The Episcopalians

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DEC H 0 1918

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THE EPISCOPALIANS

THE OLD NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.

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The Story of the C/turche\Ji'A.

The Episcopalians

By /

DANIEL DULANY ADDISON

Author of "Lucy Larcom: Life, Letters, and

Diary " ,• "Life and Times of Edward Bass,

First Bishop of Massachusetts" ;

"The Clergy in America, Life

and Letters" etc.

NEW YORK: THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.
33-37 East Seventeenth St., Union Sq. North

Copyright, 1904,

By

The Baker & Taylor Co.

Published, September, igo4

Publishers' Note

The aim of this series is to furnish a uniform
set of church histories, brief but complete,
and designed to instruct the average church
member in the origin, development, and his-
tory of the various denominations. Many
church histories have been issued for all de-
nominations, but they have usually been
volumes of such size as to discourage any
but students of church history. Each vol-
ume of this series, all of which will be
written by leading historians of the various
denominations, will not only interest the
members of the denomination about which
it is written, but will prove interesting to
members of other denominations as well
who wish to learn something of their fellow
workers. The volumes will be bound uni-
formly, and when the series is complete will
make a most valuable history of the Chris-
tian church.

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

I. The Episcopalians 9

II. The Beitish and Eaely English

Chuech. 34

III. The Noeman Chuech 57

IV. The Refoemation 77

V. Eaely Days of the Chuech in

Ameeica 118

VI. The Colonial Peeiod 143

VII. Aftee the Revolution 172

VIII. Nineteenth Centuey 191

IX. Peogeess 223

The Episcopalians

CHAPTER I

THE EPISCOPALIANS

The church of Christ is the visible repre-
sentative of the kingdom of God on earth.
There are many branches of the church
of Christ, each drawing inspiration from
him as the head and aiming to establish
brotherhood among men in different or-
ganizations,— varied because of human his-
tory and character, and diverse by reason
of race, training, and temperament.

The Episcopalian is a member of the
church of Christ, and a follower of the
Saviour, who tries to lead a Christian life.
He has become a member of the church by

9

lo The Episcopalians

baptism, confirmation, and the acceptance
of the Apostles' Creed as the rule of faith
according to the authority and methods of
the historic church of the English-speaking
people; he is a member of the Anglican
Communion, which in America has been
called the Protestant Episcopal Church and
belongs to the Catholic and Apostolic
church founded by Christ which developed
distinguishing characteristics in England
from the earliest days, and was planted in
America in the colonial period as a mission
of the Church of England. The Episco^
palian, through his visible church in America,
shares the privileges and riches of the
Church of England; and from this ancient
church enjoys the benefits and sacred gifts
which God bestows upon mankind in the
continuous Apostolic Church, established
by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The church in America is called Protestant
Episcopal, a name adopted after the Ameri-
can Revolution to indicate two elements of

The Episcopalians 1 1

its life: first, to distinguish it from the
Church of Rome, against certain methods
of which it protested; and second, to dis-
tinguish it from non-Episcopal churches,
because it possessed the apostolical order
of bishops. While no name can com-
pletely define an organization this title
indicates the position, of the church as
independent of the Church of Rome and as
being apostolic in continuing the form and
polity of the primitive church of Christ.
After the Revolution it was necessary for
the scattered parishes of the Church of
England to organize into a church and
adopt a name by which it would be known
in law; and this name, having been pre-
viously used both in England and America,
was selected.

The Episcopal Church has three orders in
the ministry: bishops, priests and deacons,
because of the belief expressed in the
preface to the Consecration Service that
"it is evident unto all men diligently read-

12 The Episcopalians

ing Holy Scripture and ancient authors that
from the apostles' time there have been
these three orders of ministers in Christ's
church." There is no dogma as to the
origin of the Episcopate; but the bishops as
successors of the apostles are considered to
be their representatives and to witness to
the truth, and, through the ordination of
priests and deacons and the consecration
of other bishops, to insure the perpetuity
of the church and to give evidence of its
historical continuity. The church has never
adopted any theory of the grace of orders;
individuals have their own theories. The
fact of an unbroken line of bishops back to
apostolic times is accepted; and this indi-
cates that every bishop and priest and dea-
con, by prayer and the Imposition of
Hands, is sent forth for his work by lawful
authority. Jesus evidently intended to es-
tablish an organization. He selected a
definite number of apostles, the twelve.
When there was a break in the ranks other

The Episcopalians 13

men were especially set apart. The ex-
egencies of the church soon gave rise to a
more fully developed institution. The
apostles appointed presbyters; and dea-
cons, as assistants, were ordained. The
germ of the threefold ministry is to be
found in the New Testament. The first
two centuries of the early church give
ample proof that this system was uni-
versally adopted, and continued to be the
unfailing method until the formation of
Separatist Churches after the Reformation.
The Episcopalian not only believes that the
threefold ministry follows primitive prac-
tice; he also thinks it is a system well
adapted for efficiency and for the well-
being of the church. It provides a head
and many members,— a centralizing force
with indefinite power of extension.

As to the ministry of other churches:
many Episcopalians hold that the orders are
valid and that they have done and are doing
work for Christianity which has been

14 The Episcopalians

greatly blessed, but they regret that schism
and separation arose and look forward to
the day when there will be union again.
There are other Episcopalians who believe
more firmly in the grace of orders and who
hold that the ministry of the Separatist
Churches is both irregular and invalid. It
must be always remembered that there are
these two interpretations among members
of the church, but that the church has never
stated that other ministries are invalid.
The theories held by groups of men within
the church must never be mistaken for the
attitude of the church itself.

The bishop is the overseer and manager
of his diocese like the president of a great
corporation or the governor of a state. The
diocese is a group of parishes, sometimes
coterminous with the state in size; some-
times a state will be divided into two or
more dioceses. The diocese has a constitu-
tion and a convention to which delegates
both clerical and lay are sent from the dif-

The Episcopalians 15

ferent parishes. A union of the dioceses
with their bishops makes up the church in
America, just as the separate states uniting
under the federal constitution constitute the
nation. The church is thus a related and
organic whole with power to legislate and
govern in the General Convention which
meets every three years, where each
diocese is represented by the bishops
and delegates from the clergy and lay-
men. This system is the opposite of
that which maintains that the independent
congregation has the sole right to legislate
for itself as is the method with the Congre-
gationalists. The polity of the Episcopal
Church is more like that of the United
States of America. It is representative gov-
ernment. Each parish is represented by
the vote of the people in the diocese and
each diocese is represented in the General
Convention, which has two Houses, the
House of Bishops and the House of Depu-
ties, corresponding to the Senate and the

16 The Episcopalians

House of Representatives. This similarity
in democratic methods between the church
and the nation arose from the fact that
many of the men who during the Revolu-
tion and after it were instrumental in
organizing the church also helped to found
the nation. A large majority of those who
signed the Declaration of Independence
were churchmen. Washington, Hamilton,
Marshall, Morris, Franklin and many others
who laid the foundations of the United
States were Episcopalians. It was natural,
therefore, that the men who were organiz-
ing two institutions at the same time should
have constructed them on similar lines.
The Episcopalian takes great satisfaction in
the democratic and representative form of
his government which corresponds to his
national ideals.

The Episcopal Church is no more a bish-
op's church than a layman's church, for
both have well defined duties and rights.
The layman has great power in the manage-

The Episcopalians 17

ment of the parish and the calling of his
minister. The Vestry, composed entirely
of laymen, is the executive and prudential
body in the parish. The layman's voice is
heard in the diocesan convention, in the
election of a bishop and in the councils of
the general church. The influence of the
layman is one of the most democratic ele-
ments in the polity of the church.

The faith of the Episcopalian is expressed
in the Apostles' Creed. This is required of
those who are baptized and confirmed.
This creed is a positive statement of the
great essential facts of Christianity. One
learns from it as the Catechism explains:
" First, I learn to believe in God the Father,
who hath made me and all the world;
Secondly, in God the Son, who hath re-
deemed me and all mankind; Thirdly, in
God the Holy Ghost, who hath sanctified
me and all the people of God." The creed
is not a storehouse of doctrinal definition. It
is a statement of the simplest facts of Chris-

18 The Episcopalians

tian truth for the development of the relig-
ious life. It is an expression of earnest
Christian loyalty rather than a metaphysical
analysis of intricate doctrine. The accept-
ance of the Apostles' Creed is an assertion
of the individual that he believes in God, in
Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin
Mary and suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, dead, and buried, and rose again
from the dead to be the judge of humanity;
and in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit of
God, in the Holy Catholic Church, the com-
munion of saints, the forgiveness of sins
and the life everlasting.

There are beautiful explanations and
elaborations of these central truths to be
found throughout the Book of Common
Prayer, in the collects and different offices
of the church, in the Nicene Creed and in
the Thirty-nine Articles. None of these
have to be formally accepted for member-
ship in the church. The Apostles' Creed is
the sole formula that must be accepted for

The Episcopalians 19

baptism and confirmation. By a study of
these other aids to faith and the constant
familiarity with them in the services of the
church the spirit of devotion is deepened
and the intellectual apprehension of truth is
stimulated.

It is interesting to note that there are no
creedal statements about many doctrines
which some religious bodies have deemed
necessary as requirements for membership.
The doctrine of the Inspiration of Holy
Scripture is not included. There is no
reference to predestination or future pun-
ishment. The doctrine of the Trinity is
treated in the broadest outlines. The facts
of the Fatherhood of God and the Sonship
of Christ and the Holy Spirit are stated, but
no analysis is made. There are many
theories of the Trinity, but no one of them
is set forth in the Apostles' Creed. Many
passages in the prayer-book reflect various
phases of the doctrine. These assist in
giving defmiteness to one's thought and

20 The Episcopalians

help to make clear the mystery of God in
the threefold revelation in nature, in the
person of Christ and in the heart and con-
science of man. This absence of reference
to such doctrines, and the further omission
of doctrinal definition, is an evidence that
the church gives large liberty of individual
interpretation. Such is the case. The
growth and enrichment of the human soul
come through the personal appropriation
of the central Christian truths and the illu-
mination of such truths by one's learning,
meditation, temperament and devotion.
The church brings to man the revelation,
and man, receiving it, finds new beauties
in its infinite depth.

The right of private interpretation and
judgment is one of the most prized char-
acteristics of the Episcopal Church, and
marks its breadth and comprehensiveness.
The church thus provides a religious home
for many who differ in the interpretation
of doctrine. They accept the same creed

The Episcopalians 21

and liturgy; and instead of being bound
within narrow limits they enjoy freedom in
their religious lives. Men of dissimilar
training and temperament are sure to value
differently certain aspects of truth. Shall
they, therefore, separate and multiply sec-
tarian bodies ? or shall they reside within
the one great church, and, giving a loyalty
to the institution, pursue the trend of their
natures in the appreciation of the revelation
of Christ? The church, again, becomes like
the nation, wherein the citizens accept the
constitution, but often differ as to its mean-
ing; yet all work for the good of the whole.
In the church one hears of " High Church,"
"Low Church," and "Broad Church."
These names stand in general for varied
interpretations of Christian truth. They
represent tendencies of thought rather than
parties. The significance of these names is
constantly shifting. It is one of the notes
of a comprehensive church that there
should be within the sheltering care of the

22 The Episcopalians

one institution those who represent the
ideas which these names signify.

The worship of the churchman is stimu-
lated and guided by the use of the Book of
Common Prayer. The prayer-book is re-
garded by the Episcopalian as a rich treas-
ury of devotion; and on Sundays, festivals,
and holy days the services are repeated by
minister and people as a worthy and ade-
quate expression of their religious emotions.
This book of offices and prayers contains
the wealth of the devotional experience of
saintly men. The reverent language helps
to lift the soul of the worshipper to God.
When using the liturgy the Christian feels
that he is a part of the church of the ages,
for the very words which he takes upon
his lips have been used by worshippers in
every period of the church's history. The
book is a growth: it draws from the devo-
tional literature of Israel; it is filled with
Christ's own words; the evangelists and
apostles have contributed to it; the earliest

The Episcopalians 23

liturgical forms used by the fathers are re-
tained; services used by the Greek and
Latin Christians, enriched and expanded by
the British and early English Church, find a
place; it bears the stamp of mediaeval Chris-
tianity and reflects the spirit of the Refor-
mation. Translated into English and drawn
from many liturgical sources, the prayer-
book has been one of the great gifts of the
English Church to the Christian world.
Adapted to English use and changed to suit
American conditions it is now the constant
companion of the whole Anglican Com-
munion.

The worship is common worship. Min-
isters and people use it alike. In the re-
sponses and sections of the service repeated
in unison the congregation is as important a
part in the act of worship as is the minister,
who leads the people in mutual prayer
and praise. The use of a liturgy protects
the worshipper from the eccentricities of
the individual minister; and provides a

24 The Episcopalians

familiar and tried vehicle for religious de-
votion.

There is great variety in the prayer-book.
A glance will show that the book contains
numerous services and offices for all of the
important crises of life. Morning Prayer
and Evening Prayer, the Litany and Pene-
tential Prayers, the Holy Communion, Bap-
tism and Confirmation, Marriage and Burial,
the Visitation of the Sick, Family Prayers,
the offices of Ordination and Consecration,
— all minister to the several needs of the
Christian community.

The individual service also shows variety.
While the services are built on the same
groundwork there are always the different
lessons from Scripture, the different Psalms,
the Gospel and Epistle for the day, the
special hymns and the message of the
preacher. Morning Prayer, opening with
the sentences from Scripture and the exhor-
tation, followed by the General Confession,
Absolution, and the Lord's Prayer, with the

The Episcopalians 25

Psalter, the Scripture Lessons, the Venite
and Te Deum, and the Apostles' Creed and
the Prayers , makes a rich and harmonious
act of worship comprising confession of
sin, forgiveness, praise and thanksgiving,
instruction, the expression of loyal faith
and the communion with God in prayer.

The teaching of the church year, also, takes
the constant worshipper through almost
every phase of Christian experience and re-
hearses anew the central facts in the life of
Christ.

Beginning with Advent, rich in the
thought of the value of the ministry, the
power of scripture, and the world's prepa-
ration for the coming of Christ, the church
year enters upon the sacred and joyful time
of the nativity; and through the whole
Christmas season leads men to think of the
mystery of childhood, the duty of parents,
and the dignity of human life as taught in
the doctrine of the Incarnation. Epiphany
reveals anew the universality of Christ's re-

26 The Episcopalians

ligion and its appeal to all men everywhere.
Lent with its admonitions to a holy and
righteous life, developing self-control and
offering forgiveness for sin, proves its use-
fulness by increased meditation, prayer and
worship. On Good Friday humanity stands
by the side of the cross and witnesses the
glory of sacrifice and learns the truth of the
reconciliation between God and man.
Easter Day stands for the triumph of good
over evil, life over death, and brings to
light immortality. Whitsunday celebrates
the coming of the Spirit of God into rela-
tionship with the spirits of men and inter-
prets God's power in history, in the church,
and in the conscience of humanity.
Trinity Sunday presents the supreme
Christian philosophy of God, as Father, Son
and Holy Spirit illustrating wisdom, love,
and power.

In the Episcopal Church there are two
sacraments, Baptism and the Supper of the
Lord. They were ordained by Christ him-

The Episcopalians 27

self. Baptism is the entrance into the
church; and Holy Communion is the
pledge of fellowship and the source of
spiritual power. The water and the bread
and wine consecrated by prayer are the
outward symbols of inner spiritual grace.

In the administration of baptism the
method, whether by immersion or by
pouring, is not considered the essential
element in the sacrament. It is the spirit,
not the letter, that must be observed. By
virtue of baptism one becomes a member
of the church of Christ. In the case of an
adult, repentance, acceptance of Christ,
and the vow to lead a Christian life are
the requisites for baptism. The baptismal
formula, "In the name of the Father, and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," is
invariably used. Infants also are baptized
in recognition of their birth into the church
through the Christian family, as by their
birth they become members of the nation.
In the commonwealth of Israel the child's

28 The Episcopalians

citizenship was recognized by a religious
act, and the integrity of the family as a
unit was taught. " Suffer the little children
to come unto me and forbid them not,"
said Christ; and in his whole attitude
towards children he showed that he had no
intention of excluding them from the king-
dom of God. There is no scripture in-
junction against the baptism of children.
Primitive usage, following naturally the
Old Testament ideal of the sacredness of the
family and the religious training of the
young, received the child as a member of
the Christian community. Baptism as the
open door into the church took the place of
circumcision, the method of entrance into
the commonwealth of Israel.

When the child is brought into the church
and baptized at the font, it is offered unto
the Lord. A pledge is also made by the
parents and sponsors that it will be brought
up to lead a godly and Christian life. The
church claims it for its own, and endeavors

The Episcopalians 29

to surround it by Christian influences from
its birth. The child neither selects its
parents nor its country, and it is not
necessary for it to select the church. There
is a providence in the nationality and par-
entage of the child, and there is also a
providence in the fact of the child being
placed in the Christian family and becoming
a member of the church through the act of
baptism.

Infant baptism leads to confirmation when
the child is old enough to ratify and confirm
what its parents and the church did for it.
It takes upon itself the vows that were
made in its name and completes, by a per-
sonal act, conscious membership in the
church of Christ. Through baptism the
child is " born again," or becomes regener-
ate,— enters by a spiritual birth into the
kingdom of God just as by natural birth it
enters into the world. It is grafted into
the body of Christ's Church and begins a
career of nurture and development under

30 The Episcopalians

Christian influences. The ideal is the
gradual training of the spiritual faculties of
the child so that normally it grows into the
full possession of the Christian heritage.

The celebration of the Holy Communion,
or the partaking of the Lord's Supper has
always been regarded as one of the most
sacred services in the church. Instituted
by Christ and enjoined upon his disciples
by him in the words, " do this in remem-
brance of me," it has ever been celebrated
with joy and thanksgiving. " For the con-
tinual remembrance of the sacrifice of the
death of Christ," says the church, in refer-
ring to the establishment of the sacrament,
"and of the benefits which we receive
thereby," it was ordained. In the simple
breaking of the bread and the pouring of
the wine accompanied by .the act of con-
secration and prayer, a feast is prepared for
the children of God, which has always
given inspiration and strength.

Christians have always had different ex-

The Episcopalians 31

planations of the power of the sacrament,
and different views with regard to it. The
memorial idea, the doctrine of transubstan-
tiation, the conception of the real presence,
the sacrificial idea and the presence of
Christ in the recipient's heart, — all these
views have from time to time been held by
Christians, and have expressed for them
the mystery and comfort of the sacrament.
The Episcopal Church has repudiated tran-
substantiation, and the view of the contin-
ual offering of a sacrifice of Christ's body,
because the sacrifice was once offered
"full and sufficient." It is taught that the
communion is a memorial; but more than
this, that the presence of Christ is both in
the sacrament and in the heart of the be-
liever. The church recognizes that there
will always be a difference among disciples
as to the interpretation of the sacrament
and urges them to partake of it worthily,
not desiring to limit the freedom of the in-
dividual except where express laws have

32 The Episcopalians

been enacted. To the reverent worshipper
the sacrament becomes a precious experi-
ence, and no formulated theory can explain
the deep consciousness of Christ's presence,
the subtle spiritual influences that arise and
the satisfying of the hunger of the soul. It
becomes truly the outward and visible sign
of an inward and spiritual grace.

The church is an organization for the
social salvation of mankind as well as for
the saving of the individual soul. It is a
brotherhood, the aim of which is to develop
man's character through mutual service and
to give inspiration to human society to live
a true, normal, and unselfish life. Duty to
God includes duty to God's children.
Through loving witnesses and consecrated
human agencies the church, following the
teaching of Christ, seeks to build up society
and to promote Christian civilization.
Moved by these impulses, the church
works through societies and organizations
for improving the lives of men and women

The Episcopalians 33

and provides opportunities for genuine
social service. The parish house, the hos-
pital, the settlement, and the numerous
societies for boys and girls and men and
women, in connection with Episcopal
parishes, indicate that the church is trying
to fulfill its duty to all classes of society.
The growth of great parishes which com-
bine the elements of the rescue mission,
the hospital and the college, is a movement
in modern life to make the Master's influ-
ence dominant in the centres of population.
Faith, worship, and service are becoming
more and more the watchwords of the
church.

The Episcopal Church in America having
been planted as a mission of the Church of
England draws its form and inspiration
from the continuous history of English
Christianity. The origins must be sought
in the British, Keltic, Saxon and early Eng-
lish churches from which has come the rich
and varied inheritance.

CHAPTER II

THE BRITISH AND EARLY ENGLISH CHURCH

The date of the first introduction of
Christianity into England is unknown.
There are some beautiful legends that tell
how Joseph of Arimathea went to Glaston-
bury and planted the staff which grew into
the Holy Thorn, how St. Paul himself
preached in Britain, but the only authorita-
tive statement is that of Tertullian, writing
about 208, who says that the gospel had
reached Britain. Whatever were the be-
ginnings, and it is probable that Christians
went from Gaul and brought with them
the gospel, it is a well known fact that
three British bishops were present at the
Council of Aries in 314. Their names are
known: Eborius of York, Rustitutus of
London, and Adelfius of Lincoln. Also

34

British and Early English Church 35

there were bishops from England at the
Council of Rimini in 359.

There were ancient churches at Glaston-
bury, Canterbury, St. Albans, Chester,
Whithome and Evesham; and the founda-
tion of the bishoprics of Llandaff and St.
David's dates from this early period. These
facts indicate that long before the coming
of the Roman mission under Augustine in
597 there was a fully organized church in
England with characteristics of its own
and an independence strengthened by the
isolation of its island home.

This early church is called the British
Church to distinguish it from the later Saxon
and English Church. The best account we
have of its organization and history is given
by Gildas, who wrote before 550. After
the withdrawal of the Roman forces from
Britain, in 410, the British Church de-
veloped along lines independent of the
influence of the Continental churches. The
picture that is drawn by Gildas shows that

36 The Episcopalians

the British Church had a diocesan Episco-
pate, many of the bishops being men of
learning and force; it was governed by
synods; there were monasteries where the
celibate life was cultivated by men and
women. However, clerical marriages were
common. Among the differences to be
noted between the Roman Church and the
British Church were the date of the ob-
servance of Easter, the method of bap-
tism and the form of the tonsure.

These differences were further accentu-
ated by another influence which affected
the British Church. The Irish or Keltic
Church, through its missionaries, notably
St. Columba, who established a celebrated
monastery on the Island of Iona, came into
close association with the Britons. Ireland
was even more isolated than Britain. It
refused to give up the date of observing
Easter at the bidding of the Church of
Rome. The Irish Church was a monastic
church and lacked the diocesan features of

British and Early English Church 37

the British Church; but through the zeal of
the missionaries it became an important
factor in the growth of the church in
Britain. As an indication of the native
character and independence of the two
churches, it is a suggestive fact that the
whole ministry of St. Columba was exer-
cised before the arrival of Augustine.
Columba died in 597, the very year in
which the Roman monk landed at Ebbs-
fleet, on the shores of Kent.

Before the coming of the Roman mission
under Augustine, the British Church had
suffered severely and had been driven into
the west of Britain by the invasion of the
Saxons, Angles and Jutes. These Saxon
conquerors were nature worshippers and
lovers of battle. In their attempt to ex-
terminate the conquered and to uphold their
own religious ideas they stirred up such a
furious hatred in the breasts of the Britons
that no attempts seem to have been made
by the British Church to Christianize them.

38 The Episcopalians

A British abbot once said to his disciples on
hearing a Saxon calling to his dogs, "Let
us depart hence straightway, for this man
speaks a language that is hateful to me; his
nation has come to invade our land and
will keep it forever."

No such prejudice existed in the mind of
Gregory when in the Roman market-place,
about 585, he saw the beautiful Saxon
youths and made up his mind to go as
a missionary to their people. " Alas,"
he said, ''that the prince of darkness
should claim such bright faces. What is
their race ? " " They are Angles," was the
reply. " That is well," he continued, " for
they have angel faces and should be fellow-
heirs with the angels in heaven." But
Gregory was elected pope in 590 and
could not go on his journey to the Saxons.
He, however, selected Augustine and a
party of monks, and sent them. After
many vicissitudes they landed on the Isle of
Thanet in 597, and were fortunate in their

British and Early English Church 39

reception by King ^Ethelbert, whose wife
Bertha was a Christian. Through the in-
fluence of this good woman they were
treated kindly by the king, who was later
baptized with many of his nobles. A
suitable dwelling was provided in Canter-
bury for the missionaries; and an old
church was restored and given to them,
which they dedicated to Christ the Saviour.
So Christianity gained a stronghold among
the Saxons, and Augustine was made the
first archbishop of Canterbury. The plan
was soon formed for an extension of the
church throughout the island. Two prov-
inces were to be set up, one having the
centre at London and the other at York;
and twelve bishops were to be consecrated.
These plans were not all carried out, but
Augustine's influence spread through other
principalities besides that of Kent.

As outlined by Gregory the policy to be
pursued by Augustine was broad and in-
telligent. " It pleases me," wrote Gregory,

4-0 The Episcopalians

" that if you have found anything either in
the Roman or the Gallican or in any other
church which may be more acceptable to
Almighty God you carefully make choice
of the same, and sedulously teach the church
of the English which is as yet new in the
faith, whatsoever you can gather from the
several churches." But Augustine was not
free from conservative prejudices. With
timidity and lack of sagacity he was some-
times overbearing in his attitude. This was
especially the case when he came in contact
with the bishops of the British Church.
Augustine arranged for a conference be-
tween himself and the representatives of
the British Church with the purpose ap-
parently of getting them to acknowledge
his authority. Two conferences were held
and both were failures. The British bish-
ops were not willing to surrender their in-
dependence or give up their customs and
practices. This independence on their part
resulted in further alienation and the two

British and Early English Church 41

churches lived apart until they were finally
merged much later in the united English
Church. The consecration of St. Chad to
the See of Litchfield seems to have been one
of the few instances where bishops of the
two churches joined.

The results of the Roman mission were
not all that had been anticipated, though it
succeeded in organizing three dioceses, at
Canterbury, Rochester and in East Anglia.
Other parts of England were untouched.
The conversion of the remaining groups of
the Heptarchy was a long process, for the
different states were continually at war;
the kings at one time siding with the Chris-
tians and at another time driving them out
of their kingdoms. Paulinus, an energetic
and wise man, who joined Augustine in
601, carried on a successful work in North-
umbria and planted Christianity there,
building a church of stone at York. A
great misfortune befell the church in North-
umbria when King Penda of Mercia became

42 The Episcopalians

the champion of heathenism. Paulinus had
to flee, and much of his work was des-
troyed.

The church in Northumbria made no
progress until after the battle of Heavenfield
in 634 which placed Oswald, who had been
baptized in Iona, on the throne. This gave
an opportunity for a new Christian influence
from the North, the Scots coming as mis-
sionaries from Ireland and Iona to finish the
work of evangelization in which Paulinus
had failed. St. Aidan, a bishop sent from
"the family of Columba " as the monks of
Iona were called, began this noble work,
and established the monastery at Lindisfarne
which became a new centre of learning and
influence. As the Roman mission gradually
dwindled Aidan with his scholars at Lindis-
farne developed a native ministry; and these
disciples going far and wide helped to bring
the other states of the Heptarchy into the
fold of Christ. As Bede describes the char-
acter of Aidan it is not difficult to under-

British and Early English Church 43

stand his power, the winning quality of a
holy and beautiful life of gentleness and
piety. From Northumbria the missionaries
went to Mercia. East Anglia had been con-
verted by Felix of Burgundy and St. Fursey.
The faith was revived among the East
Saxons by Cedda, a disciple of St. Finan
who was a Briton. Among the West
Saxons the Gospel was carried by Birinus.
Thus England had practically been brought
to the Christian faith through three different
channels: the original British Church, the
Roman missions and the Scot missionaries
from Ireland and the North.

In order to bring about some sort of uni-
formity a conference, or what might be
called a national synod, was held at Whitby
in 664. Representatives were present from
the Keltic and Roman parties. Wilfrid up-
held the Roman use and Coleman, a bishop
at Lindisfarne, maintained the Keltic use.
The question of tonsure was also discussed.
The Roman custom was adopted. This

44 The Episcopalians

conference was of great importance not be-
cause of the questions in dispute but because
it was the first step in consolidating into a
national church the separate elements of
English Christianity.

The success of the Roman party at
Whitby decided the future relations be-
tween the English and Roman Churches.
It brought the English Church into closer
connection with the continent, and gave it
a share in the progress of European civili-
zation, and prepared the way for the ac-
ceptance on the part of the people, four
years later of the authority of the See of
Canterbury. The affection for Rome be-
came strong; and though the church re-
tained its independence and national char-
acter, which was asserted over and over
again, it looked to Rome for guidance and
inspiration.

The next step in the development of the
national church was made under the direc-
tion of two strong personalities, Archbishop

British and Early English Church 45

Theodore of Canterbury, and Wilfrid of
York. From the latter part of the seventh
century into the eighth century the work of
these two men was constructive. Theo-
dore was a Greek monk, a native of Tarsus,
a man of great executive ability and a
strong partisan of Rome. However, he
visited all parts of England and enforced
discipline, preparing canons for the regula-
tion of the monasteries and dioceses. Wil-
frid, equally energetic, frequently came into
collision with Theodore, and was one of
the first of the English bishops to appeal
directly to Rome. This was resented by
the English people. The period of Theo-
dore and Wilfrid was one of strong cen-
tralizing power. Dioceses were sharply
defined, and parishes were set apart. The
relations of the church to the state became
clearer; church property was exempted
from taxation, and Sunday was recognized.
The state of the church in the eighth cen-
tury is well illustrated by the decisions of

46 The Episcopalians

the Council of Clovesho, Cliff-at-Hoo in
Kent, which took place in 747. It was or-
dered that bishops should give themselves
to teaching God's people and visit the
whole of their dioceses every year; that in
ordaining men to the priesthood they
should institute careful examination as to
their ability and character; that the creed,
Lord's Prayer and offices of the church
should be explained in English; and that
persons should prepare themselves for re-
ceiving the Holy Communion. Other rules
were adopted which regulated monastic
living, and enforced strict morals, especially
temperance and chastity.

The teaching of the church was exempli-
fied in the lives of many noble men and
women. The Venerable Bede, 673-735, a
priest living in the monastery of Jarrow,
devoted his saintly life to sacred studies,
and has preserved in his writings the early
history of the English Church. "I have
ever," he says, "found my pleasure in

British and Early English Church 47

learning, teaching or writing." He was
looked upon as the " most beloved master"
by his companions, who called themselves
his "dearest sons." His other works of
importance are the valuable " Lives of the
Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow," and
his "Life of St. Cuthbert." Alcuin, the
great scholar at the Court of Charlemagne,
was a northern friar of noble birth and
founded the library at York. Among those
to be remembered as products of the church
in this period are the missionaries who car-
ried the gospel to other lands. St. Egbert,
about 687, formed the purpose of preach-
ing to the people from whom the Angles
and Saxon of Britain were known to have
derived their origin; and it was through
him that a mission was undertaken to
Frisia. St. Willibrod, an earnest evangel-
ist, who afterwards became Archbishop of
the Frisians, carried on this work. St.
Boniface, called the Apostle of Germany,
was a native of Britain, and educated in the

48 The Episcopalians

Abbey of Nutsall, near Winchester. His
success in Thuringia and the founding of
four bishoprics in Bavaria, together with
his preaching and martyrdom have en-
deared him to the German Church. Old-
helm, Abbot of Malmesbury, was a man
of forcible character who enriched the
abbeys of Abington and Glastonbury.
Benedict Biscop was a great traveller who
brought from the continent valuable manu-
scripts.

During the period in the history of the
church from the Viking invasion, 803, to
the Norman Conquest, 1066, the church
made steady progress at times, and then
again was much disturbed through the con-
fusion of the times. In the main, however,
it was through the example and influence
of the church that the idea of national unity
was evolved. Through all the differing
elements of the Heptarchy, the one factor
common to them all was the Christianity
which they had accepted. While each

British and Early English Church 49

kingdom had its own legislative assembly,
it was the church which had a national
assembly. The clergy and laymen moved
freely from kingdom to kingdom, and the
bishops were often not natives of the king-
dom in which they held their sees. The
Archbishop of Canterbury was at one time
a West Saxon, then again a Mercian, and at
another time a native of Kent. This practi-
cal unity of sentiment and organization was
not without effect upon the kingdoms war-
ring against one another. When some-
thing like national unity was gained by the
success of King Alfred against the Danes,
and his acquisition of the central power in
England, his labors were strengthened by
the existing ideals of unity which the
church had upheld. The church con-
tributed largely to the growth of the
national idea in England and helped to
weld together the scattered forces of dis-
union and separation.
At the beginning of the Danish invasion

50 The Episcopalians

the church suffered the loss of many mon-
asteries and churches. The clergy were
slain and the bishoprics were vacant. The
invaders were seeking the ringing gold, the
"fire-red hoard," and they despoiled the re-
ligious houses; but when the Northmen
settled in the land which they had invaded
many of them embraced Christianity and
gave up their heathen magic.

It was not until King Alfred's reign,
when the dominant power was held by the
kingdom of Wessex, that the church began
to develop as a national institution. Alfred,
871 to 901, one of the greatest names in
English history, after seven years of fight-
ing with the Danes, won the battle of
Ethandune, which proved to be one of the
turning points in the fortunes of England.
He was now enabled to care for his people,
and to strengthen the church for its work of
ministry and preaching. He prefaced his
code of laws with the Ten Commandments;
and though his laws as a whole were some-

British and Early English Church 51

what deficient ethically, there was a strict
observance required of truthfulness in oath
and covenant. For the education of the
people he translated into English Bede's
"History," the "Soliloquies of St. Augus-
tine," Boethius' "Consolations of Phi-
losophy," and other books of importance,
as well as some parts of the Bible. " When
I thought of them all thus," said Alfred, in
explaining why he desired to have these
books translated, "then I thought also how
I saw it before it was all spoiled — burned;
how the churches throughout all the
English nation were filled with treasures
and books, and also the great multitude of
God's servants, and yet they knew very
little of the truth of the books, because
they could understand nothing of them,
because they were not written in their own
language."

Alfred was less insular than many of his
predecessors, and established closer re-
lations with Rome. Contributions similar

52 The Episcopalians

to Peter's Pence were sent; embassies from
Rome arrived in England, and in one in>
stance at least Plegmund went to Rome to
get his Pall. Though Alfred's affection for
Rome was strong, he was not subservient.
His work in the main was untrammelled, and
the English Church continued its labors
without external influence.

During the period from the death of
Alfred to the Norman Conquest, the Church
strengthened itself by a revival of religious
interest in the monasteries, which resulted
in a beneficent influence on ecclesiastical
institutions, on morality and education, and
stimulated intercourse with foreign church-
men and scholars, and promoted the appli-
cation of the arts to religious needs. The
great names that stand out are those of St.
Dunstan, 925 to 988, and Archbishop Odo,
who did much to strengthen the moral and
spiritual forces of the nation. Dunstan at
times was tyrannical, but he secured some
excellent laws, especially those against idol-

British and Early English Church 53

atry. He encouraged preaching, and the
teaching to children of the Lord's Prayer
and Creed. King Cnut, 1016 to 1035,
though he succeeded in practically dividing
England in half, through the continued
struggle between the English and the Danes,
encouraged the Christian religion. After
his death, Edward the Confessor ascended
the throne. He had been reared in Nor-
mandy, and was interested neither in the
independence of the church nor of the na-
tion. There were the foreign and the
national parties, and the struggle was
fierce between them. Roman influence
increased, and signs were beginning to ap-
pear which were to mean the temporary
defeat of the independence of the English
Church, and bring it into subjection to the
Pope.

From the planting of Christianity in
Britain to the Norman Conquest there were
four important stages in the growth of the
church: those indicated by the names, the

54 The Episcopalians

British Church, the Keltic Church, the
Saxon Church, and the English Church.
The British Church was the first to be
founded; then came the missions of the
Irish and Scotch Church; and then the mis-
sionary efforts on the part of the Roman
Church to Christianize the Saxons, which
gave rise to the Saxon Church; and from
the combined influences derived from these
different sources, the English Church
emerged as an increasingly organized body,
closely related to the national life, growing
in independence in both ritual and govern-
ment, uplifting the people by its educational
methods and moral purposes, and uniting
in something like harmony the tribes and
the kingdoms into a nation. During this
whole period the relations of the English
Church to Rome are very clear: relying
upon the sympathy and interests of Rome,
at times accepting its advice and decrees,
and at other times refusing to 3o either, the
church regarded itself as an independent

British and Early English Church 55

authoritative body. The Papacy during
this epoch had not asserted extreme claims,
nor had it reached the climax of its power,
so that the normal freedom of an island
church was not unnatural. There were
constant attempts on the part of Rome to
interfere, in some cases successfully, but
frequently without effect. Wilfrid ap-
pealed to Rome, but the decree was set
aside in 704. The clergy protested in 805,
and Rome yielded, against the custom of
the archbishops going to Rome to receive
the badge of office. Only twice since the
coming of Theodore did legates interfere in
the affairs of the church. Even Dunstan
with little compunction set aside a Papal
sentence.

The increasing power of Rome, however,
was to tell in the end. Gradually the sway
of the Pope, helped by political conditions,
became to be recognized more and more in
England. During the time from the Nor-
man Conquest to the Reformation, Rome at-

56 The Episcopalians

tained the highest control, but not without
continued struggles wherein both the nation
and the Church asserted their independence,
until the foreign yoke was cast aside in the
sixteenth century.

CHAPTER III

THE NORMAN CHURCH

The history of the Church in England
from the Norman Conquest to the Reforma-
tion in the sixteenth century, may be di-
vided into two periods: the first, from
William the Conqueror to the accession of
Edward I, which took place in 1272; and
second, from Edward's reign to that of
Henry VIII, who ascended the throne 1509.
The first period is characterized by the
dominance of the Norman element in
church and state, and the gradual success
of the Pope in asserting his supreme author-
ity, and gaining his greatest control in the
affairs of England. The second period
gives ample evidence of the growth of the
spirit of nationality and the continued rise
of those forces both in the nation and the

57

58 The Episcopalians

church which finally resulted in the defeat
of the Papacy and the reassertion of the in-
dependence of the Church of England.

At the battle of Hastings, William carried
a banner which had been blessed by Pope
Alexander, giving the invasion the character
of the holy war against the religious free-
dom and liberties of the English people.
The invasion succeeded in both directions.
The land was taken from its English
owners; a French nobility took the place of
prominent Englishmen; the bishoprics were
filled with foreign ecclesiastics; and an
Italian, Lanfranc, was made Archbishop of
Canterbury. The English people were re-
duced to the position of underlings and the
church for the most part became the pos-
session of foreigners. An unaccustomed
sight was witnessed in 1070, when three
papal delegates placed a crown on William's
head, indicating that his position was con-
firmed by the Papacy. Fortunately both
William and Lanfranc gave less submission

The Norman Church 59

to Rome than was expected. When Greg-
ory VII desired him to do fealty the con-
queror replied: "To do fealty I have not
been willing during the past, nor am I
willing now inasmuch as I have never
promised it." Lanfranc also refused a
papal summons.

Gregory VII, Hildebrand, was one of the
greatest popes. By his wisdom and ideals
of universal supremacy of the church, he
made possible the almost complete control
of Christendom to which he aspired. He
desired to separate the church from the
state, and give the church more definite
spiritual authority. Celibacy of the clergy
was enforced, so that having no family in-
terests, their devotion might be more com-
plete. This law was very generally en-
forced in England. What was known as
the Investiture Controversy was precipitated
by Gregory, and was another step towards
securing power for the church. The ques-
tion was whether the bishops and other

60 The Episcopalians

ecclesiastics should be looked upon as
vassals of the king, their land belonging to
him, and he having the right of investing
them with the ring and the staff as symbols
of their homage. Hildebrand regarded the
land as the property of the church, and
contended that no bishop should receive
investiture at the hands of a layman. This
controversy continued through the reigns of
William Rufus and Henry I. It involved in
a prolonged struggle Anselm successor of
Lanfranc to the See of Canterbury.

Anselm, an Italian like his predecessor,
was one of the most learned theologians of
his time, an author of many works, and a
man of great determination and zeal. His
quarrels with William Rufus caused him to
leave England for a time, but after his
return, he gained his point when an agree-
ment was reached at the council of London,
1 107, that henceforth no bishop or abbot
should be invested by staff and ring at the
hands of the king.

The Norman Church 61

The church thus asserted its spiritual
power ; and by the withholding of absolution
and the teaching of transubstantiation, it
was in a position to assert its prerogatives.
The greatest triumph of the Roman power in
England was when King John gave his king-
dom to Pope Innocent III. The interdict
against John went forth in 1208. The
king's superstitious fears made him an easy
prey to the threats of the pope; and, in
1213, " he freely and voluntarily granted to
God and his holy apostles, Peter and Paul,
the Holy Roman Church, and his Lord Pope
Innocent, and his rightful successors, the
whole kingdom of England and the whole
kingdom of Ireland."

But even in King John's reign there was
evidence of the rise of a new spirit of
independence. The combined power of
John and the Pope could not overthrow the
liberties of the people. Magna Charta was
secured after John's defeat in 121 5, and the
foundation of English freedom was laid.

62 The Episcopalians

The Great Charter was "the consum-
mation," says Freeman, " of the work for
which unconsciously kings, prelates, and
lawyers had been laboring for a century,
the summing up of one period of national
life, and the starting of another." In this
instrument the king promised that the
church should enjoy its rights and liberties
without interference.

The national revival was helped forward
by many patriotic men, notably by Gros-
seteste, Bishop of Lincoln, and Stephen
Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The church had grown corrupt; the pur-
chase of livings, called simony, was rife;
and the papal impositions and demands for
money were excessive. Against these
abominable methods both Grosseteste and
Langton protested as at a later day did
John Wyclif. The cause of true religion
seems never to have been without a wit-
ness.

During the greatest influence of Rome

The Norman Church 63

the church still had a salutary effect upon
the lives of the people. The parochial
clergy often performed their duties with
devotion; the vicars, archdeacons and bish-
ops were sometimes men of learning and
character. During the early enthusiasm of
the followers of St. Francis and the Domin-
icans, examples of sacrifice and devotion to
the faith were constantly seen. The Fran-
ciscans by their preaching instructed the
people and inculcated temperance and the
other teachings of the moral law. The de-
cline of the famous order is a sad story,
when its members became idle gossips and
lazy beggars. Beautiful church buildings
were erected in the Norman, the Lancet and
early English styles; and many of the great
cathedrals owe their origin to the religious
faith of these times. Norman work is to
be seen in St. Albans, Ely, Winchester,
Romsey Abbey, Durham, and many others.
The early English style still exists in Peter-
borough, Salisbury, and Wells, later flower-

64 The Episcopalians

ing into the decorated or geometrical style,
which is to be seen in perfection in the
Angel Choir of Lincoln Minster. The uni-
versities became centres of culture, and
kept alive the debates of the schoolmen,
and expounded the philosophy of the Real-
ists and the Nominalists. There were many
notable scholars like William of Malmesbury,
Matthew Paris, Henry of Huntingdon, and
John of Salisbury. The monasteries also
in their best days provided a retreat from
the evils of the world to those who sought
industry and inward peace. In the thir-
teenth century, the mediaeval church in Eng-
land was at the height of its greatness.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
signs of great changes began to multiply.
The forces were slowly but surely preparing
for English independence. Edward I was
an English monarch, and under him the
constitutional system of the kingdom be-
came more firmly entrenched. Normandy
was lost; and the people began to develop

The Norman Church 65

their own resources and to work for na-
tional prosperity. Two significant laws
were passed, the Statute of Provisors in
1 35 1, and the Statute of Praemunire in 1353.
The Statute of Provisors decreed that the
preferments to which the Pope had ap-
pointed men, should be forfeited to the
crown, and Praemunire provided that those
who appealed to the Papal Court should be
deprived of their lands, and either banished
or imprisoned. The Papacy was further
weakened by the removal of the Pope from
Rome to Avignon, and the long period of
what was called the Babylonian captivity of
the church, during which the spectacle was
presented to Europe of two and sometimes
three Popes claiming the office and de-
nouncing one another. The reenactment
of the Statute of Praemunire in 1393, was
one of the most powerful measures against
Rome and closely connects what were
called the Constitutions of Clarendon with
the Reformation. " It is well to remember

66 The Episcopalians

such statutes as these," writes the present
Bishop of Ripon, "for they constitute a
clear and changeless witness to the claim
that the Church of England, however much
and how often its rights have been in-
fringed, has ever been regarded in the con-
stitution of the country as a National
Church."

A herald of the new spirit that was rising
in England was John Wyclif. Undoubt-
edly the greatest man that the English
Church has ever had, a foremost Oxford
scholar, and a prolific writer, he early was
recognized as a commanding figure. He
was a student of the fathers, especially
Augustine and familiar with the Aristotelian
philosophy and the writings of the school-
men. The Bible, however, was the great
source of his inspiration. With perfect
fearlessness he attacked the evils of his
time, and demanded the purification of the
church, and condemned the customs, doc-
trines and rights that had grown up with-

The Norman Church 67

out the authority of Scripture. He made
the Bible the sole standard of faith and
practice; the Papal Court and the whole
hierarchy and ecclesiastical system were
attacked, including bishops, monks and
canons. "No custom in the church," said
Wyclif, "confirmed by Popes or observed
by saints, is to be praised save in so far as
Jesus Christ confirms it." He considered
confession and penance and transubstan-
tiation as mechanical and unreal. In many
respects the greatest work of Wyclif was
the translation of the Scriptures into the
English language. Up to this time the
Latin Vulgate was the only version, though
portions of the Bible, especially the Psalter,
had been put into early English some time
before. The reception of Wyclif's Bible is
thus characterized by an old chronicler:
"Wyclif translated the gospel from Latin
into the Anglican, not the Angelic
tongue . . . and thus the gospel pearl is
scattered and trampled upon by swine."

68 The Episcopalians

Though condemned by bishops and pro-
vincial councils, this translation opened to
the English people the rich treasures of
Scripture and provided weapons which
were to be used with such fatal effect on
the superstitions and corruptions of the
church. Gregory XI, in 1377, issued five
bulls against Wyclif, directing that he be
placed on trial. He was tried, but was
never put in prison.

The sentiments of Wyclif spread through-
out the kingdom, and gained the sympathy
of all classes. Men freely began to criticise
the wealth of the clergy, and to examine
for themselves into the sources of their au-
thority. The peasant's riots began; con-
vents were attacked; there was violence
against the monks; these disturbances
were connected with Wyclif's teaching.
The most direct outcome was the Lollard
movement. Many Lollards were perse-
cuted, and at times the agitations ran into
fanatical extremes, but the total result was

The Norman Church 69

that men were made to think along new
and independent lines of action.

Other men who contributed to the broad-
ening of the thought of churchmen, were
Chaucer and Langland. The "Canterbury
Tales" and the "Vision of Piers Ploughman"
and other popular poetry appealed to the
people, by picturing vividly the real condi-
tions and enforcing truth by homely sar-
casm. William of Ockam, an English
scholar, attempted the overthrow of scho-
lasticism, while Roger Bacon drew atten-
tion to the study of Greek and Hebrew.
These men were followed later by the
group of Oxford humanists, Erasmus,
Colet and More, who were free in their
criticism of the existing order and preached
reform; they were Greek scholars, and by
their comments on Scripture, showed the
absolute necessity of a study of the original
languages in order to obtain the truth of
the gospel.

Continental influences were also felt in

70 The Episcopalians

England. John Huss the Bohemian re-
former, preached the necessity of correcting
the abuses in the church and condemned
indulgences, for which he was burned at
Constance, 141 5. Savonarola's preaching in
Florence became known in England. The
Renaissance, with the revival of classic
learning and a new impulse in art and liter-
ature, made its way in England. A spirit
of inquiry and freedom was abroad. The
invention of printing made possible the
diffusion of learning and the interchange of
ideas. What are known as the Reforming
Councils of the fifteenth century were very
explicit in asserting that a General Council
of the church was superior in power to
the Pope, that the voice of the universal
church should be the final resort in de-
termining policy and doctrine. The Coun-
cil of Constance forced upon the Pope the
acceptance of the principle that he must be
guided by its decisions. The famous de-
cree announced "that every lawfully con-

The Norman Church 71

voked (Ecumenical Council representing
the church derives its authority immedi-
ately from Christ; and every one, the Pope
included, is subject to it in matters of faith,
in the healing of schism, and the reforma-
tion of the church." The Council of Basle
took the same position.

A larger outlook characterized the times.
The Copernican system of astronomy gave
expansion to the thought of the universe
and the discovery of new continents
filled the imagination with new wonders.
The coast of Guinea was discovered in
1460; the south of Africa in i486; and a
little later Vasco da Gama sailed around the
Cape of Good Hope reaching India. Co-
lumbus made his first voyage in 1492.

These various influences prepared men to
break away from long-accepted customs
and to inquire freely into the origin and
stability of the old order. Doctrines which
had been accepted on authority were now
rationally examined, and false claims and

72 The Episcopalians

palpable corruptions were fearlessly chal-
lenged. Such was the attitude of thinking
men prior to the Reformation; and the rest-
lessness of the English people under Papal
interference, and the growth in the church
and nation of the national spirit, made pos-
sible the transformation which was soon to
take place. Great events in history never
occur without long preparation. The crisis
may be suddenly precipitated, but the
causes that give rise to it have been age-
long in generating.

In the period just before the Reformation,
the Church of England was thoroughly or-
ganized with archbishops, bishops, cathe-
dral chapters, archdeacons, and clergy.
The appointment to these positions did not
come from Rome, for the Statute for Pro-
visors prohibited it. The crown virtually
selected the bishops. The increase in the
power of the crown was everywhere dis-
cernible. Edward IV strengthened his pre-
rogatives, and Henry VII added to the dig-

The Norman Church 73

nity and honor of the Royal House by his
accumulation of wealth. The growing in-
dependence of the English monarchy made
it unnecessary to seek the favor of the Pope;
and, backed by the consciousness of strength
on the part of the people, the crown was
fast approaching the moment when it could
bid defiance to the Papal Court, and free it-
self and the people from the authority and
the exactions of Rome. The continuity of
the English Church from the earliest times
was maintained, and the eclipse of its inde-
pendence after the Norman Conquest was
fast disappearing. Englishmen for the
most part occupied the positions of im-
portance; and the leaven of dissatisfaction
with foreign control was working every-
where.

In addition to the stately cathedrals,
beautiful parish churches dotted the land,
and the abbeys and monasteries were
numerous and rich. Hospitals had been
founded, like St. Bartholomew's and St.

74 The Episcopalians

Thomas' in London; new colleges had
been added to the universities, and great
schools, like Winchester and Eton, had been
founded. The services in the churches
were in Latin according to various litur-
gical forms. The liturgies in use in the
English Church were of slow and of
varied growth. Augustine brought with
him the Roman use, but with the consent
of Pope Gregory, he modified this by the
introduction of certain features from the
Gallican ritual; thus the creation of a
distinctive national liturgy was begun, both
in saying the mass and the daily offices.
Further changes were made when the
French influence was dominant during the
Norman period; and uniformity in the
important religious centres was not always
maintained. The custom of the diocese in
the arrangement of services, the method of
chanting, and the introduction of new
collects, was designated a distinct "use."
These " uses " were known by the name of

The Norman Church 75

the diocese where they originated, the
most notable being those of York, Here-
ford, Lincoln, and Sarum. In 1085 Os-
mund, Bishop of Salisbury, after building
his Cathedral, put forth his "custom-
book," which became known as the Sarum
Use; this became a model, and was fol-
lowed in many parts of the kingdom.

Before the Reformation the different
offices were contained in separate books,
used as the occasion demanded. The four
chief books were, "The Breviary," "The
Missal," "The Ritual," and "The Pontifi-
cal." "The Breviary " contained the offices
of the Canonical Hours, Matins, Lauds,
Vespers, Compline, and others, and was
used for the daily service in the monaster-
ies. "The Missal" was the mass-book,
and contained the order for the celebration
of the Eucharist, or Holy Communion.
Special offices, like Services for Baptism,
Matrimony, Visitation of the Sick, Burial
of the Dead, were contained in "The

76 The Episcopalians

Ritual." In "The Pontifical" only those
offices which the bishops performed were
included. There were also other liturgical
books in use: "The Hymnarium " "The
Psaltarium," " The Legenda," containing
passages to be read from Scripture, from
the writings of the Fathers, or the Lives
of the Saints.

These various offices when translated
into English, and condensed and changed
in parts, formed the basis of the Book of
Common Prayer, which was one of the
distinctive gifts of the Reformation to the
English people.

CHAPTER IV

THE REFORMATION

The necessity for the reformation of the
church was felt by the keenest minds of
Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth
century. The Papacy had become a mere
political machine, playing kingdom against
kingdom, in the hope of gaining more
temporal power; the monasteries had be-
come places of corruption; the doctrines
taught and the practices enjoined were
questioned by men of learning; and it was
seen that if the spiritual power of the
gospel of Christ was to be upheld, the
appeal must be made from the traditions of
men to the pure sources of Holy Scripture.

Martin Luther began his great work of re-
form in Germany against the sale of In-
dulgences, and other practices, in 15 17,

77

78 The Episcopalians

when he nailed ninety-five theses "in ex-
planation of the power of Indulgences " to
the door of the church in Wittenberg.
Later, at the Leipsic Disputation, in 15 19,
for fourteen days he debated the question
of the Pope's primacy, repentance, and
purgatory. The movement took on a
European significance and rallied to the
standard of Luther thoughtful men in every
land. By his numerous writings and bold
activity, he became the head of one of the
greatest revolutions in the history of
Christendom. Melancthon, that gentle
scholar, reinforced many of the positions
taken by Luther, and as his fame grew
exercised great influence in Europe. In
Switzerland, Zwingli began the Reforma-
tion which was continued by the master
mind of Calvin. The desire for reform
was neither local nor national: it was
wide-spread in every Christian centre.

In England, Luther's books were read,
many of them being smuggled in merchan-

The Reformation 79

disc His treatise "On the Babylonish
Captivity of the Church," in which he de-
clared against the Pope's authority, and as-
serted that four of the seven sacraments
were of human origin, became universally
known because of the reply written to it in
1 521, by King Henry VIII. Henry's book,
the "Assertio Septem Sacramentorum,"
gained for him the title conferred upon him
by Papal Bull, of Fidei Defensor. England,
in many respects, was as ready for reforma-
tion as other parts of Europe. There were
many men being almost unconsciously pre-
pared to play the parts of such leaders as
Tyndale, Cranmer, and Latimer, just as in
the state the national spirit had grown so
strong that Parliaments were ready to assert
the independence of the English people.

Henry VIII ascended the throne of Eng-
land in 1509, and reigned until 1547, and
thus lived during the period of the acute
stages of church reform. It was natural
that he should be a conspicuous figure in

80 The Episcopalians

the discussions of the time; and in the
strange way that providence often acts the
personal desires of this man made him co-
operate with the forces that were every-
where making for reform and freedom.

Henry was designed by his father for the
priesthood, for his brother Arthur was the
heir apparent, and had been married to Cath-
erine of Aragon to secure a close alliance
with Spain. Henry's interest in theological
matters was therefore strong from the first,
rather on the polemical than on the spiritual
side. After Arthur's death, the need for an
alliance with Spain being as great as ever,
Henry was married to his brother's widow.
A papal dispensation was necessary to per-
mit the king to marry his deceased broth-
er's wife. This was granted, and Henry
married Catherine in 1509, he then being
about eighteen years of age, and having suc-
ceeded to the throne about six months be-
fore. For almost eighteen years, until
1527, he lived with Catherine, having as

The Reformation 81

issue one child, Mary. Then he began to
agitate the question of a divorce, partly be-
cause he desired a male heir, and partly be-
cause he had become infatuated with Anne
Boleyn, whom he wished to make his queen.
Through intrigue and pressure the king
tried to get the consent of the Pope to the
annulment of the marriage with Catherine;
and the reasons for its dissolution were dis-
cussed in many of the leading universities
of Europe. Henry really had canon law
on his side; though his scruples may have
originated in impure motives, he was de-
termined to have his way. Wolsey fell be-
cause he was not active enough in the
king's cause; and Henry, seizing the op-
portunity given by the growth of English
nationality, determined to free himself and
his kingdom forever from the Papacy.

The first step taken in this process of de-
fiance by the English Church, was the com-
pliance in 1 53 1 by the convocations of York
and Canterbury, to the king's request for a

82 The Episcopalians

large sum of money and the acceptance of the
words " of the English Church and Clergy,
of which the king is alone protector and
supreme head," with the change "as
the law of Christ permits, even the supreme
head." This was a practical abjura-
tion of the papal supremacy. This was
followed by the great Statute of Appeals
passed in 1533 which prohibited appeals to
Rome and contained in preamble these
significant words: "The English Church
which always hath been reputed and also
found of that sort that both for knowledge,
integrity, and sufficiency of numbers, it
hath been always thought and also at this
hour sufficient and meet of itself without
the intermeddling of any exterior person or
persons, to declare and determine all such
doubts and to administer all such offices
and duties as to their rooms spiritual doth
appertain."

After convocations had already acted, the
king then put forth in 1534, his "Proclama-

The Reformation 83

tion for the Abolishing of the Usurped
Power of the Pope." So with other neces-
sary acts of convocation and Parliament, the
English nation and church attained what
they had been struggling for during the
whole Norman period, an independent or-
ganic life continuous with the British,
Saxon, and Keltic Churches.

There are few apologies to be made for
the character of Henry VIII. He sacrificed
righteousness to personal pleasure, and his
policies were dictated by arrogance rather
than by wisdom. "He is a prince," said
Wolsey, " of a most royal courage: sooner
than miss any part of his will, he will en-
danger one-half of his kingdom." What-
ever may be said of his various marriages,
the most important to England was the di-
vorce of Catherine and the alliance with
Anne Boleyn, for this act was the occasion-
ing cause of a new epoch in English history.

Through Henry's reign there was com-
paratively little done in the direction of the

84 The Episcopalians

actual reform of the church in doctrine and
practice. Though Cranmer was ready for
decided changes and the king himself en-
couraged heresy, his reign was preparatory
for further modifications. There was the
struggle between the reformers like Latimer,
and the anti-reformers, like Gardiner Bishop
of Winchester, and Sir Thomas More, who
lost his head in standing up for the old order.
The suppression of the monasteries inaugu-
rated by the king was as much prompted by
avarice for their great wealth, as by a desire
to purify them. The ruined monasteries
and abbeys of England are a standing evi-
dence of the decay of monastic life, which
disappeared with the withdrawal of the
Roman influence. The beautiful remains
of Tintern, Fountains Abbey, and others,
indicate that progress was not unattended
by loss; and though the gain in the end is
greater, it will always seem unfortunate
that truth could not be vindicated without
less sacrifice.

The Reformation 85

Signs of doctrinal reformation soon be-
came evident. Tyndale's New Testament
was read eagerly by the people, and Lati-
mer's sermons against image worship and
purgatory were popular. For the guidance
of the people "the Ten Articles," containing
a few reformed ideas was sanctioned in
1536, and the manual called "The Institu-
tion of a Christian Man," prepared carefully
by the clergy, was published in 1537. This
book was not radical, yet it clearly affirmed
the rights of the national church. The free
right to the study of the Bible was con-
ceded, when by royal decree it was ordered
in 1538, that the Great Bible, or Cranmer's
Bible, should be placed in every church.
The Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten
Commandments were also taught to the
people in English.

Controversies continued, and neither
priest nor people could tell in the perplexity
of the change, what doctrines they could
hold. Some were for the whole Papal

86 The Episcopalians

system except the Papacy, others hoped to
bring back the power of the Pope; and still
others like Cranmer, and Thomas Crom-
well, desired to bring the teaching of the
church more in accord with Luther's ideas.
Henry VIII never forgot his controversy
with Luther, and later awoke to the im-
portance of doctrinal discussion. He prob-
ably agreed with the famous six articles
put forth in 1539, which marked a triumph
of the anti-reforming party. In these,
transubstantiation was affirmed; the two
elements, bread and wine, were declared
not necessary; the clergy were not allowed
to marry; masses were to be continued, and
confession was required.

The changes in the church service were
few in Henry's reign, though they were im-
portant. The Litany was made into Eng-
lish and a lesson from the Old Testament
and one from the New, read every Sunday,
took the place of extracts from the legend-
ary lives of the saints.

The Reformation 87

Henry's reign was a period of fermenta-
tion. The mere casting off of the Papacy
did not reform the church. The whole
Roman system of doctrine and worship
was still intrenched. Many in England
were opposed to change, and others were
determined to go back to the primitive
methods of Apostolic doctrine and practice.
The accretions of centuries were to be
swept away, and the gospel must be made
to emerge in beauty and simplicity. There
were strong men on both sides; and neither
king nor Parliament could decide until the
people of England decided, and the Refor-
mation became a universal movement.
When Henry died, the reform had started,
and it was not to be completed until after
many of his successors had passed away.
He, however, succeeded in casting off the
foreign influence, and rescued the church
from Papal captivity. To say that Henry
VIII founded the Church of England is
as absurd as to claim that he founded

88 The Episcopalians

the English nation. He was one factor in
the long process of the development of both
the English Church and the English nation;
and during his reign the crisis was precip-
itated which assured the independence of
the church and of the nation.

Edward VI, a boy of nine, the son of
Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, succeeded
to the throne in 1 547. Somerset was elected
Lord Protector. He was in sympathy with
the Reformation; and Cranmer, the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, a learned and moder-
ate man, who was also a reformer, became
the great ecclesiastical power. The church
now took in hand the purifying of itself,
and most of the important acts were due to
the initiative of churchmen rather than the
decree of the monarch. The action of the
great synods of the English Church was a
strong bulwark for reform. The cup was
restored to the laity in 1547; and a joint
committee of the two convocations of Can-
terbury and York was selected to compile the

The Reformation 89

first English Communion Service. The
committee met to " consult about one uni-
form order for administering the Holy
Communion in the English tongue, under
both kinds of bread and wine." With the
king's sanction the Order of Communion
was published in 1548. After convocation
had acted, Parliament then accepted the de-
cisions and made them the law of the
realm.

The three most important events in the
history of the church, in the reign of Ed-
ward VI, were the putting forth of the First
Prayer-book, and the Second Prayer-book,
and the Forty-two Articles. The need for
liturgical forms in the English language, was
apparent to all, and a greater uniformity of
usage was demanded. A commission was
appointed to compile the First Prayer-book,
which came into use in 1549. It retained
many of the prayers and forms which had
been in use before, but there were impor-
tant additions. It had many Protestant ele-

90 The Episcopalians

merits in it, for the influence is to be traced
in its pages, of a book called "The Consul-
tation of Archbishop Herman" which had
largely been the work of Melancthon and
Bucer, and drew from Luther's Nuremburg
services. On the whole it was conserva-
tive, but distasteful to the Romanizing
party. The explanatory directions which
were issued also in 1549, indicate how far
the anti-Roman influence had progressed.
The Mass was forbidden; no sacring-bells
were to be used, nor were lights allowed
upon the Lord's Table; purgatory, prayers
to the saints, images and holy water were
not sanctioned.

The First Prayer-book was simple in tone,
and more congregational than the Latin
services. The eight services of the Breviary
were reduced to two, Matins and Evensong.
The Litany was arranged by Cranmer and
is drawn from the Sarum Use. The Bap-
tismal Office and the Order of Confirmation
followed the Sarum Office. The most im-

The Reformation 91

portant service was "The Supper of the
Lorde and the Holy Communion, commonly
called the Masse." Much of the contro-
versy of this period centred on the interpre-
tation of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper.
There were practically three views: that of
Zwingli who taught that it was merely a
commemorative feast; that of Luther, who
held to the Doctrine of the Real Presence of
Christ in the Sacrament, taken together
with the Elements; that of the Roman
Church, which taught that the essential
bread and wine were actually changed into
the Body and Blood of Christ. Transub-
stantiation had been the cause of gross
superstitions, so it was eliminated from the
First Prayer-book, as also was the com-
memorative idea, though this is partly rep-
resented. The Real Presence is not denied;
and those who believed in this doctrine were
able to use the office, though the Elevation
of the Host was forbidden. A genuine re-
ligious service was thus provided which en-

92 The Episcopalians

abled the worshipper to receive Christ into
his heart, through his receptive faith, and by
means of the Sacrament to enter into one-
ness with his Saviour.

The First Prayer-book was not radical
enough. It was seen that further changes
must be made. Certain foreign reformers,
Martin Bucer, John a Lasco, and Peter
Martyr, had come to England; and their
criticism of the Liturgy, together with the
growing desire to carry reform to its ut-
most, was the cause of the putting forth in
1552 of the Second Prayer-book of Ed-
ward VI.

In the Second Prayer-book Cranmer and
Ridley had a free hand. Its existence was
due to the initiative of the English Church
and was undoubtedly accepted by convo-
cation, though doubt has been cast upon its
synodical authority. The evidence, how-
ever, seems to be conclusive that it ex-
pressed the mind of the church at the time
it was promulgated. The numerous vest-

The Reformation 93

ments were reduced to one, the surplice
being the only ecclesiastical garment to be
worn by the clergy. The words in admin-
istering the Holy Communion were changed
to read: ''Take and eat this in remem-
brance that Christ died for thee." In what
is called the Black Rubric of the commun-
ion service it is declared that kneeling does
not mean "that any adoration is done or
ought to be done, either unto the Sacra-
mental bread and wine, there bodily re-
ceived, or unto any real or essential pres-
ence there being Christ's natural flesh and
blood. For, as concerning the sacramental
bread and wine, they remain still in their
very natural substances, and therefore may
not be adored, for that were idolatry, to be
abhorred of all faithful Christians." The
Forty-two Articles of Religion, which af-
terwards were the basis of the Thirty-nine
Articles were published in 1552, and they
mark a decided advance in the Reformation.
After the death of Edward VI, in 1553,

94 The Episcopalians

Queen Mary, sometimes called Bloody
Mary, succeeded to the throne. As she was
a strict adherent of the Roman Church the
tide of reaction set in, and Papal influence
returned with a rush. She prohibited
preaching without a royal license, and
meetings of convocation were not allowed.
England was humiliated when the two
houses of Parliament bowed down before
the Cardinal, the representative of the Pope,
and were absolved for their previous acts of
independence. Many of the clergy, espe-
cially those who were married, were driven
from their parishes, and the bishops who
had sympathized with reform were de-
prived of their sees. By consistent perse-
cution it was determined to root out the
heresy of freedom. The fires of Smithfield
were lighted and a continuous procession
was marched into the flames. Dr. Rogers,
Prebendary of St. Paul's, was burned in
1 555 ; Bishop Hooper was burned at Glouces-
ter, and Dr. Roland Taylor met the same

The Reformation 95

fate in Hadley. The three most conspic-
uous men who fell victims to Mary's perse-
cutions were Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley.
Cranmer had taken a leading part in the re-
form from the beginning; and though he
may have made mistakes and been gov-
erned at times by mixed motives, he had in
the main been earnest and progressive.
Latimer, a bold and truthful man, had won
the hearts of the people by his eloquence
and homely wit. Ridley was a learned and
refined man, a keen antagonist to Roman
claims, and a preacher of primitive Christi-
anity. Ridley and Latimer were tried at
Oxford, and were burned together in front
of Baliol College. " Be of good cheer,
Master Ridley," said Latimer, "and play
the man, for we shall light this day such a
candle in England as by the Grace of God
shall never be put out." At first when
pressed, Cranmer recanted. He was hys-
terically afraid of a violent death, but later
his courage stood by him, and as he went

96 The Episcopalians

to the stake, he held his right hand in the
flames because with it he had signed his
recantation.

The policy of Mary was a sample of
what the English people might expect if
Rome were once more in control. The na-
tion learned a lesson, and never forgot the
martyrdom of its leading bishops. Mary's
death, in 1558, made way for Elizabeth,
whose reign was marked by an increasing
conflict between the rapidly crystallizing
parties in the church.

During the reign of Mary many of the
bishops and clergy sought refuge on the
continent, and settled in such towns as
Basle, Zurich, Geneva, and Frankfort. Here
they came in contact with the theology of
Calvin, and listened to the criticisms that
were made on the English Reformation and
the prayer-book, which Calvin said con-
tained " tolerable fooleries" and "popish
dregs." The troubles at Frankfort, result-
ing in violent discussions between John

The Reformation 97

Knox and Dr. Cox as to the use of the
Liturgy, and the attempted substitution of
the service approved by Calvin, were the
early signs of the rise of the Puritan spirit
which was destined to exert such a great
influence on the history of the English
Church. On the return of these church-
men, many of them afterwards bishops, a
desire for a radical departure from the old
customs was fostered, and a demand for
further change grew insistent, and the long
struggle became acute between the Papists,
the English churchmen, and the Puritans.

Only one of the Marian Bishops, Bishop
of LlandafT, remained in his see when
Elizabeth ascended the throne; the others
were vacant either by death or deprivation.
Matthew Parker was appointed Archbishop
of Canterbury, and he was consecrated
December 17, 1559, in Lambeth Chapel.
The other bishoprics were filled in due
course. A foolish tale was believed by
some, that Parker and the other bishops

98 The Episcopalians

had not been properly consecrated, but had
met at the Nag's Head, an inn in Cheapside,
and, with no religious ceremony, proceeded
to consecrate one another. This story is
called the Nag's Head Fable, and was de-
signed by certain Romanists to show that
the English succession was imperfect.
Few intelligent Roman scholars hold it to-
day, for it has been shown over and over
again to be a clumsy falsehood.

One of the first subjects that Elizabeth
took up was the setting forth of the prayer-
book; and the question was, which prayer-
book, the first or second of Edward VI.
The second book contained many more re-
formed ideas than the first. The basis of
the Elizabethan prayer-book was the
Second Book of Edward VI, and a modi-
fied Church of England service became
the law. The act of uniformity required
that this service should be used. Dur-
ing the Elizabethan period the Church
of England was compelled to hold its

The Reformation 99

way between the two extremes that
were threatening it; those who were
scheming for a return to Rome, and those
who were eager for the destruction of the
Church's distinctive marks. Secret in-
trigues and political dangers, culminating
in the Spanish Armada, were not able to
cause revolt against the queen, nor to
make any headway against the church.
On the other hand, the Puritan movement
gained force both within the church and
without, and prepared the way for the
greater conflict which was to come when
the church was temporarily overthrown
during the period of the Commonwealth.

The Puritans not only objected to many
portions of the prayer-book, but also to the
use of the surplice which was often referred
to as a rag of Popery. They objected to
the sign of the cross in Baptism, the re-
quirement of sponsors, and the act of
kneeling at Holy Communion. Others de-
sired to discontinue the use of the prayer-

loo The Episcopalians

book. There were great varieties of views,
and different movements sprang up of a
more or less revolutionary character. The
rights of the crown were called in question,
as well as the whole constitution of the
government; and the necessity of having
bishops was discussed, and the right of
officiating without episcopal ordination was
hotly debated. "The Book of Discipline"
set forth by Cartwright and Travers, based
on a Geneva model, became a guide to
many who, though Puritan in sympathy,
did not leave the Church. Richard
Hooker's book "Of the Laws of Ecclesi-
astical Polity " was a strong bulwark of
defense of the Church of England, show-
ing that it is "Protestant because it is
Catholic and Catholic because it is Prot-
estant."

The intellectual activity of the Elizabethan
epoch with its spirit of adventure and out-
look into new fields of discovery and
thought, gave zest to all of these conflicts.

The Reformation 101

New ideas began to ferment. Men losing
grip upon the past were extravagant in
their boldness to seek the new. The
Puritan movement was a logical develop-
ment from the principles of the Reforma-
tion, and if treated with more sanity and
judgment by those in power it would not
have resulted in dividing the allegiance of
English Christianity into the Church of
England on the one side and non-con-
formist bodies on the other. The Brown-
ists, holding that each congregation was a
law unto itself, the Anabaptists, and the
other Separatists, began the actual schism
which widened into movements of national
importance. It was strange that such a
fierce controversy should have raged about
the use of the surplice in public worship,
but this white linen garment became to the
opponents a symbol for Roman teaching,
and they were determined not to use it.
Many would not conform to the prayer-
book; and Elizabeth who never liked non-

102 The Episcopalians

conformity, permitted severe measures to
be used against the Separatists. Persecu-
tions began again, and the fires of Smith-
field were once more lighted. After the
death of Archbishop Parker, 1575, Grindal
succeeded him, but fell into disfavor be-
cause he permitted prophesyings, that is,
a free expression of opinion on theological
matters, by means of preaching and
debates. Archbishop Whitgift who be-
came primate in 1583, however, was a
determined enemy of the Separatists, and
his rigorous policy intensified the spirit of
partisanship.

As a distinctly religious movement Pres-
byterian Puritanism made strides in the
reign of Elizabeth, but after this it became
as much a political as a religious agitation.
The reaction set in and a strong loyalty to
the Church of England was developed by
such men as Andrews, Overall, and Hars-
net. Robert Brown, the founder of the
Independents, whose followers sailed for

The Reformation 103

New England in the Mayflower, returned
to the Church of England and died in com-
munion with her. Thomas Cartwright,
called the Father of Puritanism, also sub-
mitted to the church, and when dying ex-
pressed "his sorrow for the unnecessary
troubles he had caused the church by the
schism he had been the great fomenter of."
Though Elizabeth was determined to
guard the religious peace of her realm, and
set herself against Puritanism, she was gov-
erned by a well-considered policy of com-
promise. She could not stem the rising
tide of inquiry and the dissatisfaction on the
part of the people with whatever seemed
like a return to mediaeval practice or teach-
ing. There were many causes which led to
the growth of Puritanism. The universal
activity of the Renaissance, and the intel-
lectual virility that resulted from it, helped
to deepen men's religious convictions and
made them less content with forms and
ceremonies, and more responsive to per-

104 The Episcopalians

sonal piety. The familiarity with the Bible,
made possible through the translations of
the Scripture by Tyndale and Coverdale,
and the small Geneva Bibles which came
into general use in the churches and the
homes, was an important factor in the de-
velopment of freer thought. The influence
of the book on Englishmen was felt in many
ways. Every-day speech was moulded by
it; and the character of the people was
changed through its power. They were
brought face to face with the great prob-
lems of life, and a moral intensity was
created which brought with it seriousness
and spiritual force. The Spanish attempt
to bring England back to Rome only inten-
sified the Protestantism of the realm. The
soldiers who went to fight for the Hugue-
nots in France returned bringing with them
Huguenot theology. The teachings of Cal-
vin helped men to realize the dignity of
their lives and their equality before God.
It must not be supposed that the influence

The Reformation 105

of genuine Puritanism was confined to those
who left the Church of England, or founded
Scotch Presbyterianism; it entered fully into
the life of the church, and was one of the
many forces cooperating to develop the re-
ligious life of the Church of England. If it
had not been for the extravagances of Pur-
itanism on the one side, and the lack of
elasticity on the part of the church, there
might not have been the development of
sectarianism which was the outcome.

But political causes were partly responsi-
ble for the tension that existed during the
reign of James I. The king, being a for-
eigner, never understood the English people.
He asserted the rights of the crown and
curtailed the power of Parliament to such
an extent that an open rupture between the
Parliament and the monarchy seemed in-
evitable. The constitutional rights of Eng-
land had developed too far for them to be
set aside at the caprice of a sovereign. The
Church of England was an ally of the

106 The Episcopalians

crown, and thus was placed for the time
being in a position of antagonism to the
growing liberties of the people. When the
contest came between the personal will of
the sovereign and the rights of the people,
there was only one result, that of the victory
of the people, and the church suffered with
the dethroned monarchy.

When James, the Scotch King, succeeded
Elizabeth it was generally expected that
coming from a Presbyterian kingdom he
would uphold Calvinism in England. But
James had seen too much of the dominating
influence of the kirk and been told his duty
too often by the vehement preachers, like
Andrew Melville, to make him wish to
strengthen a cause which threatened his
authority. He was afraid as he once said
that "no bishop" meant "no king." No
sooner had James entered England than a
petition signed by about eight hundred
clergy called "the Millenary Petition," was
presented to him, asking that the supersti-

The Reformation 107

tions in the Book of Common Prayer be re-
moved. It was arranged that there should
be a conference at Hampton Court in 1604,
when the archbishop and eight of his
bishops should meet four of the leading
Puritan ministers, and discuss their griev-
ances. James, who was a pedant and
prided himself on his theological leaning,
was present at the conference and entered
into the discussion, and, by his jocularity
and contempt, insulted the Puritan divines,
and ended the conference with the threat:
" I will make them conform or I will harry
them out of the land."

The conference at Hampton Court lasted
three days. The Puritan objections were
fully presented. They dealt chiefly with
such questions as the confirmation of chil-
dren, the cross in baptism, the use of sur-
plice, private baptism, kneeling at com-
munion, the reading of the Apocrypha, and
subscription to the Book of Common Prayer,
and the Articles. Other objections were

108 The Episcopalians

made to the phraseology of the prayer-
book. The conference resulted in some
minor changes in the Liturgy, but on the
whole the objections did not seem very
weighty, the surplice being called "a gar-
ment worn by the priests of Isis." The
bishops were delighted by the attitude of
the king, and were more ready to uphold
him, in the extreme assertion of his prerog-
atives. Other discussions soon arose about
the forms of church government. There
were extremists on both sides; those who
asserted that Episcopacy was anti-Christian,
and those who held that there could be no
church without bishops. The great Eliza-
bethan divines took neither of these posi-
tions. They held that Episcopacy was
primitive and lawful; but now it was freely
asserted in a party spirit, which widened
the breach between the Church of England
men and the Puritans, that no church could
exist without the Episcopal form of gov-
ernment, and that those who did not accept

The Reformation 109

this government could not be followers of
Christ.

The Court of High Commission, given
new power by Elizabeth, was another fac-
tor in the growing alienation of the church.
At first it was merely a temporary board,
but it soon became an almost unlimited
power; and, though there were forty-four
commissioners, questions were left practi-
cally in the hands of the archbishops. Al-
most at will clergy were deprived of their
benefices; heresy was dealt with, and non-
conformity punished. This gave the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury greater power than
ever had been exercised before by any one
holding the office. In many instances
Whitgift, Bancroft, Abbot, and Laud used
this authority despotically, governed almost
solely by their personal will. A conflict
soon arose between the commission and the
judges ; and the question of the source of au-
thority in the realm was raised. It was said
that the judges were only the king's dele-

no The Episcopalians

gates, and that they were to decide the
causes which he permitted. The growth of
despotic power was seen in the statement:
" As it is atheism and blasphemy to dispute
what God can do, so it is presumption and
a high contempt in a subject to dispute
what a king can do, or to say that a king
cannot do this or that." When Parliament
was called upon to decide, and showed that
on such a question it would not accept ab-
solute monarchy, the king simply dissolved
Parliament, and thus stirred up greater op-
position. James, through his love for
favorites, and his personal rule, ran counter
in every way to the constitutional forces of
the English people; and by his vanity and
ignorance of national conditions was leaving
a legacy to his son Charles I, which meant
the overthrow of the royal authority.

Though there were many good men in
the church during the reign of James, men
like Dr. Donne, and the saintly Bishop
Andrews, there were others who flattered

The Reformation m

the king and secured preferment by bribery.
There were many pluralists, a bishop some-
times holding a rich deanery. Parliament
protested, but the arrogance of the king
and the servility of many of the clergy
made impossible the peaceable adjustment
of differences. Many men within the
church felt as keenly the usurpation of
power as the most extreme non-conform-
ists.

One of the greatest achievements of the
reign of King James was the setting forth
in 1611, of the Authorized Version of the
Bible, which has since practically become
the authority wherever the English speech
is known. The simple and stately English
of the King James Bible, its vividness and
epigrammatic power, the homely parables
and stories, the truth about God, and the
Revelation of Christ, have woven this book
into the thought and character of those who
use the English language. In spite of the
blundering of James, and his unwise poli-

112 The Episcopalians

cies, his part in the publishing of the
Authorized Version may be considered in a
measure to atone for his acts of usurpation
and intolerance.

From the very beginning of the reign of
Charles I, it was apparent that a serious
conflict was arising between the throne and
the people. The young king commenced
by deceiving his friends abroad and at
home. He made promises to the King of
France, when he married Henrietta, the
sister of the French King, that the harsh
laws against Romanists should be repealed;
and he made no attempt to carry out his
promise; he also accepted the laws passed
by Parliament, and then annulled them by
granting dispensations. His nature was re-
served and almost shy, though in the main
he was conscientious. It may be said that
when he broke his word to Parliament it
was because he considered his kingly rights
above Parliament; but all his promises were
made with a reservation. When he was

The Reformation 113

forced to yield, as in the case of the " Peti-
tion of Rights" which demanded that no
one should be imprisoned without proper
cause, he dissolved Parliament, and it did
not meet for eleven years.

The leaders of the church sided with
Charles; and the king looked upon them
as his strong allies. When Parliament re-
fused money, many of the clergy turned
their churches into places of tax-gathering
for the king. Sermons on the divine right
of kings were common; and Dr. Mainwar-
ing declared that kings were above angels
and participated in the power of God. The
fear of Rome again became strong, for the
king appointed to the highest offices those
who were suspected of Romanist error.
Montague, who was condemned by Parlia-
ment, was appointed Bishop of Chichester;
and Laud, greatly distrusted, was made
Bishop of London, and later Archbishop of
Canterbury. Laud, called "a lawyer in a
rochet," was a man of great industry, but

114 The Episcopalians

with a narrow mind, who was eager to
press the most extreme claims of the church
and would tolerate no divergence of opin-
ion. Neither he nor the king foresaw that
the course they adopted was soon to lead to
open rebellion and civil war. Many intelli-
gent and patriotic churchmen felt a melan-
choly dread at the progress of events, but
they were powerless to prevent the catas-
trophe. The extreme party were in con-
trol and fast bringing disaster upon them-
selves.

The Long Parliament met in 1640, and it
was flooded with petitions asking for the
abolition of prayer-book worship and the
destruction of Episcopal government.
Representatives of the people took matters
into their own hands. They resisted the
taxes which had been imposed by the king,
without their sanction; they sent Strafford
to the block, and Laud was sent to the
Tower, charged with high treason; the
Courts of High Commission were abolished.

The Reformation 115

The Westminster Confession was put forth
in 1643, and the Directory, a new service
book, was authorized. Presbyterianism
was beginning to triumph. The prayer-
book was prohibited, in 1645, and many of
the churches were mutilated. This was
revolution and war. Marston Moor and
Naseby, battles of supreme importance in
the history of England, settled the fortunes
of the king; and Cromwell's growing
power was the death-knell of the Royalist
claims. Laud was executed in 1645; and
four years later Charles stood upon the
scaffold.

The Commonwealth with Cromwell as
Protector, lasted until his death in 1658;
and after an interval of two years Charles
II ascended the throne, and the period of
the Restoration began. During the Com-
monwealth the clergy of the Church of
England suffered greatly. Though in the
main Cromwell was tolerant, the same pas-
sion for uniformity persisted, and those

Il6 The Episcopalians

who could not accept the changed order
were driven into exile. The prayer-book
service, however, continued to be used in
secret and men were occasionally ordained.
But the Commonwealth could not last.
The constitutional victory had been won,
and permanent achievements of political
liberty had been gained. The English peo-
ple, however, were never really Presbyte-
rians at heart, and they longed for the church
again, purified through the flames of civil
war. Cromwell's aim of building up a
kingdom by the sword was doomed to fail-
ure. The difficulties and mistakes of the
Commonwealth were so great that a reac-
tionary movement set in, and Puritanism as
a militant force fell; but Puritanism as an
influence, including under this name the
many forces in English life and thought
making for liberty, righteousness, and per-
sonal religion, did not die, with the failure
of the Puritan state; it continued to bear
fruit in English government and in the

The Reformation 117

church, which became stronger, more com-
prehensive, and more spiritual, because of
the ideals wrought into its life, derived from
the very forces which produced the true
spirit of Puritanism.

CHAPTER V

EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN AMERICA

The discoveries in North America made
by the Cabots in 1497 opened the way for
English colonies. With the coming of the
English immigrants there were brought
into the new land the political and religious
institutions in which the people had been
reared. It was only a question of time
when the controversies that agitated the
mother country were to begin afresh in the
new world; and through these, with the
added experience of new conditions, were
to be fought out the problems of American
social and religious progress. The Separa-
tist, the Baptist, the Roman Catholic, the
Presbyterian, and the English Churchman
met in the colonies that were founded, and
with varying fortunes, each made a place

118

Early Days of the Church 119

for itself, transplanting and modifying the
ideas that they brought with them, and
erecting out of the confusion of pioneer
life the foundations of noble institutions
forming part of American Christianity.

The first services of the English Church
held on American soil of which we have a
record were conducted by the chaplains of
ships engaged in exploration. There was
a prayer-book service held on the shores of
Hudson Bay in 1578, and on the coast of
California by Francis Fletcher, the chaplain
of Sir Francis Drake in 1579. This latter
event has been commemorated by the erec-
tion of a cross, fifty-seven feet high, in
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Sir
Humphrey Gilbert received the first colo-
nial charter from Elizabeth in 1 578, and it was
his intention to plant the English Church in
his colony, the instrument directing that the
settlement " be, as near as conveniently
may, agreeable to the laws and policy
of England, and also that they be not

120 The Episcopalians

against the true Christian faith and religion
now professed in the Church of England."
But unfortunately this expedition came to
naught, as did those of his successor, Sir
Walter Raleigh. In the attempt to found a
colony on the island of Roanoke, in 1587,
of which John White was governor, two
episodes of interest occurred: the first
Indian convert Manateo was baptized Au-
gust 13, 1587, and a little later was also
baptized Virginia Dare, the first child of
English parents born in America.

Other expeditions that did not result in
permanent settlements but which brought
the Church of England services to the new
country, were those of Martin Pring, acting
under Raleigh, with the Speedwell and the
Discoverer, who landed at Plymouth, in
Massachusetts Bay, seventeen years before
the Pilgrims, and during the six weeks that
he remained used the Book of Common
Prayer; and of Sir Fernando Gorges, which
landed on the shores of the Sagadahoc, or

Early Days of the Church 121

Kennebec River in 1607, and gave the op-
portunity to Sir Richard Seymour, a clergy-
man of the Church of England, to preach
and offer prayers.

The first colony in which the church was
made a permanent institution was in Vir-
ginia. The first charter of Virginia given
by James I declared that provision should
be made "that the Word and service of
God be preached, planted, and used, not
only in the said colonies, but also, as much
as might be, among the savages bordering
among them, according to the rites and
doctrines of the Church of England." Vir-
ginia was reached in 1607; and the Rev.
Robert Hunt, "an honest, religious and
courageous divine," became the first colo-
nial clergyman. "Wee did hang an awn-
ing (which is an old saile)," wrote Captain
John Smith, "to three or four trees to
shaden us from the sunne, our walles were
rales of wood, our seats unhewed trees,
till we cut plankes; our pulpit a bar of

122 The Episcopalians

wood nailed to two neighboring trees.
This was our churche till wee built a
homely thing like a barne." From these
small beginnings, as the colony grew,
churches began to be erected as they were
needed. When the charter was enlarged
there was much enthusiasm in England
over the idea of strengthening the church
in Virginia. Master Burke was sent over;
and soon Alexander Whitaker, known as
the "Apostle to the Indians," came as a
faithful missionary, and was the clergyman
who converted Pocahontas and baptized
her. Whitaker's " Good Newes from Vir-
ginia " set forth the attractions of the colony
and was the means of inducing many to
try their fortunes in the new world.

It is an interesting fact that the first
representative body of legislators that ever
met in America was the House of Burgesses
of Virginia, and they held their meeting in
the chancel of the church at Jamestown,
July 30, 1619. They considered ecclesi-

Early Days of the Church 123

astical matters, and established the Church
of England in the colony; the clergy were
provided with a glebe of a hundred acres
each; and later the salary of a clergyman
was placed at fifteen hundred pounds of
tobacco and sixteen barrels of corn. At
this time there were five clergymen. As
the colony extended the council applied to
the Bishop of London for new ministers,
and these were sent from time to time.
From this early application to the Bishop of
London his jurisdiction in the colony be-
came gradually recognized; and doubtless
because of the position of his see in the
heart of England and a traditional interest
in the colonies of America he became the
authority to which the colonial churchmen
turned for advice and guidance.

The relations between the colonists and
the Indians were at first cordial; missions
were founded and efforts were made
for their education, but after the unex-
pected massacre of 1622 hatred sprang

124 The Episcopalians

up and armed force was constantly used.
When a few Puritans found their way into
Virginia they were treated with respect
until there was a change in the govern-
ment, the charter being annulled in 1624
and the king assuming personal control.
Then laws were adopted expelling the
Puritans. When in 1642 a number of
persons in Virginia appealed to the General
Court of Massachusetts "to send ministers
into that region " and three Congregational
ministers were actually sent, they were
forbidden to officiate. Thus were the old
world controversies introduced into the
new, Sir William Berkeley being sent over
by Charles I to keep out religious innova-
tions from the colony. During the Com-
monwealth, the services in the churches
for the most part were given up, except
for one year when they were permitted,
" provided that those parts which relate to
the kingship and government be not used
publicly." The churches suffered more by

Early Days of the Church 125

neglect than by actual persecution, so that
at the Restoration, though there were fifty
parishes there were not more than ten
ministers in the colony. Later, however,
the church became much stronger and
during the eighteenth century rendered
good service to the colony.

Before Lord Baltimore secured in 1623 his
charter for Maryland, there were English
churchmen living on the Isle of Kent and
among them religious services had been
held. When the town of St. Mary's was
founded a chapel was erected and services
according to the Church of England were
performed. Lord Baltimore was a Roman
Catholic; and in order to gain tolerance for
his coreligionists he adopted a policy which
would permit them to enjoy the freedom
of their consciences. In order to secure
this privilege it was necessary for him to
grant religious freedom to all. " I will not
by myself or any other directly or in-
directly," ran the governor's oath which

126 The Episcopalians

Lord Baltimore required, "trouble, molest,
or discountenance any person professing to
believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect of
religion." This policy was put into formal
enactment by the Assembly of Maryland
when it passed in 1649 the "Act of Re-
ligious Freedom," — one of the earliest
instances in the world of a state accepting
religious toleration. And it is strange
above all things that this method of dealing
with religious differences should have been
inspired by a Roman Catholic, to whom
uniformity was always a watchword, and
heresy a detestable crime. Protestants
were in the majority in the colony; and
without taking away honor from Lord
Baltimore for what he did, it is to be
remembered that unless he had adopted this
course of toleration Roman Catholics might
not have been permitted to remain there.

The Church of England does not seem to
have increased very rapidly in Maryland at
the beginning. There were only three

Early Days of the Church 127

clergymen in the colony in 1676. There
were no legal means provided for their
support, but later a number came over, and
not altogether of the best quality, and they
assisted in what has been called the
" Protestant Revolution." This was caused
more by political conditions in England
than by those in the colony. James II,
a Roman Catholic, had fled from his king-
dom, and William aided in the ascendancy
of the Protestants. The immediate outcome
of this revolution in Maryland was the es-
tablishment of the Church of England.
Parishes were laid out; vestries appointed;
and a tax of forty pounds of tobacco upon
each poll was levied to support the clergy
and the churches. When Sir Francis
Nicholson became governor in 1694, being
an ardent churchman and always generously
upholding the cause of his church, he vigor-
ously proceeded to help in the work of
erecting church edifices and settling min-
isters in the parishes.

128 The Episcopalians

One of the most important events for the
growth of the church in Maryland was the
appointment of Dr. Thomas Bray as com-
missary to the province. Dr. Bray was a
man of great devotion and activity, with a
constructive mind, who formed important
plans for the sustaining and extension of
the church. Before he came to Maryland
he sent over libraries of valuable books to
the parishes and inspired suitable men to
become missionaries. He started move-
ments in England that resulted in the
founding of two celebrated and beneficent
institutions: The Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, and the Society for
Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
This later society, founded in 1701, played
a part of supreme importance in the plant-
ing of the church in America. Dr. Bray did
not remain long in Maryland, but during his
short stay he succeeded in encouraging the
missionaries who were on the ground, in
rebuking those who were unworthy, and

Early Days of the Church 129

in forming plans for the enlargement of
the work in America. When he returned
to England he made it evident to all that the
best clergymen were needed in the Ameri-
can missions and men who for one rea-
son or another had failed at home were
totally unfit for the pioneer work of the
colonies. Would that his advice had
always been followed!

The starting of the church in New
England was under entirely different cir-
cumstances from those either in Virginia or
Maryland. The Pilgrims landed at Ply-
mouth in 1620; and, having come out from
the Church of England as Separatists, they
were hostile to it. The Puritans who
arrived at Salem, though bidding an
affectionate farewell to "our dear mother,
the Church of England," soon discarded
her tenets and set up a Puritan common-
wealth. Churchmen were not welcome.
Wherever they appeared and tried to enjoy
their privileges of worship, they were

130 The Episcopalians

treated as aliens and either exiled or
suppressed. In the Plymouth colony Rev.
John Lyford, a clergyman of the church
attempted, 1624, to celebrate "the sacra-
ments by his Episcopal calling," but he was
soon banished. Thomas Morton, also a
churchman, formed a colony at Wollaston.
He used the prayer-book service, but also set
up a May-pole and lived rather a free life.
His house was burned and he was sent away
to England. The Brown brothers tried to
hold their services in Salem, but they were
immediately exiled. There were other cases
of the same kind. William Blaxton, a clergy-
man of the church who wore his " Canon-
ical! Coat " in the wilderness was the first
resident of Boston, but he found that
he must seek a freer air elsewhere
and went to Rhode Island. Individual
churchmen scattered through the colony
sometimes held services privately in their
houses. There was no public ministra-
tion until 1686, when Rev. Robert Ratcliffe

Early Days of the Church 131

landed in Boston, and acting under the
charter which Governor Andros received,
conducted services in the town house.

The Puritan commonwealth of Mas-
sachusetts gave the freedom of citizenship
only to members of its churches. All
others were either treated with indifference
or actively persecuted. Charles II had sent
a command to the General Court that " we
require you that freedom and liberty be
duly admitted and allowed; so that such as
desire to use the Book of Common Prayer
and perform their devotions after the manner
established here, be not denied the exercise
thereof." The only answer to this was
that "the use of the Common Prayer-
book would disturb their present peace and
present enjoyments."

Encountering much opposition, Mr. Rat-
cliffe held further services in the South
Meeting-house, especially on Good Friday
and Easter Day, 1687. Money, however,
was soon collected for the erection of a

132 The Episcopalians

church, and King's Chapel was begun in
1688. After Mr. Ratcliffe left, Rev. Samuel
Myles took charge and later had as his as-
sistant the Rev. Christopher Bridge. Thus
regular services of the Church of England
were instituted in Massachusetts; and from
King's Chapel as a centre new missions
were begun. Mr. Bridge preached in
Braintree and succeeded in organizing there
a parish with wardens and vestry in 1704.
The church in Newburyport was added in
171 1 ; and St. Michael's, Marblehead, in 1714.
These additional churches were made pos-
sible by the Society for Propagating the
Gospel, which sent out, as its paid mission-
aries, clergymen where the work seemed
encouraging. The Puritan divines preached
against the formation of these churches, In-
crease Mather publishing a pamphlet on
"The Unlawfulness of Common Prayer
Worship." In Newburyport churchmen
were imprisoned and had their goods taken
from them because they refused to pay for

Early Days of the Church 133

the support of the Congregational minister,
preferring to pay for their own clergymen.
But in spite of intolerance, the church
became firmly rooted and prepared the
way for the development which came
later.

Through the zeal of Sir Francis Nicholson
services were held in Newport in 1698; and
in 1702 Trinity Church was erected, the
Rev. James Honeyman becoming its first
minister and serving for almost fifty years.
Families of wealth and social position were
members of this church in Newport. In a
few years, 1707, a second church was added
in Rhode Island, that of St. Paul's Church,
Kingston, known as the Narragansett
Church. The original building is still stand-
ing and is one of the oldest church build-
ings in New England. A firm foothold
was not secured by the Episcopal Church
in New Hampshire until 1732 when efforts
where made to build St. John's Church,
Portsmouth, and later another parish was

134 The Episcopalians

established at Claremont where one share
of glebe land was given to the church.

Shortly after the founding of the Society
for Propagating the Gospel, the special aim
of which was to extend the church in the
colonies, a special agent, the Rev. George
Keith, was sent in 1702 to travel through the
country and find out the religious conditions
and the need. Keith was accompanied by
Rev. John Talbot, and they made journeys
through New England, New York, New Jer-
sey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and
North Carolina. Keith's journal is full of
interesting information: he preached in
many places, baptized persons, and encour-
aged the Episcopalians to have settled
missionaries. " In all places where we
travelled and preached," he wrote, "we
found people well affected to the doctrine
which we preached among them, and they
did generally join with us decently in the
Liturgy and Public Prayers, and administra-
tion of the Holy Sacraments, after the

Early Days of the Church 135

usage of the Church of England."
Through the labors of Keith and Tal-
bot many parishes eventually were founded.
Their visit to New London was almost
the earliest attempt to introduce the
church in Connecticut, though there was
already a group of churchmen in Strat-
ford, and a petition had been sent to the
General Assembly in 1665 asking that chil-
dren be permitted to be baptized and com-
plaining of certain grievances. Though the
parish in Stratford was organized in 1707,
the real growth of the church in Connecti-
cut dates from the conversion of Dr.
Timothy Cutler and his friends in 1722 from
Congregationalism to the Episcopal Church.
Timothy Cutler, a learned man of admi-
rable character, when president of Yale Col-
lege, from motives of conscience and be-
cause of extensive reading, felt some doubt
of the validity of his ordination as a Con-
gregational minister, and determined to seek
orders in the Church of England. He was

136 The Episcopalians

not alone in this feeling. A group of min-
isters in the neighborhood had discussed
with him the questions involved in such a
decision. They decided to act; and in 1722
startled New England by sending a signed
communication to the trustees of the college
informing them "that some of us doubt
the validity, and the rest of us are more
fully persuaded of the invalidity, of Pres-
byterian ordination in opposition to Episco-
pal." Among those associated with Cutler
in this change of relations were Samuel
Johnson and Daniel Brown. A prayer-book
which Johnson received as a youth greatly
attracted him; and while in charge of his
church in West Haven he frequently corrh
mitted to memory prayers and collects taken
from the book and used them in his Con-
gregational services. The three friends set
sail for England where they were ordained
by the Bishop of Norwich in 1723. Brown
died of the smallpox a short time after
his ordination; the others returned home.

Early Days of the Church 137

Cutler became the first minister of Christ
Church, Boston, where he had a conspicu-
ous and useful ministry. Johnson went to
Stratford where he completed the church
building; and by his enthusiasm, kindliness
and wisdom helped to spread the church in
other parts of Connecticut and finally be-
came the first president of King's College
(now Columbia) in New York.

When New York was wrested from the
Dutch by the English in 1663 the way was
opened for the introduction of the church.
Though Peter Stuyvesant was intolerant to
Lutherans, Baptists and Quakers, a service
according to the English usage was permit-
ted in the Dutch Church in the fort at New
Amsterdam. After the capture of New
York the different chaplains of the English
garrison were allowed to conduct services.
It was not, however, until Governor
Fletcher was appointed that the church took
root. He was an ardent churchman and
succeeded for a short time in having the

138 The Episcopalians

church practically established and its clergy-
man supported out of the public funds.
This temporary dominance of the church
resulted in the founding of Trinity Church
in 1697, which was built upon the same
site that it now occupies. Rev. William
Vesey called to be " Minister of the City of
New York " was the first rector, though the
Bishop of London was nominal rector.
For the building of the church the citizens
were taxed, though private subscriptions
were also received. Unused funds collected
for freeing slaves brought from Algeria
were given for this purpose. In 1705, the
corporation was enriched by the gift of the
Queen's Farm, a valuable tract of land in
the neighborhood of the church, which
since those early days has become the prin-
cipal source of the great wealth of Trinity
Church.

At the request of Mr. Vesey, a man vigi-
lant for the growth of the church, six mis-
sionaries were sent out to New York by the

Early Days of the Church 139

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
They soon organized churches in West-
chester, Jamaica, Oyster Bay, Staten Island
and Rye. At Albany a chaplain was ap-
pointed in 1709. He proved to be Rev.
Thomas Barclay; and in 17 16 he finished
St. Peter's Church. Barclay particularly felt
his duty to the Indians, whom he instructed
and to whom he preached in Schenectady
and elsewhere.

In New Jersey services were first held in
a primitive way in a dilapidated court-house
at Perth Amboy, but the earliest building
erected was that of St. Mary's Church,
Burlington, which was occupied in 1704.
John Talbot, who accompanied Keith on his
missionary journeys, became the minister.
He soon saw the necessity for a fuller or-
ganization of the church in the colonies if
progress was to be made, and he was anx-
ious that a bishop be appointed. He went
to England bearing a petition that the queen
send a suffragan bishop, but this was not

140 The Episcopalians

granted. So eager was Talbot to have a
bishop that the report spread that he him-
self had been consecrated by the non-jurors
when on a visit to England. The evidence
for his consecration is not strong; and it is
not known that he ever exercised the duties
of the office, though he recognized with the
other colonial churchmen the great impor-
tance of perfecting the Episcopal system.

In the charter granted to William Penn
for his colony in Pennsylvania there was a
clause which read that "on the petition of
twenty persons a preacher or preachers
might be sent out for their instruction by
the Bishop of London, and should be per-
mitted to reside in the province without
any denial or molestation whatever."
Penn encouraged religious tolerance, though
the Quakers first predominated in numbers,
and there was a short-lived opposition to
the introduction of the Church. The first
building was erected in 1695, and this be-
came the foundation of Christ Church,

Early Days of the Church 141

Philadelphia. «' Parson Evans," a mission-
ary of the venerable society helped to
establish the church firmly not only in
Philadelphia but in Chester, Concord,
Montgomery, Oxford and in other places.

The Carolinas had a ready made constitu-
tion given to them by John Locke the
philosopher; many of its provisions were
visionary but it contained a clause which
practically established the church. No
efforts were made at first to carry out this
injunction, because in both the northern
colony, the Albemarle, and the southern
colony, the Ashley River colony, there were
many varieties of religious belief repre-
sented among the inhabitants. There were
dissenters who had come over from
Virginia, Dutch who had left New York,
Huguenots who had emigrated from
France, and Scotch-Irish who found their
way to the colony. When the church
gained an entrance into Charleston through
the efforts of a Christian family named

142 The Episcopalians

Jackson, who out of their private means
gave a site for a church building, the
provision of the original charter was re-
membered and the assembly passed an act
in 1698 for the support of a minister of the
Church of England, also voting him "a
negro man and woman and four cows and
calves." The first church in South Carolina
was St. Philip in Charleston. After the be-
ginning excellent ministers were sent out by
the society in England and the Goose Creek
parish was established which ministered to
the Indians and negroes as well as the whites.
In North Carolina no efforts were made
to introduce the church until the society
acted in 1704 and commissioned the Rev.
John Blair as missionary. He was suc-
ceeded by Gordon and Adams who in spite
of unfavorable conditions did much good
work. Up to the time of the separation of
the two colonies in 1729 into North and
South Carolina, thirty-eight missionaries
had been at work in this field.

CHAPTER VI

THE COLONIAL PERIOD

In the early part of the eighteenth cen-
tury the church had taken root in all the
colonies with the exception of Georgia,
where it did not enter until about 1732.
When the first body of emigrants arrived
with Oglethorpe, they were accompanied
by the Rev. Henry Herbert. He was suc-
ceeded by Mr. Quincy; then John Wesley
was appointed by the society in 1736, and
he did a noble work for Christianity in
Georgia in the short time that he stayed.
Though he adopted novel methods and felt
a desire for greater freedom and was the
founder of the Methodist Church, he was
always until the end a member of the
Church of England.

The founding of the Church in the
143

144 The Episcopalians

different centres of importance was the
beginning of a quiet and steady growth.
Other towns were soon reached and these
in turn became missionary centres. In the
South the church was established by law,
but on the whole this was a misfortune be-
cause it constantly brought the clergy into
conflict with the ruling powers and inter-
fered with their spiritual work. In the
Middle and Northern colonies the church
steadily won its way in spite of opposition,
and through the personal influence of in-
dividual clergymen, it won a place for it-
self. Sometimes unnecessary controversies
were stirred up and old prejudices against
the church revived.

During the colonial period up to the
Revolution the church was a conservative
power for righteousness. The orderly
services with the celebration of the sacra-
ments and the recurrent teachings of the
church year developed a refined and loyal
type of Christianity. The children were

The Colonial Period 145

reared to love and respect its teachings, and
in many families of influence the church
was regarded with the same reverence as
the home. In the agricultural districts of
Maryland and Virginia, the parish church
was the social and religious centre of the
community, and it became a sacred place
through its constant ministry in the differ-
ent crises of life. The cultured and the ig-
norant met side by side within its walls
and learned the simple virtues of a Chris-
tian's duty. In the North where the popu-
lation lived more in large towns and cities
the churches became the centre of the more
educated and wealthier classes, though its
mission was to all who responded to its
teachings. King's Chapel, Boston, and
Christ Church were stately edifices, often
filled with many of the leading merchants
of the town; and the colonial governors
often worshipped there. Trinity Church,
Newport, and St. Michael's, Bristol, and the
old Narragansett Church exerted a wide in-

146 The Episcopalians

fluence among the leading people of Rhode
Island, where families of intelligence and
influence were devoted to the church.
Trinity Church and St. Paul's, New York,
have a rich and honored colonial history,
and trained many of the men famous in the
annals of the state. In Philadelphia, Christ
Church and St. Peter's occupied a similar
position.

The church through its services and
creeds and sermons set forth an ideal of
good citizenship, of duty to the community
and the home, of dignified and restrained
life and devotion to the essential teachings
of Christianity. The movements of theo-
logical thought in England were reflected
in the colonies; and through the libraries of
books that were accumulated here and
there in the different parishes these ideas
were spread abroad. The church was a
steadying influence through the excitement
of the "Great Awakening," when George
Whitefield went up and down the land

The Colonial Period 147

preaching his fiery discourses, and people
were led to see that Christian conversion
was not only a swift emotional experience
but a quiet growth of faith in which the
emotions were controlled by the reason;
that daily acts of kindness and unselfish-
ness and duty to the home and to one's
friends were more important than the ex-
citement of overwrought enthusiasm. Be-
cause of this lack of sympathy with the
teachings of Whitefield, churchmen were
often called " unconverted men," and
"dumb dogs that will not bark"; but the
spiritual influence of the church was ap-
parent in the lives of consecrated laymen
and faithful ministers.

Until after the Revolution the organiza-
tion of the church was imperfect. It was
an Episcopal Church, but without a bishop.
The Bishop of London, across the sea, had
jurisdiction in America, but he never vis-
ited his distant diocese. He was repre-
sented by commissaries, clergymen ap-

148 The Episcopalians

pointed to have oversight in certain
districts. They visited missions and con-
sulted with parishes, but were able to exer-
cise very little authority. The absence of a
bishop was a serious obstacle to the growth
of the church. Young men seeking the
ministry were compelled to take the dan-
gerous and expensive journey across the
ocean to be ordained in England. Many of
them died of smallpox or were lost at sea.
The rite of confirmation could not be ad-
ministered; and as this public confession
of the baptized person was a ratification of
baptism and a necessary element in the edu-
cational scheme of the church, the ina-
bility to receive it at the hands of a bishop,
was in every way unfortunate. Neither
could churches be consecrated. But one of
the most serious results of not having a
bishop was the lack of discipline. Un-
worthy ministers sometimes found their
way into the colonies: men whose reputa-
tions were damaged at home often thought

The Colonial Period 149

they would try a new field. Virginia and
Maryland suffered most from this evil. To
remove such men from their parishes con-
sumed much time, as lengthy correspond-
ence with the authorities in England was
necessary before matters could be set right.
A bishop was also needed to plan for an
extension of the work and to lay down
some principle of action for the clergy
when they became involved in controversy
with either the government or other re-
ligious bodies. It is remarkable that the
church maintained itself so well and exer-
cised such a wholesome influence without
the presence and aid of a bishop, an officer
most necessary to the normal life of an
Episcopal Church.

This need of an Episcopate in the colo-
nies was early recognized both by the colo-
nial churchmen themselves and by their
friends in England. Letters were constantly
being sent by individuals and by conven-
tions asking that a bishop might be conse-

150 The Episcopalians

crated for America. Archbishop Laud as
far back as 1638 had a plan of sending a
bishop to New England. His object doubt-
less was to exercise control over the Puri-
tans; and they never could forget that this
was his object. When the times had com-
pletely changed they still always associated
the idea of having a bishop among them
with the theories and discipline of Laud.
In 1709 the Venerable Society formulated a
plan for a colonial bishop and submitted it
to Queen Anne; and if it had not been for
her death success might have attended these
efforts. Archbishop Tennison in 171 5 left a
thousand pounds "towards the settlement
of two bishops, one for the continent and
the other for the isles of America." Bishop
Butler, the author of the "Analogy," worked
out an elaborate plan for sending a simple
Apostolic bishop without revenues drawn
from taxation, but this like all other schemes
came to naught.
In the meantime, memorials were drawn

The Colonial Period 151

up by the clergy in different sections of the
country setting forth the needs of Episcopal
supervision. "For want of Episcopacy,"
stated one of the documents, " our churches
remain unconsecrated, our children are
grown up and cannot be confirmed; the
vacancies which daily happen in our min-
istry cannot be supplied for a considerable
time from England, whereby many congre-
gations . . . become desolate."

The reasons for this failure were many.
America was far away and interest in
colonial religious affairs was confined to a
few. Besides, the church in England,
being connected with the State, was com-
pelled to gain the consent of Parliament;
and pressure was brought by the non-con-
formists to prevent any act which might
permit the sending of a bishop. Then the
conception of the office of a bishop with
his dignities and revenues and his position
as a peer could not easily be modified: a
bishop of the English type seemed out of

152 The Episcopalians

place in the plantations. A traditional
bishop would have been out of place, but a
spiritual bishop, a leader of his clergy, liv-
ing without ostentation and supported by
the voluntary offerings of the people would
have been a power in the new land rather
than a cause of discord.

It was against the idea of a bishop as a
minister of state that the greatest opposi-
tion grew. This was evident in the con-
troversy on this subject between Dr.
Chandler of New Jersey, a vigorous church-
man and Dr. Chauncey, a Congregational
minister of Boston. Just before the Revo-
lution the question of an Episcopate in
America was discussed at great length in
the newspapers and in pamphlets; and the
fear of a bishop was one of the minor
causes that led to the growing alienation be-
tween England and the colonies. " The
fear of the Church of England," said John
Adams, " contributed as much as any other
cause to arrest the attention not only of the

The Colonial Period 153

inquiring mind but of the common people,
and urge them to close thinking on the
constitutional authority of Parliament over
the colonies." It was stated: " What is to
hinder him (a bishop) to claim all the pow-
ers exercised by Archbishop Laud and his
ecclesiastical courts ?" That this apprehen-
sion of the political powers of a bishop
was the real cause of the antagonism is
clear, because after the Revolution when the
tie with England had been severed the
bishops who were then consecrated for
America were received without any outcry
and in many places with welcome.

The most important factor in the progress
of the church was the Society for the Propa-
gation of the Gospel, founded by Dr. Bray
who, when in Maryland, had seen the need
of such an organization. It contributed
large sums of money to build churches and
support ministers. The reports from its
missionaries are among the most valuable
of colonial documents, and give very inter-

154 The Episcopalians

esting details concerning the life of the
people. Archbishop Seeker, speaking in
1741, said: "Near a hundred churches have
been built; above ten thousand Bibles and
prayer-books, above a hundred thousand
other pious tracts distributed; great multi-
tudes, on the whole, of negroes and Indians
brought over to the Christian faith; many
numerous congregations have been set up
which now support the worship of God at
their own expense, where it was not
known before, and seventy persons are
constantly employed at the expense of the
society in the further service of the gospel."
The total work of the society during its
jurisdiction in America seems to have been
the support of three hundred and ten mis-
sionaries and the maintenance of over two
hundred central stations at an expenditure
of considerably over a million dollars. In
its results it may be said that no mission-
ary organization has ever been so suc-
cessful in building the foundations of

The Colonial Period 155

what was to become a great and powerful
church.

The character of the clergy who min-
istered in the colonies was on the whole
excellent. They were men of learning and
sacrifice; many of them of such strong per-
sonality that they became widely known
and were respected everywhere. Their
lives and their teaching made directly for
righteousness. There were exceptions, of
course, notably in Maryland and Virginia,
but in North Carolina, and South Carolina
and Georgia there were few instances
where the clergyman was not a spiritual
leader. In Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New York, Pennsylvania and the other
colonies the clergy were faithful preachers
of the gospel whose influence was the
equal of any in piety and manhood. Many
of them were Englishmen who had come
in the spirit of genuine missionaries, and
they soon adapted themselves to the new
conditions. A large number were born in

156 The Episcopalians

America, and after their ordination in
England they were accepted as mission-
aries by the Venerable Society. Some of
these young men came from church
families, but others had been Presbyterians
and Congregationalists, and even ministers
in these denominations.

In Massachusetts the names will always
be remembered of Samuel Myles, an early
minister of King's Chapel, an earnest and
thoughtful man, and of Henry Caner a
successor in the same church; Matthias
Plant the beloved and venerable minister of
Newburyport; Timothy Cutler the learned
and vigorous rector of Christ Church,
Boston; Edward Bass who served in New-
buryport for many years and afterwards
became the first bishop of Massachusetts;
and of East Apthorp the refined and able
rector of Christ Church, Cambridge. In
Rhode Island there were such men as
James Honeyman, the friend of Dean
Berkeley, who served with rare faithfulness

The Colonial Period 157

in Newport for almost fifty years; Dr.
McSparran, a quaint and individual char-
acter who wrote " America Dissected"
and had rather a love for controversy; and
John Usher of Bristol of whom it was said
that "he made the welfare of the church
the whole business of his existence and
was called to suffer deprivations and hard-
ships." Connecticut was especially rich in
worthy ministers: Samuel Johnson was a
fearless leader and a man of singular sweet-
ness of character, with the outlook of a
statesman and the consecration of a humble
disciple; Samuel Seabury, the father of the
future bishop of Connecticut; Solomon
Palmer who planted the church in several
new communities in the colony; John Beach
who answered the attacks on the Venerable
Society made by Jonathan Mayhew; and
Jeremiah Learning who was thought
worthy to be considered a candidate for
the bishopric.
The Church was represented in New

158 The Episcopalians

York by a distinguished body of ministers.
William Vesey the first rector of Trinity
Church was a man of parts and a good
preacher. His successor, Dr. Barclay, built
up the church so successfully that it be-
came necessary to build St. George's
Chapel in 1752. Dr. Auchmuthy won the
respect of all. Charles Inglis afterwards
became the first bishop of Nova Scotia.
Samuel Provoost was a man of strong
personality who sympathized with the
patriot cause in the Revolution and was
elected the first bishop of New York. The
work of the church in this important
colony was greatly promoted by a number
of ardent laymen: Lord Cornbury, one of
the early governors, and Colonel Heathcote;
and such illustrious men as Lieutenant-
Governor De Lancey and Sir William
Johnson.

The church in Pennsylvania was well
served by Archibald Cummings and Robert
Jenny, Jacob Duche, Richard Peters, and

The Colonial Period 159

William White who became the most
distinguished clergyman of the church
after the Revolution, being consecrated
first bishop of Pennsylvania. In Maryland
the two Commissaries, Christopher Wilkin-
son and Jacob Henderson, were men of un-
impeachable character and faithful to every
duty. Added to these should be mentioned
Henry Addison and Jonathan Boucher.
Virginia had a succession of worthy men,
from the time of Dr. Blair, who labored
amidst many difficulties: the names of
Jarratt and Madison, Griffith, Davis,
Bracken and Muhlenberg will always be
remembered with pride. The Virginia
families of the Washingtons, Pendletons,
Lees, Meades and Randolphs reared strong
laymen who were always devoted to the
church. In the Carolinas Commissary
Garden was one of the most earnest
representatives of the Bishop of London in
any of the colonies; and Robert Smith and
John Hodges, Clement Hall and Alexander

160 The Episcopalians

Stewart were the equal of any of the
colonial ministers.

The church did not neglect the educational
interests of the people. Many of the clergy
received scholars into their homes and gave
them regular instruction. Institutions of
learning were also founded. The first sug-
gestion of the founding of a college in
Virginia was made in 1662. Dr. Blair
acted upon this when he arrived in 1685,
and later sent a petition to the queen for a
charter. This was granted, and two thou-
sand pounds were given by the king,
which supplemented the twenty-five hun-
dred pounds already given by the merchants
of London for this purpose. The college
was called "William and Mary." It was
built at Williamsburg and received its sup-
port from a tax on tobacco and a gift of
twenty thousand acres of land. This in-
stitution educated many notable men, and
in the days of its prosperity was of great
service to the state as well as the church.

The Colonial Period 161

An impetus to collegiate instruction in
the colonies was given by the visit of Dean
Berkeley, who came to America in 1729,
with the plan of founding a college in the
Bermuda Islands. His reputation as a
scholar and philosopher prepared the way
for his favorable reception. His friendship
and advice were of the greatest benefit to
the church. Because of political conditions
at home his plans for his college were un-
successful, but he took deep interest in the
colleges that had already been established
and was instrumental in starting new ones.
He contributed a library of books and
landed property to Yale, where his name is
held in grateful remembrance. Gifts of
importance were made to Harvard. After
his return to England he was made Bishop
of Cloyne, but he kept in touch with
American educational affairs through cor-
respondence. When the College and
Academy of Philadelphia, now the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, was founded in

162 The Episcopalians

1749, through the efforts of Philadelphia
churchmen, prominent among whom was
Benjamin Franklin, the suggestions of Dr.
Berkeley were most valuable. It has been
also said that Berkeley was the true spiritual
founder of King's College, now Columbia
University, New York. He was an inti-
mate friend of Samuel Johnson, the first
president, and the trustees followed the
model which Bishop Berkeley constructed.
The site for King's College was given by
Trinity Church, with the condition that the
president should always be a churchman
and that the religious services should be from
the prayer book.

Many of the church buildings were of
considerable dignity, being built in the
colonial style of architecture. They were
often of stone and brick, and patterned
after the models of Sir Christopher Wren;
others were of wood, and planned in
rectangular shape with a slight chancel.
The pews were generally square, called

The Colonial Period 163

"box-pews," with high backs and sides,
designed for the use of the whole family.
The clergy sometimes wore the surplice,
but more often a black gown with bands.
Beneath the pulpit the clerk sat and made
the responses. The organ was introduced
and at times the musical part of the service
was effectively rendered. On special oc-
casions in such churches as King's Chapel,
Boston, Trinity Church, New York, and
Christ Church, Philadelphia, the congre-
gations were striking in appearance: the
men in their velvet coats of different colors,
the officers in their uniforms and the ladies
in their silks and satins. When the gov-
ernors were churchmen a pew was usually
set apart for them and their coat-of-arms
was placed in a conspicuous position. In
the county districts of Rhode Island,
Maryland and Virginia the parishioners
often drove to church in their coaches and
four with attendant grooms. Galleries were
provided for the slaves.

164 The Episcopalians

The parson was a welcome guest in the
homes of the people. By his accessibility
and intimate knowledge of family matters
he ministered to those who needed him as
truly through social intercourse as in his
sermons. If in the South the clergy some-
times became convivial and were known to
go fox-hunting, in many instances this was
the social custom of the community and
did not interfere with the more serious
work, and would not have been made a
scandal had it not been for the strictness of
a severe Puritanical spirit.

As the Revolution approached and the
War of Independence broke out in the
colonies, the people were divided in their
interests. There were two well defined
parties: the Tories who were opposed to a
break with England, and the patriots who
believed in absolute independence. The
loyalists were not confined to any section
of the country, or to any religious creed.
They felt that the differences with England

The Colonial Period 165

could be peacefully settled, and that the
prosperity of the colonies depended on
their continued union with the mother
country. In New York alone 40,000 Tories
joined the king's forces, and thousands left
Boston for Canada. There were Congre-
gational ministers among the Tories.

The same variety of sentiment was found
among the churchmen. There were both
extreme loyalists and ardent patriots among
them; and while many, for reasons of con-
science, opposed the Revolution, others be-
cause of their devotion to independence
gave their lives and their fortunes to the
patriot cause. The question of duty
pressed very hard on the clergy who were
missionaries of the Propagation Society;
their stipends came from across the water;
and when they had been ordained they had
taken an oath of allegiance to the British
Government. Had they any right to break
this oath ? Many were in a great state of
perplexity, especially since they did not feel

166 The Episcopalians

that they had any power to change the
Liturgy and substitute prayers for Congress
in the place of those for the king. In the
North, with few exceptions, the clergy
were loyalists, while in Pennsylvania and
the South almost two-thirds of them were
patriots.

The test came when days of thanksgiving
and prayer were set forth by Congress.
Many knew that it would be fatal for them,
on such occasions, to read prayers for the
king; but in many instances they did this
and had to suffer for it. While Mr. Inglis,
in Trinity Church, New York, read the
entire service, a company of one hundred
and fifty armed men entered the church
beating drums, and with bayonets fixed.
Speaking of the clergy whom he knew, Mr.
Inglis wrote, "Some have been carried by
armed mobs into distant provinces; some
have been flung into jail by committees for
frivolous suspicions of plots, of which even
the persecutors afterwards acquitted them.

The Colonial Period 167

Some have been pulled from their reading
desks because they prayed for the king."

The sufferings of the loyalist clergy were
severe. Their churches were shut up,
and often used as barracks for troops or
stables for horses; their houses were ran-
sacked; they were imprisoned and beaten,
and in some instances they died from the
treatment which they received. They were
looked upon as enemies and traitors, and
their property was confiscated. Samuel
Seabury was arrested and taken to Hart-
ford, but made his escape and became a
chaplain to the king's forces in New York.
Henry Addison, of Maryland, was banished
and his estates valued at thirty thousand
pounds were confiscated. Jeremiah Learn-
ing, of Connecticut, was left to suffer from
cold and nakedness and became lame for
life. John Weeks, of Marblehead, was ex-
iled and died of poverty and exposure.
Many other instances could be given to
show how tenaciously these men held out

168 The Episcopalians

for what they considered right. Though
they may have been misled they gave an
example of high devotion to their principles.
In considering the attitude of the clergy
towards the Revolution, it must be remem-
bered that a very influential body of them
were active patriots. They risked every-
thing for independence. The first Conti-
nental Congress was opened with prayer
by Jacob Duche. "As many of our
warmest friends," wrote Samuel Adams,
"are members of the Church of England
I thought it prudent ... to move that the
service should be performed by a clergy-
man of that denomination." After this,
William White was chaplain of Congress
for many years, and in his sermons and ad-
dresses upheld the cause of independ-
ence. Charles Thurston, a clergyman in
Virginia, entered the army and attained the
rank of colonel in the American forces; and
Peter Muhlenberg, another Virginian, raised
a regiment from among his parishioners,

The Colonial Period 169

preaching to them in a gown covering his
soldier's uniform. He afterwards became a
brigadier-general. In South Carolina, out
of twenty clergymen, five only were loy-
alists, and Robert Smith, the first bishop of
South Carolina, was a soldier for some
years. Two-thirds of the clergy in Virginia
were patriots; among them was Madison,
who became the first bishop of Virginia.
In New Jersey, Croes, who afterwards was
bishop, was a non-commissioned officer in
the army. In New York, Samuel Provoost
was a patriot. In Massachusetts the two
men who became bishops of the Common-
wealth kept their churches open during the
war.

The laymen of the church without any
question became the most distinguished
officers and statesmen of the Revolutionary
period. Not being bound like many of the
clergy by solemn vows of allegiance to
England they were free to act; and their
love for independence was not inconsistent

170 The Episcopalians

with their regard for the church. " The
men of the established Church of England,"
wrote Joseph Warren, "are men of the
most just and liberal sentiments and are
high in the esteem of the most sensible and
resolute defenders of the rights of the peo-
ple of this continent." A large majority of
the signers of the Declaration of Independ-
ence were churchmen. A list of names of
those who were pillars in upholding the
new Republic will include many Episco-
palians: General Washington, Patrick
Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Frank-
lin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Robert
Morris, John Marshall, Richard Henry Lee,
John Randolph, and many who were not so
famous. The attitude of the Loyalist
clergy has sometimes been overemphasized
as if it was the characteristic of churchmen
as a whole. Nothing could be further from
the truth. It is more than probable, though
the facts have not yet been completely as-
certained, that, taking the clergy and laity

The Colonial Period 171

together a very large proportion of the
Episcopalians in the colonies were uphold-
ers of the Revolution.

CHAPTER VII

AFTER THE REVOLUTION

After the Revolution the church was in
a weakened condition. As the state was
separated from England, so was the church;
and what remained of it were the scattered
fragments without any bond of union or
any centralizing authority. It was an Eng-
lish church without any connection with
England; it was an Episcopal church with-
out a bishop; it was a Christian church with
few ministers and most of the church edi-
fices closed. Few religious organizations
have had to face a more serious problem of
threatened extinction.

Fortunately there were men of faith and
ability who soon turned their attention to
the saving of what was left, and the
making of preparations for a future of re-

172

After the Revolution 173

newed life. William Smith in Maryland, a
Scotchman, who had been provost of the
academy in Philadelphia, a preacher of note
and a statesman of keen vision, rendered
faithful service in this formative period.
William White in Philadelphia, who kept
his church open during the war was in a
position to help in the organization of the
scattered parishes. The clergy in Connecti-
cut with Samuel Seabury were eager to be-
gin afresh; and in Massachusetts, Samuel
Parker, a practical and judicious man, with
his friend Edward Bass, was ready to co-
operate in adopting whatever seemed to be
the wisest plan.

The first movements for revival were in-
dependent, confined to the different sections
of the country. Clergy here and there met
to consider the requirements of their local-
ity and made independent changes in the
liturgy. The earliest efforts were in Mary-
land under the guidance of Dr. Smith. He
saw the importance of retaining for the use

174 The Episcopalians

of the church the property which had been
owned before the war. Soon after the
Declaration of Independence, a Declaration
of Rights had been issued by the Assembly,
giving the Vestries and Wardens power to
raise money and restore church property.
In order to make this declaration effective,
and to secure new legislation, Dr. Smith
and others held a conference at Chester-
town, Kent County, Maryland on November
9, 1780. There were three clergymen and
twenty-four laymen present. The most
important act of this conference was the
giving of a name to the church, which
might be known in law and thus become a
body capable of holding property. It was
moved by Rev. James Jones Wilmer "that
the Church of England as heretofore known
in the province be now called the Protestant
Episcopal church." Thus formally was
given the name which was afterwards
adopted by the whole church in America.
It has been sometimes said that this name

After the Revolution 175

was originated by Dr. Smith and was ac-
cepted without due consideration. Its
adoption later, however, by the whole
church is an evidence that it peculiarly
described the church that was struggling
for existence. It was distinctly a Protestant
church, and it was an Episcopal church. It
was marked off from Rome by the use of
the word Protestant, and it was distin-
guished from other bodies by the term
Episcopal. The name did not originate
with Dr. Smith. It had long been in use in
England for the English Church was both
Protestant and Episcopal. It was not the
formal name used to describe the church in
England but it was a subsidiary title, ap-
pearing more or less in writings and letters
of churchmen. When the question of hav-
ing a bishop in America had been discussed
the term Protestant bishop had been con-
stantly used. Maryland first formally
adopted the name and later proceeded to
make it effective by electing Dr. Smith to

176 The Episcopalians

the office of bishop, recommending him to
the Bishop of London for consecration.
For various reasons he never was made a
bishop, though he continued to be one of
the most active clergymen in the reorgani-
zation of the church.

In Pennsylvania William White seriously
considered the best plan for reviving the
churches. Before independence had been
acknowledged he wrote a pamphlet which
caused a great deal of discussion; it was
called " The Case of the Episcopal Churches
in the United States Considered." Feeling
that it would be impossible for a long time
to secure a bishop and knowing that all
authority from England had been with-
drawn, he advocated an immediate organ-
ization without waiting for a bishop. He
suggested the ordaining of a presiding
presbyter who should act as a bishop until
one could be secured, thus insuring the or-
dination of ministers and the supervision of
the whole field. This was a provisional

After the Revolution 177

proposition made necessary because of the
requirements of the times. It was never
acted upon, for independence was soon
achieved and it became possible to apply to
England for the consecration of American
bishops. The most important parts of
White's plan were afterwards adopted by
the church, and it is remarkable that he was
thus early able to outline the constitution
and organization of the church. He ad-
vised Diocesan Conventions to which dele-
gates, both lay and clerical, should be sent
from the separate parishes; and that a Gen-
eral Convention with delegates from the
Diocesan Conventions should represent the
whole church. His plan for the church was
like the plan being discussed for the nation,
and doubtless arose from his constant inter-
course with the men who were guiding the
affairs of the new nation. As we have
seen, many of them were churchmen and
their influence was as strong in the councils
of the church as in the deliberations of the

178 The Episcopalians

patriots. It was due in no small measure
to White and his statesmen friends, that the
church in America in its organization pro-
ceeded along national lines and became a
representative body with Diocesan Conven-
tion similar to the State Legislature, and a
General Convention with two houses, simi-
lar to Congress with Senate and House of
Representatives. An essential element in
this plan, which was afterwards adopted,
was lay representation. The church was to
be no autocracy of bishops and clergy, but
a democracy in which every member had a
place and a vote. In the colonial period the
laymen had exercised considerable power
in the management of parochial affairs,
and it was natural that they should con-
tinue this influence in the new structure
that was to be built up. White was a
thorough American ; and he was determined
that the church should be wholly American
in organization and spirit.
Important action was soon taken in Con-

After the Revolution 179

necticut. A secret meeting of ten of the
clergy was held at Woodbury in the last
week of March, 1783. No laymen were
present. The clergy had been loyalists and
they had not been able as yet to adopt the
American point of view. They were op-
posed to any suggestions of a provisional
organization, they wanted to have the whole
system at once if possible. They elected
Samuel Seabury to the office of bishop and
instructed him to proceed at once to Eng-
land for consecration. Seabury had been a
chaplain in the British army; he was a
staunch churchman; and by his character,
learning and persistence was fitted to un-
dertake the mission to England. Armed
with satisfactory testimonials he sailed for
London in June, 1783. He was received
kindly by the ecclesiastical authorities.
They did not however give him much en-
couragement. An act of Parliament was
necessary to dispense with the customary
oath of allegiance, and the consent must be

l8o The Episcopalians

obtained from the State of Connecticut al-
lowing a bishop to reside there. This con-
sent was easily obtained, but no act could
be secured from Parliament. So after wait-
ing a year Seabury decided to go to Scot-
land and try to obtain consecration from the
non-juring Scotch bishops. They were the
successors of the English bishops who re-
fused in 1688 to take the oath to William
III. They were Jacobites and loyal to the
House of Stuart. They had kept alive their
succession in Scotland, and, though forming
a feeble church, they had a regular ecclesias-
tical organization.

After much correspondence and no little
opposition Robert Kilgour, Primus of the
Scotch Church, wrote that he was ready to
consecrate Seabury and "to clothe him
with the Episcopal character, and thereby
convey to the western world the blessings
of a free, valid, and purely ecclesiastical
Episcopacy." Accordingly on November 14,
1784, at Aberdeen in a little upper-room

After the Revolution 181

Seabury was consecrated by three Scotch
bishops. It was an impressive and
significant event destined to have a lasting
influence on the church in America. The
example of the Scotch bishops made it
easier for the English bishops at a later
period to consecrate others to the Episco-
pate; and the beautiful Scotch communion
office through Seabury's efforts was ac-
cepted by the church in America. When
the newly made bishop returned to Con-
necticut he was warmly received by all in
his diocese and especially in New England
where he performed many Episcopal acts.
He was not accepted so cheerfully in the
Middle and Southern states partly because
he had been a loyalist and partly because
the leading churchmen desired to have the
succession purely Anglican. Fortunately
these objections after a time were over-
come and he was cordially received and
given a fitting place in the councils of the
church.

182 The Episcopalians

Up to this time sections of the church in
the late colonies had acted independently
and on their own initiative. It, however,
soon became apparent that there must be a
concerted movement if anything was to be
accomplished in the direction of a per-
manent and united organization. At a
meeting held at New Brunswick, New
Jersey, May n, 1784, a group of clergymen
from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New
York discussed very thoroughly the need
of a general meeting and the adoption of
fundamental principles. A committee of
correspondence was appointed; and it was
decided to hold a general meeting in
October following. In the meantime a
convention of a local character was held
in Philadelphia and certain principles were
then adopted which greatly influenced the
larger meeting. The hand of William White
was seen in them. There were six princi-
ples laid down; that the church ought to
be independent of foreign authority; that

After the Revolution 183

it ought to regulate its own concerns; that
the doctrines of the Church of England be
maintained with as much uniformity of
worship as possible; that there be three
orders in the ministry; that the authority
to make laws and canons be vested in a
representative body of clergy and laity;
and that no powers be delegated to a gen-
eral ecclesiastical government except those
that could not conveniently be exercised
by the clergy and laymen in their congrega-
tions. Here was the germ of a National
Church, governed by representative bodies,
giving local freedom under centralized
authority.

The meeting in October in New York
practically affirmed the Philadelphia princi-
ples, though adding to them and going
more into detail. There were present at
this conference Samuel Parker from Massa-
chusetts, John Marshall from Connecticut
and William Smith from Maryland, thus
giving it a semblance of a general conven-

184 The Episcopalians

tion. It was not a general convention,
because many of the delegates represented
only parishes, not local conventions. How-
ever from this limited synod there was a
movement set on foot which resulted in
holding the first general convention of the
Church on September 27, 1785, in Phila-
delphia. There were sixteen clergymen
and twenty-four laymen present. The
most important acts of this body were the
setting forth of "A General Ecclesiastical
Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the United States of America";
the appointment of a committee, the leaders
of which were William Smith and William
White, to recommend appropriate changes
in the Liturgy which were finally em-
bodied in what was called the "Proposed
Book"; and an address to the archbishops
and bishops of the Church of England
asking for the consecration of bishops.

After other conventions and serious cor-
respondence with England in which it was

After the Revolution 185

shown that the Americans did not contem-
plate radical departure from the mother
church, an act of Parliament was secured
enabling the English bishops to consecrate
bishops for America. There was great re-
joicing at the receipt of this news. On
November 2, 1786, William White, bishop-
elect of Pennsylvania, and Samuel Provoost,
bishop-elect of New York, embarked for
England. Mr. Adams, the American min-
ister, accompanied them on their visit to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and smoothed
the way for them as much as possible.
They were presented to the king who took
an interest in their mission. Formalities
having been concluded, on February 4,
1787, the consecration took place in the lit-
tle Chapel of Lambeth Palace, and that
which had long been sought through the
whole colonial period was at last secured
and the church in America was ready to be-
gin its independent life drawing its succes-
sion from England but ready to face its own

186 The Episcopalians

problems in the new world. Dr. John
Moore, the archbishop, was the consecra-
tor, and Dr. William Markham, Archbishop
of York, acted as precentor; the others
joining in the service were Dr. Charles
Moore, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Dr.
John Wickliffe, Bishop of Peterborough.
At a later date, 1790, in the same chapel
James Madison, Bishop-elect of Virginia,
was consecrated, thus making complete in
the persons of the three bishops the line of
Anglican orders.

On the return of Bishop White and
Bishop Provoost to America, an important
question arose whether they should join
with Bishop Seabury in the consecration of
an American bishop. After a good deal of
controversy and after the consecration of
Bishop Madison this union was accom-
plished when the three bishops of Anglican
orders and Bishop Seabury with his Scotch
orders laid their hands on Thomas John
Claggett, September 17, 1792, and made

After the Revolution 187

him Bishop of Maryland, — this being the
first consecration of a bishop on American
soil.

One of the most important conventions
of the church was that held October 5,
1789. The House of Bishops was organ-
ized; and changes were made in the prayer-
book. The " Proposed Book," which had
been prepared by Dr. Smith and Dr. White
was considered too revolutionary; it made
radical alterations; and in many respects
was the setting forth of a new Liturgy
rather than the amending of the English
book. Various alterations, however, were
made. The verbal changes were mostly of
a political nature; and additions were made
in the selection of Psalms. An office for
the Visitation of Prisoners was taken
from the Irish Prayer Book, and an
Order of Family Prayer was added. The
Athanasian Creed was omitted. Certain
rubrics were also omitted, especially the
Ornaments Rubric and the Black Rubric.

188 The Episcopalians

Through the influence of Bishop Seabury
the Consecration Prayer of Oblation and
Invocation taken from the Scotch office and
originally in the First Prayer-book of Edward
VI was introduced in the service for Holy
Communion, thus enriching the service.
The spirit of these changes was later set
forth by a convention which declared
that "the church conceives herself as pro-
fessing and acting on the principles of the
Church of England; but it would be con-
trary to fact were any one to infer that the
discipline exercised in this church or that
any proceedings therein, are at all depend-
ent on the will of the civil or ecclesias-
tical authority of any foreign country."

Through the strife of the revolution a new
nation was born; and through the independ-
ence secured, a church, national in feeling
and scope, was created. While it is true
that there are unmistakable signs of inherit-
ance from England and thus the church in
America belongs to the great Anglican Com-

Alter the Revolution 189

munion, it is nevertheless true that there are
many differences and a new line of de-
velopment was begun. The dissimilarities
soon began to appear. In America there is
no connection between church and state,
and the church is supported by the volun-
tary offerings of the people. This gives a
sense of responsibility and fosters loyalty
and devotion. The bishops are not peers
of the realm supported by vast endow-
ments, but plain men devoting their time to
the spiritual interests of their dioceses. The
laymen, representing the parishes, have
power in all financial matters, in the calling
of the clergy, in voting at the conventions;
and are a strong regulative force in the
management and development of religious
work.

The growth of such a church was made
possible by the separation from England,
which at first seemed to mean extinction.
Owing, however, to the generosity and
wisdom of the English Church in allowing

190 The Episcopalians

the church in America to perfect itself in
all essential particulars, there was an oppor-
tunity given under the new conditions for a
great religious body to rise, ancient in form,
apostolical in doctrines and usages, and
democratic in methods, suited to minister
with increasing efficiency to the people of
a great continent.

CHAPTER VIII

NINETEENTH CENTURY

After the period of organization and al-
most up to the first quarter of the nine-
teenth century, the progress of the church
was slow. For this feebleness there were
many reasons. The prejudice against the
church because of its English associations
was still strong. The Methodist move-
ment which began within the church had
gradually broken away, taking with it great
numbers of churchmen. It is needless to
say that if the significance of the Method-
ist movement had been understood, and
if there had been more sympathy and elas-
ticity within the church, it is possible that
some basis of union could have been found.
Various opportunities were lost for retain-
ing the Methodists. If there has been an

191

192 The Episcopalians

American Episcopate before the Revolution
it is doubtful whether John Wesley would
have appointed superintendents for his
work in America; and Asbury and Coke
would not have set themselves up as bish-
ops, much against the will of Wesley.
When Coke and Asbury proposed to Bish-
ops White and Seabury that they be conse-
crated "as bishops of the Methodist So-
ciety in the United States (or by any other
title, if that be not proper), on the supposi-
tion of the union of the two churches,
under proper mutual stipulation," a chance
was given to forge a bond of cooperation.
It was not to be; and the Methodist Church
began its great career of independent ex-
istence. In common with other churches
the Episcopal Church felt the influence of
French infidelity. Tom Paine's "Age of
Reason " had a widespread circulation.
People began to prophesy that Christianity
was doomed; and in many places religion
and morals were at a low ebb. The immi-

Nineteenth Century 193

grants that came into the country, and the
adventurous pioneers who pushed out into
the West, were not partial either by nation-
ality or training to the Episcopal Church.
Life in the new nation was primitive and
unrelated; and the church reflected the
feebleness that often attends the birth of
new movements.

However there were three men who
stood out conspicuously, Bishop Griswold
in New England, Bishop Hobart in New
York, and Bishop Moore of Virginia. They
were typical of different tendencies and
represented the forces that were work-
ing for the vitalizing of the spiritual
growth of the church. Griswold was a
Low-churchman, Hobart, a High-church-
man, and Moore a decided Evangelical.
Griswold was a saintly man of gentle man-
ners and earnest piety. He was elected
Bishop of the Eastern Diocese in 1810, a
diocese formed by the union of Massa-
chusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire

194 The Episcopalians

and Vermont. The Eastern Diocese, by its
combination of different states was an ex-
periment in the adoption of the provincial
system, made necessary by the desire to
support a bishop. There had been no
bishop in this entire section for six years,
Bishop Parker, of Massachusetts, having
died without performing an Episcopal act.
The territory was so large that it was diffi-
cult for Bishop Griswold to cover the whole
of it, but for twenty-five years he travelled
from Vermont to Rhode Island and minis-
tered to the churches. Wherever he went
he carried the gospel of love. Through
the respect that he won everywhere he
commended his church and his office of a
bishop to the Puritans of New England,
and did more to counteract the rise of Uni-
tarianism by his character than by contro-
versy. King's Chapel had been lost, when
after the Revolution, its lay reader, Mr.
Freeman, had been ordained by the senior
warden, and it became the first Unitarian

Nineteenth Century 195

Church in America. In spite of this,
Bishop Griswold, assisted by the Boston
clergy, was able to hold many of the church
families, and endeared himself to them by
his example and teaching.

John Henry Hobart had rare intellectual
gifts. He was a student, a thinker, and at
the same time a man of affairs. Force,
energy and devotion characterized him.
The church as an institution for the cul-
tivation of Christian character early seized
upon his heart and imagination. His books
illustrate his point of view: "Companion
for the Altar," and "Apology for Apostolic
Order." He has been described as "a
larger Seabury touched with emotion,
awake to the necessities and responsive to
the spirit of his time." He was consecrated
bishop at the same time with Bishop Gris-
wold on May 29, 181 1, and immediately
began his distinguished work in New York.
It was due to his suggestion and efforts that
the General Theological Seminary was es-

196 The Episcopalians

tablished in New York, and for a time he
was a professor of pastoral theology. His
missionary interests were keen. At one
time he confirmed eighty-nine Indians and
at another ninety-seven. Bishop Hobart
was on the whole a conservative in thought
but progressive in action.

A very difficult problem confronted
Richard Channing Moore when he went to
Virginia after his consecration in 1814. He
was unfamiliar with the conditions, only
knowing that the church was moribund
and that he was determined to infuse new
life into it. Ardent by temperament and
endowed with social charm he was es-
pecially fitted to deal with the churchmen
of Virginia. His evangelical emphasis on
personal religion was both needed and
appreciated. He was eloquent and pos-
sessed personal magnetism. As rector of
the Monumental Church in Richmond, a
position he was forced to accept because of
the needed financial support, he exercised a

Nineteenth Century 197

wide influence through his preaching. He
was surrounded by some strong men among
the clergy and they helped him in his efforts
to build up the church. There was Wilmer
of Fairfax, Dunn of Loudon County, and
William Meade, that remarkable man who
afterwards became his successor. He soon
increased the number of clergy and aroused
old parishes into life. He encouraged
lecture-room services and prayer-meetings.
Believing in the need of an educated min-
istry he was active in founding the Virginia
Theological Seminary, which began its career
of great usefulness in 1823. He also assisted
in the publication of the Southern Church-
man, which has ever since ably expressed
the views of the church in the South. His
work for the negroes was constant; and his
last words in the General Convention of
1 84 1 were in relation to the sending of a
missionary bishop to West Africa.

The recuperative power of the church
was manifested in other sections. Strong

ig8 The Episcopalians

men were selected as bishops, and their
lives told. Theodore Dehon began his
work in South Carolina in 1812; James
Kemp was consecrated for Maryland in 18 14,
and Bishop Brownell took up his labors
in Connecticut in 1819. The journal for
the General Convention for 1820 describes
the condition of the church very fully. In
Maine the church was growing; in Vermont
three new churches had been built; in Rhode
Island it is stated that "there is a decided
and increasing attachment to the peculiar-
ities of our communion"; in New York
twenty-four priests were ordained; in North
Carolina there was a large increase in the
number of communicants; and even from
Ohio it was reported that churches at Day-
ton and Miami had been started.

In many respects the most important con-
secration was that of Philander Chase, the
missionary of the Northwest. He pos-
sessed the spirit of the pioneers, and rivalled
the energy of the Methodist circuit riders.

Nineteenth Century 199

He saw the great opportunities of the West
and believed in being early in the field as a
representative of the church. He was con-
secrated in 1819. Often in the midst of
great hardships, he travelled from village to
village and from log cabin to camp. He
was a graduate of Dartmouth College and
was of good Yankee stock. It has been
said of him that he laid more foundations
than any other man in the church. In 1817
he went on horseback to the " Western
Reserve," and he surprised his hearers by
saying in one of his informal sermons that
"the proper attitude when we pray is upon
our knees, as did Solomon, Daniel, Stephen,
and Paul." He founded Kenyon College,
named after Lord Kenyon, who assisted him
in the collection of money when he was in
England pleading his cause. The English
people were charmed by his rugged sim-
plicity and the story he had to tell. On a
second visit to England he received enough
money to found Jubilee College. From

200 The Episcopalians

Ohio, Bishop Chase went to Michigan and
then to Illinois, where he was again elected
bishop. He was not always practical, and
sometimes given to contention, but his
extensive work in the newer parts of the
country enlarged the horizon of churchmen
and made them see the imperative demand
for an intelligent expansion.

Another pioneer bishop was James
Harvey Otey, a tall, raw-boned man, with
muscles large enough and combative spirit
sufficient to win him the title of "the
fighting bishop." "Before you try to
throw me out of the window," he once
said, pointing to his biceps in the presence
of a pugnacious gambler, " please feel
that." But his spirit was placid, and his
aim in life the spread of Christ's kingdom.
He came in contact with the strange and
disorderly inhabitants of Tennessee and
Mississippi, and with one consent was
made their bishop. He was interested in
education, having once been a teacher in

Nineteenth Century 201

Franklin, Tennessee; and he promoted the
public schools, and founded schools for
boys and girls, dreaming, meanwhile, of
a university for the South which was
realized at Sewanee years later.

The missionary impulse was beginning
to be felt throughout the church which by
this time was firmly rooted in the thirteen
original States. Missionary societies had
been started in Philadelphia as early as
181 2. The Domestic and Foreign Mission-
ary Society was founded on November
21, 1 82 1. This was to be the missionary
society of the whole church and was to
work both at home and abroad. The idea
of winning the world to Christ, and that
the duty of every Christian was to help in
the spread of the gospel, was constantly
presented by all types of churchmen. The
watchword was that "The church is the
missionary society and every Christian in
terms of his baptismal vow a member."
The bishops and the deputies of the Gen-

202 The Episcopalians

eral Convention, represented by a board of
directors, formed the central organization.
Auxiliary societies were established; in
1836 there were thirty-two such societies.
An important change in policy was
adopted in 1835. It had been the custom
up to this time to recognize the State as the
diocesan unit, and to think of the church
as a federation of the different states. No
bishop was sent until he was asked for.
The growth in the West was so great that
it was soon evident that the waiting for
statehood before the formation of a diocese
would delay progress. It was seen that
waiting for the demand for a bishop was
not the true method, and that the most
effective way was to send the bishop, and
let him build up his work. A division of
the state into several dioceses was also ac-
cepted as a good working principle. Jack-
son Kemper was the first missionary
bishop sent out in 1835 to Missouri and
Indiana, and by his apostolic labors justified

Nineteenth Century 203

the new plan which has been followed
with fruitful results ever since.

The earliest foreign missionary work fell
to the lot of Joseph Andrews who went to
Liberia in 1820 as an agent of the Coloniza-
tion Society. This beginning was soon
followed by the mission to Greece where
in 1830 in Athens John R. Hill and his wife
established two successful schools for
boys and girls. The mission in China
was begun in 1834 and Bishop Boone be-
came the first foreign missionary bishop
when he was consecrated for China in
1844.

The impulse for missionary work and the
deepening of the religious life of the church
sprang from the two spiritual tendencies
that were growing side by side. The
fervor of the Evangelicals, and the devotion
of the High-churchmen, both contributed
important elements to the increasing
activity of the church. As in England
various schools of thought representing

204 The Episcopalians

different parties had given rise to new
religious sentiments and institutions, and
the common life of the church had thereby
become enriched, so in America the same
tendencies expressed themselves. The
books of the English theologians were
eagerly read and similar works were
written by American churchmen.

Drawing their inspiration from Simeon,
Bishop Proteus and Thomas Scott, the
author of the famous Commentary, the
Low-churchmen emphasized the subjective
and emotional side of religious experience.
Personal piety, the need of conversion, the
salvation of the individual and ardent love
for the Person of Christ were their main
themes. There was a strain of Calvinism and
Puritanism in the make up of these men.
They labored to save souls from lasting
punishment. The most important thing
was the spirit not the form; and their atti-
tude towards the church was governed by
their conception of the supreme value of

Nineteenth Century 205

the intercourse with God and Christ through
prayer and personal communion. The or-
ganization of the church was not necessa-
rily divine; bishops were for the well-being
of the church not needed for its existence;
Apostolical Succession was an historical
fact, but the grace of God was not limited
by a theory; Christians of other names
were just as good Christians; any one who
had accepted Christ must be a friend. The
real efficacy of ordination and the Sacraments
was in the spiritual state of the believer.
The words, " altar " and " priest " were ob-
jectionable; and outward forms and genu-
flexions were distasteful. Prayer-meetings
and revivals were employed to stimulate de-
votion.

Among the Evangelicals were some of the
noblest men of the church. Bishop Meade
of Virginia was a stalwart champion.
Bishop Burgess of Maine, one of the most
scholarly of men, Bishop Eastburn of Mas-
sachusetts, Eliott of Georgia, Polk of

206 The Episcopalians

Louisiana, Bedell of Ohio, Alonzo Potter of
Pennsylvania, and Stephen Tyng and Dr.
Milnor were all representatives of this move-
ment. The Alexandria Theological Semi-
nary sent out men of this type.

On the other hand High-churchmanship,
while insisting on genuine spiritual experi-
ence, gave a much greater place to the in-
stitution than the Evangelicals. It em-
phasized the individual as part of the or-
ganization and that religious life must flow
from the channels of grace provided in the
divinely ordered church. The three orders
of the ministry were considered necessary
to the existence of the church; and the ex-
ternal act of ordination and consecration
imparted the grace and power. There was
an exclusiveness and unreadiness to ac-
knowledge the validity of orders or sacra-
ments outside of the church. The fasts
and feasts of the church were rigorously
observed. Baptismal regeneration and the
Real Presence in the Elements of the

Nineteenth Century 207

Eucharist were taught. The visible and
definite institution of the church was mag-
nified, its interests guarded and its exten-
sion planned for.

Bishop Hobart was an exponent of this
interpretation. The work was carried on
by such men as Bishop Otey, Bishop De
Lancey and Bishop Whittingham. Bishop
Doane, of New Jersey, was also in sym-
pathy with the general trend of High-
churchmanship. After the Oxford move-
ment had stirred up new life in the Church
of England its influence was felt in America
and greatly aided those who were eager for
more elaborate ritual and a return to doc-
trines and practices of the pre-Reformation
times. It was supposed that many would
follow the example of Newman in going
over to the Roman Church. Dr. Kenrick,
the Roman bishop, appealed to the Episco-
pal bishops to enter the Roman Commun-
ion on the ground that the "Tracts for the
Times," had yielded, one by one, almost

208 The Episcopalians

every ground of dispute, "and he pro-
posed " to reconcile the Articles with the
Council of Trent. Bishop Hopkins of
Vermont, a learned controversialist, an-
swered this proposal in a vigorous negative.
One bishop, however, responded to it
affirmatively. Bishop Ives who had suc-
ceeded Bishop Ravenscroft, the dignified
and zealous bishop of North Carolina,
felt a doubt as to the validity of his
consecration, and, having for many years
studied Roman Catholic books, he was
finally convinced that the logical outcome
of his thought was submission to the
Roman Church. " I am called upon, there-
fore," wrote Bishop Ives, from Rome, in
1852, to his diocese, "to do an act of self-
sacrifice, in view of which all other sacrific-
ing acts of my life are less than nothing.
... I hereby resign into your hands my
office as Bishop of North Carolina; and
further, that I am determined to make my
submission to the Catholic Church."

Nineteenth Century 209

The Evangelicals and the High-church-
men were often brought into collision.
Controversial writings multiplied. The
General Theological Seminary became the
recognized source of the Catholic revival,
and the Alexandria Seminary was the
stronghold of the Evangelicals. The Low-
churchmen were deeply interested in for-
eign missions, and it was generally agreed
that they should have this field to them-
selves; the High-churchmen claimed the
domestic field and sent out their bishops to
the great regions west of the Mississippi.
While there was constant friction there was
no rupture; and the enthusiasm and activity
of both parties helped to advance the inter-
ests of the church. Enrichment came
through the hymns of Doane, Muhlenberg,
Croswell, and Coxe. Literary activity was
stimulated by the writings of Bishop Kip
of California, John Henry Hopkins of Ver-
mont, and Bishop Mcllvaine, who opposed
the new views in his " Oxford Theology."

210 The Episcopalians

Services were multiplied; and there were
more frequent celebrations of the Holy
Communion. It was inevitable that there
should be such divergences of views; and to
many these various opinions were a new
revelation of the breadth and comprehen-
siveness of the church.

Uniformity of opinion is not necessary
for spiritual growth. The church was not
a sect circumscribed by inflexible bounda-
ries, but hospitable and Catholic in its wide-
reaching sympathies. This became in-
creasingly clear. There were certain men
within the church who began to realize it
fully. Of these Dr. Muhlenberg was the
leader.

William Augustus Muhlenberg was a
man of singular sweetness of character,
noted for his unselfishness and charity.
The Church of the Holy Communion in
New York, which he founded, was the first
free church in the country, and St. Luke's
Hospital which he started was the earliest

Nineteenth Century 211

hospital established by a church in Amer-
ica. He was a poet and hymn-writer as
well. He called himself an Evangelical
Catholic, wishing to combine the best ele-
ments of both terms. Seeking to inspire
the church with a full sense of its exalted
mission in America, he desired to see it
assert its comprehensiveness and act as a
great unifying force to the Protestants of
the land. With these motives, he presented
with others a " Memorial " to the General
Convention of 1853, in which he called at-
tention to the need of the church's adapting
itself to the conditions of the time, and he
asked pertinently "whether the Protestant
Episcopal Church, with only her present
canonical means and appliances, her fixed
and invariable modes of worship, and
her traditional customs and usages is
competent to the work of preaching and
dispensing the gospel to all sorts and con-
ditions of men, and so adequate to do the
work of the Lord in this land and age ? "

212 The Episcopalians

The request was made that a wider door
be opened for admission to the ministry,
and that men of other churches be ordained
without requiring them to give up their
distinctive views or work. A desire was
expressed for greater variety and flexibility
in the use of the Liturgy, and that there
be adopted "some ecclesiastical system,
broader, and more comprehensive than that
which you now administer."

These were revolutionary proposals.
They aimed at nothing less than a complete
reorganization along the lines of freedom
and church union. They called for a de-
liberate recognition of Christianity outside of
the church and suggested a way to bring
about Christian union without the sacrifice
of cherished beliefs. The acceptance of
the cardinal truths of Christ was sufficient.
It is surprising how much sympathy was
awakened by this plan, but the time was
not ripe for it. Liturgical elasticity was
the immediate result. The main features

Nineteenth Century 213

were not adopted, but it held up an ideal
which has never been forgotten and made
men familiar with the thought of compre-
hension and of larger duties to the state and
the nation. In the subsequent history of
the church it played an important part and
was directly responsible for the spirit which
put forth the Chicago articles on church
unity called popularly the Quadrilateral, en-
dorsed in 1888 by the Lambeth Conference
of all the bishops of the Anglican Com-
munion.

The differences of opinion in the nation,
both North and South, concerning slavery
and the rights of the individual state, were
naturally to be found in the church. The
causes that led to the Civil War were em-
bedded in the total life of the people. Be-
fore the war burst upon the country, house
was divided against house and community
against community. Among the Method-
ists there had been the great secession
which divided the church in 1845. The

214 The Episcopalians

Southern Presbyterian Church was organ-
ized in 1861. Formal fellowship had al-
ready ceased between the Southern and
Northern Baptists and other congregational
bodies. In the Episcopal Church there was
great forbearance on both sides. Differing
radically as many of its members did, they
cultivated self-restraint so as not to in-
crease the growing alienation. While
many pulpits were thundering forth polit-
ical orations the Episcopal clergy for the
most part refrained from violent utterance;
and the church officially did not take sides
until it was evident that peace was impos-
sible.

This policy preserved the friendly rela-
tions between churchmen North and South;
and each entered sympathetically into the
problems that the other was called upon to
face. At the General Conventions every three
years they met in friendly counsel. Corre-
spondence was kept up between Bishop
Meade and Bishop Mcllvaine, and Bishop

Nineteenth Century 215

Whittingham and Bishop Hopkins. Bishops,
taking different sides, agreed to pray for one
another every Sunday morning by name.
There was sorrow and sympathy rather
than antagonism and hatred.

Many of the Southern bishops opposed
secession at first. Bishop Meade did all he
could to avert the storm. "It is God
alone,"' wrote Otey of Tennessee, " that can
still the madness of the people ! . . .
What can we expect, other than violence
among the masses when the fathers of the
land openly avow their determination to
destroy the work which their fathers es-
tablished at the expense of their blood?"
When secession was recognized as the
policy of the state and the rupture had
come, the Southern churchmen felt it a duty
to act loyally with their state. Thus the
church in the South was separated by polit-
ical causes from the church at the North.
It was " a separation, not division, certainly
not alienation," wrote Bishop Polk. It soon

216 The Episcopalians

became necessary, however, for the church
in the several Southern states to organize
the separate dioceses into the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the Confederate states.
"This necessity," wrote Polk and Elliott,
"does not arise out of any division which
has occurred within the church itself, nor
from any dissatisfaction with either the
doctrine or discipline of the church. We
rejoice to record that we are to-day, as truly
brethren as we have ever been, and that no
deed has been done, or word uttered, which
leaves a single wound rankling in any
breast."

The organization of the church in the
Confederacy took place at a convention held
in Montgomery, Alabama, on July 3, 1861.
Constitution and canons were adopted to
suit the new conditions; and the prayer-
book was changed principally by the sub-
stitution of the words " Confederate States "
for " United States." Various other con-
ventions were held during the war. A

Nineteenth Century 217

bishop was elected for Alabama; and ac-
cordingly Bishop Wilmer was consecrated
in 1862. Also, a new diocese was erected,
that of Arkansas. Many of the clergy be-
came chaplains of regiments on the South-
ern side and ministered to the needs of the
troops in the field. One bishop, Leonidas
Polk, of Louisiana, left his diocese and be-
came a general in the Confederate service.
He was a graduate of West Point, having
determined to enter the ministry of the
church shortly after his graduation. Against
his will, at the suggestion of Jefferson
Davis, he lay down the crozier for the
sword. Men of military training were
sorely needed. Pressure was brought to
bear upon him and he yielded. In camp
and on the field of battle he never per-
formed any ecclesiastical act, but was again
the soldier, trained and brave. " I took the
office only to fill a gap," he wrote to one
of his clergy; "only because, the president,
as he said, could find no one on whom he

218 The Episcopalians

could with satisfaction devolve its duties."
Polk was killed in battle, the little prayer-
book in his left breast pocket being dyed
with his blood.

The Southern clergy frequently came into
conflict with the Federal authorities when-
ever the Union forces were in control of
southern cities. General Butler in 1862
sent out an order that the "omission, in
the service of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in New Orleans, of the prayers
for the President of the United States,
would be regarded as evidence of hostility
to the Government of the United States."
The churches were forthwith closed. Dr.
Wingfield of Portsmouth, Virginia, was
severely handled because he prayed for
the President of the Confederate States.
He was condemned ''to work for three
months cleaning the streets of Norfolk and
Portsmouth, thus employing his time for
the benefit of that government he has
abused," so ran the order of General

Nineteenth Century 219

Wild, "and in a small way to atone for
his disloyalty and treason." Fortunately
General Butler remitted the order of his
inferior officer. Bishop Wilmer wrote a
personal letter to President Lincoln and
General Butler's persecution ceased.

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States was loyal to the Union. It
never faltered; though the strange spectacle
was presented, by Bishop Hopkins of Ver-
mont, of one leader who upheld slavery and
refused to read the pastoral letter, written
by Bishop Mcllvaine, for the General Conven-
tion of 1862, because of its sentiments of
loyalty to the government. At this con-
vention a resolution was passed expressing
the sense of duty on the part of the mem-
bers of sustaining and defending the
country in the great struggle and pledging
to the national government "the earnest
and devout prayers of us all that its efforts
may be so guided by wisdom and re-
plenished with strength that they may

220 The Episcopalians

be crowned with speedy and complete
success, to the glory of God and the
restoration of our beloved Union."

No Southern delegates were present at
this general convention. The name, how-
ever, of every Southern diocese was called
in roll-call. Secession could not be recog-
nized in the church any more than it was
in the nation. The vacant places were
kept waiting for the return.

The most conspicuous service rendered
by any one churchman was that of Bishop
Mcllvaine of Ohio, a noble man of dignity
and force. President Lincoln selected him
to go to England with Henry Ward
Beecher, Archbishop Hughes, and Thurlow
Weed, as an informal ambassador to influ-
ence Englishmen and show them the true
causes of the war. Beecher by his won-
derful speeches in English cities did much
to win to the Northern side the sympathies
of the people. Mcllvaine, appealing to a
different class among the nobility and

Nineteenth Century 221

ecclesiastics of England, exercised almost
as great an influence and helped to en-
lighten the rulers concerning the aims and
policy of the United States in the suppres-
sion of secession. He was well received
everywhere, and succeeded in his under-
taking when it looked as if England would
recognize the Confederacy.

When the war was over and there were
no Confederate States the way was opened
for a return of the southern churchmen.
At first the secessionists did not know how
they would be received. The general con-
vention of 1865 soon made it plain to them.
Two southern bishops appeared at the
opening service held in Philadelphia.
They were recognized. The Bishop of
North Carolina was urged by his brethren
to join the bishops in the chancel. He
yielded and took his place at the altar.
Then an inquiry was sent to the House of
Bishops asking on what terms they could
be admitted. The answer was a recom-

222 The Episcopalians

mendation to them "to trust to the honor
and love of their assembled brethren." All
obstacles were removed and the church
soon became united again.

CHAPTER IX

PROGRESS

Since the nation became united again and
all the citizens have worked harmoniously
for the development of the country, the
growth of the United States in population,
resources, and power has been wonderful.
The increase of every form of activity, the
new inventions, the creation of new busi-
ness, the extension of commerce, the multi-
plication of educational institutions, the
fresh literary impulses and the deepening
of the consciousness of national usefulness,
have created a spirit of energy which seeks
an outlet in innumerable channels of
progress. The church has been quick to
respond to the revival of national life; for
its members are made up of the men and
women of the day who draw from the

223

224 The Episcopalians

church the ideals of living, and endeavor to
carry them out in the midst of the con-
ditions in which they find themselves
placed. The preparation for the expan-
sion had long been slowly perfecting.
The church had organized itself in the
new nation in harmony with the national
institutions. It had spread itself gradually
until it had become coterminous with the
national domain. There were bishops in
every state and territory, with the be-
ginnings of diocesan life. The war left the
church united. The movements towards
organization at home and missions abroad
had already started; and now the church
was ready for the strengthening of the
foundations and the extension and concen-
tration of the work.

Early among the signs of an enlargement
in the conception of the church's duty has
been the foundation of institutions of learn-
ing. The training of an effective ministry
was soon seen to be a matter of the first im-

Progress 225

portance. Preachers and pastors, the peers
of educated men, with spiritual earnestness,
are always needed for leadership. In colo-
nial days the young candidate for orders
was trained in the household of some wise
parish minister. There was a simplicity
about this method which often produced
excellent results. Theological learning,
however, requires system and the sympa-
thetic contact with men who are specialists
and expert in some department of religious
thought. Seminaries of sacred learning
have become a necessity. The Virginia
Seminary and the General Theological
Seminary of New York had already been
established; and they have grown greatly
in effectiveness and usefulness. Others
were also needed. The Philadelphia Di-
vinity School under the wise oversight of
Bishop Alonzo Potter was founded in 1862.
It was provided especially for those students
who because of the war could not go to
Virginia. It has had a distinguished history

226 The Episcopalians

and has sent into the ministry many strong
men. The Episcopal Theological School of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, came next, being
really founded by Mr. Benjamin T. Reed in
1867, although efforts had been made before
to start it on a successful career. In the
same city with Harvard University, the
students have always had the advantage of
close association with the intellectual life of
the great university. The school has been
independent of all parties, and has stood for
truth, Christ, and the Church. In scholar-
ship it has been fearless; in spirit it has
been Catholic; and in practical Christianity
the aim has been to produce above all
things else manliness in the ministry of the
church. Elisha Mulford was a lecturer here.
George Hodges, an authority on social ques-
tions in relation to Christianity, is the pres-
ent Dean. The Berkeley Divinity School at
Middletown, Connecticut, began in 1850;
and under the influence of Bishop Williams
it trained students in devout and conserva-

Progress 227

tive churchmanship, making them human
and responsive to the best thought of the
time. Nashotah, founded in 1842, has con-
tinued its work. The men prepared there
have been versed in certain aspects of
church history and have been ready to
minister to the growing demands of the
West. The Seabury Divinity School at
Faribault, begun in 1857 by Bishop
Breck, has grown in importance under
the guidance of Bishop Whipple, the
" Apostle to the Indians," and seems
destined to be a place of spiritual inspira-
tion and modern scholarship. Chicago also
has a school in the Western Theological
Seminary, which has good prospects. To
prepare negro clergy there have been pro-
vided Hoffman Hall in Nashville, King
Hall in Washington, St. Augustine's in
Raleigh, and the Bishop Paine Divinity
School in Petersburg.

Of colleges there have been also a goodly
number. St. Stephen's, Annandale, the

228 The Episcopalians

child of Horatio Potter, has furnished many
students for the ministry. Its date is i860.
A new career of greater usefulness seems to
be opening before it. Racine College owes
its greatest effectiveness to Dr. De Koven,
who always had ambitions for its suc-
cess. Lehigh University was endowed by
a churchman, Asa Parker, and as one of
the small colleges, has always maintained a
high standard and continues to make a
place for itself among American institu-
tions. The University of the South, at
Sewanee, conceived first by Bishop Polk
in 1856, has grown to be a university of the
first rank. The professors have been chosen
with rare foresight; and the spirit that ani-
mates the place is scholarly and scientific.
In its numerous departments it will increas-
ingly minister to the South. " The Univer-
sity of the South," says one of the pro-
fessors, "was conceived in the most
Catholic spirit and is designed to be in the
truest sense broad and comprehensive."

Progress 229

Of schools there have been a great abun-
dance. These have been for boys and
girls; they have both prepared for college,
or fitted for immediate entrance into life.
They have had their own traditions, and the
students have become as devoted to them
as men are to their colleges. Church influ-
ence, surrounding young people at an im-
pressionable age, has left an impress upon
them which can never be obliterated. St.
Paul's school, Concord, New Hampshire,
made famous by Henry Augustus Coit, has
been one of the most important boys'
schools in America. Infused with the spirit
of the church it has prepared young men
for college and given them a lasting remem-
brance of high ideals and religious earnest-
ness. The high school at Alexandria has
done the same for its many students. At
Groton, Massachusetts, Dr. Endicott Pea-
body has created an institution which com-
bines the best traditions of the English
schools with the progressiveness of Amer-

230 The Episcopalians

ican ideas. Educated himself at Cambridge,
England, he saw the chance in America of
welding together the best ideals of Anglo-
Saxon scholarship and character and the
impulsive and strenuous characteristics of
the new Republic. He has succeeded in
creating an institution which while intensely
democratic in spirit cultivates refinement
and gentleness and the spirit to serve. St.
Mark's, Southborough, is a school of the
same kind. The head master, Rev. William
G. Thayer, trained in the methods of Gro-
ton, is carrying out the best ideals of what
a school should be and deserves the success
which is being attained. There are other
schools for boys too numerous to mention.
In almost every diocese the value of early
training is recognized and many of the
bishops are proud of the schools which
they have established.

Girls' schools have been especially suc-
cessful. St. Mary's, Garden City; St. Ag-
nes', Albany; St. Mary's, Burlington, New

Progress 23 1

Jersey; the Cathedral School at Washing-
ton; and the schools in many of the mis-
sionary dioceses have reared young women
to make the best of their lives and have
fitted them for motherhood and womanly
influence.

Organizations of the general church have
grown in great numbers and have done
effective work. The Woman's Auxiliary
to the Board of Missions has systematized
the women's interest in missions. By hav-
ing branches in every diocese and in most
of the parishes the Auxiliary has been an
important means of disseminating informa-
tion concerning missionary work and has
contributed large sums of money to its sup-
port. The American Church Building Com-
mission, founded in 1880, has the worthy
object of raising a fund for the building of
churches and rectories. The Church So-
ciety for Promoting Christianity among the
Jews has labored with success in leading
many Hebrews to accept the New Testa-

232 The Episcopalians

ment as well as the Old Testament and be-
come followers of Christ. The Commission
for Church Work among the Colored People,
created on the recommendation of the Gen-
eral Convention in 1886, has faithfully dealt
with the Negro problem in its relation to
the church and has had the oversight of
many missions in the South. The General
Clergy Relief Fund is striving to provide
suitable pensions for aged and infirm clergy
and to give annuities to the widows and
orphans of deceased clergymen.

The activity and vitality of the church are
shown by the establishment of numerous
other organizations dealing with varied
phases of American life. Many of these
societies sprang from individual initiative,
but soon grew to such proportions that
they are characteristic of the church as a
whole. One of the most significant of
these societies is the Brotherhood of St.
Andrew, the object of which is the spread
of Christ's Kingdom among men. It is a

Progress 233

laymen's organization, and stands for
prayer and service; and has succeeded in a
variety of ways, by conventions and chap-
ter meetings and personal work in deepen-
ing the religious life of men in large num-
bers of parishes. It has spread to Canada
and England. There are over seventeen
hundred chapters with a membership of
twelve thousand. The St. Andrew's Cross
is the official organ. A society which has
done a similar work among young women
is the Girls' Friendly Society, started in
America in 1877. It binds together church
women as associates and young women as
members for mutual help. As an agency
for stimulating young women in devotion
to the church and cultivating the best in
their natures it has been successful. There
are over twenty thousand members. Labor
questions have been dealt with by the
Church Association for the Advancement of
Interests of Labor; and it has been valuable
in bringing many of the working people to

234 The Episcopalians

understand the ideals of the church. Dis-
cussions between labor leaders and church-
men have helped to bring about harmony
between them. The American Church
Sunday-school Institute has earnestly la-
bored to make the Sunday-schools more
effective and to make the religious instruc-
tion of the young conform to the best
methods of modern pedagogy. The Guild
of St. Barnabas for Nurses has enrolled in
its membership many trained nurses who
have been led to see the religious ideals of
their profession, and who have been con-
spicuous in their devotion to the sick in the
hospitals and homes of the people. The
Guild has branches in twenty-five cities,
with a membership of seventeen hundred.
The Free and Open Church Association has
increased the hospitality of the churches;
the Church Mission to the Deaf Mutes has
provided these unfortunate people with re-
ligious services in the sign language; the
Church Temperance Society and the Total

Progress 235

Abstinence League have taught self-control;
and through coffee-houses and settlements
have fought the drink evil. Other move-
ments that have done good work are, The
Actors' Church Alliance of America; the
Parochial Missions Society; the Order of the
Daughters of the King; the Church Period-
ical Club; the Guild of the Holy Cross, and
the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.
The missionary work of the church has
been done through the Domestic and For-
eign Missionary Society and the American
Church Missionary Society. In the exten-
sion of the work at home new missionary
jurisdictions have been erected, and many
of the older missions have become self-
sustaining dioceses. In the domestic field,
including Alaska, the Philippines, Porto
Rico, and the Sandwich Islands, there are
twenty missionary bishops at work with
an excellent corps of clergy and laymen.
In the expansion of the church in America
through the Western and Southern States,

236 The Episcopalians

some of the noblest men have given their
lives. Randall of Colorado, Clarkson of
Nebraska, Hare of South Dakota, first
bishop appointed for the Indians, Whipple
of Minnesota, Elliott of Western Texas,
Wingfield of Northern California, and
many others are names that will be remem-
bered with honor. Some of the newer
missionary jurisdictions are, Boise, Ashville,
Olympia, Laramie, Spokane, Oklahoma,
Duluth, and Salina. The church often has
preceded the flag, but it always follows the
flag. The duty was quickly realized of
planting the church in the newly acquired
territory. Bishop Rowe soon began his
heroic work in Alaska where he has minis-
tered not only to the natives, but to the
great numbers of Americans drawn thither
by the discovery of gold. When Hawaii
was acquired by the United States there
was already an English church and bishop
there. Soon, however, an arrangement
was made by which a transfer of the

Progress 237

church was made to the church in America
and Bishop Restarick was consecrated for
the missionary district of Honolulu in 1902.
Bishop Brent was sent to the Philippines in
1901. He has succeeded in laying the foun-
dations of his Cathedral Church in Manila,
and has begun vigorous work for the com-
munity in his church settlement, and Dis-
pensary of Luke the Beloved Physician.
Missions have also been founded in Bagnio,
Bontoc and Iloilo. In the missionary dis-
trict of Porto Rico, Bishop Van Buren,
consecrated in 1902, having charge also of
Cuba, has made progress by building the
Church of St. John Baptist at San Juan, and
sustaining missions at Ponce, Vieques, and
Puerto de Tierra.

In foreign missions the church has been
no less active. Beginning with the mission
in Liberia, missionaries were sent to China
in 1844, and to Japan in 1859, t0 Mexico in
1868, to Haiti in 1874, and to Brazil in 1899.

The church in Liberia has had four

238 The Episcopalians

bishops, the present one being Bishop
Ferguson. The influence of the church in
the Negro Republic has always been con-
siderable, especially in the Cape Palmas dis-
trict. Boys' and girls' schools have been
successful. The church in China has stead-
ily grown in effectiveness through the suc-
cessive administration of the two Boones,
Bishop Schereschewsky, whose translations
of the Bible for the use of the Chinese have
been of the first importance, Bishop Graves
of Shanghai, and Bishop Ingle of Hankow.
The development of a native ministry and
the founding of educational institutions and
medical missions have been the aim of the
missionaries as much as the preaching of
the gospel. St. John's College, Shanghai,
has educated the sons of many leading
Chinese. St. Luke's Hospital has grown to
be an institution of great value. In the
Hankow district, the Boone Memorial
School, St. Hildas' School and St. Peter's
Hospital express the wise and comprehen-

Progress 239

sive plan for the extension of the church in
China. There are two missionary districts
in Japan, that of Tokyo and Kyoto. With
the growth of the Japanese in modern cul-
ture and scientific methods, an opening has
been made for their acceptance of Chris-
tianity. Here as in China a native ministry
has been trained; and the church has min-
istered to the people through colleges and
schools and hospitals. Bishop McKim,
of Tokyo, has in his diocese, Trinity Divin-
ity School, St. Paul's College, St. Margaret's
School, the Good Samaritan Dispensary,
and St. Luke's Hospital; and Bishop Par-
tridge has similar institutions in Kyoto: St.
Agnes' School for Girls, Nara School for
Boys, St. Barnabas' Hospital, and other
schools and orphanages. In Brazil, Bishop
Kinsolving has established important sta-
tions at Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre,
Rio dos Sinos and at other places.

In carrying on the work at home and
abroad, in the dioceses and the missionary

240 The Episcopalians

districts the church, in 1903, had the assist-
ance of five thousand, two hundred and
twenty-three clergy, and over two thou-
sand lay-readers; there were seven thou-
sand parishes and missions; and com-
municants to the number of seven hundred
and eighty-one thousand, representing over
three million baptized persons and ad-
herents. The total contributions were over
fifteen million dollars for the year. There
were eighty-seven dioceses with ninety
bishops. In comparing these figures writh
the statistics of the church at the beginning
of the nineteenth century, when there were
only eleven dioceses and a little over two
hundred clergy, with seven bishops, it be-
comes clear that the church has kept pace
with the growth of the country.

With the expansion of the church at
large there has come a development of
diocesan consciousness. Compactness and
systematic work characterize the life of
the diocese. The growth of diocesan mis-

Progress 241

sions has been marked; and in many
instances the archdeaconry system has
been introduced, dividing the diocese into
sections with an archdeacon as superin-
tendent over each. Diocesan boards of
missions have also become an important
element in the planting and sustaining of
the church in new localities within the
limits of the diocese. The establishment
of the cathedral, not only as a bishop's
church but as an expression of the life of
the diocese as a whole, making it a centre
of religious and philanthropic work has
become recognized as a strong agent in
efficiency and . loyalty. There has also
grown an enlarged conception of the
bishop's office. He is no longer a mere
ecclesiastic but a leader in all civic affairs.
He now has the opportunity to become a
publicist and a statesman, as well as a
guide in morals and religion. Much of this
wide-spread influence comes from the per-
sonality of the bishop. A tradition has

242 The Episcopalians

been created by the ability and character
of many of the American bishops so that
the office easily lends itself to the highest
uses, winning the respect of all classes of
men. A diocese, presided over by a bishop
who is a clear minded executive with
spiritual force, sustained by a body of
loyal clergy and supported by generous
laymen, soon becomes a power for the
upbuilding of the Kingdom of God.

Since the civil war a noticeable change
has also taken place in the ideals of
parochial administration. The parish has
become more highly organized with its
various societies for doing missionary and
social work. The laymen have been given
more to do, and greater responsibility has
been put upon them. The services have
become more popular in character since
the Liturgical revision and enrichment
which were authorized in 1892, together
with the adoption of the new hymnal.
Music has become more of a feature in

Progress 243

the services through the aid of educated
organists and choirmasters. Boy choirs
and chorus choirs have been substituted
for the quartette. More frequent celebra-
tions of the Holy Communion have become
the rule. Short services with vital preach-
ing have been multiplied. The parish
house has also become as much of a
necessity as the church. The rector, aided
by a group of assistant ministers or curates,
has been able to do important institutional
work. The gymnasium, the men's club,
the boys' club, night schools, manual
training schools, mothers' meetings, em-
ployment bureaus, and loan societies have
multiplied the usefulness of the parish.
Dispensaries and hospitals are connected
with many parishes. The aim has been
to touch the total life of the people. The
great city churches are beehives of ac-
tivity. The smaller parish has caught the
spirit and often does the same kind of
work on a smaller scale. The ideal is not

244 The Episcopalians

that the parish should be a club for a few
people who can support it, but a religious
home for the whole community. The
conception of what an Episcopal parish
should be has become deepened in two
directions, worship and work, both of
which are essential in the idea of a Chris-
tian's duty.

The intellectual life of the church had
been greatly stimulated since the years of
the Rebellion. For some years there was a
sharp discussion, sometimes called the
Ritualistic Controversy in which there was
a difference of opinion as to the interpreta-
tion of certain phrases in the prayer-book
and as to the right to use in the church in
America certain forms of ritual which
from time to time had been permitted in the
English Church. The discussion was pre-
cipitated by the publication in 1866 of
Bishop Hopkins' book "The Law of Ritual-
ism." In 1867 twenty-four bishops de-
clared that, " No prayer-book of the Church

Progress 245

of England, and no law of the Church
of England, have any force of law in this
church such as can be justly cited in defense
of any departure from the express law of
this church." The Oxford movement had
given rise to a party which claimed that
customs and ceremonies in use before the
Reformation or allowed by Edward VI
were permissible in the church in America.
The action of the bishops was intended to
show that the laws passed by the church
in America were binding, and that no others
were to be accepted. This decision ruled
out all previous enactments. The question
was agitated in different General Conven-
tions and at last in the Convention of 1874
a canon was adopted which condemned
"ceremonies or practices not ordained or
authorized in the Book of Common Prayer,
and setting forth or symbolizing erroneous
or doubtful doctrines." The erroneous
doctrines were especially the elevation and
adorations of the elements in the Holy

246 The Episcopalians

Communion. The rise of the Catholic
party of whom Dr. DeKoven was a leader,
was due to the earnest conviction of a
group of men that the church needed to
draw more freely from the riches of its
historic life, and adapt them to the require-
ments of the present. This contention was
plausible enough. It, however, failed to rec-
ognize that a distinctive church in America had
been established, capable of passing its own
laws and dependent upon no other church
for its enactments and canons. The Catho-
lic party, urging the acceptance of mediaeval
methods and magnifying the mass as a true
expression of the church amid modern con-
ditions fails to note the signs of the times
and desires to turn the clock backwards.
It is fighting against the trend of thought,
and seems not to realize that each epoch has
its new inspiration and that the past must
bury its dead. The men who represent this
tendency are full of zeal for the Kingdom
of Christ as they understand it, and, by

Progress 247

their earnestness and interest in earlier days,
contribute an element of interesting remi-
niscence to the secularity of modern times.
The doctrine of Evolution and the
growth of Higher Criticism made an im-
press on many men. There had been
Low-churchmen and High-churchmen, and
now the Broad-churchmen came to the
front. They were the followers of Frederick
Robertson, Frederick Denison Maurice and
Dean Stanley. They believed in facing the
facts of life and of history in the light of
human reason; they considered that God's
revelations were confined to no special cen-
tury; his revelations were continuous and
suited to the conditions in which humanity
found itself in the varying needs of dif-
ferent centuries. Their cry was "back to
Christ." They obliterated the intervening
centuries and tried to discover what the
Master had taught. Christ's message to
modern life was more important than the
church's message. It was no new party

248 The Episcopalians

that was created, but an attitude of mind
among many earnest thinkers, who sought
to appropriate and sanctify for spiritual pur-
poses the latest results of scholarship and
the new light that had been received. Dr.
Edward A. Washburn was a leader in this
movement, and Phillips Brooks brought it to
the climax. The revelation of God in con-
temporary life was the watchword, and the
intense union with Christ through the doing
of Christ's work, in following his example
and living in his spirit had almost the force
of a dogma.

Phillips Brooks, one of the greatest of
American personalities, a preacher of unique
power and a theologian of epoch-making
force, who was known as well in England
as America, was the embodiment of the
Broad Church movement. The doctrine
of the Incarnation was his main theme.
God in humanity, in history, in the new
century, and in each man's life, was the
burden of his thought. As to the church,

Progress 249

he was willing to recognize the numerous
currents of thought and to give them all a
place within the comprehensive institution.
He stood for abundance of life; and never
desired to limit the church to the control of
any one set of men. In Boston and
throughout the country, he always urged
freedom of thought and variety of belief
as the best way of attaining the unity of
faith. Broad-churchmen, while they up-
held the catholicity of the church, never
ceased to advocate the simple following of
Christ, without any historical additions, as
the surest way to help humanity, and to
make the church an indispensable factor in
the redemption of the world.

The sermons of Phillips Brooks, and his
"Lectures on Preaching" and "The Influ-
ence of Jesus," were important books in
impressing the church with the ideas of
personal loyalty to Christ. Dr. Washburn's
"Sermons" had the same purpose. Prof.
A. V. G. Allen's, "The Continuity of

250 The Episcopalians

Christian Thought," and Elisha Mulford's
two books, ''The Nation "and "The Re-
public of God," were designed to show
that there had always been liberal thought
in the church, and that the spiritual interpre-
tation of civic and religious life was a pri-
mary element in the teaching of Christ.
"The Church Idea," by William Reed
Huntington, Rector of Grace Church, New
York, and "The Relation of Christianity to
Civil Society," by Bishop Harris, and " The
Primary Truths of Religion," by Bishop
Clark of Rhode Island, were successful at-
tempts to show that the fundamental con-
ceptions of Christ were applicable to the
needs of the individual and to the require-
ments of society. This intellectual fermen-
tation has given the church balance and
directness; and has increased mental
acumen on the one hand, while it has
prompted seriousness and devotion on the
other.
The church in America may now be con-

Progress 25 1

sidered to be an institution, directly de-
scended from apostolic time, bearing the
impress of Anglo-Saxon Christianity and
drawing its inspiration from the original
Church of Christ, modified by British,
Saxon, Norman, and English influences.
Founded in America it has a message to the
energetic and dominant spirit of the age.
By intelligent conservatism and consecrated
modernity it seeks to lead men to both the
ancient revelation, the preserved truth of
the past, and the new light which God is
shedding upon the progress of the world.
In the presence of materialism the church
proclaims the reality of spiritual forces; in
contrast to the worldliness of society the
church holds up the ideals of Christ; as a
leaven in society the church emphasizes the
eternal truths of righteousness; and hopes
to lead men to God and eternal life. The
means may be inadequate; many errors
may have been committed, and the selfish
human element may have entered in. With

252 The Episcopalians

all imperfections, the church still stands
as an historic institution which points men
to moral living, to duty to fellow men
and duty to God and to eternal life in the
world to come. As one traces the history
of the church, one soon perceives that there
is the unchangeable connection with Christ
even through alienation and apostasy. He
is the motive power; and he has never been
left without a witness. The Episcopal
Church must always make its appeal to those
who love history in its fullness, who regard
primitive order, and who seek for the truth
beneath the outward confusion, and who
find the spirit of the Englishman and the
American united in the Catholic Church of
their forefathers.

The Storv of the Churches

A New Volume

THE

CONGREGATIONALISTS

BY

Leonard W. Bacon, D.D.

Author of "A History 9/ American Christianity"

i2mo, with frontispiece, net, $1.00

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Dr. Bacon is recognized as one of the most pungent
writers of the day on religious topics. His great work,
"A History of American Christianity," is known every-
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works are distinguished by strength and straight-from-
the-shoulder qualities, which make them very popular.
His history of the Congregationalists is sure to attract
the widest attention, and to excite much criticism.

Alex. V. G. Allen, Chester, Nova Scotia, of the

Episcopal Theological Seminary at Cambridge :

" Every one must be charmed, I think, witli its fairness, its
moderation, its genial and Christian tone. The only fault is the
book is too small, too short. When the man and the subject met
as in this case the result should have been more ample space for
discussion. At any rate, it must prove a classic on the subject."

New York Sun: " The little volume is admirable. It is writ-
ten with due sense of proportion, it relates the things that have
really told, and tells the story of the most American of all the
religious denominations in a manner that is at once enlightening
and suggestive. Moreover, it is put in English that is worth
reading for its own sake."

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33-37 East 17th St., Union Sq. North, New York

The Story of the Churches
THE

METHODISTS

By John Alfred Faulkner, D.D.

Professor of Historical Theology in Drezv Theological Seminary
Small I2mo, with Frontispiece, net, $1.00 (Postage 8 Cts.)

The object of this series is to furnish brief his-
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church member as well as the student of church
history.

No man is better qualified to write the history of
the Methodists than Dr. Faulkner. His position, his
standing as a student, and his skill as a writer, are
all guarantees of the excellence of this volume.

The scope of his work includes the rise of Wes-
ley in England; the planting and early organization of
[the church in America; the first conferences; the
growth of the church and its relation to the country
as a whole, all told fully, yet in the brief and popular
style at which the series aims.

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The Story of the Churches

THE BAPTISTS

BY

HENRY C. VEDDER, D.D.

Professor of Church History in Crozer Theological Seminary

Small i2mo, with frontispiece, net, $1.00

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The object of this series is to furnish brief his-
tories of the several denominations written
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the average church member as well as the
student of Church history.

Dr. Vedder is an authority on American Church
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ideas which is pleasing in its clearness and
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The Story of the Churches

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PRESBYTERIANS

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Presbyterian Church in the United

States of America

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The object of this series is to furnish brief his-
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student of church history.

No position in a denomination brings a man
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Charles L. Thompson has held this position
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