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 A HISTORY 
 
 «^UV.Lf.-*^^5^ 
 
 <^ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 IN 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 BY 
 
 / 
 
 VS/i i Ue^?. 
 
 SAMUEL LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD. 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 STANFORD AND SWORDS, 137, BROADAVAT. 
 
 1849. 
 
3. R. M'GOWN, PRINTER AND STERKOTyPER, 
 No. 57 ANN-STREET, NEW-YORK. 
 
PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 To the American Editor of this volume it seems im- 
 portant, that the interesting historical facts contained 
 in this " Church History," should be more exten- 
 sively known in this country. In answer to the 
 question. How is it that the history of the Church 
 in these United States has been written by a Prelate 
 of the Church in England ? We may be answered, 
 that the opportunity afforded in England, to consult 
 the works of the earlier writers upon America and 
 the correspondence of the earlier missionaries to 
 America, has been embraced by the Author and 
 most laboriously improved. He has brought out 
 many facts and selected many very interesting inci- 
 dents before generally unknown. 
 
 This cannot be called a complete History of the 
 Church in this country ; but it approaches nearer to 
 
IV 
 
 it than any other work before published. The char- 
 acter of the various Bishops who have, after having 
 ruled over their respective Dioceses, " gone to their 
 rest," is admirably drawn out and perhaps with 
 more impartiality than would have been done, by a 
 clergyman of our own Church. Members of the 
 Church in this country ought to feel under great 
 obligation to the distinguished Prelate, who, amidst 
 so many cares and avocations has found time to 
 compile this valuable work. 
 
 E. M. J. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In giving the following pages to the press, their Author 
 desires, in the first place, to acknowledge the kindness 
 which from many quarters, both in America and England, 
 has supplied him with the materials for their composition. 
 Never can he forget the ready aid which he has received 
 from personal strangers on the other side of the Atlantic. 
 To particularize any, where he cannot enumerate all, he 
 feels to be impossible. He can only express his earnest 
 wish that his volume were more worthy of their several 
 contributions; and his hope that, in stating openly and 
 freely what seem to him to be the defects of the organiza- 
 tion or conduct of their body, he shall give no needless pain, 
 to any one. Convinced as he is, that to draw a veil over 
 such evils would be disloyalty to their common cause, he 
 has felt under an imperative necessity of speaking openly 
 and fully. But it would most deeply grieve him, were 
 any cause of offence to be found in his words, or anything 
 which could sever those who should be so closely united 
 as the Churchmen of England and America. On the 
 subject to which he here especially refers, namely, the 
 treatment of the colored race, the use of the Church's 
 moral influence in its behalf is that which alone he would 
 claim. And this claim he advances under a hiunbUng 
 sense of the past deficiencies of members of his own com- 
 munion. Still, in their case it must be urged, that they 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 were afar from the sight, and therefore from the real 
 knowledge, of the evils of colonial life. Those evils would 
 'not have heen endured, had they been daily submitted to 
 the eyes of the laity and clergy of the English Church. 
 
 On one other important point a few words must here 
 be added to the following pages. Throughout their course 
 the Author has felt oppressed by the recurring question, 
 how he ought to deal with those other religious bodies by 
 which the Protestant Episcopal Church in North America 
 is so abundantly surrounded. To have entered into their 
 history would, -within the limits of this work, have been 
 absolutely impossible ; and yet, to confine himself to the 
 history of one department only of the vast host which 
 bears the Christian name, must of necessity give to his 
 work a narrow and one-sided appearance. To escape this 
 imperfection, he believes to have been unavoidable, and 
 he has therefore submitted to it ; writing the history, not 
 of religion, but of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Only 
 would he here protest against being supposed to entertain 
 any intention of contemptuously passing by the many great 
 deeds for Christ's truth wrought in that western world by 
 the members of other societies, or of pronouncing by the 
 way a decisive judgment on any of the intricate questions 
 to which the co-existence of these various bodies must give 
 birth. He has dealt with them only as they directly affect 
 that communion whose history he writes ; and in doing so, 
 he has endeavored to treat them honestly and fairly, al- 
 though, from his limits, it must be slightly and imperfectly. 
 
 Amongst those who in this country have assisted him 
 with valuable materials, and to whom he would beg pub- 
 licly to return his thanks, he may venture to enumerate 
 his father's early friend, Thomas Clarkson : the Rev. H. 
 H. Norris, of Hackney ; Petty Vaughan, Esq. ; the Lord 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 Bishop of London, — who most liberally allowed him access 
 to all the Its. treasures of the Fulham library ; the Rev. 
 H. Caswall, — whose local knowledge made him able to 
 revise those parts which touch upon existing institutions ; 
 and the Eev. Ernest Hawkins, f:?ecretary to the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. 
 
 To the labors of that society the following pages repeat- 
 edly bear witness. They show on this one stage how, 
 throughout the coldness and negligence of the last century, 
 when, i]i this land at least, no other body so made head 
 against the general apathy as to think of the foreign ad- 
 vancement of the Gospel as a Christian duty, this venera- 
 ble society ever followed in the wake of our colonial exten- 
 sion, watched for opportunities of sowing the good seed, 
 labored ever noiselessly and unobserved in this great work, 
 nurtured the faint beginnings of colonial piety, and has 
 been, under God's grace, the one first mstrument in pre- 
 venting the upgrowth of positive infideUty, and in promot- 
 ing the existence and spread of Christianity throughout 
 those vast districts which make up our colonial empire — 
 the widest empire and the greatest trust which God ever 
 committed to any people. 
 
 The Author hopes that this may be, amongst others, 
 one effect of his labor, that, seeing what was attempted, 
 and what was effected, m America by this society, some of 
 his readers may be aroused to consider what are indeed its 
 claims upon their grateful and affectionate support. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Interest of general subject— Times of Queen Elizabeth — Influence of the 
 Reformation— Martin Frobisher — His first voya:;e— A native kidnapped 
 — Second and third voyages — Master Woltall— Black ore — Sir Humphrey 
 Gilbert — Letters patent— Religious purpose of colonisation — Prospect of 
 its late fulfilment— Gilbert's second voyaffe— His death — Sir Walter Ra- 
 leigh — His expeditions— Tobacco — Settlements — Raleigh's troubles ; and 
 death— Settlement of Virginia — Robert Hunt — James Town— Captain 
 Smith— Trials of the Settlers- Starving time— Lord Delaware— Master 
 Bucke— Whittaker— Pochahontas — Early Laws 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM 1620 TO 1688. 
 
 Virginia Company- Measures of Sir E. Sandvs, Nicholas Ferrar, and others 
 
 Churches endowed — College founded — Mr. Thorpe — Indian massacre — 
 
 Indian Conquest — Effects of the massacre — Virginia in the Great Rebel- 
 lion— Loyalty— I. ove of the Church— Effects of Puritan rule — King Charles 
 II. proclaimed— Enactments of Legislature in behalf of the Church— Po- 
 pish plots suspected •" 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 FROM 1608 TO 1688. 
 
 Neighboring colonies— New-York— New-Jersey— Philadelphia— Carolina- 
 Maryland— NewEngland—Its settlement— Rise of Puritanism in England 
 —Emigration, to Leyden, to New-England— Piety of the early Puritans— 
 Their hatred of Church Principles— Severity — Treatment of Indians- 
 Proselyting spirit towards other communions 43 
 
 CH.iPTER IV. 
 
 FROM 1688 TO 1775. 
 
 Sriritual destitution of the colonies— Exertions of the Bishop of London, 
 Hon. Robert Boyle, and others— Drs Blair and Bray sent as commissaries 
 to Virsinia and Maryland— New-York conquered by English- Trinity 
 Church endowed— Prosress of the Church in New-En-land— Boston peti- 
 tion for Episcopal worship— Foundation of the Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel— Reliirious stale iif the colonies — Labors of the Mission- 
 aries of the Venerable Sooietv— Rev. Gea Keith— Violence of Quakers- 
 Opposition from New-England magistrates— Valo College— Leading Con- 
 
 1* 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 PASS. 
 
 gregrationalists join the Church — Progress of the Church at Newtown 
 under Mr. Beach — Violence of Congregatioiialists — General state of the 
 Church in Virginia — Mr. Whitefifild — Spreading dissent — Rise of Anabap- 
 tists in Virginia — Resistance to the clergy — Low state of the Church — 
 Its causes — Clergy dependent on their flocks — Want of bishops — Attempts 
 to obtain an American episcopate, in the reign of Charles II., of Queen 
 Anne — Bishop BerUeley opposed by Walpole — Supported by Archbishop 
 Seeker — EfTorls in the colonies — Zeal of northern colonies — Virginia re- 
 f^ises to join in the attempt — Causes of this refusal 72 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FROM 1775 TO 1783-4. 
 
 Revolutionary war — Loyalty of the Northern clergy — Persecution — Vir- 
 ginian clergy generally loyal — Treated with Violence — Thomas Jefl^erson — 
 Zeal of the Anabaptists — Their hatred to the Church — Repeal of all for- 
 mer acts in its favor — Incomes of the clergy stopped — They are stripped 
 even of the glebes and churches— Conduct of the Methodists — John Wes- 
 ley persuaded to consecrate Dr. Coke — Depressed state of the Church at 
 the end of the war — Religion at a low ebb — The revolutionary war aeon- 
 sequence of the Church uot having been planted in America . . . 131 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 FROM 1783 TO 1787. 
 
 Depression of the Church — Partie.s — And Opinions — attempted organisation 
 in the south — Mr. White — Convention.s in Virginia and Philadelphia — 
 Agreement on common piinciples — First movements for general union — 
 General voluntary meeting at New-York — Want of episcopate — Movement 
 amongst the eastern clergy — They elect Dr. Seabury Bishop — He sails for 
 England — Disappointed of consecration there — Dr. Berkeley and the 
 Scotch bishops — Dr. Seabury a]>plies to them — Opposition — His consecra- 
 tion — And return — First Convention at Philadelphia — Difl^erence of Opin- 
 ion — Dr. White — Proposed litursry — Application to the English prelates 
 for the apostolical succession — Their objections to some changes in the 
 Liturgy — These reconsidered — Drs. White and Provoost embark for Eng- 
 land — Are consecrated at Lambeth — Return to America, April 1787 . 142 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 Coavention assemblies — Case of Dr. Bass — Bishop Seabury joins the Con- 
 vention — The Liturgy — First and succeeding consecrations — Period of 
 depression — Its causes — Ecclesiastical constitution — Parish — Diocese — 
 Convention — Laity In Convention — Anglo-Sa.\on usage — Difficulties of 
 true organization in America — Neglect of the mother-country . . . 166 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FROM 1801 TO 1811-12. 
 
 Death and character of Bishop Seabury — Bishop White— Bishop Provoost 
 — His character — Resigns the episcopal jurisdiction — Nomination and 
 consecration of Bishop Moore — His character — Improvement of the state 
 of the Church — Maryland — Bishop Claggctt — Party Spirit — Bishop Clag- 
 get applies for a suffragan — Division of convention in 1812 — Method of 
 . Electing a bishop— The laity negative the nomination of the clergy— Con- 
 vention of 1813 — No attempt at an election made — Dr. Kemp elected suf- 
 fragan in 1814 — ConsequEBl party feuds — Bishop. Clapgett'e death — Dr. 
 
CONTENTS. » 
 
 pAor. 
 Kemp succeeds— His death— Renewed contests as to the Episcopate- 
 Bishop Stone elected— Tro>i>^'"-i on l-.is dcnth— The see vnrant- State of 
 Delaware— No Bishop— Application to Maryland— Refused— Decay of 
 the Church there— And in Virsinia— Issue of tho Ion? struggle with the 
 Anabaptists and others— The glebesconfiscatcd— Prostration of the Church 193 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1811, 12. 
 
 Denth of Bp. Madison— Renewal of diocesan convention— Election of Dr. 
 Bracken to the episcopate— He refuses it— Dr. Moore electo-l— His early 
 lifn— Ministerial success— He vi.'its the diocese— Stirs ui; 'l^. .spirit of 
 CliiirchmeM— Revival of tlir- Chiircli— Orowtli of Church pilnoiples— Im- 
 prove! canons— Theolosical seinin:iry four, !ed— And poor scholars fund 
 —Dr. Meade elected "^iiffrai'an, with a restriction— Cnndiirt of the house 
 of Riiiops— Removal of restrictions— Bishop B. Monrp of New-York ap- 
 plies for an assi^t^nt Bishop- Dr. .1. H. Hol.irt el"ftei!— His origin and 
 yoiHh— First niinisti-rial charge in Pennsylvania— Removes to New-York 
 His studies— Publications-Services in state and <reneral Convention- 
 Controversy with Dr. Mason— Elected Bishop— Opposition— Bi--Iiop Pro- 
 voo^t's cl.aim to the bishoprick of Ne-.v-York— Disiillowr-l bv the Conve_n- 
 tioii— Bishop White's treatment of Bishop Hobart— and high esteem for 
 him . . . • 
 
 20G 
 
 228 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FROM 1810 TO 1890. 
 
 Episcopate of Bishop Hobart— First two years of opposition— Rise of Church 
 societies- Effect upon the laity- New tone of feelin'/ and action— Bishop 
 Hobart with his cler?y — His lan?ua?e as to the Church of Rome — His visi- 
 tations— General spread of the Church— Incrpa«e of bishopries- State of 
 
 " the West" Need of missionary pastors — Pioneers of the Church — T.,ay 
 
 readers— Samuel Gunn— His earlv years— Labors — Removal to Ohio- 
 Consecration of Bishop Chase— His life— Founds Kenyon College— Its 
 
 buililint.' Students — Their missionary excursions — How received— Funds 
 
 for domestic purposes— Jackson Kemper— Bishop Hobart's canon— His 
 labors ainon?st the Indians— Oneida reserves— Eleazer Williams— His 
 history— The Bishop's visit 
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 FiioM 1820 TO 1836. 
 
 American education— Temper of American Youth— Jealousy of hi?h educa- 
 cation- \bsence of theolojical traininsr- Foundation of the GeneralTheo- 
 lofieal Seminary- Its success— Bishop Hobart's connexion with K— His 
 death— And character- Bishop B. T. Onderdonk succeeds— Increase of 
 the episcopate— Bishops Raven-croft ami Ives of North Carolina— Bishop 
 Meade of Virsiuia— And H. U. Onderdonk, assistant bishop of Pennsyl- 
 vania—Bishop Chase of Ohio— Resigns his bishopric— Consecrations of 
 Bishops M'llvaine of Ohio, Hopkins of Vermont. Smith of Kentucky, and 
 Doane of New-Jprsev— Chan?e of feelin-r as to the episcopate— Conven- 
 tion of 183=>—Bi-hop Chase of Illinois— Division of dioceses— New ortrani- 
 zation of missionary board— The missionary bishop— Bishop Kemper con- 
 secratod— Success of the new plan— Subsequent growth of the Church— 
 Bishop White'8 illness— Death and character 261 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. PA»«. 
 
 Present influence of the Episcopal Church — Rapid extension — Estimated 
 numbers — Clergy — Extent and population of dioceses — lufluence on the 
 moral character of the people — Favorable symptoms — Sects — Revivals — 
 Socinianisni — Sober tone of the Church — Duelling — Its character in Ame- 
 rica — Instance — Church resists duels — Canon — Instance — Unfavorable 
 Symptoms — Divorce — Marriage — Treatment of the colored race — Thegreat 
 sore of America — State of negroes in the South, religious, moral, physical 
 — Slave-breeding states — Internal slave-trade — Duty of the Church to testi- 
 fy — Her silence — Participation — Palliation of these evils — State of the 
 colored population in the North — Insults — Degradation — Caste — Duty of 
 the Church — Her silence — Case of General Theological Seminary — Alex- 
 ander Crummell — Estimate of her influence — Her small hold on the poor — 
 Architecture and arrangement of churches — Pew-rent system — Prospects 
 of the Church — Danger from indiff'erence to formal truth — Chaplains to 
 Congress — Thomas Jefferson — Romanism — Its schismatical rise in Ameri- 
 ca — Spread in the West — Promises a refuge from the sects — Courts de- 
 mocracy — Main resistance from the Church — How she may be strong — 
 Need of adhering to her own principles — Of a high moral tone — The slave- 
 question — Favorable promise — Higher principles — More care of the poor 
 — Colored race — Gains on the population — Conclusion 288 
 
AMERICAN CHUECH 
 
THE 
 
 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Intprest of general subject-Times of Queen Elizabeth— Influence 
 of the Rerormation-Martin Frobishei— His first voyage-a na- 
 tive kidnapped— Second and tliird voyages— Master Wo tall- 
 Black ore— Sir Humphrey Gilbert— Letters patent— Rehgious 
 purpose of colonisation -Prospect of its late fulhlment-Gilbert s 
 second voyage-His death-Sir Walter Raleigh-H.s expeditions 
 —Tobacco— Settlements— Raleigh's troubles : and death— Settle- 
 ment of Virginia— Robert Hunt— James Town— Captain Smith- 
 Trials of the Settlers— Starving time— Lord Delaware— Master 
 Bucke—Wliitaker— Pocahontas— Early laws. 
 
 Few subjects can be more full of interest to members of 
 the Church of England than the history of the Church in 
 America. Indeed, the Church in every daughter nation 
 has larcre claims on the affections of the mother state ; and 
 other circumstances here combine to strengthen the strait 
 bands of Christian love. Our long neglect ot our bounden 
 duty followed as it has been by God's merciful acceptance 
 of our latest service, may well call out our affection for 
 this child of our old age. Full of interest is it also to 
 watch the up-growth of such a body amongst institutions 
 so unlike our own ; to note its various nourishment and 
 well-proportioned increase in the western wilderness, into 
 -w^hich it has been given wings to fly. 
 
 Such a narrative is full also of instruction. Many are 
 the grounds for self-upbraiding and humiliation which it 
 brings before us ; and rich are its lessons as to the true 
 treatment in religious matters of the dependent colonies of 
 any Chistian people. 
 
 The age of Elizabeth, fertile in great men, produced 
 
16 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 especially great naval heroes : all the circumstances of the 
 nation favored their production. The fierce hostility of 
 Spain forced upon England especial attention to her navy. 
 The service of the sea had not as yet grown into a sepa- 
 rate profession ; to equip and to command a ship became 
 a common practice of ambitious courtiers, and even of in- 
 dependent country gentlemen. The rich plate fleets of 
 Spain often repaid the expense of fitting out an expedition, 
 and not seldom was a goodly inheritance sold to furnish 
 forth the daring adventurer. To this inducement was 
 added the alluring hope of making profitable foreign set- 
 tlements. The mines of Spanish America glittered be- 
 fore the eyes of many an ardent Englishman ; and he 
 eagerly exchanged his patrimony here for the hope of 
 those golden acres which he expected to possess on the 
 other side of the Atlantic, on the easy terms of paying the 
 Glueen the fifth part of all precious metals. 
 
 Other causes, moreover, were at work preparing the 
 way for extensive emigration. The reformation of religion 
 had restored to its full vigor the national life of England, 
 which even popery had not been strong enough to stifle 
 utterly ; and one of the first fruits of this revival was, its 
 sending forth its race beyond the narrow limits of their 
 own land. This tendency to wander has always marked 
 the Anglo-Saxon family ; and the formation of a middle 
 class, by the diffusion of wealth and the spread of mercan- 
 tile adventure, at once set the current into active motion. 
 It was accordingly in the reign of Elizabeth that the first 
 attempt was made to found an English colony on the 
 shores of America. 
 
 The first steps which led to the vast undertaking 
 are not a little curious. Among the stirring spirits of the 
 time none adventured more in maritime exploits than 
 Captain Martin Frobisher. He " being persuaded of a 
 new and nearer passage to Cataya* than by Cape de 
 Buona Speranza, which the Portuguese yearly use, deter- 
 mined with himself to go and make full proof thereof "t 
 
 * i. c. China. 
 
 f Hackluyt's Colloctioa of Early Voyages, vol. iii. p. 85. 
 
MARTIN FROBISHER. 17 
 
 After many delays he accordingly set forth upon the 15th 
 of June, 1576, in two barques of twenty and twenty-five 
 tons burden, provisioned for twelve months, on this dan- 
 gerous voyage. Deserted by his second barque, this gal- 
 lant man pushed on in those unknown regions, amidst 
 " cruel storms of snow and haile, great islands of yce, and 
 mighty deere that seemed to be mankinde, which ranne at 
 him so that hardly he escaped with his life :"* until he 
 discovered the straits which bear his name.f Having ad- 
 vanced so far, and finding the cold still increasing, he 
 turnetl his face homeward ; but first being desirous to 
 bring thence some token of his travel, he wrought what, 
 in the temper of the times, is ternxed by his biographer " a 
 pretty policy." Knowing that the natives " greatly de- 
 lighted in toyes and belles, he rang a pretty low bell, 
 making signs that he would give him the same who would 
 come and fetch it : and because they would not come 
 within his danger for feare, he flung one bell unto them, 
 which of purpose he threw short, that it might fall into 
 the sea and be lost ; and to make them more greedy of 
 the matter, he rang a louder bell, so that in the end one 
 of them came neere the ship side to receive the belle, and 
 was taken himself ; for the captain being readily provided, 
 let the bell fall, and caught the man fast, and plucked 
 him with maine force, boat and all, into his barke ; which 
 strange infidell, whose like was never scene, read, nor 
 heard of before, was a sufficient witness of the captains 
 farre and tedious travel. "J 
 
 But the native thus cruelly kidnapped was not the 
 only specimen they gathered. They brought home also 
 "some floures, some greene grass, and one a piece of blacke 
 stone, much like to a sea-cole in coloure, which by the 
 weigrht seemed to be some kind of metall or minerall." 
 This was " a thing of no account at first sight, in the 
 judgment of the captain ;" but after his return " it fortuned 
 a gentlewoman, one of the adventurers wives, to have a 
 
 » Hackluyt, vol. iii. pp. 67, 68, 87. 
 
 f Frobisher's Straits, lying to the north of Cape Farewell and 
 West Greenland, long. 42 W., lat. 63 N, 
 t Hackluyt, vol. iii. p. 87. 
 
18 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 piece thereof, which by chance she threw and burned in. 
 the fire so long, that at the length being taken forth and 
 quenched iu a little vmegar, it glistered with a bright 
 marqiiesset of gold ;" wliereupon, having been adjivlged by 
 certain goldfiners in London " to holde golde, and that very 
 nobly for the quantity," it inflamed the public mind with 
 notions of the great wealth of those parts ; and in the hope 
 of rivalling the mines of Peru, another expedition was 
 shortly afterwards set forth. 
 
 The captain's " special commission" on this voyage was 
 directed to the searching for this golden ore ; and so high 
 was expectation raised, that he was admitted, before he 
 sailed, into the Glueen's presence ; and after " kissing her 
 highness' hand, with gracious countenance and comforta- 
 ble words, departed towards his charge." He sailed with 
 three ships on May 26th, 1577, hoping to bring home vast 
 spoils of gold from the frozen shores of the meta incognita. 
 On reaching this inhospitable coast, these expectations were 
 increased by their finding " spiders, which, as many affirm, 
 are signes of great store of gold,"* and by the assurance 
 that streams flowed into the sea beneath the frozen surface, 
 " by which the earth within is kept Avarmer, and springs 
 have their recourse, which is the only nutriment of golde 
 and minerals."! 
 
 When, therefore, the expedition reached the straits, no 
 new discoveries were attempted ; but having, " with five 
 poore miners and the help of a few gentlemen and sol- 
 diers," who labored so hard that, by " overstraining, they 
 received hurts not a little dangerous," " reasonably well 
 filled their shippes," they set sail with about 200 tons of 
 ore, " every man therewithal well comforted," and reached 
 home safely on the 23d day of September. 
 
 The captain of the returning expedition repaired to 
 Windsor, " to advertise her Majesty of his prosperous pro- 
 ceedings." These were considered of so promising a cha- 
 racter, that a larger expedition was soon planned, which 
 was to carry out a " number of chosen soldiers and discreet 
 men, who should be assigned to inhabit there." For this 
 
 * Hackluyt, vol. iii. pp. 63, 88. t Ibid. p. 64. 
 
EARLY VOYAGES. 19 
 
 purpose forty mariners, thirty miners, and thirty soldiers, 
 besides gentlemen, goldfmers, bakers, carpenters, and other 
 necessary persons, were embarked on board of " fifteen sayle 
 of good ships," which set oft' from Harwich on the 31st of 
 May. 
 
 The name of one other adventurer must not be left un- 
 recorded, since a higher object than the thirst of gold led 
 him to face the dangers of the frozen sea. This was one 
 " Master Wolfall. a learned man, appointed by her Majesty's 
 council to be their minister and preacher, who, being well 
 seated and settled at home in his owne countrey, with a 
 good and large living, having a good honest woman to wile 
 and very towardly children, being of good reputation 
 amongst the best, refused not to take in hand this painfull 
 voyage, for the only care he had to save soules and to re- 
 form those infidels, if it were possible, to Christianitie."* 
 
 Frobisher again acted as admiral ; but the season was 
 less favorable than it had been in former years. The straits 
 were closed ; and they were " forced many times to stemme 
 and strike great rocks of yce, and so, as it were, make way 
 through mighty mountaines." The icebergs were so vast, 
 that, under the action of the sun, their tops melted and 
 poured do-vni streams " which made a pretie brooke, able 
 to drive a mill." One bark was struck by such a fl.oating 
 island, and " sunk down therewith in the sight of the whole 
 fleete ;" whilst the rest "were faine to submit themselves 
 and their ships to the mercy of the unmercyful yce, strength- 
 ening the sides of their ships with juncks of cables, beds, 
 mastes, plankes, and such like, which being hanged over- 
 board, on the sides of their ships, might the better defend 
 them from the outrageous sway and stroke of the said yce."t 
 "The brunt," however, "of these so great and extreme 
 dangers, the painfull mariners and poore miners overcame," 
 and about the beginning of Augu.st, they reached their 
 former harbor in safety ; for which " they highly praysed 
 God, and altogether, upon their knees, gave Him due, 
 humble, and heartie thanks." Upon such occasions, 
 " Master Wolfall celebrated a communion upon land, at 
 
 * Hackluyt, vol iii. p. 116. f Hackluyt, vol. ili. p 109, <tc. 
 
20 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the partaking whereof was the captaine and many other 
 gentlemen, and souldiers, mariners, and miners, with him. 
 The celebration of the Divine mystery was the first signe, 
 seale, and confirmation of Christ's name, death, and pas- 
 sion ever knowen in these quarters." 
 
 But it was soon found that the main object of the ex- 
 pedition must be abandoned. The fear of death from cold 
 and hunger possessed those who were selected to remain, 
 and they threatened a mutiny. In the quaint language of 
 their historian, they did "greatly feare being driven to seek 
 sowre sallets amongst the cold cliffs ;" and it was at length 
 resolved that they should defer the intended settlement 
 until another year, and return home, laden with the black 
 ore which promised gold. When this delusion was dis- 
 covered we are not told ; but after tliis voyage, the "black 
 ore" is never mentioned farther. 
 
 Such were the first attempts at forming an English 
 settlement in America ; fruitless in themselves, and yet 
 preparing the way for wiser and more successful efforts. 
 Men with nobler aims than finding ore of gold were soon 
 engaged in the work. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, himself a 
 courtier of Q,ueen Elizabeth, and nearly connected with 
 that "prince of courtesy," Sir Walter Raleigh, was "the 
 first of our nation that caused people to erect an habitation 
 and government in these countreys." Instead of seeking 
 to discover mines and acquire great riches suddenly, he 
 desired "to prosecute effectually the full possession of these 
 so ample and pleasant countreys for the crown and people 
 of England." Amidst the motives given for this his so 
 " virtuous and heroical minde," are " the honor of God, 
 compassion of poore infidels captived by the devil (it 
 seeming probable that God hath reserved these Gentiles to 
 be reduced into Christian civility by the English nation), 
 advancement of his honest and well-disposed countrymen 
 willing to accompany him in such honorable actions, and 
 reliefe of sundry people within this realme distressed." 
 
 These were great and noble ends, and they were not 
 lightly undertaken ; he knew that " the carriage of God's 
 word into those very mighty and vast countreys was a high 
 
RELIGIOUS PURPOSE OF COLONIZATION. 21 
 
 and excellent matter, likely to excite Grod's heavy judg- 
 ments if it were intermeddled in with base purposes." 
 
 His preparations were suitable to these convictions. 
 He sacrificed the bulk of his fortune at home, in order to 
 complete the equipment of his ships ; and gathered a nu- 
 merous party of volunteers to settle this new land. The 
 letters patent, which were granted to him by the Q,ueen, 
 proceed upon the supposition, that the spread of the Chris- 
 tian faith amongst the natives justified such settlements. 
 His patent granted him "free power and liberty to discover 
 all such HEATHEN LANDS as Were not actually possessed by 
 any Christian prince or people." To his settlers were 
 secured the rights of Englishmen ; whilst to himself was 
 assigned the sole jurisdiction, civil and military, of the 
 country witliin 200 leagues of his settlement, " provided 
 always, that the statutes he devized should be, as near as 
 conveniently might, agreeable to the laws and policy of 
 England ; and provided also, that they be not against the 
 true Christian faith professed in the Church of England." 
 
 The most marked feature of the whole adventure is 
 this repeated recognition of the making known the faith 
 of Christ as its leading object : and far as after years 
 fell below these early aspirations, and long, therefore, 
 as this blessed end has been deferred, we at least who 
 look across the broad Atlantic to the orderly and 
 happy increase of the daughter Church, are allowed to 
 witness much of its completion. Few sights can call 
 more loudly for deep gratitude to God. Our own peculiar 
 situation must make us watch with an unusual love the 
 welfare of this body ; for, as an independent national com- 
 munion, this is our only ofi'spring ; and we are separated 
 more or less from all around us. Old divisions, centuries 
 ago, have parted widely the East from the West ; whilst, 
 nearer home, the deep pollutions and schismatical violence 
 of Rome have rudely shivered the visible unity of Christen- 
 dom ; dividing us through our recovered purity of doctrine 
 from all in union with herself, and leading to our separa- 
 tion from the mass of the reformed communions throusfh 
 that want of apostolic order with which the clinging curse 
 of her old corruption has afflicted them. There are few 
 
22 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 sadder thoughts for painful hearts than those which spring 
 from the consideration of these multiphed divisions. Those 
 who remember that their Lord's last prayer for His dis- 
 ciples was, that " they all might be one," must long earn- 
 estly for that time when in visible oneness, "the Holy 
 Church throughout all the world shall acknowledge Him." 
 They must weep for the remembrance of those early ages, 
 when those that believed in Christ in different lands were 
 all seen by the joints of the common episcopate to be of 
 one body and in communion with each other. 
 
 How our present divisions can be healed, and the bless- 
 ing of visible unity again be restored to the Church, the 
 most sanguine specvilations cannot forecast. But the first 
 great obstacle which bars all progress towards it is, the fear- 
 ful error, that the difierent members of the Church must 
 find their union with each other through union Math the see 
 of Rome. For this is, indeed, to deny the presence of Christ 
 with His Church, which is her true glory : since that pre- 
 sence would make her everywhere a centre to herself, and 
 would unite her several parts between themselves by their 
 common union with Him. This, therefore, exalts into the 
 place of Christ that which they fondly name " the Holy 
 See," and makes the Church the representative of an 
 absent, instead of the instrument for conveying to each 
 soul the mysterious presence of an unseen Saviour. 
 
 This one delusion must prevent our ever desiring 
 any union with Rome. For it is not merely that her 
 creed is defaced with human additions, or her practice 
 fallen and corrupt on separate points : these we might 
 hope to see one by one abandoned or reformed, until the 
 time might come when we would be again united with 
 her. But this cannot be until this master-deceit is alto- 
 gether thrown aside ; until she shall cease to exalt the 
 Church, as she designates her own communion, into the 
 place of Christ, and to require oneness with it, as the con- 
 dition of union with her Lord. 
 
 Most unlike this was the union of the earliest times ; 
 when, with no professed visible centre of unity, each dio- 
 cese, under its own bishop, was a free and equal member 
 of the common body ; and all was gathered into unity 
 
Sm HUMPHREY GH^BERT. 23 
 
 under one Head — their unseen but present Saviour. The 
 best promise of such a restoration is in the wide-spread and 
 intimate connexion of those branches of the Church which 
 are reformed hi doctrine, and apostohcal in disciphne. 
 
 On every ground, therefore, v.e must needs look with 
 more than common interest upon the daughter-communion 
 of the West. This is "the seed the Lord hath given us ;" 
 these are the cliildren of her who was too long barren. In 
 our intercourse with them we may return to the happy 
 condition of primitive times, when the people of Christ, 
 though in various coimtries and under different rules, made 
 up but one body, and lived in the daily and perpetual in- 
 terchange of acts of Christian brotherhood. Such a fellow- 
 ship with distant countries we shall find the best argument 
 against the specious show of Roman unity, and one great 
 safeguard for our people against its allurements. 
 
 In this connexion, therefore, it is full of interest to 
 trace back our first national attempts at founding colonies 
 to the spirit of the reformation ; to find that we owe, in 
 no slight measure, our maritime supremacy and wide colo- 
 nial empire to the same true-hearted martyrs who, under 
 God, bequeathed to us, by their witness and their blood, 
 our English Bible and reformed communion. 
 
 The first expedition was designed in strict accordance 
 with the royal charter ; but when just on the eve of 
 sailing, dissension broke up the band. Nothing daunted, 
 however, the gallant Sir Humphrey still set forth, with a 
 small company of faitliful adherents. Of the adventures 
 of tliis voyage there is scarcely any record. Its issue was 
 unfortunate ; mainly, as it is beUeved, from a conflict 
 with the Spaniards, when, in a " dangerous sea-fight, 
 many of his company were slain, and his ships therewith 
 also sore battered and disabled."* 
 
 Five years elapsed before any fresh expedition was 
 fitted out ; but in 1 585 the approaching expiration of his 
 patent, which was to last but six years unless some set- 
 tlement was efiected, spurred him on to one more effort. 
 The sale of all his landed propery, with the assistance of 
 
 * HoUinshed's Chronicles, vol. ii. fol. 1586, epist ded. 
 
24 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 other wealthy adventurers, enabled him to fit up two 
 ships and three small barques, with which he set forth to 
 colonise the new world. He sailed with the highest ex- 
 pectations. The haughty Elizabeth, though she would 
 not share in the risk of the undertaking, condescended to 
 bestow on him a golden anchor, in proof of her esteem ; 
 and Parmenius, an Hungarian scholar, went with him to 
 chronicle his voyage. He crossed the Atlantic safely ; and 
 having reached the harbor of St. John's, Newfoundland — 
 even then a fishing-station where thirty-six sail of all na- 
 tions were assembled — he took possession of the territory, 
 in spite of opposition, in his sovereign's name. Here a 
 Saxon "mineral man," who formed part of his company, 
 assured him, " on the peril of his life," that an ore he had 
 discovered was nothing else than silver, which " is gene- 
 rally found in cold climates."* But Gilbert was above 
 the low temptations of avarice. His views were of a no- 
 bler kind ; and, ordering his " mineral man" to guard 
 sacredly the secret, he resolved to prosecute a full exami- 
 nation of the southern coast. Had his success equalled 
 his resolution, he might have been the first settler of the 
 United States ; but the weather, the dangers of the coast, 
 and the restless temper of his crews, all conspired against 
 him. Deserted by two of his captains and many of his 
 men, he was obliged to leave one ship behind ; and him- 
 self commanding one of his barques, the Squirrel, he steered 
 southward with it and two of his remaining ships. They 
 were soon entangled amongst shoals and shallows ; and 
 losing one ship with almost all its crew, including the 
 " mineral man" and the Hungarian scholar, Gilbert was 
 forced, most unwillingly, to turn his course homeward. 
 His own little barque was ill suited for the violence of the 
 open sea ; but he would not forsake his comrades. On 
 the voyage the storms grew " more dangerous," and he 
 was pressed to come on board the larger vessel. "We are 
 as near to heaven by sea as by land," was the answer of 
 the gallant man. But he could not save the crew he 
 would not leave. That same night, as he led the way, his 
 
 * Harris. 
 
SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 25 
 
 ccmpanions in the large vessel saw the lights of his barque 
 suddenly extinguished : she had sunk utterly with all on 
 board. 
 
 Disappointment could not damp the spirit which was 
 kindled ; and (Tilbert found a worthy successor in his half- 
 brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. In the following March 
 (1581) he obtained a patent, and sent forth two well-ap- 
 pointed vessels, which sailed at once to the coast of Caro- 
 lina. Raleigh was too much engaged at court to lead the 
 expedition ; and his commanders, who seem to have been, 
 men of no mark, only landed to take possession of the soil, 
 and then returned to spread abroad in England the fame 
 of the paradise which they had seen. 
 
 Charmed with these descriptions, Elizabeth bestowed 
 upon the new country, as a record of herself, the title of 
 Virginia ; and Raleigh sent out, in the foUowuig year, 
 seven vessels, manned with more tlian 100 colonists. But 
 again the incapacity of their commanders disappointed all 
 liis hopes. Tlie resources of the expedition were wasted 
 in a fruitless search for mines of gold, until, at length, fif- 
 teen men being left behind to guard the island of Roanoke, 
 on the shores of what is now known as Xorth Carolina, 
 the rest of the intended colony returned to England. 
 Amongst these were some A\'ho had noted carefully the 
 natural advantages of the country they had visited, and 
 their report kept alive the spirit of adventure. It is not a 
 little curious to review their discoveries. One of them 
 was the value of the tuberous roots of the potato ; and 
 the other is thus stated by Thomas Hariot, "a man of 
 learning, and a very observing person, a domestick of Sir 
 Walter's, and highly in his patron's friendship." — " There 
 is an herb which is sowed apart by itself, and is called by 
 the natives uppowoc. The leaves thereof being dried and 
 brought into powder, they use to take the fume or smoke 
 thereof by sucking it through pipes made of clay, into 
 their stomach or head : from whence it purgeth super- 
 fiueous fleame, and other grosse huinores, and openeth all 
 the pores of the body ; . . . . whereby their bodies are 
 notably preserved in health. This uppowoc is of so pre- 
 cious estimation amongst them, that they tliinke their gods 
 2 
 
26 AMERICAN CHUKCH. 
 
 are marvellously delighted therewith ; whereupon some- 
 time they make hallowed fires, and cast some of the pow- 
 der thereon for a sacrifice : being in a storme upon the 
 waters, to pacify their gods they caste some therein and 
 into the aire ; also, after an escape of danger, they caste 
 some into the aire likewise : but all done with strange 
 gestures, stamping, sometime dancing, clapping of hands, 
 holding up of hands, and staring up into the heavens, uttering 
 therewithall and chattering stransre words and noises. We 
 ourselves, during the time we were there, used to sucke it 
 after their manner, as also since our return, and have 
 found many rare and wonderfull experiments of the ver- 
 tues thereof : of which the relation would require a volume 
 by itself : the use of it by so many of late, men and wo- 
 men of great calling, as els, and some learned physicians 
 also, is sufficient witnessc."* 
 
 One result followed from tliis voyage. Raleigh learned 
 from it to look to agricultural produce as the staple of his 
 intended colony. In the next spring a fleet of transports 
 sailed, carrying out a numerous band of emigrants, who, 
 with their wives and families, adventured themselves to 
 settle in this new world. They landed upon the island of 
 Roanoke, where, as an evil omen, they found nothing but 
 the scattered bones of their unhappy predecessors. There, 
 however, they founded the city of Raleigh ; and here was 
 born the first Anglo-American, the grand-daughter of 
 Raleigh's governor ; Virginia Dare.f 
 
 But America was not as yet to be tenanted by the 
 Anglo-Saxon race. As the summer closed, the colonists 
 looked homeward v/ith anxious longing, and began to fear 
 that they had been forgotten. By passionate entreaties 
 
 * Hackluyt, vol. iii. p. 831. Harlot. "It is related," says the 
 historian of Virginia, " that a country servant of Sir Walter's bring- 
 ing him a tankard of ale into his study as he was intently engaged 
 at his book, smoking a pipe of tobacco, the fellow was so fright- 
 ened at seeing the smoke reek out of his mouth, that he threw the 
 ale into his face in order to extinguish the fire, and ran down stairs 
 alarming the family, and crying out his master was on fire, and, be- 
 fore they coulci get up, would be burnt to ashes." 
 t Stith's History of Virginia. 
 
TREATMENT OF RALEIGH. 27 
 
 they forced their governor to an ixnwilUng return on their 
 behalf. He found England gathering up her energies to 
 repel the invincible armada. All communication with the 
 new colony was for a season suspended ; and when the 
 storm had cleared away, and Raleigh sent again to visit 
 his settlement, no trace of the mihappy settlers could be 
 found. Six times, with decreasing hopes, but with uncon- 
 quered resolution, did this great man despatch expeditions, 
 on the same errand, till his fortune was expended in the 
 fruitless search. With the accession of King James in 
 1603, fresh misfortunes crowded upon his declining years. 
 On a charge of intending to change the succession to the 
 crown, he was tried for high treason on most improbable 
 evidence, convicted, and condemned to die. This sentence 
 was not then executed ; but for twelve years, in spite of 
 the friendship of Prince Henry, who indignantly declared 
 that " no king but his father would keep such a bird in a 
 cage," he was left to luiger m the Tower. In 1G16 he 
 was discharged ; and, still bent upon his old plans, he 
 sacrificed all his remaining property, even to his plate, to 
 fit out one more expedition to the west. Its issue was 
 altogether disastrous. He lost all that he had adventured ; 
 and, far beyond all other losses, he saw his eldest son fall 
 during its course. A letter to his wife after this event 
 strikingly displays his character ; — " I was loth to \vrite," 
 he says, " because I know not how to comfort you ; and 
 God knows I never knew what sorrow meant till now. 
 All that I can say to you is, that you must obey the will 
 and pro\'idence of God, and remember that the Gtueen's 
 majesty bore the loss of Prince Henry with a magnanimous 
 heart. Comfort your heart, dearest Bess ; I shall sorrow 
 for us both ; and I shall sorrow the less because I have 
 not long to sorrow, because not long to live. The Lord 
 bless and comfort you, that you may bear patiently the 
 death of your most valiant son." 
 
 The prediction which closed this letter did not wait 
 long for its fulfilment. He wa? arrested immediately on 
 landing, and first accused of exceeding his commission in 
 tliis voyage. Tliis pretext, however, proved too shallow 
 to justify liis execution ; and as nothing less would satisfy 
 
28 AMERICAN CHURCH, 
 
 his enemies, his old sentence was revived, and under that 
 he sufiered pubUcly, October 29, 1618. 
 
 But the great vi^ork in which he had been a pioneer 
 was now about to be accomphshed. The various expedi- 
 tions he had manned kept ixp a constant intercourse be- 
 tween America and England ; and in 1606, anew company 
 applied for and obtained from James I. a charter for the 
 settling of Virginia. The names of two knights, several 
 gentlemen, and Richard Hackluyt, clerk, prebendary of 
 Westminster, appear in this document. 
 
 This design included the establishment of a northern 
 and southern colony ; and amidst "the articles, instructions, 
 and orders" of the charter, provision was made for the due 
 carrying out of that which is the highest end of every 
 Christian colony. For it is expressly ordered, that " the 
 said presidents, councils, and ministers should provide that 
 the true word and service of God be preached, planted, 
 and used, according to the rites and doctrine of the Church 
 of England, not only in the said colonies, but also, as much 
 as might be, amongst the savages bordering upon them ;" 
 and " that all persons should kindly treat the savage and 
 heathen people in those parts, and use all proper means to 
 draw them to the true service and knowledge of God."* 
 
 This expedition sailed upon the 19th of December, 1606, 
 and reached Cape Henry, in Virginia, on the 26th of April, 
 1607. Their voyage had been tedious and dangerous ; and 
 would have been absolutely ruined by internal disagree- 
 ment, but for the healing influence of the Rev. Robert 
 Hunt, a priest of the English Church, Avho, as tlieir first 
 chaplain, accompanied the expedition. Happy were they 
 in the choice of this good man, who went forth to the 
 strange land with all the zeal and earnestness of apostolic 
 times. " Six weekes," says one of the party,t " wee were 
 kept in sight of England by unprosperous winds ; all which 
 time Mr. Hunt, our preacher, was so weake and sicke that 
 few expected his recoverie : yet although wee were but ten 
 or twelve miles from his habitation (the time wee were 
 in the Downes), and notwithstanding the stormy weather, 
 
 * Stith, b. ii. pp. 37, 40, f Purchas'e Pilgrims, p. 1705, 
 
EARLIEST SETTLEJIENT. 29 
 
 nor the scandalous impntation (of some few, little better 
 than atheists, of the greatest rank amongst us) suggested 
 ao^ainst him, all this could never force from him so much 
 as a seeming desire to leave the busniesse, but preferred 
 the service of God, in so good a voyage, before any alfec- 
 tion to contest with his godlesse foes, w^hose disastrous de- 
 signs had even then overthrownc the business, had he not, 
 with the water of patience and his godly exhortations (but 
 chiefly by his true devoted example), quenched these flames 
 of envy and dissension." 
 
 Fresh troubles broke out in the little band as soon as 
 they arrived, when again his influence alone healed the 
 division ; and he had the joy of administering the holy 
 eucharist to the united company upon the 14th of May, 
 1607, the day after their first landing. Here, on a penui- 
 sula, upon the northern shore of James River, was sown 
 the first seed of Englishmen, M'ho were in after years to 
 grow and midtiply into the great and numerous American 
 people. It was an omen for good, that almost their first 
 act on reacliing land was to ofi'er unto God this appointed 
 " sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving ;" and that amongst 
 the first humble reed-thatched houses in which, under the 
 name of James Town, they found shelter for themselves, 
 they at once erected one to be the church and temple of 
 the rising settlement. 
 
 On their first landing, everything smiled around them. 
 They " fomid a country which might claim the prerogative 
 over the most pleasant places in the known world, for large 
 and majestic navigable rivers ; for beautiful mountains, 
 hills, plains, valleys ; rivulets and brooks gurgling down 
 and running most pleasantly into a fair bay, encompassed 
 on all sides, except at the mouth, with such fruitful and 
 delijrhtful land. Heaven and earth seemed never to have 
 agreed better to frame a place for man's commodious and 
 delightful habitation, were it fully cultivated and inhabited 
 by industrious people."* 
 
 But this bright morning was soon clouded over ; and 
 the first years of the colony were, as is commonly the case, 
 
 * Stith, b. ii. p. 48. 
 
30 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 years of discouragement and sorroAV. All the forms of 
 suffering pressed on them in turn. Their Indian neigh- 
 bors slew many by treachery ; they were often disunited 
 among themselves ; they depended for subsistence on the 
 supplies of food they could obtain from home, and from the 
 neighboring tribes, — so that any failure here (and failures 
 were frequent) threw them at once into the miseries of 
 famine : upon this disease, followed hard, imtil at times 
 almost all tlie population was mowed down. " Unwhole- 
 some water," says George Percy, brother of the Earl of 
 Northumberland, himself one of the sufferers, " was our 
 drink ; our lodgings, castles in the air." Within ten days 
 of the ships leaving them, the colonists " fell into such 
 violent sickness that scarce ten amongst them could either 
 go or stand."* Half of those who had been left perished 
 before the setting in of winter. 
 
 The fate of the colony seemed to hang upon one man. 
 In spite of the bitterest envy, the merits of Captain Smith 
 raised him to supreme command ; and he alone was equal 
 to the great emergencies of every day. His early Irfef 
 had fitted him for daring deeds. Trained in the war in 
 which the Low Countries fought, for freedom and their 
 faith, against the power of Spain, he had afterwards main- 
 tained the borders of Christendom against the Turks in 
 Hungary. Being taken prisoner in a skirmish, he was 
 sold into slavery ; sent first to Constantinople, and thence, 
 with a merciful intention, to the Crimea. Here being 
 sorely oppressed by those who were charged to protect 
 him, he escaped after a desperate encounter with his 
 guards, and passed on horseback through the skirts of 
 Russia to his old Hungarian quarters. We find him next 
 in northern Africa, whence he returned to England in time 
 to cast himself into the current which was then sweeping 
 the most daring spirits to the unknown regions of the New 
 World. In the sufterings and dangers of this expedition 
 his courage never failed. He made excursions amongst 
 the neighboring tribes of Indians ; he obtained supplies of 
 food ; defeated hostile attacks ; sunk, or threatened to sink, 
 
 * Stith, b. ii. p. 47. f Bancroft's America. 
 
ROBERT HUNT. 31 
 
 the barque in which the trembling handful of remainiuof 
 colonists would otherwise have attempted a shameful and 
 impossible return ; and was the great instrument of plant- 
 ing the English race in that reluctant but at length proiilic 
 soil. 
 
 In all his trials he was supported by the zealous aid of 
 the admirable Hunt, whose patient meekness disarmed all 
 opposition, while his cheerful faith was a bright example 
 to the colony. Amid its severest sufferings, it is cheering 
 to find the minister of Christ in that far land repeating 
 those lessons by which his forerunners in the holy office 
 had so often kept ahve the first fault sparks of social life. 
 With unwearied patience he maintained the sinkiiig spirits 
 of his flock by the mighty influence of Christian truth, of 
 which he gave a bright example in his own active faith 
 and cheerful patience. Thus when, in a fire wlrich des- 
 troyed their rising town, "the good Mr. Hunt lost all liis 
 library, with every thing else that he had, except the 
 clothes on his back, yet no one ever heard him murmur or 
 repine at it."* He seems to have entered on the work as 
 one which, in the language of the first royal charter, 
 "may, by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend 
 to the glory of His divine Majesty, in propagating the 
 Christian religion to such people as yet live in darloiess 
 and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and wor- 
 ship of God."t Wlien this good man died, we know not ; 
 it is merely recorded that he left his bones in that land of 
 England's after-inlaeritance. But amongst the earliest 
 settlers liis mantle fell on others of like spirit. In the 
 year 1610, after a period of the sorest famine, "remem- 
 bered for many years by the name of the starving time, "J 
 the few whom hunger and disease had spared resolved to 
 quit for ever this impropitious country. They embarked 
 with all they had iix four small vessels, — " none dropped a 
 tear, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness ;" and 
 had already fallen down the river with the tide, when 
 
 * Stith, b. ii. p. 59. 
 
 t Hazard's State Papers, quoted in Hawks's Virginia, p. 19. 
 
 ^ Stith, b. iii. p. 117. 
 
32 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 they descried the long-boat of Lord Delaware, who, with 
 three ships, and a new commission, had arrived at that 
 precise moment for their rescue. 
 
 He carried back the fainting settlers to their abandoned 
 town, and again took possession of the land with the offi- 
 ces of our holy faith. Hunt was no more : but the new 
 governor was happily attended by a chaplain ; and his 
 were the first services called for by Lord Delaware. " He 
 cast anchor," says one of the new-comers, " before James 
 Towne, where we landed ; and our much grieved gover- 
 nor, first visiting the church, caused the bell to be rung ; 
 at which all such as were able to come forth of their 
 houses repay red to church, which was neatly trimmed 
 with the wild flowers of the country, where our minister, 
 Master Bucke, made a zealous and sorrowful prayer, find- 
 ing all things so contrary to our expectations, and full of 
 misery and misgovernment."* 
 
 Bucke was fixed at James Tov/n, and when, after a 
 few years, the colony had so far taken root as to have 
 spread itself into the neighboring town of Henrico, he was 
 joined by Mr. Whitaker, (son of the celebrated Dr. W. 
 Whitaker, master of St. John's College, Cambridge,) who 
 was established " in a handsome church,"! which, through 
 the zeal of the settlers, was one of the first buildings 
 raised. Whitaker was no unworthy successor of Hunt. 
 By the saint-like Nicholas Ferrar, his contemporary, he 
 was honored with the title of " apostle of Virginia." " I 
 hereby let all men know," writes W. Crashaw,^ in 1613, 
 " that a scholar, a graduate, a preacher, well borne and 
 friended in England ; not in debt nor disgrace, but compe- 
 tently provided for, and liked and loved where he lived ; 
 not in want, but (for a scholar as these days be) rich in 
 possessions, and more in possibility, of himself, without 
 any persuation (but God's and his own heart's,) did volun- 
 tarily leave his warm nest, and, to the wonder of his 
 kindred, and amazement of them that knew him luider- 
 take this hard, but, in my judgment, heroicall resolution 
 
 * Purchas's Pilgrirag, b. ix. c. 6. f Hawks's Virginia, p. 28. 
 X Quoted in Ilawks's Virginia, p. 28. 
 
POCAHONTAS. 33 
 
 to go to Virginia, and helpe to beare the name of God 
 unto the Gentiles." 
 
 With the name of Whitaker is joined the romantic 
 story of the first Indian convert, whom he baptised into 
 the Church of Christ. Pocahontas, the favorite daughter 
 of Powhatan, the most powerful Indian chieftain of those 
 parts, then a girl of twelve years old, saved from barbar- 
 ous murder Captain Smith, the early hero of this colony, 
 whilst a prisoner at her father's court. For years she re- 
 mained the white man's constant friend and advocate ; 
 and even dared to visit, on more than one errand of 
 mercy, the new settlement of James Town. After Cap- 
 tani Smith's removal from Virginia, Pocahontas was en- 
 snared by treachery, and brought a prisoner to the Eng- 
 lish fort. But her captivity was turned into a blessing. 
 She received the faith of Christ, and was not only the 
 first, but one of the most hopeful of the whole band of 
 native converts. Her after-life was strange. She formed 
 a marriage of mutual afi'ection with an English settler of 
 good birtli ; who, after a time, visited his native land, 
 taking with him to its shores his Indian wife and child. 
 She was received with due respect in England ; visited 
 the English court (where her husband bore the froM'ns of 
 the royal pedant James I. for having dared to intermarry 
 with a princess ;) and, after winning the gooduall of all, 
 just on the eve of her return, died at Gravesend, aged 22, 
 in the faith of Jesus. " What would have been the 
 emotions," well asks the ecclesiastical historian of Virgi- 
 nia, " of the devoted missionary, when he admitted Poca- 
 hontas to baptism, could he have foreseen that, after tho 
 lapse of more than two hundred years, the blood of this 
 noble-hearted Indian maiden would be flowing in the 
 veins. of some of the most distinguished members of that 
 Church, the foundations of which he Avas then laying I"* 
 
 But though thus happy in her early clergy, it must not 
 be supposed that the infant Church of Virginia flourished 
 without many a drawback. The mass of those who flock 
 to such a settlement will ever be, Uke David's followers in 
 
 * Dr. Hawks's Memorials of the Church in Virginia, p. 28. 
 
34 AMERICAN CHTJECH. 
 
 the desert, men of broken fortunes and ungoverned habits : 
 the bonds of society are loose ; strong temptations abound ; 
 and there will be much that must rebel not only against 
 morals and rehgion, but even against civil rule. So it 
 was in this case ; and to such a pitch, at one time, had 
 this insubordination risen, that but for the governor's pro- 
 claiming martial law, the whole society had perished 
 through internal strife. 
 
 This code of law may still be seen ; and, as is implied 
 in its title — " Lawes divine, morall, and martiall, for Vir- 
 ginia" — it enforced obedience to the faith of Christ, as the 
 foundation of all relative obligations. There can be little 
 doubt that, in that stage of society, these laws (the harsh 
 penalties attached to which were never enforced) proved 
 a great blessing to the colony, and prepared it for better 
 days. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FEOM 1620 TO 1688. 
 
 Virginian Company — Measures of Sii- E. Sandys, Nicholas Ferrar, 
 and others — Churches endowed — College founded — Mr. Thorpe 
 — Indian massacre — Indian conquest — Effects of the massacre — 
 Virginia in the Great RebeUion — Loyalty — Love of the Church — 
 Efl'ects of Puritan rule — King Charles JL proclaimed — Enactments 
 of Legislature in behalf of the Church — Popish plots suspected. 
 
 It was the great happiness of Virginia, that the company 
 who managed its afihirs contained at this time men v/ho 
 looked far beyond direct commercial profit. Amongst 
 these should he especially remembered the names of Sir 
 Edwin Sandys, son of the Archbishop of York, and pupil 
 of Richard Hooker, and of Mr. Nicholas Ferrar ;* who 
 composed all their letters and instructions to their servants. 
 These, and the rest who acted with them, earnestly de- 
 sired to make the rising colony indeed an outpost of the 
 faith. 
 
 For this end, they endeavored to raise its internal cha- 
 racter ; and many were their schemes with this intent. 
 Their first care was to provide a more settled population, 
 by promoting female emigration and colonial marriages. 
 They laid the foundation of a college for the reception 
 both of the English and Indian youth ; they set apart 
 10,000 acres for its permanent support, and collected large 
 sums of money, both by a king's letter and from private 
 charity, to furnish endowments for a body of professors ; 
 and in a new charter which they now sent out, they pro- 
 vided for the settled maintenance of the colonial clergy. 
 Nor were the settlers backward in the like endeavors. In 
 
 * See "Walton's Life of R. Hooker : and Memoir of Nicholas 
 Ferrar, by Rev. T. M. Macdoaough. 
 
36 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the year 1619, when Sir Thomas Yeardley entered on the 
 government,' he called together the first representative 
 legislature of Virginia. One of the early enactments of 
 this body fixed the payment of their clergy at =£200 worth 
 of corn and tobacco,* their principal productions. One 
 hundred acres were marked off for glebes in every borough, 
 for each of which the company at home provided six ten- 
 ants at the public cost. They applied to the Bishop of 
 London to find for them a body of " pious, learned, and 
 painful ministers;" — a charitable work in which he 
 readily engaged, 
 
 Many large-hearted Christians helped on these good 
 beginnings. The Bishop of Londonf raised c^filOOO to- 
 wards the expenses of their infant college ; an unlinown 
 benefactor sent <£500 more, to be laid out in instructing 
 the young Indians in the faith of Christ. Money to be 
 spent in building churches, and providing communion-plate 
 for those already built, flowed in from other quarters. An 
 exemplary zeal appears in all the dealings of the company. 
 They impressed upon their governors that they " should 
 take into their especial regard the service of Almighty 
 God, and the observance of His divine laws ; and that the 
 people should be trained up in true religion and virtue." 
 They urged them " to employ their utmost care to advance 
 all things appertaining to the order and administration of 
 divine service according to the form and discipline of the 
 Church of England, carefully avoiding all factious and 
 needless novelties, which only tend to the disturbance of 
 peace and unity." 
 
 They besought them " to use all probable means of 
 bringing over the natives to the knowledge of God and 
 His true religion ; to which purpose, the example given 
 by the English in their own persons and families will be 
 of singular and chief moment." They suggest to them 
 that " it will be proper to draw the best disposed amongst 
 the Indians to converse and labor with our people for a 
 convenient reward, that thereby, being reconciled to a 
 civil way of life, and brought to a sense of God and reli- 
 
 • Stith, b. iii. p. 173. f Bp. King. 
 

 INDIAN MASSACRE. 37 
 
 gion, they might afterwards become instruments m the ge- 
 neral conversion of their countrymen, so much desired ; that 
 each town, borough, and hundred, ought to procure, by 
 Just means, a certain number of children to be brought up; 
 that the most towardly of these should be fitted for the 
 college. In all which pious work they earnestly require 
 help and furtherance, not doubting the particular blessing 
 of God upon the colony."* 
 
 All these good beginnings were advancing in the settle- 
 ment. The headship of the college was accepted by an 
 exemplary man, Mr. George Thorpe, of good parts and 
 breeding, (he had been of the king's bedchamber in Eng- 
 land,) from an earnest desire of helping-on the conversion 
 of the Indians. His heart was given to this work, and he 
 sought to farther it in every way. He visited the Indian 
 chiefs at their own haunts, to win them over to the faith 
 of Christ ; and he was ever watching in the colony to re- 
 move every ground of quarrel or ofl'ence. 
 
 The general treatment of the Indian race was mild and 
 friendly. The settlers' houses and tables were open to 
 them ; they often slept under the white men's roofs, and 
 freely used the boats which they had built upon the vari- 
 ous creeks and rivers. The two races promised to blend 
 peaceably together ; whilst Mr. Thorpe and his Christian 
 coadjutors looked gladly forward to the day when, by 
 these Indian tribes, the knowledge of salvation should be 
 spread through all the Western world. 
 
 Yet in the midst of this apparent calm there was 
 secretly arisuig one of those fearful hurricanes to which 
 the neighborhood of Indian life has always been exposed. 
 The red tribes, whose extreme simplicity and seeming 
 mildness had led the English to lay aside the commonest 
 precautions, were forming secretly a Made-spread plot to 
 rid their land at one blow of the strangers, whose increas- 
 ing numbers seemed to make immediate action needful. 
 
 "With that deliberate stillness of preparation which 
 aggravates so fearfully the murdei'ous onset of savage war- 
 fare, the Indians sprang at once upon the whole slumber- 
 
 *Stit!i, b. iv. pp. 19t, 195. 
 
38 AMERICAN CmjRCH. 
 
 ing colony. Neither age nor sex, character nor station, 
 acts of kindness past or present, turned aside in a single 
 instance the knife or hatchet of the savage. Mr. Thorpe 
 was slain and mangled in the midst of his confiding labors ; 
 and within an hour, 347 men, women, and children, were 
 left bleeding and dismembered corpses. Yet, terrible as 
 this blow was, it would have been far more fatal but for 
 the conduct of one Indian convert. His chief sent to him 
 the general order, bidding him slay upon the morrow his 
 unsuspecting master ; but obedience to the laws of clan- 
 ship yielded, in the heart of the Christian Indian, to a 
 higher obligation. As soon as the messenger, his own 
 brother, had departed, he rose and warned his master of 
 the meditated treachery ; thus enabling him not only to 
 preserve his own house, but to prepare the inhabitants of 
 James Town to expect and to resist the blow. The In- 
 dians, finding their attack suspected, retreated from the 
 town, and the great mass of colonists escaped. The con- 
 version of one native man had saved the English settle- 
 ment. 
 
 Yet their miseries were not over. The affrighted 
 colonists fled to the shelter of James Town, where famine 
 soon visited their crowded ranks. When the storm had 
 passed away, the whole face of the settlement was 
 changed. Of " eighty plantations which were advancing 
 to completion, eight only remained ; and of twenty-nine 
 hundred and sixty inhabitants, eighteen hundred were all 
 that were left.*" 
 
 Still the blow had been averted ; the colony was saved ; 
 and its loss was soon repaired by reinforcements from the 
 mother country. But lasting evil had been done ; a spirit 
 of deadly hostility sprang up between the white men and 
 the Indians. To overawe all whom they did not extermi- 
 nate was now their settled policy ; and all thoughts of the 
 college, with its promise of mercy, was wholly laid aside 
 for years. 
 
 Some of the first records of the reviving colony are of a 
 happier character. The first seven laws (amongst thirty- 
 
 * Ha-wks's Virginia, b. iv. p. 1. 
 
LOVE OF THE CHURCH. 39 
 
 five) passed two years afterwards, provide for the interests 
 of religion. They require the erection of a house of wor- 
 ship, and the separation of a burial-ground, on every plan- 
 tation ; they enforce the attendance of the colonists at 
 public worship ; provide for uniformity of faith and worship 
 with the English Church ; prescribe the observance of her 
 holydays, and of a yearly fast upon the anniversary of the 
 massacre ; and enjoin respectful treatment and the payment 
 of a settled stipend to the colonial clergy. 
 
 This Avas almost the last act of the legislature of Vir- 
 ginia whilst it continued under its early charters. Two 
 years afterwards (in 1624) the crown resumed its grant, 
 and the settlement became a royal colony. Although this 
 change, which transferred the management of its affairs 
 from the hands of Sandys and Ferrar to the interested 
 courtiers of King James, had no doubt an influence upon 
 the spiritual interests of the colony, and especially upon its 
 missionary character, yet it produced no direct alteration 
 in religious matters. The laws of the succeeding period 
 continued to enforce the observance of the same duties ; 
 and thoufrh their distance saved the colonists from that fidl 
 severity of rule with which matters were administered at 
 home by the Court of High Commission, yet its decisions 
 were acknowledged as authority, and the harsh tone which 
 was now unhappily assumed in England was felt even in 
 Virginia. At the same time, the temper of the colony was 
 far different from that which was spreading at home. 
 Without much warmth of religion, the attachiBcnt of the 
 people to their fathers' Church was general and decided. 
 An attempt made from without to gather a congregation 
 of the Independent character, met vAih but small support, 
 and was easily suppressed by the authorities.* The Puri- 
 tan writers complaui, in their peculiar language, that the 
 governor was " a courtier, and very malignant to the Avay 
 of the Churches ;" but the whole temper of the colony was 
 with him ; and when the hiunors of the mother-country 
 broke out into the great rebellion, Virginia continued loyal. 
 
 * Leah and Rachelf, or the two fruitful Sisters of Virginia and 
 Maryland. 1656. Quoted by Dr. Hawks. 
 
40 atyIerican church. 
 
 Ill dissenting New England, all were fully satisfied that 
 the battles which Cromwell had fought at home were the 
 battles of the Lord ; and " the spirits of the brethren were 
 carried forth in faithful and affectionate prayers in his be- 
 half"* But with this state of feeling Virginia had no 
 sympathy. The expatriated cavalier fled to her as a re- 
 fuge ; and with a population now multiplied to 20,000, she 
 resisted Cromwell's arms. The terms on which she at 
 length capitulated to superior numbers show the true 
 grounds of her resolute fidelity ; for she stipulates for " the 
 use of tiie Booke of Common Prayer for one yeare ensuing, 
 the continuance of ministers m their places, and the pay- 
 ment of their accustomed dues and agreements."! Nor 
 did the success of the Puritans alter these leading features, 
 though it raised one of their body to the seat of governor, 
 and spread a few of his adherents through the land. The 
 chief evil which flowed from it was the growth of uncon- 
 cern about religion. " Many places" became " destitute 
 of ministers, through the people ceasing to pay their ac- 
 customed dues, and manifesting great negligence in procur- 
 ing religious mstruction."^ 
 
 But the Independent form of worship found no favor in. 
 the colony. It is described by a contemporary as " bearing 
 a great love to the stated constitutions of the Church of 
 England, in her government and public worship, which 
 gave us (who went thither under the late persecutions of 
 it) the advantage of liberty to use it constantly amongst 
 them, after the naval force had reduced the colony luider 
 the power (but never to the obedience) of the usur- 
 pers, "s^ 
 
 Through the whole period of the great rebellion such 
 remained the temper of Virginia. Eight years after his 
 deposition. Sir W. Berkeley, the ex-governor, was still 
 lingering in the colony, and opening " his purse and his 
 house to all the royal party, who made Virgmia their re- 
 
 * Bancroft's United States, vol. i. p. 445. 
 
 + Hening's Virginia, — Statutes at large, p. 362. 
 
 X Ibid. p. 378. 
 
 § Virginia's Cure, p. 22, quoted by Dr. Hawks. 
 
ENACTMENTS IN BEHALF OF THE CHURCH. 41 
 
 fuge."* When a felon convict,! who had escaped from 
 justice, was employed by Cromwell, in the neighboring 
 state of Maryland, "in the holy work of rooting out the 
 abominations of popery and prelacy," Virginia fearlessly 
 sheltered his victims, in defiance of the usurper's censure 
 of " the presumption and impiety of her interference." 
 Sixteen months before the king was restored at home, he 
 was proclaimed in Virginia ,t and amongst the earliest 
 business brought before the colonial legislature, when it re- 
 assembled under the royal commission, was the revival of 
 the Church. This had already suffered greatly : of fifty 
 parishes, into which the colony was now divided, the 
 greater number wanted alike glebe, parsonage, church, and 
 minister, as there were not above ten clergymen remaining. 
 The first article in the instructions furnished to Sir W. 
 Berkeley, the royal governor, recommended " the duties of 
 religion, the use of the Book of Common Prayer, the decent 
 repairs of churches, and a competent provision tor conform- 
 ing ministers. "s^ These sujjTOstions were acted on at once 
 by the colonial legislature. Provision was made for the 
 building and due furniture of churches ; for the canonical 
 pei'formance of the Liturgy ; for the ministration of God's 
 word ; for a due observance of the Sunday ; for the bap- 
 tism and Christian education of the young. " These," 
 says the Virginian Statute Book,|| " among many other 
 blessings, God Almighty hath vouchsafed to increase" into 
 " a very numerous generation of Christian children born in 
 Virginia, who naturally are of beautiful and comely per- 
 sons, and generally of more ingenious spirits than those of 
 England."1[ 
 
 With these provisions the Church and religious matters 
 were again established on their ancient basis, and proceeded 
 as before ; though in the next few years, the general out- 
 lines of ecclesiastical affairs at home may be traced by 
 their reproduction ui the colony. 
 
 * Churchill's Journal of Norwood, in Voyages, vol. vi. 
 
 f 2 Burk, 113, by the same. X ^^^^- P- 118. 
 
 § 2 Burk, 124, in Hawks'3 Virginia, p. 65. 
 
 II Hening, vol. i. p. 336. 
 
 •|f Virginia's Cure, p. 5, quoted in Bancroft's United States. 
 
42 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 Strict enactments against non-conformists, then deemed 
 necessary to prevent political disturbance, marked its be- 
 ginning ; and were followed, under James II., by fears of 
 Popish innovation. The Papists and the Indians were be- 
 lieved to be in secret leagiie against the colony ; and, in 
 spite of all her loyalty, Virginia hailed, with no less joy 
 than eager Protestants at home, the accession of King 
 William and Glueen Mary. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM 1608 TO 1688. 
 
 Neighboring colonies — New- York — '^e'V Jersey — Philadelphia — 
 Carolina — Maryland — New England — Its settlement — Rise of 
 Purilanism in England — Emigration to Leyden, to New England 
 — Piety of the early Puritans — Their hatred of Church-principles 
 — Severity — Treatment of Indians — Proselyting spirit towards 
 other communions. 
 
 Hitherto the thread of our history has run along almost 
 entirely with that of the single colony of Virginia. But 
 from this time we must include in our notice many of her 
 sister settlements : and for tliis purpose it will be conveni- 
 ent to survey their religious posture at this time, and from 
 their first beginning. 
 
 Very different now was the condition of that great 
 western continent from its state when the first settlers in 
 Virgmia landed on its shores. Then, in all the great wilder- 
 ness around them, the Lord of heaven was an unknown 
 God. The echoes of its vast forests had never yet awoke 
 to the name of Christ ; the whole expanse was only dotted 
 here and there by the scattered wigwams and hunting- 
 lodges of the savage Indians. But now, along the whole 
 coast, and continually more and more inland, a busy swarm- 
 uig people, bearing the Christian name, were overspread- 
 ing all its extent, and drivuig back before them the retiring 
 wave of Indian life. 
 
 Some of these settlements had been formed but little 
 later than Virginia, though imder a widely-different reli- 
 gious influence. 
 
 Thus the district of Peimsylvania had been settled in 
 1608, one year after Virginia, by the Dutch. Whilst 
 about 1627, some Swedish emigrants seated themselves at 
 
44 AJIERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 New- York and New Jersey, and long held possession of 
 them. For, though the English laid claim, as first dis- 
 coverers, to the whole northern continent, it was not till 
 1664 that the Dutch governor surrendered to the summons 
 of Sir K,. Cave, and transferred to English rule the city of 
 New Amsterdam, which, with its change of rulers, changed 
 also its name, and became thenceforth New- York, Here, 
 therefore, were established the religious rites and usages of 
 the Dutch and Swedish presbyterian worship. 
 
 In 1683 a diflerent element was largely introduced, 
 when Newcastle Town, v\dth twelve miles of the surround- 
 ing country, was sold by the Duke of York, to whom it 
 had been granted by the crown, to William Pcnn, who 
 built the town of Philadelphia, and peopled it with quakers. 
 
 Thirteen years before (in 1670), Carolina had been 
 granted by King Charles II. to Lord Berkeley and others, 
 who established there a constitution, drawn up by the 
 famous John Locke ; which, with many more peculiarities, 
 professed to establish perfect religious equality amongst all 
 sects, only requiring that each stripling of seventeen should 
 select one for himself, and publicly enroll himself amongst 
 its members. 
 
 Bordering directly on Virginia, Maryland was settled, 
 in 1633, by about two hundred English families, of Roman 
 Catholic tenets, under the direction of Lord Baltimore, and 
 soon grew into a flourishing community : in which, whilst 
 all who professed the faith of Jesus Christ were allowed 
 the free exercise of their religion, Romanism was long the 
 dominant belief. So fully had the unhappy religious feuds 
 of Christendom been bonie across the Atlantic, to seed with 
 fresh divisions the new world which lay outspread before 
 the Christian settlers. 
 
 But of all these colonies, the most important, under 
 every aspect, were those which had peopled the extensive 
 district known, from their occupation, by the title of New 
 England. This was the great seed-plot of division in reli- 
 gion ; and the history of its foundation will, therefore, re- 
 quire a more detailed and particular account. 
 
 Its first settlement Avas the consequence of religious 
 troubles at home. The curse of popery had long lain heavy 
 
POPISH BAKKNESS. 45 
 
 upon England ; and had eaten out in great measure the 
 very life of Christianity amongst us. It was " as with the 
 people, so M'ith the priest ;" or rather, the evil had begun 
 with the priest, and had gone down to the people. When 
 we look into the religious history of that period, we should 
 almost conclude that, with some few noble exceptions, in 
 which the absolute deadness of the system in which he 
 was set forced the saint out of all system into a direct 
 commerce with the unseen world, Christianity had, in the 
 mass of cases, become a great scheme of formality. The 
 withholding of God's w^ord from the people, the denial of 
 the master truth of our being justified by faith only, and, 
 above all, the robbing men of the presence of their only 
 Saviour, by putting in His place those outward institutions 
 which were intended to be signs and means of His true 
 nearness to them, — all this had wrought fearfully amongst 
 us ; and though, through God's goodness, there was doubt- 
 less underneath this frozen surface some hidden life kept 
 here and there in being, yet, for the most part, formality 
 had chilled it iitterly. There was no dealing with the 
 consciences of men ; no treating them as individual souls, 
 each one with the great mystery of spiritual life within, 
 which was to be nurtured and perfected ; but empty out- 
 ward forms Ave re all ; and when once that divinely ap- 
 pointed organization, which, as the channel of God's living 
 grace, was intended to quicken as much as to direct the 
 soul of man, was itself thus changed into a set of lifeless 
 observances, it could maintain any power at all, only by 
 suspending within each of its victims the true energies of 
 his own inner being. Tliis, therefore, became the object 
 of those worldly-mmded men, who sought to use Christ's 
 Church as an instrument for working out their owir earthly 
 ends. And so long as men's consciences could be wholly 
 sent to sleep, this scheme was perfact of its kind ; for it 
 stilled the cravings of man's sovd by the opiate of insensi- 
 bility ; passing over to the priest and the system, that care 
 about his own iniiL-r self, which is indeed the charge of 
 each reasonable being. So long, too, as men could be kept 
 in gross ignorance, the fearful starts to M'hich a sleeping 
 conscience is subject could be set again at rest. There 
 
46 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 were penances, and indulgences, and remissions, and the 
 showy jugglery of outward devotion, all specially directed 
 to this end. And so for years had it been in England , 
 prayers in which the heart or even the reason of the 
 worsliipper could take little or no part, had been, for the 
 mass of the people, the only allowed attempt at approach- 
 ing God. Formalities and shows, which, at the best, ad- 
 dressed themselves to the sensitive faculties, these had been 
 the food provided for the deep and wonderful spiritual life ; 
 and the reason had been abased, until it received the lying 
 legends of the day, instead of that wortl of God which 
 "giveth light unto the eyes."" 
 
 But so could it be no more after the time of "VYicldifTe. 
 He had spoken words over these slumberers which had bro- 
 ken their charmed sleep. He spoke of God, of their need 
 of Him, of the Mediator between Him and them, of their 
 own inner being ; and conscience had awoke, as the words 
 reached their understandings. A multitude of men began 
 to perceive that they were men ; that they had souls, for 
 which they must themselves care ; as to them, above all, 
 they were precious beyond price. They began to feel the 
 need of personal religion. Strange and often ill-directed 
 were their first efforts after it, as are the actions of men 
 who are roused suddenly from a deep sleep ; greatly did 
 they need the soothing voice and guiding hand of their 
 appointed pastors. But the religious system of the papacy 
 could not guide their efforts and satisfy their new-born 
 wants. Its whole desire was to crush them. This it 
 soon found to be impossible ; for to each one of these Lol- 
 lards there was now revealed a truth, which he held as a 
 reaHty, and which reached down to the very centre of hia 
 soi;l. It could not be torn from him ; he must be slain 
 first. He could not be made to cease believing, or cease 
 feeling. The knowledge of his own humanity had flashed 
 upon him ; he could not forget it ; and it must be dread- 
 ful to him, until he could find out its true healer. Hence 
 popery strove in vain with those who were once infected 
 with this new disorder ; and, finding this strife to be 
 hopeless, it soon set itself to prevent its spreading, by 
 
THE REFORMATION. 47 
 
 marking out for death or sufferings each one who yielded 
 himself up to it. 
 
 This strife went on long before its being was pro- 
 claimed. Just as knowledge increased, so far spread the 
 awakening of conscience ; and whenever this awoke, the 
 struoofle followed between liim in whom it woke, and 
 those who sought to keep it sleeping. From which there 
 followed always this evil consequence, that the man in 
 whom personal rehgion was but beginning to reveal itself 
 found the Church-sy.stem under which he lived the great 
 enemy, of that religion. The priests, who should have 
 nourished, instructed, and perfected it, he knew only as 
 those who hated, reviled, and endeavored to extinguish it. 
 The religious sympathies, which should have clung to the 
 Church-system, and by it been raised to a goodly maturity, 
 finding in it no sure stay, cast forth their tendrils upon 
 strange supports ; thus becoming themselves entangled 
 with evil, and separating the personal religion of the man 
 from the unity and blessedness of the Church. In such a 
 state men soon chose wilfully for themselves, as a part of 
 their religion. They rejected ignorantly the greatest 
 truths, from their dread of the errors with wliich they had 
 been mixed. There was no blessed truth of Christ's gos- 
 pel to wliich some deadly delusion had not been wedded ; 
 and the just-opening eye, which saw men as trees walk- 
 ing, could not nicely distinguish between truth and false- 
 hood ; whilst it had been made to loathe as its worst ene- 
 mies those who should have been its guides. 
 
 For more than one hmidred and fifty years this leaven 
 had been working widely amongst the people, when the 
 outbreak of the Reformation spread the ferment through 
 the nation. For a time all went on prosperously. The 
 vexed and angry minds of men were well satisfied as long 
 as the work of demolition proceeded. The obstacles 
 which it received in the latter part of Henry's reign came 
 rather from the king than the clerg)^ The bishops were 
 still reformers ; all at least whom the people looked to as 
 bishops indeed. Accordingly, when Edward the Sixth 
 became king, the work proceeded apace. The reformed 
 part of the nation seemed to be united : much was yet to 
 
48 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 be done before religion would be purified ; but upon doing 
 this they were agreed amongst themselves. Then came 
 the sharp check of Mary's reign, and the strife burnt more 
 fiercely than ever ; but still the reformed were all gathered 
 on one side, and the popish on the other. 
 
 So it continued while she lived ; but with the acces- 
 sion of Elizabeth the whole aspect of the field was changed. 
 The Reformation was established ; and immediately the 
 evil seed sown heretofore sprung up and multiplied. Now 
 was seen the true curse with which popery had cursed us, 
 in divorcing the religious sympathies of men from that ex- 
 ternal organisation which had been framed by the Lord 
 specially to foster them ; in making men judges and 
 teachers, because the very love of truth within them had 
 made them fear to be learners and the taught. The re- 
 formed began to divide amongst themselves. The E.efor- 
 mation had lifted up the cover which the seal of mystery 
 had hei'ctofore secured, and from the opened vessel there 
 issued a spirit, vast, undefined, and fearful, on which men 
 looked and trembled ; marvelling how it had been held 
 before in such a narrow compass, seeing that never again 
 could it be charmed into its former quietness. The prin- 
 ciple of obedience had been unawares dissolved. Their 
 former long separation front Roman errors, in spite of 
 authority, had tainted the spirit of many of the best of our 
 people, and made them self-choosing schismatics. Each 
 was to judge for himself The authority of the early 
 Church was nothing ; for it was confounded with the vile 
 tradition which for so long a time had cheated their souls. 
 The succession of the priesthood Avas a lie ; for the lying 
 priests of old had claimed it for themselves. The deep 
 need of support and sympathy, for which God has graciously 
 made provision in the communion of saints, and for which 
 the heart of man craves, Avas wholly forgotten in the first 
 fever-heat which waited upon the discovery of individual 
 responsibility and individual salvation ; and the great twin 
 truths which had been wedded together in primitive times, 
 which the hollowness of the popish system had severed by 
 seeking to destroy individual religion, were henceforth, it 
 seemed, to strive for the mastery, — as if man's peace lay 
 
THE PURITANS. 49 
 
 in one destroying the other, and not in the perfect harmony 
 of both. 
 
 In such a state was the nation. The spasms of con- 
 vulsion had followed in due course u]iou the numbness of 
 Ictharjry. AH through the reign of Elizabeth, society was 
 convulsed by these struggles. The party which began to 
 be known every Avhere under the title of the Puritans pro- 
 fessed to aim at a more perfect or entire reformation of 
 religion. The work, they thought, had been left half 
 done. They were many of them men of true and deep 
 piety, whose errors were the natural consequence of 
 the unhappy influence under which their minds had 
 grown and ripened. Their unsettled and unquiet spirits 
 were the legacy which popery^ bequeatlied us ; " tearing 
 us" when it "hardly departed from us." They strove 
 with all the earnestness of men who had a great reality 
 at stake ; it was, as it seemed to them, for the very life 
 of their own souls, and of their children's souls, that they 
 contended. Yet they strove in ignorance : in seeking to 
 do away the errors which had crept over them, they 
 would fain have overthrown the institutions of Christ Him- 
 self. Tho.se who saw this were bound to withhold fi-om 
 them that for which they longed. And so the old feelings 
 of hostility, which the abuses of her Roman garb had 
 kindled, fastened now upon the Church reformed. It be- 
 came again an open struggle. Law was on the side of those 
 who were defending the existing institutions ; and by the 
 law the rights of truth were enforced. In such a temper 
 of society it was hard to draw the line at all times be- 
 tween persecution and a due resistance to the spread of 
 error. The limits of toleration had been ascertained by 
 neither party ; and it is no great admission to allow that 
 they were now sometimes transgressed by the defenders of 
 the Church. Every thing, indeed, tended to lead them 
 into such a course ; they were maintaimng what had 
 clearly stood from the first spread of Christianity. The 
 attacks now made on this must in their eyes have been 
 manifest impiety. They were led on, moreover, by ano- 
 ther influence. The Puritans were made bad subjects by 
 the very same qualities which made them bad Churclmien. 
 3 
 
50 AMERICAN CHUHCH. 
 
 The secular arm, therefore, was ready to strike in its own 
 quarrel, and glad to take advantage of the first whisper of 
 the cause of religion. It was not now for toleration sim- 
 ply that the Puritans were striving. During their exile 
 in the reign of Mary, they had learned all the lessons 
 taught by Calvin and John Knox. Their consciences 
 compelled them, not only to practice themselves what 
 they deemed right, but, at all hazards, to enfore this prac- 
 tice upon others also. " The Puritans of this age," says 
 the gentle Fuller,* " were divided into two ranks : some 
 mild and moderate, contented to enjoy their own conscience ; 
 others fierce and fiery, to the disturbance of the Church 
 and State ;" " accounting every thmg from Rome which 
 was not from Geneva, they endeavored to conform the 
 government of the English Church to the presbyterian 
 reformation." 
 
 It was Elizabeth's maxim, that the first of these 
 classes should be conciliated to the uttermost. And hence 
 Cartwright, Travers, and all the great leaders of the 
 party, were at this time allowed to act as beneficed or 
 licensed preachers. 
 
 But when " causes of conscience exceed their bounds, 
 and grow to be matters of faction," to use the words of 
 Sir F. Walsingham,t " the queen judged them to ' lose 
 their nature,' and become such that they should be dis- 
 tinctly punished, though colored with the pretences of 
 conscience and religion." How completely this limit had 
 been i-eached may easily be seen. Five hundred Puritans, 
 " all beneficed in the Church of England," and styled by 
 themselves " useful preachers," resolved, in 1586, "that 
 since the magistrate could not be induced to reform the 
 discipline of the Church, that therefore, after so many years 
 waiting, it was lawful to act without him, and introduce 
 a reformation in the best manner they could." 
 
 The language of their ruder partisans may yet be read 
 in the pages of Martin Mar-prelate and his fellows. They 
 do not speak the tone of men trembling and groaning un- 
 der dominant oppression: " Our bishops," says they, " and 
 
 * Church Hist, book ix. p. 76. j Burnet's Hist. Reform, vol. ii. 
 
THE PURITANS. 51 
 
 proud, popish, presumptuous, paltry, pestilent, and pei-ni- 
 cious prelates, are usurpers. Tliey are cotrging and cozen- 
 ing knaves. The bishops will lie like dogs; impudent, 
 shameless, -wainscot-laced bishops. Your fat places are 
 anli-ehristian ; they are limbs of anti-christ,"* &c. " Our 
 lord bishops, as Jolin of Canterbury, with the rest of such 
 swmish rabble, are petty anti-christs, petty popes, proud 
 prelates, enemies to the Gospel, and most covetous, 
 wretched priests."! And the aim of this revihng was 
 openly declared : "The Puritan preachers would have all 
 the remnants and relics of anti-christ banished out of the 
 Church, and not so much as a lord bishop (no, not his 
 grace himself,) dumb minister, (no, not dumb John of Lon- 
 don himself) non-resident, archdeacon, abbey-lubber, or 
 any such loiterer, tolerated in our ministry." 
 
 This is not the language of men seeking toleration under 
 religious scruples, but of coarse and open assailants of ex- 
 isting institutions. 
 
 Nor was this the mere vulgarity of uneducated ribaldry. 
 It is true that there were many better men amongst the 
 Puritans ; but it was such teinpers as these against which 
 the ruling powers were forced to take up arms. And these 
 were not the lowest of their faction. Martin Mar-prelate, 
 it was known, came from their leaders' pens ; and that 
 great intellect and station could not heal the bitterness of 
 faction, may be seen somewhat later in the prose works of 
 John Milton himself AVith less coarseness of tongue, but 
 certainly Avith no less rancor, he dooms the bishops of the 
 English Church, " after a shameful life in this world, to 
 the darkest and deepest gulf of hell ; where, under the 
 despiteful control, the trample and spurn, of all the other 
 damned, who in the anguish of their torture shall have no 
 other ease than to exercise a raving and bestial tyranny 
 over them, as their slaves and negroes, they shall remain 
 in that plight for ever, the basest, the lowermost, the most 
 dejected, most underfoot, and do-s^ai-trodden vassals of per- 
 dition.'"! 
 
 * Strype's "Whitgift, vol. i. p. 570. 
 
 t Ibid, p. 353. 
 
 :j; Conclusion of Milton's treatise on Reformation, i. 27-t. 
 
52 AMEUICAN CHURCH. 
 
 It is not, therefore, wonderful if Churchmen, who, on 
 their part, had a strong perception of the contrary truth, 
 let the arm of law fall heavily upon those who numbered 
 in the ranks of their supporters such troublesome disputants. 
 The true source of the evil was in that former unfaithful- 
 ness of those who should have been the watchmen and 
 stewards of the Lord, which had made the Church hateful, 
 not to infidels, because they abhorred religion, but to earnest 
 believers, because they loved it, and the memory of which 
 made many good men still her enemies, though she was 
 now wholly in the right. The points for which she con- 
 tended M-ere the very guards and instruments of the truth ; 
 they could have wounded no sound conscience. But " op- 
 pression, which maketh a wise man mad," had held a long 
 rule ; men's consciences had become festered and angry, 
 and could not bear the light touch of lawful authority. 
 The time for the full working of this evil was not indeed 
 yet come ; but all through the reign of Elizabeth it was 
 gathering strength, and injuring more and more the hearts 
 of those whom it infected. In the following reign it was 
 scarcely repressed by the timid watchfulness of James ; and 
 in his son's time it burst forth for a while triumphant. 
 Puritanism was then seen in its maturity ; and its violence 
 and persecution far exceeded any excess of rigor which 
 could be charged to the adherents of the contrary side. If 
 some meeting-houses had been heretofore suppressed, we 
 know not of one which, hke our cathedrals, was made a 
 stall for horses. If hatred to Puritanism sharpened the 
 edge of that sentence which, for a malicious libel on the 
 queen, deprived Prynne of his ears,* Puritanism could not 
 slake its vengeance till it beheaded Laud. If Puritans 
 were forced by Glueen Elizabeth to be present in their 
 parish-church, the Parliament of 1645 sentenced to 'one 
 year's impiisonment any one who for the third time made 
 use, publicly or privately, of the Book of Common Prayer. 
 But the earlier stages of the struggle are those with which 
 
 * Prynne himself confessed afterwards, that if, when Charles took 
 his ears, he had taken his head, he had given him no more than his 
 due. 
 
PURITANISM. 53 
 
 we have to do. In the reigns of Elizabeth, ami Jaraes 
 the First, the Puritans strove for the mastery in vain ; the 
 law enforced conformity ; they must attend their parish- 
 church. The mini.strations of their chosen teachers were 
 impeded.. Tlie cause of truth, of Christ's Gospel, and of 
 their souls, seemed to them in peril ; they looked this way 
 and that lor deliverance ; they could not rest as they were ; 
 they believed that it was unlawful to submit to " the base 
 and beggarly ceremonies"* (as they did not lear to term 
 them) of the Church of England, and were therefore bent 
 on bringing in a "reformation cut or shapen after the man- 
 ner of Embden or Geneva."! 
 
 However mistaken was flieir zeal, they gave abundant 
 proof of its sincerity. Finding it impossible to follow out 
 their own convictions in their native laud, they were con- 
 tent to forsake it rather than violate what they deemed 
 the dictates of conscience. They resolved, therefore, on a 
 volimtary expatriation ; and cast their eyes first on Hol- 
 land, which favored their peculiar views, as the land of 
 their pilgrimage. But this step could not easily be taken ; 
 the consent of the civil magistrate was then necessary for 
 such an emigration, and this they were not likely to obtain. 
 Accordingly they endeavored to fly the country secretly. 
 In Lincolnshire especially, a numerous band gathering to- 
 gether their goods and families, in places which they 
 thought likely to escape notice, embarked on board a foreign 
 transport they had hired. They were, however, watched, 
 and their embarkation was prevented ; nor was it till after 
 various attempts and many hardships, that " at length 
 they all got over ; some at one time, and some at another ; 
 some in one place, and some in another." Being " come 
 into the Low Countries," they settled first at Amsterdam ; 
 though " they mette together againe with no small rejoic- 
 ing," yet had they still much to endure. They found there 
 " fortified cities strongly walled ; they heard a strange and 
 uncouth language, and beheld the different manners of the 
 
 * MS. History of the Plantation of Plymouth, &c., — in the Fulhani 
 Library, 
 t Ibid. 
 
54 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 people with their strange fashions and attires, all so much 
 differing from that of their plain country where they were 
 bred, and so long lived." Before long, moreover, they saw 
 " the grim and grisly face of povertie coming upon them 
 like an armed man with whom they must buckle and en- 
 counter." Under the prudent guidance of Mr. Robinson, 
 a man of great parts, Mdio came with them as their first 
 pastor, they surmounted these dilliculties, and were soon 
 established in tolerable comfort at Leyden. There they 
 remained twelve years ; but many things prevented their 
 taking root amongst the Dutch. Though their industry 
 and honesty, with the interest which attached to their po- 
 sition, had secured for them sufficient employment to pro- 
 vide for their absolute necessities, yet in that shrewd and 
 pojDulous nation they found themselves continually fore- 
 stalled by the natives of the country. They had been led 
 to take a part in the religious controversies which divided 
 that people ; and the skill and readiness in debate, which 
 gained for Mr. Robinson the highest applauses from Polyan- 
 der and the Calvinists, must have equally displeased the 
 friends of Episcopius, the champion of the opposite side. 
 The truce also, which had now lasted twelve years, between 
 the Netherlands and Spain, was just expiring; and if they 
 remained at Leyden, they knew not how soon they might 
 be involved in all the miseries of war. * 
 
 Other motives were supplied by their peculiar religious 
 views. Although, in the main, the congregations round 
 them were formed upon their own model, yet there were 
 many things with which they were not satisfied. The 
 Puritans entbi'ced the duty of observing the Lord's day with 
 the formal strictness of the Jewish Sabbath, and they feared 
 the eflect upon their children of the opposite example of the 
 Dutch. Already the strictness of their parental rule had 
 been relaxed through the necessity of their position. " Many 
 of their children (by the great licentiousness of youth in that 
 country and the manifold temptations of the place) were 
 drawn away into extravagant and evil courses, getting the 
 reigns off their necks .... so that they saw their posteritie 
 would be in danger to degenerate and be corrupted."*' 
 -* Fulham jis. History. 
 
PLANS OF PURITAN EMIGRATION. 55 
 
 They longed, too, for something more than toleration ; tlicy 
 desired to set up churches after their own model of perfec- 
 tion, and to watch their growth and progress. 
 
 The temper of the times naturally turned their thoughts 
 to the new world ; already many adventurers had emigrated 
 thither. There they might unfold their present small be- 
 ginning into a strong people and a pure communion. Who 
 could be more fitted to encounter the necessary hardship of 
 such an enterprise ? Alreadj'' they were " well weaned 
 from the delicate millc of their mother country, and enured 
 to the difficulties of a strange and hard land, which yet in 
 good part they had by patience overcome."* The example 
 of Abraham seemed set before them as a model ; and at 
 length, after many misgivings, they resolved upon crossing 
 the Atlantic. Their thoughts were first turned to Virginia, 
 and they opened a negotiation with the company which 
 then governed that colon}'. Several letters passed upon 
 the subject ; and in Sir Edwin Sandys they found one who, 
 whilst he firmly upheld what he believed to be the truth 
 of Christ, was ready to befriend their persons, and to con- 
 cede a full license to their weak consciences. They ac- 
 knowledge, in " their ownc and their churches name, liis 
 singular love in tliis weighty business," and trust them- 
 selves " to the care of his love and the counsel of liis wis- 
 dom." Difliculties still interposed : the king could not " be 
 wrought upon" to grant them a charter under his seal, 
 though he was wdUing " to connive at them, and not molest 
 them, provided they carried themselves peaceably." This 
 caused for a time " a damp in the business, and some dis- 
 traction ;" but at length they comforted themselves with 
 the thought, that even if they had obtained their charter, 
 yet if " afterwards there should be a purpose or desire to 
 wrong them, though they had a scale as broad as the 
 house-floor, it would not serve their turn, for there would 
 he means fomid to recall or reverse it." On this persua- 
 sion they at length resolved on settling in the neighborhood 
 of the Virginian colony, under a patent granted by that 
 colony. It was also determined that a part only of their 
 
 * Fulham lis. History. 
 
56 AMERICAN CHTRCH. 
 
 body should proceed at once, leaving its weaker members 
 to follow when the settlement was formed. 
 
 About the 22d July, 1620, all was ready. They had 
 one ship of near sixty tons, to transport them to England, 
 where they were to join another of 1 80 tons, and proceed 
 at once to America. Before setting sail they had a day of 
 " solemn humiliation, their pastor taking his text from 
 Ezra viii. 21, upon which he spent a good part of the day." 
 They were afterwards " accompanied with most of their 
 brethren out of the city imto Delft Haven, where the ship 
 lay ready to receive them;" "so they left," says one of 
 their party, " the goodly and pleasante citie which had 
 been their resting-place nere twelve years ; but they knew 
 that they were pilgrimes, and looked not much on those 
 things, but lift up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest 
 countrie, and quieted their spirits." It was an aflecting 
 parting between these world-pilgrims and their brethren 
 left behind, and even drew " tears from sundry of the Dutch 
 strangers that stood on the key as spectators ;" " but the 
 tide (which stays for no man) calling them away that Avere 
 thus loath to depart, their reverend pastor falling downe 
 on his knees, (and they all with him,) with waterie cheeks 
 commended them, with most fervente prayers, to the Lord 
 and His blessing ; and then, with mutual embraces and 
 many tears, they tooke their leaves one of another, which 
 proved to be the last leave to m.any of them."* 
 
 They had a prosperous voyage to London ; but many 
 more troubles were yet before them. On the 5th of August 
 the two ships sailed in company, but as they dropped down 
 the Channel the smaller ship leaked so greatly, that they 
 were forced to put in to Dartmouth to refit. After losing 
 much time there in the necessary repairs, they again set 
 sail ; but after proceeding about " a hundred leagiies with- 
 out the Land's End," the same cause sent them back to 
 Plymouth. Here, after consultation, they determined to 
 leave behind, for the present year, the faulty ship and part 
 of their company. There were many willing to be left, 
 some " out of feare and discontent, others as unfite, in re- 
 
 * Fulhara ms. History. 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF TlIE VOYAGE. 57 
 
 gard of their owne weakness and charj^e of many yonge 
 eliildren, to bear the brunte of this hard adventure." Thus, 
 says their chronicler, " hke Gredions armie tiiis small number 
 was devided ; as if the Lord, by this works of His Provi- 
 dence, thought these few too many for the great worke He 
 had to doe." The letter of one of the leaders in the expe- 
 dition, written whilst they lay at Dartmouth, gives a hvely 
 picture of one of tho.se who stayed willmgly behind at Ply- 
 mouth, out of the " feare he had conceived of the ill success 
 of the voiage." " Our pinass will not cease leaking, els I 
 thinke we had been halfe waye at Virginia : our viage 
 hither hath been as full of crosses as ourselves have been 
 of crokedness. We put in here to trimme her ; and I thiidie 
 if we had stayed at sea but three or four houres more, shee 
 would have sunke right downe. Shee is as open and leakie 
 as a seive ; there was a borde a man might have pulled off 
 with his fingers, two foote longe, where the water came in 
 as at a molehole. Our victuals will be halfe eaten up, I 
 thinke, before wee go from the coast of England. I see 
 not how we shall escape even the gasping of hunger-starved 
 persons. Poore W. King and myselfe doe strive dayly who 
 shall be meate first for the fishes." 
 
 All this does not bespeak in its writer the bold heart 
 which such an adventure needed, especially when we learn 
 that the fear of the party had been practised on by artful 
 men as to the apparent danger of the lesser vessel. But 
 there were amongst them some braver spirits ; and, after a 
 fatiguing voyage, one ship's company landed on the 9th of 
 November, wearied and exhausted, on Cape Cod. The 
 record of this lauding is still kept alive in an engraving on 
 the certificate of membership, as used at this day by the 
 " Pilgrim Society" of Plymouth.* They had been brought 
 thus far to the north by the treachery of their captain,! 
 who had been bribed by their Dutch neighbors to leave the 
 more promising banks of the Hudson open for an intended 
 colony of their own. On this inhospitable shore winter 
 soon set in upon them with extreme severity. In the depths 
 
 * Buckingham's America, vol. iii. p. 566. 
 f Cotton Mather's Magiialia, book i, p. 7. 
 3* 
 
58 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 of its frosts, however, they explored enough of the coast to 
 fix upon another site for their intended settlement ; and 
 finding a commodious harbor at the bottom of the bay, they 
 all removed thither, and laid the first foundation of the 
 future town of Plymouth. Here their first winter was 
 spent in the endurance of hardships wliicli wore away 
 " more than half their whole company," so that scarcely 
 fifty lived to the ensuing spring. The spot where the dead 
 were laid still maintains the name of Burial Hill. It was 
 ploughed u]) and sowed by the earliest colonists, lest its 
 graves should make their fearful losses known, and so in- 
 vite the hostile violence of the surrounding Indians. 
 
 In the course of the next year their numbers were in- 
 creased by a new detachment of their friends from Hol- 
 land ; but their supplies were yet scanty, and their perils 
 extreme. Still, however, they held to their purpose, and 
 a stir was now made for them at home. In 1621, several 
 leading Puritans were interested in their undertaking. In 
 1G27 they had purchased for them from the company, in 
 whom title to the land was vested by the crown, " that 
 part of New England which lyes between a great river 
 called Merrimack, and a certain other river there called 
 Charles River, in the bottom of the Massachusetts Bay." 
 And in the following year a royal charter was granted to 
 them, with power to elect yearly their own magistrates ; 
 and the intention was openly avowed of " lettmg the non- 
 confoi'mists, with the grace and leave of the king, make a 
 peaceable secession, and enjoy the liberty and the exercise of 
 their own persuasions about the worship of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 The grant of this charter greatly helped on their cause ; 
 and for the next twelve years " many very deserving 
 persons transplanted thQ£nselves and their families to New 
 England,"* amongst whom were " gentlemen of ancient 
 and worshipful families, and ministers of the Gospel then 
 of great fame at home, and merchants, husbandmen, and 
 artificers, to the number of some thousands." It was 
 reckoned that 198 ships' were employed, at a cost of 
 
 " Cotton Mather's Mixgaalia, book i. 
 
PURITAN SETTLEMENTS. 59 
 
 192,000Z., to carry over these emigrants, who for these 
 " twelve years kept sometiraes dropping, and sometimes 
 fvocking into New England." In the spring and summer 
 of 1630, Winthrop, wlio must be considered as the founder 
 of New England, arrived with a fleet of seventeen vessels, 
 and about 1500 men, some of whom, like himself, were 
 persons of condition, education, and fortune. Without this 
 reinforcement, to all human appearance, the settlement at 
 Plymouth* would have proved abortive. By tlie year 
 16 10, the settlers were supposed to have amounted to 4000 
 persons, who are said in fifty years to have multiplied into 
 100,000. As their numbers increased, they branched out 
 into the surrounding country, until, in 1637, the neighbor- 
 ing territory of Connecticut was occupied by men of the 
 same sentiments ; and, " along the seacoasts of that plea- 
 sant bay" began another colony, which soon " surprised 
 the sight Avith several notable toA\ais," and even extended 
 itself to Long Island, Ibllowing strictly in religious matters 
 the " use of Massachusetts." To the north, also, and east, 
 New Hampshire and the state of Maine began to receive 
 some straggling settlers, who adopted almost the same 
 model in religious matters. 
 
 Many trials waited on these little bands, which, "toil- 
 ing through thickets of ragged bushes, and clambering over 
 crossed trees, made their M^ay along Indian paths" to the 
 new sites on which they fixed. " The suffering settlers 
 burrowed for their first shelter under a hill-side. Tearing 
 up roots and buishes, from the ground, they subdued the 
 stubborn soil with the hoe, glad to gain even a lean crop 
 from the wearisome and imperfect culture. The cattle 
 sickened on the wild fodder ; sheep and swine were de- 
 stroyed by wolves ; there A^-as no ilesh but game. The 
 long rains poured through the insufficient roofs of their 
 smoky cottages, and troubled even the time for sleep ; yet 
 the men labored willingly, for they had their wives and 
 little ones about them ; the forest rung with their psalms, 
 and, ' the poorest people of God in the whole world, they 
 
 * Plymouth and Massachusetts remained separate colonics, till, on 
 tho accession of Wiliiuni and Mary, a new charter was granted, 
 which inclucled Plymouth as a part of the province of Massachusetts. 
 
60 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 were resolved to excel in holiness.' Such was the infancy 
 of a New-England village."* 
 
 Thus, then, were these wide districts first settled, and 
 with their very earliest texture were thus interwoven the 
 threads of congregational dissent. The name of Indepen- 
 dents they eschewed.! Their especial features were a re- 
 jection of episcopacy, of the use of " common prayer," and 
 of the ceremonies of the Church. Each congregation of 
 worshippers, united by a willing bond or covenant, sub- 
 mitting themselves to a pastor of their own choice, and 
 exercising discipline, through certain ruling elders, accord- 
 ing to what they quaintly termed " the scriptural platform," 
 formed a separate " church," which could have no alliance, 
 save that of friendly alliance, with other "churches," nor 
 own any submission except to their common Lord. For 
 this, which they esteemed a more perfect reformation, they 
 had left their native land, and become settlers in the wild- 
 erness. 
 
 It is pleasant to believe that there were amongst them 
 many whose whole hearts were governed by a strong per- 
 sonal religion ; whilst it is as plain that their consciences 
 were often scrupulous, and their self-will in religion great. 
 Of their earnest piety abundant records are preserved. It 
 was their first care, when they settled in the west, to join 
 themselves together in " a covenant with God," and accord- 
 ing to their forms, "to constitute themselves a Christian 
 Church." The lives and writings of their early magis- 
 trates and governors are full of proofs of personal religion. 
 Notliing but conscious uprightness could have enabled a 
 father to write to a grown-up son as John Winthrop, go- 
 vernor of Massachusetts, wrote to his son, who filled after- 
 wards the same office in Connecticut. " You are the chief 
 of two families. I had by your mother three sons and 
 three daughters, and I had with her a large portion of out- 
 ward estate. These now are all gone. . . You only are 
 left to see the vanity of these temporal things, and to learn 
 wisdom thereby ; which may be of more use to you, tlirougli 
 
 * Bancroft's United States, vol. i. p. 382. 
 f Cotton Mather's Magnalia. 
 
JOHN WINTHROP. 61 
 
 the Lords blossiug, than all that inheritance which might 
 have befallen you. . . . My son, the Lord knows how dear 
 thou art to me, and that my love has been more for thee 
 than for myself. But I know that thy prosperity depends 
 not on my care, nor on thy own, but upon the blessing of 
 our heavenly Father : neither doth it on the things of this 
 world, but on the light of God's countenance, through the 
 merit and mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if you 
 weigh things aright, and sum up all the turnings of divine 
 Providence together, you shall find great advantage. The 
 Lord hath brought us to a good land ; a land where we 
 enjoy outward peace and liberty, and, above all, the bless- 
 ings of the Gospel, without the burden of imposition in 
 matters of religion. Many thousands there are who would 
 give great estates to enjoy our condition. Labor, therefore, 
 my son, to increase our thankfulness to God for all His 
 mercies to thee, especially for that He hath revealed His 
 everlasting good will to thee in Jesus Chi'ist, and joined 
 thee to the visible body of His Church in the fellowship of 
 His people, and hath saved thee in all thy travels abroad 
 from being infected with the vices of those countries where 
 thou hast been (a mercy vouchsafed but unto few young 
 gentlemen travellers.) Let Him have the honor of it who 
 kept thee. . . . And therelore I would have you to love 
 Him again, and serve Him, and trust Him for the time to 
 come. Love and prize that word of truth which only 
 makes known to you the precious and eternal thoughts of 
 the Light inaccessible. Deny your own wisdom, that you 
 may find His ; and esteem it the greatest honor to lie under 
 the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ crucified. ... In all 
 the exercise of your gifts and improvement of your talents, 
 have an eye to your Master's end more than your own, 
 and to the day of account, that you may then have your 
 gidctus est, — even ' Well done, good and faithful servant.' 
 My last request unto you is, that you be careful to have 
 youv children brought up in the knowledge and I'ear of 
 God, and in the faith of our Lord .Tesus Christ. This will 
 give you the best comfort of them, and keep them free 
 from any want or miscarriage ; and when you part from 
 
62 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 them, it will be no small joy to your soul that you shall 
 meet them again in heaven."* 
 
 Such a spirit as this, carried out, as it seems to have 
 been, for ten years of renewed elective government over 
 the tottering feebleness of the infant colony of Massachu- 
 setts, might vi^ell earn for Winthrop the title which, in the 
 manner of his times, old Mather bestows upon him, of the 
 " New-English Nehemiah." Yet amidst this early promise 
 we may find traces of those evils which multiplied at home 
 so rankly in the great rebellion ; as if to show how short- 
 lived and uncertain is the growth of personal religion, when 
 taken from the shelter and protection of the Church. There 
 are many proofs that these New-England settlers were 
 a,mongst the very movers in those aftei'-troubles. The no- 
 torious Hugh Peters (who preached afterwards in England 
 in favor of the murder of the king) was a pastor at Boston ; 
 and there seems no good reason for doubting that Sir Ar- 
 thur Haselrig, Mr. Hampden, and Cromwell himself, were 
 intercepted on the Thames embarking for these colonies : 
 Sir Henry Vane the younger, touching there in 1636, was 
 immediately elected governor of Massachusetts ; and at the 
 close of the rebellion no fewer than three of the regicides 
 found shelter in New-England. 
 
 Neither here, indeed, nor in England had the Puritans 
 as yet woi'ked out all the consequences of their teuets. At 
 Massachusetts they at first declared that they " were not 
 separatists — that they did not separate from the Church 
 of England ;"t and when some who joined them thought 
 to recommend themselves by " holding forth a profession 
 of separation from the Church of England, "-t tliey were 
 "stopped forthwith" by the New-England pastors. But 
 this was only the coyness of early schism. They were, in 
 truth, most hostile to her ; holding the " composition of 
 common-prayer and ceremonies to be a siirful violation of 
 the M^orship of God ;"§ " and archbishops, bishops, arch- 
 deacons, olficials, and the like, to be humane creature?., 
 mere inventions of man, to the great dishonor of Christ 
 
 * Cottdii M;itliei's Magnalia, buok ii. cap. 11. 
 t C. Mather, book i. c. 4. % lb. c iii. 
 
 § lb. ut supra. 
 
PURITAN SPIHIT. 63 
 
 Jesus; plants not of the Lord's planting:, which all should 
 cortaiuly be rooted up and cast forth."* Some, indeed, 
 went farther still. The fundamental principles of the 
 Newhaven settlement declared, "that all vicars, rectors, 
 deans, priests, and bishops, are of tlie devil ; are wolves, 
 petty popes, and anti-christiau tyrants."! "It is a heinous 
 sin," they declared, "to be present when prayers are read 
 out of a book by a vicar or bishop :" nay, they jjo on to 
 say, " that the lovers of Zion had better put their ears to 
 the mouth of hell, and learn from the whispers of the de- 
 vils, than read the bishops' books. "$ When the overthrow 
 of the Church of England was made known in the colonies, 
 their exultation broke forth in such rhapsodies as these : 
 " This is the Lord's doing, and ought to be marvellous in 
 
 our eyes I have snared thee, and thou art taken, 
 
 Babylon, i. e. bishops These proud Anakims are 
 
 throwne downe, and their glory laid in the dust. Tbe 
 tiranous bishops are expelled, their courts dissolved, their 
 canons forceless, their service cashiered, their ceremonies 
 useless and despised ; and the proud and profane supporters 
 and cruel defenders of these, marvellouslie overthrowne : 
 and are not these greate things ? who can deny it ?"§ So 
 strong, indeed, were their principles, that even their zeal- 
 ous Puritan eulogist avows his " fear that the leaven of 
 that rigid thing they call Bro\«iism has prevailed some- 
 times a little of the farthest in the administrations of this 
 pious people ;"|| and complains of " religion behig like to 
 die at Plymouth, through a libertine and Brownistic^f spirit 
 prevailing among.st the people."** 
 
 The want of the appointed band of unity was already 
 broadly seen in the religious state of the settlements. The 
 
 * A Platf.jrm of Church Discipline, agreed upon at the synod at 
 Cambridge, New England, cap. vii., 1649. 
 
 f History of Connecticut, 1781. % Ibid. 
 
 § Fulhara mss. || Magn. b. ii. c. 2. 
 
 «jf Robert Browne was the founder of the " Independent" Dis- 
 •enters. who long bore the name of Brownist'? from him. He is des- 
 cribed bv Neal (i. 375. 376), the dissenting historian, as being a " fiery, 
 hot-headed young man;" "idle and dissolute" in middle life; and in 
 old age, '• poor, proud, and very passionate." He died in 1630. 
 
 *» Magn. b. i. c. 3. 
 
64 AMERICAN cmjRCII. 
 
 Puritan magistrates watched with terror the Working out 
 of their own opinions in the unUmited divisions of the peo- 
 ple. Even in their judgment " the cracks and flaws of tlae 
 new building portended a fall."* On the other side they 
 were reproached as being "priest-ridden magistrates, "i" 
 tmder " a covenant of works." The Presbyterian ministers 
 were greeted with the same epithets which had been be- 
 stowed upon the clergy at home ; they were " the ushers 
 of persecution, "+ " popish factors," and the like. In action 
 also their own principles were turned against them. Roger 
 Williams, a " zealous young minister, with precious gifts," 
 headed the opposition of a faction to the "control over opin- 
 ion," wliich his brethren attempted to maintain. He wag 
 Avilling to die for his opinion, that " none be accounted a 
 delinquent for doctrine." It was in vain that he Avas driven 
 out to become the founder of Rhode Island ; his wildest 
 opinions were enlarged by Anne Hutchinson, "a woman of 
 such admirable understanding and ' profitable and sober 
 carriage,' that she won a powerful party in the country."^ 
 She not only " weakened the hands and hearts of the peo- 
 ple towards the ministers, "|| but set aside all fixed forms of 
 faith and laws of conduct, with the .pretence of being guided 
 by " a new rule of practice, by immediate revelations. "*U 
 This she explained to mean, not a special revelation "in 
 the way of miracle," but merely that the impression of his 
 own mind was to every one the true rule both of belief and 
 practice. She was succeeded by Gordon, who, with his 
 followers, openly inveighed against the whole body of colo- 
 nial ministers, and in his dreamy reveries, proclaimed that 
 there was no heaven save in the hearts of the good, nor 
 any hell but in the mind. The (Quakers also soon sprung 
 up in this congenial soil ; and as she wandered about " to 
 build up their friends in the faith," Mary Dyar proclaimed 
 against the New-England pastors her " woe is me for you, 
 ye are disobedient and deceived." 
 
 * Shepherd's Lamentation, quoted by Bancroft. 
 
 f ("oddingtoa, iu ditto. Ij. Ditto. 
 
 § Bancroft. 
 
 11 Winthrop, in Hutch., quoted by Bancroft. 
 
 •(f "Welde, in Bancroft, cap. ix. 
 
PURITAN INTOLERANCE. 65 
 
 It was in vain that the whole civil power attempted to 
 check the growth of these multiplying sects ; it Avas in vain 
 that the pviritan magistrates used without scruple the very 
 arms of which at home they had made the loudest com- 
 plahits. Like the Independents in England, they had 
 learned from their oaatt sufl'erings no lesson of toleration to- 
 M'ards others. " To say that men ought to have liberty of 
 conscience," affirms one of their great authorities, "is 
 impious ignorance."* "Religion admits of no eccentric 
 notions." Banishment was their first and favorite remedy. 
 " For the security of the flock we pen up the w^olf ; but a 
 door is purposely left open, whereby he may depart at his 
 pleasure."! This was enforced on all who difiered from the 
 reigning sect. 
 
 Two brothers, Church-of-England men, a lawyer and a 
 merchant, who had joined unawares the settlement of Sa- 
 lem, finding how matters stood, ventured to " uphold" in 
 their own house, " for such as would resort unto them, the 
 Common-Prayer worship. "| But such an enormity they 
 M^ere not long sufiered to continue ; for " a disturbance 
 arising amongst the people upon this occasion," the bro- 
 thers were called before the magistrates, and "so handled 
 as to be induced to leave the colony forthAA-ith." Nor was 
 it Churchmen alone of whom they thus rid themselves. 
 They dealt the like measure to all sectaries Avho were not 
 of their own persuasion. " No food," runs one of their brief 
 laws, "and lodgings shall be allowed a Quaker, Adamite, 
 or other heretic. "§ It was judged sufficient reason to ex- 
 pel a household from the town of Salem, that its head was 
 by confession " a dam-ned Gluaker." Where banishment 
 failed of e fleeting its purpose, they were not slow in using 
 other methods. Fines, imprisonments, stripes, and even 
 death itself, were amongst their remedies; for " God for- 
 bid," say they, " that our love of truth should be so cold 
 that we should tolerate errors." Convicted Anabaptists 
 were fined twenty pounds, or " whipped unmercifully ;" 
 " absence from the ministry of the word" was treated in 
 
 * Ward, quoted by Bancroft, cap. x. f Norton in Bancroft. 
 
 X Magn. b. i. c. 4. § Blue Code, No. 13. 
 
66 AMERICAN CHURCH, 
 
 like manner by men whose main complaint in England 
 had been, that they were compelled to be present at their 
 parish church. But of all sects, the Gluakers were the 
 most severely handled. Of them Cotton Mather gravely 
 writes, when treating of the troublers of the land : " There 
 have been found amongst us some unhappy sectaries — 
 namely, Gluakers and b'eekers, and such other energu- 
 mens."* As such they were treated. Fines were levied 
 on any Avho harbored the "accursed sect ;"t whilst 
 " Friends" themselves were sentenced, after the first con- 
 viction, to lose one ear ; after the second, another ; and 
 after the third, to have the tongue bored through Avith a 
 red-hot iron. " If any person," say the Puritan laws. 
 " turns duaker, he shall be banished, and not suflered to 
 return on pain of death. "| Nor was this an inoperative 
 statute. Many Gluakers in New England were put to 
 death for the profession of their faith, until an order from 
 King Charles II. brought this violence to a close. § 
 
 Such was the religious liberty of Presbyterian New- 
 England twenty years after the true doctrine of toleration 
 had been carried out in Maryland. But this tone of harsh- 
 ness pervaded the Puritan character. It dictated the 
 " Blue Code" of Connecticut || (so named, according to pro- 
 bable conjecture, by the inhabitants of the neighboring 
 settlements from its being written, as it were, in blood), 
 which amongst other things enjoins, that "no one shall run 
 on the Sabbath-day, or walk in his garden, or elsewhere, 
 except reverently to and from meeting ;" which makes it 
 criminal in a mother to kiss her infant on the Sabbath-day ; 
 which strictly forbids the " reading of the Common-Prayer, 
 keeping Christmas-day or saint's-day, making mince-pies, 
 or playing on any instrument of music, except the drum, 
 the trumpet, and the Jews'-barp." The same code en- 
 forced attendance at the established Puritan Avorship, under 
 
 * Enerqumens — persons possessed with evil s|pirits. 
 
 \ Bancroft, i. 463. % Blue Code, No. 13. 
 
 § Neale's Puritans, vol. i. p. 334. 
 
 II History of Connecticut, 1*781. Captain Marryat's Diary, Blue 
 Code. A copy of which, through the kindness of the last-named 
 gentleman, lies before me. 
 
TREATMENT OF THE IxVDIANS. G7 
 
 the penalty of a money-fine for every time of absence.* 
 Indeed, bare toleration of diflerent forms of worship Avas 
 condenmed amonsst them as unquestionable sin. " If," 
 say.s one of their writers hi 1647, " after men continue in 
 obstinate rebellion against the light, the civil magistrate 
 shall still walk towards them in soft and gentle commise- 
 ration, his softness and gentleness is excessive large to foxes 
 and v.'olves, but his bowels are miserably straitened and 
 hardened against the poor sheep and lambs of Christ. Nor 
 is it Irustrating the end of Christ's coming, but a direct 
 advancing it, to de&troy tlie bodies of those wolves Avho 
 seek to destroy the souls of those for whom Christ died."! 
 Tlie same spirit runs through all the dealings of the 
 " pilgrim fathers" with the xmhappy Indians whom they 
 dispossessed. It seems scarcely to have crossed their minds, 
 that these devoted tribes were part of the great human 
 family. " By this prodigious pestilence," says their histor- 
 ian, himself evidently a man of a gentle temper, " the woods 
 were cleared of those pernicious creatures, to make room 
 for a better growth. "$ These, again, are his speculations 
 on the mode by which the American continent was first 
 peopled : " We may gLiess that probably the devil decoyed 
 those miserable salvages hither in hopes that the Gospel of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ would never come here to destroy or 
 disturb his absolute empire over them."§ " Tawny pagans," 
 " rabid wolves," "grim salvages," " bloody salvages," arc 
 the usual terms he gives them, unless, when rising into 
 fervor, he boldly declares them to be "so many devils." 
 As such they were treated. These " pilgrims," who left 
 their fathers' land, believing that the " God of heaven had 
 served a summons upon the spirits of His people, stirring 
 them up to go over a terrible ocean into a more terrible 
 desert, for the pure enjojnnent of all His ordinances ... to 
 carry the Gospel into those parts, and raise a bulwark 
 against antichrist," — they thought notliing, on a mere 
 rumor of intended mischief, of " pretending to trade viith 
 the Indians," that they might more safely, " with prodigi- 
 
 * Cotton's Bloody Tenet -naslied White. Sec also Belknap's 
 History of New-Hampshire, c. iii. p. 44. 
 
 \ C. Mather, Magnalia, i. 7. :j: lb. § Magn. b. iii. p. 190. 
 
68 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 ous resolution, kill divers of their chiefs ;" or of " vigorously 
 discharging their muskets upon the salvages," and so " as- 
 tonishing them M'ith the strange effects of such dead doing 
 things as powder and shot." Nor was this unconnected 
 with the character of their religion. The Churchmen of 
 Virginia, until they were provoked to retaliate by the at- 
 tempted massacre of their whole colony, had treated all the 
 Indian tribes with kindness. There were amongst them, 
 from the first, men who devoted all their energies to spread 
 the faith of Christ amongst their heathen neighbors. But 
 the stern and exclusive creed of the New-England Puritans 
 did not favor such attempts. Many of the Puritans, ac- 
 customed to regard themselves exclusively as the chosen 
 of God, habitually applied to these poor heathens the de- 
 nunciations of the Pentateuch against the old inhabitants 
 of Canaan. Not perceiving that they had no direct charge, 
 like the famine or the pestilence, to execute the long-de- 
 layed vengeance of the Almighty against a people " whose 
 iniquity was full," they deemed themselves commissioned, 
 hke Joshua of old, to a work of blood ; and thinking that 
 the sword of God's vengeance was committed to their 
 hands, they rejoiced with enthusiastic triumph at the ap- 
 proaching extermination of these tribes of idol- worshippers. 
 The same fanatical delusions troubled even the more gentle 
 spirits of their band, and kept them from exertion for their 
 Indian brethren.* Even amongst their own conntrymen, 
 we are assured by a contemporary Presbyterian writer, who 
 quotes authorities for all his assertions, that three out of 
 four were driven by the rigors of their system from com- 
 munity with any church ; and as a necessary consequence, 
 their peculiar views, f he continues, " exceedingly hindered 
 the conversion of the poor pagans. God, in great mercy, 
 having opened a door in these last times to a new world of 
 reasonable creatures, for this end above all, that the Gospel 
 might be preached to them, for the enlargement of the 
 kingdom of Christ, — the principles and practice of the In- 
 dependents doth cross this blessed hope. What have they 
 
 * Bishop Berkeley's Sermon before the Society for tlie Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel, 17-31, pp. 246. 247. 
 
 t R. Baylie's Errours of the Time, p. 60. 1646. 
 
JOHN ELIOT. G9 
 
 to do M'ilh those that arc without ? Their pastors preach 
 not tor conversion .... Of ail that ever crossed the Ame- 
 rican seas, they are noted as most neglectful of this work 
 . . . I have read of none of them that seem to have minded 
 this matter."* 
 
 It Avas not till the very year in which this reproach 
 was penned that any ellbrts were made to remove it from 
 the Christians of New England. In that year, John Eliot, 
 a man of pi'imitive piety, zeal, and mortification, broke 
 through the bondage of the system round him, and treated 
 the red men, whose lands "the pilgrims" now so largely 
 occupied, as having, like themselves, souls for which Christ 
 died. He was one of those whom the unhappy humors of 
 the time drove out of that Church at home, of which he 
 shoidd have been a stay and ornament. But God over- 
 ruled his loss to the blessing of these heathen. From a 
 complete education at the English University of Cambridge, 
 he was lured over the Atlantic to become the apostle of 
 the Indians. He stood at first alone. "I cannot find," 
 says his Puritan chronicler,! " that any besides the Holy 
 Spirit of God first moved him to the blessed work of evan- 
 gelising these perishing Indians." " The thought," how- 
 ever, he continues, " may have been suggested to him by 
 the declaration of the royal charter, that to win and incite 
 the natives of that country to the knowledge and obedience 
 of the only true God and Saviour of mankind, and the 
 Christian faith, in our royal intention and the adventurers' 
 free pi-olession, is the principal end of the plantation." 
 
 In this spirit Eliot entered on his work, and thenceforth 
 his name has been identified with self-denying and success- 
 I'ul efforts to spread the Gospel of our Lord amongst the 
 heathen of North America. He prepared himself for his 
 task with unexampled diligence. One great obstacle to be 
 sunnounted was the difiiculty of mastering the Indian 
 language. The peculiar feature which pervades its dia- 
 lects is, the habit of clustering together, into one prolonged 
 word, the separate ideas which, in our language, occupy 
 
 * II. Baylie's Errours of the Time, p. 60. 
 f C. Mather, book iii. p. 190. 
 
70 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 many distinct words. This made its acquisition seem al- 
 most impossible to the contemporaries and even the suc- 
 cessors of Eliot. " Its words," says Cotton Mather,* " are 
 long enough to tire the patience of any scholar in the world ; 
 one would think they had been growing ever since Babel 
 unto the dimensions to which they are now extended." 
 Further on, he gravely tells us that, " once finding the 
 daemons in a possessed young woman understood the Latin, 
 Greek, and Hebrew languages, curiosity led me to make 
 trial of this Indian language, and the daemons did seem as 
 if they did not understand it." These difficulties Eliot's 
 patience overcame ; and he was hereby able to render the 
 most effective service to the cause to which his life was 
 given. For the support of these missions, parochial collec- 
 tions to a large amount had been made in Cromwell's time. 
 These had been invested in the purchase of land ; and, after 
 the Restoration, Clarendon's influence maintained the proper 
 application of the fund so created. The honorable Robert 
 Boyle, a name never to be mentioned without honor, was 
 placed at the head of the trust ; the funds of which, at this 
 time, were mainly expended in printing the Bible and othor 
 religious works, of Eliot's translating, in the Indian tongue. f 
 So much had his resolute perseverance effected in this 
 laborious work. Mightier difficulties than these were 
 levelled before him. The fast-closed darkened hearts of 
 these Indians opened before his words, and many converts 
 were gathered by him into the Christian fold. Nobly did 
 he spend himself in these blessed labors. Nor was his ex- 
 ample without fruit. At his first engaging in the work, 
 " all the good men in the country were glad of his under- 
 taking : the ministers especially encouraged him." Others 
 soon trod in his footsteps ; and, forty-one years after his 
 going forth to these Gentiles, there were reckoned " six 
 churches of baptised Indians in New-England, and eighteen 
 assemblies of catechumens profes.sing the name of Christ ; 
 of the Indians, there are twenty-four who are preachers of 
 the word of God, and, besides these, there are four English 
 
 * Magnalia, book iii. part iii. 
 
 t Life of Richard Baxter, book i. part ii. p. 290. 
 
PURITAN TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. 71 
 
 ministers who preach the Gospel hi the Indian tongue."* 
 This flourishing report is not unquestioned by contemporary 
 writers ; but whether it be exaggerated or not, there is no 
 doubt as to the early indifference of all the Puritans to such 
 exertions ; and it is a striking proof of the fierce and ex- 
 clusive temper which their peculiarities had nurtured, that, 
 jn a settlement which owed its origin to zeal about reli- 
 gion, for six-and-twenty years of constant intercourse, in 
 peace and war, with their Pagan brethren, the desire of 
 their conversion to the faith seems never to have visited a 
 single breast ; no one had so much as thought of attempt- 
 ing to convey to these unhappy tribes around them the 
 blessed message of salvation. With an apathy made more 
 portentous by the very language of" their charter, they never 
 thought of them as men partaking of redemption. They 
 seized without scruple on the lands possessed of old times 
 by the Indians, "voting themselves to be the children of 
 God, and that the wilderness in the utmost parts of the 
 earth was given to them :"t and it is calculated^ that up- 
 wards of 180,000 of the aboriginal inhabitants were slaugh- 
 tered by them in Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut alone. 
 With this indifference towards the heathen was com- 
 bined a restless proselyting spirit towards their brethren. 
 Early in their history, they attempted to plant the standard 
 of division amongst the Churchmen of Virginia ; and when 
 once their sect had been established there, New-England 
 was ever ready to send forth her succors to the founders or 
 fomenters of religious difference. 
 
 * Letter of Increase — Mather's, July 12, IGSY. Magnalia, book 
 iii. p. 111. 
 
 t History of Connecticut, 1181. X Ibid. p. 112. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FROM 1688 TO 1175. 
 
 Spiritual destitution of the colonies — Exei'tions of the Bishop of 
 London, Hon. Robert Boyle, and others — Drs. Blair and Bray sent 
 as commissaries to Virginia and Maryland — New-York conquered 
 by English — Trinity Church endowed — Progress of the Church in 
 New-England — Boston petition for episcopal worship — Founda- 
 tion of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel — Religii)U3 
 state of the colonies — Labors of the missionaries of the Venerable 
 Society — Rev. George Keith — Violence of Quakers — Opposition 
 from New-England magistrates — Yale College — Leading Congre- 
 gationalists join the Church — Progress of the Church at Newtown 
 under Mr. Beach — Violence of Congregational ists — General state 
 of the Church in Virginia — Mr. Whitetield — Spreading dissent — 
 Rise of Anabaptists in Virginia — Resistance to the clergy — Low 
 state of the Church — Its causes — Clergy dependent on their flocks 
 — Want of Bishops — Attempts to obtain an American episcopate, 
 in the reign of Charles II., of Queen Anne — Bishop Berkeley op- 
 posed by Walpole — Supported by ArcIibi.shop Seeker — Efforts in 
 the colonies — Zeal of northern colonies — Virginia refuses to join in 
 the attempt — Causes of tliis refusal. 
 
 To those who have learned to vahxe rightly the importance 
 of Christian unity, it will be no matter of surprise to hear, 
 that in this divided land the Church of Christ could not 
 flourish. So plain, in truth, had become the features of 
 mora] and religious evil in our Transatlantic colonies at the 
 close of the seventeenth century, that the slightest observa- 
 tion of them at once startled good men at home, and led 
 them to immediate action. Amongst the first of these were 
 Sir Leoline Jenkins and the Hon. Robert Boyle ; the first 
 of whom left by Avill a foundation for two fellowships at 
 Jesus College, Oxford, to be held by persons in holy orders 
 who should be willing to take upon them the cure of souls 
 in our foreign plantations ; and the other, after undertaking 
 to conduct a company in 1661, for the propagation of the 
 
MARYLAND. 73 
 
 Gospel amongst the heathen natives of New England, left 
 an annual sum to support the lectures which to this day 
 Lear his name, that, "being dead," he might "still speak" 
 to all succeeding generations of this great duty of convert- 
 ing infidels to the ti'ue faith of Christ. 
 
 From these beginnings other efforts followed. In the 
 year 1685, the Bishop of London persuaded Dr. Blair to go 
 as his commissary to Virginia. For fifty-three years he 
 held this office, and zealously discharged its duties. By 
 him the long-neglected project of training for the ministry 
 the English and Indian youth Avas happily revived, and 
 through his unwearied labors brought at last to a success- 
 ful close in the establishment of the college of " William 
 and Mary." 
 
 The appointment of Dr. Blair was shortly followed by 
 the nomination of Dr. Bray as commissary in Maryland. 
 
 This colony, as has been said, was originally founded 
 by settlers of the Roman Catholic persuasion, but with the 
 free allowance of all other forms of worslup ; and it is well 
 worthy of remark, that at the very time when Puritan 
 Massachusetts was jjersecuting to the death all who disagreed 
 with the dominant sect, the governors of Maryland were 
 bound by an annual oath, not " by themselves, or indi- 
 rectly, to trouble, molest, or discountenance any person 
 professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect of 
 religion ; and if any such were so molested, to protect the 
 person molested, and punish the offender."* On this basis 
 things continued until the time of the Great Rebellion. 
 Settlers of various views in matters of religion had been 
 received and protected in the colony. But as soon as the gov- 
 ernment was wrested from the handsof the Lord Baltimore 
 by the adherents of the parliament, and the Independents 
 thereby made its masters, they repealed these laws of uni- 
 versal toleration, and proscribed entirely " popery and pre- 
 lacy." It is not a little striking, that the first enactment 
 in the statute-book of Maryland, which ibrbade to any one 
 the free exercise of that which he believed to be the true 
 form of Christian worship, should have been introduced by 
 
 * Chalmer.s, 2S3 ; quoted by Dr. Hawks. 
 
 4 
 
74 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 sucli fierce pretenders to religious liberty as the Indepen- 
 dents. 
 
 So, however, it was ; and such the law continued until 
 the fall of Cromwell's party. With the Restoration, Lord 
 Baltimore regained his rights as owner of the colony, and 
 for a season all proceeded on its foi'mer plan. But a shock 
 had been given to the old constitution ; and the troubles 
 which from time to time disturbed society at home, soon 
 extended to the colony, and took there the same direction. 
 The mass of the population were by this time Protestant ; 
 and as during the reigns of Charles and James II., fears of 
 popery were the mainsprings of disturbances in England, 
 Maryland, now brought anew under the rule of a Roman 
 Catholic proprietor, was a favorable theatre for such com- 
 motions. Accordingly, the accession of William and Mary 
 to the English throne was, after some preparatory troubles, 
 followed by the overthrow of Lord Baltimore's authority, 
 and the substitution in his stead of a royal governor. This 
 change was succeeded by an act of assembly, which, in 
 1692, established the Church of Eufjland as the relijrion of 
 the colony ; divided its territory into parishes ; and endowed 
 its clergy with an income to be derived from the payment 
 of forty pounds of tobacco by every taxable person in the 
 province. To the operation of this law, the opponents of 
 the Church created various hindrances. The Romanists 
 and (Quakers, — who abounded in the colony, and both 
 looked on such a law as most injurious to themselves, — 
 united in their opposition to it ; and sometimes by colonial 
 resistance, sometimes by misrepresentation to the govern- 
 ment at home, they long delayed its execution. 
 
 At this critical period, the clergy, feelmg their weak- 
 ness, and seeing that it wsls in great part owing to that 
 want of union, of which the presence of their proper head 
 is so great a spring and safeguard, besought the Bishop of 
 London to send them at least a commissary, clotlied with 
 such poM'er as should "capacitate him to redress what is 
 amiss, and supply what is wanting, in the Church." The 
 bishop assented to their wishes ; and most happy was his 
 choice. Dr. Thomas Bray, his first commissary in Mary- 
 land, was a man of rare devotion, joined to an invincible 
 
Dn. BRAY. 75 
 
 energ)'^ in action. He abandoned willingly the prospect of 
 large English preferment, to nourish the infant Church in 
 the spiritual wastes of Maryland. No sooner had he ac- 
 cepted the appointment than he set himself to contrive 
 means for fulfilling all its duties. His first care was to find 
 pious and useful ministers, whom he could persuade to set- 
 tle with him on the other side of the Atlantic ; and in this 
 he so far prospered as to increase the number laboring there 
 from three to sixteen clergymen. He began also the forma- 
 tion of colonial libraries ; and in the course of his exertion 
 in this work, was led on to still greater efibrts. He per- 
 ceived the need and the fitness of the co-operation of all 
 ranks of Churchmen in such attempts ; and havmg once 
 conceived this idea, he rested not until he had laid the 
 foundation of the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, and that for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
 Parts. 
 
 In all these labors he was indefatigable. No difficulties 
 daunted him. Finding, in the course of his preparations, 
 that he required the personal consent of the king to some 
 proposed arrangements, he undertook at once, and at his 
 own expense, a voyage to Holland, where the monarch 
 then M-as. In a like spirit he acted throughout ; for some 
 years he continued patiently completing his preparations in 
 England, though his salary as commissary did not begin 
 until he sailed for Maryland. At length, on the 12th of 
 March, 1700, after a tedious voyage, he reached the land 
 of his adoption. Here he soon displayed the like activity. 
 He assembled the clergy at visitations — instructed them by 
 charges — and enforced discipline, to the utmost of his means, 
 against any of bad Uves. 
 
 On one notoriously corrupt he enforced, before the other 
 clergy, the aggravations of his crime. First, " that it is 
 done by a person in holy orders. Secondly, by a mission- 
 ary (which, by the way, my brethren, should be a conside- 
 ration of no small weight with all of us.) Thirdly, as to 
 time, that this scandal is given at a juncture when our 
 Church here is weakest, and our friends seem to be fewest, 
 and our enemies strongest. And, lastly, as to place, it so 
 happens that you are seated m the midst of papists ; and, 
 
7G AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 I am credibly informed, there have been more perversions 
 made to popery since your crime has been the talk of the 
 country, than in all the time it has been an English colony. 
 These considerations, sir, do make it necessary that all pos- 
 sible expedition, which is consistent with common justice, 
 should be made in this aflair, so as to acquit you or condemn 
 you. * 
 
 What the results of such zeal might have been, if, in- 
 stead of beuig a delegated representative of a distant prelate, 
 Dr. Bray had himself, been appointed bishop in Maryland, 
 it is impossible to calculate. As it was, the efibrts, which 
 depended wholly on his individual zeal, instead of springing 
 ever fresh out of the system of the Church, scarcely outlived 
 his own stay in Maryland. This was necessarily short. 
 The opposition made to the established rights of the colo- 
 nial clergy called for his presence at head-quarters, where 
 the Gluakers and KoiTianists were active and united ; and 
 lie returned to England to maintain the cause of liis afflicted 
 community. Upon his departure religion comparatively 
 languished, from the weakness of its imperfect planting, 
 and the uncorrected evil lives of some among the clergy. 
 Still, in spite of all hindrances, the Church gained some 
 ground ; and a majority of the colony, now increased to 
 30,000, were accounted of her communion. 
 
 Nor was this rising energy confined to Maryland. There 
 was a stir also in the other provinces. New Amsterdam, 
 or New-York, as it was termed after its conquest by the 
 English, was finally ceded by the Dutch, at the treaty oi 
 Breda, in 1667. This change of masters transferred at 
 once the garrison-chapel to the use of the Church of Eng- 
 land. Within these narrow walls it was limited for many 
 years, until, in 1696, another church M-as built under the 
 name of " Trinity," and endowed temporarily by Governor 
 Fletcher, and in perpetuity by his successor the Lord Corn- 
 bury, with tlie freehold of a neighboring properly, kiLown 
 hitherto as the " King's Farm." Even in New-England, 
 in spite of penal laws, which rigidly prohibited any " min- 
 istry or Church administration, in any town or plantation 
 
 * liawks's Eccles Con. vol. ii. p. 102. 
 
SOCIETY FOR PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL. 77 
 
 of the colony, separate from that which is openly observed 
 and dispensed by the approved minister of the place," a 
 movement began towards the long-despised Church of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 In 1G79 a petition, from a large body of persons in their 
 chief town of Boston, was presented to King Charles II., 
 praying " that a church might be allowed in that city for 
 the exercise of religion according to the Church of England." 
 This request was granted, and a church erected for the 
 purpose, bearing the name of " the King's Chapel." Far 
 more considerable matters Ibllowed the inquiry which this 
 step occasioned. It was found, that throughout all that 
 populous district there were but four who called themselves 
 ministers of the Church of England ; and but two of these 
 who had been regularly sent ibrth to the work. This was 
 a state of things M'hich coidd not be endured ; and by a 
 happy movement, of which Dr. Bray was in great measure 
 the suggestor, the bishops of the Church set themselves to 
 fmd some means for its correction. They determined to 
 associate themselves into a body for this purpose, with such 
 devout members of the laity and clergy as God should in- 
 cline to join them in their Avork of mercy. They issued 
 their address to the community, and were joined by ready 
 hearts on all sides ; so that, having applied for and obtained 
 a charter of incorporation, they met for despatch of business, 
 as the Society for the Propagation of the Grospel, in June, 
 1701, under the Archbishop of Canterbury as their presi- 
 dent. Many great names in the English Church appear 
 in the catalogue of their first and warmest supporters, 
 amongst the chief of whom Avere Bishop Beveridge, Arch- 
 bishops Wake and Sharp, and Bishops Gibson and Berke- 
 ley. 
 
 Funds soon flowed in upon them from every quarter ; 
 but the want to be reheved was greater than the worst 
 returns had stated. England, it was found, had been in- 
 deed peopling the new world with colonies of heathens. 
 " There is at tins day," is BLshop Berkeley's declaration 
 somewhat later, " but little sense of religion, and a most 
 notorious corruption of manners, in the English colonies 
 
78 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 settled on the continent of America."* Nor will this lan- 
 guage appear overstrained, if it is compared with the nu- 
 merical returns which the inquiries of the day called forth. 
 For from these it appeared that in " South Carolina there 
 were 7,000 souls, besides negroes and Indians, living with- 
 out any minister of the Church . . . and above half the 
 people living regardless of any religion. In North Carolina 
 above 5,000 souls without any minister, any administra- 
 tions used ; no public worship celebrated ; neither the chil- 
 dren baptised, nor the dead buried, in any Christian form. 
 Virginia contained above 40,000 souls, divided into 40 pa- 
 rishes, but wanting near half the number of clergymen 
 requisite. Maryland contained above 25,000, divided into 
 26 parishes, but wanting near half the number of ministers 
 requisite. In Pennsylvania (says Col. Heathcote) there 
 are at least 20,000 souls, of which not above 700 frequent 
 the church, and there are not more than 250 communicants. 
 In New York government we have 30,000 souls at least, 
 of which about 1,200 frequent the church, and we have 
 about 450 communicants. In Connecticut there are about 
 30,800 souls ; of which, when they have a minister among 
 them, about 150 frequent the church, and there are 35 
 communicants. In Rhode Island and Narraganset there 
 are about 10,000 souls, of which about 150 frequent the 
 church, and there are 30 communicants. In Boston and 
 Piscataway there are about 80,000 souls, of which about 
 GOO frequent the church, and 120 the sacrament. This is 
 the true, though melancholy state of our Church in North 
 America."! 
 
 Nor are these merely the accounts of Episcopalian 
 writers. Cotton Mather describes the state of Rhode 
 Island colony in 1695, as "a colluvies of Antinomians, 
 Familists, Anabapists, Antisabbatarians, Arminians, Soci- 
 nians, (Quakers, Ranters, and everything but Roman 
 
 * A " Proposal for better supplying of Churches in our Foreigii 
 Phintations," publi'^hed in 172.5. 
 
 f Humphrey's History of the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel, p. 41, tfcc. These figures, however, it must be borne in mind, 
 give the numbers of tlie Church of England; not of the whole Chris- 
 tiaa population. 
 
RELIGIOUS STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 79 
 
 Catholics and true Christians ; honna terra mala gois."* 
 Such was, within httle more than fifty years, the fruit of 
 founding a people on the specious attempt of making " no 
 man a delinquent for doctrine :" not in its true sense, of 
 ahandoniiig all hope of forcing men to trust m Christ by 
 penalties and statutes, but in its most false sense, of treat- 
 ing them as if they were not themselves indeed responsible 
 for their belief; of niahitaing no external system of faith, 
 but counting that as true to every man which he was 
 pleased to gather for himself in the boundless waste of un- 
 authorized opmion ; of resting truth upon the shifting sand- 
 bank of opinion, and not on the sure rock of revelation. 
 
 How far such a population could act as an outpost of 
 the faith may be easily conceived. What their influence 
 had been amongst their Indian neighbors we are told by 
 Bishop Berkeley, when he says that these, who " formerly 
 were in the compass of one colony many thousands, do not 
 at present amount to one, including evexy age and sex ; 
 and these are all servants of the English, who have con- 
 tributed more to destroy their bodies by the use of strong 
 liquors, than by any means to improve their minds or save 
 their souls. This slow poison, jointly operating with the 
 small-pox and their wars (but much more destructive than 
 both) have consumed the Indians not only m our colonies, 
 but also far and wide upon our confines. It must be 
 owned, our reformed planters, with respect to the natives 
 and their slaves, might learn from those of the Church of 
 Rome how it is their interest and duty to behave. Both 
 the French and Spaniards . . . take care to instruct both 
 the natives and their negroes in the Popish religion, to the 
 reproach of those who profess a better. "t 
 
 To supply the spiritual necessities of these our sons and 
 daughters, the society addressed itself with zeal. And 
 much, uixder God's blessing, they accomplished in various 
 quarters. Their choice was guided to many fit and zeal- 
 ous instruments for the performance of tliis holy work. 
 They sent out clergy, fixed and itinerating, to all the dis- 
 
 » Magnalia, b. vii. c. 3, p. 20. 
 
 f Bishop Berkeley's Sermon before the Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel, 1731. 
 
80 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 tricts except Virginia and Maryland, which were in some 
 degree supplied already through the influence of their old 
 endowments. Many a soul had cause to bless God for the 
 labors of these men ; who, — whether they went into the 
 total darkness which had settled doAvn on many districts, 
 or preached to the " Foxian (Quakers," who iu their zeal 
 for the " teaching of the inward light," Avere fast losing all 
 remains of Christianity; or amongst the New-Englanders, 
 who " consisted chiefly of sectaries of many denominations 
 
 too many of whom had worn ofi" a serious sense of 
 
 all religion,"*' — alike gathered in some converts to the fold. 
 They were indeed in labors abundant. Thus amongst the 
 first was George Keith, Avho had been himself a duaker, 
 but was now in English holy orders, and travelled for two 
 years, between 1702 and 1705, through all the govern- 
 ments of England, between North Carolina and Piscataway 
 river in ^I^ew- England, preaching twice on Sundays and 
 week-days ; oflering up public prayers ; disputing with the 
 duakers ; and estabhshing the Church. " He has done," 
 says a letter of the day, " great service to the Church 
 wherever he has been, by preaching and disputing publicly 
 and from house to house ; he has confuted many, especially 
 the Anabaptists, by labor and travail night and day, by 
 writing and printing of books, mostly at his own cost and 
 charge, giving them out freely, which has been very expen- 
 sive to him. By these means people are much awakened, 
 and their eyes opened to see the good old way ; and they 
 are very well pleased to find the Church at last take such 
 care of her children." Two hundred " (Quakers or Q,uaker- 
 ly-aflected" converts he himself baptised with his own hand, 
 besides " divers other dissenters also in Pennsylvania, West 
 and East Jersey, and New- York." 
 
 These successes were not gained without a sharp con- 
 flict. Bitter and grievous are the charges with which the 
 Q^uakers assailed him. He who sees this sect only in the 
 calm into which it has long since subsided can scarcely 
 conceive the storm and fury with which its early enthusi- 
 
 * Bishop Berkeley's Sermon before the Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel. 
 
 X 
 
MISSIONARIES. 81 
 
 asm raged. Yet these their old writers everjrwhere exhibit. 
 The very index to the hfe of Fox thus disposes of the Eng- 
 hsh Clergry : " They sell the Scriptures — pray by form — are 
 hirelings, tithe-takers, robbers of the people — not ministers 
 of the gospel — plead for sin — dread the man in leathern 
 breeches — are miserable comforters — reproved in the streets 
 — one pleads ibr adultery — beats friends — are oppressors — 
 persecutors — the devil's counsellors and lawyers." 
 
 Men of such a temper as these extracts indicate would 
 not easily yield up their past predominance, and there was 
 no extremity of calumny with which they did not visit 
 Keith. They would not hear of granting to Episcopalians 
 the most ordinary toleration. Thus when Dr. Bray endea- 
 vored to stir up the voluntary zeal of Christians at home 
 to make some adequate provision for religion in the colo- 
 nies, his memorial was met by furious invectives from the 
 famous Joseph Wyeth, who declares his object to be " to 
 prevent, if I may, the setting up and establishing a power 
 of persecuting and imposition in the colonies, which would 
 be to the discouragement of the industrious planter," &c.* 
 Yet, in spite of all assaults, the truth steadily prevailed. 
 " In Pemisylvania" — was his concluding report — " where 
 there was but one Church-of-England congregation, to wit, 
 at Pennsylvania, of few years' standing, there are now five. 
 At Burlington, in New Jersey, a settled congregation ; at 
 Frankfort, in Pennsylvania, the (Quakers' meeting is turned 
 into a church ; and within these two years thirteen minis- 
 ters are planted in the nothern parts of America."! These, 
 and all save the settled clergy of Virginia and Maryland, 
 were the missionaries of the Society, then newly formed, 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. To 
 the labors of that venerable body, throughout a long season 
 of sluggish inactivity and wintry darkness, the colonies of 
 England are indebted for all the spiritual care bestowed 
 upon them by the mother-country. Well did its ministers 
 deserve the honored name of Christian Missionaries. Theirs 
 were toils too often unrequited, carried on in the face of 
 
 * Remarks on Bray's Memorial by J. "Wyetli, 1701. 
 f Narrative of the Rev. Georye Keith, <fec. 
 
82 AMERICAN CHURCH, 
 
 dangers, loss, and extreme hardships. The hardly settled 
 country was still liable to Indian incursion. The home- 
 steads of the settlers lay far apart from one another, severed 
 by woods, wastes, and morasses, across which, in many 
 places, no better roads were yet carried than an Indian 
 path, with all its uncertainty and danger. Day by day 
 these must be passed by those who discharged in that land 
 the office of the ministry. "In many places also there 
 were great rivers, from one, two, to six, twelve, and fifteen 
 miles over, with no ferry. He that would answer the end 
 of his mission must not only have a good horse, but a good 
 boat and a couple of experienced watermen."* In such a 
 country he often had to minister at ' ' places above sixty 
 and seventy miles distant, and found it a very laborious 
 mission."! How laborious it was, may be learned from 
 the following sketch of his mission, sent from North Caro- 
 lina to the Society of 1722. " The first Sunday I preach, 
 going by land and water some few miles, at Esquire Duck- 
 enfield's house, large enough to hold a gi'eat congregation, 
 till we have built a church, which is hereafter to be called 
 Society Church. The second Sunday I take a journey up 
 to a place called Maheim, about forty miles off, where 
 there are abundance of inhabitants. Third Sunday, as the 
 first. Fourth, I go up to a place called Meaou, about 
 thirty miles journey. Fifth, I cross the sound to Eden 
 Town. Sixth, to the chapel on the south shore, about 
 twelve miles by water; and so, the seventh, begin as 
 above, except once every quarter I go up to a place called 
 Roanoke, about eighty miles journey ; and the five last 
 Sundays of the year the vestries do give me, that I may 
 go my rounds and visit the remote parts of the country, 
 where the inhabitants live some 1 50 miles ofi" ; people who 
 will scarce ever have the oppurtunity of hearing me, or 
 having their children baptised, unless I goto them . . . ."$ 
 These were their labors ; for which they had no other re- 
 compense than such as have at all times animated martyrs 
 
 * MS. letters of the S. P. G., quoted in " Early Colonial Churcli," 
 No. iv., by Rev. E. Hawkins, 
 t IhJd. xvi. p. 92. 
 X MS. Letters ia " Early Colonial Church," xvi. p. 92. 
 
MISSIONARIES. 83 
 
 and confessors ; fifty pounds a year from the Society, and, 
 sometimes at least, but " thirty pounds paid duriiiij live 
 years in depreciated paper," was the stipend of such Labor- 
 ers. Their mode of living embraced no luxuries. " The 
 water," says one, dcscribin;:^ what ho saw around hhn, 
 '■ M'as brackisli and mudtly ; their ordinary food was salt 
 pork, but sometimes beef; their bread, of Indian corn, 
 which they are forced, for want of mills, to beat." " My 
 lodging," adds another, " was an old tobacco-house, exposed 
 even inmybed to the injuries and violencesof bad weather."* 
 These were not their severest trials ; long neglect had hard- 
 ened the settlers' hearts against the truth ; the dying sparks 
 of religion had to be fanned into a flame amidst abounding 
 opposition; the people were "barbarous and disorderly," 
 they impiously profaned the holiest rites, and heaped upon 
 these messengers of peace " abuses and contumely." The 
 sectarians, who had been suffered to forestall them, were 
 " very numerous, extremely ignorant, insufferably proud, 
 ambitious, and consequently ungovernable."! 
 
 It can cause no surprise to find that some turned back 
 in hopeless despondency from such a task ; and that others, 
 whose first care was "so to acquit themselves, in that 
 troublesome and unsettled country, as to be able to give a 
 comfortable account of their stewardship at that dreadful 
 tribunal where the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed," 
 soon sunk under their exhausting labors. | Some good no 
 doubt they did ; some wanderers in that distant wilderness 
 shall one day rise up and call them blessed. Their record 
 is on high. Even here they were not always without wit- 
 ness. " We shall ever bless Pro^^dence," says the vestry 
 of Carotuch of one who in that great day shall rise out of 
 his distant grave in Carolina, "that placed him amongst 
 us, and should be very unjust to his character if we did 
 not give him the testimony of a pious and painful pastor, 
 whose sweetness of temper, diligence in his calling, and 
 
 * MS. Letters in " Early Colonial Church," ix. p. 273 ; iv. p. 105. 
 
 •j- Letters, ut supra. 
 
 \ Of one (the Rev. Clement Hal!) we read, " It is no excessive 
 computation, that this good and most laborious missionary baptised 
 ten thousand persons." S. P. G. Report, 1760. 
 
84 AMEracAN church. 
 
 soundness of doctrine, hath so much conduced to promote 
 the great end of his mission, that M'e hope the good seed 
 God hath enabled him to sow will bear fruit upwards."* 
 But for such eflbrts as these, the very name of Christ's 
 Gospel would have perished out of that laud, and, shame- 
 ful as it is to England that she made no better provision 
 for her colonies, blessed was their work, and great, doubt- 
 less, will one day be their reward who devised and carried 
 out these unrequited labors. 
 
 In New-England also the Church was rooted amidst 
 storms and opposition. Wherever the missionaries came, 
 " the ministers and magistrates of the Independents were 
 remarkably industrious, going from house to house persuad- 
 ing the people from hearing them, and threatening those 
 who would attend with imprisonment and punishment."! 
 At one place a magistrate with officers came to the preach- 
 er's lodgings, and in the hearing of the people read a paper, 
 declaring that " in coming among them to establish a new 
 way of worship, he had done an illegal thing, and was now 
 forewarned against preaching any more." Yet here too 
 the good seed was not sown in vain ; for in many spots 
 throughout the country devout and abiding congregations of 
 the faithful were gathered under apostolic order. 
 
 The movement began, in spite of all precautions, within 
 the walls of Yale College,:!: the stronghold of the Indepen- 
 dents. So carefully had this been fenced from such attempts, 
 that its fundamental law prescribed that no student should 
 be allowed instruction in any other system of divinity than 
 such as the trustees appointed ; and every one was forced 
 to learn the Assembly's Catechism, and other books of pu- 
 ritanical authority. 
 
 For a time the dry metaphysics of this school excluded 
 all healthier learning. But about the year 1711, the agent 
 of the colony in England sent over 800 volumes, amongst 
 which were many of the standard works of the divines o( 
 the English Church. These books were eagerly devoured 
 
 * MS. Letters, 7it supra. 
 
 f Humphrey's History of the Society for the Propagation of tho 
 Gospel, p. 339. 
 
 i Life of Dr. Johnson, by Chandler, p. 21, &c. 
 
MISSION IN CONNECTICUT. . 85 
 
 by the hungry stiulonts ; and amongst tlie first whom they 
 airected wore the rector of the college, Dr. Cutler, and two 
 of its leading tutors, Messrs. Johnson and Brown. They 
 were amongst the most distinguished of the Puritan divines ; 
 and their humble adoption of the Church's teaching, their 
 abandonment of their endowments in the college, laying 
 down the ministry which without due warrant they had 
 hitherto discharged, and setting out for England to receive 
 ordination at the bishop's hands, — drew general attention 
 to the subject. BroAvn fell a victim to the small-pox in 
 England ; Cutler suflered severely from the same disease, 
 but recovering, was, Avith Johnson, ordained to the priest- 
 hood, and with him returned, in 1723, to the colony,* 
 where their influence ere long was widely felt. Cutler was 
 settled at Boston, and, amidst unceasing persecutions, main- 
 tained to the last the standard of the faith. For fifty 
 years of patient toil Johnson labored earnestly at Strat- 
 ford. 
 
 His answers to the queries issued by the Bishop of Lon- 
 don will follow up this history of his ministry, amongst " a 
 people" whom he found " low and poor in fortune, yet very 
 serious and well minder], and ready to entertain any instruc- 
 tions that may forward them in the paths of virtue and 
 truth and godliness." 
 
 " Q,. How long is it since you went over to the planta- 
 tions as a missionary ? 
 
 "A. I arrived upon my charge November 1st, 172.3. 
 
 " Q,. Have you had any other church before you came to 
 that which you now possess ; and if you had, what church 
 was it, and how long have you been removed ? 
 
 " A. I was a teacher in the Presbyterian method at West 
 Haven, about ten miles ofl" from this town ; but never was 
 in the service of the Established Church till the honorable 
 society admitted me into their service as missionary. 
 
 " Q,. Have you been duly licensed by the Bishop of Lon- 
 don to officiate as a missionary in the government where 
 you now are? 
 
 " A. I was licensed by your Lordship to officiate as a 
 missionary in this colony of Connecticut. 
 
 * Life of Dr. Johnson, p. 30. 
 
86 » AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 " d. How long have you been inducted into your liv- 
 ing? 
 
 " A. I was admitted into the honorable society's service 
 in the beginning of January, 1722-3. 
 
 " Q,. Are you ordinarily resident in the parish to which 
 you have been inducted ? 
 
 "A. I am constantly resident at Stratford, excepting the 
 time that I am riding about to preach m the neighboring 
 towns that are destitute of ministers. 
 
 " Q.. Of what extent is your parish, and how many fam- 
 ilies are there in it ? 
 
 " A. The town is nigh ten miles square, and has about 
 250 or 300 families in it, nigh 50 of which are of the Es- 
 tablished Church. But indeed the Episcopal people of all 
 the towns adjacent esteem themselves my parishioners ; as 
 at Fairfield about 30 families, the like number at New 
 Town, at West Haven about 10, and sundry in other 
 places. 
 
 " Q,. Are there any infidels, bond or free, within your 
 parish ; and what means are used for their conversion ? 
 
 " A. There are nigh 200 Indians in the bounds of the 
 town, for whose conversion there are no means used, and 
 the like in many other towns ; and many negroes that are 
 slaves in particular families, some of which go to church, 
 but most of them to meeting. 
 
 " Q,. How oft is divine service performed in your church ; 
 and what proportion of the parishioners attend it ? 
 
 " A . Service is performed only on Sundays and holydays, 
 and many times 100 or 150 people attend it, but sometimes 
 not half so many, and sometimes twice that number, espe- 
 cially upon the three great festivals ; and when I preach at 
 the neighboring towns, especially at Fairfield and New 
 Town, I have a very numerous audience ; which places, as 
 they very much want, so they might be readily supplied with 
 ministers from among ourselves, and those the best that are 
 educated here, if there was but a bishop to ordain them. 
 
 "Q,. How oft is the sacrament of the Lord's supper 
 administered ? and what is the usual number of communi- 
 cants ? 
 
 " A. I administer the holy eucharist on the first Sun- 
 
MISSION IN CONNECTICUT. 87 
 
 day of every month, to about thirty and sometimes forty 
 communicants ; and upon the three great festivals, to about 
 sixty. But there are nigh one hundred communicants hero 
 and in the towns adjacent, to whom I administer as often 
 as I can attend them. 
 
 " Q,. At what times do you catechise the youth of your 
 parish ? 
 
 "A. I catecliise every Lord's day, immediately after 
 evening service, and explain the catechism to them. 
 
 " U.. Are all things duly disposed and provided in the 
 church for the decent and orderly performance of divuie 
 service ? 
 
 "A. We have no church ; have begun to build one ; 
 but such is the poverty of the people, that we get along 
 but very slowiy. Neither have we any furniture for the 
 communion, save that which Narraganset people lay claim 
 to ; concerning which I have written to your lordship by 
 my churcliAvarden. 
 
 " d. Of what value is your living in sterling money ? 
 and how does it arise ? 
 
 " A. I have 60^. sterling settled on me by the honor- 
 able society, and receive but very little from my poor peo- 
 ple, save now and then a few small presents. 
 
 " Q,. Have you a house and glebe ? Is your glebe in 
 lease, or let by the year, or is it occupied by yourself? 
 " A. I have neither house nor glebe. 
 " d. Have you more cures than one ? If you have, 
 what are they ? and in what manner served ? 
 
 " A. There are Fairfield, eight miles off; New Town, 
 twenty ; Repton, eight ; West Haven, ten ; and New Lon- 
 don, seventy miles off; to all which places I ride, and 
 proacli, and administer the sacrament, as often as I can ; 
 bat have no assistance, save that one Dr. Laborie, an inge- 
 nious gentleman, does gratis explain the catechism at Fair- 
 field ; but aU these places want ministers extremely. 
 
 " Q,. Have you in your pari.sh any public school for the 
 instruction of youth ? If you have, is it endowed ? and who 
 is the master ? 
 
 " A. The Independents have one or two poor schools 
 among them, but there are no schools of the Church of 
 
88 AMERICAN C11UK.CII. 
 
 England in the to-vra nor colony ; for which reason I have 
 recommended my churchwarden to your lordship and the 
 honorable society. 
 
 " Q,. Have you a parochial library ? If you have, are 
 the books preserved, and kept in good condition? Have 
 you any particular rules and orders for the preserving of 
 them ? Are those rules and orders duly observed ? 
 
 "A. We have no library save the 10/. worth which 
 the honorable society gave, which I keep carefully by 
 themselves in my study, in the same condition as I keep 
 my own."* 
 
 These inroads on their undisturbed sway were ill endured 
 by the sturdy Congregationalists. They claimed, and en- 
 deavored to exercise, powers rarely wielded by any estab- 
 lished national communion. They called together synods, 
 in which, but for the dii-ect interposition of the civil arm, 
 they would have enacted canons wherewith to bind men 
 of all opinions in the colonies. They assumed the right of 
 taxing all for the support of their ministers and meeting- 
 houses ; and wherever they could gain over the local governor 
 to their persuasion, pi'oceeded to enforce their claim with 
 signal violence. " With melancholy hearts," the members of 
 a "young church" at Wallingford, Connecticut, wrote home 
 to complain, ".have divers of us been imprisoned, and our 
 goods from year to year distrained, for taxes levied for the 
 building and supporting meeting-houses ; and when we 
 have petitioned our governor for redress, notifying to him 
 tlie repugnance of such actions to the laws of England, he 
 hath proved a strong opponent to us ; but when the otlier 
 party hath applied to him for advice how to proceed against 
 us, he hath given sentence to enlarge the gaol, and fill it 
 with ilicm, i. e. the Church "f From words and taunts 
 they often passed to actual violence. As late as 1750, an 
 old man, who had been long a member of the Church, was 
 whipped publiclj^ for not attending meeting. They fined 
 heavily, in the same year, an episcopal clergyman of Eng- 
 lish birth and ediication, on the pretence that he had bro- 
 ken the Sabbath by walking home too fast from church ; 
 
 *. July 2, 1729 : Fulham mss. f Fulham mss. 
 
PEKSECUTION OF CHURCHMEN. 89 
 
 and at Hartford one of the judges of the county court, 
 assisted by the mob, pulled down a rising church, and 
 with the stones built a mansion for his son.* 
 
 This spirit was continually breaking out. " We are 
 oppressed," writes Mr. Johnson, " and despised as the filth 
 of the world, and the ofi-scouring of all things, unto this 
 day. The Independents boast themselves as an establish- 
 ment, and look down upon the poor Church of England 
 with contempt, as a despicable, schismatical, and popish 
 communion. Their charter is the foundation of all their 
 
 insolence I cannot but think it very hard that 
 
 that Church, of Avliich our most gracious king is the nurs- 
 ing father, should not, in any part of his dominions, be at 
 least upon a level with the disseirters, and free from any 
 oppressions from them. Another instance is this. All 
 persons that shall come to inhabit in this colony, or are 
 born here, have, by the charter, all the liberties and immu- 
 nities of free and natural subjects, as if they were born with- 
 in the realm of England. Notwithstanding which, they have 
 made laws to prevent strangers from settling among them. 
 As soon as any stranger, though an Englishman, comes 
 into town, he is, according to their laws, immediately 
 warned to go out.t which they always do if he is a Church- 
 man. And it is in the breast of the select men of the 
 toMnx whether they will accept of any bondsmen for him ; 
 neither can he purchase any lands Avithout their leave ; and 
 uidess they see cause to allow him to stay, they can by 
 their laws whip him out of town, if he otherwise refuses 
 to depart. By this means several professors of our Church, 
 for no other crime but their profession, have been prevented 
 from settling here. A very worthv man, who had not be- 
 fore been of any rehgion, but was, by God's blessing on my 
 endeavors, induced to become a very serious conformist to 
 our Church, came here to set up a considerable trade ; but 
 for want of men to carry on his business, (occasioned by the 
 forementioned practices,) and by reason of the discourage- 
 ment he every way meets with from them, he is forced to 
 
 * History of Connecticut, 1781. 
 
 f This was done under the general provisions of the poor-law, to 
 prevent strangers gaining a settlement sub silentio. 
 
90 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 break up and depart, to his unspeakable damage ; and the 
 Church has lost a very worthy friend and benefactor."* 
 
 Such assumed powers they continued to exert, although 
 it was shown them that the lords justices in 1725 had 
 expressly declared, " that there was no regular establish- 
 ment of any national or provincial Church in these plan- 
 tations." But they were not soon daunted ; and even when 
 these continued exactions had led the sufferers to obtain a 
 fresh opinion from the law-officers of the crown, which dis- 
 tinctly declared that no such colonial rules could be enforced 
 on Churchmen, they endeavored to evade its power, by 
 passing an act which exempted members of the Church 
 from future payments, but at the same time declared, that 
 all who lived at more than a mile from any church were 
 not to be esteemed as Churchmen. " It were too long and 
 tragical,"! writes another NcAV-England clergyman after 
 the passing of this law, " to repeat the several difficulties, 
 and severities, and affronts, which our hearers are harassed 
 with in many parts of this colony, by rigorous persecutions 
 and arbitrary pecuniary demands, inflicted on the consci- 
 entious members of our Church by domineering Presby- 
 terians, the old implacable enemies of our Sion's prosperity. 
 Here your sons are imprisoned, arrested, and non-suited 
 with prodigious cost, contrary to the laws of God and man. 
 All professors of the Church of England, over whom there 
 is not a particular missionary appointed, are obliged to 
 support Presbyterian teachers and their meeting-houses — a 
 cruelty, injustice, and usurpation, imposed on no other so- 
 ciety." 
 
 In the midst of these difficidties from without, the in- 
 jury infficted on the Church by its imperfect spiritual or- 
 ganization was felt with the greatest bitterness. " The 
 Independents, or Congregatioualists"! they complain, "here 
 in New-England, especially in Massachusetts and Connec- 
 ticut, without any regard to the king's supremacy, have 
 established themselves by law, and so are pleased to con- 
 
 * Fulhani mss. A respectable bookseller at Boston was convicted 
 of a libel for publishing Leslie's " Short MeUioJ with the Deists." — 
 WaterlancVs Letters to Jno. Lovedaij, Esq. vol. xi. 441. 
 
 f Fulham mss. % Fulham mss. 
 
CHURCHMEN IN NEW ENGLAND. 91 
 
 sider and treat us of the Church as dissenters. . . . The 
 Presbyterians chiefly obtain in the soutli-westcrn colonies, 
 especially in those ot" New- York, Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 
 where they have flourishing Presbyteries and synods in lull 
 vigor ; while the poor Church of England in all these 
 colonies is in a low, depressed, and very imperfect state, for 
 want of her pure primitive episcopal form of Church go- 
 vernment. Vi'e do not en\'y our neighbors, nor in the least 
 desire to disquiet them in their several ways ; we only de- 
 sire to be at least upon as good a looting as they, and as 
 perfect in our kind as they imagine themselves in theirs. 
 And this we think we have a right to, both as the Episco- 
 pal government was the only form at first universally 
 established by the apostles, and is, moreover, the form 
 established by law in our mother country. We therefore 
 cannot but think ourselves extremely injured, and in a state 
 little short of persecution, while our candidates are forced, 
 at a great expense both of hves and fortunes, to go a thou- 
 sand leagues for every ordination, and we arc destitute of 
 confirmation and a regular government. So that, unless 
 we can have bishops, especially at this juncture, the Chvirch, 
 and with it the interest of true religion, must dwindle and 
 greatly decay, while we suffer the contempt and triumph 
 of our neighbors, who even plume themselves with the 
 hopes (as from the lukewarmness and indifference of this 
 miserably apostatising age I doubt they have too much 
 occasion to do) that the Episcopate is more likely to be 
 abolished at home than established abroad ; and, indeed, 
 they are vain enough to think that the civil government at 
 home is itself really better aflected to them than to the 
 Church, and even disafiected to that ; otherwise, say they, 
 it would doubtless establish episcopacy." 
 
 Yet, in spite of all hindrances, the persecuted body grew 
 and multiplied. Sometimes a wealthy resident would 
 build a church upon Iris own estate ; sometimes the move- 
 ment rose amongst the mass of poorer persons. '■ T have 
 lately,"* says one of these reports, been preaching at 
 New-Haven, where the college is, and had a considerable 
 
 • 
 
 * Fulham mss. 
 
92 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 congregation, anil among tliem several of the scholars, who 
 are very inquisitive about the principle of our Church ; 
 and alter sermon ten of the members of the Church there 
 subscribed 100/. towards the building a church in that 
 town, and are zealously engaged about undertaking it ; and 
 I hope in a few years there will be a large congregation 
 there." "It is with great pleasure," says another, "that 
 we see the success of our labors in the frequent conversions 
 of dissenting teachers in this country, and the good dispo- 
 sition towards the excellent constitution of our Church 
 growing amongst the people wherever the honorable society 
 have settled their missions. Sundry others of their teachers 
 are likely to appear for the Church ; and two very honest 
 and ingenious men have declared themselves this winter. 
 . . . We are persuaded that it is from a serious and impar- 
 tial examination of things, and the sincere love of truth 
 and sense of duty, that they have come over to our com- 
 munion." 
 
 What was the character of the ministry which some 
 fliithful men were, und^r afl discouragements, enabled to 
 maintain, may be gathered from the following letter :* — 
 
 " Being by the favorable providence of God arrived in 
 TTew-England, in obedience to your lordship's commands, 
 I make bold to lay before you the state of this colony of 
 Connecticut, to which your lordship has licensed me. The 
 people here arc generally rigid Independents, and have an 
 inveterate enmity against the established Church; but of 
 late the eyes of great multitudes are opened to see the great 
 error of such an uncharitable, and therefore imchristian 
 spirit. This is come to pass chiefly in six or seven towns, 
 whereof this of Stratford, where I reside, is the principal ; 
 and though I am unworthy and unmeet to be entrusted 
 with such a charge, yet there is not one clergyman of the 
 Church of England besides myself in this whole colouy ; 
 and I am obliged, in a great measure, to neglect my cure 
 at Stratfm-d (where yet there is business enough ior one 
 minister) to ride about to the other towns, (some ten, some 
 twenty miles off, ) where in each of them there is as much 
 
 * IMr. Johnson to tlie Bisliop of LonJon. Fulliara .mss. 
 
CONNECTICUT. 93 
 
 need of a. resident minister as there is at Stratford, espe- 
 cially at Newtown and Fairfield. iSo that the case of 
 these destitute places, as well as of myself, who have this 
 excess of business, is extremely unhappy and compassiou- 
 able. 
 
 " Now, at the same time, there are a considerable num- 
 ber of very promisinf^ young gentlemen — five or six I am 
 sure of — ajid those the best that are educated among us, 
 who might be instrumental to do a great deal of good to 
 the souls of men, were they ordained ; but for want of epis- 
 copal ordination decline the ministry, and go into secular 
 business ; being partly from themselves, and partly through 
 the influence of their friends, unwilling to expose them- 
 selves to the danger of the seas and distempers, — so terri- 
 fying has been the luihappy fate of Mr. Brown.* So that 
 the fountain of all our misery is the want of a bishop, for 
 whom there are many thousands of souls in this country 
 who do impatiently long and pray, and for want do ex- 
 tremely sufler. 
 
 " Permit me to remember the concern you were pleased 
 to express for sending a suffragan into this country when 
 we were before you, which gave me the greater pleasure, 
 because I have the satisfaction to know that, so great is 
 your deserved interest with his most sacred majesty King 
 George (Whom God long preserve), that you might very 
 probably be the first, under God and the king, in elFecting 
 for us so great a blessing, 
 
 "And suffer me farther to say, that there is not 
 one Jacobite or disafiected person in this colony, nor 
 above two or three, that I know of, in America. But, 
 for want of a loyal and- oi-thodox bishop to inspect us, we 
 lie open to be misled uito the wretched maxuiis of that 
 abandoned set of men, as well as a great many other per- 
 verse principles. 
 
 " May God, therefore, direct your thoughts, and second 
 your pious endeavors, for effecting this or any other good 
 work, that may contribute to the advancement or enlarge- 
 ment of His Church ; and may I have an interest in your 
 
 * See page 85. 
 
94 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 compassionate prayers and benedictions in the great task 
 that lies upon me."* 
 
 It will be useful to trace out more fully the rise of one 
 of these churches in the New-England district."! At New- 
 town, in Connecticut, a young and zealous Independent 
 teacher. Beach by name, was at this time settled over a 
 flourishing Congregational society. His ministry had been 
 unusually successful, and he was himself the idol of his 
 flock. Once in three months the Rev. Mr. Johnson visited 
 five episcopalian famihes then settled in the place : frequent 
 meetings and earnest discussions between the two teachers 
 resulted from these visits ; until Mr. Beach began at length 
 to doubt the soundness of his former principles. Slowly 
 and cautiously did he make i;p his mind. The first serious 
 alarm was suggested to his flock, after two or three years 
 of patient meditation had passed over him, by his frequently 
 employing the Lord's Prayer in public worship, and even 
 proceeding to read to them whole chapters of the word of 
 God. Then he ventured to condemn a custom common in 
 their meetings, of rising to bow to the preacher as he came 
 in amongst them ; instead of which, he begged them to 
 kneel down and worship (iod. This, in the language of 
 the day, they declared to be " rank popery," and no slight 
 presumption that Mr. Beach "would one day "turn Church- 
 man ; as did all people," said an experienced matron of 
 their body, "who kept on i-eading the Church books." In 
 this, at least, they were not deceived ; for in about a year 
 Mr. Beach, whose mind was now thoroughly convinced, 
 told the people from the pulpit, tbat, "from a serious and 
 prayerful examination of the Scriptures, and of the writers 
 of the earliest ages of the Church, and from the universal, 
 acknowledgment of episcopal government for 1500 years, 
 compared Avith the recent establishment of Presbyterian and 
 Congregational discipline, he was fully convinced of the 
 invalidity of his ordination, and of the imscriptural method 
 of organising and governing congregations, and of admitting 
 
 * Dated "Stratford in Connecticut, New England, Jan. 18, 
 1723-4." 
 
 •f- This account is taken from a series of original papers, ■which 
 appeared in 1822-23 in the Churchman's Magazine, Hartford, U. S. 
 
PURITAN OrPOSITION. 95 
 
 persons to the privilejres of church-membership, as by them 
 practised ; and farther, tliat extempore prayer in Christian 
 assembhes was a novelty in the Christian Church." He 
 therefore, "in the face of Almighty God, had made up his 
 mind to conform to the Church of England, as being apos- 
 tolic in her ministry and discipline, orthodox in her doctrine, 
 and primitive in her worship." He " affectionately exhorted 
 them to weigh the subject well; engaged to provide for the 
 due administration of the sacraments while he was absent 
 from them, and spoke of his intended return to them from 
 England in holy orders." 
 
 So greatly was he beloved, that a large proportion of his 
 people seemed ready to acquiesce in his determmation. But 
 such a threatened defection the Congregational teachers of 
 the neighborhood could not see with unconcern. They set 
 themselves at once to stir up the embers of intestuie strife 
 against their awakening brother, and at length assembled 
 at Newtowii, m 1732, and in spite of Mr. Beach's remon- 
 strances, proceeded to depose him from the ministry. From 
 this sprang up a printed discussion between Mr. Beach and 
 his deposers ; carried on with kindness, sobriety, and force 
 of reasoning on his part, and with no little harshness of 
 invective upon theirs. 
 
 Thus, in one of these attacks, after many charges against 
 Mr. Beach, the author closes with a general condemnation 
 of the EngUsh Church, as an "illegitimate daughter of the 
 harlot of Babylon;" and describes her bishops as "the most 
 vile and wretched set of bemgs that ever disgraced human 
 nature." 
 
 Nor was this all. Under the auspices of the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel, Mr. Beach had opened a 
 mission to a small tribe of native Indians. God had blessed 
 his labors, and amongst these despised men a little flock was 
 being gathered into Christ's true fold. This the Congrega- 
 tional teachers could not endure. The Indians were shrewd 
 enough to meet their occasional attempts at conversion 
 with the plea of their own multiform divisions. " We va- 
 lue not your gospel, which shows so many roads to Kick- 
 tang (God): some of them must be crooked, and lead to 
 holbamockow" (the evil spirit). But the sectarian teachers 
 
96 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 could not endure that Episcopalians should convert these 
 heathens to the truth. They sent, therefore, an agent 
 amongst Mr. Beach's flock, with ribald ballads, suited to 
 the native taste, decrying him and all his eflbrts. And 
 when the good man next visited his native flock, instead 
 -of receiving from the Sachem the calumet of peace, and 
 finding a circle of attentive listeners, eager to drink in his 
 words, he was met by the taunts and derision which the 
 heathens had been too industriously taught. 
 
 These violent proceedings defeated in great measure 
 their intended purpose. The claims of the Church became 
 the subject of general discussion. The eyes of many were 
 opened; and from the first a small but growing company 
 clave to Mr. Beach. Soon after, he set sail for England, 
 bearing with him the foUowmg testimonial from his brethren 
 in Connecticut. 
 
 "Mr. Beach," it says, "had his education at Yale 
 College, where he made uncommon proficiency in learning, 
 and hath, since he left it, taken care to improve himself 
 in divinity and oilier useful studies, and when he entered 
 into the dissenting ministry (which Avas indeed almost the 
 unavoidable consequence oi' his education and want of 
 proper books) he was thought the most proper person to 
 oppose the growth of the Church in Newtown, on account of 
 the good opinion that every one had of his learning and 
 piety, and was accordingly placed there, — though he never 
 did anything to the Church's prejudice. But having since, 
 by his neighborhood to some of us, had the advantage of 
 better books and information, he hath found it his duty to 
 quit their service and come over to our communion, where- 
 by he hath done great service to the Church in these parts, 
 and we doubt not will always be an honor to it, if your 
 lordship shall think fit to ordain him, and the honorable 
 society to admit him into their service. And as v/e are 
 well assured his labors will be of great use here, so we beg 
 leaA'^e to assure your lordship of his firm attachment to the 
 present government as established in the illustrious house 
 of Hanover. Upon the whole, therefore, we humbly hope 
 your lordship and the honorable society will think fit to 
 empower and employ him, who for the peace of his eon- 
 
whitefield's visit. 97 
 
 science hath left the possessions he enjoyed, and now taken 
 a lonn^ and dangerous voyage, melancholy in itself, but 
 rendered more so by his leaving his wife and children." 
 
 Tlie prayer of his brethren was granted, and he re- 
 turned in holy orders to Connecticut. In a little while a 
 church was built for him ; in which, and in the neighbor- 
 ing town of Reading, he muiistered as a missionary of the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Go^jiel, to a faithful and 
 devoted flock. 
 
 In this state things continued till the lime of Mr. 
 Whitetield's visit to New-England. Here, as elsewhere, 
 his preaching produced wonderful eflects. He found the 
 flame of piety already burning low amongst the Independ- 
 ent congregations ; for in the institutions of no separatist 
 from the Church has the gift of enduring spiritual vitality 
 been found. He boldly charged them with having left 
 " the platform" of their ancient doctrines, and reviled them 
 ill his sermons under the unwelcome titles of " hirelings 
 and dumb dogs, half beasts and half devils." He endea- 
 vored to revive the ancient spirit by a series of violent ex- 
 citements. The Indejjcndent teachers betook themselves 
 to penal inflictions, subjecting itmerants to heavy penalties, 
 and excluding them from the protection of the laws. But 
 the flame only burned the fiercer for this opposition. Fana- 
 ticism in its maddest forms triumphed for a Avhile; intro- 
 ducing new divisions in its train, and leading many into 
 the open profession of Antinomian tenets. These scenes 
 are thus described in the letter of an eye-witness :* 
 
 " The duties and labors of my mission are exceedingly 
 increased by the surprising enthusiasm, or what is worse, 
 that rages among us : the centre of which is the place of 
 my residence. Since Mr. Whitefield was in this country 
 there have been a great number of vagrant preachers, the 
 most remarkable of whom is Mr. Davenport, of Long Isl- 
 and, who came to New London in July, pronounced their 
 ministers unconverted, and by his boisterous behaviour and 
 vehement crying, ' Come to Christ,' many were struck, 
 as the phrase is, and made the most terrible and aflccting 
 
 * To the Bishop of London. Fulham mss. 
 5 
 
98 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 noise, that was heard a mile from the place. He came to 
 tliis society, acted iu the same mamier five days, and was 
 followed by great numbers ; some could not endure the 
 house, saying that it seemed to them more like the infernal 
 regions than the place of worshipping the God of heaven. 
 Many, after the amazing horror and distress that seized 
 them, received comfort (as they term it) ; and five or six 
 of these young men in this society are continually going 
 about, especially iu the night, converting, as they call it, 
 their fellow-men. Two of them, as their minister and they 
 affirm, converted above two hundred in an Irish town 
 about twenty miles back in the country. Their meetings 
 are almost every night in this and the neighboring parishes ; 
 and the most astonishing effects attend them, — screechings, 
 faintings, convulsions, visions, apparent death for t\'«enty 
 or thirty hours, actual possessions with evil spirits, as they 
 own themselves ; this spirit in all is remarkably bitter 
 against the Church of England. Two, who were struck, 
 and proceeded in this way of exhorting and praying, until 
 they were actually possessed, came to mc and asked the 
 questions they all do : Are yoi^ born again ? Have you 
 the witness of the Spirit ? They used the same texts of 
 Scripture as the rest, taught the same doctrines, called me 
 Beelzebub the prince of devils, and during their possession 
 burnt a large amount of property. They have since both 
 been to me, asked my forgiveness, and bless God that He 
 has restored them to the spirit of a sound mind. 
 
 " There are at least twenty or thirty of these lay 
 holders-forth within ten miles of my house, Avho hold their 
 meetmgs every night in the week in some place or other, 
 excepting Saturday night ; and incredible pains are taken 
 to seduce and draw away the members of my church ; but, 
 blessed be God, we still rather increase."* 
 
 The result of this sudden excitement was by no means 
 favorable to the ruling sect. " The Independents or Con- 
 gregationalists," Mr. Johnson reports, " are miserably har- 
 assed Avith controversies amongst themselves, at the same 
 time that they unite against the Church. One great cause 
 
 * Fulham uss. * 
 
THE CIIL'RCH IN CONNECTICUT. 99 
 
 of their quarrels is the Arminian, Calvinistic, Antinomian, 
 and enthusiastic controversies, Avhich run hiph ainonirst 
 them, and create great ieuds and iiictions ; and these cliielly 
 occasion the great increase of the Church, as they put 
 thinking and serious persons upon coming over to it, from 
 no other motive than the love of truth and order, and a 
 sense of duty ; at which they are much enraged, though 
 they themselves are the chief occasion of it."* " When 
 I came here there vi'ere not a hundred adult persons of the 
 Church in this whole colony,! Avhereas now there are con- 
 siderably more than two thousand, and at least five or six 
 thousand young and old ; and since the progress of this 
 strange spirit of enthusiasm, it seems daily very much m- 
 creasmg."! 
 
 From such fierce divisions many learned to value the 
 peaceful and holy shelter of the Church ; and Mr. Beach 
 received so large an accession to his charge, that his church 
 would not hold two-thirds of those who joined him. Not 
 a few of these were of the first families Avilhin the colony, 
 and a new and spacious building was soon erected for him. 
 The same causes led to the building of eight other churches 
 within different neighboring toAvns, and to the best amongst 
 the Independent teachers joiiring Ids communion and re- 
 ceiving holy orders. 
 
 Here was plainly the finger of God. In the violent 
 divisions of those times, as well as in the deadness which 
 preceded them, were the elements of that Socinian leaven 
 which has since worked so fatally throughout those parts ; 
 leading m 1821 to the choice of the chaplain to the na- 
 tional legislature from the ranks of that most unhappy sect. 
 Yet, in establishing the Church, these very evils were so 
 overruled by God as to funiish their own antidote. 
 
 In Connecticut her roots took a deeper hold in the soil, 
 from the action of the storms amongst which she had grown 
 up. In no part of America was her communion so pure 
 and apostolical as here. Her clergy Avere, for the most 
 
 * Letter of the Rev. S. Johnson to the Bishop of London. Fulham 
 
 MSS. 
 
 t Stratford, in New-England. 
 I Fulham mss. 
 
100 
 
 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 part, natives — men of earnest piety, of settled character, 
 and well established in Church principles ; and so greatly 
 did she flourish, that at the outbreak of the troubles which 
 ended in the separation of the colonies and mother country, 
 there was every reason for believing that another term of 
 twenty years' prosperity, such as she had last enjoyed, 
 would have brought full half the population of the state 
 within her bosom. 
 
 A contemporary writer, professing himself "unable to 
 recollect the names of the multifarious religious sects" then 
 existing in Connecticut, adds the following list "of a few 
 of the most considerable." 
 
 Episcopalians 
 
 Scotch Presbyterians 
 
 Sandemanians 
 
 Sandemanians Bastard 
 
 Lutherans . 
 
 Baptists 
 
 Seven-day do. 
 
 Gluakers 
 
 Davisonians 
 
 Separatists . 
 
 Rogereens . 
 
 Bowlists 
 
 Old Lights . 
 
 New Lights 
 
 CongregatioD3. 
 
 73 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 40 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 80 
 87 
 
 So greatly had the Church gained upon the sects around 
 her, through the zeal and piety which here adorned her 
 members. 
 
 But this is far the brightest spot in the whole picture. 
 Here and there, indeed, throughout the continent individual 
 zeal imparted life and warmth to separate congregations. 
 But altogether there are few of the marks of the Church 
 Catholic impressed in that age upon the English branch of 
 it settled in America. Seldom, if ever, was she zealous 
 and fid] of love and holy luiion inwardly, and to those 
 without " terrible as an army with banners." There was 
 a general languor of devotion ; sects and divisions mvdtiplied 
 
WHITEFIELD IN MRGINIA. 101 
 
 and often gained upon the Church ; her own sons grew 
 careless or apostates, and scarcely anythhig was done to 
 bring the Indian tribes around her to the knowledge of her 
 Lord. All this may be traced most easily in the history of 
 Virginia, where from different causes it was most signally 
 developed. A hasty sketch of such a painful subject will 
 be all that is required. 
 
 From a contemporary wriler* it appears, that in the 
 year 1722 there were in Virginia not lewcr than seventy 
 churches, with dwelling-houses and glebes for the incum- 
 bent in almost every parish. Dissent was scarcely known; 
 since it is still a matter of dispute, M'hcther there were in 
 the M'hole country three meetings of Gluakers and one of 
 Presbyterians, or whether one of Gluakers stood alone. 
 "For one hundred and fifty years," Dr. Hawks complains, 
 "the Church had been fixed in Virginia, and yet the state 
 of religion was deplorably low." " Many of the clergy 
 were unfitted for their stations ;" and the laity, from " loose 
 principles and immoral practices, were often a scandal to 
 their country and religion." Here and there a light sprung 
 up, as in the case of Morgan Morgan, a humble and zeal- 
 ous layman, through whose labors the faith Avas planted in 
 the newer western settlements, amongst a population com- 
 posed chiefly of Presbyterian emigrants from Ireland. It 
 was in the year 1740 that he erected the first church on 
 the south side of the Potomac, in the valley of Virginia. 
 But such men were rare ; while for the most part all was 
 lethargy. 
 
 In this state Mr. \Yhilcfield found religion in the colony. 
 As an English clergyman he was readily received, and at 
 the desire of Dr. Blair, then commissary for the bishop of 
 London, he preached at the seat of government and else- 
 where. He was here far more restrained, and proportion- 
 ably useful, than amidst the wild sectarian wastes of the 
 New-England colonies. His eflbrts kindled some zeal 
 amongst a lukeAvarm people ; but his addresses, which were 
 made too exclusively to the mere emotions of his hearers, 
 and not sufficiently directed to the general revival of a 
 
 • Present State of Virgmia, by Rev. Hugh Jones. 
 
102 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 drooping Clmrch, laid few or no foundations for a really 
 permanent result. The feelings of the moment passed 
 away AA'ith the passing voice which had awakened them ; 
 and left, it must he feared, the hearts which they had inef- 
 fectually visited even colder than they were hefore. No 
 lasting blessings seem to have followed from these labors. 
 Soon after his visit, earnest, but irregular attempts for the 
 diffusion of relinfion were made throujrhout the eastern dis- 
 tricts by a pious layman of the name of Morris. These, 
 after a little, led to the settlement in various parts of Pres- 
 byterian teachers from New-England. At first the local 
 government objected to their entrance ; but under the pro- 
 visions of the act of toleration they made good their footing, 
 and by a more apparent earnestness drew away many 
 from the Church. With them the Anabaptists, a few of 
 whom had come long since from England, now rose into 
 notice. They had recently been strengthened by allies 
 from Maryland ; and they now appeared in force, ready to 
 join with any adversary of the Church. 
 
 The time of their appearance was propitious for their 
 purpose. The endowment of the clergy of the colony, from 
 very early times, consisted of a certain fixed weight of to- 
 bacco, tlie staple produce of the land. Some years before 
 this time, a fiiling liarvest had so greatly raised its price, 
 as to make this mode of payment burdensome, and a fixed 
 money-payment had been substituted for it until the scar- 
 city was over. To this expedient another threatened failure 
 of the crop shortly afterwards again inclined the colonial 
 legislature. But the act was disallowed at home, and the 
 clergy disputed its authority by legal process. The 
 courts of law decided in their favor; but when damages 
 came to be assessed, the jury, predisjioscd by popular 
 impression, and wrought on by a sudden burst of eloquence 
 from the opposing counsel, awarded such as were merely 
 nominal. The court, luider the same influence, refused 
 another trial ; and the clergy lost alike their rights and the 
 little which remained to them of the affections of the peo- 
 ple. So rapid at this time was the progress of dissent, that 
 a few years later it claimed, as belonging to its ranks, two- 
 thirds of all the population. All things, indeed, were out 
 
WANT OF EXDOWMENTS. 103 
 
 of joint. Ill a country containing' not less tlian half a mil- 
 lion souls (all of them professing the Christian religion, and 
 a majority of them members of the Church of England, 
 living under British govenment and laws, and in general 
 thriving, if not opulent), there was yet not a single college, 
 and only one school with an endowment adequate to the 
 maintenance of even a common mechanic* Two-thirds 
 of all the little education of the colony was given by indented 
 servants or transported felons. 
 
 The causes of this state of things are well worth ex- 
 ammation. Some of them were evidently peculiar to Virgi- 
 nia, in which and in Maryland alone such questions on the 
 rights of property could have arisen. But in other parts 
 matters were not, on the whole, much better. Nowhere 
 was the Church flourishing and spreading. Everj'^where 
 division multiplied. Baptists, Presbyterians, Moravians, 
 Methodists, Tunkers, Shakers, Gluakers, Socinians, and 
 Infidels, grew daily in importance, and shed on every side 
 of them the fruitful seed of farther subdivision. In 1729, 
 Berkeley found at Newport, in Rhode Island, " a mixed 
 kind oi' inhabitants, consisting of many sects and subdivi- 
 sions of sects; ibur sorts of Anabaptists, besides Presbyte- 
 rians, Gluakers, Independents, and many of no profession at 
 all."t To the northward and eastward of Maryland there 
 were but eighty parochial clergymen ; and all of these, 
 except in the towns of Boston and Newport, New- York 
 and Philadelphia, were missionaries sent out from England 
 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospei. 
 
 The best calculation of the numbers of the white popu- 
 lation, and of the various religious persuasions on the con- 
 tinent of North America, transmitted to the Bishop of 
 London,! in 1761, gave the following results: — 
 
 * Boucher's American Revolution, pp. 183, 184. 
 f Berkeley's Letters, p. xxxviL 
 j Fulham mss. 
 
104 
 
 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 North American Continekt. 
 
 Whites. 
 
 Church 
 People. 
 
 13,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 65,000* 
 
 30,000 
 
 60,000 
 
 18,000 
 
 20,000 
 
 Presbyte- 
 rians aud 
 Independ- 
 ents. 
 
 Quakers 
 German & 
 Dutch of 
 various 
 sects, 
 Jews, Pa- 
 pists, kC. 
 
 Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. 
 
 Four New-England Colonics 
 Ne-.v Hampshire . 1^0,000 
 nisssachnsetts . . 250,000 
 Rhode Island . 35,000 
 Connecticut . . 120,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 435,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 280,000 
 
 00,000 
 
 80 000 
 
 36,000 
 
 22,000 ) 
 
 6,000 5 
 
 6,000 
 
 250,000 
 20,000 
 40,000 
 45,000 
 
 6,000 
 10,000 
 
 9,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 14.5,000 
 55,000 
 44,000 
 
 17(l,000t 
 
 18.000+ 
 
 10,000 
 
 9,000 
 
 3,000 
 460,000 
 
 New-York .... 
 
 New Jtirsey .... 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Maryland .... 
 
 Virginia .... 
 
 North Caroliua 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 Georgia . . . . 
 
 Total 
 
 1,144,000 
 
 293,000 
 
 391,000 
 
 * This includes 40,000 Swedes and German Lutherans, wl 
 their service, &c. the same as that of tlie Church. 
 
 t Ahout a third of these are Quakers, about 10,000 Papists 
 Germans of various sects. 
 
 J Chiefly Papists. 
 
 reckon 
 , the rest 
 
 Some general cause there must have been for such a 
 state of things. The power of Christ's truth could not be 
 worn out. That church which had hitherto subdued all 
 people, rude or polished^ against whom she had gone fortli, 
 had she lost her empire over men's hearts ? She who had 
 conquered the conquerors of the great Roman empire, and 
 gathered one and another of the hordes of Gothic and Teu- 
 tonic blood, who had invaded her dominion, into the faith 
 and hope of the people whom they conquered, — she seemed 
 in the West not only to have lost lier subduing might, but 
 to be powerless even to retain her hold upon her own. 
 
 It is not very difficult to find the cause for this great 
 difTerence. Her planting in America had been after a new 
 and unknown manner. Heretofore tlie great aim of her 
 founders, in any country, had been to make her truly indi- 
 genous — to reproduce her out of the people amongst whom 
 she had come. For this end she was sent forth complete, 
 
DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING ORDINATION. 105 
 
 —a livliifr germ, Avitli all tlie powers of reproduction in 
 herself. To this, as the greatest work of Christians, the 
 boldest and trnest hearts were summoned ; and he who 
 won and held a band of converts to her Lord, was conse- 
 crated bishop of the Church amongst them, if he went not 
 out in that holy character. Thus he could at once ordain 
 new pastors and evangelists from amongst his native con- 
 verts. Througli them he could extend his influence ; at 
 their mouths the truths he taught, coming to the hearers 
 in the beloved tongue of their fathers' land, Avere listened 
 to with new readiness. Their blood, if persecution arose, 
 was at once the seed of new converts : the Church was 
 perfect and complete, and she went on conquering and to 
 conquer. Such was the equipment of Pothinus of old, 
 when with Irenaeus as his deacon, he went from Asia to 
 sow amongst the Gauls the seed of the kingdom ; and the 
 Church of Lyons was his glorious harvest. So Boniface 
 went forth from this land of ours, to become " the apostle 
 of Germany." But wholly unhke this was our equipment 
 of the Church in America. We sent out individual teachers, 
 with no common bond of visible unity, no directing head, 
 no power of ordaining ; we maintained them there like the 
 garrison of a foreign Church ; and the consequence was, 
 what might have been foretold, the Church languished and 
 almost passed away. To this fault the religious evils of 
 that land may be distinctly traced. Throughout the 
 northern colonies the scattered missionaries, whom the 
 venerable society sent out and paid, — who had no connex- 
 ion with each other, no common head, and no co-operation 
 in their work, — were the representatives of the body of 
 foreigners across the ocean who supported and directed 
 them. And even in the southern colonies, where the 
 Church was estabhshed with provincial endowments, the 
 want of bishops produced the same eflect. There was no 
 power of obtaining ordination in America : hence any young 
 Americans, who desired to enter the ministry, must cross 
 the Atlantic to receive lioly orders. This was both costly 
 and perilous. One in five, it has been calculated, of all 
 who set out returned no more.* Hence in a new country, 
 * The small-pox was exceedingly fatal to Americans ■who visited 
 *0 
 
106 AJIERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 where every sort of employment abounded, few parents 
 devoted their children to the work of the ministry. The 
 earhest bent was given in a contrary direction. The native 
 candidates were therefore few ; whilst of those who were 
 sent out from England, some, in spite of every care at home, 
 would be those whose characters were most unfit for such 
 a post, — who proposed themselves for that peculiar service 
 because they desired to escape the vigilance of Episcopal 
 control. This brought a reproach upon the priesthood ; 
 and the proper check on clerical unfitness being thus want- 
 ing, the people began to substitute another. Upon any 
 vacancy, the governor and commissary recommended a 
 successor to a Virginian benefice. The vestry received the 
 minister so sent, and he then officiated in their church. 
 If they chose, they might present him for induction to the 
 governor; and when inducted, he had full and legal pos- 
 session of the benefice. But the common practice was to 
 receive the minister, and give him in possession the fruits 
 of the benefice, without presenting him for due induction ; 
 and then the vestry could dismiss him when they chose. 
 This seems to have been meant at first to guard the people 
 from unworthy pastors. Fi'om the natui'e of the case, 
 there could be scarcely any other check on such men. The 
 Bishop of London, indeed, had his commissaries in Ame- 
 rica ; but their limited power and derived authority could 
 do little when their principal was on the other side of the 
 Atlantic. Nor was the power of the Bishop of London 
 himself over those distant provinces certain or well defined. 
 Whence it had first sprung is exceedingly uncertain. The 
 most probable account attributes it to the hearty concur- 
 rence of the then Bishoj) of London in the earliest scliemes 
 of the Virginian Company for establishing tlie Church 
 amongst their settlers. This led to his being requested to 
 find and appoint their first clergy ; and from this practice 
 there gradually gi-ew up a notion that there were in some 
 M^ay in his diocese. Thus, Bishop Compton wrote, in 
 
 England. Within a very few years, seven candidates for orders 
 from the northern cohjnies died during their absence from America. 
 Amongst these was the son of Dr. Johnson, mentioned above, p. 85, 
 who sunk under the small-pox. 
 
BISHOP OF London's colonial jurisdiction. 107 
 
 March 1676, " As the care of your churches, with the rest 
 of the plantations, hes upon me as your diocesan, so to dis- 
 charge that trust, I shall omit no occasions of promoting 
 their good and interest."* 
 
 Such the practice continued until the appointment of 
 Bishop Gibson to the see of London. Upon inquiring into 
 the source of his authority, he was told, that, though no 
 strict ecclesiastical title could be fomid, yet by an order in 
 council in the reign of Charles the Second, the colonies 
 were made a part of the see of London. For tiiis order 
 he, being a careiul man, caused a diligent search to be 
 made, when he discovered that none such existed. Find- 
 ing, therefore, no ground whatever on which to rest his 
 claim of jurisdiction, he declined even to appoint a com- 
 missary. Thus the colonies were separated I'rom all Epis- 
 copal control. But after a while, having obtained a spe- 
 cial commission from the crown, committing this charge to 
 him, and tliinking it better, under all the circumstances of 
 the case, to act under this authority than to abandon them 
 entirely, he began to discharge it with his usual fidelity. 
 Yet even then he felt that his hold upon those distant parts 
 was little what it should be, if he were mdeed to deem 
 himself their bishop. Every line of his first address to 
 themt breathes this spirit. 
 
 " Being called," he tells them, " by the providence of 
 God to the government and administration of the diocese 
 of London, by which the care of the churches in the foreign 
 plantations is also devolved upon me, I think it my duty 
 to use all proper means of attaining a competent knowledge 
 of the places, persons, and matters entrusted to my care. 
 And as the plantations, and the constitutions of the churches 
 there, are at a far greater distance, and much less known 
 to me, than the affairs of my diocese here at home, so it is 
 the more necessary for me to have recourse to the best and 
 most effectual methods of coming to a right knowledge of 
 the state and condition of them. Which knowledge I shall 
 not fail, by the grace of God, faithfully to employ to the 
 ser\'ice of piety and religion, and to the maintenance of 
 
 * Fulham mss. t Dated Nov. 2, 1723. 
 
108 AMERICAN CHITECH- 
 
 order and regularity in the Cliurch." He then furnishes 
 a paper of inquiries, and promises his " best advice andas^ 
 sistauce, in order to the successful and comfortable discharge 
 of their ministerial fuuctioti." 
 
 This authority, shadowy as it was, expired with the 
 life of Bishop Gibson ; since the commission under which 
 he acted was granted only to liimself personally, and not 
 to his successors.* How little it sufficed to maintain any 
 form of discipline was shown in the fearful laxity of con- 
 duct which was visible on every side. Thus, at this very 
 time, the marriage-licenseSj which, by a first stretch of prin- 
 ciple, had been granted to any "Protestant minister," in- 
 stead of the autiiorized clergy, were now " expounded to 
 inteird a justice of the peace, as being a minister of justice, 
 and a Protestant by religion ;"t and they accordingly took 
 upon them to marry all applicants at their own pleasure. 
 No one felt this want of discipline more keenly than the 
 Bishop of London. But it was beyond his power to remedy 
 the evil ; and, as is commonly the case where the true 
 safeguard provided by the Church is carelessly neglected, 
 men began to invent others for themselves. Thus, in the 
 state of Maryland, where the scandal of ill-living clergy- 
 men had risen to a fearful height, acts were passed by the 
 provincial assemblies subjecting the clergy to the jurisdic- 
 tion of a board of laymen, or mingled laymen and clergy- 
 men. It was in vain that men of the highest character 
 amongst the clergy exclaimed against a proposal so utterly 
 at variance with all ecclesiastical principle. The pressing 
 evil was keenly felt ; and in the absence of the true Church- 
 remedy, they sought another for themselves. This law 
 they would have carried into operation, if it had not been 
 defeated by the opposition of the governor on grounds of 
 state-policy. 
 
 * Bishop Sherlock, in 1*749, tells Dr. Johnson that he ■will appoint 
 a commissary " as soon as I take a proper autliority from the king, 
 "which I have hitherto delayed, in liopes of seeing another and better 
 
 settlement of ecclesiastical affairs in the country I am persuaded 
 
 that no bishop residing in England ought to have, or will willingly 
 undertake the province." — Life of Dr. Johnson, pp. 131-2. 
 
 f Fulham mss. 
 
te 
 
 kesistance: to the clergy. 109 
 
 So also it was in Virginia. To secure that which law- 
 ful authority should have provided for them, the vestries 
 at first desired to try their pastors before they confirmed 
 their full appointment. And this, as was natural, soon 
 grew into a great abuse. The vestries were now the 
 masters of the clergy. On the most paltry or unworthy 
 grounds they changed their minister. If he testified Avith 
 boldness against any prevalent iniquity, the people whom 
 his zeal ofiended soon rid themselves of so disagreeable a 
 monitor. Hence ecclesiastical appointments in the colony 
 grcAV into disrepute. Few would accept such uncertain 
 stations; and those few were led to do so by necessity. 
 Thus the clergy declmed both in numbers and character. 
 From this sprang another evil. The lack of clergj^ led to 
 a general employment of lay readers. These lay readers 
 were natvirally taken from a lower class than the ordained 
 clergy ; they were also natives. It was not dilTicult for 
 them to insinuate themselves into the regard of the con* 
 gregations which they served ; and it happened frequent- 
 ly that the benefice was kept unfilled in order to prolong 
 the more acceptable services of the unordaiiied reader. 
 
 Thus at every hand the Church was weakened. The 
 laity were robbed of the sacraments, and led to choose 
 their pastors on unworthy grounds. The clergj' who came 
 out were those least fitted for a work which, far more than 
 that of ordinary stations, required the highest gifts of holy 
 zeal and knowledge. For in Virginia causes of moral and 
 social corruption were at Vv-ork which nothing but the holy 
 faith in its utmost vigor could counteract. From an early 
 time the curse of slavery had rested upon Virginian so- 
 ciety. Conditional servitude, under covenants, had been 
 coeval with the first settlement of the colony. The emi- 
 grant was bound to render to liis master the full cost of 
 his transportation. This led to a species of traffic in those 
 who could be persuaded to embark. The speculation proved 
 so lucrative that numbers soon took part in it ; since men 
 might be imported at a cost of eight pomids, who would 
 afterwards be sold in the colony for Ibrty pounds.* So 
 
 * Smith, i. 105. Bullock's Virginia, p. 14, quoted by Bancroft. 
 
110 AMEUICAN CHURCH. 
 
 established became this evil, that white men were pur- 
 chased on shipboard as horses are bought at a fair.* This 
 under the rule of the Parliament, was the fate of the roy- 
 alist prisoners of the battle of Worcester. To this was 
 added in 1620 negro slavery, which differed from indented 
 serviture in being perpetual instead of for a term of years, 
 and in the degradations which the distinctive features of 
 the race of Ham soon associated with it. Marriage was 
 early forbidden, under ignominious penalties, between the 
 races of the master and the slave ;t and the grievous so- 
 cial evils which follow the dishonor of humanity sprung 
 up freely around. " All servants,"^ was the enactment 
 of 1670, " not being Christians, imported into this coun- 
 try by shipping, shall be slaves ;" yet it was added, " cou- 
 ver.sion to the Christian faith doth not make free." The 
 death of a slave from extremity of correction was not ac-- 
 counted felony ; and it was made lawful for " persons 
 pursuing fugitive colored slaves to wound or even to kill 
 them." 
 
 The evils which such laws attest and aggravate were 
 yet more exasperated by the whole character of the first 
 centuriesof Virginian life. "Whilst the New-England settlers 
 were early gathered into villages, and even towns, the 
 Virginian landowners d^velt apart from one another, each 
 one a petty despot over his indented servants and his 
 slaves. Bridle-ways were their roads ;^ bridges were un- 
 known ; and the widely scattered population met at most 
 but once on the Lord's Day for worship, and often not at 
 all ; while the remoter families could rarely find their way 
 through the mighty forests to the distant walls of their 
 church. Education was almost neglected. " Every 
 man," said the governor, in 1671, || " instructs his eliildren 
 according to his ability ;" and what this instruction was, 
 may be gathered from another of his sayings ; "I thank 
 God there are no free-schools nor printers ; and I hope we 
 shall not have them these hundred years." 
 
 In such a state of things religion could not flourish, 
 
 * Bancroft, i. 111. f Henry, i. 146. quoted by Biincroft. 
 
 X Bancroft, ii. 193. § lb. p! 219, &c. || lb. p. 192. 
 
WANT OP UISHOPS. Ill 
 
 and a miiiistr}^ already depressed was sure to sink into 
 absolute debasement. Tlie Church was best served by 
 those ministers, as we have seen, whom she had gained 
 over in New England from the ranks of Congregational 
 dissent ; ibr these were natives of the land, trained to the 
 work, and men of earnest zeal and self-denying love of 
 truth. But here, too, the want of bishops and the whole 
 Church-system was lamentably felt. The sectaries around 
 them possessed each tlieir own system, such as it was, in 
 perfection : they could appoint and send out teachers ; 
 gather in the young and active to the work ; hold their 
 synods and conventions ; act, in short, as a living and or- 
 ganised body. " It is hard," was the complaint of Church- 
 men at the time, " that these large and increasing disper- 
 sions of the true Protestant English Church should not be 
 provided with bishops, when our enemies, the Roman 
 CathoUcs of France and Spain, find their account in it to 
 provide them for theirs. Even Canada, which is scarce 
 bigger than some of our provinces, has her bishop ; not to 
 mention the little whimsical sect of Moravians, Avho also 
 have theirs."* " The poor Church of America is worse 
 ofi' ui this respect than any of her adversaries. The 
 Presbyterians have come a great way to lay hands on one 
 another (though, after all, they had as good stay at home, 
 for the good they do) ; the Independents are called by 
 their sovereign lord the people ; the Anabaptists and 
 Gluakers pretend to the Spirit : but the poor Church has 
 nobody upon tlie spot to comfort or confirm her children, 
 — nobody to ordain such as are w^illing to serve ; there- 
 fore they faU back into the hands of the dissenters."! 
 These complaints were but too well founded. Only that 
 communion which clave close to the apostohc model was on 
 all sides cramped and weakened : without the centre of 
 visible unity — without the direction of common efi'orts — • 
 without the power of confirming the young, wliilst it 
 taught the young that there was a blessing in the very 
 rite which it withheld from them — without the power of 
 ordination, whilst it maintained that it was needlld for a 
 
 * Fulham mss. f Fulham mss. 
 
112 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 true succession of the priestliood, — declaring, by its oM^n 
 teaching, its maimed and imperfect condition, and feeling 
 it practically at every turn. 
 
 " There is a dispute amongst our clergy," says Mr. 
 Johnson,* applying for directions from the Bishop of Lon- 
 don, " relating to the exhortation after baptism to the 
 godfather, to bring the child to the bishop to be confirmed. 
 tSome wholly omit this exhortation, because it is imprac- 
 ticable ; others insert the words ' if there be opportunity,' 
 because our adversaries object it as a mere jest to order 
 the -godfather to bring the child to the bishop when there 
 is not one within a thousand leagues of us, which is a re- 
 proach that we cannot answer." 
 
 At any time, and under any circumstances, such a 
 state of things must have been widely and fatally per- 
 nicious. But in this case the injury was even more than 
 usually great. Many causes had been in operation, from 
 the era of the Reformation, which tended to make the 
 bishops the only external centres of vigorous and united 
 action in the English Church. From changes in the body 
 politic, from the weakening of her synods and councils, and 
 from the loneliness of her condition, almost every element of 
 outward strength aucf visible unity was now centred in the 
 episcopal otfice. The clergy, therefore, of such a Church, 
 when set down in the far West, without a bishop nearer 
 than the see of London, were at once reduced to the ut- 
 most extremity of weakness. They had no other lines oi 
 strength upon which to fall back to rally and re-form their 
 broken ranks ; and they became thus single-handed com- 
 batants, instead of marching in combined phalanx against 
 a common scattered foe. Deeply Avas this felt by the 
 most earnest and sjiiritual amongst them ; and moving, of- 
 tentimes, were their entreaties to the Church, which had 
 thus put them forth unfitted for their charge, to send them 
 over the succession of the apostolical episcopate. 
 
 Year after year their lamentations and entreaties 
 crossed the Atlantic. "We beg,"t they M^rite at onetime 
 to the Bishop of London, " your fatherly compassion on 
 
 * Fulhara mss. 
 f From New-London in Connecticut. Fnlham mss. 
 
THE CHIJECH LANGUISHING. 113 
 
 our truly pitiable circumstances ; we are forty-four miles 
 from the nearest Church of England to us the in- 
 cumbent of which hath visited us four times a year. There 
 have been several adults and infants baptised amongst us, 
 .... and a church raised, wliich we hope to have finished 
 by the next fall. We have never, since our first settle- 
 ment, had the Gospel of Christ, or its comfortable sacra- 
 ments, regularly administered to us by any episcopal min- 
 ister ; whereby sundry persons bred up in the Church of 
 England at home, others that have been baptised here and 
 become conformists, and a greater number still strongly 
 inclined to confonnity, do labor under that last and most 
 grievous unhappiness of being left ourselves and leaving 
 our posterity in this wilderness, excluded as wild unculti- 
 vated trees, from the saving benefits of a transplantation 
 into your soundest part of the Holy Catholic Church." 
 
 Similar appeals were sent from all parts of the Conti- 
 nent. "The Church," they say, "is daily languishhig 
 for want of bishops." " Some that were born of the Eng- 
 lish have never heard the name of Christ, and many 
 others who were baptised into his name have fallen away 
 to heathenism, quakerism, and atheism, for want of con- 
 firmation." * " It seems the strangest thmg in the world, 
 and it is thought history cannot parallel it, that any place 
 which has received the Word of Grod so many years should 
 still remain altogether in the wilderness as sheep without 
 a shepherd." " There never was so large a tract of the 
 earth overspread with Christians without so much as one 
 bishop, nor ever a countiy whereui bishops were more 
 wanted."! "We have several countries, islands, and 
 provinces, which have hardly an orthodox minister among 
 them, which might have been supplied, had we been so 
 happy as to see a bishop apud Americanos^ "Above all 
 things, we need a bishop for the confirming the baptised, and 
 giving orders to such as are willing and well qualified to 
 receive them ; there being a considerable number of actual 
 preachers and others, of New England education, well dis- 
 posed to serve in the ministry. "$ " We have been deprived 
 
 » S. P. G. MS3. f Fulhamsiss. % 1705. S. P. G. mss. 
 
114 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 of the advantages that might have been received of some 
 Presbyterian and Independent ministers that formerly were, 
 and of others that are still, willing to conform and receive 
 the holy character, for want of a bishop to give it." " Last 
 year* there went out, bachelors of arts, near twenty young 
 men from the college, all or most of whom would gladly 
 have accepted episcopal ordination, if we had been so 
 happy as to have had a bishop of America, from whom 
 they might have received it ; but being discouraged at the 
 trouble and charge of coming to England, they accepted of 
 authorities from the dissenting ministers, and are all dis- 
 persed in that way." 
 
 The pressing sense of these necessities forced them often 
 to a passionate earnestness of entreaty. " We pray God," 
 they write, t " to inspire the government with compassion 
 towards this country, to the taking away our reproach 
 amongst the adversaries of our Church." " We speak the 
 wish of great multitudes of souls in this land, and the ne- 
 cessities of a vast many more who perish for lack of super- 
 vision." In " the miserable case of the country from this 
 want," they " would be glad that a true episcopate might 
 obtain amongst them in any shape." Thus one of them 
 suggests to the Bishop of London, " whether one or other 
 of the yonngest and ablest of the bishops of the smaller 
 dioceses might not be disposed to have a commission to 
 visit these parts of the world, and spend a year or two 
 among us ; and so from time to time, once in about seven 
 years, till a settlement could be had, duty being in the 
 mean time done for the absent bishop by one of the neigh- 
 boring bishops. This might ansAver many good ends, if 
 nothing else could be done." " The presence and assist- 
 ance of a bishop is most needful ; the baptised want to be 
 confirmed ; his presence is necessary in the councils of 
 these provinces, to prevent the inconveniences which the 
 Cnurch labors under by the influence wdiich seditious 
 men's councils have upon the public administration, and 
 the opposition which they make to the good inclinations 
 
 * Rev. G. Thorns, 1705: S,PG. mss. 
 f From New-Haven, 1724 : Fulham mss. 
 
CLERGY OF SPANISH a:\IERICA 115 
 
 of well-affected persons. He is wanted not only to govern 
 and direct us, but to cover us from the malignant effects 
 of those misrepreseutatious that have been made by some 
 persons."* " We have great need of a bishop here, to 
 visit all the Churches, to ordain some, to confirm others, 
 and bless all."t 
 
 Letters and memorials from the colonies supply, for a 
 whole century, a comiected chain of such expostulations ; 
 yet still the mother country was deaf to their entreaties. 
 At home they were re-echoed from many quarters. Suc- 
 ceeding archbishops pressed them on successive adminis- 
 trations ; and the Society for the propagation of the Gos- 
 pel, during almost every year, made some eflbrt in the 
 same cause. The records of these memorials show how 
 earnestly and with what strength of argument it pressed 
 tlois great cause upon the notice of the government. 
 
 It may well seem strange that these prayers were never 
 granted. England stood alone in not establishing her 
 Church in all its perfectness amongst her colonies. In 
 Spanish America, wliilst the crown had carefully excluded 
 the power of the pope, securing to itself the appointment 
 to aU benefices, and not allowing any papal bull to be 
 published which had not first been sanctioned by the royal 
 council of the Indies, the greatest care was taken to set 
 up amongst the colonists that form of faith and worship 
 which, debased as it was, the mother country believed to 
 be alone consistent with the truth. Thus a monastery had 
 been established in New Spain within five yeai's from its 
 first settlement. And m IGiO, about 120 years later, 
 Davila estimates tlie staQ'of the Spanish Church in Ame- 
 rica to have been — "' 1 patriarch, G archbishops, 32 bisliops, 
 316 prebends, 2 abbotts, 5 royal chaplains, 840 convents." 
 Besides these, there were a vast number of inferior clergy, 
 secular as well as regulars, who were arranged in a three- 
 fold division ; " curas," or parish priests, amongst the emi- 
 grants from Spain, and their descendants : " doctrineros," 
 to whom were entrusted the Indians who had submitted 
 to the rule of Spain ; whilst for the fiercer tribes, to whom 
 
 * Nov. 1705: S. P. G. mss. f From New- York, 1702. 
 
116 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the civil arm had not yet reached, there were bands of 
 " missioneros," who labored to reduce their untamed spirits 
 to the faith. 
 
 In these institutions, as Bishop Berkeley endeavored to 
 enforce upon the nation, was a strong condemnation of 
 the supineness of a people who held a purer faith, and did 
 not in like manner exert themselves to spread it. For 
 whatever was deemed needful for the Church's strength 
 at home, that, as a Christian people, we are manifestly 
 bound to give her in our colonies, where, upon the out- 
 skirts and borders of Christendom, she needed arms for 
 every service^ and defence from every enemy. Yet, even 
 from their earliest establishment, circiimstances had led 
 to this neglect. The first episcopal colonies were settled 
 by private adventurers ; their beginnings were feeble and 
 uncertain ; they proceeded on no general and matured 
 plan, and their continued existence M'as long doubtful. 
 They had no sooner gained some strength than the king 
 resumed the charter he had given, by which they Vv'ere 
 removed from the control of those who valued their reli- 
 gious interests, and fell into the hands of the courtiers of 
 James I., who were then under Spanish influence, and 
 therefore hostile to the extension of the English Church. 
 Then followed the troubles of Kuig Charles's reign, and the 
 triumph of Dissenters in the great rebellion, ending in the 
 overthrow of throne and altar, both at home and in our 
 colonies. After the restoration, the subject was not wholly 
 overlooked. Lord Clarendon perceived its importance, 
 and prevailed on Charles II. to appoint a Bishop of Vir- 
 ginia, with a general charge over the other provinces.* 
 Dr. Alexander Murray, a sharer in the royal exile, was 
 selected for the office ; and a patent was made out for 
 his appointment by Sir Orlando Bridgeman, who was lord 
 keeper from 1667 to 1672. But a change of ministers 
 cut short the scheme. f The king, a concealed papist, 
 
 * McVickar's Life of Hobart, pp. 177-218. 
 
 t Archbishop Seeker says, in Jiis letter to Horace Walpole, it fell 
 to the ground because the tax to support it "was to be laid on the 
 cu.stonis. Dr. Jonathan Boucher states tliat it was tlirough the 
 King's death. American Revolution, p. 92. 
 
CHARLES THE SECOND.' 117 
 
 could have had no warm afiection for it ; and the reins of 
 government which Clarendon relinqnished fell into far 
 dilierent hands. 
 
 His successors set themselves afrainst all measures 
 planned by him, and to this the Virginian bishoprick was 
 not likely to form an exception ; since of the five men who 
 now absolutely ruled the state, two were infidels, two pa- 
 pists, and the fiith a Presbyterian. =* 
 
 Duruig the hfe of Charles, therefore, the scheme was 
 dropped ; and James II. certainly would not resume it. 
 Then came the troubles of the revolution and the reign of 
 William III., when the divisions of the Church at home, 
 as well as the temper of those to whom the conduct of 
 aflairs was entrusted, prevented further steps being taken 
 in the matter. Other difficulties also had now arisen. 
 Though petitions were repeatedly sent, both from the 
 clergy and laity of the American episcopal community, 
 entreating this Church and nation to grant them the 
 episcopate, yet amongst their fellow-countrymen were 
 found some objecting to their reasonable prayer. Many 
 of the colonies had, as Ave have seen, been founded by 
 dissenters ; and now they were mulLiplied in numbers, 
 and grown into new sects of every name and form. The 
 sending out of bishops would have been distasteful to 
 them, and kindled the wrath of the upholders of dissent 
 at home, whom Wilham III. most sedidously courted. 
 Our early neglect had made the line of present duty more 
 difficult than ever ; so that the scheme was was for the 
 time wholly laid aside. 
 
 (iueen Anne's accession promised better things ; and 
 in her reign the project of an American episcopate was 
 heartily resumed. 
 
 The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel still led the 
 way in the efibrts which were made. As early as the 
 year 1712, a committee was appointed " to consider of 
 proper places for the residence, of the revenues, and me- 
 
 * The first letters of vehose names formed the word Cabal. Lords 
 Clitford and Arlinirton were papists, the Duke of Buckinghiim avow- 
 edly an atheist, Sir W. Ashley (two years afterwanls Lord IShaftes- 
 bury) a deist, and Lord Lauderdale a presbyterian. 
 
118 AMERICAN CHimCH. 
 
 thods of procuring bishops and bishoprics in America." 
 This committee sat from time to time ; and agi'eeing that 
 it was "a matter upon which the interests of rehgion, 
 and the success of the designs of the society, do greatly de- 
 pend,"* they moved both the body at large, and the 
 archbishops and bishops especially, to proceed in it with 
 vigor. Several times tliey laid before the crown their earn- 
 est representations of the great importance of the subject. 
 
 Nor were they without the promise of immediate 
 fruit, dueen Anne was truly minded to be a nursing 
 mother to the Church. Preparations Avere made lor 
 founding at once four bishoprics — two for the islands, and 
 two for the contment of America. The society! prepared 
 special subscription-rolls, towards raising a sum for the 
 endowment oi" the sees ; and from many quarters they 
 received munificent bequests for this especial purpose. 
 They applied to the Glueen for the confiscated lands which 
 had belonged to the popish clergy within the island of St. 
 Kitt's, and received a most gracious answer in reply ; and 
 in 1712 they purchased Burlington House, within New 
 Jersey, as the palace of one of the future bishops. 
 
 But just when all seemed most certainly to promise 
 the success for which they had so long been waiting, the 
 death of the queen again frustrated their hopes. With 
 the accession of King George the First, and the change of 
 the government, a blight fell upon the hopes of the friends 
 of the colonial Church. Still the venerable society made 
 its voice of remonstrance heard. They represented to the 
 new monarch that, " since the time of their incorporation, 
 in the late reign, they had used their best endeavors to 
 answer the end of their institution, by sending over, at 
 their very great expense, ministers for the more regular ad- 
 ministration of God's holy word and sacraments, together 
 with schoolmasters, pious and useful books, to the planta- 
 tions and colonies in America." They recited their for- 
 mer arguments as to the great need of establishmg colo- 
 nial bishoprics, and vidtli them the favorable answer they 
 
 * Manuscript papers of the Society for tlie Propagation of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 f February 21, 1718. MS. proceedings. 
 
DR. BERKELEY. 119 
 
 had met with from the Glueen. They entreated the King 
 to carry out her unfulfilled intentions, and found four bi- 
 shoprics, " that is to say, two for the care and superin- 
 tendency of the islands, and as many for the continent." 
 
 These entreaties and remonstrances were not confined 
 to this society. Some were always Ibimd who were ready 
 to urge this duty on the nation. Foremost amongst these 
 stands Bishop Berkeley, whose noble devotion to this great 
 cause deserves more than a mere passing notice. Posses- 
 sed of a most subtle understanding, he had already ac- 
 quired fame and eminence, when the spiritual destitution 
 of America attracted his attention. A fniished and trav- 
 elled scholar ; the friend of Steele, and Swift, and Pope ; 
 and ui possession of the deanery of Derry, — he was willing 
 to renounce all, in order to redress this pressing evil. 
 "There is a gentleman of this kingdom," writes Dr. 
 Swift to the Lord-Lieutenant in 1724, " who is just gone 
 to England ; it is Dr. George Berkeley, dean of Derry, the 
 
 best preferaient amongst us He is an absolute 
 
 philosopher with regard to money, titles and power ; and 
 ibr three years past hath been struck with a notion of 
 founding an university at Bermuda by a charter from the 
 crown. He hath seduced several of the hopefullest young 
 clergymen and others here, many of them well provided 
 for, and all of them in the fairest way of preferment ; but 
 in England his conquests are greater, and I doubt will 
 spread very far this wmter. He shewed me a little 
 tract which he designs to pubhsh ; and there your excel- 
 lency will see his whole scheme of a life academico-pliilo- 
 sophical, of a college founded for Indian scholars and 
 missionaries, where he most exorbitantly proposeth a whole 
 hundred a year for himself, foi-ty pounds for a fellow, and 
 ten for a student. His heart wiU break if his deanery be 
 not taken from him, and left to your excellencys disposal. 
 I discourage him by the coldness of courts and ministers, 
 who will interpret all this as impossible and a vision ; but 
 nothing will do. And therefore I humbly entreat your 
 excellency either to use such persuasions as will keep one 
 of the first men in tliis kingdom for learning and virtue 
 quiet at home, or assist him by your credit to compass his 
 
120 AMERICAN CHUnCH. 
 
 romantic design, which, however, is very noble and gene- 
 rous, and directly proper for a great person of your excel- 
 lent education to encourage." * 
 
 On this errand Berkeley went to London, and havuig 
 found access by a private channel to George I., he so far 
 interested hlin iu the project, that the king granted a 
 charter for the new foundation, and commanded iSir Robert 
 AYalpole to mtroduce and conduct through the House of 
 Commons an address for the endowment of the college 
 with £20,000. After six weeks' struggle against " an 
 earnest opposition, from difi'erent mterests and motives, "t 
 the address was "carried by an extraordinary majority, 
 none having the confidence to speak against it, and but two 
 erivinof their negatives in a low voice, as if ashamed of it." 
 But now, when it might have seemed that " all difficul- 
 ties were over," they Avere little more than beginning, 
 "much opposition being raised, and that by very great 
 men, to the design." Sir Robert Walpole was averse to 
 the whole measure ; and a year and a half after the grant 
 of the charter, it was "with much dithculty, and the pe- 
 culiar blessing of God, that it was resolved to go on witli 
 the grant, in spite of the strong opposition in the cabuiet 
 council." But Berkeley's resolution was equal to every 
 obstacle ; though he conrplains of having " to do with very 
 busy people at a very busy time," he was, by May 1727, 
 " very near concluding the crown-grant to the college, 
 having got over all difficulties and obstructions, which were 
 not a few." At this moment, and before the broad seal 
 was attached to the grant, the king died ;$ and he had all 
 to begin again. 
 
 With untired energy he resumed his labors, and "con- 
 trary to the expectations of his friends," so well succeeded, 
 that by September, 1728, he was able to set sail with a 
 new-married wife for the land of Ms choice. He went first 
 to Rhode Island, where he intended to lay in some neces- 
 sary stock for the improvement of his proposed college 
 farms in the Bermudas. Here he awaited the payment of 
 
 * Life of Bishop Berkeley, pp. 17, 18. 
 
 f Letters of Bishop Berkeley. X June 1121. 
 
BERKELEY IN RHODE ISLAND. 121 
 
 the 20,OOOZ. endowment of his college. But a secret influ- 
 ence at home was thwarting- his efforts. His friends in 
 vain importuned the minister on his behalf, and equally 
 fruitless were liis own earnest representations. The pro- 
 mised grant was diverted to other objects. With the vigor 
 of a healthy mind, he was laboring in his sacred calling 
 amongst the inhabitants of Rhode Island, making provision 
 for his future college, and serving God with thankfuhress 
 for the blessings he possessed. " I live here," he says, 
 "upon land that I have purchased, and in a farm-house 
 that I have built in this island ; it is fit for cows and sheep, 
 and may be of good use in supplying our college at Ber- 
 muda. Amongst my delays and disappointments, I thank 
 God I have two domestic comforts, my Avife and my little 
 son; he is a great joy to us: we are such fools as to think 
 him the most perfect thing in its kind that we ever saw." 
 For three years he patiently awaited the means of accom- 
 plishing his purpose ; until Bishop Gibson extracted from 
 Sir Robert Walpole a reply, which brought him home. " If," 
 said he, " you put this question to me as a minister, I must 
 assure you that the money shall most undoubtedly be paid 
 as soon as suits the public convenience ; but if you ask me 
 as a friend, whether Dr. Berkeley should continue in Ame- 
 rica, expecting the payment of 20,000/., I advise him by 
 all means to return home to Europe, and to give up his 
 present expectations."* 
 
 Thus was this noble project, and the labor of seven 
 years of such a life, absolutely thwarted. One consequence 
 alone remained. The library intended for liis college was 
 left by Berkeley at Rhode Island, and sowed ii^^ after-years 
 the seed of truth amongst that people. lie himself returned 
 to England; and until his death, in 1753, repeatedly endea- 
 vored to arouse his country to the due discharge of its duty 
 to the western colonies. 
 
 Other great men repeated his warnings. Bishops But- 
 ler, t Sherlock, and Gibson, enforced in turn our clear 
 obligations in this matter. Thus we find, in 1738, the 
 Bisliop of London " laboring much, but in vain, with the 
 
 * Chandler's Life of Johnson, pp 53, 54. 
 t See Apthorpe's Review of Mavhew's Remai'ks, p. 55. 
 6 
 
122 AMEUICAN CircRCH. 
 
 court and tlie ministry, and endeavoring to induce the 
 archbisliop, who had credit with both, to join him in try- 
 ing what could be done to get a bisliop sent into the plan- 
 tations;''* and in the same year there was some hope that 
 the bishop would be " appointed archbishop of the New 
 World, the continent of America, and the adjacent islands, 
 and invested with authority and a fullness of power to send 
 bishops among them." 
 
 But the fears and the subtleties of worldly-wise politi- 
 cians defeated all these promising appearances. Sir Robert 
 Walpole's government was dead to all appeals founded 
 upon moral and religious principles. The minister con- 
 sented willingly to no proposal which could increase the 
 strength of the Church at home ; and whilst the sectarian 
 opponents of the measure had put forward their objections 
 in terms which could not be mistaken, there was no counter 
 power to weigh against the irreligious bias of the adminis- 
 tration. The nation knew too little of Church principles 
 to feel much interest in the subject ; while the Church 
 herself languished beneath the benumbing influence of 
 Hoadley, and others of his school. Still, the episcopalians 
 in America continued their most reasonable prayer. From 
 all parts of the continent memorials were still sent home, 
 though the greatest earnestness upon the subject was mani- 
 fested in the northern colonies, where, as we have seen, 
 there was, from many causes, most of the life and vigor of 
 religion. 
 
 One of these addresses touched on grounds which might 
 have moved even Sir Robert Walpole. The bishops, who 
 had been deprived of their temporalities for refusing to take 
 the oath of allegiance to William III., did not thereby lose 
 their spiritual character. They had still, therelbre, as of 
 old, the power of conferring holy orders, and of consecrat- 
 ing other bi.shops by lhe layhig on of hands, although their 
 doing so was plainly "irregular and schismatical."t This 
 step unhappily they took, at the imminent risk of entailing 
 a fearful schism on the English Church. Having founded 
 a counter episcopate at home, they could feel little scruple 
 
 * Fulhara mss. f Perceval's Apology, p. 244. 
 
NON-JUraNG BISHOPS. 123 
 
 in granting to America that boon which England had so 
 long and so unwarrantably withheld from her. It was 
 therefore natural that some of the American clergy should 
 look to them for succor, and that they should lend a favor- 
 able ear to their requests. Accordmgly, Dr. Welton, and 
 Mr. Talbot, the oldest missionary of the Society for the 
 Propagation of the Gospel, solicited and received consecra- 
 tion from the non-juring bishops: Dr. Welton was conse- 
 crated by Dr. Ralph Taylor ui 1722, Mr. Talbot shortly 
 afterwards by Drs. Taylor and Welton.* Political disquali- 
 fications made them unable to perform publicly any epis- 
 copal acts ; but there is reason to believe that they privately 
 administered the rite of confirmation, and, in some cases at 
 least, ordained clergy. One such instance, traditionally 
 recorded,! shows in an interesting manner what might 
 have been done by resident bishops towards occupying the 
 land with a native clergy, and so healing the divisions of 
 the West. 
 
 A Congregationalist teacher in New-England, shortly 
 before this time, began to doubt the lawfulness of his ap- 
 pointment to the ministry. His doubts and fears were 
 often hinted, and became well known amongst his people. 
 About the time of Dr. Welton's visit he left home for a few 
 weeks, giving no intimation of the object or direction of his 
 journey. On his return he resumed his pastoral charge, 
 and now declared himself entirely contented with his min- 
 isterial commission. Whence this contentment sprang he 
 never expressly stated ; but there were reasons for the uni- 
 versal belief that he had received at Dr. Welton's hands 
 the gift of ordination. 
 
 These Episcopal acts were performed with the utmost 
 secrecy ; but they were soon whispered abroad, and excited 
 observation. Accounts of them were transmitted to head- 
 quarters ; and good men, Avho distrusted non-juring loyalty, 
 hoped to extort from the fears of the government what 
 they could not obtain from higher motives. " We shall be 
 very unhappy," they wnrote home,| " if any measures are 
 
 * Perceval's Apology, p. 246. f Hawk's Maryland, p. 185. 
 
 J Fulhaiu Mss. 
 
124 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 taken to propagate disaffection among us. Now, though 
 none of the clergy here have ever expi'essed the least dis- 
 affection to King George's person or government, but al- 
 ways the contrary, yet it is certain that the non-jui'ors have 
 sent over two bishops into America, and one ot" them has 
 travelled through the country upon a design to promote that 
 cause. I had accidentally a little acquaintance with him ; 
 and though I had considered the matter too well to be 
 wrought upon by them, yet many will be in great danger 
 of being led aside ; for their powers of insinuation are very 
 considerable. Your lordship sees from hence how misera- 
 ble the case of this country is, for want of bishops to preserve 
 the flock of Christ from wandering out of one schism into 
 another, and withal into disaffection to the king." 
 
 To the same effect speaks an address of the body of the 
 clergy maintained by the Gospel-Propagation Society, set- 
 ting forth " the many ill consequences that may follow 
 from Dr. Welton's coming over, who is reported to have 
 privately received the Episcopal character in England, by 
 corrupting the affections of the people of that country to 
 our most excellent constitution and the person of his most 
 sacred majesty," and representing also " the great use and 
 benefit of an orthodox and legal bishop residing among 
 them."* 
 
 But not even political danger could extort this boon. 
 These appeals oidy led to Dr. Welton's recall on his alle- 
 giance,! and to the dismissal of the venerable Talbot from 
 his former offiee. 
 
 Still the question was not left to sleep ; and even in 
 the highest places of the Church at home a more lively 
 zeal for its accomplishment was soon evinced. About the 
 year 17G4 a pamphlet was published on the subject in 
 New-England, by the Rev. E. Aptliorpe, a missionary at 
 Cambridge, Massachusetts, which called forth an acrimo- 
 nious rejoinder from a Congregational minister at Boston, 
 of the name of Mayhew. In this, amongst other charges 
 against the society in whose employment Apthorpe was, 
 
 * S. P. G. Mss. 
 
 f He returned to Europe, and died in 1726. 
 
\ 
 
 ARCHBISHOP SECKER. 125 
 
 he specially attacked its aim and object in desiring Ame- 
 rican bishops. 
 
 This pamphlet was answered by no less a man than 
 Archbishop Seclver. His attention had long: since been 
 drawn to the question ;* and, in a letter to Horace Wal- 
 pole, Avritten in January 1750, and published, by his order, 
 after his decease, he had entered fully into the whole case. 
 This letter was an answer to objections against the institu- 
 tion of an American Episcopate, urged, in a letter to Dr. 
 Sherlock, bishop of London, by Robert liord Walpole, 
 brother of the late prime minister. Lord Walpole shared 
 his brother's apprehension of increasing the power of the 
 Church, and into this fear all his objections resolve them- 
 selves. These the archbishop fully met, and showed, as 
 he does again in his reply to Dr. Mayhew's angry charges, 
 how clearly due was such an institution to our Episcopa- 
 han brethren. " The Church of England," he maintained, 
 " is in its constitution Episcopal. It is in some of the plan- 
 tations confessedly the established Church ; in the rest are 
 
 many congregations adhering to it All members of 
 
 every Church are, according to the principles of liberty, 
 entitled to every part of what they conceive to be the 
 benefits of it entire and complete, so far as consists with 
 the welfare of civil government. Yet the members of our 
 Churcli in America do not thus enjoy its benefits, having 
 no Protestant bishop within three thousand miles of them 
 — a case which never had its parallel before in the Chris- 
 tian world. Therefore it is desired that two or more 
 bishops may be appointed for them .... to have no concern 
 in the least with any persons who do not profess themselves 
 to be of the Chundi of England ; but to ordain ministers 
 for such as do, to confirm their children, when brought to 
 them at a fit age for that purpose, and take oversight of 
 the Episcopal clergy. . . . Neither is it, nor ever was, in- 
 
 * In 1745 he writes from London to Dr. Johnson: "Everything? 
 looks verv discouraging here; ecclesiastical, civil, domestic, and 
 foreign. God avert from us the judgments we have deserved. 
 
 We have been greatly blameable, amongst many other things, 
 
 towards you, particularly in giving you no -bishops. Life of Dr. 
 Johnson, p. 75. 
 
126 ' AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 tended to fix one in jNTew-Eng-land ; but Episcopal colonies 
 have always been proposed."* 
 
 Such a plea seemed scarcely to admit of answer from 
 the zealous advocates of religious toleration ; but Dr. 
 Mayhew still found grounds for opposition, and for the 
 part he had taken in this matter the archbishop was ma- 
 ligned for years, as an overbearing violator of the rights 
 of conscience. 
 
 Though no immediate steps were taken in the matter, 
 the archbishop did not despair of its accomplishment. 
 " Lord Halifax," he says (in 1671), " is very earnest for 
 bishops in America. I hope we may have a chance to 
 succeed in that great point, when it shall please God to 
 bless us with a peace."! Nor was the cause let to drop 
 amongst the northern colonists. Dr. Chandler of New 
 Jersey, soon came forward as its advocate, and he ex- 
 pressed the views of all the northern clergy. Those of 
 New- York, New Jeresy, and Connecticut, formed them- 
 selves into a imion, under the title of " The Voluntary Con- 
 vention," with a view to obtaining their desire. In May, 
 1771, the Connecticut clergy addressed another earnest 
 appeal upon the subject to the Bishop of London. " View- 
 ing," they began, " the distressed and truly pitiable state 
 of the Church of England in America, being destitute of 
 resident bishops, we beg leave to renew our addresses in 
 behalf of it. We apprehend it a matter of great impor- 
 tance, considered in every view, that the Church shoyld 
 
 be supported in America But this Church cannot 
 
 be supported long in such a country as this, where it has 
 so many and potent enemies thirsting after universal domin- 
 ion, and so many difficulties to surmount, without an episco- 
 pate, which in any country is essential at least to the well- 
 being of the Church. Mu.st it not, then, be surprising and 
 really unaccountable that this Church should be denied 
 the episcopate she* asks, which is so necessary to her well- 
 being, and so harmless, that her bitterest enemies acknow- 
 ledge it can injure none ? While Roman Catholics in one 
 
 * Answer to Dr. Mayhew's Observations, &c., — Archbishop Seek- 
 er's Works, vol. ix. p. 324. 
 
 f Letter of Abp. Seeker, — Dr Johnson's Life, p. 182. 
 
CLERGY OF CONNECTICUT. 127 
 
 of his Majesty's colonies are allowed a bishop, and the 
 Moravians arc indulged the same faA'^or in another ; nay, 
 and every blazing enthusiast throughout the British em- 
 pire is tolerated in the full enjoyment of every peculiarity 
 of his sect ; what have the sons of the Church in America 
 done, that they are treated with such neglect, and are 
 overlooked by government ? Must not such a disregard 
 of the Chui-ch here be a great discouragement to her sons ? 
 Will it not prevent the growth of the Church, and there- 
 by operate to the disadvantage of religion and loyalty ? . 
 . . We believe episcopacy to be of divine origin ; and 
 judge an American episcopate to be essential to the well- 
 being of religion here."* 
 
 The efforts of the clergy of Comiecticiit were not con- 
 fined to sending such addresses to the powers at home. 
 Their first endeavor was to secure the concurrent voice of 
 episcopal America ; and for this cud they sent deputies! 
 throughout the other states. Had such vigorous steps been, 
 taken earUer, there can be little doubt what would have 
 been their issue. They would haA^e called forth from all 
 parts of that continent one general voice, which could not 
 have been slighted here. But that season was gone by ; 
 there was now in many districts a clear indisposition to join 
 in the attempt. Of this the convention of Comiecticut 
 avowed themselves " sadly sensible ; some of the principal 
 colonies are not desirous of bishops ; and there are some 
 persons of loose principles, — nay, some even of the clergy 
 of those colonies where the Church is established, — who, in- 
 sensible of their miserable condition, are rather averse to 
 them. But this is so far from being a reason against it, that 
 it is the strongest reason for sending them bishops ; because 
 they never having had any ecclesiastical government or or- 
 der (which ought indeed to have obtained above seventy 
 years ago), the cause of religion, for want of it, is sunk and 
 sinking to the lowest ebb ; while some of the clerg)', as we 
 
 * Fulham mss. 
 
 f The Rev. Dr. Cooper, president of King's College, New- York, 
 and the Rev. Mr. M'Kean, missiouary at Amboy, New Jersey, were 
 sent to the soutliern part of the continent. Seabury mss., — apud 
 Dr. Hawks' Virginia, p. 126. 
 
128 AMERICAN CHUECH, 
 
 are credibly informed (but are grieved to say it), do much 
 neglect their duty ; and some of them on the continent, 
 and especially in the islands, arc some of the worst of 
 men : and we fear there are but too many that consider 
 their sacred office in no other light than as a trade or 
 means of getting a livelihood ; and many of the laity, of 
 course, consider it only as a mere craft ; and deplorable ig- 
 norance, infidelity, and vice greatly obtain ; so that unless 
 ecclesiastical govenmient can so far take place as that the 
 clergy may be obliged to do their duty, the very appearance 
 of the Church Avill in time be lost, and all kinds of sectaries 
 will soon prevail, who are indefatigable in making their 
 best advantage of such a sad condition of things. It is 
 therefore, we humbly conceive, not only highly reasonable, 
 hut absolutely necessary, that bishops be sent, at least to 
 Bome of these colonies (for we do not expect one here iu 
 New-England) ; and we are not willing to despair but that 
 earnest and perseA'ering endeavours may yet bring it to pass. 
 We humbly beg your lordship's candor with regard to the 
 warmth our consciences oblige us to express on this melan- 
 choly occasion."* 
 
 But these were not now the only hindrances. In many 
 respects the time was wholly unpropitious for the effort. 
 Discord had been long at work between the mother coun- 
 try and the colonies, and men's minds had become embit- 
 tered against everything of English aspect. They associ- 
 ated the name of bishops with the institutions of the 
 mother country, and were unwilling to receive them from 
 her, even whilst they admitted and believed that their 
 office was essential to the perfection of the Church. Other 
 causes, too, were at work. There were some, no doubt, 
 desirous of maintaining the union between England and 
 America, who feared, at that moment of fiei'ce and unna- 
 tural suspicion, to introduce any new cause of dillerence, 
 or to alienate still farther the sectarian population by the 
 name of bishops. When, therefore, the Virginian clergy, 
 who might be naturally thought most ready to unite in 
 
 * Letter from Cunvention of Connecticut to tlie Lord Bishop of 
 London, Oct., 1766, — Fulliam mss. 
 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 129 
 
 this appeal, were called together by their commissary, in 
 April 1771, for its consideration, so few appeared in coun- 
 cil that the question was postponed. A second sunnnous 
 brought no more than twelve, a majority of wliom, alter 
 one opposite decision, agreed to an appeal to the king in favor 
 of an American episcopate. But against this vote, two at 
 first, and ultimately four, out of the twelve, protested pub- 
 licly ; and such was the feeling of the laity, that these four 
 received the unanimous thanks of the lower branch of the 
 A''irginian house of legislature, for "their wise and well- 
 timed opposition to the pernicious project for introducing 
 an American bishop." Yet of this very body the great 
 majority would have termed themselves episcopalians ; 
 and the reasons given for the protest refer only to present 
 expediency, whilst it professes to revere episcopacy. Three 
 out of the four reasons on which it was grounded were, 
 (1) the disturbances occasioned by the stamp-act ; (2) a 
 recent rebellion in North Carolina; and (3) the general 
 clamor of the moment against introducing bishops ; whilst 
 the fourth, in fact, affected only the intended form of appli- 
 cation, Avhich, it was contended, should be first addressed 
 to the Bishop of London for advice, before it besought the 
 throne for the episcopate. 
 
 Under these reasons the true cause of this opposition 
 may be read. There were already signs abroad of the ap- 
 proaching hurricane : the whole atmosphere, political and 
 moral, was heated and disturbed. Old men looked around 
 them with wonder and fear at the great change in opinions 
 as to Church and State, which they saw passing upon all. 
 They could " remember when, excepting a few inoffensive 
 (Quakers, there was not in the whole colony a single con- 
 gregation of dissenters of any denomination,"* and when 
 loyalty and love for their Church Avas the verj' character- 
 istic of the " Virginian dominion :" but now all was 
 changed. A popular candidate applied for votes upon the 
 profession of " low churchmanship and whiggery."t It 
 were as easy " to comit the gnats that buzz about in a sum- 
 
 * Boucher's American Revolution : a sermon preached at St. Mary's, 
 Caroline ctiunty, Virginia, in 1771, p. 97. 
 t Boucher's S-jrmon, p. 98. 
 6* 
 
130 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 mer's evening, as the numbers of sectarian and itinerant 
 priests ; and in particular of those swarms of separatists, 
 who had sprung up under the name of Anabaptists aiid 
 New Lights within the last seven years."* 
 
 With this increase of schismatics the Church was 
 taunted as a proof of her remissness. It was in vain that 
 she replied, that "itinerant pi-eachers, with whom the 
 colony was overrun, made their proselytes in parishes left 
 vacant through the want of bishops to ordain successors :"t 
 the temper of the time was against all authority in Church 
 or State. The party papers of the day took np the contest. 
 The discussion on the American Episcopate was conducted 
 by the same organs and in the same temper as that on the 
 recent stamp-act. Continued misrepresentation stirred up 
 the feelings of the people into angry opposition to the plan. 
 " It is our singular fate," boldly declared a preacher at the 
 time, in the face of some of the warmest opposers of epis- 
 copacy, " to have lived to see a most extraordinary event 
 in Church history : professed churchmen fighting the bat- 
 tles of dissenters, and our worst enemies now literally those 
 of our own household." " Till now, the ojDposition to an 
 American episcopate has been confined chiefly to the dema- 
 gogues and Independents of the New-England provinces ; 
 but it is now espoused with warmth by the people of Vir- 
 ginia."! 
 
 In such a state of things sober-minded men, Avho loved 
 their country, looked onward with unfeigned alarm." 
 " What evils, "^ declared one of them almost prophetically, 
 in 1769, " this prevalence of sectarianism, so sudden, so 
 extraordinary, and so general, may j^ortend to the state, I 
 care not to think. Enthusiasts conceive it to be the com- 
 mencement of a millennium : but I recollect with horror 
 that such were the ' signs of the times' previous to the great 
 rebellion in the last century." 
 
 In this unhappy temper of the country, unanimity of 
 effort to secure the episcopate was manifestly hopeless. 
 Some of the southern clergy boldly rebuked their more 
 
 * Boucher's Sermon, p. 100. t lb. 
 
 X lb. pp. 94, 103. § lb. p. 79. 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE STORM. 131 
 
 time-serving brethren ; and an " appeal" was published 
 "from the clergy of New- York and New Jersey to the 
 episcopalians in Virginia," lull of arguments which, on 
 their common principles, admitted of no answer. But 
 events were hastening on to a far different end. The storm 
 of revolution was already breaking on the land ; and till its 
 fury had swept past, the desire of every pious churchman 
 must be unattainable. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FROM 1775 TO 1783-4. 
 
 Revolutionary war — Loyalty of the Northern clergy — Persecution — 
 Virginian clergy generally loyal — Treated with violence — Thomas 
 JetTerson — Zeal of the Anabaptists — Their hatred to the Churcli — 
 Repeal of all former acts in its favor — Incomes of the clergy 
 stopped — They are stripped even of the glebes and churches — 
 Conduct of the Methodists — Jolin Wesley persuaded to consecrate 
 Dr. Coke — Depressed state of the Church at the end of tlie war — 
 Religion at a low ebb — 'llie revolutionary war a consequence of 
 the Church not having been planted in America. 
 
 The first blood shed in ihe war of American independence 
 was at Lexington, in the year 1775. The northern colo- 
 nies, which had been all along the great fomenters of dis- 
 turbance, now, true to the sjiirit of their ancestors, led the 
 way in revolt. Amidst the general defection, one class of 
 men alone continued loyal. Whilst hypocrisy found in Puri- 
 tanism the forms it needed,* no one minister of the Epis- 
 copalian Church north of Pennsylvania joined the side of 
 the insurgents ; and, as if to make the lesson plainer to 
 the mother country, the king's troops were fired upon for 
 the first time from a meeting-house in Massachusetts Bay.f 
 The great mass of the clergy here were missionaries of the 
 venerable society, and depended for their incomes on the 
 salaries they drew from it. But deeper motives lay at 
 the root of their firm loyalty. They had learned to honor 
 their king in the same holy oracles Avhich bid them fear 
 their God ; and though there may be nothing in the con- 
 stitution of the Church which makes it incompatible with 
 republican institutions, yet those who had sworn allegiance 
 to the croM^n of England knew not how to break those 
 oaths without the crime of perjury. 
 
 * See p. 135. f Boucher's American Revolution. 
 
PERSECUTION. 133 
 
 Their constancy was not a little tried ; and it endured 
 the trial. Mr. Beach, the venerable pastor of Newtown, 
 answered an injunction to cease praying for the king, by 
 the declaration, "that he would do his duty, preach and 
 pray for the king, till they cut out his tongue."* One of 
 the insurgent generals acquainted the Rev. Mr. Inglis that, 
 " General Washington would be at church, and would be 
 glad if the prayers for the king and royal family were 
 omitted, or the word ' king ' exchanged for ' common- 
 wealth.' " Mr. Inglis paid no attention to the message, 
 and declared soon after to Washington in person " that it 
 was in his power to close their churches, but by no means 
 in his poM'er to make the clergy depart from their duty." 
 To try his determination, one hundred and fifty armed 
 men marched into the church m which he was ofiiiciating ; 
 but he fearlessly continued the appointed service. Tlio 
 officers sent to him for the keys of the church, that they 
 might open it to the sectarian chaplains. He at once re- 
 fused ; took all the keys from the inferior servants of the 
 church, and stood his ground so firmly, that the attempt 
 Avas shortly after dropped. 
 
 But firmness would not always .«ave the clergy from 
 violence and Avrong. Many received personal ill-treat- 
 ment ; and in 1777, Trinity Church, New- York was burned 
 by incendiaries ; and Mr. Avery barbarously murdered, be- 
 couse he refused to pray for congress. From the first out- 
 break of the revolution this spirit had been stirring ; the 
 builders of St. John's Churcli, Elizabeth Town, New Jer- 
 sey, had, in 1771, to watch by night with swords in their 
 hands over the rising Avails of their new temple. f As tlie 
 war proceeded, outrages became more general, until there 
 was not in many of the northern provinces one church re- 
 maining open. In Pennsylvania one only Avas left, under 
 the ministry of Mr. White, avIio, Avith Dr. Provoost, Avere 
 the first Americans afterwards consecrated bishops by the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 These passionato outbreaks Avere not confined to the 
 
 * Gadsden's Preliininary to the Life of Delioii, p. 37. 
 t Historical Notices of St. John's Church, p. 17, bv John Rudd, 
 D.D. 
 
134 AJIERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 northern provinces, in which the clergy were, for the most 
 part, missionaries of the Gospel-Propagation Society, and 
 might for that reason be more closely identified with the 
 EngUsh people. In Maryland and Virginia, where the 
 clergy, supported by endowments, were entirely identified 
 with colonial interests, they were similarly treated. The 
 Church was an object of suspicion and dislike to the insur- 
 gents. They felt that her temper was against them, even 
 when her sons, as in the case of Gteneral Washington, were 
 found amongst their leaders. In these provinces, as well as 
 in the north, the great bulk of the clergy remained loyal. 
 Some of them continued to officiate and employ the English 
 ritual, praying duly for the king, in spite of threats and vio- 
 lence, which were carried to the greatest lengths. Thus, 
 for instance, one clergyman, who had oftended the revolu- 
 tionary party through his consistent loyalty, was enticed 
 from home at night by a feigned message, which called for 
 his attendance on a sick parishioner. He fell into the snare, 
 was carried to the woods, and there tied up, and after being 
 mercilessly flogged, left, till he was foimd and rescued in 
 the morning.* Yet even here consistent firmness some- 
 times triumphed. One Virginian clergyman refused, when 
 violence was at its greatest height, to close his church or 
 change his service. He Avent weekly to his duty, after 
 taking a last leave of all his family, and resolutely minis- 
 tered as he had done of old. Such determination met with 
 its reward : no one dared to interrupt him, and his house 
 grew into a safe asylum for his persecuted brethren. 
 
 But, with some such instances of firmness, the clergy, 
 on the whole, did not maintain the loyal tone which had 
 so strongly marked the northern provinces. They were 
 more under the control of local influence, and they were 
 beset by many snares. No scruples withheld their oppo- 
 nents. If the rebellious spirit of the people flagged, the 
 holiest things were craftily profaned in order to excite their 
 passions. The deist Jefferson, looking back upon his life, 
 records with self-complacent pleasure, that, thinking " the 
 appointment of a day of general fasting and prayer would 
 
 * Ms. letter quoted by Dr. Hawks, Epis. Ch. of Virg. 
 
ANABAPTISTS. 135 
 
 "be most likely to call up and alarm attention, he rummaged 
 over the revolutionary precedents and forms of the Puritans, 
 and cooked up a resolution for appointing a day of fasting, 
 humiliation and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from 
 us the evils of a civil war."* >Such hypocrisy was always 
 at command. And in order to entrap the clergy, through- 
 out the early stages of the war days of special fasting and 
 prayer were publicly enjoined in terms of studied ambi- 
 guity, M'hich did not express direct opprobation of the out- 
 break, but had a general reference to the disturbance of 
 the times. Such orders could not reach the northern clergy ; 
 but here the Church was established, and the clergy were 
 forced suddenly to choose Avhether they would check such 
 wishes of apparent piety, or indirectly approve of the rebel- 
 lion. As there was no bishop who could act as a common 
 centre for the various members of the Church, each one 
 took singly his OAvn line ; and the general tone being lower 
 here than in the north, one-third of all the clergy joined 
 the revolution, and more than one laid down his pastor's 
 staff and censer to take up the musket and the sword. 
 Two of the Virginian clergy had risen to the rank of briga- 
 dier-generals at the close of the war. 
 
 But compromise never saved the Church, and it did not 
 shield it in Virginia. Its fiercest enemies, the Anabaptists 
 saw at once the favorable moment, and resolved to seize it 
 In their secret councils they had already doomed the pro- 
 vincial establishment,! and they set themselves at once to 
 work out their design. Their first step was to address the 
 convention with a declaration of their entire concurrence in 
 the war, and to offer the assistance of their pastors in en- 
 listing the youth of their own denomination. This done, 
 they petitioned for freedom of worship, and for exemption 
 from payments to any but their own religious teachers. J 
 Their zeal was met by a permis.sion to officiate in the army, 
 in common with the established clergy, and by promises of 
 future favor. Encouraged by these beginnings, they poured 
 in on the legislature a multitude of similar petitions. In 
 
 * Jefferson's Memoirs, p. 6. 
 
 f Journals of Convention, August 1775, quoted by Dr. Hawks. 
 
 X Semple'e History »i Virginia Baptists, pp. 25-27. 
 
136 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 their prayer, says the Anabaptist historian with wonderful 
 simplicity, "the Presbyterians, Baptists, Cluakers, Deists, 
 and all the covetous," united. A long struggle followed in 
 the legislative body, which gave rise to " the severest con- 
 tests," says Mr. Jefierson, the chief opponent of the Church, 
 " in which I have ever been engaged."* It resulted in an 
 act repealing all foniier laws in I'avor of the Church ; ex- 
 empting dissenters from further contributions to its funds ; 
 only securing to the clergy existing arrears of salaries, with 
 the glebes, churches, plate, and books, which they already 
 possessed. In the present strife of parties, this act stopped 
 at once the incomes of the great body of the clergy, and 
 absolutely drove them from the country. Churches were 
 now everywhere abandoned, flocks wholly broken up, and 
 the sacraments administered only from time to time by a 
 few zealous pastors, who travelled through the country for 
 the purpose. 
 
 Yet even this did not satisfy the hatred of the Anabap- 
 tist faction. The title to the glebes was still in the Church ; 
 and till this was wrested from her, their spirit could not 
 rest. Accordingly, as soon as the revolutionary war was 
 over, they returned to the assault. The incorporation of 
 religious bodies was rendered legal by the colonial legisla- 
 ture, and the Church availed itself of this permission. The 
 first act of the dissenters was to repeal this measure, and 
 dis.solve the voluntary incorporation. This done, they 
 rssted not until, in 1 803, they procured the confiscation 
 and sale of all the glebes and churches. Even the com- 
 munion-plate was sold ; and the offensive desecration of 
 things long set apart to holy uses, which this violence oc- 
 casioned, gratified their deep hatred to the Church. 
 
 Other evils pressed at the conclusion of the revolutionary 
 Avar on her wounded and dismembered body. In Virginia, 
 as at home, the Methodist connexion had been founded in 
 communion with her. Some of the most pious of the clergy 
 had lent their aid to nurture its beghinings. Its teachers 
 at this time intruded themselves on no strictly ministerial 
 office ; they exhorted all their flocks to cleave to the Church ; 
 
 * Jefferson's Memoirs, p. 33. 
 
THE METHODISTS. 137 
 
 they with them received the holy eucharist from her ap- 
 pointed pastors ; and only aimed at quickening and increas- 
 ing the religious zeal of her members. Discipline was first 
 openly neglected during the spiritual famine of the rerolu- 
 tionary war. Under its pressure some of the Methodist 
 exhorters assumed a right to discharge the functions of or- 
 dained men. This, hoM'ever, was completely checked by 
 the authority of Mr. Asbury, a leader of their body, who 
 with indefatigable labor succeeded in obtaining a public 
 disavowal of the unwarrantable practice. 
 
 But after the revolution the blow fell from another quar- 
 ter. John Wesley, then, as his brother Charles and his 
 biographer suggest, enfeebled by the weight of fourscore 
 years and two, Avas persuaded, by some of those into 
 wlio.se hands he was about to drop the reins which iu 
 his vigor none had ever shared with him, to attempt to 
 give that which he had never received — the power of ordi- 
 nation. He found in Dr. Coke one who, with much zeal 
 and piety, was predisposed by strong personal vanity to 
 receive gladly the pretended consecration, and who even 
 pressed strongly on "VYesley his " earnest Avish "* to obtain 
 it. The unhappy step was therefore taken at Bristol iu 
 1 784 ; and " in spite of a million declarations to the con- 
 trary, the ordination of Methodist parsons on the Presby- 
 terian planet commenced by Wesley. To the " uninfected 
 itinerants," says Dr. Whitehead, himself one of the connec- 
 tion, it was " amazing and confounding." Even Charles 
 Wesley, who was at Bristol with him, was not in his bro- 
 ther's secret ; But in an evil hour John Wesley was " sui'- 
 pvised into this rash action ;"t and with his connnission, and 
 the title of superintendent — soon changed by imperceptible 
 degrees for that of bishop — Dr. Coke went out to America 
 to involve the Methodist connection there in open schism. 
 
 Mr. Asbury was joined in this commission with the 
 doctor. When it was first opened to him, he " expressed 
 strong doubts about it ;"^ but the authority of Mr. Wes- 
 
 • Whitehead's Life of "Wesley, vol. ii. p. 419. 
 
 f lb. vol. ii. p. 416. 
 
 t Charles Wesley's Letter to Dr. Chandler. 
 
138 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 ley's name subdued him, and at length he joined the scheme ; 
 and the American Methodists were severed from the 
 Church. 
 
 •^ The reasons given by John Wesley for this step bear 
 no marks of his vin-orous understandiu":. At home he still 
 declares, he would not suffer it ; but where there were " no 
 bishops with legal jurisdiction, his scruples were at an 
 end." He seemed to himself to " violate no order, and in- 
 vade no man's right, by appointing and sending laborers 
 into the liarvest." Every Churchman sees at once the 
 vanity of such excuses. In admitting the power of bishops 
 he sealed his own condenuiation. For if such an order did 
 indeed exist in the Church at all, possessed of powers and 
 functions specially committed to it by the Lord, AVesley 
 could not at his own desire arm himself with its peculiar 
 gifts. Yet, whilst we see the weakness of his reasoning, it 
 is most instructive to mark on what he grounded thelaw- 
 fuhiess of this usurpation. Here as elsewhere, it is to 
 the want of bishops that the injury may be distinctly 
 traced. 
 
 The ppace, which was proclaimed in April 1783, found 
 the Church wasted and almost destroyed. The ministra- 
 tions of the northern clergy had been suspended by their 
 conscienlious loyalty ; and with the recognition of Ameri- 
 can independence the connection of the missionaries of the 
 venerable society with the land in which they had labored 
 hitherto was abruptly ended. In the south, its condition 
 was not greatly better. Virginia had entered on the war 
 with one hundred and sixty-tour churches and chapels, and 
 ninety-one clergj^men spread through her sixty-one counties. 
 At the close of the contest, a large number of her churches 
 were destroyed ; ninety-five parishes were extinct or for- 
 saken ; of the remaining seventy-two, thirty-four were with- 
 out ministerial services ; while of her ninety-one clergy- 
 men, only twenty-eight remained."* To this day, the 
 mournful monuments of that destruction sadden the Church- 
 man's heart throughout the " ancient dominion." As he 
 " gazes upon the roofless walls, or leans upon the little 
 
 * Dr. Hawks' Virginia, p. 154. 154. 
 
EFFECTS OF THE WAR. 139 
 
 remnants of railing which once surrounded a now deserted 
 chancel ; as he looks out through the openings of a broken 
 wall, upon the hillocks under which the dead of former 
 years are sleeping, with no sound to disturb his melancholy 
 musings save the whispers of the wind through leaves of 
 the forest around liim, he may be pardoned should he drop 
 a tear over the desolated house of God."* At the time, the 
 prospect was indeed depressing. The 'flocks were scatter- 
 ed and divided ; the pastors lew, poor, and suspected ; their 
 enemies dominant and fierce. Nothing but that indes- 
 tructible vitality with which God has endowed His Church 
 could have kept it alive iu that day of rebuke and blas- 
 phemy. Nor was it her communion only which had suf- 
 fered ; a blighting influence pervaded all the moral atmos- 
 phere. Religion, in its most general form, was every where 
 depressed. If the dissenters seemed to triumph, it was 
 mainly because Jefierson — the friend of the infamous Tom 
 Paine, and himself supposed to be a settled unbeliever — 
 used them as his most convenient weapon of assault upon 
 the Church. He and others like himself now held the reins 
 of power, and iu a great degree directed public opinion. 
 They hated the Church alike for her loyalty and lor her 
 faith. Whilst she had learned to intercede for " kings 
 and all that are ui authority," they were teaching their 
 young republicans to " besiege the throne of Heaven with 
 eternal prayers to extirpate from creation this class of hu- 
 man lions, tigers, and mammoths, called kings."! And 
 her faith was as hateful to them as her loyalty. They es- 
 teemed it a " form of tyranny over the mind of man, which 
 had its birth and growth in the blood of hundreds and thou- 
 sands of martyrs, against which they had sworn eternal 
 hostiHty."t Her " clergj' hved by the schisms they could 
 create." II Her saints were, like " Calvin or Athanasius, 
 fanatics and impious dogmatists." v^ The religious faith they 
 would them.selves inculcate may be learned from Jetierson's 
 
 * Hawks" Virginia, p. 155. 
 
 t Jefferson's Jleinoirs, vol ii. p. 52 1. 
 
 \ Ibid. vol. iii. p. 4'.)9, and vol. iv. p. 368. 
 
 II Ibid. vol. iii. p. 475. 
 
 ^ Jefferson's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 358 
 
140 . AMEracAN church. 
 
 directions to a youth whose mind he wished to form. " Fix 
 reason," are his words, " firmly in her seat, and call to her 
 tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question even the be- 
 ing of a God. . . . Do not be frightened from this inquiry 
 by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that 
 there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the 
 comfort and pleasantness you will feel in its exercise, and 
 the love of others which it will procure you."* So large 
 were his views, that he " threw the mantle of public protec- 
 tion alike over the Jew and Gentile, the Christian and Ma- 
 hommedan, Hindoo and infidel of every denomination."! 
 As was natural in such a state of things, infidelity was 
 spreading all around, girdled every where by a fierce and 
 unreasoning fanaticism. " From a pious Presbyterian," 
 says a writer of the day, J " I learn that religion is at a low 
 ebb among them. The Baptists, I suppose are equally de- 
 clining ; I seldom hear anything about them. The Me- 
 thodists are splitting and falling to pieces." " The war," 
 says the Anabaptist chronicler of the state of his sect, 
 " though very propitious to their liberty, had an opposite 
 effect upon the life of religion among them. They suffered 
 a very wintry season The declension was gene- 
 ral Iniquity greatly abounded." || 
 
 Such was the state of things at the end of the revolu- 
 tionary war. 
 
 It is impossible to close the scene -without reflecting 
 how different it might have been, if the mother country 
 had long before faithfully established the strong band of a 
 true community of faith between herself and her colonies. 
 Those whose minds the Church, weak as she was, had 
 leavened, were by her healing influence kept loyal in the 
 day of trial. What might not have been the consequence, 
 if, instead of spreading division freely in that land, and 
 keeping her maimed and impotent, we had, with a true 
 faith in God, planted her amongst our western children in 
 
 * Jefferson's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 217. 
 f Jefferson' Works, vol. i. p. 39. 
 X lafe of Rev. Dovereaux Jarratt, p. ISO. 
 
 II Semple's Hist. Virginia Baptists, pp. 35, 36, quoted by Dr. 
 Hawks. 
 
COLONIAL EMPIRE. 141 
 
 her strength and beauty I The colonies might now, per- 
 haps, have been as much an independent nation ; but they 
 might have reached that state by a gradual progress to 
 natural maturity; their youthful affections might never 
 have been torn from us; and England, America, and the 
 world, might have been spared those bitter sufferings with 
 which they have been visited in the war of independence, 
 and its clear consequence, the French Revolution. But 
 this the intrigues of party statesmen had prevented. In vain 
 the Church at home protested; in vain America sent, year 
 by year, her supplications for the boon ; at one time their mu- 
 tual suspicions ; at another, fears of strengthening the Church 
 at home ; the hope, at another, of securing the support 
 of scliismatics in England or the colonies, — led these men 
 to weave otherwise their fine-spun webs of cunning policy. 
 Thus the cause of God was slighted ; all seemed to prosper 
 for a while ; but the day of retribution came ; and surely 
 that hour of mortal struggle, closed by the sudden loss of 
 thosf great settlements, was intended to teach England 
 that her vast colonial empire was a trust from God ; and 
 that, if she would not use it for His glory, it should wither 
 in her grasp. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 'from i'783 TO 1787. 
 
 Depression of the Church — Parties — And Opinions — Attempteil or- 
 ganisation in the south — Mr. White — Conventions in Virginia and 
 Philadelphia — Agreement on common principles — First move- 
 ments for general union — General voluntary meeting at New-York 
 — Want of episcopate — Movement amongst the eastern clergy — 
 They elect Dr. Seabury bishop — He sails for England — Disap- 
 jiointed of consecration there — Dr. Berkeley and the Scotch 
 Bishops — Dr. Seabury applies to them — Opposition — his conse- 
 cration — And return — First convention at Philadelphia — Differ- 
 ence of opinion — Dr. White — Proposed liturgy — Application to 
 the English prelates for the apostolical succession — Their objections 
 to some changes in the liturgy — These reconsidered — Drs. White 
 and Provoost embark for England — Are consecrated at Lambeth 
 — Return to America, April 1787. 
 
 It has been often seen, in the deahngs of God with His 
 people, that mortahty becomes the .seed of hfe. " Except 
 a corn of wheat fall into the gronnd and die, it abideth alone ; 
 but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." " That which 
 thou sowest is not quickened, except it die." And so it 
 was now with the Church in America. Crushed it was, 
 and almost brought to nothing ; made the very prey of its 
 enemies ; abandoned, of necessity, by the fostering hand 
 which from without had so long sheltered it ; Aveak in the 
 sunken spirits of its own children ; yet even in that hour of 
 darkness and depression, preparing to arise in a perfectness 
 of discipline and strength which it never had known, and 
 never could know, whilst, instead of being planted as a 
 substantive communion, it was treated as a distant, incom- 
 plete, and feeble branch of one settled in another land. It 
 had within itself the principle of life ; and now that it was 
 cast out into the field of the world, although suddenly and 
 
PARTIES IN THE CHURCH. 143 
 
 rudely, it began to strike its roots, and put forth its tender 
 buds. 
 
 Yet dangers of the most various character threatened 
 its existence. A tM'ofold object was before those who 
 Avalched over it ; to provide, through the possession of the 
 Episcopal succession, for the independent existence of the 
 Church, and to gatlier up into a national coiumuuion the 
 scattered congregations of the old " Church of England in 
 America." It was no easy matter to secure either of 
 these objects, and peculiar difficulties opposed their 
 combination. There always have been, and, from the 
 constitution of the human mind, there always must be, 
 in the Churcli two extremes of opiiiioii, towards which, 
 on the one side -or the other, its members will incline. 
 On the one side are ranged those who are disposed to set 
 a high value on external observances and forms ; on the 
 other, those to whom the inner spirit seems so exclusively 
 important that they are inclined to undervalue and despise 
 all outward organs through which only it can act. Between 
 those who belong to these extremes, mutual suspicions must 
 from time to time spring up, which too often harden into 
 obstinate separation. Of this there was now the greatest 
 danger in America. In the eastern states the distinctive 
 features of Church discipline and order were passionately 
 valued ; whilst in the south the great majority were not 
 unwilling to give them up entirely ; separation between the 
 two parties seemed inevitable, and the very existence of 
 episcopacy was in peril with the last. 
 
 But at this dangerous time God had richly endued one 
 of His servants with those gifts of judgment and temper 
 which were needful for the crisis ; and hence the name of 
 "William White v,ill ever be recorded by the grateful re- 
 membrance of the Western Church. TJie revolutionary 
 war found him assistant minister of Christ Church and St. 
 Peter's, Philadelphia. Mild in manners, meek in spirit, 
 and large in toleration of the views of others, he was yet 
 firm and decided in his own. Early in the war, he joined, 
 from conviction, the side of the colonists, and, at its dark- 
 est moment, publicly committed hnnself to it, by under- 
 taking the chaplainship of congress. The progress of the 
 
144 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 war left him the sole minister of Christ Church and St. 
 Peter's, and the election of the vestry made him their rec- 
 tor. When the cause of colonial independence triumphed, 
 liis presence in a great measure turned aside the angry 
 jealousies with which the young republic looked on the con- 
 nexion to which he belonged. His consistent conduct was 
 well known ; and Washington was one of those who wor- 
 shipped at his church. Men would hear from him what 
 they would not from another. jSTor was he slow to 
 employ this advantage the general good. His views 
 were early turned to gathering the various flocks which were 
 scattered through the states into one visible communion. 
 Early in August 1782, despairing of the speedy recognition 
 of American independence, and " perceiving their ministry 
 gradually approaching to annihilation,"* while England 
 was as unwilluig to give, as America to receive the episco- 
 pate from her, he proposed a scheme for uniting the dif- 
 ferent parislies in convention, and on behalf of their whole 
 body, committing to its president and others the powers of 
 ordination and discipline. This proposal spnmg from no 
 conscious undervaluing of episcopacy, but from a belief 
 " that in an exigency in which a duly authorised ministry 
 could not be obtained, the paramount dutyof preaching the 
 Gospel, and the worshipping of God on the terms of the 
 Christian covenant, should go on in the best manner which 
 circumstances permit."! Should more favorable prospects 
 dawn upon them, and the succession be obtained, he pro- 
 posed, by a provisional ordination, to supply any deficien- 
 cies of ministerial character in those who had been thus 
 ordained. Happily no such scheme took effect, since it 
 would, in all probability, have laid the foundation of wide- 
 spread and endless separation. In the very month in which 
 Mr. White's pamphlet was published, tlie hearts of all 
 were gladdened by clear symptoms of approaching peace 
 between the mother country and her now independent co- 
 lonies. This was no sooner established than Mr. White 
 abandoned his scheme, and, daring to look on to greater 
 tilings, set himself to gather into one the various hmbs of 
 
 * Letter to Bp. Hobart, quoted in Life of Bp. White, p. 80. 
 f Note of Bp. White's to his Letter to Bp. Hobart, Dec. 1830. 
 
MOVEMENTS FOR UNION. 145 
 
 the episcopal communion, that they might apply in concert 
 to the mother country for the consecration of their bishops. 
 He began with his own state of Pennsylvania, calling to- 
 gether first his own vestries, and then (on the 31st of 
 March, 1784) the other clergy of the state who happened 
 to be present in the town, to deliberate upon the measures 
 rendered necessary by the present posture of the episcopal 
 communion. They agreed to send a circular to all the 
 episcopalian congregations in Pennsylvania, invitmg them to 
 delegate one or more of their vestry to meet the clergy of 
 the state in a general consultation on the 21th of May. On 
 the day appointed they assembled, and agreed to certain 
 fundamental principles as a basis for after action as a 
 body. These were : — - 
 
 1. That the episcopal Church is, and ought to be, 
 independent of all foreigu authority, ecclesiastical or civil. 
 
 2. That it hath, and ought to have, in common with 
 other religious societies, full and exclusive powers to regu- 
 late the concerns of its own communion. 
 
 3. That the doctrines of the Gospel be maintained, as 
 now professed by the Church of England, and uniformity 
 of worship continued, as near as may be, to the liturgy of 
 the same Church. 
 
 4. 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 re- 
 spectively be ascertained, and that they be exercised accord- 
 ing to reasonable laws to be duly made. 
 
 5. That to make canons or laws, there be no other au- 
 thority than that of a representative body of the clergy and 
 laity conjointly. 
 
 6. That no powers be delegated to a general ecclesias- 
 tical government, except such as cannot conveniently 
 be exercised by the clergy and laity in their respective 
 congregations. 
 
 Resolutions to a somewhat similar effect were passed 
 in Maryland, in June 1784, and at Boston, in Massachu- 
 setts, in September of the same year. By agreement upon 
 these common principles, a basis for internal unity of ac- 
 tion was formed within the separate provinces ; but there 
 7 
 
146 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 was still wanting some common bond which should hold 
 together the episcopal communion in the several independ- 
 ent governments which together form the confederation 
 of the United States. This was Mr. White's great object, 
 and his character and conduct were most effectual in se- 
 curing it. His early efforts were especially addressed to 
 the members of the southern states, and amongst them his 
 reputation for moderate views gave great weight to his ad- 
 vice. He had at first to deal with most discordant mate- 
 rials. One state (South Carolina) clogged a tardy consent 
 to apply for the episcopate with the condition that no 
 bishop should be planted in her borders ; and something of 
 this jealousy was widely spread. But there was in him 
 nothing to inflame it, and he was thus able to win over to 
 better views those who were ready to oppose themselves. 
 In the month of May 1784, a few clergymen of New- York, 
 'New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, met at Brunswick in New 
 Jersey, to renew a charitable society which had been char- 
 tered, before the revolution, for the relief of the widows and 
 orphans of the clergy. At this meeting the present state 
 and prospects of their Church, and the best means of unit- 
 JLiig its scattered parts, came naturally under their discus- 
 sion. To obtain this end, it was determined to procure an- 
 other and more numerous gathering at New- York, by which 
 some common principles might be defined. In October 
 1784, the projected council met, eight of the different 
 states furnishing some voluntary delegates. These agreed 
 on seven leading principles of union, which they recom- 
 mended to the several states, and which, with little alter- 
 ation, have formed ever since the basis of their combina- 
 tion. Of these the chief resolutions were the folloAving : — - 
 
 1 . That there should be a general convention of the 
 Episcopal Church in the United States of America. 
 
 2. That the Episcopal Church in each state should 
 Bend deputies to the convention, consisting of clergy and laity. 
 
 3. That the said Church shall maintain the doctrines 
 of the Gospel as now held by the Church of England, and 
 adhere to the liturgy of the said Church as far as shall be 
 consistent with the American revolution and the constitu- 
 tions of the several states. 
 
CONDITIONS OF UNION. 147 
 
 4. That in every state where there shall be a bishop 
 duly cousecratetl and settled, he shall be considered as a 
 member of the couveiitiou ex o£ici(). 
 
 5. That the clergy and laity assembled in convention 
 shall deliberate in one body, but shall vote separately ; and 
 the concurrence of both shall be necessary to give vahdity 
 to every measure. 
 
 6. That the first meeting of the convention shall be at 
 Philadelphia, the Tuesday before the feast of St. Michael 
 next. 
 
 Such were the first efforts made witliin this Church 
 for visible and outward unity. That they should be made 
 at all bespoke the living energy which was dormant even 
 in their most imperfect body : that they should have been 
 required is a heavy charge against the mother Church. 
 Never had so strange a sight been seen before in Christen- 
 dom, as this necessity of various members knitting them- 
 selves together into one, by such a conscious and voluntary 
 act. In all other cases the unity of the common Episco- 
 pate had held such limbs together ; every member, that is, 
 of the Church, had visibly belonged to the community of 
 which the presiLling bishop Avas the head. That bishop 
 was himself one member of an equal and common brother- 
 hood, all of whom, with the same creed and in the same 
 succession, were partners in one common power which each 
 one separately administered ; and so each member of the 
 Church under them belonged already to one great corpora- 
 tion, needing to make no voluntary alliance between its 
 several parts, because it was already one ; and they that 
 were grafted into it were thereby grafted into unity with 
 their fellows. But this common bond we had left wanting 
 in our colonies ; and it was the want of this which had 
 thus dismembered their communion. As soon, therefore, 
 as the political connexion of the state with England was 
 dissolved, some measures, for which no precedent existed, 
 were forced upon them ; nor would it have been easy to 
 devise a wiser course than that which they adopted, in 
 their present want of bishops, who have ever been the 
 organs of communication between different portions of the 
 Church. 
 
148 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 A delegate from Connecticut had attended the conven- 
 tion which framed these recommendations, but he took no 
 part in the dehberations ; for Connecticut had early moved 
 in a somewhat different manner. Amongst the eastern 
 clergy, as we have seen, was the most earnest piety, wedded 
 to the strongest and most clearly ascertained Church prin- 
 ciples. In their new circumstances, they esteemed it their 
 first duty to perfect their system by securing the presence 
 and rule of a bishop. In this they were confirmed by the 
 avowed temper of the south, from which they greatly 
 feared the adoption of a spurious and nominal Episcopacy. 
 They began, therefore, at once to act for themselves, and 
 refused to take any share in organizing their scattered 
 communion until they had a bishop at their head. As 
 soon as the peace made it possible,* the clergy met in 
 voluntary convention ; and before the British troops had 
 evacuated New- York, Dr. Samuel Seabury, formerly a 
 missionary of the Gospel-Propagation Society in Staten 
 Island, and now elected bishop by the clergy of Connecti- 
 cut, had sailed for England to obtain consecration there. 
 Besides the certificate of his election, Dr. Seabury bore 
 with hmi testimonial, from the leading clergy of New- 
 York,! and letters earnestly requesting of the English 
 bishops the boon which America had so long sought in 
 vain. 
 
 Dr. Seabury reached England at a time when the 
 mutual relations between this country and her late colonies 
 were new ' and vuicertain, and when the government at 
 home were full of care lest any apparent interference on 
 their part should stir up the jealousy of new-born inde- 
 pendence. Hence, when Dr. Seabury made his applica- 
 tion to the Archbishop of York, (the see of Canterbury 
 being vacant,) he found at once great difliculties in his 
 way. Without a special act of parliament, the archbishop 
 could not consecrate a citizen of America ; for no subject 
 
 * March 1783. 
 
 f He had been treated with great severity by the insurgents 
 durinsj the revoUitionary war ; and thougli hunted from place to 
 place, and more than once imprisoned, had maintained liis ministry 
 till the last moment. 
 
SCOTCH BISHOPS. 149 
 
 of a foreign state could take the oath of allegiance, to dis- 
 pense with which the archbishop liad no power ; and for 
 such an act ministers would not apply, until they were 
 assured that the step would not offend America. De- 
 lay and uncertainty became thus unavoidable ; whilst the 
 motives which had led to the attempt pressed strongly on 
 Dr. Seabury. Under these circumstances, he looked anx- 
 iously around, to see if he could projierly obtain from any 
 other quarter the Episcopal succession. The Church in 
 Scotland at once attracted his attention. There the true 
 succession, derived of old time from ours, was carefully 
 preserved ; whilst the bishops, unlike those in England, 
 were fettered by no connexion witli the state. The Pres- 
 byterian kirk had been long established in Scotland, and 
 the Episcopalians were barely tolerated there. They con- 
 sequently would be able, Avithout any application to the 
 state, so to vary, if need were, the form of consecration, as 
 to make it suit a citizen of the American republic. 
 
 Other circumstances had been preparing the way for 
 this application. In the autumn of 1782, before the recog- 
 nition of the independence of the North American colonies, 
 the attention of the Scottish bishops had been specially 
 called to the state of the Church there. In October of 
 that year. Dr. George Berkeley, eldest son of the great 
 Bishop Berkeley, the heir of his father's virtues, and of his 
 interest in the welfare of America, writing to the Rev. 
 Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Skinner, expressed his hope, " that 
 a most important good might ere long be derived to the 
 suffering and nearly neglected sons of Protestant Episco- 
 pacy on the other side of the Atlantic, from the sutli;ring 
 Church of Scotland." " American rebellion," he continues, 
 " has widened her religious, or rather irreligious, bottom 
 so extensively, as to require, from those who bear office 
 under her baleful shade, a simple declaration ' that they 
 believe in the existence of the Supreme Being.' I would 
 humbly submit it to the bishops of the Church in Scotland 
 (as we style her in Oxford), whether this be not a time 
 pecuHarly favorable to the introduction of the Protestant 
 Episcopate on the footing of universal toleration, and be- 
 fore any anti-Episcopal establishment shall have taken 
 
150' AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 place. God direct the hearts of your prelates in this 
 matter."* 
 
 Such a sugg'estion as this, from such a quarter, attrac- 
 ted immediate atteutiou. Dr. Georg-e Berkeley was a 
 man of the highest station in the English Church. He had 
 been the intimate friend of the late Archbishop Seeker, 
 was himself a prebendary of Canterbury, and had two years 
 before refused the bishopric of Killala. The episcopalians 
 of Scotland had been little accustomed to any great respect 
 in England, and were therefore the more attracted by such 
 an overture. Many ditiiculties, however, met them on the 
 threshold, but none to which Dr. Berkeley would yield. 
 "As to American Protestant episcopacy (for 2^opish pre- 
 lacy hath found its way into the transatlantic world), one 
 sees not any thing complicated or ditlicult in the mere 
 plaiiting it. A bishop consecrated by the English or 
 Irish Church would fmd considerably stronger prejudices 
 against him in the revolted colonies, than would one who 
 had been called to the highest order by a bishop or bishops 
 of the Scotch Church ; our bishops, and those of Ireland, 
 having been nominated by a sovei'eign against whom the 
 colonists have rebelled, and whom you have never recog- 
 nised. The Americans would, even many of the episco- 
 palians among them, entertain political jealousies concern- 
 ing a bishop by any means connected with?(;.s ; they would 
 be apt to think of him as of a foe to their wild projects of 
 independency, &c. 
 
 " I am as far removed from Erastianism and from de- 
 mocracy as any man ever was ; I do heartily abominate 
 both of those anti-scriptural systems. Had my honored 
 father's scheme for planting an episcopal college, whereof 
 he was to have been president, in the Summer Islands, 
 not been sacrificed by the worst minister that Britain ever 
 saw, probably under a mild monarch, (who loves the 
 Church of England as much as I believe his grandiather 
 hated it), episcopacy would have been established in Ame- 
 rica by succession from the Euglish Church, unattended 
 by any invidious temporal rank or power. But the dis- 
 
 * MS. Seabury papers. The italics are those of tlie original letter. 
 
SCOTCH BISHOPS. 151 
 
 seiiling miscellaneous interest in England has watched, 
 with too sucriessful a jealousy, over the honest intentions of 
 our best bishops. . . . 
 
 " From the Churches of England and Ireland America 
 will not now receive the episcopate ; if she might, I am 
 persuaded that many oi' lier sons would joyfully receive 
 bishops from Scotland. The question, then, shortly is, Can 
 any proper persons be found who, with the spirit of confess- 
 ors, would convey the great blessing of the Protestant epis- 
 copate from the persecuted Church of Scotland to the 
 struggling persecuted Protestant episcopalian worshippers 
 in America ? If so, is it not the duty of all and every 
 bishop of the Church in Scotland to contribute towards the 
 sending into the new world Protestant bishops, before gene- 
 ral assemblies can be held and covenants taken, for their 
 perpetual exclusion ? Liberavi animani meam. 
 
 " Deeply convinced as I am of the necessity of episco- 
 pacy towards the constitution of a Christian Church, I 
 hope that no consideration would (I know that no consider- 
 ation ought to) restrain me in this matter, if I was a bishop. 
 A Scotch bishop consecrating one or more good men, of 
 sound ecclesiastical principles, might now sow a seed which, 
 in smallness resembling that of mustard, might also resem- 
 ble it in subsequent magnificence and amplitude of produc- 
 tion. I humbly conceive that a bishop at Philadelphia, 
 who had never sworn to king George, would be very well 
 placed. The (Quakers are a tolerating people. I have 
 written to you currente calanio. 
 
 " If, as I suspect, persecution shall have tended to damp 
 the spirits of our right reverend fathers in Scotland, /, (who 
 never knew experimentally what persecution meant,) must 
 not presume to censure. Zeal without lujowledge — (with- 
 out knowledge of one's own heart) — is a dreadlul enemy 
 of true religion."* 
 
 In answer to these earnest representations. Bishop Skin- 
 ner (for he had just been raised to the episcopate) laid be- 
 fore his friend the great difficulties which opposed them- 
 selves to such a course. 
 
 * MS. Seabury papers. 
 
152 AMEUICAN CHURCH. 
 
 " Nothing," lie suggests, " can be done in the affair 
 with safety on our side, till the independence of America 
 be fully and irrevocably recognised by the government of 
 Britain ; and even then the enemies of our Church might 
 make a handle of our correspondence with the colonies, as a 
 proof that we always wished to fish m troubled waters — and 
 we have little need to give any ground for an imputation of 
 that kind." He urges, further, the difficulty of finding a 
 proper person, and the uncertainty of his reception in Ame- 
 rica. To all this Dr. Berkeley answers, on the 24th of 
 March : — 
 
 "I beg leave to observe, with all becoming deference, 
 that I cannot consider the immediate and unsolicited in- 
 troduction of episcopacy into America in the same light 
 wherein it is viewed by yourself and your venerable bre- 
 thren, the bishops of the Scotch Church. 
 
 " From the papists one learns that no time is to be 
 lost, and that substances are to be preferred to shadows — 
 things'^ essential, to the ■])arai:)Ucrrudia of a Church. If 
 I ever wrote a sentence under the influence of an humble 
 spirit, I write so at this moment, when I do yet adventure 
 to difler from iny fathers in Christ. A consecration in 
 Scotland might be very secret ; it could not be so elsewhere. 
 A consecration Iroixi a persecuted, depressed Church, 
 which is barely tolerated, would not alarm the prejudices 
 of opponents. I need not say to Bishop Skinner or his 
 brethren, that an episcopal Church may exist without any 
 legal encouragement or establishment, and without the 
 definition of country into rcguhir and bouiuled dioceses. 
 Provincial asseniblics will never invite a prelate ; provin- 
 cial assemblies, if they establish anything, will establish 
 some hmnan device ; but iirovincicii assemhlies will not, 
 now or soon, think of excluding a Protestant bishop, who 
 sues only for toleration. Popish prelates are now in North 
 America exercising their functions over a willing people, 
 without any aid or encouragement from provincial assem- 
 blies. In a sliort time, we must expect all Protestant 
 episcopalian principles to be totally lost in America. They 
 
 * Tlie italics throughout are preserved from tlie original letter. 
 
APPLICATION TO SCOTCH BISHOPS. 153 
 
 are not so now ; and yet episcopacy must be sent before it 
 be asked : these are lukewarm days. Christianity waited 
 not at the first, the Church of Rome waits not now, for 
 any invitation or encouragement. Bishop Geddes told me 
 that the pope allows him 2o/. per annum, and that he has 
 no other settled support ; the other popish bishops in Scot- 
 land have 5l. each per annmn from the Bishop of Rome. 
 Out of Scotland there is but little known concerning the 
 episcopal Church there ; and, generally it is conceived to 
 be a society purely iwlitical. I believe a secret subscrip- 
 tion could be raised, adequate to the purposes of support- 
 ing one pious, sensible, discreet bishop, at least for a season 
 after his arrival in Virginia ; and I thinlc I know one person 
 competent and willing ibr the great work."* 
 
 Thus matters stood when Dr. Seabury reached Eng- 
 land; and finding the difficulties which beset his applica- 
 tion to the English bishops for the present insurmountable, 
 began to turn his eyes to t^cotland. In Nov. 1783, a letter 
 was despatched by Mr. Elphinston, a man of literary repu- 
 tation, the son of a Scotch clergyman, in which the follow- 
 ing queslion was put to the primus or presiding bishop of 
 the Church in Scotland : " Can consecration be obtained 
 in Scotland for an already dignified and well-vouched 
 American clergyman, now at London, for the purpose of 
 perpetuating the episcopal reformed Church in America, 
 particularly in Connecticut?"! 
 
 At the same time. Dr. Berkeley thus re-opened his 
 correspondence with Bishop Skinner : — " I have this day 
 heard, I need not add with the sincerest pleasure, that a 
 respectable presbyter, well recommended from America, 
 has arrived ui London, seeking what, it seems, in the present 
 state of atl'airs, he carmot exjiect to receive in our Church. 
 
 " Surely, dear sir, the Scotch prelates, who are not 
 shackled by any Erastian connexion, will not send this 
 suppliant empty away. 
 
 " I scruple not to give it as my decided opuiion, that 
 the king, sonie of his cabinet counsellors, all our bishops 
 (except, peradventure, the Bishop of St. Asaph), and all 
 
 * MS. Seabury papers. t lb. 
 
 7* 
 
154 AMERICAN CHtlRCIi. 
 
 the learned and respectable clergy in our Church, will at 
 least secretly rejoice, if a Protestant bishop be sent from 
 Scotland to America ; but more especially if Coimecticut 
 be the scene of his ministry. It would be waste of words 
 "to say anything by the way of stirring up Bishop Skinner's 
 zeal."* 
 
 The Scotch bishops, in replj^ required information as 
 to the personal merits of the candidate for the episcopate, 
 as well as on the hindrances with which he had met in 
 England. On both points Dr. Berkeley answered them, 
 urging strongly that they need anticipate no opposition 
 from the English government to their granting "a conse- 
 cration, which can contradict no law, for a foreign and 
 an independent state. My reading," he continues, " does 
 not enable me to comprehend how, without an episcopacjs 
 the gospel, together with all its divine institutions, can pos- 
 sibly be propagated. In the present state of matters, I do 
 not sec how the English primate can, without royal license 
 at least, if not parliamentary likewise, proceed to conse- 
 crate any bishop, except for those districts which erst were 
 allowed to give titles to assistant bishops. In this state of 
 tilings, I think the glory of communicating a Protestant 
 episcopacy to the united independent states of America 
 seems reserved for the Scotch bishops. Whatever is done 
 herein ought assuredly to be done very quickly, else the 
 never-ceasing endeavors of the English dissenters, whose 
 intolerance has kept back the blessing of prelacy from the 
 Protestant prelatists of America, will stir up too probably 
 a violent spirit in Connecticut against the bishop in fieri. 
 If the Church of England was to send a bishop into any 
 one of the United States of America, the congress might, 
 and probably would, exclaim, that England had violated 
 the peace, and still claimed a degree of supremacy over • 
 the subjects of that independent state. The episcopal 
 Church of Scotland caiuiot be suspected of aiming at supre- 
 macy of any kind, or over any people. I do therefore earn- 
 estly hope, that, very shortly, she may send a prelate to 
 the aid of transatlantic aspirants for the primitive ordinance 
 of confirmation."! 
 
 * MS. Seabury papers. t Ibid. 
 
DR. seabury's application. 165 
 
 The Scotch bishops now expressed, in answer, " their 
 warmest approbation of the new proposal." Their primus 
 (Bishop Kiljrour) expressed his " hearty concurrence in the 
 proposal for introducing Protestant episcopacy into Ame- 
 rica. All things," he continues, " bid fair for the candi- 
 date. I hope, indeed, that the motion is from, and the 
 plan laid under, the direction of the Holy Spirit. But as 
 it is a matter of the greatest importance, it is necessary 
 we go about our part in it with the utmost circumspec- 
 tion." " The very prospect," writes another bishop, " re- 
 joices me greatly ; and considering the great depositum 
 committed to us, I do not see how we can account to our 
 great Lord and Master, if we neglect such an opportunity 
 of promoting His truth, and enlarging the borders of His 
 Church."^ 
 
 At length, upon the 31st of August, 1784, Dr. Seabury 
 made a distinct application to the Scottish bishops. " 1 
 thought it my duty," he says, referring to his appUcation 
 for English consecration, " to pursue the plan marked out 
 for me by the clergy of Connecticut, as long as there was 
 a probable chance of succeeding. That probability is now 
 at an end ; and I think myself at liberty to pursue such 
 other schemes as shaill ensure to them a valid episcopacy. 
 Such I take the Scotch episcopacy to be, in every sense of 
 the word ; and such, I know, the clergy of Connecticut 
 consider it, and always have done so. But the connexion 
 that has always subsisted between them and the Church of 
 England, and the generous support they have hitherto re- 
 ceived from that Church, naturally led them, though now 
 no longer a part of the British dominions, to apply to that 
 Church in the first instance for relief in their spiritual ne- 
 cessity. Unhappily the ministry have refused to permit a 
 Jjishop to be consecrated without the formal request, or at 
 least consent, of congress, which there is no chance of ob- 
 taining, and which the clerg}- of Connecticut would not 
 apply for, were the chance ever so good. They are content 
 with having the episcopal Church in Connecticut put upon 
 the same footing with every other religious denomination. A 
 
 * MS. Seabury papers. 
 
156 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 copy of a law of the state of Connecticut, whicli enables the 
 episcopal congregations to transact their ecclesiastical af- 
 fairs upon their own principles, to tax their members for 
 the maintenance of their clergy, for the support of their 
 worship, for the building and repairing of churches, and 
 which exempts them from all penalties and from all other, 
 taxes on a religious account, I have in my possession. The 
 legislature of Connecticut know that a bishop is applied 
 for ; they know the person in whose favor the application 
 is made ; and they give no opposition to either. Indeed, 
 were they disposed to object, they have more prudence than 
 to attempt to obstruct it. They know that there are in 
 that state more than seventy episcopal congregations ; 
 many of them large ; some of them making a majority of 
 the inhabitants of large towns, and, with tho.se that are 
 scattered through the state, composing a body of near or 
 quite 40,000 — a body too large to be needlessly afironted 
 in an elective government. 
 
 " On this ground it is that I apply to the good bishops 
 in Scotland ; and I hope I shall not apply in vain. If they 
 consent to impart the episcopal succession to the Church 
 of Connecticut, they will, I think, do a good work, and 
 the blessing of thousands will attend them. And perhaps 
 for this cause, among others, God's providence has sup- 
 ported them, and contiued their succession, under various 
 and great difficulties, that a free, valid, and purely eccle- 
 siastical episcopacy may, from them, pass into the western 
 world. As to any thing which I receive here, it has no 
 influence on me, and never has had any. I indeed think 
 it my duty to conduct the matter in such a manner as 
 shall risk the salaries which the missionaries in Connecti- 
 cut receive from the society here as little as possible ; and 
 I persuade myself it may be done, so as to make that risk 
 next to nothing. With respect to my own salary, if the 
 society choose to withdraw it, I am ready to part with it. 
 
 " It is a matter of some consequence to me that this 
 affair be determined as soon as possible. I am anxious to 
 return to America this autumn ; and the winter is fast ap- 
 proaching, when the voyage will be attended with double 
 inconvenieiice and danger, and the expense of continuing 
 
OBJECTION TO IHS CONSECRATION. 157 
 
 here another winter is greater than will suit ray purse. I 
 know you will give me the earliest intelligence in your 
 power; and I shall patiently wait till I hear from you. 
 My most respectful regards attend the right reverend gen- 
 tlemen under whose consideration this husiness will come ; 
 and as there are none but the most open and candid inten- 
 tions on my part, so I doubt not of the most candid and 
 fair consti-uction of my conduct on their part."*" 
 
 One more hindrance was interposed to the fulfilment 
 of these wishes. When the Scotch bishops had resolved 
 to consecrate, an earnest appeal was sent to them from an 
 American clergyman, whose own views, as it afterwards 
 appeared, would be in some measure thwarted by the con- 
 secration of Dr. iSeabury ; but wlio now assured them that 
 he desired " to divert a heavy stroke from episcopacy, 
 which was likely to sutler through this consecration," 
 which, he asserted, was " against the earnest and sound 
 advice of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, to 
 whom Dr. Seabury's design was communicated, they not 
 thinking him a fit person, especially as he was actively 
 and deeply engaged against congress ; that he would by 
 this forward step render episcopacy suspected there, the 
 people not having had time, after a total derangement of 
 their civil aii'airs, to consider as yet of ecclesiastical ; and 
 if it were unexpectedly and rashly introduced among them 
 at the instigation of a few clergy only that remain, with- 
 out their being consulted, would occasion it to be entirely 
 slighted, unless wdth the approbation of the state they be- 
 long to ; Avhich is what they are laboring after just now, 
 having called several provincial meetings together this 
 autumn, to settle some preliminary articles of a Protestant 
 episcopal Church, as near as may be to that of England 
 
 or Scotland See," he concludes, " if you value 
 
 your own peace and advantage as a Christian society, that 
 your bishops meddle not in this consecration," &c.t 
 
 "When this letter reached Scotland, Dr. Seabury was 
 there. His sincerity and zeal convinced Bishop Skinner 
 of his great fitness for the post to which he was designed. 
 
 * MS. Seabury papers. f Ibid. 
 
158 AMERICAN CHURCIt. 
 
 The concurrence of the clergy of Connecticut was easily 
 established ; and Dr. Berkeley having ascertained that the 
 English primate, though he could not give to it a formal 
 sanction, was yet by no means hostile to the step,* all dif- 
 ficulties were removed, and he was solemnly admitted 
 into the episcopate at Aberdeen on the 14th day of Novem- 
 ber, 1784, by three bishops of the Scottish Church (the 
 whole college then consisting but of four) — namely, Bishops 
 ^Kilgour, Petre, and Skinner, of Aberdeen, E-oss, and Mo- 
 ray. After his consecration, which was in the Scottish 
 form, the new bishop signed, on behalf of his brethren in 
 America, certain articles which might serve as a basis for 
 permanent and friendly intercourse between the sister 
 Churches. Shortly after, he returned to London, whence 
 on the first of March he was about to sail for America in 
 the ship Triumph, " the master of which Avas his particu- 
 lar acquaintance ; a friendly obliging man and a good 
 Churchman, and very anxious to have the honor of carry- 
 ing over the Bishop of all America." 
 
 By the " latter end of June" Bishop Seabury was 
 again in Connecticut. His " reception from the inha- 
 bitants" was "friendly," and he " met with no disrespect."! 
 The Presbyterian ministers appeared to be rather alarmed ; 
 and, in consequence of his arrival, assumed and gave 
 to one another the style and title of bishops, which formerly 
 they reprobated as a remnant of popery. On the 3rd of 
 August he met his clergy, and "joyful indeed was the 
 meeting." The letter from the good bishops and the con- 
 cordat were laid before them, " and cordially received." 
 Only as to one article, which engaged them to receive the 
 Scotch form for the admistration of the Holy Eucharist, it 
 was thought best to wait for a season until by preaching 
 
 * Dr. Berkeley wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, that ap- 
 plication liad been made by Dr. Seabury to tlie Scottisli bishops for 
 consecration, and begged that, if liis Grace thought the bisliops here 
 ran any risk in complying with Seabury's request, he would 
 be so good as to give Dr. Berkeley notice immediately ; but if 
 his Grace was satisfied that there was no danger, there was no 
 occasion to give any answer. No answer came." A ws. note of Bp. 
 Skinner's on Dr. Seabury's letter of application. 
 f Ms l;etter of Bp. Seabury to Bp. Skinner. 
 
tiRst con\t:ntion. 159 
 
 and conversation tlie minds of llic cominnnicanls wore pre- 
 pared ibr receiving the iivols office. Tliey leared, too, to en- 
 gourage by their example a disposition to effect changes in 
 the Liturgy, which had showed itself in the south. Such 
 was Bishop Seabury's entrance upon the duties of his ofiice. 
 
 He arrived at a critic;d lime for the American Church. 
 The first general convention was soon to meet at Philadel- 
 phia ; and the Imowlcdge that a bishop already pre- 
 sided over one of their Uhurehes, greatly strengthened 
 the hands of those who desired at once to apply ibr the 
 episcopate. 
 
 Tlie first American convention met according to ap- 
 pointment, in October 1785, at Philadelphia; seven 
 out of the thirteen states sent to it deputies both 
 clerical and lay, and they entered at once on their 
 important duties. Three leading subjects claimed their 
 chief attention. The first of these was the general ec- 
 clesiastical constitution of the meditated nnion ; the se- 
 cond, the formation of a common liturgy ; the third, the 
 steps to be taken for obtaining an American episcopate. 
 
 Upon the two first questions warm discussion arose. 
 The various tempers of the eastern and the southern 
 states were soon displayed. Thus, on the general terms 
 of union, the two parties disagreed ; one proposing to 
 declare the bishop ex-officio president of the convention ; 
 the others fearful of the bishop's power, and so denying 
 him this right. The grounds too of this difference lay 
 deep. The southern states would have restrained the 
 bishop from all rule ; made him subject to his own conven- 
 tion ; and distinguished him from other presbyters only by 
 his possession of the powers of ordaining and confirming. 
 The eastern states, with a more instructed faith, truly ac- 
 knowledged the bishop as possessing, by the appointment 
 of Christ, the charge of spiritual government. Their ten- 
 dency, indeed, lay strongly to the opposite extreme. They 
 would not only have given to the bishop spiritual rule, but 
 would have deprived the laity of that power of co-ordi- 
 nate deliberation and assent, which appear to have been ni 
 the earliest times their Christian birthright. The plans of 
 the eastern Churclmien would have excluded from conven- 
 
IGO AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 tions all lay deputies, and confined deliberation on things 
 ecclesiastical to those in holy orders. 
 
 The like difiei-ence was shown in the revision of the ' 
 Book of Common Prayer. While one of the Virginian de- 
 puties proposed to omit the fourfirst petitions of the Litany, 
 in order to get rid of the direct acknowledgment oi' the 
 Trinity in the adorable Godhead ; and whilst in Virginia 
 generally the rule most objected to in all the Prayer-book 
 was that which allowed tlie minister to repel from the Eu- 
 charist notorious evil-livers : the wishes of the eastern 
 states would have restored to the Communion-service some 
 of those early devotions which the peculiar aspect of their 
 times had led the Anglican reformers most wisely to omit. 
 
 Such differences boded ill for the result of the conven- 
 tion ; but the meek wisdom of its president brought it to a 
 safe and harmonious conclusion. Doubtful things were left 
 for discussion when their body should be fully organised. 
 Wliether the bishop should preside or not, remained for the 
 present undetermined ; but the point was at once conceded 
 in practice, and afterwards adopted willingly as law. A 
 proposed Book of Common Prayer, varying as little from 
 the English ritual as the temper of the council would al- 
 low, was suggested to the various state conventions ; and 
 the time thus gained saved the Cliurch from the direct 
 proposal of many alterations, which, if they had been all 
 at once resisted stifHy, would have been as hotly urged 
 upon the other side. 
 
 On the measures to be taken for obtaining the episco- 
 pate the convention happily agreed. Bishop Seabury had 
 declined, with his clergy, attending its session, from a fear 
 that it would carry measures to which his principles would 
 not allow him to assent. The southern states were known 
 to hold loose opinions upon church matters, and expected evils 
 were greatly exaggerated. " I have thought it my duty," 
 writes a clerical correspondent of Bishop Skinner, in 1786, 
 " to advise you and the college of bishops of the ancient 
 Church of Scotland, of the tendency of the bill just brouglit 
 into the House oi' Lords by the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 to enable the English bishops to consecrate for foreign 
 countries, viz. the overthrow of Bishop Seabury of Connec- 
 
VARIOUS OPINIONS IN CONVENTION. 161 
 
 ticut. Dr. Smith, Dr. White, and Dr. Provoost, three So- 
 ciuians, have been recommended to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, for consecration ; the first to be Bishop of 
 Maryland, the second of Pennsylvania, the third of 
 New- York, who are to be answerable to a consistory, com- 
 posed of presbyters and lay delegates," All this was 
 gross exaggeration ; but Bisiiop Seabnry had ground for 
 apprehension. The doctrinal tenets of one oi' the two first 
 elected bishops were probably not wholly orthodox ; and 
 Dr. Smith, who was generally named for the episcopate, 
 was an ambitious arid dangerous man, with low views of 
 the Church, and great self-conlidence. Accoi'dingly the 
 bishop thought it safer to remain away from the conven- 
 tion, writing an apology* for not appearing, and explaining 
 plainly and fully his sentiments concerning their general 
 mode of procedure, and especially their degradation of the 
 episcopal dignity. But though he was not pi'esent, his ex- 
 perience helped to guide their decision. It was at once 
 resolved, that the succession should be obtained, if possible, 
 at the hands of the English rather than the Scottish bi- 
 shops,! To this end an address of convention to the Eng- 
 lish bench was drawn up and signed, and a sub-committee 
 named to communicate with the archbishop ; while, to 
 remove all political objections, the deputies applied to the 
 executive within the various states for a certilied assent to 
 the request now urged. ^ 
 
 These pomts being settled, and a general ecclesiastical 
 
 * MS. Letter of Bp. Seabury to Bp. Skinner. 
 
 ■|- My attention haa been called, by a paper in the Christian 
 Observer, August 1845, to a letter from Granville Sliarpe, Esq., in 
 17SG, in which he states that this decision was the result of his ad- 
 vice to the convention. That great and good man had long been 
 zealous in the great cause of American episcopacy, and had labored 
 diligently with the archbishop on the one .side, and las American 
 friends on the other, to obtain the succession for the West. His bio- 
 grapher, however (Prince Hoarc, Esq.), overstates, I think, liis ac- 
 tual services in saying of them, " Few, if any, examples can be found 
 of more momentous or more successful exertions in the service of the 
 Chui'ch. By the active intelligence of a single person, the mutual 
 prejudices and doubts of the two countries were removed, and the 
 functions of the episcopal order duly established in America." Life 
 of G-ranville Sharpe, part ii. c. vii. p. 231. 
 
162 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 constitution ratified, which provided for a triennial con- 
 vention, to consist, besides the bishops, of deputies, not 
 more than four, clerical and lay, from the Church in every 
 state, who should vote state by state, each order possessing 
 a negative upon the other, the clergy of each state being 
 subject only to its own ecclesiastical authorities, — the 
 council adjourned until the ibllowing June, when it hoped 
 to receive the answer of the English bishops. 
 
 The address of the convention, with certificates from 
 the executives of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and 
 New- York, was forwarded to the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, through the American minister. The part taken by 
 Mr. Adams is highly to his credit. Not himself an episco- 
 palian, and so well aware of all the prejudices which his 
 conduct might excite, that he deemed it " bold, daring, 
 and hazardous to himself and his,"* he made, without 
 hesitation, the required address to the archbishop. Here, 
 again, the consecration of Dr. Seabury had greatly pre- 
 pared the way. He had been well received in Ainerica, 
 and it was plain that if the mother Church continued to 
 refuse the boon, she Avould efl'ectually alienate her western 
 daughter. The archbishop's answer was received by the 
 committee in the following spring. It expressed, on his 
 part and on that of all the English bishops, an anxious 
 readiness to grant the episcopal succession to America, but 
 delayed giving a specific pledge until they had seen the 
 intended alterations in the liturgy and the proposed eccle- 
 siastical constitution. " While we are anxious," they con- 
 cluded, " to give every proof not only of our brotherly afl'ec- 
 tion, but of our facility in forwarding your wishes, we can- 
 not but be extremely cautious lest we should be the instru- 
 ments of establishing an ecclesiastical system which will 
 be called a branch of the Church of England, but after- 
 wards may possibly appear to have departed from it essen- 
 tially either in doctrine or in discipline." 
 
 Another letter soon followed, v^^ritten after the receipt 
 of the amended liturgy, and pointing out some changes in 
 it with which the English bishops were dissatisfied. 
 
 * Letter to Bp. Wliito, Oct. 27, 1814. 
 
fc 
 
 ENGLISH bishops' REMONSTRANCE. 163 
 
 Amongst these were some uiuiecessary verbal alterations, 
 and the disuse of the Athanasian Creed. But that to 
 which they mainly objected was the omission of the Nicene 
 Creed, and one clause in the Apostles' (" He descended 
 into hell"). With one provision also of the constitution 
 they found fault, from its seeming to subject bishops to 
 trial by the laity and the inferior clergy ; and they sug- 
 gested hints as to the care that should be taken in the 
 choice of those who were to be elected bishops, reminding 
 the convention that the credit of the English Church would 
 be at stake in the pi'osperity of this her daughter branch. 
 On these points, therefore, they expressed their earnest hope 
 that the ensuing convention would give them satisfaction, 
 in which expectation they would at once prepare a bill, by 
 which the necessary powers would be imparted to tliem. 
 Before this letter reached America, the convention had as- 
 sembled and revised the constitution in the very point to 
 which the bishops had objected, but the alterations in the 
 liturgy remained untouched. Great fault had been found 
 with them by all the more consistent Churchmen of Ame- 
 rica. " I learn from others," writes Bishop Seabury to liis 
 friends the Scottish bishops, "that at this convention they 
 have discarded the use, at least left it discretional, of the 
 Athanasian and Nicene Creeds, and the observation of 
 saints'-days ; omitted the article of the descent into liell, 
 in the Apostles' Creed; reduced the Thirty-nine articles to 
 twenty ; made such alterations in the liturgy and offices as 
 makes a new Prayer-book necessary." 
 
 On receiving the remonstrance from the English bishops, 
 it was resolved, by the committee charged with the nejro- 
 tiation, that these points sliould again be taken into full 
 considei'ation ; and for this purpose the convention was 
 called together in October. There was a general wish to 
 satisfy the English prelates, of which the friends of peace 
 made careful use. They might, indeed, receive the true 
 succession from the Scottish bishops, and by the Danes 
 it had been already ofTered ; but the whole body earnestly 
 desired to receive it from the Church M'hich had originally 
 sent them forth. In this spirit they entered on the ques- 
 tion, and, after full debate, resolved to restore to its place 
 
164 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the clause they had omitted in the Apostles' Creed, and to 
 replace in their liturgy that of Nicaea. On some minor 
 points, and as to the liturgical employment of the Athana- 
 sian Creed, they still affirmed their former sentence. 
 
 With these concessions they doubted not the English 
 prelates would be satisfied, and they proceeded therefore 
 to sign the testimonials of three presbyters, the Rev. Wil- 
 liam White, the Rev. Samuel Provoost, and the Rev. David 
 Griffith, vi^ho had been elected to the office of a bishop by 
 the conventions of Pennsylvania, New-York, and Virginia. 
 Early in the foUowmg month. Dr. White and Dr. Provoost 
 sailed for England. A painful cause is given for Dr. Grif- 
 fith's absence from their company. He was too poor to 
 bear the necessary cost of such a journey, and the Virginian 
 Church had not raised funds to forward him upon his way. 
 On Wednesday the 29th of November, the bishops elect 
 arrived in London, and on the following Monday they were 
 presented by Mr. Adams, the American ambassador, to the 
 Ai'chbishop at Lambeth. Several interviews succeeded. 
 The conclusions of the convention, and the testimonials of 
 the bishops, satisfied the English prelates ; and after a gra- 
 tifying audience of the king, on Sunday, the 4th of Febru- 
 ary, 1787, in the Archiepiscopal Chapel of Lambeth, these 
 two presbyters of the Church of America wore consecrated 
 bishops by the two archbishops and the bishops of Bath 
 and Wells and Peterborough. Thus, at last, did England 
 grant to the daughter Church this great and necessary 
 boon. 
 
 For almost two whole centuries had she, by evil coun- 
 sels, been persuaded to witiihold it, until, as it would seem, 
 the fierce struggle of the war of independence, and the loss 
 of these great colonies, chastised her long neglect, and by a 
 new and utterly unlooked-for issue, led her to discharge 
 this claim of right. Awful, doubtless, was the hour to 
 these two when the holy office was conferred upon them ; 
 when, at the hands of him, whom Bishop White, full of 
 affectionate respect for his mother Church, calls this "great 
 and good archbishop," they were set apart to bear into the 
 western wilderness the likeness and the office of tlie first 
 apostles. Solemn must have been their landuig on the 7th 
 
LANDING OF THE BISHOPS. 165 
 
 of April, the afternoon of Easter Sunday (1787), upon the 
 shores of their own land, as the espeeial Avituesses of that 
 resurrection of which "the holy Church throughout all the 
 world" was on that day keeping glad remembrance, — the 
 especial stewards of those mysteries which she was on that 
 day dispensing unto all her faitlii'ul children. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Convention assembles — Case of Dr. Bass — Bishop Seabnry joins the 
 Convention — The Liturgy — First and succeeding consecrations — 
 Period of depression — Its causes — Ecclesiastical constitution — 
 Parish — Diocese — Convention — Laity in convention — Anglo-Saxon 
 usage — Difficulties of true organization in America — Neglect of 
 the mother country. 
 
 The Church assembled iii convention after the arrival of 
 the bishops at Philadelphia, July 28, 1787. For the first 
 time it was gathered together in the full likeness of that 
 council to wliich " the apostles and elders came together 
 at Jerusalem."*' For now, as then, it met with bishops 
 at its head, with presbyters and deacons, each in their own 
 order, ministering vnider them, and with the laity, " the 
 multitude of the faithful," taking solemn counsel for the 
 welfare of their Zion. 
 
 There was great need in that synod of meekness and 
 heavenly wisdom. The minds of men were still angry and 
 unsettled. They knew little of the principles on which 
 they were to act ; and points of the utmost delicacy and 
 moment were sure to come mider consideration. On the 
 third day of their meeting, after some preliminary business, 
 an application from the clergy of Massachusetts and New 
 Hampshire gave rise to much discussion. The " act" of 
 these states, after setting forth their " gratitude to God for 
 having lately blessed the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
 the United States of America with a complete and entire 
 ministry," proceeded to declare that to secure for their 
 people " the benefit and advantage of those offices, the 
 administration of which belongs to the highest ord^r of the 
 ministry, and to encourage and promote a union of the 
 whole Episcopal Church in their states, and to perfect and 
 
 * Acts iv. 6. 
 
BISHOP SEABURY JOINS THE CONVENTION. 167 
 
 compact this mystical body of Christ, we do hereby nomi- 
 nate, elect, and appoint the Rev. Edward Bass, a presbyter 
 of the Church, to be our bishop : and we do promise and 
 engage to receive him as such, and to render to him all 
 canonical obedience and submission, when canonically con- 
 secrated and invested with the apostolic office and powers. 
 And we now address the right reverend the bishops in the 
 states of Connecticut, New- York, and Pennsylvania, pray- 
 ing their united assistance in consecrating our said brother, 
 and canonically investing him with the apostolic office and 
 powers." 
 
 This address brought at once before the convention the 
 relation of Bishop Seabury to its own body, and to the two 
 bishops of the English line. Happily Bishop Provoost was 
 not at Philadelphia, and it was therefore left to the mode- 
 rate and healing spirit of his brother bishop to frame an 
 answer to the clei-gy of the east. The convention first 
 solemnly recorded its conviction of the rightful consecration 
 of the Bishop of Connecticut ; and afterwards resolved that 
 a "complete order of bishops, derived as well under the 
 English as the Scottish line of Episcopacy, now subsisted 
 within the United States ; and that they were fully com- 
 petent to every proper act and duty of a bishop's office." 
 It further proceeded to express its wish that these three 
 bishops (the number always held canonically necessary for 
 a rightful consecration) should proceed to consecrate the 
 elected bishop of the eastern clergy, so soon as the New- 
 England Churches should have agreed in convention to 
 articles of disciple and union with the general body. 
 
 To allow time for this union, the convention, after a 
 session of ten days, agreed to a two-months' adjournment, 
 having first determined that as soon as the united Church 
 possessed three bishops, the members of that order should 
 constitute a separate house from that of the clerical and 
 lay deputies. 
 
 On the 29th of September 1787, the adjourned session 
 opened ; and, to the joy of all, the attendance of Bishop 
 Seabury and two of his New-England clergy was announced. 
 Their presence was indeed important ; lor it not only se- 
 cured the union of tlie Church throughout the several 
 
168 AAfERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 states, but it brought to those counsels by which their 
 infant institutions must be formed, the aid of principles 
 which were most wanting in the southern states. Amongst 
 them the prevailing tone, both as to discipline and doctrine, 
 was low and uncertain. Hence had arisen the desire of 
 removing from the opening of the litany the addresses to 
 the blessed Ti-iiiity. Hence their jealousy of even the 
 lightest discipline. Hence, too, it happened that the lay 
 deputy sent by Virginia to convention was an ordained 
 presbyter, Avho, in the time of the Church's sufferings, had 
 renounced his orders. And thus, all through this conven- 
 tion, he who, in purer times, would have been marked out 
 for spiritual censure, took, without doubt or remonstrance, 
 a leading part in fashioning the discipline and order of 
 their infant communion. To a temper thus bordering on 
 latitudinarian views, Bishop "White, if he had stood alone, 
 would, from natural kindness, and perhaps from personal 
 inclination, have been too much disposed to yield, and some 
 fatal bias might have been given to their earliest institu- 
 tions ; but in the presence of Bishop Seabury and those 
 about him, a check was provided on such innovations. 
 With the strongest attachment to the distinctive articles 
 of the Christian faith, the New-England clergy held, 
 as we have seen, most firmly to the model of apostolical 
 order ; and in these counteracting tendencies was the 
 best hope of the convention coming to a sale and sound 
 conclusion. 
 
 This difl'erence of views between the east and south 
 was seen at once. Before the eastern clergy gave in their 
 adhesion to the articles of union, they required that, by the 
 alteration of the third, there should be given to the board 
 of bishops the power of originating acts for the concurrence 
 of the lower house, with a negative on their conclusions. 
 The first point was easily conceded. The second, for the 
 present, was made the subject of a compromise. It was 
 agreed that the non-assent of the bishops should negative 
 all acts to which four-fifths of the lower house did not 
 still adhere. The absolute ne2:ative was referred to the 
 collective judgment of the several diocesan conventions. 
 Upon this agreement Bishop Seabury, and the three New- 
 
DANGER FROM LATITUDINARIAN BIAS. 169 
 
 England presbyters, gave in their adhesion to the general 
 constitution, and took their seats in the convention. 
 
 Important matters came at once into discussion. The 
 proposed Prayer-book, drawn up in 1785, had kindled a 
 flame of opposition. Some were olFended at the alterations 
 of the English ritual, and more at the want of alteration. 
 Its compilers had unwisely printed a large edition, and 
 from this were understood to regard it rather as a settled 
 than a projected form. The lower house accordingly en- 
 tered with some warmth on this discussion. Instead of 
 proposing, as before, to take the existing liturgy, and merely 
 alter in it what required adjustment, they, the more com- 
 pletely to dismiss the obnoxious book, appointed committees 
 " to prepare a litany," " to prepare a communion-service," 
 "a morning and evening prayer," and other " offices." 
 
 In this they ran no slight peril. Scarcely with any 
 thing beside is the well-being of the Church bound up so 
 closely as with the lull orthodoxy of its liturgies. On this 
 depends, not only the unity of all her children, but also, in 
 great measure, their whole religious character. Hence 
 from the earliest time these have been a matter of especial 
 care. By one Council* it was ordered, " that the prayers, 
 prefaces, impositions of hands, which are confirmed by 
 the synod, be observed and used by all men ;" and an- 
 other! gives the reason for this order, " lest through igno- 
 rance or carelessness, any thing contrary to the faith should 
 be vented or uttered before God, or ofTered up to him in the 
 church." 
 
 In this wholesome dread, during times of purity, change 
 had always been brought cautiously and with a sparing 
 hand into the older offices. Nor was there a more certain 
 sign and instrument of increasing corruption than when the 
 public liturgies, which had been first veiled from common 
 sight by the mystery of a learned language, began to em- 
 body largely the errors of a later time. These, however, 
 were rather additions than substitutions. So that even in 
 the worst times the golden thread of primitive truth might 
 be traced by the spiritual eye through all the subtle entan- 
 
 " Con. Carth. can. 106. f Council of Milan, can. 12. 
 
 8 
 
170 AMERICAN CHURCH, 
 
 gleraent of more modem error. The endeavor of our own 
 reformers was, to keep this precious thread unbroken, whilst 
 they freed it from the I'alse inventions by which it was well- 
 nigh concealed. The old books of common English use had 
 been taken by the bishops and doctors to whom this work 
 was entrusted ; and from them the new insertions which 
 had crept gradually in with the spread of Romish errors 
 were cast out, that the oldest offices might still remain 
 amongst us, and set the tone of such additions as the change 
 of customs and of times required. On this point there had 
 been a long and anxious struggle between English Chui'ch- 
 men and the Puritans ; for these wished for new prayers, 
 whilst the true sons of the old English Church strove to 
 retain this sure mark and instrument of their oneness Avith 
 the body of Christ from the beginning, that they spoke in 
 praise and prayer, and in intercession and confession, as far 
 as might be, in the same accents in which their forefathers 
 had worshipped (xod from the time when the little flock 
 were gathered in " an upper chamber," where " the doors 
 were shut for fear of the Jews." 
 
 The existence of such a liturgy was put at hazard in 
 America ; but, by God's blessing, the danger was averted. 
 The house of bishops was now duly constituted ; and in the 
 continued absence of the Bishop of New York, it was com- 
 posed of Bishops Scabury and White. Their first entrance 
 on their duties afforded a hopeful promise for the issue ; i'or 
 as meekness ever waits upon true wisdom, there was a to- 
 ken of wise counsel in Bishop White's instant cession of 
 precedence to his eastern brother on the ground of his seni- 
 ority of consecration. Their hai'monious action turned 
 aside the danger ; they took as their guide the old offices of 
 their communion ; and making only needful changes, by 
 degrees won over the general voice on nearly every point. 
 
 Bishop White has recorded the remark of a by-stander, 
 which strikingly illustrates the working of more thoughtful 
 minds at that important crisis : — " When I hear these things 
 I look back to the origin of the Prayer-book, and represent 
 to my mind the spirits of its venerable compilers ascending 
 to heaven in the flames of martyrdom that consumed their 
 bodies. I then look at the improvers of this book in ... . 
 
CHANGES IN THE PRAYER-BOOK. 171 
 
 . and and The consequence is, that I am not 
 
 sanguine in my expectations of the meditated changes in 
 the liturgy." 
 
 The character of the chief changes which were made 
 is curious and instructive. They show the great peril of 
 attempting to improve such fixed and ascertained forms ; 
 for they are marked by a tendency to opposite extremes. 
 Thus, on the one side, there were struck out from the 
 Prayer-book the Athanasian Creed and the absolution in 
 the Visitation of the Sick ; whilst the use of the sign of the 
 cross in baptism ; and "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" in 
 the ordinal, are left to the choice of the minister. Thus, 
 ^ also, whilst to the question, " What is the inward part or 
 thing signified in the Lord's supper ?" the answer of the 
 English Catechism, " The body and blood of Christ, which 
 are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful 
 in the Lord's supper," is changed into " The body and 
 blood of Christ, wliich are spiritKalhi taken and received 
 by the faithful in the Lord's Supper ;" at the same 
 time, upon the other side, in the Otfice for the Holy Com- 
 munion there were inserted the prayers of invocation and 
 oblation which are contained in the earliest liturgies. These ^ 
 had been retauied in the first Engli,sh Book of Common 
 Prayer put forth in the reign of Edward VL by " the arch- 
 bishop and other learned and discreet divines ;"* but upon 
 its subsequent revision they were both omitted ; their es- 
 sential parts, as our reformers thought, being found in other 
 parts of the service, whilst their use must prove dangerous 
 at a time when popish superstition had obscured that holy 
 mystery, and lowered its spiritual reality to a gross and 
 carnal conceit. In the ancient Scottish Prayer-book, which 
 was compiled at a later period, these forms had been re- 
 stored ; and in it their use was familiar to Bishop Seabury. 
 He was disposed to ovei-value their presence ; hardly, as 
 he owned to Bishop Wliite, considering the service from 
 which they were absent as " amounting strictly to a con- 
 secration." He therefore pressed earnestly their restor- 
 ation. From his brother bishop he met with no opposition ; 
 
 * A.D. 15t8. Statutes at large, vol. ii. p. 393. 
 
172 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 Bishop AVhite having always admired " the beauty of those 
 ancient forms, and seeing no superstition in them."* No 
 remark of any sort was made on their insertion in the lower 
 house ; and they accordingly form part of the American 
 Prayer-book, t 
 
 One other important change came into debate. From 
 the services of "the proposed Prayer-book" had been struck 
 out the whole Nicene Creed, and that clause of the Apos- 
 tles' which declares of our Lord that "He descended into 
 hell." The Nicene Creed was now reinserted ; and after 
 
 * Appendix to Bishop White's Memorial. 
 
 f The Communion-office, therefore, is thus altered from our own. 
 After what is with us the conclusion of the prayer of consecration,^. 
 the prayer of oblation follows, in these words : " Wherefore, O Lord 
 and heavenly Father, according to the institution of Thy dearly be- 
 loved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, we Thy humble servants do cele- 
 brate and make here before Thy divine Majesty, with these Thy holy 
 gifts which we now offer unto Thee, the memorial Thy Son hath 
 commanded us to make ; having in remembrance His blessed pas- 
 sion and precious death, His mighty resurrection and glorious ascen- 
 sion : rendering unto Thee most hearty thanks for the innumerable 
 benefits procured unto us by the same." Then succeeds the Invoca- 
 tion, in these words: " And we most humbly beseech Thee, mer- 
 ciful Father, to hear us ; and, of Thy almighty goodness, vouchsafe 
 to bless and sanctify with Thy word and Holy Spirit these Thy gifts 
 and creatures of bread and wine, that we, receiving them according to 
 Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution in remembrance 
 of His death and passion, may be partakers of His most blessed 
 body and blood. And we earnestly desire Thy fatherly goodness 
 mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving ; 
 most humbly beseeching Tliee to grant, that by the merits and death 
 of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in His blood, we, and all 
 Thy whole Church, may obtain remission of our sins, and all other 
 benefits of His passion. And here we offer and present unto Thee, 
 O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and 
 living sacrifice unto Thee ; humbly beseeching Thee, that we, and 
 all others who shall be partakers of this holy communion, may wor- 
 thily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son Jesus 
 Christ, be filled with Thy grace and heavenly benediction, and be 
 made one body with Him, that He may dwell in them and they in 
 Him. And although we are imworthy, through our manifold sins, 
 to offer unto Thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech Thee to accept this 
 our bounden duty and service, not weighing our merits, but par- 
 doning our offences; througli Jesus Christ our Lord ; by whom and 
 through whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory 
 be unto Thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen." 
 
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 173 
 
 much discussion, the use of the disputed clause allowed ; 
 the lower house not consenting to its absolute adoption. 
 In the first printed Prayer-books it was inserted between 
 brackets ; but this seeming to stamp it as apocryphal, the 
 next convention placed, instead ol" them, this discretionary 
 rubric : "And any Churches may omit the words, 'He de- 
 scended into hell ;' or may, instead of them, use the words, 
 ' He M^ent into the place of departed spirits,' which are 
 considered as words of the same meaning in the creed." 
 
 A selection of Psalms, fixed portions of which might 
 be used instead of those which came in daily order in the 
 Psalter, was inserted in the Prayer-book. This was the 
 Avork of the lower house, and is another instance of the 
 risk attending all such changes. The first principle of 
 any such selection is manifestly false. It is a denial of the 
 great truth, that in those words ol" inspiration we find the 
 spirit-struggles of the King of Israel answer to our own as 
 face to face. And this first error led to many others. One 
 aim of the compilers was to shorten the service ; their suc- 
 cess may be gathered from the words of Bishop White, 
 who considers " the omissions as very capricious, and the 
 selections in general as having added to the length of the 
 morning and evening prayer." Some of his expressions 
 show, that even he was unawares drawn, by the fault of 
 his position, into an unconscious disrespect to Holy Scrip- 
 ture, or he would not have ventured, as if dealing with 
 some human composition, to commend "the excellency of 
 psalms overlooked by gentlemen of judgment and taste." 
 These were the chief changes in the Common Prayer ; the 
 others aiming chiefly, and with small success, at introduc- 
 ing greater verbal correctness into our old Saxon dialect. 
 
 Such is the Book of Common Prayer, " declared by the 
 bishops, the clergy, and the laity of the Protestant Episco- 
 pal Church in America in convention to be the liturgy of" 
 their " Church :" and upon the whole, in spite of some 
 alterations which we must deem unhappy, and more which 
 we esteem needless, it remains as a living proof of that 
 gratitude which its prefiice expresses to the Church of 
 England, "to which, under God, she is indebted for her 
 first foundation and a long contmuance of nursing care and 
 
 ~\. J " fCy. 
 
174 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 protection," since, iipoii the whole, it fulfils the profession, 
 that " she is far from intending to depart from the Church 
 of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or 
 worship, or farther than local circumstances require."* 
 
 The convention broke up without the consecration of 
 the elected bishop of Massachusetts ; a direct vote, as we 
 have seen, acknowledged Bishop Seabury's consecration ; 
 and with his co-operation. Dr. Bass might have been ad- 
 mitted to the highest order of the priesthood. But Bishop 
 White conceived that he was pledged to the archbishop to 
 hand on the English line unmixed. The consecration, 
 therefore, was postponed until this engagement should 
 have been relaxed. In the event, this proved needless, 
 since, in the following year (Sept. 1790) Dr. Madison, 
 elected as Bishop of Virginia, crossed to England, and was 
 duly consecrated bishop ; and thus, 184 years after her 
 planting, the Church in Virginia first saw a bishop of her 
 own within her borders. 
 
 The ensuing convention vdtnessed the first American 
 consecration. At its session the upper house consisted of 
 Bishops Seabury, V^hite, Provoost, and Madison. This 
 first meeting of Bishops Seabury and Provoost was full of 
 interest, although the unhappy temper of the latter made 
 it a time of much anxiety. Narrow to a high degree in 
 mind, and full of prejudice against his eastern brother, the 
 Bishop of New- York resisted bitterly the title to pi'esidency, 
 which by the canon of the last convention would be his in 
 right of seniority ; and was even ready to deny, at all 
 hazards, the regularity of his consecration. The first point 
 was, with Christian meekness, ceded by the elder bishop; 
 and through the influence of Dr. White, all further open 
 opposition was dropped by Bishop Provoost. 
 
 On the 17th of September, 1792, Dr. Claggett, bishop 
 elect, was consecrated by the laying on of hands of Bishops 
 Provoost, Seabury, White, and Madison. Thus was the 
 Church at last complete in all its functions, and able to 
 expand itself as God might give it grace and opportunity, 
 to meet the many wants of that vast continent in which it 
 
 * Preface to American Common Prayer. 
 
CHURCH ROOTED I.\ AMERICA. 175 
 
 was now full}'^ planted. Otlier consecrations soon succeeded. 
 In 1795, Dr. Smith was consecrated bishop of South Caro- 
 lina ; and in 1797, Dr. Bass of Massachusetts ; whilst in 
 the same year Dr. .larvis was called to succeed the first 
 hisliop of Connecticut. The system of the Church was 
 every day becominjf more perfectly consolidated. In the 
 conventions of 1792, 1790, and 1801, the question of ar- 
 ticles was frequently discussed Various opinions from 
 time to time seemed to predominate. Some in leading sta- 
 tion, and of great laxity as to the first truths of the faith, 
 were, like Bishop Provoost, desirous to avoid entirely what 
 they uidiappily conceived to be a needless restriction on the 
 right of private judgment. Wiser councils defeated this pro- 
 posal ; but what should be the articles adopted still remained 
 an anxious question. The English articles had been at 
 first assumed to be the nucleus of the new collection ; and 
 into them such changes as appeared expedient were to be 
 inserted. The result may easily be guessed ; one party 
 objected to one set of propositions, the retrenchment of a 
 second was required by others, until absolute division 
 seemed rapidly approaching. In this dilemma it was re- 
 solved, as a means of securing peace, that the English 
 articles should be received, with such changes only as 
 M'ould make them suit republican America, and consist with 
 the alterations in the creeds detailed on a former page.* 
 
 At this time the Church may be considered as rooted 
 in that land. Native Bishops witnessed for the resurrec- 
 tion of the Lord ; from one, obtamed almost by stealth 
 from Scotland, they had already multiplied to seven, and 
 promised to hand on unbroken the appointed orders of the 
 ministry. Already (179o) the first bishop (Seabnry) had 
 entered on his rest, and his successor been admitted in his 
 room into the apo.stolic college. There was now, in ti-uth, 
 an American Church. Of old the proper title of the body 
 so described would have been the English Church in Ame- 
 rica, if indeed that sickly and almost severed branch could 
 claim true union with the parent stock. But it was now 
 
 * The use of the Book of Homilies is suspended until they have 
 been cleared from " obsolete plirases and local references." 
 
176 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 planted in the wide western continent ; and many and 
 earnest were the prayers of faithful men, that its branches 
 might spread unto the sea and its Jjoughs unto the river. 
 It had taken root, as in every other soil ; and good hope 
 there was that it would cover the land. The Church 
 might now be read there by her distinctive characters. 
 This was a great matter gained. For this, through long 
 years of weakness and destitution, the most zealous and 
 devoted hearts in America had longed and prayed. By a 
 most unexpected turn had the answer of those prayers been 
 sent as one healing fruit of the American rebelhon. Surely 
 it was thus given as a reproof to the mother country fot 
 her long denial to her oflspring of the most valuable part 
 of their inheritance. 
 
 But though the Church was now thus complete in its 
 organisation, it did not as we might fondly hope, shoot forth 
 at once into full strength and vigor. Almost every where 
 there was mvich of feebleness about its growth, and there 
 were districts in which it seemed to languish and decay. 
 " The period through Avhich for some years our narrative 
 has been taking us," says Dr. Hawks,* referring to this 
 time, " is one, for the most part, of such gloomy darkness, 
 that the smallest ray of light is felt to be a blessing." 
 Even when "the dawning light of a brighter day" was 
 rising on Virginia, " the journals of the convention by which 
 Bishop Moore was elected show the presence of but seven 
 clei'gymen and seventeen laymen. We look back upon 
 the past, and are struck with the contrast. Seven clergj'^- 
 men were all that could be convened to transact the most 
 important measure which our conventions are ever called 
 on to perform, and this in a territory where once more than 
 ten times seven regularly served at the altar. We 
 look back farther still, and lind the Church, after the lapse 
 of 200 years, numbering about as many ministers as she pos- 
 sessed at the close of the first eight years of her existence." 
 
 But little better is the account of things in Maryland. 
 " In 1803 there was a spirit of indiflerenc to religion and 
 the Church too extensively prevalent in the parishes ; 
 
 * Contributions to Eccl. Hist, of Virginia, p. 295. 
 
PERIOD OF DEPRESSION. 177 
 
 nearly one half of them were vaoant ; in some, all minis- 
 terial support had ceased. Some few of the clergy had 
 deserted their stations ; and of the residue, several, dis- 
 heartened and embarrassed by inadequate means of living', 
 had sought subsistence in other states. Infidelity and 
 fanaticism were increasing ; and, on the whole, there never 
 was a time when ministers were more needed, or when it 
 was more difficult to obtain them. "* In Pennsylvania it 
 was much the same. The number of the clergy here 
 continued still so small, " that even the old parishes, ex- 
 isting before the revolution, could not be supplied, much 
 less could the formation of new congregations be at- 
 tempted."! Such was the general state of things during 
 the first years of this century 
 
 Many causes tended to produce this deep depression ; 
 some of these were inherent in the general temper of Ame- 
 rican society and manners, but many more may undoubt- 
 edly be traced to the peculiar condition under which the 
 Church was now established. To gain a clear view of the 
 history of those times, we must shortly glance at each of 
 these, and endeavor to trace in action the working of the ec- 
 clesiastical constitution as it had been recently remodelled. 
 The first great hindrance to its strength was the low tone 
 of feeling and of doctrine which in the foi'mer days of our 
 neglect had crept over its members. There was little at- 
 tachment to the Church, little veneration for her charac- 
 ter, little knowledge or value of her distinctive claims ; 
 there were many recollections of careless shepherds, of 
 clergy who had disgraced their calling. Thus there was 
 widely spread abroad a want of reverence for holy things 
 and holy persons ; there was among the laity a feverish 
 readiness to constitute themselves watchmen over their 
 appointed watchmen, which was most injurious in its efiect 
 both to the clergy and to themselves. 
 
 These evils were further aggravated by the peculiar 
 position of the newly-constituted body with respect to the 
 communions round it, which claimed equally the Christiau 
 
 * Dr. Hawks' Memorials of Virginia, pp. 350, 351. 
 f Life of Bishop White, p. 154. 
 
 7* 
 
178 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 name, but were strangers to the apostolic form and discip' 
 line ; for it was thus subjected, at the same time, to the 
 weakness both of infancy and of decrepitude. In all those 
 associations and prescriptive rights whereby an hereditary 
 Church maintains her hold upon the love and reverence of 
 men, she was necessarily wanting. She had no territorial 
 existence ; men belonged to her not because they were born 
 within her pale, because in the old time holy pastors of 
 her communion had stood up there amongst their pagan 
 forefathers, and bowed their rugged hearts by the message 
 of the everlasting Grospel, and then gathered them hito a 
 visible fellowship, into which they too, in their turn, had 
 been baptised, and to which they owed from infancy an 
 hereditary reverence ; nor even because they now joined 
 a company of others who had been trained amidst such 
 associations ; — ^but they belonged to her because they chose 
 to join her — because she was more reasonable or more 
 comely in their eyes than others — because they willed it: and 
 to this action of their will, and that of others round them, 
 it seemed as if she owed her being : like the constitution 
 of their nation, she seemed self-formed through their agency. 
 They were not grafted into a pre-existing body — they were 
 the framers of a new society; and they felt towards it, 
 therefore, ever afterwards, as towards that which they 
 might support, remodel, or forsake at will — as their cause 
 so long as they maintained it — as that which they had a 
 title to conduct as they would. And hence they were 
 almost strangers to the reverence and afiection of children 
 to a spiritual mother : this, under their circumstance.?, 
 could only grow up with time and slowly formed associa- 
 tions ; and so for the present, the weakness of infancy was 
 on her. 
 
 On the other hand, there was amongst them little of 
 the strength of the Church's youth ; for this is founded on 
 the ardent afiection of fresh converts to the great heart- 
 truths of Christ's blessed Gospel. The small company of 
 gathered believers in any land where, for the first time, 
 the cross of Christ is planted, are a body every one of 
 whom is personally convinced of the reality of that com- 
 mon spiritual life into which he is now admitted. They 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION. 179 
 
 are all well nigh overpowered by the first discovery of their 
 true greatness and blessedness in Christ, and their utter 
 misery without Him The Church has brought them the 
 glorious message of their new creation, and for it they are 
 ready, if need be, to go through fire and water ; and so, 
 though they may be few in number, they are great in 
 strength, for every one of them is a host : each may go 
 forth in God's strength and chase a thousand. But this 
 could not be the case with this infant communion. She 
 was young indeed, but she was shorn of the strength of 
 her youth. The message she bore was familiar to the ears 
 of those to whom she spoke ; she had to deal with a popu- 
 lation calling itself Christian, or, at least, well acquainted 
 with all the oficrs of Christianity; she stood but as a new 
 sect amongst sects ;* she seemed to them to be contending 
 for nice distinctions, subtle refinements, perhaps doubtful 
 clauns. This weakened everywhere the eflect of her testi- 
 mony with others, and it tended to lower her own tone, — 
 to lead her to stand upon the defensive, — to act and speak, 
 and often, we may fear, think of herself, as nothing more 
 than one amongst the many round her, and of her errand, 
 as rather to make proselytes to the dogma of Episcopacy, 
 than to win living souls to Christ. 
 
 In these circumstances may doubtless be found reasons 
 for the comparatively small effect which, at first, followed 
 her implanting in America as the true Church of that 
 great people. But beyond this cause, weakness existed in 
 her peculiar organization. To enter fully into these, we 
 must review shortly the system of ecclesiastical polity 
 which was at that time estabUshed. This, in outline, 
 was as follows: — The union of the whole Church was 
 maintained by a "general convention" or assembly "of 
 clerical and lay deputies" elected by each diocese, not to 
 exceed four of each order, which met once in three years 
 
 * The lang:uage of the preface to her Prayer-book unhappily, 
 favored this view, in declaring that the result of the war of inde- 
 pendence was to " leave the diiferent denominations of Christians at 
 full and equal liberty to model and organize their respective churches 
 and forms of worship and discipline, in such manner as they might 
 judge most convenient for their future prosperity." 
 
180 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 to pass general canons, and determine any question wliioh 
 concerned the common interest of the whole Church; each 
 diocese to have one vote ; all questions to be settled by a 
 majority of voices, each order having a negative upon the 
 other whenever they should be required to vote by orders. 
 Further, a like body of lay deputies and clergy met every 
 year in "diocesan convention," to order, in subjection to 
 i the general canons, all which specially concerned that dio- 
 I cese. One function of the diocesan convention was to 
 nominate a " standing committee," which, during the in- 
 tervals between its session, carried its decisions into execu- 
 tion in the diocese, and, with its fellow-committees, formed, 
 in some respects, a standing council of the whole Church. 
 Within the diocese, again, each separate parish had its 
 own vestry, which, besides possessing many administrative 
 powers, elected its delegates ibr the " diocesan convention." 
 A very little inspection will show the deficiencies of 
 'v ' all this scheme of polity, which was, in fact, copied, in the 
 ^ main, from the political institutions of the newly-founded 
 republic, and rested, therefore, far too much upon the 
 choice and self-government of all its rnembers. It is of 
 great moment that we trace this out, because it will show 
 J us the root of many of the infirmities and difficulties by 
 
 which the Church has been beset. We can, indeed, only 
 trace the outward side of such evils ; we can inquire into 
 . defects of organization and errors in systems of polity and 
 discipline, and we can do no more ; but in doing this m'c 
 must never overlook the master-truth, that in the presence 
 , V of the blessed Spirit of the Lord is the only life and strength 
 / ^ of the whole Church. His gracious breath revives its 
 love and purity ; His withdrawal leaves it dry and withered. 
 ' The secret history of a multitude of hearts may therelbre 
 account, in any land, for its welfare or decline, but that 
 history is secret as the pathway of the Lord amongst the 
 mighty waters. On this, theretbre, we cannot enter ; not 
 from undervaluing its first importance, but because it is a 
 hidden thing, to which we cannot reach. We must be 
 contented if we can discover the external causes with 
 which these mighty influences are by God's will connected ; 
 and this is our intention here. 
 
ECCLESUSTICAL CONStlTUTION. 181 
 
 To begin, then, with the lowest subdivision. The title 
 " parish" iu America has a widely diflerent meaning from 
 that which it bears with us. It is not a certain district of 
 a diocese conunitted by its bishop to the spiritual care of a 
 presbyter, who is to regard all within it as his charge, for 
 whom he is to care now, and to give account hereafter, 
 " whether they will hear or whether they will forbear ;" it 
 was merely a set of persons who associated themselves to- 
 gether and agreed to act and worship together in a certain 
 place, and under certain rules, because they preferred the 
 episcopal form to any other. Their very corporate exis- 
 tence was the consequence of their own choice and will, 
 not the result of care taken for them ; and this principle 
 was present every where. After a time these men deter- 
 mined upon building a church ; they built it, and divided 
 its area into pews, which they took to themselves ; so that 
 the poor Avere from the first excluded, because they could 
 not pay their share towards the expenses of the building, 
 which now belonged to the body corporate in whose deci- 
 sion it originated. Here was the first grievous fault : "to 
 the poor the gospel was" not " preached." The next was 
 of a diflerent kind, but no less real. The body thus formed 
 applied to the convention of the diocese in which it was 
 situated lor admission as a part of that diocese ; it obtained 
 from the legislature the privileges of a body corporate, and 
 it began to exercise its rights. Accordingly, in Easter 
 week of every year, all the holders of the pews met to- 
 gether to elect by ballot a vestry, which might consist of 
 any number not exceeding ten. From this number two 
 wardens were appointed, one by the clergyman* and one 
 by the vestry. The vestry being thus organised, elected 
 out of their ovm body a treasurer, secretary, and delegates 
 to the diocesan convention. 
 
 To this vestry the management of all the affairs of the 
 parish was committed, and this lay body not only conducted 
 its pecuniary concerns, but settled the payment of the min- 
 ister, " engaged the services of a clergyman in cases of a 
 
 * In the greater number of cases the wardens are boUi appoint- 
 ed by the vestry. 
 
182 AMERICAN CStJRCH. 
 
 vacancy ;"* and if it deemed it right, provided also an as* 
 sistant minister. Thus, by this system, not only was the 
 pastor dependent on the oHerings of his flock, but he de- 
 rived his authority from them, and to them he was respon- 
 sible. They at first nominated him to his post, and after- 
 wards, through the vestry, in a great measure controlled 
 his conduct. The practical evils v/hich flowed from this 
 unsound principle need scarcely be pohited out. The course 
 of this history will require us to notice hereafter some strik- 
 ing instances in which the Episcopal clergy, as a body, 
 have not dared to raise an open testimony against national 
 corruption. Such must be too often the result of arrange- 
 ments such as these. The vei-y notion of the Christian 
 ministry presupposes in the witness for his Lord entire in- 
 dependence of those to whom he is sent. He must be ready 
 to withstand and to rebuke evil principles and evil prac- 
 tices wherever they are found ; and if he be not, it is soon 
 discovered that the salt of the world hath lost its savor. 
 For this end it was, that siuce the power of working mi- 
 racles has been withdrawn, the whole system of the Church 
 has sought to provide for the independence of those who 
 were to be, by the necessity of their ofRce, bold rebukers 
 of sin, and, if need be, patient sufferera for the truth. The 
 wisdom Avith which it had secured this end, by making the 
 clergy dependent only on itself, was one great secret of 
 the power and prevalence of papal Rome. Amongst our- 
 selves the same end has been greatly promoted by the ex- 
 istence of an endowed national establishment. For, though 
 the spirit which fills the heart of confessors and martyrs is 
 of far too high and noble a character to be directly afl'ected 
 by such an influence, yet in the long run the temper of 
 any large body of men will be surely, though unconsciously, 
 depressed or raised by the dependence or independence of 
 the position which they occupy. 
 
 In America, all thuigs tend to make the clergy keenly 
 feel their want of independence. So far does this extend, 
 that it can hardly fail to act injuriously upon their own 
 estimate of their spiritual position. It is hardly to be ex- 
 
 * The American expression. Caswall's American Church, p. 66. 
 
PARISH AND DIOCESE!. 183 
 
 pected that men who are thus taught from llie first to view 
 themselves merely as the selected and paid agents of a 
 lay hoard can, as a body, fully realize their high oliaracter 
 as the lljarless witnesses for Christ's truth in the face of au 
 evil generation. Noble exceptions, indeed, there have been 
 among the western clergy — Christian heroes, who have 
 risen above the weakening influence of tlie system under 
 which they live ; but of that system the tendency is no less 
 certain. It is to make the pastor wholly dependent upon 
 those to whom he ministers. 
 
 Next to the parisli comes the diocese, which consists of 
 all the parishes within any one state, which, having or- 
 ganised themselves according to the rules of the general 
 convention, have been admitted into union with it. Here, 
 again, the same faulty principle was present. A " dio- 
 cese," in the language of the Church, has ever meant 
 a certain portion of Christ's flock committed to the spe- 
 cial charge of one chief pastor, who fills lor it the office 
 which our Lord entrusted to His first apostles. But in 
 America a diocese meant nothing more than a federal com- 
 monwealth of " parishes," associated on certain prescribed 
 conditions with each other and the general convention. So 
 far from dependence on one bishop defining its character 
 and marking its limits, it might, and often must,* for years, 
 by the general canons of the Church, have no bishop at 
 all. For, while any number of parishes in any state were 
 invited by the constitution to form themselves into a " dio- 
 cese," it was specially enjoinedf that they should not have 
 the right of electing a bishop until six presbyters had been 
 duly settled within that state, in charge of six duly organ- 
 ised parishes, for the space of one year. The reason of 
 this rule is plain. Without it, any ambitious' presbyter 
 who could gather one or two supporters, might have " or- 
 ganised a diocese" in some new state, and presented him- 
 self for consecration as its elected bishop. But the necessity 
 of such a rule is a striking instance of the evil which re- 
 sulted from this new principle of self-creation ; by which, 
 
 * This necessity has since been happily reraoved, as will appear 
 hereafter. 
 
 f By the second canon of the Church. 
 
184 AMERICAN CHURClt, 
 
 like some mere commercial association aimino" at pecuni- 
 ary profits, the members of the Church formed themselves 
 at will into a body corporate, to act together by mutual 
 agreement, without their appointed head. 
 
 The practice of earlier times, indeed, and the necessities 
 of this, would have allowed, if need be, any scattered pres- 
 byters to act, singly or together, on their own com- 
 mission, waiting for and expecting the time, when the 
 rulers of the Church should crown their labors, by senduig 
 forth one chief witness more, to gather them together into 
 a visible unity. But this would have been wholly a dif- 
 ferent arrangement from that, which directed the laity or 
 clergy to constitute themselves an organised diocese, though 
 they remained for years without a bishop. 
 
 The evils of this state of things are well expressed by 
 a living bishop of America :* — " If due perpetuation of the 
 Ohurch, and chief authority, and the protection of God's 
 promise, appertain to bishops as successors of the apostles 
 of the Lord, how can we encourage, so far as we have 
 rightful influence, the extension, or even the existence of 
 the Church without a bishop ? If it be ' evident,' as we 
 declare,! ' to all men diligently reading holy scripture and 
 ancient authors, that from the apostles' time there have 
 been these orders of ministers in Christ's Church, bishops, 
 priests, and deacons,' by what warrant can we withhold 
 from any portion of the Saviour's family the ehiefest of the 
 three ? If it be sound and true in practice, as it is cer- 
 tainly of primitive authority, ' not to do any thing without 
 the bishop, '$ upon what principle is it that we permit the 
 organisation of dioceses, yet, until they have a certain num- 
 ber of duly organised parishes and duly settled presbyters, 
 compel them to remain without a bishop ?" 
 
 One evident effect of this rule was, to afford tempta- 
 tions to all sorts of subterfuges through which a state could 
 be made to seem possessed of the number of parishes and 
 
 * George Washington Doane, D. D., bishop of the diocese of 
 New Jersey, in a sermon preached at Philadelphia, September 26, 
 1833 
 
 f Preface to the Ordinal. 
 
 X See the Epistles of Ignatius, the disciple of St. John. 
 
DIOCESE AND BISHOPS. 185 
 
 pastors to which was annexed the exercise of this right. 
 Another and a greater evil belonging to this rule was the 
 weakness with which it infected all the aggressive acts of 
 the Church npon those whom she should conquer to save. 
 In the outskirts and border-land of Christendom the spirit- 
 ual struggle is always most severe. There, where the old 
 standard can be carried forward only by hard fighting, is 
 the greatest need of those true champions who are ready to 
 spend their breath and shed their blood in the holy cause. 
 There is ever the greatest need of disciplined ranks, of 
 completeness of authority, of ready obedience, of concentred 
 command, of our Master's promised presence ; there, more 
 than any where beside, must the successors of the twelve 
 be found ready to do constantly apostle's works. Nothing, 
 therefore, could be more disheartening than the lacking 
 this secret of strength exactly where that strength was 
 most required. 
 
 Again, another evil resulted from this rule. It fostered 
 the very spirit of self-will and independence from which it 
 sprang ; for, by allowing the organisation of a diocese with- 
 out a bishop, it led practically to the undervaluing of the 
 office of a bishop, to its being esteemed an ornamental part 
 of the Church machinery, and not as the power of govern- 
 ment and the instrument of a visible unity. The " conven- 
 tion," and not the episcopate became really the ruling 
 power. That is, while called Episcopal, the Church was, 
 in fact, in great measure Presbyterian. 
 
 There was much in the constitution of the diocesan 
 " convention" to increase this evil. It was a synod, of which 
 laymen, many of whom Avere not even communicants.formed 
 the greater part.f Each parish sent one, two, or three delegates 
 to this convention ; and they passed canons, administered the 
 discipline of the diocese, decided on the alteration of creeds, 
 liturgies, and articles, elected a bishop, and even held that 
 when appointed he would be " amenable to" them.f Of a 
 
 * There is nothing to prevent even an unbaptised man re- 
 presenting the Church in general convention; and it is too cer- 
 tain that such men have actually been found amongst the dele- 
 gates. 
 
 t Canons of the C'.mrch in Virginia. 
 
186 AMERICAN CHURCH, 
 
 like character was the constitution of the standing commit- 
 tee, which commonly consisted of laymen and clergy, in 
 equal numbers.* This, which was elected by a diocesan 
 convention, was, till the next assembled, the governing 
 body of the diocese. 
 
 A few extracts from the minutes of one of the Virginian 
 conventions will show the working of this system in detail. 
 They are taken from the journal of May, 1790,t lour 
 months before the consecration of the first bishop of that 
 diocese. 
 
 On Wednesday, May 5th, a sufficient number of clergy- 
 men and lay deputies to form a convention having met 
 according to appointment, the Rev. T. Madison, D. D., was 
 unanimously elected president. After this they elected a 
 secretary and a committee to examine into the certificates 
 of the appointments of sitting members, and adjourned till 
 two p. M., to receive the report of this committee. This 
 having been received, and the list of actual members of 
 convention ascertained, they then adjourned until the mor- 
 row. 
 
 On Thursday, May 6th, the proceedings opened wdth 
 prayers and a sermon ; after which, amongst other things, 
 it was "resolved, that this convention will to-morrow re- 
 solve itself into a committee of the whole convention, on 
 the state of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; that this 
 convention will, to-morrow, proceed to the nomination of a 
 bishop of the Episcopal Church in Virginia ; that a com- 
 mittee be appointed to amend the canons which respect 
 the trial of offending clergymen." This committee was 
 composed of five laymen and five clergymen. 
 
 On the following day the convention proceeded by bal- 
 lot to the nomination of a bishop, when it was found that 
 the numbers given were — for the Rev. James Madison, 
 46 ; for the Rev. Samuel Shield, 9 — a majority, therefore, 
 of the whole convention was in favor of Dr. Madison, and 
 
 * " In Pennsylvania it consists of five clergymen and as many 
 laymen. In Ohio three of each order are elected ; iu Tenessee tAvo of 
 each." CaswalVs Aine7-ican Church, p. l-i 
 
 f Journals of Virginian Conventions. Appendix to Dr. Hawks's 
 Memorials, p. 31, &,c. 
 
VIRGINIAN CONAT3NTION 187 
 
 it was accordingly resolved that he should be nominated 
 for consecration as their bishop. 
 
 The convention then appointed five clergymen to "visit" 
 the dilierent districts of the pi-ovince ; and agreed to recom- 
 mend any bishop to whom Mr. Stephen Johnson might 
 apply for ordination, to dispense in his case with the know- 
 ledge of the Greek and Latin languages, required by the 
 seventh general canon of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in America. After transacting some of the tempoi-al busi- 
 ness of the diocese, the convention adjourned. At their 
 meeting on the following day, which ended the synod, be- 
 sides other business, they received from the committee some 
 new canons respecting the trial of offending clergymen, 
 which were read and finally adopted, and agreed to a ge- 
 neral "ordinance for regulatmg the appointment of vestries 
 and trustees, and for other purposes." Some extracts Irom 
 these "canons" and this "ordinance" Avill shoAV the nature 
 of the questions decided by this convention, in which there 
 were twenty-seven clergymen to thirty-three lay deputies. 
 " Be it ordained," says the ordinance, " that future conven- 
 tions shall consist of two deputies from each parish, of 
 whom the minister shall be one, if there he a minister, the 
 other a layman, to be annually chosen by the vestry, who 
 shall also choose another, where there is no minister in the 
 parish," — a minister being no more essential to a parish 
 than a bishop to a diocese. 
 
 " Convention shall regulate all the religious concerns of 
 the Church, its doctrines, discipline, and worship, and 
 institute such rules and regulations as they may judge ne- 
 cessary for the good government thereof, and the same 
 revoke and alter at their pleasure." 
 
 To the same purport speak the canons. "All ques 
 tions, whether they relate to the order, government, disci- 
 pline, DOCTRINE, or worship of this Church, shall be deter- 
 mined by a majority of votes." "The clergy of several 
 neighboring parishes shall assemble in presbytery annually, 
 at some convenient ])]ace in the district. One in each dis- 
 trict shall be appointed by the convention to preside at 
 their meetings, with the title of visitor ; who shall annually 
 visit each parish in his district — shall attend to and inspect 
 
188 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the morals and conduct of the clergy — shall admonish and 
 reprove privately those clergymen who are negligent or act 
 in an unbecoming manner — and shall report yearly to the 
 bishop, if there be one, or if there be no bishop, to the next 
 convention, the state of each parish in his district." Other 
 canons carried these principles still further. " Bishops," 
 says canon 25, "shall be amenable to the convention, Mrho 
 shall be a court to try them, from which there shall be no 
 appeal ;" and (canon 27) " on a bishop's being convicted 
 of offences, he shall be reproved, suspended, or dismissed, 
 at the discretion of the court." 
 
 Of the same character are some of the rules for the 
 lower orders in the ministry. "No minister," says the 
 13th, "shall hereafter be received into any parish within 
 this commonwealth till he shall have entered into a con- 
 tract in writing ... by which it shall be stipulated . . . 
 that he holds the appointment subject to removal upon 
 the determination of the convention of this state." And 
 the 2Sth canon, one of those adopted at this time, consti- 
 tutes the chairman and three-fourths of the standing com- 
 mittee (a lay body) a court to try all clergymen accused 
 of ofiences, giving them the power of "passing such a sen- 
 tence as the majority shall think deserved, which shall be 
 either reproof, dismission, or degradation." The tendency 
 of such a set of rules is plain. They do not merely secure 
 to the laity that share of power which, in the best times, 
 belonged to them, but they give to the convention the 
 whole government ; and confer upon a synod of deputies, 
 clerical and lay, the office of degrading presbyters and 
 bishops — of taking, that is, from them, what it had no 
 authority to give or to remove. 
 
 In the organization of the general convention the same 
 
 evils may be found. Some, indeed, there were, and 
 
 j amongst them Bishop Seabury, who contended that lay- 
 
 / men should not sit at all in synods of the Church. But 
 
 '' for this there seems to be undoubted warrant. From the 
 
 intimations of the Acts of the Apostles, we can hardly 
 
 A l\ J doubt that, in some way or other, the laity took part in 
 
 ' ' the disscussions of the primitive Church. It is as plain 
 
 that they made up the body in which dwelt the Holy 
 
LAY MEMBERS OF CONVENTION. 189 
 
 Ghost, as that the power of discipline and rule was vested 
 in the hands of the apostles. The general history of the 
 Church in the succeeding age suggests, that then also the 
 believing people ratified with their expressed consent the 
 decisions of the earliest synods. That such was the custom 
 in our own land is clear from plain historical records. It 
 is proved by the earliest remains of our annals, that the 
 bishops presided over ecclesiastical councils in England, 
 and, with a vast attendance of the people, settled all mat- 
 ters of religion against heresies, 
 
 After the subjugation of this island by the Saxons, 
 their kings, with the chiefs and bishops, held councils, in 
 which they decided all which concerned the safety of the 
 Church and kingdom ; and to maintain their peace and 
 discipline, enacted laws, with the sanction both of the 
 laity and prelates. Further, if at any time canons were 
 passed in a merely ecclesiastical synod, they were not 
 binding on the body of the clergy untd they had received 
 the sanction of the monarch, as the representative of the 
 laity ; for no decrees of ecclesiastical councils possessed the 
 character of public enactments until thus sanctioned by 
 the king's authority.* 
 
 Both in Scotland and England, in the ninth, tenth, 
 and eleventh centuries, councils were held for settling both 
 civil and ecclesiastical affairs, in which it is plain, from 
 their signatures, that kings and great men of the laity sat 
 with and even outweighed the bishops. f 
 
 On this point our ancient records cannot be mistaken. 
 " Let the bishop and the senator," say the laws of Edgar 
 (about A.D. 950,) "be present at the provincial synod, and 
 afterAvards let them teach divine and human laws."| 
 
 " King Eadmund," says the code of Anglo-Saxon laws, 
 " assembled a great synod at London-byrig, as well of 
 ecclesiastical as secular degree, durmg the holy Easter- 
 tide. There was Odda, archbishop, and Wolfstan, arch- 
 bishop, and many other bishops, deeply thinking of their 
 souls' condition and of those who were subject to them."^ 
 
 * Wilkins, Concilia, vol. vi. p. viii. f Ibid. p. xxvii. 
 
 X Wilkiiis, Lej;cs AngloSaxoiiicae, pp. 78, 7D. 
 § Anglo-Saxon La-ws, p. 92. 
 
190 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 " Li the reign of the most bountiful Wihtred, king of 
 the Kentish men, there was assembled a convention of the 
 great men in council : there was Birhtwald, Archbishop 
 of Britain, and the forenamed king ; and the ecclesiastics 
 of tlie province of every degree spoke in union with the 
 subject people."* 
 
 So speak the laws of King Alfred. " After this it hap- 
 pened that many nations received the faith of Christ, f and 
 that many synods were assembled throughout all the 
 eai-th ; and also among the English race after they had 
 received the faith of Christ, of holy bishops, and also of 
 other exalted witan." And even in later times, when the 
 clergy and laity no longer sat together, the decisions of 
 the synod were ratified by the assent of the assembled 
 laity. 
 
 It is not, therefore, to the presence or votes of the laity 
 / in the American convention that objection can be made. 
 
 In this respect the constitution of the synod did but follow 
 primitive examples. But there were other points for 
 which no such warrant can be found. The Episcopal 
 character was not distinctly marked in its organization. 
 The veto of the bishops is as essential to the complete- 
 ness of the system as the possession of their due share 
 of power by the believing laity : and this was withheld 
 from the bishops in America ; the agreement of four-fifths 
 of the lower house forced upon them any measures approved 
 by the majority. 
 
 If Episcopacy be indeed of Christ's appointment, such 
 infractions on its principles must have weakened this infant 
 Church ; and that it did so, there is ample proof. To 
 these various errors admitted into its constitution we may 
 doubtless trace much of the slow and feeble progress of the 
 body. Conventions never, even in America, have com- 
 manded the respect which has always waited on the per- 
 sonal rule of a holy and devoted bishop. Hence sprung 
 " angry contentions" in diocesan meetings, in which "both 
 sides charged their adversaries with unholy motives, and 
 
 * Anglo-Saxon Laws, p. 14 : a.d. 695. 
 t About 880 : p. 2o. 
 
church's difficulties in AMERICA. 191 
 
 disingenuous, michristian conduct."* To such a pitch did 
 these conflicts sometimes rise, that \vc find them prevent- 
 ing the possibility of the election of a bishop from the fierce 
 opposition of contending factions. From this course, also, 
 there was did'used on all sides amongst Churchmen a low 
 estimate of God's gifts, and of the powers of His spiritual 
 kingdom. Hence sprung such propositions as, " that the 
 canons should be so modified as to give rectors and vestries 
 the power of admitting to the pulpits of the churches 
 clergymen of other denominations ;"t hence Avanton altera- 
 tions in the creeds and Uturgy ; hence a feeble and falter- 
 ing tone, which soon infected thought and action, fii'st 
 amongst the clergy, and then amongst the laity, and helped 
 on the impression, at one time " common in the south, that 
 the Church v/as cold and lifeless, and indifierent to the 
 religion of the heart. "t 
 
 But even as we remark these errors in the early or- 
 ganization of this now independent body, we must bear in 
 mind to whom belongs the real fault implied in their adop- 
 tion. It was the Church and nation of England wliich 
 had accustomed these our western sons to reverse the an- 
 cient rule, and " do everything in the Church without the 
 bishop." It was our past neglect which left them now to 
 seek their princijjles, and at the same time to set up the 
 very framework of their body spiritual. 
 
 Nor should their peculiar dilBculties be overlooked. 
 The American revolution not only shook the Church to its 
 base, but left the minds of the people disinclined to episco- 
 pacy, merely because it was the form of English religion. 
 Even Churchmen were infected with this feeling. They 
 had known nothing of bishops except the name ; and they 
 had always associated their office with the customs and 
 usages of the mother country. Episcopacy was commonly 
 supposed to be of necessity allied to monarchy ; and hence 
 in repubUcan America the whole tide of men's strongest 
 passions set full against it. Here, then, was a great temp- 
 tation to the framers of the new ecclesiestical constitution, 
 
 » Dr. Hawks's Maryland, p. 389. f Ibid. p. 391. 
 
 ^ Ibid. p. 876. 
 
192 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 to mingle, as far as possible, the ruling principle of self-go- 
 vernment with the fabric of the episcopal communion. 
 They needed, undoubtedly, to be reminded, that "the rights 
 of the Christian Church arise, not from nature or compact, 
 but fi"om the institution of Christ ; and that we ought not 
 to alter them, but to I'eceive and maintain them as the 
 holy apostles left them. The government, sacraments, 
 faith, and doctrine of the Church are fixed and settled. We 
 have a right to examine what they are, but we must take 
 them as they are."* They were besides almost forced to 
 give their laymen too large a share of spiritual government, 
 for they had no bishops to I'ule over them. 
 
 While, therefore, we regret the compromise, and see 
 too clearly the evils to which it has given birth, we must 
 rejoice that still more of ancient truth was not lost in those 
 perilous times ; and we hail with peculiar pleasure many 
 after-modifications of injurious practices, and many 
 gradual returns to higher and more primitive principles. 
 The Churchmen of America had amongst them the true 
 principle of life, and the true law for its development ; 
 and year by year they have cast off' some cause of weak- 
 ness, and, through God's good guidance, carried on the 
 mighty work to which His grace has called them. 
 
 * Letter of Bishop Seabury to Dr. White. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FROM 1801, TO 1811-12. 
 
 Death and cliaracter of Bishop Seabury — Bishop Wliite — Bishop 
 Provoost — His character — Resigns the episcopal jurisdiction — No- 
 mination and consecration of Bishop Moore — His character — Im- 
 provement of the state of the Church — Maryland — Bishop Clag- 
 gett — Party spirit — Bishop Claggett applies for a Suffragan — 
 Division of convention in 1812 — Method of electinga bishop — The 
 lait}' negative the nomination of the clergy — Convention of 1813 
 — No attempt at an election made — Dr. Kemp elected suffragan 
 in 1814 — Consequent party feuds — Bishop Claggett's death — 
 Dr. Kemp succeeds — His death — Renewed contests as to the Epis- 
 copate — Bishop Stone elected — Troubles on his death — The see 
 vacant — State of Delaware — No bishop — Application to Mary- 
 land — Refused — Decay of the Church there — And in Virginia — 
 Issue of the long struggle with the Anabaptists and others — The 
 glebes confiscated — Prostration of the Church. 
 
 At the opening of the new century seven bishops presided 
 in America over their several sees. Of these, three were 
 of European and four of American consecration. The first 
 of the four fathers of the western episcopate had been al- 
 read}', as we have seen, gathered to his rest. Bishop Sea- 
 bury died in 1796. His death was a heavy lo.ss to his in- 
 fant communion ; yet he had Uved long enough to leave a 
 marked impress of his character upon its institutions. His 
 influence was most important whilst the foundations of the 
 ecclesiastical fabric were being laid. For he was a clear- 
 sighted man, of a bold spirit, and better acquainted than 
 any of his coadjutors with those guiding principles which 
 were then especially required. His ov.'n bias, indeed, was 
 to extremes in the very opposite direction from that to which 
 their inclination led them. Trained amidst the New-Eng- 
 land sects, he had early learned to vahie the distinctive 
 features of his om'u communion : and receiving consecra- 
 9 
 
194 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 tion from the Scotch bishops, the aflections of his heart 
 opened freely towards them, and drew the whole bent of 
 his mind towards their forms and practices. Had it been 
 left to him alone to form the temper and movild the insti- 
 tutions of the western Church, there would have been little 
 hope of its ever embracing the whole of the jealous popula- 
 tion of that wide republic. But his views M'ere a whole- 
 some check upon those with whom he had to act. Of these, 
 Bisliop Madison had been bred a lawyer in the worst days 
 of Virginian laxity. He was an elegant scholar, a good 
 president of a college, and a mild and courteous gentleman ; 
 but he had none of the Christian learning and little of the 
 untiring energy in action which his difficult position ren- 
 dered needful. Bishop White, mild, meek, and concilia- 
 tory, inclined always to those councils which bore must 
 faintly the stamp of his own communion, and fulfilling, 
 through these qualities, a most important part in the com- 
 mon work, was indisposed by character and temper from 
 taking resolutely the position which the times required. 
 From that which he was sure was right, nothing indeed 
 could move him ; but he was naturally over-tolerant of all 
 opinions. 
 
 These very qualities made him a inost useful coadjutor 
 to the Bishop of Connecticut. For, as it was his great 
 endeavor to secure unanimity of action, he vi^as ready to 
 take part ui many things to which he was himself indifier- 
 ent, when he saw his brother's earnestness concerning 
 them. The same easy temper as to things he judged in- 
 different, which would have led him, for the sake of peace, 
 to concede to the most opposite objections what ouglit not 
 to be yielded, now made him take the stricter side in mat- 
 ters which he saw would not be given up by Bishop Sea- 
 bury. On this principle he voted for reinserting in the 
 liturgy the Athanasian Creed, whilst he scrupled not to 
 say that he would never use it ; and agreed to place in the 
 Communion-office the prayers of invocation and oblation, 
 though he himself had never regretted their omission. His 
 temper in these things was of the more importance from the 
 peculiar character of Bishop Provoost. He was not a man 
 to whom the destinies of an infant Church could with 
 
BISHOP PROVOOST, 195 
 
 safety be committed. The whole tone of his theological 
 views was cold and harsh ; and in Church principles he 
 was remarkably deficient. Before the revolutionary war 
 he was assistant-minister of Trinity Church, New- York, 
 but had retired in 1770 from the work, and lived for four- 
 teen years on a small farm in Dutchess county.* To this 
 step he was led in part by his violent political feelings, 
 which made him miwilling to hold any preferment under 
 British influence, and ia part by the extreme unpopularity 
 of his ministry. It was urged commonly against him that 
 he brought forward with but little prominence those pe- 
 culiar features of the Christian dispensation which are usu- 
 ally distinguished as the doctrines of grace. There seems 
 to have been too much foundation for the charge. The 
 language of his own defence is by no means satisfactory. 
 He was accused, he says, of endeavoring to sap the foun- 
 dations ot" Christianity, because he made a point of preach- 
 ing the doctrines of morality, guarding his flock at the same 
 time against " placing such an unbounded reliance on the 
 merits of Christ as to think their own endeavors quite un- 
 necessary, and not in the least available to salvation." 
 This language savors of a most dangerous school, and im- 
 plies no small indistinctness as to Christian truth. Mo- 
 raUty, indeed, in its highest sense, the Christian teacher 
 must always enforce, and he must lead men to be most 
 strenuous in " their own endeavors" after salvation, 
 " working" it " out with fear and trembling ;" but not as 
 if (which this mode of speech implies) there were some 
 opposition between the fullest statement of Christian doc- 
 trines and the enforcement of morality ; or between la- 
 bormg heartily themselves, and " placing an unbounded 
 reliance on the merits of Christ." 
 
 He was elected for consecration as the first Bishop of 
 New- York, chiefly, as it seems, because his known demo- 
 cratic opinions were likely to make it an unsuspected 
 and even popular choice. But zealous Christian men in 
 difl'erent parts viewed the appointment with unfeigned sor- 
 row, fearing that he was inclined to opinions of little less 
 
 * Life of Bishop Hobart by M'Vickar, p. 296. 
 
196 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 than a Socinlan character. His conduct during his epis- 
 copate did not materially lessen these impressions to his dis- 
 advantage. It could not be denied that he was to a great 
 extent, cold and indistinct in doctrine, distant and reserved 
 in personal bearing, and indolent and inactive in his work. 
 Against Bishop Seabury, whose opinions and character 
 were ine very respect most unlike his own, he was strongly 
 prejudiced, and long denied the validity of his consecra- 
 tion, even though in this he stood almost alone amongst 
 his own clei'gy, and when the neighboring states had 
 received as pastors those whom his eastern brother had 
 ordained. Most happily for the infant Church, the mild 
 urbanity of Bishop White checked this discord and prevented 
 the threatened separation ; and from this time, though there 
 was little sympathy of feeling, yet they acted in concert 
 till the death of Bishop Seabviry in 1786. Bishop Pro- 
 voost's own public life lasted little longer. In September 
 1800 he resigned the incumbency of Trinity chvirch ; and 
 in the following year he called together the diocesan con- 
 vention, and resigned to it his episcopal jurisdiction. Dif- 
 ferent causes led him to this step. He had little sense of 
 the spiritual greatness of his charge, no burning ardor in ful- 
 filHng it ; its duties pressed heavily upon an inactive tem- 
 perament ; he had long withdrawn himself from all but 
 those which he could not escape ; and the loss of his wife 
 in 1799, and his son in 1800, induced him at once to re- 
 tire from the discharge of an office which he felt to be an 
 irksome burden rather than a blessinjr. 
 
 His resignation led to anxious debates in the general 
 convention, and the house of bishops refused to allow what 
 they thought might be an unseemly and inconvenient pre- 
 cedent. They acted, however, so far upon it, that they 
 agreed to consecrate Dr. Benjamin Moore as his assistant 
 now, and his successor at his death. Much good resulted 
 from this choice. Bishop Moore M^as a man of tender gen- 
 tleness of character ; and the vigor and determination of 
 his successor would probably have suited the temper of 
 events less than his Avinning mildness. Under the rule of 
 his predecessor all had been dormant, if not apathetic. Of 
 this lethargic character had been his temper who should 
 
BISHOP CLAGGETT. 197 
 
 have been, the spring of life and energy in. others. Bare 
 toleration seemed to Bishop Provoost all that could be hoped 
 for by a body branded with the stigma of British descent. 
 They who invite suspicion and contempt are seldom slow 
 in meeting with them. So it was now : common opinion 
 looked suspiciously upon the Church, and the sense of this 
 oppressed its members. Neither the clergy nor the laity 
 ever rose under him to any sense of the importance of their 
 position. The apostolic gentleness of Bishop Moore brooded 
 with a loving energy over the scattered and disheartened 
 flock, and prepared the way for a better state of things. 
 During the ten years of his episcopate, though there was 
 little evident increase, there was a gradual upgrowth of 
 sounder principles within his diocese. 
 
 On no other side was there the same amount of promise. 
 Maryland* was at this time, and until 1816, under the 
 charge of Bishop Claggett, a mild and courteous ruler, and 
 a zealous Christian minister ; but wanting somewhat of 
 that habitual firmness which was needful to give tone to 
 his episcopate. His flock, as we have seen,t was in a lan- 
 guishing condition ; it was, moreover, sorely harrassed by 
 internal disputes ; parties ran high within it, and it seemed 
 as if the unity of the spirit had departed from the land. 
 Bishop Claggett could scarcely repress the feuds which 
 were rife among his clergy ; and as soon as opportunity al- 
 lowed, they broke out into visible dissensions. 
 
 The opportunity too soon occurred. For twenty years 
 Bishop Claggett had been overburthened by the united 
 weight of those cares which belong to a laborious parish 
 priest and those which press upon a faithful bishop. Such 
 an incongruous union, which breaks down prematurely 
 the best men, is almost universal in America. While 
 i,he fear of exalting the class of prelates has led some con- 
 ventions (that, for instance, of Virginia) to make the reten- 
 tion of a parish-cure imperative upon a bishop, the need of 
 securing a certain income to support the episcopate has 
 made this the general custom. " Episcopal funds," to 
 
 * From Dr. Hawks's Memorials, Maryland, Preface, 
 f P. 176. 
 
198 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 meet this want, have, indeed, often been proposed ; but, 
 except in the diocese of New York, they have never met 
 with full success ; and thus they on whom is laid the 
 charge of government and the daily "care of all the 
 churches," are obliged, at the same time, to serve the most 
 laborious cures in order to secure themselves a necessary 
 income. 
 
 Worn out by such labors, yet unwilling wholly to desert 
 his post. Bishop Claggett, after twenty years of service, ap- 
 plied, in 1812, for a sufli-agan to share his toils. The right 
 of electing a bishop is lodged by the constitution of the Ame- 
 rican Church m the diocesan convention ; their choice is 
 submitted to the general convention, if it be the year of its 
 session, and if approved by it, is acted on by the bishops. 
 In the recesses of the general convention, a majority of the 
 " standing conmiittees" of all the dioceses in union must 
 approve of the choice before the bishops consecrate. By the 
 rule of election in the state of Maryland, a vote by ballot of 
 two-thirds of the clergy in session nominates the clergyman 
 to fill the vacant see : this nomination then becomes the sub- 
 ject of a ballot among the lay deputies ; and if two-thirds of 
 them approve of it, the bishop elect is nominated to the pre- 
 sident of the house of bishops, who collects the opinions 
 either of that body or of the standing committees of the 
 union. 
 
 When Bishop Claggett's message reached the diocesan 
 convention, they proceeded to a ballot, and Dr. Kemp was 
 nominated for the office. He was a native of Scotland, born 
 of pious parents attached to the Presbyterian kirk. What 
 first changed his religious views is now entirely unknown. 
 In his youth the Episcopal oommunion was oppressed in 
 Scotland by the severest penal laws ; and when he was first 
 permitted to attend its services, he was wont to be led blind- 
 fold to the house of prayer, lest he should afterwards prove 
 a traitor, and expose his fellow- worshippers to the severe 
 enactments of a persecuting code. Probably this attach- 
 ment to the Church led to his emigration to America. 
 Here he lived for some years as private tutor in a respect- 
 able family of Maryland ; in 1789 he was ordained by Bishop 
 White both deacon and priest ; and having been the year 
 
BISHOP KEMP's ELECTION. 199 
 
 before chosen to the associate rectorship of St. Paul's, Balti- 
 more, was now, by a majority of clerical suffrages, nomi- 
 nated as assistant bishop to Dr. Clagijott. This nomina- 
 tion, however, was negatived by the Jay delegates, and the 
 convention adjourned before any choice was made. At the 
 convention of the following year the equal strength of tlie 
 two parties prevented all attempts to make a nomination ; 
 and when, in 1814, Dr. Kemp's election was cai'ried by a 
 constitutional majority, the defeated party charged his 
 friends with the grossest fraud, and stirred up a bitter and 
 lastmg opposition to the elected suliragan. He, however, 
 made good his ground. The house of bishops rejected a 
 protest laid before them by his enemies ; and in the eastern 
 coast of the diocese of Maryland, which was specially com- 
 mitted to him, his temper and his zeal soon gained him 
 the esteem of all good men. 
 
 Yet the embers of ill-will which had been stirred up 
 in this contest broke out afresh mto a flame at every op- 
 portunity. A party in the Church besought Dr. Provoost, 
 the retired bishop of New- York, to consecrate one of their 
 number in opposition to Bishop Kemp ; and the strife was 
 not allayed till it had led to the suspension of the chief op- 
 ponent of the choice ; and even then it only slept. Bishop 
 Kemp, indeed, succeeded without question to the see on 
 Dr. Claggett's death; but when he in turn was, in 1827,* 
 gathered to his fathers, the strife was renewed. In the 
 convention of the following year three fruitless attempts to 
 nominate a bishop prolonged the strife ; five such followed 
 in the convention of 1829. In 1830, a compromise between 
 the hostile parties seated Dr. Stone upon the bishop's seat, 
 which for full seven years he occupied with a meek quiet- 
 ness which might have stilled the spirit of division ; but 
 the meeting of convention shortly after his death, soon 
 showed that it was unallayed. The sjTiod was opened 
 with a most touching address, prepared for deUvery by 
 Bishop Stone ; but now, in consequence of his decease, 
 read by another. From its words of peace the convention 
 
 * Bishop Kemp's death -was sudden and violent, owing to the 
 overturning of the carriage in which he was returning from the gene- 
 ral convention. 
 
200 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 passed to bitterness and strife. Each party put its candi- 
 date in nomination ; and though the two principals agreed 
 in recommending a third party for the office, their adher- 
 ents would permit no compromise. After twenty fruitless 
 ballothigs, a bishop was still unappointed. The see Avas 
 declined by one presbyter of New- York (Dr. Eastburn), 
 and one missionary bishop (Dr. Kemper), and in 183S was 
 still untenanted. 
 
 In all this narrative we seem scarcely to be reading the 
 annals of that Church which glories in possessing the 
 apostles' " doctrine and fello-wship." Rather do we seem 
 engaged with the perverse wranglings of the adherents of 
 some worldly sect. But it is, in fact, a striking comment 
 on that intertwining of lower principles with the single 
 thread of apostolic order which weakened at so many points 
 the Western Church. It was the result of allowing men 
 to organise themselves, and so become and remain a head- 
 less diocese ; instead of sending the Church to them as the 
 constituted ordinance of God. 
 
 While there was this distempered life in Maryland, in 
 the neighboring state of Delaware there was almost the 
 apathy of death. This was one of those American ano- 
 malies — a diocese without a bishop. It seems to have 
 been constituted a diocese in 1785 ; but the episcopal chair 
 had never yet been filled. The cause of this does not ap- 
 pear ; but it was probably the want of funds to support 
 the office. In 1803, Delaware proposed to the Maryland 
 convention, that the eastern shore of that state shoiild with 
 itself constitute a new diocese. The application was de- 
 clined ; and with it seem to have ended all their eflbrts for 
 this object. Religion was at the lowest ebb. Before the 
 Revolution, matters had been widely different. Numer- 
 ous congregations had been wont, throughout that district, to 
 worship in goodly churches their fathers' God. Of these 
 buildings many have perished utterly ; many are still in 
 ruins. "The traveller," says Dr. Hawks,* "in going 
 down the line that separates Delaware from Maryland, 
 might at a recent period have seen within a few miles of 
 
 * Memorials of Maryland, p. 354, 
 
CHURCHES IN RUIN. 201 
 
 that line the tottering remains of five churches, and the 
 spots on which had stood three or four others. There are 
 few things more calculated to touch the soul of a pious 
 Churchman than to journey over those southern states, and 
 to mark the crumbhng remains of ruined temples that at- 
 test the piety of our forefathers. More than once have we 
 paused in our travel to step aside, and stand alone within 
 the roofless and, perchance, shattered walls of some house 
 of God that caught our eye and lured us from the road. 
 There is a sermon in the very stillness of the quiet air 
 around the hallowed spot, as one sits down on some half- 
 sunken tombstone, and, in the calm loveliness of one of 
 those bright and beautiful days that belong to a southern 
 clime, calls up the scene of former times, and fills that 
 forsaken church with the worshippers of a buried genera- 
 tion." 
 
 The state of tilings in Delaware was desolate indeed. 
 The whole peninsula on which it stands, — which includes 
 the state of Delaware, the east shore of Maryland, and two 
 counties of Virginia, — contained, at the time of making this 
 request, but nineteen clergymen. In 1827 they had dwin- 
 dled to fifteen ; and there was still almost forty churches 
 in a fit state for worship, surviving the wreck of time to 
 testify agamst a love which had grown cold, and a candle- 
 stick already well removed from its place, It is surely 
 worth notice, that the districts in which Church principles 
 had long been lowest were those in which piety the soon- 
 est flagged. So it was in Maryland, and so it was in the 
 neighboring diocese of Virginia. From this state had come 
 the strongest opposition to the distinctive features of the 
 Church. It was a Virginian deputy who proposed to omit 
 the first four petitions of the Litany ; it was Virginia which 
 resisted the rubric allowing the clergy to expel unfit com- 
 municants ; it was Virginia which sent as lay deputy to 
 the general convention a priest who had abandoned his 
 orders ; Virginia headed the opposition to the Athanasian 
 Creed ; directed her representative, by an unanimous vote, 
 to express " the highest disapprobation" of the proposed 
 allowance of a negative to the house of bishops ; and de- 
 clared her bishops " amenable to their conventions ;" it was 
 9* 
 
202 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 in Virginia that clergymen were found who began to sub- 
 stitute extemporaneous prayer for the appointed Litany ;* 
 it was in Virginia, also, that deadness to all spiritual things 
 was the most perceptible. One name amongst her clergy 
 is still fresh in the grateful remembrance of the few sur- 
 viving members of his flock. Devereux Jarratt, ordained 
 in London in 1762, returned the same year to Virginia ; 
 and till his death, in 1801, never ceased doing faithfully 
 the work of an evangelist. Earnest, simple, and eminently 
 heavenly-minded, his ministry was greatly blessed by God ; 
 " his converts were exceedmgly numerous ; and a few 
 aged disciples still living in Virginia acknowledge him as 
 their spiritual father."! But, alas, he seems long to have 
 stood literally alone ; "at his first answer no man stood 
 with him :" and the final loss of the glebes almost made 
 the Church low. 
 
 This disastrous conclusion of the Ions: struggle between 
 their united enemies and Churchmen took place in the year 
 
 1801. Its last stages were remarkable. In 1799 an act 
 had passed the assembly of Virginia, professedly intended 
 " to declare the construction of the bill of rights and con- 
 stitution concerning religion ;" but really meant to repeal 
 every act favorable to the Church which had passed since 
 the Revolution. This was followed by another in January 
 
 1802, by which it was declared that the title to the pro- 
 perty the Church had held before the Revolution was vested 
 in the state at large ; and that, whenever they were va- 
 cant, the glebes should be sold for the benefit of the poor of 
 the parish. Under this law those acts which always mark 
 confiscation followed. The glebes were sold at prices merely 
 nominal ; and the small sums which did accrue from them 
 flowed into various channels of private profit. The church- 
 yards, and the churches with their furniture, were exempt- 
 ed from the operations of this law ; yet they, and even the 
 communion-plate, were seized and sold. The fruits of this 
 confiscation are still to be found. " Within our own time," 
 says Dr. Hawks, " a reckless sensualist has administered 
 
 * Dr. Hawks's Memorials, Virginia, pp. 269, 270. 
 t Henahaw's. Life of Bp. Moore, p. 15. 
 
CinmCH PROPERTY CONFISCATED. 203 
 
 the morning dram to his guests from the silver cup which 
 has often contained the consecrated symbol of his Saviour's 
 blood. In another instance the entire set of communion- 
 plate of one of the old churches is in the hands of one who 
 belongs to the society of Baptists." The Bishop of Virgi- 
 nia, when on his visitation, has witnessed the conversion of 
 a marble baptismal font into a trough for horses.* 
 
 The act under which these ollences were committed 
 did not pass without a struggle. AVhen adopted, its consti- 
 tutional legality was questioned, and its enforcement resisted 
 by processes of law. The decision of the lower courts was 
 on the side of confiscation. This judgment was carried by 
 appeal before the highest tribunal of Virginia. This court 
 consisted of five judges, of whom four only (one as a 
 Churchman, deeming himself an interested party) sat upon 
 this trial. Of these Judge Pendleton was by seniority the 
 president. His judgment, and that of two of his assessors, 
 was against the courts l)elow ; and he was about to reverse 
 the previous sentence, and so, in fact, repeal this most in- 
 jurious law. The morning came on which the final sen- 
 tence was to be pronounced, when Judge Pendleton, who 
 was already past iburscore, was found dead in his bed from 
 a stroke of apoplexy. In his pocket was discovered the 
 decision which another day would have made law, secur- 
 ing to the Church the full possession of her glebes ; but it 
 had not been pronounced, and so was void of all authority. 
 The case was heard again before Judge Pendleton's suc- 
 cessor. His judgment was the other way ; and thus (Judge 
 Fleming still refusing to take part) the court was equally 
 divided. The decree from beluw was therefore officially 
 confirmed, and its property taken for ever from the Church. 
 
 Some good and wise end was doubtless answered by 
 this reverse ; but its present effect was most disastrous. 
 It extinguished wholly the spirit of Churchmen, and was 
 followed by a complete prostration of hope and exertion. 
 How entire this was has been already seen. One more 
 instance may be mentioned.! lu the year 1722, within 
 
 * Hawk's Virginia, p. 236. 
 f Ibid. p. 267. 
 
204 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 six counties of Avliat is termed the northern neck of Virginia, 
 there were more than twelve churches, all supplied with 
 the ministrations of the Gospel. Almost a hundred years 
 had passed, and instead of any growth throughout an ex- 
 tent of country one hundred miles long and fifteen broad, 
 every church and chapel had been forsaken. The road to 
 the Chesapeake was studded with mouldering ruins of what 
 had once been houses of the Lord ; and if here and there 
 one or two seemed at first sight to maintain their fair pro- 
 portions, a closer examination showed that it was only that 
 the piety of earlier days had built them of a massive 
 strength,* which had enabled them thus long to resist the 
 injuries of time. 
 
 Such was the deadly trance which had fallen on the 
 Church. From such a state Bishop Madison was not the 
 man to rouse it. He was an elegant scholar, with no 
 great warmth of Christian character, and a low estimate 
 of the spiritual power inherent in the office which he held. 
 How far he was fit to discharge its arduous duties in that 
 day of reproach, may be gathered from the fact that he 
 obtained the eulogies of Thomas Jefferson, the deist in re- 
 ligion, and in politics the man who purchased the votes of 
 the opponents of the Churchf by so framing the constitu- 
 tion of Virginia as to refuse corporate powers to all religious 
 societies, and thus prevent their holding property at all. 
 Bishop Madison seems to have felt his own unfitness for 
 the post he filled. At first, indeed, he manifested some 
 activity ; but his early efforts were not crowned with suc- 
 cess, and he had not energy enough to persevere without 
 such direct and sensible encouragement. In 1805 he ap- 
 plied to his diocese for an assistant bishop ; the subject was 
 deferred until the convention reassembled in the following 
 year. It was never resumed ; — for the convention never 
 sat again within his lifetime. During fifteen years of his 
 Episcopate the state of things grew more and more disas- 
 trous : "he seemed to be like a pilot with his ship amongst 
 
 * These churches are built of bricks which were brought from tlie 
 mother country. Many such still remain, needing little more than 
 a roof to render them fit for immediate use. 
 
 + Voice from America, p. SO. 
 
DARK DAYS OF THE CHURCH. 205 
 
 the breakers, who in despair resigns the helm, in expecta- 
 tion that his noble barque will soon be stranded as a shat- 
 tered wreck upon the shore."* 
 
 " It was the dark day of the Church, when all slum- 
 bered and slept."! They owed their awakening from 
 this slumber to that office which Virginia had so greatly 
 undervalued ; for it may be clearly traced, under the bless- 
 ing of Almighty God, to the appointment and devoted 
 labors of another bishop. 
 
 * Dr. Henshaw's Life of Bishop Moore, p. 112. 
 f Dr. Hawks, 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1811, 12. 
 
 Death of Bp. Madison — Renewal of diocesan convention — Election 
 of Dr. Bracken to the episcopate — He refuses it — Dr. Moore elec- 
 ted — His early life — Ministerial success — He visits the diocese — 
 Stirs up the spirit of Churchmen — Revival of the Church — Growth 
 of Church principles — Improved canons — Theological seminary 
 founded — And poor scholars' fund — Dr. Meade elected Suffragan, 
 with a restriction— Conduct of the house of bishops — Removal of 
 restrictions — Bishop B. Moore of New-York applies for an assist- 
 ant bisliop — Dr. J. H. Hobart elected — His origin and youth — 
 First ministerial charge in Pennsylvania — Removes to New-York 
 — His .studies — Publications— Services in state and general conven- 
 tion — Controversy with Dr. Mason — Elected bishop — Opposition — 
 Bishop Provoost's claim to the bishopric of New York — Disallow- 
 ed by the convention — Bishop White's treatment of Bishop 
 Hobart— And high esteem for him. 
 
 The dark day throagli which our recent history has taken 
 us began at last to break away, and, at the period we have 
 reached, the sky already glowed in many dillerent direc- 
 tions. The old generation was passing away. The deists 
 who, with Thomas Jefferson to head them, had long held 
 undisputed sway, no longer carried every thing before them. 
 There had been a secret upgrowth of a better race, and in 
 the Church, as well as elsewhere, men of another temper 
 took their places on the stage. Both among the laity and^ 
 clergy, the cold and timid councils of the former genera- 
 tion were beginning to give way to energy and zeal. In 
 Virginia, Bishop Madison expired in March 1812 ; and the 
 first sign of vitality within the diocese was the meeting of 
 the convention to elect his successor. It was now seven 
 years since it had assembled ; and in a state which of old 
 could number its hundred clergy, and which required the 
 attendance of fifteen to make a quorum, and the presence 
 
ELECTION OF DR. MOOUE. 207 
 
 of twenty-five to pass any canon, thirteen clergymen and 
 twelve laymen were all wlio could be brouj^lit together,* 
 Having voted nine a quorum, they proceeded to elect a 
 bishop, and chose Dr. Bracken. When the convention met 
 the following year (1813), it was to hear that Dr. Bracken 
 had declined their otler. This was a disheartening answer. 
 The few who had assembled did not proceed to make an- 
 other choice ; but feeling strongly their well-nigli hopeless 
 destitution, they drew up an address urging on their brethren 
 the duty of making fresh exertions in their common cause. 
 This " most earnestly entreated them to consider the 
 necessity of adopting zealous measures for the restoration of 
 religion," especially as, " from the destitute state of the 
 churches, many piously disposed persons who were attached 
 to the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church, were deprived of the means of worship- 
 ping God according to her venerable forms, to the great 
 uiiliappiness of themselves, as well as to the great detri- 
 ment of the Church at large ;" it besought them " to raise 
 a fund for the purpose of aiding in the support of such cler- 
 gymen of piety and talents as may be obtained to perform 
 divine service in such districts in the state as may be 
 assigned to them by the convention." 
 
 In May 1814 the annual convention re-assembled ; 
 seven clergymen and seventeen laymen met in council,! 
 and proceeded to elect a bishop. They felt the great im- 
 portance of the crisis, and looked far around them for the 
 qualities they needed. They plainly saw that it was not 
 a time when a merely blameless life or classical attain- 
 ments would be enough for hun who, amidst their busy 
 and disordered population, was to sit on the apostles' seat. 
 After full deliberation, they elected Dr. Richard Moore, 
 rector of St. Stephen's church, in the city of New- York. 
 They had been guided to a happy choice. Dr. Moore had 
 received a classical education, but at the close of the war 
 of independence he entered on the medical profession, and 
 followed it for nearly nine years. His childJiood had been 
 
 * Journals of Virijinian Convention, p. 181. 
 f Vide supra, p. 239. 
 
208 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 marked by sincere and decided piety ; and though this had 
 seemed for a while " choked" by the cares of other things, 
 and he entered upon Hfe too much hke other men, yet he 
 was not long suHered to wander, but in early manhood 
 was recalled to the service of the Cross. For a while he 
 contiimed in the practice of medicine, but his soul now 
 thirsted for the labors and rewards of the Christian minis- 
 try ; and at the time of the Church's most entire prostra- 
 tion, when there was least, in possession or in prospect, to 
 gratify ambition, he yielded to those guiding impulses, 
 quitted his more lucrative profession, and determined to 
 prepare for holy orders. In 1787 he was admitted deacon 
 by Bishop Provoost, being the first ordained by him, — the 
 first therefore ever set apart lor this high calling in New- 
 York, — and making then the sixth clergyman in that large 
 diocese, which has now for several years numbered more 
 than its 200. The blessing of a religious youth rested on 
 the new-made deacon ; within this same Church he had 
 been baptised into the name of Jesus Christ, confirmed, in 
 due season, in the faith, and first admitted to the holy 
 eucharist. From it he went forth to his work in the fulness 
 of the blessing of the gospel of peace. His first field of 
 labor was on Staten Island, where for one-and-twenty years 
 he was rector of St. Andrew's. An unusual increase 
 crowned his ministerial labors ; although he raised before 
 his flock a high standard of pastoral piety, yet no fewer 
 than 100 new communicants were gathered in one year 
 around the altar of his church. In 1809 he mcved to St. 
 Stephen's, on the outskirts of his native city of New-York. 
 Here all was yet in its infancy. About thirty families at- 
 tended, and the communicants numbered not more than 
 twenty. For five years he labored among them ; and when 
 called to the Virginian episcopate, he left behind him a 
 body of 400 communicants. 
 
 When the see was first ofl'ered to him, he shrunk from 
 the charge, and refused to leave New- York. Many cir- 
 cumstances added weight to that Christian diffidence which 
 might well lead any man to shun, as far as lawfully he 
 may, the perilous height of the episcopate. Moore, though 
 devoted with all the ardor of feelings more than usually 
 
CHAHACTER OF BISHOP MOORE. 209 
 
 warm to the distinctive doctrines of the gospel of God's 
 grace, and even laboring from this cause under some re- 
 proach from men of a colder and more unimpassioned tem- 
 per, was yet conscientiously attached to the distinctive 
 principles of his own communion. Previous to his settling 
 thei-e, the chief families of Richmond had formed " a kind 
 of joint spii-itual charge, watched over with alternate ser- 
 vices by an Episcopalian and a Presbyterian."* The 
 invitations which he now received hinted at the probable 
 e.x;pedieney of some concessions to sectarian feelings, and 
 took for granted from his well-known character, that he 
 would be a likely man to further their adoption. It was 
 notorious that there were points on which his judgment 
 had ditlered widely from that of Bishop Hobart ; that he 
 had encouraged, under due restrictions, social meetings for 
 prayer ; that he favored meetings of the clergy for the pur- 
 pose of devotion ; and that he maintained such doctrine as 
 found utterance in the following letter to his future coadju- 
 tor : — " That we are too cold is a solemn truth. To remedy 
 this evil is in our power, provided we will seek the aid of 
 God's Holy Spirit in sincere and fervent prayer ; and I am 
 persuaded that if we honestly call upon God to assist us 
 with His grace, and honestly preach His own "word, He 
 will make that word quick and powerful to the conversion 
 of those who hear it. "t But these principles implied no 
 bias to sectarian views : and so his correspondents soon 
 discovered. 
 
 " The state," they tell him, "of the Church in Virginia 
 is indeed most deplorable. The desolations of many gene- 
 rations are to be repaired — now is the trying and critical 
 moment — now is to be decided whether God means to keep 
 a remnant of our Church alive among us, or to destroy it 
 entirely. The town of Richmond contains by far the 
 largest body of Episcopalians in the southern country. If 
 some one of suitable talents and real piety does not go there, 
 it will either fall into the hands of some miserable creature 
 (many of whom have already been fawning for it), or, if a 
 
 * Life of Bishop Moore. 
 
 t Letter to ilr., afterwards Bishop Meade, — Life of Bishop Moore, 
 p. 98. The capitals are the bishop's. 
 
210 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 clever Presbyterian should offer, tliey will throw away Epis- 
 copacy, and fall under his banners. And if Episcopacy dies 
 
 there at the heart, of course it dies elsewhere Certain 
 
 I am, that unless we have a bishop of real piety, zeal, and 
 talents in Richmond, Episcopacy is gone for ever." 
 
 The apprehension of these dangers so fully occupied 
 the minds of these good men as to incline them to attempt 
 to ti'ead the fatal path of compromise and false conciliation. 
 " The Church," they say, " in Virginia," (for it is always 
 under this delusion that this temptation is disguised), " is 
 in a peculiar situation. Its having been once the estab- 
 lished Church, the prevalence and virulence of other deno- 
 minations, the sequestration of its glebes, the irregularity of 
 the lives of its ministers, and various political causes, have 
 combined to swell high the tide of public opinion, and in- 
 deed of odium, against her public form of service, her sur- 
 plices, and all the paraphernalia of clerical costume 
 
 Under these circumstances, to hearts thus constructed, 
 it appears to me that no man can carry out our forms in 
 
 all their rubrical vigor with any prospect of success 
 
 We want a bishop who wiU watch over his clergy with 
 tears and tenderness ; who will be an example as well as 
 teacher to his flock ;'Avho will know nothing amongst us 
 save Jesus Christ and Him crucified ; and who, whilst he 
 inculcates a due reverence for our venerable forms of doc- 
 trine, discipline, and Avor.ship, as being of apostolic author- 
 ity, will at the same time direct his best endeavors towards 
 the end of all religious institutions, namely, the deliver- 
 ance of immortal souls from hell. Such a bishop will have 
 our co-operation, our love, and our prayers." 
 
 The temptation was here masked in much to which 
 the warm heart of Moore was sure readily to answer ; but 
 it was put aside without hesitation. 
 
 " The prejudices," he tells his correspondent, " which 
 are entertained by many of the Virginians against the 
 services of the Church and the appropriate costume of the 
 clergy, afford matter of considerable surprise to a person 
 bred in this part of the union. . . . Educated in the bosom 
 of the Episcopal Church, I have always been taught to 
 entertain the most profound respect for all her services. 
 
EPISCOPATE OF MOOUE. 211 
 
 .... Let the ministers of the Church tread in the steps 
 of tlieir divine Master ; let them visit tlic siok and bind up 
 the broken-hearted ; let the poor of Christ's flock be the 
 objects of their care ; and I will venture to predict that 
 the mountains of opposition will, in a little time, become 
 plain ; the Prayer-book will be venerated, our ceremonies 
 approved, the cause of the Church will be promoted, and 
 penitent sinners v/ill seek for an asylnm in our bosom." 
 
 To these principles he adhered throughout the corres- 
 pondence, steadily maintaining, at the same time, his first 
 position, that he would not come "on trial;" but if elected 
 rector of Richmond, he would then, with the approbation 
 of the Bishop of New- York, accept the oflered charge. 
 
 An application to Bishop Ilobart as to the character of 
 Moore drew forth the assurance, that from " the confidence 
 felt in his fidelity to his principles, and in his prudent and 
 zealous efifjrts to advance the interests of the Church, he 
 woi;ld remove to Virginia with the regret of him whose 
 diocese he quitted, and with the good wishes and prayers 
 of his brethren generally." 
 
 The Virginians at length assented to his terms ; and 
 his bishop judging that he ought not to refuse what was 
 pressed on him with such urgency, he was chosen rector 
 of the Monumental Church in Richmond ; and (which had 
 never befallen a clergyman residing in another diocese) 
 was, directly after, elected by convention, to the vacant 
 see. 
 
 On the 18th of May, 1814, he was consecrated to the 
 office of a bishop in St. James's Church, Philadelphia. 
 Bishop Hobart, in the consecration-sermon, ventured to 
 predict that " the night of adversity had passed, and that 
 a long and splendid day was now dawning on the Church 
 in Virginia." And a little further on he adds, addressing 
 publicly the newly elected bishop, " How fervent will be 
 our thanks to God, who hath made you the instrument of 
 this great good !" 
 
 Much was expected from his labors ; and the expecta- 
 tion was not disappointed. The bishop set to work at once 
 in the visitation of his diocese ; and wherever he went, his 
 fervent spirit awoke the slumbering energies of those to 
 
212 . AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 whom he came. He returned to report to the convention 
 of 1815 the rising promise of the Church. Some of its 
 first-fruits might be seen in the increased attendance at this 
 synod of the diocese, at which the number present exactly 
 doubled that of the preceding year. He encouraged them 
 to seek and look for great results : he told them of the 
 earnest desire which he had found in many districts to re- 
 pair the waste places of their fathers' Church : of parishes 
 which had seemed wholly extinct suddenly aroused to life 
 and vigor ; of others where the whole congregation had 
 burst into tears as he spoke to them of the ancient glory 
 and present desolation of their Church. 
 
 The bishop did not raise his voice in vain. The laity 
 were manifestly roused. From parish after parish he re- 
 ceived earnest applications for a resident minister. In the 
 succeeding year ten new churches were reported as in pro- 
 gress of erection, and eight formerly dismantled as now un- 
 der repair. Hisownlabors were unabated. He traversed the 
 whole diocese repeatedly ; crossing the mountains of the 
 Blue Ridge, and even advancing to aid the destitute state 
 of North Carolina. His tone of preaching was earnest, af- 
 fectionate, and simple. It raised the Cross of Christ and 
 His salvation before the eyes of all ; and God gave him 
 the hearts of men. "His zeal was contagious ; and zealous 
 pastors of the flock quickly gathered round him. 
 
 The younger clergy undertook the work of missionaries 
 in the widely scattered field, and collected new congrega- 
 tions throughout all the province, whilst he had the joy of 
 sending many fresh laborers into his Master's vineyard. 
 Many were the dry and withered hearts which were thus 
 awoke to Christian life and gladness. This was the es- 
 pecial work of Bishop Moore ; and a blessed work it was. 
 But there still was little done to impress on their disjointed 
 body the sense of its unity, to gather up its scattered parts 
 into a living and self-conscious Mdiole. Here and there, 
 indeed, there were signs of returning life. There were faint 
 teachings forth after discipline and order ; some irregulari- 
 ties were laid aside. A few of the clergy, in the vain expec- 
 tation of removing prejudice, had begun to substitute in part. 
 Unauthorised devotions for the service of the liturgy. 
 
EPISCOPATE OF MOOEE. 213 
 
 Against this the bishop raised his voice in timely warning, 
 and led his convention strongly to condemn the practice.* 
 Other tokens of improvement may be found. In the year 
 1815, the oflensive canon which declared a bishop amenable 
 to his convention had been rescinded : while new rules com- 
 mitted the trial of a bishop to his brethren in the sacred col- 
 lege, and specially provided, that " none but a bishop shall 
 prononce sentence of deposition or degradation from the mm- 
 istry on any bishop, presbyter, or deacon."! 
 
 The time had been when, from a misplaced jealousy, 
 Virginia had declared that every bishop should continue to 
 discharge the duties of a parish priest ; but now, not only 
 was this rule withdrawn, but it was proposed to found a 
 fund for the episcopate, that no bishop might be kept by min- 
 isterial duties from his higher charge. 
 
 Another mark of life may be discovered in the new pro- 
 vision made for the education of the clergy. Two plans 
 promoted this important end ; one, the fbmidation of a 
 theological seminary, which has proved of the greatest va- 
 lue both in supplying candidates lor the ministry, and also 
 in raising the tone of clerical character ; the other, the 
 formation of a fund (in 1818) for the education of young 
 men of piety, who were desirous of entering into holy or- 
 ders. Such an institution was greatly needed in America, 
 where there are few endowments left by the piety of ear- 
 lier days. No discredit is attached to the student who is 
 thus supported ; though he who is maintained by living 
 benefactors cannot know the independence of the scholar 
 of an English University. Yet this institution has proved 
 most important ; it has opened a way to the ministry to 
 those whose hearts longsd ibr its sacred work, but whose 
 narrow means would have made due preparation for its 
 duties unattainable by them. J Nearly one-tenth of the 
 clergy had, in 1836, in whole or in part, been assisted by 
 this society ; one-sixth of the present clergy of Ohio, one- 
 eighth of those of Pennsylvania, one-fifth of those of Mary- 
 land, and a large proportion of those in Virginia, had de- 
 
 * Journals of Vuginia Convention. 
 
 f Acts of Convention in A^irginia, 1815. 
 
 ^ Dr. Hawks (1836), note to Memorials, Virginia, p. 261. 
 
214 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 rived aid from its funds, while it was still aflbrding assis- 
 tance to about one-seventh of all the students in the several 
 theological schools of the Church in the United States. 
 Many of the leading clergy ui the west have owed their 
 early training to this source. 
 
 All these were movements In the right direction. But 
 much yet remained to be corrected. There still appear on 
 the journals of convention notices which startle anEngUsh 
 eye. Such are, the "grateful acceptance of Presbyterian and 
 Baptist Churches for divine service during the session ;* 
 the record of " churches nearly completed, but not exclu- 
 sively episcopal ;"t and the return of " forty com- 
 municants, only fifteen of whom may be considered mem- 
 bers of the episcopal Church," whilst the attendance of 
 members of "other denominations" is spoken of as " gladly 
 witnessed and aftectionately encoui'aged.":!: 
 
 But perhaps the least favorable feature of the whole is 
 the result of various contributions attempted at this time 
 for the promotion of the common purposes of Churchmen. 
 It is not that they were poor ; for never was the Church 
 of Christ so full of strength as when its poverty was deep- 
 est ; never was it so truly rich as before it had gathered in 
 the treasures of the earth. Such entries, therefore, as an 
 extra vote of a few dollars for the unusual charge of the 
 carriage-hire for a part of their bishop's visitation might 
 bespeak times of primitive simplicity. s^ But it is painful 
 to know, that these things marked the Church's poverty 
 when Churchmen were rich. This clearly bespoke some 
 great want in their system. 
 
 It is painful to find the aged Bishop Moore " thanking 
 his laity for the patronage extended by them to his clergy 
 and himself ;" II and the more so when Ave see the utter 
 failure of all eliorts to raise funds for the support of the 
 episcopate. Year by year the subject was renewed, and 
 always with the same result. In A'ain did conventions 
 
 * Journal of 1821. f lb., 1826. t lb., 1827. 
 
 § Of a like character is the notice of a horse, worth a hundred 
 dollars, being left on hand by a missionary, -who, after it had been 
 purchased for him, declined that sphere of labor. 
 
 11 Journal of 18.32. 
 
POVERTY OF THE CHURCH. 215 
 
 dwell upon the need of the bishop's "visiting every part 
 of the diocese, encouraging the desponding, rousing the 
 thoughtless, giving direction to the zeal and energy of the 
 pious, and impressing upon the whole a salutary impulse ;" 
 in vain they urged that " words alone were cheap, and in- 
 sufficient to make their cause flourish ;" in vain did the 
 aged bishop himself press on them, time after time, that he 
 thought this " a matter of leading importance ;" that the 
 " wants of his own parish made his visitations in a dio- 
 cese of 70,000 square miles in extent, hurried and ineflec- 
 tual ;" in vain did he, when his age made it impossible 
 that he should reap any personal advantage from it, sup- 
 plicate them earnestly to make provision for his successor, 
 — still the proposed fund made no perceptible advance 
 and scarcely could a few dollars be annually raised to sup- 
 ply him with assistance when he was well nigh worn out 
 in their service. 
 
 The same evil may be traced as pressing with its heavy 
 weight on the inferior clergy. The bishop traces* to their 
 " inadequate support, their frequent removal from one 
 parish to another ; removals often attended with results 
 injurious to the clergy, and always to the congregations 
 left in a destitute state." He speaks " of the want of sup- 
 port producing uneasiness in their minds and paralysing 
 their efforts," and of " extreme penury borne with silent 
 suffering by the pious, excellent, and well educated cler- 
 gyman." 
 
 These are painful features. Some of them are evils 
 inherent in the voluntary system ; some of them were the 
 remains of the torpid numbness which had long entranced 
 religion. But from these we turn gladly to the brighter 
 prospect. There was a gi-eat rekindling of personal devo- 
 tion. An ardent zeal largely pervaded the younger clergy ; 
 poor as was their earthly recompense, their ranks were 
 now recruited from the best blood of Virginia, the most aris- 
 tocratic district of the Union. Though still far too few for 
 the population, their number was greatly on the increase. 
 The seven who met in convention at the election of Bishop 
 Moore had multiplied to thirty-five. 
 ' Journal of 1835. 
 
216 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 This was, in a great measure, his work. For fourteen 
 years Bishop Moore continued, without interruption, his 
 successful labors ; and then feeling the infirmities of age 
 heginnuig to abate his vigor, he applied in 1828, to his 
 convention, begging them to nominate a clergyman for 
 consecration as his suffragan. la the convention of the 
 following year his wish was gratified by the election of 
 the Rev. Wm. Meade to fill the ofHce. It was, however, 
 coo^red "wdth one unv/ise condition. Dr. Meade was elected 
 
 or? 
 
 suffragan only for the life of Bishop Moore ; and on his 
 death a new election was to nominate his absolute suc- 
 cessor. Against this the house of bishops instantly pro- 
 tested ; and as Virginia jealously maititained her own 
 arrangement, a dispute, and probably a breach, appeared 
 to be at hand ; but it was happily avoided by the conse- 
 cration of the suffragan elect, while the danger of the pre- 
 cedent Avas turned aside by the enactment of a general 
 canon, which defined the office, and secured in every in- 
 stance the succession of assistant -bishops. Virginia showed 
 her sense of the judicious kindness of this treatment, by 
 removhig, in 1829, of her own act, the restriction she had 
 jilaced on Dr. Meade's succession. In him Bishop Moore 
 found a meet assistant and a worthy successor. 
 
 The two worked happily together ; and, till the aged 
 principal was gathered to his rest, he watched with full 
 rejoicing over the prosperous labors of his younger coadju- 
 tor. " To the neighborhoods and distant congregations I 
 once visited with great delight," he says, a little while be- 
 fore his end, " I have bidden, through the effects of inffr- 
 inity, a final adieu ; and it is only on the return of our 
 conventional meetings that I am blessed with the sight of 
 my old friends, and am permitted to shake by the hands a 
 family of clergymen who have been set apart to the min- 
 istry of the Gospel by myself From the record of the 
 clergy of the diocese, I find that, out of sixty-six, forty-four 
 have received the imposition of my own hands, and been 
 clothed with ministerial authority by myself Be deter- 
 mined," continues the aged bishop, "I beseech you, to make 
 full proof of your ministry. Preach Jesus Christ and Him 
 crucified. In all your trials, my beloved sons, may the 
 
ELECTION OF BISHOP HOBART. 217 
 
 Almighty be your place of refuge ; and underneath you 
 may He place the everlasting arms of his love."* With 
 his " latest voice," it was, he declared, his own hope that 
 he should " proclaim the riches of redeeming grace," and 
 assert, in his " last moments," that " God is love."t 
 
 To keep unbroken the thread of Virginian history, we 
 have followed out the life of Bishop Moore, and advanced 
 far beyond the dates to which we must now return. 
 
 The blessing which Virginia thus received in 1814, 
 had been given some years sooner, not only to New- York, 
 but to the whole Church of North America, in the Episco- 
 pate of Dr. John Heiiiy Hobart. For ten years after 
 Bishop Provoost's resignation, New-York remained in the 
 care of the gentle-hearted Bishop B. Moore. But, in 
 March, 1811, an attack of paralysis brought his active 
 labors to a sudden close. Feeling keenly his unfitness for 
 the charge which rested on him, he called at once a special 
 convention, and urged them to appoint an assistant-bishop, 
 who should share or undertake the anxieties and labors of 
 his post. The convention followed his advice ; and pro- 
 ceeding at once to the election, nominated John Henry 
 Hobart, one of the assistant-ministers of Trinity, New- 
 York. 
 
 This was a turning-point in the history of the Western 
 Church. Hobart was a man who at any time would have 
 left on his communion an impress of his own character ; in 
 the unformed state of institutions and opinions in that land, 
 it could not fail of being deeply and broadly marked. Iden- 
 tified as is his personal history Mith the great movement 
 we have now to trace, we shall better understand his prin- 
 ciples and influence, if we first mark the formation of his 
 character, and the course of his life. J 
 
 Hobart was sprung from the best of the old Puritan 
 stock. His ancestor, the Rev. Peter Hobart, the son of 
 
 * Journals of Virginian Conventions. 
 
 f Life of Bishop Moore, p 210. 
 
 I The events of Bisliop Hobart's life are drawn freely from Dr. 
 M'Vickar's Memoir, except where a special reference indicates 
 another source. 
 10 
 
218 AMERICAN CHOTICH. 
 
 " parents eminient for piety,"* and himself " a painful 
 servant of the Lord," settled at Massachusetts in 1635. 
 He was "a person that met with many temptations and 
 afflictions,"! and who, amongst the New-England worthies, 
 Lore away the palm for " well-studied sermons." Though 
 so devoted to his views of truth that he quitted a beloved 
 home to avoid what he esteemed the " blackening cloud of 
 prelatical impositions," he \va? a man of a Catholic spirit; 
 with a " heart knit in a most sincere and hearty love to- 
 wards pious men, though they were not in all things of his 
 own persuasion. He v»^ould admire the grace of God in 
 good men, though they were of sentiments contrary vuito 
 his, and would say, I can carry them in my bosom." There 
 were none, indeed, from whom he so much turned away, 
 as those amongst his own people, " who, under a pretence 
 of zeal for Church-discipline, were very pragmatical in 
 controversies ; but at the same time most unjust creatures, 
 destitute of the life and power of godliness." These he 
 would bridle with the saying: " Some men are all Church 
 and no Christ." 
 
 Of his race proceeded a goodly company of preachers ; 
 amongst whom the Apostolic Brainerd must be mentioned 
 as his daughter's son. From this Peter Hobart, sprung in 
 the fourth generation the future bishop of New- York : and 
 in many traits of character the stamp of the old pilgrim- 
 father was repeated in him. His immediate parents had 
 migrated to Philadelphia, and rejoined the ancient Church 
 of their old EngUsh forefathers. There his early youth 
 was spent beneath the pastoral charge of the venerable 
 Bishop White. It was a youth of the fairest promise ; the 
 joy and hope of his early-widowed luother. At the close 
 of his education he was almost drawn into a life of busi- 
 ness. But better things were in store for him; and the 
 guiding Hand led him, instead, to devote his energy and 
 powers to the ministry of Christ's Church. His prepara- 
 tion for its duties was patient and severe. The head of 
 his college wished him to begin by studying a system of 
 
 * Cotton M.ather's Magnalia, b. iii. p. 1 53. 
 t Ibid. p. 155. 
 
ORDINATION OF BISHOP IIOBAR.T. 219 
 
 divinity; but from this easier mode of obtaining a general 
 dogmatic accuracy, tlic healthy instincts of his soul re- 
 volted ; and complaining of the plan of " studying tScrip- 
 ture to support preconceived opinions," he wisely resolved 
 " to take up systems when he had gone through the study 
 of the Bible." After due preparation he presented hhnself 
 for ordination before the good old man by whom he had 
 already been first received at the font, and then confirmed 
 by the laying on of hands ; and from him received his 
 orders and mission as a minister of Christ. Truly humble 
 was his estimate of himself : " I am far from thinking that 
 I am qualified lor the ministry either in mental or spirit- 
 ual acquirements. ... I am afraid that my views are not 
 sufficiently pure. . . . Sacred and awful will be my duties; 
 the grace of God can alone enable me to execute them. 
 . . . Oh, pray Avith me, that I may have a single eye to 
 His glory and the salvation of immortal souls ; that He 
 would subdue within me every desire of honor, emolument, 
 or human praise ; and that I may serve Him Avith sincerity 
 and truth."* With such self-suspicion did he turn away 
 from those paths Avhich would have led him straight to 
 earthly fame, and addict himself to the humble Avalk of 
 the American ministry. 
 
 He was ordained, in 1798, to the charge of two small 
 parishes AA'ithin the diocese of Pennsylvania ; one of them 
 amongst the earliest gathered in that district by the mis- 
 sionary labors of George Keith ; and still, to the grief of 
 its young pastor, a " dispersed flock, Avith little zeal, and 
 much iuterrtiixed Avith other denominations."! Here he 
 stayed a year ; and having thence removed, first to New 
 Brunswick, and then to Hampstead in Long Island, he 
 settled, in the autumn of 18U0, as assistant-minister of 
 Trinity (Jhurch, NcAV-York, This Avas a prominent situ- 
 ation, and one to which, under common circumstances, no 
 deacon of tAvo years could have aspired ; since NcAV-York 
 might be considered the metropolis of North America, and 
 Trinity stood at the head of all its churches. J Unlike the 
 
 « IVrVickar's Life, p. 152. 
 
 f Letter to the Rev. E Giant, — M'Vickai's Life. p. 110. 
 
 j Before the Revolution it stood 146 feet in length, 72 in widtli, 
 
^20 ^ AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 rest, its revenues were ample, having been endowed by 
 Lord Cornbury, the royal governor, with a farm, which is 
 now covered by the increasing town. Its ministers had 
 always been the leading men of their body.* Here, then, 
 Hobart took his station, and was soon conspicuous for the 
 zealous assiduity with which he discharged its duties. 
 Though when he first settled in New- York he " panted for 
 the country," and thought that he " could never like a 
 city," yet he was soon fixed in it for life ; declining a call 
 to his native town because he possessed where he was 
 " every opportunity for the exercise of whatever means of 
 usefulness" he could command. 
 
 These opportunities were manifold. As a preacher he 
 rose quickly to the highest rank ; in pastoral visits, and 
 the distracting detail of ministerial life, he was active and 
 unwearied : and yet for the labors of his study he saved 
 many hours by late watching and early apphcation, and 
 snatched others by ready diligence from the intervals of 
 busy days. 
 
 " His earliest residence was a very small two-story 
 house, the rear of which was rendered airy by the prox- 
 imity of the river. The attic chamber here formed his 
 study, as being the most retired and quiet spot in the 
 house, with Avindows looking out over the noble expanse 
 of the Hudson to the opposite shores of Jersey, and having 
 for the back-ground of the view the distant hills of Spring- 
 field. 
 
 " In this little sanctum, surrounded, or, to speak more 
 justly, walled in, by piles of folios and heaps of pamphlets, 
 through the zig-zag mazes of which it was no easy matter 
 
 and with a spire of 180 feet in height. In 1776, in common witli 
 the city round it, it was consumed by fire, and hiy in ruins through 
 the wiir of the Revolution. A new church Avas built in 1788, which 
 though 4"2 feet shorter, was of a higher character than its predeces- 
 sor. This, in its turn, has given place to the present imposing 
 structure. 
 
 * Rev. Charles Inglis, D. D. (afterwards first Bishop of Nova 
 Scotia) was rector from 1777 to 1783. 
 
 Right Rev. S. Provoost 1783 to ISDO. 
 
 Rigiit Rev. 13. Moore 1800 to 181(5. 
 
 Riglit Rev. J. H. Hobart 1811 to 1830. 
 
hob.uit's public duties. 221 
 
 for a stranger to make his way, you might find the young 
 theologian entrenched, and passing every minute both of the 
 day and night that could be snatched from sleep and hasty 
 meals, or spared from the higher claims of parochial duty. 
 These latter interruptions were so numerous, that by one 
 less vigorously resolute in gathering up the scattered crumbs 
 of time, they would have been pleaded as a sufficient apol- 
 ogy for the remission of all study beyond necessary prepa- 
 ration for the pulpit."* 
 
 But this was far from Mr. Hobart's habit. From this 
 study proceeded many devotional and other works, some 
 original, and some remodelled by his pen; and here he 
 devised, and, till his accession to the episcopate, conducted, 
 " The Churchman's Magazine," a monthly publication 
 which contributed in no slight measure to raise the princi- 
 ples and hopes of those to whom it was addressed. To 
 these more private occupations he added the discharge of 
 public duties. He was earlyf elected secretary to the dio- 
 cesan convention of New- York ; and chosen one of the de- 
 puties to represent the diocese in the general convention 
 which met the same year. In each department he was 
 at once distinguished as a man of business. From 1801 
 till 1811 he discharged the duties of the first, and was al- 
 ways re-elected to the second. He was also ammally chosen 
 on the standing committee of the diocese. 
 
 But it was not in this course of labor, useful as it was, 
 that his chief services were rendered. To understand these 
 we must look more closely into his character and princi- 
 ples, and see their peculiar action on the state of things 
 around him. He came, then, to New-York when the uni- 
 versal tone of thought and feeling in the body which he 
 joined was low and torpid. The impression of their first 
 bishop's character was plainly legible upon the Churchmen 
 of New- York : with indistinct views of Christian doctrine ; 
 moralists for the most part, rather than believers ; conscious 
 of being objects of suspicion, and almost thinking that sus- 
 picion just, — they never ventured in defenduig their position 
 beyond the cautious tone of timid apology. 
 
 * M'Vickar's Life. t In 1801. 
 
AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 In this state Hol)art found matters ; but their continu- 
 ance in this state he would not endure. Trained in a 
 Presbyterian college, he was a Churchman on the fullest 
 conviction of his reason. He early declared* his own prin- 
 ciples to run up in brief into these two : " That we are 
 saved from the guilt and dominion of sin by the divine 
 merits and grace of a crucified Redeemer ; and that the 
 merits and grace of this Redeemer are applied to the soul of 
 the believer by devout and humble participation in the ordi- 
 nances of the Church, administered by a priesthood who 
 derive their authority by regular transmission from Christ, 
 the divine Head of the Church, and the source of all the 
 power in it." 
 
 Many a sleeper must have been startled by such a voice 
 as this, whether true or flilse in its announcement, from one 
 resolute, and thoroughly in earnest ; and Hobart was both. 
 He was convinced that this was the truth, and he was ready 
 to live or to die for it. All his ministry spoke this conviction. 
 In the pulpit " he warned, counselled, entreated, and com- 
 forted, with intense power and energy. His mamier and 
 voice struck you with the deep interest which pervaded 
 his soul for their salvation. He appeared ... as a herald 
 from the other world, standing between the dead and the 
 living . . . entreating perishing sinners not to reject the 
 message of reconciliation which the Son of the living God 
 so graciously offered for their acceptance. "f " He never 
 ceased to preach ' Christ crucified,' the only Saviour of 
 sinners ; and to exhort them, ' even with tears,' to lay hold 
 upon that salvation, by entering into covenant with Him 
 in that Churcli which He had purchased with His blood. "$ 
 And what he was in the pulpit he was everywhere ; by 
 the sick-bed or in society, abroad or at home, this was still 
 his watch-word— " The Gospel in the Church," " Evangelical 
 truth and apostolical order :" these he pressed on all as the 
 subjects closest to his own heart, and the most concerning 
 theirs. The awakening sleepers of his own communion 
 
 * Preface to a Companion to the Altar, by J. H. Hobart. 1804. 
 \ Letter to the Rev. T. Chalmers, D. D., on the Life and Charac- 
 ter of the Right Rev. Dr. Hobart, by Archdeacon Strachan. 
 X Dr. M'Vickar, p. 187. 
 
EFFECTS OF IIOBARt's EARNESTNESS. 223 
 
 could not understand him ; and feeling only his warmth 
 reprove their coldness, they knew not M'hether to reproach 
 him as a " High Churchman or Methodist." Still he rose 
 daily in general esteem. His sincerity could not be ques- 
 tioned, and none could doubt his kindness ; whilst his 
 talents for business were seen and lelt by all. Hence his 
 constant re-election as secretary to his own, and delegate 
 to the general, convention. 
 
 Other efi'ects also were .soon visible. The cold timidity 
 which had benumbed all men began to pass away. He 
 Avas gathering round him a band of younger men, laity as 
 well as clergy, of a new temper — men who believed that 
 Christ had indeed founded a spiritual kingdom, and that 
 they had functions in it to discharge, and powers with 
 which to fulfil them. The fruit of this was soon .seen on 
 all sides ; in the increased attendance on conventions ; the 
 growing support of Church societies ; and, which was far 
 better, in the new religious earnestness of all. It is clear 
 that he was raised up to do a special work ; to cousohdate 
 and bind together the loose and crumbling mass ; to raise 
 the general tone ; to animate their zeal ; to save them from 
 the fatal apathy into Avhich they were subsiding. 
 
 But this change could not pass on his own communion 
 and not be felt abroad. The Church of that day was 
 utterly depressed. The time, indeed, was in some degree 
 gone by, when the " prejudices against the name and office 
 of a bishop were such as to make it doubtful whether any 
 person in that character would be tolerated in the com- 
 munity."* But it was '• a time of loose principles and 
 morals;"! and suspicion had given place only to contempt. 
 " He had been invested," was the language used concern- 
 ing Bishop Seabury's consecration, "or imagined himself 
 invested, with certain extraordinary powers by the manual 
 imposition of a few obscure and ignorant priests in Scot- 
 land."! Under such a stigma Churchman had been 
 hitherto contented to remain ; unresisting, if not half per- 
 suaded of its justice. But this was now passed ; and the 
 
 * Bishop White's Dedication of Mem. of Epis. Chur. 
 
 f Letter of Bi^^hop J. H. Hobart,— M-Vickar's Life. p. 235. 
 
 \ American Unitarianism, p. 15 : quoted by Dr. M'Vickar. 
 
224 ' AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 altered temper of the Church was felt. It was not that 
 Hobart assailed those without ; he addressed his own peo- 
 ple ; but so his voice passed of necessity abroad, and stirred 
 up attacks to which he rejoined. He was called out by 
 the times, and he was needful for them. Dr. Mason, the 
 leading Presbyterian of the day, in a review which he con- 
 ducted, aimed a blow intended to " give a quietus to the 
 aspiring ambition of the young Churchman." With this 
 formidable opponent Mr. Hobart calmly and gravely joined 
 issue, in "An Apology for Apostolic Order and its Advo- 
 cates," published in 1807, which is said to have drawn 
 from his keen antagonist himself the remarkable admis- 
 sion : " Were I compelled to entrust the safety of my coun- 
 try to any one man, that man should be John Henry Ho- 
 bart." 
 
 Nor was it only by the pen that he had to defend this 
 cause. His chief power lay in action. It would be hard 
 to find in his writings any of the stamp of genius. They 
 are plain, energetic, forcible, and marked throughout by 
 the strong common sense of a man of business. In his 
 practical power was his strength ; action was natural to 
 him. This strength was first tested as trustee of Colum- 
 bia College. Open to all denominations, this had received 
 its endowments from the gift of the Episcopalians of Trin- 
 ity Church, New- York. Its board-meetings were a field 
 of battle on which each persuasion sought to obtain the 
 mastery, and in this strife the true interests of the college 
 were neglected. After many struggles, the Presbyterian 
 Dr. Mason had attained to almcst undisputed sway. Of 
 commanding size and features, bold, eloquent, and bitter, 
 few men dared to face his withering and scornful sarcasm. 
 But he now met one who feared him not. Wanting in 
 the gifts of person, Hobart had all the mental and moral 
 qualities which make men leaders of their fellows. Un- 
 daunted, ready, and sagacious, he never abandoned a prin- 
 ciple, deserted a friend, or quailed before an enemy. " The 
 Church needs no abler representative," was the judgment 
 of a bystander, a sectarian and a lawyer, who witnessed 
 these contentions ; " he has all the talents of a leader ; he 
 is the most parliamentary speaker I ever met with ; he is 
 
CONSECRATION or IIOBART. 225 
 
 equally prompt, loj^lcal, and practical. I never saw that 
 man thrown off his centre." In these struggles Hobart 
 gained the daJ^ His position was, that there must be one 
 distinct line in the management of such a trust ; that for 
 this there must be an ascertained majority in favor of one 
 party ; and that here, the body which supplied the funds 
 was justly entitled to the supremacy. His success was 
 complete ; and the undivided energy with which the inter- 
 ests of the college were promoted when this majority 
 was ascertained, justified the conflicts by which it was 
 secured. 
 
 One other quality which fitted him to lead was shown 
 in these contentions. During these ten years of public 
 strife, it may be doubted if he made one private enemy. 
 He had inherited his pilgrim-father's largeness of affection ; 
 and whilst identified with that which he esteemed the 
 cause of truth, he lived on terms of unrestrained friendship 
 Avith those of other views. 
 
 It was in the midst of this active course that Hobart 
 was elected bishop. Dilliculties beset his consecration ; 
 for the American episcopate was already so reduced in 
 number, that it was no easy matter to obtain the presence 
 of three bishops. Bishops Seabury, R. Smith, and Bass 
 had entered on their rest ; Bishop Moore was incapacitated 
 by paralysis ; Bishop Claggett was turned back by dan- 
 gerous sickness ; and Bishop Madison was bound by oath 
 to residence within his college in Virginia. There remained 
 only Bishops White, Jarvis, and Provoost — himself in great 
 infirmity, and having, for the last ten years, performed no 
 act belonging to his office. By these three, however, after 
 some embarrassment. Dr. A. V. Griswold, elected bishop 
 of the eastern diocese (now formed by the addition of Ver- 
 mont and Rhode Island to Massachusetts and New-Hamp- 
 shire), and Dr. J. H. Hobart, were admitted to the high- 
 est order of the priesthood. To the presiding bishop it was 
 an affjcting service. Dr Hobart, though not an untried, was 
 yet a young man,* and to the spiritual father who had 
 formerly baptised and confirmed him seemed to belong 
 
 • Aged 35. 
 10* 
 
226 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 naturally liie words of "Paul the aged,"* "Thou there- 
 fore, my son, be strong in tlie grace that is in Christ Jesus. "f 
 " I shall have peculiar satisfaction," he declared, " in the 
 consecration of a brother, known in his infancy, in his boy- 
 hood, in his youth, and in his past labors in the ministry, 
 .... and look with the most sanguine prospects to the 
 issue." The old man dwelt witli pleasure on the recollec- 
 tion of counsels he had given formerly to one who, for the 
 future, was to be a colleague, and " who may," he added, 
 "in the common course of affairs, be expected to survive 
 .... when he who gave those counsels shall be no more," 
 In this only was his augury untrue. The younger minis- 
 try was first accomplished ; the younger man was gathered 
 soonest to his rest ; and the aged saint survived to weep 
 nineteen years later over his grave. 
 
 No second candidate divided wilh Hobart the votes of 
 the convention, and he opened his episcopate with general 
 aeclammations. But amidst these one voice of unworthy 
 jealousy was loudly uttered. Another presbyter, a fellow- 
 assistant at Trinity Church, New- York, published his "so- 
 lemn remonstrance" against this election. The ineffectual 
 weapon recoiled at last, and with destructive force, against 
 himself But for the present the remonstrance awoke a 
 a tumult of bitterness and strife. One of its effects was to 
 bring Bishop Provoost in a most unseemly manner again 
 before the Church. No doubt he recognised in Hobart 
 some of those features which had formerly been so distaste- 
 ful 1o him in the first bishop of Connecticut ; and under 
 these impressions he became, in the weakness of old age, 
 the tool of othei's to wound the assistant-bishop on whose 
 head his own hand had just been laid. His first step was 
 to claim a right to that jurisdiction which he had of old re- 
 signed. This was met at once by the diocesan convention. 
 Distinguishing with careful accuracy between the indelible 
 office of a bishop, which it had not given and could not re- 
 move, and that local jurisdiction to which he had been 
 elected by itself, it resolved that " the Right Rev. Samuel 
 Provoost, immediately after the acceptance of his resigna- 
 
 * Philemon 9. f 2 Tim. ii. 1. 
 
BISHOP white's character OF IIOBART. 227 
 
 tion by the convention of the Church in this state, ceased 
 to be the diocesan bishop thereof, and could no longer 
 rightfully exercise the functions or jurisdiction appertain- 
 ing to that ollice ; that having ceased to be the diocesan bi- 
 shop as aforesaid, he could neither resume nor be restored 
 to that character by any act of his own, or of the general 
 convention, or either of its houses, without the consent and 
 participation of the said state convention, which consent 
 and participation the said Bishop Provoost has not obtain- 
 ed ; and that his claim to such a character is therefore 
 unfounded." 
 
 Upon the passing of this resolution, Bishop Provoost no 
 longer urged his ill-advised claim. It was clear that he was 
 altogether wrong. His spiritual order the convention could 
 not touch ; but the jurisdiction which he exercised in virtue 
 of their choice, which he had resigned, and which had passed 
 to Bishop Moore on his election by convention, it was as 
 impossible for Dr. Provoost to resume at will. 
 
 It is pleasant to contrast with this unhappy conduct 
 the course of the aged Bishop White. Of a wholly difler- 
 ent school, he did full justice to the solid excellence of 
 Hobart ; no creeping jealousy alloyed his praises. " Ne- 
 ver," he afterwards declared, had he " known any one on 
 whose integrity and conscientiousness of conduct he had 
 more full reliance ;" and in the prospect of his own ap- 
 proaching end, he had thought, he said, with " gratifica- 
 tion, that he should leave behind him one whose past zeal 
 and labors were a pledge that he would not cease to be 
 efficient in extending the Church and preserving her integ- 
 rity." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 FROM 1810 TO 1820. 
 
 Episcopate of Bishop Hohart — Two first years of opposition — Rise 
 of Church societies — Effect upon the laity — New tone of feeling 
 and action — Bishop Hobart with his clergy — His language as to 
 the Church of Rome — His visitations — General spread of the 
 Church — Increase of bishoprics — State of " the West" — Need of 
 missionary pastors — Pioneers of the Church — Lay readers — Sam- 
 uel Gunu — His early years — Labors — Removal to Ohio — Conse- 
 cration of Bishop Chase — His life — Founds Kenyon college — Its 
 building — Students — Their missionary excursions — How received 
 — Funds for domestic purposes — Jackson Kemper — Bishop Ho- 
 bart's canon — His labors amongst the Indians — Oneida reserves 
 — Eleazar Williams — His history — The bishop's visit. 
 
 The episcopate of Dr. Hobart fulfilled the promise of his 
 earlier years. It was that of one who had " purchased to 
 himself a good degree" in the lower functions of the minis- 
 try, and now entered with " boldness" and faith on the 
 discharge of the highest. 
 
 Yet his two first years were years of trial and discour- 
 agement. The opposition which had followed his election 
 had raised the troubled waters of angry contention, and 
 they did not suddenly subside. It may be that his ardent 
 spirit rendered such a check needful for one who was thus 
 early raised to the seat of government and power. Assur- 
 edly it was borne meekly, and yielded for himself and many 
 more the good fruits of a disciplined patience. At the close 
 of these two years he had lived down this opposition, and 
 was able to carry out his plans for the improvement of his 
 diocese. These were all aimed in one direction. He de- 
 sired to " stir up the gift of God" which he firmly believed 
 was " in him ;" and to awaken all around to greater zeal 
 and earnestness within the Church. Surrounded as it was 
 with sects, vnth none of those civil distinctions or heredi- 
 
RISE OF CHURCH SOCIETIES. 229 
 
 tary prepossessions which, in the mother country, tend to 
 define its separate form, all depended in America on the 
 vigor of its inner life sufficing for its own development. 
 This induced him, from the first, to direct the zeal of its 
 members to the formation, within their own body, of the 
 necessary instruments for home-education, for Christrau 
 charity, and for missionary enterprise. The Church, he 
 maintained, ought to supply to Churchmen the organs for 
 these several works of love ; and he never shrunk from the 
 responsibility or labor involved in presiding over them. His 
 views on these points met at first with some opposition ; 
 but justice has since been generally done to their far-sighted 
 wisdom. " "VVe award,"* says the leading paper of the Me- 
 thodists in 1835, " to the Episcopalians the priority in the 
 defence of church or denominational, in opposition to na- 
 tional religious societies. "VYe are informed that Bishop 
 Hobart was the first to make a stand. Had others defended 
 this plan with constancy, firmness and discretion, the gene- 
 ral Church of God in this country would have been in a 
 much better state." 
 
 The effect of the system in New- York was evident. It 
 gathered round the Bishop a band of laymen who felt and 
 acted on the truth that they were indeed one body, of a 
 fixed form, and with spiritual powers which the Lord 
 Himself had marked out and imparted. Nowhere was 
 such a principle more requisite than in the disunited society 
 of democratical America ; and here it produced its natural 
 results. The more vigorous life which was awakening 
 was visible on all sides ; one measure of its increase is in- 
 cidentally supplied bv the wider circulation of the Book of 
 Common Prayer. Though in 1815 the tide had already 
 turned, oaly 500 copies were issued from the depository, 
 whilst within two years the sale had risen to 2239. t 
 
 ■ But with this attention to the organic frame-work of 
 the body over which it was his province to preside, the 
 bishop joined a watchful care over the secret fountains of 
 its hidden life. On laity and clergy he pressed, by precept 
 and example, the supreme importance of a truly spiritual 
 
 * Quoted in Dr. M'Vickar's Life, p. 383. 
 t Dr. M'Vickar's Life, p. 387. 
 
SiSO AMERICAN CHXJRCH, 
 
 religion. In answering tlie solicitations of afTection, which 
 would have persuaded him to lessen his own lahors, he 
 revealed the spring of all his conduct. " How," said he, 
 "can I do too much for that compassionate Saviour who 
 has done so much for me."* He reminded his conventionf 
 that but little satisfaction could be gathered " from the in- 
 creasing attachment to their distinctive principles and 
 veneration for their institutions," unless with it were seen 
 "an increase of evangelical piety." His clergy he contin- 
 ually urged " to exert with prudence, fidelity, and zeal, all 
 their talents and attainments in the service of their divine 
 Lord and of the Church which He purchased with His 
 blood," reminding them that "the spirit of the ministry 
 must still be formed in retirement, by study, meditation, 
 and prayer. "-t He cautioned them as plainly against any 
 inclination towards "the gorgeous and unhallowed structure 
 of the papal hierarchy," on the one side, as against " the 
 tumults of schism on the other." He had no shrinking 
 from the title Protestant, and was wholly free from the 
 temper which conl'ounds the maintenance of Church-prin- 
 ciples with a secret inclination towards the Romish com- 
 munion. "God forbid," was his own declaration, §" that 
 I should say aught against the right of private judgment 
 in matters of religion when properly exercised. The doc- 
 trine that every man, being individually responsible to his 
 Maker, and Judge, must, in all those concerns that affect 
 his spiritual and eternal welfare, act according to the dictates 
 of his conscience, is that cardinal principle of the Protestant 
 faith which should be most soundly guarded." And these 
 words came to them from lips they learned to love. He was 
 their friend and their counsellor. To him they turned nat- 
 urally in sorrow, need or difficulty : and they found him 
 always ready to bear gladly the burden which " came upon 
 him daily, the care of all the churches." 
 
 Thus all his visitations told upon them : and with the 
 trees which he loved to plant around the scattered par- 
 sonage, and which ever afterwards spoke to them of their 
 
 * Dr. M'Vickar's Life, p. 568. 
 
 t Address to the Convention, 1814. 
 
 X Dr. M'Vickar'.s Life, p. 339. § Berrian's Memoir, p. 226. 
 
GENERAL PnOGUESS. 231 
 
 bishop's presence and care even for these enter things, 
 there were sowed in many hearts the seeds of" better and 
 more enduring produce. Few came thus into his company 
 without receiving some impression ; all felt his influence ; 
 — from the acute lawyer of the city who watched his 
 public conduct, to the Presbyterian farmer of the back- 
 woods, who declared,* " I at first felt a little afraid of your 
 bishop that you brought to my house ; but I soon got over 
 it, for he is the cleverest man I ever saw in my lite. He 
 is no more of a gentleman than I am." 
 
 Under the rule of such a man we should expect to 
 meet with evident improvement : nor will such hopes be 
 disappointed. The internal progress of the diocese may 
 be marked in the returns of 1835, five years after Bishop 
 Hobart's death. In that year there were reported 262G 
 baptisms, 10,630 communicants, 198 clergymen, 215 
 parishes, and 8 new churches consecrated. The total 
 amount of funds raised for religious objects, besides the 
 salaries of clergymen, amounted to 13,500/. The report 
 of two years later shows a still continuing progress. The 
 clergy then were 239, and 55 were candidates for holy 
 orders; the parish churches had increased to 232, and 16 
 new consecrations had marked the past year ; whilst the 
 fund for the support of the Episcopate had risen to 22,890/., 
 a sum which made it thenceforth possible to set the bishop 
 free from any direct pastoral charge. t 
 
 By a blessed law of the new kingdom, this internal 
 vigor could not wholly spend itself within ; it must bear 
 some good fruit on every side ; the welling fountain must 
 water other lands ; and the history of the whole Church 
 bears many marks of the change we have been tracing. 
 It may be discerned in all directions. There was a con- 
 tinual increase in the numbers of the Episcopate: in 1812 
 Dr. Dehon, one of the purest and gentlest spirits ever sepa- 
 rated to that work, was consecrated Bishop of South Caro- 
 lina : in 1814, as we have seen, after a vacancy of two 
 years, Virginia found in the consecration of Bishop Richard 
 Moore the first means of her spiritual revival, and the dis- 
 
 * Dr. M'Vickar's Life, p. 438. f Caswall's America, p. 151, 
 
232 AMERICAN CHURCtt. 
 
 puted see of Maryland was filled by Dr. Kemp ; wllllst irl 
 that year the extension of the Episcopate into the wide 
 regions of the west first engaged the care of the general 
 convention. But thi'ee years before, there had been, be- 
 sides Bishop Provoost retired, and Bishop Moore disabled 
 from infirmity, only six acting bishops for the sees of Con- 
 necticut, Pennsylvania, New- York, Virginia, Maryland, 
 and the Eastern diocese. Within these sees there were, in 
 Connecticut thirty clergy, twenty in Pennsylvania, in 
 New-York forty-four, in Vii'ginia fifty, five in Maryland, 
 and in the Eastern diocese* fifteen : in all, one hundred 
 and ninety-four. t But since this time a change had passed 
 over the body : its members had begun to understand their 
 own position ; higher and more intelligible ground was oc- 
 cupied ; their claim to the true succession frem the Apos- 
 tles of the Lord, and the need of such a Avarrant for His 
 ministers, had been heard, discussed, and remained unre- 
 futed in that land of sects ; the hearts of many turned to- 
 wards it from the confusion and weariness of endless self- 
 multiplying division ; its clergy now numbered two hundred 
 and forty, and were so rapidly increasing that they were 
 quadrupled within the next twenty-four years ; the vacant 
 seats of the bishops were filled vip. In 1815 New Jersey 
 received in Dr. Croes her first spiritual head ; in 1818 Dr. 
 N. Bowen succeeded Bishop Dehon, who had been already 
 taken to his rest ; and in the following year Dr. Browneli 
 supplied the vacancy of Bishop Jarvis ; whilst the first 
 mitre of " the West" was placed upon the manly and en- 
 during brow of Philander Chase. 
 
 The life of this prelate brings under our notice a pecu- 
 liar feature of the Church in America. In the large towns 
 and settled districts of the north and east its growth and 
 increase cannot difi^er widely from that which we see 
 amongst ourselves, — it is opposed by the same diflficulties 
 — it has to subdue them with the same arms. But in the 
 wide wilderness which stretches far behind the settled dis- 
 tricts of America, it pursues its work of mercy under new 
 
 * Composed of Massachusetts, Mabe, Rhode Island, Vermont, and 
 "New Hampshire. 
 
 t Caswall's America, p. 186, 
 
THE WESTERN WILDERNESS, 233 
 
 and pecular conditions. These we must survey more 
 closely, or in this louj^-settled country we shall never 
 understand how little, without constant domestic missions, 
 the cause of Christ can spread abroad throughout that 
 land. 
 
 At this time* in America the tide of civilized life had 
 flowed but a very little Avestward. Along the sea-coast and 
 near the mouths of the great rivers the white men had 
 long been settled, great cities had grown up, busy multi- 
 tudes thronged the streets, every acre was possessed and 
 cultivated, and there was little left to show that two cen- 
 turies before, large forests, where the axe had never rung, 
 had darkened all this coast, amidst the glades of which 
 the cunning Indian hunter might be seen stealthily pursu- 
 ing his game. But on leaving the sea-board the scene 
 soon changed ; the settlers became fewer and fewer ; after 
 a time even the backwood farmer disappeared ; the roads 
 abruptly ended ; the traveller got amongst clearings, where 
 the axe had but just begun its work ; and Avhere the stumps 
 of the giants of the forest still stood in their native soil, 
 though mutilated by the strong arm which had felled their 
 glory, or charred by the fire which had been brought in aid 
 of man for their destruction. Here was found the squatter 
 and his family, who had come forth from civilised society, 
 taken up their abode in this far wilderness, cleared the tim- 
 ber, acquired the soil by their own labor, built their log 
 hut, and now with the rifle, which they well knew how to 
 use, provided themselves with food, and maintained against 
 all intruders their title to their " clearing." Beyond these 
 again lay the great forest, with its uniform dark frowning 
 front, its carpet of leaves, its endless shadows, its game, 
 and its red hunters. 
 
 In the ranks of those who made up this advanced guard 
 
 * This account is mainly taken from the interesting work of the 
 Rev. Henry Caswall, M. A., by birth an Englishman, and now a 
 curate in the English diocese of S;ilisbury,but lately rector of Christ 
 Church, Madison, Indiana, and some time professor in the theological 
 seminary of the diocese of Kentucky, — to whose published volume, 
 and private assistance, the author begs, once for all, to record here 
 his deep obligations. 
 
234 , AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 of civilized society were persons of every condition and 
 character. Amongst them were some who found it conve- 
 nient to fly from the punishment threatened by the laws 
 which they had broken ; others who had contracted debts, 
 from the liability of which they were hopeless of otherwise 
 escaping- ; whilst the number was completed by men of en- 
 terprising spirits or of restless tempers, who found or ex- 
 pected to find in the west an easier provision for themselves 
 and their families than had fallen to their lot amongst the 
 contentions and competitions of more populous districts. 
 This tide was ever rising, and the black line of the forest 
 receded farther and farther as it advanced. The squatter 
 found himself disturbed by neighbors, his wild independence 
 was straitened, and his rifle yielded less for his support ; he 
 began to crave after the forest stillness ; and having sold 
 his clearing to some farmer, who, having a little more capi- 
 tal and a little less enterprise, was willing to enter into the 
 fruit of his labors, he shouldered his axe anew and cast 
 himself upon the pathless forest. Thus year by year, and 
 almost day by day, the stream of population flowed on ; 
 the stragglers multiplied, log huts grew into villages, and be- 
 fore the charred stumps were rotted in the ground, streets 
 and towns had grown up round them, and man with all 
 the multitude of his inventions was there. But amongst 
 those many inventions Christianity was too often forgotten. 
 The mass of such men brought little of it with them, and 
 that little was soon lost. No existing ministry pressed upon 
 them the truths of the unseen world ; no village-bells re- 
 minded them of worship and of praise ; no ancient spire 
 pointed with its silent finger towards the heaven above 
 them. There was for the most part amongst them little 
 sense of the needs of a spiritual life : even if the settler were 
 not one who in the midst of the means of jjrace had re- * 
 sisted God's goodness and hardened his own heart, yet this 
 careless outward life pressed always upon him. It was 
 all too natural that the making provision for the other life 
 should be postponed until a time of more leisure or greater 
 competence. Thus the last remaining impress of Chris- 
 tianity was worn off", and the children trained in such 
 scenes grew up as heathens, with no faith in Christ or fear 
 
SAMUEL GUNN. 235 
 
 of God — unbaptised at birth, and unnurtured from the 
 cradle. Or if there still lingered on amongst these wild 
 men some resemblance of Chrislianity, or if yearnings after 
 better things sprung up within their hearts, still the Church 
 was not amongst them to seize on and turn to lasting profit 
 the precious oppovtimity. Sacraments they had none ; 
 ministers of God, witnesses for Christ, how should these be 
 found in these far wilds ? They were not : and so the rude 
 settler must become his own priest ; and this, which \\'as 
 far the best state of things, nourished the seeds of indepen- 
 dence ; and the religion which sprung up was as wlien 
 men cast seeds into uncultivated lands, — they grow up, but 
 degenerate, and the ears become thinner, and the fruit be- 
 comes scantier, until its first type is almost lost, and it 
 can scarcely be discerned from one of the wild plants around 
 it. 
 
 It was in looking on these evils, which were ripening in 
 the western parts of his own diocese of New- York, that the 
 heart of Bishop Hobart was stirred up, and he pressed upon 
 the Church the need of sending forth as of old her army of 
 missionary teachers, who should plant in these young lands, 
 and minister amongst these growing tribes, the knowledge 
 of Christ and the sacraments of His grace. His words were 
 heard — the work was undertaken — and it prospered in their 
 hands. Various were the instruments employed, as God bless- 
 ed the feeble beginning ; but the work was soon proceeding. 
 The pioneer of these labors was often the humble lay 
 reader, who prepared the way lor the feet of Christ's am- 
 bassadors. 
 
 In thelile of such a laborer Ave shall trace the progress 
 of the lertilising stream. Sauuiol G unn* was one of these. 
 He was born m Connecticut in 17G3, and baptised by one 
 of the missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in Foreign Parts. His early youth was uuharm- 
 ed by the dangers and temptations of the war of indepen- 
 dence, and he was amongst the first who presented them- 
 selves to receive from Bishop Seabury the blessing of con- 
 firniation. His blameless character and holy lile recom- 
 
 * See Caswall's America and American Church. 
 
236 
 
 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 mended him to the notice of the good hishop, who watched 
 withapostoUc zeal over the risings of chastened piety within 
 his infant diocese ; and as the parish in which he was set- 
 tled was without a clergyman, Samuel Gunn was appoint- 
 ed lay reader to a small band of devout Christians who 
 met there to worship God according to the order of the 
 Church liturgy. Now and then a clergyman visited the 
 district, and administered amongst them the especial rites 
 of our religion ; but for the most part, during ten or twelve 
 years, they depended chiefly on Samuel Gunn. 
 
 At the end of this period, his family having increased, 
 and the soil of Connecticut, naturally somewhat barren,' 
 and now much exhausted, not aflbrding them the means 
 of hving, he determined to move westward. He settled in 
 the outskirts of the state of New- York, amidst a population 
 made up of moving emigrants. Amongst them he resum- 
 ed his office of lay reader, until he had gathered together 
 so many that they formed themselves into a parish, and 
 obtained the ministrations of a settled clergyman. 
 
 For twelve years he was now stationary ; but in the 
 autumn of 1805, finding difficulties gather round him, he 
 determined on a new emigration ; and after paying every 
 debt he had contracted, set ofl' again with all belonging to 
 him for the farther west. As he journeyed, one °of°the 
 sorrows of the early settler fell on him ; he lost a child by 
 a sudden and violent death, and had himself to dig its 
 grave and leave in the silence of the leafy forest the rnoul- 
 dering dust which should one day hear the voice of the Son 
 of God, and rise like the long-buried seed out of its place 
 to light and life. In the month of November he reached 
 the banks of the Ohio river, then a wild and comparatively 
 unvisited stream ; and embarking on a sort of raft-boat, he 
 floated with his family and goods down the stream until 
 he came to the neighborhood of a small settlement of ten 
 or twelve houses, which seemed suited to his purpose. 
 
 Here he settled ; and the voice of prayer and praise in 
 the language of the liturgy was soon afterwards heard on 
 the banlvs of the Ohio. For years his own family formed 
 all his congregation ; but at length a band was gathered 
 out of the village of Portsmouth, who united with him in 
 
SAMUEL GUNN. 237 
 
 his holy worship. In the course of the year 1819, he 
 heard that the state in which he was settled (Ohio) had 
 been regularly formed into a diocese, and that a bishop 
 had been elected and consecrated. The heart of the pious 
 Churchman was filled with hope and joy at this announce- 
 ment ; and these feelings M'ere soon afterwards increased 
 by his learning that his new bishop was no stranger to him, 
 but one whom as a missionary he had frequently received 
 under his humble roof Avhilst he acted as lay reader in the 
 western wilds of New- York. As soon as Gunn knew that 
 he was in a regularly /formed diocese, he desired to put 
 himself under the direction of its head ; and he wrote ac- 
 cordingly to his bisliop, announcing the state of things in 
 his village of Portsmouth, and pointing out the blessings 
 which he thought would flow from a visit on the part of 
 their chief shepherd. For a time the bishop could not 
 himself act upon this call ; but he sent at once a clergyman 
 to refresh AA'ith the consolations of the Gospel those spirits 
 which were fainting in the desert. Li about a month the 
 bishop himself arrived. The ground was not fully preoc- 
 cupied by any existing sect ; Guim's labors had removed 
 some prejudice, and excited some attention, and curiosity 
 as well as better feelings were at work ; so that when the 
 court-house of the village was made ready for the bishop's 
 use, numbers flocked to hear him. His simple earnest 
 piety deeply impressed the congregation ; and he did not 
 leave the village until he had organised a parish, of which 
 Gvum was elected senior warden, and to which, under the 
 bishop's authority, he ministered as lay reader until it was 
 possible to send a clergyman amongst them. His labors 
 were assisted by the discovery of a set of Prayer-books in 
 the village "store." These, which had long slept as im- 
 saleable commodities, were now in such request, that (mo- 
 ney-payments bemg rare in those back settlements) as 
 many as twenty bushels of corn were sometimes given for 
 a single copy. 
 
 For three years Gunn kept together the congregation 
 by these simple services, though they were years of trial 
 and rebuke. Disease, which raged in the village, tliinned 
 continually the little flock; and when, in 1823, he pro- 
 
238 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 cured once a mouth the services of a clergymau, who came 
 fifty miles to minister amongst them, they were dwindled 
 down so loAV as often to excite the ridicule of the profane. 
 But few as they were, the seed of life was amongst them, and 
 it only needed the fostering presence of the Church's ordin- 
 ances to spring up and be seen openly. In 1831 they set 
 apart and fitted up a room in which to worship God accord- 
 ing to the manner of their fathem; and in this year the aged 
 lay reader rejoiced to hand over his work to an ordained 
 minister,*' who was at length settled amongst them. 
 
 But all the good man's work was not yet done. He 
 had to show that he could suffer patiently, as well as labor 
 zealously. Within a few weeks of yielding up his charge, 
 a violent accident, which at first threatened his life, de- 
 prived him of the sight of one eye, and enfeebled his health 
 ever afterwards. One service more was left him to per- 
 form. In the winter following his accident he called to- 
 gether his neighbors and friends, and earnestly urged them 
 to erect a church in which they might together worship 
 God. He ended his address by saying ; " You know, my 
 friends, that I am not rich, and that twice I have lost my 
 all. Yet Providence has given me enough, and my pro- 
 perty is noAV worth a little more than two thousand dollars ; 
 of this I will give one-third towards the erection of the 
 proposed ediiiee, on condition that you will contribute the 
 remainder of the necessary amount." 
 
 It was well for him, as for David of old, that " itAvas 
 in his heart to build a house for the Lord his God ;" but 
 the good man lived not to worship in it, or even to lay its 
 corner-stone. Before that time came, his warfare was 
 accomplished, and he was received by the Master whom 
 he haa so long and so faithfully served into the bright and 
 blessed rest of Paradise. 
 
 Such are the labors of the humbler pioneers of the 
 Church in America ; and the life of the bishop who thus 
 followed one of them into the wilderness will illustrate that 
 of her missionary clergy. Dr. Philander Chase, then just 
 
 * The Rev. H. Caswall, from -whose work this whole account is 
 taken. 
 
EARLY LIFE OP PHILANDER CHASE. 239 
 
 appointed Bishop of Ohio, was born in December 1775,* 
 on the high banks of Connecticut river, a few miles north 
 of Charlostown, which was then the extreme verge of the 
 settled country. The American Ibunder of his race, Aquila 
 Chase, a native of Cornwall hi England, settled with his 
 wile and family, in the seventeenth century, at Newbury 
 in Ma.«sachusetts. Like all their neighbors, they were In- 
 dependent Congregationalists, and like very many of them, 
 they were truly right-minded godly people. To their de- 
 scendants after them they handed on their religious creed 
 and their personal piety ;t and Philander Chase was born 
 of parents who had first ventured amidst the shadows of 
 the mighty forest, supported only by their own stout hearts, 
 and an unshaken confidence in their covenant God. The 
 youngest of fourteen children, most of whom had left their 
 lather's tent in the forest for the various walks of busy life, 
 Philander's early aspirations pointed to the patriarchal life, 
 of which the grey-haired man before him was so encourag- 
 ing an instance. He would close that father's eyes, and 
 inherit the home-farm his hands had formed out of the 
 forest. 
 
 But God had destined him for greater things ; and 
 severe sutierings, first from a maimed and then from a 
 broken limb, were His messengers of good to the young 
 farmer. During his son's long confinement the old man 
 watched by his sleepless bed, and read to him the writing 
 of the hand wliich had thus come forth lor him upon the 
 wall ; " By these suilerings God was calhng to Himself His 
 destined servant ; college life and the service of the minis- 
 try were plainly his appointed sphere." 
 
 To college accordingly he went ; and falling in there 
 
 * Reminiscences of Bi.shop Chase, by himself, passim. 
 
 f The family -records give a passing picture of Puritan life amongst 
 the pilgrims of Massachusetts, in reconhng that Capl. Aquila Chase, 
 a leading man amongst them, was brought to trial because on his 
 reaching home, from a long voyage, on Sunday morning, his wife 
 had gathered and dressed her first dish of green peas to welcouje 
 him. It was in vain tliat lie pleaded the danger of scurvy and ne- 
 cessities of health ; the utmost favor he received was, to escape the 
 infliction of "forty -stripes-save -one" by the payment of a heavy 
 fine. 
 
240 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 with the Common Prayer-Book, he was won over by its 
 holy tone, and its exhibition of " the authenticated claims"* 
 of the Episcopal ministry to an apostolic commission ; and 
 he returned to the farm upon the Connecticut, to lead back 
 his aged father into the Church from which he and his 
 had been so long estranged. By their own hands and with 
 entire harmony of feeling, the meeting-house, where his 
 father and his grandfather had officiated as congregational 
 deacons, was pulled down, and a church erected in its 
 stead. Here they welcomed the occasional visits of dis- 
 tant clergy ; and here, in their absence, and under their 
 direction. Philander Chase read, as a layman, prayers and 
 sermons. 
 
 He was now twenty years of age, and his heart was 
 set upon the labors of the ministry. But how to obtainordi- 
 nation he knew not. No theological seminaries then shel- 
 tered early piety, and fostered such pious resolutions ; no 
 bishop was at hand to direct and crown his labors. With 
 trembling steps, and all the bashfulness of youth, he set 
 out for Albany to obtain help and guidance. " A rebufl' 
 would have turned his face another way." 
 
 But he met with no such discouragement. He reached 
 Albany, and was directed to the house of the " English 
 dominie." " Is this the Rev. Mr. Ellison's ?" he asked, 
 as the top of a Dutch-built door was opened by a portly 
 gentleman in black, with prominent and piercing eyes, and 
 powdered hair. Having announced his name and errand, 
 he was greeted with a " God bless you, come in I" which 
 fixed his lot for life. After almost three years of study and 
 preparation, he was ordained deacon, in May 1798, by 
 Bishop Provoost of New-York. 
 
 His first sphere of labor was in the western parts of 
 the diocese of New- York. Here he was employed as a 
 domestic missionary upon the outskirts of civilized life. 
 Over that district, where within a few years afterwards 
 large and prosperous towns abounded, the mighty forest 
 then stretched, and its only inhabitants were the emigrant 
 villagers who Merc busy in settling these outposts of so- 
 
 * Bishop Cbase's Reminiscences. 
 
FIRST LABORS OF PHILANDER CHASE. 241 
 
 ciety. Amongst them the young evangelist labored with 
 his whole heart, thinking nothing of the many toils and 
 privations which such a mode of lite entailed. AVith these 
 he was soon familiar. As he travelled to his own sphere 
 of labor, he fell in with a brother missionary, afterwards 
 known and highly honored. He was living in "a cabin 
 built of unhewn logs, with scarcely a pane of glass to let 
 in hffht sufficient to read his Bible ; and even this was 
 not his own, nor long allowed for his use." Chase arrived 
 at the moment of such a dispossession, and assisted him to 
 carry his articles of crockery to a new abode, " holding one 
 handle of the basket as they walked the road, talkuig of 
 the things pertaining to the kingdom of God," whilst they 
 bore all his substance into the little one-roomed cabin, the 
 rude door of which hung creaking on its wooden hinges. 
 This man was " the founder of the Church in the Otsego 
 country :" and it was at the cost of such self-denial that 
 the Gospel was planted in the west. 
 
 Into these labors Chase entered heartily ; and as his 
 work was greatly blessed by God, he had the joy of seeing 
 several flourishing congregations gathered by his hands 
 into settled parishes. In this neighborhood he remained 
 some years, until the need of a milder climate for his wife 
 sent him southward, and, at the advice of his bishop, he 
 settled at New Orleans, near the delta of the Mississippi 
 river. Here, where no minister of the reformed com- 
 munion had yet appeared, he Ibrnied another parish ; and, 
 after six years' labor, returned to New England, and was, 
 for six more, rector of a church at Hartford in Connecticut. 
 In this parish he was greatly beloved : but, amidst all the 
 enjoyments of civilized society, his thoughts would often 
 wander to the desolate districts of the West ; to the lonely 
 " clearing," and to the growing villages where the name 
 of Christ was daily more and more forgotten ; he thought 
 upon his own labors in time past until his heart yearned 
 to be again employed in that higli and holy enterprise ; and 
 accordingly, hi IS 17, he set out once more upon his mis- 
 sionary work. 
 
 Since the days of his former labors in the back districts 
 of New-York, the mighty tide of civilized life had swept 
 11 
 
242 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 on far to the west. His former desolate stations were now 
 populous towns, and the early seed which he had scattered 
 in the waste had ripened into a harvest ; for through his 
 labors, the institutions and influence of Christianity had 
 healed the spring-head of social life amongst the earliest 
 settlers before they had swelled into an irreligious multi- 
 tude. 
 
 As he retraced his steps over his old sphere of duty, 
 he marked the changes, which he thus records : — " I re- 
 member these busy villages one dreary salt marsh ; except 
 two or three cabins for boiling salt — most unsightly and 
 uncomfortable, because only tenanted in winter — there 
 were no appearances of civilized men."* " Where," he 
 asked of one of his old flock, " was the cabin in which I 
 baptised your family ?" " I will show you," said he, taking 
 his hat and a great key; " but we must stop at the church 
 as we go along." And so they did. There it stood where 
 the tall tree so lately occupied the ground. It was a beau- 
 tiful, well-finished edifice. " This is the tree Avhich you 
 planted; may it bear fruit acceptable to the heavenly 
 Husbandman I" The site of the old cabin was found occu- 
 pied by the "bustle of business; coaches passing, ware- 
 houses on each side lofty and well supplied, streets paved, 
 and sidewalks flagged." Such is the rapid upgrowth of 
 civilized life in the ancient domain of the western forest. 
 
 To the difficulties and the blessing of planting the 
 Church in the waste, the heart of Chase was still drawn, 
 and he sought, therefore, his new field of labor in yet re- 
 moter districts. He passed on to the state of Ohio, where 
 the straggling villages of the distant settler were beginning 
 to stud the long unbroken forest. All his soul was in his 
 work, and again he was greatly prospered in it. One by 
 one other clergymen came to his aid ; parishes were fonned ; 
 and in the very year after his coming amongst them, the 
 new diocese of Ohio was organized. At its second diocesan 
 convention, he who had brought to them the message of 
 salvation was, by the votes of both laity and clergy, elected 
 as their bishop. In February 1819 he was consecrated in 
 
 * Bishop Chase's Reminiscencea, vol. i. p. 53, 
 
LABORS OF BISHOP CHASE. 243 
 
 the town of Philadelphia by the good old Bishop White, 
 assisted by Bishops Hobart, Kemp, and Croes, and entered 
 directly on his work. Anxiously did the new bishop watch 
 over his rising diocese ; he was still in heart what he had 
 ever been ; and though now a ruler of Christ's Church, he 
 was, as of old, a devoted missionary, constantly engaged 
 in seeking to carry on, in every direction, the work in which 
 he had so diligently labored. 
 
 In eflecting this he spared himself no exertion. His 
 diocesan labors involved " vast distances of journey ings on 
 horseback, under the burning sun and pelting rain, through 
 the mud and amid the beech-roots, over log bridges and 
 through swollen streams." It was no w^onder that he 
 reached the end of his circuit of " 1279 miles on horseback 
 with his constitution impaired and his voice almost gone."* 
 Fresh cares met him at the threshold of his home. " Three 
 parishes were to be supplied," (lay readers being often his 
 only substitute during his necessary absence,) " two of them 
 nearly fifteen miles distant from his residence." In spite 
 of close economy, there was within doors "but a poor pros- 
 pect for the coming winter ;" with a sickly w^ife, and this 
 press of Episcopal and pastoral care, " there was not a 
 dollar left, after satisfying the hired man for the past, 
 wherewithal to engage him for the future ; and as for the 
 makhig promises when there was no prospect of making 
 payment, such had ever been regarded as a sin. The hired 
 man was then, from a principle of duty, discharged. The 
 result w-as inevitable ;" the bishop " must do what the 
 man would, if retained, have done ; i. e. thrash the grain, 
 haul and cut the wood, build the fires, and feed the stock." 
 
 With such anxieties would mingle doubts whether 
 he had done rightly in accepting the arduous trust of 
 such an episcopate. But these dark clouds seldom set- 
 tled on his mind. They are commonly dispersed by ac- 
 tive exertion, and Bishop Chase was ahyays active, 
 Wherever an opening appeared, he was ready to attend, to 
 show the fair front of the Church's goodly order, and plant 
 the standard of his ^Master ; and for this work his zeal and 
 earnestness fitted him remarkably. 
 
 • Bishop Chase's Reminiscences, p. 192. 
 
244 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 His journey, at the call of Samuel Gumi, is an exam- 
 ple of his labors ; for such calls were continually arising. 
 In these cases the ground was happily prepared, and the 
 bishop's main work was to foster the weak beginnings of the 
 apostolical communion, and to provide pastors for its min- 
 istry. But he did not confine himself to these more favor- 
 ed spots ; all through his diocese, wherever the flow of civi- 
 lised life carried the settler from the means of grace, there 
 was turned the attention of the bishop, and there, if it was 
 possible, was soon seen his fatherly presence. In the year 
 1820 these objects took him on horseback through his dio- 
 cese (carriage-roads not having yet been made), a distance 
 of almost 1300 miles. 
 
 But all his personal energy could not supply the want 
 of instruments. To " ordain elders in every district" was 
 his earnest desire. To commit the flock to a regular min- 
 istry, who should daily cement and carry on to perfectness 
 the goodly building, the foundations of which he, as a wise 
 master-builder, had laid, — this was the longing of Bishop 
 Chase's heart. The want was pressing and weighed like 
 a heavy burden on his soul. He saw " the whole com- 
 munity of those western settlements sinking fast in igno- 
 rance and its never-failing attendants, vice and fanaticism. 
 " Our own Church," he declares, " is like a discomfited 
 army seeking for strange food in forbidden fields, or sitting 
 in solitary groups by tlie way-side fainling, famishing, and 
 dying. . , . , No missionaries make their appearance. . . 
 Those M'ho transiently visit us pass like meteors, leaving 
 behind little or no salutary etiect."* Fixed and settled 
 pastors were what the people required. 
 
 But the work of the ministry amongst the wild and 
 straggling settlers of the West required peculiar gifts and 
 habits. Clergy Avho had been accustomed to labor in moi'e 
 civilised districts were in a great measure unfitted ior the 
 charge ; and the bishop saw, therefore, the necessity of 
 founding a college in his own diocese to prepare proper in- 
 struments for this peculiar service. He laid his plans be- 
 fore his diocesan convention, and with their concurrence 
 
 * Reminiscences. 
 
BISHOP chase's college. 245 
 
 resolved to visit England, and collect subscriptions for the 
 endowment of his college. In virging his cause here, he 
 had not only the general claim of spiritual relationship to 
 wliich the Church of the mother country has ever gladly 
 answered, but a further title to assistance in the fact, that 
 about one-third of all the population of his diocese Avere 
 British emigrants. DilTiculties of various kinds opposed his 
 resolution. He left behind him a dying son ; his resources 
 would not prudently warrant the excursion ; and the bulk 
 of Churchmen east of the Alleghany mountains discouraged, 
 whilst some opeidy opposed, his undertaking. All this 
 made his heart ache, but it could not turn back his steps. 
 After appointing a day for fasting and prayer in his own 
 diocese, and seeking the intercession of the Church through- 
 out the west, he sailed for England in October 1823; and 
 there, after bravely making head for a season against a re- 
 petition of the same difficulties which had often met him 
 in America, he collected more than six thousand pounds 
 for his noble object. This enabled him, on his return, to 
 purchase 8000 acres of good land, and begin to build a col- 
 lege and village, to which, in remembrance of two of his 
 most active friends in England, he gave respectively the 
 names of Kenyon and Gambler. 
 
 In erecting these all the bishop's energj' of character was 
 seen. Not content with undertaking the office of post-master, 
 that he might have the privilege of franking the multitude 
 of letters which his enterprise required him to circulate, he 
 acted as chief builder also. " He rises,"* says his friend 
 and coadjutor, " at three every morning, and is engaged 
 tdl night in superintending the workmen on the college 
 buildings." The results "were commensurate with these 
 exertions. The college M'as soon in full operation. " "With- 
 in two years from the time when the lowest story was yet 
 incomplete, and tall trees covered the lace of the ground, 
 whilst the students occupied temporary wooden houses, in 
 which the frost of winter and the heat of summer alter- 
 nately predominated, and the laborious bishop inhabited a 
 cabin of rough logs, tlie interstices of which were filled with 
 
 * America and the American Church, p. 26. 
 
246 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 clay, — ^the massive stone walls of the college, four feet thick 
 and four stories in height, lifted themselves almost to the 
 elevation of the surrounding woods, and a tall steeple indi- 
 cated its situation to the distant wanderer." Around it 
 also all was changed. The clearing had proceeded rapidly ; 
 " several hundred acres of rich land supplied grain in abun- 
 dance, and pasture for numerous cattle. A printer inhab- 
 ited the bishop's former domicile, and published a religious 
 newspaper, denominated the ' Gambler Obsei'ver ;' while the 
 students were in part 2:>rovided with commodious dwellings, 
 and in part supplied with lodgings in the college beneath 
 the same roof with the bishop and the pi'ofessors." 
 
 Of these students, many were destined for the different 
 walks of ordinary life ; but a considerable number also 
 were here trained, under the bishop's eye, for the peculiar 
 services of a far-western clergyman. To these they were 
 here accustomed even during the time of their college life ; 
 and they therefore entered upon the discharge of their 
 ministry with the habits already formed which they after- 
 wards needed. They maintained Sunday-schools, and in 
 other ways supplied the religious wants of the settlers 
 within a circuit of some miles around the college. We 
 may follow one of them* in his accustomed labors. "We 
 rise early (on a summer morning), and sally forth with a 
 few books and some frugal provision for the day. We pro- 
 ceed about half a mile through the noble aboriginal forest, 
 the tall and straight trees appearing like pillars in a vast 
 Gothic cathedral. The timber consists of oak, hickoiy, 
 sugar-maple, sycamore, walnut, poplar, and chesnut, and 
 the wild vine hangs from the branches in gracelul festoons. 
 Occasionally we hear the song of birds, but less frequently 
 than in England. Generally deep silence prevails, and 
 prepares the mind lor serious contemplation. AVe soon 
 arrive at a small clearing, where a cabin built of rough 
 logs indicates the residence of a family. Around the cabin 
 are several acres upon which gigantic ti'ees are yet sta)id- 
 ing, but perfectly deadened by the operation called 'gird- 
 ling.' Their bark has chiefly fallen off, and the gaunt 
 
 *America and the American Church, p. 35, &c. 
 
KENVON COLLEGE STUDENTS. , 247 
 
 white limbs appear dreary, thouj^h majestic in decay. 
 Upon the abundant grass Avhich has sprung up since the 
 rays of the sun were admitted to the soil, a number of 
 cattle are feeding, and the tinkling of their bells is almost 
 the only sound which strikes the ear. We climb over the 
 fence of split rails piled in a zigzag form, cross the pasture, 
 and are again in the deep forest. The surface of the ground 
 is of an undulating character, while our pathway carries 
 us by a log-hut surrounded by a small clearing. After an 
 liour we arrive at a rudely constructed saw-mill erected on 
 a small stream of water. The miller is seated at his cabin- 
 door in his Sunday clothes, and is readuig a religious book 
 which we have lent him before. We now talk to him ; 
 his interest in the Church is growing, and he offers us his 
 horse for our future expeditions ; we accept it, and proceed 
 with its assistance on our course. After another hour we 
 reach a village of log-cottages, at the end of which is a 
 schoolroom, around which a temporary arbor is constructed, 
 covered with fresh boughs. In this the children of the 
 neighbors soon gather round us, and with them often come 
 their friends and parents. When a goodly company is 
 thus assembled, a hymn is given out and sung ; then all 
 kneel for prayer, and a large portion of the Church-service 
 is repeated from memory, from a tender regard to the pre- 
 judices of many who, until they have learned a better 
 lesson, would turn away if they were told that they listened 
 to the Church's voice. Then, under the sanction of the 
 bishop, a few words of exhortation are added where the 
 student is a candidate for holy orders. We then instruct 
 the children, and, having finished this, set out upon our 
 journey homeward." 
 
 The reception of these messengers of peace was widely 
 various. In all cases, indeed, they appear to have received 
 from the settlers that hospitality which is the uniform ac- 
 companiment of imperfect civilization. But while they 
 were Avelcomed by some as spiritual guides, by others they 
 and their objects were looked at witli the most watchful 
 suspicion. Thus one backwood farmer received gladly the 
 wandering students, and lavished upon their reception aU. 
 the stores of his rude hospitality ; but when he found that 
 
248 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 tliey were inJaabitants of Gambler, and emissaries of Ken- 
 yon College, liis countenance fell, and, with the sincerity 
 of a backwood freeman, he at once expressed his apprehen- 
 sions of such visitants.^ " I have fought the British," he 
 told them, " in the revolutionary war, and I haA'^e again 
 encountered them in the last war, and I know something 
 of their character. I know that they would not contribute 
 so many thousand pounds to build a college in Ohio with- 
 out soine sinister object. I am, therefore, convinced that 
 Bishop Chase is an agent employed by them to introduce 
 British domination here. The college is, in fact, a fortress ; 
 all you students are British soldiers in disguise ; and "v^^hen 
 you think you have the opportunity, you will throw off the 
 mask and proclaim the King of England." No explana- 
 tion or assurance could dispel the scruples of the old man, 
 who was a Calvinistic Anabaptist in religion, and proba- 
 bly a fiery democrat in politics. 
 
 At other times, this is the narrative of their reception : 
 " We have scarcely left the village, when a blacksmith 
 runs after us and requests us to stop. He tells us that he 
 has felt deeply interested in the services, that he desires 
 more information, and that he wishes us always to dine 
 with him on Sundays in future. We accordingly retvirn to 
 his cabin ; and his wife sets before us a plentiful repast of 
 chickens, potatoes, hot bread, apple-pies, and milk. After 
 some profitable conversation we depart, and at about three 
 o'clock arrive at the miller's house, almost overcome by 
 the excessive heat. When we have somewhat recovered 
 from our fatigue, we proceed to a spot on the banks of the 
 stream where the grass is smooth and the thick foliage 
 produces a comparative coolness. Here we find about one 
 hundred persons collected in the hope of receiving from us 
 some religious instruction. We conduct the service much 
 in the same way as in the morning. The effect of the 
 singing in the open air is striking and peculiar ; and the 
 prayers of our liturgy are no less sublime in the forests of 
 Ohio than in the consecrated and time-honored mhisters 
 of York or Canterbury."! 
 
 * Caswall's America and the American Church, p. 45. 
 •)• America and the American Church, p. S8. 
 
KEXYON COLLEGE STXTDEXTS. 249 
 
 In such natural sanctuaries are sometimes celebrated 
 all the rites of our most holy faith. One such in Delaware 
 County, Ohio, is thus described by an eye-witness : " The 
 place of worship was a beautiful orchard, where the 
 abundant blossoms of the apple and the peach filled the 
 air with their delicious odor. A table for the Communion 
 was placed on the green grass, and covered with a cloth 
 of snowy whiteness. Adjoining the rustic altar, a little 
 stand was erected for the clergyman, and a number of 
 benches were provided for the congregation. A large 
 number attended, and behaved with the strictest propriety. 
 Besides the service for the day, baptism was administered 
 by the missionary to three or four adults, a stirring extem- 
 pore sermon was delivered, and the Lord's Supper comple- 
 ted the solemnities."* 
 
 But to return to our Kenyon College ^•students, whom 
 we must follow home : " The service concluded, we retm-n 
 on foot ; and as we approach the college with weary steps, 
 the fire-flies glisten in the increasing darkness. AYe arrive 
 at our rooms fatigued in body, but refreshed in mind, and 
 encouraged to new eflbrts." 
 
 By such exertions as these the Church was widely 
 spread throughout the "West. From them the sound of the 
 Gospel reached the settler's family ; by them, under God's 
 blessing, was formed first the struggling parish, and after- 
 wards the ill-endowed but laborious diocese, extending over 
 its fifty thousand square miles, and carrying into the waste 
 the germ of civilization and of order. 
 
 The want of funds proved the great hindrance to these 
 domestic missions. Years must commonly pass before the 
 spiritual laborer saw gathered round him a flock sufficient 
 to maintain him in his work. This, therefore, was one' 
 gi'eat demand of Christian charity, and eflbrts were made 
 in various places to respond to it. Thus in Philadelphia, 
 as early as 1812, there was a movement in this direction, 
 begun by the zeal and earnestness of Jackson Kemper, then 
 a deacon there. In New- York also, which was soon to be 
 the centre of the Christian charity of .North America, 
 
 * America and the American Church, p. 286. 
 11* 
 
250 AMERICAN CHURCH, 
 
 Bishop Hobart took, in 1813, an important step in the 
 same cause. He proposed and carried through a canon 
 which made it imperative on every congregation in the 
 diocese once a year to collect funds for this specific object. 
 This was the beginning of great things. The cause grew 
 under his hand, and the noble aspect it assumed a few 
 years later may be traced to this as its beginning. 
 
 But this was not the only species of domestic missions 
 which engaged his attention. There was another race of 
 men who had the strongest claims on all Americans ; these 
 soon attracted the attention of the Bishop of New- York. 
 In surveying the teeming multitudes of European origin 
 who now fill the shores of the great western continent, the 
 question often recurs sadly to the mind, Where are those 
 who were its former tenants ? where are the red men, to 
 whom the God fcf heaven had apportioned out by lot the 
 hunting-grounds and forests on whose site now stand the 
 busy cities of the West ? The answer is a mournful one 
 to every thoughtful mind. Scarcely one of them remains. 
 War, ti'eachery, famine, and, above all, diseases of Euro- 
 pean growth, have mowed down whole nations of Indians, 
 until they are not upon the face of the earth. A few re- 
 main ; and as these have rarely become mingled with their 
 white invaders, they have been continually beaten back 
 farther and farther into the interior, as the tide of civilised 
 life gradually rose upon them. 
 
 At length the government of the United States has 
 taken upon itself to confer titles to their land, and to remove 
 them to certain " reserves, "of M'hich it guarantees to them 
 the undisturbed possession. The whole subject must give 
 rise to bitter reflections. But this surely is the first qiiestion 
 which rises on the mind, What has the Church of Christ 
 done for this unhappy race ? Has it, according to its char- 
 tered rights, received into itself these children of the human 
 family, and, by its greater boons of heavenly light and ever- 
 lasting life, turned all their other losses into gain ? The 
 answer to this question also involves a catalogue of fearful 
 facts. It is therefore with peculiar pleasure that Ave light 
 here and there upon plans and efibrts devised in the spirit 
 of those times when apostles bore to men of every blood 
 
ELEAZEK. WILLIAMS. 251 
 
 the message of salvation. To some such we are led in sur- 
 veying the course of Bishop Hobart's episcopate. 
 
 In the year 1815 his attention was called to the condi- 
 tion of a portion of the tribe of the Iroquois, distinguished as 
 the Oneidas, M'ho, to the number of four thousand, were 
 settled on some " reserved" lands known by the name of 
 " the Oneida country." His first object was to find a pro- 
 per instrument for carrying out amongst them his purposes 
 of Christian love. His search was not in vain; he was 
 guided to one of their ovm blood who had received a Chris- 
 tian education, and could speak to them of the name of 
 Jesus in the beloved accents of their fathers' tongue. 
 
 The history of Eleazer AYilliams, whom he now sent to 
 them, is full of that romance by which Indian life is so fre- 
 quently distinguished. Amongst the last inroads of the 
 Indian tribes upon the white m.en's settlements, was one 
 against the frontier village of Deerfield in Connecticut. It 
 proved so far successful that the red men returned to their 
 trackless forests loaded with all kinds of booty. Among.st 
 their various prey they carried off the wife and children of 
 the rector of the village, the Rev. Mr. AYilliams, who was 
 absent at the time. He returned home to learn the full 
 extent of his calamity ; and with a bleeding heart, set out 
 at once to seek for those Avith whom his life was thus 
 bound up. Years passed over him in his fruitless and 
 heart-sickening toil ; but still he desisted not until he was 
 at last guided to their haunt in the distant prairie. But 
 when he had found them, all would not return. One 
 daughter of his house had wedded an Indian chief, and she 
 refused to leave the land of her adoption. Little could the 
 pious lather forecast the blessing which was thus in store 
 for his despoilers : for from this marriage sprung, amongst 
 others, the sou who was now the bearer of the message of 
 salvation to his red brethren of the forest. He went forth 
 as catechist and schoolmaster, taking with him portions of 
 the Gospels and the Psalms, which, through the bishop's 
 care, had been translated into their native dialect. 
 
 The blessing of God rested on his labors ; and some of 
 their fruits may be found marlced in the following touching 
 words addressed to the bishop three years afterwards, 
 
252 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 in the name of his brethren, by a young Indian communi- 
 cant : — 
 
 " Right Rev. Father, — AVe sahite you in the name of 
 the ever-adorable, ever-blessed, and everlasting sovereign 
 Lord of the universe ; we acknowledge the great and 
 almighty Being as our Creator, Preserver, and constant 
 Benefactor. 
 
 " Right Rev. Father, — We rejoice that we now, with 
 one heart and mind, would express our gratitute and thanks- 
 giving to our great and venerable father for the favor which 
 he has bestowed upon this nation, viz., in sending brother 
 Williams among us to instruct us in the religion of the 
 blessed Jesus. When he first came to us we hailed him 
 as our friend, our brother, and our guide in spiritual things, 
 and he shall remain in our hearts and minds as long as he 
 shall teach us the ways of the great Spirit above. 
 
 " Right Rev. Father, — AYe rejoice to say, that by send- 
 ing brother Williams among us a great light has risen upon 
 us ; we see now that the Chi-istian religion is intended for 
 the good of the Indians as well as the white people ; we 
 see it and do feel it, that the religion of the Gospel Avill 
 make us happy in this and in the world to come. We now 
 profess it outwardly, and we hope, by the grace of God, 
 that some of us have professed it inwardly. May it ever 
 remain in our hearts, and we be enabled by the Spirit of 
 the Eternal One to practise the great duties which it points 
 out to us. 
 
 " Right Rev. Father, — Agreeable to your request, Ave 
 have treated our brother with that attention and kindness 
 which you required of us ; we have assisted him all that 
 was in our power as to his support : but you know well 
 that we are poor ourselves, and we cannot do a great deal. 
 Though our brother has lived very poor since he came 
 among us, but he is patient and makes no complaint, we 
 pity him, because we love him as we do ourselves. We 
 wish to do something for his support, but this is impossible 
 for us to do at i)resent, as we have lately raised between 
 three and four thousand dollars to enable us to build a 
 little chapel. 
 
 " Right Rev. Father, — We entreat and beseech you not 
 
ADDRESS OF BISHOP HOBART. 253 
 
 to neglect us. "We hope the Christian people in New- York 
 will help us all that is in their power. We hope our bro- 
 ther will by no means be withdrawn from us. If this 
 should take place, the cause of religion will die among us, 
 immorahty and wickedness will prevail. 
 
 " Right Rev. Father, — As the head and father of the 
 holy and apostolical Church in this state, we entreat you to 
 take a special charge of us. Wc are ignorant, mean, poor, 
 and need your assistance. Come, venerable father, and 
 visit your children, and warm their hearts by your pre- 
 sence in the things which belong to their everlasting peace. 
 May the great Head of the Church whom you serve be 
 with you, and His blessing ever remain with you I 
 
 *' We, venerable father, remain your dutiful child- 
 ren." 
 
 The bishop's ansM'er breathes an apostolic spi- 
 rit :— " 
 
 " My children, — I have received your letter by your 
 brother and teacher, Eleazer Williams, and return your 
 aiiectiouate and Christian salutation, praying that grace, 
 mercy, and peace from God the Father and from our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, may be with you. 
 
 "My children, — I rejoice to hear of your faith in the 
 one living and true God, andm His Son Jesus Christ whom 
 He has sent, whom to know is life eternal : and I pray that, 
 by the Holy Spirit of God, you may be kept steadfast in 
 this faith, and may walk worthy of Him who hath called 
 you out of darkness into His marvellous light. 
 
 " My children. — It is true, as you say, that the Gospel 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is intended for In- 
 dians as well as wliite people. For the great Father of 
 all hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth ; 
 and hath sent His Son Jesus Christ to teach them all, and 
 to die for them all, that they may be redeemed from the 
 power of sin, and brought to the acknowledgment of the 
 truth, and to the service of the living God. 
 
 " My children, — It is true, as you say, that the religion 
 of the Gospel wiU make you happy in this world, as well 
 as in the world to come; and I join in your prayer, that 
 you may profess it inwardly as well as outwardly ; that, 
 
254 AlVIERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may be transformed 
 by the renewing of your minds, and acquire holy tempers, 
 and practise the holy duties which the Gospel enjoins. 
 And ibr this purpose I beseech you to attend to the instruc- 
 tions of your faithful teacher and brother, Eleazer Wil- 
 liams : to unite with him in the holy prayers of our apos- 
 tolic Church, which he has translated into your own 
 language ; to listen with reverence to the Divine word 
 which he reads to you ; to receive, as through grace you 
 may be* qualified, and may have an opportunity, the sacra- 
 ments and ordinances of the Church ; and at all times, and 
 in all places, to lift up your hearts in supplication to the 
 Father of your spirits, who always and every where hears 
 and sees you, for pardon and grace, to comfort, to teach, 
 and to sanctify you, through your divine Mediator, Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 " My children, — Let me exhort you diligently to labor 
 to get your living by cultivating the earth, or by some other 
 lawful calling ; you will thus promote your worldly com- 
 fort, you will be more respected among your white breth- 
 ren, and more united and strong among yourselves. And 
 when you are thus engaged, you will be saved from many 
 temptations ; and you will prove yourselves to be good dis- 
 ciples of Him, who, by His inspired apostle, has enjoined, 
 that while we are ' fervent in spirit,' we be ' not slothful 
 in business.' 
 
 " My children — Continue to respect and to love your 
 brother and teacher, Eleazer Williams, and to treat him 
 kindly ; for he loves you, and is desirous to devote himself 
 to your service ; that, by God's grace, he may be instru- 
 mental in making you happy here and hereafter. It is my 
 wish that he may remain with you, and may be your spi- 
 ritual guide and instructor. 
 
 " My children, — I rejoice to hear that your brethren, 
 the Onondagas, are desirous of knowing the words of truth 
 and salvation. I hope you will not complain if your teach- 
 er, Eleazer Williams, sometimes visits them, to lead them 
 in that way to eternal life, which, froiu God's word, he has 
 pointed out to you. Fi'eely ye have received, you should 
 freely give ; and being made partakers of the grace of God 
 
BISHOP HOBARt's visit TO THE ONEIDAS. 265 
 
 tlirougli Jesus Christ, you should be desirous that all your 
 red brethren may enjoy the same precious gift. 
 
 " My children, — It is my purpose, if" the Lord will, to 
 come and see you next summer ; and I hope to find you as 
 good Christians, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and 
 living righteously, soberly and godly iu this pi-esent world. 
 I shall liave you in my lieart, and shall remember you in 
 my prayers, for you are a part of my charge, of that flock 
 for whom the Son of God gave Himself even unto the death 
 upon the cross, and whom He commanded His ministers to 
 seek and to gather unto His fold, that through Him they 
 might be saved for ever. 
 
 "My children, — May God be with you and bles3 
 you. 
 
 {Signed) John Henry Hobart, 
 
 Bishop of tlie Prot. Epis. Church in the 
 Slate of New-York. 
 
 Dated at New- York, the 1st day 
 of February, in the year of 
 our Lord 1818, and in the 
 seventh year of my conse- 
 cration." 
 
 From this promised visit no other engagements could 
 divert him. In the following summer he penetrated to 
 the Indian reserves. The scene he witnessed filled him 
 with deeper interest for his red children. 
 
 Their wide extended domains were lying in common, 
 the property of the tribe, not of individuals ; some little of 
 it cultivated, more in open pasture, but most in its state 
 of native wildness, and reserved for hunting-grovmd. Through 
 these forests, paths there were many, but roads none ; and 
 the generally rude, though sometimes neat and rustic dwell- 
 ings of these sons of the forest lay scattered in wild but 
 picturesque confusion — some upon gentle eminences, others 
 in rich valleys ; some open to the sun, others embosomed 
 in shade ; and exhibiting here and there traces of a taste 
 for natural scenery which recommended them still further 
 (at least as objects of interesting inquiry) to such a lover 
 of nature as Bishop Hobart. Among those who flocked 
 
256 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 around him on tliis occasion, as he stood in the recesses of 
 their primeval forests, was one aged Moliawk warrior, who, 
 amid his heathen brethren, had lor half a century held fast 
 by that holy faith in which he had been instructed and 
 baptised by a missionary from the society in England, while 
 these states were still colonies. Through the catecliist as 
 interpreter, he now recounted the event in the figurative 
 language of these children of nature, and pointed out to 
 his admiring auditor, with as much feeling as belongs to 
 that imperturbable race, the very spot where this early 
 missionary had been accustomed to assemble them, and 
 preach to a congregation which, as it afterwards appeared, 
 had hstened to him rather from curiosity than conviction. 
 
 It was, as the bishop in conversation described it, an 
 open glade in the forest, with a few scattered oaks still 
 vigorous and spreading ; and within view, as if to perpetu- 
 ate the association, now arose the tower of the neat rustic 
 church, which the Christian party among them had recently 
 erected. To his next convention Bishop Hobart gave his 
 own account of this visit to the Ibi-est and its red iuha- 
 bitants : — 
 
 " It is a subject of congratulation, that our Church has 
 resumed the labors which, for a long period before the 
 revolutionary war, the society in England for Propagating 
 the Gospel in Foreign Parts directed to the religious instruc- 
 tion of the Indian tribes. These labors were not wholly 
 uusuccessful ; for on my recent visit to the Oneidas, I saw 
 an ancient Mohawk, who, firm in the faith of the gospel, 
 and adorning his profession by an exemplary life, is in- 
 debted, under the Divine blessing, for his Christian princi- 
 ples and hopes, to the missionaries of that venerable society. 
 The exertions more recently made for the conversion of 
 the Indian tribes have not been so successful, partly be- 
 cause not united with eflbrts to introduce among them 
 those arts of civilisation without which the gospel can 
 neither be understood nor valued ; but principally because 
 religious instruction was conveyed through the imperfect 
 medium of interpreters, by those unacquainted with their 
 dispositions and habits, and in whom they were not dis- 
 posed to place the same confidence as in those who are 
 
INDIAN CONVERTS. 257 
 
 connected with them by the powerful ties of language, 
 of manners, and of kindred. The religious instructor of 
 the Oneidas employed by our church enjoys all these ad- 
 vantages. Being of Indian extraction, and acquainted 
 with their language, dispositions, and customs, and devot- 
 ing himself unremittingly to their spiritual and temporal 
 welfare, he enjoys their full confidence, while the educa- 
 tion which he has received has increased liis qualifications 
 as their guide in the faith and precepts of the gospel. Mr. 
 Eleazer Williams, at the earnest request of the Oneida 
 chiefs, was licensed by me about two years since, as their 
 lay reader, catechist, and schoolmaster. Educated in a 
 diflerent communion, he connected himself with our Cliiivch 
 from conviction, and appears warmly attached to her doc- 
 trines, her apostolic ministry, and her worship. Soon after 
 he commenced his labors among the Oneidas, the Pagan 
 party solemnly professed the Christian faith. Mr. "VYilliarns 
 repeatedly explained to them, in councils which they held 
 for this purpose, the evidences of the divine origin of Chris- 
 tianity, and its doctrines, institutions, and precepts. He 
 combated their objections, patiently answered their inquiries, 
 and was finally, through the Divine blessing, successful in 
 sati.?fying their doubts. Soon after their conversion, they 
 appropriated, in conjunction v\dth the old Christian party, 
 the proceeds of the sale of some of their lands to the erection 
 of a handsome edifice for divine worship, which will be 
 shortly completed. 
 
 " In the work of their spiritual instruction, the Book of 
 Common Prayer, a principal part of which has been trans- 
 lated for their use, proves a powerful auxiliary. Its simple 
 and aliecting exhibition of the truths of redemption is cal- 
 culated to interest their hearts, while it informs their un- 
 derstanding ; and its decent and significant rites contribute 
 to fix their attention in the exei'cises of M'orship. They are 
 particularly gratified with having parts assigned them in 
 the service, and repeat the responses with great propriety 
 and devotion. On my visit to them, several hundred 
 assembled for worship ; those who could read were fur- 
 nished with books, and they uttered the confessions of the 
 liturgy, responded its supplications, and chanted its hymns 
 
258 , AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 of praise, with a reverence and fervor which powerfully- 
 interested the feelings of those who witnessed the solem- 
 nity. They listened to my address to them, interpreted 
 by Mr. Williams, with so much solicitous attention, they 
 received the laying on of hands with such grateful humil- 
 ity, and participated in the symbols of their Saviour's love 
 with such tears of penitential devotion, that the impres- 
 sion which the scene made on my mind Avill never be 
 effaced. Nor was this the excitement of the moment, or 
 the ebullition of enthusiasm. The eighty-nine who wei'e 
 confirmed had been well instructed by Mr. Williams ; and 
 none were permitted to approach the communion whose 
 lives did not correspond with their Christian professions. 
 The numbers of those who assembled for worship, and 
 partook of the ordinances, would have been greater, but 
 from the absence of many of them at an Indian council at 
 Bufialo. 
 
 " I have admitted Mr. Williams as a candidate for 
 orders, on the recommendation of the standing committee ; 
 and look forwai'd to his increased influence and usefulness, 
 should he be invested with the office of the ministry. 
 
 " There is a prospect of his having, some time hence, a 
 powerful auxiliary in a young Indian, the son of the head 
 warrior of the Ouondagas, who was killed at the battle of 
 Chippewa, and who, amiable and pious in his dispositions, 
 and sprightly and vigorous in his intellectual powers, is 
 earnestly desirous of receiving an education to pi'epare him 
 for the ministry among his countrymen. I trust that 
 means will be devised for accomplishing his wishes. We 
 ought never to forget that the salvation of the gospel is 
 designed for all the human race ; and that the same mercy 
 which applies comfort to our wounded consciences, the 
 same gi'ace which purifies and soothes our corrupt and 
 troubled hearts, and the same hope of immortality which 
 fills us with peace and joy, can exert their benign and 
 celestial influence on the humble Indian." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FROM 1820 TO 1836. 
 
 American education — Temper of American youth — Jealousy of high 
 education — Absence of theological training — Foundation of the 
 General Tlieological Seminary — Its success — Bishop Hobart's con- 
 nexion with it — His death — And character — Bishop B. T. Onder- 
 donk succeeds — Increase of tlie episcopate — Bishops Ravenscroft 
 and Ives of Xortli Carolina — Bisliop Meade of Virginia — And H. 
 U. Onderdonk, assistant bishop of Pennsylvania — Bishop Ciiase of 
 Ohio — Resign-; his bishopric — Consecrations of Bisliops M'llvaine 
 of Ohio, Hopkins of Vermont, Smith of Kentucky, and Doane of 
 New Jersey — Change of feeling as to the episcopate — Convention 
 of 1835 — Bishop Cliase of Illinois — Division of dioceses — New 
 organization of missionary board — The missionary bishop — Bishop 
 Kemper consecrated — Success of tlie new plan — Subsequent 
 growth of the Church — Bishop White's illness — Death and cha- 
 racter. 
 
 Amidst the various subjects wliich occupied the miud of 
 Bishop Ilobart, one had constantly recurred. None, indeed, 
 more deeply concerned North America than the influence 
 of tlie Church on education. This, at present, is more 
 widely spread and of a lower standard than in the older 
 nations of Europe. Throuj^liout the eastern states, read- 
 ing, writing, geography, and arithmetic, are almost univer- 
 sal ; and even some measure of classical attainment is by 
 no means rare. In New- York, in 1832, out of a popula- 
 tion of two millions, half a million, or one in four, were at 
 school.* It is asserted, but without any grounds being 
 given to justify the calculation, that of the whole popula- 
 tion of the United States, one in five are under education. f 
 In the slave-states of the south, the ditihsion and character 
 
 * Caswall's America, p. 197. 
 
 ■)• J. S. Buckingham's America, vol. ii. p. 3G6. 
 
260 AMEPvICAN CHURCH. 
 
 of education, falls greatly lower than this level ; whilst in 
 Ohio and some of the newer north-west states, lands for 
 the support of education have been set aside from their 
 first settlement ; and these bid fair, ere long, to rival the 
 " empire"* state. But with all this wide spread of educa- 
 tion, it nowhere reaches to the high measure of the Old 
 World. For this there is as yet neither provision nor de- 
 mand. This must be more or less the case where there 
 are no classes born to hereditary wealth ; and this tendency 
 is increased by the peculiarities of American character, 
 which is eminently busy and practical ; urging men to ac- 
 quire money, immediate influence, and direct results in all 
 things. Even childhood is moulded by these feelings. 
 "Boys are men before they are loosed from their leading- 
 strings. They are educated in the belief that every man 
 must be the architect of his own fortune. There is, to be 
 sure, a limited class who look forward to the decease of 
 parents as the commencement of an era in which they will 
 have no duty to do but to enjoy the property bequeatlied 
 to them ; but, as a class, it is too small to be considered in 
 the estimate of national character. The great majority 
 look forward to manhood as the time to act, and anticipate 
 it by juvenile participation in the events of busy life. Boys 
 argue upon polemics, political economy, party politics, 
 the mysteries of trade, the destinies of nations. Dreams 
 of ambition or of wealth nerve the arm which drives the 
 hoop. Toys are stock in trade ; barter is fallen into by 
 instinct." 
 
 Tliis is an American estimatef of the character of boy- 
 hood there : and with this the highest measure of educa- 
 tion is manifestly incompatible. It is valued only as it 
 fits men to act successfully their immediate part in the 
 busy scene before them. Whatever rises above this level 
 is looked at rather with suspicion than good will. Like 
 great wealth or distinctions of rank, it cannot harmonize 
 entirely with repubhcan institutions. It is the assertion 
 of superiority. " The multitude in this country," says an 
 
 * An American name for New-York. 
 
 t Extracted by J. S. Buckingham, vol. i. p. 170, from a leading 
 N"ew-York journal. 
 
EDUCATION. 261 
 
 address delivered in an eastern state to a collegiate institu- 
 tion,* "so far from favoring and honoring high learning 
 and science, is rather prone to suspect and disUke it. It 
 feareth that genius savoreth of aristocracy ! Besides, the 
 multitude calleth itself a 'practical man. It asketh, what 
 is the use ? It seeth no use but in that which leads to 
 money or the material ends of life. It hath no opinion of 
 having dreamers and drones in society. It believeth, in- 
 deed, in railroads ; it thinketh well of steam ; and owneth 
 that the new art of bleaching by chlorine is a prodigious 
 improvement : but it laughs at the profound researches 
 into the laws of nature, out of which those very inventions 
 grew ; and with still greater scorn it laughs at the votaries 
 of the more spiritual forms of truth and beauty, Avhich 
 have no application to the palpable uses of life. Then, 
 again, the iutluence of our reading public is not favorable 
 to high letters. It demands, it pays for and respects, al- 
 most exclusively, a lower style ot" production ; and hence a 
 natural influence to discourage higher labors," 
 
 In such a state of feeling the best hope was in the in- 
 stitution of theological seminaries of a high caste. Though 
 the clergy had too commonly been engrossed by the inces- 
 sant claims of pastoral duty, yet amongst them tliere was 
 the best chance of forming a set of thoughtful, higlily 
 cultivated minds : and if once the standard were raised 
 anywhere, discontent with the general poverty of attain- 
 ments would soon be widely felt. To these motives for 
 exertion must be added the absolute dellciency of theologi- 
 cal instruction. Hobart himself was trained in a Presby- 
 terian college : and wliilc such a course of education might 
 endanger the principles of Aveaker minds, it certainly de- 
 prived the stronger of the blessing of strict theological in- 
 struction. To this want, therefore, his attention was early 
 called : he longed to see such institutions founded ; but his 
 first care was, that their principles should be so firmly 
 fixed as to preserve them from the passing influence of the 
 day. They were to impart a character ; not to adopt that 
 of others. For otherwse they would fail of their highest 
 purpose, and instead of teaching the student 
 
 * Quoted in Ciiswall's American Church. 
 
262 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 " How patiently the yoke of thought to bear, 
 Subtly to guide its finest threads along."* 
 
 they would soon degenerate, under another name, into the 
 common run of ordinary schools. From fear of this, he 
 opposed, at the cost of much misrepresentation, the earliest 
 proposals for founding a general theological seminary ; 
 though none felt more strongly the need of such an institu- 
 tion, or labored more diligently in its formation, when the 
 temper of the Church seemed to justify the undertaking. 
 
 In the convention of 1817 this scheme was adopted ; 
 and in that of 1820, and in one specially held in 1821, it 
 received its perfect form. The general seminary was es- 
 tablished in New-York ; it was placed under the control 
 of the whole Church, her bishops being officially trustees, 
 in common with a body elected by the several states from 
 residents within their own borders. Each state chooses 
 one trustee, and one more for every eight of its clergy; 
 and, besides these, it may elect one trustee for every two 
 thousand dollars it contributes to the common fund, with 
 a proviso that when one state already possesses five such 
 trustees, its further contributions must amount to 10,000 
 dollars for an additional trustee. Thus founded, "tlje 
 General Theological Seminary" soon struck its roots firmly 
 in the soil. In 1836 eighty-six students were upon its 
 books, at an annual expense of 21/. eachf It has already 
 greatly raised the standard oi clerical attainments, and its 
 future influence may be iTiore momentous still. Already 
 it has gathered to itself various important endowments, 
 and gives promise of assuming and maintaining something 
 of that high character which for centuries the mother- 
 country has identified with the very names of her " two 
 famous universities." In 1841, though still greatly need- 
 ing further exertions, it possessed twelve scholarships, en- 
 dowed with sums varying from 450Z. to 660/., and pro- 
 fessorships, for Avhich endowments of 4,500/. and 5,625/. 
 had been obtained.:!: It had received since its foundation, 
 
 * Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Sketches. 
 
 f Caswall's America, p. 155. 
 
 X Appendix A. to Report of Convention of 1841. 
 
DEATH OP BISHOP HOBART. 263 
 
 by voluntary contributions, the sum of 228,420 dollars, or 
 about 50,7101. ; its library at the close of 1837 numbered 
 6011, and in 1843, 7500 volumes; and, besides the addi- 
 tions made by benefactors, was increasing yearly from the 
 interest of 6000 dollars held as a permanent investment 
 for its benefit. 
 
 It was mainly to Bishop Hobart that this institution, so 
 full of promise for America, owed its origin ; but he scarce- 
 ly lived to sQe it in active operation. The convention of 
 October 1829 filled up the requisite number of trustees, 
 and in the September of the following year he was taken 
 to his rest. He died at his work at Auburn, whilst on the 
 visitation of the western district of his diocese. Worn out 
 by the combined labors of a pressing pastoral charge and 
 an exhaustmg bishopric, he sunk upon the threshold of his 
 5Gth year. His memory will long endure in the grateful 
 remembrance of the churchmen of the west. He left an 
 impression of his well-ordered zeal deeply traced upon many 
 minds and many institutions round him. This he had the 
 joy of witnessing before his dismissal. He was the centre 
 to which men of active and high-principled exertion natu- 
 rally turned. He lived long enough to survive the clamor 
 which broke in so rudely upon his opening episcopate ; and 
 whilst he never receded from a principle, so greatly did his 
 straightforward honesty of character win on all men, that 
 in a contested election of governor of his own state, it was 
 commonly asserted, " that were Bishop Hobart to stand, 
 he would be the only candidate who would carry the vote 
 of both parties."* 
 
 In the next convention (Oct. 1832) Bishop B. T. On- 
 derdonk, who had been consecrated two months after 
 Bishop Hobart's death, took his place in the general coun- 
 cil of the Church. The episcopate was greatly strengthen- 
 ed since the time when the consecration of Dr. Hobart was 
 a matter of doubtful possibility. In 1823 North Carolina 
 was placed under the care of Bishop Ravenscroft. He ad- 
 ministered that diocese in Hobart's spirit. " The situation 
 of this southern country," he tells the Bishop of New- York, 
 
 * M'Vickar, p. 485. 
 
264 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 " surrendered for tlie last forty or eighty years to the ex- 
 clusive influence of dissenters, left me no alternative, but 
 either to increase that influence by adopting half-way mea- 
 sures, or by a decided course to call into action what was 
 left of predilection for her, and to rally her real friends 
 around her."* There were not wanting those who pre- 
 dicted fliilure from these eflbrts, which to them seemed 
 premature. But the conclusion, says the bishop, justified 
 his expectations. His course was far shorter than that of 
 his friend and brother in authority. Since the convention 
 of 1829 he, too, had been gathered in amongst the per- 
 fected ; and in September 1831, Dr. L. S. Ives was conse- 
 crated in his room. Otliers too had been added to the 
 apostolic college. Dr. Meade, as we have seen, had been 
 appointed assistant-bishop of Virginia ; Dr. Stone,* after a 
 two-years' vacancy, occupied the place of the late Bishop 
 Kemp of Maryland ; whilst three years before, in Pennsyl- 
 vania, Dr. H. U. Onderdonk had been associated with the 
 aged Bishop White. His election had allayed a strife 
 which threatened to molest the last years of the mild pa- 
 triarch of the Western Church, and the assistant-bishop 
 strengthened with zeal and judgment his venerable princi- 
 pal. Though now bearing the burden of eighty-four win- 
 ters. Bishop White was still a constant attendant at the 
 meeting of convention, and imparted to its councils the 
 wisdom and the meekness of his old experience. These 
 were called for at this time by difliculties which had arisen 
 in the state of Ohio. Dr. Philander Chase, w^hom we have 
 followed through his missionary life to his consecration as 
 its bishop and the founder of Kenyon College, now desired, 
 under trying circumstances, to resign his bishopric. This 
 had been made inseparable from the headship of the col- 
 lege, and between himself and its professors irreconcilable 
 variance had arisen. After long debates, the convention al- 
 lowed his resignation, and proceeded to act on the choice of 
 a successor, which his diocese had made. On the 31st of 
 October, forty-six years (within two days) from the time of 
 his embarking from the same city to receive consecration 
 
 * Letter to Bishop Hobart, — Dr. Bonian's Life, p. 366. 
 f Consecrated Oct. 1830. 
 
READMISSION OF BISHOP CHASE. 265 
 
 from the English archbishop, Bishop White laid his aged 
 hands upon the heads of four more who were severed to 
 bear onwai-d their Master's witness. Dr. M'llvaine was 
 consecrated Bisshop of Ohio ; Dr. John H. Hopkins of Ver- 
 mont, now parted from the eastern diocese ; Dr. B. B. 
 Smith of Kentucky, which had been organised three years 
 before ; and Dr. G. W. Doane of the old diocese of New- 
 Jersey. " What a wonderful change,"* says the aged 
 bishop, " had he lived to witness in reference to American 
 episcopacy ;" he Avho now thus peacefully filled up the 
 vacant seats of rule, " remembered the ante-revolutionary 
 times, when the press profusely emitted pamphlet and 
 newspaper disquisitions on the question, whether an Ame- 
 rioan bishop was to be endured, and when threats were 
 thrown out, of throwing such a person, if sent, into the 
 river." 
 
 Still more important matters marked the next assem- 
 bly of convention. It met in 1835 at the city of Philadel- 
 phia, and would have been marked amongst the synods of 
 that Church, if by nothing else, yet by being the last at 
 which the aged Bishop White was present. But besides 
 this, enduring consequences resulted from its sittings. 
 These appropriately opened with the readmission of Dr. 
 Philander Chase to the upper house as Bishop of Illinois, 
 wliich under his care had been organised as a diocese since 
 the meeting of the last convention. During that interval 
 he had been laboring as an indefatigable missionary in 
 Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois : and now " a veteran 
 bishop, a soldier of the cross, whom hardships never have 
 di.scouraged, whom no difficulties seem to daunt, and who 
 entered upon his new campaign with all the chivalry of 
 thirty-five, was cordially welcomed to his seat amongst the 
 counsellors of the Church. '"f 
 
 Early in the session a committee was appointed to take 
 into consideration such an alteration of the constitution as 
 should allow of the division of any diocese which had out- 
 grown the powers of one bishop. " The prosperous and 
 powerful diocase of New- York" gave occasion for this sug- 
 
 * Notes to page 63 of Bishop White's Memorial, p. 266. 
 |- Appendix to " ilissionarv Bisliop," p. 37. 
 12 
 
266 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 gestion ; and the canon adopted in committee has since 
 become a part of the constitution, and under it New- York 
 was parted into the eastern and western diocese. This 
 was scarcely arranged, when the whole missionary opera- 
 tions of the Church were brought into discussion. Since 
 the year 1820 these had come under the consideration of 
 convention ; before that time they had been left to the 
 voluntai-y zeal of self-constituted societies ; but in that 
 year " a board of missions" was authoritatively organised. 
 The constitution then formed was not, indeed, long retain- 
 ed. It was hastily adopted on the last day of the sitting 
 of convention, and was quickly found to be as inconvenient 
 in practice as it was midoubtedly unsound in principle, 
 since the Bishops of the Church were scarcely recognized, 
 in this their especial function. In 1823, 1829, and 1832, 
 it came again under review, until in 1835 it received its 
 last alterations and permanent organisation. 
 
 The importance of this matter requires a more detailed 
 relation of its progress, and this shall be mainly given in 
 the words of tliose who conducted it, because these will 
 bring more vividly before us the views and feelings wdiich 
 guided the framers of this new arrangement. 
 
 The moral and religious state of the vast population 
 which was springing up along the great valley of the 
 Mississippi had grown into a matter of political as well as 
 spiritual moment. The attention of the Church was loudly 
 called to its condition. In a sermon preached at Brooklyn,* 
 the suburbs of New- York, in the year 1835, and published 
 at the request of those who heard it, the preacher asks,t 
 " Can any Christian look without concern upon the move- 
 ments at the west — the rush of foreign population, the 
 rapid growth of cities and villages, and the astonishing rise 
 in the value of land — M'ithout inquiring who is taking 
 possession of this finest part of our country ? What are 
 the habits, the intelligence, and the religion of the people ? 
 Have they our sacred institutions ? Are they an educated 
 people ? Are they a religious people ? Will they carry 
 with them the ' ark of the covenant' into the wilderness ? 
 
 * By Dr. Benjamin C. Cutler. t Sermon, p. 9. 
 
PROSPECTS OF THE WEST. 267 
 
 Suppose, in answer to these questions, it should be told you, 
 that they were coming to this country without the means 
 of education or religious instruction, or if they have the lat- 
 ter, so closely connected with a foreign political power, and 
 having so httle relation to our modes of thinking and feel- 
 ing, that to the most charitable they promise little or no 
 aid in the great work of enlightening the mind, and to 
 others they are the most alarmmg accompaniement of the 
 emigration — could you sit quiet and at ease ? 
 
 " And while you proudly traversed with your eye the 
 majestic map, or beheld the swelling columns of your nu- 
 merical strength ; while the rivers of the west are rolling 
 down their rich harvests, and you by them are enabled to 
 build stately habitations and to dwell in them, — could you 
 forbear to think of the future ? The more you magnify 
 the wealth and population of the west, unless that popula- 
 tion is enlightened and religious, the more should your fears 
 be magnified. 
 
 " Cities and villages, governments and maxims of go- 
 vernment, opinions, principles, and habits, are all now 
 struggling for existence amid that peculiarly selected, vig- 
 orous, and independent population. And while the com- 
 parative poverty of the eastern part of our national do- 
 main, and the impassable barrier of the Atlantic Ocean, is 
 hemming in and limiting for ever the influence of the 
 eastern and Atlantic states, the horizon towards the west 
 is illimitable. 
 
 " States and nations may in future times date their 
 origin back to the millions which have now taken posses- 
 sion of that most fertile part of the American continent. 
 Nor is this all. While the population is increasing and roll- 
 ing westward, that which is now denominated the east will 
 be compelled into entire subjection to its own offspring. 
 The time cannot be far distant when, contrary to the 
 course of heaven, light and authority will proceed from 
 west to east.*' But oh, will it be the pure light of heaven, 
 or the lurid fires of superstition, cruelty, and crime ? 
 
 * One state at the west now has more votes and more voices on 
 the floor of conoress than four of the New-England states. 
 
2(39 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 " Upon US most certainly devolves the duty of directing 
 the destiny of the west, and that is the destiny of both east 
 and west. . . . There is now a crisis in the affairs of the 
 
 American people (much is needed) to retain our 
 
 prosperity, our liberty, and our religion On two or 
 
 three important places has our Church commenced this 
 work. Ohio and Kentucky, at the head of the great val- 
 ley, have now in the centre of each an institution for ex- 
 tending the influence of rehgion and learning. Further on, 
 Tennessee and Illinois are organising for this purpose ; Mis- 
 souri and the fertile states at the south through which the 
 riches of the west are passing, will not be long unoccupied. 
 .... Whether we shall push our own principles of liber- 
 ty and religion on to the great battle-ground, and effectually 
 establish them against all opposition, or whether we shall 
 there be met and resisted, and crowded back to the moun- 
 tains and rocks, where the first great battles of our inde- 
 pendence were fought, upon the present generation of Ame- 
 rican Christians or upon that which shall immediately 
 succeed them, it must under God depend." 
 
 Under such a sense of responsibility as regarded the 
 work of domestic missions did the Church engage in re- 
 constructing her missionary constitution. A few extracts 
 from the sermon preached by Dr. Doane, the bishop of 
 New Jersey, at the consecration of Bishop Kemper, on his 
 election by this convention as first missionary bishop, will 
 show the ground taken and the principles affirmed through- 
 out this whole institution. They differ widely from that 
 earlier temper which depressed as low as possible the of- 
 fice and authority of bishops, which restrained the Church 
 from their election, and looked upon them with a watchful 
 jealousy. In answer to the question, " What is a mission- 
 ary bishop ?" he observes : " As the Church obeying the 
 mandate of her divine Head sends presbyters and deacons 
 ' to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature ;' so may she, and so should she — emulating that 
 divine compassion which yearned over the fainting multi- 
 tudes that roamed untended and unied amongst the moun- 
 tains of Judaea — send bishops to them, to seek the wan- 
 dering flocks, to lead thera to the sacred fold, to appoint 
 
THE MISSIONARY BISHOP. 269 
 
 them under-shepherds, to oversee and govern them with 
 due authority and godly discipline, and ' warning every 
 man and teaching every man in all wisdom,' to do all that 
 in them lies ' to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.' 
 And this is what is meant by a missionary bishop : a bi- 
 shop sent forth by the Church, not sought for of the 
 Church ; going before to organise the Church, not waiting 
 till the Church has been partially organised ; a leader, not 
 a follower, in the march of the Redeemer's conquering and 
 triumphant Gospel ; sustained by their alms whom God 
 has blessed both with the power and will to ofier to Him 
 of their substance, for their benefit who are not blessed 
 with b.ith or either of them ; sent by the Church, even as 
 the Church is sent by Christ, not to such only as have 
 knowledge of His truth and desire Him for their King, but 
 to the ignorant and rebellious, to them who know not of 
 His name, or will not have Him to reign over them." 
 
 He then goes onto show from holy Scripture that " the 
 office of apostle or — the inspiration and the power of mir- 
 acles ceasing with the necessity for them — of missionary 
 bishop was confirmed by Jesus Christ Himself with perpe- 
 tuity of succession to the end of time ;'' and then points 
 out " why the times especially require such efforts." Hav- 
 ing shown the needs and openings of heathen lands, he 
 points their attention to their own. "Do we look home- 
 ward ? Through the regions of our own unbounded west 
 see how the stream of life sets onward. Behold, in arts, 
 in wealth, in power, a progress such as earth has never 
 seen, outrunning even fancy's wildest dreams ; but with no 
 provision that at all keeps pace with it for the securing of 
 man's nobler and immortal interests. Observe with what 
 a keen and shrewd regard the Church of Rome has marked 
 that region for her own, and with what steadiness of pur- 
 pose she pursues her aim, and seeks to lay the deep foun- 
 dations of a power which is to grow as it grows, and to 
 strengthen as it gathers strength." Further on he reminds 
 them where they are to labor. " The field is the whole 
 WORLD. To every soul of man in every part of it the Gos- 
 pel is to be preached ; everywhere the Gospel is to be 
 preached, by, through, and in the Church. To bishops, as 
 
270 AMERICAN CHITRCH. 
 
 the successors of the Apostles, the promise of the Lord was 
 given to be with His Church ' alway to the end of the 
 world ;' upon bishops, as successors of the Apostles, 
 the perpetuation of the Christian ministry depends ; 
 to bishops, as successors of the Apostles, the govern- 
 ment of the Chvirch, the preaching of the word, the 
 administration of the sacraments, the care of souls, has been 
 entrusted. Without bishops, as successors of the Apostles, 
 there is no warrant, and for fifteen hundred years from 
 Christ there was no precedent, for the establishment or 
 the extension of the Church. Possessing these things, act 
 accordingly. Freely ye have received, freely give. Open 
 your eyes to the wants, open your ears to the cry, open 
 your hands for the relief, of a perishing world . Send the 
 Gospel, send it as you received it, in tJie Cliurch ; send 
 out to preach the Gospel and to build the Church — to every 
 portion of your own broad land — to every stronghold of the 
 prince of hell, to every den and nook and lurking-place of 
 heathendom — a missionary bishop." 
 
 Further, he enforces on them the discharge of this their 
 duty by the consideration of the very "genius and order of 
 the Church." "It is of the nature of a trust, that there 
 be always given with it authority and power for the due 
 execution of all its proper uses. It is still farther of the 
 nature of a tru.st, that on its acceptance there devolves on 
 the trustee the bounden duty to secure as much as in him 
 lies its full and faithful execution. Now the Gospel is 
 God's gift in trust for the conversion and salvation of lost 
 man. The Church is his trustee. ... To discharge the 
 duties of a continual trust, the trustee of necessity must 
 have continuance. The Church is by divine appointment 
 perpetual hij succession in tlie highest order of her minis- 
 try. ' All power is given unto me in heaven and in 
 earth;'* ' As my Father hath sent me, so send I you ;'t 
 ' Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the 
 world. '$ .... Hence of necessity flow out resulting trusts, 
 immense in value and of infinite responsibility. She is to 
 
 be a missionary Church Her bishops are Apostles, 
 
 each in his proper sphere sent out to ' feed the Church of 
 
 * St. Matt, xxviii. 18. f St. John xx. 21. % St- Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 
 I 
 
THE MISSIONARY BISHOP. 271 
 
 God ;' jMntly and in agreement with established principles 
 of order in the Church, they have the power which Christ 
 imparted to the twelve — 'As my Father hath sent me, so 
 send I you' — to send Apostles in His name. Her ministers 
 are all evangelists, to go wherever God shall caU them 
 through His Church to bear the blessed tidings of salvation, 
 through the blood of Jesus, for a ruined world. Her mem- 
 ber?', baptised into the death of Jesus, and so purchased by 
 His blood, are missionai-ies aU in spirit or intent, to go, or 
 — if themselves go not — to see that others go, and to con- 
 tribute faitlifully and freely of the ability which God shall 
 give them to sustain them whiie they go and ' preach the 
 Gospel unto every creature.' Such, as the Scripture 
 teaches, is the original, the permanent, the immutable 
 constitution of the Christian Church ; such, by the solemn, 
 act of its highest legislative council, is declared to be the 
 constitution of this Church. Baptised into her in the name 
 of the eternal Three m One, you become a party to the trust 
 with which she is honored by her heavenly Head to preach 
 the everlasting Gospel. It is a trust which no man who 
 has once assumed can put off; for his baptisimal vow is 
 registered in heaven, and will go with him in its conse- 
 quences of unmingled bliss or woe throughout eternity." 
 
 For the discharge of this trust by her children, he goes 
 on to show them that the Church, after her Lord's exam- 
 ple, had now made a fit provision. "It is recorded of the 
 Holy Saviour, as He went out amongst the cities and vil- 
 lages of Judasa preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, that 
 when He saw the multitudes He was moved with compas- 
 sion on them, because they fainted and were scattered 
 abroad as sheep having no shepherd. 'Then saith He 
 unto His disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the 
 laborers are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord of the har- 
 vest, ^hat he wdl send forth laborers into liis harvest'. . . . 
 Behold, brethren, in the ser^'^ce which assembles us this 
 day, the result of God's especial blessing on the Church's 
 holy emulation of her Savior's love. Like Him and on the 
 pathway which His blessed footsteps traced with tears and 
 blood, the Church has gone about amongst the villages and 
 and cities of this broad and sinful land. Everywhere has 
 
272 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 she found ignorant to instruct, mourners to comfort, rebels 
 to reclaim, sinners to save ; but the west, the vast distant 
 and unsettled west, has fixed her eye and agonised her 
 heart. There, indeed, has she saved great multitudes 
 that fainted with the burden of the weary way, and wan- 
 dered cheerless and imcared for as ' sheep that have no 
 shepherd.' There, indeed, has she beheld the wily serpent 
 and the prowling wolf, and regretted with bitter tears that 
 she could do no more to guard her Savior's lambs. . . . 
 Encouraged by the divine assurance, she betook herself to 
 prayer . . . she supplicated the gracious Lord of that abun- 
 dant harvest, that he would 'send forth laborers into His 
 harvest.' He graciously inclined His ear and heard her 
 prayer He was present by His divine and Holy Spi- 
 rit in the council of His Church, as He had been in the 
 councils of the Apostles. He harmonized all hearts. He 
 suggested wisdom, He imparted courage. He communicated 
 thoughts ; above all. He sent His Holy Ghost, and poured 
 into their hearts ' that most excellent gift of charity, the 
 very bond of peace and of all virtues,' and so enabled them 
 as but one man to contrive, digest, mature, propose, accom- 
 plish, and carry into practice the great missionary Avork, 
 that here, this day, .... we have come up before His 
 altar, to present the first fruit of the Saviour's answer to 
 His Church's prayer for her lost sheep in the vast west — 
 her first — God grant that it need not long be said — her 
 only missionary bishop."* 
 
 Such were the principles on which the new missionary 
 constitution of the American Church was founded ; and 
 they are consistently maintained throughout all its details. 
 The report of the committee to which its organization was 
 entrusted, and who agreed " as one man" in their conclu- 
 sions, was thus explained by their chairman. Bishop Doane 
 (of New Jersey) to the convention. " He showedf that by 
 
 * Bisliop Doane's Sermon. 
 
 f Appendix to a sermon preached at the consecration of the 
 Right. Rev. Jackson Kemper, D.D., Missionary Bishop for Missouri 
 and Indiana, in St. Peter's Church, Phihidelphia, by G. W. Doane, 
 D.D., Bishop of tlie diocese of New Jersey, Sept. 25, 1835. The 
 italics, &c., in the text, are copied from the original. 
 
NEW ATTITCDK OF THE CHURCH. 273 
 
 the original constitution of Christ, the Church, as the 
 Church, was the one <rreat missionarj^ society ; and the 
 Apostles and the BishojJS their successors. His j^f^f- 
 pettcal trustees ; and that this could not and should never 
 be divided or deputed. The duty, he maintained, to sup- 
 port the Church in preaching the Gospel to every creature, 
 was one which passed on every Christian hij the terms of 
 his baptismal vote, and from which he could never be ab- 
 solved. The general convention he claimed to be the duly 
 constituted representative of the Church ; and pointed out 
 its admirable combination of all that was necessary to se- 
 cure, on the one hand, the confidence of the whole Church, 
 and, on the other, the most concentrated and intense effici- 
 ency. He then explained the constitution of the board of 
 missions, the permanent agent of the Church in this be- 
 half; . . . and in subordination to it the two c.reciftive com- 
 mitees for the two departments, foreign and domestic, of 
 the one great fold. . . Each having its secretary and age?it, 
 some strong and faithful man, embuod . . . with the mis- 
 sionary spirit, the indcx-f/igcr, as it were, of the com- 
 mittee. . . . For the effectual organization of the body in 
 the holy work to which the Saviour calls them, he indicated 
 the parochial relation as the most important of all bonds, 
 calling on every clergyman, as the agent of the board, for 
 Jesus' sake to use his utmost efforts in instructing first, 
 and then interesting his people, then in engaging their 
 free-will offering of themselves in its support, upon the 
 apostolic plan of systematic cluirity, laying up in store on. 
 every Lord's day as God should prosper them ; and when 
 the gathering was made, transmitting to the treasury of 
 the Church the consecrated alms." 
 
 This report being received by the convention, a " con- 
 stitution" in accordance with it was prepared, and adopted 
 with remarkable unanimity. Nothing could show more 
 clearly the general change of feeling in the body than the 
 unanimous adoption by clergymen and laity of this report. 
 Instead of doubtfully and timidly maintainhig Episcopacy, 
 amply contented with a cold toleration from others, and 
 deeming apology for her peculiarities continually needful, 
 the Church now declared herself to be indeed Christ's 
 12*' 
 
274 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 messenger, resolved in His strength to bear his message. 
 Instead of watching jealously the bishop's authority, and 
 restraining it under the merely human machinery of com- 
 mittees and the like, she boldly avowed that in it was the 
 secret of administrative strength, of vigor combined with 
 unity, as well as the principle of ministerial reproduction, 
 and therein the great external instrument for the perpetu- 
 ity of her own witness. This new and vigorous conduct 
 was the fruit of God's blessing upon their labors who lived 
 not to see on this earth their reward. It was that at 
 which Bishop Hobart had aimed when, as by a trumpet's 
 voice, he had roused her slumbering watchmen. It tilled 
 with humble joy the hearts of those who witnessed it. 
 "For ourselves," says an American publication* of the 
 day, " we consider it a measure of iar greater promise to 
 the Church of Christ than any which in our day has been 
 effected. In its adoption the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in the United States has placed herself on primitive ground. 
 She stands as a Church in the very attitude in which the 
 apostolic Church at Jerusalem, when the day of Pentecost 
 had brought the Holy Spirit down to guide and bless it, 
 set out to bear the Gospel of its heavenly Head to every 
 soul of man in every land. As the Church she undertakes, 
 and before God binds herself to sustain the injunction of 
 her Lord, to go and 'make disciples of all nations, baptising 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 Holy Ghost.' Upon every one who, in the water of bap- 
 tism, has owned the eternal triune Naine, she lays, on 
 peril of his soul if he neglect it, the same sacred charge. 
 Her bishops are apostles all ; her clergy, all evangelists ; 
 her members^:— each in his own sphere and to his utmost 
 strength — are missionaries every man : and she — that 
 noblest of all -names — a missionary Church, ' to the intent 
 that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly 
 places may be made known, by the Church, the manifold 
 wisdom of God.' 
 
 " The constitution, as amended, having passed both 
 houses on Friday the 28th, and the committee to nominate 
 
 * See Appendix to " Missionary Bishop," p. 46. 
 
MISSIONARY CONSTITtrriON. 275 
 
 the board of missions having, on Saturday, been elected by 
 ballot, they reported, on Monday, the persons nominated, 
 who were at once unanimously confirmed. Then, for the 
 first time, Avas the Church enabled to act to the full limit 
 of her divine commission. Hitherto she had worked to 
 disadvantage in sending out and sustaining, in her mission- 
 ary field, deacons and presbyters, without the benefit of 
 Episcopal influence and Episcopal supervision. Her flocks 
 were thus without a shepherd ; and she stood before the 
 world, so far as she was a missionary Church, an anomaly, 
 a self-contradiction ; professing to ' do nothing without a 
 bishop,' and yet planting churches everywhere, which 
 owed allegiance to no bishop, and could claim no bishop's 
 blessuig. By the new oi-ganization, the missionary autho- 
 rity and the missionary means come uito the same hands. 
 Before, the Church ordained missionaries who were to go 
 out under the protection, and rely on the patronage, of a 
 society which the Church could not control ; now, the 
 Church herself, by her constituted representative, collects 
 from all her members the oHerings of their love ; and from 
 the sacred treasure clothes and feeds the servants, whom, 
 in Jesus' name, she sends. She is free now to send ; she 
 is able to send ; she is entirely safe in sending, as her divine 
 Lord sent at first, the overseer as well as the servant ; the 
 elders of the Church not only, but the apostle, ' to ordain 
 elders in every city,' and to ' set in order the things which 
 are wanting.' Accordingly, the board of missions was no 
 sooner organized, than the canon ' of missionary bishops,' 
 which had occupied for several days the attention of the 
 house of clerical and lay deputies, was passed unanimously, 
 providing not only that apostles should be sent to gather in 
 the scattered sheep throughout our owti broad land, but to 
 preach the Gospel, and to build the Church, ' where'er the 
 foot of man hath trod.' A canon worthy to be inscribed hi 
 golden letters over every altar — let us say more of it than 
 that, a tndy ojyostolic cation. 
 
 " But Tuesday, Sept. 1st, as it was the last day of the 
 convention, so was it, by eminence, the day of glorious is- 
 sues for the Church. The board of missions, at the call of 
 the venerable presiding bishop, held its first meeting, and 
 
276 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 appointed its two committees ; that for domestic missions 
 to be located in the city of New- York, and that for foreign 
 missions in the city of Philadelphia. The important busi- 
 ness of the session was tending to a close ; the whole day 
 had been diligently occupied in the most solemn duties. 
 The canon ' of missionary bishops' had received the final 
 sanction of both houses. Two over-shepherds were to be 
 sent out, the messengers of the Church, to gather and to 
 feed, under the direction of the house of bishops, the scat- 
 tered sheep that wander, with no man to care for their 
 souls, through all the wide and distant west. It was an 
 act in this Church never exercised before, and yet,, upon its 
 due discharge, interests depended which outweigh the 
 world, and will run out into eternity. In the church (St. 
 Andrew's) the representatives of the diocese are assembled. 
 They wait, in their proper places, the eventful issue, while 
 expectation thrills the hearts of all the multitude which 
 throngs the outer courts. In a retired apartment, the fathers of 
 the Church are in deep consultation. There are twelve 
 assembled. They kneel in silent prayer. They rise. They 
 cast their ballots. A presbyter, whose praise is in all the 
 churches, is called by them to leave a heritage as fair as 
 ever fell to mortal man, and bear his Master's cross through 
 the deep forests of the vast south-west. Again the ballots 
 are prepared. They are cast in silence. They designate 
 to the same arduous work, where broad Missouri pours her 
 rapid tide, another, known and loved of all, whom, from an 
 humbler lot, the Saviour now has called to feed His sheep. 
 A messenger bears the result to the assembled deputies. 
 A breathless silence fills the house of God. It is announced 
 that Francis L. Hawks and Jackson Kemper, doctors in di- 
 vinity, are nominated the two first missionary bishops of 
 the Church ; and all the delegates, as Avith a single voice, 
 confirm the designation. 
 
 " One scene remains. The night is far advanced. The 
 drapery of solemn black which lines the church seems more 
 funereal in the faint light of the expiring lamps. The con- 
 gregation linger still, to hear the parting counsels of their 
 fathers in the Lord. There is a stir in the deep chancel. 
 The bishops enter, and array themselves in their appropri- 
 
CONSEQUENCES OF NEW MISSIONARY ORGANIZATION. 277 
 
 ate seats. The aged patriarch, at whose hands they all 
 have been invested with the warrant of their holy trust, 
 stands in the desk — in aspect meek, serene, and venerable, 
 as the beloved John at Ephesns, when, sole survivor of the 
 apostolic band, he daily urged upon his flock the affecting 
 lesson, ' Little chiklren, love one another I' Erect and tall, 
 tliough laden Avith the weight of almost ninety winters, 
 and with voice distinct and clear, he holds encliained all 
 eyes, all ears, all hearts, while with sustained and vigorous 
 spirit, he recites, in the behalf and name of all his breth- 
 ren, the pastoral message, drawn from the stores of his 
 long-hoarded learning, enforced by the deductions of his old 
 experience, and instinct throughout with the seraphic 
 meekness of his wisdom. He ceases from his faithful tes- 
 timony. The voice of melody, in the befitting words of that 
 delightful Psalm, ' Behold, how good and pleasant it is for 
 brethren to dwell together in unity,' melts every heart. 
 And then all knees are bent, to ask once more, as some- 
 thing to be borne and cherished in all after-life, the apos- 
 tolic benediction of that good old man." 
 
 It was indeed a gooilly progress which God had per- 
 mitted this aged man to witness since eight and forty years 
 before (February 1787) he had kneeled in the chapel at 
 Lambeth, and received the gift of consecration from the 
 English primate. Great had been God's goodness to the 
 infant western Church ; and now, at last, in the spirit of 
 love and of a sound mind which He was pouring out upon 
 her, that goodness seemed to be fulfilled. The old man 
 might well take up the song of holy Simeon, and declare 
 his readiness now "to depart in peace." 
 
 The direct consequences of the new missionary organi- 
 zation were soon visible in the Church. They, might be 
 traced in a general increase of healtld'ul energy, the natu- 
 ral consequence of the consciousness of having taken right- 
 fully high ground. Funds, which had been sparingly sup- 
 plied whilst the missionary cause was trusted to occasional 
 appeals, and sacrifices made under excited feelings, now 
 flowed in steadily and abundantly, when every baptised 
 man was summoned in right of his vow at baptism to the 
 duty of making systematic offei'ings to His Master's cause. 
 
278 
 
 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 The whole machinery of meetings, and sermons, and auxil- 
 iary societies, had only raised the missionary income to 
 337^. per annum from the year 1820, when the society was 
 founded, until 1829. Then a new spirit began to awaken, 
 and in the three next years it had reached more than ten 
 times that amount, exceeding 3000Z. But it did not rest 
 here. In the very year which followed the amended con- 
 stitution, the missionary income of the Church was raised 
 at once by the principles, now brought to bear upon the 
 whole community, to a sum exceeding 12,000/. The 
 main cause of this vast increase is to be found in the one 
 simple principle of calling upon all to give something to the 
 work, as God hath prospered them, upon the first day of 
 the week, because they are Christian men. This was first 
 warmly pressed upon the Church by the present Bishop 
 (G. W. Doaue) of New Jersey, and its immediate pecuniary 
 consequences (far, indeed, the smallest in importance) may 
 be seen in the following statement* of the comparative 
 sums raised in six parishes within his diocese, on an average 
 of five years on the old plan and one of the new. 
 
 Parishes. 
 
 Average of 5 years 
 under the old plan. 
 
 Offerius's of the Church 
 for the first year 
 
 
 Doll. CIS. 
 
 £,. s. 
 
 Doll. Cts. 
 
 £ «. 
 
 St. Mary's, Burliiijton . 
 
 76 94 
 
 17 7 
 
 271 .59 
 
 61 4 
 
 Trinity Churcli, Newark 
 
 49 52 
 
 11 3 
 
 149 20 
 
 33 1 
 
 Christ Churcli, New Brunswick 
 
 13 40 
 
 3 
 
 79 9S 
 
 18 
 
 Christ's Church, Newton 
 
 5 
 
 1 2 
 
 50 
 
 n 5 
 
 St. Mark's, Oran?e . 
 
 7 54 
 
 1 15 
 
 49 15 
 
 11 1 
 
 St. Peter's, Morristown . 
 
 12 36 
 
 •2 15 
 
 32 6 
 
 7 4 
 
 Total 
 
 Under the old 37 2 
 
 Under the new 141 16 
 
 Nor was this the only evident advance. Men, for the 
 work of the ministry, are more needed in America than 
 money for its conduct. So it must ever be to a great degree ; 
 for personal service is a far harder sacrifice than any gifts 
 of substance, and one, therefore, which requires a much 
 stronger faith in him who offers it. Nor can anything more 
 efi^ectually repress this high spirit of self-sacrifice than con- 
 ducting missionary exertions on a contracted scale, or em- 
 
 * Taken from Caswall's America and American Churcli, p. 264. 
 
INCREASE OF THE CHURCH. 279 
 
 ploying ill the work the lower orders ouly of the ministry, as 
 if it were unworthy of the higher. On this account the 
 move now made in America pi'omised the happiest results. 
 The sending out the missionary bishop ; the attitude assumed 
 by the whole Church; the new responsibility so solemnly 
 professed ; all of these awoke attention to the real greatnc^3 
 of the undertaking, and .so called forth minds of the highest 
 temper to their appropriate work. The first fruit of the new 
 system may be found in Bishop Kemper's labors, who at 
 once undertook that ollice for the due discharge of which 
 he was admirably qualilicd. Wise, courteous, and con- 
 ciliating, he was at the same time unweained in energy and 
 unsparing in exertion. The scattered settlers of his mis- 
 sionary diocese have seen and heard the Witness for 
 Christ, who has followed them into the moral wilderness ; 
 and to the red man of Indian blood the same blessed mes- 
 sage has been borne by the same chief minister of Christ. 
 The band of presbyters is gathering around him. When 
 he was consecrated there was but one in all Indiana ; in 
 1838, eight clergymen were laboring amidst growing con- 
 gregations. Li Missouri, a college under the bishop's eye 
 will soon spread more widely still the daily advancing in- 
 fluence of the Church. Every where life is present and 
 growth visible. In most of the older dioceses there is a 
 marked and even rapid increase. Virginia can again show 
 eighty-four presbyters amongst her pastors, and, which she 
 could not do of old, two bishops at their head. Vermont, 
 Avhich had long formed a part of the eastern diocese, elected, 
 in 1832, its separate bishop, and under his able and vigi- 
 lant superintendence has been steadily groAving in strength 
 and vigor. The other members of the eastern diocese are 
 looking on. to a like partition, and like separate existence 
 under their own bishops. New- York is dividing under the 
 provisions of the general convention, into two independent 
 sees. The clergy of Ohio, whose infant beginnings Bishop 
 Chase had fostered, in 1838 numbered almost sixty. In 
 Kentucky diocese they had multiplied from eight to twenty- 
 one between 1832 and 1838 ; whilst in the same space, in 
 Temiessee, three scattered presbyters have been exchanged 
 for a resident diocesan, twelve settled clergymen, and an 
 
280 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 infant, college for theological instruction. In 1836, Michi- 
 gan received its bishop, and has since flourished greatly 
 under his exertions ; while, in 1838, a diocese was organ- 
 ised in the far southern state of Florida. 
 
 Such have been some of the immediate results which 
 have followed the awakening of the Church to the sense of 
 her high duties and entrusted powers. That she may thus 
 go on and prosper, must be the earnest prayer, not only of 
 every English Churchman, but of every one who loves in 
 truth the honor of His Master's name. 
 
 For the work of foreign Missions she is eminently qual- 
 ified. For this peculiar service she is rendered fitter even 
 by her separation from the state ; unfettered by political 
 connection, she may multiply at need her bishops, whilst 
 the enei'gy and maritime adventure of her anglo-Saxon race 
 promise to secure admission for her sons to every nation of 
 the earth. It may be that for this work specially her wit- 
 ness has been thus raised up in the west ; it may be that 
 for this the providence of G-od was over-ruling that want 
 of faith, or that indolence, at home Avhich never suffered 
 her to grow into a perfect Church whilst her connection 
 with the mother-people lasted ; — that so she might spring 
 at length into a sudden maturity, rich in hopes, rich in ex- 
 pectations ; in the first possession of her powers, when she 
 could thus use them without let or hindrance for the evan- 
 gelizing of the world.* From us she must have learned a 
 
 * It is impossible to omit here all mention of the noble efforts 
 made in this great cause at Atliens, by the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Hill. 
 I have now before me, through the kindness of a friend, a letter 
 from one well qualified to judge, written from Athens in October 
 1844, and which contains tiie following sentences : — " Mr. Hill is the 
 
 next man in Athens to King Otho An able and successful 
 
 diplomatist here told me, that he was firmly persuaded that Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hill had conferred far more signal benefits upon Greece 
 than all the allied powers put together. His praise of Mrs. Hill 
 was scarcely bounded ; he said that she was a woman of Uie rarest 
 qualities of excellence, and that her heart, especially for goodness 
 and stoutness (and it had been severely tried in both respects), could 
 scarcely be equalled. He believed that they had been the cause of 
 the education of more than 20,000 Greeks. They taught and tliey 
 sent forth those prepared to instruct ; and their example has been 
 followed, and is working a wonderful reformation. 
 
DEATH OF BISHOP WHITE. 281 
 
 slower and more cautious policy ; and even the achieve- 
 ment of her national independence might not have broken 
 through old habits, or set her free to labor in the ardor of 
 her first love for every race which yet sits in darkness. 
 
 May this, then, be her course ; may she be stirred up 
 to earnest prayer, to high gifts of self-sacrifice, to untiring 
 and well-ordered labors, and the grace of God will go 
 along with her. Great achievements lie before her. An 
 open field for noble and unlimited service invites all her 
 energies. In her, too, is the " salt of the earth" for the 
 preservation of her own busy and restle.ss people. The un- 
 bounded western frontier, her fertile soil, her enterprising 
 citizens, her mighty forests, her harbors, her traffic, and 
 her merchandise — these may make America rich and 
 luxurious, and for a season mighty among the people of the 
 earth ; but in the Church of Jesus, thus planted in the 
 midst of her, and in that alone, is to be fomid the pervad- 
 ing, elevating, and enduring influence, whicli can make 
 her truly great. 
 
 This important convention rose on the 1st of Septem- 
 ber, 1835. It was the last, as has been said, over which 
 the venerable Bishop White presided. Long as it had 
 been delayed, to him also the last summons was now 
 sent. Throughout this year and until tlie following June, 
 he conthiued as usual to officiate in his parish duties. 
 Then severe illness bowed down his aged frame. Still his 
 strength endured. He rallied from his sickness, and ap- 
 peared to be again possessed of renovated vigor ; and it 
 was hoped he might preside at the approaching consecra- 
 tion of Dr. M'Goskry, elected bishop of Michigan. But his 
 sands were fast running out. No violent disease re-ap- 
 peared ; but the fountains were broken up, and his life 
 ebbed gently from him. Surrounded by his family, and 
 attended by Bishop Doane and Dr. M'Coskry, " in full 
 reliance on the alone merits of his Saviour, and blessed in 
 realizing God's protecting care in life and death,"* he 
 meekly breathed his last, during the morning service of 
 the Church he loved, on Sunday, July 17, 183G. 
 
 » Life of Bishop ^Miite, by Dr. Bird Wilson, p. 267. 
 
282 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 Of the character of this good man, little can he added 
 to what has been already said in tracing the history with 
 which his life is intertwined. He was doubtless an emi- 
 nent instrument of God in laying the foundations of the 
 western Church. For this his meek wisdom greatly fitted 
 him ; probably with any other cast of character he could 
 not have done what he now was able to efiect. Though 
 classed by his biographer with "the low-church divines, 
 as they are called, of the Church of England," he yet 
 maintained firmly the distinctive features of Church doc- 
 trine. Speaking of a sermon preached by Bishop Moore 
 before the convention of 1820, and of the offence given to 
 some of the house of deputies by its maintaining the doc- 
 trine of baptismal regeneration, he admits that on such an 
 occasion •' all questions should be avoided in which the 
 sense of the episcopal Church is doubtful." " But," he 
 continues, "it is to be lamented that there should be 
 brought under this head a doctrine which we have been 
 taught to lisp in the earliest repetitions of our Catechism, 
 which pervades sundry of our devotional services, especially 
 the baptismal, which is affirmed in our Articles also, which 
 was confessedly held and taught during the ages of the 
 martyrs, and the belief of which was universal in the 
 Church until it was perceived to be inconsistent with a 
 religious theory, the beginning and the progress of which 
 can be as distinctly traced as those of any error of po- 
 pery "* 
 
 He was not less distinct as to the ministry of the 
 Christian Church. In his " Lecture on the Catechism," 
 he lays it down that bishops, priests, and deacons, are of 
 divine appointment ;t that succession is the only mode of 
 transmitting the ministry which is of divine institution ; 
 and that the door of entering opened by the Head of the 
 Church is the only one through which the character of a 
 pastor in the Church can be obtained. $ 
 
 It is true that it is diflicidt always to reconcile his 
 
 * Life by Dr. Bird Wilson, p. 229. 
 t Ibid. p. 157, 158. 
 
 I Vide letter of Bishop Hobart to Bishop "White — ia M'Vickar'a 
 Life, p. 413. 
 
CHARACTER. OF BISHOP ■\\anTE. 283 
 
 practical concessions with the strictness of the principles he 
 here lays down ; but, as we have-^een, this very temper 
 made him probably the fitter instrument for his own pecu- 
 liar task. Lxod works by various hands ; and the soft and 
 yielding, so that" they be faithful to His truth, have their 
 own appointed task, even as to the sterner and more rug- 
 ged, it his grace dwell hi them, is allotted theirs. And to 
 his hght this venerable man would seem to have been 
 always true. He was bred, indeed, in a lower scliool both 
 of faith and Christian feeling than that which was after- 
 wards vouchsafed to the Church ; and from this cause 
 vhere seems, to a certain extent, to have always hung 
 about him a want of distinctness as to the liigher Christian 
 doctrines, and a corresponding want of warmth of spiritual 
 character : but he was a truly humble man, and the bles- 
 sing of the meek was his. His trust was only in his cru- 
 cified Redeemer, and he did seek for the sanctifying pres- 
 ence of the Holy Spirit. The rock was under him ; and 
 throughout a long life he never shrunk from any known 
 duty. 
 
 When, in the autumn of 1793, the yellow fever first 
 appeared in Philadelphia, it spread a panic terror through 
 all classes. The curse of a plague-struck city was upon 
 the population. Along the deserted streets, amidst the 
 vultures which prayed upon the ofl'al, roamed only those 
 fiends in human garb, who seek at such a moment for 
 plunder amongst the dying and the dead. Three-fourths of 
 all tlie inbabitants had fled from the place. The outcast, 
 the infected, tlie dyiuir, and the few whom love kept still 
 around their beds, — these only remained. Dr. White was 
 strongly urged to join the liyiug throng. The specious 
 argument, that his single life was eminently precious, as- 
 sailed him from the lips of those whom he esteemed for 
 piety and loved with the simple warmth of family afl'ec- 
 tion. But he listened not to such suggestions. Where 
 should the pastor be at sucli a time but with the sick and 
 dying ? where the bishop but at the head of his flock ? 
 Removing his family into the country, he remained at his 
 own house, spending day.s and nights with the victims of 
 the pestilence. One servant, who resolved to remain with 
 
284 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 his master, died in his sight ; but his faith was not shak- 
 en ; and the plague passed off without his receiving any 
 injury. 
 
 Once again, thirty-nine years later, he was tried in the 
 same way. The Asiatic cholera appeared at Philadelphia 
 with all the terror of its appalling character and unknown 
 course. His advanced years would then have furnished 
 an easy excuse for one who sought to escape the supposed 
 danger of intercourse with the infected. But the aged bi- 
 shop was a man of another stamp ; and in his eighty-fifth 
 year he might be seen daily in the cholera-hospital, pray- 
 ing by the bedside of the dying patient. 
 
 Nor, with so much that was naturally yielding in his 
 temper, did he fail, when his judgment was decided, boldly 
 to resist those with whose political opinions he was most 
 predisposed to sympathise. In his later years a large sum 
 of money was bequeathed by a wealthy Philadelphia mer- 
 chant to the corporation of the city, for the foundation of 
 an orphan college, on the sole condition that the boys should 
 be kept without any instructions in any religious creed, 
 from six to eighteen, that they might then " adopt such 
 religious tenets as their matured reason should enable them 
 to prefer." But the good bishop was not to be led away 
 by this specious liberality. He at once condemned the 
 conditions of the will, and addressed to the corporation an 
 uncompromising and powerful appeal, in which he urged 
 them "to a respectful but determined rejection of the 
 trust." " It is," he allowed, " a great sacrifice ; but it 
 cannot be too great when the acceptance of it would be an 
 acknowledgement that religion, even in its simplest forms, 
 is unnecessary to the binding men to their various du- 
 ties."* 
 
 * Life of Bishop White, p. 244. The speech of D.Webster, when, 
 in 1844, the question came, by appeal from the local jurisdiction of 
 Philadelphia, before the supreme court of tlie United States, is full 
 of a noble eloquence : " Would any Christian parent," he asks, " con- 
 sider it desirable for his orphan children after his death to find re- 
 fuge in this asylum . . . under all the circumstances and character- 
 istics which belong to it ? Poor as children can be left, who 
 
 would not rather trust them to the Christian charity of the world, 
 
Viorcacs. Connecticut. 
 
 Ptnngt/lrania. 
 
 f^eiD'York. 
 
 Virginia. 
 
 Maryland. 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 He a Hampshire and 
 Masaachuaetts. 
 
 Neic Jersey. 
 
 Ohio. 
 
 Iforth Carolina. 
 
 Vermont. 
 
 Kentucky. 
 
 Tcnnetiet. 
 
 niinoii. 
 
 Miaaouri and Indiana. 
 
 Delnware. 
 
 Maine. 
 
 Alabama. 
 
 — F 
 
 Michigan. 
 
 Florida. 
 
 1784. Nov. 14 
 1787. Feb. 4. 
 1700. Sep. 19 
 1702. Sop. 12 
 1705. Sop. 14 
 1797. May 7 
 
 Ocl. 18 
 
 1801. Sep. 11 
 
 1804. Sep. 14 
 1311. I\lny29 
 1812. Ocl. 1.1 
 1B14. May 19 
 
 Sep. 1 
 
 1915. Nov. 19 
 
 1810. J 
 ISIB. Oel. 6 
 11-19. Feb. 11 
 
 Oel. 27 
 
 1823. M„y 2:1 
 
 1827. Oct. 25 
 
 1929. Ocl 10 
 
 1930. Ocl si 
 
 Nov. SO 
 
 1831. Sep. 28. 
 1932. Ocl 31 
 
 1934. Jnn. 14 
 
 1935. (consB. ) 
 crnlod 1819) ) 
 
 18.15. Sep. 25 
 1836 
 
 )r. 8. Seabury.* 
 
 Dr. W. White. 
 
 Dr. S. ProvooBt. 
 
 Dr. J. MadiaoD. 
 
 
 R. Smith, D.D. 
 
 E. Bass, D.T). 
 
 J(^D Croes, D.D. 
 
 Philander Clin.e, D.D. 
 
 i S, Roven?croft, D.Dj 
 L. S. I vet, D.D. 
 
 1. H. HopkiM!. 
 
 U. 11. Smith, 
 
 J. 11- Otev. D.D. 
 
 t. Chaie, D.D.' 
 
 '■■■: 
 
 Ufa 
 
 Jackioti Kumpcr.D.D*. 
 
 nss 
 
 1620 
 
 1832 
 
 s A, M'Cnskrpy. 
 
 1838 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Abraliom Jnrvis, D.D. 
 
 
 Bonj. Moore, D.D.* 
 
 
 f 
 
 VacBfil by the death 
 
 
 
 ( 
 
 
 Samuel Parker, D.P.* 
 A. V, Griswold. D.D.t 
 
 
 
 J II Hobort DD.t 
 
 1 . .. .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ;•■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — Kemp, D. D.* 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vacant by tlio doatli 
 of Dr. JarvlK. 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 N. Bowen, D.D.* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T. C. nrownoll, D.D. 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 U, U. Ondordonk, D;D.* 
 
 i-- 
 
 1 
 
 W. Meade, D.D.t 
 
 Vacant bylhedeath' 
 of Dr. Kemp, 1827. 
 
 1 
 
 
 ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. T. Onderdoiik, ft. D. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 G! W. Doanc, D.D. 
 
 C. p. M'llvaine, D.D. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Joined tfao ' 
 general con- 
 vention as 
 *' orgnnifled ■ 
 Chutche*." 
 
 1769 
 
 1785 
 
 1785 
 
 1795 
 
 1785 
 
 I7sr. 
 
 
 1785 
 
 1919 
 
 1017 
 
 
 tmi 
 
 1929 
 
 • Biibop Sckbury .il-«1 
 uil«6. 
 
 thftP While. 
 
 1 
 
 1 • Dr. P«»voo«i rwiped. ■ Aficr * vacwicjr o 
 t Aolilanlbuhop. i\ro r«an. 
 
 t AubUnt blihop. 
 
 * Suffrann to Bishop 
 |CU|nr*ntailS16. 
 
 t After t T«c»ncjr ol 
 three jttn. 
 
 * Suceoeded Dr. Dr 
 hon, who died Aiigu* 
 1811. 
 
 * Od the death of Dr. But. 
 
 I 1 Vermont end Rhode It 
 land were kssoc tated with 
 MaiB»chuictU ind New 
 
 lH*inp*hirp. cilled hence 
 forth "the Eaitem Diocew.' 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 ihoporohio.un. 
 
 • MUiionery blJtinp. 
 
 
 
I 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE HISTORY. 285 
 
 He died, as he had lived for eighty-eight years — with- 
 out an enemy ; and, the first of that order which had been 
 the subject of such fierce suspicions, he was followed to 
 the grave, through streets from which ordiuary business 
 had been spontaneously banished, by the public authorities, 
 by the various literary and charitable bodies, and by thou- 
 sands of" unpurchased mourners. 
 
 The thread of our history has brought us down to living 
 men, and scenes in the great drama which are not yet acted 
 out. Here it seems meet to pause, remembering the cau- 
 tion of the wise historian, who, for safety's sake, would not 
 " follow even truth too closely by the heels." We have 
 brought down the history of the Church from its ambigu- 
 ous colonial existence, through the struggles of the war of 
 independence, to its firm and general establishment in the 
 wide regions of the western continent. The table which 
 concludes this chapter will show at one view the dates and 
 order of the foundation of the various dioceses, and the con- 
 secrations of the difi'erent bishops of America. 
 
 It remains only, in the concluding chapter, to estimate 
 the present position, and, as far as may be, the yet distant 
 prospect, of the body the history of which thus lies before 
 us. 
 
 however uncertaia it has been said to be, than place them whore 
 their physical wants and comforts would be abundantly attended to, 
 but away from the solaces, the consolations, the graces, and the grace 
 of the Christian religion ?" 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Present influence of the Episcopal Church — Rapid extension — Esti- 
 mated numbers — Clergy — Extent and population of diocesses — 
 Influence on the moral character of the people — Favorable symp- 
 toms — Sects — Revivals — Sociuianism — Sober tone of the Church 
 — Duelling — Its character in America — Instance — Church resists 
 duels — Canon — Instance — Unfavorable symptoms — Divorce — 
 Marriage — Treatment of the colored race — The great sore of Ame- 
 rica — State of negroes in the south, religious, moral, physical-;— 
 Slave-breeding states — Internal slave-trade — Duty of the Church 
 to testify — Her silence — Participation — Palliation of these evils — 
 State of the colored population in the north — Insults — Degrada- 
 tion — Caste — Duty of the Church — Her silence — Case of General 
 Theological Seminary — Alexander Crummell — Estimate of her in- 
 fluence — Her small hold on the poor — Architecture and arrange- 
 ment of churches — Pew-rent system — Prospects of the Church — 
 Danger from indifference to formal truth — Chaplains to Congress 
 — Thomas Jefferson — Romanism — Its schismatical rise in America 
 — Spread in the West — Promises a refuge from the sects — Courts 
 democracy — Main resistance from tlie Church — How slie may be 
 strong — Need of adhering to lier own princiijles — Of a high moral 
 tone — The slave-question — Favorable promise — Higher principles 
 — More care of the poor — Colored race — Gains on the population 
 — Conclusion. 
 
 In forming an estimate of the present state of the Ameri- 
 can Episcopal Church, there are several lines of inquiry 
 which we may follow up. The first which naturally sug- 
 gests itself is, its territorial and numerical hold upon the 
 extent and population of the land. If, then, we compare 
 the map of America with the fixed organization of the 
 Church, we are at once struck with its rapid and univer- 
 sal extension. Bishoprics, as well as what in the looser 
 language of the west are termed dioceses,* are well-nigh 
 
 * Districts in which a number of congregations are united together 
 according to the rules of the American Church, and so termed " or- 
 
EXTENT AND NUMBERS OF THE CHURCH. 287 
 
 co-extensive with the states of the Union. Through all 
 that vast continent the living form of Church-polity has 
 grown up as in a night, from the two bishops Avho landed 
 at New- York on Easter Sunday, 1787, From puritan 
 Massachusetts in the north, down to the slave-tilled bot- 
 toms of torrid Louisiana, and from the crowded harbor of 
 New- York back to the unbroken forests and rolling prairies 
 of Illinois, the successors of the Twelve administer in 
 Christ's name the rule of His spiritual kingdom. 
 
 It is not so easy to estimate aright the proportion of 
 the varied population of these wide tracts which have re- 
 ceived this Ikith. The work of its leaven-like power and 
 growing presence is noiseless and secret, and to obtain 
 exact accuracy may be impossible ; but something may be 
 done. It has been calculated, as the nearest approximation 
 which can be obtained, that about 1,500,000 of the popu- 
 lation of the United States belong to this communion ; its 
 clergy amount to 1224.* Here, therefore, also, is abund- 
 ant proof of a wide-spread and increasing growth of this 
 fair plant of God amongst our western children ; since the 
 hindrances imposed by our carelessness or fear were swept 
 away, and it has been allowed to strike at Avill its roots 
 among them. 
 
 But though there be goodly signs of life and growth in 
 the extension of dioceses and the gathering in of souls, yet, 
 on the other hand, when we see the vast extent over 
 which diocesan authority is spread, it seems as if it must 
 too often melt into a shadow : and when further we com- 
 pare the number in the fold with the multitude without, 
 we perceive that as yet the hold of this communion on the 
 mass of living acting men can be but slight. It is too 
 plain, that in many districts it consists only of a scattered 
 handful here and there, and has not yet gathered in with 
 a strong arm the ripe harvest of souls into the garner of 
 the Lord. The annexed table will show at one view the 
 number of the bishops and clergy in each state, and op- 
 posite to them the number of the square miles over which 
 
 ganized," and capable of sending delegates to convention, but which 
 do not yet possess a bisliop. 
 
 * Church Almanac for 18-14: New-York. 
 
288 
 
 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 their charge extends, and of the masses for whom they 
 labor. As a general conclusion, we may see that these 22 
 bishops and 1202 clergy are ministering among a mass of 
 human beings, of all colors of belief, or of no belief at all, 
 amounting to above 17 millions, who are scattered over an 
 extent of above one million of square miles. 
 
 BishopB. 
 
 Clergy. 
 
 States. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Square miles. 
 
 0* 
 
 6 
 
 Maiiio 
 
 501,793 
 
 32,000 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 Ne".v Hninpsliire 
 
 284.574 
 
 9,280 
 
 
 29 
 
 Vornioiit . 
 
 291,948 
 
 10,200 
 
 
 58 
 
 Massacliiisetts 
 
 637,()99 
 
 7,800 
 
 
 25 
 
 RlioJe Island . 
 
 108,830 
 
 1.095 
 
 
 10-2 
 
 Connecticut . 
 
 310,015 
 
 4,800 
 
 
 202 
 
 New-York 
 
 1,293,783 
 
 21,751 
 
 
 105 
 
 Western New-York 
 
 1,135,138 
 
 21,463 
 
 
 47 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 373,306 
 
 6,600 
 
 
 115 
 
 Pennsylvania . 
 
 1,724,022 
 
 46,000 
 
 
 11 
 
 Delaware 
 
 78,085 
 
 2,120 
 
 
 93 
 
 Maryland 
 
 409,2.32 
 
 10,930 
 
 
 98 
 
 Virginiii . 
 
 1,239,797 
 
 64,000 
 
 
 32 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 75.3,110 
 
 43,800 
 
 
 49 
 
 Sonth Carolina 
 
 594,398 
 
 30,000 
 
 
 C2 
 
 Ohio 
 
 1,519,467 
 
 50,000 
 
 
 14 
 
 Georgia . 
 
 770,000 
 
 58.000 
 
 
 2-2 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 790,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 
 12 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 829.210 
 
 40.000 
 
 ot 
 
 11 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 375,651 
 
 48,000 
 
 
 7 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 351,176 
 
 48,220 
 
 
 24 
 
 Michigan 
 
 211,705 
 
 55,000 
 
 ot 
 
 10 
 
 Alabama . 
 
 6.50.000 
 
 46,000 
 
 r 
 
 14 
 
 Illinois . . 
 
 474,404 
 
 59,500 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Florida . 
 
 54,207 
 
 87,750 
 
 0§ 
 
 15 
 
 Indiana . 
 
 683,317 
 
 35,000 
 
 ol 
 
 10 
 
 Missouri . 
 
 381,102 
 
 64,000 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 30,852 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 Iowa 
 
 43,0t>8 
 
 
 2 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 95,642 
 
 58,000 
 
 22 
 
 1202 
 
 17,055,531 
 
 1,001,309 
 
 * Administered by the Bishop of Rhode Island. 
 t Administered by the Bishop of Tennessee. 
 
 I Administered by the Bishop of Louisiana. 
 
 § These three administered by the missionarj' bishop residing in 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 II Administered by the Bisliop of Tennessee. 
 
 But another and a better measure of the influence of 
 this body on the people of the west is aflbrded by its actual 
 power over morals and opinions. Now, tried by this test, 
 the conclusion does not differ greatly from that yielded by 
 
INCLINATION OF TIIE SECTS. 289 
 
 the last. Much, undoubtedly, it is doing, and has done. 
 No where have the restless waters of the multitude of 
 sects tossed themselves in wilder madness than in the new 
 world. The line of this history forbids any minute exam- 
 ination of their state ; but the general aspect they present 
 towards the Episcopalian body must be noticed.* Between 
 it and some of them there is as close an approximation as 
 there can be without union. To many of the separation, 
 Christ's truth has never been proposed in any other form 
 than that in which they hold it. In them there has been 
 no stubborn rejection oi" a higher teaching, but rather a 
 diligent use of all which has been vouchsafed to them. 
 On such men the blessing of God has visibly rested. No 
 unprejudiced observer can doubt that His grace has wrought 
 through them His blessed work for multitudes around them. 
 As their hght increases, many of these join openly the 
 Church's ranks. So far, indeed, does this migration pre- 
 vail, that no tewer than one-half of the existing clergy, and 
 even of the bishopsf themselves, have been won over from 
 the sects. And this process seems still to be extending. 
 At Boston there is now a striking revulsion of feehng to- 
 wards the Church, of whose exclusively apostolical con- 
 stitution many of the ministers amongst the sects are now 
 convinced. Their present position seems to be one Avhich 
 honest men camiot long consent to occupy. They " admit 
 the doctrine of the visible Church, and the apostolical suc- 
 cession, and consequently the schism of which the original 
 founders of their sect were guilty;" but claim "prescrip- 
 tion as eflacing the flaw in the original deed." Thus it is 
 their view, that sectarians, (is a body, ought to reunite 
 themselves to the Church, and that each individual ought 
 to endeavor earnestly to bring about this reunion ; whilst, 
 without it, he would not be justified in straggling from his 
 appointed place in the economy of Providence. J This po- 
 sition seems to imply much the same dishonesty of niind 
 as would lead an English Churchman, whose affections 
 had been unhappily seduced to Rome, to remain within 
 
 * See preface. t Caswall, p. 332. 
 
 X Letters from America, vol. ii. p. 160. The exact words are not 
 given. 
 
 13 
 
290 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the English Church, seeking to bring her again under the 
 bonds and corruption of the Papacy. Still, the efiect on 
 minds so disposed, of the institutions and doctrines after 
 which they are reaching forth, cannot easily be overrated. 
 
 Greatly is such an influence needed by the.se bodies. 
 Abundant as some of them have no doubt been in faith and 
 good works, yet, taken as a Avhole, they signally illustrate 
 the absurdities and degradation to which religious license, 
 unlimited by fixed forms of belief, is ever prone to run. 
 The rise and prevalence of Mormonisin is a startling fact 
 in the religious history of man ; and the same features, 
 though less broadly marked, may be traced in many other 
 quarters. Rehgion has always exhibited a tendency to 
 wear out within a few generations where it has not been 
 '' kept fixed and permanent by the external framework at 
 first appointed by the Lord. That such has been the case 
 in America we have a striking testimony in the writings 
 of Bishop Chase, himself, as has been seen,* sprung from 
 a dissenting family which had maintained its early princi- 
 ples with unusual faithfulness. " When the Puritans," he 
 says,t " by leaving the Church, broke the vessel, the oil 
 was split upon the ground ; and though some of it mjy be 
 gathered in the sherds and burn brightly for a time, yet 
 the flame soon expires, and all around is left in darkness." 
 Such was the existing state of things he found in Vermont. 
 Catechisms had been laid aside ; to teach their children 
 the fundamental principles of the Christian faith was 
 deemed an infringement on their natural and inalienable 
 rights ; by far the greater part had not been baptised ; and 
 the general ignorance was turned to their own purposes 
 by various classes of infidels. 
 
 Such has been too often, in the west, the unhappy pro- 
 gress of declining faith ; and so the ground has been left 
 open for increasing evil. Every fantastic opinion which 
 has disturbed the peace of Christendom has been re-pro- 
 duced in stronger growth on the other side of the Atlaulic. 
 Division has grown up in all its rankness, and seeded freely 
 on every side a new crop of errors. Even amongst those 
 
 * P. 239. f Reminiscences, p. 100, 
 
TENDENCY TO SOCINIANISM. 291 
 
 sects which have retained the larofest measure of origrinal 
 truth, the eflects of this state of things are visihle. The 
 history of their " Revivals," as they are termed, with their 
 "new measures," " anxious seats," " itinerant evangeUsts," 
 and " protracted meetings," sometimes of forty days' con- 
 tinuance,* is httle else than a record of the wildest extra- 
 vagance,! which, ui the j udgment of the more sober even 
 of their own body, " thi-eatens to pour forth a host of ar- 
 dent, inexperienced, imprudent young men, to obliterate 
 civihzation, and roll back the wheels of time to semi-bar- 
 barism, until New-England of the west shall be burnt 
 over, and religion disgraced and trodden down, as in some 
 parts of New-England it was done eighty years ago, when 
 laymen and women, Indians and negroes, male and female, 
 preached and prayed, and exhorted, until confusion itself 
 became coiifo inded." " This will unavoidably pi'oduce 
 infidels, scoffers, unitarians, and universalists, on every 
 side, increasing the resistance seven-fold to evangelical doc- 
 trine." t 
 
 This has been already the fruit of these fierce excite- 
 ments. The children of " the pilgrims" have openly cast 
 off their fathers' creed, and glory in doctrines which were 
 marked out in the days of New-England's settlement for 
 the direst anathema. In Massachusetts^ the Socinians 
 
 * Drs. Reed and Matheson's Visit, vol. ii. p. 40. 
 
 f The following extract from an unsuspected quarter will show 
 the true nature of these artificial heats. " A revival-preacher, after 
 delivering a sermon, called on ' the anxious' to meet him in the lec- 
 ture-room. About 200 obeyed. He called on them to kneel in 
 prayer ; and he offered an alarming and terrific prayer. They arose. 
 ' As many of you,' he said, ' as have given youi-selves to God in 
 that prayer, go into the new convert room.' Upwards of twenty 
 went. 'Xow,' he said to the remainder, 'let us pray.' He prayed 
 again in like matmer. He then challenged those who had given 
 them-ielves to God in that prayer to go into the new convert room. 
 Anotlier set followed. This was repeated four times. The next 
 morning he left the town, having previously' sent a notice to the 
 
 newspapers, stating that Mr. had preached there last night, and 
 
 that 61 converts professed religion." Drs. Reed and Matheson's 
 Visit, vol. ii. p. 29. 
 
 X I,etten; from Dr. Beecher, — Reed and Matheson, vol. ii. pp. 34, 35. 
 
 § Reed and Matheson, vol. ii. p 60. 
 
292 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 have 130 Societies and 110 ministers : in the town of Bos- 
 ton their congregations average from 600 to 1000. Theirs, 
 " if not the rehgion of the numerical majority, is that of 
 the opulent and official classes, who compose the aristocracy 
 
 of the city It is said, indeed, that with whatever 
 
 religion men begin life, when they get very rich, and with- 
 draw from active business, they"* join this party. Iir its 
 tenets they find repose from the extravagant excitement of 
 the other sects ; they are freely allowed such unlimited 
 measures of infidelity or doubt as suit their own inclina- 
 tions ; and they find themselves surrounded by those who 
 take the lead in every walk of social life. This state of 
 things has long been growing up : the Church was too weak 
 around the Puritans to keep them by its indirect influence 
 to the foundations of the faith ; and no sect that has ever 
 yet arisen has possessed, Avithin itself, the gift of perma- 
 nence. Here the declension began early ; and so gradually 
 did their deadly error overspread them, that Boston was 
 not conscious of the change until it was incautiously dis- 
 closed by an English brother. It was then found, on in- 
 quiry, that " in Boston every thing was gone except the 
 old South Meeting; and, within a radius of fifteen miles, 
 not ten ministers could be found of the Congregational 
 order holding the ' truth as it is in Jesus.' "f 
 
 Against such declensions the presence of the Church is, 
 imder the blessing of Almighty God, an appointed safe- 
 guard. From the excitements which sweep at times over 
 the sects, burning all to-day with an intemperate heat, 
 and leaving all behind them waste and bare, even those 
 amongst her pastors have been free, who, from warmth of 
 natural temper or doctrinal views, have most addressed 
 themselves to the religious feelings of their flock. $ And 
 thus not only have they withheld from their own people 
 these withering blights, but they have done much for all 
 denominations round them. It was the remark of a So- 
 cinian gentleman, from Massachusetts, as floating down 
 the Connecticut river (in 1834), he noticed the Episco- 
 
 * Buckingham's America, vol. iii. p. 450. 
 
 f Reed and Matheson, ut sup. 
 
 X Life of Bp. Moore of Virginia, by Dr. Henshaw, p. 101. 
 
DUELS. 293 
 
 pal churches on each side the stream. " If those churches 
 had been in Massachusetts, there would have been few 
 Unitarians."* The influence thus exercised can scarcely be 
 over-rated. It breaks out visibly in smaller things, — as in 
 the universal observance of Good Friday in Connecticut, 
 from deference to Churchmen,! — and in greater matters 
 is always in action. The fixed creed of the Church, its 
 settled liturgy, its decent and reverent forms, its educated 
 ministry, its tone of practical reality ; those are felt con- 
 tinually as restraints to some, and patterns to others. 
 Amidst the madness of the angry waves, one bark holds 
 its anchorage, and becomes to those around it a witness for 
 fixedness and truth. 
 
 On the general character of society it exerts continual 
 influence. Throughout the states it ranks amongst its 
 members those who, from position and superior education, 
 must ultimately fix the standard of feeling : and against 
 some of the great evils which infect American society it 
 has raised its solemn and not wholly ineflectual protest. 
 
 Thus, to take one example : duels, such as barbarous 
 times can scarcely parallel, are not uncommon in America. 
 Utterly unchristian as are those we know in England, they 
 are wholly of another character from these, of*vvhich ven- 
 geance and the thirst for blood are undisguised features. 
 How little public opinion has as yet condemned them, a 
 single narrative will show. It is a rule of Congress that 
 when any member dies during the sitting of the houses, he 
 shall be honored with a public funeral. During the win- 
 ter session of 1838, two members of the house of represen- 
 tatives at Washington quarrelled, and met to fight a duel. 
 Rifles were, as is usual, the selected weapons. At a dis- 
 tance of eighty yards they exchanged fire without eflect. 
 After an hour's pause they were placed again, and each 
 taking deliberate aim, fired a second time with the same re- 
 sult. A longer pause than the preceding followed, during 
 which it was arranged, that if at the next fire neither party 
 were killed or wounded, the distance between them should 
 be shortened. No such precaution, however, was needful 
 
 • Caswall's America, p. 149. f lb. p. 145. 
 
294 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 to secure the necessary bloodshed, for at the next fire the 
 receiver of" the challenge lell, and died within five minutes. 
 Three days later the senators and whole population of the 
 town, male and female, " the ladies thronging the galle- 
 ries," filled the hall of representatives, to honor the fallen 
 duellist with a public funeral. At twelve o'clock the 
 speaker of the house was seate d in the chair, the bier be- 
 fore him, whilst the members, the judges of the supreme 
 court, the heads of departments, the secretaries of state, 
 and the president and vice-president of the United States, 
 lined the hall around the coffin. Then came the mum- 
 mery of religion, with " appropriate extemporaneous pray- 
 ers from the chaplain of the senate," and then " a funeral 
 address by the chaplain of the house of representatives."* 
 Both the chaplains were Methodists of diflerent kinds ; 
 and it was but a sorry sacrifice to violated principle, that 
 the honor of the public funeral should be clouded by an un- 
 avoidable censure upon duelling, in the funeral address. 
 Far diflerent has been the conduct of the Church as to 
 this system of detestable enormities. As early as 1808, 
 convention had resolved, " That the ministers of this Church 
 ought not to perform the funeral service in the case of any 
 person wh« shall give or accept a challenge to a duel."! 
 This raised a new standard, and from this we do not find 
 them shrinking. Such an instance stands on record in 
 Bishop Hobart's correspondence. " I have been severely 
 tried" — one of his friends writes to him : "it has pleased 
 the Almighty, in the order of His providence, to exact from 
 me a proof of fidelity to His commands. Adversity has 
 come on me in the hideous form of dishonor : it has struck 
 
 me where I was most exposed For one accustomed, 
 
 as I have been, to the applause of the world, on >vhose ear 
 the voice of censure has scarcely ever come in the slightest 
 whisper, to be denounced by a man who has filled the se- 
 cond command in our Virginian army, and a seat in the 
 senate of the United States, as a hypocrite and coward, 
 
 * J. S. Buckingham's America, vol. i. pp. 272, 273. 
 
 f Journals of Convention of 1816, p. 254. This was modified in 
 the Convention, but only so far as to withdraw the application of the 
 resolution from those who had since manifested penitence. 
 
DIVORCE. 295 
 
 without beinfr alloM'ed to repel the latter charge but by 
 
 confirming tlie former to be thus perseculed, is a 
 
 trial which iias required all my piety to sustain without 
 
 sinking beneath it I am justly though severely 
 
 chastised : I bow submissiA'^ely to the Cross, where my 
 Saviour ignorainiously expired. Blessed Jesus, inspire Thy 
 poor follower with the hurnilily which illustrated Thy life, 
 Thy sufierings, and Thy death."* 
 
 One such testimony against this unchristian custom is 
 beyond all price in a land so governed by opinion as the 
 United tStates. 
 
 These, and many more, arc the favorable features of 
 the picture. There are others of a different character, — 
 and *hey must not be withheld. And to touch first on a 
 subject Avhich has always been an especial charge of the 
 Christian Church ; she has not in America maintained the 
 outworks of domestic purity, by guarding carefully the 
 sanctity of holy matrimony. Divorces are allowed on slight 
 and insufficient grounds.! To divorce liis wife, or even to 
 fail in the attempt to obtain a divorce from the state, 
 would not greatly impair the reputation, even of one in holy 
 orders. Ou this point the Roman Catholics in America 
 have maintained a Christian strictness on which the Pro- 
 testant communion has never ventured. Allied to tliis are 
 many kindred llaws ; marriages are pubhciy allowed with- 
 in some at least of the prohibited degrees ; the divorced 
 are speedily re-married ; and their second nuptials labor 
 under no reproach. Again, amongst our western brethren, 
 
 « jrVickar'3 Life of Bishop Hobart,pp. 45*7, 45S. 
 
 f The facility with which divorces are obtained in some states is 
 illustrated by a fact, mentioned to the author by a friend (the Rev. 
 H. Caswall). which would be highly ludicrous, if it did not involve 
 such serious considerations. An aged couple in Kentucky, remark- 
 able for their long-continued domestic happiness, were marked out 
 for a practical joke. A petition was sent into the state-legislature, 
 prayi!>{», on some trivial ground for a divorce. The bill passed un- 
 oppose 1 ; and in th.ree weeks, to tlieir horror, they found themselves 
 divorced : they absolutely separated, the wife returning to her 
 frier. !s, and were afterwards solemnly re-married. — Perhaps it may 
 not be safe to draw any very broad iaference from such an incident 
 as this. 
 
296 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the marriage ceremonial is rarely performed within the 
 chnrch : a private room, and often a late hour in the day, 
 are its usual place and time, to the grievous loss of rever- 
 ential decency. 
 
 And now to turn to a subject less exclusively ecclesias- 
 tical. In forming an estimate of the moral influence of the 
 Episcopalian body, we cannot fail to notice its bearing on 
 the treatment of the colored race. This is in America the 
 great question of the present generation : socially, politi- 
 cally, morally, religiously, there is none which can compare 
 with it. Never in the history of any people was the 
 righteous retribution of the holy and living Grod more dis- 
 tinctly marked than in the manifold evils which now 
 trouble America for her treatment of the African race. 
 Like all other sinful courses, it has brought in, day by day, 
 confusion and entanglement into all the relations of those 
 contaminated by it. It is the cause which threatens to 
 disorganise the union ; it is the cause which upholds the 
 power of mobs and " Lynching ; " it is the occasion of 
 bloodshed and violated law ; it is, throughout the south, 
 the destroyer of family purity, the hindrance to the growth 
 of civilization and refinement ; it is the one weak point of 
 America as a nation, exposing her to the deadliest internal 
 strife, that of an internecine war, whenever a foreign 
 enemy should find it suit his purpose to arm the blacks 
 against their masters. Further, like all other great and 
 established evils, it is most difficult to devise any escape 
 out of the coils which it has already wound around every 
 civil and social institution ; whilst every day of its per- 
 mitted continuance both aggravates the evil, and increases 
 the difficulty of its ultimate removal. This, then, is ex- 
 actly one of those sore evils of which the Church of Christ 
 is the appointed healer. She must, in His name, rebuke 
 this vmclean Spirit : she who has been at all times the 
 best adjuster of the balance between the rich and poor, 
 between those who have and those who want ; she who 
 has redressed the wrongs of those who have no helper ; 
 she who, M^ierever she has settled, has changed slaves or 
 serfs, by whatever title they are known, into freemen and 
 peasants ; — she must do this in the west, or the salt of the 
 
EVILS OF SLAVERY. 297 
 
 eavth hath lost its savor, and is given over, with all things 
 around, to the wasting oi" that utter and extreme corrup- 
 tion which she should have arrested. 
 
 Now, to see how far the Church has fulfilled this her 
 vocation, we must have distinctly before us the real pos- 
 ture of this question in America. Of the twenty-six states, 
 thirteen are slave-states ; admitting, that is, within their 
 own borders, the institution of slavery as a part of their 
 institutions ; and of these, five — Maryland, Virginia, Ken- 
 tucky, Missouri, and, in part, Tennessee — are slave-selling, 
 whilst those south of them are slave-buying states. 
 
 It will, therefore, be seen at once, that in the various 
 districts of the union widely different parts of the system 
 are at work. But its curse is upon all. Chiefly does it 
 rest upon the south. There, to his own, and little less 
 to his master's degradation, the slave is held in direct 
 personal bondage, and accounted merely as a chattel. 
 Hence, at the caprice of his owner, he is treated not unfre- 
 quently witli. fearful cruelty : though these, it may be 
 granted, are not the ordinary cases ; since, except under 
 the impulses of passion, no rational owner will misuse his 
 own chattels. It is not, therefore, for these instances of 
 cruelty, fearful as they occasionally are, that the system 
 will be cliieily odious in the Christian's eyes.* Nor will 
 
 * Not to quote any of those occasional barbarities which may be 
 turned in some measure aside as extreme cases, it is impossible to 
 denv the ordinary cruelt}' of the system, when every southern news- 
 paper abounds in such advertisements as these : " Ten dollars re- 
 ward for my woman Siby, very much scarred about the neck and 
 ears by whipping." Mobile Commercial Advertiser. — " Committed 
 to jail, a negro slave ; his back is very badly scarred." Planters' 
 Intelligencer, Sept. 26, 1838. — " Runaway, negress Caroline ; had on 
 a collar with one prong turned down." Bee, Oct. 27, 1837. — " De- 
 tained at the police jail the negro wench Myra; has several marks 
 of lashing, and has irons on lier feet." Bee, June 9. 1838. — " Run- 
 away, a negro woman and two children. A few days before she 
 went off, I burnt her with a hot iron on the left side of her face ; I 
 tried to make the letter M." Standard, July 18, 1838.— " Brought 
 
 to jail, .John , left ear cropt." Macon Telegraph, Dec. 25. 
 
 1837. — " Runaway, a negro, name Humbledon ; limps on his left 
 foot, where he was shot a few weeks ago while a runaway." Vicks- 
 burg Register, Sept. 6, 1838. — " Runaway, a black woman ; has a 
 13* 
 
298 AMERICAN CHURCH 
 
 it be from any notions of the abstract and inalienable rigbta 
 of man. On these, in their common signification of the 
 possession of political power, we do not touch ; it is with 
 the want of personal freedom we are concerned ; nor is it 
 needful to assert, that slavery is, under all circumstances, 
 directly forbidden by the law of God. It is enough for our 
 purpose, that as administered in America, it is a violation 
 of the Christian precept, " Honor all men." That by 
 its denial of all family life, its necessary irreligion, and its 
 enforced ignorance, it deprives the slave of the privileges 
 of redeemed humanity, and is directly opposed to the idea 
 of the Christian revelation. To maintain this ground it 
 is not necessary to assert that no slaves are happy in 
 their servitude. For the happiest slave in American ser- 
 vitude is the greatest proof of the evil of the system. He 
 is most utterly debased by it, who can be happy in such a 
 state. What that state is is plain enough. The common lan- 
 guage of the slave-states, which has given to all those 
 who labor the title of "mean whites," is abundant proof 
 of their own estimate of slavery. But, further, as a general 
 rule, the slave is not hajipy. The advocates of the system 
 confess this in a thousand ways. Their columns of adver- 
 tisements for runaways, their severe laws against those 
 who aid or harbor fugitives, their occasional gifts of liberty 
 to slaves who have wrought some great act of public 
 good, their fierce jealousy of all speech or action which 
 threatens ever so remotely their property in man, all be- 
 speak the same secret conviction : — they do know the 
 misery of slavery. The testimony of the Canadian ferry- 
 man,* who described the leap of the escaped slave, when 
 the boat reaches the British shore, as unlike any other, is 
 not more directly to the point. 
 
 Accordingly, the master-evil of the south is, that the 
 slaves are not treated as having souls ; they are often petted, 
 often treated like spoiled children, never as men. On this 
 point there is no dispute. " Generally speaking they are 
 a nation of heathen in the midst of the land. They are 
 
 scar on her back and right arm, caused by a rifle-ball. Natchez 
 Courier, June 15, 1832. 
 * Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. L p. 114. 
 
MORALS OF SLAVERY. 299 
 
 without hope and witliout God in the world."* " They 
 have no bible to read by their own firesides ; they have no 
 family-altars ; and when in affliction, sickness, or death, 
 they have no minister to address to them the consolations 
 of the gospel. "t They are destitute of the privileges of 
 the gospel, and ever will be, under the present state of 
 things. They may justly be considered the heathen of 
 this country, and will bear a comparison with heathen in 
 any country in the world. 'J " Throughout the bounds of 
 the Charleston 8ynod there are at least one hundred thou- 
 sand slaves, speaking the same language as the whites, 
 who have never heard of the plan of salvation by a Re- 
 deemer. "s^ And this is the fruit of no accident, — it is 
 inherent in the system. The black must be depressed be- 
 low the level of humanity 1o be kept down to his condition. 
 On this system his master dare not treat him as a man. 
 To teach slaves to read is forbidden under the severest 
 penalties in almost every slave-state. In North Carolina, 
 to teach a slave to read or write, or give him any book 
 (the Bible not excepted), is ])unished with thirty-nine 
 lashes or imprisonment, il' the offender be a ^-ee negro ; 
 with a fine of 200 dollars if he bo a white. In Georgia 
 this fine is 500 dollars ; and the lather is not suffered to 
 teach his own half-caste child to read the Scriptures.il 
 
 The moral state of such a population need not be de- 
 picted. The habit of despising the true redeemed human- 
 ity in those around them grows always upon the licentious 
 and the covetous, as they allow themselves to use their 
 fellows as the mere instruments of their gain or pleasure; 
 and in the slave-states this evil habit reigns supreme. The 
 quadroonlF girls are educated in the south to live m bonds 
 
 * Sermon by Rev. C. C. Jones, preached in Georgia before two 
 associanons of planters, 1831. 
 
 f Report in Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, 1833. 
 
 X Report of the Synod of ^iith Carolina and Georgia, to whom 
 was referred the subject of the religioud instruction of the colored 
 population, 1834. 
 
 § Charleston S. C. Observer. 
 
 I C;i?te and Slavery in the American Church, p. 21 ; a noble and 
 heart-stirring protest. 
 
 ^ The mixed breed of the third generation. 
 
300 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 of shame wltli their white masters. With the slave-popula- 
 tion itselfthe licentiousness of the whites is utterly unbridled ; 
 and by this, all the ties of nature are dissolved. Family- 
 life amongst the slaves cannot exist ; its fountains are al- 
 ways liable to be poisoned by arbitrary power. White fa- 
 thers view their own slave-born children as chattels. They 
 work, they sell them. By law they cannot teach them, or 
 set them free ; for the jealousy of slave-state legislation 
 lays it down as a iirst principle, that every slave must have 
 a master " to see to him." 
 
 Here; then, in brief, is the curse of the southern-most 
 or slave-buying states ; — the holding property in man, keep- 
 ing men in servile bondage, using persons as things, re- 
 deemed men as soulless chattels ; — ^this is its essence. 
 Here the testimony of the Church must be against this first 
 vicious jirinciple. This has been the example set to God's 
 witnesses in this generation by their fathers in the faith. 
 They protested against such dominant iniquities, and they 
 delivered their own souls, and saved us their children from 
 the eating canker of a blood-stained inheritance. "Let no 
 man from Jienceforth," said the Christian Council of Lon- 
 don, in 1102* " presume to carry on that wicked traffic, 
 by which men in England have been hitherto sold like 
 brute animals." This must be the Church's rule on the 
 banks of the Mississippi, as it was on those of the Thames. 
 So much for the extreme south. 
 
 As we come one degree northward, other features meet 
 us. In the slave-selling states there is added to the evils 
 of the south the execrable trade of breeding slaves for sale. 
 By it " the ' Ancient Dominion' is converted into one grand 
 menagerie, where men are reared for the market like oxen 
 for the shambles."! This is no figure of speech. The 
 number of slaves exported, from Virginia alone, for sale in 
 the southern states, in one year, 1835-36, amounted to 
 
 * "Concilium Loiidiaense, a. d. 1^9^, reg. Augliae Hen. I. 3, sta- 
 tutum est: xxviii. Nequis illud nefarium negotium, quo hacteiius 
 homines in Anglia solebaiit velutbrutaanimalia venundari, deiuceps 
 ullatenus facere praesumat." — Wilkins, Concilia, vol. i. p. 383. 
 
 f Speecli of Tliomas Jefferson Randolph in the legislature of Vir- 
 ginia in 1832. 
 
SLAVE-BREEDING STATES. 3Q1 
 
 forty thousand ;* whilst those imported from all quarters 
 into the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Ar- 
 kansas, were reckoned in the year 1836 as not lewer than 
 25, 000. t " Dealing in slaves," says a Baltimore news- 
 papert of 1829, " has become a large business ; estabhsh- 
 meuts are made in several places in Maryland and Virgi- 
 nia, at which they are sold like cattle : these places of 
 deposit are strongly built, and well supplied with iron 
 thumb-screws and gags." 
 
 The abominations of this trade must not pollute these 
 pages. They may be readily conceived. But as a neces- 
 sary part of such a traffic, an internal slave-trade, with its 
 well-known horrors, re-commences. Here are slave-auc- 
 tions, with all their instant degradation, and all their con- 
 sequent destruction of family and social life.§ Here are 
 
 * Virginia Times. f Natchez Courier. 
 
 X The Baltimore (Maryland) Register. 
 
 § One incident will tell this whole talc. "A gentleman of "Virgi- 
 nia sold a female slave. The party professing to buy not being pre- 
 pared to make the necessary payment, the slave was to be re-sold. 
 A concealed agent of the trade bought lier aud her two children, as 
 for his own sers^ice ; where her husband, also a slave in the town, 
 might visit lier and tliem. Botii the husband and wife suspected 
 that she would be privately sent away. The husband, in their com- 
 mon agony, offered to be sold, that he might go with her. This was 
 declined. He resolved on the la^t effort, of assisting her to escape. 
 That he might lay suspicion asleep, he went to take leave of her 
 and bis children, and appeared to resign liiinself to the event. This 
 movement had its desired effect ; suspicion was withdrawn both from 
 him and his wife, and he succeeded in emancipating them. Still, 
 what was to be done with his treasure, now he had obtained it ? 
 Flight was impossible, and nothing remained but concealment; and 
 concealment seemed hopeless, for no place would be left unsearch- 
 ed, and putiishment would fall on the party who should give them 
 shelter. However, they were missing ; and they were sought for 
 diligently, but not found. Some month's afterwards, it was casually 
 ob-erved that the floor under a slave's bed (the sister of the man) 
 looked dirty and greasy. A board was taken up, and there lay the 
 mother and her children on the clay, and in an e.xcavation of three 
 feet by five ! It is averred that they had been there in a cold and 
 enclosed space, hardly large enough for their cofTm (buried aUve 
 tliere), for six months ! 
 
 " Tiiis is not all. The agent was onlj^ provoked by this circum- 
 stance ! He demanded the woman ; and though every one was 
 
302 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 droves of chaiiied negroes marched under the whip, two 
 and two, from the breeding district of Virginia to the la- 
 bor-markets of Georgia and Alabama. 
 
 Here, then, as in the farther south, the testimony of 
 the Church must be uncomproiTiising and explicit. No 
 motives of supposed expediency, no possible amount of dan- 
 ger, can justify her silence. She is set to bear a witness ; 
 a witness against the evils around her ; a witness at all 
 hazards ; a witness to be at any time attested, if so it needs 
 must be, by bearing any amount of persecution. SShe and 
 she only can do this. The exceeding jealousy of the seve- 
 ral states makes them resent with peculiar warmth any 
 interference from without. The regulation of its internal 
 concerns, and so the whole continuance and system of south- 
 ern slavery , is solely under the j urisdiction of the several states. 
 Congress cannot mitigate, much less abolish it. It can come 
 before Congress only incidentally, — as, for instance, on the 
 question of admitting a new slave-state into the union. 
 Even moral influence from without is bitterly resented by 
 the south. This is its ground of quarrel with the aboli- 
 tion-societies ; with which the general government has so 
 far sympathised as to leave unredressed the violation of the 
 southern post-office, whereby abolition-papers ai'e uniformly 
 excluded from the south. Thus, at this moment, improve- 
 ment can only arise from a higher standard of internal 
 principle on this great question. This it is the business of 
 the Church to create. She must assert her Catholic cha- 
 racter on behalf of these unhappy cast-aways. In other 
 respects, there is no country upon earth so fitted by pre-dis- 
 posing elements for uniting in one visible body all the com- 
 pany of Christ's redeemed Gathered, as they are, from 
 all countries, Americans are made partakers, even from na- 
 tural causes, of a common political and social life. The 
 strong lethargic common sense of the Dutch and the gay 
 vivacity of the French, the phlegm of the German and the 
 buoyant thoughtlessness of the Irish, the shrewd money- 
 clamorous to redeem her and retLirn her to her hushand, he would not 
 sell ! She was taken to his slave-pen, and has disappeared ! The 
 man — most miserable man ! — still exists in the town." Drs. Reed 
 and Matheson, ut supra, vol. ii. p. 188. 
 
DOES THE CHURCH PROTEST? 303 
 
 getting temper of the Yankee and the hospitable elej^ance 
 of the southei'n gentleman, — are all hei'e fused into one 
 common mass. From this universal brotherhood the 
 African alone is shut altogether out. Him the Church 
 must take by the hand, and owning him as one of Christ's 
 body, must lead him into the family of man. Not that 
 she is bound to preach insurrection and rebellion. Far from 
 it. It is quite easy to enforce upon the slave his duties, 
 under a system, the unrighteousness of which is, at the same 
 time, clearly stated. His bonds are illegal ; but it is God's 
 arm, and not his own violence, which must break them. 
 Let the clergy of the south preach submission to the slave, 
 if at the same time they declare to his master that these, 
 for whom Christ died, are now no longer slaves, but breth- 
 ren beloved ;* and that a system which withholds from 
 them their Christian birthright is utterly unlawful ; that 
 it is one which the master, not the slave, is bound to set 
 himself honestly to sweep away. Above all should they, 
 at any cost and by any sacrifice, protest in life and by act 
 against this grievous wrong. The greater the cost, and the 
 more painful the sacrifice, the clearer will be their testi- 
 mony, and the more it will avail : to them it is given not 
 only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake. 
 
 AVhat witness, then, has as yet been borne by the 
 Church in these slave-states against this almost universal 
 sin? How has she fulfilled her vocation? She raises no 
 voice against the predominant evil; she palliates it in 
 theory ; and in practice she shares in it. The mildest and 
 most conscientious of the bishops of the south are slave- 
 holders themselves. Bishop Moore of Virginia writes to 
 Bishop Raveuscroft :t "The good and excellent girl pre- 
 sented to my daughter by Mrs. Ravenscroft paid the debt 
 of nature on the 4th." She was treated, it is true, with 
 all the indulgence which she could receive, but still, favor- 
 ite as she was, she was a slave ; and, after her death, was 
 laid "in the colored burial-ground, which is not enclosed, 
 and therefore much exposed, and where the grave was 
 
 * " Not now as a servant (lit. a slave, SbwAoj,) but above a servant 
 a brother beloved." Philemon 16. 
 t Life of Bishop Moore, p. 282. 
 
304 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 liable to be disturbed." This is no rare instance. The 
 Bishop of Georgia has openly proposed to maintain " the 
 Montpelier Institute" by the produce of slave-labor, and 
 " The Spirit of Missions," edited with the sanction of the 
 Church, and under the eye of the bishop (Onderdoiik) of 
 New- York, proposes to endow a mission-school in Louisi- 
 ana, with a plantation to be worked by slaves, who should 
 be encouraged to redeem themselves by extra hours of labor, 
 before day in the morning and after night in the evening ; 
 and should, when thus redeemed, be transported to Liberia, 
 and the price received for them laid out in "purchasing in 
 Virginia or Carolina a gang of people who may be nearly 
 double the number of those sent away."* 
 
 Nor are these merely evil practices into which, vuia- 
 wares and against their principles, these men have fallen. 
 In a sermon preached before the Bishop of North Carolina 
 in 1834, and published with his special commendation, it 
 is openly asserted, that "no man or set of men are entitled 
 to pronounce slavery wrong ; and we may add, that as it 
 exists in the present day it is agreeable to the order of Divine 
 Providence;" whilst the Bishop of South Carolina,t in an 
 address to the convention of his diocese, denounced "the 
 malignant philanthropy of abolition." 
 
 Such are the feari'ul features of the life of Churchmen 
 in the south. Nor is it any real lessening of this guilt to 
 say that it is shared by all the Christian sects. The cliarge 
 is, indeed, far too nearly true. There is no doubt that the 
 evils of the system may be found still ranker and more 
 gross amidst the prevailing sects of Baptists, Independents, 
 Methodists, and Presbyterians. | But this is no excuse. It 
 is the first duty of the Church to reprove the sins of others, 
 not to adopt them into her own practice ; to set, and not 
 to take the tone. The cruelty of their tender mercies 
 should lead her to speak out more plainly ; it should ibrce 
 her zealously to cleanse herself from their stain, and then 
 fearlessly leave the issue to her God. But she is silent 
 here ; and to her greater shame it must be added, that 
 
 * Caste and Slavery, p. 34. f Bishop Bowen. 
 
 X Vide Slavery and the Internal Slave-trade in America, pp. 
 133-145, for horrors with which these pages shall not be polluted. 
 
EFFECT OF SLAVTSRY ON THE FREE STATES. 305 
 
 there are sects* which do maintain the witness she has 
 feared to bear. 
 
 But further : as has been ah'eady said, this chnging 
 curse reaches even to the free states of the north, though 
 it assumes in them another form. In them it leads to the 
 treatment of the colored race with deep and continual in- 
 dignity. They cannot be held in personal bondage, but 
 they are of the servile class ; they may be claimed as 
 runaways, and thus dragged, if not kidnapped, to southern 
 slavery. 
 
 A mingled scorn and hatred of the colored man per- 
 vades every usage of society. In the courts of law his 
 testimony is not equally received with the white man's 
 evidence ;t republican jealousy forgets its usual vigilance, 
 in order to deny him his equal vote ; he may be expelled 
 with insult from the public vehicle ; he must sit apart in 
 the public assembly ; and though no tinge of remaining 
 shade may darken his cheek, yet a traditional descent from 
 colored blood will make it impossible for him to wed with 
 any of the European race. Even in the fierce heat of the 
 " revivals" this supreme law of separation is never for a 
 moment overlooked. There are different " pens " for the 
 white and colored subjects of this common enthusiasm. On 
 all these points feehng runs higher in the free north than 
 ill the slave-states of the south. There the dominion of 
 
 * The Quakers, and four small sects, the Reformed Presbyterians, 
 United Brethren, Primitive Methodists, and Emancipation Baptists. 
 Slavery and the Internal Slave-Trade in America, p. 1,32. 
 
 The annual conference of the United Brethren in Marj'land and 
 Virginia passed, in 18.39, the following resolution: "It appeared in 
 evidence that Moses Michael was the owner of a female slave, which 
 is contrary to the discipline of our Church. Conference therefore 
 resolved, that unless brother Michael manumit or set free such slave 
 in six months, he no longer be considered a member of our Church." 
 American Churches the Bulwark of Slaver//, p. 3. 
 
 f An American friend has made the following note on this state- 
 ment : " The testimony of colored men is not excluded in all the free 
 states. I am not sure that it is in any. In Massachusetts they have 
 the civil and political rights of white men. There are three or four 
 hundred colored voters in tlie city of Boston. The social prejudice, 
 however, to which you allude, I am sorry to say, is very strong ; a 
 mixed feeling of aristocracy, caste, and race. — Note to second edition. 
 
'* 
 
 306 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 the master is supreme, and he can venture, when it pleases 
 him, to treat his slave with any degree of intimacy ; for the 
 beast of the field might with as high a probability as he, 
 claim equal rights with man. But in the north, where 
 the colored race are free and often rich, the galling insults 
 of caste, are needful to keep up the separation between 
 blood and blood ; and here, therefore , more than any where, 
 its conventional injustice is supreme ; here, too, by an en- 
 forced silence as to the crimes of southern slavery, a guilty 
 fellowship in its enormities is too commonly established. 
 
 Against these evils, then, the Church must here testify ; 
 she must proclaim that God hath made of one blood all 
 nations of the earth ; she must protest against this im- 
 christian system of caste ; her liyjs must be unsealed to 
 denounce God's wrath against the guilty customs of the 
 south. And what has been her conduct ? If we seek to 
 test her real power over men's hearts by asking what her 
 influence has been, we shall rate it low indeed. No voice 
 has come forth from her. The bishops of the north sit in 
 open convention with their slave-holding brethren, and no 
 canon proclaims it contrary to the discipline of their Church 
 to hold property in man and treat him as a chattel. Nay, 
 further, the worst evils of the world have found their way 
 into the Church. The colored race must worship apart ; 
 they must not enter the white man's church ; or if they 
 do, they must be fenced oil" into a separate corner. In 
 some cases their dust may not moulder in the same ceme- 
 tery. Whilst " all classes of white children voluntarily 
 attend the Sunday-schools on terms of perfect equality."* 
 any mixture of African blood will exclude the children of 
 the wealthiest citizen. Recent events have shown that all 
 this is not the evil fruit of an old custom slowly wearing 
 itself out ; but that it springs from a living principle which 
 is daily finding for itself fresh and wider developments. 
 
 The General Theological Seminary, founded, as we 
 have seen, at New- York, under the superintendence of the 
 whole Church, was designed to secure a general training 
 for all its presbyters. " Every person producuig to the 
 faculty," so ran its statutes, "satisfactory evidence of his 
 * Caswall, p. 297. 
 
GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 307 
 
 havinw been admitted a candidate for holy orders, with 
 full qualifications, accordin<i: to the canons of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church in the United States, shall be received 
 as a student of the seminarj'."* Curiosity once prompted 
 the question to Bishop Hobart, the founder of the seminary, 
 " whether this wide rule embraced colored candidates ?" 
 " They would be admitted," was his answer, " as a matter 
 of course and without doubt." Such, alas, is not the rule 
 of his successor in the bishop's seat. In June, 1839, Alex- 
 ander Crummell applied for admission : he came from 
 three years' study at the Oneida Institute, from sharing 
 equal rights with one hundred white students ; he brought 
 with hiai a character which, it was conceded, would war- 
 rant his admission if it could be right to admit a colored 
 man at all ; he was rejected for this single fault ; one 
 bishop (Doane) alone being found to protest against the 
 step. Three years before, a similar injustice had been 
 wrought. t Both remain to this day unredressed. The 
 
 * Statutes of the General Theological Seminary, chap. vii. sec. 1 
 See Act of Incorporation, 1836, p. 16. 
 
 t The diary of the young man then rejected tells so simply all 
 the tale, that it is printed here from "Caste and Slavery," pp. 14, 
 15:— 
 
 "Oct. 10. — On "Wednesday last I passed my examination before 
 the faculty of the seminary, and was thereupon admitted a member 
 of the school of the prophets. 
 
 "Oct. 11. — I called upon the bisliop, and he was dissatisfied with 
 the step I had taken in entering the seminary. Seems to appre- 
 hend ditficulty from my joining the commons ; and tliinks that the 
 south, from whence they receive much support, will object to my 
 entering. 
 
 "Tliu-; fur I have met with no difficulty from the students, but 
 have been kinilly treated. I have thought it judicious, however, to 
 leave the commons for the present. 
 
 "As far as in me lies [ will, in ray trouble, let all my actions be 
 consistent with my Christian profession ; and instead of giving loose 
 to mortitied feelings, will acquiesce in all things; but this acquies- 
 cence shall not in the least degree partake of the dogged submis- 
 Biveness which is the characteristic of an inferior. 
 
 " My course shall be independent, and then, if a cruel prejudice 
 will drive (me) from the holy threshold of tlie school of pietv, I, the 
 weaker, must submit and yield to the superior power. Into thy 
 hands ever, God, I commit my cause. 
 
308 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 Church fears to lose the contributions of the south ; she 
 fears to raise the mobs of Philadelphia ; she dare not stand 
 
 "Oct. 12. — At 9 A. M. I called on our spiritual father again, and 
 sought advice in relation to my present embarrassing circumstances. 
 He gave me plainly to understand that it would be advisable, in his 
 opinion, for me not to apply for a regular admission into the semi- 
 nary, and, although I had taken a room, and even become settled, 
 yet to vacate the room, and silently withdraw myself from the semi- 
 nary. He further said that I might recite with the classes, and avail 
 myself of the privileges of the institution, but not consider myself in 
 the light of a regular member. Never, never will I do so ! 
 
 " The reasons of the bishop for this course are as follows : 
 
 "'That the seminary receives much support and many students 
 from the south, and consequently if they admit colored men to equal 
 privileges with the whites in the institution, the south will refuse to 
 aid (it), and (will) use their influence to keep all from the seminary 
 south of the Potomac. As head of the seminary, and knowing the 
 feelings and prejudices of the south, he could not hazard my fuller 
 admission at such an expense. 
 
 " ' From the extreme excitability of public feeling on this delicate 
 subject, and from my known and intimate connexion with the people 
 of color, there would be a high probability not only of bringing the 
 institution into disrepute, but of exciting opposing sentiment among 
 the students, and thus causing many to abandon the school of the 
 prophets.' 
 
 " I think these two form the reasons of the bishop against my 
 being admitted. The course, however, he advises, viz. the being a 
 'hanger-on' in the seminary, is something so utterly repugnant to 
 my feelings as a man, that I cannot consent to adopt it. If I cannot 
 be admitted regularly, I leave the place ; but in leaving I will ever 
 bold the utmost good feeling towards the faculty and my friends. It 
 is a cruel prejudice which drives me so reluctantly from the door, 
 and makes even those who make liigh pretensions to piety and purity 
 say to me, ' Stand thou there, for I am holier than thou.' 
 
 " In this matter, however, I shall acquiesce as a Christian, but 
 shall preserve the independent feelings of a man. My most devoted 
 thanks are due to my dear friends, the Rev. Drs. Berrian and Lyell, 
 for the earnest solicitude which they manifest for my welfare. 'They 
 seem heartily to regret that any difficulty has arisen on the present 
 subject. 
 
 " Upon reflection, it is my present opinion that Bishop Onderdonk 
 is wrong in yielding to the ' unrighteous prejudice' (his words) of the 
 community. If the prejudice be wrong, I tliink he ought to oppose 
 it without regard to consequences. If such men as he countenance 
 it, they become partakers with the transgressors. He says, by and 
 by Providence will open the way ; but will Providence effect the 
 change miraculously? We cannot expect it. He will, however. 
 
COLORED CLERGYMEN. 309 
 
 between the dead and living : she cannot therefore stay 
 the plague. Even when admitted to the sacred functions 
 of the priesthood, the colored man is not the equal of his 
 brethren. The Rev. Peter "Williams, for years a New- 
 York presbyter, of blameless reputation, was, for this one 
 cause, allowed no seat in the convention of his Church. 
 Thus, again, a special canon of the diocese of Pennsylvania 
 forbids the representation of the African Church at Phila- 
 delphia, and excludes the rector from a seat.* 
 
 Tried, then, by this test, what can we esteem the pre- 
 sent influence of this body ? It plainly has not been con- 
 scious of possessing power to stand up in God's name and 
 to rebuke the evil one ; it has not healed this sore wound, 
 which is wasting the true social life of America. It is a 
 time for martyrdom ; and the mother of the saints has 
 scarcely brought forth even one confessor. 
 
 effect it by appointed means, and tlie.se means ought to be resorted 
 to by His instruments — men. And what men more suitable than 
 men high in ofiice, high in public fovor, high in talents ? Particu- 
 larly should men commissioned to preach the G-ospel, which teaches 
 mercy, righteousness, and truth, enter upon the work. What makes 
 my case more aggravating and dreadful is, that the bishop says, that 
 even admitting I have no African blood in me, yet my identity with 
 the people of color will bar the door of the seminary against me. 
 Horrid inconsistency ! 
 
 "Oct. 13. — Called on the bishop yesterday, and had a final inter- 
 view with him on this mortifying subject. His determination was 
 settled and fi.x;ed, that from a sober consideration of all things, the 
 interest of the seminary, the comfort of myself, and the ultimate 
 good of my people, I had better silently withdraw, and, agreeably 
 to my plan, study privately with a clergyman. He again, at this 
 interview, suggested the plan of my embracing the privileges of the 
 seminary without being regularly admitted ; to which I would r>ot 
 consent, as it would be both a sacrifice of the feelings of a man, 
 which I felt not disposed to offer, and, further, a sacrifice of principle, 
 to which, I am confident, the noble-minded among my people would 
 not allow me to submit. 
 
 " I cannot but conceive my case to be a very peculiar one, involv- 
 ing much difficulty, and one which will ultimately cause the guardians 
 and controllers of this sacred institution to hang their heads for 
 ehame. This day I am driven, in the presence of all the students of 
 the seminary, and the sight of liigh Heaven, from the school of the 
 prophets." 
 
 " Caste and Slavery, p. 17. 
 
310 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 To an Englishman this silence is the more eminently 
 matter of the deepest pain, because he will at once admit 
 that to his own people belongs the origin of that guilt in 
 which the Church and nation of America are now en- 
 tangled. So little has our colonial empire been adminis- 
 tered on those principles for which our Church has wit- 
 nessed,* that England forced upon her reluctant colonists 
 the curse and crime of slave-holding institutions. Against 
 remonstrance and resistance from the west, England thrust 
 upon them this clinging evil. Freely do we take the shame 
 of having first begun this course of crime ; but the sense of 
 this only makes us desire more earnestly that, through the 
 blessing of that pure faith which also she received from 
 us, this guilt and loss may be removed. 
 
 Other symptoms show that the mass of the population 
 has not yet greatly felt the influence of the Episc jpalian 
 body. Few of the poor belong to it. It is the religion of the 
 affluent and the respectable ; but by it as yet the gospel is 
 not largely preached to the poor. The very aspect of the 
 churches bespeaks as much. These vaiy fi'om the rude 
 buildings constructed of unsawn logs, which first gem the 
 solitudo of the backwoods, up to the costly edifices of the 
 city, of which the walls, " built of hammered bluestone 
 trimmed with granite, rise forty feet above the ground, 
 and in which the organ alone cost 1125/."t In some of 
 the new cities of the west they have been built at a cost 
 of 12, GOO/. But they all bear one character. They are 
 good specimens of what may be termed the modern Gothic. 
 It would be difficult to find in the whole Episcopal com- 
 munion throughout America one specimen of that glorious 
 style of religious architecture which is to be found in our 
 cathedrals, and below them in so many of our parish- 
 churches here in England. The one predominant idea in 
 the churches of America is to obtain the largest number of 
 pews, which, from fronting the pulpit, shall let at remune- 
 rating prices. This regulates every arrangement. The 
 pulpit occupies one end of the building, the communion 
 table being thrust aside, and often consisting of no more 
 
 * Note p. 302. f Caswall, p. 208. 
 
LUKEWARMNESS. 311 
 
 than a narrow board whicli fronts the reading-desk. In- 
 stead of emulating the solemn grandeur of our ancient 
 churches,* liberality here displays itself in the elegance 
 and finish! of the internal decoration of the buildings. 
 They are remarkable lor the comfort of their cushioned 
 pews, carpeted floors, warm stoves, and, in lieu of the 
 small circular pulpit of England, their spacious platforms, 
 well furnished with the requisite cushions, draper^', and 
 lights." iSome of these churches " rather resemble splendid 
 drawing-rooms than houses of worship. Handsome carpets 
 cover every part ; the pews are luxuriously cushioned in a 
 manner calculated to invite repose ; while splendidly em- 
 broidered pulpit-hangings, superb services of communion- 
 plate, and a profusion of silk and velvet, gilding and paint- 
 ing, excite the curiosity of the stranger more than his de- 
 votion. In these the poor man could hardly fmd liimselt" at 
 home."J 
 
 The natural effects of such a state of things are plainly 
 to be traced. '■'Intellectual sermons and elegant compc- 
 sition are held in high esteem," and these "frequently" 
 degenerate into the dressing-up of ordinary sentiment in 
 a florid style which approaches to bombast. § Hence the 
 stranger finds in the house of praj-er "a large congregation 
 of gay and fashionable visitors, engaged in cold, formal, 
 and ostentatious worship. "11 Hence such avowals as this 
 by the venerable Bishop GrLswold : "the evil most to be 
 feared and most prevalent amongst us is lukewarmness. 
 With shame must we acknowledge that we incline to be 
 cold rather than hot. Enthusiasm is as rare in our churches 
 as a scorching sun in a northern winter : the mercury of 
 our zeal is constantly below the degree of temperature. "If 
 Hence, too, it follows, that the maintenance of a continual 
 sacrifice of prayer and praise to God seems wholly foreign 
 to the feelings of our brethren in the west. For whilst 
 
 « Caswall, p. 289. 
 
 f Buckingham's America, vol. ill. p. 472 ; vol. i. p. 190. 
 t Caswiill, p. 2S9. § Ibid. p. 296. 
 
 II Buckingham's America, vol. i. p. 276. 
 
 •y Bishop Griswold on Prayer-Meetings. See Life of Bishop 
 Moore, p. 93. 
 
312 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 " weekly lectures are very frequent," and the whole temper 
 of the people favors frequent public meetings, there was, 
 in 1839, " no place in America in which the service of the 
 Church was performed daily, unless the General Theological 
 Seminary at New-York m.ay be regarded as an exception."* 
 
 This must be to a great extent the result of their posi- 
 tion. As a general rule they possess no endowments. The 
 building of a church is often a money-speculation ; the sale 
 of pews is to cover the expenses of the managing commit- 
 tee ; the pew-holders are the parish, and they elect and 
 pay the clergyman by an assessiTient ou the pews. All 
 this must exclude the poor. They cannot subscribe at first ; 
 they cannot pay pew-rents ; they have no part therefore 
 in the matter. t The clergyman has no parochial charge, 
 the parish no territorial existence ; the clergyman is the 
 hired servant of the pew-owners to perform a certain work. 
 Thus the poor are passed wholly by ; they are the charge 
 of no one. 
 
 In New- York, where the Episcopalian body is possessed 
 of endowments, free churches have been opened for the 
 poor. But these have not answered. The jealousy of 
 poor republicans forbids their profiting by such distinctive 
 benefits. This, moreover, is here exasperated to the vit- 
 most by the established custom of allotting to " negroes 
 and other colored persons the privilege of occupying free 
 seats by themselves, distinct from the rest of the 
 congregation."! So does this curse of American society 
 meet us anew at every turn. 
 
 * Caswall's America, p. 95. 
 
 f Tlie practical effect of this may be gathered from the following 
 supposed conversation between two of them, introduced into the 
 " Lowell Offering," a miscellany composed by the " factory girls" at 
 the Manchester of America : — 
 
 " Dorcas. The Gospel is an expensive luxury now, and those only 
 ■who can afford to pay their four or six or more dollars a year can 
 hear its truths 
 
 " Rosina. Do not speak harshly, Dorcas . . . times have indeed 
 changed . . . but circumstances also have changed. ... It is true 
 we cannot procure a year's seat in one of our most expensive churches 
 for less than four present weeks' wages." — Knight's Mind amoiigst 
 the Spindles, p. 123. 
 
 X Caswall's America, p. 282. 
 
UNFAVORABLE POSITION OF THE CLERGY. 313 
 
 In another way, also, this Bystem grievously impairs 
 the Church's strength. It keeps the clergyman in a state 
 of.servile dependence on his congregation. " There is not 
 a man in his flock, however mean and unworthy, whom he 
 does not fear ; and if he happens to displease a man of 
 importance, or a busy woman, there is an end of his peace."* 
 This makes his witness often feeble and uncertain ; for 
 hence follows the temptation to truckle to popular opinion ; 
 hence the Church's silence as to the treatment of the co- 
 lored race. By this, again, the general standard of cleri- 
 cal character is depressed. " More commonly it is the 
 lower order of talent which is found there ; and in a coun- 
 try where all depends on display and present popular ef- 
 fect, it is an unenviable doom to be attached to that pro- 
 fession."! This also has made a constant change of sphere 
 almost a condition of clerical life in the west. " Popula- 
 rity is the measure of a clergyman's comfort in America ; 
 and he is generally most popular at first." Then his sup- 
 port begins to flag, his maintenance is reduced, or yielded 
 in a mamier painful to his leelings. He is forced to mi- 
 grate : and thus there is everlasting change in the condi- 
 tion of the American clergy. They change ; the people 
 change ; all is a round of change ; because all depends ou 
 the voluntary principle. $ 
 
 All of these evils are found in their full vigor ami st 
 the various sects. Amongst them the instability of popu- 
 lar favor is bridled by no external influence. But the ab- 
 sence of endowment bi-ings the Church itself to a fearful 
 degree under the same influence, and to that extent im- 
 pairs its character and moral weight. 
 
 That, under such a system, the clergy should be what 
 they are in America is surely the fruit of God's especial 
 mercy. In the midst of the busiest people upon earth, 
 where all are getting or expecting to get money, there has 
 
 * Voice from America, p. 199. f Ibid. p. 194. 
 
 ^ Ibid. pp. 192, 193. It is well ■worth the most serious consider- 
 ation of the American Church, whether the evil might not to a great 
 extent be removed by the introduction of the principle of supporting" 
 their clergy by the collection of a common fund to be apportioned by 
 the bishops. 
 
 14 
 
314 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 been no want of young men ready to devote themselves to 
 the service of their brethren, though they have no security 
 of receiving even the necessary competence for ordinary 
 domestic hie, and are not led on by any possible expecta- 
 tion of obtaining one amongst some few great prizes, or 
 allured by the expectation of learned leisure, or promised 
 an opportunity of leading thereby a literary life. They 
 choose their lot, knowing that in it their days must be spent 
 in constant and exhausting labor, with the smallest eartlily 
 recompense. On such a ministry Crod's blessing must rest 
 abundantly, and in its high character is, no doubt, I'ound 
 the practical escape from many evils inherent in the theorj"^ 
 of the constitution of their Church. 
 
 Here, then, we may form some judgment of the present 
 influence of this body in America ; and it" from this we may 
 venture to anticipate its future progress, there is much 
 ground for sanguine hope, not unmixed with reasonable 
 fear. 
 
 Its dangers can hardly be mistaken. The great stream 
 of religious opinion in America sets towards the chill decen- 
 cies of Sociuian error. This is the natural tendency of a 
 busy, growiirg, wealthy, self-governing people, and this has 
 been eminently the tendency of the West. The New-Eng- 
 land states have already fallen into the snare ; and from 
 the revulsions which follow the extravagance of revivals, 
 as well as from other causes, these tenets are generally 
 spreading. " This doctrine," Avrites Jefferson in 1822, 
 from Virginia, " )ias not yet been preached to us, but the 
 breeze begins to be felt. ... It will come and drive be- 
 fore it the foggy mists which have so long obscured our 
 atmosphere."* " Ths^t this will ere long be the religion 
 of the majority, from north to south, I have no donbt."t 
 '' I confidently expect that the present generation will see 
 it become the general religion of the United States. '| 
 
 Exaggerated as were Jeffersons immediate expectations, 
 there can be no doubt that they point towards the real danger. 
 The mercantile turn, even of religion, inclines in this direc- 
 
 * Jefiferaon's Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 362. 
 
 f Ibid. vol. iv. p. 367. X Ibid. vol. iv- p. 369. 
 
LATITUDINARUNISM. 315 
 
 tion. Where there is enough of a hovermg tendency to- 
 wards Chrisianity to lead to the erection of a new church 
 in some newly-setlled or increasing neighborhood, its fa- 
 bric is divided out into a series of pews, on no other pnn- 
 ciple than how they will let to the greatest advantage. 
 The minister is engaged on the same calculation. Even 
 the doctrines to be preached are ruled by the same law. 
 Hence we hear of such strange facts as that a Congrega- 
 tional population, having abandoned their old creed, hung 
 long in doubt between electing a Socinian or TJniversalist 
 teacher, and ended by addicting themselves to the Episco- 
 pal communion.* AH of this is evidently highly unfavor- 
 able to the simple chdd-like fatih which Christ's gospel 
 requires ; it is all injurious to that earnest personal faith in 
 the blood of Jesus as the only hope of lost sinners, without 
 which even the most orthodox creed becomes a set of bar- 
 ren and unmeaning dogmas. 
 
 And this tendency of the Americau temper is increased 
 by the character of their political institutions. Absolute 
 iudifterenee to all religious distinction is the principle which 
 lies at their root. They are full of a continual practical 
 denial of the exi.stence of any difference between truth and 
 filsehood. It is not merely that all forms of worship and 
 opinions are tolerated, although this is carried so far that 
 even infidelity it.self is treated with respect and deference as 
 one peculiar " form of religious opinion, being certainly an 
 opinion about religion ;"* but, beyond this, it appears to 
 be the aim of the state to extend a just and equal measure 
 of direct support and patronage to all sects and professions 
 of belief. Thus, Avhen a state-legislature assembles, it is 
 the prevailing custom that the ministers of all such bodies 
 should be invited to act by Aveekly rotation as their chap- 
 lains ; and this extends to every extreme of opinion. A 
 professed Sociuian is invited to otficiate as chaplain before 
 the descendants of those puritans who left their fathers' 
 land to Avorship the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and 
 truth ; and a Romanist ofiers up the public worship of 
 
 • Caswall. p. 136. 
 
 * Voice from America, p. 
 
 159. 
 
316 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 states, from which a few generations back the priest was 
 banished under the penalty of death.* 
 
 This custom is not confined to state assemblies. The 
 congress, at the opening of every session, elects a chaplain 
 for each of its two houses, with an understanding that both 
 chaplains shall not be of the same sect. Thus every sect 
 in the course of a few years receives in turn the compli- 
 ment of this selection. The same rule applies to their 
 army and navy chaplains, who are commonly elected mere- 
 ly for their personal attainments, and without the question 
 being even asked to what sect or party they belong. So 
 lax a system of entire indifference is, in truth, one develop- 
 ment of infidelity ; for in this common encouragement of 
 all sects there is at one time or another a denial of every 
 truth. This must leaven the whole mind of the nation 
 with the persuasion that there is no such thing as objective 
 truth, — and this is the first step towards professed unbe- 
 lief. He who knows not whether any thing is true, begins 
 to doubt of everything ; and he who has once suffered 
 doubt to dwell freely and at large within his breast, is 
 already far advanced towards the positive disbelief of all 
 things. 
 
 Against this, then, the Chui'ch has continually to strive 
 and testify. It is the first principle of every Christian man, 
 that God has revealed to us a knowledge of Himself, of His 
 will, of ourselves, and of our duty ; and that His word is 
 true, that it is the truth. Of this truth the Church claims 
 to be a " witness," and a " keeper" of this testimony. 
 The points taught in the creeds are, therefore, no longer 
 matter for doubt and speculation, but merely of faithful 
 and willing reception, because they come from Him who is 
 truth. On these matters it is not possible to enter into any 
 compromise. It is not possible for the true believer to help 
 forward the fearful blasphemies of the Sociuian, who de- 
 nies the honor due unto the Saviour, by putting him for- 
 ward to act publicly as a minister of that Lord whom he 
 dishonors. 
 
 Between, then, this fatal form of false religion and the 
 
 * Voice from America, p 101. 
 
CHURCH OF ROME. 317 
 
 truth as it is in Jesus, there must be a hard struggle. But 
 not between these only. 
 
 The sectarian principle itself must be successfully op- 
 posed. This is at once the ultimate occasion of Socinian 
 increase, and the present mother of a monstrous and mis- 
 shapen brood of heresies. With these the Church must do 
 open battle for her Master's truth ; whilst she must mildly 
 open to others the truths after which they are seeking in 
 their less perfect systems, and which perchance she may 
 win them over to find fully in her own. Nor is this all : 
 with the Roman communion, also, she has before her no 
 common strife. True to the ordinary conduct of the pa- 
 pacy, the Roman pontift' founded the rival bishopric of Bal- 
 timore two years after the consecration of Bishops White 
 and Provoost ; and by the subsequent erection of the sees 
 of New- York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Beardstown,* set 
 up altar against altar through the West. Thus the Epis- 
 copal communion has always had to bear her protest against 
 papal superstitions. But a severer strife is yet to be en- 
 countered. With the keen-eyed policy which has always 
 distinguished the schemes of Rome, she has turned her main 
 attention to the valley of the Mississippi. There a vast 
 population is multiplying with unprecedented speed. The 
 European emigrants to this quarter are, by a large ma- 
 jority, from popish covmtries ; and if not already of the Ro- 
 mish faith, no pains are spared to make them so. There, 
 on the outskirts of civilized life, the adventurous settler, 
 having left behind him the forms and opportunities of 
 Christian worship, seizes eagerly upon a soil of unbounded 
 fertility, and devotes all his thoughts to making it his own ; 
 and there the enchantress meets him with her cup of sor- 
 cery, and wins him over, whilst there is no other near to 
 whisper to him Avords of caution, or to shame the fallen 
 Church with open rebuke. No expense is grudged in this 
 
 * " There are serious difficulties affecting the regularity, and even 
 the validity, of the ordination of the above-mentioned Carroll, and all 
 the Romish clergy of the United States derived from him, in conse- 
 quence of his ordination having been performed hy only one titular 
 bishop, who appears to have labored under a similar irregularity or de- 
 ficiency himself." Palmer's Treatise on the Church, vol. i. p. 305, note. 
 
318 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 peculiar Avork ; i'lmds are supplied, without any limit, from 
 the Leopold Society of Austria, and from the Society for 
 the Propagation of the Faith, the head-quarters of which 
 are fixed at Lyons."* The population is becoming largely 
 Romish ; and this, beyond all doubt, is to be the fnture 
 seat of empire. The best informed Americans expect that, 
 after one more struggle, the west will command the elec- 
 tions of the iinion ; and thus the centre of power will have 
 been forestalled by Rome. But even now, and without 
 waiting this accomplishment, her power is not to be con- 
 temned. Many peculiarities of lite in America already 
 tend to establish her dominion. The revulsion of feeling, 
 which ever drives men from one extreme to another, na- 
 turally leads those who have been wearied out by the fierce 
 excitements of the various sects to seek for shelter in her 
 delusive quietness. Her claim of infallibility seems to be a 
 blessing to spirits which are utterly hopeless of finding out 
 any truth amidst the conflicting claims of ten thousand 
 contesting teachers ; Avhilst by her doctrine of the sacra- 
 ments, her practical management of penances, and her 
 perilous medicine of enforced auricular confession, with its 
 attendant absolution, she heals slightly the wounds of many 
 a morbid and diseased conscience. The Romanists, more- 
 over, have always known how to modify their doctrines 
 and discipline, so as to turn to the best advantage the po- 
 litical circumstances of the country and the times. Thus, 
 whilst under an absolute monarchy they arc the gi'eatest 
 enemies of rational and lawful liberty, in republican Ame- 
 rica they are the most thoroughly demooratical of all sects. 
 At first sight it may be ditficult to conceive how the popish 
 discipline can be made to harmonise M'ith an equalising 
 democracy ; but upon looking more closely, it will be 
 seen, as has been remarked by a keen oberver of Ameri- 
 can society,! that Romanism is really most favorable to 
 
 * " At St. Louis the Jesuits have lately erected, in addition to 
 their cathedral, a spacious church and a university, with a library of 
 ten tliousand vohimes, towards wliich only about eight thousand 
 dollars were raised at St. Louis, the remainder of the funds coming 
 chiefly from Lyons." Private Letter of Rev. H. Caswall. 
 
 f ill de Tocqueville. 
 
PRO.-iPECTS OF THE CHURCH. 319 
 
 democracy; for that under its system " the religions com- 
 mmdty is composed of only two elements the priest and 
 the Deoule The priest alone rises above the rank ot his 
 tcrand all are iqual below him." None la.ow better 
 than the adherents of the papacy how to pi-oht by such a 
 state of society. Already they have tasted toe ^^'e^ts of 
 political power. " They have grown, we are told ml 8.39 
 ^ to an important political influence, by the acquisition ot 
 Louisiana and by emipration from Europe, so as to be capa- 
 ble of turning a vote for a national administration in which- 
 ever scale they cast their weight, in the present near y 
 equal balance^ of political parties. They are generally 
 found on one side, namely, the most thoroughly democra- 
 tical and radical ; and as that is at present the dominant 
 nartv it may be said that they govern the country so iar 
 as that they arc the means of keeping in power the party 
 to which they are attached."* , , ^ ^i, 
 
 Asainst the Episcopal commumon the whole s rength 
 of the Romanists is bent. They ibar no other^ body u 
 the multitude, variety, and extravaganee of the sec s s 
 they well know, the secret of their own strength, and the 
 Iround of their hope of one day reducing all to a common 
 servitude. Their talisman of might is m the apparent 
 shel e and vi.^ible umty of their church, and through it 
 Sey hope to triumph ; bnt these in their reality are pos- 
 sessed by the Episcopal communion, and with them the 
 blessed truth of Christ's Gospel, free from those defp cor- 
 ruptions which throughout Christendom mar every where 
 the countenance of Home. 
 
 With Home, therefore, in the new world as elsewhere, 
 the pure Church of Christ must wrestle. But there is no 
 doubt of the result, if only she be true to hersel . It in- 
 deed foi-akin- this high ground, the Episcopalian puts 
 htms'elf upon I level with every unscriptaral sect around 
 ^m then he may expect to find Rome too strong tor him. 
 B^'ifhTmaiSs llis true position, he camiot but r^s^ 
 successfully her multiplied and tearful errors. And tor this 
 contest the Church in America has some peculiar advan- 
 
 . Voice from America, by aa American Gentleman, p. 161. 
 
320 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 tages. Her general convention enables her to meet the 
 varying form of error, and to adjust internal grounds of 
 difierence, to an extent altogether unattainable where, as 
 at home, the power of assembling lawfully in synod has 
 been, for any cause, suspended or removed. 
 
 Such are the prospects of the Episcopal communion. 
 There can be no doubt that a hard struggle is before her ; 
 that vast difficulties, social, moral, and religious, will im- 
 pede her progress. The treatment of the negro race alone 
 might amply occupy lier energies ; but besides this, she 
 has the busiest people in the world to charm to Christian 
 quietness. Peace mu^ be breathed over their unresting 
 eagerness ; by cultivating college-life and the studies and 
 devotions of a more learned clergy, still thoughts must be 
 sheltered and fostered amidst those crowded haunts of men ; 
 and safe, quiet resting-places must be formed in streams 
 madder and more troubled than the waters of her own tur- 
 bulent Missouri. She must bridle or subdue the out- 
 stretching atheism of the backwoods population, the extra- 
 vagance of the multitude of strange sects, as well as the 
 decent unbelief of Socinian Boston ; she must expose the 
 subtle errors of the Romish Church. All this is no ordi- 
 nary work ; yet all this, and more than all of it, she may 
 accomplish, if she is but true to her own principles. If 
 she abandons these, she is indeed lost. Whether swallow- 
 ed up by the sects, or engulfed by Home, or sinking into 
 the Socinian heresy, it were vain to prognosticate ; but her 
 fall is certain. The history of the King's Chapel* at Bos- 
 
 * Where the " King's Chapel" now stands, the first Episcopal 
 church in New England was erected in 1689. It was built of wood, 
 but was replaced in 1749 by a stone church, which cost little less 
 than £10,000. It was distinguished by a succession of royal gifts. 
 In 1697, communion-plate was given to it by King William and 
 Queen Mary; and in 1772 arrived together gifts from Georges II. and 
 III. Only eleven years after thi^, the first fatal step was openly 
 taken, by the adoption of an altered liturgy, from whicli the Athan- 
 asian Creed and the opening sentences of the litany were formally 
 excluded. Fi-om that time its descent has been rapid ; and now, 
 with a mutilated service and heretical creed, it is an avowedly So- 
 cinian congregation. Abridged from Dr. Greenwood's HisM'y of 
 King's Chapel, as quoted by Buckingham, vol. iii. p. 447. 
 
PROSPECTS OF THE CHURCH. 321 
 
 ton stands as a beacon-lijrht to warn her from this danger- 
 ous course. Of the urgeuey of these dangers in times past, 
 the absence of the Athanasian Creed from her pubUc for- 
 mularies is a painful record. It is still, no doubt, the 
 abiding loss of one great safeguard against error. It is im- 
 possible to estimate too highly the value of those hymns of 
 thanksgiving which associate with the emotions of our ear- 
 liest worship the deep mysteries of revelation. Against all 
 enticements therefore to adopt a lower tone, she needs spe- 
 cially to stand upon her guard. He who bears the vows 
 of the Nazarite must not adopt as his rule the ordinary 
 customs of society around him. If he slumbers in the lap 
 of ease or worldly conformity, the Phihstines will bind the 
 champion of God's host ; and he who should have deliver- 
 ed Israel will ere long grind sightless in the world's mill, or 
 make rude merriment for God's enemies. 
 
 But if in the character of Christ's witness, loving and 
 proclaiming His truth in its simplicity, ministering His sa- 
 craments faithfully and purely, she resists the evils around 
 her, then in God's name will she surely triumph over all 
 opposition. To do which there mnst be no dread of mar- 
 tyrdom when truth requires the sacrifice. At all costs she 
 must bear the burden of the Lord, and bless the religious 
 and social life of those given to her. This she can do in 
 the strength God gives to His faithful witnesses, if that 
 strength is called out and used for Him. But to be thus 
 strong, she must bring out her own principles. 
 There must be no faltering step swervmg towards the 
 sects around her, no secret coveting of the Babylonish gar- 
 ment which is stored within the tents of Rome. Her ban- 
 ner must be indeed " Evangelical truth with apostolical 
 order, — the Gospel in the Church." There must be no 
 paring down, on the one side, of the great doctrines of 
 grace ; no attempt, on the other, to win the good-will of 
 men by changing, according to their wandering fancies, 
 that form of Church-order which Christ has appointed. 
 It is impossible by such a course to turn aside reproach and 
 and opposition. This cannot be avoided by any sacrifice 
 short of " the intercommunity of services ;"* that is, of 
 * Reed and Matheson. 
 14* 
 
322 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 an entire abandonment of all claim to apostolic constitu- 
 tion. For this is the real question in dispute between her- 
 self and others : and the less are the ostensible reasons for 
 separation from them, the greater is the irritation which 
 inevitably awaits those who still insist on separation ; for 
 m them it seems to be founded on no great principle, and 
 to be therefore causeless, which makes it injurious and in- 
 sulting. They who have thought that the outcry some- 
 times heard against the Church at home is excited by its 
 being establislied by the nation, and not by its bearing wit- 
 ness against the lawfulness of sectarian subdivision, may be 
 surprised to find that, to an English dissenter, the claims 
 of the Episcopal communion are more offensive in America 
 than here, " where there is something of pomp, and pri- 
 vilege, and numbers to uphold these pretensions."* There 
 it appears to him to be incredible exclusiveness Hence in 
 that land it is doubly needful that the true grounds of those 
 actions which provoke this judgment should be calmly but 
 clearly stated. It must be felt that they who act thus do 
 so because they believe that Christ having founded a fixed 
 form of Church-life, it is not lawful for them at their own 
 will to alter it, or to acquiesce in its re-construction, to 
 please the taste of other men. This, and this only, can 
 justify their separation : if the Episcopal Church of Ame- 
 rica, instead of being the witness against all sectarian divi- 
 sion, is herself regarded as one of the sects, then is she in- 
 deed the most exclusive and overbearing of them all. Her 
 sons must be felt not to be maintaining in a hostile spirit 
 their own dogmas, but in the heartiest love to be bent on 
 sharing with their less favored brethren the riches of their 
 own inheritance ; and this they cannot do unless they them- 
 selves believe in its reality. Nothing can more fatally 
 deny their own true standing-ground than the unhappy 
 custom, prevalent upon their days of solemn gathering, of 
 publicly inviting, often by their bishop's voice, to the table 
 of the Lord, not only their own members, but "all Avho 
 consider themselves as in good standing with their own 
 denomination."! 
 
 * Reed and Mathesoii, vol . ii. p. 75. 
 
 \ No question is asked as to the great fundamentals of the faith ; 
 
PROMISE OF THE FUTURE. 323 
 
 But it is not enough that the distinctive features which 
 mark tliis communion should thus be kept clear and plain. 
 There must also be a hijjh tone on those <^reat moral and 
 S"cial questions which are rising daily, and on which mere 
 politicians haA'^e no utterance of principle. There must be 
 no timid silence as to great enormities. In those mighty 
 issues whicli indeed try the spirits of men, her voif^e must 
 be clear. Thus, for example, the treatment of the negro 
 population must be her care ; tlie equal wnlh of the co- 
 lored race must be luiequivocally held and asserted by her. 
 It must no longer be the reproach of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church that it is only in the Romish Cathedral at 
 Ncw-0''leans that whites and blacks are seen to kneel 
 together,* as those wiio were made of one blood by one 
 Father, and redeemed from common death through the 
 cross of one only Saviour. Timid, compromising conduct 
 on these great subjects, safe as it may seem at present, 
 will, more than any thing besides, weaken through the 
 whole nation tlie moral weight of any religious body. By 
 an universal law of God's providence, it is in doing battle 
 for His truth that men exercise and train their own spirits, 
 and subdue the herd of weaker minds to their rule and 
 government. By its courage or unfaitJifnlness on this one 
 question, the Church, as far as we can see, is fixing now 
 for good or ill its true weight and standing in the coming 
 generation. 
 
 Many favorable signs give hopeful promise of its rising 
 to its true dignity of action. On all sides there is a grow- 
 ing disposition to act meekly and calmly, but yet steadily, 
 upon its own principles. It is carrying throughout the 
 Union its episcopacy and apostolic discipline. It is provi- 
 ding for clerical education and the ibrmation of a clerical 
 character amongst those who are to bear the ministry of 
 Christ. On every side it is seeking to remove the irregu- 
 larities and contradictions which, in its weak and uncertain 
 beginning, were suffered in its constitution, as the fruits of 
 ignorance within itself, or concessions to predjucice with- 
 
 but even Socinians may avail themselves of the promiscuous 
 invitation. 
 
 * Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. i. p. 128. 
 
324 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 out. Attempts are even now making to limit the elections 
 of members of convention to those vv^ho are in regular com- 
 munion. Conventions are increasingly commenced with 
 the celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.* 
 In its missionary organization the true and highest form 
 of Church-societies is visibly developed. The whole body 
 is thereby acknoM'ledged the society, and its rule and gov- 
 ernment is placed in the same hands which have received 
 from Christ's appointment the administration of His 
 Church. On other points, at the same time, the tone of 
 thought and action is manifestly rising. The poor are, far 
 more than they were, the care of this communion. The 
 institution of free churches, although not yet wholly suc- 
 cessful, is a practical avowal of their sense of this obliga- 
 tion. Even on the slave-question the Church is not 
 wholly silent. She has turned away from the baits held 
 out by the Colinization Society.! One bishop, and not the 
 
 * Before the general convention of 1841, nearly 1500 communi- 
 cants met together at the Lord's table in St. John's church, New- 
 York. 
 
 t In the convention of 182.3 the bishops declined the proposal of 
 Bending a delegate to an intended meeting of that bccJy, but ex- 
 pressed approbation of their object. Bishop White's Memoirs p. 51. 
 This was a charitable construction of the purposes of that society. 
 No doubt many truly humane men have joined it with the hope of 
 colonising Africa with free blacks, and thereby introducing into that 
 unhappy continent, and amidst its estimated ;-)0,000,000 of the negro 
 race, civilization and Christianity. And to a certain extent, this, we 
 may hope, will be the result of their colony of Liberia on the African 
 coast. But the great effect of the scheme, if it succeeded, would be 
 to remove from America all the free colored population who are the 
 natural guardians of their brethren in slavery, and so to rivet for 
 ever the fetters of the slave. It is, in fact, the safety-valve of that 
 system, and therefore is in favor amongst all the advocates of slavery 
 in the northern as well as the southern states. For whilst it pro- 
 mises to the south the secure possession of their slave-labor, it falls 
 in with northern prejudice by being a practical declaration, that the 
 two races cannot co-exist together in a state of freedom, and that 
 deportation must be a condition of the black man's liberty. The 
 statements of one of its ablest advocates, f carefully prepared, too, 
 to fall in, as far as possible, with the prejudices of England on this 
 
 t Letter to the Hon. Henry Clay, <fec., by R. R. Gurley, 
 
BISHOP MEADE AND SLAVERY. 325 
 
 least distinguished of his order, has been scarcely held back 
 by the full I'orce of official forms from recording his solemn 
 protest against the exclusion from the General Theological 
 Seminary of the candidate of negro blood ; and in two at 
 least of the churches of the north the African has been 
 acknowledged to be, as much as his white brother in the 
 priesthood, the witness of Christ's resurrection, and tha 
 Stewart of His mysteries.* Even in Virginia, from the 
 bishop's seat, a whisper may be heard. Bishop Meade 
 has put into his Manual of Devotion this prayer for the 
 use of a master of a family in the slave district : — " 
 heavenly Master, hear me whilst I lift my heart in prayer 
 for those unfortunate beings who call me master. God, 
 make known unto me my whole duty towards them and 
 their oppressed race ; give me courage and grace to do it 
 at all events ; convince me of sin if I be wrong in retaining 
 them another moment in bondage." In the freedom of 
 this happy land we cannot without effort, easily beleive 
 how much true Christian daring was required to put forth 
 even this gentle rebuke. God grant that it may soon be 
 spoken in accents like those of the faithful prophet whose 
 righteous soul would not endure that the people of the 
 Lord should continue halting between two opinions. 
 
 For if on tliis, and on other kindred subjects, her wit- 
 subject, scarcely veil this vievr. Their tone cannot be mistaken. 
 They are a plausible apology for the " peculiar social institutions of 
 the south." They would justify perpetual bondage amidst the 
 sugar-canes and cotton-plants of Georgia and Alabama, and the 
 perpetual trampling on the free negro in the streets of Philadelphia 
 and New- York. 
 
 * It is due to those who, in this day of trial, have not shrunk from 
 their principles, to record the names of those who have borne this 
 ■witness. Bishop Doane of Xew Jersey, in June, 1839, opposed and 
 sought leave to enter his protest against the decision of the trustees 
 as to Alex. Crummell ; and he having since been ordained by the 
 late Bishop Griswold, has been invited to share in the public services 
 of the Church, "in the presence of large and fashionable congrega- 
 tions, as an equal brother, without a syllable of di-^approbation dis- 
 turbing the harmony of the scene," by the Rev. George Burgess, 
 rector of Christ Church, the Rev. Arthur Coxe, (author of Athanasion, 
 (fee-,) minister of St. Gabriel's, Windsor, and rector of St. John's 
 Church, Hartford, Connecticut. Caste and Slavery, p. 22. 
 
326 AMERICAN CHURCH. 
 
 ness for God were clear and explicit, what could we fear 
 for the Churcli in America? It has already even gained 
 on the rapidly increasing population of the United States.* 
 Between 1814 and 1838, whilst the population of the 
 Union has little more than doubled, it has quadrupled it- 
 self. Should its increase continue at this rate, it would in 
 fifty years outnumber the mother Church, and before the 
 end of a century would embrace a majority of all the 
 people of the West. What is there but Avant of faith to 
 limit this progress, or to prevent its dispensing every spirit- 
 ual and social blessing to the busy people round it ? To 
 say that it is beset by peculiar dangers, is only to assert of 
 it that which may be said of the Church Catholic at every 
 period since her first foundation. Never has she been free 
 from danger ; never has it seemed less than imminent and 
 menacing. At one time, persecution from Avithout has 
 threatened to beat down and root it out ; at another, heresy 
 has raised against her its parti-colored banner, and seemed 
 ready to swallow up the faithful. Schism has sometimes 
 divided her ; and sometimes the friendship of the world 
 and the fair speech of men has almost robbed her of her 
 jealous love for truth, and sullied her virgin holiness. Yet 
 in all trials, and through all opposition, God has ever held 
 her up. And so it must be ; ever ready to fail, but never 
 failing ; leaving, it may be, one land, to rise with new 
 splendor on another ; out of Aveakness waxing strong : this 
 has been, and this must be, her course. This was foretold 
 of her when it pleased our Lord to show to His first Twelve 
 the shadow which her long-after history cast forward : 
 " Then shall many be oflended, and shall betray one 
 another, and hate one another : and many false prophets 
 shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity 
 shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But lie 
 that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 
 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all 
 the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the 
 end come." 
 
 So it has been, and so it must be to the end. Always 
 
 * Caswall's America, p. 386. 
 
CONCLUSION. 327 
 
 is there trial enoufrh to betray the ungodly and the iu- 
 sincere; always is the danger enough in following Christ 
 to lead the hall-hearted to go over to the world's side : but 
 ever is there in Christ's presence and in Christ's promises 
 strength enough to hold up them that will cleave to Him. 
 And so it will be until He come again : for He has ibiuided 
 His Church upon a rock ; and the gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against her. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The editor of this American edition of Bishop Wilberforce's History 
 of the Church in these United States, published the annexed sermon 
 on "Communion of Saints," more than a year since. He had never 
 seen the bishop's book nor knew any thing of its contents. He 
 has carefully looked over the statements made by him on the sub- 
 ject of slavery, and cannot find a single error in any particular. 
 "Within the last year the sin and evils of slavery have been most 
 ably set forth in resolutions and addresses to the public of the slave- 
 holding States themselves. I have before me the resolutions of a 
 convention of delegates in Kentucky, assembled in Frankfort, the 
 capital of the State, on the 25tli of April, 1S49. The first resolution 
 is as follows: " 1. Believing that hereditary slavery, as it exists by 
 the laws of Kentucky, is injurious to the commonwealth, inconsistent 
 with the fundamental principles of a free government, and opposed 
 to the rightx of mankind, it therefore ought not to be perpetuated." 
 This i3 speaking quite as plainly on the subject of slavery, as Bishop 
 TV. does in any expression of his, or, as does the author of the ser- 
 mon annexed. This convention was attended by many distinguished 
 persons of all parties and sects ; some preachers made very able 
 exposition of the sin and evils of slavery. Where was the testimony 
 of either branch of the Church, holding " par excellence," the doctrine 
 of " the Communion of Saints." Where was the Bishop of Bards- 
 town, or the Bishop of Kentucky ? Their voices are not heard in 
 defence of " the rights of mankind," to say nothing of " the liberty 
 wherewith Christ has made us free." 
 
*' QL\)c Communiott of Saints,' 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, 
 
 BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
 ON SUNDAY, THE 26th OF MARCH, A. D. 1848. 
 
 BY 
 
 EVAN M. JOHNSON, 
 
 RECTOR. 
 
I 
 
 The author of this discourse is not a member of any Colonization, or 
 Anti-Slavery, or Abolition Society whatever, and fully believes all 
 these would be unnecessary, if the Catholic Church would do as she 
 ought It is with the humble hope of calling the attention of Her 
 members to what he esteems a neglected duty that he is induced to 
 publish this. 
 
DISCOUESE. 
 
 1 COR.. XII., 13 AND 14, 25, 26 and 2*7 verses. 
 
 " For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we 
 be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all 
 made to drink into one Spirit ; for the body is not one member, but 
 many ; that the members sliould have the same care one for another 
 and whether one member suffer, all the memV>ers suffer with it. Now 
 ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." 
 
 In the Apostle's Creed, Christians are taught to believe 
 in " The Holy Catholic Church ; The Communion of 
 Saints." Every one, who pretends to be a member of the 
 one Catholic Church in the world, receives each and every 
 article of this Creed as containing a truth not to be dis- 
 puted — one article may be excepted. He that rejects 
 one, denies in fact the whole. For instance, if a person 
 believe every other Article of the Creed and deny the ex- 
 istence of ' The Holy Ghost,' he is an heretic ; so, if he 
 deny the existence of " the Holy Catholic Church : the 
 Communion of Saints ;" he is an heretic. The doctrine 
 taught by these clauses in the Creed and as more fully ex- 
 plained in other Creeds and the teaching of the Church is 
 this, that the Church which is holy, is also Catholic ; that 
 is, miiversal, as it exists in the whole world. It is one. 
 However separated as to locality, however high or low the 
 station in life, of its members, or however they may differ 
 as to their ideas of the supremacy of its eartlili/ Head ; it 
 is OxE, as it is the body of Christ. All are united in the 
 beUef, that Christ is its Divine Head ; and the Holy Ghost 
 its animating, living principle. Individuals have been 
 
33'i APPENDIX. 
 
 and are made, and will continue to be made members 
 oi' tills one body of Christ by Baptism. " For by one 
 Spirit we are all baptised into one body." The Head 
 of the Church instituted the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, 
 in which He implants (without reference to the htncss of 
 His earthly agent,) through His Ministry the seed of Di- 
 Vme life in the soul of man. He has also made provision 
 for the nurture of the "plant of renown." He gives His 
 Holy''Spirit, in answer to the sincere prayers of the mem- 
 bers of His Body. He enables them to confess and forsake 
 their sins — to become more and more holy and blameless. 
 He feeds their souls with angel's food, " the manna that 
 came down from heaven." His Body is to them " nreat 
 indeed and His blood drink indeed." Thus, in commun- 
 ion with Him the Head, any member of this one Church 
 may thro' the grace given by the Holy Ghost, become one 
 of the nvmiber of the Sahits — any member of this one 
 Church may by neglect, or thoughtlessness, or sin, or way- 
 wardness, drive away the Holy Spirit and never enter 
 into the joy of his Lord. It was tlie great object of our 
 adorable Saviour by His humiliation 1o raise our lallen hu- 
 manity, that any of our race may be enabled 1o lieeome 
 " Sons of God." Those, who in this one Catholic Church, 
 do cultivate tlie graces of the Spirit and througli obedience 
 and self mortification and " fasting" and " praying " and 
 "alms-giving" and "serving God day and night" with 
 sincerity and humble obedience, thus showing that the 
 righteousness of Christ is in lliein, are called S.'vixts. 
 They are Holy, in a very peculiar sense, because Christ 
 is Holy and they are one with Him. " He in them and 
 they in Him." All such, wherever they may be, what- 
 ever may be their condition in life, bond or free, stand in a 
 special relation to one another as members of the great 
 Body of which He is Head. This relation is called " the 
 Communion of Saints." It is through the Spirit of " the 
 Father and the Son," animating the whole body and en- 
 livening every member of it, that Christ communicates His 
 grace, through His Sacraments ; and it is by the same 
 Spirit that believers have " access by one Spirit to the 
 father." As the Spirit of a man enlivens the body of a 
 
APPENDIX. 335 
 
 man, so does the Holy Spirit enliven the whole body of the 
 Church. Thus, the i'aithful have communion one w'ith 
 another and with Christ the Head, ^'^^lether then Chris- 
 tians believe that the Bishop of Eome or the Bisliop of 
 Constantinople is the head of the whole Church, or j;hat 
 there is but one Head and that is Christ in Heaven, and 
 that each Bishop is Head of the subordinate branch com- 
 mitted to his charcre, and that each individual Christian 
 holds his communion with the srcat Head tlirougfh his 
 own Bishop, they are substantially agreed in believing this 
 doctrine of "Communion of Saints." If we look into the 
 Scriptures we find that this doctrhie is most distinctly 
 brought to view, as enforcing various duties of an highly 
 practical character. Our Saviour himself said to liis di.s- 
 ciples, " A ncAV commandment give I unto you that ye 
 love one another ; as I have loved you, that ye also love 
 one another ; by this shall all men know that ye are my 
 disciples, if ye have love one to another." Says the Apos- 
 tle, " "We being many are one body in Clirist, and every 
 one members one of another. Let love be without dis- 
 simulation. Be kindly afiectioned one to another, with 
 brotherly love ; in honor preferring one another." The 
 same Apostle exhorts the members of Christ's body to 
 " bear ye one another's burdens, and so fullil tlie law of 
 Christ" — again, "we are members one of another, be ye 
 kind to one another, tender hearted." I will not quote 
 farther from the Scriptures on tlxis pouit. Saints in all 
 ages of the Church have considered these and such lilve 
 parts of Holy ^Yrit, as enforcing upon them the discharge 
 of these duties and the exercise of these aflections thus 
 prominently brought to notice. It has been and it always 
 will be the most decided test of Christian character, the 
 best ex-idence both to one's self and to others, of the exi>- 
 tence and growth of the divine life or of its decay, thai, 
 when a Christian examines himself, lie finds he discharges 
 these duties and exercises these aflections, or that he neg- 
 lects the one and does not cultivate the other. A person 
 may profess to believe in the doctrine of " the Communion 
 of Saints" — that all Christians are one in' Chi-ist and made 
 partakers of His nature ; if he do not di-scharge the duty 
 
336 APPENDIX. 
 
 which is imposed on him, by the "Word of God, as an in- 
 dividual member of this one body of Christ, his is nothing 
 else than profession — he does not really believe the doc- 
 trine — he deceives himself 
 
 In all ages of the Church, this doctrine, taught by the 
 Saviftur Himself and enforced by so many and so striking 
 passages of G-od's w^ord, has powerfully influenced the mem- 
 bers of the true Church of Christ and inspired them with 
 feelings of deep commiseration for the oppressed, and with 
 determined exertions for their relief. In the first centuries 
 a community of sufi"ering among Christians produced also 
 a community of commiseration, and whenever any were 
 released from their persecution, or oppression, or bondage, 
 they immediately sought to obtain the relief of others, who 
 with them were one in Christ. I have time only to state 
 a few historical facts to confirm this statement. About the 
 year 340 after Christ, a canon had been passed strictly 
 prohibiting the appropriation of the sacred vessels of the 
 sanctuary to any secular purpose. St. Ambrose of Milan, 
 to redeem captives, when no other means could be obtained, 
 sold the sacred vessels and utensils of the Church, to make 
 provision for Avhat he called " the living temples of God." 
 He speaks in his own defence, and personifying the Saviour, 
 he says, " the ornament of my Sacraments is the redemp- 
 tion of captives." St. Austin disposed of the plate of his 
 Church for " the redemption of captives." In an after 
 age, when the Northern herds overran the Roman Empire, 
 making slaves of those they captured, the power of the 
 Church was soon brought to bear upon these ferocious 
 barbarians. As soon as they became Christians they were 
 compelled to release their slaves. See too, in the contests 
 of the Bishops and the Church of England, with the Nor- 
 man Kings ; they held in abject slavery almost the whole 
 population of England. The Bishops were the Iriends of 
 the oppressed, and some even sacrificed their lives in be- 
 half of oppressed humanity. We have an eminent instance 
 in the modern history of the Church, where, really believ- 
 ing the doctrine of " Communion of Saints," and acting 
 under the influence of its truth, St. Vincent of Paul 2')er- 
 mitted himself to be made a slave, that he might go and 
 
APPENDIX. 337 
 
 carry the consolations of the Gospel to those who had been 
 made slaves for their crimes. For many centuries it con- 
 tinued to be the Church's rule, that whenever a slave be- 
 came converted and was baptized, he became a free man.* 
 From these few facts, selected from many hundreds of the 
 like kind, we are sure, that many of the most eminent 
 Saints, of all ages of the Church, have been the friends of 
 the oppressed — have done what they could to mitigate 
 the evils of slavery, and, whenever it was possible, to re- 
 lease men from bondage. "VTe see not how they could have 
 done otherwise, if they really believed that every indivi- 
 dual, whether bond or free, that had been renewed after 
 the image of Christ and been received into his Church, had 
 become a part of himself; of the body of which He is Head. 
 " If one member sufi'ered, the other members suflered 
 with it." 
 
 There are in these United States about three millions 
 of persons of African extraction. The ancestors of these 
 people were brought here from Africa, as slaves. In these 
 northern States slavery has gradually been abolished ; in 
 some of the western States it has never existed. These 
 descendants of Africans with us are all said to be free. In 
 the southern States, slavery exists, as it ever has, in all its 
 rigor. Some few colored persons are free, so called ; but 
 so great are the difficulties, created by the law, of libera- 
 ting slaves, that the number of free persons of color dimin- 
 ishes rather than increases.! It is computed that there 
 are two and a half millions of slaves and four hundred 
 thousand of free persons of color in these United States. 
 In these, there are twenty-seven Prelates of the Roman 
 Communion and twenty-nine of the Anghcan Communion ; 
 the one holding their Apostolical succession through the 
 Roman branch of the Church ; the other through the An- 
 glican. There are subject to the former eight hundred 
 and ninety-two Priests, and to the latter about fourteen 
 
 • In some of the Southern States this humane provision of the 
 Christian law has been expressly repealed by Statute. 
 
 f In many Slave States it is unlawful to manumit a slave unless 
 he consent to go out of the state ; or, I believe m some cases, he 
 must go to Liberia. 
 
 15 
 
338 APPENDIX. 
 
 hundred and twenty-seven, making in all fifty-six Prelates 
 and two thousand three hundred and nineteen clergy in. 
 these United States. 
 
 Many thousands of our most distinguished public men, 
 men of influence and character, belong to one or other of 
 these communions and attend upon the public ministry or 
 service of these prelates and clergy. These all, both clergy 
 and laity, in their daily or weekly religious service, before 
 God's holy altar, in his Church, renew their oaths of fidelity 
 to Him and the Church, by repeating the Apostle's Creed 
 and say, "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church; the 
 Communion of Saints." 
 
 Now, I would ask, how have those, who pi'ofess this 
 faith, discharged the duties which we have seen are re- 
 quired by the Holy Scriptures, towards this class of their 
 fellow christians and fellow men ? Here, in these northern 
 States, free States, so called, what is the actual and true 
 state of the case, as regards the colored people. I will not 
 speak of their deprivation of many civil rights, which all 
 others enjoy, but I shall speak oi' their religious privileges. 
 Here, in many of our cities, we have established colored 
 churches with colored persons in Holy Orders to serve in 
 them. Now, why was this separation of Christians made, 
 and why continued on account of color ? Is it not pur- 
 posely to keep these latter in a separate external commu- 
 nion? Is it not on purpose to perpetuate caste in the 
 Christian Church? Indeed, this is all but openly avowed 
 in the report of the connnittee of the convention of the 
 Episcopal Church in New- York, upon the application of 
 one of these Churches to be admitted to the convention.* 
 
 Who would say that the colored Churches enjoy the 
 same privileges as Churches, or that the individuals com- 
 posing them take the same rank as Christians, as the • 
 members of white Churches, or of those individuals belong- 
 ing to white Chui-ches ? Tlien, what shall w^e say of 
 those persons of color admitted to Holy Orders ? We have 
 a Theological Seminary, where it is thought the Students 
 enjoy peculiar advantages of a literary and theological 
 
 * Appendix A. 
 
APtENDlX. 339 
 
 nature, and where some think their religious and pious 
 habits are improved and strengthened. To this Seminary, 
 a young man of color, though he be baptized with the 
 baptism of the blessed Jesus, both with water and the 
 Spirit — though he have received grace and strength by 
 the imposition of the chief pastor's hands — though he have 
 received the body and blood of his once sacrificed Saviour 
 and Lord — 'though thus his humanity is exalted to a par- 
 ticipation of the Divine Nature, and though he be hereby 
 enabled to live godly, righteously and soberly, yet he can- 
 not be admitted because his skin is not as clear and his 
 complexion as bright as others, who are permitted to en- 
 joy these opportunities for intellectual, moral and religious 
 improvement ? "What a comment this upon the doctrine 
 of " Communion of Saints !" Such are compelled to seek 
 their education where best they can obtain it. — When 
 such have received Holy Orders, they are empowered to 
 admit members into this Holy Fellowship of which we 
 have spoken ; to " remit or retain sins ;" to ofier the Holy 
 Sacrifice on God's Altar, and to distribute to penitent sin- 
 ners the bread of life. They are to stand in the immediate 
 presence of Christ at His Altar, to intercede for the people. 
 This is their high calling in the Church of Christ. But 
 they can only do this in the presence of colored persons ; 
 to permit such to minister in white congregations would, 
 even now by many, be considered an outrage upon decency.* 
 How is this feeling and this practice at variance with the 
 doctrine of " Communion of Saints." How earnest should 
 be our prelates and clerg}' to enforce upon their hearers 
 the importance of carrying out the principles involved in 
 the behef of this doctrine. The Church with us should 
 take the lead in abolishing all those remaining distinctions 
 on account of color, which interfere with a cordial recep- 
 tion of this doctrine and the full enjoyment of every Chris- 
 
 • In one of our northern Churclies, the priest happened accident- 
 ally, on administering the Holy Elements at the Communion, to de- 
 liver them to a colored communicant when one white woman had not 
 received — she rejected the offered bread, because it had not first 
 been given her. This produced such a prejudice against the pastor 
 that he was obliged to leave the place. 
 
340 APPENDIX. '. 
 
 tian and Spiritual privilege by each member of the Body 
 of Christ. If the laity are brought to see their duty as 
 Cliristians, they will soon be convinced of it as States- 
 men ; then, all those laws which tend to continue caste, 
 and all those customs which pepetuate it, will soon, with 
 us, be done away. Of the whole number of prelates and 
 clergy in both branches of the Catholic Church, eight 
 hundred and twenty-eight are now exercising their holy 
 functions and preaching the gospel of " peace and good 
 will" among men in the southern part of this Union. 
 Their congregations are composed, for the most pai't, of 
 persons of influence and intelligence. Indeed, I think we 
 may say that if we consider the Anglican Church as it 
 exists in most of these states, and the Roman Church as it 
 exists in Maryland, Louisiana and Missouri, it may be 
 affirmed with confidence, that the persons who atteud on 
 the congregations connected with these Churches exercise 
 a great influence, and if united on this one subject, would 
 exercise a controlling power over the civil and religious in- 
 stitutions there existing. Let it be remembered that it is 
 professed by all these persons, " I believe in the Holy 
 Catholic Church ; the Communion of Saints." Within the 
 part of the country where this doctrine is or ought to be 
 proclaimed are, as we have said, two and a half millions 
 of slaves. I am willing to admit that many of these clergy 
 do labor for the spiritual good of this colored race — all 
 thanks and all praise be to them for this. Let us consider 
 under what disadvantages these labor in prosecuting their 
 "labor of love." I am compelled to bring into view the 
 state of the slave laws as they exist, to show that so long 
 as these laws remain in force, but little hope need be en- 
 tertained of any success in extending the Catholic Church 
 among those who are subjected to them. God forbid that 
 I shoiald refer to them for the sake of exciting hostility or 
 hatred towards those who permit them to remain, but 
 rather, should this discourse ever reach such as these, to 
 exhort them to labor day and night for their amelioration 
 or repeal. From a work written by a lawyer condensing 
 the laws by whicia slaves and people of color are govenred, 
 (for there is one set of laws for whites and another for 
 
■^ APPENDIX. 341 
 
 blacks, even thoiif^h they be free,) I make extract of the 
 following propositions, which bring prominently to view 
 the general character of these laws. 
 
 I. "The master may determine the kind and degree 
 of labor to which the slave shall be subjected. 
 
 II. The master may supply the slave with such food 
 and clothing only, both as to quantity and quality, as he 
 may think proper or (Ind convenient. 
 
 III. The master may, at his discretion, inflict any 
 punishment upon the person of his slave. 
 
 IV. All the power of the master over his slave may 
 be exercised, not by himself only in person, but by any one 
 whom he may depute as his agent. 
 
 V. Slaves have no legal right of property in things, 
 real or personal ; but whatever they may acquire belongs, 
 in point of law, to their masters. 
 
 VI. The slave, being a personal chattel, is at all times 
 liable to be sold absolutely, or mortgaged, or leased, at the 
 will of his master. 
 
 VII. He may be sold, by process of law, for the satis- 
 faction of the debts of a living, or the debts and bequests 
 of a deceased master, at the suit of creditors or legatees. 
 
 VIII. A slave cannot be a party before a judicial tri- 
 bunal, in any species of action, against his master, no 
 matter how atrocious may have been the injury received 
 from him. 
 
 IX. Slaves cannot redeem themselves nor obtain a 
 change of master, though cruel treatment may have ren- 
 dered such a change necessary for their personal safety. 
 
 X. Slaves, being objects of property, if injured by third 
 persons, their owners may bring suit for the injury. 
 
 XL Slaves can make no contract. 
 XII. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual." 
 All the laws to regulate the intercourse between slaves 
 and their masters are based upon these propositions. 
 These laws are exceedingly severe in the penalties which 
 they inflict. They recognize the unlimited right of the 
 master over the person of his slaves, or his creditor, or 
 as.signee, or executor to sell them in any way, young or 
 old, married or unmarried, to be transported, if the pur- 
 
342 APPENDIX. 
 
 chaser will, to any part of these United States where sla- 
 very is established. Hence, it often happens that such 
 sales are made solely with reference to the greatest amount 
 of money to he realized. If this can be effected by the 
 separation of father and mother from their children or from 
 one another, it is done without scruple.* In most of the 
 principal cities from Baltimore to the extreme south, there 
 are slave marts, where hundreds and thousands, young 
 and old, are exposed for sale by those who have purchased 
 them on speculation. I will mention no other of the many, 
 many hardships and sufleriugs which slaves are called to 
 endure under the operation of these laws. Those who are 
 called free persons of color, though they may not be sold 
 as others are, yet are under the most rigid restraints, and 
 are governed by laws almost as severe. To all persons of 
 color, either slaves or free, it is unlawful to communicate 
 the elements of learning. The individual who instructs 
 such to read or write, is liable to conviction as a public 
 offender. — But, my hearers, I Avill go no farther into detail ; 
 it is a subject on which I dehght not to dwell ; I have said 
 enough to show you what is the real condition of colored 
 people in our southern States. Recollect, then, that some 
 of these very persons haA'^e been baptized into the Body of 
 Christ, have received His Body and His Blood and are one 
 with Him and one with us, as the members of His one 
 Body. He died to redeem them as well as us — to raise 
 their fallen humanity, that they may become Saints here 
 and heirs of His kingdom hereatler. Such, no doubt, some 
 of them are. 
 
 In view of all this, let us look at the practical operation 
 
 * An acquaintance was travelling in Virginia — lie met a large 
 number of youths of both se.xes, from ten to fourteen years of age. 
 They were under the cliarge of drivers. He said, " where bound ?" 
 "To Alabama." "These slaves are all young," said our friend. "0. 
 yes ! we find it most profitable to buy young negroes and take ad- 
 vantage of their growth." Some of these children perhaps, had 
 Christian parents, and had been, by Christ's ministers, " baptised 
 into His Body," made His "children and inheritors of the Kingdom 
 of Heaven." They were torn from their parents and consigned over 
 to the drivers, to be sold on speculation. What an awful thought, 
 to sell and make merchandize of parts of the Body of Christ ! 1 1 
 
<{ APPENDIX. 343 
 
 of what are called eflbrts to extend the Church in this 
 quarter, among these people. Bishops and Clergy have 
 not been found in any great number, who defend this sys- 
 tem. Many are the number of those who are doing what 
 they can to instruct these oppressed human beings. Some 
 of our Bisliops have framed catechisms, to be taught them 
 orally. Many of our Clergy labor among these people, by 
 teaching them to I'epeat their catechisms, to join 7iiemori- 
 ter in parts of the Church service, and they read and 
 explain to them the Scriptures. According to their re- 
 ports, they succeed frequently in adding numbers of such 
 to the communion of the Church, and we hope to the 
 Communion of Saints. They tell them, that it is the duty 
 of every truly penitent sinner to be baptised with water 
 and the Spirit, and to give liis chddren to God, that in 
 Holy Baptism they may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
 and be grafted into the Body of Christ. Those who are fit 
 to be confirmed, he presents to the Bishop for confirmation. 
 Such young persons as come to him desiring to be united 
 in Holy Matrimony, he marries. Those that give evidence 
 that "Christ is in them," and who lead holy and godly 
 lives, he admits to partake of the ever blessed Sacrament 
 of His Body and Blood. 
 
 Trace now the progress of a single indiAadual through 
 this training of the Church. In infancy, he is baptized ; 
 his pai'ents or sponsors were made to promise that he shall 
 be taught the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Com- 
 mandments ; that he shall, at a suitable age, be brought to 
 the Bishop to be confirmed by him. When he cotaes to 
 confirmation, the Bishop says: "Defend this thy servant 
 with thy heavenly grace ; may he continue thine for ever, 
 and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until 
 he come to thine everlasting kingdom." He comes to his 
 Pastor to be united in Holy Matrimony, and he is made to 
 promise to live with his partner till death do them part. 
 I ask, how can a minister of the Church require these 
 promises of his Christian brethren, when he knows that 
 the children do not belong to the parent, nor wives to their 
 husbands, and that at the will of the master, or in conse- 
 quence of his embarrassment, or debt, these ties may at 
 
314 APPENDIX. ^ 
 
 once be rent asunder ; the father sold to one, the mother 
 to another, the children to others, and all perhaps to go to 
 Texas or other parts, where they can never enjoy the small 
 Christian privileges which they have have had? 
 
 How discouraging this to a minister if he have a real 
 and firm belief in this doctrine of Communiou of Saints. 
 What a damper must this thought, that all these promises 
 and all these exhortations may have been made or given 
 for noujjht, cast over all his eiibrts.* 
 
 * I wish to enforce this idea with a few examples. Bishop Meads 
 of Virginia, one of our Evang-ehcal Bisliops, was once a slaveholder. 
 He has given his slaves fieedoni on condition, of course, that they 
 leave the state ; some have gone to Liberia. Now I do not know 
 whether Bishop M. believes the Catholic doctrine, but I suppose he 
 holds a doctrine of "Communion of Saints." Suppose one of his 
 bretlu'en in Christ, when lie offered to liim the alternative of perpe- 
 tual banishment fioni his home, his family and his friends, or else 
 continued slavery, had said " my dear pastor, you taught me that 
 as a Christian I must do to others as I would have them do to me. 
 Now, how would you like to have banishment or slavery offered to 
 you, and you be compelled to choose either one or the other?" Says 
 the Bishop, " But you know that the law is such, I cannot give you 
 freedom except on this condition." Says the slave, " But who makes 
 and alters laws ? what have you said or done to try to procure the 
 repeal of such a law ?" What could the Bisliop say ? 
 
 Go a little farther South. Here resides our Evangelical brother 
 Barnwell of Charleston, S. C. He established a paper to dissemi- 
 nate the blessed doctrine of God's sovereign grace. Would not his 
 paper have been more useful, had it inculcated the doctrine of 
 " Communion of Saints ?" He and his congregation, which is com- 
 posed of some of the most distinguished and influential laymen in 
 the State, have contributed one thousand dollars per annum, to 
 support Bishop Boone in China. Suppose an intelligent Chinaman 
 were to say to Bishop B. : " Is it true, that in the country from which 
 you came to convert us to your religion, millions of men, women and 
 children are slaves — have no rights as men and are bought and sold 
 like beasts of burden ?" He would be compelled to say '• yes." He 
 might be asked, " Did you raise your voice against this evil ? Do 
 those who send you here, strive to procure the repeal of those laws, 
 which, heathens as wo are, we sliould reject with horror ?" What 
 could Bishop B. say to this ? 
 
 Qo a little farther South. We find that Bishop Elliott established 
 a literary institution where young men were to be educated for the 
 ministry, to be supported by slave labor. Suppose Bishop E. to 
 have succeeded in the conversion of some of these slave laborers, 
 might not one have said, " Bishop E. is it not hard for one, whom 
 
f APPENDIX. 345 
 
 What then is to be done when such a slate of thincs 
 exists in the CatlioHc Church ? We apprehend the mis- 
 sion oi' these Prelates and these Clerg:y is first of all to the 
 whites ; to those who wield the power of rnakinj^ and al- 
 tering the laws. The excuse, usually made by the Clergy 
 to justify those practices which seem to be, and really are, 
 inconsistent with the divine precept of " doing unto others 
 as we would \\'ish they would do unto us," is, that they 
 must submit to the civil law. Granted — but who makes 
 the law ? Do not the members of the Catholic Church 
 constitute a large proportion of law makers ? The Clergy 
 should constantly, unitedly, and perseveringly, insist upon 
 the repeal of every law, ivhirli imposes a burden on tlieir 
 Christian slave brethren, that they tcould not ivillingly 
 submit to, if tiiey were slaves themselves. 
 
 The painful question now comes up, how has this 
 duty, in our whole country been discharged? Where have 
 
 you call a brother in Ghrist, to work hard witli no pay, to be exposed 
 to all the hardships of the slave law, not to be even the owner of his 
 wife and children, that these young men may be educated to preach 
 the gospel of peace and good will ?"' He would say, " It is so in- 
 deed, but the law is so and I cannot help it." He might say, 
 " What have you done or said in opposition to this law, where 
 have you protested against this injustice done to your fellow Chris- 
 tians ?" 
 
 Go farther South. Bishop Polk, who is said to be a most amiable 
 person, is the owner (so reported) of three hundred and fifty slaves. 
 We have no reason to think that he does not attend to their spiri- 
 tual and temporal interest as a kind master should. Suppose one 
 of these of the number of his own communicants, one whom he hira 
 self had baptized and confirmed and admitted to the Holy Eucharist, 
 should say, " My dear master, I feel my situation to be very inse- 
 cure, at present ; I am happy under your care ; I have the company 
 of mv wife and children ; but suppose death were to remove you or 
 misfortune to overtake you, then, what is to become of me and 
 mine S Where, then, will be the Christian privileges which I now 
 enjoy as a member of the Body of Christ ?" The Bishop might say, 
 " I know the laws which prevail here, are severe and seem to be at 
 variance with the teaching and practice of the Churcli, but I did not 
 make them." " But who sits still and permits these laws to remain 
 in all their severity? What have you even said or done to call 
 the attention of Christian people to their enormity and effect their 
 repeal ?" 
 
 15* 
 
346 APPENDIX. ) 
 
 been the Prelates, where the Clergy, of either branch of the 
 Church, that have had the Christian fortitude and bold- 
 ness, fearlessly to preach the doctrine of Communion of 
 Saints, and insist upon the discharge, by the members of 
 their flocks, of the duties required by its belief? There 
 have not been wanthig those who have palliated and ex- 
 cused these customs and these laws in the United States, 
 by which one class of Christian brethren in tlie North are 
 purposely kept as a distinct, separate and neglected people ; 
 in the South are oppressed with bondage " grievous to be 
 borne," and are compelled to submit to laws and injuries 
 a parallel to Avhich cannot be found upon earth.* 
 
 But where have been the exhortations, the counsel, and 
 the instructions of the Clergy of the Church ? In the 
 Pastoral Letters of our House of Bishops, which ought to 
 have great influence in this land, we look in vain for an 
 allusion to this subject.! 
 
 These laws and these uncatholic practices have existed 
 since our country called itself free and independent. When 
 and where has any portion of the Church, through its ac- 
 credited organs, the Bislaops and the conventions within its 
 boundaries, entered its solemn protest against this oppres- 
 sion and degradation of some portion of her own members, 
 even the members of the Body of Christ ? It is not to be 
 desired that the Church, as a Church, should enter upon a 
 crusade against slavery, and should denounce all those, 
 who, perhaps not by their own consent, are owners of 
 slaves. But she ought, where slavery does exist, to insist 
 that the laws should be so altered, as to give to her color- 
 ed members the privileges to which they are entitled as 
 co-members with themselves of the " Body of Christ," 
 and where it does not exist, that all those practices, and 
 customs, and exclusions, be abolished, which tend to sepa- 
 rate one Christian flock from communion, as Christians, 
 with another. 
 
 If the united voice of the Church were put forth it 
 would be heard, it would be regarded. If the exertions of 
 
 * Even in Cuba tlie laws are far lesa severe, 
 t Appendix B. 
 
c 
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 every Catholic in this land were directed to ameliorate the 
 condition of the slave and to elevate the character of the 
 colored people — if their prayers were unitedly to ascend 
 before His throne in whose hand are the hearts of all men, 
 that He would dispose all Christian Rulers to " do justly, 
 and to love mercy," then mifrht we hope to see this all im- 
 portant doctrine of " the Communion of Saints" held, not 
 as a speculative theory, but as a living, acting, and influ- 
 ential principle. God grant that we may live to see this I 
 
 1 
 
 > 
 
APPENDIX TO DISCOURSE. 
 
 THE CASE OF ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH, N. Y. 
 
 A. — St. Philip's Church in the year a. n. 1846, made application 
 to be admitted into the Convention of the Episcopal Chmxh of New 
 York. It was moved by the Hon. John C. Spencer to lay the sub- 
 ject on the table. This was not carried, the vote stood : Clergy, ayes 
 64 noes 88 — Laity, Ayes 70 noes 54. TJie application Avas referred 
 to a select committee to report to the convention, consisting of Wm. 
 H. Harison, Esq., Rev. E. M. Johnson, Rev. Dr. Sherwood, the Hon. 
 J. C. Spencer and John A. King, Esq. Tlie following was the report 
 of a majority of the committee. 
 
 REPORT : COJIJIITTEE ON ST. PHILIp's CHURCH. 
 
 The Committee to which was referred the subject of the admission 
 ,of St. Philip's, and other colored congregations, into representation 
 in the Convention of this Diocese, report : 
 
 That in their view, the question referred to them is one exclusively 
 jrelating to the temporal government of the Diocese, and is wholly 
 unconnected with the religious rights or duties of the applicants. 
 The Convention is but a part of what may be called the civil ma- 
 flhinerjs instituted by himian wisdom, for the purpose of regulating 
 the Society, by which, and for whose benefit, it was established. It 
 is no more a part of our Church in this country, in a religious view, 
 than are the civil establishments and the connection with the govern- 
 ment in England, part of the Church there. In both countries the 
 arrangements for the admiuistriition of the government of the Church 
 ^re the result of experience and adaptation to circumstances. Among 
 the considerations of expediency, which any body of men, uniting 
 -together for a common purpose, would deem the most important, 
 must be that of determining with whom they would associate, and 
 who should be permitted to participate in tlie government of the 
 Society. Thus, for reasons of expediency, females, however worthy, 
 are by our canons excluded fiom being representatives in our Con- 
 yention, and are, by law, incapable of being incorporated as meia- 
 
 /*^ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 349 
 
 bers of Churches. Candidates for orders, are, by a canon of the 
 General Convention, pmliibited from beinj» members of that body. 
 These instances are sufiicient to illustrate the principle on which our 
 Church organizations are founded, and to show that tlieyare entirely 
 distinct from the religious rights and spiritual privileges of those, 
 M'ho, ill a spiritual view, are members of our Churclies. If it be an 
 incident to Church membership to be represented in tlie councils of 
 tlie Church, then have we, in coumion with all Christian denomina- 
 tions, from the time of the Apostles, unjustly and tyrannically de- 
 prived female members of sacred rights. 
 
 "When society is unfortunately divided into classes — when some 
 are intelligent, refined, and elevated, in tone and character, and 
 others are ignorant, coarse, and debaseil, however unjustly, and 
 when such prejudices exist between them, as to prevent social inter- 
 course on equal terms, it would seem inexpedient to encounter such 
 prejudices, unnecessarily, and endeavor to compel the one class to 
 associate on equal terms in the consultations on the affairs of the 
 Diocese, with tliose whom they would not admit to their tables, or 
 into their family circles — nay, whom they would not admit into 
 their pews, during public worship. If Christian duty require that 
 we should in all respects, treat equally, all persons, without refer- 
 ence to their social condition, should we not commence tiie discharge 
 of that duty in our individual and social relations? And is it not 
 the fact that we have never so regarded our duty or have wilfully 
 violated it, sufficient evidence of the existence of a state of society 
 among us that renders an amalgamation of such discordant mate- 
 rials, impracticable, if not hazardous to our unity and harmony? 
 We deeply sympathize with the colored race in our C(juntry. we feel 
 acutely their wroui^s, and, not the least among them, their social 
 degradation. But this cannot prevent our seeing the fact, that they 
 are socially degraded, and are not regarded as proper associates for 
 the class of persons wlio attend our Convention. We object not to 
 the color of the skin, but we question their possession of those qua- 
 lities which would render their intercourse with the members of a 
 Church Convention useful or agreeable, even to tliemselves. We 
 should make the same objections to persons of the same social class, 
 however pure may be tlieir blood, or however transparent their 
 skin. It is impossible, in the nature of things, that such opposites 
 should commingle wi'h any pleasure or satisfaction to either. The 
 colored people have themselves shown their conviction of this truth, 
 bv separating themselves from the wliites, and forming distinct con- 
 gregations where they are not continually humbled by being treated 
 as inferiors. Why should not tire principle ou which they have se- 
 parated themselves be carried out in the other branches of our Church 
 organization? 
 
 Striking instances are furnished in the early, and indeed in every 
 period of the history of the Christian Church, of conformity in out- 
 ward things, and in matters not essential, to the customs, usages, 
 and eveu prejudices of the age. We have in our own country in- 
 
 L 
 
350 APPENDIX. 
 
 veterate customs and prejudices, on the subject under consideration, 
 ■which cannot be overcome. Is it not the part of wisdom to submit 
 to them until, by a change of circumstances, the occasion for them 
 shall cease to exist ? Would not our })reseiit duty to this unfortu- 
 nate race, be fully performed by extended and liberal efforts to im- 
 prove their mind and their condition by intellectual culture, by reli- 
 gious instruction, and as they advance in intelligence and refinement, 
 by relaxing the severities of caste, which now separate us, until by 
 degrees they become fitted for the duties and enjoyments of a higher 
 social condition ; and then admit them, in our jiublic and private 
 intercourse, to free and equal communion. 
 
 The efforts of zealous philanthropists to break down the barriers 
 which custom has interposed, and which have so long existed between 
 the colored and other races, and against the laws of society, and the 
 sentiments and feelings of tlie community, to compel an unnatural 
 and forced equality, have hitherto been attended with results equally 
 unfortunate to the peculiar objects of their solicitude, and to tlie 
 great interests and beneficieiit institutions, in connection with which 
 such efforts have been made. They have been directed to our com- 
 mon schools ; and not satisfied with the abundant provision which 
 has, in many places, been made for the education of colored children, 
 their special friends and advocates have insisted that they should be 
 admitted to the schools of white childien, and have thus caused dis- 
 sensions and conflict to the great injury of those institutions, while 
 fee'ings of sympathy and commiseration have been too frequently 
 converted into disgust and anger. 
 
 Efforts of a similar cliai'acter, and for the same purpose, have 
 been made to give position in oir Churches to colored people, which 
 would compel association and intercourse with them. It is obvious 
 tliat tiiich movements are but incipient steps to ulterior objects in 
 relation to tlie vexed and irritating s\ib;cct of slavery. Beginning 
 with simple and apparently jnst propositions respecting the abstract 
 rights of this portion of our populaiion, their professed friends and 
 advocates have advanced, step by step, until they have prepared the 
 way to agitate the bold question of the Christian character of those 
 wliose sentiments do not accord with their own. The rending as- 
 under of Churches — the disrnption of societies — bitter ani.mosities, 
 and all manner of uncharitableness, have been tlie invariable results. 
 
 Bv the wise and prude.it counsels of the Fathers of our Church, 
 our dfnomt nation ! ! has been liitherCo happily free from the agita- 
 tion of these and kindred questions — such as temperance, or absti- 
 nence from liquors and wine — and the consequences have been peace 
 and quiet among ourselves, and the res]-iect of others. An instance 
 of this cnution is furnished in the case of St. Philip's Ciiurch, whose 
 application to be represented in tlie Convention is now under con- 
 sideration. It appears from the minutes of the Standing Committee 
 of this diocese, that in March, 1819, on the application of the lamented 
 Bishop Hobart to that committee for advice in relation to the admis- 
 sion of a colored person as a candidate for Holy Orders, they unani- 
 
 -^ 
 
 J 
 
/ 
 
 c 
 
 APPEXDIX. 3dl 
 
 inously advised his admission, upon the distinct understanding, that 
 in the event of his being admitted to Orders, he should not " be en- 
 titled to a seat in the convention, nor the congregation of which he 
 may liave charge, to a representation therein." It is understood 
 that tliese conditions were approved by the bi'shop, and were as- 
 sented to by the applicant and the congregation. And altliough 
 that church has been organized, and in existence for more than a 
 quarter of a century, it has, until now, abided by the terms thus 
 settled. The present applic.uits, it is jiresuined, were not aware 
 of t]ie<e arrangements, as it is not to be supposed tliat they would in- 
 tentionally be guilty of a violation of good taith. Thus, for this long 
 period, has this question been actually and peaceably settled, and 
 remained undisturbed. 
 
 The legal, moral, and equitable right of the convention to deter- 
 mine what churches it will admit into union, so as to entitle them to 
 a representation in this body, seems to your committee unquestion- 
 able. The fourth canon provides certain indispensable conditions to 
 entitle any churcli to admission — but no wliere is it declared that 
 these are the only conditions — and the invariable practice of the 
 convention in taking the vote upon the admission of any church, 
 shows that it has reserved to itself the right of judging of the expe- 
 diency of the measure, after all the former requisites are complied 
 with. Otherwise the report of the committee, certifying to the fact 
 of such compliance, would be in itself conclusive. The provision in 
 the same canon, requiring the preliminary approbation of the bi- 
 shop or of the standing committee " of the incorporation of such 
 church," relates only to the separate and independent existence of 
 the congregation as a corporate boily, and not to its union with or 
 representation in this convention. 
 
 Besides, the very requirements of the canon, — that churches shall 
 be politically incorporated, before admission into union with the 
 Convention, shows conclusively that the right of admission is subject 
 to regulation, and therefore that such qticstion is one purely of ex- 
 pediency, and not one of Christian privilege or right. 
 
 Cases may easily be conceived, and such have actually occurred, 
 ■where it would not ordy be highly inexpedient, but grossly unjust to 
 existing churches, to admit into imion new applicants. \''arious 
 circumstances, more or less important, will necessarily enter into the 
 consideration of the convention in determining such a question. 
 
 In the short time allowed the committee to consider the subject, 
 and lo express their views, thev have been unable to give such a full 
 exhibition of all the considerations which present themselves as they 
 would have desired. They think, however, that they have said 
 enough to cause reflection, and to show how full of difficulty would 
 be the adoption of the principle in relation to St. Philip's Church, or 
 any other colored congregation, of admitting their representatives to 
 seats in this Convention. If once here they would be entitled to all 
 the consideration, and to participate in all the duties and stations to 
 which members may be assigned, or we shall practically repudiate 
 
 V 
 
352 APPENDIX. 
 
 ^ 
 
 the principle which admitted them. It is not believed that this coO' 
 vention, for instance, would send one of them as a deputy to the 
 General Convention, on account of the offence it would occasion to 
 our brethren of other dioceses. Thus, their condition would be prac- 
 tically and continually one of inferiority and humiliation — more pain- 
 fally aggravated by the expectation induced by an act which appar- 
 ently promised their perfect equality. Your committee do not believe 
 that s\ich an equality can be produced — that in the nature of tliins^s 
 it can exist in this community— -great and palpable inequality must 
 prevail to the extent of preventing tlni colored race from any active 
 participation in our Church government — and they believe tliat an 
 attempt to correct it, contrary to tlie feelings and customs of our 
 country, would not only be abortive, but woultl be attentled with 
 the worst consequences to our unity, our lia'inony. and our efficiency. 
 They, therefore, reconuuend that neither St. Pl\ilip"s, nor any other 
 colored congregation, be atiniitted into union witli this Convention, 
 so as to entitle them to a repre-entatinn therein. Tiie consequence 
 of such a determination probably will be, tliat such Cliurclies and 
 congregations will not be responsible to, or under tlie government or 
 control of this convention, but will remain suljject to the ordinary 
 jurisdiction of their bishop — and when their members become ade- 
 quate, may have church councils of their own for their own peculiar 
 government. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 Wm. H. Harison, 
 Reuben Sherwood, 
 J. C. Spencer. 
 Kew-York, Oct. 2, 1846. 
 This report was never submitted to the Coinmittee at all. The 
 minority report was drawn up without a knowledge of what the 
 majority report would contain. Its author hardly need say that 
 this is entirely opposed to the doctrine of "Communion of Saints," 
 and to tlie exercise of those Christian graces which a belief of it im- 
 poses upon the members of the Catholic Church. Tiie following is 
 the mmority report. 
 
 MINORITY REPORT: ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH. 
 
 The undersigned, a minority of the Committee appointed by this 
 Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of 
 New-York, tocon-ider the application of St. Philip's Cliurch in this 
 city, to be admitted into communion with this Convention, do here- 
 by Report : 
 
 Tliat they regret exceedingly to be obliged to differ from the 
 majority of said Committee. They do not make this report with a 
 view of exciting or encouraging any discussion in this Convention of 
 
\ APPENDIX. 353 
 
 topics, in no way connected with the subject of this application. 
 About thirty years ago, a congregation of colored people was organi- 
 zed in this city as an Episcopal Church, with the approbation of the 
 Episcopal Authority of this Uiocese. It has continued since to con- 
 form to the doctrines, worship, and usages of this Church most uni- 
 formly and constantly. It now asks to be admitted to enjoy what 
 its members consider to be the privileges which other Churches have, 
 of being received into the full fellowsliip of tlieir Christian brethren, 
 by aihnission to this Convention. The minority of your Committee 
 do not hesitate to say, that, ahhough at the time of the organizing of 
 this cungregation, it was thought to be a wise and salutary measure, 
 yet in their opinion, subsequent events should lead us to doubt the 
 propriety or expediency of such organization. 
 
 It is now too late to undo, in this particular, what has been done. 
 The minority of your Committee can see no reason why this appli- 
 cation sliould not be granted, and think there are special reasons 
 why it should. 
 
 It is said that it was stipulated on the part of individuals of that 
 congregation at the time of its organization, or before the ordination 
 of the late pious and reverend Mr. Williams, that they would not 
 apply for admission into this Convention. This we believe thrij did 
 not do ; but we cannot conceive how the present generation, belong- 
 ing to that Church, can be bound by any stipulation of that kind, 
 made by those who, we trust, have long smce departed hence in the 
 Lord, and been received into communion with the saints in Para-» 
 dise. The present members of tliat Church do not think as their 
 fathers did on that subject. It mav be .said that if this Church be 
 admitted, others will be organized and apply for admission. How- 
 ever much this is to be regretted, yet we suppose such will be the 
 fact, and on this very account, this subject merits the very serious con- 
 sideration of this Convention. Suppose Churches, now to be com- 
 posed of colored people exclusively, are organized in our principal 
 cities — suppose they are refused equal Christian privileges with 
 other Episcopal Churches — that the Conventions of our Dioceses 
 refuse to take thenj under their charge, and into their fellowship — 
 will not these Churches unite and form a Convention of their own ? 
 Will they not choose a IJishop or Bishops of their own ? And under 
 such circumstances,v:oa\d they find any difficulty in obtaining Apos- 
 tolical succession ? We fear the refusal of our Convention to admit 
 into their fellowship this portion of their Christian brethren, will 
 inevitably lead to a schism in the Clun-ch, by the establishment of 
 another Episcopal Church in these United States. All must admit 
 this would be a sore evil. 
 
 The minority of your Committee beg the Convention to pause 
 before they take a step which may lead to such a disastrous 
 result. 
 
 It may well be asked, Can it be that because those who seek 
 admission here are of a different race and complexion from ourselves, 
 tliat doubts are entertained of the expediency of admitting them to 
 
354 APPENDIX. 
 
 \ 
 
 union 'with this Convention ? Have they not the Bible for their 
 guide ? Do they read in it that its divine precepts, its universal 
 charity, its promised rewards, are limited to any race or nation ? 
 "Was not the Gospel vouchsafed to all men, to be proclaimed to all 
 nations ? 
 
 The minority of your Committee expressly disavow any other 
 motive in thus recommend! I'y' the admission of this Church, than 
 that of promoting peace and harmony, and carrying out into prac- 
 tice the great Catholic doctrine of intercommunion of saints, as 
 taught in the Bible, the word of God. These persons who apply 
 for this fellowship have been made, in Holy Baptism, " members of 
 Christ, children of Gi:)d, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven" — 
 they " eat his flesh and drink his blood," and thus are incorporated 
 into Him ; with us, they are one with Hun, and He is one witli them. 
 However just and proper distinctions in society ma}' be in other 
 respects, yet as members of one Holy Catholic Church, there ought 
 to be no other distinction than that made by superior self-denial, 
 holiness and virtue. 
 
 Tiie minority of your Committee would deprecate most ear- 
 nestly any prolonged or excited discussions of this subject, or the 
 introduction of questions not necessarily connected with it, and 
 recommend that this Church be admitted into union with this Con- 
 vention. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 • Evan M. Johnson, 
 
 John A. King. 
 JSfew-Yorh, Oct. 2^1846. 
 
 Had the author of this last report been permitted to know the 
 contents of the former, he would have corrected some of its mis- 
 statements and called special attention to some of its stranrje posi- 
 tio?is. He will endeavor to do this now. It is not true, that this 
 question "is wholly uncoiniected witli the religious rights or duties 
 of the applicants," or tliat our Conventions are "civil machinery." I 
 ask, who elects our Bishop ? Who elects the delegates to our Gene- 
 ral Convention ? All the rites of the Church and its liturgy may l>e 
 changed, or modified by tiiis body — doctrines set forth and duties 
 prescribed by these, the Bishops and Conventions ; and yet we are 
 told, in this report, that our Convention is only to regulate "the 
 Society" and is like the Pmliament in England in resjject to the 
 Church in England. Had it been said that our State Conventions 
 were like the Provincial Synods of Great Britain, tliis would have 
 been true. I ask if the Bishops, in the West Indies, were to call a 
 meeting of a Provincial Synod, is it probable tliat they would call 
 only the white clergymen of their Dioceses? 
 
 One would, from tliis report, think that this application for ad- 
 mission was from the females of St. Philip's Church. This is not 
 true. I suppose the females of that congregation wish to be repre- 
 sented as other females are, by their fathers, and liusbauds, and 
 brothers. 
 
 f 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 "We hardly know what to say to this. " We object not to the 
 color of the skin, but we question their possession of those qualities 
 wliich would rendsr their intercourse with tiie members of a Church 
 Convention useful or agreeable, oven to themselves." What quali- 
 ties are here meant? Do none of them possess those "qualities" 
 which our Saviour recognizes in them as all sufficient to make 
 them members of His body ? They may have these, but these are 
 not the qualities which they must have to belong to a C'hurch 
 Convention. I am glad it is said a Church and not the Church Con- 
 vention. 
 
 I have striven in vain to reconcile the following passage with 
 other parts of this report and with the rejection of this C'hurch 
 which it reconnnends, " Would not our present duty to this unfortu- 
 nate race be fully performed by extended and liberal efforts to 
 improve their mind and condition, by intellectual culture, by reli- 
 gious instruction, and, as they advance in intelligence and retine- 
 nient, by relaxing the severities of caste, which now separate us, 
 until, by degrees, they become fitted for the duties and enjoyments 
 of a higher social condition, and then, admit them in our pnblic and 
 private intercourse, to free and equal communion ?" I answer to 
 this question, yes, it would be — and the best time to begin to dis- 
 chnrge this duty is, now: and by rejecting the recommendation of 
 this majority report, convince our brethren that our intention is sin- 
 cere and not a mere profession of words. 
 
 When the author of the minority report wrote of the possibility, 
 if this Church were rejected, of the establishment of another Church, 
 he did not know that the very thing itself would be recommended 
 by the majority. 
 
 " The consequence of such a determination (to refuse admit- 
 tance) probably will be, that such Churches and congregations will 
 not be responsible to, or under the government or control of this 
 Convention, but will remain subject to the ordinary jurisdiction of 
 their Bishop — and when their members become adequate, may 
 have Church Councils of their own for their own peculiar govern- 
 ment," (and of course Bishops.) Here is a positive and direct 
 recommendatiiin to destroy the unity of the Church, rather, than to 
 adopt the trahiing process recommended in the former extract. I 
 can only say that if the Convention of New-York adopt, as their 
 own, the sentiments advocated in this report and the measure 
 recommended by it, they niav boast themselves as much as they 
 please, of their adherence to Catholic truth, and speak of the sacri- 
 fices they are called to make for their defence of it ; the whole 
 Catholic Church will give them little credit for their consistency or 
 orthodoxy. Some time during the last year, in the State of Indiana, 
 a newspaper controversy was carried on in opposition \n and in 
 defence of the Church. It was argued by the Church opponents, 
 that by this very report wiiich was quoted, the Episcopal Church 
 did not desire or expect common people to belong to it — that it was 
 for those who thought themselves select members of Society. Let 
 
356 APPENDIX. 
 
 US hope and pray that our brethren of the Laity, will not be 
 alarmed at the cry of "Abolitionism," or any other "ism;" but will 
 strive to disarm themselves of prejudice and will pray the great 
 Head of the Church, to preserve them from giving just cause of 
 complaint to any, even the iveakest, the most oppressed, or the most 
 despised of their fellow Christians, who are, Avith them, members of 
 the one Catholic and Apostolic Church in the world, which is, and 
 which is to come. 
 
 i 
 
 B. Slaveuy Exten'sion. — The Christian Philanthropist will 
 rejoice that public attention is now distinctly turned to this sub- 
 ject. It must be remembered that the Mexican States, when they 
 threw off the Spanish j'oke and declared themselves free and inde- 
 pendent, did, with far more consistency than these States, abolisli 
 slavery absolutely and wholly. When tlie adventurers, mostly 
 from the slave States of this Union, took possession of the State of 
 Texas, they re-established slavery where it had for many years 
 ceased to exist. It was admitted to this Union as slave territory. 
 The operation of this, politically, is, that in Texas two while votes 
 are as good as five in New -York, and the same laws by which 
 slavery is enforced in our slave States are in operation there. 
 Indeed it was openly declared to be one principal object in re- 
 ceiving Texas into this Union, to obtain a market for human beings 
 and to extend the area of slave territory. We have now in effect 
 conquered New Mexico and California. At present there are, in 
 these States, no slaves. Tiie questions now are, sliall slavery be 
 again establi-hed tiiere, or shall it not? Shall this great region be 
 settled by freemen wholly or by slaves atid their masters ? Shall 
 those severe and cruel laws under which so many millions of men, 
 and women, and children now suffer, be extended over this terri- 
 tory, or shall it be subjected to but one system of laws and those 
 for freeinen? As a political question, would any one suppose, 
 that a single, individual in these norlhern States, who calls him- 
 self a Republican, in any sense of the term, would either advocate 
 this extension or fail to do every thing in his power, by liis influ- 
 ence, by his vote, by his voice, and by his pen to hinder such a 
 lasting evil and disgrace from being brought upon his country ? 
 Thank God, as a party, the pro-slavery party are few in lunnber 
 and becoming still fewer in influence. If worldly-minded poli- 
 ticians at the North are found who oppose this extension simply 
 from political motives, I ask where are the Christian clergy at 
 the South ? What are they doing ? Has one of them raised a 
 voice against the extension of slavery ? Suppose St. Vincent de 
 Paul were, at this time. Bishop of New Orleans, would he see 
 thousands and thousands of his fellow men and Christians, 
 marched in chains to perpetual slavery in Texas, and not raise 
 his voice in opposition ? Would he see an immense addition to 
 
 J 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 this country in his immediate neighborhood, acquired on purpose 
 to plant the worst of slavery and to establish the severest slave 
 Liws that ever existed, and remain silent ? Oh ! may a spirit like 
 his be stirred up in the breast of every Prelate and every Clergy- 
 man, that whetner it cause them to be persecuted even unto death 
 or not, they may fearlessly proclaim their opposition to every law, 
 and every practice, and every custom, inconsistent with the cordial 
 reception of the doctrine of" Communion of Saints" and the discharge 
 of those duties which it enjoins. 
 
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BX5880 .W66 
 
 A history of the Protestant Episcopal 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
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