F 159 .C2 D8 Copy 1 1^^ '3?)>^. ^.<^'^€ (^ ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO: %n ^tsforital fltstoitrse, DELIVERED BT REV. GEORGE DUFFIELB, D. D., DURING THE ®Si31PSfl^^1^ ^^^''^^*' t&m&mm OF THB Jfirst Iprcsbnttnan C|iirc| OF CARLISLE, PA., JULY lst,p^^. ; '/u CARLISLE, PA.: PittNTBO AT THK UfiiRAUD OtCfftCB. 1858.. \ -ui^ '0 3 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. When he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of Zion, they shall sanctify ray name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel.— Isaiah xxix— 23. The recollection of great events passes down through many generations. After a lapse of one or two, they are wont to be celebrated in some public manner. A century possesses nothing, in itself, that merits distinction from other numbers. Nor have one hundred, or a thousand years, any natural connection with the events that loom up from the past, in solemn and affecting reminiscence. They are but marked points, adopted for compu- tation, and affording appropriate occasion for the general consent, of those interested in them, to recall and profit by their remem- brance. The Lord himself has respected this tendency of our nature ; first in the feast of the passover ; and subsequently in the Jubi- lean festivals He instituted for Israel. Few things contributed so vastly, — to their patriotism, as citizens of the Jewish Commonwealth, — to their religion, as worshippers of the Most High, — and to the glory of the nation, and prosperity of their church, as the people of God. They distinguished them above all other people of antiquity; and they promoted, greatly, their knowledge of " the one only living and true God," and their enjoyment of His fellowship." The Saviour of sinners, also, has made this same tendency of our nature subservient to His own gracious designs. In the memorial-feast of the Lord's supper, we commemorate an event, the mo.«t astounding that has ever transpired in this fallen world, viz : His own death, by which He has accomplished "redemp- tion through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace." There i.s scaicelj a nation or people to be found, who have not some memorial usages, by which to renew the roeollection of great events; and more especially, of those connected with their onjiin. It is natural to rejoice, in the remembrance of what is praise- worthy and glorious. Sympathizing comp^mions in such re- membrances, give a zest to enjoyment. The social feeling thus awakened, is allied to some of the noblest of our nature. Under proper circumstances and restraints, it may be made to elevate the soul, to enlarge the thoughts, and to inspire with heroic and virtuous recollection. Statesmen and politicians, the kings and governors of earth, have availed themselves of its power, for ac- complishing their own purposes, and policy of administrative rule,— often selfish and corrupting, and never extending beyond this mortal sphere. We are indebted to the genial and transforming power of re- ligion for extending the sphere of our vision beyond the narrow limits of time and space immediately surrounding, and bearing us away from the mazy dreams of this fleeting world, to the noble and eternal realities existing beyond it. The Sabbath, by its regular weekly recurrence, when its grand uses and designs are understood, tends, sweetly and powerfully, to lift our souls out from the low precincts of earth, to the grandeur above ; from the fellowship of mortals like ourselves, into communion with the Infinite Eternal God, the angelic hosts around His throne, and the lofty minds of "the spirits of just men made perfect in Heaven." Commemorative festivals of a religious character, especially when divinely sanctioned, possess great moral and social power They are among the bright gala days of social enjoyment on earth and may be made blessed seasons of communion with Heaven' Such be the use and bliss of that we this day celebrate ' The reminiscence of what God hath wrought in connection with and by means of this church, of our Lord Jesus Christ, endeared to us all by very tender ties, should swell our hearts with orateful joy- " In difi-erent countries of Europe, and of the Oriental World they are wont to look back through a thousand and a still o-reater number of years, to the period when the nation became Christian or passed, from a pagan, savage, or barbarous state, under the civilizing power of the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We celebrate not the coronation of a King or Emperor, some five hundred, one thousand, or fifteen hundred years ago, as an event which changed the aspect of society, and started the nation in a new career of civilization and improvement. Nor do we commemorate the birth of a Christian hero, like Luther or Zwingle or Calvin or Knox, who broke the shackles of supersti- tious despotism, and invoked the world to liberty. Nor do we recall the memory of our beloved Washington, as is the nation wont to do, upon his natal day. Nor do we anticipate, so near at hand, "The day When Independence celebrates her birth, The Jubilee of Freedom, yearly kept ! A nation rising from its rest secure ; A nation, which hath never worn a crown, A land which hath not held a throne, or felt The foot of king, or seen his purple robe, Sends up its voice with one loud shout of joy !" Ours is a simpler and rarer season of re-union. As brethren and friends in Christ, we come to celebrate, in this our old home- stead, the deeds of our sires, who laid its first and strong founda- tions. In expressing my own, I do but tender the cordial greet- ings, singularly and reciprocally, of all assembled within these hallowed walls, of many of whom it can be said, in relation to their regenerated and nobler life, "this, and that man was born in her." The beloved pastor of this church has prepared the statistical de- tails. The part allotted to me for the occasion, is the gj:neral HISTORY. To this, with appropriate remarks suggested by it and the occasion, your attention is now invited. July 1st, one hundred years ago, the first stone was laid for the rearing of this grand old ' meeting house," which yet holds proud rank, as an architectural work of the olden time, among the more gaudy and gorgeous structures of our own day. (a) Its window-arches of white hewn stone and neatly bevelled, its heavy foundation stones, and tiers of superincumbent lighter size, taken from the blue transition lime-stone underlying the soil extensively in this (a) See Appendix marked A. region, and roughly picked and squared, togetlier witli tlie admirable proportions of the entire edifice, constitute it — as the accomplished architect who constructed the Capitol building of this State at Ilarrisburg, once in admiration declared to nie — one of the purest and most attractive specimens of the Grceco-Ro- niano style he had ever witnessed, far excelling, in chasteness and symmetry, the imperfect imitations — or rather caricatures — of the (xotliic, so extensively attempted, of late years, in the United States. The projector and his coadjutor deserve our praise, as well as excite our wonder, for the bold daring of their purpose to erect a building on the very borders of a savage wilderness, so far in advance of the place and of the age. Its interior was finished after the fashion of places of worship in Scotland and the North of Ireland, extensively ado])ted by the early emigrants who migrated thence into Pennsylvania. The building is a parallelogram, well proportioned. Originalh', the pulpit was on the northern and one of the larger sides, centrall}^ situated be- tween two lai'ge arched-windows, equi-distant from either end, ascending from the lower to the higher part of the wall, and furnishing light and free circulation of air, both to the first and second stories, fronting the area between the galleries, which formed the nave of the building. A small window, immediately in the rear of the pulpit, and in the center of richly paneled wainscot work, aiforded light and air to the preacher, over whose head drooped an ornamented sounding-board pendant from the ceiling, yet gracefuU}'^ ornamented with the cornice and frieze of the panel work upon the wall. It was of size sufficient to hold three ministers. In front of it, immediately starting from its base, was a "clerk's desk." elevated some eighteen inches or two feet above the tops of the pews, which the precentor occupied, and in which he rose to " line out" or read each line of the Psalm, and by his loud, sonorous voice lead the vocal praise of the con- gregation, most of whom took the words from his previous utter- ance of them, in the absence of books then not abundant or easily to be obtained. The stairway to the pulpit started from the end and door of the clerk's desk and enclosure, and ascending to a square landing, level with the tops of the pews, turned thence at a right angle, from which two or three steps led into the minister's enclosure, as many feet above the precentor's. The pulpit, desk, and stairway, were all enclosed in a square area, into which, entrance was had through a door, in keeping with and pre- senting in front the form and appearance of the general panel- work of the pews. On either side of this enclosure was a bench, like that in the pews, which aftbrded accommodation for the deaf, the infirm, weak and aged, or such members as received aid from the Deacons' fund, or had no other place to sit. Subsequent trans formations of the interior were made, of which vfe may have occasion in another place to speak. The church, or spiritual society, which first occupied this house, had been organized seventeen years before it was com- menced, and eleven before Carlisle was laid out. Their original place of worship was a log building, erected near the Conodogui- net creek, a few yards East of the burying ground, two miles West of this borough, on what was called "the Glebe," a farm of some hundred acres and more, granted by the proprietaries, for the pastor's use and in aid of the congregation. The red men of the forest yet roamed along the skirts of the Tayameutasackta or Kekaohtana- nim hills, thus differenily called by the five nations and the Delaware Indians, and by the early settlers, " the Blue Mountains." The extensive valley now known by the name of " Cumberland" — given to it from that of the County first organized in what was known, among the Indians and original emigrants, as the Kittoch- tinny— was the home and hunting-ground of the aboriginal sava- ges that dwelt and ranged from the Susquehanna to the Potomac, until, in 1736, they ceded their claim to the Proprietary Goverr- ment, and consented to settlements being made under its licenses. Fourteen years previously, a Frenchman and Indian interpreter, by the name of LeTort, had settled at the head of the beautiful spring(a) or stream that forms the eastern margin of this town, and from whom it has derived its name. On November 14th, of the same year that the Indians ceded their claim to the Valley, the Rev. Samuel Thompson, recently from the North of Ireland, was ordained and installed pastor by the Presbytery. He was the first minister that was settled in connection with this church, the Conodoguinet congregation uniting with that of " Pennsboro' " — where the Presbytery met— and the town, forming a collegiate ((;) See Appendix mavked B. 8 charge. Twelve years after, he ceased his connection with this charge, and {ussumcd the care of the "Great ('onowago" congre- gation, where he continued until age disqualified him for eflfective labor. His son, the Rev. William Thompson, labored afterwards for many years as an itinerant missionary, under the direction of the " Society for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts," in the Counties of York and Cumberland, and as late as 1766. The Colonial Government had erected a stockade Fort, occupy- ing " two acres of ground square, with a block-house in each corner,"* which, two years after the town of Carlisle was laid out, fell into ruins, and gave place to another of curious construction, within the pi*ecincts of the town, (a) that bore the name of Fort Lou- ther. It rendered important aid in defense of the early settlers against the Indians, whose savage cruelties and bloody massacres form such a striking feature in the early history of Kittochtinny Valley. A force of fifty men was stationed in it four years after the commencement of this town. About the same time, breast- works were erected to the North-East of the town, by Col. Stan- wix, the remains of which still exist. The present barrack build- ings succeeded at a later date these early fortifications. The early claim, which the French nation asserted by right of discovery, to the regions West of the Allegheny mountains ex- tending from the Lakes to the Ohio, hv.d the policy of the Jesuit missionaries, in concert with the Provisional Government in Can- ada, to take and maintain possession of it for France and the propagation of the Uoraan Catholic Idolatry, were opposed by England, and excited the jealousy and fears of the Indians. A treaty, it was said, had been made at Lancaster, in this State, in 1744, between commissioners from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and the Iroquois or Six Nations, by which, for four hundred pounds, the latter gave up all right and title to the land West of the Allegheny mountains, even to the Mississippi, which, they maintained — according to their traditions — had been con- quered by their forefathers. These conflicting claims, on founda- tions whether imaginary or real, ripened into a series of wars, in the progress of which the early settlers of Middle and Western Pennsylvania greatly sufiered. ♦ John CNeal's Letter to Governor Hamilton, dated May 2Tth, 1763. (a) See Appendix marked C. A I 9 The defeat of Gen. Braddock at Fort Duquesne, in 1755, his death, and the route of his shattered army, left the Western frontiers defenseless, and cast consternation and dismay among the settlers on the Eastern slope of the Allegheny mountains. The next year, the alarm became general throughout the Kittochtinny Valley. The garrison at Fort Cumberland was scarcely strong enough for self-defense. The roads were infested by savages. Horrors accumulated at "Winchester; an attack upon it was antici- pated, and the terrors of the people rose to agony. While Vir- ginia turned her eyes to Washington, and the people of the beautiful Valley of Shenandoah were flying to the older settle- ments, it was fast becoming desolate, and it fell to the lot of the infant town of Carlisle — but five years old — to furnish a noble hero, who afterwards became dear to the hearts of the American people, and whose zeal and courage, firing the spirits and directing the daring of the freemen of Cumberland County, accomplished, at Kittanning, one of the most able and splendid deeds of retali- ation which embellishes the pages of our Revolutionary history. Col. John Armstrong — whose remains lie in your cemetery, un- honored by any attractive tomb, and marked only by a plain and unpretending limestone slab — with a pai-ty of two hundred and eighty resolute men, by a rapid march of some two hundred miles, over lofty and rugged mountains, surprised and destroyed that nest of savages.(a) The Presbyterian Church, of which he was an elder, formed a bulwark ©f a different character from the stock- ade in the town. Their log meeting-house proved a sort of out- post for the picket-guard, but of great potency and influence among the early settlers who had planted themselves around it. Its pastor, in the time of danger, when threatened by savage foes, was not the man to fly from his post, or encourage his people to abandon their homes, but took command of one of the first com- panies organized for defense in 1755. From, and to some extent before, the Indian wars consequent on Braddock's defeat, the mild and just policy of the Proprietary ■Government of Pennsylvania did not prevent deeds of bloodshed and horrible massacre by the savages. It was not always safe for the settlers to build their houses and dwell on the farms they (a) See Appendix marked D. 10 began to cultivate, nor does it appear to have been ever the plan and policy of the Pennsylvania settlers, to cluster in villages, as in New England, or string themselves in close proximity along the banks of rivers and streams of water, as did the French. They scattered themselves over the face of the country, and built their houses on hill, or in dale, or by some fountain gushing from rocks, or bubbling from the earth, as they fancied best suited their convenience. At the distance of five, six, and more miles from the stockade, the isolated familcs became liable to the hostile visits of predatory Indian bands. Hence, as my beloved and very venerated friend, and elder of this church, Mr. William Douglass, then a man of great age and piety, and justly honored for his many social virtues, informed me some forty years ago, the settlers' families often had to seek defense and shelter near the stockade in the town, while the men found it necessary to unite, and go in groups or companies, to help each other in clearing their ground, and, in seed-time and harvest, to put in and take down their crops. We have heard the honored men of olden-time discourse of *' The battle with the forest, and the stera Privation to be borne, where oft the call Of chill necessity aifrights the soul; Repeating tales their childhood frequent heard From sires, who 'mid these hills and valleys came, And with the guardian fire-arm at their side, Laid the loud axe unto the woodland foot." It was partly from such necessity that Carlisle had its origin, as well as from the first movement of the proprietaries to organ- ize a County, and provide for the efficient administration of civil government. The settlei's clustered in the vicinity of the Fort, and built their log dwellings in a place of safety, where they might leave their wives and children, while they, in bands, cleared and cultivated their lands. Those settlers were of the hardy race of Presbyterians, some from Scotland, but mostly from the North of Ireland, descend- ants of those, who, in the days of Cromwell, had rallied for the defense of their Protestant religion, against Popery and Prelacy, and had sought, by emigration from the North of England and the South of Scotlanfl ^o r^^T^T,r,.^]^■7■^ Tto1"-v^ l^'rom the Countie? 11 of York, Lancaster and Cumberland, in England, their ancestors had migrated to the North of Ireland, and thence many of their descendants had come, breathing the same spirit of freedom and desire for liberty of conscience, and cherishing the same resolute and ardent piety, which characterized their sires. This town of Carlisle, and the County of Cumberland — of which it is the seat of Justice — took their names from the places so-called in the North of England. The Carlisle near the border of Scotland; is the prototype of this. Like it, it is built of stone, with streets running at right angles from a square in the center. It is situated between two parallel ranges of lofty hills, inclosing the valley, watered by the Eden, Caldew, and Peterel rivers, or creeks, as we would call them. It was originally a Roman frontier town, near their confluence, and bore the name of Lugo vallum, which the Saxons contracted into LuEL, and attaching their own word Caer, which means town or city, manufactured that of Caer- Lu-el, whence was formed Carlisle, the seat of Justice of Cumber- land County, England. This County of Cumberland, in Pennsylvania, was organized in 1750, but seven years before the foundations of this church edifice were laid. The town of Carlisle was laid out the follow- ing year, 1751, and becoming the seat of Justice for an exten- sive County, members of the Presbyterian congregation, previously organized and worshipping on the banks of the Conodoguinet, who made the town the place of their residence, together with others arriving and settling in the town, made early arrangements for having a place of worship erected in it. The schism that had previously existed in the Presbyterian Church, and which divided it into the two separate and differing Synods of Philadelphia and New York, had led to the formation of new congregations by each party, and often rival to each other, in the same places. From the earliest settlement of Carlisle, these differences led to the formation of two separate congregations. What were called the New Side or New Lights, first occupied the town, and erected a temporary place of worship. It was a T^ooden building. South of the stockade, and near the center of Pomfret and Hanover streets. This circumstance, and the perils of the times, rendered the village a desirable place for the congregation on the banks of the Conodoguinet, to which, to transfer their place of worship. 12 The Court-house had afforded accommodations for worship prior to the erection of church-buildings, and its bell, v.-h'ie\\ announced the hours of worship, continued ever thereafter to render the same important services. That loud, cleai'-sounding bell, which, for close upon a century, had convoked the earl}' Presbyterians^ who settled in this place, to their meetings on the Sabbath, as I learned from the old inhabitants, some forty years since, was cast in the town of Carlisle, Cumberland County, England, and was said to have been a gift from the people of that town and County to its young name-sake in Kittochtinny Valley. As the legend ran, it owed its brilliant tone to the fact, that the subscription of the Penn family — the Proprietaries — toward it, was made on con- dition that the £30 they contributed, to be paid in pure silver, should be added to the other metals composing it, at the time of its being fluxed in the furnance for casting. For three generations did that sweet silver-toned old bell faithfully perform its sacred duties on the Sabbath, proclaiming the hour of worship, until it yielded to the fiery element that brought it into being. It was the charm of the old settlers, and to none more than to the early Presbyterians. It was music to our ears, and we sighed as though a friend had departed when — though at a distance — we heard its tragic story — that it had melted in burning grief, and buried itself in the ashes of its own funeral pile. The Presbyterian congregations in the Colonies of Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, although mainly composed of emigrants from the North of Ireland, included also, a few from England; still more, of the Hugenots from France and the borders of the Rhine, and a sprinkling of Congregation- alists from New England. Of different nations originally, of different languages and education, and differing somewhat in their religious opinions and customs, they nevertheless were remarkably agreed in all the substantial doctrines of the Evangelical faith. The Scotch-Irish sympathies, however, were predominant. The elements of EiTglish Independency, and of New England Congregationalism, which had been somewhat modified in Holland from its original Brownism, and assimilated to Presbyterianism there, before its shipment on board the Mayflower, and its trans- plantation on this Continent; the elements, also, of Scotch and 13 Irish Presbyterianism, and of French Hugenotism, but, more especially, of the Scotch-Irish of the North of Ireland, were blended in the (Colonies, and produced a new phase of Ecclesias- ticisui, difiering somewhat from the originals in the parent countries. By their fusion was developed an ecclesiastical organ- ization, better adapted than either of the distinctive varieties, aa they existed in the old countries, to the circumstances and con- dition of the new settleittents in the Colonies. The standard of doctrine was indeed the same ; but the terms of subscription were not so rigid and exacting as to prevent cor- dial correspondence and easy coalescence. ^Vhere Congregation- alists and Presbyterians found themselves in close vicinity, and mingled in the same settlement, they readily associated — as did also the French Hugenots — for the early and more eflectual sup- port of the preaching of the Gospel. Among the congregations on the borders of New England, South and West, as in New York and East Jersey, there was more of the Congregational element, or irresponsible democracy, than in Pennsylvania, Mary- land, and further South, where Presbyterianism established its representative system or republican rule. The Presbyterian con- gregations of Cumberland County, and of other interior Counties of Pennsylvania, were much more homogeneous. Those of Lancaster County had more of the Hugenots, especi- ally of Franco-German character, a large settlement of whom came from Strasburg, on the Khinc, and its vicinity, and settled in the townships and villages of Strasburg and Lampeter, in that County. Others, from the Palatinate, in Germany — whither, upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1085, by Louis XIV, many had fled from France, and whence, twenty years later, they migrated — settled in the south-eastern part of Leacock, and in Pequa townships, of the same County. The noi-thern and west- ern parts of Lancaster County — excepting Donegal, settled by Scotch-Irish — and the County of York generally, received a large proportion of German emigrants, who did not so readily amalga- mate with Presbyterians; but, preserving their own language, established their own peculiar and differing ecclesiastical organi- zations, answerable to those of their Eurojj^an States from which they came — Lutherans, Reformed, Mennonites, See. They jeal- ously and zealously endeavored to preserve both their native Ian- 14 guage and customs, and maintain separate ecclesiastical organi- izations, which shut them out from the sympathies and fellow- Bhip of Presbyterians, who spoke the language of the country, participated in the administration of the Government, and whose rchurches rapidly increased, comprising emigrants from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, and the l\ilatinate, both upper andjower, who had diffused themselves through parts of Bucks, (Chester, and Lancaster Counties. In this last-named County there were early troubles, between the German and the English population. They were of different races. Hence it became the policy of the Penn family, and the Proprietary Government, which, ultimately however, was only partially successful, to promote the settlement of Cumberland County, with emigrants from the North of Ireland, and the Counties of Lancaster and York, with Germans, in order to avoid the collision that had taken place by the mingling of these different races. The emigrants to Pennsylvania, in great numbers, landed at Newcastle, Delaware, and pnssed into Pennsylvania thence, by way of Wilmington, Newport, and Christiana, in Delaware, and found their way into the Counties of Chester, Lancaster, Dauphin, York, and Cumberland. The congregations formed in Newcastle, which gave its name to the Presbytery that comprised most of the Scotch-Irish emigrants; those in Wilmington, Christiana, and the northern parts of Newcastle County, in Delaware ; also those of the south-western part of Chester County, upper and lower Bran- dywine, upper Octorai'a, New London, Fagg's Manor, Chestnut Level, &c. ; those of lower Octorara, Pequa, Leacock, Lancaster, and Donegal, in Lancaster; of Paxton and Derry, in Dauphin; of the Barrens, York, and Monaghan, in York; and of Silver's /Spring, Carlisle, Big Spring, Middle Spring, in Cumberland County, were composed mainly of Presbyterians from the North of \ Ireland. They were organized upon regular Presbyterian principles, not so much of the established Presbyterian Church of Scotland as of the dissenting Presbyterian churches of the North of Ireland. The members of thosQ, churches were whole-hearted Protestants, who prized the privileges and blessings of religious liberty; and the Presbytery of Newcastle, to which most of them belonged, 15 rendered itself conspicuous for its attachment to republican prin- ciples, and opposition to everything like State domination in the Church, or Church domination in the State. These early emigrants loved their Bibles, and venerated di- vine institutions. God's word was their Supreme law ; His salva- tion, through Christ, their rejoicing; and the preaching of the Gospel more precious than any othier social arrangement. Fronx the earliest period, while their settlements yet were but rudely blocked out, and in the aboundings often of their poverty, they made arrangements to have the truth expounded by the living teacher, and thus possess the full benefit of instruction by an edu- cated and faithful ministry. They were not, and would not be, long satisfied with licentiate preachers and stated supplies, or "hired ministers," as they arc with flippant piquancy commercially termed among Congregationalists in New England, and by west- ern emigrants thence. They loved and honored the pastoral office as a divine appointment, as one of the ascension gifts of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; and the relationship of pastor and people, solemnly constituted by installation, they regarded and cherished, as nearly, if not fully, equal in sacredness to that of husband and wife. In their estimation, without the preaching of the Gospel, and especially by a settled pastor over a regularly organized congregation, the state of society was, and could not but be, imperfect and destitute of the vital elements essential to ita peace, prosperity, and progress. Both in temporal and religious^ matters, they felt the value of the pastor's opinion and advice, and^ they cordially sought, as children to a parent, or a wife to her hus- band, the benefit of his influence and sympathy, as their counsellor' and guide, their watchman and the shepherd of the flock. They would have him to pray with them at their bedsides in sickness y to mingle his sorrows with them in their griefs and afiliotions ; to- share in the joys of their happy moments; and to cooperate with them in the government and instruction of their youth. They would consult him in their domestic and temporal afiairs, have him make their wills for them, and not unfrequently assist, in the construction of them, and often preferred first to take his counsel in matters of litigation before application to attorneys. Many of their early pastors, eminent for their wisdom and piety, never removed from among them from their early days, but lived 16 and died lamented and honored, as a sort of beloved and vene- rated patriarchal parent. Next to the pastor, they valued the bench of Elders, the "helps" ordained of God to aid in exercising the over-sight of the flock, to whom often matters of diflFerence were submitted, as to friends and counsellors, as well as the responsibilities of disci- pline were entrusted. The school, too, was an object of their early care. Wherever they formed a settlement, they had no sooner reared their dwellings for their own families, than they organized congregations, and began to erect meeting-houses, as they called them, for the worship of God. Nor were they too proud, or ashamed, while they themselves dwelt in the log cabin, to build their log churches, not a few of which I remember, in my youthful days, to have seen yet standing, and in some have occasionally preached. It was also their early care, whenever practicable, to secure a farm for the vise of the pastor, which they called " the Glebe," and to provide equal comforts for him with their own. I have known some of the olden pastors — in my younger days — who took their places sometimes in the harvest- fields, and aided at "the raising" of their buildings, and thus prevented evil, and did much good. They were men that would both work and preach, and their discourses were not loose dis- jointed exhortations, but always replete with the grand funda- mental truths of the Gospel. In their congregational arrangements, several of which would sometimes form a pastoral charge, they acted not. without the counsel and cooperation of the pastors assembled in Presbytery. They sought not to interfere with separate interests, each congre- gation being regarded as an integral part of the One Presbyterian Church. The irresponsible Democrary of Brownism and Inde- pendency, they disrelished. The Presbytei-y were wont, there- fore, upon applications for the organization of new congregations, to appoint committees, who visited the field, explored it fully, and with compass and chain run the course and marked the distance of ten miles, as near as might be, from center to center, for the several places of worship, so that there might be no interle- rence and rival efforts made on the same ground, nor a new one organized to the serious injury of one already formed. Thus, until the unfortunate schism in the Presbyterian Church, in 1741, 17 each congregation had its own well-defined geographical "bounds," which, though not called parishes, were really such, within whoso limits the jurisdiction of the pastor, who was called IJishop, and of his Session, composed of l^llders or Presbyters, was appropriate and exclusively that of a parochial episcopate. The homogeneous character of these early Presbyterian con- gregations was never disturbed by any friction with New England Congregationalism, yet did the patriotic spirit of our sires, and the liberal piety of the descendants of the Presbyterian dissenters in the North of Ireland — diifering from the rigid formality of the established Church of Scotland — abundantly appreciate the moral worth and religious character of New England Congregationalists. For, at the commencement of our difficulties at Boston, two yeara before the declaration of Independence, when the valorous sons of Massachusetts began to resist the oppressive nicasures of the British Government, the freeholders and freemen of ('umberland County tendered their sympathies and material aid, pledging them- selves to espouse their cause, and to cooperate with them in the struggle for freedom. The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians had imbibed the spirit, and understood the power, of that famous instrument which contri- buted so much, in Scotland, for the Protestant Reformation and Religious Liberty, viz : " The Solemn League and Covenant." It was their attachment, as Protestants, to the cause of civil and religious liberty, that brought them to this Western world. At an early period in the history of British oppression, as practiced in these Colonies, the same patriotic and religious spirit was kindled in them. Nowhere was it more vigoi'ous, active and effi- cient than in Carlisle and Cumberland Count}^. When, in 1778, Gen. Gage, the Governor of Massachusetts — whose conduct Gen. Washington characterized as "more becom- ing a Turkish bashaw than an English Governor" — had begun to spread the fear that "Boston was to be blockaded and reduced to obedience, by force or famine," the spirit of patriotic resistance startled the scribbling Governor preparing to enact the lion, by the ominous sound of that famous old instrument of heroic faith and patriotism in Scotland, uttered by the Committee of Corres- pondence. At the suggestion of the Assemby in that city, there was circulated a paper entitled "A Solemn League and Covenant," B 1 18 in which the subscribers pledtied themselves to break off all in- tercourse with Great Britian, from the 1st of August, 1773, till the Colony should be restored to its chartered rights, as well as to renounce all dealings with those who should refuse to enter into this compact. They could not have used words more appro- priate or effectual to kindle the patriot fire in the breast of every Presbyterian. The movement was electric. The Scotch-Irish emigrants, who had crossed the ocean for a wilderness, were not the fitting subjects for passive obedience; nor were they willing to renounce civil rights and religious liberties to the exactions of King or Parliament. The freemen of Cumberland Count}^ knew, too, by bitter experience, the ne- cessity of taking care of themselves, when but feebly aided by the Provincial Government. The brilliant achievement at Kittan- ning gave proof of their fortitude and prowess. Col. John Armstrong, who, with Dr. (afterward Capt.) Hugh Mercer, a Scotchman, and both men of Cumberland Valley, foi'med the soul of that enterprise, was of Scotch-Irish extraction. He was a man "resolute" and brave." Living habitually in the fear of the Lord, he feared not the fece of man. His influence among the men of that class was most efficient. His intelligence, his integrity, and deservedly high repiutation for morality and re- ligion, commanded general confidence and respect, and contrib- uted much to rally and restrain the hopes and. energies of the settlers, during the period that followed the first bloody outbreak of the Delaware Indians, which scattered dismay among them, left — as they were for nine years after Braddock's defeat — in a great measure to their own defenses and resourcs. The Pvev. John Steele, a member of the Presbytery of Done- gal, and sup2)lying, at the time, the Old Side people at Shrews- bury and York, was selected, by the first volunteer company or- ganized on West Conocoeheague, for its Captain. Accepting the post, he executed his command with so much skill and' bravery, that the Provincial Government appointed him a Captain of their troops. This appointment he retained for many years; after that, he was pastor of the Presbyterian church on the Conodogui- net, and rendered important service, to the benefit of the settlers, and the satisfaction of the Government. He was reputed as a sound divine, a man of piety and learning. JNor did he relinquish 19 the ministry, for a military post and profession. He often preached with his gun by his side, addressing a congregation, the men of which ali^o had tlieir weapons within tlieir reach. He was not, in this respect, singular ; uor was his congregation. The perils of the times rendered sucli a defensive attitude, even in tte worship of God, necessary to meet the sudden surprisal of Indian warfare. («) The state of the country, and of the times, were such as to develop, at an early period, the daring spirit of freedom, and the manly reliance on God and their own defenses, that marked the Scotch-Irish settlers of the Kittochtinny Valley. The Divine Providence prepared them for freedom and independence. After Braddock's defeat, the whole interior of Pennsylvania was left defenseless. The flight of " Col. Dunbar, the tardy," as he was called, who commanded the retreat, cast dismay among the scattered emigrants. The horrors of a savage war, the intrigues of the French, and the dread of Jesuitical and Papal influences, excited terrifying apprehensions of danger along the entire frontier. Supplications for his aid, and for that of the Proprietary Govern- ment, proved unavailing. The inhabitants of Carlisle, and the people of Cumberland County, were forced to depend upon them- selves. The war that followed was of the most frightful character. Families were surprised in their dwellings, and every member scalped and murdered, without any to relate the dreadful scene. Houses and barns were burned, and cattle and crops destroyed. Sufi'ering privations of the severest kind, and afflicted with the small-pox and dysentery, numbers fled in terror into the Counties of York and Lancaster. . For seven years this Indian war pre- vailed, during most of which the inhabitants of Cumberland Val- ley were left with little or no other defense against their savage enemies, than what their own resources and bravery could supply. Afterward, when the population that had fled began to return, the Eev. William Thompson in 1765, then at Carlisle, I'eported that 750 familes, in difi"erent places, had abandoned their planta- tions, having lost their stock, their crops, their furniture, their all.(^) Two hundred families from Fort Pitt were dispersed among the suft'erers in Cumberland. Disease and want had made such ravages as to require the extension of aid which the people (a) See Appendix marked E. (6) See Appendix marked F. 20 of Philarlelphia generously forwarded, in contributions taken up in Christ and St. Peter's churches. Nor were these cahxniitios the only demands made upon the fortitude and valor of the freemen of Cumberland. There were Others, toward their close, that contributed to develop, still more fully and nobly, the character and spirit of these sturdy Scotch- Irish Presbyterians. The spirit of cupidity, on the part of cer- tain Indian traders — who sought, in violation of law, and in utter and reckless contempt for the safety of the white inhabitants, to supply the savages with arms and ammunition — provoked, in 1765, proceedings of a riotous character, which involved them in conflict with the Provincial authorities. A large quantity of goods had been brought in wagons from Philadelphia, to be carried on pack-horses, by the traders, to places of Indian trade. Where Mercersburg, in Franklin County, is now situated, a party assembled to remonstrate with the traders, and pi-event their giving aid and ammunition to their treacherous foes. Mr. J. DufBeld, of the vicinity, "a man respected and prominent in the County, and a brother of the Kev. George Duffield, then pastor of one of the churches in Carlisle, undertook, on behalf of the assembled citizens, some fifty in number, to urge those having charge of the horses and goods, to proceed no further, but deposit the goods until orders should be received concerning them. The demand was disregarded ; tlie traders passed on their way. The assembled party pursued them, over the Tuscarora mountain in the Great Cove, where Mr. Duffield renewed the demand and his remonstrances. " He reasoned with them on the impropriety of their proceedings, and the great danger the frontier inhabitants would be exposed to, if the Indians should now get a supply, as it was known they had scarcely any ammunition." ^ His object was to prevent the distribution of rum and tomahawks, of gunpowder and arms. He said, that the trade, which was illegal, would be at the expense of the blood and safety of the inhabi- tants ; and that the traders would, in part, be the aiders and abettors of murder. It was all in vain. The traders ridiculed his re- monstrance; and the citizens, under his advice and leading, re- turned to their homes, without any other attempt to restrain the trading party. 1 Tribute to the Principles, &c. 21 Subsequently, Lieut. James Smith, in command of a corn pany of Volunteer liangers, employed for the defense of that position — a man of indomitable courage and inflexible will — with ten of his companions, pursued the traders, and, liaving killed three horses, seized their goods, and destroyed the lead, toma- hawks, scalping-knives, and gunpowder, which they had stored. Lieut. Grant, a royal oflScer of the Highland soldiers, on com- plaint of the traders, assigned them a military guard, who assisted in arresting — without 6ath or warrant, or any civil process from a magistrate' — a number of the citizens of the neighborhood, in no wise connected with the attack, and who were brought to Fort Loudon, and there confined. Smith, with 300 riflemen, demanded and procured the release of the prisoners. Grant was subsequently seized by some of the disaflfected citizens, upon his going into the country, but released upon his promise of delivering their guns, which he had retained in the Fort; and it was done. The inhabitants assembled to redress the arbitrary proceed- ings of the soldiers. The result was, the arrest of Smith and his friends; but the criminal proceedings against them were with- drawn, through the pressure of public sentiment. Some three years after, a German and his servant, confined in jail on the charge of having murdered ten Indians in Shear- man's Valley, was removed to Philadelphia, for trial before the Chief Justice of the Province. Although public sentiment con- demned the murderer, yet it was objected that he should not be removed from the County of Cumberland. The prisoner was rescued by his friends. Col. Armstrong and the Rev. Capt. Steele pursued the rioters; but failing to secure the prisoner, the magistrates were reproved by the Colonial Government. It was not sympathy for the murderer that led to resistance, but opposi- tion to what was judged to be their illegal removal. The men that pursued the rioters, were of Irish extraction, and belonged to the Presbyterian church of Carlisle — Col. (also Justice) Armstrong, R. Miller,. William Lyon, Eev. Mr. Steele, and others. Law and order were restored; and the inhabitants who had fled, returning — after the treaty with the Indians, and the success of the defense made by those that had remained — applied themselves, with new industry, to the cultivation of their farms, and to the repairing of the losses and ravages they had 22 sustained. They rebuilt their dwellings, replenished their stock and furniture, prepared their soil for fresh crops, restored their schools, gathered in their congregations again for the worship of God, and again called and installed pastors over the churches which had been vacated by the Indian wars, and disturbances of the country. The names of Drs. Cooper, King, and Duffield, are associated with this period — men eminent for learning, piety, eloquence, and usefulness in the Presbyterian church.^ I'rovidence had early disciplined our sires into a manly hero- ism, aud prepared them for a still more trying contest with the Colonial authorities, and with the parent country, who had neg- lected them in their suflerings, and were aggravating the public grievances by their oppression. The constitutional and chartered rights of American freemen were well understood ; and the spirit of religious liberty, sustained by an enlightened conscience, would never brook the attempt made to hold them in servile or abject subjection to despotic aiithority, either in Church or State. Their open Bible had taught them their personal responsibilities to God ; and, in so doing, had enlightened them as to the rights of conscience, and the nature and value of civil and ecclesiastical liberty. From the very first collision that took place in the Colony, between the Royal Government and the citizens, their supreme respect for God and conscience, under the illumination of the Sacred Scriptures, enabled them justly to determine how far the King and his Parliament had a right to exercise an absolute des- potic sway. Their sympathies kindled into a flame upon hearing of the Turkish barbarity and oppressive policy of the British Governor of Massachusetts. None evinced more efficient feeling for the oppressed in New England, or greater indignation against the tyranny of the Royal Government, than the Scotch-Irish citi- zens of Carlisle and Cumberland County, and their descendants. Their Presbyterian brethren and kindred, who had settled in North Carolina, were of Scotch-Irish nativity, and had like sym- pathies with them. On the 20th of May, 1775, as the Raleigh Register of the time, in its account of their bold and patriotic re- solves, says of the delegates of the Mecklenburg Convention : 1 Tribute to tlie Principles, &c. 23 " After sitting in the Court-house all night, neither sleepy, hun- gry, nor fatigued, and after discussing every paragraph, they were all passed, sanctioned and decreed, unanimously, about two o'clock, A. M." This memorable declaration of Indepcndenee(«)— which contains many of the ideas, and some of the very phrases and forms of expression afterwards adopted by Mr. Jeffersou; and incorporated in his draft of that great national document whose adoption, on the 4th of July, 1776, by the Provincial Congress, broke the shackles of despotism, and, casting them forever off, started these free and independent States on their high career of freedom and renown— was the movement of Scotch-Irish Pres- byterians. The spirit of Carlisle and Cumberland County was in unison with that of the Mecklenburg Presbyterians. It had been roused from the very first collisions with the tyrannical authority of Great Britain ; and— although the inhabitants had suffered from want and savage war, from pestilence in double form, and from the de- vastation, to a great extent, of their fiwms^ and the flight and dispersion of their women and children— yet were they among the first to tender their sympathy and proffer substantial aid to their New England brethren, entangled in the conflict with Eoyal authority, when its wrath was poured out upon the Colony of Massachusetts, and the port of Boston was closed. At a meeting of the freeholders and freemen of Carlisle and Cumberland County, held at Carhsle on the 12th of July, 1774, (John Montgomery, Esq., of Irish nativity, in the chair) resolu- tions were adopted in condemnation of the Act of Parliament closing the port of Boston, and recommending vigorous measures to redress the grievances. They urged a general Congress of deputies from all the Colonies, and the non-importation of British merchandize; and they pledged substantial contributions for the relief of their suffering brethren in Boston. They appointed, also, deputies to meet, immediately, others from other Counties of Pennsylvania, in the city of Philadelphia. James Wilson, of Scotch nativity, a signer of the declaration of American Inde- pendence, and afterward a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, William Ir^ne, and Robert Magaw, both of Irish (a) See Appendix marked G. 24 origin, the former afterward a General, and the latter a Colonel in the llcvolutionary army from Pennsylvania, were these deputies. The free blood shed by British soldiery, at Lexington. April 19, 1775, roused the spirit of the country.((7) The cry of war was no sooner sounded than the freemen of Cumberland, though distant from the theater of battle; rallied by thousands and offered their services in military associations and organizations. A letter from Carlisle, dated May, Gth, 1775, and preserved in the American Archives, says : " Yesterday the County committee met from nineteen Townships, on the short notice they had. Above three thousand men have already associated. The arms returned amounted to about fifteen hundred. Tlio Committee have voted five hundred effective men, besides commissioned oflBccrs, to be immediately drafted, taken into pay, armed, and disciplined, to march on the first eaiergency, to he paid coid supported as long as necessari/, hjj a tax on all estates reed and. personal in the Count ij." 1 This was not vapor, for in June following, a company under the command of Capt. James Chauibers, marched and joined the army in Boston, under Gen, Washington, of which, in a short time, he became a Colonel, and continued till the close of the revo- lution. These freemen of Cumberland, were the men for the times — hardy and efficient, heads of families, and substantial and respectable freeholders, who had an interest in the soil and the country. They had been familiar Avith arms, inured to exposure and fatigue; and, being of stout athletic frame, formed soldiers who could march without tents or bagg;igo wagons, carry their equipments in their knapsacks, and with a blanket for their cover- ing, make the bare earth their bed, and the open air their apartment.'- The spirit that actuated them may be understood from the assurance they gave, to increase the force, if necessary, to fifteen hundred or two thousand, and at a debt, voluntarily drawn upon the County, of about twenty-seven thousand pounds per annum. In a memorial from the freemen of Cumberland County, pre- (a) See Appendix marked H. (1) Am. Ar., vol. 2, p. 51G. 2. Tribute to the Principles, &c. sented to the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania, they remon- strated against the instructions uiven by that body to "the Penn- sylvania delegates in Continental Congress," in which they were among the first to give public expression to the sentiment that the separation of the Colonies from Great Britain was essential to their safety and welfare. In those instructions, the Assembly had " strictly enjoined the delegates that (they) in behalf of this Colony, dissent from and utterl}^ reject any propositions, should such be made, that may cause or lead to a separation from our mother country, or a change of the form of this Government." ^ The memorialists prayed that this injunction might be withdrawn, and set forth their reasons for it in a calm, patriotic, and able ex- position of their views. The memorial was presented on the 2Sth of May, 1776, and on the 5th of June was referred, by a large majority, to a committee, to bring in neiv instructions to the dele- gates. This was done nine days after, and the injunction and re- strictions remonstrated against were removed. The memorial appears to have expressed the unanimous sentiment of the free- men of Cumberland county. It had its influence on the Assem- bly and its delegates in Congress, and occupied a very prominent and important place, in the measures inducing and determining Congress in their declaration of American Independence. That noble document bears the signatures of not a few patri- otic Presbyterians of Scotch-Irish nativity or extraction. It breathed the spirit of freedom, that animated and characterized the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, most of whom were of the same origin. The Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, President of Nassau Hall — a Scotchman by birth, and distinguished as a leader in the Presbyterian Church, alike eminent for his talents and learning, his patriotism and eloquence, his piety and devo- tion to the cause of liberty — was a member of the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was reported and laid before that body for their adoption and signature. "Some," says the history of the transaction, " seemed to waver. Deep and solemn silence pervaded the Hall. It was a moment of intense and thrilling interest. The destiny of a great nation, of a new world, was suspended on the decision of that hour, fraught with infinite importance."' 1 Am. Ar., vol. 3, p. 1408. B 26 This venerable man, vising in Lis place and castinp: a look of inexpressible and invincible interest around the Assembly, re- marked : " That noble instrument on your table, which insures immortality to its author, should be subscribed, this very mornins^, by every pen in the house. He who will not respond to its ac- cents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy the name of freeman. Although these grey hairs must descend into the sepulchre, I would infinitely rather they should descend thither by tlic hand of the public executioner, than de- sert, at this crisis, the sacred cause of my country." The patri- arch sat down, and forthwith the Declaration was signed by every mendier present. That Declaration made, the freemen of Cumberland thronged to the struggle. ]^y the IGtli of August following, it was an- nounced in Congress, by a letter from Carlisle : " The twelfth, company of our militia are marched to-day, which companies con- tain, in the whole, eigbt hundred and thirty-three privates, with officers — nearly nine hundred men. Six companies more are col- lecting arms, and are preparing to march." The company in the lead was under the command of the Rev. Capt. John Steele, the pastor of the Presbyterian churcb in this place comprising the " old side" people. The Rev. Geoi'ge Dufficld, who had been, till some years pre- viously, the pastor of the other branch of this church, comprising the " new side" people, was at this time settled in the Third Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, and one of the Chaplains of Congress. His voice had been heard clear and strong, with his characteristic eloquence and ingenuity, advocating from his pul- pit the sacred cause of religious and civil liberty. As early as the 19th of March, 1776, nearly four months before the declara- tion of the American Congress, he publicly espoused the cause of freedom, and in the clearest and most courageous tones, uttered his loud call to liberty and independence. While yet the hearts of not a few in Congress faltered, and some of the Pennsylvania delega- tion especially, under the influence of the Assembly's first in- structions, hesitated to declare for independence, in his own church — where John Adams and many of the influential members of Congress often worshipped — he expressed himself in the fol- lowing language : " This Western world appears to have been formed for that purpose, designed by the decree of Heaven to be an asylum for Itberti/, civil and i-rlirjious:. Our forefathers who first inhabited yonder eastern shores, fled from the iron rod and heavy hand of oppression ' Twas (his, and no love of earthly gains, or prospect of tem))oral grandeur, urged them, like Abra- ham of old, to leave their native soil and tender connections behind, to struggle through winds and waves, to seek a peaceful retreat in a then howluig wilderness, where they might raise the banner of liberty, and dwell contented under its propitious shade, esteeming this more than all the treasures of a British Egypt, from whence they were driven forth. "Nor was it i\\G foster iiuj care of Britain produced the rapid population of these Colonies, but the ti/ranuy and oppression,, both civil and ecclesiastical, of thai and other nations, constrained multitudes to resign every other earthly comfort, and leave their country and friends, to enjoy in peace the fair possessions of /"rce- dom,'m this AVestern world. 'Tis this has reared our cities, and turned the wilderness, so far and wide, into a fruitful field. America's sons, comparatively few excepted, were all refuriecs, the chosen spirits of various nations, that would not, like Issachar, bow down between the two burdens of the accursed cruelty of tyranny in Church and. Slate. And can it be supposed, that the Loi-d has so far forgotten to be gracious, and shut up His tender mercies in His wrath, and so favored the arms of oppres- sion as to deliver up their asylum to slavery and bondage ? Can it bo supposed, that that God who made man free, and engraved in undcfacecd)le characters the love of liberty in his mind, should forbid freedom, already exiled from Asia and Africa, and under sentence of banishment from Europe — that He should forbid her to erect her banners here, and constrain her to abandon the earth? As soon shall He subvert ci'cation, and forbid that sun to shine! He preserved to the Jews their cities of refuge; and whilst sun and moon endure, America shall remain, a City of lief ui/c far the ichole earth, until she herself shall play the tyrant, forget her destiny, disgrace her freedom, and provoke her God. When that day shall come — if ever — then, and not till then, shall site aho fall slain with them tcho go down to the jjit!" The discourse from which the above extract is taken was dc- 28 livered before various coinpauies of the Pennsylvania militia, and many members of Congress, and its object was to rouse the spirit of freedom in the breasts of all. With lofty and impassioned eloquence, reasons many and mighty are urged, why the spirit of patriotism and piety should throw oft" the shackles of oppression, and America become free and independent. The preacher was appointed Chaplain to the Pennsylvania militia by Gov. Morton, and his comtiiission was dated on the fourth day after the declara- tion of Independence. So great was his influence, so zealous was his patriotism, and so obnoxious did he become to the British Government, that during the early period of the Revolutionary struggle, a price of fifty pounds sterling was offered for his head. But God preserved him, and both in the ami}'' and among the members of Congress his influence was felt. It was a circumstance worthy of notice, that however the pastors of the two churches in Carlisle afterward united, and how- ever their people may have differed in matters connected with their ecclesiastical polity, they had but one heart and purpose in the contest for political liberty, and the emancipation of the Church from the thraldom of the State. It merits attention, also, that the history of this Presbyterian church, and of its early pastors, mingles itself closely with that of our Picvolutionary struggle. We have therefore felt, that we could not well avoid a reference to the political troubles of the times, in our attempt to give its general outline. The genius of the Presbyterian Church in these United States is eminently republican. Its tendencies and influence in the State, were of the same character. There were no Tories in it. Wherever the Scotch- Irish population was found — which formed its original frame-work — the spirit of Pepublicanism developed itself. In Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, the zealous cooperation of Presbyterians, for the emancipation of the Colonies from British tyranny in Church and State, was seen in their prompt and voluntary enrollment of themselves in the Revolutionary armies, and in their self-sacrificing and untiring eft'orts for independence. There had been contests iu the Presbyterian Church; but they were healed prior to the Revolution. However they differed among themselves on questions of ecclesiastical polity, those difle- 29 rences arose not from any disagreement as to the great and funda- mental principles of civil and religious liberty. A glance at the character of those differences becomes necessary in order to a faithful sketch of the history of the Presbyterian church of this place, where, perhaps, they were more operative and apparent than in most others. While the great substantial doctrines of the Gospel, and the radical principles of Presbyterian government, were embraced with equal cordiality, and adhered to with equal attachment by all, there wore, nevertheless, differences of opinion and feeling, in different parts of the country, which had mainly grown out of the great and powerful revivals of religion, that had prevailed in the former part of the last century, in New iMigland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and also in relation to the measures and discipline deemed appropriate for the promotion of piety. These differences had resulted, finally in 1741, in the dismem- berment of the Presbyterian Church. The Synod of New York and Philadelphia had been rent in twain. Toward the close of seventeen years thereafter, they had abated. The reunion was consummated just one year after laying the foundation of this edifice, in which we are now assembled. The revivals of religion that had occvirred under the preaching of Whitfield, Tenant, and others, in the first instance, reappeared under the preaching of Pavies, Edwards, Smith, Blair, the younger Tenants, and students of the Log College, which had been established by their father at Neshaminy in this State. An ardent and animating Christianity was taught there, and also in the preparatory schools of Dr. Smith, of Pequea ; of Samuel Blair, of Fagg's Manor; of Mr. Finley, of Nottingham; and in the College of Nassau Hall, just instituted at Newark, N. J. The Kev. Aaron Burr wrote to Edwards in February, 1757, of a revival of religion at Fagg's Manor, under Mr. Duffield; and Davies, in June, 1757, tells his Scottish friends, that he "had heard iVom 3Ir. Dufiiekl, a young minister, that there was a irene- ral awakening, throughout the Jerseys, among the youtli." Mr, Duffield, who had been a tutor in Nassau Hall from 1754 to 1756, after laboring in Fagg's Manor, went to the South as an Evangel- ist to visit vacant churches, and after his return supplied at York, Shrewsbury, and Round Hill, v.-hence he was called to Carlisle 30 and IJii;- Spring, wliecc lie 'Was installed by the Tresbytery of Newcastle. Directly after Mr DuflielJ was called to (^arlisle and Big Spring, the " old side" ])eople of Carlisle and Silvers' Spring called the Kev. John Steele, and the Presbytery of Donegal forth- with installed hiui. He had previonsly supplied the congrega- tion worshipping in the log church on the Conodogninet, known in hiter days by the name of the " Electing House Springs." ]Joth Mr. Dufficld and iMr. Steele were installed in Carlisle within three months of each other, and each preached two-thirds of the time in the town. The Synod recommended the congregations to fall upon healing measures, and lay a plan for the erection of one house only. But the uiiKcultics were not thus adjusted. The contests lietween the churches and their pastors became serious. Objections were uuule by Mr. Buflield against Mr. Steele's elder sitting in the Presbytery of Newcastle; and 3Ir. Steele complained of a letter written by Mr. Duffield to his uncle, (the Rev. .John Blair) speaking of Mr. Steele having in an uiuUjr- hand way settled in Carlisle. The matters were carried to Synod, and the j^roduction of the letter set the matter in a dilfd'ent light i'rom the representations made about it, and there the matter ended. In April, 1702, iMr. Duffield was called to the Second Pres- byterian (;hurcli of Philadeli>hia, which the Presbytery? of Done- gal refused to put into his liaiuls, because of the remonstrances of his people. It was renewed some time after, and I'cceived the same treatment. In 1705, he was sent by the Synod to the Car- olinas, au