Full text of "The history of the American Episcopal Church 1587-1883"

THE HISTORY

OF THE

CHURCH

1587-1881.

FROM-THE- LIBRARY-OF
TR1NITYCOLLEGETORONTO

THE HISTORY

AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE HISTORY

AMERICAN

EPISCOPAL CHURCH

1587-1883

WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY, D.D., LL.D.

BISHOP OF IOWA

IN T WO VOL UMES

VOL. II

THE ORGANIZATION AND PROGRESS OF THE
AMERICAN CHURCH

1783 1883

PROJECTED BY CLARENCE F. JEWETT

BOSTON
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY

1885

JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY
All rights reserved

Press of Rockwell and Churchill, Boston

CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Organisation anti progress of tfje American

BY THE EDITOR.

CHAFrER I.

MEN AND MEASURES OF THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION

AUTOGRAPHS: Samuel Seabury, Samuel Keene, 2; William Smith, 3;
Abraham Beach, 5 ; Samuel Magaw, 6 ; William White, 7 ; Abra
ham Jarvis, 10; Samuel Parker, Samuel Provoost, 19.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES . 20

CHAPTER IIV
THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH 26

ILLUSTRATION : Old Trinity Church, Boston, 26.

AUTOGRAPHS : Samuel Parker, 26 ; James Duane, Uzal Ogden, Joseph
Hutchins, Samuel Powel, 28; Richard Peters, Charles Henry
Wharton, Robert Clay, 29; David Griffith, 30; J. Graves, 31;
Jacob Duche, Alexander Murray, 34; Granville Sharp, 35;
William White, Jacob Read, 36; Henry Purcell, John Page, 37;
William West, 40 ; Signatures of English Prelates, 43 ; Robert
Smith, 44 ; Francis Hopkinson, 45 ; Thomas Bradbury Chandler, 46.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES 47

CHAPTER III.

THE CONSECRATION OF THE FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS : SEABURY, AT

ABERDEEN, 1784; WHITE AND PROVOOST, AT LAMBETH, 1787 . 49

VI CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

ILLUSTRATIONS : House at Woodbury, Conn., in wliich the Convocation
met, 49; Consecration House, 53; Fac-simile Document signed
by Bishops Kilgour, Petrie, and Skinner, 54 ; Fac-simile Letter
and Seal of Bishop Seabury of Connecticut, 65; Bishop Sea-
bury s House, New London, Conn., 58; Bishop Seabury, 60; Fac
simile of " Plan for obtaining Consecration," 62 ; Fac-simile Letter
of Archbishop of Canterbury, 69 ; Fac-simile Title-page of Act of
Parliament, 70 ; Fac-simile Act of Parliament empowering the
Consecration of American Bishops, 71 ; Lambeth Chapel, 73 ;
Seal of Archbishop of Canterbury, 73.

AUTOGRAPHS : Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of York, 68.
ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES 74

CHAPTER IV.

THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHURCHES OF THE NORTHERN, MIDDLE,

AND SOUTHERN STATES 76

ILLUSTRATIONS : Rt. Rev. Samuel Provoost, first Bishop of New York,
78 ; Rt. Rev. Samuel Parker, second Bishop of Massachusetts,
84 ; Bishop Provoost s Book-plate, 88.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES 87

CHAPTER V.

THE PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE GENERAL ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTI
TUTION OF 1789 89

ILLUSTRATION : Fac-simile of Signatures of Bishop Seabury and the
New England Deputies to the Amended Constitution of 1789, 97.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 99

CHAPTER VI.

THE PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND FINALLY PRESCRIBED . . 101
ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES 115

CHAPTER VII.

THE ADJUSTMENT OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS AND PRINCIPLES IN THE

CHURCH 119

ILLUSTRATIONS : Signatures to Bishop Claggett s Letter of Consecra
tion, 125 ; Seal of Bishop Provoost, 126.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES 128

CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. VII

CHAPTER VIII.

THE REVIVAL OF CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA AND

THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH 132

ILLUSTRATIONS : Rt. Rev. James Madison, first Bishop of Virginia,
141 ; Rt. Rev. Richard Channing Moore, second Bishop of
Virginia, 145 ; Rt. Rev. Robert Smith, first Bishop of South
Carolina, 147.

AUTOGRAPHS : William Meadc, 143 ; Theodore Dehon, 147 ; Nathaniel
Bowen, 148.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE . . 148

CHAPTER IX.

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART, AND ITS INFLUENCE AT

THE NORTH 149

ILLUSTRATION: Trinity Church, Oxford, 155.

AUTOGRAPHS : Samuel Provoost, 149 ; Abraham Jarvis, Bishop of Con
necticut, 159 ; Benjamin Moore, Thomas Bradbury Chandler, John
Henry Hobart, 165.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES 166

CHAPTER X.
BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES 173

ILLUSTRATIONS : Rt. Rev. Edward Bass, first Bishop of Massachusetts,
177 ; Rt. Rev. A. V. Griswold, Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, 182.

AUTOGRAPHS: Roger Viets, 174; Samuel Seabury, Bishop of Con
necticut, 175; Robert Fowle, 178; James Nichols, Daniel
Barber, 180.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE - 187

CHAPTER XI.
PARTIES IN THE CHURCH 188

ILLUSTRATION : Bishop Seabury s Receipt for Services, 190.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 196

VIII CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHAPTER XII.
THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH 197

ILLUSTRATIONS : Rt. Rev. John S. Ravenscroft, Bishop of North
Carolina, 201; Rev. Joseph Pilmore, 213; Rt. Rev. Philander
Chase and Wife, 215 ; Rev. Francis Lister Hawks, 216.

AUTOGRAPH: Francis L. Hawks, 211.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE FOUNDERS AND FOUNDING OP THE CHURCH AT THE WEST . . 219

ILLUSTRATIONS : View of Gambler College, 227 ; On the Kokosing,
near Kenyon College, 230; Bishop Chase s Log Hut, the First
Episcopal Palace of Ohio, 231 ; Kokosing, the Home of Bishop
Bedell, 232; Old Kenyon, 233.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 235

CHAPTER XIV.
THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH 236

ILLUSTRATIONS: The Rectory of St. Paul s Church, Baltimore, 237;
Rev. Alonzo Potter, 243 ; Rt. Rev. William Jones Boone, First
Missionary Bishop to China, 249.

AUTOGRAPHS: G. T. Bedell, 241; J. H. Hill, 242; James Milnor,
246.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 250

CHAPTER XV.
PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI 251

ILLUSTRATIONS : Rt. Rev. Jackson Kemper, 251 ; Church of the Holy
Communion, St. Peter s, Minnesota, 261 ; the First Seabury Hall,
Faribault, Minnesota, 263 ; Mission Sod-house, Nebraska, 267.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 268

CHAPTER XVI.

THE OXFORD MOVEMENT AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON THE AMERICAN

CHURCH 269

ILLUSTRATION : St. Mark s Church, Philadelphia, 273.
ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 274

CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHAPTER XVII.

TROUBLES IN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK, AND NEW JERSEY . . .

ILLUSTRATIONS : lit. Rev. Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Bishop of Penn
sylvania, 278 ; Rt. Rev. G. W. Doane, Bishop of New Jersey, 280.

277

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 282

CHAPTER XVIII.

DEFECTIONS AND ACCESSIONS : Loss AND GAIN

284

ILLUSTRATION : Rt. Rev. L. Sillitnan Ives, Bishop of North Carolina,
286.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS PRACTICAL RESULTS . . . 292

ILLUSTRATIONS : William A. Muhlenberg, 292 ; Divinity School of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, founded by Bishop
Potter, 293.

AUTOGRAPH : William A. Muhlenburg, 292.
ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE 300

CHAPTER XX.
THE CHURCH ON THE PACIFIC COAST . . .

311

ILLUSTRATIONS: Good Samaritan Hospital, Portland, Oregon, 321;
St. Helen s Hall, Portland, Oregon, 323; Bishop Scott Grammar
School, Portland, Oregon, 325.

AUTOGRAPHS : William Ingraham Kip, 313 ; Benjamin Wistar Morris,
317 ; Daniel S. Tuttle, 327.

CHAPTER XXI.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH DURING THE CIVIL WAR .

ILLUSTRATION : Trinity Church, New York City, 335.
ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE

328

336

XII CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

467; List of Bishops Consecrated by Bishop White, 470; Bishop
White, as seen walking in the streets in Philadelphia, 471.

AUTOGRAPHS : William White, 469 ; William Bacon Stevens, 472.

MONOGRAPH V.

OLD TRINITY, NEW YORK, AND ITS CHAPELS. Morgan Dix . . . 473
AUTOGRAPH : Morgan Dix, 484.

MONOGRAPH VI.

A CENTURY OF CHURCH GROWTH IN BOSTON. Phillips Brooks . . 485

ILLUSTRATIONS : Soumling-Board, King s Chapel, 485 ; King s Chapel,
erected in the year 1749, 487; Pulpit, King s Chapel, 489; Tre-
mont Street, looking north, about 1800, 491; Rev. J. S. J.
Gardiner, 493 ; Franklin Place, 495 ; lluins of Trinity Church,
1872, 497; Tower of Trinity Church, 501; Chancel of Trinity
Church, 503; New Trinity Church, 505.

AUTOGRAPHS: Mather Byles, 486; John C. Ogden, 488; James Free-
. man, 490; 491; Phillips Brooks, 506.

MONOGRAPH VII.
REPRESENTATIVE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 507

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.

Engene A. Hoffman 507

ILLUSTRATIONS : Rt. Rev. T. Defion, Bishop of South Carolina, 509 ;
General Theological Seminary, New York City, 533.

AUTOGRAPHS: Daniel Burhans, 509; E. A. Hoffman, 534.

THE EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL IN CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

George Z. Gray 535

ILLUSTRATIONS : Plan of the Episcopal Theological School, Cam
bridge, 535 ; Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, 537.

AUTOGRAPH : George Z. Gray, 538.

TRINITY COLLEGE. Samuel Hart 538

ILLUSTRATIONS : Trinity College in 1829, 539 ; Dining-hall Mantle-
piece, 540; Trinity College in 1869, 541; Bishop Berkeley s
Chair, 542 ; View of Proposed Buildings, Trinity College, Hart
ford, 543 ; Seal of the College, 644 ; Statue of Bishop Brownell,
545.

AUTOGRAPH : Samuel Hart, 546.

CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XIII

ST. PAUL S SCHOOL, CONCORD. Hall Harrison 547

AUTOGRAPHS : George C. Shattuck, 647 ; Henry A. Coit, 548 ; Hall
Harrison, 552.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF RACINE COLLEGE. Arthur Piper . . 552
AUTOGRAPH : Arthur Piper, 557.

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH. W. P. DuBose 557

ILLUSTRATIONS : Seal of the University of the South, 557 ; St. Luke s
Theological Memorial Hall, Sewanee, Tennessee, 559.

AUTOGRAPH : W. P. DuBose, 560.

MONOGRAPH VIII.

THE CHURCH IN THE CONFEDERATE STATES. John Fulton . . . 561
AUTOGRAPH : John Fulton, 592.

MONOGRAPH IX.

THE LITERARY CHURCHMEN OF THE ANTE-REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.

Henry Coppee 593

AUTOGRAPH : Henry Coppee, 610.

MONOGRAPH X.

CHURCH LITERATURE SINCE THE REVOLUTION. Julius H. Ward . . 611
ILLUSTRATION : lit. Rev. John Henry Hobart, 613.
AUTOGRAPH : Julius H. Ward, 630.

MONOGRAPH XI.

THE CHURCH S HYMNOLOGY. Frederic M. Bird 631

AUTOGRAPH : Frederic M. Bird, 650.

THE HISTORY

AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

ana WWQVWS of ttie

1783-1883.

BY WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY, D.D., LL.D.,

Bishop of Iowa.

CHAPTER I.

MEN AND MEASURES OF THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION.

RE the close of hostilities between the mother-land and
the revolted colonies the minds of both clergy and laity who
had continued faithful to the church of their baptism had be
come familiarized with the fact that the civil independence of the
American States involved the separation of the Church in America
from the parent Church of England. It was in Connecticut and in
Maryland that the recognition of this fact first took form in efforts for
organization, and the perpetuation of the church s continuity. These
measures proceeded from ideas wholly at variance, and in their devel
opment threatened for a time the disruption of the infant Church. In
their subsequent modification and comprehension in a single system
they have each left their influence on the principles and procedure of
the American Episcopal Church.

In Connecticut, where the Episcopal Church had struggled for
existence for three-quarters of a century, and under wise leadership
and with a native ministry had attained no inconsiderable strength and
prominence, ten of the fourteen clergymen who were still in their
cures met in convocation at Woodbury, and on " Lady-day," the feast
of the Annunciation, 1783, as the first step towards organization and
the perpetuation of the Church, made choice of the Rev. Samuel
Seabury, D.D., as their bishop-elect. The clergy of the city of New

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

York united with their brethren of Connecticut in their approval of
this act, and tlio few clergy of the Church in New England outside of
the limits of Connecticut followed with kindly sympathies and hearty
prayers the indefatigable Seabury across the ocean on his difficult and

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doubtful errand. Once entered upon this effort to secure the episco
pate as the foundation of the Church, the Connecticut clergy never
relaxed their labors till the end was gained. Their action had been
taken without the presence of the laity, who had Leon trained to
w trust matters purely ecclesiastical to their clergy." l They consist
ently declined to unite in schemes for organization or the formation
of ecclesiastical constitutions, or the consideration of alterations in
the liturgy, until they had secured the completion of the church s polity
in the possession of a valid episcopacy. Their longings and labors\
were not in vain, and on the 14th of November, 1784, in an " upper (
room " at Aberdeen the first Bishop of Connecticut received at the &gt;
hands of the primus and two other bishops of the Scottish Church the \
consecration denied him in England.

In Maryland, under the proprietary and colonial governments,
the Church had been established by law, and upon the breaking out of
the war, under the name and title of "the Protestant Episcopal
Church " the identity of the Church in the independent State with the
mother-church of England, and its rights of property in the churches,
chapels, glebes and endowments of that mother-church, were duly rec
ognized in the "vestry act" of 1779. There was danger that the
legislature might go further than merely secure the church s rights
and property. So closely was the Erastianism of the age ingrained
in churchmen and legislators alike that it was proposed in the Assem
bly to proceed to organize the Church by legislative enactment, and to
appoint ordainers to the ministry. Happily, this extraordinary propo-

sition attracted the attention of the wise and scholarly Samuel Keene,
who hastened to Annapolis, and was heard before the House in oppo-

1 Vide an intcrostincr letter from Hie Rev. Notes and Documents, illnstratinjj the Onraniza-

Ahrahani Beach to the Ucv. Dr. \Vliite, report- tion of the Church," appended to the reprint of

in the result of a visit to the meeting of the the "Journals of General Conventions," m.,

Connecticut clergy in 1784, in Perry a "Historical p. 12.

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 3

sition to the measure contemplated. His arguments were convincing,
and the scheme was abandoned.

The temporal necessities of the various parishes induced action on
the part of " a very considerable number of vestries, wholly in their
lay character," l in the form of a petition to the. General Assembly of
the State for the passage of a law for " the support of the Christian
Religion," enabling any church-wardens and vestry " by rates on the
pews from time to time or otherwise, ... to repair the Church or
Chapel, and the Church yard and Burying Ground of the same." The
consideration of this petition was not pressed during the continuance
of the war, but on the coming of peace, the question of a religious
establishment was brought before the Assembly in an address from the
executive, warmly commending the provision of a " public support for
the Ministers of the Gospel." A copy of this address came into the
hands of a number of the clergy, assembled at the commencement of
Washington College in May, 1783, who at once took the initiative in
securing " a Council or Consultation " for the purpose of considering
" what alterations might be necessary in our Liturgy and Service ; and
how our Church might be organized and a succession of the Ministry
kept up." 2 At a meeting of the clergy, held with the permission of
the Assembly, besides the preparation of a draft of an act or char
ter of incorporation for adoption by the legislature, the following
"Declaration of fundamental rights and liberties" was unanimously
agreed upon and subscribed. In the style and arrangement of this
paper we see the hand of the leading man of the Maryland clergy, the
celebrated Rev. Dr. -William Smith, at that time President of Wash-

ington College. The original manuscript is preserved among the
Smith papers in the archives of the General Convention. We give it in
full as one of the most important, as it is the earliest, of our ecclesi
astical " state papers" :

A Declaration of certain fundamental Eights & Liberties of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of Maryland ; had &made at a Convention or Meeting of the Clergy
of said Church, duly assembled at Annapolis, August 13, 1783, agreeable to a Vote

1 "An Address to the Members of the Prot- Principles of the American Revolution." T5al-

estant Episcopal Church of Maryland, containing timore, 1784. 8vo. p. 17. This rare tract is

an account of the Proceeding of some late Con- reprinted in full in Perry s "Hist. Notes and

ventions both of cler&lt;ry and laity, for the purpose Documents," pp. 14, 33.

of organizing the said Church, and providing a ! The address, etc., p. 6. Perry s " Hist. Notes

Succession in her Ministry agreeably to the and Documents," p. 19.

4 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of the General Assembly passed upon a petition presented in the Name and Behalf
of the said Clergy.

Whereas by the Constitution and Form of Government of this State " all
persons professing the Christian Religion are equally entitled to protection in
their Religious Liberty, and no person by any Law (or otherwise) ought to be
molested in his Person or Estate on account of his Religious persuasion or pro
fession, or for his religious practice ; unless, under Colour of Religion, any man
shall disturb the good order, peace, or safety of the State, or shall infringe the
Laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious Rights;" And
Whereas the ecclesiastical and Spiritual Independence of the different Religious
Denominations, Societies, Congregations, and Churches of Christians in this State,
necessarily follows from, or is included in, their Civil Independence.

Wherefore we the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Maryland,
(heretofore denominated the Church of England, as by Law established) with all duty
to the Civil authority of the State, and with all Love and Good will to our Fellow-
Christians of every other Religious Denomination, do hereby declare, make known,
and claim the following as certain of the fundamental Rights and Liberties inher
ent, and belonging to the said Episcopal Church, not only of common Right, but
agreeable to the express words, spirit and design of the Constitution & Form of
Government, aforesaid, viz.

1st. We consider it as the undoubted Right of the said Protestant Episcopal
Church, in common with other Christian Churches under the American Revolution,
to compleat and yreserye herself as an entire Church, agreeable to her antient
Usages and Profession ; and to have the full enjoyment and free exercise of those
purely spiritual powers which are essential to the Being of every Church or Con
gregation of the faithful ; and which, being derived only from Christ and his
Apostles, are to be maintained independent of every foreign or other Jurisdiction,
so far as may be consistent with the Civil Rights of Society.

2d. That ever since the Reformation, it hath been the received Doctrine of the
Church whereof we are members (& which by the Constitution of this State is entitled
to the perpetual enjoyment of certain Property and Rights under the Denomination
of the Church of England), that there be these three Orders of Ministers in Christ s
Church : Bislwps, Priests and Deacons, and that an Episcopal Ordination and Com
mission are necessary to the Valid Administration of the Sacraments, & the due
Exercise of the Ministerial Functions in the said Church.

3d. That, without calling in Question, or wishing the least Contest with any
other Christian Churches or Societies, concerning their Rights, Modes and Forms,
we consider and declare it to be an Essential Right of the Protestant Episcopal
Church to have, & enjoy the Continuance of the said three Orders of Ministers
for ever, so far as concerns matters purely Spiritual, & that no persons in the
character of Ministers, except such as are in the Communion of the said Church and
duly called to the ministry by regular Episcopal Ordination can or ought to be
admitted into or enjoy any of " the Churches, Chapels, Glebes, or other Property "
formerly belonging to the Church of England, in this State, & which by the Con
stitution and Form of Government is secured to the said Church for ever, by what
ever Name she, the said Church, or her Superior Order of Ministers, may in future
be denominated.

4th. That as it is the Right, so it will be the Duty, of the said Church, when
duly organized, constituted and represented in a Synod or Convention of the differ
ent Orders of her ministry and People, to revise her Liturgy, Forms of Prayer &
publick worship, in order to adapt the same to the late Revolution, & other local
circumstances of America, which it is humbly conceived may and will be done,
without any other or farther Departure from the Venerable Order and beautiful
Forms of worship of the Church from whom we sprung, than may be found expe
dient in the Change of our situation from a Daughter to a Sister Church.

William Smith, President, S Paul s & Chester Parishes, Kent County.

John Gordon, S Michael s, Talbot.

John MacPherson, W m and Mary Parish, Charles County.

Samuel Keene, Dorchester Parish, Dorchester County.

W n West, S Paul s Parish, Baltimore County.

W" Thomson, S Stephen s, Cecil County.

Walter Magowan, S James s Parish, Ann Arundel County.

John Stephen, All-Faith Parish, S 1 Mary s County.

Tho* Jn Claggett, S 1 Paul s Parish, Prince George s County.

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. . 5

George Goldie, King & Queen, Saint Mary s County.

Joseph Messenger, 8 Andrew s Parish, S Mary s County.

John Bowie, S Peter s Parish, Talbot County.

Walter Harrison, Durham Pai-ish, Charles County.

W m Hanna, S Margaret s, Ann Arundel.

Thomas Gates, S Ann s, Annapolis.

John Andrews, S 1 Thomas s, Bait. County.

Hamilton Bell, Stephney, Somerset County.

Francis Walker, Kent Island.

John Stewart, Port-tobacco Parish, Charles County.

In this important document we find the first jpublic assumption
of the present legal title of the "Protestant Episcopal Church" by a
representative body of that Church. There is also the assertion of
" the ecclesiastical and spiritual independence of the Protestant Epis
copal Church in Maryland, " as necessarily following from the civil in
dependence of the state. The right of this Church of Maryland "to
preserve herself as an entire Church, agreeably to her ancient
usages and profession," as well as to exercise her "spiritual power"
derived "from Christ and Plis Apostles" independent of "Every
foreign or other jurisdiction," so far as " consistent with the civil rights
of Society is claimed." The necessity of Episcopal Ordination and
commission, "to the valid administration of the Sacraments and the
due exercise of the Ministerial Functions in the said Church," is clearly
laid down, and the exclusive right of "the Ministry by regular Epis
copal Ordination " to be "admitted into or enjoy any of the Churches,
Chapels, Glebes, or other_p_ro.perty formerly belonging to the Church of
England," is emphatically asserted. It is claimed that " the said
Church, when duly organized, constituted, and represented in a Synod
or Convention of her Ministry and people," is competent " to revise
her Liturgy, Forms of Prayer, and public worship, in order to adapt
the same to the late revolution, and other local circumstances of
America." Here, also, we have the first authoritative recognition of
tjie right of the laity to admission to the counsels of the Church, and
this document, it will be borne in mind, was the production of the
clergy alone. Deprecating any " further departure from the venerable
order and beautiful form of worship of the Church " of England, "that
may be found expedient in the change . . . from a daughter to
a sister Church," these clergymen of Maryland, less than a score in
number, laid broad and deep in this comprehensive and yet conserva-

tive document the foundations of the Ecclesiastical Constitution of the
American Church.

6 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

While these important measures were occupying the attention of
the churchmen of Maryland, a correspondence had been opened by the
Rev. Abraham Beach, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, with the Rev.
Dr. William White, of Philadelphia, in which the hope was expressed
" that the members of the Episcopal Church in this country would in
terest themselves in its behalf, would endeavour to introduce Order and
uniformity into it, and provide for a succession in the Ministry." The
meeting of the Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Orphans
of the Clergy, which had been organized prior to the war, was made
the occasion of an informal gathering at New Brunswick of clergy
and laity from the States of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,

on the llth of May, 1784, and a committee of correspondence was
appointed " for the purpose of forming a continental representation of
the Episcopal Church and for the better management of the concerns
of the said Church." There were present at the conference, the
Rev. Drs. White and Magaw, the Rev. Messrs. Beach, Bloomer,
Frazer, Ogden, Blackwell, Bowden, Benjamin Moore and Thomas
Moore, and Messrs. James Parker, John Stevens, Richard Stevens,
John Dennis, Esquire, and Colonels Hoyt and Furman. This con
ference appointed a committee, consisting of the Rev. Messrs. Abraham
Beach, Joshua Bloomer and Benjamin Moore, to attend the Trinity
convocation of the Connecticut clergy, "for the purpose of soliciting
their concurrence . . .in such measures as may be deemed cou=C
dticivc to the union and prosperity of the Episcopal Church in thej
States of America."

On the 24th of May, 1784, there met at Christ Church, Philadel
phia, under the chairmanship of the Rev. Dr. William White, a con
vention of the clergy and laity, assembled in pursuance of a recom
mendation of the clergy and vestries of the united churches of Christ
Church and St. Peter s, and St. Paul s, Philadelphia. This conven-^
tion, memorable as being the first occasion on which the laity were
admitted to sit in the councils of the Church, was convened for the
purpose of " forming a representative body of the Episcopal church e&gt;
in the Stale." The clergy appeared by virtue of their holding the
cure of souls. The laity had their appointment by delegation from " the
Church Wardens and Vestrymen of each Episcopal Congregation in

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION.

the State." There were four clergymen present and twenty-one of the
laity. The principle was laid down at the outset that each church should
have one vote. This convention appointed a stand
ing committee of clergy and laity, for concerted
action with the representatives of " the Episcopal
Church in the other States," in framing a constitu
tion for an ecclesiastical government, and agreed
upon the "fundamental principles " thereof, claiming
the independence! of" the Episcopal Church in these
Stales " of foreign authority ; asserting its " full
and exclusive power to regulate the concerns, of its
owncommumon ; " professing its doctrinal agree
ment with the Church of England, and its purpose
of preserving w uniformity of worship " " as near
as may be ; " recognizing the three orders of the
ministry, with prerogatives and powers. to "be exer
cised according to reasonable laws ; " declaring that

^^^^^^^^^ j ^^"^"^^^^"^^^^fc^^^^^^""* ^

the right of enacting " canons or laws" was in "a
representative body of the clergy and laity con
jointly ; " and stipulating " that no powers be dele
gated to a general ecclesiastical government, ex
cept such as cannot conveniently be exercised by
the clergy and laity in their respective congrega
tions."

to have _been_" the pro-.

poser ^oFtEe" measure adopted in the Philadelphia/
convention of uniting the laity with the clergy in(
the church s deliberative and legislative bodies4
It was near the close of the contest for indepen
dence, early in August, 1782, that William White
"despairing," as he himself says in a letter written
years afterwards to Bishop Hobart, " of a speedy
acknowledgment of our independence, although
there was not likely to be more of war, and per
ceiving our ministry gradually approaching to an
nihilation," published in pamphlet form an essay
entitled "The Case of the Episcopal Churches
Considered." l It is important to the full under
standing of this essay to remember that at the
time of its issue from the press the first week in
August, 1783, there had been no acknowledged
negotiations between the hostile governments look
ing to a return of peace on the basis of a recogni
tion of American independence. The " Case of the
Episcopal Churches Considered " was advertised in
the "Pennsylvania Packet" of August 6th, though
a few copies had been distributed by the writer to J
his friends immediately prior to this announce-

1 Vide MS. note on the Church in America, by by Thos. II. Montgomery, Esq., of Phiiadel-
William White, published in photo-lithography, phia.

8 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

ment. 1 It was on this very day that Congress received from Sir
Guy Carleton and Admiral Digby a communication, dated on the
2d, giving a prospect of peace. That a cessation of hostilities
would shortly take place had been generally believed, but that
Great Britain, hopeless though she might be of a successful issue
of the struggle to reduce the revolted colonies, would treat with
them on a footing of equality as a nation, was not anticipated by
any. The communication from the British authorities changed at
once the whole aspect of affairs. The pamphlet was at once with
drawn from sale, and as many copies as were within the author s reach
were destroyed. The bishop himself, in his episcopal charge of 1807,
when adverting to the measures proposed in this pamphlet, adds to
the expression of his conviction " that under the state of things con
templated some such expedient as that proposed must have been
resorted to ; " acknowledges that " had the proposal been delayed
a little longer, the happy change of prospects would have prevented
the appearance of the pamphlet, unless with considerable alterations."
This pamphlet, in its discussion of measures for the perpetuation of
the Church, while proceeding on the understanding " that the succes
sion cannot at present be obtained," recommended, "in the proposed
frame of government, a general approbation of Episcopacy, and a declara
tion of an intention to procure the succession as soon as conveniently
may be ; but in the mean time " advised an effort "to carry the plan into
effect without waiting for the succession." 8 In view of the assertion, "that
the very name of bishop* is offensive," the pamphlet proceeded : "If so,
change it for another ; let the superior clergyman be a president, super-*
intendent, or in plain English, and according to the literal translation of
the original ,4in overseer." 3 The proposal of " an immediate execution of
the plan" of organization, and the perpetuation of the ministry, " withv
out waiting for the Episcopal succession," was urged " on the presump-y
tion that the worship of God and the instruction and reformation of the
people are the principal objects of ecclesiastical discipline ; if so, to
relinquish them from a scrupulous adherence to Episcopacy is sacri
ficing the substance to the ceremony." 3 The plea of delay is met by
the inquiry, "Are the acknowledged ordinances of Christ s holy religion
to be suspended for years, perhaps as long as the present generation
shall continue, out of delicacy to a disputed point, and that relating only
to externals." 3 " All the obligations of conformity to the divine ordi
nances, all the arguments which prove the connexion between public

i Copies of this pamphlet were advertised for pole s edition as 1783. There seems every proba-

sale in the "Pennsylvania Packet" of the 6th bility that since the prospect of peace opened,

of August, 1782, the day on which Confess as it did almost contemporaneously with the first

received a communication which opened the appearance of this pamphlet, rendering its plea

way for the cessation of hostilities and the of necessity no longer available, its disserama-

coming of peace. Bishop White tells us, in tion was for a time suspended, and it was with-

the " MS. Note " already cited, that " some held from general circulation till the time named

copies had been previously handed by the author in the Bisnop s Memoirs, the summer of 1783.

to a few of his friends. Copies bearing the date One of the early copies must have fallen into the/

of 1782 are to be found in the public libraries in hands of the Connecticut Clergy Convention.

Philadelphia and elsewhere. Bishop White in The original edition of 1782 or 1783 is exceed^)

his Memoirs (Second edition, p. 89) speaks of ingly rare, and of the Stavely reprint but few

it as " published in the summer of 1783, and the exist.

reprint by Stavely in 1827 and that of 1859, and * The Case of the Episcopal Churches in Per-

that appended to Perry s " Reprint of the Early ry s " Hist. Notes and Documents," p. 427.
Journals," in., p. 416-436, give the date of Clay- Ibid., p. 428.

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 9

worship and the morals of a people, combine to urge the adopting some
speedy measures, to provide for the public ministry in these churches,
if such as have been above recommended should be adopted, and the
Episcopal succession afterwards obtained, any supposed imperfections
of the supposed intermediate ordinations might, if it were judged
proper, be supplied without acknowledging their nullity, by a con
ditional ordination resembling that of conditional baptism in the
liturgy." 1 The pamphlet proceeds to an examination of the claims
made by the advocates of the exclusive validity of Episcopal orders,
naturally arguing against their view, even to the extent of conceding
that "the original of the order of bishop was from the presbyters
choosing one from among themselves to be a stated president in their
assemblies, in the 2d or 3d century." 2 But independently of this
proposition for the organization of the Church and the continuation of
its ministry, without the succession, "which," as Bishop White sub
sequently acknowledged, " in the opinion of the author, would have
been justified by necessity and by no other consideration;" and the
arguments by which this proposal was sustained, the " Case of the
Episcopal Churches Considered " presented a plan for the organization,
of the American Church which exhibited the comprehensive mind of
a statesman, and which, in its general features, was subsequently for-/
inulated in the ecclesiastical constitution under which we have so long-
and so happily been united. The ideas of the essential unity of the
whole American Church as a national and autonymous body ; its in
dependence of all foreign jurisdiction, civil or ecclesiastical; its entire
separation from State control ; the comprehension of the laity in the
deliberative, legislative, and judicial assemblies of the Church. ; the-dioicc
of its ministers by those to whom they were to minister ; the equality
of its parishes ; its threefold organization, diocesan, provincial, and
"continental" or general, are clearly stated and temperately enforced.
In fact, the legislation of a century has hardly filled out the outline
sketch of church organization and government, prepared by the young I
patriot, priest and preacher of Philadelphia, in 1782.

To the principles set forth in this important pamphlet Bishop
White clung with characteristic consistence to the latest years of his
long and honored life. In a note appended to a letter addressed to
Bishop Hobart, under date of December 21, 1830, he thus alludes
to this production of his youth : " In agreement with the sentiments
expressed in this pamphlet I am still of opinion that in an exigency
in which duly authorized Ministers cannot be obtained, the paramount
duty of preaching the Gospel, and the worshipping of God on the
terms of the Christian Covenant should go on in the best manner
which circumstances permit. In regard to Episcopacy I think that it\
should be sustained as the government of the Church from the time of
the Apostles, but without criminating the ministry of other churches ; \
as is the course taken by the Church of England."

The impression produced by the appearance of this pamphlet was
profound. The breadth and comprehensiveness of its suggestions, and

1 The Case of the Episcopal Churches, etc. Perry s " Hist. Notes and Documents," p. 428.

2 Ibid., p. 430.

10 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the soberness of judgment and unfailing courtesy and consideration
with which the views of others were stated and discussed, compelled a
hearing, even for those proposals which were so happily rendered un
necessary by the immediate prospects of peace. It was but a few
months after the appearance of " The Case of the Episcopal Churches
Considered " that the clergy of Connecticut, with the advice and hearty
cooperation of their brethren of New York, made choice of Seabury
as their bishop-elect, and sent him abroad, first to England, and then

to Scotland for con-
secration. At the
meeting of the Con-
necticut Clergy,
at Woodbury, on
the eventful Lady
Day of 1783,
the " Philadelphian
Plan, "as it was sub-
sequently called,
was fully discussed,
and the Secretary of the Convocation, the Rev. Abraham Jar vis, was in
structed " jnji frank and brotherly way, to express their opinion^ the
mistakes anoTcTangerous tendency of this pamphlet." There seems
ample evidence from the following extracts of letters written by the
Rev. Charles Inglis, D.D., who was then about starting for England, to
Dr. White, that suspicions, arising from the perusal of the pamphlet
we have alluded to, had prevented the comprehension of White, and
the clergy still further at the southward, in these efforts for an Ameri
can Episcopate.

NEW YORK, May 21, 1783.

For some time past I have very much wished to see you, and have some Con
versation on the common Interests of our Church, with which Politicks have
nothing to do. In the late Troubles, I firmly believe that you, like myself, took
that part which Conscience and Judgment pointed out ; and although we differed
in Sentiments, yet this did not in the least diminish my Regard for you, nor the
good Opinion I had always of your Temper, Disposition, and Religious Principles.
I ever shall esteem a man who acts from Principle and in the Integrity of his Heart,
though his Judgment of Things may not exactly coincide with mine.

In one Point I am certain we agree, that is, in the Desire of preserving our
Church and promoting the Interests of Religion. This Point, I am persuaded,
might be served, could we confer together. The State of Things is such that I
cannot go to Philadelphia, or else I would go with pleasure ; but you can come
here, there is no impediment in the Way but a Pass to come within the Lines,
which I shall immediately procure when you arrive at Elizabeth-Town. Think on
this Matter, and let me hear from you.

Family affliction prevented Dr. White s acceptance of this invita
tion, and, instead, a kind letter bore to Dr. Inglis words of affection
ate interest and brotherly regard, eliciting the following lettei in
reply : -

I thank you for the Pamphlet which accompanied the Letter. I had seen it
before, and on being told that you were the Author, concluded that you wrote it
under the Impression that the Case of our Church was hopeless, and no other
method left 01 preserving it from utterly perishing. From some Hints in your Let-

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. H

ter, I perceive that my conclusion was right. It must be confessed that your
apprehensions at that Time were not wholly without Foundation ; nor is anything
more natural than, when we are anxious about any Object of Moment, to cast about
for some expedient to accomplish it, and to catch at whatever appears practicable,
when the most eligible method is thought to be out of our Power. In making this
Observation, I only give a Transcript of what has passed in my own Mind on this
very subject ; and therefore I cannot but applaud your Zeal in a Matter of such
general and great Moment : at the same Time I tell you candidly my Opinion, with
which I believe you will agree, that the supposed Necessity, on which your Scheme
is founded, does not now really exist; and that the Scheme itself could not answer
the End of a regular Episcopate. In short, my good Brother, you proposed not
what you thought absolutely best and most eligible, but what the supposed Neces
sity of the Times compelled you to adopt, and when, no better Expedient appeared
to be within your Reach. In this Light the Pamphlet struck me the moment I
heard it was yours ; and your Letter confirms me in the Judgment I had formed.

That the Necessity there supposed does not now exist is demonstratively clear ;
because the way to England is open, from whence an Episcopate can be obtained,
to say nothing of other Episcopal Churches, from which the Relief might probably
be procured for our Church. That the Scheme itself would not answer the end of
an Episcopate, is no less clear ; for if adopted and adhered to our Church would
cease to be an Episcopal Church ! It|s impossible that there can be an Episcopal
&lt; Jhurch without Episcopal Ordination ; and the Ordination here proposed is not
Episcopal, that is, by a Bishop, bu JTby Presbyters. But it is needless to enlarge
on the point, as you very ingenuously own that " you are not wedded to the particu
lar plan proposed ;" and your good sense has prudently directed you "to delay
rather than forward measures to accomplish the Object in Contemplation, with
Hopes of its being undertaken with better Information."

You desire to know my Sentiments as to " the Measures to be pursued for the
continuance of our Church." One principal Reason why I wished for an interview
was, that we might confer together on the Subject. We might receive mutual In
formation by an Interview, which cannot so well be obtained by Letter. Indeed,
there are many particulars of great Moment in such a Business that cannot con
veniently be committed to writing ; for although whatever you say to me would be
perfectly safe and kept secret, as I believe what I say to you would also be on your
Part, yet there are a thousand little incidental Circumstances that are necessary to be
known, in order to form a right Judgment, which do not occur, perhaps, when we
write, or would require much, time to set down.

My clear, decided Opinion in general is, that some Clergyman of Character and
Abilities should go from hence to England to be Consecrated and admitted to the
sacred office of a Bishop by the English Bishops, and then to return and reside in
America. The next consideration to a good moral Character, sound principles,
abilities and learning in this Clergyman is, that he should be held in esteem by the
leading Men in Power in this Country, as it would reconcile them the better to the
Measure. If such a Clergyman will undertake to go on this Design, he shall have
all the Assistance and Support that I can possibly give him. But whether Matters
are yet ripe for such a Step, or how far you and others may think them so, is what
I am unable to determine. Were it necessary, I could adduce unanswerable argu
ments to evince this to be the most eligible Scheme ; though I verily believe there
needs no Arguments to convince you of it. What I wish you to do is to keep
your Eye upon it, and prepare Matters, as your Judgment and Prudence shall
direct, for its Execution, when you think the Time for it is come.

To these letters, the weighty words of one to whose master-hand
was afterwards committed the moulding of the English colonial Church
at the Northward, we may add, as bearing upon the general history of
this period of organization, and also illustrative of the views enter
tained abroad of the famous pamphlet to which we have referred, ex
tracts from letters of the Rev. Dr. Alexander Murray and the Rev. Jacob
Duche, two loyalist clergymen from Pennsylvania, then resident in
London, to whose kind offices Dr. White was subsequently much
indebted in the prosecution of his plans :

12 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

LONDON, 26th July, 1783.

DEAR SIR : ... The grievance of having had no Resident Bishops in

America can now be easily and regularly remedied : it depends not now so much
on the will of this as of that country. You will, no doubt, have an Ambassador or
Resident at this Court, to negotiate your public concerns ; and if he applies, at the
request of any one State or Body of People, for the consecration of an American
Bishop, you may have any of your own Nomination set apart for that Office accord
ing to the rules of the Church of England, without requiring oaths of allegiance to
this kingdom; an Act of Parliament would be no sooner moved for than pas &lt;1,
enabling the Bishops to dispense with whatever was incompatible on the occasion.

Iff then, you plead necessity for Presbytcrial Ordinations, it is a necessity of
your own making, which can never justify such an extraordinary step, which will
necessarily give rise to new divisions and sects in your young States, and these for
midable ones. You may expect thousands of Emigrants who will choose the Sacra
ments from the hands "of Ministers Episcopally ordained, and will continue, as
formerly, to call such from England or Nova Scotia (in which a Bishop Inglis or
Dr. T. B. Chandler and College is to be settled), to supply their spiritual necessi
ties ; better then have an unexceptionable, complete Church Government at once
within yourselves, than be constantly depending upon another people for supplies
of this kind. If you are the author of the pamphlet on this subject, it must have
been written when you despaired of such an amicable accommodation as has lately
taken place. You might have expected peace or truce, without a Recognizance
of Independence, as in the case of the Spanish and Dutch ; but now that this i.s
ratified in the most solemn manner, you have ever} thing that is friendly and rea
sonable to expect from the British ; they are as generous as brave, and you may
one day combine your forces, as the Spanish and Dutch have done lately. There
is nothing new under the s\m. Your mode of Government would depress the
present Episcopalians far below the level of the Presbyterians, who preserve
some consistence, and admit Episcopal Ordination, while we constantly reject theirs,
and will also your*. . . .

ALEXANDER MURRAY.

Mr. Duche s letter, interesting as containing the germ of the
principles on which our ecclesiastical constitution was subsequently
constructed, is also an evidence of the interest felt in the mother-
church in the plans and purposes of our founders. Mr. Duche spoke
ex cathedra, being on terms of close intimacy with the Archbishop
of Canterbury, and, to a certain extent, representing that prelate s
opinions.

ASYLUM, Aug. llth, 1783.

MYDEAiiSiR: . . . I have read your Pamphlet with great attention.
Reasoning, as you do, on the ground of necessity, you are certainly right ; and
the Arguments, as well as the Cases you adduce, are exactly to the Purpose. But
I cannot conceive that any such necessity at present exists. The venerable old
Doctrine of Apostolic Succession need not yet be given up. The Episcopal Clergy
have only to wait with Patience, and they may have, if they are unanimous, a
Church in each State, with a Bishop at its head, chosen by themselves, and regu
larly consecrated, without taking any Oaths of Supremacy, etc., and unconnected
with any Civil or Ecclesiastical Government but their own. The Plan I would pro
pose would be simply this. Let the Clergy of each State (say Pennsylvania for
instance) , together with Lay Deputies from each Congregation in the State, assem
ble, and with due Solemnity elect one of their Presbyters to y Office of Bishop.
Let him preside in their Conventions, and agree with them upon such alterations in
the Discipline and Liturgy of the Church of England as Circumstances have ren
dered necessary. Let him wait for an opportunity of being regularly consecrated ;
and till such opportunity offers, let the Convention meet and fix upon his Powers,
the Mode of supporting him, and all other things that may contribute to y e Good
Order and Government of the Church. He may do all the Offices of a Bishop but
ORDAIN and confirm, and he will not be long without receiving Power to exercise
these. All this will be perfectly consistent with your new Constitution. Nay, you
cannot be interrupted in the completion of such a Plan, unless Mobs and Associa-

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 13

tions should still be suffered to exercise an illegal Power. Each Episcopal Church
of each State to be independent of the others. Or, if for y sake of Uniformity of
Discipline and Worship, throughout y States, an annual Synod or Convocation be
deemed necessaiy, let the Bishop of each State, with a certain Number of his Pres
bytery, be sent to the Place appointed ; but let there be no Archbishop or Patriarch.
The hrst consecrated Bishop always to preside. The rest to take Precedency ac
cording to seniority of Consecration. Though I may never see you, I shall always
be happy to hear of the welfare and increase of the Episcopal Church. LJiave
much to say on this subject, and think a Church might now be formed more upon
y Primitive and Apostolic Plan in America, than any at present in Christen-/

doar T~~. .

Ever yours sincerely,

J. DUCHE.

But among these letters none were more weighty or wiser than
another from the gifted Inglis, then on the eve of his departure for
England. The whole communication, with its preface of touching
references to his wife s decease, and its refutation of some of the slanders
heaped upon him for his " Toryism " by the unscrupulous Whigs of
New York, 1 is most creditable to the writer s head and heart. We
have room only for extracts ; and we may remark, in passing, that the
clear and full statement of what the churchmen of New York had all
along sought to secure in striving for an American episcopate, is a
most interesting commentary on the statements already made in
giving, as we have sought to do, the story of the struggle for the
episcopate :

NEW YORK, October 22d, 1783.

REVEREND SIR : ... Your last Letter contained many Points of
Moment, which require the most serious Consideration. Some of them could be
better discussed at a personal Interview, which was the Reason of my wishing for
one ; but since that is now impracticable, I shall give you my sentiments upon
them briefly ; for my present hurry in preparing to embark for England will not
permit me to enlarge on them so fully as I would otherwise chuse.

As to " the Obligation of the Episcopal Succession," which, you say, " you
never could find sufficient arguments to satisfy you of," I need only declare that I
am perfectly clear and decided in my judgment of it. Before I entered into Holy
Orders, I was fully persuaded of the truth, of what is asserted in the Preface to our
Ordinal viz., " It is evident unto all men diligently reading Holy Scriptures and
ancient authors, that, from the Apostles Times, there have been three Orders of
Ministers in Christ s Church Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." All my Reading
and Inquiries since (and they have been diligent and impartial) have served to
confirm me in this Persuasion. The Episcopal Order originated from our Saviour
himself in the Persons of his Apostles ; the Succession of that Order was continued
by the inspired Apostles, who, equally under the Influence of the Divine Spirit,
dictated those Scriptures which are to be the Rule of Faith and Practice to the
Christian Church to the End of Time ; and also appointed those Ministers, and that
Form of Government which were ever after to continue in the Christian Church ;
and I conceive that we are as much bound to observe their appointment and direc
tions in the one case as the other.

It is evident, from Scripture and Ecclesiastical Antiquity, that Bishops were
superior to the other two Orders ; and that Ordination and Government were chiefly
referred to them. The true State of the Question on this Point is, Did the Apostles
establish a perfect equality between Gospel Ministers ? or, Did they establish a Sub
ordination among those Ministers ? The latter appears as clear to me as the noon
day sun ; nor are we more at Liberty, as I hinted before, to depart from what they
have instituted and appointed in this Respect, than we are to lay aside or depart

1 Vide, among other publications, "Dr. Inglis s titled, A Reply to Remarks on a Vindication qf

Defence of his character against certain false and Gov. Parr and his Council, &c.,&c

malicious charges contained in a pamphlet, en- London : Printed in the year 1784."

14 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

from the Scriptures which they left for the Rule of our Faith and Practice. If they
were unerringly guided by the Divine Spirit in one case, they were so in the other
also ; and it is a certain Fact, that, for 1500 years after our Saviour s Time, thereV
was no regular Ordination or Ecclesiastical Government, but what was of tin:
Episcopal kind.

I .nt . :i"iiu r ii "i tliis Head in an ainicalilc, short Letter to :t Brother ; ;uul I
shall only observe further that few Things have more confirmed my Sentiments on
this Subject than the poor, flimsy Evasions that have been used by Men, otherwise
respectable, to elude the Force of those Arguments, which have been drawn from
Paul s Epistles, and the primitive Writers in behalf of Episcopacy. These men j
would laugh at such Evasions in any other case where their judgment was not biased^
or predetermined.

You say that some settled mode must be adopted for the selecting the " prin
cipal Pastor of the Church ; " and then ask, " By whom is this to be done ? " 1
answer, If by principal Pastors you mean the Incumbents of Parishes, I appre
hend the Right of Presentation should, in general, remain in the same Hands as
formerly. Tnus the Election of a Rector in Philadelphia and New York, or, in
other Words, the Right of Presentation, is vested in the Church Wardens and Ves
try, and should continue in the same Hands. When the Legislature, by a publick
Law, makes Provision for the Support of Clergymen, it has a Right to prescribe the
mode of electing or appointing those Clergymen to particular Parishes, as was the
Case, if I remember right, in Maryland formerly. But, in my Opinion, it would
be best, on many accounts, that, on the Demise or Removal of an Incumbent, the
Church Wardens and Vestry of each Parish should have the Right of chusing a
Succession ; and even where the State has made legal Provision for the Clergy, I
think this mode preferable to any other ; granting no more to the Governor than
the authority to induct the Person chosen. If by principal Pastors you mean
Bishops, I think the Clergy of each State should have the Right of Electing, with
the Governor s Approbation. But it is time enough to talk of this Point when it
shall please God to grant this essential Benefit to the Episcopal Churches in America.

You say, 4&lt; That some Alterations in our Liturgy are become necessary in
Consequence of a Change of Circumstances," which is undoubtedly true ; and ask,
" By whom are those changes to be made? " I answer, By the Clergy without
Doubt ; yet still with the Concert and Approbation of the Civil Authority. I sup
pose that all the State Holy-Days, such as November the 5th, January 30th, etc.,
will be laid aside in the Thirteen States. The Collects for the King and Royal
Family must Lo altered and adapted to the present State of Things ; for in Publick
Worship Prayers for the Civil Rulers of the State should never oe omitted. And
here I cannot but express my Wish that Harmony and Uniformity might take place
among all the Episcopal Churches ; which can only be effected by the Clergy of
the several States consulting^ each other, and agreeing to adopt the same Collects
for this Purpose. Were a Bishop settled in America, this point would be easily
accomplished ; without one, I apprehend Difficulties will arise.

You say, " The Trial and Deposition of irregular Clergymen is to be provided
for; and it is to be hoped that this will not be done at pleasure, but under reason
able Laws ; " and ask, " By whom are such Laws to be made ? " To this, I reply,
That Clergymen are amenable, equally with Laymen to the Laws of the State, and
are punishable by those Laws, if they transgress them. But as to any proper Ec
clesiastical Discipline, by which Irregularities in Clergymen, not cognizable by the
Civil Laws, shall be censured or punished, it is not to be expected until you have
Bishops, and some regular System of Church Government is settled. I mean not
that Bishops should be vested with Arbitrary Power ; or that they should censure
and depose at Pleasure. They are to be guided by Canons, which point out the
Duty of Clergymen, and according to which the latter should be judged. Our
Church has already provided several such Canons ; and if any more such should
be required in this Country, the Clergy, in Conjunction with a Bishop or Bishops,
are the Persons by whom they should be enacted.

Some years since, I drew up a Plan for an American Episcopate, which met
with the Approbation of several of the most respectable Characters in England, as
well as America. Give me leave to transcribe a few Extracts from it, which will
partly convey my Sentiments on the Subject. It was proposed in that Plan

"That two or more Protestant Bishops of the Church of England be appointed
to reside in America.

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 15

" That they are not to have any temporal authority whatever, nor interfere
with the Rights or Emoluments of Governors.

" That their proper Business shall be to Ordain and Superintend the Clergy,
and Confirm such as chuse to be Confirmed.

"That they may hold Visitations, assemble the Clergy of their respective
Dioceses in Convocations, where the Clergy shall be their Assessors or Assistants ;
and that, in those Convocations, such matters only shall be transacted as relate to
the Conduct of the Clergy, or to the Order and Government of the Churches.

" That they be vested with Authority to censure delinquent Clergymen accord
ing to the Nature of their Offence ; and to proceed even to Deprivation, in cases
which may require it, after a regular Trial ; the Courts in which such Trials are
held to consist of the Clergy of the Provinces respectively where the Delinquent
Persons reside ; and the Bishop to pronounce the sentence of Deprivation, accord
ing to Canon 122."

Here it is supposed that there are Canons or Laws by which the Delinquent
Person is to be tried, according to which the Court is to proceed in the Trial ; that
each Clergyman, as an Assistant to the Bishop, has a Vote in acquitting or con
demning ; and that the Bishop, according to his Function, and Superiority of his
Order, pronounces or delivers whatever Sentence the Court may award. On such
a Plan, Arbitrary Sway and Oppression are wholly excluded. It may be proper to
observe, that the Canons, like the Liturgy, will require Revision. The Canons, as
they now stand, are applicable to the State of Things in England, where they were
made ; but many of them are not so in America ; and, therefore, some should be
altered, others wholly omitted, and others again, perhaps, added, when a Bishop
is settled in this Country ; for, until you have a Bishop, you can have no centre of
Union, nor can you act with Regularity and Order hi Matters of this Sort. I could
say more on this Subject, but really have not Time.

I must be candid in telling you that I can neither see the Propriety or the
Advantage of the scheme you propose, to join Laymen with Clergymen for enact
ing Ecclesiastical Laws, trying delinquent Clergymen, etc., as a "Collective Body,
to whom the extraordinary occasions of our Churches may be referred." This
certainly, if I understand you right, is not the plan of the Church of England.
Many Inconveniences will unquestionably attend it the Advantages are doubtful.
Instead of attracting Lay-Members to the Church, I apprehend it would be produc
tive of endless Broils between the Laity and Clergy, probably, of oppression to the
latter. The Clergy are already amenable to the Civil Power for Civil Offences ;
is not that sufficient ? Are not Clergymen the best Judges of Ecclesiastical Offences?
and of the properest Methods to reclaim their erring Brethren? which is pre
ferable to punishment, if it can be effected.

There is little doubt but that a Clergyman of good Character, who went to
England properly recommended, with the Consent of the State from whence he
went, and where he was afterwards to reside, would be consecrated a Bishop.
An Act of Parliament, indeed, would be necessaiy to empower the Bishops in
England to Consecrate without administering the State Oaths ; but I am confident
this Act might be obtained. I am almost a Convert to your Opinion that it would
be best to request the Bishops in England to chuse a proper Person there, a Man
of Abilities, Piety, liberal Sentiments, and unblemished Morals, for the first
American Bishop. All Circumstances considered, it would be better than to send
a Person from hence. There would be fewer Objections to a stranger, who had
never been in America, and was clear of having taken any Part in our unhappy
Divisions, both in England and America, than against an American Clergyman,
however respectable his Character might be. But a Bishop is absolutely necessary,
and either way he ought, by all means, to be obtained. The great Point is to
procure the Consent and Approbation of the Legislature of some State to the
Measure ; if this is done, the Rest will be easy. And here, I must tell you that my
only Hope is from Maryland or Virginia. Nothing of the kind is to be expected
from the Northern States. Consider this Matter, and try what you can do with
your Friends in Maryland. The Church of God calls for your Assistance, and that
of all its other worthy Members, and it is their indispensable Duty to afford that
Assistance as far as it is in their power.

The News Papers, some time since, announced that the Clergy of Maryland
had chosen Mr. Keene to be sent for Consecration to England ; but I find the
account was premature. Mr. Keene was a very worthy man when I knew him,
and I doubt not but he is so still. I shall embark next week for England, where I

1G HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

shall be happy to give every aid within the Compass of my Power to any measure
of this kind. I shall, therefore, be glad to hear from you, and know how matters
are circumstanced; and particularly what progress is made in Maryland toward
procuring an Episcopate. Direct to me, etc., etc.

Sincerely wishing you Health, Happiness, and every temporal Felicity, and
Success in your Ministry,

I am, with much Esteem, Reverend Sir,
Your affectionate Friend and humble Servant,

CHARLES INGLIS.
REVEREND DR. WHITE.

Though the announcement in the newspapers alluded to by Dr.
Inglis in his concluding paragraph was incorrect, still the movement
for the episcopate, first inaugurated by the clergy of Connecticut,
had been followed by the action of their brethren of Maryland. The
clergy of this important State, where the Church had retained much
of its former influence and respect, met in August, 1783, at Annapolis ;
framed, after the political fashion of the times, a " Bill of Rights ; " and
chose the celebrated William Smith, D.D., formerly Provost of the
College and Academy of Philadelphia, but at that time President of
Washington College, Maryland, as their bishop. But this effort for a
bishop at the southward failed, in consequence of grave charges
affecting the character of the bishop-elect ; and from being among the
foremost of all the American churches, in efforts for the perfection of
her ecclesiastical organization, Maryland, as we shall subsequently see,
was outstripped in gaining the prize by Connecticut, New York, and
Pennsylvania. In the meantime, when the mind of every thoughtful
member of our communion was turned upon these questions of church
perpetuation, there came from the Rev. Abraham Beach, of New
Jersey, the first definite plan for general organization and a united
effort to secure the end desired. This letter, so interesting in itself,
as furnishing information of the state of feeling in the Church at this
time with reference to union and organization, becomes important as
we remember the great results springing directly from the proposition
it was the first to enunciate in public :

NEW BRUNSWICK, 26th January, 1784.

REVEREND SIR : I always expected, as soon as the Return of Peace should
put it in their Power, that the Members of the Episcopal Church in this Country
would interest themselves in its Behalf would endeavour to introduce Order and
Uniformity into it, and Provide for a Succession in the Ministry. The Silence on
this Subject which hath universally prevailed, and still prevails, is a Matter of real
Concern to me, as it seems to portend an utter extinction of that Church which I so
highly venerate.

As I flatter myself your Sentiments correspond with my own, I cannot deny
myself the Satisfaction of writing you on the Subject.

Every Person I have conversed with is fully sensible that something should
be done, and the sooner the better. For my own Part, I think the first step that
should be taken, in the present unsettled State of the Country, is to get a Meeting
of as many of the Clergy as can be conveniently collected. Such a Meeting appeal s f,
to be peculiarly necessary in order to look into the condition of the Widows Fund, 1
which may at present be an object worth attending to, but will unavoidably dwindle
to nothing, if much longer neglected. Would it not, therefore, be proper to ad
vertise a Meeting of the Corporation in the Spring at Brunswick, or any other place

1 The Charitable Corporation for the Relief men of the Church of England in the American
of the Widows and Children of deceased Clergy- Colonies, established prior to the Revolution.

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 17

that may be thought more convenient, and endeavour to get together as many as
possible of the Clergy who are not members, at the same time and place.

A sincere Regard to the Interests of the Church induces me to make these
Proposals, wishing to be favored with your sentiments on this subject. If anything
should occur to you as necessary to be done, in order to put us upon an equal foot
ing with other Denominations of Christians, and cement us together in the Bonds
of Love, I should be happy in an opportunity of assisting in it.

I am, Reverend Sir,

Your alFectionate Brother,

And very humble Servant,

ABRAHAM BEACH.
THE REVEREND DR. WHITE.

We have reason to regret here, as in many other connections, that
the voluminous manuscript correspondence of Bishop White has so few
copies or drafts of his own communications. In some instances we
have been fortunate enough to supply the deficiency from other collec
tions; but, in the present instance, we can only infer the doctor s
answer from Mr. Beach s response the following month :

NEW BRUNSWICK, 22d March, 1784.

REVEREND SIR : As soon as I was made acquainted by your Favour of the
7th Feb. of your concurrence in the Proposed Meeting of the Clergy, I wrote to
Mr. Provoost and Mr. Moore, of New York, on the subject. They both approve of
the Measure ; and not only approve of it, but think it absolutely necessary..

In a Letter I received from Mr. Blackwell, some time ago, he proposed
Tuesday, llth May, as a proper time for the Meeting, and acquiesced with my
proposal of Brunswick for the place. I remarked this in my Letter to Mr.
Provoost ; in answer to which he acquainted me that on consulting Mr. Duane, and
other Members of the Corporation in New York, they discovered a desire that the
Meeting should be held in New York, on Wednesday, the 12th May.

For my own Part, I have no manner of Objection to the Alteration, any
farther than its depriving me of the Company of some of my Brethren at my
House. Even this Pleasure, however, I am ready to forego, if our meeting in New
York may have any tendency to promote peace and harmony in the Church there.
This expectation and belief is the principal Reason for their wishing for the Altera
tion with regard to time and place.

Should this proposal of meeting in New York, on Wednesday, the 12th May,
meet with your approbation, will you be so good as to acquaint the members of
the Corporation in Pennsylvania, and desire their attendance ? Would not adver
tising in the public papers be proper ?

Some of the Lay Members may. perhaps, scarcely think it worth their while
to take so much Trouble without a prospect of immediate Profit to themselves. I
cannot but flatter myself, however, that there are some still, who would wish to
promote the Interests of Religion in general to save the Church of which we are
Members, from utter decay and consequently to promote the real happiness and
prosperity of the country. Persons of this character will not, surely, withhold
their assistance at this veiy critical juncture.

. . . I should be exceedingly happy to hear from you, as soon as your
Convenience will permit; and am, Rev. Sir,

Your affectionate Brother,

And very Humble Servant,

ABRAHAM BEACH.

REV. DR. WHITE.

Recurring to the subject a few weeks later, the amiable Mr.
Beach announces the completion of his arrangements for the proposed
meeting at New Brunswick, and requests his brother of Philadelphia
to open the services there with a sermon: His letter is as follows :

18 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

NEW BRUNSWICK, 13th April, 1784.

REVERETD SIR : I have just received a Letter from Mr. Provoost, signify
ing his concurrence with the first appointment. It is at length agreed, upon
all hands, that our meeting be held at Brunswick, on Tuesday, the llth May;
and as the day is near at hand, I think no Tune ought to be lost in giving the
proper Notice.

I wish you would be so good as to advertise it in one of your News Papers,
with an invitation to all Clergymen of the Episcopal Church; and perhaps you
may think it proper to invite respectable characters of the Laity, as matters of
general concern to the Church may probably be discussed. As soon as I find the
Advertisement in a Philadelphia paper, I will cause it to be inserted in one hi New
York ; and will write, likewise, to all concerned in Jersey.

You will doubtless agree with me in the propriety of having a Sermon on the
occasion. Will you be so good as to preach it?

I am much obliged to you for the Pamphlet you were so kind as to send me.
I had the Pleasure of reading it on its first Publication, and am happy to agree with
you in every particular, excepting the necessity of receding from ancient usages.
If this necessity existed in time of war, I cannot think that it does at present;
and as you convey the same idea in your letter, I flatter myself our sentiments on
Church Government entirely agree.

Your affectionate Brother,

And very Humble Servant,

ABRAHAM BEACH.

REVEREND DR. WHITE.

We have given these copious extracts from the correspondence
of those most active at this period of our church organization for
the purpose of presenting, as in the case of Dr. Inglis s lengthy
communication, the views of White, and the arguments with which
he supported them, to be learned, unfortunately, only from the
quotations made by his correspondent for the purpose of answering
them, and also to show the influence in the Church already attained
by this comparatively young man, when the old and experienced are
found waiting for his advice, or seeking to influence his action.

.Thus already was he a primus inter pares, without whose aid and
influence nothing could be successfully done or even attempted.

The meeting in New Brunswick met, as appointed, on the
eleventh of May. Bishop White, in his " Memoirs," dates this
preliminary gathering a little later in the month ; but the original rec
ords, still preserved, in the handwriting of one of its members, subse
quently the second Bishop of New York, are conclusive on this point.
These simple minutes of our preliminary convention are informal and
brief, filling less than a common letter-sheet ; and their preservation
is solely owing to the care with which Bishop White gathered and
preserved the data of our history. 1

1 " At New Brunswick, Tuesday, llth May, ensuing, for the Purpose of soliciting their Con-

1784, several Members of the Episcopal Church, currcuce with us in such Measures as may be

both of the Clergy & Laity, from the States of deemed conducive to the Union & Prosperity of

New York, New Jersey, & Pennsylvania were the Episcopal Churches in the States of America,
assembled together, present: The Rcv d - D r - "Also agreed by the Gentlemen present,

White, Rev 1 - D r - Magaw, Rev d - M r - Beach, Rev 4 - that the undermentioned Persons be requested to

M - Bloomer, Rev 4 - M r - Frascr, Rev d - M r - Ogdcn, correspond with each other, & with any other

Rev 4 - M r - Blackwcll, Rev*- M r - Bodcn, Rcv d - Persons, for the Purpose of forming a Conti-

M r - Bcnj n - Moore, Rcv d - M r - Tho - Moore, ncntal Representation of the Episcopal Chmvh,

James Parker, John Stevens, Richard Stevens, & for the better Management of other Concerns

John Dennis, Esquires, Col. Hoyt& Col. Furman. of the said Church.

" It was agreed, that the Rcv d - Mess- Beach, "Rev d - Mess"- Bloomer, Provoost & B

Bloomer & B. Moore be requested to wait upon Moore for New York.

the Clergy of Connecticut, who are to be con- " Rev 4 - Mess Beach, Ogden & Ayres for

vcncd on the Wednesday in Trinity Week next New Jersey.

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION.

While this correspondence was going on, and before the arrange
ments for this informal meeting at New Brunswick had been perfected,
there had taken place, at the instance of Dr. White, the measures for
convening a State Convention in close connection with the wider ec
clesiastical organization already in process of formation. Thus was
the clear and comprehensive mind of White grasping at once the de-
tails of the local and^eueral government of the Church ; and the theories
promulged in " The Case of the Episcopal Churches Considered " were
being put to the test of actual trial, establishing in the test their
originator s claims to remarkable foresight and unusual constructive
and executive power.

Nor was this all that the earnest and laborious White contributed
to the general organization of our Church. There were letters, written
at length and in detail, letters still remaining, and, from their faded
yellow foolscap pages and well-formed characters, abounding in the
quaint contractions, betokening the hurry and drive of a wearisome
correspondence, speaking to us again and again of the love and interest
felt by this excellent man in the successful working out of his plans
for good for the Church of Christ. These letters, borne by post or
packet, to Parker, in Boston, and through him to Bass, at Newbury-

port, and even to the then destitute parish at Falmouth, just reviving
from the ashes of the bombardment, and, as yet, unable to secure or
support a clergyman ; finding their way to New York, where the
patriot Whigs were busied in measures for the election of Provoost
to the rec
tor ship of
Trinity and
the episco
pate of that
State ; easily

carried by water to the excellent Wharton, at Wilmington, in Dela- &gt;
ware, where the first convert from Romanism to the Protestant faith
in our American Church, was beginning a life-long work of faithful
labors in his new ecclesiastical home ; borne on the great mail roads
to the thoughtful William West, in Baltimore, one of the most earn
est-minded and best of men ; taken by coach to Chestertovvn, in Mary-

" Rev a - D r - White, D -Magaw, & M r - Black- out consulting his Colleagues of the same State,

well for Pennsylvania. whenever it may be deemed expedient." / 7 ~"*

" Any one of which Persons of each State the Bishop White Papers.
respectively, to correspond with the others, with-

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

land, where the indefatigable Smith, driven from one college, had
speedily inaugurated another of reputation and success ; pressing
further, by winding roads and water-courses, to Fairfax, in Virginia,
where the pious Griffith was laboring in his pleasant parish, uncon
scious of the trials that awaited him in his struggle for the episcopate ;
and reaching even South Carolina, where Purcell, an interested
correspondent of the painstaking White, received them with mingled
hopes and fears as to his chances for a mitre ; these letters, in a day
when note-paper and penny posts were never dreamed of by the most
sanguine of correspondents, were the great stimulants to flagging ex
ertions, and the cause, we may not doubt, of success in quarters where
any other pen would have found no such response. And, borne across
the water in the heavy mail-bags of slowly-sailing packets, they con
veyed to old friends and new ones tokens of church life in our western
hemisphere, where many anxious hearts had feared that life was all
crushed out. Surely, then, as there are piled around us, while we
write, volume after volume of these carefully considered letters, ever
fresh in their expressions, and fair in their swift chirography, we can
not withhold from White the patient, laborious, loving father of
our revived, reorganized Church our highest meed of praise with an
ever-deepening respect, an ever-increasing honor.

It was a wise Providence, as we shall see, that united in the work
of laying thus broad and deep the foundations of our American Church,
the apostolic Seabury and the saintly White. Recognizing, as we can
not fail to do, the minor points of theological difference that were never
deemed by the latter of importance enough to cause any diminution
of the " affection and respect " l with which he regarded the former,
we may well and wisely rejoice, that, with the acknowledged diversity
of gifts, of graces, of opinions, and of temper and character, the bishops
of Connecticut and Pennsylvania were chosen of God to build up,
independently at first, and then unitedly, the firm fabric of our eccle
siastical organization. Had it been formed wholly as the one wished
it, it might have been found impracticable. Had the other s ideas
been carried out, without the modification after years experience and
conference with his Episcopal brother brought about, there might have
been found tendencies to radicalism in the working of our system.
But, by these holy men s united efforts, there was built up, with no)
untempered mortar, under God, " a glorious Church"- built by thesejl
his servants, on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus/
Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

TTTE append the "testimonial" of Dr. Smith, addressed to tho Archbishop of
y V Canterbury, Dr. John Moore, and signed by the Maryland clergy, which is
still preserved in the hands of one of his descendants :

l Bishop White, in his " Memoirs of the Church," 2d cd., p. 8-1.

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 21

44 MARYLAND, ANNAPOLIS,

"AugfclG 1 ", 1783.

" MY LORD Whereas the good people of this State in communion with the
Church of England have long laboured & do still labour under great Difficulties,
through the want of a regular Clergy to supply the many Parishes, that have for a
considerable time been vacant

"To prevent therefore and guard against such an unhappy situation for the
future, We the Convocation or meeting of the Clergy of the Church of England
have made choice of, and do recommend our Brother the Reverend Doctor Wuliam
Smith, as a fit and proper Person, and every way well qualified to be invested with
the Sacred Office of a Bishop, in order to perpetuate a regular succession of Clergy
Among us. We do with the greater confidence present unto your Lordship this
Godly and well learned Man to be ordained and consecrated Bishop ; being perfectly
satisfied that he will duly execute the office whereunto he is called, to the edifying
of the Church, and to the Glory of God.

" Your Lordship s well known Zeal for the Church and Propagation of the
Christian Religion, induces us to trust that your Lordship will compassionate the
case of a remote and distressed People, and comply with our Earnest Request in
this matter. For without such Remedy the Church in this Country, is in imminent
danger of becoming Extinct

That your Lordship may long continue An Ornament to the Church, is the
hearty Prayer of My Lord

" Your very Dutiful and Most obedient Servants
JOHN GORDON, St. Michael s, Talbot County
JOHN MACPHERSON, W m & Mary Parish, Charles County
W" THOMSON, St. Stephen s Parish, Cecil County.

SAMUEL KEENE, Dorchester & Great Choptank Parishes, Dorchester County.
W" WEST, S . Paul s Parish, Baltimore County.
GEORGE GOLDIE, King & Queen, Saint Mai-y s.

JOHN BOWIE, S . Peter s, Talbot.

JOHN STEPHEN, All-Faith Parish, Saint Mary s County

WALTER MAGOWAN, St. James Parish, Ann-Aundel Cty.

W" HANNA, St. Margaret, Ann-Arundel

JOSEPH MESSENGER, St. Andrew s Parish, St. Mary s County

Trio . JNO. CLAGGET, S . Paul s Parish, Prince George s County

THOMAS GATES, St. Ann s, Annapolis.

JOHN ANDREWS, S Thomas, Bait. County.

HAMILTON BELL, Stepney, Somerset County

FRANCIS WALKER, Kent Island, Queen Ann s County

JOHN STEWART, Port Tobacco Parish, Chai-les County

LEO CUTTING, Allhallow s Parish, Worcester County

WILL SMITH, Stepney Parish, Worcester County.

RALPH HIGINBOTHAM, S Ann s Parish, Ann Arundel County

EDWARD GANTT, Junior, Christ Church Parish, Calvert County
HATCH DENT, Trinity Parish, Charles County."

The history of the adoption of the name " Protestant Episcopal," as applied
to the American Church, is given by the late Dr. Ethan Allen, historiographer of
the Diocese of Maryland, in his " Protestant Episcopal Conventions in Maryland
of A.D. 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783," appended to the Convention Journal of 1878. It
is as follows :

" The Convention convened at Chestertown, Kent county, Nov. 9th, 1780.
" There were present,

Rev. SAMUEL KEENE, Rector of St. Luke s, Queen Anne s county.
Rev. WILLIAM SMITH, D.D., Rector of Chester Parish, Kent county.

Rev. JAMES JONES WILMER, Rector of Shrewsbury Parish, Kent county.
Col. RICHARD LLOYD, Vestryman of St. Paul s Parish, Kent county.

4 Mr. JAMES DUNN, " " " "

Mr. JOHN PAGE, Vestryman of St. Paul s Parish, Kent county.

Mr. RICHARD MILLER, " "

4 Mr. SIMON WICKES, " "

Dr. JOHN SCOTT, Vestryman of Chester Parish, Kent county.

Mr. JOHN BOLTON, " " 4 " "
Mr. J. W. TILDEN, " " " " "

22 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

14 Mr. ST. LEGEB EVERETT, Vestryman of Chester Parish, Kent county.

"Mr. JAMES WROTH, " " " "

" Mr. JOHN KENNARD, Church Warden of Chester Parish, Kent county.

" Mr. STURGESS, " " "

" Mr. CiiitiSTOi iiER HALL, Vestryman of Shrewsbury, S. Sassafras, Kent.

Mr. GEORGE MOFFETT, " " " "

" Mr. WILLIAM KEATING, "

Mr. C , Church Warden

" Mr. JOHN BROWN, Vestryman of St. Luke s, Queen Anne s county.
Mr. DOWNS, " " "

" Dr. WILLIAM BORDLY.

Dr. VAN DYKE.

Col. ISAAC PERKINS.

Mr. CIIAS. GROOM.

Mr. WILLIAM KEENE.
Mr. JAMES HACKETT.

" Dr. Smith was appointed President, and Mr. Wilmer, Secretary.

" A petition to the General Assembly of Maryland for the support of public
religion was then read and approved, and ordered to be sent to each Vestry in the
State ; and if by them approved, after obtaining signatures in their respective
parishes, it was to be carried up to the legislature. . . .

" On motion of the Secretary, it was proposed that the Church known in the
province as Protestant be called the Protestant Episcopal Church, and it was so
adopted."

NOTE. In a letter dated May 6, 1810, from the Rev. James Jones Wilmer to
Bishop Claggett, he writes, " I am one of the three who first organized the Episco
pal Church during the Revolution, and am consequently one of the primary aids of
its consolidation throughout the United States. The Rev. Dr. Smith, Dr. Keene and
myself held the first convention at Chestertown, and I acted as secretary." He also
states in this letter that " he moved that the Church of England as heretofore so
known in the province be now called The Protestant Episcopal Church, and it was
so adopted." See Md. Archives.

The records of the first meeting in Pennsylvania, at the instance and under the
superintendence of Dr. White, are given in full from the original manuscript, in
Dr. White s handwriting, in the archives of the General Convention Another
copy, in the same handwriting, is in the possession of the author.

PHILADELPHIA, March 29, 1784,

At y* House of y* rev d D r White,

Rector of Christ s Church & S Peters.

In consequence of Appointments made by y* Vestry of Christ s Church & S 1
Peters and by y* Vestry of S 1 Paul s Church, viz., by y Vestry of Christ s Church &
S Peter s as folio weth,

" The Rector mentioned to y* Vestry that he lately had a Conversation with
y* rev* D r Magaw on y* Subject of appointing a Committee from y* Vestries of
" their respective Churches to confer with y Clergy of y said Churches, on y*
" Subject of forming a representative Body of y* episcopal Churches in this State,
" & wished to have y* Sense of this Vestry thereon. After some consideration y*
" Vestiy agreed to appoint Matthew Clarksou & W" Pollard for Christ s Church and
" D r Clarkson & M 1 John Chaloner for S Peters."

And by y* Vestry of S Paul s Church as followeth,

" A Copy of y Minute of y* Vestiy of y* United Churches of Christ s Church
" & S Peters of v* 13th of Nov last was, by y^ rev* D r Magaw, laid before this
" Vestiy & is as follows. (Here followeth y* Minutes.) The above Minute being
" taken into consideration and this Vestry concurring in Opinion thereon, ununi-
"mously appointed Lambert Wilmer & Plunket Fleeson Esq 1 on y* part of this

sembled at y* time & place above mentioned.

The Body thus assembled, after taking into consideration y* Necessity of

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 23

speedily adopting Measures for y" forming a Plan of ecclesiastical Government for
y" Episcopal Church, are of Opinion, that a Subject of such Importance ought to be
taken up, if possible, with y" concurrence of y* Episcopalians generallyln y" U.
States. They therefore, resolve to ask a Conl erence with such Members of y* epis
copal Congregations in y* Counties of this State as are now in Town ; & they
authorize y* Clergymen now present to converse with such Persons as they can find
of y* above Description & to request their meeting this Body at Christ s Church on
Wednesday Evening at seven O Clock.

Adjourned to y same Time & Place.

CHRIST S CHURCH, March 32.

The Clergy & y two Committees assembled according to adjournment, (all
y* Members being present except* M" Clarkson Esq, detained by sickness), &
y* Body thus assembled elected D r White their Chairman.

The Clergy reported, that agreeably to y appointment of y last Meeting,
they had spoken to several Gentlemen, who readily consented to y* proposed
Conference.

The Meeting continued some Time ; when it was signified to them, that several
Gentlemen who had designed to attend were detained by y unexpected Sitting of
v* hon 1 House of Assembly, they being Members of that House. The hon 1 James
Read Esq" attended according to Desire.

After some Conversation on y 9 Business of this Meeting, it was resolved, that
a circular Letter be addressed to y* Ch: wardens & Vestrymen of y respective epis
copal Congregations in y State ; and that y* same be as followeth ; viz.,

GENTLEMEN, The episcopal Clergy in this City, together with a Committee
appointed by y e Vestry of Christ s Church & S* Peters and another Committee ap
pointed by y" Vestry of S Paul s Church in y e same for y purpose of proposing a
Plan of ecclesiastical Government, being now assembled, are of Opinion, that a
Subject of such Importance ought to be taken up, if possible, with y concurrence
of y* Episcopalians generally in y U. States. They have therefore resolved as pre
paratory to a general Consultation, to request y* Church wardens and Vestrymen
of each episcopal Congregation in y State to delegate one or more of their Body to
assist at a Meeting to be held in this City on Monday y* 24 th day of May next, and
such Clergymen as have parochial Cure in y said Congregations to attend y* Meet
ing; which they hope will contain a full Representation of y* episcopal Church in
this State.

The above Resolve, Gentlemen, the first Step in their Proceedings, they now
respectfully and affectionately communicate to you.

Signed, in behalf of y Body now assembled,

W. WHITE, Chairman.

Resolved : that a circular Letter be sent to some one Gentleman in each of the
said Congregations ; and that Copies of y same be left with y Chairman, y re
spective Directions to be supplied by him after due Enquiry ; & that y Letter be
as followeth ; viz.,

SIR, The Body herein mentioned, bein^ informed that you are a Member
of y* episcopal Church in & always ready to attend to it s concerns, take y*

Liberty of requesting you to deliver y enclosed.

Signed in behalf of y* said Body,

W. WHITE, Chairman.

Resolved : that y Letters addressed to y* Churches formerly included in y*
Mission of Radnor be enclosed under Cover to y* reV 1 W. Currie their former
Pastor ; & the Clergy are desired to accompany them with a Letter of y e said rev*
Gentleman requesting his Assistance at y proposed Meeting.

Resolved : that as j^ rev d Joseph Hutchins is y Minister of y* Churches for
merly included in y Mission of Lancaster, y circular Letter be addressed to him &
not to y* Ch: wardens & Vestrymen of y said Congregations.

Resolved : that it be recommended to y Vestries under whose appointments
these Proceedings are made, to cause y* same to be read to their respective Con
gregations on Easter Monday at their annual Election of Ch: wardens & Vestrymen.

The Chairman is empowered to call Meetings, at any time previous to Easter.

Adjourned.

24 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

At y* house of D White,
April G lh .

The Clergy & y* Committee* met ; except Matthew Clarkson Esq" who was
detained by Sickness.

The Chairman reported that he had forwarded Letters to every Church of
which he could receive Information ; & that there are two small Congregations who
were never provided with an Incumbent, of whom he hath not yet been able to
ascertain, whether they be in Chester County or in y* State of Delaware ; he is desired
to make further Enquiry & in case they shall be Ibund to be in Chester County, to
invite them to y* intended Meeting. 1 he names of y* gent" to whom y* Letters have
been addressed, are as follow: those for y* Late Mission of Radnor to y* rev* W n
Currie ; those for y* late Mission of Lancaster to y* rev 4 Joseph Hutehins ; that for
Oxford to M Cotman; that for All-Saints, Pequestan, to M r Johnston; that for
Whitemarsh to M r Sam 1 Wheeler ; that for Bristol to W. Coxe Esq" ; that for Read
ing to Collinson Read Esq" ; that for Morlatton to M r George Douglass ; that for
Carlisle to Col. Smith ; that for York to Col. Hartley ; that for a Church near York
to y* same Gentleman; that for Chester to Edw d Vernon Esq"; that for Marcus
Hook to M Sam 1 Armer ; and that for Concord to M r Isaak Bullock.

The foregoing is a true Ace of y proceedings of y episcopal Clergy & Com
mittees from y respective Vestries of y* episcopal Churches at three different
Meetings.

Signed in behalf of y* said Body,

W. WHITE, Chairman.

P.S. It appearing that the Rev d M r Tiling is y* Minister of v* ep l : Ch : in
Caernarvon & Piquea & that y* rev d M r Mitchell had gathered a Congregation at
Fort Pitt, y* Clergy wrote to those Gent" inviting them to y* Meeting together with
Delegates from their Vestries, the Committees of y two Vestries being at this Time
dissolved by y* Elections at Easter.

W. WHITE.

[The original manuscript bears the following endorsement : ]

I deposit this with y* Committee of y* General Convention for collecting
Journals : it being y* original Record of y* first steps taken for y* organizing of y*
episcopal Church throughout y* Union.

WM: WHITE.

Oct. 30, 1821.

Endorsed " First Meeting of Conv" for Organizing y* Church."

Bishop White begins the concluding paragraph of his " Episcopal Charge
on the Subject of Revivals, delivered before the Forty-eighth Convention of the
Diocese of Pennsylvania, and addressed to the clerical members of the Convention,
Printed by order of the Convention, Philadelphia, 1832," with the following
words :

" Brethren, it is bordering on the half of a century since the date of the
incipient measures of your bishop, for the organizing of our church out of the
wreck of the Revolution."

On a copy of this charge in possession of Thomas H. Montgomery, esq., of
Philadelphia, the bishop has added in the last blank pages, the following note:

Those Measures began with y* Author s Pamphlet, entitled " The Case of y*
Episcopal Churches in y United States considered."

The Circumstances attached to that Publication are y* following :
. The Congregations of our Communion throughout y U. States, were approach
ing to Annihilation. Altho within this City, three episcopal Clergymen, includ
ing y* Author, were resident & officiating ; y e church over y* rest of y* State, had
become deprived of their Clergy during y* War, either by Death, or by Departure
for England. In y* eastern States, with two or three Exceptions, there was a ces
sation of y e Exercises of y" Pulpit ; owing to y* necessary Disuse of y* Prayers for
y* former Civil Rulers. In Maryland & in Virginia, where y Church had enjoied
civil Establishments, on y* ceasing of these, y* Incumbents of y* Parishes, almost with
out Exception ceased to officiate. Further South, y* Condition of y* Church was
not better, to say y* least. At y* Time in Question, there had occurred some Cir
cumstances, which prompted y* Hope of a Discontiuance of y* War : but, that it

THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 25

would be with y* Acknowlegement of American Independence, there was little
Reason to expect.

On y 6" 1 of August 1702, y* Congress, as noticed on their printed Journal of
that Day, received a Communication irom Sir Guy Carleton & Admiral Digby,
dated y" 2* of that Month, which gave y first Opening of y Prospect of Peace.
The Pamphlet had been advertised for Sale in y e " Pennsylvania Packet" of y* G h
& some Copies had been previously handed by y* Author, to a few of his Friends.
This suspended y intended Proceedings in y Business ; which, in y Opinion of
y" Author, would have been justified by Necessity, & by no other Consideration.

It was an Opinion commonly entertained, that if there should be a Discon
tinuance of military Operations, it would be without y* Acknowlegement of Inde
pendence as happened after y* Severance of y* Netherlands from y Crown of Spain.
Of y e like Issue there seemed probable Causes, in y Feelings attendant on disap
pointed Efforts for Conquest ; & in y* Belief cherished, that y" Succeses of y* former
Colonists would be followed by Dissentions, inducing Return to y* Domination of
y Mother Country. Had y* War ended in that way, our obtaining of y* Succession
from England would have been hopeless. The Remnant of y Episcopal Church
in Scotland, labouring under penal Laws not executed, would hardly have re
garded y bringing down on themselves of y* Arm of Government. Fear of y* like
Offence would have operated in any other Quarter to which we might have had
Recourse. In such a Case, y e obtaining of y* Succession in Time to save from Ruin,
would seem to have been impossible.

CHAPTER II.

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH.

"TpARLY in October, in the year of grace 1784, there gathered in
fij New York from New England, and all along the seaboard to
Virginia, the representatives of our communion, bent on the
pious work of reorganizing their torn and shattered Church. From
Boston, home of the Puritans, came the courtly Parker, and the well-
powdered wig and ample
shovel-hat he wore, crowned
a face benignant in its ever-
ready smile, and a T)road,
well-shapen forehead, indic
ative of intellectual power. He had come to represent the States of
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, met in convention the month before,
and, though, like White, young in years and in the ministry, his
prudent patriotism amidst the opening scenes of the Revolution had
long since placed him in the rectorship of Trinity, where he had been
but an assistant before ; and had won for him, besides, the confidence
and esteem of his townsmen of all sects and parties. To him, now
that the Avar was over, the Church in New England looked up as to a
leading man in her councils,
and afterwards, by his active
exertions and patient wait
ing, for both were required
in this delicate and" difficult
task, the efforts of White
for the healing of the breach
between the Church in Con
necticut and the Church in
the other States were ably
furthered, and were brought
at length to a successful and
most happy issue. Well,
then, may Samuel Parker s
name stand first among the
members of this preliminary
gathering for organization.
Connecticut at first had shrunk from what was then a novelty , an
ecclesiastical convention of which the representatives of the laity
formed a component part. They had, as clergy, met more than a
year ago, and their choice for the episcopate had fallen on the earnest
and persevering Seabury, who, though they knew it not as yet, was
now preparing for his journey northward into Scotland for the imposi-

OLD TRINITY CHURCH, BOSTON.

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH. 27

tion of holy hands. But still clinging to the hope and trust that had
shone out so bright in them when others doubted of the possibility of
the church s full and complete reviving, they waited the result of their
application to the mother-land. And now, as their last advices from
abroad had hinted at a change of plans, or, rather, at the possibility
of a resort to the alternative of Scotland, suggested when the choice
of Seabury was made, they were the more inclined to await the per
fecting of their Church by the presence of a bishop in their councils,
than to engage without one in what seemed to them a premature effort
for organization and ecclesiastical reform. Still, after conference with
the Rev. Messrs. Abraham Beach, of New Jersey, who first suggested
the idea of a general meeting of this nature, and Joshua Bloomer and
Benjamin Moore, of New York, who had been deputed to attend their
convocation to urge their cooperation and presence, they decided to
send a delegation with carefully defined powers, and added their influ
ence to that of the committee in securing a representation from the
States further eastward. Consequently, the Eev. John R. Marshall
appeared and took his seat as the deputy from the State of Connecticut.
Of this gentleman wo know but little. His name occurs nowhere else
on our journals or published records, and few traces, if any, remain
of his life and ministry, save this embalming of his name, for all
time, on the rudely printed broadside which contains the doings of
this primary convention of our Church.

The patriot Rector of Trinity heads the list of the deputies from
the State in which the convention met. We can almost see him, as,
dignified in mien even to stateliness and reserve, he moved among his
peers as one born to high command. There was something of the
soldier in the composition of Provoost, and the Huguenot blood, in its
ininglings with that of the more phlegmatic Hollanders, had not lost
all its fire. Witness his exploit at East Camp, when his farm was
ravaged by the British, a story all his biographers delight to detail.
But with all the fire and force of his brave ancestry, there was in him
that scholarly love of ease and enjoyment of quiet contemplation
restraining him, if canon law and church allegiance had not, from the
exercise of arms during the long strife of the Revolution. We may
indeed lament that, when souls were famishing and perishing for the
bread of life, Provoost could find it in his heart to spend his days and
years in study, withdrawn from all ministerial duty, at his country
seat upon the Hudson ; but we are thankful that anything kept him
from the field of conflict and the stain of blood.

Just now Provoost was doubtless the most prominent of the clergy
of New York, and already was " bishop-designate " by the warm friends
among the Episcopalians his consistent patriotism had secured. By
virtue of this eminence his name heads the long list of the New York
delegation, and with him were Beach, the excellent and pious mission
ary, who had left his old field of labor in New Jersey for an assistancy
at Trinity, New York ; and Moore, no great friend to Provoost, be
cause, like Beach, rather "a Tory than a Whig in politics^ and yet so
mild and saintly as to make all jnen friends to him; and Joshua
Bloomer, a man of mark in the Church ; and Cutting, one of the old

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

clergy, faithful to his king till peace was gained, yet still remaining in
his American home, unseduced by larger salaries in the bleak provinces,

or pensions in the
mother-land ; and
Thomas Moore,

tisan of Seabury
afterwards, much
to the annoyance
of the patriot

Bishop of New York. Of the laity there were the Hon. James Duane,
and Marinus Willet, and John Alsop, Esquires, all from Trinity, and
old New Yorkers, full
of years and honors
then, and not forgot
ten now. New Jersey
sent the factious Uzal
Ogden, whose strug
gle for the bishopric
of that State forms an
unpleasant chapter in our ecclesiastical annals, and with him the respected
names, yet well remembered there, of John DeHart and John Chetwood,
Esquires, and Mr. Samuel Spragg, soon to be ordained by Seabury s
hands . Doctorates in divinity were not so common then as now , and only
White, who had just been honored thus by the college at Philadelphia,
and Magaw, then vice-provost of that institution, of the Pennsylvania
list, and the famous Dr. Smith, whose degree came first from Oxford,
then from Dublin, and last of all from Aberdeen, in this first conven
tion had this appendage to their names. Of Magaw we need only
say that his was an honored name, and his a useful, happy life.

Joseph Hutchins, of Lancaster, was joined with the two most promi-^
nent of the Philadelphia clergy t and was worthy of this honored asso-)

ciation. With these
gentlemen came
Matthew Clarkson,
Richard Willing,
Samuel Powel, and
Richard Peters,
Esquires, men of
fame and fortune,
whose names willlive
in the Church they helped to revive.

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH. 29

Delaware, in its weakness, sent the Rev. Sydenham Thome and
Charles Henry Wharton, a man of singular elegance and accomplish
ments, a scion of an old Maryland family of the Romish faith, whose
life was checkered with varying for
tunes, and who found in the church
of his adoption an honored name, de
served by learning, purity , and simple
piety. We have read many of his letters, some of them playful, some
business-like and formal, and others still so full of sweetness and affec
tion that we cannot fail to venerate his memory, and feel that his was

a respect
ed place
among
those who
gathered,
in that
chill Oc
tober, to
revive the
church of

their love. With these two clergymen was added a merchant, Robert
Clay, whose interest in the church s work led him, a few years after, to
seek the laying on of hands in or
dination, and who was spared for
a long life of usefulness in the ,
diocese he thus represented at the L
very start.

Maryland sent to New York,
on this important errand, her most
gifted clergyman, William Smith, D.D., the able president of Washing
ton College, at Chestertown, and but a little before holding the posi
tion of provost of the college and academy of Philadelphia. Of fine
abilities, honored abroad and at home, the most prominent man in
learning and reputation of all our clergy, it was at this very conven
tion that he was destined, alas ! to make shipwreck of a lifetime s
honors, and by a public indulgence now become, we are forced to
believe, habitual in intemperate habits to close to himself the
coveted episcopate none labored more to secure. Soured and saddened
by the unlooked-for opposition of his oldest pupils and dearest friends,
it is a redeeming trait that Dr. Smith relaxed in no respect his efforts
for the church s good, even when there faded out from view life s
most longed-for prize ; and we trust that in declining years, for it was
at this period that his dereliction from duty culminated, the returning
Spirit of God brought peace to his stricken soul, with the pardon
offered by a merciful Saviour, who willeth not the sinner s death.
These were the delegates ; but there is added at the foot of the
list, in the unique copy of the proceedings of this convention which
Bishop White preserved for after years inspection, this Nota Bene:
"N.B. The Rev. Mr. Grin^th, from the State of Virginia, was
present by permission. The clergy of that State being restricted by

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

laws yet in force there, were not at liberty to send delegates, or con
sent to any alterations in the Order, Government, Doctrine, or Wor
ship of the Church."

A letter among the Bishop White correspondence gives us some
additional information with reference to the strange proceedings of the

Virginia clergy in their efforts for reorganization. And this letter,
and this mention of a name we cannot fail to read with a respect
amounting even to veneration, bring before us one of the best of men,
who, from far different reasons than those which withheld this honor
from Smith, failed, like him, of the episcopate.

We linger almost lovingly over the folio broadside on which were
printed, occupying but a single page, the proceedings of this initial
gathering. Turning from it to the huge volume that records the
doings of our last triennial, we have at a glance the evidence of the
church s growth and power. Let us then strive to follow these worthy
men into their gathering- place, and record the proceedings of this
meeting so fraught with consequences of good to generations then
unborn.

Dr. Smith was chosen president; and the Rev. Benjamin Moore,
the secretary, as we have seen, of the informal meeting at New linms-
Avick, again took up the. recording pen. The letters of appointment
were read, and then there followed communications from the clergy of
Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut. From Massachusetts there were
sent the Pennsylvania resolutions we have already referred to, with
some additions guarding against possible tendencies to radicalism, such
as was already rampant in Virginia ; expressly adding to the avowal
of our independence as a Church the expression of the desire for the
episcopal succession from abroad ; restricting the laity to an equal
representation and an equal vote with that allowed to the clergy, and
appointing the Rev. Samuel Parker, of Boston, the Rev. Edward Bass,
of Newburyport, and the Rev. Nathaniel Fisher, of Salem, a com
mittee of correspondence "with the clergy of the other Episcopal
Churches in America, in Convention, committees, or otherwise."
Added to these " fundamental resolutions," printed for the first time in
the notes to the reissue of the early convention journals, 1 was a decided
vote that a circular letter be written, in the name of this Convention, to
the Episcopal clergy in the States of Connecticut, New York, and
Pennsylvania, urging the necessity of their uniting with us in adopt
ing some speedy measures to procure an American episcopate, "as it is

Vol. i., pp 433-436. In the reprint of the pears. The originals were subsequently found
Massachusetts journals, issued by the convention amonr the Bishop Parker and Bishop White
of that diocese in 1849, nothing of this nature ap- correspondence.

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH. 31

the unanimous opinion of this Convention, that this is the primary
object they ought to have in view, because the very existence of the
Church requires some speedy mode of obtaining regular ordination."
Thus, at the outset, did Massachusetts and Rhode Island avow their
hearty maintenance of the old faith and the old polity. With their
resolutions and votes there came a letter from this convention, ad
dressed to the "Reverend and Honored Brethren" of "the Committee
of the Episcopal Church in the State of Pennsylvania," urging most
strenuously the delay of any efforts for organization or ecclesiasti
cal reform other than those absolutely necessary for the immediate
securing of an episcopate, declaring it their unanimous opinion that
"it is beginning at the wrong end, to attempt to organize our Church
before we have obtained a head," and expressing the belief that "a
regular application" made by a "representative body of the Episcopal
Churches in America would easily obtain a consecrated head." To
these clear and decided views, the Church in Massachusetts, and that
in Rhode Island, clung with great tenacity till their reasonable desires
were gratified. And it was in direct fulfilment of these principles that
there was subsequently shown in Massachusetts that marked con
servatism that at length secured the union of all the churches on an
equal basis, and in deference to episcopal precedent and authority, by
which peace was restored to our American communion. Such then
were the views of Massachusetts, and especially of Parker, her dele
gate to New
York ; for the
original letter
whose synopsis

given is written

in his handwrit

ing, and is evi

dently his com

position, though

signed by " J. Graves, Moderator." The communication from Con

necticut was to this effect, as we learn from Bishop White s Memoirs *

"that the clergy of Connecticut had taken measures for the obtaining

of an Episcopate ; that until their design in that particular should be

accomplished, they could do nothing; but that as soon as they should I

have succeeded, they- would come forward with their Bishop, for the f

doing of what the general interests of the Church might require. J

With these official documents brought by the representatives of
the New England States, who, with those from Pennsylvania, were the
only regularly accredited deputies present, 2 the convention proceeded
to " essay the fundamental principles of a general Constitution." 3 The
following gentlemen were appointed on this committee, viz., the Rev.
Dr.s. Smith and White, the Rev. Messrs. Parker and Provoost ; and (
of the laity, Messrs. Clarkson, DeHart, Clay, and Duane. To this
committee was also assigned the further duty of framing and proposing

1 Memoirs, 2d ed., p. 81. s Perry s " Reprint of the Early Journals,"

* Ibid., p. 80. in., pp- 4, 5.

32 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

" a proper substitute for the State Prayers in the Liturgy, to be used
for the sake of uniformity, till a further review shall be undertaken
by a general authority and consent of the Church."

On the following day the committee presented their report. It is
to be found in full in the preface to Bioren s reprint of the convention
journals, edited by Bishop White ; in the reissue of the early journals
which has appeared under the sanction of the General Convention, and
in White s "Memoirs of the Church." It establishes the General Con
vention, defines the character of its members, gives power for associated
action on the part of " Congregations in two or more States," declares
the maintenance of the "Doctrines of the Gospel now held by the
Church of England," and the adherence of the American Church to the
r I/itiiruT of the said Church as far as shall 1&gt;o consistent with the Ameri-
carTRe volution and the Constitutions of the respective States ; " gives
to "a Bishop duly consecrated and settled" in any State, ex-ojficio
memBerSfiip of this convention ; provides for the equality of the clerical
and lay vote, requiring concurrence to secure the passage of any
measure ; and appoints the first meeting of the General Convention
thus established and defined " at Philadelphia, the Tuesday before the
Feast of St. Michael next," expressing the hope that the " Episcopal
Churches in the respective States will send their clerical and lay
deputies, duly instructed and authorized to proceed in the necessary
business herein proposed for their deliberation." Other documents
than the printed records lead us to believe that this "essay," as origi-j
nally presented, was considerably pruned and amended when under the&gt;
Deliberation of the " Committee of the Whole." As appears from the
allusions to the whole business, in correspondence still unpublished,
between White and Parker, the fifth article, as originally reported,
provided for the presidency of a bishop, should one be obtained before
the meeting of the convention ; but this very proper measure, though
supported by the New England delegations, and by Dr. White himself,
was voted down ; a fact we can only explain by the subsequent course
of Provoost with reference to Seabury, whose approaching consecra
tion was now confidently expected. The proposition for changing the
State prayers, referred to this committee, was only acted upon generally
by a declaration of adherence to the English prayer-book. This
appears to have been the work of Parker, who complained bitterly
when the Philadelphia Convention proceeded ruthlessly, and, as he
justly remarked, without any authority, to the complete and thorough
revision of the liturgy. The admission of the laity to our councils,
White s favorite scheme, prevailed ; though in Connecticut the bishop-
elect had received none but clerical votes, and the same was the case
with Dr. Smith, then bishop-elect of Maryland. It was a wise meas
ure, however, as time has since shown us ; and for its adoption White
could well afford to sacrifice other and less important propositions.
Beyond these measures nothing was done, save a recommendation to
the clergy of the respective States to authorize a committee to ex
amine and appoint lay readers for " the present exigency." With this
resolution this " primary Convention," as we should call it nowadays,
adjourned. *"

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH. 33

Its members bore away with them mingled memories, good and
ill. Wharton had observed, with sadness and shame, the reprehensi
ble conduct of the president, Smith, to which he was afterwards to
testify, when, a little later, he, with the rest of the convention at Wil
mington, declined to sign the testimonials of that gifted and erring man
for consecration. White, noting, we may not doubt, the signs of the
coming struggle between Provoost and the Bishop of Connecticut, and
disappointed that a measure designed to prevent any ebullition of feel
ing from an apparent want of respect to the Episcopal office, should
have failed, was still grateful to God that so much had been done ;
while Parker, whose far-seeing mind was equally alive to danger in
this quarter, brooded over the prospect of schism, and was soon found
pouring out his heart in a long epistle to his Pennsylvania friend and
brother, full of warning counsel, coupled with expressions of affection
ate personal regard. Griffith, whose family affairs had called him to
New York, and thus enabled him to be present at the primary meet
ing of a body at one of whose sessions he was destined to die, away
from family and home, returned to his native State, fired with a desire
to share in the pious work of helping on the organization of the Church
of which he was so worthy a member ; while Smith, foreboding, doubt
less, difficulties at home, as well as those he knew were hindering
him abroad in his efforts for the mitre, hurried back to his country
college, and to his controversies with the Presbyterians, and the prose
cution of his schemes of land speculation, in which his ever-active
spirit found abundant occupation.

Again did the mail-bags bear their ponderous packets and letters,
and the printed sheet of the proceedings was hurried hither and thither,
from hand to hand, throughout the land. Again did the trading
vessels bear across the ocean the intelligence to waiting, anxious
hearts, the glad intelligence that there was still life in the almost
crushed and ruined Church. And, in the midst of all this question
ing, and planning, and laboring, when cold November had set in at
last, in a little, unnoticed private chapel, in an " upper room " of a house
in Aberdeen, there knelt, in deep solemnity, one whose bowed head
was not uplifted till, in the solemn act of consecration, he rose the
first bishop of the American Church. Thus were the longings, the
prayers, and the labors of nearly a century gratified. The Church in
America had now a head, vested with the full authority and commission
of a bishop in the Church of God.

Friends in Old England sympathized with the churchmen in New
England in their dissatisfaction with the proceedings in New York.
Duche", immediately on receipt of the news, wrote almost indignantly
as follows :

Your Conclusions at New York, I must tell yon plainly, are quite inconsistent
with the Discipline of the Church of England, which you profess to make ^your
Model, so far as she may be supposed unconnected with any Civil Power. They
are also inconsistent with the Form of Ecclesiastical Discipline which prevailed in
the purest period of the Christian Church. They scorn to be wholly formed upon y*
Presbyterian Model, and calculated to introduce the same Kind ct Government in
the Church, that is established in your State. Whereas the State, according to their
own acknowledgment, will have nothing to do in Church Matters. You have it

34 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

therefore in your [power] to form a Church perfectly primitive, and absolutely
uncontrouled by any Civil Power, so far as its Laws do not interfere with those
of the State.

Judge then with what Astonishment every true Episcopalian must view your
Treatment of the Episcopal Order, by declaring, as you have done, that they shall
have no distinction at your Conventions, but bo only considered as Members, ex-
officio. I consider this as fundamentally wrong. An Episcopal Clergyman can
not confound the Orders of Bishop and Priest, and withhold Assent from due Sub
ordination.

These and other Matters, I hope, will be properly cleared up and settled on
the Arrival of Bishop Seabury, who sails for New York some time during * "*

any

any Power on Earth, and therefore comes to you in " unquestionable Form ;" just
such a Bishop as you would have wished, and such as you could by no other means

have obtained. Receive him, therefore, I beseech you,

j with Cordial Affection, and with that Christian Respect

y *jt / which is due to his high and sacred Office. Suffer no

** .ffU L4. Cdf fl Schism in y" Church. Providence has sent him to ac-

^* *-* complish and preserve a compleat Union in your new

American Episcopal Church. His Consecration, you

know, cannot be approved of here, for Reasons obvious to those who know the
Connection of the Church with the State. I, therefore, could not ask him to offi
ciate for me, neither would he for prudential and proper Reasons. He considers
himself, and must be considered here, as a foreign Bishop. God grant that you
may all be kept in y Unity of the Spirit, and y Bond of Peace.

And Alexander Murray, himself an aspirant for an American
mitre, grumbled at White, in one of his long epistles, in words to this
effect :

Why did not your last Convention at New York, of Clergy and Laity (for
whose benefit Episcopacy is chiefly intended), address the Archbishop of Canter
bury to lay your case before Parliament ? The application of such a public, respect
able Body of men
would have due weight,
after it had been made
apparent that your As-.
semblies could not,
consistently with the
Constitution of the
States, interpose in the
matter, so managing it
in a public manner as to satisfy Parliament that it would give them no offence,
which is carefully avoided here in eveiy instance, that both Powers may live for the
future on good terms, without officiously interfering in the administration of the
affairs of one another, either in Church or State, considering the Jealousies still
entertained on your side of the water.

While the bishops of Scotland, alive, now that Seabury had been
consecrated by them, to all the ecclesiastical measures set on foot
across the water, thus thought and wrote of the New York " funda
mental principles " :

I see the difficulties you will have to struggle with from the loose, incoherent
notions of Church government which seem to prevail too much even among those
of the Episcopal persuasion in some of the Southern States ; but the better princi
ples and dutiful support of your own Clergy will enable you to face the Opposi
tion with becoming fortitude and prudence. And may the great and only Head of
hi? Church strengthen you for the great work to which he has appointed you, and

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH. 35

make you the instrument of frustrating the mischievous Devices of the late Con
vention.

I see their Resolutions printed in some of the London papers exactlv as you

11 1 J_t. _ _ J , , 1 _ i IT*. .1 i ,* __ _

Articles of Union as are directly repugnant to its spirit, and
subversive of its original Design. 1

Wonderfully did God overrule these threatened dangers, and all
the apprehensions of the wisest and truest friends of the Church, at
home and abroad, by a train of providences whose unravelling forms
a striking chapter in our early ecclesiastical history.

In the meantime there had come, from the Old World to the
New, letters denouncing the episcopacy of Seabury, as derived from a
source at once invalid and irregular. Strange to say, these letters
were addressed to a Baptist preacher of Rhode Island, the president
of the college of that denomination lately erected there. One s sus
picions might naturally be roused by the novelty of such a channel of
communication. An English Episcopalian, grandson of an Archbishop
of York, corresponding with a leading Baptist minister of New Eng
land, to weaken the influence and lower the official character of the
first American bishop ! It is but due, however, to the source whence
this strange opposition came, to say that it was from no dislike of Sea-
bury personally, and from no disloyalty to the episcopal office, that
Granville Sharp, the celebrated philanthropist of England, thus assailed
the Scotch succession in his
own land and here. Misguided
as he appears to have been in
this factious attempt, and in
correct, as has subsequently
appeared, as were the data on which he proceeded in his unchari
table task, it was simply and solely that the American Church
might receive from their English mother the apostolic succession they
were seeking. Still, though not only Manning the Baptist, but even
Provoost the Episcopalian, were leagued, as of old Pilate and Herod
were, against the cause and ambassador of Christ, it was left for
White, the patient, loving, trustful one, to clear up the cloud of
obloquy this well-intentioned but misguided man had thrown upon the
name and character of Seabury, and give to the world a vindication
qfboth the Christian temper and the episcopate of our first presiding
bishop.

~"Tfc was with these signs of the coming alienation that there
gathered in convention at Philadelphia, on Tuesday, the 27th of
September, 1785, the clerical and lay deputies of New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South
Carolina. New England, with its organized dioceses and bishop,
though invited, and even urged to attend, stayed at home. Parker
writes to Dr. White, at a later elate, that the strange inconsistency in
refusing in an Episcopal convention to give to the episcopate the

1 Bp. Skinner to Bp. Seabury.

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

presidency its very nature demanded, was a principal cause of this
non-attendance on the part of the North. We cannot wonder at it.
There was no assurance, so far as the " fundamental principles " of
the body was concerned, that, as had lately been the case, both in

the Virginia and South Carolina State conventions, some laymen
might not be placed in the chair of the convention, and his casting
vote made use of in determining matters, not alone of discipline and
worship, but even of doctrine.

As it was, the choice fell on the worthiest man of all who
gathered at this autumnal meeting, and William White was made
president of the first convention of our church that can lay any claim
on the score of numbers to the title "General." The tirst basin
of the meeting was the reading once, and yet again, of the funda
mental rules. It is a little suggestive of the uneasy feeling on the
part of the chief movers in the plan for a thorough revision of the
liturgy that they have, in the printed journal of 1785, entirely
omitted to record the resolutions twice referred to of the primary
meeting of 1784, defining the powers and marking out the course of
business proposed in this first convention. The proceedings of the
gathering in New York were only printed on a single broadside sheet,
and not in full on that ; and this record was, as Bishop White tells us
in his memoirs, 1 "in very few hands at the time," and a few years
later, as he supposed, "generally destroyed or lost." In fact, these
proceedings were never made generally accessible, even in part, till
the reprint of the early journals, edited by Bishop White, appeared in
1817 ; and they were nrst reprinted in full, verbatim et literatim, with
added information obtained from the MSS. of the president, Dr. William
Smith, in the " Notes and Illustrative Documents," appended to the
reissue of the early journals, published under the authority of the
General Convention by the writer. A reason for this omission appears

in the renewal of the
effort made, as we sup-
f\ pose, by Dr. Smith at
J/ New York, and there
i defeated, that the com-
) mittee chosen to adapt
^ the service to the po
litical changes be ap
pointed to report "such
further alterations in
the Liturgy as may be advisable for this Committee to recommend
to the consideration of the Church here represented." Provoost,

1 Second edition, p. 80.

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH.

of New York ; Beach, of New Jersey ; White, of Pennsylvania ;
Wharton, of Delaware ; Smith, of Maryland ; Griffith, of Virginia, and

Purcell, of South Carolina, were the clerical members of this com
mittee, with the Hon. Messrs. Duane, Peters, and Read, Dr. Cradock,
and Messrs. Dennis, Sykes, and Page, of the laity.

Little appears in the journal of this convention indicating the
important changes their action contemplated. The abolition of two
creeds, and the omission of an arti
cle in the only creed retained, the
rearrangement of the prayers, the
reduction of the articles, the expur
gation of the imprecatory clauses
of the psalms, and the removal of
those little archaisms of the English liturgy whose only hold upon
the people for years had been their retention in the church s prayers,
and the appointment of a committee for the preparation of a new
preface and a new calendar, and for the selection of new hymns and
the reduction of the metre psalms, were all hurried through from
Saturday, October 1, when the committee first reported their ".draft
of the alterations ," to Wednesday evening, October 5, when it was
" Itesolved, That the said alterations be proposed and recommended to
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the States from which there
are deputies to this Convention."

Of course, in so brief a time attention could not be given to the de
tails of the work. A committee, consisting of Dr. White as president,)
vyith Drs. Smith and Wharton, was therefore "appointed to publish
the Book of Common Prayer, with the alterations, as well as those
now ratified, in order to render the Liturgy consistent with the Ameri-|
can Revolution and the Constitutions of the respective States, as the
alterations and new Offices recommended to this Church ; and that the
book be accompanied with a proper Preface or Address, setting fortl
the reason and expediency of the alterations ; and that the Committee
have the liberty to make verbal and grammatical corrections, but in)
such manner as that nothing in form or substance be altered." The
same committee were further "authorized to publish, with the Book
of Common Prayer, such of the reading and singing Psalms, and such
a Calendar of proper lessons for the different Sundays and holidays

38 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

throughout the year, as they think proper." Thanks were voted by
name "to the Rev. I^r, Smith for his exemplary diligence and_the;
graitassistancc he has rendered this Convention, as Chairman of the
Committee, in perfecting the important business in which they have
been engaged;" and on Friday, October 7, the day of the adjourn
ment, White read "the Liturgy as altered," and Smith preached a ser
mon, published in a little pamphlet, now among the rarest of the
printed tracts and documents of this interesting period. From its
stained, yellow pages we extract the author s summary of the conven
tion s work :

One part of the service you have just heard, and have devoutly joined in it.\
Here the alterations arc but few, and those, it is hoped, such as tend to render it(
more solemn, beautiful, and affecting! The chief alterations and amendments are\
proposed in the various offices viz., of baptism, etc., as hath been observed to J ou f
before, with the addition of some new services or offices namely, 4uUko 4th day
ol .July, commemorative of the blessings of civil and religious liberty; the first
Thursday &lt;&gt;! November, as a thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth ; and an office
for the visitation of persons under the sentence of death ; of all which you can only
form a true judgment when they shall be published and proposed to you in the new
Prayer-Book.

Besides the hurrying through of a review of the liturgy, the con-j
vcntion of 1785 proceeded to address the English archbishops and&gt;
bishops for the episcopal succession. This was done with no general
distrust of the Scotch episcopacy, but with the natural preference for
that of England, which had led Seabury to wait a year in efforts for the
same, ere he reluctantly turned his steps toward Aberdeen. But, as
White and others well knew, now that the problem so long in suspense
was solved, and the British ministry had seen, in the quiet yet hon
orable reception of Seabury as an unquestioned bishop, the fullest
evidence that the old objections to the introduction of the episcopate
in America had lost their force, and with the fires of partisan rancor
and denominational hate had at length burned out, the question of an
American episcopate was placed on a far different basis from what
it was before the Revolution, when dissenters at home and in the
colonies clamored unceasingly against it. It was secured, and the
further proffer of the boon, if sought, was but a kindly courtesy,
the rather likely to oblige than give reason for national or political
complications and dislikes. So, from the moment Seabury had been
welcomed so heartily by the clergy of Connecticut, with others from
the rest of New England and New York, at his first convocation at
Middletown, that which had been denied to him was known to be at the
call of those who sought it with the like testimonials of character,
learning, and piety, and with the approbation of the civil powers be
sides. The very response made by the Bishop of Connecticut to the
letter inviting the presence of himself and clergy at the Philadelphia
Convention, "seemed," as Bishop White himself assures us, "to point
out a way of obviating the difficulty in the present case." But still it
is the testimony of men on both sides of the ocean men who, from
their position in the Church, knew what they affirmed that, but for
Seabury s consecration at Aberdeen, there would have been no proffer

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH. 39

of the English succession to America, at least till in the lapse of years
there had been far too many opportunities for the accomplishment, l&gt;v
men of latitudinarian views and laxity of morals, of the doctrinal
changes openly advocated in this very convention by the Hon. Mr.
Page, of Virginia, and with which it was rumored, with no little show
of reason, that Provoost at the North, and Madison, Smith, and
Purcell, at the South, were more or less in sympathy. At any rate, the
assertion is directly made at a later date, both by Parker, 1 of Boston, r-
and Dr. Peters, of London, the one well acquainted with the facts on),
both sides of the ocean, and the other all the while cognizant of the
views and feelings of the dignitaries of Church and State in England,
that
for White

elated

renewedly connected our infant Church with the still loved mother,
whose "long continuance of nursing care and protection" we even now
so willingly acknowledge. To trace the steps that led to its reception,]
when the saintly White and the accomplished Provoost knelt Jn the )
chapel of Lambeth for the imposition of the hands of English prelates,
is our next task. We cannot fail to linger lovingly over it, as it re-
veals to us the excel lencevlhe piety, and the manliness of White, in
a most striking light. We are led to dwell upon it all the more as
the records of its inception, progress, and success have never before
been given to the Church. They are found in torn and tumbled letters,
stained and yellow with the lapse of time and the frequent fingerings
of those to whom they brought messages of hope, or else recorded
impressions of doubt or the misgivings of despair ; and they hav&gt;
been rescued, some from garrets, some from cellars, some even fro
the pile of kindlings ready for the flames ; and others, from the first 1
carefully preserved, are from the letter-books of Bishop White him
self. They, and they alone, tell the else untold story of our past, and
give us, in all their fulness and reality, the every-day impressions,
doings, plannings, and results, at this the birth-era of our independen
Church.

The address to the English prelates was the composition of White.
WhileUfe unsparing hands of Smith and his compeers in sub-commit
tee were busied in the elimination of the old Church words, and
doctrines, too, it would seem, from creeds, offices, prayers, psalms,
and articles alike, White was seeking to carry out the earnest
wish of the conservative churchmen of all the scattered churches,
in hastening the coming of a bishop in the English line. The\
address, manly and courteous in its tone, is highly creditable to
the head and heart of its author. It called upon the archbishops and

i Dr. Parker s words arc as follows : of orders received from him ; and I am firmly of

" I am very sorry to see with what coolness opinion that we should never have obtained the

and Indifference some of the Gentlemen in your Succession from England, had he or some other

Convention speak of Bishop Seabury, because I not have obtained it first from Scotland/ Ex-

foresee that this Conduct must create a Schism tract from a letter to Dr. White, dated September

in the Church. However eligible it may appear JJ, 1786.

to them to obtain the succession from the English Vide Perry s " Historical Notes and Docu-

Clmrch, I think there can be no real Objection ments," appended to the reprint of the

to Dr. Scabnry s Consecration or to the Validity Journals, HI., p. 325.

40 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

bishops of England, "from a tender regard to the religious interests
of thousands in this rising empire, professing the same religious prin
ciples with the Church of England," " to confer the Episcopal character
on such persons as shall be recommended by this Church in the several
States here represented, full satisfaction being given of the sufficiency
of the persons recommended, and of its being the intention of the
general body of the Episcopalians in the said States respectively, to
receive them in the quality of Bishops." It alluded to the separation
of Church and State, and the consequent inability of our civil rulers to
join officially in this application, enclosing extracts from the State con
stitutions, showing the legality of the request. It added the expres
sion of grateful remembrance of past favors from the English Church,
and paid a glowing tribute to the venerable Society for Propagating
the Gospel in Foreign Parts. As it told of life, and zeal, and churchly
taste and principle, it must have carried to those to whom it was ad
dressed the promise of a bright future for the American Church. One
cannot read it, as contained in the rare little pamphlet-journal pub
lished at the time, now lying before us, or even as found in later
reprints, without admiration of him who thus, at the outset, stamped
upon the American Church, at the inception of its plans for organiza
tion and perpetuation, the seal of his own high and holy purpose, and
his unshaken love for the old Church find the old church s ways.

Smith, hurrying home to Maryland, had hastily convened a conven
tion there, as soon as the " proposed book" was through the press. No

records of
this meet-

nals and

Remains of Journals," gathered from the papers of the secretary
of these early Maryland conventions, the Rev. Dr. William West, by
the zealous and painstaking Rev. Ethan Allen, D.D., a few years since,
give us but the minute of this meeting s action with reference to the
liturgy. This silence is ominous. From the private letters of the time,
and from the subsequent action of the General Convention at Wil
mington, to which allusion is made by Bishop White, we are forced to
draw the inference that there now began, in Maryland, that unhappy
dissension springing out of the persistent efforts of Dr. Smith for the
episcopate, which terminated a year later by the refusal of the con
vention to renew his election, and the consequent refusal of the General
Convention to recommend him to England for consecration. Thus
early was the lay element, introduced by the sagacious White, the
means of saving the Church from stain ; for it was by a small repre
sentation of laity, two only in number, that this opposition was inau
gurated, and their action was predicated on the report of the doings in
New York, to which we have earlier referred.

In New York, Provoost, whose partisan prejudices, if they were
not personal, would not suffer him to overlook the former toryism of

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH.

the Bishop of Connecticut, annoyed at the presence of Seabury on
Long Island, where he admitted to holy orders the first clergyman
ordained in New York, wrote acrimonious letters to Dr. White, filled
with misstatements as to the bishop s course, and chiefly remarkable
from the intense malignity of feeling they displayed with reference to
one who had never even indirectly injured him, and whose course,
through years of unrelenting opposition from Provoost, was uniformly
good-tempered, conciliatory, and forgiving. In a letter from Mr.
Provoost, published for the first time in the "Notes" to the late reprint
of the early convention journals, there was added to the announce
ment that the " Address to the Archbishops and Bishops" had been sent
by packet, the following characteristic paragraphs :

" I expect no obstruction to our application but what may arise
from the intrigues of the non-juring Bishop of Connecticut, who a few
days since paid a visit to this State (notwithstanding he incurred the
guilt of misprision of treason, and was liable to confinement for life for
doing so), and took shelter at Mr. James Rivington s, where he was
seen only by a few of his most intimate friends. Whilst he was there
a piece appeared in a newspaper under Rivington s direction, pretend
ing to give an account of the late Convention, but replete with false
hood and prevarication, and evidently intended to excite a prejudice
against our transactions, both in England and America.

"On Long Island, Dr. Cebra 1 appeared more openly preached

* This pertinacious misspelling of Bishop
Seabury s name, well known to all who arc
familiar with the manuscript letters of Bishop
Provoost, is noticeable as an evidence of the feel
ing he entertained towards the bishop of Con
necticut.

As for the reliability of the statements of
this letter, it need only be said that the assertion

for Monday, October 31, il"83, enables us to test
the matter in question. "We give it, in connection
with the charge, as it stands word for word in
the newspaper referred to. In our judgment, it is
a truthfnl and candid statement of the action of
the Philadelphia Convention :
, " We are informed that about twenty of the
Episcopvl clergy, joined by delegates of lay gen
tlemen from a number of the congregations in
several of the Southern States, lately assembled
in Convention at Christ Church, Philadelphia,
revised the Liturgy of the Church of England
(adapting it to the late revolution), expunged
i some of the creeds, reduced the Thirty-nine Arti
cles to twenty in number, and agreed on a letter,
addressed to the Archbishops and the Spiritual
Court in England, desiring they would be pleased
to obviate any difficulties that might arise on ap
plication to them for consecrating such respect
able clergy as should be appointed and sent to
London from their body to act as Bishops on the
continent of America, where there is, at present,
onlv one Prelate dignified with Episcopal powers.
viz., the llight Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury,
Bishop of the Apostolical Church in the State of
Connecticut. Hitherto, Mr. Pitt, the British
minister, has vehemently opposed all applications
preferred for consecration to sees In America;
this discouragement occasioned Bishop Seabuiy

to secure his consecration from three of the
Bishops in Scotland, which proves as perfectly
valid and efficient as though obtained from the
hands of their Right Reverences of Canterbury, &lt;
York, and London, and is incontestably proved
by a list of the consccratipn and succession of the
Scottish Bishops since the revolution in 1688,!
under William III."

It must be remembered, in connection with
this newspaper notice, that the journal of the
Philadelphia Convention had not then been
printed, and that all that was known of the pro
ceedings of this meeting were the necessarily
vague rumors afloat at the time, coming from the
few who participated in its discussions as mem
bers, or were present by invitation, and that these
reports were liable to exaggeration, as the story
passed from mouth to mouth. And yet, as it ap
pears by reference to the journal and liturgy
as afterwards published, there is no misrepresen
tation in the article at all. It, indeed, sets the
number of the clergy present in Convention higher
than the journal docs, but this could only give
the impression of greater dignity to the body in
question, and the difference between the actual
number, sixteen, and the " about twenty " referred
to in the " item " published in New York, is too
trifling for further comment. The liturgy was
" revised " far more than the limiting explanation,
" adapting it to the late revolution," gave occa
sion to expect, though this was the extent of the
powers of the Convention; but the full extent of
this revision was not known till the book appeared,
and could hardly have been anticipated by others
than the committee who had it in charge. Two
out of the three creeds were " expunged." The
English archbishops were addressed and there
was then on this continent but " one Prelate
dignified with Episcopal powers," and that pre
late was Bishop Seabury.

42 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

at Hempstead church, and ordained the person from Virginia I formerly
mentioned, being assisted by the Rev. Mr. Moore, of Hcmpstead, and
the Kev. Mr. Bloomer, of New Town, Long Island.

"I relate these occurrences, that when you write next to England,
our friends there may be guarded against any misrepresentations that
may come to them from that quarter."

But to return from this episode. At length, the impatiently
awaited answer from England arrived in New York. A copy of it
was hurried off by Mr. Provoost, in charge of a Presbyterian minister
travelling southward, to Dr. White, who, in turn, informed his brethren
in the States more distant. The original of this letter lies open before
us. Written in bold, open, clerkly hand, and bearing the autograph
signatures of the English prelates, it forms one of the most interesting
documents of our Church history. We copy it, verbatim et literatim,
from the folio sheet preserved in the Bishop White correspondence ;
and we reprint it the more willingly as it is only accessible in the
rare journals of the second convention of the Church in the Middle
and Southern States, and in later reprints of these proceedings, or in
White s admirable and authoritative Memoirs of the Protestant Epis
copal Church. It is as follows :

LONDON February 20, 1786.

To the Clerical and Lay Deputies of the Protestant Episcopal Church in sundry
of the united States of America.

The Archbishop of Canterbury hath received an address dated in Convention,
Christ Church, Philadelphia, October 5, 1785, from the Clerical and Lay Deputies
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in sundry of the united States of America,
directed to the Archbishops and Bishops of England, and requesting them to confer \
the Episcopal Character on such persons as shall be recommended by the Episcopal
Church in the several States by them represented.

This brotherly and Christian Address was communicated to the Archbishop of
York and to the Bishops with as much dispatch as their separate and distant Situa
tions would permit, and hath been received and considered by them with that true
and affectionate regard which they have always shewn towards the Episcopal
Brethren in America.

We are now enabled to assure you, that nothing is nearer to our Hearts than
the Wish to promote your spiritual Welfare, to be instrumental in procuring for
you the complete Exercise of our holy Religion, and the Enjoyment of that
Ecclesiastical Constitution, which We believe to be truly Apostolical, and for
which you express so unreserved a Veneration.

We are therefore happy to be informed that this pious Design is not likely to
receive any Discountenance from the Civil powers under which you live ; and We
desire you to be persuaded, that We on our parts will use our best Endeavors,
which We have good Reason to hope will be successful, to acquire a legal Capacity
of complying with the prayer of your Address.

With these Sentiments We are disposed to make every Allowance which Can
dour can suggest for the Difficulties of your Situation, but at the same time Wo
cannot help being afraid, that, in the proceedings of your Convention, some Altera
tions may have been adopted or intended, which those Difficulties do not seem to
justify.

Those Alterations are not mentioned in your Address ; and, as our Knowledge
of them is no more than what has reached Us through private and less certain
Channels, We hope you will think it just, both to you, and to Ourselves, if We wait
for an Explanation.

For while We are anxious to give every proof, not only of our brotherly affec
tion, but of our facility, in forwarding your Wishes, We cannot but be extremely
cautious, lest We should be the Instruments of establishing an Ecclesiastical System

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH.

which will be called a Branch of the Church of England, but afterwards may
possibly appear to have departed from it essentially, either in Doctrine or in
Discipline.

In the meantime We heartily commend you to God s holy Protection and are
Your affectionate Brethren,

Such was the voice of mingled love and warning heard from
across the water, the mother speaking to the daughter-church. Its
happy results were at once apparent in retarding the further growth
of that love of change which had been developed to such an alarm
ing extent in the Philadelphia Convention, and in inducing a spirit
of conciliation and mutual forbearance, indispensable in an effort
to unite men of varying shades of opinion and of conflicting prejudices.
To this end the gentle spirit and perfect amiability of Dr. White
contributed not a little. In fact, to him, under God, more than to
any other member of this convention, it was owing that the "strongj
appearance of a dissolution of the union, in this early stage of it," to
which he alludes in his account of the proceedings of the meeting,
were skilfully surmounted, and the danger of "falling to pieces
carefully avoided.

These representations of the course and influence of Dr. White
are fully borne out by a reference to the journal of this convention.
The changes in the proposed constitution, restoring to the Episcopal
order its precedency and some of its prerogatives, the silencing of
discussion on the " proposed book " by the reference of the " memorials "
and "instructions" concerning that short-lived effort for liturgical
revision to "the first Convention, which should meet fully authorized
to determine on a Book of Common Prayer," and the quiet application
of the " previous question " when the attempt was made by Provoost
and Robert Smith to commit the convention to an opposition to the
Scottish succession all these measures tending to peace and union

44 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

came from the prudent and conciliating White. His, too, was that
further measure, which was, indeed, a seeming concession to the
strong prejudices of the rector of Trinity, New York, the resolution
recommending the rejection of candidates for settlement " professing
canonical obedience to any Bishop, in any State or country, other

than those bishops who
may be duly settled in
the States represented
in this convention."
But even this motion he
was careful not to press

until he had proved, to the satisfaction of all fair-minded members of
the convention, by the testimony of a member thereof, that it could
have no reference to Bishop Seabury ; and he takes pains to record, in
his " Memoirs," l " that he never conceived of there having been any
ground for it, other than the apprehension which had been expressed "
by the opponents of the Bishop of Connecticut. "This temperate
guarding against the evil, if it should exist," continues Bishop White,
" seemed the best way of obviating measures which might have led to
disputes with the Northern clergy." And in succeeding years, when
the action of the convention in adopting this resolution, and another
offered by the pertinacious Robert Smith, of South Carolina, recom
mending " to the Conventions of the Church represented in this General
Convention not to admit any person as a minister within their respective
limits who shall receive ordination from any Bishop residing in America
during the application now pending to the English Bishops for Epis
copal consecration," was referred to as sustaining the charge that the
convention had denied, or questioned, the validity of Bishop Seabury s
consecration and orders, White was the first to disavow this imputa
tion, and to appeal to the record, to prove that he had never taken
part in any measures looking to this end. And it was with his ap-
proval, and assistance, too, that the convention of the Church in the
Southern and Middle States expressly " voted their opinion in favor of
the validity of Bishop Seabury s consecration, in which their Presi
dent" Bishop White, himself "concurred." 2

The response to the letter received from the English archbishops
and bishops was drafted at the outset by Dr. William Smith. As
originally reported to the convention, it was deemed too submissive
by the Hon. John Jay, of New York, who made his appearance at its
session on the afternoon of Sunday, the day before adjournment, and
on being recommitted, with the address, to a committee consisting of Mr.
Jay and Francis Hopkinson, Esq. , it was, as Bishop White tells us, " con
siderably altered." It expresses to the " most worthy and venerable
Prelates " of the mother-church the " sincere and grateful acknowl
edgments" of the convention for the "friendly and affectionate letter"
of their "lordships." It gives the assurance that the convention
w neither have departed, nor propose to depart, from the doctrines of
the Church of England." It asserts that " no alterations or omissions

i P. 116, 2d edition. * White s " Memoirs of the Church," p. 29, 2d edition.

THE EARLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH.

in the Book of Common Prayer" have been made, but such as were
necessary to render it "consistent with our civil constitutions," or
" such as were calculated to remove objections which it appeared to us
more conducive to union and general content to obviate than to dis
pute." It refers to the desire of " many great and known men of the
CEurch of England" "for a revision of the Liturgy ;" and adds, " this
is with us the proper season for such a revision." "We are now,"
proceeds the address, " settling and ordering the affairs of our Church ;
and, if wisely done, we shall have reason to promise ourselves all the
advantages that can result from stability and union."

Repeating the request of the former address for the episcopate,
and referring to the proposed constitution as revised at this session,
and to the "proposed book," which, at the time of their lordships
letter, was not in their hands, for removing their "present hesitation "
with reference to communicating to them the succession, and pressing
the English prelates for as " speedy an answer to this " " second ad
dress" as they " were pleased to give to the former," this interesting
document was signed by the twelve clergymen and nine laymen compris
ing the convention. Among these names were those of Griffith, the
president, subsequently the bishop-elect of Virginia ; Provoost and
Bloomer, of New York ; Beach, of New Jersey ; White, Magaw, and
Blackwell, of Pennsylvania; Wharton, of Delaware; William Smith,
bishop-elect of Maryland ; and Robert Smith, subsequently first Bishop
of South Carolina. John Jay and Francis Hopkinson were, per
haps, the most prominent of the laymen present whose signa
tures were appended to the address. The convention adjourned to
meet at Wilmington at the call of the " Committee of Correspondence,"
and the members returned to their homes in anxious expectancy of
the speedy attainment of their wishes in the full establishment of the
Church in the Anglican line in the United States.

The Church in New England felt no little chagrin at the evident
attempt of the friends of Provoost, in this convention, to ignore Sea-
bury and his ordinations. The Bishop of Connecticut, all the more

popular at the North because from a church untrammelled by alliance
with the State, had, in his progresses throughout New England, been
most cordially received ; and the constant stream of candidates for
holy orders from different sections of the land, including the remote
South, proved how satisfactory to the great body of the Church was
the presence of a bishop in America, though of Scottish consecration.
Already, from the more able and conscientious Methodists, had come
William Duke, of Maryland, and Joseph Pilmore, the " evangelical "

46 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Rector of St. Paul s, Philadelphia ; and besides him, others, recom
mended by the very men who were concerned in the application to
England, were on their way, seeking the imposition of holy hands.
The list of Seabury s early ordinations proves that he supplied the
Church with clergy from Falmouth, in Maine, to Maryland and Vir
ginia, and, subsequently, to distant Georgia. Some were ordained
for every State represented in the conventions that applied to K up
land for bishops, with the exception of South Carolina ; and the reeog.
nition of their orders, in spite of the factious opposition of men like
Provoost and Robert Smith, was attested by their unquestioned recep
tion as clergymen by the various parishes, and by their admission to i
the State conventions, and their return from time to time to the general
conventions, even before the union with the New England Church was
accomplished.

Our notice of this first Convention of 1786 would be confessedly
imperfect without allusion to the "Memorial" of the New Jersey
Convention. This sound and conservative document, prepared by the
Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, D.D., of Elizabethtovvn, New Jersey,

is found in full in the
appendix to Bishop
White s " Memoirs of
theChurch." Itiscer-
tainly high honor both
to the writer and to this
production of his pen, that Bishop White, in referring to it, expresses
his conviction that this paper "written on the present occasion, was
among the causes which prevented the disorganizing of the American
Church." It aided in this important work by convincing the conven
tion, as Bishop White further assures us, "t.hnt. the. rp glll t of

JL
ft/*

able changes would have been the disunion of the Church." And it
was this impression thus enforced, proceeds the good bishop, " which
contributed to render the proceedings temperate." An examination
of this " Memorial," and a remembrance of the source whence it was
derived, the bosom-friend of Seabury, and one who had himself de
clined the first colonial bishopric of the English Church, gives us the
fullest statement of the views of the conservative churchmen of the
whole land, with reference to the organization of the American Church,
as opposed to the radicalism of some of the extreme South, and the
violent partisan prejudices of others both at the North and South. It
deprecated liturgical alterations and innovations, other than those re
quired by the change in the political relations of the Church, until the
completion of the three orders of the ministry. It avows its disapproval
of the publication of the " proposed book " by the " late General Con
vention," "as altered, with the psalms and calendar transposed and
changed by their committee, without their revision and express appro
val ; " and it further adds, that " although they may not disapprove of
all the alterations made in the said new book, yet they have to regret
the unseasonableness and irregularity of them." And it begged the
revision of the proposed liturgy, and the removal of " every cause
that may have excited any jealousy or fear that the Episcopal Church

THE EAKLY CONVENTIONS, NORTH AND SOUTH.

in the United States of America have any intention or desire essen
tially to depart, either in doctrine or discipline from the Church of
England." Suggesting a return to the English prayer-book with
the simple alterations authorized by the prelimary meeting in New
York, and urging the speedy securing of the consecration of bishops
in the English line, the memorial closed with the expression of this
truly catholic desire : " And that they " (the General Convention) |
"will use all means in their power to promote and perpetuate harmony!
and unanimity among ourselves, and with the said Church of England, J
as a mother or sister Church, and with every Protestant Church in they
universe."

Thus with warning words from over the waters, and warning
words from home, the Church was, little by little, brought back from
the verge of the precipice over which it was tending, and matters were
put in train for that return to harmony and unanimity which the best
and wisest of fathers labored for and desired from the very first.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

WE append, from tho original "Broadside" report and from the MS. minutes
preserved in the archives of the Church, the fullest record we have of the
preliminary meeting in New York :

At a Convention of Clergymen and Lay Deputies, of the Protestant EPIS
COPAL CHURCH in the United States of America, held in New York, October 6lh
and 7th, 1784 : Present as follows :

Revd. SAMUEL PARKER, A.M., Massachu
setts and Rhode-Island.

Revd. JOHN R. MARSHAL, A.M., Connecti
cut.

NEW-YORK.

Revd. SAMUEL PROVOOST, A.M.
Revd. ABRAHAM BEACH, A.M.
Revd. BENJAMIN MOORE, A.M.
Rcvd. JOSHUA BLOOMER, A.M.
Revd. LEONARD CUTTING, A.M.
Revd. THOMAS MOORE,
Hon. JAMES DUANE,
MARINUS WILLET,
JOHN ALSOP,

Esquires

NEW-JERSEY.

Rcvd. UZAL OGDEN,
JOHN DE HART, Esquire,
JOHN CHETWOOD, Esquire,
Mr. SAMUEL SPRAGG,

PENNSYLVANIA.
Revd. WILLIAM WHITE, D.D.
Rcvd. SAMUEL MAGAW, D.D.
Revd. JOSEPH HUTCHINS, A.M.
MATTHEW CLARKSON, Esquire.
RICHARD WILLING,")
SAMUEL POWELL, ^Esquires.
RICHARD PETERS, J

DELAWARE STATE.
Revd. SYDENHAM THORN, Revd.
CHARLES WHARTON, Mr. ROBERT
CLAY.

MARYLAND.
Rcvd. WILLIAM SMITH, D.D.

N. B. The Revd. Mr. GRIFFITH, from the
State of Virginia, was present by Permission.
The Clcrjry "of that State being: restricted by
Laws yet in force there, were not at liberty to
send Delegates, or consent to any Alterations in
the Order, Government, Doctrine, or Worship
of the Church.

Oct 6 th A.M.

Upon Motion, the Rev d D r William Smith was called to the Chair as President
of this Convention, & the Rev 4 M Benjamin Moore was appointed Secretary.

The Letters of appointment & other Documents produced by the several
Members above mentioned were read ; and also the following Letters from the
Clergy of Massachusetts Bay & Connecticut.

Here Insert the Letters. [These are omitted in the original MS. as preserved
in the General Convention Archives.]

48 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

It being resolved that a Committee of Clerical & Lay-Deputies be appointed
to essay the fundamental Principles of a general Constitution for this Church, the
following Gentlemen were appointed, viz

Rev* D r Smith M r Clarkson

D r White M De Hart

M r Parker M Clay

M r Provoost M Duane

The same Committee are desired to frame & propose to the Convention a
proper Substitute for the State Prayers in the Liturgy to bo used for the Sake
[of] Uniformity, till a further Review shall be undertaken by general authority &
Consent of the Church.

Oct r - 7 th - Present as above.

The Committee appointed Yesterday to essay the fundamental Principles of an
ecclesiastical Constitution for this Church, reported an Essay for this Pui-pose, which
being read & duly considered and amended, was adopted as follows, viz. :

THE Body now assembled, recommend to the Clergy and Congregations of
their Communion in the States represented as above, and propose to those of the
other States not repi esented, That as soon as they shall have organized or associated
themselves in the States to which they respectively belong, agreeably to such Rules
as they shall think proper, they unite in a general ecclesiastical Constitution, on the
following fundamental Principles.

I. That there shall be a general Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United
States of America.

IE. That the Episcopal Church in each State, send Deputies to the Convention, con
sisting of Clergy and Laity.

III. That associated Congregations in two or more States, may send Deputies

jointly.

IV. That the said Church shall maintain the Doctrines of the Gospel as now held

by the Church of England, and shall adhere to the Liturgy of the said
Church as far as shall be consistent with the American Revolution, and the
Constitutions of the respective States.

V. That in every State whore there shall be a Bishop duly consecrated and settled,

he shall be considered as a Member of the Convention, ex Officio.

VI. That the Clergy and Laity assembled in Convention, shall deliberate in one

Body, but shall vote separately; and the Concurrence of both shall be
necessary to give Validity to every Measure.

VII. That the first Meeting of the Convention shall be at Philadelphia, the Tuesday

before the Feast of St. Michael next ; to which it is hoped, and earnestly
desired, That the Episcopal Churches in the respective States will send their
Clerical and Lay Deputies, duly instructed and authorized to proceed on the
necessary Business herein proposed for their Deliberation.

Signed by Order of the Convention,

WILLIAM SMITH, D.D. President.

Resolved, that it be recommended to the Clergy in the respective Churches here
represented to appoint in each State a Committee of not less than two Clergymen
to examine Persons who in the present Exigency are desirous of officiating as
Readers, and to direct them to such Duties as they are to perform ; and that it be
recommended to the Congregations not to suffer any Lay Persons to officiate in their
Churches other than such as shall be certified by said Committee to be duly qualified.

[Signed,] W M . SMITH, Preside

CHAPTER III.

THE CONSECRATION OF THE FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS:
SEABURY AT ABERDEEN, 1784; WHITE AND PROVOOST
AT LAMBETH, 1787.

QUIETLY assembling together in a "Voluntary Convention," at
Woodbury, Conn., at the coming of news of peace, so
quietly that no minutes of their meeting are extant, and for

HOUSE AT WOODBUKY, CONN., IN WHICH THE CONVOCATION MET

the number composing their convocation, and for the particulars of
their proceedings, we are dependent on fragments of contemporary let
ters, 2 rescued a few years since by the writer from impending destruc
tion, on " Lady-day," the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, March 25, 1783, ten of the fourteen remaining clergy-

1 Now the residence of the Rev. John R. Brooklyn, Conn., to the Rev. Samuel Parker, of
Marshall. Boston", first published in Hawks and Perry s

2 The Letters of the Rev. Daniel Fogg, of " Connecticut Church Documents."

50 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

men of Connecticut gathered in council, and made choice of the Rev.
Samuel Seabury, D.D., Oxon., missionary of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts at Staten Island, New
York, as their bishop. The convocation instructed their choice to
seek for consecration in England first of all, and if prevented from
obtaining this boon from the prelates of the mother-church, to secure
in Scotland, where the bishop-elect had been temporarily resident in
his youth, the episcopal power the Connecticut clergy felt indispensa
ble to the proper organization of the American Church.

The hurried letters addressed by the Rev. Daniel Fogg, of
Pomfret, to his correspondent at Boston, the Rev. Samuel Parker,
evidently written in reply to queries occasioned, it might be, by
rumors then rife, afford us the only detailed account of these
important proceedings, so far as the choice of the first American
bishop is concerned. They graphically depict the fear felt by the
clergy lest the old opposition to an American episcopate, so general
among the colonists before the Revolution, might again be aroused,
and serve to defeat their cherished plans on which, as they rightly
believed, the very being of the Church in this land depended.

POMFRET, July 2d, 83.

REV. SIR: There were ten clergymen met. The Connecticut clergy
have done already everything in their power, in the matter you were anxious
about. Would send you the particulars if I knew of any safe opportunity of
sending this letter; but as I do not, must defer it till I do.

Your sincere friend and brother,

D. FOGG. 1

In less than a fortnight another letter gave more in detail the in
telligence so full of interest to Mr. Parker, and to the waiting, wonder
ing churchmen of Massachusetts :

POMFRET, July 14th, 83.

DEAR SIR : I wrote you a few lines the 2d inst., by an uncertain conveyance,
hi which I mentioned that the Connecticut clergy had done all in their power
respecting the matter you were anxious about ; but they kept it a profound secret,
even from their most intimate friends of the laity.

The matter is this : After consulting the clergy in New York 2 how to keep up
the succession, they unanimously agreed to send a person to England to be conse
crated Bishop for America, and pitched upon Dr. Seabury as the most proper person

1 From the oiiginal, in the writer s possession, bury s Abilities, Learning & Moral Character, of

2 Dr. Seabury took with him among his ample which we deservedly entertain the highest Opin-
testimonials the following letter, still preserved ion, do certify, that we have for many years past
among the family papers of his descendants, been intimately acquainted with the" said D r .
which in its language and signatures commands Seabury, & that we believe him to be every Way
our interest and respect : qualified for the Sacred Office of a Bishop. And

New York, June 3, 1783. we cannot but express our earnest Wish that he

Whereas our well-beloved in Christ, Samuel may succeed in his Application, as many Incon-

Seabuiy, Doctor of Divinity, at the earnest Re- veniences may be thereby prevented, wnich no

quest of the Episcopal Clergy of Connecticut, after Care can remove, when they have once

hath resolved to embark speedily for England, taken place,

that he may be admitted to the sacred Office of a Charles luglis, D.D.

Bishop ; & afterwards to return to Connecticut, Rector of Trinity Church in the

& there exercise the Spiritual Powers peculiar to City of New York,

the Episcopal Office, by superintending the Cler- Jon". Odell, A. M.

gy, ordaining Candidates for Holy Orders, & Missionary, Burlington,

Confirming such of the Laity as chuse to be con- New Jersey,

firmed & having applied to us for Letters Tes- Benj Moore, A. M.

timonial on the Occasion ; We therefore whose Assistant Minister of

Names arc underwritten, in Justice to Dr. Sea- Trinity Church, New York.

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS. 51

for this purpose, who sailed for England the beginning of last month, highly recom
mended by all the clergy in New York and Connecticut, etc. If he succeeds, he is
to come out as missionary for New London, or some other vacant mission ; and if
they will not receive him in Connecticut, or any other of the States of America,
he is to go to Nova Scotia. Sir Guy (Sir Guy Carleton, Commander-in-chief of all
His Majesty s forces in America,) highly approves of the plan, and has used
all his influence in favor of it.

The clergy have even gone so far as to instruct Dr. Seabury, if none of the
regular Bishops of the Church of England will ordain him, to go down to Scotland
and receive ordination from a nonjuring Bishop. Please let me know, by Mr.
Grosvenor, how you approved of the plan, and whether you have received any late
accounts from England. From your affectionate brother,

D. FOGG. 1

A little later, aud evidently in answer to some expressions of doubt
as to the wisdom of selecting so avowed a " refugee " as Dr. Seabury
for an American episcopate, Mr. Fogg writes as follows :

DEAR SIR : I am very glad that the conduct of the Connecticut clergy meets
with your approbation in the main. Dr. Seabury s being a refugee was an objec
tion which I made, but was answered, they could not fix on any other person who
they thought was so likely to succeed as he was, 2 and should he succeed, and not be
permitted to reside in any of the United States, it would be an easy matter for any
other gentleman, who was not obnoxious to the powers that be, to be consecrated
by hiin at Halifax. And as to the objection of not consulting the clergy of the
other States, the time would not allow of it, and there was nobody to consult in the
State of New York, except refugees, and they were consulted. And in the State of
Connecticut there are fourteen clergymen. And in your State and New Hampshire,
you know how many there are, and you know there is no compulsion in the matter,
and you will be left to act as you please, either to be subject to him or not. As to
the matter of his support, that must be an after consideration.
Your affectionate friend and brother,

D. FOGG. 1

POMFRET, Aug. 1st, 83.

The eyes of the Connecticut and other New England churchmen
were turned anxiously toward England, where Dr. Seabury arrived on
the 7th of July. He bore with him abundant testimonials from the
clergy of Connecticut and New York that he was " in every way qualified
for the Episcopal office, and for the discharge of those duties peculiar

1 From the originals in the writer s pos- in addressing their Bishop elect 2 "as the most

session. proper person " to be consecrated Bishop. The

* The thoughts of the Connecticut clergy in testimony of Fogg cannot be reconciled with the

BIT first castings about for a spiritual head had P lon th ?t Seabury was only an " alternate," a

t^uajri; oi iiai vis, uy ma aiumme me uiiu uxuei- , . . r,r . ~j - ---

lent services merited" their "affections, esteem JfJ7 anc } united suffrages, " signified
and confidence." But, as we learn from the R * at New York, in April, 1/83, 3 points to
same authority, "debility and the many bodily nothing short of a "formal election on the part
infirmities under which he then labored" ren- of a deliberative and unanimous body. Theex-
dered him, in his own judgment, and in the tee of an unused draft of a letter recom-
opinion of others, "altogether unfitted for an memhng Learning for consecration proves at the
:__ i-L-j. : ,i x__: i .c _ most no more than that thft \V oonmirv nonvftn-

ceeds. "were conspicuous in Doctor Seabury, - ,, ,- ,.

who, in every other respect also, was the man to "P on ( as . the m st P r P er P erson &gt; declined
our wishes/ Such being the case, it is but the " appointment.

meeting, on consultation at Woodbury, 2 Hawks and Perry s "Connecticut Church Docu-

Seabury was " pitched upon the very phrase ments," n., p. 225.
used by Learning, Jarvis, and others of the clergy Ibid., p. 264.

52 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

to it, in the present trying and dangerous times." l It is not necessary
to give in full the interesting correspondence detailing each step of the
unsuccessful application to the English bishops and archbishops.
Minute as we would gladly be in detailing each step in the life of the
first American bishop, we may safely pass over a period the story of
which has been so fully and so frequently told.

Kepulsed by the English bishops, who felt hampered by the
shackles of their connection with the State, and who well knew that
the powers behind the throne, sore at the loss of a western empire,
would look but coldly on any measure tending to that new empire s
benefit, the indefatigable Seabury turned his steps toward Scotland
in search of "a valid and purely ecclesiastical Episcopacy." He
might have had his Episcopal orders more easily. The sadly
dwindled remnant of the non-juring schism which commenced, accord
ing to Lathbury, in 1733 or 1743 2 had now one of its two remaining
bishops residing at Shrewsbury, practising as a surgeon. This gentle
man, Cartwright by name, willingly offered his services to lay hands
upon the American aspirant for consecration. He entered into cor
respondence with the celebrated Drs. Thos. Bradbury Chandler and
Jonathan Boucher both like Seabury, American refugees, and deeply
solicitous for the establishment of the American Church on the sub
ject of his own consecration, which was derived from the non-juring
Thomas Deacon alone ; and intimated the concurrence of his coadjutor,
Bishop Price, in the proffer of what Seabury desired so much, "a purely
ecclesiastical Episcopacy for the Church in Connecticut." But the
providence of God had opened another door ; and a more desirable
and less obscure Episcopacy, was tendered before the negotiations
with Bishops Cartwright and Price had been fully entered upon.
To the struggling Church in Scotland, the remnant and repre
sentative of the old establishment numbering the intrepid Sharp
among its martyrs, and the heavenly-minded Leighton among its
saints, Seabury bent his steps, assured, ere he started, of a hearty
welcome and the desired success. It is a mistake into which our his
torians and annalists have repeatedly fallen to assert that this resort ,
was first thought of at this time. It is a more unfortunate blunder to
give the credit of this idea to the venerable President of Magdalen
College, Oxford, the Rev. Dr. Routh, who, in extreme old age, laid
claim to its suggestion. All this implies an ignorance of the position,
or even of the existence, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, on the part of
the Connecticut clergy. This could not have been the case. Years i
before, the young Seabury, at that time a student of medicine in Edin
burgh, had regularly attended the services of the Scottish Church, and
knew full well from its very "disabilities," its entire independence of
the authority of the State. Besides, in the letter addressed to the Rev.
Mr. Parker, of Boston, by the Rev. Daniel Fogg, which we have al-

1 Printed from the original documents in Perry s " Connecticut Church Documents," and

greater or less fulness in the " Churchman s Maga- in the Historical Notes and Illustrations forming

zine " for 1806, and in part in the successive edi- the third volume of the author s " Reprint of the

tionsofBishopWhite s"Memoirs,"theseinterest- Early Journals ; " and they have again been repro-

ing papers were woven into a consecutive narrative duced in Dr. Beardsley s "Life of Bishop Sea-

in the winter s sketch of the organization of the bury."
Connecticut Church, contained in Hawks and 2 History of the Non-jurors, p. 411.

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

ready given and which was written just after the choice of Seabury
was consummated, the alternative of seeking the episcopate in Scot
land, in the event of a refusal in England, is distinctly stated as
having been decided upon by the Connecticut clergy.

Thus instructed by the body which had designated him for the
episcopate, and having the countenance of several of the dignitaries
of the English Church, Seabury travelled towards the north. His
simple credentials, penned by men living, as were the bishops and
clergy of the Church of Scotland, under the apprehension of civil inter
ference, and discountenanced by the great body of their countrymen,
opened, at once, the hearts of those to whom they were addressed.
The glad consent, which had been earlier promised, was now accorded
him without delay, and one dull and damp November day, in the
"upper room" of Bishop Skinner s house in Long-Acre, in Aberdeen,
used for the services of the
Scottish Church, quietly, and
in the sight alone of those who
were known to be the sup
porters of this old and perse
cuted faith, Samuel Seabury
was solemnly set apart for the
work of a bishop in the Church
of God ; Robert Kilgour, Bish
op of Aberdeen, and Primus ;
Arthur Petrie, Bishop of Ross
and Moray, and John Skinner,
Coadjutor-Bishop of Aberdeen,
being the consecrators. 1 Well
may we mark that memorable
Twenty-second Sunday after
Trinity, the 14th day of No-
em 6er , A. I). 1784, in our
calendars ! It was the natal
/day of the independent Ameri
can Church. Nor should it be
forgotten that the boon refused

by the Church of England to her children across the ocean was fully,
freely bestowed by the suffering and confessing " Catholic remainder
of the Church in Scotland," and wherever the story of the American
Church is known throughout the world, this^acTor faith this great
uifi of all she had to give, shall be gratefully remembered and told
for a memorial of her.

CONSECRATION HOUSE.

1 An interesting letter from the Right Rev.
Dr. Alexander Jolly to Bishop Kemp, written No
vember 27, 1826, gives some interesting particu
lars of this consecration, as follows

" Connecticut has been a word of
peculiar endearment to me since the happy day
when I had the honour & joy of being intro
duced to the first ever memorable Bishop of that
highly favoured See, whose Name ever excites in
my heart the warmest Veneration. With a glad
& thankful heart I witnessed his Consecration,

held the Book while the solemn words were
pronounced, & received his first Episcopal
Benediction.

"Your most respectfully devoted humble
Servant,

"ALEXANDER JOLLY."

2 Dwelling-house and corner of old St.
Andrew s Chapel on Long-acre, Aberdeen, oc
cupying in part the site of Bishop Skinner s
house and chapel where Bishop Seabury was
consecrated.

54 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

tfty&j*

4&nrf

On the day following the consecration, Monday, the 15th of
November, a "Concordate" between the Episcopal Church in Scot
land and that in Connecticut was formed and agreed upon by the
bishops of Scotland and Bishop Seabury. This document, meant to
be a bond of
union betwe e n
the two church
es, first records
their agreement
" in thankfully
receiving and
humbly and
heartily embrac
ing the whole
doctrine of the
Gospel, as re
vealed and set
forth in the holy
scriptures ; " and
places on record
as the concurrent
testimony of
both churches,
"that it is their
earnest and unit-
ed Desire to
maintain the
analogy of the
Common Faith
once delivered
to the Saints,
and happily pre
served in the
Church of
Christ, thro his
divine power

and protection, who promised that the Gates of Hell should never
prevail against it." Secondly, it is asserted that the contracting par
ties agreed "in believing this Church to be the mystical Body of
Christ, of which he alone is the Head, and supreme Governour, and
that under him, the chief ministers or Managers of the affairs of this
spiritual society, are those called Bishops, whose Exercise of their
Sacred Office being independent on all Lay powers, it follows of con
sequence, that their spiritual Authority and Jurisdiction cannot be
affected by any Lay-deprivation." The two churches were further
declared to be " in full communion " in the third article, and in the
next it was urged that there should be as near a conformity in worship
and discipline between the two communions as possible. In this con
nection it was sagely suggested that " such prudent generality in their
public prayers " should be carefully observed, as might enable each

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

"to avoid any bad effects that might otherwise arise from political
Differences."

In the fifth article it was provided that " as the Celebration of the
holy Eucharist, or the Administration of the Sacrament of the Body
and Blood of Christ, is the principal Bond of Union among Christians,
as well as the most solemn Act of Worship in the Christian Church,
the Bishops aforesaid agree in desiring that there may be as little
variance here as possible," and to this article we owe(the primitive
character of our eucharistic office^

In the further articles it was provided that " brotherly fellowship "
was to be maintained ; and the gift of the episcopate to Seabury
was proclaimed to have been "made with nothing else in view, but the
glory of God and the good of the Church," and to promote " the
Cause of Truth and of the Common Salvation." l

1 The " Concordate " is as follows :

In the Name of the holy and undivided Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, One God, blessed
for ever. Amen.

The wise and gracious Providence of the
merciful! God, having put it into the hearts of
the Christians of the Episcopal persuasion in
Connecticut in Noi*th America, to desire that the
Blessings of a free, valid and purely Ecclesiasti
cal Episcopacy, might be communicated to them,
and a Church regularly formed in that part of
the western world upon the most antient, and
primitive Model : And Application having been
made for this purpose, by the Reverend Dr.
Samuel Seabury Presbyter in Connecticut, to the
Right Reverend the Bishops of the Church in
Scotland : The said Bishops having taken this
proposal into their serious Consideration, most
heartily concurred to promote and encourage the
same, as far as lay iu their power ; and accord
ingly began the pious and good work recom
mended to them, by complying with the request
of the Clergy in Connecticut, and advancing the
said Dr. Samuel Seabuiy to the high Order of
the Episcopate ; at the same time earnestly pray
ing that this Work of the Lord thus happily be
gun might prosper in his hands, till it should
please the great and glorious Head of the Church,
to increase the number of Bishops in America,
and send forth more such Labourers into that
part of his Harvest. Animated with this pious
hope, and earnestly desirous to establish a Bond
of peace, and holy Communion, between the two
Churches, the Bishops of the Church in Scotland,
whose names are underwritten, having had full
and free Conference with Bishop Seabuiy, after
his Consecration and Advancement as aforesaid,
agreed with him on the following Articles, which
are to serve as a Concordate, or Bond of Union,
between the Catholic remainder of the antient
Church of Scotland, and the now rising Church
in the State of Connecticut.

Art. I. They agree in thankfully receiving,
and humbly and heartily embracing the whole
Doctrine 01 the Gospel, as revealed and set forth
in the holy Scriptures : and it is their earnest and
united Desire to maintain the Analogy of the
common Faith once delivered to the Saints, and
happily preserved in the Church of Christ, thro
his divine power and protection, who promised
that the Gates of Hell should never prevail
against it.

Art. 11. They agree in believing this Church
to be the mystical Body of Christ, of which he

alone is the Head, and supreme Governour, and
that under him, the chief Ministers or Managers
of the Affairs of this spiritual Society, are those
called Bishops, whose Exercise of their sacred
Office being independent on all Lay powers, it
follows of consequence, that their spiritual Au
thority, and Jurisdiction cannot be affected by
any Lay-Deprivation.

Art. rn. They agree in declaring that the
Episcopal Church m Connecticut is to be in full
Communion with the Episcopal Church in Scot
land; it being their sincere Resolution to put
matters on such a footing as that the Members of
both Churches may with freedom and safety
communicate with either, when their Occasions
call them from the one Country to the other :
Only taking care when in Scotland not to hold
Communion in sacred Offices with those persons,
who under pretence of Ordination by an English,
or Irish Bishop, do or shall take upon them to
officiate as Clergymen in any part of the national
church of Scotland, and whom the Scottish
Bishops cannot help looking upon, as schismati-
cal Intruders, design d only to answer worldly
purposes, and uncommissioned Disturbers of the
poor Remains of that once flourishing Church,
which both their predecessors and they, have,
under many Difficulties, laboured to preserve
pure and uncorruptcd to future Ages.

Art. iv. With a view to the salutary pur
pose mentioned in the preceding Article, they
agree in desiring that there may be as near a
Conformity in Worship and Discipline estab
lished between the two Churches, as is consistent
with the different Circumstances and Customs of
Nations : and in order to avoid any bad Effects
that might otherwise arise from political Differ
ences, they hereby express their earnest Wish
and firm Intention to observe such prudent Gen
erality in their public Piayers, with respect to
these points, as shall appear most agreeable to
Apostolic Rules, and the practice of the primi
tive Church.

Art. v. As the Celebration of the holy
Eucharist, or the Administration of the Sacra
ment of the Body and Blood of Christ, is the
principal Bond of Union among Christians, as
well as the most Solemn Act of Worship in the
Christian Church, the Bishops aforesaid agree in
desiring that there may be as little Variance here
as possible. And tho the Scottish Bishops are
very far from prescribing to their Brethren in
this matter, they cannot help ardently wishing
that Bishop Seaoury would endeavour all he can
consistently with peace and prudence, to make

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

It was thus that "the blessings of a free, valid, and purely
ecclesiastical Episcopacy " were obtained by the Church in, America.

The step taken by the bishops in Scotland, in advancing Seabury
to the episcopate, was approved as soon as known in England, by
the truest friends both of the English and the American Church.
That this was the light in which it was regarded by the mother-
church is shown by the speedy removal by Parliament of the civil
disabilities under which the Scottish Church had labored for nearly a
century, a result directly to be attributed to the good office they had
rendered to their brethren of a common faith and order in America.

Meeting, not only his own clergy, but some from the neighbor
ing States, in convocation at Middletown, Seabury began his epis
copate by authorizing such changes in the prayer-book and offices of
the Church as were rendered necessary by the recognition of American
independence. To these alterations a few others, suggested by a
committee, of which the amiable Parker, of Boston, and the excellent
Benjamin Moore, of New York, were members, were added for con
sideration ; and then, cheered by the addition of the newly ordained
to their numbers, the bishop and clergy separated each to their respec
tive work, the one rejoicing in the success of their efforts for secur
ing the episcopate, and the other gratified and encouraged, as he trav
ersed the country, by the glad reception accorded him, not alone in
Connecticut but throughout New England.

Agreeably to the terms of the " Concordat " between the Episco
pal Church in Scotland and that in Connecticut, it was incumbent upon

the Celebration of this venerable Mystery con
formable to the most primitive Doctrine and
practice in that respect: Which is the pattern
the Church of Scotland has copied after in her
Communion Office, and which it has been the
Wish of some of the most eminent Divines of the
Church of England, that she also had more closely
followed, than she seems to have done since she
gave up her first reformed Liturgy used in the
Reign of King Edward VI. , between which and
the form used in the Church of Scotland there is
no Difference in any point, which the primitive
Church reckoned essential to the right Ministra
tion of the holy Eucharist. In this capital Article
therefore of the Eucharistic Service, in which
the Scottish Bishops so earnestly wish for as
much Unity as possible, Bishop Seabury also
agreed to take a serious View of the Communion
Office recommended by them, and if found agree
able to the genuine Standards of Antiquity, to
give his Sanction to it, and by gentle Methods
of Argument and persuasion, to endeavour, as
they have done, to 4 introduce it by degrees into
practice without the Compulsion of Authority
on the one side, or the prejudice of former Cus
tom on the other.

Art. vi. It is also hereby agreed and re

solved upon for the better answering the pur
poses of this Concordate, that a brotherly fellow
ship be henceforth maintained between the
Episcopal Churches in Scotland and Connecticut,
and such a mutual Intercourse of Ecclesiastical
Correspondence carried on, when Opportunity
offers, or necessity requires as may tend to the
Support, and Edification of both Churches.

Art. vii. The Bishops aforesaid do hereby
jointly declare, in the most solemn manner, that
in the whole of this Transaction they have
nothing else in view, but the Glory of God, and
the Good of his Church ; And being thus pure
and upright in their Intentions, they cannot but
hope, that all whom it may concern, will put the
most fair and candid Construction on their Con
duct, and take no Offence at their feeble but
sincere Endeavours to promote what they believe
to be the Cause of Truth, and of the common
Salvation.

In Testimony of their Love to which, and
in mutual good Faith and Confidence, they have,
for themselves, and their Successors in Office,
cheerfully put their Names and Seals to these
presents at Aberdeen this fifteenth day of No
vember, in the year of our Lord, one thousand,
seven hundred, and eighty-four.

ROBERT KILGOUR, Bishop & Primus, [SEAL.]

ARTHUR PETRIE, Bishop. [SEAL.]

JOHN SKINNER, Bishop. [SEAL.]

SAMUEL SEABURY, Bishop. [SEAL.]

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Bishop Seabury to introduce the Scottish Communion office into use
in his American diocese. At the tirst convocation at Middletown,
this measure was considered, and postponed, by general consent,
till the minds of the people had been gradually prepared for the
change. With this view, early the following year, there appeared a
thin duodecimo pamphlet of twenty-four pages, containing "The/
Communion-Office, or Order for Administration of the Holy Eucharist
or Supper of the Lord, with Private Devotions, Recommended to the

BISHOP SEABURY S HOUSE, NEW LONDON, CONN.

Episcopal Congregations in Connecticut, by the Right Rev. Bishop
Seabury." This tract, now one of the rarest of our American ecclesi
astical antiquities, failed to receive general acceptance ; but its direct
result, a few years later, was the incorporation of the distinctive features
of the Scotch office into our present American Communion service.

The adjournment of the Convention of 1785 gave to Dr. White
and his fellow-committeenjen abundant, and, for a time, engrossing
labor. Few of the records of this most important epoch are more
interesting and instructive than the voluminous correspondence between
Drs. White and Smith, with an occasional letter from the amiable
Wharton, as published from the original manuscripts in the notes to
the reprint of the early journals to which we have already referred.
The tracing of each step of the committee s progress ; the genial
interest and zeal of White, and the indefatigable labor of Smith, the
discussion of many a question having its bearing on modern theories

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS. 59

or mooted plans of the present day ; the pleasantry of two old friends
busied in a work they fondly dreamed was to be for all time ; all this
and more ; the individuality of the writers, and the life-pictures of
their times, come out in vivid coloring on the mental canvas, as we
read these scrawled and often almost illegible letters, and scraps of
notes, and postscripts, and indorsements, carrying us back a century
to other days, and to the men and scenes long since passed away.

At length, after a long delay, the book as "proposed " appeared.
Read hurriedly over from loose sheets, soiled with corrections for the
press, before a little Convention in Maryland, it was met with the pro
posal of still further changes. Hurried off by post to Parker, in Bos
ton, as folio after folio came, damp from the printer s hands, it met
with little favor from the churchmen of the North. Despatched by
water through New Jersey to Provoost at New York, after long de
lays, it received unlooked-for opposition there. In New Jersey, where
Chandler s sound conservatism still ruled, the Church definitely, and
at once, rejected it. Delaware, in its weakness, held no convention;
and Wharton, whose distance and other duties had given him so small
a share in its preparation, seems to have lost his interest in the work
of revision he had earlier been so anxious to undertake, as well as
his influence in the Church, in whose general councils, after the Wil
mington Convention of 1786, he appeared no more for years. Even
in Pennsylvania there was dissatisfaction, evidenced in the proposal
of amendments to the committee s work. In Virginia, exceptions
were taken to one of the rubrics empowering a clergymen " to repel an
evil liver from the Communion," and this action tells volumes as to the
sad condition of the demoralized and impoverished churches there.
Dr. Purcell wrote a long critique upon the committee s changes, ques
tioning their right to do so much with the scanty power intrusted
them by the convention ; but still South Carolina accepted the work
by formal vote, and then failed to carry out this determination, leav
ing the copies unsold, and even uninquired for, in the hands of the
agents appointed by the Philadelphia committee.

Bishop White, whose history of this movement for liturgical re
vision forms a most interesting chapter of his work, especially when
illustrate^ by the abundant manuscript authorities he left to sustain his
statements, tells us that the " use of the Liturgy, agreeably to the altera
tions" stipulated by many members of the convention, was never
carried into effect by "the greater number," and that the "error" of
printing a large edition, " which did not well consist with the principle
of mere proposal," and " which seemed a stretch of power designed to
effect the introduction of the book to actual use, in order to prevent a
discussion of its merits," together with the "other error," the use of it
at the close of the convention, and by the Philadelphia clergy sub
sequently, thus helping " to confirm the opinion of its being to be in
troduced with a high hand," served to account for "much of the
opposition to it." There is also, in the action of the churches of New
England and that of New Jersey, as well as in the unpublished letters
of men like Parker, Bass, Bela Hubbard, Jarvis, Benjamin Moore,
Abraham Beach, William Smith the younger, John Buchanan, and

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

William West, men representing every section of the Church from
Massachusetts to Virginia, reason to believe that the unsparing hand
with which the liturgic heritage of the Church universal had been
assailed, had much to do with the speedy return, in all quarters, to
the old book, simply changed as the primary Convention of 1784 had

BISHOP SEABURY.

resolved, to accommodate it to the requirements of our national inde
pendence and the constitutions of the respective States.

Besides the hurrying through of a review of the liturgy, the Con
vention of 1785 proceeded to address the English archbishops and
bishops for the episcopal succession. This was done with no general
distrust of the Scotch episcopacy, but with the natural preference for that
of England, which had led Seabury to wait more than a year in efforts for

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

the same, ere he reluctantly turned his steps toward Aberdeen. But, as
White and others well knew, now that the problem so long in suspense
was solved, and the British ministry had seen, in the quiet yet honorable
reception of Seabury as an unquestioned bishop, the fullest evidence
that the old objections to the introduction of the episcopate in America
had lost their force, and with the fires of partisan rancor and denomi
national hate had at length burned out, the question of an American
episcopate was now placed on a far different basis from what it was
before the Revolution, when dissenters at home and in the colonies
clamored unceasingly against it. It was secured, and the further
proffer of the boon, if sought, was but a kindly courtesy, the rather
likely to oblige than give reason for national or political complications
and dislikes. So from the moment Seabury had been welcomed most
heartily by the clergy of Connecticut, with others from the rest of
New England and New York, at his first convocation at Middletown,
&gt; that which had been denied to him was known to be at the call of those
who sought it with the like testimonials of character, learning, and
piety, and with the approbation of the civil powers. The very re
sponse made by the Bishop of Connecticut to the letter inviting the
presence of himself and clergy at the Philadelphia Convention," seemed,"
as Bishop White himself assures us, "to point out a way of obviating
the difficulty in the present case." But still it is the testimony of men
on both sides of the ocean men who, from their position in the
church, knew what they affirmed that but for Seabury s consecration
at Aberdeen there would have been no proffer of the English succes
sion to America, at least till in the lapse of years there had been far
too many opportunities for the accomplishment, by men of latitudi-
narian views and laxity of morals, of the doctrinal changes openly ad
vocated in this very convention by the Hon. Mr. Page, of Virginia, and
with which it was rumored, with no little show of reason, that Provoost
at the North, and Madison, Smith, and Purcell, at the South, were more
or less in sympathy. At any rate, the assertion is directly made at a
later date, both by Parker, of Boston, and Dr. Peters, of London, the
one well acquainted with the facts on both sides of the ocean, and the
other thoroughly cognizant of the views and feelings of the dignitaries
of Church and State in England, that the reception of the Scotch epis-
copacy by Seabury alone secured for White, Provoost, and Madison ,\
the English succession at a later date. Come how it did, we would
gratefully thank God who thus renewedly connected our infant Church
with the still-loved mother, whose " long continuance of nursing care
and protection" we even now so willingly acknowledge.

The original of the "Plan for obtaining Consecration" is still ex
tant, preserved among the archives of the General Convention, with the
original signatures of the members of the Convention of 1785. We
present it in fac-simile as one of the most interesting of our ecclesi
astical documents :

62 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

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CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS

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HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

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The reply to this address of the convention for the episcopate,
which was received in the spring of 1786, was cautious, though
friendly. It was evident that apprehension had been excited in the
minds of the English prelates that the American churchmen were

CONSECKATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS. 65

tending toward a laxity in belief, as well as displaying a disposition to
deprive the episcopate of much of its dignity and precedence. Still,
the guarded language of this communication could not fail to inspire
hope, and to encourage the conservatism that had survived, or
succeeded the radicalism of the leaders of the Convention of 1785.

The Convention of 1786 " assembled," as Bishop White tells us,
" under circumstances which bore strong appearances of a dissolution
of the union in the early stage of it." The untoward "circum
stances " are stated by the bishop as these : " The interfering instruc
tions from the churches in the different States, the embarrassment
that had arisen from the rejection of the proposed book in some of
the States, and the use of it in others, some dissatisfaction on
account of the Scottish episcopacy, and, added to these, the demur
expressed in the letter from the English bishops." 1 To these, as
appears from the correspondence of the period, should be added,
dissension arising from the Arian tendencies of some of the leading
spirits in the infant church. 2 It required the singular prudence of
White, and the pressure notably arising in view of the English ulti
matum, to allay " apprehension," and prevent the newly organized
church from "falling into pieces." 3

The session of June, 1786, was barely opened when the Kev.
Robert Smith, afterward the first bishop of South Carolina, offered a
resolution evidently intended to raise the question as to the validity of
the Scottish episcopacy, and the subject was again introduced at a later
stage of the proceedings. But the judicious application of the parlia
mentary rule of " the previous question " checked the debate, and the
convention, by a formal vote, refused to enter upon the discussion of
the validity of Bishop Seabury s ordinations. 4 Still, the " coolness
and indifference " 5 towards the Bishop of Connecticut displayed by the
convention in discouraging the settlement of clergymen who had
received holy orders from Dr. Seabury, was regarded at the North as
a declaration of war, and as foreboding "a settled and perpetual
enmity." 6 Parker, of Boston, wrote at once to Dr. White "that this
conduct must create a schism in the Church." The amiable Benjamin
Moore ascribed this action as arising from " old grudges on the score
of politics," 7 and thought that the opponents to the Bishop of Connect
icut would " not be able to affect their purpose to any great degree." 8
With such disturbing elements, the apprehension of disintegration
and destruction was only natural. That this anticipation was not)
realized was due, under God, to the forbearance of Seabury, and the^
prudence, amiability, and conciliatory spirit of White.

The communication from England, in response to " the Christian
and Brotherly address of the Convention" of 1785, was shortly fol
lowed by another from the two archbishops, written after the receipt
in England of the "proposed book," and the new ecclesiastical consti
tution, and received soon after the rising of the June Convention of
1786. This letter, which we append in full, expresses the dissatis-

1 Memoirs of the Church, 2d ed., p. 115. 4 Ibid., p. 116.

- Hawks and Perry s " Connecticut Church Hawks and Perry s " Connecticut Church

Documents," ii., pp. 298, 299. Documents," n., pp. 300, 301.

3 Memoirs of the Church, 2d ed., p. 115. Ibid. Ibid, p. 305. 8 Ibid.

66 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

faction felt by the English bishops at the omission of the Nicene and
Athanasian Creeds, and the article on the Apostles Creed relating to
the descent into hell. Objection was also made to the provision of
the proposed constitution, which seemed to render possible the trial
of bishops by the presbyters and laity of their respective Sees. This,
however, as Bishop White remarks, "does not seem to have been the
meaning of the article alluded to, which expresses no more than that
laws for the trial of Bishops should be made, not by the general, but
by each state ecclesiastical representation." With these objections
there was added the pleasing intelligence that application had been
made to parliament for the passage of an act empowering them to
consecrate bishops for America. It was expected on their part that
" satisfaction should be given in regard to the matter stated " ere
the succession was imparted. The letters proceeded to give in detail the
particulars with regard to the testimonials that would be required of
those seeking at their hands the episcopal office.

To the Committee of the general Convention at Philadelphia, the Rev/ 1 . IP. White pres
ident, the Rev*. D". Smith, the Rev d . M r . Provost, the Hon Mt James Duane,
Samuel Powell and Richard Peters Es&lt;f.

M r . PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: Influenced by the same Sentiments of
fraternal Regard expressed by the Archbishops and Bishops in their Answer to your
Address, We desire you to be persuaded that if We have not yet been able to com
ply with your Request, the Delay has proceeded from no Tardiness on our part.
The only Cause of it has been the Uncertainty in which We were left by receiving
your Address unaccompanied by those Communications with regard to your Liturgy,
Articles and Ecclesiastical Constitution, without the Knowledge of which we could
not presume to apply to the Legislature for such Powers as were necessary to the
Completion of your Wishes. The Journal of the Convention, and the first part of
your Liturgy, did not reach us till more than two Months after our Receipt of your
Address ; and We were not in possession of the remaining part of it, and of your
Articles, till the last day of April. The whole of your Communications was then,
with as little Delay as possible, taken into Consideration at a Meeting of the Arch
bishops and Fifteen of the Bishops, being all who were then in London and able to
attend; and it was impossible not to observe with Concern, that if the Essential
Doctrines of our Common Faith were retained, less Respect however was paid to
our Liturgy than it s own Excellence, and your declared Attachment to it, had led
us to expect that to mention a Variety of verbal Alterations, of the Necessity or
propriety of which We are by no means satisfied, We saw with Grief, that Two of
the Confessions of our Christian Faith, respectable for their Antiquity, have been
intirely laid aside, and that even in That which is called the Apostles Creed, an
Article is omitted, which was thought necessary to be inserted, with a View to a
particular Heresy, in a very early Age of the Church, and has ever since had the
venerable Sanction of universal Reception. Nevertheless as a Proof of the sincere
Desire which We feel to continue in spiritual Communion with the Members of
your Church in America, and to complete the Orders of your Ministry, and trusting
that the Communications which We shall make to you, on the subject of these ami
some other Alterations, will have their desired effect ; We have, even under these
circumstances, prepared a Bill for conveying to Us the powers necessary for this
purpose. It will in a few Days be presented to Parliament, and We have the best
Reasons to hope that it will receive the Assent of the Legislature. This Bill will
enable the Archbishops and Bishops to give Episcopal Consecration to the persons
who shall be recommended, without requiring from them any Oaths or Subscrip
tions inconsistent with the Situation in which the late Revolution has placed them ;
upon Condition that the full Satisfaction of the Sufficiency of the Persons recom
mended, which you offer to Us in your Address, be given to the Archbishops and
Bishops. You will doubtless receive it as a Mark both of our friendly Disposition

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

towards you, and of our Desire to avoid all Delay on this Occasion , that We have
taken this earliest Opportunity of conveying to you this Intelligence, and that We
proceed (as supposing ourselves invested with that Power which for your Sakes We
have requested) to state to you particularly the several Heads, upon which that
Satisfaction which you offer, will be accepted, and the Mode in which it may be
given. The Anxiety which is shewn by the Church of England to prevent the
Intrusion of unqualified persons into even the Inferior Offices of our Ministry, con
firms our own Sentiments, and points it out to be our Duty, very earnestly to re
quire the most decisive Proofs of the Qualifications of those who may be offered
for Admission to that Order, to which the Superintendence of those Offices is com
mitted. At our several Ordinations of a Deacon and a Priest, the Candidate sub
mits himself to the Examination of the Bishop as to his Proficiency in Learning;
he gives the proper Security of his Soundness in the Faith by the Subscriptions
which are made previously necessary ; He is required to bring Testimonials of his
virtuous Conversation during the Three preceding Years ; and that no Mode of In
quiry may be omitted, publick Notice of his offering himself to be ordained is given
in the parish Church where he resides or ministers, and the people are solemnly
called upon to declare, if they know any Impediment for the which he ought not
to. be admitted. At the Time of Ordination too the same solemn Call is made on
the Congregation then present.

Examination, Subscription and Testimonials are not indeed repeated at the
Consecration of an English Bishop, because the person to be consecrated has added
to the Securities given at his former Ordinations that Sanction, which arises from
his having constantly lived and exercised his Ministry under the Eyes and Observa
tion of his Country. But the Objects of our present Consideration are very differ
ently circumstanced ; Their Sufficiency in Learning, the Soundness of their Faith
and the purity of their Manners, are not Matters of Notoriety here ; Means therefore
must be found to satisfy the Archbishop who consecrates, and the Bishops who pre
sent them ; that, in the Words of our Church, " They be apt and meet for their
Learning and godly Conversation, to exercise their Ministry duly to the Honour of
God, and the edifying of his Church, and to be wholesome Examples and Patterns
to the Flock of Christ."

With Regard to the first Qualification, Sufficiency in good Learning, We ap
prehend that the subjecting a Person, who is to be admitted to the Office of a Bishop
in the Church, to that Examination which is required previous to the Ordination of
Priests and Deacons, might lessen that reverend Estimation which ought never to
be separated from the Episcopal Character : We therefore do not require any farther
Satisfaction on this point than will be given to Us by the Forms of Testimonials in
the annexed paper ; fully trusting that those who sign them will be well aware,
how greatly Incompetence in this Respect must lessen the Weight and Authority of
the Bishop and affect the Credit of the Episcopal Church.

Under the second Head, that of Subscription, our Desire is to require that
Subscription only to be repeated, which you have already been called upon to make
by the Tenth Article of your Ecclesiastcal Constitution : but We should forget the
Duty which We owe to our own Church, and act inconsistently with that sincere
Regard which We bear to your s, if We were not explicit in declaring, that, after
the Disposition We have shewn to comply with the Prayer of your Address, We
think it now incumbent upon you to use your utmost Exertions also for the Removal
of any stumbling Block of Offence, which may possibly prove an Obstacle to the
Success of it. We therefore most earnestly exhort you, that previously to the
Time of your making such Subscription, you restore to it s Integrity the Apostles
Creed, in which you lave omitted an Article merely, as it seems, from Misappre
hension of the Sense in which it is understood by our Church. Nor can We help
adding, that We hope you will think it but a decent proof of the Attachment which
you profess to the Services of our Liturgy, to give to the other two Creeds a place
in j T our Book of Common Prayer, even tho the Use of them should be left discre
tional. We should be inexcusable too if at the Time when you are requesting the
Establishment of Bishops in your Church ; We did not strongly represent to you
that the Eighth Article of your Ecclesiastical Constitution appears to Us to be a
Degradation of the Clerical, and still more of the Episcopal Character. We per-
swade ourselves that in your ensuing Convention some Alteration will be thought
necessary in this Article, before this reaches you ; or, if not, that due Attention will
be given to it in consequence of our Representation.

On the Third and last Head, which respects Purity of Manners, the Reputa-

68 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

tion of the Church, both in England and America, and the Interest of our common
Christianity, is so deeply concem d in it, that We feel it our indispensible Duty to
provide on this Subject, the most effectual Securities. It is presumed that the same
previous public Notice of the Intention of the Person to be consecrated will be given
in the Church where he resides in America, for the same Reasons, and therefore
nearly in the same Town, with That used in England before our Ordinations. The
Call upon the Persons present at the Time of Consecration, must be deemed of little
Use before a Congregation composed of those to whom the person to be consecrated
is unknown. The Testimonials signed by Persons living in England admit of Ref
erence and Examination, and the Characters of those who give them are subject to
Scrutiny, and, in Cases of criminal Deceit, to Punishment. In Proportion as these
Circumstances are less applicable to Testimonials from America, those Testimonials
must be more explicit, and supported by a greater Number of Signatures. We
therefore think it necessary that the several Persons Candidates for Episcopal Con
secration, should bring to Us both a Testimonial from the general Convention of
the Episcopal Church, with as many Signatures as can be obtained, and a more
particular one, from the respective Conventions in those States which recommend
them. It will appear from the Tenor of the Letters Testimonial used in England a
Form of which is annexed that the Ministers who sign them bear Testimony to the
Qualifications of the Candidates on their own personal Knowledge. Such a Testi
mony is not to be expected from the Members of the General Convention of the
Episcopal Church in America on this Occasion. We think it is sufficient therefore
that they declare they know no Impediment but believe the Person to be consecrated
is of a virtuous Life and sound Faith. We have sent you such a Form as appears
to Us proper to be used for that purpose. More specific Declarations must be made
by the Members of the Convention in each State from which the Persons offered
for Consecration are respectively recommended, their personal Knowledge of them
there can be no Doubt of. We trust therefore they will have no Objection to the
Adoption of the Form of a Testimonial which is annexed and drawn upon the same
Principles and containing the same Attestations of personal Knowledge with That
abovementioned as required previously to our Ordinations. We trust We shall
receive these Testimonials signed by such a Majority in each Convention that rec
ommend as to leave no Doubt of the Fitness of the Candidates upon the Minds of
those whose Consciences are concerned in the Consecration of them.

Thus much We have thought right to communicate to you without Reserve at
present, intending to give you tarther Information as soon as We are able. In the
mean Time We pray God to direct your Counsels in this very weighty Matter and
are M r . President and Gentlemen

Your affectionate Brethren, -s

Prior to the receipt of this letter the convention had, in its
acknowledgment of the first letter from the English prelates, reaffirmed
its " attachment to the system of the Church of England," and renewed
its request for the succession. This second application, in which the
hand of the Hon. John Jay was evident, modifying the submissive-
ness of the first draft, prepared by Dr. William Smith, went on its
mission with the advantage arising from the adoption by the conven
tion, " without even an opposition," as Bishop White tells us, 1 of the
alterations in the constitution desired by the English bishops. Among
the influences tending to the adoption of this conservative course was
the presentation of a memorial from the Convention of New Jersey,

i Memoirs of the Church, 2d ed, p. 117.

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

which by the freedom of its criticisms on the proceedings in 1785,
and by its earnest advocacy of less radical measures, " was among the
causes which prevented the disorganizing of the American Church." l
The author of this memorial was the Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chand
ler, D.D., the friend and correspondent of Seabury, and the first bishop
designate of Nova Scotia. It was thus, in the midst of great physical
infirmity, and as the end of a most useful and honored life drew nigh,
that this truly apostolic man exerted himself for the guidance of the
Church he had by his pen defended, and by his piety adorned for years.
Following close upon the adjournment of the convention, and
the receipt of the letter we have given, came a communication from
the good archbishop, enclosing the long-expected act of parliament
authorizing the consecration of bishops for America :

The end desired was now at hand. The convention was reas
sembled at Wilmington, on the 10th day of October. The presidency
of this adjourned session was given to Dr. Provoost, the bishop-elect

1 Memoirs of the Church, 2cl ed., p. 117.

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of New York. Only New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela
ware, and South Carolina were represented by both clerical and
lay deputies nine clerical and eleven lay at this adjourned ses
sion. Maryland had only a clerical representative present, the Rev.
William Smith, D.D., but his name is found recorded in none of the
important votes of the ses
sion, and it was at this
meeting, although the
minutes of the session are
silent on the point, that

ANNO REGNI

GEORGII III.

REGIS

Me-gnt Britatmi/e, Francite,

VICESIMO SEXTO.

At the Parliament begun and holdn at Wejlminfler, the
Eighteenth Day of May, Anno Domini 1784, in the Twenty -
fourth Tear of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGE
the Third, by the Grace of God, of Gnat Britain ffanct,
and Inland, King, Defender of the Faith, &f.

And frpm thence continued, by ieveral Prorogations, to tie Twenty-
fourth Day of January, 17861 being the Third Seffioa of the Six
teenth Parliament o Grttt Britain.

the request of this distin
guished man for recom
mendation to England for
consecration was refused.
Of the clergy present at
this convention which re
stored the Nicene Creed,
and refused to reinstate the
Athanasian, and, after a
warm debate, restored the
article on the descent into
hell to the Apostles Creed,
Drs. Provoost and White,
and the Rev. Robert Smith,
received the episcopate.
Uzal Ogden failed of confir
mation at the hands of the
convention at a later date,
and abandoned the Church.
Dr. Smith, failing of the
coveted episcopate in the
Church he had so abundant
ly served and so abundantly
honored, relaxed nothing of
his zeal in behalf of the
Church, and contributed
not a little to the happy

realization of the plans he had been so fertile in framing. The
papers of Drs. Provoost, White, and Griffith, recommending them
to the episcopate respectively of New York, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia, were duly signed, and on Thursday, the 2d of November,
1786, the two former "embarked on board the Speedy packet
for old England, with the expectation of obtaining consecration
from the English bishops." 1 Thus wrote Benjamin Moore to his
friend and correspondent, the Rev. Samuel Parker, in Boston. The
voyage was "prosperous," 2 and London was reached on the 29th of the
month. The Hon. John Adams, the minister at the court of St.
James from America, who had kindly interested himself in aiding

i Hawks and Perry s "Connecticut Church "White s "Memoirs of the Church," 2d ed.,

Documents," n., p. 305. p. 120.

LONDON":

Printed by C. EYRE and the Executors of W. STK AIIAN,
Printers to the King s moft Excellent Majefty. 1786..

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

[ 1567 ]
ANNO VICESIMO SEXTO

Georgii III. Regis.

CAP. LXXXIV.

An A61 to empower the Archbifhop of Canterbury r , or the
Archbifhop of York y for the Time being, to confecrate to
the Office of a Bifhop, Perfons being Subjects or Citizens
of Countries out of his Majefty s Dominions.

, fog tfje SLafos of tfjis Healm,
no person can be consecrateo to tfje
ftce of a Bisfjop foitfjout tfje Iting s 3Li=
cence for $is (Election to tfjat fto, ano
tfje i&ogal IHanoate untier tlje reat
for jjts Confirmation ana Consent

tton : ^no hjfjereas eberg person iwlja sfjail tie consecrateo
to tj)e sato fctce is required to take tije atfjs of ^llz-
giance ana ?u}jremaqj, ano also t|je at!) of oue tieot=
ence to tjje ^rcljiisijop : ^[ntr Snfjereas tjere are otuers
persons, Subjects or Citizens of Countries out of jjis
ftlajests s Dominions, ano inhabiting ano resioing iuitftin
tfje saio Countries, iwjjo profess tjje Pitfolirft SEorsfjip of
^[Imigf)t2 (00, according to tije Principles of tfje Cijurdj
of England, antr fofyo, in oroer to probtoe a regular ^uc^
cession of fKinisters for tfje &lt;Seroice of tfjeir Cfjurcij, are
oesirous of jjabing certain of tfje Subjects or Citizens of
tfjose Countries consecrateo Bishops, accoroing to tfje
Jform of Consecration in tfje Cfjurcfj of England : Be it
enactetr fag tfje Iting s most (Excellent J^ajestg, bg anti
foitfj tfje ^lobice ano Consent of tfje ILoros Spiritual ano
Eemporal, ano Commons, in tfjts present parliament
assemoleti, ano &jj tfje ^utfjoritg of tfje same, Efjat, from
ry anti after tfje passing of tfjis ^ct, it sfjall ano mag be
h. lawful to ano for tfje ^rcfjbisfjop of Canterbury, or tfje
^rcfjbisfjop of York, for tfje Eime being, togetfjer iuttfj
sucfj otfjer Bisfjops as tfjeg sfjall call to tfjeir Assistance,

72 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

to consecrate Person*, being Subjects or Citizens of Cowv -^oft.
tries out of &te Jftajestg s dominions, iSisftops, for tfte ShSJ"
Purposes aforesaio, foitftout tfte Hing s licence for tfteir SS*J?flf
Election, or tfje &op.al JEanUate, unoer rfte &lt;reat Seal, iSaS?
for tfteir Confirmation ano Consecration, antr britftout E r to n{ Lke
requiring tftem to tafte tfte atfts of Allegiance ano Su= StSsT 1
premacjj, ano tfje atft of oue beoience to tfte
bisftop for tfte Eime being,

II. probij&eo alfoags, Eftat no Persons sftall
consecrateo Bisftops in tfje Banner jjerein probioeo, until MS" is
tjje ^rdjbisftop of Canterbury, or tfje ^rcfjbisfjop of York, S3J|*
for tfje Eime being, sfjall fjabe first applieo for ano ob= SSS^
taineo iiis jftajestg s licence, 05 SEarrant unoer ^is cration&gt; * c -
Eogal Signet ano Sign JHanual, autijorising ano empoto

ering fjim to perform sucfj Consecration, ano expressing
tfje ^ame or Barnes of tfje persons to be consecrateo, nor
until tfje saio ^rcfjbisfjop u^s been fullg ascertaineo of
tfjeir sufKciencg in gooo iLearning, of tfje Soundness of
tfteir JFaitfj, ano of tlje Puritg of tfteir JHanners.

III. probioeo also, ano be it fjerebg oeclareo, Efjat
no Person or Persons consecrateo to tfje IRce of a
ISisjop in tjje JHanner aforesaio, nor ang Person or
Persons oeribing tfjeir Consecration from or unoer anjj
Bisfjop so consecrateo, nor ang Person or Persons ao=
mittetj to tfje rtrer of eacon or Priest bg ang Bisfjop
or Bisfjops so consecrateo, or bg tfje Successor or Succes=
sors of anjj iSisfjop or iSisfjops so consecrateo, sfjall be
tfjerebg enableti to exercise {jis or tfjeir respective fKce
or faces foitfjin P?is IHajestg s Dominions,

IV. probioeo aliwags, ano be it furtfjer enacteo, %% of
Efjat a Certificate of sucfj Consecration sfjall be giben | v n e * the
unoer tfje l^anti ano Seal of tfje &rcfjbisfjop tufjo conse= |^ hbisio p-
crates, containing tfje $ame of tfte Person so consecrateo,

foitfj tfje Monition, as biell of tfte Countrg toftereof fte is
a Subject or Citizen, as of tfte Cfturcft in tofticft fte is
appointeo iSisftop, ano tfte furtfter Description of ftis not
ftabing taken tfte saio atfts, being exempteo from tfte
Obligation of so ooing bg birtue of tftis ^ict.

FINIS.

the American Church in the accomplishment of its desire for the
episcopate, was first called upon, and then the Archbishop of Canter
bury. Later, the same courtesy was shown to the Bishop of London,
the celebrated Robert Lowth, then drawing near his end. Other
prelates were visited, and an audience was granted by the king.

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

At length the many prescribed formalities were completed, and
on Septuagesima, February 4, 1787, at the chapel at Lambeth, the lay
ing on of hands took place. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. John

LAMBETH CHAPEL.

Moore, was the consecrator ; the Archbishop of York, Dr. William \
Markham, was the presenter; and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, (
Di\_Charles Moss, and the Bishop of Peterborough, Dr. John Hinch-/
cliffe, united in the imposition of hands. The ]Jev\ Dr. Drake, one of

the primate s chaplains,
preached from 1 Cor.
xiv. 40 : " Let all things
be done decently, and
i n or( i er ; and another
chaplain read the
prayers. The congre
gation was small ; only
the family and house
hold of the archbishop,
and " very few others,"
among them the Rev.
Jacob Duche, an old
friend and fellow-
townsman of the newly
made Bishop of Penn
sylvania. The solem
nity being over, the
American bishops

74 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

dined with the archbishop and bishops, spending the remainder of the
day in their company, and on the evening of the following day Bishops
White and Provoost left London for Falmouth, which was reached on
the 10th. Detained by contrary winds until Quinquagesima Sunday,
the 18th, they embarked for New York, reaching port on the after
noon of Easter day, April 8th.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

THE question has been raised with reference to the priority of the laying on of
hands upon Drs. White and Provoost. Dr. J. W. Francis, in his interesting and
valuable paper on "Old New York," page 1G8, states his view of the case as fol
lows : "It has been more than once affirmed, and the declaration is in print, that
Bishop Provoost, as senior Presbyter, and senior in the ministry, was consecrated
first, and Bishop White next, though in the same day and hour, February 4th, 1787.
The son-in-law of Provoost, C. D. Golden, a man of veracity, assured me such was
the case. If so, Provoost is to be recorded as the Father of the American Episco
pate. It is painful to pluck a hair from the venerable head of the Apostolic White,
but we are dealing with history." It is probable that Dr. Francis misunderstood
the statement of Mr. Golden, for, from a statement made by Bishop Smith, of Ken
tucky, relative to the consecration of himself and Bishops Hopkins, Mcllvaine, and
Doane, October 31, 1832, at New York, it appears that just after the consecration
service had been performed, Bishop White stated that the bishops at Lambeth, on
the occasion of the consecration of himself and Bishop Provoost, had observed that
the usual practice in England, where more than one bishop was to be consecrated,
of laying hands on the several candidates according to their seniority as doctors in
divinity.

Now, as the degree of D.D. had been conferred on Bishop White in 1782, and
on Bishop Provoost in 1786, Bishop White, was, of course, the senior doctor in
divinity.

In the certificate of consecration, Bishop White is named first. After stating
the time and place of consecration, and by whom performed, the document says :

"Consecrated the Rev. William White, Doctor in Divinity, Rector of Christ s
Church and St. Peter s,- in the city of Philadelphia, a subject or citizen of the United
States of North America, and the Rev. Samuel Provoost, Doctor in Divinity, Rector
of Trinity Church, in the city of New York, a subject or citizen also of the United
States of North America, to the office of a Bishop." l

In formally mentioning the consecration, on page 28, Bishop White, whose
avoidance of egotism was well known, places his own name first.

The following is a copy of Bishop Smith s remarks referred to above :

"LOUISVILLE, KY., Oct. 23, 1861.

"An incident which occurred in the Vestry room of St. Paul s Church, in New
York, on the memorable occasion of the consecration of the four bishops, may, per
haps, interest those who come after us. Before the bishops had disrobed, the
venerable Presiding Bishop claimed our attention to a brief statement. He had been
censured for giving Bishop Hobart precedence over Bishop Griswold, on the score,
as was supposed, of personal and ecclesiastical prepossession. He trusted we all
knew him well enough to believe that he was altogether incapable of such an act.
The facts were, that on the occasion of his own consecration at the same time with
Dr. Provoost, the English mode of determining priority had been adopted, i. e.
seniority as Doctors of Divinity. On the first occasion of the consecration of more
than one bishop at a time, in the American Church, the same principle had been
affirmed, perhaps without due consideration, by the bishops present. On the present
occasion, and after more mature reflection, it had been decided that another order

i Memoirs of the Prot. Epis. Church. By Bishop White. 2d ed., p. 324.

CONSECRATION OF FIRST AMERICAN BISHOPS.

should hereafter be followed, that of seniority of election. To which the Bishop
of Kentucky replied, that as he was the only one affected by the change, he was
most happy to say, that it met with his most cordial approbation.

"B. B. SMITH,
" Bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky."

Dr. Berrian, in the "History of Trinity Church, N.Y.," page 293, referring
to the consecration of Bishops Hobart and Griswold, in May, 1811, says, " Accord
ing to the usage of the Church of England, Bishop White first laid hands on Mr.
Hobart as a Doctor of Divinity, though Mr. Griswold was his senior both in age
and the ministry."

An interesting memento of the consecration of Bishop White is still preserved
in the archives of the General Convention. It is the bill of expenses incurred in
the consecration, and is as follows :

The Eight Rev 4 . William White D.D. Bishop of Pennsylvania.

To William Dickes D r .

1787. s. d.

Janry. 25. To Fees paid at the Secretary of State s Office for his^

Majesty s License authorising the Archb? of Canterbury &gt; 4. 16. 9.

to consecrate )

Febry. 4. To Fees at the Vicar General s Office, D Commons, as ) 6 r 4

by Ace 1 $

To several Attendances at Lord Sydney s Office, Doctor s S

Commons &? &. & engrossing Certificate of Consecra- &gt; 2. 2. 0.

tion & Parchment )

To a Gratuity to the Chapel Clerk at Lambeth Palace . 0. 10. 6.

To Coach hire at sundry Times 0. 7. 6.

14. 3. 1.

Consecrated ^ Expences of Consecrating the Rev? "Wf White D.D. to be Bishop of
Sy.jP 6118 ^^- g&gt; d&gt;

Apparitor s fee 1. 0. 0.

Drawing & Ingrossing the Act of Consecration & Stamp 0. 8. 8.

Registering the whole proceedings 2. 10. 0.

One half ot the Coach hire &c 0. 10. 6.

Registers Clerk 0. 10. 6.

6. 6. 4.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHURCHES OF THE NORTHERN,
MIDDLE, AND SOUTHERN STATES.

ON the return of the newly-consecrated bishops, Seabury, who
had only held aloof from their earlier measures from a con
sciousness of Pro voost s personal hostility, and an unwillingness to
submit to the radical notions with reference to the episcopate then too
much in vogue at the South, addressed a friendly letter to each, which
did credit to his head and heart. If any proof were wanted to con
vince us of the Christian charity and forbearance of the Bishop of
Connecticut, this letter, which we print from the original draft, still
preserved in Bishop Seabury s manuscript letter-book, would surely be
enough. In reading it, we should remember that it was addressed to
a man who had openly and avowedly sought to cast contempt upon
the official character and personal reputation of Seabury ; and in the
convention of his own State, and in the wider assembly of the Middle
and Southern States, had introduced resolutions aimed directly, and
even by name, against the Bishop of Connecticut, seeking to limit his
influence, and reduce him to a position inferior to those who should be
consecrated in the English line. This letter is as follows :

May 1, 1787.
THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP PBOVOOST, New York :

RIGHT REV. AND DEAR SIR, It is with pleasure I take this opportunity of
presenting my congratulations on your safe return to New York, on the success of
your application to the English Archbishops, and on your recovery from your late
dangerous illness.

You must be equally sensible with me of the present unsettled state of the
Church of England in this country, and of the necessity of union and concord
among all its members in the United States of America, not only to give stability
to it, but to fix it on its true and proper foundation. Possibly nothing will con
tribute more to this end than uniformity in worship and discipline among the
churches of the different States. It will be my happiness to be able to promote so
good and necessary a work ; and I take the liberty to propose, that, before any
decided steps be taken, there may be a meeting of yourself and Bishop White with
me at such time and place as shall be most convenient, to try whether some plan
cannot be adopted that shall in a quiet and effectual way secure the great object
which, I trust, we shall all heartily rejoice to see accomplished. For my own part,
I cannot help thinking that the most likely method will be to retain the present
Common Prayer-Book, accommodating it to the Civil Constitution of the United
States. The government of the church, you know, is already settled ; a body of
canons will, however, be wanted to give energy to the government, and ascertain its
operation.

A stated Convocation of the clergy of this State is now to be held at Stamford
on Thursday after Whitsunday. As it is so near to New York, and the journey
may contribute to the reestabhshment of your health, I should be much rejoiced to

CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHURCHES.

see you there, more especially as I think it would promote the great object, THE
UNION OF ALL THE CHURCHES. May God direct us in all things !

Believe me to be, Rt. Rev. and dear sir, Your affectionate brother and humble
servant,

SAMUEL, Bishop of Connecticut. 1

In making this proffer for union and uniformity, Bishop Seabury
was acting on his own individual responsibility. The convocation of
the Connecticut clergy, held at Wallingford the February preceding,
indignant at the affronts their bishop had publicly received at the
Philadelphia Convention, had determined to send another Presbyter
from their ranks to Scotland, to be consecrated, after the fashion of
the Scottish Church, coadjutor to Seabury. Jeremiah Learning and
Richard Mansfield were successively elected to this important office ;
but age and infirmities induced them to decline, and the choice subse
quently fell on Jarvis, who was afterwards to succeed him to whom he
was now elected associate. Measures were also put in train to accom
plish in Massachusetts the choice of the excellent Samuel Parker, then
rector of Trinity, Boston, to the bishopric of that State and New Hamp
shire, that the episcopal college in the Scottish line might thus be com
pleted, and any necessity of union with the churches at the southward
effectually precluded. Had these measures been consummated, as was
the ardent wish of the great body of the New England churches, there
would have been seen in this country the spectacle of two rival churches
differing in origin, in doctrine, in ritual, and antagonistic in principle
and practice. Union would soon have been impossible, and theChurch,
a house divided against herself, could not have failed to have been
despoiled and destroyed by foes on every side.

All this was prevented, under God, by the patient forbearance and
wise conservatism of Seabury. He might have been the " Primus" of
the Church in New England. He chose rather, for the whole church s
good, to become one of a house of bishops in which he was to be a
hopeless minority. He restrained the ardor of his devoted friends and
adherents in and out of Connecticut. He returned again and again to
the effort for union and uniformity, and God at length crowned his
self-denying, self-forgetting labors and concessions with the desired
success, and made him the presiding bishop of a united American
Church.

"Mysteriously did God, in his wise providence, hedge up the way
to the completion of the episcopal college in the English line, till, in
his own good time, measures for the union had been inaugurated. The
amiable and pious Griffith, chosen Bishop of Virginia, found his journey
to England prevented ; the perfect indifference of the parishes to the
project leading them to withhold their contributions for accomplishing

mit you to do us that favour ; more especially as
I think it would greatly promote so essential an
object as the union of all our Churches must
be esteemed. May God direct us in all things !
Believe me to be, Right Reverend, & dear Six 1 ,
your affectionate Brother,
& humble Servant,
SAMUEL Bp. Connect.
" Rt. Rev. Bp. White."

1 A letter in the same words with a few
changes in the concluding paragraph was
addressed to the Bishop of Pennsylvania. These
changes were as follows :

" I have written to Bp. Provost on this subject,
& have invited him to visit us at the stated Con
vocation of our Clergy which is to be held at
Stamford Thursday after Whitsunday. I regret
that the distance & time will not probably per-

HISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

it ; and when this hindrance was in a fair way of removal, through the
proffered kindness of friends at the North , the coldness of the clergy
towards their bishop-elect made it apparent that they feared alike his
piety and zeal for the Church, should he ever enter upon the limited
episcopate to which they had chosen him. Then began a series of
petty persecutions, detailed in Dr. Griffith s unpublished letters in
language far too mild, when we think that their story was of the con
spiracy of ministers and members of the Episcopal Church, aimed at
the efficiency, and even existence of the episcopate. These annoy
ances resulted, finally, in wearing out the patience of Griffith, and in
wringing from him a resignation of the office he had never sought, but
which he would have highly honored. In Maryland, the Church was
still further removed from obtaining the episcopate. The General Con
vention at Wilmington, after a stormy discussion, had refused to sign
the testimonials of the Rev. William Smith, D.D., President of Wash
ington College, and perhaps the foremost man, in point of ability, in
the whole American Church, from a conviction that he was far from
being " blameless " in life or conversation ; and this step effectually
precluded any further nominations from that quarter, the Maryland
Convention being, at that tune, to a certain extent, under the influence
of this gifted but erratic man. In New Jersey, personal controversies
between the most prominent members of the convention, resulting

from intrigues on the
part of Uzal Ogden,
D.D., prevented the
choice of the excel
lent Dr. Beach to
the episcopate, and
plunged the Church
throughout the State
into confusion and
distress. Delaware
had too little life to
call to the highest
dignity of the Church
the distinguished
Wharton, whose
name appears on our
annals as the first
convert to the Protes-
tant faith from Ro
manism, numbered
among the ranks oi
the reorganized
American Church.
South Carolina had
stipulated, on her admission to the confederacy of churches, that no
bishop should be sent to her ; and on either side of her there was too
little church zeal even to gather a convention, and consequently there
was no hope of a popular election of an Episcopal head. At the North,

BT. REV. SAMUEL PROVOOST, D.D., FIRST
BISHOP OP NEW YORK.

CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHURCHES.

Massachusetts and New Hampshire were receiving the ministrations
of Seabury, and cared not to unite themselves to the churches at the
South. In Rhode Island, the Bishop of Connecticut was, from the first,
openly acknowledged, and subsequently invested with full Episcopal
charge of the State. Vermont presented the anomalous spectacle of
an election of a bishop growing out of a gigantic land speculation, and
the well-meaning but erratic John Cosens Ogden was duped into giving
aid to a project for securing the consecration of Samuel Peters, LL.D.,
the author of a burlesque history of Connecticut, and then a refugee
in London : an act which, if consummated, would have been a dis
grace to the Church never to be wiped out. And so the eyes of all
who longed and prayed for unity were turned towards Parker, the
rector of Trinity Church, Boston, as the only means of accomplishing
this union. Seabury, who had maintained the closest intimacy with
him from that convocation of the Connecticut clergy which had been the
occasion of their first meeting, hoped to find in him, as a last resort,
the third bishop of Scottish ordination. White, on the other hand,
looked to him to fill the vacancy still existing in the number needed
for the canonical transmission of the English succession. He, with .
characteristic modesty, was deaf to hints, and, while others saw in him
the fittest person for the second New England bishopric, quietly &lt;
planned and secured, by means of his personal influence, the adoption
of measures for healing the breach, and bringing back to union and
uniformity the churches of all the United States.

To these measures we need not revert in detail. It is enough to
state that the application made to the Philadelphia convention of 1789,
by the clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, nominating the
Rev. Edward Bass, of Newburyport, for the episcopate of those States,
and requesting the convention to take measures for his consecration by
the union of Bishop Seabury with the prelates in the English line,
proved the means of union. It came out afterwards, somewhat, we
infer, to the surprise of Bishop White, 1 that when this union was
effected, and Bishop Seabury received into the house of bishops, and
the obnoxious resolutions of earlier date had been either explained
away or rescinded, there was no effort made to proceed with Mr. Bass s
consecration. The fact was, that it was not the purpose of those who
brought his name before the General Convention in this connection, that
he should be consecrated. T heir object was, by presenting a case in
point, to convince the churchmen out of New England, that a further
resort to England for bishops was unnecessary ; that a full college of
consecrators was already on the ground, and that all the American
communion now needed, under God, to ensure a successful career,
was to be at unity with itself. This done, the consecration of Mr.
Bass might well afford to wait, till, in the progress of the Church in
New England, there appeared a greater need of* Episcopal supervision
and advice.

We have already given the noble letter of Seabury to Bishop
Provoost, on the latter s return from England after receiving consecra
tion. A similar letter, as we have seen, was addressed by the Bishop

i Vide " Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church," 2d ed., p. 148.

80 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of Connecticut to Bishop White. To this, the following reply was
returned. It is not, we believe, contained among the Bishop White
correspondence. At least, we have it only as copied in full, in a let
ter from Bishop Seabury to Mr. Parker, of Boston, from whose papers
we now transcribe it. It is as follows :

PHILADELPHIA, May 21, 1787.

Bishop Wliite to Sisho2) Seabury, There is nothing I have more at heart, than
to see y* members of our communion throughout y* United States connected in one
system of ecclesiastical government ; and if my meeting of you in concurrence with
Bishop Provoost can do anything towards y 9 accomplishment of this great object,
my very numerous engagements shall not hinder me from taking a journey for y*
purpose. But I must submit it to your consideration, whether it will not be best
previously to understand one another as to y views of y* churches in which we
respectively preside.

We have been informed (but perhaps it is a mistake), that y* Bishop and
clergy of Connecticut think our proposed ecclesiastical constitution essentially
wrong in y* leading parts of it. As y* general principles on which it is founded
were maturely considered and comparea with y* maxims which prevail in y* eccle
siastical system of England ; as they have received y approbation of all y e Con
ventions southward of you, and of one to the northward ; as they were not objected
to by y* Archbishops and Bishops of y* English Church ; and as they are generally
thought, among us, essential to y* giving of effect to future ecclesiastical measures ;
I do not expect to find y churches in many of y* States willing to associate on any
plan materially different from this. If our brethren in Connecticut should be of
opinion that y" giving of any share of y" legislative power of y* Church to others
than those of y Episcopal order is inconsistent with Episcopal government ; and
that y* requiring of y" consent of y* laity to ecclesiastical laws is an invasion of
clerical rights ; in this case, I see no prospect of doing good in any other way than
by contributing all in my power to promote a spirit of love and peace between us ;
although I shall continue to cultivate y hope of our being brought, at some future
day, to a happy agreement.

As to y Liturgy, if it should be thought advisable by y* general body of our
Church to adhere to y* English Book of Common Prayer (y* political parts ex-
cepted) , I shall be one of y" first, after y" appearance of such a disposition, to com
ply with it most punctually. Further than this, if it should seem y* most probable
way of maintaining an agreement among ourselves, I shall use my best endeavors
to effect it. At y" same time, I must candidly express my opinion, that y* review
of y* Liturgy would- tend very much to y* satisfaction of most of y 9 members of
our communion, and to its future success and prosperity. The worst evil which I
apprehend from a refusal to review is this, that it will give great advantage to
those who wish to carry y* alteration into essential points of doctrine. Reviewed
it will unquestionably be in some places ; and y* only way to prevent its being
done by men of y above description is, y taking it up as a general business. J
have been informed that you, sir, and our brethren in Connecticut, think a review
expedient, although you wish not to be in haste in y* matter. Our brethren in
Massachusetts have already done it. The Churches in y States southward of you
have sufficiently declared their sentiments ; for even those which have delayed per
mitting y use of y* new Book, did it merely on y principles of y" want of y
Episcopal order among them. If, sir, we should be of a different opinion in any
matter, I hope we shall be so candid as mutually to think it consistent with y best
intentions, and a sincere desire to promote y* interests of our holy religion. This
justice you have already received from

Etc., etc. (Signed) WILLIAM WHITE.

The above, my dear sir, is the whole of a letter from Bishop White, that re
lates to the subject. It is an answer to one from me to him, in which I proposed a
personal interview with him and Bishop Provoost, previously to any decided steps
being taken respecting the Liturgy and government of the Church, and mentioned
the Liturgy as the most likely bond of union. I send it to you without comment,

and shall oe glad of your opinion respecting it

Your affectionate, humble servant,

S., Bishop of Connecticut.

CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHURCHES.

The result of enclosing this letter to Mr. Parker, was one written
by him to Bishop White in which he urged, with his characteristic
energy, the practicability of union. To this the Bishop of Pennsyl
vania replied, under date of August 6, 1787. This letter, now in
possession of the writer, covers eleven closely written quarto pages,
and is a most interesting exposition of the plan and workings of the
newly-organized American ecclesiastical system. From that portion
of it relating to the matter in question we quote the following :

I will be very explicit with you on y" questions you put in regard to an union
with Bishop Seabury, and y* consecration of Dr. Griffith. On y* one hand, con
sidering it was presumed a third was to go over to England that y* institutions
of y* Church of that country require three to join in y* consecration, and that y*
political situation of y English Prelates prevents their official knowledge of Dr.
Seabury as a Bishop I am apprehensive it may seem a breach of faith toward
them, if not an intended deception in us, were we to consecrate without y* usual
number, and those all under y 9 English succession ; although it would not be in
consistent with this idea, that another gentleman, under a different succession,
should be joined with us. On y 6 other hand, I am most sincerely desirous of seeing
our Church throughout these States united in one ecclesiastical legislature ; and I
think that any difficulties which have hitherto seemed in y way, might be removed
by mutual forbearance. If there are any further difficulties than those I allude to
of difference of opinion they do not exist with me ; and I shall be always ready
to do what lies in my power to bring all to an agreement.

Dating from this kind communication there followed numerous
letters, all tending to the removal of prejudices, and the restoration
of the kindly feeling between the churches of New England and the
Middle and Southern States.

One obstacle to union was with difficulty removed. The irrecon
cilable Provpost, without the following of his own convention, against
the pleadings of the warm-hearted White, sought single-handed to
beat back the irresistible tendencies of churchmen, North, South, and
East, toward comprehension and charity. Little by little this oppo
sition on the part of the first bishop of New York, which it was hope
less to expect to remove, was rendered inoperative, and the year of
grace, 1789, found the longing for union well-nigh universal.

In a hurried note addressed by Bishop Seabury to his friend
Parker, the rector of Trinity Church, Boston, he says :

I believe we shall send two clergymen to the Philadelphia Convention to see
whether a union can be effected. If it fail, the point, I believe, will have to be
altogether given up.

It was, we may well believe from a comparison of dates, in conse
quence of this encouragement, that Mr. Parker set on foot, and within
the space of a couple of months brought about, the " Act of the Clergy of
Massachusetts and New Hampshire " already cited, the object of which
was to bring the question of union in such shape before the "Philadelphia
Convention " as to admit of no further evasions or strugglings on the
part of those opposed to a recognition of Seabury s orders and Epis
copal rights.

In the June following, the Bishop of Connecticut addressed a let
ter of eight folio pages to his Episcopal brother of Pennsylvania. Our

82 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

space forbids the transcription of the whole of this communication, and
the ravages of time have mutilated portions of every page ; but enough
still remains to acquaint us with the style and spirit of this able and
well-considered letter :

NEW LONDON, June 29th, 1789.

RT. REV. AND DEAR SIR : Your favor of December 9th, 1788, came safely
to me, though not till the middle of February. I heartily thank you for it, and for
the sentiments of candor and Christian unity it contained ; and beg you to believe
that nothing on my part shall be wanting to keep up a friendly intercourse with
you, and with all the Churches in the United States that our different situations can
permit.

That your letter has not been sooner attended to has not been owing to disre
spect or negligence. I was unwilling to reply to the great and interesting subject of
union between the Church of Connecticut and the Southern Churches, merely on
the dictates of my own judgment ; and as we are about to call a Convention of lay
delegates from our several congregations to provide for the support of their Bishop,
and to consider the practicability of instituting an Episcopal Academy in this State,
it was thought best that the point of sending lay delegates to the General Conven
tion should come fairly before them. The Annual Convention of our clergy was
also to meet in June, and I determined to take their sentiments on the subject of
sending some of their body to your Convention.

When the matter was proposed to the Lay Convention, after some conversation,
they declined every inteference in Church government, or in reformation of Litur
gies. They supposed the government of the Church to be fixed, and that they had
no right to alter it by introducing a new power into it. They hoped the old Liturgy
would be retained with little alteration ; and these matters they thought belonged to
the Bishop and clergy, and not to them. They, therefore, could send no delegates ;
though they wished for unity among the Churches, and for uniformity of worship,
but could not see why these great objects could not better be secured on the old
ground, than on the new ground that had been taken with you.

The clergy supposed that, on your Constitution, any representation from them
would be inadmissible without lay delegates ; nor could they submit to offer them
selves to make part of any meeting where the authority of their Bishop had been
disputed by one bishop, and, probably through his influence, by a number of others
who were to compose that meeting. They, therefore, must consider themselves as
excluded till that point shall be settled to their satisfaction, which they hope will
be done by your Convention.

For my own part, gladly would I contribute to the union and uniformity of all
our churches. But while Bishop Provoost disputes the validity of my consecration
I can take no step toward the accomplishment of so great and desirable objects.
This point, I take it, is now in such a state, that it must be settled either by your
Convention or by an appeal to the good sense of the Christian world. But as this
is a subject in which I am personally concerned, I shall refrain from any remarks
on it, hoping that the candor and good sense of your Convention will render the
future mention of it altogether unnecessary.

You mention the necessity of having your succession completed from England,
both as it is the choice of your churches, and in consequence of implied obligations
you are under in England. I have no right to dictate to you on these points.
There can, however, be no harm in wishing it were otherwise. Nothing would
tend so much to the unity and unifonnity of our churches, as the three Bishops now
in the States, joining in the consecration of a fourth. I could say much on this
subject, but should I do so it might be supposed to proceed from interested views.
I shall, therefore, leave it to your own good sense only hoping that you and
the Convention will deliberately consider whether the implied obligations in Eng
land, and the wishes of your Churches, be so strong that they must not give way to
the prospect of securing the peace and unity of the Church.

Passing in review the arguments urged by the churches at the
southward for the introduction of the lay-element into the government
of the Church, and examining quite in detail the various alterations
comprised in the " proposed book," the bishop thus concludes :

CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHUKCHES.

I shall close this letter with renewing a former proposal for union and uni
formity viz.: That you and Bishop Provoost, with as many Proctors from the
clergy as shall be thought necessary, meet me with an equal number of Proctors
from Connecticut. We should then be on equal ground on which ground only,
I presume, you would wish to stand and I doubt not everything might be settled
to mutual satisfaction without the preposterous method of ascertaining doctrines,
etc., by a majority of votes.

Hoping that all obstructions may be removed by your convention, and beseech
ing Almighty God to direct us all in the great work of establishing and building up
His Church in peace and unity, truth and charity and purity, I remain your affec
tionate brother, and very humble servant, SAMUEL, Bishop of Connecticut.

A similar letter was addresed to the Rev. Dr. William Smith, now
again in Philadelphia. These manly, courteous, and sensible com
munications were laid before the first convention of 1789, immediately
on the presentation before the meeting of the "Act of the Clergy of
Massachusetts and New Hampshire." The reading of these letters
was followed by an act of simple justice, which, though it may have
been tardy, was now done with a glad alacrity which was at once
creditable to the convention, and gave promise of a speedy settlement
of the difficulties in the way of union and comprehension. The record
reads as follows :

Upon reading the said letter, it appearing that Bishop Seabury lay under
some misapprehensions concerning an entry in the Minutes of a former Convention,
as intending some doubt of the validity of his Consecration.

Resolved, unanimously, that it is the opinion of this Convention, that the
consecration of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Seabury to the Episcopal Office is valid. 1

1 Perry s "Reprint of the Journals of the to the Bishop who ordained them; and as this

Gen. Conv.," I. pp. 70, 71 ; vide also, " Historical circumstance had been urged in argument, the

Notes and Documents illustrating the organiza- proposal of rejecting settlements under such

tion of the Prot. Epis. Church in the United subjection was adopted; although Mr. Pilmore

States," p. 394. denied that any such thing had been exacted of

It will serve to show whether or not Bishop him. As the measure is stated on the Journal to
Seabury really erred in attaching such impor- have been carried on the motion of the author,
tance to the action of the Convention of 1786, he thinks it proper to mention that he never con-
as he did, if we cite the opinion of Bishop White ceived of there having been any ground for it,
with reference to this veiy matter, written years other than in the apprehension which had been
afterwards, in a calm, dispassionate review of the expressed. This temperate guarding against the
details of the church s organization : evil, if it did exist, seemed the best way of obvi-

" The question of the Scottish Episcopacy ating measures which might have led to disputes
gave occasion to some warmth. That matter with the Northern clergy." *
was struck at by certain motions which appear on In addition to the above, the Bishop of Penn-
its Journals, and which particularly affected two sylvania further observes :
members ot the body, one of whom the Rev. " In regard to the Church in Connecticut, it
Mr. Pilmore had "been ordained by Bishop had been all along an object with the author,
Seabury ; and the other, the Rev. William Smith, which he never endeavored to conceal, to bring
the younger gentleman of the Convention of its Episcopacy within the Union. But as the
that name, had been ordained by a Bishop of Scotch succession could not be officially recog-
the Church in which Bishop Seabury had been nized by the English Bishops, he wished to corn-
consecrated. The Convention did not enter into plete the succession from England, before such
the opposition to the Scottish succession. A mo- a comprehension should take place. He knew,
tion, as may be seen on the journals, was made indeed, that Bishop Provoost, although he did
to this effect, by the Rev. Mr. Provoost, seconded not appear to be possessed of personal ill-will to
by the Rev. Robert Smith, of South Carolina, Bishop Seabury, was opposed to having anything
who only of the clergy were of that mind. But to do with the Scotch succession, which he did
the subject was suppressed as the Journal not hesitate to pronounce irregular. Yet he was
shows by the previous question, moved by the very little supported in this sentiment ; and least of
Rev. Dr. Smith, and seconded by the author, all, by the clergy of his own diocese. Itwasthere-
Nevertheless, as it had been affirmed, that the gen- fore natural to infer that he would see the expe-
tlemen ordained under the Scottish succession, diency of what was the general wish, or at least
settling in the represented churches, were under- waive his objection for the sake of peace ; as
stood by some to be under canonical subjection indeed happened." 2

1 Bishop White s " Memoirs of the Church," 2d ed. (1836), pp. 115, 116.

2 Memoirs, p. 142.

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

The convention, thus put in full knowledge of the facts of
the case, gave to this vexed question :i full and patient consideration
in the " Committee of the Whole." By this parliamentary expedient,
as was doubtless intended, we are unable to trace the progress of the
discussion on the pages of the printed journal, itself in its original
among the rarest of our conventional publications. The result is
spread upon the printed minutes, and is as follows :

The Committee of the Whole, having had under their deliberate consideration
flu- application of the Clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire for the con
secration of the Rev. Edward Bass as their Bishop, do offer to the Convention the

following resolves :

1st. Resolved, That
a complete Order of
Bishops, derived as well
under the English as the
Scots line of Episcopacy,
doth now subsist within
the United States of
America, in the persons
of the Right Rev. Will
iam White, D.D., Bishop
of the Protestant Epis
copal Church in the State
of Pennsylvania ; the
Right Rev. Samuel Pro-
voost, D.D., Bishop of
the said Church in the
State of New York, and
the Right Rev. Samuel
Scabury, U.D., Bishop
of the said Church in the
State of Connecticut.

2d. Resolved, Tha.t
the three said Bishops are
fully competent to every
proper act and duty of
the Episcopal office and
character in these United
States, as well in respect
to the consecration of
other Bishops, and the

ordering of Priests and Deacons, as for the government of the Church according to
such rules, Canons, and institutions as now are, or hereafter may be, duly made and
ordained by the Church in that case.

3d. Resolved, That in Christian charity, as well as of dut} 7 , necessity and ex
pediency, the Churches represented in this Convention ought to contribute in every
manner in their power, towards supplying the wants and granting every just and
reasonable request of their sister Churches in these States ; and therefore :

4th. Resolved, That the Right Rev. Dr. White and the Right Rev. Dr. Pro-
voost be, and they hereby are, requested to join with the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury,
in complying with the prayer of the Clergy of the States of Massachusetts and New
Hampshire, for the consecration of the Rev. Edward Bass, Bishop-elect of the
Churches in the said States ; but that, before the said Bishops comply with the request
aforesaid, it be proposed to the Churches in the New England States, to meet the
Churches of these States, with the three said Bishops, in an adjourned Convention,
to settle certain articles of union and discipline, among all the Churches, previous
to such consecration.

5th. Resolved, That if any difficulty or delicacy, in respect to the Archbishops
and Bishops of England, shall remain with the Right Rev. Drs. White and Pro-
voost, or either of them, concerning their compliance with the above request, this

RT. REV. SAMUEL PARKER, D.D., SECOND BISHOP
OF MASSACHUSETTS, FROM A MINIATURE IN THE
POSSESSION OF MISS EDSON, LOWELL, MASS.

CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHURCHES.

Convention will address the Archbishops and Bishops, and hope thereby to remove
the difficulty. 1

These resolutions of peace, unanimously agreed upon in the com
mittee of the whole, were unanimously adopted by the convention.
In a hurried note addressed to Bishop Seabury, Bishop White com
municated, without a moment s loss of time, the result of the action,
and the expression of his satisfaction at the prospect of a speedy union
on terms such as could not fail to commend themselves to all right-
minded men. The address to the archbishops and bishops recited the
request of the New England clergy and the resolutions of the conven
tion, and included the extracts from the Rev. Mr. Parker s letter to
Bishop White, and one from Bishop Seabury to Dr. William Smith. 2

Dr. Smith immediately, on the rising of the convention, sent the
following graphic account of the secret history of the session, which we
give from the original draft preserved among the Bishop White papers
in the writer s hands :

. . . You will see from our printed Journal, herewith enclosed, that in a
Committee of the whole, the business of the Eastern Churches engaged our attention
for the first five days of our sitting, and though a desire of union was everywhere
evident among the members, yet much difficulty and variety of sentiment and
apprehension prevailed as to the means, in- so-far that there appeared more of a
probability of coming to no conclusion. In this stage of the business, I requested a
postponement for one night, on the promise of proposing something against next
morning which might meet the apprehensions of all, as we all had but one great
object of union in view ; and I shall ever rejoice in it as the happiest incident of my
life, and the best service I have ever been able to render to our Church, that the
resolves which were offered the next morning were unanimously and almost in-
stantly adopted, as reconciling every sentiment, and removing every difficulty/
which had before appeared to obstruct a general union.

Bishop White, whom I consulted in framing the Resolves, and Dr. Moore, of
New York, and Mr. (now Dr.) Smith of South Carolina, were particularly zealous in
whatever tended to promote this good work ; and I am well assured that you are in
some mistake respecting Bishop White s having declined a " Proposal " for your join
ing with him and Bishop P. in consecrating a fourth Bishop. He has assured me, and
also declared in Convention, that no such proposal was ever made to him ; and I
believe he has written, or will write to you, on this subject. His whole conduct,
whenever your name and Episcopate have been mentioned, does him honor, and is
perfectly agreeable to his well-known excellent temper and zeal for the peace and
unity of the Church.

The standing committee of the convention also addressed the
Bishop of Connecticut, communicating the action respecting the con-

1 Perry s reprint of the early journals, Vol.
I., pp. 74, 75.

2 These extracts were as follows: "The
Clergy of this State (Massachusetts) are very
desirous of seeing an union of the whole Epis
copal Church in the United States take place ;
and it will remain with our brethren at the South
ward to say whether this shall be the case or
not whether we shall be a united or divided
Church. Some little difference in government
may exist in different States, withoutaffecting the
essential points of union and communion."

In like spirit, the Right Hey. Dr. Seabury,
Bishop of the Church in Connecticut, in his letter
to the Rev. Dr. Smith, dated July 23d, writes on
the subject of union, etc., as follows :

" The wish of my heart, and the wish of the

Clergy and of the Church people of this State,
would certainly have carried me and some of the
Clergy to your General Convention, had we con
ceived we could have attended with propriety.
The necessity of an union of all the Churches,
and the disadvantages of our present disunion,
we feel and lament equally with you; ajjdl a^ree -
with you that there may be a strong and emca-
eious union between Churches, where the usages
are different. I see not why it may not be so in
the present case, as soon as you have removed
those obstructions which, while they remain , must
prevent any possibility of uniting. The Church
of Connecticut consists, at present, of nineteen
clergymen in full orders, and more than twenty
thousand people, they suppose, as respectable as
the Church has in any State in the Union."

86 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

secration of Dr. Bass, and adding the further evidence of their desire
for union, in the removal of the constitutional restriction which had
seemed to hinder the admission of the Connecticut clergy to the con
vention.

By the second Article of our printed Constitution (as now amended) you will
observe that your first and chief difficulty respecting Lay representation is wholly
removed, upon the good and wise principles admitted by you as well as by us, viz. : . - /
" That there may be a strong and efficacious union between Churches, where the ) (/Jlj.
usages are in some respects different. It was long so in the different dioceses of
England. By the Article of our Constitution above mentioned, the admission of
yours and the other Eastern Churches is provided for upon your own principles
of representation ; while our Churches are not required to make any sacrifice of
theirs ; it being declared

" That the Church in each State shall be entitled to a representation either of
Clergy, or Laity, or of both. And in case the Convention (or Church) of any State
should neglect or decline to appoint their deputies of either order, or if it should be
their rule to appoint only out of one order ; or if any of those appointed should
neglect to attend, or be prevented by sickness, or any other accident, the Church in
such. State [district or diocese] shall, nevertheless, be considered as duly represented
by such deputy or deputies as may attend of either order. "

Here, then, every case is intended to be provided for, and experience will
either demonstrate that an efficacious union may be had upon these principles ; or
mutual good will, and a further reciprocation of sentiments will eventually lead to
a more perfect uniformity of Discipline as well as Doctrine. 1

The Bishop of New York, who had been detained from the con
vention by illness, raised the only protest against these measures for
union, but this opposition was of no avail. Bishop Seabury accepted
gracefully and without delay the invitation to the adjourned conven
tion in September, and churchmen everywhere seemed gratified at
the prospect of the incoming of unity and uniformity.

At length the gathering of bishops, clergy, and laity in a truly
general convention took place, and among its first results was the
reunion of the churches. A dingy, yellow half-sheet of paper care
fully preserved among the archives of the General Convention records
this act of Church comprehension.

It is this half sheet of paper, soiled and stained with the lapse of
nearly a hundred years, which attests the church s return to unity and
peace. It was not signed until the constitution had been modified in
its third article "so as to declare explicitly the right of the Bishops,
when sitting as a separate House, to originate and propose acts for the
concurrence of the other House of Convention, and to negative such
act, proposed by the other House as they may disapprove, provided
they are not adhered to by four-fifths of the other House" The words
we have italicized were not in the change as advocated by Seabury
and the New England clergy, but were agreed to as a compromise.
A few years later the full Episcopal negative, for which the Bishop
of Connecticut contended from the first, was freely accorded by the
other house.

The second result of this happy union was the return to uniformity,
as shown in the practical though not ostensible return to the English
prayer-book as the basis of the revised service-book of the American

1 Perry s " Hist. Notes and Documents," pp. 406, 407.

CONSOLIDATION OF THE CHURCHES.

church. The "proposed book," at once uncatholic and unchurchly,
thus abandoned. It had never received the approval of the

was

associated churches at the southward, and, in the comprehension of
the New England element, its fate was forever sealed.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

" Act of the Clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire," than which
J_ few more important documents of our ecclesiastical history exist, was as
follows :

" The good Providence of Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness, having
lately blessed the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, by
supplying it with a complete and entire ministry, and affording to many of her
communion the benefit of the labors, advice, and government of the successors of
the Apostles :

" We, Presbyters of said Church in the States of Massachusetts and New Hamp
shire, deeply impressed with the most lively gratitude to the Supreme Governor
of the universe, for his goodness in this respect, and with the most ardent love
to his Church, and concern for the interest of her sons, that they may enjoy all the
means that Christ, the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, has instituted for lead
ing His followers into the ways of truth and holiness, and preserving His Church
in the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace; to the end that the people com
mitted to our respective charges may enjoy the benefit and advantage of those
offices, the administration of which belongs to the highest order of the Afinistry, and
to encourage and promote, as far as in us lies, a union of the whole Episcopal
Church in these States, and to perfect and compact this mystical body of Christ, do
hereby nominate, elect, and appoint, the Rev. Edward Bass, a Presbyter of said
Church, and Rector of St. Paul s in Newburyport, to be our Bishop, and we do
promise and engage to receive him as such, when canonically consecrated and
invested with the apostolic office and powers by the Right Reverend the Bishops
hereafter named, and to render him all that canonical obedience and submission,
which by the laws of Christ, and the constitution of our Church, is due to so
important an office.

" And we now address the Right Reverend the Bishops in the States of Con
necticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, praying their united assistance in conse
crating our said brother, and canonically investing him with the Apostolic office
and powers. This request we are induced to make, from a long acquaintance with
him, and from a perfect knowledge of his being possessed with that love of God
and benevolence to men, that piety, learning, and good morals, that prudence and
discretion, requisite to so exalted a station, as well as that personal respect and
attachment of the communion at large in these States, which will make him a valu
able acquisition to the Order, and, we trust, a rich blessing to the Church.

" Done at a meeting of the Presbyters whose names are underwritten, held in
Salem, in the County of Essex, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the fourth
day of June, Anno Salutis, 1789.

" Samuel Parker, Rector of Trinity Church, Boston ; T. Fitch Oliver, Rector of
St. Michael s Church, Marblehead ; John Cousens Ogden, Rector of Queen s Chap
el, Portsmouth, N.H., William Montague, Minister of Christ Church, Boston;
Tillotson Brunson, Assistant Minister of Christ Church, Boston.

" A true copy, Attest : SAMUEL PARKER."

1 Perry s " Reprint of the Early Journals," I., pp. 70, 71.

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

At the same meeting of Presbyters of the Church in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire held under the chairmanship of the excellent Bass, whose recommen
dation to the episcopate was so full and hearty, the leading spirit in the assembly,
the Rector of Trinity, Boston, was appointed to attend the Convention in Phila
delphia, and "to treat upon any measures that may tend to promote an union of
the Episcopal Church throughout the United States of America, or that may prove
advantageous to the interests of said Church."

BISHOP PKOVOOST S BOOK-PLATE.

CHAPTER V.

THE PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE GENERAL ECCLESIAS
TICAL CONSTITUTION OF 1789.

r~T!HE successful issue of the war for independence had confessedly
j destroyed the sole bond of union existing between the various
congregations of the Church of England in America. That

SjO_le_-boji(L of .union was, as Bishop White tells us, "the result
of the connection which they in common hud with the Bishop of Lon
don-" 1 In the words of the celebrated Dr. Francis Lister Hawks,
"while the States were colonies, all were alike subject in ecclesiastical
matters to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. 3 They were con
sequently one, and but one, in the particular of Episcopal authority.* 73
In this authority they had owed a common allegiance. In the colonies
where the Church had been established, this authority had been prac
tically shown in the attempted exercise of the judicial authority of
the episcopate over the clergy, in giving or refusing induction to bene
fices, and the uniform practice of issuing and in revoking for cause,
licences to missions or parishes, as the case might be. The annals of
the older colonies afford abundant evidences of the struggle between
the colonial assemblies and governors on the one hand, and the com
missaries of the bishops, or, as in some cases, the bishops of London
themselves, for the exercise of that branch of the judicial authority
of the episcopate which relates to the induction of the clergy into
benefices. In all cases the bishops claimed the right of licensing the
clergy, and, in general, this right of the ordinary was respected. 4 In
the colonies, where the Church was not established, this license was an
indispensable prerequisite to admission to either a parish or a mission.
Besides this exercise of power by letters missive, the bishops, as we
have seen from time to time, appointed commissaries, who as acknowl
edged representatives of the bishops, respectively, from whom they
derived their power, and acting in their name, and w T ith their authority,
held formal visitations of the clergy and wardens, instituted investi
gations as to the morals of the clergy, adjudged cases under the eccle
siastical canons, and in various ways, and in spite of bitter opposition,
made the authority of the ordinary a " terror to evil-doers." It was
this common dependence upon the See of London, shared alike by
the churches throughout the thirteen colonies, that was destroyed by

1 Memoirs of the Church, 2cl ccl., p. 98.

2 The subject of the Bishop of London s
authority over the churches and clergy of the
colonies is ably treated by Hugh Davcy Evans,
in his " Essay on the Episcopate of the Ameri
can Church, * pp. 108-119.

8 Constitution and Canons, p. 2.

* The "Instructions" to the roj-al governors

especially provided that no minister should be
preferred to a benefice " without he has a certifi
cate from the Bishop of London of his being
conformable to the doctrines and discipline of
the Church of England, and of a good life and
conversation." Vicle, among other references,
Onderdonk s " Antiquities of the Parish Church,
Jamaica, L.I.," p. 13.

90 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the successful issue of the struggle for civil independence. With the
birth of the nation there was felt and confessed to be the birth of a
national clmrch. The language of the preface of our American
prayer-book correctly expresses the fact : " When in the course of
Divine Providence these American States became independent with
respect to civil government, their ecclesiastical independence was
necessarily included."

The unity of the faith had not been affected by this civil change :
in doctrine, in discipline, in worship, save in so far as the altered
political relations required slight modifications of language in the
parts of the service referring to those in authority, there had been no
change. The American churchman was still baptized into one body,
the church catholic of Christ. At the holy table he knelt to feed
in his heart by faith with thanksgiving upon the same body broken,
and to drink the same blood shed for him and for his salvation. Polit
ical convulsions could not change the truth or destroy the Church of
the living God. The unity then existing between the American
churches and the Church of England, and between both alike and the
catholic Church of Christ was not, and could not be, affected by the
war of independence.

But not only was the bond of union existing between the churches
in the colonies and the Bishop of London, as their ordinary, dissolved;
the union among themselves was also destroyed. It could not be
otherwise since this connection with the See of London was the only
bond uniting them, the bond of a common episcopal jurisdiction,
and the exercise of the same ecclesiastical laws.

We have seen in what attitude the churches in the several States
regarded themselves and each other. In the language of Dr. Hawks :
" The testimony would seem to leave no doubt that in each State the
Church considered itself an integral part of the Church of Christ, per
fectly independent, in its government, of any and every branch of the
Church in Christendom. Such an opinion would the more readily be
adopted, from the fact that the several States considered themselves
in their civil relations, as independent sovereignties, and as such,
sought to find a bond of union, first in the articles of confederation,
and afterwards in the federal Constitution. Many of those who were
employed in laying the foundations of our civil polity were also aiding
by their councils in the establishment of our ecclesiastical system ; and
hence it is not surprising that there should be found not a few resem
blances between them." l Even in Connecticut this view of the situa
tion evidently obtained. The Connecticut clergy, at the very outset,
while acknowledging the severance of the former ties " that the
chain which connected this with the mother-church is broken ; that
the American Church is now left to stand in its own strength," 2 and
the necessity of seeking " to form a new union in the American Church,
under proper superiors, since its union is now broken with such
superiors in the British Church," felt itself capable of reorganization,

i Constitution and Canons, p. 4. White s Memoirs of the Church, 2d cd., pp.

Letter from the Connecticut clergy to the 282-286.
Rev. William White, March 25, 1783. Bishop

ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION OF 1789.

and only proposed to defer the business of union and full reconstruc
tion till the episcopate was obtained. In short, the action contem
plated and proposed in the fundamental principles of 1784, and the
measures preceding this meeting, and out of which the meeting itself was
alone made possible, prove conclusively that the Church in each in
dependent State of the federal union, when organized agreeably to its
own pleasure, deemed itself, and was regarded by each other church
respectively, as an independent branch of the catholic Church of Christ,
lacking, indeed, a perfect organization until the episcopate was secured,
but competent to seek that perfecting order, and to organize for this
purpose, and for such other purposes as the present need seemed to
require.

The Convention of 1785 comprised clerical and lay representatives
from the churches which had organized in seven States. It met in
Philadelphia on the 27th of September and continued in session until
the 7th of October. Its first resolution provided "that each State
should have one vote," and throughout the session, in the appointment
of committees, in the adoption of all measures for organization and
for securing the episcopate, and in the consideration of the proposed
changes in the liturgy, "the Church in each State," x for such is the un
mistakable language of the official record, is recognized. With the
important measures adopted or proposed by this " representative body
of the greater number of the Episcopalians in these States," 2 we have
at present nothing to do, save only in so far as they relate to the
adoption of a constitution not of " the Church in each State," but of
" the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America."

This constitution was drafted by the Rev. Dr. White. 3 It was &lt;
the outgrowth of the " Fundamental Principles" of 1784, which, as
adopted by this Convention, " became_a bond of union; jim^indee
the only one acted under until the year 1789. 4

At the Convention of June, 1780, "the proposed constitution was
taken up for a second reading, and debated by paragraph." 5 The
preamble remained unaltered. In the first section of the constitution
the time of meeting was changed from June to July. In the second
section after the words " of each order " the words " chosen by the
Convention of each State " were inserted. Sections third and fourth
were agreed to as they stood. In section fifth, the word "general"
was omitted before the Avords "Ecclesiastical Constitution" and
inserted before the word " Convention," and after the words ex-officio,
the words " and a Bishop shall always preside in the General Conven
tion, if any of the Episcopal order be present," were added. Section
sixth was amended by omitting the words "by the respective Conven
tions " and inserting instead " by the Convention of that State."

After the words " to ordain or confirm " the words " or perform
any other act of the Episcopal office " were inserted. The seventh sec
tion was agreed to without change. In the eighth, after the words
" equitable mode of trial " there were added " and at every trial of a

1 Journal of Convention, 1785, p. 6.
* Letter to the English Archbishops and
Bishops. Ibid., p. 15.

s Bishop White s " Memoirs of the Church,"
2d ed., p. 97.

4 Ibid., p. 96. 8 Journal, p. 9.

92 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Bishop, there shall be one or more of the Episcopal Order present :
and none but a Bishop shall pronounce sentence of deposition or degra
dation from the ministry on any Clergyman, whether Bishop, or Presby
ter or Deacon." In section ninth the word "general" was inserted
before the word " desire." In place of that part of the section follow
ing the words "therefore the" there was inserted as follows : "Book
of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other
rites and ceremonies, as revised and proposed to the use of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, at a Convention of the said Church, in
the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary
land, Virginia, and South Carolina, may be used by this Church in
such of the States as have adopted, or may adopt, the same in their
particular Conventions, till further provision is made in this case,
by the first General Convention which shall assemble with sufficient
power to ratify a Book of Common Prayer for the Church in these
states." In place of the tenth section the following was inserted :
" No person shall be ordained until due examination had by the
Bishop and two Presbyters, and exhibiting testimonials of his moral
conduct for three years past, signed by the minister and a majority of
the vestry of the Church where he has last resided : or permitted to offi
ciate as a minister in this Church until he has exhibited his letters of
ordination, and subscribed the following declaration : I do believe the
Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the word of
God , and to contain all things necessary to salvation ; and I do
solemnly engage to conform to the doctrines and worship of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in these United States. " In place of
section eleventh the following was adopted : " This Constitution of
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America,
when ratified by the Church in a majority of States, assembled in
General Convention, with sufficient power for the purpose of such
ratification, shall be unalterable by the Convention of any particular
State, which hath been represented at the time of said ratification."

From the title of the Constitution the word " Ecclesiastical " was
omitted.

In the important change in section fifth there was a return to
the provision as originally drafted by Dr. White. This draft, which, as
we learn from the " Memoirs of the Church," "provided that a bishop,
if any were present should preside," was opposed by one of the laity,
during the consideration of the draft in sub-committee. The objection
was overruled, but, on discussion in open convention, the debate " pro
duced more heat than anything else that happened during the session." l
With a view to conciliation, " the article passed, with silence as to the
point in question/ "It was considered," proceeds Bishop White, in
his narrative of the proceedings of this session, "that practice might
settle what had better be provided for by law ; and that even such
provision might be the result of a more mature consideration of
the subject. The latter expectation was justified by the event." a

i Bishop White s "Memoirs of the Church," Bishop amenable to Laymen was not, I believe,

2d cd., p. 97. the custom in the primitive Church." Rev. S.

1 "Your ecclesiastical Constitution is much Parker to Rev. Dr. White, Sept. 15, 1786.
mended, but I think not yet quite right. A

ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION OF 1780.

The addition to section eight met in a measure, and in advance,
the objection of the English archbishops, that it was "a degradation
of the clerical, and much more of the Episcopal character." As the
section originally stood, it was, as Bishop White confesses, "certainly
exceptionable." 1 But a change of temper had begun to show itself.
" In the preceding year," to quote our best informed authority, Bishop
White, "the points alluded to were determined on with too much
warmth, and without investigation proportioned to the importance
of the subjects. The decisions of that day were now reversed,
not to say without a division, but without even an opposition." 2

At the adjourned meeting of this Convention, held at Wilmington,
Delaware, in October, of the same year, the eighth article of the
constitution, as amended at the meeting in June, was unanimously
affirmed, and action was taken with respect to the important matter of
"subscription," providing an alternate form, so as to meet the case
of those seeking ordination or consecration from States where the
"proposed" Book of Common Prayer was not adopted. This measure
was adopted to meet the case of the bishop-elect of New York, Dr.
Provoost, since, as the State convention had not accepted the " pro
posed " liturgy, and the articles of religion, " the faith and worship
recognized by the convention," were not yet adopted by the Church
in New York. The alternative form of subscription bound the sub
scriber " to the use of the English Book of Common Prayer, except so
far as it had been altered in consequence of the civil revolution, until
the Proposed Book should be ratified." 3

In the interval between the meetings of the Convention at Phila
delphia and Wilmington, and the assembling of the convention of
July and August, 1789, the episcopate in the English line had been
obtained. The Church was now fully organized in the Middle States,
as well as in New England, and the minds of churchmen were
turned towards the adoption of measures for union. The " Act of
the Clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, recommending the
Rev. Edward Bass, for consecration," was laid before the Convention,
but not until a "Committee, consisting of one deputy from each
State," was appointed to take into consideration the proposed consti
tution of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and to recommend such
alterations, additions, and amendments as they shall think necessary
and proper. 4 After two days deliberation, this committee, through
the Kev. Dr. William Smith, "reported a Constitution." 5 After a
first and second reading, the proposed constitution was " debated by
paragraphs," and it was then " Resolved, that the first, second, fourth,
fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth articles be adopted, and stand in this
order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; that they be a rule of conduct for this
convention ; and that the remaining articles be postponed for the
future consideration of this convention." 5

At the close of a week, during which action had been taken pro
viding for the healing of differences and the bringing together of long-

1 Perry s "Historical Notes and Documents," * Perry s "Reprint of the Early Journals,"

p. 325. I., pp. 69, YO.
- Memoirs of the Church, 2d cd., p. 117. *Ibid., p. 72.

3 Bishop White s " Memoirs," 2d ed., p. 123.

94 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

parted men, " the Convention took into consideration the two Articles
of the Constitution which had been postponed, and which they amended
and agreed to. The Constitution was then ordered to be engrossed,
and on the following day it was signed by Bishop White and the
deputies, both clerical and lay, from New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl
vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina." The con
stitution was as follows :

A GENERAL CONSTITUTION OP THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

ARTICLE 1. There shall be a General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the United States of America on the first Tuesday of August, in the year
of our Lord, 1792, and on the first Tuesday of August in every third year after
wards, in such place as shall be determined by the Convention ; and special meet
ings may be called at other times, in the manner hereafter to be provided for ; and
this Church, in a majority of States which shall have adopted this Constitution, shall
be represented, before they shall proceed to business, except that the representation
from two States shall be sufficient to adjourn ; and in all business of the Convention
freedom of debate shall be allowed.

ART. 2. The Church in each State shall be entitled to a representation of both
the Clergy and Laity, which representation shall consist of one or more Deputies,
not exceeding four of each Order, chosen by the Convention of the State ; and on
all questions, when required by the Clerical or Lay representation from any State,
each Order shall have one vote ; and the majority of suffrages by States shall be
conclusive in each Order, provided such majority comprehend a majority of the
States represented in that Order. The concurrence of both Orders shall be neces
sary to constitute a vote of the Convention. If the Convention of any State should
neglect or decline to appoint Clerical Deputies, or if they should neglect or decline
to appoint Lay Deputies, or if any of those of either Order appointed should neglect
to attend, or be pi-evented by sickness or any other accident, such State shall
nevertheless be considered as duly represented by such Deputy or Deputies as may
attend, whether Lay or Clerical. And if, through the neglect of the Convention of
any of the Churches which shall have adopted or may hereafter adopt this Consti
tution, no Deputies, either Lay or Clerical, should attend at any General Convention,
the Church in such State shall nevertheless be bound by the acts of such Convention.

ART. 3. The Bishops of this Church, when there shall be three or more, shall,
whenever General Conventions are held, form a House of revision ; and when any
proposed act shall have passed in the General Convention, the same shall be trans
mitted to the House of revision for their concurrence. And if the same shall be
sent back to the Convention, with the negative or non-concurrence of the House of
revision, it shall be again considered in the General Convention, and if the Con
vention shall adhere to the said act by a majority of three-fifths of their body, it
shall become a law to all intents and purposes, notwithstanding the non-concurrence
of the House of revision ; and all acts of the Convention shall be authenticated by
both Houses. And in all cases the House of Bishops shall signify to the Conven
tion their approbation or disapprobation, the latter with their reasons in writing,
within two days after the proposed act shall have been reported to them for con
currence ; and in failure thereof, it shall have the operation of a law. But until
there shall be three or more Bishops, as aforesaid, any Bishop attending a General
Convention shall be a member ex officio, and shall vote with the Clerical Deputies
of the State to which he belongs. And a Bishop shall then preside.

ART. 4. The Bishop or Bishops in eveiy State shall be chosen agreeably to
such rules as shall be fixed by the Convention of that State. And every Bishop of
this Church shall confine the exercise of his Episcopal Office to his proper Diocese
or District, unless requested to ordain or confirm, or perform any other act of the
Episcopal Office, by any Church destitute of a Bishop.

ART. 5. A Protestant Episcopal Church in any of the United States, not now
represented, may, at any time hereafter, be admitted on acceding to this Consti
tution.

ART. 6. In every State, the mode of trying Clergymen shall be instituted by
the Convention of the Church therein. At every trial of a Bishop there shall be

ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION OF 1789.

one or more of the Episcopal Order present ; and none but a Bishop shall pronounce
sentence of deposition or degradation from the Ministry on any Clergyman, whether
Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon.

ART. 7. No person shall be admitted to Holy Orders until he shall have been
examined by the Bishop, and by two Presbyters, and shall have exhibited such
testimonials and other requisites as the Canons, in that case provided, may direct.
Nor shall any person be ordained until he shall have subscribed the following
declaration :

I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God,
and to contain all things necessary to salvation ; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the Doc
trines and Worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in these United States.

No person ordained by a foreign Bishop shall be permitted to officiate as a
Minister of this Church until he shall have complied with the Canon or Canons in
that case provided, and have also subscribed the aforesaid Declaration.

ART. 8. A Book of Common Prayer, Administration of the Sacraments, and
other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, Articles of Religion, and a Form and
Manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons,
when established by this or a future General Convention, shall be used in the
Protestant Episcopal Church in these States which shall have adopted this Con
stitution.

ART. 9. This Constitution shall be unalterable, unless in General Conven
tion, by the Church, in. a majority of the States which may have adopted the same ;
and all alterations shall be first proposed in one General Convention, and made
known to the several State Conventions, before they shall be finally agreed to, or
ratified, in the ensuing General Convention.

In General Convention, in Christ Church, Philadelphia, August the 8th, One
thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

Bishop White places on record an acknowledgment of the " con
viction," as "generally prevailing, that the formerly proposed Con
stitution was inadequate to the situation" of the Church. That no
episcopal pressure was brought to bear upon the committee or the
Convention in inducing the changes which appear, is evident from the
bishop s own statement. " On this business the President of the Con
vention met the committee but once, and interested himself very little ;
being desirous that whatever additional powers it might be thought
necessary to assign to the bishops, such powers should not be under
the reproach of having been pressed for by one of their number, but
be the result of due deliberation, and the free choice of all orders of
persons within the Church, and given with a view to her good govern
ment." 1

At the adjourned Convention, which met on the 29th of September,
and continued in session until the 16th of October, Bishop Seabury,
with clerical deputies representing Connecticut, Massachusetts, and
New Hampshire, were in attendance. The Convention of July and
August had appointed a committee to notify the Bishop of Connecticut,
and "the Eastern and other Churches not included in this union," of
the time and place of the adjourned session, and "to request their at
tendance at the same, for the good purposes of union and general
government." This committee, consisting of the Bishop of Pennsyl
vania, the Rev. Drs. William Smith and Samuel Magaw, and Messrs.
Francis Hopkinson and Tench Coxe, in their letter of invitation,
assured Bishop Seabury "that nothing hath been left unattemptcd"

Memoirs of the Church, 2d ed., p. 144.

96 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

which was deemed conducive, either towards the basis or super
structure of an union, so seemly and needful in itself, and so ardently
desired by all." The letter proceeded as follows :

By the second Article of our printed Constitution (as now amended), you will
observe that your first and chief difficulty respecting Lay representation is wholly
removed, upon the good and wise principles admitted by you as well as by us, viz. :
"That there may be a strong and efficacious union betwixt Churches, where the
usages are in some respects different. It was long so in the different dioceses of
England."

By the Article of our Constitution above mentioned, the admission of yours
and the other Eastern Churches is provided for upon your own principles of repre
sentation ; while our Churches are not required to make any sacrifice of theirs ; it
being declared

That the Church in each State shall be entitled to a representation either of
Clergy or Laity, or of both. And in case the Convention [or Church] of any State
should neglect or decline to appoint their deputies of either order, or if it should
be their rule to appoint only out of one order ; or if any of those appointed should
neglect to attend, or be prevented by sickness, or any other accident, the Church in
such State (district or diocese) shall, nevertheless, be considered as duly rep
resented by such deputy or deputies as may attend, of either order.

Here, then, every case is intended to be provided for, and experience will
either demonstrate that an efficacious union may be had upon these principles, or
mutual good- will, and a further reciprocation of sentiments will eventually lead to
a more perfect uniformity of discipline as well as of doctrine.

(The representation in those States where the church appoints clerical deputies
only, or chooses to be wholly represented by its bishop, will be considered as com
plete ; and as it cannot be supposed that the clergy will ever neglect to avail them
selves of their voice and negative, in every ecclesiastical decision, so neither can
the laity complain in those States where they claim no representation, and still less
where they are declared to have a voice, and claim a representation, but neglect to
avail themselves of their claim ; which latter is too likely to be the case in some of
the States within our present union, where it is difficult to procure any lay repre
sentation, although earnestly solicited by some of the clergy, who are fully sensible
of the advantages derived to our former conventions, from the wise and temperate
counsels, and the respectable countenance and assistance of our lay-members.) 1

It was with these views and this understanding that the churches
of New England were represented at the adjourned Convention of 1789.
The Convention listened to the reading of Bishop Seabury s " Letters
of Consecration to the holy office of a Bishop in this Church, va and
immediately in a committee of the whole considered the subject of the
proposed union. The Bishop of Connecticut and deputies from New
England stipulated that the third article of the constitution should be
" so modified as to declare explicitly the right of the Bishops when
sitting as a separate House, to originate and propose acts for the con
currence of the other House of Convention, and to negative such acts
proposed by the other House as they may disapprove." The commit
tee of conference with the eastern deputies, under the chairmanship
of Dr. William Smith, reported that the proposed alteration was
"desirable in itself," and after consideration the third article was
modified as follows :

ART. 3. The Bishops of this Church, when there shall be three or more,
shall, whenever General Conventions are held, form a separate House, with a right

1 From the original draft in Perry s "Histori- of the convention. Vide Perry s "Reprint ofthe
cal Notes and Documents," pp. 405, 406. Early Journals," Vol. i., p. 93.

* This is the language of the official journal

ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION OF 1789.

to originate and propose acts for the concurrence of the House of Deputies, com
posed of Clergy and Laity ; and when any proposed act shall have passed the House
of Deputies, the same shall be transmitted to the House of Bishops, who shall have

FAC-SIMILE OF SIGNATURES OF BISHOP SEABURT AND THE NEW ENGLAND
DEPUTIES, TO THE AMENDED CONSTITUTION OF 1789.

a negative thereupon, unless adhered to by four-fifths of the other House ; and all
acts of the Convention shall be authenticated by both Houses. And in all cases the
House of Bishops shall signify to the Convention their approbation or disapproba
tion, the latter with their reasons in writing, within three day^s after the proposed
act shall have been reported to them for concurrence ; and in failure thereof, it shall

98 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

have the operation of a law. But until there shall be three or more Bishops, as
aforesaid, any Bishop attending a General Convention shall be a member ex-officio,
and shall vote with the Clerical Deputies of the Diocese to which he belongs ; and
a Bishop shall then preside.

It was further "Resolved, that it be made known to the several State
conventions, that it is proposed to consider .and determine, in the next
general convention, on the propriety of investing the house of bishops
with a full negative upon the proceedings of the other house."

This done, the "General Constitution of the Church, as now altered
and amended," was "laid before the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury, and the
Deputies from the Churches in the Eastern States, for their approba
tion and assent." *

This assent was given. The House of Bishops was at once con-} (
stituted ; T^Hap Sflfth^ry belay the first "Presiding Bishop " thereof f /
and of thp. A rflgrfcan fihorch.

Bishop While informs us "that from the sentiments expressed in
the debate, there is reason to believe that the full negative would
have been allowed, had not Mr. Andrews, 8 from Virginia, very seri
ously, and doubtless very sincerely, expressed his apprehension, that
it was so far beyond what was expected by the Church in his State,
as would cause the measure to be there disowned." 3 In the compro
mise the deputies from New England " acquiesced but reluctantly."
The truth was, as Bishop White informs us, that " they thought that
the form of ecclesiastical Government could hardly be called Episcopal
while such a matter was held out as speculatively possible." 4 In 1808
the words " unless adhered to by four-fifths of the other House " were
stricken out. Thus the episcopal veto was secured. In the language
)f Dr. HawJxS, " to Bishop Seabury belonop^jfre merit of havener made
ipps an equal and co5rdiDflt^ p^wf r |n foe work of our ecplesi-
Instead of a mere council of revision, he made the
nshops a senate, or upper house, holding their places for life; thus
I most effectually upholding, as was proper, the dignity and respecta
bility of the Bishops, giving more stability to the legislation of the
great council of the Church and guarding against the dangers of enact-
jments, made hastily under temporary excitement." 5

1 Perry s " Historical Notes and Documents," fessor in the College of William and Mary at

p. 415. Williamsburg, Va.

1 Mr. Bobert Andrews, recorded as a lay * Memoirs of the Church, p. 146.

deputy to the Convention of 1789, was a secular- * Ibid.

ized priest of the Church, who, on discontinuing * Constitution and Canons, p. 24.

the ministry, had pursued the vocation of a Pro-

ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION OF 1789.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

H^HE constitution of 1785, which we give as a part of the history of our organiza-
JL tion, " stood on recommendation only," and reads as follows :

A General Ecclesiastical Constitution of the Protestant Epis 1 Church in the
U d&gt; States of America.

Whereas in the course of Divine Providence, the Protestant Epis 1 Church inl
the United States of America, is become independent of all foreign Authority civil
& ecclesiastical :

And whereas, at a meeting of Clerical & Lay Deputies of the s d Church in
sundry of the said States; viz., in the States of Massachusets, Rhode Island, Con
necticut, N. York, N. Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware & Maryland, held in the City
of N. York on the 6 & 7 th days of October in the year of our Lord 1784, it was
recommended to this Church in y" s d States, represented as afores d, & propos d to
this Church in y" States not represented, that they should send Deputies to a Con
vention to be held in the City of Philadelphia on the Tuesday before the Feast of
St. Michael in this present year, in order to unite in a constitution of Ecclesiastical
Government, agreably to certain fundamental Principles, expressed in the s d recom
mendation & proposal.

And whereas in consequence of the s a recommendation & proposal, Clerical &
Lay Deputies have been duly appointed from y said Church in y" States of N. York,
N. Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia & S. Carolina:

The said Deputies being now assembled, taking into Consideration y* im
portance of maintaining uniformity in Doctrine, Discipline & worship in y s a
Church do hereby determine and declare :

1". That there shall be a general Convention of the Protestant Ep 1 Church in
y* U d States of America ; which shall be held in y City of Philadelphia on y 3 d
Tuesday in June in y" year of our Lord 1786, & for ever after once in Three years on
the 3 d Tuesday of June in such Place as shall be determined by s a Convention, And
special Meetings may be held at such other times and in such place as will be here
after provided for; and y 9 Church in a Majority of y States aforesaid shall be
represented, before they proceed to Business ; except that y" representation of this
Church from 2 States shall be sufficient to adjourn ; and in all business of the Con
vention freedom of debate shall be allowed.

2 d . There shall be a representation of both Clergy & Laity of y* Church in
each State, which shall consist of One or more Deputies not exceeding 4 of each
Order, and in all questions y said Church in each State shall have one Vote, & a
majority of Suffrages shall be conclusive.

3 d . The Book of common pi ayer & administration of y Sacraments, &
other Rites & Ceremonies of y e Church, according to the use of y" Church of Eng
land shall be continued to be used by this Church, as y" same is altered by this
Convention, in a certain instrument of writing passed by this authority, intitled
" Alterations of y Liturgy of y P. E. C. in y" U. S. of America ; in order to render
the same conformable to y* A n Revol" & y Const" of y e respective States."

4 th . In every State where there shall be a Bp duly consecrated, and settled ;
and who shall have acceded to y Articles of this general Ecclesiastical Constitution,
He shall be considered as a Member of y" Convention ex officio.

5 th . The Bp or Bps in every State shall be chosen agreeably to such Rules, as
shall be fixed by the respective Conventions : and every Bp of this Church shall
confine y exercise of his Epis 1 Office to his proper Jurisdiction ; unless requested to
ordain or confirm by any Church destitute of a Bishop.

G tb . Any Pro Episc 1 Church in any of y United States not now represented,
may at any time hereafter be admitted, on acceding to y 9 Articles of this Union.

7 th . Every Clergyman, whether Bp, Presb r or D n shall be amenable to y* au
thority of y Convention in y* State to which he belongs, so far as relates to suspen
sion or removal from Office ; and y" Convention in each State shall institute rules
for their conduct & an equitable mode of trial.

8 th . In y* said Church in every State represented in this Convention, there
shall be a Convention consisting of y* Clergy & Lay Deputies of y Congregations.

9 th . And whereas it is represented to this Convention to be y* choice of y*
Prof Ep 1 Church in these States ; that there may be further Alterations of the Liturgy,

100 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

than such as are made necessary by y* American Revolution : therefore the Book
of common Prayer & Administration of the Sacraments, and the Rites & Ceremonies
of y* Church, according to y* use of the Church of England, as altered by an Instru
ment of writing, pass* under y* Authority of this Convention, indued Altera
tions in y 4 Book of C. P & Adm" of y* Sac ! & other 11. & C. of y Ch. according to
y* use of y* Ch. of E. proposed & recommended to y* P. E. C. in y* U. S. of A.
shall be used in this Church ; when y* same shall have been ratified by y* Conven
tions, which have respectively sent Deputies to this General Convention.

10 ". No person shall be ordained, or permitted to officiate as a Minister in this
Church, until He shall have subscribed the following declaration : " I do believe
the Holy Scriptures of y* Old & New Testament to be the word of God and to con
tain all things necessary to salvation ; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the
Doctrines & worship of the Protest Episc 1 Church as settled & determined in the
Book of Common Prayer and administration of y* Sacraments set forth by the
General Convention of the Prof Episc 1 Church in these United States." l

11 th . This General Ecclesiastical Constitution, when ratified by y* Church in
y* Different States, shall be considered as fundamental & unalterable by y Conven
tion of y* Church in any State.

1 From the original MS. preserved among the archives of the General Convention.

CHAPTER VI.

THE PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND FINALLY
PRESCRIBED.

AT the opening of the war for American independence the clergy
of the Church of England, who sympathized with the popular
cause, readily conformed to the requirements of the provincial
assemblies, 1 or the recommendations of their own vestries, 2 and omitted
from the service all mention of the temporal authority of the mother
land. The further prosecution of the struggle drove the clergy, who
found compliance with the acts of Congress and the State legislatures
incompatible with their convictions of duty, within the British lines,
leaving their parishes destitute of clerical ministrations, and exposing
their churches to the outrages of those who failed to distinguish be
tween the English Church and the obnoxious measures of the crown.
The issue of the war, involving, as it did, the independence of the
Colonial Church, 3 gave opportunity for the revision of the Book of
Common Prayer ; changes in which were now necessary, in consequence
of the altered relations of Church and State.

Slowly, and with evident reluctance, did the ministers and mem
bers of the Church betake themselves, on the return of peace, to the
task thus imposed upon them. At the North, the clergy of Connect.-
icut had bent their energies, from the moment that the issue of the
strife was no longer doubtful, towards securing the episcopate. JTntil(
they had a bishop, they deemed themselves incompetent to ctFect ail;
ecclesiastical organization , or to attempt a revision of the liturgy. 4 In
this unwillingness to enter upon the discussion of these matters, the
clergy throughout New England, 5 and not a few in New York, 6 and
New Jersey, 7 sympathized. Even at the South this feeling obtained
at the first. In Virginia^ on the dar following the Declaration of In*^
dependence, the State Convention "altered the Book of Common Prayer j
to accommodate it to the change in affairs," 8 and by subsequent legis-
lative enactments restrained the clergy from consenting directly or in-

* Hawks and Perry s " Documentary History
of the Church in Connecticut," Vol. n., p. 272.

6 Perry s " Reprint of the Early Journals,"
Vol. in., pp. 64-66, 105.

Unpublished correspondence of the time in
the possession of the writer.

Bishop White s Memoirs, 2d ed., p. 299.

8 Reprint of the Early Journals, Vol. in.,
pp. 103, 104 ; Hawks " Ecclesiastical Contribu
tions," Vol. i., " Virginia," p. 238. Hoffman, in
his " Treatise on the Law of the Prot. Ep. Ch. in
the U. S.," p. 31, gives the particulars of these
changes.

1 Bishop White earnestly- advocated this
course. Memoirs of the Prot. Ep. Church, 2d
ed., pp. 76, 77.

* Parker, afterwards Bishop of Massachu
setts, sought the advice of his vestry, and acted
in accordance with their recommendation. His
torical Notes appended to Perry s Reprint of the
Early Journals of General Convention, 1785-
1835, Vol. in., pp. 101, 103.

8 " When, in thecourse of Divine Providence,
these American States became independent with
respect to civil government, their ecclesiastical
independence was necessarily included." Pref
ace to the American Book of Common Prayer.

102 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

directly to any alterations in the order, government, doctrine, or
worship of the Church. 1 Maryland pursued the same conservative
course, 9 and it was not till later in the progress of the war that the
.State, not the clergy, attempted by civil legislation to effect the or
ganization of the Church and the appointment of persons to exercise
episcopal functions. 3 To such an extent did these scruples obtain, that
at the informal Convention of 1784, in which the churches in Massa
chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn
sylvania, Delaware, and Maryland were respectively represented, it
was recommended as a "fundamental principle " of organization for the
"Episcopal Church in the United States of America"

That the said Church shall maintain the doctrines of the Gospel as now heldH
by the Church of England, and shall adhere to the Liturgy of the said Church as fart /
as shall be consistent with the American Revolution, and the constitutions of the/f
respective States. 4

The May following, the Convention of Virginia, untrammelled by
the "fundamental principles" of this preliminary gathering, in which
it was not officially represented, gave but a limited sanction to a review
of the Prayer-book in its instructions to its delegates to the General
Convention of 1785 ; 5 and accompanied this resolution with a require
ment of the use, until further order, of the Liturgy of the Church of
England, " with such alterations as the American Revolution has
rendered necessary." 6

Bishop White assures us, with reference to the Convention of
1785, that "when the members first came together, very few or
rather, it is believed, none of them entertained thoughts of altering
the Liturgy any further than to accommodate it to the Revolution." 7
It would appear, however, from an examination of the manuscript au
thorities of this period, 8 that as the time for the assembling of this
Convention drew near, the minds of prominent clergymen and laymen
of the Church in the Middle and Southern States turned gradually in
favor of a thorough revision of the Prayer-book ; and thus occasioned
that unanimity of sentiment and rapidity of action so noticeable in the
preparation and acceptance of the alterations proposed at this session.

Measures had transpired since the informal meeting in New York
that, doubtless, had an influence in bringing about this change of

1 Folio "Broadside" Proceedings of the 4 " Broadside " Proceedings. This was the
Preliminaiy Convention of Clergymen and Lay fourth " fundamental principle."
Deputies of the Prot. Ep. Ch. in the U. S. of The language of this " instruction " is as
America, held in New York, October 6th and 7th, follows : " Should a change in the liturgy be
1784. But one or two copies of this document proposed, let it be made with caution. And in
still exist. It was reprinted from an original copy that case let the alterations be few, and the style
preserved among the archives of the General of prayer continue as agreeable as may ba to the
Convention amongthe notes appended to Perry s essential characteristics of our persuasion. " In
"Reprint of the Early Journals," Vol. in., pp. common with the churches of Massachusetts,
3-5; and in "A Handbook of the General Con- New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, the Con
vention," 1785-1880, by the same author. Afac- vention expressed itself not anxious to retain
jBimile has been issued among the papers of "The any other than that which is commonly called
Historical Club," 1874-1879. the Apostles Creed. Journal of a Convention

1 Hawks " Ecclesiastical Contributions," of the Clergy and Laity of the Prot. Ep. Ch. of

Vol. n., " Maryland," p. 284. Virginia, May, 1 785, p. 14.

8 White s " Memoirs of the Prot. Ep. Ch.," 2d Ibid., p. 17.

ed., p. 92. Hawks " Ecclesiastical Contribu- T Memoirs of the Church, 2d eel., p. 102.

tions. Vol. II., " Maryland," p. 290. Reprint of the Early Journals, Vol. in., pp.

105-109.

PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED.

103

views. Connecticut had succeeded in her effort for the episcopate,
and Samuel Seabury, D.D., the first American bishop, had been joy
fully welcomed by the clergy of that State, and was already received
in his episcopal character throughout New England. At the first
convocation of his clergy, held at Middletown, August 3d and 4th,
1785, the bishop, together with the Rev. Samuel Parker, afterwards
second Bishop of Massachusetts, the Rev. Benjamin Moore, after
wards second Bishop of New York, and the Rev. Abraham Jarvis,
afterwards second Bishop of Connecticut, gave careful attention to this
subject of alterations ; * but their action was confined to the changes
necessary to accommodate the Liturgy to the civil constitution of the
State. "Should more be done," writes Bishop Seabury to Dr. White,
in reviewing the action of the convocation, " it must be a work of
time, and great deliberation." 2 At a convention of the churches of
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, held the follow
ing month, the omissions and alterations agreed upon at Middletown
were recommended to the churches in these States, and further
changes were proposed, the use of which was postponed till there
should be definite action on the subject at the Connecticut convoca
tion, appointed to meet at New Haven, and the General Convention in
Philadelphia. 3 These proposed changes, 4 many of which were finally
incorporated into the American Book of Common Prayer, were
received with disfavor by Bishop Seabury and his clergy, 5 and were
never formally adopted by the churches to which they were recom
mended. In Connecticut it was found that the laity were averse to
any alterations, and though in accordance with the terms of the
" entered intp wif.fr foe hJahnpa nf the ficqffiah

at the time of his consecration, Bishop Seabury published an edition
of the Scottish Communion Office, and recommended it to the!
churches of Connecticut, it was not deemed wise to enforce its use, 6
and by general consent the whole subject was suffered to wait a more

fitting time.

In the midst of these discussions the first American Liturgy
appeared, the production of no Convention, clerical or lay, but issued

1 Documentary History, " Connecticut," n.,
p. 263. Notes to Reprint of Early Journals,
Hi., p. 248.

2 Documentary History, " Connecticut," II.,
p. 282.

8 Journals of the Conventions of the Prot.
Epis. Ch. in the Diocese of Massachusetts, 1784-
1828, pp. 8-15. Vide, also, Perry s " Reprint of
the Early Journals," in., p. 295.

4 These changes, in most respects identical
with those subsequently contained in the " Pro
posed Book," comprise an alteration of the Te
Deurn / the omission of the descent into hell in
the Apostles Creed ; the disuse of the Athana-
sian Creed, and the discretionary use of the Ni-
cene ; the omission of the " Snorter Litany,"
and the Lord s Prayer at the beginning of the
Communion Service ; the use of the Gloria Patri
only at the end of the Psalms ; the admission of
parents as sponsors ; the omission of the sign of
the Cross in Baptism when desired ; changes in
the Burial and Marriage Services ; and a number
of verbal alterations of less moment. Journals

of Conventions, Mass., 1784-1828, pp. 10-14. Re
print of the Early Journals, m., pp/90, 93-98.

" Documentary History of Connecticut, II.,
pp. 287-288.

8 The title of this rare tract is as follows :
"The Communion-Office, or Order for the Ad
ministration of the Holy Eucharist or Supper of
the Lord. With Private Devotions. Recom
mended to the Episcopal Congregations in Con
necticut, by the Right Reverend Bishop Sea-
bury. New London: Printed by T. Green,
M DCC LXXXVI." 12mo. 23 pp."

A reprint of this tract is appended to Perry s
"Historical Notes and Documents illustrating
the organization of the Prot. Epis. Church ; " the
concluding volume of the reprinted journals, in.,
pp. 437-447. A fac-simile reprint, with an his
torical Sketch and Notes, was issued by Professor
Samuel Hart, of Trinity College, Hartford,
Conn., in 1874, and is an exhaustive treatment
of the subject. A second edition of this valuable
reprint has subsequently appeared.

104 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

"for the use of the first episcopal church in Boston." 1 This book,
publicly denounced by Parker, and the other Massachusetts clergy,
as heretical, 2 was the result of the loss of the churchly element from
the parish by the withdrawal of the loyalist proprietors from Boston,
and the substitution in their place, during the war, and while the
chapel was in other hands, of men of unsound views and unepiscopal
training. The defection of this parish, if such it can be considered,
had no imitators. The Prayer-book, thus "Socinianized," only served
to strengthen the prejudice at the North against hasty alterations and
innovations.

The Convention of 1785, at the very outset, assigned to the com
mittee appointed to report the alterations contemplated by the fourth
"fundamental principle," the consideration of "such further altera
tions in the Liturgy as it may be advisable for this Convention to
recommend to the consideration of the Church here represented." 3
This committee consisted of the Rev. Samuel Provoost, subsequently
bishop, and the Hon. James Duane, of New York ; the Rev. Abraham
Beach, and Patrick Dennis, Esq., of New Jersey; the Rev. William
White, D.D., afterwards bishop, and Richard Peters, Esq., of Pennsyl
vania ; the Rev. Charles Henry Wharton, D.D., and James Sykes, Esq.,
of Delaware; the Rev. William Smith, D.D., bishop-elect, and Dr.
Thomas Craddock, of Maryland ; the Rev. David Griffith, subse
quently bishop-elect, and John Page, Esq., of Virginia; the Rev.
Henry Purcell, D.D., and the Hon. Jacob Read, of South Carolina. 4
Little appears on the pages of the journal of this Convention to
mark the progress of the discussions with reference to these altera
tions ; and the story of their preparation and adoption can only be
gathered from the brief recollections of Bishop White, 5 and incidental
allusions occurring in the unpublished correspondence of the time.
As the result of the action of the Convention, certain alterations,
rendered necessary by the issue of the war, were " approved of and
ratified." 6 Further changes, comprising a thorough review of the
Liturgy and Articles of Religion were "proposed and recom-

1 Procter s " History of the Book of Common those who call themselves the disciples of JESUS

Prayer," p. 164. The heretical nature of this CHRIST.

Liturgy may be inferred from the following " In compiling this Liturgy great assistance
extracts from the Preface : " The Liturgy, con- hath been derived from the judicious correc-
tained in this volume, is such, that no Christian, tions of the Keverend Mr. Lindsey ; who hath
it is supposed, can take offence at, or find his reformed the Book of Common Prayer accord-
conscience wounded in repeating. The Trini- ing to the plan of the truly pious and justly
torian, the Unitarian, the Calvinist, the Avminian, celebrated Doctor Samuel Clarke. Several of
will read nothing in it which can give him any Mr. Lindsey s amendments are adopted entire,
reasonable umbrage. GOD is the sole object of The alterations which are taken from him, and
worship in these prayers ; and as no man can the others which are made, excepting the prayers
come to GOD, but by the one Mediator, JESUS for Congress and the General Court, are none of
CHRIST, every petition is here offered in his them novelties; for they have been proposed
name, in obedience to his positive command, and justified by some of the first divines of the
The Gloria Patri, made and introduced into the Church of England."

Liturgy of the Church of Rome, by the decree 2 Greenwood s " History of King s Chapel,"

of Pope Damasus, toward the latter part of the pp. 197, 198.

fourth century, and adopted into the Book of * Journal of a Convention, etc., 1785, p. 6.

Common Prayer, is not in this Liturgy. Instead Fide, also, Perry s " Reprint of the Early Jour-

of that doxology, doxologies from the pure nals," I., p. 18.

Word of GOD are introduced. It is not our wish * Journal of a Convention, etc., 1785, p. 6.

to make proselytes to any particular system or Perry s Reprint, I., p. 18.

opinions of any particular sect of Christians. Memoirs, pp. 102-107.

Our earnest desire is to live in brotherly love Journal of a Convention, etc., 1785, p. 12.

and peace with all men, and especially with Perry s Reprint, I., p. 23.

PKAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED.

105

mended" 1 for adoption at a subsequent Convention. These altera
tions, prepared by a subdivision of the committee on the changes in
the Prayer-book, were presented to the Convention without recon
sideration by the whole committee ; and even in Convention "there
were but few points canvassed with any material difference of opin
ion." 2 They were mainly the work of the Rev. Dr. William Smith, 3
who received the thanks of the Convention for the assistance he had
rendered in perfecting the business before them, and to whom, with
the Rev. Drs. White and Wharton, the duty of publishing the "Pro
posed Book " was assigned. At the close of the session Dr. Smith
preached by request a sermon suited to the occasion of the introduc
tion of the new service, in which he alludes to the work of the
Convention as that

" Of taking up our Liturgy or Public Service where our former venerable Re
formers had been obliged to leave it ; and of proposing to the church at large, such
further alterations and improvements as the length of time, the progress in man
ners and civilization, the increase and diffusion of charity and toleration among all
Christian denominations, and other circumstances (some of them peculiar to our
situation among the highways and hedges of this new world) seem to have ren
dered absolutely necessary." 4

Authority was given to the committee of publication to prepare
"a proper preface or address, setting forth the reason and expediency
of the alterations." 5 Liberty was granted them "to make verbal and
grammatical corrections ; but in such manner, that nothing in form or
substance be altered," 6 and they were further " authorized to publish,
with the Book of Common Prayer, such of the reading and singing
psalms, and such a Kalendar of proper lessons for the different
Sundays and Holy days throughout the year as they should think
proper. " 7

With these powers the committee set about their work. Dr.
White, the chairman at Philadelphia, Dr. Smith at his college and par
ish in Maryland, and Dr. Whartou by an occasional communication and
by visit, now and then, to his colleagues, were all engaged and interested^
in the task. The result of their labors appeared the following spring,
and has always been known as the "Proposed Book," published m&lt;
jn 1 78 fi. It was reprinted in London In 17oij, and sub- 1
sequently formed aTvblume of the "Reliquiae Liturgicoe," edited by the)
Rev. Peter Hall, M.A. From its rarity and the circumstances of
its preparation, exhibiting, as it does, the peculiar views of those who
were among the foremost of our clergy and laity at the period of the
church s organization, and presented by them to the archbishops and
bishops of the mother-church in connection with the request for the

1 Journal, etc., pp. 12, 13. Perry s Reprint,
I., p. 24.

2 Bishop White s Memoirs, 2d ed., p. 103.
8 Ibid., pp. 104-106.

4 A Sermon preached in Christ Church,
Philadelphia, on Friday, October 7th, 1785,
before the General Convention of theProt. Epis.
Ch., in the States of New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia
and South Carolina. On occasion of the first In

troduction of the Liturgy and Public Service of
the said Church, as altered and recommended to
future Use, by the Convention. By William
Smith, D.D., Principal of Washington College,
and Rector of Chester Parish, in the State of
Maryland, p. 25.

5 Journal, 1785, p. 17. Perry s Reprint, i.,
p. 28.

Ibid.

106 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

episcopal succcession, it cannot fail to receive attentive study as a most
important document of our ecclesiastical history, both in respect to litur
gies and doctrines. We give from the original manuscripts, still pre
served among the archives of the General Convention and in the keeping
of the writer, these important alterations, noting the further changes
made in the work of the committee of the Convention by the com
mittee of publication in their revision of the same :

Alterations agreed upon and confirmed in Convention for rendering the Liturgy con
formable to the Principles of the American Revolution, and t /ie Constitutions of
the several States.

1. That in the suffrages after the Creed, instead of Lord, save the King, be
said, Lord, bless and preserve these United States.

2. That the Prayer for the Royal Family in Morning and Evening Service be
omitted.

8. That, in the Litany, the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th petitions be omitted, and
that instead of the 20th and 21st petitions, be substituted the following: That it
may please thee to endue the Congress of these United Slates, and all ot/iers in au
thority, legislative, executive, and judicial, with grace, wisdom, and understanding
to execute justice and to maintain truth.

4. That when the Litany is not said, the Prayer for the High Court of Parlia
ment be thus altered : Most Gracious God. we humbly beseech (hee, as for these
United States in general, so especially for their Delegates in Congress, (hat thou
wouldest be pleased to direct and prosper all their consultations to the advancement of
thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour and .welfare of thy people, that
all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavors, upon the best and surest

foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be
established among us for all generations, &c. to the end. And the Prayer for the
King s Majesty altered as follows, viz. : A Prayer for our Civil Rulers. Lord,
our heavenly leather, the high and mighty Ruler of the Universe, who dost from thy
throne behold all the dwellers upon earth ; most heartily we beseech thee with thy
favour to behold all in authority, legislative, executive and judicial, in these United
States ; and so replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, tJiat they may alway
incline to thy will, and walk in thy way : Endue them plenteomly with heavenly
gifts ; grant them in health mid wealth long to live, and that, after this life, they may
attain everlasting joy and felicity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

5. That the lirst Collect for the King in the Communion Service be omitted,
and that the second be altered as follows : instead of the hearts of Kings are in thy
rule and governance, be said that the hearts of all Eulers are in thy governance, &c. ;
and instead of the words, heart of George thy servant, insert so to direct the rulers
of these Stales, that in all their thoughts, &c., changing the singular pronouns to the
plural.

7. 1 That in the answer in the Catechism to the question What is thy duty
towards thy Neighbour 1 } for to honour and obey the King, be substituted to honour
and obey my Civil Rulers, to submit myself, &c.

8. That instead of the observation of the 5th of November, the 30th of
January, the 29th of May, and the 25th of October, the following service be used
on the 4th of July, being the Anniversary of Independence.

9. That in the Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, in the prayer Eternal God,
&c., instead of these words, unto our most gracious Sovereign Lord, King George,
and his Kingdoms, be inserted the words to the United States of America; and that
instead of the word Island be inserted the word Country ; and in the Collect O
Almighty God, the Sovereign Commander, be omitted the words the honour of our
Sovereign, and the words the honour of our Country inserted.

Service for Fourth of July,* With the Sentences before Morning and Evening Prayer.
The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us ; he shall bless them

iNo sixth paragraph appears in the manu- This simple title was amplified by the corn-

script, or in the printed copy appended to Bishop mittec of publication to the following :
White s Memoirs, 2d ed., pp. 362-377. " A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to

PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED.

107

that fear him, both small and great. 1 O that men would therefore praise the
Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of
rnen ! 3

Ilymn instead of the Venite.

My song shall be alway of the loving-kindness of the Lord : with my mouth
will I ever be showing forth 3 his truth from one generation to another. 4

The merciful and gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous works : that they
ought to be had in remembrance. 6

Who can express the noble acts of the Lord : or shew forth all his praise ? *

The works of the Lord are great : sought out of all them that have pleasure
therein. 7

For he will not alway be chiding : neither keepeth he his anger forever. 8

He hath not dealt with us after our sins : ubr rewarded us according to our
wickedness."

For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth : so great is his
mercy toward them that fear him. 10

Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children : even so is the Lord merciful
unto them that fear him. 11

Thou, O God, hast proved vis : Thou also hast tried us, even 13 as silver is tried. 13

Thou didst remember us in our low estate, and redeem us from our enemies :
for thy mercy endureth forever. 14

Proper Psalm," cxviii, except vs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, to conclude with v. 24.
First Lesson, Deut. viii. Second Lesson, Thess. v., verses 12-23, both inclusive.

Collect for the Day.

Almighty God, who hast in all ages shewed forth thy power and mercy in the
wonderful preservation of thy Church, and in the protection of eveiy nation and
people professing thy holy and eternal truth, and putting their sure trust in thee ;
We yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for all thy public mercies, and more
especially for that signal and wonderful manifestation of thy providence which we
commemorate this day. Wherefore not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy
name be ascribed all honour and glory, in all churches of the saints, from gener
ation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Thanksgiving for the Day, to be said after the General Thanksgiving.

O God, whose name is excellent in all the earth, and thy glory above the
heavens, who as on this day didst inspire and direct the hearts of our Delegates in
Congress to lay the perpetual foundations of peace, liberty, and safety ; We bless
and adore thy Glorious Majesty for this thy loving-kindness and providence. And
we humbly pray that the devout sense of this signal mercy may renew and increase
in us a spirit of love and thankfulness to thee, its only Author, a spirit of peaceful
submission to the laws and government of our country, and a spirit of fervent zeal
for our holy religion, which thou hast preserved and secured to us and our poster
ity. May we improve these inestimable blessings for the further 16 advancement of

Almighty God, for the inestimable Blessing of
Religious and Civil Liberty ; to be used yearly on
the Fourth clay of July, unless it happens to be
on Sunday, and then on the day folio-vying 1 ."

In the MS. the first sentence is stricken out.
It was as follows :

" Ye shall hallow the year, and proclaim lib
erty throughout all the land unto all the inhabi
tants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you, and
ye shall return every man unto his possessions,
and ye shall return every man unto his family."

The committee added three sentences (Deut.
xxxiii. 27,28,29), restricted their use to Morn
ing Prayer, and supplied an Epistle (Philip, iv. 4-
8) and Gospel (St. John viii. 31-36). This of
fice, Bishop White tells us, was " Principally ar
ranged, and the prayer composed by the Rev.
Dr. Smith." The Bishop also informs us that he
"kept the day from respect to the requisition of
the Convention ; but could never hear of its be
ing kept in above two or three places besides
Philadelphia." Memoirs, 2d ed., p. 105.

1 Ps. cxr. 12, 13. For " him " Bishop White
gives " the Lord." Memoirs, 2cl ed., p. 364.

2 Ps. cvii. 21. The references are added in
the " Proposed Book."

3 The word " forth " omitted by the commit
tee.

4 Ps. Ixxxix. 1.
Ps. cxi. 4.

Ps. cvi. 2.

7 Ps. cxi. 2.

8 Ps. ciii. 9.
Verse 10.

10 Verse 11.
"Verse 13.

12 " Like " substituted for " even " in the
" Proposed Book."

13 Ps. Ixvi. 9.

14 Ps. cxxxvi. 23, 24.

10 In the " Proposed Book " the proper Psalm
is cxviii. except vv. 7, 10, 11, 12.

""Further" omitted in the "Proposed
Book."

108 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

religion, liberty, and science throughout this land, till the wilderness and solitary
place be made* glad through us, and the desert to s rejoice and blossom as the rose.
This we beg, &c.

Alterations in the Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments,
and oilier Bites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the
Church of England, proposed and recommended to the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the United States of America.

The Order for Morning Service daily throughout the Tear.

1. The following sentences of Scripture are ordered to be prefixed to the
usual sentences, viz. :

"The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him."
Hab. ii. 10. s

" From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same my name shall be
great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my
name, and a pure offering : for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith
the Lord of hosts." Malachi. 4

[Bishop White, in his printed list of the alterations appended to the " Me
moirs, gives a third additional sentence " Let the words of my mouth, and the
meditation of my heart, be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength
and my Redeemer." Psalm xix. 14 ; but no trace of this appears in the manuscript
or in the " Proposed Book." This sentence was thus placed in the Prayer-book of
1789, but must have been first adopted at that time.]

" Where two or three are gathered together hi my name, there am I in the
midst of them." St. Matthew.

" The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit," &c., with one or two more of the
other sentences. But this to stand next after the sentence "where two or three."

2. That the rubric preceding the Absolution be altered thus: A Decla
ration to be made by the Minister alone, standing, concerning the forgiveness of sins. 6

3. That in the Lord s Prayer, the word who be substituted in lieu of which,
and that t/iose who trespass stand next instead of them that trespass.

4. That the Gloria Patri be omitted after the come, let us sing, and in every
other place, where by the present rubric it is ordered to be inserted, to the end of the
reading Psalms, when shall be said or sung Gloria Patri, &c., or Glory be to
God on high, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. at the discretion of the
Minister.

5. That in the Te Deum, instead of honourable, it be adorable, true, and only
Son ; and instead of didst not abhor the Virgin s womb, didst humble thyself to be
born of a pure Virgin.

6. That until a. proper selection of Psalms be made, each Minister be allowed
to use such as he may choose.

7. That the same liberty be allowed respecting the Lessons.

8. That the article in the Apostles Creed, He descended into hell, be omitted.

9. That the Athanasian and Nicene Creeds be entirely omitted.

10. That after the response, And with thy spirit, all be omitted to the words
Lord, shew thy mercy upon us, which the Minister shall pronounce, still kneeling.

11. That in the suffrage, Make thy chosen people joyful, the word chosen be
omitted ; and also the following suffrages to God, make clean our hearts within
us.

12. That the rubric after these words, And take not thy Holy Spirit from us,
be omitted. Then the two Collects to be said. In the Collect for Grace, the
words be ordered to be omitted, and the word be inserted instead of to do alway
that is.

13. In the Collect for the Clergy and People, read Almighty and Everlasting
God, send down upon all Bishops and other Pastors, and the Congregations com
mitted, &c. to the end.

1 " Made " omitted. 4 In the "Proposed Book "the reference is

s " To " omitted. Mai. i. 11.

8 The " Proposed Book" has the number of ln the "Proposed Book" this rubric is

the verse correctly, " 20." In the original MS., transposed thus : A Declaration concerning the

at the close of this introductory sentence, the fol- Forgiveness of Sins, to be made by the Minister

lowing words are added, with a line drawn alone, standing, the people still kneeling.
through them : " N.B. A solemn pause here."

PKAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED. 109

14. That after all the reading Psalms and not at the end of each, Gloria
Patri or the Gloria inExcelsis Deo shall be used at discretion of the minister. 1

15. That the Lord s Prayer, after the Litany, and the subsequent rubric bo
omitted.

16. That the Short Litany be read as follows : Son of God, we beseech thee
to hear us. Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us. Lamb of God that takest
away the sins of the world. Grant us thy peace. Christ, hear us. Christ, hear
us. Lord, have mercy upon us, and deal not with us according to our sins ; neither
reward us according to our iniquities. After which, omit the words Let us pray.

17. That the Gloria Patri after Lord, arise, &c. be omitted, as also the Let
tis pray after We put our trust in thee.

18. That in the following prayer, instead of righteously have deserved, it be
justly have deserved.

19. That in the First Warning for Communion, the word damnation follow
ing these words, increase your % &c. be read condemnation ; and the two paragraphs
after these words, or else come not to that holy table, be omitted, and the following
one be read, and if there be any of you who by these means cannot quiet their con
science, &c. The words learned and discreet, epithets given to the ministers, to be
also omitted.

20. In the Exhortation to the Communion, let it run thus : For as the bene
fit is great, &c., to drink his blood, so is the danger great if we receive the same un
worthily. Judge, therefore, yourselves, &c.

21. That, in the rubric preceding the Absolution, instead of pronounce this
Absolution, it be Then shall the Minister stand up, and turning himself to the peo
ple, say.

22. That in the Baptism of Infants, parents may be admitted as sponsors.

23. That the Minister, in speaking to the sponsors, after these words, Vouch
safe to release him, say Release him from sin; and in the second prayer, instead of
remission of his sins, read remission of sin.

24. That the questions addressed to the sponsors, and answers, instead of
the present form, be as follow :

25. Dost thou beliece the Articles of the Christian faith, as contained in the
Apostles 1 Creed, and wilt thou endeavour to have this child instructed accordingly ?

Answer. I do believe them, and, by God s help, will endeavour so to do.
Wilt thou endeavour to have him brought up in the fear of God, and to obey
God s holy will and commandments ?

Answer. I will, by God s assistance.

26. That the sign of the cross may be omitted, if particularly desired by the
sponsors or parents, and the prayer to be thus altered (by the direction of a short
rubric) : We receive this child into the congregation of Chrisfs flock, and pray that
hereafter he may never be ashamed, &c., to the end.

27. That the address, Seeing now, dearly beloved, &c., be omitted.

28. That the prayer after the Lord s Prayer be thus changed, We yield thee
hearty thanks, &c., to receive this infant as thine own child by baptism, and to in
corporate him, &c.

29. That in the following exhortation the words to renounce the devil and
all his works, and in the charge to the sponsors, the words vulgar tongue be
omitted.

30. That the forms of Private Baptism and of Confirmation be made con
formable to these alterations.

31. That in the exhortation before Matrimony, all between these words, holy
matrimony and therefore, if any man, &c., be omitted.

32. That the words I plight thee my troth be omitted in both places, and also
the words with my body I thee worship, and also pledged their troth either to other.

33. That all after the Blessing be omitted.

34. In the Burial Service, instead of the two Psalms, take the following
verses of both, viz. : Ps. xxxix. verses 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, and Ps. xc. to verse 13. In
the rubric, that the words unbaptized or be omitted.

For the declaration and form of interment, beginning Forasmuch as, &c.,
insert the following, viz. : Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise

1 This is a repetition in part of the fourth found a repetition of part of the thirteenth.]"

alteration. In Bishop White s Memoirs the fol- This is an error. The Bishop inadvertently

lowing statement is made : " 14th. [Here is an wrote " thirteenth " for " fourth."
erasure from the manuscript : the article being

110 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

providence, to take out of this world t/ie soul of our deceased brolJier [sister] lying
now before us ; we, therefore, commit his [her] body to the ground, earth to earth,
ashes to ashes, dust to dust (thus at sea to the deep to be turned into corruption) ,
looking for the general resurrection in the last day, and the life of the world to come,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose second coming, in glorious majesty, to
judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead ; and the corruptible
bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own
glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all
things unto himself.

In the sentence, I heard a voice, &c , insert who for which.

The prayer following the Lord s Prayer to be omitted. In the next Collect,
leave out the words, as our hope is this our brother doth. For them tliat insert
lliose who.

85. In the Visitation of the Sick, instead of the absolution as it now stands,
insert the declaration of forgiveness which is appointed for the Communion Service,
or either of the two collects which are taken irom the Commination Office and ap
propriated to Ash Wednesday may be used.

In the Psalm, omit the 3d, 6th, 8th, 9th, and llth verses. In the Commen
datory Prayer, for miserable and naughty, say vain and miserable. Strike out the
word purged.

In the prayer, " for persons troubled in mind," omit all that stands between
the words afflicted servant and his sotil is full, &c., and instead thereof say afflicted
servant, whose soul is full of trouble; and strike out the particle but and proceed,
merciful God, &c.

30. A form of prayer and visitation of prisoners for notorious crimes, and
especially persons under sentence of death, being much wanted, the form entitled
" Prayers lor Persons under Sentence of Death, agreed upon in a Synod of the Arch
bishops and Bishops, and the rest of the Clergy of Ireland, at Dublin, in the year
1711," as it now stands in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of Ireland,
is agreed upon, and ordered to be adopted, with the following alterations,
viz. :

For the absolution, take the same declaration of forgiveness, or either of the
collects above directed for the Visitation of the Sick. The short collect Saviour
of the world to be left out, and for the woi-&lt;\ frailness say frailly.

37. In the Catechism, besides the alteration respecting the civil powers, alter
as follows, viz. :

What is your name ? N. M.

When did you receive this name? I received it in Baptism, whereby I became
a Member of the Christian Church.

What loas promised for you in Baptism^ That I should be instructed to be
lieve the Articles of the Christian faith, as contained in the Apostles 1 Creed, and to
obey Qod s holy will and keep his commandments.

Dost thou think thou art bound to believe all the Articles of the Christian faith,
as contained in this Creed, and to obey (jod s holy will and to keep his command
ments ? Yes, verily, &c.

Instead of the words verily and indeed taken, say spiritually tafan. Answer
to question How many sacraments ? Two, Baptism and the Lord s Supper.

38. Instead of a particular Service for the Churching of Women, and Psalms,
the following special prayer is to be introduced after the General Thanksgiving,
viz. This to be said when any woman desires to return thanks, &c.

. O Almighty God, we give thee most humble and hearty thanks for that thou
hast been graciously pleased to preserve this woman, thy servant, through the great
pains and perils of childbirth. Incline her, we beseech thee, to shew forth her
thankfulness for this thy great mercy, not only with her lips, but by a holy and
virtuous life. Be pleased, O God, so to establish her health, that she may lead the
remainder of her clays to thy honour and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen."

39. The Commination Office on Ash- Wednesday to be discontinued ; and there
fore the three collects, the first beginning.

1. O Lord, we beseech thee,

2. O most mighty God,

3. Turn thou us, O good Lord,

shall be continued among the Occasional Prayers, and used after the Collect on Ash-
Wednesday, and on such other occasions as the Minister shall think fit.

PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED. Ill

Articles of Religion.

1. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity.

There is but one living, true, and eternal God, the Father Almighty ; without
body, parts or passions ; of infinite power, wisdom and goodness ; the maker anil
preserver of all things, both visible and invisible ; and Lord Jesus Christ, Son of
God ; begotten of the Father before all worlds, very and true God ; who came
down from heaven, took man s nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin of her
substance, and was God and man in one person, whereof is one Christ,
who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile his Father to
us, and to be a sacrifice for the sins of all men. He rose again from death,
ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until he shall return to judge the world at
the last day ; and one Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, of the same divine
nature with the Father and the Son.

2. Of the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation,
[Article VI. of the English Prayer-book, unchanged.]

3. Of the Old and New Testament.

There is a perfect harmony and agreement between the Old Testament and
the New ; for in both, everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the
only Mediator between God and man ; being both God and man : and although
the law given by Moses, as to ceremonies and the civil precepts of it, doth not bind
Christians, yet all such are obliged to observe the moral commandments which he
delivered.

4. Of Greeds.

The creed, commonly called the Apostles 1 Creed, ought to be received and be
lieved, because it may be proved by the Holy Scripture.

5. Of Original Sin.

By the fall of Adam, the nature of man is become so corrupt as to be greatly
depraved, having departed from its primitive innocence, and that original righteous
ness in which it was at first created by God. For we are now so naturally inclined
to do evil, that the flesh is continually striving to act contrary to the Spirit of God,
which corrupt inclination still remains even in the regenerate. But though there
is no man living who sinneth not, yet we must use our sincere endeavours to keep
the whole law of God, so far as we possibly can.

6. OfFree-Will.

[The Tenth English Article, with the words " Christ preventing us, that we
may have a good will," simplified to " Christ giving us a good will."]

7. Of the Justification of Man.

[The same as the Eleventh English Article, with the omission of the last
clause, " as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification."]

8. Of Good Works.

[The same as the Twelfth English Article.]

9. Of Christ alone without Sin.

Christ, by taking human nature on him, was made like unto us in all things,
sin only excepted. He was a Lamb without spot, and by the sacrifice of himself,
once offered, made atonement and propitiation for the sins of the world ; and sin was
not in him. But all mankind besides, though baptized and born again in Christ, do
offend in many things. For if we say we have no sin-, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us.

10. Of Sin after Baptism.

They who fall into sin after baptism may be renewed by repentance ; for
though after we have received God s grace, we may depart from it by falling into
sin, yet through the assistance of his Holy Spirit, we may by repentance and the
amendment of our lives, be restored again to his favour. Goa will not deny remis
sion of sins to those who truly repent, and do that which is lawful and right ; but
all such, through his mercy in Christ Jesus, shall save their souls alive.

11. Of Predestination.

Predestination to lite, with respect to every man s salvation, is the everlasting
purpose of God, secret to us: and the right knowledge of what is revealed con
cerning it, is full of comfort to such truly religious Christians as feel in themselves
the spirit of Christ, mollifying the works of their flesh and their earthly affections,
and raising their minds to heavenly things. But we must receive God s promises
as they be generally declared in Holy Scripture, and do his will, as therein is ex
pressly directed ; for without holiness of life, no man shall be saved.

112 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

12. Of obtaining Eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ.

They are to be counted presumptuous, who say that, &c. [as in the Eighteenth
English Article.]

13. Of the Church, and its Authority.

The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, wherein the
pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments are duly administered, according
to Christ s ordinance, in all things necessary and requisite. And every Church hath
power to ordain, change and abolish rites and ceremonies for the more decent order
and good government thereof, so that all tilings be done to edifying. But it is not
lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to God s word ; nor so to expound
the Scripture as to make one part seem repugnant to another ; nor to decree or
enforce anything to be believed, as necessary to salvation, that is contrary to God s
holy word. General Councils and Churches are liable to err, and have erred, even
in matters of faith and doctrine, as well as in their ceremonies.

14. Of Ministering in the Congregation.
[Same as the Twenty-third English Article.]

15. Of the Sacraments.

[Same as the Twenty-fifth English Article, with the omission of the last two
paragraphs.]

16. Of Baptism.

[Same as the Twenty-seventh English Article, with two verbal changes.
Grafted into the Church, for grafted in the Church, and the forgiveness of sin for
forgiveness of sin. ]

17. Of the Lord s Supper.

[Same as the Twenty-Eighth English Article, with the omission of the last
paragraph.]

18. Of the one Oblation of Christ upon the Cross.

[Same as the first sentence of the Thirty-first English Article.]

19. Of Bishops and Ministers.

The Book of Consecration of Bishops, and Ordering of Priests and Deacons,
excepting such part as requires any oaths or subscriptions inconsistent with the
American Revolution, is to be adopted as containing all things necessary to such
consecration and ordering.

20. Of a Christian Man s Oath.

The Christian religion doth not prohibit any man from taking an oath, when
required by the magistrate, in testimony of truth. But all vain and rash swearing
is forbidden by the Holy Scriptures.

Table of Holy Days.

The following days are to be kept holy by this Church, viz. : All the Sun
days in the year, in the order enumerated in the Table of Proper Lessons, with
their respective services ; Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany ; Easter Day, Monday
and Tuesday ; Ascension Day ; Whitsunday, Monday and Tuesday.

The following days are to be observed as Days of Fasting, viz. Good
Friday and Ash- Wednesday.

The following days are to be observed as Days of Thanksgiving, viz. the
Fourth of July, in commemoration of American Independence and the first
Thursday in November, as a day of General Thanksgiving.

The " Proposed Book " was hardly out of the printer s hands be
fore it was evident, to quote the language of Bishop White, "that, in
regard to the Liturgy, the labours of the Convention had not reached
their object. l Even the committee intrusted with the preparation
of the volume for the press felt the imperfection of their work. " We
can only in the different States," writes Dr. William Smith to the Rev.
Dr. Parker of Massachusetts, under date of April 17, 1786, "receive
the book for temporary use, till our churches are organized, and the
book comes again under review of Conventions having their Bishops,
etc., as the primitive Eules of Episcopacy require." 5 South Caro-

i Memoirs, 2d cd., p. 112. Perry s " Reprint of the Early Journals," III., p. 200

PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED.

113

Una, 1 Virginia, 2 Maryland, 3 and Pennsylvania, 4 proposed amendments.
No Convention met in Delaware. New Jersey rejected the book, ancU
memorialized the General Convention as to "the unseasonableness and\
IffeglrtaTtty w of the alterations made by the committee without the j
"revision and express approbation of the convention itself." 5 New
York postponed the question of its ratification, " out of respect to the
English Bishops, and because the minds of the people are not yet
sufficiently informed. 6 The prospect of the speedy success of the
efforts for the Episcopal Succession in the English line, served to hin
der the ratification and use of the " Proposed Book." Objections made
by Bishop Seabury and the New England churchmen, as well as by the
English archbishops and bishops, to the mutilation of the Apostles
Creed, and the omission of the Nicene, were obviated by the ac
tion of the General Convention at Wilmington, Delaware, in October,
1786. The clause, "He descended into hell," was restored, and the
Nicene Creed inserted after the Apostles Creed, prefaced by the rubric
[or this] .

This measure having removed the still remaining hindrances to/
the consecration of bishops for America, by the English archbishops)
and bishops, the " Proposed Book" was gradually laid aside,
failedlouEommend itself to th pfiyynh 1 * ffi|flf|Bffl - A *

of the General (!!ionventioil o 1789* the question of union between the
churches of New England, with Seabury as their episcopal head, and
those of the Middle and Southern States, offered a topic of absorbing
interest. When this measure was effected at the adjourned meeting
of the same year, and the Church was at unity with herself, the prep
aration of a liturgy became the first duty. TheJiew England deputies J
under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Parker, " proposed that the\
English Book should be the ground of the proceedings held, without^
any reference to that set out and propoaed in 1785." 7

Others contended that a liturgy should be framed de novo, "with
out any reference to any existing book, although with liberty to take
from any, whatever the Convention should think fit." B The result of
the discussion so far as the House of Deputies was concerned 9 appears

1 Bishop White tell us in his Memoirs (2d
ed., p. 112) that " in South Carolina the book was
received without limitation." A reference to the
Journal of the Convention of that State for 1786,
as reprinted in Dalcho s " Hist, of the Church in
South Carolina," pp. 471-3, gives evidence to the
contrary. The changes adopted by this Conven
tion embraced not only matters of punctuation,
but comprised important alterations and omissions
in almost every part of the service.

1 In Virginia the chief exception taken to
the book was the " rubric before the Communion
Service." Journal of Va. Conv. 1786, p. 11.
Hawks Eccl. Contributions, Vol. I., p. 16, Appen
dix. Certain alterations were proposed in the
Articles, and the use of the English Psalter was
permitted " until a sufficient number of the new
books can be procured." The " rubric held to be
intolerable in Virginia, was that allowing the
Minister to repel an evil liver from the Commun
ion." Bishop White s Memoirs, 2d ed.,p. 112.

Maryland required the restoration of the
Nicene Creed, and the addition of an Invocation
to the Consecration Prayer in the Communion

Office, from the Scotch Office, with certain
changes which were afterwards incorporated into
the service as adopted in 1789. Perry s Reprint
of the Journals, Vol. in, pp. 179, 190, ltl, 199, 200.

* Pennsylvania added to the Maryland amend
ments a new question and answer in the Baptis
mal Services, and changes in the Burial Service
and the Articles.

6 Proceedings of the Convention of the
Prot. Epis. Church in the State of New Jersey ;
including the three first meetings, 1787, pp. 6, 7,
14.

Proceedings of the Convention of the
Prot. Epis. Church in the State of New York,
1788, p. 6.

7 Bishop White s Memoirs, 2d ed., p. 147.

Ibid.

" They would not allow that there was any
book of authority in existence : a mode of pro
ceeding in which they have acted differently
from the Conventions before and after them :
who have recognized the contrary principle when
any matter occurred to which it was applicable."
Bishop White s Memoirs, 2d ed., p. 148.

114 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

in "the wording of the resolves, as they stand in the journal, in which
the different committees are appointed, to prepare a Morning and Even
ing Prayer to prepare a Litany to prepare a Communion Service,"
and the same in regard to the other portions of the Liturgy. In 1785
the phraseology was to alter the said services. The latitude of change
this action of the lower house of convention might have justified, was
lessened by the general disposition of the members to vary the new
book as little as possible from the English model, and the fact that
the other house " adopted a contrary course." * The alterations, other
than those of a political nature, were mainly verbal, together with the
omission of repetitions. There was also the addition to the number
of the Occasional Prayers ; of Selections of Psalms ; of an Office for the
Visitation of Prisoners from the Irish Prayer-book ; of a Form of
Prayer and Thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth, etc. ; and of Forms
of Prayer to be used in Families. Besides these, BishoL,Seabury_ 2
securecLtJjejre^tp^aJJQn^to^the Consecration Prayerofthe Oblation jmd
Invocation foop.^ * n ^]Bg ^jKfWftTfl Y^-Br^f^ 1 Book fl,"d refryned vn
the Scotch Office iii tlio order in which they appear in the ancient
Liturgies, and with the change of a single sentence only. 3 In this he
eBEected for the American Church a closer conformity in her eucharistic
office to the primitive models, and fully answered the requirement of
the " Concordate " he had signed on his consecration.

A misunderstanding between the House of Bishops and the House
of Clerical and Lay Deputies, with respect to the printing of the con
troverted clause in the Apostles Creed concerning the descent into
hell, gave occasion for uneasiness among the clergy at the North ; but
at the next General Convention, in 1792, the matter was definitely
settled, as the House of Bishops originally intended, and as it now
stands.*

The Athanasian Creed was finally rejected at this review of the
Prayer-book, although its discretionary use was agreed to by the House
of Bishops. The House of Clerical and Lay Deputies negatived this
proposition, and, even after conference with the bishops, " would not
allow of the Creed in any shape." 5

In this connection we append from the original manuscript the
opinion of the Bishop of Connecticut, concerning this creed. It is a
portion of a letter to his friend, Dr. Parker, afterwards Bishop of Mas
sachusetts, and bears the date of December 29, 1790 :

With regard to the propriety of reading the Athanasian Creed in Church, I
never was fully convinced. With regard to the impropriety of banishing it out of

1 Vide Bishop White s discussions of this preserved among the archives of the General

subject in his " Memoirs of the Church," pp. 179, Convention, and now in the keeping of the writer,

180. contains original letters that passed on this sub-

1 Vide Prof. Hart s Historical Sketch ap- ject, giving fully the views of these distinguished

pended to his " Reprint of Up. Seabtuy s Com- men on a matter so fraught with interest and im-

munion Office," pp. 37-42. portanee.

8 Vide ante. 8 White s Memoirs, 2d cd., p. 150. In this

4 Allusion to this misunderstanding appears chapter, as elsewhere, the references to Bishop

in Bishop White s Memoirs, 2d cd., pp. 150-152, White s Memoirs have been made to the second

155-100, where its bearing on the question earlier edition of this invaluable work, which was pre-

brought before this Convention as to the bind- pared for the press by the author shortly before

ing authority of the English Liturgy until altered his decease, and had the further advantage of the

is fully discussed. The unpublished corrc- careful revision of the late llcv. Dr. Francis Lismr

spoadence of Bishop White and Bishop Scabury, Hawks.

PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED.

115

the Prayer-book I am clear ; and I look upon it, that those gentlemen who rigidly
insisted upon its being read as usual, and those who insisted on its being thrown
out, both acted from the same uncandid, uncomplying temper. They seem to me
to have aimed at forcing their own opinion on their brethren. And I do hope,
though possibly I hope in vain, that Christian charity and love of union will some
time oring that Creed into this book, were it only to stand as articles of faith stand ;
and to show that we do not renounce the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, as held by
the Western Church. 1

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

FROM page 85 of "The Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates held at the
Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg, in the Colony of Virginia, On Monday, the
6th of May, 1776. Reprinted by a Resolution of the House of Delegates, of the 24th
February, 1816. Richmond: Ritche, Trueheart & Du-Val, Printers. 1816. 4,"
we append the action of the Virginia Convention of Delegates at the opening
of the struggle for independence with reference to the Prayer-book services :

"FRIDAY, July 5, 1776.

" Resolved, That the following sentences in the morning and evening service
shall be omitted : Lord, save the King. And mercifully hear us when we call
upon thee.

"That the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th sentences in the litany, for the King s
majesty, and the royal family, &c., shall be omitted.

" That the prayers in the communion service which acknowledge the authority
of the King, and so much of the prayer for the church militant as declares the same
authority, shall be omitted, and this alteration made in one of the above prayers in
the communion seryice : Almighty and Everlasting God, we are taught by thy holy
word that the hearts of all rulers are in thy governance, and that thou dost dispose
and turn them as it seemeth best to thy godly wisdom, we humbly beseech thee so to
dispose and govern the hearts of all the magistrates of this Commonwealth, that in
all their thoughts, words, and works, they may evermore seek thy honour and glory,
and study to preserve thy people committed to their charge, in wealth, peace, and
godliness. Grant this, merciful Father, for thy dear Son s sake, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen.

" That the following prayer shall be used, instead of the prayer for the King s
majesty, in the morning and evening service : Lord, our heavenly father, high
and mighty, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the only ruler of the universe, who dost
from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth, most heartily we beseech thee with
thy favour to behold the magistrates of this commonwealth, and so replenish them
with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may alway incline to thy will, and walk
in thy way; endue them plenteously with thy heavenly gifts; strengthen them, that
they may vanquish and overcome all their enemies, and finally, after this life, they
may obtain everlasting joy and felicity, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

" In the 20th sentence of the litany use these words : That it may please thee
to bless and keep them, giving them grace to execute justice, and to maintain truth.

" Let every other sentence of the litany be retained, without any alteration,
except the above sentences recited."

We append, as a valuable addition to this chapter, an unpublished letter on
the alterations of the Prayer-book of 1789, written by Bishop White to the Rt. Rev.
Dr. Brownell, Bishop of Connecticut, at the time of the preparation of " The
Churchman s Family Prayer-book " by the latter : This letter is from the valuable
collection of episcopal autographs and MSS., belonging to Mr. Rollinson Colburn,
of Washington, D.C., by whose kind permission we are permitted to print it:

Ph. Feb. 8. 1822.
R Rev* & dear Sir.

The Time is expiring, within which I was to furnish you with any Facts which
may be in my Memory, tending to throw Light on y" Alterations in y* Liturgy, in
1789 ; & yet, I perceive scarcely any thing, but what is contained in my printed

1 In the collection of the author.

116 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Memoirs. The few additional Particulars, shall be given as they occur. But there
will be no Notice of Alterations merely verbal ; y* Seasons for which will be obvi
ous. The Order in y* english Book will be followed.

Morning Prayer.

The two Texts placed in front of y 6 other initiatory Sentences, were designed
to give Solemnity to y* Opening of y* Service ; & yet, I do not know whether they
may not have had an unfavourable Consequence, not foreseen. The Compilers
evidently designed to begin with Penitence & Confession ; but we have lived to
witness an increasing Propensity to begin with a Psalm, without a special Reference
to those Subjects. Such a Thing never happened within my Knowledge, before y*
said Date : but whether it was y* Result of introducing the two Texts, otherwise so
very proper, I will not determine. Perhaps it would have been better to have
placed them after y* other Texts.

The introducing in this Place of y 2 a Absolution, y* same as in y* Communion
Service, has been objected to on a Ground not foreseen. My View of y* Subject &
I suppose that of others, was as follows. The Words of y* 1" Absolution fall short
of y precatory Form which prevailed in y* Primitive Church, & indeed, seems below
it s Name : for altho it affirms a certain Authority in y* Speaker, he is not made to
exercise y c Authority on those before him, however possessed of y 6 necessary Req
uisites. The other Form in y 8 Communion Service properly discarded from ours,
is in a Tone not warranted by Ancient Usage. The unforseen Objection, has been
grounded on a Wish to restrict y 6 precatory Form to y e Time & to y e Recipients of
y e Communion. I fear, that this countenances y 8 Delusion of Recourse to y 6 holy
Ordinance, as a periodical Sponge. Perhaps, a similar Abuse may be incidental to
M r Wheately s Notion of y e Minister s reading of y 6 Absolution in y e Service. The
correct Doctrine as apparent to me, is, that y 6 Truth in y e Form applies at any Time,
& by whomsoever said, the proper Conditions being found & that y 8 only Difference
between it s being declared by a proper Minister, or by another Person, is, that y 6
former is acting under a Commission : a Circumstance y e most likely to whig what
he says with Comfort.

We left out y e latter Part of y 6 " Venite," as being limited to y 6 Condition of
y 8 Jews ; but I wis h we had ended with y 6 7 th Verse ; as there is now an awkward
Repetition of y 8 two added Verses, hi y e 19 th Day of y 6 Month.

The " Gloria in Excelsis " was introduced under y 6 Notion, that y 8 singing of

it would add to y c Beauty of y 8 Service. I wish we had left it, in its Restriction to

y* End of y e Communion Service. It adds to y 8 length of y e other Service,

confessedly rendered too long, by y 6 Junction of Services intended to have been

distinct.

The Subject of y e Psalms, has been spoken of at considerable Length in y 8
Memoirs.

There being in y 8 english Book, select Lessons from y 8 O. Testament for Sun
days, was thought useful ; and y 8 Reason for it seemed to justify y e taking of select
Lessons from y e new. Whether it has been done with Judgement & whether y 8
same may be said of y 6 moderate Changes made in y e Column ot Lessons from y 6 old,
must be left to every Man s Opinion.

The Omission from y 8 Benedictus " was on y 8 same Principle with that from
y 8 " Venite : " but I wish it had ended with y 8 3 d Verse.

Of y e Creeds, I have spoken in the Memoirs.

The Omission of y 8 succeeding Lord s Prayer, y 8 Abbreviation of what is alter-
naitely said by y 8 Priest & y 8 People, & y 8 Conditional dispensing with y 8 Collect for
y 8 Day, rest on Grounds which must be Obvious.

Concerning y* Prayers for civil Rulers, there is little to be said. It may be
questioned, whether, in a Government which gives no Power commensurate with
Life, it be congruous to pray for y" long Life & Prosperity of y 6 first Magistrate :
but it is contemptible to cavil at y* Title of " God s Servant," as applied to an un
believing President ; when every one, who understands Greek, knows that he is so
called hi Rom. 13. 4.

Evening Prayer.

Much of what is said above, applies here.

Whether y Changes in y Psalms & y* Hymns after y* Lessons, be Improve
ments, must be left to y* Decision of Taste.

There occurred some Difficulty, in altering y* " Collect for Aid against Perils."
The play on y* Words " Light" & "Darkness," was considered as not of a Piece

\
\

PRAYER-BOOK AS "PROPOSED" AND PRESCRIBED. 117

with y* general Purity of y* Service : but I wish thei e had been enclosed in Hooks
between " this " & " Day " " or y" preceeding" and between " this " & " Night "
" or y* succeeding."

The Litany.

All y* Alterations may be considered as verbal, except, that y e civil Rulers
prayed for, are Christian Rulers only : evidently because we are praying for y*
Church Universal. In England, y* Rulers are a Part of y Church ; but it may happen
otherwise with us.

The permitted Abbreviation of y Litany, was for y shortning of y Service,
& y* avoiding of Repetition.

Prayers & Thanksgivings, &c.

The Prayer " for all Conditions of Men," & y" " General Thanksgiving," are
transferred to y Morning & to y Evening Prayer. Their Stations in y* English
Book must have been owing to their having been of later Origin than y 6 Compila
tion. This did not apply to a new arranging of y Service.

It was not from Accident but from Design, that y* Prayer for Congress was
directed to be used, like y other Prayers with which it stands, before y 9 two final
Prayers of y Morning & y Evening Service. What tho they come after y* Gen 1 :
Thanksgiving : y two Species of Devotion are not kept so entirely separate in other
Places, as to make this a Consideration. In many Churches, y* Practice is anti-
rubrical in this Paiticular.

It is to be hoped, that we added some useful Prayers & Thanksgivings. They
were selected from Bp: Taylor.

The Prayer " in Time of War & Tumults," was thought improved byy* Omis
sion of some rough Expressions.

The concluding Prayer in this Department was omitted, as being too much a
Play on Words from which y e Service in General is so free.

In y english Book, to y "Prayer for all Conditions," & to "y* General
Thanksgiving," there is attached a small Compartment, containing an Application
to y Case of any Person to be prayed for, or who should desire to return Thanks.
Our added Prayers, were suppose to supersede y" Use of these. But Cases occur,
not provided for : & therefore I wish, that there had been a Rubric to y* Purpose
of y e said Compartments.

Collects, Gospels & Epistles, &c.

I do not recollect, that there are other than verbal Alterations.

Holy Communion.

The Reason of omitting y" Lord s Prayer, & of y* Creed, if used before, was to
avoid Repetition.

What is added after y* Commandments, was to give y* Weight of Moses, y*
greater Authority of our Saviour.

The Change in y Consecration Prayer, is spoken of fully iny* Memoirs. The
Reasons of y" other Alterations must be suggested by a comparing of y" two Books ;
unless there be an Exception as to y Meaning given of y* Posture of Kneeling. And
if there had been a Dispensation from it in Case of Scruple, as of y* Cross in Bap
tism, I think Matters would not have been y" worse. As in y one Case, so in y*
other, y* Licence would have been seldom used.

Offices for Baptism.
The Alterations are few, & y" Reasons of them will probably be evident.

Catechism.

On y* Answer concerning y Lords Supper, " verily & indeed," is changed to
" spiritually : " which is more definite, & therefore better suited to y Doctrine of
our Church on y* Subject.

Confirmation requires Nothing.

Matrimony The Reasons will occur.

Visitation of y* sick. One of y* Forms of Absolution was omitted from y*
Persuasion, that it is not agreeable to y* Practice of y* Church in y* best Ages.
Ps. 71 . was thought advantageously changed for Ps. 130. Some Prayers were added
from Bp: Taylor it is to be hoped with Profit.

Burial of y dead. Whether y two Psalms had better stood entire, or Parts of
them joined as at present, is probably a Point on which there were different Senti-

118 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

ments. There was Unanimity, in clearing y Service of all Reference in y 8 Char
acter of y 8 deceased, which, often, ill suited with y 8 Words.

Commination. There is not recollected any Objection to y 8 Omission of it as
a distinct Service : but Parts of it are properly introduced, with y* Collect, Gospel &
Epistle for Ash-Wednesday.

Form for Sea. It must have been from Oversight, that y 8 Word " Minister"
designating y Person who is to pronounce y e Absolution, which had been used here
& elsewhere in y e Proposed Book was not changed to " Priest."

Our added Services, are, " For y Visitation of Prisoners " " For y Fruits
of y 8 Earth", & " Family Prayers."

The first was taken from y 8 then irish Book of Common Prayer ; & now, makes
a Part of y 8 Book of y 6 United Kingdom. The second, had been prepared in 1785,
& printed in y 8 Proposed Book. The 3 d is substantially from Bp: Gibson.

I hope, that in y e above, I have done something, altho but little, towards your
Object. It is probable that I have overlooked several Particulars, concerning which
you may wish to be informed. If so, & you will address Queries to me, I will satisfy
you to y e best in my Power.

In y 6 mean Time I remain

Your aff* 8 Brother

WM: WHITE.

CHAPTER VII.

THE ADJUSTMENT OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS AND PRIN
CIPLES IN THE CHURCH.

IN the separation of the Convention into two houses, on the adop
tion of the amended constitution by the representatives of the

Eastern churches, Bishops Seabury and White were, in the
absence of the Bishop of New York, whose opposition to the union
had continued to the latest moment, brought into the closest relation
ship. The result was mutual esteem and respect. Bishop White,
towards the close of his long and honored life, placed on record the
statement that he still " recollected with satisfaction the hours which
were spent with Bishop Seabury on the important subjects which
came before them ; and especially the Christian temper which he
manifested all along." 1

The views of the churchmen at the North" had been, from the
first, more pronounced than those of their brethren in the Middle and
Southern States. In New England the clergy and the Church people-
were mainly converts to the Church from the dissenters around theui^
Their allegiance had been secured by coa^Kftfon. They had been lea
to leave the sects in which they had been brought up, and had been
induced to unite with the Church by the force of a relentless logic ; and
their views were such as would naturally result from mental processes
of this nature. It was at no little cost and sacrifice that they had be
come members or ministers of the Church which they believed had been
founded by apostles and martyrs, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone. To these churchly views and principles was added a
natural drawing towards the sentiments in vogue in the Scottish com
munion, from which the Church in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and,
in fact, throughout New England, had received the episcopate. The
fears excited by the circulation of the "Case of the Episcopal Churches
Considered," that the churchmen at the southward were leaning towards
Presbyterianism ; the consciousness that there was a wide-spread doc
trinal laxity among some of the leaders in the movement for organiza
tion, and the securing of the episcopate, among these churchmen, and
the dislike not only of the sweeping and ill-judged alterations contained
in the "Proposed Book," but also of the presence of the laity in the
councils of the Church, and their claim as coordinate with the clergy
to sit in judgment on matters of doctrine, discipline, and worship,
added to the gulf which had opened between the Northern churches
and those to the south of New England. The dislike of Seabury by
Provoost, arising from personal and political causes, and shown not

1 Memoirs of the Church, 2d ed., p. 149.

120 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

only in public measures, as in the resolutions in the State and General
Conventions, intended to cast a doubt on the validity of the Scottish
succession, but extending to private life, and finding expression in
conversation and correspondence, threatened to widen the breach and
to perpetuate a division in the American Church. It was in the
adjustment of these differences, in the wise and wide tolerance of
opposing views, and in the unfailing exercise of charity towards all,
that the character of William White appears in a most attractive light.
Strikingly is this seen to be the case in an incident recorded in
Bishop White s Memoirs, and giving a vivid picture of the difficulties
in the way of union overcome through the astuteness and conciliatory
spirit of the bishop himself. The time of the occurrence was at the
opening of the adjourned Convention of 1789.

But a danger arose from an unexpected question, on the very day of the
arrival of these gentlemen. The danger was on the score of politics. Some lay
members of the Convention two of them were known, and perhaps there were
more having obtained information that Bishop Seabury, who had been chaplain to
a British regiment during the war, was now in receipt of half-pay, entertained
scruples in regard to the propriety of admitting him as a member of the Conven
tion. One of the gentlemen took the author aside, at a gentleman s house, where
several of the Convention were dining, and stated to him this difficulty. His opin
ion it is hoped the right one was, that an ecclesiastical body needed not to be
over righteous, or more so than civil bodies, on such a point that he knew of no law
of the land, which the circumstance relative to a former chaplaincy contradicted
that, indeed, there was an article in the confederation, then the bond of union of
the States, providing that no citizen of theirs should receive any title of nobility
from a foreign power ; a provision not extending to the receipt of money which
seemed impliedly allowed, indeed, in the guard provided against the other that
Bishop Seabury s half-pay was a compensation for former services, and not for any
now expected of him that it did not prevent his being a citizen, with all the rights
attached to the character, in Connecticut and that should he or any person in the
like circumstance be returned a member of Congress from that State, he must
necessarily be admitted of their body. The gentleman to whom the reasoning was
addressed, seemed satisfied, and either from this or from some other cause, the
objection was not brought forward. 1

It was thus with difficulties environing every step of the progress
towards comprehension and unity that the Convention opened. Even
the formal acceptance of the amended constitution, on the part of the
Eastern deputies, and their reception on the floor of the Convention,
failed wholly to remove these differences, or to harmonize or adjust
the opposing interests of the two sections of the now united Church.
The Convention had no sooner resolved itself, after the union had been
consummated, into its two co-ordinate houses, than an incident occurred
that brought out these differences, and, in the language of Bishop
White, who was a witness of the discussion, had "an unpropitious
influence on all that followed." 2

In the consideration of the Book of Common Prayer which
claimed the attention of the House of Deputies, at the very first, the
Rev. Dr. Parker, acting indirectly in behalf of the New England
deputies, proposed that the Prayer-book of the Church of England
should be considered as the basis of proceeding, rather than the "Pro-

1 Bishop White s " Memoirs of the Church," 2d ed., 1836, p. 145. *Ibid. t p. 146.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS IN THE CHURCH. 121

posed Book" set forth by the Convention prior to the union. There were
but few to advocate the "Proposed Book, * which had so signally failed
of acceptance, but there were those " who contended that a Liturgy
ought to be formed without reference to any existing book, although
with liberty to take from any whatever the convention should think
fit." The result of the discussion was that a committee was " appointed
to prepare a calendar and table of lessons for morning and even
ing prayer throughout the year ; also collects, epistles, and gospels."
To a second committee was assigned the duty of preparing " a Morn
ing and Evening Service for the use of the Church." A third commit
tee was charged with the preparation of a "Litany, with occasional
Prayers and Thanksgivings ; " and a fourth committee was appointed
"to prepare an order for the Administration of the Holy Communion."
The influence of the New England element may be inferred from the
fact that the chairmanship of these four committees was given respec
tively to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Parker, of Massachusetts ; the Rev.
Bela Hubbard, of Connecticut ; the Rev. Dr. Abraham Beach, of New
York ; and the Rev. Joseph Pilmore, of Pennsylvania, who had been
ordained by Seabury. The committees reported in accordance with
the terms of their appointment, producing a "Morning Service," an
"Evening Service," a "Litany," a "Catechism," etc. It is evident
both from the language of Bishop White, and that of the minutes of
the Convention, that the purpose of this action was not to imply that
the English book was not of obligation till another had taken its
place by due process of law, but to avoid any recognition of the
" Proposed Book," which was especially distasteful to the Connecticut
churchmen. Certainly, neither in New England, nor in the Middle nor
Southern States, had the clergy acted on the principle thus avowed,
and the inconsistence of the House of Deputies in refusing to " allow
that there was any book of authority in existence " is clearly pointed
out by Bishop White in his references to this action of the Convention.
In fact, the clergy and members of the Church, everywhere, while
recognizing the necessity of such liturgical changes as were required
by the change in civil relations had, with few exceptions, regarded it
as their duty to adhere to the rest of the service " on the ground of
antecedent obligation." The exceptions to this adherence to the Eng
lish service-book were in the few cases where, as in Dr. Parker s own
church in Massachusetts, in a few churches in New York and Philadel
phia, and at a few places at the southward, the "Proposed Book" was
tentatively used in the expectation of its adoption after further revision.
Two other points of difference between the two houses arose in
connection with the discussion relating to the retention of the Athana-
sian Creed, and the article of the Apostles Creed respecting the descent
into hell. Nothing can add to the narrative of Bishop White on these
points :

On the former subject, the author consented to the proposal of Bishop Seabury,
of making it an amendment to the draft sent by the other House ; to be inserted
with a rubric permitting the use of it. This, however, was declared to be on the
principle of accommodation to the many who were reported to desire it, especially
in Connecticut, where, it was said, the omitting of it would hazard the reception

122 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of the book. It was the author s intention never to read the Creed himself, and he
declared his mind to that effect. Bishop Seabury, on the contrary, thought that
without it, there would be a difficulty in keeping out of the church the errors to
which it stands opposed. In answer to this, there were urged the instances of sev
eral churches, as the Lutheran and others, in this country and Europe, and above
all, the instance of the widely extended Greek Church, confessedly tenacious of the
doctrine of the " Nicene" Creed, and yet not possessed of the Athanasiau in any
liturgy, or even of an acknowledgment of it in any confession of faith. Of the
last-mentioned instance Bishop Seabury entertained a doubt, but the fact is certainly
so, as is attested by the Rev. John Smith, an English divine held in estimation, who
wrote " An Account of the Greek Church," with the advantage of having resided in
Constantinople. He says (p. 196) after mention of the Aposues Creed and the Ni-
ceue " as to that of St. Athanasius they are wholly strangers to it." However, the
Creed was inserted by wuy of amendment, to be used or omitted at discretion. But
the amendment was negatived by the other House, and when the subject afterwards
came up in conference, they would not allow of the Creed in any shape, which was
thought intolerant by the gentlemen from New England, who, with Bishop Seabury,
gave it up with great reluctance.

The other subject the descent of Christ into hell was left in a situation
which afterwards not a little embarrassed the committee who had the charge of print
ing the book. The amendments of the Bishops, whether verbal or other, to the ser
vices sent to the other House had all been numbered. The president of the House, as
afterwards appeared on unquestionable verbal testimony, accidentally omitted the
reading of the article in its full ibrce, with its explanatory rubric. The meaning
of the article in that place was declared to be the state of the dead generally ; and
this was proposed instead of the form in which the other House had presented it, in
italics and between hooks, with a rubric permitting the use of the words "He
went into the place of departed spirits." The paper of the House, in return to that
of the Bishops, said nothing on this head, and therefore, their acquiescence was pre
sumed. This might have been the easier supposed, as there were some, who, while
they thought but little of the importance of inserting such an article, were yet of
opinion that the Convention stood pledged, on the present subject, to the English
Bishops, it being the only one on which they had laid much stress, in stating the
terms on which they were wil 1 ing to consecrate for our Church, and we, having com
plied with their wishes in that respect. This would seem very unsuitably followed
by a repetition of the offensive measure, or something very like it, in the first Con
vention held after the consecration -had been obtained. Thus, the matter passed
without further notice. But Bishop Seabury, before he left the city, conceived a
suspicion that there had been a misunderstanding. For, on the evening before his
departure, he took the author aside from company and mentioned his apprehension,
which was treated as groundless, on the full belief that it Avas so. It was a point
which Bishop Seabury had much at heart, from an opinion that the article was put
into the Creed in opposition to the Apollinarian heresy, and that, therefore, the
withdrawing of it was an indirect encouragement of the same. The author saw no
such inference ; but wished to retain the article, on the ground that the doing so
would tend to peace ; that it would be acting consistently toward the English
Church, and that a latitude would be left by the proposed rubric, for the understand
ing of the article as referring to the state of departed spirits, generally. It is
curious to remark, by the way, that when the book came out, Bishop Provoost dis
liked the form in which this part of it appeared, more than either the article as it
stood originally, or the omitting of it altogether, on the principle that it exacted a
belief of the existence of departed spirits between death and the resurrection. So
easy it is, in extending latitude of sentiment on one side, to limit it on another.

However, when the Committee assembled to prepare the book for the press,
great was their surprise and that of the author to find that the two Houses had mis
understood one another altogether. The question was, what was to be done? And
here the different principles on which the business had been conducted had their
respective operation. The Committee contended that the amendment made by the
Bishops to the service as proposed by their house, not appearing to have been pre
sented, the service must stand as proposed by them, with the words " He descended
into hell," printed in italics and between hooks , and with the rubric pemaissory of the
use of the words, " He went into the place of departed spirits." On the contrary,
it was thought a duty to maintain the principle that the Creed, as in the English
book, must be considered as the Creed of the Church, until altered by the consent

CONFLICTING INTERESTS IN THE CHUECH. 123

of both Houses, which was not yet done. Accordingly remonstrance was made
against the printing of the article of the descent into hell, in the manner in which
it appeared in the books published at that time. 1

In the introduction of the " Selections of Psalms," now prefixed to
the Psalter, after stating that " the House of Bishops did not approve
of the expedient of the other House, in relation to the selections as
they now stand," Bishop White proceeds to state : "But Bishop Sea-
bury interested himself in the subject the less ; as knowing that neither
himself nor any of his clergy would make use of the alternative, but
that they would adhere to the old practice." a

One other extract from the invaluable memoirs of Bishop White
will complete our record of the adjustment of differences and the har
monizing of conflicting prejudices and opinions that made the ad
journed Convention of 1789 memorable :

In the Sei*vice for the Administration of the Communion, it may, perhaps,
be expected that the great change made in restoring to the consecration prayer the
oblatory words, and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, left out in King Edward s
reign, must at least have produced an opposition . But no such thing happened to any
considerable extent; or, at least, the author did not hear of any in the other House,
further than a disposition to the effect in a few gentlemen, which was counteracted
by some pertinent remarks of the President. In that of the Bishops, it lay very near
to the heai-t of Bishop Seabury. As for the other Bishop, without conceiving with
some, that the service as it stood was essentially defective, he always thought there
was a beauty in those ancient forms, and can discover no superstition in them.
* * * * The restoring of those parts of the service by the American Church,
has been since objected to by some few among us. To show that a superstitious
sense must have been intended, they have laid great stress on the printing of the
words " which we now offer unto thee," in a different character, from the rest of
the prayers. But this was mere accident. The Bishops, being possessed of the
form used in the Scotch Episcopal Church, which they had altered in some respects,
referred to it, to save the trouble of copying. But the reference was not intended
to establish any particular manner of printing ; and accordingly in all the editions
of the Prayer-book, since the first, the aforesaid words have been printed in the
same character with the rest of the prayer, without any deviation from the original
appointment. Bishop Seabury s attachment to these changes may be learned from
the following incident. On the morning of the Sunday which occurred during the
session of the Convention, the author wished him to consecrate the elements. This
he declined. On the offer being again made at the time when the service was to begin,
he still declined ; and, smiling, added : " To confess the truth, I hardly consider the
form to be used as strictly amounting to a consecration." The form was, of course,
that used heretofore ; the changes not having taken effect. These sentiments he
had adopted in his visit to the Bishops from whom he received his Episcopacy. 3

We have thus given in detail the steps leading to the comprehen
sion of the disunited churches of the Northern, Middle, and Southern
States, in one "American Church." It is a portion of our annals but
little known in these days, and doubtless of but little interest to others
than those who, in learning of the past, seek to draw lessons of wisdom
for the present. There was one result of this union which should
not be forgotten. By the rules of the House of Bishops proposed by
Bishop White, with that graceful spirit of conciliation which was part
of his very nature, Bishop Scabury became, in virtue of his seniority
of consecration, the presiding bishop of the House of Bishops the iir.st

1 Memoirs of the Church, 2d ed., pp. 149- * Bishop White s Memoirs, 2d ed., p. 152.

152. * Ibid., pp. 154-155.

124 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

in the line of venerable men comprising, besides Seabury, clarum el
venerabile nomen, the well-remembered names of White, Provoost,
Griswold, Chase, Brownell, Hopkins, Bosworth Smith, and closing
long may it so remain with the present incumbent of this primacy
among brethren the venerable Alfred Lee. This presidency lasted
only till the next Convention. Willingly conceded by the excellent
White, this simple act of justice gave offence to Bishop Provoost, who
required, at the next meeting of the General Convention, in 1792, the
adoption of such a rule as should give to himself this coveted honor.
It was surrendered by the Bishop of Connecticut as meekly as it had
been assumed. His private memorandum on this requirement was
simply this characteristic sentence : " I cheerfully acquiesced in the
arrangement, having no wish to dispute who should be first in the king
dom of heaven." l

Nor was this prompt relinquishment of the position, to which he
was entitled by priority of consecration, the only concession made by
Seabury in favor of conciliation and union. The Convention met in
New York, and, agreeably to appointment, Bishop Seabury preached
the opening sermon. The Bishop of Connecticut, though justly
aggrieved at the open and continued slights cast upon his episco
pal character by Bishop Provoost, consented, in the interest of peace,
to call on the Bishop of New York, who received the courtesy kindly,
and "from that time," as Bishop White informs us, "nothing was
perceived in either of them which seemed to show that the former
distance was the result of anything else but difference of opinion."

Prior to this meeting in Convention the succession in the English
line had been completed. The excellent Griffith had resigned the
appointment as Bishop of Virginia, and after his decease, while in

1 Bishop White s recital of this matter is of Convention of New York having been, at its pre-
interest and value: "An unpropitious circum- ceding meeting, composed principally of gentle-
stance attended the opening of this Convcn- men of an opposite sentiment on this subject,
tion, but was happily removed before proceed- the deputies from that State were among the
ing to business. Bishop Seabury and Bishop foremost in producing (he resolution then come
Provoost had never, when the former had into, of recognizing Bishop Seabury s episcopal
been in New York at different times since his character.

consecration, exchanged visits. Although the " But to return to the narrative. The prcju-
author knows of no personal oifence, that had dices in the minds of the two Bishops were such
ever passed from cither of them to the other, as threatened a distance between them; which
and, indeed, was assured of the contrary by would give an unfavorable appearance to thcm-
thcm both ; yet the notoriety that Bishop selves, and to the whole body, and might, pcr-
Provoost had denied the validity of Bishop Sea- haps, have an evil influence on their dclibera-
bury s consecration, accounted, at least, for the tions. But it happened otherwise. On a pro-
omission of the attentions of a visit on either posal being made to them by common friends,
side. This veiy thing had not been without its and through the medium of the present author,
consequences on the proceeding of the Conven- on the suggestion of Dr. Smith, they consented
tions; which is here stated, as a caution against without the least hesitation, Bishop" Seabury to
such partial considerations, acted on without due pay and Bishop Provoost to receive the visit,
deliberation, and producing inconsistencies of which etiquette enjoined on the former to the
conduct. For in the Convention of June, 1786, latter, and was as readily accepted by the one
on the question of denying the validity of Bishop as it had been proffered by the other. The
Seabury s ordinations, the vote of New York is author was present when it took place. Bishop
Aye, although it was well known that t\yo of Provoost asked his vigilant to dine with him on
_ the three clergymen from that State had paid at- the same day, in company of the author and
tout ions to Dr. Seabury as a Bishop; and that he others. The invitation was accepted, and from
stood high in their esteem. But they acted that time nothing was perceived in either of
under instructions from the Church in their them, that served to show that the former dis- /
State, when the Convention of it was of a com- tance was the result of anything else but differ- )
plcxion corresponding with that vote. After- encc of opinion." *
wards, in the General Convention of 1789, the

1 Memoirs of the Church, 2d cd., pp. 161, 162.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS IN THE CHURCH.

125

attendance upon the first Convention of 1789, the
Rev. James Madison, D-D-, President, of the Col
lee ofWilllam and Mary, wn chnapp fat

office and .idministraiion, and on the Sixteenth
Sunday after Trinity, tlio liHh of September, JT JO,
was consecrated at Lambeth, by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Dr. John Moore ; the Bishop of London,
Dr. Beilby Porteus ; and the Bishop of Rochester,
Dr. John Thomas. It was at this Convention in New
York that the first American consecration took place.
The Rev. Dr. Thomas John Claggett haclbeea elected
to the episcopate or Maryland, and on Monday,
September 17, 17!)fy he received consecration in
Trinity Church, at the hands of " Samuel Provoost,
D.D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church
in the State of New York, presiding bishop, Samuel
Seabury, D.D., Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode
Island, William White, D.D., Bishop of the Prot
estant Episcopal Church in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania; and James Madison, D.D., Bishop
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of
Virginia. 1 " Thus the Englisji^ and Scottish lines of I
succession were united ]" this nnnspprntion 1 the
only one in which Seaburv took part, as his cleat
took place before another received the laying on
hands in the Amerioan Chiirnh^

Bishop White, in his account; of this Conven
tion, informs us that the alterations in the ordinal
were prepared by the bishops, and that there was
no material difference of opinion between them
except in regard to the words at the ordination of
priests, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," etc. Bishop
Seabury, who alone was tenacious of the form as
it stood in the English office, consented at length
with great reluctance to allow the alternative of
another form as it now appears. With reference
to the Thirty-nine Articles, the Bishop of Con
necticut was of the opinion at first " that all neces
sary doctrine should be comprehended in the Litur
gy." But on further thought he saw so clearly the
inconvenience likely to arise from the lack of an
authoritative rule of. faith in the hands of the people,
and forming part of the authorized book of common
devotions that he gave in his adhesion to the adoption
of the Articles of the Church of England. Bishop
Provoost was understood to be at least indifferent
to the adoption of articles, while Bishop Madison
was openly adverse to them. The Bishop of

iThis is the language and the order of the official Letter of Consecration.

126

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Maryland, -whose opinions were gathered from his vote and from his
conversation when not in the house of which he was so recent a mem
ber, was in favor of them. The action of the House of Deputies in
dismissing the consideration of the subject, was negatived by the
bishops, the Bishop of Virginia alone voting in the affirmative, and
there being no occasion for the president s vote. The subject was,
however, dismissed for the time by vote of the lower house.

The bishops, at the instance of Bishop Madison, put on record the
expression of their views on the matter of the comprehension of the

Methodist body in the Church, a scheme

very dear to the heart of the Bishop of Vir
ginia. The plan, as it took shape in the
mind of its author, did not embrace the
comprehending of this already large and
respectable body on the condition of their
retaining their organization ; but, " by an
accommodation to them in a few instances,"
inducing them " to give up their peculiar
discipline and conform to the leading parts
of the doctrine, the worship, and the dis
cipline of the Episcopal Church." Bishop
White, in view of a correspondence
which in common with the Bishop of Con
necticut he had had with the Rev.
Thomas Coke, LL.D., one of the superin
tendents appointed by Wesley himself, did
not conceal his conviction "how hopeless all endeavors for such a
junction must prove." The " minute " adopted by the bishop was
as follows :

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, ever bear
ing in mind the sacred obligation which attends all the followers of Christ, to
avoid divisions among themselves, and anxious to promote that union for which
our Lord and Saviour so earnestly prayed, do hereby declare to the Christian
world, that, uninfluenced by any other considerations than those of duty as
Christians, and an earnest desire for the prosperity of pure Christianity, and thel
furtherance of our holy religion, they are ready and willing 1 to unite jind form ong(
body with any religious society which shall be influenced by the same catholic:
spirit. And in order that this Christian end may be the more easily cfVectcd. ilicy.
luraier declare, that all things in which the great essentials of Christianity or the
characteristic principles of their Church are not concerned, they are willing to leave
to future discussion ; being ready to alter or modify those points which, in the
opinion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, are subject to human alteration. And
it is hereby recommended to the State Conventions, to adopt such measures or pro
pose such conferences with Christians of other denominations, as to themselves may
be thought most prudent, and report accordingly to the ensuing General Con
vention.

The House of Deputies failed to approve of this scheme of compre
hension. In their view it seemed likely "to produce distrust of the
stability of the system of the Episcopal Church, without the least
prospect of embracing any other religious body." Leave was there
upon given to the bishops to withdraw their proposition.

The Convention at which this effort for unity was rejected recog-

SEAL OF BISHOP PROVOOST.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS IN THE CHURCH. 127

nized the duty of the newly organized Church to provide for the
spiritual needs of our own people, and a committee was appointed
"for preparing a plan of supporting missionaries to preach the Gospel
on the frontiers of the United States." The "Act of the General Con
vention," reported by the committee, provided for an annual missionary
sermon and offertory, for State treasurers to take care of the funds
thus collected, and for the collection of money from the frontier con
gregations by the missionaries. The Bishop of Pennsylvania was in
structed to " frame an address " " recommending this charitable desijm "

o O

to be read at the time of the annual offertory, and the bishop and a
standing committee were to appoint a treasurer and employ mission
aries when sufficient funds had been secured.

In 1795 legislation was found necessary to prevent a repetition
of what was practically an act of intrusion by the Bishop of New-
York, in ordaining a clergyman for a church in Ehode Island which
had formally placed itself under the care of Bishop Seabury. The
proposition to give to the House of Bishops an absolute negative,
which had not been lost sight of, had excited marked opposition in
South Carolina, where even " secession " was threatened if this meas
ure prevailed. From the same source there appeared an obnoxious
pamphlet entitled " Strictures on the Love of Power in the Prelacy,"
by a member of the Protestant Episcopal Association in South Carolina,
written by a member of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Dr. Henry
Purcell, which was characterized in the house as " a virulent attack
upon the doctrines and discipline of our Church and a libel against the
House of Bishops." The writer professed his sorrow for the publica
tion and sent an ample apology for the same to avoid the expulsion
from the Convention with which he was threatened. The personal
abuse in this "licentious "pamphlet," as Bishop White styles it, was
chiefly aimed at Bishop Seabury on the ground of his supposed author
ship of a pamphlet written and afterwards acknowledged by another
reputable divine. The house declared that Dr. PurcelPs pamphlet con
tained " very offensive and censurable matter," and it was only by the
mediation of the bishops that the offender, in spite of his professions
of penitence, escaped punishment. The subsequent conduct of the
author proved the insincerity of his professed contrition, for, on the
adjournment of the Convention, Purcell challenged to mortal combat
the Rev. Dr. Andrews, to whom his exposure had been due. Bound
over before the civil courts to keep the peace, the depositions and
documents concerning this notorious affair are among the most painful
of the many papers of importance and interest preserved in the cor
respondence of Bishop White.

Within the next few years the first American bishop had passed
to his rest and reward; and, at the special Convention of 1799, with
which the century closed, but three bishops out of the seven still
living, were in attendance. The testimonial of Uzal Ogden, bishop-
elect of New Jersey, was refused confirmation by the House of Depu
ties. The ostensible ground of this action was a strict construction
of the canon fixing the number of " resident and officiating priests "
required to warrant an episcopal election. Bishop White reveals " a

128 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

more important reason at the bottom of the objection made " by the
members of the lower house. Dr. Ogden "was considered by his
brethren generally as being more attached to tho doctrines and the
practices obtaining in some other churches than to those of his own." l
The House of Deputies, in a committee of the whole, resolved " that
the articles of our faith and religion, as founded on the Holy Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments, are sufficiently declared in our Creeds
and Liturgy, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, established
for the use of this Church, and that further articles do not appear neces
sary ; " but this action was disagreed to by the House in open session. 2
A draft of seventeen articles, the consideration of which was postponed
in consequence of the approaching close of the session and the thin
ness of representation, was ordered to be spread upon the pages of the
journal ; and the form for the consecration of a church was agreed
upon. Thus, in comparative peace and harmony, the century closed
upon a Church united and completely organized, though small in num
bers, and, as yet, lacking that aggressive spirit which, in its subse
quent development, was yet to make the American Church a name
and a power in the land.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

WE give from the Bishop White Correspondence extracts from several letters,
from which the contemporary history of these discussions may be had in the
words of the chief actors therein :

BISHOP SEABURT TO BISHOP WHITE.

NEW YORK, Nov. 1st, 1789.

RT. REV. AND VERT DEAR SIR: Your letter of October 20th, I got at
Elizabethtown, and whatever pleasure a letter from you will ever give me, the con
tents of this have given me great pain. You have stated the matter very fairly, and
I had no idea but that our proposal concerning the article of the Descent into Hell
had been adopted by the House of Delegates, till an expression from Dr. Smith,
just as we broke up, and which I mentioned to you, gave me some little alarm. It
seems plain to me, and the more so since I have seen Dr. Moore, that the point was
overlooked in the House of Delegates ; for he says our amendment never was be
fore them, but that he conceived we had agreed to the proposal sent iu to us. What
now is to be done I know not. For my part I should not then have consented, nor
can I now consent, to print the article with such a mark of reproach as crochets and
italics will be. Had it been put and carried bv three-fourths, for on that issue it
must have been put, I must have submitted. But the case at present is different.
The discharging the Athanasian Creed was one thing, and the alteration of the
Apostles another. And I do, in the spirit of meekness and candor, beseech the
good gentlemen of the Committee, to consider whether the explanatory note will
not effectually take off all misinterpretation, and enable every clergyman to repeat
the descent into hell with a good conscience ? And whether pursuing the matter

i Memoirs of the Church, 2d eel., p. 178. Clergy : Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York,
* The vote by which it was resolved in the New Jersey, and Delaware ; of the Laity : Con-
House of Deputies that the Convention now necticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Nay.
proceed to the framing of Articles of Kcligion Of the Clergy : Massachusetts, Pennsylvania,
for this Church," was as follows : Aye. Of the and Virginia ; of the Laity : Virginia.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS IN THE CHURCH. 129

further will not look too much like aiming at victory and triumph P With me it is
a matter of consequence that the perfect humanity of Christ be ascertained that
like other men he had a human soul as well as body ; otherwise, I cannot have the
same faith and confidence in his death, nor the same hope of rising again from the
dead as he did ; and without these I have not the faith and hope ol a Christian.
These points are, in other words, found in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, but
if we leave the Descent out of the Apostles Creed, or, by printing it in the proposed
manner, weaken its force, we, by leaving his perfect humanity uncertain, put those
points, on which the faith and hopes of the Christian stand, on a vague and uncer
tain foundation. I fear, too, that my difficulties of getting our book received in Con
necticut will be increased ; and I must not be held answerable for consequences should
the proposed method of crochets and italics be pursued. My wish is to have one
strong bond of union in our churches from uniformity in our worship ; and I flatter
myself my conduct at Philadelphia was such as to convince the convention that I
will not give that point up for trifles ; and should my influence among a people
strongly attached to old customs and expressions, be too weak to carry every point,
I shall find myself disagreeably embarrassed. Since receiving your letter, I have
persuaded myself that it would have been better to have retained the Greek word
Hades instead of Hell ; and to have left it to the minister to have explained it,
which he certainly could do to his own satisfaction without departing from the
analogy of the faith. ***********

I am, Rt. Rev. and Dear Sir, your most affectionate brother and humble
servant,

SAMUEL, Bishop of Connecticut. 1

BISHOP WHITE TO REV. DR. PARKER.

PHILADELPHIA, January 25th, 1790.

DEAR SIR : Nothing has prevented my acknowledging the agreeable Favor
of your Letter, but my Wish to give you at y e same Time, some satisfactory Infor
mation concerning the Progress of the Prayer-book ; for y e printing of which no
Bargain was made by y e Committee, until within these few Days. I hope it will
now go on expeditiously, as the Printer is strong-handed and a Man of great Exer
tion.

As you left us somewhat dissatisfied, it is a Pity you did not remain one Day
longer to be a Witness of y e good Humour and Dispatch with which y e Business
was concluded.

After y e rising of y c Convention, and at my first Meeting of y 6 Committee to
prepare y 6 Papers tor Publication, there appeared to have been an unlucky Blun
der ; a point in which jy e two Houses had entirely mistook each other. In our
amendments to our Morning Prayer, we had proposed to restore y 6 Descent into
Hell, with an Asterisk directing to an explanatory marginal Note : And, as you
had said nothing in opposition to it, in y e Margin, we presumed on an acquiescence ;
while you, it seems, not having heard of our Proposal, presumed on an Acceptance
of yours. For it appears, that ours was never read to you. At least, most of the
Gentlemen here declared it was not ; and no one pretends to affirm that it was ;
and several Gentlemen in y e neighboring States, having heard of this affair join in
y 6 Testimony ; so that I cannot doubt of y 6 Fact, although I am confident it
was an oversight. The Gentlemen of y 6 Committee think themselves bound to
act on this Principle ; that their House having negatived our Alteration of their
Rubric before y 6 Creed (which Alteration however, concerned a different matter),
the Rubric stands, and the Creed must be printed accordingly. They have, how
ever, accepted a Declaration from me, to this Purpose, mat my Signature to y e
Morning Prayer is not to be understood as an acknowledgment that y e House of
Bishops has consented to the Article in question, in y 6 Manner in which it stands.
My information to Bishop Seabury of this matter reached him at Dr. Chandler s and
seems to have given him no small uneasiness. ******

Your Affectionate Brother,

WM. WHITE.*
Rev. 8. Parker, D.D.

1 From the Bishop White Correspondence. * From the Bishop Parker Correspondence.

130 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

BISHOP SEABDBY TO BISHOP WHITE.

NEW LONDON, March 29th, 90.

RT. REV. AND DEAR SIR: Your favor of January 6th has kin long by me
unanswered owing to the perplexity my mind has been thrown into by the infor
mation it contained, and from which I see no deliverance at present. What you
have done relating to the Descent into Hell, was all you could do in your Situation.
But it is to be remembered that that Article planted in Italics and within crochets
is not the book to which I subscribed in Pliiludelphia ; and that I shall, on that
account, think myself at perfect liberty to reject the whole book. No determina
tion, however, shall I make in a hurry, though I am apprehensive the consequences
of that matter will be very serious ones here. And I fear, instead of a cordial
union, suspicion and uneasiness will be at the bottom. With regard to the Creeds,
there has appeared to mo to have been too great an aim at victory ; which appear
ance has disgusted many, and if it continues, will finally render all uniformity of
worship impracticable. No reason can be assigned, why the Creed of St. Athana-
sius should not have continued in the book with a pcrmissory Rubric, but that it
would not have afforded matter of complete triumph. Never can any other reason
be assigned for the disfiguring the Apostles Creed in the manner now done. * *

Believe me to be, Rt. Rev. and Dear Sir, with the greatest esteem and affec
tion,

Your Brother and Servant,

SAMUEL, Bishop of Connecticut. 1

BISHOP SEABURY TO BISHOP WHITE.

NEW LONDON, Sept. 1st, 1790.

RT. REV. AND DEAR SIR : From your last letter I apprehend that one letter
of mine to you has failed of getting to you. It was a letter in which I acknowledged
the receipt of the occasional offices, and requested you to make my acknowledgment
to the printer for it. I hope, however, it has since got to you. As I apprehended,
so I still fear, there will be some difficulty in bringing our book into common use in
this State, though, I flatter myself, it will be done, if not at once, yet gradually in
the course of a year or two. The principal obstructions are the omission of the
Creed of St. Athanasius, the disfiguring of the Apostles Creed, the great alteration,
or, as it is here said, the omission of the Commination Office, the Rubrics permitting
the omission of the sign of the Cross in public baptism, and the use of the burial
office for children dying without baptism.

A permission of the Athanasian Creed in such congregations as choose to
retain it, and the Commination without the Amen to the curses would have given
perfect satisfaction to all. The clergy are to meet me the last Thursday in this
month, and are to pass the next Sunday together, in hopes of getting the new
books. I must, therefore, request the printers to send me two dozen to Mr. Isaac
Beers, book-seller at New Haven, or to the Rev. Dr. Bela Hubbard, Rector of Trinity
Church, New Haven ; and at the same time to put me in the way of sending the
money for them, and their directions shall be directly complied with. Dr. Madison,
I suppose, has gone to England. I received a letter from him concerning his con
secration ; but it was so late before his letter got to me, that from the intelligence
I received, I supposed his determination to go to England would have been car
ried into execution before any letter from me could have gotten to him. In his
consecration, I should have been ready to have concurred with you and Bishop
Provoost.

I am sorry to inform you that 1 have never perfectly recovered my former
health since I left Philadelphia, and have passed rather a languid summer, but have
good hope this autumn will set me up again.

I am, with true esteem, your affectionate brother and humble servant,

SAMUEL, Bishop of Connecticut.

kept this letter to this day, Sept. 9th, and finding no private conveyance
k, I have reluctantly put it into the Post Office, in hopes it will get to

I have

to New York,

you time enough to have the books sent to New Haven, or the meeting of the Clergy
will be in vain. I must, therefore, beg that one do/en may be sent by the Stage,

From the Bishop White Correspondence.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS IN THE CHURCH.

131

if no better conveyance can be had. Whatever can be fairly done by me to make
and keep our union strong and complete shall be done cheerfully, for my heart is set
upon it, not only as being right in itself, but as being particularly necessary for the
stability and growth of our Church in the United States, but if 1 get not the books
by the first of October, we shall be thrown into some confusion, and probably new
difficulties may arise. Farewell, my Dear Sir. 1

BISHOP SEABUKY TO BISHOP PARKER.

NEW LONDON, Nov. 28th, 1790.

DEAR SIR : Mr. Warren takes the trouble of conveying this to you. He has
been, this day, put into Deacon s Orders, and, from his open and docile temper, I
please myself with the hope of his making a very worthy and useful clergyman.

I have had some trouble here with Brother Sayre about the Revised Prayer-
book, and I believe he will continue to give all the trouble he can. All the other
clergy behaved with great prudence and candor. They, however, dislike the at
tempted alteration of the Apostles Creed, the omission of the Commination Office,
and of the Creed of St. Athanasius, and hope yet for some remedy at a future Con
vention. *****

Accept, Dear Sir, the best wishes of your affectionate, humble servant,

S., Bishop of Connecticut.*

BISHOP SEABURY TO REV. DR. PARKER.

NEW LONDON, Dec. 29th, 1790.

DEAR SIR : I am much obliged to you for the information contained in your
letter of the 13th. Of Mr. Sayre I have lately heard nothing, though I doubt not
his disposition continues, to give trouble if he can. You are not singular in the
idea you have formed of partial Insanity. I only mention the dislike of the clergy
of this State to the manner of the attempt to alter the Apostles Creed, without say
ing it was right or wrong. One apprehension they have is, that it will on some
occasion endanger confusion in the Church some people will repeat it one way
and some another that this will be the case with the Clergy also. So that the
Creed will (in that article) cease to be the test or even the security of uniformity
of faith in the Church, which, I suppose, was the design of repeating Creeds in
public worship.

I am sorry that Bishop Provoost and his clergy do not read prayers uniformly ;
and imagine that as little variation from the old book as the new one will permit,
is best as present ; were it only because it will not put the people under the neces
sity of buying new ones, which, considering their enormous price is a matter of
consequence in this State. Their being so high is, I suppose, owing to the Print
er s having a patent and how that came about, I know not. According to my
recollection, the Committee were empowered to agree for one edition, and I do not
imagine they had any right to go further ; and I heartily wish, and shall be ready
to join my efforts, that their patent may be set aside, as it will forever keep Prayer-
books at an enormous price. I fear that the Committee have exceeded their pow
ers even in printing the Apostles Creed as it now stands, which was not agreed to
by the House of Bishops ; and was printed in its present form against the opinion
of Bishop White, as he will inform you if you apply to him.

With regard to the propriety of reading the Athanasian Creed in Church I
never was fully convinced. With regard to the impropriety of banishing it out of
the Prayer-book, I am clear ; and look upon it, that those gentlemen who rigidly
insisted, upon its being read as usual, and those who insisted on its being thrown
out, both acted from the same uncandid, uncomplying temper. They seem to me to
have aimed at forcing their own opinion on their brethren. And I do hope, though
possibly I hope in vain, that Christian charity and love of union will some time
bring that Creed into the book, were it only to stand as articles of faith stand ; and
to show that we do not renounce the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity as held by the
Western Church. *******

Wishing you both many happy returns of this season, I remain your affection
ate, humble servant,

S., Bishop of Connecticut. 3

1 From the Bishop White Correspondence. 2 From the Bishop Parker Correspondence. * Ibid.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE REVIVAL OF CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA
AND THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH.

IT was in 1779, during the darkest days of the war, that the
" establishment " in Virginia " was finally put down." * In the
language of the annalist of the religious body to which this
result was chiefly due, "the Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, Deists,
and the covetous had all prayed for this." a To prayers had been
added untiring and most energetic labor. Taking advantage of exist
ing and acknowledged evils, growing out of the utter want of ecclesi
astical discipline in restraining delinquent clergymen, and the lack of
men of devout life and conspicuous ability among the incumbents of
the vacant parishes, these sectaries had multiplied on every side. It
was but natural that men of earnest convictions and inward spirit
uality should turn from those possessing only the form of godliness
to hang upon the lips of the wandering evangelists and lay preachers
whose sincerity and devotion could not be gainsaid, and who introduced
and propagated dissent in various forms throughout the length and
breadth of the land. It was not to be expected that men whose
shining parts and exemplary character made them sought after at
home would leave their comfortable livings in England to put them
selves at the mercy of sordid and ignorant vestries in a distant colony
where the " livings " yielded only a precarious support, and there was
little hope of preferment, and no possibility of redress if wronged.
Pressure was brought to bear upon the Bishops of London to fillthe
parishes clamorous for a supply with men of limited attainments
and inferior ability, and while there were notable exceptions to the
rule, and men were found possessing the loftiest spirit of devotion
and the highest intellectual power, whose lives were consecrated
to the pioneer mission-work, not only in Virginia, but throughout)
the South, many of the clergj 1 - were unfitted for their station, I
indifferent in the discharge of their official duties, and too often/
of irregular life. It was of no avail that the commissary sought)
to exercise the delegated power of the bishop, who was across the
ocean. Visitations were held and formal inquiry was made as to the
life and teachings of the clergy, from time to time ; but the unworthy
priest could not be deposed for his wickedness, and any remedy
short of this was of little use. The people, caring for nothing beyond
the form of religion, and often indifferent as to that, were preju
diced against the exercise of any ecclesiastical power save by thcm-

&gt; TIawks s " Eccl. Conti-ibutions, " I., " Vir- * The Virginia Baptist Chronicle, by John

grinia," p. 152. Vide, also, Burk s "Hist, of Leland, quoted by Hawks in "Eccl. Contritm-
Va., " iv., p. 377. tions," i., Virginia, p. 139.

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA.

133

i i lie
, and \
linis-.

selves, and, while placing every obstacle and annoyance in the way
of an upright clergyman, would often enable one who deserved
punishment to defy the commissary, and escape the penalty of the
law. The vestries claimed and exercised the right of removal,
too often this power was shown in ridding themselves of t]
trations of men whose only offence was faithfulness. The church
doors were not unfrequently shut against the clergy by the vestry,
who, to quote the testimony of a competent and trustworthy witness,
" thought themselves the parson s master." 1 There could be little, if
any, spiritual life under circumstances so adverse. The clergy could
only hope for tolerance and subsistence if subservient to the humors
of their people, and careful not to offend their hearers by the faithful
reproof of sin. The very "establishment" of the Church was made
use of to excite popular prejudice against it when, in fact, it
was established only in name and in part. The fruits of the
"establishment" in Virginia were mainly seen in placing the clergy
at the mercy of the people to whom they ministered, without the
means of securing their legal rights, or the power of obtaining
redress from wrong. That the clergy were of alien birth, drawn
generally to the colony by their failure to succeed elsewhere, or
seeking, with impaired reputations, to hide their disgrace by fleeing
to the ends of the world, was another reason for the lack of spiritual
life and the waning power of the " establishment " in the " Old Domin
ion." In Connecticut and in Massachusetts, where the clergy were, in
a majority of instances, of American birth and education, and brought
into the Church by conviction, and often at the sacrifice of all that
men hold dear, the Church grew and thrived. In Virginia William
and Mary graduated but few clergymen, and although of these few
there were those whose character and ability were conspicuous, they
could not redeem the reputation of the great body of their brethren
who were of evil or indifferent life.

It was a day of spiritual declension. The discourses of even the
better class of the clergy were too often lacking in that spirituality
and fervor which alone can awaken or deepen the life of God in the
soul of man. It is the testimony of the excellent Samuel Da vies, the
founder of organized Presbyterianism in Eastern Virginia, that while
"a great number" of those who had been "educated Presbyterians,"
and that, too, in Scotland, had, " upon their arrival here, given
scandal to their religion and country, by their loose principles and
immoral practices ; and either fell into an indiffercncy about religion
in general, or affect to be polite by turning deists, or fashionable by
conforming to the Church," 2 he had reason to hope that " there are
and have been a few names in various parts of the colony, who are
sincerely seeking the Lord and groping after religion in the Com
munion of the Church of England." 3 " Had the doctrines of the
Gospel," says the same authority, "been solemnly and faithfully
preached in the Established Church, there would have been but few

l Jones " State of Virginia," pp. 104-195. ion among Dissenters in Virginia," p. 29, note.
1 The Rev. Samuel Davics s " State of Relig- Quoted in Hawks a " Virginia, " pp. 103, 104.

* Ibid., p. 5.

134 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

dissenters in these parts of Virginia ; for their first objections were
not against the peculiar rites and ceremonies of that Church, much
less against her excellent articles, but againstthe general strain of
the doctrines delivered from the_pulpit, in which these articles were
opposed, or (which was the InorcT common case) not mentioned at all ;
so that at first they were not properly dissenters from the original
constitution of the Church of England, but the more strict adherents
to it, and only dissented from those who had forsaken it." 1 The
Church was thus untrue To herself, and, while she lost herEold upon
the more spiritually minded of the people, the cause of dissent flour
ished at her expense.

It was to be anticipated that there should arise controversies be
tween the clergy at a time when, in the language of a representation
to the Legislature by their own body, " so many who are a disgrace to
the ministry find opportunities to fill the parishes," and the people
who regarded them as hirelings and sought in every way to limit their
influence and curtail their support. The history of Virginia for many
years prior to the war is full of notices of these strifes about settlements
and stipends, which are recited in full in the representations made
by the commissaries and clergy to their diocesan, the Bishop of
London, and which, in the pulpit, and through the columns of the
press, and in a flood of pamphlets, and finally in the courts, occupied the
public attention almost to the exclusion of any other matter connected
with religion, and gave to the foes of the establishment their vantage
ground and ultimate success. It matters little that in these disputes
the clergy were technically, morally, and legally in the right. They
had in so many instances pandered to the wrong, and by a life of careless
indifference forfeited the respect as well as alienated the * affections of
their parishioners, that the popular verdict was against them, and
even a triumph would not have averted the impending and speeding
ruin. It was in connection with one of these disputes which, after
other measures had failed, had been brought into the courts, and im
which the cause of the clergy was not only right in equity, but also in,
law, that the wonderful eloquence of Pati jck_Hepry , himself a church- 1
man , and in his later day an eaiiiest^alurdcvbut communicant of the (
Church, secured a practical verdict against the clergy and made the
wrong appear the better right.

The most unrelenting opposition to the Church as an establishment
came from the Baptists, who, in the decade preceding the opening of the
war of the Revolution had grown from an inconsiderable sect to a body of
numerical strength sufficient to make their influence and support worth
any price when the question of loyalty or revolution was to be settled.
They had not been slow to take advantage of the position in which
they found themselves at the opening of the war. Remembering the
harsh treatment that had been meted out to them by the royal authori
ties, their ministers being "imprisoned and the disciples buffeted," 3 as
their chronicles describe it, they readily embraced the opportunity of
weakening the "establishment" as well as opposing the crown. Thus

1 Davies s " State of Religion among Dis- * Lclancl s " Virginia Baptist Chronicle,"

(tenters in Virginia," p. 6. quoted by Dr. Hawks.

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA. 135

their dislike of the church and state was gratified at the same time.
Conscious that a large part of the clergy, influenced by the ties of birth
and the obligation of their oaths of allegiance, had espoused the cause
of the king, they showed themselves to be "inspired by the ardors of
a patriotism which accorded with their interests," and were "willing
to avail themselves of a favorable opportunity to present an advantageous
contrast to a part of the church." Consequently they formally addressed
the Convention of the delegates to the Virginia Legislature, which suc
ceeded the last royal assembly ever convened in the " Old Dominion,"
with a proffer of their cordial support. Their tenets placed no hin
drance in the way of their members taking up arms for their country,
and their preachers professed their readiness to further the enlistment
of their young men. They accompanied this tender of service with a
petition " that they might be allowed to worship God in their own way
without interruption ; that they might be permitted to maintain their
own ministers, separate from others ; that they might be married, buried,
and the like, without paying the clergy of other denominations." This
was the beginning of a series of assaults against the " establishment "
and the Church itself in which all the dissenters, with the exception of
the Methodists, who had not at this time separated formally from the
Church, united with zeal and untiring energy till the end was gained,
and the "establishment" was destroyed.

The result was such as had been anticipated by those who had stren
uously opposed the act of the Legislature. Deprived of their livings,
the clergy, many of whom were politically, if not personally, obnoxious
to the majority of their parishioners, found themselves reduced to the
necessity of abandoning their calling, in the exercise of which they
could no longer hope for support. Many left the country ; the sacra
ments were no longer administered in the parishes thus abandoned,
and, although a few faithful priests travelled over large circuits for the
purpose of administering baptism and the holy communion, they could
not supply the lack of the constant and regular services and ministra
tions which had been of old. The churches, deserted and uncared for,
went rapidly to decay. Often required for public uses in the necessities
of the State arising from the struggle then going on ; more frequently
despoiled and desecrated by the hands of the sacrilegious and sordid,
who coveted and appropriated for their private uses the very materials
of the fabric of the Church of God ; there was every prospect that the
Church, whose offices were the first celebrated on Virginia soil, would be
utterly uprooted and destroyed. The gates of hell had prevailed
against her.

At the coming of peace, measures were taken by the Assembly for
placing the Church upon a legal footing. Provision was made by this
bill, which was adopted in 1784, for making the minister and vestry
of each parish a body corporate, and for securing to this corporation
its rights and estates. It was also provided that vestries, each com
posed of twelve members, should be elected in vacant parishes, on the
call of any two reputable inhabitants, "members of the Episcopal
Church." Vestry-men, elected triennially, were required to subscribe a
declaration of uniformity to the doctrines, disciplines, and worship of

136 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the Protestant Episcopal Church. The vestry appointed two church-
2j^flna f rr&gt;ir&gt; U 8 own number. and bad the power to fill vacancies.
I he disbursement of all moneys was solely in me control ol tne vestry.
The minister was forbidden to interpose his veto on the proceedings of
the majority of the corporation. He had the right to call meetings
of the corporators, seven being a quorum, save that only a majority of
the whole body was requisite "to demise, alien or lease the Church
property." The vestries thus constituted were allowed to " acquire,
use, and enjoy property, provided the income thereof did not exceed
eight hundred pounds per annum." The law thus enacted provided
for the meeting of the Church in Convention, to be held at pleasure,
and to determine all matters purely spiritual as well as to provide for
the orderly and good government of the whole. The clergy holding
cures were ex-officio members of the Convention, and two laymen from
each parish chosen by the vestries respectively. Forty persons were
necessary to form a quorum, and it was enacted that no clergyman
should be placed over or removed from a cure of souls without the
consent of the vestry. The Convention could for cause remove any
minister of ungodly life or neglectful of his duty.

Although this legislation displayed a jealousy of the clergy which
had doubtless grown out of the experience of the past, its passage was
hailed with delight by both clergy and laity alike, and thus was secured,
at last, the promise of a brighter day for the Church, now reduced in
number, influence, and wealth. The diminution in numbers was marked.
In 1775 there were in the sixty-one counties of Virginia ninety-five
parishes with ninety-one clergymen, ministering at one hundred and
sixty-four churches and chapels. At the close of the conflict many of
the churches and chapels were either totally destroyed or irreparably
injured. Of the ninety-five parishes twenty-three were extinct or
abandoned. Of the remaining seventy-two thirty-four were desti
tute of ministerial services. But twenty-eight clergymen remained
out of nearly one hundred in the State, and of this number fifteen only
were in the cures they held at the beginning of the war, while thirteen
had been driven from their posts by violence or want.

It was under these untoward circumstances that the Church in
Virginia organized at the close of the war in accordance with the act
of the Assembly, and in pursuance with the recommendation of the Con
vention held in New York in October, 1784. Seventy laymen and
thirty-six clergymen are recorded as members of this Convention. It
was resolved to send deputies to the General Convention appointed to
meet in Philadelphia, at Michaelmas, in 1786. Four of the funda
mental principles of the proposed general ecclesiastical constitution
were approved. These were the first, second, third, and fifth. The
fourth, pledging the American Church to maintain the doctrines of the
Gospel as held by the Church of England, and to adhere to the liturgy
of that church as far as consistent with the revolution and the constitu
tions of the respective States, was laid over for the consideration of a
subsequent Convention. The necessity of providing for ecclesiastical
discipline was strongly felt, and after adopting a resolution expressing
w the opinion of this Convention that the Canons of the Church of

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA. 137

England have no obligation on the Protestant Episcopal Church with
in this Commonwealth," forty-three " rules for the Order, Government
and Discipline of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia " were
adopted. The depressed condition of the Church was the subject of
thought and discussion, and an earnest "Address" was agreed upon
to the members of the Church " representing the condition of the
Church and exhorting them to unite in its support." In this paper,
which began with the confession that " for more than eight years our
Church hath languished under neglect," there is mention of the benefits
conferred upon society by religion, and the inquiry is urged : " Of
what is the Church now possessed ? Nothing but the glebes and your
affections. Since the year 1776 she hath been even without regular
government, and her ministers have received but little compensation
for their services. Their numbers are diminished by death and other
causes, and we have as yet no resource within ourselves for a succes
sion of ministers. Churches stand in need of repair, and there is no
fund equal to the smallest want." After referring to the organization
of the Church, and the incipient measures taken at the North for effect
ing a general union, the address proceeds : " To almost everything
under the sun belongs a crisis, which, if embraced, stamps our en
deavors with success ; if lost, with ruin. In this situation does our
Church now stand, and why do you hesitate ? Are the doctrines of
our Church less excellent than at any former period ? Have you em
braced the persuasion of that Church to abandon it in the hour of
difficulty? Common justice requires that those who profess them
selves to be members of a society should unite in cherishing it ; and
let us not be the only example of a religious association withering
from the want of support from its own members." With pathetic
earnestness the address continues : " We therefore entreat you, by all
the ties of religion, to co-operate fervently in the cause of our Church.
Should then our earnest efforts be abortive, we shall always with
truth call the Searcher of Hearts to witness that the downfall of the
Protestant Episcopal Church is not to be named among our offences,
and to this admonition we shall ever appeal." l

With a view of averting the impending ruin, the provision of a
suitable support for the clergy was recommended to the several ves
tries, and measures were taken to secure at the earliest opportunity
the consecration for a bishop, and to provide for his support. The
State was divided into districts, with a view to secure discipline among
the clergy, and provisions were made for guarding the parishes from
unworthy clergymen, and for the trial of offenders, even the bishop
being made amenable to the Convention, which was constituted a court
of trial, and from the decision there rendered there was to be no ap
peal. Measures were adopted to prevent pluralities and non-residence,
and enjoining the use of the surplice and gown : preaching " once at
least on every Lord s day, and at other stated seasons ; " the adminis
tration of the Sacrament " at least four times in the year at each church
or place of worship ; " the instruction of children and the ignorant

1 Jourual of Convention of the Clergy and Virginia, begun and holden in the City of Rich-
Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church of maud, Wednesday, May 18, 1785, p. 16.

138 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

in the "Catechism and the principles of the Christian religion as main
tained by this Church," and the preparation of parishioners for confir
mation were carefully enforced. The bishop was required, " after his
promotion to the Episcopal order," to " continue to hold a parish and
do the duty of a parish minister, except when necessarily employed in
the discharge of his Episcopal office." It was resolved M that until the
farther order of the Convention, the liturgy of the Church of England
be used in the several churches throughout this Commonwealth, with
such alterations as the American Revolution has rendered necessary."
Definite instructions were adopted for the guidance of the deputies to
the General Convention, who were also desired to communicate to the
Convention the offer through the Danish minister at the Court of St.
James, the Count de Rosencrone, of the Church in Denmark, to con
fer holy orders on candidates from America. It was with this careful
and minute legislation that the first Convention in Virginia sought to
provide for the church s present and prospective needs.

The measures tending in the direction of the perpetuation and
strengthening of the Church excited the jealousy and stimulated the
opposition of her foes. The Presbyterians who had refused to avail
themselves of the liberty conferred upon them, as well as on all other re
ligious bodies, to incorporate and provide by legal methods for their
organization and growth, and the Baptists, who had never ceased their
assaults upon the Church, even though disestablished and well-nigh de
stroyed, began at once to agitate the repeal of the act incorporating
the Church ; and, not content with this, to urge that the church s
property should be disposed of for the benefit of the State.

The Virginia Convention met at Richmond, on Wednesday, the
24th of May, 1786. Sixteen clergymen and forty-seven laymen are
recorded as members of this Convention. The able and scholarly
Madison, President of William and Mary College, was again elected to
the presidency of the Convention. At the outset the general eccle
siastical constitution at Philadelphia was " approved and ratified ex
cept as to the 4th, 9th, and 10th Articles," which were " reserved for
further consideration ." l These articles related to the " Proposed Book," \
and after the discussion on the liturgy had been finished, they were I
agreed to, and the Church in Virginia^ became^ by her own act part of I
the_federation of"tiie churcftea oy the JMiddle and Southern States. -I

The " Proposed Book" elicited much more discussion than the ec-
clesiastical constitution, and ere the articles of religion, as proposed,
were finally disposed of nearly a week was consumed. The amend
ments suggested were as follows : In the second article, a verbal
amendment was agreed to, making the language, "Of whose authority
there is no doubt," instead " was never any doubt." That portion of
the article referring to the apochryphal books was stricken out. In
the fourth article, after the word creed, it was agreed that the words
should be inserted " as contained in the Book of Common Prayer rec
ommended by the late General Convention." This change was oc-

1 Journal of a. Conveutkm of the Protestant at the Public Buildings in the City of Richmond,
Episcopal Church in Virginia. Begun and held ou Wednesday, the 24th of Way, 1786, p. 4.

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA. 139

casioned by the removal from the Apostles Creed, in the "Proposed
Book," of the words He descended into hell." In the seventh article,
in place of the words justified by faith only "was inserted the phrase
thus justified by faith." The eleventh article, "On Predestination,"
was omitted. In the fifteenth article, the first clause, descriptive of
the nature of a sacrament, was omitted, as " unnecessary." In the
sixteenth article the words " as by an instrument " were stricken out.
In the seventeenth article all that related to transubstantiation was
omitted. With reference to the other portions of the " Proposed Book,"
it was resolved " that the Book of Common Prayer, as recommended
by the late General Convention, be approved, ratified, and used, except
the Rubric before the Communion Service, and such alterations of
the Articles as are referred to the consideration of the next General
Convention ; and that the Psalms be used as heretofore, until a sufficient
number of the new books can be procured." * The vote adopting this
resolution was thirty-two to twenty. Of the clergy ten clergymen
voted in the affirmative, including Drs. Griffith and Bracken, both
bishops-elect, but never consecrated. Four clergymen, Dr. Madison
being one, voted against the book.

Agreeably to the recommendation of the General Convention, it was
determined to elect a person to be recommended to the English
prelates for consecration, and out of forty-nine votes the Rev. David
Griffith received thirty-two. Ten ballots were cast for the Rev. John
Bracken, who more than a quarter of a century later was elected to the
episcopate of Virginia, though he declined the appointment. The
Convention placed on record its conviction of the need of episcopal
supervision in its instructions to the deputies-elect to the Convention at
Philadelphia, in which it is said "that the sooner our Church can have
the benefit of Episcopal Superintendence, the nearer it will approach to
perfection." The State was divided into twenty-four districts, and a
visitor appointed for each division, and the powers of the standing com
mittee were carefully and minutely defined. The attention of the
Convention was called to the efforts being made for the repeal of the act
incorporating the Church, and a counter-petition was prepared and
adopted.

It was of no avail. Early in January, 1787, the incorporating
act was repealed. The third Convention of the Church in Virginia
met at Richmond in May, 1787. The Rev. Dr. Griffith, the bishop-
elect, was unanimously elected president. To supply the lack of the
act of incorporation the Convention adopted an "ordinance for ap
pointing vestries and other purposes." This instrument was pre
pared and agreed upon under the supposition that by the repeal of
the act of incorporation "the several powers of government and
discipline in the Church" had "returned to the members at large."
By this ordinance the vestry-men who had been elected under the law
just repealed were constituted trustees to hold the glebes and other
church property, and provision was made for their election triennially.
The right of the clergy to those glebes, which had not been alienated,

i Journal, etc., 1786, p. 11.

140 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

was recognized, and the clergy were invested with a veto in the case
of the attempt to dispose of the land assigned for their residence or use.
Conventions were recognized as having the right to " regulate all the
religious concerns of the Church, its doctrines, discipline, and wor
ship." The body of canons previously adopted was substantially re-
enacted, and measures were taken to secure to the clergy a compensa
tion from the people in proportion to the tithables each one might
possess. The education of " two youths from their early years " for the
ministry of the Church was recommended, affording the first recorded
notice in the American Church of any recognition of the necessity of
providing for the perpetuation of the sacred function. For this pur
pose the preaching of an annual charity sermon with an offertory was
recommended, and the funds thus provided were to be placed at the
disposal of the bishop and standing committee, who were to have "the
direction of the education of the two youths." The consecration of
Dr. Griffith, at the hands of Bishops White and Provoost, was re
quested, and further measures were taken to raise the means to defray
the expenses of the consecration of their bishop-elect. The proceedings
of the General Convention of 1786, at Philadelphia and Wilmington,
met with the general approval of the Virginia Church. The fourth
and ninth articles of the ecclesiastical constitution were acceded to
" as articles of a temporary nature, and not as forming a part of the
general constitution." The Convention refused emphatically to agree
to the recommendation not to admit as ministers those who should
receive ordination from Bishop Seabury, while the application to
England for the consecration of bishops was pending. The deputies to
the next General Convention were instructed to seek to have the article
in the Creed "He descended into hell" expunged, and also to strive
to have the Nicene Creed removed from the book.

Thus organized, and wholly independent of the State, the Church
in Virginia offers little to record until, in 1789, we find the Convention
instructing the deputies to notify the General Convention that the Rev.
Dr. Griffith, bishop-elect of the Church in the State, had relinquished
the appointment, and that no one had been elected in his place. The
res anguslae domi, occasioning the resignation of the excellent Griffith
of an office he would have adorned, induced an earnest appeal on the
part of the Convention to the friends of the Church throughout the
State to provide " the sum necessary for defraying the expenses at
tendant on the consecration of a bishop." It was indeed time, as the
address proceeded to say, "to awake from an inattention which, if con
tinued, must prove fatal to the Protestant Episcopal Church."

In 1790 the Convention elected in the place of the amiable
Griffith, who had died while in attendance upon the General Conven-,
tiojL ofJJI&JL theJRev. J^nieAMadbpjiJDJ^-HP^&idfilit of the College

Madison was distinguished for his attainments as a scholar and his
eloquepceas aTpreacner ; but it cannot be doubted that his devotion to
the interests of the institution of learning of which he was the head,
and to the special care of which he was bound by solemn engagement,
served to militate against his efficiency as bishop and his success

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA.

141

in building up the Church over which he was made the overseer. It
was at this session, and, doubtless, in consequence of his "valuable
essay read before the Convention, containing a defence of certain
rights of the Protestant Episcopal Church," that it was formally
resolved " that it is the opin
ion of this Convention that
the Protestant Episcopal
Church is the exclusive
owner of the glebes,
churches, and other property
held by the Church of
England in Virginia at the
commencement of the Revo
lution ; that the principles
upon which the said property
is held are those only by
Avhich the rights of property
are regulated ; that the in
terference of the Legislature
in the sale of that property,
or in the disposal of it to
any other purpose than that
for which it is now held,
would be a violation of the
constitution."

Shortly after the ad
journment of the Conven
tion, Dr. Madison sailed for

BISHOP

OF VIRGINIA.

secration_atJjambeth atjbhe hands oTthe ArchbishppofCajite^uryand

_
the Bishops of London and KochesterT On his" retu^n^TandirTKis pii-

mary address to his Convention, the newly-made bishop did not hesi
tate to ascribe the unhappy condition of the Church in Virginia to the
want of a "fervent Christian zeal among the clergy." In the same ad
dress the bishop presses home upon his brethren the duty of watching
" for the souls of others, as they that are to give account," and bids
them " declare with zeal, with force, with spirit, all the counsel of
God." The neglect of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord s Sup
per is alluded to, and the clergy are enforced to press upon the people
the duty of bringing their children to baptism, and to instruct them as
early as possible in the principles of Christianity with a view to con
firmation. The "obligation and the benefit of securing at regular
stated times the sacrament" is further urged, and the exeroise of a
godly discipline is commended. It was in this spirit, and with this
clear perception of duty and obligation, that the bishop entered upon
his work.

On his first visitation Bishop Madison found the state of the Church
more encouraging than he had anticipated. Its progress was retarded
and its success prevented by two obstacles, the spread of infidelity

142 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

and fanaticism. It was a day of religious declension. The love of many
waxed cold. The lack of spiritual life and growth was not confined
to the Church. It was in the midst of these signs of a waning faith
and general worldliness that the bishop sought to check the spread of
unbelief and fanaticism by the comprehension of all believers in Chris
tianity in the Church. In his address to the Convention of 1793 he
refers to this scheme of comprehension, which had, as we have seen,
failed to win the approval of the preceding General Convention.
"There is no one here present," says the bishop, "but must cordially
wish for such a union, provided it did not require a sacrifice of those
points which arc deemed essentials by our Church ; from them we have
not the power to retreat. But in such matters as are subject to human
alteration, if, by a candid discussion, they could be found capable of
being so modified as to remove the objections of any sect of Christians
who may be actuated by the same catholic spirit, and thereby effect a
union, in that case, we should surely have reason to rejoice, not only in
the event, but also in being the first to set an example to Christians
which it is the duty of all to follow ; and, in convincing them that
there is infinitely more religion in not contending, than in those things
about which they contend." 1

Wise and temperate as were these suggestions, broad and compre
hensive as was the scheme proposed, the time had not come for the
comprehension of the various bodies of Christians in the Church of our
Lord Jesus Christ ; but we may gratefully recognize the fact that the
proposition was made and the blessings of unity ably set forth by
one of the earliest of our bishops, and by one, too, as far removed from
fanaticism as from the opposite extreme of indifference and unbelief.

In this earnest address the bishop recommended the circulation
of short treatises, and the preaching of sermons "upon such doc
trinal and institutional topics as may appear most necessary for the
information of congregations." Nor was he content with the dis
semination of knowledge on the distinctive features of our church
teaching and worship. He urged the wide dispersion of " devotional
tracts, such as would inspire and keep alive the spirit of warm but
rational piety." The duty of daily family prayer was forcibly stated,
and the gratuitous circulation of books of devotion among the poor
advised. By these and other judicious recommendations the bishop
urged the building up of the people " in the doctrine of piety, and the
apostolic institutions of the Church."

But neither the wise counsels nor the apostolic labors of the
bishop, seconded as they were by the earnest devotion of the clergy,
and many of the faithful laity, could avert the impending blow.
Kemonstrances and petitions, the opinion of learned counsel, and
the plain construction of the principles of law and equity involved,
were all unavailing to silence the popular clamor, or prevent the
triumph of sectaries and unbelievers in their sacrilegious spoliation of
the church s property.

In January, 1802, the Legislature passed the bill ordering the
sale of the glebes for the benefit of the State. With an impover-

1 Address to the Convention of 1793.

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA. 143

ished and suffering clergy, with the churches in every stage of dilapi
dation and decay, with the sacraments practically interdicted for lack
of clergymen to administer them, with a consequent increase of
unbelief and indifference, and a loosening of the hold of the old
Church upon her children, growing out of the cessation of services,
and the lack of even an effort for their revival, there was left little
more than " the hopelessness of despair." Glebes, churches, and the
sacramental plate were involved in a common fate. The Church s
temples deserted, unroofed, uncared for, crumbled to ruin, or were
torn down that their materials might be used by the rapacious pur
chasers. A marble font became a watering-trough. Sectaries pos
sessed the sacred vessels used in the administration of the sacrament
of the body and blood of Christ.

It would seem as if the bishop, himself, despaired of the Church
over which he had been placed. The duties of his academic charge,
and the infirmities of advancing years, rendered his visitations less fre
quent, and they were at length discontinued. The ranks of the
clergy were diminished by death or removal, and none offered them
selves to take the vacant places. Inexpressibly sad is the picture
drawn of the state of the Virginia Church as the close of Bishop Mad
ison s episcopate drew near, which we find in the autobiography^oJ-

/&gt; 7

William Meade. " So low and hopeless was the state of the Church at
this time, the time of my ordination, but few of the old clergy
even attempting to carry on the work, only one person having- for ^ j^flg
time been ordained by Bjjafrop Madison, and he from a distance, and a
most unworthy one, it created surprise, and was a matter of much
conversation when it was understood that a young Virginian had
entered the ministry of the Episcopal Church. 1 Some years later
the great Chief- Justice Marshall, himself a devout and devoted church
man, gave it as his opinion that the Church was " too far gone ever to
be revived." Proceeding on horseback to Williamsburg, a journey of
about two hundred miles, voungr Meade, ajarrarhmtp. at Princeton with
the highest honors, offered himself in February, 1811, for ordination.
It was w a clear, cold morning ; " the day in the calendar was Quin-
quagesima ; the " examination " took place at the bishop s, before
breakfast, Dr. Bracken and himself conducting it. It was very brief;
the young candidate thought he " saw some evidence in the course of
his examination " that the bishop, in consequence of his secular
studies, and possibly from his scholastic position and his political
views, had been led "to philosophize too much on the subject of
religion," but that he, as has been charged, " either secretly, or to his

1 Bishop Meade s " Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia," I., p. 30.

144 IIISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

most intimate friends, renounced the Christian faith," Meade did
not believe, but was " confident of the contrary." The story of the
ordination cannot be better told than in the words of the autobiog
raphy :

On our way to the old church the bishop and myself met a number of stu
dents with guns on their shoulders, and dogs at their sides, attracted by the frosty
morning, which was favorable to the chase ; and at the same time one of the
citizens was filling his ice-house. On arriving at the church, we found it in a
wretched condition, with broken windows and a gloomy, comfortless aspect. The
congregation which assembled consisted of two ladies and about fifteen gentle
men, nearly all of whom were relatives or acquaintances. The morning service
being over, the Ordination and Communion were administered, and then I was put
into the pulpit to preach, there being no ordination sermon. The religious condi
tion of the College and of the place may easily and justly be inferred from the
above. I was informed that not long before this two questions were discussed in a
literary society of the College : First, Whether thei e be a God ? Secondly, Whether
the Christian religion had been injurious or beneficial to mankind ? Infidelity,
indeed, was then rife in the State, and the college of William and Mary was
regarded as the hot-bed of French politics and religion. I can truly say that then,
and for some years after, in every educated young man of Virginia whom I met,
I expected to find a skeptic, if not an avowed unbeliever. I left Williamsburg,
as may well be imagined, with sad feelings of disappointment. 1

The following year the aged bishop, wearied with the weight of
college cares and episcopal responsibilities, and, doubtless, despairing
of the Church, died on the 6th of March, 1812. He had sought the
appointment of an assistant as far back as 1805, in view of " want of
bodily strength, and from sundry and necessary and official occu
pations," rendering him " unable to discharge the whole of the arduous
and important duties annexed to his office ; " and the Convention, while
recognizing the expediency of such an appointment, postponed the
nomination of an assistant until the next Convention. That Conven
tion was not held till after the bishop s death. Seven years later
thirteen clergymen, among them the youthful William Meade, and
twelve laymen, met at Richmond and elected to the vacant see the
Rev. John Bracken, D.D. The following year this gentleman
declined the appointment, and the Convention adjourned without
attempting to make another choice. On the 5th of May, 1814, at a
special session, at which but seven clergymen and eighteen laymen, rep
resenting fourteen parishes, were present, the Rev^Ric^ardChanning
Moore. DD; * who had lately accepted the rectorsHifToTthe^Ionumenlal
Dhurch in ^Richmond, was electedjag__thg_second Bishop of Virginia.
In making this choice, wBicE was so signally blessed of (jfooTto
the revival of his Church, and in furthering the great work under
taken by the bishop of their selection, four of the clergy, men of
mark in their day and generation, were specially prominent. These
worthies of the revived Virginia Church were the Rev. Dr. William
H. Wilmer, of Fairfax ; the Rev. Oliver Norris, of Christ Church,
Alexandria; the Rev. John Dunn, of Loudon County, and the Right
Rev. William Meade, D.D., afterwards called to the same office and
administration. Noble and venerable names are these, ever to be held
in remembrance !

1 Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia, I., p. 29.

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA.

145

The consecration of Bishop Richard Channing Moore, and his
entrance upon his new work, were followed by a steady and most
remarkable revival of church life and spirituality. The Convention
of 1815 was attended by double the number of clergy present but
a twelvemonth before, while a large increase in the lay representa
tion was equally indicative of new life and zeal. The bishop, in his
episcopal address, announced that he had discovered in every parish
which he had visited
" the most animated
wish in the people
to repair the waste
places of our Zion,
and to restore the
church of their fa
thers to its primitive
purity and excel
lence." Parishes,
seemingly dead,
were aroused to life
and vigor. Congre
gations, at the men
tion of the glories of
the past, gave tearful
assurance of their
purpose to renew
the days of old. In_
another year ten iffig
churcheswere re
ported as about to be
built, or already in
process of erection,
while eight of the
old sanctuaries were
undergoing repair,
and the work of revival, development, and growth at this time begun has
never~ceased. Years have been required for the upbuilding of that
which it tooK years to overthrow; but the work has never been
intermitted, and the episcopates of Moore and Meade and .Johns have
left few traces of the old desolation, while, under their wise and care
ful stewardship, the Church has gained a strength and position far
more durable than that of the "establishment." Twodioceses_andl
three bishops, with a noble band of clergy and a devoted, liberal and)
intelligent laity, carry on the work which was begun when Richard |
Channing Moore was set apart as a bishop in the Church of God.

At the suggestion of Bishop White, and under the inspiration of the
Rev. Charles Pettigrew, efforts were made as early as 1790 to organize
the Church in North Carolina. On the 5th of June two clergymen, the
Rev. Charles Pettigrew and the Rev. James L. Wilson, and two
laymen, Dr. John Leigh and William Clements, Esq., met in Con
vention at Tawborough, and approved and acceded to the general

RT. REV. RICHARD CHANNING MOORE, D.D.,
SECOND BISHOP OF VIRGINIA.

146 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

ecclesiastical constitution adopted in Philadelphia in 1789. In the
address of the Convention to the General Convention the state of the
Church in North Carolina is represented as "truly deplorable, from
the paucity of the clergy and the multiplicity of opposing sectarians,
who are using every possible exertion to seduce its members to their
different communions." A second Convention was held at the same
place, on the 12th of November, 1790. This body, under the presidency
of the Rev. Dr. Micklejohn, appointed deputies to the General Conven
tion of 1792, elected a standing committee, and took other measures to
perfect the organization of the Church in the State. The Rev. James L.
Wilson, one of the deputies appointed to attend the General Conven
tion, proceeded to New York for that purpose, but was delayed on his
voyage, so that he did not arrive till some days after the adjournment.
A note appended to the journal records his failure to be present. No
conventions were held in North Carolina until November, 1793, when
a second attempt was made to organize the Church in that State, three
of the clergy and three of the laity meeting at Tawborough on the
21st of November for that purpose. The Rev. James L. Wilson was
the President of this Convention, and a standing committee was chosen.
The Rev. Solomon Hailing, who had been recommended for orders by
the standing committee appointed in 1790, had been ordained by
Bishop Madison in 1792, and was the moving spirit in these renewed
efforts for organization. A letter from him to the Rev. Mr. Pettigrew
is our chief authority for this meeting and its proceedings. In May,
1794, four of the clergy, one being in Lutheran orders, and the same
number of laymen, met at Tawborough, prepared a constitution, and
elected the Rev. Charles Pettigrew to the episcopate of North Carolina,
and signed the testimonial of the bishop-elect, varying somewhat the
form set forth for this puipose by the General Convention, in con
sequence of the lack of personal acquaintance with the candidate,
consequent upon the great distance separating the clergy and laity in
the States. 1 The informality of the testimonial would have proved no
obstacle to the consecration of the bishop-elect, as legislation provid
ing for such a condition of things as that existing in North Carolina had
been enacted at the preceding General Convention. Word to this effect
was sent by Bishop White, and the Rev. Mr. Pettigrew set off to
attend the General Convention of 1795, with a view to obtaining con
secration. Interrupted in his journey by the prevalence of an epidemic
fever at Norfolk, which threatened the interruption of the ordinary
facilities of travel, he returned to North Carolina, and shortly after
wards died. The revival of the Church in North Carolina was long
deferred. The dispirited clergy were obliged to turn their attention
to secular employments to provide the means of subsistence. From
1794 to 1817 all was dark and hopeless. It was at the latter date that

1 An interesting and most valuable summary first historical publication. The work to which *

of these early proceedings of the Church in North we refer is, "The Early Conventions, held at C

Carolina has* been prepared and published by an Tawborongh, A.D. 1790, 1793, and 1794. Being ]

enthusiastic and untiring investigator of our the First Effort to Organize the Church in North I

early annals. From this work we have drawn Carolina. Collected from Original Sources, and )

the statements given above. It is not the privi- now First Published. With Introduction and I

lege of every writer on our history to contribute Brief Notes by Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr." /

so much that is new, and also important, in his Raleigh, 1882. 8vo. pp. 29.

CHURCH LIFE AND FEELING IN VIRGINIA.

147

the coming of the Rev. Adam Empie to Wilmington, and the Rev.
Bethel Judd to Fayetteville, "laid the foundation of the restoration of
the Episcopal Church and cause in North Carolina. 1

Still further to the southward the Church in South Carolina, which
had organized and entered into the general union of the churches in
the Middle and Southern States, excepting "to the establishing of
Bishops in this State," 2 presented the name of the excellent jlobfirj;
Smith, D . D . ,jrector of St. Philip s Church and principal of Charles
ton College^ to the
Convelitionj)i 1795,
for confirmation as
Bishop of South Car
olina. Dr. Smith,
to whose exertion
it was due that the
Church in South Car
olina had entered the
general federation of
churches at all, had
been unanimously
elected. He was con
secrated at Christ
Church, Philadel
phia, on the 13th
of September, 1795,
and continued in the
exercise of his office
and ministry until
his death, on the 28th
of October, 1801, in
the seventieth year
of his age. No con
ventions were held
in South Carolina
from October 23,
17 98, until February

20, 1804, and at this latter date the election of a bishop took place,
whereupon the Rev. Edward Jenkins, D.D. , was " unanimously elected."
The bishop-elect declined the honor thus offered, " persuaded that at his
time of life he could not fully and faithfully discharge" the duties

of the episcopal office.
s9 ^ further attempt was

RT. REV. ROBERT SMITH, D.D., FIRST BISHOP OF
SOUTH CAROLINA.

the Rev Theodore De-

hem. P.P. ,jvas elected to the long- vacant episcopate. His consecrations
Took place on the 15th of October following, and his death on the !
6Y August, 1817, in the fifth year of his episcopate. At the time

1 The Church Review, Vol. in., p. 309. tion," 1786, reprinted in Dalcho s " Hist, of the

2 Vide " Journal of South Carolina Conven- Ch. in So. Car.," p. 474.

148 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of his election the state of the Church in the interior of the State was
"truly alarming." Though continuing to hold his parochial cure he
visited not only the whole of his large diocese, but undertook the care
of the Church in Georgia. In frequent visitations, in the consecra
tion of a number of churches, in reviving the worship of the Church
where the services had long been discontinued, and in establishing it
where it had been previously unknown, in seeking out candidates for
holy orders, and in the discharge of all the functions of his office,
Bishop Dehon proved himself to be an apostle indeed. To the depri
vation of services so abundant and valuable was added the loss of :in
example at once winning and instructive ; and in his early death, in

the forty-first year of his age, the

^^^^**7~&gt; ^^ - Church at large, as well as in South

f^^^ Carolina, was bereft. On the 18th of

February, 1818, the Rev. Nathaniel

Bowen, D.D., was elected to the vacant See. It was with fitting
recognition "of the invaluable life and the distinguished services
to this Diocese and the Church in general " of the " revered and be
loved" Dehon that the Rev. Dr. Bowen received the "unanimous
suffrages of all the clergy and the churches. There was every proof
afforded, not only in the unanimity of feeling and the earnestness and
devotion of both clergy and laity to their work as Christians and
churchmen, that the Church in South Carolina was fully alive to its
responsibilities and opportunities.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

rpHE story of the Chureh in Virginia has been told with unusual fulness and
JL accuracy in the first volume of Dr. Hawks s " Ecclesiastical Contributions;"
in Bishop Meade s " Old Churches, Ministers, and Families ; " in the first volume
of the author s " Historical Collections of the American Colonial Church ; " in Dr.
Philip Slaughtei -1 s interesting and exhaustive monographs on the older parishes,
and in Dr. T. Grayson DashielPs "Digest of the Proceedings of the Conventions
and Councils of the Diocese of Virginia." To these volumes of a general nature
should be added the valuable biographies of Jarratt, Channing Moore, Meade, and
others of the leading clei gy giving a mass of matei-ial which, togetherwith the secular
histories and the rare and interesting controversial pamphlets published at different
periods, leaves little to be desired, whether our inquiries are directed to the in
vestigation of the earlier or the later annals of the Virginia Church.

CHAPTER IX.

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART, AND ITS
INFLUENCE AT THE NORTH.

early years of the episcopate of the first Bishop of New
I York present fe^ points of historic interest. One may turn
the pages of the brief record of the successive conventions
with little desire to linger over the scanty material for diocesan chroni
cles therein contained. In 1786 we find that action was taken re
specting the "Proposed Book," deferring its consideration, to a future
day, "out of respect to the English Bishops, and because the minds
of the people are not yet sufficiently informed." 1 The choice of the \
bishop-elect appears to have bea^ made bv a siiflflje resolution " Re- (
solved that the Reverend Mr. Provoost be recommended for Episcopal )
Consecration." 2 TIire is np
record ofjajballot. The per
sonal influence of the patriot
Rector of Trinity was such
that although friends and
correspondents of the Bishop

of Connecticut were members of the Convention, and there were
present those who had openly and formally recognized his epis
copal character and office, the deputies to the general convention]
were instructed not to consent to any act that might imply the
validity of Dr. Sealmry s Consecration." This exhibition of
.vonaland political feeling hindered for years the union and organization
of the Church. The following year "liberty to use. the Xe\v Form of
Prayer or the old as they respectively may think proper" was
granted to the congregations of the State. The bishop was formally
addressed by the Convention at a service in St. Paul s Chapel, and
fittingly responded to the kind greetings of his clergy and laity. The
bishop then delivered his first episcopal address, which was brief. As
recorded on the pages of the journal, it was to the effect "that he had
ordained several persons ; that he had lately made a visitation of
several churches on Long Island, for the purpose of Confirmation ;
and hoped that the other churches here represented would, be equally
prepared for the reception of that sacred rite, as he intended to visit
them next spring." 3 In 1788 the Convention recommended three lay-
readers Mr. Andrew Fowler, Mr. Theodosius Bartow and Mr. Elias
Cooper for orders. Each of these gentlemen became a prominent
minister of the Church. " The preservation of the episcopal Succession

1 Journal of Convention, etc., 1786. 2 Ibid. 3 Journal, etc., 1787.

150 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHUKCH.

in the English line," was voted to be "highly necessary, in the opinion
of this Convention." The union of the Church was also declared to be
"of groat importance and much to be desired," and the deputies to the
General Convention wore instructed, " fr&gt; prrm^fp f.Vmf, ]^\nr^ by e,YP r iY
prudent measure consistent with the Constitution of foe Church T a
tEe cpntinuance of the episcopal qiiflflflfl a rtT1 "^"i^jRnglTsb-lii] "

"In 1790 measures were taken to secure for " the support of a
missionary or missionaries to till the vacant congregations of the State,"
the property of the venerable society in Fort Hunter ; and donations
were solicited for the same purpose. A preamble and resolution re
specting the articles of religion were adopted as follows :

Whereas many respectable members of our Chui-ch are alarmed at the Articles
of our religion not being inserted in the Book of Common Prayer : Resolved, That
jthp ^Articles of the. Church of England, as they now stand, except such parts
thereof as aflfect the political government of the country, be held in full force and
virtue, until a further provision is made by the General Convention, agreeably to
the Eighth Article of the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States. 1

In 1791 the Convention instructed its deputies "to vote for re
taining the Thirty-nine Articles of religion as they now stand in the
old Book of Common Prayer, without any alterations, except only
such as are of a political nature." A motion to instruct the deputies
to consent to investing the House of Bishops with a full negative on
the proceedings of the other House was lost by a want of concurrence
between the clergy and laity. In 1792 the bishop reported to the
Convention the consecration of the Bishop of Maryland and the ordi
nation of the Rev. Messrs. Harris, Ireland, Gardiner, Sands, and Rogers. 2
A general application to the venerable society was authorized for a
grant of all its property, both real and personal, within the State to the
corporation of Trinity Church in trust for the Convention. In 1793
the bishop reported the consecration of Christ Church at Duanesburg,
erected solely at the expense of the Hon. James Duane, and a copy
of the deed of gift, and the letter of consecration, are recorded on
the pages of the journal. 3 Another church had been consecrated
at Ballston, and upwards of two hundred had been there confirmed.
The application of the " Trustees of a Society, formerly members
of Trinity Church, but since separated," for admission to Conven
tion was rejected. The Convention at this time sat with closed doors.
The bishop was requested " to exert the authority with which he is
invested, as Head of the Church, to enforce obedience to all the canons,
rules and regulations of the General and State Conventions, more par
ticularly the canons which respect the conduct of clergymen." In 1797
the Rev. Thomas Ellison, Rector of St. Peter s, Albany, communicated
to the Convention the interesting intelligence, " that some Lutheran
clergymen had, in the name and on behalf of the Consistory of Hie

1 Journal, etc., 1790. Ammi Rogers, ordained deacon, June 20,

* William Han-is, ordained deacon, Oct. 16, 1792, afterwards deposed. Vide Bp. Burgess s

1791; John Ireland, ordained deacon, 1792; " List of Persons ordained Deacon, from A. D.

afterwards deposed. Walter C. Gardiner, or- 1785 ; to A.D. 1857 ; " Boston, 1874.

dained deacon, June 24, 1792; John Jackson 8 Journal, etc., 1793.

Sands, ordained deacon, 1792.

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART. 151

Lutheran Church in the State of New York, intimated to him :i desire x
Fo fiave" it proposed to this Convention that their Church might be
united with the Protestant Episcopal Church in this State, and that N
their ministers might receive Episcopal ordination. " A A committee, of
which the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Moore was chairman, was appointed
" to meet such gentlemen of the Lutheran Church as may be duly ap
pointed by their ecclesiastical authority to confer with them on the
subject." Provision was made for bringing the matter, should it be
found advisable, before the approaching General Convention, and the
committee was instructed to report to the next State Convention.
But, unfortunately for this scheme of comprehension, the meeting of
the General Convention was deferred until 1799, in consequence of the
prevalence of the yellow-fever, and no conventions were held in New
York until the special Convention of 1801. At this session the sud
den resignation of episcopal jurisdiction on the part of Bishop Pro-
voost, which was made verbally and without previous announcement,
occupied the attention of the members present, and nothing further 1
appears on the records with respect to the compreheTisionof the $

i. i. ^^*^^^^^^^ ~"""""^^^"^-*BT^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ r

Lutheran body hi the Church. The, resignation of Bishop Provoost
was accepted by the Convention with the expression of their " regret
that he should have judged himself under the necessity of quitting so
suddenly the exercise of the episcopal office, and those solemn and
important duties which are connected with it," and on the following
day the Rev. Benjamin Moore, D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, was
unanimously chosen to the vacant episcopate.

Bishop Provoost had long been weary of the duties devolving
upon him as a bishop of the Church of God. Chosen to f" b|gh nfflnft
main! V on_ j^plitical grounds, after many years of voluntary retire
ment from the exerciseof clerical duty, he failed from the outset to ]
appreciate cither the duties or the responsibilities of his station.
Learned and benevolent, as he undoubtedly was; upright and inflexi
bly conscientious, as he showed himself to be, lxe_ lacked that warmth
of devotion and that spirituality of life which would have conspicu
ously fitted him for leadership in the Christian Church. Accused, at
an early period in his ministry, as we learn from his own correspond
ence, of "endeavoring to sap the foundations of Christianity," in
consequence of his dwelling exclusively in his preaching on "the
doctrines of morality, his lack* of popularity seemed to have occa
sioned his removal to his farm in Dutchess county, in 1770, where
he remained for fourteen years. His refusal of preferment under
British or Tory influence, during the revolutionary struggle, and his
well-known sympathy with the revolted colonies, formed his claim, on
the evacuation of New York, to the rectorship of Trinity at the hands of
the patriot churchmen of the city, and his subsequent election to the
episcopate. But his love of ease, either constitutional or acquired
during his university life in England, hindered that devotion to the I
duties of the parish or the see which the one demanded at this junc
ture quite as much as the other. As a preacher his delivery was
monotonous and unimpassioned. Polished in style, and prepared with
studious care, his discourses lacked warmth and fervor, and at a time

152 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

when infidelity was coming in as a flood, and laxity of doctrinal belief was
too frequent in the mother land, as well as in our own, the Rector
of Trinity was regarded as latitudinarian in belief, and far from sound
in his teachings. In his depreciation of those who were chargeable
with "placing such an unbounded reliance in the merits of Christ
as to think their own endeavors quite unnecessary and not in the least
available to salvation," he seems to have fallen far short of that
recognition of the doctrine of justification, through Christ alone,
which has been held by the Church of all time. In his correspond
ence with Bishop White he betrays his indifference to the Church s
dogmatic teaching, while in his treatment of Bishop Seabury he dis
played a degree of animosity which was not warranted by the circum
stances of the case, and in which he was not supported by his clergy
or people in general. At length, wearied with the burden that had
become irksome, and bowed down with sorrow at the loss of his
wife to whom he was tenderly attached, and by other afflictions, the
saddest, perhaps, the heart can bear, he divested himself of all public
offices of trust, and sought, in the retirement of private life, the conso
lation his wounded spirit craved. In his own language, as addressed
to the presiding bishop, this step was " induced by ill-health and
some melancholy occurrences in my family, and an ardent wish to
retire from all public employment." The House of Bishops, while
demurring at the validity of the resignation of the Bishop of New
York, recognized in deed, though not in word, the necessity of mak
ing provision for the oversight of the Church in New York, and pro
ceeded to consecrate his successor. They formally protested against
the action of the bishop, and yet by their consecration of Bishop
Moore showed their acquiescence in his course. They judged it incon
sistent with the sacred trust committed to them to recognize the
bishop s act as an effectual resignation of his episcopal jurisdiction,
" but at the same time being sensible of the present exigencies of the
Church of New York," and with a view of providing " for the actual
discharge of the duties of the episcopacy," they professed their readi
ness to consecrate the choice of the Convention with the declaration
that they should consider him as " assistant or coadjutor bishop dur
ing- Qfefcoft Pro v oosfo _ life/ 1 The measure ot the asslbitUlil UliJliO^s
jurisdiction, and the exercise of his episcopal office, was, according to
the bishop s declaration, "to be dependent on such regulations as
expediency may dictate to the Church in New York, founded on the
indisposition of Bishop Provoost and with his concurrence." But the
new bishop had not been chosen as an " assistant or coadjutor," but
as w Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New
York" 1 His letter of consecration so recognized him, and there is
nothing in the official or other records of the Convention to indicate
that he was ever regarded as an "assistant or coadjutor" by the
church over which he was placed. No reference to any other Bishop
of New York appears on the pages of the journals, and when, after an
episcopate of ten years, there was need of another bishop, it was, as

1 Journal of Convention, 1801.

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART. 153

the diocesan, that Bishop Moore convened a Convention to elect, forv
the first time, an assistant bishop of New York. The Convention had,

* ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^p^ I

from the first, regarded the resignation of Bishop Provoost as final
and complete. No attention was paid by the Convention to the stipula
tion of the bishops in their " declaration " requiring the concurrent
action of Bishop Provoost and the Convention in determining the
jurisdiction or measure of authority of Bishop Moore, and thatbishop
throughout his episcopate deemed himself to be, and was considered
by others as, the "Head of the Church in New York."

Bishop Moore was scholarly in his tastes and acquirements, cour
teous in manner, and truly Christian in life and character. In private
life he won all hearts by his gentleness and kindness, his consideration
for others, and thoughtful attention to all who came within the circle
of his acquaintance and friends. His daily walk and conversation was
a comment on the truths he taught, and showed to all the presence
and power of true religion in moulding and controlling the character
and life.

In his public life he was preeminently a man of God. The ex
pression of his countenance, venerable even in middle life, became
saint-like with added years, while his " tall, slightly bending and at
tenuated figure, the intellectual contour of his head, the plain-parted
hair," all "accorded well with the chastened tones of his voice and the
mild fervor of his sentiments," 1 and made up in his case what has. &gt;
hftgnjwpT[ styfcfl an "ftpnstojic character? Towards "fEbse who were
without " he " presented the Church in an aspect the most favorable to
win their good opinion." As a churchman it was evident that " by the
dignified gentleness " with which he maintained and defended the
Church s doctrines, and "the consistent propriety" which character
ized his ministerial and official course, he everywhere " disarmed^ppo-
sition, conciliated prejudice, and went further than perhaps any other
individual could then have done ~nT recommending " the Church " to
public respect and confidence." It was found by the Church s oppo
nents that it was not easy " to speak evil of a Church thus spiritually
adorned and meekly defended." 2

Disabled by a partial paralysis in 1811, Bishop Moore convened
a special Convention for the election of an assistant bishop. The
choice was not unanimous, but by the votes of a majority of both (
orders John fTp.nry fTofyirtj T).D- , one of the clergy of Trinity Church, \
and the secretary of th&lt;T Convention since his first election at the \
special Convention convened to receive the resignation of Provoost, was )
designated as the Assistant Bishop of New York.

The choice had fallen upon one who was destined to leave the i
press of a strong character and the moulding and controlling influences
of a mighty will upon the Church of his own and mter days. His
election was a turning-point in the history of the American Churc"
his episcopate was an epoch in the ecclesiastical annals of the Church
at large. Sprung from a Puritan ancestry, displaying inflexibility
of purpose, and possessing strong convictions of truth, the young

1 Dr. McVickar in his " Professional Years of Bishop Hobart." * Ibid.

154 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Hobart inherited predilections for piety and the priestly and preach
er s walk in life. His parents, on their removal to Philadelphia, had
returned to the Church of their English forefathers, and the early
youth of the great-hearted Bishop of New York was spent under the
pastoral care, and with the friendly interest, of Bishop White. He
was, as Bishop Wilberforce tells us, "a youth of the fairest promise ;
the joy and hope of his early widowed mother." 1 Studious and re-)
llective, he was able to shun 1 he seductive influences of his alma mater ,
Erinceton^ leading him to Presbyterianism on the one hand, and th&lt;?
attractiojos of a .business life on the other. It was the guiding hand
oTGod, we may not doubt, that led him in the full vigor of his early
manhood to consecrate the ripeness of his judgment, the acquisitions
of years of careful study, and the maturity of his intellectual powers
to the service of the Church of Christ.

It was with deep humility that he entered upon his chosen life-
work. In his own estimate of himself he was " far from thinking "
that he was " qualified for the Ministry, either in mental or spiritual
acquirements." He feared that his views were " not sufficiently pure
for the Ministry ; " but in the same breath he prayed that God might!
make him "the humble instrument of turning many to righteousness. &gt;
" Sacred and awful will be my duties," he writes ; " the grace of Goc
can alone enable me to execute them." " Oh prav wjy^me^^Jie^c
tinues, " that I may have a single eye to His glory and the salvation
of immortal souls; that He would subdue within me every desire of
Honor, emolument, or human praise ; and that I may serve l
with sincerity and truth." Distrusting human systems of divinity
hejlevoted himself lo the study" of the Bible, to form his theological
opinions. In this he followed the advice of Bishop White and the
teaching of " the Church whofle ministry lie sought," which lias laid
down no system of divinity, and imposes as the rule of faith nothing
but the Holy Scriptures, "so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor
may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should
be believed as an article of faith." The young aspirant for the min
istry had learned

" To scorn delight,
And love laborious days,"

and it was in deep humility and after faithful, laborious toil that ho
presented himself for the grace of orders at the hands of the venerable
man who had received him into Christ s Church at the first in uncon
scious infancy, and had given to him in his early manhood the seal of
the Holy Spirit in confirmation. Ordained to the diaconate on Trinity
Sunday, June 3, 1798, Mr. Hobart was assigned to the care of the
churches of Trinity, Oxford, and All-Saints, Perkiomen, distant, the
one about ten, and the other thirteen, miles from Philadelphia. Here
he remained for a year, at the expiration of which he removed, first to
New Brunswick, in New Jersey, and thence to Hempstead, on Long
Island, giving promise in all his early ministry of the successes ana

1 History of the American Church, p. 299. * Early Years of Bishop Hobart.

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART.

155

prominence of his after years. In the autumn of 1800 he was invited
to become one of the assistant ministers of Trinity Church, in the city
of New York, and ere the close % of the year, he had, with his young bride,
a daughter of the eminent Thomas Bradbury Chandler, D.D. , exchanged
his country home for one in the city, and had entered upon the busy
and important career opening before him.

The parish with which the young deacon from Long Island was
now connected was the most prominent in the land. With a corporate
existence of upwards of a century, with endowments and revenues of
great present and greater prospective value, and with a record of rec
tors and assistants chosen from among the most distinguished of the
clergy of the land, the position was one of great prominence and
promise. At the time of Mr. Hobart s election, Bishop Moore had

TRINITY CHURCH, OXFORD.

been called to succeed to the rectorship made vacant by the resigna
tion of Bishop Provoost. The choice of rector and assistant was made
on the same day. Shortly afterwards, in 1801, Mr. Hobart was ad
mitted to priest s orders.

This remarkable advancement for one so young was, doubtless, due
to the reputation already acquired by Mr. Hobart as a pulpit orator.
We are told that his voice was " deep, strong, and flexible," possessing
"great compass, and varying with every expression of feeling." His
enunciation was " always distinct and clear," though often " too rapid
for the train of thought in ordinary minds." His manner was impas-
sioned. His action was " imstudiecL earnest, and expressive . " In the

judgment of a competent and candid critic, Tr Ins_janguage, J ton(?, and
gestures, his dp.1ive,r,Y T kept pace with the promptings ofH heart such
as few possessed ^n^ all must love." It was "in the moral elements
of the orator that his strength peculiars-lay.* 1 He had tne power of
enlisting the sympathies of his hearers, and, when once their attention

156 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

was riveted, and their interest secured by his enthusiasm and evident (
sincerity, his calm, even How of argument won the assent of his audi- )
tor s judgment, and compelled the conviction that he was right. The
theme of his preaching we may give in the words of a life-long friend,
who says that " from the first day of his ministry among those com
mitted to his care, he never ceased to preach unto them *

the only Saviour of sinners, and to exhort them,
tears, to lay hold upon that salvation by entering into covenant with
him in that Church which he had purchased with his blood." 1 "It was
impossible," writes Archdeacon, afterward Bishop, Strachan," to hear
him without becoming sensible of the infinite importance of the Gos
pel. He warned, counselled, entreated, and comforted with intense
and jiovverfuLenej^v. . . . He appeared in the pulpit as a father
anxious for the eternal happiness of his children a man of God pre
paring them for their eternal warfare, a herald from the other world,
standing between the living and the dead, between heaven and earth,
entreating perishing sinners in the most tender accents not to reject
the message of reconciliation which the Son of the living God so gra
ciously offered for their acceptance."

To the demands made upon his tune by the pastoral work of
Trinity, and the preparation of sermons, which, after the lapse of years
are still in their printed form full of freshness and power, there were
added the claims upon his care and attention growing out of his suc
cessful and continued authorship and the controversies on questions of
church polity in which, through the agency of the press, he, "though
dead, yet speaketh " for the Church of God. Neither in the preparation
of the numerous volumes that appeared from his pen, or with his care
ful editing, nor in the bitter controversies, in which he was brought
into conflict with the ablest and most learned men of the Presbyte
rian faith, did Mr. Hobart seek either the fame of authorship or the
laurels of the successful disputant. His books were written_jjid .his\
controversial treatises prepared for the instruction of the people of his^
own church in their own doctrine and discipline, or for the defence of \
principles dearer to him than life itself. We need not tell in detail the
story of these works, or recite the annals of the polemic strife in which
the youthful champion of the Church measured his lance with the lead
ing and most learned divines of the Presbyterian body. It is enough
to give from the closing words of the " Apology for Apostolic Order,"
the memorable words which have served as a rallying cry for churchmen
from the day they were written till our own time, and which may well
be treasured as among the priceless legacies of the past for all time to
come. " This banner is EVANGELICAL TRUTH AND APOSTOLIC ORDER.
Firm and undaunted, I must summon to my sacred cause whatever
powers nature (alas ! too little cultivated by the laborious hand of
study) has bestowed upon me ; whatever ardor, whatever zeal, nature
has extended in my bosom. But it were vain to rest here ; I must arm

*Dr. McVickar in his " Professional Years burgh, on the life and character of the Right

of Bishop Hobart." Rev. Dr. Hobart, Bishop of New York, North

2 A letter to the Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D.D., America.
Professor of Divinity in the University of Etliu-

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART. 157

myself by imploring the grace of Him whose Glory it is to make often
the humblest instrument the victorious champion of truth."

It is through this treatise, and works of a similar nature, that, as
his biographer well says, " the polity of the Church bears still his im
press ; being dead he yet speaketh." In these works Dr. Hobart, for
he had received the doctorate in recognition of his intellectual powej
andjsuccessful authorship, stood forth as the champion of the distinc-\
tive priDcipielnrf 1116 Church. ~He was a chim .hpian. not merely troT"
hut, ftftnLDrinciple ; bis views were tha result of coflvict

and not of chance prepossessions. In the department of Church
apologetics he at once commanded respect by his strength of argument
and earnestness of reasoning ; while his mastery of the theme, and his
ready and convincing advocacy of opinions then unpopular even within
the pale of the Church itself, secured for Church teaching the respect of
opponents and the warm support of friends. The work he did was
done for all timg. The assaults he so vigorously repelled, and the
misrepresentations he so patiently corrected, were not repeated. The
issues when made again were on other grounds. It was not alone in
repelling attacks from without and in confirming the members of his
own communion in the faith, that Dr. Hobart s tireless energy found
exercise. As secretary of the House of Bishops, and of the diocesan
Convention, and as a member of the standing committee of the diocese,
his duties were multiplied. To these cares and occupations were
added the inception and furtherance of measures for the promotion of
theological education in the organization of the Protestant Episcopal
Theological Society. The object of this society, in which was the germ
of the General Theological Seminary, was to promote " the advance
ment of its youthful members in theological knowledge, in practical
piety, and in all those principles, duties, and dispositions, which may
fit them for becoming orthodox, evangelical, and faithful ministers of
the Protestant Episcopal Church." The establishment in New York
of a religious monthly periodical, for the advantage, and in the interest
of the Church, was another matter in which Dr. Hobart took a deep
interest, securing the removal to New York of " The Churchman s
Magazine," which had maintained a lingering existence in New Haven,
under the editorship of the Rev. William Smith, D.D., of Norwalk;
and in undertaking the editorship of this valuable serial, which he con
tinued to edit till his elevation to the episcopate. In 1809 Dr. s
Hobart was the originator and the chief promoter of the Bible and \
Prflyftr-hpofr Snnipjy of jSTew York,jivhich, under a constitu- \

tion from his facile pen, and commended to the confidence of the
Church, in an address from the same source, attained, during the
first year of its existence, an income of upwards of three thousand
dollars, and remains to-day, after an active and useful career of
more than three-quarters of a century, a monument to the far-seeing
wisdom and devoted churchmanship of its founder and life-long friend.
In the exercise of a wise care for the interests of Columbia College,
Dr. Hobart displayed his sympathy with institutions of learning, and
the policy he inaugurated and defended had much to do in preserving
to the Church the rights which were hers by the charter and by

158 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

charitable gifts. In the midst of the many strifes and contentions that
of necessity attended the unshrinking avowal of -his opinions, and the
persistent following of a policy that disdained concealment, and was
openly and professedly churchly and catholic, Dr. Hobart had the
rare faculty of avoiding private or personal enmities. In bis large-
heartedness he could fight stoutly for the truth, as jt was revealed to
him, and yet be charitable towards those who wereof Jjffift renj^or *
opposite views, maintaining friendly reTaBons~eveh ^vitlT those
principles and policy he openly opposed.

It was in the midst of multiplied labors that the call to the epis
copate came to him. Ho was ripe for the office and work of a bishop
in the Church of God. But difficulties, for a time seemingly insur
mountable, arose to delay his consecration. Seabury had " fallen
asleep" ere the ordination of the youth who was to carry on the work in
the American Church, the first Bishop of Connecticut, had so well and
wisely begun. Robert Smith, the first to receive the episcopate for
the see of South Carolina, and Edward Bass and Samuel Parker,
first and second Bishops of Massachusetts, had passed from earth.
Bishop Benjamin Moore was incapacitated by paralysis from any
public duty. Bishop Claggett, after severe illness, had attempted the
journey to the North, but after proceeding a short distance had been
compelled to return. Bishop Madison deemed his engagements as
President of the College of William and Mary such as to preclude his

absence, even on so grave and
important a business as the
meeting of the Convention and
the communication of the epis
copate. There remained of
the Episcopal College only the
Bishop of Pennsylvania, the venerable Dr. White, Dr. Jarvis of Con
necticut, and Bishop Provoost, who for ten years had wholly withdrawn
from the exercise of his office. Efforts were made to secure the attend
ance of Bishop Provoost at the Convention in New Haven at which the
testimonials of Dr. Hobart and Dr. Alexander Viets Griswold, bishop-
elect of the newly created Eastern diocese, were read and approved.
But the effects of a previous stroke of paralysis, and the feebleness eon-
sequent upon a recent attack of severe illness, prevented the realization
of the hopes that had been raised, and the General Convention of 1811
was held, as Bishop White informs us, "under very serious and well-
founded apprehensions that the American Church would be again sub
jected to the necessity of having recourse to the mother-Church for the
episcopacy ; or else of continuing it without requiring the canonical num
ber, which might be productive of great disorder in future." Then, on
the rising of the Convention, and the coming of the Bishops of Pennsyl
vania and Connecticut, together with the bishops-elect to New York, "to
the last hour there was danger of disappointment." Happily, after some
delay, Bishop Provoost found himself strong enough to give his attend
ance, and the consecration took place in Trinity Church, on Wednesday,
the 29th of May, 1811.

In the letter of consecration of Bishop Hobart there was an at-

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENSY HOBART.

159

tempt on the part of the bishops to define, of their own motion, the
nature of the office to which he had been set apart, and to make his
appointment consistent with the previous action of the house in choos
ing to regard Bishop Moore as an assistant or suffragan to
Provoost. The language of the letter was carefully worded
to imply that he had been elected " to assist the bishops
of the Church " in New York " in the duties of the episco
pal office, and to succeed in case of survivorship." That
this was not the intention nor the action of the Convention
the journals plainly show, and the question only became of
importance in view of an unwise and futile effort of the first
Bishop of New York to resume his authority as diocesan,
as well as the exercise of his episcopal office. The cir
cumstances attending this unfortunate complication may
be briefly stated. The election to the episcopate of one so
young in years, so pronounced in his views, and one, too,
already a leader of opinion in the Church, as Dr. Hobart
was, could not fail to call out opposition in quarters where
personal jealgusyiwas added to doctrinal antagonism. This
hostility found expression in the attempt of one of the
clergy of Trinity Church, the Kev. Cave Jones, in a
pamphlet entitled " A Solemn Appeal to the Church," to
prejudice the minds of churchmen in the diocese and else
where against his associate, and prove the unfitness of Dr.
Hobart for the episcopate. The publication of this pamph
let, though failing to defeat the election of Dr. Hobart,
"cast a firebrand into the Church which was not soon ex
tinguished." Bishop Provoost, possibly recognizing in the
new assistant bishop some of the qualities which in earlier
days, as displayed in Seabury, had awakened his dislike,
and occasioned his life-long animosity, asserted his dubious
authority as " diocesan " to embarrass and annoy the new
bishop, on whose head his hands had been so lately laid.
This ill-advised claim was made in a communication ad
dressed to the next annual Convention of the Church in New
York, which bore date October 6, 1812, and was presented
to the body to which it was addressed on the following day.
This letter, to which the writer attached his signature as
"Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State
of New York, and diocesan of the same," thus expressed
the Bishop s views :

Brethren : This being the day appointed by our Church for your
Convention, I think proper to address you.

You well know that in the year 1801 1 proffered to the State Convention a resigna
tion of my jurisdiction as Bishop of this Diocese, and that immediately afterwards 1
communicated to the General Convention, then in session at Trenton, information
of the step I had taken. For a long time I fully believed that my act pf resignation
was recognized as effectual. But having some time since become acquainted with
the proceedings of the State and General Conventions, in relation to this subject,
and feeling a due respect for the sentiments of the General Convention, so strongly
and decisively expressed in the resolution of the House of Bishops of the 7th of

160 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

September, 1801, 1 think it my duty to inform you, that though it has not pleased
God to bless me with health that will enable me to discharge all the duties of a Dio
cesan, and for that reason I cannot now attend the Convention ; yet I am ready to
act in deference to the resolution above mentioned, and to concur in any regula
tions which expediency may dictate to the Church ; without which concurrence I
am, after the resolution of the House of Bishops, bound to consider every Epis
copal act as unauthorized. 1

It was a pitiful instance of " the feebleness of age, beiog^ahused
to the purposes of personal ambition, intrigue, or schism."

The response of the Convention to this extraordinary claim was
able and convincing. The adoption was nearly unanimous, no cleri
cal vote being recorded against it, and but two of the smaller parishes
opposing the general temper of the Church. This paper, which recites
the case with clearness and logical exactness, was as follows :

Whereas by the Constitution of the Church the right of electing the Bishops
thereof is vested in, and appertains to the Convention of this State : And whereas
the jurisdiction of the Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church as the Diocesan
thereof may be resigned, altnough the spiritual character or order of the Bishop is
indelible ; and such resignation, when the same is accepted by the Convention,
creates a vacancy in the office of Diocesan Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in this State: And whereas the Right Rev. Samuel Provoost, D.D., being
then the Diocesan Bishop of the said Church in this State, did, on the third day of
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one, resign
his Episcopal jurisdiction of this Diocese to the Convention of the said Church in
this State ; ana the said Convention did on the next day accept the said resignation,
and on the following day proceeded to the choice, by ballot, of a person to succeed
the saidDiocesan Bishop ; and thereupon the Rev. Benjamin Moore, D.D., was unani
mously chosen by the Clergy and Laity, and received from them, as Bishop-elect of the
Churcn, the testimonial required by the Canon of the General Convention : And
whereas the said Benjamin Moore was, on the eleventh day of the said month
of September, rightly and canonically consecrated into the office of Bishop of the
said Church, and from that time hath exercised the powers and jurisdiction of a
Diocesan Bishop in this State : And whereas this Convention hath been given to
understand that doubts have been entertained whether the office and jurisdiction of
Diocesan Bishop became vacant by the said resignation and acceptance thereof, and
whether the said Benjamin Moore was of right the Diocesan Bishop of the said
Church in this State by virtue of the election and consecration herein before men
tioned : And whereas this Convention hath further understood that since the last
Convention the said Bishop Provoost hath assumed, and by his letter this day read
in Convention, does claim the title and character of Diocesan Bishop : Now, there
fore, in order to obviate the said doubts, and with a view to restore and preserve
the peace and order of the Church, this Convention doth hereby resolve and de
clare,

That the Right Rev. Samuel Provoost, from and immediately after the accept
ance of his resignation by the Convention of the Church in this State, ceased to be
the Diocesan Bishop thereof, and could no longer exercise the functions or juris
diction appertaining to that office ; that having ceased to be the Diocesan Bishop
as aforesaid, he could neither resume nor be restored to that character by any act
of his own or of the General Convention, or either of its Houses, without the con
sent and participation of the said State Convention, which consent and participation
the said Bishop Provoost has not obtained; and his claim to such character is
therefore unfounded.

And further this Convention doth declare and resolve that the spiritual order
of Bishop having been canonically conferred upon the said Benjamin Moore, he
became thereby, in consequence of the said previous election, ipso facto, and of
right, the Diocesan Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this State, and as
such, well entitled to all the jurisdiction and pre-eminence belonging to that

Journal of Convention of New York, : Dr. McVickar, in his "Professional Years

1812. of Bishop Hobart."

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBAKT.

161

office, and which have been, and may be, canonically exercised by him personally,
or through his coadjutor, in the said character.

And this Convention, in their own names, and for the Protestant Episcopal
Church in this State, do hereby solemnly declare and acknowledge the said Benja
min Moore, and no other person, to be their true and lawful Diocesan Bishop, and
that respect and obedience ought of right to be paid to him as such. 1

It would appear that this well digested paper, discriminating so
clearly betwegp-the spiritual authority or mission conferred by conse
cration, and the J ecclesiastieal jurisdiction given by the action of the
Church assembled in its legislative capacity, and acting in Convention,
was~fhe production of the bishop whose official rights it vindicated so
conclusively. The personal controversy with his fellow-assistant at
"Trinity was shortly disposed of, the vestry of the parish requiring the
resignation of Mr. Jones. On the refusal of the unhappy man to
submit to this action he was finally suspended from the exercise of
the ministry by Bishop Moore. From this penalty he was subse
quently relieved on his final, though late, compliance with the requi
sition of the vestry, and his after years of devotion in another sphere
of duty served to redeem the unwise course of his early life.

The episcopate begun in the midst of much trial and turmoil,
knew no cessation of labor, no lessening of efforts for the Church during
its term of nineteen years. From 1813 the care of the diocese was
wholly in his hands, the state of Bishop Moore s health preventing
him from rendering any assistance to his younger brother, and his
implicit confidence in the good judgment of Bishop Hobart keeping
him from interfering in his administration. With the exception of
a visit to England, to which he had been driven after twelve years of
almost ceaseless labor, the life of the bishop was wholly devoted to
his work as rector of a large parish, and bishop of a see constantly
increasing, in its rapid development, its demands upon his time, his
thoughts, his prayers.

It waa a principle of Bishop Hobart, in his administration, to
depend largely on organized effort, and with his approval and under

his guidance there aroge, OQC alter another, a number pi church socie-
ties, having in view provision for the varied objects of Christian
benevolence. Thus, the Bible and Prayer-book Society, founded
in 1809, was succeeded by the Protestant Episcopal Tract Society, in
1810, and this by the Young Men s Auxiliary Bible and Prayer-book
Society, the New York Sunday-school Society, the Missionary Society,
the Education Society, the Protestant Episcopal Press, and a number
of other associations, binding together the church workers of the
diocese in united and harmonious efforts for the Church s advance.

Of these organizations the bishop was the official head, and in
each case he took a lively personal interest in their proceedings, and
secured their efficient support by his sanction and praise. In fact, it
was not his wont to neglect or despise any opportunity, however
humble, for doing good to men or for promoting the advantage of the
Church of Christ. With his happily-conceived maxim of "the union
of evangelical truth with apostolic order " animating his pulpit efforts

1 Journal of Convention of New York, 1812, pp. 12, 13.

162 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

and his published works, ho toiled incessantly. It was his privilege
to. "see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." The Church in

New York and throughout the land awoke to a new lifc^ The clergy
increased In numbers and in devotion. The laity were the more fully
instructed in the distinctive principles of the kingdom of God. The
assaults of opponents were repelled with a vigor and a success that
left little encouragement for a renewal of the strife. Charities were
called forth and fostered. Strength and eminent advantage were
found in associated efforts for good. It was the day of the Church s )
growth and glory.

At the General Convention of 1826 a proposition, unanimously
adopted by the House of Bishops, was presented to the House of
Deputies " for the shortening of the service in sundry particulars." l
This proposition, which Bishop White informed us "produced a great
excitement in the minds of many of the members," was the production
of the Bishop of New York.

In his address to the Diocesan Convention of New York, the fol
lowing year, Bishop Hobart, as the original mover of these resolu
tions, felt called upon to undertake their defence. As an authoritative
exposition of the end desired in pressing these alterations and addi
tions, we present in full that portion of the bishop s address that re
lates to the subject :

Certain resolutions of the last General Convention, on the subject of the Lit-
urgy, will be laid before you . The Article of the General Constitution of our Church
requiring all altei ations in the Liturgy to be proposed at one General Convention,
submitted to the Diocesan Conventions, and finally acted on at a subsequent General
Convention, is admirably calculated to secure our invaluable Liturgy from hasty
and injudicious alterations. Thei e is no necessity however that the Diocesan Con
ventions should act upon these alterations. And my own opinion is, that the most
proper place for their discussion is in the General Convention, which alone can defi
nitely determine concerning them. It is proper, however, that you should receive
all the information which I can afford, of the nature and the reasons of these pro
posed alterations, not only from the great importance of every measure which in
volves, in any degree, that Liturgy, so deservedly and devotedly cherished as the
distinguishing excellence of our Church, and thB-gro,at ffaJegnfliT i * i^itional Mid
prjniitive. religion, but especially from the misapprehensions which exist on this
subject.

What are the alterations proposed ? On this subject, I would adopt the lan
guage of a Right Rev. Brother, and say, that strictly speaking, there are no altera
tions of the Liturgy contemplated ; that is, there are to be no omissions of any
parts of the Liturgy, nor a different arrangement of them. As a whole, the Liturgy
remains as it now is. There is no omission, or alteration, or different arrangement
of the Prayers of the Morning and Evening service ; they are to remain as they
now are. The alterations respect merely the Psalms, and the Lessons, and the
proportions of them which are to be read. At present, the Psalms for the day, or
one of the Selections, must be i - ead. It is proposed, that the Minister may be
allowed, not compelled, to take, instead of the Psalms for the day, or one
of the Selections, any one of the Psalms, which shall be said or sung. At
present he is compelled to read for Sundays, for holy days, and for all other days,
the Lessons from Holy Scripture, as prescribed in the Calendar. It is proposed,
that, still confined on Sundays and holy days to the prescribed Lessons, he may, at
his discretion, read a part, not less than 15 verses, instead of the whole: and on
other days, when there is not daily service, he may, at his discretion, select other
Lessons from Scripture than those prescribed. At present, according to the con
struction which some clergymen (in my judgment most erroneously) put upon a ru-

i Bishop White s Memoirs, 2J ed., p. 52.

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOB ART. 163

brie at the end of the Communion Service, they conceive themselves at liberty to
omit using the Ten Commandments, Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, which are usually
denominated the Ante-Communion Service. It is proposed that the rubric be so
altered as to preclude all cavil, and to render the use of the Ante-Communion ser
vice imperative. These are all the alterations proposed in the usual Morning and
Evening Service. And hence you will perceive how erroneous are the notions, which
to a certain extent have prevailed, that the Lessons for Sundays and holy days are
left entirely to the discretion of the Minister, and that the Liturgy is to be mutilated
as to its parts, or altered in its admirable Prayers and Collects. These remain as at
present. On Sundays and holy days the Lessons, as now prescribed, are to be used ;
the discretion applies only to the proportion of each Lesson..

In the uonfirmatton Unice it is proposed 1 not to 8u15sfitute another preface and
another prayer, instead of those now used, but to allow the Bishop, at his discretion
to use another preface and another prayer, retaining all the substantial parts of the
former.

These are all the alterations proposed. The next inquiry is, what good object
is contemplated by these proposed alterations ? The abbreviation of the Liturgy by
law, so as to remove all reason for abbreviating it contrary to law, the admitting,
in certain cases, of more appropriate Lessons the securing the use of the Ten
Commandments, Collect, Epistle and Gospel and the rendering the preface to the
Confirmation Service more full and more adapted to the state of things in this
country ; and the preventing of misunderstanding as to certain expressions in one
of the prayers in this office.

A still further question occurs are these objects of sufficient importance to
justify the proposed alterations ?

In the first place as to the abbreviation of the service ; it is a fact well known,
that the service of the Church, whether with or without good reason, is deemed by
many too long by some too who are unfeignedly attached to it, and who would be
most unwilling to give up any of its valuable features, or to assail with the hand of
rude innovation, this invaluable standard of faith and devotion. This sentiment pre
vails the more from the circumstance that the congregations which have been formed
(as they will continue to be formed) among us consist almost altogether of those
who have not been accustomed to our religious institutions, but who, attached to
our doctrines, to our Episcopal ministry, and also to our form of worship, yet deem
the latter too long, constituted as human nature is, for the purpose of edification.
""And even in our older congregations this sentiment more or less prevails, as
appears by the fact that, with very few exceptions, the clergy avail themselves of
the discretion of omitting certain parts of the service. But the evil, and surely it
is a great one, is, that from the alleged plea of immoderate length of the service,
parts of it are omitted in many congregations, and in some other places where it is
adhered to, obstacles are thus raised to the establishment or increase of our Church.
To sacrifice to these circumstances any essential part of our Liturgy would be, I
would say, not merely an unwise, but a most criminal policy ; for our object should be
not numbers merely but purity of principle, and the sacred preservation of those in
stitutions which so many considerations bind on our judgments and our hearts. But
if, by allowing the abbreviations of the portion of Psalms and the Lessons, the ser
vice may be so abridged as to remove, in part at least, the objections to it, from its
length, and the alleged reasons for unlicensed alterations of it, and thus to conciliate
more general regard for it, and to secure it from the imminent danger of individual
innovation; surely these are objects of correct, and even of necessary legislation.

Another end to be accomplished by these proposed alterations, is the admitting
in certain cases of more appropriate Lessons. On other days than Sundays or holy
days, the inconvenience must have been sensibly felt by those who have attended
weekly prayers, and other occasions of service, of the clergy being confined to the
Lessons in the Calendar. If, from the inconvenience being thus extreme, they now
take the liberty of selecting, on these weekly occasions of worship, their own les
sons, they act without authority, and contrary to law ; and it is now proposed to
sanction by law, a discretion which thus seems necessary, but which is always dan
gerous when unlicensed.

A further object to be accomplished by these alterations, is the securing the
use of the Ante-Communion Service the Ten Commandments, Epistle, and Gos
pel.

Of the propriety and the utility of this part of our service one would think there
could be no doubt. The solemn enunciation by the minister of the divine code of

164 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

moral duty, as spoken by God himself accompanied after each commandment by
the humble supplication of the people for pardon and grace, must tend most power
fully to excite and cherish the principles and sentiments of religion and morals.
And the appropriate and judicious selections of Scripture, constituting the Epistles
and Gospels, arc most admirably adapted to exhibit and enforce the great truths of
redemption, and the whole circle of the Christian virtues. And yet this excellent
and impressive part of our service is often omitted. The omission is attempted to
be justified by the rubric at the end of the Communion Service. Erroneous as this
construction undoubtedly is, yet, as it is maintained, it would seem that there could
be no doubt of the propriety of authoritatively settling this question by the alteration
of the rubric. To this, indeed, some who are opposed to allowing any discretion
as to the Psalms and Lessons have no objection ; but let them consider, whether,
even if they could obtain the one measure without the other, it would not be more
conciliatory, and render the latter measure more effectual, by the adoption of the
other. The common plea for the omission of the Ante-Communion Service, from
the length of the whole service, would then be removed, by permission to omit por
tions ot nearly equal length with it, in the Psalms and Lessons.

With regard to the Confirmation Service, the present preface seems imperfect
in not stating the authority on which the ordinance rests ; and is felt to be inap
propriate, when, as is the case generally in our country congregations, those
confirmed are principally adult persons. The expressions in one of the prayers,
applied to those who are to be confirmed, that God has "regenerated them," &c.,
are, when correctly understood, justified by Scripture and the authority of the
primitive church ; but they are misunderstood, and the cause of considerable cavil
and difficulty. It is not proposed to omit the expressions, or to alter the prayer
containing them, but merely to allow the use of another prayer in which these ex
pressions are retained, but in connection with explanatory words.

There is no accounting for the different views which individuals of equally
sound judgment and honest minds will take of the same subject but, really, the
objects to t&gt;e accomplished by these proposed alterations appear to me to be so
desirable, and the alterations so reasonable and judicious, that I have felt great and
increasing surprise at the opposition to them. I hope and pray that this opposition
may in no respect be influenced by a desire to retain the plea of necessity for alter
ing the Liturgy in consequence of its length, that thus " individual license may
have no bounds." But, without doubt, the opposition is dictated in many by con
siderations entitled to the highest respect their attachment to the Liturgy, and
their fears of innovation. Of my devoted attachment to that Liturgy, I think I
have given the fullest evidence ; and so far from desiring, for my own gratification,
to shorten it. I rarely avail myself of the discretionary rubrics. To secure it from
hasty and injudicious alterations, unless my memory deceives me, I proposed the
present article of the Constitution, which requires that no alterations shall be made
in it, which have not been adopted in one General Convention, made known to the
different Diocesan Conventions, and finally adopted in a subsequent General Con
vention. Here, surely, is full security for our invaluable Liturgy. This provision
of the constitution cannot be altered but by the same process of the alteration being
proposed in one General Convention, made known to the Diocesan Conventions,
and adopted in a subsequent General Convention. Without such a provision, the
Liturgy might be endangered by hasty and injudicious alterations. With this pro
vision, its most solicitous friends need not fear for it. There will be, with such a
provision, extreme difficulty in altering the Liturgy under any circumstances.
Their fears, I humbly conceive, should arise from a different source from the
unlicensed alterations in the Liturgy which are now practised ; which mar its beauty
and effect; which must diminish the sacred veneration with which it should be
cherished, and which thus most seriously endanger it.

How are these alarming innovations to be arrested ? By remonstrance and
admonition? These have been tried in vain. By the strong arm of authority?
But is this an easy or a wise course ? When the service is felt and admitted by so
many persons to be too long, public sentiment and general practice will, more or
less, sanction abbreviations in it. Under such circumstances the exercise of dis
cipline, if not imprudent, would at least be difficult. Would it not be wiser to
remove, as far as possible, the reasons, real or feigned, for these violations of law,
and then to enforce it ? Would not such a course be pursued in a civil government ?
Is it not eminently proper in an ecclesiastical one ?

It may be said, that they who now alter the service will continue to do it, even

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY IIOBART.

165

after the proposed abbreviations are adopted, if they do not respect law at one
time, they will not at another. But, let it be remembered, law can be enforced with
more salutary effect, and with less odium, when it has been accommodated, as far as
possible, without departure from essential principles, to those circumstances which
are urged as a plea for violating it.

Those who now omit parts of the service, on account of its length, will have
no reason to do so when it is by law abbreviated. And those who will still be law
less may then be most reasonably subjected to ecclesiastical discipline.

Will it be asserted that the proposed abbreviations are so short that they will
not satisfy those who now object to the length of the service? In many cases,
doubtless, the Lessons are short; but in many others they are so long, that by
judiciously abridging them and the Psalms, a portion of time will be gained nearly
equal to that which would be occupied in the use of the Ante-Communion Service.
By the abbreviations now allowed, by the omission of the Gloria Patri in certain
cases, and of a part of the Litany, but little time is saved ; and yet it seems generally
to be deemed of importance to save that time.

It qught to be a strong recommendation of these proposed alterations, as far
as the Morning and Evening Prayer are concerned, that these services will not
appear to cur congregations in a different form from what they now do. The Psalms
will still be read, but the portion need not be so long the Lessons will still be read,
but in some cases abbreviated, and on week days changed from those appointed in
the Calendar a circumstance which will not be apt to be noticed by the congrega
tion. And all this is discretional ; for those who prefer using the whole portion of
Psalms and the entire Lessons may do so.

Is this discretion objected to, as destroying the uniformity of the service ? But
who alleges that the discretion which now exists, as to the omission, in certain
cases, of the Gloria Patri, and a part of the Litany, seriously destroys the uniformity
of the Liturgy ? And yet these variations are more striking than those in the con
templated alterations.

Uniformity is, indeed, most seriously destroyed in the present state of things.
The liberty is taken, in many cases, to alter the Liturgy, to omit parts of it, and
especially the Ante-Communion Service. Such a state of things must endanger not
only the Liturgy but the authority and integrity of the Church. It is not one of its
least evils, that it increases the causes of disunion, and leads to criminations and
recriminations of a most painful description. The evil of this state of things was
.deeply felt by those, who, in the last General Convention, advocated the proposed
alterations in the Liturgy as the best mode of remedying it.

In the remarks which I have made, I have no desire of exciting a discussion
of this subject in this Diocesan Convention. The whole matter will best be left to
the wisdom of our General ecclesiastical council, which only can definitely act upon
it. And if the important and essential objects sought to be accomplished by the
proposed alterations, can be attained by any other mode, liable to fewer objections,
and more generally acceptable, I shall heartily rejoice. pp. 18-25, Journal of
N.Y. Convention. 1827.

After the address of
Bishop Hobart to the Con
vention of his diocese, the
secretary laid before the
Convention the resolutions
of the General Convention ;
but, agreeably to the view
entertained by the bishop,
no action was taken upon
them in New York.

In 1823 Bishop Hobart visited the Old World, returning to New
York in October, 1825. Abroad he received no little attention as a
well-known and highly esteemed representative of the Church in
the United States. His return was marked by an enthusiastic
greeting, in which old and new friends vied with each other to

166 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

prove their appreciation and admiration of so eminent and distin
guished a man.

His remaining years were spent in assiduous devotion to his official
duties. The Church was growing on every side ; controversies were
quieted ; opposition had been disarmed. His visitations were yearly
becoming more onerous ; but with great vigor of constitution, and re
newed health and strength, he unweariedly pursued his work till
there came suddenly, the world thought, but not too suddenly for him,
the summons to depart and be with Christ. He died in the fifty-fifth
year of his age, at Auburn, N.Y., while on a visitation to the western
part of the State ; and in his death there was gathered to his rest
and reward a "faithful and valiant Soldier of Christ, who, on all
occasions, stood forth as the able and intrepid champion of the
Church of God."

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.

WE append, as a most important portion of the history, both of the Church and
its liturgical revision, the original resolutions offered by Bishop Hobart, and
the action of the General and Diocesan Conventions thereon :

Journal of General Convention. 1826.

House of Bishops. Nov. llth, 1826. Present, Bishops White, Hobart, Gris-
wold, Kemp, Croes, P. Chase, Ravenscroft, and Brownell.

On motion of the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart,

Resolved, that the House of Bishops propose the following preambles and
resolutions to the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies :

The House of Bishops, deeply solicitous to preserve unimpaired the Liturgy
of the Church, and yet desirous to remove the reasons alleged, from the supposed
length of the service, for the omission of some of its parts, and particularly for the
omission of that part of the communion office which is commonly called the ante-
communion office, do icnanimously propose to the House of Clerical and Lay Depu
ties the following resolutions, to be submitted to the several State Conventions, in
order to be acted upon at the next General Convention, agreeably to the eighth
article of the Constitution.

1. Resolved, Thatin " The Order how the Psalter is appointed to be read," the
following be added to the fourth paragraph, " or any other psalm or psalms, except
on those days on which proper psalms are appointed : " so that the whole para
graph will read as follows: "The minister, instead of reading from the Psalter
as divided for daily morning and evening prayer, may read one of the selections
set out by this Church, or any other psalm or psalms, except on those days on
which proper psalms are appointed."

2. Resolved, That in The order how the rest of the holy Scripture is appointed
to be read," the following be inserted after the fifth paragraph: "The minister
may, at his discretion, instead of the entire lessons, read suitable portions thereof,
not less than fifteen verses. And on other days than Sundays and holy days, in
those places where morning and evening prayer is not daily used, he may read
other portions of the Old and New Testament, instead of the prescribed lessons ; it
being recommended that unless circumstances render it inexpedient, on the stated
prayer days of Wednesdays and Fridays, the lessons for those days, or for one of
the intervening days, be read."

The bishops, in the use of the office of confirmation, finding that the preface
is frequently not well suited to the age and character of those who are presented
for this holy ordinance, unanimously propose the following resolution :

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART.

167

3. Resolved, That after the present preface in the office of Confirmation, the
following bo inserted to be used instead of the former, at the discretion of the
bishop: "It appears from holy Scripture, that the apostles laid their hands on
those who were baptized: and this ordinance, styled by the apostle Paul, the
laying on of hands, and ranked by him among the principles of the doctrine of
Christ, has been retained in the church, under the name of Confirmation ; and is
very convenient, and proper to be observed, to the end that persons being sufli-
ciently instructed in what they promised, or what was promised for them in their
baptism, and being, in other respects, duly qualified, may themselves with their
own mouth and consent, openly before the church, ratify and confirm the same,
and also promise, that by the grace of God, they will evermore endeavor them
selves faithfully to observe such things as they, by their own confession, have
assented unto."

And to correct the injurious misapprehension, as to the meaning of certain
terms, in the first collect in the office of confirmation, the bishops unanimously
propose the following resolution :

4. Resolved, That after the first collect in the office of confirmation, the
following be inserted, to be used at the discretion of the bishop, instead of the first
collect: "Almighty and everlasting God, who hast vouchsafed, in baptism, to
regenerate these thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost; thus giving them a
title to all the blessings of thy covenant of grace and mercy, in thy Son Jesus
Christ, and now dost graciously confirm unto them, ratifying the promises then
made, all their holy privileges ; grant unto them, we beseech thee, O Lord, the
renewing of the Holy Ghost; strengthen them with the power of this divine Com
forter ; and daily increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowl
edge and true godliness, and fill them, O Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear,
now and forever. Amen."

And whereas, in the opinion of the Bishops, there is no doubt as to the obli
gation of ministers to say, on all Sundays and other holy days, that part of the
communion office which is commonly called the ante-communion, yet as the prac
tice of some of the clergy is not conformable to this construction of the rubric on
this point, the House of Bishops propose the following resolution :

5. Resolved, That the following be adopted as a substitute for the first sen
tence in the rubric, immediately after the communion office : " On all Sundays and
other holy days, shall be said, all that is appointed at the Communion, unto tne end
of the Gospel, concluding divine service, in all cases when there is a sermon or
communion, and when there is not, with the blessing."

Journal of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.

November 11, 1826.

A message was received from the House of Bishops proposing certain altera
tions respecting the reading of the Psalter and Lessons ; certain additions to the
office of Confirmation ; and a change in the rubric at the head of the Communion
office.

Resolved, that the above message lie on the table, and be printed.

Nov. 14, 1826.

The resolutions received from the House of Bishops on Saturday, respecting
certain changes in the order for reading the Psalter and Lessons, in the office of
Confirmation, and in the rubric at the end of the communion service, were then
called up for consideration.

A resolution was offered that the consideration of the subject be indefinitely
postponed ; and lost.

The House adjourned until nine o clock to-morrow morning.

Nov. 15, 1826.

The resolutions received from the House of Bishops on the subject of the
Psalter, &c., being under consideration, it was moved to postpone the considera
tion of them for the purpose of considering the following resolution :

"Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, that a joint committee to con
sist of Bishops, and three Clerical and three Lay Delegates of this House, be

appointed, to which committee shall be inferred the proposed alterations in the
Liturgy; and that the said committee report such alterations therein, if any, as

168 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

they may deem expedient, in such form as will admit of their being acted upon
by the next convention."

A division of this resolution being called for, the question was put on the
resolution to postpone ; and it was lost.

A resolution was then offered to divide the message of the Bishops, so as to
consider each resolution by itself ; and lost.

Whereupon the question was put upon the whole of the resolutions as
received irom the House of Bishops ; and the ayes and noes being called for, they
stood as follows :

Ayes. The Rev. Mr. Bronson, the Rev. Mr. Smith, the Rev. Mr. Cutler, the
Rev. Mr. N. S. Wheaton, the Rev. Mr. Butler, the Rev. Dr. Lyell, the Rev. Dr.
Onderdonk, the Rev. Mr. Clark, the Rev. Dr. Wharton, the Rev. Mr. Morehouse,
the Rev. Mr. Kemper, the Rev. Mr. Montgomery, the Rev. Mr. Clay, the Rev. Mr.
Presstman, the Rev. Mr. Williston, the Rev. Dr. Wyatt, the Rev. Mr. Henshaw,
the Rev. Mr. Jackson, the Rev. Dr. Wilmer, the Rev. Mr. Meade, the Rev. Mr.
McGuire, the Rev. Mr. Hatch, the Rev. Mr. Avery, the Rev. Mr. Carter, Mr. Cod-
man, Mr. Newton, Mr. A. Jones, Mr. Jackson, Judge Williams, Mr. Binney, Mr.
Stiles, Mr. Read, Judge Johns, Mr. Key, Mr. Tilghman, Mr. Eccleston, Dr. Berke
ley, Mr. Nelson, Mr. G. Jones. 39.

Noes. The Rev. Mr. Boyle, the Rev. Mr. Croswell, the Rev. Mr. Burhans,
the Rev. Mr. Sherwood, the Rev. Mr. Croes, the Rev. Mr. Dunn, the Rev. Mr. Hop
kins, the Rev. Mr. Green, the Rev. Mr. It. S. Mason, the Rev. Mr. H. M. Mason,
the Rev. Dr. Gadsden, the Rev. Mr. Barlow, the Rev. Mr. Adams, the Rev. Mr.
Morse, the Rev. Mr. Midler, Mr. Boardman, Mr. Clark, Mr. Meredith, Colonel
Dray ton. 19.

And so it was Resolved, That this House concur in the resolutions of the House
of Bishops.

Journal of the House of Bishops.

November 15, 1826.

A message was received from the House of Clerical nnd Lay Deputies, stating that the House
had concurred in the resolutions of the House of Bishops respecting the Liturgy.

The action of the dioceses on these important resolutions forms one of the most interesting
chapters of our legislative history. We give it in full as collected from the various journals and
other official documents to which we have obtained access, premising that this action is for the
first time brought together and put in print in our pages.

Bishop R. C. Moore of Virginia was absent from the session of the General Convention of
1826, but his opposition to the proposed alterations is most forcibly expressed in the following
extract from his address to the Convention the following year :

" The Secretary, Brethren, will produce to the Convention, a letter from the Secretary of the
General Convention, on the subject of certain proposed alterations in the Liturgy of the Church.
It is my duty to mention not only to the members of this Convention, but also to the members of
the ChuVch throughout the Diocese of Virginia, the fears with which my mind is impressed on this
important subject. The Church has hitherto prospered in the use of the Liturgy, as it has been
handed down to us by our fathers. That uniformity of worship which has distinguished us as a
society, should the proposed alterations be earned into effect, will be destroyed. Instead of uniting
in the same devotional exercises, as we hitherto have done, eveiy clergyman will have it in his
power to select his own lessons, and to read such portions of the Psalms of David as he pleases
by which means the public worship of God in these particulars will be as various as the constitution
of our minds. The old members of the Church, who have been taught to view the Liturgy through
a medium the most sacred, will be grieved. The guards to uniformity being once removed,
one innovation will succeed another, until the people will lose that reverence for our incom
parable services by which they have been actuated, and the Church receive the most vital
injury.

" When we reflect upon the general esteem in which the Liturgy is viewed by the reflecting aud
considerate of other denominations, our opinion of its excellence should be strengthened nnd in
creased. The celebrated Dr. Clarke of the Methodist Society has declared, that the Liturgy of the
Church is second to no volume, except the sacred writings : and the Rev. Robert Hall of the Baptist
Society has expressed himself in similar language. To touch a matter of so much consequence with
out the deepest reflection to alter a service of such acknowledged worth, without years of prayer
ful consideration, should not be ventured on. When we enter the threshold of this inquiry, we
should take the shoes from off our feet, as the ground whereon we tread is holy ground. The
Church in Virginia will never be induced, I trust and pray, to depart from her prescribed forms;
but will defend the Liturgy in all its integrity, and prove to the Christian world that we reverence
the opinions of our fathers ; and are satisfied with that system of doctrine which they venerated,
and which they so highly valued.

" Such, brethren, are the outlines of the views I entertain of the contemplated measure : I
should have considered myself deficient in duty to the Church committed to my care by you, and
by Heaven, did I not raise my warning voice in behalf of the Liturgy, and thus express the fears
which have disturbed my quiet."

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART.

169

May 17, 1827.

The Secretary then presented to the Convention the following letter received by him from the
Secretaries of the House of Bishops, and the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies:

To the Secretary of the Convention of the Diocese of Virginia, &c., &c.

On motion, Resolved, That the said letter be referred to a select committee.

The President then appointed the Bev. Henry W. Ducachet, M.D., the Bev. William H. Hart,
the Rev. Reuel Keith, Mr. Hugh Nelson, Mr. John Gray, Mr. Robert E. Steed, and Mr. Gerrara
Alexander, on said committee.

May 19, 1827.

The Special Committee, to whom were referred the communications from the Secretaries of
the House of Bishops and of the House of Clerical and Lay Delegates, to the Secretary of this
Convention, presented a report.

On motion, Resolved, That the said report be laid on the table.

No further action upon these resolutions was taken until the Convention of May, 1829 ; when,
The following report of the Committee to whom was referred the communication from the Sec
retaries of the House of Bishops and of the House of Clerical and Lay Delegates, upon the pro
posed alterations of the Liturgy, made to the Convention held in Fredericksburg, in the year 1827,
was called up, read, and on motion, referred to the Committee of the Whole.

The Committee to whom was referred a communication from the Secretaries of the House
of Bishops and of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, under date of the 20th of December,
1826, report that they have attentively considered the subjects referred to them, and that they have
unanimously agreed to recommend to the Convention the adoption of the following resolutions :

1. Resolved, That any alterations in " the Order how the Psalter is appointed to be read,"
or in "the Order how the rest of the Holy Scripture is appointed to be read," are, in the opinion of
this Convention, uncalled for by the state of the Church, and entirely inexpedient.

2. Resolved, That the present preface to the Confirmation Office, having been so long in use,
without being the subject of frequent or great complaint, the proposed substitute for it is uncalled
for and inexpedient.

3. Resolved, That as the proposed Collect in the Confirmation Office seems to take for granted
the truth of a doctrine, about which some differences of opinion prevail in the Church, and seems to
have a tendency to produce dissatisfaction in the minds of some, and perhaps to lead to still further
controversy, it is uncalled for and inexpedient.

4. Resolved, That, whereas the rubric immediately after the communion service appears,
as it now stands, to be sufficiently explicit, and the proposed alteration in it seems to be intimately
connected with the foregoing proposed changes, it is equally uncalled for and inexpedient.

5. Resolved, That, as this Convention disapproves of the proposed alterations, the delegation
from this Diocese to the General Convention be instructed to use their exertions to prevent their
adoption.

All of which is respectfully reported ; by order of the Committee.

HENRY W. DUCACHET, Chairman.

The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, the Rev. Mr. Hatch in the
chair, and after some time spent therein, the Committee rose, reported progress, and asked leave to
sit again, which, on motion, was granted.

Thursday afternoon, May 21, 1829.

The House again, on motion, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, the Rev. Mr. Hatch
in the chair ; and after some time spent therein, rose, and reported the following preamble and
resolutions, as a substitute for the report of the Committee, to them referred :

The Convention of this Diocese having had under long and serious consideration the proposed
alterations in the rubric relative to the order of our service and also to the proposed additions to the
confirmation service, is constrained to express its dissent from the proposed changes ; believing that
they are not likely to effect that most desirable end contemplated by the advocates of the same ;

Therefore, Resolved, That, zealously attached to the Book of Common Prayer and other offices
of our Church, this Convention is desirous that no alteration should take place in the same at this
time.

On motion, Resolved, That the report of the Committee of the Whole be for the present laid
upon the table.

Friday, May 22, 1829.

The report of the Committee of the Whole was taken up, and, on the question being put upon
agreeing to the same, it was carried in the affirmative.

Resolved, That the Secretary do transmit certified copies of the Resolutions adopted by this
Convention upon the proposed alterations of the Liturgy, etc., to the Secretaries of the House of
Bishops and of the House of Clerical and Lay Delegates.

Passing from Virginia to Maryland, we find reference made to the proposed alterations in the
opening address of the Rev. Wm. E. Wyatt, D.D., the President of the Convention of June, 1829 :

" It is no doubt within the recollection of this body that certain changes in the Liturgy of
the Church were proposed for consideration at the last meeting of the General Convention. As
the General Convention, which will be required to decide upon the expediency of these changes,
is expected to meet in the ensuing August, it may now be suggested that it remains for this
Convention either to determine upon instructing their delegates to confirm or reject the proposed
alterations, or to leave the decision of the question in their hands, that they may be governed
in the matter by modifications which the proposed alterations may receive.

The latter course seems to have been followed, as no record of any further action on the
question appears on the journal. In fact this Convention were too much engrossed in unsuc
cessful attempts to fill the vacant episcopate of the diocese, to have much tune to give to these
minor matters.

170 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

In the New Jersey Convention of May, 1827, we find the proposed changes exciting consider
able attention. The following extract from the journal of the proceedings of May 31st will give
us the legislation of that year on this subject:

"The Secretary then laid before the Convention a communication, which he had received
from the Secretaries of the General Convention, containing certain resolutions of that body made
at its last session, relative to proposed alterations of the liturgy and constitution of the Church,
which by the constitution must be made known to the several State Conventions before they shall be
finally agreed to : which being read, it was, on motion, Resolved, That the communication be entered
on the Journal, and the consideration of it bo postponed to some future Convention. .

" It was moved and resolved, that the resolutions communicated to this Body by the General
Convention of the Church be read by the Minister of each Church in the Diocese to his congre
gation, before the next annual Convention."

The fate of the resolutions was as follows :

"The Rev. Mr. Wilmcr moved, that the alterations in the Liturgy, proposed in the last
General Convention and submitted to the several State Conventions, in order to be acted upon at
the next General Convention, be now called up, and considered. On putting the question the
motion was negatived." Journal, 1828, p. 23.

The final disposition of the subject in 1829 was as follows :

" The proposed alterations of the liturgy and Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church
as communicated to this Convention, by the General Convention of 1826, were now called up
for consideration and read. It was moved by the Rev. Mr. Chapman, that it is inexpedient to go
into the consideration of them. The previous question on this motion was then called for and
the decision was in the negative."

Still further to the Southward, North and South Carolina disapproved of the proposed ac
tion. In North Carolina Bishop Ravenscroft in his address thus discussed the question :

"As the propositions from the General Convention on the abridgment of certain parts of
the daily service, at the discretion of the officiating minister, will necessarily claim some
part of your attention at this session ; and as it is proper that the Diocese at large should be
enabled to consider the subject unbiased by any erroneous representations, I take this method of
laying it before you upon its actual grounds.

" The propositions originated in the House of Bishops, and in so far as relates to the discre
tionary abridgment of the reading psalms and the proper lessons, were grounded on the princi
ple of conciliation, to accommodate those who complain of the length of the service, and to
permit that to be done by law, which was done by many without law, and was in truth a meas
ure to relieve from the painful dilemma of knowingly permitting the laws to be disregarded,
or of enforcing attention to the Rubrics upon a numerous, and it is to be feared an increasing
body of our clergy. No alteration in the Liturgy was contemplated, neither is any effected,
although the word has been largely used in reference to this subject. The question for your
consideration is not an alteration of the Liturgy, but the policy of granting a discretionary power
to shorten the service at the pleasure of the minister in certain specified parts thereof; and on
this you will of course be guided by a careful consideration of the advantage expected to be
gained, compared with the price to be paid for it. Now this advantage, as appears to me, is the
accommodation of some of our clergy, and of their occasional hearers, who are either of no
religious persuasion, or of other denominations, by shortening the morning service about fifteen
minutes at the utmost, in point of time, as the price of alarming the fears and outraging the
feelings of the great majority of the clergy, the communicants and members of the Church, and
of introducing a diversity of practice in the public worship of God, which will ultimately unsettle
the affections of Episcopalians towards the Liturgy, and end in surrendering it, with whatever
is distinctive of our primitive and apostolic character, to the pel-severing attacks of our enemies,
aided by the weak expectations of some who call themselves our friends that these enemies are
thus to "be won over from their opposition to our principles. A subject which involves such weighty
consequences is entitled to mature consideration ; and, as it is not necessary that any decision
should be made until the Convention of 1829, I would recommend that the proposition be inserted
in the journal of our proceedings, for the consideration of the Church, and that they may be
acted upon with that unanimity which has hitherto attended all our proceedings, and which,
I trust, will preside over our present counsels." Jour., 1827, pp. 19, 20.

The above was referred by the Convention to the Committee on the State of the Church. p. 25.

The report of the Committee was as follows :

" On the subject of the resolutions which the late General Convention has submitted to the
several State Conventions, and the consideration whereof has been referred to your Committee
they be leave to report :

" That, in their opinion, it is not expedient to act on the resolutions at the present Conven
tion, but that, according to the suggestions of our Diocesan, it is best to delay the adoption or
rejection of these resolutions, so that all the members of the Church in this Diocese may
have time to give them a thorough examination. Your Committee beg leave to observe in recom
mending a delay, that they think it proper to guard against any inferences that the present
Convention entertain any approbation of the proposed alterations of the Liturgy : they mean
merely by postponing the consideration of the subject to the next Convention to obtain a delib
erate expression of the sense of this Diocese. They therefore recommend, that so much of the
Journal of the last General Convention as relates to this subject be printed with the minutes of
this Convention. " Respectfully submitted,

Jour. p. 29. "A. EMPIE, Chairman.

In 1828 the bishop again referred to the subject as follows :

" With respect to those subjects in which the Diocese is" interested in common with all the
others, there occurs to my recollection but one which requires to be noticed. That is the propo
sitions submitted by the General Convention to the several State Conventions, on the subject of

THE EPISCOPATE OF JOHN HENRY HOBART.

171

the Liturgy. These were laid before the last Convention and printed with the journal for
general information, with the understanding that the proper time for the discussion of the ques
tion would be the Convention of 1829. This, I still think, will be the proper course ; and the
subject is now brought forward, in order to guard against the possible inadvertence of deter
mining upon all the propositions by the view taken of any one of them; a case considered
very possible, from the preponderance, in general estimation, of the discretion proposed to be
allowed in the use of the pi-escribed forms of Morning and Evening Prayer. I would there
fore take leave, in this way, to remind this body, and through them the members of the Church,
that there are three distinct propositions submitted. One is the discretion above mentioned
another is, a similar discretion, as to the use of the proposed substitute for the existing preface,
and first Collect, in the oflSce of Confirmation ; and the third is, the amendment of the phrase
ology of the Rubric at the end of the Communion office, so as to remove alleged ambiguity, had
thereby enforce the regnlar performance of the ante-Communion service. As cither of these
propositions may be adopted or rejected, independent of the others, they should therefore be
considered and acted upon, according to the views entertained of their several effects upon
the welfare of Ihe Church. And as the alarm has already been sounded in an anonymous pub
lication, that the proposed substitutes in the office of Confirmation cover the design to im
pose new doctrines upon the Church, and heavy burthens on the consciences of her members, it
behooves us to give the subject the most serious investigation. Whether the consequences de
nounced do really flow from the source to which they are attributed, may very justly be ques
tioned, but there ought to be no question as to the intention of the Right Reverend proposer.
Though myself opposed, from the beginning, to all the propositions but the last, and aware, from
experience, that the principle of conciliation on which the whole proceeding was constructed,
was hopeless in effect ; and warning my brethren who were in favor of it, that it would minis
ter occasion for contention, rather than "for agreement, I yet feel constrained to declare my full
conviction, that no other motive was present than a sincere desire to accommodate to pro
mote peace and harmony within, and remove objection without, the pale of the Church. Let
them be considered, then, on their merits as affecting the welfare of the Church, neither de
luded or deterred by the ebullitions of that baleful party spirit, which throws so deep a gloom over
the otherwise happy condition and favorable prospects of the general church." jour., 1828,
pp. 14, 15.

The Bishop again briefly referred to the subject in his address to the Convention of 1829.
Jour., p. 12.

The Committee on the State of the Church referred the matter back to the Convention with
out expressing any opinion. p. 23.

" That part of the Report of the Committee on the State of the Church in regard to the Reso
lutions submitted by the General Convention relating to certain alterations in the Prayer-book
was now called up, on motion of the Rev. Mr. Freeman. Resolved, That it is inexpedient to
introduce any alterations in the existing forms for Morning and Evening Prayer, or office of Con
firmation, or Rubric at end of the Communion service."

Georgia approved ( Vide journal of 1829, and also "Episcopal Watchman," in., p. 200). The
action of the Convention in Mississippi is found in the same periodical, and the Rev. A. A. Mul-
ler s Sermon before that body (pp. 23, 24) refers to the matter at length.

In Pennsylvania ( Vide journal of 1827, pp. 28-31) in 1828 the motion of Rev. Dr. (after
wards Bishop) Hopkins disapproving of the proposal was postponed to the next Convention.
Journal, 1829, pp. 25, 26, 27. In 1829 the subject was indefinitely postponed. Journal, 1829,
pp. 42-45.

In Ohio the journal of September, 1827, gives the following action :

" The Secretary having read a communication from the General Convention, submitting certain
resolutions respecting proposed alterations of some rubrics and offices of the Book of Common
Prayer, the following resolution was, on motion, unanimously adopted :

"Resolved, That this Convention feel constrained, by an imperious sense of duty, and an
earnest desire for the peace and unity of the Church, to disapprove the alterations of onr in
comparable Liturgy, proposed by the General Convention held in Philadelphia, November, 1826."

In New Englan d, we find the followi ng action recorded in the reprint of the journals of Maine :

" The following resolves offered by Mr. Gardiner were then passed.

" Resolved, That the Convention deem it expedient that a committee be appointed by the
next General Convention to revise The Table of Holy Scripture to be read at morning and
evening prayer throughout the year, and to report to the succeeding General Convention such
alterations as they may judge expedient.

" Voted, That the Secretary of the Convention be instructed to communicate the above resolve
to the Secretary of the General Convention, through the delegates from this State.

" Voted, That it is inexpedient that the alterations in the Liturgy proposed in the last General
Convention be carried into effect."

In the Convention of Vermont, at that time, a part of the Eastern diocese, under date
of June 28th, 1827, we find the following record :

" The Committee to whom the communication from the Secretary of the General Conven
tion, relating to proposed alterations of the Liturgy, was referred reported the following
Resolution, which was adopted :

" Resolved, That the communication from the Secretary of the House of Clerical and Lay
Deputies of the General Convention be referred to the Standing Committee, to be reported upon
at the next annual meeting of this Convention."

In the May following a communication from the Secretary of the Eastern Diocese, dated Octo
ber of the preceding year, was read in Convention urging that action should be taken by the Vermont
Convention. This communication, on the motion of the writer of the communication, the Rev.
Benjamin Bosworth Smith, was laid on the table. The report of the Standing Committee on this
whole subject appears in the "Episcopal Watchman," n., p. 131.

New Hampshire did not approve.

172 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

On the 18th of June, 1828, at the Massachusetts Convention, a similar communication to that
referred to above was was read from the Secretary of the Eastern Diocese, to wit :

" On motion of the Rev. C. Burroughs, Resolved, That this Convention think it desirable and
important that the State Conventions of the Eastern Diocese should, previous to the next meeting
of the General Convention, express their opinion relative to the alterations proposed in the Liturgy
and in the Constitution of the Church, by the last General Convention."

In the following year it was

" Resolved unanimously, as the sense of this Convention, that it is inexpedient to make any
alterations in the Liturgy.

Rhode Island negatived this proposal almost unanimously, in 1829 (Vide Reprint of Early
Journals of R. I., p. 100).

The action in Connecticut is recorded in the journal for 1821, pp. 14-17-21, journal of 1828,
p. 36, journal, 1829. Bishop Brownell s views, on p. 14, the action of the Convention, on pp. 18,

* J- j 4_.

The fate of the resolutions is thus recorded :

" Journal of the Ilouse of Bishops.

Philadelphia, 12th August, 1829.

A letter from the Rev. Frederick Dalcho, Secretary of the Convention of South Carolina,
to the Secretary of this House, transmitting copies of sundry resolutions of that Convention,
relative to the alterations in the Liturgy and Constitution, proposed at the last General Con
vention, was received and read.

Thursday, 13th August, 1829.

A letter from Mr. John G. Williams, Secretary of the Convention of me Diocese of Virginia,
transmitting copies of a preamble and resolutions of that Convention, upon the proposed altera
tions of the Liturgy and Constitution, was received and read."

" Journal of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.

August 13th, 1829.

The Committee appointed to report upon the unfinished business of the last General Conven
tion report, that they have examined the journal of the last Convention, and that the follow
ing matters recorded therein remain unfinished. . . .

2. The resolutions received from the Ilouse of Bishops on the subject of certain changes in
the order for reading the Psalter and Lessons, in the office of Confirmation, and in the rubric at
the end of the Communion service, and concurred in by this House."

" Journal of the Ilouse of Bishops.

Saturday, 15th August, 1829.

On motion of the Right Rev. Bishop Hobart, seconded by the Right Rev. Bishop Brownell,
Resolved, That, under existing circumstances, it is not expedient to adopt the proposed resolu
tions relative to the Liturgy and office of Confirmation, and they are therefore hereby dismissed
from the consideration of the Convention." And the resolution was sent to the House of Clerical
and Lay Deputies for concurrence.

A message was afterwards received from that Ilouse, with information that they concurred
in that resolution.

" Journal of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.

Saturday, August 15th, 1829.

A resolution was received from the Ilouse of Bishops, that under existing circumstances it
is not expedient to adopt the proposed resolutions relative to the Liturgy and office of Confirma
tion, and that they are, therefore, dismissed from the consideration of the Convention.

On motion, this House concurred in the above resolution ; and notice was accordingly sent to
the House of Bishops.

CHAPTER X.

BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES.

"TT^ARLY in the latter half of the eighteenth century John Viets,
Jj an intelligent and wealthy Presbyterian farmer of Sims bury, m
Connecticut, finding his son Roger from his earliest years a boy
of singular promise and inclined to study, sent him to Yale College,
with a view to his education for the ministry of the religious body to
which he himself belonged. The lad was but thirteen years old when
he entered the class of 1758, at Yale. Among his classmates was a
young man of earnest Christian character and great promise, whose
consistent churchmanship could not but induce inquiry and win respect
for the faith he professed. This youth was Thoma^ payies. whose brief
ministry in North-western Connecticut has left a lasting memory not
yet faded out. We have no record that Davies sought to proselyte
his fellow-students ; but the knowledge of his devout life and many
attractive characteristics would support the inference that he was, from
his singularity of belief and his holy life, a means of awakening in
quiry and inviting investigation as to the Church s claims, not only in
the case of Viets, but also of Tfela, Hubfyard. who subsequently entered
the Church, and became one of its most worthy ministers.

One Sunday, while a student, curiosity led Roger Viets to seek
permission to attend the service of the Church. With no little diffi
culty he obtained the consent of the president to be present for a
single Sunday. He went, and for the first time in his life witnessed
" the beauty of holiness in the Common Prayer." Attracted , interested,
and impressed, he sought and found opportunities for repeating his
attendance. The study of the works on the Church and her worship,
in the college library, followed. It was the old story repeated anew.
He read and carefully weighed the arguments for episcopacy and a
liturgical worship, and was soon a convert to the Church. Great was
the father s surprise and indignation when the son avowed his change
of belief, and asked his father s permission to seek orders in the Church.
To the threat of being disowned for forsaking the faith of his fore
fathers the son replied by sending copies of the treaties by the peru
sal of which he had himself been convinced. The result was that the
father and the family followed the son into the Church as zealous and
intelligent Conformists, and young Viets, on his return from England in
holy orders, ministered to his own family, relatives, and friends at Sims-
bury as missionary of the venerable society.

Such was the story of the conversion to the Church of the Rev.
Roger Viets, who, with a meagre suppoit, sought in his long and
faithful ministry at Simsbury to eke out the scanty stipend received

174 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

from abroad by the care of his ancestral farm and the tutorship of the.
youth in the neighborhood. Among his pupils was his sister s son,
Alexander Viets Griswold, named for the first of the name to settle in
Connecticut, and inheriting from his excellent parents a taste for
learning. It was to his uncle, the missionary at Simsbury, that
the young Griswold owed his early intellectual training and his
love of letters. From the care and instructions of his mother
there were instilled into his youthful mind "sentiments of piety,
with the knowledge of Christ, and the duty of prayer." Thus
grounded in the principles and practice of holiness, "the fear of
God, the love of his name, and a faith in Christ," the bishop tells
us were never "wholly lost." The Catechism was carefully taught in|
the Griswold household, the Scriptures were systematically read,(
and the future bishop was thus from the first fitted under God fprf
his work. Ho had great facility in acquiring knowledge. His love
of general literature led him to prefer his book to the usual sports of
childhood, and after a day of toil study was more attractive to him
than sleep. It was thus that the boy grew up amidst nature s loveli-^
cst scenes, biTght in intellect, beautiful in person, of quick parts, of |
amiable temper, with the tastes of a student, and yet the aptitude for \
the keen enjoyment of life as it opened before him. To the stimulat- j
ing and encouraging influences of his mother, whose love for learning
was remarkable, there were added the careful and unremitting instruc
tions of his uncle, who was for -several years an inmate of his home,
and with whom, from the age of ten, he lived for the next decade of his
life. Spared in the providence of God twice in his youth from imminent
peril of death, his life was henceforth consecrated to his Maker s ser
vice. Neither the state of his health nor the troublous times of the
revolutionary war then drawing to a close, permitted the realiza
tion of his desire of graduating at Yale. But his attainments in lan
guages, in mathematics, in natural science, and in general literature,
were far in excess of many of those who possessed the diploma of
the college. The family of the young Griswold were in sympathy
with the crown in the struggle for independence. Though striving to
maintain a strict neutrality, the worthy missionary was imprisoned for
months at Hartford for affording charitable relief at midnight to some
fugitives seeking to elude capture by the rebel authorities, and the
taxes and fines imposed upon the father of the future bishop were

the direct occasion of his son s inabil
ity to secure the coveted diploma of
Yale. The removal of the Rev.
Roger Viets to Nova Scotia at the
close of the war, and the purpose
of his nephew to accompany him,

precipitated an early marriage, which proved in God s providence
the occasion of his relinquishment of his purpose of expatriating him
self, and turned the attention of the young husband towards the law.
At the age of twenty he received confirmation at the hands of Bishop
Seabury, on occasion of his first visit to Simsbury, and his interest in
the Church was such that in the absence of clerical ministrations his

BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES. 175

services were called into requisition with no little success. It was
this facility in reading the Church prayers and sermons, and the urgent
entreaties of the Rev. Ambrose Todd, who had succeeded his uncle in
the cure of souls at Simsbury, that led him, after many anxious ques
tionings of soul, and at no little sacrifice of temporal prospects, to offer
himself to the Bishop and Convention of Connecticut as a candidate
for holy orders. In his preparation he was still obliged by the res
angusta domi to labor with his hands for his support, and after a day
of toil it was his wont to stretch himself at night on the hearth, with
his books about him, and in place of candles, which he could not well
afford, he would pursue his studies for hours into the night, by the
light of the pine knots, as they blazed fitfully in the chimney-corner,
while his wife and children were asleep.

The candidate for orders at that time was expected to officiate in
vacant parishes, and to deliver sermons of his own composition. Mr.
Griswold undertook this duty, and having been admitted to candidate-
ship at the Convention which met at New Haven, June 4, 1794, in the
course of a few months he had taken in preference to other, and, in a
worldly point of view, better positions offered him, the charge of three
parishes in Litchfield county, Connecticut. These were the towns of
Plymouth, Harwinton, and the village of Northfield, then as now a part
of the town of Litchfield. He was ordained to the diaconate at Christ
Church, in Stratford, on the first Sunday after Trinity, June 7, 1795, *
receiving priest s orders at St. Matthew s Church, Plymouth, October
21, in the same year.

The communication of the priestly office to Mr. Griswold, and the
consecration of the Church in which the ordination took place, were the
last official acts of the first Bishop of Connecticut, as recorded in his
register, which bears, be
sides, only the attestation,
" by us, Samuel, Bp. Con- j
nect. and Rho. Isl." His &lt;
early admission to priest s

orders by one so careful in conferring this office and administration is a
proof of the regard entertained both by the bishop himself and the clergy,
who urged this step, for the faithful minister of Litchfield county. The
event proved that the good degree so early purchased was wisely con
ferred. Among the picturesque hills and vales of North-western Con
necticut he lived and labored faithfully, covenanting with his people to
serve them " so long as it should please God to enable him " to perform
" the duties and offices of a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in Connecticut according to the usages, rules, and discipline of
said Church," 2 and stipulating merely for "liberty to attend conven
tions and convocations of the clergy, and to obey the directions of his
Diocesan." He had no thought of change till the embarrassment

1 Dr. Stone, in his " Memoir of the Life of
the Rt. Rev. Alexander Viets Griswold, D.D.,"
gives these dates differently, but the official reg
ister of Bp. Seabury records the dates and other
particulars of time and place as we have given
them in the text. Vide "A Reprint in full of the

Registry of Ordinations by Bishops Seabury and
Jarvis/ 8vo [1882], p. 10.

2 Vide Contract or Indenture entered on the
records of St. Mark s Church, Harwinton, as
given by Dr. Stone in his " Memoir of the Life of
Bishop Griswold," pp. 92, 93.

176 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

growing out of the loss of a portion of his paternal estate, and the
impossibility of supporting his family on the meagre stipend of three
hundred dollars, which was all that he received from his Litchfield
parishes, led him, after repeated refusals, to listen to the invitation to
remove to St. Michael s, Bristol, Rhode Island, where more ample
means and greater opportunities for study and mental improvement
awaited him. The summons to his new field of labor found the
country parson at his plough, with "broad-brimmed hat and patched
short-clothes, coarse stockings, and heavy shoes." But the farmer s
garb was soon exchanged for the clerical attire, in which he was
" equally at home, and to each an equal ornament," and the tall, erect,
and dignified man of God stood forth a leader in Israel. Ere the
summer of 1804 had come the new rector of St. Michael s and his
family were happily settled in their new home.

Here he lived for more than a quarter of a century. He left the
care of three parishes, with upwards of two hundred communicants,
most of whom he had admitted to the table of the Lord. His Bris
tol parish had but twenty-five families and a score of communicants,
and, though endowed, could not afford its rector a livelihood without
his adding to his duties the instruction of youth. But under the
earnest and successful ministrations of Mr. Griswold the church was
soon found too small for its congregation, and during his long pastor
ate enjoyed uninterrupted and unexampled prosperity.

Five years after his removal to Bristol, and about fifteen years
after his admission to orders, Mr. Griswold was invited to the rector
ship of St. Michael s, Litchfield. He had been brought to the verge
of the grave by illness occasioned by overwork, the cure of souls and
the care of a school weighing down his strong frame and enfeebling
a constitution of unusual natural vigor. He had seen the inroad of
disease and death in his family, and his heart turned with a natural
yearning for the home of his earlier years on the wild, but picturesque,
hills of Litchfield county. "In the providence of God," to quote from
his autobiography, " I was diverted from my purpose by an occur
rence, to me totally unexpected." This was his election to the epis
copate.

The call to this high office and administration was from the
" Eastern diocese," formed by the union of the churches in the State of
Massachusetts, then including the district of Maine, and in Rhode Island,
New Hampshire, and Vermont. The organization of this Eastern
diocese was perfected by a Convention which assembled in the city of
Boston, on the 29th of May, 1810, and Mr. Griswold was elected
bishop on the 31st of that month. His consecration, which occurred
at the same time with that of Bishop Hobart, took place one year from
the assembling of the Convention, on the gflfih " f Mny, [KJ1 3 a few
weeks after his entrance on the forty-sixth ye,ar_of his age.

The diocese, to the oversight of which Mr. Griswold was called,
was composed of the four confederated churches we have already
named, and the organization was agreed upon in view of the indi
vidual inability of either of these churches to support a bishop of its
own. In the four States thus united there were in all but twenty-two

BISHOP GBISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES. 177

parishes and sixteen officiating n.w gy mm, ()f t [ ie par j s h e s several
had only a name to live, but were dead. Others were but feeble, and
the little strength and ability there was in the federated churches was
comprised in a few old and wealthy congregations, such as Trinity,
Boston; St. John s, Providence; and Trinity, Newport. For eio-ht
years there had been the entire lack of episcopal service. These years
had been years of decay and spiritual death. In Massachusetts, where,
before the Eevolution, the Church had become comparatively strong
the loss of the King s chapel, consequent upon the removal of the
great body of the parishioners to the Provinces, and the defection of
the few who re
mained, had been /r^ ^ .----._- . ,
seriously felt ; and,
although the singu
lar prudence and
hearty patriotism of
Parker, at Trinity,
had been the means
of preserving the
Church from ex
tinction during the
war, still there was
at its close, and in
its gradual revival,
a marked falling
off in numbers, in
fluence, and wealth
among the adher
ents of the Church,
while the incoming
tide of Unitarian-
ism threatened to
ingulf all other
forms of belief.
In fact, but for the
Church, its tempo
rary triumph would
have been com
plete. The creeds and prayers kept alive the Catholic faith when all
besides seemed lost.

The first Bishop of Connecticut was virtually the bishop of the
New England churches. From the moment of his return from Scot
land, invested with the apostolic character, Parker, who had been kept
informed of the circumstances of his election, and his subsequent efforts
for the consummation of his mission abroad, hastened to Middletown
to greet him on his formal reception by the clergy of Connecticut, and
subsequently welcomed him to Boston again and again. It was, as we^
have already scon, through the persevering efforts of the lieetor of
Trinity, Boston, that the measures were inaugurated which united the
churches of the Northern with those of the Middle and Southern

KT. REV. EDWARD BASS, D.D., FIRST BISHOP
OF MASSACHUSETTS.

178 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

States. Whep these efforts for union had brought about the desired
result, the consecration of j)c- ]fosa was not pressed, and it was not
till l?i)7 that ho receive^ tlje spisypppte. To the care of the Massa-
chusctts churches was added the oversight of those in Rhode Island,
and just before his death those in New Hampshire, the signature
of "Edward, Bp. Mass, and Rho. Is.," to official documents, being
still extant. On his death, which occurred in September, 1803,
the diocese made choice of the Rev. Dr. Parker as his successor.
Consecrated in September, 1804, his death occurred during the
following December, before he had performed a single episcopal
act. Between the death of Bishop Bass and the choice of Bishop
Parker it is said that efforts were made to induce a distinguished
lawyer, the Hon. Dudley Atkins Tyng, of Newburyport, to take
the orders of deacon and priest, that with as little delay as possi
ble he might be raised from the bench to the episcopate, in the
place of the venerable Dr. Bass, whose life-long friend he was. It had
been the purpose of Judge Tyng, in early life, to enter the ministry
of the Church ; but at the time of his graduation from Harvard, in
1781, the state of affairs was such that there seemed little prospect of
his attaining the object of his desire, and he turned his attention
towards the profession in which he rapidly rose to eminence. In this
effort to secure a head for the Church, the Rev. Theodore Dehon, at
that time Rector of Trinity Church, Newport, was prominent, acting in
the name and at the request of the leading clergy in Massachusetts
and Rhode Island. Judge Tyng shrank from the honor and responsi
bility thus thrust upon him, and finally declined the post. Dr. Parker,
who had again and again declined the offer of the episcopate, was
elected. Reluctantly, after some months of indecision, he accepted the
office, was consecrated, and died. Amidst the depression and dis
couragements that attended these successive disappointments matters
so shaped themselves as to bring about the organization of the Eastern
diocese.

In Rhode Island, which had formally received Bishop Seabury as
its diocesan, no attempt had been made to fill the place made vacant

by his death until
1806, when, in
accordance with a
vote of the Con
vention, Bishop
Benjamin Moore
was invited by a
committee, con
sisting of the Rev.
Messrs. Griswold
and Dehon. to take
the churches of the State under his episcopal charge ; but with his
refusal to undertake the onerous work the independent efforts of
the Rhode Island Church to supply itself with the episcopate ceased
for many years. In New Hampshire there was the same lack of ability
to support a bishop that prevented independent action elsewhere among

BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES. 179

the New England churches other than in Connecticut. The few parishes
there had informally received the first Bishop of Connecticut as their
bishop, and his ordination at St. John s Church, Portsmouth, New Hamp
shire, on St. Peter s day, June 29, 1791, of the Rev. Robert Fowlc, a
native of Newburyport, Mass. , and a graduate of Harvard College, to the
priesthood, had provoked one of the latest of the controversies which
had marked the earlier years of the century. Bishop Bass was formally
chosen to the episcopate of the Church in this State ; but on his death,
which occurred a few weeks subsequent to this action, no step was
taken to elect a successor, though on Dr. Parker s consecration one was
raised to the episcopate who was a native of the State, and would, had
his valuable life been spared, have been welcomed as its spiritual
head.

In Vermont the Church, though not yet admitted into union with
the General Convention, had taken measures looking towards organiza
tion and the consecration of a bishop. The grants of land for glebes,
and to the venerable society, which had been made by the Governor
of New Hampshire, to whose jurisdiction Vermont was supposed to
belong, had attracted a number of church settlers from Connecticut
and elsewhere, and gave promise that in the lapse of years the Church
would be largely endowed, and its clergy supported without tithes or
offerings. But the war destroyed these hopes, and at its close not a
clergyman resided within the limits of the State, and the few church
men were well-nigh in despair at the prospect of their Church s
extinction. In 1784 a clergyman was settled in Arlington, and two
years later another in Manchester. One of these two soon displayed
his unworthiness for the sacred calling, and the other could not, even
if disposed, attend to his parish and the whole State besides. There
was need of some one with the spirit of the Master to go from town
to town, and from hamlet to hamlet, ministering the word and sacra
ments, in " journeyings oft," to those perishing for lack of the Bread of
Life. One was found to undertake this work. Among the immigrants
from Connecticut, about the beginning of the revolutionary war, were
two brothers, the elder, Jhomas Lthe younger, Bethue-1, Chittenden.
men of great natural abilityTand well fitted to become pioneers in a
new State. The elder became the first governor of the State of Ver
mont. Bethuel, ten years younger than his brother, was a settler at
Tinmouth, in Rutland county, and in the lack of clerical ministrations
was accustomed to read the Church s prayers and sermons to his
family and neighbors. As a man of unsullied probity and a devoted
Christian, his ministrations attracted attention, and possibly directed
his own mind to the obligation resting on him as a Christian and a
churchman to "seek for Christ s sheep that were dispersed abroad,"
and to gather them into the fold of the Good Shepherd. It was doubt
less at a personal, and certainly at a pecuniary, sacrifice, that this
devout and devoted layman, in the forty-ninth year of his age, with
the recommendation of " the Church Wardens of Tinmouth and Cas-
tleton," presented himself to Bishop Seabury, in Stamford, Conn., and
was ordained to the diaconate on Friday, June 1, 1787, in old St.
John s Church. After three years he removed to Shelburne, in Chit-

180 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

tcndcn county, where he resided on his own farm to the end of his
life, pursuing the work of an itinerant evangelist, ministering wherever
there were church people to be reached all along the eastern and .
western sides of the Green Mountains. The venerable T h lajjfW /
Qhnaftj-ftcnrdfl i^ hiq " Reminiscences " * that it^was atT/oncord, N.H., (
"7it tne hands of this piomTambassador of Christ, that lie received for J
tin firsl time the blessed sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ."]
In 17! !) tin- Convention of the Church in Vermont was organized, by
two clergymen and eighteen laymen, and legislated for the protection
of church rights and property year by year, although the excellent
and self-sacrificing Chittenden did not attend its sessions until 1793.
At this Convention Dr. Edward Bass, of Newburyport, was elected
to the episcopate of the Church in Vermont. This election was
accepted conditionally, but before measures could be taken to carry
into effect the action of the Convention a special Convention was
held at Manchester, in February, 1794, composed of but nine out
of twenty-four parishes, at which, on the nomination of Col. John
A. Graham, of Rutland, the celebrated refugee, the Rev. Samuel
Peters, LL.D., was elected, probably by a bare majority of those

present. This action of the Conven-
tion was opposed by Mr. Chittenden,
both in open session and subse
quently in a letter addressed to
the bishop-elect. The grounds of this opposition were, the fact
that Dr. Bass had not declined the election of the previous Con
vention ; the small attendance on the Manchester Convention ; the
pronounced toryism of Dr. Peters ;

and the further fact that Dr. Bass rv * ^ -

could serve the Church in Vermont *&gt;^ry*-4&gt;C ?%2****&v^~i
free of expense by his continued

residence at Newburyport till the church land should yield a sufficient
income for his support. There is evidence that the Rev. John
Cosens Ogdeu was not pleased with Dr. Peters election. The only
other clergymen present were the Rev. James Nichols, of Sandgate,
and the Rev. Daniel Barber, of Manchester. The one was a man of
evil life, and the other subsequently abandoned the Church and entered
the Romish priesthood. Happily the consecration of this erratic
clergyman was prevented, the application of the Church in Vermont
to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a subsequent one to the Ameri
can prelates, having been in each case refused.

On St. Peter s day, 1794, Mr. Chittenden received priest s or
ders from Bishop Seabury, in St. James s Church, New London. 2
From this time he became a prominent man in the councils of the
Church in Vermont, the Convention from 1790 to 1808, inclusive,
electing him as its president. He was a member of the standing
committee from 1794 to the time of his death, and filled other impor
tant offices and trusts in the service of the Church. This good old
man, the first clergyman ordained for Vermont, after doing the work

Vol. i., p. 18.

1 A Reprint in full of the Registry of Ordinations, by Bishops Seabury and Jurvis, p. 10.

BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES. 181

of an evangelist for twenty -two years, died at Shelburne, Novem
ber 8, 1809, while engaged in divine service. In 1805 the Ver
mont Convention requested Bishop Benjamin Moore, of New York, to
take the Church in the State under his episcopal care. This step
was taken with a view of aiding the Vermont churchmen in their
effort to secure possession of the church lands, which had been given
to the venerable society. Bishop Moore consented to comply with the
request of the Convention, with the express understanding that he
should not be expected to visit the State. In this situation, so far as
episcopal supervision was concerned, the Church continued until 1819,
when the Convention acceded to the proposed plan of federation, and
Vermont, while retaining its Diocesan Convention and its representa
tion in General Convention, became part of the Eastern diocese.

There had been created by special legislation of the General Con
vention of 1801, while these events were transpiring, a quasi diocese,
composed of the churches in Western New Hampshire and Eastern
Vermont, associated with a view to the preservation of the Church s
interest in the lands lying on each side of the Connecticut river. The
leading spirit in this scheme was the Rev. Daniel Barber, who after
wards entered the Roman communion. This anomalous and ill-ad
vised organization comprised but four, or at the most five, parishes, so
far as is known with any certainty. These were Claremont, New
Hampshire, and Rockingham, Weathersfield, Westminster, and possi
bly Hartland, Vermont. It was never represented in Convention. It
never appears to have sought either the presence, or to put itself under
the jurisdiction, of any bishop of -the Church. In 1808, in conse
quence of a remonstrance from the New Hampshire Convention, the
General Convention rescinded its action authorizing the creation of the
Connecticut Valley Association, and it was finally broken up in time
to prevent its becoming an obstacle to the confederation of the Eastern
diocese.

A year intervened between the election and consecration of the
bishop of the Eastern diocese. Allusion has already been made to the
failure of the attempt to consecrate Mr. Griswold and Dr. Hobart at
the General Convention held in New Haven, in May, 1811. The busi
ness was happily accomplished in Old Trinity, New York, on the 29th
of May. The accidental omission, at the laying on of hands, of the words
"In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,"
was made the occasion by the enemies of Dr. Hobart of an attempt to
invalidate the consecration. This factious opposition to Dr. Hobart,
which, strangely enough, was never displayed toward Mr. Griswold, in
whose case the same defect existed, soon fell to the ground. It was
the pitiful exhibition of a personal dislike as unwarranted in its incep
tion as it was indefensible in its attempt at criticism. Another cir
cumstance attending this consecration is thus alluded to by Bishop
Griswold in his autobiography. " This consecration was at New York
in 1811. . . . The Rev. Dr. Hobart was ordained at the same
time. Though he was several years younger than myself, was elected
nearly a year after my election, and was chosen to be but an assistant
bishop, still he was registered as my senior, and uniformly had the

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

precedence. The purpose of this partiality was that he, rather than
I, should, in the probable course of events, be the presiding bishop.
1 would to God it might so have been. Through all my life 1 have
delighted most in retirement. To appear in any public or conspicu
ous station has ever been unpleasant : and, as far as duty would ad
mit, I have avoided it. It was with great reluctance that I afterwards
consented to preside in the House of Bishops. It was much more
painful to me from my knowing that such measures had been taken

to prevent it." It
is but just in this
connection to state
that Bishop White
assigned another
reason for this pref
erence of Dr. Hobart
over Mr. (iriswold.
It was the seniority
of the former over
the latter in academ
ic degrees, the As
sistant Bishop of New
York being a doctor
in divinity. This was
the English rule of
precedence in confer
ring orders, and had
been observed in the
case of the consecra
tion of the first Amer
ican bishops at Lam
beth, Bishop White
himself having been
con secrated before
Bishop Provoost, as
the senior doctor in
divinity.

This observance of English precedent was subsequently aban
doned, and the priority of election to the office of a bishop substituted
in its stead.

Bishop Griswold entered upon his work with a zeal and fervor
that abated nothing to the very close of life. He was in the full
maturity of his powers. His appearance was at once dignified and im
pressive. His voice, though never strong, was clear and musical. In
his presence there was felt the restraining and softening influence of
the man of God. His conversation was in heaven. His work was to
the last an arduous one. It was his task to revive the embers on
altars where the spiritual tires had well-nigh died out. He was called
upon to harmonize the discordant elements of church life and church

1 Stone s " Memoir of the Lite of Bishop Griswold," pp. 165, 166.

KT. KEV. A. V. GKISWOLD, D.D., BISHOP OF
THE EASTERN DIOCESE.

BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES. 183

work, which, through neglect or disuse, were "jangled outof tune." It
was his duty to administer discipline which had been too long delayed,
and to redress evils already chronic in their hold upon the Church.

The very beginning of his episcopate was attended by special
tokens of the divine blessing. In the bishop s autobiography he thus
records the progress and results of a marked awakening to spiritual
life on the part of pastor and people at Bristol :

In the year 1812 there was at Bristol an awakened attention to the subject of
religion, which was very wonderful, and the like of which I had never before wit
nessed. It commenced among the members of my parish, when no such thing was
looked for, nor indeed thought of. No unusual efforts had been made with any
view to such an excitement. My administering Confirmation in the parish a few
months previously had not improbably some effect. My recent ordination to the
Episcopate was the means of awakening my own mind to more serious thoughts of
duty as a minister of Christ ; and in consequence I had, no doubt, with more earnest
zeal preached "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified." The change which I first noticed
was the appearance of increased seriousness in the congregation; especially on
leaving the Church after service. There was little or no laughing, or merry saluta
tion among the people ; neither talking of worldly things. After the benediction,
and a minute of private prayer, they retired silent and thoughtful. Some soon
began to express a religious concern respecting their spiritual state, and were
anxious to know " what they should do to be saved."

In consequence of this awakened and increasing inquiry, I began to meet
with them one or two evenings in the week, not only that we might unite in pray
ing that they might be led into the way of truth, and enjoy the comforts of hope,
and of peace in believing, but that I might save time to myself and them, by con
versing at the same time with a number who were in the same state of mind. I
soon found that the number of such inquirers had increased to about thirty ; and
in a very short time the awakening was general through the Town, and very
wonderful.

Very much to my regret, the number of communicants had hitherto been
small, but about forty ; and yet, notwithstanding the very zealous efforts of those
of other denominations to draw the converts to their respective communions, a large
number of adults (forty-four) were baptized, and a hundred were added to my
communion, of whom more than half had before been accustomed to attend worship
in other places, or in no place. These converts were not encouraged in ranting, or
in any enthusiastic raptures ; nor did they incline to any extravagance ; but gladly
hearkened to the "words of truth and soberness ; " and very few of them afterwards
" turned from the holy Commandment delivered unto them."

The influence of this remarkable awakening of spiritual life in St.
Michael s, Bristol, during the summer of 1812, was lasting, and its
beneficial results were seen in crowding the church, already once
enlarged under the faithful and warm-hearted ministration of their
rector and bishop. The increase in numbers, and the evident deep
ening of spirituality on the part of the communicants of the parish,
gave abundant proof that the work was of God.

In his first address to the Convention of the Eastern diocese, which
met at Providence, R.I., on the 30th of September, 1812, the bishop
reported that upwards of twelve hundred had been confirmed, and that
the churches of the diocese, most of which had been visited once, and
some a second time, were " increasing in numbers, piety, and attention
to the doctrines and discipline of the Church." This was the simple
story of his episcopate. The work he began as a bishop in 1811, in
watching over a few scattered parishes, feeble and "ready to die,"
hardly more than a score in number, he lived to see multiplied nearly

184 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

five-fold, distributed into five fully organized dioceses, and able to
support, in place of the gentle, patient, apostolic man, who had been
ready to "spend and be spent" for his flock, four bishops to minister
to the Church of God.

The zeal and devotion of the good bishop were not confined to the
people to whom he sustained the relations of a rector, or to the dio
cese, which, in its extent of territory and spiritual need, might well
have claimed his every thought and care. To one who in his life and
labors showed so much of the spirit of the great missionary, the
"field was the world," and the earnest advocacy of the cause of
church extension, at home and abroad, advocated by him in his charge
of 1814, and in the pastoral letter sent out at the same time, was
certainly among the chief means of awakening the American Church
to its duty with reference to missionary efforts, and securing that in
terest which resulted in the formation of our missionary organization.
The first foreign missionary ever sent from our Church was nominated
and recommended by Bishop Griswold, 1 and throughout his life he
displayed the deepest interest in all that pertained to the work of
evangelizing the world by bearing the Gospel in the Church to
the nations.

After the death of Bishop Jarvis, of Connecticut, Bishop Gris
wold was invited to perform episcopal duty in the vacant diocese ; but
after visiting several parishes and admitting two candidates to the
diaconate, the Church in Connecticut formally placed itself under the
episcopal care of the Bishop of New York, and thus spared the over
worked Bishop of the Eastern diocese from further labor. The work
was everywhere growing. To a faithful priest in Massachusetts the
bishop writes, in 1817, "Never perhaps, since the Apostles days, has
any body of clergy had more pressing calls for unusual exertions and
labors, in season and out of season, than we in this diocese. The
harvest truly is great, and the laborers few." 2 The multiplication of
copies of the Prayer-book "second only to the Bible in its utility," as he
says, occupied his anxious thoughts. " Next after the word and minister
of God," he tells his Convention, "this is the best gift which you can
send." The lack of ministrations in vacant parishes called forth his
earnest sympathy and personal effort to supply the want, and earnestly
did he urge parishes that were supplied to deny themselves of their
own services, that their clergy might minister to those who had "no
preaching, no divine service, no sacraments." Urging on the clergy
and laity the duty of missionary gifts for church extension, he re
minds the former that " many of our people contribute to the propa
gation of the Gospel by other sects who would more gladly give,
if, with even less importunity, they were called upon by the clergy of
our own communion." A proposition coming from a clergyman in
charge of a decayed parish in Massachusetts to dispose of the church
to the Congregationa lists, he firmly opposed. "If that Church, of so
many years standing, is to be abandoned and given up," he writes to
the rector at Marblehead, "and its property, which has been piously
devoted to its sacred use, is to be alienated, it must be done without

i Stone s Memoir, p. 248. " Stone s Memoir, pp. 252, 253.

BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES. 185

my consent. I can never indorse or consent to such a measure."
His charges, addresses, letters, all breathe the single idea of consecra
tion to his work, the upbuilding of the Church of God throughout the
length and breadth of the vast territory over which the Holy Ghost
had made him overseer. One of his letters gives an extract from his
journal, detailing a scene often repeated, and bringing to mind the
experience of mission-laborers of our day and generation. Here it was
the chief missionary, the shepherd and bishop of souls, who was thus
laboring amidst " God s first temples " for the " hire of souls." The
journal reads as follows :

June 15th [1821] In the morning we proceed over a bad i-oad, through a new
and interesting county, to Berkshire. (A town in Vermont on the borders of
Canada.) This school-house not being sufficient to contain the congregation ex
pected, preparations were made in a beautiful grove of young maples, on a fine
rising ground, and the lumber, collected near the spot for building a new church,
furnished abundant materials for the stage and seats. Thus was its use anticipated,
and an altar reared, we may almost say, with unhewn stone. These materials now
preparing to be fitly joined together in a regular temple, to be dedicated to God,
suggest the thought, that they who sit upon them are, we may hope, materials in
preparation, even "lively stones, 1 to be hereafter united in a temple infi
nitely more glorious, "a building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
Many circumstances conspired to heighten the interest of the scenery and the
occasion. At a small distance in front, without the grove, which was semicircu
lar, was the intended site of the new church. Below, at the foot of a gentle de
scent, the road leads along the grove, and beyond it, for a long distance on either
hand, the river Missisque is seen winding its beautiful course through an extended
vale. And still beyond are rising forests, and fields, and hills swelling into vari
ous shapes and sizes ; while mountains, rearing their unequal and lofty summits,
terminate the view. In such a situation, surrounded by a numerous assembly, col
lected from several towns and many miles in every direction, and like Cornelius
and his friends "waiting to hear all things, that were commanded us of God,"
my thoughts were such as I have not language to express. How deep are the coun
sels of the Almighty ! " Why is an instrument, so weak and unworthy, sent on a
message of such importance ? " - " Who shall satisfy these men with bread here in
the wilderness ? " God s power is made manifest in weakness. We sung the hymn,
"Far from my thoughts, vain world, begone." Prayers were read by one of the
clergy. After this second lesson seven young persons, four men and three women,
with the appearance of the most sincere devotion, presented themselves for bap
tism. The sermon was heard with an attention worthy of a better discourse.
After sermon thirty-five persons received confirmation, and received it, there was
no reason to doubt, with a just and deep sense of its nature and design. And then
the Lord s Supper was administered to a respectable number of very devout com
municants.

It was in this blessed work of bringing the Church s services and
sacraments to the hungering multitudes in the wilderness that Bishop
Griswold took especial delight. The days of old are brought to mind
at the recital of such experiences. As the Master who came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister, gave to the multitudes in the
wilderness of Judea the words of wisdom and the Bread of Life, so
his disciple carried to the most remote corners of his see the very
wilds of New England the ministrations of the Church of God.

At the organization of the Eastern diocese, in 1810, so feeble was
the Church in the confederated States, and so little prospect was there
of growth and development, that the necessity which prompted the
union was deemed likely to continue for a sufficient length of time to

186 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

warrant the adoption of measures for its perpetuation. In less than
thirty years, and ere the death of its first and only bishop, the labors,
influence, example, and prayers of that bishop had been blessed to
the increase of the Church in each of the States forming the confedera
tion, so that tho necessity for the organization had not only been
removed, but its dissolution was absolutely requisite. Meanwhile the
bishop, to whose wise and self-denying labors the Church in New Eng
land owed so much, had become the senior bishop of the American
Church. It was with no little reluctance, and after repeated expres
sions of unwillingness, that he finally consented to act in this capacity,
and in 1838 to prepare the pastoral letter ; which he did a second time
in 1841. The latter pastoral had for its subject the doctrine of our
Church as contained in the article on justification by faith, in con
nection with the article on the necessity and place of good works ; or,
in other words, what we must believe, and what we must do, in order
to be saved. It was received with universal approval. As the pre
siding bishop, Dr. Griswold carried on an interesting correspondence
with the archbishops and bishops of the churches of England, Scotland,
Ireland, and the colonies of Great Britain, opening the way for a full
intercommunion and intercourse between our own and the other
branches of the Anglican communion. The beginning of the tractarian
movement aroused his marked reprobation, and brought out clearly his
conservatism and opposition to the novelties which were then begin
ning to disturb the Church s peace. With universal esteem and ven
eration, and rejoicing in the choice and consecration of an assistant for
Massachusetts in whom he had the fullest confidence, and for whom
he cherished the wannest regard, his last days were days of happi
ness. He remitted no labor. "A Bishop should dift preaohinff "
was a sentiment he often quoted from Bishop Jewell with marked
approval. His own motto, " We will give ourselves continually to
prayer and the ministry of the word," was fulfilled to the last.

"Why should I be unwilling to go home?" had been his almost
reproachful query of his weeping household when, years before, he had
been on the verge of the grave. For years he had lived in readiness
for the destroyer. As was the case with the bishop who set him apart
for the ministry, the apostolic Seabury, he had no wish to be spared
from sudden death if it were God s will that he should by this end
glorify his Father in heaven. And so death came to him in his ripe
old age without the pain of a lingering dissolution. On Wednesday,
the 15th of February, 1843, the aged bishop gathered his household
about him for family prayers, reading the words of St. Paul s Epistle
to the Philippians, " For me to live is Christ ? and to die is pun," and
after the duties of the day were done proceeded to pay avisit to his
assistant, Dr. Eastburn. It was the last of earth. Falling on his
way, he struggled till the door was reached, and then, bowing his head
upon the threshold, he "fell asleep." Without a sigh or groan he had
" gone home."

BISHOP GRISWOLD AND THE NEW ENGLAND CHURCHES. 187

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

rnilE sources of the history of " the Eastern Diocese " are abundant. Besides
J_ the works i-eferred to in the text or in the foot-notes, each of the present
dioceses, formerly united under the charge of Bishop Griswold, has published or
reprinted its early journals, while the history of the Eastern Diocese itself has
been prepared by {he late Rev. C. R. T?atch"eldcr, and one of the three volumes
proposed published (Claremont, N. IT., 187.J). It is to lie regretted that this inter
esting and valuable compilation has not received the support it well deserved, in
view of the fact that it gives, either in full or with judicious condensation, the pro
ceedings of the conventions and the pastorals and addresses of the Bishop, which,
as originally published, have become of great rarity. Mr. Batchelder s work com
prises the history of the Church in New England, except Connecticut, from the
first settlement of the country to 1843. It contains the annals of all the parishes
which existed in New England, with the above exception, before the Revolution,
and memoirs of the priests who served in them. It gives an account of the organ
ization of the Church after that event, the formation of the Eastern Diocese, and all
the addresses and pastoral letters of Bishop Griswold. It contains in connection
with his addresses, in the form of notes, a history of all the parishes organized
during his episcopate, and memoirs of most of those ordained by him and since
deceased. Sections in different parts of the work give the history of the missionaiy
and charitable institutions of the Church and notices of general interest. It also
contains carefully prepared tables of all the missionaries of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel, and those clergymen licensed to the plantations by the
Bishop of London, who came into New England, and all the ordinations, confir
mations, consecrations, and institutions performed by Bishop Griswold. It is to be
hoped that so valuable a book of reference will yet be published in full.

CHAPTER XL

PARTIES IN THE CHURCH.

the period of the Church s reorganization and equipment,
I with its manifold activities and its engrossing cares and respon
sibilities, should be succeeded by a time of spiritual depression
was to be expected. There were many causes tending to produce this
lack of earnestness and aggressive life. The spirit of the times was
unchristian and unchurchly. The remembrance of wrongs inflicted by
the mother-land leading to the protracted struggle for separation and
independence had given rise, now that the war was over, to a dislike
of all that was English in manners, letters, politics, and belief. With
the grateful memory of the results of French interposition in our be
half, at the critical moment of the war there had grown up an affecta
tion for the laxity in belief and morals of the Continent. Even the
oldest American Church college, which had been founded for the
defence of the faith, had become a "hot-bed of French politics and irre-
ligion." Christianity, as exemplified in the lives of worldly, and often
unworthy, priests, had lost its hold upon the moral sense of the com
munity. The preaching of the times, when it rose above the drear
iest commonplace, was largely ethical, with labored arguments in
favor of natural religion, and infrequent and but casual allusions to
the distinctive doctrines of Christianity. There was little to awaken
conviction of sin or to quicken and direct the spiritual life. The
prayers and sacraments pointed to Christ, and feast and fast brought
before the thoughtless and the inquirer alike the great truths and
teachings of the incarnation and the atonement ; but in too many cases,
neither in word nor in life, did the priest inform the conscience or lead
the way to a higher degree of spirituality. It is the testimony of one
of the few clergy in Virginia who sought to withstand the tide of worldly
conformity and ungodliness, that of those who were called "church
people in Virginia generally none went to the Holy Table, except
a few of the more aged." 1 Exceptions to this spiritual declension there
certainly were. Though the love of many waxed cold, there were those
who walked with God ; and it is in tracing the development of a hap
pier state of things that we find the beginnings of a school of thought,
which, in its workings in the American Church, has produced men and
fostered measures of which the Church of God at large may well be
proud.

Our inheritance from the Church of colonial days was to a great
extent a ministry having "a form of godliness," but too often without
the power thereof, and a theology raised but a little above the level of
morality in its human bearings, and barely exceeding the teachings of

Life of the Rev. Dcvercux Jarratt, p. 102.

PARTIES IN THE CHURCH. 189

natural religion in its relations to God. We cannot but believe that
the clergy of the Church were largely at fault, when we find the Church
growing weaker and weaker, as it did throughout the South on the
downfall of the " establishment " in Virginia and Maryland, and losing
by degrees its hold on the masses, who were traditionally, and often by
baptism, numbered among its members. It is a significant fact that
the opposition in Virginia to the " Proposed Book" was not occasioned
by its crudities or its uncatholicity, but in conseq uence ofjts rubrical
regjiirement -that-the-minister should repeT an evil liver from the holy
table, while the unpublished correspondence of the excellent Griffith,
"Bishop-elect of this State, with White of Pennsylvania, exhibits a pitia
ble picture of indifference to the interests of religion and to the perfec
tion and perpetuation of the Church in the clergy and laity alike.

It was a striking proof of the existence of a wide-spread Erastian-
ism and indifference that the great body of the clergy and churchmen
of Virginia were found arrayed in opposition to the introduction of
an American episcopate, when Apthorp, Chandler, and Seabury, and
men like them at the North, were seeking to obtain this office for
the completeness of the Church. In South Carolina, jfae (3mrch had
united in the confederation of churches at The nortEwara, in &eir
efforts for organization and the introduction of the episcopate, on con
dition that no bishop should be sent to the State ; and when at length,
in 1795, this opposition was overcome, and the Rev. Robert Smith was
consecrated to the bishopric, it was not till 1813, nearly thirty years
after Seabury s consecration, that confirmation was administered in the
State. 1 This neglect of the Church s requirements was not to be won
dered at in a State where there was strong suspicion that the opposition
to the reception of a bishop had been withdrawn with the purpose of
seceding from the general Church when once the episcopate had been
secured, and where the proposal to confer an "absolute negative" on
the House of Bishops called forth such " a virulent attack upon the
doctrines and discipline of our Church, and a libel against the House

1 That this statement is correct appears from " Rt. Rev. Father in God : I hero present

follows : their desire to keep God s holy will and com-
" The first bishop of South Carolina, who mandments, of their firm resolution to persevere
held that position from 1795 to 1801, never ad- iii the Christian profession, and their settled
ministered this apostolic rite in his diocese, persuasion that confirmation is of standing use
Whether he regarded this Scriptural ordinance in the Church of Christ. They crave your bless-
as unimportant, or whether his people looked in_g and the prayers of the congregation. They
upon confirmation as a relic of superstition, docs wish to be confirmed, and to renew and ratify in
not appear. Probably both these suppositions their persons, and in their own names, the solemn
were in a measure true. Whatever the reason vow and promise that their godfathers and pod-
may have been, it is a melancholy reflection that mothers made for them in their baptism thus
one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ" taking upon themselves those sacred obligations,
had become lost to the minds of churchmen in and exonerating their sureties from their more
South Carolina. After the death of Bishop special engagements. I now most respectfully
Smith eleven years elapsed before the ordina- leave them in your hands, and may the blessing
tion of the second bishop of the diocese (Bishop of God rest upon them, upon you and upon the
Dehon), who first administered confirmation at whole Church, and may we all find grace and
Edisto Island, on the 30th March, 1813. The mercy in His sight here, and perpetual peace
Kcv. Andrew Fowler was the missionary who and felicity in His presence hereafter, through
presented the class. He regarded the matter of the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only
so much importance that he published a minute Saviour and Mediator! Amen."
account of this visitation of his bishop. ... "At this confirmation twenty persons re-
" The Presbyter s address to the Bishop was ceived this Apostolic rite. It was the first time
as follows : it had ever been performed in this State."

190

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of Bishops," that the author of
this "very offensive and cen
surable matter," a leading cler
gyman of the State and intimate
friend of the bishop, was only
saved from expulsion from the
House of Deputies by an ample
and public apology, "accom
panied by a profusion of tears."
Nor was the deadness in
spiritual things confined to the
South. The splendid abilities
of William Smith secured his
election to the Episcopate of
Maryland, although he was
more than suspected of doc
trinal unsoundness, and was
certainly open to charges of
irregularity in life. Bishop
Madison was exemplary and
scholarly, but possessed little
or no fervor of piety ; and, as
infidelity made strides towards
taking possession of the very
stronghold erected for the de
fence of the faith, despaired of
the Church, and died hopeless
of its future growth, and doubt
ful even of its perpetuation.
The patriotic Provoost, of New
York, was chosen to his posi
tion on political grounds, and
his theology was, as it had been
from the first, that of the lati-
tudinarian school. His corre
spondence with White is con
clusive as to the laxity of his
doctrinal views ; and his with
drawal from episcopal duty,
and, if tradition is to be be
lieved, even from attendance
on Church and sacraments in
his latter days, would confirm
the belief that his interest in
personal religion was but
slight. The readiness of the
Convention of the churches

1 This interesting receipt, kindly furnished Rev. Eaton Whiting Maxcy, D.D., rector, illus-
from the records of St. John s Church, Bridge- trates the scanty and inadequate provision made
port, Conn., by the author s life-long friend, the in Connecticut for the support of the episcopate.

PAKTIES IN THE CHURCH.

191

in the Middle and Southern States to sacrifice the Nicene Creed,
as well as the Athanasian symbol, and the restoration of the
former solely at the requirement of the English bishops, revealed the
existence, not so much of actual heresy, as of indifference to creeds
and confessions of faith. Even the episcopate, for the sake of which
so much effort was made, was shorn of much of its prestige and historic
powers. It was deemed essential by those who framed our earliest
constitution that the independent and autonymous "Church in each
State," composed often of three or four clergymen and the deputies of
half-a-dozen parishes, unendowed and often without the ability for self-
support, should have the power of trying, sentencing, and removing
their episcopal head, who was at the outset to have no separate or in
dependent voice in the legislation of the Church. The bishop was to
be hampered with the care of a parish, and even in Connecticut, where
the Church sentiment was certainly the strongest, the good bishop had
no other support than his pension and his parochial stipend. The re
turns for episcopal labor were few and meagre. In fact, there was
throughout the Church a spiritual torpor, from which the awakening at
length came from opposite causes and in distant sections of the country.
Even prior to the war there had been a reviving of spiritual
life in yirginia through the earnest ministrations of the Rev. Dcvereux
Jarratt, Rector of Bath Parish, Dinwiddie county, 1 whose fervid -elo
quence and evangelical discourses attracted crowds of followers and
won back to the Church and to the holy communion numbers who
were either on the point of being detached from the " establishment,"
from its lack of spiritual life, or were indifferent to the claims of relig
ion in consequence of evil courses of conduct. But "Father Jarratt,"
finding little sympathy from his brethren, among whom even at a cleri
cal convention, he tells us, "the most sacred doctrines of Christianity"
were in his hearing "treated with ridicule and profane burlesque," felt
impelled to encourage the early beginnings of Methodism in Virginia,
and for veara^ and, in fact T so long as the Methodists clung to thei
Church, was most active in the establishment of the "religious societies ^
of this body ,^0,11(1 most painstaking in administering the sacraments to*
tbeirjmembers throughout a wide extent of territory. It was not till
the separation, against which John Wesley had published again and
again his cogent " Reasons," finally took place, that a revulsion of feel
ing took place, and Father Jarratt was bitterly reviled, even by his
spiritual children, for clinging to the Old Church to which he found
himself " more attached since she lost her emoluments and the smiles
of government than ever before." Still, by his personal labors, and by
the fervor of his published sermons, the good old man contributed not
a little to the revival both of religion and the Church in the Middle
and Southern States.

As good Dr. Learning had written, even before
Scabury s consecration, the provision for main
taining the dignity of the episcopal station was
to be an " after thought." As might have been
anticipated, it was but little thought of at all.

1 Vide " The Life of the Rev. Devereux Jar
ratt, Rector of Bath Parish, Dinwiddie county,
Virginia, written by himself, in a series of letters

addressed to the Rev. John Coleman, One of the
Ministers of the Protestant Episcopal Church in
Maryland, Baltimore; 1806." Pp. iv., 222. To
which is appended, " Thoughts on some Important
Subjects in Divinity ; in a Series of Letters to A
Friend. By the Rev. Devereux Jarratt, &c."
p. 84.

192 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Towards the close of the century the influences at work in the
mother-Church, in developing a greater fervor and a most earnest de
votion to religion, were felt across the ocean, and notably in Maryland
and Virginia. The Rev. Walter Dulany Addison, of Georgetown ; and
the Rev. William H. Wilmcr, subsequently President of the House of
Deputies, and of William and Mary College ; and the Rev. Oliver Nor-
ris, of Alexandria, were among those who adopted and most success
fully proclaimed those views of practical and personal religion which
were held by the evangelical clergy and laity of the mother-land. Bishop
Meade, in his charming, gossipy volumes on the " Old Churches, Min
isters, and Families of Virginia," attributes much of this revival of relig
ious interest to the circulation of the sermons and lectures of the Bisho

.of London, Dr. Beifby Porteus, who was of a Virginian
by birth a iiTTfivYrTvPTrTo u Ofa l^ nm inioa." The publication of Mr.
Wiihertorne a "ffftcticttl Viaiy gf Christianity" was anotherlmeaps of
quickening and developing the spirit of self-consecration and a higher
Christian life. The enlrar.ce on the ministry by a young Virginian of
good family and ripe scholarship marked an era in the Church s revival.
In William Meade the evangelical tho.nlnoryjpiinfl aji ardent ? able, and
consistent advocate. Eloquent, impressive, andaboveall thoro"gfl1y in
earnest, his ministry wasThTJlneans of awakening multitudes to a sense
of -in and a longing for pardon aud the gift of everlasting life. There
was in his conduct oFthe services of the Church and in the manner of
his preaching, as well as in the holiness of his personal life, so much
that was attractive and satisfying, that crowds were drawn to his min
istrations, and he became almost from his entrance upon orders a leader
in the Church s advance. At the North the Rev. Joseph ffilmore. who
had been a " lay-preacher," under the personal direction of Wesley, and
had received orders at the hands of Bishop Seabury, had not, in his
entrance upon the ministry of the Church, lost any of his early ^eal
and personal fervor as a Methodist. During his long and honored
ministry at St. Paul s, Philadelphia, his views were those ofthe evan
gelical school, and his labors were eminently blessed. In the failure
of his physical and mental powers, consequent upon advancing years, {
the celebrated Benjamin Allen was appointed his assistant in 1821,
nr&gt;d hTa snriAftflflgy mT^SS:. and in Ma aytnpnthv with Dr. Pilmore

views, and his earnest advocacy of the doctrines he taught, became
himself a leader in the school of thought now rapidly gaining in num
bers and strength.

In South Carolina the earnest and eloquent William Percy, D.D.,
who, though in holy orders, had been one of Lady Huntingdon s
chaplains, and, after Whitefield s death, had been appointed by her
ladyship the President of Bethesda College, was a great admirer of
Romaine and Madan, and a strong advocate of the views held by
the English "Evangelicals." He was a godly man, devoted to the
Calvinistic system of theology, and a successful preacher of the
gospel of Christ. The Rev. William Duke, of Maryland, whose
sympathies and labors had been with the Methodists so long as the
Methodists clung to the Church, and who was offered by Bishop
Claggett the appointment as "archdeacon" for the conduct of the

PARTIES IN THE CHURCH. 193

Church s missionary work in Kentucky, was, we are told by the
historiographer of the Maryland Church, " a man of great purity of life,
and very clear and decided in his views of evangelical truth." As i
years went on, and the older advocates of the "doctrines of grace,"
as they were called, passed away, a generation sprang up full of zeal
and earnestness, and in many cases distinguished fur eloquence and
scholarship ; and Hopkins, Boyd, Bull, a nd "Bedell, in Pennsylvania ;
Milnor and Charming Moore, in J&gt;lew York ; Mcllvaine in Brooklyn ;
Ilenshaw and Johns in Baltimore ; and Tyng, Bristcd, and Crocker,
in New England, gave to the evangelical party strength, influence,
and brilliancy, rarely excelled. The growth of the party was rapid.
BisEop McIlfalHS flnce publicly recalled the General Convention of
1820, "held when he was a Candidate for Orders," and asserted that
"Key 1 was the only one who was allowed to stand up in defence of
evangelical truth. Three clergymen, 2 with the chairman, 3 constituted
the whole evangelical force in the Lower House." An examination
of the list of deputies in attendance upon the Convention will prove
the good bishop to have underestimated the strength of his party at
this period ; but it was not long ere the evangelical school of thought
numbered the most active and successful of the younger clergy among
its adherents. The establishment of the theological seminary of .
Virginia, which was distinctively under the control of those who*
maintained distinctively "evangelical" principles, as tliey were styled,
added largely to the numbers and influence of the party, and by the
missionary zeal which it developed among its students gave to the
Church some of the most saintly and devoted of our foreign missiona
ries. At the West the attitude taken by Bishop Hobart towards the
Bishop of Ohio, Dr. Philander Chase, gave to the evangelical party all
the glory of his remarkable success in the founding of a diocese, a col
lege, and a school of theology, and assured them the promise of the
growing West. In New England the apostolic Griswold, gently but
successfully, moulded the dioceses outside of Connecticut into sub
stantial agreement with his principles and policy. The pulpits of
the great and generous parishes in the large cities were filled by the
eloquent and able representatives of this party. Its societies, as they
were formed one after another in pursuance of the policy of the volun
tary system to which they had given their adhesion, were liberally
supported. Publications in defence of "evangelical" views were
abundantly supplied and freely dispersed abroad. The sympathies of
the great religious bodies were freely accorded to its principles and
its advocates. It became a power felt throughout the Christian world.
While there was this natural development of evangelical prin
ciples and an evangelical party in the Middle and Southern States, there
was developed at the North a school of thought representing the
attitude of the Church prior to the war in the colonies where it was
not established, and where its converts were those who entered its

1 Francis S. Key, Esq., a deputy from Mary- The bishop evidently forgot to include the Rev.
land. Gregory T. Bedell, of North Carolina; and the

2 Probably the Rev. Georjre Boyd, of Penn- Rev- Levi Bull, of Pennsylvania.
sylvaniajtheRev.JohnP.K. Hcnshaw.ofMary- 3 The Rev. William H. Wilmer, D.D., of
land ; and the Rev. William Meade, of Virginia. Virginia.

194 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

fold from conviction of its apostolicity and its accordance with the
primitive Church. T^e clergy of the Church at the North were, in the
main, converts to the faith ; and there was developed in their individual
cases, and naturally In the churches to which they ministered, a more
pronounced type of churchmanship, and a more undeviating adherence
to the distinctive principles of our communion as contrasted with the
varying and various faiths outside. In the controversies, so numerous
and so continuous throughout the period of our ante-revolutionary
history, the defenders of the Church s system and doctrines were in
almost every case from the North. The prevailing type of church
manship at the South, and even in thelmddle colonies, was that of
Erastianism. There was no sympathy with the fervor of Whiten* eld,
5ut an equal distaste for any movement for the introduction of the
episcopate and the completion of our system of orders. The church
men of the North looked with surprise upon the indifference openly
expressed by their brethren at the South with reference to the intro
duction of American bishops. It was evident that with such indispo
sition to the episcopal order there could be little, if any, true Church
principle. This state of things was not changed by the war for inde
pendence. The silenced and proscribed clergy of the North learned
by their very persecutions a greater love for Church as well as king,
which had been in their case a common cause. At the close of the
struggle, when Seabury had received the episcopate from the bishops
of the Church in Scotland, and with the grace of the highest order of
the ministry had adopted the views of his consecrators with reference
to the Eucharist, it was but natural that in Connecticut and New
England there should be a corresponding advance in churchman-
ship among his clergy and people. In New York the amiable Ben
jamin Moore sympathized with Seabury, while Hobart became his
devoted follower and the advocate of his distinctive teachings. In his
successive charges, in his sermons and addresses, and in the works
he compiled, or wrote, with untiring industry, Hobart proclaimed a
distinctive churchmanship, that spoke with no uncertain sound. The
General Theological Seminary was established in New York, where it
felt the bishop s commanding influence from the start, and by his care
ful measures was moulded in accordance with his views. The propa- 1
gandists of the " Church " theory were aoJJYfi nnr L tireless. It was not
long before it found a valuable allyjin^ the publication of the " Tracts
for the Times," and when, at length, some from among the leaders in
the Oxford movement deserted the Church for the Roman obedience
there had been gained a strength sufficient to stand the defections on
both sides of the Atlantic, and the still more injurious exposure and
punishment of the Onderdonks, who had been foremost among the
leaders and advocates of the High-Church party. By a tacit under
standing the foreign field of missionary work had been assigned to
the evangelical party, and the home field to their opponents. By this
arrangement, as dioceses were formed and missionary bishops were
appointed, a strength was acquired in the councils of the Church which
could not be overcome. The policy of the evangelical party, in its
founding and support of schools of theology and colleges, was met

PARTIES IN THE CHURCH. 195

by a similar policy. Gambier found in Nashotah a powerful rival ;
Trinity, Hobart, and, later, Racine, flourished ; whilst Bristol Col
lege failed, and Kenyon and Griswold grew but slowly.

To the various evangelical societies were opposed others, work
ing on a distinctively Church basis. The power of the great and wealthy
evangelical parishes found an equipoise in the increase and develop
ment of the smaller missions and congregations. In the gradual with
drawal of the evangelical leaders from connection with the general
institutions and Societies of the Church, the ground was left open for
the occupation of their opponents, who were not slow to avail them
selves of the opportunity, and found in this new vantage ground pres
tige and power. Even the romance of foreign missions was equalled
and excelled by the recital of the labors and successes of such evange
lists as Kemper and Breck. The charities in which the evangelical
party had been so abundant were rivalled by the building of churches,
hospitals, colleges, schools, on every side. That there was rivalry is
confessed ; but in time it became a generous strife which would do
the most for the Church of Christ, for the good of man, for the glory
of God. That there were strifes and bickerings, and that party ma
chinery was set at work and party measures advanced by means far
from creditable on either side, is too evident to be denied, or even con
cealed. But even these contentions were often overruled by God
for good. The clash of steel in deadly conflict will yield ofttimes
sparks of purest Tight, and from the men and measures of our DgEJod
of party strife there have come to the "Church a broader toleration, a
truer and freer recognition of a common Christianity, and the con
sciousness of substantial agreement, even where differences and misun
derstandings abound. In the meeting of foes face to face friendship is
ofteiTtEe result, and from amidst our most bitter contentions there
have been evolved the peaceable fruits of righteousness. From time
to time there has been "the Truce of God." Hands have been clasped
across the chasm of personal or party differences. Christ has been
glorified, and the Church s cause advanced by the lives and labors of
men of each school of thought. Time and experience have proved that
with abundant individuality there was more in common than in dispute
among us, and that, after all, the Church of Christ was loved by all.

It were unnecessary to recite the causes leading by slow and
gradual stages to a decline of party feeling and a general accord. The
key-note of a loving unity was sounded from the lips of the aged Bishop
of Virginia at the opening of the memorable Convention of 1871, and
his message of love was echoed by the presence and noble words of the
apostolic Selwyn, whose presence, in a day of controversy, was a bene
diction of peace. There has been since then a growing unity, a gen
eral toleration, a universal recognition of the call to live and labor for
Christ. Individualism may abound, but there is a more general ac
knowledgment of the common honesty of purpose and loyalty to Christ
and his Church of those who differ widely in non-essentials than has
ever been known before. It is the blessing of Him who maketh men
to be of one mind in an house.

196 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

rPHE bibliography of this portion of our ecclesiastical history would fill a vol-
1 ume. These abundant issues from the press may be grouped about the names
of the leaders of the different schools of thought, and about the great societies and
institutions which, under the patronage of the one party or the other, grew into
importance and became centres of influences for good. Not a step in the Church s
advance during these long years of intestine struggles but has left its abundant
traces in print. The rise and development of every varying phase of theological
thought are thus fully presented to the student in the words of its advocates and in
the annals of its progress. No one can fail to recognize the fulness of the material
thus offered, and to find, in the slightest research, all that could be desired to
elucidate the history of these important Church movements from the very first.

CHAPTER XII,

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHUECH.

fTHHE introduction of the Church west of the Alleghany and the
1 Blue Ridge Mountains dates back to the period of the struggle
for independence. In the autumn of 1774 eight private gen
tlemen of North Carolina, under the leadership of Richard Hender
son, conceived a project of purchasing from the Cherokees, in the
West, a large tract of country, with a view both to settlement and
speculation. The following March a treaty was made, the celebrated
Daniel Boone acting as interpreter, and the country stretching from
the Cumberland to the Kentucky rivers was formally ceded to the
" Transylvania Company." The establishment of a separate and in
dependent government, under the protectorate of the motherland,
appears to have been intended, and in furtherance of this plan, on the
arrival of Colonel Henderson at the unfinished fort atBoonesborough,
he opened a land-office, appointed his officers, and summoned a legis
lative assembly to meet at this place, as the capital, on the 23d of
May, 1775. One of the delegates to this assembly was the Rev. John
Lythe, of Harrods burgh, licensed for Virginia, as the Fulham Records L
acquaint us, in 1763. He is found in 1763 2 in South Carolina, where
he remained less than a year, and his name next appears in connec
tion with this plan of settlement. The meeting of this territorial
legislature was preceded by the " performance of divine service," and
among the enactments of this primary assembly "the Rev. John
Lythe obtained leave to bring in a bill to prevent profane swearing
and Sabbath-breaking." In a manuscript diary, kept by the leading
spirit of these pioneer settlers of Kentucky, and only brought to light
after half a century had passed since it was penned, there is the fol
lowing reference to the place where this service was held :

About fifty yards from the Kentucky River (called by the Indians, Chenoca,
and by the English, Louisa), near a fine spring, stands one of the finest elms that,
perhaps, nature ever produced. The tree is on a beautiful plain, surrounded by a
turf of fine white clover, forming a green to its very stock. The trunk is about
four feet through at the first branches, which are about nine feet from the ground.
From thence it regularly extends its large branches on every side, at such equal
distances as to form the most beautiful tree that imagination can suggest. The
diameter of the branches, from the extreme end, is one hundred feet, and every
fair day it describes a semi-circle on the heavenly greensward around it of upward
of four hundred feet in circuit. At any time between the hours of ten and two
one hundred persons may comfortably seat themselves under its branches. This
divine tree (or rather one of the proofs of the existence from all eternity of its
Divine Author) is to be our Church and our Council Chamber. 3 . . .

1 Vide General Convention MSS., and also memorative of the first settlement of Kentucky,

" Prot. Epis. Hist. Soc. Collections," I., p. 119. 1841. References to the facts condensed above

a Dalcho s History, p. 434. appear on pp. 40, 41, 47, 49, 72 of this address.
Quoted in Gov. Morehead s address, com-

198 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

On the clay succeeding that of the adjournment divine service was performed
by the Rev. Mr. Lythe of the Church of England. And it was under the shade of
this magnificent elm that the voices of these rude hunters rose in accents of prayer
and thanksgiving to the God of their fathers that the verdant groves of the land
of the savage and the buffalo first rang,with the anthems of the Christian s worship,
and echoed back the message of the Redeemer to the world. 1

But the work of moulding this unformed community for Christ and
his Church was not to be the privilege of the amiable Lythe. He
died by the hands of the Indians, and so completely had the memory
of his life and his labors for good morals and true religion passed away
that the first historian of Kentucky, in his summary of the religious
annals of the State, in apparent ignorance even of his name, tells us
that

There were in the country, and chiefly from Virginia, many Episcopalians,
but who had formed no Church, there being no parson or minister of that denomi
nation to take charge of it ; persons of that description seeming not to like new
countries, or to be deficient in zeal, when not cherished by parish or tythe, as was
the case in Kentucky. 8

More than ten years later there came to Kentucky the Rev. Ben
jamin Sebastian, a native of Virginia, and licensed for his native State,
in 1766, 3 doubtless the year of his ordination. The same year he took
charge of Frederick parish, in Virginia, where he remained not quite
two years, and then removed to Northumberland. 4 From 1767 to
1777 he ministered in St. Stephen s parish, Northumberland. 5 In
1782 he was Rector of Christ Church parish, Calvert, Maryland, and
in 1785 of William and Mary parish, St. Mary s. 6 About 1788 he
removed to Kentucky, where he became secularized, and was made
Judge of the Court of Appeals. As a lawyer and a publicist he at
tained prominence, and, although he did not preach, he never entirely
renounced his clerical function, but occasionally performed the offices
of baptism and matrimony among his personal friends. He died
Nov. 20, 1832, at the age of ninety-three years, surviving the period of
the Church s deepest depression, and living a mouth after the conse
cration of the first bishop of his adopted State.

In June, 1789, the Convention of the diocese of Maryland com
missioned the Rev. William Duke to visit Kentucky in a missionary
capacity. The following month he set out on his journey, and by the
3d of August he reached the Middle Alleghanies ; but, owing to failing
health, he returned to Maryland, where he spent an honored and useful
life. In 1792 the separation of Kentucky from Virginia was effected,
at which period " it might have been hazarded as a probable conjecture
that no Episcopalian church would ever be erected in Kentucky. 7
In 1794 the Rev. James Moore, a Presbyterian minister, conformed
to the Church, receiving ordination from the hands of Bishop Madison,
of Virginia. As the first president of Transylvania University, and

1 Morehead s address. 4 Mcade s " Old Churches, etc., of Virginia,"

* Hon. Humphrey Marshall s "Hist, of Ky.," II., p. 285. 6 Ibid, n., pp. 132, 467.

I., p. 444. Quoted in the " Spirit of Missions," Allen s " Maryland Clcrjry, p. 14.

xiii., pp. 3, 5. 7 Hon. Humphrey Marshall s " Hist, of Ky.,"

Prot. Epis. Hist. Soc. Coll., I., p. 119. I., p. 444.

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 199

the first Rector of Christ Church, Lexington, of which charge he con
tinued the minister for twenty years, he deserves especial remembrance.

In 1798 Bishop Claggett, of Maryland, sent to Kentucky the
Rev. Edward Gannt, Jr. , one of the candidates for holy orders, who re
ceived ordination at the close of the revolutionary war, at the hands of
the English bishops, by virtue of a special act of Parliament. Failing
health compelled his speedy return to Maryland. The same fate at
tended the Rev. Samuel Keene, Jr., who was sent out on the return
of the Rev. Mr. Gannt, who, after a second attempt, and after organiz
ing several small congregations, returned to Maryland, in the spring
of 1800, where he not long afterwards died. About the time of Mr.
Gannt s coming the Rev. Andrew Elliott, who was Rector of William
and Mary and St. Andrew s parishes, Maryland, from 1794 to 1798, 1
removed to Kentucky, and settled in Franklin county, near Frankfort ;
but he soon merged the clerical character into that of a farmer, and his
residence in Kentucky contributed in no degree to the upbuilding of
the Church he had vowed to serve.

In 1800 the Rev. William Kavenaugh, a popular Methodist
preacher, brought into the Church through the influence of the Rev.
Samuel Keene, was ordained deacon and priest on the 8th and 9th of
June, respectively, by Bishop Claggett, in St. Paul s, Baltimore.
Returning to Kentucky, he officiated at Lexington, Paris, and Cole-
man s Mills. In 1802 he removed to Jefferson county, and officiated
occasionally at Louisville, Middletown, Shelbyville, and Frankfort,
adding to his duties the care of a school for girls. In 1806 he re
moved to Henderson, where, in about six months, he died, on the 16th
of October, at the age of thirty-two, 2 having served the Church from
Clarke county to the Mississippi, a range of two hundred and fifty miles.

In April, 1800, a subscription was begun for a church in Lex
ington, which, two years later, was in use, though not completed.
Prior to this time a log church, four miles out of the city, and erected
on the farm of a prominent churchman, Captain Skeely, had been the
first and only church in the State. Looking, as the few churchmen
very naturally did, to Maryland for clergymen, the bishop of that
diocese was invited to assume the episcopal oversight of the State.
This year a clergyman who had emigrated from Virginia, and settled
in Bardstown as a medical practitioner, was killed in a duel. The
Rev. James Chambers, M.D., 3 who, in 1788, was in charge of the
parish in Staunton, was the unhappy man, and it is needless to say
that after his removal to Kentucky he was completely secularized,
making no attempt to exercise his ministry.

In 1803 Mr. Kavenaugh wrote to Bishop Claggett for mission
aries, and the bishop, unable to visit this portion of his charge, and
yet desirous of serving it to the best of his ability, proposed to the
Rev. William Duke to become his " Archdeacon " in Kentucky ; but
he declined in consequence of ill-health. About the year 1808 the
Rev. Edward Gannt, M.D., Sen., who had been licensed for Maryland
in 1770, 4 having been ordained deacon by Bishop Lowth, of Oxford,

1 Allen s " Maryland Clergy," p. 23. IUd. t p. 323.

3 Meade s " Old Churches, etc.," n., p. 322. Fulhara MSS.

200 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

in January of that year, became a resident of Kentucky, where he
died, in Louisville, in 1837, aged ninety-five. For a time he officiated
at baptisms and marriages, but, having embraced the views of Sweden-
borg, he appears to have relinquished the exercise of his ministry,
though he lived and died in the communion of the Church.

The Bishop of Maryland entered into correspondence with the
Rev. President Moore, in 1808, proposing a Western episcopate, a
measure, unfortunately, too long delayed. Dr. Moore ceased to be
president of the university about this time, but continued in charge of
the church in Lexington. He died on the 22d of July, 1814, at the
age of fifty, having borne the reputation of being a good scholar and a
well-read divine.

In 1813 the Rev. John Ward succeeded the Rev. James Moore
at Lexington. He had been ordained deacon, by Bishop Jarvis, Dec. 1,
1805, * and received priest s orders in 1807.

In 1818 the Rev. Charles Crawford, ordained deacon by Bishop
White and priest by Bishop Madison, removed to Kentucky, and
officiated for some years at Plumb Creek and Shelbyville.

In 1819 the Rev. Mr. Ward removed to St. Louis, and was suc
ceeded by his nephew, the Rev. Benjamin Birge, who died in March
of the following year. The Rev. George T. Chapman, D.D., was his
successor, in 1820, who was followed ten years later by the Rev. Ben
jamin Bosworth Smith, late Bishop of Kentucky and presiding in the
House of Bishops. The Rev. Joseph Jackson, of the diocese of Mary
land, while on a missionary tour, visited Russellville. In August,
1820, he officiated in Louisville, and on the 28th of October of the same
year he officiated at Bardstown, where he settled, and soon afterwards
died. 2 In 1823 the Rev. Henry M. Shaw, from Maryland, settled in
Louisville, and Christ Church was built.

The organization of the diocese is thus detailed by the Rev.
George T. Chapman, D.D., through whose agency this result was
accomplished :

In the spring of 1829, knowing that the General Convention was to meet that
year in Philadelphia, in concert with some prominent members of my Church, I
took measures to remedy the existing state of things in Kentucky. Having heard
that a few Episcopalians were living at Danville, 1 set off for that place on the 30th
of May, and having in a few days collected these persons together, my object in
visiting them was iully explained, and the result was the speedy organization of a
Church, and the appointment of delegates to attend the then proposed State Con
vention at Lexington, in July. From Danville I proceeded to Louisville, at that
time destitute of a rector, preached in the Church in that city, Juno 7th, stated my
object to its members, in which they cordially concurred, and also appointed the
desired delegates. Returning to Lexington the same week, preparations were
made for the meeting of the Convention. It assembled in Christ Church, either on
Tuesday, July 7th, or on Wednesday, July 8th, 3 1829 ; divine service was celebrated
and a sermon preached by me, being the only settled clergyman in the State. The
organization of the diocese was then happily effected, there being several lay dele
gates 4 from the three parishes of Lexington, Louisville, and Danville, and three of

1 Burgess s " List of Ordinations," p. 7. of Kentucky ecclesiastical history have been

1 Allen s " Maryland Clergy," p. 23, and "An- gathered.

nals of Kentucky appended to the " Church- * It met on the 8th and 9th of July,
man s Calendar of 1864, from which other items Sixteen lay delegates, representing the

three parishes, were in attendance.

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH.

201

the Clerical. Order from Lexington, 1 when the Convention, after discharging its re
maining duties, adjourned. *

This first Convention of the diocese of Kentucky organized by
the choice of the Rev. Dr. Chapman as president, and the Rev. Ben
jamin O. Peers as secretary. Rules of order and a constitution were
adopted. Diocesan officers and a deputation to the General Conven
tion were elected. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Ravenscroft, of North Caro
lina, was invited to
visit the diocese. A
diocesan missionary
society was formed.
Canons were pro
posed and laid over
for action at the next
Convention. The
employment of lay
readers in destitute
parishes was ad
vised. Daily family-
worship was unani
mously recommend
ed to all families at
tached to the Church
in the diocese, and
the standing com
mittee were request
ed to publish an ad
dress to the Episco
palians throughout
the State, inviting
their interest and
cooperation in the
Church s work.
Bishop Ravenscroft
confirmed upwards of seventy on Sunday, July 26, 1829, and on the fol
lowing Tuesday twenty more, in Christ Church, Lexington, and on the
29th of November Bishop Brownell confirmed thirty-four in the same
place, and on the 13th of December thirty-one in Christ Church, Louis
ville. At the time of the admission of the diocese of Kentucky into
union with the General Convention the number of parishes was three,
and the number of clergymen four. The following year Bishop Meade,
of Virginia, visited Kentucky, confirming eight in Lexington on the 29th
of May, twenty-five in Trinity Church, Danville, on the 5th of June, and
twenty-one in Louisville on the 12th of the same month. The folio wing-
year the diocese of Kentucky welcomed to its borders its first bishop,
the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, D.D,, LL.D., the late presid
ing bishop of the American Church.

RT. REV. JOHN S. RAVENSCROFT, D.D., BISHOP
OF NORTH CAROLINA.

1 The Rev. Dr. Chapman, the Rev. John
Ward, and the Rev. Benjamin 0. Peers, Deacon.

2 From the " Spirit of Missions," xni., p.

202 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

In Tennessee the first clergyman of the Church was subsequently
its first bishop, the apostolic James Hervey Otey. Born at the foot
of the Peaks of Otter, in Bedford county, Virginia, on the 27th of
January, 1803 ; brought to the knowledge of Christ and his church
by reading the Book of Common Prayer ; baptized just before reaching
his majority by the Rev. William Mercer Green, now Bishop of
Mississippi ; a graduate of the University of North Carolina ;
ordained deacon by Bishop Ravenscroft on the 16th of October,
1825, and priest on the 27th of June, 1827, he had gone, on
leaving college, to Tennessee as a teacher, and the revelation of
the spiritual destitution of the land led him, on his ordination, to
return to this State for the exercise of his ministry. In Ten
nessee there was little, if any, of that churchly and cavalier element
which had been borne by the early settlers of Kentucky from their
Virginia home. The people were intensely sectarian, and it was only
by combining the work of education with the ministry that he could
find support. In Franklin, which he selected as the centre of his mis
sionary operations, he held service in a hall, his wife being frequently
the only one to make the responses. After the morning prayer and
sermon he was wont to proceed on horseback to Nashville, eighteen
miles distant, where, after performing the work of a janitor in pre
paring the room for service, he was ready to preach Christ and him
crucified to souls hungering for the truth. And this work was per
formed after a week of exhausting labor ; for in the lack of suitable
assistants he was obliged to teach the whole round of primary and
academic studies. His sermons were written late at night by the
feeble, flickering light of a "tallow dip ;" and amidst the cares of an
increasing family, and under the pressure of countless duties, he
prepared the discourses which were so profound in thought and con
vincing in argument as to prove an intellectual repast to the most
fastidious hearers. It was during this multiplicity of cares and over-
exertion that his constitution gave way, and sickness followed ; but even
in the delirium of fever his mind was bent on his high and holy work,
and he would piteously plead with those about him who strove to quiet
his uneasy tossing : "Let me preach to these dying sinners. Do you
not see them all around me perishing for the Bread of Life?" This
burning zeal for souls, and this deep love and enthusiasm for his
priestly calling, never flagged. And, even as he neared the end, it was
his tearful cry : " The people are wandering and perishing for lack of
knowledge, and the ministers of God are afraid to tell them the truth." 1
With such work, and under the care of such a worker, it was not long
before the church in Nashville was able to support its own resident
rector. In 1830 the diocese of Tennessee was organized, and the
primary Convention held. In 1833, at the Convention held on St.
Peter s day, the 29th of June, the pioneer priest of the diocese was
elected as its first bishop, and at Christ Church, Philadelphia, on
Tuesday, the 14th of January, 1834, he was consecrated to this office

1 Vide an interesting account of Bishop Otey, Convention ot _18a9, in the "Church Review,"
\ and a touching reference to his sermon on Vol. xv., p. 4Go.
" Christian Education," delivered at the General

I HH HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 203

and administration. Entering upon his new duties with the zeal and
ardor which characterized all he did, it was not long before the whole
South-west sought his episcopal services. For years, besides the care
of his own see, he ministered as Provisional Bishop of Mississippi and
Florida, and as Missionary Bishop of Arkansas, Louisiana, and the
Indian Territory, pursuing his journeys to a great extent on horse
back, and exposed to all the dangers and discomforts incident to travel
in a new and quite unsettled country. " Weary, weary, weary," was
the frequent comment in his note-book on these days of fatigue and
nights of pain. But there was no relief till, in December, the Rev.
Leonidas Polk was consecrated Missionary Bishop of Arkansas and
the Indian Territory. Nearly three years later Dr. Elliott was con
secrated Bishop of Georgia, and assumed the charge of Florida.

In 1844 Dr. Nicholas Harnner Cobb was consecrated for Alabama,
and Dr. George W. Freeman, as Missionary Bishop of the South-west.
But the large diocese of Mississippi remained under the care of Bishop
Otey till 1850, when the Bishop of Tennessee became, by a singular
providence, one of the consecrators of the Rev. William Mercer Green,
the man of God who, thirty years before, had received him to holy
baptism. In all these fields of labor Bishop Otey was beloved and re
vered. His labors were specially blessed. Deeply impressed with the
importance of affording the means for a Christian and a churchly educa
tion, the bishop established, a year after his entrance upon his episco
pate, the Columbia Female Institute, at Columbia, Maury county, which
was for years the largest and most successful church school in the
United States. This venture of faith on the part of the great-hearted
bishop was undertaken in the midst of a community where the number
of male communicants of the Church was but seven or eight, and
where every opposing form of belief or disbelief was arrayed against
the introduction of so open and pronounced an instrument for the dis
semination of the church s doctrines and practices. Daily morning
and evening prayers brought to the attendants in this institution the
knowledge and love of the Church and her holy ways, and from this
centre of church influence there went out in every direction means for
the turning of multitudes to the Church.

Turning to the southward we may briefly give the story of the
revival of the Church in Georgia, which, in its earlier years, had
enjoyed the ministrations of the Wesleys and White field, and later
those of the devoted Ellington, of Bethesda College, who was spared
for many years of faithful labors in the colony. The details of the
labors of Norris, Orton, Zouberbuhler, Copp, Frink, Alexander,
Findlay, Lowton, Seymour, Holmes, Brown, and Haddon Smith,
before the war, as recorded in the works and letters of White-
field and in the reports of the venerable society, seem strange when
compared with the utter prostration of the Church at the close of the
struggle for independence. The Church seemed left without a friend.
The glebe at Augusta was confiscated, and the avails applied to the
endowment of an academy, and even the rights of the few church
men to the Church were not exclusively allowed. The ministrations
of the rector, the Rev. Adam Boyd, from 1790 to 1799, were fol-

204 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

lowed by the complete disorganization of the parish, which continued
until 1818. Bishop Robert Smith, of South Carolina, from 1798 to
the time of his death, in 1802, sought to render what aid he could.
Through the Rev. Mr. Strong, then of Oglethorpe county, he learned of
the desire for holy orders on the part of Mr. James Hamilton Ray, who
was ordained deacon and priest in the spring of 1801, and who lived
a useful and honored clergyman in Greene county until 1805, when he
died. And about the same time the Bishop of South Carolina ordained
a Mr. Gurney, 1 who had been a Methodist preacher, but whose acces
sion to the Church proved of little good.

From 1802 until 1812 the episcopate of South Carolina was
vacant, and the depression experienced by the Church in South Caro
lina was shared by the Church in Georgia ; but in the spring of 1815
Bishop Dehon visited Savannah, and consecrated the church there, then
recently rebuilt. At this time fifty persons, presented by the rector,
the Rev. Walter Cranston, were confirmed. In March, 1821, Bishop
Bowen consecrated St. Paul s, Augusta. In April, 1823, Christ Church,
Savannah, was again visited, and seventy-eight persons confirmed,
the Rev. Mr. Carter having succeeded the lamented Cranston in the
rectorship.

On the 24th of February, 1823, the primary Convention of the
clergy and laity of Georgia met at St. Paul s Church, Augusta, for
organization. Three clergymen were present the Rev. Edward
Matthews, Rector of Christ Church, St. Simon s Island ; the Rev.
Abiel Carter, Rector of Christ Church, Savannah ; and the Rev.
Hugh Smith, Rector of St. Paul s, Augusta; and five lay delegates,
representing the parishes in Savannah and Augusta. Rules of order
and a constitution and canons were adopted. The Rev. Mr. Carter
was chosen president of the Convention, Dr. I. B. Read, treasurer,
and Dr. Thomas I. Wray, secretary. The Convention acceded to the
constitution of the Church in the United States ; and deputies were
chosen to the General Convention. An address to the members of the
Church " in the different parts of this State " was adopted and ordered
printed in the journal. The diocese was placed under the charge of
the Bishop of South Carolina, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Bowen. A "Society
for the extension of religion in this State" was instituted, and the
journal, together with the constitution and canons, was ordered to be
printed.

The second annual Convention assembled in Christ Church,
Savannah, on the 3d and 4th of May, 1824. The Rev. Messrs.
Smith and Carter of the clergy, and four laymen, representing the two
parishes at Savannah and Augusta, were in attendance. The Rev.
Hugh Smith was elected president, and Dr. Thomas I. Wray, secre
tary. Eighty-four persons had been confirmed in Savannah, and
eighteen in Augusta. The time of holding conventions was changed
from the "third Monday in April" to the " third Monday after Easter."
The donation of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society was
gratefully accepted, and the clerical members of the Convention em-

1 No reference to this ordination is found in Bishop Burgess s List.

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 205

powered -to procure a missionary. A standing committee and a depu
tation to the General Convention were elected. The report of the
Society for the Advancement of Christianity in Georgia was received
and approved.

The third Convention met in St. Paul s Church, Augusta, April
18, 1825, the opening sermon being delivered by the Rev. Mr. Carter.
The Rev. Samuel Strong, the oldest clergyman in the diocese, was
present, and was elected president. The committee appointed to pro
cure a missionary reported the engagement of the Rev. Lot Jones.
The parish of Christ Church, Macon, was admitted into union with
the Convention. The report of the standing committee gave informa
tion that one person had applied to become a candidate for orders.

At the fourth Convention, which met in the parish of Christ
Church, Macon, on the 24th and 25th of April, 1826, the Rt. Rev.
Dr. Bowen was present and presiding, with three clergymen and four
deputies, representing the parishes of Augusta and Macon. Mr. G.
McLaughlin was chosen secretary, and Dr. J. B. Barlow, treasurer.
The bishop s address noticed the removal of the candidate for orders to
another diocese ; the appointment of a missionary to St. Simon s and
Darien ; the confirmation of forty-six persons in Savannah ; the success
of the missionary labors of the Rev. Mr. Jones at Macon ; and gave
certain historical notitia, practical remarks, and a commendation of
Bishop White s " Memoirs of the Church " as affording a succinct narra
tive of the history of our communion. The article of the constitution
fixing the time of meeting of the Convention was changed, and the
next meeting appointed in January. The Convention sermon was
appointed for the " Sabbath " preceding the opening of the Convention.

The journal of the fifth annual Convention, which was held in
Christ Church, Savannah, February 12, 1827, was "published by re
quest" in the "Gospel Messenger" and M Southern Episcopal Register,"
of May, 1827, and, with that of the succeeding year, was not printed
in separate form. Bishop Bowen was prevented from attendance by
domestic bereavement. The Society for the Advancement of Chris
tianity reported the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Williston, of Delaware,
as missionary, and expressed regret at the resignation of the Rev. Mr.
Jones. The time of holding the annual Convention was again changed.
A letter of sympathy l was ordered to be addressed by the president
of the Convention to the Bishop of South Carolina.

The sixth Convention of the diocese of Georgia assembled in St.
Paul s Church, Augusta, on the 15th of April, 1828. Two clergymen
and four laymen, the representatives of two parishes, were present.
The Rev. E. NeufVille was chosen president, Mr. John F. Lloyd,
secretary, and Dr. Read, treasurer. A testimonial of respect to the
memory of the late Rev. Abiel Carter was entered on the minutes. A
letter of the Rev. Lot Jones, respecting his absence and reporting his
official acts, was ordered to be filed and published. The Society
for the Advancement of Christianity reported inability to procure a
missionary, and a balance of $197.50 in the treasury. A portion of

1 The correspondence is published in the South Carolina " Gospel Messenger," of April,
1827, on pp. 127, 128, of Vol. v.

206 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

this balance was ordered to be expended in tracts and prayer-books.
The establishment of the Protestant Episcopal Sunday-School Union
was commended, and a depository established at Augusta. The journal
of this Convention, "communicated for the Gospel Messenger, "
appears in the same periodical in which the journal of 1827 was
printed, and was not issued in a separate form.

The journal of the seventh Convention, which met in Christ
Church, Savannah, on the 27th and 28th of April, 1829, occupies pp.
22 to 30, inclusive, of a pamphlet with the following title, viz. : "A
Plea for the Church in Georgia. A sermon, delivered in Christ
Church, Savannah, on Sunday morning, April 26th, 1829, at the
opening of the Seventh Annual Convention of the Diocese of Georgia.
By the Rev. Hugh Smith, A.M., Rector of St. Paul s Church, Augusta.
Published at the request of the Convention. Augusta : 1829." The
text of this discourse was from Amos vii. : 2 "By whom shall Jacob
arise? For he is small." "Fidelity to our doctrinal standards, not
simply because they are ours, but because they embrace the doctrines
of the Bible, the doctrines of the cross; obedience to canonical
authority, established ecclesiastical discipline, and a conscientious
adherence to our prescribed formularies of worship," were the " par
ticulars" enforced by the preacher in his effort to indicate the answer
to the text so far as it applied to the uplifting of the Church in Georgia.
Two clergymen and four delegates, representing two parishes, were
in attendance at the Convention. The Rev. Mr. Smith was chosen
president, Dr. Read, treasurer, and Mr. A. Gould, secretary. The
opening sermon was requested for publication. The alterations in
the liturgy, proposed by the House of Bishops at the last General
Convention, were agreed to. The delegates to the next General
Convention were instructed to offer for consideration the following
canon :

No clergyman of this Church hereafter ordained shall become rector, minister,
or assistant minister in a city or populous town until he shall have served for at
least two years as a missionary in some destitute part of the countiy, or shall have
been instrumental in building up some new church or congregation.

It was voted that, in the case of the employment of deacons as
missionaries, the nearest presbyters be requested to visit the stations
of such deacons for the administration of the Lord s Supper, their ex
penses being defrayed by the Convention. The report of the Society
for the Advancement of Christianity reported a balance of $315.90
in the treasurer s hands. An appropriation for prayer-books and
tracts was voted ; the Sunday-school depository was discontinued, and
the society pledged itself to employ two missionaries on or before
December 1.

The eighth annual Convention met at St. Paul s, Augusta, on the
19th of April, 1830, the opening sermon having been preached on the
preceding day by the Rev. Edward Neufville, agreeably to appoint
ment. Three clergymen and four laymen, representing two parishes,
were in attendance. The Rev. T. S. W. Mott was elected president,
and Edward F. Campbell, Esq., secretary. The standing committee

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 207

reported one candidate for orders, Mr. Theodore Beekman Bartow.
The clerical members of the last Convention reported their inability to
redeem their pledge of employing two missionaries.

The ninth annual Convention assembled in Christ Church, St.
Simon s Island, on the 18th of April, 1863. The Rev. Edward Neufville
was chosen president, Mr. Joseph O. Pelot, secretary, and Dr. Reed,
treasurer. The standing committee reported the ordination of the
Rev. Mr. Bartow. Resolutions of regret at the decease of Bishops
Hobart and Ravenscroft were adopted. On motion, it was

Resolved, That this Convention, feeling a deep interest in the honor of the
Church, and in the safety of its members, do recommend to the respective com
municants of the Churches in the Diocese, to observe that sobriety and seriousness
of deportment, which should ever distinguish the followers of Christ, from the
lovers of pleasure, more than the lovers of God. And they would respectfully call
the attention of the members of the Church in this Diocese to the following ex
pression of opinion, entered upon the Journal of the House of Bishops, in the
General Convention, A.D. 1817, and subsequently read in the House of Clerical
and Lay Deputies at the same Convention, viz. :

" The House of Bishops, solicitous for the preservation of the purity of the
Church, and the piety of its members, are induced to impress upon the Clergy the
important duty, with a discreet but earnest zeal, of warning the people of their
i*espective cures, of the danger of an indulgence in those worldly pleasures, which
may tend to withdraw the affections from spiritual things. And especially on the
subject of Gaming of Amusements involving cruelty to the Brute creation, and
of Theatrical representations, to which some peculiar circumstances have called
their attention they do not hesitate to express their unanimous opinion, that these
amusements, as well from their licentious tendency, as from the strong temptations
to vice which they afford, ought not to be frequented."

The tenth annual Convention of the diocese of Georgia met at
Macon, on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of May, the opening sermon being de
livered agreeably to appointment by the Rev. T. B. Bartow. The
Rev. Edward Neufville was elected president, and Mr. William P.
Hunter, secretary. The report from Christ Church, Savannah, men
tions the addition of thirty-two to the number of communicants,
and the missionary at St. Simon s Island alludes to the fact that
" there is manifested an eager desire for religious instruction on the
part of the blacks, and an increasing attention to the duties of the Sab
bath." The standing committee reported that "they did not act in
the cases of the Rev. B. B. Smith and Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine, in
reference to the episcopates of Kentucky and Ohio, respectively, not
deeming themselves sufficiently acquainted with all the facts connected
with the election of those gentlemen." The Rev. Hugh Smith had
removed from the diocese, and the Rev. Edward E. Ford had been
called in his place. Such, in brief, is the history of the first decade
of the diocese of Georgia.

Still further to the South the beginnings of the Church in Florida
claim notice. These beginnings date back to the period prior to the
war of independence.

The Rev. John Forbes was "licensed" by the Bishop of London
for " East Florida," "St. Augustine," the 5th of May, 1764, at the same
time that the Rev. Samuel Hart, to whom reference will be made under
the head of Alabama, was licensed for "Mobile," " West Florida."

208 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

The records at Fulham, transcripts of which are among the Hawks
Collection of MSS., in the keeping of the General Convention, give
the names of the Rev. John Frazer as licensed March 23, 1769 ; the
Rev. John Leadbetter as licensed Nov. 8, 1773, for St. Augustine;
and the Rev. John Kennedy as licensed for St. Mark s, Dec. 24, 1776,
all under the head of " East Florida."

Following the record of Mr. Hart s license we find the following
names for " West Florida : " the Rev. William Dawson, licensed July 2,
1764, for Pensacola; the Rev. William Gordon, licensed August 8,
1767 ; the Rev. Nathaniel Cotton, licensed March 2, 17G8, and the
Rev. George Chapman, licensed for Pensacola, May 3, 1773.

Of Leadbetter nothing more is known ; Kennedy went to Vir
ginia ; Dawson proceeded to Pensacola in 1765, but finding no ac
commodations for his family the governor .permitted his return to
Carolina, for a time, on his leaving a curate in his place. He died on
John s Island, South Carolina, on the 19th of January, 1767, and his
curate died the same day in Pensacola. 1 Nothing is known of Cotton
or Chapman, and the name of the " curate " who first of all our clergy
in Anglican orders yielded up his life to God within the limits of this
State has passed from memory. In an interesting MS. work of John
Gerard William De Bahm, in Harvard College Library, the Rev. John
Forbes is referred to as residing at St. Augustine, 1771, and as being
"Parson, Judge of Admiralty and Councellor," while the "Rev. J.
Frazer " is alluded to as "parson at Mosquito."

Woodmason, in his "account of East Florida, made in 1766," a
says curtly " that no face or appearance of religion is there to be seen,"
and certainly nothing was accomplished the results of which were ap
parent on the cession of Florida to the United States. Still, the ser
vices of the English Church were maintained at the first in a building
which stood on the " old church lot " which had been the site of a bish
op s palace under the Spanish rule, and were afterwards held in a
church situated on George street, which had been repaired and fitted
up for the ministrations of the Rev. Mr. Forbes. The lands lying at
the north of the city, from the gates to the outer lines of the fortifica
tions, were given to the church by Governor Grant as a glebe. For
some time, we are told, previous to the recession of the province to
Spain, a number of members of the Greek Church attended the ser
vices of the English Church. These Greek Christians were part of a
colony introduced by an English company from Minorca, Majorca,
the Grecian Islands, and Smyrna, and were first located about sixty
miles to the southward of the city, where they built a town, calling it
"New Smyrna." After nine years of servitude their grievances were
redressed by the British authorities, and their freedom declared. Re
moving to St. Augustine, they were incorporated among the inhabit
ants, and their descendants still form a considerable portion of the
native residents.

When the province was ceded to Spain, in 1783, there was an
immediate cessation of Protestant worship. The Episcopal Church

Dalcho s " History of the Church in South 2 The Hawks MSS., " South Carolina,"

Carolina," pp. 362, 363. xvni.

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 209

was torn down and the stones used in the erection of a Romish place
of worship. A German church at a settlement called Tolomata shared
the same fate.

But, while the Church seemed extinct, there were, here and there,
individuals who still clung to the worship of God in the use of our
liturgy, and in one instance the morning prayer was regularly used
by a large family of churchmen during forty-five years.

In July, 1821, Florida was ceded to the United States, and al
most immediately the American residents of St. Augustine determined
to secure the service of a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
On the 20th of October, 1821, the Rev. Andrew Fowler, of the
diocese of South Carolina, and acting under the appointment of a mis
sionary organization of that diocese, entered upon his labors. Mr.
Fowler continued in charge of the mission at St. Augustine until
May, 1823. He was succeeded by the Rev. Mellish J.^Motte, who
remained but seven months. The Rev. Dr., afterward Bishop, Gads-
den ministered to the little congregation during the months of October
and November, 1824. He was succeeded by the Rev. E. Phillips in
the spring of 1825, and he in turn by the Rev. Philip Gadsden, each
remaining but three months. With the departure of Mr. Gadsden
efforts for the introduction of the Church ceased.

The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society did not lose sight
of this important and interesting field, and under their auspices the
Rev. Ralph Williston visited Florida, under appointment as mis
sionary in Tallahassee. Being hindered by the unhealthiness of the
season from proceeding to his destination, in 1827 he effected the or
ganization of a parish in Pensacola, by the name of Christ Church,
and at the close of the year succeeded in establishing St. John s parish,
Tallahassee, and on his return North visited St. Augustine, where he
found Trinity parish in the possession of a lot of ground, the very
"site where stood the first church erected by Europeans in this country,"
together with $3,000 toward the erection of their church. In 1829,
January 26, the Rev. Raymond Alphonso Henderson had reached
St. Augustine, and so successful were his labors that by the close of
1830 he entered upon the work of erecting a church of stone, which
was consecrated in 1833 by the Rt. Rev. Nathaniel Bowen, D.D.,
Bishop of South Carolina. The growth of the church was gradual,
and it was not until January, 1838, that a Convention was organized,
at which time there were parishes at Pensacola, Apalachicola, Talla
hassee, Jacksonville, St. Joseph, Key West, and St. Augustine ; and
six clergymen, the Rev. David Brown, the Rev. Robert Dyce, the
Rev. R. A. Henderson, the Rev. Charles Jones, the Rev. Joseph II.
Saunders, and the Rev. J. Loring Woart. 1

Notices of the introduction of the services of the Church in Alabama
are found in the Rev. Charles Woodmason s "Account of West Florida,
made in 1766," a MS. in the archives of the General Convention tran
scribed from the original at Fulham, and as yet never printed in full.

* Proceedings in Organizing the Diocese, Protestant Episcopal Church in Florida, Jan-
and Journal of the Primary Convention of the uaiy, 1838, p. 3. Tallahassee, 1838.

210 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Mobile is a Fort seated on a river of that name, distant, at its mouth, 60
miles from Pensacola, and lyes about 40 miles from the river s mouth. There is a
Chapel in this Fort, but no chaplain. The inhabitants, copying after the pattern set
them by their principal,! are strangers to the paths of virtue and sunk in disso
luteness and dissipation. No forms of government are yet fixed or carried into
execution, whereby numbers who went there to settle have been ruined or have
retreated to the French settlement of New Orleans.

A person who calls himself a clergyman patrolls about this place and officiates
occasionally. But if he i?s one, they say that he is such a disgrace to the character,
that they, bad as they are, hold him in detestation.

This was the place to which Mr. Harte, 9 now lecturer of St. Michael s,
Charles Town, was destin d, and which he visited, but he found both place and
people too disagreeable to be preferred to so agreeable a situation as he now
enjoys. Mr. Harte was there when the General Congress with the Indians was
held, and at their departure he gave them a sermon, the interpreter explaining his
words to them sentence by sentence. The Indian chief was very attentive, and
after dinner asked Mr. Harte where this Great Warrior God Almighty, which he
talked so much of, lived ; and if he was a friend of his Brother George over the
Great Water ! Mr. Harte then expatiated on the Being of God and his attributes,
but could not instil any sentiments into the Indian, or bring him to even the least
comprehension of these matters, and dwelt so long on the subject as to tire the
patience of the savage, who at length took Mr. Harte by the hand with one of his,
and filling out a glass of rum with the other, concluded by saying, " Beloved Man,
I will always think well of this Friend of ours, God Almighty, whom you tell me
so much of, and so let us drink his health," and then drunk off his glass of rum.

In November, 1826, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society
of the Church appointed the Eev. Robert Davis " to visit the State of
Alabama and advance the interests of the society and religion there." J
Detained on his way by ill-health, it was not till the autumn of 1827
that he reached Tuscaloosa, where he organized a congregation, Jan
uary 7, 1828, 4 and made arrangements for the erection of a church.
In December of the following year the Rev. William H. Judd was ap
pointed missionary at this station, the Rev. Mr. Davis having left the
field. On his arrival at Mobile, January 21, 1829, he found the Rev.
Henry A. Shaw settled as Rector of this parish in that city, where he
had been for two. or three weeks. 5 Proceeding to the place pf his
appointment, Mr. Judd labored with success and zeal till his decease,
August 7, 1829, leaving the church edifice nearly complete and the
congregation in a flourishing condition. In 1830 Bishop Brownell,
of Connecticut, visited Alabama, administered confirmation at Mobile,
and presided at a meeting for organizing the Church in the State.
This primary Convention assembled on the 25th of January, and was
composed of the Rev. Mr. Shaw and the Rev. Albert A. Muller, who
had been transferred from the diocese of Mississippi, and was officiat
ing at Tuscaloosa, and " the principal Episcopalians of the city, and
from other parts of the State. 6 A constitution was adopted and the
following action taken :

Resolved, That it is expedient to form a South-western Diocese, to comprise
the Dioceses of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, and that for this purpose the

1 The Governor whose dissolute life is ear- 3 Proceedings of the Board of Directors,

Her referred to in Mr. Woodmason s account. etc., 1828, p. 36.

The Rev. Samuel Harte, A.M., Licensed Quarterly Miss. Paper, July, 1829, p. 43.

to " Florida, Mobile," 1764. Fide " Gen. Conv. Proceedings of the Board of Directors,

MSS., So. Car., 1765-1779 ;" also, Dalcho s " Hist, etc., p. 43.

of the Epis. Ch. in So. Car.," pp. 193, 216, 272, 3, Bishoo Brownell s Report, Missionary Pa-

434 ; also, Spragne s " Annals of the Am Epis. per, June, 1830, p. 70.
Clergy," p. 171.

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 211

next Convention of the Church in this State will choose six delegates from the
Clergy and Laity, to meet an equal number from each of the States of Mississippi
and Louisiana at such time and place as the said delegation by correspondence may
determine."- 1

Agreeably to the constitution, the first annual Convention met on
the 12th of May, 1830, and adjourned, without action, to meet the
first Monday of January, 1831. Meantime a parish was organized at
Greensburg, through the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Miiller, and a con
gregation gathered at Huntsville. The bishop himself held services
at Selma and Montgomery, and in his report speaks of Florence as
presenting an "opening for the services of a missionary." In each
of these places a church was subsequently established. In 1835
the diocese united with the diocese of Alabama and the clergy and
churches of Louisiana in the formation of the South-western diocese,
and in the election of the Rev. Francis Lister Hawks, D.D., to the
episcopate thereof. In 1840

Bishop Brownell, who had ,-? y /&gt;
been recognized as the epis- &lt;^t~-^ ^ *~4 */*
copal authority in the diocese S^^fa
for ten years, claimed a release &gt; / 7^**e*j _

from his charge, and the Rt. )

Rev. Leonidas Polk, D.D.,

Missionary Bishop of Arkansas, was chosen bishop, which office he held
till 1844. The Rev. Martin P. Parks, afterwards D.D., and one of the
ministers of Trinity Church, New York, was elected to the episcopate
of Alabama in 1842, but declined the invitation. The following year
the Rev. James T. Johnson, of Virginia, was elected to this office, but
with a similar result. In 1844 the Rev. Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, D.D.,
of the diocese of Ohio, was chosen bishop, and was consecrated Oct.
20, 1844. Bishop Cobbs, after a singularly pure and holy life, died
Jan. 11, 1861.

On Sunday, the 29th of June, 1823, at Christ Church, Cincinnati,
Bishop Chase, of Ohio, admitted to the diaconate Mr. James Angel
Fox, of Pinckneyville, Mississippi. 2 Soon after his ordination Mr.
Fox returned to his family home at Pinckneyville, at which place and
at Woodville he pursued the work of the ministry in connection with
teaching. The congregation gathered through his instrumentality at
Woodville erected a commodious church, " in dimensions forty-two by
thirty-seven feet, built with a convenient vestry." 3 In his report to
the Bishop of Ohio, the following year, Mr. Fox alluded to the parish
at Natchez as in a flourishing state, under the care of the Rev. Mr.
Pilmore. 3

The possessions of Great Britain in " West Florida," extending
to the Mississippi river on the west and to the thirty-first parallel
of north latitude on the south, and embracing " the Natchez district,"
which were acquired by treaty from France, in 1763, were forcibly
wrested from her by Spain in 1779. By the treaty of Madrid, in 1795,
Spain stipulated to surrender this territory to the United States within

Journal of Primary Convention, first pub- - Journal of Ohio, 1823.

lished at the end of the Journal of 1855, pp. 41-45. s Ohio Journal of 1829.

212 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

six months, but the formal delivery of possession was not accomplished
until 1798. Immediately on the termination of the Spanish domination
a territorial government was formed, which went into force on the 7th
of April, 1798.

Prior to this any religious worship other than that of the Romish
communion had been rigorously interdicted. There had come to the
Natchez district as early as 1792, six years before the close of the
Spanish rule, a clergyman of the Church, the Rev. Adam Cloud,
said to have been in deacon s orders, who brought with him to his new
home a wife and one or two children. He was the first and only min
ister of the Church who came to Mississippi under the provincial govern
ment. Mr. Cloud settled on St. Catherine s Creek, about two miles
below Natchez. He had come from Newcastle, Delaware, where he was
born on the 30th of December, 1759. In 1781 he was admitted on trial
as a travelling preacher among the Methodists, and appointed on the
Roanoke circuit. In 1788, on the 31st of January, he married Mary
Grandine, near Morristown, New Jersey, and shortly after entered the
ministry of this Church. No notice of his ordination appears in the
carefully prepared " List of Deacons " made by the late Bishop of Maine,
Dr. Burgess, but of his being in orders there can be no doubt. Bringing
with him his slaves, he soon acquired a title to one thousand seven hun
dred acres of land in the district, where his settlement was hailed by all
the adherents of the Church, and all in fact who were not Romanists, as
affording them the opportunity for the baptism of their children and for
such services as could be rendered without incurring the penalty of the
law. But Mr. Cloud s ministry brought upon him persecution, and he was
cruelly driven from this district, to which he did not return until 1816,
when he came back to the scene of his first labors. In 1801 , or 1802,
a clergyman of the Church of England visited the newly organized
territory and officiated at different localities. Among other" places he
preached at the site of the old Spanish military post of " Gayosa,"
about three miles distant from "Church Hill." Only one person in the
congregation, a Mr. William Moss, who had been brought up in the
Church, was sufficiently acquainted with the services to respond.

On the 9th of March, 1822, the Rev. James Pilmore arrived at
Natchez, Miss., with the view of establishing a parish of the Church.
On the 26th of the same month an organization was effected, and on
the 9th of the following month Mr. Pilmore accepted the rectorship of
the new parish. In May a lot was purchased. The church, an oblong
building with an immense dome, was ready for occupancy in May, 1823.
Mr. Pilmore resigned in 1825, and, removing to Laurel Grove, he
officiated as minister of Christ Church, Jefferson county. He died
November 1, 1827, aged fifty-six years. He was succeeded by the
Rev. Albert A. Miiller. At this time there were but three churches in
the State, St. Paul s, at Woodville ; Christ Church, Jefferson ; and
Trinity, Natchez. The Rev. James A. Fox, the Rev. Mr. Miiller, and
the Rev. Adam Cloud, who was now superannuated, made up the list
of clergy. A visit made by the Rev. Mr. Fox to Bishop Brownell, of
Connecticut, in the summer of 1829, resulted in the coming of that ex
cellent prelate to the State on an extended visitation.

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH.

213

On the 17th of May, 1826, clergy and lay delegates met in
Trinity Church, Natchez, for the purpose of organizing a diocese
of the Church in the State of Mississippi. The Rev. James Pil-
more preached the opening sermon. The Rev. Albert A. Miiller l
was chosen president. Besides these clergymen there were present

REV. JOSEPH PILMORE.

the Rev. James A. Fox and the Rev. John W. Cloud. 3 The Rev.
Adam Cloud, 4 residing in the State, did not attend. Delegates, eleven
in number, and representing four parishes, those at Natchez, Wood-
ville, Port Gibson, and Christ Church, Jefferson county, were present,
one of them being the Hon. Joshua Gr. Clarke, the chancellor of the
State. The Convention formally acceded to the constitution and canons
of the Church in the United States. A constitution and canons were
adopted. The Committee on the State of the Church reported the
details of parochial work in the various parishes. A committee
was appointed to correspond with the Domestic and Foreign

Ordained by Bishop Dehou, Feb. 22, 1815.
4 Ordained by Bishop Brownell, Jan. 4, 182G.

1 Ordained by Bishop Kemp, in 1821.

2 Referred to on p. 192.

214 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Missionary Society " on subjects concerning the present state of the
Church in this Diocese." The clergy were earnestly requested to visit
the parishes destitute of ministers. Diocesan officers and delegates
to the General Convention were appointed. Thus was inaugurated the
diocese of Mississippi.

At the time of the cession of Louisiana to the United States, in
1803, there were a number of Protestant residents in the city of New
Orleans, who at once set about the organization of a religious society.
The record of these proceedings are preserved in the minutes of Christ
Church parish, 1 from which it appears that on the 2d of June, 1805,
a number of gentlemen assembled for the purpose " of obtaining as
speedily as possible a Protestant clergyman, to come and reside in New
Orleans to preach the Gospel." On the 9th of June of the same year
a second meeting was held, at which it was resolved to convene a
genera] gathering of all interested in this effort on the 15th of that
month, "to determine the religious denomination of the clergyman to
be invited." At this meeting, the question being put to vote, out
of fifty-three ballots which were cast forty-five were in favor of a
clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and of the remaining
eight seven were for Presbyterian ministrations, and one for those of
the Methodist body. At this meeting a parochial organization was
effected, and the name of " Christ Church Parish " determined upon
for its corporate title. A committee of correspondence was immedi
ately appointed to confer with the bishops of the Church at the North,
and on the recommendation of Bishop Moore, of New York, the Rev.
Philander Chase became the first minister of the Church, and, in fact,
the first of any religious body, other than the Church of Rome, that
ever officiated in the newly ceded territory. On the 3d of July, 1805,
the territorial legislature granted an act of incorporation to "The
Church Wardens and Vestry-men of Christ Church, in the County of
Orleans." The Rev. Mr. Chase arrived in New Orleans on the 13th
of November, and on the 16th of that month the organization of the
vestry was completed by the election of T. B. Provoost, D. A. Hall,
Benjamin Morgan, Joseph Saul, William Kenver, Joseph McNiel,
George T. Ross, Charles Norwood, Andrew Burk, R. D. Shepherd,
Richard Relf, Edward Livingston, J. McDonough, John P. Sander
son, and A. R. Ellery , of whom Joseph Saul and Andrew Burk were sub
sequently elected wardens. The first services were held in the "Princi
pal," on the 23d Sunday after Trinity, November 17, 1805, and shortly
after the arrangements were perfected, securing to the new parish the
faithful ministrations of one whose praise was yet to be in all the
churches, for a life of labor, self-sacrifice, and zeal. Agreeably to the
suggestions of the new rector the title of the parish, as given in the
act of incorporation, was changed to that of "The Rector, Church
Wardens and Vestry-men of Christ Church, in the County of Orleans,
in communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States of America," and the charter itself made conformable to the
usages of the Church. In 1808 the rector, church-wardens, and

Vide Journals of the Conventions of the of the Early History of the Church in Louisiana,"
Diocese of Louisiana, 1838-1842 ; with "A Sketch pp. 37-39.

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 21;")

vestry-men of Christ Church, New Orleans, memorialized the bishop and
Convention to recognize their church "as part of the ecclesiastical diocese
of New York." This request was deemed incompatible with the thirty-
seventh canon of the General Convention, but the bishop was requested
"to extend to them, as far as may be in his power, his Episcopal care and
counsel." In March, 1811, Mr. Chase removed to Connecticut, and the

RT. REV. PHILANDER CHASE AND WIFE.

church was without a rector until 1816, when the Rev. James F. Hull took
charge of the parish, where he continued until his decease in 1833. On
the 16th of March, 1825, "The Episcopal congregation of Baton Rouge"
was incorporated. On the 7th of February, 1829, Grace Church, St.
Francesville, was incorporated, a congregation having been previously
gathered by the labors of the Rev. William R. Bowman, who remained
there until his death, in 1838. In the autumn of 1834, the Bishop of
Connecticut, Dr. Brownell, visited New Orleans, and remained through
the following winter, discharging the duties of rector of the parish. On
the 4th and 5th of March, 1835, "a Convention of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, composed of delegations from the dioceses of Mississippi and
Alabama, and the clergy and churches of Louisiana," was held in Christ

216

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Church, the Bishop of Connecticut being present, and administering the
holy communion at the opening service. The Rev. Pierce Connolly was
chosen chairman of this Convention, which proceeded to complete its

of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana," was adopted, and a standing
committee chosen. The Convention then proceeded to elect a bishop, and
the Rev. Francis Lister Hawks, D.D., was unanimously chosen by

the clergy and laity.
The testimonial of
the bishop-elect was
prepared and signed,
and the minutes and
testimonials were or
dered to be sent to
the two houses of the
General Convention,
with a request for the
consecration of the
Rev. Dr. Hawks.
The bishop-elect was
requested to visit the
church in Pensacola,
Florida, which \v;is
understood to wish
to be placed under
his episcopal care.
The thanks of the
Conven t i o n were
tendered to the Bish
op of Connecticut,
" for his generous ser
vices and zealous ex
ertions intheorgani-
REV. FRANCIS L. HAWKS. zation of the South

western Diocese."

Dr. Hawks had earlier been called to the rectorship of Christ Church ,
New Orleans, and the General Convention of 1835 confirmed the choice
of the Convention of the South-western diocese by appointing him Bishop
of Louisiana, with jurisdiction in the territories of Arkansas and Florida.
But, although the bishop-elect had declared his readiness to accept this
position, " provided provision was made to his satisfaction for the sup
port of his family," on the 14th of October the presiding bishop an
nounced that he had finally declined the post.

During parts of 1835 and 1830 Christ Church, New Orleans, had
occasional ministrations ; but in the autumn of 1836 Bishop Brownell
again accepted the invitation of the vestry to visit them, and continued
through the winter. In the spring of 1837 the bishop consecrated the
new church erected on Canal street, and on the 15th of February of

THE HOME EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH. 217

the same year the wardens and vestry unanimously elected the Rev.
Nathaniel S. Wheaton, D.D., then President of Washington (now
Trinity) College, in Connecticut, to the rectorship, who entered upon
his duties in November, and was instituted early in the following year.
On the 28th of April, 1838, the primary Convention of the clergy
and churches of the State of Louisiana met, after divine service, in
Christ Church, New Orleans, the Rev. Dr. Wheaton in the chair. Be
sides the chairman, the Rev. Roderick H. Ranney was present, and
the representatives of three parishes, Christ Church, New Orleans,
Grace Church, St. Francesville, and St. Paul s Church, New Orleans,
which had been lately organized, and was incorporated February 14,

1840. The adoption of a constitution ; the appointment of a standing
committee, and a deputation to the General Convention ; the formal vote
of the Convention soliciting admission into union with the Church in
General Convention ; and the delegation to the standing committee of
the authority to prepare canons to be laid before a future meeting ;
comprised the proceedings of this initial meeting of the Church in this
diocese.

The first annual Convention met in Christ Church, New Orleans,
January 16, 1839, two clergymen, the Rev. Dr. Wheaton and Rev.
Mr. Ranney, and delegates from the two parishes in New Orleans,
being present. Canons were proposed by the standing committee and
adopted, and the diocese placed " under the full Episcopal charge and
authority " of the Missionary Bishop of Arkansas.

The second annual Convention assembled in Christ Church, New
Orleans, on the 16th of January, 1840. The Bishop of Illinois, the
Rt. Rev. Dr. Chase, was present, and at the request of the Rev. Dr.
Wheaton, president, presided at the meeting. Two parishes were
represented by six delegates, and the number of resident clergy had
increased to five.

The third annual Convention met at the same place, on the 21st of
January, 1841. Delegates from two parishes, and apparently but two
clergymen, the rectors and parishes of New Orleans, made up the
Convention, the business of which was simply to elect a standing
committee and deputies to the General Convention.

A special Convention met at the same place on the 20th of May,

1841, its object being to memorialize the General Convention to elect
a bishop for the diocese.

At the fourth annual Convention, January, 1842, the bishop chosen
by the General Convention, in response to the request of the diocese,
the Rt. Rev. Dr. Leonidas Polk, was present and presiding. It was
thus that the diocese of Louisiana was brought into a condition for
work and growth.

The first missionary of the Church in the republic of Texas was the
Rev. Caleb S. Ives, sent in 1838 by "The Domestic and Foreign Mission
ary Society" of the Church in the United States. Mr. Ives settled
at Matagorda, an old Spanish town near the mouth of the Colorado
river, and by his godly life, his earnest zeal, and faithful teaching laid
the foundations of the Church in Texas. His church building was
framed and shipped from New York in 1839, and was a neat and

218 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

commodious edifice consecrated by Bishop Polk, of Louisiana, in 1844.
Mr. Ives died after abundant labors, towards the close of 1849 and
was succeeded by the Rev. S. D. Denison, who was in after years the
able and devoted secretary of the foreign committee of the Board of
Missions. Resigning his charge in 1850 he was followed by the Rev.
D. D. Flower, of Alabama, and shortly after by the Rev. Henry N.
Pierce, now Bishop of Arkansas and the Indian Territory. During
the rectorship of the Rev. S. R. Wright the church was destroyed by
a tornado, but the faithful clergyman, who had just entered upon his
charge, secured at the North and East the means of rebuilding the dis
mantled structure, and continued at his post till his death, in 1857. The
Rev. R. M. Chapman was the second appointment of "The Domestic and
Foreign Missionary Society " to Texas, and was assigned, in October,
1838, to Houston. In 1839 Bishop Polk made a visitation to this post,
which had been relinquished by Mr. Chapman ; but it was nearly two
years ere the vacant cure was filled, first by the Rev. Benjamin Eaton,
for thirty years the devoted rector of Galvcston, which he founded, and
the Rev. Charles Gillette, under whose rectorship the church at Houston,
was erected. In 1844 Bishop Polk again visited Texas, administering
confirmation at Houston, and proceeding through the country to Mata-
gorda, and thence along the coast to Galveston. Feeling the need of
more frequent episcopal care, the three presbyters in the republic,
the Rev. Messrs. Ives, Eaton, and Gillette, memorialized the General
Convention to provide for their needs. In response to their request
Texas was assigned to the Missionary Bishop of Arkansas, appointed
in 1844. On the first of August, 1849, under the presidency of
Bishop Freeman, the diocese of Texas was organized, and since that
time the progress of the Church in this empire State has been uniform
and encouraging. Efforts to secure a diocesan were made again and
again in vain. In 1852 Bishop Freeman was unanimously elected.
On his declining this appointment, in 1856, the Rev. Arthur Cleveland
Coxe, of Maryland, was first elected ; in 1857 the Rev. Alexander H.
Vinton, of Massachusetts ; in 1858 the Rev. Sullivan H. Weston, of
New York, and finally, after the death of Bishop Freeman, in 1859,
the Rev. Alexander Gregg was chosen to this office and administration.
At length one had been found to take up this important work, and the
wisdom of the choice, and the faithfulness of the first Bishop of Texas,
are seen in the rapid development of the See. After the civil war the
division of the diocese was found to be imperative. At the General Con
vention of 1874 the northern and western portions of the State were set
apart as missionary jurisdictions, and on the 15th of November the Rev.
Robert W. B. Elliott, D.D., was consecrated Missionary Bishop of
Western Texas, and on the 20th of December, 1874, the Rev.
Alexander C. Garrett, D.D., was consecrated Missionary Bishop of
Northern Texas, each of these sees embracing an area of a hundred
thousand square miles, or more. 1

1 The facts of the early history of the Church extended sketch of the history of the diocese
in Texas are condensed by permission from prepared by the Right Rev. Dr. Gre&lt;r for " The
various sources, among which may be noticed an Church Cyclopaedia," Philadelphia, 1884.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE FOUNDERS AND FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH
AT THE WEST.

TURNING to the rapidly developing West, we find traces of the
presence of an English chaplain at Detroit as early as 1770, while
the Territory of Michigan, unlike most of the Western States, is
indebted to " the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gos
pel " for the first efforts to establish the services of the Church within
its vast territory. A missionary of that society, the Rev. Richard
Pollard, whose charge was the scattered sheep in the wilderness, on
the English side of the Detroit river, occasionally visited the little
town of Detroit, preached to the very few Protestants to be found,
baptized their children, and buried their dead. Mr. Pollard died early
in the present century. After his decease and up to the breaking out
of the war of 1812, efforts were made from time to time by the few
church residents in Detroit to keep up services by lay-reading, but
after the war the members of the Church united with those of other
faiths in an organization entitled "The First Protestant Society." In
the summer of 1821 an American clergyman, the Rev. Alanson Wei-
ton, established himself in Detroit as a missionary, and seems to have
won much regard, but he died in the autumn of that year, after
about three months service. Three years later, the Rev. Richard F.
Cadle, a missionary of " The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society "
of the Church, entered upon his work in the same city, then con
taining about two thousand inhabitants. In his first report to the so
ciety he says, "The number of persons attached to our Church is about
forty ; the communicants, I believe, are not more than three or four."
But the earnest and godly missionary soon began to see an increase
of strength in his mission. He* arrived in Detroit, after a twelve days
journey from New York, on the 12th of July, 1824, and on the 22d
of November, the same year, he presided over the little company
which met in the Indian Council House the earliest cradle of the Church
in Michigan, and its only place of worship for a few years to organize
a parish, under the name of St. Paul s Church, Detroit. On the 22d of
March, 1825, the parish felt strong enough to call the good mission
ary to become its rector, and to pledge him $150 salary per annum, he
still retaining his connection with the parent society. In 1827 Mr.
Cadle had the satisfaction of seeing a small brick edifice, forty feet by
sixty, commenced. His tried friend and patron, Bishop Hobart, came
all the way from New York to lay the corner-stone, and the following
year he consecrated the church and administered the rite of confirma
tion, the first time it had been done in the territory.

220 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

By the summer of 1832 three or four other parishes 1 had sprung
into being, and on the 10th of September, a Convention was held at
Detroit, at which it was resolved to apply to the General Convention,
to meet in October, for admission as a diocese. This application was
granted. The proceedings of this preliminary Convention, and also
that of 1833, have only within a few years been printed. From the
records of the standing committee, 8 it would appear that the committee
held its first meeting on April 9, 1833, and entered with much vigor
on its work. At its very tirst session, measures were taken to clear
the Church from a prevailing charge of collusion with the heresy of
Univcrsalism ; to secure thorough and conscientious preparation for
confirmation, and to place the diocese under the charge of Bishop
Mcllvaine, the newly consecrated Bishop of Ohio. The diocese of
Michigan, judging from its clergy list at the time of its admission into
union with the general Church, presented an appearance not very cheer
ing to its friends nor formidable to its foes. The list is headed by the
name of Bishop Chase, who had withdrawn from Ohio, and was resid
ing without charge in a little hamlet in Southern Michigan, called

O O o

Gilead. One other clergyman seems to have been canonically resident,
but without cure, while the four remaining names represent only De
troit, Monroe, and the Indian mission at Green Bay, then within the
territory and diocese of Michigan. It was certainly the day of small
things.

The first and only visitation which the bishop in charge made of the
new diocese began on Saturday, the 19th of April, 1834, with the in
stitution of the Rev. Addison Searle, into the rectorship of St. Paul s,
Detroit, followed on Sunday by the administration of confirmation in
the same church. " Over a most difficult and dangerous road we were
brought at the close of day, on Monday," says the bishop, in his ad
dress to the Convention, " to the village of Troy, twenty miles from
Detroit, the scene of the first episcopal visitation outside of Detroit,
in the territory of Michigan. " The fatigue and exposure of the return
the next day, during which the vehicle was overturned, caused such
serious indisposition, that the whole plan of the visitation was changed,
and the infant parishes at Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and Dexter, as well as
the distant, but most important station at Green Bay, were not reached.
Detroit was revisited, and also the parish at Tecumseh. On the 3d
of May the bishop consecrated Trinity Church, Monroe, and within
its walls met the Convention, which is recorded as the first annual
Convention of the diocese. With its adjournment the visitation
terminated. The Bishop of Ohio had already impressed on the minds
of the clergy and laity the wisdom of seeking a bishop of their own,
and at the annual Convention, in Tecumseh, June, 1835, the Rev.
Henry J. Whitehouse, D.D., of the diocese of New York, was elected

St. Andrew s, Ann Arbor, in 1829, founded by the Rev. Richard Bury, the Rev. S. C. Freeman,
the Rev. R.F. Cadle; St. John s, Troy, in 1829, and the Rev. JohnO Urien, and Messrs. Henry
byname; St. Luke s, Ypsilanti, in 1830, by the Rev. Whitinjr, Elon Farnsworth, Henry M. Camp-
Silas C. Freeman; Trinity, Monroe, iii 1831, by bell, Charles E. Trowbridge, and Seneca Allen,
the Rev. Richard Bury ; and St. Peter s, Te- Mr. Trowbrid&lt;re was reflected a member of this
cumseh, in 1832, by the Rev. Mr. Freeman. body until his death in 1883.
1 The first standing committee consisted of

FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH AT THE WEST. 221

as the first Bishop of Michigan. He declined the appointment, and a
special Convention in St. Paul s, Detroit, in November of the same year,
finding itself canonically incompetent by reason of recent clerical re
movals, to elect for itself, took advantage of the new general canon (" of
the election of Bishops," Sect. 2) and made application to the House of
Bishops to elect a bishop for the diocese. The Rev. Samuel A. McCos-
kry, D.D., Rector of St. Paul s, Philadelphia (the expressed choice
of the diocese), was thus elected, and was consecrated in that church,
on the 7th of July, 1836, by Bishops Onderdonk, of New York,
Doane, of New Jersey, and Kemper, the missionary bishop of Missouri
and Indiana. On the 25th of August, after a ten days journey, Bishop
McCoskry arrived in Detroit, and was the recipient of a cordial wel
come from the parishioners of St. Paul s Church, whose rectorship he
had accepted, and a month later, in company with a devout and ener
getic layman, Charles C. Trowbridge, a member of the standing com
mittee, and a warden of St. Paul s, Detroit, he entered upon a thorough
visitation of the diocese.

The distance travelled, often over difficult roads, was nearly five
hundred miles, and during the month consumed by the journey ser
vices were held in Monroe, Detroit, Ypsilanti, Dexter, Ann Arbor,
Jacksouburg, Marshall, Kalamazoo, Albion, Constantino, White
Pigeon, Niles, Edwardsburg, Tecumseh, and Clinton in some of
these places for the first time, and by way of missionary exploration
and experiment. On his return, the bishop met his Convention in
special session, in St. Paul s, Detroit, October 28th, and was thus fully
introduced to the work and workers of the diocese. Of the eleven
clergy canonically resident, including the Green Bay missionaries, six
were present.

Thus was the diocese fully and happily entered upon its career.
The planting of the Church in the vast territory lying west of the
Alleghanies was done by faithful laymen. In the new settlements
which included churchmen among their numbers, the prayer-book
services were read in log cabins or rude school-houses, and thus the
way was prepared for the coming of the missionary priest. Notably
was this the case in the town of Boardman, Trumbull county, Ohio.
A formal organization took place as early as September, 1809, and lay
services were maintained alternately at Boardman and Canfield, and all
the forms of parish corporate life observed 2 until eight years later the
Rev. Roger Searle came from Plymouth, Connecticut, to minister to
these pioneer settlers in the great West. It was under this missionary

*For the particulars of this sketch we are of Boardman, Canfield, and Poland, in the County

chiefly indebted to " The History of the Epis- of Trumbull and State of Ohio, holden at the

copal Church in Michigan," by Ilon.C. C. Trow- School-house, near the centre of Boardman, by

bridge, and to a historical sketch, by the Rev. Dr. appointment afor* 1 , for the purpose of forming

B. H. Paddock, contained in " A Manual for the themselves into a regular Episcopal Society and

use of Rectors, Wardens, and Vestrymen, in the investing the Parish with proper Society Oflicers,

Diocese of Michigan, with Annals of the Diocese, Voted at this meeting unanimously

Compiled by the Rev. George D. Gillcspie, Sec- Tirhouiid Kirtland, Moderator,

rotary of the Convention," a most accurate, use- Ethel Starr, Clerk.

1 ul and valuable work. Joseph Platt, Warden.

* The original record is as follows : Til-hound Kirtland, )

"BOARDMAN, Sept. 4th, 1809. Ethel Starr and &gt; Vestry.

" At a meeting of the professors of the Prot- Lewis Hoy t,

estant Episcopal Church in America, Inhabitants "ETHEL STARR, Clerk"

222 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

laborer s direction that the parish adopted the name of St. James, and
appointed delegates to attend the primary Convention at Windsor.

At Worthington, Franklin county, on the Scioto river, about
nine miles from the seat of government, there was early in the cen
tury a colony, chiefly from Hartford county, Connecticut, and com
prising among its few families a number of churchmen, who carried
with them to their new home their fondness for the Church of their
childhood. This little company of church-folk was wont to gather to
gether on Sundays, and, after reading the prayers, to listen to a sermon
read by one of their number. There was a clergyman of the Church
resident in Worthington, the Rev. James Kilbourn, 1 who had received
deacon s orders a number of years before. Mr. Kilbourn, although
the only clergyman of the Church for a number of years in that section
of the country now comprised within the limits of the State of Ohio,
had become secularized, and at the time of the settlement of Worthing
ton he was the agent of the Emigration Company ; had personally
surveyed, " located," and purchased the lands on which the town had
been laid out, and was now devoted to business and politics, with the
military rank of colonel and the political preferment of a seat in Con
gress. Constantly occupied in business, it was only on rare occasions,
when at home, that he found opportunity to conduct the services for
this band of devout and devoted churchmen, and in his absence the
prayers and sermon were read by Ezra Griswold, the brother of the
bishop of the Eastern diocese. In 1814, after the services had been
continued for a number of years, Captain Charles Griswold, who had
aided the venerable Father Nash in his missionary labors in the State
of New York as a lay-reader and fellow-worker, joined the little com
pany of churchmen at Worthington, and under his guidance a parish
was speedily organized. For four years after his coming to Ohio
Captain Griswold read the service, and, when at the expiration of this
time the services of the Rev. Philander Chase, of Hartford, Connecticut,
were secured, the church at Worthington was in its comparative
strength and interest a notable instance of the value of lay ministra
tions where the services of a clergyman cannot be had. Prior to the
coming of the Rev. Mr. Chase three clergymen had visited Worthington
and other portions of Ohio, preaching, baptizing, and administering
the holy communion to those who but for their presence must have
lived and died without the ministrations of the word and sacraments.
These were the Rev. Joseph Doddridge, M.D., of Western Virginia;
the Rev. Robert Ayres, of Pennsylvania, 2 and the Rev. Jacob Morgan
Douglass, who was only in deacon s orders. 3 But even with this lack

1 Ordained deacon by Bishop Jarvis, Jan- tied. He was a member of House of Represent-

nary 24, 1802, but subsequently displaced from atives of Congress from 1813 to 1817. lie filled

the ministry. Vide Bishop Burgess s " List of many public offices, and died at Worthington,

Persons orcfaincd to the Order of Deacons," p. 6, April 24, 1850. Vide Lanman s " Biographical

and Ohio Conv. Journal, June, 1821. lie had Annals of the Civil Government of the United

entered the ministry at the age of thirty-one, hav- States during its first Century." Washington,

ing been before his ordination successively en- 187G, p. 240.

gaged in farming, as a mechanic, a merchant, * Ordained to the diaconate by Bishop White,

and a manufacturer. In 1803 lie was instru- June 5, 1789. Vide Bishop Burgess s " List of

mental in organizing the "Scioto Company" for Deacons," p. 4.

the settlement of Central Ohio, and it was under Ordained by Bishop White, June 9, 1816.

the auspices of this company, of which Kilbourn Ibid., p. 9.
was the leading spirit, that Worthington was set-

FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH AT THE WEST. 223

of clerical service the parish increased, and many were "made ready"
for the subsequent reception of the holy communion. So that Mr.
Chase had on his coming a large number of adult candidates for bap
tism, and shortly numbered between forty and fifty communicants in
this single parish. When at length there was a bishop to administer
the rite of confirmation, at its first administration in the State, seventy-
nine received the laying on of hands in St. John s, Worthington. 1

It was on the fourth Sunday in Lent, March "16, 1817, that the
Rev. Philander Chase preached his first sermon in Ohio, at Covenant
Creek, a hamlet of log houses. now known as Salem. The service of
the Church, so far as was possible, when there were neither prayer-
books nor churchmen for the responses, preceded the sermon, and the
worthy mission-priest proceeded first toAshtabula, where he remained
and officiated for a week, and then to Windsor, where Judge Solomon
Griswold, a cousin of the bishop of the Eastern diocese, gladly re
ceived the minister of God. The judge had read " prayers here in the
woods for several years," and, now that the Church had come to the
frontiers, the faithful priest found in this little settlement nearly fifty
to baptize, while on Easter day, April 6, seventeen received the holy
communion of the Body and Blood of Christ in the parish of Christ
Church, Windsor.

It was at Windsor, and during this visit of the Rev. Philander
Chase, that the first attempt at organization of the Church at the West
was made. The Rev. Roger Searle, 2 who had been the pioneer-priest
of Ohio, and had organized the parishes at Ashtabula, Cleveland,
Liverpool, Columbia, Medina, Ravenna, and at Boardman, had pre
ceded his brother clergyman by a few weeks, and had found at all
these points churchmen and communicants waiting for the clergyman s
presence to organize into parishes, and gladly receiving at his hands
the sacraments so long denied them in this newly-settled land.
Bishop Chase, in his " Reminiscences," 3 refers to this meeting " as a
consultation of persons from various townships in the neighborhood
as to the expediency of holding a Convention, in the beginning of the
coming Year at Columbus," and he adds that the proposition " was
agreed to with great unanimity and zeal." The original minutes of
this primary meeting are as follows :

PROVISIONAL CONVENTION, 1817, HELD IN WINDSOR, ASHTABULA. Co., APRIL

2D. JOURNAL. 4

At a meeting of a Provisional Convention of the Deputies from such parishes
on the Reserve Lands in the State of Ohio as have, by the Divine blessing on the
pious zeal and active exertions of the Rev. Roger Searle, Rector of St. Peter s

1 Many of these facts are found in an inter- such a Convention was ever held. By request of
esting paper by the Rev. B. B. Griswold, D.D., the present Secretary i this Journal was copied
entitled " An Unwritten Chapter of the History by the venerable and llev. John Hull, from the
of the Church in the West," published in the original MSS., in the handwriting of the llcv.
Churchman, Vol. xvin., No. 22 (1858). Ilojfer Searle, President of the Convention.

2 Ordained to the Diaconate by Bishop " W. C. F.
Jarvis, of Connecticut, June 6, 1805. " OBERLIX, , July, 18G2."

Second edition, Boston, 1848, Vol. I., Note appended by the Rev. W. C. French to

p. 131. these Minutes, as printed in the Appendix to Ike

4 " This Journal was never before in print, Convention Journal of 1862.
and but few pnrsons now living are aware that

224 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Church, Plymouth, State of Connecticut, formed themselves into organized bodies,
and adopted the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States
of America, at the house of the Hon. Solo. Griswold, in the township of Windsor,
county of Asht;il&gt;ula, State of Ohio, on the 2d day of April, A.D., 1817.

Divine service was performed according to the Liturgy of the Church, prayers
being read by the Rev. Phi r Chase, late Rector of Christ Church, city of Hartford,
State of Connecticut.

A sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Searle.

On motion of the Rev. Mr. Chase, the Rev. Mr. Searle was called to the chair.

On motion of the Hon. Solo. Griswold, the Rev. Mr. Chase was appointed
Secrctaiy.

The following persons presented their certificates and took their seats in the
Convention, viz., from

St. Peter s Church, township of Ashtabula, Mr. Warner Mann.

St. John s Church, township of Liverpool. Mr. Justus Warner.

St. Luke s Church, township of Ravenna, Wm. Tappan, Esq.

St. James s Church, township of Boardman, Mr. Joseph Platt and Tryal
Tanner.

Christ Church, township of Windsor, Hon. Solo. Griswold and Mr. Cook.

A statement of the views of this Provisional Convention was made by the Rev.
Mr. Searle ; whereupon,

1st. Resolved, unanimously, That it is the object of this Provisional Conven
tion to consult the welfare of the Church of Christ, according to the Constitution
and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America ;
and we do now, in a body, as we have done by parishes, separately, adopt and own
ourselves bound by the same.

2d. Resolved, unanimously, That we, the members of this Provisional Con
vention, are sincerely desirous to unite ourselves, and cooperate with all other
parishes of this State of Ohio, who are found to have adopted the Constitution of
the Protestant Episcopal Church, in order to concert measures and further the or
ganization of the Church in this State, by appointing and meeting in a State Con
vention for the formation of a Constitution, at any time and place which may be
thought most convenient.

3d. Resolved, unanimously, That in the mean time, and for the present, it is
our ardent desire to be known and represented in the General Convention of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, to meet in the month of May next, in the city of New
York, and that the Rev. Roger Searle, Rfctor of St. Peter s Church, Plymouth,
State of Connecticut, who, under God, has been so usefully instrumental in our
formation, be, and he is hereby, appointed and authorized to represent us, and to
solicit from that light reverend, reverend and honorable body, the fostering care
and assistance which we greatly need.

4th. Resolved, That the Rev. Mr. Searle be respectfully desired to give a
statistical account of the parishes lately formed on the Reserve. By which it ap
pears that St. Peter s Parish, Ashtabula, consists of about 16 families and about
16 communicants ; Trinity Church, Cleveland, consists of about 30 families and
about 10 communicants ; St. John s Church, in Liverpool, consists of about 12
families and about 8 communicants ; St. Mark s Church, in Columbia, consists of
about 14 families and about 5 communicants ; St. Paul s Church, Medina, consists
of about 10 families, but the Holy Communion has not, as yet, been administered
in the parish ; St. Luke s Church, in Ravenna, consists of about ] 2 families, the
Holy Communion has not, as yet, been administered in this parish ; St. James s
Church, in Boardman, consists of about 22 families and about 17 communicants;
Christ Church, in Windsor, consists of about 30 families and about 15 communicants.
All of which parishes were formed by the Rev. Mr. Searle since his arrival on the
Reserve, in the month of February last, except the last named parish, Christ
Church, Windsor, which was organized by the Rev. Philander Chase, from Hart
ford, Connecticut, recently arrived. The reasons why so few among these parishes
have attended this Convention are evident, viz. : their great distance from the place
of meeting, and the extreme badness of the roads.

5th. Resolved, That although this Provisional Convention assumes no right
of appointing the time and place of the State Convention of Ohio, yet with a view
of bringing to pass so desirable an object as the union of the whole interests of the
Protestant Episcopal Church of this State, we now declare our willingness to meet,
and that we will meet our brethren of the Church, by delegation, at Columbus, in

FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH AT THE WEST. 225

the month of January next, the 5th day, being the first Monday in January, A.D.,
1818, there and then to carry into effect the spirit of the second resolve of this meet
ing; and that the Rev. Philander Chase, and Alfred Kelly, Esq., of Cleveland, be
and they are hereby appointed a Committee of Correspondence on the subject mat
ter of this resolution.

6th. Resolved, That the Committee of Correspondence, namely, the Rev.
Philander Chase and Alfred Kelly, with the addition of the following gentlemen,
viz. : Mr. Noah M. Bronson, of Ashtabula; the Hon. Solo. Griswold, of Windsor,
and Mr. Joseph Platt, of Boardman, be and they are hereby appointed delegates to
represent the Episcopal parishes on the Reserve, in the State Convention of Ohio,
to meet in Columbus on the first Monday in January, 1818.

7th. Resolved, That this Convention adjourn until to-morrow morning at 9
o clock.

APRIL 3, 1817.

The Convention met agreeably to adjournment. Present as in Convention
yesterday.

8th. Resolved, This Convention, anxiously desirous to promote the glory of
God, and their own spiritual welfare through the regular and authorized adminis
tration of the ordinances of our Holy Church on the Reserve, do earnestly recom
mend it to the several parishes thereof to set on foot, as soon as may be, a subscrip
tion, to be as widely diffused as possible, for the raising of money to remunerate an
Episcopal clergyman, who may come among us duly recommended and approved,
whose services are to be distributed, or apportioned, in the ratio of the sums re
spectively subscribed by the parishes.

9th. Resolved, That the Rev. Philander Chase, now present, most respect
fully present to the Rev. Roger Searle, the thanks of this Convention, for his pious
and active exertions in establishing and promoting the welfare of our Primitive
Church in this Western country, and that he assure him of our affectionate regard,
and our ardent prayers for his temporal and eternal welfare.

10th. Resolved, That the thanks of this Provisional Convention be presented
by the President to the Rev. Philander Chase, for his very able services in counsel,
and as Secretary to this Convention.

llth. Resolved, That this Provisional Convention adjourn without day.

ROGER SEARLE, President.
PHILANDER CHASE, Secretary.

Proceeding in his pioneer work through the various towns on the
" Connecticut Eeserve " Mr. Chase visited in quick succession Ravenna,
where a parish already existed, Middlebury, Zanesville, and
Columbus, where he gathered the church people together for the or
ganization of parishes, and after officiating at Springfield and Dayton
on his way, by the fourth Sunday after Easter was in Cincinnati.
Here, after service in the "brick meeting-house with two steeples," 1
a meeting with a view to the organization of a parish was held at the
residence of Dr. Drake, and among those who responded to the invi
tation to be present, as friendly to the Church and desirous of her ser
vices, was the celebrated General Benjamin Harrison, subsequently
President of the United States.

On Monday, the 5th of January, 1818, the Convention for organiz
ing the diocese of Ohio met at Columbus, at the residence of Dr.
Goodale, in the room subsequently used as the reception-room of the
capitol-house, on High street. The two missionary priests, Messrs.
Searle and Chase, the only clergymen in full orders resident in the
State, were present, and representatives from eight parishes,
Trinity, Columbus ; St. John s, Worthington ; St. James s, Boardman ;

l Reminiscences, I., p. 132.

226 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Christ, Windsor ; Grace, Berkshire ; St. Paul s, Chillicothe ; St.
James s, Zanesville ; and Christ, Cincinnati, were in attendance.
There had been a score of parishes organized, and at the lirst animal
Convention, held at VVorthington, June 3-5, in the same year, by the
votes of three clergymen, the liev. Messrs. Roger Searle, Samuel
Johnson, lately come to Christ Church, Cincinnati, priests, and
James Kilbourn, deacon, together with the suffrages of the represent
atives of ten parishes, the Rev. Philander Chase l was elected bishop.
Some opposition was made to the consecration, but after careful
scrutiny the action of the diocese of Ohio was approved, and its first
bishop received the laying on of hands, February 11, 1819, at St.
James s Church, Philadelphia. The presiding bishop, Dr. White, was
consecrator, and the Bishops of New York, Maryland, and New Jersey,
Drs. Hobart, Kemp, and Croes, were present and assisting. The ser
mon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Frederick Beasley. The newly-
made bishop at once set off for his distant see, returning, as he came,
on horseback, and officiating for the first time in his diocese at Zanes
ville, on Quadragesima Sunday, February 28, 1819. His welcome
to his see was full and hearty. His first episcopal address to his Con
vention, the following June, was full of incident and interest. The
story of his ministrations among a little colony of English immigrants
is characteristic and touching. He was journeying " towards Cadiz,
where divine service had been appointed on the morrow," "in com
pany with a Mr. Finley and a Mr. Henderson," whereupon the bishop
proceeds,

I reached that night the neighborhood where they lived, about nine miles
from St. James s, nearly west. I had been told that old Mr. Finley was sick, that
he desired the consolations of religion, and that the neighborhood would be glad of
my ministrations. I complied with the request, and the event proved that there
was a particular providence in so doing. These people were principally from Ire
land, and in their own country were what are called English Protestants, bred to a
liberal and pious way of thinking, and to a more than ordinary courteousness of
deportment. Emigrating from their own, and coming to this country, in the early
settlement of Ohio, they fixed themselves here in the woods, and underwent the
many deprivations and hardships incident to a new establishment ; their children
grew up and their families increased.

Ardently attached to the Church, they could not but think of her and her
pleasant things ; though they had but little prospect of seeing her prosperity. The
Rev. Dr. Doddridge, the nearest, and for many years the only, Episcopal clergyman
in the country, lived some twenty miles from them, on the Virginia side of the
Ohio. Such were his avocations, that he had never been among mem. Here they
were isolated and alone, as sheep having no shepherd. Finley the elder, " the old
man of whom I spake, was yet alive ; " yet only so alive as that they were obliged
to raise him up to salute me, as I approached his bed. As I took his hand, trem
bling with age and weakness, he burst into tears, and sobbed aloud. The grate
ful effusions of his heart, at the sight of a minister of the blessed Jesus, were
made intelligible by the most affecting ejaculations to God, His Maker, Saviour
and Sanctifier. " I see my Spiritual Father," said he, " my Bishop, the Shepherd
of the Flock of Christ, of which I have always considered myself and my little
lambs about me, the members, but too unworthy, I feared, to be sought and found

1 His own vote appears to have been cast for mously elected." There appears to be no ground

the Rev. Dr, Doddndge, of Western Virginia, for the charge that Mr. Chase voted for himself,

who was present at the Convention and had Vide "The Life of the late Right Reverend

been voted an honorary seat. Bishop Chase, in his John Henry Hopkins, First Bishop of Vermont,

" Reminiscences," speaks of himself as " unani- and Seventh Presiding Bishop," p. 98,foot-not.

228 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

in this manner. O Sir! do I live to see this happy day? Yes, tis even so;
Blessed Lord ! Holy Jesus ! Thou who once earnest in great humility, to seek and
to save that which was lost, receive the tribute of my grateful heart. Now let
thy servant depart in peace." As the venerable man spake forth the effusions of
his mind in words like these, he bowed his grey hairs, and begged the prayers and
benedictions of the Church. They were afforded ; and cold must that heart be,
which, under such circumstances, could refuse to be fervent. The Visitation Office
was performed ; in which the family, joined by the neighbors hastily assembled,
participated.

The good effects of this Office, not only on the person to whom and for
whom it was prepared, but on all who witnessed it, were apparent. . . . The
branches of the Family, and other persons in the vicinity, being, though at a late
hour, sent for, I proceeded to the work of instruction. The nature and obligation
of the Christian Covenant in Baptism, and as renewed in Confirmation, and the
Lord s Supper, were dwelt upon; and the little assembly were dismissed with
earnest exhortations, to seek in their prayers the aid and direction of God s Holy
Spirit, to guide them in the solemn duties to be performed in the morning.

I went home with one of the sons of Mr. Finley, and after a short time
devoted to sleep, at dawn of day I returned to the sick man s bed. The family
and friends came as quickly together, and the sun had scarcely begun to enliven
the woods, when I again addressed my interesting audience. With what heartfelt
pleasure with what grateful exultation, did I now read in the countenances of
this little flock the effects of Gospel truth. Every face beamed with holy fear and
love, that blessed compound which speaks at once the modest, and believing, and
the obedient Christian. And when I examined and called for the persons to be
confirmed, eleven out of this little circle presented themselves. The Office was
begun and they received the laying on of hands ; after which the Holy Supper of
our Lord was administered to the Tike number, though not entirely to the same
persons some having been confirmed before, and some who were now confirmed,
being not yet duly instructed for the Sacrament. In a cabin with scarcely a pane
of glass to let in the light of day, and on a floor of roughly- hewn planks, we knelt
down together, and there the holy Offices were performed. The patriarchal old
man, having caused himself to be raised in his bed, gazed with unspeakable rapt
ure on the scene before him. His tears only indicated what he felt. The symbols
of his dear Redeemer were given and received. They were pledges of eternal
joys, in that world whither he was so fast hastening. Giving him the Episcopal
blessing, I took my leave and departed.

Such were the touching and inspiring experiences of this pioneer
Western bishop at the very outset of his work. The labor he had
undertaken was apostolic, indeed, and the cry for services and spiritual
gifts came to him from every quarter of his vast see. Pitiful is the
confession with which his first Episcopal address concludes. "The
Episcopate of this Diocese having no means of support and my own
personal funds being considerably exhausted," with these words
the bishop who had already, like the apostle, labored with his own
hands that he might not be chargeable to any, commended to his
Convention the consideration of the important matter of his support.
Years passed before the diocese could in any effectual manner respond
to the appeal. The lack of clergy for the mission field was keenly felt.
Of the few in orders who had come into Ohio, one, the secularized
" Colonel " Kilbourn, was displaced in 1821, and another clergyman, the
Rev. Joseph Willard, ordained by Bishop Provoost in 1795, though
residing at Marietta, is reported to the Convention of the same year as
having "no intention of pursuing the design of his ordination." Two
young clergymen, one the bishop s son, a promising youth, just gradu
ated from Harvard, died almost immediately on taking orders, and
some, attracted by the bright promise of the work, turned back after

FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH AT THE WEST. 229

putting their hand to the plough. A missionary society was formed,
and help was liberally extended from the East, but the necessity for the
provision of an intelligent and educated ministry compelled the bishop
to seek for aid in the old home across the sea, whence had come the
Church and clergy in the past. The need was pressing. " Forced,"
as he says, "to see the field of God s husbandry lie waste for want of
laborers " he determined to proceed to England " to solicit means for
the establishment of a school for the Education of young men for the
Ministry." In communicating his design to the bishops of the Amer
ican Church, he stated the "imperious necessity" which impelled him
to take this resolve. He saw "the whole community of the Western
settlements" "sinking fast in ignorance, and its never-failing attendants,
vice and fanaticism." " The members of our own Church," the bishop
proceeds to say, "scattered like a discomfited army, are seeking for
strange food in forbidden fields, or, in solitary groups by the wayside,
are fainting, famishing, dying, for the lack of all things which can
nourish them to eternal life." " No missionaries make their appear
ance, nor are there even the most distant hopes of obtaining any from
the East." "The few clergy we have may keep us alive, under Provi
dence, a little longer ; but when they die or move away, we have no
means to supply their places." "We may think of the privileges of
the East, of the means of education there ; but this is all ; they are
out of our reach." " Unless we can have some little means of educating
our pious young men here, and here being secure of their affections,
station them in our woods, and among our scattered people, to gather
in and nourish our wandering lambs, we have no reason to hope for
the continuance of the Church in the West." It was in this spirit and
with the wish "to institute a humble school, to receive and prepare
such materials" as were at hand, that the bishop started for England,
after asking the prayers of his brethren in the episcopate " for his pres
ervation from all evil, and that it would please Him, who had the hearts
of all men in His hands, and all events at his control, to prosper the
endeavors of His servant, to the glory of His great name." Nothing
short of an " imperious necessity," as he well styles it, would have led
him to take this course. His clergy thought the scheme visionary. The
laity saw in it no prospect of success. He left behind him a beloved
son nigh unto death. His private means were barely sufficient for the
outward journey, leaving him nothing with which to return if unsuccess
ful, disappointed, "cast down." He knew no one to whom to apply
for the needed introduction and indorsement when he had reached the
mother-land, and nothing was his but a simple trust in God and the con
fident assurance that "God will provide," the" Jehovah-jireh" mottoof
his life. Resigning the presidency of the college in Cincinnati to which
he had been elected, and over which he had presided with success, and
bearing the unanimous indorsement of his plan from the clergy of his
diocese, he journeyed eastward to find to his surprise and sorrow on
reaching the seaboard that his project was disapproved by those who
thought they detected in the scheme an implied opposition to the Gen
eral Theological Seminary just established for the supply of clergy for
the whole Church, and that its author was threatened with ruin if he

230 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

persisted in his efforts to obtain aid from abroad for the Theological
School of Ohio. The Bishops of North and South Carolina, the apos
tolic Ravenscroft, and the excellent Bowen, alone furthered the plan
of applying to England for help. The other bishops were either op
posed or indifferent. But the Bishop of Ohio was not to be moved,
though the Church s prayers were denied him on his " going to sea." He
embarked at New York in October, 1823, and, after experiencing on
his arrival in England that anticipated and threatened opposition from
his opposers, succeeded in obtaining from the generosity of the British
public funds to the amount of upwards of $30,000.

Even this unexampled success did not free the worthy bishop from
his troubles. The jealousy of rival settlements, each seeking to have
the school "located" in their immediate vicinity, prevented the bishop

ON THE KOKOSING, NEAR KENYON COLLEGE.

from receiving any hearty support from the diocese. He had at the
outset determined to establish his institutions on a domain under his
own exclusive control, and after vexatious delays and petty and pro
voking opposition from those who should have been his supporters
and friends, he purchased eight thousand acres of land in Knox
county, Ohio, on the banks of the Kokosing river, and began with
tireless energy the founding of a college and a town to which, in
remembrance of his noble and most beneficent friends in England, he
gave the names of Kenyon and Gambier.

In the prosecution of this work the bishop s indomitable will and
unconquerable perseverance were fully shown. He was the chartered
president of the new institution ; but he was more than this. Nothing
was too small to escape his attention ; nothing so difficult as to dampen

FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH AT THE WEST.

231

BISHOP CHASE S LOG HUT.

his energy or prevent his speedy success. In the words of one who
penned the results of his own observation ,

Within two years from the time when the lowest story was yet incomplete,
and tall trees covered the ground, whilst the students occupied temporary wooden
houses, in which the frost of winter and the heat of summer alternately predomi
nated, and the laborious Bishop inhabited a little cabin of rough logs, the interstices
of which were filled with clay,

the massive stone walls of the col- .^ &lt; A

lege, four feet thick and four stories
in height, lifted themselves almost
to the elevation of the surrounding
woods, and a tall steeple indicated
its situation to the distant wan
derer. 1 It was not alone a School
of Theology that the far-seeing
Bishop had founded. While the
training of ministers and mission
aries for the rapidly-developing tj
West was a primary cause in the
establishment of the institutions at
Gambier, many of the students

many

were destined for the various walks
of secular life. To the President
and Professors of Kenyon College
full academic powers were granted THE FIRST "EPISCOPAL PALACE" OF OHIO.
by the legislature, and side by side
with the future clergy of the West

were trained their professional and political compeers. The students of theology found
opportunities for the exercise of their destined calling among the spiritually destitute
settlers on every side. They conducted Sunday schools for the children, and read the
service and sermons for their parents, thus supplying the religious needs of the inhabi
tants within a circuit of some miles around the College. We have the details of this
interesting work as given by one of themselves : We rise early, on a summer
morning, and sally forth with a few books and some frugal provision for the day.
We proceed about half a mile through the noble aboriginal forest, the tall and
straight trees appearing like pillars in a vast Gothic cathedral. The timber con
sists of oak, hickory, sugar-maple, sycamore, walnut, poplar, and chestnut, and the
wild vine hangs from the branches in graceful festoons. Occasionally we hear the
songs of birds, but less frequently than in England. , Generally deep silence pre
vails, and prepares the mind for serious contemplation. We soon arrive at a small
clearing, where a cabin built of rough logs indicates the residence of a family.
Around the cabin are several acres upon which gigantic trees are yet standing, but
perfectly deadened by the operation called girdling. Their bark has chiefly
fallen off, and the gaunt white limbs appear dreary, though majestic, in decay.
Upon the abundant grass which has sprung up since the rays of the sun were ad
mitted to the soil, a number of cattle are feeding, and the tinkling of their bells is
almost the only sound which strikes the ear. We climb over the fence of split
rails piled in a zigzag form, cross the pasture and are again in the deep forest.
The surface of the ground is of an undulating character, while our pathway carries
us by a log-hut, surrounded by a small clearing. After an hour we arrive at a
rudely constructed saw-mill erected on a small stream of water. The miller is
seatea at his cabin-door in his Sunday clothes, and is reading a religious book
which we have lent him before. We now talk to him ; his interest in the Church is
growing, and he offers us his horse for our future expeditions ; we accept it, and
proceed with its assistance on our course. After another hour we reach a village
of log-cottages, at the end of which is a school-room, around which a temporary
arbor is constructed covered with fresh boughs. In this the children of the neigh
bors soon gather around us, and with them often come their friends and parents.
When a goodly company is thus assembled a hymn is given out and sung ; then
all kneel for prayer, and a large portion of the Church-service is repeated from

America and the American Church, by the Rev. Henry Caswall, M.A., p. 26.

232 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

memory, from a tender regard to the prejudices of many who, until they have
learnea a better lesson, would turn away if they were told that they listened to the
Church s voice. Then, under the sanction of the Bishop, a few words of exhorta
tion are added where the student is a candidate for holy orders. We then instruct
the children, and, having finished this, set out upon our journey homeward." 1

The presence and services of these young heralds of the cross were
universally welcomed. Though in the imperfect civilization of the
backwoods here and there were found those who were apprehensive of
some sinister design in the minds of the English friends who had en
abled the bishop to build the massive walls of Kenyon and gather
about him these possible emissaries of monarchical government, as
well as propagandists of the English establishment, still, the labors
of these young men did much for Christ and his Church in the new
settlements of Ohio. " We have scarcely left the village," recounts
the narrator of these early days, " when a blacksmith runs after us

" KOKOSING, THE HOME OF BISHOP BEDELL.

and requests us to stop. He tells us that he has felt deeply interested
in the services ; that he desires more information, and that he wishes
us always to dine with him in future. We accordingly return to his
cabin ; and his wife sets before us a plentiful repast of chickens, potatoes,
hot bread, apple pies, and milk. After some profitable conversation,
we depart, and at about three o clock arrive at the miller s house,
almost overcome by the excessive heat. When we have somewhat
recovered from our fatigue we proceed to a spot on the bank of the
stream where the grass is smooth and the thick foliage produces a
comparative coolness. Here we find about one hundred persons col
lected in the hope of receiving from us some religious instruction.
We conduct the service much in the same way as in the morning.
The effect of the singing in the open air is striking and peculiar ; and
the prayers of our liturgy are no less sublime in the forests of Ohio

1 CaswalTs "America and the American Church," pp. 35, 36.

234 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

than in the consecrated and time-honored minsters of York or Canter
bury." 1 In these groves "God s first temples" the sacraments
were administered, as well as the services and sermons read. " The
place of worship was a beautiful orchard," continues the eye-witness,
whose words we have already quoted, " where the abundant blossoms
of the apple and the peach filled the air with their delicious odor. A
table for the communion was placed on the green grass, and covered
with a cloth of snowy whiteness. Adjoining the rustic altar a little
stand was erected for the clergyman, and a number of benches were
provided for the congregation. A large number attended, and be
haved with the strictest propriety. Besides the service for the day
baptism was administered by the missionary to three or four adults, a
stirring extempore sermon was delivered, and the Lord s supper com
pleted the solemnities." a

It was by means such as these that the Church was brought to the
settler s fireside, and the struggling parish formed on the very out
skirts of civilization. Not only this. Through the wise foresight and
indomitable energy of this pioneer bishop provision was made, while
the great West was yet in its infancy, for the education of the "sons
of the soil " at a cost within their reach and in habits of life suited to
their future home and work. Friends were found in America to
supplement the charity of those in the Old World, to whom is due the
credit of giving to the good bishop the means of realizing his pur
poses and plans. The massive walls of "old Kenyon " yet remain to
attest the broad foundations made by the first bishop of Ohio, and the
work he did so wisely and so well, for all time to come is his sufficient
memorial.

Difficulties connected with the management of the college cul
minated in the resignation of episcopate and presidency by the good
bishop and his removal temporarily to Michigan, and subsequently
to Illinois.

On the 9th of March, 1835, three clergymen, the Rev. John
Batchelder, the Rev. Palmer Dyer, and the Rev. James C. Richmond,
and six laymen, representing three parishes, Peoria, Rushville, and
Beardstown, met in Peoria, for the purpose of organization. Two
other clergymen, resident and laboring in the State, were not in at
tendance, the Rev. Henry Tullidge, of Galena, and the Rev. Isaac
W. Hallam, of Chicago. The Rev. John Batchelder, of Jacksonville,
was chosen president ; the Rev. Palmer Dyer, of Peoria, secretary.
A standing committee and delegates to the approaching General Con
vention were chosen. " After a long and full discussion of the sub
ject of the following resolution by the Rev. Messrs. Dyer and Rich
mond, and Judge Worthington, in which the views of the Convention
appeared perfectly to harmonize, it was Resolved, unanimously, that
this Convention do hereby appoint the Right Reverend Philander
Chase, D.D., a Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States of America, to the Episcopate of Illinois ; and that he
be, and hereby is, invited to remove into this Diocese, and to assume

i Caawall s " America and the American Church," p. 38. *Ibid., p. 286.

FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH AT THE WEST. 235

Episcopal jurisdiction of the same." After some further delibera
tions, in which, as well as in all the proceedings of the Convention, a
most desirable harmony of feeling and unanimity of sentiment were,
by the blessing of God, apparent among its members, the Convention
adjourned sine die.

The second Convention of the diocese of Illinois met at Trinity
Church, Jacksonville, May 16th and 17th, 1836, the Right Rev. Bishop
Kemper being present, and presiding, in the absence of Bishop Chase.
Three clergymen were in attendance, and another arrived just after
the Convention rose. Five lay delegates, representing three parishes,
were recorded as present. Bishop Kemper s address alluded to the
acceptance of the diocese by Bishop Chase, the welcome of the diocese
to union with the General Convention and their diocesan s visit to Eng
land, with a view to secure the means for the establishment of a theo
logical school. It was to be the story of Ohio repeated, and the
indomitable bishop forgot his added years and abundant labors in his
longing to equip his new see for efficient work for Christ and his
Church. It was not long before the corner-stone of the chapel of
Jubilee College was laid and its school-house was shortly raised. The
college building was ere long erected, and contributions from England
and America flowed in as of old. Robin s Nest, the bishop s home,
was the scene of ceaseless activity. Building after building, requisite
for the life and well-being of the little collegiate community, were
erected, and on the 7th of July, 1847, the first commencement exer
cises of jubilee were held, and five graduates received the bachelor s
degree. There had been an election of an assistant bishop at the Con
vention in June of this year, and the choice of the Rev. James B.
Britton had been made, but the General Convention failed to approve
the election, and it was not until 1851 that the Rev. Henry John
Whitehouse, D.D., was elected to the assistancy of the aged and
infirm diocesan. On the 27th of September, 1852, the venerable
bishop, then presiding bishop of the American Church, "fell asleep."
As the pioneer bishop of two dioceses, and the founder of two colleges,
his name is worthy to be held in perpetual remembrance.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

AMONG the numerous volumes and pamphlets illustrating the annals of the
Church in the West, especial attention should be called to a unique volume
which, though concerned with the history of a single palish, is a most interesting
and valuable contribution to the history of the Church beyond the Alleghanies. We .
allude to the " History of Saint Luke s Church," Marietta, Ohio, by Wilson Waters,
M.A. With illustrations by Harry Egglestoir. Printed for the author by J.
Mueller & Son, Marietta, O., 1884. 8vo, pp. 282.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH.

r~TlHE Church in the United States has added to her numbers from
the countless converts who have been attracted to her member
ship, and from the love and loyalty of those whom she has trained
in childhood, rather than by immigration. Of the tens of thousands
who have come to our shores from the mother-land and the mother-
church, comparatively few have shown that devotion to the Church
of their baptism leading them to make sacrifices for their faith, or to be
at pains and cost to surround themselves with the institutions of relig
ion with which they had been supplied at home by the " establish
ment." The spiritual declension and indifference of the last century,
to which Methodism was a reaction, and against which the evangeli
cal school so strongly protested in its efforts to awaken the Church to a
higher life, had lessened the hold of the Church upon the masses, and
of those who sought new homes in the New World few cared for the
religion of their fathers, or felt drawn towards the body representing
in their view the State-supported and the State-controlled Church of
England. There can be no questioning the fact that the immigrant
churchmen who claim at their convenience, or in their temporal need,
the offices and charity of our clergy and people, when their neces
sities are provided for too often neglect both the Church and religion
itself. There has been in the past, and there still exists, the need
of such home training as shall yield some higher appreciation of faith
and duty on the part of those who come to us from abroad.

With the withdrawal of the aid received from the venerable
society at the breaking out of the Revolution and the disestablishment
of the Church in the colonies, where it had been maintained by law,
the Church throughout the newly-created States of America became,
with few exceptions, missionary ground, and it was only by degrees
that the lesson of self-support was learned. It is greatly to the credit
of the Church, thus deprived of foreign aid and crippled in its re
sources at home, that at ^he first General Convention following the
union of the churches in one ecclesiastical confederation, a committee
of the two Houses was appointed " for preparing a plan of support
ing missionaries to preach the Gospel in the frontiers of the United
States." This plan, as reported to the Convention, provided for the
collection of offerings for missions and the preaching of sermons in be
half of this cause annually throughout the Church. The next Con-(
vention, that of 1795, relegated the prosecution of this work of mis
sions to the State Conventions, and, although individual efforts for
Church extension appear to have been made in various directions among
the new settlements then springing up on every side, there was no

238 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

concerted action advised or contemplated until the bishops assembled
at the Convention of 1808, two only in number, White, of Pennsyl
vania, and Claggett, of Maryland, in their pastoral letter, called the
attention of the Church to what was " due," as they expressed, " to
our western brethren, and especially to those of them professing
themselves of our communion." The bishops invoked the aid of the
members of the Church to encourage the removal of " suitable min
isters of the Church from the older States into this vast field of labor,"
and the Convention responded to these words by the adoption of reso
lutions urging the clergy resident and officiating in States and ter
ritories where the Church was unorganized to organize and accede to
the general constitution, that measures might be taken for the election
and consecration of bishops for the States and territories where the
Church was still without a head.

The action of 4Jifi^Conyention of -1811 with reference "to the intro
duction of Episcopacy into the Western States," as we learn from
Bishop White, "arose from a correspondence which had been entered
into between the bishop and the Rev. Joseph Doddridge, who had
been ordained 1 by him many years before, and who lived near the
western line of Pennsylvania which divides it from Virginia." Early in
the century there had been a gathering of the few clergy of the Church
in Western Pennsylvania and Virginia at Washington, Penn., for con
sultation with relation to Church affairs. It was resolved at this meet
ing that the Rev. Dr. Doddridge should correspond with the Bishop of
Pennsylvania with a view of securing action on the part of the General
Convention permitting the formation of a diocese in what was then
spoken of as "the western country." A year and a half passed without
any reply to this appeal for episcopal supervision, and then the chill
ing intelligence was received that the project had been abandoned in
consequence of the death of Bishop Madison, of Virginia. " I then,"
writes Dr. Doddridge, "lost all hope of ever witnessing any prosperity
in our beloved Church in this part of America. Everything connected
with it fell into a state of languor. The vestries were not reflected,
and our young people joined other societies. Could I prevent them,"
continues the writer, "when I indulged no hope of a succession in the
ministry?" So dark was the prospect that Dr. Doddridge writes, "I
entertained no hope that even my own remains after death would be
committed to the dust with the funeral services of my own Church."
"How often," he continues, "have I reflected, with feelings of the
deepest regret and sorrow, that if anything like an equal number of
professors of any other Christian community had been located in Sibe
ria, or India, and, equally dependent on a supreme ecclesiastical author
ity at home, had been so neglected, that a request so reasonable would
have met with a prompt and cheerful compliance ! " Notwithstanding
"that large portions of Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Kentucky, and
Ohio have been settled by originally church people, emigrants from
Maryland, Carolina, or Virginia," and although " they had had Metho
dist bishops and Roman Catholic bishops," it was sadly true " that

i March 4, 1792. Vide Burgess s " List of Deacons," p. 4.

THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH. 239

they had never seen one of our Church," nor did they until, in 1819,
the pioneer Bishop of Ohio crossed the mountains to his Western see.
In a letter addressed to Bishop Hobart, in 1816, the excellent Dod-
dridge truly declared : " Had we imitated at an early period the exam
ple of other Christian communities, employed the same means for
collecting our people into societies and building churches, and with
the same zeal, we should by this time have had four or five bishops in
this country, 1 surrounded by a numerous and respectable body of
clergy, instead of having our very name connected with a fallen Church.
Instead of offering a rich and extensive plunder to every sectarian mis
sionary, we should have the first and highest station among the Chris
tian societies of the West." The hindrances to the scheme proposed, as
we learn from Bishop White, " were the difficulty of selecting a suita
ble person, and that of supporting him." a

In 1812 Bishop White brought the matter of a Western episco
pate before the Convention of Pennsylvania, and, after alluding to the
decease of the Bishop of Virginia as rendering "all further proceeding
impracticable for the present," he submitted for the consideration of
the Convention ? the inquiry how far it may be expedient to declare
their consent, in the event of there being consecrated a bishop for one
of the Western States, that the churches in this State lying beyond the
Alleghany Mountains may have the benefit of his superintendence." 3
The Convention consented to the transfer of jurisdiction in the event
of such consecration on such terms as might be approved by the
bishop and standing committee. Once only did Bishop White cross
the Alleghanies ; and this was not done for many years. In June,
1825, the venerable Bishop of Pennsylvania made his only episcopal
visitation to the western portion of his see. It was then too late to
repair the loss to the Church occasioned by the neglect to enter earlier
upon this great and growing field. Had the plea of the faithful Dod-
dridge and his few associates been listened to, and its request for a
bishop granted, the Church would have been a leader in the van of
the country s progress, and much of the great West would have been
moulded from the start in her holy ways.

-At the General Convention of 1814 Mr. John D. Clifford "pre
sented a certificate, signed by the clerk of the vestry of the Protes
tant Episcopal Church at Lexington in the State of Kentucky," of his
appointment " to represent the Church of that State." The Convention
could only admit Mr. Clifford to an honorary seat, as the Church in
Kentucky had not organized or acceded to the general constitution.
For the first time the Church in the West had a representative in
the great council of the Church at large. It was fifteen years before
the Church in Kentucky had fulfilled the constitutional requirements
entitling her representatives to admission as full members of the
General Convention ; and during these years of deferred action the
number of the clergy in the State, and the number of churchmen
as well, had decreased. Who can tell what a wonderful difference

West of the Alleghanies. of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State

2 Memoirs of the Church, p. 249. of Pennsylvania, 1812, p. 5.

* Journal of the Twenty-eighth Convention

240 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

would have been seen had a bishop been sent out to these few sheep
in the wilderness when Kentucky, for instance, first claimed a place
for her accredited representative on the floor of the General
Convention ?

There had been a serious hindrance to the planting of missions in
our new States and territories, growing out of our structural pecu
liarities. The organization of the Church had proceeded from the
start in accordance with the principle that the clergy and laity in each
State or Commonwealth were independent of foreign control, and were
not only competent for organization, but also for securing the comple
tion of our ecclesiastical system in obtaining the episcopate. The
language of the general constitution, and the records of our organ
ization and convention history, keep before us, with uniform and
explicit directness, this idea of the " Church in the State," cotermi
nous with the State, and, like the State, an independent sovereignty.
It was not until 1838 that this phrase disappears from the constitution,
and the word. " State " was replaced by the word " diocese ; " and even
this change, occasioned by the necessity of the division of the over
grown see of New York, was rendered well-nigh inoperative by the
adoption of restrictions of a territorial nature and requirements of a
certain number of " self-supporting" parishes, making the division of
dioceses almost impossible. It was in consequence of this structural
obstacle to the establishment of a missionary episcopate that for years
the Church witnessed the anomaly of dioceses without a bishop, because
too feeble to secure or support one ; the General Convention feeling
itself unwarranted in imposing bishops on independent churches or on
States where there was the inherent right of organization and the choice
of their own episcopal head. The General Convention of 1808, recog
nizing this theory of State independence, called upon the churchmen,
in the States and territories where the step had not been taken, to
organize, and thus be able to perfect their ecclesiastical system. But
this advice, even when followed, resulted in the creation of a num
ber of acephalous dioceses, whose independence could not compen
sate for their feebleness. Some of these independent dioceses, as in
the case of the New England States other than Connecticut, found
themselves obliged to unite, in order to provide for the support of their
bishop, and the Eastern diocese was the product of this impotent
autonomy. Elsewhere, New Jersey, dating its organization back t
the year 1785, had no bishop until 1815. A generation had come and
gone ere this independent Church had obtained a head. Delaware,
represented in the earliest Conventions, and contributing to the genera
councils of the Church one of the most learned and godly of its meni-
bers, 1 had no bishop until 1841. North Carolina organized at thi
start, in 1790, on the principle that a bishop should be at once secured ;
failing in its effort, had no bishop until 1823. Maine, organized in
1820, secured the episcopate in 1847. Georgia waited from 1823 to
1841 for this boon ; having lost in the period preceding organization
and subsequent to the Revolution, from the lack of this primal element

The Rev. Charles Huurv Whartoii, D.D.

THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH.

241

of church life and growth, more than could be regained in many
years. Mississippi, where the Church had been introduced during the
days of Spanish domination, in 1792, waited for a quarter of a century
after organization* in 1825, for its first bishop, the apostolic William
Mercer Green. Tennessee organized in 1828, and received the episco
pate in 1834, and its growth and development attested the wisdom oi
the comparatively speedy completion of the order and system of the
Church. Kentucky, which had received the Church at its earliest
days, and had never been wholly destitute of clerical ministrations
since its settlement, was not able to organize until 1829, and then
waited till 1832 for a bishop. Michigan, where the first service of
the Church was held prior to the Revolution, was only able to organize
in 1832, and received its bishop four years later. Missouri waited
five years, and Indiana eleven, ere these feeble organizations respec
tively received a head.

These statistics will serve to explain the delay of the Church in
entering upon the missionary work at home. Meantime the conviction

that it was full time to do for the rapidly increasing settlements of the
West and for the world at large what had been done for the Church in
America by the " nursing care " and loving support of the venerable
Society for Propagating the Gospel in the past, had found expression in
the organization, in 1821, of a domestic and foreign missionary so
ciety. An attempt had been made to inaugurate such a society at the
session of the General Convention the preceding year, but in the hurry
of the closing hours of the session there was incorporated into the con
stitution of this society a provision that rendered this effort liable to a
suspicion, unquestionably unfounded, so far as any notion of such a re
sult was in the minds of the friends of missions, " of its being an intended
engine against the institutions of our Church." J The trustees of the so
ciety were, by the constitution, to be chosen by the Convention, but it
was not provided that the bishops should have any share in this choice,
and they were made the chief officers of a society comprising as members
all contributors, and consequently one whose constituency could never
be assembled while in the " efficient body, that of the Trustees, there
was no provision for the presidency or even the membership of a
bishop, and no such person, if permitted to be present, could claim a
right to vote or to speak in their proceedings." 2 The sequel is given

1 Bishop White s " Memoirs of the Church," Dr. De Costa 3 edition, p. 289.

Ibid.

242 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

by Bishop White : " The gentlemen named as managers found them
selves" incompetent to the purpose of the appointment." The bishops
in 1821 proposed a new scheme, which was concurred in by the House
of Deputies. It is interesting to note among the names of the trustees
of the society attempted in 1821 those of Wheaton, of Connecticut ;
Milnor, of New York ; Wilmer, of the District of Columbia ; Wyatt and
Ilenshaw, of Maryland ; Meade, of Virginia ; Bedell, of North Carolina ;
Gadsden, of South Carolina ; and Kemper and Muhlenberg, of Pennsyl
vania. To these were added the following year men of like spirit, and
in the formal inauguration of "The Domestic and Foreign Missionary
Society " on "the third Wednesday " (the 21st) of November, IL 1
held at the vestry-room of St. James s Church, Philadelphia, Bishop
White presided, and shortly after, at the request of the directors, pre
pared an address as president, to the Church at large, setting forth the
destitute condition of the Church after the Revolution ; reciting the
urgent calls for help from the West ; acknowledging the important aid
which the Church had received in its founding from the venerable
society, and urging this fact as an incentive to similar sacrifice and
devotion to meet the spiritual wants of the brethren who were in need ;
and finding encouragement in the recent establishment of the general
seminary as affording a source of clerical supply. Thus was the society
started on its course.

The effort to awaken a missionary spirit in the Church met with
enthusiasm and a general support. Auxiliary societies sprung up all
over the land. In 1822
Ephraim Bacon and his
wife were appointed cat-
echists to serve. on the
west coast of Africa, but

it was found impossible s ^7 /) S , *r /*?

to obtain passage, and S &/. f^*^SLjfal&lt;r
the plan was given up ff / /^ p ~J

for the time. The In- L^) ^

dians at Green Bay, ^r/ ** ^

Wisconsin, attracted the
notice of the missionary
board, and the Rev. Nor
man Nash was appointed
to the mission established among these remnants of the aborigines.
In this interesting work the Rev. Eleazer Williams, who had been
ordained by Bishop Hobart, was also engaged, and the Rev. Richard
F. Cadle. In 1827 Jacob Orson, of Connecticut, a young man of color,
was appointed a missionary to Africa, and during the following year
he received deacon s and priest s orders at the hands of Bishop
Brownell. This promising youth died in this country after his passage
to his mission had been engaged. In 1828 the Rev. J. J. Robertson
was appointed a missionary of the society, and was sent to Greece on
a tour of exploration. Qnthe 2d of October, 1830, the jirst inis-

1 Bishop White s " Memoirs of the Church," Dr. De CosU s editiou, p. 52.

THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH.

243

sionaries sent by the American Church to foreign lands, the Rev. J. J.
Robertson and wife, the Rev. J. H. Hill and wife, and Mr. Solomon
Bingham, printer, went forth to their holy work with the prayers and
benedictions of the Church.

The accompIishedTTfcector of St. Paul s, Boston, Dr. Alonzo
Potter, afterwards Bishop of Pennsylvania, thus depicts the events
of this eventful day :

I have just returned from a scene which has filled me with no ordinary
emotion. The ship which contains the first band of missionaries ever despatched
by the Amei-ican church to foreign lands, is under way. In the hopes and antici
pations which gather
round her we forget the
disappointments and in
activity of the past.

This morning, Oct.
1st, the sun rose upon
one of the fairest days
which I remember to
have witnessed. The
vessel had been detained
one day by the wind,
and it was a providential
detention, for just as
the day closed, Mr.
Bingham, the printer,
who had been anxiously
expected, and who, it
was feared, must be left
behind, arrived.

The missionaries
were required to be on
board at nine o clock.
At that hour, with sev
eral of their friends,
they arrived at the
wharf, and were soon
placed on board the
brig, which had drop
ped a little down the
stream.

The brig immedi
ately put under way,
with a light, but fair
breeze, the air deli-
ciously mild, the surrounding scenery, as you know, beautifully picturesque, the
vessel new and very commodious, and the commander courteous and obliging. The
party immediately assembled in the cabin, which is for several weeks to be the
abode of our friends. A hymn was given out by Brother Baury, 1 prayers offered by
Brother Doane, 2 and the benediction pronounced by myself . All the members of
the mission seemed in excellent health and spirits. They felt that they had the
sympathy and prayers, not only of their friends here, but of thousands in every part
of the land. We all felt that they were going forth in a good cause, and that as the
first heralds of our church to distant and benighted nations, they were signally
honored and blessed. If a few natural tears were shed, they were shed, not be
cause they or we regretted the decision they had made, but because we could not
but reflect that the faces of these, our brethren and sisters beloved, might be seen
by us no more.

The last week has been, to the friends of your Society here, a week of much
interest. Brother Robertson and his family have been with us, and though too

1 The Rev. Alfred L. Baury, D.D., of New- 2 The Rev. George W. Doane, afterwards

ton, Mass. Bishop of New Jersey.

REV. ALONZO POTTER, FROM A PAINTING BY SULLY.

244 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

much engrossed in preparing to embark to see much of their friends, the sympathy
and exertion which were enlisted have satisfied me that our cause has a strong hold
upon the hearts of many in this city. ....

After spending last Sunday at Cambridge, Mr. R. was to have preached in
the evening at St. Paul s, but owing to the unfavorable appearance of the weather
the sermon was postponed till the evening of Wednesday, the day previous to that
fixed for sailing.

On the morning of that day our Diocesan Convention assembled, and thus
the Bishop and several of the Clergy were providentially present at the last public
services which the missionaries pel-formed in America. Mr. Hill and his wife
arrived from New York, and entered the Church just before Mr. R. completed his
discourse. A collection was then taken up, amounting to about $126, and the
Bishop, who for the purpose of preparing, had kindly waived for a short time his
other calls of business, delivered an address to the congregation and a charge to the
missionaries, distinguished for pertinency and affectionate simplicity, and which 1
hope you will see in print. Mr. Hill said a few words in reply, and offered up
prayers, which concluded the service.

On the following evening, the one before they embarked, I was unexpectedly
invited to be present with a few other friends, at their boarding-house, for the pur
pose of exchanging adieus. Some Collects and appropriate prayers were offered
by our brother Clapp, 1 of Vermont ; Mr. Edson 2 and myself said a few words each
on the importance of the occasion, and the necessity of continued supplication in
behalf of the mission, and an address was made by Mr. Hill, distinguished, as all
his services here have been, by unaffected simplicity, zeal and good sense. Several
hymns were sung, and the services concluded by Collects offered by Mr. Baury,
commending them during their voyage, and after their arrival, to the precious care
and protection of the Almighty. Thus have I given you a short account of the
departure of these servants of God. May the smiles of Heaven, which have been
so remarkably manifested toward this enterprise thus far, continue to rest upon it,
till Greece shall be made to rejoice through all her borders, in our light ; and this
cause, never look back till we shall be summoned from our labors here to give
account of our stewardship before God.

It was with such feelings that, perhaps, the foremost man in the
American Church bade " God speed " to this missionary band. The in
structions to which he referred, as prepared by the apostolic Griswold,
and signed by the Rev. Benjamin Bos worth Smith, the late pre
siding bishop of the American Church, form an important part of the
history of this period of the Church s annals.

The work thus wisely begun grew and prospered, and the words
of a Greek statesman, addressed to Mrs. Hill, "Lady, you are erect-
ing in Athens a monument more enduring and more noble than yon
der temple," pointing to the Parthenon as he spoke, have proved )
prophetic. Though the devoted Robertson was forced to return to
his native land, the work went on under the superintendence of the
Hills, and with many vicissitudes, and not a few hindrances, remains,
at the close of half a century, a monument to the faithfulness, the
devotion, the wisdom, and the assiduity of these ever-to-be-remem- }
bered missionaries of the Church of Christ.

The missionary spirit thus enkindled burned brightly. The
eloquent Doane preached earnestly and most acceptably in Christ
Church, Boston, on this inspiring theme, and proved the depths
of his own conclusions by a life-long interest in the work he was
at a latter day to serve even more abundantly. Hopkins, who had
been associated with Doane in Boston, and had been advanced to the
episcopate on the same memorable occasion when four bishops had

i The Rev. Joel Clapp, D.D. - The Rev. Theodore Edson, D.D., of Lowell, Mass.

THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHUKCH. 245

received the laying on of hands, echoed both in the Church s councils
and in his own immediate sphere the same call to enter upon the work
of evangelization. The "golden-mouthed" Mcllvaine, lately chosen
Bishop of ( )hio ; the earnest Meade, Assistant Bishop of Virginia ;
me devoted Otey, Bishop of Tennessee ; the accomplished DeLancey,
afterwards Bishop of Western New York ; the popular Henshaw, of
Maryland, afterwards Bishop of Rhode Island ; the energetic Milnor ,&lt;C
of New York ; the eloquent Tyng, of Philadelphia, and other risingf
men throughout the Church, rallied to support the Church s missions.
Offerings flowed in from every side. Temporary discouragements
were overcome. In an emergency the venerable presiding bishop
pledged his private credit for the supply of needed means. The work
grew. The claims of China were recognized, and in the death of the first
who offered himself for the work in this field, the excellent and exem
plary Augustus F. Lyde, an interest was excited and an enthusiasm
aroused leading the Board to enter upon the ev^Bgqffeq-tinn of Chirm
with auguries of success which succeeding years have fully justified.
^On the 14th of July, 1834, the Rev. Henry Lockwood was appointed
(missionary to China. The following February the Rev. Francis R.
(Hanson was associated with Mr. Lockwood in this work. Afcl 03 - to
which attention had been directed at the first, was shortly afterwards
added to the list of missions of the society by the appointment of Mr.
James Thompson and his wife, as catechists, and the work was found to
assume that importance requiring a change in the mode of operations.
This change was effected in 1835, and in the adoption of the grand
principle underlying the present ^missionary system of the Church,
thaacjiyje^agency of the Bishop of New Jersey, Dr. G. W. Doane, can
not be overlooked. Among the many noble deeds of this great-hearted
man, this may be regarded as " tlie opportunity of his life." The orig
inal draft of the report made by the committee of the Board of Directors
of the missionary society appointed in 1835 to consider the question
of its organization, was written by Bishop Piffle, its ^girm^n The
committee consisted of Bishop Mcllvaine, the Rev. Drs. Milnor, Hen
shaw, Beasley, and Tyng, the Rev. Messrs. John S. Stone and John
W. James, and Mr. Alexander C. Magruder. Before the committee
met, we learn from Bishop Doane himself, the three first named (Bish
ops Doane and Mcllvaine, arid Dr. Milnor) came casually together.
" What should you think ? " said Dr. Milnor, who had moved the reso
lution for the appointment of a committee to inquire, addressing
Bishop Doane, " what should you think of reporting that the
Church is the missionary society, and should carry on the work ol
missions by a Hoard appointed by the General Convention ?" " Why,"
replied Bishop Doane, " it is the very plan which I have long thought
ought to have been adopted, and for the adoption of which I should
thank God with my whole heart." "How very strange is this," said
Bishop Mcllvaine, " I surely knew nothing of the mind of either
you, and yet that is the very plan which I have introduced into the
sermon which I am to preach before the society." When the commit
tee met, the three members above named stated their views as
above, and found them cordially reciprocated by all their associates.

246 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Thus, as to the principle of their report, the committee were from the
first unanimous. To whom shall the praise be given, but "to the
God that maketh men to be of one mind in one house?" l We have in
Bishop Doane s own report of the proceedings of this memorable Con
vention of 1835 the ground for this action whereby the vast host of
the baptized were incorporated into the missionary army of the
Church.

"The Report having been read, the Chairman, on motion of the
Rev. Dr. Milnor, was requested, by the unanimous vote of the Board,
to state the principles
of the plan proposed
by the Committee, and
the reasons which had
led to their adoption.
In responding to this
call , Bishop Doane pre-
miscd that the Com
mittee, though brought
together without the
slightest concert or
previous expectation,

had, from their first entrance on the subject, agreed entirely in all its
leading features, and that they now, as one man, presented the result
of their unanimous conclusion. He showed that by the original con
stitution of Christ, THE CHURCH, as the Church, was the one great
missionary society ; and the Apostles, and the Bishops, their successors,
His perpetual Trustees ; and that this great trust could not and should
never be divided or deputed. The duty, he maintained, to support the
Church in preaching the Gospel to every creature, was one which
passed on every Christian, in the terms of his baptismal vow, and from
which he could never be absolved. The General Convention he
claimed to be the duly constituted representative of the Church ; and
pointed out its admirable combination of all that was . necessary to
secure, on the one hand, the confidence of the whole Church, and, on
the other, the most concentrated and intense efficiency. He then ex
plained the constitution of the Board of Missions, the permanent agent
of the Church in their behalf; developing and defining all its powers
and functions, as the central reservoir of energy and influence for the
Missionary work ; and the appointment by it and in subordination to
it, of the two Executive Committees for the two departments, Foreign
and Domestic, of the one great field the Missionary hands of the
Church, reaching out into all the world to bear the Gospel to every
creature, each having its Secretary and Agent, some strong and
faithful man, imbued and saturated with the Missionary Spirit, the
index finger, as it were of the Committee, to touch, to move, to con
trol, by their direction, each one of the ten thousand springs that arc
to energize the Church. For the effectual organization of the body,
in the holy work to which the Saviour calls them, he indicated the

A Memoir of the Life of George Wash- son, William Croswell Doane, prefixed to the
ington Doane, Bishop of New Jersey, by his Life and Writings of Bishop Doane, i., p. 170.

THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH. 247

parochial relation, as the most important of all bonds calling on every
clergyman, as the agent of the Board, for Jesus sake, to use his
utmost effort in instructing, first, and interesting his people ; then, in
engaging their free-will offerings of themselves in its support, upon
the apostolic plan of systematic charity laying up in store on every
Lord s day, as God should prosper them ; and, when the gathering
was made, transmitting to the treasury of the Church the consecrated
alms." l The reading of his report was followed by a brilliant discus
sion, in which the principles so clearly set forth by Bishop Doane
were sustained and enforced by Bishop Mcllvaine and Drs. Milnor
and Henshaw, and from this debate the cause of missions in the
American Church received an impulse which was felt in every quarter
of the land. In the end the proposed plan of reorganizing the mission
ary work was adopted with a great and most gratifying unanimity, and
in the adoption of this plan the Church in America placed herself be
fore the world on primitive ground as a missionary church committed^
to the cause of evangelizing the world by her very constitution, with,
her bishops as apostles, her clergy as evangelists, _andjier baptized
membersasenlisted helpers in bringing about the coming of his king
dom, Who is to be the King of nations as well as the King of saintst
The result of this change of policy in the conduct of the missionary
work was seen in the unanimous adoption of the Canon of Missionary
Bishops by the General Convention, providing that the apostles of the
Church should be sent forth in every direction, not alone to gather in
the scattered and dispersed sheep of our own Israel, but to preach the
gospel, to disciple the nations, to proclaim the setting up of Christ s
kingdom, his Church, and to bring men everywhere into communion
and fellowship with that Church, which is his body, all over the world.
The enthusiasm of this new missionary spirit culminated when, in St.
Andrew s Church, Philadelphia, after solemn, silent prayer, the bishops \
cast their votes, and the lot fell jipon Jackson Kemper, D.D., and
Francis Lister Hawks, D.D., to be chosen the first missionary bishops
orfhe American Church, the one to the West and the other to the (
South-west. We may even at this interval of time express a regret
that one of these eminent men, whose praise was in all the churches,
felt impelled to decline the high and holy office to which he had been
called, but in Jackson Kemper the Church recognized the true apostle, \\
the faithful and successful laborer for Christ, in bringing an empireX
under the influences and order of the Church.

The work grew at home and abroad. The claims of the growing
West had been brought prominently before the Church in connection
with the appointment of the Bishop of Connecticut, the Rt. Rev. Dr.
Brownell, "to visit that portion of our country which lies west and
south of the Alleghany Mountains, to perform episcopal services
wherever they may be desired ; to examine into the condition of the
missions established by the Board ; and to take a general survey of
the country, for the purpose of designating such missionary stations
as may hereafter be usefully established." In the prosecution of this

i Life of Bishop Doane, i., p. 174.

248 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

important, though arduous, work the good bishop traversed more than
six thousand miles, during a visitation occupying four months, in the
years 1829 and 1830. Accompanied by the Rev. William Richmond,
as attending priest, the bishop visited the south-western portion of our
country, administering confirmation to large numbers, consecrating a
number of churches, ordaining clergy, presiding at the organization of
dioceses, and making glad by his apostolic presence and godly minis
trations the wilderness and solitary places in the immense and fertile
valley of the Father of Waters. 1 The work thus undertaken was
furthered by the labors of the Bishop of Tennessee, Dr. Otey, who
from the time of his solemn setting apart for his office as a bishop in
the Church of God, sought to extend the influence of the Church in
every direction in that region of the country where his lot had been
cast. Later the apostolic Kemper visited the South and South-west,
with a view of rendering episcopal services where needed, and at the
same time awakening an interest in the Church s missionary work. In
1838 there was every encouragement for an even bolder advance than
had been made before. Dr. Hawks had indeed declined the work
in the South-west, but the successes of Kemper, who was almost
ready with his dioceses of Indiana and Missouri for admission into
union with the General Convention, and the good bishop s desire and
purpose to undertake the work further to the westward, had proved
the wisdom of the step made in his appointment, and had given con
fidence for similar ventures of faith in the time to come. The empire
at the West, enough to exhaust the energies of a college of apostles,
was now divided between two men. The degree of latitude, thirty-six
and a half, was the line of separation of sees, such as the world
had never known equalled in extent since the apostles were sent forth
to undertake the conversion of the world. To the north and west of
this degree of latitude Bishop Kemper was now appointed, and Dr.
Leonidas Polk was consecrated for the southern and south-western
portion of the field, and, as if this were not enough to tax the ener
gies of a single man, permission was given him to render such pro
visional services in the organized dioceses as they may respectively
request. Three years later Bishop Polk resigned his missionary juris
diction to accept the charge of the diocese of Louisiana, and the ter
ritory thus deprived of a bishop s oversight was remanded to the care
of the Bishop of Tennessee, who was ever ready to add to his own
engrossing labors the care of all the churches unsupplied with episco
pal services. Dr. George W. Freeman was appointed Bishop of Ar
kansas and the Indian territory, while the plea of the Republic of
Texas for a bishop was refused, and nearly a score of years was suf
fered to elapse ere this empire was supplied with the episcopate.

Abroad, China was opened to the labors of our mission priests,
and the work in Africa, hindered in God s providence from the very
start by untoward circumstances, demanding patience and faith, re
ceived at length in Liberia and at Cape Palmas its mission laborers

1 Vide " A discourse delivered in Grace Connecticut, through the Valley of the Mis-
n the city of New York, with referen
ission of the Bishop of the Diocese

Church, in the city of New York, with reference sissippi River in the year 1829-30; by Wil-
to the Mission of the Bishop of the Diocese of Ham Richmond, A.M., London, 1830.

THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH.

249

from the American Church. The work at Athens prospered. The
press at Syra, under the careful management of Dr. Robertson,
worked wonders for the cause of Christ. At Crete a prosperous
mission yielded at length only to the bitter fortunes of war. Persia
received attention, and at a later date, in 1844, WiUi am Jones TToone
was_CQnsGcrated for Amoy, China, and Horatio Southgatc for Con
stantinople. It Tgaajiot till 1851 that John Payne was made Bishop
of CacfiJ^almas, Africa. Two years later William Ingraham Kip ^

THE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM JONES BOONE, D.D., FIRST
MISSIONARY BISHOP TO CHINA. 1

sent n "t ^ ^miforofyr and Thomas Fielding Scott to Oregon and
Washington ; and in 1859 Arkansas received the earnest and devoted
Henry Champlin Lay as its apostle, and the "North-west" had its)
bishop in the person of the indefatigable Joseph Cruikshanks Talbot. Iv
seems but a short time since to these names, held in deserved honor, theV
addition of those of Robert Harper Clarkson, as Missionary Bishop of j
Nebraska, and George Maxwell Randall, as Missionary Bishop of Colo-/
rado, and Channing Moore Williams, as Missionary Bishop of China
and Japan, attested the development of a revived spirit of missions in/

Consecrated in St. Peter s Church, Phila- three years. (From an engraving made by
delphia, October 26, 1814, at the age of thirty- Sartain shortly after Dr. Boone s consecration.)

250 1IISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the Church ; and since this day, when the episcopate was extended
over the whole territory of the United States, Montana has received
Daniel Sylvester Tuttle ; Oregon and Washington, Benjamin AVistar
Morris ; Nevada and Arizona, Ozi William Whitaker ; Arkansas and
the Indian Territory, Henry Niles Pierce; Niobrara, William Hobart
Hare ; Africa, first, John Gottlieb Auer, and then on his lamented
death, Charles Clifton Penick ; and on his resignation, Samuel D.
Ferguson, himself a man of color ; Colorado, on Bishop Randall s death,
John Franklin Spalding ; Western Texas, Robert W. B. Elliott;
Northern Texas, Alexander Charles Garrett; Northern California,
John Henry. Ducachet Wingfield ; New Mexico, William Forbes
Adams, succeeded almost immediately by George Kelly Dunlop ;
Montana, Leigh Richmond Brewer; Washington, set off from Oregon,
John Adams Paddock; and North Dakota, William David Walker:
while the mission work in China has been divided, and Samuel I. T.
Schereschewsky assigned to Shanghai, succeeded in 1884 by William
Jones Boone, son of the first bishop; and Bishop Williams to Yedo,
Japan.

Such is the story of the mission work of the Church in outline,
merely. There would be requisite to fill up the picture, the warm,
rich touches of the pioneer priest s experiences in the trackless wilder
ness, on the arid plains, in the miner s huts, and among the hostile
aborigines. The planting of the Church has not been done by bishops
alone, nobly as bishops have labored in the unequal effort of attempt
ing to achieve impossibilities. To priests and deacons, to the holy
men and women who have sought new homes in the far West, or in
foreign climes, the praise is due for the zeal that has carried the Church
to the frontiers of civilization, and made our beloved Zion a pioneer
in the wilds of the far West, and throughout the world. It is by the
persistent labors of men animated with the spirit of primitive days that
the Church has been planted wherever the advancing wave of settle
ment and civilization has swept in its western course. The names of
these men who have not counted their lives dear to them, and who
have been in labors most abundant, are worthy of lasting remembrance.
The founders of dioceses, the pioneer priests of the Church in the
vast territory opened up to Christianity and civilization the present
century, and the mission-laborers in distant heathen lands, shall yet
be held in honored remembrance by those who enter into their labors
and reap the rewards of their self-sacrifice and toil. Worthy are they
of honor and memory on earth. Their names are written in the book
of life above.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

MENTION should be made of the consecration by the American Church oi the
Rt. Rev. James Theodore Holly, D.D., as Bishop of the Church in Haiti, and
of the Rt. Rev. Henry Chauncy Riley, D.D., as Bishop of the Mexican Church of
Jesus The latter prelate has resigned his jurisdiction.

CHAPTER XV.

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI.

long

AT the time of the consecration of Dr. Kemper to the episcopate
of Missouri and Indiana, in 1836, the former State contained a
single church but not one clergyman, while in Indiana there was a
young missionary, but " not a stone, brick or log had been laid toward
the erection of a
place of public wor
ship " for the Church.
The venerable Bish
op Chase, who in his
successive charges
in Ohio and Illinois
was intimately ac
quainted with the
wants and prospects
of the West, deemed
Indiana " lost to the
Church in conse
quence of our
neglect." l

The labors of
Bishop Keinperwere
rewarded with spee
dy success. In two
years in Indiana the
church was ready
for organization, and
its annals, while un
der the episcopal
care of the apostle
of the North-west,
may not inappropri
ately introduce our references to the work of this great missionary
bishop in the other portions of his field.

Pursuant to a recommendation of a convocation of the clergy
called by the missionary bishop, and held at Evansville, on June
9th and llth, 1838, and in accordance with an address forwarded by
a committee to the several churches in the State, clergy and lay dele
gates convened in the city of Madison, on the 24th of August, 1838,

i Vide Bishop Kemper s Report in " Proceedings of the Board of Missions," 1838, p. 5.

KT. REV. JACKSON KEMPER, D.D.

252

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the Rev. Samuel Roosevelt Johnson, 1 the senior presbyter present,
preaching the sermon. Six clergymen of the nine entitled to seats
were in attendance, and one other was admitted by vote. Nine par
ishes were reported as organized, five of which were represented by
ten delegates. The Rev. Ashbel Steele was appointed president, and
the Rev. S. R. Johnson, secretary. The following preamble and reso
lution were passed :

WHEKEAS, The Clergy and Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the
United States, living in Indiana, are desirous of uniting themselves into a Diocese,
to be in union with the General Convention of said Church ; And whereas, the present
meeting of Clergy and of delegates of the Laity of said Church was called to form
and organize said Diocese ; therefore

Be it Eesolved by the Clergy and Laity of said Church, living in Indiana, That
the Clergy and Laity aforesaid are hereby united and formed into a Diocese to be
styled and known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Indiana
and to be in union with the General Convention of said Church, provided the
next General Convention will receive us into union with the same, on the condition
of our retaining the services of a Missionary Bishop, as now enjoyed, until the Dio
cese, in the opinion of the General Convention, is able to support a Diocesan, or
during the pleasure of that Convention.

A constitution and canons were adopted. A committee on the
organization of parishes was instructed to secure legislative action re
specting the same. A memorial to the General Convention was
adopted, embodying the wish for admission into union with the Con
vention, on the condition that the services of Bishop Kernper be con
tinued to the diocese. A committee was appointed to consider the
expediency of establishing a college in the State. The diocesan offi
cers were chosen, and delegates to the General Convention appointed.
A resolution, expressive of grateful regard and attachment to Bishop
Kemper, was adopted, and a letter prepared acquainting the bishop
with the fact that nothing but " the weak and infant state " of the di
ocese prevented what was their " unanimous and ardent wish," his
election to the bishopric of Indiana. Thanks were offered to the
preacher of the opening sermon, and the Convention adjourned.

The journal of the second annual Convention, which met in
Christ Church, Indianapolis, on the 31st of May and the 1st and 3d
of June, 1839, was not printed 2 until the following year, when it ap
peared, bound up with the journal of the third annual Convention.
The number of clergy had really, though not apparently, increased,
two of the eleven clergymen officiating in the diocese not having been
transferred. Six lay delegates, representing four out of the eight
parishes on the Convention list, were in attendance. But three cler
gymen were present at the opening of the Convention. The bishop
and four others afterward appeared and took their seats. One parish
was admitted into union with the Convention. The missionary bishop,
in his address, alluded to the fact that Indiana was the first field of

1 Of this " godly and well learned man," new and flourishing place which was reputed to

whose " praise is in all the churches" alike, be sickly again volunteered his services, which

Bishop Kemper writes, " the Rev. S. R. Johnson were most gladly accepted." Report to the

whom to Know is to love, and who, with re- Board of Missions, 1838, Report, p. 10.
sources that would enable him to choose his own * Vide pages 7 and 16 of the Journal of

place of residence, has established himself in u 1840.

PIONEER WOKK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI. 253

his missionary labors. In 1835, shortly after his consecration, he
visited Madison, New Albany, Jefferson ville, Lawrenceburgh, Evans-
ville, Viucennes, and Terre Haute. In 1836 he visited several of
these places twice. In 1837 he made a fourth visitation, laying the
corner-stone of a church at Crawfordsville. In 1838 he attended the
meeting of the clergy in convocation at Evans ville, which took the
incipient measures for the organization of a. diocese. Detained from
the primary Convention, he had, while on a visitation, consecrated the
church at Indianapolis. The bishop reported that confirmations had
been administered on ten occasions ; three churches had been conse
crated, and three were in progress. There was one candidate for the
ministry. One ordination to the diaconate, and three to the priest
hood, had taken place within the diocese. The establishment of a
school or college, and the formation of a fund for the support of the
episcopate, were urged upon the Convention, and were referred to
committees. The parochial reports, agreeably to the bishop s sug
gestion, were largely historical. An annual collection was recom
mended for the Episcopal fund. Diocesan officers, and the deputation
to the General Convention were elected. The treasurer was authorized
to tax the parishes for their proportionate share of the expenses of
the last and present conventions. Indianapolis was suggested as the
location for a diocesan college, and the whole matter intrusted to a
committee. It was also

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention, the proper persons to vote
in parish meetings are, all male communicants ; holders or lessees of a pew or a
sitting, not members of other denominations ; and others who regularly attend on
the services of the Church and have contributed to its support for six months pre
ceding an election.

The third annual Convention met in St. John s Church, Lafayette,
and continued in session from the 10th to the 12th of July, 1840.
The bishop, and eight of the twelve clergy of the diocese, with six
lay delegates, representing five parishes, were in attendance. The
Rev. James B. Britton was elected secretary, the Rev. S. R. Johnson
having declined a reelection. Four parishes were admitted into union.
The bishop s address noticed the laying of one corner-stone, the conse
cration of three churches, the reception of one candidate for orders,
the offer of the Prayer-book Society of Philadelphia to appropriate the
receipts from sales within the diocese to diocesan missions, and urged
the organization of parochial schools, the need of an itinerant mission
ary, and the appointment of trustees of the general seminary. Twelve
parishes presented reports. A committee was appointed to report to
the next Convention " On the Nature and Duties of the Offices of
Wardens and Vestrymen." The constitution was amended so as to
make the standing committee smaller, and the canons were changed
to make them conform to the canons of the General Convention. The
Convention expressed its sympathy with the scattered churchmen of
the diocese, and its purpose, under God, of bringing the gospel and
its ordinances to every member of the Church. The committee on
parochial schools reported that general education should be pervaded

254 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

with a religious spirit ; that the Church should secure and direct that
religious influence, in the best way, for the good of her children ; that
they recommended to each parish to keep the importance of parish
schools in view, and, when good opportunities to form them presented
themselves, to avail themselves of them. The Episcopal fund con
sisted of one share in the State bank. The committee on the college
was continued. The vacant stations and localities were apportioned
among the clergy for missionary work.

The fourth annual Convention met in Christ Church, Indianapolis,
May 28 to May 31 (inclusive), 1841, the bishop, with seven of
the clergy, and nine lay deputies, representing six parishes, being
present. The Convention sermon was preached by the Rev. Archibald
H. Lamon. The bishop s address referred to two ordinations to the
priesthood; to "the ruinous practice of erecting and adorning
churches before funds have been secured ; " to the death of the patri
archal Daniel Langton, a churchman from Connecticut ; to the changes
in the diocese; to the application of Andrew Wylie, D.D., and
Leonce Hoover, M.D., the one a Presbyterian divine, the other a
Romish priest, for admission to the ministry of the Church ; to the
importance of rallying around the Book of Common Prayer ; the needs
of the West, and the election of a diocesan. A committee on re
printing the Journals of 1838, 1839, and 1840 reported the probable
cost. A committee was appointed to make a digest of the constitu
tion and canons. The destitute parishes were apportioned among the
resident clergy. The committee on the diocesan college was contin
ued. Bishop Kemper was unanimously nominated and elected bishop
of the diocese. The committee on the duties of wardens and vestry
men reported in full. The missionary bishop declined the election to
the diocesan episcopate, but proposed to continue his oversight till
another bishop should be chosen.

The fifth annual Convention met in Vincennes, May 26 to May 29
(inclusive), 1842; Bishop Kemper present and presiding. Five
clergymen and five lay deputies, representing three parishes, were in
attendance. Three parishes were admitted into union. The bishop s ad
dress noticed the admission of the president of the university of the
State, Andrew Wylie, D.D., to deacon s orders, and one ordination to
the priesthood, the laying of a corner-stone, and the death of the Rev.
Charles Prindle. Measures were taken for the incorporation of trus
tees of the Episcopal fund. A committee was appointed to supply
vacant parishes and stations with occasional services. Forms for the
organization of parishes, for admission of a parish into union with the
Convention, and for parochial reports, were adopted. "In view of
the great importance of Sacred Music in conducting the public wor
ship of Almighty God," it was "Resolved, That special efforts be
made for the cultivation of the art of Sacred Music, with particular
reference to chanting."

The sixth annual Convention assembled in Christ Church, Indian
apolis, and continued in session from May 25 to May 27, 1843. The
Convention sermon was preached by the Rev. Solon W. Manney.
Eight clergymen and eight laymen, representing five parishes, were.

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI. 255

present. The last journal not having been printed, a committee was
appointed on the publication of the journals, with power to condense
the last and present one, if necessary. Contributions for the support
of the episcopate were solicited. The bishop s address reported the
ordination of one to the diaconate and three to the priesthood, the
reception of one candidate for orders, and expressed his earnest de
sire to be relieved of the charge of the diocese. The Convention de
clined to proceed to the election of a diocesan. The employment of
itinerant missionaries was recommended. A draft of a bill of the
Legislature, incorporating the trustees of the Episcopal fund, was pre
sented, and trustees appointed. Assessments for deficiencies were
laid ; a committee on the supply of vacant parishes appointed, and
the committee on the revision of the constitution and canons continued.
Notice of proposed amendments of the canons, to be acted on by
the next Convention, was given. The clergy were requested to secure
donations " in money and property for the Episcopal and Missionary
Funds," and to take up annually a collection for the latter.

A special Convention, called by the ecclesiastical authority, met in
the same place on the 29th of September, and continued its sessions
until the 2d of October, 1843. The bishop being absent, the Rev.
Robert B. Croes was appointed president pro tern. Ten clergymen
and three lay deputies, representing the same number of parishes,
were in attendance. The Rev. Thomas Atkinson, of the diocese of
Maryland, was nominated by the clergy, and unanimously elected by
the laity, bishop of the diocese. The report of the committee on the
salary of the bishop was concurred in, and the Convention pledged the
bishop-elect " the sum of five hundred dollars per annum, payable
quarterly." A committee was appointed to acquaint the bishop-elect
of his election. Resolutions of grateful acknowledgment of the
" faithful and efficient services " of Bishop Kemper were passed, and
the Convention expressed its wish that the consecration of the bishop-
elect should take place at Indianapolis.

The seventh annual Convention met in St. Paul s Church, Richmond,
on the 7th, 8th, and 10th of June, 1844. The missionary bishop and
six of the clergy, with three laymen, representing two parishes, were
present. The Convention sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr.
Wylie. Two parishes were admitted into union. The Rev. Thomas
Atkinson was reported as declining the episcopate of Indiana. The
act of incorporation of the trustees of the Episcopal fund and other
charitable purposes was presented, and measures taken to carry its
provisions into effect. A circular, respecting " the Indian Mission,"
from a committee of the board of missions, was presented, and referred
to the action of the special Convention. The bishop s address reported
one consecration, one ordination to the diaconate, and two to the
priesthood ; fourteen administrations of the rite of confirmation ; the
death of the Rev. Mr. Hickox, and the pressing need of immediate
efforts to elect a diocesan. Certain changes in the canons, adapting
them to the provisions of the legislative action respecting the trust
funds of the diocese, were passed. A committee on the missionary
work was appointed, and reported fifteen primary stations, and four-

256 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

teen others to be occasionally visited. The diocesan elections were
made. The Convention decided that there was not " at this time in the
diocese the Canonical number of regularly settled presbyters to entitle
it to the choice of a Bishop by the Convention thereof. " Resolutions
requesting the missionary bishop to call a special Convention in Sep
tember, for the purpose of electing a diocesan, and recommending
" special exertions for the increase of the Episcopal Fund," and urging
the organized parishes to send delegates to the special Convention,
were adopted.

The special Convention met in Christ Church, Indianapolis, on
the 5th and 6th of September, 1844, the missionary bishop being
present and presiding. Eight clergymen and twelve laymen, repre
senting nine parishes, were present. The Convention sermon was
preached by the Eev. Solon W. Manney. Three parishes were re
ceived into union with the convention. The bishop having declared
the Convention empowered to elect a diocesan, a motion to proceed to
the election was referred to a committee, which reported adversely to
the proposition, the diocese being " weaker this year than in former
years, about half of the parish clergy having removed during the
past year, and as yet no new clergymen" having "actually entered
upon the duties of the parishes thus vacated." The report of the com
mittee was sustained by a vote of fourteen to six. The Hon. George
H. Dunn was appointed to solicit contributions for the fund for the
episcopate, and in aid of itinerant and superannuated ministers. The
delegates to the General Convention were instructed to make known to
the Convention and Board of Missions "the inability of the diocese, under
present circumstances, to elect a diocesan," and that it was " a solemn
and imperative duty of the Church especially to sustain and extend
Domestic Missions in the West, and not to allow this great interest to
suffer detriment from any other undertaking whatsoever."

The eighth annual Convention met in St. Stephen s Church, Terre
Haute, on the 3d, 4th, and 6th of October, 1845, the missionary bishop
being present, and presiding. The Convention sermon was preached
by the Rev. B. B. Killikelly, D.D. Eight laymen were in attendance.
The bishop s address reported the consecration of two churches, one
ordination to the priesthood, and four candidates for holy orders.
The address concluded as follows :

Perhaps the most formidable evil with which we have to contend and it is
an evil which is daily gaining strength and influence is Romanism. I solicit the
clergy to study the subject in all its bearings to trace its rise and progress and
deleterious influence on the Church of God to make themselves masters of the
principles and events of primitive times and to become well acquainted with those
views which led to the Reformation, and which were established in our Mother-
Church by the blood of those glorious martyrs, Ridley, Cranmer, and Latimer. All
hope of union with a Church which is usurping and idolatrous, which abounds in
superstitious practices and claims infallibility and supremacy, is absurd, if not im
pious. Her members are to be met, if met in argument at all, calmly and ably,
with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And those among us, if
there be such, who cherish what may be called Romanizing tendencies, which at
times, perhaps, amount to nothing more than a romantic feeling, and undefined
admiration for some of the solemn but vain ceremonies of the Church of Rome, are
to be entreated with kindness, and won, by scriptural arguments and well known

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI. 257

facts, to the old paths in which we tread, as did the early confessors, before Popery
and its defilements were known.

The bishop was requested to avail himself of the discretion
allowed by Canon 6, of 1844, respecting the admission of suitable
persons to the restricted diaconate. The revised canons, reported
by a Committee appointed at a prior convention, were adopted. The
delinquency of the clergy in furnishing the statistics required by
canon was noticed, and the publication of the Journal ordered to be
delayed for thirty days, and that the names of delinquents, after this
period, should be published. The preparation of a circular appeal for
missionary contributions for the diocesan work was ordered, and the
bishop was requested to seek for some suitable person to devote him
self to the training of students in theology.

The ninth annual Convention met in Christ Church, Indianapolis,
on the 9th, 10th, and llth of June, 1846, Bishop Kemper being
present and presiding. Nine laymen were present. The bishop s
address announced the appointment of the Rev. Samuel Roosevelt
Johnson as Professor of Theology, and expressed " the earnest wish,
that early and untiring efforts be made to free each parish from debt."
It exhorted the clergy to "the strictest economy." It laid down
the principle that " our parishes must, as soon as possible, be inde
pendent." The Convention having resolved to proceed to the election of
a bishop, the Kev. Thomas Atkinson, of the diocese of Maryland, was
nominated by the clergy, and unanimously elected by the laity. A
proposed amendment to the constitution requiring that lay delegates
should be communicants was rejected. It was " Resolved, That the
sum of five hundred dollars per annum be pledged for the support
of the bishop, and that he be likewise permitted to take charge of a
parish." A resolution of grateful recognition of the services of the
missionary bishop was unanimously passed.

The tenth annual Convention met in St. Mary s Church, Delphi,
on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of July, 1847, the missionary bishop pre
siding. The Convention sermon was preached by the Rev. Joshua L.
Harrison. Sixteen laymen were present. The bishop s address re
ported the removal of the Rev. Dr. S. R. Johnson, dwelling upon the
successful labors of this pioneer clergyman and the great loss experi
enced by the diocese in his departure, and referred to other removals
and changes, whereby during the year, " of our twenty-two parishes,
not more than six or seven have enjoyed on every Lord s day, the
privileges of the Sanctuary ! " The bishop commended Nashotah, ad
vocated " cheap and unadorned churches," and urged the election of a
diocesan. He reported three candidates for orders. It was announced
to the Convention that the Rev. Thomas Atkinson " declined accepting
the Episcopate of Indiana, on account of ill-health ; he not being equal
to the duties required of him, in the opinion of his physicians." The
Convention having voted to proceed to the election of a bishop, the
clergy unanimously nominated the Rev. Samuel Bowman, D.D., of
the diocese of Pennsylvania, and the laity unanimously confirmed their
choice. Assessments to the amount of five hundred dollars were laid

258 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

on the various parishes for the bishop s support. The bishop was re
quested to provide a suitable person to instruct those seeking the
ministry. The standing committee were instructed to report on the
first day of the session of Convention. Measures were taken to make
known at the East " the wants of the Church in the West, and especially
in this Diocese." The answer of the Rev. Dr. Bowman, declining the
episcopate, is appended to the Journal.

The eleventh annual Convention met in St. John s Church, Lafayette,
on the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 5th of June, 1848, the missionary bishop pre
siding. Nineteen of the laity were in attendance. The bishop s address
alluded to his illness, reported one institution, the reception of a candi
date for orders, and spoke of the diocese as "in a healthy and growing
state." The committee appointed to consider what means could be
raised for the support of a bishop reported assessments to the amount
of one thousand dollars on the parishes, and advised that the income
accruing on the Episcopal fund be added thereto. The Convention
having voted to go into the election of a diocesan, the clergy nomi
nated the Rev. Francis Vinton, D.D., of the diocese of New York,
which nomination was confirmed by the laity. The thanks of the
diocese were tendered to the missionary bishop "for his able and
faithful services."

The twelfth annual Convention was held in Christ Church, Indian
apolis, on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of June, 1849. The Rev. Francis
Vinton, having declined the episcopate, the missionary bishop still re
tained jurisdiction, and was present and presided at this meeting. Nine
laymen were in attendance. The bishop s address noticed the death of
the Rev. Samuel Lee Johnson, the erasure of two names from the list
of candidates for orders on account of ill-health, and one ordination of
a graduate of the university of the State, and of Nashotah, the Rev.
Homer Wheeler. The bishop recommended weekly offerings, the
choice of members of the standing committee from the same neighbor
hood, the observance of the canons requiring collections for diocesan
missions, and St. Mary s Seminary. Resolutions of respect and sym
pathy, occasioned by the death of the Rev. S. L. Johnson, were adopted,
and after the usual routine business, the clergy, " by a more than two-
thirds vote," nominated the Rev. George Upfold, D.D., of the diocese
of Pennsylvania, to the episcopate, and their nomination was unani
mously confirmed by the laity. A special assessment of three hundred
dollars, to defray the expenses of the consecration and removal of the
bishop-elect, was made. The Convention expressed its desire that the
consecration should take place in Indiana. An itinerant missionary
was appointed. The standing committee were requested to digest
some plan for the preservation of Church property. A resolution of
thanks to the missionary bishop was unanimously adopted.

Prior to the next Convention the consecration of the bishop-elect
took place.

During the winter of 1836 Bishop Kemper crossed the Mis
sissippi from Illinois to St. Louis, where the Rev. Peter R. Minanl,
the bishop s assistant at Christ Church, had arrived a few weeks be
fore. Called almost immediately to administer the diocese of Illinois

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI. 259

during the absence of Bishop Chase in England, it was not until
early in the spring of 183 G that the bishop ascended the Mississippi,
officiating at Palmyra and Hannibal, and afterwards proceeded up the
Missouri, preaching at Boonville, Fayette, Columbia, and St. Charles.
Impressed with the noble field for labor presented in the West, and
conscious of the difficulty of obtaining clergymen for this vast extent
of territory committed to his charge, he resolved on the establishment
of an institution of learning. He returned to New York to obtain the
means for founding a college. By the aid of a wealthy layman, Mr.^
John P. Stagg, $20,000 were secured, and in the autumn of 1836,
Keinper College, so named without the knowledge or consent of its
founder, was chartered by the Legislature. The site fixed upon was
" a beautiful spot five miles from St. Louis, in a south-westerly direc
tion, containing one hundred and thirty-five arpents." 1 With such a
see as was his, Bishop Kemper could not long linger in Missouri, but
after laying the corner-stone of a new church in St. Louis, in May,
1837, he hastened to Indiana, devoting the summer to this important
field. Called to Kentucky, in company with the Bishops of Ohio and
Michigan, for the purpose of adjusting certain difficulties which had
arisen there ; a month was required for this necessary work, and then
the energetic bishop " hastened to Missouri, made a rapid but very in
teresting tour in a western direction, passed the boundaries of the State,
went through the territories of the Shawnees and Dela wares, and
visited Fort Leavenworth and the Kickapoos." In 1839 "the ad
vancement of the missionary work in Missouri had not, to outward
appearances, been great." But the Church had grown decidedly at St.
Louis, and Kemper College had been opened in its primary depart
ment, and was " already drawing the attention of the public." 2 A
church had been built at Hannibal, and the prospects of the Church
there and elsewhere were deemed encouraging. The following year
witnessed a marked advance.

Agreeably to a resolution of the convocation of clergy, held in St.
Louis in March, 1840, clergy and laity of the Church in Missouri met
in Christ Church, St. Louis, November 16, 1840, the missionary bishop,
Dr. Kemper, being present, and presiding. The Rev. Peter R. Minard
preached the opening sermon. Eight clergymen and sixteen laymen
representing the parishes of Christ Church and St. Paul s, St. Louis ; St. ,
Paul s, Palmyra ; and St. Paul s, St. Charles were in attendance. The
organization of the diocese of Missouri and its union with the General /
Convention were affirmed by resolution. The bishop s address, w point
ing out the leading features of the polity of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the United States, the importance of the position occupied
by the Convention, and the necessity of acting in reference to the
future extension of sound Catholic principles in the great valley of the
Mississippi," was requested for publication in the journal ; but " the
urgency of Episcopal and various other duties, prevented the Bishop
from complying with this request." A constitution and canons were
adopted, as also a plan for the organization of parishes. Mr. J. Parker

1 Report of the Board of Missions, p. 9. ceedings of the Board of Missions, 1839, p.

2 Report of the Domestic Committee, Pro- 42.

260 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Doan was appointed treasurer of the Episcopal fund. Diocesan officers
were elected, and a deputation to the General Convention. The latter
was instructed to apply for admission into union with the general
organization.

The journals for 1841 and 1842 are still unpublished, but from
the MS. proceedings we learn that four clergymen only were in at
tendance and entitled to seats in 1841, and delegates from two parishes,
half the number in each case, that were represented the preceding year.
Bishop Kemper was requested " to take full Episcopal charge and
authority of the Diocese of Missouri." The session which had been
held on the llth, 12th, and 13th of November was adjourned to the
30th of December, at which time four additional clergymen were in
attendance, and the provisional bishop. Thanks were returned, on
motion of the Rev. President Hutchinson, "to the patrons of Kemper
College, in England, for their generous contributions to the library
of that important Institution." In 1842 the bishop was again present.
were at this time canonically connected with the

diocese, of whom four were in attendance. But four parishes were
represented. The time was deemed inauspicious for the creation of
a fund for the support of the episcopate, though recommendations
were reported by the committee that the attempt should be made to
begin such a fund. The treasurer s report was to the effect that he
had neither received nor disbursed anything since his appointment.
A committee of the Convention reported that the diocese was entitled
to elect a bishop, there being nine parishes and the same number of
resident clergymen, six of whom had been in the diocese for a year ;
but the Convention did not act on this report. The following year the
number of settled presbyters had been so diminished by removals that
the Convention memorialized the General Convention to appoint or
consecrate a bishop for the diocese, at the same time naming as their
preference the Rev. Cicero Stephen Hawks, P.P., of 13ugalo T Mew
Yorj THe^IxeneraTTJonvention, Recognizing the emergency OT the
case, passed a canon allowing an " organized diocese," which cannot
or will not elect its own diocesan, to ask the nomination and election
of a bishop by the General Convention. Under this canon Dr. C. S.
Hawks was consecrated for Missouri, and the canon was shortly after
wards repealed. J^ishoj) Hawks came to his 8ee to find its only
church institution, Kemper College, struggling under an indebtedness
that shortly afterwards compelled the closing of its doors, and resulted
in the loss of the college and its valuable domain to the Church. It
was long ere the Church in Missouri regained the ground thus lost.

The introduction of services into the pres_ent_State of Iowa dates
back to 18;&gt;l&gt;, when occasional ministrations were rendered at Dulmque
by the RevTRichard F. Cadle, and later by the Rev. E. G. Gear and
the Rev. J. Batchelder. The missionary committee, in their report
for 1839, announced their purpose of sustaining five missionaries in
the territory, into which settlers were then pressing in large numbers.
But it was found impossible to secure the laborers, even though the
fields were white for the harvest, and year after year the records ex
hibit a feebleness of effort and a lagging interest, which will account

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI.

261

for the passage of nearly fifteen years ere organization was attempted.
At length, through the more active exertions of the " Episcopal Mis
sionary Association for the West," a voluntary missionary organization
established in Philadelphia, missionaries were found for the field and
measures for organization were taken ; and at the request of the resi
dent clergy of the State, with a single exception, the missionary
bishop of the North-west, Dr. Kemper, called a primary Convention
which met in the chapel of Trinity Church, Muscatine, on the 17th

CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNION, ST. PETER S, MINN.

of August. 1853. Seven clergymen and fifteen laymen, representing
seven parishes, were present, and the usual steps were taken to or
ganize the diocese of Iowa.

Bishop Kemper and seven of the clergy of the new diocese, with
sixteen of the laity, representing eight of the parishes, were in aU
tendance at the first annual Convention, which met in Davenport ]
t^JIa^otAIa^afiM. The bishop s address noticed the successful *

work of the Rev. J. Batcheld^ rt.A^pj Pnfip! r o f the Church in Iowa,
as he had formerly been in Illinois ; " the consecration of the church
at Muscatine : the duty of the parishes to become self-supporting ; the
necessity of a diocesan college ; the importance of securing land for
future use, and need of a wise choice in the selection of a bishop.
The thanks of the Convention were expressed to the " Episcopal

262 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Missionary Association for the West," " for its liberal aid in sustaining
Missions in Iowa." The organization of a diocesan missionary so
ciety was recommended. A change of the canon respecting the
Easter elections in the various parishes, defining the qualifications of
voters, was made. After discussion, it was voted to proceed to the
election of a bishop, and on the ballot being taken by orders, the
clerical vote was as follows :

For the Rev. Henry W. Lee, D.D., of the Diocese of Western New York, 5.
For the Rev. Jacob L. Clark, D.D., of the Diocese of Connecticut, 1.

The lay vote was as follows : -

For the Rev. Dr. Lee, 5. For the Rev. Dr. Clark, 4.

Dr. Leo was declared duly elected Bishop of the diocese of Iowa.
One clergyman and deputies from two parishes had leave to enter the
following protest upon the journal :

We, the undersigned, Clerical members of, and Lay Deputies to, the Annual
Convention of the Diocese of Iowa, holden in the City of Davenport, on the 81st of
May, 1854, hereby protest against the election of a Bishop of said Diocese upon the
following grounds, to wit : The 2d Canon, of 1844, of the General Convention,
requires that there must be at the time of a choice of a Bishop, and have been
din-ing the year previous, at least six officiating Presbyters therein, regularly
settled in a parish or church, and qualified to vote for a Bishop, and inasmuch as
the conditions of the said Canon have not been complied with, there being but four
Presbyters, as alleged by us, who have been engaged permanently by any parish
for a term not less than one year, we protest against said election, and pronounce
it null and void.

Leave was granted to two parishes to change their votes from Dr.
Clark in favor of Dr. Lee. A resolution expressive of the desire of
the Convention that the consecration of the bishop-elect should take
place .within the diocese, and that the bishop in charge, Dr. Kemper,
should be appointed consecrator, was also passed, and thanks were
voted to the bishop for " his courteous, impartial and dignified con
duct," as presiding officer.

The consecration of Dr. Lee took place on St. Luke s Day, 1854^
in St. Luke s Church, Eochester, Western New York, and the new \
bishop entered at once into his rapidly growing field of labor.

At the North the work of the Church had been slowly develop-
ing. There had come into the new Territory of Minnesota, almost in
the van of the immigration from the East, an apostolic man, who, hav
ing been the founder of Nashotah, in Wisconsin, sought in his earnest
and aggressive spirit the beginning of work in a new field, and the
laying of foundations on which were to be built up a church, a dio
cese, a system of church schools, and a mission work to the aborigines,
which should for all time attest the zeal and faith and love of James
.Lloyd Breck. The chaplain at Fort Snelling, the Rev. Ezekiel G.
Gear, - " FatherJ3rear 2 " as he was lovingly called, had been the pioneer
of the Church in the Territory, having given the " first English^ervice
in Minnesota;" 1 but it was not until 1850, when Brock and his asso-

j i The Life of the Rev. James Lloyd Breck, D.D., chiefly from letters written by himself.
Compiled by Charles Breck, D.D. P. 133.

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI.

263

ciates, the Eev. Timothy Wilcoxson, of Connecticut, and the Rev.
John Austin Merrick, of Pennsylvania, then in his diaconate, and a
lay brother came to Minnesota, that aggressive work for the Church
was begun. On the Feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 1850, this
little band organized as " The Associate Mission for Minnesota." and
began their work by the celebration of the eucharistic feast. A rus
tic cross was raised beneath a large and spreading elm, and on an altar
of stone the elements were consecrated in this solemn sacrament ; and
the willing sacrifice of " body, spirit, soul," of each of these devoted
missionaries, was solemnly made. Full of interest is the story of the
work of this Associate Mission : the long journeys by foot; the

THE FIRST " SEABURY HALL, FARIBAULT, MINN.

services in "the shadow of a great rock," on the broad bluffs over
looking the Father of Waters ; in nature s oratories, amidst the
well-nigh trackless forests ; on the wide prairies, and in the rude
huts and school-houses of the pioneers of the State. Work such as
these men of God, and those trained in their self-denying ways, did
among the white and Indian populations could not but result in
abundant fruit, and ere long the time for organization came.

Pursuant to a call issued by the Missionary Bishop of the North
west, a number of the clergy and laity assembled, on the 16th of
Septembei, 1857, in Christ Church, in the city of St. Paul, the
lit. Rev. Dr. Kemper being present, and presiding. The sermon
was preached by the Lord Bishop of Rupert s Land, the Rt. Rev. Dr.
Anderson. The "Charter" of the "Minnesota Church Foundation
was accepted." It was resolved, " that without raising the question

264 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of the effect of the organization, this day accomplished, of the Dio
cese of Minnesota, upon the jurisdiction of the Missionary Bishop
within the same, this Convention respectfully requests the continued
exorcise in and over the same of his Episcopal office and oversight."
Diocesan officers were elected and the usual votes of thanks adopted,
one being tendered to the Rev. Solon W. Manney, for his services
" in preparing and maturing a proposed Constitution and body of
Canons for the consideration of this Convention."

The first annual Convention met in St. Paul s Church, in the city
oLSt. Paul, on the 19th of May, 1858. the Missionary Bishop of the
North-west being present and presiding. The Convention sermon
was preached by the Rev. A. B. Patterson, D.D. The bishop s ad
dress reported four consecrations of churches, the laying of one corner
stone, ten visitations at which confirmation was administered, and four
clergymen received into the diocese. The motion to proceed to the
election of a bishop was lost by the non-concurrence of orders. The
" Church Foundation " was intrusted with the duty of taking measures
and making appeals for the endowment of the episcopate. The clergy
were requested to prepare " full historical notes of the history of the
Church" within their respective cures. It was resolved that the
neglect on the part of any parish to pay two annual assessments should
deprive it of union with the Convention. A canon on the present
ment and trial of a clergyman was proposed and postponed until the
next Convention. The Convention expressed the opinion that a stand
ing committee, if elected, would not be competent to act with full
powers until the admission of the diocese into union with the General
Convention, and a subsequent motion to elect such a committee was lost.

The second annual Convention was held in the same place, on
June the 29th and 30th, and the 1st of July, 1859, the missionary
bishop in charge being in attendance and presiding. The Convention
sermon was preached by the Rev. Timothy Wilcoxson, who had ac
companied Dr. Lloyd Breck on his first coming to Minnesota. The
bishop s address reported four candidates for orders, the licensing of
two lay-readers, the laying of the corner-stones of four churches, and
the consecration of five, the reception of three clergymen, and the
removal of the same number. The Convention having resolved to pro
ceed to the election of a bishop,

The whole number of votes cast was 18, of which 10 were necessaiy to a
choice.

The Rev. John Ireland Tucker, D.D., 11 ; the Rev. Andrew Bell Patterson.
D.D., 3; the Rev. Alexander II. Vinton, D.D., 2; the Rev. Abrain N. Littlejohn,
D.D., 1 ; the Rev. Henry B. Whipple, 1.

The Rev. Dr. Tucker having been elected by the clergy, the laity
proceeded to ballot, whereupon 21 votes were cast, of which there were
10 yeas and 11 nays.

The clergy proceeded to a second ballot, the same number of votes
being cast as before :

The Rev. Dr. Tucker, 11 ; the Rev. Dr. Patterson, 6 ; the Rov. Mr. Whipple, 1 .

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI. 265

The choice of Dr. Tucker, on the part of the clergy, was again
negatived by laity, 21 parishes voting: yeas, 10; nays, 11.

On the third ballot by the clergy the Rev. H. B. Whipple re-
ceiveji^M^yotes, and the Rev. Dr. Patterson, 4 Votes . TllW -Bomina-
tion of theRev. Mr. Whipple was confirmed by the laity unanimously,
and thereupon the election was made unanimous. The consecration
of the bishop-elect took place at the session of the General Convention
in Richmond in 1859. Thus happily was inaugurated the episcopate
of the first Bishop of Minnesota, "whose praise is in all the churches"
for faithful and abundant labors among the white and Indian popula
tion of his See, and for the successful upbuilding of schools of learning,
destined, we may well believe, to be for all time a means of blessing.

We have already noticed the first visitation of Kansas by the
Missionary Bishop of the North-west, the apostolic Kemper. We
proceed to give in detail the story of this portion of the Western
Church. The "Organic Act" of Congress under which the Territory
of Kansas was thrown open to settlement was approved on the 30th of
May, 1854. The constitution of the State was adopted by the con
stitutional convention on the 29th of July, 1859, and was ratified
and adopted by the people of the State at an election held on the 4th
day of October, 1859. The State was admitted into the Union by
an Act of Congress approved on the 20th day of May, 1861.

Between the Organic Act and the Act of Admission population
came into the Territory, and the organization of churches of different
denominations went on side by side with other developments in the
opening of a new country.

The Rev. John McNamara, now doctor in divinity, and president";
of Nebraska College, at Nebraska City, Nebraska, received from the^
Domestic Committee the appointment as the first missionary to Kansas^
m ft&gt;e sainmp.r|flf-lft54.. He had previously served in Western Missouri.
It was in troublous times, and when the excitements on the Border
were at their height. After a varied and painful experience of a year
at several points, he withdrew from the mission in the autumn of 1855.
His experiences are given in graphic style, in his very readable book
entitled, " Three Years on the Kansas Border."

The first missionary of the Church who secured a foothold in
Kansas was the Rev. Hiram Stone, at Leavenvvorth, a city then con
taining about 2,000 people. Here he entered upon his labors, Novem
ber 24, 1856, and organized a parish on December 10 of the same
year. In the course of the next three years parishes were organized in
Atchison, Fort Scott, Junction City, Lawrence, Manhattan, Topeka,
Troy, and Wyandotte. The Territory was under the episcopal
charge of Bishop Kemper, the Missionary Bishop of the North-west.

In 1859 the few churches at that time existing organized them
selves into a diocese at a primary Convention held at Wyandotte on
the llth and 12th days of August, under the presidency of Bishop
Kemper, who, on the 26th of the previous July, had called the Con
vention for this purpose.

There were at that time ten clergymen in the Territory, the Rev.
Messrs. Callaway, Glarkeon, Drummond, Henderson, Nash, Preston,

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Reynolds, Ryan, Staudemayer, and Stone. Of these three the
Rev. Messrs. Clarkson, Henderson, and Stone were army chaplains.

The diocese was received into union with the General Conven
tion at its triennial session in the October following.

At a special Convention held April 11 and 12, 1860, an at
tempt was made to elect a bishop. Eight clergymen were present,
and eight parishes were represented. On the twelfth ballot the Rev.
Heman Dyer, D.D., of New York, was elected by the clergy, and
their choice was confirmed by the laity. But a question arose as to
the validity of the election under the limitations prescribed by the
general canon " Of Bishops." The incipient controversy was silenced
by the prompt action of the bishop-elect, who declined the election.

At the annual Convention, in the September following, the Rt.
Rev. Henry W. Lee, Bishop of Iowa, was invited to take episcopal
charge of the diocese until the diocese should elect its own bishop.
The invitation was accepted, and Bishop Lee continued this provisional
charge until the election of the present bishop, in September, 1864.

As a Territory, Kansas included not only all the country now
comprised within its limits, but also so much of Colorado (then
known as Arrassahoe county in Kansas) as extended through the
three degrees of latitude, measuring the width of the State from north
to south-westward, to the top of the Rocky Mountains, extending far
beyond Denver, a district almost as large as the present State.

Kansas became a diocese while it was a Territory, and as such
was admitted into union with the General Convention with all the
domain that then belonged to it. Ecclesiastical divisions are entirely
independent of the civil, and we may have, as we have had, dioceses
made of parts of several States, or several dioceses in one State.

In this case the parties concerned could alone remedy the diffi
culty. Bishop Talbot, Missionary Bishop of the North-west, consented
to receive Arrassahoe county as a part of his jurisdiction. The diocese
of Kansas, in its Convention, and the bishop in temporary charge of it,
assented to the change, and the case was then referred to the General
Convention of 1862, which ratified the change proposed, and made
the diocese coterminous with the limits of the State of Kansas.

During the four years of Bishop Lee s charge he made three
visitations, confirming in the few parishes on the Missouri river, and
once going into the interior as far as Lawrence and Topeka. West
of these there were only a few nominal parishes, and these were very
small and feeble. The number of persons confirmed in these four
years hardly exceeded a couple of dozen. Two deacons, the Rev.
Messrs. Henderson and Hickcox, were ordained by Bishop Lee to the
priesthood. One corner-stone was laid in Atchison, which was found
a few years later, when a fine stone church was built upon it.

At the annual Convention of the diocese in Atchison, at which
Bishop Lee presided, on the 14th and 15th days of September, 1864,
the diocese, on the recommendation of the bishop in charge, pro
ceeded to the election of a bishop. The Rev. William H. Hickcox
was secretary. Six clergymen answered to their names : the Rev.
Messrs. Egar, Hickcox, Nash, Preston, Ryan, and Stone. Seven

PIONEER WORK BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI.

267

parishes were represented: Atchison, Burlington, Leavenwortb,
Manhattan, Topeka, Troy, Wyandotte. The Rev. Thomas H. Vail,
D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, Muscatine, Iowa, was unanimously
elected by the clergy, and their election was unanimously confirmed^
by the laity. The Rev. R. W. Oliver, Rector of Trinity Church,
Lawrence, who arrived just as the election had been concluded, by
permission, added his name to the affirmative vote.

The consecration of the bishop-elect took place at Muscatine,
Iowa, on December 15, 1864. The bishops present were Bishop
Kemper, the consecrator (the first Missionary Bishop of the North
west, and at that time Bishop of Wisconsin), Bishop Lee, of Iowa,
who preached the sermon, Bishop Whitehouse, of Illinois, and Bishop

MISSION SOD-HOUSE, NEBRASKA.

Bedell, assistant, of Ohio, who presented the bishop-elect. On the)
1st of January, 1865, Bishop Vail started for his new field. Decem- I
ber 15, 1883, he entered upon the twentieth year of his episcopate. ^

When the bishop came to the State there were in it three small
churches at Lawrence, Leavenworth, Wyandotte completed and
occupied; and four others at Fort Scott, Junction City, Manhattan,
and Topeka had been begun. Larger churches have taken the
place of the first three. The four then begun have been finished
or rebuilt, and twenty-five new churches have been added. At the
close of twenty years there are thirty-two churches built and paid for.
In connection with these there are fifteen parsonages. In addition
to the organized parishes there are thirty or more missions, or
preaching stations ; so that there are about seventy points in the diocese
where the services of the Church are held by regular appointment at
longer or shorter intervals.

268 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Every church which has been built in the diocese has been aided
by or through the bishop in amounts varying from $350 to
$2,500 each. The present rate of aid is from $300 to $500 each.
There are between thirty and forty clergymen on the clerical roll. 1

Agreeably to the call of the Missionary Bishop of Nebraska and
Da Uot:i, clergy and laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ne-
l&gt;r;isU,-i assembled in Trinity Church, Omaha, on the, i)th of Septem
ber, 1868, Bishop Clarkson being present anopresiding. The sermon
was preached by the Rev. Samuel D. Hinman. Seventeen of the
clergy, with twelve lay delegates, representing eight of the fourteen
parishes, were in attendance. The organization of a diocese, with
bounds coterminous with those of the State of Nebraska, was resolved
upon. It was decided that the name should be " Nebraska," and the
missionary bishop was invited to assume " full charge " thereof. The
bishop, in his address, estimated the population of the State as not far
from 100,000, and appealed for aid for the "diocesan missions," and
for the " outlying work," and urged the necessity of " lay help."

The work thus begun has known no lessening of effort, and the
lamented death of the first Bishop of Nebraska, in 1884, marked the
close of a period of the diocesan history which had been one of steady
growth and almost unexampled prosperity. The creation of an en
dowment for the episcopate ; the erection of a noble cathedral ; the
establishment of the diocesan schools, and the rapid development of
missions into parishes, make the episcopate of Bishop Clarkson a noble
memorial of a godly, energetic, and beloved father in God, and give
his successor, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Worthington, foundations on which to
build, wisely and well, the material fabric of the Church of Christ.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

FRAGMENTARY notices of the development of the Church beyond the Missis-
_C sippi are to be gathered from the reports of bishops and missionaries pub
lished from time to time in the missionary publications of the Church and in the
journals of conventions. A few monographs have appeared illustrating the history
of the Church in particular localities ; but nothing in volume form excepting the
admirable biography of Dr. Lloyd Breck, by his brother, the Rev. Charles Breck,
D.I)., of Scranton, Pennsylvania, has as yet appeared. Of the rapid growth of the
trans-Mississippi sees and jurisdictions there will and should be prepared, ere long,
full and accurate statements, and especially is there a call for the appearance of the
biography of the apostolic Kemper, the Missionary Bishop of the North-west.

1 This sketch of the history of the Church Hubbard Vail, D.D., LL.D., bishop of the dio-
in Kansas is contributed by the Rt. Rev. Thomas cese.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE "OXFORD MOVEMENT" AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON THE
AMERICAN CHURCH.

FIFTY years have passed since the appearance of the early num
bers of a series of " Tracts for the Times," mainly prepared by
members of the University of Oxford, having for their object
" the practical revival of doctrines which, although held by the great
divines of our Church, at present have become obsolete with the
majority of her members, and are withdrawn from public view even
by the more learned and orthodox few who still adhere to them." The
interest excited by these publications was not confined to England.
Their appearance was welcomed by many earnest men, both among
the clergy and laity, in the American Church. The fact that so many
of our communion have been brought to embrace its principles and enter
its fold from convictions of its apostolicity and accordance with primi
tive order and belief, rendered the clear and sharply defined presenta
tion of what is called " distinctive church teaching " less repugnant to
the popular mind than in England, where these matters had not been so
widely discussed. It was not till the appearance of the famous "Tract
No. 90" that the excitement with reference to the series grew so intense
as to threaten trouble. Up to this point it was conceded that the
writers of the tracts had not set forth anything which had not been in
effect, at least, urged by authors of unquestioned orthodoxy. When
the Romish bishop, Dr. Kenrick, publicly appealed to our bishops to
submit to the Church of Rome on the alleged ground that these
"Tracts for the Times" "had yielded, one by one, almost every
ground of dispute" between the two communions, and had even
"proposed to reconcile the Articles with the Council of Trent," the
Bishop of Vermont, one of the best informed and most able of our
prelates, indignantly repelled the charge, asserting that "those very
tracts themselves bear a clear and decided testimony against the
innovations and corruption of Rome s modern system." In the honest
indignation of one who felt that the position of the tract-writers was
unjustly represented, Bishop Hopkins, whose proposition of an oral
discussion on the points at issue between the Anglican and the Roman
systems had been declined by Dr. Kenrick, vigorously assailed the
Roman prelate, defending the tracts, and summing up his view of the
case by ridiculing "the fears of their unsoundness among Protestants."
It was not long before the excitement was intensified by an event
that shook the American Church from its centre to its circumference.
The ordination of the Rev. Arthur Carey, a young man of unusual
intellectual ability and great sanctity of life, who had espoused and
openly avowed " advanced " views in the General Theological Semi
nary and at the time of his examination for orders, by the Bishop

270 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

of New York, notwithstanding the public protest of the Rev. Drs.
Hugh Smith and Henry Anthon, occasioned an embittered discussion
through the press and on* the floor of Convention, that well-nigh rent
the Church in twain. From the prolific pen of the Bishop of Ver
mont appeared in rapid succession four " Letters on the Novelties
that disturb our Peace." which passed through two editions. Soon
after the appearance of this treatise the bishop was practically
inhibited by the Bishop of Pennsylvania from delivering his " Lect
ures on the British Reformation" in the churches of Philadelphia.
The lectures were published, and the action of Bishop Onderdonk
gave occasion to wide-spread criticism. The agitation became more
general. The Oxford movement was discussed in pulpits and from
the press at the session of the diocesan Conventions, and at length
became the absorbing topic of debate at the meeting of the General
Convention of 1844. The action taken by the Church s great council
at this time, though deemed by many inadequate to the occasion, and
certainly failing to meet the issue in question, was such as at this .
distance of time cannot but be approved.

In the words of the late Bishop Burgess, of Maine : " The recent
resignation and the suspension of one bishop, the overhanging rumors
which foreboded the trial and suspension of another ; the personal dis
cussion which arose out of the election to the episcopate of Mis
sissippi ; the effort to procure a declaration against the doctrine of the
Oxford Tracts ; the consecration of Bishops Chase, of New-Hampshire,
Cobbs, and Hawkes ; the nomination of the Missionary Bishops Free
man, Southgate, and Boone ; the renewed, but still unsuccessful
attempt to require a longer delay before the ordination of ministers
from other denominations ; the inquiry into the state of the General
Theological Seminary ; and the adoption, not without controversy, of
the principle of an unlearned diaconate in certain cases, all concurred
to make this the busiest and the most exciting of all our General Con
ventions. In its legislation it was guided by the occasions which had,
unhappily, sprung up, and its close was followed by the most memo
rable of all the judicial proceedings of any ecclesiastical tribunal in this
land." The eloquent defence made by the Rev. Dr. F. L. Hawks,
the able and exhaustive debate on the Oxford movement ; the adoption
of the present standard prayer-book, and the missionary spirit of the
Convention, were noticeable features in this eventful session.

The influence of the Oxford movement was not to end with the
occasion that gave it birth. In various ways it has in no little meas
ure shaped the progress and moulded the policy of the Church for all
succeeding time. From the first, in matters of lesser moment, it
called attention to church architecture ; it developed a higher style of
ecclesiastical music ; and it secured a more reverent and rubrical con
duct of the services of the Church. It familiarized the people with
church history. In literature the distinctive teachings of this school
of thought were made popular by church tales displaying no little
ability, and by songs and " ballads " the rhythm and reasoning of which
charmed and captured both young and old. Services were multiplied
and every accessory of taste and beauty was sought to render them

THE INFLUENCE OF THE "OXFORD MOVEMENT." 271

attractive and complete. The Eucharist, which Seabury had been,
perhaps, the very first in America to celebrate weekly, became " the
central act of worship." The teaching that the Church, like her
Divine Head, was to care for the bodies as well as the souls of men,
was formulated in noble works of Christian and churchly charity ; and
hospitals, homes for the old and the young, refuges for penitents,
asylums for the needy, were the enthusiastic response to the procla
mation of this truth. The introduction of sisterhoods followed as a
necessary consequent, and in these means and appliances of beneficence
the Church recognized and proclaimed her mission and her power.

It was in connection with the discussions growing out of the pub
lication of the " Tracts for the Times " that the attention of both clergy
and laity throughout the Church was called to the doctrinal teachings
of our standards, and the meaning of our offices and forms of prayer.
An impulse was given to the study of Anglican theology which made
the teachings of Laud and Andrews and Bull familiar as household
words. The views maintained by the promoters of the Anglical revi
val, and drawn by them from the Anglo-Catholic doctors, were not new
to those who had been trained in the school of Seabury, or had found
in Hobart the defender of "Evangelical truth and Apostolic order."
That the Gospel in its fulness and in its adaptation to all was
to be proclaimed in the Church, the Body of Christ ; that through
the Incarnation benefits flowed to ransomed men no less than by
the propitiatory sacrifice offered on the cross ; that the sacraments
were means of applying to the soul brought into covenant relationship
with God the blessings which were made known to us in the " glad
tidings " of Christ ; that the kingdom of heaven had been set up on
earth, and that the baptized citizens thereof were to "hear the Church,"
which was the Bride of Christ, reverencing its apostolic ministry, its
catholic truth, its primitive forms, had all been fully taught and held
by churchmen in many sections of the land. If these views had been
lost sight of in certain portions of the Church through indifference or
from the laxity which had widely obtained in all matters relating to
dogma, still the old controversial treatises, the apologies, the sermons
of the past, were a witness that these distinctively church teachings
had been held of old, and that it was the return to the teachings of the
past that was called for in the Oxford movement rather than the offer
ing of " novelties " that should disturb the Church s peace. It was
the recognition of this fact that gave to the tract-writers so wide-spread
a following on this side of the ocean. As in swift succession number
after number appeared there was an enthusiastic response from
thoughtful and earnest churchmen in all parts of the land. Up to the
appearance of "Tract No. 90," as we have already said, the tract-
writers and their writings commanded a wide approval, and the influ
ence of their appeals to antiquity, and their cogent presentation of the
Church s teaching, was followed by general acquiescence.

But with the appearance of the closing number of this memorable
series all was changed. The note of war was sounded on every side.
The opponents of the " Tractarian " school were in earnest in their
efforts to withstand the inroads of that which they characterized as

272 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

"another gospel." The alterations which had been made in the con
duct of the services of the Church ; the new interpretations of our
doctrinal standards which were proposed ; the changed attitude which
the Church was called upon to take before the Christian world, aroused
a fierce opposition on the part of those whose sympathies were with
the " Evangelical " school. Treatise was met by treatise ; book by book.
The Church press became the arena of a strife in which the appeal was
made on the one side to the " Bible only " as " the religion of Protes
tants" and on the other to the " double witness " of the canonical script
ure and the Catholic tradition of the Church. Societies were ranged
against societies. Charges from bishops on the one side were fulminat
ed against charges from bishops on the other side. Dioceses were ar
rayed against dioceses. Conventions were divided into irreconcilable
majorities and minorities. The war of words resounded from pulpits
and in households ; the whole Church was in arms.

The submission of one after another of the writers of the "Tracts of
the Times " to the Roman obedience was appealed to as the natural re
sult of the teachings of the Oxford school. What was certainly, for
a time at least, a tendency of the movement, was claimed to be its
purpose from the first ; and although Bishop Whittingham could write
that " Pusey s stay more than outweighs Newman s defection," l it was
felt by numbers, and not without reason, that " anglo-Catholic teach
ings seemed to lead to Roman Catholic conclusions." 2 The reaction
from any tendency of this nature came when the defections abroad were
followed by the perversion of one and another of our own Church, lay
men and lay-women, deacons, priests, and, finally, a bishop of the Ameri
can Church. The shock was great. But with this culminating act of
disloyalty, an act not unanticipated and preceded by evasions and
vacillations unworthy a man of strong convictions, and possibly
resulting from the " trials of a mind " weakened by disease and unbal
anced by personal troubles and sorrow, the tide, which had seemed
at one time setting towards Rome, turned. There were no more
notable perversions. There have been none since. The distinction
between a true and a false Catholicity was more clearly seen, and the
Church grew all the stronger for the very struggle through which she
had passed. The latest outcome of the Oxford movement, the "Cum
mins schism," in which the extreme opponents of Romanizing errors
followed the advocates of those very errors, in leaving the Church,
resulted, as all other defections have done, in a greater unity, and a
consequent increase in strength. Thus has the promise of the Church s
Head been made good ; neither by attacks from without nor through
trials springing from within have the gates of hell prevailed.

1 Brand s " Life of Bishop Whittingham," ii., p. 347. Ibid., p. 353.

274

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

rpHE various stages of the action of the House of Deputies on the subject of the
_L Oxford movement we give in full :

FIFTH DAY S SESSION, OCTOBER 7.

The following preamble and resolutions were offered :

" Whereas, in the estimation of many ministers and members of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the United States, serious errors of doctrine have, within a
tew years, been introduced and extensively promulgated, by means of tracts,
through the periodical press, and from the pulpit; and whereas it is important, for
the preservation of the peace and purity of the Church, that such errors, if exist
ing, should be met, and as far as practicable removed, by the action of this Con
vention :

" Be it therefore Resolved, If the House of Bishops concur, That it is desirable
to prepare and promulgate a clear and distinct expression of the opinions enter
tained by this Convention respecting the Rule of Faith ; the Justification of Man ;
the nature, design, and efficacy of the Sacraments, and such other matters as, in
view of the foregoing circumstances, may be deemed expedient by the House of
Bishops.

" Be it further Resolved, That it is desirable that such expression of opinion
should originate in the House of Bishops, and receive the concurrent action of this
House, and that the House of Bishops be requested to take action accordingly."

The following was offered as an amendment to the above resolutions :

" Whereas, differences of opinion on subjects deemed of grave importance exist
among the members of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States ; and
whereas it is believed that there is common ground upon which those thus differ
ing may meet in harmony and love, as members of our bi anch of the One Holy,
Catholic, and Apostolic Church :

" Therefore, Resolved, That the House of Bishops be respectfully requested to
make a subject of their godly counsel and advice, in their Pastoral Letter, the great
principles which distinguish the Protestant Episcopal Church, on the one hand,
from the corruptions of Rome ; and on the other, from the other errors of secta
rianism."

Pending the discussion on the above resolutions and amendment, the House
adjourned.

SEVENTH DAY S SESSION, OCTOBER 9.

On motion, The House resumed the consideration of the resolutions and
amendment, relating to the supposed introduction of errors of doctrine in the
Church, and their promulgation by means of tracts, etc.

The following amendment to the amendment was offered :
" Whereas, tho minds of many of the members of this Church throughout its
union are sorely grieved and perplexed, by the alleged introduction among them
of serious errors in doctrine and practice, having their origin in certain writings,
emanating chiefly from members of the University of Oxford in England ; and
whereas, it is exceedingly desirable that the minds of such persons should be
calmed, their anxieties allayed, and the Church disabused of the charge of holding,
in her Articles and Offices, doctrines and practices consistent with all the views

\and opinions expressed in said Oxford writings, and should thus be freed from a
responsibility which does not properly belong to her : Therefore,

" Resolved, That the House of Bishops be respectfully requested to communi
cate with this House on this subject, and to take such order thereon as the nature
and magnitude of the evil alluded to may seem to them to require."

The discussion of the said resolutions and amendments being suspended

The House adjourned.

EIGHTH DAY S SESSION, OCTOBER 10.

On motion, The House resumed the consideration of the resolutions and
amendments, relating to the supposed introduction of errors of doctrine in the
Church, and their promulgation by means of tracts, etc.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE "OXFORD MOVEMENT." 275

Whereupon the following resolution was offered :

"Resolved, That this House will proceed at 12 o clock M. this day, without
further debate, to take the question by yeas and nays on the resolutions submitted,
in relation to the differences of opinion existing in the Church, and on the several
amendments proposed thereto. 1

To which resolution the following amendment was offered :

" Resolved, That the consideration of the said resolutions and amendments be
postponed, and made the special order of the day for to-morrow, at half-past 12 P.M."

On motion, Ordered, That the said resolution and amendment be laid on the
table.

The discussion of the said resolutions and amendments being suspended

The House adjourned.

THIRTEENTH DAY S SESSION, OCTOBER 16.

On motion, Ordered, That the special order of the day be suspended to take
up the consideration of the resolutions and amendments, relating to the supposed
introduction of errors of doctrine in the Church, and their promulgation by means
of tracts, etc,

The following substitute for the said resolutions and amendments was offered :

" Resolved, That the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies consider the Liturgy,
Offices and Articles of the Church sufficient exponents of her sense of the essential
doctrines of Holy Scripture ; and that the Canons of the Church afford ample means
of discipline and correction for all who depart from her standards ; and, further,
that the General Convention is not a suitable tribunal for the trial and censure of,
and that the Church is not responsible for, the errors of individuals, whether they
are members of this Church or otherwise."

Whereupon, the following resolution was offered :

"Resolved, That the whole subject under discussion, and the various amend
ments and substitute, be referred to a select committee of five, with instructions to
report thereon immediately."

The President put the question on agreeing to the above resolution, and it was
decided in the negative.

The consideration of the proposed substitute being suspended,

On motion, Ordered, That when this House adjourns, it adjourns to meet
at 7 P.M.

The House adjourned.

THIRTEENTH DAY S SESSION.

7 o clock P.M.

On motion, the House resumed the consideration of the substitute offered this
morning.

On motion, Ordered, That unless the question on the substitute be taken
earlier, it shall be taken without further debate at half-past nine o clock.

The hour named having arrived, the President put the question on agreeing
to the said substitute, and it was decided in the negative.

On the demand of the clerical and lay representation from Ohio, the vote of
each Order was taken by dioceses, as follows :

Clergy. Twenty-seven dioceses represented. For the affirmative, 15. For
the negative, 8. Divided, 4.

Laity. Twenty-three dioceses represented. For the affirmative, 11. For
the negative, 9. Divided, 3.

The question was then taken on the following amendment, offered on the 9th
.instant :

"Whereas, The minds of many of the members of this Church throughout its
union are sorely grieved and perplexed, by the alleged introduction among them
of serious errors in doctrine and practice, having their origin in certain writings
emanating chiefly from members of the University of Oxford in England ; and
whereas, it is exceedingly desirable that the minds of such persons should be
calmed, their anxieties allayed, and the Church disabused of the charge of holding
in her Articles and Offices doctrines and practices consistent with all the views
and opinions expressed in said Oxford writings, and should thus be freed from a
responsibility which does not properly belong to her : Therefore,

276 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

The President put the question on agreeing to the said amendment, and it
was decided in the negative.

On the demand of the clerical and lay representation from Maryland, the vote
of each Order was taken by dioceses, as follows :

Clergy. Twenty-seven dioceses represented. For the affirmative, 8. For
the negative, 15. Divided, 4.

Laity. Twenty-three dioceses represented. For the affirmative, 11. For
the negative, 11. Divided, 1.

The amendment offered on the 7th instant was thereupon withdrawn by the
mover.

On motion, Resolved^ That the House do reconsider the substitute offered this
morning.

A division of the said substitute was then requested, and the question was
taken on the first clause of the said substitute, as follows :

" Resolved, That the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies consider the Liturgy,
Offices, and Articles of the Church sufficient exponents of her sense of the essential
doctrines of Holy Scripture ; and that the Canons of the Church afford ample
means of discipline and correction for all who depart from her standards."

The President put the question on agreeing to the above clause, and it was
decided in the affirmative.

The question was then taken on the last clause of the said substitute, as
follows :

" And further, that the General Convention is not a suitable tribunal for the
trial and censure of, and that the Church is not responsible for, the errors of indi
viduals, whether they are members of this Church or otherwise."

The President put the question on agreeing to the said clause, and it was
decided in the affirmative.

On the demand of the clerical and lay representation from Ohio, the vote of
each Order was taken by dioceses, as follows :

Clergy. Twenty-seven dioceses represented. For the affirmative, 25. For
the negative, 2.

Laity. Twenty-two dioceses represented. For the affirmative, 18. For
the negative, 3. Divided, 1.

Ihe House adjourned.

CHAPTEE XYIL

TROUBLES IN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK, AND NEW

JERSEY.

r~P!HE choice of an assistant and successor to the first Bishop of
I Pennsylvania, the venerable White, had been accomplished after
a violent contest, and the result was most distasteful to the large
and active minority. It was, therefore, not without intense interest
and excitement that, prior to the session of the General Convention of
1844, the Bishop of Pennsylvania was charged with habits of intem
perance, and preparations were made for bringing him to trial before
his peers. The accusation was not without foundation, for the use of
stimulants, first resorted to for the purpose of allaying severe bodily
pain, had grown beyond due measure, and had given occasion to the
enemies of the Church to blaspheme. The bishop, when confronted
by his accusers, confessed his guilt, and asked the sentence of his
brethren. That sentence was not withheld. It is appended to this
chapter as a part of the history of the times, premising that if un
feigned sorrow for the sin, and a humble submission to the sentence
of the Church, through a long term of years, coupled with a penitent
and trustful death, could blot out this painful story as fully as they
secured in after years the remission of the penalty thus enjoined, we
might omit all reference to so sad an evidence of human frailty.

Meekly receiving the sentence of his peers, which an eminent
churchman and jurist, the late Horace Binney, LL.D. , pronounced un
just, uncanonical, and illegal, Bishop H. U. Onderdonk at once and for
ever gave up the use of intoxicating drinks, and his subsequent life was
that of a humble and consistent follower of Christ. The application
made in 1847 for the remission of his sentence of suspension was renewed
in 1850, in 1853, and again in 1856. At last the wish and will of the
Church was made too evident to be overlooked. Testimonials bear
ing witness to the holy living of the bishop, and memorials attesting
the universal desire for his restoration, were signed by the repre
sentatives of "all parties" in the Church, and even "by those that
are without." The wise and godly Bishop of Pennsylvania, who had
succeeded to the place thus made vacant, advocated this measure of
tardy relief, and finally the remission of the suspension was carried
by the bishops in council, and afterwards entered on the journal of
the House as follows :

To all the members of the Holy Catholic and Reformed Church of Christ,
throughout the world :

Grace, mercy, and peace, in Jesus Christ our Lord. We, the Bishops of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, having duly con-

278

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

sidered the application of Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Doctor of Divinity, and Bishop
of the said Church, to be relieved from the sentence of suspension, passed upon
him by the House of Bishops, assembled in General Convention, at Philadelphia,
October 21st, in the year of our Lord 1844, and being satisfied by the evidence laid
before us, that he has led, during the twelve years which have elapsed since the
said sentence was pronounced, a sober, godly, and blameless life, and that the
general mind of the Church, so far as it could be ascertained from the memorials
addressed to us by a large number of the clerical and lay deputies of the General

Convention, now in ses
sion, and others, earn
estly desires that the
saitt sentence should be
remitted in accordance
with the said applica
tion ; have therefore de
creed, in pursuance of
our Canonical power
and disci etion, as fol
lows, viz. : That the said
Henry Ustick Onder
donk, Doctor of Divini
ty, and Bishop as afore
said, be relieved from
the said sentence of sus
pension, and that he
stand before the Church
restored to his proper
functions in the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Chi ist,
according to the Canons,
with full power and
liberty to exercise the
same.

In witness where
of, we have hereunto set
our hands, in General
Convention, at the
Church of St. Luke, in
the city of Philadelphia,
RT. KEV. H. y. ONDERDONK, BISHOP OF this 21 st day of October,

PENNSYLVANIA. A.D. 1856.

Signed by Bishops
Hopkins, Otey, Kemper,

McCoskry, Polk, De Lancey, Whittingham, Elliott, Lee, Cobbs, Hawks, Freeman,
A. Potter, Upfold, Williams, Atkinson, Scott, Lee, H. Potter, and Clark.

The relief came none too soon. On the 6th of December, 1858,
Bishop Henry Ustick Onderdonk " fell asleep."

The profound impression made by^such an event as the suspension
of the Bishop of Pennsylvania was deepened by the circulation of
reports affecting the character of the Bishop of New York. A change
in the Church s legislation had been effected at the late Convention,
giving to any three bishops the power to present a brother for trial,
which had hitherto been confined to the diocesan Convention. It is
evident, however, from the history of the adoption of this canon that
it was not enacted with any view to the case so soon to arise under its
provisions. It had been the purpose of the bishop s opponents to assail
his position as professor of the General Theological Seminary. The new
canon rendered this circumlocution unnecessary. Three bishops pro-

TROUBLES IN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK, AND NEW JERSEY. 279

ceeded from the Convention in Philadelphia to New York with a view
of exercising their newly acquired rights. The charges and evidence
which had been prepared in the event of the impeachment of the
bishop in his professorial capacity, as connected with the general
seminary, were made the basis of a formal presentment to the presid
ing bishop. The charges alleged acts of impurity. In the carefully
chosen words of the biographer of the Bishop of Maryland, " Each of
the articles of the presentment, varying as to the circumstances,
alleged one act indicating impurity common to them all ; the earliest
instance having occurred seven, the latest two, years before the charge
was made. Of the affidavits it is remarkable that in one the deponent
swore positively to facts which the statement itself shows could not
have been known to the testifier ; another, the evidence of a doctor
of divinity, was flatly contradicted by the person to whom the
assertion was attributed, and where direct testimony could have been
readily reached by the presenters. While of a third, also made on
hearsay, the one fact which could admit of no explanation save impure
motive which, having been detailed to friends during seven years,
had probably more than anything else caused the evil report charged
in the presentment had no other foundation than a misconception
by the deponent of what had been told him." On the 9th of Novem
ber the presentment was formally made, and the trial began on the
10th of December, 1844, and continued until the 3d of the following
month.

Six of the seventeen bishops composing the court found the re
spondent not guilty of any of the charges brought against him. But
the judgment of the majority was otherwise, and by the suffrages of
eleven of his brethren the Bishop of New York was adjudged guilty.
With a view of preventing the award of the extreme penalty of deposi
tion, those members of the court who believed in Bishop Onderdonk s
innocence were compelled to unite with those whose vote was for
suspension. The condemned bishop protested before the world his
innocence of the offences charged, and published a "Statement of
Facts and Circumstances" in regard to his trial. He never acknowl
edged his guilt. A petition to the House of Bishops, in 1847, asking
for the removal of the sentence was at once rejected. The "Prayer
of the Diocese of New York for relief from sufferings consequent upon
the sentence of the Episcopal Court " was presented at the session of
the General Convention of 1850 ; but this and every subsequent effort
for the bishop s restoration failed. The election of a "provisional
bishop" was authorized, for though its episcopal head was suffering
under a sentence of "indefinite suspension," the See of New York was
not vacant. The Rev. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, D.D., was
elected to this "provisional" episcopate. The bishop, still protest
ing his innocence, died in 18(31. His last days, though saddened
by the cloud hanging over him, were blameless. There were those
who felt that the prosecution of the Bishop of New York was rather a
persecution growing out of divisions in his diocese, and it is a ques
tion if the bishop had not been obnoxious, because of his ecclesiastical
position, whether the individual grievance that formed the basis of

2bO

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the presentment would have been brought before the world. The
Bishop of Vermont, who certainly sympathized with the views held
by Bishop Onderdonk during the later years of his life, never changed
his opinion as to the bishop s guilt ; but in the words of one to whom
we have already referred as a calm and dispassionate writer, the
biographer of Bishop Whittingham, " it is a fact that a scrutiny of
the votes of the court which sentenced this unhappy man shows that
they who found him guilty all differed from him on the theological
questions which then agitated the Church, and some of them had im
peached him before
the world as a bring-
er-in of heresy, and
had wished to have
him brought to trial
before the House of
Bishops for an Epis
copal act which they
condemned . " l This
assertion may be
true, and yet the
further assertion,
which we do not
hesitate to make,
that the desire of
presenting b e f o r e
the world a standard
of unimpeachable
personal purity in a
bishop, was a far
more moving cause
in procuring the un
favorable judgment
the court in this
pitiful case than any
possibility of party
triumph or personal
revenge. The great body of the people of the diocese of New York
persistently maintained their bishop s innocence, in which opinion
some of the best and wisest of the bishops of the American Church
concurred. It is a source of consolation that the condemned bishop
could say, in the face of death, "Of the crimes of which I have been
accused, and for which I have been condemned, my conscience acquits
me in the sight of God."

There followed at no long interval the various efforts to bring to
trial the Bishop of Ne w Jersey . In the attempt to found two educational
institutions, the one, Burlington College for the sons, and the other,
St. Mary s, for the daughters, of the Church, Bishop Doane had found
himself financially embarrassed and forced into bankruptcy. He was

1 Dr. Brand, in his " Life of Bishop Whittingham," n., p. 355.

RT. REV. G. W. DOANE, D.D., LL.D., BISHOP
OF NEW JERSEY.

TROUBLES IN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK, AND NEW JERSEY. 281

doubtless lacking in that business exactitude that is the result of a
mercantile training ; but no doubt of his integrity was entertained by
those to whom he was directly responsible, and to whom his business
transactions were fully known. There were those who choose to re
gard his misfortunes in an unfavorable light, and in the diocesan Con
vention of 1849 a resolution proposing an investigation was introduced.
After a full discussion the proposition was unanimously rejected, tho
mover himself failing to support his motion by his vote. It was not
until 1852 that the investigation refused in New Jersey was attempted
from without. In a communication addressed to Bishop Doane, the
Bishops of Virginia, Dr. Meade ; Ohio, Dr. Mcllvaine ; and Maine, Dr.
Burgess, proposed, with reference to certain rumors and allegations
brought to their notice, "that action should first take place in the Dio
cesan Convention," adding that " it was only when a Diocesan Conven
tion refused to institute inquiry, or neglected to do it for too long a
period, or performed this duty unfaithfully," that the alternative pro
vided by the canon the presentment by three bishops should be
resorted to. Their letter counselling this investigation was based on
a communication from four laymen of the diocese of New Jersey,
vestry-men of their respective churches, who, under date of August,
1851, had united in a request to these three bishops that proceedings
should be instituted in view of current reports injuriously affecting the
reputation of the Bishop of New Jersey. The letter of the three
bishops proceeded to specify their views with reference to the calling
of a special Convention, and to the character of the committee of in
vestigation they deemed it wise to appoint. To this action of the three
bishops the Bishop of New Jersey promptly replied in his " Protest,
Appeal and Reply," denying the right of these bishops, or any bishop,
thus to interfere in the affairs of an independent diocese. But still a
special Convention was called, Its action pronounced the course of
the three bishops unwarrantable, and declared inquiry into the reports
and charges unnecessary. A presentment with specifications chiefly re
lating to matters of a pecuniary nature was then formally made, and the
trial appointed for the 24th of June, 1852. On the 14th of July the
Convention of New Jersey, after inquiry and the taking of evidence, fully
exonerated their bishop from any charge of crime or immorality which
had been made against him. In view of the jubilee celebration of the
venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,
to which a delegation of our American bishops had been invited,
the presiding bishop had postponed the time of the trial to Octo
ber 7. This being deemed unauthorized, a new presentment was
deemed necessary, and was prepared with slight changes and addi
tions, and the court assembled on the 7th of October. The Bishop
and Convention of New Jersey resisted further proceedings on the
ground that the bulk of the charges had already been investigated, and
that as soon as a Convention could be canonically convened they were
ready to examine into the truth of the remainder. Thirteen bishops,
the Bishop of Vermont presiding, constituted the court, and the de
cision, by a vote of seven to six, was, that the court was not called
upon to proceed further, because " previous to the making of the Pre-

282 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

sentment now before the court, the Convention of New Jersey hud in
vestigated most of the matters contained therein, and had determined
that there was no ground for presentment," and that the pledge of the
Convention to a further investigation of the few added .specifications
might be relied on. Bishop Doane had in his masterly management of
his o\vii case redeemed his pledge that he would "make the trial of a
bishop hard." It was not long after this failure to bring the bishop to
trial that a new and third presentment was prepared, at the request, it
was claimed, of one hundred and thirty communicants of the Church in
New Jersey. On the 1st of September, 1853, twenty-one bishops
assembled at Camden for the consideration of this new attempt of the
presenters to bring the Bishop of New Jersey to trial. Day after day
was spent in the discussion of the legal points raised in connection
with the presentment, and at length, at the close of the eleventh day, a
committee was appointed to consider if some arrangement could not be
effected mutually satisfactory, without going into a trial. To this com
mittee the acknowledgment of " such error as his conscience accused
him of" was freely made by Bishop Doane, and although the presenters
declined to be satisfied with " any such acknowledgment of error as
the respondent would be willing to make," the committee unanimously
reported in favor of dismissing the presentment and discharging the
respondent without further delay. In this recommendation the court
unanimously concurred, and Bishop Doane, "thrice presented and
twice brought before a court of his peers, went forth uncensured to the
amount of the slightest admonition." l It was further declared, ere the
court adjourned, that it believed that the presenters had " acted in good
faith " and " in a desire and determination to carry out the law of the
Church made and provided, in the painful duty which they felt them
selves called upon to perform." Bishop Doane had for himself and for
all time made "the trial of a Bishop hard."

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

ACTION OF THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS IN THE CASE OF THE BISHOP OF

PENNSYLVANIA.

rpHE committee* appointed upon the resignation of the Rt. Rev. H. U. Onder-
JL donk, recommend the adoption of the following resolution :

" Whereas, the Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onclerdonk, D.P., Bishop of the
Diocese of Pennsylvania, has made known in writing to the House of Bishops his
desire to resign his jurisdiction of the said diocese, with the reasons moving him
thereto, and has tendered to this House his resignation of the said diocese ; and
whereas the House of Bishops, having made investigation of the said reasons, and
of the facts and circumstances of the case, deem it expedient to accept the said
resignation :

"Therefore, Resolved, That the House of Bishops accept the resignation of
the Episcopal Jurisdiction of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, made by the Right

J The Life of Bishop Hopkins, p. 264.

2 Consisting of Bishops Chase (President), Brownell, Meade, Ives, and Hopkins.

TROUBLES IN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK, AND NEW JERSEY. 283

Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., and hereby declare, that from and after
this twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun
dred and forty-four, he is no longer Bishop of the said diocese.

"And further, Resolved, That the foregoing resolution be duly recorded on the
Journal of this House ; and that information of the same be communicated to the
House of Clerical and Lay Deputies."

The documents connected with the case of the Right Reverend Henry Ustick
Onderdonk, D.D., having been called up, the following preamble and resolution
were proposed, considered and adopted :

" Whereas, this House has heard with pain and sorrow of heart the communi
cation addressed to it by the Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., in
which he acknowledges the habitual use of spirituous liquor as a remedy for dis
ease, to a degree which has been the occasion of unfavorable imputations upon the
Church, and brought upon him an evil report among men :

" And whereas, this House as well by the tenor of the communications of the
said Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., as by the investigation of the
facts and circumstances of his case, which have now been, made, is well assured
that the usefulness of the said Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., in
the office and work of the ministry, has ceased, and that the reproach and injury
which he has been the means of bringing upon the Church of Christ require the
administration of discipline in the premises :

"And whereas, the said Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., has
requested of this House such an act of discipline as in the judgment of the said
House is proper,

"Therefore, Resolved, That the Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk,
D.D., having made to this House a written acknowledgment of his unworthiness,
this House does now determine that he be suspended from his office, and that the
Presiding Bishop, in the presence of this House, shall pronounce the following
Sentence, viz. :

" Sentence. The Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Doctor in Divinity,
having acknowledged himself the cause of reproach and injury to the Church, and
having submitted himself to the judgment of the House of Bishops, in General Con
vention assembled ; the said House does hereby adjudge that the said Henry Ustick
Onderdonk, Doctor in Divinity, be suspended from all public exercise of the offices
and functions of the sacred ministry, and in particular from all exercise whatso
ever of the office and work of a Bishop, in the Church of God ; and does accord
ingly so suspend the said Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Doctor in Divinity, and de
clare him suspended, from and after this twenty-first day of October, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, from all public exercise
of the office and functions of the sacred ministry, and from all exercise whatso
ever of the office and work of a Bishop, in the Church of God; in the Name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

The Presiding Bishop then, in the presence of the Bishops, pronounced the
above sentence.

On motion of Bishop De Lancey, seconded by Bishop Whittingham :

" Resolved, That the documents connected with the case of the Right Rever
end Henry Ustick Onderdonk, D.D., be placed on file."

CHAPTER XVIII.

DEFECTIONS AND ACCESSIONS : LOSS AND GAIN.

N a letter written at Rome on the 22d of December, 1852, the
Bishop of North Carolina addressed the following language to
his diocese :

DEAU BRETHREN: Some of you, at least, are aware that for years doubts
of the validity of my office as Bishop have at times harassed my mind and greatly
enfeebled my action. At other times, it is true, circumstances have arisen to over
rule these doubts, and to bring to my mind temporary relief. But it has been only
temporary ; for, in spite of resolutions to abandon the reading and the use of Catholic
books ; in spite of earnest prayers and entreaties that God would protect my mind
against the distressing influence of Catholic truth ; and in spite of public and pri
vate professions and declarations, which in times of suspended doubt I sincerely
made to shield myself from suspicion and win back the confidence of my diocese,
which had been well-nigh lost, in spite of all this, and of many other considera
tions which would rise up before me, as the necessary consequence of suffering
ray mind to be carried forward in the direction in which my doubts pointed, these
doubts would ag ain return with increased and almost overwhelming rigor, goading
me at times to the very borders of derangement.

Under these doubts I derived temporary relief from duties that had become
so disquieting to me . . . in a short absence abroad. But absence has
brought no relief to my mind. Indeed, the doubts that disturbed it have
grown into clear and settled convictions, so clear and settled that, without a viola
tion of conscience and honor, and every obligation of duty to God and his
Church, I can no longer remain in my position.

I am called upon, therefore, to do an act of self-sacrifice, in view of which
all other sacrificing acts of my life are less than nothing ; called upon to sever the
ties which have been strengthened by long years of love and forbearance, which have-
bound my heart to many of you, as was David s to that of Jonathan, and make
my heart bleed as my hand traces the sentence which separates all pastoral relation
between us, and conveys to you the knowledge that 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

L. SILLIMAN IVES.

To trace the history of the defection of one who for a score of
years had been at the head of an important diocese; who was allied
by marriage to the great-hearted Hobart ; and who, at the time of his
apostasy, was the oldest American bishop save two, is a necessary part
of the church annals.

Bishop Ives was the child of Presbyterian parents, and entered
.Hamilton College with a view of preparation for the Presbyterian
ministry. Leaving college at the close of his junior year, he soon
distinguished himself as a promoter of " revival " measures, and quite
suddenly became a convert to the Church. Ordered deacon by Bishop
Hobart, whose daughter he married, and admitted to the priesthood
by Bishop White, he served successively in New York and Pennsyl
vania, and was Rector of St. Luke s, in the city of New York, when, on

DEFECTIONS AND ACCESSIONS: LOSS AND GAIN. 285

the death of Bishop Ravenscroft, he was elected to the episcopate of
North Carolina. In his parochial work he was distinguished for
great zeal and earnestness, and his preaching was productive of
marked results.

Consecrated to the episcopate in Philadelphia, September 22,
1831, by Bishop White, assisted by the Brothers H. U. and B. T. On-
derdonk, he entered at once upon his arduous work. For sixteen or
seventeen years the Bishop of North Carolina labored assiduously for
the upbuilding and extension of the Church, the increase of a native
ministry, and the promotion of a sound Christian and churchly educa
tion. But previous to the session of the Convention, at Salisbury, in
1849, the harmony which had hitherto prevailed in the councils of the
Church was broken. The Committee on the State of the Church, of
which the Rev. Dr. Mason, the senior presbyter of the diocese, was
chairman, reported as follows :

While the Committee find such cause of thankfulness to God for these mani
festations of the Church s increase, they deplore the existence among its members
of great agitation and alarm arising from the impression that doctrines have been
preached not in accordance with the Liturgy and Articles of this Church, and that
ceremonies and practices have been introduced either unauthorized by the customs
of this Church, or in plain violation of its rubrics. . . . Another cause of alarm,
as the committee believe, has been found in the supposition that a society has
existed in this diocese whose character, rules, and practices are at variance with the
spirit, if not with the laws, of this Church. The committee have assurances, on
which they entirely rely, that no such society is at present in existence in this
diocese.

Immediately following the reading of this report the bishop
delivered a "charge," in which he pledged himself "that no effort
shall be wanting on his part, so long as God may give him jurisdiction
in North Carolina, to hinder the inculcation of any doctrine, or the
introduction of any practice, come from whatever quarter it may, not
in strict accordance with the liturgy of our Church, as illustrated and
defined by those standards of interpretation authorized by the Church
itself."

The " charge " proceeded :

In respect to a particular question, which has agitated the diocese of late, the
question of Auricular Confession, I may here express my conviction that the Book
of Common Prayer, our standard of Doctrine, Discipline and Worship, does not
authorize any clergyman of the Church to teach or enforce such confession as
necessary to salvation, and that the only confession which it authorizes, is the
voluntary confession of the penitent, in accordance with the exhortation in the office;
for the Holy Communion.

These reassuring utterances were received by the Convention with
the greatest satisfaction. Nothing stronger in its denial of Rome ward
tendencies could have been asked. The bishop s language covered
the whole ground. It was complete and unequivocal. The Conven
tion responded by a series of resolutions emphatically approving the
bishop s charge, and ordered its immediate publication and distribution
throughout the diocese.

286

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Immediately on the rising of the Convention the bishop proceeded
to Valle Crucis, the sent of the religious house which had been occu
pied by the society to which reference had been made by the Commit
tee on the State of the Church, and the dissolution of which they had
been confidently assured had already taken place. From this spot
the bishop dated and sent forth a " Pastoral Letter " on the 8th of
August, 1849. In this remarkable document the bishop apologizes
for the "charge" he had but just delivered, and avowed his sanction

of practices and his
belief in doctrines
directly opposite to
his voluntary profes
sions at Salisbury.
The appearance of
such a pastoral from
a bishop of the
American Church
occasioned the most
profound surprise.
The Rev. Dr. Mason
at once met and re
pelled the bishop s
assertion, that the
distrust and alarm
now universal were
or had been the work
of "a few alarmists."
He adduced abun
dant proof of the
Romish tendency
and teachings of the
"Manual of Devo
tions," used at Valle
Crucis, and boldly
repelled the charge,
that in controvert
ing these practices and professions the members of the Convention
or himself were " resisting the authority of Christ and the functions
of the Holy Ghost," or violating their "solemn vows of fidelity and
submission." The doctrinal unsoundness of the bishop s views on
auricular confession and absolution was at once demonstrated by the
learned Rev. Samuel Farmar Jarvis, in his "Voice from Connecticut."
Other and able pamphlets appeared from the Rev. Dr. Hawks and the
Rev. Messrs. Hanson and Hobart. Two of the laity of the Church
entered the lists with contributions of great value.

As another Convention drew near, the bishop sought to regain
the confidence of his clergy by consulting with them in convocation
previous to the opening of the session. At their request for a full
and unequivocal disclaimer of Romish error he inserted in his address
the following words :

RT. REV. L. SILLIMAN IVES, BISHOP OF
NORTH CAROLINA.

DEFECTIONS AND ACCESSIONS; LOSS AND GAIN. 287

" I neither teach nor hold, as some have thought, private auricu
lar confession and absolution in the Romish sense. . . I teach and
hold that our Church regards it needful that each communicant should
so search and examine his conscience according to the rule of God s
commandments as to be able to confess all heinous offences, in
will, word and deed, to Almighty God ; and that if he cannot by this
means quiet his conscience and come to the Holy Communion with
a full trust in God s mercy, he shall open his grief to some minister
of God s word, that he may obtain his counsel and aid, to the re
moving of all scruple and doubtfulness.

"In regard to Christ s real presence in the Holy Eucharist, I
neither teach nor hold it, in the sense of transubstantiation ; neither
do I teach nor hold, as I do not understand, how Christ is there
present, further than that He is not there in a material, but
spiritual manner, but because spiritual not the less real. . . I
do not teach or hold that our Church allows any addresses by way of
prayer or invocation to the blessed Virgin, or to any saint or angel ;
while I regard the Romish doctrine of invocation to saints, implying
meritorious mediation and condemned by Article XXXII. , as clearly
derogatory to Christ and opposed to God s word.

" Finally, I do not teach nor hold that our branch of the Catho
lic Church is from any cause either in heresy or sclfism, or that she is
destitute of the true sacramental system."

The Convention was not satisfied, and a committee of investigation
was appointed. The investigation, however, was delayed till the
General Convention of 1850 had passed. At this session the present
ment of Bishop Ives was seriously contemplated ; but his shattered
constitution and his evident physical and mental feebleness served to
incline men to pity, while his readiness to repudiate everything like
Romanism could not fail to allay apprehension.

The North Carolina Convention of 1851 met at Fayetteville.
The investigating committee presented their report with abundant
evidence in support of their allegations ; whereupon the whole mat
ter was referred to a committee of twelve, before whom the bishop
volunteered the following remarkable statement :

The bishop said to the committee that it might be considered humiliating in
him to offer to the committee the statement he was now about to make, but a sense
of duty, both to himself and to the Church, compelled him to do so. That it had been
at one time a very favorite idea with him to bring about a union of the Roman, the
Greek, the Anglican and the American Churches ; and that in his zeal for Catholic
union, he had overlooked the difficulties in the way, which he was now satisfied
were insuperable. That this tendency of his mind towards a union of the Churches
had been greatly increased, and his ability to perceive the difficulties had been
diminished by a high state of nervous excitement, arising either from bodily
disease or constitutional infirmity. That in the pursuit of his favorite idea he had
been insensibly led into the adoption of opinions on matters of doctrine, and to a
public teaching of them, of the impropriety of which he was now fully satisfied,
and upon a review of these opinions wonders that he should ever have entertained
them. That this change in his views has been brought about in part by a return to
a more healthy condition of mind and body, but mainly from having perceived the
tendency of those doctrines to the Church of Rome, as sad experience has shown
in the case of Archdeacon Manning and others. That among the effects of his
desire to bring about this union of the Churches, he was induced to tolerate the

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Romish notion of the Invocation of Saints, as expressed in his letter to the Rev.
C. F. McRae, which expressions he now retracts and would denounce as strongly
as any one. That on the subject of Auricular Confession and Absolution, whatever
extravagances of opinion or expression he may have hitherto indulged, he now
holds that confession to a priest is not necessary to salvation ; and that he does not
believe in judicial absolution, or the power of the priest to forgive sins. Nor docs
he hold that the absolution recognized by the Protestant Episcopal Church is
merely declaratory, but that the priest is therein an instrument through whom
pardon is transmitted to the penitent, while its efficacy does not .in any degree
depend upon the volition or intention of the priest. That absolution is not essen
tially necessary to the forgiveness of sins, but that it is important when practicable
to obtain public absolution, as contained in the ritual of our Church, which is the
only absolution that he holds proper, except in those cases in which that is impracti
cable. That he had at one time, under the influences before mentioned, entertained
doubts whether our branch of the Church was not in a state of schism. That he
had never gone so far as to believe that it was, but merely entertained doubts. He
was now satisfied beyond a doubt that she was not in schism. That he had never
held the doctrine of the real presence in the Holy Communion as synonymous with
transubstantiation ; but, on the contrary, had always abhorred it. He admitted that
on a review of some of his writings he had become satisfied that he had exposed
himself to misconstruction by the use of the term Real Presence, which was in
the Romish Church synonymous with transubstantiation, but in the use of the term
Real Presence he had in his mind only the spiritual presence of Christ. That the
term Spiritual Presence was the only one proper to be used, as the general expres
sion Real Presence was, in the present state of the Christian world, liable to be
understood as asserting Christ s bodily presence in the Eucharist, being used by
the Romish Church to express its idea of transubstantiation. And that the spiritual
presence of Christ in the Eucharist is all that our Church teaches, and would recom
mend the use of that expression instead of real presence.

" The above is correct. L. S. IVES."

With regard to the publication of the tract called " The Voice of the Anglican
Church," the Bishop says he had nothing to do with its compilation, but learning,
while in New York, that such a compilation had been made by two clergymen in
whom he had entire confidence, he determined, without verifying the quotations, to
have it published as an appendix to his volume of Sermons. But that when he had
ascertained its true character, he immediately countermanded its publication, and
now regrets ever having anything to do with it.

With regard to the order of the Holy Cross the Bishop states that no such
order is now in existence, nor has been since the Salisbury Convention. That from
his experience of the result, upon the minds of the young men, he is satisfied that
no vows, besides those expressly required or allowed by our ritual, ought to be
taken in our Church ; and furthermore that any vows beyond these are contrary to
the spirit of our Church; and a temptation and snare to those who take them.
And that Valle Crucis is now only a Mission Station.

The committee would further state that in addition to Dr. Page s letter, they
have before them statements tending to show that the Bishop has for several years
past been in a state of great mental excitement, which has impaired his memory and
rendered quite uncertain the determinations of his judgment. An oral statement
quite in detail, but which the Committee have not had time to reduce to writing,
was also made by Josiah Collins, Esq., to show that the Bishop s mind has been for
several years past, from an attack of fever, singularly affected, so as to impair his
judgment and enfeeble his memory, while other powers of his mind have been
rather exalted, a state of mind well calculated to mislead its subject, and at the
same time to expose him to gross misconception on the part of others.

Full and unequivocal as this "statement" was, it was received
with incredulity by those who had listened to recantations and retrac
tions from the same source too often to be easily satisfied. But the
more charitable spirit at length prevailed. Resolutions expressive of
a want of confidence and the wish of the diocese for the resignation of
their father in God were first modified and then withdrawn. The

DEFECTIONS AND ACCESSIONS: LOSS AND GAIN. 289

solemn service of an intervening Sunday, and the deepening impression
made by the bishop s recantation, inspired the members of the Conven
tion to forget the past, and in a spirit of charity and forbearance to
trust the bishop once more. Invited to meet with the Convention and
conduct the services at its close, the bishop made a brief but impres
sive address. He expressed his thankfulness to the Convention for
checking him in his course, and expressed his conviction "that those
who had opposed him, were honest, sincere, and faithful men, true to
the Church." He asked that he in turn might be regarded as sincere
in what he had done. He assured his hearers that "the Church might
rely upon his increased devotion to her service," and claimed that he
had long been desirous of making this free and just avowal.

It was to a diocesan Convention that the bishop addressed these
words. At the opening of the session he had in his address plainly
avowed his " conscientious conviction that our branch of the Church,
sty led the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, and
standing upon the same firm basis with the mother-Church of England,
belongs to that portion of Christ s body which is the most scriptural,
primitive, and truly catholic in its character ; and that no one em
braced by holy baptism within its pale can depart from it without the
grievous sin of doing despite to the Holy Ghost."

At the next Convention, in May, 1852, the bishop in his address
urged upon the clergy and laity the need and importance of "a thor
ough knowledge of, and simple adherence to, the teaching of the Book
of Common Prayer. There was no allusion to any change of views
Romeward ; no reference to any inward dissatisfaction or unrest.
But four months had elapsed when he announced his purpose of taking
a vacation of six months, in view of the state of health of Mrs. Ives
and himself, and, having drawn his salary up to the first of January the
following year, he sailed for Rome, where, on the 22d of December he
addressed to his diocese the letter of resignation of the episcopal office
and abandonment of the Church. He had been careful " to leave in
the hands of Archbishop Hughes his abjuration of the faith, lest the
ocean should chance to bury the story of his shame."

The remainder of this sad story of apostasy can be briefly
told. At the following session of the General Convention the
abandonment of our communion on the part of the Bishop of North
Carolina received its fitting notice, and, under a special canon, the
excision of this unworthy prelate was pronounced with due formality
by the presiding bishop, sitting in his chair, in the presence of both
Houses, after prayers, and in the following form :

Whereas, Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church
in the United States, in the Diocese of North Carolina, in a communication under
his proper hand, bearing date, "Rome, December twenty-second, one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-two," avowed his purpose to resign his " Office as Bishop
of North Carolina," and further declared that he was " determined to make his
submission to the Catholic " (meaning the Roman) " Church ; "

And whereas, there is before the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church
in the United States, acting under the provision of Canon First of 1853, satisfactory
evidence that the said Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., has publicly renounced the com
munion of the Church, and made liis submission to the Bishop of Rome, as Univer-

290 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

sal Bishop of the Church of God, and Vicar of Christ upon earth, thus acknowl
edging these impious pretensions of that Bishop, thereby violating the vows
solemnly made by him, the said Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., at his consecration as a
Bishop of the Church of God, abandoning that portion of the flock of Christ com
mitted to his oversight, and binding himself under anathema to the antichristian
doctrines and practices imposed by the Council of Trent upon all the Churches of
the Roman Obedience.

Be it therefore known, that on this fourteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, I, Thomas Church Brownell,
D.D., LL.D., by Divine permission, Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut, and
Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, with the
consent of a majority of the members of the House of Bishops, as hereinafter
enumerated, to wit: William Meade, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia;
John Henry Hopkins, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Vermont ; Benjamin Bosworth
Smith, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky; Charles Pettit M Uvaine, D.D.,
D.C.L., Bishop of the Diocese of Ohio; George Washington Doane, D.D., L.L.D.,
Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey; James Hervey Otey, D.D., Bishop of the
Diocese of Tennessee ; Jackson Kemper, D.D., Missionary Bishop of Wisconsin
and the North-west; Samuel Allen M Coskry, D.D., D.C.L., Bishop of the Diocese
of Michigan; William Heathcote De Lancey, D.D., L.L.D., D.C.L., Bishop of the
Diocese of Western New York ; William Rollinson Whitthigharn, D.D., Bishop of the
Diocese of Maryland; Stephen Elliott, Jr., D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia;
Alfred Lee, D.U., Bishop of the Diocese of Delaware; John Johns, D.D., Assistant
Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia ; Mauton Eastburn, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of
Massachusetts; Carlton Chase, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire ;
Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Alabama; Cicero Stephen
Hawks, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Missouri ; George Washington Freeman,
D.D., Missionary Bishop of the South-west; Alonzo Potter, D.D., LL.D., Bishop
of the Diocese of Pennsylvania; George Burgess, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of
Maine; George Upfold, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Indiana; William Mercer
Green, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Mississippi ; Francis Huger llutledge, D.D.,
Bishop of the Diocese of Florida; John Williams, D.D., Assistant Bishop of the
Diocese of Connecticut; Henry John Whitehouse, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of
Illinois; and Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, D.D., D.C.L., Provisional Bishop of
the Diocese of New York, and in the terms of the Canon in such case made and
provided, do pronounce the said Levi Silliman Ives, D.D., ipso facto deposed to all
intents and purposes from the Office of a Bishop in the Church of God, and from
all the lights, privileges, powers, and dignities thereunto pertaining.

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen !

THOMAS CHURCH BROWNELL,
Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut, and Presiding Bishop.

The list of losses by apostasy to Rome from the clergy roll of the
American Church is by no means a long one. Beginning with the
names of the two Barbers, Daniel and Virgil Horace, father and son,
and containing names such as those of John Murray Forbes, who with
others returned to the communion they had left for a time, there are
perhaps fifty priests and deacons who have sought rest and peace in
submission to Rome. But few of these were born in the Church, and
the greater number had entered our communion in adult years. In
few cases have they carried with them any following. They have
gone from us, for they were not of us, and they have "gone to their own
place."

Gains have more than made up such losses. To reckon up the
additions to our ministry " from without r would be to crowd our pages
with the names of more than half of those who have received holy
orders at our bishops hands. Men of learning and years, men honored
in the religious bodies where they have been nurtured and into whose

DEFECTIONS AND ACCESSIONS: LOSS AND GAIN.

291

ministry they had been received, men who have brought with them a
wide following, men representing almost every religious belief in
Christendom, have come to us as the Church of Christ, beginning afresh
their ministry by receiving as the youngest aspirant for orders of our
own, first, the diaconate, and then the priesthood of the Church of
God. With such numbers seeking to minister at our altars, is it a
wonder that some who have come to us have strayed? May we not
with gratitude to the Great Head of the Church offset our losses by
our greater gains ?

CHAPTER XIX.

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION, AND ITS PRACTICAL

RESULTS.

TT^HE General Convention held in the city of New York in 1853

was noticeable from the many evidences it gave of sin awakened

zeal, and a desire for a more earnest and aggressive movement

"for the sake of His Body which is the Church." There had

been growth and
gains in spite of
losses and defec
tions. The excision
of those who had
proved that they
were " not of us " in
their going to their
" own place," had
been followed by a
healthy reaction and
tokens of revived
life and vigor. It
was with no fear for
the future ; with no
suspicion that the
Church of God was
in danger, that there
gathered from all
quarters of the land
the representatives
of thirty dioceses.
It was to be expected
that so memorable
an event as the
defection of the
Bishop of North
Carolina would be
made matter for synodical action, and in joint session .of the two
Houses the sentence of deposition was solemnly pronounced, announc
ing the ipso facto displacing of the offender "from the Office of a
Bishop in the Church of God, and from all the rights, privileges,
powers and dignities thereunto pertaining." Striking and impressive
was the scene when, as the closing words of this sentence upon
him who alone of the bishops of the American Church has made his
submission to the Roman obedience, the presiding bishop arose at

294 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the invocation of the Tri-une God, and " all the people said Amen ! "
This deed of self-vindication done, the Church in Convention gave herself
to the consideration of plans for development and growth. It was the
fitting time for the inception of fresh activities and the display of renewed
devotion in the cause of Christ. Among these signs of a deeper
interest and a quickened zeal were the discussions and ultimate action
with reference to the " Memorial " presented to the House of Bishops,
and bearing at its close the name of him whose praise is in all the
churches as the first and foremost of the priests of the Church whose
sympathies were world-wide in their reach of love, and whose devo
tion to the bodies as well as souls of men was that of the Master,
Christ. The leader in the van of churchly education, of church
hospitals and homes, of church sisterhoods, of weekly communions, of
daily prayers, and of liturgical revision, we may well read the name
of William Augustus Muhlenberg with reverence and love. Growing
out of an intense longing for unity, and embodying in many particulars
the sentiments and expressions of a paper published nearly a score of
years before, entitled "Hints on Christian Union," Muhlenberg and
his sympathizers, men representing every shade of opinion and school
of thought existing in the Church, approached the bishops with the
" Memorial." We give it in full as one of the most important of our
ecclesiastical papers :

To the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in Council assembled,
RIGHT REVEREND FATHERS :

The undersigned, presbyters of the Church of which you have the oversight,
venture to approach your venerable body with an expression of sentiment, which
their estimate of your office in relation to the times does not permit them to with
hold. In so doing, they have confidence in your readiness to appreciate their
motives and their aims. The actual posture of our Church with reference to the
great moral and social necessities of the day, presents to the minds of the under
signed a subject of grave and anxious thought. Did they suppose that this was
confined to themselves they would not feel wan-anted in submitting it to your
attention; but they believe it to be participated in by many of their brethren, who
may not have seen the expediency of declaring their views, or at least a mature
season for such a course.

The divided and distracted state of our American Protestant Christianity ; the
new and subtle forms of unbelief, adapting themselves with fatal success to the
spirit of the age ; the consolidated forces of Romanism bearing with renewed skill
and activity against the Protestant faith ; and, as more or less the consequence of
these, the utter ignorance of the Gospel among so large a portion of the lower
classes of our population, making a heathen world in our midst, are among the
considerations which induce your memorialists to present the inquiry whether the
period has not arrived for the adoption of measures to meet these exigencies of the
times, more comprehensive than any yet provided for by our present ecclesiastical
system ; in other words, whether the Protestant Episcopal Church, with only her
present canonical means and appliances, her fixed and invariable modes of public
worship, and her traditional customs and usages, is competent to the work of
preaching and dispensing the Gospel to all sorts and conditions of men, and so
adequate to do the work of the Lord in this land and in this age? This question,
your petitioners, for their own part, and in consonance with many thoughtful minds
among us, believe must be answered in the negative. Their memorial proceeds on
the assumption that our Church, confined to the exercise of her present system, is
not sufficient to the great purposes above mentioned, that a wider door must be
opened for admission to the Gospel ministry than that through which her Candida I &lt;&gt;
for holy orders are now obliged to enter. Besides such candidates among her own
members, it is believed that men can be found among the other bodies of Christians

THE "MEMOKIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 295

around us, who would gladly receive ordination at your hands, could they obtain
it, without that entire surrender which would now be required of them, of all the
liberty in public worship to which they have been accustomed, men, who could
not bring themselves to conform in all particulars to our prescriptions and cus
toms, but yet sound in the faith, and who, having the gifts of preachers and
pastors, would be able ministers of the New Testament. With deference it is
asked, ought such an accession to your means in executing your high commission,
" Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," be refused, for
the sake of conformity in matters recognized in the preface to the Book of Common
Prayer, as unessentials ? Dare we pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth
laborers into the harvest, while we reject all laborers but those of one peculiar
type ? The extension of orders to the class of men contemplated (with whatever
safeguards, not infringing on evangelical freedom, which your wisdom might
deem expedient) , appears to your petitioners to be a subject supremely worthy of
your deliberations.

In addition to the prospect of the immediate good which would thus be opened,
an important step would be taken towards the effecting of a Church unity in the
Protestant Christendom of our land. To become a central bond of union among
Christians, who, though differing in name, yet hold to the one faith, the one Lord^
and the one baptism, and who need only such a bond to be drawn together in
closer and more primitive fellowship, is here believed to be the peculiar province
and high privilege of your venerable body as a college of CATHOLIC AND
APOSTOLIC BISHOPS as such.

This leads your petitioners to declare the ultimate design of their memorial ;
which is to submit the practicability, under your auspices, of some ecclesiastical
system, broader and more comprehensive than that which you now administer,
surrounding and including the Protestant Episcopal Church as it now is, leaving
that Church untouched, identical with that Church in all its great principles, yet
providing for as much freedom in opinion, discipline and worship as is compatible
with the essential faith and order of the Gospel. To define and act upon such a
system, it is believed, must sooner or later be the woi k of an American Catholic
episcopate.

In justice to themselves on this occasion, your memorialists beg leave to
remark that, although aware that the foregoing views are not confined to their
own small number, they have no reason to suppose that any other parties contem
plate a public expression of them, like the present. Having therefore undertaken
it, they trust that they have not laid themselves open to the charge of unwarranted
intrusion. They find their warrant in the prayer now offered up by all our con
gregations, " that the comfortable Gospel of Christ may be truly preached, truly
received, and truly followed, in all places to the breaking down of the kingdom of
sin, Satan, and death." Convinced that, for the attainment of these blessed ends, there
must be some greater concert of action among Protestant Christians than any which
yet exists, and believing that with you, Rt. Rev d Fathers, it rests to take the first
measures tending thereto, your petitioners could not do less than humbly submit
their memorial, to such consideration as in your wisdom you may see fit to give it
praying that it may not be dismissed without reference to a commission, and
assuring you, Right Reverend Fathers, of our dutiful veneration and esteem,

We are, most respectfully, your brethren and servants in the Gospel of Christ,

W. A. MUHLENBERG, C. F. CRUSE, PHILIP BERRY, EDWIN HARWOOD, G. T.

BEDELL, HENRY GREGORY, ALEX. H. VINTON, M. A. DE WOLFE HOWE,
S. H. TURNER, S. R. JOHNSON, C. W. ANDREWS, F. E. LAWRENCE, and
others.

New York, October 14, 1853.

Concurring in the main purport of the above memorial, and believing that
the necessities of the times call for some special efforts to promote unity among
Christians, and to enlarge for that and other great ends the efficiency of the Prot
estant Episcopal Church, but not being able to adopt certain suggestions of this
memorial, the undersigned most heartily join in the prayer that the subject may be
referred to a commission of your venerable body.

JOHN HENRY HOBART, A. CLEVELAND COXE, ED. Y. HIGBEE, FRANCIS VIN
TON, ISAAC G. HUBBARD, and others.

296 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

This important paper, originating with the catholic-minded
Muhlenberg, and expressive of his longing for unity and the feeling
of those who were associated with him in the effort to secure for the
Church the means for the full exercise of her mission to mankind, was
no crude or ill-digested production. It raised the important question
whether "the posture of our Church, with reference to the great moral
and social necessities of the day," was all that could be wished or was
to be expected. Its central thought was the prayer of our Divine
Lord and Master, "that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in
me, and I in Thee, that they may be one in us." It expressed with
great beauty and fervor of language the desire for the adoption of more
comprehensive measures for the exigences of the times than were
recognized under the laws and usages of the Church then existing. It
was the expression of the conviction that in the Church there was the
germ of a broad and catholic system suited to all spiritual needs and
inspiring measures and ministries of love and universal brotherhood.
The "Memorial" suggested the inquiry whether the work of the
Church among the masses might not be made more successful by an
allowance of rubrical relaxation and by a less stringent policy in con
ferring holy orders. The language of the "Memorial" was that of
inquiry and suggestion, rather than conviction ; but that it expressed
a widely prevalent feeling in the Church was evident, not only from
the names and standing of its signers, but from the marked respect
with which it was received by the " College of Catholic and Apostolic
Bishops," to whom it was addressed. The vote on its reference to a
committee, "to take into consideration the subject thereof, receive any
further communications in relation to the same, and report to the next
General Convention," was twenty to four, and the names of the com
missioners indicate the importance accorded to the subject-matter thus
referred. The apostolic Bishop of Tennessee, Dr. James Hervey
Otey, was the chairman of this commission, of which Bishops Doane,
of New Jersey ; Alonzo Potter, of Pennsylvania ; Burgess, of Maine ;
and Williams, of Connecticut, were members. The lamented death
of the Provisional Bishop of New York, Dr. Wainwright, who was
also a member, reduced the number of the commission to five ; and its
conclusions were reached, and its report, which was presented to the
following Convention, was adopted with absolute unanimity.

The presentation of the "Memorial," and its dignified and sympa
thetic reception at the hands of the bishops, awakened the widest
interest and evoked a general discussion throughout the Church. The
press teemed with articles and pamphlets, advocating, explaining, or
deprecating the principles underlying the positions assumed by the
memorialists. As the discussion waxed warmer the enthusiasm of the
author, Dr. Muhlenberg, became deeper ; and no more earnest or
effective defender of this "grand catholic aspiration" was to be found.
The times were propitious for this examination of foundation principles,
and this effort to comprehend the true nature and character of the
Church s mission. The Oxford movement, with all its agencies for
good, had proved itself not unmixed with evil, and the defection of
some of its wannest advocates had lessened its hold upon the minds

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 297

and judgment of those who were loyal to the Church of their baptism.
The ritualistic development was as yet practically unknown, and the
traditional strife between the two schools of thought in the Church was
chiefly concerned with matters of minor moment. It was an epoch in
the history of the Church, a tide in that Church s progress which taken
at the flow might have rolled on towards a great and glorious compre
hension of men of various minds and opposing schools of thought in
loving ministries of good to a dying world. The reconciliation of strife,
the removal of misconceptions and personal antipathies and abuse, the
union of long-parted men, members and ministers of Christ s own
Church, were to be found in real work for Christ, in united and aggres
sive effort for souls. Accused of "radicalism," Muhlenberg claimed
that it was the radicalism that went to the root of all party bitterness
and strife, and laid the axe to this root, that he desired. It was with
no purpose of loose and irresponsible freedom, no relaxing of great
principles, or disuse of the liturgical heritage of the past, that this
thorough liturgiologist and conservative churchman presented this
scheme of unity on the basis of love and labor for Christ. No changes
were to be made in the prayer-book ; no revision was dreamed of as
possible ; no novel theories or unwise concessions were urged, but
simply a liberty within carefully guarded limits in the use of the
appointed services of the Church. Regarding the worship of the
Church not as a mechanism, but as a living outgrowth, the memorialists
claimed that the organic law of life in the Church was at once conserv
ing and yet changing, transmitting in the old-time prayers the heritage
of the Christian ages, and yet providing for the altered circumstances
and conditions of modern life and modern thought in fresh adaptations
to confessed and pressing spiritual needs.

Wise and comprehensive as was this scheme, and general as was the
interest it excited, its immediate results were far from being com
mensurate with the hope and promise of its birth. The action of the
bishops is indicated in the two reports we subjoin ; the first, a pre
liminary report offered at the beginning of the session in view of the
urgent expectancy of action apparent at the very outset of the discus
sion, and the other the detailed treatment by the bishops of the whole
subject-matter of the " Memorial" which we append to this chapter. As
was to be expected, the report was the production of the whole com
mission, but appended thereto were the various contributions of its
individual members on special themes assigned them by the chair
man. The subject of Christian Education was given to Bishop
Doane ; Ordination and Comprehension, to Bishop Alonzo Potter ; the
Liturgical Question, to Bishop Burgess ; and Ministerial Efficiency and
Christian Brotherhood, to Bishop Williams. The commission, as a
whole, disclaimed responsibility for their several treatises, which, in
fact, do not appear in the Convention journal, and are only found in a
volume of " Memorial Papers," issued under the editorship of Bishop
Alonzo Potter. The following preliminary report, which was " cor
dially" adopted, is of great importance, as indicating the tone and
temper of the Church at this epoch in her history:

298 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE MEMORIAL.

The Commissioners to whom was referred the Memorial of Rev. Dr. Muhl en-
berg and others, desirous of bringing to the attention of the House of Bishops, at the
earliest moment, some of the most important results of their labors, have instructed
their chairman, before presenting the full report of the commission, to lay before
the House the following preamble and resolutions, which they unanimously recom
mend for adoption, viz. :

WHEREAS, the order of worship, as prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer,
or as settled by usage, has been framed with a special reference to established
Parish Churches, and to a population already incorporated with the Church ;

And WHEREAS our actual work is, or should be, among many not yet connected
with our Congregations, or where there are no established Parishes, or where said
Parishes are yet in their infancy ;

And WHEREAS there are or may be in different Dioceses peculiar emergencies
arising out of the character and condition of certain portions of the population
which demand some special services ;

And WHEREAS it is desirable that the use of the Book of Common Prayer, as the
vehicle of the Church s devotions, should be such as to cultivate an enlightened
love for the Liturgy, and enable the Clergy and people to make their labors for
Christ most effective : therefore,

Resolved, as the s.ense of the House of Bishops,

1st. That ministers may at their discretion use separately the office for Morning
Prayer ; and that, where a third service is to be held, the Litany or the Ante-Com
munion Office, or both, may be used in the afternoon, the order for Evening Prayer
being reserved for said third service.

2d. That the order for the Holy Communion, in its entireness, may, with a
sermon, be used separately : provided, nevertheless, that on the greater Festivals, it
should in their judgment be preceded by the office of Morning or Evening Prayer.

3d. That on occasions or services other than regular Morning and Evening
Prayer in established Congregations, Ministers may, at their discretion, use such
parts of the Book of Common Prayer and such Lessons, as shall in their judgment
tend most to edification.

4th. That the Bishops of the several Dioceses may provide such special services
as in their judgment shall be required by the peculiar spiritual necessities of any
class or portion of the population within said Dioceses.

5th. That to indicate the desire of this Church to promote union among
Christians, and as an organ of communication with different Christian bodies or in
dividuals, who may desire information or conference on the subject, it is expedient
that five Bishops be appointed by ballot at each General Convention, as commis
sioners for the foregoing purpose, to be entitled the Commission on Church Unity.

JAS. H. OTEY, Chairman.

Philadelphia, October 2, 1856.

Only a part of the recommendations urged in the report of the
commission were acted upon. Those which required legislative
action, such, for example, as the proposed change in Canon XLV., of
1832, and the proposed additions to the "Occasional Prayers and
Thanksgivings," were reached at too late a stage of the session to receive
the attention they demanded. With that facility for the postpone
ment of action upon living and vital issues which seems inherent to a
body so conservative as the General Convention has always proved
Itself to be, these matters, with the whole subject of liturgical revi
sion were remanded for consideration and action at a later day. The
lapse of a quarter of a century found the Church ready for much of
the legislation outlined in the " Memorial," and to another generation,
which had learned by varied experience to exercise the calm and
enlightened judgment so requisite in the discussion of matters of such

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 299

moment was reserved the action with reference to liturgical revision
and enrichment, which the whole Church seems ready to applaud and
except.

In the discussions growing out of the " Memorial," and in the
results attained in the House of Bishops, the wise and progressive
views, and the commanding influence, of the Bishop of Pennsylvania,
Dr. Alonzo Potter, were specially useful, in the advocacy of a judi
cious liberty in matters of discipline and worship, and in the suggestion
of means and appliances for church expansion. This able and
scholarly prelate took a leading part in the conduct of the whole
discussion, from its inception to its final result. He was the champion
of the principles underlying the whole movement, and in his efforts to
make the liturgy more flexible, so that our heritage of prayer might
be the possession of all, and in his strife to remove those bars and
hindrances, which have hedged up the way to our apostolic ministry,
as well as in his long-continued and persistent labor to bring out the
undeveloped powers of the Church and to utilize all instrumentalities
for good, so as to reach the masses, and guide the mind and move
ments of the people in the direction of social, intellectual, and spirit
ual betterment, Alonzo Potter won a name which will ever be had in
loving remembrance. As a philosopher, a philanthropist, a scholar,
and a successful and devoted bishop of souls, he was a true leader
of the Israel of God, and his wisdom was nowhere more apparent
or useful than in his hearty indorsement and support of the prayer of
the memorialists.

Looking at the "Memorial" discussion and the possibilities then
within the Church s grasp, we may wonder and regret that, to quote
the wise and well-chosen words of Edward A. Washburn, "the party
fears on either hand, the jealousy of the episcopal authority by the
Lower House, and the great power of inertia in the body, strangled
a plan as wise as it was generous." We may not overlook the further
words of the same keen and well-qualified observer as he proceeds :
"We have learned the worth of our conservatism, since I dare hazard
the judgment that had the Memorial prevailed, we should have been
spared the two worst misfortunes since befallen us. No legislation
can rid us of all our wrong-headed partisans. But the conscientious
men of ritualistic type, instead of defying law for chasubles and can
dles, would have thrown their devotion into noble work, and the con
scientious men, who have only added another Reformed Episcopal
fragment to the atoms floating in Christian space, would have
remained content with just freedom. A generation hence will wonder
at the policy called principle ; nay, at this very hour a large part of
the freedom which the Memorial asked is virtually gained." 1

1 Sermon preached on the death of Dr. Muhlenberg.

300

HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

ILLUSTRATIVE NOTE.

REPORT OP COMMISSION ON MEMORIAL OP REV. DR. MUHLENBERG AND OTHERS.

THE Commission of Bishops appointed by this House at the meeting of the Gen
eral Convention in October, 1S53, to take into consideration the memorial of the
Rev. Win. A. Muhlenberg, D.D., and sundry other Presbyters, a copy of which is
hereunto appended, and the resolution of the Bishop of Pennsjlvania, offered in the
House of Bishops on the Gth day of October, 1853, and referred on the 25th of
the same month, a copy of which is also hereunto appended ; having carefully con
sidered the said memorial and resolution, beg leave to submit the following report:

The subjects referred to the Commission present matters of the gravest and most
interesting character, requiring patient examination and the most calm and dis
passionate deliberation. So fully impressed were the members of the Commission
with the importance and difficulty of the duty assigned to them, that on first as
sembling on the 29th day of June, 1854, in St. Peter s Church, New York, it was
unanimously resolved that our meetings should be opened with prayer, and the
Divine wisdom and blessing invoked to guide us in our work. Every member was
present at this meeting, and we trust we had an earnest of the Divine favor in the
hearty zeal with which all then entered upon the labor which had been laid upon us.
We all never met together again. It pleased God in his wise and inscrutable provi
dence to call from his earthly Jaborsone of our members, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Wain-
wright, not very long after the adjournment of our first meeting, and the commis
sioners were thus deprived of his very valuable counsel and zealous aid in their
subsequent deliberations.

The Commission appointed the Rev. Professor Johnson of the General Theo
logical Seminary their Secretary. Having been compelled in the spring of 1855 to
resign, he was replaced by llev. Daniel Kendig, of Pennsylvania.

Sensible of the delicacy of their work, as well as of the intrinsic difficulties con
nected with the prosecution of it to any successful result, the commissioners
determined in the first place to avail themselves, as far as opportunity permitted,
of the counsel and advice of wise and good men in our own and other lands. In
formation and suggestions were sought, not only from the members of our own
communion, but likewise from those of reputation for piety and learning among
other denominations of Christians.

With a view to these purposes a series of questions was prepared, and, through
the Bishops of our Church and other agencies, these questions together with printed
copies of the Memorial were widely distributed at home and abroad, and answers
to them solicited. In this way it was believed that we should ascertain the views
of the Church at large" upon the subjects submitted to consideration, gain valuable
suggestions from the wise, learned, and sober-minded of our own and other house
holds of faith, be certified as to the real animus of the Church in reference to any
proposed alterations, or contemplated modification, in our order of worship and dis
cipline ; and thus be prepared to submit to the General Convention such informa
tion as would enable it to act wisely and understandingly upon the whole subject.
It was also hoped that plans might be suggested that would tend to mollify the
asperities of religious differences and heal some of the unhappy divisions which
have long marred the fair form of Christianity in our world.

The reasonable expectations of the Commission in reference to the readiness
of our brethren to meet the calls made upon them, have not been disappointed.
Upon all the subjects embraced in the Memorial , and presented in a more definite
and detailed shape, by the series of questions addressed to Clergymen and Laymen,
we have been favored with numerous learned and well-digested communications,
manifesting a profound interest in the work committed to us. At the same time
the various topics which have been mentioned, either by the Memorialists or the
Commission, have given rise to animated and earnest discussions in our religious
journals, or have been made to assume a more permanent character in the form of
pamphlets, claiming public attention. In this way, and by these means, ample
opportunities have been given to all parties those who favor as well as those
who oppose the movements of the Memorialists to make themselves heard, and, as
far as such instrumentalities can avail, to guard the Church against hasty or inde-
li berate legislation. In all these communications it is gratifying to find the expres
sion of a warm attachment to our order of worship.

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 301

Communications have also been received by members of the Commission from
distinguished Divines of other Protestant bodies. These have been marked in
some instances by eminent ability, and in all cases by a generous interest in the
subject under consideration, and a desire to pee the Protestant Episcopal Church
made under God an instrument of wider usefulness in evangelizing the neglected
population of our own country, and in healing the strifes and divisions that afflict
and dishonor Chinstendom.

It should not be passed here without notice and remark, that almost simul
taneously and certainly without any previous understanding or concert, a work simi
lar to that committed to us, and having precisely the same aims and objects in view,
was moved in our mother-Church of England. Can it be presumptuous to hope
and trust that the same Lord, who is over all, and rich in the bestowal of his gifts
of wisdom and grace on all who call upon Him faithfully, had put it into the hearts
of his people on both sides of the Atlantic, at the same time, to devise and attempt
a work having so high and holy purposes in view, as the edification and union of
all Christian people, the enlargement of His Church, and the more rapid spread
of His gospel over all the world. At the second meeting of the Commissioners, in
1854, their chairman was directed to open a correspondence with the Lord Bishop
of Llandaff, chairman of the committee appointed to take charge of this work, col
lect information, and make report to convocation. This was accordingly done, and
a fraternal answer returned by his Lordship, giving assurance of the lively interest
felt on the subject in England, and at the same time transmitting to us valuable
documents, setting forth in detail what had been proposed in committee, and the
action had thei eon in convocation.

The facts briefly adverted to, and many others not necessaiy to mention,
have deeply impressed the Commission with a sense of the importance attached to
the work which they have in charge. The spontaneousness of the movement, and
the miscellaneous character of those who have manifested a lively concern in its
progress, cannot be easily overlooked. Men as widely remote from each other in
their respective spheres of labor as they are variant in their religious preferences,
have alike given evidence of a conviction that the Church needed an enlargement
of her means of usefulness. Laymen as well as clergymen, as different in their
views of ecclesiastical polity, as in their natural temperaments, have communicated
their opinions and given expression to their hopes and fears respecting our venera
ble forms of worship, around which so many hallowed and endearing associations
cling. Dioceses, by their Conventions, have taken the subject proposed for our con
sideration into serious deliberation, and have deemed an exposition of their views,
with which they have in several instances favored us, to be called for by the
gravity of the interests involved in the issue. Such has been the course of Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida,
Tennessee, Illinois, and perhaps others.

These things at least attest that there is vitality in the Church. They show
that her members are alive to the importance not only of preserving her means of
usefulness, but if possible of rendering those means more effective. This feeling
originates in no pressure from without in no demands from a powerful body of
non-conf ormists in no mandates from an imperious State authority, but simply in
the awakened zeal of our own people. It presents the spectacle of a Church pene
trated with an increasing sense of its responsibility to God and the world. And
since such a consciousness of Christian obligation springs from no human source,
we may humbly hope that the Holy Ghost, who puts it into our hearts to inquire
earnestly, "Lord! what wilt thou have us to do?" may guide us in our counsels,
and enable us to mature measures which shall not be without good fruit, long after
those who have devised and proposed them shall be numbered with the dead.

In considering the means and measures necessaiy for giving increased
efficiency to the Church as the Divinely appointed instrument for reforming and
saving mankind, we must never forget, that no organization will be of avail with
out an animating, internal principle imparting health, vigor and activity to the
entire system, controlling and directing all its movements ; while on the other
hand, an imperfect, or even a defective organization invigoi ated by an active spir
itual life, will exhibit energies and accomplish results in the moral transformation
of human nature as marvellous as they are glorious. Still, as life is effectual to
the accomplishment of useful ends, in proportion to the perfection of the organs
through which it acts r as structure and adaptation are conditions of the greatest
efficiency, so it behoves us as "co-workers with God," in the recovery of this

302 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

world from the dominion of sin and the devil, not only to use the appointed
weapons of our warfare, but to use them in the way best adapted to ensure
success. Our weapons may not be carnal, still they will not be found " mighty
to the pulling down of strongholds," unless they be adapted to the objects to
be effected. Wisdom and skill, combined with use and experience, are necessary
to the successful employment of the most perfect instruments.

Our Liturgical services, be it remembered, were framed with a special view
to the wants of a worshipping people. They were provided with a direct reference
to organized parish churches. They were intended to furnish two or more daily
services to a population already won to the Church. But our actual mission is to
many, in truth, to a large majority not yet conciliated to the Church, and for the
most part, strangers to her forms of worship. We have to seek those who have not
been gathered into organized parishes who do not recognize in us any claim to
spiritual oversight over them. We have to labor in places where very much of our
work is outside of that contemplated in the plans of our offices, and in the preva
lent methods of our preaching.

The Church was originally composed of converts gathered, by the labors of
the Apostles, from the ranks of Judaism and Paganism. We have to deal with men
who are generally not ignorant of our doctrine, but who are hardly more conver
sant with the system of worship to which we wish to conciliate them, than were
the Jews and Gentiles, in the days of the Apostles, with the religion of our
Saviour.

In seeking to modify or adapt our forms of worshio to the actual wants and
condition of a very large portion of our population, we do but act upon a principle
distinctly recognized in our own and our mother-Church. In the preface to the
Book of Common Prayer it is declared " that in every church, whatever cannot be
clearly determined to belong to doctrine may be referred to discipline ; and there
fore by common consent and authority may be altered, abridged, enlarged,
amended, or otherwise disposed of, as may seem most convenient for the edifica
tion of the people, according to the various exigences of times and occasions."
It is also affirmed in the same preface, that the Church of England, having made
various reviews and changes, her aim hath been " to do that which, according to
her best understanding, might most tend to the preservation of peace and unity in
the Church ; the procuring of reverence, and the exciting of piety and devotion in
the worship of God ; and finally, the cutting off occasion from them that seek
occasion of cavil or quarrel against her Liturgy."

In no country in the world, perhaps, will there be found united under the
same form of government so great a variety of people and so much diversity in
intellectual, moral, social, and religious character as in this land Immigration
annually brings in its vast contribution to the elements of division in the religious
sentiment and practice of our countrymen. There are found here men of all
grades of intellectual development, from the most improved condition of mind,
enlarged and elevated by the best advantages of education, to the grossest and
most stupid ignorance growing out of poverty and absolute neglect. There are
seen all complexions of social character diversified by the physical and moral differ
ences which exist among the people of the Old World, and which fix a lasting, if
not an indelible, impression upon the habits of human thought and action. In the
population of the same State, and not unfrequently in the same town, will be
found all these varieties in national origin, in social, intellectual and religious
character, at which we have barely glanced, and which present most serious
obstacles, as painful experience most clearly proves, to the exercise of any
wholesome and abiding influence on the part of the Gospel Ministry. Out of this
anomalous condition of things arises the necessity of that diversity in our modes of
operation, which has not been heretofore sufficiently appreciated, and the need of
that versatility of talents in the ministry, which in our case is more or less indis
pensable, and which is always found to be eminently useful.

It is not the purpose of this report to supply a treatise on the gifts- of the
ministry, or to direct specifically how they may be most usefully employed. This
is not the time, nor does it fall within our province, to enter upon such a discussion.
We can do no more, at present, than indicate, from an extended field of observa
tion, and from the earnest representations made from every part of the Church,
what seems to be most needed in order to the more vigorous prosecution of the great
work, with which we, in common with others, feel ourselves charged. That work
looks almost exclusively to the inculcation of religious truth as the basis of a

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 303

healthy moral sentiment securing national and individual prosperity, and as the
foundation of that faith in God which leads to holiness of life, and the hope of
salvation.

Tha sentiment of the Church is every where the same and emphatic in its
expression as to the necessity of more force and directness in our preaching, and
more special adaptation to the varying circumstances of the congregations which
we are called to address. The habits of our people, moulded in a considerable
degree by the nature of our civil and social institutions, and the constitution of the
human mind, which impels us in most cases to prefer fervour to coldness, and that
which is simple to that which is abstruse, are considerations which plainly indicate
that our methods of dealing with men should be more direct and more manifold.
They explain the reasons tor that partiality with which extempore preaching is
regarded, the superior influence which ministers accustomed so to preach possess
in gathering together large congregations, and they account, in good part at least,
for the numerical superiority of most denominations of Christians over the
Protestant Episcopal Church in almost all the States, towns, and cities in the
Union.

An examination into the relative increase of the various bodies of Christians
in the United States within the last thirty years will exhibit some startling facts,
which may well rouse us to serious consideration, and lead us to ask ourselves the
questions, " What have we been doing? and what shall we do ? " We have been in
the habit of looking merely at the increase of our ministers and members within
given periods, as the proper exponent of our growth, without considering how that
increase compares with the rate of increase in the population at large. Making
our estimate in this way, and it is the only accurate method to ascertain the ratio
of our growth or increase as a Church, it Avill be found that we are by no means
keeping pace with the population of the country in the provision we make for
their religious instruction to say nothing of our duty to heathen and foreign
lands ; that we are consequently falling very far below the measure of our
responsibility, and that our growth in the last half century, which has been dwelt
upon with complacency, if not with a spirit of vainglory, furnishes matter of deep
humiliation and shame, rather than of boasting.

It is submitted to the serious and candid consideration of this House, whether
with all the lights of past observation and experience before us, it be not wise to
recommend to our ministers as an important means of enhancing their usefulness
and efficiency, the cultivation of a habit of extemporaneous address and of exposi
tory preaching, at least during one portion of the Lord s Day. It is not designed
to iavor the idea of cultivating a habit of declamation or fervid exhortation at the
expense of persevering and severe study. It is humbly conceived that previous
and careful preparation is entirely consistent with the practice of extempore preach
ing, as here contemplated. With brief notes or heads of discourse, suggestive of
topics and the preservation of a lucid arrangement, the fruits of much laborious re
search and reflection may be made available with their utmost effect. We see no
reason why a minister should not in this way present to the consideration of his
congregation, the high and concerning truths of the gospel and enforce them by
its awful sanctions as effectively, as persuasively, and as convincingly, as a lawyer
states and argues his case from his brief, at the bar. The plan suggested would
have this further advantage. It would enable the preacher to avail himself of all
suitable opportunities for proclaiming " the truth as it is in Jesus," which the di
versities of time, place and circumstance might present. Ho need not always wait
till a congregation can be gathered in some fixed place of worship furnished with
the conveniences of lectern and pulpit ; but, after apostolic example, let him preach,
if it be expedient, in an upper chamber, or in the market place, by the sea-shore,
or in the courts of the prison, by night or day, in storm and tempest, or in the sun
shine of bright and cloudless skies. Everywhere, in season and out of season, he
is to exercise his vocation, as need may require, and, like a beacon on the stormj r
ocean of life, point the voyager to the Avay of safety and the haven of rest. He
need not be bound by any rules or restrictions which custom may have established
as to the length of his discourses. This should vary with emergencies, and especially
with the state of those who hear. His quick and discerning glance will easily de
tect any restlessness or listlessness on the part of his hearers and furnish him the
best chronometer to graduate his sermons. Thus too he will be enabled to suit his
subject to the character of his congregation ; and bringing out of his treasures
the accumulated stores of reading and study of observation and reflection things

304 HISTORY OF -THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

both new and old ; he may use a written discourse or speak from notes ; lie may
furnish food for the thoughtful mind, by unfolding some great doctrine of Chris
tianity, or by animating exhortation rouse the desponding to renewed exertion for the
prize of eternal life ; he may enforce the high and commanding morality of the
Gospel, or he may attract, edify, and charm, by portraying the example of Christ,
doing good to the souls and bodies of men, ana may exhort them to its imitation.
In a word, the vast range of the Gospel takes in all the interests of man as a rational
and accountable creature; it comprehends all his relations to God and bis fellow-
men ; it embraces all his hopes for time and eternity ; and from them all the preacher
may choose his theme, and from the boundless field of nature, in the rich exuber
ance of her productions the endless variety of objects which garnish the heavens
above, or beautify the earth beneath, or replenish the waters under the earth he
may draw from them all, illustrations to enforce and adorn his subject.

These remarks point to the expediency, not to say necessity, of a correspond
ing variety, to some extent, in our Liturgical services. It is the general voice of
our Communion, that, in adjusting the length of our public services, more regard
should be had to the physical ability of both minister and people ; and this is
especially important in those parts of our country where the heats of summer are
long continued and debilitating, rendering mental exertion burdensome, and even
perilous to health. More attention also seems to be demanded to the degree of
Liturgical culture among the people, and a more economical use of our Clerical
force. By the arrangements which the Commission would recommend, it is be
lieved that in most of our established congregations, three services may be had on
Sunday, and several during the week, without overburdening the strength and
ability of the Minister.

We read that, in the primitive Church, " gifts " were bestowed by our blessed
Lord upon his members, " differing according to the measure of grace given unto
them." These gifts were intended to supply everything that was needful for
carrying on the work our Lord had appointed to his Church. However they mani
fested their influence by " diversities of operations and differences of administra
tions " in the work of Apostles, or Prophets, or Evangelists, or Pastors, or Teachers,
they were all given " for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ." But that such varieties of gifts were
bestowed " for the edifying of the Church," seems in a great measure to be over
looked or forgotten. It would appear that all ministers are now expected to be
priests, whether they have "the gift of ministering" or not; all to be rectors of
parishes, whether they have the gift of ruling or not ; all to be teachers, whether
they show aptitude for instruction or not; and very many (" who name the name
of Christ ") seem to have reached the conclusion that there is no such gift as that
mentioned by the apostle when he enjoins it as a duty to give " with simplicity."
The consequences of this ignorance or forgetfulness have been exhibited in the
history of the Church, even within the memory of some now living, with startling
effect and melancholy frequency. Ministers are found who yet do not minister ;
rectors who cannot govern ; pastors who do not feed the flock ; teachers send forth
theological essays for the instruction of the Church, who might find better employ
ment in studying the Bible and Catechism ; while the necessary means for maintain
ing religious services too often have to be wrung from those who appear reluctant to
recognize it as a Christian obligation to give of their ability, as God has prospered
them, with liberality, with cheerfulness, and with simplicity. On every side the
complaint is heard that the work of the Church languishes or is not done. That
we have refused or neglected to use many gifts which Christ has bestowed on his
Church is apparent from our not providing employment for those members of the
body which are fitted for special duties. We see, for example, persons who have a
fondness or peculiar aptitude for searching out the poor and helpless. No cellars
are too low and dark, no garrets too high and comfortless, to deter them in their
efforts to find and relieve the hunger-bitten children of poverty. Vice and filth do
.not offend them, but excite their compassion and their tears. Degradation and
infamy do not repel them, but inspire their charity, and give fervency to their
prayers.

There are those, on the other hand, who have no inclination to engage in this
humble and merciful work, or whose qualities of mind and body unfit them for such
employments. They may not have the tact, wisdom, or resources necessaiy to
guide them in the selection of means adequate to ensure success to such schemes
of benevolence. Still, they wish to do good, and the Minister of a Parish, if he be

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 305

prudent and judicious, will find them employment. Some of them may be used
in reading Prayers and the Holy Scriptures to the people whose situation or oppor
tunities do not allow them to attend the regular and stated services of the sanctuary.
In the almost infinite variety of conditions in which our population is now found
there can be no lack of opportunity for the employment of every talent which the
Church can command.

Again, there are men whose temperaments incline them to be constantly moving
from place to place. Connected with this constitutional peculiarity there is
generally a frankness and cordiality of manner which render such persons favorites
wherever they go. They may not possess any great breadth or variety of learning :
nor any great powers of thought ; but they have a faculty of correct and close ob
servation, a knowledge of men as individuals and in masses, and perhaps extraor
dinary skill and tact in controlling them.

Again, we sec men who have that peculiar power or gift which is necessary for
organizing and ruling bodies of men ; who seem by intuition to know just when
this quality is to be stimulated and when to be laid under restraint when this
particular trait can be neutralized by the development of another; when it is
proper to rebuke one, and when to encourage another. They have a ready percep
tion of the thought that will touch the common sense of mankind and harmonize
the mass. It is impossible to describe all the qualities which go to make up the
character of such men : we perceive them when we say that such men were born
to be rulers.

In this class will be found those best calculated of all, perhaps, in the Church to
fill the office of Evangelists. Men whose chief, if not their sole employment, it
shall be to preach the Gospel in remote and morally destitute parts of the country,
or in the neglected districts of our large cities, where the Pastors of established
Congregations never come, and the Preachers at Missionary Stations but rarely.
Men who shall be under the special direction of the Bishop of the Diocese, laboring
where he shall appoint, distributing books and tracts where opportunity shall serve,
and reporting to the Bishop as often as he shall require.

Such a corps of active laborers seems almost indispensable to the complete
organization of the Church according to the primitive model and unquestionably
necessary to its extension in our land. It may be supposed, and the idea has been
sometimes advanced, that the Bishops can and ought to do all the work contem
plated by the creation of this class of preachers. With Dioceses of the present
extent it is, in most cases, simply impossible. Many of our Bishops spend much
the greater portion of their time in travelling and preaching. Almost the only
increase made to the Church in many parts of the country is attributable to the
labors of the Episcopate. But observation and. experience have demonstrated that
the utmost exertions of the Bishops cannot meet the growing demands of our popu
lation.

And here we are constrained to call attention to the wasted energy and unem
ployed power of the women of the Church. The Sisters of Charity in the Romish
communion are worth, perhaps, more to their cause than the combined wealth of
their Hierarchy the learning of their priesthood and the self-sacrificing zeal of
their Missionaries. The providential government of the world leaves everywhere
a large number of unmarried and unemployed females, and thus appears to point
the Church to a wise appropriation of their peculiar talents or gifts in the cause of
Christ and of humanity. The associated charity and benevolence of Christian
Sisterhoods which we have in mind is the very opposite of the hermitage and the
nunnery. Instead of a criminal and cowardly withdrawal from-the world and the
duties which the wants and distresses of humanity may claim, it is the voluntary
consecration to Christ of all the powers of body and soul in the active performance
of the most tender, the most endearing, and yet the most neglected offices of
charity. Many have seen and many lament our loss in this respect ; but individual
zeal and effort can effect but little in the way of providing a remedy. The con
stituted authorities of the Church must take hold of the subject deal with it with
out reserve combine effort in the cause, and give direction to it without the fear
of man.

With such instrumentalities as are now in use the Commission is constrained to
report, further, that in their judgment the debt of the Ministry and members of the
Church to the young is not sufficiently felt and adequately discharged. In families
acknowledging the obligations of a Christian profession there is too little positive
and regular religious instruction, and too little of pious, paternal training or dis-

306 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

cipline. By Pastors there is want of attention to catechising to the Sunday School
and to such preaching and services as are best calculated to reach, impress, and
influence those who have arrived at the period of juvenescence.

It is also very certain that the full effect of our ministrations cannot be ob
tained, and the reasonable expectations of the Church at large be met and fulfilled
in this behalf, until our Candidates for Orders and our Ministers be trained to more
robust intellectual habits by a more thorough and severe mental discipline ; and to
this very necessary preparation must ba added a clear apprehension of the moral
wants of the times, and the precise intellectual wants of the people. Next to this,
and hardly of less importance, there is need of more practical common sense, in
dealing^ with men upon the subject of religion, and recommending it to their atten
tion. In this country almost every man and woman feels competent to discuss
questions of theology and give instruction on the doctrines of the Gospel. These
pretensions have to be met by the Ministry, and to be met in a spirit of meekness
and of deep compassion for the erring and deceived. Hence we have found, in
very many of the communications made to us by Clergymen and Laymen, the
opinion or rather the conviction very earnestly expressed, that in preparing candi
dates for the work of the Ministry, more attention should be paid to practical
training for its duties that there should be also more cultivation of the powers of
thought, and taste for investigation more rhetorical culture more rigid and
searching examinations and better established habits of systematic study after
ordination.

But among the many wants of the Church in order to her energetic and effec
tive influence that fulness and completeness which we desire for her few
perhaps are more obvious, and none more generally deplored, than the want of an
impressive and devotional manner of reading the Liturgy. This is a great and
crying evil, and to its existence is to be attributed, no doubt, much of the complaint
which is urged against the length and formality of our services. The evil is the
more inexcusable and intolerable, for the simple reason that it might be remedied,
in a vast majority of cases, by due care and persevering efforts on the part of those
whose bounden duty it is, and pleasure it ought to be, to qualify themselves for the
becoming and decent performance of this, the most sacred part of their holy func
tions. He who leads the devotions of a congregation, in their approaches to the
mercy-seat, with the offerings of praise and prayer to the Divine Majesty, can make
no acceptable apology to his people, and no excuse to his own conscience, for care
lessness and irreverence. An experienced Clergyman, in a communication to the
Commission, complains of this evil as very prevalent, and proposes the following
remedy :

" Let all candidates be taught to read English. The only ceitain method of
correcting vicious modes of reading is, to employ the services of some one who can
give to the student an accurate rehearsal of his own performances. After many
repetitions of this discipline the young man will begin to detect the similar vice in
his own tones, and then only will it be possible for him to correct it."

In this connection we cannot but allude to the important duty, devolving on the
members of our congregations, to take their part earnestly and effectively in our
public services. Were this clone in the responses, in the chants, in the metrical
Psalmody done in the way in which the Church, in her wisdom, has prescribed,
and with a hearty observance of her decent rules and usages much of the com
plaint now made, of the wearisome length of the services, would be hushed. What
is not done as it should be is usually wearisome. It is a duty imperative on the
clergy to see to it that any failure in this important matter shall not be justly
chargeable to the want of proper instruction and urgency on their part.

The Commission is of opinion that every Minister having Parochial charge,
should be diligent in the use of means f or interesting and retaining under wholesome
religious influences boys and young men.

1st. By giving them employment in the Church and the Sunday School.

2d. By frequently meeting with them and manifesting interest in their wel
fare.

3d. By directing their choice in reading recommending proper books, &c.

4th. By cultivating among them a love for Sacred music.

It is deemed of vital importance that the Ministry should with every class,
but particularly with the young, insist earnestly upon their responsibility as
stewards of the grace of the Gospel employing them as helpers to the Ministry,
not only in the Sunday School and Bible Classes, but when found apt and prudent,

THE "MEMORIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 307

in district visiting in Lay-reading and Catechising in destitute places, on the
principle that they are bound to labor, as well as to give of their substance for the
promotion and increase of true religion that they cannot be faithful to God, un
less they improve the talents committed to them, and that they must begin this
work when young, if they would be efficient in manhood, and happy when old.

And here we are reminded of one of the most mournful of our deficiencies,
and which ought, to move us all to deep humiliation and earnest prayer. We refer
to the small number of our Clergy compared with our existing wants, and the in
adequate pi ovision made for their support. Few are found pressing towards that
which ought to be regarded as the happiest, the most useful, and the most honor
able of human pursuits; and, of those who engage in it, few receive more than a
meagre recompense for their services. Does not this indicate on the part of young
men a sad want of zeal and devotion in the cause of Christ, and on their part also,
who as parents, Pastors and friends ought to move the young to aspire to this holy
office ? And does it not show on the part of Christians, whom God has made the
stewards of his bounty, a deplorable insensibility to their duty and their privilege,
when they suffer Ministers and Missionaries to languish in want, while they pay
without stint for the services of men of all other professions and occupations in life P
For this sore evil it becomes us to seek earnestly a proper remedy. A more
abundant measure of God s grace is doubtless the firstandmost important requisite,
and for this the Church should call upon her children to pray importunately and
continually. But it cannot be denied that were more careful and general considera
tion given to the subject, means would be devised to elicit much more ample gifts
from the Laity, and to draw to the ranks of the Clergy many an earnest spirit now
destined to other callings. Alms-giving and other acts of Christian beneficence re
quire to be cultivated as habits ; and no Pastor should be satisfied unless his
methods of proceeding are sufficiently varied and steady to enlist the interest and
engage the active and continued eo-opei ation of all his people. Most congregations
need on this subject, it is 1 eared, more instruction than they receive, and this in
struction needs to be followed by more active superintendence from the Clergymen,
and more extended sympathy and aid from individuals of the congregation.

The Commission have also taken counsel with each other, and earnestly
sought to devise some plan which might contribute to heal the divisions which so
unhappily distract the Christian world. We cannot but rejoice in the interest
which the members of our own household of faitli have manifested in common with
all good men of other denominations of Christians upon this subject ; and we doubt
not that all will rejoice, if measures can betaken to restore the unity of the Church,
and promote by God s blessing, an increase of charity among all " who name the
name of Christ." We must all, however, be well aware that the first step towards
this happy and greatly desired result must be sought in unity of spirit, rather than
unity of doctrine and discipline; and therefore mutual allowances, and a large
toleration are indispensable requisites for which we should fervently and devoutly
pray. The action which the Commission recommends upon this subject will be
stated in the form of a Resolution and of a Prayer at the conclusion of this Report.

We cannot but earnestly and affectionately recommend to our brethren and
friends everywhere, in view of the momentous interests involved in the final dis
position of this question, to strive to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace.

1st. By doing justice to the merits of other systems as readily as they expose
their demerits.

2dly. By repressing a spirit of self-complacency and self-laudation.

3dly. By infusing into our worship, preaching, and general policy, more of
the ancient and historical element on one side, and of the popular and practical on
the other.

4thly. By a more cordial manner towards Ministers of other religious bodies
who are inquiring into the claims of our communion.

othly. By considering whether we cannot safely lessen Canonical impediments
in the way of Ministers, Licentiates, and others desh-ous of our Orders, with sufficient
guarantees for soundness in doctrine, discipline, and worship.

Gthly. By fruitfulness in all good works. If our Ministers were more fervid,
self-denying, and laborious ; our people more charitable, exemplary, and devout,
if, in a word, we were all that we ought to be, and might be from the alleged
superiority of our gifts and privileges, the attraction to the Church would be uni
versal and irresistible.

308 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

In conclusion, the Commission place before the" House the positive results
which they have reached. In a large proportion indeed.it may be said that,
(with a few exceptions), in all of mo communications made to us by members of
our Church, the opinion has been expressed that the Morning Service might some
times be shortened with advantage, and that greater variety ought to obtain in
services which are beside the regular offices of Morning and Evening Prayer in
established congregations. These are ends to which the efforts of many in the
Anglican Church are now anxiously directed. Earnest expression has also been
given to the wish, in many quarters, that the calendar of lessons should be revised;
that additional hymns, anthems, and canticles should be provided, with other
emendations, which would affect no doctrine of the Church and might materially
aid in the edification of her people. It has been the purpose of the Commission,
however, so far as their present labors go, to leave the Prayer Book untouched ;
they have also doubted how far the consideration of such pi oposed alterations
would fall within the duty assigned to them ; and, at all events, they felt that if
any alterations of the Prayer Book were proposed, the House of Deputies would be
entitled to take part in the preliminary discussions connected with them, and that
much more time ought to be devoted to the work than they have been able to com
mand. They have concluded, therefore, to commend this subject to the General
Convention, to be disposed of as in its wisdom it may judge to be most expedient.
They have many valuable papers embodying the results of much labor and learn
ing and of a very extended experience, which will be at the service of a committee
should the Convention decide to appoint one.

After much reflection the Commission have come to the unanimous conclusion
that some of the most material of the improvements, which are loudly called for
and which commend themselves to our own judgment, might be attained without
legislation. There is nothing in the Rubrics or Canons which requires that when
the Holy Communion is administered it should be preceded immediately or other-,
wise by the office for Daily Prayer. The practice rests merely on usage, and there
are occasions when, for want of physical ability on the part of the minister, or
from the very large number of persons communicating, or for other reasons, it
would be right that the liberty which the laws do not withhold of omitting the
Daily Prayer should be exercised. To secure this, nothing more would be needed,
it is thought, than a declarative resolution of this House. The same discretion
seems allowable in respect to the time of using the Litany and the Ante-Communion
Office. Canon XL VII., of 1832, already provides for special services to be set forth
by Bishops in their own Dioceses, and the Commission have concluded that by exer
cising the power thus given, provision could be made for those local necessities
which result from peculiarities in the character of the population, or in the circum
stances under which .the Church is to be extended.

They, therefore, recommend unanimously that the following Preamble and
Resolutions be adopted by the House of Bishops : [The Preamble and Resolutions
contained in the preliminary report.]

They also recommend that Canon XLV. (1832) be so amended that the con
cluding sentence may read as follows : " And in performing said service no other
Prayers, Lessons, Anthems, or Hymns shall be used than those prescribed by the said
book, unless with the consent of the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese.

The effect of this amendment would be to enable particular Dioceses under
the direction of the ecclesiastical authority of the same, during such seasons as
Passion week, Christmas and the like, to substitute Lessons, Anthems, or Canticles
more appropriate to the occasion and also to bring the provisions of this Canon into
harmony with those of Canon XLVII. (1832).

The House of Clerical and Lay Deputies having requested (see Journal, p.
73) this House in 1853 to consider the propriety of setting forth a form of Prayer
for the increase of the Holy Ministry according to the command of Christ, " Pray
ye the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest," and
a resolution to the same effect of the Bishop of Pennsylvania in this House having
been referred to the Commission, and several propositions having been made for
the adoption of other occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings, the Commission have
thought that it might be proper to offer for consideration the following forms :

A PRAYER FOR, UNITY.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of
Peace, give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our

THE "MEMOKIAL" DISCUSSION AND ITS RESULTS. 309

unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may
hinder us from godly union and concord : that, as there is but one body and one
Spirit, and one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of us all ; so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and one soul, united in
the holy bond of truth, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth
glorify thee : through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR THE INCREASE OF THE MINISTRY".

O Almighty God, who hast in thy holy Church committed to the hands of men
the ministry of reconciliation, to gather together a great flock in all parts of the
world, to the eternal praise of thy holy name ; we humbly beseech thee that thou
wilt put it into the hearts of many faithful men to seek this sacred ministry, appointed
for the salvation of mankind ; that so thy Church may rejoice in a due supply of
true and faithful pastors, and the bounds of thy blessed kingdom may be enlarged;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES.

O Lord, who didst come to seek and to save the lost, and to whom all power
is given in heaven and in earth, hear, we beseech thee, the prayers of thy Church
for those who, at thy command, go forth to preach the Gospel to eveiy creature.
Preserve them from all dangers to which they may be exposed; from perils by
land and perils by water; from the deadly pestilence ; from the violence of the
persecutor ; from doubt and impatience ; from discouragement and discord ; and
from all the devices of the powers of darkness. And while they plant and water,
send thou, O Lord, the increase; gather in the multitude of the heathen; convert,
in Christian lands, such as neglect so great salvation ; so that thy name may be
glorified, and thy kingdom come, O gracious Saviour of the world, to whom, with
the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR THE YOUNG, TO BE USED ON OCCASIONS OF CATECHISING AND THE

LIKE.

Almighty Father, who has promised that they who seek early thy heavenly
wisdom shall early find it, and find it more precious than all the treasures of this
world, send down on these thy children the grace and blessing of thy Holy Spirit ;
that they, being trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, may choose
and love thy way, and depart from it no more forever ; and that, when thou makcst
up thy jewels in thy glorious kingdom, these children may be there, and may be
thine ; all of which we ask for the sake of thy holy child Jesus, our only Saviour
and Redeemer. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR A PERSON ABOUT TO BE EXPOSED TO SPECIAL DANGER.

Almighty God, the Saviour of all men, we humbly commend to thy tender
care and sure protection in his danger, thy servant for Avhom our prayers are de
sired. Let thy fatherly hand, we beseech thee, be over him ; let thy holy angels
have charge of him ; with thy loving-kindness defend him, as with a shield ; and
cither bring him out of his peril in safety, with a heart to show forth thy praises
forever, or else sustain him with that glorious hope by which alone thy servants
can have victory in suffering and in death, through the sole merits of Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.

A PRAYER IN TIME OF PUBLIC CALAMITIES, DANGERS, OR DIFFICULTIES.

O most mighty God! King of kings, and Lord of lords, without whose
care the watchman waketh but in vain, we implore, in this our time of need, thy
succor and blessing in behalf of our rulers and magistrates, and of all the people
of this land (or, of this commonwealth, or, of this community) . Remember not
our many and great transgressions ; turn from us the judgments which we feel
(or, fear) ; and give us wisdom to discern, and courage to attempt, and faithful
ness to do, and patience to endure, whatsoever shall be well-pleasing in thy sight;
that so thy chasteuings may yield the peaceful fruits of righteousness, and that at
the last we may rejoice in thy salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

310 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

A THANKSGIVING FOR A DELIVERANCE OF A PERSON FROM ANY PERIL.

O God, most mighty and most gracious, by whom the hairs of our heads are
all numbered, we give thee hearty thanks that thou hast delivered from hi* great
peril thy servant, who now desireth that the thanksgiving of many on his behalf
may redound to thy glory. Write on his mind the perpetual remembrance of thy
preserving mercy ; save him from the hardness of an ungrateful neart, and grant
that all his future days, and all that thou hast graciously continued to him, may be
consecrated to thec and to thy blessed service, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A THANKSGIVING FOR DELIVERANCE FROM PUBLIC CALAMITIES AND DANGERS.

O eternal God, the shield of our help, beneath whose sovereign defence thy
people dwell in safety, we bless and praise, we laud and magnify thy glorious name
for all thy goodness to the people of this land (or, of this commonwealth ; or, of
this community) , and especially for our merciful deliverance from those calamities
which of late we suffered (or, dreaded) . Inspire our souls with grateful love ; lift
up our voices in songs of thankfulness ; and so pour out upon us thy Holy Spirit,
that we may be humble and watchful in our prosperity, patient and steadfast in our
afflictions, and always enjoy the blessed confidence of that people whose God is the
Lord ; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer, to
whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, praise and
dominion, now and forever. Amen.

A THANKSGIVING FOR THE RECOVERY OF A SICK CHILD.

Almighty Father, who at the prayers of thy servants, Elijah and Elisha, didst
gladden the hearts of two pious mothers by restoring them their dead, and who, by
thy Son Jesus Christ, didst raise to health and life the children of many sorrowing
parents, accept, we beseech thee, the thanks of thy servants who call upon us
to join our praises with their own for the deliverance of their dear child from
sickness and the grave. May that recovered child be ever thine ; and may the
hearts of all to whom he is precious so burn at the remembrance of thy goodness,
that they may hold no thank-offering too costly to show forth thy praise, and may
present themselves, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto thee, through the
merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

The Commission in making this report have endeavored to call the attention to
the subjects which are believed to have been in the contemplation of the memorial
ists, and to be of chief interest to the members of the Church. They have by no
means attempted to embrace all the matters which have been suggested or pro posed
as amendments to our order of worship and system of discipline and religious
instruction and training. As far as consistent with a proper understanding of the
views of the Commission, brevity has been consulted in their report. WitS a view
to gain whatever advantage might be derived from a division of labor and from
concentrating the thoughts of individuals on particular subjects, the chairman, last
spring, assigned to each member of the Commission special topics for consideration,
and requested his views upon them. The communications made in consequence
will be found in an Appendix, and it is hoped that they may be advantageously
considered by the members of our communion.

The Commission cannot close this report without recording their sense of
indebtedness to those who have favored them with communications respecting the
interesting work in which they have been engaged : and now commit the result of
their labors to the disposal of this House, with the prayer to the God of all wisdom
and grace to over-rule its deliberations to the promotion of His own glory and the
good of His Church.

JAS. II. OTEY, Chairman.
G. W. DOANE, ALONZO POTTER,

GEORGE BURGESS, JNO. WILLIAMS.

CHAPTER XX.

THE CHURCH ON THE PACIFIC COAST.

ON Sunday, the 22d of July, 1849, at the residence of John H.
Merrill, in San Francisco, divine service, in accordance with the
rites and usages of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was cele
brated by the Rev. Augustus Fitch and the Rev. Flavel S. Mines,
presbyters of the diocese of New York. Immediately afterward it
was unanimously resolved to organize a parish, under the title of
"The Holy Trinity Church." Wardens and vestrymen were chosen
and measures were taken, resulting in the purchase of a lot of land, upon
which, ere the close of the year, the first church, constructed of iron
and erected under the direction and through the self-denying exertion
of the Rev. Mr. Mines, was opened for regular services.

In September of the same year the Rev. Richard F. Burnham,
of the diocese of New Jersey, visited Sacramento and organized the
parish of Grace Church. Early in the following year, 1850, the infant
parish was deprived of its rector by the visitation of God, who took
him to himself, after a ministry in this new field of only a few weeks.
After the death of Mr. Burnham, the parish was visited by the Rev.
Samuel Morehouse, who held occasional services until September,
1850, when he abandoned the ministry and left the country.

In August, 1849, the Rev. J. L. Ver Mehr, Ph.D., and LL.D., of
the diocese of New Jersey, reached San Francisco, and during the
remainder of the year ministered to a few members of the Church at
a private residence on the site of the present Marine Hospital. Sub
scriptions having been raised for the erection of a place for worship, the
work was rapidly brought to a successful completion, and Grace Chapel
was opened for divine service on the first Sunday in January, 1850.
The parish was formally organized April 28, 1850. Dr. Ver Mehr
was rector until September, 1853, when he removed to Sonora to
establish a female seminary by the name of St. Mary s Hall. During
his rectorate a lot was purchased, early in 1851, and on July 20th of
that year the church was opened for divine worship, having cost with
the land upwards of $21,000. The third church edifice was opened
for service September 28, 1862, and is the cathedral of the diocese.

A parish, St. John s, was organized at Stockton, August 25, 1850.
The Rev. Orlando Harriman, Jr., was present and acted as chairman of
the meeting. He remained about a month, but was compelled to re
move in consequence of the inability of the few church people to
afford him a support. The services were in consequence stopped, but
were resumed the following spring, 1851, when the junior warden,
Mr. J. W. Bissell, commenced lay reading, which he continued till
his removal in 1853. The following year the missionary bishop visited

312 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the parish, anci the interest excited by his services was such that a
clergyman was called to the charge of the parish, and on the 20th of
June, 1858, a brick church, costing $10,000, was consecrated. Thus
were the foundations of the Church in California laid.

The first " Convention of the Church in California" was held in the
Church of the Holy Trinity, San Francisco, July 24 August 2,
1850, the Rev. Dr. Ver Mehr preaching the Convention sermon. The
clergy present at this meeting for the organization of the