ROCEEDINGS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Historical Society 
 
 PART I 
 
 Post-Caroline English Revision Attempts 
 
 AND 
 
 The London Reprint of the Proposed Book 
 of 1785/6 
 
 By 
 
 WILUAM MUSS-ARNOLT, B.D,, Ph D. 
 
 Member of the .S 
 The Am- 
 
 The Early History of the Church in Western 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 BY THE 
 RT. REV. CORTLANDT WHITEHEAD, D.D., LL. D. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 1915 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 of the 
 
 CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 May 17, 1910. 
 
 The first meeting of the Church Historical Society was 
 held in the Assembly Room of the Historical Society of Penn- 
 sylvania, Philadelphia, Tuesday evening, May 17, 1910. The 
 meeting was called to order by Mr. John Thomson, Chairman 
 of the Committee on Organization. 
 
 Mr. Thomson introduced the Rev. Joseph Cullen Ayer, 
 Ph.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Philadelphia 
 Divinity School, who delivered an address upon "Innocent HI." 
 
 Immediately following the address the Society was per- 
 manently organized by the adoption of the following Constitu- 
 tion and By-laws : 
 
CONSTITUTION 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 The name of this organization shall be "The Church His- 
 torical Society." 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 The object of the Society shall be the preservation and 
 publication of historical documents connected with the Protes- 
 tant Episcopal Church, the investigation of its history, and 
 the development of interest in all relevant historical research. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 The membership shall consist of honorary, life and active 
 members. Honorary members shall be those elected by the 
 unanimous vote of the Society at any stated meeting. Any 
 communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church may be 
 elected by the Executive Board to membership. Upon the pay- 
 ment of ten dollars to the Treasurer a person may be elected 
 a life member. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 The officers of this Society shall consist of a President, 
 Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, and six Managers, 
 who shall constitute the Executive Board. The officers and two 
 Managers shall be nominated at the stated meeting in October 
 and shall be elected at the stated meeting in January. All vacan- 
 cies shall be filled by the Executive Board until the next Janu- 
 ary meeting of the Society, when an election for the unexpired 
 term shall take place. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 The duties of the several officers shall be such as are 
 usually incidental to their offices. The officers shall be chosen 
 for one year and the Managers for three years, two Managers 
 to be elected yearly as above set forth, provided that at the 
 first election six Managers shall be chosen whose terms, 
 whether for three years, two years or one year, shall be deter- 
 mined by lot. 
 
BY-LAWS. 
 
 ARTICLE L 
 
 This Society shall meet in the months of October, January 
 and April, at such time and place as the Executive Board shall 
 direct. The Executive Board (hereinafter called the Board) 
 shall meet monthly. It shall have power to adopt rules for its 
 own government. Five of its members shall constitute a 
 quorum. This number shall not be decreased without the 
 direction of the Society. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 The Treasurer, when required, shall give bond in such 
 sum as the Board may demand. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 There shall be a Librarian, who shall be elected by and per- 
 form such services as the Board shall direct, be paid such com- 
 pensation as it may consider just, and be subject to discharge 
 by it. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 The annual dues of active members shall be one dollar. 
 Members whose dues remain unpaid for more than two years 
 may be dropped by vote of the Board. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 This Constitution and the By-laws may be altered or 
 amended at any meeting, on written notice specifying the alter- 
 ation or amendment intended being given at the meeting next 
 preceding. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 In the event of the dissolution of this Society, all its prop- 
 erty shall immediately become the property of the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 A separate fund shall be created, which shall be called the 
 Endowment Fund, and all contributions for the purpose of pro- 
 curing a building, with fire-proof facilities, for the Society, to- 
 gether with such other contributions as may be set apart or 
 received for that purpose, shall be invested, at convenient times, 
 in good securities. 
 
 (3) 
 
4 BY-LAWS 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. 
 Such Endowment Fund shall be managed by three 
 Trustees, who shall be elected annually in the same manner 
 and at the same time as the officers of the Society. 
 
 ARTICLE IX. 
 One of the objects of the Society shall be to collect for 
 the Library and the Cabinet the particulars hereinafter men- 
 tioned, namely : 
 
 For the Library. 
 0. Narratives relating to dignitaries and benefactors of the 
 
 Protestant Episcopal Church and Missions. 
 h. Biographical notices of eminent and remarkable persons. 
 
 c. Sketches and catalogues of schools, academies and colleges. 
 
 d. Copies of records of proceedings of religious, literary, scien- 
 
 tific or social bodies. 
 
 e. Journals and newspapers. 
 
 /. Manuscripts on any subject or of any date. 
 
 g. Magazines and pamphlets. 
 
 /;. Church almanacs, directories, diaries, etc. 
 
 For the Cabinet. 
 
 a. Prints, especially of persons, church buildings, etc. 
 
 b. Pictures. 
 
 c. Medals. 
 
 d. Utensils. 
 
 e. Any article of value from its historical or biographical 
 
 affinities. 
 
 The following officers were elected : 
 President, Henry Budd, Esq. 
 Vice-President, Major Moses Veale. 
 Secretary, Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr. 
 Treasurer, Sydney L. Wright. 
 M^ embers of Executive Board : 
 Term to expire 1911. 
 
 Rev. Arnold Harris Hord, 
 John E. Baird. 
 Term to expire 1912. 
 
 Rev. Henry Riley Gummey, D.D., 
 John Thomson. 
 Term to expire 1913. 
 Allen Childs, 
 Albert S. Haeseler. 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 and 
 
 THE LONDON REPRINT OF THE PROPOSED 
 BOOK OF 1785/6. 
 
 By 
 
 WILLIAM MUSS-ARNOLT, B.D., Ph.D., 
 
 Member of the Society of Biblical Exegesis and Literature ; 
 the American Oriental Society, Etc., Etc. 
 
 Delivered Before the Church Historical Society, 
 April 29, 1915. 
 
 Note. — The subject of this paper has so important a hearing upon 
 the early history of the Church in America and on the Prayer Book, 
 that its insertion out of tlie order of chronological succession has been 
 deemed proper. — IV . I. R., Jr., Secy. 
 
 "Noluiiius leges Anglicr tiiutari." 
 That the Liturgy of the Church of England should have 
 remained more than 200 years, since the passing of the Act 
 of Uniformity of 1662, without any thorough revision, although 
 it was revised no less than six times in the 125 years between 
 the Reformation and the passing of that Act, is all the more 
 surprising, when it is considered how many learned and pious 
 men, both of the clergy and the laity, both in and out of the 
 Church of England, at home and abroad, have at various times, 
 and by various means, with a seriousness and sincerity becom- 
 ing Christians, and with a temper and moderation the most 
 unexceptionable, suggested the necessary improvements requi- 
 site to make it fully answer the end designed, and to do all 
 the good of which it is so capable, if the proposed alterations 
 were but adopted. These repeated attempts to amend and im- 
 prove the Rook of Common Prayer are a proof, at once, of the 
 excellence of its composition as a whole, and of the defects 
 of its subordinate and inferior parts. 
 
 (5) 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 Attempts toward union with the dissenting brethren were 
 constant and most earnest from the time of the Restoration. 
 
 In October, 1667, and February, 1668, were set on foot 
 the two abortive schemes of comprehension, first perfected by 
 the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Orlando Bridgman. 
 The "Comprehensive Bill," as it was styled, was based on the 
 declaration from Breda of Charles II., with a view of "relax- 
 ing the terms of conformity to the established church." It 
 was drawn up by Sir Robert Atkins and the Lord Chief 
 Justice, Sir Matthew Hale. It was revised and endorsed by 
 Thomas Barlow and his friend John Wilkins, Bishop of 
 Chester. The introduction of the bill was frustrated by a 
 declaration of the House of Commons against it; and the plan 
 was dropped. The project was revived for the time in 1674 
 by John Tillotson and Edward Stillingfleet, and arranged by 
 them to the satisfaction of the leading nonconformists. But it 
 was again defeated. For, it would, of necessity have brought 
 in its wake a revision of the Articles and of the Prayer Book. 
 
 The one serious and official attempt at a reconstruction 
 of the Liturgy in post-Caroline times was that which grew 
 out of the revolution of 1688-89. In every previous crisis 
 of political change, the Prayer Book had felt the tremor along 
 with the statute-book. Church and state, like heart and brain, 
 are sympathetically responsive one to the other. Revisions of 
 rubrics go along with revisions of codes. It was only what 
 might have been anticipated, therefore, that when William and 
 Mary came to the throne. Parliament should request the king 
 to summon Convocation "to be advised with in ecclesiastical 
 matters." A royal commission, of ten bishops and twenty 
 clerics was appointed September 17, 1689, to prepare altera- 
 tions in the Liturgy and the canons, and to "water down" the 
 Liturgy so as to make it acceptable to the dissenting brethren, 
 who had warmly supported the revolution and whose services 
 the king desired to requite, so as to secure their good will in 
 the future. The commission numbered some great men, such 
 as Edward Stillingfleet, John Tillotson and William Beveridge. 
 Their report fell flat, and was never offered for adoption to 
 Convocation, whose opposition was obvious from the very be- 
 ginning. The Lower House of Convocation showed itself 
 unfriendly to anything like concessive measures. Its opposition, 
 however, was grounded not so much on love and veneration 
 for the Liturgy as it stood then, as on political reasons. The 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS J 
 
 main body of the clergy were Tories. They were opposed to the 
 attempts now made by the court and the bishops for the com- 
 prehension of dissenters as brethren in the Protestant religion. 
 The more dignified part of the clergy, "the wearers of the gown 
 and scarlet hood," as Dean Swift characterizes them, were by 
 the careful exercise of preferments made agreeable to the king's 
 wishes. Lacking nine of their ablest prelates, however, they 
 were powerless to control the clergy, who were disposed to 
 s}nipatiiize with Sancroft and his non-juring clergy. The pre- 
 lates were Whigs and sympathized with the king's enlightened 
 toleration policy as well as with his continental projects. They 
 were Latitudinarians and were too advanced for the sturdy 
 and narrow bigotry of the body of the clergy. Men like Burnet, 
 Tillotson and Tenison, leaders of the Whig hierarchy of 
 \\'illiam, were in constant opposition to, and entirely out of 
 sympathy with, the Lower House of Convocation and the in- 
 terests which that house represented.^ The almost sneering 
 Xolumus leges Anglicc mutari (we do not want the laws of 
 England to be changed) of WiUiam Jane (1645-1707), the pro- 
 locutor of the Lower House, with which he ended his speech 
 when he was presented to the president of the Upper House, 
 put an end to the comprehension scheme.' 
 
 So complete was soon the obscurity into which the doings 
 of the commission fell, that church historians as late as 1849 
 speak as if they knew nothing of the whereabouts of the 
 records. Tn 1854 the nianuscri])t of the minutes was discovered 
 in the library of Lambeth Palace, and was printed as a Blue 
 Book by order of the House of Commons. It can readily be 
 seen that the guiding principles of the compilers of the Pro- 
 posed Book of 1785/6 were, on the whole, those which char- 
 acterized the work of the Commission of 168!). The Ameri- 
 can clergy undoubtedly drew their information from Birch's 
 Life of Tillotson ^ and from Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter's 
 Life. 
 
 The title page of the Blue Book reads: "Book of Common 
 Prayer . copy of the Alterations in the Book of Com- 
 
 mon Prayer, prepared by the Royal Commissioners for the 
 
 ' F. \V. Wilson, The Iniportatice of the Rcigti nf Queen .luiic i;i 
 Tnglish Church History. Oxford. 1911. pp. 18 19. 
 
 ' -See also, Rlackburne, Works. &c.. Vol. 5. pp. 88 foil. (Cambridge. 
 18(H.) 
 
 ■'' Tlmmas Birch. The Life nf the Most Reverend John Tillotson. 
 Compiled cliicflv from his original papers and letters. London, 1752. 
 VII. (1). 489. (1) pp. Sm. 8vo. 
 
8 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 Revision of the Liturgy, in 1689. (Extracted from the original 
 volume in the custody of the' Archbishop of Canterbury at 
 Lambeth Palace, and accompanied by explanatory documents. ) 
 Ordered, by the House of Commons to be printed, 3 June, 
 1854." 110 pages. 8vo. 
 
 The text of the report of the commission is printed on 
 pages 3-88 in two columns to the page, the one containing the 
 Printed Text, 1683-86. the other, Alterations and Amend- 
 ments, 1689. Pages 91-110 contain copies of illustrative docu- 
 ments, from the archiepiscopal records and the library at Lam- 
 beth Palace, consisting of (1) the Royal Commission to the 
 Archbishop of York'* and others, dated 17 September. 
 William and Mary, 1689; (3) Diary of the Proceedings of the 
 Commissioners, from 3 October to 18 November, 1689, 
 written by Dr. John WilHams, a commissioner and later Bishop 
 of Chichester; (3) and (4) Directions, from the Dean of the 
 Arches, respecting the custody of the interleaved copy of the 
 Liturgy, containing the Alterations and Amendments prepared 
 by the commission. 
 
 The alterations and amendments, amounting to 596, were 
 prepared in an interleaved copy of a black-letter edition of the 
 Book of Common Prayer. The document was not made public 
 at that time and was supposed for many years to be lost. A 
 copy was given to Dr. Calamy, the eminent dissenting divine, 
 who thought that the scheme could have brought in two-thirds 
 of the dissenters. His copy was lost by lending. An abstract 
 was published by him in his Life of Baxter, page 453. The 
 interleaved Prayer Book, however, was left with Dr. Thomas 
 Tenison, later Archbishop of Canterbury. It passed, after his 
 death in 1715, into the hands of Dr. Edmund Gibson, Bishop 
 of London, by whom it was deposited in the Lambeth library. 
 The editing of the 1854 edition was made under the superin- 
 tendence of William Henry Black (1808-1873), assistant keeper 
 of the public records. 
 
 The proceedings of this attempted revision were, likewise, 
 published in 1855, and entitled: "The Revised Liturgy of 
 1689 : Being the Book of Common Prayer, interleaved with the 
 alterations prepared for Convocation by the Royal Commis- 
 sioners, in the first year of the reign of William and Mary. 
 Edited from the copy printed by order of the House of Com- 
 
 * The Archbishop of Canterbury. William Sancroft, it will be re- 
 membered was removed from his archbishopric on his becoming a non- 
 juror. His successor, Tillotson, was not consecrated until 1691. 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 9 
 
 mon5>, by Jolin Taylor." London : Samuel Bagster & Sons, 
 18.55. \'J II pages, XVIII and 78 leaves. Large 8vo. 
 
 The introduction of Taylor's publication contains a brief 
 but succinct history of the plans and the work of the commis- 
 sion. The revision of the commissioners ended with "The 
 Commination Service," though several notes made in commit- 
 tee were attached to the remaining services. A note at the be- 
 ginning of "The Psalms of David" says: "This translation was 
 to be revised. Dr. [Richard] Kidder had done it; but it was 
 not examined for want of time." This revision of the Psalms 
 is probably somewhere still in existence. Another note ap- 
 pended to the "Form and manner of making, ordaining and 
 consecrating of Bishops. Priests and Deacons" says : "The 
 Commissioners proceeded no further for want of time; the 
 Convocation being met." This refers to the Convocation which 
 began its sittings November 6, 1689. 
 
 n. 
 
 During the eighteenth century numerous attempts were 
 made and pamphlets published by individuals and small groups 
 both of clergy and laity to bring about a revision both of the 
 Liturgy and of the Articles. The most noteworthy are these : 
 
 (1) The Rev. David Hughes, Fellow of Queens' College 
 in Cambridge fA.B.. 1725; A.M., 1729; S.T.B., 1738], had 
 printed in the Gentleman's Magasine, for January, 1737, "Some 
 observations on the Church Liturgy, or the Scruples of a Coun- 
 try Curate." He maintained that "If it was thought necessary, 
 in the year 1689 (almost //a// a century ago), to undertake a 
 general Ret'iew of the Common Prayer Book, I am sure that 
 the same necessity still subsists ; and, I believe, will be thought 
 by most people to be now somewhat stronger." Hughes, a 
 country curate at Kent, in England, was a man of great mod- 
 esty, liberality and knowledge of the Scriptures, and his memory 
 was much revered at Cambridge for many years. Hughes' 
 periodical article was soon redeemed from oblivion by appear- 
 ing as an appendix in a book, which proved to be the fore- 
 runner of a number of similar productions. Early in 1749 was 
 printed for Ralph Griffiths a pamphlet entitled : 
 
 (2) "The expediency and necessity of revising and im- 
 proving the publick liturgy, humbly represented. Being the sub- 
 stance of an essay for a review of the Book of Common Prayer, 
 so far as relates to that point. Annexed a letter in favour of a 
 review, by a clergyman [i. e., David Hughes]." London. VII, 
 
lO POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 136 pages. Small 8vo. The book, published anonymously, was 
 written by John Jones (1700-1770), for many years vicar at 
 Alconbury, hence generally known as Jones of Alconbury. The 
 same year appeared also : 
 
 (3) "Free and candid disquisitions relating to the Church 
 of England, and the means of advancing religion therein. Ad- 
 dressed to the governing powers in Church and State, and more 
 immediately directed to the two Houses of Convocation." Lon- 
 don, printed for A. Millar. MDCCXLIX. XXVII, 340 pages. 
 12mo. Its contents are an introduction, followed by thirteen 
 chapters ; a postscript and an appendix. The thirteen chapters 
 treat of (1) Translation of the Bible; (2) Frame and design 
 of the public service; (3) An occasional dissertation, contain- 
 ing a short inquiry, whether our first service, as distinct from, 
 and independent on the other two may not be ordinarily suffi- 
 cient for our stated matins, or morning worship on Sunday ; 
 (4) A general survey of the principal matter and general order 
 of our Liturgy, with remarks; (5) Queries and observations 
 relating to the Psalms, Lessons, Epistles and Gospels; (6) 
 Athanasian Creed, catechism, collects, prayer for Parliament ; 
 (7) The several offices; (8) Suppletory offices, occasional 
 prayers, calendar, rubrics; (9) Some objections considered. 
 Correct printing of the Bible and Liturgy; (10) Articles, sub- 
 scriptions, homilies, catechising, canons, oaths of church- 
 wardens; (11) Certain grievances, generally complained of in 
 the Church; (12) The application, relating to a review in gen- 
 eral, as before proposed ; humbly pressing it upon further 
 motives, and fairly reconsidering the supposed difficulties; (13) 
 The conclusion ; wherein some farther considerations are urged 
 in support of this address ; and particularly with regard to its 
 being made at this time. 
 
 The postscript contained "some occasional observations, 
 occurring upon a review of the whole." The appendix sets 
 forth the concurring judgment and declarations of several 
 learned men of the Church of England, relating to some of the 
 principal points contained in the foregoing disquisitions. 
 
 That Jones was only a part contributor and the editor 
 of the book can clearly be seen even by a superficial reader. 
 Who the authors really were has never been proved.' The 
 most important among the proposals of Jones and his col- 
 laborators were: (1) A new, critical translation of the 
 
 'See also, Colligan, The Avian Movement in England, p. 108, 
 note 1. 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS II 
 
 Bible; (2) the shortening of the morning services, i. e., 
 the Morning Prayer, the Litany, and the pre-Communion, 
 which used to be read together; (3) a new lectionary; (4) 
 discontinuance of the custom of private baptism, and (5) 
 discontinuance of enforcing subscription on youths at 
 schools. At the present time most of these proposals have 
 been carried out. Many good churchmen would now agree 
 with these authors that the reformation work had not been 
 absolutely perfect ; that even the Liturgy might be improved 
 and that the Articles, written in time of hot controversy in 
 the sixteenth century, long before the Church of England 
 had reached a settled condition, were subjects open to 
 amendment. Objection was also made against (1) the read- 
 ing of the Athanasian Creed in divine service; (8) the 
 burial office; (3) the frequent repetition of the Lord's Prayer 
 during the same service; (4) the promiscuous reading of 
 the Psalms, and (5) the Sunday lessons as ill-chosen and 
 improperly divided.^ 
 
 These modifications of the church services and of the 
 ritual were proposed with a view of meeting difficulties of 
 the Latitudinarian party within the Church of England, 
 rather than to the comprehension of the dissenting brethren. 
 
 No sooner was the book published, than it was attacked 
 by several churchmen, who feared that any step towards 
 a further reformation would lead to the utter subversion of 
 the Church of England. Among these attacks we may men- 
 tion : "Remarks upon a treatise entitled Free and Candid 
 disquisitions relating to the Church of England, &c. In 
 some letters to a worthy dignitary of the Church of Wells." 
 Part the first. By a presbyter of the Church of England. 
 London, 1750. 79 pages. 8vo. The author was John Boswell 
 (1698-1756), vicar and schoolmaster of Taunton, England, 
 and prebendary of Wells Cathedral. The greater part of 
 his treatise is taken up with a vindication of the length of the 
 public service, and the frequent repetition of the Lord's Prayer 
 in the liturgy, maintaining — as did another writer in 1790 — 
 that in his church the Lord's Prayer was repeated each time 
 within the record period of "twenty seconds." ^ If that repre- 
 
 ' Further remarks on John Jones and the Free and Candid Dis- 
 quisitiniis. see the Monthly Reviciv, Series 1, Vol. 1, pp. 198-211 (Lon- 
 don, 1749) ; John Nichols, Literarv Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, 
 Vol. 1, pp. 585-640; 3, pp. 15-17; 8. pp. 289-292 (London, 1812. 1814)." 
 
 'See further, the Monthly Review, Series 1, Vol. 2, pp. 406-407; 
 Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, Vol. 2, p. 507. 
 
12 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 senled the custom in most churches, can we wonder at a con- 
 temporary statement, that "to the majority of church-goers, we 
 fear that our excellent form of prayer is become little better 
 than a mere prayer of form" ? 
 
 In answer to Boswell's Remarks, Francis Blackburne then 
 just made Archdeacon of Cleveland, entered the lists, without 
 tiie participation or even knowledge of Mr. Jones or any of 
 his more confidential associates, in an "Apology for the authors 
 of The Free and Candid Disquisitions," * printed for Millar, 
 1750. Blackburne had read the "Disquisitions" in manuscript, 
 but there was not a line nor a word in it written or suggested 
 by him notwithstanding many confident reports to the contrary. 
 
 Boswell and his supporters were also answered in two 
 volumes, published in 1750 and 1751, respectively, and entitled 
 "An appeal to common reason and candor, in behalf of a re- 
 view; submitted to the serious consideration of all unpreju- 
 diced members of the Church of England. With a word con- 
 cerning some late Remarks upon the Free and Candid Disqui- 
 sitions." 154 and 279 pages. Svo.*^ The Appeal provoked 
 another broadside from Boswell, entitled "Remarks upon a 
 treatise, intituled Free and candid disquisitions, relating to the 
 Church of England, &c. In some letters to a worthy dignitary 
 of the Church of Wells, wherein an attempt towards a dis- 
 covery of the true and real design of the Disquisitions, is 
 humbly submitted to the consideration of the serious and think- 
 ing members of the establishment." Part the second. By a pres- 
 byter of the Church of England. London, 1751. 
 
 The author maintained that, if the proposals of the dis- 
 quisitors made and repeated again in their Appeal were put into 
 practice, it would be a means of putting an end to "that little 
 sense of religion, which is left amongst us." Their design, he 
 proceeds to point out, "bids fair, unless timely prevented, to 
 overturn our constitution in church and state." The author of 
 the disquisitions he honors constantly with such genteel appella- 
 tions as, "insolent schismatic," "sceptical trifler," "paultry 
 sneerer," "impertinent caviller," &c., and in one place he calls 
 him "a pert, impudent, prevaricating, sceptical knave." ^° 
 
 'Published in his theological and miscellaneous works (Cambridge, 
 1804), Vol. 2, pp. 135-178. 
 
 • See the Monthly Review. Series 1, Vol. 3, pp. 1-9 ; Vol. 5, pp. 81-86. 
 
 " See further, the Monthly Review, Series 1, Vol. 6, pp. 62-69 
 (London, 1752). 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 13 
 
 III. 
 
 In the year 17G(i Blackburne published anonymously his 
 best-known book, "The Confessional : or, a Full and Free in- 
 quiry into the right, utility, edification and success of establish- 
 ing systematical confessions of faith and doctrine in Protestant 
 Churches." London : Millar. 8vo. 
 
 The work is an examination into the rise and progress of 
 the requirement in Protestant Churches, as prescribed in the 
 ;.{6th Canon of the Church of England, and into the arguments 
 brought in defence, or rather in excuse of it. Blackburne was 
 greatly encouraged in the progress of his work by the bishop of 
 Carlisle, Dr. Edward Law, and others. The book practically 
 advocated the abolition of subscription not only to the Articles 
 and the Liturgy, but to the Creeds themselves. It elicited many 
 answers, the most effective, perhaps, being that of William 
 Jones, of Nayland (1726-1800), in his "Remarks on the prin- 
 ciple and spirit of a work, entitled 'The Confessional,' being a 
 sequel to the second edition of 'A Full Answer to an Essay on 
 Spirit' [by Bishop Robert Clayton]." London, 1770. 8vo. Jones 
 took a true church line, by showing that what was really aimed 
 at was latitude on the vital doctrine of Trinity. 
 
 Fifteen years before the publication of The Confessional, 
 another anonymous writer had endeavored to promote the de- 
 sign of revising the Liturgy, Articles and Canons of the Church 
 of England by a pamphlet, entitled "Reasons humbly offered 
 for composing a new set of Articles of Religion : With twenty- 
 one Articles of Religion, proposed as a specimen for improve- 
 ment." London: Griffiths. 105 pages. 8vo. He quoted largely 
 from Stillingfleet, Burnet, Nicholls, Bennet and other learned 
 men, to shew that the present thirty-nine articles of religion 
 admit of different interpretations; that a subscription to them 
 does not in any manner contribute to prevent diversities of 
 opinion in religious matters, or promote uniformity of senti- 
 ment ; and that, consequently, the retaining of them, as they 
 are now expressed in such doubtful and uncertain terms, can- 
 not in any respect tend to the security of religion in general, 
 or to the preservation of the Church of England in particular ; 
 since they are at present no bar to exclude any but such as 
 are truly conscientious and deserving, who ought on no account 
 to be kept out of the communion of the Church of England." 
 
 It was not until the year 1865 that even the clerical sub- 
 scription was changed to its present form. 
 
 "Monthly Revieu.'. Series 1, Vol. 4, pp. 167-172. 
 
14 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 One of the ablest books in opposition to Blackburne's Con- 
 fessional was Archdeacon Thomas Rutherford's "A Vindica- 
 tion of the right of Protestant Churches to require the clergy 
 to subscribe to an established confession of faith and doctrines, 
 in a charge delivered at a Visitation in July, 1766." Cambridge, 
 1766. 8vo. 
 
 In 1767, a second edition of The Confessional appeared, 
 enlarged by a preface, wherein Dr. Rutherford's principles 
 were examined and some notes added, on particular passages, 
 in the same charge, and in a vindication of it in answer to 
 Dr. Benjamin Dawson's examination of Archdeacon Ruther- 
 ford's charge. 
 
 A third edition of The Confessional was published in 1770. 
 This was reprinted in 1804 as volume 5 of "The Works, theo- 
 logical and miscellaneous, of Francis Blackburne." Cam- 
 bridge. (4), 559 pages. 8vo.^^ 
 
 A summary of the controversy started by The Confes- 
 sional will be found in "A short view of the controversies 
 occasioned by the Confessional [of Francis Blackburne] and the 
 Petition to Parliament for relief in the matter of subscription 
 to the Liturgy and thirty-nine Articles of the Church of Eng- 
 land." [By John Disney. 2d edition. London, 1775.] XXII, 24 
 pages. 8vo. This second edition appeared seven years before 
 Disney left the established Church and became a Unitarian and 
 colleague of Theophilus Lindsey. 
 
 In 1768 Francis Stone (1738-1813) initiated the movement 
 for a petition to Parliament for relief from clerical subscrip- 
 tion. Blackburne drew up in 1771 a set of Proposals. ^^ Under 
 the chairmanship of Stone a meeting was held at the Feathers' 
 Tavern in the Strand and a petition to Parliament ^* was signed 
 by 250 persons, clergy and laymen, for giving effect to Black- 
 burne's proposals, whose main object was to bring relief to the 
 dissenters by the abolition of clerical subscription, so as not 
 
 " On The Confessional, see also Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, Vol. 
 3, pp. 10-21 (London, 1812). 
 
 " Reprinted in Vol. 7, pp. 1-12 of his theological and miscellaneous 
 works (Cambridge, 1804). 
 
 "Reprinted, ibid., pp. 13-19. These are followed in the same volume 
 on pp. 21-31 by "A Sketch of Contradictions and inconsistencies in the 
 obligations laid upon clergymen, in order to qualify themselves for 
 ministering in the Church of England, as by law established" [first 
 printed, 1772] ; and this again, on pp. 33-228, by "Reflections on the 
 fate of a petition for relief in the matter of subscription, . . . The 
 2d edition" [first printed, 1774]. 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 1 5 
 
 to exclude them in the future from the universities and conse- 
 quently, to some extent, from the liberal professions. The peti- 
 tion was presented to the House of Commons on February 6, 
 1773, by Sir William Meredith, Baronet. The bishops, how- 
 ever, were opposed to changes of any kind and were supported 
 by the Government. It was rejected by a vote of 271 to 71, 
 after a speech in condemnation, by Edmund Burke. The move- 
 ment soon died out. In 1774 Francis WoUaston ^^ published 
 "Queries relating to the Book of Common Prayer, &c., with 
 proposed amendments. Addressed to those in authority and 
 submitted to their consideration." London. 8vo. 
 
 The book was soon forgotten amidst the political disturb- 
 ances created by the declaration of independence of the Ameri- 
 can colonies and the subsequent war of independence. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Two years after "The Church of England in America" 
 had ceased to exist and had reappeared as "The American 
 Protestant Episcopal Church," a General Convention, held in 
 Philadelphia, drew up and framed their liturgy, known as "the 
 Proposed Book." It embodied many of the proposals of the 
 Royal Commission of 1689, for the enactment of which so 
 many of the English clergy during the eighteenth century had 
 striven in vain. While the Proposed Book was severely disap- 
 proved of by the English bishops and by many of the clergy 
 of the American Church, it acted as a stimulus and incentive 
 for fresh efforts on the part of many followers in England of 
 John Jones, Blackburne and Wollaston. 
 
 In the year 1788 appeared "Hints, &c., submitted to the 
 serious attention of the clergy, nobility and gentry, newly asso- 
 ciated." By a layman, a friend of the true principles of the 
 Constitution, in church and state, and to religious and civil 
 liberty. London, 1788. 8vo. This first edition was recalled in 
 consequence of the king's illness. Immediately upon the latter's 
 recovery, a second, revised and enlarged, edition was issued in 
 1789. (4), 72 pages. 8vo. It urged the propriety of amendment 
 of life by the upper classes, and greater attention to public wor- 
 ship, to insure which a revision of the Liturgy was necessary. 
 On pages 55-72 the author prints David Hughes' "Scruples of 
 a country curate," in confirmation of the arguments elucidated 
 
 "Born 1731 and died 1815. Ordained deacon in 1754 and priest 
 in the following year. 
 
l6 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 in his brochure. It is well known now that the writer was 
 Augustus Henry Fitzroy, third duke of Grafton (1735-1811). 
 It was through some of Bishop Watson's little tracts and his 
 acquaintance with the new Liturgy of the American Church 
 that Grafton turned his attention to religious inquiry. 
 
 Grafton's publication was attacked and his views con- 
 demned by several writers. Two pamphlets soon appeared, one 
 entitled "A vindication of the doctrine and liturgy of the Church 
 of England, in answer to a pamphlet, entitled 'Hints to the New 
 Association,' and other late publications of a similar tendency. 
 In a letter from a gentleman in the country to a friend in 
 town." London : Debrett, 1790. 59 pages. 8vo. The author 
 maintains that "there are no parts of the liturgy to which 
 a candid person can reasonably object." Simultaneously came 
 out "An apology for the liturgy and clergy of the Church of 
 England: in answer to a pamphlet, entitled 'Hints, &c., by a 
 layman.' In a letter to the author, by a clergyman." London: 
 Rivingtons, 1790. 95 pages. 8vo. The "clergyman" has been 
 supposed to be Samuel Horsley (1733-1806), Bishop succes- 
 sively of St. David's and St. Asaph. 
 
 The Duke of Grafton had been a patron of Richard Wat- 
 son (1737-1816), Bishop of Llandaff (1782-1816), especially 
 while the latter was regius professor of divinity at Cambridge. 
 During his lifetime Watson was equally distinguished as a 
 divine, a natural philosopher, a polite scholar and a politician. 
 When the duke's views were condemned, he found a staunch 
 defender in the bishop, who wrote "Considerations on the ex- 
 pediency of revising the liturgy and articles of the Church of 
 England: in which notice is taken of the objections to that 
 measure ; urged in two late pamphlets." By a consistent Protes- 
 tant. London : Cadell, 1790. (1), 113 pages. 8vo. A second 
 edition appeared during the same year, 1790. "The reader," 
 says a contemporary critic, "will here meet with the knowledge 
 of a scholar, the liberality of a gentleman, and the serious- 
 ness of a Christian; and he will see an excellent specimen of 
 that manly freedom and spirit, with which it is possible to as- 
 sert our own opinions, without the smallest mixture of rude- 
 ness or offence toward those who differ from us. Without deny- 
 ing any one doctrine of the Church of England, the author has 
 shown, that it is inherent in the very nature of Protestantism, 
 and incumbent on all who would claim, with consistency, the 
 title of Protestant, to maintain their Christian liberty ; to press 
 continually onward to higher degrees of perfection; and not 
 
POST-CAROLINR REVISION ATTEMPTS IJ 
 
 to abandon the principles, nor defeat the intentions, of their 
 ancestors, by bhndly acquiescing in their decisions, or in those 
 of any other man, or number of men, however venerable and 
 learned." ^' 
 
 V. 
 
 Amidst the excitement created in England by these new 
 attempts on the part of Lords, temporal and spiritual, and 
 others, to bring about a revision of the Liturgy and the Articles, 
 there appeared in London the reprint of the "Proposed Book 
 of 1785/G." Its title, conforming to the original, reads: 
 
 The I Book | of | Common Prayer, | And Administration 
 of the I Sacraments, | And other | Rites and Ceremonies, | As 
 revised and proposed to the Use | of | The Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, I At a Convention of the said Church, in the State of | 
 Xew-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, | Maryland, 
 X^irginia and South-Carolina | Held in Philadelphia, from Sep- 
 tember 27th to October 7th, 1785, || Philadelphia, Printed: | 
 London, | Reprinted for J. Debrett, | Opposite Burlington 
 House, Piccadilly. | m; dcc ; lxxxix.| 
 
 The book has 362 unnumbered pages, the last page con- 
 taining as Errata three corrections of printer's errors in the 
 "Psalms fitted to the Tunes used in Churches, selected from 
 the Psalms of David; Portions of which are to be sung at 
 suitable Times in Divine Service, according to the Direction 
 of the Minister." These errors are to be found also in the 
 edition of 1786, without, however, being detected by the final 
 proofreader. Hence, in the original output this last page (362) 
 is blank. 
 
 The page of type in the London reprint measures 3^ by 
 5^ inches; that of the 1786 book 3t^ by 6 inches. The size 
 of the page of paper, untrimmed, is 43/2 by 7^ inches. The 
 eight pages of engraved tunes of the 1786 output were not 
 reprinted. 
 
 The reprint follows the original very closely in arrange- 
 ment as well as in typography. Only now and then do the lines 
 differ in the reprint from the arrangement in the original. In 
 addition, there are several variations, chiefly in the calendar. 
 
 The two publications differ materially as regards the 
 signatures : 
 
 The 1786 book is arranged as follows: Signatures a-e, in 
 fours, for the introductory matter, i. e., Nos. 1-4 of the table 
 
 See, also, Monthly Revteiv, Series 2, Vol. 2 (1790), pp. 401-403. 
 
l8 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 of contents. Of these forty initial pages, pages 1-4 are blank, 
 page 5, title; 6, Extracts from the Minutes of the Convention, 
 and the certificate of the notary public; page 7, the contents 
 of this book, reverse blank. Preface, pages 9-16. Pages 17-40 
 contain the three tables (Nos. 3-4 of table of contents). This 
 introductory matter is printed in long lines across the page. 
 The text proper is on signatures A-Z, Aa-Ss 2, in fours, Ss 3, 
 reverse, is blank. Ss 4, obverse, contains the title : Tunes | 
 suited to the | Psalms and Hymns | of the | Book | of | Com- 
 mon Prayer | ; reverse blank. Follov^ eight pages of engraved 
 music. The text is printed in two columns to the page, except- 
 ing the selections from the metrical Psalms and the fifty-one 
 hymns (Nos. 26 and 27 of the table of contents). At the end 
 of the hymns is printed the line : End of the Prayer-Book. 
 
 The signatures of the London reprint are as follows: In- 
 troductory matter on a 3 and 4 ; b, 6 leaves ; A, 6 leaves, and 
 B 1, 2, 3 and 4. The text begins on B 5. Follows B 6, and 
 C-P in twelves ; Q, 6 leaves. The text ends on Q 5, obverse, 
 with the words, "End of the Prayer Book." The reverse con- 
 tains Errata. The last leaf of this signature is covered with 
 publisher's announcements. The distribution of the type into 
 one or two columns is the same as in the Philadelphia imprint 
 of 1786.'^ 
 
 In volume one of the Historical Magazine and Notes and 
 Queries concerning the Antiquities, History and Biography of 
 America (Boston, 1857), the late Bishop William Stevens 
 Perry (1832-1898), at that time assistant minister at St. Paul's 
 Church, Boston, Massachusetts, had printed on pages 219-221 
 the titles of eight early editions of the American Prayer Book, 
 prior to A. D. 1800. The English reprint of the Proposed 
 Book is mentioned here as No. III. In a note Bishop Perry 
 further stated: "The only copy of this [i. e., No. Ill] I have 
 ever seen was in the library of the Rev. Wm. B. Stevens, D.D., 
 of Philadelphia, and contains immediately under the book-plate 
 of one of the English nobility, from whose collection it 
 originally came, the manuscript note that only fifty copies were 
 published — probably for the use of the English bishops who 
 were then considering the request of the American Church for 
 
 " On the importance of signatures in the examination of original 
 and reprint see especially the article on "The duplicity of duplicates," 
 by Falconer Madan, Bodleian Librarian in the University of Oxford, 
 England, Transactions of the Bibliographical Societv, London, 1914, 
 Vol. 12, pp. 15-20. 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS IQ 
 
 the 'succession.' Its rarity may be also inferred from the fact 
 of its re-pubHcation as one of the volumes of 'Reliquiae Litur- 
 gicae, Documents connected with the Liturgy of the Church of 
 England, Exhibiting the substitutes that have been succes- 
 sively proposed for it at home, and the alterations that have 
 been made in the adaptation of it to other Churches. Edited 
 by the Rev. Peter Hall, M.A. 5 volumes. 18°. Bristol, Eng., 
 1841." In the printed sermon of Bishop Perry, The American 
 Prayer Book revisions of I'jS^ and 1789, delivered at Christ 
 Church, Philadelphia, October 10, 1892, and printed in 1893, 
 we find on page 17, note, the sentence "This work [the Pro- 
 posed Book] was reprinted in London in 1789, and was highly 
 praised in a critical notice in the Monthly Review (Vol. 80, 
 p. 337)." The reference should rather read Series 1, Vol. 80, 
 pages 387-390. 
 
 Thus Bishop Perry. He is followed by the Rev. Fred- 
 erick Gibson in his bibliographical sketch of "The standard 
 editions of the American Book of Common Prayer," con- 
 tributed to the Liturgiae Americanae of William McGarvey 
 (Philadelphia, 1895). Under the heading "Proposed Edition 
 of the American Prayer Book," Dr. Gibson has printed on 
 page Lv "The short-lived 'Proposed Book' was printed in 
 Philadelphia, Hall & Sellers, MDCCLXXXVl, 8vo, and 4000 
 copies of it were ordered to be published. A few of these were 
 handsomely bound in red morocco with gilt ornamentation. It 
 was reprinted in London, England, M, DCC, LXXXIX, 8vo, 
 and from a manuscript note in Bishop Stevens' copy, as men- 
 tioned in The Historical Magazine, vol. I, p. 221, we learn 
 that there were only fifty copies of this English Reprint pub- 
 lished, and these were probably for the use of the English 
 Bishops, who were then considering the request of the Ameri- 
 can Church for the 'Succession.' " 
 
 Likewise, John Wright, Early Prayer Books of America 
 (1896), page 103, states "The book (of 1786) was reprinted 
 in London in 1789, and the copies were limited, it is said, to 
 fifty." 
 
 It is a matter of surprise that men of the type of Perry 
 and Gibson should not at once have noted the anachronism in 
 this statement concerning the raison d'etre of the republication 
 of the Proposed Book in 1789, two full years after Bishops 
 White and Provoost had been consecrated, February 4, 1787; 
 and that not one of the more recent writers on the Book of 
 
20 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 Common Prayer should have found the right interpretation of 
 the statement copied by Bishop Perry. The statement, although 
 written on the inside front cover of the London reprint, had 
 reference only to fifty copies of the 1786 output sent for ex- 
 amination to the English bishops. These copies were received 
 by the bishops "the last day of April" [1786]. For, in their 
 answer to the second address of the American clergy, which 
 was read at the General Convention held at Wilmington, Dela- 
 ware, October 10, 1786, the archbishops state that "The Jour- 
 nal of the Convention, and the first part of the Liturgy, did not 
 reach us till more than two months after our receipt of your 
 address [dated October 5, 1785], and we were not in posses- 
 sion of the remaining part of it, till the last day of April" 
 [1786]. 
 
 The committee appointed to edit the Proposed Book had 
 sent the printed sheets to England as they came from the press, 
 but through some miscarriage they had not reached the bishops 
 at the time of their answer to the first address by the American 
 clergy. Fifty copies of the four thousand of the Proposed 
 Book were undoubtedly sent to England and to these applies 
 the remark found by Bishop Perry in the London reprint, as 
 stated above. 
 
 It is said by Procter-Frere, A new history of the Book 
 of Common Prayer (London, 1905), page 238, that the Pro- 
 posed Book "was reprinted in England with the label 'Ameri- 
 can Prayer Book' " ; and Dean Hart, The Book of Common 
 Prayer (1910), page 30, note 5, has it that the English reprint 
 was put out "with the label 'American Prayer Book.' " 
 
 I have examined a number of copies of this London re- 
 print, most of them in original cardboard covers and with 
 wntrimmed edges ; but not one has the label "American Prayer 
 Book." The statements of Frere and of Dean Hart can only 
 mean that the whole output of 1789 was labelled by the pub- 
 lisher "American Prayer Book.'' 
 
 Upon inquiry, Dean Hart writes to me, 10th August, 1914, 
 "My copy of the English reprint of the Proposed Book is in 
 the original cardboard binding, untrimmed edges, and has a 
 label on the back between the second and third ribs with 
 
 American 
 Common 
 Prayer 
 done with a pen. And I am confident that I have seen other 
 copies thus labelled. . . ." 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 21 
 
 This, I believe, is most evident proof of the fact that the 
 edition was not marked by the pubhsher as "American Prayer 
 Book" ; that, in every case, it was done by some early indi- 
 vidual owner in England. 
 
 We hope to have, thus far, succeeded in relegating to the 
 land of fairy-tales the stories of the limited output of the 
 London reprint and of its being labelled, by the publisher. 
 "American Prayer Book." 
 
 And, now, we are ready for the main question, why should 
 this American publication, attacked, rejected and ignored in 
 the country of its birth, have been republished in England 
 fully three years after its original publication in America ? Who 
 had it reprinted and what was his purpose in so doing? 
 
 VI. 
 
 In the same year, 1789, in which this London reprint ap- 
 peared, there was printed for John Debrett, a treatise, entitled 
 "Observations upon the Liturgy. With a proposal for its re- 
 form, upon the principles of Christianity, as professed and 
 taught by the Church of England; . . . by a layman of the 
 Church of England, late an Under Secretary of State. To 
 which is added. The Journals of the American Convention, 
 appointed to frame an ecclesiastical constitution, and prepare 
 a liturgy for the Episcopal Churches in the United States." 
 London . . . (1), 312, (1) pages. 8vo. 
 
 The author of these Observations writes on the subject of 
 revision not with the asperity of a sectarian, but with the mild- 
 ness of a friend to the national Church of England. He points 
 out, in a dispassionate and agreeable manner, many defects in 
 the Liturgy which evidently require amendment. Anxious for 
 its prosperity and reputation, he longs to have its public service 
 rendered wholly unobjectionable. He proposes no changes in 
 the constitution, or discipline of the Church; he merely sug- 
 gests the propriety of removing a few expressions from the 
 Liturgy which he thinks it can very well spare. 
 
 Reviewing the Liturgy he summarizes under four heads 
 the particulars in which the Church of England may be said 
 to give ofifence to real Christians, who make the Holy Scrip- 
 tures the rule of their faith. 
 
 Quoting the author as nearly verhatiui as possible, we 
 mention that : 
 
 "The first is the retaining in its articles and liturgy things 
 or expressions which the most orthodox of the clergy think 
 
22 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 it necessary to explain away in the pulpit, or give a very dif- 
 ferent meaning to from what the words made use of convey 
 in their ordinary and usual acceptation" (p. 15). The author 
 instances the teaching of the 9th, 11th and 13th articles of re- 
 ligion ^^ and the statement in the Catechism concerning the 
 unworthy receiving of the Communion. 
 
 "Under the second head may be comprised such things in 
 the articles or liturgy, which, perhaps, from a desire to avoid 
 the danger of reforming too much, or to accommodate to the 
 prejudices of men at the time, or from the fallibility of human 
 reasons in those who compiled the articles and liturgy, are not 
 strictly conformable to the doctrine of Christ and his Apostles, 
 and cannot be literally proved from the New Testament" 
 (p. 17). Among other instances mentioned under this heading 
 as calling for revision the author says (p. 27) : "I trust I shall 
 live to see the Apostles' Creed in its primitive state, the only 
 Creed of the Church of England. I say in its primitive state, 
 for I do not find any warrant for the modern interpolation 
 of Christ's descent into Hell as that place is considered by 
 Christians as the place of punishment for the fallen angels 
 and wicked men after judgment." . . . He calls to our 
 mind the promise of Christ to the thief upon the cross: "This 
 day thou shalt be with me in Paradise. Now, if the soul of 
 Christ went both to Hell (so the Apostles' Creed) and to Para- 
 dise (so the New Testament), which do they suppose it went 
 to first? If to Hell, he must have taken the soul of the penitent 
 thief along with him, who must have thought it at least a round- 
 about way to Paradise, and entertained some apprehensions 
 that his conductor had mistaken the road. . . . But if it 
 be said that Christ or his soul went into Paradise and leav- 
 ing there the penitent thief, went down aftertvards into Hell, 
 the article ought to have been so expressed, and his ascent into 
 Paradise put before his descent into Hell'' (pp. 31, 33). The 
 excision from the same creed of the words "the Holy Cath- 
 olic Church" and "The Communion of Saints" is likewise 
 urged.^^ He would alter the phrase "sitting at the right hand 
 
 "Articles "Of original and birth-sin"; "Of the justification of man," 
 and "Of works before justification." 
 
 " These two articles of the Apostles' Creed are also omitted in the 
 adaptation of the Book of Common Prayer to the use of Unitarians 
 which the Rev. James Freeman prepared in 1785 for King's Chapel, in 
 Boston. Tt is quite possible that the writer knew Freeman's publication, 
 although he does nowhere in his book betray the slightest acquaintance 
 with this socianized prayer book. 
 
POST-Cx\ROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 2;^ 
 
 of God" for "hereby we express a belief and teach it to chil- 
 dren, that God has hands." 
 
 "The third point, which has been the natural, though most 
 unhappy, consequence of the preceding is the erroneous zeal of 
 representing and defending the Athanasian Creed as so 
 literally copied from the Evangelists and Apostles, that who- 
 soever refuse his consent to every tittle of it, is considered as 
 a disbeliever of Christ's Divinity, and a denyer of the three 
 distinctions in the Divine Nature in which we are commanded 
 to be baptized ; and what is still more to be lamented, many 
 who go to that creed to learn Christianity as conceiving it to 
 contain nothing but what all Christians must and do believe, 
 come away shocked or confounded, and in compliment to their 
 own reason, or to preserve it. enlist under the banners of 
 Deism ; in so much, that I really believe that creed has made 
 more Deists than all the writings of all the opugners of Chris- 
 tianity, since it was first unfortunately adopted in our liturgv" 
 (pp. 37-39). 20 
 
 In addition to the Athanasian Creed, that opprobrium of 
 orthodoxy, of which already Archbishop John Tillotson, in 
 answer to Bishop Gilbert Burnet, in 1694. wished that "we 
 were well rid of it," the author would also exclude the Nicene 
 Creed, because neither are drawn in terms of Scripture nor can 
 they be proved to have been used in the primitive Church. It 
 is well known to the twentieth century student that the Nicene 
 Creed is not the Creed of the Council of Nice nor the Athana- 
 sian Creed the work of St. Athanasius. 
 
 "The last head of complaint," our author continues, "I 
 have to discuss is that the rulers of our church, though sen- 
 sible themselves of these improprieties, continue to press them 
 on their clergy and flocks, and oppose all attempts to reform 
 and correct them" fp. 39). 
 
 Having thus finished his complaints the author imbibes 
 hope for the near future from the proceedings of the American 
 Church, stating that: 
 
 "Among the many and great advantages this kingdom has 
 derived, as well as imminent dangers it has escaped, through 
 the separation of the thirteen American States from its Gov- 
 ernment, may be reckoned the erection of an American Epis- 
 copal Church, independent of that of England ; the heads of 
 which have availed themselves of the opportunity to make those 
 
 ''" Herein the atitlior is followed especially by Bishop Watson in his 
 Cnusidcratioiis, pp. 29 foil. 
 
24 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 reforms in the liturgy, which were long since proposed and set- 
 tled by the great divines who flourished in the reign of Queen 
 Anne. To the orthodoxy of this reformed liturgy, our whole 
 illustrious bench of Bishops have set their seal, by the conse- 
 cration of Bishops to preside over and superintend the Ameri- 
 can Church in the use of it."^ Thus sanctioned, I have caused it 
 to be reprinted and published here, for the general informa- 
 tion of all denominations of Christians, but especially the mem- 
 bers of the established Church ; and I have annexed to this 
 paper [pp. 95-212] the proceedings of the American Conven- 
 tion, and the letters. to them from the English Bishops upon 
 the subject of their new establishment and reformed liturgy ; 
 and whoever reads them over, without feeling his heart bum 
 within him, at the manifestations they display of that truly 
 Christian spirit ; that soundness of judgement and benevolence 
 of heart which the writers so eminently possess, deserves not 
 to be of the flock of such shepherds, or wants sentiment to 
 enjoy the blessing within his reach" (pp. 40-42). 
 
 Thus, our author. And who was he? His name was 
 William Knox. He was born in Ireland in 1732 and died at 
 Ealing, near London, August 25, 1810. In 1756 he was ap- 
 pointed by Lord Halifax "one of his majesty's council and 
 provost-marshal of Georgia." He returned to England in 1761. 
 George Grenville (1712-1790) made him agent in Great Britain 
 for Georgia and East Florida. In the interest of the Colonies, 
 Knox sent a memorial to Lord Bute recommending the creation 
 of a Colonial aristocracy and the inclusion in Parliament of 
 representatives of the Colonies. His services as agent were dis- 
 pensed with by resolution of the Georgia Assembly, November 
 15, 1765, for two pamphlets written in defense of the Stamp 
 Act which Knox considered to be the least objectionable mode 
 of taxation. In the same year, 1765, he gave evidence before 
 committee of the House of Commons on the state of the Amer- 
 ican colonies, and from the institution of the secretaryship of 
 state for America, in 1770, to its suppression by Lord Shel- 
 burne, in 1782, he acted as the under secretary. His views 
 formed a basis for the conciliatory propositions of Lord North 
 in 1776. 
 
 '"' The author appears here to be either overenthiisiastic or disin- 
 genuous. He knew quite well that the American Church before obtain- 
 ing the succession had promised the English bishops the re-insertion of 
 the clause in the Apostles' Creed omitted in the Proposed Book as well 
 as the restoration of at least the Nicene Creed. 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 2$ 
 
 Knox was the .author of many pamphlets, most of which 
 dealt with the social, economic and religions affairs and con- 
 ditions of the American colonies. 
 
 As of direct interest to this society I mention that in 1768 
 Knox drew up at the special desire of Archbishop Thomas 
 Seeker, three tracts on the conversion and instruction of the 
 Indians and Negroes of the Colonies. And as the subject of 
 two of these tracts was much agitated at the time when he pub- 
 lished his Observations, he had them reprinted under the title 
 "Three tracts respecting the conversion and instruction of the 
 free Indians and Xegroe slaves in the Colonies. Addressed to 
 the \ enerable Society for Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
 Parts, in the year 1768. A new edition." London: Printed for 
 J. Debrett . . . 1789. 39 pages. 8vo. Tract one is devoted 
 to the Indians in the Colonies ; tracts two and three to the 
 Xegro slaves in the Colonies. -- 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen of the Church Historical Society: 
 My task is done. I hope to have shown not only the identical 
 person who had caused the Proposed Book to be reprinted ; but 
 also, and above all else, that its publication was, so to speak, the 
 climax of the post-Caroline attempts at a revision of the 
 Articles and of the Liturgy of the Church of England. That 
 not one of the suggestions made so frequently and so urgently 
 was then adopted was a great pity. But the mind of the 
 eighteenth century was stiff and unbending to the last degree ; 
 or rather, there was in it a disastrous mixture of laxity in prac- 
 tice and narrowness in theory. "Our happy establishment" was 
 right enough in their estimation, as it was then ; and the general 
 presumption was that any change would be for the worse. 
 
 Eighty years after the London reprint of the Proposed 
 Book passed before any of the requests of John Jones and his 
 collaborators were carried out, by the enactment of the new 
 lectionary, in 1871, and the shortening of the morning service, 
 in 1872. 
 
 During the last thirty years ecclesiastical conditions in 
 England have greatly changed. The litin-gical expansion which 
 has been such a decided feature of the Catholic revival has 
 grown apace. But up to the present time no thorough and satis- 
 
 " On Knox see Almon's Biographical, Literary and Political Anec- 
 dotes, . . . Vol. 2, pp. 112-115. London, 1797. William Bacon 
 Stevens, History of Georgia, Vol. 2, pp. 42-43 : and the same author's 
 Discourse delivered before the Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, 
 on PViday, Feb. 12, 1841. Savannah, 1841, pp. 10-11. 
 
26 POST-CAROLTNE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 factory revision of the rubrics and the hturgy, in general, has 
 been made. Preparations, to be sure, are being carried on and 
 have been pubhshed in the Report and the Minutes of the Royal 
 Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline, printed in 1906. 
 
 The need of a thorough, yet conservative, revision of the 
 Book of Common Prayer and its directions so as to adapt it to 
 the wants of the modern, up-to-date congregation and church 
 attendant is felt more and more in conservative as well as in 
 liberal circles. That the call for such a revision is not confined 
 to one party in the church, is proven by such publications as 
 Frere's "Principles of liturgical reform" (London, 1911; 2d 
 edition, 1914). "Prayer Book Revision. A plea for thorough- 
 ness. By a sexagenarian layman" (London. 1911). and the 
 same author's "Notes on the intellectual condition of the Church 
 of England" (London, 1914). Athelstan Riley, "Prayer Book 
 Revision" (Alcuin Club Tracts, No. 9) London. 1911. T. A. 
 Lacey, "Liturgical interpolations and the revision of the Prayer 
 Book." London, 1913. In 1913 appeared "A Prayer Book 
 revised; being the services of the Book of Common Prayer, 
 with sundry alterations and additions offered to the reader. 
 With a preface by the Rt. Rev. Charles Gore, D.D., Lord 
 Bishop of Oxford." London, XXV. 259 pages. Small 8vo. 
 An important contribution to the question of Prayer Book 
 reconstruction" (Guardian). "Revision of the Book of Com- 
 mon Pra3'er from the point of view of a parish priest." By Rev. 
 E. Boggis. Canterbury, 1914. 
 
 In conclusion I should like to call your special attention 
 to a set of seven pamphlets which are perhaps not known to 
 some here present, but are of great importance. Their general 
 title is "Prayer Book Revision series." Edited by Canon Beech- 
 ing. London, 1910. Each numbering 32 pages. 12mo. The 
 series represents fairly the general attitude of the clergy of the 
 Church of England toward a new revision. Of the seven tracts 
 the editor, Canon Henry Charles Beeching, contributes the first 
 on "The desirability of revision." The two main points at issue 
 appear to be the Ornaments Rubric and the Athanasian Creed,"'* 
 
 "^ On the creeds in modern literature see, e. g., Rt. Rev. Edgar C. S. 
 Gibson, The Three Creeds. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1908. 
 fThe Oxford Library of Practical Theology.] W. S. Bishop. The 
 Development of Trinitarian Doctrine in the Niccne and Athunasian 
 Creeds. New "^'ork, 1910. A. B. Crane, The Creed of Righteousness ; 
 or the Justification by Faith of the Psalm Qtiicunque. London, 1907. 
 C. Gore. Bishop of Oxford, The Athanasian Creed in Oxford house 
 papers. 3d Series. London, 1897. C. A. Heurtley, A History of the 
 
POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 2/ 
 
 the latter rejected also in toto by Frere. The Very Rev. Joseph 
 Armitage Robinson, dean of Westminster and one of the 
 greatest biblical students of England, discusses "vSome practical 
 proposals regarding the revision of the Prayer Book." After 
 a consideration of the points pro and contra as to changes 
 affecting the Ornaments Rubric, the Athanasian Creed, the 
 Lectionary. and the Psalter, the dean states (pp. 30, 31) : "I 
 should wish to see an authoritative Appendix to the Book of 
 Common Prayer, containing some additional prayers and serv- 
 ices, and some over-riding rubrics. . . . Such an Appen- 
 dix might be approved even by Parliament without risking any 
 interference with the Prayer Book, such as many persons not 
 unnaturally dread. After a generation it could, if need be, 
 undergo revision in the light of experience. Presently the time 
 would come for what the lawyers know as codification, and a 
 revised Prayer Book would be the result." The Very Rev. 
 Edward Clarke Wickham, dean of Lincoln, writes on "Revision 
 of rubrics, its purpose and principles." "The Revision of the 
 Lectionary" is taken up by the Rev. William Emery Barnes, 
 Hulsean Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge. 
 The dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Very Rev. Thomas 
 Banks Strong, expresses as to "the use of the Quicunque vult 
 in divine service," the conviction that the case for a change 
 of the present rubric is overwhelming. The Quicunque vult 
 is a canticle or psalm, but not a creed, even though it is thus 
 
 Earlier Formularies of Faith of the Western and Eastern churches: 
 added an Exposition of the Athanasian Creed. London, 1892. D. 
 Macleane. The Athanasian Creed. London, 1902. [The St. Paul's 
 Handbooks.] R. O. P. Tajdor, The Athanasian Creed in the Tiventieth 
 Century. Edinburgh, 1911. K. S. Guthrie, Critical Essays on the Tivo 
 Creeds: the Apostles' and the Nicene Creeds, and the Lambeth Articles. 
 In his The Soteriology of Jesus. Philadelphia. 11896.] M. MacColI, 
 Christianity in Relation to Science and Morals. 3d edition. London, 
 1890. (Lectures on the Nicene Creed.) F. Palmer, Studies in theo- 
 logic definition underlying the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. New- 
 York,' 1 895. H. B. Swete, The Apostles' Creed: its relation to primitive 
 Christianity. London, 1894. Adolf Harnack, The Apostles' Creed. 
 London. 1901. H. C. Beeching. The Apostles' Creed. New York, 1905. 
 W. R. Richards, The Apostles' Creed in Modern Worship. New York, 
 1906. Of special interest to the members of the Society will be the 
 many contributions of Andrew Eubank Burn, the learned vicar of 
 Halifax, England, viz.. An Introduction to the Creeds and to the Te 
 Deum (1899); The Athanasian Creed and Its Earlv Commentaries 
 (1896); The Apostles' Creed (1906); The Nicene Creed (1909), aiid 
 The Athanasian Creed (1912), three booklets published in the series 
 called "The Oxford Churcli Text-books" ; Facsimiles of the Creeds 
 from Early Manuscripts (1909) = Henry Bradshaw Society Publica- 
 tions. Vol. 36. 
 
28 POST-CAROLINE REVISION ATTEMPTS 
 
 called in the Prayer Book. It was written in the south of 
 France, or possibly in Spain, during the fifth century, a century 
 of appalling disasters, brought about, to a large extent, by the 
 Arian heretical Goths and Vandals. It was then that the pro- 
 cessional litanies sprung up. It was then that the Quicunque 
 vult was composed and chanted as a war cry, a manifesto, a 
 declaration of faith. "The Revision of the Prayer Book 
 Psalter" should be thorough going according to the Rt. Rev. 
 Herbert Edward Ryle. Bishop of Winchester and leading Old 
 Testament scholar. "At present the Prayer Book V^ersion de- 
 serves to be regarded much more in the light of a generally 
 good and beautiful paraphrase made by good Miles Coverdale. 
 than of an accurate, literal or scholarly translation. But, as a 
 paraphrase, it admits of being relieved of numerous grave de- 
 fects which needlessly impair its intelligibility and its accuracy." 
 The last pamphlet of the series contains a scholarly discussion 
 of "The Ornaments Rubric" by the Rt. Rev. Archibald Robin- 
 son, Bishop of Exeter." "It would be well worth the while of 
 all to make sacrifices of private predilection ; of High Church- 
 men to allow the prohibition, of Low Churchmen to consent to 
 the authorisation of vestments, if only we could get back to 
 clear authority" (p. 31).^* 
 Tlie Boston Public Library^ 
 
 Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 " The provincial convocations of the Church of England have been 
 busy during the year 1914 with revision proposals. The Upper House 
 of the Convocation of Canterbury decided on Wednesday, February 10, 
 1915, in accordance with the report of the joint committee on the re- 
 vision of the Prayer Book, not to embody the proposed changes in the 
 text, but to issue them in a separate volume or schedule for optional 
 use for a period at present not settled. This decision represents the 
 state of opinion and the limits of authority in the Church at present. 
 The Book of Common Prayer, with all its claims for recognition, is not 
 strictly followed today ; and no revision of it seems likely to win gen- 
 eral acceptance. On the report of the Joint Committee on Prayer Book 
 Revision, see the Guardian (London, England), February 25, 1915, p. 
 174. A criticism of this report from the Roman Catholic point of view 
 is printed in the Tablet. March 6, 1915, pp. 297-298. A sermon on 
 'Trayer Book Revision," preached by Canon Beeching before the 
 University of Oxford, Sunday, November 30, 1913, is printed in full in 
 the Guardian, December 5, 1913, pp. 1536-1537; and, an address on 
 Prayer Book Revision, by Chancellor Edward Russell Bernard, of Salis- 
 bury Diocese, in the same weekly, April 22, 1915, p. 348. 
 
November 9, 1910. 
 
 The second meeting of the Church Historical Society was 
 held in the Lecture Room of the Widener Free Library, Phila- 
 delphia, Wednesday evening, November 9, 1910, the vice-presi- 
 dent, Major Moses Veale, presiding. 
 
 The Rt. Rev. Cortlandt Whitehead, D.D., LL.D., Bishop 
 of Pittsburgh, delivered the following address upon the "Early 
 History of the Church in Western Pennsylvania" : 
 
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN 
 
 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 By the Rt. Rev. Cortlandt Whitehead, D.D., LL.D., Bishop 
 
 of Pittsburgh. 
 
 The records of the Episcopal Church in Western Penn- 
 sylvania now accessible do not extend beyond the year 1792. 
 There can be little doubt that its services and sacraments were 
 frequently celebrated before that date. In 1758 General Forbes 
 obtained possession of the ground at the forks of the Ohio, 
 and there created Fort Pitt. The colonial government of Penn- 
 sylvania was desirous of opening an accessible communication 
 with that distant post, and accordingly dispatched Colonel Burd 
 with two hundred men to open the road from Braddock's trail 
 at the western base of Small Hills to the Monongahela River 
 at Redston Old Fort (now Brownsville, Penna.). The Rev. 
 Dr. Allison accompanied the expedition as chaplain, and was 
 doubtless the first Episcopal, or at that time, Church of England, 
 or Protestant clergyman, that had ever preached west of the 
 Alleghenies. How long Dr. Allison remained, or what became 
 of him, we have no means of knowing. From the year 1758 
 Fort Pitt was occupied as an English military station and .the 
 site of the present city of Pittsburgh was laid out and build- 
 ing begun about 1764, by settlers almost exclusively of English 
 descent. It is hardly probable that such an important point was 
 wholly neglected by the clergy of the Established Church, or 
 that so many families of Church people as then resided in the 
 neighborhood would have been content to give up entirely the 
 Christian privileges to which they had been used. 
 
 However this may have been, it is certain that no definite 
 attempt was made to organize and perpetuate the Church of 
 England in this part of Pennsylvania before the Revolution, 
 or the Episcopal Church after it, until towards the closing years 
 of the last century. Even the venerable "Society for the Pro- 
 pagation of the Gospel," to which we owe so largely the plant- 
 ing and nurture of the Church before the separation from the 
 mother country, appears to have made no efifort to care for its 
 members in Western Pennsylvania. In Bishop Perry's volum- 
 inous collection of historical documents relating to this time 
 and region there are but two incidental references to Fort Pitt, 
 and they have no connection with the work of the Church. 
 
 (30) 
 
ElARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 3T 
 
 The farthest station westward seems to have been Carlisle. 
 
 The timidity and inertia of the bishops, influential clergy 
 and laity in the eastern part of the state during the fifty years 
 following the War of Independence are notorious, and would 
 be surprising did we not know the difficulties with which they 
 had to contend. The popular prejudices which existed against 
 the clergy, who for the most part had adhered to the king's 
 side in the great struggle, extended to the Liturgy, and the 
 whole system of the Church to which they belonged. The 
 Episcopal Church was everywhere on the defensive. It was 
 considered essentially monarchial and aristocratic in its spirit 
 and influence; unsuited to the wants of the people of a Re- 
 public. So strongly did this public sentiment afifect the rulers 
 of the Church that for a long time nothing more was done than 
 to keep alive existing congregations. The idea of extending the 
 work of the Church into new regions was hardly thought of. 
 Up to the year 1811, we are told on good authority, that not 
 only was there no growth throughout the United States, but a 
 positive decrease, especially of clergy, and one of the foremost 
 of the bishops expressed the opinion that its ultimate extinc- 
 tion was only a question of time. 
 
 Nevertheless we have unquestionable proof that in the 
 whole region west of the mountains there was a numerous body 
 of people, by birth and education attached to the Church, who 
 would have gladly welcomed its services and might easily have 
 been kept in its communion. Our principal authority on this 
 point is the Rev. Joseph Doddridge, M.D. He was himself born 
 in Bedford County, Penna., within one hundred miles of Pitts- 
 burgh, in 1769, and for some time resided in Washington 
 County, in the near neighborhood. To him we owe many in- 
 teresting details of the condition of things in the Church about 
 the close of the last century; and it was mainly through his 
 persistent efforts that the attention of Eastern churchmen was 
 gained to the work to be done in this region. He was himself 
 a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, and spent his life in 
 constant missionary labor in Western Virginia and Southern 
 Ohio. He held the first Christian service in Washington, Penna., 
 in 1792. Some rowdies were hired by a prominent whiskey 
 vender to intimidate the young preacher, and prevent his return 
 to preach in the place. This we are told as a tradition in a 
 letter of Dr. Doddridge's daughter to Bishop Kerfoot in 1873. 
 
 We are indebted to the late Hon. Judge Scott, of Chilli- 
 cothe, Ohio, an early and intimate friend of Dr. Doddridge, 
 
^2 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 for some reminiscences of his life and early labors in the 
 ministry. 
 
 Air. Scott was in his earlier years an itinerant in connec- 
 tion with the Wesleyan Society, and travelled extensively in 
 Western Virginia. He says: "My acquaintance with the Rev. 
 Joseph Doddridge commenced in 1788, at the house of the Rev. 
 J. Jacob, in Hampshire County, Va. He was in company with 
 the Rev. Francis Asbury. At the request of Rev. F. Asbury, 
 Dr. Doddridge studied the German language, in which he 
 acquired such proficiency as to be able to address a congre- 
 gation in that language. In subsequent years he found that 
 acquisition very valuable, as a medium of communication with 
 the German population of the country. He was held in high 
 estimation by Mr. Asbury, and although he was but little more 
 than nineteen years of age, he was a successful and highly 
 esteemed laborer in our Society." 
 
 His connection with this Society, however, was not of 
 long continuance. Being called from his field of labor to the 
 paternal mansion in 1791, by the sudden death of his father, in 
 consequence of which event, his step-mother and the younger 
 members of the family were placed in circumstances requiring 
 for a time his personal supervision, the youthful itinerant felt 
 it to be his duty to resign his charge, and in conformation with 
 the last wish of his deceased parent, who had appointed him 
 executor of his will — to apply himself to the settlement of the 
 estate. This accomplished, finding himself in possession of some 
 available means, he resolved to qualify himself more thoroughly 
 for the responsible calling he had chosen, by devoting some time 
 to perfecting his education; and with this view, accompanied 
 by his brother Philip, he entered Jefferson Academy, at Canons- 
 burg, Penna., they being among the first students at that pioneer 
 literary institution, in what was at that period in the Trans- 
 Montane States, the "Far West." 
 
 The Wesleyans having laid aside the Prayer Book or ritual 
 designed to be used on occasions of public worship by the 
 founder of their Society (a formula which Dr. Doddridge's 
 judgment sanctioned as being beautifully appropriate and highly 
 edifying), he did not therefore resume his connection with them 
 after his return from Canonsburg, but diligently applied him- 
 self to an examination of the claims of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church, with a view to offering himself a candidate for 
 Orders in its ministry. Having become satisfied during the 
 progress of his investigations, and fully prepared, he was, in 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 33 
 
 1792, in Philadelphia, admitted to the Order of Deacons, by 
 the Rt. Rev. William White, and some years later, in the same 
 place, to the Order of Presbyters, by the same Reverend Prelate. 
 
 "During the year 1793," says Mr. Scott, "I occasionally 
 attended the ministrations of this zealous advocate of the Gospel 
 of Christ, at West Liberty, which had until recently, been the 
 seat of Justice for Ohio County, Va., and the residence of many 
 respectable and influential families. At this place, divine wor- 
 ship was held in the Court House. Although still quite a young 
 man. Dr. Doddridge was an able minister of the New Covenant. 
 When preaching he spoke fluently, and there was nothing either 
 in his manner or language that savored of pedantry or rusticity ; 
 yet he did not possess that easy, graceful action which is often 
 met with in speakers in every other respect his inferiors; but 
 this apparent defect was more than compensated by the arrange- 
 ment of his subject, the purity of his style, the selection and 
 appropriateness of his figures, and the substance of his dis- 
 courses. He was always listened to with pleasure and edifica- 
 tion, commanding the attention of his hearers not so much by 
 brilliant flights of imagination or rhetorical flourishes, as by the 
 solidity of his arguments, and the lucid exhibition of the truths 
 which he presented for their prayerful and deliberate con- 
 sideration." 
 
 The Rev. George Brown, in his "Itinerant Life," says: "I 
 heard the first sermon ever preached in the town of Steuben- 
 ville. It was called the 'Christening Sermon,' and was de- 
 livered by the Rev. Joseph Doddridge, in an upper room in the 
 old log Court House, in 1796." He held occasional services in 
 that place until the Rev. Intrepid Morse took charge of the 
 parish. 
 
 About the year 1800, Dr. Doddridge removed to Charles- 
 town, now Wellsburg, Va., and while laboring there, he learned 
 that many families reared in the Episcopal Church, had set- 
 tled west of the Ohio River, and that they were wholly desti- 
 tute of spiritual guidance and instruction. To those of them 
 within a convenient distance, he was in the habit of making fre- 
 quent visits, holding worship in temples not made with hands, 
 but by the great Architect of Nature. About this time he formed 
 the nucleus of S. James' Church, Cross Creek, Ohio, which 
 subsequently under his ministry, expanded into a flourishing 
 parish, and is still in existence. Some years later, he collected 
 congregations at St. Clairsville and Morristown, in Belmont 
 County, in both of which churches were erected, and for some 
 
34 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 years the prospect of permanence seemed good. But for want 
 of pastoral teaching and supervision both congregations, since 
 Dr. Doddridge's death, have been dispersed and their church 
 edifices demoHshed or appropriated to secular uses. 
 
 At Charlestown, his place of residence, and at Wheeling, 
 he had large congregations. The latter kept together by 
 occasional visits and services until a resident pastor could be 
 obtained for it, the Rev. John Armstrong. In addition to the 
 church in Charlestown, S. John's, of which Dr. Doddridge re- 
 tained the pastorate for thirty years, another one called 
 S. Paul's was also formed in Brooke County. 
 
 Speaking of his missionary labors in a letter to Bishop 
 Moore, of Virgfinia. in 1819, he says: "With the view to the at- 
 tainment of an Episcopacy in this as early as possible, I have 
 devoted much of my clerical labors to the State of Ohio, under 
 the impression that that object could be more speedily accom- 
 plished by the forming of congregations in a State where there 
 was no Bishop, than by doing the same thing in the States of 
 Pennsylvania and Virginia, in each of which there was a 
 Diocesan." 
 
 To the doctrines and formularies of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church he was ardently attached, and although for more 
 than twenty-five years he occupied the position of advance 
 guard in the minority, yet he faltered not in his labors, but 
 untiringly devoted himself to promote its growth and pros- 
 perity, and also to awaken a practical interest in the Eastern 
 Dioceses, by frequest and earnest appeals to their bishops and 
 clergy, in behalf of the scattered members of the fold, who in 
 the vast regions of the West were wandering as sheep without 
 a shepherd. 
 
 At the time when Dr. Doddridge took Orders in the Epis- 
 copal Church, he resided in Pennsylvania, but some years subse- 
 quent to that event, as previously stated, he removed to Vir- 
 ginia. Owing, however, to the distance of his residence from 
 the Bishop of the Diocese, and the great difficulty, at that early 
 period, of holding correspondence with him, with the consent 
 of Bishop White, he continued in fact, although not canonically, 
 under the jurisdiction of the latter, and accordingly during 
 many years all his communications relative to the Church were 
 made to him. 
 
 His correspondence with his clerical brethren was exten- 
 sive, and we regret that our limits will admit so small a por- 
 tion of it. The following letters to Bishop White and Bishop 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 35 
 
 Hobart are lengthy ones, and of later date than we have now 
 reached, but as they contain a recapitulation of events that had 
 transpired relative to Church matters in the West, during the 
 preceding fifteen years, they are appropriate at this point and 
 we prefer quoting from the documents rather than to give their 
 substance in our own words. 
 
 Letter from Dr. Doddridge to Bishop Hobart. 
 
 December, 1816. 
 Right Reverend Brother: 
 
 The situation and wishes of your Episcopalian brethren 
 in this country have no doubt reached you through various 
 channels ere this, some time past. 
 
 Some five or six years ago. in 1810, the few Clergymen in 
 the western part of Pennsylvania and Virginia held a meeting 
 relative to Church matters among us, in which it was resolved 
 that I should open a correspondence with Bishop White for 
 the purpose of obtaining, through him, permission from the 
 General Convention to form ourselves into a Convention in the 
 Western Country. I did it accordingly, and accompanied the 
 request with as full a statement as I could make at that time 
 concerning our congregations and prospects here. 
 
 Eighteen months elapsed before I heard of the fate of our 
 petition, and that the project had been laid aside on account of 
 the death of Bishop Madison. (March 6, 1812.) I then lost all 
 hope of ever witnessing any prosperity in our Church in this 
 part of America. Everything fell into a state of languor. The 
 Vestries were not re-elected ; our young people joined other 
 societies. Could I prevent this when I indulged no hope of a 
 successor in the ministry? When I had no expectation that 
 even my own remains after death would be committed to the 
 grave with the funeral services of my Church? The circum- 
 stances of my residence being at some distance from those 
 of my brethren in the Ministry, and of my being the junior 
 in years among them, brought this melancholy prospect more 
 frequently before my mind. I resolved, however, that I would 
 not desert my post of duty, and with God's help, I will not. 
 How often did I reflect with feelings of the deepest regret and 
 sorrow, that if anything like an equal number of professors 
 of any other Christian community had been placed in Siberia 
 or India, and equally dependent upon a supreme ecclesiastical 
 authority in this country, that they would not have been so 
 neglected, that a request so reasonable would have met with 
 prompt and cheerful compliance ! With the voice of the first 
 
36 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 missionary in the western part of Pennsylvania my hope began 
 to revive. When I heard the "glad tidings" of the good and 
 great work among the Episcopalians in the Eastern States, I 
 also heard of the zeal and activity of Bishops White and Hobart 
 in their respective Episcopates. 
 
 I resolved through divine assistance that another effort 
 should be made amongst us to raise and build up our fallen 
 Zion. With a view of ascertaining the practicability of planting 
 Churches to the "Westward," in the fall of 1815, I made a rnis- 
 sionary excursion in Ohio, as far as Chillicothe, performing 
 divine service in all the intermediate towns. I found skeletons 
 of congregations in almost every place. In the past summer the 
 Rev, Mr. Kilbourne called at my house on his return from the 
 Eastward, and related a conversation which he said he had 
 had with you on ecclesiastical affairs, informing me that you 
 advised the immediate call of a Convention of all our Clergy- 
 men, and the election of one of them for Bishop ; and that the 
 General Convention would certainly confirm our action and con- 
 secrate the Bishop elect. He proposed his residence, Worth- 
 ington, as the place of holding the Convention. This I reluct- 
 antly acceded to, although I knew that place to be improperly 
 chosen, being so far from our three Presbyters in the western 
 part of Pennsylvania, who are all too advanced in years to 
 undertake so long a journey. Accordingly they did not attend, 
 but wrote us their acquiescence in any measures we might think 
 proper to adopt, two of them going so far as to name their 
 choice for Bishop. The result of this meeting may be seen 
 in the circular and copy of petition which accompany this. On 
 many accounts I thought any attempt to elect a Bishop would 
 be premature. Our people, although anxious, were by no means 
 prepared for the event. These papers, however, have had a 
 good effect ; they have turned the attention of the laity to the 
 subjects of a western convention and a Bishop. Since then, sev- 
 eral new congregations have been formed, of which I am at 
 present the pastor, viz. : one at Zanesville, formed in October, 
 1810; one at St. Clairsville, one in Jefferson County, Ohio, in 
 1802; S. James', on Cross Creek, and several more, I hope, 
 will shortly be formed in Ohio. These, in addition to the con- 
 gregations which I have in Virginia, make me the pastor of six 
 congregations at the present time ; and in the course of next 
 spring two more, I trust, will be organized. In some of the 
 places my absence is supplied by a Lay Reader, who performs 
 divine service every Sunday. There are, I think, three congre- 
 gations in and about Worthington, Ohio. How many there are 
 at present in the western part of Pennsylvania I have not been 
 informed. I think it probable that by the time of the sessions 
 of the General Convention the whole number of our con- 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 37 
 
 gregations in the country will exceed twenty. The number of 
 our Priests within my knowledge is four, that of Deacons 
 two. . 
 
 I shall now proceed to state such facts with regard to the 
 religious and moral character of the people of the Western 
 States generally, as may enable you to judge whether any 
 attempts to build up our fallen Zion here have probable chance 
 of success. 
 
 It must be well known to you that the States of Kentucky, 
 Tennessee, the Territories of Mississippi and Illinois, the State 
 of Indiana, as well as some large districts in the State of Ohio, 
 have been settled by emigration for the most part from Mary- 
 land and Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. Most, if not all 
 of these states, were before the Revolution, Crown States, and 
 their inhabitants members of the established Church. The 
 western part of Virginia has received the population from the 
 same source. The people still retain many of the distinguish- 
 ing features of the general characteristics of their forefathers, 
 the Royalists of the reigns of Kings Charles I. and II. Among 
 these traits of character is that of a strong dislike to Puritanism, 
 and this is one that still exists among them in considerable force. 
 No great number of them have ever united with the Presby- 
 terians. You may have supposed from the pompous reports 
 which have appeared from time to time concerning the progress 
 of the Presbyterians, Methodists and Anabaptists in the 
 western countries, that they had long before now swallowed up 
 almost all the population of this country. Not so, for with the 
 exception of the western part of Pennsylvania, go where you 
 will, you will find from one-third to one-half the population of 
 the towns and villages and their neighborhoods of no religious 
 profession whatever. Ask them concerning the religion of their 
 forefathers. They all answer, they were Church people. Many 
 of these people still retain an old Prayer Book as a venerable 
 relic of antiquity. They still have a reverence for Baptism and 
 the Lord's Day. The Church, they say, was once pure and good, 
 but now it is fallen, and they fear will never be revived again. 
 
 About fifteen years ago the "Age of Reason" of Thomas 
 Paine took a rapid and extensive circulation through this 
 country, and I regret to say that these people were very exten- 
 sively the dupes of that infamous work. This infidelity is fast 
 wearing away, and they begin to feel, I trust I may say, in 
 common with more than half the world, the necessity of piety to 
 God. My experience warrants me in saying that an Episco- 
 palian missionary will not have to encounter the difficulties in- 
 cident to the propagation of a new religion. No, he will every- 
 where find the skeletons of congregations and strong predilec- 
 tion in his favor. I will give you two examples which go to 
 
38 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 show what can be done for our Church in this country. The 
 first is Zanesville. I visited this place in the fall of 1815 on my 
 way to Chillicothe, and held service on a week-day. On my 
 return I held service on Sunday. They then reported to me 
 about forty persons who were all of our Church. In October, 
 1816, on my way to Worthington. to attend the Convention 
 previously mentioned, they formed themselves into a congrega- 
 tion, and appointed Dr. H. Reed as delegate. On my return I 
 officiated on Sunday, and administered the Sacrament. From 
 the list of names attached to the petition which they have sent 
 me, it appears that their congregation is already large, wealthy 
 and respectable, and they talk of building a Church next sum- 
 mer. The next is St. Clairsville, formed in 1813. For three 
 years past I have visited this place two or three times a year on 
 account of a few Episcopalian families of my particular 
 acquaintance. Since the meeting at Worthington, they have 
 formed themselves into a congregation, which at present con- 
 sists of fifty families, and the warden who took the signatures 
 to the petition informed me that they will, in a short time, be 
 joined by as many more. At Morristown, ten miles from the 
 above place, there will shortly be a congregation of at least 
 fifty. In all of these places a short time ago, the name of an 
 Episcopalian was scarcely mentioned. In how many places 
 might the same thing be done if we had laborers for the work! 
 I shall now state the measures which appear to me necessary for 
 the creation of Episcopal Churches in this country. 
 
 The first is a Convention, for the reasons stated in the 
 accompanying circular. Alas ! my brother, how little reason has 
 the Bishop of Virginia to regret a concurrence in this measure, 
 when I am under the painful necessity of stating that I am the 
 only Episcopal Clerg>'man in the western part of Virginia, 
 where by this time there ought to have been at least forty! If 
 the whole western part of the state should be thought too much, 
 the counties of Brook, Monongahela, Harrison, Randolph, Ohio 
 and Tyler will be sufficient. In this cession he will lose but one 
 Clergyman. 
 
 The next is a Bishop. The very idea of a Bishop several 
 hundred miles from his flocks is discouraging in the extreme. 
 The Methodist Bishops have been frequently through this 
 country, and even the Catholics, though few in number, have 
 been comforted by the presence and services of their Episcopal 
 Pastor. No such event has happened to us. For many great 
 and important purposes well known to you, the holy Episcopal 
 office, to be serviceable, should be at hand. Our people here 
 wish and pray for this, and I trust we are worthy of an Epis- 
 copate among ourselves. It must not be made by a number of 
 Presbyters less than six. Might not deacons be allowed to vote? 
 Might not a lay delegate from each organized congregation be 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 39 
 
 allowed to participate in the important decision? If allowable 
 in any case, it would be highly acceptable here. As we have 
 material for forming congregations here, so I trust there are 
 some for the Ministry. The clerical profession is becoming 
 reputable in this country. Some physicians and lawyers have 
 expressed a desire to take orders in the Church. Could it be 
 done with convenience? When I reflect upon the little which 
 has been done for the promotion of our Church in this exten- 
 sive region, I feel abased. If I should say that there are at 
 present half a million of Episcopalians and their descendants in 
 the western country, including the whole of Western Virginia. 
 I verily believe that I should not be justly chargeable with 
 exaggeration. What has been done for the spiritual interests of 
 these people? Almost nothing at all. Had we imitated at an 
 early period the example of other societies, employed the same 
 means for collecting our people into societies, and building 
 Churches, and with the same zeal, we should have had by this 
 time four or five Bishops, surrounded by a numerous and re- 
 spectable body of Clergy, instead of having our very names 
 connected with a fallen Church. Instead of offering a rich 
 and extensive plunder to every sectarian missionary, we should 
 have occupied the first and highest station among the Christian 
 Societies of the West. Ought we not to hasten to gather those 
 still within our reach? Yes, they wish, they pray, for our 
 Bishop. Oh ! let that assistance which they consider so neces- 
 sary for their eternal welfare be no longer withheld! In the 
 course of next spring, 1817, I shall send a file of petitions, with 
 a detailed report of each place and congregation from which 
 they come, to Bishop White, who will commit them to the hands 
 of the Secretary of the General Convention. 
 
 I humbly hope. Right Reverend Brother, that you will 
 freely and speedily communicate to me your remarks on our 
 proceedings in this very interesting and important business. If 
 in anything we have done amiss or omitted anything we ought 
 to have done, let us know it. 
 
 Your brother in Christ, 
 
 Joseph Doddridge. 
 
 Letter from Dr. Doddridge to Bishop White. 
 
 Wellsburg, December 14, 1818. 
 Right Reverend and Dear Brother: 
 
 Yours by the Rev. Mr. Johnson came duly to hand. Its 
 contents gave me no small degree of grief, but the arrival of 
 Mr. Chase, which took place soon after the receipt of your 
 
40 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 letter, dissipated the uneasiness occasioned by the prospect of a 
 failure in our endeavor to attain an Episcopacy in this country, 
 a majority of the Committees having signed the requisite tes- 
 timonials. Thus an event which ought to have taken place many 
 years ago is likely to take place at last. 
 
 The contents of your letter seem to require from me a 
 frank and candid statement of my views in doing what I have 
 done for the benefit of the Episcopal Church in this country, 
 together with the treatment I have received from my clerical 
 brethren from first to last. 
 
 Considering the Christian religion as the basis of all that 
 is good and great among men, I sincerely wished for its promo- 
 tion in that profession whose doctrines appeared to me truly 
 evangelical, and whose forms of worship unite piety, morality 
 and edification in the most effectual manner, and on the broadest 
 basis. Such was and still is my view of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 I trust I possess all the Christian charity which is due from 
 me to the religious societies of this country, and I am free 
 to say that much is due to them for the zeal and steadiness with 
 which they have prosecuted their pious labors. To the Presby- 
 terians alone we are indebted for almost the whole stock of 
 the literature of our country. They began their labors at an early 
 period of the settlement of the country,, and have extended 
 their ecclesiastical educational establishments so as to keep 
 pace with the extension of our population, with a godly care 
 and diligence which do them honor. Before they were able to 
 build even their log meeting-houses, they officiated in tents in 
 the woods, with the little contributions their poor people were 
 able to give they built academies, some of which are now 
 colleges. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Clergy, without making any ostenta- 
 tious parade, are traversing every part of the country in search 
 of their scattered flock, and carrying the ministry to almost 
 every family of their people. I am informed that they have 
 already two colleges in Kentucky, a Bishop in the state, and 
 another in Louisiana. At David's Town, in Kentucky, they are 
 building a large Cathedral. Whether this statement as it re- 
 spects the colleges and Bishop is correct, I am not able to say, 
 but presume it is. 
 
 Were it not for the Herculean labors of the Methodist 
 Society, many of our remote settlements would have been 
 at this time almost in a state of barbarism. The cabins of our 
 settlements were scarcely built and the little fields scarcely 
 enclosed, before the missionaries of this society appeared among 
 them, formed them into societies, and taught them the prin- 
 ciples and duties of our holy religion. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CTIURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 4I 
 
 There is scarcely a single settlement in the whole extent 
 of our western country which has not been blessed with the 
 ministry of this people, and to this ministry the public morality 
 and piety are immensely indebted. 
 
 With the Anabaptists I have little acquaintance, but I have 
 been informed that many of their establishments are respectable. 
 The settlements and meeting-houses of the Friends in the State 
 of Ohio are numerous and in a flourishing condition. 
 
 All these communities, as to everything belonging to 
 Apostolic zeal for the salvation of the world, have certainly 
 gone far beyond ourselves. They have not waited for a request 
 from their people for spiritual help, but have gone into "hedges 
 and highways," or to use a more appropriate phraseology, into 
 the "brush and woods" to seek for them; and their arduous 
 labors have, for the most part, been marked with a degree of 
 disinterestedness which entitles their Clergy to highest credit. 
 
 I feel a reluctance to finding fault with religious societies 
 so commendable for zeal, and so abundant in labors for good, 
 but the doctrinal points of difference between the Calvinist and 
 the Episcopalian are so important in the view of a great number 
 of both communities, that they are not likely ever to get rid 
 of the ancient prejudices of the Churchman and the Puritan 
 against each other. At any rate, it has so happened in this 
 country, for notwithstanding the destitute condition of our 
 Church here, very few of her members have attached them- 
 selves to any description of Presbyterians. 
 
 It is a subject of great regret that the Calvinists in this 
 country are cleft into so many divisions, and that they are so 
 much the Jews and Samaritans to each other. These divisions 
 and contentions are reproaches to the Reformation, the scoff 
 of Catholics and unbelievers. How much is the value of their 
 public profession of religion lessened by the apparent want 
 of that charity which the Saviour of men so strongly points 
 out as one of the distinguishing features of the divine character. 
 
 I formerly indulged the hope that the Methodist Society 
 would, sooner or later, in obedience to the order of their 
 spiritual father, John Wesley, adopt the use of the service book 
 which he gave them, and that with the increase of their numbers 
 and wealth, they would found literary establishments in this 
 country, so as to associate science with their public ministry of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 One serious objection, in my opinion, applies to all the re- 
 ligious professions of this country, I mean the want of estab- 
 lished forms of worship. My zeal for their introduction will 
 not be considered as a zeal without knowledge, when it is 
 remembered that, until the Reformation, the Christian world 
 knew no other, and that even the present exceptions to the 
 
42 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 general practice on this subject are on a very limited scale. The 
 public reading of the Holy Scripture and the participation of 
 the people in the public offices of devotion are certainly matters 
 of the highest importance to the edification, faith and piety 
 of all. 
 
 The confidence which I have in the Apostolic Succession, 
 renders the lay ordinations of this country less sacred and re- 
 spectable in my view. To a very considerable extent the aspect 
 of the religious profession as to its intrinsic character is by 
 no means such as I think it ought to be. It is not the pro- 
 fession of the steady exercise of faith, hope and charity, exem- 
 plified by a constant succession of good deeds ; but that of a 
 certain routine of supernatural feelings in which science, faith 
 and moral virtue have little to do. 
 
 Private instruction and, as I fear, private devotions also, 
 have been partially laid aside for the public profession, and 
 the exhibition of enthusiastic raptures, which certainly have 
 for their ultimate object the making of proselytes. Alas, even 
 among the various societies of Presbyterians, the catechist and 
 the catechumen are less and less frequently mentioned. The 
 holy ordinance of Baptism, once so sacred, is duly admin- 
 istered, but little or no importance is attached to it. To a great 
 extent a profession of supernatural feelings, and those too 
 of a particular stamp and configuration, in conformity to the 
 respective models furnished by different societies, constitute the 
 larger amount of the claim of the applicant to Church member- 
 ship and the ministry. What a misfortune that a test purport- 
 ing to be of so much importance, and yet so equivocal and 
 delusive, and so favorable to hypocrisy, should have been so 
 extensively adopted by societies in which there is certainly much 
 of real piety. 
 
 As a patriot as well as an Episcopalian. I wished for that 
 system of Christian doctrine, those forms of worship, and that 
 form of Ecclesiastical Government, which bear the stamp of 
 the Primitive Ages, and which are. of course, best for this 
 world as well as the next. For the spiritual benefit of many 
 thousands of our Israel, I was anxious for an Ecclesiastical 
 Government in this country at an early period. 
 
 All my endeavors to attain these objects were unsuccess- 
 ful. From year to year I had the mortification to witness the 
 immense plunder of our people to increase the numbers and 
 build the Churches of societies in my view less valuable than 
 their own. How often have the people said to me in the bitter- 
 ness of their hearts, "Must we live and die without Baptism 
 for our children, and without the Sacrament for ourselves?" 
 
 The great States of Kentucky and Tennessee have been 
 settled for the most part by descendants of members of the 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 43 
 
 Church of England. Not one in a hundred of these people have 
 to this day ever heard the voice of a Clergyman of their own 
 Church, but they have those of all other denominations. Hence 
 the greater part of them are lost to us forever. 
 
 The course I have pursued for the attainment of an Epis- 
 copacy in this country is partially known to you. The negligence 
 to which I have referred — and alluded to in your letter — shall 
 be frankly but briefly stated. In relation to myself personally, 
 it is unimportant. In proportion as it has borne the aspect of 
 indifference on the part of the Fathers of the Church to the 
 spiritual needs of our people in these immense regions, it has 
 been a fruitful source of mortification and regret to me. 
 
 When in 1810, the few Episcopal Clergymen in this country 
 held a meeting and resolved that I should open a correspond- 
 ence with you for the purpose of obtaining from the General 
 Convention permission to resolve ourselves into a Convention 
 with a view to forming a separate Diocese in the Western 
 Country, I did so, accompanying the request with as full a state- 
 ment as I could make out at the time, of our congregations and 
 prospects here ; and we confidently expected that, as our local 
 situation so evidently demanded the arrangement, it would be 
 made. 
 
 We received no information respecting the fate of our peti- 
 tion, until the summer of 1812, when we learned unofficially, 
 that the project had been laid aside in consequence of the death 
 of Bishop Madison. 
 
 This issue of the business blasted our hopes. From that 
 time our intercourse with each other became less frequent than 
 it had ever been before ; our ecclesiastical affairs fell into a state 
 of languor, and one of our Clergymen, wearied with disappoint- 
 ment, and seeing no prospect of any event favorable to the 
 prosperity of our Church, withdrew from the Ministry. 
 
 I kept my station, cheerless as it was, without hope of doing 
 anything beyond keeping my parishioners together, during my 
 lifetime, after which, I supposed, they must attach themselves 
 to such societies as they might think best. 
 
 Such was the gloomy prospect before me. How often dur- 
 ing hopeless years of discouragement, have I said to myself, 
 Is there not a single clergyman of my Church, of a zealous 
 and faithful spirit, who would accept the office of a Chor- 
 Episcopus for my country, and find his reward in the exalted 
 pleasure of an approving conscience in gathering in the lost 
 sheep of our Israel, and planting Churches in this new world? 
 Is there not one of our Bishops possessed of sufficient zeal and 
 hardihood to induce him to cross the Alleghenies and engage 
 in this great and good work? Year after year answered these 
 questions in the negative. 
 
44 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 You may imagine how strange it appeared to me to see the 
 annual statements of the contributions of my Atlantic brethren 
 to Bible Societies and other institutions for propagating the 
 Gospel in foreign lands, while no concern was evinced, or meas- 
 ures adopted for the relief of their own people, in their own 
 country, who were perishing for lack of knowledge. 
 
 Meanwhile other denominations here were blessed with 
 the presence of their Episcopal Fathers, while to this day, 
 this country has never been favored with the presence of a 
 Bishop of the Episcopal Church. 
 
 We claim, and-as I trust, justly, the Apostolic Succession; 
 but where, I ask, is our Apostolic zeal for the salvation of man- 
 kind? While the Roman Catholic missionaries for the Societe 
 de Propaganda, as well as those of other societies, are travers- 
 ing the most inhospitable climes, encountering every difficulty, 
 privation and danger, for the laudable purpose of making con- 
 verts to the Christian Faith, will the spiritual Fathers of our 
 Church never leave the temples erected by the piety of their 
 forefathers to visit and minister to their destitute people, even 
 in their own country? 
 
 When about three years ago I heard some favorable reports 
 concerning the prospects and extension of the Episcopal Church 
 in the Eastern states, I resolved, through Divine assistance, to 
 make one more effort to raise and build up our fallen Zion 
 among us, and with a view of ascertaining the practicability of 
 planting Churches in the westward, in the autumn of 1815, I 
 made a missionary tour of the State of Ohio, going as far 
 southwest as Chillicothe, where I held services and preached 
 twice; I also officiated in all the intermediate towns between 
 Chillicothe and my place of residence, both going and returning. 
 The prospect which this missionary excursion presented was not 
 discouraging; in almost every place I found the skeleton of an 
 Episcopal congregation. 
 
 The year following, in accordance with an agreement with 
 the Rev. James Kilbourn, made at my home some weeks 
 previous, I went to Worthington, Ohio, his place of residence, 
 to attend a Convention of Episcopalians appointed in that place, 
 to confer on the interests of the Church. The proceedings of 
 our meeting on that occasion are well known to you. The com- 
 munication which I made to yourself and Bishop Hobart con- 
 cerning them met with no response. During the tour I officiated 
 eighteen times. 
 
 Last week I made a missionary excursion of six days, in 
 the southern part of Belmont and Munroe Counties, Ohio, 
 during which I held divine service seven times, forming one 
 congregation in the latter county, and baptized thirty children. 
 I was told that had not a mistake occurred in the appointment 
 the baptisms would have exceeded one hundred. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 45 
 
 Many of the people had been my parishioners previously 
 to removing to their present locality, and with their neighbors 
 had delayed the baptism of their children twelve years, in the 
 hope of having that holy rite administered by a minister of 
 their own Church. This circumstance affected me painfully. 
 Your brother in Christ, 
 
 Joseph Doddridge. 
 
 When at length after years of inaction and neglect the 
 effort was made to organize the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in these parts, the work was far more difficult than it would 
 have been had Dr. Doddridge's plea been listened to. A great 
 opportunity had been lost and did not return. Not only were 
 the "thousands of its members' which Dr. Doddridge assures 
 us then lived in this region, alienated from it, but a change 
 had taken place in the character of the immigration to this 
 Western Country. The early settlers at Pittsburgh and its 
 vicinity were, as has been mentioned, very largely members of 
 the Episcopal Church. But in after years there came that 
 influx of hardy, thrifty Scotch-Irish people, who in a short 
 time became the dominant element throughout Western Penn- 
 sylvania. They brought with them not only their energy and 
 thrift, but a sturdy aggressive Presbyterianism which was 
 intolerant towards Episcopal Government and Ritual Worship. 
 In their eyes such things were but little removed from popery 
 itself. They very soon covered the ground left vacant by the 
 Church, and made all subsequent efforts to regain what had 
 been lost far more difficult. 
 
 Under such adverse circumstances it is not to be wondered 
 at that we find no organization of the Episcopal Church in 
 Western Pennsylvania until the year 1790; and it is significant 
 that this was made not at Pittsburgh where we would naturally 
 look for it, but among a rural population, such as Dr. Dodd- 
 ridge describes in his letters as everywhere asking for the 
 services of our Church. The first congregation established was 
 in Chartiers Township, about six miles from the city, under the 
 name of St. Luke's Church. The record reads. "The first Epis- 
 copal Church west of the mountains was organized, and the 
 Church built by several persons, viz. : General Johnson Neville, 
 his son, Pressley Neville ; Major Isaac Craig and others. The 
 lot, ten perches square, was given by William Lea, for a site 
 and graveyard." The church building was begun in 1790. and 
 furnished in the following year, but not entirely finished until 
 
46 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 some time afterward. By whom the services were given or 
 who had charge of the flock is not mentioned. But we learn 
 that "Mr. Francis Reno was taken under the care of Mr. 
 Neville and educated and prepared for the ministry of the 
 Church." In due time he was ordained by the Bishop of Penn- 
 sylvania, and called to the rectorship of the church at 
 Chartiers. "He officiated there for some years until an insur- 
 rection (the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794) disturbed the 
 public peace and drove the supporters of the Church from the 
 locality." Sometime afterward we find that Mr. Reno was 
 engaged to officiate alternately at Chartiers and Pittsburgh, but 
 soon left the neighborhood. The church appears to have been 
 closed, and being built of wood, soon fell into decay, and 
 almost every trace of the building was removed. The record 
 goes on to state that no decided step was taken to rebuild the 
 church until 1851. However this may be, the insurrection 
 could not have completely discouraged the congregation, for 
 we find in Dr. Doddridge's Memoirs a report of "a Conven- 
 tion of four clergymen held at S. Thomas' Church, Washing- 
 ton County, Pennsylvania. September 35, 1803," Mr. Reno be- 
 ing one of them, at which it was resolved that the next Con- 
 vention be held at the church near General Neville's old place 
 on Chartier's Creek, Penna., to commence the Saturday before 
 Whitsun Day. 
 
 In the year 1851, through the efforts of the Rev. Dr. 
 Lyman, then Rector of Trinity Church, Pittsburgh, a new 
 church was begun on the site of the old one, and regular 
 services resumed. From that time until 1871 the church was 
 kept open and the congregation held together by various rec- 
 tors who seem never to have remained for any length of time. 
 Since then only occasional ministrations have been given. 
 The building up of other centers of population at Mansfield 
 (now Carnegie), and Crafton, and the founding of churches 
 there, divided the already diminishing flock until literally noth- 
 ing remains of what was once a numerous congregation. The 
 church building is occasionally occupied during the summer 
 months, and with its old graveyard around it stands as a monu- 
 ment of the first efifort of reviving life in the Episcopal Church 
 in Allegheny County. 
 
 What steps were taken to establish the Episcopal Church 
 in Pittsburgh prior to 1797 in not known. But as the Rev. Mr. 
 Reno is recorded to have officiated there in connection with 
 Chartiers shortly after 1794, it is likely there was some move- 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 47 
 
 ment towards that end. In 1797, however, we learn from the 
 records of Trinity Church that the members of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church residing in Pittsburgh invited the Rev. John 
 Taylor to officiate for them ; but it was not until September 
 4, 1805, that a regular parish organization was formed by 
 obtaining from the Governor of Pennsylvania a charter "mak- 
 ing and instituting the Rev. John Taylor the minister of the 
 congregation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Bor- 
 ough of Pittsburgh, Pressley Neville and Samuel Roberts the 
 Wardens of said Church, and Nathaniel Irish, Joseph Barker, 
 Jeremiah Barker, Andrew Richardson, Nathaniel Bedford, 
 Oliver Ormsby, George McGunnigle, George Robinson, Robert 
 Magee, Alexander McLaughlin, William Cecil and Joseph 
 Davis the V^estrymen of said Church, and their successors duly 
 elected and appointed in their place, a Corporation and body 
 politic in Law and in Fact, by the name, style and title of the 
 Minister, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, 
 Pittsburgh." 
 
 Such was the decisive step which gave to the Church in 
 Allegheny County a definite standing and centre of growth. 
 From this time for many years, the history of Trinity Church 
 is virtually the history of the Church in Allegheny County, and 
 in Western Pennsylvania. From the mother parish nearly all 
 the new enterprises took their start and looked to it for sup- 
 port. About the same time with the organization, the building 
 of a church was begun. It stood on the triangular lot at the 
 intersection of Sixth Street with Wood and Liberty Streets, 
 now occupied by a business block. Four hundred dollars was 
 paid for the lot. In order to conform to the shape of the lot 
 it was built in an octagonal, or oval form, and was familiarly 
 known as "the old Round Church." The cornerstone was laid 
 July 1, 1805, but the church was never consecrated and no 
 bishop visited Pittsburgh until 1825. To defray the indebted- 
 ness of the church, we find that the expedient of a lottery was 
 resorted to. In the Pittsburgh Gazette for March of 1808, 
 Anthony Beelen advertised tickets for sale in the Trinity lot- 
 tery at his shop on Front Street, now First Avenue ; highest 
 prize ten thousand dollars ; tickets selling for a dollar and a 
 half. This was an approved means of raising money in those 
 days, and was in accord with the prevailing moral sentiment. 
 
 "Father Taylor," as he came to be called, held the rector- 
 ship until 1817, when he resigned. But few traditions of his 
 ministry survive. He seems to have been a faithful and devout 
 
48 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 clergyman, of blameless life, who probably did as much for the 
 church in those days as any ordinary man could. It is said that 
 he was killed some years afterwards by a stroke of lightning 
 near Shenango, Mercer County, Penna. In the short space of 
 six years between Father Taylor's resignation in ] 817 and 1823 
 three clergymen were chosen to the rectorship, served for brief 
 periods and in turn resigned. No statistics of the parish for 
 these years exist. Of the success or growth of the congrega- 
 tion, of its hopes and outlook no records remain. But from 
 the fact that in 1823, when after two years' service the Rev. 
 William Thompson resigned the charge of the church, no at- 
 tempt was made to elect a successor, it may be inferred that 
 the prospects of the parish were not very encouraging. Nor 
 could it have reasonably been expected that an Episcopal 
 church, situated in a region so remote as Pittsburgh then was, 
 deprived of the care of a bishop and without the privilege of 
 confirmation for the children, by which alone new communi- 
 cants could regularly be admitted, would make any striking 
 progress in a hostile community. It is rather a matter of sur- 
 prise that it survived at all. During this period of twenty-five 
 years or more, repeated efiforts were made to enlist the 
 sympathy and help of the Church at the East, and to obtain 
 for the whole region west of the Allegheny Mountains, then 
 settled, the erection of a diocese and the consecration of a 
 bishop. Dr. Doddridge, though not then residing in Pennsyl- 
 vania, never ceased to urge it. In 1810 at a meeting of Epis- 
 copal clergymen, held at S. Thomas' Church, Washington 
 County, he was authorized to open correspondence with Bishop 
 White, of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of obtaining through 
 him permission from the General Convention of the Church in 
 the United States to carry out this project; such consent being 
 necessary under the Canons of the Church. 
 
 The petition was presented by Bishop White, and at one 
 time there seemed to be hope of its favorable consideration ; 
 but the matter was dropped as usual, and the clergy sending 
 the memorial never so much as heard of its fate until nearly 
 two years afterwards through the chance visit of a clergyman 
 from the East. But some symptoms of interest in the state of 
 the Church west of the mountains began to show themselves 
 about the same time. The formation of the Society for the 
 Advancement of Christianity in Pennsylvania took place in 
 1812. This was the first attempt to make an organized effort 
 to plant the Church on new ground. Shortly after the found- 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 49 
 
 ing of this Society, the Rev. Jackson Kemper, afterwards Mis- 
 sionary Bishop of the Northwestern Territories, visited Pitts- 
 burgh and its vicinity, and on his return made an interesting 
 report, whicli has been lost. In 1814, the Rev. Jehu Clay, then 
 a deacon from Philadelphia, was sent out on a visit of enquiry, 
 and supplied Mr. Taylor's place at Trinity Church for three 
 Sundays while he made a missionary tour to various points 
 where services were desired. It is also on record that the Rev. 
 Mr. Richmond, a missionary in the employment of the Society, 
 supplied Trinity Church with services for a short time. Prob- 
 ably these were the first clergymen from the East who had ever 
 seen Pittsburgh, and it was certainly the first and only time 
 that Trinity Church received ministrations through the agency 
 of the Church in the East. Elsewhere the new Missionary 
 Society had begun its active operations, so successful and 
 efficient in after years in planting churches which have become 
 strong and flourishing. 
 
 An event now took place which explains partly the failure 
 to elect a new rector in the place of the Rev. Mr. Thompson, 
 and which is really the first of the two decisive events in the 
 history of the Church in this country. After Mr. Thompson's 
 resignation in 1823, we are told that at the request of the 
 Vestry John H. Hopkins, Esq., then a layman of Trinity 
 Church, was invited to hold services. Years before Mr. Hop- 
 kins had removed to Pittsburgh, studied law and very soon 
 became a very prominent member of the bar. It is said that 
 his income at this time was five thousand dollars per annum. 
 He had been brought up in the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 but through friendships and social influences had, like many 
 other members of the Church, been led to attend the Presby- 
 terian services. His musical abilities led him to take charge of 
 the organ and choir of Trinity Church. Very soon he became 
 a communicant, and finally a candidate for Holy Orders. 
 Shortly after he was invited to read services for the congrega- 
 tion as a layman, he was also elected rector of the parish in 
 advance of the ordination, which took place December 14, 1823. 
 A week later he entered upon his duties as Rector of Trinity 
 Church, and from that time dates a new order of things in the 
 Church in Allegheny County, and, in fact, throughout the whole 
 of Western Pennsylvania. Almost immediately there were signs 
 of reviving hope and courage. The project of building a new 
 church, which had for some time been talked of, was put into 
 execution. Mr. Hopkins made the plans of the new church, 
 
50 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 and with his own hands executed a large part of the interior 
 decorations. It was the first example of Gothic architecture 
 not only in Pittsburgh but in the country. The new church, 
 estimated to seat one thousand persons, was completed and 
 consecrated on S. Barnabas' Day, June 11, 1835. (Life of 
 Bishop Hopkins, pp. 72, 73.) It was a great step forward for 
 that day, and meant that the Church intended to stay and to 
 grow. Up to that time no bishop had ever crossed the Alle- 
 gheny Mountains. In 1824 Bishop \\'hite made an attempt to 
 visit the western part of his diocese, but meeting with an 
 accident at Lewistown, he returned to Philadelphia. In 1825 
 he made a second effort and succeeded in reaching Pittsburgh 
 to consecrate the new edifice of Trinity Church, thirty-eight 
 years after his consecration, and seven years after Dr. Dodd- 
 ridge's letter, which I read to you just now. During his visit 
 he also confirmed nearly one hundred and fifty persons belong- 
 ing to the congregation, the first time that ordinance had ever 
 been administered in the West. He also visited Connellsville, 
 Wheeling and some other points. Within one year the list of 
 communicants at Pittsburgh was increased from forty to about 
 two hundred, so that it became at once the third parish in 
 numerical strength within the Diocese of Pennsylvania. From 
 that time it took its place in the front rank of influential 
 parishes in the country, and was the recognized representative 
 of the Church west of the mountains, and an important center 
 of expansion. The varied and remarkable gifts of the rector 
 as a preacher, a writer, a theologian, a musician, an architect, 
 a lawyer and an artist gave him a wide influence throughout 
 the Church, as well as in the city of Pittsburgh. Mr. Hopkins 
 did not confine his labors to his own parish. He made a mis- 
 sionary tour as far north as Meadville, and eastward as 
 Greensburg, holding prolonged services in both these places, 
 gathering members into the Church (in the former place about 
 sixty), and laying the foundations of future parishes. No less 
 than seven new parishes were thus established by him in as 
 many years. Not content with such personal efforts, he also 
 tried to supply the need of additional workers in the field. He 
 saw that if a sufficient number of the clergy were to be secured 
 for the then remote West, it must be done by training them up 
 on the ground. When it took a week's time or more to make 
 the journey from Philadelphia or New York to Pittsburgh, it 
 was in vain to look for any considerable number of promising 
 recruits from the East. He therefore began a Theological 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 5I 
 
 Training School for Clergymen in his own house. He had, 
 before entering the ministry, purchased a large tract of ground 
 on the Ohio River, in the very heart of what is now Allegheny 
 City, but was then open country. On this he built a large brick 
 house, which still stands as one of the landmarks of sixty years 
 ago. In this house Mr. Hopkins fitted a chapel and recitation 
 rooms, and received into his family such young men as desired 
 to prepare for Holy Orders. 
 
 In 1839 four young men thus trained by him were or- 
 dained deacons, and four others were among the candidates 
 for Orders reported by the bishop in his annual address. 
 
 Passing over much that was of interest in the rapid 
 growth which followed in and about Pittsburgh, we come to 
 the year 1860, when there again came to the front the ques- 
 tion of setting up a separate diocese in the counties lying west 
 of the Allegheny Mountains. The project had never been en- 
 tirely abandoned ; but for a time the increased and rapid 
 means of communication with the East had rendered the need 
 of a bishop on the ground less urgent. It was now easier to 
 reach the most remote missionary station in the northwest 
 corner of the diocese, than it was to get to Lancaster or Har- 
 risburg in the days when Dr. Doddridge and his friends were 
 pleading for a bishop and a diocese for the West. Besides, the 
 consecration of Bishop H. U. Onderdonk in 1828 as assistant 
 to Bishop White gave more adequate Episcopal supervision 
 and quieted for a time the demand for a separate jurisdiction. 
 The election of Bishop Alonzo Potter in 1845, with his splen- 
 did physique, commanding powers and untiring labors, still 
 further tended to satisfy Churchmen in the West with their 
 condition, for the time being. But in 1860 came the discovery 
 of petroleum in the northern counties, and with it a great rush 
 of fortune seekers, not only to the oil producing country but 
 to Pittsburgh as the center of trade at that time. The increas- 
 ing need of Episcopal labor, especially in these parts of the 
 State, and Bishop Potter's failing health, led to the election of 
 Dr. Samuel Bowman as assistant bishop. From the very first 
 he took the liveliest interest in the Church in the western coun- 
 ties, and with all his might pushed forward tlie plan of a new 
 diocese with its own bishop. His sudden death by the wayside 
 while making a missionary tour in this part of the diocese did 
 but fire the determination of Churchmen in the western part 
 of the State never to give up the agitation until their prayer 
 should be granted. For six years longer the conservatism of 
 
52 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 the East and other influences delayed the step. There were 
 fears on the part of what were known as "Low Churchmen," 
 who were in the majority in the eastern counties, as to the 
 ecclesiastical tone of the proposed diocese. Men gravely 
 argued on the floor of the Convention that a territory having 
 a population of near a million, and rapidly increasing, one 
 hundred and fifty miles long and one hundred miles wide, 
 needed no additional oversight, that it could not provide for 
 the decent support of a bishop if their request were granted, 
 and that still less could it take care of its missionary stations 
 and plant new ones called for. Against this obstructiveness the 
 western clergy and laity worked for a long time in vain. It 
 was to no purpose the backwardness of the whole country of 
 which Pittsburgh is the centre — there were but six churches in 
 which regular services were held, north of Pittsburgh, and 
 about as many in the counties south of it, some of these feeble, 
 and most of them stationary — that we were losing enough of 
 our members every year to form respectable congregations for 
 want of care. They argued without effect that the wealth of 
 Pittsburgh and Allegheny County alone, to say nothing of the 
 surrounding country, was ample to provide the necessary 
 means for the salary of the bishop, and the carrying on of mis- 
 sionary operations. And when asked for something more defi- 
 nite, they could only say "Give us what we ask, and we will 
 justify our words." At length the persistency and skillful man- 
 agement of a few determined men won the day, and in the 
 year 1865 consent was reluctantly given to the formation of 
 the new diocese, and what Dr. Doddridge and his fellow- 
 workers had sought in vain more than fifty years before was 
 at last obtained. To this consent, however, was attached the 
 condition that a capital sum of not less than thirty thousand 
 dollars should be secured as an endowment for the new 
 bishopric. The condition was readily complied with, though 
 under protest, as being unlawful and unwise. All preliminary 
 steps required by the General Canons of the Church having 
 been taken, the Primary Convention of the Diocese of Pitts- 
 burgh met in Trinity Church, November 15, 1865. It was the 
 second decisive step forward for the Church in the western 
 part of Pennsylvania, as Bishop Hopkins' entrance on the rec- 
 torship of Trinity Church had been the first. Many were the 
 prophecies of new life and progress, and high were the hopes 
 indulged by the victorious Western Churchmen And on the 
 other hand, not a few predicted only failure and embarrass- 
 ment for the new diocese. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 53 
 
 Warm and something more than earnest was the canvass 
 that preceded the meeting of the Convention for the election 
 of a bishop ; for party spirit was strong in Pennsylvania in 
 those days, and now that the foundation of a new jurisdiction 
 was settled upon, those who had opposed it turned their efforts 
 towards gaining control of it. The after results of this struggle 
 are felt today, and have been sufficiently serious to modify the 
 actual benefits realized by the division. The candidates nomi- 
 nated for the bishopric were the Rev. John Barrett Kerfoot, 
 D.D., then President of Trinity College, Hartford Conn., some 
 of whose devoted students at S. James' College, Maryland, were 
 among the leading spirits in the movement for division of the 
 diocese ; and the Rev. Frederic Dan Huntington, D.D., later 
 Bishop of Central New York. Dr. Kerfoot was elected on the 
 first ballot by a large majority, and on the twenty-fifth day of 
 January, 1866, he was consecrated first Bishop of the Diocese 
 of Pittsburgh in Trinity Church. The event created unusual 
 interest throughout the Church, being the first case in which 
 a new diocese had been formed out of an old one since 1838, 
 when Western New York was similarly formed, and also be- 
 cause of the long contest which had preceded the event. All 
 eyes were turned toward the western part of the State, and 
 the results of the experiment were narrowly watched. 
 
 Bishop Kerfoot entered upon his duties with the energy 
 and ability which belonged to him. His decided character and 
 deep religiousness made a strong impression from the start. 
 
 With all the drawbacks mentioned above, the formation 
 of the new diocese more than justified the hopes of those 
 who had earnestly pressed it. When the Diocese of Pittsburgh 
 was formed in 1865 there had been no increase of parishes 
 since 1859, and the number remained stationary until 1868. 
 But these same parishes had vastly developed in working 
 power, in liberality, as well as in numbers. The communi- 
 cants had grown to thirteen hundred, and the money raised for 
 all purposes which had amounted to but five or six thousand, 
 now reached forty thousand. After 1868 the effect of constant 
 supervision of the bishop, and his incessant labor, began to 
 have its effect upon the Church in the whole county. At the 
 time of Bishop Kerfoot's death in 1881, there were sixteen 
 parishes and three mission stations in Allegheny County. The 
 communicants had increased to more than two thousand five 
 hundred, and the contributions had reached an annual average 
 of over seventy thousand dollars, rising as high as one hun- 
 
54 EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars in a single year. While these 
 figures are very far from being as large as they should be, 
 they show a vast improvement over the condition of things 
 which existed so long. The laborious and fruitful Episcopate 
 of Bishop Kerfoot ended at Meyersdale, Somerset County, 
 July 10, 1881. He literally wore himself out in the service 
 of the Church. His labors were incessant and at the same 
 time his highest pleasure. His memory will long be cherished 
 in the diocese, and the monuments of his zeal will tell the 
 story of his unselfish life to other generations. 
 
 And the moral of it all is: Let us not make the same 
 mistakes as did some of those of whom we have been speak^ 
 ing. Let us not be dilatory, indifferent, faithless. Let us 
 rather emulate the many things in which we can so clearly see 
 that others of them were right — let us be loyal and true to the 
 Church ; never ashamed of her — never apologetic concerning 
 her — but speaking the truth in love and consecrating to her and 
 her interests our time, our money, our labors, our prayers, our 
 very selves. 
 
 The old problems are ever at our doors, asking us to 
 solve them. The history of the past tells us that prompt, posi- 
 tive, generous, self-respecting action will always ensure best 
 results. There is room for all to work — no one need feel unin- 
 vited — no one need be unemployed. 
 
 Let our motto be 
 
 "Pro Christ o et pro Ecdesia.^ 
 
THE CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Organized May 17, 1910. 
 
 Incorporated June 10, 1913, 
 
 OFFICERS— 1915. 
 President. — Henry Budd, Esq., Philadelphia. 
 ]^ ice-President. — Major ^Ioses Veale, Philadelphia. 
 Secretary. — Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr., 525 South Forty-first 
 
 Street, Philadelphia. 
 Treasurer. — John Thomson, A.M., Litt.D., N. E. Gor. 
 
 Thirteenth and Locust Streets. Philadelphia. 
 
 EXECUTIVE BOARD. 
 Terms expire 1916. 
 Allen Childs, Philadelphia. 
 Albert S. Haeseler^ Philadelphia. 
 James M. Lamberton, Esq.,* Harrisburg, Pa. 
 Rev. John Stockton Littell, D.D., Keene, N. H. 
 Rev. C. Braxton Bryan, D.D., Petersburg, Va. 
 
 Terms expire 1917. 
 Rev. Arnold Harris Hord, Philadelphia. 
 Rev. G. Woolsey Hodge, S.T.D., Philadelphia. 
 Rev. George C. Hall, D.D., Wilmington, Del. 
 Edward Harmon Virgin. New York City. 
 Rev. E. Clowes Chorley, Garrison, N. Y. 
 
 Terms expire 1918. 
 Rev. Henry Riley Gummey, D.D., Downingtown, Pa. 
 Rev. Arthur Lowndes, D.D., New York City. 
 Rev. Horace F. Fuller, Philadelphia. 
 Rev. William F. Peirce, L.H.D., D.D., Gambier, Ohio. 
 Hon. L. Bradford Prince, LL.D., Santa Fe, N. M. 
 
 *Deceased. 
 
Church H 
 
 Church aia 
 
 The 
 
 I'M ■ 
 
CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY 55 
 
 January 21, 191 1. 
 
 The annual meeting of the Church Historical Society was 
 held in the Lecture Room of the Widener Free Library, 
 Philadelphia, Thursday evening, January 21, 191 1, the presi- 
 dent in the chair. 
 
 The Executive Board presented its report for the first 
 year of the Society, and announced the receipt of contribu- 
 tions from the American Church Union, Dr. A. P. Bowie, 
 Allen Childs, Rev. James Biddle Halsey, the Misses Kath- 
 arine K. Hare and Lillian H. Hare, J. Edward Haverstick, 
 Rev. Arnold Harris Hord, Rev. Elisha B. Joyce, B. A. 
 Mitchell, Rev. Walter C. Pugh, Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr., M. A. 
 B. Smith, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Rev. Louis C. Wash- 
 burn, D.D., and Mrs. W. Beaumont Whitney. The gift of 
 Mr. Childs was the original manuscript of the "Report of the 
 Committee on Intercourse with the Church of Sweden," ap- 
 pointed by the General Convention of 1859 ; said report signed 
 by John H. Hopkins, chairman ; Charles P. Mcllvaine, 
 Stephen Elliott, Alonzo Potter, George Burgess, Francis L. 
 Hawks, Hugh Davey Evans, and Henry M. Mason. 
 
 An amendment to the Constitution, proposed at the meet- 
 ing of November 9, 19 10, was adopted whereby the member- 
 ship of the Executive Board was increased from six to nine 
 members, three to be elected each year, the term of service to 
 be three years. 
 
 The election of officers resulted as follows : 
 President — Henry Budd, Esq. 
 Vice-President — Maj. Moses Veale. 
 Secretary — Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr. 
 Treasurer — Spencer P. Hazard. 
 Executive Board (to serve until 1914) — 
 
 Rev. Arnold Harris Hord, 
 
 John E. Baird. 
 
 Elected to the Executive Board in accordance with the fore- 
 going constitutional amendment: 
 To serve until 19 12 — 
 
 Rev. G. iWoolsey Hodge. 
 
 To serve until 1913 — 
 
 James M. Lamberton, Esq. 
 
 To serve until 19 14 — 
 
 Franklin Spencer Edmonds, Esq. 
 
56 CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 The Rev. Samuel F. Hotchkin, Registrar of the Diocese 
 of Pennsylvania, delivered an address, the subject of which 
 was, "Brief Sketches of the Lives of Bishops White, Onder- 
 donk, Potter, Bowman, and Stevens."* 
 
 April 28, 191 1. 
 
 The fourth meeting of the Church Historical Society was 
 held in the rooms of the Church Club of Philadelphia, Friday 
 evening, April 28, 191 1, the president in the chair. 
 
 Following the transaction of routine business, an address, 
 entitled "An Appreciation of the Rev. John Mason Neale, 
 D.D.," was delivered by John Thomson, M.A., Librarian of 
 the Free Library of Philadelphia. 
 
 October 28, 191 1. 
 
 The fifth meeting of the Church Historical Society was 
 held in the Assembly Room of the Church House, Philadel- 
 phia, Saturday evening, October 28, 191 1, the president in 
 the chair. 
 
 After the transaction of routine business, the Right Rev. 
 Daniel Sylvester Tuttle, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Miss- 
 ouri, and Presiding Bishop of the Church in the United 
 States, delivered an address on "The Early Missions of the 
 Church in Utah, Idaho and Montana."! 
 
 January 10, 19 12. 
 
 The second annual meeting of the Church Historical So- 
 ciety was held in the rooms of the Church Club of Philadel- 
 phia, Wednesday evening, January 10, 19 12, the president 
 in the chair. 
 
 The treasurer presented his report to December 31, 191 1, 
 showing a balance on hand of $89.87, and ,the annual report 
 of the Executive Board was read, in which it was stated that 
 during the year just ended, gifts had been received from Rev. 
 J. B. Blanchet, D.D., Rev. Hugh L. Burleson, Edwin H. 
 Gorham, J. Edward Haverstick, Rev. W. Northey Jones, Mrs. 
 Hugh M. North, Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr., and Mrs. A. E. Wager- 
 Smith. 
 
 * Note. — This address was later extended so as to include a sketch 
 of Bishop Whitaker, and was published by the Diocese of Pennsyl- 
 vania as a supplement to its Convention Journal for 191 1. 
 
 + Note. — It is a matter of deep regret to the Executive Board that 
 no stenographer was present, for the Bishop delivered his address 
 without notes. 
 
CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY 57 
 
 The annual election resulted as follows: 
 President — Henry Budd, Esq. 
 Vice-President — Maj. Moses Veale. 
 Secretary — Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr. 
 Treasurer — Rev. Horace F. Fuller, 
 Executive Board (to serve until 191 5) — 
 
 Rev. Henry Riley Gummey, D.D., 
 
 John Thomson, M.A., 
 
 Rev. Arthur Lowndes, D.D, 
 
 Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LL.D., L.H.D., of the Diocese 
 of Long Island, delivered an address upon "The Holy Cath- 
 olic Apostolic Church of England in America: Its Establish- 
 ment and Right of Precedence." 
 
 April 30, 1912. 
 
 The seventh regular meeting of the Church Historical 
 Society was held in the Neighborhood House of Christ 
 Church, Philadelphia, Tuesday evening, April 30, 19 12, the 
 president in the chair. 
 
 By resolution, the Executive Board was instructed to 
 have the Society incorporated under the laws of the State of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Rev. Arthur Lowndes, D.D., of New York, editor 
 of the Archives of the General Convention, delivered the fol- 
 lowing address, entitled "1812, or the Church and State in 
 America One Hundred Years Ago." 
 
1812, 
 
 or 
 
 THE CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 
 
 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 
 
 By Arthur Lowndes, Doctor in Divinity. 
 
 A hundred years ago tonight,* the debates in Congress 
 were going on as to whether this country should declare war 
 against Great Britain, or not. As we read the accounts of 
 those debates we are struck by the lack of wisdom and fore- 
 sight shown by the majority of the speakers. It is true that 
 the Orders of Council promulgated by Great Britain were 
 annoying and irritating to American commerce, but how to 
 meet the situation was not so easy. The American Commis- 
 sioners at the Court of St. James had realized far more 
 forcibly than the politicians in the United States the great 
 difficulties. I am not going to weary you tonight with any 
 minute account of the negotiations between Great Britain and 
 the United States. 
 
 Briefly speaking, this was the situation: Napoleon had 
 crushed every power in Europe save England. He had real- 
 ized that he could not successfully invade the tight little 
 Island, and that the only way by which he could strike a 
 mortal blow to her was by destroying, if he could, her mari- 
 time commerce. After the battle of Jena and the defeat of 
 Prussia, he issued what is known as the Berlin Decree. After 
 recapitulating what he was pleased to call the wickedness of 
 England, he "declared that till she mended her ways the whole 
 coast of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, was in a 
 state of blockade." All trade with the British Islands was 
 forbidden. Englishmen and property belonging to them were 
 to be seized wherever found. All goods, wares, and merchan- 
 dise, the product of England or her colonies, were made law- 
 ful prize, and half the profits of such seizures set apart to 
 indemnify merchants despoiled by English cruisers. No ves- 
 sel which had so much as touched at an English port was to 
 be suffered to enter any port or colony of France. 
 
 The decree was directed against all neutral trade. But 
 the only neutral trade worthy of consideration was that car- 
 ried on in American bottoms. In London, therefore, men of 
 business read it with the deepest interest. At Lloyd's Cofifee- 
 House, where the underwriters gathered; on the Stock Ex- 
 
 * Read before the Church Historical Society on Tuesday evening, 
 April 30th, J012, 
 
 (58) 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA lOO YEARS AGO 59 
 
 change ; at the Bank ; at the Foreign Office in Downing Street, 
 the questions of the hour were. Will the decree be enforced? 
 If it be enforced, will the Americans submit? Will the 
 Americans resist? And if they resist will they fight, and if 
 they fight will they join us in the war? So serious did the 
 matter seem that Monroe and Pinckney were informed that 
 no treaty could be made till it was known what the United 
 States would do. The treaty which is being made, said in 
 substance, the British Commissioners, binds us to observe 
 the neutral rights of the United States. Nay, more, it yields 
 to the United States much of what we believe to be our un- 
 questionable rights of war. To sign such a letter after read- 
 ing the Berlin Decree would be to hinder ourselves from 
 counteracting the policy of France. To do this would be un- 
 wise, unless the United States will agree to uphold her neutral 
 rights against the decrees of Napoleon. Will your Govern- 
 ment do this? Will you consent to draw up a treaty and 
 send it to the United States with this understanding: the 
 treaty to become binding when your Government formally 
 agrees to maintain her rights on the seas against the aggres- 
 sions of France? 
 
 As we look back, we see very clearly that the wise course 
 for the United States would have been to have thrown in 
 her lot with Great Britain against the common foe — Napoleon. 
 I say common foe advisedly — because, while the British Or- 
 ders in Council did hurt American commerce, still they did so 
 chiefly indirectly, while the French advisedly and of set pur- 
 pose had been molesting our American commerce, and that 
 without any apparent excuse. In connection with this the 
 following extract from a private letter from a Philadelphian, 
 James Robertson, to his brother, Robert, written fourteen 
 years before, that is, on May 28, 1798, may prove inter- 
 esting: "It must give you pleasure to hear that Congress 
 are acting with much more decision within this week or 
 two, than formerly. It affords room to expect, a more favour- 
 able issue to our present gloomy prospects, than, three weeks 
 ago, there was any reason to hope for. With union in her 
 Councils, and the ample resources of this country, she has 
 nothing to fear. — The Bill authorizing the capture of French 
 Privateers passed, with little opposition, and by a very re- 
 spectable Majority. This was a little surprizing, as it must 
 be acknowledged, it was a very delicate subject; and the more 
 surprizing as it may be considered as the death blow to that 
 party, who have been so uniform in their opposition, even to 
 measures of defence. The Armed Ship Ganges, of 20 Guns 
 has sailed, completely manned, and commanded by an intrepid 
 and experienced officer, Capt. Dale, who, I doubt not, will 
 soon give a good account of himself. The Frigate is nearly 
 
60 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 ready, as is also another ship called the Delaware, lately pur- 
 chased by Govt. She is expected to sail in a few days. In 
 the course of a short time, there will be a respectable force 
 on the coast, and I trust will soon scour it of those Pirates, 
 which have infested it so long. — A resolution passed the 
 House of Representatives yesterday, for bringing in a Bill 
 to suspend all commercial intercourse with France. These 
 measures, besides the real advantage they will be of in the 
 meantime, to the country, by preserving much valuable prop- 
 erty, will strike terror into the tyrants of France, by con- 
 vincing them that their plans for governing this country by 
 their diplomatic skill, are blown up, and by the dread of fam- 
 ine in the West Indies, which a suspension of intercourse 
 would hardly fail to occasion. The hectoring letters from 
 their Agents there, of the advantages, and the safety of mak- 
 ing shipments to them, will justly be treated, as insidious 
 wiles, to draw the property of Americans into their hands. 
 But the bait will not take. I think of all the insolence that 
 I have yet heard of, has been exceeded by a letter from one of 
 the Agents, lately published, where he calls the dispatches of 
 the American Envoys, a libel. It is astonishing to me that 
 any Americans, can read such insulting language with pa- 
 tience; but, patience under injuries is a virtue which the 
 people of this country have too long practiced. It has ceased 
 to be a virtue. I trust, however, the day of retribution will 
 soon overtake, their unprincipled enemies. And, as sure as 
 there is a just God, it will be an awful one. 
 
 "I knew the Memorial from the American Commission- 
 ers to the Directory, which I lately sent, would please you. 
 It is as clear and satisfactory, and as ably drawn up as any 
 paper of the kind I ever read. But, it was scarcely to be 
 expected, it would have any effect on the Directory. It is 
 not from ignorance they have acted so wickedly towards this 
 country, but from a desire of plunder, and of governing us, 
 and making the people, and the treasures of this country 
 subservient to their ambitious views. For my part, I have no 
 expectation of any accommodation being effected with them, 
 and I therefore sincerely wish, the Com'rs were once out of 
 their country. I am not without apprehensions for their 
 safety. My only hope is, that the vessels which were sent 
 for them, would reach France before the dispatches; for, 
 should the latter be published in France, before the Envoys 
 get away, it is to be apprehended, their situation would be 
 dangerous. I trust however, they will escape in safety. I 
 dare say you read with great pleasure, the many excellent, 
 and spirited Addresses to the President, and his still more 
 bold and energetic Answers. It must afford great satisfac- 
 tion to every friend to his country, that such a firm, and 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 6l 
 
 able Officer is at the head of affairs. I always had a very 
 exalted opinion of Mr. Adams, but his conduct lately has, if 
 possible, raised him in my estimation. No one can have a 
 more favorable opinion of Genl. Washington, than I have. 
 I always thought him eminently endowed with those talents, 
 which fits a man for public life, either in a civil or military 
 capacity; and I believe that had he continued in office, dur- 
 ing the present critical times, he would have fulfilled the duties 
 of it, with credit to himself, and done as much, as man could 
 do for the advantage of the country. After all, I do not think 
 he would have done better than Mr. Adams; nor, do I think 
 he would in his Answers to any addresses, expressed him- 
 self with so much freedom, of the conduct of the French, 
 or their partizans in this country. I highly approve of it. The 
 people everywhere have expressed their confidence in him, 
 and it is therefore right that they should know what his 
 opinion is, of their enemies. His Answer to the Addresses 
 of the young men of thjs city was really excellent; but the 
 very best, I have yet seen, was the Address from Harris- 
 burg in this State, with the Answer. The Answer to the 
 Princeton Students Address, is likewise masterly. I have 
 understood, that some young men from New York, came on 
 lately with theirs, but as it has not yet been published, I 
 can say nothing about it. Though the President must be 
 highly gratified, with such flattering marks of attention from 
 all parts of the United States, yet, it really is imposing a 
 great deal of business on him to write so many Answers. 
 Though they are all the same in substance, it is in some de- 
 gree necessary to write an Answer to each, both as a mark 
 of respect, and likewise to make them correspond to the 
 style of the Addresses. But to a man of his capacity it must 
 be easy and there is nothing to be regretted but the loss of 
 his time. They are all written with correctness, ease, and a 
 great deal of feeling. They do honour both to his head and 
 heart." 
 
 Nothing official was done. It is true that American 
 ships harassed the French on sea, but there was no declaration 
 of war — and as the Directory in 1798 desired to wipe out 
 American commerce, so did Napoleon afterwards. It was the 
 settled purpose of all in authority in France to accomplish 
 this end. 
 
 In 1811, Napoleon boldly declared "the decrees of Berlin 
 and Milan are the fundamental laws of my Empire. The 
 fate of American Commerce will soon be decided. I will 
 favour it if the United States conform to these decrees.^ In a 
 contrary case their ships will be driven from my Empire." 
 
 France cared nothing for the United States, and had 
 England been defeated and crushed, it is certain that Napoleon 
 
62 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 would have endeavored to annex the United States. The 
 United States was flooded with pamphlets inciting the people 
 to war against Great Britain and exclaiming against the per- 
 fidy of even doubting "their old friend and ally." The poli- 
 ticians in Congress spoke much about British gold, but there 
 is a strong suspicion that French gold paid many a writer of 
 these pamphlets. Meanwhile the debates in Congress con- 
 tinued and all sorts of contradictory reasons were given in 
 favour of a war with Great Britain, but when it came to 
 measures for providing the funds there was a curious spec- 
 tacle of each State trying to tax the other and to free itself. 
 
 The orators might want war, but the solid citizens did 
 not want to contribute a cent towards it. The South would 
 not listen to a salt tax, the West would have nothing to do 
 with a land tax, if a whiskey tax were imposed Maryland 
 would benefit, while Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky 
 would have to bear the burden of it, and finally this strange 
 recommendation was made, that "none of these taxes should 
 be laid unless war actually began, that none should continue 
 longer than one year after peace, and that each State might 
 assume and pay so much of the direct tax as fell to its share." 
 
 With the question of war or peace being in the balance 
 there suddenly arrived at Boston two men who called them- 
 selves John Henry and Edward de Crillon. They were full 
 of their grievances against England. 
 
 Crillon went to Washington, and bargained for the sale 
 of the Henry letters to Monroe; the letters purported to be 
 accounts of the angry feelings of the Federalists and of their 
 threats of rebellion and secession and of the negotiations un- 
 dertaken by them with the Governor General of Canada. The 
 price asked for these letters was $125,000 — the sum paid was 
 $50,000. Their actual value had been correctly appraised by 
 Lord Liverpool, to whom they had been previously offered, 
 as not worth a shilling for the lot. By a unanimous vote the 
 House sent the letters to the Committee on Foreign Relations. 
 
 As we look back, we see plainly that this expose pre- 
 cipitated the decision. Pressed on every side, Madison finally 
 declared war on June 19, 1812, 
 
 John Henry was an Irishman by birth, but a Philadel- 
 phian by residence. It is pathetic to remember that this 
 rascal married Sophia, the daughter of Parson Duche, and 
 a sweetheart of John Henry Hobart. Poor little Sophia was 
 evidently dazzled by the plausible Irishman, and refused to 
 accept the offer of marriage from the staid young deacon who 
 was then in charge of Trinity Church, Oxford. 
 
 As one of the conditions of the sale, Henry had wisely 
 insisted on the provision that his precious documents should 
 not be given out till he was safely at sea. As for Crillon, 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA lOO YEARS AGO 63 
 
 he also announced that he must return to France. Nothing 
 could check his eagerness, and on April first he left Washing- 
 ton, laden with despatches to Barlow and Bassano. But his 
 courtly manners, his charming conversation, his patriotism, 
 his admiration for Napoleon, had not been forgotten by the 
 men who had lionized him at Washington when it began to 
 be whispered that he was an imposter. The whispers were 
 soon confirmed by positive statements, and Madison, the Sec- 
 retaries, and society learned with deep mortification that 
 no such person as Count Edward was known to the Crillon 
 family ; that no such officer was known in the Army of France ; 
 that no such estate as that of St. Martial "in Lebeur near 
 the Spanish border" existed; and that the man on whom 
 Crillon drew his drafts in favor of Henry had been dead 
 five years. It remained, however, for posterity to discover 
 that the pretended count was in reality a secret agent of the 
 French police. 
 
 So the War of 1812 was begun — precipitated of set pur- 
 pose by two rascally French spies, and needless since the 
 very cause of complaint, the British Orders in Council, had 
 been decided to be revoked by the British Ministry, and only 
 the sudden assassination qf the Prime Minister had delayed 
 the proclamation which, however, was actually issued on June 
 23, 181 2, not knowing that only four days previously war 
 had been declared by the United States. It is a melancholy 
 reflection that if there had then been a cable connection be- 
 tween the two countries, there would have been no war. 
 
 The war proved not only disastrous to the American land 
 forces, but nearly brought about the secession of the whole 
 of New England. 
 
 The passionate orators who had urged on the declara- 
 tion of war had all agreed that while the United States could 
 inflict no damage on Great Britain on the seas, yet, on land, 
 uniform victory was predicted, and for this reason the war 
 will be beneficial — Quebec will easily fall, Halifax will be 
 taken, and with the loss of the Canadas British power and 
 intrigue in America will be ended. Let us then have, they 
 cried, a war on land at the public cost, and a war on sea at 
 private cost. 
 
 This feeling was voiced by Thomas Jeflferson, who, as far 
 back as May 7th, 1786, wrote from Paris, to David Hum- 
 phreys, on the European outlook, and said that in case of war 
 with Great Britain, "Should such an event become necessary, 
 we have need of only one resolution to place us on sure 
 ground. That is to abandon that element, where they are 
 strong, and we nothing, & to decide the contest on terra firma 
 where we have all to gain & can lose nothing." 
 
 Curiously enough, all these predictions were wrong. 
 
64 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 Neither Quebec nor Halifax were taken, nor were the Can- 
 adas annexed. The American land forces met with a series 
 of defeats and the city of Washington was burned and oc- 
 cupied by the British troops. 
 
 It was left to the Navy to redeem the honour of the 
 American flag, and the victories of the ships were as brilliant 
 as they were audacious. 
 
 A hundred years ago tonight Wellington was, little by 
 little, driving the French out of Spain. Ciudad Rodrigo had 
 fallen, and three weeks before, on April 6th, Badajos had 
 been stormed and captured. Negotiations were being carried 
 on between Russia and Turkey, which were a month hence 
 to find their culmination in the Peace of Bycharest, whereby 
 the River Pruth was to be the boundary line between the two 
 empires. Napoleon was making his final preparations for 
 his war against Russia, the first act in which was his cap- 
 ture of Wilna two months hence, on June 28, little realiz- 
 ing that in little less than four months he was to begin his 
 retreat from Russia. In England the Perceval Ministry was 
 evidently hastening to its fall, which the assassination of Per- 
 ceval himself, on May nth, precipitated. 
 
 The exposition of his system of similia similibus curantur 
 was being expressed by Hahneman, and the homoeopathists, 
 amidst the ridicule of the older practitioners, were beginning 
 to make recruits to their system. 
 
 The first steam printing press, invented by Konig, the 
 German mathematician, was beginning its work. 
 
 We complain this year of the backwardness of our spring, 
 but the same complaint was being made a hundred years ago 
 tonight. There had been snow in Philadelphia on April 13th, 
 and the weather was cold and raw on April 30th, presaging 
 another fall of snow on May 4th. In 1812, the steamboat 
 "New Jersey" was plying between Philadelphia and White- 
 hall, two miles below Bordentown. 
 
 A railroad, the second in this country, was running from 
 Thomas Leiper's stone quarries, on Crum Creek, Delaware 
 County, to his landing on Ridley Creek, a distance of about 
 one mile. 
 
 This is what Watson says, but as steam for railroads 
 was not introduced till 1828 or 1829, I am inclined to think 
 that this railroad consisted only of rails laid down, perhaps 
 on an inclined plane. 
 
 'Tn the year 1812, Mr. George Shoemaker, then an inn- 
 keeper at Pottsville, and Nicholas Allen, discovered coal on 
 a piece of land they had purchased, now called Centreville. 
 Allen soon became disheartened, and gave up the concern to 
 Shoemaker, who, receiving encouragement from some gen- 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 65 
 
 tlemen in Philadelphia, got out a quantity of coal, and took 
 nine wagon-loads to Philadelphia. Here again, our coal met 
 with a host of opposition. On two wagonloads Mr. S. got 
 the carriage paid; the others he gave away to persons who 
 would attempt to use it. The result was against the coal; 
 those who tried it, pronounced it stone and not coal, good for 
 nothing, and Shoemaker an imposter! At length, after a 
 multitude of disappointments, and when Shoemaker was about 
 to abandon the coal and return home, Messrs. Melon and 
 Bishop, of Delaware County, made an experiment with some 
 of the coal in their rolling mill, and found it to succeed beyond 
 expectation, and to be a highly valuable and useful fuel. The 
 result of their experiments was published at the time in the 
 Philadelphia papers. Some experiments with the coal were 
 made in the works at the falls of Schuylkill, but without suc- 
 cess. Mr. Wernwag, the manager at the Phoenix works, at 
 French Creek, also made trial of the coal, and found it emi- 
 nently useful. From that time forward, the use of the coal 
 spread rapidly." 
 
 One hundred years ago, this very day, Louisiana was 
 admitted into the Union. 
 
 A century ago the population of Philadelphia was ap- 
 proaching one hundred thousand; it was the largest in the 
 country — but New York was rapidly gaining upon it. Hav- 
 ing been for a time the seat of government, it had acquired 
 somewhat of a metropolitan character, and during the French 
 Revolution and ascendency of Bonaparte many aristocratic 
 exiles made it their home and contributed to its culture. Some 
 made a livelihood by teaching languages and arts, especially 
 music; others brought scientific knowledge and the principles 
 of the Encyclopaedia. A diversified and parti-colored life had 
 replaced the simplicity and monotony of the provincial pe- 
 riod ; the age of contrasts had begun. Roman Catholicism and 
 deistic infidelity, the social refinements and license of Ver- 
 sailles, were all in evidence. Beside the French emigrants 
 there were many German and Irish Catholics ; Michael Egan, 
 a member of the Franciscan order, had just been consecrated 
 their bishop. 
 
 In the winter of 1811-1812 theatre-goers were in a wild 
 state of excitement over the arrival of George Frederick 
 Cooke, the English tragedian. 
 
 "He was engaged for twelve nights, and made his first 
 appearance, on the 25th of March, as Richard III. There 
 were no reserved seats in those days, and it was not an un- 
 usual thing to see a servant, or some one hired for the pur- 
 pose, rush into the house as soon as he could gain admittance, 
 drop into some desirable seat, and occupy it until his master 
 
66 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA lOO YEARS AGO 
 
 or employer came to claim it. On the occasion of Cooke's 
 first appearance, which was on a Monday, such precautionary 
 measures were of little avail. As early as Sunday evening — 
 as related by Charles R. Leslie in his 'Autobiography' — the 
 steps of the theatre were covered with men who had come 
 prepared to spend the night there, that they might have the 
 first chance of taking places in the boxes. Some actually took 
 off their hats and put on nightcaps. When the doors were 
 opened at ten o'clock, Monday morning, the street in front 
 of the theatre was impassable. The rush was tremendous. 
 Men literally fought their way through, coats were torn off 
 the backs of their owners, hats knocked off and mashed ; one 
 fellow, swinging himself up by means of the iron bracket of 
 a lamp, ran over the heads of the crowd into the theatre. By 
 evening the crowd that besieged the doors was so dense and 
 tumultuous that it was evident ticket-holders, and especially 
 ladies, could not make their way through it without danger." 
 
 The theatre was the old Market Street Theatre, and it 
 may interest you to know that Cooke lies buried in St. Paul's 
 Church-yard, New York, where there is a monument erected 
 to his memory by his friend, Edmund Kean, 
 
 When we come to take a survey of the Church as it was 
 in this country one hundred years ago, on April 30, 1812, 
 we shall find much to sadden us. Apathy and indifference 
 almost everywhere, and yet we are tonight more fortunate 
 than were the few zealous souls who were living a century ago. 
 We know that this apathy and indifference was soon about 
 to be dissipated and that the Church was not only going to 
 arouse herself, but to become actually aggressive within a very 
 few years and that through that aggressiveness, we who are 
 alive tonight have entered upon the labours and benefited by 
 the warfare waged by the soldiers and captains of our Church. 
 
 We had then seven Bishops, White, Provoost, Claggett, 
 Jarvis, Moore, Hobart, and Griswold. The report made to 
 the General Convention of 181 1 gave a total number of clergy 
 in the United States as 178, but there must have been at 
 least 220 in all, as Virginia and other Southern dioceses made 
 no report. Among the parochial clergy who afterwards be- 
 came Bishops were Dehon, Channing Moore, Kemp, Croes, 
 Bowen, Chase, Meade, Stone, Kemper, and Gadsden. Among 
 those who held or who afterwards attained honour and prefer- 
 ment are found the names of Beach, Berrian, Eaton, Addison, 
 Andrews, Hubbard, Bowden, Jarvis, Wharton, Abercrombie, 
 Blackwell, Pilmore, Beasley, Smith, Judd, Percy, Bronson, 
 Burhans, Cave Jones, Wilkins, Rudd, Crocker, Gordon, Mc- 
 Vickar and Absalom Jones. To these names must be added 
 those of the two men who never attained any honour or pre- 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA lOO YEARS AGO (yj 
 
 ferment, whose lot was one of poverty, disappointments, diffi- 
 culties, hardships and neglect, but who were, perhaps, the 
 greatest in the Kingdom of God — Daniel Nash and Davenport 
 Phelps. 
 
 Over that territory known as the Eastern Diocese, com- 
 prising Massachusetts, which then included Maine, New 
 Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island, Alexander Viets 
 Griswold had been placed just eleven months ago as its first 
 Bishop. Griswold was an excellent scholar, perhaps the most 
 scholarly of the seven Bishops of that day, he had a keen 
 judgment of men and a ready appreciation of what had to 
 be done in the way of the extension of the Church. He was 
 untiring and faithful in his oversight of the huge and unprom- 
 ising territory committed to his charge. His manners were 
 so mild and unassuming that men failed to recognize beneath 
 that gentle exterior the intellectuality of the mind and the 
 firmness of purpose. 
 
 In Connecticut, Abraham Jarvis had succeeded Seabury 
 to the Metropolitical See of all America, and had faithfully 
 and conscientiously carried out the work of his predecessor. 
 Afflicted with asthma, and weak of body, he was, in 1812, 
 living in practical retirement in New Haven. He looked for- 
 ward with pride to the future career of his son, Samuel 
 Farmer, who had been ordained two years previously, and 
 who was beginning to evidence that zeal for learning which 
 afterwards made him the great scholar of the American 
 Church. 
 
 In New York, Trinity Church was paramount. This was 
 owing, partly, to her endowments, but largely to the well- 
 merited influence of the very able men whom the parish had 
 selected. Connected with Trinity parish, there were three 
 Bishops, Provoost, Moore, and Hobart. Provoost was what 
 we should now call a retired Bishop, Moore was the actual 
 Bishop, and Hobart was his assistant. Owing to the contra- 
 dictory action taken by the House of Bishops in the election 
 of Benjamin Moore, there had been a good deal of contro- 
 versy in 1811 over the precise rights of Bishop Provoost and 
 Bishop Moore, but into this I need not enter. The parish and 
 the Diocese were fortunate in having men of such marked 
 ability as its early rectors and bishops. Provoost was a man 
 of strong parts, well educated, scholarly in tastes, refined and 
 courtly, and unidentified with the Tory cause during the war, 
 he was able to win to his side the prominent Whig families, 
 and not be a cause of irritation to the common people as the 
 devoted loyalist and gentleman, Charles Inglis, would have 
 been. Provoost's courtly manners at the same time conciliated 
 the few families who were Tories at heart. 
 
 All sorts of absurd stories, manufactured out of whole 
 
68 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 cloth, have been stupidly told about Samuel Provoost, but 
 the simple fact remains that he conscientiously performed all 
 the duties of his Bishopric as the office of Bishop was then 
 considered in England. He has been taxed as being a lati- 
 tudinarian by those who have never read his sermons. For- 
 tunately, hundreds of his MSS. sermons have been recov- 
 ered, and he who reads them will find them models of brev- 
 ity and terse reasoning, and if they were preached today would 
 be considered by many as being too High Church in tone. 
 
 He was a wise administrator, and to him and to Abraham 
 Beach, must be given the praise of having conserved, not 
 only the patrimony of the parish, but also its spiritual in- 
 heritance at a time of confusion and disintegration. A hun- 
 dred years ago he was living in retirement, owing to failing 
 health. 
 
 Benjamin Moore was not so virile a man as either his 
 predecessor or his successor. Gentle and quiet, he went on 
 his way unassumingly, but to him must be given the praise 
 of having been the first Bishop in the American Church to 
 realize the necessity of missionary work in new settlements. 
 He not only visited his large Diocese carefully and punctually, 
 but gave directions to Davenport Phelps as to how he should 
 conduct his missionary work in the northern part of the State, 
 which are still models in instruction for missionary work. He 
 took a warm and personal interest in his clergy, as their let- 
 ters to him prove. In 1812, he had been for some time dis- 
 abled by paralysis from doing any active work. 
 
 John Henry Hobart stands alone, and defies characteriza- 
 tion. He was restless, impetuous, ardent, untiring, loving, 
 and yet studious, thoughtful, dignified, and negligent of his 
 friends. His one dominant passion was zeal for the House of 
 the Lord, and in that crucible all other qualities are fused. 
 He was the remodeller of the Episcopate, the type of the mod- 
 ern rector and parish priest, the insistent advocate of the 
 grace of the sacraments, the preacher of righteousness, the 
 proclaimer of the divine character of the American Church, 
 the founder of the Catholic Movement in the Anglican Com- 
 munion, and the standard bearer of what, in 1812, was con- 
 sidered a forlorn hope, the jurisdiction of the American 
 Church over the whole continent of the United States, and 
 the trumpeter calling upon all her sleeping children to rally 
 to her standard. Trinity Church, and not Oxford, is the 
 cradle of the Oxford movement, and Trinity Church is the 
 alma mater of that type of Christianity which has for its 
 motto, Hobart's words, "Apostolic Order, and Evangelical 
 Truth." 
 
 On the staflf of Trinity Church, besides these three 
 Bishops, were a hundred years ago tonight, Abraham Beach, 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA lOO YEARS AGO 69 
 
 William Berrian, Thomas Yardley How, and William Edward 
 Wyatt. 
 
 In New York City, counting Trinity Church and its 
 Chapels, there were twelve churches in 1812. 
 
 To account for Hobart's preponderating influence in the 
 whole Church, and not only in New York, I have gone over 
 the whole list of the 178 clergy returned to the General Con- 
 vention of 181 1, and I find that 93 of them were in regular 
 correspondence with him, that is, more than one-half of the 
 clergy sought his advice and counsel. We must remember 
 that the revival one hundred years ago was not due to Hobart 
 only, but to the number of men who looked up to him as a 
 leader and counsellor. 
 
 Churchmen in New Jersey, having no Bishop of their 
 own, looked to New York for Episcopal advice and ministra- 
 tions. The leading men in that State were John Croes and 
 John Churchill Rudd. 
 
 About William White, it would be idle for me to say 
 anything in this place. 
 
 It is fitting to say here that John Henry Hobart was a 
 native of Philadelphia, baptized and confirmed in this historic 
 church and brought up under the ministrations of Dr. White. 
 
 At Christ Church, a. hundred years ago tonight, beside 
 Bishop White, there were Dr. Blackwell and Dr. Abercrombie, 
 and Jackson Kemper was to come there the following month. 
 Dr. Pilmore was at St. Paul's, and Absalom Jones, the first 
 colored priest of the American Church, was in charge of St. 
 Thomas's. 
 
 Pittsburgh was then the outpost of the Church, and there 
 had labored faithfully John Taylor, who had organized Trinity 
 Church in 1805. It was the only live parish in Pennsylvania, 
 west of the mountains. Joseph Doddridge had in vain pleaded 
 and pleaded that if the Church could do nothing for the 
 western part of Pennsylvania that at any rate a separate Dio- 
 cese could be erected. Doddridge says that after waiting 
 eighteen months for an answer he was at last told nothing 
 could be done. 
 
 "I lost all hope of ever witnessing any prosperity in our 
 beloved Church in this part of America. Everything con- 
 nected with it fell into a state of languor. The vestries were 
 not re-elected, and our young people joined other societies. 
 Could I prevent them when I indulged no hope of a succes- 
 sion in the ministry? ... I entertained no hope that even 
 my own remains, after death, would be committed to the dust 
 with the funeral services of my own Church." 
 
 Chase was consecrated for Ohio in 1819, and it was not 
 till six years afterward, that is, in 1825, that William White 
 paid his first visit to that part of his Diocese. 
 
70 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 In Delaware, which was practically under Bishop White, 
 the clergy were : William Pryce, at the Old Swedes, who did 
 an immense amount of good by the republication of standard 
 and useful books on sound Anglican theology; Robert Clay, 
 at Newcastle ; James Wiltbank, at Lewes ; and Hamilton Bell, 
 at Georgetown. 
 
 In Maryland, Bishop Claggett was at the helm. He was 
 the first Bishop consecrated in this country, uniting the Scottish 
 and English lines of succession. Claggett was energetic, but 
 feeble in health, unfortunately. Still he tried hard to raise 
 the tone of Churchmanship both among the clergy and the 
 laity, as evidenced by his pastoral of 1804. He took especial 
 pains to plant the Church in the Southwest, sending Edward 
 Gantt and other men there on missionary tours. 
 
 Bend was at St. Paul's, and Kemp and Kewley were 
 on the Eastern Shore, and Jackson at St. Peter's, Talbot 
 County, all men energetic and definite in their teaching of 
 the peculiar claims of the American Church, as was also, in 
 his quiet way, William Murray Stone. It may be of interest 
 to remind you that Bishop Claggett wore a mitre at great 
 functions. In Virginia, Madison had but just died about 
 seven weeks previously and had left the Church in a very 
 feeble condition. James Madison had always considered that 
 his duty lay first to the College of William and Mary. He 
 had right ideas of the duties of the clergy and laity, as is 
 shown by his convention addresses, but unfortunately he never 
 magnified his office of Bishop. 
 
 The Church, in Virginia, in April, 181 2, was in a de- 
 plorable condition, partly through the indolence of the Church 
 people and partly owing to the absorption of the best families 
 in the game of politics, partly owing to the prevalence of a 
 species of infidelity considered as a fashionable importation 
 from France. When the Methodists and Baptists traversed 
 Virginia, it is no wonder that some Virginians, hungry for 
 any religion, flocked to their standards, or that their ardent 
 missionary zeal made sad inroads into the Church. The cul- 
 minating blow was the confiscation by the State of the Church 
 glebes in 1802. After this, Virginia churchmen seem to have 
 settled down to despair. In 181 2, the faint beginnings of a 
 revival were stirring the dry bones. A few of the younger 
 men determined to revive the Church. Among them was 
 William Meade, who, owing to his intimacy with Edward J. 
 Lee and other young men, all friends of John Henry Hobart, 
 and loyal churchmen, deplored the decline of religion, and 
 determined to bring about a better state of things. In this con- 
 nection may be given a letter written twenty months later, 
 but showing the spirit actuating Meade and his young friends 
 in 1812. 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA lOO YEARS AGO 7 1 
 
 "December 31ST, 1813. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 "Your communications concerning Doctor More I have 
 received & am well pleased with; I think his conduct very 
 correct. His proposals raise him in my estimation. I think 
 we may venture to assure him of the office of Bishop. Sur- 
 prized I am indeed that Doctor Hobart should recommend 
 him "Timeo Danaos etiam dona ferentes." I hope the People 
 of Richmond will accept his terms, if they are wise & if God 
 yet smiles on Episcopacy, they will gladly take him. I be- 
 lieve I shall write to Doctor Brockenburg on the subject. 
 Doctor More should be in Richmond before April. I am 
 truly sorry that you will be absent when I come down. God 
 willing — nothing preventing — I shall be there toward the last 
 of next week. I shall certainly be at your house. With 
 prayers for the welfare of your soul & the happiness of your 
 present life I remain your sincere friend, 
 
 "WILLIAM MEADE. 
 "Superscription — 
 
 "Mr. Edmund Lee, 
 "Alexandria, 
 
 "Columbia." 
 
 In North Carolina, the Church was at a low ebb. Not- 
 withstanding the efforts of Charles Pettigrew, who was elected 
 Bishop, Solomon Hailing, Parson Meiklejohn and Parson 
 Miller and a few earnest laymen, who, from 1790 to 1795, 
 worked hard to revive the Church, it seemed almost impos- 
 sible to waken her, although faithful work was done at Wil- 
 mington, Edenton and New Bern. The arrival of men like 
 Bethel Judd, Adam Empie, and Gregory Thurston Bedell 
 marked the turn of the tide, and when Richard Channing 
 Moore became Bishop of Virginia he was placed in charge, 
 and did all in his power to hearten those who were working 
 for a revival of the Church. 
 
 In South Carolina the situation was equally deplorable. 
 St. Michael's and St. Philip's in Charleston continued their 
 work, and the Church was strong numerically in Charleston, 
 but with no thought of its responsibility outside of the city. 
 The South Carolinians had always been jealous of the powers 
 of a Bishop, and deferred as long as possible to have one. 
 Robert Smith, after a brief Episcopate of six years had died 
 in the autumn of 1801, but it was not until eleven years after- 
 ward that Dehon was consecrated the second Bishop of that 
 Diocese. When Dehon did assume charge, it was found that 
 he took his office very seriously; he was a real Bishop, and 
 pressed forward the work of Church extension. In 1812 
 there was only one man who took to heart the work of fur- 
 
^2 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 thering the cause of the Church, and that was Andrew 
 Fowler. 
 
 The first Confirmation ever held in the Diocese was in the 
 parish of Andrew Fowler in March, 1813. Mr. Fowler found 
 it not only necessary to instruct his candidates, but to issue a 
 tract explanatory of the rite for the benefit of the whole parish. 
 So important and momentous did he consider the event that he 
 wrote a minute account of it, with his address at the presenta- 
 tion of the candidates, to the Bishop. 
 
 In Georgia a like condition prevailed. Outside of the 
 parish of Savannah, there was complete apathy, an apathy not 
 broken until the zealous Dehon took charge of the Church on 
 his election to the Bishopric of South Carolina. 
 
 Louisiana, which had been ceded by France in 1802, was 
 made a State in 1812. 
 
 The Church in New Orleans had been organized June 
 2, 1805, through the efforts of a few laymen, notably James 
 M. Bradford, James C. Williamson and Edward Livingston. 
 In consequence of a communication sent by these men to John 
 Henry Hobart, on August 10, 1805, asking him to recommend 
 a suitable person for their minister. Philander Chase was sent 
 there. For six years, from November, 1805, to March, 181 1, 
 he displayed his restless energy in building up the parish. In 
 1812, the parish was vacant, but services were maintained by 
 laymen, until James Hull went there in 1814. 
 
 In West Virginia and in Ohio towns on the Ohio River, 
 Joseph Doddridge, a physician and priest, ministered faith- 
 fully, notwithstanding disappointments and discouragements of 
 all kinds. 
 
 One hundred years ago was formed that noble Society 
 for the Advancement of Christianity in Pennsylvania. Jack- 
 son Kemper was the prime mover in its formation. Its ob- 
 ject was to increase the supply of clergy; to provide for the 
 distribution of prayer books; to revive the decaying parishes; 
 to strengthen the feeble ones, and to plant new ones where 
 needed. Jackson Kemper was chosen as the first missionary 
 of the new society, and in the autumn of 1812 set out on that 
 remarkable tour of exploration which marked an era in the 
 Church in Pennsylvania and adjoining States. In his report 
 he states tha't Doddridge had told him that in his opinion half 
 of the 9riginal settlers of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee had 
 been Episcopalians, and that it was then not too late to recover 
 some of them. As you and I know, nothing was done, and the 
 Church lost those States. 
 
 Examine the last census returns, and see how weak the 
 Church is in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, 
 how infinitesimal our numbers are in those four States in com- 
 parison with the Roman Catholics, the Methodists, the Pres- 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO "JT, 
 
 byterians, or the Baptists, and as you sigh over the showing, 
 do not blame the men of today — they are doing all they can, 
 poor souls, to recover the lost headway ; but blame, and blame 
 severely the men of one hundred years ago and more, for 
 the wilful and woeful neglect of church-people, let alone their 
 apathy in extending the domains of the Church. 
 
 In his report, Kemper stated as his conclusions that the 
 apathy of the congregation is principally entirely owing to the 
 pastor who presides over it, and that the custom throughout 
 Pennsylvania, of being anti-rubrical, has been attended with 
 much fatal consequences to our Zion. 
 
 In 1812 we had at least 100,000 communicants, and about 
 220 clergy. 
 
 In 1 812 as far as I can make out, the Roman Catholics 
 had an Archbishop, four Bishops, and seventy priests, with 
 eighty churches in the United States, and numbering at least 
 200,000 adherents. 
 
 The Methodists, in 1812, reported a total of 156,852 
 whites, and 38,505 colored adherents, with 688 preachers, and 
 two Bishops or superintendents. 
 
 Today they number 5,749,838. 
 
 The population of the United States was seven and a quar- 
 ter millions. Today it is ninety-two millions, or fifteen times 
 greater. Taking this ratio of increase the last census ought 
 to have given us 1,500,000 communicants; to the Methodists, 
 2,350,000; and to the Romanists, 3,000,000. From this esti- 
 mated increase we have fallen short by 700,000. The Meth- 
 odists have 5.750,000, or have doubled the estimated increase, 
 and the Roman Catholics have 12,000,000, or have quadrupled 
 the estimated increase. 
 
 In 181 2 there was a small body of Christians in an ob- 
 scure corner of Pennsylvania numbering but a handful. These 
 people, known as the Disciples of Christ, have in the one hun- 
 dred years of their existence, outstripped the Church. Start- 
 ing from a few families, they now number 1,142,359 com- 
 municants, having a quarter of a million more communicants 
 than we have today. 
 
 I think the Methodist figures returned to the census are 
 fairly reliable, as they are painstaking in their reports. The 
 Roman Catholic figures are undoubtedly exaggerated, and they 
 include all adherents, not their communicants only, as we re- 
 port. Even making every allowance for the immigration of 
 Roman Catholics to this country, and the partial immigration 
 of Methodists, the fact remains that we have not only not 
 made the increase we ought to have done, but have actually 
 fallen off. It is far better to face facts than to ignore them, 
 and a false security is always the most disastrous. 
 
 Let me press home to you that the work was being done 
 
74 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 one hundred years ago just as I believe it is being done this 
 very night by those who are battUng every possible combina- 
 tion arrayed against the Church, being done by the humble 
 men of heart in quiet and obscure places. 
 
 Let me read to you two letters, written just one hundred 
 years ago. Here is one from Amos Glover Baldwin to Bishop 
 Moore, giving an account of his pioneer work : . 
 
 "On the 7th of this month I officiated in Fairfield, Her- 
 kimer County, ten miles North East of Herkimer, and seven 
 North of the Little Falls on the Mohawk. It was the first 
 time that divine service according to our mode has been per- 
 formed perhaps within twenty miles of that place. A respect- 
 able congregation assembled; and I was extremely happy to 
 learn that none were disgusted or displeased, but many sol- 
 emnly impressed at hearing our excellent service performed. 
 It was Saturday at sundown before I arrived in the place, 
 and, therefore, all who are attached to the Church did not 
 receive information of my being there. And indeed no one 
 knew all that are attached to us. Everything exceeded my 
 most sanguine hopes. I found within the circle of a few 
 miles during my stay of two days and a half, fifteen or twenty 
 respectable families, and some of them influential characters. 
 Some of these have attended the Church but very little since 
 the revolution but still love her with all their hearts. You 
 would have smiled, I believe, to see them bring in books in 
 which the name of GEORGE was not the least conspicuous. 
 I hope that I have been the means of rekindling a flame of 
 piety and love to the Church which will never go out in that 
 place. They will meet soon for the purpose of organizing 
 themselves. I intend to give them every attention in my 
 power. If any prayer books or tracts are in the gift of the 
 Church they would do great good there." 
 
 And in a letter to Hobart of the same date, he adds these 
 further particulars: 
 
 "When I go again, a respectable farmer with his family 
 of nine children intend to be baptized with several others. This 
 must be to me a great solemnity — ^himself being as old as my 
 father." 
 
 Just imagine where the Church would be today had there 
 been a hundred men doing what this man was doing — boldly 
 establishing outposts right in the enemies camp, and extending 
 the borders of the Church of God by audacious attacks. Just 
 imagine what the Church would be one hundred years hence 
 if one hundred men were doing just that kind of work to- 
 night. God bless all those, be they few or be they many, who 
 tonight are boldly seizing new territory and annexing it to 
 the Church we say we love so much. 
 
 The other letter is from that holy and humble man of 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 75 
 
 heart, David Nash — a letter chosen out of many such because 
 just at this minute one hundred years ago, on the evening 
 of Thursday, April 30, 1812, it had reached the hands of John 
 Henry Hobart who was reading it. 
 
 *T have as yet collected no Money for the Magazines. 
 They came very irregular — one or else two Numbers are miss- 
 ing in every place — who is in fault for this, I know not — I 
 imagine the Post Masters. — When I come to New York I will 
 pay for them, on Condition any Money is granted me by the 
 Society. — I would send it now had I any, but I am not the 
 possessor of a single Dollar, only as I have borrowed some. — 
 If you have any Prayer Books let me be remembered for 
 good. — A year ago last Autumn I received four from the 
 Bishop — for a number of years previous to that I had not re- 
 ceived any. — The Bibles and Testaments did much good. — I 
 am sensible I have no demand' — but on condition you have any 
 to give away I shall esteem it a great favour not to be for- 
 gotten. — I have yet to struggle with many difficulties, — but they 
 are light in comparison to your's — I hope you may be enabled 
 to possess your soul in patience. — We ought to do good to all 
 — even our expressions of disapprobation should be tempered 
 with mildness." 
 
 Imagine if you can this faithful soldier of Christ in his 
 lonely outpost, and rejoicing that he received four prayer 
 books for distribution, in the course of fifteen months! And 
 who, without a dollar in the world, is willing that the cost of 
 the Churchman's Magazine shall be deducted from the next 
 payment of his meagre stipend. 
 
 When I picture to myself this brave and courageous sol- 
 dier, my heart goes out to him in all loving tenderness, and 
 also with self-reproach. He has joined the company of those 
 spirits of just men made perfect, and God has blessed this 
 whole Church of ours for his life of self-sacrifice and devo- 
 tion, and strangers as you all are to me, I am confident that 
 could I trace your spiritual genealogy, there are some here 
 present tonight who owe their spiritual descent to some souls 
 won and saved by Daniel Nash. God bless every man who- 
 ever he is who is tonight trying to serve his Master in the 
 same spirit. God bless him, and give him courage to pursue, 
 though the Church leave him unsupported, on the perilous out- 
 post. God bless him. 
 
 I have finished my survey. I have tried to sketch for 
 you just how Church and State stood in this country, one 
 hundred years ago tonight. My lines may be too sharp in 
 some places, and blurred, perhaps, in others — yet it is an 
 attempt to set before you honestly and fairly the situation on 
 April 30, t8i2, as I understand it. The lesson to us tonight 
 is twofold. 
 
76 CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO 
 
 Dark as was the outlook for the State a century ago, 
 yet, notwithstanding the politicians, the country has gone for- 
 ward with a majestic trend. The stars in the flag which then 
 numbered eighteen, now number forty-eight, but never in the 
 whole history of the United States have the Stars and Stripes 
 flown more proudly on this land, and on all seas of the ocean, 
 than does that brave flag tonight. It speaks of battles won 
 and of victories achieved over the powers of baseness, and of 
 success in almost every realm of human thought and enter- 
 prise. 
 
 Dark as was the outlook for the Church one hundred 
 years ago tonight, yet, notwithstanding faint hearts and weak 
 knees, notwithstanding loud-mouthed speakers and those who 
 whispered secretly against her, the Church has risen to a nobler 
 conception of her duty to all within this land of ours than she 
 ever had before. Never in her history have her devoted 
 priests and laity been more oppressed with the responsibility 
 of their inheritance than tonight. Never have there been in 
 her history a more pathetic yearning to win the approval 
 of her dear Lord and Master by obeying his twofold com- 
 mand of worship to God and love to man. 
 
 The problems that confront Church and State tonight are 
 far mightier than those which confronted them both a century 
 ago. The nation has solved the problem of union which lay 
 smouldering a hundred years ago. The Church has that prob- 
 lem yet to solve. But in all the problems that lie before us, 
 both, let us both remember that victories can only be won in 
 spite of the politicians in Church and State. That those who 
 were faint hearted and despaired of the future were not those 
 who fought and sacrificed themselves or their lives, not those 
 who gave to further the welfare of Nation or Church, but those 
 who in selfish ease and indolent apathy foretold the ruin of 
 both. 
 
 So tonight the issues of land and church are, believe me, 
 humanly speaking, in the hands of those who are positive, 
 determined and aggressive, and of those who dare to act as 
 well as think, who dare to believe that the Stars and Stripes 
 shall never he hauled down, no matter how dark the hour 
 may be. 
 
 In the hands of those who dare to believe that this Church 
 of ours is intended by their Master to be the abiding resting 
 place of all Americans, who dare to believe that though we 
 have been doubtful, disbelieving, and unfaithful in the past 
 that God will give us and our children the courage and the 
 wisdom to make this in name and in deed, the American 
 Church. 
 
 Faint heart never won anything to be desired. Faint 
 heart never won a battle or added a star to our flag. Faint 
 
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA 100 YEARS AGO "J'J 
 
 heart never pushed forward boldly into the enemy's land. 
 Faint heart never planted the banner of the cross nor fought 
 and bled to keep it where planted. The Church must take her 
 lesson from the State and learn to be imperialistic. Never 
 apologize for the Church. No man worth his salt ever apolo- 
 gizes for his country. And God grant that whoever shall 
 speak in my place a hundred years hence in this venerable 
 parish may be able to record the fruits of a holy alliance be- 
 tween Church and State, of work braved and accomplished, 
 of moral, social, and economic problems solved by both, hand 
 in hand. They never can be solved by either one indepen- 
 dently. Of capital and labour, recognizing that they are but 
 members of one body, that legislation must not be for the 
 benefit of poHticians, but for the benefit of the weak and ten- 
 der in the nation, the woman, and the child. That Ephraim 
 in the State must not envy Judah in the Church, nor shall 
 Judah vex Ephraim. 
 
 And as red, white and blue have ever been the sacred 
 colors of the Church of God, so shall red, white and blue ever 
 wave over a united Church in a united land. 
 
 So remembering that the Lord ruleth over all, be the 
 people never so impatient, let us enter the coming century with 
 a holy boldness and a loyal ardour to fight for land and church 
 no matter what comes, and with cheers for the red, white and 
 blue, say, 
 
 God save the Church! 
 
 God save the State! 
 
78 CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 November 8, 1912. 
 
 The eighth regular meeting of the Church Historical So- 
 ciety was held in the Neighborhood House of Christ Church, 
 Philadelphia, Friday evening, November 8, 1912, the presi- 
 dent in the chair. 
 
 After the routine business had been transacted, Professor 
 Amandus Johnson, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, 
 delivered an address upon "The Swedish Lutherans in Penn- 
 sylvania and Their Relations to the Episcopal Church."* 
 
 After the conclusion of Professor Johnson's address the 
 Rev. Snyder B. Simes, rector of Gloria Dei Church, Wicacoe, 
 by request of the Society, addressed it upon the history of 
 Old Swedes Church and its connection with the Church in 
 the early days of the province. 
 
 January 31, 1913. 
 
 The ninth regular and third annual meeting of the Church 
 Historical Society was held in the Neighborhood House of 
 Christ Church, Philadelphia, Friday evening, January 31, 1913, 
 the president in the chair. 
 
 The annual report of the Executive Board was submitted. 
 Contributions to the Society's collections were received dur- 
 ing the year from the following: Griffin C. Callahan, J, Ed- 
 ward Haverstick, Rev. Edward M. Jefferys, D.D., Rev. Ar- 
 thur Lowndes, D.D., Rev. John P. Peters, D.D., Rev. Walter 
 C. Pugh, Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr., Rev. William Smythe, Estate 
 of Rev. Thomas C. Yarnall, D.D., and four volumes of the 
 Publications of the Archives Commission of the General Con- 
 vention. 
 
 It was Resolved, That it is the opinion of the Society 
 that the Charter to be applied for incorporating the Society, 
 should provide for the election of a Board of Managers to 
 be composed of such number as may be fixed from time to 
 time by the By-Laws of the Corporation, it being understood 
 that the plans may provide for the exercise of the powers of 
 such Board, in the recess between its meetings, by a standing 
 committee. 
 
 *As Dr. Johnson has incorporated this address in one of his his- 
 torical publications concerning the Swedish settlers in America the 
 Society is not privileged to publish it here. 
 
CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY 79 
 
 The annual election of ofificers resulted as follows: 
 
 President — Henry Budd, Esq. 
 Vice-President — Maj. Moses Veale. 
 Secretary — Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr. 
 Treasurer — John Thomson. 
 Executive Board (to serve until 1916) — 
 
 Allen Childs, 
 
 Albert S. Haeseler, 
 
 James M. Lamberton, Esq. 
 
 Rev. Louis C. Washburn, D.D., rector of Christ Church, 
 Philadelphia, gave a very interesting talk upon "Local Origins 
 — Illustrated," the illustrations being the many valuable histori- 
 cal relics belonging to Christ Church. 
 
 April 22, 1913. 
 The tenth meeting of the Church Historical Society was 
 held in the Neighborhood House of Christ Church, Philadel- 
 phia, Tuesday evening, April 22, 1913, the president in the 
 chair. 
 
 Following the transaction of routine business, the Rev. 
 Joseph Hooper, rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Dur- 
 ham, Conn., and member of the Archives Commission of the 
 Diocese of Connecticut, delivered an address upon "The Of- 
 fice of Presiding Bishop in the American Church, with No- 
 tices of Its Incumbents."* 
 
 November 13, 1913. 
 
 The eleventh meeting of the Church Historical Society 
 was held in the rooms of the Church Club of Philadelphia, 
 Thursday evening, November 13, 191 3, the president in the 
 chair. 
 
 The Rev. C. Braxton Bryan, D.D., rector of Grace 
 Church, Petersburg, Va., and principal of the Bishop Payne 
 Divinity School, delivered an address upon "The Beginnings 
 of the Church in Virginia. "f 
 
 The president stated that in accordance with the resolu- 
 tion adopted at the meeting held April 30, 1913, application 
 for a charter had been made and the same granted, bearing 
 date of June 10, 1913, of which the following is a copy: 
 
 *NoTE. — It was hoped to include this address in the present pam- 
 phlet, but owing to serious illness Mr. Hooper has been unable to 
 prepare it for publication in time for this issue. 
 
 + Note. — It is expected to include this address in the next issue of 
 the Proceedings of the Society. 
 
CHARTER OF THE "CHURCH HISTORICAL 
 SOCIETY." 
 
 To the Honorable the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas 
 No. 3, for the County of Philadelphia, of March Term, 
 1913, No. 3824: 
 
 In compliance with the requirements of the Act of the 
 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, en- 
 titled "An Act to provide for the incorporation and regula- 
 tion of certain corporations," approved April 29th, A. D. 1874, 
 and the supplements thereto, the undersigned, all of whom 
 are citizens of Pennsylvania, having associated themselves in 
 the formation of a society for the purposes hereafter set 
 forth, and desiring to be incorporated according to law, do 
 hereby certify: 
 
 1. The name of the proposed corporation is the "Church 
 Historical Society." 
 
 2. The purpose of the corporation is the preservation and 
 publication of historical documents connected with the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, 
 the investigation of its history and the development of inter- 
 est in all relevant historical research. 
 
 3. The business of the corporation is to be transacted in 
 the city of Philadelphia. 
 
 4. The corporation shall have perpetual existence. 
 
 5. The said corporation is to have no capital stock, the 
 names and residences of the subscribers appear by their sig- 
 natures hereto. 
 
 6. The said corporation shall be maintained solely by 
 dues, assessments and contributions collected therein. 
 
 7. The directors of the corporation shall consist of a 
 president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and nine man- 
 agers. The number of managers may, however, be increased 
 from time to time as may be ordained by a by-law of the cor- 
 poration duly enacted, and when so increased may be, in like 
 manner, diminished; provided, that the number of managers 
 shall never be reduced below nine. The president, vice- 
 president, secretary and treasurer, and one-third of the 
 managers shall be elected by the members of the Society at 
 a meeting to be held in January of each year, the president, 
 vice-president, secretary and treasurer so elected, to hold of- 
 fice for one year, and the managers so elected to hold for 
 the term of three years ; but a failure to elect officers at the 
 meeting as above provided shall not work a forfeiture ol 
 the charter or cause the corporation to be dissolved, but offi- 
 
 (80) 
 
CHARTER OF THE "CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY" 8l 
 
 cers and directors may be elected at a meeting of the Society 
 subsequently held, notice being given that an election will be 
 had. 
 
 The officers chosen for the first year of the corporation 
 are : president, Henry Budd, Philadelphia ; vice-president, 
 Moses Veale, Philadelphia; secretary, William Ives Rutter, Jr., 
 Philadelphia; treasurer, John Thomson, Philadelphia. 
 
 Managers : 
 
 To serve until January, 19 14, Arnold Harris Hord, 
 Philadelphia ; John E. Baird, Philadelphia ; George Wool- 
 sey Hodge, Philadelphia. 
 
 To serve until January, 191 5, Henry Riley Gummey, 
 Sewanee, Tenn. ; Arthur Lowndes, New York City ; Hor- 
 ace F. Fuller, Philadelphia. 
 
 To serve until January, 1916, Allen Childs, Phila- 
 delphia; Albert S. Haeseler, Philadelphia; James M. Lam- 
 berton, Harrisburg. 
 
 Witness our hands and seals this twenty-second day ot 
 April, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and thirteen (1913). 
 
 John Cadwalader, 15 19 Locust Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 Rowland Evans, Lower Merion, Pa. 
 
 M. Veale, 509 South Forty-second Street. 
 
 John Thomson, 2101 North Camac Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 Allen Childs, 4506 Pine Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 Henry Budd, 233 South Thirty-ninth Street, Phila. 
 
 Albert S. Haeseler, 3735 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr., 525 South Forty-first Street, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Arnold Harris Hord, 244 High Street, Germantown, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Henry Martyn Medary, 2120 North Eighteenth Street, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 G. Woolsey Hodge, 334 South Thirteenth Street, Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Francis A. Lewis, 2207 St. James' Place. 
 
 Clinton Rogers Woodruff, 2219 Spruce Street. 
 
 John E. Baird, 307 Real Estate Building. 
 
 G. W. Pepper, 1730 Pine Street. 
 
 '' ^ss. 
 
 Commonwealt^h of Pennsylvania, 
 County of Philadelphia, 
 
 Before me, the subscriber. Recorder of Deeds in and for 
 said county, personally appeared M. Veale, William Ives Rut- 
 ter, Jr., Henry Budd, being three of the subscribers to the 
 
82 CHARTER OF THE "CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY'* 
 
 above and foregoing certificate, and being all of them citizens 
 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in due form 
 acknowledged the same to be their act and deed. 
 
 Witness my hand and official seal this twenty-second day 
 of April, Anno Domini 1913. 
 
 Jos. K. Fletcher, 
 (Seal) Deputy Recorder of Deeds. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 In the Court of Common Pleas No. 3, for the County of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 March Term, 1913. No. 3824. 
 
 And now, to wit, June loth, A. D. 1913, the above cer- 
 tificate of incorporation having been presented to' me, a law 
 judge of said county, accompanied by due proof of publica- 
 tion of the notice of this application as required by the Act 
 of Assembly in such case made and provided, I certify that 
 I have perused and examined said instrument and found the 
 same to be in proper form and within the purposes named 
 in the first class as specified in Section 2 of the Act of the 
 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, ap- 
 proved on the twenty-ninth day of April, 1874, entitled "An 
 Act to provide for the incorporation and regulation of certain 
 corporations," and the supplements thereto, and the same ap- 
 pearing to be lawful and not injurious to the community, it 
 is hereby, on motion of William R. McAdam, Jr., Esq., 
 counsel for the applicants above named, ordered and decreed 
 that the above charter be and is hereby approved, and that 
 upon the recording of the said charter and of this order the 
 subscribers to said charter and their associates shall be a 
 corporation by the name of the "Church Plistorical Society," 
 for the purposes and upon the terms therein stated. 
 
 Howard A. Davis, 
 (Seal) Judge, 
 
 Recorded in the Office for the Recorder of Deeds, etc., in 
 and for the City and County of Philadelphia, in Charter Book, 
 No. 50, Page II, etc. 
 
 Witness my hand and seal of office this eleventh day of 
 June, Anno Domini, 19 13. 
 
 Ernest L. Tustin, 
 (Seal) Recorder of Deeds. 
 
The original constitution now being superseded by the 
 charter, it became necessary to adopt new by-laws. They are 
 as follows : 
 
THE CHURCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 BY-LAWS. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 The annual dues of active members shall be one dollar. 
 Members whose dues remain unpaid for more than two years 
 may be dropped by vote of the board. On payment of ten 
 dollars, any person otherwise eligible to membership may be- 
 come a life member. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 The officers of this Society shall consist of a President, 
 Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, and fifteen Man- 
 agers, who shall constitute the Executive Board. The officers 
 and one-third of the Managers shall be nominated at the 
 stated meeting in each year in October, and shall be elected 
 at the stated meeting in the following January. All vacancies 
 may be filled by the Executive Board until the next January 
 meeting of the Society, when an election for the unexpired 
 term shall take place. 
 
 The terms of officers shall be one year and that of the 
 Managers three years, provided that at the election in Janu- 
 ary, 1914, in addition to the Managers chosen to fill the places 
 of those whose term then expire, six Managers shall be chosen 
 whose respective terms shall be determined by lot, in such 
 wise that the terms of one-third of the whole number of the 
 Managers shall expire in January, 191 5, one-third in January, 
 1 916, and one-third in January, 19 17. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 The duties of the several officers shall be such as are 
 usually incidental to their offices. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 The Treasurer, when required, shall give bonds in such 
 sum as the Board may demand. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 There may be a Librarian, who shall be elected by and 
 perform such services as the Board shall direct, be paid such 
 compensation as it may consider just, and be subject to dis- 
 charge by it. 
 
 (84) 
 
BY-LAWS 85 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 This Society shall meet in the months of October, Janu- 
 ary and April, at such time and place as the Executive Board 
 shall direct. The Executive Board (hereinafter called the 
 Board), shall meet on the call of the President or of any 
 three members thereof. Seven of its members shall consti- 
 tute a quorum. This number shall not be decreased without 
 the direction of the Society. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 A separate fund shall be created, which shall be called 
 the Endowment Fund, and all contributions for the purpose 
 of procuring a building, with fireproof facilities, for the So- 
 ciety, together with such other contributions as may be set 
 apart or received for that purpose shall be invested, at con- 
 venient times, in good securities. 
 
 ARTICLE VIIL 
 
 Such Endowment Fund shall be managed by three Trus- 
 tees, who shall be elected annually in the same manner and at 
 the same time as the officers of the Society. 
 
 ARTICLE IX. 
 
 One of the objects of the Society shall be to collect for 
 the Library and the Cabinet the particulars hereinafter men- 
 tioned, namely : 
 
 For the Library. 
 
 a. Narratives relating to dignitaries and benefactors of the 
 
 Protestant Episcopal Church and Missions. 
 
 b. Biographical notices of eminent and remarkable persons. 
 
 c. Sketches and catalogues of schools, academies and colleges. 
 
 d. Copies of records of proceedings of religious, literary, scien- 
 
 tific or social bodies. 
 
 e. Journals and newspapers. 
 
 /. Manuscripts on any subject or of any date. 
 
 g. Magazines and pamphlets. 
 
 h. Church almanacs, directories, diaries, etc. 
 
 For the Cabinet. 
 
 a. Prints, especially of persons, church buildings, etc. 
 
 b. Pictures. 
 
 c. Medals. 
 
 d. Utensils. 
 
 e. Any article of value from its historical or biographical af- 
 
 finities. 
 
86 BY-LAWS 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 
 These By-Laws shall be subject to amendment by a ma- 
 jority vote of the Society at any stated meeting, notice having 
 been given of intention to move the same at the previous 
 meeting. 
 
 January 27, 1914. 
 
 The twelfth regular and fourth annual meeting of the 
 Church Historical Society was held in the Neighborhood 
 House of Christ Church, Philadelphia, Tuesday evening, Jan- 
 uary 27, 191 4, the president in the chair. 
 
 The executive Board presented its annual report show- 
 ing gifts received from the following: Rev. C. Braxton 
 Bryan, D.D., J. Edward Haverstick, Rev. Joseph Hooper, 
 Rev. John S. Littell, D.D., Rev. Alexander Mann, D.D., Rev. 
 Leighton Parks, D.D., Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr., Rt. Rev. Beverly 
 D. Tucker, D.D., Edward H. Virgin, Rev. Louis C. Wash- 
 burn, D.D., and the Diocese of Pennsylvania. The contribu- 
 tion from the last named consisted of books, pamphlets and 
 Church periodicals, over five thousand in number. 
 
 The annual election resulted as follows : 
 
 President — Henry Budd, Esq. 
 Vice-President — Maj. Moses Veale. 
 Secretary — Wm. Ives Rutter, Jr. 
 Treasurer — ^John Thomson^ Litt.D. 
 Executive Board (to serve until 1917) — 
 
 Rev. Arnold Harris Hord, 
 
 John E. Baird, 
 
 Rev. G. Woolsey Hodge. 
 
 Additional members of the executive board in accord- 
 ance with the terms of the charter : 
 
 To serve until 191 5 — 
 
 Hon. L. Bradford Prince, LL.D., 
 
 Rev. William F. Peirce, D.D., L.H.D. 
 
 To serve until 1916 — 
 
 Rev. John Stockton Littell, D.D., 
 Rev. C. Braxton Bryan, D.D. 
 
 To serve until 191 7 — 
 
 Rev. George C. Hall, D.D., 
 Edward Harmon Virgin. 
 
The Rev. Daniel Goodwin, Ph.D., D.D., of East Green- 
 wich, R. I., deHvered the following address upon "The Found- 
 ing of the Church in New England" : 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW 
 ENGLAND, OUTSIDE CONNECTICUT. 
 
 Mr. President Budd, other Officers and Members of the 
 Church Historical Society: 
 
 You have kindly asked me to tell you the story of the 
 founding of the Church in New England, so far as I am 
 familiar with it. 
 
 When Jackson Kemper was sent out, nearly four score 
 years ago, to be the first missionary Bishop in the North- 
 west, he exclaimed: "A bishop spread out over a hundred 
 thousand square miles of territory will make a very thin 
 bishop indeed." 
 
 But is it not still more obvious that a speaker of one 
 hour, spread out over the history of the founding of the 
 Church, in a province as extensive as New England, will, 
 apart from all other deficiencies, make a very thin speaker 
 indeed? It will be only too easy to see through him. 
 
 This, however, is the subject assigned, and the present 
 speaker, having fallen into the habit of Colonel Newcomb, 
 of answering — all too readily — "Adsum," when his name is 
 called, has no recourse but to do the best in his power, with 
 the topic, in the time allotted. 
 
 At least, he may claim the advantage of being able, by 
 reason of a long lifetime spent within the territory and of 
 the performance of clerical work in almost every part of it, 
 except Connecticut, to give an inside view of the subject. 
 
 As an introduction, will you kindly give attention to a 
 quiet scene of more than three centuries ago? 
 
 Two little ships are described lying at anchor in the lee 
 of a fir-clad island. Upon a slight eminence, near the shore, 
 stands a cross, formed from the unhewn trunk of a tree. 
 Presently you behold a number of light shallops, propelled 
 by rowers, plying between the vessels and the beach, on which 
 they land a hundred or more of the voyagers, who pro- 
 ceed to ascend the hillock, with a white-robed priest at their 
 head. When all, at length, stand grouped around the cross, 
 you catch the voice of the clergyman rising in prayer, the 
 people, at intervals, devoutly responding. Then the Word of 
 God is read, a plain sermon is preached, and, after the sing- 
 ing of a hymn, the worshippers, in reverent guise, return 
 to their ships again. 
 
 It is a pious act of simple Christian emigrants, long 
 tossed on the sea, but now rejoicing to be able to oflfer hom- 
 age to Jehovah, once more, upon the solid land. 
 
 (88) 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 89 
 
 That is all. But is it all? » 
 
 Is not the incident rather a kind of solemn, timely 
 pageant, rehearsing the events which shall be, long hence in 
 the far future, occurring upon these now solitary shores, 
 somewhat as the Greek chorus used, in ancient days, to file 
 out in grave procession in front of the stage, to foreshow the 
 incidents and significance of the drama about to be enacted? 
 
 The scene just now depicted is laid upon the coast ot 
 Maine, off the mouth of the Kennebec River. 
 
 The tiny island observed has been dutifully named by the 
 voyagers, English as they are, after the tutelary saint of their 
 homeland, "St. George — His Island." The two vessels are 
 the fly-boat, "The Gift of God," commanded by George Pop- 
 ham, and the good ship, "Mary and John," of London, 
 Raleigh Gilbert, captain. The emigrants are would-be "plant- 
 ers," to the number of a hundred and twenty, seeking a 
 dwelling place in the New World. 
 
 The minister is the Reverend Richard Seymour, a priest 
 of the Church, the leaders of the expedition being likewise 
 loyal Churchmen. 
 
 The service said at the foot of the rude cross is the earliest 
 known use of the Book of Common Prayer upon the New 
 England coast, stretching six or seven hundred miles from 
 the eastern boundary of New York, on Long Island Sound, 
 to the Saint Croix River, on the western confines of New 
 Brunswick. 
 
 The time is a Sunday in August, in the year of Grace 
 1607, scarcely above a century after the border of North 
 America had been skirted by the first adventurous navigators 
 of those seas, John Cabot, and Sebastian, his son, and more 
 than a dozen years before the Plymouth Pilgrims will raise 
 "their hymns of lofty cheer" on the wintry Sunday, at Clark's 
 Island, on the Massachusetts coast. 
 
 In view of all that this transaction at "St. George — His 
 Island" presaged of the future planting of the Church of 
 Old England throughout the new district bearing its title, 
 how do we seem to hear, above the voices of the earthly par- 
 ticipants in the service, the morning stars singing together 
 and all God's sons raising a shout of joy! 
 
 Yet soon the high hopes of these settlers were dashed 
 and the brave enterprise came to an end, the auspicious open- 
 ing proving but a harbinger of what only the distant future 
 day was finally to bring forth. After a single winter, during 
 which a few dozen simple cabins and a rough chapel had 
 been raised, the faint-hearted colonists sought again the Old 
 World, and the work of planting the Church on that western 
 shore, was for many years abandoned. Indeed were one to 
 be asked to give a history of the Church of England in the 
 
go THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 New England Colonies, during the greater part of the seven- 
 teenth century, he could substantially embrace it in the single 
 sentence, "There was no Church of England in the New 
 England Colonies at that period." 
 
 A minority, it is true, of the scattered colonists preferred 
 the English Church. 
 
 Churchmen, singly or in small groups, were to be dis- 
 covered here and there. But it is not until the close of the 
 century that we behold the Church beginning to assume any 
 approach to an organic form. 
 
 It is convenient to begin our survey of the founding of 
 the Church in New England with the District of Maine, both 
 on account of its geographic position and as the scene, as we 
 have just been reviewing, of the first prayer book service in 
 the Province. 
 
 MaIne. 
 
 As early as 1636, probably through the influence of Sir 
 Ferdinando Gorgas, "the father of colonization in America," 
 the Rev. Richard Gibson, a good man, learned and gratefully 
 accepted among those who loved the Church of England, 
 crossed the sea to do the duties of an itinerant along the coast 
 of Maine and New Hampshire. 
 
 A few years later, the Rev. Robert Jordan, also, was 
 sent out by Robert Trelawney, to his plantation in Maine, 
 to minister to the various little settlements of the region. 
 
 Perhaps it was due to the results of the modest labors 
 of these two missionaries that a certain Thomas Jenner, a 
 Congregational minister, made the rather odd report to Gov- 
 ernor Winthrop, in 1641, that "The people of Saco, Maine, 
 were much addicted to Episcopacy." Episcopacy, in the view 
 of this divine, must have been similar to an intoxicating drink 
 or a highly deleterious drug — the baleful hemp of India per- 
 haps — calculated to paralyze the spiritual faculties of the user. 
 At that period, most of the leading men in York, Falmouth, 
 now Portland, where Mr. Jordan dwelt for thirty-six years, 
 Saco, the home of those "addicted to Episcopacy," Scarbor- 
 ough and Kittary, were favorable to the Church, although 
 compelled to support Congregationalism. Mr. Bancroft re- 
 cords (Hist. U. S., I, 432) that, "Maine . . . was not ad- 
 mitted to the Union of the Colonies, formed in 1643, because 
 the people ran a different course from the Puritans, in both 
 their ministry and their civil administrations." But, as has 
 been intimated, the labors of the clergymen and the inclina- 
 tons of the laymen did not avail, in the seventeenth century, 
 to establish the Church of England in Maine. 
 
 The actual founders of the Church there were two men 
 of a much hter day, the Rev. Jacob Bailey and Dr. Sylvester 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 91 
 
 Gardiner. It was not until 1760, in response to a petition 
 of the people of Frankfort and Georgetown, that Mr. Bailey 
 arrived among them, as a missionary of the S. P. G., at Lon- 
 don, one sent slightly earlier not having proved effective. 
 Mr. Bailey was a New Englander by birth, and a graduate of 
 Harvard College, being a classmate of John Adams. 
 
 A biography of him has been written, under the pic- 
 turesque title, "The Frontier Missionary." It recounts very 
 vividly the alternating lights and shades which then made up 
 the life of a pioneer of the cross in the wilderness. 
 
 What may be styled the "romance of missions" was il- 
 lustrated more strikingly in the vast northeastern district of 
 New England than in any other part of the province, and in 
 the career of Jacob Bailey than in that of almost any other 
 missionary. 
 
 For ten or twelve years he lived, with his family, in an 
 old fort, the chapel of the post constituting all the church 
 he had there. When, after that period, he had built a church 
 at Pownalboro, and removed into a new parsonage house 
 nearby, only one room in it was completed, and he was 
 forced to board the carpenters while they finished off another.* 
 
 Mr. Bailey found in the county of Lincoln, which was 
 practically his parish, fifteen hundred families scattered over 
 a territory a hundred miles in length and sixty miles in 
 breadth. Traveling was attended with great difficulty, the 
 whole country being full of rapid rivers and almost impene- 
 trable forests. In the winter, with the extreme cold and the 
 snows sometimes five or six feet in depth, moving from place 
 to place was still more impracticable. 
 
 In the early spring of the first year, the missionary re- 
 ported to the society that, notwithstanding these discourage- 
 ments, he had travelled six or seven hundred miles, backward 
 and forward to preach among the people and baptize their 
 children, enumerating five principal stations where he fre- 
 quently ministered. 
 
 With a sort of winning simplicity he begged the society 
 to send him, in addition to prayer books and catechisms, some 
 "small pious tracts" for use among the poor, or, as was ex- 
 pressed in another place, "Bibles, Common Prayer Books and 
 other pious tracts." 
 
 So sanguine was Mr. Bailey of the success of his grand 
 
 *Mr. Bailey was always poor, except in that best kind of wealth, 
 aplenty of children, six of whom survived him. One of them, Charles 
 Percy Bailey, contributed to the rather romantic distinction of the fam- 
 ily, by being taken under the patronage of the Duke of Kent, father of 
 Queen Victoria, being given a commission in his own regiment and at 
 last falling, with honor, at the Battle of Chippewa. 
 
92 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 undertaking at Pownalboro, that he proudly declared it likely 
 to become one of the largest churches in New England. 
 
 At this later date, the town has disappeared from the 
 map, and the church, which seems to be nearest to the locality, 
 reports twenty-four communicants. Portland, then Falmouth, 
 on the other hand, which did not seem on the occasion of his 
 infrequent ministrations, to have particularly impressed him, 
 is now the principal standpoint of the Church in Maine, with 
 its four strong parishes and eighteen hundred communicants. 
 So unstable are the steps of the uninspired prophet. 
 
 The last years of Mr. Bailey's services in Maine were 
 embittered by the political disturbances of the period. He 
 considered himself bound by the most sacred obligations to 
 adhere to the royal cause. 
 
 Forbidden to pray for the King and yet persisting in 
 doing so, his congregation fell off and he was repeatedly sum- 
 moned to appear before the Committee of Safety. 
 
 To avoid the fury of the patriot men-at-arms, he was, 
 at one time, obliged to flee from his home at night. 
 
 While we do not, with our present light, approve his 
 course, we cannot but sympathize with him in his sufferings. 
 
 After nineteen years of faithful service as a priest in the 
 valley of the Kennebec, Mr. Bailey felt compelled to leave 
 its well-loved scenes and to withdraw to Nova Scotia. But 
 the fruit of his work remains and redounds to his praise as 
 one of the typical founders of the Church in Maine.* * 
 
 The lay pioneer referred to a moment since. Dr. Sylvester 
 Gardiner, was the founder of the city bearing his name and 
 the great-great-grandfather of our present highly respected 
 leading layman, the Hon. Robert Hallowell Gardiner, of 
 Gardiner. 
 
 Dr. Gardiner was born and bred in Narragansett, Rhode 
 Island, early becoming imbued with strong Church principles 
 under the tutelage of that stiff old Churchman, the Rev. Dr. 
 MacSparran. 
 
 By a successful professional and mercantile career in 
 Boston, he amassed what was for the time, a large fortune, 
 becoming one of the most liberal and efficient of the King's 
 Chapel congregation. Some years previous to the Revolution- 
 ary War, Dr. Gardiner acquired the possession or the man- 
 agership of. large tracts lying on the Kennebec River and 
 extending to the westward, "not further than the coast of the 
 
 *Mr. Bailey is declared, by an enthusiastic chronicler with a little 
 pardonable exaggeration, to have endured more hardness and done 
 more real work, among a widely scattered people, than any ten priests, 
 who have yet been in Maine. So much does it cost to plant the Church 
 in a new field. 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 93 
 
 Pacific Ocean," No sooner had he come into control of the 
 territory than he began to devise Uberal things for the Church. 
 To Pownalboro he gave the use, for seven years, of Rich- 
 mond House and farm, for Mr. Bailey's improvement. For 
 building the church and parsonage there he subscribed 
 fifty pounds sterling, and, what was even harder, volun- 
 teered to solicit subscriptions from others. Rather curiously, 
 but with enlightened liberality, he published, at his own sole 
 expense, an edition of Bishop Beveridge's Sermon on the Ex- 
 cellency of the Book of Common Prayer, distributing the 
 copies to a good purpose. To Gardiner's Town, now Gar- 
 diner, he also gave a Glebe, built a church and parsonage, and 
 started an endowment, with an annual gift of twenty pounds 
 sterling for the perpetual support of an Episcopal minister 
 at that point. 
 
 It was a day of small things, in general, the poor people 
 paying a weekly pew tax of two pence, the middle class one 
 of three pence, while the rich families were taxed four pence 
 a Sunday. It was most fortunate, however, for the Church 
 on the Kennebec to enjoy at such a time the leadership of a 
 layman so generous, so earnest, so permeated with the spirit 
 of the Gospel, and so widely known and honored in the so- 
 cial world of the day, as was Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, and 
 right nobly have five generations of his descendants main- 
 tained the family traditions as Churchmen. 
 
 It was not until 1820, on the occasion of the admission of 
 the District of Maine to be a sovereign state, that the few 
 Episcopal churches within it formed themselves into a dio- 
 cese. 
 
 In 1847, that remarkable man of God, George Burgess, 
 was consecrated first Bishop of Maine, and labored for nearly 
 a score of years, in season and out of season, with unrivalled 
 energy, ability and devotion, to build up the diocese, but with 
 only moderate visible success. In truth, the people of Maine, 
 without bitter, puritanical antagonism to the Church, simply 
 do not, as a class, want to be Churchmen, and do want to be 
 Congregationalists, and there, at present, is the end of the 
 matter. 
 
 During Bishop Burgess's period of greatest activity, a 
 dear old Congregational minister, of Augusta, too frank by 
 half, approached him with a rainbow scheme of practical 
 federation of churches, to be illustrated primarily by the es- 
 tablishment of what is called a Union Oiurch, somewhere 
 on the Kennebec. 
 
 The Methodists were to be assigned a generous share in 
 the efifort, and the Baptists admitted to the enterprise, while 
 the glad hand of fellowship was held out for the contribu- 
 tions of the few and struggling Episcopalians, all of them 
 
94 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 joining in the use of the structure. When the good man took 
 breath, after describing the blessed and harmonious result, 
 Bishop Burgess inquired, in his quizzical, courteous manner, 
 "Well now, my dear Doctor, what do you suppose will be 
 the actual, ultimate issue of this co-operative undertaking?'' 
 "To open my heart freely to you. Bishop Burgess," he replied, 
 with engaging candor and not without a suppressed twinkle 
 of the eye, "1 presume the final outcome will be the establish- 
 ment of a nice little Congregational church." 
 
 The Church is today comparatively strong in Portland, 
 the seat of the Bishop, and there are some half dozen other 
 strong parishes outside, one of them maintained on a gen- 
 erous scale by summer residents, whose own parishes are far 
 away. But engaging and inestimably precious as is the work 
 of the Church in Maine and whole-heartedly self-sacrfficing as 
 have been its three Bishops, the day of its predominance ap- 
 pears to be always retreating. 
 
 When Bishop Neely entered upon his office, in 1867, with 
 ripe experience and complete consecration, he soon discov- 
 ered that there was still much land left to be possessed. The 
 solid northern half of the Diocese was yet unexplored, in a 
 Church point of view, a territory twice as large as the whole 
 of New Jersey, but, of course, very thinly inhabited. 
 
 One of his first active steps was to make a missionary 
 journey through the length and breadth of this terra incognita, 
 beginning with a course due north from Bangor and Oldtown, 
 two hundred miles on the Aroostook Road, taking with him 
 one of his clergy and two laymen. 
 
 As they were to pass many clear mountain streams and 
 had an eye for sport as well as work, they carried, among 
 their paraphernalia, a generous supply of fishing rods. In 
 the course of the expedition they happened to lodge, one 
 night, near the foot of Mount Katahdin, at a village which 
 boasted a weekly newspaper about the size of a man's hand. 
 In the succeeding issue of the journal, it was chronicled, "Last 
 Wednesday night there passed through the town the Bishop 
 of Maine and the rector of St. John's Church, Bangor, on a 
 missionary journey. Judging from a glance at their wagons, 
 we should not infer that they are exclusively fishers of men." 
 The Bishop did faithfully angle for men, as well as other- 
 wise, but it must be acknowledged that the bait was rather 
 rarely taken. 
 
 So primitive was the field traveled over that, in a no- 
 tice of a Sunday morning service, posted beforehand by a 
 friendly resident, no hour was given, but only the intimation 
 that "the meeting would begin when the sun should be about 
 25^ hours high." 
 
 One night the party had been dragging wearily along for 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 95 
 
 seven miles through the almost pitchy dark forest without 
 coming to a single house, when a sort of rough inn was 
 reached, with, however, no ray of light in the windows, the 
 inmates having long before entered upon their slumbers. 
 
 It was with great difficulty that anyone was aroused or 
 could be persuaded to open the door, it being urged that only 
 seven miles more would bring the benighted company to the 
 next house. 
 
 Nevertheless, when, on the following morning, the hostess 
 discovered that she was entertaining a Bishop oi the Church 
 of her birth in England, she pleaded with him to baptize her 
 numerous young children. 
 
 After the end of breakfast, a spotless cloth was laid over 
 one end of the table. A white china bowl filled with water 
 from the spring was set upon it. Bishop Neely entered the 
 room, fully robed, the solemn office was said, a half dozen 
 little souls were received into the Ark, and the Church was 
 established in the northern half of Maine, two hundred and 
 sixty years, to a single month, from the date when the initial 
 use of the Book of Common Prayer in the southern half had 
 occurred at "St. George — His Island," in 1607. 
 
 So long does it take to make a Diocese in New England. 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 , The history of the introduction of the Church into New 
 Hampshire, which, in early days, included also V^ermont, 
 may be said, almost literally, to have been embraced in the 
 annals of a single parish, that of St. John's Church, Ports- 
 mouth, known before the Revolutionary War as Queen's 
 Chapel. 
 
 The original settlers of New Hampshire, who had planted 
 themselves at the mouth of the Piscataqua as early as 1623, 
 under the auspices of Mason and Gorges, were, however, of 
 the Church, and even built there, previously to 1638, a sim- 
 ple chapel and a parsonage, with a view to the Rev. Richard 
 Gibson's occupancy, in combination, as already referred to, 
 with his ministrations in Maine. 
 
 Governor John Winthrop made a somewhat sinister ref- 
 erence to the fact, declaring that some of the members of 
 that settlement were "professed enemies of the way of the 
 churches," i. e., of the Puritan churches. 
 
 A grant of fifty acres of land was made to the Church 
 by the provisional government of the period, in New Hamp- 
 shire, in a deed, by which it is still held, a portion of the 
 land lying in the compact part of Portsmouth. 
 
 The chapel itself, however, after 1640, appears to have 
 lapsed into a meeting house, by which name it was called ever 
 
96 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 after, being used for worship by the Congregationalists for 
 eighteen years. (Batchelder's History of the Eastern Dio- 
 cese, I, 139.) 
 
 In 1642, Mr. Gibson was banished by the government of 
 Massachusetts, to which New Hampshire belonged until 1679, 
 on the accusation of exercising the unauthorized right to bap- 
 tize and marry. From that date all traces of any organized 
 Church life in Portsmouth seem to have been suppressed for 
 nearly a century by Puritan intolerance and persecution. 
 
 In the early portion of the eighteenth century, however, 
 circumstances became more favorable. Many men of char- 
 acter and substance attached to the Church of England, be- 
 came residents in the town or its vicinity. In 1732, they 
 combined and erected a church on the high ground above the 
 Piscataqua. The Queen presented to it two large flagons, a 
 chalice, a paten and a christening bowl of solid silver, the 
 chapel being called, in gratitude, as has been already noted, 
 Queen's Chapel. 
 
 One of the enthusiastic promoters of the enterprise, 
 whose instruction in the catechism seems to have stopped short 
 of the tenth commandment, cast a longing eye atthis juncture 
 towards Rhode Island, and permitted himself to covet the So- 
 ciety's missionary assigned to Providence, the Rev. Arthur 
 Browne. In writing to a gentleman in London, a certain Cap- 
 tain John Thomlinson, judged to have considerable influence 
 with the S. P. G., the Portsmouth Churchman lays bare 
 the grounds of his scheme for removing Mr. Browne, and 
 remarks, after speaking of Portsmouth as a seaport, the me- 
 tropolis of the King's government, "Now Providence being a 
 country town and but very few professed Churchmen there, 
 and those, too, more in profession than reality, of very dif- 
 ferent behaviour, . . . and but a small distance from 
 Road Island [meaning Newport, just thirty miles away], 
 where there is a Church established, and I believe were Mr. 
 Browne to write his own sentiments he could give but a very 
 indifferent character of the people there, and such a one as 
 would scarce deserve the Society's care. Besides, as we have 
 built a Church, which hath already cost us near, if not quite, 
 two thousand pounds, etc." Perhaps it was not unnatural 
 that Mr. Browne concluded that there was a good opening 
 for the inculcation of Christian charity, at least in Ports- 
 mouth. In any case he accepted the invitation to the pastoral 
 care of Queen's Chapel and remained there for thirty-seven 
 years, until his death. He was a very attractive gentleman, a 
 friend of Bishop Berkeley, an excellent preacher and a faith- 
 ful parish priest, being reputed to have been the original of 
 the "Parson," in the "Poet's Tale," among Longfellow's 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 97 
 
 "Tales of a Wayside Inn," although the passage alluding to 
 him there seems scarcely to do him justice: 
 
 "The Parson, too, appeared, a man austere. 
 The instinct of whose nature was to kill; 
 The wrath of God he preached from year to year. 
 And read, with fervor, Edwards on the Will."* 
 
 The Portsmouth layman's notion, in which there is no 
 evidence that others shared, of the relative importance of the 
 Parson's two charges has hardly been borne out by subse- 
 quent history. Portsmouth has but a few thousands of peo- 
 ple, with two churches, embracing a little over five hundred 
 communicants, at even the present day, while Providence has 
 reached a population of about two hundred thousand, and 
 contains above a dozen churches, with nearly seven thousand 
 communicants. 
 
 One of the powerful patrons of Queen's Chapel was Gov- 
 ernor Benning Wentworth, a constant and wise counsellor 
 and a member of the S. P. G., his successor, Sir John Went- 
 worth, being also concerned in the welfare of the parish. By 
 the influence of Governor Benning W^entworth, large tracts 
 of land in many towns of New Hampshire were reserved for 
 the endowment of the Church. With such parishioners as 
 gathered around the new enterprise led by so acceptable and 
 even brilliant a rector, it is not surprising that soon Queen's 
 Chapel became noted, throughout New England for the com- 
 parative splendor and social prominence of its congregation. 
 A clergyman from rural Narragansett, who officiated at Ports- 
 mouth on a Sunday in September, 1773, set down in his Parish 
 Register, upon his return, with a sort of quaint and bucolic 
 elation, "Preached in Portsmouth Church, which I found to 
 be a small but gay and shining congregation in Respect to 
 Dress and Appearance."** 
 
 Since the name of the parish was changed to St. John's, 
 after the Revolutionary War, its prosperity has continued 
 ample, one rector, the Rev. Dr. Charles Burroughs, being at 
 its head from 1809 to 1858, and a large share of the men of 
 education in the town, among them, in former years, Daniel 
 Webster and Jeremiah Mason, being counted as its attend- 
 ants and giving it great weight in the Diocese. 
 
 For about eighty-six years of its history the Church has 
 
 *Digest of the S. P. G. Records, page 852. 
 
 ** Would it not be entertaining to have pictured for us, if possible, 
 the costumes and adornments, which thus appear to have drawn off the 
 attention of the simple-hearted parson from his own excellent discourse 
 a hundred and forty years ago? 
 
98 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 been served by only two rectors. Two other parishes were 
 early organized in New Hampshire in the western section, 
 one at Claremont, about 1773, ^^^^ ^^e other at Cornish, in 
 1793, probably as a result of the confonnance to the Church of 
 Philander Chase, afterwards the great pioneer Bishop of 
 Ohio and Illinois, but born a Congregationalist. The Church 
 at Rumford, now Concord, belongs to a later date. There 
 is much of very deep interest in tlie history of these parishes 
 and in the establishment of the great school, St. Paul's, at 
 the latter place, giving to the Diocese its chief present at- 
 traction, the Church in New Plampshire, although vigorous 
 and churchly, never having attained great size, even under 
 the devotion and zeal of its most excellent Bishops. 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 If the Advent of the Church in Maine was, as has been 
 seen, like a tranquil dawn, its introduction into Massachusetts 
 bore a far different aspect. 
 
 More aptly might it be compared, with the opposition it 
 there met, to the storming of a grim fortress, where every 
 gate had been bolted and barred and every bridge drawn up. 
 The Puritans were in almost absolute possession of Boston 
 during the middle of the seventeenth century, holding the 
 civil power as well as the spiritual, and they intended to re- 
 main so. There was no face of the organized Church of 
 England in the Colony until about 1679. Neverthless, the 
 situation was not as simple as it might appear. By no means 
 all inside that stronghold had lost their love for the Church 
 of their youth. The Puritans had driven out the Church 
 through the door, but it had come back through the window. 
 Some of them were half ready to undo the bars and draw 
 back the bolts of the castle. There were furtive spiritual 
 traitors within the walls. From many a figuratively grated 
 window was whispered beneath the breath, "Sing us one of 
 the songs of Zion !" The last thing desired or intended by 
 the Royal Commission promoting the Colony, was that it 
 should be occupied by an exclusively Puritan personnel. 
 
 Steadily the London adventurers and the Council of New 
 England favored the emigration of those of milder views of 
 religion. The Rev. John Robinson, an arch-Puritan, indeed, 
 but recognized as "the most learned, polished and modest 
 spirit, that ever separated from the Church of England," took 
 the liveliest interest in the plan, for emigration to America 
 and was active in negotiations with the Virginia Company. 
 But he himself was never permitted to follow his flock to 
 Massachusetts. He wrote to Brewster, in 1623, "I persuade 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 99 
 
 myself that, for me, they, of all others, are unwilling I should 
 be transported," and he never came. There was, however, a 
 call for numerous emigrants. Comparatively few Churchmen 
 cared to venture their fortunes in the New World. They had 
 no motive for leaving England. Vast numbers of those of 
 Puritan tendencies, however, harassed by ecclesiastical con- 
 ditions at home thought they saw relief and happiness in New 
 England and they formed a great majority of the settlers. 
 But many of even them were not out and out separatists, 
 after all. They could not bear to cut the last rope. Win- 
 throp himself was a communicant member of the Church as 
 long as he remained in England and united in an affectionate 
 farewell to it on his departure. 
 
 Francis Higginson, when leaving his native shore, ex- 
 claimed to the assembled passengers, "We will say, 'Farewell, 
 dear England. Farewell, the Church of England.' . . . 
 We do not go to New England as separatists from the Church 
 of God in England, although we cannot but separate from the 
 corruption of it." 
 
 There were many who, in their personal experience, il- 
 lustrated the favorite and, perhaps, somewhat sentimental 
 apologue, "The Changed Cross." Turned against the Church 
 by the despotic attitude of the King and the proscriptive pol- 
 icy of land, they fancied they should find rest for their souls 
 from their heavy cross in the Congregational order and form 
 of worship. But when they wearied of that, too, and dis- 
 covered thorns beneath the roses which twined around their 
 new cross, they chanced, at length, upon a form just suited 
 to their needs and just what they could bear, and, lo ! their 
 eyes were opened and they saw their own dear old Church 
 itself which had been, for a season, deserted and despised. 
 
 Even William Blackstone, who, of course, never thought 
 of separating from the Church but still had been sufificiently 
 galled to be caused to emigrate, found that there was human 
 nature in the saints who joined him at Boston, as well as in 
 the ecclesiastical magnates whom he had fled from England 
 to be rid of, exclaiming, as has been so often quoted, "I left 
 England because of my dislike of the Lord Bishops, but now 
 I do not like the lord brethren," and again folded his tent 
 and found in Rhode Island, as an anchorite, the peace his 
 soul loved. It is an error to judge the men of that time 
 harshly. They lived in days of great spiritual disturbance. 
 The ecclesiastical equilibrium in England was thoroughly un- 
 settled. Nobody was wholly to blame. Great problems of 
 the mind and heart were clamoring to be worked out. A new 
 field for the conflict needed to be provided. Now that the 
 fight is mainly over and the smoke has been blown away, the 
 
lOO THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 air seems all the clearer and no one deeply regrets that the 
 battle was set in array.* 
 
 Puritans and Churchmen all were men in earnest. Both 
 parties believed themselves in the right. In a sense, they 
 were both in the right, because they sincerely believed so. 
 We are often warned that two wrongs do not make a right. 
 No less true is it that two opposing rights, even very differ- 
 ent ones, do not always make a wrong. Most of the bitterness 
 and strife of the world has arisen from overlooking the prin- 
 ciple that in a conflict of honest convictions, both parties may 
 be at root correct. 
 
 In the case in hand our sympathies are, of course, heartily 
 with the Churchmen. But if the native New Englanders of 
 today have any iron in their blood, we must remember that it 
 is because they are descended from such sturdy old Puritans 
 as John Endicott and John Winthrop and John Cotton. 
 
 The earliest attempt of which we are informed to plant 
 the Church in Massachusetts was in 1623. In that year, the 
 Rev. William Morrell, an ordained clergyman, came with Cap- 
 tain Robert Gorges, and lived for a while at Weymouth, on 
 the south shore, being entrusted with a rather ill-advised com- 
 mission from the Ecclesiastical Court to "exercise a kind of 
 superintendence over the churches which are or may be es- 
 tablished in New England." 
 
 He found, outside of Plymouth, where there was natur- 
 ally no urgent demand for his services, few inhabitants ex- 
 cept Indians and no churches at all, to submit to his quasi- 
 episcopal authority. 
 
 One of the grim Puritans of the day remarked quite 
 aptly, "Mr. Morrell did well not to open his commission until 
 there appeared a subject-matter to work vipon." But no 
 "subject-matter" offering, he quite philosophically wrought the 
 result of his Colonial observations into a very fair Latin poem 
 and resailed for England or otherwhere. It is believed, with- 
 out absolute evidence, that Blackstone, gentleman, scholar and 
 long sole occupant of Shawmut peninsula, came as a com- 
 panion of Morrell. In 1629 the two Browns, John and Sam- 
 uel, members of the Council of Massachusetts Bay Company, 
 as well as staunch Churchmen, arrived in Salem and began 
 to meet in a private house, with a few others, for worship in 
 
 *The Puritans believed themselves victims of oppression and perse- 
 cution, on the part of the ecclesiastical authorities of England. But, 
 when at length they found themselves in the saddle, in Boston, they 
 did not dream of granting the few Churchmen among them, such free- 
 dom as they had so bitterly complained of being denied. The fact is, 
 that neither Puritans nor Churchmen, in that age, had learned the lesson 
 of soul liberty. But it has now passf'd into a common place, thanks very 
 much to that very combat. 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND lOI 
 
 the manner of the Church of England. Finding these two 
 brothers to be particularly high spirited and their speeches 
 and practices tending, as Governor Endicott claimed, to mu- 
 tiny and faction, he told them roundly that New England was 
 no place for such as they and deported them to the Old World, 
 it being nearly a century before any considerable number 
 of Churchmen were gathered again in the town of Salem. 
 Before 1630, there were somewhat numerous settlers in 
 Massachusetts, known as the "Old Planters," such as Mav- 
 erick, Conant and Woodbury, who held firmly to the Church 
 of England, and were scrupulous in having their children bap- 
 tized by the Rev. Mr. Lyford, an Irish clergyman of Puritan 
 tendencies, but not a separatist, who came to Plymouth in 
 1624, and removed into Virginia in 1627, in response to a 
 "loving invitation," not receiving, it appears, "a like loving 
 invitation" to remain at Plymouth. 
 
 In 1646, "A Remonstrance and Humble Petition," i. e., 
 conventionally humble, against Puritan repression and intol- 
 erance was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts, 
 promoted by William Vassall, of Scituate, called "a man to be 
 feared," and signed by seven gentlemen, notably Samuel Mav- 
 erick and David Yale, a vigorous Churchman, a grandson of 
 Thomas Morton, Bishop of Durham, and father of the fa- 
 mous Eli, or Elihu, Yale. Mr .Yale thus incurred the cen- 
 sure of the General Court for "meddling in other people's 
 business," and is said to have taken refuge with Roger 
 Williams, being believed to have been the first Churchman 
 ever living in Providence. 
 
 Elihu, his son, born in Boston, or its vicinity, was only 
 three years old when the family returned to England. He, too, 
 was almost certainly a Churchman, being recorded as a gen- 
 erous contributor to the S. P. G. It was rather in his capacity 
 as a native of New England than on account of any especial 
 sympathy with Congregationalism, that out of a large for- 
 tune acquired during his governorship in the East Indies, he 
 made his memorable gift to the New Collegiate School at 
 Saybrook, which later developed into Yale College. 
 
 The cosmopolitan character of Governor Yale's life is 
 illustrated by the curious inscription on his tomb in Wales : 
 
 Born in America, in Europe bred, 
 In Af ric travelled and in Asia wed. 
 
 When Charles II came to the throne, at the Restoration, 
 in 1660, measures were taken in favor of the Church, lead- 
 ing to higher hopes in Massachusetts. An agent of the Gen- 
 eral Court, deprecatingly reported in T.ondon that "Episco- 
 pacy, Common Prayer, bowing at the Name of Jesus, sign of 
 
I02 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 the Cross in Baptism, the Altar and organs are in use, and 
 hke to be more." 
 
 Two years later, in 1662, the King, in replying to an ad- 
 dress of the General Court, especially provided for the griev- 
 ances of Churchmen, by charging it to allow liberty, "so that 
 they that desire to use the Book of Common Prayer . . . 
 be not denied the exercise thereof." 
 
 About 1679 a considerable number of the inhabitants of 
 Boston petitioned King Charles II that a Church might be 
 allowed in that city and in form the plea was granted, al- 
 though nothing practical appears to have been immediately 
 done. But, in 1684, the charter of the Colony was declared 
 by the High Court of Chancery to be forfeited, and, in 1686, 
 a new order of government was established, the practical 
 result being that the members of the Church of England were 
 enfranchised. In the spring of that same year, Joseph Dud- 
 ley, himself an independent, but friendly to the Church, came 
 into power, as President of New England. He was accom- 
 panied by the Rev. Robert Radcliffe, a clergyman of the 
 Church of England. 
 
 The times were now ripe for the establishment of the 
 Church. Although Mr. Radcliffe appeared to have had, in 
 so large a degree, the ■ countenance of the government, the 
 use of any of the three meeting houses of Boston was, at 
 first, denied him, the east end of the Town house and later 
 <^he Exchange being offered to him as places to preach in. 
 But the day soon came when, in a way to be regretted, the 
 employment of the Congregational meeting houses was in a 
 manner commandeered rather than patiently pleaded for. Sir 
 Edmund Andros soon succeeded President Dudley and im- 
 mediately sought for the opening of one of the three meeting 
 houses for the purpose of worship according to the usage of 
 the Church of England. 
 
 On March 23, 1687, the crisis came. Andros demanded 
 the keys of the south meeting house, so that, as he put it, 
 "they might say their prayers there." On March 25th, the 
 government took possession of the house and had the Good 
 Friday service held in it ; so great was the change of rela- 
 tions since forty years before, when David Yale was censured 
 by the General Court for "meddling in other people's busi- 
 ness," by protesting against Puritanical intolerance, and driven 
 to Rhode Island. 
 
 It is quaintly recorded that "Goodman Needham, tho' had 
 resolved to the contrary, was prevailed upon to ring ye bell 
 and open ye door, at ye Governor's command." 
 
 Sunday, March 27th, being Easter, the Governor again 
 occupied the same place and had the full service. Judge 
 Sewall ruefully records that they "met at 11, and broke off 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND IO3 
 
 past 2 because of ye Sacrament and Mr. Clarke's long sermon, 
 though we were appointed to come half hour past one; so 
 'twas a sad sight to see how full ye street was with people 
 gazing and moving to and fro, because had not entrance into 
 ye house." 
 
 That was the high-handed and inauspicious way in which 
 Church services were inaugurated in Boston. 
 
 It was on June 15th of that same year, 1686, that King's 
 parish was organized, the Rev. Mr. Radcliffe being recog- 
 nized as minister, or rector, some of the Puritans amiably 
 nicknaming his "Baal's priest" and even from the pulpit stamp- 
 ing the prayers of the prayer book, "leeks, garlic and trash." 
 In 1688, a plain church of wood, the first Episcopal 
 Church in Massachusetts, was built on part of the ground 
 still occupied by King's Chapel, at a cost of two hundred and 
 eighty-four pounds sterling, the first service in it being held in 
 Jime, 1689. ' The present venerable stone chapel was opened 
 for divine service in August, 1754, one hundred pounds ster- 
 ling having been contributed towards its construction by the 
 S. P. G., appropriations for the support of the rector having, 
 however, been previously declined by the Society. 
 
 The edifice was designed by Peter Harrison, the favor- 
 ite Newport architect of the day, its lovely and graceful in- 
 terior being doubtlessly suggested by that of Trinity Church, 
 in his own city, where he had long sat as a worshipper and 
 which is said itself to have been modelled on the ancient St. 
 James's Church, Picadilly. 
 
 The resignation of Mr. Radcliffe soon after the opening 
 of the first chapel was followed by the election of the Rev. 
 Samuel Myles, who was succeeded by the Rev. Roger Price 
 and the Rev. Henry Caner. During Mr. Myles's rectorship 
 of thirty-nine years, the members of the congregation were 
 reported as six hundred and communicants one hundred and 
 twenty. 
 
 The unhappy circumstances attending the transfer of 
 King's Chapel to the Unitarians, soon after the Revolutionary 
 War, cannot be dwelt upon here. It is impossible, however, 
 to escape noticing that the one church which was established 
 with a high hand and depended for its early existence upon 
 the fiat of the royal governor, should have fallen into the 
 hands of an heretical body and been, for a century and a 
 quarter the scene of the use of an emasculated Book of Com- 
 mon Prayer, almost suggesting a thought of the solemn pro- 
 nouncement, "They that take the sword shall perish with the 
 sword." 
 
 Nor can it be doubted that the period is approaching when 
 this antique structure will be gladly and voluntarily restored 
 to its original use, just as the day will surely come, too, in 
 
I04 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 the evolution of public honesty and honor, when the British 
 nation will carry back the Elgin marbles from the Museum to 
 the Acropolis. 
 
 By 1722 it was recognized that King's Chapel was not 
 large enough to accommodate all the inhabitants of Boston, 
 who desired to attend the Church of England. 
 
 A new house of worship, of brick, was therefore erected 
 at the north end of the city, during 1723, and named Christ 
 Church. From the outset it had a large congregation, seven 
 or eight hundred attendants, a few years after its opening, 
 it being especially recorded that on Christmas day, 1744, it 
 was thronged with dissenters. The old North Church steeple 
 has become famous from being the scene of the hanging out 
 of the signal lanterns — 
 
 "one if by land, and two if by sea," — 
 at the time of "Paul Revere's Ride," the whole venerable 
 building looking today much as it did two centuries ago. 
 
 In a half dozen years. King's Chapel again overflowed 
 and steps were taken for the building of Trinity Church, its 
 corner-stone being laid in 1734. This soon became the prin- 
 cipal church in the city and has numbered among its rectors 
 at least five who were or have become bishops. 
 
 A very different day had dawned in Boston, the Puritan 
 stronghold, when three strong parishes of the Church were 
 founded in it, in the course of about forty years. 
 
 It is related that when a fourth church, St. Paul's, was 
 proposed, the Trinity rector of the day exclaimed, on hear- 
 ing of it, in a manner which showed at once the great change 
 in the social status of the Church since primitive Colonial times, 
 and a rather singular conception of the proper object of 
 churches in any wise : "A new church in Boston ! What call 
 is there for a new church? Isn't Trinity large enough for 
 all the gentlemen in Boston?" 
 
 At the time of the chartering of the S. P. G., 1701, there 
 was no church in Massachusetts outside the town of Boston. 
 But soon afterwards, in the section around, where many 
 inhabitants were attached to the Church of England and ready 
 to welcome its services, churches sprang up, each interesting 
 and important enough to be worthy of a detailed description, 
 but necessarily to be dismissed here with a bare mention of the 
 name — St. Paul's Church, at first called St. Anne's Chapel, 
 Newburyport, where Bishop Bass ministered for fifty years — 
 St. Michael's Church, Marblehead, where, on account of pov- 
 erty, there were frequent changes of pastor, the Puritan minis- 
 ter, Mr. Barnard, settled, of course, for life, jotting down 
 jeeringly in his diary that Marblehead must be a very salu- 
 brious locality, inasmuch as no rector of St. Michael's ever 
 died there — Christ Church, Braintree, now Quincy, the scene 
 of Dr. Ebenezer Miller's labors — St. Andrew's Church, Scitu- 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND I05 
 
 ate, where the Rev. Ebenezer Thompson so long ministered — 
 St. Peter's Church, Salem, whence the Rev. Mr. Brockwell, 
 missionary of the S. P. G., wrote, in elation, June 30, 1739, 
 that he "was received with great joy and found a handsome, 
 well-furnished church, with the Ten Commandments in golden 
 letters upon black, and the Lord's Prayer and the Creed in 
 black letters upon gold, at the Communion Table" — St. 
 Thomas's Church, Taunton — Christ, later St. Paul's, Church, 
 Dedham — and Christ Church, Cambridge, with another of 
 Peter Harrison's creations for its church, which was styled 
 by the missionary, the Rev. East Apthorp, "decently elegant." 
 
 The mention just now of St. Andrew's Church, Scituate, 
 built in 1731, on "Church Hill," suggests an incident which, 
 although it occurred several years previously, may have had 
 some connection with the inception of the church movement 
 in the town and, at least, illustrates the original attitude 
 prevailing towards the Church of England. In the latter part 
 of the seventeenth century, young William Wanton, whose 
 father was a prominent Quaker of Scituate, fell in love with 
 Miss Ruth Bryant, a daughter of an equally decided Congre- 
 gationalist. 
 
 Religious objections against the match arising on both 
 sides, threatening to bring it to an end, the impatient swain 
 exclaimed to his lady love, "Friend Ruth, let us break from 
 this unreasonable bondage. I will give up my religion and 
 thou shalt give up thine, and we will go over to the Church 
 of England and — go to the devil together," — a proposition 
 which they proceeded literally to carry out — that is, the first 
 part of it. 
 
 They adhered all their lives to the Church of England, in 
 Newport, whither they removed, and brought up in it their 
 nine children, the Wantons being the most powerful family 
 of its day in the Rhode Island Colony, five of them becoming its 
 governors. 
 
 As years went on many of the religious asperities of 
 Massachusetts, of the earlier period, appear to have been 
 smoothed down. Times grew milder. On one occasion it 
 is recorded that a considerable portion of the congregation 
 of Christ Church, Boston, consisted of "dissenters, decent 
 and composed." In one section after another the requirement 
 that Churchmen should be taxed for the support of the Puri- 
 tan clergy was relaxed. Governor Dudley, who, although an 
 Independent, seems always, as has been already noted, to have 
 had a friendly feeling for the Church, gave it as his opinion 
 that certain petitioners of Newbury Church "ought not to be 
 taxed or imposed upon for the support and maintenance of 
 any other public worship in the said town." 
 
I06 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 The casting into prison of certain reputable citizens of 
 Bristol, now Rhode Island, but then included in Plymouth 
 Colony, for refusing to pay imposts for the salary of the 
 Congregational minister, aroused such indignation as hindered 
 its repetition. 
 
 One Puritan magistrate called upon to certify to the 
 churchmanship of a citizen who claimed to be free from 
 maintaining the "Standing Order" (it was in Connecticut), 
 is related to have shown his humor, good or otherwise, by 
 inditing, "The bearer of this, John Smith, having taken oath 
 that he has abjured the Christian religion and joined the 
 Episcopal Church, is hereby relieved from the payment of the 
 regular rates." 
 
 In what contrast to that day of small things for the 
 Church, when it was forced to fight its way for existence, 
 stands an impressive scene enacted, on a very recent date, 
 in Boston. 
 
 The time is the sixth day of October, in the autumn just 
 closed, 1913. A procession is beheld issuing from a large 
 steeple-crowned edifice at the head of Boston Common, and 
 marching along the elm-arched mall to a stately, columned 
 structure across the street, on the left. At the head of the 
 line walks a vested cross-bearer. In the procession are seen 
 white-robed choristers, students in black gowns, a great num- 
 ber of clergy wearing surplices and many-colored hoods, and 
 one commanding figure, most marked of all, clad in Episcopal 
 vestments. It is the Bishop of Massachusetts with his clergy 
 proceeding to his Cathedral Church to sing a Te Deum in 
 grateful recognition of the completion of twenty years since 
 his consecration. On each side are massed crowds of citi- 
 zens, respectful and sympathetic, swift to show honor to one 
 whom all love. The very building, which has been freely 
 and gladly offered for the robing place of the procession 
 and as its starting point, is most significant of the wonder- 
 ful transformation wrought since the day when Churchmen 
 were shut out of every meeting house in Boston and com- 
 pelled to gain admission by the strong arm of the civil law. 
 It is the Park Street Church, long almost the latest citadel 
 of Puritanic domination, the location being popularly styled, 
 by reason of the stifif Calvanism preached in the structure, 
 "Brimstone Corner." No longer are the adherents of the 
 Church a mere handful of people, grudgingly tolerated. 
 Rather do they enjoy an almost perilous degree of prosperity, 
 as the predominant religious body in the city. 
 
 A recent census of all that large section lying west of 
 the Public Garden and filled with the residences of the lead- 
 ing citizens, has disclosed the fact that a far greater number 
 of its families attend the Episcopal Church than any other. 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND IO7 
 
 The faithful Diocesan can reflect as he enters his Cathe- 
 dral today, to the sound of the exultant Ambrosian Hymn, 
 that in Greater Boston he has under his cure thirty-five 
 churches, embracing more than fifteen thousand communi- 
 cants, and in his whole Diocese one hundred and ninety-one 
 parishes and missions, with forty-nine thousand communi- 
 cants, while the entire State, until lately wholly under the 
 charge of the Bishop of Massachusetts, contains two hundred 
 and fifty-two parishes and missions and sixty-three thousand 
 communicants. So literally has the little one become a 
 thousand. 
 
 Rhode Island.* 
 
 The introduction of the Church into Rhode Island was 
 almost as dissimilar from its founding in the northern part 
 of New England as if the two sections had been situated in 
 different parts of the world, instead of being separated by 
 only a narrow river. Except in Bristol, then a part of Ply- 
 mouth Colony, Churchmen had no large numbers of Puritan 
 neighbors to "molest them or make them afraid." The Chris- 
 tian bodies predating them in the Colony were chiefly either 
 Quakers, who evinced little antagonism to the Church, or 
 Baptists, who were precluded by the proclamation of religious 
 freedom, on the part of their leader, Roger Williams, from 
 evincing any at all. 
 
 There were established in Rhode Island about the be- 
 ginning of the eighteenth century, four parishes of the 
 Church possessing considerable strength, no other one, able 
 to endure, being added for nearly a century. These four, 
 however, stood firm, like an invincible strategic quadrilateral, 
 in the four quarters, north, south, east and west, of the Com- 
 monwealth, through all the commotions of the Revolution and 
 the succeeding period of exhaustion, and remain in undimin- 
 ished vigor to the present day. 
 
 It is not possible to assert when, after the period of the 
 settlement of Newport, there were not Churchmen in that 
 town. It was in 1698, only two years subsequently to the 
 organization of Trinity Church, New York, that services 
 according to the English Book of Common Prayer began to 
 be held in the seaport of Rhode Island. The instrument to 
 whom this step was chiefly due, was Sir Francis Nicholson, 
 successively royal Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of New 
 York, Virginia and Maryland, credited in an ancient docu- 
 ment with being "the original founder and first principal 
 
 *0f Rhode Island, the exhaustion of the time, at our disposal, for- 
 bids the taking of more than a cursory view. 
 
I08 THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 patron of Trinity Church, Newport." There is evidence that 
 Queen Anne charged Sir Francis to inquire into the condition 
 of American churches. 
 
 Among the resident promoters of the undertaking were 
 Gabriel Bernon, a well-known French Protestant refugee; 
 Pierre Ayrault, also a Huguenot; William Brinley, son of 
 Francis; and Robert Gardner, Collector of the Port. 
 
 After one or two temporary missionaries, there was sent 
 over by the S. P. G., the Rev. James Honyman, "a diligent 
 Scotchman," who toiled with all his heart for nearly a half- 
 century to build up the parish until his death, like Gold- 
 smith's "Village Preacher," who 
 
 "Ne'er had changed or wished to change his place." 
 
 The inscription on Mr. Honyman's tomb, hard by the 
 principal church door, quaintly describes him, as "with the 
 arm of charity embracing all sincere followers of Christ." 
 
 The time naturally arrived, under his mild sway, when 
 the predominant Quakers and two kinds of Baptists, besides 
 Presbyterians and Independents, are recorded to have "all 
 agreed that the Church of England was the second best," 
 sufficiently satisfactory evidence that it was, in truth, the first 
 best. 
 
 The visit of Dean, afterwards Bishop, Berkeley, at New- 
 port, formed one of the principal incidents in the early history 
 of Trinity Church. The Dean was anything rather than a Cal- 
 vinist, although a generous spirited recognizer of genius 
 wherever he found it. One summer Sunday, in 1729, when 
 he was preaching in the church with all the pews filled to re- 
 pletion by those eager to hear their favorite speaker. Baptists 
 and friendly Quakers, in their broad-brimmed hats, standing 
 patiently in the alleys, Berkeley, up in the towering pulpit, 
 suddenly waxed warm and pronounced, with mighty emphasis 
 and a merry gleam in his eye, a sentence, probably not to 
 be found in his carefully-written manuscript, "Give the devil 
 his due. John Calvin was a great man." 
 
 Over in Narragansett, at about the same period, a con- 
 siderable group of Churchmen was to be found, the two Rich- 
 ard Smiths, father and son, their kinsmen, the Updikes, the 
 Phillipses, and George Balfour. It is narrated that, for some 
 time previously to 1675, the Rev. WilHam Blackstone, whom 
 we have seen migrating from Shawmut Peninsula to escape 
 the too persistent attentions of the "Lord-Brethren" in Bos- 
 ton, was accustomed, once a month, to ride from his home 
 in the northern part of the Colony, in primitive style, upon 
 the back of a trained mouse-colored bullock, to Wickford, 
 to hold, in Richard Smith's block-house, what are believed to 
 have been the first prayer book services in Rhode Island. 
 Adequate strength was developed to enable the Churchmen 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND IO9 
 
 of Narragansett, in 1707, to erect a sightly and sufficiently 
 spacious church, still standing, although used for worship only 
 occasionally in summer. The principal missionary sent out 
 to this nation by the S. P. G. in the eighteenth century was 
 the Rev. James MacSparran, D.D., who arrived in 1721 and 
 labored there for more than a generation with exceptional 
 ability, entire devotedness and eminent success. Hardly any- 
 where was there, at that day, so strong a country parish as 
 he left when he died in 1757. It can scarcely be conceded 
 that his forceful and churchly influence has yet ceased to be 
 felt in the region. 
 
 Like all other profoundly religious men, the Doctor had 
 his pet abhorrances, sounding rather odd in our day — the prac- 
 tice of lay-reading, the establishment of churches without 
 glebes, and the presence of Quakers.* Sometimes, with all 
 his acknowledged predominance in ecclesiastical rank, learn- 
 ing, benevolence and social status, even Dr. MacSparran found 
 his match. There was in the neighborhood of the Doctor's 
 glebe-house, a poor, uneducated Quaker preacher, counted as 
 scarcely more than simple in the world, but mighty in the 
 Scriptures inside the meeting house, and a powerful speaker 
 on First days and Fifth days. Having conscientious scruples 
 against taking money for uttering the Lord's message, he 
 earned his daily bread by the roughest kinds of labor. One 
 day the rector found the humble Friend at his toil, and rid- 
 ing up to him on his fine horse, with just a bit of a patron- 
 izing air, exclaimed, "Well, James, how many bowls of bread 
 and milk does it take to build a stone wall?" "Just as many, 
 Doctor," responded the reputed half-witted Quaker, "just 
 as many as it takes of hireling priests to make a Gospel min- 
 ister." But there can be no doubt that each of these very 
 diverse parties to the passage-at-arms, recognized at its full 
 value the sterling worth of the other. 
 
 The third Colonial church of Rhode Island is that of St. 
 Michael's, Bristol, established in 1719. The early rectors, 
 both sent by the S. P. G., were the Rev. James Orem, who 
 remained but a brief period, and the Rev. John Usher, who 
 labored for more than fifty years to build up the parish which 
 has long ranked as the leading extraurban church of the 
 Diocese. One of its chief claims is as the scene of the won- 
 
 *As the Quakers were the principal heretics Dr. MacSparran found 
 in his sphere of operation, he made the most of them and chose them 
 to be the particular objects of attack, declaring that when he entered 
 on his mission, "I found the people not a tabula rasa, or clean sheet of 
 paper, upon which I might make any impressions I pleased, but a 
 field full of briars and thorns and noxious weeds, that were all to be 
 eradicated, before I could implant in them the simplicity of Truth." 
 
no THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 derful labors of the saintly and apostolic Bishop Griswold for 
 a quarter of a century. 
 
 The last of the Colonial parishes of Rhode Island is St. 
 John's, Providence, known in those Colonial days as King's 
 Church, whose founders began to build on St. Barnabas's Day, 
 1722. Many years previously Mr. Blackstone had settled, 
 as already noted, a few miles north of Providence, at what 
 is now known as Lonsdale, on the river still called by his name. 
 There is little doubt that his arrival antedated that of Roger 
 Williams by several months, if not by a year. A visitor of 
 the time somewhat dryly chronicled, "One Master Blackstone 
 lives near Master Williams, but is far from his opinions." 
 There is a tradition that this excellent clergyman held services 
 in Providence at a very early period, his ministrations being 
 highly prized by all, especially by the children, with whom 
 his popularity may not, perhaps, have been entirely uncon- 
 nected with the fact that, being the first cultivator of fruit 
 trees in the Colony, he was wont to come to town with his 
 pockets well stored with apples, to be distributed after the 
 benediction, 
 
 St. John's Church, or King's Church, soon attained a 
 commanding position, several of its early rectors being men 
 of unusual mark, as Rev. Arthur Browne, already referred 
 to in connection with St. John's, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
 and Rev. John Checkley, once the keeper of a little book shop 
 in Boston, called, in old-fashioned style, "The Crown and 
 Blue Gate," and not ordained until he had attained his fifty- 
 ninth year. 
 
 The work of St. John's in the nineteenth century was 
 built up and consolidated by the Rev. Dr. N. B. Crocher, who 
 labored for its welfare, with all his heart and strength, from 
 1807 to 1865. 
 
 Upon the foundation of these four Colonial parishes has 
 been reared by Bishop Griswold, Bishop Henshaw and Bishop 
 Clark, the Diocese of Rhode Island, so small in territory, but 
 so strong in comparative numbers and in good works. No 
 other Protestant Christian body in the State today is grow- 
 ing as rapidly as the Church or seems to be oflfering ministra- 
 tions as welcome to the population. 
 
 In the early summer of the year 1900, the bicentenary 
 of the foundation of the S. P. G. began to be celebrated in 
 London. It chanced that the speaker was present on the oc- 
 casion and "his lot was to burn incense," in company with a 
 countless host of other Anglican Churchmen, in gratitude for 
 all that the venerable society has been permitted to accomplish. 
 There were a stately service of thanksgiving in St. VPaul's 
 Cathedral and services very numerous in other London 
 churches. 
 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND III 
 
 But the greatest assembly of all was held in the historic 
 Exeter Hall, on the afternoon of the nineteenth day of June. 
 
 Archbishop Temple, of Canterbury, was in the president's 
 chair, supported by more than a score of other Bishops. The 
 Marquis of Salisbury, Prime Minister of England, was pres- 
 ent, and made a notable speech. 
 
 There were there, too, the venerable Bishop Doane, of 
 Albany, who presented an address from the American Church, 
 and Bishop Dudley, of Kentucky, who also spoke on the occa- 
 sion. Prebendary Tucker, then secretary of the S. P. G., 
 read a cablegram of congratulation from the rector and church 
 wardens of St. Michael's Church, Bristol, R. I., one of the 
 earliest settlements of the Society. A most inspiring feature 
 of the meeting was the singing of the national anthem by the 
 children of the Chapel Royal, whose quaint uniforms, per- 
 haps unchanged since the formation of the Society, two hun- 
 dred years before, made a bright patch of color upon the 
 otherwise somewhat sombre black-coated map on the platform. 
 
 Nor did a New England Churchman need to feel him- 
 self a stranger in this scene, as if the venerable Society were 
 none of his. Rather might he have rightly realized that it 
 was peculiarly his own. The primary purpose of the organi- 
 zation in its earlier inchoate form was the promotion of 
 Christianity in the Northern Colonies of America. 
 
 As early as July, 1649, an ordinance was passed erecting 
 a corporation to be called the Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in New England, and, again, in the fourth year 
 of the reign of Charles II, the King was graciously pleased 
 to revive and renew the work by creating, through an express 
 charter, "The Society (or Company) for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in New England and parts adjacent, in America," 
 two score years before the corporation developed into its 
 permanent more general form. 
 
 Before the close of the Revolutionary War, the Society 
 had sent and supported eighty-four missionaries at eighty cen- 
 tral stations in, as it records, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
 Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Narra- 
 gansett. With that record in our minds, do we need to look 
 far afield for the agencies which founded the Church in New 
 England? Without the fostering care of the Society the 
 Church, as it is in New England, and almost, from a human 
 point of view, the Church at all, would never have existed. 
 Right heartily then do we accord to the ancient association its 
 long-established title, "The Venerable Society."