramount objects should not be re- 
 linquished or suspended by scrupulous adherence to 
 episcopacy, when there was an inability to procure it : 
 and that all the obligations of conformity to the divine 
 ordinances, all the arguments which prove the con- 
 nection between public worship and the morals of a 
 people, combined to urge the adopting of some speedy 
 measures to provide for the public ministry in these 
 churches. He went at large into the proofs, from the 
 institutions of the Church of England, and from the 
 opinions and reasonings of many of her most eminent 
 divines, that such a temporary departure from episco- 
 pacy, in a case of necessity, was not opposed to her 
 principles. 
 
 It is observable that most of the principles main- 
 tained by him in that pamphlet, were incorporated 
 into the constitution subsequently adopted ; and some 
 others may, in future, be found expedient.* But his 
 sentiments on episcopacy became, at subsequent 
 periods, the subjects of remarks and objections. They 
 were misunderstood by an anti-Episcopalian writer, 
 
 * In his Memoirs of the Church (2d ed., p. 392, at the top) is a re- 
 mark which appears to refer to one of these ; that in which it is proposed 
 that the United States should be divided into several districts, with ec- 
 clesiastical assemblies in each (for certain objects) superior to the dio. 
 cesan and inferior to the general convention. 
 H* 
 
86 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 in a controversy which took place in New York, in 
 the year 1805; who made quotations from the pam- 
 phlet in such a manner as to convey sentiments very 
 different from those intended : as if, indeed, the author 
 abandoned the claims of the apostolical institution of 
 episcopacy, and the general obligation of retaining it; 
 whereas he only recommended a temporary departure 
 on account of an evident existing necessity. The 
 writer referred to candidly corrected the representa- 
 tions, which were pointed out to him as mistakes. 
 But even a temporary departure, for that cause, was 
 censured by some of the author's brethren among the 
 clergy, as inadmissible, because contrary to Scripture, 
 and the principles of the Church of England. Yet 
 he constantly retained his opinion that, under such 
 circumstances, the departure was agreeable to both. 
 The subject was often discussed, both in conversation 
 and correspondence, between him and his friend Bi- 
 shop Hobart, who always supported the opposite opin- 
 ion; but without effect on either. In his episcopal 
 charges of 1807 and 1834, Bishop White introduced 
 similar doctrines. And in a note added, with the date 
 of the 21st of December 1830, to the letter to Bishop 
 Hobart giving an account of the incidents of^his early 
 life, he has inserted these remarks: "In agreement 
 with the sentiments expressed in that pamphlet, I am 
 still of opinion, that in an exigency in which a duly 
 authorized ministry cannot be obtained, the paramount 
 duty of preaching the Gospel, and the worshipping of 
 God on the terms of the Christian covenant, should go 
 
LIFE OP BISHOP WHITE. 87 
 
 on, in the best manner which circumstances permit. 
 In regard to the episcopacy, I think that it should be 
 sustained, as the government of the Church from the 
 time of the Apostles, but without criminating the 
 ministry of other churches : as is the course taken by 
 the Church of England." Before his visit to England 
 for consecration, he knew that his pamphlet had been 
 in the hands of the Archbishop of York, a predecessor 
 of the prelate who assisted at his consecration. It 
 had been enclosed also to Mr Adams, the American 
 minister, when the address of the convention of 1785, 
 to the archbishops and bishops of England, was offi- 
 cially sent to him, and was- delivered by him to the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Moore. The latter did 
 not express any dissatisfaction with the pamphlet, or 
 with the author on its account; nor has any other 
 prelate, so far as is known.* After the publication of 
 it, a copy was sent to Dr (afterwards Bishop) Pro- 
 voost, at Dr White's desire, by Mr Duane, then in 
 congress. This produced a letter from that gentleman 
 to Mr Duane, approbatory of the pamphlet, and men- 
 tioning some facts which the author thought much to 
 the purpose of the main object of it.f 
 
 When-peace was happily concluded, and our inde- 
 pendence acknowledged, not long after the publication 
 of the pamphlet, the temporary plan therein proposed 
 was immediately relinquished by the author himself. 
 The necessity, on the existence of which it was based, 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), 83, 84. 
 
 t Letter to Bishop Hobart, of 17th October 1805. 
 
88 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 did not seem any longer to continue; but, on the con- 
 trary, a prospect appeared to be Opened of procuring 
 the means for organizing the church completely on 
 episcopal principles. His views were, therefore, now 
 directed to measures for obtaining the episcopal suc- 
 cession; uniting in one body the scattered members of 
 our church ; framing for its government a constitution 
 and laws; and making such alterations in the liturgy, 
 as would be adapted to its new situation. 
 
 In devising and conducting all the measures for 
 these important objects, the subject of this Memoir is 
 universally acknowledged to have taken a very vnse 
 and conspicuous part. This is claimed for him with- 
 out any intention of diminishing the honour due to 
 the other good and able men who were associated with 
 him ; who were engaged likewise, with zeal and ability, 
 in promoting the same interesting objects; and who 
 manifested, in various instances, a spirit of union and 
 conciliation, by mutually yielding, for the sake of 
 harmony, their own opinions respecting points on 
 which differences occurred, where they could yield 
 without violating the dictates of conscience. For the 
 prevalence of this spirit, the church was, indeed, greatly 
 indebted to the character and conduct of Dr White, and 
 to the confidence generally and justly placed in the 
 purity and disinterestedness of his purposes, directed 
 singly to the benefit of the whole body. 
 
 It is proper here to view the situation of the episco- 
 pal church at the termination of the revolutionary 
 war, with respect both to the advantages which she 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 89 
 
 enjoyed, and to the difficulties under which she la- 
 boured, in completing the desired union and organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 The advantages to be mentioned were of much im- 
 portance, and of a very interesting character. One 
 arose from the perfect religious freedom established in 
 the United States, without any control exercised by 
 the civil authority over spiritual concerns. In conse- 
 quence of this, every denomination was held to pos- 
 sess the full power of regulating for itself the ecclesi- 
 astical government, discipline, and worship within it; 
 and of promoting, by every lawful means, its religious 
 welfare and improvement, without being subject to 
 obstructions, or other disadvantages arising from the 
 connection of religion with secular policy. On these 
 subjects our constitutions gave no powers to the civil 
 government. Its protection was extended to all; and 
 their religious privileges were secured, and guarded 
 from the encroachment of others. A second advantage 
 was, that the church was providentially relieved from 
 the incumbrance of the ecclesiastical or canon law. 
 This system, which prevailed in England, had been 
 chiefly framed in the middle and subsequent ages ; 
 and by its principles had superseded the more pure, 
 wise and simple rules of law and government esta- 
 blished in the early ages of the church; had intro- 
 duced many corruptions ; had become, by length of 
 time and numerous additions and alterations, very 
 complicated and difficult, prescribed an intricate and 
 dilatory course of proceedings in ecclesiastical causes. 
 
90 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and contained many rules which a change of time and 
 circumstances had rendered unsuitable, or even inju- 
 rious, but which were still obligatory. The burthen 
 of this system had been long felt and complained of 
 in the parent church. Her first reformers were very 
 desirous of introducing a reformation of it. Commis- 
 sioners were appointed for the purpose, and a plan 
 was even prepared, but w^as never adopted by authority. 
 The attempts to effect a reformation were often re- 
 peated, without success. Though partial improve- 
 ments or alterations have been occasionally made, yet 
 the system continues — or at least did continue at the 
 period of our revolution — to possess the same general 
 character, aiid to need an extensive reformation. But 
 by the situation in which the church was placed in 
 the United States, she was providentially released 
 from the obligation of that law. It was never trans- 
 ferred to America. It was inapplicable to the condi- 
 tion of the country. Our churches were free from 
 subjection to any foreign dominion, ecclesiastical or 
 temporal. We had no established church connected 
 with the state, and possessed of powers derived from 
 it, in addition to those of a spiritual nature. We had 
 no ecclesiastical courts. That part of their jurisdic- 
 tion which related to the discipline of the church itself, 
 existed nowhere : and other subjects belonging to their 
 jurisdiction, such as cases of marriage and divorce, 
 testaments and administrations, and offences against 
 religion, so far as they are noticed and punished by 
 the civil laws, had been placed under that of the civil 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE, 91 
 
 cotli'ts. All the authority which had been exercised 
 in the episcopal church was of a purely spiritual cha- 
 racter, and was, besides, of very inconsiderable extent. 
 The episcopal churches within the colonies were 
 under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, who 
 was their diocesan. But the only powers exercised 
 by him, and these solely in consequence of voluntary 
 submission, were those of ordination, and in some 
 small degree, through his commissaries, of discipline 
 over the clergy. Being thus unembarrassed, and 
 having full power to form, modify, or change her insti- 
 tutions, on subjects not settled by Scripture, but left 
 to human regulation, as her circumstances rendered 
 expedient; our church could proceed to frame a plan 
 of government and laws best suited to her condition, 
 and fitted to promote her enlargement and improve- 
 ment, without interference from any other quarter; 
 and with the benefit of the guidance of primitive ex- 
 ample, and of the experience of the church in different 
 ages illustrating the practical effects of the various 
 laws which had from time to time been established. 
 A third advantage was that she had been, and conti- 
 nued in possession of the excelknt articles, liturgy, 
 and other institutions of the Church of England, rela- 
 tive to doctrine, worship, and all the sacred offices; 
 except so far as they were necessarily changed by the 
 principles of our civil revolution ; with full power to 
 modify them to suit her circumstances, and to improve 
 them if necessary. With these combined advantages 
 when her organization after the revolution was com- 
 
92 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 menced, she possessed, perhaps, the fairest opportu- 
 nity, if wisely improved, which has occurred since 
 the days of the Apostles, of organizing a church upon 
 the pure and simple principles of the primitive ages 
 of Christianity. And she had among her members, 
 both clergy and laity, men of learning and intelligence, 
 disposed and able to give efficient aid in attaining that 
 object. 
 
 But notwithstanding these advantages, there were 
 no small difficulties to be encountered ; requiring zeal 
 and wisdom, and perseverance to overcome them. 
 They were, however, such that a hope was reasonably 
 entertained, with respect to some, that they might soon 
 be obviated; that others, produced principally by pre- 
 vaihng prejudices, and not by reasonable causes, 
 would be gradually removed by time and better know- 
 ledge; and that others, arising from differences of opin- 
 ion ainong Episcopalians themselves, would be dissi- 
 pated by mutual explanations, and by a spirit of con- 
 ciliation which attachment to the church and desire to 
 unite and consolidate it might be expected to excite. 
 The expectations entertained on these points were not 
 disappointed. The difficulties gradually disappeared. 
 Most of them were within a few years overcome. 
 And though a considerable time was requisite to afford 
 sufficient opportunities of manifesting the true prin- 
 ciples, and the operation in practice, of the adopted 
 system of government and worship, and thereby re- 
 moving the prejudices of others, and cherishing among 
 themselves a general agreement in opinion on points 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 93 
 
 of importanee, and more especially a spirit of harmony, 
 aflfection and mutual confidence, combined with a love 
 of union ; yet all this was finally eifected. And the 
 subject of this Memoir enjoyed the high satisfaction, 
 long before his decease, of beholding the church, 
 which was, at this time, revived principally by his 
 influence and labours, become enlarged and flourish^ 
 ing, harmoniously united within itself, and attracting 
 the respect of other denominations, and general confi- 
 dence. 
 
 The apprehended difficulties arose from various 
 causes. One of them was the unpopularity of the 
 Episcopal church, in consequence partly of her former 
 connection with the established Church of England, 
 and an apprehension that if bishops were consecrated 
 by that church for her, a subjection to them, or at least 
 an undue influence, would be the result; and partly of 
 an opinion unreasonably formed, that episcopacy itself 
 was unfriendly to the political principles of our re- 
 publican governments. To which may be added the 
 fact, that many of her clergy had been led, by consci- 
 entious scruples, to adhere to the British government 
 and leave the country; while others, under the influ- 
 ence of the same scruples, though they remained here 
 and quietly submitted to the established governments, 
 disapproved of the revolution. The prejudices occa- 
 sioned by these circumstances did not affect only those 
 unconnected with the Episcopal church, but existed 
 also, in a measure, among her own members. So 
 strong were they in South Carolina, that the consent 
 I 
 
94 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of the Episcopalians of that state to a general union, 
 was in danger of being lost by their apprehensions of 
 the consequences of the introduction of bishops conse- 
 crated by those of a foreign country; and it was ob- 
 tained only by a prudent resolution, proposed in a very 
 disinterested spirit, by the Rev.. Robert Smith (who 
 was looked to as the future bishop of the diocese) that 
 no bishop should be settled in that state. In others of 
 the southern states, very lax notions on the subject of 
 episcopacy were adopted ; insomuch that it was 
 thought there was no necessity to resort to foreign 
 bishops to obtain the succession, but we might appoint 
 and ordain them for ourselves. The church had suf- 
 fered, too, in general estimation, by the bad conduct 
 of many of her clergy in Maryland and Virginia, and 
 the states south of them. Whether this was the con- 
 sequence of neglect and want of due care in those 
 charged, in England, with the power of sending out 
 clergymen to this country, or deception in the recom- 
 mendation of unsuitable candidates to them ; or of the 
 want of discipline in the church here, leaving the 
 clergy free from any superintending control, and 
 making it almost impracticable to remove or check a 
 vicious clergyman; or of both those causes; the effects 
 produced severely injured her influence and reputa- 
 tion : lowering her religious character in the opinion 
 of the community, and inducing many of her own 
 members to depart from her fold, and unite themselves 
 with other churches. From the operation of these 
 causes, the Episcopal church, at the close of the 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 95 
 
 revolution, was reduced to a very low condition, and 
 almost in danger of extinction : most of her clergy 
 having died, or removed from the country, or retired 
 from active duty, and none ordained to supply their 
 place ; and her congregations, in most places, broken 
 up and dispersed. The degree of this evil may be 
 estimated by the fact formerly mentioned, that in 
 Pennsylvania, Dr White was, for some time, the only 
 clergyman. And in the other states, even those in 
 which the clergy had before been the most numerous, 
 very few remained. In addition to all these embar- 
 rassments, it was known that differences of opinion, 
 on some important points, existed in the church itself; 
 particularly between the clergy of the eEistern states 
 and those of the south ; which might lead to disunion. 
 And the want of bishops, and the very inadequate 
 supply of clergy, prevented any vigorous and syste- 
 matic exertion for her improvement. 
 
 Under such circumstances were commenced the 
 proceedings for reviving and organizing anew our 
 Church, formerly known by the name of " the Church 
 of England in America," but thereafter known as 
 "the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
 States." Happy was it that, at this time, she was 
 providentially supplied with a man so well qualified, 
 by his character and attainments, to conduct her 
 safely through the existing difficulties. Features of 
 his character, calculated to secure confidence and re- 
 move prejudices, have been before mentioned. Others 
 may be added, showing how well fitted he was to sup- 
 
96 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 ply her wants in the present exigency. The mildness 
 and urbanity of his manners engaged the affections of 
 those associated with him, and enabled him to excite 
 and maintain a conciliatory spirit, and a readiness 
 mutually to accommodate to each other's opinions, on 
 subjects not deemed fundamental. His influence in 
 guarding against disunion, on account of differences 
 in sentiment, was increased by the moderation of his 
 own principles on the subject of ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment and discipline, which placed him between the 
 clergy of the east and south, and enabled him success- 
 fully to mediate between them. With all these ad- 
 vantages he combined intellectual qualifications and 
 attainments, remarkably adapted to the station in 
 which he was called to act — a sound judgment; habits 
 of calm and deep reflection ; caution in decision and 
 action, united, however, with steady adherence to the 
 principles deliberately approved, yet with a disposi- 
 tion to aid cordially in giving full effect to measures 
 adopted by the general consent,^ though against his 
 own opinions; and extensive and varied information, 
 particularly (what was now especially useful) an en- 
 larged and accurate knowledge of the principles of 
 government, both civil and ecclesiastical ; of the eccle- 
 siastical law of England ; and of the principles and 
 usages of the primitive church. All these were em- 
 ployed, with unwearied industry, for the benefit of the 
 church in the United States. It may be stated here, 
 generally, in proof of his faithful attention to her con- 
 cerns, from the commencement of the measures for 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 97 
 
 her new organization until the time of his decease, 
 that he attended every general convention, vnthout 
 exception, held throughout that long period, during 
 the whole of its deliberations; and, in like manner, 
 every annual and special convention held in his own 
 diocese of Pennsylvania : and that he was named on 
 almost every important committee, and zealously con- 
 tributed his aid on the subjects committed to its 
 charge. 
 
 In his " Memoirs of the Church," he has left a valu- 
 able and interesting account of its organization, and of 
 its subsequent improvement and history. But his 
 modesty prevented his doing justice to himself, by 
 stating at large his own agency. Nor can that be 
 fully done now from the materials discovered. It is 
 not intended to introduce a minute history of those 
 transactions. No more will be attempted than is ne- 
 cessary to the design of bringing into view, somewhat 
 more prominently, his agency in them, and thereby 
 illustrating his character and principles. 
 
 The great object which he contemplated and pur- 
 sued from the outset, was, to procure a union of all the 
 episcopal churches in the United States into one body 
 or church only ; and for that purpose to induce the 
 churches, in as many of the states as possible, to con- 
 sent to such union under a general constitution. The 
 wisdom of this course appears to have been generally 
 perceived and conceded. 
 
 But from the commencement of the proceedings on 
 this subject, a difference of opinion was found to exist, 
 I* 
 
98 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tending to cause considerable delay. In some of the 
 states, such principles had been embraced respecting 
 episcopal power, that it was thought improper to take 
 measures for organizing the government of the church, 
 until a bishop was obtained, under whose authority 
 and guidance alone, the object could be regularly ef- 
 fected. But by others, and by Dr White among them, 
 it was judged most proper to collect and unite the 
 scattered members of the church, that there might be 
 a body over which the head might be then placed. 
 This course was necessary also to give weight to the 
 intended application to the English bishops for the 
 episcopal succession; who, it was thought, would pro- 
 bably pay little regard to the petition of unassociated 
 individuals. The latter opinion was accordingly 
 acted on.* 
 
 The earliest measure leading to the union and or- 
 ganization, was taken by Dr White; who, after con- 
 sultation with the clergy in the city of Philadelphia, 
 proposed for consideration at a meetingf of the vestry 
 of his own churches, on the 13th of November 1783, 
 the appointment of committees from the vestries of the 
 churches in the city, to confer with the clergy thereof 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), 95, 358. 
 
 t Another transaction at the same meeting, and entered on the mi- 
 nutes, furnishes one of the proofs of the disinterestedness of Dr White. 
 He yolanta.n\j— generously, is the language of the minute — offered to 
 give up certain parts of the income of the church, to which the rector had 
 been before entitled, to be added to the church funds : which was accept, 
 ed by the vestry. Fifty pounds, a part of the sum relinquished, was to 
 be paid to the assistant minister. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 99 
 
 OH, the subject of forming a representative body of the 
 episcopal churches in Pennsylvania. Committees 
 being afterwards appointed, as proposed, they and the 
 clergy met on the 29th of March 1784, and after con- 
 sultation, "were of opinion, that a subject of such im- 
 portance ought to be taken up, if possible, with the 
 general concurrence of the Episcopalians in the United 
 States."* They therefore resolved to request a con- 
 ference vdth such members of the Episcopal congre- 
 gations in the counties of that state, as were then in 
 the city. Another meeting was held on the 31st of 
 March ; and a fuller meeting of clergy and laity from 
 different parts of the state on the 24th of May 1784, 
 and some following days, at which Dr White was 
 chosen chairman. The result of their deliberations 
 was the adoption of a resolution reported by a special 
 committee,! "that it is expedient to appoint a stand- 
 ing committee of the Episcopal church in this state, 
 consisting of clergy and laity : that the said committee 
 be empowered to correspond and confer with repre- 
 sentatives from the Episcopal church in the other 
 states, or any of them; and assist in framing an eccle- 
 siastical government; that a constitution of ecclesias- 
 tical government, when framed, be reported to the 
 several congregations," " to be binding on all the con- 
 gregations consenting to it, as soon as a majority of the 
 congregations shall have consented;" "and that" "the 
 committee be bound by the following instructions, or 
 fundamental principles. 
 
 * Journal of Pennsylvania, p. 3 ; Memoirs (1st ed.), 74, 75. 
 f Journal of Pennsylvania, p. 6 ; Memoirs (1st ed.), 72, 73. 
 
100 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 *' First; That the Episcopal church in these states 
 is, and ought to be, independent of all foreign autho- 
 rity, ecclesiastical or civil. 
 
 " Second; That it hath, and ought to have, in com- 
 mon M^ith all other religious societies, full and exclu- 
 sive powers to regulate the concerns of its ovs^n com- 
 munion. 
 
 " Third; That the doctrines of the Gospel be main- 
 tained, as now professed by the Church of England ; 
 and uniformity of worship continued, as near as may 
 be, to the liturgy of the said church. 
 
 "Fourth; That the succession of the ministry be 
 agreeable to the usage, which requireth the three 
 orders of bishops, priests and deacons; that the rights 
 and powers of the same, respectively, be ascertained; 
 and that they be exercised- according to reasonable 
 laws, to be duly made. 
 
 "Fifth; That to make canons, or laws, there be no 
 other authority, than that of a representative body of 
 the clergy and laity conjointly. 
 
 " Sixth; That no powers be delegated to a general 
 ecclesiastical government, except such as cannot con- 
 veniently be exercised by the clergy and laity, in their 
 respective congregations." 
 
 A standing committee was appointed, of which Dr 
 White was chairman. 
 
 A few days afterwards, a meeting of several clergy- 
 men from the states of New York, New Jersey, and 
 Pennsylvania, took place at Brunswick; at which were 
 the first communications between clergy of different 
 states, on the subject of the general organization of the 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 101 
 
 church. The principles which had been proposed in 
 Pennsylvania were made known to them. And some 
 discussion occurred, without any definite result: some 
 of the clergy, in consequence of their peculiar situa- 
 tion, desiring that it should not be then urged. But 
 it was agreed to procure as general a meeting as might 
 be, of representatives of the clergy and laity of the 
 different states, in the city of New York, on the 6th 
 of October following. And the business of the meet- 
 ing was confined to the revival of a corporation for 
 the relief of the widows and children of clergymen in 
 the said three states, which had existed before the re- 
 volution, under a charter from the governors of those 
 states. This was the expressed object of the meeting ; 
 though it was intended also to give an opportunity to 
 the clergy for consultation on the other subject.* 
 
 The proposed meeting was accordingly held in New 
 York, in October; when members attended from Mas- 
 sachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. But not 
 being possessed of sufficient authority to establish de- 
 finitively any principles of government, they only re- 
 commended the course to be pursued. Some of the 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), 62 — 64. This corporation, by mutual consent, 
 and with a fair division of the funds, was afterwards resolved into three, 
 under charters from the several states, for the benefit of their clergy re- 
 spectively. In that which was chartered in Pennsylvania, the Bishop 
 took great interest ; and was attentive to the improvement and applica- 
 tion of its funds, and often directed the attention of his clergy to securing 
 its benefits for their families. Its funds have accumulated to a very con- 
 siderable amount. 
 
102 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 members were appointed only by their own congre- 
 gations, and not by the churches of the state; and 
 those who had more regular appointments had no fur- 
 ther authority than to deliberate and propose. Their 
 recommendation was in these words :* " The body 
 now assembled recornmend to the clergy and congre- 
 gations of their communion, in the states represented 
 as above, and propose to the states not represented, 
 that as soon as they shall have organized or associated 
 themselves in the states to which they respectively 
 belong, agreeably to such rules as they shall think 
 proper, they unite in a general ecclesiastical constitu- 
 tion, on the following fundamental principles. 
 
 " First; That there be a general convention of the 
 Episcopal church in the United States of America. 
 
 "Second; That the Episcopal church in each state 
 send deputies to the contention, consisting of clergy 
 and laity. 
 
 "Third; That associated congregations, in two or 
 more states, may send deputies jointly. 
 
 " Fourth; That the said church shall maintain the 
 doctrines of the Gospel, as now held by the Church 
 of England; and shall adhere to the liturgy of the 
 said church, as far as shall be consistent with the 
 American revolution, and the constitutions of the re- 
 spective states. 
 
 "Fifth; That in every state, where there shall be 
 a bishop duly consecrated and settled, he shall be con- 
 sidered as a member of convention ex officio. 
 
 * Journal of Pennsylvania, pp. 8, 9. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 103 
 
 " Sixth; That the clergy and laity assembled in 
 convention shall deliberate in one body, but shall vote 
 separately; and the concurrence of both shall be ne- 
 cessary to give validity to every measure. 
 
 " Seventh ; That the first meeting of the convention 
 shall be at Philadelphia, the Tuesday before the feast 
 of St Michael next, to vrhich it is hoped, and earnestly 
 desired, that the Episcopal churches in the several 
 states, will send their clerical and lay deputies, duly 
 instructed and authorized to proceed on the necessary 
 business, hereby proposed for their deliberation." 
 
 The clergyman who appeared from Connecticut 
 did not unite in this recommendation, being only em- 
 powered to announce that the clergy of Connecticut 
 had taken measures for the obtaining of an episcopate ; 
 and until that design should be accomphshed, they 
 could do nothing; but as soon as they should have 
 succeeded, they would come forward, with their bishop, 
 to do what the general interests of the Church might 
 require. But otherwise, it contained the sense of the 
 body assembled. And the gaining of so considerable 
 an assent to it was thought of much moment at the 
 time.*- 
 
 After this meeting in New York, and in conse- 
 quence of the adoption of the principles contained in 
 the fourth article of their recommendation, an event 
 happened in Massachusetts, which deprived the Epis- 
 copalians of one of their principal churches in Boston. 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), 64 — 68. 
 
104 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 It was known before the revolution by the name of 
 the King's Chapel, and afterwards by that of the 
 Chapel Church. The congregation then occupying 
 it (in consequence of circumstances appearing in the 
 correspondence to be referred to) was Unitarian, in 
 principle. Before the meeting in New York, they 
 had declared a" belief that the Episcopalians south of 
 Connecticut, agreed with them in opinion, and would 
 alter the liturgy so as that they might be in commu- 
 nion with the Episcopal church. But that fourth 
 article being totally adverse to their views, they formed 
 a liturgy for themselves, by the authority of the con- 
 gregation only. The incident produced a correspon- 
 dence between Dr White and one of the members of 
 that congregation, with the concurrence and aid, it was 
 believed, of a gentleman then their lay reader, and 
 afterwards their minister. The correspondence, with 
 an extract of a letter from the Rev. Dr (afterwards 
 Bishop) Parker, through whose hands Dr White's 
 letters passed, is inserted in the Appendix.* An 
 idea has been entertained by some, that at the time of 
 the organization of our Church, an apprehension ex- 
 isted that there was, among her members, an inclina- 
 tion to Unitarian opinions, and that there was danger 
 of her being infected by them. Assertions of this 
 kind were made in England. f I have not met, either 
 in the published works of Bishop White or among 
 his manuscripts, the slightest evidence of any cause 
 
 * No. 2. t Memoirs (1st ed.), 135, 381, 384. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 105 
 
 for such an apprehension, except what might have 
 been supposed to be furnished by this transaction.* 
 The result of which was, that this expensive church, 
 built by Episcopalians, and appropriated to episcopal 
 worship, came into possession (still retained) of a de- 
 nomination maintaining principles fundamentally at 
 variance with theirs; and which the original founders 
 of the church would not have supported. The allow- 
 ance of so great a perversion of property from the 
 sacred object for which it was originally bestowed, to 
 another so much opposed to that object, has a tenden- 
 cy to discourage the permanent devotion of private 
 wealth to the benefit of religious institutions. 
 
 In compliance with the recommendation from the 
 assembly in New York, in October 1784, the clergy 
 and deputies from the congregations in Pennsylvania 
 assembled in their first convention in May 1785, of 
 which Dr White was unanimously chosen president. 
 Articles of association were here prepared by a com- 
 mittee, of which he was chairman, and adopted and 
 signed by the convention : containing the principles 
 that the said clergy and congregations should be called 
 and knpwn by the name of " the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the State of Pennsylvania:" that there 
 should be an annual convention, consisting of all the 
 clergy, and of a lay deputy or deputies from each 
 congregation : that each congregation should have one 
 
 * A motion made in the general convention of 1785, by Mr Page of 
 Virginia, whose design was misunderstood, is e,xplained by Dr White in 
 the Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 104, 105. 
 K 
 
106 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 vote : that the clergy and lay deputies should delibe- 
 rate in one body, but vote as two distinct orders; and 
 that the concurrence of both orders should be necessary 
 to give validity to every measure. Clerical and lay 
 deputies were also appointed to attend the general 
 convention recommended to be held in Philadelphia 
 in the succeeding September ; of whom Dr White was 
 one.* 
 
 The proposed general convention met in Philadel- 
 phia on the 27th of September 1785, and consisted of 
 representatives from seven of the states; being those 
 from New York to Virginia, both inclusive, with the 
 addition of South Carolina. Dr White was unani- 
 mously chosen president. In consequence of their 
 consultations, the Church became organized and 
 united in those states, under a general constitution ; 
 which, though acted under, being the only one in 
 existence, was not finally ratified until the convention 
 of 1789, and afterwards received several important 
 improvements. The proceedings of the convention 
 related to other interesting subjects ; but as they were 
 not fully matured, and brought to their permanent 
 state, until reviewed and considered by several suc- 
 cessive conventions, it is proposed, for greater clear- 
 ness, to state the facts relating to the course pursued 
 on the most interesting points, until the leading prin- 
 ciples for governing the church and regulating its 
 doctrines and worship became settled. The facts 
 
 * Journal of Pennsylvania, pp. 11 — 13. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 107 
 
 will be arranged under the five heads of — the Episco- 
 pal Succession ; the Constitution of Government ; the 
 Liturgy; the Articles of Religion; and the Canons. 
 They have already been made well known by " The 
 Memoirs of the Church," and but little interesting 
 information — some, however — can be added to that 
 therein contained. They will therefore be stated with 
 brevity, and in a way adapted to the design of exhi- 
 biting Dr White's own views, and of introducing the 
 few additional circumstances in a clear connection. 
 
 I. Of the Episcopal Succession. Though the 
 Church was yet destitute of it, her existence is not to 
 be considered as commencing from the time of her ob- 
 taining it. She continued the same body previously 
 known as the Church of England in America; though, 
 in consequence of the dissolution of her union with 
 the parent church by the revolution, a new organiza- 
 tion of her government became necessary. This 
 principle was, from the first, maintained by Dr White, 
 and led to very important inferences, as will hereafter 
 appear. And it was some years afterwards approved 
 by a resolution of the general convention in 1S14, in 
 the following words : " That the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States of America, is the same 
 body heretofore known in these states by the name of 
 the Church of England ; the change of name, although 
 not of religious principle in doctrine, or in worship, or 
 in discipline, being induced by a characteristic of the 
 Church of England, supposing the independence of 
 
108 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Christian churches, under the different sovereignties 
 to which respectively their allegiance in civil concerns 
 belonsfs. But that -when the severance alluded to 
 took place, and ever since, this church conceives of 
 herself as professing and acting on the principles of 
 the Church of England, is evident from the organiza- 
 tion of our conventions, and from their subsequent 
 proceedings, as recorded on the journals; to vi^hich, 
 accordingly, this convention refer for satisfaction in the 
 premises. But it vs'ould be contrary to fact, vs^ere any 
 one to infer, that the discipline exercised in this 
 Church, or that any proceedings therein, are at all 
 dependent on the will of the civil or of the ecclesiasti- 
 cal authority of any- foreign country."* This decla- 
 ration was agreed to by the house of bishops on the 
 proposal of Dr White, and was concurred in by the 
 house of clerical and lay deputies. 
 
 It was a gratifying, as well as unexpected circum- 
 stance, that there was, on the subject, of obtaining the 
 succession, a unanimous agreement of opinion in the 
 convention ; though a few years before a clamour was 
 made on the proposal of an American episcopacy, and 
 objections to it prevailed among a considerable propor- 
 tion of the members of the Episcopal church itself, 
 and the lay members of the present convention were 
 principally gentlemen who had been active in the late 
 revolution. It was determined, without any opposi- 
 tion, that an application should be made to the bishops 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's) pp. 310, 311. And see Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 297. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 109 
 
 of the Church of England, to consecrate suitable per- 
 sons chosen and recommended by the state conven- 
 tions for their bishops. The resolves containing the 
 plan, and the address to the British bishops were pre- 
 pared by Dr White, and adopted vpith only a {ew ver- 
 bal alterations.* And a committee was appointed to 
 correspond with those bishops, of which he was chair- 
 man. 
 
 This committee, after the rising of the convention, 
 transmitted the address to Mr Adams, the American 
 minister in London; with a request that it might be 
 delivered by him to the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 He readily undertook the service, and delivered it in 
 person to the archbishop; making, during the inter- 
 view, such remarks, and giving such information on 
 the principles of our government, and on the senti- 
 ments of the people of the United States generally, 
 relative to the equal religious rights of all men, as 
 tended to favour the success of the object of the con- 
 vention; and particularly to satisfy the archbishop 
 that the requested interposition of the English prelates 
 would not give uneasiness and dissatisfaction in Ame- 
 rica. Through the same gentleman the answer of 
 the archbishops was transmitted to the committee. f 
 The aid thus given by Mr Adams, was liberal and 
 manly. He was himself a member of a Congrega- 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 101. For the resolutions and address, see 
 Journal (Bioren's), pp. 11 — 15 ; or Memoirs, pp. 348 — .354. 
 
 f Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 15, 899 — 402. And for the said answer, see 
 Journal (Bioren's), pp. 19, 20; or Memoirs, pp. 354 — 356. 
 
 K* 
 
110 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 tional churcli in Massachusetts, in which state the 
 opposition to the introduction of episcopacy was 
 thought to be more decided than elsewhere ; the aver- 
 sion to it being strengthened by rehgious, in addition 
 to political prejudices : and he might, not unreason- 
 ably, apprehend injury or inconvenience to himself, 
 in consequence of the part he now took. His own 
 ideas on this point were expressed many years after- 
 wards, in a letter to Bishop White, the principal 
 object of which was to introduce a friend. And 
 his language furnishes proof of the serious nature of 
 the diflB.culty under which the Episcopal church at 
 first laboured, arising from the existing prejudices 
 agaipst that form of church government. The follow- 
 ing is the extract from the letter referred to, which is 
 dated October 29, 1814. "There is no part of my 
 life on which I look back and reflect with more satis- 
 faction, than the part I took, bold, daring and hazard- 
 ous as it was to myself and mine, in the introduction 
 of episcopacy into America." In an answer from Dr 
 White (dated the 12th of February 1820) to another 
 letter of Mr Adams, for a similar purpose, this lan- 
 guage occurs : "I have lately sent to the press a 
 work entitled, ' Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church.' My motive is the perpetuating of the 
 remembrance of some facts which have had an influ- 
 ence on measures, and serve to explain them. One of 
 the facts is, the benevolent agency of Mr Adams, in 
 aid of our endeavours for the obtaining of the episco- 
 pal succession. For this reason, on the completion of 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. Ill 
 
 the volume, which will be thin 8vo, I shall consider 
 it a duty to request his acceptance of a copy." 
 
 Another convention assembled in Philadelphia, 
 according to appointment, in June 1786. Several 
 difficulties existed which caused apprehensions of dis- 
 union ; two of which related to the episcopacy : first, a 
 dissatisfaction in the minds of some with the Scottish 
 episcopacy, from which Dr Seabury, of Connecticut, 
 had received consecration; and secondly, the hesita- 
 tion expressed in the answer of the British bishops to 
 the address sent to them by the last convention. 
 
 The question relative to the Scottish episcopacy 
 excited some warmth, and was not readily disposed of. 
 Dr White himself was fully satisfied of the validity of 
 the orders conferred upon Dr Seabury by the bishops 
 of Scotland, and advocated a union with him at a 
 proper period. But a few of the clergy were opposed 
 to any recognition of that episcopacy; and several 
 motions were made with a view to obtain the decision 
 of this convention against it. The first was : " that 
 the clergy present produce their letters of orders, or 
 declare by whom they were ordained." One of the 
 clergy present, Mr Pilmore, had been ordained by 
 Bishop Seabury; and another (Mr William Smith, 
 the younger of that name) by one of the Scotch 
 bishops. This motion was negatived. Subsequently 
 another motion was made by the Rev. Mr Provoost, 
 seconded by the Rev. Robert Smith, of South Caro- 
 lina, " that this convention will resolve to do no act 
 that shall imply the validity of ordinations made by 
 
112 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Dr Seabury." The discussion on it was stopped by 
 the previous question; and the motion was negatived 
 by the votes of four states against three. But as it 
 had been asserted, and urged in argument, that cler- 
 gymen ordained under the Scottish succession, though 
 settled in churches of the states represented in this 
 convention, were understood to be under canonical 
 subjection to the bishops who ordained them, Dr 
 White, in order to obviate any difficulty or opposition 
 arising from this apprehension, for which he did not 
 himself conceive there was any ground, proposed a 
 resolution, which was unanimously adopted, " that it 
 be recommended to this church in the states here re- 
 presented, not to receive to the pastoral charge, within 
 their respective limits, clergymen professing canonical 
 subjection to any bishop, in any state or country, other 
 than those bishops who may be duly settled in the states 
 represented in this convention." This temperate 
 measure, while it guarded against the evil, if it should 
 exist, tended to prevent any dispute on the subject 
 with the eastern clergy; and also drew oflF some lay 
 gentlemen from their intended opposition to such 
 orders. Another prudent precaution was taken by 
 unanimously resolving, on motion of the Rev. Robert 
 Smith, of South Carolina, " that it be recommended 
 to the conventions of the Church represented in this 
 general convention, not to admit any person as a 
 minister within their respective limits, who shall re- 
 ceive ordination from any bishop residing in America 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 113 
 
 during the application now pending to the English 
 bishops for episcopal consecration."* 
 
 The hesitation of the English prelates to give a de- 
 cided answer to the address sent to them — the other 
 cause of apprehension — does not appear to have been 
 occasioned by any reluctance, on their part, to accede 
 to the request of the convention. But they had re- 
 ceived no information from it of the alterations adopted, 
 in the articles, liturgy, or government; and had heard, 
 through private channels, that these were essential 
 deviations from the Church of England, either in 
 doctrine or discipline, f Under these circumstances, 
 they concluded their letter to the committee in this 
 manner: "While we are anxious to give every proof, 
 not only of our brotherly affection, but of our facility 
 in forwarding your wishes, we cannot but be extremely 
 cautious, lest we should be the instruments of estab- 
 lishing an ecclesiastical system which will be called 
 a branch of the Church of England, but afterwards 
 may possibly appear to have departed from it essen- 
 tially, either in doctrine or in discipline." This first 
 letter was the only one received previous to the meet- 
 ing of this convention. The liturgy, as altered, and 
 also the constitution adopted, had been sent, though 
 they had not reached England at the date of the 
 letter. And all that the convention could do was to 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 19, 21, 22. Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 124, 
 125. 
 
 t Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 16, 115 ; in the latter page the cause of the 
 delay of information is stated. 
 
114 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 present a second address,* expressing their acknow- 
 ledgements for the friendly and affectionate letter 
 received, assuring their lordships that the convention 
 neither had departed, nor proposed to depart from the 
 doctrines of the Church of England, and had retained 
 the same discipline and forms of vporship, as far as 
 was consistent vs^ith our civil institutions; and had 
 made no alterations or omissions in the Book of Com- 
 mon Prayer, but such as that consideration prescribed, 
 and such as were calculated to remove objections, 
 which it appeared more conducive to union and gene- 
 ral content to obviate, than to dispute ; and repeating 
 their request for the Episcopal succession. 
 
 Some time after the adjournment of the convention, 
 the second letter of the English bishops,t signed by 
 the two archbishops, to whom the business was com- 
 mitted, was received by the committee of correspon- 
 dence; acknowledging the receipt of the liturgy and 
 constitution; stating that a bill had been prepared, 
 and would soon be presented to parliament, conveying 
 the powers necessary for the proposed consecration, 
 and prescribing the requisite proofs of the qualifica- 
 tions of the persons elected. But they added, that 
 after the dispositioiis thus shown on their part, they 
 thought it incumbent on the committee to use their 
 utmost exertions for the removal of any stumbling- 
 block of offence, which might possibly prove an ob- 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 27, 28 ; Memoirs (Isted.), pp. 18, 125, 360 
 —363. 
 
 t Journal (Bioren's), pp. 32^37; Memoirs (1st ed.), 131, 363—372. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 115 
 
 stacle to their success; and therefore earnestly exhorted 
 them to restore to its integrity the Apostles' creed, in 
 which one article (the descent into hell) was omitted ; 
 and hoped that they would give the two other creeds 
 a place in the Book of Common Prayer, even though 
 the use of them should be left discretional; and ex- 
 pressed their persuasion that some alteration would be 
 thought necessary by the convention, in the article of 
 the constitution relative to the amenability of the clergy 
 to the convention, "which appeared to them to be a 
 degradation of the clerical, and still more of the epis- 
 copal character." A third letter* was afterwards 
 received, signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 alone, communicating a copy of the act of parliamentf 
 which had been passed; and stating the opinion held 
 in England, that no more than three bishops should 
 be there consecrated for the United States, who might 
 consecrate others at their return, if more were found 
 necessary. 
 
 On the receipt of these communications, the com- 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 37, 38; Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 372—375. 
 
 f It is observable that the act contains a provision that no bishops 
 consecrated under it, nor any bishop, priest or deacon consecrated or 
 ordained by such bishops, or their successors, should be enabled there- 
 by "to exercise his or their respective office or offices within his majes- 
 ty's dominions." Probably the intention was only to prevent their hold- 
 ing any benefice or cure, and not their occasionally officiating in the 
 churches. It has, however, been so rigidly construed, in England, as to 
 prevent American bishops and presbyters, who have visited that country, 
 from receiving invitations to preach in their pulpits. But this has net 
 been the case in Scotland, Ireland, or the British colonies ; in which 
 instances of such invitations have occurred. 
 
116 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 mittee of correspondence, agreeably to a power given 
 to them by the convention in June, called a meeting 
 of it, to be held at Wilmington, in Delaware, in Octo- 
 ber following. Previous to which, a special state con- 
 vention assembled in Pennsylvania on the 14th of 
 September,* by which Dr White was unanimously 
 elected bishop. Three only of the clergy of that state, 
 besides himself, were present. The other two clergy- 
 men belonging to it afterwards expressed their con- 
 currence. 
 
 The general convention met accordingly, at Wil- 
 mington, in October. They declared their sincere 
 disposition to give every satisfaction to the English 
 prelates, consistent with the union and general con- 
 tent of the church represented by them; and their 
 steadfast resolution to maintain the same essential 
 articles of faith and discipline with the Church of 
 England. They restored the article, "he descended 
 into hell," in the Apostles' creed, and inserted the 
 Nicene creed in the liturgy : but would not admit the 
 Athanasian.f All these determinations were conform- 
 able to the sentiments of Dr White. The ground of 
 objection to the article of the constitution relative to 
 the trial of the bishops, and other clergy, had been 
 before removed. The requisite testimonials in favour 
 of Dr White, elected bishop in Pennsylvania, and of 
 the Rev. Mr Provoost, v/ho had been elected in New 
 
 * Journal of Pennsylvania, pp. 17, 18. 
 f Journal (Bioren's), pp. 39 — 43. 
 
LIFE OP BISHOP WHITE. 117 
 
 York, were also signed. The duties at this conven- 
 tion were laborious. The committee on the commu- 
 nications from England, of which Dr "White was a 
 member, sat up all night to digest the measures re- 
 commended in their report, and adopted by the con- 
 vention. 
 
 On the 2d of November, Dr White embarked in the 
 packet of that month for England, in company with 
 Mr Provoost, and arrived at Falmouth on the 20th. 
 When they reached London, they were introduced to 
 the archbishop by Mr Adams, "who, in this particular, 
 and in every instance in which his personal attentions 
 could be either of use or an evidence of his respect and 
 kindness, continued to manifest his concern for the 
 interests of a church of which he was not a member."* 
 Some delay of their consecration was occasioned by 
 the desire of the archbishop to lay before the bishops, 
 then generally absent from the capital in their several 
 dioceses, and not expected to return until the meeting 
 of parliament, about the middle of January, the ground 
 of his proceedings. But on the 4th of February 1787, 
 their consecration took place in Lambeth Chapel. 
 And toward the end of the month, they sailed from 
 Falmouth for New York, where they arrived on the 
 7th of April, and soon afterwards began the exercise 
 of the Episcopal office, in their respective dioceses. 
 The incidents attending their voyage and abode in 
 England were communicated by Dr White in letters 
 
 * Memoirs (Isted.), p. 20 
 
118 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 to the committee of the Church in Pennsylvania; 
 which have been published in the Memoirs of the 
 Church, and are the only documents on the subject.* 
 He was received in his diocese with a joyful and affec- 
 tionate welcome. 
 
 The Church had now two bishops, consecrated in 
 England: and in the next Convention, held in 1789, a 
 union was effected with Bishop Seabury and the 
 church in Connecticut. Two sessions were held in 
 that year. At the first, a resolution was unanimously 
 passed in favour of the validity of Bishop Seabury's 
 consecration.! There were consequently three bishops, 
 whose Episcopal authority was recognized; the num- 
 ber canonically requisite for a consecration. And an 
 application was made to. them, by the clergy of Mas- 
 sachusetts and New Hampshire, for the consecration 
 of the 'Rev. Edward Bass, elected their bishop; which 
 was laid before the convention by Bishop White, the 
 president. The convention unanimously requested' 
 the bishops (their president, however, not voting), to 
 comply with the prayer of it; but that, before compli- 
 ance, it should be proposed to the churches in New 
 England to meet the churches represented in the con- 
 vention, in an adjourned convention, to settle articles 
 of union and discipline among all the churches, pre- 
 vious to such consecration.^ Bishop White, did not 
 conceive himself bound, or indeed at liberty, to com- 
 
 * Memoirs (let ed.), pp. 138—162. 
 
 t Journal (Bioren's), pp. 51, 53, 54. | Ibid., p. 54. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 119 
 
 ply with this request of the convention. He had been, 
 indeed, from the beginning, persuaded of the vaHdity 
 of Bishop Seabury's consecration, and desirous of 
 bringing him and the Church in Connecticut, into 
 union with the other churches. But he thought that 
 his faith had been impliedly pledged to the English 
 prelates, in consequence of the measures taken by a 
 preceding convention for obtaining the Episcopal suc- 
 cession, that three bishops should be consecrated in 
 England before any consecration in America, so that 
 the succession should- be continued in the English 
 line : and he believed that no determination of the con- 
 vention would warrant a breach of the faith so pledged. 
 In that opinion Bishop Provoost agreed with him: 
 and in a letter to him (dated September 7th, 1789), 
 used this decided language: "As to what you style an 
 implied engagement to the English bishops, I look 
 upon it, in regard to myself, as a positive one. I en- 
 tered into it ex animo, upon principle, and do not wish 
 to ask or to accept a releasement from it." That 
 gentleman was also opposed to complying with the 
 request for another reason — that he was unwilling to 
 recognize the validity of the Scotch succession. He 
 was not, in this matter, supported by his own clergy 
 or convention.* 
 
 Dr White was, however, relieved, for the present, 
 from the pain of standing opposed to thevsdshes of the 
 convention, by the delay which was necessary in con- 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 166. 
 
120 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 sequence of the intended meeting with the clergy of 
 the eastern states, anfl of a' proposed address of the 
 convention to the EngKsh prelates, to obtain their-ap- 
 probation of the desired consecration.* And the 
 difficulty ^yas removed before any action becaine ne- 
 cessary, by the consecration of Bishop Madison, of 
 Virginia, in England.f Compliance vt^ith a similltr 
 application from Virginia, in 1787, for the consecra- 
 tion of Dr Griffith, had been declined on the same 
 
 principle.^ 
 
 ' The cOjnvention assembled again, at an adjourned 
 meeting, inSeptember 1789, in Philadelphia; at which 
 B'ishop Seabury, with deputies from the Church in 
 Connecticut, and also the Rev. Samuel Parker, deputy 
 from the ohure]ies in Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
 shire. A conference took place between them and a 
 committee of the convention; and the result was that 
 they signed the constitution, with some fiaodifications 
 agreed upon: and the union was completed. 
 
 In September 1790, Dr Madison, of Virginia, was 
 consecrated bishop of that. diocese by the English 
 prelates,; and the American Church thereby obtained 
 the requisite number of bishops to continue canoni- 
 cally the Episcopal sucpessioix in the English line. 
 
 The first consecration which took place in the United 
 States was that of Dr Claggett, as bishop of Mary- 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 53, 54, 103 — 108 ; Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 
 412—416. 
 t Memoirs (Isted.), pp. 169, 170. J Ibid., pp. 171, 172, n. 
 

 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 121 
 
 land, at the general convention in 1792, in New York. 
 It was performed by Bishop Provoost, assisted by the 
 other two bishops consecrated in England, and by 
 Bishop Seabury. There was an apprehension, on the 
 part of the last named bishop (which he,commnni- 
 cated tosDr White), that it was' intended to exclude 
 him from taking any part in the expected consecra-r 
 tion. But it was soon found that the apprehension 
 was without sufficient ground, no such design having 
 been- thought of; of which, indeed, Dr White from 
 the first expressed his conviction to Dr Seabury. All 
 the bishops were desirous that the three bishc^s who 
 received their consecration from the Church of Eng- 
 leaid should be present and officiate on the occasion. 
 But there was no objection to Bishop Seabury 's uniting 
 with them in the act, as this could not weaken the 
 "English line of succession: Bishop Provoost, for the 
 sake of peace, waiving his objection to having any 
 thing to do with the Scotch succession, which he 
 thought irregular.* All the subsequent consecra- 
 tions, twenty-six in number, until that of Bishop 
 M'Coskry, of Michigan, in July 1836, were performed 
 by Bishop White. 
 
 II. Of the Constitution of Government. The 
 constitution adopted by the convention of 1785, com- 
 prehended the principles — that there should be trien- 
 nially a general convention of the Church in the 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 166, 201, 202. 
 
123 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 United States, composed of representatives of the 
 clergy and laity in each state, not exceeding four of 
 each order; and on all questions, each state should 
 have one vote, and a majority of suffrages be conclu- 
 sive; that in every state there should be a convention, 
 consisting of the clergy and lay deputies of the con- 
 gregations^hat in every state where there should be 
 a bishop duly consecrated and settled, and vi^ho should 
 have acceded to this general constitution, he should be 
 considered as a member of the convention ex officio — 
 that bishops should be chosen according to rules fixed 
 by the respective conventions ; and should confine the 
 Bxercise of their office to their proper jurisdiction, 
 unless requested to ordain or confirm by a Church 
 destitute of a bishop ; that every clergyman, of either 
 order, should be amenable to the authority of the con- 
 vention of the state to v^hich he belongs, so far as 
 relates to suspension or removal from office; and the 
 convention in each state should institute rules for their 
 conduct, and an equitable mode of trial; and that no 
 person should be ordained, or be permitted to officiate 
 in this Church, until he subscribed a declaration of his 
 belief in the Scriptures, as the vs^ord of God, and con- 
 taining all things necessary for salvation, and of his 
 engaging to conform to the doctrine, discipline and 
 worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Pro- 
 vision was also ma;de for the future admission of 
 churches not then represented, and for the use of the 
 liturgy, as altered by the convention. And this con- 
 stitution, when ratified by the Church in the different 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 123 
 
 states, was declared fundamental, and unalterable by 
 the convention of any state.* 
 
 The constitution was drafted by Dr White, as mem- 
 ber of a subcommittee of a larger committee appointed 
 for that purpose.! In most of the main articles, it 
 was nearly conformable to his own opinions ; but in 
 some important particulars was contrary to his judg- 
 ment. When he found that he could not procure the 
 adoption of those preferred by him, he relinquished 
 opposition ; being unwilling to hazard, on account of 
 them, the attainment of the paramount object of a 
 union and organization of the whole Church; and 
 trusting that favourable opportunities would after- 
 wards occur for improvement. And in this he was 
 not disappointed. Various alterations were, from time 
 to time, introduced, which will be traced in connec- 
 tion with each of the leading principles, on which 
 there existed a diversity of opinion. They brought 
 the constitution to a form more nearly agreeable to his 
 sentiments than that in which it was at first adopted. 
 
 1. The admission of the laity to a share in the go- 
 vernment of the Church, was advocated by him in the 
 pamphlet of 1782; and at the present period he was 
 considered as the proposer of the measure. It had 
 obtained the approbation of the clergy of Maryland, in 
 1783 ;f of the convention of Pennsylvania, in May 
 1784;^ of the clergy met in Boston, in September 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp, 8 — 10. t Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 93. 
 t Ibid., pp. 87, 89. } Ibid., p. 73. 
 
124 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 1784;* and of the meeting, before mentioned, at New 
 York, in October 1784. But in Connecticut it was 
 objected to.f Dr White maintained its lawfulness 
 and propriety, because agreeable to Scripture and 
 primitive usage; and its great expediency, and even 
 necessity, in the circumstances of the American 
 Church. He remarked also that it was conformable, 
 in substance, though not in form, to the principles of 
 the Church of England : according to which, the legis- 
 lative acts of the convocation are not binding on the 
 laity (they not being represented in it), nntil confirmed 
 by parliament : and we could not have a substitute for 
 this parliamentary sanction in any other way than by 
 assembling the representatives of the clergy and laity 
 in one body. J This part of the original constitution 
 continues to the present day. It was consented to 
 with reluctance by Bishop Seabury and the clergy of 
 Connecticut, when they acceded to the union, in 1789. 
 But on their solicitation, the article providing that in 
 each state there should be a convention consisting of 
 the clergy and lay deputies, was omitted. This omis- 
 sion was not caused by disapprobation of the principle 
 of the article, which has been to the present time 
 acted on in the several states ; but was designed to 
 conciliate the clergy of Connecticut, by allowing a 
 latitude on that subject, which would enable them to 
 organize the convention of their own state on the prin- 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 69. f Ibid., pp. 71, 72, 344—346. 
 
 X See Pamphlet, pp. 9, 10 ; Memoire (1st ed.), pp. 74—83, 129. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 125 
 
 ciples preferred by themselves. Accordingly all ec- 
 clesiastical matters were there left, for a time, to the 
 management of the clergy alone. The wisdom of this 
 conciliatory course afterwards appeared. The effe^ct 
 of it was to disarm opposition, which might have been 
 irritated and strengthened by a rigid requisition that 
 all the state conventions should be so constituted : and 
 it excited a similar conciliatory temper in the clergy of 
 Connecticut. The pleasing consequence resulted, that 
 in the general Qonvention of 1792, lay as well as cleri- 
 cal deputies appeared from that state: and their state 
 convention has been also organized on the same prin- 
 ciple adopted in the other states, by admitting into it 
 lay deputies from the congregations. On this subject 
 Bishop White makes the following remark:* "The 
 aversion entertained by the clergy in that state, to 
 this part of the institution in the more southern, had 
 been one of the principal impediments to a union : and 
 when it was at last effected, it was with a latitude to 
 them in this article. Some of the laity, at the time, 
 were afraid that this would be the beginning of reject- 
 ing them entirely. But the event ought to be noticed, 
 as a proof, that forbearance and mutual toleration are 
 at least sometimes a shorter way to unity than severity 
 and stiffness." 
 
 This admission of the laity to a share in the go- 
 vernment, is at present, as is believed, approved uni- 
 versally; and has been found, in operation, highly 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 202, 203. 
 
136 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 beneficial: the useful check mutually possessed by the 
 several orders on each other securing caution, delibe- 
 ration, and a regard to the advantage and sentiments 
 of all in framing its laws and institutions ; and on the 
 part of the laity, a greater interest being naturally 
 excited for the advancement of the Church, and a 
 greater readiness to conform to its laws and regula- 
 tions, in consequence of their being assented to by 
 their own representatives. Perhaps no one principle 
 has been more efiieient in promoting union, harmony, 
 and general prosperity. 
 
 2. By the constitution, as first adopted, the bishops 
 were made only members ex officio of the convention, 
 without a recognition of their ofiicial right to preside. 
 This was contrary to the judgment of Dr White, and 
 was loudly, objected to by the eastern clergy. The 
 constitution as framed by him, and reported by the 
 committee to the convention, had provided that a 
 bishop, if any were present, should preside. But it 
 was altered in the convention. The clergy, indeed, 
 with one exception, were in favour of the clause as 
 reported; and could, as the vote was by orders, have 
 prevented the alteration. But this would have caused 
 a rejection of the whole clause, which appeared to 
 them wroiig; because it contained nothing opposed to 
 episcopal presidency, and their right to be members 
 was an object which ought to be secured. The arti- 
 cle accordingly was passed without providing for the 
 presidency. "It was considered that- practice might 
 settle what had better be provided for by law ; and 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 127 
 
 that even such provision might be the result of a more 
 mature consideration of the subject. The latter expec- 
 tation was justified by the event."* 
 
 It appears, clearly, from the subsequent history of 
 the Church, that the jealousies of episcopal authority, 
 at first prevailing extensively among Episcopalians 
 themselves, vi^ere in a few years removed, and were 
 succeeded by increasing attachment and confidence. 
 Experience of its beneficial operation, the moderate 
 principles generally maintained respecting its needful 
 extent, and the manner in which it has been actually 
 exercised, have led to a gradual and very considera- 
 ble enlargement of it. The right of presiding was 
 secured to the bishops in 1786 ;t and in the first con- 
 vention held after their consecration, that of 1789, 
 Bishop White accordingly presided. • At the first 
 session of that convention, at which the constitution of 
 1786 was reviewed, and finally ratified, the same 
 rights were conferred on them until there should be 
 three bishops of the Church : and it was provided that, 
 on this event, they should form a separate house : but 
 their power was confined to a revision of the acts of 
 the other house, and should their concurrence be re- 
 fused, the act might notwithstanding be passed by a 
 majority of three-fifths of that house. $ On this sub- 
 ject Bishop White did not take any active part; "and 
 interested himself very little; being desirous that 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 93, 94. 
 
 ■f Journal (Bioren's), pp. 22 — 25. | Ibid., pp, 61, 62. 
 
128 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 whatever additional powers it might be thought ne- 
 cessary to assign to the bishops, such powers should 
 not lie under the reproach of having been pressed for 
 by one of the number; but be the result of due deli- 
 beration, and the free choice of all orders of persons 
 within the Church, and given w^ith a view to her good 
 government."* Their powers vi^ere again enlarged 
 by the same convention, at its adjourned session in 
 September. For the result of the conference which 
 then took place betvs^een Bishop Seabury, together 
 •with, the eastern clergy and a committee of the con- 
 vention vs^as, that the former expressed their readiness 
 to agree to the constitution adopted at the preceding 
 session, if it vpas so modified as to declare explicitly 
 the right of the bishops, vp^hen sitting in a separate 
 house, to originate and propose a,cts for the concur- 
 rence of the other house, and to negative such acts 
 proposed by that house, as they might disapprove.! 
 The convention assented to the first clause of this 
 proposition; but added to the second the vv^ords " pro- 
 vided they are not adhered to by four-fifths of the other 
 house." From the sentiments expressed in debate, 
 there is reason to believe that an absolute negative 
 would have been then agreed to without difficulty, 
 had not a lay delegate from Virginia expressed an 
 apprehension that it was so far beyond what was ex- 
 pected by the Church in that state, as to cause their 
 dissent to the measures. In consequence of which, a 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 171. f Journal (Bioren's), p. 73. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 129 
 
 proposition was offered to confer upon the house of 
 bishops the full negative ; and it was ordered that it 
 should be notified to the state conventions that it 
 would be decided on at the next general 'convention. 
 Bishop Seabury and the deputies from the churches 
 in New England acquiesced, though with reluctance, 
 in this compromise.* "Had there been no more," 
 says Bishop White, "than their apprehension of laws 
 passing by a majority of four-fifths, after a non-con- 
 currence of the bishops; the extreme improbability 
 of this would, it is thought, have been confessed by 
 them. But the truth is, they thought that the frame 
 of ecclesiastical government could hardly be called 
 Episcopal, while such a matter was held out as specu- 
 latively possible." 
 
 The proposed amendment was several times, in the 
 following conventions, discussed in the house of cleri- 
 cal and lay deputies,! without any final determina- 
 tion, until the convention of 1808; when the full nega- 
 tive was conferred on the house of bishops, by striking 
 out of the constitution the words "provided they are 
 not adhered to by four-fifths of the other house. "J 
 Thus their legislative powers were placed on an equa- 
 lity, in every respect, with those of the house of cleri- 
 cal and lay deputies. The opinion of the house of 
 deputies was unanimous in favour of the alteration ; 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 174, 17.^. 
 
 t Journal (Bioren's), pp. 116, 117, 140, 148, '231, 228. 
 
 t Ibid., 248, 249, 257. 
 
 M 
 
130 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 all the states, except Pennsylvania, voting for it^ and 
 that state being divided only because the lay depu- 
 ties, though in favour of the alteration themselves, 
 believed that they could not with propriety vote for 
 it, inasmuch as it did not appear from the journals, 
 nor vi^as it recollected, that notice of the proposed 
 alteration had been given to the convention of that 
 state according to the constitution.* 
 
 Bishop White thus expresses his own sentiments on 
 the subject of the full negative :t " It is to be hoped, 
 that the recollection of the course of this business, as 
 found in the various journals, will show the propriety 
 of leaving to time and mature reflection, to effect what 
 may be for a while opposed by prejudices, not to be 
 disregarded without extreme danger. What is here 
 said, however, is designed of those prejudices only, 
 which may be yielded to without the sacrifice of es- 
 sential principle. This was the case in the present 
 instance; and must have been perceived to be such, 
 even by those who conceive the highest of episcopal 
 claims. In the year 1785, even the necessity of the 
 presidency of a bishop, when such a character should 
 be obtained by consecration, and should be present in 
 the convention, was rejected. Still, nothing was de- 
 creed to the contrary; and in the next year, the absurd 
 prejudice against the proposal was overruled. When 
 another constitution was formed in 1789, if a provision 
 for the episcopal negative had been insisted on, it 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 258, 259. f Ibid., 257, 258. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 131 
 
 would have been destructive of the whole system. 
 Nevertheless, in the many years intervening, no mea^- 
 sure has passed, under the refusal of the episcopal 
 sanction. Indeed, it naay be a question, whether, had 
 things remained on the old footing of the three-fifths, 
 made necessary to carry any resolution contrary to the 
 opinion of the house of bishops, the weight of their 
 negative would not have had more effect, than under 
 the present change. This would have happened in 
 the following manner. There would always be in the 
 other house a proportion who would doubt of the va- 
 lidity of a measure, adopted without the episcopal 
 sanction. Some of these would occasionally differ 
 from the bishops, on a subject under consideration. 
 But when the dissent of the bishops should have been 
 declared, those of the description referred to would 
 have thrown themselves into the scale, against the 
 putting of the matter to the test of the three-fifths. 
 This supposition has been verified, in a transaction 
 which took place between the two houses of the con- 
 vention of 1804. It is evident to the author's mind, 
 that owing to the causes stated, while it would be 
 scarcely possible ever to carry a measure against the 
 bishops, there would be a discouragement of even that 
 free discussion with them, which may be expected to 
 take place sometimes, under their present faU posses- 
 sion of a negative." The greatest harmony has al- 
 ways existed between the two houses. And the in- 
 creasing confidence in the episcopal authority, and 
 attachment to it, could scarcely be more strongly 
 
132 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 manifested than it was by the whole proceedings of 
 the convention of 1835, the last attended by Bishop 
 White. 
 
 3. The article which rendered every clergyman 
 amenable to the convention of the state to which he 
 should belong, was objected to both here and by the 
 English bishops, who considered it " a degradation of 
 the clerical, and much more of the episcopal charac- 
 ter." The ground of the objection appears to have 
 been, that it rendered a bishop liable to be censured 
 or deposed by the decision of presbyters and laymen, 
 and a presbyter or deacon by laymen. But this was 
 not intended. Nor did the article so declare ; though 
 it may have been faulty in omitting an explicit guard 
 against the matter objected to. They might be amen- 
 able to the convention, by being liable to trial agree- 
 ably to laws enacted by it.* Such an explanation was 
 added by Dr White to the principle, as stated in his 
 pamphlet of 1782.f At the next convention, 1786, a 
 clause was accordingly added, on his motion, provid- 
 ing that " at every trial of a bishop, there shall be one 
 or more of the episcopal order present : and none but 
 a bishop shall pronounce sentence of deposition or 
 degradation from the ministry, on any clergyman, 
 whether bishop, or presbyter, or deacon." J 
 
 4. The equal vote allowed to every state was not 
 approved by Dr White : but was insisted on, much to 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 94, 95. f Ante, p. 81. 
 
 X Journal (Bioren's), pp. 22, 25. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 133 
 
 his regret. It was the principle of the articles of con- 
 federation by which the United States were then go- 
 verned. His sentiments on this subject are contained 
 in a paper drawn up by him, shortly before the gene- 
 ral convention of 1829, on several questions expected 
 to arise in that convention, in consequence of the 
 terms on which the Rev. William Meade had been 
 elected assistant bishop of Virginia. The passage is 
 as follows: "There having been brought into view 
 the disproportionate state of the representation" (in 
 the house of deputies), " the writer will embrace the 
 opportunity of expressing his regret, that this was an 
 essential requisition in the organizing of the American 
 Church; and his fears that it niay, in future, be the 
 cause of a severing of the bond of union. On the 
 occurrence of differences of views, on any points 
 esteemed deeply interesting, if the votes of the repre- 
 sentation of the smaller number should bear down 
 those of the representatives of a confessedly much 
 greater number, both clerical and lay, it is not proba- 
 ble, that the latter will think themselves bound, in 
 consequence, to compliance. But instead of being 
 discouraged by the anticipation of a possible rupture, 
 let us look up, with humble trust, to the Saviour's 
 protection of his Church ; not without the hope, that 
 she -will in time adopt the policy which has governed 
 in the concerns of state; that of moderating the sec- 
 tional selfishness, which gave birth to the unfair par- 
 tiality in the confederation of the thirteen United 
 States; and which has eventuated in the more just 
 
134 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 distribution, of legislative power, of which we may say, 
 in the words of Father Paul of Venice, ' esto perpe- 
 tua: " 
 
 5. The mode in which the proposed constitution 
 should be ratified was subsequently changed. An- 
 other convention assembled in June 1786. It met 
 under circumstances very discouraging, and produc- 
 ing apprehensions in the minds of even the most san- 
 guine friends of the Church, that her union, as yet 
 slight, and scarcely commenced, and very far, certain- 
 ly, from being completed, would be wholly dissolved. 
 The threatening difficulties were, however, obviated 
 by the prudent course pursued. They arose from 
 several causes ; two of which — dissatisfaction in the 
 minds of some with the Scottish episcopacy, and the 
 hesitation expressed in the first letter of the English 
 bishops— have been already mentioned. The others 
 were the interfering instructions given by the state 
 conventions to their deputies in the general conven- 
 tion, relative to some of the proceedings of the last 
 convention; and the rejection of the proposed liturgy 
 in some states, and the use of it in others. With re- 
 spect to the first, when the documents had been laid 
 before the convention, an embarrassing and probably 
 exciting discussion, not at present necessary, was 
 avoided by a resolution adopted on the motion of Dr 
 White, that they should be referred to the first gene- 
 ral convention assembled with Sufficient powers to 
 determine on them. These interfering instructions, 
 however, proved ultimately beneficial; because .they 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 135 
 
 manifested the necessity of a well constituted legisla- 
 tive body for the whole church, and the futility of 
 subjecting their measures to the review and authori- 
 tative judgment of the state conventions, by whom the 
 deputies to it were appointed. And such a system 
 appeared so evidently fruitful of discord and disunion, 
 that it was abandoned from this time.* One effect 
 of this appeared now. For though the constitu- 
 tion proposed in 1785 had been declared to be funda- 
 mental, " when ratified by the Church in the different 
 states," yet on the review of it which now took place, 
 that article was altered so as to require a ratification 
 "by the Church in a majority of the states assembled 
 in general convention, with sufficient power for the 
 purpose of such ratification."! On the second cause 
 of difiiculty, the expedient was adopted by the depu- 
 ties of the churches which received, and of those 
 which had rejected or been silent on the proposed 
 liturgy, to leave the subject, with respect to both, in 
 the same state in which it was, for the present. J 
 
 The constitution thus framed in 1786 was acted 
 under, as formerly stated, although not ratified until 
 the convention of 1789; at which the deputies from 
 the several states appeared with suflSicient powers for 
 that object; as was recommended by the preceding 
 convention. § And a general constitution was then 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 123, 124; Journal (Bioren's), p. 22. 
 t Ibid., pp. 23, 26. 
 
 I Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 124 ; See Journal (Bioren's), pp. 24, 25, art. 
 4 and 9. { Ibid., pp. 26, 48. 
 
136 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 adopted, and finally ratified, without being submitted 
 to the state conventions. In order to give stability to 
 it, by preventing hasty changes, it was also provided 
 that the constitution should be unalterable, unless in 
 general convention; and that the alterations should be 
 first proposed in one general convention, and made 
 known to the several state conventions, before they 
 should be finally ratified.* 
 
 III. Of THE Liturgy. The Liturgy of the Church 
 of England was used, without alteration, until the 4th 
 of July 1776 ; on which day, after the independence 
 of the colonies had been declared by congress, a reso- 
 lution was adopted at a meeting of the vestry of Christ 
 Church and St Peter's, that in consequence of that 
 event it would " be proper to omit those petitions in 
 the liturgy wherein the king of Great Britain is prayed 
 for, as inconsistent with the said declaration ;" and the 
 rector and assistant ministers were requested to omit 
 such petitions. No other change took place until the 
 convention of 1785. One of the subjects which en- 
 gaged the attention of that body was the making of 
 such alterations in the liturgy as were necessary to 
 accommodate it to the civil changes which had taken 
 place in consequence of the revolution. The conven- 
 tion went farther on this subject than was contem- 
 plated in the recommendations of the meeting at New 
 York; a;ccording to which the liturgy of the Church 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), p. 63. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 137 
 
 of England was to be adhered to "as far as shall be 
 consistent with the American revolution, and the con- 
 stitutions of the respective states." And when the 
 deputies first assembled, " very few, or rather, it is 
 believed," says Dr White,* " none of them entertained 
 thoughts of altering the liturgy any further." "Every 
 one, so far as is here known, wished for alterations in 
 the diflFerent offices. But it was thought at New 
 York, in the preceding year, that such an enterprize 
 could not not be undertaken, until the Church should 
 be eonsolidated and organized. Perhaps it would 
 have been better if the same opinion had been conti- 
 nued and acted on." But it was found that, for va- 
 rious reasons suggested in debate, a moderate review 
 fell in with the sentiments and wishes of every mem- 
 ber; and there was a persuasion that the communion 
 in general would be gratified by it, and readily acqui- 
 esce. It was therefore undertaken. The alterations 
 were prepared by another subdivision of the general 
 committee appointed, than that to which Dr White 
 belonged, and were not reconsidered in that committee, 
 as the same ground would be gone over in convention. 
 Even in the convention, few points v/ere canvassed 
 with any material difference of opinion.! Their pro- 
 ceedings resulted in only proposing and recommend- 
 ing the liturgy as altered by them ; which, however, 
 never received the first sanction of the Church. It 
 was published by order of the convention, in what 
 
 * Memoirs, (1st ed.), pp. 102, 103, f Ibid., pp. 104—110. 
 
138 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 has been always since called "the Proposed Book;" 
 the committee appointed for the purpose being Dr 
 White, Dr William Smith, and Dr Wharton. It was 
 directed that " the book be accompanied with a proper 
 preface, or address, setting forth the reason and expe- 
 diency of the alterations:" and the committee had 
 "liberty to make verbal and grammatical corrections; 
 but in such manner, as that nothing in form or sub- 
 stance be altered:" and they were authorized to pub- 
 lish with it, "such of the reading and singing psalms, 
 and such a calendar of proper lessons for the different 
 Sundays and holydays throughout the year, as they 
 may think proper."* 
 
 On this committee, Dr White undertook and per- 
 formed the task of selecting the lessons from Scripture 
 for the Sundays and holydays throughout the year, 
 including the second lessons, which are not, except in 
 a few instances, appointed in the English book, but 
 are taken from the calendar. Suggestions, with re- 
 spect to some of them, were made by Dr Wharton. 
 They were, for the most part, the same with those 
 now appointed in our Book of Common Prayer. The 
 selection and arrangement of the reading! and metre 
 psalms and the hymns, were undertaken by Drs 
 Smith and Wharton. And the preface was prepared 
 by Dr Smith.:]: The liturgy, thus altered, was volun- 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), p. 15. 
 
 t See Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 112 ; where Dr White's dissent from the 
 ''opiniqn. of the other members of the committee is stated. 
 
 J The parts performed by the several members of the committee are 
 stated from letters of Drs Smith and Wharton to Dr White. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 139 
 
 tarily used in some of the churches : but it was disap- 
 proved by others, who continued to use the former one, 
 with those changes only which adapted it to the civil 
 state of the country. 
 
 The variations from the English liturgy in this 
 "proposed book," were much more numerous and 
 important than those which were introduced on the 
 subsequent review in 1789. But they were not re- 
 garded by the English bishops as essentially departing 
 from the principles of the Church of England, except 
 in relation to the creeds. They were thought, how- 
 ever, by many, to be greater than the situation or 
 wishes of the Church required or justified. This cir- 
 cumstance, combined with the doubts of the propriety 
 of engaging at all in the enterprise of making altera- 
 tions before the Church was consolidated and organ- 
 ized, produced much opposition. And a useful warn- 
 ing was thus given against introducing, without very 
 obvious necessity or advantage, extensive changes in 
 institutions to which the members of the Church have, 
 by long usage, become attached. 
 
 When the book was laid before the state conven- 
 tions, their resolutions in relation to it were . very 
 various. Different and opposing instructions on the 
 subject were given to their deputies in the succeeding 
 convention, to be held in 1786. The manner in which 
 the difficulties likely to arise from them were obviated, 
 was mentioned in a preceding page,* 
 
 * Ante, pp. 134, 135. 
 
140 ■ MEMOIR or THE 
 
 After the convention of 1789 had passed their 1*680- 
 lution in favour of the vaUdity of Bishop Seabury's 
 consecration, and he, with the eastern clergy, had 
 agreed to the constitution, there were three recognized 
 bishops of the Church. According to the constitution, 
 they now formed a separate house, and assembled as 
 such; only two, however, being present, as Bishop 
 Provoost was detained at home by illness. The con- 
 vention was thus fully organized, and was regarded 
 by all — whatever differences of opinion had existed 
 relative to the powers of former conventions — as pos- 
 sessed of complete authority to adopt alterations of the 
 liturgy, and all other legislative measures requisite 
 for the government of the Church. A review of the 
 liturgy took place. Some of the proposed alterations 
 originated in the house of bishops, and others in the 
 house of deputies. The proceedings of the former, 
 composed of only two members, who, though differing 
 in opinion on some points, were mutually disposed to 
 concession on such as did not involve essential prin- 
 ciples, were more expeditious than those of the latter. 
 And there was a striking difference in the course 
 adopted in the consideration of the liturgy, by the two 
 houses. The bishops proceeded on the principle that 
 the Church, being the same body which existed before 
 the revolution, though under another name, was still 
 in possession of all the institutions previously received, 
 except so far as they were necessarily changed by 
 that event, until they were altered by proper autho- 
 rity. They therefore took the former liturgy as the 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP "WHITE. 141 
 
 basis of their measures, and proposed alterations. 
 While the other house proceeded as if the Church was 
 destitute of any institutions until they were provided 
 by the authority of the convention, and appointed com- 
 mittees to prepare de novo the several offices.* This 
 differed from the course taken both by previous and 
 subsequent conventions; and being confined to one 
 house, and not at any time afterwards pursued, cannot 
 be regarded as an authoritative determination against 
 the principle adopted by the bishops. In this manner 
 the liturgy was reviewed, and reduced to the form in 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 78, 79 ; see pp. 107, 108 ante. Dr White's 
 own sentiments on this subject are stated in the Memoirs of the Church 
 (1st ed.), pp. 175 — 178. In reference to the general principle above men- 
 tioned, the following facts appear to be important and interesting. No 
 notice was taken of the otEcea for ordination, either in the "proposed 
 book" or on tlie review in 1789. They were first reviewed, altered and 
 agreed to by the two houses in the convention of 1792. (Journal, pp. 
 117, 123, 124.) But notwithstanding, Dr White, in the ordinations 
 which took place previously in Pennsylvania, used the offices of the 
 Church of England, omitting only those parts which have a relation to 
 the government and laws of Great Britain. This was conformable to his 
 constant opinion, that the old institutions remained in force, except as 
 far as necessarily changed by tlie revolution, until altered by the autho- 
 rity of the Church. (See Comparative Views of the Calvinistic and 
 Arminian Controversy, vol. 2, pp. 191, 192.) The same principle affect- 
 ed another subject, which was at different times brought before the gene- 
 ral convention, but not decided upon — the table of the degrees of con- 
 sanguinity and affinity, within which marriages are prohibited by the 
 Church of England. (See Journal, p. 259; Memoirs, p. 32.) It was 
 referred to a committee, of which Bishop White was chairman. A re- 
 port was prepared by him, but docs not appear to have been made to the 
 convention. It is inserted in the Appendix, with parts of two letters to 
 Bishop Hobart, on the same subject. Appendix, No. III. 
 
 N 
 
142 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 which it still continues, with the exception of a few 
 slight alterations since made.* 
 
 The psalms and hymns in metre are not properly 
 a part of the liturgy; but being contained in the same 
 book, may properly be here mentioned. In the "pro- 
 posed book," a selection was made from Tate and 
 Brady's version of the Psalms; to which fifty-one 
 hymns were added. But the convention of 1789 re- 
 jected the selection of psalms, inserted the whole of 
 Tate and Brady's version, and added only twenty-six 
 hymns. Thirty others were afterwards selected by 
 the general convention in 1808. Bishop White's 
 sentiments on these measures are stated at large in his 
 Memoirs of the Church, f Some evils which he prog- 
 nosticated, in fact resulted. The satisfaction with 
 the selection of hymns did not long continue. After 
 a few conventions, a strong desire existed in a great 
 part of the Church, to enlarge their number. And a 
 selection from the Psalms, instead of the whole ver- 
 sion, was also wished for. Both propositions were 
 disapproved by him. J But when they were adopted 
 
 * On some points the two houses differed in opinion. These related 
 to the Athanasian creed, the article of the descent into hell in the Apos- 
 tles' creed, and the reading psalms. Some individual deputies objected 
 also to the alteration of the consecration prayer, in the communion ser- 
 vice. Dr White's course and sentiments on them are detailed in the 
 Memoirs of the Church (1st ed.), pp. 110—114, 179—198, 285, 286 ; to 
 which I can make no addition. 
 
 t (1st ed.), pp. 262—276. 
 
 \ He laid before the joint committee a paper containing his senti- 
 ments, which is inserted in the Appendix to the Memoirs of the Church 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP AVHITE. 143 
 
 by the two houses, and a joint committee was ap- 
 pointed, to make the selection of psalms and hymns, 
 he was one of the bishops named on it, and freely gave 
 his aid in accomplishing the work. The selections 
 made are those now in use. 
 
 The alterations in the ordination offices, on the 
 review of them in 1792, v/ere prepared by the bishops. 
 There was no material difference of opinion, except 
 in regard to the words used by the bishop with the 
 imposition of hands in the ordination of priests — " Re- 
 ceive the Holy iG-host," &c. Bishop Seabury, who 
 alone was tenacious of this form, consented, at last, 
 with great reluctance, to allow the alternative — " Take 
 thou authority to execute the office of a priest," &c., 
 as it now stands.* 
 
 IV. Of the Articles of Religion. In the "pro- 
 posed book," the articles were reduced in number to 
 twenty. These were regarded by the English bishops 
 as containing the essential principles of the Gospel; 
 and no objection was made to them, except to that 
 relating to the creeds, as already mentioned. But 
 they never received the sanction of the Church. 
 
 (•id ed.), No. .35. In the Appendix to this Memoir (No. IV.), will be 
 found two letters (on a kindred subject) written by him to the Rev. Dr 
 Abercrombie, and occasioned by a publication of the Rev. Dr William 
 Smith (of New York), on chanting compared with singing in metre: 
 from which it appears that he was, so far as he knew, the first clergyman 
 in the United States who introduced chanting into any of our churches. 
 See also Memoirs (2d ed.), pp. 261, 262, 264. 
 * See Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 203, 204. 
 
144 MEMOIR OF THK 
 
 While they were under consideration in the conven- 
 tion, Dr White manifested his anxiety to prevent the 
 nse of any language having a tendency, even though 
 only apparent, to oppose the great doctrine that salva- 
 tion is of mere grace. The article on justification, as 
 proposed in the report of the subcommittee, was ob- 
 jected to by him and Dr Griffith. It was at last with- 
 drawn, and the eleventh article of the Church of Eng- 
 land inserted. Their objection to the proposed article 
 "was its being liable to a construction contrary to the 
 great evangelical truth, that salvation is of grace. It 
 would have been a forced construction, but not to be 
 disregarded." At that time he was desirous that the 
 article on predestination " should be accommodated, 
 not to individual condition, and to everlasting reward 
 and punishment, but to national designation, and to a 
 state of covenant with God in the present life." The 
 language proposed by him, and inserted by the con- 
 vention of Pennsylvania, in their instructions to their 
 deputies in the general convention in 1786, was : 
 "Predestination is the everlasting purpose of God, 
 whereby (before the foundations of the world were 
 laid) he hath constantly decreed, by his counsel, to 
 admit to the inestimable privileges of the Gospel dis- 
 pensation, all those Gentiles, as well as Jews, who 
 should believe in his son Jesus Christ : they, through 
 grace, obey the calling of God : they be justified freely : 
 they be made sons of God by adoption : they be made 
 like the image of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ : 
 they walk religiously in good works : and at length, 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 145 
 
 by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity."* 
 This view of the subject he always continued to enter- 
 tain: but was afterwards "convinced, that the intro- 
 ducing of it as an article would have endangered 
 needless controversy, on the meanings of the terms 
 predestination and election, as used in the New Tes- 
 tament. If we cannot do away the ground of contro- 
 versy heretofore laid, it at least becomes us to avoid 
 the furnishing of new matter for the excitement of it."t 
 Had articles been afterwards framed anew, he would, 
 without doubt, have advocated the entire omission of 
 the subject. J 
 
 The thirty-nine articles of the Church of England, 
 with the exception of the political parts abrogated by 
 the revolution, were still the acknowledged faith of 
 this Church, even before they were sanctioned by any 
 resolution of the convention. But without some modi, 
 fications in their language, and in the manner in which 
 they should be set forth, they could not, with pro- 
 priety, be pxiblished as her confession of faith. § 
 They were long under the consideration of the general 
 convention. 
 
 In the early periods of the discussion, there was 
 much difference of sentiment on the expediency of 
 having articles of religion at all.|| Bishop Madison 
 
 * Journal of Pennsylvania, pp. 15, 16, 
 t Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 107—109. 
 
 t See 1 Comp. Views, p. 140; 2 Comp. Views, pp. 61, 62, 
 { Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 229 ; 2 Comp. Views, p, 192. 
 I Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 205—308, 230—332, 
 N* 
 
146 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 gave his opinion against them altogether, on the prin- 
 ciples of the Confessional, and the like books; and 
 Bishop Provoost, as Dr White always supposed, did 
 not materially differ from him, but being in the presi- 
 dential chair at the time of the discussion in his pre- 
 sence, did not deliver his sentiments. Bishop Sea- 
 bury at first iexpressed in conversation a doubt v^hether 
 it were expedient to have any; thinking that all ne- 
 cessary doctrine should be comprehended in the litur- 
 gy, by which the object of articles might be accom- 
 plished. But afterwards, he saw so clearly the 
 inconveniences likely to result from the want of an 
 authoritative form of public confession, that he wished 
 to adopt one, and, as was understood, the code of the 
 thirty-nine articles. Bishop Claggett was in favour 
 of them. Bishop White " professed himself an advo- 
 cate for articles;* the abolishing of which would, he 
 thought, only leave with every pastor of a congrega- 
 tion the right of judging of orthodoxy, according to 
 his discretion or his prejudices ; while the articles de- 
 termine that matter by a rule, issuing from the pub- 
 lic authority of the Church." 
 
 In 1789 the bishops proposed a ratification of the 
 thirty-nine articles, with an exception in regard to the 
 thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh ; but, with their con- 
 currence, the subject was referred, in the house of 
 deputies, to a future convention.! In 1792, the 
 bishops were ready to undertake the review of them ; 
 
 * See Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 205—208, 229—241. 
 + Journal (Bioren's), pp. 85, 92. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 147 
 
 but as the churches in some of the states were not 
 represented in that convention, and others only par- 
 tially, the subject was postponed by the house of de- 
 puties.* For similar reasons, it was again postponed 
 by the convention of 1795, on the proposal of the 
 bishops.f At the next convention, in 1799, it was 
 brought before the house of deputies; which "resolved 
 itself into a committee of the whole, to take into con- 
 sideration the propriety of framing articles of religion." 
 The committee of the whole reported to the house a 
 resolution, "that the articles of our faith and religion, 
 as founded on the holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments, are sufficiently declared in our creeds 
 and liturgy, as set forth in the Book of Common 
 Prayer established for the use of this Church; and 
 that further articles do not appear necessary." But 
 this was negatived in the house : and a committee was 
 subseq,uently appointed to frame articles. They re- 
 ported seventeen. But the house of deputies resolved 
 that, on account of the advanced period of the session, 
 and the thinness of the convention, the consideration 
 of them should be postponed ; and that the secretary 
 should transcribe the articles into the journal, to lie 
 over for the consideration of the next general conven- 
 tion.! On this publication of the proposed articles in 
 the journal, Dr White remarks, that "the bishops had 
 no opportunity of expressing their sense on the ques- 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 117, 124; Memoirs (let ed.), p. 208. 
 f Journal, pp. 148, 140, 144. | Ibid., 164, ies, 167, 168—172. 
 
148 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tion of publishing the draft of articles which it (the 
 journal) contains. Such a publication was certainly 
 very injudicious; if for no other reason, because it 
 might have been expected to be easily mistaken for 
 the sense of at least one of the houses of the conven- 
 tion. Indeed it was so misunderstood : whereas it was 
 the sense of a committee only; not an individual be- 
 sides having delivered in his place any opinion on any 
 article. But this was not the worst. It tended to 
 excite religious acrimony, without any possible good 
 effect at the present; and with the probable bad effect 
 of the greater acrimony, on an opportunity of settle- 
 ment in future."* He disapproves of the application 
 of the term "priesthood," in one of the articles, "to 
 denote all the orders of the Christian ministry; and 
 not confined to the Order of presbyters, as in the estab- 
 lished ordinal; of the former of which there is no 
 example in the institutions of the Church of England." 
 And he adds ; "It is not here designed to charge any 
 other fault on the articles proposed. They are, in sub- 
 stance, what is contained in the thirty-nine articles, 
 without any superaddition, except in the particular 
 stated. But the remarks may serve to show, that in 
 the work of clearing that code of what may be thought 
 unnecessary positions, there is danger of admitting 
 some novelty, more fruitful of controversy than what 
 may be done away. In the present instance, the no- 
 velty introduced is susceptible of the construction, of 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 224. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 149 
 
 obtruding on the church the notions of 'sacrifice,' in 
 the strict and proper sense; of 'altar' as the place of 
 it; and of 'priest' as the sacrificer."* 
 
 The articles were at length reviewed and established 
 by a resolution of the two houses, in 1801. As the 
 subject had been so frequently befoje them, and in 
 various forms, the fullest opportunity had been given 
 to ascertain the sentiments of the Church at large, 
 and to adopt deliberately the most judicious determi- 
 nation. " As to repeated discussions and propositions, 
 it had been found that the doctrines of the Gospel, as 
 they stand in the thirty-nine articles of the Church of 
 England, with the exception of such matters as are 
 local, were more likely to give general satisfaction, 
 than the same doctrines in any new form that might 
 be devised. The former were therefore adopted by 
 the two houses of convention, without their altering of 
 even the obsolete diction in them; but with notices of 
 such changes as change of situation had rendered 
 necessary. Exclusively of such, there is one excep- 
 tion ; that of adopting the article concerning the creeds, 
 to the former exclusion of the Athanasian."t By the 
 form of the resolution of the two houses, J the previous 
 obligation of the articles as a profession of religious 
 faith, is impliedly recognized : the language being — 
 " the articles of religion are hereby ordered to be set 
 forth, with the following directions to be observed in 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 226. t Ibid., p. 28. 
 
 I Journal (Bioren's), pp. 206, 207. 
 
150 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 all future editions of the same:" and again; "the arti- 
 cles to stand as in the Book of Common Prayer of the 
 Church of England, with the following alterations 
 and omissions." 
 
 The reasons for adhering to the thirty-nine articles, 
 in reference to forming new ones, are thus stated by 
 Dr White.* "When the question has been put — 
 Whether the thirty-nine articles are the best rule that 
 can be devised; the author has answered, that he 
 thought them better than any other, likely to be ob- 
 tained under present circumstances. Conventional 
 business is too much hurried, and the members of the 
 conventions are not sufficiently retired from other 
 avocations, for the entering on determinations of this - 
 magnitude. Even if the greater number of the body 
 should be conceded to be sufficiently learned for the 
 work; ecclesiastical legislation has not been of suffi- 
 ciently long standing in this Church, to have estab- 
 lished the characters of those who exercise it, as to 
 this point, in the estimation of the world. Until such 
 a character shall be established, a few obstinate or 
 factious men will overset, in their respective congre- 
 gations, what shall have been enacted in convention. 
 Besides, many persons among the laity, and some 
 even among the clergy, had declared their determina- 
 tion to abide by the articles at all events : which made 
 it much to be feared that a schism would take place, 
 whenever any material change should be determined 
 
 * Memoirs (Isted.), pp. 205—207 ; see also pp. 232—234. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 151 
 
 on. In this case, they who should adhere to the arti- 
 cles, would claim their relation to the Church of Eng- 
 land; while it would be questionable, whether the 
 others would have any permanent tie among them- 
 selves. 
 
 "Therefore, the author wished for an adherence to 
 the thirty-nine articles, not excepting the general 
 principles maintained in the political parts of them; 
 but with an exception, in the ratification, of the local 
 application of the said parts according to the letter of 
 them. But he did not wish to have the articles signed, 
 as in England, according to the tenor of the thirty- 
 sixth canon of that church. He preferred the resting 
 of the obligation of them on the promises made at ordi- 
 nation, as required by the seventh article of the con- 
 stitution,* considered as sufficient by the English 
 bishops : which would render them articles of peace, 
 as they are sometimes said to be in the Church of 
 England ; but not with such evident propriety as they 
 would then be in the American Church. As the 
 author approves of the general tenor of the thirty-nine 
 articles, he trusted, that however he might have sup- 
 posed, in his private judgment, the possibility of omit- 
 ting some of them, and of altering others to advantage ; 
 yet not perceiving a probability, either that such a 
 change, if made, would have been for the better; or, 
 that if so, it would have found such general accep- 
 
 * No other assent to the articles has yet been required in our 
 Church. 
 
152 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tance as to prove a sufl&cient bond of union ; he thought 
 he acted consistently, in endeavouring to obtain them 
 on the terras stated."* 
 
 V. Of the Canons. A code of canons was to be 
 framed for the regulation of the Church — a matter of 
 importance and difficulty. Dr White's experience, 
 learning and judgment were of signal use in forming 
 and improving it. It was almost entirely a work to 
 be commenced de novo. For though the canons of 
 the Church of England supplied many excellent prin- 
 ciples, worthy of being adopted, yet the situation of 
 the two churches was so different, that no further aid 
 could be derived from them. In England there ex- 
 isted the metropolitan authority, ecclesiastical courts 
 with extensive powers and a regular course of pro- 
 ceeding, and various subordinate church ojSicers : and 
 with a reference to all these her canons were formed. 
 But none of them existed in the church in the United 
 States. Her organization was very simple; and the 
 exercise of executive and judicial powers, and the 
 administration of other parts of discipline, were to be 
 regulated by canonical rules accommodated to it. 
 The work was commenced by the convention of 1789 ; 
 at the first session of which ten <;anons were adopted, 
 and a committee, of which Bishop White was chair- 
 
 * A mode of reviewing the articles, if a review should be thought 
 proper (of which, however, he did not perceive that there was now any 
 need), is recommended by him ; See Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 225, 226, 
 240 ; 2 Comp. Views, 193. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 153 
 
 man, was appointed to report additional canons to the 
 next session. That committee reviewed the form-er 
 ten canons, and added others, reporting seventeen; 
 which were adopted by the two houses, without any 
 interesting difference of opinion.* It is a proof of the 
 care and judgment with which they were compiled, 
 that the principles contained in them still remain, 
 with little material alteration, in the canons now in 
 force. They were enlarged and improved from time 
 to time; as the wants of the Church and experience 
 of their practical operation suggested : until, in 1832, 
 after a careful and deliberate review and enlargeme^it 
 of them by a committee appointed six years before, a 
 wise and well-matured body of canons was established 
 by the general convention; in which very few altera- 
 tions,, and those not of considerable importance, have 
 been since found useful. In all these proceedings, 
 Bishop White took a prominent part; and his opinions, 
 on the various subjects considered, were carefully 
 formed, and much respected. In the interpretation of 
 the canons, also, and the application of their princi- 
 ples to particular cases, he manifested great ability 
 and judgment: so that he was very frequently con- 
 sulted by the ecclesiastical authorities of other dio- 
 ceses. And this was not a consequence of his station 
 of presiding bishop; for in that he possessed no au- 
 thority on this subject, superior to that of any other 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 58—60, 83, 84, 93—99 ; Memoirs (1st ed.), 
 24, 189. 
 
 
 
154 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 bishop; but of respect for himself personally, and of 
 confidence in his skill, experience and impartiality. 
 
 Having thus, as formerly proposed,* stated the facts 
 relating to the course pursued on the most interesting 
 subjects, until the leading principles for governing 
 the Church and regulating its doctrines and w^orship 
 became settled, we now revert to the regular course 
 of the incidents subsequent to the convention of 1789. 
 
 By the proceedings of that body, and by the conse- 
 cration of Dr Madison by the English bishops, in the 
 following year, the Church became happily and fully 
 organized. But for a considerable period, her pro- 
 gress in improvement was slow and gradual. It re- 
 quired a long time to elapse, and steady and laborious, 
 though unostentatious exertions to be used, before the 
 operation of her government and institutions could be 
 felt, and their beneficial influence become manifest. 
 The number of clergy also, without an increased sup- 
 ply of whom an extension of her bounds could not be 
 expected, was slowly enlarged. In Bishop White's 
 diocese, the number continued, for some years, so small, 
 that even the old parishes existing before the revolu- 
 tion could not be supplied. Endeavours were used, 
 by the settled clergy of the diocese, to supply them 
 with occasional services, according to resolutions 
 passed by the state convention. But the effect could 
 be only to preserve them in existence and union, with- 
 out contributing, in any important degree, to their 
 improvement and enlargement : much less could the 
 
 * Ante, p. 106. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 155 
 
 formation of new congregations be attempted. In 
 this depressed, though gradually improving condition, 
 the Church in Pennsylvania continued in the remain- 
 der of the century, and several of the early years of 
 the next. During this period nothing farther occurred, 
 worthy of relation, except a few facts relating to the 
 Church, and some unconnected but interesting inci- 
 dents in his own life ; which will be briefly mentioned 
 in order, from this period until the year 1812. 
 
 The general convention again assembled in 1792, 
 in New York. And the prudence and influence of 
 Dr White were employed with success, in preventing 
 an apprehended embarrassment and interruption of 
 harmony in the house of bishops. The causes of ap- 
 prehension arose from the private situation of Bishops 
 Provoost and Seabury, in relation to each other ; from 
 a dissatisfaction entertained by Bishops Provoost and 
 Madison, with a rule adopted in 1789, to regulate the 
 presidency of that house; and from a suspicion on the 
 part of Bishop Seabury, that it was intended to ex- 
 clude him from taking" any part in the expected con- 
 secration of Dr Claggett, as bishop of Maryland. 
 The last of these was formerly explained.* The first 
 was removed by procuring, through the medium of 
 Dr White, an interview between those two bishops,! 
 which was readily acceded to by both; no personal 
 offence appearing to have been given on either side, 
 though their intercourse had been prevented by 
 
 * A7ite, p. 121. t Memoirs (1st ed.), pp. 199, 200. 
 
156 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Bishop Provoost's well known opinion against the 
 validity of the Scotch succession. And nothing sub- 
 sequently occurred to interrupt their harmony. With 
 regard to the second cause of apprehension, it is to be 
 remarked, that when the bishops first assembled as a 
 separate house, in 1789, only two of them attended; 
 Bishop Provoost having been detained at home by 
 illness. Dr White, never ambitious of precedency, 
 and being the younger bishop present, proposed as 
 a permanent rule of order, which was accordingly 
 adopted, that "the senior bishop present shall be the 
 president; seniority to be reckoned from the dates of 
 the letters of consecration." It was intended to pre- 
 vent all discussion respecting precedency; and of 
 course made Bishop Seabury president of the house.* 
 When the bishops met, in 1792, it appeared that 
 Bishops Provoost and Madison were dissatisfied with 
 this rule. Dr White still retained his opinion, that it 
 was the correct one, and could not consistently vote 
 for its repeal; so that the house must be equally di- 
 vided, and the old rule retained. But to avoid the 
 appearance of taking an ungenerous advantage of the 
 former meeting, at which Dr Seabury and himself 
 alone had been present, he agreed that if the former 
 thought proper to waive his right under the rule — of 
 which he had intimated that he should not be tena- 
 cious — the better course would be that one of them 
 should absent himself from the house that morning. 
 
 * Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 178 ; Journal (Bioren's), p. 87. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 157 
 
 Accordingly Dr White did so; and the rule was, 
 altered, and the presidency directed to be held by the 
 bishops in rotation, beginning at the north. Bishop 
 Seabury having presided at the last convention, Bishop 
 Provoost, of course, became now the president.* In 
 1804, however, the former rule was again established, f 
 and Dr White became, and continued to be, the pre- 
 siding bishop during the remainder of his life. He 
 had, indeed, been before called to preside in every 
 convention after that of 1792, either in rotation, or in 
 consequence of the absence of the bishop who would, 
 if present, have presided according to the rule. It 
 may be proper to add here (though the remark ap- 
 plies principally to a period subsequent to that at 
 which we have now arrived), that besides presiding 
 in the house when assembled in convention, various 
 powers and duties were conferred or imposed on the 
 presiding bishop, during the interval between the ses* 
 sions of the general convention. These were regu- 
 lated from time to time by the canons; and in some 
 instances were of considerable importance to the 
 Church. They were exercised and performed with 
 so much judgment, prudence and integrity, as to avoid 
 the excitement of jealousy or dissatisfaction on account 
 of his increased power and influence, or the manner 
 in which they were exerted. 
 
 A course of study to be pursued by candidates for 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 122, 123 ; Memoirs (1st ed.), p. 202, 
 t Journal, p. 223. 
 
 O* 
 
158 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 orders was established by the house of bishops at the 
 convention of 1804. It had been prepared at the re- 
 quest of the house of deputies (in which the bishops 
 concurred), communicated at the previous convention. 
 It was drawn up by Bishop White, whose original 
 draft is now before me ; and it continues still to be the 
 prescribed course of study. "This was doing some- 
 thing towards the improving of the literary reputation 
 of our ministry, and an advance towards the desirable 
 object of a seminary or seminaries, in which the pre- 
 paration of candidates may be the better secured by 
 daily examinations held by qualified professors."* 
 
 The remaining incidents occurring during the in- 
 terval mentioned above, relate to his private life and 
 conduct, and not to the aflfeirs of the Church at large. 
 
 In the summer and fall of the year 1793, Philadel- 
 phia was visited by the yellow fever; a pestilential 
 disorder of a virulent character, and causing great 
 mortality. The alarm, and anxiety to avoid the risk 
 of contagion, were the greater because the calamity 
 was novel. A similar visitation had not been expe- 
 rienced, except perhaps one, remembered by a few of 
 the old inhabitants, occurring at a period when the 
 small population rendered its effects less striking. A 
 large proportion of the citizens removed, for safety, 
 from the city. But Bishop White determined to re- 
 main, for the purpose of performing religious offices, 
 and rendering, according to the duties of his sacred 
 
 * Journal (Bioren's), pp. 199, 205, 221, 227, 230—234 ; Memoirs (1st 
 ed.), p. 248. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 159 
 
 station, spiritual aid and consolation to the sick and 
 dying. Many of his friends (particularly the Rev. 
 Dr Hutchins, in a letter which I remember to have 
 heard spoken of as a beautiful specimen of friendly 
 and respectful remonstrance) endeavoured' to convince 
 him — as no doubt they themselves sincerely believed 
 —that it was his duty likewise to retire, and avoid 
 exposing to such hazard, a life deemed so important 
 to the Church at large. But the demands of duty 
 appeared to the Bishop himself to be clear and impe- 
 rative. He could not yield to the solicitations or argu- 
 ments of his friends, and persisted in his determination 
 to remain. His family accordingly was removed into 
 the country, at a distance of a few miles, while he 
 continued at his own house with a domestic or two. 
 He could, and did occasionally ride out to see his fa- 
 mily; but his intercourse with them, on those occa- 
 sions, was constrained. It was not then known — as 
 experience afterwards proved — that the pure atmo- 
 sphere of the country prevented the danger of con- 
 tracting the disease by communication with the in- 
 fected. He therefore only saw and conversed with 
 his family for a short time in the open air; approach- 
 ing no nearer to them than was necessary with a dis- 
 tinct voice to carry on the conversation. I recollect 
 once meeting him at the place where they resided, 
 and finding their intercourse thus conducted; though 
 not with so much caution as they said it had previous- 
 ly been; the disease having then greatly abated, as it 
 was at the end of October. Under these trying and 
 alarming circumstances, he constantly and faithfully 
 
160 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 visited the sick, and performed every suitable religious 
 office, unappalled by the danger, or by the painful 
 and revolting scenes to v\^hich he was a vs^itness. One 
 of his domestics — his coachman, who had from choice 
 remained with him — was seized with the fever, and 
 died in his house. But through the whole season, he 
 was himself providentially preserved from sickness. 
 Thus, notwithstanding his high station and importance 
 in the Church, and the plausible reasons which might 
 be thought to justify his retirement from active official 
 performances, exposing him to so great hazard, he 
 manifested his conscientious and persevering devotion 
 to duty ; the firmness and constancy of his mind ; and 
 his self-denial, in relinquishing his own comfort and 
 security in compliance with higher claims. In seve- 
 ral succeeding years, in which the city was visited by 
 a similar calamity, he continued equally ready to per- 
 form every parochial duty, without being deterred by 
 the fear of danger to himself But as it had been 
 discovered that the country would be a safe retreat for 
 his family, even though he should be attacked by the 
 disease and be with them, he accompanied them into 
 it, and rode daily to his house in the city, to be ready 
 to comply with any call of religious duty. And at a 
 much later period of his life, the same temper of mind 
 and uprightness of conduct were exhibited. When 
 the Asiatic cholera broke out in Philadelphia in the 
 year 1832, he might be seen, in the eighty-fifth year 
 of his age, praying and administering the consolations 
 of religion in a cholera hospital, at the bedside of the 
 dying. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 161 
 
 In the year 1793, several important queries, relative 
 to the situation of the churches, and of religion and 
 morality in the United States, were communicated to 
 Dr White by Francis Corbin, Esq., of Richmond, 
 with a request that he would give such answers to 
 them as he could procure. The queries had been 
 transmitted to Mr Corbin, as he stated in another let- 
 ter, by the Bishop of London, Dr Porteus; and as the 
 answers contain much interesting information on the 
 subject of inquiry, the correspondence is here inserted. 
 
 "Richmond, Virginia, November 14, 1793. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 "Inclosed, I take the liberty of sending you several 
 queries, which have been transmitted to me by a very 
 dignified clergyman in England, and to which I should 
 be extremely obliged to you for such answers as your 
 general knowledge of the United States will enable 
 you to procure. 
 
 " They are intended, at present, only to gratify a 
 speculative curiosity, but may possibly be productive, 
 at a future day, of an excellent and useful treatise 
 upon the subjects of religion and morality. 
 
 "To you, sir, who are employed, and happily for 
 America, in the promotion of both, I trust, no apology 
 is necessary for the request now made by, 
 
 "Dear Sir, with great respect and esteem, 
 " Your most obedient, and 
 
 most humble servant, 
 
 "F'rancis corbin." 
 
162 memoir of the 
 
 "queries. 
 
 "1. In how many states of America is there still a 
 provision for the clergy established by law ? and in 
 how many has that establishment been suppressed,? 
 Please to name those of each sort. 
 
 "2. In those states where the clergy are maintained 
 by voluntary subscriptions, are those subscriptions 
 well paid? and are they sufficient to maintain them 
 and their families decently, and to preserve them from 
 contempt? 
 
 "3. In the same states, are the churches better fre- 
 quented, and the duties of morality and religion more 
 punctually performed than they were before the sup- 
 pression of the ecclesiastical establishment? or the 
 contrary? 
 
 "4. In the same states, is there reason to suppose 
 that the situation of the clergy, and the influence of 
 morality and religion, will be improved as the states 
 grow more wealthy, more learned and more populous? 
 
 " 5. In which states do religion and morality flou- 
 rish most? in those where there is a legal provision 
 for the clergy, or in those where they are supported 
 by voluntary contributions? 
 
 "6. Are the churches or meeting houses, and the 
 parsonage houses (in towns and country) kept in good 
 repair?" 
 
 "Philadelphia, February 7, 1794. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 "Your letter came to hand at the close of the late 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 163 
 
 malignant fever in this city; when, being the only 
 clergyman of our communion of those remaining in 
 town who had entirely escaped that calamity, I found 
 myself so taken up with duties of various sorts, as to 
 prevent an immediate attention to your inquiries. In 
 consequence of unexpected calls since occurring, your 
 letter has lain by me; not without an apprehension, 
 on my part, that you think me deficient in this delay; 
 but still, with the recollection that the impediments of 
 the navigation would prevent your sending to your 
 correspondent, during the winter, the satisfaction he 
 has desired of you. 
 
 " Although the information which I am now to give 
 will be very limited, yet I cannot refuse to furnish you 
 M^ith what little is within my power : and, so far as 
 your requisitions call for opinion, you will consider it 
 as given with diffidence. 
 
 " Question 1. In how many states, &c. 
 
 "Answer. I do not know of legal establishments 
 in any of the states ; unless we call those such which 
 exist in Connecticut, and in Massachusetts with the 
 exception of the town of Boston. In the different 
 townships of each of these states, there are meeting 
 houses, the properties of the inhabitants respectively. 
 The worship in these meeting houses is all on the con- 
 gregational plan; merely, if I am rightly informed, 
 because the majority of the people are of that persua- 
 sion; and not from any preference given to the sys- 
 tem by law. Every inhabitant of a township is liable 
 to a tax, levied in some way like that , of the parish 
 
164, MEMOIR OP THE v ' 
 
 rates in England, and payable to the minister of the 
 town meeting house ; unless the party prove, that he 
 has paid the sum so demanded, to a minister of any 
 other persuasion, to which he may profess to belong. 
 This establishment, so far as I can learn, is adminis- 
 tered with great mildness; and every accommodation 
 is made, that can be, without a relinquishment of the 
 principle. A worthy clergyman of our Church in 
 Massachusetts informed me, that a person who lived 
 fifty miles from him, had constantly been relieved 
 from his tax, on proof that it was paid to him who was 
 the nearest episcopal clergyman to the party ; but who 
 very seldom had it in his power to come within his 
 church. The magistracy of that country have had 
 many disputes with the Baptists; but, I believe, it has 
 been because the latter have refused, on the allegation 
 of scruples of conscience, to comply with the demands 
 made on them for proof that they paid to their own 
 ministers, which, they said, was contrary to their reli- 
 gious freedom. 
 
 "All the eastern gentlemen with whom I have con- 
 versed on the subject, seem very much attached to this 
 sole remnant* of religious establishment in the United 
 States; and none more so than those who are free 
 from what I take to be the religious prejudices of their 
 ancestors; and they assure me that much of the sub- 
 mission to the laws, and the attachment to good 
 
 * This remnant no longer exists ; the laws on the subject having been 
 repealed in both the states mentioned. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 165 
 
 government, for which the people of that country are 
 at this time singularly exemplary, is owing to the legal 
 provision stated. 
 
 " I have been the more particular in mentioning this 
 establishment, as I conceive it to be the very species of 
 legal support of religion suited to the circumstances of 
 the United States. It appears to me, sir, a right in- 
 herent to legislative power, to make provision for the 
 public teaching of religion, with a view to the morals 
 of the people. And I think that every such establish- 
 ment should be so far general, as to embrace the opin- 
 ions of the great majority of the people, with toleration 
 of all others. This right and this restriction I will 
 illustrate by a similar right to endow seminaries of 
 learning; although it would be an unwarrantable 
 stretch of power to oblige those people who think 
 human learning detrimental, to send their children to 
 such seminaries for instruction . I know the objections, 
 however, which exist against all public provision for 
 religion ; and arising from the opposite sources of infi- 
 delity and enthusiasm. But when I contemplate the 
 good sense and the disposition to peace and order of 
 the people of this country ; and when I recollect how 
 many have been brought, in civil matters, from the 
 extremes of democracy, by experience of its bad efi'ects, 
 to a predilection for a mixed government, as now estab- 
 lished in the separate states, and over the whole union, 
 on the conviction of their being the most congenial to 
 law and liberty, I am induced to believe that the day 
 will come, though probably not in our time, when 
 p 
 
166 MEMOm OF THE 
 
 there will be a general conviction of the necessity fof 
 the government, as such, to make a profession of the 
 Christian religion; in order to secure its moral influ- 
 ence over the people. 
 
 "The remaining clauses ofthe question require me 
 to mention, that the Episcopal Church was formerly 
 established in all the states southward of Pennsylva- 
 nia and Delaware; but ceased to be so in any of them 
 with the revolution. Between Connecticut and Mary- 
 land, there was nothing that had the appearance of 
 establishment, unless it were of the Episcopal Church 
 in four counties of New York. And this was desired 
 to be so by some, who contended that the people, ac- 
 cording to the law to this point, made in the infancy 
 of the province, were at liberty in each county to pre- 
 sent to the government a minister of any other per- 
 suasion. The provision which the Church had from 
 this source was small, and that attended with the dis- 
 advantage of keeping her in a continual broil with the 
 Presbyterians. 
 
 " Question 2. In those states where the clergy, &c. 
 
 " Answer. Subscriptions are, almost universally, 
 wretchedly paid; and the ministers dependent on 
 them are so ill provided for, that a man's residence is 
 seldom long in any place, where his support is raised 
 in this way. There is, however, a middle plan be- 
 tween this and a legal support; I mean that of an 
 assessment on the pews. Where a religious society 
 are tolerably numerous, and they adopt this expedient 
 for the paying of their minister^ his situation is easy. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 167 
 
 The misfortune is, especially in these middle states, 
 the settlement of which was by people of different 
 nations and persuasions, that we are too much divided 
 for any society to effect much ; although in the cities 
 we do pretty well. In Maryland, and I understand 
 in your state, the freeholds in the pews which existed 
 and were very reasonable during the establishment 
 have become a great evil since it ceased ; but I am 
 told that they are gradually getting over this difficulty, 
 by the people submitting to assessment on the pews. 
 Between my coming from England and the conse- 
 crations of Bishops Madison and Clagget, I ordained 
 many gentlemen for these two states. I make inqui- 
 ries concerning them as opportunities offer, and have 
 reason to believe that their circumstances are improving; 
 especially where the responsibility and the industry 
 of the parties have been instrumental in bringing back 
 a considerable proportion of those who, during the 
 destitute condition of our churches in and after the war, 
 joined the Methodists. In the middle and the eastern 
 states there v^ere no congregations' before the revolu- 
 tion competent to the maintenance of their respective 
 clergy, except those in Philadelphia, New York and 
 Boston. You may easily suppose how severely the 
 stopping of the salaries from the Society for Propaga- 
 ting the Gospel, though a necessary measure on their 
 part, was felt in our country congregations and in 
 those of the small towns. The prospects, however, 
 are gradually improving : there was a time "when not 
 a single clergyman of our church was left in this 
 
16S MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 whole state beside myself. The effect of it on the 
 neighbouring states was not very much short of this. 
 How we stand at present, in numbers, you may learn 
 from a list annexed to the journal of our last general 
 convention ; and I trust that every publication of that 
 list in future will show us to be advancing. 
 
 " Question 3. In the same states, are the churches 
 better frequented, &c. 
 
 " Answer. From the terms of this question I sup- 
 pose it to relate to the states where the establishment 
 once existed. I am not of one of them ; but from infor- 
 mation will venture to answer in the negative. Not- 
 withstanding the misfortune under which our church 
 laboured in the said states, of not being able to eject 
 clergymen from their livings for immoralities ; and 
 notwithstanding many notorious instances of depravity 
 which were the consequence, I presume that in gene- 
 ral the state of religion and of morals in those counties 
 is altered for the worse. 
 
 " Question 4. In the same states is there, &c. 
 
 "Answer. I am so sanguine as to believe that 
 this question may be answered in the affirmative. 
 There is a general spirit of inquiry in the people of 
 this country in regard to civil happiness and the 
 means of securing it. It must be confessed that too 
 many of our leading characters h?id adopted the sen- 
 timent that religious principle is not a necessary 
 spring of conduct towards this object. That opinion 
 seems to be losing ground, and the faster for the late 
 awful effects of it in France. It appears to me that 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 169 
 
 the happiness or misery of thig country in time to 
 come will very much depend on the degree of influ' 
 ence of the same sentiment on the public mind. This 
 again will be much affected by two descriptions of 
 persons; our leading political characters, and the 
 clergy. The example of the former would give a 
 tone to general manners ; and the latter, if they have 
 an enlightened zeal, may make a reverence at least 
 of religion, a necessary sacrifice to the opinions and 
 the habits of a people. 
 
 " Question 5. In which states do religion, &c. 
 
 " Answer. Of the former description are Massa- 
 chusetts and Connecticut only. I believe that a com^ 
 parative view of manners would be much in favour of 
 these states ; to which, however, there are sundry 
 circumstances contributing, although I doubt not the 
 one in question has its share. I should remark, that 
 so far as our clergy are concerned, the establishment 
 can affect but a small part of their salaries ; which 
 therefore depend chiefly on subscriptions or pews : 
 this owing to our people being few. These are, how- 
 ever, much increasing. 
 
 " Question 6. Are the churches or meeting houses, 
 &c. 
 
 " Answer. So far as I know, this is the case. In 
 regard to churches and meeting hoiises they show 
 much of the influence of that spirit of improvement 
 which pervades this country. Of glebes or parson- 
 age houses there are not many in Pennsylvania, 
 though there are some. I know of no state in which 
 
170 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 they have materially suffered. There was great 
 danger of their falling a sacrifice in your state ; but I 
 hope that the unprincipled project is despaired of.* 
 It may be proper to mention that besides this species 
 of property there are others, some real and some per- 
 sonal, belonging to a few churches. It is the case of 
 the two united churches of which I am the rector. 
 And I expect that the readiness with which all our 
 governments grant incorporative charters to religious 
 bodies will be followed more and more by stable en- 
 dowments. 
 
 "Thus, sir, I have answered your inquiries to the 
 best of my judgment and information ; but whether 
 in such extent as to equal your expectations, or be of 
 use to your correspondent, I do not know. 
 
 " If I can give you any further satisfaction on such 
 points you will be pleased to command me : and in 
 the mean time I am 
 
 " Your respectful and very humble servant, 
 
 "WILLIAM WHITE." 
 
 A very pleasing proof of the bishop's liberal and 
 truly Christian temper was given in his intercourse 
 with Dr Priestley during the period under examina- 
 tion. That gentleman arrived in Philadelphia from 
 England about the year 1795 ; seeking a retirement 
 in this country in consequence of well known diffi- 
 
 * But see Dr Hawks's History of the Church in Virginia for an account 
 of the subsequent success of the project. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 171 
 
 culties met with in his own. He finally settled in the 
 town of Northumberland, on the river Susquehannah 
 in Pennsylvania ; but previously spent some time in 
 the city, and afterwards occasionally visited it. A 
 considerable intimacy took place between Bishop 
 White, and this learned and amiable man — for such 
 he must be allowed to have been, whatever objections 
 may be justly made to his religious opinions ; and he 
 frequently attended public worship at Christ Church. 
 Their intimacy appears to have produced mutual 
 respect and cordiality of feeling. A few letters which 
 passed between them from 1797 to 1802 are here in- 
 serted, as evidences of Christian temper honouralileto 
 both, and interesting in other respects. The doctor's 
 respect for Bishop White's learning and jildgment 
 was manifested by the following incident. The doc- 
 tor was of opinion that the daemon of Socrates was 
 inspiration. When his pamphlet, entitled " Socrates 
 and Jesus compared," was printed and not yet pub- 
 lished, he brought it to the Bishop ; requesting him 
 to peruse it and to note any sentiment which might 
 be thought to discredit the publication ; independently 
 on any point concerning which he knew his theory 
 to be disapproved of by. Dr White ; mentioning that 
 there was a passage very miTch objected to by a friend 
 of his. He called a few days after, and his pamphlet 
 was returned to him, with an objection to a passage 
 containing the sentiment above mentioned. He im- 
 mediately said — That is the passage in question. He 
 cancelled the leaf before the sale of the pamphlet, as 
 
172 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 may be seen in the first edition of it. He did not ap- 
 pear to have relinquished the sentiment, but thought 
 it was unnecessary, and might do a prejudice to his 
 work. The letters, between them were those which 
 follow : 
 
 "January 18, 1797. 
 
 "Dr White presents his respectful compliments to 
 Dr Priestley. Having mentioned to the doctor two 
 instances in which, among many others, Mr Volney 
 has inserted in notes matter insufficient for the sup- 
 port of his text ; and having been desired by the doc- 
 tor to make a memorandum of these two places, and 
 to procure one of the books referred to, he has this 
 day attended to his request.' 
 
 " The first of the places referred to is the latter part 
 of the forty-third note of Mr Volney corresponding 
 with page 231 of his text. Dr Priestley, in examining 
 the paragraph quoted from Eusebius, (which is in 
 page 56, beginning at the ninth line from the bottom 
 of the book herewith sent) will perceive that Mr 
 Volney has mistranslated in stating as the sentiment 
 of a majority of Egyptian philosophers what Eusebius 
 from Porphyry mentions as the opinion of Chceremon 
 and others : which error has an unhappy influence on 
 a very material part of Mr Volney's book; where 
 we find doctrines are laid down as the current stream 
 of sentiment of a long succession of philosophers ; 
 which, after all, appear to be no more than the theory 
 of a comparatively modern sect. If Eusebius has 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 173 
 
 made too strong aiase of this passage of Porphyry 
 against the Egyptians, Dr Priestley will find the ap- 
 plication accounted for and contradicted in Cudworth's 
 Intellectual System, b. 1, ch. 2, sec. 18, in which the 
 ancient Egyptian philosophy is vindicated from the 
 charge of atheism. In attending to the aforesaid note 
 of Mr Volney, it will readily occur to Dr Priestley 
 that the quotation from Plutarch, as found in Euse- 
 bius, is nothing to the passage ; it being no proof that 
 the idea of deity arose from a personifying of the 
 operations of nature, but quite consistent with the fact 
 that the existence of a divine author of all things being 
 understood, his perfections were considered as repre- 
 sented by physical objects. 
 
 "The other place noted by Dr White is in vol. 8, 
 note 48, corresponding with page 235, line 7, of his 
 text. The unfairness of making an assertion so big 
 with consequences, and of putting in a detached state 
 a mere reference to what, even in his own partial 
 judgment, are no more than probable reasons, is very 
 evident. Will it be uncharitable to infer that Mr 
 Volney has thus taken an indirect method of getting 
 rid of a fact which oversets the whole tenor of his 
 work? The fact alluded to is that of the discovery 
 of the procession of the equinoxes, but about a century 
 or two before the Christian era. Now supposing 
 astronomy to have been cultivated by a succession of 
 philosophers, not to say through the long tract of 
 time alleged by Mr Volney, but for the space of 
 6480 years, the time in which the equinoxes would 
 
174 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 have gone through a quadrant of the heavens, is it 
 possible that they should have been inattentive to so 
 remarkable a phenomenon as that of the consequent 
 change, of the position of the stars relatively to the 
 sun ? In the little compass of Dr White's reading 
 he does not recollect any historical notices of astrono- 
 mical facts which prevent this argument from being, 
 to his mind, an unanswerable objection to Mr Volney's 
 whole scheme. 
 
 " As Dr Priestley may not be possessed of the Eng- 
 lish translation of Mr Volney's book, Dr White has 
 borrowed it for his use, and it accompanies this note. 
 
 " Northumberland, June 6, 1800. 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 " I take the liberty to beg your acceptance of a 
 work which I have just printed here in support 
 of our common principles ; and therefore I hope it 
 will not be unpleasing to you, though in a passage or 
 two it may appear that our sentiments are not exactly 
 the same. Men who think will differ, but Christians 
 will ever be candid. 
 
 " With the greatest respect, 
 " I am, dear sir, 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 "J. PRIESTLEY." 
 
 " Northumberland, July 7, 1801. 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 " I hope yoii have received a copy of a pamphlet 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 175 
 
 "vehich I lately took the liberty to send you through 
 the hands of Mr Dobson, on the subject of the know- 
 ledge of a future state among the ancient Hebrews, 
 and also a new interpretation of the eighteenth of 
 Isaiah. Please to show it to Dr Andrews, to whom I 
 sent Collard. Logis by Mr Carey in Market street. 
 
 " I shall always recollect with much pleasure the 
 satisfaction I received from your society in my late 
 visit to Philadelphia, and from your discourses from 
 the pulpit. It adds, however, to my regret that the 
 devotional services of your church are not such as all 
 Christians can join in. There might, I should think, 
 be the less objection to such an alteration in your 
 liturgy as would be compatible with this great object, 
 as nine in ten of your prayers are already on that 
 plan. But, all circumstances considered, this is far 
 too great an advance in liberality to be expected in 
 these times. Notwithstanding our difference of opi- 
 nion, believe me to be, with the greatest respect, 
 " Dear sir, 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 "J. PRIESTLEY." 
 
 " July 21, 1801. 
 " Reverend and Dear Sir ; 
 
 " About a week ago I received your letter of the 
 7th instant. The obliging present of your pamphlet 
 had not then reached me ; but the next morning, on 
 coming in from my house in the country, I found it 
 lying on my table. Whilst I thank you for your 
 
176 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 kind expressions towards the church to which I be- 
 long, and towards myself, I beg leave to mention in 
 regard to the former, that although satisfied that the 
 leading points of doctrine which slie holds are agree- 
 able lo Scripture, and although sorry for the difference 
 of sentiment which takes place in reference to them 
 in the minds of sincere seekers after the truth, I con- 
 template the latter circumstance as an occasion of 
 Christian charity. 
 
 " I embrace the opportunity of giving my opinion, 
 however small the tribute to your literary reputation, 
 that your book is calculated to do good ; especially 
 among those who have been influenced to the oppo- 
 site sentiment by Bishops Warburton and Law. In 
 regard to the former it has always appeared to me, 
 and you speak to the same eflFect, that he has not suf- 
 ficiently adverted to the circumstance of the Mosaic 
 laws being a code of temporal government, which, 
 like other codes of that sort, required temporal sanc- 
 tions, the only ones which the civil magistrate can 
 enforce. In regard to the book of Job I will hazard 
 the expressing of a sentiment which has rested on 
 my mind. It is, that the introducing of the doctrine of 
 a future state in the form of argument, if put into the 
 mouths of the friends, would have been inconsistent 
 with the point which they were maintaining ; viz., 
 that affliction was an evidence of the demerit of the 
 sufferer ; and if put into the mouth of Job, would have 
 rather weakened than promoted the effect intended by 
 the author of the book ; which was to humble man in 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 177 
 
 his own eyes ; to show him that he could make no 
 claim on his Creator, and to induce him to receive the 
 divine benefits as the fruits of the mere grace of the be- 
 stower. Whatever evidence there may be of a future 
 state, it had no place in an argument designed to re- 
 concile to the loss of the good things of the world on 
 quite other grounds; yet this hindered not but that 
 there might be reference incidentally to another life ; 
 which accordingly there is, as appears from the pas- 
 sages you have quoted. 
 
 " I fear that the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah must 
 remain among the things hard to be understood ; al- 
 though I acknowledge the ingenuity of your interpre- 
 tation. Mr King's notion that France was intended 
 seems to me sufficiently overset, if, indeed, for so fan- 
 ciful an hypothesis any oversetting was necessary, by 
 Bishop Horsley's remark on the imperfect knowledge 
 of geography at the time. The bishop's theory held 
 out a stumbling block to me in the beginning, in the 
 necessity he was under of making the word which 
 was so often just before a denunciation, change in this 
 place into a mere call on the attention. There is one 
 difficulty which your scheme seems to have in com- 
 mon with theirs ; viz., there not being in the prophecy 
 discriminating marks of a nation known at the time 
 to the prophet and his hearers ; like the other nations 
 on whom woes are pronounced. I am not going to 
 set up an interpretation of my own, but merely sub- 
 mit to your consideration, whether as the word ' trans- 
 lated beyond' admits of the translation ' passing by' 
 Q 
 
178 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 or ' bordering on,' the expression 'the land passing by, 
 or bordering on the rivers of Cush,' may not be a pa- 
 raphrastic way of denoting Ethiopia. If this be ad- 
 missible, the leading sentiment of the passage will be a 
 denunciation of divine judgment against that country, 
 with an intimation that howeyer fruitlessly Ethiopia 
 as well as Egypt would be looked to for help against 
 the Assyrians, the heavenly king of Judah had still 
 his eye on his habitation, and would deliver his peo- 
 ple in his own time and way. But I recollect Bishop 
 Horsley's caution on the subject of criticism, which I 
 think has much reason in it ; and therefore I beg you 
 to consider this not as an attempt at criticism but as 
 conjecture. 
 
 " You will, I am persuaded, excuse the freedom 
 when I tell you that however satisfied with the ap- 
 plication of your texts to the fact of a belief of a future 
 state among the Hebrews, yet had I been at your 
 elbow I should have been tempted to hint some other 
 texts ; although knowing that they would have been re- 
 jected, as proving, in your opinion, either nothing or 
 too much. To name a few : there is Jacob's ' going 
 down to the grave to his son mourning ;' although 
 this is said under no probability that the son was bu- 
 ried. There is also David's d'sclaration concerning 
 his child — ' I shall go to him but he shall not return 
 to me.' That noble passage too in Isaiah in which 
 deceased sovereigns are represented receiving among 
 them the king of Babylon, seems to me to imply the 
 existence of a state of the dead. The passage is figu- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 179 
 
 rative ; but to make a figure proper it seems necessary 
 that the thing affirmed, although not true, might be 
 supposed true without absurdity. 
 
 " You will consider me, sir, not as saying the 
 above in the way of disputation, but as disclosing the 
 state of my mind during the reading of your valuable 
 pamphlet; and with the same view I go on to men- 
 tion, that on reading your History of the Corruptions 
 of Christianity about fifteen years ago, and finding in 
 that work a quotation from Josephus, adduced to prove 
 that the opinion of the soul's separate existence was a 
 mere conceit of the Greeks, I recurred to the book, 
 where it appeared to me that the author spoke so 
 lightly, not of the opinion itself, but of certain circum- 
 stances with which the Greeks had connected it. I 
 was persuaded of this by the consideration not merely 
 of the passage itself, but also of other passages of the 
 same work. Having put papers at the pages at the 
 time, I have now, on reading your present pamphlet, 
 opened the book and found those papers as I left them. 
 Accordingly I take the liberty of noting the pas- 
 sages for your consideration ; remarking that the first 
 of them is quoted in your pamphlet, but differently 
 from what I read in my edition ; which is L'Es- 
 trange's; the oldest English translation, and an indif- 
 ferent one ; but not, so far as I have heard, unfaithful; 
 although I am not however prepared to pronounce on 
 its being more correct than the one from which you 
 transcribe. Perhaps you take from the original, 
 which is not in my possession, although I expect I 
 can have access to it. 
 
180 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 " The said passage, after stating the hope of Hebrew 
 martyrs, adds ; ' In. this confidence they look on death 
 itself as only the blessed means of transferring them 
 from this life to a better.' The same author, in his 
 discourse on the Maccabees, speaking of the magnani- 
 mous behaviour of the mother of the seven children, 
 says, she considered them as ' continuing to live vi^ith 
 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the godly patriarchs 
 in the mansions of immortal felicity.' And in his 
 Antiquities, b. 18, ch. 2, stating the opinion of the 
 Pharisees, he expressly represents them as 'believing 
 in the immortality of the soul.' I observe that, in 
 your pamphlet, you speak of Josephus and Philo as 
 deriving this doctrine from their intercourse with the 
 Greeks. But in the passage quoted, so far as Jose- 
 phus's testimony goes on matter of fact, and certainly 
 it goes a great way, it appears to establish the doc- 
 trine to be that of the Jews generally, in our Saviour's 
 time. And indeed I think that a Grecian origin 
 would have been more likely to have prejudiced him 
 against it. 
 
 " When a man has taken one freedom, it commonly 
 emboldens him to another. And I crave indulgence 
 to this infirmity, while I mention to you, that on the 
 appearance in print of the excellent lectures previous- 
 ly delivered by you in this city, I could not suppress 
 the thought that the strong mind of Dr Priestley had 
 given evidence of a bias to a preconceived opinion, 
 when it cited a certain passage from Justin Martyr, 
 relative to the present point : although, in saying this, 
 
LIFE QP BISHOP WHITE. 181 
 
 I am aware that perhaps all I am saying may be an 
 evidence of a similar bias in myself. The passage 
 alluded to (being in the- only lecture that treats of any 
 matters controverted among Christians), after speak- 
 ing of the Millenarians, who' . are said to be jmrcR et 
 picB sententice, although maintaining a dogma not uni- 
 versally received, passes- a censure on the Gnostics ;. 
 whom the author denies to be Christians at all. Now 
 this censure appears to me to rest on their denial of 
 the resurrection, and on the ' going to heaven immedi- 
 ately,' only as put in opposition to the resurrection. 
 But it may be said. Why is tte latter mentioned, if not 
 an error? I answer that I know no scriptural ground 
 of the expression 'going to heaven immediately.' 
 Neither is it necessarily connected with the doctrine 
 of a separate state, which implies something short of 
 the consummation of bliss. 
 
 " In regard to the opinion which I entertain on the 
 present subject; you will not disdain the charity of the 
 sentiment, although you will smile at the ground of 
 it, when I inform you, that during your late sickness 
 in this city, in which I sincerely sympathized, it waas 
 matter of concern to me that you could not contem- 
 plate a state of bliss otherwise than as to begin after a 
 succession of ages. You will answer me as you have 
 answered others in your writings, that the interval 
 will be void of consciousness. I reply that the same 
 might be said of annihilation. I do not doubt the in. 
 fluence on your mind, of the expectation of future hap- 
 piness under what appears so unwelcome a circum- 
 
182 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 st3,nce to mine ; but I cannot think that on mankind 
 in general the expectation would be so operative to 
 virtuous dispositions and habits, as that of an inherit- 
 ance to be enjoyed immediately on dissolution. 
 
 " And now, sir, I am aware of the ground which I 
 have given for the thought of the hardship that you 
 could not exercise the civility of sending me your 
 pamphlet, without being burthened with so long a 
 letter in return; and that on a subject which must 
 have appeared in every point of view to you before. 
 In respect to this I plead guilty, and throw myself on 
 your charity and good nature, and subscribe myself, 
 with my best wishes of every sort, 
 " Respectfully, 
 " Your affectionate, humble servant, 
 
 "WILLIAM WHITE." 
 
 " Northumberland, November 17, 1801. 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 ' " It is by no means my design to draw you into a 
 controversy, or even a correspondence ; but the polite- 
 ness and candour of your letter excite my gratitude, 
 and require some acknowledgement, which I have 
 now an opportunity of making without putting you to 
 the expense of postage. And you will excuse me if, 
 at the same time, I make a few remarks on the prin- 
 cipal subject of your letter. The other subjects you 
 touch upon deserve my attention, and shall have it. 
 
 " With respect to the state of my mind, in my last 
 illness, to which you kindly advert, I would observe. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 183 
 
 that our feelings are much influenced by our opinions; 
 and I feel far more satisfaction in the idea of shutting 
 my eyes on this world and opening them at the resur- 
 rection, than in that of passing into a state of which 
 the Scriptures give us no account at all, but which 
 must be somewhere under ground, where we cannot 
 look for much convenience or comfort, and where we 
 must be entirely cut off from the living world. As to 
 the existence of such a state, the silence of our Saviour 
 concerning it, in the interview with Martha and Mary, 
 and of the apostle Paul, when he was writing to com- 
 fort his^ new converts on the death of their friends, 
 weighs more with me, than any argument from the 
 supposed literal meaning of any particular passages of 
 Scripture. 
 
 "As to the figurative representation of the state of 
 the dead in Isaiah, and also that of our Saviour in the 
 parable of the rich man and Lazarus, if there must be 
 something of reality for their foundation, we must 
 suppose in this Tiades the righteous and the wicked 
 are within the sight and hearing of one another ; and 
 as a foundation for the parable of Jotham, the trees 
 must have the faculty of speech. If in these cases 
 something that is not fact must be supposed, why not 
 that of an anticipated resurrection, as an emblem of 
 what will take place at a distant time? 
 
 " To you, I am aware, that these objections, as they 
 cannot be new to you, will have little weight; but the 
 time is soon coming to both of us, when we shall know 
 more of this subject, and also of many others, than we 
 
184 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 do at present. To me it cannot be very distant. I 
 have not yet perfectly recovered vphat I lost in my 
 fever at Philadelphia, and now hardly expect ever to 
 do it. But our lives are always at the disposal of the 
 Great Being who gave them; and I have great reason 
 to be thankful that mine has been prolonged to the 
 usual term of nature, and that, though not without 
 salutary checks, it has been a happy one. 
 
 " With every good wish, and the pleasing hope of our 
 meeting in a state of greater light and knowledge, 
 " I am, dear sir, yours sincerely, 
 
 "J. PRIESTLEY." 
 
 "Philadelphia, January 19, 1802. 
 " Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 "I received your polite and friendly .note of the 17th 
 of November. 
 
 " It was my design to have sent you, long ago, the 
 minutes and the sermon accompanying this letter;* 
 but by some accident, a package containing them 
 was very long delayed in New York. 
 
 " I am too well aware of their contrariety to your 
 opinions, to send them in any other way than that of 
 acquainting you [with] what is going on in a small 
 portion of the ecclesiastical world. There seems a 
 particular propriety in sending the journal, as it is 
 necessary to complete the lot of which I asked your 
 acceptance. 
 
 * Journal of the General Convention of 1801 ; and the Sermon deliv- 
 ered before it at the Consecration of Bishop Moore. 
 
LIFE or BISHOP WHITE. 185 
 
 " It lately gave me pain to hear Dr Priestley men- 
 tioned as an evidence of the impropriety of copious 
 bleeding; it being understood in the statement made, 
 that great subsequent vi^e?ikness has been the conse- 
 quence. If this has been so, I will still hope for a 
 gradual restoration, and am, in the mean time, 
 " Yours, &c. 
 
 "W. W." 
 
 "Northumberland, April 5, 1802. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 " Your excellent sermon gave me more pleasxire 
 than you would probably imagine, as I sincerely con- 
 cur with you in the opinion, that truth is never to be 
 sacrificed to candour, which can only consist in think- 
 ing as well as we can of the tendency of particular 
 opinions, or to Christian charity, which teaches to 
 wish well to all persons, whatever we may think of 
 their opinions. I agree with you also, in thinking 
 that individual persons are not intended by antichrist, 
 in the Scripture prophecies, but only powers which, 
 though doomed to destruction, may be exercised by 
 very good men, as many of the popes, I doubt not, 
 were. 
 
 " You seem to intimate that there may be unbe- 
 lievers among your ministers. Two such I knew in 
 England, who, taking it for granted that, as I was com- 
 monly represented, I was one too, made no scruple 
 of acknowledging themselves such to me. And there 
 are probably many more in that country, as there are 
 
] 86 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 in Catholic countries, where the emoluments of the 
 profession are considerable ; but I am unwilling to 
 think there can be any such here. 
 
 " I beg your acceptance x)f a small pamphlet which 
 I have just printed here ; and I think there is not more 
 than a paragraph or two that can offend you in it. As 
 my age and infirmities admonish me that what I do I 
 must do quickly, I have begun to print my Church 
 History, and, if I live to finish it, I shall proceed to my 
 Notes on the Boohs of Scripture. 
 
 " With great esteem I am, dear sir, 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 "J. PRIESTLEY." 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1797, the Bishop met 
 with a severe affliction in the loss of his son William, 
 who died in the thirteenth year of his age. Another of 
 his children, a daughter, Ann, had some years before 
 been taken from him at an early age. His loss, in the 
 present instance, was the more deeply felt, as this son 
 was a great favourite, and gave promise, so far as his 
 youth would allow a judgment to be formed, of being 
 like, in character, to his father. The year closed with 
 the more trying bereavement occasioned by the death 
 of his wife, whose health had been infirm for a con- 
 siderable time. In a sermon preached on the last Sun- 
 day in the year, he affectingly availed himself of these 
 incidents, and of the consequent decreasing comforts 
 of their pastor's life, to impress on the minds of his 
 flock the duty of being taught so to number their days, 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 187 
 
 that they might apply their hearts unto wisdom, even 
 the wisdom which would make their calling and elec- 
 tion sure. 
 
 Soon after the death of General Washington, in 
 December 1799, Dr White was called on, as one of the 
 chaplains, to perform the religious offices, on the occa- 
 sion of the funeral honours paid by congress to the 
 memory of that father of his country. The service 
 used by him will be found in the Appendix to this 
 Memoir.* 
 
 To the religious and benevolent character -of that 
 eminent man, the Bishop has, on various occasions, 
 given the just testimony which his intimacy and fre- 
 quent pastoral connection with him, and also instances 
 in which he became the almoner of his bounty, ena- 
 bled him to state with certainty. Doubts have been 
 sometimes expressed on the subject of the General's 
 religious principles ; but, it would seem, without suf- 
 ficient reason. His uncommon reserve in expressing 
 his opinions, unless when circumstances particularly 
 demanded such an expression, and which extended to 
 other subjects besides religion — ^joined with the dig- 
 nity of his deportment, checking an easy familiarity, 
 and preventing inquiry concerning opinions which he 
 did not appear inclined to communicate — have been 
 probably the chief causes of the doubts But his aid 
 given for the support of the Church, in his own-parish 
 — the correct sentiments on religion contained in seve- 
 
 '^ Appendix, No. V. 
 
188 TWEMOIE, OF THE 
 
 ral of his public addresses — the unimpeached sincerity 
 of his character, manifested through hfe, and forbid- 
 ding a suspicion that those sentiments were not really 
 entertained — and his attendance on the public services 
 of the house of God, furnish satisfactory proof of his 
 respect for religion, and of his belief in Christianity, 
 unless opposing evidence, unknovs^n to the Bishop, 
 may appear. Yet though the General attended the 
 churches in which Dr White officiated, whenever he 
 was in Philadelphia during the revolutionary war, and 
 afterwards, while president of the United States, he 
 never was a communicant in them. This fact does 
 not disprove his belief in, and respect for Christianity. 
 For it is well known that some, whose religious sin- 
 cerity could not reasonably be doubted, have been led 
 to avoid a participation in that sacred ordinance, from 
 sincere, though overstrained and mistaken reverence 
 for it. Inquiries on this subject were often addressed 
 to Bishop White; and copies of several letters, writ- 
 ten in answer, remain among his papers : from which 
 some to the Rev. B. C. C. Parker, containing the most 
 detailed statement of his knowledge on it which I 
 have seen or know, and also some other interesting 
 facts relative to other persons and subjects, have been 
 selected, and are here inserted.* One to Colonel 
 
 * The Bishop's sentiments on the religious character of General 
 Washington, are also expressed in the dedication of a sermon on Deut. 
 xxxiii., 27, preached and published in February 1795; and in another on 
 Gal. vi., 10, preached in December 1799, a few days after intelligence of 
 the General's death was received in Philadelphia. And to them may be 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 189 
 
 Hugh Mercer is added, together with an extract from 
 one from that gentleman, to which it is a reply. 
 
 " Philadelphia, November 28, 1832. 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 " I have received your letter of the 20th instant, 
 and will furnish you with what information I possess 
 on the subject of it. 
 
 "The father of our country, whenever in this city, 
 as Well during the revolutionary war as in his Presi- 
 dency, attended divine service in Christ Church of this 
 city ; except during one winter; when, being here for 
 the taking of measures with Congress towards the 
 opening of the next campaign, he rented a house near 
 to St Peter's Church, then in parochial union with 
 Christ Church. During that season, he attended re- 
 gularly at St Peter's. His behaviour was always 
 serious and attentive; but as your letter seems to in- 
 tend an inquiry on the point of kneeling during the 
 service, I owe it to truth to declare, that I never saw 
 him in the said attitude. During his Presidency, our 
 vestry provided him with a pev/, ten yards in front of 
 the reading desk. It was habitually occupied by him- 
 self, by Mrs Washington, who was regularly a com- 
 municant, and by his secretaries. 
 
 " Although I was often in company of this great 
 man, and had the honour of dining often at his table, 
 
 added an address of the general convention of our Church to President 
 Washington, soon after his first election to that high station, in the Jour- 
 nal (Bioren's), p. 100. 
 R 
 
190 MEMOIR OP THfi 
 
 I never heard any thing from him that could manifest 
 his opinions on the subject of religion. I knew no 
 man who seemed so carefully to guard against the 
 discoursing of himself or of his acts, or of any thing 
 pertaining to him : and it has occasionally occurred to 
 me, when in his company, that if a stranger to his 
 person were present, he would never have known, from 
 any thing said by the President, that he was conscious 
 of having distinguished himself in the eyes of the 
 world. His ordinary behaviour, although unexcep- 
 tionably courteous, was not such as to encourage ob- 
 trusion on what might be in his mind. 
 
 Within a few days of the leaving of the Presidential 
 chair, our vestry waited on him with an address pre- 
 pared and delivered by me. In his answer, he was 
 pleased to express himself gratified by what he had 
 heard from our pulpit; but there was nothing that 
 committed him relatively to religious theory. Within 
 a day or two of the above, there was another address, 
 by many ministers of dilFerent persuasions; being pre- 
 pared by Dr Green, and delivered by me. It has been 
 the subject of opposite statements, owing to a passage 
 in the posthumous works of Mr Jefferson. He says, 
 giving Dr Rush for his author, who is said to have 
 had it from Dr Green, that the said address was in- 
 tended to elicit the opinion of the President on the sub- 
 ject of the Christian religion. Dr Green has denied 
 this, in his periodical called ' The Christian Advocate,' 
 and his statement is correct. Dr Rush may have 
 misunderstood Dr Green, or the former may have 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 191 
 
 been misunderstood by Mr Jefferson; or the whole 
 may have originated with some individual of the as- 
 sembled ministers, who mistook his own conceptions 
 for the sense of the body. The said two documents 
 are in the Philadelphia newspapers of the time. 
 
 " On a thanksgiving day appointed by the President 
 for the suppression of the western insurrection, I 
 preached a sermon in his presence. The subject was 
 the Connection between Religion and Civil Happiness. 
 It was misrepresented in one of our newspapers. This 
 induced the publishing of the sermon, with a dedica- 
 tion to the President, pointedly pleading his proclama- 
 tion in favour of the connection affirmed. It did not 
 appear that he disallowed the use made of his name. 
 Although, in my estimation, the entire separation be- 
 tween Christianity and government would be a relin- 
 quishment of religion in the abstract; yet, that this 
 was the sense of the President, is more than I can 
 infer. 
 
 " There do not occur to me any other particulars, 
 meeting your inquiry, and confined to my knowledge. 
 Accordingly, I conclude with writing myself, 
 " Very respectfully, 
 
 " Your humble servant, 
 
 "Wm WHITE." 
 
 " ANECDOTE CONCERNING PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. 
 
 " On the day before his leaving of the Presidential 
 chair a large company dined with him. Among them 
 
192 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 were the foreign ministers and their ladies, Mr and 
 Mrs Adams, Mr Jefferson, with other conspicuous 
 persons of both sexes. During the dinner much ^li- 
 larity prevailed ; but on the removal of the cloth it 
 was put an end to by the President : certainly without 
 design. Having filled his glass, he addressed the 
 company, with a smile on his countenance, as nearly 
 as can be recollected in the following terms : ' Ladies 
 and gentlemen, this is the last time I shall drink your 
 health as a public man. I do it with sincerity, and 
 wishing you all possible happiness.' There was an 
 end of all pleasantry. He who gives this relation ac- 
 cidentally directed his eye to the lady of the British 
 minister, (Mrs Liston) and tears were running down 
 her cheeks. 
 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 " It was but a few days ago that I addressed to you 
 a letter in answer to your inquiries concerning the 
 religious character of President Washington. There 
 has since occurred to me, although foreign to that 
 purpose, what is written on the first page of the pre- 
 sent communication. I never think of the incident 
 without feeling a lively interest in it ; and have often 
 recited it in company, to the evident satisfaction of 
 the hearers. Whether it will be worthy of the notice 
 of Mr Sparks in his intended work I leave to him and 
 you to consider, as also the form in which it shall be 
 presented, if at all. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 193 
 
 " I pledge my word for the truth of the anecdote, 
 and am, 
 
 " Very respectfully, 
 
 " Your humble servant, 
 
 "Wm white." 
 
 " Philadelphia, December 21, 1832. 
 " Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 " Your letter of the 11th instant is come to hand. 
 Until the receipt of it I did hot know that there was 
 in holy orders a son of my much esteemed brother. 
 Bishop Parker. I saw you at the convention, but 
 supposed you to be a lay deputy. 
 
 " I do not believe that any degree of recollection 
 will bring to my mind any fact which would prove 
 General Washington to have been a believer in the 
 Christian revelation ; further than as may be hoped 
 from his constant attendance on Christian worship, in 
 connection with the natural reserve of his character. 
 
 " Being engaged in a correspondence relative to 
 this great man, I will venture to call the attention of 
 Mr Sparks to an incident in his military services 
 which I have not yet seen noticed in a manner suffi> 
 ciently honourable to him, 
 
 " It is well known that in the year 1777 there was 
 in Congress a party disposed to give the command of 
 the army east of the North river to General Charles 
 Lee ; a project which could not have succeeded after the 
 shameful capture of the latter. With the favourers of 
 the scheme I had very little acquaintance ; but I con^ 
 
 R* 
 
194 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 versed much with' some gentlemen who, although in- 
 capable of participating in it, and personal friends of 
 General Washington, lamented his laying of so much 
 stress on the opinions of General Greene. After the 
 defeat of General Gates, and the annihilation of our 
 military force in the Carolinas, Congress spent much 
 time in endeavouring the choice of a general for the 
 renewal of hostilities in that quarter. JVot being able 
 to agree, they sent an order to General Washington to 
 select a suitable ofl&cer, and he sent General Greene. 
 The brilliant result is well known. It seems to me 
 that this, in the teeth of so much prejudice, is very in- 
 dicative of the character of the commander-in-chief; 
 perhaps as much so as any transaction of his life. 
 
 " The mention of General Greene suggests to me 
 the following narrative. On reading Marshall's Life 
 of Washington my curiosity was excited by a note at 
 page 557 of vol. 4. It appears that when the general 
 was in the last extremity, from the want of money, to 
 prevent the abandonment of the army ; there came to 
 his relief a gentleman who, for the furnishing of the 
 necessary sum, was content with a draft on the finan- 
 cier. Not long after, in conversation with my brother- 
 in-law, the said officer, I asked him the name of the 
 gentleman. The answer was — ' His name was Hall. 
 You must have often met him at my house. I wanted 
 a confidential agent, but wished him not to be a man 
 in any public office. This was the case with Mr 
 Hall; of whom I had always heard the South Carolina 
 gentlemen speak, as a man of great integrity and ho- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 195 
 
 nour. Accordingly, I commissioned him on this deli- 
 cate business.' 
 
 " Mr Morris followed up the conversation by rela- 
 ting as follows. He said that after the conclusion of the 
 war, and on General Greene's coming to this city for 
 a settlement of his accounts, during the first official 
 conference, the secret transaction came into view. 
 The general, with a smile on his face, but with his 
 hand on his sword, as if half in jest and half in earn- 
 est, gave a look which Mr Morris construed as say- 
 ing — Why did you not trust me with the secret ? No 
 further notice was then taken of the matter, except by 
 a request that the general would think seriously of it 
 before his making up his opinion. The next morning 
 on his appearance at the office Mr Morris said to 
 him — ' General, you were yesterday somewhat hurt 
 by a discovery then made. Have you seriously con- 
 sidered it V The answer was — ' I have ; and believe 
 that you never did a wiser thing. I was often in em- 
 barrassment, not bordering on ruin, but sufficient to 
 have warranted my drawing had I known that I 
 might.' 
 
 " I do not know how far Mr Sparks, in his work, 
 may be required to give it a bearing on the character 
 of Mr Robert Morris. But with a view to the possi- 
 bility of this, I select the following fact; the memory 
 of which I think worthy of being preserved, indepen- 
 dently of its being evidence of the credit of that gentle- 
 man, and because of its effect on our public affairs, at 
 perhaps the most important crisis of them. In the 
 
196 Memoir of the 
 
 latter end of the year 1776, Congress, removed to Bal- 
 timore, received a letter from General Washington, 
 then in Jersey, as were also the enemy, stating that 
 he must have a certain specified sum, in hard money ; 
 and that otherwise, he could not procure intelligence, 
 while the enemy could command it. This subject 
 rested heavily on the mind of Mr Morris, to whom the 
 letter had been sent, and until the approach of night, 
 when, having closed his ofl&ce, and being on his way 
 home, he met a gentleman of the Society of Friends, 
 with whom he had long been in habits of commercial 
 business. The following dialogue ensued. The gen- 
 tleman began it with — ' Robert, what news?' The 
 answer was — ' The news is, that I am in the want of 
 such a sum of hard money ;' naming the amount in the 
 letter; 'and you are the man who must furnish it; 
 and your security must be my, note, and my honour.' 
 The gentleman, after a pause of about a minute, said, 
 'Robert, thou shalt have it;' and was as good as his 
 
 word. 
 
 " Whether any thing I have written will be to the 
 purpose of Mr Sparks, I consider as uncertain, and am, 
 "Respectfully, 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 "Wm white." 
 
 EXTRACT FROM LETTER OF COLONEL MERCER. 
 
 " Fredericksburg, August 13, 1835. 
 "I have a desire, my dear sir, to know whether 
 General Washington was a regular communicant in the 
 Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, or whether he oc- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 197 
 
 casionally went to the communion only, if he ever did 
 at all. The whole country knows that he was a reli- 
 gious man, and served his God with humility and re- 
 verence. No authority can be more complete and 
 authentic than yours, on this point, as he was, I be- 
 lieve, a regular attendant on your ministry in Christ 
 Church. I wish the information merely for my own 
 private satisfaction, and for no public use rvhatever, and 
 shall feel highly gratified and honoured by a reply 
 from you at your leisure and convenience." 
 
 " Philadelphia, August 15, 1835. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 ******* 
 
 " In regard to the subject of your inquiry, truth 
 requires me to say, that General Washington never 
 received the communion, in the churches of which I 
 am parochial minister. Mrs Washington was an ha- 
 bitual communicant. 
 
 "Before the General left his seat in Congress to 
 take the command of the army; afterwards, during 
 the war, whenever he was in this city; and since, 
 during his Presidency, he attended in Christ Church, 
 except that in one winter during the war, having 
 rented, a house near my other church (St Peter's), he 
 attended there. He was an antipode to those who are 
 in the habit of changing the places of their attend- 
 ance. When he left the presidency, it was here 
 thought, that of his many answers to addresses, the 
 most courteous was that to the vestry of Christ Church 
 and St Peter's. 
 
198 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 "I have been written to by several on the point of 
 your inquiry; and have been obliged to answer them 
 as I now do you. 
 
 "I am, respectfully, 
 
 " Your humble servant, 
 
 "Wm white." 
 
 The following notes from General Washington, 
 afford a pleasing evidence of the benevolence of his 
 feelings, of the purity of his motives in bestowing 
 charity, and of prudence in the mode of applying his 
 bounty. 
 
 "Philadelphia, December 31, 1793. 
 " Dear Sir ; 
 
 " It has been my intention ever since my return to 
 the city, to contribute my mite towards the relief of 
 the most needy inhabitants of it. The pressure of 
 public business hitherto has suspended, but not altered 
 my resolution. I am at a loss, however, for whose 
 benefit to apply the little I can give, and in whose 
 hands to place it; whether for the use of fatherless 
 children and widows, made so by the late calamity, 
 who may find it difficult, whilst provisions, wood and 
 other necessaries are so dear, to support themselves ; 
 or to other and better purposes, if any, I know not ; 
 and therefore have taken the liberty of asking your 
 advice. 
 
 " I persuade myself justice will be done to my mo- 
 tive for giving you this trouble. To obtain informa- 
 tion,, and to render the little I can afford, without os- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 199 
 
 tentation or mention of my name, are the sole objects 
 of these inquiries. With great and sincere esteem 
 and regard, I am, dear sir, &c. 
 
 "GEORGE WASHINGTON* 
 "To William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania." 
 
 " Philadelphia, -January 1, 1794. 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 " I have been favoured vi^ith tvs^o notes from you of 
 this date; the last in time to prevent the mistake 
 vi^hich the first would have led me into. 
 
 " The mode which you have suggested for impart- 
 ing the small pittance my resources will enable irie to 
 contribute towards the comfort of the needy in this 
 city, appears to be a very eligible one ; and as you 
 have been so obliging as to offer to place it in proper 
 hands for this purpose, I take the liberty of enclos- 
 ing two hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 "I have no desire that my name should be men- 
 tioned. If so small a sum can effect any good pur- 
 pose, my object will be answered, and all my wishes, 
 respecting it, gratified. 
 
 "I offer you the compliments of the season — the 
 happy return of many of them — and the sincere re- 
 spect and regard of, 
 
 " Dear sir, 
 "Your affectionate, humble servant, 
 
 "GEORGE WASHINGTON." 
 
 " The Right Reverend Dr White." 
 
 * Sparlvs's Writings of Washington, vol. 10, p. 389 
 
200 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 " Thursday Morning, January 2. 
 " The President presents his respectful regards to 
 Dr White. The benefit to be derived, and not the 
 merit of bestowing it, is the only motive which has 
 governed, in the case which has been the subject of 
 this correspondence; of course, to know from whence 
 it flowed, ought not to be an object of inquiry, and as 
 to conjectures, they are very immaterial. However, 
 as Dr White has a delicacy on the subject, the Presi- 
 dent did not intend, nor would by any means wound 
 it; he therefore leaves it to him (knowing the motives) 
 to accompany the contribution with such explanations 
 as he shall think fit." 
 
 The congregations under the Bishop's parochial 
 charge became so much enlarged, that it was thought 
 expedient, about the year 1806, to erect a new church 
 for their accommodation. The work was accordingly 
 undertaken; and the building was consecrated on the 
 1st of May 1809, by the name of St James's Church : 
 which was placed in parochial union under him, as 
 the rector, with the united churches of Christ Church 
 and St Peter's. This was the first new Episcopal 
 church erected in the city or liberties subsequent to 
 the revolution : but he had the satisfaction, before his 
 decease, of beholding eight other churches established 
 within those bounds; and, with one exception, that of 
 St Matthew's, Francisville, flourishing. On com- 
 mencing the building of St James's, he delivered an 
 address to the vestry, on the most advisable manner of 
 
LIFE OP BISHOP WHITE. 201 
 
 conducting such undertaking. The sentiments ex- 
 pressed are thought so prudent and judicious, as to 
 merit preservation and attention; and the address is 
 therefore inserted in the Appendix.* 
 
 The Church, in the mean time, advanced very 
 slov^lj, in other parts of the diocese. But early in the 
 year 1812, the Society for the Advancement of Chris- 
 tianity in Pennsylvania was formed. The Bishop 
 was made, ex officio, its president; and it received the 
 approbation and sanction of the state convention, which 
 sat in May 1812, a few weeks after the formation of 
 the society. It did not originate from the suggestion 
 of the Bishop himself, but from that of some of his 
 presbyters. But he cordially approved and aided in 
 its organization and subsequent proceedings. He felt 
 no jealousy, and showed no backwardness in support- 
 ing and promoting plans for extending and improving 
 the Church, because they were formed by others, 
 without his previous suggestion. In either case, he 
 embarked with equal readiness and zeal in the execu- 
 tion of them. The society, by employing and sup- 
 porting missionaries in different parts of the diocese, 
 has been, and continues, of signal benefit in enlarging 
 the Church in Pennsylvania. Many churches, now 
 flourishing, owe their existence to its care. 
 
 The number of clergy also had increased, and con- 
 tinued to do so. All the old parishes were supplied. 
 Many new ones were organized, and churches erected. 
 
 * Appendix No. VI. 
 
202. MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 The Church in Pennsylvania was improved and ex- 
 tended more rapidly. Its progress continued, without 
 any material check, to such an extent, that at the time 
 of the convention next before the decease of the Bishop 
 — ^that of 1836 — the number of the clergy belonging 
 to the diocese was eighty-six, and the number of con- 
 gregations ninety-one. The number of clergy in the 
 whole Church in the United States, reported to the 
 general convention of 1835, was seven hundred and 
 sixty-one. 
 
 Bishop White's attention was not confined to his 
 own diocese. He employed means for extending the 
 benefits of the Church to the western states and terri- 
 tories of our union. The first measures taken for the 
 establishment of the Church in Ohio, were commenced 
 by him and a few clerical associates in Philadelphia. 
 From conviction of the duty of extending some aid to 
 the members of the Episcopal communion beyond the 
 limits of the state, they instituted for that purpose, in 
 1816, a society under the name of "The Episcopal 
 Missionary Society of Philadelphia." A clergyman 
 was sent to take a journey into various parts of Ohio 
 (who visited also parts of Kentucky and Tennessee), 
 to preach, and to examine the state of it in reference 
 to religion, and the prospect of introducing there the 
 institutions of the Episcopal Church. There was, at 
 that time, not one Episcopal clergyman in the state. 
 The Bishop felt a deep interest in this plan. At several 
 times afterwards, clergymen were sent into Ohio, and 
 supported by the society. They were usefully em- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 203 
 
 ployed in organizing congregatione. These efforts 
 were continued until the establishment of the Domestic 
 and Foreign Missionary Society by the general conven- 
 tion; to whose care the matter was then trajisferred, 
 and the operations of the former society ceased. 
 The success which has attended the endeavours thus 
 commenced, is well known. The Church in Ohio 
 was in a few years organized as a diocese, with a resi- 
 dent bishop ; and it is now prosperous, and constantly 
 improving. The same society, during its existence, 
 extended its beneficence towards the supply of cate- 
 chists, in aid of the clergyman who had undertaken 
 the pastoral charge of the Episcopalian portion of the 
 colonists on the western coast of Africa. The zeal of 
 its members also moved them to digest a scheme of a 
 missionary society, to extend over the American union. 
 This design was submitted to, and approved by the 
 state convention of 1820, as a step towards submitting 
 it to the general convention to be soon afterwards as- 
 sembled: by which the General Domestic and Fo- 
 reign Missionary Society was first instituted.* 
 
 Even at an earlier period in the history of the 
 Church, his attention and exertions were directed to 
 the advancement of the Church in the western parts 
 of the United States. The measures for this purpose 
 were to be taken by him in conjunction with the 
 Bishop of Virginia, Dr Madison, in pursuance of reso- 
 
 * Journal of Pennsylvania of 1817, p. 8 ; 1818, pp. 8, 9 ; 1820, pp. 
 11, 12, 21 ; 1821, p. 10; Journal of the General Convention of 1817, p. 
 •26. 
 
204 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 lutions of the general convention. Very early after 
 the complete organization of the Church, that body 
 was desirous of providing for the w^est the benefits of 
 episcopal superintendence: and several plans for the 
 purpose were adopted at different periods. But so 
 great difficulties occurred, that neither of them could 
 be carried into execution. Those difficulties arose 
 from the death of Bishop Madison ; from the difficulty 
 of procuring a suitable person for the station; and 
 from the impracticability of providing means for his 
 support. The design was, however, still kept in view, 
 with a determination of effecting it whenever an op- 
 portunity could be obtained. It was at last accom- 
 plished in a different mode from either of those pre- 
 viously proposed, when a bishop was consecrated for 
 the diocese of Ohio; which rendered any further 
 proceedings on the other plans unnecessary. 
 
 The first associations in the Church for religious 
 objects, formed with the authority or approbation of 
 the Church, were, as we have seen, diocesan. But 
 the Church at large, throughout the United States, 
 was now rapidly improving ; and becoming more able, 
 in consequence of the increase of her clergy, and the 
 power of obtaining more ample means from the wealth 
 and liberality of her laity, to form and execute en- 
 larged plans of usefulness. From these circumstances 
 resulted the estabhshment of two very important in- 
 stitutions, by the authority of the general convention : 
 the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, and 
 the General Theological Seminary. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 205 
 
 It is not consistent with the design of this memoir 
 to enter into any details of the history and benefits of 
 these valuable institutions. Neither of them derived 
 its origin from the proposal of Bishop White in the 
 first instance, except so far as the former vs^as planned, 
 as already mentioned, by the Episcopal Missionary 
 Society of Philadelphia. But he took an active and 
 zealous part in the measures and consultations for 
 establishing and organizing both. As the missionary 
 society, first instituted in 1820, w^as located in Phila^ 
 delphia, and he was ex officio president of it, he ren- 
 dered a faithful and unwearied attention to the pro- 
 ceedings, not only of the society at large, but of the 
 committee charged with the active management of its 
 affairs ; and he continued in the same course until 
 after the general- convention of 1835, at which the 
 constitution of the society was altered : the church 
 herself being declared and constituted the society, and 
 the management of its affairs entrusted to a committee 
 for domestic missions and a committee for foreign 
 missions; both of which were soon located in New 
 York. 
 
 The first motion in convention for the institution of 
 a theological seminary was made by the deputies from 
 South Carolina in the general convention of 1814: 
 though it appears that Bishop Hobart had previously 
 formed the plan of an institution for the instruction of 
 candidates for orders, to be established at Springfield 
 in New Jersey. The motion was then negatived by 
 the house of deputies, and the subject was no farther 
 s* 
 
206 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 acte4 oil by that convention, than by directing inqui- 
 ries to be made in the several dioceses respecting the 
 opinions of the clergy and lay members of the church 
 on the propriety and practicability of the plan. But 
 at the succeeding convention in 1817 it was resolved 
 to establish a general seminary, to be located in New 
 York ; and a committee, of which Bishop White was 
 chairman, was appointed to carry it into execution ; 
 and its operations were commenced not long after- 
 wards. 
 
 On the question of the expediency of establishing a 
 general seminary, the bishop differed from the ma- 
 jority of his brethren. He preferred another plan — 
 that of instituting diocesan seminaries in as many of 
 the dioceses as were desirous of having them, and 
 were competent to provide for their support. His 
 reasons for this preference have been stated by him at 
 large in his Memoirs of the Church (2d edit. p. 237, 
 242). Notwithstanding that preference, however, 
 when it was resolved by the convention to establish a 
 general institution, he gave it his cordial aid and sup- 
 port ; under the impression that it ought to have a full 
 and fair trial. He was a party in all the measures 
 for establishing and organizing it. When, in conse- 
 quence of difficulties met with, as might be expected 
 in the early periods of so extensive an institution, 
 great doubts were entertained of its success, and the 
 expediency of diocesan seminaries became again a 
 subject of discussion during the convention of 1820, 
 he did not persevere in pressing his own opinions on 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 207 
 
 the subject, thougli thej do not seem to have been 
 changed. In a letter to Bishop Hobart, dated the 17th 
 of February 1821, he remarks — "You seem to think 
 that if my preference of diocesan schools, and objec- 
 tions to the other, had been urged at the last conven- 
 tion, they would have had weight. What reason 
 ■ have I to suppose this? My sentiments were deli- 
 vered at the convention of 1817, backed by the sanc- 
 tion of our state convention. They were again pre- 
 sented in my Memoirs, which had been read by many 
 of the convention of last May. It has always been 
 my practice not to be repeatedly obtruding my pecu- 
 liar views of a subject on any body of men, when their 
 decided sense has been declared against me — the 
 matter not involving sacrifice of principle." He after- 
 wards, from the period at which the seminary was 
 permanently located at New York in 1821, constantly 
 attended every stated meeting of the board of trustees, 
 which assembled in that city ; was present at every 
 annual examination and commencement ; and on five 
 occasions delivered, at the request of the faculty, the 
 address to the students. This constant and active in- 
 terest in its concerns was continued until the year 
 1830. At the commencement in July of that year he 
 informed the faculty that on account of his advanced 
 age (being then in his eighty-third y^ar) it would be 
 inconvenient for him to take so long a journey to at- 
 tend the examinations and other proceedings in New 
 York relative to the seminary. 
 
 At the period of his last attendance the seminary 
 
208 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 had attained a secure and prosperous condition ; and 
 had communicated their theological education to a 
 considerable portion of the clergy in the several dio- 
 ceses, who were generally acknowledged to be among 
 the most active and useful of the ministers of the 
 church. He remarked this prosperity, and rejoiced 
 in it. His whole course, indeed, in relation to the in- 
 stitution farther proves and illustrates a trait of his 
 character before mentioned — that without the least 
 jealousy or indifference he contributed his best aid to 
 the successful prosecution of any measures for promo- 
 ting the welfare of the church, though they origina- 
 ted with others, or were different from those which he 
 had himself preferred and advocated. His principles 
 and, motives on this subject may be given, as stated in 
 his own language, by a few extracts from his addresses 
 to the trustees, faculty and students of the seminary. 
 In that delivered in 1822 (which was the first), after 
 mentioning the invitation to him to be present on the 
 occasion, he proceeds : " I was the more easUy in- 
 duced to make a journey for the purpose, on account 
 of its being known to many, that while we wavered 
 between the comparative merits of two different plans, 
 I was in favour of that which preferred to a general 
 school the countenancing of local schools in whatever 
 dioceses it might be thought expedient to found them. 
 My principal reason was the apprehension entertained 
 that by multiplying the subjects of discussion to be 
 brought before our general conventions, extraneous to 
 the tie binding us together in the absolutely necessary 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 209 
 
 provisions of our ecclesiastical system, the danger of 
 future collisions of views and of opinions would be 
 proportionally increased. The contrary scheme having 
 obtained the stamp of the general sanction of the 
 church, the opposing suggestion should have no other 
 effect than to induce the greater caution against the 
 spirit of disunion, and to dispose us the more to look 
 up to God for the continuance of that tendency to 
 conciliation, which, under the influence of his grace, 
 has hitherto blessed our counsels. 
 
 " Of so happy an issue the prospect is the brighter 
 in consequence of the unforeseen alterations of the 
 constitution of the seminary, by the convention which 
 assembled in the last autumn ; and especially by its 
 being provided that the weight of influence of every 
 section of the union shall be proportioned to the num- 
 ber of clergymen therein, and to the extent of its con- 
 tributions to the fund. For as the general seminary 
 was established, and continues, with the allowance of 
 locally constituted schools, it appeared to me that 
 there would be essential injury to the former from in- 
 diff'erence in some departments, and from rivalship, 
 or perhaps hostility, in others ; for even the latter 
 ought to be supposed the possible result of the infir- 
 mity of human nature, acted on by local jealousies, if 
 not by a lurking desire of making inroads on our ec- 
 clesiastical institutions." 
 
 " Another feature of the ameliorated constitution, 
 tending to reconcile to the preference obtained by it 
 is the opening left for future branches of the institu- 
 
210 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tion. For although, in the opinion of the present 
 speaker, it is inexpedient to extend this provision 
 further than in the instance sanctioned* by the con- 
 ditions of the late compact, yet there wiU occur many 
 cases in which, on account of expense and severance 
 from family, it will be a reasonable accommodation to 
 young men to have opportunities near to their respec- 
 tive homes ; and, perhaps, the best expedient to this 
 effect would be individual professorships in different 
 places, with a view to the completing of education in 
 the general seminary. When there shall be means 
 competent to what is suggested, a beneficial effect 
 will be the lessening of inducements to theological 
 instruction under clergymen designated by private 
 partiality, who may not always be equal to the trust. 
 That the proposed enlargement of the plan on the 
 principles provided by the constitution will tend to 
 the preventing and the removing of local jealousies 
 must be obvious." 
 
 In his fifth address, delivered in 1829, he remarks, 
 at its commencement : " On this eighth anniversary 
 of your being assembled your president has the honour 
 of taking his seat among you the eighth time; having 
 on every preceding occasion anticipated that in future 
 his non-attendance would be held excusable on ac- 
 count of his advanced age. That he has still yielded 
 to solicitations to be again present at your delibera- 
 tions, is perhaps partly owing to the circumstance 
 
 * Alluding to a branch school established, for some years, at Geneva, 
 in New York. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 211 
 
 that at the period of the organization of the institution, 
 having thought with the few who favoured the en- 
 couragement of the establishment of as many semina- 
 ries as there may be dioceses competent to the found- 
 ing and the supporting of them, and having yielded 
 to the then almost universal opinion in favour of a 
 general seminary, with the pledge of his zealous en- 
 deavours towards the promoting of its success, he has 
 thought it the more incumbent on him to avoid .what- 
 ever may be considered as a lessening of the interest 
 taken by him in the concerns of the institution." 
 
 When General La Fayette visited the United States 
 in 1824, Bishop White was found by him to be one 
 of the few survivors of those with whom he had 
 formed an acquaintance during the war of the revo- 
 lution. The recollection of their intercourse at that 
 period, and the bishop's connection with many public 
 bodies who testified their respect for the general by 
 calls and addresses, brought them very frequently 
 together; which gave the most full opportunities of 
 observing the general's feelings and deportment. In 
 a letter to his friend Bishop Hobart, then in Europe, 
 Dr White gives the following statement on the sub- 
 ject, very honourable to La Fayette. The letter is 
 dated the 14th of October 1824. "There will doubt- 
 less appear in the English papers the accounts of the 
 reception of General La Fayette. On no occasion 
 whatever have I witnessed an enthusiasm so univer- 
 sally extended. My relations to many religious, lite- 
 rary and charitable institutions, and, added to them, a 
 
212 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 degree of acquaintance with him nearly half a century 
 ago, have thrown me in the way of seeing much of him 
 during his late visit to our city; and I must do "him 
 the justice to testify that he sustained the honours 
 showered on him with singular moderation and mo- 
 desty." 
 
 After La Fayette's death an eulogium was publicly 
 delivered in Philadelphia by Peter S. Duponceau, 
 Esquire, and was preceded by religious services per- 
 formed by Bishop White.* On the succeeding day 
 the following notes passed between the bishop and 
 Mr Duponceau, relating a fact deemed by both hon- 
 ourable to the general's character. 
 
 "July 22, 1834. 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 " At our parting yesterday, I referred to an incident 
 respecting General La Fayette, which seemed not to 
 have come to your knowledge, or to have escaped your 
 recollection. 
 
 " There is at this moment, under my eye, the Jour- 
 nal of Congress of Monday, March 24, 1783, in which 
 it is recorded that there was laid before them a letter 
 of February 3d, from the Marquis De La Fayette, 
 announcing a general peace, and a copy of orders 
 given by the Count D'Estaing, vice-admiral of France, 
 to the Chevalier Du Quesne, commander of the cor- 
 vette ' Triumph,' despatched from Cadiz the 6th of 
 February last, for the purpose of putting a stop to all 
 hostilities at sea. The journal goes on to record a 
 
 * They are in the Appendix, No. VII. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 213 
 
 resolve of Congress directing the agenj of marine, to 
 recall all armed vessels cruising under commissions 
 from the United States. It w^as well known at the 
 time, that the above despatch was of the procuring of 
 the marquis. 
 
 " The incident has always appeared to me evidence, 
 not only of his Americanism, but of his humanity. 
 For who can tell how many lives, and how much pro- 
 perty were saved by so timely a measure ? 
 
 "At the time of General La Fayette's last visit to 
 this country, when there were so many praises of him 
 in our papers, I wondered that nothing was said of 
 the meritorious act now presented. Accordingly, I 
 drew up something to the purpose, and caused it to 
 be printed in one of the papers — I think Mr Poulson's. 
 
 " Perhaps the information now given is needless ; 
 but it has arisen out of the circumstance stated in the 
 beginning. 
 
 " I am, respectfully, 
 
 "Your humble servant, 
 
 "Wm white." 
 
 "Philadelphia, July 22, 1834. 
 "Right Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 " I am exceedingly obliged to you for the letter with 
 which you have honoured me this morning. It has 
 brought fresh to my recollection facts which were 
 well known to iiQ^e at the time, since I was then em- 
 ployed in the department of foreign affairs. I well 
 remember, now, the news coming to the department 
 
214 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 at the time you mention, that is, in the latter part of 
 March, though peace was not proclaimed until the 
 11th of April, on the receipt of an official letter from 
 Dr Franklin, conveying the same intelligence. How 
 the fa,ct did not occur to my memory, in preparing 
 the hasty eulogium of La Fayette which I delivered 
 yesterday, I can only account for by my desire of 
 making as short a narrative as possible, and condens- 
 ing my matter to the utmost. I acknowledge, with 
 you, that the circumstance should have been men- 
 tioned; you have presented it in a point of view that 
 had never struck me ; and yet which is very impor- 
 tant ; for nothing can be more certain than that many 
 valuable lives were saved by the timely information 
 received from General La Fayette. It is not astonish- 
 ing that this fact should have remained strongly im- 
 pressed upon your mind, constantly employed upon 
 religion and its cognate subjects, philanthropy and 
 humanity. ^- 
 
 " That you may live long to diffuse those sentiments 
 among mankind, and to improve us by your precepts 
 and your example, is the constant wish of him who 
 has the honour to be, 
 
 " With the truest respect and veneration, 
 " Right reverend and dear sir, 
 "Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 "PETER S. DU PONCEAU." 
 
 Notwithstanding the Bishop's advanced age, being 
 rn his seventy-seventh year, he undertook a long jour- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 215 
 
 ney, in October 1824, to visit the parishes in the west- 
 ern parts of his diocese, and others in the intermediate 
 counties. He expected to consecrate four churches 
 west of the Alleghany mountains, and one at Lewis- 
 town on the Juniata ; and to hold confirmations in 
 them and others. He reached Lewistown, and con- 
 secrated the church there; but on the next day, at 
 the distance of a mile from that place, his progress 
 was prevented by a dangerous accident. The horse 
 taking fright ran ; the gentleman driving was thrown 
 out, and lost the reins : the Bishop, who remained in 
 the gig, recovered them by the aid of the whip, and 
 nearly checked the horse ; but the animal was again 
 frightened, and could not be restrained. Within a 
 short distance, the Bishop was thrown out; which 
 caused a simple fracture of his right wrist, and several 
 lacerations of his face. Owing to valuable medical 
 assistance, gratuitously rendered to him ; to the sym- 
 pathy and good offices of many estimable inhabitants 
 of Lewistown; to the important attentions of his fellow 
 traveller, the Rev. Mr Kemper, and to the care of two 
 of the members of his own family, who hastened to 
 him, he was enabled, through the good providence of 
 God, to reach home on the fifteenth day from the fall. 
 He was detained for only four Sundays afterwards 
 from the pulpit. The ease and speedwith which he 
 recovered, were unexpected by his attending physi- 
 cians, who thought they manifested an uncommon 
 vigour of constitution, at so advanced an age. On the 
 30th of May following, he again set out on a journey 
 
216 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 to the western counties, with the same views ; and ex- 
 tended it, at the request of Bishop Moore, as far as 
 Wheeling, in Virginia; punctually fulfilling all his 
 engagements. He returned in health and safety, after 
 a journey of about eight hundred and thirty miles, on 
 the 10th of July. In the autumn of the next year 
 (1826), he took another long journey on official duties, 
 into the Beech Woods, in the north eastern counties 
 of the state; the distance travelled being about four 
 hundred miles.* After an assistant bishop was con- 
 secrated, in 1827, the care of the remoter churches 
 was entrusted to him ; Dr White confining his epis- 
 copal duties to the city of Philadelphia and its neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 Until a very late period of his life. Bishop White 
 met with no painful incidents in the government of 
 his diocese^ So great and universal was the respect 
 felt for his character, and the persuasion of his sincere 
 and disinterested regard for the welfare of the Church, 
 and so warm was the affection entertained for himself 
 personally, both by the clergy and laity, that no desire 
 to oppose his wishes, and no dissatisfaction with his 
 conduct towards them, had been manifested, nor pro- 
 bably felt. But at the late period now alluded to, 
 difficulties occurred in the diocese, which caused 
 much dissension, and continued to disturb its peace 
 for several years. From them the Bishop experienced 
 more uneasiness than from any other incidents of his 
 
 * Journal of Pennsylvania for 1825, 1826 and 1827, in his Annual 
 Addresses. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 217 
 
 life. And so he declared, on looking back upon them 
 some time afterwards, when they had been in a con- 
 siderable measure removed. On a visit of sympathy 
 and condolence which he paid to a lady with whose 
 family, as well as with herself, he had long maintained 
 a friendly intercourse, this fact was feelingly expressed 
 by him. In the course of conversation, the lady in- 
 quired his exact age. He answered with much ani- 
 mation : " I now claim to be an octogenarian, as I en- 
 tered my eightieth year last April." "You are no 
 doubt ready," continued the lady, "to say with the 
 patriarch, few and evil have been the days of your 
 pilgrimage." "I am not prepared to say any such 
 thing," was his prompt reply; "for although I have 
 suffered bereavements" (and he named his wife and 
 children, from whom he had been separated by death), 
 "this is the common lot: and if one day was marked 
 by affliction, another was filled with blessings. My 
 severest trials have been, of late years :" and in hia 
 usual mild manner he alluded to the difficulties in the 
 diocese. 
 
 The Bishop has left among his manuscripts a full 
 account of the origin and causes of these difficulties, 
 accompanied by all the documents relating to them. 
 But with characteristic forbearance, and prudent re- 
 gard for the harmony of the church, he has left with 
 it the following direction : " In the case of my decease 
 it is my wish that no use may be made of the within, 
 unless needful for the repelling of any attack on my 
 reputation, or to meet any tendency to the disorgani- 
 J* 
 
218 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 zing of the church, originating in the transactions 
 ■recorded." At the time when he first commenced the 
 preparation of the account which he has left, his 
 thought was, to use his own language, " that consi- 
 dering my advanced years, I have little prospect of 
 witnessing the end of the evil." Providence, how- 
 ever, ordered otherwise. He had the satisfaction,..'be- 
 fore his, death, of seeing the harmony of the church 
 in his diocese restored. The troubles took place 
 principally in the years 1826 and 1827 ; and I find, 
 annexed to the account referred to, the following re- 
 marks, dated the 25th of May 1830. " During our 
 diocesan convention in May of the last year evidence 
 appeared of the decrease of tendency to disorder, which 
 had been manifested in some preceding sessions. In 
 that recently closed there have been stronger marks 
 of the same decline. For this I lift my heart in gra- 
 titude to God, and with prayer for the increase of it." 
 And in a letter to Bishop Hobart, dated the 12th of 
 June 1829, he remarks : " If the issue of the late con- 
 vention was a subject of joy to you, it must be pre- 
 sumed to be much more so to me. Having enjoyed 
 the harmony of the diocese through so long a course 
 of years, it was matter of some lamentation to me that 
 I should at last leave it in a distracted state ; which I 
 thought would assuredly be the issue of certain late 
 contests. When the convention met, what I had 
 principally at heart, although I was by no means as- 
 sured of success, was the carrying of certain changes 
 in the constitution. What added to the danger of 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 219 
 
 defeat was, that ! one of the changes* would deprive 
 some of the clergy of their seats in the convention. 
 Great was my surprise when, in the giving in of the 
 result, it appeared that v/e had the overwhelming 
 majority of about two-thirds of the clergy, and of 
 about two in three of the laity." 
 
 To enter at large into a detail of these transactions, 
 and thereby endanger the revival of feelings which 
 have been so happily calmed, would be as much op- 
 posed to the inclination of the present writer as to the 
 wishes of the Bishop above expressed. But since 
 they became connected with, and had a great influ- 
 ence upon, an event of much importance to the dio- 
 cese — the election of an assistant bishop, a brief 
 account of them is needful; confining the state- 
 ment, however, to the leading facts publicly known. 
 There were two subjects to which they had a relation : 
 
 * By the fourth section of the state constitution, as altered at that 
 convention, " The bishop and assistant bishop, if there be one, shall have 
 a seat and vote in convention. Every clerg[yman of the church, of what- 
 ever order, being a. settled minister of some parish within this state, or 
 being a president, professor, tutor or instructor in some college, academy 
 or seminary of learning, incorporated by law, or being a missionary 
 under the direction of the ecclesiastical authority of this diocese, or a 
 chaplain of the navy or army of the United States, shall be entitled to a 
 seat and vote in the convention, if he has been actually and personally, 
 as well as canonically, resident within this state for the space of twelve 
 calendar months next before the meeting of the convention, and has for 
 the same period been employed in performing the duties of his station ;" 
 with certain provisos relative to temporary absence, and advanced age or 
 sickness. Previously "all the clergy'' of the diocese were entitled to 
 seats. 
 
220 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 First, that two associations were formed, in 1824, by- 
 some of the clergy of the diocese, for ecclesiastical 
 purposes, without any connection with the bishop; 
 one of them being designed to provide for and con- 
 duct the preparatory education of candidates for orders, 
 who were afterwards to be sent, for their theological 
 instruction, to a seminary in another diocese, then 
 regarded as a rival institution to the general theolo- 
 gical seminary established by and under the control 
 of the general convention ; the other for the employ- 
 ment of missionaries in the diocese : both of which 
 were disapproved by the bishop and the other clergy. 
 Second, personal disrespect to the bishop, and inju- 
 rious charges against him. 
 
 The first public manifestation of feeling leading to 
 much dissension, which need be now mentioned, oc- 
 curred after the diocesan convention of 1825. The 
 The forty-fifth canon of 1808, for the purpose of ob- 
 taining a full and accurate view of the state of the 
 church, required that every minister " shall presenter 
 forward, at every annual convention, to the bishop of 
 the diocese, or, where there is no bishop, to the presi- 
 dent of the convention, a statement of the number of 
 baptisms, marriages and funerals, and of the number 
 of communicants in his parish or church, and of all 
 other matters that may throw light on the state of the 
 same ; and these parochial reports shall be read and 
 entered on the journals of the convention." By a re- 
 solution passed by the above mentioned convention, 
 on the last day of the session, it was directed " that 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 221 
 
 the parochial reports handed in at the present con- 
 vention shall be placed in the hands of the bishop of 
 the diocese, to be acted upon by him in the same 
 manner, previously to their publication, as if they had 
 been regularly transmitted to him before the meeting 
 of the convention, according to the forty-fifth canon."* 
 This was the course thought by them most agreeable 
 to the terms of the canon, and it had been pursued in 
 several other dioceses. The bishop deemed it his 
 d uty to strike out parts of some of the reports, which 
 appeared not to be within the design of the canon, 
 before he could take the responsibility of returning 
 them to the secretary of the convention for publi- 
 cation. His reasons for so doing are thus stated by 
 himself: 
 
 " The late diocesati convention have devolved on 
 me the delicate task of an examination of the paro- 
 chial statements ; on the principle that they ought to 
 have gone through my hands, agreeably to the forty- 
 fifth canon. This has thrown on me a responsibility, 
 under which I cannot consent to be the organ of any 
 matter not coming within the intendment of the canon ; 
 and much less of any thing contrary to sound doc- 
 trine or to the order of the church. The statements 
 have been returned to the secretary with alterations, 
 of which the reason shall be given. 
 
 " Before my entry on the duty I endeavoured to 
 inform myself, from the diocesan journals, of the prac- 
 
 * Journal Penn., 1825, p. 40. 
 
222 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tice in other dioceses; when I found that in New 
 York, in New Jersey and in Maryland, the bishops 
 are the reporters. In the two Carolinas and in Ohio 
 the reports stand on the authority of the parochial 
 ministers, but are confined to facts. In Connecticut, 
 without mention from whom the report comes, they 
 are given in collateral columns ; and are confined to 
 the naked facts of the number of communicants, bap- 
 tisms, marriages, funerals and families. ' Of Virginia 
 and the eastern diocese I have not any journals, since 
 those committed by me to the conventional collection 
 of the union. 
 
 " As some of the members of the late convention 
 were of opinion that every parochial minister should 
 be privileged to put into his statement whatever, in 
 his judgment, may throw light on the state of religion 
 in his parish, I take occasion to set' down the follow- 
 ing objections to that opinion : 
 
 " First. It is contrary to the design of the forty- 
 fifth canon ; which requires its passing through the 
 hands of the bishop ; who may be required, not only 
 to have an agency in what may be contrary to his 
 conscience in matters of opinion, but to give his sanc- 
 tion to what he knows to be untrue. This would 
 would have happened had he been of the party to a 
 statement which may be seen on the journal of the 
 convention of 1822, pp. 22', 23. The object of the 
 person who presented the statement was to induce 
 the persuasion that the success of the measures for the 
 building of a church in Southwark was the conse- 
 
LIFB OF BISHOP WHITE. 223 
 
 quence of a blessing poured out on his ministerial 
 labours. There would not have been a failure of the 
 design had his name never been heard vp^ithin the 
 district. 
 
 " Second. If there should be any minister among 
 us who, from the impulse of vanity, may wish to 
 magnify himself, a conventional journal will be an 
 engine convenient to his purpose ; which will be much 
 to the discredit of the church. 
 
 ' ' Third. A consequence may be that some ministers, 
 from zeal for the propagating of opinions, or for the 
 sanctioning of practices not known in the institutions 
 of our church, will press the journals into their ser- 
 vice ; which will pervert them to the propagating of 
 error. 
 
 " Fourth. A consequence of this will probably be, 
 that other ministers will be induced to balance the 
 errors by statements of opposite truths ; and thus the 
 journals may become an arena of religious controversy. 
 Are there not provocations to it, sufficiently numerous, 
 without this? 
 
 " Fifth. The object of the reports is the furnishing 
 of the general convention with a view of the state of 
 the church in the several dioceses. If the journal of 
 any diocese should contain matter foreign to the ob- 
 ject, it will at least be a lessening of respectability. 
 If there should be material error on its pages, there is 
 no knowing to what extent of animadversion and con- 
 troversy it may lead. 
 
 " Sixth. It is here supposed, concerning the inser- 
 
224 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tions objected to, that they will be defended, not on 
 the ground of the forty-fifth canon, but on an addition 
 to the intenidment of it in a resolve of the state con- 
 vention, entered on the twenty-eighth page of the 
 journal of 1822.* If, under the cover of this, there 
 should be introduced any matter rendering the infor- 
 formation not merely more particular, but of a com- 
 plexion which cannot be supposed to have been con- 
 templated by the general convention, it would be 
 improper to defend such matter by the authority of 
 that body. By this the bishop should be governed ; 
 regarding the resolution so far as it exacted greater 
 minuteness under the proper heads ; but disregarding 
 any doings of a tendency conceived by him to have 
 been not contemplated by the principal instrument; 
 which is certainly of higher authority than a resolve 
 of the diocesan convention." He then proceeds to 
 state the reasons for the particular alterations (which 
 consisted solely of omissions) ; but it is unnecessary 
 here to introduce them. 
 
 Dissatisfaction with the course taken by the bishop 
 was expressed by some of the clergy engaged in the 
 associations mentioned in a preceding page; and a 
 piece, written by one of them, appeared in a weekly 
 religious periodical in the city of Philadelphia, deny- 
 ing the power of the bishop to make any alterations 
 
 * " Resolved, In order to give effect to the forty-fifth canon of the 
 general convention, that, in presenting their parochial reports, the clergy 
 are hereby recommended to bring forward whatever facts may exhibit the 
 state of religion in their respective parishes." 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 225 
 
 in the reports of the parochial clergy ; and apparently 
 charging him with "lording it over God's heritage." 
 Those words were indeed introduced ,in the way of 
 general remark, without an explicit application of 
 them to him ; but the connection led clearly, it was 
 thought, to such an application ; which was farther 
 confirmed by some facts communicated to him. After 
 some months the writer of the piece publicly dis- 
 claimed the intention of treating the bishop with dis- 
 respect ; but his language in relation to the charge 
 insinuated in the words above mentioned was thought 
 ambiguous at least, and therefore unsatisfactory. The 
 same course, however, was pursued by the Bishop 
 with the parochial reports at subsequent conventions, 
 without any opposition. And, on a revision of the 
 canons by the general convention in 1832, the power 
 was defined, by canon fifty-one, in more explicit terms; 
 and agreed with that which he had exercised. 
 
 The dissensions, commencing from the foregoing 
 circumstances, were increased, and with much greater 
 excitement of feeling, in consequence of the adoption 
 of measures for the election of an assistant bishop. 
 Though Dr White took the first formal step in the 
 execution of this design, he was not led to it by his 
 own desire of being relieved from any duties, by being 
 provided with an assistant ; but by a belief that many 
 of the clergy, both of those who agreed with him in 
 the principles of his ecclesiastical government, and of 
 those who dissented from him, thought that the wel- 
 fare of the diocese required the election of an assistant 
 u 
 
226 MEMOIR or THE 
 
 bishop; as Dr White, from his advanced age — from 
 the territorial extent of his diocese — from the increase 
 of the episcopal duties in consequence of the enlarged 
 number of the clergy and congregations — and from 
 being incumbered with a parochial charge, was not 
 able to perform all the services which the improved 
 state of the diocese demanded. Having laid the sub- 
 ject before his council of advice, and received their 
 approbation and recommendation of the measure, he 
 called a special convention for the purpose, to meet in 
 October 1826. His views and motives having been 
 fully stated by himself, in two addresses delivered at 
 that convention, one at the commencement and the 
 other at the close of its session, they are inserted in the 
 Appendix.* He took no active part, and used no in- 
 fluence, in the selection of a presbyter for nomination : 
 though he afterwards voted for the one selected by his 
 friends, t 
 
 To the causes of dissension previously existing, 
 were added, when the convention assembled, a diifer- 
 ence of opinion relative to the presbyter so selected, 
 and an apprehension, in some members, that an elec- 
 tion might be made, favourable to the support of the 
 same principles of 'government which wfere approved 
 by the present bishop. The clergy opposed to them 
 proposed therefore for nomination a presbyter of an- 
 other diocese.J And when the votes of the clerical 
 
 * Appendix, No. VIII. f The Author of this Memoir. 
 
 I The Rev. Dr Meade, now assistant bishop of Virginia. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 227 
 
 order were taken, it was found that a majority of them 
 was not given in favour of either of the individuals 
 proposed. No nomination, therefore, could be made 
 by them for the assent and approbation of the laity. 
 Further proceedings on the subject were postponed 
 until the next annual convention, which was to meet 
 at Harrisburg in May 1827, 
 
 In the interval between the special and stated con- 
 ventions, the excitement continued. The measures 
 taken in reference to the expected election will not be 
 here detailed, for the reasons already stated. At the 
 convention in May, the Bishop's friends had a majo- 
 rity of one in the order of clergy, and a small majority 
 of the congregations. Under such circumstances, it 
 was not in the power of the clergy to nominate to the 
 laity a presbyter belonging to the diocese; as the loss 
 of his vote — since he could not with propriety consent 
 to give it in his own favour — would prevent a majority 
 on either side. Tlie Rev. Dr Meade had, in the in- 
 terval between the two conventions, declared his un- 
 willingness to be again proposed : and the name of the 
 other presbyter was understood to be likewise with- 
 drawn. The election resulted in the choice of the 
 Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk, a presbyter of the diocese 
 of New York, by a majority of one of the clergy, and 
 two or three of the congregations. Mr Onderdonk 
 had no previous knowledge of the intention to propose 
 him : the design of so doing being indeed not suggested, 
 until after the convention had assembled. But having 
 considered the subject for some time, and being in- 
 
228 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 formed and satisfied that the peace of the diocese re- 
 quired his acceptance of the office, he was persuaded 
 to give his consent. His consecration, after some in- 
 effectual opposition, took place in October 1827 ; and 
 he became assistant to Bishop White. He has now 
 succeeded him as diocesan; acting in both stations 
 with much prudence, conciliation and ability. In the 
 course of a few years, the general harmony of the dio- 
 cese was happily restored. 
 
 Soon after the late Bishop Hobart was settled as an 
 assistant minister in Trinity parish. New York, a cor- 
 respondence commenced between Bishop White and 
 him, which became more frequent, familiar and free, 
 after they were associated in the government of the 
 Episcopal Church in the United States in conse- 
 quence of the election of the latter in 1811 to be 
 assistant bishop of New York, and continued until his 
 decease in 1830. This is the only extensive corre- 
 spondence of the subject of this Memoir which I have 
 obtained, or know to exist; except the various letters 
 relative to the measures for the first organization of 
 the Church ; the purport of which has been sufficiently 
 stated by himself in his Memoirs of the Church. 
 Letters, or extracts from letters from him to Bishop 
 Hobart, which are thought suited to the design of this 
 Memoir — of which there are not many — are inserted 
 in the Appendix.* The greater part of the corre- 
 spondence relates to particular cases which arose, and 
 
 * Appendix, No. IX. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 229 
 
 on which he was consulted; and contains opinions on 
 the interpretation of the constitution and canons ap- 
 plicable to some of those cases. The letters or ex- 
 tracts selected are of a different kind ; adapted to illus^ 
 trate, in some measure, the character and principles 
 of the subject of this Memoir, or containing his 
 thoughts on some points of general interest. 
 
 Between these two very eminent men, the greatest 
 confidence, respect and affection existed, founded on 
 an intimate knowledge of each other for a long period. 
 Both were possessed of great abilities and information, 
 and of equal attachment to the Church. But in the 
 character of their dispositions and minds there was a 
 great diversity, and even, in some particulars, a con- 
 trast. And it is believed that greater benefits hence 
 resulted to the Church from their union and mutual 
 assistance in her councils. They were well qualified 
 to give effectual aid to each other, in forming and exe- 
 cuting designs for promoting her peace and prosperity, 
 and securing her purity in doctrine, discipline and 
 worship: and the ardour, energy, promptness and 
 decision of the one were tempered and guided by the 
 great experience, cool judgment, caution, calm pru- 
 dence and firmness of the other. On several very 
 interesting subjects of theology and church govern- 
 ment, they differed in opinion; Dr White having 
 formed his theological views, after full examination, 
 and on clear conviction, upon the model of those of the 
 low church divines — as they were called in England 
 —of the established church in that country; while 
 
230 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Dr Hobart was inclined to the opposite system. 
 They freely, and often earnestly, maintained their 
 opposing sentiments, with little effect on each other's 
 persuasion, and without, in the smallest degree, dimin- 
 ishing their mutual esteem and friendship. 
 
 The parish of which Dr White had been so long 
 rector, consisted, as we have seen, of three congrega- 
 tions, united under one charter of incorporation. The 
 union had originally been the result of certain circum- 
 stances in the condition of the Episcopal churches 
 here, which were thought to render it necessary for 
 avoiding the danger of dissensions, which would other- 
 wise very probably arise. The two churches, Christ 
 Church and St Peter's, of which the parish was com- 
 posed previous to the completion of St James's in 
 1809, were built a considerable time before the revo- 
 lution. Christ Church, the oldest, having been found 
 insufficient for the accommodation of the increased 
 congregation belonging to it, a new one became ne- 
 cessary; and it was built about the year 1759, by 
 their common contributions. The question whether 
 the new church should form a distinct parish, or 
 should be united in one with the old church, appears 
 to have been considered by the vestry. The existing 
 rector of Christ Church, Dr Jenney, advocated their 
 union ; apprehending that if independent rectors were 
 appointed rivalship would be excited, and inconveni- 
 ences and dissensions might occur, for which there 
 would be no adequate remedy. The church was 
 destitute of the advantage of episcopal superinten- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 231 
 
 dence, and consequently without any acknowledged 
 superior authority, by which the controversies between 
 the contending parties could be decided or composed. 
 These dangers he thought might be avoided by pla- 
 cing both under the same rector, with an assistant 
 minister. His sentiments were communicated in a 
 letter to the vestry. They seem to have been satis- 
 factory, and his plan was adopted.* The parish was, 
 many years after, farther enlarged, as we have seen, 
 on the erection of St James's Church. But now the 
 former dangers, to avoid which the union was recom- 
 mended and adopted, were removed, as the church 
 enjoyed the full benefit of the episcopal authority ; 
 while serious evils of another kind had been long ex- 
 perienced, especially in the great obstructions to the 
 efficient performance of parochial duties in so exten- 
 sive a parish, whose members lived in very dispersed 
 situations, and whose rector and assistant ministers 
 had an equal and undivided connection with all of 
 them. These inconveniences led to a proposal for the 
 separation of the three churches into distinct parishes ; 
 which was accordingly effected at different periods : 
 St James's being first separated from the other two, 
 and afterwards St Peter's from Christ Church. But 
 the respect and affection of all the congregations for 
 the Bishop were too strong to allow of the dissolution 
 of his connection with either of them as their rector. 
 He was continued, therefore, in that relation to the 
 
 * Episcopal Magazine for October 1820, pp. 305, 308. 
 
232 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 three separate parishes, with an assistant appropriated 
 to each, and designed to succeed him therein as rec- 
 tor after his decease. 
 
 He was now at a very advanced period of life. 
 The marks of age and bodily infirmity became very 
 visible ; yet he was still able to attend to various ac- 
 tive duties, and continued regularly to preach in one 
 or other of his churches once on every Lord's day.* 
 But there was no apparent decay of his intellect. 
 His sound judgment, and powers of reflection and 
 reasoning, continued unimpaired. The pastoral letter 
 of the house of bishops, at the general convention of 
 1835, was prepared by him (as all the preceding let- 
 ters had been), and also publicly read to both houses 
 at the close of the session. He still frequently wrote 
 pieces for insertion in the periodical publications ; 
 and on two very interesting occasions — one of which 
 was thought by him to have a most serious and un- 
 happy influence on the religious welfare of the pub- 
 lic at large, and the other had engaged the deep and 
 lively feelings of the great body of the church over 
 which he presided — he prepared an address and a 
 letter of instructions, which gave ample proofs of the 
 truth of the fact just stated, and also of his unwearied 
 and unintermitted attention to whatever was demanded 
 by the duties of his station. For this reason, as well 
 
 * The last occasion was on Sunday, June 26, 1836, at St Peter's, 
 when he preached the sermon, " Of the Gospel Sword," from Hebrews, 
 ch. 4, V. 12 (No. LXXIV. in the sermons arranged for publication) ; 
 written, however, many years before. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 233 
 
 as for the importance of their contents, they are here 
 introduced. 
 
 The first of them was occasioned by the will of Mr 
 Girard, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia, who di- 
 rected a very considerable part of his immense pro- 
 perty, devised to the corporation of the city, to be ap- 
 propriated by them to the establishment of a college 
 for the maintenance and education of a large number 
 of orphan boys. This charity was in itself highly 
 laudable ; but it was incumbered by a provision con- 
 tained in the will prohibiting the admission of any 
 clergyman of any denomination within the walls of 
 the college ; and also, as was thought, excluding, at 
 least by strong implication, all religious instruction, 
 by explicitly providing for only a moral education. 
 The evil tendency of such an institution, communica- 
 ting only literary and scientific knowledge, and thereby 
 enlarging abilities which, most probably, would be 
 applied to mischievous purposes, unless accompanied 
 and regulated by religious principles instilled into the 
 minds of the pupils — these being the only effectual 
 security for the direction of the former to their proper 
 uses — forcibly struck the Bishop's mind ; and he felt 
 himself called on by his station to use his influence to 
 counteract the evil. He therefore prepared, and pub- 
 lished in the public papers, an address to the select 
 and common councils of the city, with a view to per- 
 suade them not to accept the trust. The passage of 
 the will and the address are as follows : 
 
234 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Clause of the will : " I enjoin and require that no 
 ecclesiastic, missionary or minister, of any sect what- 
 soever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty 
 whatever in the said college ; nor shall any such per- 
 son ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, 
 within the premises appropriated to the purposes of 
 the said college. In making this restriction, I do not 
 mean to cast any reflection upon any sect or person 
 whatsoever ; but as there is such a multitude of sects, 
 and such a diversity of opinion amongst them, I de- 
 sire to keep the tender minds of the orphans, who are 
 to derive advantage from this bequest, free from the 
 excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian 
 controversy are so apt to produce. My desire is that 
 all the instructors and teachers in the college shall 
 take pains to instil into the minds of the scholars the 
 purest principles of morality, so that, on their entrance 
 into active life, they may, from inclination and habit, 
 evince benevolence towards their fellow creatures, 
 and a love of truth, sobriety and industry, adopting 
 at the same time such religious tenets as their ma- 
 tured reason may enable them to prefer." 
 
 The address .• " An opinion respectfully oflFered to 
 the members of the city council, on the question of 
 their acceptance of the legacy of Stephen Girard, 
 Esquire, for the founding and supporting of a literary 
 institution for the education of orphans. 
 
 " It has been a subject of controversy, whether, in 
 the administering of the civil concerns of a commu- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 235 
 
 nity, there should be the introduction of the sanctions 
 of religion, or they should not rather be left to the re- 
 ligious principle in the minds of men. The latter 
 part of this alternative has been held by some, not 
 from hostility to religion, but because of the abuses 
 of it, which have been to the worst of worldly pur- 
 poses. 
 
 " The notions of men of this sort have been consi- 
 dered as visionary, and have never been consistenlly 
 acted on ; and it has been thought necessary in the 
 construction of every civil community, to apply the 
 religious principle to the accomplishing of its right- 
 eous views. In Pennsylvania, in particular, the first 
 legislative act of its founder was to affirm the being 
 of a God, and the divine authority of the Christian 
 religion. Accordingly these have been held as part 
 of the law of the land, and have been recognized as 
 such by our courts of justice. 
 
 " In general, when the cause of atheism has been 
 maintained, it has not been in an endeavour to prove 
 that there is no God. The atheist is not bound to 
 this. The positive side of the argument is thrown on 
 the theist. If his adversary can show, either that the 
 proofs are insufficient, or can prove of the whole sub- 
 ject that it has not, of necessity, a moral influence on 
 the concerns of men, his cause is triumphant. 
 
 "Under the latter part of this alternative atheism 
 obtrudes itself in disguise. Moral conduct, says the 
 insidious betrayer, rests on the immutable foundation 
 of reason, and on its subserviency to our present satis- 
 
236 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 factions : why not then commit it to its correspondent 
 motive of the desire of happiness, and of preference 
 of the means which the best promote it ? 
 
 " Perhaps as dangerous an argument as ever was 
 published in favour of this theory is that which may 
 be seen under the name of ' A Moral Dialogue,' in 
 the last volume of the Works of the Ring of Prussia. 
 There is not in it a word in denial of the being of 
 God, or of a future state, or of the like motives of hu- 
 man conduct. The production is here spoken of 
 under the recollection of what was read in it many 
 years ago. The writer of this cannot be mistaken 
 when he states, that in the various shapes in which 
 it puts forth its reasonings, it consistently adheres to 
 the theory of the sufficiency of the natural desire of 
 man to obtain his highest happiness, and of his know- 
 ledge of the most direct means to it. The most diffi- 
 cult part of the operation of the author was the recon- 
 ciling of his scheme to what are the results of the 
 consciousness of the mind in its retirement from hu- 
 man view. The censure and the scorn of the world 
 are held up as restraints from whatever is base. But 
 an objector is made to propose the inquiry, as to what 
 is to be done on the prospect of unjust gain to be 
 acquired without the knowledge of the world. The 
 moralist decides that the advantage should be waved, 
 lest the secret should start forth to view in one of the 
 many ways not to be foreseen or guarded against. 
 The objector, returning to his point, puts the case as 
 possible, which none can deny, of a certainty that the 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 237 
 
 crime will be for ever hid from the knowledge of men. 
 May I then commit it ? No, replies the moralist ; 
 because you would be made unhappy by the con- 
 sciousness, that if it were known there would be the 
 retribution of public censure. Such is a scheme of 
 morals, presented as competent to the regulating of 
 the conduct of man, acted on as he is by his frailties 
 and by his passions. 
 
 "The said dialogue has been brought into view as 
 an ingenious specimen of the subtlety with which 
 there may be urged the project of excluding religion 
 from the government of human conduct. The repu- 
 ted author was the philosopher, D'Alembert, of the 
 same school with Voltaire. It is not here known that 
 the dialogue ever met the eye of Mr Girard : but it is 
 thought that he could not have more exactly pursued 
 its theory than has been done in the constitution of 
 his seminary. The will goes to the extent of the 
 abandonment of religion, as prescribing the rules of 
 human conduct. If a collection of youth may have 
 their attention exclusively directed to other motives, 
 no reason can be given why they may not be surren- 
 dered to the same through life. If the instructors are 
 forbidden to call the attention of their pupils to the 
 author of all the wonders which open on their senses; 
 and to a state succeeding that which, as they must 
 soon discover, will be ended by the grave ; and cer-. 
 tainly silence on these and on the like subjects is ex- 
 acted by the terms of the bequest ; and if the pre- 
 
238 , MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 scribed rule of life be sufficient until the age of four- 
 teen or fifteen, or even of eighteen, long before which 
 there will be felt the struggles between inclination 
 and the sense of duty ; the sufficiency of the same 
 rule for the remainder of life is an obvious conse- 
 quence. 
 
 " The error of Mr Girard's restrictions is evident 
 in the principle on which it is founded — the diversity 
 of sentiment on subjects of religion. Let the princi- 
 ple be tested in application to the relations of domestic 
 life. No wise head of a family withholds instruction 
 from his children on the reciprocal duties of parent 
 and child, and of the parties to a marriage contract. 
 Yet how many shades of difference of opinion are 
 there as to the proper extent of parental power, 
 and to that of the correspondent obedience of the 
 child ? Similar diversities prevail as to the other 
 relations. Is sage instruction to be delayed on these 
 accounts? 
 
 "The like remark may be made on the subject of 
 civil rulers, and of the allegiance due from the citizen 
 or subject. What a wide field is open by the claims 
 of power in the hands of a single person, or in those 
 "of a few, or in an aristocracy, or in a popular assem- 
 bly, or in some one of the many mixed forms which 
 have been either adopted or imagined ! According to 
 the reasoning of the will, all determination should be 
 deferred to the ages of fourteen or fifteen, or perhaps 
 eighteen ; yet, in disregard of such laxity, every good 
 citizen instils into the minds of his offspring senti- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 239 
 
 ments which sustain the rights of those who govern, 
 and exact obedience within the limits of the laws. 
 
 "The present writer has a very limited acquain- 
 tance with the gentlemen who compose the respectable 
 bodies of our city councils. He supposes of the most, 
 and thinks it probable of all of them, that they con- 
 fess the claims of religion, by denominating themselves 
 as belonging, each of them, to one or to another of the 
 religious societies within the bounds of the city. He 
 therefore, with great respect, submits to their under- 
 standings how far they can, with clear consciences, 
 undertake the government of a seminary which dis- 
 charges its pupils from all regard to religious obliga- 
 tion, and from all subjection to religious discipline. 
 They cannot but be aware of the contrariety of so 
 ungodly a regimen to those Holy Scriptures which 
 they make the foundation of their several creeds. In 
 the Old Testament they read — ' bring up a child in 
 the way in which he should go.' They cannot be 
 ignorant of what the Jewish lawgiver says concerning 
 the laws of God — ' thou shalt diligently teach them 
 to thy children, and thou shalt talk of them when 
 thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by 
 the way, and when thou lyest down, and when thou 
 risest up.' And, if moral cultivation be a part of the 
 plan of any literary institution, it cannot be beyond 
 the reach of the caution — ' the fear of the Lord is the 
 beginning of wisdom.' The calls of the New Testa- 
 ment are in unison with those of the Old — 'ye parents 
 bring up your children in the nurture and admoni- 
 
240 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tion of the Lord ;' 'children obey your parents in the 
 Lord ; and, ' I write unto you, little children, because 
 ye have known the Father.' Very different are these 
 and the like provisions from the delay of even the 
 mention of such sanctions of duty to young men under 
 the ages of fourteen or fifteen, or towards eighteen ; 
 whatever need there may be seen of them in the in- 
 creasing strength of their passions and of their appe- 
 tites. 
 
 " Let there be attention to the operation of the be- 
 quest in its occasional violation of the tenderest feel- 
 ings of the parental breast. We will suppose four 
 religious men — an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, a 
 Baptist and a Methodist — in circumstances barely 
 competent to the subsistence of their families. Let 
 them perceive themselves departing this life, without 
 provision for the support and the education of their 
 children ; and no other guardianship over them to be 
 relied on, beside that of certain functionaries of the 
 city, wisely provided for the object. These guardians 
 may judge the binding of them to reputable trades- 
 men to have less prospect of advantage than the en- 
 tering of them into the contemplated receptacle of 
 orphans. According to the character of the supposed 
 dying men, notwithstanding the diversities of their 
 opinions on various points, they would be the same 
 in the design, had their lives been spared, of giving a 
 religious education to their children; whose deaths 
 they would deem a less calamity than their being 
 thrown on a world of temptation at the age of four- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 241 
 
 teeen, or of fifteen, or of eighteen, without the know- 
 ledge of God or of a future state, or of those Scriptures 
 which, in the parental estimate, are necessary to their 
 being made ' wise unto salvation.' A great proportion 
 of the children of the poor are disposed of under 
 a guardianship created by the laws. This will pro- 
 bably be the principal source of supply to a seminary 
 in which the sound of the voice of religion is never to 
 reach the ears of the juvenile inmates. 
 
 " It would be unjust to the memory of Mr Girard 
 not to notice his remarking it as a privilege of his 
 orphans, on their arrival at the age for the leaving of 
 the seminary, to adopt such tenets as their matured 
 reason may enable them to prefer. It is not to the 
 purpose to inquire how far this privilege, which his 
 protegees will derive from the laws of the land, may 
 be supposed to add to or enforce the moral education 
 which they may have brought with them from the 
 seminary. Whatever may have been, or may not 
 have been, the wishes of the testator to this point; 
 and whatever effect our favourable construing of his 
 views mayliave on our estimate of his own character, 
 it is all foreign to the present argument, which tends 
 to the two positions," that it is irreligious and unchris- 
 tian to accept of the public responsibility of an insti- 
 tution, to the pupils of which there shall be denied all 
 instruction in religion, and that if other motives are 
 sufficient for their government until their arrival at 
 the ages of fourteen and fifteen and eighteen, no rea- 
 
242 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 son can be given why they may not be sufficient 
 through the remainder of life. 
 
 "Perhaps thelre may seem an interference of the 
 argument with a -prejudice not uncommon, that the 
 minds of the secluded orphans would be sensible of 
 impressions made on them by nature of the being of 
 God, and of their responsibility to his tribunal. This 
 is. the exploded doctrine of innate ideas. If there be 
 any not yet reached by what has been written on the 
 subject by John Locke, they may be referred to the 
 observations lately made on those born deaf and dumb ; 
 who know nothing of the primary truths of religion, 
 until taught through the medium of the expedients 
 brought into operation for that unfortunate class of the 
 human family. Whether the design of Mr Girard 
 can be strictly executed, may be considered as a prob- 
 lem. Should this be the case, his orphans will leave 
 the seat of their juvenile residence, as void of any trace 
 of a knowledge of the Deity, as some who might be 
 shown to him in an institution which in his will he 
 has properly distinguished by a munificent donation. 
 
 "It is required, that for admission the orphan shall 
 be between six and ten years of age. Doubtless, 
 within those terms, there are sometimes salutary im- 
 pressions on infant minds. Where this has been the 
 case, it is not probable, that a single trace of them will 
 remain through years, in a sphere so unfavourable to 
 their cultivation. 
 
 " It may be anticipated, as very unlikely, that for 
 the intended seminary there will be obtained, even if 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 243 
 
 it should be thought desirable, instructors who are 
 believers in the Christian religion, and who have its 
 interests at heart. Were this possible, it Ls easy to 
 perceive the painful circumstances in which such in- 
 structors must' sometimes find themselves. Let an 
 instructor be supposed taking a walk with one of the 
 pupils, on some fine morning during the renewal of 
 the herbage of the year. Let there arise in the mind 
 of the former, some such passage as the Address to the 
 Deity, in Adam's Morning Hymn, in Milton — ' These 
 are thy wondrous works, Parent of good ! Almighty, 
 &c.' The instructor, warmed by the theme and by 
 the surrounding scene, might be tempted to break out 
 in such an act of adoration. But it would be unfaith- 
 fulness to his trust, and he must keep it a secret from 
 his pupil that he believes in the existence of such a 
 being. The supposition might be diversified by a 
 great variety of cases ; sufiicient to show, that, under 
 the provisions of the will, there will be an interdict of 
 Christian instructors, whether designed or not, as well 
 as of Christian teaching within the walls. 
 
 " That there will be the supply of teachers of a very 
 different description, may be counted on; and modern 
 times have multiplied those pests of society, who, 
 under the profession of schoolmasters, lose no oppor- 
 tunities of infusing their poison of infidelity into un- 
 suspicious minds. Such instructors have no autho- 
 rity, under the will, to go beyond the lessons of mere 
 morality; so as to teach any doctrine of absolute irre- 
 ligion — from the highest point of atheism to the most 
 
244 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 specious of all the expedients for the misrepresentation 
 of any of the contents of Holy Scripture. But no one, 
 acquainted with human nature, will believe that such 
 instructors, in teaching, will find reluctance to the 
 guarding of their pupils against the religious truths 
 which will be addressed to them on their entrance 
 into social life; resolving what they will hear into 
 popular fable and superstition, which it is now high 
 time to lay aside. 
 
 "From the tenor of the argument, there will have 
 been anticipated the opinion of what should be ex- 
 pected from city councils. It is, that there should be 
 a respectful but determined rejection of the trust in- 
 tended to be instituted by the will of Stephen Girard, 
 Esq., for the maintaining and the educating of or- 
 phans. 
 
 "It is a great sacrifice; but it cannot be too great, 
 when the acceptance of it would be an acknowledge- 
 ment that religion, even in its simplest forms, is un- 
 necessary to the binding of men to their various duties. 
 As yet, no such theory has shown its face in the pro- 
 ceedings of any of the constituted authorities of the 
 United States. If the breaking of this unholy ground 
 should be a corporate act of our city councils, there 
 will be apprehended from it the most disastrous con- 
 sequences, by 
 
 "A Citizen of Philadelphia. 
 
 "P.S. Since the penning of the above, it appears 
 from the newspapers, that the honourable legislature 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 245 
 
 and the city councils have reciprocally appointed com- 
 mittees, to confer on the subject of the legacy. We 
 are in an awful' crisis. It is submitted to legislative 
 decision, whether the state of Pennsylvania, founded 
 on the acknowledgement of a God, shall declare by a 
 solemn act, that the belief of such a Being is unne- 
 cessary to the moral cultivation and government of 
 the human kind. There will be no affirmation of the 
 non-existence of God. But it will commit the ques- 
 tion of his existence to the class of philosophical in- 
 quiries, having no more connection with human con- 
 duct, than that which was formerly a problem among 
 the learned, now resolved — whether the figure of the 
 earth be oblong or oblate. 
 
 "To the Editor of the National Gazette. 
 
 " Dear Sir : — It was intended to insert the foregoing 
 in your paper some days ago; but there has been a 
 delay, in consequence of constructions of the will of 
 Mr Girard widely different from those presumed to 
 be evident on the face of the instrument. It is af- 
 firmed that there being no prohibition of the lay teach- 
 ing of the fundamental principles of religion as the 
 foundation of morals, the absence of positive provision 
 is no proof that it may not be so applied. 
 
 " Should the city councils adopt such a construc- 
 tion, nothing can be further from your correspondent, 
 than the wish to apply to the case an argument bot- 
 tomed on so different a view of the will, and which 
 
246 MEMOIR. OF THE 
 
 may be perverted to an intent opposite to that designed. 
 Even in regard to certain spiritual functionaries ex- 
 cluded, it may be questioned, in the case of a youth — 
 say betvv^een fourteen and eighteen — in distress of mind 
 and near his end, who should desire a visit from one of 
 them — it may even be from one who had been his 
 father's pastor — whether the prohibition of the inter- 
 view would not be an act of intolerance unheard of 
 beyond the bounds of the orphan house. Even this 
 difficulty is met by ingenious interpretation. 
 
 "In your paper of this evening you show yourself 
 favourable to liberal constructions of the above descrip- 
 tion. May they improve the features of the scheme, 
 if it should go into operation : but be assured there 
 will not be wanting those who will clamour for an 
 adherence to the letter of the will. It must be left to 
 the consciences of the honourable bodies concerned, 
 whether they believe in the correctness of the latitude 
 adopted in the interpretation of it ; and, if they do not, 
 whether they will take on themselves the awful re- 
 sponsibility of the rejection of religion, as the founda- 
 tion of human duty. 
 
 " I am, dear sir, respectfully, 
 
 "A Citizen of Philadelphia." 
 
 The language of the will gave ground for the 
 Bishop's apprehensions of the evils likely to result 
 from the execution of the trust. But hope may be 
 entertained that, in practice, they may not be pro- 
 duced, at least in the extent supposed. The corpora- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 247 
 
 tion of this city accepted the trust perhaps wisely i 
 because as it, being charitable and moral, 'cquld not 
 be regarded, as unlawful on account of its defective- 
 ness, the execution of it might, on the refusal of the 
 corporation to accept, be devolved on others not so 
 well disposed to guard, as effectually as their powers 
 would enable them, against the apprehended mischiefs. 
 And those who have hitherto had the charge of its 
 execution — which has yet advanced, however, no fur- 
 ther than a partial preparation of the necessary build- 
 ings — have adopted a construction of the will, which, 
 should it continue to be adhered to, may in a great 
 degree prevent them. The clergy are indeed exclud- 
 ed from the institution; but there is no direction that 
 the pupils may not receive the benefit of religious 
 worship and instruction elsewhere. And as it is pro- 
 vided that moral instruction shall be given, and this 
 cannot be fully and effectually communicated, unless 
 morality is supported by religious motives and prin- 
 ciples, Christian instruction may be given in the 
 institution, though not by the instrumentality of the 
 clergy. The Bishop, notwithstanding, was convinced 
 that, if this was a reasonable construction of the lan- 
 guage of the will, it was very different from the real 
 views of the testator. 
 
 The othej occasion, before alluded to, was the de- 
 parture, in the spring of 1835, of Messrs Hanson and 
 Lockwood, the first missionaries to China, employed 
 by our Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society ; an 
 event which excited an extensive and lively interest 
 
248 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 throughout the Church. Instructions to the mission- 
 aries, relative to their conduct on the mission, in ad- 
 dition to the usual instructions given by the society, 
 were prepared by Dr White, its president, who him- 
 self partook largely of the interest excited — were pub- 
 licly read by himself to the missionaries, at a meeting 
 in Philadelphia, and again by the Rev. Dr Hawks, 
 at a meeting in New York, on the occasion of their 
 ' sailing for China — and were universally admired for 
 the vigour of mind, prudence, liberality and sound 
 principles manifested in them. They were as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MISSIONARIES TO 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 " May 29, 1835. 
 " Reverend and Dear Brethren : 
 
 "With this there will be delivered to you printed 
 letters of instruction, which it is the duty of the 
 Bishop, as president of the executive committee of the 
 Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, to deliver 
 to each of the missionaries before his departure to the 
 sphere of his intended labours. So far as personal 
 piety, a correspondent course of Christian conduct, 
 and an enlightened zeal, are exacted of every labourer 
 in the field before us, there shall be no addition to the 
 document referred to. But as in the land of your 
 destination there are some strong peculiarities distin- 
 guishing it from the rest of the unconverted world, 
 there may be propriety in bringing those local cir- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 249 
 
 cumstances into view. Yoti are aware that during 
 some ages past the spiritual condition of China has 
 resembled an iron bound coast ; the one forbidding 
 the approach of ships, and the other excluding all 
 religious improvement, especially that to be brought 
 about by publishing the contents of the ever blessed 
 Gospel. The greater is our cause of joy occasioned 
 by late well authenticated accounts of the decrease of 
 prejudice ; of willingness in very many to listen to 
 Gospel truth ; and of this as predicable not only of 
 provinces near to the ocean, and accessible to Euro- 
 peans, but extending into the interior. Here are 
 symptoms of preparations for a change, in which the 
 worship of mortal men* and of gods made with hands 
 shall be superseded by the acknowledgement of the 
 one true God, and of the revelation which he has 
 made of himself in the person of his adorable son. 
 
 " It is to be hoped that you will derive aid from the 
 labours of the late Dr Morrison, who has translated 
 the whole of the Bible into the Chinese language. 
 He has also composed a grammar and a dictionary, 
 which will be helps to you in making yourselves 
 acquainted with the language. This will be an ob- 
 ject of your concern, and not the least difficult part of 
 it. You cannot too soon attain to this preparation for 
 your work, especially as it is essential to your identi- 
 fying yourselves with the inhabitants as much as is 
 proper in their habits and manners, which is said to 
 
 * The Grand Lamas. 
 W 
 
250 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 be of importance toward the acquiring of their confi- 
 dence. Our prospect of success has been very much 
 brightened by what has been given to the world on 
 the testimony of the Reverend Charles GutzlafF; 
 whose unwearied endeavours, and the success of 
 them, have offered greater encouragement than any 
 before imagined to the preaching of the Gospel to the 
 Chinese. The achievements of this zealous herald of 
 the cross have had no small share in inciting the 
 present effort of the managers of the Missionary 
 Society and of their executive committeej and may be 
 supposed to have contributed to the engaging of the 
 two missionaries who have offered themselves to the 
 work. There might be introduced the names of 
 sundry men who have been successfully employed in 
 the same ; but the annunciation of their services 
 would be inconsistent with the desired brevity. Their 
 names and their services, however, ought to be fami- 
 liar to you as found in our Missionary Record, in 
 order that in your intercourse with them you may be 
 prepared to show them the respect due in proportion 
 to their several merits. In the tie which binds you 
 to the Episcopal church, there is nothing which places 
 you in the attitude of hostility to men of any other 
 Christian denomination, and much which should 
 unite you in affection to those ocoupied in the same 
 cause with yourselves You should rejoice in their 
 successes, and avoid as much as possible all contro- 
 versy, and all discussions which may provoke it, on 
 points on which they may differ from our communion, 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 251 
 
 without conforming in any point to what we consider 
 as erroneous. If controversy should be unavoidable, 
 let it be conducted with entire freedom from that bit- 
 terness of spirit and that severity of language which 
 cannot serve the cause of God under any circum- 
 stances ; while in the sphere which you will occupy 
 they will be repulsive from a religion which produces 
 no better fruits on the tempers of its teachers. In the 
 vicissitudes of European commerce, and especially in 
 that of Canton, you will find many who speak your 
 language, and whose object is the pursuit of com- 
 merce. It is to be lamented that no European go- 
 vernment has sustained even the appearance of divine 
 worship among these its distant subjects. Perhaps 
 they may show themselves indifferent or even hostile 
 to your design. In either case you will keep the 
 even tenor of your way ; not moved by the fear or 
 expectation of the favour of men. It may happen in- 
 cidentally to your ministry that some of these tempo- 
 rary residents shall be brought by it to a better mind 
 in regard 'to the things which belong to their peace.' 
 Especially they ought to be cautioned of the respon- 
 sibility which they would incur by discouragement 
 of the endeavours for- the conversion of the heathen ; 
 while, under notice of missionaries employed for that 
 purpose, there are so many professing the same faith, 
 ' yet living without God in the world.' You cannot be 
 ignorant that in a former age the Christian religion was 
 extensively propagated in China ; being countenanced 
 by successive emperors, and by others of high rank in 
 
252 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the empire. Neither can it be unknown to you that 
 this was succeeded by an extensive persecution of all 
 who owned the name of Christ. It is certain that the 
 change arose from the interference of the decrees of 
 a foreign jurisdiction with immemorial usages of the 
 Chinese. It is an old subject of debate whether those 
 decrees were called for by the integrity of Christian 
 truth. Without discussing the question of them, the 
 reason of noticing them is to remark, that in reference 
 to foreign jurisdiction there can be no room for any 
 diflSiculty concerning it within our communion-; which 
 holds the church in every country to be competent to 
 self-government in all matters left to human discretion. 
 No faithful minister of our church will, in any in- 
 stance, relax a requisition of the Gospel, in accommo- 
 dation to unscriptural prejudices of his converts ; but 
 he will not bind them in any chain not bound on them 
 by his Master. It has even been said that the court 
 of Pekin found itself in danger of being brought under 
 subjection to a foreign prelate. In proportion to the 
 odium of such a charge, the converted Chinese should 
 be assured of safety in the enjoyment of the liberty 
 ' wherewith Christ hath made them free.' 
 
 " In proposing the evidences of the Christian reli- 
 gion to the Chinese, and indeed to heathens of any 
 description, there is to be avoided the alternate dan- 
 ger, on the one hand, of the measuring of success by 
 any excitement of sensibility, which may be short 
 lived ; and on the other, the not exhibiting of the sub- 
 ject in such a point of view as shall show it to be con- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 253 
 
 genial with the best sensibilities of our nature. The 
 ground taken by the apostles must certainly be that 
 which may most safely be taken by all the ministers 
 of the Gospel. When St Peter addressed a Jewish 
 audience, as in the second chapter of Acts, he laid the 
 stress on ancient prophecy. And when St Paul ad- 
 dressed heathen audiences, as in sundry passages of 
 the same book, the argument used by him was the 
 recent miracle of the resurrection. These are points 
 which associate themselves with the liveliest of our 
 hopes, and tend to the excitement of our best atfec- 
 tions ; yet it is through the door of the understanding 
 that truth enters in order to the taking of possession 
 of the heart. It is still the ground of prophecy and 
 of miracles on which the truth of Christianity must 
 be advocated ; although not without their connection 
 with that sinfulness of human nature to which the 
 contents of the Gospel are so admirably adapted ; 
 laying in it the only foundation of trust in the pardon 
 of sin, and of claim of deliverance from its thraldom ; 
 and in addition being fruitful of consolation, and a 
 sure guide through life, and a stay of dependence in 
 the hour of death and the day of judgment. Let but 
 these interesting subjects take possession of the mind, 
 and its natural language will be, ' What shall I do to 
 be saved V 
 
 " When the Gospel is preached to a heathen at the 
 
 present day, we ought not to forget to extend to his 
 
 case that forbearance of divine mercy which St Paul 
 
 disclosed when he said to the Athenians, ' the timea 
 
 w* 
 
254 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of this ignorance God winked at.' Even when we 
 have arrested his attention, but without reaching the 
 point of his conviction, we ought not to be hasty in 
 assuring ourselves that there may not be wanting 
 something concihatory in manner ; or, perhaps, that 
 there may be something repulsive in it. We ought 
 therefore to wait in patience for more auspicious 
 moments, and not rashly conclude that there is a 
 ' hating of the light, lest the deeds should be reproved.' 
 When there is contemplated the aggregate of Chris- 
 tian evidence ; when there is seen that through the 
 long tract of four thousand years there was a chain of 
 history, of prophecy, of miracle and of prefiguration, 
 looking forward to a dispensation to be disclosed at 
 the end of that portion of time ; when it is seen that 
 there was then manifested the great sacrifice which 
 fulfilled all that had gone before; and when there is 
 read the record of a sacrifice commemorative of the 
 same, to be perpetuated until the second coming of 
 the divine Ordain er, to sit in judgment on the world : 
 it is a mass of proof, which, properly presented, will 
 command the assent of unbiassed men in all times 
 and places ; progressing in its influence to the pro- 
 mised issue, when ' all the kingdoms of the world 
 shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of 
 His Christ.' 
 
 " These suggestions, our missionary brethren, might 
 be carried on to an indefinite extent. But they shall 
 be concluded with prayer for your prosperity, and for 
 your success in the great work before you ; and with 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 255 
 
 the hope that now is the time, when there is the be- 
 ginning of the verifying of the promise, 'from the 
 rising of th^ sun, until the going down of the same, 
 my name shall be great among the Gentiles.' 
 
 " There seem indications of this in the efforts lately 
 put forth for the evangelizing of the world, very dif- 
 ferent from those of former days, which were by war 
 and persecution. Those now employed are in the 
 spirit of which we read in the fourteenth chapter of 
 the. Apocalypse (v. 6), of ' an angel flying in the 
 midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to 
 preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to 
 every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.' 
 This splendid image is introduced immediately before 
 the denunciation of the fall of mystic Babylon, and 
 as there are signs of the times pointing to that crisis, 
 the passage may reasonably be interpreted of what is 
 immediately to precede, rather than is done by some 
 of the reformation : a blessed event, but, in the esti- 
 mation of him who addresses you, not of so great an 
 extent, nor so happily answering in point of time to 
 the terms of the passage, as the interpretation which 
 has been long entertained by him who now presents 
 it with diffidence, and with submission to maturer 
 judgments.* 
 
 " Once more, reverend and dear brethren, with 
 
 * It seems further from the mark to interpret the passage of the 
 Waldenses and the Albigenses, and of the other early witnesses so dis- 
 tant in point of time. 
 
256 MEMOIR OF. THE 
 
 prayer for the divine blessing on your missionary 
 labours, 
 
 " I am your affectionate brother, 
 
 " wm white, 
 
 " Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." 
 
 By the general convention of 1835, Bishop White 
 and Dr Hawks were appointed a committee to apply, 
 in the name of the convention, to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts, and other persons and insti- 
 tutions in England, for documents possessed by them 
 illustrative of the early history of our Church, or 
 copies thereof, for the use of the church in this country. 
 Dr Hawks proceeded to . London, and was very suc- 
 cessful in his applications and researches. He took 
 with him letters from Bishop White to the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, and the Bishop of London. That to 
 the archbishop was as follows ; 
 
 " Philadelphia, March 17, 1836. 
 " My Lord Archbishop: 
 
 " Your grace will pardon the liberty taken by a 
 stranger, on finding that his object has a bearing on 
 the ecclesiastical literature of a church which claims 
 its descent from the church in which your grace pre- 
 sides. 
 
 " The bearer of this letter is the Reverend Francis 
 L. Hawks, D.D., rector of St Thomas's church in the 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 257 ' 
 
 city of New York : who has been much occupied in 
 the collection of documents relative to the history of 
 the Episcopal churches in these United States. In 
 prosecution of the design he is now preparing to visit 
 England, under the expectation of finding in that 
 kingdom many records, to which access may be had, 
 if his views should be favoured by your grace in your 
 archiepiscopal character, and in that of president of 
 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. 
 
 " We trust that while one fruit of the labours of 
 this gentleman, will be the perpetuating of the ac- 
 counts of the origin of our communion, another will 
 be the doing of justice to our parent church, in the 
 recording of the aids furnished to her progeny in their 
 colonial state. 
 
 "By the general convention of the American Church 
 in August last there was appointed a committee, con- 
 sisting of their presiding bishop and Dr Hawks, for 
 the furthering of the present object. Evidence of this 
 appointment may be seen at the one hundredth page 
 of the journal, a copy of which will be delivered with 
 this letter. 
 
 " Being in the fiftieth year of the Episcopal succes- 
 sion, received by me from the hands of one of the 
 predecessors of your grace, the venerable Archbishop 
 Moore, whose attentions and courtesies I remember 
 with gratitude, I cannot be much longer efficient in 
 endeavours to raise our church from the desolation, 
 almost amounting to annihilation, in which she was 
 left by the war of the revolution. But it is in the 
 
258 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 pursuit of the object to which my labours have been 
 so long directed, that I solicit the condescension of 
 your grace to the contents and the request of this 
 letter ; being, with great respect, 
 
 " Your Grace's very humble servant, 
 
 "Wm WHITE. 
 "To the Most Reverend the Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury." 
 
 An interesting letter to the Bishop from Dr Hawks, 
 on the subject of his mission, written not long after 
 -his arrival in London, was received in Philadelphia, a 
 day or two after the Bishop's death ; the greater part 
 of which appears appropriate to the design of this 
 memoir, and is therefore inserted. 
 
 " London, May 24, 1836. 
 " Right Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 " In the fulfilment of the duties confided to us by 
 the general convention, in the matter of collecting all 
 procurable documents which may illustrate the early 
 history of our church, I have made my contemplated 
 voyage, and now write to communicate to you the 
 result of my mission. I waited first upon the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury with your letter and a copy of 
 the journal of the last general convention. I was re- 
 ceived with great courtesy and indeed kindness of 
 manner, and found in his grace one of the humblest 
 and most unpretending of mon. He had been apprised 
 of my arrival, and of the object of my visit, by one of 
 his clergy, to whom I had letters, and who had seen 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 259 
 
 my testimonials. I cannot better describe the scene 
 which followed than by sending you a copy of my 
 memoranda of our conversation, made upon my return 
 home. After the first salutations I began ; 
 
 " ' Your grace, I believe, has already been informed 
 by Mr Norris of the general object of my visit to 
 England. This letter from the senior bishop of the 
 American Church will more particularly explain the 
 nature of my mission.' 
 
 " ' Ah, this then is the handwriting of good Bishop 
 White : I hope he is well.' 
 
 " ' He was well; my lord, when I left America.' 
 " (He then began to read the letter silently.) After 
 a short time, he said, ' How old is the good Bishop 
 now?' 
 
 " ' In his eighty-ninth year, my lord.' 
 " (Towards the close he began to read aloud, and 
 coii tinned so to read to the end.) He then said, ' How 
 beautifully he has expressed himself — he is a vene- 
 rable man.' 
 
 " ' And, I assure your grace, beloved as well as ven- 
 erated by the Church in America.' 
 
 '"No doubt of it. Well, I think there must be 
 much in the library here which will be valuable to 
 you, and every thing is at your service. The records 
 of the Venerable Society must also contain a great 
 deal of information. I know that there are some MSS. 
 in the library here touching America, but I have 
 never been able to examine them particularly, for I 
 have but little time. We have a catalogue of our 
 
260 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 MSS., which I will show you.' (Here he rose to 
 get it.) 
 
 " ' Through the kindness of Mr Norris I have seen 
 a copy of that catalogue, and examined it most care- 
 fully; it offers very many valuable papers to our 
 purpose, if, through the kindness of your grace, we 
 may obtain access to them.' 
 
 " ' Oh that you shall have most cheerfully.' 
 
 " (I then handed him the copy of the journal ; and, 
 in reply to his question about the constitution of our 
 church, explained to him in few words our system of 
 government, &c. ; and expressing the sense of obliga- 
 tion which we felt in America to the Church of Eng- 
 land for having planted and so long sustained us. I 
 added that the present condition of our communion 
 was an honourable monument to the zeal and piety 
 of the Church of England ; and we were anxious to 
 tell the world our story ; because we hoped that, 
 among other things, it would be unsolicited testimony 
 to the excellency of the parent church, and well-timed 
 as coming when she was assailed by a strange combi- 
 nation of those who were heretofore enemies to her 
 and to each other. I said that the Venerable Society 
 might point to our present prosperity, and challenge 
 any other missionary society to show equal fruits of 
 its labours.) 
 
 " ' I am very happy to hear of the prosperity of 
 the — Episcopal Church in America ; I was going to 
 say of the Church, for such (it may be from my old 
 fashioned notions) I cannot help considering her. I 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 261 
 
 do not mean to say that those without episcopacy are 
 not churches, but they are irregular ones, by their 
 departure from primitive usage. A history of your 
 church would be very interesting : I hope it will be 
 written.' 
 
 " ' Bishop White has written, my lord, an account 
 of our general history since the revolution ; and I 
 hope, ere long, to put a copy into the hands of your 
 grace' (and then I was obliged to tell him that I was 
 at work, and had published the volume, on the Vir- 
 ginia Church). 
 
 " ' I shall be glad to see them both, and always 
 pleased to render any service in my power to the 
 American Church. And now let me see how I can 
 aid you. I must bring you into communication with 
 Mr Rose' (the Reverend Hugh James Rose, his chap- 
 Iain, and he sent a servant for him). 
 
 " When Mr Rose entered, he introduced me, and 
 explained my business, and immediately arranged 
 with Mr Rose for affording me access at all times, 
 and every desirable facility in my researches. ' Now,' 
 said he, ' I must help you further ; you shall have 
 all you wish from the records of the Venerable So- 
 ciety; and you must search the British Museum, for 
 there is a great deal about America. I will give you 
 the necessary introduction there at once.' Accord- 
 ingly he wrote a note to Sir Henry EUice and Mr 
 Torshall — the principal and second librarians. When 
 he handed me the notes, he rose, and I took it as a 
 signal to withdraw. I rose also, and said — ' It only 
 
 X 
 
262 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 remains that, in the name of the Efiiscopal Church in 
 America, I should thank your grace for the ready 
 kindness with which you have met their wishes, and 
 which I will not fail, my lord, properly to .represent 
 to them.' 
 
 " ' I shall be happy to serve them in this matter, 
 and shall hope, sir, to have the pleasure of seeing yovi 
 again.' He then shook hands with me, and I with- 
 drew. 
 
 " I then proceeded to call on the Bishop of London, 
 but did not see his lordship. The next day I again 
 called at his residence, and left my letters, &c., but 
 could not see him as he was sick; since which time 
 he has been almost dead. He is now recovering. I 
 have access however to all that he could furnish. 
 Next I went to the British Museum ; and there the 
 archbishop's note made me as it were free of the 
 whole house. All were thrown open to me. Next I 
 went to the Venerable Society, and they again placed 
 in my hands treasures indeed well worth the trouble 
 of my voyage. In about forty volumes of MSS. I 
 found all the original letters of our missionaries ab 
 initio, with memorials, governors' letters, &c., furnish- 
 ing a mass of information beyond my most sanguine 
 hopes. These they put into my possession to have 
 what copies made I pleased. Finally, through the 
 kindness of the Reverend Thomas Hartwell Home, I 
 obtained access to the library of Sion College, where 
 there are several valuable MSS. of Dr Bray's. I am 
 now examining the MSS. of the Society, having 
 
LIFB OF BISHOP WHITE. 263 
 
 finished those at Lambeth, and have as many clerks 
 employed in copying as I -can get. I hope to bring 
 home many folios of transcripts of deep interest and 
 importance to our communion, and will leave nothing 
 behind me really valuable, unless my funds fail to 
 pay for transcribing. I am working very hard, read- 
 ing MSS. night and day, and shall be glad when I 
 can leave London to examine the libraries at Oxford 
 and Cambridge, where I have agents now at work. 
 Bishop Doane expressed much interest in the ends of 
 my mission the day before I left New York ; and I 
 must therefore request that when you see him you 
 will communicate what I have written. Do not, 
 however, let any thing (save of a general character) 
 be printed; because we shall make a detailed report to 
 the general convention, which will be put upon our 
 journals.* 
 
 '/^ vfv T^ "ifs 7^ ^ rpC ffZ 
 
 " Very respectfully and affectionately, 
 
 " Your son and servant in the Church, 
 
 "FRANCIS L. HAWKS." 
 
 * When this memoir was first prepared, and was expected to be im- 
 mediately published, this letter was not inserted. But Dr Hawks has 
 since made his report to the general convention of 1838. It may be 
 found in the appendix to the journal of that body. A letter from the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, dated Lambeth, the 1st of August 1836, is 
 appended to it, containing the following postscript (pp. 134, 135) : 
 
 " P.S. I have been exceedingly gratified by Bishop White's atten- 
 tion in sending rae the second edition of his Memoirs of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The work is more 
 than ordinarily valuable as an authentic record of transactions of the 
 
264 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 The last piece written by Bishop White was a short 
 essay "On Wanderings in Prayer," composed a few 
 days before his last illness, and published in the " Pro- 
 testant Episcopalian." It will, for this as well as 
 other reasons, be interesting; and is inserted in the 
 Appendix.* 
 
 The Bishop, during his long life, had been provi- 
 dentially blessed with excellent health, very seldom 
 interrupted by attacks of sickness or by accidents. 
 His constitution was naturally firm ; and was pre- 
 served in vigour by exercise and a regular course of 
 life. But his existence now drew to its close. In 
 June 1836 he had a severe attack of sickness, which 
 occasioned much uneasiness ; but from it he recovered, 
 and was again enabled to attend to official duties ; 
 and even appeared to have acquired more vigour than 
 he possessed previous to the attack. On the last 
 
 highest importance to the American Church, and as a lasting memorial 
 of the truly Christian principles, temper and conduct of the venerable' 
 persons, American and English, by whose prudence and piety the pro- 
 ceedings were brought to a happy issue. I trust that the relation thus 
 providentially established between the two Churches will subsist unim- 
 paired, and will be acknowledged by mother and daughter with senti- 
 ments of mutual respect and affection to the end of the world. To the 
 venerable -prelate who may be regarded as, in more senses than one, the 
 father of your Episcopal Church, I request you to convey my warm and 
 sincere congratulations on his having been preserved by a gracious Pro- 
 vidence to rejoice in the success of his labours, and in the prospect of a 
 still brighter fQturity. That his most sanguine hopes may be realized, 
 and that the evening of a life devoted to the service of God, and the 
 benefit of mankind, may be unclouded with pain or sorrow is my earnest 
 prayer." 
 
 * Appendix, No. X. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 265 
 
 Sunday in that month, when he preached for the last 
 time at St Peter's, it was remarked that he delivered 
 the discourse with greater energy, strength of voice 
 and effect, than had been for a long time usual with 
 him. The consecration of the bishop elect of Michi- 
 gan (Reverend S. A. M'Coskry) was soon to take 
 place ; on which occasion Dr White was expected 
 to preside and preach. But during the night of 
 the 2d of July, having risen from bed, he fell with 
 some violence on the floor ; for which no cause could 
 be discovered, except mere weakness. And though 
 he did not appear to have received any internal in- 
 jury, but only some outward bruises, yet his physical 
 powers were weakened, and gradually failed. His 
 son, who slept in the same chamber, being roused by 
 his fall, replaced him in bed, from which he did 
 not again rise. His strength gradually decayed, 
 without pain or uneasiness, until his dissolution took 
 place on the 17th of July. Though his mind was in 
 somp measure affected by the decay of his bodily 
 powers, he preserved the possession of it to the last ; 
 except that on a few occasions it appeared to wander, 
 and by the movements of his hands he seemed to 
 suppose himself engaged in the performance of some 
 episcopal ofiice. But at other times he recognized 
 every friend who visited him, and conversed with 
 them, though briefly and with difficulty. He was 
 fully aware of his condition, and evidently viewed 
 it with the composure which might be expected from 
 the whole tenor of his life ; from his having long and 
 
 X* 
 
266 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 habitually fixed his thoughts on his approaching de- 
 parture ; and from the evenness and moderation of 
 his disposition and feelings. His end was therefore 
 marked by the serenity, and by the deep-seated and 
 sweetly calm, religious consolation and trust in the 
 mercy of God through the Redeemer, which were in 
 perfect consistency with his own declared principles 
 of religion, and with the uniform character of his 
 feelings, conversation and life. There was nothing of 
 elation in his manner or language. At no period of 
 his life htid he been disposed to speak of the influences 
 of religion upon himself. That his heart and conduct 
 were controlled and regulated by its -principles was 
 undoubted. But the inclinations and feelings which 
 were the result were always of that retired and unob- 
 trusive kind which fill and satisfy the soul, whUe (in 
 , the language of Scripture) "vdth them a stranger in- 
 ter meddleth not. ' ' They were manifested only by their 
 fruits. This reluctance to make them the subjects of 
 conversation is far from being cause of doubt of their 
 existence or power. The deepest and strongest feel- 
 ings are less apt than others to vent themselves in 
 words, or to excite the desire of making them subjects 
 of discourse. Besides, his aversion to every thing 
 approaching to self display led him, from principle, 
 to avoid -this course. Such being his previous views 
 and dispositions, they still continued, as might natu- 
 rally be expected, to influence him during his last 
 illness. He was not disposed, of his own accord, to 
 speak concerning the state of his mind, his expecta- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 267 
 
 tions or consqlations. It was only, in reply to some 
 remarks, made to him by Bishops Doane jand M'Cos- 
 kry, who were attending him, that he s^ok^ at all 
 upon the subject. But then he fully expressed, with 
 greater warmth and animation than it was beUeved 
 his' weakness would have allowed, and than was usual 
 with him, his reliance upon the merits of the Re- 
 deemer alone for acceptance; and the comfort, the 
 " charrfting" gratification, of being enabled to trust in 
 the divine goodness, and to realize the protecting care 
 of God in life and in death. 
 
 The illness and danger of the Bishop were known 
 extensively through the different dioceses; and "prayer 
 was made without ceasing of the Church unto God 
 for him." On Sunday, the 17th of July, between 
 eleven and twelve o'clock, A.M., during the morning 
 worship of the Church, and soon after the prayer had 
 as usual been offered for him — and probably at the 
 very time when, from some of the churches, it was 
 ascending on his behalf before the throne of God — 
 surrounded by his own family, composed of his son, 
 his only surviving child, and his grandchildren, who 
 had paid to him unwearied attention (his other friends 
 who. were usually with him having gone to attend the 
 public worship), he expired without a sigh or groan, 
 so calmly, that the period of his dissolution could not 
 be marked by his attendants.* 
 
 * The Bishop's death took place at his dwellingjhouse, in Walnut 
 Street, No. 89, above Third Street. It had been his residence since his 
 return from England, in 1787, after his consecration — more than fifty 
 years. 
 
268 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 His death, ha\T.ng been long contemplated in conse- 
 quence of his great age, and for some time looked for, 
 could not cause strong emotion; but it produced, 
 throughout the whole community, deep regret and 
 solemn feeling. Perhaps another, instance has scarcely 
 occurred, in which these were manifested in equal 
 degree and extent, on account of the death of a man 
 who had not held any very prominent public station, 
 or been engaged in employments usually attracting 
 popular regard and commendation; but had passed a 
 long life in performing the unobtrusive duties of the 
 sacred ofl&ce, in the same diocese and parish. They 
 were caused solely by reverence and attachment for 
 the man. On the day of his funeral, there was vo- 
 luntarily a general suspension of business. In parti- 
 cular, the stores were for the most part closed in .the 
 streets through which the procession was to pass, as 
 were many also in other parts of the city. The pub- 
 lic authorities, the various literary, charitable and 
 religious bodies, the clergy and members of the differ- 
 ent Christian churches, united in paying respect to 
 his memory. And the good order and silence of the 
 many thousands who thronged the streets, besides the 
 great number composing the funeral procession, were 
 a striking manifestation of the public sentiments. 
 He was interred in his family vault at Christ Church, 
 on Wednesday, the 20th of July. 
 
 From the nature of the Bishop's employments and 
 course of life, it could not be expected, however de- 
 sirable and satisfactory it might be, that his character 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 269 
 
 should be fully exhibited by the detail of the incidents 
 and actions of his life. It may, indeed, be perceived, 
 in a considerable degree, from the preceding memoirs 
 of them. But it will be proper here to collect toge- 
 ther its various features, and complete the representa- 
 tion. I am deeply conscious of my inability to do it 
 justice — to delineate it in any good degree equal to 
 its real beauty and excellence. Yet an humble at- 
 tempt will be made. My opportunities of forming a 
 judgment of it have been favourable ; as I have had 
 the advantages of an intimacy with him from my 
 childhood — of having been brought up under his pas- 
 toral care — of being favoured, during many years, 
 with his friendship — and for the last nineteen years of 
 his life, elapsed since my application for orders, of 
 having enjoyed the benefit of official as well as friendly 
 intercourse. Perhaps from several of these circum- 
 stances, the existence of a too partial bias may be sus- 
 pected: yet, it is believed, without foundation; and 
 no fear is entertained, that in the community in which 
 he was best known, the delineation to be given will 
 be called a panegyric^ or be thought to contain any 
 undue commendation. The endeavour will be to 
 present it with perfect simplicity and truth. 
 
 His principles and conduct, in reference to the or- 
 ganization and government of the Church, may be 
 sufficiently understood from the account already given. 
 This part of his character, from its nature, may be 
 fully exhibited by the facts relating to the part which 
 he took on those subjects; and could in no other way 
 
270 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 be satisfactorily illustrated. But it is otherwise with 
 respect to those features of it which were formed by 
 his personal, domestic, social, civil , and ministerial 
 qualities and course of life. Of them an outline must 
 be given. 
 
 His temper and inclinations were early formed and 
 moulded, under the influence of religious principles 
 and habits. So soon in life did these begin their ope- 
 ration, through maternal care, for which he always 
 felt and often expressed his obligations, that no evi- 
 dence exists of what may have been, independently on 
 that operation, his natural propensities and disposi- 
 tions. As a child, as a boy, as a man, he was noted 
 for his goodness. He appeared, indeed, to be consti- 
 tutionally calm, moderate and benevolent: so that it 
 has been supposed that he had little to overcome by 
 the aid and influence of religion: a conclusion not 
 warranted by the fact that such was the character 
 which he evidently possessed from a very early period 
 of life. For this was a consequence of the timely and 
 deep impressions of religious truth on his heart. 
 And indications might occasionally be observed of 
 feelings, which, had they not been subjected to such 
 influences, might have led to the formation of a differ- 
 ent character. Such were the uniform respect and 
 affection for him, and such the consequent exemption 
 from inimical opposition and other causes of irritation, 
 that he was seldom exposed to incidents which rouse 
 angry or resentful feelings. Yet on the few occasions 
 of this kind which did occur, he manifested a keen 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WllITE. 271 
 
 sense of unmerited censure or injurious treatment, 
 though controlled and regulated by the superior power 
 of religious principle ; which enabled him to preserve 
 a truly Christian deportment, even, under considerable 
 provocation. 
 
 From the same temperament of his mind and con- 
 stitution, his religious feelings appeared calm and 
 moderate, and destitute of that ardour and strength 
 which are, by many, thought the necessary accompa- 
 niments and indications of a true and effective know- 
 ledge and experience of the transforming influence of 
 religious truth. But, though calm and moderate, they 
 were deeply seated^ sincere, steady, serene. There is 
 the less reason to question their reality and power, 
 from the circumstance that, in matters not immedi- 
 ately connected with religion, his feelings were of the 
 like character. They were not ardent or violent on 
 such subjects or occasions, while they were found to 
 be cool and moderate on those of religion : which 
 might perhaps justify a belief that they were not ge- 
 nuine, in the latter case. As displayed in his social, 
 domestic, and most intimate and friendly intercourse, 
 they were of the same kind. Throughout the whole, 
 there was complete and beautiful consistency. 
 
 With respect to those religious feelings which are 
 produced by a deep sense of actual sinfulness, and 
 which, in the opinion of many, should, at least in the 
 commencement of the Christian life, and as introduc- 
 tory to a more happy state of mind, be strong and har- 
 assing, and even approaching to gloom and despon- 
 
272 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 dency, the Bishop does not appear to have experienced 
 them. But is this a cause for doubting the truly 
 evangelical character of his own personal religion? 
 Can the same feelings be expected from men of 
 widely different characters and conduct? — from those 
 who have long lived in neglect of religious duty, 
 or perhaps in profligate violation of it, until ar- 
 rested in their sinful course by the alarms of con- 
 science; and those who have early yielded themselves 
 willingly to the sweet influence of Christianity, and 
 the guidance of the spirit of God, and have conse- 
 quently always principally directed their view, and 
 exerted their endeavours to secure the favour and ap- 
 probation of the Deity through the merits of the Re- 
 deemer? Or is it found by experience, that the divine 
 methods of bringing men from their natural sinful 
 state, to one of devotion of themselves to his service, 
 are in all cases the same, instead of being almost infi- 
 nitely varied according to the varied characters and 
 circumstances of the objects of his mercy ? Reason, 
 supported by the principles and examples of Scrip- 
 ture, would lead to the opinion, that it is impossible, 
 from the very nature of the cases, that the same com- 
 punctions of conscience should be experienced by one 
 who had pursued the course of life which distinguished 
 Bishop White ; and one who had been guilty of gross 
 violations of duty, or had long lived in habits of actual 
 sin voluntarily indulged, or weakly yielded to without 
 resistance. There would, indeed, it is fully admitted 
 and thought to be an essential truth of the Christian 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 273 
 
 religion, be great cause for deep sensibility, in the 
 former characters as well as in the latter, of the evil 
 of sin, of the strong natural propensity of men to 
 commit it, and of their actual transgressions; and of 
 the consequent duty of all to humble themselves be- 
 fore the throne of mercy. But of this Dr White was 
 fully sensible. None was further than he was from 
 admitting any reliance whatever on human merit, 
 either as a principle of Christian doctrine, or eis ap- 
 plied to his own case. His religion was truly humble. 
 However justly he might have claimed a superiority 
 in moral and religious merit above the great body, 
 and almost the whole of his fellow men — a superiority 
 very commonly confessed wherever he was known — 
 yet he himself was little disposed to draw even this 
 comparison. And when he regarded the hght in 
 which he stood before the holy and all-perfect Being 
 to whom he was accountable, he felt and acknowledged 
 unworthiness — abandoned all dependence on his own 
 deserts — and looked for pardon and acceptance only 
 through the atonement made by the Saviour for the 
 sins of the world. 
 
 Were I allowed — and my long and intimate know- 
 ledge and observation of him may perhaps be admitted 
 to justify the claim — were I allowed to characterize 
 his religious feelings, and to attribute them to their 
 true source, I could not avoid pronouncing them to be 
 of that submissive, steady, sweetly serene and conso- 
 latory kind, which the Gospel encourages us to expect 
 from such an advancement as he had made, through 
 
 Y 
 
274 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 divine grace, towards the attainment of the "perfect 
 love which casteth out fear." 
 
 On this subject is subjoined a just and beautiful 
 passage from the sermon delivered by Bishop H. U. 
 Onderdonk, at the funeral. " The distinguished fa- 
 ther in the Church over whose remains" the reflec- 
 tions now offered you "have been uttered, was one of 
 the most conspicuous and perfect examples of the kind 
 of piety which approaches to innocence, and which 
 consequently manifests but little of the emotion that 
 springs, directly or indirectly, from a consciousness of 
 deep sin. Amid all his points of eminence, — and 
 many such were his^this was the greatest eminence 
 of all. He was eminent as the minister of religion in 
 the councils which gave liberty to his country ; and 
 as the friend and the pastor of Washington. He was 
 eminent as, through a long life, the centre of affection 
 to a large community, without a foe or an evil wisher 
 at any time, but beloved and revered by all. He was 
 eminent as one of our first bishops ; for nearly fifty 
 years the bishop of this diocese ; and for more than 
 forty years the senior bishop of our communion, al- 
 ways exercising in it a wide influence, mild and pa- 
 ternal. But he was more eminent as a 'perfect man 
 and an upright,' the 'good and faithful servant' of 
 his divine Master, 'keeping innocency and taking 
 heed to the thing that is right,' ever 'walking blame- 
 less in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
 Lord,' and 'having always a conscience void of offence 
 towards God and towards men.' He belonged to that 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 275 
 
 very small class of Christians, who bear from infancy 
 the image of Christ, and never deface it by vice, by 
 worldliness or by flagrant neglect, and who thus, 
 though they know and feel that they are sinners, and 
 have no hope but in the cross, do not 50 feel it as to 
 exhibit the clear train of converting experience which 
 other Christians undergo, whose piety was not so early, 
 or has not proved so uniform and consistent. Emo- 
 tion, which, if not arising from constitutional tempera- 
 ment, implies either change or the apprehension of a 
 change, could have little power over one whose bright 
 course was so undeviating. With a character so pure, 
 it has been said of him, and not unaptly, that he was 
 sanctified from the womb. His whole life, from in- 
 fancy to extreme old age, spent in one community, 
 neither that community, nor an individual either there 
 or elsewhere, has even a whisper against him. So 
 ignorant was he, personally, of evil — so far from con- 
 ceiving how widely and in how many ways it operates, 
 that he was as free from suspicion of others as from 
 guile in his own bosom: indeed he was often too re- 
 luctant in the caution which foresees the natural 
 workings of human motives. Thus pre-eminent in 
 all good qualities and dispositions, it is not wonderful 
 that his character was allowed by every one to have 
 been that of a perfect man, and an upright. With all 
 this excellence, unquestioned and unquestionable, the 
 principles of our venerable father had no affinity what- 
 ever with those which recognize the merit of human 
 virtue ; which rest the hope of immortality on moral 
 
276 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 accuracy, even as combined with punctilious religious 
 performances ; which look for acceptance with God to 
 any source but the merits only of the Redeemer." 
 
 Other traits of the Bishop's character corresponded 
 with those already noticed. In his intercourse with 
 his family and relatives he manifested an affection 
 tender, constant and judicious ; and he received from 
 all of them the reverence and attachment so justly 
 due. His general social intercourse was distinguished 
 by benevolence and urbanity, flowing from a heart 
 disposed to promote the happiness and gratification of 
 all around him. With these he possessed a delicacy 
 of feeling which made him instinctively shrink from 
 any thing that might wound the feelings of others. 
 His society was sought by old and young, and by 
 each sex. His conversation, in which he readily and 
 freely engaged and took pleasure, was cheerful, ani- 
 mated and full of anecdotes relating to the interesting 
 scenes which he had himself beheld at different pe- 
 riods of his life, and the numerous persons of distinc- 
 tion with whom he had formerly been acquainted. 
 For his memory was retentive and accurate ; not only 
 with respect to facts occurring in early life, which is 
 not uncommon in aged men — but also to those of more 
 recent occurrence, which is more unusual. Religion 
 was readily made the topic of conversation whenever 
 an occasion offered appearing to promise good from 
 the introduction of its truths. But it was contrary to 
 his principles, and thought by him injudicious and 
 seldom productive of beneficial results, to press them 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 277 
 
 constantly into notice, without regard to suitable op- 
 portunities. The deportment of all towards him was 
 easy and unrestrained, but respectful and affectionate : 
 the dignity of his character and manners repressing 
 any approach to undue familiarity. With all this 
 mildness and suavity he could, when the occasion 
 demanded, reprove with severity — with great skill, 
 in consequence of his correct knowledge and judgment 
 of the principles of human nature, and with much 
 efficacy ; either by words, or by marked silence and 
 disapprobation, or other indications of his sentiments. 
 Such a deportment and such dispositions and cha- 
 racter attracted, as they were naturally adapted to do, 
 the friendship and affection of all who knew him. 
 No man, probably, could be more free than he was 
 from experiencing the enmity of others, or more re- 
 mote from enmity to them. It was remarked that he 
 had no enemies, and was well spoken of by all ; and 
 for this last reason his friend and intimate, Dr Benja- 
 min Rush, denounced against him (humorously) the 
 wo pronounced in the Gospel, because all men spake 
 well of him. 
 
 He thought it not inconsistent with his sacred 
 office to be present at and partake of the public din- 
 ners on anniversary festivals or other celebrations. I 
 was once informed by him, in the course of a conver- 
 sation at a late period of his life, of his reasons for so 
 doing. He believed it called for by his public station ; 
 that it tended to check improprieties, and also led to 
 opportunities of usefulness which he should not other- 
 
•278 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 wise have obtained. But he early formed a resolution 
 that if he lived to the age of seventy he should con- 
 sider himself at liberty to decline them. To tliis 
 resolution he accordingly afterwards adhered.* 
 
 Towards Christians of other denominations Dr 
 White was tolerant and liberal ; and with many of 
 them sustained a friendly and intimate intercourse. 
 This did not require any sacrifice of religious truth, 
 or disregard or neglect of the interests of his own 
 church; nor was he capable of either. His modera- 
 tion did not proceed from indifference. He was firm 
 in maintaining whB,t he deemed religious truth, and 
 in an enlightened attachment to the Episcopal Church. 
 
 * Having received from the Society for Commemorating the Landing 
 of William Penn such an invitation for the one hundred and forty-eighth 
 anniversary of that event — the 25th of October 1830 — he declined the 
 invitation, but transmitted a toast, vyhich was given, and was in these 
 words : " Perpetuity to the religious establishment constituted by Wil- 
 liam Penn, in the first act of the first legislative assembly of the province 
 of Pennsylvania." The meaning of the toast will best appear from the 
 language of the act referred to. It is entitled, " The law concerning 
 liberty of conscience ;" and provides, " that no person now, or at any 
 time hereafter, dwelling or residing within this province, who shall pro- 
 fess faith ia God the Father, and in Jesus Christ his only son, and in 
 the Holy Spirit, one God blessed for ever more, and shall acknowledge 
 the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by di- 
 vine inspiration; and, "when lawfully required, shall profess and declare 
 that they will live peaceably under the civil government, shall in any 
 case be molested or prejudiced for his or her conscientious persuasion, 
 nor shall he or she be at any time compelled to frequent or maintain any 
 religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, contrary to his or her 
 mind ; but shall freely and fully enjoy his or her Christian liberty in all 
 respects, without molestation or interruption." 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 279 
 
 Both in these respects, and in the course pursued by 
 him in the affairs of his own communion, moderation 
 and firmness harmonized in an unusual degree ; 
 though it might sometimes be thought that they ap- 
 parently interfered ; only, however, in cases in which 
 he avoided pressing an approved principle, because 
 he thought the occasion unfavourable, and expected 
 that one more propitious would occur. He felt and 
 showed a proper deference and respect for the opin- 
 ions of others ; and was deliberate and cautious in 
 forming his own ; but, when once formed, they were 
 steadily adhered to and acted upon. 
 
 The mildness and candour of the Bishop's disposi- 
 tion were strikingly illustrated by the spirit prevailing 
 in his controversial writings. These were wholly 
 free from the least infusion of animosity, bitterness, 
 sarcasm, or unfairness in the statement of the opinions 
 or motives of adversaries, by which such writings are 
 too generally distinguished. Probably they may be 
 less pleasing to many readers for the want of those 
 properties : some of which, at least, are thought to 
 add to the animation and interest of controversy. 
 But they are more honourable to his character and 
 Christian feelings : the more so, because theological 
 controversy is so apt to excite unfriendly and violent 
 emotions even in those who, on all other occasions, 
 manifest a truly Christian temper. Candour, urbanity 
 and the love of truth are preserved throughout his 
 works. The support of sound and correct principles, 
 and not victory or the display of intellectual ability 
 
280 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 or learning, was his uniform object ; which. he sought 
 to attain by just argument, without resort to misrep- 
 resentation or invective. 
 
 Modesty and humility appeared in his whole life 
 and conversation — in his deportment in every station. 
 Possessed of an unusual degree of personal influence, 
 and of acknowledged eminence, he was perfectly 
 unassuming, and apparently unconscious, certainly 
 unostentatious, of both. Both also were received 
 unsought ; and both were probably much increased 
 by this very cause. He even felt pain at receiving 
 compliments on his own usefulness or attainments ; 
 though they were not designed merely as such, or 
 uttered in his presence, but expressed with sincerity 
 and truth in letters or publications. As a specimen 
 of this may be adduced the following remark in a 
 letter to Bishop Hobart (10th of August 1808), who 
 had, in a review of his episcopal charge of 1807, 
 spoken highly of his theological learning and abili- 
 ties. " As a reviewer I think you too long in your 
 extracts from my charge. If you go on so, it will 
 take up too much of your room. I take well your 
 gentle castigations ; which I could answer, but have 
 not time. It gave me less concern than the stroking 
 which preceded. Be assured I felt a painful sensa- 
 tion on reading of my ' extensive and deep theolo- 
 gical erudition ;' for if I thought myself, as I do not, 
 possessed of talents for it, circumstances have not 
 permitted my being enough in my study for the ac- 
 quisition. ' ' To these estimable features may be added 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 281 
 
 great innocency and purity of mind and manners, 
 shining forth in his whole deportment, as if he were 
 unconscious of evil. 
 
 His conduct in every situation, even the most un- 
 expected and trying, evinced distinguished Christian 
 prudence. This virtue had full scope for exercise 
 and probation, in the various situations in which he 
 was from time to time placed, by the incidents con- 
 nected with the government and affairs of the Church 
 over which he presided, and by his frequent inter- 
 course with those of other denominations. By it he 
 was enabled, without abandoning any principle deemed 
 correct by himself or his own Church, to preserve 
 harmony of feeling and intercourse with others, and 
 obtained their respect and friendship. And an intel- 
 lectual quality, possessed by him in a very eminent 
 degree, and improved by close observation and expe- 
 rience, contributed largely to the good results of that 
 prudence, and to the increase of his usefulness to the 
 Church — I mean his accurate discrimination of the 
 characters of men : in which he was seldom mistaken, 
 when he had reasonable opportunities of forming a 
 judgment He was not hasty or rash in adopting his 
 opinion, or disposed to entertain prejudices, or to per- 
 severe in a mistaken judgment. The most perfect 
 candour towards all was his aim and desire. 
 
 Being placed in a very extensive parish, as well as 
 in a large diocese, his active duties were numerous 
 and arduous, and necessarily occupied much of his 
 time. Yet he was enabled to devote much also to the 
 
282 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 labours of his study. It has often excited surprize that 
 he was able to effect so much. But the causes were, 
 , his great and unintermitted industry — his exact me- 
 thod in the employment of his time — his strict punc- 
 tuality in complying with every engagement (for 
 which he was remarkable, and often produced the 
 like habit in those with whom he had intercourse in 
 business) — the ease with which he could fix his mind 
 intently on the subject before him — and the clearness 
 and rapidity of his conception. These habits and 
 powers continued unimpaired until his last illness. 
 
 In relieving distress, and in other exercises of cha- 
 rity, he was benevolent and liberal. Yet his revenues 
 were not large; his family became numerous; and 
 his station exposed him to many unavoidable expenses. 
 His income from his parish was about twenty-two or 
 twenty-three hundred dollars. As bishop, he received 
 nothing, except the interest on Mr Andrew Doz's 
 legacy, of about four thousand dollars, which was the 
 first foundation of the episcopal fund of the diocese : 
 and he was frequently obliged to defray, himself, the 
 expense of visiting different churches. He had, how- 
 ever, a respectable, but not large, private estate. The 
 mention of this subject suggests the introduction of a 
 remark made in a daily publication in Philadelphia,* 
 shortly after his death. Referring to the notice in the 
 London papers of that event, and of the comparative 
 
 * The United States Gazette. Its editor was not a member of the 
 Episcopal Churcli. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 283 
 
 mediocrity of his salary, the editor said: "Bishop 
 White enjoyed a revenue beyond a monarch's com- 
 mand — ^his daily income was beyond human compu- 
 tation. If he went forth, age paid him the tribute of 
 affectionate respect, and children 'rose up and called 
 him blessed.' " The general sentiment applauded 
 and concurred with the just and beautiful commenda- 
 tion. 
 
 The Bishop did not think that the character of a 
 citizen of the commonwealth should be lost in that of 
 the Christian minister. For he thought the duties 
 and privileges of the former perfectly consistent with 
 those of the sacred office. He constantly attended 
 and voted at elections, agreeably to his conscientious 
 judgment. But here he stopped. He would never 
 condescend to perform the part of a political partisan. 
 He inculcated the same course of conduct on his clergy 
 and on candidates for orders, as a duty of the citizen 
 still incumbent on them, and not dispensed with by 
 the ministerial office. His own experience proved 
 that his influence and respectability in that, were not 
 at all diminished. The inconvenience, which, to an 
 aged man, could not be slight, of attending a contested 
 election, and delivering his vote amid the struggles of 
 opposing parties, did not deter him from continuing to 
 perform this duty, even in very advanced life The 
 reverence felt for him by all of them was sometimes, 
 on such occasions, strikingly manifested by their sus- 
 pending, on his approach, their struggles for access to 
 the windows where the votes were deposited, and 
 
284 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 opening a lane through which he could advance for 
 that purpose, and again retire without difficulty. 
 And the beneficial effect of the incident on the feel- 
 ings of the multitude, was observed to continue for a 
 considerable time. His principles on the subject are 
 thus expressed by himself* 
 
 Speaking of the promise at ordination " to maintain 
 and set forwards quietness, peace and love among all 
 Christian people, and especially among them that are, 
 or shall be committed to his charge," he remarks: 
 " Especially, the promise should have the effect of 
 keeping a minister out of the vortex of civil broils. 
 There can be no question of his right, or rather it is 
 his duty to make a temperate use of any civil privi- 
 leges with which the laws of his country clothe him. 
 But with the allowance of this exception, there can 
 be no greater degradation of the ministerial character 
 — it may be added, no greater pest to the community, 
 provided there be the weight of influence — than when 
 it is employed by a minister of the Gospel, to thrust 
 himself into public councils. Such a man will pro- 
 bably be under the influence of worldly passion : and 
 much worse is to be expected of him than of other 
 men, with the like views ; because nothing can be so 
 bad as such passions, either under the cloak of sanc- 
 tity or under the violation of a sanctity, the calls of 
 
 * This extract is from an ordination sermon, not published. Similar 
 sentiments will be found in his published work, On the Duties of the 
 Ministry. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 285 
 
 which were professed to be obeyed, and its duties to 
 be practised. What oaths of oflB.ce can be expected 
 to bind the man, who, in the very act of taking them, 
 sets at nought other engagements, made under, stronger 
 circumstances of solemnity? If the ministerial office 
 can be at all useful, there is no way in which it may 
 be more so, than in its raising of the harmonizing 
 voice of religion, for the allaying of the jealousies and 
 the resentments which result from the interfering in- 
 terests and opinions of men in civil life. But does it 
 appear, that, from the infancy of Christendom to the 
 present day, this blessed work has been promoted by 
 ecclesiastical politicians ? The truth is, that they have 
 been the fomenters of strife, in every line in which 
 they have interfered. No wonder : because it was 
 either the lust of power or the spirit of faction which 
 drove them into the state of temptation. From such 
 characters nothing else was to be expected, than that 
 they should increase the confusion." 
 
 On three occasions — and I know of no others — at 
 all connected with political affairs, he consented to 
 preside at large public meetings. They were called 
 for the following purposes : one, to promote the esta- 
 blishment of the American Colonization Society, held 
 fifteen or sixteen years ago; a second, to consider 
 what measures were proper to be adopted to express 
 the sympathy of our Citizens for our Christian bre- 
 thren, the Greeks, struggling for their lives, liberties 
 and religion against the tyranny of the Turks, on 
 the 1 1th of December 1823 ; and the third, on the 11th 
 
286 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of January 1830, for the purpose of considering the 
 propriety of memorializing Congress, that in any 
 measure of the government, in reference to the Che- 
 rokee and other nations of Indians, the faith of the 
 United States towards them might be inviolably pre- 
 served. The Bishop's address, on the last occasion, 
 will explain his motives for consenting to preside in 
 that and similar meetings. On taking the chair, he 
 addressed the assembly in these words : 
 
 "Fellow Citizens : — I solicit your indulgence while, 
 with brevity, I state to you the reasons of my consent- 
 ing to the proposed honour of presiding at this meet- 
 ing, held with the view of having a bearing on civil 
 legislation. What I am doing is alien from thfe habits 
 of my life; and may be thought not in agreement 
 with the decorum suited to the clerical character. 
 
 "Being of the opinion that the rights of the citizen 
 are not merged in what is appropriate to the ministry 
 of the Gospel ; and knowing that the possession of con- 
 stitutional rights cannot but exact the discharge of 
 correspondent duties; I have always held myself not 
 only privileged, but bound to declare my sentiments, 
 and to accommodate to them my votes, on public 
 measures of importance. On the other hand, aware 
 of the mischiefs produced by the meddling of ecclesi- 
 astical politicians, I have thought, that to others than 
 to ministers of the Gospel, the community should look 
 for the taMng of the lead, on questions relative to their 
 civil interests. 
 
 "If it should seem a departure from this principle 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 287 
 
 that I am now to take my seat in the chair behind me, 
 my defence is in the nature of the subject which has 
 brought us together on this occasion. It is, that we 
 may exercise the constitutional privilege of expressing 
 our sense, on a question expected to come before the 
 federal legislature, relative to interests not of ordinary 
 occurrence; but directed to a measure in contrariety 
 to the most imperious claims of justice, to very affect- 
 ing appeals to our humanity, and to the faith of the 
 nation, often pledged to a helpless and unoffending 
 people, in rightful possession of the territory from 
 which they are threatened to be withdrawn. 
 
 " In the opinion of him who addresses you, it will not 
 be superstitious to entertain the fear, that such an act 
 of government, should it be put forth, may draw down 
 on us some of the calamities by which the righteous 
 Ruler of the world, in the ordinary course of his pro- 
 vidence, often causes that a national sin shall be the 
 beginning of a series of national sufferings, ending in 
 the prostration of legitimate and free government. 
 
 "For these reasons, I consider the object before us 
 as claiming that, for the accomplishing of it, every 
 heart should feel, every voice should be raised, and 
 there should be put forth every energy, with modera- 
 tion, but in such a direction as is the most likely to 
 be efficient." 
 
 His political principles were maintained with great 
 consistency, from the commencement of the revolu- 
 tion to the close of his life. They were those of the 
 distinguished statesmen known in Pennsylvania by 
 
288 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 the title of Republicans during the war of indepen- 
 dence, and of Federalists at the time of the adoption 
 of the existing constitution of the United States; and 
 they were the same which characterized the adminis- 
 tration of Washington. Notwithstanding the oblo- 
 quy afterwards endeavoured to be cast upon them, he 
 never abandoned his conviction of their correctness, 
 and of their importance for promoting the general 
 welfare : and he acted agreeably to them whenever an 
 opportunity occurred. 
 
 We pass to the Bishop's character as a parochial 
 clergyman. His faithfulness in the discharge of all 
 the duties of the sacred office, will not be denied by 
 any. Different opinions will be doubtless entertained 
 concerning the most proper and efficient means for 
 exciting and cherishing piety and virtue, so far as 
 these may be promoted by human agency. On that 
 subject, Dr White had deliberately and conscientiously 
 formed his opinions, after attentive and serious reflec- 
 tion on the principles of Christianity and of human 
 nature; and he found his opinions supported and 
 strengthened by a long experience of the influence of 
 the methods which he deemed most agreeable to the 
 Gospel and the character of man, by appealing to the 
 understanding and the affections. He had also at- 
 tentively observed the effects of those of a different 
 kind, preferred by many others, addressed to the feel- 
 ings, and productive of great excitement. The former 
 he thought the most, or indeed the only efficient 
 means of producing genuine, deep and permanent 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 259 
 
 piety. The methods which he thought correct, he 
 steadily and faithfully employed himself, and com- 
 mended to all with whom he was oflSicially cormected. 
 His station united him, of course, with the several 
 societies instituted in the Church,* for promoting the 
 same great objects. And in presiding over and con- 
 
 * Besides those connected with the Church, he belonged to various 
 hterary, charitable, or religious institutions. The following information 
 on this subject is contained in a letter from him to Robert Walsh, Esq., 
 dated February 5, 1827. " In regard to my relations to sundry societies 
 existing in this city, I inform you as follows : Of the Philosophical So- 
 ciety I have been a member ever since its formation, by a union of two 
 societies, into one of which I had been chosen when a youth. This 
 union took place nearly half a century ago. For some time, a few years 
 after, I was one of the vice-presidents of the combined society. Owing 
 to my many ecclesiastical engagements, and to some needless feuds of 
 temporary prevalence, I have for many years omitted attendance on its 
 meetings ; continuing a member, and contributing to its expenses. 
 
 "Of the College I have been a trustee since the month of May 1784. 
 In this station I may, in some sort, he said to have succeeded my father ; 
 who had been a trustee from the beginning, but while I was in England 
 resigned his seat, after having been a diligent attendant on the meetings' 
 and the examinations; but from which he would have been prevented by 
 increasing weakness, induced by an accidental lameness of many preced, 
 ing years. 
 
 " My presidency in the Dispensary has been from the beginning of it, 
 in 1786. The same in the Prison Society, from the beginning of it, in 
 the same year.-j- The same in the Magdalen Society, from the begin, 
 ning of it, in 1800. The same in the old Sunday School Society, con, 
 sisting of members of different denominations, and the first instituted in 
 the United States, from the beginning of it, about the same time. It still 
 exists as a corporation, and has no schools, but distributes the income of 
 
 f In the establishment of the Dispensary and of the Prison Society 
 he took a prominent part. 
 Z* 
 
290 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 ducting the a%irs of all of them, so situated as to be, 
 within his reach, he constantly and zealously bestowed 
 his active aid, and the benefit of his wisdom and ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Dangers, threatening his own health or safety, never 
 deterred him from the faithful performance of duty. 
 To trials of that kind, alarming in their character, he 
 was frequently exposed ; but they served only to mani- 
 fest his firm and inflexible adherence to it.* 
 
 Besides numerous applications for advice, on cases 
 occurring in other dioceses as well as his own, he was 
 very frequently consulted by individuals on doubts 
 and difiiculties of a religions nature, and solicited for 
 advice and direction in special situations. Many such 
 were from entire strangers, and not a few anonymous, 
 pointing out a method of conveying the answer. He 
 thought it a duty, in every instance, to reply to them ; 
 lest he might lose any probable opportunity of pro- 
 moting the influence of religion. A very few only 
 are of sufficient importance and interest for publica- 
 tion: and those are inserted in the Appendix, f 
 
 As a preacher, the Bishop's talents and manner 
 were not of a popular character. Yet he was much 
 
 Its funds among the more modern schools. The same in the Provident 
 Society, from the beginning of it, in 1834. 
 
 " . . . . The different religious societies, of which I am the principal 
 officer are as follows. The Philadelphia Bible Society, insti- 
 tuted in 1808; the earliest bible society in the United States. The 
 Society for the Deaf and Dumb, instituted in 1820. All the others are 
 especially connected with the Episcopal Church." 
 
 * Ante, pp. 158—160. f Appendix, No. XI. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 291 
 
 Esteemed for his judicious and solid instructions, both 
 in doctrine and morahty. And these came from him 
 with great weight and influence, in consequence of 
 his own example exhibiting the truth and efficacy of 
 the principles which he inculcated, and of the reve- 
 rence and affection felt for him. His discourses, in 
 their general tenor, were calm, serious and argumen- 
 tative. But often his thoughts were impressive and 
 elevated, and expressed with great beauty, and even 
 eloquence. On that class of religious subjects which 
 were most congenial with his own feelings and dispo- 
 sitions, particularly on the character of the Deity — on 
 the hopes, the consolations, the promises of the Gos- 
 pel — and on Christian morals, sustained by Christian 
 motives — on all of which he especially delighted fre- 
 quently to dwell, without neglecting a proper atten- 
 tion to other parts of the Christian system, his dis- 
 courses were written with an unction, and delivered 
 with a persuasive earnestness and impressiveness of 
 tone and manner, produced by his own deep felt in- 
 terest in the subject, which made them both pleasing 
 and edifying to his hearers. That his ministrations 
 were acceptable and efficient, is proved by the enlarge- 
 ment of his flock, demanding an additional church 
 for the accommodation of the parish under his pasto- 
 ral charge. In his delivery he was dignified, but 
 without much animation, and entirely without action : 
 the last of which he thought should not be attempted 
 by any to whom it was not natural. Until advanced 
 in life, he possessed a clear, fine-toned and sufficiently 
 
292 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 powerful voice, and a distinct enunciation, though too 
 rapid; a fault which he found it difficult to correct. 
 He sometimes remarked on it himself The follow- 
 ing anecdote was furnished to me by a gentleman to 
 whom it had been related by the Bishop. Bishop 
 Jarvis, of Connecticut, was noted for an unusually 
 slow and deliberate pronunciation. He had repeat- 
 edly requested Dr White to inform him of any defects 
 or improprieties which he might observe in his deli- 
 very or reading, that they might be corrected. With 
 that view, Dr White availed himself of a favourable 
 opportunity, afforded by Dr Jarvis's performing family 
 worship on an occasion while an inmate in his house, 
 to mention, when they were alone together, the oppo- 
 site remarks made on their respective modes of read- 
 ing; and added, that he had been thinking that if 
 they could be mixed up together, they might be made 
 two very clever fellows in that respect. This may be 
 taken as one specimen of his manner of giving advice 
 or caution without offence, or appearing to assume 
 any superiority. 
 
 Dr White's discourses were composed with care, 
 and attentive consideration of the subjects selected. 
 And it was his practice to review and correct them, 
 when used on another occasion, and even often to 
 re-write them, with the advantage of more full exami- 
 nation and reflection. They contain, therefore, his 
 matured and well considered opinions. Eight or nine 
 years before his decease, as appears from a letter of his 
 to a gentleman who seems to have requested one or 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 293 
 
 more sermons for publication in a work edited by 
 him (a copy of which remains among his papers), 
 dated the 8th of March 1831, he destroyed '' a great 
 proportion" of the sermons which he had written. 
 
 It has been before stated that his principles and 
 conduct towards the members of other religious deno- 
 minations were tolerant and liberal, though he was, 
 at the same time, strongly attached, from conviction, 
 to his own church, and firm in maintaining her prin- 
 ciples and promoting her welfare, and also in sup- 
 porting the just claims of what he deemed to be the 
 truth. Yet he did not approve of uniting with them 
 in the execution of plans for religious improvement ; 
 being convinced that such a course was unwise, and 
 that, far from tending to secure harmony and Chris- 
 tian charity, it had the opposite effect of exciting and 
 increasing dissension and ill-will. The only excep- 
 tion which he allowed was the Bible Society, in the 
 object of which all Christians could unite. He there- 
 fore became, and continued during his life, president 
 of the Philadelphia Bible Society, the first which was 
 formed in the United States. But his approbation 
 and support of this would, as he often declared, have 
 been withdrawn had the society not continued to 
 adhere, in spirit as well as letter, to the principle on 
 which it had been instituted — the distribution of the 
 Scriptures without note or comment. This whole 
 subject appeared to him of so great importance that 
 he thought it proper to leave his opinions on it re- 
 
294 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 corded in the journals of the Pennsylvania Diocesan 
 Convention; and therefore inserted them, by vs^ay of 
 advice and caution, in his annual address to that 
 body in the year 1822> They are as follows : 
 
 " There is a subject on which your Bishop wishes 
 to record his opinion, matured by the long experience 
 of his ministry, and acted on by him, as he thinks, to 
 the advantage of the Church. It is the conduct be- 
 coming us towards those of our fellow Christians who 
 are severed from us by diversity of worship or of dis- 
 cipline ; and in some instances, by material contra- 
 riety on points of doctrine. 
 
 " The conduct to be recommended is to treat every 
 denomination, in their character as a body, with re- 
 spect ; and the individuals composing it with degrees 
 of respect, or of esteem, or of affection, in proportion 
 to the ideas entertained of their respective merits; 
 and to avoid all intermixture of administrations in what 
 concerns the faith, or the worship, or the discipline of 
 the church. 
 
 " On the conduct to be observed toward every de- 
 nomination it is not intended to recommend silence 
 concerning any religious truth, from the mistaken 
 delicacy of avoiding offence to opposing error; nor to 
 censure the exposing of the error, if it be done in a 
 Christian spirit, and in accommodation to time and 
 place. To take offence at this is to manifest the 
 
 ■^ Some remarks on the same subject are contained in liis letters to 
 Bishop Hobart, inserted in the Appendix. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 295 
 
 spirit of persecution, under circumstances which have 
 happily disarmed it of power. But when, instead of 
 argument, or in designed aid of it, there is resort to 
 misrepresentation and abuse ; or, when the supposed 
 consequences of an opinion are charged as the admit- 
 ted sentiments of the maintainer of it: these are 
 weapons as much at the service of error as at that of 
 truth ; are the oftenest resorted to by the former; and 
 are calculated to act on intelligent and ingenuous 
 minds as reason of distrust of any cause in which they 
 may be employed. 
 
 " It is no small aggravation of the evil that it tends 
 to retard the time, which we trust will at last be 
 brought about by the providence of God, when, in 
 consequence of friendly communications arising out 
 of the ordinary intercourses and charities of life, there 
 will be such an approximation of religious societies in 
 whatever can be thought essential to communion, as 
 that they shall ' with one heart and one mouth glorify 
 God.' For, to those who have attended to the first 
 workings of what has ended in the divisions and sub- 
 divisions among Christian people, it must have been 
 evident, at least in the greater number of instances, 
 that with diversity of sentiment there might have 
 continued the 'unity of the spirit in the bond of 
 peace,' had it not been for the intrusion of personal 
 injury or provocation, the effects of passion or of in- 
 terfering interests, which have sometimes insensibly 
 induced the persuasion of service done to the cause of 
 
296 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 God, when, in fact, human views had a dominant 
 share in determining the conduct. 
 
 " There has been referred to, in favour of the point 
 sustained, the danger of exciting and increasing un- 
 friendly feelings between differing denominations. It 
 is on this principle, although there are other conside- 
 rations tending to the same effect, that your Bishop 
 has resisted all endeavours for an intermixture of ad- 
 ministrations in v/hat concerns the faith, or the wor- 
 ship, or the discipline of the church. In every known 
 instance, in which it has proceeded from the usurpa- 
 tion of authority by individuals, it has been produc- 
 tive of conflicting opinion, and of needless controversy. 
 On some occasions our institutions have been treated 
 with disrespect, and doctrines unknown in them have 
 been taught within our walls. There have even been 
 advanced claims of rights to what was granted as 
 temporary indulgence ; and thus our property in 
 religious houses has been rendered insecure : all under 
 the notion of liberality and Christian union. It would 
 be painful to have it supposed that any reference is 
 here had to the many respectable ministers of other 
 denominations whose characters are in contrariety to 
 the offences stated. Of the intrusion of such men 
 there is no apprehension entertained at present : and 
 if the door should hereafter be thrown open, the most 
 forward to enter it would be persons of the most mo- 
 derate pretensions in talent and in acquirement. 
 
 " It is confidently believed that what is now said 
 would not be offensive to the more respectable and 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 297 
 
 prominent persons, whether clerical or lay, in the con- 
 cerns of other religious societies ; who would proba- 
 bly concur in the declaration that the contrary as- 
 sumption, when carried into effect, in opposition to 
 the governing authority in any religious denomination, 
 is the intolerance which, in former ages, pursued its 
 designs by penal laws ; but is now reduced to the 
 necessity of making hollow professions of fraternity : 
 the object being the same, with difference only in the 
 means. By any among ourselves favouring such de- 
 signs, for what they may conceive to be a righteous 
 end, it should be considered, that, however commend- 
 able the being ' zealously affected,' there is the quali- 
 fication of ' a good thing ;' and that there can be no 
 goodness in what is contrary to modesty, and tends 
 to unnecessary controversy and division : for, if the 
 attempted intermixture should be accomplished, there 
 must be the severance of those who would ' seek the 
 old paths,' not without sensibility to the hindrances 
 opposed to the ' walking in them.' Thus there would 
 be an increase of division growing out of what had 
 been professedly undertaken for the healing of it. 
 
 " It is difficult to be on the present subject without 
 giving occasion to the injurious charge of bigoted 
 attachment to our communion : to guard againstwhich, 
 consistently with the acknowledgement of decided 
 preference, it may be expedient to be more parti- 
 cular. 
 
 " Our church calls herself Episcopal. She affirms 
 episcopacy to rest on Scriptural institution, and to 
 2a 
 
298 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 have subsisted from the beginning. On the varying 
 governments of other societies she pronounces no 
 judgment. The question is, not whether we think 
 correctly, but whether we are to be tolerated in what 
 we think. If this be determined in the affirmative, 
 we must, to be consistent, interdict all other than an 
 Episcopalian ministry within our bounds. 
 
 " Again, our church is decidedly in favour of a 
 form of prayer, believing it to be sanctioned by divine 
 ordainment under the law ; by the attendance of our 
 Saviour and of his apostles on composed forms in the 
 synagogues and in the temple ; and by indications of 
 their being in use in the primitive church. We do 
 not judge harshly of the public prayers of our fellow 
 Christians ; but we allege that, among ourselves, the 
 people are not to be dependent on the occasional 
 feelings, or the discretion, or the degree of cultivation 
 of an officiating minister. With such views, it is 
 contrary to what we owe to the edification of the 
 people, were we to give way to the introduction of the 
 latter species of devotion. 
 
 " Once more. That our Church teaches the doc- 
 trines of grace, and holds them to be of paramount 
 importance, is obvious to all. Man's utter want of 
 righteousness by nature ; his absolute incapacity of 
 merit, whether in the state of nature or in that of 
 grace ; his being under the government of passions 
 impelling to sin, any further than as counteracted by 
 principles derived from grace; the agency of the 
 Holy Spirit in this, going before, that he may have a 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 299 
 
 good will, and working with him in the exercise of it; 
 and, finally, the meritorious ground of all benefit, in 
 the propitiatory offering of the Redeemer, are not 
 only affirmed in our institutions but pervade them. 
 We rejoice so far as any of our fellow Christians con- 
 sent with us in acknowledging the said essential 
 truths of Scripture. But in some public confessions 
 we think we find embodied with those truths dogmas 
 neither revealed in Scripture nor deducible from its 
 contents ; and, in some instances, contradicting what 
 our Church explicitly teaches. The introducing of 
 such matter among ourselves is what we cannot coun- 
 tenance ; and introduced it would be, under the in- 
 termixture here objected to. Of this we have had 
 instances, where an alien agency has been obtruded ; 
 and, if it should be countenanced, the consequences 
 would be in the greatest degree injurious. 
 
 " If, after all, there should be a leaning in any 
 mind to the plausible plea of liberality, let there be 
 an appeal to the fact, which will bear a strict investi- 
 gation, that every proposal to the purpose, when ex- 
 plained, amounts to the surrendering of one or of 
 another of our institutions, without conformity to them 
 in any instance. 
 
 " Brethren, it is fit that there should be explicitly 
 declared the motive for the present expression of 
 opinion. It has been confidently acted on by the 
 deliverer of it, in alliance with esteem for worth, in 
 whatever individual oV body of men it was discerned 
 to reside. It cannot be expected that he will continue 
 
300 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 much longer to sustain any of his opinions either by 
 argument or by example. He hopes that they who 
 may be expected to survive him entertain similar 
 views of what the exigences and even the existence 
 of our Church require. But, lest an eifortto the con- 
 trary should hereafter be made by any, he wishes to 
 oppose to it, and to leave behind him his premonition ; 
 and to attach to it whatever weight, if there should 
 be any, may be thought due to his long experience 
 and observation. Under this impression he has made 
 it a part of his official address, to appear, for the pur- 
 pose stated, on your journal." 
 
 I am unwilling to close this imperfect sketch of 
 Dr White's character without adding the just and 
 beautiful encomium, pronounced a short time before 
 his last illness, in the conclusion of an address, deli- 
 vered by Bishop Bowen of South Carolina, at the 
 commencement in the General Theological Seminary 
 in June 1836. To its correctness the general voice 
 of the Church gave its approving testimony. 
 
 " My friends, I have, I know, detained your atten- 
 tion too long not to have wearied it. My apology 
 must be the want of opportunity and time to prepare 
 to say less. In the qualifications essential to the 
 ministry of Christ, and where you are to be called to 
 exercise it, there is, I perfectly know, a theme on 
 which, in far less space, you might have had much 
 more addressed to you than on this occasion has been. 
 Gladly would I have had some other perform the duty 
 which, it seemed to me, that I could not waive. Espe- 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 301 
 
 ciallj could I have rejoiced if the venerable and holy- 
 man to -whom it has always been desirable to assign 
 the duty of uttering the counsel proper for this occa- 
 sion, could have been permitted once more, from the 
 abundance of his unexampled wisdom and experience, 
 to have left upon your memory the inestimable les- 
 sons he has been wont to deliver. The infirmity of 
 almost fourscore years and ten may well demand our 
 acquiescence in the necessity of his absence from us, 
 and in his probable inability to instruct the church, 
 in this place, any more for ever. Never, however, 
 will he cease to instruct her, through the recorded 
 counsels he has given her, and the memory of an ex- 
 ample than which, since the last of the apostles, none 
 wiser, purer, holier has been known. Look, my 
 friends, to this greatest and best earthly exemplar to 
 which we can point you. Study his counsels, and 
 emulate his faithfulness, his purity, his singleness of 
 heart, his religious magnanimity, his unweariedness 
 in doing good, his charity towards all men. Intel- 
 lectually, spiritually, practically, we can bid you 
 advert to none more worthy of your fond and admi- 
 ring imitation. And, brethren in the ministry of our 
 household of apostolic faith, from the highest to the 
 lowest, whatever our degree or rank in its service, 
 may we all ' remember him who so long has had rule 
 over us, and has spoken to us the word of God, fol- 
 lowing his faith, and considering the end of his con- 
 versation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to- 
 day and for ever.' " 
 2 a* 
 
302 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Of the Bishop's theological opinions it is not de- 
 signed to enter into a particular detail or examiiiation. 
 It would be too extensive an undertaking for the piir- 
 pose of this memoir. They may be best drawn from 
 his own works ; in which they are at large exhibited 
 in the manner which he himself preferred. His senti- 
 ments on the great and fundamental principles of the 
 Christian system may be more clearly and satisfac- 
 torily discerned from his sermons than from his con- 
 troversial writings ; for in them he has stated those 
 sentinjents more fully and impressively, and with a 
 view to their practical influence; while in the others, 
 being led to consider and present them only as they 
 were connected with the controversies examined, and 
 for the purpose of maintaining correctness of doctrine, 
 they are not treated with as much fulness, or in lan- 
 guage expressive of so strong persuasion of their high 
 importance, or of so much sensibility to their influence 
 on the conscience and affections. It is, however, 
 only justice to him to remark their truly evangelical 
 character. With respect to the actual depraved con- 
 dition of the human race ; the cause of it, in the 
 apostacy of their first parents ; their utter inability to 
 recover themselves from it ; their universal and strong 
 natural propensity to sin ; the humiliation incumbent 
 on them, both on that account and for their actual 
 transgressions ; the design of the Gospel to effect their 
 pardon, and their restoration to holiness of heart and 
 life ; the means provided for those great purposes in 
 the atonement made by the Redeemer, and in the 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 303 
 
 gracious influences and aids of the holy spirit ; the 
 necessity, sufiiciency and efiicacy of those means ; 
 our salvation by the free grace of God, through faith 
 in the merits and sacrifice of Christ, to the entire ex- 
 clusion of any merit of our own : all these leading 
 and characteristic principles of the Gospel were uni- 
 formly maintained by him, and inculcated . with a 
 frequency, earnestness and impressiveness which 
 prove his persuasion of their truth and importance, 
 their salutary and transforming influence on the un- 
 derstanding and heart, and his own sensibility to their 
 effect on himself. 
 
 I am aware that with regard to the theory (as it 
 may be called) which he adopted to explain the 
 effects produced by Adam's fall upon the condition of 
 his descendants, and which is most fully detailed and 
 illustrated in his four lectures on the three-fold state 
 of man, and in his Comparative Views of the Calvi- 
 nistic and Arminian controversy, strong objections 
 will be felt and expressed by many able, learned and 
 sincere Christians. But on that subject the Christian 
 world has been long divided ; and there is little pros- 
 pect yet of a general union of sentiment. The Scrip- 
 tures have given no explicit determination on it; and 
 it rests therefore only on inferences drawn by human 
 reasoning from the facts and principles contained in 
 them. Difference of opinion on it should not be al- 
 lowed to affect Christian feeling ; much less will it 
 justify or excuse harsh censure. And whatever may 
 be thought of his theory, the defects of it, even if any 
 
304 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 defects exist, have certainly not led him to adopt 
 unevangelical opinions on the actual condition of 
 man by nature, and the mode of his recovery from 
 it, and advancement to happiness and immortality. 
 
 That he spoke with feeling, as vt^ell as correctness, 
 on the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, vi^ill be rea- 
 dily perceived from his sermons,* particularly those 
 designed for the season of lent. And that they were 
 very frequently introduced into his instructions to 
 his flock will be evident from the same source. 
 
 In the Christian Observer for September 1836, it 
 is asserted that there was a change in Dr White's 
 views, on the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel; for 
 that, towards the close of his life, he became more 
 attached to evangelical principles, and inculcated 
 them more correctly, frequently and earnestly. A 
 remark similar to it has been occasionally heard from 
 a few individuals here. But I can discover no proof 
 of such a change in opinion or method of instruction. 
 It is well known that the remark was sometimes made 
 in relation to sermons which had been before delivered 
 by him — in some cases many years previously — 
 which had not, however, then produced the same 
 effect which they did on the subsequent occasions, or 
 it had been forgotten. Probably the deeper impres- 
 sion was caused by a difference in the state of mind 
 or heart, in the degree of knowledge of the subject, or 
 
 * Among them I would refer to the following, among his sermons 
 arranged for publication : No. XXXI., " Of the Faithful and Acceptable 
 Saying," in 1 Tim. i. 15 ; No. LVL, " Of the Ciiristian Warfare," Eph. 
 vi. 11 ; No. LXXXIV., " Of the Need of the Physician," Mark ii. 17. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP AVHITE. 305 
 
 even in the attention of the hearers themselves. I 
 have attended his church from childhood; and, so far 
 as my own recollection enables me to judge, I know 
 no other ground for the assertion. The sermons se- 
 lected for the proposed volumes of his Posthumous 
 Works, were written and preached in various and dis- 
 tant periods of his life; but it is believed that they 
 would not be found, on the most careful comparison, 
 to indicate any material change in his theological 
 views, or in the faithfulness with which he taught the 
 peculiar doctrines of the Gospel. 
 
 The Works of Bishop White, both published and 
 in manuscript, are voluminous. A Catalogue of those 
 published in his lifeti me ; of those left in manuscript, 
 and selected for publication in the proposed volumes 
 of his Posthumous Works; and of the others in manu- 
 script, is here inserted. It is compiled almost entirely 
 from lists left by himself, and therefore the correct- 
 ness of it may be relied on. 
 
 I. THOSE PUBLISHED DURING HIS LIFE. 
 
 1. The Case of the Episcopal Churches in the 
 United States Considered. A pamphlet published in 
 1782. — Three letters,* signed " An Episcopalian," 
 
 * In a catalogue published in the Protestant Episcopalian, vol. 5, p. 
 33, only two are mentioned. But tliree were published : the originals of 
 which, sent to Bishop Hobart for publication, are now in my possession. 
 
306 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 were published by Dr White in the Albany Centinel, 
 in the summer of 1805, in reply to the author of a 
 series of essays inserted in the same paper, entitled 
 "Miscellanies," who cited the pamphlet incorrectly: 
 and they are contained in " A Collection of the Es- 
 says on the Subject of Episcopacy which originally 
 appeared in tTie Albany Centinel;" published by T. 
 & J. Swords, New York, 1806. 
 
 2. Lectures on the Catechism of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church : with Supplementary Lectures ; 
 one on the Ministry, the other on the Public Ser- 
 vice : and Dissertations on Select Subjects in the Lec- 
 tures. — One vol. 8vo. Philadelphia, Bradford & Ins- 
 keep, 1813. With additions, in manuscript. 
 
 3. Comparative Views of the Controversy between 
 the Calvinists and the Arminians. — Two vols, Svo. 
 Philadelphia, M. Thomas, 1817. 
 
 4. Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
 the United States of America. One vol., Svo. Phi- 
 ladelphia, S. Potter & Co., 1820. — Second edition, 
 continuing the History to the year 1835. One vol., 
 Svo. New Yqrk, Swords, Stanford & Co., 1836. 
 
 5. A Commentary on the Questions in the Ofl&ces 
 for the Ordaining of Piiests and Deacons; and a 
 Commentary on the Duties of the Public Ministry. 
 These were first published in the " Quarterly Theo- 
 logical Magazine and Religious Repository," for 1813 
 and 1814 ; and afterwards in one volume, Svo, by T. 
 and J. Swords, New York, 1833. 
 
 6. Twenty-four Sermons on different occasions, 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 307 
 
 from A.D. 1784 to A.D. 1833. Collected and pro- 
 posed to be republished in connection with his post- 
 humous works. 
 
 7. Five Episcopal Charges, in 1807, 1825, 1831, 
 1832 and 1834. Collected and proposed to be repub- 
 lished with the said works. 
 
 8. Five Addresses to the Trustees, Professors and 
 Students of the General Theological Seminary, in 
 1822, 1824, 1827, 1828 and 1829. Pubhshed in 
 pamphlets. 
 
 9. Ten Pastoral Letters of the House of Bishops, 
 from 1808 to 1835 inclusive. On these the Bishop 
 remarks, in one of the lists left by him, "As these 
 letters, although in the name of the house, were known 
 to have been written by me, and currently spoken of 
 with that circumstance attached to them ; and as, on 
 that account, I may be thought especially responsible 
 for the sentiments expressed, I have thought that it 
 comes under the principle of these entries to take the 
 present notice of them. The notoriety referred to 
 does not attach to the various addresses penned by 
 me for institutions in which I have presided : but the 
 responsibility for which may therefore be committed 
 to the bodies which respectively adopted them." 
 
 10. An Essay containing Objections against the 
 Position of a Personal Assurance of the Pardon of 
 Sin, by a Direct Communication of the Holy Spirit. 
 First published in the Christian Register, New York, 
 1816; and afterwards in pamphlet form, with notes, 
 occasioned by a pamphlet containing remarks on the 
 
308 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 essay, under the name of " A Reply." Philadelphia, 
 1817. Also Replies to two Reviews of the same. 
 
 11. Miscellaneous Essays, &c., published in va- 
 rious periodicals or in pamphlets : — 
 
 An Essay noticing some errors in the Ecclesias- 
 tical History of Dr Lawrence Mosheim; in the Notes 
 of Dr Archibald Maclain on the same ; and in the 
 History of the Puritans by Daniel Neal. — Christian 
 Journal, April and May 1818. With an Appendix in 
 manuscript. 
 
 An Essay on Religious Societies and Prayer Meet- 
 ings. — Christian Journal, 1819. 
 
 An Essay concerning a Pretended Imitation of 
 the " Kiss of Charity," spoken of in Rom. xvi. 16, 
 and four other places of Scripture : Designed espe- 
 cially for the perusal of Students in Theology. — Chris- 
 tian Journal, February 1819. 
 
 Vindication of Archbishop Seeker. — Episcopal Ma- 
 gazine, April 1820. 
 
 A Catechism on the Constitution of the Christian 
 Church, its Ministries and its Services, as maintained 
 by the Protestant Episcopal Church. — Episcopal Ma- 
 gazine, May 1820. 
 
 An Essay on the Question of the Validity of Lay 
 Baptism. — Episcopal Magazine, June 1820. 
 
 Two Essays designed especially for the perusal of 
 Students in Theology. Essay I. On the Terms, 
 Sacrifice, Altar and Priest; Essay IL On Certain 
 Questions relative to the Eucharist. — Episcopal Ma- 
 gazine, January and February 1820. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP -WHITE. 309 
 
 Vindication of Bishop Seabury. — Christian Journal, 
 January 1821. 
 
 Three smaller Tracts. 1. Remarks on Experi- 
 ences, as a Subject of Ordinary Conversation and of 
 Ecclesiastical Inquiry. 2. Remarks on the Phrase, 
 " Vital Godliness." 3. Remarks on the Phrase, " the 
 Hiding of God's Face." — Christian Journal, Decem- 
 ber 1819, January and February 1820. 
 
 Conversations of a Minister with a Parishioner, on 
 Baptismal Regeneration. — Christian Journal, March, 
 April, June and July 1822. 
 
 Answers to Philos. — Philadelphia Recorder, Au- 
 gust and September 1823. 
 
 An Address delivered at laying the Corner Stone 
 of the Building for the Deaf and Dumb, on the 15th 
 of June 1824.— National Gazette, June 17, 1824. 
 
 An Address at laying the Corner Stone of the Gen- 
 eral Theological Seminary, New York, July 1825. — 
 Newspapers of the day. 
 
 Defence of Bishop Hobart's Sermon in Rome. — 
 Church Register, 7th of January 1826. 
 
 Remarks on the Commentary of the Reverend 
 Thomas Scott. — Church Register, February 11, 18, 
 25 and April 29, 1826. 
 
 Of Primitive Facts explanatory of Scripture. — 
 Church Register, January 21 and 28, 1826. 
 
 Concerning the Latin Translation of the Articles. — 
 Church Register, April 15, 1826. 
 
 Of the Testimony of the Church to the Books of 
 Scripture.— Church Register, March 18, 1826. 
 2b 
 
310 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Of Bowing at the Name of Jesus. — Church Regis- 
 ter, January 27, 1827. 
 
 An Opinion concerning the Will of Stephen Gi- 
 rard. — Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, January 
 26, 1832. (It is inserted in this Memoir, p. 234.) 
 
 An Opinion relative to a supposed case of Intended 
 Marriage. — Pamphlet, October 1809. 
 
 An Address at the University of Pennsylvania, 
 September 20, 1813, on the Introduction of Drs 
 Beasley and Patterson. — United States Gazette, Sep- 
 tember 23, 1813. 
 
 An Address to the Female Bible Society. — Pam- 
 phlet, March 23, 1814. 
 
 An Address at the Consecration of Bishop Henry 
 U. Onderdonk, October 25, 1827. 
 
 An Address at the Consecration of Bishop Benja- 
 min T. Onderdonk, November 25, 1830. 
 
 Two Addresses to the Special Diocesan Convention 
 in 1826. Published with the Journal and in pam- 
 phlet form. (They are in the Appendix, No. VIII.) 
 
 An Address at the laying of the Corner Stone of a 
 Monument to General Washington, February 22, 
 1833. — Newspapers of the time. 
 
 Three Letters to the Editor of the American Quar- 
 terly Review, concerning an article in that work, on 
 the subject of the Religious Observance of One Day 
 in Seven, in connection with that of Sunday Mails. — 
 Protestant Episcopalian, October 1830. 
 
 Address of the Clergy to General La Fayette. — 
 Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, 1824. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 311 
 
 An Address concerning the Greeks. — In the same 
 paper, December 11, 1823. 
 
 An Address concerning the Cherokees, on the 11th 
 of January 1830. — In the same paper, January 13, 
 1830. (Inserted in this memoir, p. 286.) 
 
 Considerations, expressed with brevity, in reference 
 to the Institutions and Practices of the Episcopal 
 Church ; and addressed by the Pastor of Three Con- 
 gregations to those of his Parishioners by whom they 
 are entirely or in part disregarded. — Pamphlet. 
 
 Additional Instructions to the Missionaries to Chi- 
 na. — Missionary Record, May 29, 1835. (Inserted 
 in this memoir, p. 248.) 
 
 Thoughts on the Singing of Psalms and Anthems 
 in Churches. — Pamphlet, 1808, signed " Silas." — 
 Reprinted in Christian Journal for May and June 
 1808, and afterwards by Mr Armal.of Germantown. 
 
 A Prayer and Address at the Opening of the Hall 
 of the Washington Benevolent Society, October 1816; 
 included in their printed statement. 
 
 A Commentary on all the Passages in the New 
 Testament relative to the Ministry. — Published, to 
 the end of the First JEpistle to Timothy, in the Episco- 
 pal Magazine for 1820 and 1821 ; the rest in man- 
 uscript. (The Commentary has been selected to be 
 published complete in one of the proposed volumes of 
 his Posthumous Works.) 
 
 Additions inserted in Samuel F. Bradford's edition 
 of Rees's Cyclopoedia ; in the two half volumes from 
 A to K, and from N to end. 
 
 Answer to an Attack in " the Aurora," concerning 
 
312 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the Mitre on the Steeple of Christ Church. Printed 
 before the decease of B. F. Bache. 
 
 A Narrative concerning Lieutenant Asgill. — Mu- 
 seum of June 1835. 
 
 An Address and Form of Prayer on occasion of 
 the decease of the Honourable John Marshall. (See 
 the Appendix, No. V.) 
 
 Preface to the Sermons of the Reverend William 
 Smith, D.D., who died while his sermonswere in press. 
 
 A Conversation on the subject of Original Sin. — 
 Protestant Episcopalian, vol. 2, pp. 151 and 231. 
 
 Succession of the English Episcopacy from the 
 Greek Church. — In the same, p. 307. 
 
 Notices of certain Periods in the Ecclesiastical 
 History of England ; designed for Students in The- 
 ology. — In the same, pp. 423 and 447. 
 
 Defence of the Measure of the House of Bishops in 
 1801, on the question of consecrating a Bishop for the 
 Diocese of New York. — In the same, vol. 3, p. 68. 
 
 Of the Effect of the Proceedings of the Council of 
 Trent on the Question of the Episcopacy. — In the 
 same, p. 93. 
 
 Essay on the Infallibility claimed by the Roman 
 Catholic Church : designed for the perusal of young 
 persons under an incipient danger of seduction to the 
 Roman Catholic Church. — In the same, p. 416. 
 
 An Argument in favour of Divine Revelation, 
 from the fact that it is the only Source of the Know- 
 ledge of God, now or ever in the Possession of Man- 
 kind.— In the same, vol. 4, p. 249.— Appendix thereto, 
 p. 456. 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 313 
 
 Expositions of certain Passages of Scripture, often 
 quoted for the Increase of Piety, but with such mis- 
 interpretations as tend to an Opposite result ; with an 
 Appendix. — In the same, p. 387. 
 
 Extension of the Principle of Bishop Henry U. 
 Onderdonk's Charge on the Rule of Faith, in 1833. — 
 In the same, p. 417 ; continued in vol. 5, pp. 217, 
 256, 299, 330, 416 and 449 ; see also vol. 6, pp. 29, 113. 
 
 An Argument against Roman Catholicism, from 
 there being no Evidence of its Pretensions, either in 
 those passages of Holy Scripture, or in those records 
 of Priniiitive Antiquity, in which, if valid, they would 
 naturally be expected. — In the same, vol. 6, p. 294. 
 
 On the Division of Dioceses. — In the same, p. 327, 
 
 Essay on the Use of the word " Priest" in the 
 Institutions of the Episcopal Church. — In the same, 
 p. 413. 
 
 [N.B. All the particulars contained in this 11th 
 No. are taken from a list in the hand-writing of the 
 Bishop, concluding with these words : " The produc- 
 tions noticed in this paper are, to the best of my 
 recollection, all published by me to the end of 1835." 
 The manuscript is stated to have " had for its object 
 the guarding against there being hereafter exhibited, 
 as published by the author, any production which 
 was not his." Three, certainly his, were however 
 inadvertently omitted ; which, with those published 
 after 1835, are subjoined.] 
 
 A Caution against the Misrepresentations in a Late 
 Work, entitled, " Travels of an Irish Gentleman in 
 2 B* 
 
314 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Search of a Religion." — Protestant Episcopalian, vol. 
 4, pp. 466 ; see vol. 5, p. 35, in which, it is inserted in 
 the Catalogue by himself. 
 
 An Essay on Variety in Prayer. — In the same, vol. 
 
 6, p. 130. 
 
 Address and Prayer at the Centennial Celebration 
 of the Birth of General Washington. — Poulson's 
 American Daily Advertiser, February 22, 1832; see 
 Catalogue in Protestant Episcopalian, vol. 5, p. 34. 
 
 A Doubt concerning the Usual Interpretations of 
 Revelations xiv. 6, 7. — Protestant Episcopalian, vol. 
 
 7, p. 74. 
 
 A Dialogue between a Protestant and a Roman 
 Catholic, concerning the Name of the Church of the 
 latter. — In the same, p. 99. 
 
 A Dialogue between a Protestant and a Roman 
 Catholic, concerning certain Attributes, claimed as 
 characteristic of the Church of the latter : with an 
 Appendix. — In the same, p. 133. 
 
 An Essay on Wandering of the Mind in Prayer. — 
 In the same, p. 274 (inserted in the Appendix, No. X.). 
 
 II. SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS, FOR PUBLICATION IN THE 
 PROPOSED VOLUMES OF HIS POSTHUMOUS WORKS. 
 
 1. Four Lectures, additional to those on the Cate- 
 chism, on the Threefold State of Man. 
 
 2. A Short Essay on the Analogy of the Under- 
 standing and the Will : annexed to those Lectures. 
 
 3. One Hundred and Sixty-One Selected Sermons. 
 
 4. A Commentary on all the Passages in the New 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 315 
 
 Testament, relative to the Ministry. — (Partly pub- 
 lished before; see ante, p. 311.) 
 
 5. A Counter Apology for the Divinity of the Holy 
 Scriptures, in a Review of the Apology of Robert Bar- 
 clay on the same Subject : with Notice of some Pas- 
 sages in the Work of Thomas Clarkson, A. M., en- 
 titled " The Portraiture of Quakerism ;" and an Ap- 
 pendix, containing an Account of the Controversy 
 between Charles Leslie and Joseph Wyeth. In three 
 volumes.* 
 
 * It appears from the preface, dated June 10, 1815, that the first sug- 
 gestion of this work in Bishop White's mind, was in the year 1805, when 
 it was begun. After some progress was made in it, it was laid aside for 
 several years. In the year 1810 it was resumed, and completed during 
 that and the succeeding year. A memorandum attached to the MS., and 
 dated July 17, 1826, shows that the work was re-perused at that time by 
 the Author, without his "finding any reason to change his opinions." 
 It was again revised in 1833, and the following memorandum, dated Octo- 
 ber IS, 1833, inserted in the MS. 
 
 " On a re-perusal of the Counter Apology, 1 see no cause to with- 
 draw any of the arguments contained in it. Whether it will ever be 
 published, is uncertain : but I believe that it would tend to the uphold- 
 ing of the truths of our holy religion ; first, by showing the danger of a 
 theory, which, by afiirming an imaginary light of nature, under an im- 
 posing but misapplied name, leads to deism ; and, secondly, by distinguish- 
 ing between Christian duty and requisitions foreign to it; representing 
 them, to young persons especially, as equally obligatory; and thus pre- 
 paring their ripening understandings for an equal disregard of both. 
 
 " Perhaps it may be expected of the Author to declare his opinion on 
 the breach, which, since the penning of these volumes, has been made in 
 the society called Quakers. They have divided on three points, which 
 have been lately under the cognizance of the supreme court of New Jer- 
 sey. As these three points have been perseveringly contended for by the 
 society, it is conceded that the court was correct in their decision on the 
 grounds on which it was rested; and which were pressed by counsel, 
 on the part of those called the Orthodox. It is not to be denied, how- 
 
316 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 6. Correspondence with Mr Charles Miller, of 
 Boston, relative to King's Chapel. (In the Appendix, 
 No. II.) 
 
 7. Address on Building a New Church, in 1806. — 
 Ibid., No. VI. 
 
 8. A Projected Report on the Table of Kindred 
 and Affinity.— Ibid., No. III. 
 
 9. Autobiography. — See ante, pp. 10 to 12. 
 
 10. Cautionary Letters to a Young Lady, by her 
 Pastor, in reference to the Danger of being drawn 
 
 ever, that if we look back to times antecedent to those of Robert Bar- 
 clay and William Penn, there are imprudent sayings of some of the 
 preachers, recited in this work, favouring the pretensions of those styled 
 " The Hicksites." But such sayings ought not to countervail the more 
 deliberate and the uninterrupted profession of the society. 
 
 " The Hicksites, it is said, complain of persecution, on the ground of 
 an alleged majority deprived of the occupancy of a building. The deci- 
 sion of the court is not extended to conscience, or to the profession of its 
 dictates. These do not reach to the occupancy of a building ; which must 
 be held under the law of the land ; like the tenure of property held by 
 any individual. But it would be persecution, in this country, to- deny to 
 any association of men the privilege of possessing a building for the wor- 
 ship of God according to the dictates of their consciences, under the 
 general profession of Christianity ; and exclusively of all tenets contrary 
 to the terms of the association ; exclusively, also, of those who may de- 
 part from the same, whether they may be few or many. A court is not 
 to judge of the truth of the doctrines in favour either of one side or of the 
 other ; but is to ground its decision upon the fact of their being held. 
 
 "In one respect, however, there is persecution inflicted on both of the 
 descriptions of persons implicated. It is the exacting of militia fines in 
 such a way as gives license to harpies, to the encouragement of oppres- 
 sion, and with injury to the public morals. The evil might easily be re- 
 medied, by a law which would not occasion any loss to the revenue 
 raised for the military service." 
 
LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 317 
 
 into the Communion of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 — In the Appendix, No. XI. 
 
 III. OTHEK WORKS IN MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 Seventy-Nine Sermons. 
 
 An Essay on High Church Principles : with an 
 Appendix. 
 
 A Conversation between a Minister of the Gospel 
 and one of his Parishioners, on the Subject of Con- 
 version. 
 
 Conversations of a Minister with a Parishioner, on 
 the Subject of Amusements. 
 
 Opinion concerning the Theatre. 
 
 Two Remarkable Facts, having a bearing on the 
 Calvinistic Doctrine of a Natural Hatred of God. 
 
 Proposed Alterations in the Book of Common 
 Prayer, in the Articles, and in the Ordinal; to be sub- 
 mitted in the event of a Review. — 1826 and 1831. 
 
 Two Remarks concerning the Homilies. 
 
 A Thought concerning our Prospects of the Future 
 Fate of the Liturgy. 
 
 Doubts concerning the Usual In-terpretation of Cer- 
 tain Passages in the Book of Revelation. 
 
 An Essay explaining and applying Matthew xvi. 6, 
 "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is 
 hypocrisy." 
 
 On the Question concerning the Ending of the Old 
 Century, and the Beginning of the New. 
 
 Remarks suggested by the Perusal of Cuvier's 
 Theory of the Earth, 
 
318 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 An Address delivered at the Opening of the New 
 Christ Church Hospital, April 1819. 
 
 Remarks on a Narrative of a Death Bed Scene. 
 
 Remarks on a Publication in the Recorder, in which 
 it is ajBirmed that even the Words of Holy Scripture 
 are dictated by Inspiration. 
 
 Remarks on Rev. Henry M. Mason's Convention 
 Sermon, in 1834. 
 
 Form of Prayer used at the Commencement in the 
 University, in July 1834. 
 
 Prayer at the House of Refuge. 
 
 A small Volume of Prayers used at Meetings of 
 Various Societies, and on other Special Occasions. 
 
 Letter to Dr Caspar Morris, concerning Non-Epis- 
 copalian Baptism. 
 
 Letter to Dr Montgomery, on the Question of Im- 
 putation. 
 
 An Opinion on the Question of Allowable Latitude 
 in the use of the Book of Common Prayer : especially 
 intended with reference to Missionaries. 
 
 An Opinion delivered at a Meeting of the Trustees 
 of the University, September 28, 1835. 
 
 Letter to Joseph R. IngersoU, Esq., with the Re- 
 turn of Lord Brougham's "Discourse on Natural 
 Theology;" October 21, 1835. 
 
 An Expression of Doubt concerning the Expedi- 
 ency of Temperance Societies. 
 
 [These, except the small volume of Prayers, are 
 inserted in a List left by the Bishop.] 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 (Page 57 ante, in note.) 
 
 LETTER TO THE REV. HENRY V. D. JOHNS. 
 
 Philadelphia, December 29, 1830. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir, 
 
 I duly received your letter of the 17th instant ; but owing partly to 
 the duties of the season, and partly to the shortness of the days, not 
 balanced by the length of the evenings owing to the weakness of my 
 eyes, I have delayed every concern not necessarily demanding immediate 
 attention. 
 
 The prejudice encountered by you, exacting variety in your daily 
 prayers before the congress, is what I have not a particle of regard to ; 
 and I believe of the states of mind suggesting it, that they are not alto- 
 gether the same with those which possessed our Saviour and his apostles 
 in their attendance on the daily service of the temple, and on the weekly 
 worship ; in which were continually repeated certain prayers, still ex- 
 tant in the Jewish Mishna. To go further back : was it ever known of 
 devout Jews, that they objected to the sameness of the annual expres- 
 sions of gratitude prescribed to them in Deuteronomy, xxvi. 1^10 ? 
 or, while in the wilderness, to the daily repetitions recorded in Numbers, 
 X. 35 and 36. It is probable that in the estimation of those who delight 
 in variety in this matter, it would be acceptable only in proportion as it 
 should take the shape of declamation ; which is a well known property 
 of some public prayers, although not of those of our church. 
 
 Although the dictates of divine wisdom ought to be sufficient in this 
 matter, yet it may not be amiss to remark the ground of them in human 
 nature. Addresses designed for instruction or for persuasion, derive 
 advantage from a reasonable measure of variety ; but as for compositions 
 which are to be expressive of our feelings, words which have often ex- 
 cited in us a certain species of sensibility are more likely than any other 
 words to produce the same effect by repetitions. The principle might 
 be illustrated in the effects of various species of composition, from the 
 2c 
 
322 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 most exalted strains of doxology to those popular ballads which interest 
 the popular mind. If the object be the display of the eloquence of a 
 public speaker, it is another matter. 
 
 In regard to what you inquire concerning your officiating in the 
 public hall on Sundays ; it is new to me that any service is required of 
 the chaplain of either house except when they are constitutionally assem- 
 bled. When I have officiated where the attendants could not be supposed 
 acquainted with our services, as in the jail and in the bettering house of 
 this city, and sometimes before unorganized congregations in the country, 
 I have not scrupled to omit the responsive portions, in order to avoid an 
 incongruity which would be a disparagement of the services. But in a 
 stated exercise T should hold myself bound to do all in my power to ob- 
 tain the aid of at least a few to make the responses ; so important do I 
 deem that feature in our institutions, which invites the vocal concurrence 
 of the people in the exercises of prayer and praise. How far, in your 
 case, necessity requires the dispensing with what would stamp our ser- 
 vice with impropriety, I submit to your discretion, so far as my solicited 
 opinion is concerned, to determine. But I put a bar to the perverting of 
 an apparent necessity to the imitating of so many of our fellow Chris- 
 tians, in their depriving of the people of the primitive right of joining 
 vocally in the prayers. Even the moderate privilege of an Amen is 
 taken away from them, notwithstanding the sanction given to it by St 
 Paul in 1 Cor. xiv. 16 : the substitute for which is the solitary Amen of 
 the minister ; and of this I am sorry occasionally to witness an imitation 
 in some of the clergy of our church. 
 
 My practice, in the presence of each house of congress, was in the 
 following series : the Lord's prayer ; the collect for Ash Wednesday ; 
 that for peace ; that for grace ; the prayer for the President of the United 
 States ; the prayer for Congress ; the prayer for all conditions of men ; 
 the general thanksgiving ; St Chrysostom's prayer ; the grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 
 
 That in this matter, and in every other, you may be so guided as to 
 satisfy your own conscience, and advance the glory of God, is the wish 
 and the prayer of your affectionate brother, 
 
 Wm WHITE. 
 
APPENDIX. 323 
 
 11. 
 
 (Page 104 ante.) 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR CHARLES MILLER. 
 
 These documents are thus endorsed by Dr White : " Copies of two 
 letters to Mr Charles Miller of Boston, occasioned by his sending to me 
 the prayer book of the society meeting in what had been called King's 
 Chapel. The book was sent soon after the general convention of 1785. 
 I supposed at the time, and the supposition was justified by circum- 
 stances, that the step was taken by the principal agents in what I con- 
 sider as a most unjustifiable transaction — the wresting of a place of 
 worship from the Episcopal Church. It happened, as I understood, thus. 
 Many of the members of the congregation had gone to Nova Scotia and 
 elsewhere, from disaffection to the American cause. Their pews were 
 let to persons, sundry of whom had never professed themselves of the 
 church ; to the members of which they had no other affinity in principle 
 than what consisted in dissatisfaction with the system then generally 
 preached in Boston. Thus a majority was produced, to whom were 
 sacrificed the rights of the real members of the Episcopal Church. The 
 remembrance of the manoeuvre should be perpetuated, for the guarding 
 against the like in future. W. W." 
 
 Boston, November 12, 1785. 
 Reverend Sir : 
 
 I take the liberty to present you with a reformed liturgy, which is 
 used in the first Episcopal church in this town (at which I attend) ; and 
 ask the favour of your acceptance thereof. 
 
 After you have examined the book, I should be exceedingly happy in 
 having your opinion on the same ; and if there are any errors crept in, 
 that you would be so kind as to point them out, which I shall receive 
 with pleasure. 
 
 You will please to excuse the freedom I have taken in writing to you 
 without any acquaintance or introduction. I have requested my friend, 
 Mr Anthony, to deliver the book in person. I have the honour to be, 
 reverend sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant. 
 
 Reverend Mr White. CHARLES MILLER. 
 
 December 1, 1785. 
 Sir, 
 I received from the hands of Captain Anthony your obliging present 
 
324 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 of the prayer book, together with your polite letter ; for both of which I 
 request you to accept of my grateful acknowledgements. 
 
 As you have invited my opinion of that performance, I think it my 
 duty to comply. As it is honestly given, I hope it will be charitably 
 received ; and that my presuming to object will not be thought to proceed 
 from my taking a pleasure in doing so. 
 
 There are certain general principles, sir, without the observance of 
 which no religious communion can be permanently maintained. I shall 
 mention but one : connecting it with its application to the present situa- 
 tion of the Episcopal Church. It is this — that as our several congrega- 
 tions were parts or members of the Church of England, and have been 
 separated from her by a political revolution, we ought to keep in view 
 the characteristics of that church, in the adapting of our system to our 
 new situation. There is a certain part of her, to continue which would 
 be inconsistent with our civil duties, to which those of revealed religion 
 can never be in opposition. Farther, our Church, like all other indepen- 
 dent sopieties, may make such improvements in her service as she thinks 
 it admits of consistently with her known principles. But for some of us 
 to depart from the leading principles of her system ; or to make needful 
 alterations, in such a manner as is inconsistent with the whole tenor of 
 her ecclesiastical government ; is, I conceive, not the way to relieve her 
 from her present disjointed state. If we think the church essentially 
 wrong in these matters, we have a happy resource in the glorious free- 
 dom of our country ; which permits us either to join any other re.^igious 
 society or to found a new church, agreeably to our own ideas of the 
 gospel plan. 
 
 On the preceding principle, I think your congregation will find it diffi- 
 cult to justify these two things : First, their leaving out every invocation 
 of the Redeemer ; and secondly, the making of the alterations of the 
 liturgy a congregational act. The invoking of the Redeemer has been 
 too conspicuous a part of our services to be set aside by some of us, con- 
 sistently with any reasonable expectation of continuing of the same 
 communion with the rest. For I think it is very improbable that those 
 persons who believe Jesus Christ to have been worshipped by his imme- 
 diate disciples, who are convinced that it was the badge of the first 
 Christians that they called on his name, and who know that the being 
 whom they have been accustomed to invoke the very angels are said to 
 have worshipped, will join in communion with a church where the ad- 
 dressing of their Saviour is set aside ; whether the motive be to stigma- 
 tize it as unchristian, or to accommodate the service to Arians and Soci- 
 nians. If I am wrong in this suggestion, I should be happy to be cor- 
 rected ; but r was led to it by the circumstance that they who believe 
 in Christ's divinity have held it to be too important, and too closely 
 connected with other doctrines held essential, to permit an accommoda- 
 tion to the principles of the sects above mentioned. 
 
 Here give me leave to take notice of a sentence in the preface, which 
 
APPENDIX. 325 
 
 has a strong tendency to mislead the reader ; which I hope was not in- 
 tended. It is that concerning the " Gloria Patri." Whenever that form 
 may have been introduced as a doxology, for the completing of particular 
 acts of worship ; the giving of glory to the Lord and to the Holy Spirit 
 was unquestionably of a much earlier date than the time of Pope Dama- 
 sus ; the contrary to which the preface insinuates : for otherwise, the 
 time of its being introduced in that form could have been no reason for 
 discontinuing it. 
 
 If the latter part of the suggestion be the object, your service is not 
 yet accommodated to the principles of all the Socinians, many of whom 
 deny there being any state of existence between death and the resurrec- 
 tion ; and their modern leader, Dr Priestley, even looks on the doctrine, 
 that there is such a substance or agent as the human soul, as one of the 
 greatest corruptions' of Christianity. However, I believe that any 
 stranger to your society would presume that you have not accommodated 
 in this instance. 
 
 On the subject of the worship of Jesus Christ, I avail myself of tho 
 veneration in which your society hold Dr S. Clarke, to refer you to his 
 " Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity," p. 137, 8vo ed. You will read 
 as many texts as fill several pages directly to this purpose ; and let me 
 request you seriously to consider whether, if those passages prove the 
 point for which they were brought by Dr Clarke, any Christian ought to 
 omit the duty. And I also request you to turn to his sermon " on the 
 Power and Authority of Christ," (vol. 6, s. 4,) as a proof how far his 
 tenets were from those of Arians and Socinians. Let me also refer you, 
 in regard to both these subjects, to his paraphrase on the Evangelists, 
 at the following places: St John, i. ; xx. 28 ; St Luke, xxiv. 52; 
 St Matthew, xxviii. 17. I cannot reconcile myself to the manner in 
 which Dr Clarke's name has been made use of both by your society 
 and Mr Lindsey : the professing to reform the liturgy according to his 
 plan, when the deviation is so much greater than his system required, 
 appearing to me not altogether just to the memory of a great and good 
 man.* 
 
 I am not a friend to those metaphysical distinctions which have per- 
 plexed the present subject, and discredited divine truth. The invoking 
 and worshipping of Jesus Christ was the practice of the church long 
 before those subtleties were known, as you may be informed by many 
 and clear passages in the anti-Nicene fathers. 
 
 Secondly, sir, I took the liberty to object to your making of your 
 liturgy a congregational act ; which is inconsistent with the whole tenor 
 of the ecclesiastical government of the Church of England. Notwith- 
 standing the liberal definition which the articles give of a visible church, 
 I presume it will never be contended for as the meaning, that where there 
 
 * When afterwards ill England, I saw Dr Clarke's prayer book, as altered by his own 
 hand, in the British Museum. It did not materially differ from those of Mr Lindsey and 
 the society in Boston. 
 
 2 c* 
 
326 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 are several neighbouring congregations, especially in the same city or 
 town, they may, consistently with order and propriety, be left each to its 
 congregational government. This would be foreign to every idea of 
 Episcopal government ; which supposes, let the authority of bishops be 
 more or less, that the flock is under a diocesan, and not under a congre- 
 gational discipline. But that this can be the case, and yet each congre- 
 gation be left to model its liturgy, I cannot conceive possible. The 
 articles you quote as to the rites and ceremonies, certainly never meant 
 that they might be different in the same diocese ; and I do not believe 
 that history furnishes an instance of an Episcopal Church, in which the 
 different congregations composing it, did not follow the same directory 
 of worship. So fully am I in this sentiment, as to believe that in the 
 case of perseverance in your present plan, you cannot long continue to 
 profess yourselves Episcopalians, unless in a sense in which the word is 
 not customarily used. 
 
 Hitherto, sir, I have rested my argument only on a general principle 
 of ecclesiastical policy. But give me leave briefly to suggest, that should 
 my apprehensions be well founded, of your society becoming either Arian 
 or Socinian, or congregational in government, or both, I might rest my 
 argument on moral obligation, in respect to the keeping of possession of 
 the house heretofore known by the name of King's Chapel. Our churches, 
 and other property belonging to them, were evidently bought and given 
 as to component parts of a church, the great outlines of whose doctrine 
 and government were well known. But for a majority of a congregation 
 to destroy these, and so, of course, to compel the minority to give up 
 their interest in the said property, in order to seek what they conceive to 
 be the pure word of God, or a more Christian worship, elsewhere ; is, I 
 humbly apprehend, to deprive them of their just rights : whereas no in- 
 jury is offered, in expecting a majority to relinquish an interest, if they 
 can no longer comply with the terms on which it was given. I am the 
 freer in expressing this sentiment, as it is said to be the ground on which 
 a court and jury in this city, not long since, determined a controversy 
 between two parties, concerning the possession of a house of worship. 
 In the cause alluded to facts were much disputed, and I am not suffi- 
 ciently master of them to give an opinion ; but the principle is allowed 
 by all to be wise and just.* 
 
 Let me, sir, entreat you to recollect how much more serviceable it will 
 be to the common cause of Christianity, if we can accomplish a great 
 and liberal plan for connecting in one system the members of our widely 
 extended communion ; rather than fqr every congregation to be in all 
 respects self-governed : or, if this cannot be, that we may at least con- 
 tinue one in each state. I am amazed that the importance of this is not 
 more seen, in relation to the guarding against the progress of a church 
 
 * There was subsequently a protest of tlic minority of the liouse called King's Chapel, 
 ;ii*ainst the wrong done to them. 
 
APPENDIX. , 327 
 
 as yet scarcely known in your country. When the church of Rome- 
 claims the subjection of all Christendom to St Peter's chair, the rise of 
 her power is too well known for the pretension to have weight ; but 
 when she shall talk of the unity of the members of the church in the same 
 neighbourhood or district, and of their being linked together under one 
 common head, antiquity will be so much on her side, that I am afraid it 
 will make many take the less exception to her erroneous doctrines. Of 
 all the members of the Protestant body, the Church of England has been 
 thought the strongest bulwark against her, from the circumstance of 
 retaining more than others of those ancient institutions which were prior 
 to her corruptions. I cannot bear the thought of our communion's losing 
 in the new world what has been our glory in the old. 
 
 I will suggest another danger. Should any church hereafter avail it- 
 self of the having of its parts united, to establish itself on the ruins of 
 others, what a feeble opposition will it meet from such societies as have 
 not the same advantage ! iThe danger alluded to arises from the frailties 
 of human nature, and is not mentioned as a reflection on any ; but we 
 are to be aware, that every impediment thrown in the way of future am- 
 bitious zealots is an act, as well of good citizenship, as of religion. 
 
 I may, sir, have mistaken the principles of your society, not having 
 received any account of them in the way of conversation or of corres- 
 pondence. The notoriety of my having no personal prejudice to gratify 
 in this matter, has emboldened me to be the more free in my observa- 
 tions ; which, if they should seem to approach to rudeness, I request you 
 to interpret more according to the intention than the expression : giving 
 them the most inoffensive construction they will bear. 
 
 I request your acceptance of the journal of a late ecclesiastical con- 
 vention, with all that the press affords of their prayer book ; which I 
 shall inclose to you from time to time as the sheets shall come out. 
 Should our eastern brethren have any improvements to propose, the con- 
 vention that is to meet in June will give them an impartial consideration, 
 if the same disposition prevail as in the last. 
 
 Having written so freely of the affairs of a congregation in your town, 
 and being acquainted with one clergyman resident there (the Reverend 
 Mr Parker), I have thought it a point of delicacy to request his perusal 
 of my letter before its being sealed and sent to you. I am, sir, with 
 respect, 
 
 Your obliged and very humble servant, 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 P.S. I purposely avoided, sir, saying any thing in my letter of some 
 of the alterations inyour liturgy which, in my eye, rendered the parts so 
 altered less beautiful and affecting. But afterwards, when I considered 
 how much we have always boasted of the superior excellency of our ser- 
 vice in these respects, I determined to throw myself on your candour, 
 with the following observations : 
 
328 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 1st. I wonder at your turning of the absolution into a prayer ; which 
 appears to me not to come so properly in that place, as a recital of God's 
 compassionate goodness to all those who have used the preceding con- 
 fession in a proper temper of mind. 
 
 2d. Your doxology, however proper in substance, will bear the objec- 
 tion, that there seems the intention to enumerate the attributes of God ; 
 which, yet, is imperfectly done. 
 
 3d. In your prayer for Congress you have lost a beauty which pervades 
 all the prayers of our Church — a correspondency between the attribute 
 or appellation of God in the beginning and the body of the petition : for 
 there seems no connection between the Almighty's being a king of kings 
 and lord of lords, and a prayer for congress. 
 
 4th. In the " prayer for Christ's Church militant," the leaving out the 
 word " Christian" before " rulers," seems to me to involve the impro- 
 priety that you pray for infidel rulers, should there be any, as members 
 of the Christian church. We ought to pray for such rulers, but ought 
 not to call them Christians. 
 
 5th. I cannot see any thing in your Catechism entitling it to super- 
 sede that in the old liturgy. I know that some have blamed the latter 
 as not being sufficiently comprehensive ; but, perhaps, such persons con- 
 found the idea of a catechism with that of a body of divinity. Yours, 
 indeed, cannot be blamed as deep or abstruse ; but, on the other hand, 
 there are many things in it which, however proper they might be in 
 familiar discourse between a parent and a child, do not appear to me fit 
 parts of a catechism. 
 
 Let me add, that you have kept in some things which have been faulted 
 by many wise and conscientious persons, and cannot be contended for as 
 necessary by any : for instance, the expression in the burial service, 
 which pronounces so positively on the state of the deceased. Perhaps, 
 too, you have been over cautious in regard to the Psalms. 
 
 Observations of this sort I offer with great submission ; there being 
 none of them which I would not be ready to sacrifice to the sense of 
 any society of men of which I might happen to be a member. 
 
 I ought not to leave you with the impression that there are none of 
 your changes which I can praise. Your use of the passage from Mark 
 xii. I very much admire. In the Scotch Episcopal Church, I am told, 
 the recital of the ten commandments, or of what you have added, is left 
 to discretion. If only one were kept, I should prefer the former, on 
 account of the use of reciting so particularly in the hearing of the peo- 
 ple God's commands against crimes : especially with the solemn petition 
 annexed to each command. But I see no improper repetition ih intro- 
 ducing a passage by which the same commands derive additional weight 
 from the authority of one greater than Moses. For this reason perhaps 
 it would have been still better to have placed it immediately after the ten 
 commandments. 
 
 Your injunction to parents, in the baptismal service, I think very good ; 
 
APPENDIX. 329 
 
 and some parts of it might liave been beautifully incorporated with the 
 old charge ; which must also be allowed to be excellent. 
 Once more I entreat your candid reception of my remarks. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I have received your polite letter of December 3d, in answer to that 
 which I did myself the honour to write to you. The observations con- 
 tained in it, so far from giving offence, afford me peculiar pleasure, as 
 they are expressed with moderation and candour. Unhappy, indeed, I 
 am to find that the new liturgy of our congregation is not approved by a 
 gentleman of Dr White's well known learning and abilities. And I am 
 sorry to add, that the objections which you make against it do not, in 
 general, appear to be well founded ; and that I can yet see no reason for 
 altering my qpinion, that the reformation it contains is expedient, just 
 and necessary. 
 
 It would be presumption in me, who from my profession have had no 
 opportunity of acquiring a profound knowledge in divinity, to enter into 
 a controversy with a gentleman who has employed so many years in that 
 study. I think it my duty, however, to return such replies to your obser- 
 vations as have naturally suggested themselves to me, and which have 
 been furnished by a friend to whom I have shown your letter. I trust, 
 sir, that you, who appear to be a sincere lover of truth, will not be dis- 
 pleased with their freedom. 
 
 Though the unity of the Church in the same doctrines and modes of 
 worship, is undoubtedly a very desirable blessing, yet it must be allowed 
 that truth, or what is thought to be truth, is an object which is still more 
 worthy the esteem of Christians and honest men. It is upon this prin- 
 ciple that any single congregation has a clear right to dissent from any 
 church or large body of Christians, provided they be supposed to be 
 essentially erroneous. This point you have conceded, and your conces- 
 sion appears to me fully to justify the conduct of the society belonging to 
 the Stone Chapel. The liturgy of the Church of England was believed by 
 that society to be essentially erroneous with respect to the object of 
 prayer — for they conceived that they are expressly commanded by our 
 Saviour and his apostles to pray to God, and to God only. Unwilling, 
 however, to disturb the peace and unity of the Church, or to do any thing 
 which should offend their Episcopal brethren, for whom they entertain 
 the sincerest affection, they waited with patience till the result of the 
 convention, which was held at New York October 1784, was known. 
 When, however, they found it was established as a fundamental princi- 
 ple b)' that convention, that the Episcopal Church in America " shall 
 maintain the doctrines of the Gospel as now held by the Church of Eng- 
 land, and shall adhere to the liturgy of the said Church as far as shall be 
 consistent with the American revolution," &c. — they concljded that no 
 more time was to be lost, and that as there was no expectation that a 
 great and liberal reformation would be made, they had an undoubted right 
 
330 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 to deliver themselves from what seemed to them unscriptural imposi- 
 tions. Still they hoped that they might be considered a part of the Epis- 
 copal Church, as they maintained the expediency of Episcopal ordina- 
 tion, which they conceived to be the most essential article of an Episcopal 
 Church, and that their brethren would not deem it either politic or charitable 
 to reject them from their communion merely on account of difference in 
 opinion. Some reasonable expectations were entertained thatthe con- 
 vention which was to be held in Philadelphia would expunge all dispu- 
 table doctrines (and the doctrine of the Trinity is certainly disputable, to 
 say nothing more of it), and whilst they inserted no expressions in the 
 liturgy which could wound an Athanasian, that they would leave out all 
 which would hurt the conscience of a Unitarian. In a word, they hoped 
 that a comprehensive plan, which would include all Protestant Episco- 
 palians, however differing in sentiments, would be adopted, and that a 
 Church would be erected upon the broad basis, not of unity of opinion, 
 for that, in the present imperfect state of human nature, is impossible, 
 but of unity of affection and charity. I cannot forbear thinking that the 
 new liturgy used by our congregation is of this comprehensive nature, 
 and that every sect may conscientiously adopt it. It is general and in- 
 definite, like the sacred Scriptures, and every sect may reason from it, 
 as from the sacred Scriptures, in defence of their peculiar tenets. If 
 God has not condescended to reveal himself fully in the Bible, upon seve- 
 ral articles of our faith, it certainly does not become us to attempt to be 
 wise above that which he has written. If we adhere to scriptural modes 
 of expression, we are in no danger of erring : but if, from supposing them 
 not sufBciently definite, we aim at being more precise and determinate ; 
 and, from mistaken principles of gratitude and piety, pay to any being, to 
 our blessed Saviour for instance, that adoration, for which we have no 
 authority in the inspired writings ; we are justly chargeable with render- 
 ing an homage which God has not recjuired at our hands, and, perhaps, 
 with giving to another that glory which he has reserved for himself only. 
 To this reasoning, possibly an Athanasian may not assent. But should 
 he not, I see no reason why he may not conscientiously make use of the 
 new liturgy. For if he supposes that the word God, whenever it 
 occurs in the Scriptures, intends a being consisting of three persons 
 mystically united in one substance, he may also suppose the same thing 
 of the word God when he repeats it in his prayers. As he professes 
 to believe, not less firmly than the Arian or even the Socinian himself, 
 that God is one, he ought not, by dividing the Deity as it were into three 
 parts in his acts of devotion, to suggest that he imagines there are more 
 Gods than one. Let the incomprehensible mystery of the Trinity exist in 
 the mind, but let it exist there as a point of speculation only; and let not 
 the Athanasian, by continually expressing his belief of it in his prayers, 
 prevent the conscientious Unitarian from joining in his devotions. With 
 equal reason, propriety and charity, might an Arian suggest in his pray- 
 
APPENDIX. 331 
 
 ers, that there once was a time when our Saviour did not exist, or the 
 Socinian, that Jesus Christ was nothing but a man. 
 
 It was hoped by the congregation worshipping at the Chapel, that 
 observations similar to those which I have now made would engage the 
 atttention of the venerable and learned convention which was to meet at 
 Philadelphia. Or, if such a plan should be thought too general and inde- 
 finite to suit the Athanasians, to whom, as they must be allowed to be 
 the largest body of Episcopalians in these states, much indulgence is due, 
 they might be permitted a full use of Trinitarian forms, without others 
 being compelled to adopt them. The 34th of the Articles of the Church 
 of England says — " That it is not necessary that traditions and ceremo- 
 nies be in all places one or utterly like." Had a more general and en- 
 larged idea been expressed in the article, it would, in my opinion, have 
 contributed more to the peace and harmony of the Church. For it ap- 
 pears evident to me that it is not necessary that traditions, ceremo- 
 nies, doctrines and public prayers be one or utterly like even in different 
 congregations of the same Church. For were the several congregations 
 which compose a church permitted to make such alterations and omis- 
 sions in the liturgy as might appear to them necessary, they might for 
 ever continue united as one body, under their Episcopal heads, however 
 various their sentiments might be. The Athanasian, whilst his conscience 
 would not allow him to leave out the petitions to the Son and Holy 
 Ghost, might rest satisfied with having these addresses printed in the 
 liturgy, and might cheerfully and candidly permit the Unitarian to sup- 
 press them. I know that it was the wish of many persons, besides those 
 who worship at the Chapel, that such a plan might be adopted by the 
 convention. For my own part, and in this case I believe I express the 
 sentiments of the congregation of which I am a member, I would, with 
 this indulgence, freely give up the new liturgy, and adopt that of the 
 Church of England, as it has been judiciously altered and amended at 
 Philadelphia. The Congregational Church of this state, though the 
 several individuals who compose it differ very widely in sentiments, is 
 firmly united, because all the ministers are left at liberty to pray accord- 
 ing to their consciences. In this instance I think their practice is lauda- 
 ble, and worthy the imitation of the Episcopal Church. For though ex- 
 tempore prayers (which I am far indeed from approving) admit of a 
 greater latitude than printed forms, yet your excellent liturgy might, with 
 a few omissions, easily be made conformable to every Christian mind. 
 Should the convention which is to meet in June determine not to enlarge 
 their plan to this liberal extent, the congregation worshipping at the 
 Chapel, provided it persevere in its present system, which I have reason 
 to think it will do, must be reduced to the disagreeable necessity of sepa- 
 rating itself from the Episcopal Church, and availing itself of that re- 
 source, which the glorious freedom of our country affords, of forming an 
 independent society. 
 
 After these general observations, I perhaps ought to take some notice 
 
332 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 of the arguments which you allege to justify praying to Clirist. The 
 limits of a letter will not permit me to enter far into this question, had I 
 abilities adequate to the task. The society of the Chapel did not pre- 
 sume to alter the liturgy till the members of it were fully convinced, by 
 arguments drawn from the Scriptures and reason, that God is the sole 
 object of prayer. Reason taught them that God is one, and that it is 
 criminal in a person who believes him to be one to bestow upon another 
 those honours which the Father of the universe has reserved to himself. 
 They were convinced by the Scriptures that prayers ought to be ad- 
 dressed to God only ; because they found that both our Saviour and his 
 apostles constantly prayed to God, and that they have taught us to do so. 
 I need not quote the many texts which relate to this point, as a number 
 of them, are printed in the preface of the new liturgy, and as they must 
 be undoubtedly well known to a gentleman of your learning. They 
 could perceive no example of any prayer to Christ in the New Testa- 
 ment, except that very dubious one of St Stephen, and that of St John, 
 Rev. xxii. 20, which is still more dubious. But neither of these they 
 conceived sufficient to justify prayer to Christ. For both St Stephen and 
 St John saw Jesus in vision when they thus addressed him. Neither of 
 these objections they thought sufficient to overthrow the express com- 
 mands of our Saviour and his apostles ; especially when they found the 
 former positively forbidding his disciples to pray to him after his resur- 
 rection. John xvi. 23. The two objections which you have urged were 
 attended to, and all due weight given thera. It was readily acceded that 
 Jesus was worshipped by his immediate disciples and by the angels ; but 
 the word worship is used in so indefinite a. sense in the sacred Scrip, 
 tures, that it was supposed that it could not thence be inferred that our 
 Saviour is the object of prayer. The following texts are sufficient to 
 show that worship is sometimes given to men : I Chron. xxix. 20 • 
 Matt, xviii. 26. If from our Saviour's being worshipped it be concluded 
 that he is the object of prayer, it may with equal propriety be concluded 
 that David is the object of prayer. The nature of worship must be de- 
 termined by the character of the being to whom it is paid. If to God, 
 it is supreme worship ; if to the Mediator, it is mediatorial worship ; if 
 to men, reverence and honour ; if to a wife from her husband (see ma- 
 trimonial service), conjugal respect and tenderness. Our society was 
 far from denying that mediatorial worship is due to Jesus Christ. This 
 kind of worship they imagined would be fully expressed in the doxolo- 
 gies to the Son, in the benedictions, in the form of baptism, and in con- 
 eluding all prayers in the name of Christ. Had the writers of the New 
 Testament believed that any higher worship was necessary, they would 
 undoubtedly have given us positive directions upon this head. 
 
 With respect to the first Christians calling on the name of Christ 
 should the text which contains that phrase be justly translated, it is evi! 
 dent, as Dr Clarke has shown, that it is used in a great variety of senses • 
 and that it generally means either believing in Christ, acknowledging him 
 
APPENDIX. 333 
 
 our Saviour, openly professing ourselves Christians, being baptized in 
 his name, invoking his name upon diseased persons in order to a mira- 
 culous cure, praying in his name or through his intercession, and but in 
 one instance, that of St Stephen, (which I humbly conceive is not suffi- 
 cient to justify prayer to Christ), directly calling upon or invoking him. 
 The friend to whom I have communicated your letter is of opinion that 
 Acts ix. 14, the text to which he supposes you principally allude, might 
 more justly be rendered, as it is rendered in the Arabic version, " to 
 bind all who are called by thy name," that is, all who are Christians or 
 who believe in Christ, the being who appeared to Ananias in vision ; 
 and that all texts in which the first Christians are said to have called 
 upon Christ ought to be translated in a similar manner. And this ren- 
 dering he conceives is fully justified by the manner in which the same 
 word which is employed in this text is translated in other passages of 
 the New Testament. See Matt. x. 3 ; Luke, xxii. 3 ; Acts, i. 23, x. 18, 
 xii. 12, and xv. 17 ; James, ii. 7. Whether this opinion be just, you, sir, 
 can best determine. 
 
 The society of the chapel, though they profess a great veneration for 
 Dr Clarke, think themselves under no obligation of implicitly following 
 him or any other uninspired man. If therefore there be anything in his 
 works which is opposed to the new liturgy, the society deem themselves 
 sufficiently justified in retaining it, provided it be not also opposed to the 
 Scriptures. But I confess 1 see nothing in Dr Clarke's Scripture Doc- 
 trine of the Trinity, in his sermon upon the power and authority of 
 Christ, or in his paraphrase, which justifies praying to our Saviour after 
 his resurrection. Dr Clarke, it is true, entertained a high idea of the 
 power and authority of Christ, as the members of our society also do. 
 And though, in his sermon, he condemns the opinion of Arius, who 
 affirmed that there was a time when the Son had no being, yet it would 
 be difficult to show how in other respects he differs from the Arians. 
 That great and good man, as you justly style him, took great pains to 
 avoid the odious name of heretic ; but the members of our society are not 
 anxious upon this head ; for whilst they are protected by the laws against 
 persecution, they freely consent that their opponents should bestow upon 
 them the appellation of Arians, Socinians or any other harmless titles 
 they think proper. I am far from thinking that our society has deviated 
 further from the liturgy of the Church of England than Dr Clarke's 
 system requires, though pc-3sibly Mr Lindsey may have done so. If 
 you consult the account of Dr Clarke's liturgy, printed in one of Mr 
 Lindsey's publications, you will find that the Doctor has omitted every 
 petition to the Son and Holy Ghost, or converted them into prayers to 
 God. The opinion of the fathers, either before or after the council of 
 Nice, is, I humbly conceive, of no consequence in a question of this kind, 
 unless fully authorized by the sacred Scriptures. Nothing more is in- 
 tended to be insinuated by the passage in our preface against which you 
 object than that the Gloria Patri was composed by Damasus, bishop of 
 2d 
 
334 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 Rome, and the doxologies in the new liturgy by St Paul and St John. 
 Should it be true that doxologies to the holy spirit were in use before 
 the time of Damasus, yet as no such doxologies can be found in the New 
 Testament, unquestionably they ought not to be made part of public 
 worship. 
 
 The object of our society in the new liturgy was to leave out all such 
 expressions as wound the conscience of a unitarian, withoat introducing 
 any which should displease a trinitarian. They conceived themselves 
 under no obligations to accommodate the service to the peculiar specu- 
 lative principles of Dr Priestley or the Socinians. A multitude of dif- 
 ferent opinions may be entertained by Christians who conscientiously 
 use the same liturgy; because such liturgy need not notice those opinions. 
 A man who denies, and a man who affirms, that there is such a sub- 
 stance as the human soul, may both join in praying to God in the name 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 I have already in some measure replied to your second general obser- 
 vation. But it is necessary perhaps further to add, that it is readily acce- 
 ded that our making the alterations of the liturgy a congregational act is 
 inconsistent with the government of the Church of England. The com- 
 pilers of the thirty-nine articles, I allow, did not mean that rites and 
 ceremonies might be different in the same diocese. This assertion and 
 others of the same kind in our preface are not intended to express ideas 
 contained in the articles, but inferences which may be justly dravjfn from 
 them. In the preface our design is to reason with those Episcopalians who 
 adhere to the old liturgy upon their own principles. Should the reason 
 be inconclusive, it is of no consequence, as the merits of our cause are 
 rested not upon articles of human invention, but upon the sacred Scrip- 
 tures. I would again observe that no alteration was attempted, till the 
 opinion of the Episcopal churches represented in the New York con- 
 vention was known. But when we found that a reformation was not 
 likely to take place with respect to the great object of religious worship, 
 we concluded that we had a right to make the correction of the service 
 a congregational act. 
 
 The argument which you rest upon moral obligation, respecting our 
 society keeping possession of the house heretofore known by the name 
 of King's Chapel, if it be of any force, proves too much; For it proves 
 that the Protestants in England, at the reformation, ha-l no right to keep 
 possession of the churches built by Roman Catholics, or to compel the 
 minority, who adhered to the ancient doctrine's, to seek elsewhere what 
 they conceived to be a more Christian worship. And it also proves, that 
 no Episcopal congregation in America has right to keep possession of a 
 house of worship after adopting the alterations made at your convention, 
 provided one or two persons object against them. I know that there are 
 some Episcopalians in this town who are averse from the least change ; 
 and I doubt not that several of the same disposition might be found in 
 different parts of the continent. You seem, sir, by your manner of ex- 
 
APPENDIX. 335 
 
 pressing yourself, to suppose that the chapel was the gift of the king of 
 England, or of some person not a member of the society. I beg leave to 
 undeceive you in this matter. Towards the erection of the present edi- 
 fice several generous donations were indeed received ; but the principal 
 weight of the expense was sustained by individuals of the society. The 
 building became the property of those who purchased pews ; and the 
 present pew holders are either original proprietors or have purchased in 
 under those who were. The minority, consisting of not more than half 
 a dozen proprietors, are not deprived of their property in the house, but 
 are at liberty to keep possession or sell, as they see fit. 
 
 I agree with you, sir, that the progress of the Roman Catholic Church 
 ought to be guarded against with the utmost vigilance. But I humbly 
 conceive that the ambitious schemes of that Church, or of any other en- 
 terprising zealots, will most effectually be crushed by the Episcopal 
 Church accomplishing a plan which will be truly great and liberal. For 
 whilst she tenaciously adheres to disputable doctrines many conscientious 
 persons will be prevented from joining her communion, though they 
 might otherwise be engaged by the general propriety and beauty of her 
 worship. There is also reason to apprehend that other congregations, 
 besides that of which I am a member, will, should they become Unita- 
 rians in doctrine, separate themselves from the Episcopal Church, and 
 form themselves into independent societies. Should Unitarian senti- 
 ments spread as rapidly in America as they have the last century in 
 England, revolts from the Episcopal Church may become very frequent, 
 as no causes of an interested nature exist here to prevent a separation. 
 
 I sincerely thank you, sir, for the observations contained in the post- 
 script of your letter. Some of them appear to me of weight ; and if I 
 venture to say that others seem to be of less importance, I hope you will 
 pardon my presumption. 
 
 The absolution in the new liturgy is converted into a prayer, because 
 it has given offence to many, and looks too much like a relic of popery. 
 Our society conceived that the power of remitting sins, communicated to 
 the apostles, is not continued down to the ministers of the present day. 
 Should, however, the absolution be unexceptionable, it cannot be pre- 
 tended that there is any thing in the prayer which is improper. 
 
 I shall not attempt to defend the doxology of the new liturgy against 
 that of the old. If the enumeration of the attributes of the Deity be too 
 imperfectly made for so solemn an act of public worship, it is the fault of 
 the apostle. 
 
 I cannot conceive that in our prayer for Congress we have lost that 
 beauty which you mention. A supreme power, I apprehend, resides in 
 a republic not less than in a monarchy ; though the governments differ 
 in this respect, that in the latter the authority is vested in one hereditary 
 sovereign, and in the former it is delegated to many persons. The Con- 
 gress, our sovereign head, may, adopting the poetical language of the 
 Scriptures, with propriety be styled our king, our lord. The same ob. 
 
336 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 jection which you have made was urged at the time the service was 
 altered, and the phrase, the only ruler of rulers, proposed instead of the 
 words as they now stand ; but this phrase was rejected, as it was con- 
 ceived not to be so beautiful as the language of Scripture. 
 
 A new catechism is substituted in place of that contained in the old 
 liturgy, because it is conceived by our society that the latter contains 
 some things which are doubtful and others which are exceptionable. I 
 do not conceive that a catechism can be too plain and familiar, as it is 
 designed for the instruction of very young children. 
 
 I readily acknowledge the force of the other objections which you 
 make in your postscript. Should they strike the society of the (-hapel 
 in the same light they strike me, the defects which you have pointed out 
 may easily be removed. 
 
 Having been so full in answering your letter, I ought to beg pardon for 
 trespassing so long upon your patience, as well as for presuming to differ 
 from you in opinion. I return you my grateful acknowledgements for 
 the sheets of the new liturgy which you have been pleased to send me. 
 I think the alterations judicious ; and need not add, that with a few 
 omissions I could freely adopt the whole of what you have afforded me. 
 
 I am, with due respect, reverend sir, 
 
 Your obliged and humble servant, 
 
 Boston, January 8, 1786. CHARLES MILLER. 
 
 March, 1786. 
 Sir: 
 
 I take the opportunity of sending you the continuation of the Prayer 
 Book, to acknowledge the receipt of your polite letter of the 8th of Ja- 
 nuary, the following hasty remarks on which are merely intended to 
 point out to you in what respects your answers to my observations do 
 not appear to me to carry the force intended by you. 
 
 Your first five pages contain general observations, and the substance 
 of them I think to be as follows : That however desirable the unity of 
 the Church, greater regard is to be had to truth. That any single con- 
 gregation has a right, and this, you say, is a point which I have conceded, 
 to depart from a Church they have heretofore belonged to, on finding it 
 to be erroneous. That, accordingly, your congregation have taken this 
 liberty, from a conviction of the Church of England's being essentially 
 erroneous with respect to the object of prayer; after waiting, however, 
 the event of the convention of 1784: and that, although they have since 
 set up a form of their own, it was with the hope that they might still 
 continue a part of the same Church, with their fellow members generally 
 throughout the continent, because their sense is general and indefinite, 
 and may be used by persons of different sentiments. 
 
 However indubitable the first of the above propositions, I do not see 
 that it establishes the second ; if by a congregation you mean the collect, 
 ive body, with the possessions they held as a branch of the same Church: 
 
APPENDIX. 337 
 
 and although you say that I have conceded this point, you will, perhaps, 
 on re-examination, find that you misunderstood me. All men have a right 
 to leave a church they think essentia,lly erroneous, but this does not 
 amount to the purpose for which you quoted my supposed concession. 
 
 Under the impression that the Church of England is essentially erro- 
 neous in regard to the object of prayer, I humbly apprehend that you have 
 less occasion (still meaning as individuals) to prove that you were not 
 hasty in leaving her bosom than to vindicate your continuing in it so long ; 
 and, indeed, it is almost incredible, that an intelligent congregation, such 
 as yours, should either at the same time generally change their minds in 
 regard to the very object of prayer, or that, having changed, they should 
 wait for any particular period for the leaving of their past (supposed) 
 idolatrous practice. Could I think it possible that persons, never before 
 professing themselves of our communion, had been introduced on such 
 an occasion, and that a contrivance was thus made to overturn the sys. 
 tem, the difficulty would be solved. But as candour and charity forbid 
 my supposing this, I am at a loss to account for it on any known princi- 
 ples of human conduct.* 
 
 As to the last of the particulars recited, if it were, as you say in your 
 letter, that " the expediency of Episcopal ordination is the most essen- 
 tial article of an Episcopal Church," it would of course follow, that con- 
 gregations harmonizing in this one point might, however differing in 
 others, be parts of the same Church. But as, on the one hand, it would 
 be a very singular Church, indeed, which should hold up a certain matter 
 of order as the only part of its foundation essential to be retained, so I 
 hope you will, on further consideration, think it quite unnecessary on my 
 part to prove, that the same cannot be said of the Church to which we 
 have belonged. I shall lay the less stress on this subject, as it is a singu- 
 lar opinion, and what I do not think you will long maintain, that persons 
 differing in regard to the object of prayer, may be of the same Church or 
 communion. 
 
 It is not easy for me to answer what you argue, from the case of the 
 congregational societies in the New England states, because I am not 
 acquainted with their circumstances. This much is certain, that they are 
 severally entire and independent bodies ; and, therefore, rules very cor. 
 rect for them may be absolutely inconsistent with the peace of congrega- 
 tions which are to submit to the same government, and to have, each of 
 them, some proportion of influence bn its decisions. It is also certain, 
 that your congregationalists, having sprung from ancestors much assimi- 
 lated in manners as well as in belief, and not having (until late) much 
 communication with the rest of the world, have generally adhered to their 
 ancient Calvinistical systems. If there he exceptions, they are few ; and 
 should it happen, that societies among them hereafter avowedly dissent 
 
 * What is mentioneil as inconsistent with candour and charity to be supposed, had 
 been reported, and was afterwards found to be the fact. 
 
 2d* 
 
338 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 from one another on the present subject of this letter, I cannot persuade 
 myself that they will continue to consider one another as of the same 
 communion. 
 
 Whether all opinions are to be tolerated in the same Church, and 
 whether erroneous opinions are to be excluded by means of established 
 creeds and articles, are two different questions ; and, on the latter, I con- 
 ceive it to be an insuperable argument against the confessional and other 
 such books, that on their principles there is the only alternative of either 
 admitting every error, however extravagant, or of submitting to government 
 of will instead of that of law. Suppose, for instance, a minister regularly 
 inducted and settled as a pastor in your congregation, should entertain you 
 with weekly sermons in favour of transubstantiation and of the adoration 
 of saints and angels, or on the worship due to the blessed Redeemer — 
 doctrines which, before his admission, he either did not believe, or had 
 contrived to conceal. This you would doubtless think a sufficient ground 
 for a discontinuance of his ministerial charge of you. And yet, for any 
 thing that appears in your system, it would be injpossible to remove him, 
 without adopting a mode of proceeding in ecclesiastical causes the most 
 capricious that can be imagined. Let me beg you here to distinguish 
 between the use and the abuse of the requisition alluded to. In pleading 
 for articles of faith, I shall not deny that all the Protestant churches, at 
 the reformation, carried them too far ; and I am humbly of opinion, that 
 they have required uniformity of sentiment in matters which are rather 
 subjects of philosophical determination than of the substance of Christian 
 doctrine. 
 
 The next three pages of your letter were prompted by your inten- 
 tion to set me right in regard to some texts which I had quoted, as 
 being favourable to the worship of Jesus Christ. You will find, on re- 
 curring to my letters, that they came in occasionally. Had I brought 
 them expressly in the way of proof, I should have thought it my duty to 
 have introduced many (very many) others, which I rather contented my- 
 self with referring to in Dr Clarke. Neither, indeed, should I have been 
 satisfied with merely quoting texts directly speaking of such worship, but 
 should have enumerated, as applied to the Son, attributes which are uni- 
 versally agreed to be a ground of adoration in the Father. Therefore, 
 what I shall now advance in regard to the said texts, is merely intended 
 to offer to you a clue, by which it appears to me you may discover that 
 your friend, whom you say you have consulted, has (I hope not inten- 
 tionally) misled you. 
 
 You say that St Stephen and St John saw our Saviour in vision, when 
 they addressed him. Acts vii. 59, and Rev. xvi. 29. Now, sir, in the 
 first instance, the seeing of Christ was before the council at the trial, and 
 not out of the city, at the execution ; and St John's prayer is no part of 
 his narrative of what passed in the presence of Jesus, but is introduced 
 as proceeding from his devout fervour, at the time of his recording of his 
 vision, and is a very natural and beautiful close of them. 
 
APPENDIX. 339 
 
 Your friend has suggested to you that Acts v. 9, 14, might more pro- 
 perly be translated, " to bind all which are called by thy name." Al- 
 though, sir, your letter seems to imply that your line of reading does not 
 qualify you to judge in this matter, yet I presume you must be acquainted 
 with many persons who have so much knowledge of the Greek tongue as 
 to understand the meaning of words, and are at the same time acquainted 
 with the general principles of grammar. To such, provided they have no 
 systems to maintain, or would be too tenacious of their literary reputation 
 to risk it on a construction wholly ungramlnatical, I must beg leave to refer 
 you. Any such person will tell you, that the substantive " name" is govern- 
 ed by the verb " call on," and that to admit the English phraseology " by 
 thy name," it ought not to be so governed. Your friend, to support his 
 construction, has suggested to you several texts translated "by thy 
 name :" Matt. x. 3; Luke xxii. 3 ; Acts i. 23, and x. 18 and 12, and xv. 
 17, and James xi. 7. Now, sir, any such grammarian as I have mention- 
 ed, will tell you, that in the said texts, except the two last, the Greek 
 participle, translated " called," agrees in gender, number and person, 
 with its following substantive, which also agrees with a substantive pre- 
 ceding the participle. This is no grammatical nicety. The texts would 
 be nonsense if translated otherwise than as they are; and therefore 
 can be no rule for the translation of other texts, in which the substan- 
 tive, being governed by the verb, and receiving the force of its preposi- 
 tion, must be as our version has them — which are not only no precedents 
 for another translation of those that make against you, but strongly show 
 in what way the sentence ought to be constructed, where the sense is 
 synonymous with the being called Christians. For then, as in the two 
 texts alluded to, the word "name" is either the nominative of the verb 
 " called," or else agrees with that word as its participle ; and a pronoun 
 follows, to denote the persons on whom the name is called. 
 
 I shall be more brief on the remainder of your letter. 
 
 You say that the opinions of the fathers, after or before the Council of 
 Nice, are of no consequence, unless authorized by the Scriptures. It is 
 true ; and yet, in determining on the sense of Scripture, they are of con- 
 sequence. For that the professors of a religion, of which the great glory 
 is the battering down of the stupendous structure of idolatry, should, 
 from the first age downwards, be themselves idolaters, is incredible. We 
 make use of early historical evidence to prove the truth of Christianity ; 
 and surely the same evidence may be one criterion by which to try the 
 asserted fact, that the divinity of Christ was acknowledged by the Church 
 from the beginning. 
 
 You say that your society do not conceive themselves under any obliga- 
 tion to accommodate their service to the peculiar speculative opinions of 
 Dr Priestley or the Socinians ; and this is said in answer to my observa- 
 tion, that notwithstanding your declared intentions to accommodate your 
 service to men of different speculative opinions, you had not gone far 
 enough to accomplish the object. I still think, that should any persons 
 
340 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 request to be relieved from the burthen of prayers which, contrary to their 
 judgments, recognize the existence of a human soul, and a state of con- 
 sciousness between death and resurrection, they ought, on the principle 
 of your letter, to be indulged. Or, should others request to have the 
 rite of baptism dispensed with, the same plea might be urged on their 
 behalf. These I take to be clear inferences from your principles, but 
 they are not involved in mine : for I think a Church may adhere to what 
 she conceives to be of substance of Christian doctrine, and require it in 
 all her members, without the least uncharitableness towards those who 
 are not willing, on her conditions, to be of the number. 
 
 As to what was said in regard to moral obligation, I consider my free- 
 dom as barely warranted by your invitation. I am not fond of adding to 
 what I offered in that respect, only as you say that if it proves any thing 
 it proves too much, and instance the reformation. I must observe, that 
 the two cases differ in the following respects : 1. The main point on 
 which exceptionable doctrines of the Romish church rested, was obe- 
 dience to the papal see, which the government of the country had a right 
 to consider as inconsistent with the moral duty of obedience to civil 
 rulers. 2. The Church of England was nationally endowed ; and, of 
 course, subject to national regulation. 3. It is agreed, that where pub- 
 lic prosperity is immediately at stake, personal rights may yield to so 
 great an object. You say that some persons are against making any 
 alterations at present in our Church service. I answer, that if the altera- 
 tions we are making are contrary to what appears, from the institutions 
 and the conduct of the Church of England, to be her sense of the essen- 
 tial doctrines of the Gospel, such persons have cause to complain. But, 
 if they are in what the same Church has declared to be matters subject 
 to change, the case is foreign to our argument. Let me add, that what I 
 advanced on this head was on the presumption that your church was 
 built, as all churches with us were, by subscription ; and that considera- 
 ble sums of money were received, beyond the value of any interest the 
 givers could expect to hold in it, and even from persons who could hold 
 no interest in it all. If I am wrong in the facts, my observations were ill 
 founded. 
 
 In regard to what I took the liberty to mention, in the postscript to my 
 letter, I shall be as little tenacious of it as you are of your obligations on 
 the same subject. Therefore, the only particular I shall reply to, is 
 where you say, that if in your doxology the attributes of the Almighty, 
 are imperfectly enumerated for so solemn an act of worship, it is the fault 
 of the apostle. By no means— the enumeration may be sufficient for the 
 purpose of the apostle in the place where it is used, and yet not the most 
 suitable to the idea of a stated doxology, 
 
 The few remaining sheets of the Prayer Book consist of some hymns, 
 the tables, and the preface, which I shall send you as soon as printed. 
 
 I have the honour to be, sir, with great respect. 
 
 Your very humble servant, 
 
 Wm WHITE. 
 
APPENDIX. 341 
 
 P.S. The part of your letter which related to Dr Clarke, I have pur- 
 posely postponed to the postscript ; because, although what you have said 
 did not agree with my recollection of his writings, I -had not his books by 
 me while I was writing my letter. 
 
 You say that you see nothing in his doctrine of the trinity, nor in his 
 sermon, quoted by me, nor in his paraphrase, that justifies praying to the 
 Son after his resurrection. And in another place you say, that in one 
 instance only, that of St Stephen, he construes " calling on the name of 
 Christ," as the same with directly calling upon or invoking him. Now, 
 in his " Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity," (page 139) I find under this 
 head — " directly calling on or invoking him," about sixty texts : to about 
 eleven of which, however, Dr Clarke, in his cautious and modest way, 
 annexes notes, expressing ambiguity, not as to the meaning of " call 
 upon," but whether the passages referred to Christ or to the Father. 
 
 You say, that although Dr Clarke condemns the opinion of Arius, who 
 affirms that there was a time when the Son of God had no being, it would 
 be difficult to show how, in other respects, he differs from the Arians. 
 The observation surprises me ; because I always took this to have been 
 the point on which Arius first gave offence, and the only or the chief on 
 which the Arians have differed from the Catholics or the orthodox. 
 
 You say Dr Clarke took great pains to avoid the odious name of here- 
 tic. What pains these were I never heard; unless it were the clearing 
 of himself of holding principles ascribed to him, but which he could not 
 own. The freedom of his speculations was one of the most striking frail- 
 ties in his character. I take his sentiments as they appear in his works. 
 If you have in view such as he may have otherwise expressed, I wonder 
 you should have thought him or his sentiments worthy of being placed in 
 so distinguished a point of view in your work. The book of his from 
 which I chiefly take my ideas of his system, is his " Scripture Doctrine 
 of the Trinity ;" and this, I must still say, does not require such a depar- 
 ture from our system as you have made, and will for ever convey a dif- 
 ferent representation of him, than the profession you have made of re- 
 forming the liturgy on his plan. In proof of this, I might produce whole 
 chapters of his book : but in addition to what has been said, I will only 
 refer you to the second chapter of his third book, in which he professes 
 to point out all the passages of the Prayer Book thought by him incon- 
 sistent with his plan, but in which he has left untouched many parts 
 essentially inconsistent with the principles of your reform — for instance, 
 the Te Deum and the Litany, except the first four petitions of it, which he 
 omits. Now, I need not inform you, that many of the petitions of the 
 former, and all those of the latter, are addressed to the Son. I do not 
 know the publication of Mr Lindsey to which you refer ; hut I shall be very 
 much surprised to find a man of Dr Clarke's talents inconsistent with 
 himself. 
 
 Since writing the above I have seen the publication of Mr Lindsey, to 
 
342 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 which, as I suppose, you refer— his Farewell Address to the Parishioners 
 of Catterick. In this he gives us, not Dr Clarke's liturgy complete, but 
 information of the alterations made ; and these taken from a copy in the 
 British Museum. Agreeably to Mr Lindsey's representation, it does in- 
 deed appear that Dr Clarke intended to leave out every invocation of our 
 Saviour: on what principle I do not know — not surely as being unscrip- 
 tural, when he has elsewhere produced so many instances of it from the 
 Scriptures. I do not know what to say of this matter. On the one hand 
 it seems doubtful how far to form a judgment from so short an account of 
 the contents of the manuscript said to be in the Museum : and, on the 
 other, 1 have no reason to question either there being such a manuscript, 
 or Mr Lindsey's fairness in his narrative — for as to quotations, he has 
 given none. In the mean time I submit to you the propriety of my ob- 
 servations, so far as they concern his "Scripture Doctrine of the Tri- 
 nity."* 
 
 Extract from a letter of Dr Parker to Dr White, dated January ■ 
 31,1786. 
 
 " You will also be kind enough to accept my sincere thanks for your 
 most excellent letter to Mr Miller, and for your politeness in giving me a 
 perusal of it before the delivery. It was no sraaJl addition to their mor- 
 tification that such a letter should come to them through me, and that I 
 should be acquainted with its contents ; which would never have been 
 the case had it been received by Mr Miller before I had perused it. The 
 committee of that society who revised their liturgy had given out that all 
 the churches on the continent to' the southward of Connecticut were in 
 the same sentiments, and the liturgy, when revised by the convention 
 then to be held in Philadelphia, would be exactly similar to theirs, and 
 they are not a little chagrined to find themselves so much mistaken. I 
 feel myself much indebted to you, not only for the letter itself, but for 
 the caution you use in precluding the suspicion of my having communi- 
 cated any account of their proceedings ; by which means your arguments 
 will probably be more attended to, as you could not possibly be influenced 
 by prejudices, as they very rightly suppose me to be. I have, however, 
 no hopes that even your arguments will convince them of their errors, or 
 
 that they will retract as long as Mr continues their reader. 
 
 There is but one reason to suspect they ever will, and that is, the diffi- 
 culty they will find in their present plan of his obtaining ordination. I 
 have heard that thev applied to Dr Seabury to give him episcopal ordi- 
 nation, but that he refused ; and I think, by your ecclesiastical consti- 
 tution, he must be precluded from obtaining it from any bishop at the 
 southward that shall accede to those articles. Should he have recourse 
 to the congregational clergy, and be ordained by them, all pretence of 
 
 * It may be proper to mention here, as in a note to my former letter, that I afterwards 
 saw, in the British Museum, a quarto Prayer Book, altered, as Mr Lindsey represents, and 
 said to be by Dr Clarlte's hand. 
 
APPENDIX. 343 
 
 their being an Episcopal church must be at end, and a way will be 
 opened to the minority to recover the house. Indeed the minority is 
 more properly the majority : for, in order to carry their point, the first 
 step was to declare the pews of all absentees, of which description of 
 persons were a great number of the proprietors of that most elegant 
 church, to be confiscated or forfeited. They then passed a vote that no 
 person should have liberty to purchase a vault under the church (of 
 which there were a number unappropriated) who was not a proprietor of 
 the church. These vaults being in great demand induced many dissen- 
 ters to become proprietors, for the sake of being entitled to a vault ; and, 
 though they do not attend the worship of the church, were called in to 
 vote for this new liturgy. But a very few of the old proprietors are now 
 attendants there ; but the greater number are dissenters, and the most 
 thorough-paced one of all is their reader. I am told that an answer to 
 your letter is gone forward, in the name I suppose of Mr Miller, but the 
 joint production of the whole committee, consisting of lawyers, doctors, 
 
 merchants and mechanics, with Mr at their head. But ' magna 
 
 est Veritas et praevalebit.' " 
 
 III. 
 
 (Page 141 ante, in note.) 
 
 A PROJECTED REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE 
 OF BISHOPS CONCERNING THE TABLE OF KINDRED AND 
 AFFINITY. 
 
 The committee feel the weight of the subject ; and in proportion to 
 the embarrassments which they perceive to attend it, is the submission 
 with which they make their report. 
 
 It hangs as a diflSculty on the whole subject, tliat although there are 
 important reasons, moral, natural and political, and, in addition, precepts 
 of the word of God, against sexual intercourse of very near relations, 
 yet the condition of humanity is such that dispensing circumstances may 
 occur. Besides the instance of the family of the first man, the history 
 of the patriarchal families furnishes us with deviations ■ from what we 
 now contend for as required by divine and by human laws. 
 
 The committee believe that the only instances in which the correctness 
 
344 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 of the table has been called in question are those of the marriage of a 
 man with his brother's wife or with his wife's sister ; and those of the 
 marriage of a woman with her husband's brother or with her sister's 
 husband. Accordingly the report of the committee, so far as it involves 
 the question of the alteration of the present table, will relate to these 
 cases only. 
 
 It was remarked above that there are moral, natural and political rea- 
 sons against the sexual intercourse of persons in near relation. In 
 respect to morals, temptations arise from the familiarities which are the 
 natural consequence, and which administer to the satisfactions of life. 
 In nature also the displeasure of her divine author is stamped on matri- 
 monial alliances within nearness of blood, by making them a means of 
 the deterioration of the species. The good of the state also is promoted 
 by the diluting of a source of domestic partialities, and of the perpetua- 
 ting of hostilities. The second of these considerations has no place in 
 the present discussion. The first and the third apply ; but not in such a 
 degree as to constitute the act in question, a " malum in se," that is, " an 
 evil in itself;" so called to distinguish it from " malum prohibitum," that 
 is, " an evil made so by existing ^law." The former character is not 
 conveyed to the marriages in question by their producing of temptations 
 to licentiousness ; whatever reason there may be in this for providing 
 against them by public law. 
 
 In consequence of the matrimonial relation there take place frequent 
 and familiar intercourses between each of the parties, and the brothers 
 and the sisters of the other. It must be a great hindrance of domestic 
 friendships if there were understood to be no bars to sexual union, under 
 any circumstances which can ordinarily occur. Still, there is a distinc- 
 tion between what is essentially sin, and what public wisdom may rea- 
 sonably forbid because sin will be a frequent consequence. 
 
 On this ground it must be held desirable that the laws of the land 
 should prohibit the marriages now treated of. But if this has not been 
 done, it would seem that a church in such a land, however it may see 
 cause to entertain and to express disapprobation of them, should hesi- 
 tate to reject from the communion on their account ; unless there can 
 be alleged some divine law requiring such an act : for then the sanction 
 of the state ought not to extort the sanction of the church. 
 
 The scriptural ground taken in proof of unlawfulness is the tenth 
 chapter of Leviticus. In the sixteenth verse there is an express prohi- 
 bition of the marriage of a man with hia brother's wife ; but there was 
 afterwards permitted, and even enjoined, a large class of exceptions, to 
 favour the feature in the Jewish policy, which limited the succession of 
 an inheritance to a person of the tribe in which it lay : a wise provision 
 in itself; but which, it may be thought, would not have been made at 
 the expense of the violation of the essential laws of purity. The 
 eighteenth verse is a prohibition of a man's marrying of his wife's sister; 
 and is expressed in such terms as are thought to favour the construction 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 of its being intended of two living sisters. The construction is con- 
 tended to be barred by the principle of the prohibition of the 16th 
 verse. -If this should be granted, the consequence will seem to be, that 
 although there are no such exceptions as those induced with a view 
 to inheritance, exceptions are not precluded by the essential impurity 
 of the act. Here comes in the question how far the Levitical law 
 is binding on Christian people. On this point our Church says — 
 " Although the law given from God by Moses, as touching ceremonies 
 and rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the civil precepts thereof ought 
 of necessity to be received in any commonwealth ; yet, notwithstanding, 
 no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the com- 
 mands which are called moral." 
 
 Does then the Levitical law contemplate such marriages as immo- 
 ral, independently on its own positive prohibitions ? To prove the 
 affirmative of this, there are urged verses 26, 27 and 28, which say, 
 that for the practices censured, emphatically called " abominations," 
 the land was " spuing out her inhabitants." Stress is laid on the pronoun 
 " these," applying to the practices. On the contrary, it is urged that the 
 judgment should be limited to the unnatural vices, condemned in the 
 verses immediately before ; since what is forbidden in the former verses 
 could not have been so strongly marked, without infamy attributed to 
 what was common among the immediate progenitors of the Israelites : 
 and here, the case of Jacob and his two sister wives is thought pertinent 
 to the purpose. In addition, it is remarked, that the words " abomina- 
 tion" and " abominable" are not always used in Scripture in the very 
 strong senses current amongst us ; for which the appeal is made to Lev. 
 xi. 10, 20, 41, 42, and to Deut. xvii. 1. One of the abominations is the 
 eating of a fish that has neither fins nor scales. 
 
 We have no guidance on the subject of the marriages in question, either 
 in the New Testament or in the very early ages of the Church, except 
 that in the canons called "apostolic" (the 19th) it is provided, in the 
 case of a man- who has married two sisters, that he shall not be ordained 
 to the ministry. This bears the appearance of prohibition on the ground 
 of Christian prudence, and not as laying the charge of impurity. These 
 canons are supposed to be of the second and third centuries. In the 
 fourth century there are decrees against these marriages : and so there 
 are against those of cousins of the first degree. In the cases in ques- 
 tion, they require the parties to separate, as a condition of the commu- 
 nion. It is remarkable, that the Roman Catholic Church interdicts such 
 alliances, with the exception, that the pope may grant a dispensation — 
 it being supposed that the opposing law is not divine, but ecclesiastical. 
 This is inconsistent with ihe claim of that Church, in reference to tra- 
 dition. 
 
 At the time of the reformation the Protestant Churches generally con- 
 sidered the said law as divine. The importance attached to the ques- 
 2e 
 
346 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 tion, as connected with the marriage of Henry VIII., is well known. All 
 our reformers considered it as null, by the divine law, which renders the 
 question of peculiar delicacy in this Church. 
 
 Notwithstanding the weight which the opinion derives from the cir- 
 cumstance stated, it has been questioned by many later divines of the 
 Church of England. One only shall be named. Bishop Tayloj, in his 
 learned work, under the name of " Ductor Dubitantium" (page 217), con- 
 tends that there is no obligation on Christians of those laws of Moses 
 which have a bearing on the present subject: and (page 223) he considers 
 the case of Henry VIII. as very much acted on by worldly policy, and by 
 opinions from abroad purchased with money. It is worthy of mention, 
 that although in England the law continues as settled at the reforma- 
 tion, there are well attested instances of such marriages as are here dis- 
 coursed of unnoticed by authority. 
 
 Still, there is held to be a ligature of the law of Leviticus in the cir- 
 cumstance, that if this is removed, there is none other in Scripture to be 
 a restraint from incest of any sort. But this does not follow. There 
 will still be hindrances in morals, in nature and in policy; and further, in 
 parity of reasoning from the divine Word, so far as those points can be 
 proved to be concerned. Therefore, the correct consequence is, that the 
 running of the line between the safe and hurtful, is left to the determi- 
 nations of the State and of the Church, in their respective spheres. The 
 Church ought to accommodate her provisions to those of the State, so far 
 as can be done without injury or danger to the morals of her members. 
 If the State should sanction what the Church considers as not essentially 
 sinful, but as furnishing temptation to sin, she ought to discountenance 
 it in such a degree as Christian prudence may direct. Under this view 
 of the subject, it would be too arbitrary an exercise of authority to expel 
 from the communion, much more to consider the parties as passing their 
 succeeding lives in adultery, as they are contemplated by the law of 
 England. 
 
 The result is the committee's proposing of the following instrument : — 
 
 By the bishops, the clergy and the laity of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, in the United States of America, in convention, this day 
 
 of , in the year of our Lord 
 
 The table of kindred and affinity, wherein whosoever are related are 
 forbidden to marry, as established in the Church of England, is received 
 and established in this Church, with the proviso, in refei-ence to the pro- 
 hibitions of a man's marrying of his brother's wife, or his wife's sister, 
 and of a woman's marrying of her husband's brother, or her sister's hus- 
 band, that although the Church disapproves of such marriages, because 
 of temptations to sin in the allowance of them, yet, in the event of any 
 such marriage, it shall not be a cause of repelling from the holy commu- 
 nion. But it shall not be lawful for any clergyman of this Church to 
 celebrate such a marriage. 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 Extract from a Letter of Bishop While to Bishop Hohart, dated 
 IQth February 1816. 
 
 " Of the matrimonial subject mentioned by you, the merits of the ques- 
 tion seem to me sufficiently opened in the account given by Collier in his 
 narrative of the proceedings in Henry VIII.'s divorce. Concerning the 
 grounds of divorce generally, I do not know where so much learning is 
 concentrated as in the celebrated treatise of Milton, found in the two 
 quarto volumes of his prosaic works. This is said without approbation 
 of his principles ; which, being promulged by him about the time of the 
 settlement of Connecticut, are said to have produced the loose maxims 
 prevalent on the subject in that state. You certainly know the circum- 
 stance in the domestic history of the poet which led to bo dangerous a 
 publication. 
 
 " On such applications as that lately made to you, it has been my in. 
 variable practice to refuse. On that, as on other points, I have consi- 
 dered the institutions of the Church of England, however alterable in 
 their nature, as binding on our Church, until altered by competent au- 
 thority. The former prayers for civil rulers were repealed by the provi- 
 dence of God in the revolution. The other parts of the system have gone 
 under review at different times, with the single exception of the table of 
 degrees of marriage : and 1 do not see how any clergyman can undertake 
 to alter it, according to his private judgment, without giving a precedent 
 for great disorder. What should induce the greater caution, is the de- 
 cided sense of the English reformers on the question proposed by you, 
 and the effect of it in the work of the reformation. 
 
 " It is proper, however, I should confess to you, that I perceive much 
 to be said on the other side, and am far from being convinced that the 
 18th chapter of Leviticus is binding on Christian states and churches. 
 
 " On the other hand, if a line is to be drawn by human discretion, there 
 seems to me much of moral consideration against the marriages in ques- 
 tion. There are so apt to ensue such intimacies between a man and his 
 wife's sisters, and between a woman and her husband's brothers, as en- 
 danger those connexions to be snares, unless there prevail in them the 
 same maxims as among relations by blood." 
 
 Extract from another Letter, dated \%th March 1817. 
 
 " During the revolutionary war I was for a time left alone in the min- 
 istry. I can truly say, that I took up the question very seriously, and 
 decided it with myself conscientiously, as to what was rendered obliga- 
 tory on me in relation to my engagements. to the Church. The political 
 prayers were superseded, and the using of them was punishable, by events 
 brought about in the course of divine Providence. To pray for our civil 
 rulers was a duty bound on us by a higher authority than that of the Church : 
 and if, in this particular, any clergyman should act according to his best 
 discretion, it was no more than would be justified by the exigency of the 
 case. In all other respects, I held the former ecclesiastical syetem to be 
 
348 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 binding. The conventions of our Church have always acted on the same 
 principle, except that of October 1789 : whose adopting of a different 
 principle has rendered our liturgy much more imperfect (according to my 
 opinion) than it would otherwise have been. On this point I could give 
 you some interesting information. 
 
 " To proceed to your questions. Under the first, I am free to confess 
 myself not convinced, that the 18th chapter of Leviticus (the only 
 place, I believe, in question) is binding on Christian states or churches. 
 On the other hand, there seem these considerations worthy of regard. 
 1. The prominence of the point at the crisis of the reformation, and the 
 undoubted sense of the reformers. 2. If what is above stated be correct, 
 its being still a law of our Church. And 3. That since, if you set aside 
 the 18th chapter of Leviticus, there is an absolute necessity of some 
 positive law for the drawing of the line of interdicted consanguinity and 
 affinity, whether in the doing of this the moral ground of prohibition do 
 not apply to this part of the subject, in consequence of the domestic inter- 
 courses which take place within the bounds of the contemplated relation. 
 
 " On the subject of your second question, you may infer my opinion 
 from what has been said ; to which I will add, that I have uniformly re- 
 fused to officiate in such marriages. The last application was from a 
 family of the same grade of respectability with that mentioned by you. 
 Dr Blackwell joined the parties, as he has others of the same description. 
 He is of opinion, with the house of clerical and lay deputies in 1789, that 
 our Church possesses no institutions until made for her specially. If the 
 matter had been so understood at the close of the revolutionary war, and 
 there had been among us some such spirits as I can now designate, it 
 would have torn us to pieces." j 
 
 IV. 
 
 (Page 143 ante, in note.) 
 
 TWO LETTERS TO DR ABERCROMBIE, CONCERNING 
 DR SMITH'S CHANTS. 
 
 June 20, 1809. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 You have desired me to give you my opinion on what Dr Smith, of 
 New York, has written to you concerning his comparison between the 
 chanting of the psalms in prose, and the singing of them in metre. 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 Having been, so far as I know, the first clergyman in the United 
 States who introduced chanting into any of our churches, I ought to be 
 judged the more impartial in the opinion, that Dr Smith endangers his 
 ovvn 'object, by insisting on that species of psalmody to the exclusion of 
 the other. He seems even to think true Christian devotion much in- 
 volved in the question. But it is evident that we do not, in either case, 
 sing the words in which the mind of the Holy Spirit was originally dis- 
 closed. We sing in a translation. Now if it be found, on experience, 
 as is the fact, that rhyme, especially in the English language, makes the 
 composition agreeable to the ear, it is difficult to see what principle is 
 endangered by condescending to the well known taste of Christians ge- 
 nerally, in this respect. 
 
 It will commonly, at least, be found, that when the Bible translation of 
 the Psalms differs from that of the Prayer Book, the former is the more 
 correct. And hence, the usual plea for retaining the latter is its being 
 in a flowing style, and more familiar to the people. Its comparative in- 
 correctness is, I believe, conceded. 
 
 I have always considered it a commendation of Tate and Brady's metre, 
 that, wherever the translations differ, they follow that of the Bible. 
 That both the Bible and the said metre are mistaken, in regard to Ps. 
 Ixxii. 15, is not so clear to me, as to Dr Smith. The word translated 
 " to" in the Prayer Book, and " for" in the Bible, is •])!X Parkhursf, 
 in his Lexicon (1st edition), considers it as a difficult word. If the sen- 
 timent be, as I take to be intended in the Bible, that prayer shall be 
 made for the increase of the kingdom of the Messiah, the usual import 
 of the said Hebrew word favours " for'' more than " to." And Dr Smith 
 will agree with me, that we are not so barren of anti-Socinian terms, as 
 that we should strain any passage to our purpose. The translators of 
 tlie Bible were no favourers of the Socinian errors ; and as they had the 
 Prayer Book translation before them, it is not probable that they lightly 
 disregarded it in this instance. On consulting Dr Lowth, Bishop Pa- 
 trick and Bishop Home, who were unquestionably orthodox, I find them 
 satisfied with the translation. The latter has been celebrated as an He- 
 brew scholar, and his interpretation of the text is agreeable to that given 
 above. 
 
 I wish Dr Smith success in his endeavour to introduce chanting into 
 churches ; but hope he will take along with him the maxim — " ne quid 
 nimis." 
 
 If this can furnish you with any hints for your correspondence, you 
 will make what use of it you please. 
 
 Yours, affectionately, 
 
 Wm WHITE. 
 
 2 E* 
 
350 LIFE OF BISHOP AVHITE. 
 
 June 22, 1809. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 You this morning noticed to me, that in my letter of the day "before 
 yesterday, my attention had not been drawn to that part of Dr Smith's 
 letter, which mentions, as a striliing circumstance, and wishing it ac- 
 counted for, that in Scripture the definite article is prefixed to the word 
 •' angel." 
 
 I suppose Dr Smith alludes to a position maintained by some of our 
 best writers, and supposed to have been demonstrated by Dr Allise, that 
 the ancient Jews conceived of their expected Messiah, as having mani- 
 fested himself to their nation in sundry of the recorded angelic appear- 
 ances. This fact is affirmed on such respectable testimony, that I can 
 hardly doubt of it ; and it makes strongly against the Socinian scheme. 
 
 Nevertheless, I do not lay much stress on the definite article, as ap- 
 plying to this point. In Hebrew, the end of it is served by the letter 
 n. Now in the few passages which I have examined, I do not find it 
 used in such a manner as to discriminate the sense in question. For 
 instance, there are no passages applied as above, other than Is. Ixiii. 9, 
 and Mai. iii. 1, the latter part of the verse. In the last mentioned text, 
 the English word is " messenger ;" but the Hebrew is ']})hr\ ; usually 
 translated angel ; which Hebrew word has not the definite n, in the 
 said two passages. I find it, however, in Gen. xlviii. 16 : and might 
 probably find it in other places, if I had time for the search. There is 
 no place where one would look for it sooner, with a view to the distinc- 
 tion in question, than in Ex. iii. 2 ; because of certain expressions in the 
 latter part of the 6th verse. Yet it is not there. 
 
 I have presumed Dr Smith's question to be wholly intended of the Old 
 Testament ; for as to the New, it will hardly be thought that the Mes- 
 siah was spoken of as " the angel," after his incarnation, as in Acts x. 
 7, and xii. 8. Even before that, even the angel (o « j- j-saoc) who appeared 
 to Zacharias says, " I am Gabriel." 
 
 These are hasty remarks ; but the best occurring. 
 Yours, affectionately, 
 
 Wm WHITE. 
 
APPENDIX. 351 
 
 V. 
 
 (Page 187 ante.) 
 
 AN ADDRESS AND A FORM OF PRAYER, 
 
 Used in presence of the President, the Senate, and the House of Re- 
 presentatives of the United States ; on the occasion of the solemnity 
 produced by the Decease of General Washington, and preparatory 
 to the delivery of an Oration in honour of the Deceased, by Major 
 General Lee,* on the 26th January 1800. 
 
 " Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise providence, 
 to take out of this world" our beloved brother in Christ, and our ever 
 honoured fellow-citizen, George Washington, formerly president of these 
 United States ; and, at the time of his decease, commander-in-chief of 
 the armies o,f the same ; let us bow down our souls iu lowly submission, 
 . under this afflictive dispensation. Let us offer up our thanksgivings and 
 praises for the good example, for the exalted character, and for the sig- 
 nal services of the illustrious deceased. And let us pray that, through 
 divine grace, we may make a religious improvement of the mournful 
 event commemorated : so that after this transitory life shall be ended, 
 we may rest with the spirits of just men made perfect ; and finally may 
 obtain unto the resurrection of life, through Jesus Christ our Lord ; at 
 whose second coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth 
 and sea shall give up their dead ; and the corruptible bodies of those who 
 sleep in him shall be changed ; and made like unto his own glorious 
 body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue 
 all things unto himself. 
 
 "Almighty God; with whom do live the spirits of those who depart 
 hence in the Lord ; and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they 
 are delivered from the burthen of the flesh, are in joy and felicity : we 
 give thee hearty thanks for the good examples of all those thy servants, 
 who, having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labours." 
 And herein we especially adore and magnify thy name, for the eminent 
 virtues and the illustrious actions of thy deceased servant, the late com- 
 mander-in-chief of the armies of the United States. And while we ac- 
 knowledge thy undeserved mercies, in having given him, at sundry times 
 of difiiculty and danger, to the councils and to the armies of this land ; 
 we pray that the present season of sensibility may impress us with due 
 gratitude for the fatherly protection, which, through him, has been ex- 
 tended to us by thee, the Supreme Author of all good. May his memory 
 
 * The same form of prayer was again used {mutatis mutandis), on the a4th of September 
 1835, on the occasion of commemorating the decease of the Hon. John Marshall, Chief Jus- 
 tice of the United States ; and preceding an eulogy on his character, by Horace Binney, Esq. 
 
352 LIF,E OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 be an incentive to tliose wlio shall come after him, in the presidency, in 
 the command of armies, and in all the employments of the state. And 
 may posterity, while they shall inherit the lustre of his name, enjoy the 
 benefit of his life, in a continuance of the happy consequences of his la- 
 bours ; and in a succession of great and good men, to the glory of thy 
 name, and the prosperity of thy people to the end of time. Finally, we 
 pray " that we, with all those thy servants who have departed this life in 
 the true faith and fear of thy holy name, may rest in thee, and at last 
 have our perfect consummation of bliss, hoth in body and soul, in thy 
 eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen. 
 
 " O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies are without 
 number ; make us, we beseech thee, sensible of the shortness and the 
 uncertainty of this mortal life ;" and may we be resigned to thy will in 
 every event of life and of death; and especially on the present occasion 
 of general loss and grief. We implore the same for thy servant, the 
 afflicted relict of the deceased ; and for all allied to him in family or in 
 friendship : beseeching thee that they may be sustained under their sor- 
 rows by the promises of thy Word ; which encourages us not to sorrow 
 as those who have no hope. And we pray for them, for ourselves, and 
 for a whole mourning nation, that " thy holy spirit may lead us through 
 this vale of misery, in righteousness and holiness before thee, all our 
 days ; that when we shall have served thee in our generation, we may be 
 gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience ; 
 in the communion of the Catholic Church ; in- the confidence of a certain 
 faith ; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious and holy hope ; in favour 
 with thee, our God ; and in perfect charity with the world. All which we 
 ask through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen. 
 
 O God, who hast instructed us in thy Holy Word to render honour to 
 whom it is due ; we implore thy blessing on the celebration which is to 
 follow. Support in the discharge of this duty thy servant, to whom it is 
 committed. May this tribute of public gratitude and of private friend- 
 ship obtain a reputation as extensive as that of the great name which it 
 commemorates. May the inhabitants of this land, while with united 
 hearts and voices they proclaim the praises of the assertor of their rights, 
 the defender of their liberties and the vindicator of their laws, be perpetu- 
 ating a call to virtuous and great achievements. And may all who, like 
 our departed chief, of blessed memory, shall be eminent benefactors of man- 
 kind, like him also, find a grateful people honouring them in their lives and 
 in their deaths. Which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 " Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the 
 everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his 
 will ; working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord ; to whom be glory for ever and ever."* Amen. 
 
 * Heb. xiii. 20, 21. 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 VI. 
 
 (Page 201 ante.) 
 
 ON BUILDING A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 Thoughts suggested by the design of building a new Church ; and 
 tending to recommend economy in the execution of the design. 
 
 A question has been raised whether it be consistent with the spirit of 
 our holy religion, that in the building of churches there should ever be 
 attention paid to magnificence and decoration? And the negative of the 
 question has been thought established by the practice of the apostles and 
 the very early Christians ; among whom there were unquestionably no 
 expensive buildings ; nor indeed, for a considerable time, any places of 
 worship, other than such as were afforded by the hospitality of indivi- 
 duals. 
 
 There seems to me no weight in this argument. And indeed it would ' 
 extend to prove, that as St Paul preached " in an upper chamber," at a 
 time when it was expedient to conceal the assemblies of the faithful 
 from the jealous eye of persecution, the same should be done now, when 
 no danger threatens ; and that because some of the early Christians took 
 shelter in caves, and there exercised their religious rites, the imitating 
 of them in this would be an imitation of their devotion. 
 
 No : our Saviour and his apostles have left this matter to times and 
 circumstances ; and our proper directory is that discretion which should 
 govern in all the affairs of men ; and which clearly dictates, that the end 
 of building a church being the accommodating of a collective body for 
 social worship, all should be made subservient to this ; that if the end 
 may be aided by ornament.^it may properly be applied ; but that when it 
 exacts the sacrifice of utility, it is so far the effect, not of religious sen- 
 timent, but of vanity. 
 
 Now it seems to me that the grand, the sublime and the beautiful may 
 be applied to a religious use ; and the contrary position involves the ab- 
 surdity of supposing, that devout sentiments are improperly excited in us 
 by the arch of heaven, and by the inviting colour which it displays. In 
 vain it will be said that this is the work of the divine hand, while the 
 other is the effort of human skill. For what but the wisdom of God has 
 endowed mankind with capacity for an imitation (however humble) of 
 his works 1 And what else implanted a disposition in us to take pleasure 
 in such a display of genius 1 
 
 For this reason, when I am delighted with poetry, or with music, or 
 with painting, or with architecture^I name them together as kindred 
 arts — I have no more doubt that my sensibility to them is the work of 
 
354 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 God, than that this may be said of my organs of sight and hearing : and 
 it follows, that improvements in the last of these arts may laudably be 
 applied to the rendering of the imagination subservient to that religious 
 object ; which is also aimed at through the medium of the judgment and 
 of the affections : so that among a people very rich, and especially under 
 a government which makes religion a branch of its policy, the taking of 
 care that the magnificence of churches shall keep pace with that of pri- 
 vate dwellings, is a reasonable tribute of gratitude to the bes'tower of all 
 good. 
 
 But when I speak of magnificence and of beauty in architecture, I 
 distinguish between works adorned by those attractive properties, and 
 such as claim them on the mere ground of the expenditures they have 
 occasioned : like a tawdry beau or belle, who estimate their appearance 
 by the expense of their dress, without regard to taste, or to its being fitted 
 to their persons. The science of architecture, like every other sciehce, 
 has fixed principles : and there are certain principles which have stood 
 the test of the criticism of ages ; which seems an evidence that they are 
 founded in nature. But there are many of our costly buildings which, 
 if stripped of what was designed as decoration, but is not conformed to 
 any acknowledged standard in that line, would be as plain as any meet- 
 ing house in which decoration is objected to on the ground of conscientious 
 scruples. Accordingly, if we could afford to erect a church in which 
 skill in architecture were to be called in to aid the higher views of the 
 design, I would be for employing an acknowledged master in the depart- 
 ment ; and I would appropriate fop the purpose three hundred thousand 
 dollars : a sum which I suppose proper, on the ground that at least as 
 much, it is said, will be laid out (no doubt properly) on a church of mo- 
 derate size, which a wealthy corporation of our communion are now 
 erecting in New York. 
 
 But are the vestry of our churches likely to be possessed of the means 
 of such an expenditure as this? They certainly are not; and my infe- 
 rence is, that it will be wise in them to resist every scheme of expense 
 which may be dispensed with. But it may be said, cannot we, at a far 
 less expense than has been stated, indulge the taste for ornamental archi- 
 tecture in a degree ? Probably we may : but still, not without a very 
 considerable expense ; provided we have recourse to acknowledged skill ; 
 instead of being led by those who measure taste by expense, and who 
 substitute their own notions for the principles of a science which they 
 never studied. But if we could command money beyond what is called 
 for by mere utility, we ought to inquire what objects should be accom- 
 plished before we lay out a dollar for the gratification of taste. And 
 here, to set aside other matters which might be mentioned, I wonder that 
 a Christian society should expend money in that way, while they are 
 without adequate provision for their aged poor of both sexes ; and for the 
 feeding, clothing and instructing of poor children. These are works 
 which are more congenial with our Christian profession than expensive 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 buildings ; and the latter, without the other, may even be considered as 
 a subject of reproach. 
 
 But we have little reason to expect that there will be more subscribed 
 than what a plain building and the necessary lots require. Let us then 
 imagine the case that we contract for work more costly than the sub- 
 scriptions warrant : and let us inquire what will be the probable conse- 
 quence of this ■; 
 
 First, additional subscriptions will be necessary ; and then a great 
 proportion of the subscribers will find their zeal damped (and I think 
 justly) by such expenditures as they may judge superfluous. Next, we 
 shall have a remaining debt, preventing the employment of another mi- 
 nister : a measure which, however evidently proper, will not, I trust, be 
 thought of until the revenue of the new church shall make a clear addi- 
 tion to the revenue of the old. Further, it will retard the long contem- 
 plated building of a church for the accommodation of the Northern Li- 
 berties. For which purpose, I think it would be proper to keep in bank 
 any moneys which we may collect (if any such there should be) beyond 
 what may be necessary to accomplish our present design, on the most 
 frugal plan. Besides these things, if a debt should remain, it may drive - 
 us to the expedient of a lottery ; which is opposed to the principles of 
 some of our people, and would be painful to the feelings of them all ; 
 as the least honourable way, at best, of erecting houses of divine wor- 
 ship. Even in regard to the opinions of people of other religious soci- 
 eties, it may be well to take care that our "good be not evil spoken of." 
 And lastly, if we should ever have recourse to such an expedient, and be 
 successful in obtaining permission for it, there will be in the mean time 
 the alternative of having our ears assailed by the clamours of industrious 
 tradesmen, complaining of the detention of what their labours shall have 
 earned, or of taking up money on the security of individual members of 
 the vestry, provided any will bo so liberal as to consent to such a use of 
 their credit : for private security is, I believe, always exacted when mo- 
 ney is lent for the use of churches. 
 
 My principles on the present subject have been long since adopted by 
 me, as having influences on our Church at large. We live in a country 
 advancing in population and in improvements ; which will require a 
 proportionate increase of the number of buildings for divine worship. 
 Under these circumstances ; and there existing a rivalship of commu- 
 nions ; it is obvious that they who exercise the most moderation in their 
 buildings will find it comparatively easier to accommodate their increa- 
 sing numbers ; and thus, not only to fix them to their respective com- 
 munions, but to acquire a great accession of people ; who will avail 
 themselves of what has been provided for them by the firugal zeal of 
 other denominations ; but what is unattainable by their own, unless at 
 an expense which is despaired of This is a consideration which will 
 have weight with every man who is attached to our ecclesiastical sys- 
 
356 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 tem, on grounds which apply to it independently on the style of the 
 building in which its services are performed. 
 
 Let it not be supposed that I carry my sentiments to the extent of 
 excluding all regard to beauty in the erecting of an economical building. 
 I would adopt handsome in preference to ugly shapes, in the general 
 structure and in its parts. I would unite utility, beauty and cheapness, 
 where it could be done : and especially what is useful should be made as 
 beautiful as cheapness will permit. But I would not suffer a stroke of 
 work to be done, of which it might be said — This is for ornament, without 
 any reference to use. 
 
 Perhaps it may be thought, that as the vestry evidently contemplate a 
 plain building, I might have spared myself the trouble of committing 
 these remarks to paper. But I apprehend, that however correct our in- 
 tentions, we shall be assailed by importunities for deviation. I have 
 already heard various matters suggested, confessedly without any refe- 
 ference to religious worship, but from the sole view of making the con- 
 templated building an ornament to the city. Now I confess this to be 
 a laudable purpose, if not effected by improper means : but such I con- 
 sider the incumbering ourselves with debt ; and even the expending in 
 ornament of what we actually want for useful purposes of our com- 
 munion. 
 
 These are my sentiments on the subject. They are expressed with- 
 out a wish that they may have influence further than as the correctness 
 of them may be apparent. 
 
 December 24, 1806. Wm WHITE. 
 
 VIT. 
 
 (Page 212 ante.) 
 
 AN ADDRESS AND A FORM OF PRATER, AT THE COMMEM- 
 ORATION OF THE DECEASE OF GENERAL LA FAYETTE. 
 
 Brethren : We are assembled for the presenting of a tKbute of respect 
 to the memory of General La Fayette— that illustrious person, in whose 
 character our whole country feel a, deep interest. You are aware that 
 this national sensibility has been excited by the early part zealously 
 ttiken by him in defence of our liberties and in the establishment of our 
 independencej and by his exertions, through a long life, in favour of social 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 virtue and social happiness. Accordingly, let us offer up our thanksgiv- 
 ings to Almighty God for the services of the said deceased ; and let us 
 pray, that, through the assistance of divine grace, we may be enabled to 
 make a religious use of the mournful event commemorated. 
 
 Great and glorious God, we adore and bless thee for the services of all 
 those who in their respective generations have been useful instruments of 
 thy gracious providence for the accomplishment of public good. Espe- 
 cially wc magnify thy name, for the illustrious actions of the eminent 
 person whose decease we are assembled to deplore. May his memory 
 be an incentive to those who are now, or who shall be hereafter, promoted 
 to places of public trust and usefulness. May posterity, while they shall 
 inherit the lustre of his name, enjoy the benefit of his labours, and wit- 
 ness a succession of great and good men, to the glory of thy name and 
 the prosperity of thy people, to the end of time. Finally, we pray, that 
 all who, like the deceased, shall be eminent benefactors to mankind, like 
 him, also, may find grateful people, honouring them in their lives and in 
 their deaths. All these things we ask, in the name and through the me- 
 rits of thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ, oui- Lord and Saviour. 
 
 O God, whose days are without end and whose mercies are without 
 number, make us all, we beseech thee, sensible of the shortness and of 
 the uncertainty of this mortal life. May we be resigned to thy will in 
 every event, whether of life or of death. And may thy Holy Spirit lead 
 us through this vale of suflfering and of sorrow, in holiness and righteous- 
 ness before thee, all our days : that when we shall have finislied our 
 course, it may be in the confidence of a sure faith, in the comfort of a 
 reasonable and holy hope, in peace with thee our God, and in charity 
 with all mankind. These things we ask, in the name and through the 
 merits of thy Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. 
 
 O God, who hast instructed us in thy Holy Word to render honour to 
 whom it is due, we implore thy blessing on the celebration which is to 
 follow. Support, in the discharge of the duty, thy servant, to whom it 
 is committed. And may this tribute of public gratitude and of private 
 friendship tend to thy glory, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. 
 Amen. 
 
 " Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the 
 everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his 
 will ; working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord ; to whom be glory for ever and ever."* Amen. 
 
 * Heb. xiii. 10. 
 
 2r 
 
358 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 (Page 226 ante.) 
 
 TWO AD0RESSES DELIVERED AT THE SPECIAL CONVEN- 
 TION OF THE DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN OCTOBER 
 182G. 
 
 Address at the opening of the Convention. 
 
 Brethren, the Members of the Convention of the Diocese here assembled : 
 The call of this body has been in virtue of a power entrusted to your 
 bishop by the constitution. However unquestionable the right, there is 
 responsibility to public opinion in the exercise of it, in relation to a sub- 
 ject so interesting to the cause of religion within the diocese. The mo- 
 tives to the measure have been set forth in the communication to the 
 standing committee ; agreeably to which there issued the summonses by 
 that body to the present meeting. The increase of the duties of the epis- 
 copacy, their increasing interference with the parochial duties of the 
 bishop, and his advance in years, were the reasons submitted to the com- 
 mittee, and should be borne in mind. 
 
 Your bishop, in his said communication, went no further than an exhi- 
 bition of what he thought the exigency of the case, leaving all attendant 
 circumstances to be provided for by the standing committee, so far as 
 was within their sphere ; and beyond this, to the convention when it 
 should be assembled. On the same principle, whatever might be con- 
 strued an endeavour to give a direction to your proceedings, has been 
 avoided by him. It is his intention to persevere in this line of conduct ; 
 especially so far as the contrary might have a bearing on the character 
 or on the qualifications of any individual, until the subject shall be 
 brought before the house of bishops by three precedent measures : an 
 election by this body ; their testimonial in favour of the person elected, 
 to be individually signed by the greater number of the members ; and 
 another testimonial to be individually signed by the greater number of 
 the members of the house of clerical and lay deputies of the general con- 
 vention, expected to assemble in this city within a few days, all of which 
 are exacted by the canons. 
 
 The forbearance mentioned has not been owing to indifference to the 
 subject. There are several reasons which ought to induce the taking of 
 a deep interest in it; and it is in consequence of solicitude, felt from the 
 beginning, that I proceed to lay before you three points, which have 
 pressed on my mind with especial weight ; not as comprehending all the 
 qualifications desirable in the episcopal character, and perhaps essential 
 to any considerable measure of usefulness in it, but being such, as that 
 
APPENDIX. 359 
 
 deficiency in any one of them would threaten extreme injury to the 
 church within the diocese. 
 
 The point to be first mentioned, and certainly the first in importance, 
 is piety, manifested by a long perseverance in the profession of Christian 
 obligation, and by a consistent life and conversation. This is a position 
 60 manifestly important, as would excuse from further notice of it, but 
 for the expediency of exhibiting it in such a point of view, as that it may 
 have an especial bearing on the occasion. For this reason, when the 
 possession of piety is spoken of, it should be understood of that of the 
 heart, so &r as can be judged- by the conversation and the conduct, co- 
 incident with correct views of the Gospel dispensation. It sometimes 
 happens that with the first impressions of religion, especially when ex- 
 cited in the course of a life of entire forgetfulness of God, there are 
 awakened sensibilities, which, from the want of a proper direction, be- 
 come the sources of many errors, continuing to be combined with them 
 under the law of association during the whole of succeeding life. In 
 any professor of Christianity this is to be deplored ; in the pastor of a 
 congregation, the mischief is more extensive ; and in him who is to pre- 
 side in a large body of his clerical brethren, there is no knowing to what 
 length the deteriorating influence may reach. The subject may remind 
 us of what we learn from St Paul, that with " the gold, the silver and 
 the precious stones" of evangelical piety, there may be " the wood, the 
 hay and the stubble" of matters unauthorized by the word of Ood. Nqw 
 whatever tenderness may be due, in consideration of human frailty, yet, 
 if the introduction of such adventitious matters should characterize the 
 bishops of our Church, she will no longer be conformed to the pattern of 
 the primitive church as existing for some centuries after the age of the 
 apostles ; nor to that model, as cleared of a load of errors, by the reforma- 
 tion ; nor to the same as illustrated in the Church of England, by the 
 characters and the writings of a long series of prelates, of other divines, 
 and of not a few of the learned of the laity, extending to the present day. 
 
 The next point in contemplation is the being furnished with such a 
 measure of theological literature as may be shown to be called for by the 
 station of a bishop: and when this qualification is mentioned, there 
 should be considered as implied under the term, acquirements not exclu- 
 sively ecclesiastical, but called for by such as should be so entitled, in 
 the strict and proper sense. It is a task of some delicacy when the 
 matter in question is now presented ; since there may seem implied by 
 the speaker, his claiming of what is called for in his successor. The 
 same reserve may be considered as having been due on the former point. 
 Under that, however, there was considered the saying of St Paul — " it 
 is a small thing to be judged of man's judgment." As to the present 
 point, two answers may be given : first, that in proportion to the defi- 
 ciency of the present bishop, there is a demand for a supply of it in 
 tlie choice before you ; and, secondly, that at the period of the former 
 ciioice, siace which forty years have passed away, the extreme destitu- 
 
360 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 tion of our Church seems to have apologized for a degree of condescen- 
 sion, which would be unjustifiable at the present time ; when the person 
 to be elected will have tb take his seat, in a body possessed of such a 
 stock of talent and of acquirement, as would render the want of them in 
 the representive of this diocese a lessening of its reputation in the esti- 
 mation of the general union, and after the lapse of some time, and after 
 the subsiding of present impressions, a permanent subject of mortification 
 to all orders of persons within our bounds. 
 
 The remaining point is attachment and conformity to the institu- 
 tions of our Church, in doctrine, in worship, and in ecclesiastical consti- 
 tution and government : a sentiment so far from being inconsistent with 
 liberality to forms of profession preferred by our fellow Christians of 
 various denominations, that it is the only ground on which peace and 
 mutual good will between us can be maintained. On this ground, he 
 who addresses you has acted for more than half a century. He thinks 
 that he has found the fruit of it, in the friendships of many wise and 
 pious persons, whose sentiments on some points differ materially from 
 his own : whereas, had their theories been brought into collision, in dis- 
 courses under the same roofs, there is no knowing in what degree there 
 might have been the excitement of unamiable sensations, nor to what 
 extent the consequences might have been injurious. 
 
 Thus the subject appears to him, as connected with Christian discre- 
 tion, and with a view to utility. But it comes under a more serious 
 aspect when taken up in its relation to the integrity of divine truth. 
 While we believe that the doctrines of grace, as contained in our arti- 
 cles, are precisely what were professed by the whole body of professing 
 Christians during the first three centuries, we are not ignorant that at no 
 very long period afterwards there were engrafted on them speculations, 
 the fruit of misguided ingenuity; that these were cultivated and enlarged, 
 during the reign of succeeding errors, especially among the subjects of 
 some of the monastical institutions, and maintained their influence in 
 connexion with the same, and that when there was an abandonment of 
 the latter, at the reformation, the others were consummated and fastened 
 on various forms of profession, but not admitted within the authorized 
 institutions of the Church of England. 
 
 Besides regard to integrity of Christian faith, the Church lays great 
 stress on the worshipping of God in a prescribed form of prayer. We 
 believe we have inherited this, first from the temple worship divinely 
 instituted ; then, from the example of our blessed Lord and his apostles, 
 who attended the appointed prayers as well of the synagogues as of the 
 temple ; and, subsequently, from the practice of the primitive church in 
 the best ages ; during which, as we conceive, there was no period, when 
 every officiating minister was tolerated in the utterance of the immediate 
 suggestions of his own mind in public prayer, although we do not allege 
 that there was the same form obligatory at all times and in all places. 
 
 In addition, we have received the three orders of the ministry, insti- 
 
APPENDIX. 361 
 
 tuted by the apostles, and universally retained for about fifteen hundred 
 years from the beginning; and while we pass no judgment on what we 
 consider the more modern ministrations of our fellow Christians, we do 
 not think ourselves at liberty to admit them within our pale. 
 
 The enumerated particulars have been cherished by us ; first, during 
 our dependence on our mother Church of England, and since, from the 
 beginning of our present ecclesiastical organization. Could it be sup- 
 posed probable that there will be hereafter a bishop of this diocese who 
 shall either openly oppose himself to the recited properties of our com- 
 munion, or endeavour to undermine them insidiously and by degrees, 
 heavy will be his responsibility. Should his talents be equa:l to the me- 
 ditated undertaking, he may distract and divide the Church ; but he will-not 
 consummate his work : "and the old paths will be still sought" by those 
 who have walked in them, and to whom they have been endeared, and who 
 may, perhaps, by a steady perseverance, regain their rights, after experi- 
 ence of the result, and of a manifestation of the spirit which has produced it. 
 
 Of the body now assembled, it is trusted, by him who addresses them, 
 that they will not lose sight of the shape in which the recited points have 
 been brought before them. It has been the disclosing of a solicitude rest- 
 ing on the mind of the speaker, not merely as applicable to the present 
 crisis, but as reaching the concerns of the diocese when his voice will be 
 heard in them no more ; and perhaps, while it may still be heard, either 
 by the failure of a choice at the present meeting, or by the non-compli- 
 ance with it when made. Having been so long occupied in sustaining 
 the principles which have been detailed, and being desirous of continu- 
 ing his testimony, whenever it shall be especially called for, he has con- 
 ceived of the present as an opportunity not to be unimproved. Could he 
 foresee that, during his episcopacy, either now or at any future time, the 
 stated points will be either dismissed or disregarded, he would make 
 some such request as that of Hagar in the wilderness, in reference to 
 what has been so long an object of his anxieties, of his prayers and of 
 his exertions : " Let me not see the death of the child !" 
 
 Brethren : I will no longer detain you from the work for which you 
 are assembled, but shall offer up my silent prayers that the result may be 
 such as shall redound to the glory of God, and to tlie peace and prosperity 
 of the Church. Next to this, it is my desire and my prayer that yourdeli^ 
 berations may be conducted in such a spirit as would have borne to be 
 laid open to the Searcher of Hearts during that celebration of the euchar, 
 istic sacrifice in which we were occupied in the morning of yesterday. 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 Address at the conclusion of the Convention. 
 Brethren : 
 
 In consideration of the result of the business on which you have been 
 called together, and aware of its having appeared to many of you that 
 2f* 
 
362 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 the call of a special convention might have been dispensed with, either 
 by the presentment of the subject to the annual convention in May last, 
 or by reserving of it to the convention expected in May of the next year ; 
 I beg your patience wtile there shall be accounted for the state of my 
 mind on these points. Let the reasons which influenced me pass for 
 what they may be worth ; but for the purity of my motives, I throw my- 
 self on the judgment of your charity. In answer to the first part of the 
 question, I give the following narrative. 
 
 Within a considerable time before my adoption of the measure — per- 
 haps more than a year — I had heard of some discourse, and even of some 
 measures, tending to the choice of an assistant bishop. Since the last 
 convention some of my brethren of the clergy intimated to me their dis- 
 satisfaction with such discourse and proceedings, carried on without a 
 reference to what might be the state of my mind on the subject. Concern- 
 ing this circumstance I had nothing to answer : but as to the matter itself, 
 I said, that, considering my age and the weight of my engagements, I 
 ought not to entertain an objection to the design. After a development 
 of the exigency of the case, there was expressed to me the opinion, that 
 the Church generally would appreciate the reasons of the measure in 
 question if the proposal of it were to proceed from me ; but that there 
 would be reluctance to the giving of a beginning to it from the motive of 
 respect. To the taking of a lead in the matter, the gentlemen with 
 whom I conversed, and who, I believe, had not been engaged in any mea- 
 sure or in any precedent discourse alluded to, were decidedly averse. 
 For some time I hesitated as to the suggestion of my being the proposer. 
 My reason for this is a confession now drawn from me by the occasion, 
 and by regard to truth. 
 
 It has pressed on my mind during the last few years — it has not been 
 so during the general course of my episcopacy — that possibly a candidate 
 might be brought forward, whose disposition to something in contrariety 
 to the principles of our Church would not be known to a considerable 
 proportion of our clergy, and much less to the greater number of our lay 
 members, coming from different sections of the state, and having little 
 access to sources of information concerning characters ; and that, in con- 
 sequence, I might be put to the disagreeable predicament of declining to 
 join in the consecration of such a person ; leaving that duty to any of my 
 brethren, if there should be any, who are either not so scrupulous on the 
 subject, or are not possessed of the facts which may have had such an 
 influence on my mind, and which ought to be of such a character that, 
 for my refusing of a participation, I could answer to God and to the 
 Church. In proof that there may be reason for the refusal, I refer to the 
 solemn form of words which the bishop elect is required to take on his 
 tongue, before the advancement of a step in the act of consecration. 
 How can any bishop, in his official character, knowing the intendment of 
 the form, conscientiously accept of the promise, with the understanding 
 
APPENDIX. 363 
 
 that the promiser has no intention of performance, according to the obvi- 
 ous meaning of the words'! 
 
 Let it be noticed, that the state of my mind, now disclosed, had no re- 
 ference to any individual, and that at the time of the conversation refer- 
 red to no person was contemplated, so far as I know, to be proposed 
 as the assistant bishop. 
 
 After considering the subject in every point of view in which it pre- 
 sented itself, I became apprehensive that in shrinking from responsibility, 
 on the ground that has been stated, it might be evidence of more regard 
 to personal comfort than to the wants of the diocese which prompted to 
 the course which has been pursued. 
 
 Whether it would have been the best to have delayed the business to 
 the next annual convention, is a matter in which I have no concern. 
 The standing committee have acted on the principles set forth in their 
 document addressed to the churches, which to my mind have considera- 
 ble weight, although there are considerations on the other side not to be 
 disregarded. 
 
 Although my calling you together has been ineffective as to the object 
 designed by it, there ought to be the effect of satisfying the whole dio- 
 cese that I have not yet the frequent infirmity of age, inducing reluc- 
 tance to yield to providential entailments on it, and to surrender a 
 portion at least of the rights and of the influence of which it may be 
 supposed that long habit had rendered me unreasonably retentive. From 
 the statements made, you will have perceived that it was a different cause 
 which produced in me reluctance to the giving a beginning to the mea- 
 sure of electing an assistant bishop. Having dismissed my first im- 
 pressions, from the apprehension that they may have been in some 
 degree selfish, I shall consider myself excused in future from whatever 
 has a bearing on the same object; but will not interpose any hindrance to 
 the endeavours of others for the accomplishment of it. 
 
 There is a claim which I shall think myself entitled to make on the 
 indulgence of this diocese, and with the greater weight, in consequence 
 of the result of your deliberations. It is that in proportion to what you 
 have witnessed of increasing calls on the episcopacy, seen in connexion 
 with my increasing weight of years, and taking into the account my large 
 extent of local labour, you will not complain of proportionally decreasing 
 exertion, induced by the many relations in which I stand, and probably 
 by the decay of bodily strength, if not of mental energy. This indulgence 
 I may the more reasonably expect, if you should find in me what I pur- 
 pose, with the aid of divine grace, that so long as my faculties shall be 
 continued to me, my cares and my counsels are not wanting in any mat- 
 ter that may concern the integrity, the peace, the prosperity of the 
 Church ; and, especially, by bearing my protest against whatever may be 
 an inroad on the system in doctrine, or in discipline, or in ecclesiastical 
 constitution and government. Not only so, without founding any pre- 
 tensions on personal merits, but avaihng myself only of a long course of 
 
364 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 labours, I now consider myself as addressing not only you, but the mem- 
 bers of the Church in the diocese, when both myself, and all you, my 
 juniors, shall be laid in the dust. 
 
 Brethren — With these sentiments, and with my wishes for the safe 
 return of the distant members of your body to their families and to their 
 churches, I bid you an affectionate farewell. 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 IX. 
 
 (Page 228 ante.) 
 
 LETTERS AND EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO BISHOP 
 HOBART. 
 
 Of Lay Baptism ; and Lawrence's Work on that subject. 
 
 Philadelphia, September 4, 1806. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 An opportunity offering of returning your books, I write this letter to 
 accompany them ; in which it is incumbent on me, in the first place, to 
 thank you for the satisfaction, though not for any conviction which I have 
 derived from the perusal of these volumes. Mr Lawrence appears to 
 me a very able disputant : and as he seems to have made the most of 
 his cause, it would be very agreeable to me to be in possession of his 
 work. As I cannot procure it in this city, I shall be obliged to you to 
 purchase it for me in New York, if it can be obtained there. 
 
 In what I am to address to you, let me not be understood as setting up 
 the plea of an inherent right in a lay Christian to baptize. I believe it 
 to be within the sphere of ecclesiastical legislation to direct that admi- 
 nistrations of this sort shall be by the clergy only. And when such 
 restriction obtains, 1 consider it as a matter of mere ecclesiastical pru- 
 dence how far there may be such a relaxation, as to admit to com- 
 munion persons who have been baptized irregularly as to the adminis- 
 trator, but duly as to the element and the form of words made use of : 
 such permission being grounded on the distinction — " quod non debet 
 fieri factum valet." 
 
 In attending to Mr Lawrence's axioms, definitions and propositions, I 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 find them grounded on the supposition of a sense in the commission 
 given in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, not to be gathered from the passage sepa- 
 rately considered, but for which we must have recourse to some other 
 passages, not making the commission pertinent to his purpose. 
 
 The commission goes no further than to the discipline, through the 
 medium of the rite of baptism. Even to prove that the commission was 
 to extend beyond the apostles, it is necessary to take in the annexed 
 promise ; which however is full to that effect. But neither from the 
 commission nor from the promise do we gather that the former was to 
 be transmitted to successors ; and it might be, for any thing which the 
 words express, that all the powers vested in the apostles were to be by 
 them handed to all whom they should disciple and initiate. How then 
 does it appear that there is to be a ministry in succession t Certainly 
 not otherwise than from the original commission, taken in connection 
 with some previous intimations of our Saviour ; and with those passages 
 in which we find that the apostles ordained others, and instructed them 
 to do the like : thus instituting a succession of pastors to be continued to 
 the end of time. 
 
 If this institution of the ministry was such as absolutely to exclude 
 lay baptism, the same ought to appear, either in some express declara- 
 tion, or in practice explanatory of the design. For unless something of 
 this sort is to be found, there seems nothing in the subject itself which 
 makes it incongruous for those discipled under the commission to asso- 
 ciate with themselves succeeding converts, as is done by various bodies 
 of men in other matters. 
 
 That there is any such declaration will not be said. But I go further, 
 and express the sentiment that there is considerable evidence of a con- 
 trary permission. Philip's baptizing of the Samaritans and of the eu- 
 nuch seems to me in point. It will be said that Philip was a deacon. 
 But can it be imagined that an order instituted for the purpose of 
 " serving tables" should, in the very infancy of its existence, have the 
 offices of the higher orders of the ministry committed to them. I do 
 not deny either the right or the prudence of allowing what has been sub- 
 sequently allowed to this lowest order of the clergy. All I contend for 
 is, that at the first institution of the order there could have been no dif- 
 ference between them and laymen, in regard to the preaching of the 
 word and the administering of the sacraments. There is no inconsis- 
 tency with this in the case of Stephen. He might have had the gift of 
 miracles, without a designation to any order of the ministry ; as he 
 might without the same have disputed with the Libertines, the Cyrenians 
 and the others. No doubt he declared to them the Christian faith. But 
 Aquila and Priscilla, without being ministers of the word, did the same 
 to Apollos ; and we shall be agreed, that when there is a sinfulness in 
 lay instruction, it results, not from the lay character itself, but from some 
 circumstance which makes it a violation of order. 
 
 Another passage worthy of attention is where St Peter, in consequence 
 
366 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 of the pouring out of the Holy Ghost on Cornelius and his household, 
 commanded (or instructed) them to be baptized. The passage seems to 
 imply that the baptismal act was performed, not by St Peter, but by 
 some of the six brethren who accompanied him ; concerning whom we 
 have not the least intimation that they were of the ministry. And, 
 although the negative cannot be proved, it is very improbable that, in 
 this infancy of the apostolic ministry, there should have been admitted 
 to it others, without any note of distinction from the brethren generally. 
 
 The same remark applies to what we read of the men of Cyprus and 
 Cyrene, and of the conversion which they wrought at Antioch. Were 
 some of these of the clergy, without its being noted ? This seems very 
 improbable. Or had their converts " turned to the Lord" in any other 
 way than through the medium of the rite of baptism ? This seems not 
 quite consistent with Scripture language. It is true there was a mission 
 of Barnabas to that people, not, for any thing that appears, to baptize 
 them, but to strengthen them in the faith ; for which there was the more 
 occasion, if, as I suppose, there were none of the ministry amongst those 
 who had informed them of the faith in Christ. 
 
 I might be disposed to be distrustful of what I gather from these pas- 
 sages, if it did not appear strongly countenanced by evidences of lay 
 baptism in the early church. For there seems to me to apply here what 
 we say in favour of episcopacy, that there could not so soon have hap- 
 pened such a deviation from primitive practice, without at least some 
 considerable opposition to the change. 
 
 What Mr Lawrence quotes from St Ignatius seems to me inapplicable. 
 His words apply, not to lay baptism, but to the act done in opposition 
 to authority ; and they declare not the invalidity, but the irregularity of 
 the act. 
 
 Mr Lawrence has thought it worth his while to quote a passage from 
 Hernias. This writer foolishly supposes that the departed righteous, of 
 the time prior to Christianity, were baptized by the apostles and other 
 first teachers in the intermediate state. But will the choice which this 
 visionary man has made of ministerial agents in an imaginary employ- 
 ment, prove that, even in his day, the same act was not occasionally 
 performed on the living by others than the ministry 1 Surely not. 
 
 Mr Lawrence considers Tertullian's testimony in favour of lay baptism 
 as his private sentiment. To me it seems a testimony to the occasional 
 practice of his day. If it were not, and he has asserted a falsehood, or 
 even a mistaken opinion, tending to introduce a corrupt custom ; it is 
 surprising, considering the estimation bestowed on his books, that none 
 had so much concern for the church's peace as to guard her against his 
 error. 
 
 Far he it from me to claim any weight in favour of the opinion of a 
 council who made a canon against a Christian's eating with a Jew. 
 But although I lay no stress on the faith of the council of Eliberis, yet I 
 give some weight to their testimony. Judging from the principles of 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 human nature, I cannot suppose that a rite performed in the view of the 
 world had at that period materially degenerated from the original insti- 
 lution : and it is very improbable that the practice was one way in Spain, 
 and the opposite in the Christian world in general. 
 
 The only specious appearance before the council of iSFice, and for 
 some time after, of any thing prohibiting of lay baptism in all cases, is 
 in the instance of St Cyprian, and those who thought with him. But I 
 think it is appearance only. Cyprian's argument against heretical bap- 
 tism rests on the ground of the malignity of the heresy. If some of his 
 reasonings seem to embrace the case of orthodox lay baptism, this was 
 not the matter before him ; and it is common for disputants to express 
 themselves unguardedly in relation to other points than those they treat 
 of. As to Basil's representation of the sentiments of Cyprian, above a 
 century after he wrote, I lay little stress on it. After all, if Cyprian did 
 adopt the opinion of the invalidity of lay baptism, I distinguish between 
 that and the general testimony of the African church. For in the de- 
 terminations made against the baptismal heretics by the council of Car- 
 thage, I do not recollect any thing that goes to this point. 
 
 Mr Lawrence makes very light of the story of the boy Athanasins. 
 But it should be remembered that stories made current by credulity are 
 generally accommodated in their circumstances to the customs of the 
 day. It is certain that Socrates, reciting the story from Rufinus, omits 
 among other circumstances that of the boyish baptism. But supposing, 
 what cannot be proved, that the omission arose from any other cause 
 tlian abbreviation ; supposing also Rufinus credulous in the admission of 
 the circumstance ; and supposing (as I think) that such a puerile play 
 ought not to have been held of importance : yet this extravagance could 
 hardly have arisen without some colour to it in the occasional practice 
 of lay baptism in the Church : and if it had, Socrates would not, I think, 
 have failed to note this grievous instance of incorrectness in Rufinus. 
 Far from this, he bestows a general approbation on the story, though he 
 does not relate it all. 
 
 In regard to the distinction between heretical baptism and that of lay- 
 men strictly speaking, it is worthy of remark, and what I find nothing to 
 meet in Mr Lawrence, that the numerous sects of heretics, antecedent 
 to the Novatians, had no consecrated bishops ; and yet their baptisms, 
 on conformity to the church, were admitted. This is too wide a field to 
 be entered on in a letter ; but I perceive extremities resulting from Mr 
 Lawrence's principles. It is well known that the bishops of the Ca- 
 tholic Church pronounced the ordinations of the heretics null in as un- 
 qualified terms as could have been devised. And although they after- 
 wards admitted them, on their conformity, to their several grades ; yet 
 it was on the supposition that the commission then given perfected a 
 former ceremony, otherwise insufficient. But if you set aside this prin- 
 ciple, or contend for an efficient consecration of a bishop on the mere 
 
368 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 ground of the service being performed by one duly consecrated himBelf ; 
 and even by this saying to the former with the imposition of hands " Be 
 thou a bishop ;" observe the consequences. I might suppose various 
 cases ; and especially the mischiefs which might result from a licentious 
 bishop putting himself in the condition ascribed to the ordainers of No- 
 vatian ; and in that state capable of any extravagance. Or suppose that 
 such a man as the ex-bishop of Antun had taken it into his head, during 
 the triumph of atheism, to consecrate the officers of those clubs of which 
 we have heard sn much from Professor Robinson and the Abbe Baruel ; 
 some of whom, if I recollect rightly, assumed the names of the Christian 
 ministry : would such persons be valid bishops, sufficient for the handing 
 down of the succession ? I think they would, on Mr Lawrence's prin- 
 ciples ; and therefore, before we admit these principles, let us be aware 
 of what they lead to. 
 
 At the council of Nice the only disorders which they undertook to 
 redress were the heresy of Arius and the difference of usage as to 
 Easter. On the supposition of so notorious a corruption as Mr Law- 
 rence conceives lay baptism to be, and that countenanced recently -by 
 nineteen bishops in council, can you believe that so venerable a body as 
 that of Nice would have passed it over without a censure 1 
 
 After that council, and during the fourth century, the testimonies in 
 favour of occasional lay baptism outweigh, in my mind, those against it. 
 Jerom is very express ; and Mr Lawrence's charge of inconsistency 
 seems fully refuted Ly Mr Bingham. St Austin's "solemus audire" 
 conveys ,to me, as strongly as almost any words, the idea of ordinary 
 occurrence. 
 
 But I forbear to go further into the testimonies of these times ; and 
 pass to the ground on which the subject rests in the Church of England 
 and our own. 
 
 The rubrics, concerning presentatiori after private baptism, presume 
 that this had been by a lawful minister ; and very wisely ; because every 
 law should presume that other laws, coming into view, would be com- 
 plied with ; and yet, when the questions to the sponsors are set down, 
 there is evidently a designed distinction in them, between what are es- 
 sential to the ordinance, which are the matter and the form, and what 
 stands on ecclesiastical regulation, which is the description of the ad- 
 ministrator. The same distinction is studiously maintained in the rubric 
 after the office. But the question occurs— suppose it appears from the 
 answers, that the child has been baptized (no matter as to the correct- 
 ness of the term) by a layman ; what is to be done ? Here lies the 
 only difficulty with me. The conditional form was not intended for the 
 case. The form of admission seems presumptive of all being done in 
 due order. And yet there is no direction for the repetition of the cere- 
 mony ; which there should have been if that had been intended. 
 
 What light is to be gathered tlien from the practice ? After a careful 
 consideration of this, my conviction is complete, that no re-baptization 
 
APPENDIX. 369 
 
 (if you will allow the term) was to take place. There is abundant evi- 
 dence that King James, who was the introductor of the order for a law- 
 ful minister, had no idea of requiring repetition in the event of irregu- 
 larity in that respect. And of the many who, at the time, must have 
 received lay baptism, I have never read of any person who was required to 
 submit to a more correct administration of the ordinance. At the restora- 
 tion what numbers must there have been who, having been baptized by 
 ministers of different sects during the troubles, afterwards joined the 
 national Church, without further invitation ! After the revolution, and 
 at the time, I believe, when the subject had been brought into contro- 
 versy by Mr Lawrence, it was deliberately determined, in a conference 
 at Lambeth, by the two archbishops and all the bishops then in town, and 
 that unanimously, " that lay baptism should be discouraged as much as 
 possible ; but if the essentials had been preserved in a baptism by a lay 
 hand, it was not to be repeated." And these words are said to be taken 
 from papers under the hand of both the archbishops. There might be 
 added the notoriety of consecrations and ordinations by the English pre- 
 lates, of persons known by them to have received no other than what 
 their church considers as lay baptism : and pre-eminent among them is 
 Archbishop Seeker. 
 
 Here I will take occasion to note what I conceive to be a defect in 
 Mr Lawrence's system. He repeatedly declines the subject how far the 
 bishops of the Christian church have the power of authorizing lay bap- 
 tism. Now if you will assume the point, which he refuses to deny, there 
 seems little difference between explicit authorizing, and continued and 
 understood permission. The whole question becomes changed from the 
 ground of divine right to that of ecclesiastical regulation. In this event 
 permission seems to amount to authorizing. It would be so in civil 
 matters ; why not in ecclesiastical f 
 
 On the whole, I am convinced that both the rubrics and the practicft 
 are adverse to re-baptization. But the question is still unsatisfied in 
 regard to what is to be done in certain cases which may occur. As to 
 children baptized by ministers of other denominations, it is not probable 
 that there will be application made for the admission of any of them to 
 our church, otherwise than through the rite of confirmation or that of 
 baptism : and in neither of these cases would there be any difficulty with 
 me. But in the event of the presentation of a child baptized by our pri- 
 vate form, and by any other than a lawful minister, I confess myself as 
 yet uncertain as to the line of conduct to be taken. 
 
 On consulting Archdeacon Sharpe, whom I consider as the best writer 
 within my knowledge on the rubrics and the canons of the Church of 
 England, I find him aware of the same difficulty. He is express against 
 re-baptization, as being contrary to the practice of the early church, and 
 not intended in his own. He advises his clergy to conduct themselves 
 agreeably to the directions given at the end of the short treatise, " Con- 
 cerning the Ceremonies of the Church," annexed to the preface of the 
 2g 
 
370 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 English liturgy. This is removing the difficulty from the officiating 
 clergy to a higher authority ; which, however, ought to be exercised 
 agreeably to rule and principle. 
 
 I stated to you, in a former letter, what I thought a very serious ob- 
 jection to Mr Lawrence's theory : its rendering of the succession alto- 
 gether uncertain, on account of the great number of consecrators who, 
 on his principles, were never members of the Christian church. His 
 distinction for the avoiding of the difficulty, in which, if I rightly recol- 
 lect, you have followed him in your Notes on Dr Linn, is, I still 
 think, untenable : you see even his friend Dr Hickes deserts him in this 
 matter. 
 
 These are the sentiments which have occurred to me on the subject 
 of your book. J give them with respect towards the sentiments of others ; 
 and remain your affectionate brother, 
 
 Rev. John H. Hobart, D.D. Wm WHITE. 
 
 P.S. In regard to the uncertainty in which I remain as to a particular 
 point, it may be proper to mention what, on the whole, I think the most 
 likely to be the thing intended. It is, that persons baptized by other 
 than lawful ministers should not be presented, but left in that state till 
 confirmation. This seems to have been the opinion of the English 
 bishops, as expressed by Mr Bingham, in his epistle dedicatory to his 
 second treatise. I am aware of all Mr Lawrence has said on this point : 
 but the uniformity of the practice under the rubrics, and that from the 
 beginning, is an insuperable objection to his interpretation. In regard to 
 the opinion of the bishops, what there "may be in regard to that of the 
 Bishop of Exeter, intimated by Mr Lawrence, I know not ; but cannot 
 admit the idea, that what a man of Mr Bingham's eminence has affirmed 
 of a body in general, and with their knowledge, is substantially in- 
 correct. 
 
 P.S. It gave me great satisfaction to learn from the papers that the 
 degree of D.D. had been conferred to you ; and I congratulate you on 
 the occasion. 
 
 Of Dr Hickes's Treatise on the Christian Priesthood. 
 
 Philadelphia, October 30th, 1806. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I return your two volumes of Dr Hickes, with thanks for the loan of 
 them. Indeed, I am ashamed that I had been so long without having 
 read a work of so much celebrity. The perusal has confirmed my opin- 
 ion of the author, that he was a learned, an ingenious, a sincere, but, in 
 some points, a mistaken man ; and therefore I cannot send you back the 
 work without intimating to you the general tenor of my objections to 
 some leading matters, in regard to which I hope that you will not only 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 consider them fully, before you finally adopt them, but be aware of the 
 consequences to which they lead. 
 
 The part of the work which I have particularly in view, is that enti- 
 tled " The Christian Priesthood asserted :" the leading sentiment of 
 which is, that a^ bishop and a presbyter are " priests" in the Levitical 
 sense of the words ; that is, each of them are " le^eus" <jr " Sacerdos." 
 For ELS to the word " priest," it is correct on the ground of either sysp 
 tems, being the word " u^irfiuTt^m" englished, and yet used as the trans- 
 lation of the Greek and Latin words above mentioned. 
 
 Can you be seriously satisfied with Dr Hiekes's conjectural reason for 
 the not calling the Christian clergy is^its, in the New Testament ? Had 
 the cause of the reserve heen such as Dr Hickes imagines — respect to 
 the Jewish prejudices bo long as the temple worship was in being — 
 surely the cause had ceased when St John wrote his Gospd, which was 
 long after the destrQction of Jerusalem ; and there are many places in 
 which the change of language might have been seasonably insinuated. 
 Supposiag a reason could be assigned, though I cannot imagine any, to 
 tJiis omission of the evangelist, was it not high time when Barnabas, 
 when Herraas, when Clement, when Ignatius and when Justin wrote, 
 that the new name should appear? In the writings of all these authors, 
 there is reference more or less to the persons vested with the ministerial 
 character, but never are they designated as " le^uc ;" unless, indeed, like 
 Daille, we should so apply the word as it stands in a particular passage of 
 St Ignatius, and which Daill^ accordingly alleged as an argumMit against 
 the genuineness of his epistle. But what says his learned vindicator. 
 Bishop Pearson I He impliedly admits the validity of the objection, on 
 the supposition that the sense given by the objector to the passage were 
 the true one. But this he positively, and with great reason, denies, as 
 Br Hammond, in answer to another writer, had done before him. 
 
 I confidently express my opinion, that for one hundred y«ars after the 
 destruction of the temple, the date to which the reason of the reserve is 
 limited, there is no evidence of a Christian minister's being called 
 "ls5iuc"or "Sacerdos." Although these words were introduced not 
 long afterwards, yet thiey were used sparingly for a while : and when they 
 became a part of the established phraseology of the Church, I cannot help 
 thinking that it was accompanied by a change of sentiment, comprehend- 
 ing the seeds of the errors, which became so deplorably prevalent in the 
 succeeding ages. So far was the change of language from being com- 
 plete when Tertullian wrote, that, having used the words " sumraus sa- 
 cerdos," he explains himself by adding, " qui est episcopus,'' which 
 would have been unnecessary some time afterwards. 
 
 What I have said concerning " priest," may be applied, in repect to 
 the same tract of time, to " sacrifice ;" distinguishing it, however, from 
 oblation, which Dr Hickes does not, although the doing so is frequent 
 among writers, and the distinction is obvious in Leviticus. If there be 
 »ny .e;yceptjoi> to joy propositions, it is in what Dr Hickes has cited from 
 
372 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 Justin Martyr, who wrote a very few years within the period mentioned. 
 Concerning this venerable author I have to remark, that although his 
 language, strictly taken, applies to material sacrifice, yet he elsewhere 
 speaks as if there could be no Christian sacrifice but that of the heart. 
 -Hence some have not scrupled to accuse him of inconsistency. But this 
 I avoid, if there be any expedient to reconcile him to himself: and this 
 seems to me to have been well done, with the exclusion of material sacri- 
 fice, by Dr Waterland, to whom I refer you on the point. Certain it is, 
 that Clemens Alexandrinus, Irenseus and TertuUian, who wrote not many 
 years after Justin, speak very strongly of there being no other sacrifices 
 than holy dispositions of the mind. And that these should be designated 
 by Justin, under the name of a material ofiering accompanying them, may 
 be the easier conceived, as the like is done in Scripture, for instance 
 where the alms of Cornelius are said to have come up for a memorial, 
 meaning not surely the alms of themselves, but the mental benevolence 
 from which they derived their value. 
 
 It seems to me that the remark concerning " priest" and " sacrifice" 
 may be extended to the word "altar." There are indeed some passages 
 in St Ignatius which speak of " altar," in a form that looks more like his 
 having a material altar in view, than any passage that appears in any 
 other quarter. They may bear this sense, but they may also bear the 
 metaphorical, which I prefer, on the considerations, that nothing could 
 have been more natural than for Christians to take their metaphor from 
 the Old Testament economy ; that, if the contrary interpretation be cor- 
 rect, Ignatius is the only instance within the time of which we are speak, 
 ingof such a use of the word ; and that " priest" (lijeut) being correlative 
 to " altar," I cannot otherwise account for his never applying of the for- 
 mer word to Christian ministers, although he has occasion to speak of 
 them so often. I feel more satisfaction in the opinion now expressed, 
 than in joining with Mosheim, who says, that " the question concerning 
 the authenticity of Ignatius's epistles is embarrassed with many difficul- 
 ties ;" or with our judicious Jortin, who " hesitates to affirm that they 
 have undergone no alteration at all." 
 
 On the subject generally, there has been a passage quoted from St 
 Clement, although I forget whether Dr Hickes notices it. To me the 
 passage, which is in ch. 40, 41, speaks merely the language of compari- 
 son, applied to the single point of every man's discharging his official 
 duty in the proper time and place. On reading formerly the use made of 
 it by Mr Johnson in his " Unbloody Sacrifice," I had the curiosity to look 
 into Bona, and found the zeal of the Romish cardinal less in this respect 
 than that of the Protestant presbyter : the former not citing Clement to 
 his purpose, which might have been expected, had the passage been 
 applicable in his opinion. 
 
 Let me not be misunderstood, in regard to the words spoken of, as if I 
 objected altogether to the use of them as applied to the Christian Church. 
 There are so many circumstances in her economy analogous to that of 
 
APPENDIX. 373 
 
 the law, that such a use seems natural and unexceptionable : and there- 
 fore I join with Mr Hooker (page 101) in saying : " the names them- 
 selves may be retained without sin, in respect of that proportion which 
 things established by our Saviour have unto them which are abrogated : 
 and so, throughout all the writings of the ancient fathers, we see that 
 the words which were do continue ; the only difference is that, whereas 
 before they had a literal, they now have a metaphorical use, and, are so 
 many notes of remembrance unto us, that what they did signify in the 
 letter is accomplished in the truth." Yes, let us in moderation use the 
 words, but let them be understood in metaphor, meaning this as opposed 
 to the letter and not to the reality, which is not injured by the distinc- 
 tion. But when the words are taken literally, we may learn from the 
 case of Dr Hickes to what mistakes they lead, as in his making of Chris- 
 tian ministers, intercessors, mediators and expiators. 
 
 In what sense are ministers intercessors for their flocks, in which 
 these may not be intercessors for them also "! St Paul in several places 
 asks those whom he addresses to pray for him, and in one place he hopes, 
 as the effect of their prayers, that he may be restored to them the sooner. 
 There is no notice in the New Testament of more than " one mediator 
 between God and man." The Jewish priesthood was different in this 
 respect from the Christian ministry. Under the law, the sacrifice or the 
 oblation was brought by the worshipper to the priest, and though there 
 was, doubtless, exacted sincerity in the former, yet the act of sacrificing 
 was performed exclusively by the latter. Analogous to this is the mass 
 of the Romish Church, in which the sacrifice is performed entirely by 
 the priest, it not being held necessary that the people should understand 
 a syllable of what is said. But what is there like this in the worship of 
 our Church ? Or what in the remains which we possess of the early 
 Church? Certainly nothing: for in both the language of the service 
 shows that the minister is the mouth of the congregation, who are sup- 
 posed not only to say " amen" at the conclusion, but to accompany him 
 through the whole. And as to ministerial expiation, it seems to me not 
 only an utterly inadmissible idea, but particularly alien from the service 
 of the eucharisl, to which it is especially applied by Dr Hickes, and those 
 who think with him : for it seems agreed on all hands, that this holy 
 ordinance answers not to sacrifice of expiation, but to that of the peace- 
 offerings, which are never said to make atonement, but, on the contrary, 
 suppose the worshipper in a state of reconciliation. I forbear to dilate 
 on the consequences of our leading of the people to believe, that at every 
 celebration of the Lord's Supper we are making atonement for sin. No ; 
 let it be a commemoration of an atonement made once for all: an inte- 
 rest in which is to be judged of by every man, according to his conscious, 
 ness of what he is and does. 
 
 I will give you, as briefly as I can, my sense of the texts which Dr 
 Hickes has enlisted in his service. 
 
 His first is Matthew v. 23, 24. Now if we were to suppose our Sa- 
 2o* 
 
374 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 viour speaking in language accommodated not to an existing, but to a 
 future economy, which however seems very unreasonatte, yet it would 
 be evident that the passage is then inconsistent with Dr Hickes's supposed 
 reserve of our Saviour on this subject. For although Dr Hickes truly 
 remarks, that the sermon on the Mount was to the Lord's disciples, yet, 
 as annotators notice, the term must be understood with a latitude, since 
 it is said, on the finishing of the discourse, " the multitude were astonish, 
 ed at his doctrine." By the disciples, were accordingly meant those 
 generally who had received his instructions. Where then would have 
 been the wisdom of the supposed secrecy concerning a new altar and a 
 new. priesthood to be in due time set up ■! 
 
 The same remark applies to another of Dr Hickes's texts — that of 
 Heb. xiii. 10. Here, it seems, the secret was divulged to the "whole 
 body of Hebrew Christians, in the very teeth -of all their prejudices. 
 But no : that the sacrifice of the altar spoken of could not have been the 
 eucharist is evident in the circumstance that this has nothing answering 
 even in a spiritual sense to those sacrifices in which' the bodies of the 
 victims " were burnt without the camp." But I refer you to Dr Ham- 
 mond for an explanation of that text. 
 
 In Romans xv. 15, 16, there is a noble figure, the beauty of which is 
 very much lessened if we depart from the usual translation and interpre- 
 tation, of the offering being of the persons of the Gentiles, and if we 
 apply it to their eucharist or to their devotions generally. 
 
 In 1 Corinthians ix. 13, there is a parallel drawn between Jewish 
 priests and Christian ministers, in the single point of their being alike 
 entitled to a maintenance. What is more common than in the making 
 of a comparison, where there is nothing common to the subjects, except 
 the circumstance for which the comparison is made 7 
 
 In 1 Corinthians x. 20, 21, it is sufficient to the apostle's reasoning if 
 the bread and wine, of .the eucharist are an appointed memorial of the 
 body and blood of Christ. For, then, the partaking of them is incon- 
 sistent with the partaking of heathen sacrifice. 
 
 Dr Hickes's remarks on " Tmuv" are at best too slight a ground on which 
 to erect a theory. Besides, his explanation of it, as applied to the eucha- 
 rist, seems fully satisfied by the idea of an oblation in that ordinance. 
 
 He understands an expression in 1 Peter ii. 9, as synonymous with a 
 kingdom of priests, or a priestly government. But the passage receives 
 a dififerent interpretation from Revelations i. 6, which makes priests in 
 the accommodated sense intended of all the people of the seven churches. 
 It seems to me that there is no explaining of those passages but in allu- 
 sion to the eminent holiness which Christianity exacts, and the dignity 
 of character which it bestows. And these are coincident witli the apos- 
 tle's train of sentiment in the passage first mentioned. 
 
 We have heard much of the Epistle to the Hebrews, as describing a 
 prefiguration of the Christian priesthood in that of the law. But the 
 analogy there traced is declared to be accomplished in the priesthood of 
 
APPENDIX. 375 
 
 Christ : that is, in his sacrifice of th^ cross, and his presentation of it in 
 heaven. The part of the epistle alluded to has no reference to the Chris- 
 tian ministry, unless on the principle of a continued priestly offering of 
 the true atonement^ as is pretended in the mass. But this must be 
 proved through some other medium, for there is nothing of it in the epistle. 
 
 Dr Hickes cites Revelations v. 8 and viii. 3. But was it unobserved 
 by him that all matters relating to the Christian church in that book are 
 figuratively represented under terms of the Jewish economy ■; The scene 
 is laid in the temple ; the names of the Israelitish tribes are ascribed to 
 Christian people ; the martyred saints repose under the altar ; and, in 
 short, all the circumstances are accommodated to the figure. 
 
 In regard to Dr Hickes's texts generally, it may be remarked, that his 
 interpretation destroys the ground of the reserve supposed by him. If 
 his interpretation be correct, a new sacrifice, a new priesthood, and a 
 new altar were explicitly declared, and there was no reason against mak- 
 ing the names correspond with the subjects. But if that interpretation 
 be wrong, I appeal to you whether, at least after the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, there might not be expected from an apostle or some apostolic 
 man — I need not say an explicit declaration, but at least an intimation of 
 the intended change, and that it should not have been left to be discov- 
 ered by human ingenuity after the lapse of above a century. 
 
 And let me remark on what different ground the question stands from 
 that between Episcopacy and Presbytery. According to the pretensions 
 of the latter, a change took place all at once in all parts of the world, and 
 affecting rights and duties in daily exercise, and all without opposition or 
 even historic notice. Such a change could never have happened among 
 mankind, constituted as we see them. But it is otherwise in regard to 
 new names, easUy reconciled by analogy, perhaps introduced by writers 
 of celebrity, by them used at first metaphorically and sparingly, with an 
 intermixture of the old ; the change at the same time wearing the spe- 
 cious appearance of a tendency to the increase of piety ; however after- 
 wards made the instrument of the most inordinate ambition. 
 
 In all here said, I have been aware of the solemn caution given by Dr 
 Hickes to Christian ministers not to lessen the dignity of their calling. 
 But if it is the scriptural definition of the Jewish high priest, that he was 
 "ordained from among men for things pertaining to God," is it less hon- 
 ourable, as Dr Outram is represented by Dr Hickes saying of the Chris- 
 tian minister, that he is " ordained by God for things pertaining to meni" 
 And is not the superiority of the ministry of the latter, in comparison 
 of that of the former, sufficiently supported by the comparative merits of 
 their respective dispensations 1 
 
 When Dr Hickes pronounced it disgraceful in a minister of the Church 
 of England to reject priesthood, sacrifice and altar, in the strict and pro- 
 per sense, why did he not criminate the Church herself? That neither 
 sacrifice nor altar is found in her liturgy is evident. And as to the word 
 "priest," that she considers it as "jrjsir/Si/Tsgoc," with an English termi- 
 
376 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 nation, appears in the circumstance, that in the Latin Prayer Book, which 
 is of equal authority with the English ; " Priest" is not " Sacerdos," but 
 Presbyter ; this, even in the sacramental service, which in the estima- 
 tion of Dr Hickes and those who think with him, is in the most eminent 
 degree sacerdotal. 
 
 I have already intimated that I distinguish between sacrifice and obla- 
 tion. And, therefore, I never could perceive any reason in the objection 
 which some have made to that part of our consecration of the elements, 
 in which we offer them to the Father, as typical of his blessed Son's body 
 and blood. On this point of oblation, the testimony of the apostolic 
 Clement is express ; and it seems involved in the act of our Saviour, 
 when, in the original institution, he invoked a blessing on the elements, 
 in which act there must have been a religious presentation of them. 
 
 To me, indeed, it seems surprising, that the very pains which some 
 authors have taken to show the eucharist answerable to the nnJD under 
 the law, did not show at the same time that it cannot answer to the 
 n3I of the same economy, which always involved the taking of animal 
 life. And there is a consideration which should call our attention to the 
 distinction. It is the countenance which may be given by the latter word 
 to the gross ideas founded on our Saviour's calling the bread and wine 
 his body and blood. From the conjunction of this error, with that of 
 considering the eucharistic service a sacrifice, there seems to me to arise, 
 by a natural train of sentiment, the monstrous opinion of the propitiatory 
 sacrifice of the mass. 
 
 I beg you to remark, in your reading, how authors puzzle themselves 
 to frame a definition of sacrifice after they have lost sight of that essen- 
 tial property of it — the death of the victim. Mr Johnson has recited a 
 variety of definitions, all of which seem grounded on no other circum- 
 stances than their suiting the theories of their respective authors. 
 Bishop Pearce says he has seen " almost hundreds of definitions,'' and, 
 after all, I am sorry to say of this ingenious prelate, that he seems to me 
 to have chosen or made one principally accommodated to a favourite 
 point with him — the excluding of the passover from the account of 
 sacrifice. 
 
 When I require the death of the victim as essential to this rite, 1 am 
 not ignorant of the criticisms on the Greek word " 6va-ia,." But I have 
 nothing to do with them. My stress is on the Hebrew word, which con- 
 fessedly involves slaughter. And besides, whatever may have been the 
 original application of the Greek word to inanimate (as it is said) as well 
 as to animate objects, I believe that, when the seventy adopted it for the 
 rendering of the Hebrew word, it had become appropriate to the sacri- 
 fice of animals. 
 
 As to Dr Hickes's long definition, it seems to me evidently drawn from 
 the contemplation of his own theory rather than having any correspon- 
 dency with the institution of sacrifice in Leviticus. I admit Dr Hickes's 
 alleged difiiculty of an exact definition. But when we perceive a cir- 
 
APPENDIX. 377 
 
 cumstance applying to all sacrifice, and without which there can be no 
 sacrifice, all the purposes of a definition may be answered. 
 
 Before I finish let me request you to be assured that, when I speak so 
 freely of great names, it is with a sense of my own weakness, notwith- 
 standing which it is incumbent on me, in respect to subjects of difference 
 between men of the same grade of talents and learning, to make an opi- 
 nion for myself. 
 
 In what I have written, my purpose is to bring some little aid to your 
 own reflections. And so, committing myself to your candour and implor- 
 ing the divine benediction on your inquiries, I remain your affectionate 
 friend and brother, 
 
 Rev. John Hobart, D.D., New York. Wm WHITE. 
 
 Of the same Work of Dr Hickes, and Johnson's Unhloody Sacrifice. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 15, 1807. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir, 
 
 When I wrote my letter of the 30th of October, I made a memoran- 
 dum of a few particulars connected with the subject of it, on which I 
 wished to express my opinion ; but delayed this, because of engagements 
 which then pressed. Your letter, acknowledging the receipt of mine, 
 intimated that you laid some stress on the arguments adduced in it. 
 This aided my determination to take up the subject again. It has, how- 
 ever, been prevented by avocations succeeding upon one another : but 
 now, expecting a favourable opportunity within these few days, I resume 
 the correspondence. 
 
 The points which I propose to handle are these : Is there in the eu- 
 charist a sacrifice ? If not, is there a feast on sacrifice ■? And if 
 neither, what is the import of its being the commemoration of a sac- 
 rifice T 
 
 The introducing of the third question shows that I answer the first 
 and the second in the negative : and in regard to the first, I consider it 
 as no small objection to the doctrine of the eucharistic sacrifice, in the 
 strict and proper sense, that they who affirm it find so great difficulty in 
 agreeing in a definition of the word. If we look at the diflferent defini- 
 tions of learned men, as cited by Mr Johnson in his " Unbloody Sacri- 
 fice," they are clearly arbitrary. So is his own ; and in order to prove 
 this, I will detain you with an attention to its contents. 
 
 His first descriptive circumstance of a sacrifice is its being some ma- 
 terial thing, animate or inanimate, ofiered to God. Here I recur to the 
 principles of my former letter ; on the ground of which I still venture to 
 express my persuasion that the Hebrew word denoting sacrifice means 
 animal sacrifice only. Mr Johnson indeed mentions the frequent use of 
 " ivTia." by the seventy ; and he wishes that our translators had fol- 
 lowed their example, putting "sacrifice" for their "ouo-;*;" it being to 
 
378 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 be presumed that their knowledge both of Hebrew and of Greek waa 
 adequate to the occasion. But it is easy to account for their conduct in 
 this matter, without questioning their skill in either language. Mr 
 Johnson himself shows, and Potter's Antiquities, to which he refers, 
 will vouch for him, that the word " Sua." had anciently a more exten- 
 sive signification than that of slaughter. I presume that it had not be- 
 come limited to this when the seventy translated, although I have inad- 
 vertently and unnecessarily expressed the opposite idea in my former 
 letter. The error is of no consequence as to the matter there treated of; 
 but in writing I forgot the application of the word to inanimate offering 
 in the Septuagint, which is indeed very frequent. 
 
 Mr Johnson's second circumstance is " for the acknowledging the do- 
 minion and other attributes of God, or for procuring divine blessings, 
 especially remission of sins." If this mean no more than that in the 
 eucharist the devout worshipper has a view to both these objects, it is 
 certainly correct : but it is what the ordinance possesses in common 
 with other acts of homage, such as should be offered daily. 
 
 The third circumstance is that of " a proper altar ;" but in unfolding 
 the sentiment he has said more against than in favour of it as involved 
 in the idea of sacrifice. 
 
 His fourth is " by a proper officer and with agreeable rites ;" certainly 
 fit attendants on all public exercises of devotion ; yet no further entering 
 into the idea of all sacrifices than in the sense in which any head of a 
 family may be called a proper officer, and the most simple expression of 
 devout affection an agreeable rite. 
 
 His last circumstance, that of consumption, seems to have been inva- 
 riably a property of sacrifice, but cannot be said to be confined to it. I 
 believe our best writers consider the red heifer in Numbers, xix. 2, as 
 not a sacrifice. 
 
 You may see what arbitrary accounts of the subject are the conse- 
 quence of losing sight of the true discriminating circumstance — that of 
 animal slaughter in a divinely instituted act of devotion. But let the 
 attention be confined to this, and you have a clear view of the nature of 
 an institution coeval with our race ; but of which no rational account 
 can be given, except as prefigurative of the great sacrifice of the cross ; 
 which dispenses with every other, although to be itself commemorated by 
 a spiritual sacrifice to the end of time. 
 
 Before my sentiments on the present subject became settled, as I trust 
 they have been these many years, with little probability of change, the only 
 authority adduced from Scripture which appeared to me to have weight 
 in favour of the doctrine which I here reject, is the well known passage 
 in the 10th chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. It appeared 
 to me for some time that, as in the parallel drawn, there was a real sac- 
 rifice of the heathen and a real sacrifice of the Jews, so there was appa- 
 rent ground for the affirming of a real sacrifice in the eucharist. But 
 this difficulty yielded to the consideration that nothing is more common 
 
APPENDIXj 379 
 
 than for a matter to be predicable, alike of the thing BJgnified and of its 
 sign. A dishonour to a picture may extend in an equal degree to the 
 person whom it represents ; and the slighting of a token may be hostile 
 to the friendship of which it was designed to be the remembrancer. In 
 like manner let it be admitted that the death of Christ is a sacrifice in 
 the strict and proper meaning of the word ; and that through the merits 
 of this sacrifice the body of his professing followers are related to him 
 and to one another. Jjet it bo further admitted that the elements of 
 bread and wine are the appointed figure of his body and of his blood ; 
 and that by partaking of these symbols we recognize our relation to him 
 and our common tie among ourselves : and immediately the figurative 
 sacrifice of Christians admits of a comparison with the real sacrifices of 
 the heathen as to the purpose in contemplation of the apostle— ^the dis- 
 suading from being partakers of the heathen sacrifices ; to which there 
 was a contrariety in the figurative sacrifice of the gospel, because of 
 there being a contrariety in the real sacrifice represented by it. 
 
 But if it should be granted to me that the passage referred to is the 
 only one which can be said to be explicit to the point of sacrifice ; stiU I 
 may be told that there are other passages from which we may deduce 
 the doctrine ; and for the application of those passages I may be referred 
 to the decision of the fathers, from whose works very many authorities 
 have been cited. Here I make a distinction between the earlier and the 
 later fathers ; and am astonished at the manner in which they are cited by 
 Mr Johnson and others, as if they were of equal authority in religious con- 
 troversy. If our church is right in the decision which she makes, with 
 such dear evidence of her sense of its importance, that Scripture is the 
 only rule of faith, the ground on which the fathers can be at all appealed 
 to, is as witnesses of the faith transmitted to them from the beginnings 
 and that their testimony, on the general principles of evidence, may 
 very much assist in determining the sense of Scripture, is what I am 
 very far from being disposed to deny. But it must be confessed that in 
 this point of view the effect of the testimony depends on the distance 
 from the source ; and it is a mistake to put a father of the fourth century 
 on a level with one of the second. To illustrate this by an allusion to 
 civil matters : suppose there were a question as to the interpretation of 
 a law enacted in the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII., and it were 
 made appear that one sense were more favoured than another by the 
 opinion of learned counsel, and by the practice of the courts in the reign 
 of James the first, and this were said to be the doctrine of the intervening 
 time, it is a consideration which would have weight with every mind ; 
 while much less would be allowed to the opinion and the practice of the 
 present day. So in bringing apostolic faith and practice to the standard 
 of the current sense of the succeeding times, I perceive a clear distinc- 
 tion between the opinions of a Clement, an Ignatius, an Irenteus and a 
 Justin, and those of a Chrysostom, a Cyril and an Austin. 
 
 Even if the opinion of early writers should, as such and distinct from 
 
380 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 testimony, be thought to have any weight, it ought surely to be confined 
 to the times in which not a single considerable error had pervaded the 
 Christian church in general. Now, when you come down to the fourth 
 century, I think I can point out at least two errors, which had a general 
 sway at an early period of it ; of which one is the lawfulness of persecu- 
 tion, and the other the celibacy of the clergy. On the former subject I 
 distinguish between the not admitting to a share of power, and the in- 
 flicting of pains and penalties. The former may, under some circum- 
 stances, be lawful and even necessary ; but I contend, and think you 
 will agree with me, that the latter is in contrariety to the gospel ; and 
 yet that it was favoured by the general sense of the Christian ohurch 
 long before the middle of fourth century. On the other subject I do not 
 mean to say that they tis yet obliged the clergy to put away their wives ; 
 and we have an evidence to the contrary in the celebrated story of 
 Paphnutius at the council of Nice. But even the story implies, and 
 other incidents prove that the church had adopted those sentiments con- 
 cerning marriage which ended soon afterwards in prohibiting it to the 
 priesthood. Now you know we Protestants consider this as one of the 
 tokens of apostacy prophesied in Scripture. 
 
 These remarks seem to me to assist in estimating the sense of the 
 fathers of different periods. In regard to those of the first two or three 
 centuries, I am particularly aware of what has been said by Justin, by Ire- 
 nseus and by Tertullian. But 1 find nothing which may not be brought under 
 the idea of oblation, that is, the commemorative presentation of the 
 elements; or wherein the application of the word "sacrifice" (Suo-;«) 
 may not fairly be understood of them, as in the New Testament of alms. 
 Besides, it is not surprising that Justin should be found giving to the 
 word the same extensive signification which it bore in the Greek 
 translation of the Scriptures in daily use ; and there standing for different 
 subjects denoted in the Hebrew by different words. I beg you to con- 
 sider further how difficult it has been found by the writers from whom I 
 dissent to bend to their system what Barnabas has said concerning the 
 abolishing of the legal sacrifices, to make way for " a human oblation ;" 
 which he defines to be " an humble and a contrite heart ;" in addition 
 to this the circumstance in the oblation spoken of by Clement, that they 
 were such even before consecration, which seems to imply a reference 
 to devotion as that which principally constituted them an offering ; and 
 further, the afiirmation of Justin that " the only perfect and acceptable 
 sacrifices are prayers and thanksgivings ;" vi'ith expressions to the same 
 effect in Irenaeus and several others. On these authorities I might be 
 tempted to enlarge for their elucidation, were it not that I can more 
 expeditiously refer you to Dr Waterland's treatise on the eucharist, in 
 which you will find the above mentioned fathers cleared from the suppo- 
 sition of their having asserted a material sacrifice. 
 
 In regard to later eclesiastical writers, although I lay less stress on 
 their opinions ; yet it would not be difficult to show that what they have 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 said rhetorically is often improperly quoted, to the neglect of passages in 
 which a different sense is spoken. No father has delivered himself 
 more rhetorically than Chrysostom, as where he talks of "the tremen- 
 dous sacrifice lying on the altar ;" and yet, intending to distinguish be- 
 tween the Jewish system and the Christian, he says, " we do not oifer 
 another sacrifice, but always the same, or rather we perform a me- 
 morial." 
 
 I began with remarking how difficult certain writers had found it to 
 agree among themselves in a definition of sacrifice. On this account, 
 there was a time when I was disposed to look on the present question as 
 merely one of words. But when I came to consider maturely the opi- 
 nions which go along with the affirmative side of the question, in the 
 writings of those who hold it ; and when I perceived, as I thought, a train 
 of sentiment which, by a consistent progression, ended in the worst of 
 all the bad tenets of Roman Catholic superstition, I became uneasy at 
 the appearance in our church of any of that leaven which has shown 
 itself capable of leavening the whole lump. For this reason I the more 
 venerate the wisdom of our reformers in their having been so careful to 
 clear our system of every thing which participated of the alarming senti- 
 ment. In my former letter I noticed instances of this in the Latin 
 prayer book, in their carefully substituting of " presbyter" for " sacer- 
 dos," and of " table" for " altar." I will now give you another instance 
 from the homily on the sacrament, in which we are charged to " take 
 heed lest of the memory it be made a sacrifice." To the best of my 
 recollection this continued a universal sentiment to the time of Arch- 
 bishop Laud. I am aware that ever since his day there have been a 
 proportion of the English clergy who have gone into the sentiment ; but 
 am mistaken if it have at any period pervaded the body, and especially 
 if it have been ever prevalent on the episcopal bench. I am sorry to 
 find it pressed of late by some writers ; and, among them, am particu- 
 larly sorry that Mr Daubeny, whom I much admire in some respects, 
 should be one. In regard to our own church I cannot help anticipating 
 bad consequences from the exploded error, as I consider it, being taken 
 up by any of our clergy. For the error does not end in itself, but has 
 sundry kindred errors, some of which I proceed to specify. 
 
 One of them is the remission of sins, as an end of the celebration of 
 the eucharist. That the general design of the Gospel is to make known 
 the forgiveness of sin, and that the ministry are clothed with power and 
 authority to declare it, are truths not to be denied. But I do not per- 
 ceive how this applies to the sacrament any more than to ordinary occa- 
 sions of public worship, when we confess our sins and listen to the 
 authoritative absolution. What occasion for this if there be a more 
 solemn institution for tlie accomplishing of the end 1 In the Jewish 
 religion there was no such ordinary and constant provision for the 
 relieving of the troubled conscience of the penitent. He had no resource 
 but the appointed sacrifice ; and if the eucharist be a sacrifice in the 
 2h 
 
382 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 sense of his, it seems to make superfluous every other instrument of 
 pardon. 
 
 Another doctrine connected with it is that of a foederal rite, holding 
 out the idea that every eelebration is a covenanting anew. But on this 
 I content myself with referring you to Bishop Pearce, by whom it has 
 been, as 1 think, satisfactorily confuted. 
 
 I might bring up to you again all those dangerous sentftnents, as I 
 consider them, of Dr Hickes, which I stated in my former letter ; as, 
 that ministers are mediators and intercessors for the people. But there 
 strikes my mind with the most force, on the score of danger, that in 
 consequence of the metaphysical words of the institution many express 
 themselves so obscurely concerning the elements, as shows that they 
 have confused notions of something more than what the senses perceive 
 of mere bread and wine. Now you no sooner throw in among their 
 indistinct conceptions the notion of a material sacrifice, than it looks so 
 much like that of a propitiatory sacrifice for the dead and living, as must 
 be a preparation of the mind for the error in all its absurdity and mis- 
 chievous tendency. 
 
 Had I intended a full discussion of the subject, I have written far too 
 little ; but 1 fear, considering my plan, far too much, and shall therefore 
 be brief on the next question — of a feast on sacrifice. 
 
 I am aware how very eminent the characters are who have patronized 
 the affirmative of the question ; and I flatter myself that I differ from 
 them in language only. That the eucharist resembles the peace offer- 
 ings, and not the sin offerings of the Jews, I am satisfied ; and it makes 
 a considerable part of the ground on which I reject the opinions before 
 spoken of. Now this distinction enters into the whole argument of a 
 feast on sacrifice : and although I do not perceive any material error 
 resulting from it, yet I am dissatisfied with the mode of stating the sub- 
 ject ; because it seems to make an unnatural conjunction of literal lan- 
 guage with the figurative. In this opinion the sacrifice is of the real 
 body and blood of Christ upon the cross : but the partaking of the sacri- 
 fice is spiritual manducation, that is, the due contemplation of the sub- 
 ject with suitable affections ; for I never could perceive what else this 
 could mean. 
 
 I have an ingenious treatise on the Lord's supper, written by Dr Bell, 
 prebendary of Westminster ; a gentleman with whom I remember to 
 have dined at the Bishop of Landaff's table. Dr Bell attacks the doc- 
 trine of a feast on sacrifice on another ground ; which requires the sup. 
 position that even the sacrifices of the peace offerings were for the 
 purpose of expiation. This is inconsistent with the idea of them, which 
 I have derived from the best authorities, and which seem to me agree- 
 able to the injunctions in Leviticus. I wish Dr Bell had been more 
 full on this point : but not perceiving the correctness of what he says 
 on it, I must object to the doctrine on my own principles, and not on 
 his. 
 
APPENDIX. 383 
 
 You see I am reduced to the necessity of resting the eucharist on the 
 mere ground of a memorial. I am aware that by this I subject myself to 
 the censure of Mr Daabeny and others ; who accuse me of narrowing 
 the subject to the mere memory of a deceased friend. Before I either 
 deny the charge or acknowledge any reproach in it, I must demand an 
 explanation of the terms. Suppose I were told that you had introduced 
 into your family the stated celebration of the memory of a ftiend, che- 
 rished by you with affection, which you took this way of expressing and 
 perpetuating. From this I should learn no more of the motive of your 
 proceeding than extraordinary regard. But if it were in consideration 
 of some signal benefit, I should be sensible that this might have been far 
 short of any thing involving life and fortune. But suppose me further 
 informed that the favour consisted in dying that you and your whole 
 family might live, and this without your having merited any favour at 
 his hands, and even under the weight of great demerit ; and then I per- 
 ceive that it is a case which, beyond any other that concerns your tem- 
 porary being, challenges the unbounded love of you and yours. Now 
 apply this to the subject, and you will perceive that the doctrine of a 
 mere memorial gives no such degrading representation as is supposed 
 in the language which has been bestowed on it. 
 
 And yet the comparison does not reach all the points comprehended 
 in the sacramental commemoration. For the very circumstance that 
 the eucharist is a memorial, makes it " an outward and visible sign of an 
 inward and spiritual grace." The grace is involved in the subject com- 
 memorated, and therefore must be imparted by the mean of the celebra- 
 tion. Not only so, the promises of God are hereby visibly signed and 
 sealed. For what less is the matter commemorated than the death of 
 Christ, as " a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, propitiation and satis- 
 faction for the sins of the whole world." On what are the divine pro- 
 mises founded, but on the merits of this transaction t And how then 
 can it be celebrated by an external, appointed rite, without this rite's 
 being significant of promises resting on a truth which cannot fail? 
 
 Bishop Hoadly has been censured for giving a diminishing representa- 
 tion of the ordinance in question, in his " Plain Account of the Lord's 
 Supper ;" and the same objection has been made to Dr Bell. But it ap- 
 pears to me that the ground they have given for the charge is their neg- 
 lecting a view of the important truths comprehended in the idea of a 
 memorial. Whether their faith were imperfect, in this respect, is more 
 than I shall venture to decide on. But if it were, or if their reserve were 
 mere omission ; in either case there is a fallacy in ascribing to their doc- 
 trine of the sacrament that which may more properly be ascribed to their 
 inattention to the truths which the sacrament was intended to suggest. 
 
 Let the decisions and the services of our Church be carefully attended 
 to, with the view of selecting every sentiment and every expression which 
 can be thought to ascribe due importance to the holy institution, and to 
 its beneficial tendency : and then, if there should be any thing not clearly 
 
384 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 involved in or deducible from the idea of a memorial, I shall at least 
 think myself deficient in the character of a minister of the Episcopal 
 Church. But if nothing further should be found, I claim the acknoiv- 
 ledgement that what is believed beyond it should be held and taught with 
 great modesty and forbearance. 
 
 When I look back to the earlier times of the Church, I think I per- 
 ceive the gradual manner, in which there were introduced the notions of 
 sacrifice, priest and altar, with the kindred notion of the succession of 
 the Christian clergy to the legal priesthood, and of this being an intended 
 figure of the other. No doubt there was an unperceived bias to this in 
 the minds of holy men, on account of the uses which they thought con- 
 nected with it. Bnt whatever temporary uses there may have been, the 
 abuses, as a natural result, have been enormous and prominent ; and this 
 should be a warning to us, who have happily escaped the evil, by a refor- 
 mation which would never have been achieved, unless by men, who per- 
 ceived not only existing errors, but the unsoundness of the foundation on 
 which they stood. 
 
 What the sense of the reformers was, I consider as clear as it could 
 have been made, in what my former letter stated to you, concerning the 
 words "le^ws," " sacerdos" and " presbyter," and I revert to it merely 
 to mention an idea that lately occurred to me, on accidentally casting my 
 eye over a passage from Dr Hickes, quoted with approbation by Mr Dau- 
 beny, in the 312th page of his 2d volume. What could Dr H., and what 
 could Mr D., thought I, have made of the argument of this passage, if it 
 had been written in Latin I They surely would not, in defiance of the 
 sense of their church, have given " sacerdos" for "priest;" and yet had 
 they, with the church, have taken the word " presbyter," the whole pas- 
 sage would have been nonsense. Is it not evident, that, so far as our 
 system is concerned, gentlemen avail themselves of the word " priest" in 
 its application to two diflferent characters ? Although, therefore, I con- 
 sider our use of the English word justifiable by its etymology, yet I can- 
 not but think, with Mr Hooker (book 5, sect. 78), that the word presby- 
 ter is " more fit, and, in propriety»of speech, more agreeable than priest, 
 with the whole drift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ;" still, however, ac- 
 knowledging, with the same extraordinary man, that, " as for the people, 
 when they hear the name, it draweth no more their minds to any cogita- 
 tion of sacrifice, than the name of a senator or of an alderman causeth 
 them to think upon old age, or to imagine that every one so termed must 
 needs be ancient, because years were respected, in the first nomination 
 of both." 
 
 If I were to give vent to the various considerations which occur to my 
 mind, according to the various points of view in which the subject may 
 be placed, my letter would swell beyond all reasonable bounds. I there- 
 fore give over, and subscribe myself. 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 Wm white. 
 
APPENDIX. 385 
 
 • P.S. I hope it will not be understood that I object to the words sacri- 
 fice and altar, as applied figuratively to ecclesiastical subjects. This 
 may often be done with great propriety and beauty, without danger of 
 our being misunderstood. In regard to both words, the Scriptures have 
 set us the example. 
 
 Of the last three Books of Hooker. 
 
 Philadelphia, March 19, 1807. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 I received, this day, yours of yesterday, and, agreeably to your desire, 
 1 immediately answer. 
 
 Not being possessed of any information beyond what is prefixed to Mr 
 Hooker's books, I can give you only my reasonings on the subject. 
 
 First, I consider, as an ascertained fact, that the last three books, as 
 finished by that great man, were lost, probably in the manner related by 
 his Jezebel of a wife ; and it is a great loss, if it were only for the want, 
 evidently discernible, of the last polish of the accomplished draftsman. 
 
 Secondly, There seems satisfactory evidence that the imperfect drafts 
 were obtained by Archbishop Whitgift, and put by him into the hands of 
 Mr Hooker's intimate friend, Dr Spencer, who may be supposed to have 
 made out a copy from them, as it is said he did, agreeable to the mate- 
 rials : and of the work, thus finished, several copies were taken and de. 
 posited in well known libraries. 
 
 Thirdly, It appears that during the troubles under Charles I., there 
 was set forth, from the Lambeth Library, an edition in which there are 
 affirmed to have been corruptions favourable to the parliamentary cause. 
 Fourthly, There have been later editions, under Episcopalian patron, 
 age, agreeing with the former, with the exception of the alleged corrup, 
 tions, which appear to have been very few, though important. 
 
 From the premises, I infer that wherever the opposite editions agree, 
 there is reasonable evidence that the matters contained in them are taken 
 from the drafts of Mr Hooker : and I thus fortify the proposition in a 
 civil and in a religious point of view. 
 
 1. In a civil. It appears to me that the sentiments of the divines of 
 the Church of England in the time of Hooker were more conformable to 
 the mixed government of that country, than they became after the ac- 
 cession of the Stuarts, and especially after the reign of tyranny and hy, 
 pocrisy in the persons of Cromwell and others. The opinion here ex- 
 pressed, I think, I could prove to your satisfaction. Now Hooker's 
 political sentiments are in the spirit of the British constitution, much 
 more than is consistent with the supposition of encouragement given to 
 fabrication in after times, by the then friends of the establishment. And 
 on the other hand, if the fabrication had been by the Presbyterians, it 
 seems very improbable, that they would have put, into it such weighty 
 arguments against their principles and their practices. 
 2h* 
 
386 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 In a religious point of view, I ask — If the work has been corrupted, in 
 the edition now common, by whom was this done? Was it by the 
 Presbyterians? If this be said, I think it must be by some high-flying 
 Episcopalian, on one or the other of these two accounts : because he 
 finds a description of the Christian ministry, so different from the Chris- 
 tian priesthood advocated by certain writers of another stamp ; or be- 
 cause a parliamentary sanction is defended on grounds which equally 
 warrant a lay sanction in another channel, dictated by other local circum- 
 stances. In reference to both these points, why was not the adulteration 
 remedied from those other copies, which must have come into the hands 
 of the establishment, especially that of Archbishop Usher? Or did the 
 Episcopalians tamper with the work, from zeal for the apostolic institu- 
 tion of episcopacy ? Verily, they had no need to do it, as there is no- 
 thing to this point in the three books, which is not as strongly affirmed in 
 the fifth. 
 
 The sentiment last expressed, seems to me to admit of pertinent ap- 
 plication, in the controversy which you state to be impending. For, so 
 far as the question relates to the real sentiments of Mr Hooker, I should 
 be willing to rest the whole issue on the position, that there is nothing 
 material in the posthumous books, which is not at least a fair deduction 
 froin those edited by the author. 
 
 If material alterations could be supposed, they must have been by the 
 Presbyterians, because Dr Spencer's work is fairly traced to the hands 
 of Bishop King, and from him, through those of Archbishop Abbot, to the 
 Lambeth Library, where the books were found by the party soon after- 
 wards prevailing, whose alterations, however, I presume to have been no 
 more than such as they are charged with, which were detected, as others 
 would have been, by copies taken from Dr Spencer's. 
 
 There are several particulars resting on my mind, in answer to your 
 preceding letter ; but I have neither time nor room for them in this, and 
 so conclude myself, 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 Wm WHITE. 
 
 Rev. John H. Hobart, Assistant Minister of Trinity Church. 
 
 Of the Churches retaining the Episcopal Succession — and Additions 
 to Rees's Cyclopedia. 
 
 Philadelphia, April 24, 1807. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 I have just now received your letter, and am sorry that I have so lit- 
 tle information to give you on the contents of it. 
 
 Besides the Episcopal Church in England, Scotland and the United 
 States, I know of no other than the Romish, the Greek, the Swedish, the 
 Danish and the Moravian. In regard to the Danish, of which you par- 
 ticularly inquire, it seems to me very improbable, that their bishops 
 
APPENDIX. 387 
 
 should be considered such without the succession ; and yet this circum- 
 stance not be noted in the controversies between the Established Church 
 of England and the dissenters there, but be brought forward on the au- 
 thority of a writer at least obscure. In regard to the name of Superin- 
 tendent, I understand it to be used in two dioceses only, and these for- 
 merly belonging to Germany. But I have been informed, by a gentleman 
 who is a native of Denmark, that even in these two dioceses, although 
 the ancient name is retained, the persons are always consecrated. No 
 stress is to be laid on the circumstance which passed soon after our 
 revolution. It was a brotherly offer, on the part of Denmark, to ordain 
 deacons and priests for us, but did not arise from any thing that passed 
 on this side the water ; being the consequence of the suggestion of our 
 then minister in London, Mr Adams, to serve some young gentlemen 
 who had come over for orders, but who finally obtained them in London. 
 
 I presume that the Moravian succession can be fairly made out : other- 
 wise I think it would 'never have received the sanction of Archbishop 
 Potter and other bishops, at the time of passing the act encouraging the 
 settlement in the colonies of a people called " Unitas Fratrum." That 
 people value and retain the documents of that transaction, as contained 
 in the publications of the time, and I make no doubt you could be fiir- 
 nishe.d with them in New York. 
 
 In a former letter you mentioned the Cyclopedia. As the work pro- 
 gresses, I find less need to make remarks. The next article which I 
 shall have to attend to, is that of " Bishop." It appears to me that in 
 the first few paragraphs, the editor has pretty fairly stated the merits of 
 the controversy, but he becomes very unfair afterwards. Although I 
 have only undertaken to attend to the second half of every volume, yet 
 if any thing should be requisite on the other halves, on the principle of 
 "audi alteram partem," I have no doubt of the consent of Dr Green. I 
 had an instance of this under the article " Anglo-Calvinists," and since 
 that under the article " Atterbury." On my part, care will be taken, 
 when I insert any thing in contrariety to the prejudices of Dr Rees, to do 
 it in the historic form, and not in the dogmatic : a distinction which I 
 think he should have observed in such a work as his, but which he has 
 not. I mean this remark as it concerns difference among professing 
 Christians. I remain. 
 
 Your affectionate brother. 
 
 Rev. John H. Hobart, D.D. Wm WHITE. 
 
 Extracts from Letters relating to the Comparative Views of the Cal- 
 vinistic and Arminian Controversy. 
 
 Philadelphia, August 10, 1808. 
 Reverend and dear Sir : 
 
 The receiving this day of the first number of your Magazine reminds me 
 of what I have for some time had in contemplation — the offering to you 
 
388 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 the work on the Epistle to the Romans, a part of which I read to you. 
 The provisos are that you should really believe (and on this point I re- 
 quire you to be candid) that it will be a furthering of your design ; and 
 that the parts shall not be more divided than the nature of a magazine 
 requires, which, as I am aware, ought not to appropriate too great a pro- 
 portion of itself to any particular subject. 
 
 1 could wish the introduction to be entire. It will not take up as 
 much room as my narrative in your present number, provided I judge 
 correctly f^om the recollection of the sheets in manuscript. My first and 
 third points may be divided, each of them, into two or three, according 
 as I shall be found correct or otherwise in regard to the introduction. 
 My second point will not take up two of your pages, and may therefore, 
 according to your pleasure, be put in a number by itself, or joined in a 
 division with the second or the third. My fourth and fifth will not be too 
 long for one number, but may be in one or two, as you may prefer. There 
 will remain, suitable in size for another number (if you should see a use 
 in printing it, although not absolutely necessary to the design), a post- 
 scrii)t concerning the Gentiles, whose case I could not sufiiciently handle 
 in the introduction, without going beyond the bounds of the Epistle. * 
 
 It is difficult for any man to judge of the comparative merit of what 
 he writes. But while I hope I have kept myself clear from the imagina- 
 tion of there being considerable merit in any thing of mine, I entertain 
 the sentiment that if I ever wrote any thing deserving of attention, it is 
 this tract. * * * * 
 
 Philadelphia, August 26, 1808. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 * * * * There is a difficulty in the way of doing what 
 you propose in regard to striking off copies of the Tract a part of 
 which I now send, b^ing not yet absolutely certain whether the Tract 
 will be part of a larger work, or " litera suse potestatis ;" and it is not 
 probable, that I shall make up my mind in regard to this, until I see whe- 
 ther what I have written will be thought of any value. * * * « 
 
 Philadelphia, October 28, 1809. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir; 
 
 I send you by my nephew, Mr Thomas Morris, a quire of my second 
 part of the Comparison, &c. 
 
 [Then follow directions relating to the manner in which it may be pro- 
 perly divided for insertion in the Magazine.] 
 
 Philadelphia, November 23, 1809. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 * * * * I request you to purchase for me, if it can 
 be had, Overton's True Churchman ; and if this cannot be done, but 
 
APPENDIX. 389 
 
 it can be borrowed, to get it for me in that way. The only copy I ever 
 saw is now in a distant state, and I read it before I undertook my Com- 
 parison. To my fourth part I have put an appendix, devoted to a short 
 review of a few productions of this sort. Those intended were Toplady, 
 Haweis and Overton. To the former two I have attended, and nothing 
 but some remarks on Overton are wanting to complete my whole work. 
 According to my recollection, I shall have occasion to treat him with 
 more respect than the two others, in whom there are matters which I 
 cannot reconcile either with a Christian temper or with common hon- 
 esty. * * * * 
 
 P.S. I am aware that there will be wanting something explanatory of 
 the title of my second part. But, instead of what you propose, I prefer as 
 follows. Put an asterisk after my title, and then to another asterisk, at 
 the bottom of the page, add : " This title refers to a preceding comparison 
 of the same subject with the Epistle to the Romans." * * * * 
 
 Philadelphia, December 24, 1809. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Since writing the within I have received Overton, and have found him 
 much less potent than I had supposed from giving him a hasty reading 
 formerly. It seems to me that a few general heads, properly opened, 
 will show what little bearing his reasonings and quotations have on the 
 subject. It will not be to my purpose to go into more of him than' his 
 second chapter, except to guard a reader against the unfairness of his 
 quotations. Having met in my way some instances of this, I compared 
 some of his quotations from Daubeny with the places as they stand in 
 that writer, and soon discovered gross instances of the same fault. Mr 
 Daubeny having answered Mr Overton, in a work which I have not seen 
 and cannot procure here called " Vindiciae Anglicanae," I now write to 
 request you to procure it for me in New York, with the other books men- 
 tioned in the enclosed. * * * * 
 
 Philadelphia, June 5, 1810. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 I presume that you received my note on 1 Peter ii. 8, sent in February. 
 
 If it be not too late or inconvenient, I could wish added what you 
 
 will see below. I hope that the attention given to this text will not be 
 thought superfluous. In the Calvinistic sense I have always considered 
 it as applying more directly to reprobation than any of the texts which 
 they commonly quote : and accordingly, as you will perceive, I have be- 
 stowed some pains on it. * * * * 
 
 Philadelphia, July 6, 1812. 
 Right Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 * * * * As you are said to be contemplating a journey, 
 on which you will be absent a considerable time, you will excuse my again 
 
390 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 introducing the subject of my claim on Mr Swords for the remaining parts 
 of my Comparison, &c. The reason of my haying some copies struck off 
 for me was to give an opportunity to myself, and the other clergy in the 
 state, to furnish inquirers with my ideas of the merits of the Calvinistic 
 question, so far as Scripture is concerned. In this design I am arrested 
 for the want of the remaining sheets. It is evident that all the sheets per- 
 taining to the second part will be useless to me without the remainder. 
 Now what I request of you is, to obtain a positive answer, whether I 
 may expect them, and if so, within what time they may be depended on. 
 
 I suppose that by this time you have ascertained whether the Maga- 
 zine is to go on in Connecticut. If you have not, I think it will be best to 
 send back the quire in your possession of my Comparison, being very 
 particular as to the conveyance. , 
 
 Be so good as to inform me — but without mentioning my writing to 
 you on the subject — what is done or likely to be done in New York as 
 to the use of the " Prayer in time of War and Tumults." We have not 
 yet read it in our churches, nor indeed had any discussion of the subject : 
 but I think it probable that, if the disuse be continued, it will give occasion 
 to those who seek occasion. As to my own opinion, I have always held 
 in these matters, that, however the individual may possess his own opi- 
 nion and be free in expressing it, he is to submit in his conduct to the 
 public voice of his country. In the prayer itself there is nothing that 
 any can in conscience object to : and yet I confess there is something in 
 me rendering the use of it the reluctant yielding to duty, because of the 
 very improper views which I conceive to have occasioned the present 
 
 Philadelphia, November 21, 1816. 
 Right Reverend and Deat Sir : 
 
 * * * * Supposing that the demise of the Church- 
 man's Magazine puts a period to the publishing of my Comparison, I 
 wrote to Mr Rudd to send the manuscript. He returned for answer, 
 that he had delivered it to you and to Dr How. Whichever of you 
 may have it in possession, I beg the favour of you to forward it to me by 
 some careful hand. Perhaps I may be able to improve it, and publish the 
 whole work together, when the times and my private circumstances may 
 suit. * * * * 
 
 Philadelphia, March 28, 1817. 
 Right Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 * * * * The great increase of books on the subject 
 of the Calvinistic controversy, since I drew up my papers relative to 
 it, has lately induced in me a determination to publish them. The 
 paper is engaged for the purpose, and Mr Bronson proposes to begin on 
 Monday. The work will be in two volumes octavo. The first volume 
 will contain the first three parts. The fourth part, relative to the Epis- 
 
APPENDIX. 391 
 
 copal Church, containingj besides what you have read, remarks on some 
 late divines of the Church of England, who have affirmed the Calvinism 
 of its institution, will make better than one half of the second volume : 
 the remainder of which will comprehend No. 1, On Baptismal Rege- 
 neration, and No. 2, On Mr Daill6's treatise " Of the Use of the Fa- 
 thers." These two subjects entered so materially into various parts of 
 the performance, that, to avoid interruption of the thread of argument, I 
 judged best to discuss them in an appendix. 
 
 Of what I wrote on the former of them, I gave an epitome in my lec- 
 tures, which were so brief that 1 do not judge it improper to renew the 
 point. I have not been inattentive to what has been recently given rela- 
 tive to it in the Christian Observer. But, in reviewing my performance, 
 I do not find any more necessary than what may be inserted in a few 
 notes. Dr Mant's tract having given occasion to so many animadver- 
 sions in the Christian Observer, I am desirous of seeing it, very much 
 suspecting that he has been misrepresented. * * * « 
 
 Extracts relating to Bible Societies. 
 
 Philadelphia, December 29, 1810. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir: 
 
 I am exceedingly sorry to observe what appears in your Magazine con- 
 cerning Bible Societies. On the one hand, I ought not to suppose, that 
 a bishop of London would hazard such things without cause : but, on the 
 other hand, I cannot part with my long entertained opinion of the wis- 
 dom as well as the piety of his predecessor. His name, with the names 
 of other bishops and other eminent men in England, encouraged 
 me much to join in a similar enterprise in this country. What will 
 be the issue of a division of sentiment, both in England and here, I 
 cannot foresee. But this is a subject too extensive for the conclusion of 
 a letter. * * * * 
 
 Philadelphia, February 16, 1811. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 * * * * I fear you understood what 1 said of your 
 mention of the Bible Society in a much stronger sense than what was 
 intended. It is a subject on which I wish for information : having not 
 seen either the publication of Mr Wordsworth or that of Lord Teign- 
 mouth. If the late excellent bishop of London and several other bishops 
 have been too hasty in patronizing the Bible Society, certainly their exam- 
 ple ought not to be followed. But this ought not to be believed too 
 hastily. The former seems to have been very zealous in the business ; 
 for, besides his being an officer and making of large donations, there is 
 in the Ecclesiastical Register for 1808 a letter of his to the planters of 
 Jamaica, in which he recites the immense efforts of the labourers of the 
 
392 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 institution. I can easily conceive, however, that in England there may 
 be some objections to the concurring in good designs with the dissenters, 
 which objections do not lie here. In matters in which peculiarities of 
 profession may clash, no clergyman has been more cautious than myself 
 in committing any point belonging to our communion to the wills of those 
 who differ from us. But I have always been of opinion, that when, with- 
 out hazard of this, there can be communications in any laudable desigri, 
 they tend not only to Christian charity, but to reconcile the more sensi- 
 ble and moderate of other communions to our principles and to our insti- 
 tutions. However laudable the distributing of Prayer Books, it seems 
 to me an object distinct from the other, whichis of great magnitude, of 
 expense, and requires combined exertions : there being danger of the 
 extinction of the profession of Christianity among a great proportion of 
 the people of the United States. And that, so far as the increase of our 
 own communion is concerned, we ought not to fear that the making 
 known of the contents of the Bible will be less likely to make people 
 churchmen than of any other society. 
 
 These sentiments are expressed not to censure, but to explain. The 
 clergy of our Church in this city entered into the design of a Bible So- 
 ciety, when they had no reason to suppose that any objection existed 
 against the projected plan with our brethren in other states, and when 
 they saw a similar plan patronized by high characters in church and 
 state in England. We have not yet seen cause to alter our opinion ; 
 but if our brethren of the clergy in the other states pursue the same 
 object by a different road, I think we should wish one another suc- 
 cess. * * * * 
 
 Of the Bishop of Lincoln's Refutation of Calvinism. 
 
 ^ Philadelphia, June 16, 181-2. 
 
 Right Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 As Mr Moore merely passes through this city, the engagements of the 
 day do not permit me to return your book with more than these few lines. 
 
 I ought, and hope I do, speak with diffidence, when I confess to you 
 that the bishop of Lincoln does not seem to me always to distinguish 
 clearly. 
 
 For instance, so early as in the third page, he not only represents the 
 opinion opposed to his differently from what a Calvinist would own, par- 
 ticularly in the terms " incorrigible and " incapable of amendment," for 
 
 human nature is confessedly corrigible and amendable by divine grace 
 
 and without this an anti-Calvinist ought not to suppose it possible — but 
 in speaking of "a co-operation of man," he loses sight of that prevent- 
 ing grace'which our system supposes to precede it. This sentiment, so 
 far as it respects preventing grace, you seem to have possessed, by the 
 notes which you have made with a pencil in the margin : although, in 
 some instances, they are too faint to be, read. 
 
APPENDIX. 393 
 
 When the bishop speaks of faith and works, he falls into what I con- 
 ceive the error of supposing that, under the latter term, St Paul means 
 only works of the ceremonial law. There are many expressions of the 
 apostle which seem to me to contradict this, and to prove that he con- 
 templated the whole law, and intended to show that, on the ground of 
 the Jewish covenant, there was no justification thereby — justification was 
 all along by faith in a dispensation to come, but faith, both then and 
 now, involved in it the principle of obedience. 
 
 Of the many quotations which the bishop has made from the fathers on 
 the subject of free will, there are a considerable proportion which, I 
 think, would not be denied by Calvinists, especially by those who are 
 such on the pretence of philosophical necessity, who say that the will is 
 free — that is, unaffected by any external force, and yet is determined by 
 causes which act as effectually as any force applied to matter. * 
 
 Of the " Appendix to the Roman Catholic Question." 
 
 Philadelphia, November 27, 1813. 
 Right Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 In your last you mentioned to me your design* of reviewing the Ap- 
 pendix to the Report of the Trial on the Catholic Question, and in- 
 vited me to suggest to you any hints which might occur. I have not had 
 time to bestow much attention to the subject, but in reading the said 
 production I marked some places, to which I will be free to ask your 
 particular attention, although I doubt not of their being noticed without 
 any prompting of mine. 
 
 Page 21 and elsewhere, " the doing of penance" is presumed to mean 
 the same with " repentance." They certainly convey very different 
 ideas. It is true that, in Latin, " agere penitentiam" is a proper transla- 
 tion of " to repent :" but the standard is the Greek, which has nothing 
 like it. And to show the impropriety of confounding the two ideas in 
 English, it is worth while to turn to some text, which even the Doway 
 translation does not venture to apply to the doing of penance : as Mat- 
 thew xxi. 29 and 32 ; xxvii. 3 ; 2 Corinthians vii. 8. 
 
 In the same page there are two syllogisms, of which you will see 
 the fallacy. The major of the first is needlessly incumbered with the 
 words " to do penance :'' without which it must be granted. The minor 
 is professed to be sustained by another syllogism, of which neither major 
 nor minor is true. The former confounds the subject with the effect of a 
 judicial sentence. The latter is contrary to observation, which must 
 have furnished us with instances of sorrow, as well in the domestic as in 
 the religious line, perceived to be unequivocal, without our knowing of 
 the particulars of offence in the respective departments. 
 
 * This design was not executed by Bishop Mobart. The Appendix was afterwards an- 
 swered by the Rev. Dr Wharton. 
 2i 
 
394 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 Some of the quotations from the fathers are evidently irffelevant. 1 do 
 not doubt that others of them are misrepresented. Those from Chrysos- 
 tom are certainly so. The passage quoted from " De Sacerd." lib. 2, 
 might be fitly applied to voluntaiy unburlhening of consciences to Pro- 
 testant clergymen. That quoted (page 49) from the third book is evi- 
 dently intended by the father of baptism and the Lord's supper, in 
 which assurance of the forgiveness of sins is given. Of all the fathers, 
 none is more decisive of the non-necessity of auricular confession than 
 Chrysostom : which seems to have arisen from a circumstance noticed 
 in one of my dissertations. 
 
 Page 70. There is a mis-statement of the Protestant argument con- 
 cerning the Council of Lateran. It is not that auricular confession was 
 till then unknown, but that it was not before enjoined by ecclesiastical 
 law. 
 
 Page 71 et seq. In what is said concerning the Greeks, there is 
 carefully kept out of sight that they have never to this day used the abso- 
 lute form of the Romish Ritual, and of the English Book of Common 
 Prayer: theirs is declaratory, as is testified by Dr Covel. Of the other 
 forms, no instance is alleged from an early period of the church. 
 
 As to the argument, from the difiiculty of the introduction of so humi- 
 liating an ordinance, there can be no doubt that this, like many other 
 things which have proved dreadful in the hands of the Roman hierarchy, 
 was introduced with the most pious views. The abuses have proved 
 them the result of a mistaken piety. 
 
 It would be a delicate task to balance the incidental good with the mis- 
 chiefs. The latter might be shown to preponderate. 
 
 Although I believe that the form in the visitation ofiice of the Church 
 of England was a sacrifice to ancient habit, yet it was not fair to pro- 
 duce it without noticing the wide difference made by the rubric be- 
 tween that Church and the Church of Rome. As to the mention of 
 " absolution," in one of the exhortations, it cannot allude to the afore- 
 said positive form, because there is nothing in the English institutions 
 which warrants a clergyman to use the said form, except in the case of 
 sickness. Also the unburthening of the conscience to the minister rests 
 on the condition, that the party cannot satisfy his own conscience. 
 
 It is strange that two lawyers, one of whom calls himself a Protestant, 
 and the other says he is no Catholic, should concede that auricular con- 
 fession had been in the Church for eighteen centuries. 
 
 Although I approve of the decision of the court, yet I think there is 
 an imperfection in their not so guarding of the point as to prevent here- 
 after a plea for impunity in the case of a crime in prospect and revealed 
 in confession. The case of Garnet, provincial of the Jesuits, at the time 
 of the gunpowder plot, is worthy of notice. His defence rested on the 
 ground of the seal of confession, but he was justly executed. 
 
 It seems to me, also, that the right to secresy should not have been 
 
APPENDIX. 395 
 
 treated by gentlemen of the law as belonging to Roman Catholic minis- 
 ters only. 
 
 I doubted whether it would be worth while to suggest these hints, but a 
 convenient opportunity offering, I have set them down in haste. * 
 
 Of the four Lectures on the Threefold State of Man ; and Bishop 
 Mann's Catechism. 
 
 April 20, 1816. 
 Right Reverend and Dear; Sir: 
 
 I return .... the catechism left by you with blank leaves. You 
 will perceive that I have been free in my remarks on it. There is by 
 me another catechism, published in New York in 1813, and written by 
 Bishop Mann, It appears to me at least equal to any thing I have seen 
 of the sort. In my hasty perusal of it there was but on« particular in 
 which I doubted of his sense. It is in the first answer on the subject of 
 the sacraments. Perceiving it to differ from any interpretations in my 
 lectures, I consulted Seeker, and found him to agree with me. Our in- 
 terpretation seems countenanced by these words in the service for adult 
 baptism : " whereby . ye perceive the great necessity of this sacra- 
 ment, where it may be had." 
 
 On four days in this week I have delivered to a respectable attendance 
 . four lectures on the following subjects : Of Man, in his Integrity, in 
 his Apostaoy, and under the Covenant of Redemption : the last subject 
 being divided into two parts ; of which the first part respected the acts 
 of God alone, and the second related to what required the concurrence 
 of man. They were supplementary to lectures delivered by my brethren 
 during lent. A principal object was to distinguish the doctrines of our 
 Church from Calvinism on the one hand, and from what is called 
 Unitarianism on the other. Perhaps I should rather have said Pelagian- 
 ism, for the question of Christ's divinity was not handled. * * * * 
 
 Of Bishop HobarCs Address at the Funeral of Bishop Benjamin 
 Moore, and the Appendix to it. 
 
 Philadelphia, May 28, 1816. 
 * * * * I read your address on the occasion of the death 
 of Bishop Moore, and the appendix, with great interest ; not only be- 
 cause I think them well written, but because I consider the truth on the 
 subject of them as too little attended to. It has been said by a gentle- 
 man of New York, of influence in the church, and your friend, that some 
 of the attendant clergy of other denominations took offence. Certainly 
 your doctrine is opposed to that of the Westminster Confession in the 
 32d chapter : but as you lay down the doctrine of your own church, on 
 
396 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 an occasion to which it was obviously pertinent, and without censure on 
 any other communion, I see no ground of offence. * * * * 
 
 I have just now loolted into a Scotch edition of the Confession, 
 wherein, to almost every clause, there is a letter referring to a note con- 
 taining sustaining texts ; but to the clause above noticed there is no such 
 reference and note. Having always considered the doctrine of the con- 
 fession as borrowed from popery in this instance, I read your appendix 
 with regret at finding you content with denying your own doctrine to be 
 popish, until 1 came to the last page but three ; when I no longer found 
 any defect in your performance. * * * * 
 
 Of the four Lectures, and the Address, in the two preceding Articles; 
 and of combining with other Denominations. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 13, 1816. 
 
 * * * * It would give me pain to decline a compliance 
 with any thing you propose : but having regretted my not adhering to 
 the first dfesign of my Lectures on the Catechism, of making them subser- 
 vient to an annual interesting of our young people, with a view to con- 
 firmation and the communion, I framed these later lectures as a substi- 
 tute. Besides, lest I should have been too hasty on some important 
 points, I wish to keep them by me for some time to correct, if there 
 should seem cause, and at any rate to frame some explanatory notes. 
 There also seems to me some difficulty in the circumstance of your 
 having declared your intention of proceeding with my Comparison. It 
 would not be expedient that too great a proportion of your publication 
 should be occupied by one pen. 
 
 Were it not for the last consideration I should make an offer to you 
 of a few essays which I have drawn up ; with a hope of their contribu- 
 ting to give a right direction to the habits of thinking of the young men 
 now studying divinity in this city. The titles of them are : 1. " Some 
 Objections against the position of a Personal Assurance of the Pardon 
 of Sin, by a direct communication of the Holy Spirit." 2. "An Exami- 
 nation of the merits of four Phrases which have the show of Piety, but 
 are unauthorized by Scripture, and of a dangerous tendency." 3. " An 
 Essay concerning a Pretended Imitation of the Kiss of Charity, spoken 
 of in Romans, xvi. 16, and in four other places of Scripture." 4. " An 
 Essay concerning some Errors in the Eeclesiastical History of Dr Law- 
 rence Mosheim ; in the Notes of Dr Archibald Maclaine ; and in the 
 History of the Puritans by Daniel Neal." 
 
 You will wonder what is meant by the third essay. Some time after 
 our general convention, I was informed of Dashiel's benevolence in this 
 line towards some females of respectable standing among us. I com- 
 posed the essay, fully intending that if he should practise the same in 
 any future visits, I would submit my remarks to the perusal of the hus- 
 bands or fathers. 
 
APPENDIX. 397 
 
 The phrases referred to in the second essay are : " The Witness of 
 the Spirit ;" " Vital Godliness ;" " Experimental Religion ;" and " the 
 Hiding of God's Pace." * * * * 
 
 What I said concerning offence taken at your address was owing to 
 something coming from a friendly quarter ; which induced me to suppose 
 it true. * * * * 
 
 There have been lately several events convincing me of the propriety 
 of what I have always maintained as the right course with people of 
 other denominations — to be entirely distinct in our proceedings, purely 
 religious, and to cultivate all possible benevolence in every other line. 
 All deviation from this ends in controversy and confusion. It seemed 
 to me that union in distributing Bibles came under the latter head. 
 That it is endeavoured to graft on it other objects is too evident in 
 some places. How the matter will end, I cannot foresee ; but shall 
 endeavour to conduct myself on the subject as duty may dictate. 
 
 Of the Habits of the Clergy. 
 
 Philadelphia, October 24, 1818. 
 * * * * A few days ago there fell into my hands a 
 volume on the liturgy by the Reverend Mr Biddulph of Bristol. In the 
 beginning of it I find a perpetuating of an error of Daniel Neal, lately 
 noticed by me in your journal, and evidently designed by him to insinuate 
 a retrograde movement towards popery, by Queen Elizabeth. What 
 more surprises me, Mr Biddulph quotes — and as I find correctly — from 
 Wheately. They are correct in quoting from the act of uniformity ; but 
 the fallacy consists in their silence. The act restored the habits of the 
 1st book of Edward, but contained a clause empowering the queen to 
 make alterations. In virtue of that clause she reverted to the habits of 
 the 2d book, during the first year of her reign. On the change was pre- 
 dicated one of her injunctions, as found in Sparrow, about four or five 
 vears after, and shamefully misquoted by Neal. I suppose that Mr 
 Biddulph, whose book I perceive to be recommended by Bishop Gris- 
 wold, thought himself safe in following a work so much a standard as 
 that of Mr Wheately. 
 
 Preference of Domestic Missions. 
 
 Philadelphia, November 2, 1820. 
 * * r * On the subject of the Missionary Society I have 
 to mention that you and Bishop Croes being opposed to further progress 
 under the imperfect arrangement. Bishops Griswold and Brownell being 
 in favour of it, and Bishops Kemp, Moore and Bowen being merely 
 willing to acquiesce, I have thought it my duty to decline the taking of 
 any step under the act of the late convention. This has produced the 
 question whether the managers may not proceed, under a voluntary 
 association of their own, to continue until the next general convention ; 
 2 I* 
 
398 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 and the resident members have written to the absent ones to know their 
 minds on this subject. 
 
 There are two sentiments resting on my mind in relation to the con- 
 templated object : first, that where so many efforts are making for car- 
 rying the gospel to distant lands, it may seem a defect of duty in our 
 church, and further operates to its discredit to have no share in the 
 work ; and secondly, that as the zeal excited in this line will produce 
 exertions to the efiect, it seems the dictate of religious wisdom to give 
 a proper direction to what will be attempted in one shape or in another. 
 It is however my decided opinion that our endeavours should be prin- 
 cipally put forth in those parts of our own country destitute of a gospel 
 ministry — especially in the western states ; but if people give money 
 with a special view to foreign parts, I would not shut the door against 
 utility in that line. * * * * 
 
 Of his Dialogues on Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 Philadelphia, February 9, 1822. 
 * * * * You are at liberty to print the Dialogues, if you 
 think them sufficiently matured for the press. My reason for writing 
 them was to express, in a familiar form, what I had elsewhere published 
 of my opinions on the subject ; in order to put them into the hands of 
 any members of our congregations with whom I might occasionally con- 
 verse on a point so much agitated among us lately, and to guard against 
 misapprehension of our doctrine. This object may be accomplished by 
 your printed sheets. 
 
 Of permitting the Clergy of other denominations to officiate in our 
 Burial Grounds. 
 
 Philadelphia, November 12, 1823. 
 Right Reverend and Dear Sir : 
 
 Your letter of yesterday has reached me, and has revived in my mind 
 the sentiment with which it was lately impressed of gratitude to Al- 
 mighty God for your being still spared to the Church, to your family and 
 to your friends. Those of us in this city felt the full pressure of your 
 late danger, and sympathised with you and yours. 
 
 In reference to the subject of your letter, it would seem to me a 
 carrying of the matter rather too far to suppose that permission to the 
 minister of another denomination to officiate in our churchyards at the 
 funeral of one of his flock is a recognition of the validity of his orders. 
 The principle on which I have steadily refused such permission — al- 
 though, by the bye, it has never been asked by the friends of the de- 
 ceased person, and I have been only two or three times sounded on the 
 subject by others — is, that it will inevitably lead to contention between 
 us and other religious societies. Some ministers are so intent on their 
 
APPENDIX. 399 
 
 own views of religious subjects as to have obtruded them even within the 
 walls of our churches, when they have obtained the use of them. In 
 the open burial grounds there would be easier openings to such intem- 
 perance. It may be said that some clergymen of other denominations 
 are of such characters that no apprehension of the contemplated result 
 should be entertained of them. I grant this to the fiiU; and could 
 name some gentlemen to whom it is decidedly applicable. But, were 
 those gentlemen admitted on the principle stated, I must sit in judg- 
 ment on the character of every other gentleman for whom application 
 might be made. This is so delicate a matter, that in a short time the 
 gates would be open to all. * * * * 
 
 Of the Clerical Association. 
 
 Philadelphia, May 4, 1829. 
 
 * * * * It is very agreeable to me that there is likely 
 to be an end of the association* to which you have been recently opposed. 
 Give me leave, however, to express to you the opinion which I have en- 
 tertained and declared on the subject. If the opinion should not be pre- 
 cisely the same with yours, it will be received by you as honest ; while 
 the discrepancy will be viewed by me as owing partly to somewhat of a 
 difference in our natural temperaments, and partly to my longer observa- 
 tion than yours of human nature. 
 
 For such an association as that in question I see no use ; while the 
 probable abuses of it are what you have detailed. But in all efforts for 
 such a purpose as have passed under my observation, I have perceived 
 materials which, under neglect, would assuredly produce a dissolution. 
 Whether death in this way, or more expeditiously as in the recent 
 case in New York, be the most desirable, must depend on circum- 
 stances. * * * * 
 
 * The association referred to was tlie Clerical Association formed in the city of New 
 York ; an account of which is given by Dr Berrian in his Memoir of the Life of Bishop Ho- 
 bart, pp. 384—409. 
 
400 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 X. 
 
 OF THE WANDERING OF THE MIND IN PRAYER. 
 (Page 264 ante.) 
 
 Of all the frailties which sincere Christians lament, and of which they 
 frequently complain, perhaps there is no one so prominent as that of the 
 wandering of the mind in prayer. Accordingly a few remarks, to be ex- 
 pressed with brevity, may not only be matter of profitable recollection, 
 but prepare with useful hints to be presented, on the occurrence of the 
 subject in confidential conversation. 
 
 Whatever may be the degree of laxity in this matter, it has begun in 
 the personal and private exercises of devotion. Therefore the remedy of 
 the evil requires the taking of it at this its source. The correcting of it 
 there cannot fail to be felt in the public services of the Church. They 
 shall therefore be put out of view in the present exercise ; the sense of 
 which may generally be applied to the latter subject, no less than to the 
 other. 
 
 The first suggestion is the fixing of the mind on the sense of the 
 prayer : not only the general sense of it, but that of each clause in its 
 proper place. Even in this kind of prayer there will be use in being 
 governed by forms prescribed to ourselves, written or printed, or con- 
 ceived and committed to memory. . It cannot but be a help to the pray- 
 ing with the understanding. 
 
 Next let there be the desire of the heart, resting on the things to be 
 prayed for. By this is meant, not an affection of the mind, excited by 
 some occasional event, which, however suitable at the time, or to the 
 then present state of the party, may be temporary, like the cause of it ; 
 but habitual desire, descriptive of inward character. Such preparation 
 can only be the fruit of frequent meditation on the subjects which it is 
 fit to bring statedly before the great Being to whom " all hearts are open 
 and all desires are known.'' 
 
 While the said two particulars are faithfully acted on, it may be well 
 to disregard all endeavours for the excitement of those animal feelings. 
 Which depend on the ebbing and the flowing of the spirits ; in some mea- 
 sure on the state of the atmosphere, and much on the variety of organiza- 
 tion in the bodies of different persons. It is the cause of much sin, that 
 some judge of their religious states by their feelings of this sort, which 
 may eventuate either in unwarrantable comfort and even ecstasy, or in a 
 depth of sorrow excluding the consolations of the Gospel. The said 
 feelings are no tests of spiritual character ; and how little they are de- 
 pendent on human will, may be sometimes seen in occurrences liaving no 
 
APPENDIX. 401 
 
 connexion with religion, in which there are sufficient motives for the 
 desiring of such emotions, while all endeavours for the excitement of 
 them are in vain. That without preceding intention they wil occasion, 
 ally be presented, there can be no doubt. What is objected to, is the 
 making of them the test of a religious state. This is evident in cases of 
 persons unquestionably in deep distress, but complaining that they can- 
 not possess the feelings which issue in tears. 
 
 It will be a help in prayer, before entry on it, to make a pause, for the 
 fixing of the mind on the character of the great Being to be addressed ; 
 especially on his having vouchsafed to reveal himself to us as " the hearer 
 of prayer." In the several branches of it also, as far as is possible with- 
 out an unseasonable suspension of the train of thought, there should be a 
 direction of the mind to the particular attributes on which the request is 
 to be bottomed ; especially in invoking the name of God. In the use of 
 the prayers of our liturgy, we are aided in this by the circumstance, that 
 they generally begin with the matter which has been recommended. It 
 clothes the service with one of the most conspicuous of its excellences, 
 and is well worthy of being imitated in the conducting of personal prayer. 
 
 Let no morning be begun, and no evening be concluded, without a self- 
 dedication to him who " holdeth our feet in hfe." It would be an error 
 to dispense with this where family prayer is a part of the domestic ar- 
 rangement, as it ought to be always. There will be calls for personal 
 applications, suited to the consciousness of the party. And in regard to 
 all, since on any committing of themselves to sleep, they know not whe- 
 ther they shall see the light of another day ; nor, in the event of this, what 
 dangers, temporal and spiritual, are to assail them ; there will always be 
 special calls for prayer, suited to the two periods of time referred to. 
 
 In the course of every day, on the occurrence of any incident interest- 
 ing to the feelings, it will very much cherish a devout spirit, and of course 
 be a check to the wandering of thought, to be in the habit of elevating 
 the heart to the great Ordainer of what has happened. There have been 
 some pious persons who have accustomed themselves to certain hours 
 during the day, when they have retired, for the keeping up of communion 
 with their God. This may be commendable in those so situated, as that 
 it will not interfere with duties lying on them, as imperious as that of 
 prayer; but it cannot be enjoined on the greater number of professors, 
 who must either suspend those duties, or discharge the other in a way 
 liable to the charge of ostentation. 
 
 Let there be submission to the divine will, as to the granting or the 
 withholding of things prayed for; although not to the lessening of confi- 
 dence in the promise — " if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to 
 your children, how much more shall your Father give his holy spirit to 
 those that ask of him 1" It has exclusively a reference to the aids of the 
 holy spirit, which are never withheld for the fijrtherance in all goodness, 
 the effect being dependent on our improvement of them. But in respect 
 to temporal mercies, the submission cannot be too unreserved, especially 
 
402 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 as we know not how far the denial of them may be for our greater good ; 
 and whether, under the appearances of " bread or of a fish," we may not 
 be asking " for a stone or for a serpent." This act of submission will 
 help to the erecting of a barrier against intrusive thoughts. 
 I, Far from us be the unauthorized expectation entertained by some, of 
 an emotion in the mind, construed to be evidence of the granting of the 
 prayer. The looking out for this has a tendency to the wandering, for 
 which the present exercise is intended to be a corrective. Such supposed 
 evidence has been incitement to crimes of the deepest die. Indepen- 
 dently on this, if it be looked to in any concern, subjected rather to dis- 
 cretion, governing itself by existing circumstances, it may lead to much 
 error in conduct. It has also the danger attendant on it that the peti- 
 tioner can never know in what degree his wishes may have insensibly 
 caused the results for which he believes himself to have looked for a di- 
 vine determination. So far as regards those sacred influences, which' 
 maintain the mind in a frame the most favourable to the operations of the 
 reasoning faculty, there will always be a call for prayer, and always bene- 
 fit derivable from it. 
 
 It will be no small help, sometimes, to bring the delinquency in ques- 
 tion before God, in prayer, with penitence specially directed to the ob- 
 ject. The being aware of thp penalty will be a check to the incurring 
 of it. 
 
 In aid of all these expedients, desirable fruit will result from them if 
 we should be thereby led to humble ourselves in our own eyes, there 
 being thus manifested to us the heavy drawback from our attainments 
 whatever they may be ; and even if these be not overrated, the impress- 
 ing on us of the counsel — " when ye have done all, say we are unprofita- 
 ble servants." 
 
 Gracious Father, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and 
 all just works proceed, enable us always to address thee under the influ- 
 ence of these cautions, however imperfectly displayed; and from my 
 mouth may they may be profitable to others, as occasions may occur for 
 the presenting of them. Amen. W. W. 
 
 [The Protestant Episcopalian, vol. 7, p. 274. July 1836.] 
 
APPENDIX. 403 
 
 XI. 
 
 (Page 290 ante.) 
 
 LETTERS OF PASTORAL ADVICE, ETC. 
 
 Letter to W. 8. . intended to remove his scruples about attending the 
 worship of the Church, because, as he thought, so many of her mem- 
 bers were vain, luxurious, attending theatres and other public 
 amusements, cf-c. 
 
 March 24, 1803. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I thank you for the small book and pamphlet which you enclosed to 
 me. In regard to the letter accompanying them, I will take occasion to 
 make a few remarks, dictated by sincerity and affection ; such as those 
 under the influence of which I believe the letter to have been written. 
 
 You declare yourself much discouraged by the lukewarm, careless, 
 light, vain and proud conduct of many of our church people. That there 
 is, and always was, too much lukewarmness, carelessness, levity, vanity 
 and pride, is a mournful fact: but why it should discourage us in the 
 practice of nur religious duties, I do not perceive. On the contrary 
 such qualities are so unamiable in themselves, and so fruitful of evil con- 
 sequences, that the view of them in others ought rather to animate us to 
 whatsoever things are lovely and of good report. 
 
 When you intimate that your disapproving of these evil things men- 
 tioned above has subjected you to abuse from the pulpit, I am confident 
 that you are mistaken. Prom what passed between us the other day, I 
 know that I am not the preacher meant ; but when I recollect that I have 
 been understood from the pulpit as alluding, sometimes to events, and 
 sometimes to persons of whom I had never heard, I am the more inchned 
 to doubt of the fact in regard to you ; especially as there is no one of 
 the clergy whom I suppose capable -of intending such a thing. I am 
 confirmed in my opinion on this point, by finding that your disapproving 
 of midnight frolics and vain follies is among the grounds of ofience sup- 
 posed to be taken against you. Surely no one who wishes to retain 
 even the title of Christian would find fault with you for this. It is indeed 
 to be remembered that much depends on the use of these words ; and 
 that actions appear incorrect or the contrary, according to the names 
 which we annex to them. For instance, it has probably happened to us 
 both, that however reluctant we are to be out of our own homes at a 
 late hour, or even to eat a supper (for this is the case with me), we 
 have been detained by complaisance against our inclinations, in houses 
 
404 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 in which either the want of exertion in servants, or the want of manage- 
 ment in their employers, has made it almost or quite midnight before the 
 refreshment has been ended. Now, on such an occasion, supposing the 
 conversation to be innocent, it would be injustice to accuse us of having 
 been in a midnight frolic. I am persuaded you think with me in this 
 instance. But then the question occurs whether it be possible if, under 
 that name, licentiousness or profaneness were understood, any clergy- 
 man should attack you for your abhorrence of it from the pulpit ; so as 
 to discourage you (for this you say is the case) from attending your 
 place of public worship. 
 
 There is an expression in this part of your letter, which I take notice 
 of, as objecting not to the thing itself, but to the comparison implied in 
 it. I mean where your opposing of vanity in high places is mentioned 
 as another offence on your part. Our testimonies ought to be against 
 vanity, properly understood, whether in high places or in low : but I 
 declare to you I have always found it difficult to determine to what 
 spheres of life the greater measures of it are to be assigned. Those 
 persons who are most in the public eye discover to it more of their 
 characters, whether good or bad, than others who are less observed ; 
 and although this is a ground of affectionate exhortation where good 
 example' is the object, yet it is no test of truth where a comparative 
 estimate is undertaken. If you doubt of the correctness of my senti- 
 ments on this point, I beg you to consult those of our fellow citizens 
 whose official stations have drawn their attention to the events which 
 take place in gaming houses and in brothels ; and inquire of them what 
 are the descriptions of persons to whom the foulest licentiousness is to 
 be attributed. Now, although the result of the inquiries will be far from 
 honourable either to the high or to the low, yet you will find criminality 
 more equally divided among them than you would otherwise have ima- 
 gined. 
 
 You say that if you and your children are to attend a house of folly, 
 it is best for you both never to enter into the house of God. That any 
 one requires either you or your family to do the former cannot be sup- 
 posed, although the words strictly taken imply as much. But I rather 
 suppose that the attendance of other people on such houses is an hin- 
 drance to your worshipping with them. If I am right in this conjec- 
 ture, I must take the liberty to say that the sentiment is very unevan- 
 gelical. In the epistles of the apostles to the churches you will find 
 faults reproved ; but no where an injunction to the innocent to desist 
 from worshipping with the offenders. Our Saviour's parable of the 
 tares should for ever prevent such a consequence of disapprobation of 
 what is really evil in others ; and if so, how much more strongly does 
 his injunction apply to cases of a doubtful nature, if such should thake a 
 part of your meaning under the expression cited. In order to strengthen 
 my opinion in regard to social worship, I will suggest to you a hint, 
 founded on my own experience. I suppose that to the feults which you 
 
APPENDIX. 405 
 
 have observed in some of the members of oar church, such as pride, 
 vanity, &c., you will admit of others equally disgraceful to the Christian 
 profession, as lying, overreaching and many others. Now I suppose 
 you to be acquainted with some conscientious members of all the different 
 religious societies in this city. Find out from these, which I think you 
 easily may, without asking for names, whether there are not some of 
 their respective communions whom they hold to be guilty of some one 
 or more of the catalogue of crimes. If your experience should agree 
 with mine, the answer will be in the affirmative. Is it not evident then 
 that if this is to operate to the exclusion of the sincere, there must be 
 an end of Christian communion ; which yet you acknowledge, notwith- 
 standing this stumbling block, to have been one of the sweetest conso- 
 lations of your life ; and which is also a duty from which you cannot be 
 released by an observance of the faults and deficiencies of others ? And 
 let it be remembered that in the noting of these we are always in danger 
 of exciting in ourselves a self-righteous spirit. The Scriptures so abound 
 with cautions on the subject of censure, that I cannot suppose you igno- 
 rant of them : and I refer to them, not as charging you with proneness to 
 such a spirit (for I am not sufficiently acquainted with your habits of 
 life to justify such a charge, and indeed have never supposed any thing 
 of you biit what was to your advantage) ; yet such is the weakness of 
 human nature, that I know of no one point on which you and I, and all 
 the world, are so much in danger of not knowing what manner of spirit 
 we are of. 
 
 In the book you sent me I find many truly valuable things. I take it 
 to have been written by the celebrated Miss Hannah More ; and I hope 
 you will submit to her authority, when I remind you of its never having 
 occurred to her that the delinquencies of which she complains, as pre- 
 valent in the fashionable world, ought so to operate on the minds of 
 others as to prevent their joining with the delinquents in the common 
 worship of the church. 
 
 Still I must take the liberty of remarking, concerning this excellent 
 woman, that not content with exhibiting irreligion and vice in their proper 
 colour, she has gone further than truth warrants in comparing the present 
 times with the past. I find nothing of this sort in the Scriptures as ap- 
 plicable to the age in which they were delivered ; but am persuaded 
 there is hardly a subsequent age in which I could not produce you some 
 Christian writers as praising former times, with the view of setting up 
 faults of their own in the stronger point of view, in the manner of Miss 
 Hannah More. I will content myself with one instance of her error in 
 this matter. In page 18 she mentions some great names as advo- 
 cates for Christianity in the reigns of Elizabeth and the Stuarts : evi- 
 dently contrasting those days with the present age, which however has 
 pi'oduced professors and writers equally able and honourable in the same 
 cause. And in this very page she is so inconsistent as to insert a note 
 2 k 
 
406 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 to the honour of Lord Somers, for maintaining his profession of religion 
 at a period when it was most discountenanced ; evidently alluding to the 
 licentious reign of Charles II. : whereas no one will say (for you must 
 remember she is speaking of England) that it is discountenanced in the 
 court of George III. ; however many there may -be there, as elsewhere, 
 by whom it is not sufficiently honoured and obeyed. In regard to the 
 luxury of England, when I read that in former ages the very travelling 
 of the court was generally marked by a consumption of all the provisions 
 of the counties through which it passed ; and further, of the gorman- 
 dizing feasts of the barons in their castles : although I am far from ima- 
 gining that such records justify excess in any shape, yet I think that, as 
 lovers of truth, we should look out for better examples than the practice 
 of those days for the discountenancing of luxury. I forbear to mention 
 the successive scenes of treachery and murder of which the history of 
 England is full ; and which surely will not be pretended to be equalled 
 in this country by any thing of the present day, or of some ages past. 
 
 I suppose that your sending of the pamphlet, with the extracts cen- 
 suring plays, was in consequence of our late conversation : I will there- 
 fore take occasion to repeat what 1 then said. 
 
 I have always considered a theatre as having a tendency to dissolute- 
 ness of manners ; not only in consequence of the profane and the inde- 
 cent expressions used occasionally ; but because, in many plays, vice is 
 exhibited in alliance with the more captivating qualities. This, we hear, 
 is the abuse, and cannot hold against the thing itself. But it being an 
 abuse which has existed at all times ; and which, according to my appre- 
 hension, will always attend a public stage ; I despair of its being other- 
 wise, in its general tendency, than promotive of vice. It is evident, this 
 does not hinder but that some plays may be (as they actually are) inno- 
 cent, and even instrumental to morals. When, therefore, I find men of 
 unquestionable Christian character, for instance Mr Addison and Dr 
 Young, writing plays, I judge their opinion to be different from mine, 
 not on the nature of virtue and vice, but on the question, whether the 
 stage can be so regulated as not to be injurious to morals. Under this 
 view of the subject, I would recommend to every man, to testify his dis- 
 approbation of the licentious tendency of the theatre, by abstaining from 
 going there. But I would not make this an essential of church commu- 
 nion, were it in my power to do so : and much less, it not being an arti- 
 cle of church communion, would I endeavour to enforce my opinion, 
 otherwise than by argument. As to the injury to people's circumstances 
 from the expense, although this was mentioned by you in conversation, 
 I consider it as foreign to the subject. Both you and I indulge our fa- 
 milies, I hope innocently, in some enjoyments which would be criminal 
 in many others who have less means. You alluded, as the fruit of extra- 
 vagance, to the sale of some person's furniture, looking-glasses, &c., at 
 the house, by vendue. Extravagance is a great sin ; but what is extra- 
 vagance depends on circumstances. It is, in itself, innocent to have a 
 
APPENDIX. 407 
 
 looking-glass ; but none have a right to purchase it at the expense of 
 others. 
 
 But there are some parts of your letter which suggest to me to consi- 
 der — How is a man to regulate his family in this matter f In the first 
 place, he is to give them, as far as he can, just sentiments on the subject ; 
 taking care to distinguish between what is sinful in -itself, and what be- 
 comes so by abuS'e. And in the next place, if he cannot wean them 
 from a curiosity to be present now and then at such exhibitions as have 
 no vicious tendency in themselves, it is much better for them that this 
 should happen under his knowledge, than that they should go clandes- 
 tinely, as is the case with young people of hundreds of families in this 
 city, or else be looking forward to the time when, in all probability, 
 being disengaged from parental restraint, they will indulge without mea- 
 sure, and without distinction between the innocent and the mischievous ; 
 of which also there is a multitude of instances around us. 
 
 The sentiments of the authoress of the book you sent me, could not have 
 been very different from mine. That she must have held the theatre to 
 have a general bad tendency, I think probable from the tenor of her writ- 
 ing. But that she could not have considered a going there as an abso- 
 lute renunciation of the Christian character, is evident from this ; that in 
 the very part of the book where she is enumerating amusements which 
 she saw in that light, there is entire silence on this point ; which is not of 
 so little notoriety, as that it could have escaped her recollection. 
 
 But to proceed to your pamphlet. I have frequently heard of the au- 
 thor, but never before read any thing from his pen. Some of the extracts 
 are what I have seen in other compilations of the same sort. But there 
 is one extract, I mean that from Archbishop Tillotson, which surprised 
 me. The passage being familiar to my mind, I perceived that it must be 
 misquoted, and was confirmed in this by turning to the sermon of which 
 it is part. Believe me, sir, I had rather go to fifty plays (supposing a 
 choice of the performers) than be guilty of such a pious fraud : for such 
 it is, unless on supposition of carelessness ; to which I impute it, on ac- 
 count of the good character of the author. 
 
 An injudicious advocate often does his cause more injury than service : 
 and this remark applies to many of the extracts before me. On the ex- 
 tract from Dr Cave, a well informed advocate for the theatre, I would 
 remark, that the feasts of the heathen were accompanied by superstitious 
 rites in honour of their gods, and that their public games were at the 
 expense of human blood ; and that therefore the conduct of the primitive 
 Christians, in that matter, was no precedent against modern plays. The 
 extract from Archbishop Usher evidently applies to immodest plays 
 only : and that from Chief Justice Hale is, as plainly as language can 
 make it, against excess in this and other kinds of relaxation ; applying 
 as strongly to a tavern as to a playhouse. The publisher was particu- 
 larly unlucky in stumbling on the authority of such a man as Pascal ; an 
 excellent person indeed ; but by some unhappy bias, esteeming every 
 
408 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 thing sinful which drew him off from contemplation ; to prevent which, 
 he always wore next his skin an implement of self punishment. Accor- 
 dingly, it is evident, that what is quoted from Pascal applies not more 
 to diversions, though he may speak of them, than to the common cases 
 of worldly employments and prospects. 
 
 Thus I have hastily set down the sentiments which occurred to me on 
 reading your letter, and the books accompanying it. I have been much 
 longer than I intended, and therefore now conclude myself, with best 
 wishes for your spiritual guidance and your happiness of every sort. 
 Yours, very affectionately, 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 Three Letters to Mrs , in distress of mind (at two periods) in 
 
 consequence of the persuasion of having received a divine call, 
 through an impression on her mind, to preach the Gospel, 
 
 Philadelphia, August 27, ISll. 
 Dear Madam : 
 
 I have received your letter of the 18th instant, and shall be much 
 pleased if any thing to be said by me can in any degree give relief to 
 your mind under its present difficulty ; although, indeed, all that I can 
 say will amount to no more than the directing of you to the infallible 
 Word, which has given all needful instruction on the subject on which 
 you write. 
 
 It seems to me that there is hardly any thing clearer in the Scriptures 
 than the account which they give of what things are and of what are 
 not to be ascribed to the holy spirit. As to our Saviour's design in 
 the promise to his disciples, fulfilled on the day of Penteco.?t, the whole 
 history shows that it related to an extraordinary dispensation, demonstrated 
 by the gift of tongues and other miraculous endowments. But were there 
 no holy and good persons before the day of Pentecost ? And if there 
 were, could they have been so without the grace of God 1 It is easy to 
 see how these questions are to be answered. Now, setting aside these 
 extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, you will not find a single place in Scrip- 
 ture in which there is attributed to him any thing further than the dispo- 
 tions of the mind, which are essentially good and virtuous. I will 
 mention two texts in particular — Galatians v. 22, and Ephesians v. 9. 
 
 It is evident that no desire to abound in such dispositions as the above, 
 and no thoughts presenting themselves to that effect, can give distur- 
 bance. All thoughts which produce this are from some other cause. 
 What that may be, it is not always easy to say. It is at least sometimes 
 owing to a disordered state of the humours of the body. Be the cause 
 what it may, I should suppose that when the understanding is convinced 
 of there being no connexion of such intrusive suggestions with real reli- 
 gion, efforts may be made for the repelling of them. And such efforts 
 
APPENDIX. 409 
 
 we may reasonably hope to be successful, under the divine blessing; 
 which, no doubt, ought to be at all times and fervently implored. 
 
 If no imaginations of the mind, besides those immediately tending to 
 virtue and goodness, are to be ascribed to the Holy Spirit, much less are 
 any which impel to any thing wrong, or dravsr off from any duty. I will 
 nofsuppose that this remark can be applicable to you, any further than as 
 such a state of mind may be in danger of interfering with your domestic 
 duties. And even if these should be performed, so far as exterior ar- 
 rangement is concerned, yet if you should be rendered a less eligible 
 companion in wedlock, this itself would be sufficient evidence of the 
 misnaming as the operation of the Spirit what is in direct contrariety to it. 
 
 I presume that in your reading, and even within your short experience 
 in life, you must have become informed of much absolute wickedness 
 which has been perpetrated, and of many extravagant and ridiculous pro- 
 jects which have been engaged in, merely from the notion that an extra- 
 ordinary impression on the mind must be from God. But such an im- 
 pression is as much a warrant to one person as to another. And therefore 
 there is no way of escaping the very worst of the consequences, but to 
 consider it all as delusion. So far as we feel our minds conformed to 
 the holy requisitions of the Gospel, or any drawing in us to the same, we 
 can never err in ascribing it, with all gratitude, to the grace of God. In 
 regard to the ordinary affairs of life, we act agreeably to his will when, 
 in subserviency to religious ends, we are regulated by that rational na- 
 ture which also is a gifl from him. What cannot be reduced to one or 
 the other of these standards, must be error. 
 
 With my respectful compliments to Mr , I remain, dear madam, 
 
 your obedient humble servant, 
 
 Wm WHITE. 
 
 September 30, 1811. 
 My Dear Madam : 
 
 I have received your letter of the 9th instant, with sincere sorrow for 
 the state of mind which dictated it, yet with hope that it has not pro- 
 ceeded to the extent of precluding the exercise of your judgment, which 
 I am sure, if permitted to govern, will counteract your feelings. 
 
 I hesitate not to give my decided opinion, that your ideas of duty, in 
 the instances stated by you, are delusive ; and my reasons are as follows : 
 
 You will not find an instance in the New Testament of a woman's 
 being called to the ministry of the Gospel. Here a distinction should be 
 taken between this and the exercise of supernatural gifts in the Gospel 
 age, agreeably to the prophecy in Joel ii. 28, 29. And that this was 
 carried into effect in some instances, although at that period only, ap- 
 pears from a few places, especially the 2d chapter of the First Epis- 
 tle to the Corinthians. In regard to the ordinary ministry, and in suc- 
 ceeding times, how happened it that both St Paul and St Peter, who give 
 instructions concerning ministerial duty, and of whom the former speaks 
 2 K* 
 
410 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 much of ministerial qualification, never express themselres in such terms 
 as give the idea of female associates in that vocation ? St Paul, in the 
 very epistle (ch. xiv. 34) in which he regulates the exercise of superna- 
 tural gifts in both sexes, yet, with an implied reservation of that case, 
 prohibits female preaching. I am aware of the turn given to this, of its 
 merely forbidding impertinent talking and questioning. But it is evi- 
 dent, in the connexion, that the apostle's precepts rested on ground 
 peculiar to the sex ; and therefore cannot allude to what would be impro- 
 per in either man or yvoman. The same sentiment is repeated in 1 
 Tim. ii. 11. 
 
 There may be use in sustaining the sentiment, by reference to a reli- 
 gious society among us, in which there are many respectable people, and 
 among them connexions of your own. Their principle is precisely that 
 of a motion in the mind of the party, whether man or woman, impelling 
 him or her to the office of a preacher. In the infancy of this society, the 
 principle was strictly adhered to. But after the day of George Fox, the 
 disorders occasioned by it, which, under his eye, are said to have been 
 very great, rose to such a height that the society found themselves under 
 the necessity of instituting an order of elders, without whose sanction no 
 member, though of good standing, should be permitted to exercise the 
 ministry. You will find this matter sufficiently stated in a late work, 
 composed with a view favourable to the society, and in high esteem with 
 them — "Clarkson's Portraiture,'' under the head of " Religion," chapters 
 10 and 11. Mr Clarkson says that this regulation took place " out of 
 imperious necessity." But how can there be what the individual is au- 
 thorized to consider a divine impulse, over which, however, there must 
 be an exterior control, to prevent its being extravagant in the extreme 1 
 
 To show you to what lengths such notions may proceed, I will re- 
 mind or inform you, that history abounds with narratives of the most 
 shocking effects produced by a full persuasion of the mind that it was 
 actuated by divine impulse. I will mention two instances. One is that 
 of the Anabaptists in Germany, soon after the reformation. From what 
 I have read of these people, I fully believe that they thought themselves 
 commissioned to abolish, by violence, the tenures by which property was 
 held. The other is that of Venner, and upwards of one hundred asso- 
 ciates, who, soon after the restoration in 1660, and in consequence of 
 what they thought a divine call, sallied out under arms in the streets of 
 London, in order to give a beginning to the personal reign of Christ on 
 earth : that being the time when they expected it was immediately to take 
 place. This mad project they attempted in the face of a veteran army, 
 who soon cut them to pieces. Let it not be said that these things are 
 irrelevant to the case of a person who aims at nothing contrary to morals 
 or to law. They go to show that the principle itself is delusive, although 
 it should produce absurdity only, and not crime. 
 
 But, both crime and absurdity out of view, a serious question arises as 
 to the dereliction of duty. When St Paul instructed married women 
 
APPENDIX. 411 
 
 (1 Timothy v. 14) to " guide the house," and (Titus ii. 4) to " love their 
 husbands and their children," he delivered duties from which he does not 
 seem to have recognized a dispensation in a call to leave both husband 
 and children in order to preach the Gospel. And that these two matters 
 may materially interfere* hardly requires a proof. 
 
 I have a few remarks to make on your citation of Matthew x. 37, 38. 
 
 First, the question at present is of the reality of your call ; and not of 
 what would be your duty on the presumption of it. Next, read over the 
 chapter, and remark the unequivocal evidence contained in it of the ex- 
 cessive pertinency of the instructions to the crisis of the first propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel. And again, revolve the whole series of what is con- 
 tained in the New Testament, and consider whether there be a single 
 instance of a person called to the ministry, of whom it does not appear, 
 from circumstances, that he received the commission immediately from 
 Jesus Christ, in his bodily shape on earth, or from his apostles, either 
 immediately or in succession, instead of under an impulse of the mind. 
 
 I have given you, dear madam, my objections to the erroneous senti- 
 ment resting on your conscience. Earnestly recommending a resistance 
 of it, and with my prayers that it may be with effect, I remain, with my 
 
 respectful compliments to your mother and to Mr , 
 
 Your affectionate, humble servant, 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 Philadelphia, August ij, 1819. 
 My Dear Madam : 
 
 Your late letter to your mother has been communicated by her to me ; 
 and it has given me grief to find that you are revisited by an affliction 
 which gave the occasion to our former correspondence. It is your wish 
 that I would again address a letter to you. I cannot decline compliance ; 
 although I can do no more than repeat the sentiments formerly expressed. 
 My doubts of being of service to you at present arise, not from my pre- 
 suming that my former communications had not some little beneficial 
 operation, but from the persuasion that it must have been formerly, and 
 with the hope that it may be again, after the ceasing of a bodily disorder 
 with which you were then, and I am persuaded are now, afflicted. 
 
 I could astonish you with details of eases which have come under my 
 observation of the effects of the nervous system in disorder, not only in 
 fanciful opinions, but in the affirming of unfounded facts. Let there be 
 given a single case as a specimen. In an early period of my ministry 
 there applied to me a man with unequivocal marks of horror of con- 
 science ; the result, he said, of the sinful state in which he was living ; 
 having at present a wife who was a pious and virtuous woman, but not 
 knowing that his former wife was living in a distant country. There is 
 no need to trouble you with all that passed between us. Suffice it to 
 state that the man died a few months afterwards in a very happy state of 
 mind. The day before his death I administered to him the communion ; 
 
412 LIFE OF BISHOP "WHITE. 
 
 his wife, a communicant of the Lutheran church, receiving with him. 
 He confessed the delusion of his former statements ; and I found the 
 truth of the story to be, that his first wife had left him with a soldier in 
 the seven years war, had gone to the country mentioned by him, and 
 was known to have died there. My supposifion is, that his nervous 
 system being disordered, from some cause unconnected with his former 
 wife, the unhappiness of the recollected crisis returned on him, when 
 destitute of such a self-possession as to admit of distinguishing between 
 reality and the visions of the imagination. 
 
 In this narrative you will discern many points materially different 
 from your case. I claim one point only in which they agree. It is, 
 that a nervous disorder has revived in your mind a subject which pressed 
 on it in your days of freedom from that complaint. The subject, appear- 
 ing in your letter to your mother, is the opinion of a divine call to be 
 prominent in such active labours for the extension of the Gospel as 
 would render you lost to the duties lying on you as a wife and a mother. 
 What those duties are I need not recite ; but I will entreat you to peruse 
 them with prayer, and with notice of their high sanction, and of the ex- 
 plicitness with which they are delivered. 
 
 What is there to oppose to the precepts enjoining those duties ? 
 There is an impression sometimes supposed to be divine. Is the im- 
 pression more forcible than that which incited the fifth monarchy men 
 of England, or the Anabaptists of Munster to deeds of blood I Is it more 
 so than that which reconciled Cromwell to the murder of his king t 
 For whatever may have been the hypocrisy of his character in some 
 respects, there are facts which prove him to have entertained the opinion 
 that there was a divine call in every incitement produced in his mind 
 with power — especially in the act of prayer ; and this was his plea in 
 the case of the king. For how long a time was there such an incite- 
 ment on the mind of Ravaillac, until it caused him to plunge a dagger 
 into the breast of Henry IV. of France. If it should be imagined that 
 the assassin was insane, this is disproved by the consequent investiga- 
 tions, and by his trial. There is no danger of such an issue in your 
 case ; because the incitement will not take place but in harmony with 
 the constitutional character of the party. Still, the source of the delu- 
 sion is the same as that which may be perceived, not only in the cases 
 referred to, but in many professors of religion, who, in consequence of 
 natural temper or of education or of counteracting principles, are in no 
 danger of hurting their fellow men in life and in limb. 
 
 In the lives of Mr John Wesley and of Mr George Whitfield, you may 
 perceive much of their conduct and of their preaching to have been the 
 result of impressions ; which they acknowledged with grief in the later 
 periods of their lives. Let there be only one fact mentioned of the 
 latter of these gentlemen. On the birth of a son, he conceived that he 
 had a divine communication, that the boy would be a conspicuous 
 preacher of the Gospel. His early death put a period to the delusion. 
 
APPENDIX. 413 
 
 Both of these men confided in an inward call to preach doctrines di- 
 rectly opposed to those taught by the people called Quakers ; and yet 
 how many of these latter carry on their work, on the same persuasion of 
 immediate illumination. 'It is not intended to speak of either of these 
 descriptions of people with disrespect, or with doubt of their sincerity. 
 But what a strange representation do they conjointly give of the Divine 
 Being, as if his inspiration were the source of opposite persuasions re- 
 spectively possessing them, that there rested on them the duty of tra- 
 versing countries with conflicting declarations of his will ! 
 
 In opposition to any opinions or purposes which may still disturb you, 
 ill consequence of impressions supposed to be made by the Holy Spirit, 
 I will briefly state what I take to be the scriptural doctrine of inspira- 
 tion ; although it will be only a repetition of what I gave in a former 
 correspondence. 
 
 Our Saviour, before he left the world, gave to his disciples the pro- 
 mise of an extraordinary agent, who should guide them into all truth, 
 and bring all things to remembrance ; and further, should endow them 
 with power from on high. That the inspirations of this agent thus pro- 
 mised, are not the same as the teachings of a monitor alleged to be 
 within all men, is evident from there being the precise date of the com- 
 mencement of the former, and from the ceasing of their attendant pow- 
 ers after the apostolic age. On there being put out of view all the pas- 
 sages of Scripture appropriate to this subject, you will find none from 
 which we are warranted to afiirm the influences of the Holy Spirit in 
 ourselves, other than such as appear in Gal. v. 22, and Ephes. v. 9. On 
 this ground I do not hesitate to affirm that in proportion to your posses- 
 sion of the graces referred to in those passages, and to the eflfect of them 
 in your discharge of your duties to your family and to the world, you 
 are led by the spirit ; and, on the ot'ner hand, that any opinions which 
 you may entertain, not deducible by reason from existing circumstances, 
 are visionary ; and that if they lead to the neglect of any duty, they are 
 sinful : although in this case I do not take on me to judge how far the 
 sin may be lessened by error or by prejudice. Bodily disease, if it be 
 the sole cause, relieves from the charge of sin. What should be done 
 for the cure of the last mentioned calamity, I do not undertake to pre- 
 scribe. It falls within the province of the physician. 
 
 Thus, my dear madam, I have complied with your request ; and what- 
 ever may be the fate of my sentiments in the point of influence, I will 
 not doubt of their being accepted as evidence of my good will. Assuring 
 you of my best wishes, and of my prayers for your recovery of a tranquil 
 
 state of mind, and with my respectful compliments to Mr , I am 
 
 Your affectionate, humble servant, 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 P.S. While engaged in writing this letter, I received from the post- 
 office a pamphlet of twenty-seven pages, addressed to the president of 
 
414 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 the United States: detailing to him the impressions and the visions of 
 the writer, one Robert Stokes ; all of which he supposes himself to 
 have received from above. I do not question his sincerity ; having 
 seen so much of this sort in connection with the full persuasion of the 
 party. 
 
 Letter to C. TV., intended also for J. F., then in Harvard University : 
 designed to guard them against Unitarianism and Infidelity. 
 
 Philadelphia, October 25, 1822. 
 My Dear Young Friend : 
 
 I will not admit the supposition that you consider your temporary dis- 
 tance from this city as a discontinuance of your connection with the pas- 
 tor of the congregation of which you have hitherto been, and of which 
 all your ancestors have been members, ever since their settlement in 
 Pennsylvania. It would be still more disagreeable to me to imagine, 
 that under your present sensibilities, occasioned by the lamented decease 
 of your very worthy father, the presenting of religious sentiments to 
 your mind will be thought either obtrusive or unseasonable. 
 
 You will probably suspect, and I shall not deny, that I am the more 
 disposed to the present measure, from the apprehension that you may be 
 drawn from the faith of our Church by the fashionable cast of religious 
 opinion in the respectable seat of learning in which you have been placed. 
 
 As the gentlemen who govern it are said to profess not to take mea- 
 sures to influence the youth to their peculiar opinions, I would be far 
 from suggesting any thing to the contrary : but I know that the effect 
 may be produced, incidentally, on those who are in the way of occasion- 
 ally hearing statements made by or from them not intended for accidental 
 hearers, but designed for the sustaining of their own doctrine. 
 
 It is impossible, that within the compass of a letter I should go over 
 the ground of controversy between us and them. Neither would it be 
 proper for one of your early age. But it will not be unsuitable to remind 
 you of the faith into which you were baptized, agreeably to the last in- 
 junction of our Saviour to his apostles, as fcund in the 19th verse of the 
 20th chapter of St Matthew's Gospel ; and to intimate to you that if, be- 
 fore your competency to a deliberate and unprejudiced inquiry, you should 
 take up with any notions irreconcilable to the clear sense of that high 
 commission under which the Gospel, as there directed, has been preached 
 to the world, it will be done by you under a very heavy responsibility. 
 
 Do not imagine that I am imposing on you the obligation of believing 
 any doctrine on no other ground than that of its having been professed 
 by your forefathers, or as resting on any human authority : but I present 
 to you as the dictate of a sense of imperfection, the reasonableness of 
 not being drawn from any faith without taking the means of satisfaction 
 resulting from the immense importance of religious truth and duty. Un- 
 der the weight of this principle, you will never permit the subject to oc- 
 
APPENDIX. 415 
 
 cupy your mind otherwise than in alliance with sincere desire to know 
 the truth, and with determination to receive and to live agreeably to it 
 when known, and with prayer to the Source of light for direction in so 
 momentous a concern. Tor although you have no warrant to look for 
 an extraordinary illumination ; yet, so much are our judgments influenced 
 by our habitual states of mind, that we are never safe from error, except 
 when we possess dispositions assimilated to the truth ; which are ascribed, 
 in Scripture, to a divine agency, known only from its influence on the 
 heart and the life. 
 
 I will freely disclose to you the principal heads of objection pressing on 
 my mind against the Unitarian doctrine ; that is, what is so called, by 
 usurpation of a style belonging equally to the faith against which it is set 
 in opposition. My objections are the result of much reflection and ob- 
 servation ; not mixed with hostility to any individual of those who call 
 themselves Unitarians. On the contrary, there are some of them whom 
 I respect and esteem. 
 
 My objection against their construction of the passages of Scripture in 
 the question between us, is not merely that it is forced and arbitrary, but 
 that it places the writers of the Scriptures under the reproach of laying 
 snares to idolatry, in what was designed by them for its overthrow : for 
 that the various countries which received the Christian revelation consi- 
 dered it as embracing the truths which we inculcate, is a fact as well 
 established as any in history. Especially in the initiatory ordinance of 
 our religion, they considered its being done in the words above referred 
 to, as essential to the validity of the act. This fact is evidence against 
 the evasion of the force of the words, by alleging that the apostles did 
 not use the form, and by quoting to that efl^ect two places in the Acts, 
 where they are said to have baptized " in the name of the Lord Jesus." 
 In every writing, the connection is interpretative of the sense. Now in 
 those two places, the object in view is to distinguish Christian baptism 
 from that of John ; for which end, there was no need to recite the pre- 
 scribed form : from this there never was a departure in any part of the 
 Christian world, until found necessary by the Socinians, as essential to 
 their theory. 
 
 Although the paramount authority with us is that of Scripture, yet it could 
 not have happened that the churches, throughout the world, should have 
 received as undoubted troths what must be seen, on examination, to be 
 not those. If other matters, resting on tradition, have been incorpo- 
 rated with those truths ; it is foreign to the argument. What has been 
 held at all times and in all places, especially among bodies of men not 
 connected by any other ties than unity in faith and practice, as was the 
 condition of the Christian church for some centuries, can hardly be a 
 corruption of the code. The weight of this consideration is entirely 
 against the pretensions of what is called Unitarianism ; and is additional 
 proof that, if this theory be correct, the Scriptures have not answered the 
 end for which they have been bestowed. 
 
416 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 For this reason, it is not to be wondered at, that the system has been 
 found to be an absolute rejection of revelation : a point on which the less 
 is to be said, as it cannot be proved without dragging individual charac- 
 ters into view. I believe the fact to be as stated, but must leave the test 
 of it to personal observation. 
 
 Certain it is, that, so far as this has been exercised by me, the theory 
 has been perceived to be less promotive of piety than its opposite. In 
 the investigation of this there should be, on each side, no consideration 
 of those, who, although called of the denomination, are notoriously loose 
 to the duties of religion. In regard to those who are in earnest, to bring 
 into view particular characters would be indelicate, and might be 
 traced into uncharitableness. It ought not to be offensive, in either of 
 these respects, when I declare, that so far as my personal acquaintance 
 extends there have not been observed, in the contemplated communion, 
 the like devout affections to those which are known, in innumerable in. 
 stances, among the professors of what I consider aa " the faith once de- 
 livered to the saints." 
 
 While I entertain a wish for your preservation from the error in ques- 
 tion, I am not insensible to another danger you may encounter, that of 
 being prejudiced against the Christian religion, by perceiving it liable to 
 such opposite interpretation. This would be unreasonable ; since the 
 matter was unavoidable, unless it had pleased the Divine Being to reveal 
 his will through some other medium than that of language, or he had alter- 
 ed the cast of the human understanding. The same difficulty, from the 
 same causes, hangs over human constitutions ; the essential principles 
 of which are perceived generally, while the details become subjects of 
 litigation : and this is precisely the case with the Christian revelation ; 
 unless what is called Unitarianism be correct; for then the Scriptures 
 have been a sealed book, to almost all for whom they were designed. 
 
 The common error of those young men who open their ears to the 
 seductions of infidelity, is their taking up the objections brought against 
 the Christian religion, without attention' to the positive evidences on 
 which it rests. On this ground, there is not a truth of what is called 
 natural religion, in regard to which you may not be shaken, by an inge- 
 nious atheist ; and hence it is that there is no writer against Chris- 
 tianity who has not more or less controverted some of those truths which 
 the wisest men have considered to be impressed in indelible characters 
 in the constitution of things. Therefore, your attention ought to be 
 directed to the positive evidence ; and what I have to say on this point 
 shall be principally from the hope of its being remembered by you, when 
 approaching to the time of life exposed to the danger of infidel opinions, 
 and when you shall have laid in such a stock of knowledge as will fit you 
 for an investigation of the subject. At the same time I do not consider 
 what is to be said as irrelative to the more immediate design of this letter, 
 since I must still contemplate seductions to infidelity in the plausible 
 dress of alleged Unitarianism. 
 
APPENDIX. 417 
 
 The miracles recorded in the Scriptures, besides the usual evidence of 
 historic fact, have had durable effects on laws and on manners, while any 
 grounds on which they have been denied have been transitory : each spe- 
 cies of objection giving way to some other, which has had no more per- 
 manency. The last ground taken was that of David Hume, but was so 
 completely done away by Dr Campbell of Glasgow, that his book was 
 never replied to by Hume or by any other person. Not long before, the 
 miracles and other contents of the Old Testament in particular, had 
 been attacked with ridicule by Voltaire, who was as silent as Hume has 
 since been, under answers promptly made, and convicting him of shame- 
 ful error and misrepresentation. Be assured, that if any man of talents of 
 the present day should exercise his ingenuity against the Christian reli- 
 gion, he will no more have recourse to the objections of Hume and Vol- 
 taire than they would have committed their reputation on the grounds of 
 Bolingbroke, Shaftsbury and others, or than those would have used the 
 weapons transmitted to them by the heathen philosophers who wrote 
 soon after the age of the Gospel, who yet were men of high literary re- 
 putation. 
 
 The argument from prophecy, while it reaches back to the beginning 
 of the world, and shows innumerable instances of wonderful consent with 
 history, calls our attention to scenes now existing, such as the gradual 
 extension of the Gospel, tending to prevalence over the world, the singu- 
 lar state of the Jewish nation and the land of their ancient residence, the 
 rise and long duration of the Mohammedan and the papal impostures, and 
 the lasting desolation of some flourishing cities, as those of Babylon and 
 Tyre. 
 
 The precepts of the Gospel, and their superiority over every thing of 
 the sort, especially in their coming home to the bosoms of people in the 
 lowest ranks, have been the theme of praise with all who have at heart 
 the moral cultivation of our species : and yet they proceeded from men 
 who possessed no such opportunities of improvement as those of the sages 
 of antiquity. 
 
 What adds to all these considerations, is evident to those who take a 
 comprehensive view of the whole volume of Scripture, and the bearings 
 of its several parts on one another, who may perceive a contemplated 
 chain of dispensations, running through a long series of events, to be 
 brought about by the virtues of some men, and by the vices of others, 
 who lived in different ages, and who were so various in their characters 
 and their habits that the issuing in the known result is to be accounted 
 for only from the providence of God, overruling the purposes of men, to 
 the accomplishment of his high designs. 
 
 It is related of that prodigy of learning, the late Sir William Jones, 
 
 that after his death there was found written on the blank leaf of his Bible 
 
 something to this effect: that for depth of knowledge, for sound sense, 
 
 for useful history, for specimens of the beautiful and the sublime, and for 
 
 2l 
 
418 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 sage instruction, he had found in hia inquiries nothing comparable to the 
 contents of that book. In opposition to such a testimony, like what 
 had been given before him by a Bacon, a Newton and a Locke, what 
 are the cavils of such a sciolist as Thomas Paine, and the whole herd of 
 writers of the same profane cast ? And yet I was credibly informed in 
 England concerning Sir William Jones, that he went to India a sceptic, 
 and became a believer in the Bible by the discoveries which he made in 
 the east of the truth of the Mosaic history ; and of this he has left evi- 
 dence in the volumes of the Asiatic Society, established under his super- 
 intendence in Calcutta. 
 
 On the mention of the blasphemer Paine it occurred to me to add, that 
 if his impieties have been detailed since the unanswered exposure made 
 of them by the late Bishop of Llandaff, it has been in such a form as to 
 show them designed, not for men of letters, but for the canaille of radi- 
 cals in London and Westminster ; and hence the prosecutions which we 
 read of at the present time. 
 
 In your progress to manhood, you will occasionally hear religion 
 treated with levity, and probably with profaneness : in opposition to 
 which it will be well to have your attention awake to the fact, which 
 you may find verified by your reading and your observation, that it is a 
 subject which has a bearing on all the concerns of men. There will be 
 a more specious, but equally deceptive source of danger, in the allegation, 
 in respect to the Christian religion, that your only concern with it is its 
 morality. In opposition to this, a little acquaintance with the world 
 may convince you that the morality of the Gospel, when severed from 
 its leading truths, is not influential in any considerable degree. 
 
 It is time to bring this long letter to a conclusion ; which shall be by 
 putting up my prayer to Almighty God that he will guide you into all 
 necessary truth ; that he will preserve you through the temptations 
 which cannot fail to assail you in a world so full of sin ; and that he will 
 will fix your faith on so firm a foundation as shall prepare you to enjoy 
 with innocency whatever share you may possess of the blessings of life, 
 bear with patience and resignation any of its troubles which may over- 
 take you, and at last fit you for a better state of things, when whatever 
 concerns th& present shall be no more. From yours, 
 
 Very affectionately, 
 
 Wm WHITE. 
 
 P.S. You will probably conjecture, and it is true, that I have written 
 at the request of your worthy mother; whose concern for you is of 
 course increased by the late afflictive dispensation, and whose happiness 
 is more than ever dependent on what you are to be in fiiture. But it 
 could not escape my recollection that your cousin, and fellow student, 
 ought to be equally the object of my solicitude. On this account, I 
 request you to communicate to him what I have written. 
 
APPENDIX. 419 
 
 Philadelphia, October 25, 1822. 
 My Dear Young Friend : 
 
 I have this day written to your cousin, and fellow student, a letter 
 containing sentiments which I am desirous of bringing before your mind 
 also. The reason of their being addressed to him in particular will be 
 seen in the postscript to the letter. I trust that they will be not the less 
 acceptable to you from their coming through another, at a crisis which 
 renders him an especial object of sympathy. 
 
 That your literary improvement may be a compensation to your 
 worthy mother for your temporary removal to such a distance from her, 
 and especially that your religious principles and conduct may not receive 
 injury from that circumstance, is the wish and prayer of. 
 
 Yours, affectionately, 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 Letter to Miss , with some Books. 
 
 September 16, 1828. 
 
 Dear Miss : 
 
 In compliance with your request, and conformably to my promise, I 
 send a few small works for your perusal. They contain the essential 
 truths of the Gospel, in a small compass, and not carried out into the 
 many metaphysical refinements which have been the inventions of men, 
 and rather incumbrances on the truth, than subservient to it. 
 
 I recommend your paying of particular attention to the work of Mr 
 Scougal. He was a Scotch divine, when Scotland was Episcopalian ; 
 but, to the universal regret of the then Scotch Church, was taken to the 
 church in heaven, at a very early period of his life, and after having 
 given promise of great usefulness, as well by his deep piety, as by his 
 extraordinary attainments. 
 
 You are welcome to retain the two tracts marked 1 and 2, also Bishop 
 Mann's Explanation of the Catechism ; as I have duplicates of them : 
 I think Bishop Mann's work the best under its name within my know- 
 ledge. I am 
 
 Your affectionate, humble servant, 
 
 Wm white. 
 
 Cautionary Letters to a Young Lady, by her Pastor, in reference to 
 the danger of being drawn into the Communion of the Roman Ca- 
 tholic Church. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 My Young Friend : 
 
 I am credibly informed of the endeavours now in operation to effect 
 your conversion to the Roman Catholic church. It is my intention to ad. 
 
420 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 dress to you some letters tending to caution you against such an issue. 
 They will not be swelled by argument calling for a measure of learning 
 disproportioned to your age, and seldom found in your sex. But while 
 they will be limited to matters not requiring the knowledge of books be- 
 sides such as may be easily consulted by you, and the understanding of 
 which is not beyond the attainments of persons af your standing in life ; 
 I shall address what is to be said to your conscience, conducting itself 
 under the influence of prayer, and under a sense of your responsibility 
 to God for the result. 
 
 I am the more solicitous to press this consideration, because of the 
 improper use made of the concession of Protestants, of the possibility of 
 salvation within the pale of the Roman Catholic Church. This she affirms 
 to be impossible, under the circumstance of a severance from her: as is 
 at least implied through the whole course of the Council of Trent ; and is 
 positively affirmed by Roman Catholic authors generally. In the distinc- 
 tion thus made, the opinion of Protestants has been misunderstood. So 
 momentous are some of the differences between them and the Roman 
 Catholics, that the latter cannot be conceived of as secure against the 
 charge of fundamental error, except by the extension of charity, in ten- 
 derness to long established error, or the prejudices of education : this, 
 perhaps, considered as countenanced by St Paul, where he says, "the 
 times of this ignorance God winked at." But charity herself cannot 
 give her countenance to the plea, when it is used to" justify the giving of 
 a sanction to opinions which strike at the leading truths of the Gospel, 
 in contrariety to better knowledge; and of course with regard to objects 
 not to be pursued consistently with Christian integrity. To say, that 
 by acting on such a principle there is no endangering of salvation, would 
 be a surrendry of the truths " once delivered to the saints." 
 
 It will be to the purpose to caution you against the qualifications of 
 Roman Catholicism, industriously spread for the divesting it of the most 
 offensive of its errors. Such softenings, in countries in which Roman 
 Catholicism has an undisputed sway, would bring the propagators of 
 them into the fangs of the inquisition. There are only three of them 
 which shall be treated of in the four following letters. They are : the 
 adoration of images ; that offered to departed saints ; transubstantiation ; 
 and the exaltation of the papacy. These points, however qualified they 
 may be with the view of making converts, are essentially in contrariety 
 to the truths of Christianity, and cannot be conformed to consistently 
 with a correct conscience. 
 
 With the design of addressing you on tlrese points, I am, 
 
 Your affectionate Pastor. 
 
 letter ii. 
 
 BIy Young Friend : 
 
 The subject of this letter is the worship of images. The Roman Ca- 
 tholics are industrious in propagating, that they do not worship the wood 
 
APPENDIX. 421 
 
 or the stone, but look beyond these to the adorable object represented by 
 them. This is not true, as to the worship permitted, and even sanc- 
 tioned by their church. It may be true of this person or of that ; and of 
 you, should you be entangled in the snare laid for you. But it has no 
 bearing on the question of communion with a church which tolerates 
 such idolatry, provable in credible and uncontradicted facts, abounding 
 over the Christian world, of images opening their eyes, shedding tears, 
 and manifesting other signs of intelligence. Independently of innume- 
 rable testimonies to this effect, it may be sufficient to refer to the cele- 
 brated image in Loretto ; in which city, the street leading to the chapel 
 has been always occupied with shops, for the sale of materials certified 
 to have touched the image, and therefore deriving virtue from it. During 
 the recent devastations of the French in Italy, many are the instances of 
 their having destroyed the mechanisms, and exposed the artifices of these 
 superstitions : and with whatever impiety the deeds may have been ac- 
 companied, truth ought not to disdain to avail itself of the detections of 
 imposture. 
 
 The Council of Trent affirms that the worship is to be transferred to 
 the object represented. Yet they declare honour to be due to the images 
 themselves ; and they prescribe that there shall be the suppression of all 
 abuses. Now in drawing the line of discrimination between use and 
 abuse, it is reasonable to bring into view what was practised at the time 
 of the council, and continues to the present day, without even an endea- 
 vour for the suppression of it. 
 
 The Roman Catholic church has exercised a natural policy in trans- 
 ferring the second commandment from its proper place, and in attaching 
 it to the first ; although they are different subjects, and ought to retain 
 their separate stations. Their diversity appears in the instance of the 
 golden calf, fabricated by Aaron. It was an image, but intended to be a 
 representative of the one true God, as appears in the proclamation of 
 Aaron — " To-morrowis a feast to theLord." The same may be remarked 
 of the two calves set up by Jeroboam, in Bethel and in Dan. It was a 
 political project, to prevent the resort of the ten tribes to the altar in 
 Jerusalem. Still it was with the annunciation — " Behold thy gods, O 
 Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." Here was the 
 worship of God through the medium of an image. But however desirable 
 the severing of the two commandments, it did not prevent a stumbling 
 block to the people, in there being continually presented to their eyes a 
 prohibition of image worship, which no ingenuity can explain away. 
 Accordingly there is, consistently, an omission of it in their catechisms. 
 
 It nearly concerns you, on this most interesting of subjects, to consider 
 what the Old Testament records, of the interpositions of a divine agency, 
 to sustain, in one nation at least, the worship of the one true God, with- 
 out the intervention of creature worship. We cannot doubt that Noah 
 and his sons carried with them from the ark a correct theology. Hence 
 it has happened, that in examining the creeds of ancient nations, you will 
 2l* 
 
422 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 find them worthy of the godhead, in proportion as you ascend to that 
 source; even improvements in science and in civilization, being so far 
 from checljing the propensity to idolatry, that it increased with their ad- 
 vancement. The patriarchal and the Jewish creed would have been 
 borne down by the torrent, but for the interference, from time to time, 
 of immediate communications from Heaven, by which there was continued 
 among them the knowledge of the exclusive right of the Deity to the 
 homage of his creatures, unto the coming of the blessed person, in whom 
 dwelt "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." 
 
 In opposition to such overwhelming authorities, what are those which 
 Roman Catholicism brings from Scripture, in defence of its invading of 
 the divine prerogative 1 They are so irrelative, that the mere advance- 
 ment of them is a disproof of the point to which they are directed. Let 
 there be a recital. 
 
 It is thought worth while to plead the worship paid by the Israelites 
 to the brazen serpent, on looking to which they were cured of the 
 wounds which real serpents had inflicted. It is true that this abomina- 
 tion grew out of the perversion of a divine command. But it was put an 
 end to by good king Hezekiah ; not without contempt poured on the in- 
 strument of the idolatry. 
 
 Jacob's worshipping " on the top of his staff," at the crisis of his de- 
 cease, is altered to " the worshipping of his staff;" and this is effected 
 by taking an ancient Greek translation in preference to the original 
 Hebrew. 
 
 Another tortured authority is in the ninety-ninth Psalm — " worship at 
 his footstool." The Roman Catholics translate it — " worship his foot- 
 stool ;" for which their only authority is a Latin version made long since 
 the apostolic age. 
 
 The two cherubim, made by Moses, are mentioned to the same effect ; 
 which is not to the purpose ; the divine glory, when manifested, being 
 not between the cherubim, but over the mercy seat. Besides, the place 
 was the holy of holies, to which the people were not admitted, but only 
 the high priest, and he only once in the year. 
 
 I rest it on your conscience to estimate the weight of these preten- 
 sions, compared with the very many passages, equally explicit with 
 what we read in Deut. iv. 7. " Take ye good heed, lest ye corrupt 
 yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, 
 the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the 
 earth," &c., to v. 19. 
 
 Be assured of its not being without a view to a moral use -that pre- 
 cepts of this sort are so many and so explicit. There is no human 
 frailty more conspicuous than that which tempts to the excluding of the 
 contemplation of that attribute of God, which we call his omniscience, 
 extending its jurisdiction to the inmost recesses of our hearts, and exer- 
 cising its dominion over our thoughts. You are not without a measure 
 of the knowledge of the history of ancient nations ; and you would do 
 
APPENDIX. 423 
 
 well to enlarge it, with a view to this object. You will find that on the 
 re-peopling of the world, after the flood, the knowledge of the true God, 
 brought by Noah from the ark, was for a while continued by his descen- 
 dants in the seats of their various settlements, until it was gradually pol- 
 luted by the intermixture of idolatry ; the issue of the propensity which 
 has been mentioned ; or, as it is expressed by an apostle, " because they 
 did not like to retain God in their knowledge." The Chaldeans, the 
 Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans were, all of them, 
 more pure in their theology in the earliest periods of their existence than 
 in the later when they became advanced in science : for it is a remark- 
 able fact that this had not the effect either of a check or of a cure of a 
 degeneracy so contrary to the dictates of reason, when they are not 
 counteracted by the sinful propensities of the heart. What is suflered 
 and even favoured by Roman Catholicism, is the revival of the corrup- 
 tion of heathenism ; and to both of them there may be alike applied the 
 censure passed on them in Scripture, of offering homage to pretended 
 objects of it ; which " have eyes and see not, ears and hear not, hands 
 and handle not." 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 My Young Friend : 
 
 From the worship of inert matter, I pass to that offered to those who 
 were once men and women like ourselves. They are now said to be in 
 heaven. The Scriptures speak of an intermediate state, in which the 
 righteous wait for the consummation of bhss in body and in soul ; and 
 the wicked are suffering from former guilt, anticipating the judgment of 
 the great day. Here is a truth, than which there can be none clearer in 
 Scripture, or in the early fathers. But after some hundreds of years 
 from the beginning it was dropped, for the purpose of elevating former 
 saints to a resemblance of those gods and goddesses who had been dis- 
 placed by the holy genius of Christian doctrine. It is a retrogradation 
 which must be accounted for from the already mentioned propensity, of 
 withdrawing from the notice of the eye which is " in every place, be- 
 holding the evil and the good." 
 
 There is not put out of view the distinction imagined between two 
 species of worship, of a higher and a lower grade i and expressed by 
 two Greek words, which apply respectively. This was an afler-thought, 
 called for to cover an obtrusive species of worship. The Bible knows 
 nothing of any grade of this to be offered to former men and women, 
 however holy may have been their lives, or whatever may now be their 
 condition. 
 
 It rests with your correspondent on credible testimony, that in this 
 city there is sedulously propagated the notion denying the worship of 
 saints in any sense. We do not pray to them, say some ; we only 
 solicit them to pray for us. This may pass in our country ; but in some 
 
424 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 countries it would bring, as was said before, into the fangs of the in- 
 quisition. 
 
 Supposing, although not granting, that the fact is as affirmed ; what 
 warrant can there be for the imagining that they are so near to Deity as 
 to possess the knowledge of our thoughts ? There is none ; and this is 
 implied by the Psalmist (Ixv. 2) ; where he introduces as an incom- 
 municable attribute, " thou that hearest the prayer, unto thee shall all 
 flesh come." 
 
 But the fact is not as is affirmed. There are prayers offered to those 
 who were once mere mortals, in books published under Roman Catholic 
 authority, and sold in Roman Catholic bookstores of this city : prayers 
 for the best blessings which we can derive, or the divine benignity can 
 bestow. As a sample, I will only refer you to a book under the name 
 of " The Pious Guide." [The edition noticed is that published in New 
 York, in 1808.] On a single page (p. 176) there are three prayers to 
 the virgin Mary, fully to the present purpose. In the first of them, she 
 is addressed in these words, " in the hour of our death illustrate and 
 strengthen our souls with the knowledge of the true faith, that they be 
 not prevented by error or pernicious ignorance.'' In the second of the 
 said prayers, is this language, " so instil into us, at the hour of our 
 death, the sweetness of divine love, that all bitterness" at that time may 
 become acceptable and pleasant to us." And in the third we read, " I 
 supplicate thee, O mother of the eternal world, to adopt me as thy 
 child, and take upon thyself the care of my salvation." Here are these 
 and other prayers for that grace which, according to the Bible, the spirit 
 of God only can bestow. Therefore, while we joyfully comply with 
 what the holy virgin was inspired to foresee, when she uttered the 
 memorable words, " from henceforth all generations shall call thee 
 blessed," we may think it not unreasonable to believe that the provi- 
 dence of God has transmitted to us the said saying, as providing limits 
 to which the veneration due to so illustrious a personage should be 
 restrained. 
 
 In the book referred to, it is not to the virgin Mary alone, in the list 
 of saints, that there is prayer for something more than what is involved 
 in intercession. In the invocation of others, petitions of this sort are 
 incidentally introduced. For instance, in a prayer to be offered to St 
 Joseph, the husband of the virgin, the petitioner is not only made to 
 choose him for his " lord and master," but to say, " assist me in all the 
 actions of my life ;" and how this can be done but by that kind of assis- 
 tance for which we ought to look to the highest source, it is difficult to 
 perceive. What is still stronger, there is in the prayer to St Aloysius, 
 " receive me as thy client and obedient servant, and assist me in the 
 pursuit of virtue and learning. Nourish and increase in me a purity of 
 body and mind. Turn off the snares laid against my chastity ; ward and 
 defend me against the dangers of the world ; inspire my heart with a 
 true and filial confidence in the ever blessed Virgin Mary," &c. If 
 
.1l 
 
 'APPENDIX. 425 
 
 there could be any need to carry your attention to books beyond " The 
 Pious Guide," it would be easy to recite to you- various invocations to 
 saints from other authentic documents. I am aware of its being to be 
 seen in authors of the most established reputation in the Roman Catholic 
 Church the censuring of such devotions ; and the pleading that the church 
 is not answerable for the indiscretion of them. But is she not answerable 
 for the presentation to her children for their use of such means of 
 " worshipping the creature," if not more than the creator, yet as on a 
 level with him in the possession of attributes which should be considered 
 as his exclusively 1 So far as respects the virgin Mary, there is the 
 absence of even this plea. No Roman Catholic writer, it is here be- 
 lieved, has censured the direct invocation of her aid and her protection. 
 For a cover to this there is invented another Greek word ; intended to 
 denote a species of worship intermediate between that exclusively due 
 to God and that permitted to be offered to the saints. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 My Young Friend, 
 
 The next subject to which I invite your attention is the enormous 
 doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, known under the unscriptural 
 name of transubstantiation : a name not heard until obtruded on the 
 church about twelve hundred years after the life and the death of her 
 adorable head. It would soem impossible, were not the fact within our 
 knowledge, that what people perceive by their senses to be bread and 
 wine is flesh and blood, changed to them by a religious invocation. 
 That they are these sacramentally, as a picture is called by the name of 
 the man whom it represents, is not to be denied : but that our Saviour, 
 when he instituted the eucharist, held in liis hands his body not yet 
 offered on the cross, is not properly a mystery, but an impossibility; 
 which even revelation cannot require us to believe. Revelation itself 
 rests on the contrary supposition : since the miracles of our Saviour and 
 of his apostles are rested on the evidences of the senses ; which may 
 have been deceptive in regard to the miracles, on the supposition of 
 deception in the case in question. Figurative language admits of expla- 
 nation from circumstances, under the interpretation of common sense. 
 Our Saviour calls himself in one place a door, in another a shepherd, 
 and in another a vine : the senses of which are discoverable in the pur- 
 poses for which they are severally introduced. When he calls the 
 bread and the wine his body and his blood, immediately after the cele- 
 brating of the passover, the language was in analogy with that applied 
 to the latter institution. The only real passover was in Egypt. The 
 annual passover was such in figure only. So the body and the blood of 
 Christ were offered once for all on the cross. The representation of 
 them in bread and wine takes their name in figure or sacramentally. To 
 suppose that the substances of them are changed, and that Ihe proper- 
 
,426 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 •*, 
 ties remain, is in contrariety to all those appeals to the testimony of the 
 
 senses which abound in the Scriptures. . f 
 
 You will still see the less reason to build such an. extraordinary doc-„ 
 trine on the positions, '.'this is my body," and "this is my blood,"tif 
 you should call to niind the many similar sayings of Scripture from which, 
 no such inferences are drawn. We read, "the good seed are the chil- 
 dren of the kingdom ;" " the tares are the children of the wicked one ;" 
 " the harvest is the end of the world ;" " the reapers are the angels ;" 
 "the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches ;" and the "seven 
 candlesticks are the sejen churches," In all these instances, and so in 
 the language in question, material objects are representative* of spiritual. 
 What should of itself be a sufficient disproof of the doctrine,-, are the 
 comparatively modern usages naturally accommodated to it, but of which 
 it will not be pretended that there are any appearances until a,bpve a 
 thousand years after Christ. Such are the elevation of the host, Ijy the 
 officiating priest, the people's adoration of it, and its being carried an- 
 nually in solemn profession, on a festival day appointed for the pur- 
 pose. If the notice of this should seem to carry you aside from your 
 course of reading, it is because you may be satisfied- of the fact by pro- 
 posing it to any intelligent .and, candid pursuer of the wbrk of making 
 copverts. To the same test there may be committed the position that;, . 
 much of what is comprehended in Roman Catholicism was the product 
 of certain false decretals, which had unlimited sway thrtough ages,"but - 
 which no Roman Catholic, critic will now risk his reputation ii} de- 
 fending. ' • 
 
 Under a knowledge of the premises I commit to your conscience to 
 determine whether you can, without sin, prostrate yourself in an act of 
 adoration of what your senses of sigljt, of touch and of taste manifest to 
 be bread and wine. Be assured, that the God who has said, " I will not 
 give my glory to another," when deceased men and women are the'con- 
 templated objects, must be at least as tenacious of his prerogative in 
 reference to inert matter given for our .use, and not for such manifest 
 abuse. 
 
 IBTTEK V. 
 
 My Young Friend : 
 
 The only remaining point to be brought before you is that of the 
 papacy. With seekers of converts of the present day there ig^ nothing 
 which they more'endeavour to press on those who listen to them than 
 that the belief of Roman Catholics has no dependence on the pope. 
 But does he not lay claim to this ] Has it not been often exercised by 
 his predecessors, in dispensing with the observance of oaths ; in the ap- 
 probation of massacres ; in the deposing of princes, and in the inviting 
 of their subjects to murder them 7 When any of these enormities have 
 been- practised by an individual, has it ever been visited by papal cen- 
 sure ] You know enough ofliistory for answers to these questions. In 
 
APPENDIX. 427 
 
 Prance the public authorities and the mass of the people have always 
 distjliguished between the temporal and the spiritual power of the 
 popes ; yet this was no shield against the more ardent popery of such 
 men as Clement and Ravaillac,wh^n the former attempted the murder 
 ,of. Henry ITL, and the latter accomplished that of Henry IV. In Eng- 
 land, in the reign of queen Elizabeth, the Roman Catholics attended in 
 the churches of the establishment, during ten or twelve years, and until 
 forbidden by the pope ; and although, after that, they disapproved of the 
 depositioji and of the incitement to treason, yet to these there were re- 
 conciled the consciences of some, prompting them during the whole of 
 the reign of the queen to endeavour to take her life. Every person who 
 confesses.the authority of the pope in spirituals gives occasion to such 
 atrocities, however little the intention. 
 
 But besides, there take place occurrences in which it is difficult to 
 dispriminate, and to pronounce how much is to be attributed to the 
 spiritual authority and how much to the temporal. The pope being a 
 temporal prince, the interests of his states are very much affected by the 
 fluctuating politics of the European powers ; and it would be too much 
 to expect from human nature, that when he is combined with some sove- 
 reigns in hostility to others, there should not be a bias to his cause in 
 the mass of a population who consent to his authority in the concerns of 
 their souls. It is opposite to the clearest dictates of patriotism to be 
 subject to authority of either sort, extraneous to that under which we 
 live, and to which we are enjoined in Scripture to be subject. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church boasts that she is the mother and the 
 mistress of all other churfches. Here are two pretended facts, of which 
 you are a competent judge, without having recourse to any other history 
 than that of the New Testament. In reference to the character of mother, 
 we have there information of various churches, without the least hint 
 that they were planted by the Church of Rome. On the contrary, St Paul 
 tells the Corinthians (1 Cor. iv. 15) that he had "begotten them through the 
 Gospel." In other places it appears that he had planted many of Ihem 
 without aid of the Church of Rome, and without dependence on her. In 
 .the said Epistle to the Corinthians (i. 36) the apostle demands, " went 
 the word of God out from you, or came it unto you only V How much 
 more plausible would have been the pretence of the Church of Rome to 
 the character of mother had such language been applied to her, and not 
 to the Church of Jerusalem ; which never asserted jurisdiction beyond its 
 bounds, notwithstanding the undisputed fact, that when the Saviour issued 
 the command for the preaching of the Gospel, it was with the circum- 
 stance, " beginning at Jerusalem." 
 
 I am aware that the papacy founds its pretensions on St Peter's being 
 called the rock (Matt, xvi.) on which Christ was to build his church ; 
 but there is put out of view what is said in the next chapter but one, of 
 the building of the church on all the apostles. It helps the opposite 
 cause but little to plead what is said in John xxi. 15, 16, 17, concerning 
 
428 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 the feeding of the sheep ; as if there might not be seen the thrice giving" 
 such a charge and its being addressed especially to St Peter, in the 
 recollection of his having thrice denied his Lord, and to be a security 
 against his having of confidence in himself in future. 
 
 Here I end my letters to you. The principles sustained in thep 
 might be extended to other points in the Roman Catholic cteed ; such 
 as purgatory, penance as distinguished from repentance, and confes- 
 sion to a priest as of obligation, and extreme unction to dying persons ; 
 for no one of which will you find any authority in the Scriptures. If 
 you were to extend your inquiries beyond Scripture, vifhich is not your 
 duty, you would find them showiiig their heads some ages beyond that 
 of the apostles, and matured by the increasing ignorance and corrup- 
 tion of the times. 
 
 I conclude with my prayer that you may continue secure in " the 
 faith once delivered to the saints," and that, you may adorn it by Chris^ 
 tian conversation, to. the comfort and the joy of 
 
 Your Pastor.* 
 
 Letter to his Grandson, George H. White, when about to sail, as Mid- 
 shipman, in the United States Sloop of War Vandalia. 
 
 December 12, 1828. 
 My Dear George : 
 
 When we parted, it was with the expectation, on my part, of seeing 
 you again before the sailing of the ship. I shall be disappointed ; and 
 therefore adopt this method of bidding you an affectionate farewell ; and 
 of assuring you of the inte:;est which I shall take in your future pros- 
 perity and good conduct. 
 
 Besides the uncertainty of life, under all circumstances, my advance in 
 years reminds me of at least the probability of my not witnessing your 
 return to my family. It is one of the blessed effects of our holy religion, 
 that we are encouraged by it to look forward to a reunion, where separa- 
 tion will be known no more. The nearer I approach to the time of my 
 departure from this world, the more I find satisfaction in occasionally 
 lopking back on separations which were subjects of great grief to me ; 
 and produced temporary absence, but now perceived to be nearly at an 
 end. I allude to those who were dear to me, during their lives, long 
 since terminated, and whose virtues I contemplated as a preparation for 
 a better state : and here T will mention, that if before my decease there 
 should be any thing in the conduct of you, my dear grandson, threaten- 
 ing a contrary issue to your course of life, it will greatly embitter the 
 small remainder of my days. 
 
 There will be no way of being secure against this, but by beginning 
 
 * These letters are without date^ but from the handwriting and the paper appear to 
 have been written at a very late period of the Bishop's life. 
 
APPENDIX. 429 
 
 under the sense of the obligations of religion. It is a strong proof of 
 our being bound to this by the great Author of our nature, that there is a 
 tendency of the human mind to look up to him in times of danger and of 
 distress. This is always the case, unless when there has been a syste- 
 matic abandonment of all belief of the existence of such a being; or else 
 of his noticing of our actions and our concerns. In this case, dreadful 
 is the issue : there being nothing to bear up the mind under misfortune ; 
 which, for want of such a resource, is productive of despondency and 
 despair, or, what is worse, of the abandonment of all upright principle. 
 
 Beware, my dear boy, of giving a beginning to this progress, by pro- 
 faning the name of that great Being. In some cases, it is difficult to 
 draw the line of distinction between mere frailty, and those sins which 
 cut off from the mercies of God : but of the profane swearer it may be 
 pronounced, without a doubt, that he cannot have such a reverence of 
 the being and of the perfections of God, as is the only motive to virtuous 
 conduct, further than what may arise from prudential considerations ; 
 which will never be sufficiently powerful for the resistance of very strong 
 temptation. For this reason, be very careful how you conduct yourself, 
 in any of your social intercourses, in which you may hear religion treated 
 with levity. I would be far from inciting you, at your time of life, to un- 
 dertake the office of a professed reprover. But you may, at least, avoid 
 participation ; and may even go further, manifesting dissatisfaction by 
 your reserve. Even circumstances may occur where a remark, season- 
 ably made, may not be inconsistent with the modesty of youth. 
 
 It will probably happen to you that irreligion will take the shape of. a 
 distinction between an acknowledgement of God, and faith in the Gospel. 
 Be assured, that in a practical point of view, this is a distinction in name 
 only. Look at those who make it ; and you will find no evidence in 
 their conversation, or in their conduct, that they are living in acts of ado. 
 ration. It is a mere excuse for the living without the control of any re- 
 ligious principle or feeling. You have been baptized into the religion of 
 • the Saviour; and as surely as that it is divine, if you should abandon it, 
 you will be responsible, at the bar of God, for the grounds on which the 
 apostacy will have happened. You are too young to enter on this sub. 
 ject in the way of theological disquisition ; but not to remark the ill effect 
 of infidelity on morals : and although it is a foundation on which it is 
 too common to endeavour to erect a literary reputation ; yet it may be 
 affirmed with confidence, that from the beginning of the Gospel to the 
 present day, the men the most eminent in the various departments of 
 science have held, that the system rests on a basis which cannot be shaken, 
 consistently with the acknowledged laws of evidence ; and that its mo. 
 rality is the most perfect that has ever been published to the world. 
 
 There would be no danger of erring in this matter, if men would always 
 
 conduct their investigations under the influence of the habitual exercises 
 
 of prayer to God for his grace, and of thankfulness for his mercies — a 
 
 duty suggested by our natural sense of our weakness, and of our depend- 
 
 2 M 
 
430 LIFE OF BISHOP WHITE. 
 
 ence on supreme power. Under cessation of this duty, there is no fore- 
 seeing into what sins we may be seduced. Let me therefore entreat 
 you to be conscientious in this matter ; and especially never to begin the 
 day without prayer to God for the protection of his providence, and for 
 the guidance of his grace ; nor to end it, without thankfulness for his 
 mercies, and committing yourself to his holy keeping. 
 
 Remember that in proportion as we possess sensibility of our natural 
 weakness and even impotency, we shall look up to that heavenly aid, with- 
 out which we have no good desires, and are incompetent to any good 
 work; and the more we are aware of the evil of sin, we shall avail our- 
 selves of that door of mercy, which is laid open to our repentance, through 
 the mei'cy of God, in a Redeemer. 
 
 My dear George, I have brought together, in haste, a few remarks ; 
 praying for the blessing of God in them ; that they may help to conduct 
 you on a more dangerous sea, than that on which you will embark in the 
 Vandalia — the sea of temptation ; and further, that on the one hand, in 
 the event of future prosperity, it may be to you a ground of religious 
 gratitude ; and on the other hand, if you should fall into adversity, they 
 should direct you to what are the only sources of consolation in life and 
 in death. 
 
 I am much pleased with your captain ; and promise myself that he will 
 be as a father to you. On your part, 1 trust and believe that there will be 
 respect and obedience. Throughout my life, I have had occasion to re- 
 mark, that the m'bst apt to resist reasonable authority, are the most apt 
 to show themselves tyrants in the exercise of power. 
 
 It will also be of no small importance to make yourself agreeable to 
 your companions in duty : not by compliance in any sinful practices, if 
 there should be any, which, be assured, will not conciliate their esteem 
 or lasting friendship ; but by good offices, as occasions may occur ; and 
 especially by avoiding all reasonable causes of offence. 
 
 Once more, my dear George, farewell. May the blessing of God be 
 with you. Within a few days you will be at a distance from me ; but 
 not distant from the affection or from the prayers of 
 
 Your grandfather, 
 
 wm white. 
 
 THE END. 
 
Lately Issued,' 
 
 BY THE SAME PUBLISHERS, 
 
 Hnt American, from the Fifth London Edition, Illustrated by 236 Wood Engravings, 
 and 16 Flates and Maps — 3- vols, royal 8vo, 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY, 
 
 BY CHARLES LYELL, F.R.S., 
 
 AN INQUIRY HOW FAR THE FORMER CHANGES OF THE EARTH's SUR^ 
 FACH ARE REFERABLE TO CAUSES NOW IN OPERATION, ETC. 
 
 The following Notices may serve to show the high character which the above 
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 From the London Quarterlj/ Review.—" We hail with the greatCBt satiafactjon the appear- 
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 These Conversatiooal French Diaiogua bring into ase 
 the ordinary colloquial language of polite society. A 
 sustained conDection of idea, and the dramatic form ia 
 which they are cast, render them easy of acquisitioik 
 The pupil, when he has committed to memory ten or 
 twelve of these Dialogues, will have made some progress 
 in expressing himself in French ; and will then call into 
 iriay the Idioms and Proverbs which he will find at the 
 end of the volume, by introducing them, as occasioD 
 oSen, in his attempts at original convei^ation. 
 
 The pupil is now prepared for another step. Let him 
 then take the volume of French Anecdotes ana Queitioiu, 
 and make himself Jamiliar with the incidents of one of 
 the Anecdotes, without Tegard to the words in which it 
 is narrated. He will now recite the anecdote "Ho hit 
 Teacher, in the best French which be can command at 
 the moment; syho will aid him if embah-assed for want 
 of a word. When the pupil has recited the anecdote, let 
 the teacher ask him Questlgns on it in French, and re- 
 quire immediate answers to them in the same language^ 
 The Second Part of the volume consists of Quationt, 
 prepared for this purpose. 
 
 This course of .study is to l)e continued throughout tlie 
 two volumes of Dialogues and Phrases, and of Anec- 
 dotes and Quesftoiu ; and although the pypil may stum- 
 ble a little at fir^t, he will be surprised and delighted to 
 find, ere long, that he has, almost insensibly, acquired 
 the enviable accomplishment of speaking French. 
 
 Such is the method of using these two volumes pur. 
 sued b^ the Author ; and his success under it has been 
 most signal and flattering. Those, however, who may 
 find it inconvenient, will conform to the ordinary plan. 
 Bf any mode of instruction, these Dialogues ana Phrasfn 
 will be found decidedly preferable to unconnected Collo- 
 quial Phrases: and have been already extensively sd 
 used. The volume of Anecdotes and Qiiestiom has also 
 been successfully introduced into Schools as a Reciting 
 and Reading Book ; for which, from the fascinalin^ na- 
 ture of the contents, it is well calculated. The 0no(t- 
 tions, under this mode of using the book, might be ^iven 
 to the pupil as an exercise, and written answers in his 
 own French required. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 Kay (^'Brother, Philadelphia ; and C. H. Kay <^ Co., Pittsburgh. 
 
 300 
 
 AND FOR SALE BY ALL BOOEBELLERS.