Jy:u^ Pr, 
 
 ix^^^> 
 
 mim. 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 RT. REV. STEPHEN ELLIOTT, J). 1)., 
 
 THII?,T"5r-3SriN"TM 
 
 fVNNUAL CONVENTIONc 
 
 or Till': 
 
 f »0t«staut ^^\%%^s^ a^hiuch, 1^ 
 
 IN' TlIK 
 
 diocesp: of (ieorgta. 
 
 
 S A V A N N A il : 
 I'OWKU PRESS OP JOHN SI. COOPER i COMPANY. 
 
 
 1861. 
 
 ^^M'^- 
 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 RT. REV. STEPHEN ELLIOTT, D. D., 
 
 TO THE 
 
 THII^T^^-ltTIi^rTH: 
 
 c 
 
 xtiUsimt €^bt^id (E\nm\\, 
 
 DIOCESE OF GEORGIA 
 
 S AVA N N A H: 
 
 POWER PRESS OF JOHN M. COOPER & COMPANY. 
 1861. 
 
THE FLOWERS COLLKTION StTUt^ \z.. 
 
 Brethren of the Clergy axd Laity: 
 
 Wc meet, to-day, under circumstances very unlike anv 
 Avhicli have ever surrounded us since our connection as 
 Bisliop and people. Hitherto we have assembled as an Eccle- 
 siastical Council, Avith no cares resting upon our^ hearts save 
 those which concerned the Church of Christ. To-day we feel 
 most painfully, in addition to these, the sorrow which arises 
 from the severed ties of friendship and of country. Hitherto 
 l^eace has ever smiled upon our meetings with her bright face 
 of prosperity and security. To-day the whole land is re- 
 sounding with the preparation for war — war with those who, 
 until a few months since, were our countrj'men and our breth- 
 ren. Hitherto our Church has moved undisturbed through 
 all the storms which have agitated the civil State. To-day a 
 stern necessity is laid upon us to examine relations which we 
 fondly hoped would be indestructible. May God's Holy 
 Spirit shed more abundantly than ever upon us the spirit of 
 wisdom and of understanding, and may we receive grace to 
 put awaj^ from us all pride, prejudice, and passion, and to 
 consult together as the children of the God of Love and 
 disciples of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 As an ordintiry rule, the Church of Christ has but little to 
 do with political events, and our own branch of that Church 
 has most scrupulously avoided all entanglement with parties 
 and their unceasing conflicts. She has ever inculcated the 
 Apostolic rule that " the powers which be are ordained of 
 God," and has enjoined upon her members the Christian du- 
 ties of reverence for established authority, and of obedience 
 to law and order. Even up to this moment, through all the 
 
 TUZoi 
 
4 ADDEESS OF THE 
 
 angry discussions, and excited passions of the last seventy 
 years, she lias never, in any of her numerous synodical con- 
 ventions, taken any part in the sectional movements which 
 have agitated and convulsed the Union. Although the 
 ablest laymen of the country, many of them politicians, 
 warmly engaged in the current strife of the day, have held 
 seats in her councils, they have invariabl}^ abstained, while in 
 Ecclesiastical session, from all interference with politics, and 
 have ever confined themselves to the legitimate business of the 
 Church, the advancement of "Peace on earth, good will towards 
 men." Whatever may have been their private opinions, they 
 have carefully held them in abeyance, while engaged in the 
 councils of the Church. This wise and Christian conduct has 
 made the Episcopal Church a wonder and a glory in the land, 
 and while most of the other Christian bodies of the late 
 United States have been engaged in strife and bitter conten- 
 tion, and have many of them long since severed all christian 
 union and communion, our Church has never permitted these 
 distracting questions to enter within her consecrated walls. 
 Amid the present confusion and distraction of the country, 
 she can lift up clean hands and a pure heart and appeal to 
 the God of Heaven that she has had no part nor lot, as a 
 Church, in producing the strife which is rapidly marching to 
 dip its feet in blood. 
 
 But while, as a Church, she has had no share in producing 
 the condition of things which exists around her, she is never- 
 theless involved in that condition, and cannot, by any means, 
 be made independent of it. Every member of the Church is 
 a member likewise of the Commonwealth, unless, as Hooker 
 says in the 8th book of his Ecclesiastical Polity, "the name 
 of the Church be restrained in a Christian Commonwealth to 
 the Clergy, excluding all the residue of believers." And 
 being members at the same time of the Church and of the 
 Commonwealth, the circumstances and relations of the one 
 must affect the circumstances and relations of the other. 'Tis 
 true that " under dominion of infidels" as in the times of the 
 primitive Church, " the Church of Christ and their Common- 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. 5 
 
 wealth were two societies independent," but in that case a 
 state of antagonism existed between Christianity and Pagan- 
 ism, which absolutely forbad any mutual dependency between 
 them. But when the Commonwealth, as in our times, is, if 
 not professedly, at least practicall}^. Christian, it is almost im- 
 possible to draw any line which can separate the relations of 
 the Church from the relations of the Commonwealth. The 
 actions of the Commonwealth being the actions of the citizens 
 of that Commonwealth, and those citizens making up the 
 body of the Church and forming its Legislature, there must 
 be, inevitably, a mutual relationship and dependency. It can 
 not be got rid of, without abolishing the whole framework 
 of constitutional and canonical law which binds together the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church of this countrj^. 
 
 That organization, which is styled the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States, was bailt up out of the frag- 
 ments of the Church of England which remained in the 
 States after the Revolution. But little change was made in 
 anything pertaining to its essential character as a part of the 
 Church Catholic of Christ. It retained the Apostolic Minis- 
 try in its three Orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; the 
 Apostolic Faith, as embodied in the Creeds, the Articles, and 
 the Formularies of the Church ; the Sacraments as ordained 
 by Christ himself Its liturgical worship was adapted from 
 that of the Church of England, with such modifications only 
 as rendered it suitable to the new order of the civil state. But 
 when it came to consider its relations to the State, it found 
 itself in a condition different both from the Church of Eng- 
 land and the Church of Piome. In the Church of England, 
 the Head of the State was likewise the Head of the Church, 
 thus making the Commonwealth and the Church "one socie- 
 ty," to use Hooker's phrase. In the Church of Rome, the 
 Bishop of Rome did not suffer the Church to depend upon 
 the power of any civil Prince or Potentate, but made himself 
 the centre of Catholic unit3^ The Church in this country 
 could follow neither of these models; not the Church of Eng- 
 land, because by the Constitution of the United States, any 
 
 T722/)^ 
 
6 ADDKESS OF THE 
 
 union between Churcli and State was prohibited: not tbe 
 Cbureb of Kome, because she did not recognize the supremacy 
 of the Bishop of Eome. She found herself therefore indepen- 
 dent of the Commonwealth, and free to establish such relations 
 with the civil authority as she might deem best. And it is out 
 of the decision to which she came, that the necessity arises for 
 some action on our part in view of the secession of the State 
 of Georgia from the Federal Union, and of the formation, in 
 connection with other States, of an independent government, 
 to wit: "the Confederate States of America." 
 
 Had the Episcopalians who convened to organize a Church 
 in the United States and to obtain for this country the succes- 
 sion of Bishops, been satisfied to receive that succession from 
 the Church of England, and to establish its Episcopate with- 
 out any absolutely restricted jurisdiction, governing the 
 Church through councils of Bishops and Presbyters, the 
 Church should have been independent of all State boundaries, 
 and should have been unaffected in its relations by any 
 changes in the civil state. But the jealousy of Episcopal 
 and even priestly authority, which existed in this countrv 
 after the Ke volution, made this independence seemingly hope- 
 less. It Avas deemed necessarj^ to organize the Church upon 
 the model of the Constitution of the United States, to create 
 a General Convention in which Laymen should have an equal 
 representation with Clergymen and by which all Ecclesiastical 
 law should be established and modified, and to define shai'ply 
 the jurisdiction of Bishops. This was done by making their 
 Dioceses co-terminous with the States in Avhich they were 
 established, and giving to each Diocese, no matter what its 
 size, an equal representation in the House of Clerical and Lay 
 Deputies as well as in the House of Bishops. Each Bishop 
 was tied down to his' jurisdiction by a marriage which admit- 
 ted of no divorce. His privileges as a Bishop of the Church 
 Catholic of Christ no human oro'anization could affect, but all 
 his privileges as a Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 of the United States, arose out of his connection with his 
 particular jurisdiction, and expired with that jurisdiction. 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. 7 
 
 If he resigned his jurisdiction, he was still a Bishop of the 
 Church of Christ; of that nothing could divest him; but he 
 became ineligible to any Diocese then in union with the Pro- 
 testant Episcopal Church in the United States or 'afterwards 
 to be admitted into union with it, was deprived of his seat in 
 the House of Bishops, and could perform the functions of 
 his Episcopal office only at the request of a Bishop having Ec- 
 clesiastical jurisdiction. He ceased, in fine, upon his resigna- 
 tion, of his jurisdiction, to be a Bishop of the Protestant Epis- 
 ^copal Church in the United States. And this strict connection 
 of the Episcopate with jurisdiction has been extended to our 
 Foreign Missionary Bishops with the like scrupulous jealousy. 
 In the Canon of Foreign Missionary Bishops it is distinctly 
 provided that they shall have no jurisdiction except in the 
 place or country for which they may have been elected or 
 consecrated ; that they shall not be entitled to seats in the 
 House of Bishops; that they shall not even be eligible to an 
 organized Diocese of the United States unless with the consent 
 of three-fourths of all the Bishops entitled to seats in the 
 House of Bishops. 
 
 The animus of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
 United States, therefore, clearly is, that the Bishop shall go 
 with his jurisdiction. He is a Bishop of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church in the United States, not because he is a Bishop 
 of the Church Catholic, but because he is the Bishop of ^Eaine, 
 or of New York, or of New Jerse}^, as the case may be. 
 When the jurisdiction therefore of a Bishop declares itself, in 
 the exercise of its rightful sovereignty to be thenceforth and 
 forever separated from the other jurisdictions which make up 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, it forces 
 him necessarily into a like separation. Should he, in conse- 
 quence of this action of the State in which his Diocese lies, 
 resign his jurisdiction he gains nothing, for by that act he is 
 no longer a Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
 United States, nor can he ever again be. If he does not resign 
 he is likewise in the same predicament, for his j urisdiction hav 
 ing declared itself out of the Union, he must necessarily go 
 
O ADDKESS OF THE 
 
 out witli it. So that, in any case, the separation of his jurisdic- 
 tion severs him at once from the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
 the United States, not simply because the Church must follow 
 the nationality, but because the Church of the United States 
 has trammelled itself with constitutional and canonical provi- 
 sions which forces the Church and its Bishop into this attitude. 
 And this difficulty is very much increased, when a Bishop's 
 jurisdiction is separated by a formal exercise of sovereignty, 
 which he believes to be constitutional, of which he heartily ap- 
 proves and which he deems absolutely necessary. Was his 
 jurisdiction in a state of rebellion or insurrection, it might be 
 his duty patiently to await the issue of the struggle, and to 
 bear and suffer what might be laid upon him in the perform- 
 ance of his episcopal functions. But we are not in any such 
 condition. The State, which is co-terminous with our Diocese, 
 has, in the exercise of her unquestioned sovereignty and with 
 the almost unanimous consent of her people, resumed the 
 powers which she had delegated to the Federal Government, and 
 has confederated herself with other States, which have in like 
 manner resumed their delegated powers, forming an entirely 
 new government under a constitution prepared with great 
 wisdom and moderation and ratified by the people of the 
 said States in convention assembled. There has been no 
 force, no violence, no compulsion, do necessity laid upon any 
 man to vote otherwise than his conscience or his will dictated. 
 These States have passed, without any civil convulsion what- 
 ever, in the most solemn manner, with fasting and prayer, from 
 one government to another, and are to-day as independent of 
 the Federal Union, as France is of England, or Prussia is of 
 Spain. These States are no longer, in any sense, a part of the 
 United States, and consequently the Bishops of these States or 
 Dioceses, for in this connection those words are synonymouSy 
 are no longer Bishops of any of the United States. They are 
 now Bishops of the Confederate States. Was any one of us 
 to present himself at the door of the House of Bishops at the 
 next General Convention, and demand his seat, the question 
 might fairly be asked him, " Are you a Bishop having juris- 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. 9 
 
 diction in one of the United States of America?" If he 
 answered that he was, he would be ignoring the action of 
 the State in which his jurisdiction lies, renouncing his alle- 
 giance to her, and would be in every legal sense guilty of 
 treason. If he should reply that he was not, then the answer 
 would be, '' No Bishop is entitled to a seat upon this floor, 
 unless by courtesy, who is not a Bishop of one of these Uni- 
 ted States;" and so with our Clerical and Lay deputies. They 
 would occupy precisely the same ground, and wouhl neces- 
 sarily pass through the same catechism. 
 
 It has been asked, "Might we not meet once again in Gen- 
 eral Convention and there determine upon the future relations 
 of the respective Dioceses?" Putting aside the difiiculties 
 which might arise in pursuing such a course from a state of 
 war, which now seems inevitable, we must not forget thai it is 
 oar dutv, as a Church, to maintain, if we think its action right, 
 the dignity of the Government of which we are now the law- 
 ful subjects, and never, by any action of ours, to lower in any 
 degree its position in the eye of the world. Such a step as 
 disunion would never have been taken so unanimously and so 
 peaceably by the States which formed the new Confederacy, if 
 there had not been a profound feefing of its absolute necessity. 
 Too many ties of friendship, of sympathy, of interest; too 
 many associations with the past, and too many aspirations for 
 the future, bound the North and the South together, to permit 
 the Union to have been broken, if a deep sense of utter inse- 
 curity under the Government of the United States, had not 
 impressed itself upon the minds and hearts of the people of 
 the South. It is due to those with whom we have been so 
 pleasantly united as a Church, that they should understand 
 this matter — that they should not suppose this separation to 
 have taken place under the impulse of passion, or at the beck 
 of ambition. It has been done most solemnly — with tears in 
 our eyes, and prayers upon our lips — with a lively sense of 
 our duty to God, to our children, and above ali^ to the race 
 whom he has committed to our guardianship and Christian 
 nurture. However the world may judge us in connection with 
 B 
 
10 ADDEESS OF THE 
 
 our institution of slavery, we conscientiously believe it to be 
 a great missionary institution — one arranged by God, as he 
 arranges all the moral and religious influences of the world^ 
 so that good may be brought out of seeming evil, and a 
 blessing wrung out of every form of the curse. We believe 
 that we are educating these people as they are educated no 
 where else ; that we are elevating them in every generation ; 
 that we are working out God's purposes, whose consummation 
 we are quite willing to leave in his hands. We do not ex- 
 pect infidels — men who are clamoring for a new God, and a 
 new Christ, and a new Bible — to believe this, but we did 
 hope that Christian men, our brethren in the faith of Christy 
 and in the hopes of eternity, would credit our integrity and 
 our ftiithfulness. We feel sure, that when the whirlwind of 
 passion shall have passed, we shall receive justice at the hands 
 of God's people, being determined, meanwhile, by the grace of 
 God, to defend with the sacrifice of everything, if need be, 
 this sacred charge which has been committed to us. We can 
 not permit our servants to be cursed with the liberty of licen- 
 tiousness and infidelity, but we will truly labor to give them 
 that liberty wherewith Christ has made us all free. 
 
 In pursuance of these vie-J^s, the Bishop of Louisiana and 
 myself addressed, as the semor Bishops of the seceded States, 
 the following letter to the Ecclesiastical Authority of each of 
 the Dioceses of the Confederate States, recommending- the 
 course which, after consultation, we concluded to be the best 
 for the deliberate determination of our future course of 
 action : 
 
 , University Place, Franklin County, Tenn., ) 
 
 March 23, 1861. J 
 
 Rt. Rev. and Dear Brother: 
 
 The rapid march of events, and the change which has taken place in our 
 civil relations, seem to us, your brethren in the Episcopate, to require an early 
 consultation among the Dioceses of the Confederate States, for the purpose of 
 considering their relations to the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United 
 States, of which they have so long been the equal and happy members. 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. 11 
 
 This necessity does not arise out of any dissension which has occurred within 
 the Church itself, nor out of any dissatisfaction with either the doctrine or tho 
 ■discipHne of the Church. We rejoice to record the fact that we are to-day, as 
 Churchmen, as truly brethren as we have ever been, and that no deed has been 
 done, nor word uttered which leaves a single wound rankling in our hearts. 
 We are still one in faith, in purpose, and in hope. But political changes, forced 
 upon us by a stern necessitj'-, have occurred, which have placed our Dioceses in 
 a position requiring consultation as to our future Ecclesiastical relations. It is 
 better that those relations should be arranged by the common consent of all tho 
 Dioceses within the Confederate States, than by the independent action of each 
 Diocese. The one will probably lead to harmonious action, the other might 
 produce inconvenient diversity. 
 
 "We propose to you, therefore, Rt. Rev. and Dear Brother, that you recommend 
 to your Diocesan Convention, the appointment of three Clerical and three Lay 
 Deputies, who, together with the Bishop of the Diocese, shall be Delegates to 
 mee^an equal number of Delegates from^ach of the Dioceses within the Con. 
 federate States, at Montgomery, in the Diocese of Alabama, on the 3d day of 
 July next, to consult upon such matters ^ may have arisen out of the change 
 in our civil affairs. 
 
 We have taken upon ourselves to address you this Circular because we hap- 
 pen to be together and are the senior Bishops of the Dioceses within tho 
 Confederate States. 
 
 Very Sincerely and Truly Yours, 
 
 LEOXIDAS POLK, 
 STEPHEN ELLIOTT. 
 
 The object of this meeting is simply, as jou will perceive, 
 to determine our ecclesiastical relations with the Dioceses from 
 'which our jurisdictions have been separated. We have no 
 quarrel with the divine organization of the Church, none 
 with its faith, none with its^ worship, none with its discipline. 
 But we must adjust anew our ecclesiastical relations. They 
 have been disturbed if not destroyed by the disruption of the 
 Union, and we should see to it at once, that nothing is done 
 to compromise our own position or that of the Confederate 
 States. I recommend therefore to this Convention the ap- 
 pointment of three Clerical, and three Lay Deputies, who 
 
12 ADDRESS OF THE 
 
 with the Bishop, shall represent this Diocese in a Convention 
 to be held in Montgomery on the 8d day of July next. 
 
 Soon after the State of Georgia seceded, I issued directions to 
 my Clergy to pray for the Governor of the State instead of the 
 President of the United States. As the President of the 
 Confederate States has announced, in his late Message, the 
 adoption by all the seceded States of the permanent Consti- 
 tution of the Confederacy, I now instruct the Clergy to cease 
 praying for the Executive of this State, and to substitute in 
 the prayer for the President of the United States the word 
 "Confederate" in place of the word "United" and in the 
 prayer for Congress to say " as for the people of these Con- 
 federate States in general " so especially for their " Delegates 
 in Congress assembled, " whenever that Congress shall be in 
 session. 
 
 Mv first official act during the past year was confirniing 
 on Friday night. May 11, 1860, in St. Stephen's Chapel, 
 Savannah, seven persons, all»of whom were colored. 
 
 On Sunday morning. May 13, 1 confirmed in Christ Church, 
 Savannah, eight persons, all white. On the same day in the 
 afternoon, I confirmed in St. Paul's Free Church, Savannah, 
 five persons. 
 
 On Sunday morning, May 20, I confirmed in the Church 
 of the Messiah, St. Mary's, four persons, one of whom was 
 colored. On Tuesday, May 22, I confirmed in St. Mark's, 
 Brunswick, nine persons, and on the next day I baptized in 
 the same church one adult, and one infant, and confirmed 
 another candidate. These two Parishes of St. Mary's and St. 
 Mark's are reviving and strengthening under the energetic care 
 of Dr. Easter. He has also succeeded in forming a self-support- 
 ing Parish in Camden County u^on the Satilla Eiver, which 
 when occupied by a Missionary, will complete the chain of 
 missionary posts upon all the great rivers of the State, south 
 of the Savannah. 
 
 On Sunday morning. May 27, being Whit Sunday, I con- 
 firmed in St. Paul's, Augusta, eight persons. This has been 
 an eventful year to St. Paul's. It has been completely reno- 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. IS 
 
 vated and improved internally, and furnished with a very 
 fine organ. I regret to add that its faithful Pastor, Dr. Ford, 
 who has served the Church for twenty-seven years has sent 
 in his resignation to the Vestry, on account of continued 
 infirm health. The Vestry has very properly refused to 
 accept it, and requested him to take two years complete 
 rest for which they will provide, and meanwhile procure 
 a Clergyman to supply Dr. Ford's place during his absence. 
 This action is alike honorable to both parties, and has been 
 acceded to by Dr. Ford, with the same frankness with which 
 it was offered. 
 
 On Sunday afternoon, May 27, Whit Sunday, I confirmed 
 in the Church of the Atonement, Augusta, six persons. 
 
 On Sunday night, June 3, I confirmed in St. Philip's 
 Church, Atlanta, eleven persons. On the next night in the 
 same Church, I confirmed two persons. 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon, June 6, I- preached in Marietta. 
 
 Sunday morning, Jiine 10, I confirmed in Emmanuel 
 Church, Athens, seven persons, and on Monday mornings 
 June 11,' I confirmed another sick candidate at his home. 
 
 Wednesday morning, June 13, I confirmed in the Church 
 of the Advent, Madison, one person. 
 
 Sunday morning, June 17, I confirmed in Grace Church, 
 Gainesville, five persons, and on Wednesday night, I con- 
 firmed in the same Church, five other persons. 
 
 Sunday, June 24, I paid a second visit to Emmanuel 
 Church, Athens, and confirmed seven persons, making in all 
 fifteen persons from this Church. Dr. Henderson is still 
 pursuing his active and vigorous ministry in Athens and its 
 neighborhood, making the Church known and respected all 
 around him. 
 
 July 6, 1 admitted to the Holy Order of Deacons in St John's 
 Church, Savannah, the Eev. T. J. Staley. Mr. Staley was<i 
 licentiate among the Methodists. He at once took charge of 
 St. Stephen's Chapel for colored persons, and of one or two 
 plantations upon the Savannah River, and has been labor- 
 ing very acceptably and successfully at tb,ese points. 
 
1-i ADDKESS OF THE 
 
 Thursday, August SO, I commenced my visitation of St. 
 James' Church, Marietta, and officiated at night. Friday, Au- 
 gust 81, I admitted in the same Church to the Holy Order 
 of Priests, at the request of the lit. Rev. Dr. Otey, the Rev. 
 William Mowbray of the Diocese of Tennessee. Saturday, 
 September 1, I confirmed in private, two white persons, and 
 on Sunday, in St. James' Church, eleven persons. I found 
 this Parish in a state of great activity under the care of the 
 Rev. Mr. Benedict. 
 
 .On Wednesday, October 10, I assisted in the presence of a 
 very large assemblage of ■ the Bishops, Clergy and Laity of 
 the Church, in laying the Corner Stone of the main building 
 of the University of the South. This great enterprise, thus 
 successfully inaugurated, has been checked for the winter, by 
 the confusion of public affairs, and the temporary division 
 of the Dioceses which made up the Board of Trustees ; seven 
 of them having seceded and formed "the Confederate States," 
 wdiile .the remaining three adhered»to the United States. 
 The recent action of Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina, 
 all of which have passed ordinances of secession, will soon 
 re-unite the Ten Dioceses under one Government. Mean- 
 while the funds which have been subscribed are securely 
 invested, bearing good interest, and ready for use when the 
 condition of things shall^make it prudent to resume the active 
 work upon the University. 
 
 During the session of the Board of Trustees, held on 
 the three days subsequent to the 10th, the Constitutio» 
 and Statutes of the University, which had been laid over for 
 final consideration, were revised and adopted by the Board. 
 They form an almost perfect model of such" an University as 
 the South needs, and have received every where the approval 
 and admiration of the learned. 
 
 ♦ Sunday, October 28, and Sunday, November 11, 1 officiated 
 in Christ Church, Savannah, that Church being without a 
 Rector. I again officiated in the same Church on the Sundays 
 of the 2d, 9th and 16th of December. 
 
 Friday, Deceml^r 7, I admitted in St. Paul's Free Church, 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. 15 
 
 Mr. H. E. Tschudy, to the Holy Order of Deacons. Mr. 
 Tschudy acted for some months as the assistant Minister of 
 St. Paul's Free Church, but in consequence of the rupture 
 between the North and South, has been transferred, with the 
 consent of Bishop Potter, to the Diocese of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Friday, December 14, I admitted in Savannah, the Rev. 
 John D. Easter to the Holy Order of Priests, and the Rev. 
 Jaquelin M. Meredith, to the Holy Order of Deacons. Mr. 
 ^feredith was transferred from Virginia as a Candidate for 
 Orders. He has taken charge of ^plantations upon the Alta- 
 maha, containing nearly eight huncjred slaves, a noble field 
 of Missionary enterprize. The four plantations make him 
 up a salary of one thousand dollars. 
 
 Sunday, November 18, and December 30, I officiated in 
 Calvary Church, Memphis, where I had the pleasure of find- 
 ing a former Presbyter of this Diocese, the Rev. Dr. White, 
 most usefully and successfully employed. During the absence 
 of Bishop Ote\', I confirmed two invalids ana received one 
 of them, a member of my own Diocese, to the Holy Com- 
 munion. 
 
 Friday, December 1-i, I confirmed in the ev^ening at St. 
 Stephen's Chapel, Savannah, three persons. " 
 
 Early in January, I was called to Montgomery to perform 
 the last sacred offices of the Church, over the remains of my 
 dear friend and brother in the Episcopate, the Rt. Rev. Nich- 
 olas H. Cobbs. I officiated at his funeral, in connection with 
 as many of his Clergy as could be gathered together upon 
 the sad occasion. As in the address which I delivered upon 
 that occasion, and which has been published, I expressed my 
 opinion at large of his excellencies and usefulness in the 
 Church of Christ, I shall dwell no further upon the great loss 
 which we all, but especially his own people, have sustained in 
 his death at this particular crisis of affairs. May bis Clergy, 
 and Laity be successful in electing a successor worthy of his 
 piety and faithfulness. 
 
 Monday, January 14, at the request of the Standing Com- 
 mittee of the Diocese of Alabama, I examined Mr. Gray, for 
 
16 ADDRESS OF THE 
 
 Deacon's Orders, and on Tuesday, January 15, I admitted him 
 in St. John's Church, Montgomery, to the Holy Order of 
 Deacons. 
 
 Sunday, January 20, I confirmed a second time, in St. 
 PhiHp's Church, Atkmta, and added six to the number con- 
 firmed in June, making nineteen within the year. The Rector 
 is very much straightened for room, the Church being over 
 crowded with even its ordinary congregation. 
 
 Sunday, Februarj^ the 17, I confirmed in St. Peter's Rome, 
 nine persons, two of whom were colored. This Church is in 
 a very wholesome and well ordered condition, advancing 
 steadily in numbers and in the influence of holiness. 
 
 Sunday, February 21, I held a second confirmation in St. 
 James' Church, Marietta, when seven additional candidates 
 were presented, making twenty in this Church for the year. In 
 the interval between my two visits, the Church had been very 
 much improved, and a school edifice erected for the use of the 
 pupils connected with the Female School established under 
 the care of the Rector. I would embrace this opportunity to 
 recommend this School to the patronage of the Church in 
 Georgia. 
 
 Easter Sunday* in the morning, I confirmed in Christ 
 Church, Savannah, (one of whom was from St. Paul's,) seven 
 persons, and at night in St. John's Church, Savannah, five 
 persons. 
 
 Sunday, April 7, I ofiiciated in Christ Church, Savannah. 
 
 Sunday, April 21, I visited St. Paul's Church, Albany, and 
 confirmed three persons. This is now a rapidly growing 
 Parish, and bids fair from immigration to be soon among the 
 strongest in the Diocese. 
 
 Sunday, April 28, I confirmed in St. Andrew's Church, 
 Darien, seven persons, two of whom were colored. I found 
 this Parishjn an excellent spiritual condition and increasingly 
 alive to its duty to itself and all around it. As one of the 
 fruits of this spirit is the mission among the negroes upon the 
 Altamaha, of which Mr. Meredith has taken the charge. 
 This is sustained by Planters who are communicants of this 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. 17 
 
 Parish, and it should be legitimately credited to the praise of 
 St. Andrew's. 
 
 On Monday morning, April 29, in company with Mr. Mere- 
 dith, I visited the plantation of Mr. Nightingale, on Cambus 
 Island. The negroes were all gathered together, having been 
 given a holiday for the purpose, and after the reading of the 
 service by Rev. Mr. Meredith, I addressed them upon the 
 importance of the mission to them and theirs. There are at 
 this place a large number of communicants of the Episcopal 
 Church, but they need re-gathering and revival. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day the Missionary and myself 
 visited Potosi, the plantation of Mr. Richard Morris. The 
 house was crowded to excess, and the people seemed deeply 
 interested in the services. Mr. Meredith read the service and 
 I addressed them very much upon the same topics as in the 
 morning. 
 
 Tuesday morning, April 30. the Missionary and myself 
 took boat early and crossed over to the magnificent estate of 
 the late John Butler, of Philadelphia. This estate lies upon 
 an island, which it entirely occupies and upon which are some 
 five hundred negroes. It is a parish in itself The house 
 used for service could not contain one half of the congregation. 
 The children themselves form a congregation. As at the other 
 plantations Mr. Meredith read the service and I addressed 
 them on the importance of his pastoral services to them and 
 their children. These people have had preaching enough and 
 to spare, what they lack now is pastoral instruction. They 
 are very intelligent and anxious for religious knowledge. 
 
 Taking our boat after service we returned to Darien, and 
 drove out to the plantation of Lieut. C. Manigault Morris, 
 Ceylon, where we held an afternoon service. There were no 
 confirmations at any of these places, as Mr. Meredith has been 
 engaged for too short a time in his work to have prepared 
 any, as they should be prepared. 
 
 Sunday, May 5, I officiated in Trinity Church, Columbus, 
 and at night confirmed a very interesting class of nine persons. 
 Trinity Church has been very much improved within the last 
 c 
 
18 ADDRESS OF THE 
 
 few montlis, having been entirely renovated and its sittings 
 increased to a very large extent. It can now furnish accom- 
 modations at least for its own congregation. 
 
 During the past year, I have ordained the Eev. Messrs. 
 Staley, Meredith, and Tschudy to the Diaconate, and have ad- 
 mitted the Eev. John D. Easter to Priest's Orders. As I have 
 already stated, Mr. Staley is officiating in St. Stephen's Chapel, 
 Savannah. Mr. Meredith is Missionary upon the Altamaha, 
 and Mr. Tschud}^ has been transferred to the Diocese of Penn- 
 sylvania. I have received the Eev. J. G. Downing from the 
 Diocese of South Carolina, and the Eev. Wm. E. Eppes from 
 the Diocese of Florida. I have transferred the Eev. Mr. Cur- 
 tis to the Missionary jurisdiction of Arkansas. 
 
 There have been very few Parochial changes during the 
 past year, and these have arisen mainly from ill-health or from 
 new adjustments within the Diocese. The resignation of Mr. 
 Curtis from St. Stephen's, Milledgeville, and his removal to 
 Arkansas, is very much to be regretted, for he was truly 
 valued and beloved among us. 
 
 I have deemed it best, under the circumstances of the Dio- 
 cese and the Country, to resume my pastoral charge of Christ 
 Church, Savannah. The Yestry has given me an assistant, 
 and I have selected the Eev. Charles Cole}^, of Madison, for 
 that post. His acceptance of the charge has vacated the 
 Church of the Advent at Madison. 
 
 Three Candidates for Orders have been received during the 
 year, Mr. Charles A Grant, of Savannah, Mr. G. E. Crawford, 
 of Hawkinsville, and Mr. Charles W. Thomas, late a highly 
 esteemed minister of the Methodist Church, and a Chaplain 
 in the U. S. Navy. These together with Mr. Starr and Mr. 
 Geo. Easter make up our number of Candidates. 
 
 During the past year, our oldest and most venerated Pres- 
 byter has been called to his rest. The Eev. Seneca G. Bragg, 
 for so many years the faithful and beloved pastor of this 
 Church, and a most efficient member of all the important com- 
 mittees of the Diocese, has gone to join all those faithful souls 
 whom he had guided, as a true shepherd, to the Heavenly 
 
BISHOP OF GEORGIA. 19 
 
 fold. He was a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. To 
 the simplicity and guilelessness of a child, he united the dio-. 
 nity and the powei' which holiness invariably gives. His heart 
 was all love, his tongue was all charity. Men looked upon 
 his walk and conversation, and believed in the religion of 
 Jesus Christ. Never man was more beloved, not only by his 
 own people, but by all around him. When his eve was dim 
 and his natural force abated, it was truly touching to witness 
 the care which was taken of him by his parishioners. Never 
 having married, he seemed to be a member of every house- 
 hold, for whom too much could not be done. He made his 
 home with his old beloved friend and parishioner, Mr Mun- 
 roe, under whose roof he gradually decayed. Durino- the 
 summer he went to New-York to visit, for the last tim°e, his 
 nephews and nieces, and was too weak to return. He died 
 in that State, in January, entering into the rest which he so 
 ardently desired. 
 
 And now, my brethren, I commend you to the care and 
 keeping of Him, who has promised to be with His Church 
 always to the end of the world. 
 
 STEPHEN ELLIOTT, 
 
 Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia.