HISTORY c^pi^copal Cl^urcl) in Connecticut* CHRIST CIIUKCII, STKATFORD. Erected in 1743; ilomolisliod in 1858. THE HISTORY episcopal C1)urcf) in Connecticut, FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY TO THE DEATH OF BISHOP SEABURY. E. EDWARDS ^BEARDSLEY,D.D., RECTOR OF ST. THOMAS' CHURCH, NEW HAVEN. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY KURD AND HOUGHTON. BOSTON: E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY. 1866. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the j'ear 1865, by E. Edwards Beardsley, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Connecticut. RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND JOHN WILLIAMS, D.D., FOURTH BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT, TO VTHOSE KIND ENCOURAGEJIENT ITS PUBLICATION IS LARGELY DUE, IN TOKEN OF PRIVATE GRATITUDE, PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP, AND A PRESBYTER'S DUTIFUL RESPECT, IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR PREFACE. In January, 186,4, 1 commenced a series of Lectures to my own people on the early History of Episco- pacy in Connecticut. My object was twofold: to use and work into shape materials which I had been gathering for years; and to awaken an interest in subjects that were in danger of being overlooked amid the excitements of the day and the attraction of popular themes. The favor with which my effort was received en- couraged me to make deeper researches than I at first intended, and my investigations led me to con- sider and examine topics hitherto approached with tenderness, if not with fear and trembling. What- ever estimate may be put upon such inquiries, it certainly demands some courage to begin and pros- ecute them to a successful issue. Memorials of the past, it is hardly necessary to state, increase in value as time goes on, and events and "good deeds done for the house of our God and for the offices thereof" are often lost for want of the recording pen. Many facts which might have easily been collected, even half a century ago, now float only in tradition, or viii PREFACE. else lie buried in faded and tattered manuscripts, so that he must be as a bold diver for pearls, who would go down into the depths of unwritten history and bring them up from their secret hiding-places. When the course was finished, the Lectures were carefully revised, broken into chapters, large portions of them entirely rewritten, and much new matter added. Their publication in the present form has been called for from various quai-ters, and I have given them to the press in the humble hope that they may serve to excite the churchmen of Con- necticut to gratitude for the struggles borne by their forefathers, as well as teach them to prize more highly the rich inheritance into which they have come. It ought never to be forgotten what a vast debt is due to the men who, from Johnson down to Seabury, carried the Church in this Diocese through troublous and stormy epochs, till finally she was planted in peace, and Uke "a vineyard in a very fruitful hill." Grown to greatness under "the con- tinual dew of the divine blessing," she still retains, and long may she retain, the distinct impress of her original character. Minuteness of detail would have swelled the volume to an unusual size; but I have aimed to exhibit all the important facts necessary to a complete historic survey of the Church in the period which has been reviewed. Mistakes and omissions may have unin- tentionally occurred, and whoever discovers them will do me a favor by pointing them out in a kindly PREFACE. ix spirit, that they may be corrected and supphed. I have had no such unworthy object before my mind as to present eulogy under the guise of history, and it has not been in my heart to speak with severity of those from whom we theologically differ. While I confess to a strong attachment for the Episcopal Church, — having descended from one of the families which kindled her fires in Stratford under the earliest Missionary, — I am not conscious of any undue partial- ity in my statements. It has been my study to seek and write the truth; and the careful reader will find that I have been no more ready to hold up to cen- sure the harsh and bigoted sectarian than the indis- creet and guilty member of my own communion. Little allowance has hitherto been made for those who steadily adhered to the cause of the Cro^vn during the War of the Revolution. The Loyalists, for the most part, have been rudely assailed by Amer- ican historians, and their motives and principles mis- represented and occasionally traduced. The time has come for a more dispassionate consideration of their actions. The events of the last four years in our country must teach us to entertain a higher respect for the men who did not at once join in the cause for independence, violate their oaths of allegiance, and dis- own submission to the long-established Government. The course of the narrative is not interrupted by numerous foot-notes, but a list of some of the author- ities and sources of information consulted or referred to will be found at the end, before the Index. No X PREFACE. one, unless he has tried it, can judge of the time and labor necessary to be spent in examining authori- ties, and searching old manuscripts and town rec- ords, to produce a work of this kind. I acknowl- edge myself under obligations to several persons for supplying me with facts in their possession, and for the loan of rare books and pamj^hlets. Mr. Charles J. Hoadley, State Librarian at Hartford, has put into my hands copies of all the unprinted petitions rela- tive to the Church of England on file in the office of the Secretary of State. My thanks are espe- cially due to Mr. William Samuel Johnson of Strat- ford, for free access to the letters and papers of his grandfather and great-grandfather. The sea of John- son MSS. has been explored with abundant satisfac- tion, and many of the extracts to be found in the body of the work have been copied from the original draughts of the Rev. Dr. Johnson, rather than from the letters printed in that valuable publication, the "Documentary History of the Protestant EjDiscopal Church in Connecticut." The Library of Yale Col- lege has been open to me at all times, and the Good- rich and Kingsley Collections of Pamphlets have aided me greatly in my researches. The materials for another volume, bringing the his- tory down to the death of Bishop Brownell, are partly gathered; but the cares of a parish press upon me so much that an immediate use of them is not promised. E. E. B. New Haven, November, 1865. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND, AND THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ESTABLISHED BY THE PURITANS. A. D. 1620-1665. PAGK The Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay planted . . 1 Rise of the Puritans in England, and their part in the Reformation . 3 Their treatment under Queen Elizabeth and the House of Stuart . 4 Severity of Aj-chbishop Laud, and his attempt to establish uniformity by the secular arm .......... 5 Sufferings of the Puritans, the fruit of the principles of the times . 6 Preparations for the settlement of Connecticut, and the arrival of Win- throp, the younger, from England ....... 9 John Davenport and his associates anchor their ships in Quinnipiack harbor, and plant the Colony of New Haven 10 William Pitkin and six others, " members of the Church of England," petition the General Assembly for a redress of grievances . . 10 Church and State united, and the people taxed to support the standing order . . . . . . . . . . • .11 Execution of Charles I., and overturn of the British Government . 13 The New-England Puritans no better friends to liberty of conscience than their adversaries 14 Restoration of Charles II., and revival of affection for the Church of England 15 CHAPTER II. COMMISSIONERS OF CHARLES THE SECOND ; AND ORIGIN OF EPISCO- PACY IN CONNECTICUT. A. D. 1665-1722. An " Act of Toleration " passed by the General Assembly of Connect- icut in 1708 16 Charter of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 17 Xll CONTENTS. PAGB Missionary labors of Keith and Talbot 18 The Rev. George Muirson of Rye, in company with Col. Caleb Heath- cote, visits Stratford and baptizes a number of adults . . .20 The Congrcgationalists in Stratford invite the Rev. Timothy Cutler to become their Pastor .21 After a ministry often years among them, he is made Rector of Yale College 22 Organization of the parish in Stratford, and death of Mr. Muirson . 23 The Rev. Francis Philips sent out a Missionary by the Society in London, but proves unfit for the station ...... 26 Arrival of the Rev. George Pigot at Stratford, and renewal of the ef- fort to build a church ......... 27 Astounding events in the religious history of the colony . . .28 Rector Cutler, and several of the neighboring ministers, declare for Episcopacy, or doubt the validity of Presbytenan ordination . . 29 Debate in the Library of Yale College, presided over by Gov. Salton- stall 30 CHAPTER IIL THE INFLUENCE OF THE LITURGY AND TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ; AND THE RESULTS OF THE DEBATE IN THE LIBRARY OF YALE COLLEGE. A. D. 1722-1723. The annual Commencement in 1722 ....... 32 Samuel Johnson, the Congregational minister at West Haven, and Rector Cutler, and Daniel Brown, the Tutor in the College, his intimate friends .......... 33 His love for the Prayer Book ........ 34 Extracts from his private journal, and the uneasiness of his conscience 36 The alarm of the Trustees at the change in their religious sentiments ; and the request for their views in writing upon the matters which troubled their consciences . . . . . . . .37 The minds and pens of distinguished Congregational divines busy . 39 Mr. Cutler excused from all furthec service as Rector of Yale Col- lege, and the resignation of Mr. Brown, as Tutor, accepted . . 42 Efforts to guard the established religion of the Colony, and to main- tain the faith and ecclesiastical organization of the Puritans . . 42 Cutler, Johnson, and Brown embark for England to receive Holy Orders 43 Arrival at Canterbury, and visit to the Cathedral . . • .44 Reception by the Dean and a company of Prebendaries . . .45 Arrangements in London for their ordination and future duties . . 46 CONTENTS. xiii PAGE Cutler seized with the small-pox, and the ordination delayed . . 47 Ordained by the Bishop of Norwich near the end of March . . 47 Another great disappointment ; Death of Brown on Easter Eve . 48 CHAPTER IV. THE RETURN OF CUTLER AND JOHNSON TO AMERICA, AND THE IN- CREASE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN CONNECTICUT. A. D. 1723-1727. Preparations for returning 49 Visits to Oxford and Cambridge, and honors conferred upon Cutler and Johnson ........... 49 Joined by James Wetmore, the Congregational minister at North Haven 49 Appeal for an American Episcopate, and interest of Bishop Gibson in the measure ........... 50 Arrival of the Missionaries in New England, and Johnson's entry in his private journal after reaching Stratford . . , , .51 Opening of the first Episcopal church in Connecticut . . . .62 Mr. Pigot's Parochial Register; and letter of Johnson to the Bishop of London 53 Appeals of churchmen in Newtown, Redding, and Ripton, to the So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts . . 55 Hostility to the Church of England, and its increase in the Colony . 56 Johnson officiates at New London . . . . . . .57 Church built at Fairfield ......... 58 Talcott, the Governor of Connecticut, writing to the Bishop of London 58 Imprisonment of members of the Church of England for refusing to pay taxes to support dissenting ministers ..... 59 State of the Church in the Colony, and extent of Johnson's ministra- tions 60 The Church in Connecticut rooted amid storms and opposition . . 60 CHAPTER V. THB EFFECT OF CANDID INVESTIGATION, AND THE ENACTMENT OF A LAW IN CONNF.CTICUT TO RELIEVE CHURCHMEN. A. D. 1727-1729. Puritans disturbing the settled order of religion 62 Quincy's statement of the operations of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 63 Its opposition to historical facts 63 Xiv CONTENTS. PAGE Interest in the Church at New Haven 65 The Rev. Henry Caner appointed a Missionary in Fairfield, and the condition of the Congregationalists in that town . . . .66 The extent of his ministrations 68 The churchmen of Fairfield memorializing the General Assembly for relief from oppressive taxation 69 Passage of a law in favor of members of the Church of England . . 70 Construction put upon it ; and another Memorial . . . .71 Apologies for the course of the Government 72 Mr. Caner applies to the Society for an enlargement of his Missionary bounds, and permission to change his place of residence . . .78 Legal opinion in England adverse to the scheme . . . .74 Removal of families into the Province of New York to escape annoy- ance 74 Subscriptions towards the erection of a church at Wethersfield . . 75 CHAPTER VI. ARRIVAL OF DEAN BERKELEY IN RHODE ISLAND ; HIS BENEFAC- TIONS TO YALE college; AND NEW MISSIONARIES IN CONNECT- ICDT. A. D. 1729-1734. Royal charter to found a college at Bermuda 76 Appropriation from the crown lands in St. Kitts to promote the object 77 Devotion of Berkeley to the benevolent enterprise . . . .77 His mental studies and " Minute Philosopher " 78 The faithlessness of Sir Robert Walpole, and the return of the Dean to his native country 79 Consecrated Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland 80 Anniversary sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 80 Mr. Johnson visits him at Newport, and is charmed by his genius and character . , 81 Donation of books and lands to Yale College 82 Ingratitude of Rector Williams 84 The Rev. James McSparran, and his " America Dissected" . . 85 Samuel Seabury, a Congregational licentiate at North Groton, de- clares for Episcopacy, and proceeds to England for Holy Orders . 86 Returns with the appointment of a Missionary to New London . . 86 Increase of a good temper towards the Church ; new candidates for Orders, and the want of a resident Bishop .... 87 John Beach, the popular Independent minister at Newtown, declares . for Episcopacy . . .89 CONTENTS. XV Appointed a Missionary among his former people Church built in Newtown ; and Ebenezer Punderson The rooted tree spreading out its salubrious branches FAOE 90 91 92 CHAPTER VII. RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY ; AND THE GROWTH OF THE PARISHES. A. D. 1734-1738. A parishioner of Johnson assailed by Jonathan Dickinson . Controversy printed, and new champions in the field Popular attention drawn to the Church of England . Prolonged controversy between Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Beach . Episcopacy gaining strength in the Colony .... A church built at Hebron ; and John Bliss, a lay reader . Punderson appointed an Itinerant Missionary, with his residence at North Groton Mr. Caner visits England for the benefit of his health Extract from a letter of the Bishop of Gloucester to Johnson, touchin an American Episcopate Richard Caner a teacher in Fairfield and a lay reader at Norwalk Glebes and ministerial support ....... A second and larger church erected at Fairfield Spiritual condition of the Colony, and religious revival The Church a gainer by steadily presenting the truth 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 101 102 102 103 104 105 CHAPTER VIII. THE CHURCHMEN OF CONNECTICUT PETITIONING FOR A REDRESS OF THEIR GRIEVANCES ; AND REACTION OF PUBLIC SENTIMENT. A. D. 1738-1740. Petition of churchmen to the General Assembly in relation to the act appropriating moneys arising from the sale of lands . . . 107 Reasons why it should be so amended as to secure to them their equi- table proportion . . . . . . . . . .108 The memorial signed by six hundred and thirty-six males, and rejected by both Houses of Assembly . . . . . . . .110 Jonathan Arnold conforms to the Church of England, and is appointed Itinerant Missionary, with his residence at West Haven . .111 Public service at Milford, and movements to build churches in Derby and West Haven 112 Xvi CONTENTS. PAGB Mr. Arnold prevented from getting possession of Gregson's land by a mob . 114 The clergy of Connecticut unite in a complaint to the Society of the grievances they suffer from the Government 115 Mr. Arnold removes to Staten Island, and is succeeded by Rev. Theophilus Morris, an English clergyman 116 The present church at West Haven a specimen of Colonial Archi- tecture 118 New demands for the services of the Missionaries . . . .119 Reaction of public sentiment, and lingering reverence for the Church ofEngland 119 Sentiment and words of Higginson on embarking for America . .120 CHAPTER IX. ARRIVAL OF WHITEFIELD IN NEW ENGLAND, AND RELIGIOUS EN- THUSIASM. A. D. 1740-1742. The ordination of Whitefield, and his course rebuked by Bishops and clergy in England 121 Arrival in Rhode Island, and reception by the Independent ministers 122 Visit to Boston, and religious enthusiasm 123 Visit to Jonathan Edwards at Northampton, and welcomes in New Haven 124 Sparks of religious discord kindling 125 Extravagant demonstrations under the preaching of Gilbert Tennent, and irregularities of James Davenport 125 Course of tbe Episcopal clergy, and their condemnation by the Inde- pendent ministers . . . . . . . • . .127 Rapid growth of the Church in the interior, and demand for more Missionaries 128 Richard Caner goes to England for ordination, and letter from John- son to the Bishop of Cloyne 130 Divisions among the Congregationalists, and church built at Water- bury 131 Organization of a parish in Northbury 132 Church raised at Ripton, and effects of popular enthusiasm . . 133 CONTENTS. Xvil CHAPTER X. A COMMISSARY FOR CONNECTICUT SOLICITED ; AND THE INFLUENCE OF WHITEFIELD'S PREACHING. A. D. 1742-1747. PAGE Kev. Roger Price the Commissary for all New England . . . 134 Commissary for Connecticut solicited, and Mr. Johnson named as a suitable person for the appointment . . . . . .134 Animosity of the Rev. Theophilus Morris . . . . . .135 The Bishop of London unwilling to change his commission . . 136 Rev. James Lyons appointed a successor to Mr. Morris . . .136 Honorary Degree conferred upon Johnson by the university of Oxford 137 A new church built at Stratford . . . . . . .138 Rev. Richard Caner sent a Missionary to Norwalk, and a new church erected there, and also at Newtown . . . . . .139 Laws enacted to suppress enthusiasm, and their operation . .140 Churches built in Woodbury, New Milford, Norwich, and other places 141 Mr. Richardson Minor declares for Episcopacy, and dies on his way to England for Holy Orders ........ 142 Rev. William Gibbs sent to Simsbury, and removal of Mr. Caner to Boston 143 Candidates for Holy Orders, and renewed appeals for an American Episcopate 144 Gloomy picture of the moral and religious state of the colony . . 145 Whitefield returns to New England, and is denounced by Associa- tions of Connecticut divines, and by the authorities of Harvard and Yale 146 A love for Episcopacy manifested in New Haven, and especially in the College 148 Influence of laymen, and perpetuity of the Church's system . . 149 CHAPTER XL THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY KEEPING ALOOF FROM SECTARIAN CON- TROVERSIES ; AND THE GENERAL PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH. A. D. 1747-1752. Decline of religious enthusiasm, and prudence of the Episcopal clergy 151 Vacancies in Connecticut ......... 152 Appointment of the Rev. Mr. Lamson to Fairfield .... 153 Church built under his ministrations at Stratfield ... 154 b Xviii CONTENTS. PAGE Stamford and Greenwich assist their lay reader, Ebenezer DIbblee, to go to England for ordination 155 Misfoi'^une of the Norwalk people 156 Richard Mansfield and Jeremiah Leaming in Holy Orders . .157 Letter of Dr. Johnson to the Society, and his vigilance and fideUty . 157 Graduates of Yale College, and Thomas B. Chandler . . .159 Report of the Rev. Matthew Graves, the Missionary at New London 160 General prosperity of the Church throughout the Colony . . . 162 Ichabod Camp and Jonathan Colton ; death of Mr. Colton . .164 CHAPTER XIL MEMORIALS OF CHURCHMEN IN CONNECTICUT TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ; AND ORGANIZATION OF TRINITY PARISH, NEW HAVEN. A. D. 1752-1753. Memorials to the General Assembly, and opposition of Mr. Graves . 166 Punderson's ministrations in New Haven County . . . .167 Design of William Gregson's " indenture " to Jonathan Arnold . 168 Defect in, and its entry upon the Land Records . . . .169 Statement of the case, signed by six clergymen, sent to the Society . 169 Increase of the Church at New Haven, and formation of Trinity Parish 170 Another defective deed, and application to the General Assembly . 171 Enos Ailing and Isaac Doolittle, influential members of the parish . 171 The church built, and number of worshippers .• . . . .172 Mr. Punderson petitions to be appointed the Missionary in New Haven 173 Noah Hobart's " Addresses to the members of the Episcopal separa- tion in New England " 1 73 Charge against the Society for Propagating the Gospel, and defence by Mr. Beach 174 CHAPTER XIIL EDUCATION ; AND THE REMOVAL OF DR. JOHNSON TO NEW YORK TO ACCEPT THE PRESIDENCY OF KING'S COLLEGE. A. D. 1753-1756. Renewed zeal of Churchmen, and intelligence of the Laity . .176 Education in the hands of the Independents 177 Dr. Johnson refuses the oversight of a college at Philadelphia, and accepts the Presidency of King's College, New York . .178 CONTENTS. xix Charter of the Institution opposed ..... Removal of Johnson to New York ..... Measures adopted by Yale College to maintain the Puritan systi Attraction of Episcopal students to King's College . William Johnson embarks for England to receive Holy Orders Death from the small-pox, and grief of his father Pathetic appeal for an American Episcopate Entries in the Parochial Register of the church at Stratford Labors among the Indians PAGE 179 180 181 183 183 184 184 186 186 CHAPTER XIV. SUCCESSOR TO DR. JOHNSON AT STRATFORD ; AND THEOLOGICAL DIS- PUTES BETWEEN THE OLD LIGHTS AND THE NEW LIGHTS. A. D. 1756-1760. The Rev. Edward Winslow appointed to Stratford . . . .188 Introduction of the first organ into the Colony . . . . .189 Christopher Newton and Solomon Palmer 189 The number of Missionaries in Connecticut, and new churches . .189 Church built at Tashua 191 Growth of the parishes affected by the old French war . . .192 Theological disputes, and the Discourse of Mr. Beach . . .193 Controversy between the Old Lights and New Lights ; Wallingford case . . . . " 194 James Scovill added to the list of Missionaries, and removal of Mr. Camp from the Colony 197 Church opened at Cheshire 198 Lukewarmness in New Haven 198 A contrast ^ 199 CHAPTER XV. PROSPERITY OP THE CHURCH IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY, AND ALONG THE SHORE FROM NORWICH TO GREENWICH. A, D. 1760-1762. Ministrations of Solomon Palmer . . . . . . . 200 His treatment by his former people 201 Growth of Mr. Beach's Mission, and primitive customs . . . 202 Thomas Davies, Samuel Andrews, and John Beardsley embark for England to receive Holy Orders 204 XX CONTENTS. PAGE Their appointment as Missionaries ....... 205 Conscientious obedience to the instructions of the Society . . . 207 Church at Hebron supphed by Samuel Peters, a native of the place . 207 Illness of Mr. Gibbs, and appointment of Roger Viets to discharge his duties '208 Prosperity of the parishes in the shore towns ..... 209 Bela Hubbard and Abraham Jarvis proceed to England for ordination 210 Increase of the congregation at Ripton ....'.. 211 Churches erected at North Fairfield and Danbury . . . .211 CHAPTER XVI. MR. ST. GEORGE TALBOT ; BITTER OPPOSITION TO THE CHURCH ; AND DR. JOHNSON'S RETURN TO STRATFORD. A. D. 1762-1763. Charitable layman, and convention of the clergy at Ripton . .212 Pressing need of more Missionaries . . . . . . .213 Letters of Leaming and Winslow 214 Dr. Johnson's second marriage . . . . . . . .216 Domestic affliction ; death of his wife from small-pox . . .217 Resigns the Presidency of the College and retires to Stratford . .217 Appointment to his former charge 218 Transfer of Mr. Winslow to the vacant Mission at Braintree, Mass. . 219 Death of the Rev. Mr. Wetmore, and removal of Mr. Punderson to Rye 220 The Rev. Solomon Palmer his successor at New Haven . . 221 Result of the changes 222 CHAPTER XVII. CHURCH IN NEW HAVEN; DEFENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROPAGAT- ING THE GOSPEL ; AND AN AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. A. D. 1763-1764. Uninterrupted services of the Missionary desired in New Haven . 223 Purchase of Gregson's land, and title traced 224 The phantom ship, and settlement of Thomas Gregson's estate . . 226 Bitter assaults upon the Church throughout New England . . 228 The Society attacked and defended ....... 228 Apthorp, Beach, Johnson, and Archbishop Seeker enter into the controversy ........... 228 Establishment of a Mission at Cambridge, the seat of Harvard College 230 CONTENTS. XXI FACE Attempt to overthrow Episcopacy 231 The Independents frightened by the apparition of the English hie- rarchy 232 Seeker's reply to Mayhew, and vindication of an American Episcopate 233 Rejoinder, and notice by Apthorp 234 CHAPTER XVIII. HOSTILITY TO THE CHURCH ; PASSAGE OF THE STAMP-ACT ; AND THE COURSE OF THE CLERGY. A. D. 1764-1766. State of the public mind 235 Missions in the eastern part of the Colony . . . . .235 Ministrations of Hubbard and Jarvis ...... 236 Recall of Mr. Palmer to the Mission in Litchfield County, made vacant by the death of Thomas Davie s 237 Parishes formed in Watertown and Mihbrd, and churches begun . 238 Signs of political trouble ......... 239 General Congress of the Colonies to remonstrate against the' Stamp- Act 239 Course of the clergy of the Church of England .... 240 Dr. Chandler's letter to the Society . . . . . . .243 Repeal of the Stamp- Act ......... 246 Declaratory Act, and Webster's description of its effect . . . 246 Trials and disasters in store for the Church in Connecticut . .247 Vigilance of the Missionaries, and their Christian character . .248 CHAPTER XIX. APPEAL OF THE CLERGY OF CONNECTICUT FOR A BISHOP; DR. chandler's PUBLICATIONS, AND THE REPLIES OF HIS ANTAGO- NISTS. A. D. 1766. Convention at Stratford, and Address of the clergy .... 250 Want of a Bishop 250 Resolution of the Society not to establish any more Missions in New England 251 Private entreaties for an American Episcopate unavailing . . 252 Plans of union among Presbyterians and Congregationalists . . 255 Dr. Chauncey's notice of the Bishop of Landaff's sermon . . . 256 William Livingston's pamphlet on the same subject, and the reply to it .257 XXU CONTENTS. PAOB Chandler's " Appeal to the Public," and Dr. Johnson's assistance . 257 Spirit of the attacks upon it from various quarters .... 259 " Appeal to the Public Answered," by Dr. Chauncey . . . 260 " The Appeal Defended " 261 Action of Colonial Legislatures 262 CHAPTER XX. WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON A SPECIAL AGENT TO ENGLAND FROM THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT; DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP SECKER ; AND CLOSE OF THE PUBLIC CONTROVERSY CONCERNING AN AMER- ICAN EPISCOPATE. A. D. 1766-1771. Departure of Mr. Johnson for England as a special agent from the Colony 263 His introduction to the best society, and interest in the American Episcopate 263 Extract from a letter to Governor Trumbull 265 Death of Archbishop Seeker 266 His character, and zeal for the Church in this country . . .267 Indifference of the British ministry to her welfare, and political mis- takes 268 Dr. Johnson preparing students of Divinity for Holy Orders . . 269 New names added to the list of Missionaries 270 Andrews, Mansfield, and Peters extend their ministrations into the more northern provinces . . • . . . . .271 Church built in that part of Pomfret now called Brooklyn . .273 Trials of Godfrey Malbone 274 CHAPTER XXI. SUPPORT OF THE CLERGY; RENEWAL OF THEIR APPEAL FOR A BISHOP ; AND PROCEEDINGS OF DELEGATES FROM THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA, AND FROM THE ASSOCIATIONS OF CONNECTICUT. A. D. 1771-1772. ■ Provision for the Missionaries 276 Church at Middletown 277 Libraries of the clergy . . . . , . . . .277 Effort to establish the Church in Hartford unsuccessful . . .278 Suit at law to recover land 279 Signs of increased interest in the services of the Church . . .280 CONTENTS. Xxili FAOE Renewed appeal for an American Episcopate 282 Proceedings of Delegates in opposition to the measure . . . 283 Letters to the Committee of Dissenters in London .... 283 Statistics of Episcopalians and non-Episcopalians in the Colony . 286 Religious liberty, and the General Association of Congregational ministers in Connecticut 287 CHAPTER XXIL ENUMERATION OF EPISCOPALIANS IN CONNECTICUT ; ITS INFLU- ENCE ; AND THE DEATH OF REV. DR. JOHNSON. A. D. 1772-1774. Proportion of Episcopalians to non-Episcopalians .... 288 Secret opposition to the Church 289 Correspondence of Johnson with Bishop Lowth and Dr. Berkeley . 290 Spirit of the Convention of Delegates 291 Testimony of the elder Adams 291 Connecticut churchmen emigrating into new settlements . . . 292 Gideon Bostwick appointed a Missionary in Great Barrington, and James Nichols, the last of those from Connecticut who went to England for Holy Orders 293 Troubles of the country thickening, and no new missions planted . 293 Death of the Rev. Dr. Johnson 295 His Life compiled by Dr. Chandler 296 The Rev. Mr. Kneeland his successor at Stratford . . . .297 Influence and labors of Mr. Beach 298 Clouds in the American sky 299 CHAPTER XXHL THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION; AND THE ADHERENCE OF THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND TO THE CAUSE OF THE CROWN. A. D. 1774-1776. Churchmen the objects of public suspicion 301 Arrest of the Rev. Samuel Seabury, and his confinement in New Haven 302 His memorial to the General Assembly, and release .... 303 Returns to Westchester, and becomes a chaplain to a Loyal Ameri- can Regiment .......... 305 Independence of the Rev. Samuel Peters, and a mob in Hebron . 306 His forced confession, and escape from the country .... 306 XXIV CONTENTS. pAoa The clergy drawn into embarrassments and perils from supporting the Crown Zeal of the partisans for liberty Opposition to Mr. ]\Ians6eld, and his flight to Long Island The Laity for the most part in sympathy with the Clergy Course of Dr. William Samuel Johnson .... Loyalty among the Congregational ministers . . . 308 309 310 310 311 313 CHAPTER XXIV. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE/ TRIALS OF THE MISSION- ARIES IN CONNECTICUT ; AND DEATH OF MR. BEACH. A. D. 1776-1781. The Thirteen Colonies declared independent ..... 315 Oaths of allegiance, taken at the time of their ordination, involving the clergy in new troubles ........ 315 Treatment of Viets, Leaming, and other Missionaries in Connecticut 316 Meeting of the clergy at New Haven, and resolution to suspend the public exercise of their ministry . . . . . . .318 Firmness of Mr. Beach, and his churches not closed .... 319 Action of the parish in Norwich 320 Troubles of Mr. Graves, and his abandonment of his parish . . 321 Reopening of the churches, and use of prayers lor Congress and the Independent States . . . . . . . . .323 Visit of the British forces under General Tryon to New Haven . 324 Fairfield and Norwalk burnt with their churches . . . 325-327 Loss by Mr. Leaming, and his escape to New York .... 328 Abuse of sacred edifices, and treatment of Mr. Marshall . . . 329 Death of Mr. Beach, and the memory of his name .... 331 CHAPTER XXV. DISCOURAGING FEATURES IN THE CAUSE OF THE COLONIES ; CON- NECTICUT THE THEATRE OF FRESH HORRORS; CHANGE IN THE BRITISH MINISTRY, AND TREATY OF PEACE. A. D. 1781-1783. Leading patriots of the land despondent 332 Washington mourning the lack of public virtue .... 332 Depreciation of the currency ........ 333 Jealousy among the militarj' officers ....... 334 Blunders of the British ministry 336 CONTENTS. XXV PAGE The clergy not willing to forfeit their stipends from the Society, while the issue of the contest was in doubt Expedition to New London under Benedict Arnold The town burnt, with the Episcopal churcli Garrison in Fort Griswold massacred Purity and piety of the Connecticut clergy Tribute of respect to their memory . Negotiations for a genei-al peace begun in Paris Treaty signed, and independence of the Thii-teen Colonies acknowl- edged ............ 343 336 337 337 338 339 340 342 CHAPTER XXVI. CONDITION OF THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT AT THE CLOSE OF THE war; MEETING OF THE CLERGY AT "WOODBURY, AND DR. SEABURY PREVAILED UPON TO GO TO ENGLAND FOR CONSECRA- TION; WITHDRAWAL OF MISSIONARIES AND LOYALISTS TO THE BRITISH PROVINCES. A. D. 1783-1784. Gloomy prospects for the Missionaries ...... 345 Loss of their stipends from the Society 345 Number in Connecticut at the close of the war .... 346 Meeting at Woodbury, to deliberate upon the affairs of the Church and organize for the future . . . . . . . .346 Samuel Seabury prevailed upon to go to England for consecration . 347 His departure ........... 348 Letter of the clergy to the Archbishop of York .... 348 Pamphlet of the Rev. William White 349 Treatment of the Loyalists, and their emigration to the British provinces . . . . . . . . . . .351 Withdrawal of the clergy and portions of their flocks . . . 353 Misfortunes of the Rev. Dr. Charles Inglis ..... 356 His elevation to the See of Nova Scotia . . . . . .357 Testimony to the character of the Refugees by the Bishop of Oxford 35 7 XXVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVII. ARRIVAL OP SEABURY IN LONDON, AND IMPEDIMENTS TO HIS CON- SECRATION. CONSECRATED IN SCOTLAND. RETURN TO CONNECT- ICUT; AND PRIMARY CONVENTION AT MIDDLETOWN. A. D. 1784-1785. PAGE Dr. Seabury presents his testimonials to the English Bishops . . 358 Objections to his consecration raised 358 Correspondence between the bishop elect and the clergy of Connect- icut 359 Reluctance of Parliament to authorize the consecration . . . 360 Attention directed to the Scotch succession 361 Dr. Seabury visits Scotland, and receives consecration . . . 363 Returns to London, and addresses a letter to the Venerable Society . 365 Stipends of the Missionaries cease ....... 366 Arrival of Bishop Seabury at New London 367 Convention at Middletown, and public reception by the clergy of their Bishop 368 Ordination of four candidates to the Diaconate 370 Sermon of Mr. Leaming before the Convention . . . .370 Bishop Seabury's First Charge 371 CHAPTER XXVIII. PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTIONS OF DELEGATES FROM SEVERAL STATES, AND ATTEMPTS TO UNITE THE CHURCH IN THE INDE- PENDENT COLONIES UNDER ONE GENERAL CONSTITUTION. A. D. 1785-1786. Business of the Convention at Middletown 373 Meeting of Delegates from different States at New Brunswick . . 374 Meeting in New York, and refusal of Connecticut to join in the meas- ures contemplated 374 Interchange of civilities . . 376 Correspondence between Drs. White and Smith and Bishop Seabury and Dr. Chandler -377 Clergy of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire meet at Boston 379 First General Convention at Philadelphia 380 No representation from any of the New-England States . . . 380 Adoption and publication of "The Proposed Book" . . .381 Settlement of Bishop Seabury at New London, and rebuilding of the church 388 CONTENTS. XXVU PAGE Churches at Fairfield and Norwalk rebuilt 384 Erection of churches at Branford and Woodbury .... 385 Ordination at Derby, and disposal of the candidates .... 386 CHAPTER XXIX. CHANGES IN THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER ; AND THEIR RECEP- TION IN ENGLAND; CONSECRATION OF DRS. PROVOOST AND WHITE ; THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT, AND CORRESPONDENCE OP BISHOPS AND CLERGY. A. D. 1786-1789. Communion Office set forth for the use of the Church in Connecticut 388 Reception of " The Proposed Book " iu England .... 389 Reassemblinn; of the General Convention at Philadelphia . . . 389 Answer of English Prelates to the application for the Episcopate, and reply of the Convention ........ 390 Attempts to discredit the ordinations of Dr. Seabury . . . 392 Convention assembles in Wilmington, Delaware, pursuant to adjourn- ment 393 A second letter from the English prelates 393 Adoption of their suggestions . . . . . . . .395 Consecration of Drs. Provoost and White in the chapel of Lambeth Palace, and their return to America ...... 396 Progress of the Church in Connecticut . . . . . .397 Steps of her clergy to secure a coadjutor Bishop .... 399 Correspondence between Bishops Skinner and Seabury . . . 400 Efforts to bring about a reconciliation 402 Influence of Learning and Parker 403 CHAPTER XXX. ELECTION OF A BISHOP FOR MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW HAMPSHIRE; SIGNS OF CHRISTIAN HARMONY; GENERAL CONVENTION AT PHIL- ADELPHIA ; COMPLETION OF THE UNION OF THE CHURCH IN ALL THE STATES, AND ADOPTION OF THE BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER. A. D. 1789-1790. Election of Rev. Edward Bass to the Episcopate .... 405 Appeal to the three Bishops in this country to join in his consecra- tion 405 General Convention at Philadelphia, July, 1 789 .... 406 Xxviii CONTENTS. PAGE Sitrns of Christian harmony, and recognition of the validity of Bishop Seabury's orders 406 Death of Dr. Griffith 406 Action of the Convention upon the case of Mr. Bass . . . . 407 Healing of the breach between the two great parties . . . 408 Three Bishops in the Anglican line desired before proceeding to con- secrate 409 Connecticut appoints clerical delegates to the General Convention, adjourned to meet again in September 409 A House of Bishops established 411 Seabury and White In council 412 Completion of the general union, and revision of the Book of Com- mon Prayer 413 Convocation of the clergy of Connecticut confirm the doings of their Proctors 415 Death of Marshall and Learning 416 CHAPTER XXXI. INTRODUCTION OP THE LAITY INTO THE COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH; COURSE OF THE KEV. JAMES SAYRE ; AND CONSECRATION OF THE FIRST BISHOP IN AMERICA. A. D. 1790-1792. Establishment of a College of Doctors 418 Appointment of the first Standing Committee 419 Primary Convention of the Bishop, Clergy, and Laity at New Haven 420 Adoption of an ecclesiastical constitution by the parishes . . .421 Protest of the Rev. James Sayre 421 Sympathy of the parish at Stratford with his course .... 422 Address of the Rev. John Bowden 424 Result of the controversy with Mr. Sayre . . . . . . 425 The Rev. Ashbel Baldwin called to Stratford, and discontent at Woodbury 425 Peace throughout the Diocese, and prosperity of the Church . . 427 Bishop Seabury preaches the sermon before the General Convention at New York 428 Consecration in England of the Rev. James Madison, as Bishop of Virginia 428 Consecration of the Rev. Dr. Claggett, Bishop elect of Maryland . 429 Incomplete record of confirmations ....... 430 Erection of a new church at Newtown 431 CONTENTS. XXIX CHAPTER XXXII. infidelity; the establishment of the episcopal academy of connecticut; third genekal" convention; and death of bishop seabury. A. D. 1792-1796. PAGE Infidel opinions and Calvinistic theology ...... 432 The Church drawing to the old paths and the good way ." . . 433 Foresight of Bishop Seabury . . . . . . . .4 33 Renunciation of the ministry by the Rev. David Perry . . . 435 Establishment of the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire . . . 436 Third General Convention, and no representative from Connecticut 436 "Strictures on the Love of Power in the Prelacy" . . . .437 Convocation of the clergy at East Plymouth and Harwinton . . 437 Consecration of churches, and ordination of Rev. Mr. Griswold . 438 Forms of Prayer set forth for Courts and General Assembly . .438 Sudden death of Bishop Seabury ....... 439 Impress of his character upon the Church in Connecticut . . . 439 Popularity as a man and a preacher . . . . . . . 440 New church at New London 440 Monument to his memoi'y, and conclusion 441 APPENDIX A. Letter of Mr. Cutler resigning his charge at Stratford . . . 445 Extracts from the Records of Yale College 446 APPENDIX B. Letter of Rev. Dr. Johnson to President Clap 447 APPENDIX C. Correspondence between the Standing Committees of Rhode Island and Connecticut 450 LIST OF SOME OF THE AUTHORS QUOTED OR CONSULTED. . 453 HISTORY EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT. CHAPTER I. THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND, AND THE RELIGIOUS LIB- ERTY ESTABLISHED BY THE PURITANS. A. D. 1620-1665. Upwards of a century passed away after the dis- covery of America by Christopher Cokimbus before our extreme eastern shores were hned with Enghsh emigrants. The Pilgrims of Leyden, with an ecclesi- astical organization formed before they sailed from Delft Haven, landed at Plymouth in December 1620, and eight years later John Endicott and his company began to plant the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. The resolute and honored Winthrop, and those ^vho immediately followed him, took possession of Boston and the surrounding country in 1630. These were the earliest successful New- England colonies ; and through school-books, tales, poems, orations, com- memorative addresses, and elaborate histories, we have long been taught that they were the offspring of such direct religious persecution in the mother-country as really drove them from their homes. Those who read 2 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH history only as a recreation from toil, and shun the labor of collating the representations of different au- thors, are quite ready to fall into this belief, and to float along with the current of popular feelings and prejudices. To speak the truth and to contemplate ■with calmness the ferments of an age of revolution, ought not to detract from a proper reverence for the character of our Puritan forefathers. Thousch we know their imperfections and their faults, which were in a measure the faults of the times and of our com- mon ancestry, we may admire and honor none the less their zeal and bravery — their earnestness and energy — their faith and devotion. Dr. Trumbull begins his " Complete History of Con- necticut, Civil and Ecclesiastical," with this remark- able sentence : " The settlement of New England, purely for the purposes of religion, and the propaga- tion of civil and religious liberty, is an event which has no parallel in the history of modern ages." Let us cross the ocean and scatter ourselves for a while in the cities and among the Gothic churches of the British realm. What do we hear and what do Ave see ? We hear cold responses to the prayer for " our most gracious Sovereign Lord, King James." We hear the trumpet giving "an uncertain sound," and we observe signs of popular discontent and evidences of non-conformity to the established religion of the land. Whence has this state of things, this lack of reverence for the venerable usages of the Church, arisen ? If we go back a little, we shall discover that it is one of the unhappy and unintended results of the Reformation. Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Protestants became divided into two great parties, — IN CONNECTICUT. 3 those who were in favor of adhering to the Liturgy and ritual order adopted and estabhshed in the reign of Edward the Sixth, and those who desired to carry reform still farther, and to introduce a simpler and as they conceived a purer form of church discipline and worship. The opponents of a Liturgy and of the hierarchy were comprehended under the general name of Pimtans, — a name which had been applied before to the thin companies of English Protestants in exile on the Continent, while the Bloody Mary occu- pied the throne. Not separating as yet from the Church of England, they were that party within it which accepted its doctrines as set forth in the Thirty- nine Articles, because they were truly Protestant, — but accepted them with the right of private interpre- tation, taking them in the pure Calvinistic sense, and in many cases with the avowed purpose of not con- forming to the prescribed rubrical ceremonies and ob- servances. The Reformation in England, unlike that on the Continent, was conducted by the authority of government, and under the direction of several of the most learned and devoted prelates, — so that there was no good or assignable reason for any departure from the outward order of the Church. All that was intended to be done was to banish doctrines contrary to the Word of God, to make the people acquainted with the Scriptures, to give them a Liturgy free from Romish corruptions, and to remove from it all idle and unprofitable ceremonies. The English Reformers, therefore, understanding their work well, — which was to restore, not to de- stroy,— paused precisely at that point where they be- lieved their high object would be accomphshed ; but 4 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the Puritans were not content. The more moderate among them had scruples of conscience about wear- ing the surplice, the Episcopal habits, and the four- cornered hat, kneeling at the communion, and the sign of the cross in Baptism ; while the more violent went farther, and were for imposing their own Gene- van scheme upon the whole nation. On this account, and for their continued disregard of the established form of Church government, Elizabeth treated them with great rigor during almost the whole of her reign. This only served to alienate their affections, to ani- mate their zeal, and to push them into more strenu- ous and decided opposition to the ceremonials of Di- vine worship. Under James, of the house of Stuart, who succeeded Elizabeth in 1603, their fortunes were not improved, and they gained no advantages as a reforming party; for the king, though educated, in a measure, under Presbyterian influences, favored and maintained the English Church as he found it ordered and settled. Upon his death in 1625, his son Charles the First ascended the throne, and now his reign thickens with events which gave impulse to the colonizing of New England. Two centuries had elapsed since France had furnished a queen-consort to Britain ; but Charles was no sooner crowned than he inaugurated his reign by wedding Henrietta Maria, the beautiful daughter of Henry the Great, — an alliance which, with all its circumstances, excited rather than allayed the irrita- tion of the Puritans. With a good heart, but a weak judgment, he attempted to rule the people more by lis sovereign and absolute prerogative than by law. cle continued the policy of his father in Cl\urch and IN CONNECTICUT. 5 State, and surrounded himself with advisers who watched narrowly the old controversies, and insisted upon a rigid obedience to the rubrics and canons established under the dominion 'of his predecessors. When Abbott, the archbishop, sufficiently mild and moderate in his defence of the Reformed Church, but exact in maintaining the prerogatives of the High Commission Court and the Star-Chamber, was laid in his grave, William Laud was elevated to the Primacy, and he, it must be confessed, full of zeal, full of energy, loved and served the Church with all his heart ; but, like others of whom we read, raised to important positions in troublous and disastrous times, he had his faults, and attempted the accomplishment of his de- signs with too httle wisdom, meekness, or gentleness. Austere in all his habits, repulsive in his manners, impatient under contradiction, and arrogant in his Episcopal sway, he attached to himself no company of grateful and affectionate adherents, but found his enemies multiplying on every side, and ready to thrust him into that path the end of which had always been the scaffold. As the principal and confidential ad- viser of Charles the First, he took no pains to con- ciliate the Puritans ; but, moved by his own sense of duty to the Church, reduced the services through- out the realm to a stricter order, and restored customs and ceremonies which, to say the least, savored of superstition, or which seemed to impress the " senti- ments of local holiness and sacramental efficacy." He was a better man, however, than many who have pur- sued him with malignity, and justified the crime of his execution by painting his character in the darkest and most odious colors. 6 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Non-conformity in the reign of Charles the First was so common that those who administered disci- plme were compelled to nse some degree of severity. To uphold the order of the Church by the strength of the secular arm, was accounted the surest way to enforce religious unity ; and no one appears to have questioned the lawfulness of employing violence for the attainment of that end. The sufferings of the Puritans were the fruit of the prmciples of the times, and the very men who complained of hard treatment under Laud proved themselves to be greater perse- cutors than the Primate himself The spirit and lan- guage of conciliation were alike unknown in that day. The barbarities inflicted in 1630 upon Leighton, and subsequently upon Prynne and Bastwick and Burton, for having published schismatical and seditious libels, are extraordinary, and overwhelm the mind with astonishment and sorrow. But it was a struggle for preeminence, as events afterwards showed, rather than for toleration ; and when Presbytery acquired power, its little finger w^ould have proved thicker than the loins of the bishops, had not the reins of discipline been stoutly held by the Parliament. And so when Prynne, the persecuted, became a persecutor, " he executed that hateful office with the malignity of a fiend, entering the prison-chamber of Laud whilst he was in bed, searching the pockets of his garments, and refusing to let him have a copy of his own manu- scripts, unless it were made at his own charge." Neal, m his " History of New England," says, " it must be allowed that, when the Puritans were in power, they carried their resentments too far." Unwarrantable cruelty in one party is no justification of it in an- IN CONNECTICUT. 7 other ; yet when men talk of the sufferings and sac- rifices and self-denial of the Puritans, they should consider the spirit and principles of the age, and remember how those who were thus persecuted turned persecutors and practised the rigors from which they sought to escape. We have the opiiiion of Bishop Burnet, that the Church of England was milder in her government than either Presbytery or Independency. " It were as easy as it would be invid- ious," says he, " to show that both Presbyterians and Independents have carried the principle of rigor in the point of conscience much higher, and have acted more implacably upon it than ever the Church of England has done, even in its angriest fits." From this brief review of an eventful period in English history it can hardly be said that the early settlement of New England sprung from any necessity to avoid direct religious persecution in the mother- country, or from an unmixed motive to "propagate civil and religious liberty." " After the fashion of op- pressed sects," are the words of Macaulay, " the Puri- tans mistook their own vindictive feelings for emo- tions of piety ; encouraged in themselves in reading and meditation a disposition to brood over their wrongs, and when they had worked themselves up into hating their enemies, imagined that they were only hating the enemies of Heaven." Their griev- ances were great. Their sufferings were severe enough to irritate them, and bring lasting disgrace on the government; but they did not destroy life. Even the Pilgrims of Leyden, who, separated from the Church, and with their future pastor, John Robinson, fled jfrom the north of England in 1608, without doubt 8 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH "purely for the purposes of religion," might have returned a few years later and enjoyed comparative liberty. For the fires of Smithfield had ceased to be kindled, and there was no burning at the stake in England, nor persecution unto death in any form for the sake of rehgious opinions and practices, after 1611. The rites and ceremonies of the English Church then were substantially what they are now, and the quarrel between the opposing parties was more over these than over Christian doctrines. The Protestant faith was struggling to maintain its life without casting aside all the good things which Rome had corrupted and abused, and the government was enforcing a recognition of the religion which by law had been established. America, at this period, was attracting some of the most skilful European voyagers to her shores. The Spaniards and the Italians led the way in the earliest discoveries, and the Dutch and the French seem to have taken advantage of the time, while England was absorbed with her religious disputes, to acquire pos- sessions on this continent. But with the patents and charters granted by King James to different compa- nies of his subjects, the spirit of Anglo-Saxon enter- prise was awakened and greatly increased in the reign of his unfortunate son. Whether the plan of colonizing New England originated with the Puritans or with Sir Ferdinando Gorges is an inquiry which need not be settled here; but it is certain that, who- ever were the originators, the plan resulted as much from the commercial ideas and adventurous spirit of the age as from religious impulse. Perhaps we should say, as the cautious Humphrey did, that " it ought to IN CONNECTICUT. 9 be owned to the just honor of this people, that the first settlers who left their native country, England, appear to have done it out of a true prmciple of con- science, however erroneous." Preparations for the settlement of Connecticut were begun in 1633, on the banks of the river which gives name to the State. Early in the autumn of that year, a company of explorers from the Colony of Plymouth established a trading - house at Windsor, near the mouth of the Tunxis River, and carried on a brisk traffic in peltry with the native inhabitants. Shortly before, the Dutch from Manhattan had erected a fort at Hartford, six miles below, and claimed possession of the country by the right of being the original dis- coverers. They resisted with redoubtable threats, and some show of siege and assault, the movements of their new neighbors ; but all attempts to dislodge them proved unavailing, and the English colonists were soon left to the occupancy of the soil, and to the privilege of working out their deliverance both from the Indians and from the rigors of a winter in the wilderness. When their scheme of settlino- Connecti- cut came to be fully known in the Old Colony, it met with strong opposition, and permission to remove thither with their families was only granted after a warm debate in the General Court. In 1635, John Winthrop, son of Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, but a more accomplished and amiable man, arrived at Boston, with a commission from sundry noblemen and gentlemen interested in the Connecticut patent, and proceeded, according to his instructions, to erect forti- fications, buUd houses, and make a settlement at the mouth of the river. 10 HISTORY OF TflE EPISCOPAL CHURCH In the spring of 1638, John Davenport and his as- sociates — who had wintered at Boston, waitmg there, to use his o^vn words, for "the eye of God's Provi- dence " to " guide us to a place convenient for our famihes and for our friends," and resisting the induce- ments offered them to remain in Massachusetts and blend their influence and their wealth with the earlier emigrants — anchored their ships in Quinnipiack har- bor, and began the settlement of the Colony of New Haven. Thus there were two jurisdictions or colonies in what constitute the present limits of Connecticut, with separate governors and councils; and this state of things continued until 1665, when New Haven was put under the broad and liberal charter granted to Connecticut by Charles the Second, and Winthrop the younger became Governor of the united colonies. In all this time there is no evidence that Episcopacy was anywhere tolerated, or that it had any earnest friends in Connecticut to vindicate its claims. If here and there one was bold enough to avow his pref- erence for the Ritual of the Church, he was made so uncomfortable by it that he soon modified his opinion or sought a more quiet residence. William Pitkin and six others, signing themselves " professors of the Protestant Christian Religion, members of the Church of England, and subjects to our Sovereign Lord, Charles the Second, by God's grace King of England," did indeed address the General Assembly at the Octo- ber session in 1664, " declaring their aggricvances," and "petitioning for a redress of the same." Their grievances were, that they were not under the care of those who "administered in a due manner" the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; that IN CONNECTICUT 11 they "were as sheep scattered, having no shepherd"; and they asked for the estabhshment of " some whole- some law," by virtue of which they might both claim and receive their privileges ; and " furthermore they humbly requested, that for the future no law might be of any force to make them pay or contribute to the maintenance of any minister or officer in the Church that will neglect or refuse to baptize their children, and take care of them" as church-members. The action which followed this humble petition was simply a rec- ommendation to the ministers and churches in the colony, " to consider whether it be not their duty to entertain all such persons, who are of an honest and god- ly conversation, having a competency of knovvdedge in the principles of religion," — entertain meaning in this place to receive into church-fellowship and treat ac- cordingly. The recommendation — which was ordered by the Court to be sent to the several ministers and churches in the colony — added, "that all the children of the Church be accepted and accounted real mem- bers," " and that the Church exercise a due Christian care and watch over them ; and that, when they are grown up, being examined by the officer in the pres- ence of the church," and it appears, in the judgment of charity, they are duly qualified to participate in that great ordinance of the Lord's Supper, by their being able to examine themselves and to discern the Lord's body, such persons be admitted to full communion. Church and State were as closely united here, at that period, as ever they were in England. The ecclesiastical and civil powers were blended together, and liberty of conscience and the theory of human rights existed more in name than in reality. The 12 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH people were compelled to support the Congregational order, which was the order of faith established by the civil government. Nor was this all. None had hb- erty to worship publicly in any other way, nor could men vote or hold any civil office, except in the orig- inal Colony of Connecticut, unless they were members of some Congregational church. The settlement of New Haven was eminently a commercial project, and Theophilus Eaton, the first governor of it, had been, as Cotton Mather calls him, "a merchant of great credit and fashion in the city of London." He had been, too, the early friend and parishioner of John Davenport, who, before his emigration to this country, was Vicar of St. Stephen's Church, Coleman Street, London. The first planters of New Haven set up for independence, and recognized no human authority apart from themselves. They appear to have been very careful to avoid any mention of their native land, or any allusion to the question of allegiance to the King. Davenport, an Oxford divine, who must be regarded as the light that guided them in their religious organization, threw off all the liturgical forms to which in his youth he had been accus- tomed, and " in Newmjiii's barn laid down Scripture foundations for the town." About the same time his brother Christopher, with a like temperament, also deserted the Church of Eng- land, but travelled in an opposite direction, and did not stop until he reached Rome, gave in his allegiance to the supremacy of the Pope, and became a high official in the Romish communion. After the independent jurisdiction of New Haven IN CONNECTICUT. 13 had been extinguished by incorporating the colony with Connecticut, John Davenport accepted an invi- tation to remove to Boston, and he was the more wilhng to accept it, because the practice of restrict- ing the right of suffrage to church-members, for which he had honestly contended, was henceforth to be given uj) for the broader practice which had always obtained in the older colony. It helped to strengthen the Puritan policy in New England, that events m the mother-country had led to the dethronement and execution of Charles the First, and to the overturn of the government both in Church and State. The removal of Episcopacy and the Book of Common Prayer opened a floodgate through which errors and heresies of the wildest kind rushed in and overspread the land. More unlucky prophets never existed than the preachers of war and rebellion in the time of Oliver Cromwell, and a more complete system of tyranny never was set up than that which drove the Episcopal clergy from their liv- ings, and forbade the people, who still remembered their cherished customs, even to keep with religious wor- ship that " day of days " in the Calendar, the festival of the Nativity of our Lord. So wearied had the people become of these and other like things, and so little reason had the nation at large to be satisfied with that novel form of government imposed by the regicides, that, upon the death of the Protector, the Presbyterians themselves were quite ready to accept the restoration of Charles the Second, and the reestab- lishment of the ancient monarchy. It is natural for the child to nnitate the parent and espouse the family interests. Though remote from 14 HISTORY OF THE EriSCOPAL CHURCH all the convulsions and intolerances of the home gov- ernment, the New-England Colonies felt their influ- ence, and shaped their policy with a view to perpet- uate rigid and severe discipline. They noted and punished departures from the estabhshed order of religion, and few were the favors and tender mercies shown in Massachusetts to the Baptists and the Quak- ers. " AVhen the first New-England league Avas formed, in 1643, for better protection against savage warfare, the delegates of Maine were excluded because they were Churchmen, and those of Rhode Island, because they were Baptists." -^ Such was the clamor raised not only in America, but Europe, against the government of Massachusetts, for cruel treatment of the Quakers, that the mag- istrates were led to publish a declaration in defence of their conduct. Four of those unhappy religionists suffered death by virtue of the law of the Colony, — two of them on the 27th of October 1659 ; and Neal, the faithful historian of the Puritans, is free to confess that " these executions raised a great clamor against the government, and sullied the glory of their former sufferings from the bishops ; for now it appeared that the Neiv-England Puritans were no better friends to liberty of conscience than their adversaries, and that the question between them was not, whether one party of Christians should have power to oppress an- other, but who should have that power. Great num- bers of the common people were offended at these proceedings, as well as the generaUty of sober persons in the several nations of Europe, which," he goes on to say, "obliged the magistrates to pubUsh to the 1 Poor's English Civilization in America, p. 61. IN CONNECTICUT. 15 world their OAvn vindication," ^ and whicli he gives at length, showing that they were still resolved to con- tinue the law in force, and two of the four executions mentioned above (one that of a Avoman) followed quickly upon the utterance of their public apology. But as the Church in England revived with the monarchy, so here there was a revival of affection in the hearts of some for the ancient forms of faith, as well as an outspoken sense of the justice which belonged to them, after the restoration of the Royal family in 1660. The ministers who came over to this country with the earliest emigrants had re- ceived Episcopal ordination, and, as they passed to their final reward, their places were supplied in a way which must have excited doubt in the minds of those who had a spark of reverence for the past, or any lingering recollection of the formula, "It is evi- dent unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scri]3ture and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been three orders of ministers in Christ'? Church, — Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." 1 Neal's History of New England, Vol. I. p. 329. 16 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER n. COMMISSIONEES OF CHARLES THE SECOND; AND ORIGIN OF EPIS- COPACY IN CONNECTICUT. A. D. 1665-1722. When the Commissioners of Charles the Second visited Connecticut in 1665, they carried back a re- port that the colony "will not hinder any from en- joying the Sacraments and using the Common Prayer Book, provided they hinder not the maintenance of the public minister." But the Commissioners could not have meant by this statement that there was any legal provision for such liberty. They probably received private assurances, that, whenever any in the colony should desire to adopt in their worship the ritual and doctrines of the English Church, they would not be disturbed, and that the laws would be changed in conformity with such desire. For there was no letting up of the Puritan rigor, no relaxation of the rule that none should have liberty to worship God publicly except after the order of religion estab- lished by the civil government, until 1708. In that year the General Assembly of Connecticut passed what was called the "Act of Toleration," by which all persons who soberly dissented from the worship and ministry by law established, — that is, the Congre- gational order, — were permitted to enjoy the same liberty of conscience with the Dissenters in England IN CONNECTICUT. 17 under the act of William and Mary. That act ex- empted Dissenters from punishment for non-conform- ity to the established Church, but did not exempt them from taxation for its maintenance. And so, by appearing before the County Court, and there in legal forms declaring their " sober dissent," any persons in the Colony of Connecticut could obtain permission to have public worship in their own way; but they were still obliged to pay for the support of the Con- gregational churches in the place of their respective residences. This little relaxation of Puritan rigor must have been prompted by a growing feeling of uneasiness in the colony. As early as 1690, some half a cen- tury after the settlement of the place, " a considerable number of freeholders, inhabitants of the town of Stratford, professors of the faith of the Church of Eng- land, desired to worship God in the way of their fore- fathers." The communication between this and the mother- country had become so frequent that mer- chants and traders, as well as artisans and planters, were invited hither by the promise of rich gains, and of these adventurers the Church of England had a fair proportion of representatives in Stratford, then a town embracing a large section of the present County of Fairfield. They must have fed their faith and kept alive their churchmanship by private reading and a private use of the Liturgy, for they had no mmister to whom they might flee for counsel and direction. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was chartered in England, June 16th, 1701, and among its first acts was that of sending to this and other British colonies on the American con- 2 18 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH tinent a Missionary, to itinerate and make personal observations. The individual selected for this pur- pose was George Keith, a Scotchman by birth, who for twenty-eight years was a distinguished light among the Quakers. He proclauned and defended their tenets in East Jersey and Philadelphia, and, according to his own account, " the burden of the Word of the Lord came upon him on the twenty-first day of the fourth month, 1688, in the town of Boston, in New England," and he there " boldly threw down the gauntlet, and challenged to theological combat the chosen cham- pions of Puritanism." Appearing again in Pennsyl- vania, he commenced his famous dispute with the Quakers, which ended in his separation from them, and in twenty-eight of their leading members issuing against him what they called "A Testimony of Dis- ownment," — a testimony confirmed by the Yearly Meeting of their brethren in London. In 1694 he went to England, and subsequently received Holy Orders in the established Church. The Society sent him back to this country, in company with Mr. Patrick Gordon, who was to be the Missionary for Long Isl- and. Mr. Gordon died, of a "violent fever," a few weeks after his arrival, and then Mr. Keith had for his assistant and associate in missionary travels and services the Rev. John Talbot, chaplain of the ship in which they came over to America. The journal of the Missionary proves the extent of their labors, and the reception which they met with in different places. The only town in Connecticut mentioned as having been visited by them was New London, where they passed a Sunday; and both of them preached, being invited to do so by Mr. Gurdon Sal- IN CONNECTICUT. 19 tonstall, then the Congregational minister in that place, and afterwards the Governor of the colony. He "civilly entertained them at his house, and ex- pressed his good affection to the Church of Eng- land." In general, they reported of Connecticut that it contained "thirty thousand souls, [in] about thirty- three towns, all Dissenters, supplied with ministers and schools of their own persuasion." But the introduction of Episcopacy into Connecti- cut stands closely connected with the name of a dis- tinguished layman, the Hon. Caleb Heathcote, — a Christian gentleman, loving most warmly the Church and sustaining high and unportant responsibilities in "the New York government." As early as 1702 an application had been made to the Bishop of London for a Missionary at Stratford, but it met with no suc- cess ; and three years later, when the town was desti- tute of any minister, the members of the Church of England applied to the Rev. William Yesey, Rector of Trinity Church, New York, and desired him in vain to visit them in his official capacity. Both these ap- plications must have been prompted by Col. Heath- cote ; for, writmg in 1705 to the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, of which he was now a member, he says : " My principles and natural temper lead me to do the Church all the ser- vice I can everywhere ; but I dare not promise for more than this County at present, and my best en- deavors in the westernmost towns in Connecticut Colony, when the Church is well rooted here As for Boston Colony, I never w^as in it, so can say little about it. But as for Connecticut, I am and have been pretty conversant with it, and always was as much in all their good graces as any man." 20 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH But after the charter of the Propagation Society was pubUcly kno^vn, and after Keith and Talipot hod itinerated through the land, the people seemed to awake from their lethargy, and great numbers of the inhabitants in different colonies began to contend zealously which should be first supplied with min- isters of the Church. Frequent and earnest letters went over to the Society from time to time, — the funds of which were insufficient to respond favorably to one half the appeals for aid which they contained. The Rev. George Muirson was ordained by the Bishop of London in 1705, and sent over as a Mis- sionary to the church at Rye, — a good point in West Chester County from which to act upon this colony, and originally included within its jurisdiction. Rye was annexed to the Province of New York in 1683 ; but the lines between the two colonies, as they now exist, were not established until nearly half a century had elapsed. Some of the Connecticut people living near attended the services of Mr. Muirson, and thus he became acquainted with their feelings and inclina- tions. In the summer of 1706, after the drooping prospects of his own parish, by the Divine blessing, had revived, he and Colonel Heathcote set out upon a journey to explore the shore towns from Greenwich to Stratford. They rode into the latter village, — the Colonel " fully armed," — and finding a suitable place for worship, Mr. Muirson, though threatened "with prison and hard usage," " preached to a very numer- ous congregation, and baptized about twenty-four, mostly grown people." Upon a repetition of the visit a few months later, their entrance was disputed and their object opposed. Each subsequent visit appeared IN CONNECTICUT. 21 to increase the popular hostility; for the settlers, though many of them were born and nurtured in the Church of England, had long been taught to look upon her as the Nazareth out of which no good thing could come. Hence all favor shown to her worship and missionaries, and all participation in her ordi- nances, were denounced, and the handful of church- men were greatly misused and persecuted, and subse- quently "distresses" were levied upon their estates to support the ministry and religion encouraged and legalized by the Provincial Government. But the churchmen did not despond. "A member of the council standmg himself in the highway " on Sunday, and inciting and empowering several others to forbid persons to go to the Episcopal assembUes or church, and " threatening them with a fine of five pounds " each if they did, neither broke up the congregations nor lessened the number of baptisms. A spirit of mquiry was excited which could not be allayed. It reached out to other towns, and soon there were fami- lies in Fairfield, and back upon the hill-sides of the interior, wliich w^elcomed the sound of the pure and fervent Liturgy of the Church of England. The Con- gregational Society in Stratford was rocked to its very centre by the same spirit; for Mr. Reed, the minister, was so far from being horrified by Episco- pacy that he early manifested a friendship for her doctrines and w^orship, and expressed a willingness to receive Holy Orders, if provision, in the mean time, could be made for himself and his family. Colonel Heathcote, writing to the Society, thus speaks of him : "I acquainted you in my former letter that there was a very ingenious gentleman at Stratford, one Mr. 22 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Reed, the minister of that place, who is very inclin- able to come over to the Church ; and if the charge can be dispensed with, he is well worth the gaining, being by much the most ingenious man they have amongst them, and would be very capable to serve the Church. By reason of the good incHnation he shows for the Church, he has undergone persecution by his people, who do all which is in their power to starve him, and, being countenanced and encouraged therein by all the mmisters round them, they have very near effected it, so that if any proposal could be made to encourage his coming over for ordination, his family, which is pretty large, must be taken care of in his absence." His pastoral relations in Stratford involved him in much trouble, and a council of neigh- boring elders was convened to consider " the wrongs of which he complained." It appears from the records of the town, that m their advice they " recommended the people to take all suitable care to purge and vin- dicate Mr. Reed from scurrilous and abusive reflec- tions." For some reason, not now known, he never went to England for Holy Orders; but he lost his living among the Congregationalists at Stratford, and was obliged to leave ; and they endeavored to repair the mischief which had been done, and to weaken or destroy the increasing interest in favor of Episcopacy, by calling to their oversight, in 1709, the Rev. Timo- thy Cutler, " who lived then at Boston or Cambridge," and was "one of the best preachers both colonies afforded." He ministered among them for ten years, when his learning and popularity gained for him the appointment of Rector of Yale College, and a town- meeting was warned to consider the order of the IN CONNECTICUT. 23 Trustees for his removal to " the great work " of con- ducting that Institution. The people "passively" submitted to what they called " the overruling Provi- dence of God," and acquiesced in the removal of Mr. Cutler for the sake of peace, upon condition that he " returned the house and home lot which he received of the town," and provided that they were allowed " one hundred pounds money for and towards the charge of settling another minister amongst them." ^ The churchmen of Stratford were organized into a parish, with Wardens and Vestrymen, at the visit of Mr. Muirson, in April 1707. Besides being attended by the distinguished Christian gentleman before men- tioned, he was on one occasion accompanied by the Rev. Evan Evans, a clergyman of the Church in Phil- adelphia, who was with him when he baptized some children at a private house in Fairfield, and witnessed there and in Stratford the course pursued by the min- isters and magistrates of the colony to prevent the introduction of Episcopacy. He witnessed also the prudence and discretion, the good temper and Chris- tian moderation of Mr. Muirson, and visiting England soon after, and knowing the hearty desires of the churchmen of Stratford that he might be located among them, and even being charged with such a petition, he interceded with the Society for the Prop- agation of the Gospel to secure his appointment as a Missionary to that place. But Muirson died in Octo- ber 1708, too soon to hear of his transfer, if not too soon for the Church in Connecticut. He was a^man to be admired for his many excellent and Christian qualities. When the people at Norwalk and Fairfield ^ Appendix A. 24 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH were ready to break open the meeting-house doors to let hun m, he would not permit the violence. He drew the picture of himself when he wrote thus to the Society, nine months before his untimely death: " Gentleness and sweetness of temper is the readiest way to engage the affections of the people ; and charity to those who differ from us in opinion is the most likely to convince them that our labors are in- tended for the welfare of their souls ; whereas pas- sionate and rash methods of proceeding will fill their minds with prejudices against both our persons and our principles, and utterly indispose them against all the means we can make use of to reclaim them from their errors." The parish, with about thirty communicants and a respectable number of families, was now left to the occasional services of missionaries who chanced to visit this and the neighboring towns. The Rev. Mr. Talbot of New Jersey, the Rev. Christopher Bridges, stationed at Rye, and the Rev. Mr. Sharpe, are re- corded as coming from time to time to minister to the peojDle and encourage them to persevere in the midst of their vexations and trials. Colonel Heath- cote still continued his watchftd interest, and accom- panied, in January 1710, Mr. Sharpe, who spent "near a month " preaching from house to house and baptiz- ing many, " amongst whom was an aged man, said to be the first [white] man-child born in Connecticut." The Wardens and Vestrj^men, who, before the death of Mr. Muirson, had resolved on building a church, ear- nestly appealed to the Society at home to be remem- bered in their deplorable destitution. They stated that, until the 12th day of December 1709, they had IN CONNECTICUT. 25 received no persecution — but that of the tongue. Now came the operation of the law recently passed by the General Assembly, relaxing the rigor of Puri- ,^ tan rule ; and then followed the levy by distress upon ' their estates, the seizure and unprisonment of their persons, and, what was meaner than all, the combi- nation not to patronize those churchmen who were dependent for support upon their trades and employ- ments. But they were not to be crushed out in this way. They held together, and empowered one of their number to go before the General Court assem- bled at Hartford, and ask for a redress of their griev- ances, and for the adoption of some measures by which they might have peace for the future. But the attorney — William Jeanes — accomplished noth- ing by his efforts; for the General Court w^ell knew that if the case of Stratford was decided in favor of the Church of England, there woidd soon be similar petitions coming from other towns. The attempt has sometimes been made to depre- ciate the character of these men, or to speak in dis- paragement of them, as if they were insignificant tradesmen and mechanics. But they certamly showed good qualities of head and heart. Though poor in this world's goods, they were rich in faith. They were men who bore their trials and grievances nobly, and took especial pains to recommend their creed by pious and blameless Hves ; for Governor Hunter of New York, in a letter written in 1711, after a visit to Connecticut, described the churchmen of Stratford as " appearing very much in earnest, and the best set of men he met with in that country." In a brief address, about the same time, to Queen 26 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Anne, the Vestry alluded in modest terms to their many trials and troubles, and then meekly added, — " The Avant of a minister is the greatest of our afflic- tions." That want was shortly to be supplied ; for just before Christmas in 1712, the Rev. Francis Phil- ips arrived among them, having been sent out by the Propagation Society as a Missionary in charge of this station. The members were greatly encouraged by his appearance, and " the masters of considerable fam- ilies" were on the point of withdrawing from the ConsTreorationalists and unitino; with the Church of England, when, lo ! the Missionary proved unfit for his position, and the brightest hopes again vanished. "As to Mr. Philips," says Colonel Heathcote, "the Society made a wrong choice in him ; for that Mis- sionary being of a temper very contrary to be pleased with such conversation and way of hving as Stratford affords, had.no sooner seen that place but his thoughts were bent and employed how he should get from it." He spent much of his time in New York, and " the greatest thing the people had to charge him with, as touching his behavior whilst among them, was the neglect of his orders and commission." This certainly was enough. He left them abruptly in the midsum- mer of 1713, in a condition worse than he found them, — "a scorn and reproach to their enemies," — but stiU not quite disheartened. Francis Philips yet lives in the person of many a clergyman who succeeds a good and judicious Rector in a well-ordered parish, but begins his ministrations by tilling the field in his own novel way, and with his plough turned backward. Again the churchmen of Stratford were dependent IN CONNECTICUT. 27 for occasional services upon the neighboring mission- aries, and again the appeals went over to the Society for another minister. They wrote in April 1714, that they had felled the timber with which to erect an edi- fice, and expressed the hope that it might be " raised in three months' time " ; but the hope was not reahzed. Four years later, we find them bemoaning to the Society their sorrowful condition, pleading for sym- pathy and succor, and closing their letter with this description and these few statistics : ''As to our out- ward estate, it may very well be said that we are inconsiderable, it being the interests of our govern- ment so to make us ; but as to our number, we have had at least a hundred baptized mto the Church, and have had at one time thirty-six partakers of the Holy Communion of the Lord's Supper, and have several times assembled in our own congregation between two and three hundred persons; and, if encouraged by your honors, [ours] may be as flourishing a church as any country church in America." The minister of God, for wdiom we may believe they had so long prayed in the dark night of their discoviragement and persecution, came to them at length, Trinity Sunday, 1722. Heathcote had gone suddenly to his rest the year before, and the Society in England sent out as missionary the Rev. George PiGOT, who, on arriving in New York, thus addressed the churchmen of Stratford under date of April 23, 1722: "I take this opportunity by your own towns- man of informing you of the Society's great care of you, who have been pleased to appoint me, a mean yet willing watchman over you for the Lord. I chose to settle among you, because my family might be 28 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH more easily transported from Rhode -Island (where they now reside) to your town, than to any other vacant mission in America. It is expected from you, that you will make some provision for me and mine ; that I may not be necessitated to settle elsewhere, as the Society have promised, if you do not take care accordingly. I am now waiting for a passage to Rhode-Island, from whence, after settlement of my affau's, you may expect your hitherto unknown and very humble servant." For this favor, as well as for the books which Mr. Pigot brought with him, the people returned their most grateful acknowledgments. He won their hearts by his energy and edifying conversation, and the Church, whose " timber " had been seasoning for years, was at once put in the progress of completion, and on a site which the town in lawful meeting first refused, but afterwards were compelled to allow. By this time, some earnest inquiries had been started else- where, and soon those astounding events in the rehgious history of the colony occurred that widened the prospect of establishmg the Church and increasing the number of her parishes. Samuel Johnson, an acceptable minister among the Congregationalists at West Haven, and Timothy Cutler, for ten years the popular preacher in Stratford, but now the classic Rector of Yale College, with their associates, Jared Eliot, John Hart, Samuel Whittelsey, James Wetmore, and Daniel Brown, coming together first as friends and brethren, had finally met in the Library of the Institution, and examined from time to time a few theological books sent over in kindness from the mother-country. They examined the doctrines and IN CONNECTICUT. 29 practices of the Primitive Church, and compared them with the model of their own discipHne and worship ; and the farther they pushed their inquiries, the more uneasy they became. As Ught would break in upon the darkened chamber of their toil, they were com- pelled at last to welcome it; and not only the two who occupied the eminently responsible positions in the College, but the rest, making no secret of their opinions, sent m to the Trustees, "Eev. Fathers and Brethren present in the Library," a formal statement of their views, and declared for Episcopacy, or doubted the validity of Presbyterian ordination. Unspeakable was the amazement of the grave assembly which heard the statement of Cutler and his associates ; ovenA^helming w^as the sorrow and wide the con- sternation as the tidings of it passed from town to town and village to village. "I suppose," says Presi- dent Woolsey, speaking of this event in the Historical Discourse delivered on occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Institution, " that greater alarm w^ould scarcely be awakened now, if the Theological Faculty of the College were to de- clare for the Church of Rome, avow their belief in Transubstantiation, and pray to the Virgin Mary." Nothing* could shake the strong-est of these men from their convictions. They had been looked upon as brethren of highest promise and influence, and there- fore every effort was made to remove their doubts and misgivings, to settle them back into the prevail- ing faith, and thus to quiet the apprehensions and alarm of the pastors and the people. The General Assembly was to have a session in the ensuing Octo- ber, and Saltonstall, the Governor of the colony, — of 30 HISTORr OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH whom Dr. Trumbull speaks as "a great man, well versed in the Episcopal controversy," — with a view to these benevolent ends, invited and presided over a debate held the day after the session commenced, and in which he appears himself to have borne a con- spicuous part. The friendly conference was invited with no expectation that it would terminate virtually in the discomfiture of the Trustees of the College ; but it was soon discovered that the parties were une- qually matched, — the advocates for the Church hav- ing weighed and examined the points in controversy with the utmost care, while to Saltonstall and his sup- porters many of them were new and perplexing. The defence of EpiscojDacy by one of the number ex- citing some irritating remarks from the other side, the Governor abruptly put an end to the debate, and it never was reopened in the same way. Cutler, Johnson, and Brown Avavered not, having studied the matter too thoroughly to be shaken by anything but ftxir and solid argument. But three others, Eliot, Hart, and Whittelsey, who only doubted the validity of Presbyterian ordination, continued in their respec- tive places, and for the rest of their days "were never known to act or say or insinuate anything to the dis- advantage of the Church." Wetmore, who stood up side by side with his friends in the College Library, defending Episcopacy, surrendered his pastoral charge a few months later, and followed them to England for Holy Orders. In closing this chapter, it is imj^ossible not to be grateful to the Giver of all good for the priceless inheritance which we have received. With every revolving year we may find new and stronger rea- IN CONNECTICUT. 31 sons to bless God for his Church, which is the pillar and ground of the truth, and for the Book of Com- mon Prayer, which is the beautiful cliild of the Ref- ormation, or, to use another figure, the golden casket that contains spolia ophna, the richest spoils of one of the noblest and mightiest conflicts ever waged with " principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places." Since the fathers of Christendom fell asleep for " the truth as it is in Jesus," there has been no such struggle with the champions of error, igno- rance, and superstition as that which Wickliffe com- menced, and Cranmer and Ridley and Latimer con- tinued even to martyrdom. Honor be to the Church, then, — with all her shortcomings and aU the evils that inhere to her as a national hierarchy, — which does not forget her children, but follows them forth into the wilderness, and feeds them there with the bread of life, comforts them with the prayers of her venerable Liturgy, and cheers them with hymns and chorals, around which cluster the precious memo- ries of confessors and martyrs and saints in all ages. She goes where the English tongue goes, and blesses with her holiest benedictions the lowliest vales of poverty and the highest seats of power. " She kindles realms so far aparf, That, while her praise you sing, These may V)c clad with Autunfui'!; fruits, And those with flowers of Spring." She has claimed " the heathen for her inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for her pos- session." 32 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER in. THE INFLUENCE OF THE LITURGY AND TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ; AND THE RESULTS OF THE DEBATE IN THE LIBRARY OF YALE COLLEGE. A. D. 1722-1723. The Commencement at Yale College in 1722 at- tracted unusual attention. The events briefly noted in the conclusion of the previous chapter were not anticipated, but there had been some whisperings about the frequent conferences in the Library, of Cutler and the neighboring ministers, and a word had been dropped here and there which boded the probability of a strange development. Johnson had made a summer visit to Mr. Pigot at Stratford ; and the interview showed so plainly the direction in which the thoughts and affections of the inquirers were drifting, and so surprised and gratified the Missionary of the Church of England, that he could neither refrain from hinting the matter to his good parishioners, nor refuse the courteous invitation of the Rector of the College to be present at the approaching Commence- ment. He came not, however, to take any part in that earnest debate which was subsequently held, much less to bolster up the courage of his new and sympathizing friends in their meditated change. It does not appear that he was at any time, or in any way, the aider or suggester of their united action. IN CONNECTICUT. 33 As far as related to the main points at issue, they probably nnderstood them as thoroughly as the Mis- sionary himself. In a communication to the Society written just before this eventful Commencement, he says : " Those gentlemen who are ordained pastors among the Independents, namely, Mr, Cutler, the President of Yale College, and five more, have held a conference with me, and are determined to declare themselves professors of the Church of England, as soon as they shall understand they will be supported at home." It may be proper to mention in this place, that the Institution, located first at Saybrook, and then car- ried fractionally to other towns of the colony, was finally, by a major vote of the Trustees, established at New Haven in 1716. A storm of continued opposi- tion arose to this action, broken at last by the inter- ference of the General Asseml)ly ; but all the elements of discord appear to have been completely hushed when Cutler was called to be the first resident Rector, and Brown was appointed to assist him in his office. Johnson now relinquished his own situation as a tutor, held by him for three years, being contented to leave the College — which had been, and still was, an object of his aftection — in the care of his two friends, and from whose society he would not be withdrawn in retiring to West Haven, then a part of New Haven, and entering upon the more congenial duties of pas- toral life. There he was set apart to the Congrega- tional ministry, March 20, 1720, when he was in the twenty-fourth year of his age. Fairer fields of labor and more inviting offers, in many respects, had been tendered his acceptance ; but as one prominent ob- 34 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ject with him at this period was the improvement of his mind, with a view to more extended usefulness, he could not be distant from the College, the Library, and his friends ; and so West Haven, the birthplace of Brown, was selected for the beginning of his min- isterial work. A good man in Guilford (Smithson) — blessed be his memory ! — had a Prayer Book, w hich he put into the hands of the youthful Johnson before he left his native town, and he read and re-read it until his mind was charged with its contents, and he began to feel as the celebrated George Herbert of old felt and said, when he lay on the bed of death, "There are no prayers like those of my mother, the Church of Eng- land." Many of these prayers he committed to mem- ory and used as occasion required in public worship, alike to the comfort of himself and to the comfort and edification of his flock. So much were they admired by people in general, that, we are told, " it was com- mon for persons belonging to the neighboring parishes to come to West Haven on purpose to hear them." He had previously perused a discourse of Archbishop King, " On the Inventions of Men in the Worship of God," and the argument to him was so convincing against public prayer carried on in the extempore way, that he was already prepared to lay it aside. It is no wonder, therefore, while thus engaged, that all his prejudices against the Church should disappear, and feelings of reverence and admiration for her Ritual come to take strong possession of his mind. It is no wonder that he shoidd wish to communicate his thoughts to his friends, and to consult them in a matter of such momentous importance, and in rela- IN CONNECTICUT. 35 tion to which he both needed and prayed for du^ec- tion and assistance. Hence from first meeting to- gether in a fraternal way at the residences of each other, and conversing upon the subject of church gov- ernment, they had proceeded to a more formal and thorough investigation, and read carefully the best books which the Library furnished on either side of the controversy. Barrow, Patrick, South, Tillotson, John Scott, Whitby, Burnet, Sharp, and Sherlock, eminent authorities in English theology then, and eminent authorities still, were among the writers whose works, through Jeremiah Dummer, were do- nated to the College, while yet it was in an imperfect and wandering condition. These fell under their im- mediate inspection and review; and probably no books, in connection with the Bible, were ever more intently exammed and studied. The eyes of seven men, seek- ing the truth, were bent upon them from day to day and month to month, and around the subjects of which they treated, their thoughts hung constantly in mingled fear and hesitation. In surrendering their respective positions, and changing the form of their faith, they could not have been influenced by any prospect of bettering their temporal fortunes, and they must have foreknown that it would be a severe trial for them to withstand the alternate reproaches and entreaties of their friends. Undoubtedly they were sincere and honest in their intentions ; and had their inquiries settled them all back confidingly in the established religion of the colony, — situated as they were, and despised and abused as the Church of England then was, — it would have been a most welcome result. Johnson showed the workings of his mind and his 36 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH whole desire to be led into a right path, when he noted in his private journal, three months before the final shock came, these touching words: — "I hoped, when I was ordained, that I had sufficiently satisfied myself of the validity of Presbyterian ordination under my circumstances. But, alas ! I have ever since had growing suspicions that it is not right, and that I am an usurper in the House of God, which sometimes, I must confess, fills my mind with a great deal of per- plexity, and I know not what to do : my case is very unhappy. Oh, that I could either gain satisfaction, that I may lawfully proceed in the execution of the ministerial function, or that Providence would make my way plain for the obtaining of Ej)iscopal orders ! What course I shall take I know not. Do Thou, 0 my God, direct my steps; lead and guide me and my friends in Thy way everlasting." Again, immediately after the Commencement, and when he had been ad- vised to suspend for the present the exercise of his ministry, he made another record of his feelings, as follows : — "It is with great sorrow of heart that I am forced thus, by the uneasiness of my conscience, to be an occasion of so much uneasiness to my dear friends, my poor peo^Dle, and indeed to the whole colony. 0 God, I beseech Thee, grant that I may not, by an adherence to Thy necessary truths and laws, (as I profess in my conscience they seem to me,) be a stumbling-block or occasion of fall to any soul." Six of these men had been educated, wholly or in part, at Yale College, and three of them. Brown, Johnson, and Wetmore, were classmates and ultimate friends. Cutler was of Massachusetts birth, a grad- uate of Harvard, and the eldest of the number, to IN CONNECTICUT. 37 whom the rest looked up with a degree of fihal rever- ence, and as the guide and the steadier of their move- ments. His popularity as a preacher, his extensive learning, and the responsible office which he held, gave him a good reputation and great influence throughout the colony. An American writer, review- ing the progress and events of the eighteenth cen- tury, and who had no sympathy with any theology but Presbyterian, sums up an estimate of his charac- ter in words too honorable and impartial not to be quoted here. "In Connecticut, at this time, literature and science were, on the whole, gaining ground. The appointment of the Rev. Dr. Cutler, as President" (or Rector, the term used in those days) " of Yale College was an auspicious event to that institution. He was a man of profound and general learning in the various branches of knowledge cultivated in his day, particularly in Oriental literature, and presided over the seminary which he was called to superintend, with dignity, usefulness, and general approbation." The Trustees, too, at the Commencement following his appointment, indorsed his prudent and successful course in a formal vote, " That his service hitherto, in the place of a Rector, was to their good satisfaction, and therefore they desired him to continue in it." Such had been the current of events, and such was the state of popular feeling in reference to the admin- istration of the College just prior to the time when Cutler and his associates revealed the change in their religious sentiments. The Trustees, alarmed and grieved at the intelligence which reached them, re- quested an interview with these gentlemen in the Library, and there, the day after the Commencement, 38 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH they were all asked, from the youngest to the eldest, to state their views on the matters which troubled their consciences, and not only to state them, but to express them briefly in writing. The modest paper, reluctantly prepared in obedience to this challenge, ran thus : — " To the Rev. Mr. Andreiv, and Mr. Woodhridge and others, our Reverend Fathers and Brethren, present in the Library of Yale College, this IMi of September, 1722. " Reverend Gentlemen,- — Having represented to you the difficulties which we labor under, in relation to our continuance out of the visible communion of an Episcopal Church, and a state of seeming opposition thereto, either as private Christians, or as officers, and so being insisted on by some of you (after our re- peated declinings of it) that we should sum up our case in writing, we do (though with great reluctance, fearing the consequences of it) submit to and comply with it, and signify to you that some of us doubt the vahdity, and the rest are more fully persuaded of the invalidity of the Presbyterian ordination, in opposition to the Episcopal; and we should be heartily thankful to God and man, if we may receive from them satis- faction herein, and shall be willing to embrace your good counsels and instructions in relation to this important affair, as far as God shall dh-ect and dispose us to it." The paper was signed by the whole seA^en, and a true copy of the original, attested by Daniel Brown, is among the archives of the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. At the same time two other "pastors of great note gave their assent " to the declaration without signing it, " of IN CONNECTICUT. 39 whom the one, Mr. Bulkley, of Colchester, declared Episcopacy to be jure divino, and the other, Mr. Whit- mg, of some remote town, also gave in his opinion for moderate Episcopacy." The critical point was now touched. To remove the scruples of these gentlemen and give them " satisfaction " was an eflbrt which required some little time and consultation. They were all entreated to reconsider theu" opinions and surrender their doubts, — but they must have good reasons du*ecting and disposing them to this course ; and accordingly that earnest and sincere debate was held, over which Governor Saltonstall presided with such candor and politeness, and which has akeady been described as having taken place in the ensuing month, on the day after the opening of the Autumn session of the General Assembly. The minds and pens of the Congregational ministers were not idle in the intervenmg tune. Joseph Webb, of Fairfield, writing to Cotton Mather at Boston, and speaking of what he termed "the revolt of several persons of figure among us unto the Church of England," said : " They are, the most of them, reputed men of consider- able learning, and all of them of a virtuous and blame- less conversation. I apprehend the axe is hereby laid to the root of our civil and sacred enjoyments, and a doleful gap opened for trouble and confusion in our churches. The churchmen among us are wonderfully encouraged and Ufted up by the appearance of these gentlemen on their side ; and how many more will, by their example, be encouraged to go off from us to them, God only knows. It is a very dark day with us ; and we need pity, prayers, and counsel." But what appears to have occasioned him personal uneasi- 40 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ness was the matter of ordination. He foresaw a possible turn in the approaching debate, which it would be difficult to meet. Several pastors in the colony, in the more ancient days of it, had been set apart to the ministry by laymen, and the pastors so ordained had acted in subsequent ordinations. His own ordination was of this kind, and had a connection with " the leather mitten that was laid on the head of the Rev. Mr. Israel Chauncey, of Stratford." If their antagonists should allow to Presbyters the power to ordain, they might accompany the admission with the remark, "Your ordination is not by Presbyters, but by laymen;" and the debate urged in this Hue would be more troublesome, and, he thought, " more damaging than all the arguments that could be brought for the necessity of Episcopal ordination." Joseph Moss, of Derby, in a letter to the same divine, and bearing the same date, was in similar per- plexity. Though fully satisfied in his own mind that the truth was on his side, he yet confessed that he had not read much upon the controversy, and, there- fore, he would "be very glad to have some books that do nervously handle this point concerning ordination by Presbyters, whether good or bad." Davenport and Buckingham, tl^^ ministers at Stam- ford and Norwalk, joined in bemoaning to their Bos- ton friends " the dark Providence " which they felt to be hanging over the entire colon}^ In reference to the College, they spoke of its pristine glory, and added, "But who could have conjectured that its name, being raised to Collegium Yalense from a Gymna- sium Sai/hrookense, it should groan out Ichabod, in about three years and a half under its second rector IN CONNECTICUT. 41 SO unlike the first, by an unhappy election, set over it, into whose election or confirmation, or any act relat- ing to him, the senior subscriber hereof (though not for some reason, through malice or mistake bruited) never came." These two ministers, and a few others of like tem- per, went so far as to charge Cutler with dishonesty or dissimulation in consenting to hold a position of such exalted influence, while, for eleven or twelve 3^ears, he had been secretly of the Episcopal persua- sion, and only waited for a suitable opportunity to avow his faith. HoUis, writing from London, in 1723, to Benjamin Colman in Boston, makes a like state- ment, which he professes to have obtained from him, and which he gives in these words : " I never was in judgment heartily with the Dissenters, but bore it patiently until a favorable opportunity offered. This has opened at Boston, and I now declare pubficly what I before believed privately." But there is not a particle of evidence coming directly from Cutler to support the charge, and what thus comes from other sources is based chiefly on rumor; so that if at any time he dropped a word which was construed in this way, he probably intended no more by it than that there had long been a struggle between his rehgious convictions and his temporal prospects. Passing over the harsh epithets applied to these gentlemen and to the Church of England, as no better than Popery, by the ministers intemperately zealous for the prosperity of the prevailing order, we come to the results of the theological dispute in the Col- lege Library. If both sides claimed the victory, it cannot be said that both sides went away equally 42 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH satisfied. The abrupt termination of the debate was soon enough, as we have seen, to save to Congrega- tionaUsm three of the signers of the declaration, Eliot, Hart, and Whittelsey ; but the rest, with clearer and more decided convictions, were quite prepared to fol- low on in the severe path which they had already entered. They distinctly declared their belief that the Church of England was a true branch of the Church of Christ, and that it became their duty to enter and serve in her communion. The Trustees took no official action, or rather passed no resolves, at the annual Commencement in reference to the Rector or the Tutor, — though the latter had sent in his resignation, — preferring without doubt to ascertain the popular will as well as to wait the result of the efforts to restore them in full affection to the estab- lished religion. But when the controversy had been closed, and while the General Assembly was still in session, they met and voted to " excuse the Rev. Mr. Cutler from all further service as rector of Yale Col- lege, and to accept of the resignation which Mr. Brown had made as tutor." They voted too, " that all such persons as shall hereafter be elected to the office of rector or tutor in this college, shall, before they are accepted therein, before the trustees declare their assent to the confession of faith owned and con- sented to by the elders and messengers of the churches in the Colony of Connecticut, assembled by delega- tion at Saybrook, September 9, 1708 ; and confirmed by act of the general assembly ; and shall particularly give satisfaction to them of the soundness of their faith, in opposition to Arminian or prelatical corrup- tions, or any other of dangerous consequence to the IN CONNECTICUT. 43 purity and peace of the churches." Still further they voted, "that upon just grounds of suspicion of the rector's or a tutor's inclination to Arminian or prelat- ical principles, a meeting of the trustees shall be called to examine into the case." All this was done to guard the established religion of the land, and to maintain in their integrity the faith and ecclesiastical organization of the Puritans. The displacement of Rector Cutler from his office was a natural step, which few will be bold enough, even at this late day, to censure, under the circumstances, but it is difficult to reconcile it with the cherished theory that the settlement of New England was "purely to propagate civil and religious liberty T The resolves of the Trustees were passed October 27, and a week later, Cutler, Johnson, and Brown were on their way to Boston, where they embarked Novem- ber 5th, and sailed for England. They had prepared their friends for this termination of their inquiries by putting books into their hands which they per- suaded them to read, and Johnson, in resigning his pastoral charge, told his people in affectionate terms that he would return to them, if they would receive him as an Episcopal clergyman; but with such a prop- osition they were unable to comply, notwithstanding their esteem for him personally, and their admiration of his preaching and his prayers, both of which, he now informed them to their great surprise, had all along been drawn from the Church of England. When he had laid together and balanced all the considera- tions which affected his rehgious feeUngs, and come to a resolution to brave the consequences of renounc- ing the faith in which he had been educated, he wrote 44 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH in his private journal these final words : " It seems to be my duty to venture myself in the arms of Almighty Providence, and cross the ocean for the sake of that excellent church, the Church of England, and God preserve me ; and if I err, God forgive me." After a stormy passage they reached the shores of the mother-country, and landing at Ramsgate De- cember 15th, they proceeded immediately to Canter- bury, where they were obliged to tarry three days for a stage-coach to take them to London. This brief suspension of their journey aflbrded them an opportunity to see and hear what they had never seen and heard before. On the morning after their arrival, they visited the Cathedral Church and joined in the celebration of divine service. They must have been bowed to reverence by the deep solemnity of the place and the worship. The magnificence of the structure, its lofty arches and shadowy aisles, the air 'of devotion, the "dim religious light," the surpliced priests, the beauty, the order of the whole service, — the notes of the pealing organ, growing more and more dense and powerful, filling the vast pile and seeming to cause the very walls to tremble, the rich voices of the choir breaking out, at intervals, into sweet gushes of melody, — gushes that rose and re- verberated through every part of the sacred edifice, — how grandly impressive, yet how surprising, all these things must have been to men who had just emerged from the . bald worship of the Puritans, and known only their plain sanctuaries here in the wilds of New England. Surely feelings of reverential grat- itude must have overflowed their hearts at finding themselves in that venerable cathedral, "observing IN CONNECTICUT. 45 the ordinances and sharing the devotions of a church, which in spite of the misrepresentations and taunts of her adversaries they had learned to vindicate and to honor." They had no letters of introduction to any one in Canterbury, but, relying upon the strength of their mission to favor them, they ventured, through their landlord, to present themselves to the Dean, — the excellent and learned Dr. Stanhope, whose name is familiar to all students in English theology. On reaching the Deanery, he instructed the servant to say " that they were some gentlemen from America, come over for Holy Orders, who were desirous of pay- ing their duty to the Dean." He came at once to the door, took them cordially by the hand, and to their amazement said, " Come in, gentlemen ; you are very welcome ; I know you well, for we have just been reading your declaration for the Church." The declaration, with their names appended, had found its way into the London papers, and the Dean and a company of Prebendaries who dined with him were engaged in reading it, at the moment when their arrival was announced. Every feeling of em- barrassment that they were in a land of strangers was dispelled by this hearty welcome. Here in Can- terbury, as elsewhere, friends rose up and followed them with their favors and remembrances ; and one kind gentleman, chaplain to the Earl of Thanet, meet- ing them some months afterwards in London, invited them to his lodgings, and " counted out to each of them ten guineas," which were a present from his noble patron for the purchase of books. Their recep- tion by the Bishop of London, (Dr. Robinson,) under whose jurisdiction the Colonial Church in New Eng- 4G HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH land was placed, and by the principal members of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was equally cordial and gratifying. They found sympathy wher- ever they went, and from men of cultivated minds who honored them for their independence and sacri- fices. They bore with them, among other testimoni- als, a letter from the Rev. James Orem, — one of the Society's missionaries in Rhode Island, — in which he said : " I can scarce express the hardships they have undergone, and the indignities that have been put upon them, by the worst sort of dissenters who bear sway here, and several honest gentlemen who declared for the church with them ; who, by reason of the unhappy circumstances of their families, can't go to England, l)ut lie now under all the hardships and pressures that the mahce and rage of the implacable enemies of our excellent church and constitution can subject them to -, but I hope their suffering condition will be taken into consideration at home." Some lay- men in the same province. Church-wardens and Ves- trymen, testified to their high character and disinter- ested motives, by saying, " It is plain these gentlemen have, in this important affair, acted like Christians and men of virtue and honor, without any sordid private views of interest and advancement." The bishops and clergy of the Church of England, there- fore, could do no less than regard them with the love and confidence of brothers ; and, satisfied of their emi- nent fitness for the ministry into which they desired to enter, arrangements were soon made for their ordi- nation and future duties. It was decided that to Cutler should be committed the new church (Christ) about to be opened in Boston ; that Brown should have IN CONNECTICUT. 47 the charge of the vacant Mission at Bristol, in Rhode Island, and that Johnson should be appointed to Strat- ford, in the neighborhood of his former associations ; while Mr. Pigot, who had lingered now, at the earnest request of the Society, for more than a year in Con- necticut, should proceed to Providence, the first desig- nated field of his labor. But these plans, so well laid by the wisdom of man, were destined to be frustrated, in a measure, by the inscrutable and higher wisdom of God. Before they had quite completed their preparations for receiving Holy Orders, the small-pox, a disease which was long the dread of both Europe and America, fell with great severity upon Cutler, the eldest of the three, and threatened to terminate in his death. But the Divine goodness was pleased to spare him, and upon his re- covery, towards the end of March 1723, he and his two friends were ordained by the Bishop of Norwich, (Dr. Green,) in St. Martin's Church, first Deacons, and afterwards Priests. The Bishop of London, (Dr. Rob- inson,) to whom the duty belonged, was so near his grave that he was obliged to delegate the office with Letters dimissory to his brother in the Episcopate. The high object for which they had suffered and sur- rendered so much, for which they had encountered many of St. Paul's perils, been "in weariness and painfulness," and crossed the ocean, was at last at- tained, and they were clothed with authority to exe- cute the office of Priests in the Church of God. But, alas ! another and a more painful trial was at hand. Scarcely had they arranged for brief visits to Oxford and other places, prior to their return to America, before the same dreadful malady which had pros- 48 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH trated for a time the eldest, reappeared with greater maUgnity, and struck down to the dust the youngest of their number. Within a week after their ordina- tion, Brown, who had preached the day before, was seized with the small-pox and died on Easter eve, — a mysterious loss to the Church ; mourned by all who knew him, but by none so much as by his dear friend and classmate, the companion of his travels, and the sharer of his personal fears and solicitudes. He was not laid to his rest in his native land and among the graves of his immediate kindred ; but if he must be cut off in the bright morning of his youth, and while yet he had but once lifted up his voice as a minister in the Church which he had so earnestly hoped and prayed to serve, doubtless it was some consolation to his mind, that he was among those who recognized and regarded him as a brother, and in a land towards which his thoughts, for many months, had been affec- tionately drawn. If God vouchsafed him the con- sciousness of death in the last hour, he might have felt, as a poet of our Church has expressed the sen- timent, — " And I can yet my dust lay down Beneath old England's sward ; For, lulled by her, 't were sweet to wait The coming of the Lord." IN CONNECTICUT. 49 CHAPTER ly. THE RETURN OF CUTLER AND JOHNSON TO AMERICA, AND THE INCREASE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN CONNECTICUT. A. D. 1723-1727. When the first shock of sorrow for their painful bereavement had passed away, the surviving friends of Brown began to prepare for their departure to this country. They improved the brief remainder of their sojourn in England by visiting the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where they were treated with every mark of affectionate and respectful regard, and honored in a way which must have been specially gratifying to their personal pride and laudable ambi- tion. Oxford conferred upon Cutler the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and upon Johnson that of Master of Arts, giving them both diplomas ; and Cambridge, shortly afterwards, repeated to them the same distin- guished honors. By this time James Wetmore, who had boldly delivered his testimony for Episcopacy in presence of the authorities of the College and of Con- necticut, and whom they had left behind to make suitable arrangements for his voyage, had resigned liis pastoral charge at North Haven, and now came to be their companion in the ranks of the Church of England, as well as in their visits to Cambridge, Wind- sor, Hampton Court, and other remarkable places. Dr. Robinson, the Bishop of London, had descended to 50 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH his grave, and Bishop Gibson, an excellent and learned prelate, had been translated from the See of Lincoln to be his successor. From him they received their letters of license, and, at the universities not more than in London, they availed themselves of every opportunity to enter into a full description of the state of the Colonial Church, and to show the vast injury it was suffering for the want of an Episcopate. While they had encountered the perils of the ocean to obtain what their consciences told them was a valid ordination, and while they were at that moment fresh in their grief over the loss of a beloved asso- ciate who had fallen a victim to the distemper of the country, they certainly had a good right to speak with earnestness and warmth on this subject, and to represent the discouraging effect which their experi- ence must have upon those Congregational ministers in New Eno;land who were waitina; to be settled in the faith of the Church. In Bishop Gibson they found not only an attentive listener, but one who proved himself a noble Christian prelate, by his anxi- ety to correct the evils of which they complained, and who, on his first coming to the See of London, set forth in a large memorial the advantages of placing and maintaining one or more bishops in the American colonies. Mr. Pigot, writing to the Society soon after his arrival at Stratford, pleaded for the same manifest right ; and referring to the hardships of compelling the new converts from Presbyterianism to go to England for Episcopal ordination, added, " The Honorable So- ciety will perceive by this, that many sound reasons are not wanting to inspirit them to procure the mis- sion of a Bishop into these Western parts ; for, besides IN CONNECTICUT. 51 the deficiency of a governor in the Church, to inspect the regular lives of the clergy, to ordain, confirm, consecrate churches, and the like, amongst those that already conform, there is, also, a sensible want of this superior order, as a sure bulwark against the many heresies that are already brooding in this part of the world." Dr. Cutler and Mr. Johnson — having completed their designs in visiting the mother-country, and established bonds of friendship which united the hearts of zealous churchmen on both sides of the Atlantic — embarked for a New-England port July 26, 1723, and immediately upon their arrival hast- ened, the one to his church in Boston, the other to his mission at Stratford. The day after reaching his charge, (Nov. 5th,) Johnson made another entry in his private journal, thus : "God having in his merciful Providence spared me another year through so many dangers as I have been exposed unto on my late voy- age, and returned me safe to my father's house, and here to my charge, I adore his singular and marvel- lous goodness, which I the rather admire, because I, who am a sinful unworthy creature, am spared when my friend far worthier than I (Mr. Brown) is cut off, for which dispensation of God, I desire to be deeply humbled. He was one of the most amiable persons in the world, a finely accomplished scholar, and a brave Christian. But such is thy pleasure, 0 good God, such thy kindness, that I am yet ahve, though unworthy to live ! What can I do less than devote my Hfe thus preserved by Thee to thy service, to do all the good I can for thy glory and the souls of men ! And as I am now (for which I adore thy goodness) 52 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH perfectly well satisfied as to the lawfulness and regu- larities of my mission, (being Episcopally initiated, con- firmed, and ordained,) so I purpose by thy grace both to adorn my profession by a holy Hfe, as a Christian, and faithfully to fulfil my ministry as a clergyman, by doing all the service I can to the souls committed to my charge." Mr. Wetmore was sent to New York, and subse- quently stationed at Rye, in that State, and after a faithful and most successful ministry of nearly thirty- seven years, he died of the small-pox in 1760, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. Dr. Cutler followed him to his reward five years later, having done good ser- vice for the Church in Boston, and seen his own con- gregation, within three years from the tune of his settlement among them, increase from four hundred to seven or eight hundred persons. If it was proper to trace here any part of the early history of Episco- pacy in Massachusetts, much might be said in com- mendation of his unwearied and efficient ministra- tions. But Connecticut is our theme, and henceforth to the history within her borders attention will be most strictly confined. When Mr. Johnson arrived at Stratford, he found the church, which had been for some time in the progress of building, not yet completed. It was the first edifice for the Church of England erected in the colony, and after many hindrances was opened for divine service on Christmas day 1724. Its erec- tion belongs to the influence and ministry of his pred- ecessor, who, in one of his letters to the Society, as a reason for its slow progress, said, the people " are too closely fleeced by the adverse party to carry it on IN CONNECTICUT. 53 with dispatch." It was described at the time as "a neat, small wooden building, forty-five feet and a half long, thirty and a half wide, and twenty-two between joints, or up to the roof"; and was built partly at the expense of the members of the Church of England, in Stratford, and " partly by the hberal contributions of several pious and generous gentlemen of the neigh- boring provinces, and sometimes of travellers who occasionally passed through the town." Mr. Pigot's record of his ministrations shows him to have been a man full of zealous and self-sacrificing labors. He opened a Parochial Register in a good round hand, which was used by his successors for many years afterwards, and is still carefully preserved ; and to me personally it is an uiteresting fact, that the first and S only entry made by him under one of the heads in ' this register, w^as the marriage of a kinsman of mine ) to a descendant of Wilham Jeanes, a warden of the Church ; and the first entry under another head, by Mr. Johnson, Avas the baptism of a child, the fruit of that marriage. The successor of Mr. Pigot accepted all liis mission- ary duties and trusts in Connecticut, and cared for the scattered families of the Church, as he found them in Fairfield, Norwalk, Newtown, Ripton, (now Huntington,) West Haven, and other portions of the province. In a letter, written to the Bishop of Lon- don soon after arriving at his station, referring to the condition of the colony, and the popular prejudices against the Church, he says : " This is come to pass chiefly in six or seven towns, whereof this of Stratr ford where I reside is the principal, and though I am unworthy and unmeet to be intrusted with such a 54 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH charge, yet there is not one clergyman of the Church of England, besides myself, in this whole colony, and I am obliged in a great measure to neglect my cure at Stratford, (where yet there is business enough for one minister,) to ride about to other towns, (some ten, some twenty miles off,) when in each of them there is as much need of a resident minister as there is at Stratford, especially at Newtown and Fairfield, so that the case of these destitute places, as well as of myself, who have this excess of business, is extremely un- happy and compassionable." And then he goes on to renew his entreaty for the apostolic office, men- tionmg that a considerable number of very promising young gentlemen, five or six, and the best educated here, declined the ministry, and went into secular business, because they were "unwilling to expose themselves to the danger of the seas," and the terri- fymg fate of Mr. Brown ; " so that," he continues, "the fountain of all our misery is the want of a Bishop, for whom there are many thousand souls in this country," (meaning all the colonies,) "that do unpatiently long and pra}'', and for want of whom do extremely suffer." The parish at Stratford, when he came to it, num- bered about thirty families ; and forty more — to say nothing of the few churchmen farther eastward — might be included in the neighboring towns and dis- tricts. From some of these places very urgent appeals had already gone over to England, requesting Chris- tian compassion in their behalf As early as Octo- ber, 1722, in the midst of the events at Yale Col- lege, which convulsed the whole colony, fourteen sub- scribers, inhabitants of Newtown, including one from IN CONNECTICUT. 65 Woodbury, and one from Chestnut Ridge, (Redding,) returned their most hearty thanks for the ministra- tions which Mr. Pigot had introduced among them, and, " being cordially inclined to embrace the articles and Liturgy of the Church of England, and to ap- proach her communion, did humbly and earnestly re- quest the Honorable Society to send them a lawfully ordained minister." "We are," said they, "heads of families, and, with our dependents, shall appear the major party here ; therefore, we intend to set apart for our Episcopal teacher, whenever it shall please God to insj)ire your venerable body to appomt us one, at least two hundred acres of glebe for the support of a church minister forever." The same hands which carried this appeal, carried another, (dated All Saint's Day,) from a larger num- ber of subscribers in Ripton, " of long standing, in- clined to the Church," and in which they expressed a desire to enjoy a pastor of their own, and a will- ingness to make jDrovision for his maintenance. If this favor could not be allowed them, they entreated the Society that the Missionaries settled at Stratford and Newtown — anticipating the appointment of one to the latter place — might be instructed to officiate for them as often as every third Sunday, since they are conveniently located between these two stations. Among the subscribers in Ripton was the name of Daniel Shelton, a large landholder, and one of the little band that welcomed the early visits of Muirson and Heathcote, and who, thirteen years before, was seized at his residence and barbarously hurried away in mid-winter and lodged in the county jail until he should pay over the amount levied by distress of his 56 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH estate for the support of the Congregational minister. And there was another name among these subscribers (John Beardsley, Jr.) that bore abundant fruit in subsequent times for the Church, though it shared not precisely the same unchristian persecution. Nathan Gold, the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony and a mortal foe to Episcopacy, had his seat in Fau^- field, and carried his intolerant spirit to such an extent as to propound to the General Court a law to confine Mr. Pigot to the exercise of his ministerial fmictions within the limits of Stratford. But the churchmen in Fairfield multiplied notwithstanding this; and chiefly through the influence of the Society's Missionary and Dr. James Labarie, a French gentleman and physician, licensed by Bishop Compton as a teacher and cate- chist, the communion there promised to be as large as at Newtown. Much attention in several towns was now directed to the Church. Prayer Books and other religious publications were circulated, and the eyes of many were opened to the great injustice of the course pursued by the more violent or more rigid In dependents. Their fears were naturally awakened foi the security of their order, when they saw some of its prominent supports dropping off; but certainly it was no way to strengthen it to resort to persecution. The steady and firm mind of Johnson was equal to the emergencies of the time, and though surrounded on all sides by bitter and watchful adversaries, he still maintained his calmness and benevolence of temper, and mingled and conversed with those who had for- merly been his friends, whenever they gave him an opportunity, with frankness and Christian courtesy. If they publicly branded him with the name of traitor, IN CONNECTICUT. 57 and strove by unworthy acts to thwart his purposes and render his situation intolerable, he preserved his patience, and went on discharging his duties to the Church, and sending home frequent reports of his hopes and encouragements, of his fears and suffer- ings, and of the trials, vexations, and despondencies of his people. In a letter to the Secretary of the Society, dated June 11, 1724, he spoke of having jDreached at New London, where he had sixty hearers, and where there was a good prospect of increase, if they could be supplied with regular services. " New- town," he added, "is distressed for a minister, their teacher being quite beat out; and the whole town would, I believe, embrace the church, if they had a good minister at Fairfield. I have a va^ assembly every time I visit them, but though I have made all proper and modest applications to the government, both privately and publicly, we have yet no abate- ment of persecution and imprisonment for taxes, which sundry people, and those of both sexes, have unreasonably suffered since my last, and I fear that, if we can't have some relief from the Honorable Society, people will grow quite discouraged." He repeated the same fears to the Bishop of London a few days later ; but while there was no redress of the grievances complained of, the Church continued to advance and receive accessions. The Episcopalians at Newtown and Ripton, by reason of the exactions of the government, were unable to offer sufficient in- ducements to encourage the Society to send them a Missionary. Besides, the Independent ministers of the colony, taking advantage of a vacancy in their own pastorate at Newtown, and telhng the people that if 58 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the Church of England were a true church, and thought bishops necessary, they would have sent over one before this, "prevailed upon a very popu- lar, insinuating young man to go among them ; " and he '' pleased them so well, that many of them, ini pa- tient for the ministrations of religion," and thinking him favorably " affected towards the Church, because he took some of the prayers out of the Liturgy," were disposed to join in " settling him with Presbyterian ordination." We shall have much to say of this " popular and insinuating 3^oung man " — who was none other than John Beach — in future chapters. But in Fairfield, the chief seat of opposition to Epis- copacy, a small church was built, which Vv-as opened by Johnson with divine services, in the autumn of 1725, though in an unfinished state, and this was the second erected in the colony. Talcott, the Governor of Connecticut, writing to the Bishop of London in 1726, in answer to an inquiry into the true state of the Church in his Majesty's government in the colony, treated slightly both the system of taxation and some of the complainants. " The law of this colony," said he, "is such, that the major part of the house- holders in every town shall determine their minister's maintenance, and all within the precmcts of the town shall be obliged to pay their parts in an equal pro- portion to their estates in said towns or societies; and so in the precincts of each ecclesiastical society. Under this security, all our towns and ecclesiastical societies are supphed with orthodox ministers. We have no vacancies at present. When the death of the incumbent happens, they are quickly supplied by persons of our own communion, educated in our pub- lic schools of learning." IN CONNECTICUT. 59 Governor Talcott was a Congregationalist, who had no deske to see Episcopacy growing, or a bishop's influence and prerogatives estabhshed in Connecticut. He took good care to appear Kberal, as the laws stood, but no effort for their modification was promised or intimated. The charter granted by Charles the Sec- ond, and out of which all his authority flowed, did not convey any right to set up a form of religion that should thus exclude the Church of England, and for- ever oppress her dutiful members. At least, it was a forced construction which the civil magistrates put upon it, when they assumed the liberty to boast themselves an establishment, and to treat the Chiu'ch "as a despicable, schismatical and Popish Commun- ion." Surely the wrongs could not have been slight, which induced Johnsort to begin a letter to the Propa- gation Society, in February 1727, with these words : " I have just- come from Fairfield, where I have been to visit a considerable number of my people, in prison for their rates to the dissenting mmister, to comfort and encourage them under their suffermgs. But, verily, unless we can have relief, and be delivered from this unreasonable treatment, I fear I must give up the cause, and our church must smk and come to nothing. There are thirty-five heads of famihes in Fairfield, who, all of them, expect what these have suffered ; and though I have endeavored to gain the compassion and favor of the government, yet I can avail nothing ; and both I and my people grow weary of our lives under our poverty and oppression." Some months later, in replying to several specific inquiries of the Honorable Society, he presented a succinct view of the history of EjDiscopacy in Strat- GO HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ford, from the commencement, and showed that he had then in his parish fifty families, or about one seventh of the whole number of families in the town. The actual state of the Church in other parts of the colony, and of his own duties and ministrations, cannot be given in briefer and more graphic language than he himself used in the same sketch : " There is no church westward within forty miles, only Fairfield, which is eig-ht miles off, where there is a small wooden church built, and about forty fimilies, who hope for Mr. Caner to be sent them from the Society; and there is no church eastward within one hundred miles, only at New London, about seventy miles off, where I sometimes preach to a good number of people, and they are building a wooden church something larger than ours, and hope for a Missionary, and have de- sired me to recommend their case to the honorable Society, that they may be supplied as soon as may be, and there is there a good prospect of a large increase. There is no church northward of us at all. We lie upon the sea, (£ e. the Sound,) and directly over against us, southward on Long Island, lies Brook Haven, about twenty miles over the water, where I have often preached." This communication was penned under date of September 20, 1727. We have seen that the Church in Connecticut was rooted amid storms and opposition. It was the tough, strong, sapling of the forest, which was bent and borne down by the tempest, but never broken by its fury. No schemes of her adversaries could crush out her life; and the good character of those who bore the standard of apostolic order and faith, their piety, their meekness, their patient endurance of evils, were as IN CONNECTICUT. 61 sermons preached in the ears of the constituted au- thorities of the land. The champions of civil and , religious liberty — that is, those who had always avowed themselves to be such — undertook a profits less task, therefore, when they attempted to set back the stream of inquiry, or to turn again into the con- tracted channel of their own thoughts the minds that had been refreshed at the fountains of English theol- ogy as well as at " Siloa's brook that flowed Fast by the oracles of God." The treatment of the first churchmen of Connecticut by the Puritans is a chapter which cannot be over- looked in this history; for it is an instructive com- mentary on the purity and spirituality of their pre- tensions, and on the tenderness of their consciences. Let us thank God that we live at a period when these old prejudices, with all their sharpness, are worn away ; when religious persecution is unknown ; when more charitable feelings prevail among all Christian communions ; when Bishops, as successors of the Apos- tles, are loved and honored for their godly works and examples rather than for their office ; and when, too, the Church of our affections is not, others being judges, the fearful corrupter of "pure and undefiled religion," which she unfortunately appeared to be to the early settlers and generations of New England. 62 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER V. THE EFFECT OF CANDID INVESTIGATION, AND THE ENACTMENT OF A LAW IN CONNECTICUT TO RELIEVE CHURCHMEN. A. D. 1727-1729. It is a very common impression that the first set- tlers of New England emigrated to this country, not only to escape direct persecution at home, but to establish here, in all its freedom and fulness, the Puri- tan faith, and to promote in every possible way its peculiar interests. Under the influence of such an impression, questions like these have sometimes been thrown out : " Why were they not permitted to enjoy their religious liberty mthout molestation by the Church of England? Why did that hated hierarchy pursue them into this New World, and seek to over- throw their establishment, and make confusion in their churches, by introducing the Apostolic discipline and a Liturgical form of worship ? " The simple answer to these questions is, that their own men — Puritans by birth and education — began a disturbance of the settled order of things, at least as far as Connecticut is concerned. The little de- spised band of freeholders at Stratford who first professed their love for Episcopacy, and werfe fed, though fed but poorly, through the efforts of Heath- cote, by the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- pel, never would have grown into a formidable body, — IN CONNECTICUT. 63 never would have made any progress in converting to their views the strong-minded CongregationalistSj — had not Providence sent a spirit of inquiry among the officers of Yale College and the ministers in its neighborhood. Quincy, in his "History of Harvard University," referring to the conversion of Cutler and his asso- ciates, makes an assertion and a comment in these words: "This event shook Cono-res-ationalism throuo-h- out New England like an earthquake, and filled all its friends with terror and apprehension. The effect of the direct operations of the 'Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gosj)el in Foreign Parts,' was seen and recognized in these conversions. They had occurred in Stratford, or its vicinity ; a place in which the funds of the Society had been most lavishly ex- pended ; and the fact that the head of one of the most cherished seminaries of learning in New Eng- land had jdelded to its influence, Avas indicative of its power and ominous of Episcopal success." This state- ment thus made is in strange opposition to the facts which have been previously narrated. It gives quite too much influence to the operations and money of the Society. At that date, its " lavish expenditures " for Stratford consisted in having ]3rovided for the sup- port of Francis Philips during the five months of his irregular and unprofitable ministrations, and for Mr. Pigot who had tarried now a shorter period before proceeding to the mission at Providence, in Rhode Island. Only about four months had elapsed since his arrival in Connecticut; and these gentlemen, without any prompting on his part, had held a conference with him prior to their public declaration, and indi- 64 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH cated the direction of their thoiicchts and feelino-s. But long before this, the light had been gently streaming into their minds through the windows of the College Library, and they finally accepted it, for the simjDle reason that it was no longer to be resisted. Cutler, at the age of forty, with a wife and seven children, relinquished the highest literary and ecclesi- astical position in the colony, and separated himself from its emoluments and from the association of his early friends, because his conscience would not allow him to remain outside of the communion of the Church of England. Johnson was equally pure and conscientious in his motives; and so were Brown and Wetmore, and all those who subsequently broke aw\ay from the ranks of Puritanism, and firmly resolved to adopt the ancient form of faith, and henceforth to w^orship God after the order of the Book of Common Prayer. The little wooden church at Fairfield, which had been so far completed as to be opened with Divine services in the autumn of 1725, was permitted, two years later, to welcome a settled Missionary, — the Eev. Henry Caner, — a graduate of Yale in the class of 1724, and consequently a member of the Institu- tion while it was under the charge of Rector Cutler. He was a son of Henry Caner, the builder of the first college edifice, including a president's house, erected in New Plaven, and whose name still designates a water locality (Caner's Pond) in the northern borders of New Haven. The father was from England, where the son was born, according to a statement of Dr. Trum- bull ; and if he was originally a Congregationalist, he early conformed to the Church, — for he is entered IN CONNECTICUT. G5 upon the list of communicants by Mr. Pigot, in the "Registry Book" at Stratford, September 2d, 1722, and his son is entered by Mr. Johnson, March 28th, 1725, He evidently went to that place to com- mune— as many churchmen scattered in the neigh- boring towns were accustomed to do — when the only Episcopal clergyman in the colony was sta- tioned there. He died at the age of sixty; and John- son came to New Haven, September 24, 1731, to attend his funeral, as he had been here six years be- fore to attend the funeral of Elizabeth Caner. It is an interesting fact, that, after his ordination in the Church of England, so little were the services of Johnson called for to baptize, marry, or bury the dead, in the immediate scene of his early religious struggles, that for more than fifteen years the only official acts of this kind in New Haven, with one ex- ception, — of which ^ there is any record, — were per- formed for the Caner family. He appears, however, to have been a frequent visitor at the College, to have interested himself in its welfare, and to have rendered it important aid, notwithstanding the change in his religious feelings and attitude. It was shortly after the annual Commencement in 1732 that he wrote to the Secretary of the Honorable Society, using this language : " I continue to preach wdth success at New Haven, and I hope there will be a church there in time ; though they labor under great opposition and discouragements from the people of the town, who will neither give nor sell them a piece of land for them to iDuild a church on." He had previously written in April of the same year to the Bishop of London, thus : " I have lately 66 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH been preaching at New Haven, where the College is, and had a considerable congregation, and among them several of the scholars, who are very inquisitive about the principles of our church; and, after sermon, ten of the members of the church there subscribed £100 towards the building a church in that town, and are zealously engaged about undertaking it; and I hope in a few years there will be a large congregation there." Mr. Johnson acted as the theological guide and instructor of the young men whose attention was drawn to the study of Divinity and Episcopacy; and Henry Caner, Jr., for a period of three years after he left college, lived under his eye, — and in all this time assisted him and did good service for the Church at Fairfield, in the capacity of a catechist and school- master. When his age would permit him to receive Holy Orders, he embarked for England, and took with him a letter from Johnson to the Honorable Society, dated April 28th, 1727, in which he spoke of the " great comfort " it would be to him " in his solitary neighborhood" to have his young friend appointed a missionary to Fairfield, where the churchmen knew his good qualities and were ready to welcome him, as their address, which he enclosed, would sufficiently show. He also expressed a desire, for the encourage- ment of others who might undertake them, that the " Society would be pleased to defray the expenses of the voyages to England" for ordination, according to a pledge previously given, and especially that Mr. Caner might have the benefit of that pledge. And then, with an eye to his own personal interest, he added, "I should be very thankful if that char- IN CONNECTICUT. 67 itable order of the Society might look back with a favorable aspect upon us, who first undertook this difficult and dangerous expedition." Though Fair- field was the chief seat of opposition to the Church of England, and honored with the residence of Lieu- tenant-Governor Gold, — - its eminent persecutor, — yet there was something in the religious and public affairs of the town at this period which assisted the organization and gathering of an Episcopal parish. Among the manuscripts on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Hartford, may be found evi- dence that the General Association of Cong-reo-ational ministers memorialized the Honorable Assembly "of the infirmities of Rev. Mr. Webb, and the present cir- cumstances of that Society of which he is pastor," thinking the " case called for a speedy visitation, and that nothing less would attain the end designed and so earnestly to be desired for that people than an act " " requiring that one or more of the ministry from the several counties or associations of this colony be sent to convene at Fairfield, for the consideration of their state and the application of proper expedients for their united continuance in the faith and estab- lished order of the church of Christ in -this colony." And thereupon the General Assembly, under date of May 14, 1725, adopted a resolve, "that Fairfield should call some other orthodox minister to help Mr. Webb, that their sorrowful and sinking circumstances might be relieved." The last clause in this resolu- tion has been partially erased, but without it there is very little force in the response to the memorial of the association. When Mr. Caner arrived at his mission in Fairfield 68 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH late in the autumn of 1727, he found "the heavy taxes levied for the supj)ort of dissenting ministers," joined with voluntary contributions for the mainten- ance of their own services, so burdensome as to render his parishioners almost incapable of carrying on and completing their house of worship. All they could raise for his personal support was not above ten pounds sterling, and this, with the addition of sixty pounds sterling, — the salary usually voted by the. Society to its Missionaries, though in his case the al- lowance does not appear at first to have been so large, — constituted his living. But his presence among the people freshened their zeal, and he sought out and encouraged the churchmen scattered in the contigu- ous villages, and penetrated with frequent ministra- tions to Norwalk, and even beyond, to Stamford and Greenwich. In his first report to the Society, made some three m'onths after his return from England, he speaks of "a village northward of Fairfield, about eigh- teen miles, containing near twenty families, where there is no minister of any denomination whatsoever ; the name of it is Chestnut Ridge (Eedding), and where I usually preach or lecture once in three weeks. New- town, which is about twenty-two miles northwest of Fairfield, Mr. Johnson and I supply between us, — it being equally distant from us." He also visited Ridg- field and Danbury, as often as his duties would per- mit, and stated that there were in most of these places seven, ten, or fifteen families professing the Church of England, and severely taxed for the established order. But his parishioners increased notwithstand- ing all discouragements, and he reported in the same letter an addition of four families, one of which was IN CONNECTICUT. 69 a Jew, whose wife only was a Christian ; eighteen bap- tisms, "one whereof was an Indian;" and eight com- municants,— making his whole number forty -nine. Here is evidence of strength almost equal to that at Stratford, and no such body of earnest men could long remain passive imder the exactions and illiberality of the Colonial government. They had moved even while Caner was on his way to England for ordina- tion. The first successful eflbrt towards a mitigation of the trials of churchmen and a redress of their griev- ances, came from Fairfield. The Church-wardens and Vestrymen, in the name and l)ehalf of all the rest of their l^rethren, meml^ers of the Church of England in that town, memorialized the General As- sembly, at its May session in 1727, as follows : "Where- as we are, by the HonoralDle Society in England and the Bishop of London, laid under obligation to pay to the support of the said established church, and have accordingly constantly paid to it, and been at great charge in building a church for the worship of God, we pray this Assembly would, by some act or other- wise, as your wisdom shall think fit, excuse us here- after from paying to any dissenting minister, or to the building of any dissenting meeting-house. And whereas we were, ten of us, lately imprisoned for our taxes, and had considerable sums of money taken from us by distraint, contrary to his Honor the Gov- ernor's advice, and notwithstanding solemn promises before given to sit down and be concluded thereby in this affair, we pray that those sums of money taken from us may be restored to us again. If these griev- ances may be redressed, we shall aim at nothing but to live peaceably and as becometh Christians among our dissenting brethren." 70 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Moses Ward, the Senior "VYarclen and first signer to this memorial, " appeared, and by his attorney de- clared to the Assembly that he should not insist on the return of the money prayed for;" but asserted that the Independents or Congregationalists had " al- ways esteemed it a hardship to be compelled to con- tribute to the support of the Church of England, where that is the church established by law ; " remind- ing them that they should not exact from others what they had never been willing to submit to themselves, and urging also the passage of some law to oblige Episcopalians to pay to the support of their own min- isters. The petition was so far granted, that a law was enacted, by which all j)ersons of the Church of England, and those of the churches estabhshed by the Colonial government, living in the bounds of any parish allowed by the Assembly, should be taxed by the same rule and in the same proportion for the sup- port of the ministry of said parish : But if a society of the Church of England, with a clergyman settled and abiding among its members, and performing di- vine service for them, happened to be so near to any who had declared themselves of this church, that they could conveniently, and did attend its public worship, then the collectors should deliver the taxes collected of such persons to the minister of the Church of Eng- land living near them, which minister should have full power to receive and recover the same in order to his support in his parish. But if such proportion of taxes was insufficient to support the incumbent in any society of the Church of England, the members of such society had power to levy and collect of them- selves greater taxes, at their own discretion. By the IN CONNECTICUT. 71 same enactment, the parishioners of the Church of England were excused from paying any taxes to build meeting-houses for the established churches of the colony. Two years afterwards a law was adopted and proclaimed by the General Court, with similar exemptions, for the benefit of "soberly dissenting" Quakers and Baptists. Thus the early churchmen of Fairfield, nearly one hundred years after the settlement of the colony, made the first effectual effort towards the estabhshment of religious liberty in Connecticut; but so deeply and extensively was the Puritan principle implanted in the breasts of the people, and so thoroughly were the civil and religious powers blended together, that it required almost another century to consummate this effort. But the law, which the constituted au- thorities "in their great wisdom as well as christian compassion " had been pleased to provide, was found insufficient for the relief sought after, and scarcely had the year passed away, before the Church-wardens and Vestrymen again memorialized the Assembly for an explanation of their act, and for permission to govern their own affairs in future, according to the book of canons in use by the Church of England, gathering all needful taxes by this book, and not through the Congregational collectors. Disputes had arisen about the meaning of the law, and magistrates had put upon it the construction, that, by " nearness " to an Episcopal minister or church, was to be under- stood a distance within a mile, or two miles. This construction, of course, excluded from its benefit a large number of the parishioners of both Caner and Johnson, in Fairfield and Stratford; and as for church- 72 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH men in other towns of the colony, who had no clergy- man of the Church of England settled among them, the law, as far as they were concerned, Avas an abso- lute nuUity, and they were as much «innoyed and op- pressed as ever. The object was to crush out the life of Episcopacy, and discourage its further introduction among the people, — an attempt about as hopeless as to think of quenching the light of the stars by enact- ing that they shall not shine. It has been said, as an apology for this spirit, that "what the Congregational ministers and churches most complained of was, that New England was rep- resented in the parent country as destitute to a great extent of religious instruction ; whereas, they main- tained, that no part of the empire was better sup- pHed with competent religious teachers."^ It has also been said, that, whenever a meeting-' house was to be built, or any extraordinary expense to be incurred by a Congregational society, those opposed to the measure would declare themselves Episcopahans or Baptists, and claim exemption by law from the payment of the new tax. Governor Talcott, in his letter to the Bishop of London, in 1726, after mentioning that "there is but one Church of England minister in this colony," went on to remark : " There are some few persons in an- other town or two, that have stipulated with the pres- ent ministers now living in said towns, (which persons cannot be much recommended for their zeal for reHg- ion or morality,) who cannot well be judged to act from any other motive than to appear singular, or to be freed from a small tax, and have declared tliem- 1 Kingsley, His. Din. p. 95. IN CONNECTICUT. 7 Q selves to be of the Church of England ; and some of them that live thirty or forty miles from where the Church of England's mmister lives ; these have made some objections against their customary contribution to their proper minister, under whose administration they have equal privileges with their neighbors." But the apologies thus offered b}^ Congregation- alists neither justify the spirit of persecution nor char- itably allow for the conscientious unpulses of "men of like passions with themselves." Besides, as the Episcopalians constituted but a weak and slender body in the colony at that time, and had the legal power to tax their own members, those who joined them certainly could not anticipate any real relief from pecuniary exactions. The memorialists assured the General Assembly that they were bound in their consciences to adhere to the Church of England in doctrine and discipline, let their difficulties be ever so great ; and, thanks be to God, they did adhere, and to-day we are reaping the good fruits of their determination and firmness. No explanation of the original act was vouchsafed by the Assembly, and no further redress of the griev- ances of churchmen was proposed. Mr, Caner, whose chain of labors extended over many towns in Fairfield County, suggested a scheme to secure the revenues properly belonging to him, and yet comply with the provisions of the law. It was that the Honorable Society should appoint him, under its common seal, a " Missionary to serve from Fairfield to Byram river or the borders of the gov- ernment westward," and then, by a residence some- times in one place and sometimes in another, as the 74 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH necessities required, the objection that his parish- ioners were not near enough to take advantage of the law would be set aside, and he would thus receive what they were compelled to pay towards the sup- port of the Independent teachers. The Society ob- tained a legal opinion in England upon the scheme, which was unfavorable to its adoption; inasmuch as the Act plainly contemplated a permanent residence in one place, and this course might be construed as an attempt to evade its requirements, "only with a view to the secular advantages of particular persons, and might, perhaps, involve the church ministers in greater trouble, and more to their detriment than any benefit" to be directly gained. Nothing, there- fore, was left for the members of the Church of Eng- land but to submit to their condition and work pa- tiently on under their burdensome annoyances. A lew families, less able, or less disjDOsed to bear these "difficulties and oppressions," withdrew from the colony entirely; and eleven, for this reason, alone, are reported by Johnson, five years after his arrival, to have removed from Stratford into the more hb- eral province of New York. Other families, however, with greater Christian fortitude, rose up to take their places, and the two Missionaries of the Church in Connecticut continued their zealous and self-denying efforts, and fed and supported their people at the same time with the bread of life and the hopes of a day of deliverance. In the autumn of 1729, Johnson, in a letter to the Society, mentioned that he had visited New London and Westerly in Rhode Island, besides Wethersfield, on the Connecticut River, where a considerable num- IN CONNECTICUT. 75 ber of persons were subscribing towards the erection of a church. The attempt in Wethersfield proved an abortive one ; for fields of fairer promise elsewhere attracted the main attention of the laborers, then few, as in the time of our Saviour. In the same letter he added : " I likewise still continue frequently to preach at New Haven, Ripton, and Newtown, with success ; though at the last of these places it must be confessed that the Dissenters have of late got the advantage of us, partly by the craft and assiduity of their teach- ers, and partly by means of the removing of a con- siderable man of our church, (whose influence used to be great in that town,) from thence into New York government." 76 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER VI. ARRIVAL OF DEAN BERKELEY IN RHODE ISLAND; HIS BENEFAC- TIONS TO YALE COLLEGE; AND NEW MISSIONARIES IN CON- NECTICUT. A. D. 1729-1734. In the beginning of 1729 an event occurred which deserves to be specially mentioned in this connection, because of its influence upon the history of learning and religion in the American colonies. The Rev. George Berkeley, Dean of Derry in Ireland, whose excellent character the satirist Pope, many years later, drew m a single line, when he ascribed to him . . . . " every virtue under heaven," arrived at Newport in Rhode Island, with a charter from the cro^vn to found a college at Bermuda, the object of which was declared to be the instruction of scholars in theology and literature, with a view to j)ropagate the Christian faith and civilization, not only in parts of America subject to the British au- thority, but among the heathen. The French, by the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, had ceded certain lands in St. Kitts to the British crown, and the good Queen Anne had designed these lands, to the amount of £80,000, as a fund for the support of four Bishops in America; but she died in the next year, and her truly Christian design was forgotten or permitted to slumber in neglect. Sir Robert Walpole, first lord of IN CONNECTICUT. 77 the Treasury and prime minister in the reign of George the Second, after much importunity^ on the part of Dean Berkeley and his supporters, rehictantly proposed to the House of Commons, and the proposal was accepted, to apply out of the crown lands in St. Kitts £20,000 to promote the object described in the Royal charter for the college at Bermuda. This al- lowance, with the noble subscriptions of his friends, and the amount realized from his private resources, was sufficient to inspire confidence in the success of the Dean's enterprise, — an enterprise which he had projected and advocated from the first with singular eloquence and enthusiasm, notwithstanding constant opposition in high places, such as would have utterly discouraged a less brave and cheerful spirit. At the summit of fame and fortune, an object of attraction in a society of distinguished and cultivated minds, he offered to relinquish his rich and honorable pre- ferment, and devote the remainder of his days, at a salary of £100 per annum, to a benevolent work for the good of this country. His arrival in Ehode Island was folloAved by the purchase there of land at his o^vn cost, and the erection upon it of a farm-house, where he lived with his family, regarding this as a convenient spot from which intercourse might be kept up with the Bermudas, and supplies, to a hmited extent, se- cured for the future college. "At one time," says Anderson in his "History of the Colonial Church," " after his arrival at Newport, Berkeley thought that Rhode Island possessed so many more advantages than the Bermudas, that he entertained the thought of transferring the college thither. But, fearing lest this change might throw some difficulty in the way of 78 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH receiving the promised grant, and for other reasons, he judged it best to adhere to the original design." While waiting patiently for the government money before he sailed to Bermuda and entered upon the further prosecution of his cherished scheme, he turned his attention to severe mental studies, and, to use his language, " united in his own person the philosopher and the farmer, two characters not so inconsistent in nature as by custom they seem to be." His im- mortal work, entitled "Alciphron, or the Minute Phi- losopher," — aiming at the cavils of the prominent freethinkers of that day, some of whom he had met in their clubs, to learn the current of their thoughts, — was composed wholly or in part while he enjoyed "liberty and leisure in this distant retreat, far beyond the verge of that great whirlpool of business, faction, and pleasure, which is called the ivorldr Whatever fears may have arisen in his mind with respect to the cause of the delay in transmitting the promised grant, it does not appear that he gave them utterance, or that he believed it possible for the government at last to violate its solemn pledge. But in- trusting to such a prime minister as Walpole, he was leaning upon a broken reed. A sore disappointment awaited him, for the Bishop of London (Dr. Gibson), after having received many unsatisfactory excuses, begged the favor of an interview with the minister, that he might obtain, for the sake of Berkeley, a definite answer to his application whether the grant would be paid. The interview was allowed, and Walpole gave this characteristic reply: "If you put this question to me as a minister, I must, and can assure you, that the money shall most undoubtedly be paid as soon as IN CONNECTICUT. 79 suits with public convenience ; but if you ask me as a friend, whether Dean Berkeley should continue in America, expecting the payment of £20,000, I advise him by all means to return home to Europe, and to give up his present expectations." That was the treacherous blow which felled to the dust what Sir James Mackintosh termed " a w^ork of heroic, or, rather, godlike benevolence." It was given by the same prime minister to whom belongs the deep disgrace of having defeated the two noblest projects that ever were formed for the benefit of the American Church, — the one for the erection of four Bishoprics in 1713, and the other for the estabhsh- ment of a Missionary College at Bermuda in 1729. The whole amount of eighty thousand pounds arising from the sale of the crown lands in St. Kitts, the obli- gation Avhich rested upon a part of it having been thus unjustly released, was bestowed as a marriage portion upon the Princess Royal, and so the Government, for reasons of state, consented to the robbery of the Church. Dean Berkeley had no alternative left him but to submit to his disappointment and abandon "a scheme whereon he had expended much of his private fortune, and more than seven years of the prime of his life." He embarked for his native country in September, 1731, just three years after his departure from it for Rhode Island, not, however, without some consoMng anticipation of better things for the land where he had sojourned. " Westward the course of empire takes its way." He was welcomed, upon his return, by Queen Caroline, 80 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH and b}^ tlie great and good of England ; and in the nietapliysical discussions carried on in the court he showed his Christian and philosophical mind, and became " the distinguished coadjutor of Sherlock and Smalridge against Clarke and Hoadley, touching the principles of the Bangorian controversy," The influ- ence thus gained among those who then occupied high places, joined to his blameless and holy life, secured him promotion, and he was consecrated in 1734 Eishop of Cloyne in Ireland, a see which he filled with con- spicuous honor to himself and advantage to the Church. This step on the part of the crown was some atonement for the great trouble and mortification to which he had been subjected in his scheme for a col- leo-e at Bermuda. o But Berkeley's sojourn in Rhode Island was not without benefit to the Church in its remoter results. He distributed among his clerical friends the valuable books which he brought over with him, and " made a donation of all his own works to the library of Yale College " before he departed for Europe. In the an- niversary sermon which he preached at London soon after his return, before the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, he gave his de- liberate testimony in favor of the prudence and piety of the missionaries in the New-EuGfland colonies. He was the first preacher on such an occasion who had come from an actual survey of the distant fields of duty and the laborers therein, and hence his words seemed to have the impress of authority stamped upon them, when he said, " I speak it knowingly, that the ministers of the Gospel in those provinces which go by the name of New England, sent and supported at IN CONNECTICUT. 81 the expense of this Society, have, by their sobriety of manners, discreet behavior, and a competent degree of useful knowledge, shown themselves worthy the choice of those who sent them, and particularly in living on a more friendly footing with the brethren of the separation." He had been an eye-witness of the evil fruits which sprung from seed sown in religious fanaticism; and after stating in the same sermon that the bulk of the people whom he had known in this country^ "Hved without the sacraments, not being so much as bap- tized," he added, "and as for their morals, I appre- hend there is nothing to be found in them that should tempt others to make an experiment of their prin- ciples, either in religion or government." Still he had an influence which was felt and remembered among such a people ; for, whenever he preached, as he often did for the Missionary at Newport, he at- tracted large and attentive congregations. "All sects," we are told, "rushed to hear him; even the Quakers, with their broad-brimmed hats, came and stood in the aisles," to listen to this great dignitary of the Church of England. But Dean Berkeley exerted another influence which bore more directly upon Connecticut. No sooner had his arrival in America been publicly announced than Mr. Johnson, who had read his " Principles of Human 1 " Bishop Barkley saw very little of New England, was hard'y ever off Rhode Island, never in Connecticut ; nor at Boston till he went thither to take passage (or London. Accordingly the Bishop confines the account in his sermon almost wholly to Rhode Island, and I think he describes it very justly. He does indeed say that some part of his description may possibly be found to extend to other colonies." — Noah Hobart's Second Address to the Episcopal Separation in New England," p. 145. 6 82 , HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Knowledge," and formed a high opinion of his ability, paid him a visit, and the acquaintance begun with this interview ripened into a warm friendship and correspondence, which the distinguished sons main- tained long after the parents had gone to their final rest. In many respects the minds of these two divines were similarly constituted, and at that period their thoughts and studies were turned in similar directions. It was a bright spot in the life of Johnson that he was permitted for two yearg and a half to have fre- quent intercourse with a man of such genius, such profound erudition, fine taste, disinterested benevo- lence, and withal consistent and devoted piety. When the Dean was about to leave America, he visited him for the last time, and ventured on that occa- sion to recommend to his friendly notice the Institu- tion for which he still retained a deep interest and loved as a dutiful son, "not having any further view," as he himself notes, in his MS. autobiography, "than to hope he might send it some good books." He rec- ollected how largely he and his brethren in former years had been profited by such books, and he felt that by enriching the library of Yale College with choice contributions, a like benefit would be extended to other generations. Berkeley had already formed a favorable opinion of the Institution from his ac- quaintance with some of its chief managers, and upon his return to England, " assisted by several gentlemen who had been liberal subscribers to his own intended college," he sent over nearly a thousand volumes, valued at about five hundred pounds, — "the finest col- lection of books," according to President Clap, "which had then ever been brought, at one time, to America." IN CONNECTICUT. 83 He also transmitted to Mr. Johnson a deed conveying to the Trustees of the same institution his farm of ninety-six acres in Rhode Island, which is still desig- nated as the "Dean's Farm." His special object in this grant was the encouragement of classical learn- ing,— the conditions of the deed being that the net income shall be appropriated to the maintenance of the three best scholars in Greek and Latin, who shall reside in New Haven at least nine months in a year, in each of the three years between the first and sec- ond degrees ; the candidates annually sustaining a public examination in the presence of the senior Epis- copal missionary within the colony. "This premium," says President Clap, in his history, "has been a great incitement to a laudable ambition to excel in a knowl- edge of the classics." Johnson mentions in his auto- biography, that " the Trustees, though they made an appearance of much thankfulness, were almost afraid to accept the noble donation." They remembered how the writings of some of the best divines of the English Church had influenced a portion of their schol- ars in times past, and they could hardly persuade themselves that an evil design was not meditated under the semblance of these benefactions. But bet- ter counsels prevailed, the books and lands were re- ceived, and Berkeley established a friendly corre- spondence with the authorities, which was continued to the latest period of his life. In a letter written July 25, 1751, less than a year and a half before his death, he speaks of the " great satisfaction " which he had derived in hearing through the President " that learning continues to make notable advances in Yale College." Some may have smiled, 84 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH " That those, in him, themselves will glorify, Who reap his fields, but let his doctrine die." It was a singular mark of ingratitude that, at the very next Commencement (1734) after these dona- tions, Rector Williams, then at the head of the Insti- tution, and whom Johnson says he knew to be "a great enemy to the Church, and of an insidious tem- per," plotted, with certain ministers in Massachusetts, under the lead of his father, to deprive all the Episco- pal congregations here of their pastors, by depriving the pastors of their salaries. This attempt was made in a letter to the Bishop of London, through the hands of Dr. Colman, full of abuse and groundless com- plaints, but it failed for the very sufficient reason that the Society would not entertain these complaints unless they were accompanied by proof, and the proof which was subsequently offered was lighter than van- ity itself A spirit of inquiry into the points of Scriptural dif- ference between Congregationalism and the Church of England was well extended as early as 1730, through- out the Colony of Connecticut. The construction put upon the law which had been adopted for the relief of Episcopalians, forced them to redouble their exer- tions and renew their appeals to the Society for resi- dent missionaries. And Providence opened a way to satisfy the more urgent of these appeals. Sundry "in- habitants of New London, Groton, and places adjacent, who had petitioned once and again" to no purpose, renewed their requests in the spring of this year, stat- ing that the church which they had erected at much expense "continues shut up, to the derision of its enemies, but to our great grief and discomfort, with IN CONNECTICUT. 85 this only abatement, that it stands a monument and witness for us how earnestly we desire the blessing " of a pastor. The Rev. James McSparran, the Missionary in the Narragansett country, visited them occasionally, and officiated in the church before its completion. He was the nearest Episcopal clergyman, and appears to have been instrumental in laying its foundation; but when, in his work entitled " America Dissected," he speaks of the inhabitants of Connecticut and says, " I myself began our Church by occasional visits among them at a place called New London, and that has given rise to others, so that the Society maintain at this day, and in this colony, eight Episcopal Missionaries," he claims rather more than properly belongs to his efforts or his influence. The Church was not introduced into Connecticut from Rhode Island, but from the Prov- ince of New York, as it has been shown m a former chapter. Pigot and Johnson, while Missionaries at Stratford, both visited New London and preached, and baptized there each a child, the one a son and the other a daughter, from the same family, and that, too, prior to 1725, the year in which the first movement towards the erection of a church was made.^ Mr. Johnson, in a communication to the Society in that same year, speaks of having obtained "considerable subscriptions " to build a church in New London, "and a piece of land to set it on," — the custom pre- vailing in those days, as it does in these, to solicit I April 25th, 1723, Mr. Pigot preached in New London, and baptized John, infant son of William and Mary Norton. October 25, 1724, Mr. Johnson baptized in the same town Sarah, infant daughter of William and Mary Norton. Mr. Johnson, in recording the baptism in his Parish Register, makes this " N. B. — Mr. Talbot baptized Lauzerne, son ol Richard and Elizabeth Wilson, at New London, Oct. 15, 1724." 86 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Christian charity from the strong and rich in behalf of the weak and destitute. Mr. Samuel Seabury, the father of Bishop Seabury^ a graduate of Harvard University in 1724, to which institution he transferred himself from Yale, after the disturbance about Rector Cutler, was born in Groton, and was the first preacher to "the Second Ecclesi- astical Society," organized by permission of the Gen- eral Assembly in the north part of that town. This was in 1726. But after a few weeks, the Congrega- tional licentiate, who had come within the light of Episcopacy, gave up his charge as stated supply in North Groton, and finally, with letters dated in the spring of 1730, recommending him to the notice of Bishop Gibson, he crossed the ocean for valid ordi- nation, and appeared before the Society on the 21st of August in the same year.^ The New London peti- tioners spoke of him as "a gentleman born and bred in this country," and "therefore sure of a welcome reception in whatsoever vacancy he is sent to fill in New England ; " and so they begged with all earnest- ness that their " destitute condition might come into remembrance at the Board, when he applied for a mission." Their prayer was supported by the clergy here, and granted by the Society. He returned to New London, arriving there December 9th, 1730, and began his services in the yet unfinished church to about one hundred persons, of whom fourteen only were communicants. He is recorded as having met with his parishioners April 10th, 1732, when the first Church-wardens and Vestrymen were chosen; and thus the third Episcopal parish, with a house of worship and 1 Hawkins, p. 294. IN CONNECTICUT. 87 a resident minister, was fully established in the Colony of Connecticut. Though the number of those who had actually con- formed to the Church of England was small at this period, still there was a large number that ventured to look kindly on her services, and the grosser attacks of her enemies did not check the disposition to hear or read what was spoken or published in her defence. Johnson, writing to the Society in the autumn of 1730, after referring to the increase of "a good temper toward the Church," added: "One thing I have par- ticularly to rejoice in, and that is, that I have a very considerable influence in the college in my neigh- borhood ; and that a love to the Church gains ground greatly in it. Several young men that are graduates, and some young ministers, I have prevailed with to read and consider the matter so far, that they are very uneasy out of the communion of the Church, and some seem much disposed to come into her service ; and those that are best affected to the Church are the brightest and most studious of any that are educated in the country," John Pierson and Isaac Brown — brother of that promising young man who accompanied Cutler and Johnson to England for ordination, but died of the small-pox before his return — graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1729; and Pierson is entered in the Parish Register of Stratford as making his first communion on Christmas day, 1732. In due time these young men went over for Holy Orders, but were returned to fields of missionary labor in other provinces than Connecticut,^ and the name of Isaac Brown appeared I Pierson was at Salem, N. J., where he died in 1747. 88 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH in the list of the Society for a full half century. It was considered a great hardship that the candidates were thus subjected to the peril and expense of a voyage to England to obtain what the Church had a right to demand should be given them here. The want of a resident Bishop was one mighty obstacle which stood in the way of a more rapid growth. It afforded occasion for the opposers of the Church to deride her members or charge them with inconsist- ency in vindicating a threefold ministry and Apos- tolic order, while they were practically without Epis- copal supervision. It embarrassed the clergy in a portion of their work ; so much so that the senior Missionary in the colony, in the summer of 1731, ad- dressed the Bishop of London, and "humbly pre- sumed to beg his Lordship's directions" relative to the exhortation, after baptism, to the sponsors, re- quiring them to bring the child to the Bishop to be confirmed. "Some," he added, "wholly omit this ex- hortation, because it is impracticable ; others insert the words, ('if there be ojDportunity,') because our ad- versaries object to it as a mere jest, to order the god- fathers to bring the child to the Bishop, when" there is none within a thousand leagues of us, which is a reproach that we cannot answer." There was no dis- position to vary from what was wisely established at home, except in things confessedly indifferent and cir- cumstantial in their own nature, and this, for the good of the cause, that the Missionaries might have less occasion to employ themselves in pleading among the people about "the ceremonies and constitutions of the Church," and more time to devote in " advanc- ing the great essentials and vitals of rehgion." IN CONNECTICUT. 89 Early in 1732 that "popular and insinuating young man," whose settlement by the Independents at New- town, eight years before, had been so acceptable to all classes, publicly informed his people of a change in his views, and declared his readiness to receive orders in the Church of England. Mr. Johnson bap- tised his infant son in February, and he himself is entered as a communicant in the Parish Register at Stratford, his native place, under date of April 9th in the same year, which was Easter day. A sagacious Puritan mother of that time illustrated the ten- dency of candid inquiry, when she predicted this re- sult in her OAvn mind, and told her son, after it was accomplished, that she " knew Mr. Beach would turn churchman, for she never heard of any one that kept reading Church-books, but what always did." He was a graduate of Yale in 1721, and cherished a high re- spect for Rector Cutler, by whom, when a boy at Stratford, his desire for a classical education was spe- cially encouraged. He studied the great controversy of the times with the best helps which he could ob- tain before his settlement; but he reopened it with Mr. Johnson, once his college Tutor, on the occasion of that gentleman's periodical visits to Newtown, and made "the various points of difference hitherto sup- posed to exist between them " the " constant subjects of inquiry, reflection, and prayer." Though much esteemed for his scholarship, piety, and zeal, his decla- ration for Episcopacy "was followed by the display of greater bitterness and violence among his Congre- gationalist neighbors than had been witnessed in any of the former instances of defection from their ranks." Vf e shall reserve for another chapter a notice of some 90 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of the pamphlets published at that period, rudely and maliciously attacking the Church in Connecticut. No one went over from this country recommended to the Bishop of London for Holy Orders with better testimonials than John Beach. Johnson spoke of him, from a long acquaintance, as " a very ingenuous and studious person, and a truly serious and conscientious Christian," Besides these testimonials, he bore with him a pe'tition from Lemuel Morehouse and others, " members of the Church of England in Reddinof and Newtown," renewing their request for a share in the charities of the Honorable Society, and particularly that Mr. Beach might be appointed a Missionary in the town and vicinity where he Avas so well known and respected and beloved. The petition was granted, and the usual allowance for salary appropriated; but upon his return from England, in September 1732, he found the affections of his old parishioners alienated from him, and himself and his plans for the Church op- posed with increased rancor. A tribe of Indians, three miles distant from Newtown, to whom he was charged by the Society to extend his ministrations, had been stirred u]) to resist him and treat him with indignity and violence, under the ridiculous plea that he was about to rob them of their lands and draw from them money for his support. But none of these things moved him away from his godly work. Because there was no suitable place for assembling, he invited the few professors of the Church of England to meet in his own house, where for a considerable tune he conducted the public services. "He pressed on with resolute and cheerful spirit ; conciliating many of the Indians, and gathering around him large congrega- IN CONNECTICUT. 91 tions of his own countrjnuen." In his first report to the Society, made six months after his arrival at his mission, he says : " I have now forty-four commu« nicants, and their number increases every time I administer the Communion." And of his flock he remarks: "The people here have a high esteem of the Church, and are now greatly rejoiced that they have an opportunity of worshipping God in that way, and have begun to build two small churches, the one at Newtown, and the other at Redding." It is said that the frame of the building in Newtown, twenty- eight feet long and twenty-four wide, was raised on Saturday, the roof-boards jDut on the same evening, and the next day the handful of churchmen assembled for divine service under its imperfect protection, sit- ting upon the timbers and kneeling upon the ground. Thus we have reached, in and through the year 1734, the organization of the fourth and fifth Episco- pal parishes in Connecticut, with church edifices and settled ministers. By this time, the light was again streaming up from North Groton, in the eastern part of the State; for Ebenezer Punderson, the successor of Samuel Seabury in the Congregational ministry there, had declared for Episcopacy, and he was already on his way to England for Holy Orders, and with a petition to be returned to the scene of his former labors. This change in the sentiments of their pastor occurring for a second time, was a great discourage- ment to the North Society; and in a memorial to the General Assembly, May, 1734, asking that body to interpose and enact something for their rehef, men- tion is made of their happiness under Mr. Punderson for about two years and a half, when " it pleased God 92 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH in His Providence to leave him to believe and hold some things they thought erroneous," and notwith- standing " many private conferences, associations and counsels of reverend mmisters," in the neighlDorhood, " together with fasting and prayers for his recovery," Mr. Punderson stUl persisted in his views, and "ten or twelve of the people of the parish and heads of families signed his paper and contributed money to him to bear his expenses to England" for ordination. Relieved of a portion of his cares by the appointment of Mr. Beach to the mission at Newtown, Mr. John- son directed his attention to other quarters, and in the autumn of this same year he ascended the valley of the Naugatuck as far as Waterbury, and baptized an infant son of Nathaniel Gunn. This was undoubt- edly the first instance in that town of the dedication of a child to God "by our office and ministry," and the first occasion on which the forms of the Liturgy were used there by a clergyman of the Church of England. Johnson at Stratford, Caner at Fairfield, the elder Seabury at New London, Beach at Newtown and Redding, — four missionaries, with five houses of wor- ship,— constituted the working clerical force of the Church in Connecticut down to the end of the year 1734. The gain within the last lustrum had been the greatest in new localities or stations. The rooted tree was shooting upward and spreading out its salubrious branches, and many were finding beneath them a kind shelter for the refreshment of their weary souls. As often as we look back to this day of small things, and contrast it, in no spirit of vain boasting, with the fuller prosperity of the Church in these times, we dis- IN CONNECTICUT. 93 cern the footprints of the divine mercy marking a perilous path, and recognize also the overruling Prov- idence of God in ordering and governing the affairs of that " kingdom " which " is not of this world." If we have evils now to contend with of a nature to cause us sleepless solicitude, and if the Church, be- cause she holds the truths of the Bible in their mteg- rity, is to be maintained as a bulwark against the modern forms of popular error and unbeUef, let us not forget the lessons of the past, nor the battles which were fought in this colony, when our mustered watchmen on the walls were fewer than the fingers upon the right hand. When Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop of Constantinople, bade adieu to his people in the great church of St. Sophia, before an immense auditory, his last words were : " My dear children, pre- serve the Deposihim of Faith, and remember the stones which have been thrown at me, because I planted it in your hearts." If w^e turn from " the stones which were thrown at them," let us never forget the reso- lute men who planted and watered the Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut, looking in sure faith to God for the increase. 94 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER VII. RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY; AND THE GROWTH OF THE PARISHES. A. D. 1734-1738. Religious controversy has too often revealed the bad passions of human nature. Conducted ui a spirit which by no means comports with the work of our Divine Saviour, it has been a fruitful source amonor Christian denominations of alienation and bitterness, of invective and reproach. He always gains an ad- vantage over his opponent in every dispute, who, con- scious of the justness of his cause and the strength of his argument, preserves an equanimity of temper, and avoids the use of harsh language and opprobrious un- christian epithets. It became necessary at an early period to defend the Church of England in Connecticut against the public attacks of her enemies, as well as to be vigilant in regard to their secret stratagems. A worthy pa- rishioner of Johnson, at Stratford, had been stoutly as- sailed, in 1725, by Jonathan Dickinson, of New Jersey, on the subject of Episcopacy; and not venturing to measure lances with such an adversary, he made ap- phcation to his pastor for the draught of an argument to meet this particular assault; which was furnished, and which the parishioner sent in his own name. It brought forth a reply, and a rejoinder soon followed. At a later date, Mr. Dickinson was pleased to amplify IN CONNECTICUT. 95 and put in print his own statements, and this of course involved the necessity of publishing what had been written on the other side. At this stage of the con- troversy a new champion stepped into the arena, — Mr. Foxcroft of Boston, — and took up the cause against the Church, waiting more largely and artfully than the zealous New-Jersey divine. But a single pamphlet in reply from the pen of Johnson appears to have driven him entirely from the field. Fresh antag- onists, however, frequently compelled that sturdy de- fender of Episcopacy to reoccupy the original grounds of controversy so thoroughly explored by him be- fore he determined to withdraw from his Congre- gational brethren and seek for Holy Orders in the Church of England. In 1732, provoked, no doubt, by the recent declaration of Mr. Beach at Newtown, John Graham, a Congregational minister in the south part of Woodbury, now Southbury, published a most scur- rilous and abusive ballad, misrepresenting and ridi- culing the Church, her practices and her members, and closing with these words, — words too indicative of the unhappy spirit which reigned at that period, — " They that do thus and won't reform these evils, Are these Christ's Church, pray, or be n't they the Devil's ? " William Beach of Stratford, a wealthy gentleman, and brother of the Rev. John Beach, had been charged with the heinous sin of covenantrbreaking, because he left the Congregationalists and entered into the com- munion of the Church; and not willing to allow such a charge to go unnoticed, he persuaded Mr. Johnson, both for his own defence and as an antidote to the maUcious ballad of Graham, to draw up and publish 96 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH a tract, containing "Plain Reasons for Conforming to the Church." Replies and rejoinders followed, and the controversy reached down to the year 1736, when it was closed by Johnson ; and Mr. Graham withdrew from a contest in which he had won no honors for himself and no advantage to his cause. The more the subject of Episcopacy was publicly discussed and the grosser the attacks upon it, the greater was the increase in the number of its adherents. Popular atr tention was drawn to the Church of England by the animated controversies in which her missionaries were involved, and the examination of her doctrines and worship softened or removed in many instances the prejudices of early education. A member of the little flock of Mr. Beach at Newtown, returning one day from service, accidentally dropped her Prayer Book, which was picked up, and pronounced by the person into whose hands it fell to be a Mass Maimal, contain- ing very wicked things. Curiosity was excited among his neighbors to see the heretical and extraordinary book, and several who looked over its pages were so far from agreeing in opinion with him that they found it contained a large portion of the Scriptures, besides several of the excellent prayers which Mr. Beach had been in the habit of using while serving them accept- ably as a Congregational or Independent minister. The Society in England for the Propagation of the Gospel had furnished its Missionary in this place, as elsewhere, with a number of copies of the Book of Common Prayer for gratuitous distribution, and these were now put in circulation, and the result was, that, in the course of twelve months, eight families were added to the Church- and as the increased congrega- IN CONNECTICUT. 97 tion rendered a private dwelling inconvenient to meet in, an edifice for public worship was called for and speedily erected, as shown in the previous chapter. In 1736 the communicants included in the mission of Mr. Beach were 105, but he was not permitted long to enjoy in quietness this measure of prosperity. The Rev. Jonathan Dickinson of New Jersey, the Pres- byterian divine who had before appeared as a sharp as- sailant of Episcopacy, again took up his pen to attack the Church, and published in this same year a sermon entitled, " The Vanity of Human Institutions in the Worship of God." It was in the spirit and style of sim- ilar publications of that day, and evidenced that the author not only misunderstood or purposely misrepre- sented the nature and object of the Liturgy, but that he fixed the sin of schism, the guilt of rending the body of Christ, upon all who, from any motive, were led to conform to the Church of England. Copies were freely distributed in Newtown among all classes of people, and churchmen found them in their houses without knowing the source to which they were in- debted for the singular gratuity. Mr. Beach was therefore compelled, in self-defence, to enter the field of controversy, and wrote a little pamphlet called "A Vindication of the Worship of the Church of Eng- land," in which he met all the bold statements of the sermon, and maintained the utility of forms of prayer and their Scriptural sanction, without considering them as of special divine appointment. One hundred pages in reply followed from Mr. Dickinson, reiterating his former charges, and adding some new "misrepre- sentations and slanders," with a zeal which would have done credit to the heart of a Puritan in the times of 7 98 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Oliver Cromwell. But scarcely had the printed sheets become dry before the Missionary was ready with an Appeal to the ^'^Unprejudiced," in the course of which he made this personal allusion, by way of justifying his own withdrawal from Independency : " I have evened the scale of my judgment as much as possibly I could ; and, to the best of my knowledge, I have not allowed one grain of worldly motive on either side. I have supposed myself on the brink of eter- nity, just going into the other world, to give up my account to my great Judge ; and must I be branded for an antichrist or heretic and apostate, because my judgment determines that the Church of England is most agreeable to the word of God? I can speak in the presence of God, who knows my heart better than you do, that I would Avillingly turn dissenter again, if you or any man living would show me reason for it. But then it must be reason, (whereby I exclude not the word of God, the highest reason,) and not sophistry and calumny, as you have hitherto used, that will convince a lover of truth and right." The immediate effect of this jorolonged controversy was to double the number of churchmen in NewtoAvn; and in New Jersey, also, some thanks were due to Mr. Dickinson for the indirect benefit which he contrib- uted to the very cause that he attempted to destroy. The Church of England, in all this time, was stead- ily gaining strength in other parts of the Colony of Connecticut. The truly Christian deportment of the clergy recommended her doctrines to the people, and many of them would hear and read, notwithstanding the repeated warnings of the Congregational minis- ters to avoid the pubhc services, the instructions and IN CONNECTICUT. 99 the books of churchmen. Mr. Beach often officiated and administered the sacraments at Ridgefield, dis- tant from his residence about eighteen miles, where, in 1735, there were nearly twenty "families of very serious and religious people, who had a just esteem of the Church of England, and desired to have the opportunity of worshipping God in that way." At New London the usual attendance upon the stated services of Seabury had greatly increased, in spite of losses by death and other causes ; and he had officiated many times in Norwich, more frequently during the absence of Mr. Punderson in England to obtain Holy Orders, and once, in mid-summer of 1735, he held a public service in the town of Windham. Here a con- gregation of eighty people assembled, some of whom lingered for hours after the service was closed, seek- ing information in regard to the Church; and having obtained it, they confessed that her doctrines had been sadly misrepresented, and that henceforth they should have a more favorable opinion of their char- acter and tendency. In August of the next year he reported to the Society his remarkable success at Hebron, an inland town, which he had visited by the importunity of the people six times, two of which occasions had been on Sundays. More than twenty families, there and in the neighboring places, already conformed to the Church, and he had administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to fourteen commu- nicants. He was allowed afterwards ten j)ounds a year for such ministrations, which became stated. The secret of this success was, that a parish had been formed at Hebron as early as 1734, when the first minister of the town, the Rev. John Bliss, having been 100 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH dismissed from his pastoral labors by an ecclesiastical council, declared for Episcopacy, and was followed by a nmnber of his warmest adherents. A house of wor- ship, the sixth in the colony, was erected the next year, and Mr. Bliss for some time supplied them with services as a lay reader. Mr. Punderson, who went to England for ordination in the spring of 1734, was returned by the Society "as an itinerant Missionary, to take care of some towns which had petitioned for ministers." North Groton (now Led^^ard) and Norwich were especially desirous of his services. His residence was amonsc the same people whom he had served in the capa- city of a Congregational minister, and who still re- tained for him a strong personal affection. A parish was soon organized, and a church erected in North Groton, with whose history that of the present parish at Poquetannock is blended. His ministrations in New London County were abundant; and after the removal of Mr. Seabury to Hempstead on Long Island, he was for a time the only Missionary in that region, and breasted bravely the storms of fanaticism and the spirit of uncharitableness towards the Church, which nowhere in the colony were more furious and extrav- agant. He went beyond Hebron, even to Middle- town, some forty miles from his home, and, at the earnest solicitation of a considerable number, held a public service there early in the summer of 1739, and had a congregation of nearly one hundred sober- minded people. While these things were gomg on in the eastern part of Connecticut, the churchmen in the westernmost, under Caner and Wetmore, were watching their opportunities and strugglmg against IN CONNECTICUT. 101 the disadvantages of their position. Those Uvmg in the shore towns, (Greenwich and Stamford,) nearest to the Province of New York, found it most convenient to attend upon the ministrations of the Society's Mis- sionary settled in Rye, and they sought, according to the tenor of the law of this colony, to turn the due proportion of their taxes for the maintenance of re- hgious teachers to the support of Mr. Wetmore, But they failed entirely to accomphsh their object, even though they went so far as to present "an humble address to the General Assembly, praymg for a redress of this grievance." The Missionary at Fairfield, worn down by the arduous labors of his extensive field, took a voyage to England, with the view of recruiting his exhausted powers; and the Bishop of Gloucester, writmg to Johnson from London, under date of March 9th, 1736, said, "I wish Mr. Caner, who has the character from you and every one of a very deserving man, might acquire a better state of health by his journey hither." He opened the same letter with a graceful reference to that important subject which was never out of the minds of the early clergy of Connecticut, — an Ameri- can Episcopate. "You needed no apology for any application you could make to me in relation to any- tliing wherein you might think me capable of serving the Church in America. I wish my capacity were equal to my desire of doing it. No one is more sen- sible of the difficulties in general you labor under in those parts, and in particular of those you complain of for want of a Bishop residing among you. My own interest, to be sure, is inconsiderable ; but the united interest of the Bishops here is not powerful enough 102 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH to effect so reasonable and right a thing as the send- ing some Bishops into America." " So reasonable and right a thing!" That was well said; and had not the Church of England been entangled with the power of the throne, or had not the government been merce- nary and afraid of taking any step which might dis- please the colonies and be supposed to interfere with their temporal prosperity, or lead to their indepen- dence, America would have been favored with a Bishop in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Mr. Caner was back at his mission in the autumn of 1736, with an improved state of health. His brother Richard, who graduated at Yale College in that year, and became a candidate for Holy Orders, rendered him much assistance in his duties; for besides teaching a school in Fairfield, he walked over to Norwalk on Sat- urday, and officiated there as a lay reader on Sunday, — using "a form of prayer extracted out of the Church Liturgy, and some good practical sermon, or other plain printed discourse of the Divines of the Church of England." The gradual growth of the principal parish in Caner's mission — the parish where he had his residence — led to the measure of erecting a new and larger house of worship. The churchmen of Fair- field had purchased, m 1727, half an acre of land as a glebe, with a house standing thereon, in the centre of the town, and had sent a deed of it to the Society for Propagating the Gospel, by the hands of Mr Henry Caner, when he went to England for ordina- tion. It was an object of the Society, in all cases to obtain from the people pledges of glebes and other means of ministerial support, as a condition on which its own assistance was to be rendered and continued, IN CONNECTICUT. 103 and probably in no place in the colony were the do- nations more liberal than in Fairfield. Men there remembered the Church in their wills; and Dougal McKenzie, the father-in-law of Rev. Henry Caner, en- tailed for its benefit a levy upon the whole of his real estate. It is true, all which was thus donated was not secured; but enough was secured to give vigor to the missionary enterprise 'of the Society, and to gladden the hearts of churchmen, at the same time that they felt an abatement of the persecuting spirit and temper of the people. The old edifice, opened in 1725, and which was suffi- ciently capacious to admit of galleries for a hundred persons or more, had become, to quote a unique jDhrase of that time, " much too little for the congre- gation," besides being "near a mile from the centre of the town." The second church was commenced in 1738; and at a town-meeting held July 27th of that same year, a vote was adopted giving "Hberty to the members of the Church of England" to build it, upon certain conditions, "on the highway near the Old Field gate," about eighty rods from the meeting- house. With the aid of donations from New York and the Society in England, it was completed in a "very decent manner"; being fifty-five feet in length, thirty-five in breadth, and twenty in height, " with a handsome steeple and spire of one hundred feet, and a good bell of five hundred weight." Thus the second parish organized in Connecticut had so far outstripped in prosperity the mother-church at Stratford as to be many years before it in the erec- tion of its second and larger house of worship. Several respectable families were added to the 104 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Church of England at Norwalk by the occasional min- istrations of Mr. Caner, and the whole number there was so great as to warrant the organization of a parish in 1737, and the building of a small church about the same time. The influence of his brother as a lay reader undoubtedly contributed to this growth; but the general attention to religion, awakened at that period throughout New England, was an advantage to the Episcopal Church, and a providence which its few clergy, in all missionary stations, were diligent to improve. Dr. Trumbull, in his "History of Connec- ticut," after speaking of the "dreadful disease called the throat distemper," which was attended with such extraordinary mortality as to sweep off suddenly and entirely many families of children, thus introduces the spiritual condition of the colony : " The country was filled with mourners and bitter affliction. But the people in general continued se- cure. The forms of religion were kept up, but there appeared but little of the power of it. Both the wise and foolish virgins seemed to slumber. Profess- ors appeared too generally to become worldly and lukewarm. The young people became loose and vicious, family prayer and religion were greatly neg- lected, the Sabbath was lamentably proflxned; the intermissions were spent in worldly conversation. The young people made the evenings after the Lord's day, and after lectures, the times for their mirth and company-keeping. Taverns were haunted, intemper- ance and other vices increased, and the spirit of God appeared to be awfully withdrawn. It seems also to appear that many of the clergy, instead of clearly and powerfully preaching the doctrines of original IN CONNECTICUT. 105 sin, of regeneration, justification by faith alone, and the other pecuhar doctrines of the Gospel, contented themselves with preaching a cold, unprincipled, and lifeless morality; for, when these great doctrines were perspicuously and powerfully preached, and distinc- tions were made between the morality of Christians, originating in evangelical principles, faith and love, and the morality of heathens, they were offended, and became violent opposers. " In this state of general declension and security it pleased God, in sovereign mercy, to begin an extraor- dinary work of conviction and conversion, such as had never been experienced in New England before. It began in several places m Massachusetts and Con- necticut as early as the years 1735 and 1736, but became more extraordinary and much more general in 1740 and 1741." Johnson, wTiting to a friend in London early in the autumn of 1739, says, "I should be glad to know from you what is the general sense of the clergy about Mr. Whitfield and his proceed- ings, of which our ncAvspajDers are generally filled. There has been very much such a stir among the Dissenters in some parts of this country as he makes in Enii-land." The Church was a gainer in those days of religious' excitement by the steady presentation of the truth and the calm pursuance of her Scriptural course, — avoiding on the one hand the extreme of coldness and indifference, and on the other the heats of fa- naticism and uncharitableness. In the year 1736 an accurate inquiry was made into the number of Epis- copal families in the whole colony, and it was found to be about seven hundred. 106 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER Vm. THE CHURCHMEN OF CONNECTICUT PETITIONING FOR A REDRESS OF THEIR GRIEVANCES; AND REACTION OF PUBLIC SENTI- MENT. A. D. 1738-1740. In 1738 "the members and professors of the Church of England, Hving m Connecticut, being his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, and sincerely well- attached to the constitution of the Government," as "incorporated by Royal Charter," humbly addressed the General Assembly, at its May Session, relative to a matter which they aj)prehended to very nearly con- cern their interests and welfare. They alluded to the Act passed in 1727, wdiereby they were exempted from contributing to the support of the ministers of the Congregational or Presbyterian persuasion, which were those that were peculiarly countenanced by the laws of the government, and from paying towards building meeting-houses; and from thence they con- cluded, that, in the opinion of the Legislature, it was " not only not right to compel people to the support of that Avorship and ministry from which they solely dissented, but also that it was just and right for every one to have the benefit of his own way of worship, and of his own labor and interest to support that way of worship." The particular occasion, therefore, of their humble IN CONNECTICUT. 107 address was this. An Act had been passed in the pre- vious assembly held at New Haven, respecting the seven towaiships laid out in the western lands be- longing to Connecticut, whereby the moneys to be raised from the sale of those lands, amounting to about £70,000, were appropriated either to the use of schools or to the support of the ministers of the Congregational or Presbyterian persuasion, to be di- vided to the parishes in proportion to their several lists, and in such a manner that the members of the Church of England could lay no claim to any share for the support of their ministers or schools ; and a bill had been prepared and passed m the Lower House of the same assembly, wdiich might become a law by further action, whereby the public moneys arising from the Last Emission (bills of credit) were also to be appropriated to the support of the Con- gregational ministers, and to the utter exclusion of the ministers of the Church of England. Something of this kind had been done on a smaller scale in the towns, and certain sequestered lands had been sold for the maintenance of the estabhshed religious order. The memorialists were so far from envying their Congregational brethren, or wishing to hinder the passage of measures in their favor, that they heartily applauded the "good and generous disposition" of the Assembly ; but they claimed that " it would be a manifest injustice for them to be denied their share in the public moneys for the support of their minis- ters"; and hence they recited no less than seven rea- sons why the legislative action should be altered or amended so as "to secure to them their proportion in 108 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the said public moneys as well as to their brethren of any other denomination." These reasons are as interesting as they are forcible, and ought to be briefly noted in this place, as a part of the history of the times. The churchmen, therefore, pleaded for their rights, to quote from the language of their memorial, — ^^ First; because the doctrines and principles of the Church of England do professedly and most certainly tend, (at least equally with those of any other per- suasion,) not only to fit and prepare men for eternal happiness in the life to come, but also to promote the public good of society in this world by teaching them to be sober, virtuous, and industrious in their callings, serious and devout towards God, and just and chari- table towards men, and in every respect to be good Christians, kind neighbors, upright magistrates, and dutiful subjects. ^^ Secondly ; because the Church of England is that profession and persuasion which is estabhshed at home in the mother- country, and which his most sacred Majesty professes, and has bound himself by oath to maintain, from whom the colonists received and under whom they held their charter privileges, and who, therefore, with those in the government and admm- istration under him, would be apt to resent any un- equal treatment which the members of the Church might receive from the provinces abroad under his dominion and protection. " Tliirdly ; because the welfare and happiness of this as well as all other governments depends upon the union and joint endeavors of all its members, in pro- moting one and the same common good and general IN CONNECTICUT. 109 interest; whereas an unequal treatment of different denominations of Christians is apt to breed envies, animosities, and contentions, necessarily tending to weaken authority, to destroy the public peace, and to bring in its train divers disadvantages. ^''Fourthly; because, in the opinion of the Attorney- General and Solicitor, and other gentlemen of the law at home, there could be no such thing as a regular establishment of any one denomination of Christians in Connecticut, to the exclusion of the rest, without an explicit consent of the King's Majesty. " Fifihli/ ; because they had equally a right in equity to their proportion in the unoccuj)ied lands with their brethren of any other denomination ; " since " all the lands witliin the bounds of the government, being purchased or conquered by their common progenitors or ancestors, were by the Royal Charter ahlve granted and confirmed, according to their several proportions of right, to the whole corporation, consisting of the body of the people. '•'^Sixthly ; because they bore an equal proportion of the public taxes for maintaining the government," and it was presumable that "they had a right to an equally proportionable share in the benefit accruing therefrom with those of any other denomination in accordance with that just maxim in the law, — Qui seniit onus sentire debet et commodum; — He that feels a share in the burden, ought also to enjoy his share in the advantage." And, Seventhly and lastly, they claimed consideration be- cause the Act appeared to be manifestly inconsistent with the intent of the law passed in 1727, for the rehef of members of the Church of England, and 110 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH which exempted them from taxes for the support of Congregationahsm. It is true that law, said to have been adopted at a time when the colonists were apprehensive of losing their charter, was strangely frustrated ; and in some places it was contrived to elude its intent, by comprehending the minister's sup- port in the town-rate, and thereby obliging church- men to contribute to the maintenance of the Congre- gational pastors when they paid their town -rates. Still it was some relief, and was growing to be more and more so, as the Episcopal churches and mission- aries increased. The memorial thus earnestly presented, and asking equal privileges and protection, was signed by six hundred and thirty-six males, all above sixteen years old, resident in nine parishes or stations, and under the charge of seven clergymen of the Church of England, i. e., Johnson, Caner, Beach, Arnold, Wetmore, Sea- bury, and Punderson. The consideration of the me- morial was referred to the October Session of the Gen- eral Assembly, when the question was put whether anything should be granted on it, and it was resolved in the negative by both Houses. So accustomed were they to such refusals, that the result appears neither to have disappointed the me- morialists, nor altogether to have disheartened them, for the application was renewed by the clergy to the General Assembly at its May Session in 1740; and Johnson, waiting to Bishop Berkeley in June of that year, says, in reference to it, " Nothing has yet been done ; next October will be the last time of asking, but I do not expect they will finally grant our peti- tion. However, the Church greatly increases." When IN CONNECTICUT. Ill October came, he wrote to Dr. Bearcroft, the Secre- tary of the Society, thus: "The event is, that rather than let the Church share in it," (the amount arising from the sale of the seven new townships,) "the as- sembly proposed to repeal that law that vested the several Dissenting ministers in their dividend of it, exclusive of the Church ; though I imagine they will have some contrivance yet to serve themselves, and exclude us, for the increase of the Church in the country is very displeasing to those at the helm, and disposes them to distress us all the way they can." The proposition to rej)eal was adopted, and the pro- ceeds of the sale by a fonner Act went to the main- tenance of popular education. Connecticut may well remember with gratitude the vigilance of these early churchmen in preventing the threatened diversion to a purely sectarian jDurpose of what afterwards became, in each of the towns in the colony, a fund for the benefit of schools. Jonathan Arnold, the successor of Johnson at West Haven in the Congregational ministry, declared for the Church of England in 1734, and was entered in the Parish Register at Stratford as making his first communion on Easter day of that year, April 14th. An infant son of his was baptized into the Church about the same time ; and going to England afterwards for Holy Orders, he was, at the earnest desire of the clergy of Connecticut, ordained and appointed an Itinerant Missionary for the colony. The Society was at that time pledged to the full amount of its in- come, and as Mr. Arnold was possessed of some means of his own, he expressed his willingness to serve with- out any stipend or remuneration other than the very 112 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH trifling allowance afforded by the people. His resi- dence was in West Haven, and the chief places be- yond it w^here he most freqnently officiated were Derby and Waterbury. In writing to the Secretary of the Society, under date of September 22, 1736, he says: "I performed divine service la^st Sunday at Mil- ford, one of the most considerable towns in Connec- ticut Colony, where the use of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments, or the reading the Scripture in divine service, was never before known. There w^as a very numerous auditory, most attentive and desirous to be instructed in the worshijD of the Church of England ; but those who are looking to- wards the Church are commonly the poorer sort of people ; for the staff of government being in the hands of the Dissenters, who rule the Church with an iron rod, those who receive honor one of another set themselves at a distance, and allow their rage and revenge to increase in proportion to the increase of the Church." If Johnson had previously held no public service in Milford, he had at least, on three separate occa- sions, in 1727, '32, and '34, officiated in baptizing in- fant sons of the same household. A movement was made in 1737 to build a church in Derby, but it appears not to have been finished as late as 1745. The means of churchmen were lim- ited, and aU progress in the erection of houses of worship was necessarily slow. Sometimes the parishes were barely organized by the Missionaries, and left to grow under their infrequent ministrations, without attempting to build; in other words, left to be saluted by them, like "the brethren" of old "m Laodicea, and IN CONNECTICUT. 113 like Nymplias, and the church which was in his house." Hence we find it stated that a parish was formed at North Haven in 1723, and another about the same time at West Haven, but no churches Avere built in either of these places until many 3^ears afterwards, and no records of these early organizations can now be traced. West Haven was originally a part of New Haven, but in 1822 it was united with North Milford to form the town of Orange. Proceedings to erect an Episcopal church there were begun during the ministry of Mr. Arnold, and the frame of the edifice was raised in the spring of 1740, according to an account of the "Bene- factions for the Building of a Church in West Haven; and the Moneys laid out thereon." This account shows a very liberal expenditure for refreshments on that occasion, in the shape of rum and molasses and mut- ton, and other things deemed essential, in those times, at such popular gatherings. Mr. Arnold, out of his own means, and with the contributions solicited from friends of the Church elsewhere, was by far the most generous benefactor to the enterprise ; but the edifice was not completed during his continuance in the mis- sion, nor probably was it made fit for use as a place of puljlic worship. When the clergy of New Eng- land convened at New London in May, 1740, and sent home to the Honorable Society a representation of the state and desire of a consideral>le number of churchmen at Hopkinton and the parts adjacent, with their names appended, that of Jonathan Arnold was not among the signatures, because he had left, or was about to leave, the colony. He attempted to get possession of the land whicli afterwards became and is now, except the portion sold, the property of Trin- 114 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ity Parish in New Haven. This attempt was made before any steps were taken to build a church in West Haven, for Mr. Johnson, writino; to Dr. Astrv, under date of November 3, 1738, says: "Mr. Arnold lives about eight miles from me ; he is well, and gives his humble service to you. He also meets with very injurious treatment from the people of New Haven, where one Mr. Gregson of London gave him a lot to build a church on, which had descended to him from an ancestor of his who was one of the first settlers of that town. Mr. Arnold .went the other day to take possession of it, and was allowed, without molestation from the person who had had it in possession, to enter upon it, and ploughed in it till afternoon, when he was mobbed off by one hundred and fifty people.-^ This, with some other affairs, [may] oblige him to take another voyage to England, and I humbly hope he mil meet with your countenance and interest." 1 In a pamphlet entitled " A Vindication of the Bishop of Landaff's Sermon from the gross misrepresentations and abusive reflections con- tained in Mr. Wm. Livingston's Letter to his Lordship," published in 1768, the author, after speaking, on page 40, of the treatment of the Society's Missionaries in New England, gives the following passage : — " Perhaps Mr. Livingston may remember some instances of this himself; once, especially, in a gallant exploit performed by the students of Yale Col- lege., in which he was more than a spectator. The scene of this nohle action was a lot of ground in the town o^ Neio Haven., which had been bequeathed to the Church for the use of a Missionary. There these magnanimous champions signalized themselves ; for once upon a time, quitting soft dal- liance with tiie muses, they roughened into sons of Mars, and issuing forth in deep and firm array, with courage bold and undaunted, they not only attacked, but bravely routed a yoke of oxkn and a poor Plowman, which had been sent by the then Missionary of New Haven, to occupy and plow up the said lot of ground. An exploit truly worthy of the renowned J/M(/i6ras himself ! " The pamphlet, though published anonymously, was written by Dr. Inglis of New York, afterwards first Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia. IN CONNECTICUT, 115 Writing again in May of the next year to Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, and referring to the influence of his donations to Yale, he adds: "I am very sorry to tell your Lordship how ungrateful New-Haven people have been to the Church, after so many benefactions their College hath received from that quarter, in rais- ing a mob and keeping Mr. Arnold vi et armis from taking possession of the land (which, as I told your Lordship in my last) one Mr. Gregson of London had given him (in trust) to build a church on near the College." In a letter to a friend in London, (Mr. Sandford,) dated September 12, 1739, he says: "I am obliged to you for your kind offer of your good offices to Mr. Arnold. That gentleman was disappointed of his design of gomg last Fall, and now he seems to decline it on account of the prospect of war, so that it is im- certain when he will go." The clergy of Connecticut, previous to the date of this letter, had united in a representation of their grievances, and sent home the complaint to the Society; and Mr. Johnson, writing to the Secretary April 5th, 1740, refers to the docu- ment thus : " We laid before the Society a complaint last spring, of the difficulties we sustained from the government here, and Mr. Arnold had leave to come home to support our complaint, which he neglected to do, partly by reason of the unsteadiness of his own disposition and the uncertainty of his continuance in the mission here, and partly because we were flattered by some of the members of our Assembly that they would yet do something for our relief This they stiU give us some hopes of, and we have concluded to wait till their next session in May, in hopes that we shaU 116 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH not have occasion to trouble the Society any further about it ; after which, if nothing be done in our favor, we shall, at least, send to the Society the proper mate- rials for the support of our complaint. But since Mr. Arnold has left us, being removed to Staten Island, it is very uncertain whether any of us shall incline to go home on this affair. This gentleman's leaving his people will cast a great additional burden upon me, on whom they will depend to administer to them till they are supplied again ; on which account I beg the Society will favorably consider their address sent last fall, and still thmk of continuing that Mission." Twelve days later, in a communication to his friend in London, he notes : "Mr. Arnold has been in a very unsteady disposition of late, and is now about moving to Staten Island, N. Y., so that I ques- tion whether he will go home at all." He certainly did not go home from his mission in the Colony of Connecticut; for Mr. Johnson, in another letter to Dr. Bearcroft, written in the autumn of this same year, after referring to the old annoyances and diffi- culties, says: "The unsettled condition of some of our churches with respect to their ministers is also a great disadvantage to us. There is now a proposal that Mi. Beach should change with Mr. Arnold and go to Staten Island and Newark. He is indeed a very worthy and useful man, and nobody could do more good there than he, but then the loss of him would be an unspeakable damxage to us here. Mr. Morris is in many respects a gentleman of good accomplishments, but it does not seem likely that he w^ill suit or be suited with the disposition of this country people, so that I much doubt whether he will be happy in them IN CONNECTICUT. 117 or they in him; and I wish that he were better pro- vided for, and that some young man previously ac- quainted with the country, or that could suit his dis- position to it, w^ere provided for them." The Rev. Theophilus Morris, here mentioned, was an English clergyman who succeeded Mr. Arnold in the Mission, and had his residence at West Haven. In his first report made to the Society, September 13, 1740, he says: "I was received by the church-people wdth no small pleasure, for, upon Mr. Arnold leaving them, they seemed to despair of having another to succeed him ; beside, the Dissenters used to boast and affirm confidently that the Society would never send here another Missionarj^, which w^as some mor- tification to them, who are a people not to be despised, and are ready enough to express their gratitude." And farther on in the same letter he whites: '"Should I give you an account of the Geography of my mis- sion, 3'ou would find it large enough for a Diocese ; but I would not be understood to mean this hy way of complaint of the difficulty and length of the roads; and if I may be allowed to complain of anything, it must be of the wretched fanaticism that runs so hio-h in this country, and a body would be apt to think higher than it did in England in Cromwell's time, which does not so well suit one of my complexion ; yet I have been serviceable in the Church, and will endeavor to be more so." During his ministry and that of his successor, and of course chiefly under their direction, the present house of worship in West Haven was carried on to completion. It was reported to the Society as almost finished in May, 1745, and it is remarkable among the 118 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Episcopal churches of this State as being the oldest, and, except the edifice at Brooklyn, the only one now standing, of those which were erected in the lifetime of him Avho has been styled the "Father of Episcopacy in Connecticut." It is a fair specimen, without the mod- ern improvements, of the architecture of the smaller churches built in colonial times, and it stands in the village on that very spot where the piety of the early churchmen placed it, surrounded by their graves, and by the graves of their "children unto the third and fourth generation." The members and professors of the Church of England, living in New Haven, went out there to attend the public services on Sunday and at other times, and thus honored their Divine Master, and nurtured their conscientious principles, until they succeeded in building here a church of their own. During the period covered by this and the preced- ing chapter, churches have been erected or com- menced in North Groton, Hebron, Norwalk, Derby, and West Haven, besides the second and larger edi- fice at Fairfield, and two Missionaries have been added to the list of the clerg}^, making the whole number six. We look now into the stormy times of Whit- field, but the Church has become a power in the colony, and a fearless vindicator, as all along she had been, of a j^ure and Apostolic faith. The clergy kept their eyes upon every spot where fam- ilies indicated a preference for Episcopacy, and they visited them, and preached and baptized in their houses, when no public or "upper rooms" could be secured. In this way those feelings of attachment to the Church, which had been revived in the hearts of many of the intelligent and thoughtful laymen of IN CONNECTICUT. 119 Connecticut, were extended to their neighbors; and as tlie months rolled on, lew demands were made upon the services and minis trations of the clergy, and they were called into distant towns and villages to cross some child in Baptism, or to read over a de- parted Christian the beautiful Oflice for "the Burial of the Dead." The penal laws of the colony were enforced with the utmost rigor, in order to check this growth of feeling in favor of the Church ; but neither fines nor imprisonments were of any avail, for the consciences of men were inwrought with their religion, and they would believe and worship in the light of reason and truth and Scripture. No mantle is so broad as that of charity, and let us confess that what was done by the constituted authorities of the land was not always done in obedience to the wishes of the people. The reaction of public sentunent in many places proved this, and from the first the Missionaries and the Congregational ministers often maintained a familiar intercourse with each other in private life, and showed on various occasions a mutual respect. It was quite evident that a feeble reverence for the Church of England Ungered in the breasts of the de- scendants of some of the sternest Puritans. In spite of the political dissensions of the past, they could not altogether forget the land of their ancestors, and the common salvation which was there as well as here. They sympathized with the sentiment of the excel- lent Higginson of Salem, when he saw the shores of his native country receding from view, and called his children around him on the deck of the vessel to utter these truthful and touching words: "We wiU not say, as the separatists were wont to say at their leaving 120 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of England, — Farewell, Babylon! Farewell, Rome! But we will say. Farewell, dear England! Farewell the Church of God in England, and all the Christian friends there. We do not go to New England as sep- aratists from the Church of England ; though we can- not but separate from the corruptions in it ; but we go to practise the positive part of Church reforma- tion, and propagate the Gospel m America."^ 1 IMather's Macjnalia, Vul. I. p. 362. CHRIST CllUnCII, WEST HAVEN, Erected iu 1740. IN CONNECTICUT. 121 CHAPTER IX. ARRIVAL OF WHITEFIELD IN NEW ENGLAND, AND RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM. A. D. 1740-1742. In the autumn of 1740 the Hev. George Whitefield arrived m New England direct from Charleston, and produced an excitement never before known in our religious history. He was a clergyman of the Church of England, ordained, when he was in the 22d year of his age, a Deacon by the Bishop of Gloucester. By his faithful and affectionate ministrations to those who were sick or in prison, he so won the heart of that amiable prelate, that, besides ordination, he gave him "friendly counsel from his lips, and money from his purse." In the lowest grade of the ministry, he vis- ited America, and landed at Savannah in May, 1738^ — having been attracted to Georgia by the account which the Wesleys had given of its great destitution of spiritual privileges. His wonderful powers as a preacher drew multitudes to hear him; and because the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canter- bury had approved his zealous labors, he was at first received as an Episcopal clergyman, and encouraged in his benevolent enterprise of establishing an Orphan House in Georgia, ostensibly upon the model of that founded by the celebrated Professor Francke in Ger- many. Four months after his arrival in this country 122 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH he felt himself " obliged," to use his own words, " to return to England, to receive Priest's orders, and make a beginning towards laymg a foundation for the Or- phan House." But he was not greeted upon his re- turn with the cordiality which he anticipated. His erratic course had already begun to reveal itself; and the extravagance which marked his movements, and the manner in which he spoke of the Church, whose doctrines, worship, and discipline he was ordained to defend, excited the just suspicions of the Bishops and clergy in England, and many of them not only refused him their sympathy and support, but of)enly opposed his enthusiasm and irregularities. Remon- strances and prohibitions, however, availed not to check him in the path which he had chosen. He was finally advanced to the Priesthood by his personal friend, (Dr. Benson,) — the same Bishop who had admitted him to the Diaconate ; and returning to America, he travelled backwards and forwards be- tween New York and Philadelphia, and Philadelphia and Charleston, preaching, when he was not allowed the use of a church or meeting-house, in the open air, — a practice which he had inaugurated in England, and justified by saying, "I thought it might be doing the service of my Creator, who had a mountain for his pulpit and the heavens for a sounding-board, and who, when his Gospel was refused by the Jews, sent his servants mto the highways and hedges." The arrival of Whitefield in Rhode Island was followed by an enthusiasm which spread like a flame of fire through the cities and villages of New England. Growing more bold under the impulse of his successes and excited feehngs, he threw aside, as an oppressive IN CONNECTICUT. 125 yoke, all reverence for the authority and teaching of the Church ; and thereupon the Independent or Congregational mmisters opened wide their arms to embrace him, and theu* sanctuaries to admit him, that he might be heard by the vast throngs which every- where crowded to their portals. With few exceptions they invited him into their pulpits, — and they could not well do otherwise, for leading divines of Massa- chusetts had solicited his visit, — and people of all de- nominations attended his preaching, some from curi- osity, but more from an awakened interest in reHgious concerns. As he approached Boston, he was met on the road by the son of the governor and several minis- ters and other distinguished gentlemen, who escorted him to the city, and " hailed him as a special messen- ger from Heaven, sent to awaken, alarm, and convert." Here his voice was lifted in all the meeting-houses, and sometimes on the Common ; and day after day his congregations still increased, and numerous mstances of remarkable conversion, through his instrumentality, were reported. " It was Puritanism revived," said the venerable Walker of Roxbury ; and Dr. Colman pro- nounced the Sunday on which he officiated in his own pulpit " the happiest day he ever saw in his life." At Cambridge, the seat of Harvard University, as else- where, the weak and timid were excited and terrified, and tutors and students shared m the effects of his bold theology and extraordinary eloquence. When he took his leave of Boston, it was supposed that twenty thousand persons assembled to listen to his fare- well sermon. He had heard in England of Jonathan Edwards; and having read his narrative of the religious interest 124 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH awakened in Nortliamptou five years before, he ear- nestly desired an interview with that eminent divine, and proceeded to visit him, leaving behind, in the towns throngh which he passed, those surprising re- sults which had attended his ministrations in Boston and its vicinity. Late in October of the same year he reached New Haven, and was affectionately wel- comed and entertained at the house of Mr. James Pierpont, a brother-in-law of Edwards, and a sympa- thizer with his religious views. The General Assem- bly was then in session, and Whitefield improved the occasion to fulfil his office of an itinerant preacher, and meet the constant demands upon hmi for services and sermons. People came m from the country a distance of twenty miles to hear him, and many neighboring ministers also sought the opj)ortunity of personal intercourse with a clergyman whose zeal and elo- quence were so widely known. It is reported that numbers, to his joy, were daily impressed ; and tarrying over the Sunday, he waited with courteous attention upon Talcott, the Governor, who encouraged him with the cheerful gratulation, " Thanks be to God, for such refreshings in our way to heaven." On Monday morning he set out upon his journey southward, and preached with his usual attraction in all the " sea-side towns" between New Haven and New York. Writing from Charleston, in December, whither he had returned, he thus remarked : " It is now the seventy-fifth day since I arrived at Rhode Island. My body was then Aveak, but the Lord hath much re- new^ed its strength. I have been enabled to preach, I think, an hundred and seventy-five times in public, besides exliorting frequently in private. I have trav- IN CONNECTICUT. 125 elled upwards of eight hundred miles, and have gotten up\Yards of seven hundred pounds sterhng, m goods, provisions, and money, for the orphans. Never did I perform my journey with so httle fatigue, or see such a continuance of the divine presence in the con- gregations to Avhom I have preached." In this Yvdiole account of the earhest visit of White- field to New^ England we have inserted not a line as evidence of any public or ecclesiastical disapproba- tion. Cautious divines of the standing order, with calm judgment and sober reflection, might have looked anxiously on and doubted the full propriety of his course, but no voice of censure was raised, and it hardly would have been heard amid the excitements of the hour, and the transports of popular enthusiasm. The sparks of religious discord, however, had been kindled, and they soon burst forth into a flame which burnt with prodigious fary. At first the strange and vehement invectives of Whitefield against the Bishops and clergy of the Church of England were welcomed and encouraged by the Independent ministers of Con- necticut, as calculated to check among their own people the growing attachment to her worship and doctrines. But the extravagant demonstrations which ensued, and the sobbings and swoonings under the preaching of Gilbert Tennent; the many lay exhorters who sprang up, especially in the eastern part of the colony, and propagated the most "horrid notions of God and the Gospel"; the imprudences and irregu- larities of James Davenport, the bodily agitations and outcries which he pronounced "tokens of divine favor," his attempt to examine his brethren in the ministry as to their spiritual state, and pubhcly to decide whether 126 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH they were converted or not; the controversies that arose upon doctrinal points, upon Calvinism and Ar- rainianism, dividing the people into two great parties, called the New Lights and the Old Lights; the itiner- ant preachers, who, without any charge of their o^vn, or without special invitation, left their appropriate spheres of duty, and went up and down in the land, promoting the popular excitement and casting "as- persion on the schools of the proj)hets"; the "hideous doings" at the night meetings of these revivalists, their pretended power of reaching the human heart by some spiritual process peculiar to themselves, and their severe denunciation of those who opposed them ; all these things turned the religious assemblies into scenes of disgraceful uproar, generated strife in every quarter, and bade defiance to the most assiduous efforts of spiritual or secular authority to restrain them, so that the regularly constituted pastors soon began to tremble for the strength and security of their own prevailing order. In the midst of such religious delirium, confusion, and peril, the ministra- tions of the Church of England were continued with unabated zeal and steadfastness, and many repaired with gratitude to her communion, as to the ark which could alone carry them in safety over the raging floods. The prudence, the watchfulness, and piety of the clergy, and the personal influence of Johnson, still the most distinguished among them, helped largely to produce these gains and advance the cause of Epis- copacy. "The duties and labors of my mission," said Punderson, writing from North Groton to the Bishop of London, towards the end of 1741, "are exceedingly IN CONNECTICUT. 127 increased by the surprising enthusiasms that rage among us, the centre of which is the place of my resi- dence." And in the same letter he added: "The most astonishing effects attend the night meetings ; screech- ings, faintings, convulsions, visions, apparent death for twenty or thirty hours, actual possession with evil spirits, as they own themselves. The spirit in all is remarkably bitter against the Church of England." The labors of that Missionar}^ became so incessant in consequence of the popular frenzy, that at one period he was scarcely allowed the privilege of spending a whole day in his study or with his family. Fruits of uncharitableness and spiritual pride naturally thrive in such a season, and the new-light preacher and his followers m Groton declared Punderson and all those under him to be "unconverted, and going straight down to hell." A like condemnation fell upon the Missionaries of the Church in other quarters. Even so earnest and good a Christian as Johnson did not escape the harsh judgment of Hezekiah Gold, the Congregational minister at Stratford, who pronounced him and his people unconverted, and not only so, but intruders and workers of all manner of mischief In midsummer, 1741, after waiting "a considerable time" for a plain, personal admonition from the author of these charges, promised through a friend, Johnson ad- dressed to him a letter, in which these words occur: "I thought it my duty to write a few lines to you in the spirit of Christian meekness on this subject. And I assure you I am nothing exasperated at these hard censures, much less will I return them upon you. No, sir! God forbid I should censure you as you censure me ! I have not so learned Christ ! I will rather use 128 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the words of mj dear Saviour eoncerning those that censure so, and say, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not w^hat they do.' " He closed the letter by asking for the evidence of his not being converted, saying, " Bad as I am, I hope I am open to conviction, and earnestly desirous not to be mistaken in an affair of so great importance ; and the rather because I have not only my own, but many other souls to answer for, whom I shall doubtless mislead if I am misled mj^self In compassion, therefore, to them and me, pray be so kind as to give us your reasons why you think us in such a deplorable condition." People with their eyes open could see that the fruits of faith, or the constant and beautiful exemplification of Christi- anity, was better than any mere theories of conver- sion; and hence the increase of the Missionary's pas- toral charge in Stratford was a very natural result of the unhappy spirit of his restless . opponent. The anecdote is well authenticated, that, meeting a parish- ioner one day, he was inquu^ed of by him, whether his Church was mcreasing. "Yes," replied Johnson, "it is increasing. I am a feeble instrument in the hands of God; but thanks be to him, he has placed my left-handed brother Gold here, who makes six churchmen while I can make one." By this time the rapid growth of Episcopacy was visible in several of the interior towns of Connecticut, and the erection of houses of worship was soon com- menced. The Bev. Mr. Morris, writing to the Secre- tary of the Society from Derby, June 20, 1741, says: "I have lately been at Simsbury, where I found about thirty famihes of our communion ; they are in hopes of having a minister at last, and have accordingly IN CONNECTICUT. 129 prepared some timber to build a church. I remitted their rates, which amount to about fifty pounds of this currency, to help them forward with the build- ing." And in the same letter he speaks of having "taken another church into his care at Wallingford, which consists of twelve families. I enQ-ao-ed to at- tend them once a quarter, which they seem to be satisfied with, for they know it is as much as I can do for them." Three months before this letter was written, the members of the Church of England "in- habiting in Wallingford and the adjacent parts," North Haven and Cheshire, (the latter place w^as a society within the limits of Wallingford until 1780,) united and formed a parish by the name of Union Church; and in the appeal which they sent over to the Bishop of London for assistance they stated: "With melan- choly hearts we crave your Lordship's patience, while we recite that divers of us have been imprisoned, and our goods from year to year distrained from us for taxes, levied for the building and supporting meeting- houses ; and divers actions are now depending in our courts of law in the like cases. And when we have petitioned our governor for redress, notifying to him the repugnance of such actions to the laws of England, he has proved a strong opponent to us ; but when the other party has applied to him for advice how to proceed against us, he has lately given his sentence ^ to enlarge the gaol and fill it with them.' " The demand for more Missionaries in the Colony of Connecticut was urgent at this period. Caner early wrote, that while the religious enthusiasm had made no progress at Fairfield, it had spread at Norwalk, Stamford, Ridgefield, and other places, and the effects 9 130 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of it had been the means of "reconcihng many sober, considerate people to the communion of the Church." At Ridgefield an edifice for public worship was built as early as 1744. In the autumn of 1741, Mr. Richard Caner, his brother, who has already been mentioned as doing good service for the Church at Norwalk in the capa- city of a lay reader, went over to England for ordina- tion, and among the letters which he bore with him was one from Johnson, recommending him to the favor of Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, and in which he took occasion to speak of "the accession of the new Rector" of Yale College, Mr. Clap, and to compliment him as "a solid, rational gentleman, much freer from bigotry than his predecessor." Referring to the enthusiasm consequent upon the preaching of Whitefield and his disciples, he added: "Many of the scholars have been possessed of it, and two of this year's candidates de- nied their degrees for their disorderly and restless endeavors to propagate it. Indeed, Whitefield's dis- ciples in this country have much improved upon the foundation which he laid ; so that we have now -pre- vailing among us the most odd and unaccountable enthusiasm that ever obtained in any age or nation." The few churchmen in Waterbury, Avho for many years, in addition to the labors of the itinerant Mis- sionaries Arnold and Morris, were fed and cared for by Johnson and Beach, had become so numerous, that, in 1742, they resolved to erect a church, applied to the town for land, and received a grant from the treasury of twelve pounds, old tenor, "provided they purchased a place of any particular person to set their house on, and set it accordingly." The divisions and IN CONNECTICUT. 131 animosities in the Congregational Society gave inter- est and strength to their enterprise; and they went before the General Assembly, in October, 1744, with a petition signed by thirty-eight persons, "professors of the Church of England and inhabitants of the town of Waterbury," asking for corporate privileges and aU the powers (the school only excepted) usually enjoyed by the parishes of the prevalent order. The petition, like similar memorials from churchmen in other towns, failed, and for the simple reason that the General As- sembly could not grant it without revoking or aban- doning the system of legislation which had made Congregationalism the religion of the colony. But the Church, notwithstanding, was soon completed, "with galleries above and pews below," and stood and was occupied for half a century, till a new one was erected in 1795. What constitutes the present town of Pl3miouth formerly belonged to Waterbury. The first settlers were from different parts of Connecticut, several from North Haven ; and because they were distant from the centre, nineteen petitioners, including one from West- bury (now Watertown), appUed, in 1737, for "winter privileges," and were released from parish taxes an- nually in the months of December, January, and Feb- ruary, during a period of three years. At length they were incorporated into a parish by the name of North- bury, and an ecclesiastical society was formed in No- vember, 1739. Before they were incorporated, they united in the erection of an edifice with upper and lower rooms, suited to all their public wants, which appears to have been proprietary, and which they called a schoolhouse. 132 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH The establishment of Episcopacy there arose out of the disorders of the time, and the sympathy of Samuel Todd, the Independent minister, with the great relig- ious excitement. A Prayer Book, owned by the wife of one of his parishioners, had much to do in directing and enlightening the minds of those who disapproved of his course, until eleven out of eighteen proprietors, or principal men, declared for the Church of England, took possession of the house which had been used for public worship, and voted to exclude the ministrations of Mr. Todd. They were under the guidance of Mr. Morris, not always, it must be con- fessed, the most prudent Missionary ; but in adopting this action they assured the minority that they would assist them in buildino; another house to an extent equal to the interest Avhich they had thus appropri- ated,— a promise said to have been faithfully redeemed, and to the pecuniary satisfaction of the ejected Con- gregationalists. The separation here mentioned oc- curred soon after the settlement of Mr. Todd, and towards the close of the year 1740. In 1744, "the representation and humble petition" of the churchmen in Northbury to the Honorable So- ciety ran thus : "We were all educated in this land, under the instruction of the Independent teachers, or (as they would be called) Presbyterians; and, conse- quently, we were prejudiced strongly against the Church of England from our cradles, until we had the advantage of books from your Reverend Mission- aries and others, whereby we began to see with our own eyes that things were not as they had been rep- resented to our view; and Mr. Whitefield passing through this land, condemning all but his adherents; IN CONNECTICUT. 133 and his followers and imitators — by their insufferable enthusiastic whims and extemporaneous jargon — brought in such a flood of confusion amongst us, that we became sensible of the unscriptural method we had always been accustomed to take in our worship of God, and of the weakness of the pretended consti- tution of the churches (so called) in this land ; where- upon we fled to the Church of England for safety, and are daily more and more satisfied we are safe, pro- vided the purity of our hearts and Hves be conform- able to her excellent doctrines." Johnson, in a communication to Dr. Bearcroft some two years earher, said : "Since my last, Ripton people in this town have raised a church, (which is the four- teenth in the colony,) and they hope in time the So- ciety will be in a condition to send them a minister entirely to themselves, where there will ere long be a good congregation. Indeed, ministers are very much wanted in several places, particularly at Simsbury and He]:>ron." The same hands which bore this letter car- ried another to a friend in London, in which, after speaking of the effects of the popular enthusiasm, he remarked: "It has occasioned such a growth of the Church m this town (as well as in many other places) that the church will not hold us, and we are obhged to rebuild or much enlarge." 134 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER X. A COMMISSARY FOR CONNECTICUT SOLICITED; AND THE INFLU- ENCE OF WHITEFIELD'S PREACHING. A. D. 1742-1747. The prudence of the senior Missionary in Connec- ticut was only equalled by his learning and firmness. To remedy, in some degree, the inconveniences and difficulties which arose from the continued want of Episcopal oversight, Commissaries for America were appointed by the Bishop of London, who were under his own special direction, and to whom a limited au- thority was assigned. The Commissary for all New England was the Rev. Roger Price, who resided at Boston, and held the office for a period of twenty years. As the Church increased, and "enthusiasm in its worst colors was daily gaining ground," the clergy of Connecticut, in 1742, united in suggesting the expediency of appointing a Commissary for this colony, and stated, among other reasons, that their distance from Boston was such as to make it "im- practicable for them to attend upon the yearly con- vention," and consequently to receive the full ben- efit which the appointment was intended to afford. They stated, "There are now fourteen churches built and building, and seven clergymen, within this col- ony, and others daily called for." They "presumed to mention the Reverend Mr. Johnson, of Stratford, IN CONNECTICUT. 135 as a person from whose ability, virtue, and integrity" they might hope to gain all advantages; and he, though supporting their appeal, except as far as it related to himself, assured his Lordship that it was not from any influence of his, but from their own motion, that his brethren had been j)leased to name him as fit to be appointed a Commissary in Connec- ticut. He added strength to their argument by say- ing: "When I came here, there were not one hundred adult persons of the Church in this whole colony, whereas now there are considerably more than two thousand, and at least five or six thousand young and old, and since the progress of this strange spirit of enthusiasm it seems daily very much increasing." All the Missionaries of the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel, resident in Connecticut, signed or supported this request for a Commissary, save one, and he — the Rev. Mr. Morris — was an Englishman by birth, who had Uttle acquaintance wdth the state of American society, and little disposition to recom- mend the Church by meeting the prejudices of the Independents in a spirit of kindness and conciliation. He was instrumental in conveying to Boston, as well as to London, a complaint which touched the good character of Johnson, and represented him as attend- ing the meetings of the dissenting teachers, and suf- fering his son to do the same. The degree of his displeasure may be learnt by an extract from a pri- vate letter which the senior Missionary wrote him in midsummer, 1742: "I hope your conscience is now entirely easy, having so effectually disburdened it at the Convention, and procured a chastisement to be sent to me, which I have received. However, I should 136 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH be glad to see you once more, or to receive a few lines that I may know whether you are yet easy or not; and I hope you have not so entirely lost all friendship for me as to deny me that favor. At least, I hope you will prove so generous an enemy as not to smite me secretly, hut that you will tell me hon- estly whether you intend, after all, to complain fur- ther to the Society of my great wickedness in not forbidding my son going to meeting now and then, which I must do or deny him any public education. .... Mr. Morris, I have not deserved this unfriendly and unbrotherlike usage from you. I have endeav- ored to use you in the most kind and friendly man- ner I was able : what, therefore, could temj^t you to begin this quarrel, and raise all this clamor against me both at New York and Boston, I cannot conceive." No Commissary was appointed for Connecticut, be- cause the Bishop of London was unwilling to revoke or change any part of the commission which he had granted to Mr. Price, without his consent, or until his death or resignation. But Johnson still continued to be the leading light among the clergy of the colony, and to be consulted and regarded as a safe adviser in all matters relating to the prosperity of the Church. Mr. Morris, failing to be welcomed at New London, to which mission he was appointed after the removal of Mr. Seabury to Hempstead, L. I., finally returned to England, and was succeeded here at Derby, Water- bury, and the contiguous towns, in 1743, by the Rev. James Lyons, an Irishman, who, if he had genius and zeal, was another example of a tiller in the field that needed a special Missionary to watch him and keep him from running his plough upon the rocks. IN CONNECTICUT. 137 In justification of himself, and as due to the Society, Johnson confessed that he "did go to hear Whitefield once," before he Avas under the ban of censure by the Bishops and clergy of the Church of England, that he might be better enabled to present an antidote to the mischiefs which he apprehended from him and his followers; and for the same reason, "with two or three of his brethren of the clergy, he v/ent one night, in the dark, and perfectly incognito, among a vast crowd, to see and hear" the manai»:ements and ravino-s of James Davenport. He defended the true teachings of Christianity, not with his voice only, but with his jDen also. An excellent pamphlet, written and pub- lished by him, under the title of "A Letter from Aris- tocles to Anthades," designed to explain the scrip1> ural doctrine of the divine sovereignty and promises, brought out a third time that veteran controversialist, Jonathan Dickinson, of New Jersey. The discussion was closed in 1744; but in the previous year his labors had so attracted the admiration of his friends in Eng- land, that they recommended him to the University of Oxford for the deo-ree of Doctor in Divinitv, and that University publicly renewed, with increased dis- tmction, the honor which it had conferred upon him just twenty years before. The hope expressed in the Master's diploma, " iSperanfes, illius mimsterio, aliam et eandem, olini, nascitiwam Ecdesiani Anglicanuniy'' — that, through his mstrumentality, the Church of England would rise up with new vigor in this country, — had been partly fulfilled, and the signs of its advancing to a further accomplishment were again gratefully rec- ognized; and hence Dr. Astry, in transmitting the di- ploma, said, "I do not so much consider myself doing 138 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH a good office to a private friend as promoting the public interest of religion." The second and larger church at Stratford, de- manded by the increased congregation, was opened, though unfinished, on the 8th of July, 1744; and Dr. Johnson, who contributed the bell, preached a sermon entitled "The Great Duty of Loving and Delighting in the Public Worship of God," which was published, with prayers for the family and closet appended. That edifice, so rich in historic associations and the scene of such a "bright succession" of pastors, served the children of the righteous for more than a century, and stood until six years ago, when it was replaced by an- other, more capacious, more elegant, and more suited to the advanced state of Christian architecture. It is a curious fact that the Congregationalists in Stratford, belonging to "the Old or Prime Society," moved at the same time to build a meeting-house, not quite as large as the church, but with a steej)le ten feet higher. A division arose among them, and, after the General Assembly had "appointed, ordered, and affixed the place whereon the meeting-house should be erected," a memorial was served on the Society, in opposition to the whole proceeding, and a committee appointed to proceed to New Haven, Avhere the Assembly was in session, to show reasons why the prayer thus served should not be heard. The erection of the building, however, was not prevented by these movements. The Rev. Richard Caner, with an appointment from the Honorable Society, reached Norwalk, after his ordi- nation, in June, 1742, at which time the church there consisted of about thirty families. But so successful were his ministrations, and so rapid the growth of the IN CONNECTICUT. 139 parish, that, in December following, the people re- solved to build a new church, and provided with great alacrity the means for its erection. The old one was removed a short distance and converted into a par- sonage. The transfer^ of Mr. Caner from Norwalk to Staten Island, in the autumn of 1745, a step which was soon followed by his death, at New York, of the small-pox, interrupted greatly the prosperity of the parish, and left the bereaved people for several years without a stated supply. At the date of Mr. Caner's removal he had ninety families under his charge; and his brother, writing from Fairfield in the next year, says: "The church of Norwalk is, I think, the largest and most flourishing church in this colony, which makes me the more solicitous to have some better provision made for it than I am capable of bestowing that way consistently with a proper care of other churches." A second church at Newtown, "a strong, neat building, forty-six feet long and thirty-five wide," was erected in 1746, and the Missionary, in giving an ac- count of it to the Venerable Society, remarked, "It is very certain that our people generally exj^end more for the support of religion than their neighbors of the dissenting persuasion." In consequence of the public attention awakened to Episcopacy throughout Connecticut, j)arishes were organized and churches arose in new localities. The law, which for nearly twenty years had but imperfectly served the purposes 1 In the abstract of the Society for 1744, this is said to be "a reward for his faithful service in the care of the churches of Northfield," a misprint for Norfiekl (now Weston), " Ridgefiekl, and Norwalk, within the extensive cure of his brother, the Rev. Mr. Henry Caner, the Society's worthy Mis- sionary at Fairfield in Connecticut." 140 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of churchmen, was now beginning to work more to their advantage. For, amid all the turmoils and dis- sensions of Congregationalism, no new religious so- ciety of that order could be formed in any town and 3'et claim exemption from taxation to support the first or existing society. So wide had the breach become between the New Lights and the Old Lights, that at New Haven, in the last days of the year 1741, a move- ment was made for a separate society, and its mem- bers submitted long to be doubly taxed to insure its success. Governor Talcott, who welcomed the earliest visit of Whitefield as a time of spiritual refreshing, had descended to his grave ; and under the adminis- tration of Jonathan Law, his successor, the General Assembly, with a view to prevent further separations, to suppress enthusiasm, and strengthen the confession of faith agreed upon at Saybrook, enacted a "number of severe and persecuting laws," and repealed or modi- fied those in favor of sober dissenting consciences. Dr. Trumbull calls the law of 1742 "a concerted plan of the Old Lights, or Arminians, both among the clergy and civilians, to suppress, as far as possible, all the zealous and Calvinistic preachers ; to confine them entirely to their own pulpits; and, at the same time, to put all the public odium and reproach possible upon them as wicked, disorderly men, unfit to enjoy the common rights of citizens." "It was," he adds, "an outrage to every principle of justice," and "a pal- pable violation of the Connecticut bill of rights." The enactment of the General Assembly, at its May Session in 1746, though aimed directly at the same object, struck a blow at the Church, and excluded her mem- bers from voting in society meetings, and from having IN CONNECTICUT. , 141 any share in levying those taxes which they were obhged to pay for the common support of religion. But these measures did not really check the prog- V ress of the Church of England in the colony. As early as 1740, Mr. Beach was instrumental in gather- ing an "Episcopal Society" in Woodbury; and a house of worship was soon after erected, within the limits of the town, "on the hill between a place called Tran- sylvania and the present centre of Roxbury." In 1743, chiefly through his influence, a church was built at New Milford; and on the 5th of November, 1745, an organization was effected in Litchfield, and four years later a church was built, to which its principal bene- factor, Mr. John Davies, an Englishman, gave the name of St. Michael's. For the most part, in all places, the ■ erection of houses of public w^orship, or the attempt to erect them, speedily followed the parochial organiza- tions. At Middletown thirty families, towards the end of the year 1742, "earnestly desired to be mentioned to the Venerable Society in hopes of their future fa- vors." In the sea-side towns there was quite as much progress to rejoice the hearts of churchmen. At the opening of the year 1747, "the thirty conformists" in Norwich, then, according to Punderson, "the largest and most flourishing of any town in the colony," pro- ceeded to build a house, "for the service of Almighty God, according to the Liturgy of the Church of Eng- land, as by law established, somewhere betv, een the town and the Landing-Place," and they collected sub- scriptions for the purpose, not only from Norwicli, but from Pthode Island and Boston. In Guilford, the birth- place of Johnson, and where he had several times administered the Sacrament of Baptism, a parish was 142 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH formed in 1743, and another at North Guilford in 1747, after a division and contention arose among the Con- gregationaUsts in that town on the question of set- tUng a minister. At Stamford, inckiding Greenwich and the adjacent places, "the confusions of Method- ism" only made the Episcopalians more resolute, and a church was so far finished in the spring of 1747 as to be fit for occupancy. They had previously assisted Mr. Richardson Minor, a graduate of Yale College, and from 1730 to 1744 pastor of the Congregational Society in North Stratford (now Trumbull), to go home for Holy Orders; but he was taken by the French upon his passage, with Mr. Lamson, and after his release from confinement, while on his way with his fellow-sufferer from Port Louis in France to Lon- don, he died of a fever at Salisbury, to the great sor- row of his waiting flock and dependent family. Dr. Johnson, in alluding to the event, exclaimed, "Would to God we had a Bishop to ordain here, which would prevent such unhappy disasters." The Rev. Joseph Lamson, his companion, a native of Stratford and a graduate of Yale College, returned to this country in 1745, and his friends welcomed him "as one risen from the dead, among whom report had for some time placed him." The Society appointed him an Assistant to the Rev. Mr. Wetmore, the Missionary at Rye ; and his particular duties were to minister under his direc- tion "to the inhabitants of Bedford, North-Castle, and Ridgefield, with a salary of £20 per annum, besides a gratuity of the same sum, out of compassion to Mr. Lamson's sufferings and necessities." It was a motive to this appointment that a church was already built at Ridgefield. IN CONNECTICUT. 143 The multiplication of parishes and the erection of churches ought to have been accompanied by a cor- responding increase in the number of Missionaries. The Rev. Wm. Gibbs, a graduate of Harvard Univer- sity, was sent to Simsbury; but with this exception, no new stations had been taken and supplied, while several of the old ones were vacant as late as the spring of 1747. By this time the Rev. Henry Caner, probably the most popular preacher of our Church in the colony, and who for twenty years fulfilled so well his mission at Fairfield, had removed to Boston, and entered upon the Rectorship of King's Chapel. Seabury had been transferred to Hempstead on Long Island, and Punderson, as he wrote in the previous year, was the only "laborer of the Episcopal order" in that part of Connecticut. Mr. Ebenezer Thompson, a native of West Haven, and a graduate of Yale Col- lege, having for a long time served the Church most faithfully as a lay reader in the Mission of Mr. Morris, was recommended by the clergy for Holy Orders in 1743, with a request on their part that he might be returned to a portion of his former field; but, with a family to support, he was given the appointment of a better mission in Massachusetts. A year or two later, Mr. Hezekiah Watkins, who had been a minister among the Congregationalists, and Mr. Barzillai Dean, for some time a lay reader at Hebron, both graduates of Yale College and classmates, went over to England for ordination; but one was appointed to a charge in the Province of New York, and the other was lost with the ship which was bringing him back to this countr}^, — a sad disappointment to the people of He- bron, who were prepared to welcome him in the office 144 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of the Priesthood. The elements of theoloo-ical discord were in violent commotion, and not likely to be soon quieted: there wanted but the convenient opportu- nity for others to break away from the standing order and be employed in the service of the Church. This appears from a letter of Johnson to the Archbishop of Canterbury, written shortly before Christmas in 1742, and in which the following passage occurs: "It is a very great misfortune to the Church, now become a large body m these American colonies, that w^e can- not be provided for wdth at least one or two Bishops. I am persuaded at this juncture there are several dis- senting teachers who would take orders, if they could have them, by riding, though it were three or four hundred miles, and would bring all their people with them that are not infatuated with this New Lio-ht. And such is the disposition of many towards Episco- pacy, that I am afraid some will be tempted to go over to the Moravians on that account, who have a Bishop among them. At least an English Bishop would be the most effectual means to secure people from that and every other faction and delusion, as well as vastly to enlarge the Church. I have been informed that the chief pretence against sending Bishops has been an apprehension of these colonies effecting an inde- pendency on our mother-country. This is indeed a most groundless apprehension; but certainly a regular Episcopacy, even subordinate to the Bishop of London, would be so far from this that it would be one of the most effectual means to secure our dependency." It is a weariness and vexation of the spirit to refer again and again to such records of fruitless entreaty and of repeated and unavaiUng remonstrances. While IN CONNECTICUT. 145 the Missionaries were devoting themselves heartily to their work, and sending home with renewed urgency their prayers for that help which the presence of a faithful Bishop could alone secure to them, the spirit- ual authorities of England were refused the power of granting it, simply because the policy of the State must be identified with the Church and override its prosperity. It was a time here when all the moral force which our offices, seen in their completeness, can supply, was needed. It was a time for church- men not to be charged with inconsistency, and up- braided for pressing the importance of things which they were forbidden to enjoy. It was a time to open the eyes of those who were blmded by prejudice, and teach them to contrast the quiet walks of religion and the beauty and harmony of government with the convulsions and irregularities which everywhere pre- vailed. No gloomier picture of the moral and rehg- ious state of the colony at this period can be drawn than that Avhich appears in the proclamation of the Governor for a day of fastmg in 1743. It is only equalled by the "brief and sorrowful account" of Samuel Niles, "a mournful spectator and sharer in the present calamities, and pastor of a church of Christ in Braintree." It deserves to be quoted in this connection. "Neglect and contempt of the Gos- pel and its ministers, a prevailing and abounding spirit of error, disorder, unpeaceableness, pride, bitter- ness, uncharitableness, censoriousness, disobedience, calumniating and reviling, of authority, divisions, con- tentions, separations and confusions in churches, in- justice, idleness, evil speaking, lasciviousness, and all other vices and miquities abounded." 10 146 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Whitefield, who licad left behind him on his first visit a legacy of enthusiasm, from which had sprung all this evil and discord, was now preparing to return and itinerate again these Eastern colonies. The cords of union, which, at his ordination, bound him to the Church of England, had become so loosened that he was no longer held as one of her clergy, and he had separated from Wesley, as Wesley finally separated from the Church, because he could not unite with him on his views of free grace, and brmg him over to his own Calvinistic doctrine of election. "Had he not renewed his visit," said Dr. Cutler, in a letter dated December, 1744, "enthusiasm might have subsided sooner. He has brought town and country into trouble. Multitudes flock after him, but without that fervency and fury as heretofore. For some are ashamed of what is past ; others, both of teachers and people, make loud opposition, being sadly hurt by the ani- mosities, divisions, and separations that have ensued upon it, and the sad intermissions of labor and busi- ness ; and observing libertine principles and practice advancing on it, and the Church little ruffled by such disorders, but growing in numbers and reputation." The association of Congregational ministers in the County of New Haven, convened in February, 1745, formally disapproved, in a pamphlet which was exten- sively circulated, of his itinerancy, his doctrines, his whole course; and declared, among other things, that they could not "reconcile his conduct and practice in publicly praying and administering the sacrament among Presbyterians and Congregationalists in the extempore way, with his subscription and solemn promises and vows at the time of his Episcopal ordi- IN CONNECTICUT. 147 nation, nor see how his doing so was consistent with moral honesty, Christian simphcity, and godly sincer- ity." They noted the "numbers of illiterate exhort- ers swarming about as locusts from the bottomless pit"; and after censuring the Boston ministers for "ca- ressing, applauding, and following the said Whitefield," they improved the occasion to "send their public thanks to the Reverend and Honored Gentlemen of Harvard College, the Reverend Associations and par- ticular Ministers, who had appeared so valiant for the Truth against the errors, enthusiasm, and encroaching evils of the present day." The General Association of Connecticut divines followed their example, and a few months later deemed "it needful to declare, that, if he should make his progress through this govern- ment, it would by no means be advisable for any of their ministers to admit him into their pulpits, or for any of their people to attend his administrations." There was harmony of sentiment at this period be- tween the two New-England colleges. Harvard and Yale, from both of which students were expelled who sympathized with the New-Light Theology, and per- sistently refused to have any yoke put upon their consciences. And at Yale, President Clap and the Tutors signed a declaration condemnatory of the principles and designs of Whitefield, which "offended some, without effectually conciliating others." In that declaration, prepared as a letter and printed, the sign- ers thus referred to the effect of his "slanders upon the colleges," and especially their own : "Sundry of the students ran into enthusiastic errors and disorders, censured and reviled their governors and others; for which some were expelled, denied 148 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH their Degrees, or otherwise punished ; and some -with- drew to that thing called the ShephertVs Tent. And we have been informed, that the students were told that there was no danger in disobeying their present governors, because there would in a short time be a great change in the civil government, and so in the governors of the College. All which rendered the government and instruction of the College, for a while, far more difficult than it was before."-' All these movements, so far from weakening the Church of England, inspired fresh confidence in her order, her doctrines, her worship. Care was taken that her members should not increase in New Haven ; and hence no students, except the children of pro- fessed churchmen, were allowed to attend upon the ministrations of the Society's Missionary. But the good seed planted here in faith was already beginning to germinate. In the spring of 1745, Dr. Johnson wrote to the Secretary thus: "As there is such a growing disposition among the people in many places to forsake the tenets of enthusiasm and confusion, so there is a like disposition increasing in the College, where there are already ten children of the Church, and several sons of dissenting parents, that are much inclined to conform. I was there last w^eek, and was much pleased with the exercises; among the rest, there was one layman, a person of good character, (besides Messrs. Marsh and Mansfield, mentioned in my last,) who desired me to mention him to the So- ciety as a candidate for the ministry;" and more than a year later he again wrote these most encouraging words: "A love to the Church is still gaining in the 1 The Declaration^ pp. 11, 12. IN CONNECTICUT. 149 College, and four more, whose names are Allen, Lloyd, Sturgeon, and Chandler, have declared themselves candidates for Holy Orders; and there seems a very growing disposition toward the Church in the town of New Haven, as well as in the College, so that 1 hope, ere long, there will be a flourishing church there." Let it be said here that all honor and gratitude are due, from us who share the benefit, to the laymen of those days, for keeping the fires of the Church burn- ing in places where they had no steady watchmen for their souls save schoolmasters and catechists. We ought to grow more and more in love with a system which possesses the inherent elements of perpetuity, and which can live and flourish in the midst of ram- pant enthusiasm, while sects and theories change, tot- ter, and crumble from confusion into separation and decay. The Church never substitutes inward, un- thinking impulses for truth and reason and right rules of conduct. Her scriptural formularies under God are her safeguard. Whatever may be the lan- guage of the pulpit, and the false or fanciful inter- pretations put upon the Divine Word, the plain truth is always propounded from the desk. The Church teaches her children to follow the well-worn track of dut}^, and thus to walk side by side in faith with those who have entered it before them and passed on, claim- ing the fulness of the promises, to their final reward. It would be a sinful mistrust of the good providence of God to fear that the help vouchsafed to her in former days will not be continued in the time to come. Rather let us rejoice that the Church recog- nizes in every difficulty and danger a fresh call to 150 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH watchfulness and prayer; that even when the fearful anxieties and desolations of civil war bow down the hearts of the people with sorrow, she yet invites her children all the more earnestly to remember the hope still set before them, and to fulfil, as best they may, the simple yet solemn obligations which the posses- sion of this hope requires. Personal piety, the adorn- ment of the individual man with all the graces of the Christian character, never fails to win the tribute of public admiration, and to command some respect for the very body to which he belongs. Hence it was not only a right and sound faith, but a right and con- sistent practice, on the part of the members of the Church, that so contributed to her rapid advancement amid the vast disorders and dissensions which followed the first visit of Whitefield to New England. It is the same combination of a right faith and a right practice that now and always must contribute to her prosperity, and send through the land her richer and larger influences. IN CONNECTICUT. 151 CHAPTER XL THE EPISCOPAL CLERGY KEEPING ALOOF FROM SECTARIAN CONTROVERSIES; AND THE GENERAL PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH. A. D. 1747-1752. An undue excitem.ent on religious subjects is natu- rally followed by a season of spiritual declension. The poj)ular mind, yielding to the pressure of outward cir- cumstances, accepts that which, in calmer hours, it is quite ready to throw off, and the return to quietude and contentment is often no more than the sinking down into a state of barrenness and indifference. It is but the motionless, unrippled. expanse of waters which follows the raging of the angry storm. The enthusiasm, kindled by the repeated visits of Whitefield to New England, ha\dng consumed, like a fire in the woods, all that was light and inflammatory, now began to subside, and the rehgious body which had been most affected by it looked with sorrow, not only upon its own distractions and disorders, but upon the decay of vital godliness. The Episcoj^al clergy of Connecticut, in all the stations at which they were placed, watched narrowly the progress of events, and both in their public and private ministrations pre- sented the discriminating marks between true and false religion, and thus won over to the Church many who had else been lost in the mazes of infidelity or 152 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH in the depths of desjDair. They pursued a wise policy in the midst of the popular discontents, and kept aloof from the sectarian controversies and from the pro- longed contentions which most commonly arose out of the settlement of pastors over divided flocks. They were ever ready to defend their own faith and prac- tice. They allowed no misrepresentations of the doc- trine, discipline, and worship of the Church to go un- noticed; but they could not forget that, so far from finding their sphere of usefulness in strife and theo- logical dispute, it was a prominent injunction of the Society to all its Missionaries, "That the chief subjects . of their sermons should be the fimdamental doctrines ' of Christianity, and the duties of a sober, righteous, and godly life, as resulting from such doctrines." ^ Hence, the Church grew under their wise and pru- dent ministrations ; and those who at first came from curiosity within reach of their lessons, abated their prejudices, and Avere soon found, with Prayer Books in their hands, joining in the responsive notes of the Liturgy, and feeling that they had missed much in commg so late to the knowledge of its preciousness. The Church would have grown much more rapidly had there been more Missionaries. Writing to the Bishop of London in the spring of 1747, and referring to the vacancies in Connecticut at that time, Dr. Johnson said: "1 am now alone here on the sea-coast, without one person, in orders, besides myself, for more than one hundred miles; in which compass there is business enough for six or seven ministers; and those northward have their hands full; so that my burden is at present insupportable ; nor have we yet leave for any to go home, though there are five or six valuable IN CONNECTICUT. 158 candidates. Unless, therefore, the Society can pro- vide, or your Lordship can think jDroper to ordain on such titles as can be made here, (which in some places, though not without much hardship, may, I believe, be made equal to thirty pounds sterling per annum,) the Church must soon decay apace ; meantime it is really affecting to hear the cries and importunities of people from several quarters, and not have it in one's power to lielj) them." But it was not long before some of these importu- nities were heeded. In the year 1747, the Rev. Joseph Lamson, who encountered so many perils in obtaining Holy Orders, and returned to this country with the loss of his companion and fellow-sufferer, was added to the list of the Society's Missionaries in Connecticut, succeeding the Rev. Mr. Caner at Fairfield. His first appointment, as we have seen in a former chapter, was to act as an assistant to the Rev. Mr. Wetmore at Rj^e, Avhose daughter he afterwards married; and he was charged with the special duty of officiating to the people in Bedford, North-Castle, and Ridgefield. The latter place, though in the Colony of Connecti- cut, and geographically "within the bounds of the parish or mission of Fairfield," had been for some time under the care of Mr. Wetmore, as had the mem- bers of the Church of England living in other locah- ties bordering on the Province of New York. There was now no Missionary stationed between Fairfield and Rye; and Mr. Lamson, after his removal to Con- necticut, continued to officiate at intervals, as his con- venience would allow, in the church at Ridgefield. He is also mentioned, in the proceedings of the So- ciety for 1748, as "serving Norwalk," then with the 154 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH neighboring villages grown to be a parish "of one hundred and five families, which exceeded the num- ber of any other church in the government, except the church in Stratford." The scarcity of laborers and the plenteousness of the harvest imposed addi- tional duty upon the clergy of Connecticut at this period. The Episcopalians in Stratfield (now Bridge- port) had become so numerous that they proceeded, under the guidance of Mr. Lamson, m 1748, to erect a house of worship, which was called St. John's Church, and opened, as usual, for services before it was completed. It was the eighteenth church built in the colony; and among the seven principal proprie- tors whose names have been preserved, was Colonel John Burr, a man of eminent abilities, and possessed of a large estate. He was educated in the faith of Congregationalism, and zealously promoted its inter- ests until the extravagances of White field and his followers appeared, when he turned his attention to the Episcopal Church; and finding her doctrines and government to be consistent with the Word of God, he embraced them, and passed the remainder of his days in her communion, — as generous now in the sup- port of Episcopacy as he had before been in the sup- port of Congregationalism. In writing to the Secre- tary of the Society, in the autumn of this year, Mr. Lamson says: "I have formerly mentioned a church built at Stratfield, a village within the bounds of Fair- field, in which they are very urgent to have me offi- ciate every third Sunday, because we have large con- gregations when I preach there. The people Hving in the town and westward are very much against it, because Mr. Caner used to keep steadily to the church IN CONNECTICUT. 155 in town, but then there was neither church nor con- gregation at Stratfield." Mr. Lamson supphed this village, however, with stated mmistrations ; for in 1764 he reported to the Society that he had offici- ated in the church at Stratfield "one Sunday in four for several years." Mr. Ebenezer Dibblee, a native of Danbury, a grad- uate of Yale College, and for some time a licentiate among the Congregationalists, returned from Eng- land late in October, 1748, whither he had been for Holy Orders. After the disappointment occasioned by the melancholy death of Mr. Miner, he had acted as a lay reader "in the united parish of Stamford and Greenwich"; and so acceptable had been his services to the jDCOjDle, that they "humbly entreated the Ven- erable Society to compassionate their circumstances and admit him to be their missionary, with such sal- ary as they might think fit to allow." Besides as- sisting to defray the expenses of his voyage to Eng- land for ordination, they had pledged themselves to contribute liberally towards his maintenance ; and when there was a prospect that the vacant jDarish at Nor- walk might share in his ministrations, they interposed objections, and claimed that the churchmen there had neither manifested any interest in favor of Mr. Dib- blee, nor borne their part in providing the means for his subsistence. The "poor petitioners," as they termed themselves, "in the towns of Stamford and Greenwich," finally obtained their missionary; and the churchmen in Nor- walk and Ridgefield united in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the appointment of Mr. John Ogilvie, a native of New York city, and a graduate of Yale 156 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH College in the same class with Bishop Seabiiry. He for a time, "with the approbation of the Connecticut clergy, read the Liturgy and sermons among them to their entire satisfaction." He also officiated for them a few Sundays after his ordination in 1749; but though welcomed by the people, and greatly admired by them as a preacher, they were thrown into fresh commo- tion when they found that he was about to remove to Albany, in the Province of New York, a step which the Honorable Society might have been less reluctant to authorize, had not the Norwalk people been guilty of "imprudence in their conduct" relating to a pre- vious appointment for their Mission. They were un- fortunate in their next effort to secure the ministra- tions of a permanent pastor; for the gentleman who, in 1751, was sent, through their instrumentality, to England for Holy Orders, Mr. John Fowle of Boston, a graduate of Harvard College, proved not to be "an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile." After a ministry of several years' continuance among them, he was dismissed, for misconduct, from the service of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and returned to Boston, where he died.^ The vacant ]3ar- i,sh was again thrown upon the generosity of Mr. Dibblee at Stamford, and others of the neighboring clergy, for occasional services, and Avhat had hitherto been, under the ministry of the Caners, the most flourishing church in the colony, was checked in its growth by these unpropitious events. In the same vessel which brought Mr. Dibblee back to this country came the Rev. Richard Mansfield, a 1 " Mr. Fowle, my predecessor," said Learning, '' sold the library belong- ing to the Mission, and put the money in his own pocket." IN CONNECTICUT. 157 classmate of liis, and a graduate of Yale College in 1745. He was a native of New Haven, the son of Congregational parents ; and it illustrates the degree of Puritan bitterness which prevailed at that time against the Church, that even his ow^n sister, upon hearing that he had sidled for England to receive or- dination from her Bishops, prayed that he might be lost at sea. Another classmate, the Rev. Jeremiah Leaming, born at Middletown, had arrived safely a few weeks before them, and was sent as an assistant to the venerable Honeyman at Newport; but he sub- sequently returned to Connecticut, and was long one of her most honored and learned ministers. Mr. Mansfield was appointed to the Mission lately served by Mr. Lyons; and he followed the example of his predecessor in selecting Derby for his residence, which was about the centre of his extensive charge, or midway between Waterbury and West Haven. Being " one of the holiest and most guileless of men," he dis- armed enemies of their prejudices against the Church, and gained over many to her excellent ways, b}^ com- bining in his own character the good Christian and the faithful minister. We shall have occasion to speak of him and his labors in future periods of our history. Dr. Johnson, in a letter to the Society, under date of September 29th, 1748, glances at the progress of Episcopacy in Connecticut, and thus refers to the prosperity of his o^vn parish: "As to the Church in this town, it is in a flourishing condition, one fjimily having been added, and more locking forward, and thirty-one have been baptized, and eight added to the communion, since my last; our new church is almost finished, in a very neat and elegant manner, the arclii- 158 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH tecture being allowed in some things to exceed any- thing done before in New England. We have had some valuable contributions, and my people have done as well as could be expected from their circum- stances, which are generally but slender; but there is one of them who deserves to be mentioned in par- ticular for his generosity, — Mr. Beach, brother of the Reverend Mr. Beach, who, though he has a consid erable family, has contributed above three thousand pounds, our currency, to it already, and is daily doing more, and designs to leave an annuity, in perpehmm, toward keeping it in repair." The worthy Missionary at Stratford, though dis- abled for a time by the fracture of a limb, was most industrious at this period in his sacred vocation. He kept his eye upon other places, but especially upon his native town, and improved all his visits among his kindred and friends to the advantage of the Church. The record of his ministrations in Guilford for a quarter of a century is more frequent than in any place of New Haven County except West Haven. In the same letter from which the above extract was taken, he writes: "Scarce ever was there a people in a more bewildered, confounded condition than those in this colony generally are, as to their religious af- fairs, occasioned by the sad eifects of Methodism, still in many places strangely rampant, and crumbling them into endless separations, which occasions the most sensible of them to be still everywhere looking toward the Church as their only refuge. I have this summer been solicited to visit several places. I have rode as much as I could, particularly to Guilford and Branford, where I have preached to great numbers, IN CONNECTICUT. 159 Mr. Graves also has done, and I believe those jwns will in a little time be prepared to make >sion ; at the former they are building a church, designing it at the latter. >Iiddleto\vn and Wallingford are also joining, in er to another mission in due time; and they are ig forward with their church at Middletown, where a sensible, studious, and discreet young man, one Mr. Camp, bred at our College, is reading service and ser- mons, and begs me to mention him to the Society as a candidate, and that he may hope in due time to be employed in their service." Nine Episcopal clergymen were present at the an- nual Commencement of Yale College in 1748, and meeting together, "consulted the best things they could" for the interests of the Church. It was in that year that Seabury graduated, and the younger son of Dr. Johnson; and among the candidates for the higher degree of Master of Arts were five who belonged to the Church, in which number was included Thomas Bradbury Chandler, afterwards the distinguished ad- vocate for an American Episcopate. He was the son of a farmer, born in Woodstock, Ct. ; and the predi- lections of his childhood were for Congregationahsm, a system of faith in which he had been educated, and which he seems to have renounced for the apostolic order of the Church while yet he was a student in College. He went to England for ordination in the spring of 1751, bearing with him a letter from Dr. Johnson, to the Bishop of London, and also a copy of the joint answer of the clergy to a paper of pro- posals in reference to the objections of Dissenters to sending Bishops to America. The Connecticut clergy 160 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH aimed to secure these educated youths for the vacant missions within the colony, and for any new ones which might be created. They had found by experi- ence that tlie natives of the soil were its most suc- cessful cultivators, and, therefore, as fast as these young men declared for Episcopacy, appeals went over to the Bishop of London and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to receive them into their care and consideration, and to allow the representa- tions and desires of churchmen in the most promising localities to be their title to Holy Orders. "I am de- sired," said Dr. Johnson, writing March 30th, 1750, "by sundry of both people and candidates, to beg the direction of the Society how to proceed; whether <£30 from the people can be accepted for a title, and, if so, to whom they can apply for orders, since they can have no title from the Society for a long time. They would, however, in the mean time, do as they best can; and I beg to be under the Society's direc- tion and control, that if no Bishop should come over into these parts, we may be advised time enough for them to go home in the fall, vvdiether orders can be had upon such a title, and from whom." The Rev. Matthew Graves, the Missionary at New London, reported early in the autumn of 1748, "I have visited and spent a fortnight at Hebron, in which time I read prayers and preached nine sermons in the church, and at the houses of the people;" and on "my return," he remarks, "I did duty in the new church at Norwich, baptized a child, and churched its mother. The parent used many arguments to stand surety, but I told him the canons and rubrics, and the practice of others, was my rule. The week before I went to IN CONNECTICUT. 161 Hebron I received an earnest invitation from the in- habitants of Branford, which is about forty miles hence. I happily, on my way thither, met Dr. John- son, ten miles this side, at a place called Guilford, where he read prayers, and baptized three children, and I preached to a large congregation. Two days after, I performed service at Branford to a most agree- able sight of auditors, who behaved very well, and some of the chief of the Presbyterians came to my lodgings and returned me thanks. As for the people of New London, I am afraid they will never be unani- mously reconciled to a regular minister. I despair, though I shall continue to act in the best manner I can for the glory of God and their edification." Six months later, March 28th, 1749, Dr. Johnson, after communicating to the Honorable Society the great growth of Episcopacy in Guilford and Branford, where forty -seven families had conformed to the Church of England, went on to say: "I have already mentioned the desires of Middletown and Wallingford, where the Church has further increased since my last, and Mr. Camp has continued to read there with good, success, and, I think, will be a worthy and useful per- son; and he and they are about addressing the Society for leave for him to go home for them next spring, and woidd he humljly thankful if leave would be given him to go by next fall, that he may embark early in the spring. They are near raising their church, and two more new churches are building, namely, at Nor- wich and Litchfield. The Church is very consider- ably increasing at New Haven, where the College is, and a considerable sum is already subscribed toward buildino; a church, and it is not doubted but between 11 162 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH that town and West Haven (a village within four miles, where there is already a neat little church) there will soon be forty or fifty fiimilies. My younger son has read all the last fall and winter, chiefly at West Ha- ven, and sometimes at Branford and Guilford, as well as Rip ton; but as he lives at the College, the chief place of his usefulness is there and at AVest Haven.'* The elder son of Dr. Johnson, so eminent in the future history of his country, as a diplomatist and statesman, occasionally performed the office of a lay reader; and the Church-wardens at Ripton, in thank- ing the Society for his scanty services, and sohciting the presence of an ordained minister, mentioned that they "were laughed at by the Dissenters for having a lawyer for their priest, Avhich discouraged many of the people, so that they would not go to hear him." In spite of obstacles in the way of her advancement, it was a season of general prosperity for the Church throughout the colony. The mission of Dibblee at Stamford and Greenwich was gathering within it "the inhabitants of all sorts," and under his auspices .a small chapel had been erected on one of its out- skirts (Horse Neck), to accommodate the increased number of churchmen. The cure of Beach, "like the house of David, was waxing stronger and stronger." Mansfield, at the close of the year 1749, reported that he had, in Derby and Waterbury alone, one hun- dred and forty-six communicants, notwithstanding his people had been sharers in the great oppressions aris- ing from the system of colonial taxation. At Sims- bury, it is true, the prospects of the Church were scarcely so encouraging; for the Missionary, Mr. Gibbs, and some of his parishioners, were drawn into conflict IN CONNECTICUT. 163 with the civil authorities, and both for a time had lodgings in the Hartford jail, because the costs of court and the demands of the tax-collector were not promptly met. In the eastern part of the colony, Punderson encountered like difficulties, and failed to recover by process of law what he claimed to be justly his due. The Missionary at New London, Matthew Graves, with the peculiar habits and prejudices of a foreigner, did not readily coalesce with his brethren in all their movements to protect and further the in- terests of the Church. In one of his letters to the Bishop of London he says: "All Europeans, especially ministers, meet with a very ungracious reception here ; and certain I am that there is a plan already formed to extirpate us entirely; a plan which, in its embryo, I zealously opposed, and, by the help of God, hitherto have been enabled to defeat it; a plan which, I doubt not to affinn, would shake the foundation of these in- fant churches by casting us absolutely upon the mercy of the populace, and reduce us into a Presbyterian, servile dependence." When the members of the Church of Eno-land in Hebron exerted themselves to provide for the support and secure the ordination of their lay reader, Mr. Jonathan Colton, a classmate of Leaming and Chandler, and who was sustained by the recommendation of Dr. Johnson, Mr. Graves fol- lowed their earnest entreaty with a letter to the Ven- erable Society, in which he objected to his appoints ment, and used this vituperative language: "I must add that 't is my conscientious opinion Mr. Colton is quite unfit for Holy Orders, unless a covetous man, a farmer, an apothecary, a merchant, and a usurer is qualified for the ministry, for such and all these he 164 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH surely is; but I solemnly declare there are more and more notorious reasons why such a man should never be ordained. All that I shall add about Hebron is, that inasmuch as they are very wicked, they have the greater necessity for a good resident minister." The presence of one in the highest grade of the ministry would have tended to prevent or restrain such ill-natured interference, and the Bishop of Lon- don, writing to Dr. Johnson in the spring of 1752, says: "I think myself at present in a very bad situa- tion : Bishop of a vast country, Avithout power or in- fluence, or any means of promoting true religion ; se- questered from the people over whom I have the care, and must never hope to see ; I should be tempted to throw ofl' all this care quite, were it not for the sake of preserving even the appearance of an Episcopal Church in the plantations. "Your letter of the 20th of October last, sent by Messrs. Camp and Colton, came but lately to hand. I thank you for it, and particularly for giving me some light into the quarrel between Mr. Graves and Mr. Colton. Mr. Graves wrote to me a very bad character of him, but could not conceal his passion and resentment, charging him with very heinous crimes. His letter gave me great offence, as he will find when he receives my answer." Mr. Colton was admitted to Holy Orders, but died on his returning voyage to this country in 1752, and was buried in the depths of the sea, — the second af- flictive disappointment which the church at Hebron experienced in its efibrts to obtain a resident Mis- sionary. His companion, the Eev. Ichabod Camp, was appointed to Middletown, his native place, with the care of WaUingford and Cheshire. IN CONNECTICUT 165 CHAPTER XII. MEMORIALS OF CHURCHMEN IN CONNECTICUT TO THE GENERa ASSEMBLY; AND ORGANIZATION OF TRINITY PARISH, NE\\ HAVEN. A. D. 1752-1753. It has been stated in a previous chapter that the enactment of the General Assembly, at its May Ses- sion in 1746, though aimed directly at the suppression of enthusiasm and the preservation of the standing order, struck a blow at the Church, and "excluded her members from voting in society meetings, and from having any share in levying those taxes which they were obliged to pay" for the common support of religion. This exclusion was manifestly so unjust, that the Wardens of the several societies, except that at New London, acting in behalf of all the members of the Church of England in Connecticut, memorial- ized the General Assembly, in 1749, to take into con- sideration their state, and pass an act granting to them full jDarish privileges, and power, within themselves, to meet and tax themselves, as they might think proper, for the support of their ministers or the "main- tenance of catechists or candidates for Holy Orders, accordmg to the practice allowed and approved of by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel"; and to choose persons to collect their taxes, who should 166 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH be governed and directed by the same laws as other collectors of society rates in the colony. This memorial, like all the previous memorials of churchmen to the General Assembly of Connecticut, was drawn up by Dr. Johnson, but, "by reason of the violent opposition of the Rev. Mr. Graves, it was not brought to trial" at the May Session. The clergy met in the autumn, when he objected to the draught that had been made, and agreed with the rest, as they thought, to allow a new form, omitting any mention of cate- chists or candidates; "but as the attorney (who was now the sole draughtsman) petitioned for taxing and collection powers," he appeared at the October Session and entered his protest against it, as what he called a "spurious address." He subsequently proposed to petition for a law in accordance with a memorial of his own, and gave his brethren notice that he should resist personally any application for a different law; and Dr. Johnson, in communicating the result to the Society, said: "Rather than have an open opposition before the Assembly, we thought it best to drop the whole affair, and still be at the mercy of the dissent- ers, as we were, though our case is very difficult." In 1750 the labors of Mr. Punderson as an itiner- ant Missionary in Connecticut were extended, and the members of the Church of England at Middletown, North Guilford, Guilford, Wallingford, and other places, submitted themselves to his pastoral care ; and what- ever ministerial taxes they had been assessed to pay, he ordered to be entirely applied toward building their churches and maintaining readers among them, with- out appropriating any part thereof to himself On the 18th of October, in the same year, he sent a letter IN CONNECTICUT. 167 to the Secretary of the Society, which contains this summary of his ministrations in one of his journeys: "The 5th of September rode to Middle town, and preached there the next day; the day following, at East Haddam; on Sunday, at Middle town, in their town-house, it bemg quite full; administered the two sacraments; their church is a beautiful timber build- ing, and will soon be fit to meet in; a folio Bible and Common Prayer Book would be very acceptable to them; the next day, in a small church in Wallingford; the day followmg gave private baptism to a poor, weak cliild, as I went to my native place. New Haven ; the Sunday after the Commencement, preached in the State House in that town, to a numerous assembly, not- withstanding Brother Thompson preached the same day in the church at West Haven; the day following, at Branford; upon Tuesday, in the church at Guilford, to abundance ; the next day, at Cohabit [North Guil- ford] ; upon Friday, at Millington [a part of East Had- dam], added there two more to our communion; the next day christened three children. I travelled in this journey about one hundred and sixty miles ; preached eleven sermons; christened seventeen chil- dren; the Sunday before last was at Charlestown, and the last at Norwich ; the Church greatly increases at both these places." From this record it appears that there w^as "a small church in Wallingford," built many years before ap- plication was made to the town and granted, for lib- erty to erect an edifice nearer the centre, "on the west side of Mix's lane." In that application, the members of the Church of England speak of having "assembled together for divine worship near Pond 168 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Hill," and it was here that the parishioners of Wal- lingford and North Haven, after being united, in 1741, in one church, by the name of Union Church, erected the temporary edifice in which Punderson officiated. More than twenty churches had been built in dif- ferent parts of the colony before a spade was taken to dig for the foundations of an Episcojoal house of worship in New Haven, a town, then as now, leading all others in the number of its inhabitants. The Col- lege was constantly furnishing candidates for the min- istry, and from time to time there were indications that families in the place were leaning to the Church of England, and desirous of her services. Dr. John- son was here on a Sunday, May 6th, 1750 ; and it was an interesting feature of the services which he per- formed at that time, according to the entry in his parochial Register, that he baptized six male children, all the sons of Daniel and Mehetabel Trowbridge, i. e., Joseph, Newman, Thomas, Rutherford, Stephen, and John. The first visrorous and decided movement to estab- o lish the Church in New Haven was made by the Rev. Jonathan Arnold, the Society's itinerant Mis- sionary in the colony. While in England, whither he went for Holy Orders, he obtained from William Gregson — of the city of London, great-grandson of Thomas Gregson, one of the original settlers of this place, and through whom, as the only surviving male descendant, he claimed to be seized in fee-simj^le — a deed or "indenture," dated March 26, 1735, convey- ing to him one acre and three quarters of land or thereabouts, situate in the town and county of New Haven, and now known as the glebe property, on the IN CONNECTICUT. 169 corner of Church and Chapel streets. ' The deed was for the consideration of "five shilUngs lawful money in hand," and out of "piety towards God," and "zeal for the Protestant religion and the Church of England, as by law estabUshed," and the conveyance was to "Jcnathan Arnold and his heirs in trust, nevertheless, for the building and erecting a church thereupon for the worship and service of Almighty God according to the practice of the Church of England, and a parson- ao-e or dwellinsx-house for the incumljent of the said intended church for the time being; and also for a churchyard to be taken thereout for the burial of the poor, and the residue thereof to be esteemed and used as glebe land by the minister of said intended church for the time being forever"; to be applied to these "uses, interest, and purposes," and no other. The instrument was duly stamped, though it lacked the proper acknowledgment ; and one of the vv'itnesses to its execution was the Rev. Henry Caner, the Mission- ary at Fairfield, then on a visit to London for the benefit of his health. Mr. Arnold returned to this country in 1736, and found other parties, as they had been for, many years, in possession of the land. He appears to have made no legal effort to claim it until September 6, 1738, Avhen a true copy of the original deed was recorded in the Land Eecords of New Haven. About the same time he attempted to take possession, but was "mobbed off" by 150 people, after his servants had ploughed in the field for the best part of a day without molestation from the occupant or claimant." A statement of this resistance was sent home to the Honorable Society, signed by the six Episcopal clergy- men in Connecticut, and Mr. Wetmore of Rye, who, 170 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH from nearness to tliis colony and sympathy with them, always cooperated as far as he might with Dr. John- son and his associates in their efforts to advance the prosperity of the Church. The testimony of such wit- nesses is reliable, and proves that there Avas some foundation in equity for the claim under the deed of William Gregson. Had the title held or been un- disputed, it will be seen that the gift was for the pur- pose of erecting and maintaining a church in New Haven, and upon that particular spot, and no other. Failing to accomplish his original intention of first erecting an edifice here, the Missionary started the project some time afterwards of building a church at West Haven, and no successful efibrts were again made for New Haven until 1752. In a letter, dated April 8th, of that year. Dr. Johnson wrote to the Sec- retary of the Society thus: "The condition of the Church within the whole of this colony hath not much altered, save that it hath so far increased at New Haven (with West Haven at about four miles dis- tance), that they have this winter got timber to build a church of the dimensions of sixty feet by forty, be- sides the steeple and chancel; and as this is a place of very great importance on account of the College being there, it would be very happy for them if the Society were able to assist them in providing for a minister, as I doubt they will not be able to do more than £25 sterling per annum themselves, especially while building. The Church is also gaining at Guil- ford and Branford, which, being but twelve miles asunder, propose to join for the present in procuring a minister, to whom they would also engage about £25 per annum, and therefore stand in like need of IN CONNECTICUT. 171 assistance ; and there are two worthy candidates likely to offer for these places, but if the Society be not able to assist them, they must perhaps be content for the present to have but one over them all." There are no records to show the exact time of the formation of Trinity Parish ; but as the movement to build a church was generally preceded by the paro- chial organization, or simultaneous with it, it is fair to presume that the common practice was not de- parted from in New Haven. Churchmen were de- barred from erecting an edifice upon the Gregson land, but they established themselves in sight of it, and as near as they well could; for on the 28th of July, 1752, Samuel Mix, for the consideration of £200 old tenor, executed a deed conveying to Enos Ailing and Isaac Doohttle one certain piece of land, "in quantity twenty square rods," "at the southeast cor- ner of the Market place opposite to the corner known by the name of Gregson's Corner," "for the building of a house for public worship, agreeable and accord- mg to the establishment of the Church of England." This deed, like that of William Gregson to Jonathan Arnold, was defective in the required acknowledg- ment; and the grantor dying soon after its execution, the General Assembly, at the October Session in 1756, upon the memorial of the grantees, gave them liberty to record it in the records of the town of New Haven, and thus completed and confirmed the title. Enos Ailing and Isaac Doolittle were influential members and supporters of Trinity Parish, and though not de- scribed as such in this instrument, were afterwards for many years its chief officers, bringing them into the trials and conflicts of the War for American In- 172 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH dependence. Mr. Doolittle. wlio was a native of Wal- lingford, and came to reside in New Haven at a very early age, was more liberal than any of his contem- poraries in contributing for the erection of the church, and tradition has assigned to him the privilege of being the first man to strike his spade into the earth wdien the ground was broken for its erection. Mr. Ailing was one of the twelve graduates of Yale Col- lege in 1746, and besides his zeal for Episcopacy in New Haven, he was a member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and deeply interested in all its operations. The church was built of wood, upon the land which these sagacious and Christian men had purchased; and when the frame of the edifice was raised, it is said that the heads of all the Episcopal families then in New Haven sat down upon the door- sill and spoke hesitatingly of their future growth. Eight years later, according to a statement of Presi- dent Stiles in his "Itinerary," they had only increased to the number of twenty-five families, comprising ninety-one souls. There is another agent to be men- tioned in the successful enterprise of establishing the Church in New Haven, the Rev. Ebenezer Punderson, ilready spoken of as an itinerant missionary in Con- aecticut. It cannot precisely be determined when he removed with his family from Groton to this place; /)ut, in a letter written not long before his death, he al- kides to the fact that he had been in the Society's ser- vice upwards of nine years, "at New Haven, Guilford, and Branford," which would bring him to his charge in this vicinity before the close of the 3^ear 1752. The proceedings of the Society for 1753 contain the following record, which throws hglit upon his influ- IN CONNECTICUT. 173 ence and generosity: "The Rev. Mr. Punderson, the Society's itinerant Missionary in Connecticut, having petitioned the Society to be settled Missionary, with only part of his present salary, (which is seventy pounds per annum,) to the members of the Church of England in New Hav-en, the place of his nativity, (where a new church is built, to which Mr. Punderson gave the greatest -part of the timber,) and to those of the neighboring towns of Guilford and Branford, the Society have granted his request." This brings the history forward to 1753, and within the last six j^ears the list of Episcopal clergy in the col- ony has been increased by the addition of the names of Joseph Lamson, Ebenezer Dibblee, John Fowle, Richard Mansfield, and Ichabod Camp; and churches have been opened or built at Stamford, Stratfield (now Bridgeport), Guilford, Norwich, Litchfield, Mid- dletown, and New Haven. A second and larger church, to take the place of the first, was built at Redding in 1750. The pen of controversy in this same period has been again wielded, and Mr. Beach, the faithful Missionary at Redding and. Newtown, has calmly and dispassionately vindicated the Church of England, and defended it against the uncharitable attacks of "Mr. Noah Hobart, pastor of a church of Christ in Fairfield." That Congregational divine published a first and second "address to the members of the Epis- copal separation in New England," as he was pleased to denominate churchmen; and Avrote, according to his own acknowledgment, "under a full conviction that their separation was unjustifiable in itself, and in its effects very hurtful to the country, and to the cause of practical religion m it, and that it would, if 174 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH it prevailed, prove pernicious to their posterity."^ He is by no means the first prophet of modern times whose predictions have failed of fulfilment. Moses Dickinson, another Congregational divine, ministering at Norwalk, wrote an appendix to the Second Ad- dress; and Mr. Wetmore, Dr. Caner, and Dr. Johnson, were all drawn into the controversy, and bore their part in correcting the misrepresentations and virulent aspersions of the adversaries of the Church. These ad- versaries in this particular effort, among other things, charged the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts with a departure from the true de- sign of their charter, and from their o-wn professed in- tentions, because they did not confine themselves to sending and supporting Missionaries among those who were either in a state of absolute heathenism, or at least unprovided with any sort of Protestant min- istrations. But it was well said, in answer to this point, that the Society never sent Missionaries to convert Protestants to Episcopacy, but to minister to destitute members of the Church of England; and as to the argument about the heathen, Mr. Beach re- ferred to his own experience with the tribe of Indians near Newtown. He was early instructed to have a care for their spiritual welfare; and in attempting to carry out his instructions, he found his labor profitr less, for the Indians "refused to hear anything about religion from him; and to show how much they defied the thoughts of the Church of England, they called him Churchman, Churchman, out of contempt, which they had learned from the neighboring Dissenters."^ 1 Noah Hobart's Second Address, p. 6. 2 Examination of Mr. Hobart's Second Address, p. 70, IN CONNECTICUT. 175 This, like all the previous controversies, proved an in- direct means of furthering the progress of Episcopacy in Connecticut. Between ninety and one hundred communicants were reported in each of the churches at Newtown and Redding, and in that same year (1751), the year of the controversy, the Missionary concluded a letter to the Society with these touching words: "If I know my own heart, I desire above aU things to j^romote the eternal good of souls; but all I can now do, is, to minister to these tAvo congrega- tions, of which I hope the generality are very good and understanding Christians. And as they can give a very good reason why they adhere to the Church of England, so the}'' adorn their profession by a good life. I continue to perform Divine service, and preach twice every Sunday and some other holy- days, although I labor under much bodily Aveakness and pain, and am in continual expectation of my de- parture out of this miserable life, which event will, I hope, be very welcome when it shall please God to order it." 176 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XIII. EDUCATION, AND THE REMOVAL OF DR. JOHNSON TO NEW YORK, TO ACCEPT THE PRESIDENCY OF KING'S COLLEGE. A. D. 1753-1756. The strengtli of Episcopacy in the Colony of Con- necticut was increased by the addition of each house of worship and each devoted clergyman. Resolutely bent on serving God in the way of their forefathers, the scattered churchmen in some of the larger towns grew bold under the repeated attacks of their adver- saries, and met them by renewed and greater exer- tions to procure for themselves the blessings and priv- ileges which they had so long desired. The foothold gained in New Haven, and the establishment of a Mis- sion in this place, from which to radiate as a centre, proved to be an important advance, and helped the interests of the Church in all the surrounding locali- ties. The attitude assumed at this period by the con- troversial writers among the Congregationalists was not of that gentle and benevolent kind which wins over opponents, or weakens the resolution to vindi- cate and sustain a favorite cause. The more these desperate divines urged "the awful guilt" of separa- tion from the standing order, and "deterred their hearers from such a dangerous communion" as the Church of England, the more they were troubled with questions which they could not readily answer, and IN CONNECTICUT. 177 with citations from ecclesiastical history which stood in the way of their theories and declarations. Governor Hunter's description of the churchmen of Stratford, as far back as 1711, would apply very well to those in all parts of the colony about the middle of the eighteenth century. They showed the influence of the example and teaching of their Missionaries, and, like them, courted knowledge and invited investi- gation. Books were not as plentiful then as now; but they read all they could reach in favor of the Church, and entered into the controversies of the times with a spirit which jDroved that they knew how to defend and preserve the truth. Some of them were as usefid, if not as great theologians, as their pas- tors, and not only became familiar with Doctrinal treatises, but with works on Practical Religion. They could cope with those who echoed the opinions of their ministers, and find reasons for "separation" from Independency, both sound and scriptural. Education was a matter which had been almost wholly retained in the hands of what Mr. Wetmore called "one domineering sect." The few parish schools established by the Missionaries in Connecticut, and taught for the most part by those anticipating admis- sion to Holy Orders, were imperfectly supported, or completely overshadowed in their influence, by the ample provisions of the colony for public education. Dr. Johnson, in one of his communications to the So- ciety, mentioned this fact, and ceased thereafter to press the appointment of schoolmasters and the main- tenance of separate instruction for the children of churchmen. He was widely known as the friend and patron of classical learning, and he watched its prog- 12 178 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ress at Yale College, under the impetus of Berkeley's donations, with an interest and a minuteness which he failed not to communicate to that generous bene- factor. His writings had won for him respect and confidence, wherever his name was extended j and "when Franklin was about to establish a college at Philadelphia, there was no man whose counsel he sought more eagerly, or whose authority, as its future Provost, he was more anxious to secure, than that of Johnson." But he refused this distinguished honor, only to be importuned to accept the offer of another of a like character, the Presidency of King's (now Columbia) College, New York. A number of gentle- men in that city, chiefly of the Church of England, but who associated with themselves others of the Dutch and Presbyterian congregations, influenced by the example of Philadelphia, engaged in concerting measures for founding this Institution, and in the be- ginning of 1753 obtained an Act of Assembly, ap- pointing Lieutenant-Governor De Lancy, then the Ex- ecutive of the Province, and other gentlemen Trustees or Commissioners, for carrying this design into effect. Dr. Johnson, who had been all along consulted, and who in turn applied for advice and direction to his friend Bishop Berkeley, was chosen President in Jan- uary, 1754; and though he removed, without his fam- ily, as soon as possible to New York, that he might further their generous design, yet he begged the Trus- tees not to require his final decision upon their offer until the charter should be passed, and the question of his successor at Stratford had been determined. The charter asked for by a majority of the Trustees was warmly opposed by those unfriendly to the IN CONNECTICUT. 179 Church of England/ and much discontent ensued. But it was finally granted; and among its provisions was embodied the condition upon which the Corporar tion of Trinity Church gave a portion of the King's Farm to build the College on and for the use of the same, namely, that the President, "forever, for the time being," should be "in communion with the Church of England," and that "the Morning and Evening ser- vice in the College should be the Liturgy of the said Church, or a collection of prayers from her Liturgy." The following extract from a letter of the Vestry to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, com- mending the new institution to their patronage and regard, will furnish the reasons for adhering strictly to this provision of the charter: — "The Dissenters have already three seminaries in the Northern governments. They hold their s}iiods, presbyteries, and associations, and exercise the whole of their ecclesiastical government to the no small ad- vantage of their cause; whilst those churches which are branches of the National establishment are de- prived, not only of the benefit of a regular church government, but their children are debarred the privi- 1 " The Gentlemen Trustees had no other than an extensive and benev- olent design to make the College a common blessing to all denominations, and therefore only desired that the Church, being much the majority, should however have no other preference than that the President should always be a member in full communion of the Church of England, and that the religious service should be a collection out of the Liturgy of the Church. To this all the Dutch gentlemen entirely agreed. But Mr. W. Living- ston, a violent Presbyterian, (joined with other leading Presbyterians and Freethinkers,) violently opposed it, and raised a hideous clamor against it, and printed a paper of 20 reasons to disaffect the Assembly against granting the money raised by Lotteries, which then amounted to about £3000." — MS. Autobiography of Dr. Johnson. 180 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH lege of a liberal education, unless they will submit to accept of it on such conditions as Dissenters require, which, in Yale College, is to submit to a fine as often as they attend public worship in the Church of Eng- land, communicants only excepted, and that only on Christmas and sacrament days. This we cannot but look upon as a hard measure, especially as we can, with good conscience, declare that we are so far from that bigotry and narrowness of spirit they have of late been pleased to charge us with, that we would not, were it in our power, lay the least restramt on any man's conscience, and should heartily rejoice to con- tinue in brotherly love and charity with all our Prot- estant Brethren."^ In connection with the Presidency of the College, Dr. Johnson was chosen to be an assistant Minister of Trinity Church, an office which he accepted with diffidence, fearing that his "advanced years, verging towards the decline of life," might render him unequal to the expectations of the people. The whole project of removing to New York involved him in painful perplexities. He loved the quiet of rural life, and for thirtj^-one years the church at Stratford had been as happy in the enjoyment of his ministrations as he had been in the endearing and responsible relations of a Pastor. One princijjal objection in his own mind to the change was his dread of the small-pox, a disease to which he must often be exposed in the city, and which had already shaded Avith sorrow the remem- brance of an eventful passage in the history of his pilgrimage. Having taken an affectionate leave of his people, he transferred his family to New York, 1 Berrian's Hist. Trinity Church, p. 103. IN CONNECTICUT. 181 and entered vigorously upon his new duties, reconcil- ing his mind and conscience to the step by the hope of rendering himself more extensively useful to the Church in a matter of so much importance as Christian education. Thus Episcopacy in Connecticut lost for a time its leading light, but the clergy did not cease to con- sult him in all their troubles, nor he to be deejDly in- terested in all their labors. There were measures adopted about this time, by the authorities of Yale College, to "maintain in their soundness the faith and church theory of the Puritans," which operated hardly upon Episcopal students, and gave importance to the position of Dr. Johnson as the head of the more lib- eral Institution in New York. The estabhshment of a separate religious society and church in Yale Col- lege was, at first, unacceptable to a large portion of the standing order; but the resolution of the Fellows in 1753, "requiring that members of their own body, with the President, the Professor of Divinity, and Tutors, should give their assent to the Westminster Catechism and Confession of Faith, and should re- nounce all doctrines and principles contrary thereto, and pass through such an examination as the corpora- tion should order," ^ though designed to secure ortho- doxy, was a step backward rather than forward, and not calculated to quiet the fears of those whose pre- dilections were for the Church of England. The theo- logical controversy which sprung up at this time be- tween the Congregationalists, and the pamphlets published on both sides, kept the popular feeling in a state of excitement, and were no help to charity. 1 President AVoolsey's Hist. Dis. 1850, p. 40. 182 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH The number of graduates who became Episcopal clergymen during the administration of President Clap, which covered a period of nearly thirty years, was scarcely greater than the number during the ad- ministration of his predecessor, which embraced less than half the same period. Bishop Berkeley, in one of his letters to Dr. Johnson, shortly before his death, referring to the progress of learning in Yale College, expressed the "hope that virtue and Christian charity might keep pace with it." We can forgive the rigor- cms enactments of a period when there was but one way of thinking in the colony, and when it was the fault of the times to take a narrow view of the rights of conscience and of Christian liberty. We can al- most forgive — for we are persuaded that no one will defend them, looking back from the point of time on which we stand — those penal la^vs, dictated in a spirit of undisguised intolerance, and designed for the manifest perpetuity of the Puritan faith. But after the number of Episcopal families in Connecticut had reached into thousands, and after a parish had been formed, a church built, and a Missionary of the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel had been stationed in New Haven, it would seem that, out of respect for their wishes, and out of gratitude to clergymen of the Church of England for important services and benefactions, some relaxation of the rigor of these laws should have appeared, at least so far as not to fine Episcopal students for preferring their own mode of worship on the Lord's day, and not to require the classes, through the whole term of their College life, to recite the Westminster Confession of Faith, received and approved by the churches in the colony, IN CONNECTICUT. l88 together with Wollebius's Theology, or Dr. Ames's Me- dulla and Cases of Conscience. While, therefore, in the matter of religious belief, the college regulations showed no more tenderness for the churchman than for the disciple of Whitefield, it was natural to turn to Johnson, opening the doors of his new Institution, and modestly inviting attention to the prescribed course of study. Many, especially of those looking forward to the Episcopal ministry, gathered around him, in preference to being shut up under an inexorable system with w^hich they had no sympathy; and several such, who had graduated else- where, received from King's College the higher de- gree of Master of Arts on the occasion of its first Commencement. With the sanction of the Trustees, he took to aid him in his classes his younger son, William Johnson, a graduate of Yale, and a candidate for orders, "of fine genius and amiable disposition, and an excellent classical scholar." But this son, on the 8th of November, 1755, embarked for England for the purpose of being ordained, and with a view to assist and succeed the Missionary at Westchester, (Mr. Standard,) now worn out in the service of the Society. Two months only had elapsed before the father followed him wdth an affectionate letter, "hop- ing in the Almighty's protection" that he had safely reached "our old mother country," and desiring him, because the troubles on our frontiers were ripening into war, to use all possible dispatch and secure or- dination, that he might be ready to embrace the first good opportunity to return. He had been welcomed and honored in England, both for his own sake and that of his father. The same kind friends who, thirty- 184 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH three years before, had entertained Dr. Johnson and his fellow-travellers, when they were at Canterbury on their way to London, received him with the warm- est hospitality; and Archbishop Seeker, to quote the parent's grateful words, "treated him like his own son." He had been admitted to Holy Orders in the last week of March, had preached several times "with good acceptance," and was preparing to return to America, when he was seized with the small-pox, and died on the 20th of June, 1756, — a sad loss to the Church, and a sore affliction to his bereaved father. When the news reached him, on the 12th of Septem- ber, the shock was indeed terrible, for he had fixed his heart upon having one son who might succeed him in the priesthood. But he uttered no murmurs at the great disappointment. "The will of God," said he, "is done, and I have nothing to say on this un- happy event, but to bear it with as much patience and resignation as I am able." In answering some of the many affectionate letters of condolence which came to him from his friends in England, he took oc- casion to speak in the most earnest and pathetic terms of that abiding want of the Church — an American Episcopate. "I confess," said he, writing to an Eng- lish clergyman in December, 1756, "I should scarce have thought my dear son's life ill bestowed (nor I believe would he) if it could have been a means of awakening this stupid age to a sense of the necessity of sending Bishops (at least one good one) to take care of the Church in these vastly wide extended regions. But, alas! what can be expected of such an age as this ! 0 Deus hone in qiice tempora reservasiis nos ! This is now the seventh precious life (most of them IN CONNECTICUT. . 185 the flower of this country) that has been sacrificed to the atheistical poUtics of this miserable, abandoned age, which seems to have lost all notion of the neces- sity of a due regard to the interest of religion, in order to secure the blessing of God on our nation both at home and abroad. As to us here, as things have hitherto gone, we can scarce look for anything else but to come under a foreign yoke." In a letter to Dr. Bearcroft, twelve months later, after alluding to his affliction and the sympathy of the Society, he said: "There are now four or five va- cancies in these parts, but such melancholy events are so discouraging that there are little hopes of any of them being sup2:)lied from hence, and yet they are all solicitous, if possible, that they may be supphed with such as they have previously known. The small- pox has been so prevalent in New York for eight or ten months, that my friends thought it not best I should reside there, having two good Tutors to take care of the pupils. On this occasion I have retired to Westchester, the place where I desired my son might have been stationed, — where his service is ex- tremely wanted, and whose loss they sadly lament. Dr. Standard lives at Eastchester, another parish of his, where he makes a shift to officiate now and then ; but he is so infirm that he scarce ever expects to see this parish again. Wherefore that I might not be use- less in this interim, I have been officiating for him here, and I hope not without some good effect. Relig- ion was sunk to a very low ebb indeed. There were but five communicants at the first communion, one man and four women; at the last, there were five men and seven women, and the congregation is much increased." 186 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH - It is proper in this place to open the Parochial Register "belonging to the church at Stratford," and glance at the entries in the handwriting of Dr. John- son. From November 5th, 1723, the date of his arrival at the Mission, to November 10th, 1754, the date of his final departure for New York, he had bap- tized eighty-one adults and nine hundred and thirteen infants; and had admitted to the Holy Communion four hundred and forty-two ; fourteen of this number being gentlemen who afterwards crossed the ocean for Holy Orders. In this period of thirty-one years, his ministrations had reached into all parts of the col- ony, and of the Baptisms and admissions to the Com- munion many were in other towns than Stratford. His parishioners, as those of all the Missionaries, were chiefly European settlers and their descendants; but the record of his pastoral labor shows that neither the American Indians nor the poor Africans were neg- lected. "I have always," said he, in one of his letters to the Society, "had a catechetical lecture during the summer months, attended by many negroes and some Indians, about seventy or eighty in all; and, as far as I can find, where the dissenters have baptized one, we have baptized two, if not three or four negroes or Indians, and I have four or five communicants." The humble petition of the Mohegans, of whom there were about four hundred, Hvuig equidistant from "the church at Norwich" and "from the Groton church," called for the continuance at the Landing of one Mr. Cleveland, an English clergyman, from Salem, Mass., who appears to have officiated occa- sionally at an early day in a small church, erected under the auspices of private benevolence, upon the IN CONNECTICUT. 187 Green in Norwich Town. The poor tribe of Mohe- gans had no money to bestow, but they were ready, according to their primitive occupations, to give of their luck something to "a good, true-hearted mmi&- ter, that would teach them the right path to heaven, and not cheat them by showing them the wrong path." This was in 1756; and while there is no evidence that the petition was granted, its very transmission to the Society proves that these Indians had some hope as well as claun to be considered in the interests of the Church and of Christianity. 188 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XIV. SUCCESSOR TO DR. JOHNSON AT STRATFORD, AND THEOLOGICAL DISPUTES BETWEEN THE OLD LIGHTS AND NEW LIGHTS. A. D. 1756-1760. Dr. Johnson had recommended as his successor in Stratford the faithful Missionary at Newtown. The infirm health of Mr. Beach called for some contrac- tion of his extensive labors, and riding so much and so far had become wearisome to him; but he w^as so attached to his people and they to him, that the pro- posal for a change was mutually disagreeable, and therefore the Society appointed the Rev. Edward Winslow; and Dr. Bearcroft, the Secretary, in com- municating his appointment to the Vestry of the church, under date of May 2d, 1755, said, we "hope from the very good character, both for morals and learning, transmitted of him by Governor Shirley, Dr. Cutler, and many other gentlemen of Boston, and con- firmed upon his appearance here, and on his examina- tion for Holy Orders, into which he has been received, that he in a good measure will supply the loss of your late most worthy Pastor, and after his example go before in those paths of righteousness, holiness, and truth, which lead to eternal happiness in Christ in heaven." Mr. Winslow was born at Boston, a grad- uate of Harvard College in the class of 1741, and a IN CONNECTICUT. 189 clergyman who, it was afterwards said, besides "ex- celling all in the colony as a preacher," was "behind none of them in discretion and good conduct." Among his earliest movements was one to secure an org-an o for the church; and thirty-three persons bound them- selves to Mr. Gilbert Doblois of Boston, Merchant, in the aggregate sum of sixty pounds sterling, to be paid within six year.s, "in six equal payments of ten pounds sterling per annum, without any demand of mterest." The organ was to be delivered by the last of April, 1756, and "Mr. Doblois was to take upon himself the risk of transporting it from Boston to Stratford." It is believed to have been the first in- strument of the kind used in a house of pubhc w^or- ship in Connecticut. In the summer of the year 1755 the Rev. Christopher Newton, an Alumnus of Yale, w^as sent to the long waiting parish at Ripton, and Solomon Palmer, a native of Branford, another Alumnus, and for fourteen years the Congregational minister at Cornwall, greatly surj)rised his people on a Sunday in March, 1754, by "declaring himself to be an Episcopalian m sentiment." He soon after went to England, was ordained by the Bishop of Bangor (Dr. Pierce), and returned to this countr}?^ with the appointment of an itinerant Missionary for the dis- trict surrounding New Milford and Litchfield. The Society had twelve Missionaries in Connecti- cut at the beginning of the old French war in 1756, namely, Edward AVinslow at Stratford, Joseph Lam- son at Fairfield, John Beach at Newtown and Red- ding, John Fowle at Norsvalk, Christopher Newton at Ripton (now Huntington), Ebenezer Dibblee at Stamford, Matthew Graves at New London, Richard 190 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Mansfield at Derby and Waterbur}^, Ichabod Camp at Middletown and Wallingford, Ebenezer Punderson in New Haven and neighboring towns, William Gibbs at Simsbury, and Solomon Palmer in Litchfield County. Twelve laymen from Roxbury and the adjoining towns formed themselves and their families into a parish about the year 1753, and first met for worship at a private house in Roxbury, as being the most conven- ient and central place. In the full persuasion that God would bless their undertaking, because the Church was an institution of his own, and having no prospect of soon securing a person in Holy Orders to minister among them, they made choice of a prominent lay- man. Captain Jehiel Hawley, to be their reader, — a choice which was repeated for eleven successive years, and within which time an edifice had arisen that was consecrated by the occasional services of Mr. Palmer, the itinerant Missionary stationed at New Milford. A year later another church arose at Sharon, in the remote corner of the State ; and Mr. Palmer, in communicating to the Society, in 1760, the state of his mission, represented his labors to be "successful beyond expectation, having now four good timber churches, subscriptions for another, and two in private houses." This language will be explained by an ex- tract from another letter, written by the Missionary in the same year, as follows: "Besides the three congre- gations to which at first I was particularly appointed, I have three more, namely, at Roxbury, Cornwall, and Judea. The two last consist of fifteen families each, and there are subscriptions raising for the building a church in Kent, (which they design to forward as fast as they can,) at a place convenient for about fifty IN CONNECTICUT. 191 families, to meet from several different towns. These are all in Litchfield County; and since April 16, 1758, 1 have baptized an hundred and twenty-two children." Mr. Newton, under date of June 25th, 1760, commu- nicated to the Society the increase of his charge, and the effect of his ministrations upon a number of fam- ilies "living at the distance of about eight, and some ten miles from Ripton," to whom he had frequently preached. "Of late," said he, "they have been more ready to hear than formerly, and seem to be relig- iously disposed, and sensible of the importance of at- tending public worship, and, accordingly, have built a church thirty-six feet long and twenty-six feet wide; and in about six weeks from the beginning so far fin- ished it that we met in it for public worship, and a large congregation attended, it was supposed upward of three hundred people. These people live at a great distance from any public worship, and many of them are so poor that they have not horses to carry their families to worship if they would ; and others, it seems by their conduct, choose to spend the Sabbath in hunting and unnecessary visits, and are not only dila- tory in religious matters, but in secular affairs. Many live but little above the Indian, and are destitute of the comforts of life." Some persons of ample means were influenced by this gloomy prospect to erect the church at Tashua. One gentleman, for years an Epis- copalian, declared that he felt it to be his duty to expend a part of his estate in providing what, with the divine blessing, would prevent the people from becoming heathens. The enterprise was rewarded with success, and those who had hitherto been so neg- lectful in religious matters, seemed highly to prize 192 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the privilege of public worship, and desired Mr. New- ton to take them under his care, — a desire to which he yielded, "preaching to them every fourth Sunday." The growth of the Church in some localities was affected by the war carried on, at this period, for the protection of our frontiers from the invasions of the French and Indians. Dibblee wrote to the Society in the autumn of 1759: "The sound of the trumpet and the alarms to war, together with a concern for the events thereof, principally engross the attention of the people. Indeed, the church of Stamford is rather weakened than strengthened of late, by enlistments into public service, and by the surprising removal of a number of heads of families, through a very malig- nant disorder that has prevailed among my people. In less than a year past I have buried twelve heads of families, seven males, some of them the best orna- ments of religion and zeal for the Church, and the sup- port of it among us, and of good esteem among our dissenting brethren." In the same letter he men- tioned the fact that he had preached several times to the people in Salem, N. Y., once, "upon a special fast appointed in that province, to implore the smiles of Divine Providence to attend his Majesty's arms the ensuing campaign." The fliithful Beach at Newtown, later in the autumn, also reported: "My parish is in a flourishing state in all respects, excepting that we have lost some of our young men in the army; more, in- deed, by sickness than by the sword, for this country- men do not bear a campaign so well as Europeans." Public attention continued to be drawn to the Church of England by the controversies of the times, and especially by the sharp theological disputes into m CONNECTICUT. 193 which the Congregationalists were plunged. "Arian and Socinian errors," said Mr. Beach, "by means of some books written by Dissenters in England, seem of late to gain ground a great pace in this country among Presbyterians, as they choose to be called, and some of our people are in no small danger from that infection. I have, therefore, at Dr. Johnson's desire and advice, prepared a small piece for the press, being an aitemjd io vindicate Scripim^e 3Ii/steries, 'particularly the Doctrines of the Holy Tiinity, the Atonement of Christ, and the Renovation by the Holy Spirit ; also of the Eternity of the Future Punishment, ivith some Strictures upon tvJmt Mr. J. Taylor hath advanced on those points." This he deliv- ered, in the shape of a discourse, before the clergy in 1760, and it was afterwards published, with a preface by Dr. Johnson, recommending it as a fit corrective of the latitudinarian sj)irit of the times. The clergy also testified their approbation of it; and Mr. Winslow, in a letter to the Society, thus speaks of the whole affair: "At a late Convention of the clergy of our Church in this colony, at New Haven, a sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Beach, wherein, much to his own reputation, and, I trust, by the Divme bless- ing, to the credit of religion and advantage of the Church here, he has with great zeal and faithfulness endeavored to vindicate and estabhsh the important fundamentals of the Sacred Trinity, and the divinity of our blessed Saviour; his atonement and satisfac- tion; the necessity of the renewing and sanctif)'ing influences of Divine Grace, and the eternity of future punishment; and to expose the falsehood and danger of the contrary pernicious errors, which, by means of spreading bad books and other industrious arts of too 13 194 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH many men of bad principles in these parts, have been successfully propagated. The clergy have unitedly taken the occasion of the publication of this discourse to give their testimony against these errors, and to recommend the doctrines therein inculcated as the prime truths of the Gospel, and the foundation on which the whole structure of the Articles and Liturgy of the Church is framed. I hope Mr. Beach has, by this service, atoned in some measure for the ill effects of his former unhappy mistake, and that it may prove a seasonable means to preserve our people in their steadfastness, and to guide our dissenting brethren to that refuge from their various distractions among themselves, both about doctrines and discipline, which they must needs wish to find." These "various distractions among the dissenting brethren " sprung from the seeds sown by Whitefield. It was an inglorious harvest of strife and contention, and the reapers in the fields were "upon bad ex- tremes." The great controversy between the Old Lights and the New Lights culminated in the Wal- lingford case, a case which more than all others be- came a matter of public concern, and opened a dis- tinct era in New-England theology, and in the history of the "liberties of the churches." For six years, the first church and spciety in Wallingford had not only been vacant, but in an unhappy, broken, and divided state. After many fruitless attempts to unite in the settlement of a pastor, James Dana of Cambridge, and a graduate of Harvard College, was set apart to the ministry by an Old-Light council, in the face of a protest from a respectable minority, and against the solemn interdict of the "Consociation of New Haven IN CONNECTICUT. 195 County," which had met in Wallingford to forbid the ordination of a candidate charged with doctrinal un- soundness, even with Socinian or Arminian prochvi- ties. The consociation and the council met, either by accident or design, on the same day, a day mem- orable in the annals of CongregationaUsm. The bold procedure of ordaining in spite of the prohibition was a triumph of the principle for which the New Lights had long contended, and the pens of the time were alive in its censure or in its defence. It was a triumph also over the powers of the "ecclesiastical constitution of the dissenters " ; and Noah Hobart, aided by President Clap and other leading divines of the colony, proved to be a champion no more successful here for the Saybrook Platform than he had been in his Addresses to the members of the Episcopal separation in New England. Those on the other side found support for their action in the popular voice, as well as in the voice of a body of ministers trained under the influ- ence of AVhitefield's teachings. The pamphlets pub- lished by both parties stirred up such an acrimonious spirit, and threw so unsatisfactory a light upon the real questions involved, that many among the people escaped from these controversies to find peace and enjoyment in the communion of the Church. The Independent Society in Wallingford became divided, and when the dissentients proceeded to erect a new meeting-house, called the "Wells," an attempt was made to arrest their work, and a fight over the trenches dug for the foundations brought together the inhabitants for miles around to participate in the scene, or to witness its issue. The Episcopal Clergy, as it has been already stated, 196 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH took no part in the theological disputes which the Independents carried on among themselves. They quietly watched the progress of events, and seemed to feel, as Chandler expressed himself in writing to Dr. Johnson on a later occasion, "If these dissenters will but confute one another, it will save us the trouble." They were accused to the Society, and to their friends in England, with attempting to make proselytes; and this accusation was urged in order to depreciate their services, and prevent them from securing the boon they had so long implored — an American Episcopate. But Johnson denied this, and vindicated his brethren when he wrote to Archbishop Seeker from New York; and lifter referring to his experience of thirty-one years in Connecticut, said: "I never once tried to proselyte dissenters, nor do I believe any of the other ministers did; we never concerned ourselves with them till they came to us ; and when they did, we could do no other than give them the best instructions and assistance we could in making a right judgment for themselves. And so far were we from promotmg or taking advantage of any quarrels that happened among themselves, that in many instances we obliged them to accommodate matters with their former brethren, or at least do all they could towards an accommoda- tion, before we would receive them to our commun- ion." Winslow, in a communication to the Society, after referring to the Wallingford case, said: "What- ever advantages in favor of the Church are to be made from this disturbed state of relio;ion amono; the dis- senters, I hope our clergy, and the people of our com- munion, will be enabled to manage with such pru- dence as to keep ourselves from bemg unnecessarily entangled in their disputes." IN CONNECTICUT. 19T In the summer of 1758 the parish in Waterbury, through the Yestry, voted to give Mr. James Scovill £20 sterUng per annum, and the use of the glebe, provided he should get no appropriation from the So- ciety "at home"; and also to allow him a gratuity sufficient to take him to England for ordination. He was a native of that place, and graduated at Yale College in 1757, when he was in the twenty-fifth year of his age. He was to relieve Mr. Mansfield, by taking charge of that portion of his Mission which embraced Waterbury and the districts within the former limits of that town. But the addition of his name, in 1759, to the list of Connecticut clergy was balanced by the loss of that of Mr. Camp. Dr. Johnson wrote to the Society in 1760 thus: "I Avish Mr. Camp could have had £4:0 or £50 at Middletown, for partly his neces- sities and partly the invitation of Governor Dobbs put him on removing to North Carolina; but such is the case of those that go from the northward to these southward colonies : he has lost his health, and doubts whether he can live tiU he gets moved northward again, which he earnestly desires, and I have put his old people upon inviting him back." But in a sub- sequent letter he mentioned, "Middletown people are so displeased at his leaving them, that they will not invite him back, but have pitched on a promis- ing candidate, one Jarvis, who is not yet of age, for orders; so Mr. Camp must e'en take the fruit of his doings." In 1760 the Episcopalians in that part of Walling- ford called Cheshire "built themselves a small church for their greater convenience in the winter season, when theu' famiUes could not well attend at the 198 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH other." It was opened in December of the same year, with services and a sermon, by the Rev. Mr. Scovill. A parish organization was formed, with a Clerk, Church- wardens, and Vestrymen, and the people continued to meet on Sundays, and to be thankfid for the privilege of lay reading, until another Missionary had been provided to take the place of Mr. Camp. A parish arose at North Haven in 1759, and a house of worship was, in the succeeding year, erected, under the guidance of Mr. Punderson, to whose "pastoral care and charge" the people submitted themselves. Guilford, Branford, Derby, and Oxford were receiving frequent accessions to their numbers; and thus, while the Church was growing in other places, at New Haven, the centre of Punderson's Mission, there was not the life or prosperity which had been hoped or expected. It is true, he had strong prejudices among the people to overcome, and sleepless vigilance to meet. For eight years he toiled patiently on, and his families, according to the note of Stiles, in his "Itin- erary," had only increased to the number of twenty- five, comprising ninety-one souls. Dr. Johnson lets us into the secret reason of this slow growth, when, in writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the summer of 1760, he said: "Mr. Punderson seems a very honest and laborious man; yet the church at New Haven appears uneasy, and rather declining under his ministry, occasioned, I believe, partly by his want of politeness, and partly by his being absent so much, having five or six places under his care. I wish he was again at Groton, and some politer person in his place, and another at Guilford and Branford." Through fear of being unnecessarily minute, we IN CONNECTICUT. 190 may have passed over some topics which deserve con- sideration, and touched upon others with too sUght a comment. The Hst of the Missionaries of the So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel within the last seven years has been lengthened by the names only of Christopher Newton, Solomon Palmer, and James Scovill. But the appeals have become more frequent and urgent for clergymen in other places, though the prospect of securing an American Episco- pate, so long and so earnestly prayed for, is still as dim and distant as ever. It is a contrast, to be con- templated with grateful emotions, that in a place where a century ago twenty-five famihes gathered in an incapacious wooden edifice to lift their hearts and voices to God, and to praise him in the forms of the Liturgy, there are now to be found at least a thousand families, and nearly two thousand commu- nicants, cherishing the same venerable faith, and wor- shipping the same Triune Jehovah, in larger, loftier, and more enduring or more costly temples. 200 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XV. PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH IN" LITCHFIELD COUNTY, AND ALONG THE SHORE FROM NORWICH TO GREENWICH. A. D. 1760-1762. The Church, though bitterly opposed, was steadily progressing in the northern part of the colony under the energetic ministrations of Solomon Palmer. At the date of his appointment as an itinerant, the Society had no resident Missionary in Litchfield County, and his labors, therefore, reached over a wide circuit into all the towns and villages where scattered families of churchmen dwelt. He even penetrated beyond the lines into the provinces of New York and Massachu- setts, and was the pioneer of the Church in several places where it early gained a firm footing. His long residence at Cornwall as "a teacher in the dissenting way" had made him familiar with the region; but his right to the lands, granted by the government as an encourao-ement to the first minister settliner on that o o frontier, was not agreeable to the Presbyterians, and they brought an action for damages against him for breakino; his covenant and conformino; to the Church of England ; and, strange to say, so little regard was paid to the sanctity of conscience that they recovered .£15 with the costs. In a communication to the So- ciety, referring to this matter, he said: "By my settUng among them as a teacher, I became, by act of the As- IN CONNECTICUT. 201 sembly, a proprietor in common with the other pro- prietors, and the same patent was and is absokite and unconditional; so that even the power that gave it could not legally, and I am sure not justly, reassume or require damages; for so great were the expense, fatigue, and hardship that I endured for the three first years, that I would not suffer them again for the whole township. I continued with that people, before and after my settling among them, fifteen years, till I had spent an estate of my own, of more value than the right of land, and till the people had got through all the difficulties of settling a new town, and they and I began to live pretty well." But his conscience would not allow him peace in this condition; and when he had returned from Eng- land, whither he went for Episcopal ordination, nothing would satisfy his now alienated flock but prosecution and damages. The remembrance of all former toils and privations had disappeared, and he was compelled to stand forth in the attitude of a defender at once of his personal rights and of the rights of the Church. To add to his distress and make his case still more perplexing, the rates of the Episcopalians at Cornwall were withholden from him, and went to the mainten- ance of the dissenting minister, and no relief could be obtained from these exactions until, by his own request, his Mission was made to embrace only the limits of Litchfield County. Familiar as he was with the management of the Congregationalists in raising money for the support of their religious teachers, he strongly urged upon the Society the duty of making larger demands upon the liberality of churchmen, since many of them were as able to contribute as 202 HISTORr OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH their poor benefactors at home. Notwithstanding the bitter spirit of persecution, he saw the good effects which the Liturgical services produced, and in one of his letters to the Society mentioned an instance where a neighboring congregation of Dissenters, "ob- serving our regular method of reading the Scriptures in church, had, in their last parish meeting, voted that a new folio Bible be bought for them, and that their teacher shall read lessons out of it every Sunday morning and evening." Mr. Beach, always careful to note the temper of the times, writing from Redding under date of April 6th, 1761, concluded his letter with a testimony to the growth of the Church and the influence of the Society, too strong not to be quoted in this connection: "My weak and painful state of body admonishes me, that, although this may not be the last time of my writing, yet the last cannot be afar off; therefore I take this opportunity to return my humble and hearty thanks to the Venerable Society for the charitable support they have given me for twenty-nine years, in which time I have faithfully, though weakly and imperfectly, endeavored to propagate true religion; and I think I have not been unsuccessful, for the number of the pro- fessors of the Church of England in these parts in this space of time is increased more than from one to ten, and, what is of much greater importance, their con- duct for the most part is a credit to their profession, and they are constant and devout attendants on the worship of God, according to the Church. Indeed, were it not for the Venerable Society's charity, I know not what would become of many thousands in these parts who have so great a love and esteem of IN CONNECTICUT. 203 our Church, and so great an aversion to the Indepen- dent methods; yet, if they were deprived of that which they admire, they never would join with the others; nay, the venerable Society's charity to us has proved no small advantage to the Independents, for they who live near to the Church of England ac- quire juster notions of religion, and become more regular in their worship." The church at Litchfield, to which place Mr. Palmer removed, after residing in New Milford for five years, was composed of "a body of religious, sober, and order- ly people, steady in their principles, and constant in their attendance upon public worship." In those days, the privileges of the sanctuary were prized by devout men, and sacrifices to enjoy them, little thought of by the present generation, were readily made. The dis- tance which some families were obliged to travel before they reached the house of God, and their in- convenient and slow modes of conveyance, seem hardly credible to Christians accustomed to the ease and luxurious habits of our time. Frequently the family was mounted, the parents upon one steed, with a child in the arms to be christened, and the older branches upon another, or else the whole were clus- tered together in a rude vehicle used upon the farm; and in this way they were "glad to go up to the house of the Lord, and to give thanks unto his name." If the customs of those times, so far as they related to church-going, were simple and primitive, there was yet a spirit, a heartiness in them which it would be pleasant to see infused into the more genteel fash- ions of the age in which we live, at least infused into the minds of those who are governed in theu^ worship 204 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of God more by comfort and convenience than by duty and principle. Early in the spring of 1761, Thomas Davies, Sam- uel Andrews, and John Beardsley embarked for Eng- land to receive Holy Orders, carrying with them letters from the clergy of Connecticut in testimony of their learning, good character, and fitness for the sacred ministry. They were all reared in the colony, and the two first were graduates of Yale College. Of the other. Dr. Johnson, who baptized him in his in- fancy, his parents being among his original parishion- ers in Stratford, thus wrote in a letter to Archbishop Seeker: "As to Mr. Beardsley, he had been Uvo years educated at Yale College, since which he was here under my direction in his studies, and has conducted very seriously and industriously, and, I believe, will be a very useful person. The gentlemen that recom- mend him speak of him as having been graduated here, as he would have been if he could have stayed a few days, as they expected, till our Commencement, — which he could not do, being obliged to embark sooner; but he will certainly be admitted A. B., though thus necessarily absent, — as will likewise the other two to the Master's degree." They were absent less than a year, and on their return to this country proceeded immediately to the respective stations to w^hich they had been appointed. Mr. Davies was sent into Litch- field County, near his own friends, and to places which had applied and provided for him previous to his departure, and where he had for some time served as a lay reader. He fixed his residence at New Mil- ford, and went as an itinerant over much of the ground traversed by Mr. Palmer, relieving that de- IN CONNECTICUT. 205 voted Missionary of a large share of his burden, and giving his own zeal, the dew of his youth, and the strength of a robust constitution to the service of the Society and the advancement of the Church. He was in reality appointed a successor to Mr. Palmer, who, on account of bodily infirmity, had been deshous of a less extensive charge, and already designated for Amboy, N. J. ; but the people there were averse to receiving him, having fixed their hearts upon an- other clergyman; and he was equally averse to going. "I herewith send you," said Dr. Johnson, writing April 12th, 1762, "an earnest address to the Society from Litchfield, a county town in Connecticut, desir- ing that their minister, Mr. Palmer, who is ordered to Amboy, may be contmued with them; and another from him, that he may be continued there, or sent to Eye, which is vacant." Mr. Davies could not well resist the importunities of the people, who, in distant places, loathing the rigid Calvinism of their dissenting teachers, invited him to come among them; but that he might spare himself the inconvenience of frequent visits and still keep the leaven of Episcopacy at work, he encouraged them to assemble at stated times for lay reading. In 1762, before the leaves of the trees had begun to put on their autumn tints, he went to Great Barrington, Mass., upon the invitation of a few families there; and writing, in Christmas week, to the Secretary of the Society an account of his visit, he said: "I chose a clerk, a very regular and pious man, long acquainted in the church, to read prayers with them, as they could not in conscience go to meeting. One of the most steady among them was imprisoned last summer for non-attendance; and they all would 206 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH be if they did not meet among themselves. There are near forty families, conformists, in this town, — people of worth and good fame." Mr. Andrews, the youn- gest of eight sons, and born within the limits of the present town of Meriden, was appointed to WalHng- ford, with the addition of Cheshire and North Haven. The prophet had honor in his own coimtry. Walling- ford was the chief seat of those prolonged controver- sies which had thrown the standing order into such confusion and disquietude ; and Wmslow, the accom- plished Missionary at Stratford, had been frequently requested to officiate to the churchpeople there, com- posed of a very considerable number of substantial persons, and who prudently avoided entangling them- selves in the religious disputes of the Independents, and thus gained the affection of both parties. Mr. Beardsley was sent to the long waiting people at Norwich and Groton. They had been doomed to repeated disappointment in their efforts to secure a successor to Mr. Punderson, after his removal to New Haven; but notwithstanding this, divine service was kept up in both the churches, and the eldest son of Punderson, a graduate of Yale College, had read gratuitously in Groton for nearly six years. For some time before he embarked for England, John Beards- ley "read prayers and sermons" in the vacant Mis- sion "to very good acceptance," and the people bound themselves in a stated sum for his support, when he should return to them clothed with authority to exe- cute the office of a Priest in the Church of God. Mr. Punderson, whose daughter he afterwards married, commended him in a special letter to the Society, and said of him, he "is a person of unspotted character, IN CONNECTICUT. 207 and of an excellent temper and disposition ; sound in his principles of religion, firmly attached to our most excellent Church, and bids fair for doing good service in the same, if life is spared and the Venerable Society show him favor." Nowhere in the provinces did the Missionaries more faithfidly and conscientiously obey the "instructions" of the Society than in the Colony of Connecticut. Placed in the midst of a community where Puritanism, with all its prejudices, was deeply rooted, and knowing themselves to be constantly watched by their opponents, they prayerfully watched their own course; and besides presenting "in their whole conversation patterns of the Christian life," they "avoided all names of distinction," and "endeavored to preserve a Christian agreement and union one with another, as a body of brethren of one and the same Church, united under the Superior Episcopal order, and all engaged in the same great design of propa- gating the Gospel." The churchmen in Hebron made three unsuccessful attempts to secure a Missionary, and each time thought they were near the accom- plishment of ^fcir cherished object; but the candidates whom they assisted to go home for orders, all by a mysterious Providence, either died m England or were lost at sea on the returning voyage. At length the Rev. Samuel Peters, a native of the place, noto- rious afterwards for his eventful career as a clergy- man, and his extravagant and incredible statements as a historian, appeared among them, and in his re- port to the Secretary, dated April 13, 1761, he wrote: "The people belonging to the Church at Hebron seem religiously attentive to my instructions, and desire me, in their behalf, to say they return all thanks that 208 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH hearts filled with gratitude are able, to you and to the honorable Society for your gracious notice in sending them their desire in a worthy Missionary; and, to enlarge their minds and fit them for a better world, a number of books also, which (by God's bless- ing) shall meet with their desired eflfect." As fast as the vacant missions were filled, other places, at this period, called loudly for the services of the Church of England. Occasionally a faithful Missionary w\as re- moved to a distant and more promising field of labor; and the veteran Gibbs at Simsbury was overtaken by indisposition and a melancholy which became so deeply fixed that for three years he was wholly inca- pable of exercising his clerical functions. He went to his rest with the cloud upon his mind which had hung over it so long; but Roger Viets, a native of the town, and a graduate of Yale College, supplied his place as a lay reader, and, chiefly under his influ- ence in this capacity, another small church was built in a remote part of the township. When he proceeded to England to receive Holy Orders, he carried with him the desire of the people, and the evidence of their provision, besides the recommendation of the Connec- ticut clergy. "I had thought," says Dr. Johnson, writing to the Secretary, December 1, 1762, "that Hartford and Simsbury might be joined in one mis- sion, but I find it will not do; for Mr. Yiets would have his hands full in the care of three distinct dis- tricts; and besides the Church has so increased at Hart- ford, not by means of any parties or contentions, but by the still voice of reason and benevolence, that they are likely to have a flourishing church, consisting of a number of good famihes, many by accession. They IN CONNECTICUT. 209 have founded and are zealously carrying on a consider- ably large and decent church, and think thc}^ sliall un- doubtedly raise £100 per annum, proclamation-money, for a minister. However, it being the metropolitical town of the province, they cannot well do without £50 sterling at least, if it could be obtained, in order to support him in a manner suitable to such a station. They are extremely desirous, and purpose, in a few months, earnestly to apply to the Society for Mr. Wins- low of Stratford to be their minister, who is indeed by much the most suitable person they could have; and his condition is such, having a large, expensive, and growing family, that he cannot tolerably subsist at Stratford, though they do their utmost for him." The chain of parishes, running through the shore towns from Norv\-ich to Greenwich, was now for the most part in a prosperous state. Mr. Graves, the Missionary at New London, in his communication to the Society in midsummer, 1761, exclaimed, with an ecstasy of delight: "Blessed be God, my parishioners increase so that I am amazed to think whence they come; several have lately been added, not only ex- ternally, but practically; they are doers as well as hearers, and those of the better sort to whom, I trust in God, others now under preparation will soon be joined. I think my catechumens last Sunday were above forty, growing, I hope, in love and favor with God and man." The churchmen in Guilford, becoming almost wholly neglected by Mr. Punderson in consequence of the urgent demand for his services in other places, applied to the Society to be erected into an independent Mis- sion, including Killingworth and North Guilford; and u 210 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Mr. Hubbard, "a hopeful youth, bred at New Haven College," and who for some time prosecuted his studies in Hebrew and Divinity under the direction of Dr. Johnson in New York, was selected to be their clergy- man, as he had been their reader, so soon as he should be permitted to go home for Holy Orders. When he went, in the autumn of 1763, — accompanied by Abra- ham Jarvis, in after-life his intimate friend and com- panion,— he bore with him a letter from his illustrious teacher to the Archbishop of Canterbury, containing these earnest and affectionate words: "What makes me, my Lord, the more solicitous in this case is, that Guilford is my own native town, where I have a brother (who is Mr. Hubbard's father-in-law), and sis- ters and sundry nephews, who are all very dear to me, under whose influence the Church for twenty years has been laboring to emerge, through many difficulties and discouragements. I lately made them a visit, and preached there. I found fifty families and as many communicants, and there are at least ten more within ten miles, and probably many others that would ap- pear, if they could be sure of a minister." Mr. AVinslow reported of his parish at Stratford, in July, 1762: "It is with pleasure I can yet say, in be- half of the people of my particular charge, that they are in general regular and well disposed, attached to the communion of the Church from solid principles, and from a proper sense of the happy tendency of the means therein afforded for all needful improvement in Christian knowledge and practice; that they are careful to preserve harmony among themselves, and peace and charity with their brethren of the other persuasions. The number of communicants now Hv- IN CONNECTICUT. 211 ing is more than 150, and we have usually between 90 and 100 at the stated monthly celebration of that Holy Sacrament." Mr. Newton, besides having added another church to his charge in North Stratford, at a place now called Tashua, the erection of which has been already mentioned, found himself straitened for room in his parish church at Ripton, and his people, therefore, proceeded to construct galleries therein, to accommodate the increased congregations. At North Fairfield, (now Weston,) within the limits of the Mis- sion of Mr. Lamson, a church was built, and so far completed as to be ready for occupancy in the sum- mer of 1763. It was forty feet long, thirty wide, and two stories high, with galleries. About the same time another church, of larger dimensions, arose at Danbury, which was opened, on its partial completion, with services by the Rev. Mr. Dibblee, a native of that town, and supplied with occasional ministrations by Leaming, who seems to have been the pioneer, and by Beach, the unwearied Missionary at Newtown. Danbury was the seat of a heresy called Sandemar nianism, from Robert Sandeman, the name of its first propagator; and "our Church," said one of her clergy, referring to the direct influence of his erroneous teachings, "seems at present to be a sanctuary from infidelity on the one hand, and enthusiasm on the other." 212 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XVL MR. ST. GEORGE TALBOT; BITTER OPPOSITION TO THE. CHURCH; DR. JOHNSON'S RETURN TO STRATFORD. A. D. 1762-1763. A CHARITABLE layman, Mr. St. George Talbot, residing in the Province of New York, had assisted the people in Danbury towards the erection of their church, and he was one of the gratified congregation who wit- nessed the opening services, and favored with liis patronage the effort to plant the seeds of Episcopacy in a community of divided religious sentiments. He dedicated the energies of an active life and the re- sources of an ample fortune to strengthen its influ- ence in New York and Connecticut, and his liberal benefactions are associated with the early history of several important parishes in Fairfield County. In 1762 he made a tour of observation into a section of New York with the Rev. Mr. Dibblee, of wliom he reported that he was "indefixtigable in his endeavors to serve the interests of true religion and our holy Church, whose services I find universally acceptable, and his life agreeable to his public character." A year later he took a journey into Connecticut, and was present at the Convention in Ripton, a sketch of which he communicated to the Society in these words: "The Rev. Dr. Johnson, being requested to preach, dehvered an excellent, pathetical, spirited sermon IN CONNECTICUT. 213 adapted to the occasion, and acceptable to the clergy and all who had the pleasure to hear him, pressing them to the utmost fidelity and diligence in doing the duties of their respective cures. Twelve Missionaries were present, who appear to be ornaments to their ecclesiastical profession,' and very usefully employed, having had the opportunity to acquaint myself with the state of most of their respective Missions." He mentioned the attendance also of four or five promis- ing young gentlemen, candidates for Holy Orders. The candidates throughout the colon}^ did not in- crease as rapidly as the members of the Church of Eno'land. The flocks in different localities "were troubled because there was no shepherd." In vain did they plead for those ministrations which they had begun to cherish in their hearts, and with which alone their consciences could be satisfied. "The people of this parish," said the pure-minded Learning, writing to the Secretary of the Society from Norwalk in the spring of 1761, "have completely finished their church, and purchased a good bell of 600 lbs. weight; they give constant attendance upon public worship, and appear to do it from a sense of duty, by their behavior in the house of God. I have told the So- ciety that I have taken care of Ridgefield, sixteen miles from this place; the number of heads of fami- lies there is eighty-seven, who entreat the Society to allow them a Mission of £20 per annum, and they will bind themselves to raise an addition sufficient to sup- port a Missionary-, if the Society think proper to do so. I shall gladly relinquish the ministerial rates of that parish, which now belong to me, as it will advance the Church of Christ; I hope and beg it may be done. 214 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH I am fully persuaded that the Society, if they knew the religious state of this government, would be of opinion that there is no part where Missionaries might do more good than here, for the division of those who do not join in our communion is very great. Some run wild with enthusiasm, while others, to avoid that extreme, run into another as bad or worse." With a mind fidl almost to bursting of the great subject, he said, in a communication to the same gen- tleman two years afterwards: "All I now desire is, that those under my care may be Christians indeed; then there would be no fear of the future growth of the Church, notwithstanding the great opposition we meet with from the dissenters. I hope there will be means found out to support the Church in this gov- ernment; otherwise I fear there will be no religion here in the next generation. In order that it might be supported in the purity of it, there is much need of a Bishop to confirm, ordain, and govern. Every body wants a head, and when we have one, may we have a sound head and a religious heartr As indicated in the above extract, there was at this period a bitter hostility to Episcopacy. "Never," said Winslow, "did a malignant spirit of opposition to the Church rage with greater vehemence than of late. The most indecent reflections upon the Venerable So- ciety and the General Constitution of the Church, and the most flagrant misrepresentations of the state of the Church in these colonies, and the most false and abusive personal invectives against the clergy, have lately appeared in print among us, and all this at a time when there has not been the least particular cause to provoke such a temper; on the contrary, IN CONNECTICUT. 215 wherever the Church has been planted, the conduct of its ministers and members has been so charitable as at least to give no just occasion of offence. No cause has, in truth, excited all this virulence, but that the Church has everywhere grown and increased, and the prospect is continually enlarging of its still further and substantial increase; and its condition is such in these colonies as that, since the glorious con- elusion of the war, and the happy establishment of peace, with such an accession of territory on this con- tinent, the dissenters are from hence jealous the Church may meet with some further encouragement, and, perhaps, enjoy those essential parts of her wor- ship and discipline which Ave have hitherto been desti- tute of; and they know not how to bear the thoughts of our having the same complete exercise of religion in our ways as they have in theirs. They may really thank themselves for no small part of the growth of the Church, at which they are now so enraged. Their continual disputes and endless dissensions have drawn sensible peoj)le and serious persons to take refuge in our glorious constitution. They know they cannot charge the Church professors or clergy with having made use of any of their own arts to withdraw their peoj^le, and that Ave have been AAdiolly unconcerned, and in no instance intermeddled AAith their disputes and contentions. The increase the Church has re- ceived by means of these confusions has been by its obvious superior AAorth and excellence." It Avas true, also, that a large part of the more se- rious and thinking Congregationalists detested the course of their ministers, and in some instances their injustice and gross misrepresentations had the effect 216 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH to produce a more favorable impression of the claims of the Church, and really excited a curiosity to be informed of them, so that "the mischief designed by the heated leaders and instigators of the opposition to Episcopacy did but recoil upon their own heads, and lessen their influence even among their own sect." From the death of his wife, in the summer of 1758, with whom he had been happilj^ united for more than thirty-two years. Dr. Johnson began to look towards Stratford as the place where he might pass, in retire- ment, the evening of his days. He sighed for its fresh and healthful air. While he plied all the energies of his vigorous mind to give permanent shape to the plans of the College and to advance its prosperity, he yet so dreaded that contagious disorder, which reappeared from time to time in the city and drove him from its limits, that he longed to be released from his official cares and restored to his rural residence. During the periods of his forced absence, his thoughts were inces- santly upon the welfare of the Institution, and though " he had every confidence in the ability and fidelity of his fellow-laborers, yet he knew that his own presence was needed to guide their movements and inspect the general operations. It was not his intention so soon to sever himself from the concerns of the College. He expected not to take this step until the new man, sent out by the Archbishop of Canterbury, had been well tiiied, and found worthy to be his successor. But with the pressure of declining age, there was suddenly added another weight to the heavy burden of domes- tic sorrow. Three years after the death of his first wife, he married the widow of his old friend and pa- rishioner in Stratford, William Beach, and the mother IN CONNECTICUT. 217 of his son's wife. With her he returned to New York, at the close of the summer vacation, and industriously renewed his efforts to promote the prosperity of the College. But, alas! at the expiration of eighteen months, that destroyer, the small-pox, which had al- ready deprived him of one son, reentered his house- hold and fell with fatal violence upon this beloved companion. Out of tender regard for his welfare, she urged hun away from her sick -chamber, and com- mending her to God, he retired to the country-seat of a friend three miles distant, and awaited, with pain- ful anxiety, tidings of the result. When the intelli- gence of her death had reached him, he wrote to his son with exquisite tenderness: "The thing which I feared is come upon me! God's mil is done! Your good mother died on Wednesday evening the 9th. . . . This event, my son, is indeed a most shocking disap- pointment to me, as we reckoned (perhaps too much) within three or four months of retiring; together and spending the remainder of our days among our children and theirs with much tranquillity; but now, if I live, I must come alone." It was, indeed, the blow which made him powerless for any further oversight of the Institution. It broke him up at once, and forced him into immediate retirement. In his truly compassionable circumstances, "and with a heart torn by grief," he sent in his resignation to the Gov- ernors, and "hired an able hand with a sleigh" to bring him to Stratford, where he arrived February 25th, 1763, sixteen days after the death of his wife. Being now advanced in years, and resolved not to be drawn from this retirement, he took up his residence with his son, who "built him an elegant apartment" 218 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH attached to his own mansion. Writing from Strat- ford to the Secretary of the Society, in May follow- ing, he said: "I shall, for the future, date from hence, as I am retired hither to reside here the little time that remains to me, being sixty-seven. Indeed, I thank God that I am in perfect health, only that the tremor in my hand increases much with my years; but the care and labor of the College grew very tedi- ous to me, and I was wearied of my manner of living in that populous town and public station, and wanted retirement." And then referring to the death of his wife, and its effect upon his resignation, he added: "This unhappy event makes me the more indifferent whether I take any public charge again. If, indeed, there were any mission to be had that could better the worthy Mr. Winslow's circumstances, I would will- ingly have tr.ken this and no other; but as none ap- pears, I am content to live here, and will do what little good I can in a private capacity." Very soon, however, the opportunity was offered of replacing him in duty at Stratford. Thus he exer- cised in the decline of life all the offices of Christian love and watchfulness for the same parish to which he first came in the freshness and buoyancy of his youth forty years before, Mr. Winslow had repeatedly ex- pressed a desire to be transferred to a field where his income might be adequate to his expenses. "I have no cause," said he, in a letter dated July, 1763, "for any uneasiness here, but for the insufficiency of my support, which would make it needful for me to embrace an opportunity of being nearer my friends, under some better circumstances, for the benefit of my family. As you are pleased, in so kind a manner, to ask me to be IN CONNECTICUT. 219 explicit on this head, I would acquaint you that, besides the Venerable Society's bounty, I receive £30 ster- ling per annum from this congregation, arising from an assessment on the ratable estates, made by virtue of a law of the colony, which obliges the professors of the Church to pay their proportion of this assessment to the minister under whose care they are. We are also provided here with a decent house, and two acres of land adjoining, and about as much more at a little distance; these articles make the whole advantage of this living, which, I believe, may at the extent be estimated at £100 sterlmg value. But this I find too unequal to the unavoidable charge of a family of ten children, and the expense of absolute necessities to support the reputation of the Church, and of my office, in a place of so much resort as this; though I endeavor at as thrifty a management of my mcome as possible; and, were it not for the dependence I have, and the assistance I receive from my friends in Bos- ton, I could not live without much difficulty, or with proper decency. It appeared probable I might be under some better advantages at Hartford, and I was in hopes from the general desires of the people there, joined to the opinion and advice of my brethren of the clergy and other friends, for my removal, that, if my life has hitherto in any degree been useful to the purposes of my office, I might not be less so there; and it would have brought me sixty miles nearer Boston. But I cheerfully resign myself to the con- duct of God's good providence, and fully rest m the Society's wisdom." He was finally appointed to the vacant Mission at Brain tree, Mass. ; and in communicating to the Society 220 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH his acceptance of it and the rehnquishment of his sal- ary at Stratford, from Christmas 1763, he felt that it was an occasion of gratitude to God that he could leave the Mission with the general affection of the people, and return it to the Doctor in the like reputa- ble condition in which he had received it, with perhaps some increase of its strength, "As to Hartford," said Johnson, "the clergy think to take turns there once a month, that they may not be quite discouraged." In the spring of 1760, the Rev. James Wetmore, one of that little band who nobly stood up for Epis- copacy in the Library of Yale College, and who had so long acted with the clergy of Connecticut, sharing in their joys and in their sorrows, died of the small- pox, at his Mission in Eye, "a worthy, learned, and faithful minister," greatly lamented. A division arose among the people about his successor. The legal constitution of the Parish was such that the minister must be called by the Vestry, and inducted into office by the Governor. After two unsuccessful attempts to obtain a Pastor, the Yestry, in 1762, extended an in- vitation to the Rev. Ebenezer Punderson of New Haven, which he accepted; and about the same time the Society, without any knowledge of this action, appointed the Rev. Mr. Palmer of Litchfield to fill the same post. Here was a conflict of appointments or authorities. Both gentlemen had their claims; but Mr. Punderson was the choice of the Parish, and was desired by the people because he had been the means of uniting them, and thus of healing the unhappy spirit of discord which had prevailed since the death of their late Rector. It was an additional reason why Mr. Punderson should go to Rye, that the Church IN CONNECTICUT. 221 in New Haven was declining nnder his ministrations. Dr. Johnson, who had previously encouraged the ap- pointment of Mr. Palmer, wrote to the Society in De- cember, 1762, thus: "You have herewith a letter from the Church-wardens and Vestrymen of Rye, praying that Mr. Punderson may be appointed their Mission- ary, which also I earnestly desire, as they are (after much contention) happily united in him, and his re- moval from New Haven is rendered highly expedient by an unhappy controversy about a house with a dissenter of some note there, by whom he has been very injuriously treated, whereby his life has been most uncomfortable, and the Church has much suf- fered j but I hope it may soon be provided with some other worthy incumbent not liable to the like diffi- culties. The clergy thought it advisable, though he continues this winter at New Haven, that he should as frequently as might be visit the people at Rye." The matter was at length adjusted, not without some chagrin and disappointment on the part of Mr. Palmer, by an exchange of places between the two gentlemen, and he was formally invited by the Church- wardens and others in New Haven to succeed Mr. Punderson; and the Venerable Society, rather than erect a new mission at Litchfield, allowed his trans- fer and continued their appropriation. In his report of June 8th, 1763, after mentioning that the people had purchased a glebe near the church, and were completing a house for his accommodation, he added, they have "engaged to give me an annuity of <£30, which is as much as they are at present able to do, being in number but sixty famihes, and more than half of them in low cu'cumstances; yet, after aU, 222 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH though New Haven is a pleasant situation, and would be quite agreeable to me, I should, upon my own ac- count, be content to go to Rye; and if, all things con- sidered, the Society shall order me there, I shall be well suited. But then, I should be concerned for the Church in New Haven, which, in the latter part of Mr. Punderson's time there, was really in a pining } iid langviishing state; and should he return to them again, (though he obtains a good character, and is really a valuable man,) I fear he would have the mor- tification of seeing it expire in his hands." Some months later, he wrote again from New Ha- ven, and referring to the embarrassments which had grown out of the action of the people at Rye, he said, "As matters now stand, and as Mr. Punderson's return would certainly prove fatal to this Church, w^hich was even panting for breath, and just ready to expire when he left it, I shall be well pleased with the So- ciety's approbation and consent to succeed him, though Rye would have suited me better." The exchange of places between the two gentlemen proved bene- ficial to the interests of the Church. As vigor is added to the tree by transplanting it in a new and stronger soil, so years and influence are sometimes added to the life of a clergyman by changing his as- sociations, and permitting him to breathe in a dif- ferent atmosphere. Mr. Punderson was eminently blessed in his ministry at Rye; and we leave Mr. Palmer in New Haven, at the close of the year 1763, engaged in the zealous discharge of his pastoral office, and toiling successfully to bring back the scattered members of the Church. IN CONNECTICUT. 223 CHAPTER XVn. CHURCH IN NEW HAVEN; DEFENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROP- AGATING THE GOSPEL; AND AN AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. A. D. 1763-1764. A CENTURY ago, the river which divides New Haven from East Haven was crossed by an inconvenient ferry. Mr. Panderson found it difficult at some sea- sons, and impossible at others, to pass over into the towns of Brauford and Guilford for the purpose of discharging the duties of his office. This was one reason which led to the ultimate discontinuance of his stated services in those towns; but a stronger lay in the desire of the churchmen in New Haven for the constant presence of their Missionary. The erection of a "handsome" house of worship, the purchase of land for a glebe, and the generous provision of the people, according to their ability, for the support of a clergyman, added to the pecuHar demands of the place as the seat of the College, and the centre of strong Congregational influences, encouraged the hope that New Haven might be formed into a dis- tmct Mission, and permitted to enjoy, what was so necessary to the prosperity of the Church there, unin- terrupted ministrations. It was with this hope that Mr. Palmer removed from Litchfield, and assumed pastoral responsibilities in the vicinity of his native town. Writing to the Society, May 6, 1764, after his 224 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH' family had become settled in New Haven, he said: "The state of this Church is pretty much the same as when I last wrote, flourishing and increasing. Divers straying members have returned and steadfastly ad- here to us, and several respectable heads of families have been newly proselyted, and, from the present view of things, there seems to be a foundation of hope for still greater increase. The churchpeople here have been wanting in nothing that their abili- ties could do for the honor of their profession. They are but few in number, and most of them of but mod- erate fortunes." Anxious to secure the land which lay over against their house of worship,^ and which was designed in the indenture, made, thirty years before, by William Greg- son, for the use and benefit of the Church of England in New Haven, Enos Ailing purchased it of the jyarty in possession, and obtained a "warranty deed," Septem- ber 12th, 1765. Towards the end of the succeeding month he conveyed it to " Timothy Bonticou and Isaac Doolittle, Church-wardens, and Christopher Kilby and Stephen Mansfield, Vestrymen of Trinity Church in New Haven, and the rest of the members of the said Episcopal church," "for the consideration of two hun- dred and seventy-one pounds five shillings lawful money, the same consideration which had been named in the instrument of his own purchase." The title of the grantor ran back to a great-grandson, in the fe- male line, of Thomas Gregson, the first proprietor, and this descendant with his father had been in pos- 1 The first Episcopal ehureli in New Haven stood on the east side of Church Street, on ground now occupied by the block of three stores next north of the Odeon building. IN CONNECTICUT. 225 session more than forty years, and therefore claimed exclusive ownership. Thomas Gregson was one of the original and most influential planters of the New Haven Colony, — "a colony," to quote the words of Cotton Mather, "con- stellated with many stars of the first magnitude." He signed the fundamental agreement formed in a gen- eral meeting, that church -members only should be free burgesses and have the power to choose from among themselves magistrates and officers to trans- act all public business. He was an active merchant, and held those high trusts and responsibilities in the colony which indicated the confidence of the planters in his wisdom and integrity. He was the first white settler in East Haven, making his settlement at a place called "Solitary Cove." When the colonists found their commercial enterprises threatened with disaster, and their large estates fast melting away, they attempted to retrieve their fortunes by a new effort; and "gathering together almost all the strength which was left them, they built one ship more, which they freighted for England with the best part of their tradable estates; and sundry of their eminent per- sons embarked in her for the voyage." In the month of January, 1646, when the harbor was completely frozen over, "a passage was cut through the ice with saws, for three miles," and the "great ship," with George Lamberton for the master, and Thomas Greg- son as a commissioner "to procure a patent from the Parliament for these parts," floated out amid the pray- ers and benedictions of the people, assembled to wit- ness the departure of their friends. That ship, with "the divers godly persons, men and women," who em- 15 226 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH barked in it, was never heard of again. Month after month elapsed, and finally a year, and still no tidings were received of their ftxte. Tradition has preserved "the apparition of a ship in the air," "the mould" of Lamberton's vessel, coming up the mouth of the harbor after a great thunder-storm in June, long subsequent to the sailing, first appearing with "her main-top blown off, but left hanging in the shrouds," then with "all her masting" gone, and finally with the keel only, which quickly "careened" and vanished out of sight. And thus "the afflicted spirits" of the colonists were quieted, because they superstitiously believed that God had in this way condescended to give an "ac- count of His disposal of those for whom so many pray- ers had been offered." When all hope of their re- turn had ceased, their estates were legally settled. "The inventory of the estate of Mr. Thomas Gregson, deceased," amounting to nearly £500, "was delivered into the court; and being viewed, was delivered to the Secretary to be recorded," under date of Decem- ber 7th, 1647. He left no will, and his property, by the existing laws, went to his family. His only son Kichard and one of his daughters returned and re- sided in England, but his widow and the other seven daughters lived and died in this country. It was in the line of descent from his son that a claim was set up to the land which subsequently came into the pos- session of Trinity Church. By the English law of entails, the eldest son in- herited, and by the colonial enactments of New Ha- ven and Connecticut, where a man died without a will, one third part at least of his estate went to the widow, if he left a widow, and the remaining two IN CONNECTICUT. 227 thirds were divided among the children, "with due respect to ihe eldest son" who was to have a child's double portion of the whole estate, real and personal, unless the General Court, upon just cause and grounds, should judge otherwise, either for dividing the estate, or for the portion of the first-born. The final settle- ment and distribution of Thomas Gregsoij's estate did not take place until April 3, 1715; and then, when the son was dead, there was set off, with other property, to "the heirs of Richard, the oldest and only son of the deceased, 1 acre J and 24 rods of the Home lot. North part;"^ and this is the land which was after- wards conveyed to Mr. Arnold. Thus, by both the English and colonial laws, as well as by the division of the estate, the claim might have been asserted; and to extinguish forever any title of this sort, Mr. Ailing, three years after he had deeded it to the parish, obtained from William Greg- son, the same great-grancJson of Thomas Gregson, who had once conveyed it in trust to Mr. Arnold, a release of all his right, title, and interest in the land, and "for the consideration of five shillings money re- ceived." The release, like the deed of Mr. Ailing, was made to "Timothy Bonticou, Isaac Doolittle, and the rest of the professors of the Church of England and members of Trinity Church for the time being, and to their successors," and it was dated October 26th, 1768; but fourteen years elapsed before it was entered upon tlie records in New Haven, and by that time Sir Guy Carleton, commander of the British armies in America, had communicated to General Washington that nego- tiations for peace had been commenced in Paris, and 1 New Haven Probate Records, pp. 397, 398. 228 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH that the independence of the colonies would be con- ceded as a preliminary step. Bitter assaults were commenced upon the Church by her adversaries throughout New England shortly before the establishment of the second Missionary in New Haven. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was attacked, and the Mis- sionaries, accused of gross misrepresentations. "The invidious Dr. Mayliew," said Palmer, "of base princi- ples, and it is to be feared a dishonest heart, has raised a dust to blind men's eyes, and stir up a popu- lar clamor. They are very lil^eral in their satires, and impute faults where there are none." On this account he thought it would be well "if the Society had a large number of upright, honest-hearted, faith- ful members here," and in one of his letters recom- mended as worthy of this honor, both for his "liberal education and affluent circumstances," Mr. Enos Ai- ling, at the same time adding: "He is truly cathoHc in his temper, has been the greatest benefactor to this church, [New Haven,] and would, I doubt not, do all he could for the interests of the Society, and the furtherance of their pious and charitable designs; and as he is childless, though a married man, would at least leave them a legacy." The controversy re- specting the Society for Propagating the Gospel was conducted principally by Mayhew on the one side, and Apthorp of Massachusetts, Johnson, and Beach on the other. It reached across the Atlantic, and was resumed in England, Archbishop Seeker taking up his pen and nobly, yet temperately, vmdicating the Society from the aspersions of its enemies, and from the many injurious reflections cast by Mayhew IN CONNECTICUT. 229 in his pamplilet on the Church of England, and on the design of appointing Bishops in America. Dr. John- son, writing to the Archbishop, September 20, 1764, thus referred to his defence: "I was almost overjoyed, after our feeble efforts, to find one who, I did not doubt, was the ablest hand in the kingdom, had con- descended to undertake our mighty giant, and, in the opinion of our people, had wholly disarmed him : nor had any of the dissenters, that I can hear of, a word to say, except Mayhew himself, who, upon its being immediately reprinted here, directly advertised an answer preparing, contrary to the advice of liis best friends. I had it from a good hand, that a man of the best sense among them told him he was com- pletely answered, and advised him by no means to at- tempt a reply." ^ He was possessed with the idea that the Society had been established with the secret intent of usurp- ing authority over the various Christian communities already settled in America, and that real Missionary work among the heathen was not thought of or re- garded. But he overlooked the ftict that the charter had distinctly declared the design to be to provide "an orthodox clergy" for the "loving subjects" of the British Crown in the plantations, and, also, to make "such other provision" as might "be necessary for the Gospel m those parts." It was clear that this "other provision" meant a care for the Indian tribes, and it was clear, moreover, that the avowed purpose of the Church, and of the Societ}^ through which she acted, was to proclaim the Gospel to the heathen in and nea^ all her colonial possessions. The fulfilment of 1 Johnson MSS. 230 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH this purpose was the symbol engraved upon the offi- cial seal of the Society; its difficulties and require- ments had been minutely described in the pages of the first Annual Report, and no suitable opportunity of furthering it had ever been designedly omitted. Because the growth of the Episcopal Church throughout New England was attributed by the Inde- pendents or Congregationalists to the influence of the Crown, and especially to the patronage of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the establishment of every new mission was viewed with fresh jealousy; and hence the founding of one at Cambridge, in the immediate neighborhood of Harvard College, and the appointment of so able and accomplished a Missionary as Apthorp, appears to have been regarded by May- hew as a part of what he called "a formal design to carry on a spiritual siege of our churches, with the hope that they will one day submit to a spiritual sov- ereign."^ Nothing could be more dignified than the reply of Archbishop Seeker to this charge, when he said that "several members of the Church of England send their children to Harvard College, and such a place of worship as their parents approve may be reasonably provided for them, without any design of proselyting others. There is, indeed, a college in New England, where students have been forbidden to attend Episcopal service, and a young man has been fined for going to hear his own father, an Epis- copal minister, preach. But in Harvard College, it seems, a better spirit prevails; and it is more likely to flourish, both for that moderation and the new church built near it." I Observations on the Charter and Conduct of the Society, &c., p. 56. IN CONNECTICUT. 231 The college in New England to which the Arch- bishop referred, was undoubtedly Yale, and the young man was a son of Punderson, who might have been fined in obedience to a law of the Institution, for ab- sence from the chapel, when the reason of his absence was unknown to the Faculty. The law which required, at that time, under such a penalty, all students to at- tend public worship in the College chapel, except Epis- copal students on communion Sundays, was in accord- ance with the spirit of the age, and of course entirely indefensible on the principle of religious liberty.^ One great and efficient cause of the rapid increase of the Church lay in the divisions and controversies of the standing order. Some among them saw this, and, for a time at least, sharp and undisguised at- tacks on the doctrines of Calvin were permitted by their stoutest advocates to pass unnoticed. They rather turned with complacency and approbation to the zeal and force with which Episcopacy was assailed in high quarters, and they seem to have anticipated its overthrow when such champions as Hobart of Fau'field, Welles of Stamford, and Mayhew and Cliaun- cey of Boston, asserted the Divine right of Presby- terian ordination and the primitive equality of Gos- pel ministers. Mr. Welles, in a discourse of seventy- eight closely printed pages, published in 1763, "at the desire of the hearers, with some enlargements," said, in his preface: "As it is probable that few of you are possessed of any of the books heretofore published, in vindication of our ministerial power, while ^-our Epis- copal neighbors, perhaps, are generally supplied with the arguments commonly offered on the other side 1 Appendix B. 232 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of the question, and so are better prepared to dis- course upon the subject, the same reasons which in- duced me to preach upon it have at length prevailed upon me to consent to its publication." The Independents were constantly frightened by the apparition of the English hierarchy. An un- founded alarm was spread throughout New England, and an apprehension created, that all the evils which inhered to the Church in the Old World would b ■ transplanted to this, and hence the appointment oi' Bishops for America was strenuously resisted, and bit- terness added to the controversy from a fear that the accessories of wealth and temporal power would attend their arrival. The dignified and temperate reply of Archbishop Seeker to Dr. Mayhew, published in Lon- don in 1764, and afterwards reprinted in this country, presents the whole argument in so clear and concise a view, that it deserves to be quoted at length. " The Church of England is, in its constitution. Epis- copal. It is, in some of the plantations, confessedly the established Church; in the rest are many congre- gations adhering to it; and through the late exten- sion of the British dominions, it is likely that there will be more. All members of every church are, ac- cording to the principles of liberty, entitled to every part of what they conceive to be the benefits of it, entire and complete, so far as consists with the wel- fare of civil government. Yet the members of our Church in America do not thus enjoy its benefits, having no Protestant Bishop within three thousand miles of them, — a case which never had its j^arallel before in the Christian world. Therefore it is desired that two or more Bishops may be appointed for them, IN CONNECTICUT. 233 « to reside where His Majesty shall think most conven- ient; that they may have no concern in the least with any persons who do not profess themselves to be of the Church of England, but may ordain ministers for such as do; may confirm their children, when brought to them at a fit age for that purpose; and take such oversight of the Ej^iscopal clergy as the Bishop of London's Commissaries in those parts have been em- powered to take, and have taken without offence. But it is not desired in the least that they should hold courts to try matrimonial or testamentary causes; or be vested with any authority now exercised either by provincial governors or subordinate magistrates; or infringe or diminish any privileges or lilDerties en- joyed by any of the Laity, even of our own commun- ion. This is the real and the only scheme that has been planned for Bishops in America; and whoever has heard of any other, has been misinformed through mistake or design."^ Dr. Mayhew was so completely disarmed on read- ing this statement that he confessed in his Rejoinder, that, if it were true, he "had been misinformed him- self, and knew of others who had been so in common with him ; and that, if such a scheme as this were car- ried into execution, and only such consequences were to follow as the proposer had professedly in view, he could not object against it, except on the same prin- ciple that he should object against the Church of England in general."^ He, however, considered him- self at hberty to treat it as the imaginary scheme of a private individual and without authority, because it 1 Answer to Dr. Mayhew's Observations, &c., p. 59. 8 Rejoinder, p. 79. 234 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH was published anonymously. His Rejoinder contained so much reproachful language and so many misrep- resentations that it was very sensibly reviewed by Mr. Apthorp, which put an end to that particular contro- versy. But Mayhew, dying the next year, left his mantle, as we shall see hereafter, to Dr. Chauncey. IN CONNECTICUT. 235 CHAPTER XVIII HOSTILITY TO THE CHURCH; PASSAGE OF THE STAMP-ACT, AND THE COURSE OF THE CLERGY. A. D. 1764-1766. Though the public mind was charged with a feehng of intense hostihty to the Church, yet she still con- tinued to increase, especially in Connecticut, and her Missionaries relaxed none of their fidehty and zeal in the performance of their duties. The want of accom- modation in some places was a hindrance to her growth, and the enlargement of certain houses of worshijD was only prevented by a lack of pecuniary ability. Mr. Beardsley, in the summer of 1764, re- ported the prosperity of his Mission at Groton and Norwich, and "blessed God that those who were grounded in the doctrine and discipline of the Church, appeared more and more zealous and attentive to her excellent form of worship," notwithstanding the great disorders among the "different denominations," and the "prodigious flood of wild enthusiasm" which had lately broken out in those parts from the visits of Whitefield. Mr. Graves, at New London, who had in- curred the displeasure of his brethren by the course he had formerly pursued, wrote, a little later: "Four new pews have been built; they were engaged as soon as they were laid out, and so would a dozen 236 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH more have been." In his next communication to the Society, dated April 20, 1765, he touched upon a point which occasionally troubled the Missionaries, and caused charges to be preferred against them for departing from the Liturgy when holding service in a private dwelling where not one member of the Church of England was present to make the usual re- sponses. "God forbid," said he, "that we should vary from the rubric when officiating in our churches; but in houses I humbly presume it might be some- what winked at, in order to wean the dissenters from their prejudices for the present, in hopes of winning them over to our more reasonable service in time. But in this I submit to the direction of my superiors, which I shall always observe. How acceptable I am to the dissenters of all sorts appears from their send- mg for me in their illness, and desiring my spiritual ad\dce in the most necessitous times, which I always comply with. My prayers, without books, earnestly engage their attention, and gradually wear away their prejudices, when they find w^e can pray without a form, as well as their own formal teachers." The church at Hebron, under the ministry of Peters, was by this time finished, through the aid of a legacy which should have been earlier secured, and Mr. Hub- bard had returned from England and fixed himself in his native place, where he was imbedding himself in the affections of a grateful people, spread out into other towns than Guilford. The long vacant post on the Connecticut River was filled by his friend and companion on the voyage for Holy Orders; and Mr. Andrews, the self-denying Missionary at Wallingford, North Haven, and Cheshire, who had statedly ren- IN CONNECTICUT. 237 dered gratuitous services to the Church in Middle- town, was permitted henceforth to apply himself to the duties of his own flourishing cure. In a letter to the Secretary of the Society, dated July 5, 1766, Dr. Johnson wrote: "The Church has of late so much increased at Branford (Mr. Palmer's native place), that they hope without the Society's assistance (there being there some wealthy persons) to make it worth his while, within about a year, to quit the Society's service and move thither, and he inclines to hearken to their proposal, and I wish it may succeed to his mind. In the mean time he proposes to continue the care of New Haven another year, till they have built a church at Branford." This project, for some reason, was unsuccessful; perhaps because Mr. Palmer, who always appears to have retained an affection for the scene of his earliest ministrations, was soon recalled to the Mission in Litchfield County, already made vacant by the la- mented death of that young, accomplished, and labori- ous servant of Christ, Thomas Davies. He had lived long enough to see, in 1765, a new church erected under his charge at New Milford, but the next year he died. Mr, Palmer, who complained that he could not support his large family in the expensive town of New Haven on his salary, reinoved to Litchfield in the autvmm of 1766, and after five years of contin- uous service in that region, amid many infirmities, he also was laid to his rest in the grave. Tlu'ough the abundant labors of Mr. Scovill, the churchmen within the limits of his Mission had so greatly increased as to warrant the formation of a separate parish in Westbury, (now Watertown,) and 238 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH several individuals were active in the movement, and entered into an agreement, as early as 1764, "to hold public worship there on those Sundays when there was no preaching at Waterbury." By the month of October in the next year, a church, thirty-seven by forty-five feet, was so comfortably finished that the people assembled in it for the first time to hear a "dedicatory discourse" from the Rev. Samuel Andrews, and to worship Him who had put it into their hearts and enabled them to build a temple to the honor and glory of His holy name. A parish was formed in Milford in 1764, thirty-one families participating in the formation; and by the assistance of that charitable layman, Mr. St. George Talbot, a small wooden church was begun in the spring of the next year, but it proceeded towards completion with a singular degree of moderation. A period of ten years elapsed before it was even enclosed and made fit for occupancy; and then, when the number of Epis- copalians in the town had been reported to be one hundred and fifty-three, it was opened with religious services by the Rev. Mr. Hubbard, aided by the neigh- boring Missionaries at Stratford and Derby. In Fairfield County, it could be said of the Church that the place of her tent is enlarged, and the curtains of her habitations are stretched forth. Writing from Stratford, in the autumn of 1764, Dr. Johnson said: "Here are now about one hundred families, and one hundred and forty actual communicants ; it may seem, perhaps, to the Society and others, difficult to account for it, that there are no more, here and in many other places, especially on the sea-coasts, after so many ac- f*ounts, as have been given from time to time, of the IN CONNECTICUT. 239 increase of our numbers." And then he went on to assign as a reason, " that, besides many deaths, there are in these countries very frequent migrations, espe- cially from the sea-coasts to the inland parts, where land is much cheaper, and where many of our people, particularly the youth, have from time to time re- moved. In Stratford, for instance, had all that con- formed to the Church, with their descendants, con- tinued here hitherto, instead of one hundred, I believe there would be two hundred families." The parish- ioners of Mr. Beach at Newtown frequently assembled to the number of four or five hundred, and he was most careful to fortify them as well by his printed as his preached discourses against both Antinomianism and enthusiasm. But a storm was gathering now which was to burst in terrible fury upon the Church and arrest all this prosperity. It has been mentioned in a former chap- ter that one of the reasons urged with the British ministry to prevent the estabhshment of an American Episcopate was the fear that it would lead to the in- dependence of the colonies. The Missionaries utterly repudiated any such tendency, and insisted that the commercial interests of the home Government, to- wards which she always turned a jealous eye, could not and ought not to be in the least affected by this ecclesiastical provision. The first step which led to the independence of the colonies was the passage by Parliament, March 22, 1765, of the Stamp- Act, and the introduction of a Bill soon after, authorizing the quar- tering of troops in these parts. Opposition was at once raised to the Stamp-Act, as unjust in itself. A Gen- eral Congress of the colonies met for the first time 240 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH at New York, and the son of Dr. Johnson was chosen by the Assembly one of the number to represent Con- necticut m that Congress. In order to procure a repeal of the Act, they adopted a declaration of rights and grievances, asserting taxation by themselves and trial by jury to be the inherent privilege of the sub- jects of the British realm, in all her dependencies. The Colonial Assemblies adopted similar measures; and popular gatherings throughout the land, heated essays in the newspapers, and more elaborate, but not less inflammatory pamphlets, served to set the whole country in a blaze. In some places the stamp-officers and their supporters Avere exposed to personal vio- lence ; and on the first of November, the day designated for the Act to go into operation, neither stamps nor officers were to be found in the colonies, and business of aU kinds was therefore transacted without the aid of stamped paper. But what was the course of the poor, persecuted Church of England here amid these popular discon- tents and tumults? Always teaching her children to "honor and obey the civil authority," she was loyal then, as now, to the rightly constituted government, and seven of her Missionaries in Connecticut, acci- dentally convened in September of this same year, sent an address to the Venerable Society, to the ef- fect, that, "although the commotions and disaffec- tion in this country were very great relative to what was called the imposition of the Stamp-Act," yet they had the satisfaction of stating that the people of the Church of England in general in this colony, as they were able to assure the Society, and those particu- larly under their own respective charges, were of "a IN CONNECTICUT. 241 contrary temper and conduct, esteeming it nothing short of rebellion to speak evil of dignities and to avow opposition to this last act of Parliament." Dr. Leaming, not among these subscribers, but writ- ing from Norwalk in the same month, said: "I have the satisfaction to assure the Society, that Missionaries being placed in this colony, is not only very service- able in a religious, but in a civil sense. In the north- east part of this colony there have been most rebelli- ous outrages committed, on account of the Stamp-Act, while those towns where the Church has o-ot footino* have calmly submitted to the civil authority. This has been remarked, and by the dissenters themselves, to the honor of the Church. It is said that Mayhew, the day before the mob pulled down the Deputy-Gov- ernor's house, preached sedition from these words: I would ihef/ tvere even cut off that trouble you. He has abused the Church with impunity, and perhaps he thinks he may escape in abusing the State also." Mr. Beach, a day or two after, followed this letter of Dr. Leaming with another, describing the feeling in his own charge: — "I have, of late, taken pains to warn my people against having any concern in the sedi- tious tumults with relation to the Stamp-duty, enjoined upon us by the Legislature at home; and I can with truth and pleasure say, that I cannot discover the least inclination towards rebellious conduct in any of the churchpeople here, who remember, with the sin- cerest gratitude, the favors we have received from the mother-country, and we esteem ourselves under the strongest obligations of all dutiful obedience to the Government at home. I wish I could say the same of all sects in these parts." 16 242 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH The patient and worthy Mr. Lamson, at Fairfield, penning his communication six months later, said: "In a time of anarchy and disloyalty in this country, the professors of the Church of England have in gen- eral, throughout the Province of New England, distin- guished themselves by a peaceable submission and quiet deportment. The Missionaries have exerted themselves upon the occasion in exhorting their own congregations and others to peace, and a due sub- mission to authority; by which means we have been exposed to the calumny and insult of the enemies of the Church and State. Some of us have been threat- ened with having our houses pulled down over our heads, though as yet they have kept themselves, in this part of the country, from acts of open violence. I pray God to send us better times." These extracts are selected to show that the Mis- sionaries sought to guide their flocks to peace and quietness in the midst of the popular tumults. Nor did they stop with this, for while they were thus teaching, they were using their influence with their friends in England to procure a relaxation of the obnoxious policy of the home Government. When Franklin was about to cross the ocean as a special agent for Pennsylvania, the Rev. Dr. Johnson wrote to him and said: "Would to God you were charged with pleading the same cause in behalf of all the gov- ernments, that they might all alike be taken into the King's more immediate protection." The wish was so far realized that Franklin soon became actively and conspicuously interested in the affairs of all the col- onies, and took every step in his power, first to pre- vent the passage of the Stamp-Act, and then to pro- IN CONNECTICUT. 243 cure its repeal. Dr. Johnson was so impressed with the supreme importance of the American Episcopate, that on the very day when the Connecticut clergy, at their accidental meeting, addressed a letter to the Venerable Society, he wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and, referring to the course of the oppo- nents of his cherished scheme, added: "These people will stick at nothing to gain their point. It seems they make gentlemen believe that nineteen twen- tieths of America are wholly against it themselves, and that it would make a more dangerous clamor and dis- content than the Stamp- Act itself, than' which nothing can be more false. Had it been done last spring, (when the dissenters themselves expected nothing else,) and the Stamp- Act postponed till the next, it would have been but a nine days' wonder, nor do I believe one half of the people of America would have been much, if at all, uneasy at it; and now a million of souls are really suffering for want of it." The gifted and scholarly Dr. Chandler,^ of Elizabeth- town, writing more largely to the Society, under date of January 15th, 1766, among other things, said: "Such an universal spirit of clamor and discontent, little short of madness, and such an opinion of oppression, prevails throughout the colonies, as I believe was scarcely ever seen on any occasion in any country on earth. And it seems to be the determined, inflexible resolution of most people, from Halifax to Georgia, at all hazards, even of death and destruction, never to submit to what they esteem so great an infringement of their essential rights, as some of the late acts of the British Parliament. 1 He was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Uni- versity of Oxford in 1766. 244 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH "Every friend, therefore, to the happiness of the col- onies, or even of Great Britain, who is acquainted with the case as it really is, must wish that the Parliament would relax of its severity ; which yet, it must be con- fessed, will be no easy thing after such provocations as have been latel}^ offered on the part of the colonies. But good policy, I humbly apprehend, will rather put up with almost anything than drive matters to a dan- gerous extremity. Most probably the Parliament is able (although most people here pretend not to be- lieve that they are) to enforce the Stamp-Act; yet should they resolve to do it, a disaffection of the col- onies, of which there have been no visible symptoms before, will be undoubtedly established; the Govern- ment must be put to a great expense, and the com- merce of the colonies, so beneficial to England here- tofore, will sink comparatively to a mere trifle. For none will dare import anything but the bare neces- saries of life, and, upon the examination that has been made, it is found that almost every real want can be supplied from ourselves. "England has always l3een benefited nearly in pro- portion to the wealth and commerce of her colonies. Whether therefore any measures that directly tend to lessen that wealth and commerce can finally be of service to Great Britain, is a question which may not be unworthy the attention even of those who are the guardians of her interests. The Parliament has un- doubtedly been misinformed. For that the colonies in general abound in wealth, and are able to pay any considerable tax to the government after providing for their own necessary expenses, is just as true, in my opinion, (and indeed we understand is founded on IN CONNECTICUT. 245 the same testimony,) as that an American Episcopate ivoidd he iiUerly disagreeable to more than nineteen twentieths of all the 'people in America." A little farther on in the same letter, the statement is made, '-If the interests of the Church of England in America had been made a national concern, accord- ing to the policy of all other nations that have had colonies, by this time a general submission to the par- ent country in everything not sinful, after no other efforts than dutiful remonstrances, might have been expected, not only for wrath, but for conscience' sake. And who can be certain that the present rebellious disposition of the colonies is not intended by Provi- dence as a punishment for that neglect? "Indeed, many wise and good persons at home have had the cause of religion and the Church here sin- cerely at heart; and the nation, whether sensible of it or not, is under obligations to that very worthy Society who, by their indefatigable endeavor to prop- agate the Gospel and assist the Church, have at the same time and thereby secured to the State, as far as their influence could be extended, the Loyalty and Fidelity of her American children." In communicating a copy of this extract to the ven- erable Dr. Johnson, whom he affectionately regarded as a father, and whose wise and prudent counsels he constantly sought, the author appended the words, "Here are Politics! Here is Patriotism! But how far I shall be thanked for either, I cannot foresee. But it was next to impossible, when I was writing, to avoid saying something on the subject, and I said the above in the anguish and simplicity of my heart." ^ 1 Johnson MSS. 246 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH The Stamp-Act was repealed by Parliament, to the honor of the Rockingham ministry and the great joy of the colonies, just one year after its passage, and the voices of such men as William Pitt and Edmund Burke were nobly lifted up in defence of the healing measure. But, as if fearful of conceding too much, the repeal was accompanied by a Declaratory Act, in which it was affirmed that "Parliament had a right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever;" an act said to have been prompted by the indiscreet warmth of Pitt, but which Lord Mansfield, who was against the repeal, pronounced in the House of Lords to amount to nothing, and that it was a poor contrivance to save the dignity of Parliament. But whatever may have been its origin or design, the declaration was looked upon by the colonists as a sober reality, and it never ceased to rankle in their breasts. The whole and remoter effect of it has been so well and concisely described by New England's greatest statesman, that no apology need be offered for introducing his words in this connection: — "The Parliament of Great Britain asserted a right to tax the colonies in all cases whatsoever; and it was precisely on this question that they made the Revolution turn. The amount of taxation was trifling, but the claim itself was inconsistent with liberty; and that was, in their eyes, enough. It was against the recital of an act of Parliament, rather than against any suffering under its enactments, that they took up arms. They went to war against a preamble. They fought seven years against a declaration. They poured out their treasures and their blood like water, in a contest against an assertion, which those less sagSr IN CONNECTICUT. 247 cious and not so well schooled in the principles of civil liberty would have regarded as barren phraseol- ogy, or mere parade of words. They saw in the claim of the British Parliament a seminal principle of mischief, the germ of unjust power; they detected it, dragged it forth from underneath its plausible disguises, struck at it; nor did it elude either their steady eye or their well-directed blow till they had extirpated and de- stroyed it, to the smallest fibre. On this question of principle, while actual suffering was yet afar off, they raised their flag against a power to which, for pur- poses of foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of her glory, is not to be compared : a power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts; whose morn- ing drum-beat, following the sun, and keeping com- pany with the hours, circles the earth with one con- tinuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England."! Such is the eloquent description of the memorable struggle which involved at once so many precious hopes and interests for the mother-country and her American possessions. At this point of time there are trials and disasters preparing for the Church in Connecticut, greater and sadder than any she has yet experienced. The course which her Missionaries pur- sued in reference to the immediate causes that led to the Revolution, and ultimately to the Independence of the colonies, did not save them and their flocks from the bitterness of future persecution. But we will not anticipate the events of history. We believe that, without foreseeing the violence of the storm, 1 Webster's Works, Vol. IV. pp. 109, 110. 248 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH God strengthened them for its approach, by keeping them to their proper work. The faithful Beach at Newtown, not without fear of personal abuse from the lawless, "for no other reason than that of endeav- oring to cherish in his people a quiet submission to the civil government," and who implored the Venera- ble Society in their wisdom to direct him how he ouo-ht to conduct himself "in this new and melan- o choly affair," was not unmindful of his duty as t. preacher of the everlasting Gospel and a "watchmau on the walls." He would not be drawn aside from the old path which he had so long and so well trod- den. For we find him, in the midst of his daily pas- toral toil, standing forward before the public as the firm and triumphant opponent of the many religious extravagances Avhich then prevailed in various parts of New England. "Though my health," said he, in a letter written just after the passage of the Stamp-Act, but before the news of it had reached or been spread in this country, "is small, and m}^ abilities less; and though I make it a rule never to enter into any dis- pute with them (the Independent ministers) unless they begin, yet now they have made the assault, and advanced such monstrous errors as do subvert the Gospel, I think myself obliged by my ordination vow to guard my people (as well as I can) against such doctrines, in which work, hitherto, I hope I have had some success." Other Missionaries were alike vigi- lant, though not so widely known nor possessed of so much official and personal influence. Born and educated in the colony, as they all had been, with one exception, they expected to share its fortunes; and in the full persuasion that the Church of Eng- IN CONNECTICUT. 249 land was modelled after the Apostolic order, and tauglit and preserved the truth, they could not and they would not consent to have her doctrines pub- licly misrepresented and her rights infringed without sending forth in all places a voice of solemn remon- strance. Their good and Christian lives caused them to be respected, even when they stoutly refused to sacrifice any of their principles to gain the popular favor. If they complained occasionally of the sedi- tious tumults and lawlessness of the people here, they complained much more of the policy of the home Gov- ernment, and of " the spirit of indifference to the real character and duties of the Church, so unhappily manifested by some of the leading Statesmen of that day."i 1 Anderson's Colonial Church, Vol. III. p. 436. 250 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XIX. APPEAL OF THE CLERGY OF CONNECTICUT FOR A BISHOP; DR. CHANDLER'S PUBLICATIONS, AND THE REPLIES OF HIS AN- TAGONISTS. A. D. 1766. On the 8th day of October, 1766, a Convention of the clergy of the Church of England in the Colony of Connecticut was held at Stratford, where twelve of their number, including Dr. Auchmuty of New York, were present. At this meeting, a formal address to the Bishop of London was prepared and signed by them, in which they "bitterly lamented the de- plorable condition" of the home Government, because for political reasons it refused a Protestant Bishop to the colonies, but allowed the Romanists in Canada and the Moravians elsewhere to have the full enjoy- ment of their ecclesiastical privileges and discipline. It was quite beyond the conception of these signers that such partiality should be shown, especially as the Crown might well be supposed to favor the interests of a communion which were so closely blended with its own prosperity. "The more the Church spreads in this country," wrote Mr. Beach from Newtown, in the spring of 1767, "the more we feel and groan under the want of a Bishop. And I am full in the opinion, that, if those great men, upon whose pleasure it de- pends to grant us such a blessing, did but know as sensibly as we do that the churchpeople here are IN CONNECTICUT. 251 the only fast friends to our subjection to, or connec- tion with England, as hath lately appeared, they would, even upon political reasons, grant us the favor which we have so long wished and prayed for; and would strengthen that cause which, compared with the dis- senters of all denominations, is very weak. It is some satisfaction to me to observe, that in this town, of late, in our elections, the churchpeople make the major vote, which is the first instance of that kind in this colony, if not in all New England." But a timid regard to the objections of the dis- senters, and of those colonies at the South which were not heartily desirous of Bisho]3S, prevailed above every other consideration, and even affected the action of good and prayerful men. In consequence of the clamors which arose from the passage of the Stamp- Act, the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel declined to establish any more missions in New England, a step which filled the clergy of the Church with real grief and concern. "God have mercy upon us," wrote Dibblee to the Secretary about this time, "if the Provinces here should throw off their connection, dependence, and subjection to the mother- country, for how much soever they are divided m relig- ious sentiment among themselves, they yet can unite heart and hand to oppose and check, if possible, the growth and progress of our holy Church, which, like rising Christianity, springs up and flourishes out of their religious confusions." "I wish it were in my power," said Leaming, seven months later, "to paint in lively colors the necessity there is, both in a civil and religious view, of our superiors giving attention to the affairs of the Church of England in America. 252 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH If the Church is neglected at this juncture, America is totally ruined ; and those of us who have been faith- ful to give notice of the true state of affairs will be the first victims that will fall in the sad catastrophe." The effort to secure the appointment of Bishops for the American colonies, which had been renewed from time to time with more or less spirit since the begin- ning of the century,^ was now made in a somewhat different shape. Private appeals had proved unavail- ing. The frequent and earnest letters of the Mis- sionaries to their friends and patrons in England had only brought back the same evidence of "hope de- ferred which maketh the heart sick." "It appears to us," said Chandler, writing to Dr. Johnson on this sub- ject, "that Bishops will never be sent us until we are united and w^arm in our applications from this coun- try, and we can see no reasons to expect a more fa- vorable tuTie by waiting." As far back as 1754, Seeker, then Bishop of Oxford, wrote to the Missionary at Stratford in this despondent tone: "We have done all we can here in vain, and must wait for more favorable 1 The Rev. John Talbot, the associate of Mr. Keith in his missionary trav- els, and afterwards stationed at Burlington, N. J., visited England in 1720. While there, he, with the Rev. Dr. Welton, was consecrated to the Epis- copal office by the non-juring Bishops, and returned to Burlington. Wel- ton came to Philadelphia, having been invited to Christ Church in that city. " Such a step," says Hawkins, " admits of no justification, but we may well suppose that he [Talbot] was led to take it by no personal ambition, but by that strong and earnest conviction of the absolute necessity of an Episcopate for the welfare of the Church in America, of which his letters afford such abundant testimony. It appears that he occasionally assumed the Episcopal dress, and that he administered the ordinance of Confirma- tion. Whatever confusion or schism might have arisen by the irregular exercise of the Episcopal office was prevented by an order from the Privy Council for Welton's return to England, and by the death of Mr. Talbot, which occurred in 1727." IN CONNECTICUT. 253 times; which I think it will contribute not a little to bring on, if the ministers of our Church in America, by friendly converse with the principal dissenters, can satisfy them that nothing more is intended or de- sired than that our Church may enjoy the fall benefit of its own institutions, as all theirs do. For so long as they are uneasy and remonstrate, regard will be paid to them and their friends here by our ministers of state. And yet it will be a hard matter for you to prevent their being uneasy, while they find you gain- ing groimd upon them." But when a decade of years had passed away, the "more favorable times" were still in the future. Conventional addresses of the clergy to the King, the Archbishops, and other dignitaries of the Church of England, were as unsuccessful as the private letters. The ministry had never refused to acknowledge the reasonableness and propriety of establishing an Amer- ican Episcopate, but still no decisive steps were taken in that direction. "The Parliament is rising, and nothing will be done this session, if ever," wrote Dr. Burton to Chandler, under date of May 26th, 1766; and the latter, in communicating this statement to Dr. Johnson some time afterwards, made these sensible comments: "I do not know that we ever desired them to do anything. What reason can there be for con- sulting the Parliament? How, in the name of good- ness, does it concern them whether an astronomer or a poet should come over to America; for he is to re- ceive no powers or perquisites from them. If they are disposed to countenance or declare in a public manner their approbation of American Bishops, we are so far obliged to them; but if not, all that we de- 254 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH sii'e is, that they will not oppose us, and we will jDrom- ise never to molest them." Dr. Johnson, in a letter to the Archbishop of Can- terbury, written in the same month, said: "I have the great mortification and grief to inform your Grace, that those two hopeful young gentlemen who were ordained last^ had the misfortune to be lost on their arrival on the coast, the ship being dashed to pieces, and only four lives saved out of twenty-eight. These two make up ten valuable lives that have now been lost, for want of ordaining powers here, out of fifty- one, (nigh one in five,) that have gone for Orders from hence, within the compass of my knowledge, in little more than forty years, which is a much greater loss to the Church here, in proportion, than she suf- fered in the time of Popish persecution in England. I say this because I can consider the Church here, for want of Bishops, in no other light than as being really in a state of persecution on this account. Pray, my Lord, will our dear mother-country have no bowels of compassion for her poor depressed, destitute chil- dren of the established Church, (probably a million of them,) dispersed into these remote regions? How long, 0 Lord, holy and true ! .... If such a thing as sending one or two Bishops can at all be done for us, this article of time, now that all America are overflow- ing with joy for the repeal of the Stamp-Act, would be the happiest juncture for it that could be, for I believe they would rather twenty Bishops were sent than that Act enforced." It was in this letter that the wa-iter referred to a Synod of sixty Presbyterians assembled at New York, 1 Mr. Giles of New York, and Mr. Wilson of Philadelphia. IN CONNECTICUT. 255 ■with the design of applying, through the General As- sembly of Scotland, to the Parliament of Great Britain for a charter; and the rejection of their application, which they charged to "prelatical influence," was said to have stung them with disappointment, and to have caused their future assaults upon the Church to be more acrimonious. The Synod made an overture to the General Associations of the ministers in the Col- ony of Connecticut to unite with them, and the first convention of Delegates to form a plan of union was held at Elizabethtown, November 5th, 1766. A letter, prepared and approved at this meeting, was addressed to the "Brethren of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island governments, and the Dutch churches," showing how greatly the Dele- gates "desired that the union should extend through all the colonies," and inviting them to join in pro- moting "the important design" of their General Con- vention. At the annual Commencement of the College in New Haven, the next year, there Avas a Convention of the Episcopal clergy; and Dr. Johnson, in mention- ing it to his Grace, said: "There was also here an- other meeting of Delegates from the Presbyterians southward and the Congregationalists this wa}^, in further pursuance of their grand design of coalescing or union, but what they have done we know not. It is said there was much disputing, and therefore we suspected they did not all agree." These meetings were continued annually for a period of nine years, until the distracted situation of pubUc affairs inter- rupted them; and it has since come to light that the prominent object of them was to concert measures for 256 HISTORY OF the episcopal church preventing the introduction of Bishops into this coun- try, and for "guarding the hberties of the churches against all encroachments." The new form in which the effort to secure the Episcopate was pushed at this season was by an "Ap- peal to the Public," written b}^ Dr. Chandler, and pub- lished at New York in 1767, with a courteous dedi- cation to the Primate of all England, the saintly Seeker. Previous to its appearance, however, the Bishop of Landaff (Dr. Ewer), in his anniversary sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, deliv- ered in the beginning of the year, had referred to the state of religion in some of the colonies as not much above infidelity and heathenism, and there were those who, without sufficient reason, imagined his reference to be particularly to New England. Among this number was Dr. Charles Chauncey of Boston, a Con- gregational divine of considerable celebrity, who pub- lished an ingenious "Letter to a Friend," containing remarks on certain passages in the sermon, and rep- resenting the injurious consequences of sending Bish- ops to this country, besides stating the sole design of the Society to be "to Episcopize the colonies." He stirred up the old fears about religious persecution, and, for effect in England, said: "It may be relied on, our people would not be easy, if restrained in the exercise of that liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free; yea, they would hazard everything dear to them, their estates, their very lives, rather than suffer their necks to be put under that yoke of bond- age, which was so sadly galling to their fathers, and occasioned their retreat into this distant land, that IN CONNECTICUT. 257 they might enjoy the freedom of men and Chris- tians." He was followed, a little later, by another cham- pion on the same side, Mr. William Livingston, a law- yer of New York, who adopted his argiunents and embellished them with the flowers of rhetoric, but added no strength or interest to the controversy, ex- cept that he drew forth "A Vindication of the Bishop of Landaff's Sermon," in a pamphlet of eighty-two pages, published anonymously, and characterized by thorough research, a full knowledge of the subject in all its parts, manly argument, playful sallies of wit, and sharp and pungent criticism. The "Appeal to the Public," by Dr. Chandler, was not undertaken on the sole judgment of the author. It "was requested by many of his brethren," and par- ticularly imposed upon him by his venerable friend at Stratford, who for more than forty years had been the distino-uished advocate of the Church of England in the colonies, and who, therefore, seemed to be the most proper person still to plead the cause of an American Episcopate. But a tremor in the hand rendered it extremely difficult for Dr. Johnson to use his pen, and so he applied to one whose learning, ac- complishments, and ability he well knew, and whom he freely counselled in the whole plan and prosecu- tion of the work.^ The clergy of New York and New Jersey, with a few from the neighboring provinces, being assembled in a voluntary Convention, favored J " We are greatly oblitred to my Lord of Landaff for so stronuousl}- plead- ing our cause in his anniversary sermon. As I doubted wlietlicr anytliing would be done at home on that subject, I urged and assisted Dr. Chandler to publish an appeal to the public in its behalf, which I think he has well done." — MS. Letter of Johnson to Seeker, September 25, 17C7. 17 258 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the suggestion of the Connecticut divine; for, after a thorough discussion of the propriety and expediency of making the appeal, "they were unanimously of opin- ion, that, fairly to explain the plan on which American Bishops had been requested, to lay before the public the reasons of this request, to answer the objections that had been made, and to obviate those that might be otherwise conceived against it, was not only proper and expedient, but a matter of necessity and duty." After the controversies and publications of former years, it was hardly to be expected that any attrac- tive novelty would be thrown around the subject. The most which the author could hope to accomplish was to satisfy the American public that the appre- hensions of evil to grow out of the establishment of an Episcopate were groundless; that it was no part of the plan to interfere with the rights and privileges of other religious bodies, much less to encroach upon the powers of the State; and that it was but simple justice to churchmen to allow that want to be sup- plied, which, as the Bishop of Landaff well said, "hath been all along the more heavily lamented, because it is a case so singular that it cannot be paralleled in the Christian world." The publication circulated but slowly, and found its way with difficulty into the southern provinces. The author, in speaking of this in a letter to Dr. Johnson, said: "But I have had most amazing success with one sent to the northward, which has occasioned an offer from Sir William Johnson of an estate, that in a few years will of itself be a sufficient support for a Bishop. His letter to me on the occasion I have transcribed, and herewith send you a copy. He has offered 20,000 IN CONNECTICUT. 259 acres of excellent land, weU situated, towards the sup- port of an American Episcopate, and written in a most pressing manner to the Lords of Trade and Plan- tations in its behalf" The Appeal, which seems to have been regarded by candid men among all denominations as a moderate and reasonable thing, had been issued from the press scarcely six months before it was furiously and si- multaneously attacked from various quarters. The "American Whig" appeared in the New York Gazette, in a series of unmanly and virulent essays,^ while a twin-brother of his started up in a Philadelphia jour- nal, under the name of the "Sentinel"; and the alarm thus sounded reached to Boston, and was instantly echoed from the presses of these. three principal cities, as if they had entered into a combmation to crush out every atom of popular sympathy with the plan pro- posed in the pamphlet of Dr. Chandler. It is not in poor human nature to receive such at- tacks with indifference. Gross personahties and rail- ing accusations are seldom met in the spirit which betrays no infirmity, and hence those on the other side, in answering their adversaries, often dipped theu' pens in the same bitterness, and wrote with unsparing severity. The newspaper productions of that day were too much steeped in rancorous feelings, and some of them descended to that low wit and scurrility which never fail to weaken or defeat the very best cause. It is due, however, to the author of the Appeal to 1 "The first Wing was written by Livingston; the second, by Smith; the third, by ; and the fourth, by Smith, as far as to the thunder gulf", and then Livingston went on in his high prancing style." — MS. Letter of Chandler to Johnson. 260 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH statCj that, in all his writings on the subject, he main- tained his dignity, and showed himself alike the Chris- tian and the scholar. He directed his principal atten- tion to one huge pamphlet of more than two hundred pages, entitled "The Appeal to the Public Answered," written by Dr. Charles Chauncey, the same divine be- fore mentioned, and a tried combatant in the field of religious controversy, having measured lances twenty years before Avith Jonathan Edwards, in oppo- sition to many of the Calvinistic doctrines and views of theology. Though he wrote with ability. Dr. Chaun- cey contributed no new arguments to his side of the question, but made some statements which betrayed his ici^norance of the Church, and his unfairness as an advocate of the broad principles of Christian liberty. In his concluding section there is this strange asser- tion, all the appeals and remonstrances and petitions of the Missionaries for nearly half a century to the contrary notwithstanding: "We are as fully per- suaded, as if they had openly said it, that they have in view nothing short of a complete Church Hierarchy after the pattern of that at home, with like officers in all their various degrees of dignity, with a like large revenue for their grand support, and with the allow- ance of no other privilege to dissenters but that of a bare toleration." Dr. Chandler, in reply to this production, published "The Appeal Defended," which breathed a truly Chris- tian, becoming, and charitable spirit, and with the former pamphlet was reprinted in England, where it seemed to be necessary to plead the cause as well as in the colonies. A second production from the pen of his antagonist followed; and writing playfully to a IN CONNECTICUT. 261 friend in reference to it, he said: "The thanks of his brethren in smoJcing convocation for this last exploit were formally voted him/ and the vote circulated through the country in all the newspapers. This last circumstance, more than its real qualities, has made it necessary, in the opinion of my friends, that I should write again." And so he published, in 1771, his third pamphlet, entitled "The Appeal Further Defended," which closed the controversy, and the general strug- gle for an American Episcopate was ended. In this same year the Rev. Dr. Cooper, President of King's College, New York, went to England, bearing with him several addresses from the clergy and their Conventions; and Dr. Chandler, writing to his vener- able friend and adviser at Stratford, concerning the object of his visit, remarked: "He goes partly as a 3fisswnanj from us, in order to convert the guardians of the Church from the error of their ways. I think our sending Missionaries among them almost as ne- cessary as their sending Missionaries to America. But I fear the difficulty of proselyting such a nation will be found greater than that of converting the American savages. Notwithstanding, I never yet have despaired; and considering the reasonableness of our request, and that all the motives of equity, honor, and sound policy conspire to favor it, I never can despair." 1 A General Association of the Pastors of the consociated churches in Connecticut met at Coventry, June 21st, 17C8, and voted their thankg "to the Rev. Dr. Chauncey of Boston, for the cood service he had done to the cause of relijjrion, liberty, and truth, in his judicious answer to the Appeal for an American I'2piscopate, and in his defence of the New-Eng- land churches and colonies against the unjust reflections cast upon them in the Bishop of Landaff 's sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel." 262 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Before leaving this subject, it will be proper to go back a little and gather up some things which have been left behind. It must not be supposed that the whole controversy was confined to clergymen, or that all the impediments to success were presented by di- vines of the Puritan order. While the discussion was pending, and at its height, the General Court, or Legis- lature, of Massachusetts, in a printed instruction to their agent at London, among other things, directed him to use his utmost interest with the ministry that no Bishops be ever sent into America. The Legisla- ture of Virginia, which was composed chiefly of church- men, was equally decided in opposition, though on different grounds, and in a different way. There it took the form of a vote of thanks to certain clergy- men for resisting, in a thin Convention, the formal sanction of the movement to secure an American Episcopate, — a movement which was judged to be in- expedient at that time for various reasons, and espe- cially because nothing should be done "to weaken the connection between the mother-country and her colonies," or "to infuse jealousies and fears into the minds of Protestant dissenters," but everything "to preserve peace, heal divisions, and calm the angry passions of an inflamed people." IN CONNECTICUT. 263 CHAPTER XX. WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON A SPECIAL AGENT TO ENGLAND FROM THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT; DEATH OF ARCH- BISHOP SECKER; AND CLOSE OF THE PUBLIC CONTROVERSY CONCERNING AN AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. A. D. 1766-1771. The day before Christmas, 1766, "William Samuel Johnson, the only surviving son of Dr. Johnson, de- parted for England as a special agent from the Colony of Connecticut, in a cause of great importance, depend- ing before the Lords in Council. One Mason had com- plained, in behalf of some Indians, relative to the title of a large tract of land, and he was sent to defend the colon}^ against the complaint, and to establish its chartered rights. His sojourn in the mother-country, much to the displeasure and grief of his friends, was prolonged for nearly five years, during which period other matters, both of a pubUc and private nature, were committed to his care. The extensive correspondence of his venerable father with the highest dignitaries of the Church, and the re- spect which they uniformly entertained for his zeal and learning and character, gave the son access to the best society and the best means of information on topics of vital interest to America. While, therefore, the general struggle to secure the Episcopate was going on in this country, and the Missionaries were 264 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH pleading and writing in defence of the measure, he was in England watching the signs of favor shown to it by the Bishops and the Ministry, at the same time that he narrowly watched those Parliamentary proceedings which were beginning to shape the des- tiny and lead to the independence of the American colonies. He kept his father supplied with all the facts, encouraging and discouraging, that came within his reach, and in one of his earliest letters to hiiri said: "The Appeal you mention, however well drawn up, will, I fear, have very little effect. Perhaps the more you stir about this matter at present, the worse it will be." But as the controversy proceeded, he en- tered into its spirit, and was pleased to observe the approbation bestowed upon Dr. Chandler's effort by the most active and distinguished prelates, though still himself doubtinsr its beneficial effects in that critical posture of national affairs. In the summer of 1769, when the war of pamphlets was almost over, he wrote to his father these prudent words: "I can- not but say I am glad your controversy about Amer- ican Bishops seems to be near its end, since I am afraid it can have no very good effects there, and it produces none at all here. It is surprising how little attention is j)aid to it. Perhaps it may in some meas- ure be accounted for by considering that they are so used here to warm controversial publications upon almost every subject, that they are become a sort of Bnitum fidmcn, which nobody much regards; unless you will impute it rather to the universal pursuit of wealth and pleasure, in which they are all absorbed, so that nothing else appears to be of any consequence, which is perhaps the better reason." The father IN CONNECTICUT. 265 also appears to have become despondent as to the issue, for in the same year he said: "I will only add, for the sake of the best of Churches, that, though I am sensible nothhig can be done as to providing an American Episcopate, in the present unhappy condi- tion of things, yet I do humbly hope and confide that the Venerable Society will never lose sight of that most important object till it is accomplished; for, till then, the Church here must be so far from ilourishing that she must dwindle and be contemptible in the eyes of all other denominations." As the agent of the Colony of Connecticut, Dr. Johnson^ was concerned for the peace of its people not less than for the good of the Church; and when Governor Trumbull wrote to him to know what were the intentions in England relative to American Bish- ops, his answer was just such an one as a cautious and Christian statesman might be expected to give, who looked into the future and foresaw the gathering storm. "It is not intended, at present, to send any Bishops into the American colonies ; had it been, I certainly should have acquainted you with it. And should it be done at all, you may be assured it will be in such manner as in no degree to prejudice, nor, if possible, even give the least offence to any denomination of Protestants. It has indeed been merely a religious, in no respect a political, scheme. As I am myself of the Church of England, you will not doubt that I have had the fullest opportunity to be intimately acquainted w^ith all the stages that have ever been 1 At the instance of Arclibisliop Seeker, he received the Diplomatic Degree of Doctor of Law from tlio University of Oxford in 1766. 266 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH taken in this affiiir, and you may rely upon it that it never was, nor is, the intention, or even wish, of those who have been most sanguine in the matter, that American Bishops should have any the least degree of secular power of any nature or kind what- soever, much less any manner of concern or connec- tion with Christians of any other denomination, nor even any power, properly so called, over the Laibj of the Church of England. They wish them to have merely the spiritual powers which are incident to the Episcopal character as such, which, in the ideas of that Church, are those of Ordination and Confirmation, and of presidmg over and governing the clergy; which can of course relate to those of that profession only who are its voluntary subjects, and can affect nobody else. More than this would be thought rather disad- vantageous than beneficial, and / assure you tvoiild he opposed hi/ no man ivith more zeal than myself, even as a friend to the Church of England. Nay, I have the stron- gest grounds to assure you that more would not be accej)ted by those who understand and wish well to the design, were it even offered."^ On the 3d day of August, 1768, died the Primate of all England; according to Bishop Lowth, "the greatest, the best, and the most unexceptionable char- acter that our ecclesiastical annals have to boast." During the long period of his Episcopate he held an unremitting correspondence with Dr. Johnson, and not only kept himself minutely informed of the state of the Church in this country, but wrote largely, vig- orously, and earnestly in defence of her interests and her claims to favor. His letters upon that measure, 1 Johnsou MSS. IN CONNECTICUT. 267 which was one of the dearest wishes of his heart, and upon all subjects connected with the welfare of the Church which he was permitted to superintend and bless with his influence, breathe throughout the gen- tlest wisdom and the jDurest charity; and "the volumes which contain them," says Anderson, "are among the most precious treasures to be found this day among the manuscripts of Lambeth Library." Archbishop Seeker "kept uf) the noble uniformity of his character to the end," and, like Tenison, one of his predecessors in the Primacy, evmced his regard for the scheme on which his thoughts and prayers had so long hung, by leaving to the Society, in his will, a legacy of a thousand pounds sterling, " toAvards the establishment of a Bishop or Bishops in the King's dominions in America." Had the Duke of Newcastle, who was then at the head of the Ministry, and who for nearly thirty years was one of the two Secretaries of State, seen, as others saw them, the real wants and situation of the colonies which were intrusted to his keeping, he might have warded off some of the evils and disasters which after- wards befell the British Government, But as he was slow to provide the means of temporal defence, so he had little disposition to sanction the supply of spiritual help. "Gibson might seek for powers to define more accurately the commission by which he and his pred- ecessors in the See of London were authorized to superintend the colonial Churches, and the terms of which, in his judgment, were wantmg in the clearness which was necessary to make the superintendence ef- fectual. Sherlock might present to the King his ear- nest memorial that Bishops might forthwith be sent out to the plantations, and receive for answer that it was 268 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH referred to the Officers of State. Seeker mioht exert towards the same end all the influence which he had so justly gained whilst he was Rector of St. James's, and afterwards while Dean of St. Paul's and Bishop of Oxford. He might renew it with increased zeal, through all the ten years in which he was Primate. But the mass of inert resistance, presented in the office of Secretary of State responsible for the col- onies, was too great to be overcome. The utmost which the repeated exertions of all these men could obtain was promise after promise that ministers would 'consider and confer about the matter,'"^ — promises which were left unfulfilled until those who received them were ready to confess that new events had changed the relation of things, and rendered it inex- pedient to urge the immediate accomplishment of what before was so desirable. The fear of offending the dissenters in this country, and of inclining the people to independence, had stood in the way of a measure, right in itself, and only postponed from time to time for reasons of national policy. But it may be remarked, before dismissing the point, that the in- dependence of the colonies was finally achieved, and they "were lost to England, not less through her neg- lect of them in matters spiritual, than her oppressive treatment of them in matters temporal." The Missionaries throughout the colony, during the period while the last great struggle for the Episco- pate was going on, were diligent in the performance of their duties, and alive to all the opportunities for extending the Church. Some were removed to other spheres of labor, and their places supplied by those I Anderson's Colonial Church, Vol. III. p. 443. IN CONNECTICUT. 269 who held been recently ordained. Ebenezer Kneeland, a graduate of Yale College in 17G1, who went to England for ordination three years later, had re- turned to this country, and having served for a time as chaplain in a British regiment, had become settled at Stratford as an Assistant to Dr. Johnson. That venerable divine had conceived the plan of "holding" in the place of his retirement "a little Academy, or resource for young students of Divinity, to prepare them for Holy Orders;" and Mr. Kneeland, who mar- ried his granddaughter, aided him both in the parish and in ample consideration, and both sides of the struggle have been sufficiently, and we trust fairly, reviewed. Let us now resume our inquiries into the labors of the Missionaries, and the success of their pastoral care. Hubbard indicated a better feeling towards the Church in New Haven when he thus wrote to the Society, in April, 1772: "I am pleased and happy in my situa- tion; kindly treated and respected by my own people and the dissenters in this growing and populous town, many of wdiom occasionally attend our service on Sundays; and I have the happiness to see the great- est unanimity reigning amongst us and the denomi- nations with whom we live. My congregation, in something less than five years, has increased one third in number. The souls, white and black, belonscins' to the Church in New Haven, are 503; and in my church at West Haven there are 220." Connecticut had already been sending forth emigrants into the new settlements, to such an extent as to retard the natural growth of the Church in some parts of the colony; and but for frequent accessions from the de- nominations, a few 23arishes would have been nearly ruined in this way. Churchmen from the Missions of Beach and Viets, Andrews and Mansfield, pene- trated into the uncultivated regions of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and were favored at different times with visits from their former pastors. They welcomed with grateful hearts these occasional ministrations, and looked to them for comfort in their spiritual need. Those in some of the older townships had long turned in this direction for counsel and succor; and the region far up the valley of the Housa- tonic had been, from the time of Thomas Davies, more IN CONNECTICUT. 293 than ten years, under the oversight of the Connecti- cut clergy. Gideon Bostwick, a native of New Mil- ford, and a graduate of Yale College in 1762, pro- ceeded to England for ordination when of suitable age, and became, on his return in 1770, the Missionary of the Venerable Society in Great Barrington, having read prayers in that place while a candidate for Holy Orders. But as the Board had decided not to establish any new Missions at this period, the utmost which the people could expect to see accomplished was the sup- ply of places vacated by death or removal. James Nichols, born in Waterbur}", and graduated at Yale College in 1771, was, three years later, the minister of the Church of England in Northbury and New Cambridge, now Pljanouth and Bristol. He was the last of those who went from Connecticut on the perilous and expensive vo3'^age across the ocean for Holy Orders. The troubles of the country were thickening, and the candidates prudently preferred to wait. Public affairs began to wear a melancholy aspect, and the deepest anxiety for the welfare of the Church pervaded the breasts of her members. To add to their sorrow, one great and guiding light, placed aloft in the providence of God to conduct their move- ments, was about this time stricken from its eminent position. The death of the Rev. Solomon Palmer, at Litchfield, on the 2d of November, 1771, was fol- lowed, two months afterwards, by that of "the learned, pious, and most benevolent Dr. Johnson of Stratford." Thus the senior Missionary in the colony, and the ^argest participant in the early struggles of the Church 294 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH here, passed to his glorious reward just as the clouds of the Kevolution were gathering and rollmg up in thicker folds. Perhaps it was providentially ordered that he who saw so much of the former trials should be spared, in his declining age, the bitterness of those which were npw approaching. He had lived to wel- come the return to this country of his long absent son,^ and to hear him describe the varied events of his sojourn in the Old World, and his intercourse with leading statesmen and heads of English nobility, al- ready devising schemes to irritate and oppress the American provinces. How must his spirit, still fresh and buoyant, have been elated as he listened to his beloved son repeating his frequent interviews with Seeker and Sherlock and Lowth, men whom his eyes had never beholden, but who had come near to him in the living impress of their characters, through the medium of an extended correspondence, — a corre- spondence upon matters intimately affecting the co- lonial Church, and the vindication of her Apostolic 1 The return of Dr. William Samuel Johnson was welcomed also by his friends and neighbors. He consented, at their req'uest, to a public re- ception ; and on the day designated, people from hill-side and shore, and all the region round about, all ages and all conditions, flocked to his man- sion in Stratford. The wide green in front of it was filled with horses and lumbering vehicles, the common modes of conveyance in those times, and the apartments of his dwelling were crowded with an unusual as- semblage, eager to pay their respects to the honored agent of Connecticut, and to learn from his own lips the chief events of his prolonged stay in England. His full court-dress, with deep Mechlin lace ruffles upon his shirt-frills and falling over his hands ; his long, slender dress-sword swing- ing loose at his side ; his powdered locks flowing gracefully, and his charm- ing intonations of voice as he stood in his spacious parlor and proceeded to describe the scenes through which he had passed, all combined — ac- cording to the account from an eye-witness — to give interest to the occa- sion, and to impress the gathered multitude with the dignity of his character and the importance of his mission. IN CONNECTICUT. 295 Order! Archbishop Seeker always began his letters to him with the gentle compellation "Good Dr. John- son," and closed them affectionately with " Your loving brother." The acceptable assistance of Mr. Kneeland, who assumed the outward and laborious duties of the parish, had made him easy in his retirement and decline, but his active mind yet worked amid his bodily infirmities, and apj)arently all the more so, as he saw the distance between earth and "the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" fast lessening. Slightly indisposed on the morning of Epiphany, 1772, a bright and glorious morning, he was conversing with his family respecting his own death, and calmly expressing the conviction that his strength was about to fail, and that he was soon, to quote his own words, "going home." One friend, at that moment, whom he had greatly loved, the sainted Berkeley, rose upon his fading vision, and he sighed for the tranquillity of his departure, and humbly de- sired that his own impending change might be like his. Heaven vouchsafed to grant his wish, for scarcely had he given utterance to it, when, like the good Bishop, he instantaneously expired in his chair, Avith- out a groan or the least convulsion. His character has been woven into the thread of the previous chapters, but an eventful and consistent ministry in the Church of England of nearl}^ half a century could not be thus wound up without great lamentation on the part of his brethren. They buried him with all the respect due to his memory, and one of their number, "the worthy Mr. Leaming," preached A funeral sermon, though that office had been assigned to his particular friend at Newtown, the Rev. Mr. 296 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ' Beach. Illness prevented him from performing it, but the discourse which he had prepared was after- wards delivered in the church at Stratford and pub- hshcd by request of the congregation. Dr. Johnson left an Autobiographj^, which, with other manuscripts and letters, were put into the hands of Dr. Chandler of Elizabethtown, who had sustained confidential re- lations to him, and was therefore a very suitable per- son to compile his Life. He completed his task early in the summer of 1774, and submitted it to the inspec- tion and judgment of his friends; but there were good reasons why the publication was withholden at that time. Mr. Beach, whose opinion was sought by the son, without denying that a time might come when it could be published to advantage, as showing the origin and growth of the Church in Connecticut, said: "Dr. Chandler has omitted some things which I should have thought to have been as important as some others which he has related. As to the good ends to be obtained by the publication, may they not be obtained by his works published in his lifetime? Is not overdoing, sometimes undoing ? However, of this we are sure, his character now stands, and his mem- ory is like to remain quite unblemished, as well as amiable and exalted. But if ill-natured Maijhews un- dertake to fling dirt, (and they are not all dead,) being excited by our excess, in that case I should fear that the love and labor of his friends could not perfectly wipe off all, so as to leave it as clear and brilliant as now it is. Why should we run the venture without a necessity? ... Dr. Hodges, in his oration, represents Dr. Johnson as employed in converting Indos Occiden- tales. I am not sure if our adversaries will not tran.s- IN CONNECTICUT. 297 late it the Western Indians-, and eagerly catch at it, as a full proof that we cheat the nation, and by lies obtain donations."^ The original manuscript of Dr. Chandler fell at length into the hands of Bishop Hobart, his son-in- law, who sent it to the press more than thirty years after its preparation, without appearing to know any- thing of this secret history. Mr. Kneeland succeeded to the Mission in Stratford, with all the emoluments of his venerable predecessor. The Church-wardens and others, in requesting his ap- pointment, gave these reasons for claiming a continu- ance of the Society's bounty: "As Stratford is sit- uate upon the great road from Boston to New York, Mr. Kneeland must inevitably be at a greater expense than any Missionary in the interior towns; so that from the decline of trade, the death and failure of several of our principal members, from the increasing price of the necessaries of life, the scarcity of money, and the extraordinary expenses a Missionary must be here at, we may truly say we have not needed the assistance of the Venerable Society more for fifteen years past than we do at present. . . . We are now endeavoring to raise money to enlarge the glebe, but, for the reasons before mentioned, fear we shall meet with but little success; however, our best endeavors shall not be wanting to complete the same." Mr. Beach, next to Dr. Johnson, was the ablest de- fender of the Church in the Colony of Connecticut. In some respects he rose above him, and was scarcely inferior to him in streno-th of intellect, in knowledo;e of the Church, and m the toils and trials of his vocation. 1 Johnson MSS. 298 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH He kept his eye upon every rood of ground where the seed had been sown, and, as fearless as faultless, travelled by night and by day, amid storms and snow- drifts, and across deep and rushing streams, to preach the word, to visit and comfort the sick, and to bury the dead. He still lingered at the post where he had been in the employment of the Society now forty years; and, giving a brief account. May 5, 1772, of the manner in which he had spent his time and improved the charity of his benefactors, said: "Every Sunday I have performed divine service, and preached twice at Newtown and Redding, alternately. And in these forty years I have lost only two Sundays through sickness, although in all that time I have been af- flicted with a constant colic, which has not allowed me one day's ease or freedom from pain. The dis- tance between the churches at Newtown and Redding is between eight and nine miles, and no very good road, yet have I never failed one time to attend each place according to custom, through the badness of the weather, but have rode it in the severest rains and snow-storms, even when there has been no track, and my horse near miring down in the snow-banks; which has had this good effect on my parishioners, that they are ashamed to stay from church on account of bad weather, so that they are remarkably forward to attend public worship. As to my labors without my parish, I have formerly performed divine service in many towns where the Common Prayer had never been heard, nor the Holy Scrij^tures read in public, and where now are flourishing congregations of the Church of England; and in some places where there never had been any public worship at all, nor any ser- IN CONNECTICUT. 299 mon preached by any preacher of any denomination." He followed the emigrants from his parishes into the northern provinces, as he found it convenient, until age and the public disturbances confined him to the limits of his own cure. These disturbances had become so great in 1774, that fears began to prevail above hopes, and the terrors of civil war to be seen in the distance. Even as early as August in that year, Berkeley, of Can- terbury, wrote to Dr. William S. Johnson thus: "I have suffered greatly in my own mind on American affairs. I see nothing but clouds in the American sky, and I feel unfeignedly for that country to which I bear an hereditary love."^ In the same letter he said: "The clause in one of the late American Bills, subjecting persons accused of crimes alleged to be com- mitted in America, to a removal for trial to England at the tvill of the Governor, is extremely odious to the unprejudiced part of the people of the island. If I was retained at present as an American advocate, I would dwell very much on that arUtrary clause. I do sup- pose that it is resolved to support the claim of power to raise a revenue in America, and I do suppose that any long continued and consistent abstinence from importation would drive the ministry to their wits' end. If the Americans have public virtue enough to carry this scheme into execution, they may carry several material points; but I verily believe that the, servants of Government judge rightly as to the im- probability of such an event." A few days before the opening of the drama in Lex- ington, where the first British blood was shed in armed 1 Johnson MSS. 300 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH resistance to the King's troops, Dibblee wrote to the Society these dismal words, — words as full of truth as they were of fear and feeling: "We view with the deep- est anxiety, affliction, and concern the great dangers we are in, by reason of our unhappy divisions, and the amazing height to which the unfortunate disputes between Great Britain and these remote provinces have arisen, and the baneful influence they have upon the interest of true religion, and the wellbeing of the Church. Our duty, as ministers of religion, is now at- tended with peculiar difficulty: faithfully to discharge the duties of our office, and yet carefully to avoid taking any part in these political disputes; as I trust my brethren in this colony have done as much as possible, notwithstanding any representations to our prejudice to the contrary. We can only pray Al- mighty God, in compassion to our Church and nation, and the wellbeing of these provinces in particular, to avert these terrible calamities that are the natural result of such an unhappy contest vv'ith our parent State, to save us from the horrors of a civil war, and remove all groundless fears and jealousies, and what- soever else may hinder us from godly union and concord." . IN CONNECTICUT. 301 CHAPTER XXIIL THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION, AND THE ADHERENCE OF THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND TO THE CAUSE OF THE CROWN. A. D. 1774-1776. No sooner had the war of the Revolution commenced than the clergy of the Church of England with their flocks, especially in the northern provinces, became the objects of public suspicion and vigilance. Their ministerial fidelity, and the part which they had borne in the struggle to secure an American Episcopate, left no room to doubt that they w^ould be fearless in avow- ing and vindicating what they conceived to be not only the essential rights of the British Crown, but the essential interests of their venerated communion. The duty which they owed to the Sovereign, for whom they had so long prayed, could not, therefore, be readily displaced by the love of liberty, nor by sym- pathy with the policy of the colonial assemblies in resisting the oppressive measures of the home Govern- ment. They would gladly have quenched the spark that kindled the conflagration. Some of them, in former years, had warned their friends on the other side, and gently remonstrated with them against the tendency of Parliamentary legislation; but when the shock of open revolt came, they espoused, for the most part, the cause of the mother-country, and thereby showed themselves loyal subjects of the King, at the 302 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH same time that they conscientiously reverenced the teachings of the Enghsh Church. Used to misrep- resentation and trial, they were not privileged to escape them in this emergency, and the direful evils which they had too clearly apprehended soon began to be realized. The Missionary at Westchester, N. Y., Samuel Seabury, afterwards the first Bishop of Con- necticut, writing to the Society, May 30th, 1775, said: "We are here in a very alarming situation. Dr. Cooper and Dr. Chandler have been obliged to quit this community, and sailed for England last week. I have been obliged to retire a few days from the threatened vengeance of the New-England people who lately broke into this province. But I hope I shall be able to keep my station. The charge against the clergy here is a very extraordinary one, — that they have, in conjunction with the Society and the British Ministry, laid a plan for enslaving America. I do not think that those people who raised this calumny believe one syllable of it; but they intend it as an engine to turn the popular fury upon the Church, which, should the violent schemes of some of our eastern neighbors succeed, will probably fall a sac- rifice to the persecuting spirit of Independency." Towards the end of the same year, the author of this letter was seized in Westchester by a company of "disaffected people in arms from Connecticut," and carried to New Haven, where he was kept under a military guard until two days before Christmas. The General Assembly of the colony was then in session at New Haven, by special order of Governor Trum- bull; and though not allowed to write freely to his wife, whom he had left behind with six children, yet IN CONNECTICUT. 303 he was indulged in the privilege of drawing up a memorial to the Honorable Assembly, setting forth the personal inconveniences and injuries to which his confinement subjected him, and asking "for relief from the heavy hand of oppression and tyranny." After stating that on Wednesday, the 22d day of Novem- ber, he "was seized at a house in Westchester, where he taught a Grammar School," he proceeded in his memorial to describe the manner of his introduction into New Haven: That on the Monday following his seizure, in company with two suspected gentlemen from his o^vn neio-liborhood, he "was brouo'ht to this town and carried in triumph through a great part of it, accompanied by a large number of men on horse- back and in carriages, chiefly armed. That the Avhole company arranged themselves before the house of Cap- tain Sears. That, after firing two cannon and huzzaing, your memoriaUst was sent under a guard of four or live men to the house of Mrs. Lyman, where he has ever since been kept under guard. That during tliis time 3'our memorialist hath been prevented from en- joying a free intercourse with his friends ; forbidden to visit some of them, though in company with his guard ; prohibited from reading prayers in the church, and performing any part of divine service, though invited by the Rev. Mr. Hubbard so to do; interdicted the use of pen, ink, and paper, except for the purpose of writing to his family, and then it was required that his letters should be examined and licensed before they were sent off." The explicit charges against him were, that he had entered into a combination with six or seven others to apprehend Capt. Sears, as he was passing through 304 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the County of Westchester, and to carry hhn on board a man-of-war; that he had signed a Protest, at a public meeting in White Plains, against the proceedings of the Continental Congress; that he had neglected to open his church on the day of the Continental Fast, and hud written pamphlets and papers against the liberties of America. Of the first and last charges he avowed his inno- cence, and stood ready to vindicate it as soon as he should be restored to his liberty in the Province of New York, to which alone, under the circumstances, he felt himself to be amenable. He considered it "a high infringement of the liberty for which the virtu- ous sons of America were then nobly struggling, to be carried by force out of one colony into another for the sake either of trial or imprisonment." As to the second charge, he admitted that he was one of more than three hundred persons, who, eight months before, had affixed their signatures to the Protest, not, however, with any thought of acting against the liberties of America, but rather "to support the meas- ures of the Representatives of the people, measures which he then hoped and expected would have had a good effect" in operating a change of policy by the British Government in reference to the welfxre of the colonies. His neglect to open his church on the day of the Continental Fast arose from not receiving any notification of the appointment; and on the whole, he was quite sure that "nothing could be laid to his charge so repugnant to the regulations of the Con- gress as the conduct of the people, who, in an arbi- trary and hostile manner, forced him from his house, and had kept him now four weeks a prisoner, without IN CONNECTICUT. 305 any means or prospect of relief." He asked the privi- lege of appearing before tlie Assembly to answer for himself, or by his counsel. The President of the Pro- vincial Congress of New York had previously ad- dressed Governor Trumbull, and demanded "his im- mediate discharge"; and both this letter and the Memorial were placed for consideration in the hands of a Committee, of which Dr. William Samuel John- son, of Stratford, was the chairman. They reported in favor of granting the prayer of the petitioner; and though the question upon accepting the report was decided by the Lower House in the negative, Mr. Seabury was soon after released, and returning to his family, on the 2d day of January, found that his parish and private affairs had suffered in his absence, and that all his papers had been examined and thrown into confusion. But the Revolution assumed larger proportions, and he showed himself by his subsequent acts a most thorough loj-alist; or, to use the words of the New York Committee of Safety, "notoriously disaffected to the American cause," which brought on him fresh persecutions and severer trials. Unable to stem the popular torrent, he availed himself of the temporary withdrawal of the American forces from Westchester to escape to Long Island; and when they returned, they burned the j)ews in his church, converted it into a hospital, quartered the cavalry in his house, and consumed all the products of his farm. After this he was in New York and its vicinity, with his family, under the protection of the British arms, duiing the continuance of the war, and pursued the practice of medicine, a profession to which he had been educated 20 306 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH in Scotland, and which, h*ke several of his contem- poraries, he joined, in a limited degree, to his clerical duties. He was appointed in February, 1778, chap- lain of the Loyal American Regiment, commanded by Colonel Fanning, and delivered a sermon before the troops in camp at Kingsbridge, founded on the text, "Fear God, honor the King," which, by the request of Governor Tryon, was published. Including Mr. Bostwick of Great Barrington, there was just a score of clergymen of the Church of Eng- land in Connecticut, with twice that number of Epis- copal churches, at the outbreak of hostilities ; and these, with two or three exceptions, were natives of the colony, and knew all the prejudices, as they had shared all the hatred and uncharitableness, of the standing order. The Missionary at Hebron, Samuel Peters, was without doubt the most obnoxious of these clergymen, and so early as the summer of 1774. his imprudent conduct and intense loyalty had in- volved him in serious trouble. He was charged with communicating intemperate articles to the newspapers for publication, and with making false representations to his friends in England. A mob of about three hundred persons assembled at his house in August of that year, and again in the ensuing month, and made known their determination to obtain from him satis- faction and an acknowledgment of his errors. He met them, arrayed in his official robes for protection; but the exasperated mob had as little respect for these as for the wearer, and seizing him violently, to the damage of his garments, they carried him to the Meeting-house Green, where he was forced to read a confession which had been previously prepared for IN CONNECTICUT. 307 him, and with this offering their lawless patriotism, was satisfied, and he was set at liberty. But after such indignities he felt that he could no longer re- main in comfort with his old friends and neighbors, and he left his home for Boston, from whence he wrote, "in high spirits," a letter to his mother, which was intercepted, and which contained this unpleasant information for his enemies: "Six regiments are now coming from England, and sundry men-of-war; so soon as they come, hanging work will go on, and de- struction wdll first attend the sea-port towns; the lintel sprinkled, and the side-posts, will preserve the faithful." A few days later, some time in October, he sailed for England, where he retaliated upon his countrymen with his pen ; but his writings would have been received with more respect had he restrained his rashness, and never embellished them with ludi- crous and apocryphal statements. The rest of the clergy in Connecticut still lingered at their Missions, and soon, in the turmoils of civil war, their experience approached that of their more officious and impetuous brother. The voice of relig- ion is seldom heard in the clamors of party, and the violence which only provokes resistance is the natural result of allowing no room for exercising the rights of conscience. Civil war unhappily carries in its train numberless evils, and often effects alienations and hatreds in society and among friends, which years will not obliterate. During its progress, entire silence excites suspicion; and the man, therefore, who cannot or will not follow ex animo the triumphant populace in all its extravagances and ungracious requirements, need not be surprised to find himself accounted an 308 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH enemy to his country, and reproach and scurriUty plentifully heaped upon his head. "People," said the Rev. Mr. Inglis of New York, referring to the perse- cutions of the time, "were not at liberty to speak their sentiments, and even silence was construed as a mark of disaffection," Aside from their unpopularity with the partisans of independence, the clergy of the Church of Eng- land in this colony were exposed to all the wrongs and suspicions and oppressions which arose in the prosecution of the Revolutionary war. Some of them, who clung steadily to the cause of the Crown and freely spoke out their sentiments, were drawn at once into embarrassments and perils; and others, whom no words of their own would criminate, found very little comfort from the prophetic promise, "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." The Rev. Mr. Mansfield of Derby, the guileless pastor, who thought he must do his duty to his people in every emergency, undertook, as soon as "the sparks of civil dissension appeared," to inculcate upon them, both from the pulpit and in private conversation, a peace- ful submission to the King and to the parent state ; and so successful were his efforts and his influence, that, out of one hundred and thirty families which at- tended divine service in his two churches, he reported (December 29th, 1775) one hundred and ten to be "firm, steadfast friends of the Government," having no sympathy with the popular measures, and detesting the "unnatural rebellion." Five or six persons, pro- fessors of the Church of England, plunged themselves into it, guided, as he thought, by the influence of Captain John Holbrook, who "for many years past IN CONNECTICUT. 309 had entertained a disgust against him and his breth- ren of the Church, and seemed to have meditated re* venge, merely because they did not gratify some pri- vate views he had about the place on which to build the Oxford church." Several officers of the militia, having collected a number of soldiers and volunteers from different towns, undertook, late in the autumn of 1775, to subdue the Tories in Connecticut, and for this purpose proceeded first to Newtown, where they put the Rev. Mr. Beach, the Selectmen, and other principal inhabitants, under strict guard, and urged them to sign the articles of association prescribed by the Congress in Philadelphia; but when they could prevail upon them neither by persuasions nor by threats, they accepted from them a bond, with a large pecuniary penalty inserted, not to take up arms against the colonies, as well as not to discourage enlistments into the American forces. They used greater severity in other places which they visited, and fixed upon the first week in December to disarm the loyalists in Derby, and annihilate their influence. With a view of checking such violent proceedings, a number of his most respectable parishioners waited upon Mr. Mansfield at that critical juncture, and requested him to send to Governor Tryon of New York an account of the sufferings of the loyalists in Connecticut, and a list of the names of those who were known to be such in his Mission. He complied with their request, and added some suggestions of his own about the manner of reducing the colony to subjection and obedience. The day after his letter was dispatched, a friend, to whom he had communicated the knowledge of it, was seized and carried before the Committee of In-? 310 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH spection, who compelled him to disclose the contents, and thus Mr. Mansfield was criminated in a way that he least expected. To escape outrage, imprisonment, or death, which was meditated against him, he fled from his churches, his family, and his home, and found a temporary asylum m the town of Hempstead, on Long Island. His own narrative of his misfortunes is very touching, especially the part which relates to his do- mestic affairs. "At a somewhat advanced stage of life," said he, "being fifty-two years old, when I hoped to have spent my remaining years in an agreeable manner, in peace and tranquillity with my family, parishioners, and friends, and vainly imagined that death only would make any lasting separation, I was forced to flee from home, leaving behind a virtuous, good wife, with one young child newly weaned from the breast; four other children which are small, and not of sufficient age to support themselves; and four others which are adults, and all of them overwhelmed with grief, and bathed in tears, and but very slenderly provided with the means of support." Such were the signs of the thick gathering storm, the beginning of the horrors and calamities, which befell the Church in Connecticut. Up to this time, the laity, for the most part, had stood by the clergy, and sup- ported them in their views of Christian obedience and public duty. There were notable exceptions; for as early as 1774 not a man in Stratford was ready to dissent from revo- lutionary measures, and from the movements, in vari- ous places, expressive of sympathy for those who suf- fered from the oppressive acts of the British Govern- ment. Undoubtedly the influence of Johnson, the IN CONNECTICUT. 311 patriot and statesman, was felt in shaping the populai sentiment of his native town, and in guiding the course of churchmen there to a quiet and inoffensive neutrality. He was a member of the Council of Con- necticut, and one of the three, first chosen to repre- sent the colony in the General Congress which met at Philadelphia, September 5th, 1774. But having pre- viously accepted the office of an arbitrator on the estate of Van Rensselaer, he was excused from serv- ing, and Silas Deane was appointed in his place. The General Assembly of Connecticut was convened im- mediately after the battle of Lexington ; and he and a gentleman of the Lower House were deputed to visit General Gage, then in command of the British troops at Boston, and see if some means could not be devised by which the horrors of war might be averted and peace secured. Starting on their journey with a pacific letter from the Governor, they met at En- field a part of the Boston delegation to Congress, and found them warm in the cause of the colonies, and one of them even rejoicing that hostilities had com- menced. In due time. Dr. Johnson returned to Hart- ford with the answer of General Gage to the Legisla- ture ; but that body had adjourned ; and so far from leaving any directions for the Committee, they had adopted resolutions of a very contrary nature and tendency, and voted men and money for the Avar. This change was effected by the instrumentality of the Delegates from Massachusetts. Finding himself thus deserted, he returned solitarily to his home ; and retiring from the Council after the Declaration of In- dependence, he set himself quietly down to his studies, persuaded that he could not conscientiously join in a 312 HISTORY OP THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH War against England, much less in a war against his own country. The progress of events brought him again before the public, and he resumed the practice of his profession, and was subsequently reinstated in his seat in the Legislative Council. Though two of the clergy of Connecticut had been compelled to flee from their missions, the people were not yet deprived of the privilege of assembling in their own houses of worship, and of honoring God and praying to him in the venerable forms of the Liturgy. If they desired the suppression of the re- bellion and the establishment of the King's authority in the land, it was because they felt that churchmen, as the weaker party, could only in this way hope for encouragement and permanent security. They gen- erally conceived the measures of the colonies to be unwise, if not unjust, and destined to end either in defeat or ruin on the one hand, or the overthrow of the Church on the other. It was inferred from the history of the past, that, if successful, few would be the tender mercies shown by the Independents in New England to a form of Protestant religion which was in their eyes "dissent," and which nothing but the want of power hitherto had prevented them from fully destroying. It was the remark of a Presbyte- rian deacon, made in the hearing of one who put it upon record, " that if the colonies carried their point, there would not be a church in the New-England States,"^ — meaning an Episcoj)al church, for at that period it was customary to designate the Congrega- tional edifices by the name of "meeting-houses." While the clergy of the Church of England and 1 Bronson's Hist. Waierbury, p. 331. IN CONNECTICUT. 313 their flocks were thus on the side of the Crown,' it must not be supposed that they Avere "sinners above all them that dwelt at Jerusalem." The same views were entertained by many Avho had no sympathy with Episcopacy, but who joined the conservators of peace, parti}' on religious grounds, and partly because they feared the strength and resources of the British realm, and believed that the colonies had privileges enough under her government without fruitlessly seeking a separation. When General Warren fell at the battle of Bunker Hill, a letter was found in his pocket from his friend and classmate Lemuel Hedge, pastor of the church at Warwick, Mass., in Avhich he professed to the General "a sincere interest in the liberty of his country, although he admitted his doubts in regard to the issue of the Revolutionary struggle." Another loyal divine in the same province, like all good sub- jects, had prayed so long for "our excellent King George," that, after the war commenced, he inadver- tently used, one Sunday, in his pulpit devotions, his stereotyped phrase, but saved himself for that time from the vengeance of his flock by immediately add- ing, "0 Lord, I mean George Washington." A careftd collector^ of the history of the American Loyalists, or, as they were opprobriously called in the politics of the day, the Tories of the Revolution, has enrolled on his list full a score of Cono-reo-ational ministers in New England alone, who, for no other reason, were suspected by their people, drawn into trouble with them, and finally forced to surrender their pastoral responsibilities. They might have been of that number of ambassadors for Christ, who, in every 1 Sabine. 314 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH season of trial, think it their supreme duty to make the proclamations of the Gospel rise above all secular themes, and leave to statesmen the consideration and adjustment of perplexing questions of national policy. How many more were secretly of their oj)inion can- not be ascertained; but there were those who, if they never counselled submission to the unjust and arbi- trary acts of the British power, certainly did not unite in heart with that large class who thundered revolt from their pulpits, and scattered the firebrands of war in the path of their ministrations. IN CONNECTICUT. 315 CHAPTER XXIV. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; TRIALS OF THE MISSION- ARIES IN CONNECTICUT; AND DEATH OF MR. BEACH. A. D. 1776-1781. On the 4th of July, 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, through their Congress at Philadelphia, declared them- selves independent of Great Britain, — a step towards which their measures from the first had been inevi- tably and surely tending. Some patriots, more cau- tious than others, thought the movement was precip- itated. All connection with the mother-country was now solemnly dissolved, and the American people were released from any allegiance to the sovereignty of the King. The Declaration involved the clergy of the Church, especially the Northern clergy, in new troubles, and added greatly to their embarrassments. As faith- ful Missionaries of the Venerable Society, from which came their chief support, they honestly believed them- selves bound by their oaths of allegiance, taken at the time of their ordination, to pray for the Sovereign whose dominion the colonies had thrown off; and guided by the forms of the Liturgy, they could omit- no part in conducting public worship without doing violence to their own consciences. After indepen- dence was declared, stricter vigilance was employed in watching the course of the Tories in Coimecticut ; and the persecutions and privations to which the clergy 316 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH were exposed assumed other and harsher shapes. Mr. Viets, suspected of having assisted the Rojahsts who were confined in the Simsbury mines to escape, was rudely torn from his people, carried a prisoner to the Hartford jail, and put in irons. Mr. Leaming of Nor- walk, quiet in his manners, and inoffensive, except that he wielded a vigorous pen and adhered unflinch- mgly to his loyal principles, was the victim of an out- rage even more atrocious than this. The Sons of Liberty, as the patriots termed themselves, — in the present instance a lawless mob, — entered the parson- age, took his picture from the wall, carried it forth, and added to other insults that of "defacing and nail- ing it to a sign-post Avith the head downward." Not satisfied with this indignity, they afterwards seized him and lodged him in jail as a Tory, where he was de- nied the usual comforts of a bed, — a species of per- sonal abuse which he could never forget, since it brought on a hip complaint that made him a cripj^le for life. In Connecticut, as in the Province of New York, some of the clergy were pulled out of their reading- desks, because they prayed for the King and Royal family; and others were thrown into prisons "for friv- olous suspicions of plots," and subsequently acquitted by the very Committees of Vigilance which were their persecutors. "I could fill a volume with such instances," said the Rev. Mr. Inglis, in a letter to the Society, in the au- tumn of 1776, after describing the trials of the clergy, "and you may rely on the facts I have mentioned as indubitable, for I can name the persons, and have these particulars attested in the simplest manner. The persons concerned are all my acquaintances, and IN CONNECTICUT. 317 not very distant; nor did they draw this treatment on themselves by any imprudence, but for adhering to their duty, which gave great offence to some demagogues, who raised mobs to persecute them on that very account. AYhatcver rekictance or pain a be- nevolent heart may feel in recounting such things, which are, indeed, a disgrace to humanity and relig- ion, yet they ought to be held up to view, the more effectually to expose the baneful nature of persecu tiou, make it detestable, and j^ut mankind on their guard against its first approaches. Were every in- stance of this kind faithfully collected, it is probable that the sufferings of the American clergy would ap- pear, in many respects, not inferior to those of the English clergy in the great rebellion of the last cen- tury; and such a work would be no bad supplement to ' Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy.' " Several of the Missionaries in Connecticut, who con- tinued to reside on their respective missions, were for- bidden to go beyond them, and others were placed for a time under heavy bonds, and not allowed to visit even a parishioner without special leave from the Selectmen of the town. This was the case with Mr. Andrews of Wallingford; and Mr. Kneeland of Stratford, the successor and grandson by marriage of the Rev. Dr. Johnson, thus died a prisoner to the patriots in his own house, April 17th, 1777. Mr. Sayre of Fairfield was banished to New Britain for seven months, and then, upon his return, confined to the limits of his parish. Unable, by reason of the war, to communicate with the Society, the clergy were in- convenienced, if not distressed, for want of opportu- nity to draw their salaries ; and a generous collection, 318 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH by royal order, was made in England and sent to Mr. Inglis of New York, to be distributed among certain Missionaries in that province. New Jersey, and Con- necticut. In January, 1782, the Rev. Mr. Fogg of Pomfret memorialized the General Assembly, sitting by adjournment at Hartford, and prayed that he might have permission to go to New York, "under such regulations and restrictions, and in such way as their Honors in their wisdom should judge expedient," for the purpose of negotiating his dues from the So- ciety for the last seven years, and "the same to bring out in hard money only." Though the Selectmen of the town supported Mr. Fogg, and represented him as having "conducted himself in a peaceable and quiet manner since the contest began with Great Britain," yet the pra3^er of the memorial was not granted. The clergy could not officiate publicly and use the prayers for the King and Royal Family accord- ing to the Liturgy without exposing themselves to inevitable destruction; and to omit these prayers, as before stated, was contrary to their oath and views of duty, as well as to the dictates of their conscience. Therefore, to avoid the evils of this dilemma, at a Con- vention held in New Haven, July 23d, 1776, (Mr. Jarvis presiding,) they resolved to suspend the public exercise of their ministerial functions. Some of them had already done this by the direction of their people, and all the churches in Connecticut were thus for a time closed except those under the oversight of Mr. Beach, which were kept open during the war. That at Redding, however, could hardly have been used by him with the fall Liturgy, in the winter of 1779, when General Putnam was stationed there to cover the IN CONNECTICUT. 319 country adjoining the Sound, and to support the gar- rison at West Point in case of an attack. But be this as it may, after the independence of the colonies was declared, he continued to officiate as usual and pray for the King, and no threats of personal violence could silence the voice of his public duty. The churchmen of Newtown had now become the major part of the population, and the Redding Association of Loyalists was a strong body whose secret influence was felt throughout the mission of the venerable pastor. His course gave great offence to the Sons of Liberty, and more than one attempt was made to bring him into subjection under the authority of the Congressional measures. But though gentle as a lamb in the inter- courses of private life, he was bold as a lion in the discharge of his public duty. Nothing could intimi- date him ; and when warned of personal danger if he persisted, he declared, with the spirit and firmness of a martyr, "That he would do his duty, preach and pray for the King, till the rebels cut out his tongue." A squad of patriots watched him one day as he en- tered his desk, and a loaded musket was pointed at him as he proceeded in the forms of the Liturgy, evi- dently intending to take his life if he used the prayers for "our most gracious Sovereign, King George" and the Royal family; but God, who "restrains the re- mainder of wrath," withheld the hand of the assassin, or rendered the shot harmless,^ so that his head, "sil- 1 Wliile officiating one day in Redding, a shot was fired into the church, and the ball struck above him and lodged in the sounding-board. Pausing for a moment, he repeated the words : " Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." He then proceeded in the service without further interruption. 320 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH vered o'er with age," was spared the bloody destruc- tion that was threatened. Mr. Tyler of Norwich, who hved in such constant dread of his enemies that he was afraid, if tradition speak the truth, to drink the water from his own well, said in July, 1776: "I had a conference with the pro- fessors of the Church of England in ni}- parish, respect- ing the prayer for the King, now that the Continental Congress has declared the colonies independent of Great Britain; and put it to vote whether we should continue the use of the Liturgy without any altera- tion, or omit public worship altogether; and the vote passed unanimously for omitting public worship in the church for the present." During this intermis- sion he ofhciated for the people in his own house without molestation, and visited other towns in the colony, where he preached and administered the two sacraments "generally necessary to salvation." The same authority which ordered the closing of the church caused it to be reopened November 27, 1778, the reasons for which step can best be given in Mr. Tyler's own words: "There was a meeting of the professors of the Church of England, in which I of- fered to officiate again, to use the whole Liturgy, except the prayers for the King and Parliament; my reasons were to this effect : That the cause of religion ought not to be annihilated on a civil account; that puljlic worship w^as of too much consequence to be to- tally omitted on account of a few Avords in a liturgy; that my obligations, though binding at first, could not be so to use the whole Liturgy now, when matters were so much altered. Christ's kingdom is not of this world, and so may exist without the civil powers: an IN CONNECTICUT. 321 obligation that becomes wrong, or impossible to ad- here to, is of course null and void. In consequence, the people voted almost unanimously to open the church, omitting the prayers for the King and Par- liament." His neighbor at New London, Mr. Graves, was not of such pliant principles. His loyalty far outran that of his parishioners, for when they respectfully re- quested him to discontinue reading the offensive part of the Liturgy, he declared that he could not con- scientiously comply. He paid no heed to the inti- mations, that, if he persisted, perilous consequences might ensue. The next Sunday a company of ardent Whigs stationed themselves near the door of the church, with one in the porch to give the concerted signal by strilving the bell, and no sooner had Mr. Graves com- menced the prayer for the King, than the throng poured in, led by two athletic men, who drew him from the high seat of his devotions, and "brought him expeditiously to the level of the floor." ^ A couple of resolute matrons belongino; to the cong-reQ-ation rushed forward, and putting themselves in front of the unfortunate Missionary, evinced their determina- tion of standing between him and all harm. Finally he was allowed to escape, and "fled, in his surplice, to the house of a parishioner, who, though a warm Whig, was his personal friend, and protected him from the violence of the mob." The doors of the church were then fastened, and for some time the regular course of parish business was interrupted, and the usual offi- cers were not chosen. The first attempt to resume public services was 1 Caulkius's Hint, of New London, p. 446. 21 322 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH made at a parish meeting November 14, 1778, when it was "put to vote, that no person be permitted to enter the church and act as a pastor to it, unless he openly prays for Congress and the free and indepen- dent States of America, and their prosperity by sea and land." The vote was adopted by a small major- ity, but challenged on the ground that those had par- ticipated in it who had no right, and the final result was ten on either side. The Wardens were therefore instructed to wait on the Rev. Mr. Graves and ac- quaint him with this vote, and if it was agreeable to him to officiate as pastor of the church according to its terms, he might be admitted the next day, which was Sunday. But he was inflexible, and declined to comply with the proposition of the parishioners. Not many months after this occurrence he was conveyed to New York by a flag of truce, where he died sud- denly, April 5th, 1780. His letter to the Society, dated September 29th, the month after his departure from New London, may very properly close our notices of his checkered life: "After undergoing a continued scene of persecutions, afflictions, and trials, almost even unto death, for my religious principles and unshaken loyalty to my King and country, I obtained permis- sion to remove to New York, where I live under the wings of Uberty, and the protection of His Majesty's Government; which ineffable blessing may God con- tinue to us and our posterity till time shall be no more! "I was often desired to officiate during these un- happy times, but as often abhorred the idea of an In- dependent church. However, I have faithfully per- formed aU occasional duties; visiting the sick, burying IN CONNPXTICUT. 323 the dead, and baptizing the children of several dis- senters, as well as those of my own communion. "How I have supported my family, [he was a bach- elor who kept house with a maiden sister,] God only knows; having been obliged to sell part of the furni- ture of my rooms and kitchen, and even my negro girl; and at last to take up money on the best terms I could, — our paper currency being 20-25, and now 30 for one silver dollar. But I hope the time of redemp- tion draws nigh, and that our merciful, though of- fended God will consider our souls in adversity, and graciously deliver us from the pride, malice, and de- vices of a rebellious, persecuting people." By a vote of the parishioners in January, 1780, the Congregational Society at New London was allowed the use of the church "during the severity of the ■vvanter and the pleasure of the Church." But in the succeeding June an attempt was made to restore their own worship, and it was voted in parish meeting, "that the Church-wardens call on the Rev. Mr. Tyler of Norwich to otliciate in the church, or any gentleman that will officiate as he does respecting the pra/jers." A year later, it was again "voted that the Wardens call on some reverend gentleman to officiate in the Church of St. James, after the manner of the Rev. Mr. Jarvis or Mr. Hubbard." These votes, which failed to secure ministrations, throw light upon the practice of the clergy in other places. It is impossible to tell from his Parochial Register when and how long Mr. Hubbard discontinued the public services in Trinity Church, but he probably obeyed the resolve of the Convention which met in New Haven soon after the Declaration of Independence, and then quietly re- 324 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH turned to his duties in the sanctuary, praying "open ly," hke the rest of his brethren, "for Congress and the free and independent States of America." There was no neglect of the parish organization in New Haven during the Revolution, the annual Easter meetings being duly held for the choice of officers; but the name of Isaac Doolittle, who had been from the first one of its Wardens and principal supporters, and who was also an ardent Whig, and interested in erecting a powder-mill near the town after the war broke out, was dropped from the list of officers in 1777, and not restored until after the prelnninary treaty of peace had been signed at Paris. Though the loyalty of Mr. Hubbard was well known, he conducted himself so discreetly and inoffensively that he was not seriously embarrassed in his ministrations, which were extended north to Bethany, and on the shore of the Sound east to Guilford, and west to Fairfield. While the British army occupied New York, the towns on the sea-board were continually liable to incursions of the enemy ; and early in the morning of Monday, the 5th of July, 1779, a fleet of vessels of war, under Sir George Collier, and transports with troops, under General Tryon, anchored off West Ha- ven, and by mid-day the city was in the possession of the invaders, and bloodshed, plunder, and destruction followed. The British "officers treated Mr. Hubbard and his family with respect and kindness, for))idding any soldiers to enter his house, or in any manner to molest his premises; and in consequence of this exemp- tion from troublesome visits from the soldiery, he was enabled to save a considerable amount of property to the sufferino; inhabitants." On the afternoon of Tues- IN CONNECTICUT. 325 day General Try on withdrew his forces, and the fleet set sail to the westward ; and the next morning the troops again disembarked upon the beach at Fairfield. That town was not destined to escape Uke New Haven. It was first plundered; and then the houses of the inliabitants, together with the two churches, the court- house, jail, school-houses, and barns filled with wheat and other produce, were burnt. " General Tryon," said the Congregational pastor, communicating the facts to his brother at Boston, "was in various parts of the town plot, with the good women begging and en- treating him to spare their houses. Mr. Sayre, the Church of England Missionary, a gentleman firmly and zealously engaged in the British interest, and who has suffered considerably in their cause, joined -with them in these entreaties; he begged the General to spare the town, but was denied. He then begged that some few houses might be spared, as a shelter for those who could provide habitations nowhere else; this was denied also." The commanding General was in a barbarous frame of mind, and apologized after- wards for his course, by saying that "the village was burnt to resent the fire of the rebels from their houses, and to mask our retreat." Mr. Sayre was not one of those prudent Mission- aries who escaped the insults and hatred of his adver- saries. The unfinished church at North Fairfield, where galleries were erected shortly after it came under his care, was subjected to the most beastly de- filements, and the windows broken. It was not that he offended by praying for the King, for he said, in a letter to the Society, dated at Flushing, L. I., Novem- ber 8, 1779: "We did not use any part of the Liturgy 326 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH lately, for I could not make it agreeable, either to my inclination or conscience, to mutilate it, especially in so material a point as that is wherein our duties as subjects are recognized. We met at the usual hours every Sunday, read parts of the Old and New Testa- ments, and some Psalms. All these were selected in such a manner as to convey such instructions and sen- timents as were suited to our situation. We sang Psalms with the same view. On Sunday mornings I read the Homilies in their course, and on the after- noons I expounded either parts of the Catechism, or some such passages of Holy Scrij)ture as seemed adapted to our case in particular, or to the public calamities in general. By this method we enjoyed one of the two general designs of pubhc religious meetings, I mean public instruction ; the other, to wit, public worship, it is easy to believe was inadmissible in our circumstances, without taking such liberties with the service as I confess I should blame even a superior in the Church for assuming. Resolved to ad- here to these principles and public professions, which, upon very mature deliberation and clear conviction, I had adopted and made, I yielded not a tittle to those who opposed them, and had determined to remain with my people to see the end, but was compelled to alter this resolution by that sudden vicissitude which I must now, with painful reflection, relate to the So- ciety. On the 7th day of July last, Major General Tryon landed at Fairfield with a body of His Majesty's troops, and took possession of the town and its en- virons, the greater part of the inhabitants having tackled their teams and removed what they could on his approach. This cut oflf all hope from the few IN CONNECTICUT. 327 Loyalists of saving any part of their effects if the town should be burnt, every carriage being taken away. The General was so kind, however, as to order me a guard to protect my house and some others in its vicinity, when he had resolved to commit the rest of the town to the flames ; for, as I had already hmted, I had determined to remain at home. But the un- governable flames soon extended to them all, and in a few minutes left me, with a family consisting of my wife and eight children, destitute of food, home, and' raiment. Thus reduced, I could not thmk of remain- ing in a place where it would have been imj)ossible to have clothed and refurnished my family. There- fore, availing myself of the protection oflered by the present opportunity, I retired with them within the King's hues. As it was impossible (from the want of carriages) to save anything out of the house, the val- uable little library given by the Society was burnt, together with my own; and the plate belonging to Trinity Church at Fairfield was lost, as well as that of my family, and that handsome church itself was entirely consumed." But the expedition had not yet completed its dire- ful work, and after crossing the Sound to Huntington Bay, where it remained over Sunday, it returned to Norwalk, and the troops were once more landed, and prepared with the invader's torch. General Tryon, on the morning of the fatal day, sat in his chair upon Grummon's Hill, the scene of his headquarters, and complacently watched the flames as they lapped up dwelling after dwelling in the village, and finally reached that sanctuary which had so often echoed with the voices of loyal worshippers, and laid it in ashes. 328 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Thus Mr. Learning, the worthy Missionary, was the victim of sufferings both from the American and Brit- ish parties. But let him tell his own story in this case. In a letter to the Secretary, dated at New York, the 29th day of the same month in which his church was burnt, he said: "It is now a long time since I have been able to convey a letter to the Society; and now I must give a disagreeable account of m}^ affairs. "On the 11th inst, [12th,] by the unavoidable event of the operation of His Majesty's troops under the command of General Tryon, my church, and great part of my parish, were laid in ashes, by which I have lost everything I had there, — my furniture, books, and all my papers, even my apparel, except wdiat was on my back. My loss on that fatal day was not less than £1200 or. £1300 sterling. Although in great danger, my life has been preserved, and I hope I shall never forget the kind providence of God in that try- ing hour. In this situation I was brought by His Majesty's troops to this city, at which I shall, with the greatest pleasure, obey the Society's commands." , Nearly two years before, the same commanding General, with a detachment of 2000 men, penetrated to Danbury, a place which the commissioners of the American army had selected for depositing military stores; and wdiile both the church and the meeting- house there were used as repositories, his trooj)s are said to have taken the stores out of the church and burned them in the streets, saving the sacred edifice, but they devoted the meeting-house to the flames. If we step back into the interior of the colony, we shall find, at this period, that excitement ran high, and in some places a most wicked spirit prevailed. IN CONNECTICUT. 329 The builcling unused generally goes to decay, and is often a mark for the stones of the vicious. In West- bury, (now Watertown,) the windows of the Episcopal church were demolished, as they were in other local- ities, and the principal members were confined to their farms, and not allowed to attend public worship. At Litchfield, American soldiers broke into the sanctuary, took the parish papers that were deposited in a chest, and tore them to pieces. Washington, to his praise be it spoken, frowned on all such wantonness; and when he passed through that town during the war, and some of his soldiers threw a shower of stones at the church, he rebuked them, saying: "I am a churchman, and wish not to see the church dishonored and deso- lated in this manner." Mr. Marshall of Woodbury was one of the Missionaries of the Society who was com- pelled to encounter all the obloquy and persecution that spring from the malice and rage of an unrestrained populace. Missiles were hurled at him as he walked forth into the public highway. "He was frequently forbidden to preach; sometimes forcibly taken in the midst of his sermon, and led out of the house in which he was officiating. Once he was waylaid on his return from Roxbury, and so severely beaten that he was con- fined to his room for several weeks from the injuries that he received." ^ It is painful to call up these facts, but they are a portion of the history of the times, and ought not to be withheld. Tlie Missionaries, for the most part, bore their wrongs in silence, for they were afraid to say much, even when they had the oppor- tunity of communicating with their friends abroad. "It is a long time," wrote Mr. Beach to the Secretary, 1 Hitchcock's History of (he Church in Woodbury. 330 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH October 31st, 1781, "since I have done my duty in writing to the Venerable Society, not owing to my carelessness, but to the impossibility of conveyance from here. And now I do it sparingly. A narrative of ni}^ troubles I dare not now give. My two congre- gations are growing ; that at Redding being commonly about three hundred, and at Newtown about six hun- dred. I baptized about one hundred and thirty chil- dren in one year, and lately two adults. Newtown and the Church of England-part of Redding are, I believe, the only parts of New England that have re- fused to comply with the doings of the Congress, and for that reason have been the butt of general hatred. But God has preserved us from entire destruction. "I am now in the eighty-second year of my age, yet do constantly, alternately, perform and preach at Newtown and Redding. I have been sixty years a jDublic preacher, and, after conviction, in the Church of England fifty years ^ but had I been sensible of my inefficiency, I should not have undertaken it. But now I rejoice in that I think I have done more good towards men's eternal happiness than I could have done in any other calling. "I do most heartily thank the Venerable Society for their liberal support, and beg that they will ac- cept this, which is, I believe, my last bill, viz. £325, which, according to former custom, is due. "At this age I cannot well hope for it, but I pray God I may have an opportunity to explain myself with safety; but must conclude now with Job's ex- pression, 'Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, 0 ye my friends.'" Six months after Mr. Beach wrote this affecting IN CONNECTICUT. 331 epistle, death took the pen from his hand, and he de- scended to the grave, where "the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest." As he aad never ceased to pray for the King, so he did not live to witness the issue of the struggle, and to hear the acclamations of joy that resounded throughout the land, on the acknowledgment of American Inde- pendence. The memory of his name can never fail to be held in grateful regard by Connecticut church- men. The hills that he ascended, and the valleys that he traversed in the execution of his sacred office, are doubly attractive for their natural scenery, and as being the great battle-ground of a true soldier of the Cross, who, with primitive faith, and in troublous times, "fought the good fight," full half a century, for Christ and his Church. 332 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XXV. DISCOURAGING FEATURES IN THE CAUSE OF THE COLONIES CONNECTICUT THE THEATRE OF FRESH HORRORS; CHANGE IN THE BRITISH MINISTRY, AND TREATY OF PEACE. A. D. 1781-1783. The tenacity with which the Missionaries in Con- necticut adhered to the cause of the Crown was strengthened by the conviction that, in the end, the colonies woidd be unsuccessful. At one period during the struggle, so much were the fortunes of war against them, and so thick was the gloom which overhung all the prospect, that even leading patriots of the land were not without despondency. As in these days, so then, the record of events w^as tarnished by the thirst for power and the grasp after wealth. A mercenary spirit, extortion, illicit traffic with the enemy, gam- bling and speculation, idleness, dissipation and extrava- gance, party disputes and personal quarrels, — these were among the causes which jDrolonged the war, and made it doubtful whether the yoke of colonial vassal- age would finally be broken. Washington mourned, as early as 1775, the lack of public virtue, and declared that he "trembled at the prospect." Good and esti- mable men fell into indigence and obscurity, while those utterly devoid of moral principle rose to wealth and power. It was a miserable pittance, at best, al- lowed to the soldiers; but they were too often de- IN CONNECTICUl. 333 privecl of this, that contractors for the army might be enriched by their gains. Merchants and traders monopoHzed articles of prime necessity, and would not dispose of them to their destitute and suffering countrymen, and to the wives and children of troops in the field, except at enormous profits. The depreciation of the currency was one of the evils which threatened the most alarming conse- quences. "Destitute of pecuniary resources, and with- out the power of imposing direct taxes. Congress had, early in the war, resorted to the expedient of paper mone}^ For a time, while the quantity was com- paratively small, its credit was good; but in March, 1780, the enormous amount of two hundred millions of dollars had been issued,'no part of which had been redeemed. At this time forty paper dollars were worth only one in specie. Prices rose as the money sank in value, and every branch of trade was unsettled and deranged. The effect was peculiarly oppressive on the troops, and was a principal reason for the ex- orbitant bounties allowed to them in the latter years of the war. The separate States issued paj)er money, which increased the evil, without affording any ade- quate relief The only remedy was taxation; but this was seldom pursued with vigor, owing, in part, to the distracted state of the times and the exhausted condition of the country, and in part, also, to State jealousy."^ In some colonies the Whigs were a minoritv, and in others they were balanced by their opponents; and though unsuccessful in securing sufficient enlistments, many of them became impatient, and demanded that 1 Sparks's Life of WashiiKjIon, Vol. I. p. 322. 334 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the Commander-in-Chief should meet and fight the foe, without troops, without suppHes, and, at times, without their confidence and sympathy. Strong men not unfrequently enhsted for the large bounties, and then deserted and reenlisted under new recruiting officers, or else escaped to their homes and were shel- tered and secreted by their unpatriotic friends and neighbors. A want of pure and disinterested love of independence showed itself also among the military commanders ; and Knox, in writing to Eibridge Gerry, mentioned that there were those in commission "who wished to have their power perpetuated at the expense of the liberties of the people, and who had been re- warded with rank without having the least preten- sions to it except cabal and intrigue." "Many of the surgeons," (regimental,) said Washington, using harsher words than he was wont, "are very great rascals, countenancing the men to sham complaints to exempt them from duty, and often receiving bribes to certify indispositions, with a view to ]3rocure discharges or furloughs."-^ Nearly a score of generals withdrew from the army for different reasons during the prog- ress of the struggle; some being jealous on account of their rank, and stung with resentment at what they conceived to be the wrongs done them by Congress or their associates in the service. John Adams threw from his pen a graphic and comprehensive descrip- tion, when he said, in 1777, "I am wearied to death with the wrangles between military officers, high and low. They quarrel like cats and dogs. They worry one another like mastiffs, scrambling for rank and pay like apes for nuts." 1 Sparks's Life of Washington, Vol. IV. p. 116. IN CONNECTICUT. 335 This is the dark side of the picture, unpleasant in- deed to contemplate, and seldom looked at by the writers and eloquent speakers, who have been accus- tomed to deify the heroes and patriots of the Revo- lution, and to anathematize the Loyalists, or those who manifested any sympathy with the cherished Government of the King and the triumph of his armies. All honor is due to the sagacious statesmen who published to the world the grievances of the col- onies, and the grounds on which they had a right to become a free and independent nation. All honor is due to the valiant and persevering men, who, in the darkest hour, and amid the severest trials, still hoped for success, and struggled on, undaunted by defeats and undismayed by disasters. But the truth of his- tory demands that it should be stated how the Tories were not the only wicked and unpatriotic people dur- ing the war of the Revolution. Without presuming to justify their course at that period, it is no wonder that they adopted it when they saw so much around them to impede the effort of the colonists, when the scale was so evenly balanced, and the prospect of final independence so distant and gloomy. They were undoubtedly honest in their loyalty to the British Crown, not less honest and sincere, perhaps, than the people of the North in the recent civil contest to maintain the federal Union and the integrity of our constitutional form of government. The God of providence, to whom " the nations are as a drop of a bucket," who "givetli power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth knowledge," controlled the destiny of the American people; but as far as human foresight can discern, the issue of 336 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the struggle was due as much to the bUmders and perversities of the British ministry as to the skill and strategy of our generals, or the bravery and fortitude of our soldiery. Had not England become involved in war with other nations on the continent of Europe, and thus needed all her troops nearer home; had not France interposed the aid of her great power to succor a weak and weary people, George the Third might have conquered the colonies, and held them subjected to his sway, at least for another generation. It may be said, then, by way of apology for the course of the clergy of the Church of England in Con- necticut, that, in spite of all their perils and sufferings, they were not disposed to forfeit their stipends from the Society, to violate their consciences and com- pletely surrender their hopes, while the struggle was still undecided, and the prospect for the colonists so doubtful. Those who survived or remained undis- turbed among their people had, by this time, yielded to the necessities of their condition, and ceased to pray in their reopened churches for the King and Royal family. Whatever their private opinions may have been, they continued patiently in the path of duty, and "spake often one to another," because they "feared the Lord." They proclaimed to their dimin- ished flocks the unchangeable truths of the Gospel, and avoided allusion in public to subjects that might create prejudice or excite popular resentment. As the war drew towards the close, Connecticut be- came the theatre of greater horrors; and one of the saddest and bloodiest chapters in its whole history, if not in the history of the world, was that which oc- curred shortly before the preUminaries of peace were IN CONNECTICUT. 337 announced. The heats of summer had not yet passed away, when an expedition, fitted out at New York, the headquarters of Sir Henry CHnton and the Brit- ish army, was sent to New London, under the com- mand of that traitor to his countrj^'s cause, Benedict Arnold. He had been famihar, in his boyhood, with the locahty where he was to operate; for Norwich, some miles above on the Thames River, was the place where he had served an apprenticeship to the business of a druggist, occasioning his friends in that employ- ment more trouble than satisfaction. Late in the evening of September 5th, 1781, he landed his troops in two divisions, one on each side of the harbor, below Forts Trumbull and Griswold, and immediately put them in motion. The astonished inhabitants, aroused from their slumbers by the signals of distress, were thrown into the utmost terror and confusion, and hastened to convey to safe places their families and their portable and most valuable property. The half- armed groups that offered resistance on the morrow to the advance of a disciplined foe were soon dis- persed, and the torch of destruction was applied, tinder the orders of the commanding General, first in one street and then in another, until a large part of New London was in flames. Amono; the buildinocs consumed were sixty-five dwellings, thirty-one stores and warehouses, eighteen shojDS, twenty barns, the Episcopal church, court-house, jail, market and custom- house. Whigs and Tories alike suffered in tliis con- flagration, which appears to have been more exten- sive than was at first designed, — a conflagration, how- ever, that was nothing in horror compared with the tragic scenes enacted on the opposite side of the river. 22 338 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Groton was burnt also, and the little garrison in Fort Griswold, which stood heroically to its guns and kept the enemy for a time at bay, was finally forced to sur- render; but, whether from mistake or misunderstand- ing, the surrender had no influence in checking the rage of the assailants; for an indiscriminate massacre followed, which the pen of history shudders to record. According to the inscription upon the monument, erected under the patronage of the State in 1830 to the memory of the patriotic garrison, this massacre, wdtli the other barbarities of the expedition, "spread desolation and woe throughout that region." We have seen on several occasions that the inter- ests of Connecticut churchmen, during the Revolu- tion, were involved in the common destruction which war makes. Three of their largest and oldest houses of worship were burnt by the very invaders whose cause they were believed secretly to uphold, and others only echoed at distant intervals the sounds of prayer and praise. But while they thus suffered at the hands of their friends from the unavoidable con- sequences of war, they were none the less the victims of persecution by their too impetuous neighbors; and besides the odium which attached to them as Tories, they were subjected to all manner of threats and an- noyances, and to petty depredations upon their prop- erty, without having the power successfully to estab- lish their rights or redress their grievances. It is a foul blot upon the patriotism of the times that these things were anywhere encouraged. It revives the memory of the period when religious intolerance was ready to drive from New England the Church that had a Bishop, and to allow nothing here, in the "free- IN CONNECTICUT. 339 dom to worship God," which did not think and coalesce with Puritanism. The Connecticut clergy, for integrity of character, earnest piety, and steady devotion to the duties of their vocation, were unsurpassed by any body of their order in all the colonies. With the exception of Graves and Sayre, who had now retired for protection within the lines of the British army, and who, it must be confessed, were sometimes guilty of indiscretions, they were natives of the soil, prudent in speech, fa- miliar with the habits of the people, and therefore knowing how to take advantage of their hereditary antipathies and resentments. If there were a few instances Avhere the flocks were more patriotic than their f)astors, the reason for this might be found in the difference of their relations to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel; biit it speaks well for the influence and Christian character of the clergy in those days, that their congregations so generally s\Tnpa- thized with them in their views both of religious and civil duties. The single object perpetually before their minds was, how to save the Church from utter ruin; and while they had abundant reasons to complain of the course pursued by the home Government, still they would neither leave the communion to which they were attached unguarded, nor seek any refuge for themselves which might involve its doctrines and Liturgy in greater peril. With all their faults, they deserve to be remembered with gratitude by Connec- ticut churchmen, for the impress of their teachings has outlasted the changes which time produces in human society and civil government. Anderson, after giving a detailed account of the revival of reverence 340 HISTORr OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH and affection in many of the people of the colony towards the Church which their fathers had forsaken, pays this grateful tribute to the memory of these anti- Revolutionary clergy: — "I will not venture to give expression to tlie feel- ings which I have experienced in relating the various incidents contained in this chapter, and which the at- tentive reader can hardly fail to share. That which prevails over every other at the present moment, and which alone I wish to leave on record, is the feeling of deepest gratitude to those men of Connecticut who, not from a mere hereditary attachment to the Church of England, or indolent acquiescence in her teaching, but from a deep, abiding conviction of the truth that she is a fliithful 'witness and keeper of Holy Writ,' have shown to her ministers, in every age and country, the way in which they can best promote the glory of their heavenly Master's name, and en- large the borders of His Kingdom. And, as for the hinderances cast in their path by the policy of secular rulers at home, let us now only think of them in con- trast with the willing readiness, Avhich we have seen exhibited by statesmen of all parties in our own day, to strengthen the hands and increase the efficiency, abroad and at home, of the Church of which they are members."^ It was a maxim with Dr. Franklin, that tliere never was a good tvar, or a had peace, and much as he loved and promoted the cause of the American colonies, he watched every opportunity, as a favorite Commissioner at the French court, that betokened a willingness to enter into negotiations and terminate hostilities. The 1 Anderson's Colonial Church., Vol. HI. pp. 444, 445. IN CONNECTICUT. . 341 alliance of France with America, in her struggle for independence and sovereignty, embarrassed the Brit- ish Government; and after Lord Cornwallis with his army had been captured at Yorktown, and the min- istry was unable to replace these troops for another campaign, the Parliament began to turn its attention seriously to the subject of peace. The public senti- ment of the English nation, clamorous for the end, had connnunicated itself to that bodj', and a motion, made early in 1782, that an address should be pre- sented to His Majesty, praying that the war in Amer- ica might cease, and that measures should be taken for restoring tranquillity and producing a reconcilia- tion, gave rise to an animated debate on both sides; but the motion was finally lost hy a majority of only one in favor of the ministry and for the continuance of the war. This vote was the signal for a dissolu- tion of the Cabinet; and the resignation of Lord North was followed by a total change of ministry and meas- ures. Franklin had learned before this, from his friend, Mr. Hartley, a member of Parliament, long evincing a steady and kind regard for the welfare of America, the temper of the Crown ; and the Congress of the Colonies had aj^pointed three other Commis- sioners (Adams, Jay, and Laurens) to join him in negotiating a treaty of peace. The first gleam of joy at the prospect of this propitious event appeared in our land when Sir Guy Carleton arrived at New York earlj'^ in May, to relieve General Clinton as com- mander of the British armies in America. The pacific tone of his first letter to Washington showed, at least, a change in the sentiments of Parliament respecting the principles on which the war had been conducted 342 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH and the policy of its continuance; but when in the beginning of August he again addressed the Ameri- can chief, it was with the authority to notify him that negotiations for a general peace had commenced at Paris, and that the independence of the Thirteen Colonies w^ould be conceded as a preliminary step; ''however not without the highest confidence," on the part of his Government, "that the LoyaUsts should be restored to their possessions, or a full compensation made to them for v/hatever confiscations may have taken place." Preparations for war, therefore, ceased from that time, and no further acts of hostility were committed by either party. But since it was not cer- tain that the negotiations Avould actually result in peace, no part of the American army was disbanded, and the posture of defence was maintained with the same caution and vigilance as before. The settlement of so many questions, involving, be- sides the two great belligerents, the rights and tran- quillity of France, Spain, and Holland, prolonged the negotiations, and the summer and the autumn had passed away before the fundamental articles of a definitive treaty were agreed upon and a time for signing fixed. One preliminary point sought to be established by the British envoys was to obtain com- pensation for the Loyalists, or Tories, wdiose property had been confiscated, and many of whom had been banished from the country. But Dr. Franklin dis- carded this idea most emphatically, and insisted that Congress, whose agents they were, had no power to act in the case, since the property of the Loyalists had been confiscated by the States, and the remedy, if any, must be sought from the States. He went IN CONNECTICUT. 343 farther, and maintained that neither justice nor hu- manity required that the Americans should compen- sate these people, for "they had been the instruments of promoting and aggravating some of the worst hor- rors of the war: they had taken the lead in burning towns, and plundering and distressing the inhabitants; they had deserted their country's cause, and sacrificed everything to their friendship for their country's foe; and if they were to be indemnified by anybody, it must be by their friends." ^ We have seen that, as far as the loyal churchmen of Connecticut were concerned, this allegation was untrue. Instead of " taking the lead in burning towns, and plundering and distressing the mhabitants," they lamented these cruelties, and when they were inflicted upon the colony through the operation of the King's troops, they suflfered from them in common with the most ardent Whigs. An article, however, was finally inserted, by which it was made the duty of Congress to recommend to the States an indemnification of the Loyalists; but it was declared, at the same time, that there was not the least probabiUty that the States would heed the recommendation. The treaty of peace was signed at Paris by both parties in due form, on the 30th day of November, 1782, approved and rati- fied by Congress, and hailed with demonstrations of gratitude and joy by the American nation. The one great prize for which the contest had been so long maintained was now won, and the future glory of the United States rose upon the vision of many a patriot in colors almost too bright to be realized. The election sermon of President Stiles, delivered before the Gen- 1 Sparks's Life of Franklin, p. 486. 344 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH eral Assembly of Connecticut, May, 1783, and printed by the order of that body, contains this grandiloquent passage: "0 Peace, thou welcome guest, all hail! Thou heavenly visitant, calm the tumult of nations, wave thy balmy wing to perpetuity over this region of liberty ! Let there be a tranquil period for the un- molested accomplishment of the Magnolia Dei, — the great events in God's moral government designed from eternal ages to be displayed in these ends of the earth." IN CONNECTICUT. 345 CHAPTER XXYI. • CONDITION OF THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT AT THE CJ-OSE OF THE WAR; MEETING OF THE CLERGY AT "WOODBURY, AND DR. SEABURY PREVAILED UPON TO GO TO ENGLAND FOR CONSECRATION; WITHDRAWAL OF MISSIONARIES AND LOYALISTS TO THE BRITISH PROVINCES. A. D. 1783-1784. The Revolution, which had been a "bridge of sighs" to the Church in Connecticut, was passed, but thick gloom overhung the immediate prospects of the Mis- sionaries. For the same sword which severed the col- onies from the British realm had cut the bond of de- pendence that united them to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and they were thrown for their Avhole support upon the poor, thinned, and broken parishes. The charter of the Society Hmited the sup- port of Missions to plantations, colonies, and factories belonging to the kingdom of Great Britain, and the formal recognition of the United States as a sovereign and independent power forbade the continuance of the stipends to the clergy in this country. The lega- cies bequeathed in England to establish an American Episcopate were also lost, and it was yet a question whether the lands in different States, designed for the use of the Church, would inure to its benefit. The clergy of Connecticut Avere thus left by the treaty of peace in great difficulty and embarrassment, and man}^ of their impoverished people, who had 346 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH finnly supported the cause of the Crown, were in doubt what course to pursue to retrieve their fortunes or provide for their families. Of the Missionaries who were faithfully serving their flocks at the beginning of the war, Peters, Graves, and Sayre, more indiscreet than others, had fled, — the first to England, the latter two within the lines of the British army; the unfor- tunate Leaming, after the burning of his church and property at Norwalk, had retired to New York, look- ing still in sorrowful hope towards the land of his nativity; and Kneeland and Beach had descended to the grave ; but the rest, Andrews, Bostwick of Great Barrington, Clark, Dibblee, Fogg, Hubbard, Jarvis, Mansfield, Marshall, Newton, Nichols, Scovill, Tyler, and A'^iets, were still in connection with their parishes, and ten of them, rallying from all discouragement, met at Woodbury in the last week of March following the publication of peace, to deliberate upon the affairs of the Church, and organize for the future. Like the other colonies, Connecticut was under the jurisdic- tion of the Bishop of London up to this time ; but no sooner had peace been declared and independence of the mother-country acknowledged, than she made the first movement to secure what had hitherto been so ungraciously denied. The meeting was "kept a pro- found secret, even from their most intimate friends of the laity;" and it was so quietly held that no minutes of it were made and published. But the contempo- rary correspondence of Mr. Fogg of Brooklyn with a clergyman of Massachusetts gives the number pres- ent, and indicates the fear which was felt of reviving the former opposition to an American Episcopate, and thus of defeating their plan to complete the organi- IN CONNECTICUT. 347 zation of the Church, and provide for its inherent per- petuity in this country. They went into no such fonnal election of a Bishop as takes phice in these days. The question with them appears not to have been so much a choice between candidates, as who will go upon this mission for a mitre, which was likely to be attended with more sacrifice than emolu- ment, more trial than honor. "Deeply impressed with anxious apprehension of what might be the fate of the Church in America," they deputed their Sec- retary (Mr. Jarvis) to proceed to New York and "consult such of the clergy there as they thought prudent on the subject, and to procure their concur- rence. He was also directed," says Seabury in a letter to the Venerable Society, written at a later date, "to try to prevail on Rev. Mr. Leaming or me to under- take a voyage to England, and endeavor to obtain Episcopal consecration for Connecticut. Mr. Leaming declined on account of his age and infirmities; and the clergy who were consulted by Mr. Jarvis gave it as their decided opinion that I ought, in duty to the Church, to comply with the request of the Connec- ticut clergy. Though I foresaw many and great dif- ficidties in the way, yet, as I hoped they might all be overcome, and as Mr. Jarvis had no instruction to make the proposal to any one besides, and was, with the other clergy, of opinion the design would drop if I declined it, I gave my consent" Though born in the colony, and a graduate of Yale College, Seabury had exercised no part of his ministry in Connecticut. His father had been a Missionary of the Church of England at New London for ten years; but the son had found the fields of his labor in New Jer- 348 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH sey, on Long Island, and in Westchester, N. Y., and, as already stated, for a brief time, during the Revolution- ary war, he was "in duress vile," in his native State, for active hostility to the measures of the Congressional government. Objections were made to him on this ac- count, and on the ground of his being a refugee ; but they were all overruled, and he was the second choice of the clergy of Connecticut to become their apostolic head, and early in June, 1783, he set sail for England to seek the accomplishment of their wishes, bearing with him such credentials as could be most readily obtained. Among these was the letter of the clergy to the Archbishop of York, — the see of Canterbury being va- cant,— written in their behalf by Abraham Jarvis, who dated it at New York, and signed himself "Minister of the Episcopal Church in Middletown, and Secre- tary of the Convention." After mentioning that "the establishment of an American Episcopate had long been an object of anxious concern to them and to many of their brethren in other parts of this conti- nent," they proceeded to recite: "The attainment of this object appears to have been hitherto obstructed by considerations of a political nature, which we con ceive were founded in groundless jealousies and mis- apprehensions that can no longer be supposed to ex- ist; and therefore, whatever may be the effect of independency on this country in other respects, we presume it will be allowed to open a door for renew- ing the application which we consider as not only sea- sonable, but more than ever necessary at this time; because, if it be now any longer neglected, there is reason to apprehend that a plan of a very extraor- dmary nature, lately formed and published in Phila- IN CONNECTICUT. 349 delphia, may be carried into execution. This plan is, in brief, to constitute a nominal Episcopate by the united suffrages of presbyters and laymen.^ The pe- culiar situation of the Episcopal churches in Amer- ica, and the necessity of adopting some speedy remedy for the want of a regular Episcopate, are oftered, in the publication alluded to, as reasons fully sufficient to justify the scheme. Whatever influence this pro- ject may have on the minds of the ignorant or unprin- cipled part of the laity, or however it may, possibly, be countenanced by some of the clergy in other parts of the country, tve think it our duty to reject such a spurious substitute for Episcopacy, and, as far as may be in our power, to prevent its taking effect. "To lay the foundation, therefore, for a valid and regular Episcopate in America, we earnestly entreat your Grace, that, in your Archiepiscopal character, you will espouse the cause of our sinking Church, and at this important crisis afford her that relief on which her very existence depends, by consecrating a Bishop 1 The author of tliis plan was the Rev. William Wiiito, (afterwards Bishop WHiite,) and, without retracting its leading sentiments, he spoke of it some years later in his Memoirs of the Prolextant Ejiiscopal Church thus: " Soon after the puhlieation of the pamphlet, the author found himself in danger of being involved in a dispute with the clergy of Connecticut, in the name of whom, assembled in Convention, their Secretary, the Rev. Abraham Jarvis, addressed a letter complaining of the performance, al- though doubtless mistaking the object of it. The letter was answered, it is hoped, in a friendly manner, and there the matter ended. The same Convention, in an address sent by them to the Archbishop of York, al- luded to the pamphlet as evidence of a design entertained to set up an Episcopacy on the ground of presbyterial and lay authority. No per- sonal animosity became the result of this misapprehension ; and other events have manifested consent in all matters essential to ecclesiastical discipline." The pamphlet was published before the acknowledgment of independence. — Bishop White's Memoir.'^, p. 90. 350 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH for Connecticut. The person whom we have pre- vailed upon to offer himself to your Grace for that purpose, is the Reverend Doctor Samuel Seahury} who has been the Society's worthy Missionary for many years. He was born and educated in Connecticut; he is personally known to us, and we believe him to be every way well qualified for the Episcopal ofhce, and for the discharge of those duties peculiar to it in the present trying and dangerous times." The letter of the Connecticut clergy was supported by the united testimonial of Leaming, Charles Inglis, Rector of Trinity Church, New York, Benjamin Moore, his Assistant Minister, and others. They added a separate communication to the Archbishop, enforcing the claims of the candidate, and expressing their earnest wishes for the success of his undertaking, "In humble confidence," said they, "that your Grace will consider the object of this application as a measure worthy of your zealous patronage, we beg leave to remind your Grace, that several legacies have been, at different times, bequeathed for the support of Bishops in America, and to express our hopes that some part of these legacies, or of the interest arising from them, may be appropriated to the maintenance of Doctor Seabury, in case he is consecrated and settles in America. We conceive that the separation of this country from the parent State can be no rea- sonable bar to such appropriation, nor invalidate the title of American Bishops, who derive their consecra- tion from the Church of England, to the benefit of those legacies. And, perhaps, this charitable assist- 1 The University of Oxford conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, December 15, 1777. IN CONNECTICUT. 351 ance is now more necessary than it would have been had not the empire been dismembered." Dr. Seabury arrived in London on the 7th of July; and, leaving him there to contend with unexpected discouragements, to overcome, if possible, the ob- stacles which rose in his path and checked the ad- vancement of his purpose, let us return to examine the condition and prospects of the clergy and their parishes in Connecticut. During the progress of the struggle it was not easy, perhaps, to distinguish between those conscientious and pure minded men who from religious principle adhered to the cause of the Crown, and that corrupt and base class whose loyalty consisted in fleeing from danger, in abusing their own country and the true patriots who were shaping its destiny. But if the tennination of the war could not have been fol- lowed by an oblivion of its offences, the bitterness of the triumphant party ought at least to have abated, and acts of proscription and banishment should have been immediately repealed. "At the peace," says Sabine, "a majority of the Whigs of several of the States committed a great crime;" and he cites Mas- sachusetts, Virginia, and New York, as "adopting measures of inexcusable severity" towards the hum- bled and unhappy Loyalists. Instead of compen- sating them for their losses, as recommended in the final treaty, a disposition was evinced to make their condition uncomfortable, and to place them be- yond the pale of a generous sympathy. Sir Guy Carleton, before evacuating New York, wrote to the President of Congress that the Loyalists "conceived the safety of their Uves to depend on his removing 352 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH them;" and the British Government, by way of doing what it could not accompUsh in the negotiations for peace, offered them inducements to withdraw and settle in their own provinces on the northern front- iers. By the end of the year 1783, so great had been the emigration to the British territory, that not less than thirty thousand persons from New York and the other colonies had arrived in Nova Scotia; and about one third of these, attracted by the beauty and security of the harbor, planted themselves at Shelburne, and soon exhausted their means in build- ing a town where nature opposed insuperable barriers to its prosperity. It was to most of them a pitiful reverse in life; and we are told that, "on their first arrival, lines of women could be seen sitting on the rocks of the shore and weeping at their altered con- dition." ^ Among the thousands thus expatriated were some of the most intelligent and highly educated people on this continent, — clergymen, lawj^ers, ph3^sicians, merchants, artisans, agriculturists. The change to them from their old house-roofs to the rigors of a severer climate and the straits of new habitations was anything but favorable, and many a grave was dug for the disappointed exiles before the first winter had passed away. Their case had not been overlooked in Parliament, for Burke, Sheridan, Wilberforce, and others lifted up their voice in earnest and solemn con- demnation of that part of the treaty which delivered over the unfortunate Loyalists to the tender mercies of their enemies, "without the least notice taken of their civil and relio-ious rio-hts." One nobleman in the o o 1 Hawkins, p. 373. IN CONNECTICUT, 353 House of Lords (Lord Sackville) regarded their "aban- donment as a thing of so atrocious a kind, that, if it had not been ah-eady painted in all its horrid colors^ he should have attempted the ungracious task, but never should have been able to describe the cruelty in language as strong and expressive as were his feelings." Connecticut, to her praise be it said, did not share in the spirit of resentment and oppression that ap- peared elsewhere. She knew very well that the Loy- alists within her borders had suffered severely during the war at the hands of their friends ; and if the Gen- eral Assembly neglected to obey the recommendation of Congress and restore their losses, it by no means followed them vnth. the rod of persecution. But they were not in good repute with the public authorities, and scorn was likely to attend many of them for years to come. Fearful of this, and lured with the prospect of retrieving their broken fortunes under the Government to wdiich they had given their sympa- thies, and for whose triumph they had secretly j)rayed, large numbers of churchmen, with their pastors, gath- ered up their personal efiects and emigrated to Nova Scotia and the adjoining territory. A few of them afterwards returned and renewed here their interests and their business; but the rest remained, and with their descendants they have marked, to a certain degree, the regions where they settled with the thrift of New-England enterprise. The clergy who had been deprived of their stipends from the Society by the acknowledgment of American independence, were offered new Missions, with hicreased salaries, in the British Provinces, besides grants of land; and Viets 23 354 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of Simsbiiry, who had served his people so accepta- bly for nearly twenty-eight years, amid the violence of persecution and war, was one of the number to avail himself of this liberality. He delivered "a seri- ous Address and Farewell Charge to the members of the Church of England in Simsbury and the adjacent parts," before leaving, which was afterwards printed, and in which he stated: "From the year 1759 to the pxesent time [1787], the number of conformists to the Church has increased from seventy-five to more than two hundred and eighty families, exclusive of the many that have emigrated and the few that have apostatized." Andrews, beloved as a man and a minister in the scene of his nativity, turned his face, two years earlier, in that direction, and became the first Rector of St. Andrew's Church in the parish of St. Andrews, New Brunswick. ScovilV his neighbor at Waterbury, con- trary to the wishes and entreaties of some of his friends, dissolved his relations with his parish, and accepted inviting proposals to remove into the same province. And then Richard Samuel Clark joined his name to the list of Missionaries in the new field, and Nichols relinquished his charge and withdrew from the State. These removals of people and priests weak- ened the already feeble parishes in Connecticut, and 1 " In 1 785, Mr. Scovill, ajrainst the advice of some of his friends, went to New Brunswick. He did not, however, at once remove his family. For three successive years he returned and officiated in the winter seasou in his old church." — Bronson's Hist, of Waterhurj/, p. 302. The same remark will apply in a measure to others. The Massachusetts Gazette of October 24th, 1786, notes the arrival of a vessel at New Haven from St. John's, New Brunswick, with nearly thirty passengers, " amon^ whom were the Rev. Messrs. Scovill, Andrews, and Clark." IN CONNECTICUT. 355 it required all the zeal and firmness of those who were left behind to keep alive the headless Church, until, under better auspices, its order and Liturgy might be revised and adapted to the new form of civil govern- ment. Hubbard and Jarvis, two friends whose inti- macy had been cemented by the same voyage to Eng- land for Holy Orders ; Leaming and Dibblee, Mansfield and Marshall, Newton, Fogg, and Tyler, with some true-hearted and far-seeing laymen, strengthened the things that remained, and besought the flocks not to scatter or become despondent. They encouraged them wdth the hope of returning prosperity; and being all men of irreproachable character in private life, their influence was felt and their admonitions heeded. Seabury wrote from London in May, 1784: "There is one piece of intelligence that we have heard from Nova Scotia that gives me some uneasiness, namely, that Messrs. Andrews, Hubbard, and Scovill are ex- pected in Nova Scotia this summer, with a large por- tion of their congregations. This intelligence oper- ates against me; for if these gentlemen cannot, or if they and their congregations do not choose to stay in Connecticut, why should a Bishop go there? I answer: One reason of their going is the hope of en- joying their religion fully, which they cannot do in Connecticut without a Bishop." The emigration to the Provinces was checked; and though the Loyalists applied to Parliament for relief, and the King, in his speech from the throne, recom- mended attention to their claims, and pensions and bounties in land were subsequently allowed to chap- lains, officers, and soldiers who had steadily adhered to the Crown, yet the fate of many who withdrew was worse than if they had hngered behind and shared 356 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the fortunes of their friends in the States. Of the clergy who were scattered by the poUtical storms of that period, none suffered greater pecuniary loss than the Rev. Dr. Inglis of New York; and because his name has frequently appeared in the course of our researches, and was closely linked with the Church in Connecti- cut, it is proper, before closing this chapter, to recur to him again, and trace a page of his later history. Not only was his private estate, large through his wife, confiscated, but he was compelled also to aban- don his Rectory; and in this misfortune he applied to the Venerable Society for permission to accompany some Loyalists of his congregation to Annapolis, Nova Scotia. His learning, his accomplishments, and his piety shone there conspicuously among the other Missionaries, as they had shone in the scene of his former labors ; so that, to use the words of Dr. Butler, the Bishop of Oxford, in his Anniversary Sermon before the Society in 1784, "An infant church is rising, under the favor and protection of Government, in Nova Scotia; and it is of a singular description, consisting of honorable exiles, under the pastoral care of fellow-sufferers." When it was w^isely determined to erect this and the neighboring British Colonies into a See, the person fixed upon to fill it was Dr. Chandler,^ that resolute champion for an American 1 The clergy of New York, in their letter to the Archbishop, commend- ing to his regard the object of Dr. Seabury's visit, added : " We take this opportunity to inform your Grace, that we have consulted liis Excellency, Sir Guy Carleton, on the subject of procuring the appointment of a Bishop for the Province of Nova Scotia, on which he has expressed to us his en- tire approbation, and has written to administration, warmly recommend- ing the measure. We took the liberty, at the same time, of mentioning our worthy brother, the Rev. Doctor Thomas B. Chandler, to His Excel- lency, as a person every way qualified to discharge the duties of the Episco- pal office in that Province with dignity and honor. And we hope for Your IN CONNECTICUT. 357 Episcopate, who had used his pen with such distin- guished abihty; but a fatal malady occasioned him many sufferings, and he was compelled to decline an elevation which he had so well merited. Being per- mitted to suggest a suitable candidate, he gave the name of Rev. Charles Inglis, D. D.; and that gentle- man was consecrated Bishop of Nova Scotia on the 12th of August, 1787, and the legncies left in Eng- land to establish an American Episcopate first inured to his benefit. The mitre which he wore for nearly thirty years subsequently fell upon his son; and the Church under their jurisdiction, planted in such a strange way, the Lord "has made strong for himself" It is impossible not to feel a respect for the men who endured so many privations and bore so many frowns, that they might be consistent Avith themselves and save the communion which they venerated and loved. " The character of those worthies," is the testimony of the Bishop of Oxford, from whose sermon we have just quoted, "will entitle them to a lasting memorial in some future impartial history of the late events in that country. Their firm perseverance in their duty, amidst temptations, menaces, and in some cases cru- elty, would have distinguished them as meritorious men in better times. In the present age, when per- secution has tried the constancy of very few suffer- ers for conscience here, so many in one cause argue a larger portion of disinterested virtue still existing somewhere among mankind than a severe observer of tJie world might be disposed to admit." Grace's approbation of what we have done in that matter, and for the con- currenee of jour influence with Sir Guy Carleton's recommendatiou in promoting the design." 358 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XXVII. ARRIVAL OF SEABURY IN LONDON, AND IMPEDIMENTS 1 ) HIS CONSECRATION. CONSECRATED IN SCOTLAND. RETl tN TO CONNECTICUT, AND PRIMARY CONVENTION AT MIDDLliTOWN. A. D. 1784-1785. On arriving at London and presenting his testi- monials, Dr. Seabury found political or state imped- iments in the way of his consecration. The Arch- bishops, both of Canterbury and York, appeared to be sensible of the merits of his ajjplication, and con- vinced of the necessity of transmitting the Episcopate to the United States, if it was intended to preserve here the Church in its integrity. But they foresaw great difficulties, and were much embarrassed by various considerations : among them, that it would be sending a Bishop to Connecticut, which they had no right to do Avithout the consent of the State ; that the Bishop would not be received in Connecti- cut; that there would be no adequate provision for him; and, finally, that the oaths in the Ordination Office, imposed by Act of Parliament, could not be omitted by the simple dispensation of the King. So much importance did Dr. Seabury attach to the first of these considerations, and so anxious was he to see the Episcopate introduced into this country, that he immediately wrote to his friends in Connecticut, and suggested that they should ap^^ly to the proper IN CONNECTICUT. 359 authority for permission to have a Bishop reside in the State ; at the same time offering to surrender his own claims in favor of any Presbyter who might be agreeable to them and less obnoxious to the public. "The State of Connecticut," said he, "may consent that a Bishop should reside among them, though they might not consent that I should be the man." The clergy lost no time in acting upon this sug- gestion, for, shortly after receiving it, they met in Convention at Wallingford, and "voted that the lead- ing members of both Houses of Assembly, which was then sitting at New Haven, should be conferred with, so far as the proposed difficulties had reference to the civil government ; " and they appointed Messrs. Leam- ing, Jarvis, and Hubbard a committee to further the object of this vote. They learned by the conference what they communicated to Dr. Seabury : that no special Act of the Assembly was needed in the case ; that a general law had been passed embracing the Church, and comprehending all the legal rights and powers intended to be given to any denomination of Christians ; and if a BishojD came, he would stand, by the provisions of that law, upon the same ground as the rest of the clergy, or the Church at large. With their communication, which touched upon the other objections that had been raised, the Committee sent certified copies of the law, which were slow in reach- ing their destination ; but the letter did good service, and "enabled me," said Seabury, using a mihtary figure, " to open a new battery, which I will mount with the heaviest cannon and mortars I can muster, and will play them as vigorously as possible." The " battery," however, did not demohsh the oppo- 360 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH sition to his consecration. If it weakened the force of the other objections, it did not remove the great impediment of the State oaths. The American Episco- pate had been a subtle ministerial affair for more than half a century, and nobody in England now seemed willing to risk anything for the sake of the Church, or for the sake of continuing Episcopal ordinations in this country. An Act was passed "to empower the Bishop of London for the time being, and any other Bishop to be by him appointed, to admit to the order of deacon or priest persons being subjects or citizens of countries out of His Majesty's dominions, without re- quiring them to take the oath of allegiance as ap- pointed by law;"^ and a few candidates who embarked for England, soon after the cessation of hostilities, were ordained under this privilege, and returned to their own country. But consecration to the AjDOstolic office was viewed from another standpoint, and held in abeyance, "partly from an apprehension of giving umbrage to a Power with whom a treaty of peace had but lately been signed." It was, at length, decided to be necessary to apply to Parliament for an Act " to enable the Bishops to proceed without incurring a Premunire ; " and while the incipient measures were concerting, and Seabury was flattered with every pros- pect of success, he wrote to the clergy of Connecti- cut towards the end of July, 1784, and thus fore- shadowed the course that he might yet be compelled to take. " But everything here is attended with uncertainty till it is actually done. Men or measures, or both, may be changed to-morrow, and then all will be to go 1 Hawkins, p. 403. IN CONNECTICUT. 361 through again. However, I shall wait the issue of the present session of Parliament, which, it is the common opinion, will continue a month longer. If nothing be done, I shall give up the matter here as unattainable, and apply to the North, unless I should receive con- trary directions from the clergy of Connecticut." He had previously written that there was " nothing not base that he would not do, nor any risk that he would not run, nor any inconvenience to himself that he would not encounter, to carry this business into effect;" and clergymen of influence and extensive acquirements had directed his attention to the Scotch succession, and assured him that " it was equal to any in the world." Among this number was the eldest son of the Bishop of Cloyne, — a prebendary of Can- terbur)^, — that fast friend to the Church in America who had so long corresponded with the younger John- son, and manifested his interest in both the civil and ecclesiastical relations of the colonies. As early as 1782, while the struggle of the American Revolution was approaching its end, and before any attempt to or- ganize had been undertaken in Connecticut, Berkeley suggested to a Presbyter of Aberdeen, (the Rev. John Skinner, afterwards Bishop Skinner,) "that a most im- portant good might ere long be derived to the suffer- ing and nearly neglected sons of Episcopacy on the other side of the Atlantic from the sufferino- Church of Scotland." Writing to him again, after his consecra- tion to the higher office, he reinforced his original suggestion, and said: "From the Churches of England and Ireland, America will not now receive the Epis- copate: if she might, I am persuaded that many of her sons would joyfully receive Bishops from Scotland. 362 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH The question, then, shortly is. Can any proper per- sons be found who, with the spirit of confessors, would convey the great blessing of the Protestant Episcopate from the persecuted Church of Scotland to the strug- gling, persecuted Protestant Episcopalian worshippers in America? If so, is it not the duty of all and every Bishop of the Church in Scotland to contribute to- wards sending into the New World Protestant Bishops, before general assemblies can be held and covenants taken for their perpetual exclusion? Liheravi animam meamr Bishop Skinner returned a discouraging answer to this letter, and correctly observed: "Nothing can be done in the affair, with safety on our side, till the in- dependence of America be fully and irrevocably rec- ognized by the Government of Great Britain; and even then the enemies of our Church might make a handle of our correspondence with the colonies, as a proof that we always wished to fish in troubled waters; and we have little need to give any ground for an imputation of that kind." The Bishops of the Church in Scotland were non- jurors, successors of those English prelates who, at the Revolution^ of 1688, were deprived of their reve- nues and dignity by the civil power, because they refused to disown submission to James the Second and swear allegiance to William the Third. The validity of their orders was undoubted, and the only objection to them was on the score of their political principles. With these the Church in this country, of course, had nothing to do ; for, separated from all the entangling alliances of the State, she was hence- 1 Anderson's Colonial Church, Vol. II. p. 531, et seq. IN CONNECTICUT. 363 forth to depend, under God, for prosperity upon the zeal, the energy, the prudence, and the piety of her clergy and laity. Seeing no prospect of accomplish- •ng his object with the English prelates, "the Ministry having refused to permit a Bishop to be consecrated for Connecticut, or for any other of the thirteen States, without the formal request, or at least consent of Congress," and unwilling to be longer detained in London at an expense inconvenient to himself, Dr. Seabury turned his face towards Scotland, where he found the way prepared for his cordial reception, and the nonjuring Bishops ready to bestow on him the gift of th- urgy for the use of his diocese. This ought to have been the case here. Bishops should first have been obtained to preside over those churches. And to those Bishops, with the Proctors of the clergy, should have been committed the business of compiling a Liturgy for the use of the Church through the States. This would have insured unity in doctrine, worship, and discipline through the whole, which upon the present plan will either not be obtained, or, if ob- tained, will not be durable." Without lingering now over these general topics, IN CONNECTICUT. 383 we may return to look at the condition and advance- ment of the Church in Connecticut under her com- plete organization. Though her members numbered at least 20,000 persons, the long and exhausting war had spread desolation in many of the parishes, so that she was poor, and had little, if anything, in the way of support, to offer her newly consecrated Bishop. But it had been expected from the first that he would become the Rector of the parish at New London, the parish which his father had served many years before, and which at the time of his arrival was proceeding, to quote the language of the record, to "reestablish their sacred dwelling," burnt, when the town was burnt by the British troops, under the command of that traitor to his country — Benedict Arnold. New London, therefore, was henceforth the residence of Bishop Seabury, and it was convenient for him to exercise his office in Rhode Island, a State which subsequently came under his Episcopal jurisdiction. Through the influence of this zealous and accom- plished prelate, the churchmen of Connecticut were inspired with fresh hopes and more earnest efforts. The parishes rose from their depression, and qualified according to the law of the State. New ones were formed in favorable localities, and the number of can- didates for Holy Orders increased. Of those set apart to the sacred office at the first ordination in Middletown, the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin had been sent to Litchfield, his native place, and the Rev. Philo Shelton had returned to Fairfield, where he had acted in the capacity of a lay reader since the burning of the town by General Tryon in 1779 ; both were graduates of Yale College. Steps were taken 384 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH shortly after the ackiiowledgmenl of Independence to erect a new church at Fairfield ; and though divisions and disagreements among the members of the parish as to the location prevented their accomplishment for many years, yet Mr. Shelton was employed to read one third part of the time at a private dwelling in Greenfield, and the remaining two thirds at Stratfield and North Fairfield, where churches had long drawn within their walls fliithful worshippers. So deter- mined were the people to have no interruption in their religious services, that when Mr. Shelton, two years after his ordination, was disabled by protracted sickness, they held a legal meeting to adopt measures to supply his place. The quaintness of the original records may provoke a smile; for the meeting being warned "to hire some person to carry on instead of Mr. Shelton, until he should get better," it was voted that the moderator of the meeting should ^'^ carry on"; and still later a definite arrangement was authorized with the contiguous churches to "hire a man to carry on for three months." ^ At Norwalk, another of the burnt fields of the Church, signs of returning life were early visible. Immediately after the conflagration which destroyed that town, and before they had reconstructed their own dwellings, the Episcopalians erected a temporary edifice in which to resume the public worship of God; and the Rev. Mr. Dibblee, the Missionary at Stamford, frequently officiated therein, and strengthened and encouraged the unfortunate flock. When the Con- gregationalists petitioned the General Assembly for assistance to rebuild their meeting-house, and received 1 Rev. N. E. Cornwall's Historical Discourse, 1851, p. 42. IN CONNECTICUT. 385 £500, which was chiefly, if not wholly, paid out of the confiscated property of churchmen who had re- moved to the British Provinces, a similar petition was preferred in 1785 by the members of the Episcopal parish, but refused. Nothing daunted by this par- tiality, they proceeded, under the administration of the Rev. John Bowden, who had been called to the Rectorship, to "rebuild their church in an elegant manner, the foundation and dimensions continuing the same as before the fire." So great were their unanimity and zeal, that, with the aid of a generous donation from friends in New York, they accomplished their work without recourse to taxation. The Rectory was also rebuilt, and a lot of four acres added to the already spacious glebe. But while the old church and parsonage have both disappeared, and a later hand^ has been seen guiding the liberality of the people to "good deeds for the house of God and for the offices thereof," the sapling elms which Bowden planted, having struck their roots deep into the earth, and thrown aloft their spreading branches, still grace- fully shade the pleasant avenues that conduct to the new church, and to the finest rural Rectory in Con- necticut. In Branford, the churchmen, and those who indi- cated their preference for the Episcopal form of wor- ship, became so numerous that a parish was organized June 2d, 1784, and an ill-proportioned edifice erected and occupied as early as May, 1786. Farther back from the shore, the revival of affection for the Church was seen; and at Hartford, the land which had re- mained in the possession of a hostile party during the 1 Rev. William Cooper Mead, D. D. 25 386 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Revolution, was recovered by legal process, and re- stored to the "associated brethren." At Woodbury, that energetic and faithful Presbyter, John R Mar- shall, no longer willing to be straitened for room in the Town House, directed the efforts of his parish- ioners to the erection of a church, immediately upon the close of the war, and bore himself a liberal pro- portion of the first expense. The edifice is still stand- ing, and is now one of the oldest Episcopal houses of worship in the Diocese, though so much unproved and beautified within the last few years as to have the appearance and freshness of youth. These were among the movements which sprung from the hopes and prayers of churchmen awakening to a sense of their responsibilities under a new form of civil government, and with the Apostolic office se- cured and accepted. Up to September 21st, 1786, Bishop Seabury had admitted twenty candidates to the Diaconate, and nineteen of this number to the Priesthood; and on that day, at Derby, he clothed v/ith authority as Deacons, Philo Perry, David Belden, Tillotson Bronson, and Reuben Ives, — all natives of Connecticut and graduates of Yale College. The first was elected a successor to the lamented Beach at New- town; Mr. Bronson was sent as a pioneer into Ver- mont and New Hampshire; and Mr. Ives was taken for a time as his own assistant at New London. Mr. Belden exercised the ministry for a short time in Fairfield County, but ill health compelled him to relinquish it before he was advanced to the Priestr hood, and his name disappeared from the list of the parochial clergy. He retired upon a farm, and passed the remainder of his days without dishonor- IN CONNECTICUT. 387 ing the Communion at whose altar he had begun to serve. The clergy and laity were entirely united in their efforts to promote the prosperity of the Church, and if any fears or doubts had existed in regard to the election or qualifications of their Episcopal Head, they were dissipated by personal intercourse with him, and by the ability, frankness, prudence, and firmness with which he exercised his office, and weighed all the measures that Avere to assimilate our communion to Jerusalem of old, "builded as a city that is compact together." 388 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XXIX. CHANGES IN THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, AND THEIR RE- CEPTION IN ENGLAND; CONSECRATION OF DRS. PROVOOST AND WHITE; THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT, AND CORRE- SPONDENCE OF BISHOPS AND CLERGY. A. D. 1786-1789. It has been stated that Bishop Seabury and his clergy at first made no other changes in the Book of Common Prayer except those which were necessary to adapt it to the new and independent relations of the Government. But in 1786 he set forth "The Communion Office, or, Order for the Administration of the Holy Eucharist," for the use of the Episcopal churches in Connecticut. It followed, with a few ver- bal alterations, the form in the Scottish Liturgy, rather than the arrangement of the office in the Eng- lish Liturgy; and the Connecticut clergy of that period became very much attached to it, not only from the recommendation of their Bishop, but from the convic- tion that this order w^as in more exact conformity with the earliest usage of the Christian Church. By an article of the Concordate, Bishop Seabury "agreed to* take a serious view of the Communion Office recom- mended by the Scottish prelates, 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 endeavor, as they had done, to intro- IN CONNECTICUT. 389 duce it by degrees into practice, without the com- pulsion of authority on the one side, or the prejudice of former customs on the other." The reception in Enghmd of "the Proposed Book" of Common Prayer, as set forth by the General Con- vention assembled at Philadelphia in the autumn of 1785, was unfavorable; and the application for an Epis- copate in the Anglican line was prudently held for fu- ture disposal. A letter, fidl of Christian affection and kindly regard for their Episcopal brethren in Amer- ica, was signed and sent over by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the seventeen Bishops of England, in answer to the formal address of that body. While they evinced a desire to further the prayer of the Address, and were disposed to make every proper allowance for the difficulties which surrounded the Church in this country, these prelates at the same time suggested theh^ fears "that in the proceedings of the Convention some alterations had been adopted or intended which those difficulties did not seem to justify." They waited for an explanation upon this point, and closed their letter by saying, "We cannot but be extremely cautious, lest we should be the in- struments of establishing an Ecclesiastical system 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 discipline." The Convention reassembled at Philadelphia on the 3d Tuesday in June, 1786, and the same States were again represented. The Rev. David Griffith of Vir- ginia was elected President; and the Hon. Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Indepen- dence, and a grandson in the maternal line of the 390 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Bishop of Worcester, was chosen Secretary. The let- ter of the EngHsh prelates was read, and the draught of an answer adopted, engrossed, and signed by the •members present, and delivered to the Committee of Corresj)ondence to be forwarded to England. That Committee had power to call the Convention together at Wilmington, Delaware, when a majority of them should judge it to be necessary. They had learned that political obstacles no longer hindered the success of their application ; for the Minister at the Court of St. James, the late President of Congress, and the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, had all furthered the pious design of securing the Episcopate, and shown to the Primate of England that it was not likely to receive any discountenance from the civil powers of our land. "It was a prudent provision of the Con- vention," says Bishop White, "to instruct the depu- ties from the respective States to apply to the civil authorities existing in them, respectively, for their sanction of the measure, in order to avoid one of the impediments w^hich had stood in the way of Bishop Seabury." In regard to the doubts of their continuing to hold the same essential articles of faith and discipline, they assured their Lordships that they neither had de- parted, nor proposed to depart from the doctrines of the Church of England. "We have retained," said the Convention, "the same discipline and forms of worship, as far as was consistent with our civil con- stitutions; and we have made no alterations or omis- sions in the Book of Common Prayer, but such as that consideration prescribed, and such as were calcu- lated to remove objections, which it appeared to us m CONNECTICUT. 391 more conducive to union and general content to ob- viate than to dispute. It is well known that many great and pious men of the Church of England have long wished for a revision of the Liturgy, which it was deemed imprudent to hazard, lest it might be- come a precedent for repeated and improper altera- tions. This is with us the proper season for such a revision. We are now settling and ordering the af- fairs of our Church, and if wisely done, we shall have reason to promise ourselves all the advantages that can result from stability and union," They added, in conclusion: "As our Church in sundry of these States has already proceeded to the election of persons to be sent for consecration, and others may soon proceed to the same, we pray to be favored with as speed}'- an answer to this our second Address, as in your great goodness you were pleased to give to our former one." At this June session of the Convention it was found necessary to review the Constitution proposed in 1785; and, besides other changes, the Eighth Article, the tenor of which had been particularly excepted to by the Eastern clergy, and, as we shall see, by the Eng- lish prelates, was so altered as to restrict to a Bishop the power of pronouncing upon any one in Holy Orders sentence of deposition or degradation from the ministrv. The different State Conventions had given such instructions to their delegates, in regard to some of the former proceedings, that prudence dictated the 'propriety of leaving the General Consti- tution and the proposed Liturgy for future settlement. They had indeed no authority to ratify the one, or revise and adopt the other. But the Convention went 392 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH out of its way to strike an unhappy blow at Connec- ticut, a blow which she keenly felt, and which threat- ened to be productive of lasting discord and disunion. The session had no sooner opened than an attempt was made to require "the clergy present to produce their letters of orders, or declare by whom they were ordained;" and, though unsuccessful, it was renewed on the same day, in a more offensive shape, by the Rev. Mr. Provoost, who had already been the originator of a similar movement in his own State. His motion, "That this Convention will resolve to do no act that shall imply the validity of ordinations made by Dr. Seabury," was defeated: New York, New Jersey, and South Carolina voting in the affirmative; and Penn- sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, in the negative. Then it was "resolved unanimously. That it be recommended to this Church in the States here represented, not to receive to the pastoral charge, within their respective limits, clergymen professing canonical subjection to any Bishop, in any State or country, other than Bishops who may be duly settled in the States represented in this Convention." So acood a man as Dr. White was the mover of this reso- lution, which he afterwards explained as intended to reach the alleged fact that those ordained under the Scottish succession and settling in the represented churches were understood by some to be under ca- nonical subjection to the ordaining Bishop. But the only clergyman in the Convention (Joseph Pilmore) who had received his Orders from Dr. Seabury, de- nied that any such canonical subjection had been ex- acted of him; and Dr. White himself, though offering the resolution as a prudent precaution, professed to IN CONNECTICUT. 393 believe that there was no ground for the allegation. The next morning the point was pushed yet farther, on the motion of a clergyman from South Carolina, when it was again unanimously resolved, "That it be recommended 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 Episcopal consecration." "What a ridiculous figure must they make," wrote Mr. Bass of Newburyport to a brother clergyman, after hearing of their action, "in the eyes of every sectary or anti- Episcopahan! In the name of wonder, what objec- tions can be made against the validity of Dr. Sea- bury's ordinations, that may not as Avell be made against those of the English Bishops?" Thus matters stood upon the reassembling of the Convention at Wilmington, Delaware, in the ensuing October, to hear the answer of the Archbishops of England to their second Address. The answer, more favorable than had been expected, was framed at a meeting of the Bishops in London to take into con- sideration the whole of the communications which had been forwarded; and a brief extract will best show their sentiments of fraternal regard, and their solici- tude for the integrity of the Church. "It was im- possible," said the Archbishops, writing for all their brethren, "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 its own excellence, and your declared attachment to it, had led us to expect; not to mention a variety 394 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH 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 en- tirely laid aside; and that even in that 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 uni- versal reception. Nevertheless, as a proof of the sin- cere desire which we feel to continue in spiritual com- munion with the members of your Church in Amer- ica, and to complete the Orders of your ministry, and trustino; that the communications which we shall make to you, on the subject of these and 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 conseci-a- tion to the persons who shall be recommended, with- out requiring from them any oaths or subscrij)tions inconsistent with the situation in which the late Revo- lution 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." This "full satisfaction" had reference as well to o^ood learning and doctrinal soundness as to purity of man- ners; and under the head of subscription they re- marked: "We, therefore, most earnestly exhort you, IN CONNECTICUT. 395 that, previously to the time of your making such sub- scription, you restore to its integrity the Apostles' Creed, in which you have omitted an article merely, as it seems, from misapprehension of the sense in which it is understood by our Church ; nor can we help add- ing, that we hope you will think it but a decent proof of the attachment which you profess to the services of your Liturgy, to give to the other two Creeds a place in your Book of Common Prayer, even though the use of them should be left discretional. We should be inexcusable too, if at the time when you are re- questing 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 persuade 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." All the matters so earnestly and affectionately rec- ommended by the EngUsli prelates received the prompt attention of the Convention, and the cherished forms which had been omitted from the Liturgy were at once replaced, except the Athanasian Creed, which it was resolved not to restore. In the full conviction that the negotiations were now satisfactorily con- cluded, a third, but brief address was adopted by the Convention, and the members proceeded to sign tes- timonials in the form prescribed by the Archbishops in favor of Rev. Dr. Samuel Provoost, Rev. Dr. Wil- liam White, and Rev. David Griffith, Bishops elect, re- spectively, of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. 396 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Two of these gentlemen, (Drs. Provoost and White,) on the second day of the ensumg month, embarked for England; the other was too poor to bear the ex- pense of the journey, and the Church in the State over which he was to preside had not raised the requi- site funds to relieve him of the burden. On their arrival in London they were introduced to the Arch- bishop of Canterbury by Mr, Adams, the American Ambassador, "who, in this particular, and in every instance in which his personal attentions could be either of use or an evidence of his respect and kind- ness, continued to manifest his concern for the inter- ests of a Church of which he was not a member." After some delay, they were consecrated in the Chapel of Lambeth Palace, on the 4th of February, 1787, by the two Archbishops, assisted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of Peterborough; and to- wards the end of the same month they returned to America, arriving in New York on the afternoon of Easter Sunday, having had a long and tempestuous voyage, during which Bishop Provoost was so ill that serious apprehensions were felt for his recovery. No General Convention was again held until the summer of 1789, when, in obedience to the require- ments of the first article of the Constitution, Delegates from the States previously represented reassembled in Christ Church, Philadelphia, — Bishop White being present, and presiding by the right of his office. But before we look into their deliberations, let us come back" to Connecticut, and examine the progress of the Church here during this critical period under the Episcopate of Seabury. No canons and no con- stitution had been adopted, and the ecclesiastical af- IN CONNECTICUT. 397 fairs of the Diocese were wholly managed by the Bishop and his clergy, who assembled at stated times, as had been the practice of the Missionaries before the Revolution. At such meetings all differences be- tween clergymen, and all troubles in parishes were, if possible, adjusted, and candidates for orders were examined, recommended, and approved, and ordina- tions frequently held. The Legislature of the State had enacted a general law to protect all societies and congregations instituted for public religious worship; and the Church, in the absence of anything specially fitted to her rules and customs, was obliged to pro- ceed under this enactment in organizing and estab- lishing her parishes. As yet the number of clergymen was insufficient to supply the old cures, and another vacancy was created in February, 1787, by the death of Newton, so long the honored Rector of the church at Ripton. Zealous efforts however were made to ex- tend the influence of Episcopacy, and churches soon arose at Chatham (now Portland), East Haddam, and Middle Haddam, on the Connecticut River; at Granby and Southington, in Hartford County; at East Plym- outh, Harwinton, and Northfield, in Litchfield County; and at East Haven, Bethany, Hamden, and Meriden, in New Haven County. The organization of the parishes in Southington, Meriden, and Hamden was due to the ministrations of the Rev. Reuben Ives, who, in the be- ginning of 1788, had accepted the Rectorship of the church in Cheshire, his native place, for two thirds of the time, with the privilege of occupying the re- maining third in Missionary duties in the neighboring towns. The church in New Cambridge (now Bristol), which had been occupied for thirty years, was aban- 398 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH doned upon the erection of the edifice at East Plym- outh, then more conveniently located for the major- ity of worshippers. But a new parish was organized in Bristol in 1834, which has outstripped its neigh- bor in prosperity, and has the promise of vigorous continuance. On the 28th of August, 1785, the Rev. Mr. Hubbard "opened the Episcopal Church at Beth- any by the name of Christ Church," and preached, and administered the Sacrament of Baptism to seven in- fants. The church at New London (St. James's) was consecrated September 20, 1787, Bishop Seabury hav- ing previously held his services in the Court-House; but he administered the Holy Communion, usually every Sunday, in the large parlor of the parsonage. Everything seemed to have been done by the South- ern Conventions to alienate the affections of the New- England clergy, especially of those resident in Con- necticut, where the parishes were now even stronger than in New York. A breach once made in a family or a church is more easily widened than healed, and the fast friends of the American Episcopate on the other side of the Atlantic watched the threatened rupture with evident anxiety. The civil disabilities of the Scottish Church had not yet been removed by Act of Parliament, and it was therefore impossible, without conflicting with the State, to recognize in England the Orders of Bishop Seabury. "But with you" in America, wrote the Rev. Jacob Duch^, a ref- ugee clergyman from Philadelphia, then in London, and accustomed to the friendly ear of the Archbishop of Canterbury, "there can remain but one point to be settled, and that is the validity of his consecration from proofs adduced of the uninterrupted succession IN CONNECTICUT. 399 in the Church of Scotland." No one manifested such personal hostility, and persisted in such uncourteous acts towards the Bishop of Connecticut, as the Rev. Dr. Samuel Provoost. He accused him of intriffuins: to defeat the application for the English Episcopate, and was prominent among the "few people in New York, w^ho, from old grudges on the score of politics, had determined to circumscribe, as far as they possi- bly could, his Episcopal authority." The Connecticut clergy, alarmed for their situation, and bent on vindicating their own rights, prej^ared to counteract the preposterous measures which were leading inevitably to a schism in the Church. The], met at Wallingford on the 27th of February, 1787 and, apprehensive that they might be compelled to fall under the defective Southern establishment, should the providence of God deprive them of their Episcopal Head, they decided to send another Pres- byter to Scotland for consecration, as coadjutor Bishop to Dr. Seabury. The able and faithful Leaming was first selected to undertake the voyage; but the same reasons which had caused him to decline the former election operated now in still greater force. Then the guileless and godly Mansfield was chosen; but he shrunk from the burden as one too oppressive for him to bear;^ and finally the Rev. Abraham Jarvis was elected, and deputed to proceed to Scotland for con- secration. "It was intended," said his learned son, re- marking on the transaction, "to obtain the canonical number of Bishops in New England of the Scottish line, and thus preserve a purely primitive and Apos- tolic Church, holding fast the form of sound words, and the faith once delivered to the saints." 1 Church Documents, "Vol. 11. p. 306. 400 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH These steps were taken with due precaution. Dr Seabury, who had kept up a correspondence with Bishop Skinner of Scotland, informed him at once of the action of the clergy, and spoke of it not only with approval, but with the hope that it might have "the full approbation of his good and highly respected brethren in Scotland," whose answer would be awaited before the person fixed upon departed for the voyage. Delays are not always dangerous; and when Bishop Skinner, for himself and the Scottish prelates, re- phed to this communication, the summer had come, and "the English Consecrate" had arrived in Amer- ica. He suggested that they could hardly refuse their brotherly assistance in the measure desired, or yet take upon them to impose their own Liturgy as the sole condition of compliance. "Should this be the case," said he, "and these new Bishops either refuse to hold communion with you, or grant it only on terms with which you cannot in conscience comply, there would then be no room for us to hesitate. But fain would we hope better things of these your Amer- ican brethren, and that there will be no occasion for two separate communions among the Episcopalians of the United States. "We are well persuaded that neither you nor your clergy would wish to give any unnecessary cause of disgust on either side of the Atlantic; and prudence, you must be aware, bids us turn our eyes to our own situation, which, though it affords no excuse for shrink- ing from duty, will, at the same time, justify our not stepping beyond our hne any farther than duty re- quires." This was a truly catholic letter, breathing a most IN CONNECTICUT. 401 benevolent spirit; and Bishop Seabury, in answering it, expressed his fears that the suggestion could not be immediately acted upon, and then remarked: "The public papers have announced that the Episcopal clergy in Scotland now [November 7, 1788] pray for the King by name. I hope it is true, and flatter myself it will free them, ere long, from many embarrass- ments. I shall still pursue measures for uniting with the Southern churches, and shall acquiesce in any temis consistent with sound ecclesiastical principles. But I cannot give up what I deem essential to Epis- copal government, by admitting laymen into any share of it, farther than the external or temporal state of things may require. To subject a Bishop to the censure of a consistory of Presbyters and Laynien, even with a Bislioj) at their head, I cannot consent. From that thraldom the Church in Connecticut must, if it please God, be preserved," ^ Nor was he slow to put in execution his good pur- poses. Before the prudent rej3ly of Bishop Skinner was written, and before a month had passed away after the arrival of the new American prelates. Bishop Seabury addressed a letter of friendly congratulation to his most unscrupulous opponent, and kindly in- vited him to be present at a stated convocation of the clergy of Connecticut, to be held at Stamford on the Monday in AVhitsun week. "You must," said he in this letter, "be equally sensible with me of the j)i'es- ent 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 Amer- ica, not only to give stability to it, but to fix it on 1 A7inals of Scottish Episcopacy, 2G 402 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH its true and proper foundation. Possibly nothing will contribute more to this end than uniformity in wor- ship and discipline among the churches of the differ- ent States, It will be my happiness to be able to promote so good and necessary a Avork; and I take the liberty to propose, that, before any decided steps be taken, there be a meeting of yourself and Bishop White and 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 should 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 govern- ment, and ascertain its operation." In a like spirit of fraternal regard he addressed overtures for peace and union to Bishop White, who met them with all the gentleness and placability of his nature, and expressed himself as ready to join in any plan, with a vicAV to this noble end, not materially different from that set forth in the pro- posed Ecclesiastical Constitution. Other persons be- sides the prelates became engaged in discussing the points at issue. Parker of Boston, alive to the ne- cessity of union, that the Church throughout the country might be one in all the essentials of doctrine, discipline, and worship, wrote frequent and pacifica- tory letters to Bishop White and to the Bishop and clergy of Connecticut. His prominence had marked IN CONNECTICUT. 403 him out for a mitre in the minds of New-England churchmen in case the Episcopate should be given to Massachusetts/ but he was much more anxious to see the schism which was threatened avoided than to at- tain this high distinction. The beloved and venerated Leaming, always watchful for the true interests of the Church, availed himself of a private opportunity to open a correspondence with the Bishop of Pennsyl- vania and urge the same great ends. Dr. William Samuel Johnson, the distinguished statesman, had been appointed one of the Delegates from Connecti- cut to attend the Convention in Philadelphia, which was charged with the business of framing the Fed- eral Constitution; and he was not only a medium of conveying the letters and messages of his Pastor to him, but he must have impressed Bishop White with the truth and justness of what Dr. Leaming had writ- ten in closing his first communication, that "The Church in this State would be pleased to have the old forms altered as little as may be; but for the sake of union, they will comply as far as they possibly can. And I do not see how a union can be more advan- tageous to us than it will be to you. If it is recipro- cal, both ought to give way, and not to be too rigid." Another letter, written three weeks later, indicated the nature of the response to his suggestions, and re- newed the subject with increased zeal and earnest- ness. What he wished, as a first step towards the union, was to bring the three Bishops together for 1 Upon the decease of Bishop Bass, he was elected his successor, and was consecrated Bishop of Massachusetts, at the General Convention in New York, on Friday the 14th of September, 1804. He died on the 6th of December in the same year, and before he had discharged a single duty of the Episcopal o^ce. 404 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH friendly conference, and he saw no impediment in the way unless Bishop Provoost persisted in his refusal to have any Christian fellowship with one towards whom he appears to have cherished a deeply seated animosity. Clear in his conviction that the clergy of New York did not share in the prejudices of their chief Pastor, Learning urged the personal interview as a measure that would raise him in their estimation, and "fix their willing obedience to him all his life after." On this ground he solicited the interposition and good offices of Bishop White, and then added: "I hope you will not esteem me over-officious in this business; if you do, my apology is this, — I have been forty years in the service of the Church, and I believe I am the oldest clergyman in America, and I am very desirous to see it complete before I die. God bless your labors for the converting of sinners and the building up of saints." The real argument in all this correspondence was with the pens of the North, so far as it related to the advantage and necessity of one united Church; and the prospect of securmg this brightened under the conciliatory course of Bishop White, and the kind mediation of the clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, especially of the Rev. Mr. Parker. He never omitted an occasion to further what was so much in his heart and in his prayers; and as the time drew near for the meeting of the General Convention, he was at the head of a measure which was to bring that body to a direct decision on the validity of the Scottish Episcopacy, with a view to the three Bishops, now in the States, joining in the consecration of a fourth. IN CONNECTICUT. 405 CHAPTER XXX. ELECTION OF BISHOP FOR MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW HAMP- SHIRE; SIGNS OF CHRISTIAN HARMONY; GENERAL CONVEN- TION AT PHILADELPHIA; COMPLETION OF THE UNION OF THE CHURCH IN ALL THE STATES, AND ADOPTION OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. A. D. 1789-1790. Six Presbyters, representing the Church m Massa- chusetts and New Hampshire, met at Salem on the 4th day of June, 1789, and after recording theu* grati- tude to the Supreme Governor of the universe for his goodness in "blessing the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, by supplying it with a complete and entire Ministry, and by affordmg to many of her communion the benefit of the labors, advice, and gov- ernment of the successors of the Apostles," they pro- ceeded to "nominate, elect, and appoint" their chair- man, the Rev. Edw^ard Bass, to be their Bishop, and promised and engaged, over their own signatures, to receive him as such when canonically consecrated and invested with the Apostolic office and powers. They then addressed the Bishops of Connecticut, New York, and Penns3dvania, praying for their united as- sistance in consecrating their brother; and authorized and empowered the Rev. Samuel Parker to transmit copies of their action to each of these prelates, and also appointed him "their agent to appear at any 406 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Convention to be holden at Pennsylvania or New York, and to treat upon any measures that might tend to promote an union of the Episcopal Church throughout the United States of America, or that might prove advantageous to the interests of said Church." The Convention commencing its session in Phila- delphia, July 28, 1789, was the first which assembled on this continent in the full likeness of that ancient council at Jerusalem, composed of Apostles, and elders, and brethren. Fortunately Bishop Provoost was ab- sent j and Mr. Parker, unable to be present himself, communicated his instructions to Bishop White, who laid them before the Convention, together with two let- ters from Dr. Seabury, — one addressed to Dr. Smith, and the other to himself, — expressing the hope that all difficulties might be removed, and reiterating the grand objection in Connecticut to the power of Lay delegates in the proposed Constitution, that " it made them part of a judicial consistory for the trial and dep- rivation of clergymen." The signs of Christian har- mony at once grew more distinct, for upon the read- ing of these letters it was "Resolved unanimously, that it is the opinion of this Convention, that the con- secration of the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury to the Epis- copal office is valid." That was a great step in ad- vance of all former proceedings. It put to rest forever a matter which had been the occasion of many misapprehensions, and opened the door for perfect reconciliation. A melancholy event, too, had its chastening effect upon the members. The Rev. David Griffith, D. D., who had relinquished his ap- pointment as Bishop elect of Virginia, and had come as a delegate from that State to the Convention, died, IN CONNECTICUT. 407 after an acute illness, on the sixth day of the session, at the house of Bishop White ; and among the resolu- tions of respect to his memory which were adopted, was one "that the clergy of all denominations withm the city be invited to attend his funeral." With feelings tinged by the sorrow of this event, the Convention approached the deliberate considera- tion of the act of the clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and finally, with entire unanimity, resolved that ''a complete order of Bishops, derived as well under the English as the Scots line of Epis- cojDacy, doth now subsist within the United States of America;" and that Bishops White, Provoost, and Seabury were fully competent to every proper act and duty of the Episcopal office and character in this country, 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 then existed, or here- after might be duly made and ordained. Another res- olution embraced a formal request to Bishops White and Provoost to join with the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury in consecrating the Bishop elect of the Eastern clergy ; proposing, however, that, previous to such consecra- tion, the churches in the New-England States should meet in this Convention, to be adjourned for that purpose, and settle certain articles of union and dis- cipline among all the churches. If any difficulty or delicacy remained with the two first-named Bishops, or either of them, concerning their compliance with the request, the Convention resolved to address the Archbishops and Bishops of England, hoping thereby to remove the difficulty and enable them freely to proceed. 408 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH The author and mover of these resolutions was the Rev. Dr. Smith, who afterwards referred to his course herein as the happiest incident of his hfe, and the best service he had ever been able to render to the Church. With Bishop White, he was placed upon the com- mittee to prepare the address to the English prelates, to forward the necessary answers to the communica- tions which had been received, and also to notify the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury, and the Eastern and other churches not yet represented in the Convention, of "the time and place to which it Avould adjourn, and request their attendance at the same, for the good purposes of union and general government." Thus the wall which had so long stood between the two great parties was effectually broken down; and though Provoost had sagacity enough to foresee this result, yet as late as February 24, 1789, he was still implacable; for, writing to his Episcopal brother in Philadelphia, and referring to Connecticut, he said: "An invitation to the Church in that State to meet us in General Convention, I conceive to be neither necessary nor proper; not necessary, because I am informed that they have already appointed two per- sons to attend the next General Convention, without our invitation; not proper, because it is so publicly known that they have adopted a form of church gov- ernment which renders them inadmissible as members of the Convention or union." The action previously described will prove how little regard was paid to his prejudices and personal dislikes. Bishop White shared with him in the convic- tion that they were both under implied pledges to the English prelates not to join in the act of consecration IN CONNECTICUT. 409 until there were three Bishops in this country of the AngUcan hue, — that being the canonical number of consecrators j but he did not share with him in his views of the validity of the Scottish Episcopacy. On that point he was entirely satisfied ; and if he did not attempt to remove the scruples of his stubborn brother, he certainly made the amiable effort to conciliate him, and brino: him into the current that was driftinq- them all towards union, peace, and love. No sooner had Bishop Seabury learned the proceed- ings of the Convention, and received the "truly re- spectable invitation" to be present at its adjourned meeting, than steps were taken to comply with the request. The second article of the General Constitu- tion had been so amended as to wholly remove his first and chief difficulty respecting Lay representa- tion, and that, too, upon the good and wise principle which he had himself laid down, namely, "that there may be a strong and efficacious union between churches where the usages are in some respects dif- ferent." A special Convention of the clergy of Connecticut was held in Stratfield, September 15th, 1789, to delib- erate upon the invitation fl'om Philadelphia. Dr. Leaming presided in the absence of the Bishop ; and the letters and papers relative to a general union having been read, it was voted, on motion of the Rev. Mr. Bowden, that the Convention would send cleiical delegates. The next day Hubbard and Jar- vis were chosen, and "empowered to confer with the General Convention on the subject of making alterations in the Book of Common Prayer; but the ratification of such alterations was expressly re- 410 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH served, to rest with the Bishop and clergy of the Church." The way was particularly smoothed for the cordial reception of the New-England delegates. The Rev. Dr. Smith offered the hospitalities of his house to the Bishop of Connecticut, and begged him to join the Rev. Dr. Moore of New York in making it his home during his stay in Philadelphia. Now that the way had been prepared by others, he could not do too much to further the grand scheme of perfect harmony and brotherly agreement ; and in communicating the action of the Convention upon the application of the Eastern clergy, he closed his letter to Bishop Seabury thus: "The College of Philadelphia have, on Dr. White's recommendation and mine, granted the degree of D. D. to the Rev. Mr. Bass and Mr. Parker, which we thought a proper compliment to the New-England churches. We are sorry we forgot to pay the same compliment to the venerable old Mr. Leaming, of the Connecticut Church. I hope he will accompany you to Philadelphia, and receive that compliment from us in person, if he has nowhere else received it before." ^ The Convention met, pursuant to adjournment, on the 29th day of September, and Bishop Seabury with the representatives of the clergy in Connecticut, and the Rev. Dr. Parker of Boston, attended and produced their official documents and testimonials. Some minds were still angry and unsettled, and a danger on the score of politics arose immediately upon their arrival. Bishop Seabury had been chaplain to a British regi- ment during the war; and the fact that he was now a pensioner of the Crown, receiving half-pay for his 1 He received it from Columbia College, N. Y., the same year. IN CONNECTICUT. 411 services, had come to the knowledge of certain Lay delegates who professed to entertain scruples in re- gard to the propriety of admitting him as a member of the Convention. But the mild and judicious reply of the Bishop of Pennsylvania to the only gentleman who approached him on the subject seemed to allay all uneasiness, and the objection was either withdrawn or not renewed. On the second day of the session, for the better promotion of union, it was resolved that the General Constitution established at the previous meeting was still open to amendment and alterations, by virtue of the powers delegated to this Convention; and a Committee, appointed to confer with the Dep- uties from the Eastern churches, after "a full, free, and friendly conference," reported their acceptance of the Constitution as already adopted, — provided the third article was so modified as to declare explicitly the right of the Bishops, when sitting in a separate House, to originate acts for the concurrence of the lower House, with a negative on its proceedings. The main point was readily conceded, and the other was made the subject of future determination. Bishop Seabury and the Clerical Deputies from New Eng- land assented in writing to the Constitution as thus altered and amended, — the third article of which re- quired that "the Bishops of this Church, when there shall be three or more, shall, whenever General Con- ventions are held, form a separate House." The requi- site number was now secured, though Bishop Pro- voost was absent, and the two Houses were estab- lished, and proceeded to the concurrent work of adopting a body of canons and revising the Book of Common Prayer. The primary rule laid down for 412 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the government of the House of Bishops was "that the senior Bishop present shall preside, — seniority to be reckoned from the dates of the letters of consecra- tion,"— a rule which gave the Presidency to the Bishop of Connecticut. To these two prelates, with different moulds of char- acter and opposite tendencies of thought, the Church in this country is chiefly indebted for the establish- ment of its order and worship upon a safe, sound, and permanent basis. The prevaiUng tone of sentiment in the Southern States, both as to doctrine and dis- cipline, was low and uncertain, while in Connecticut there was the strongest attachment to the old Lit- urgy, to the model of Apostolic order, and the distinc- tive articles of the Christian faith. Bishop White, with natural kindness of heart and a temper of mind leaning to those counsels which bore most faintly the impress of his own communion, might have consented to many of the changes and innovations marked out in the ritual of the "Proposed Book," had he not met in his associate counsellor a wise and vigorous resist- ance. They were precisely the men to bring together in. such an emergency; for, by their mutual conces- sions and forbearance in matters not essential, that happy mean betwixt too much rigidity in refusing and too much facility in yielding was preserved, and a result attained which for more than three quarters of a century has given rest and contentment to all shades of views embraced within the bosom of the American Episcopal Church. Their united and har- monious action turned aside every threatened danger. They took as their guides the old forms and offices; but Bishop Seabury advocated the introduction into IN CONNECTICUT. 413 the Communion Service of the prayer of oblation and invocation as it now stands, — a pra}'er which the Eng- Hsh reviewers had omitted from the Liturgy of Ed- ward the Sixth, but which he heartily desired to see restored, because he had adopted it in his own Diocese, and learned to appreciate it in his visit to the Bishops from whom he received his consecration. He was a conservative element in the Convention, and felt that "Scarcely with anything besides is the wellbeing of the Church bound uj) so closely as with the full or- thodoxy of its Liturgy." "To this day," sa^'s Bishop White, in the second edition of his Memoirs, published shortly before his death, "there are 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." The two Houses prosecuted the review of the Liturgy in the spirit of men who ex- pected the benediction of Heaven upon their labors, — the Bishops originating alterations in some services, and the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies propos- ing others. The result of the session, besides completing the general union, was the Book of Common Prayer as then established and now used; and there are con- stantly recurring evidences to illustrate its adapta- tion to the needs and necessities of "all sorts and con- ditions of men." It has gone where the voice of the living preacher had never been heard. It has spoken the story of redemption into the ears of thousands, and drawn them wdthin our fold, and given them the comfort of its worship and the support of its sacra- ments. While some of the Christian bodies about us 414 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH are feeling the want of our peculiar advantages, and sighing in private for Liturgical forms to give more attraction to public prayer and praise; wliile aca- demic institutions once wedded to a different practice now seek in dainty Rituals to guide the scanty devo- tion of the youths and make them mount up Avith wings as eagles; while all around there are voices that laud the majestic inheritance of our Liturgy, and the copious treasury of doctrine and sacred songs con- tained therein, let m hold fast to the Book of Com- mon Prayer, and cherish it, not only as the beautiful child of the Reformation, but as a precious legacy be- queathed to us by the men to whose wisdom we owe so much for settling, at a critical period, the doctrine, disciphne, and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Though the measures for union had all terminated happily, Dr. Bass declined the office to which he had been appointed, and thus those prelates who enter- tained scruples about proceeding to consecrate until another in the Anglican line should be present, were put to no further test. But some 3^ears afterwards he was again unanimously elected Bishop of Massachu- setts, and duly consecrated in Christ Church, Philadel- phia, May 7th, 1797. Fifteen clergymen, besides the Bishop, assembled in Convocation at Litchfield, on the 2d day of June, 1790, and, "by particular desire, attended divine ser- vice in the Presbyterian meeting-house," when the Bisliop ordained the Rev. Truman Marsh to the Priest- hood, and preached the sermon. The Rev. Dr. Leam- ing was placed at the head of a Committee to draw up rules and canons for regulating the discipline of IN CONNECTICUT. 415 the Chiirch in Connecticut, — the first time that any- thing of this sort had been attempted ; but the most important action was upon the Constitution and can- ons of the Church, formed by the late General Con- vention. These were read, and after a short examina- tion, the further consideration of them was postpioned until the last day of September, when the Convocation met by adjournment at Newtown, and eighteen of the clergy in the Diocese assembled with the Bishop. The question was put in these words: "Whether we confirm the doings of our Proctors in the General Convention at Philadelphia on the 2d day of October, 1789?" and it was decided in the affirmative by the votes of every member present, except the Rev. James Sayre. He entered his Protest against the proceed- ings, which, at his desire, was recorded, and the next day he withdrew and left the Convocation. It shows the extreme caution which was observed, that the mode of introducing the Constitution and Liturgy into the several parishes was left to the prudence and judgment of each clergyman. Uniformity in the use of the new Prayer Book was desirable, and for this purpose they agreed to approach as near the old Lit- urgy as a compliance with the rubrics of the new would allow. The Nicene Creed was read on Com- munion Sundays, and the Apostles' Creed on all other days. But the change from established customs is seldom easy; and whether the people loved to have it so or not, some of the clergy of that day never learned to carry out in full practice the literal mean- ing of the rubrical directions of the new Prayer Book. One noble soldier of the cross, "not yet fifty years 416 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH old," who had participated largely in the efforts to re- establish the Church in Connecticut, after the events of the Revolution, laid down his armor and went to his rest before the final results w^ere accomplished. The Rev. John R. Marshall died on the 21st of Jan- uary, 1789, m the eighteenth year of his ministry, and just as its richer fruits began to cheer his benev- olent heart. The venerable Dr. Leamiu"-, l^endino; under the weight of age and decrepitude, and fairly worn out in the service of the Church amid such disas- trous times, withdrew from the parish in Stratford, after having been in charge of it for six years, and retired for a season to New York. But he subsequently re- turned to Connecticut, and was received at New Ha- ven into the house of a former friend, whose kindness and protection he desired, and where he passed the remainder of his life, chiefly in the solitude of his own room, waiting patiently, like Job, "all the days of his appointed time till his change came." Whoever enters the old Cemetery in New Haven, and passes near the south-east corner, will find his humble grave ; and the epitaph upon the tombstone in this case tells no untruth when it says that he was "long a faith- ful minister of the Gospel in the Ej)iscopal Church; well instructed, especially in his holy office; unre- mitting in his labors; charitably patient, and of prim- itive meekness. His public discourses forcibly mcul- cated the faith illustrated by his practice. Respected, revered, and beloved in life, and lamented in death, he departed hence September 15, 1804, aged eighty- seven." The Church in Connecticut had now, as far as hu- man foresight could discern, passed through all the IN CONNECTICUT. 417 great perils which once threatened her peace and perpetuity. Her zealous Bishop was adding year by year to the list of his clergy more than death took away, and the care w^iich he used to advance none to the sacred office but fit and godly persons con- tinued to disarm prejudice of its power, and weaken the intolerance of sectarianism. As the pathway of the Lord amidst the mighty waters is secret, so is the presence of His blessed Spirit in the Church unseen but felt, — reviving love and purity, and giving life and strength, peace and advancement. 27 418 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XXXI. INTRODUCTION OF THE LAITY INTO THE COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH; COURSE OF THE REV. JAMES SAYRE; AND CONSE- CRATION OF THE FIRST BISHOP IN AMERICA. A. D. 1790-1792. A College of Doctors of Divinity was established by the Bishop and clergy of Connecticut, at the Con- vocation held in Newtown, to be considered as the Bishop's council of advice in any emergencies that might arise, and the Rev. Messrs. Dibblee, Mansfield, Hubbard, and Jarvis were the first four Doctors. The origin of this measure in our ecclesiastical pro- ceedings may be referred to Scotland, where the Bishops to this day never will recognize the honor of the Doctorate from any Presbyterian institution. Perhaps their feeling in regard to it springs from what was anciently an Episcopal prerogative, and of which traces are yet to be found in foreign universities. With a view to perpetuate this body, "the instal- ment of Doctors," never less than four nor more than six, unless by consent of the Convocation, was to be by "Diploma from the College of Doctors, and an- nounced in pubhc by the Bishop" at the next meeting. The publication of these acts was ordered at the time; but whether from the inexpediency or unpop- IN CONNECTICUT. 419 ularity of the thing in a Puritan land, where the Epis- copal prerogatives and dignity were still suspected, or because the Canons of the General Convention had provided for the appointment of a Standing Com- mittee to act as the Bishop's council of advice in each Diocese, we hear no more of this College of Doctors after the year 1792. However reluctant they might have been to assume the honor thus conferred upon them, they appear to have been a body of some ser- vice in those critical times. For when the Committee appointed in 1790, "to prepare Canons for the inter- nal government of the Church in Connecticut," made their report, it was ordered " that the Canons reported be revised and completed by the Bishop and the Col- lege of Doctors, and laid before the next Convoca- tion." Three of the "first four Doctors" had the honor confirmed, or rather conferred upon them at later dates, by the corporation of Yale College; and the remaining one, Mr. Dibblee, was doctorated by Columbia College, New York. The first Standing Committee, as required by a Canon of the General Convention, was appointed at a Convocation held in Watertown, October 5, 1791, and consisted of five members, all clergymen. From that day to this, with the exception of one year, Avhen the Diocese was under the provisional charge of Bishop Hobart, who was accustomed to a different practice in New York, the election of the Standing Committee in Connecticut has been restricted to the clerical order. At the same Convocation, — after the parishes, fol- lowing the lead of the clergy, had conformed to the use of the new Prayer Book, and acquiesced in the 420 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH general Constitution, — the first movement was made to introduce the Laity into the councils of the Church. The vote on the subject was very guarded, and to the effect that each clergyman should recommend to the people of his cure to choose one or more persons to represent them at a Convocation to be holden at the church in New Haven, on the 30th of May suc- ceeding,— "which representatives were to be consid- ered as a Committee of Conference with the Convo- cation, at that time and place, on all matters that respected the temporal interest of the Church." Another Convocation was held in the intemiediate time, as will be seen hereafter; but the primary "Con- vention of the Bishop, Clergy and Laiiij of the Protes- tant Episcopal Church in Connecticut," forty-four mem- bers in all, and twenty-four laymen, assembled in Trin- ity Church, New Haven, the first week in June, 1792, and the chief business of the session was to frame and agree upon an Ecclesiastical Constitution, "to be laid" in a printed form "before the several parishes in the Diocese for their approbation and adoption." But this was not the only important action taken previous to the adjournment. The lay members re- solved to send Delegates to the next General Con- vention, which was appointed to be held at New York; and accordingly they chose four and the clergy four, the full number of each order allowed to a Dio- cese or State. When the annual Convention met at Middletown, June 5th, 1793, twenty clergymen, besides the Bishop, were present, and twenty-one lay Delegates, the latter representing the Church in every county of Connect- icut. It appeared by the report of their doings, and IN CONNECTICUT. 421 by the certificates exhibited, that the Constitution had been fully approved and accepted by the majority of the parishes; but those in Litchfield, New Preston, Northbury, and Redding had acted upon it and only adopted it in part. They were urged to give it a second consideration, and make returns to the next annual Convention; and thus the Constitution was approved and became henceforth the law for the gov- ernment of the Church throughout the Diocese, ex- cept in one or two parishes where some dissatisfaction was still manifested. As yet, no definite provision had been made for the support of the Bishop. He was chiefly dependent upon his people at New London for the bread that maintained his family. A few of the parishes made him donations. Trinity Church, New Haven, in the autumn of 1785, directed the sum of ten pounds to be paid him; and two years afterwards a like amount was voted by the Vestry, provided, how- ever, that this donation should not be considered as a precedent for any future claims upon the parish by the Bishop. Steps were early taken by the Conven- tion to estabUsh a fund, and application was made to the General Assembly to incorporate a certain num- ber of Trustees for the purpose of recei\ing and hold- ing donations for the support of the Bishop ; but Sea- bury was in his grave before the prayer of the peti- tioners was granted. The Protest of the Rev. Mr. Sayre against the ap- proval of the proceedings of the General Convention in Philadelphia placed him in uncomfortable relations to his Bishop and brethren, and involved the parishes over which he presided for a time in perplexity and trouble. Since the resignation and retu*ement of Dr. 422 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Leamhig, at Easter 1790, he had been m charge of the Church at Stratford; and behig fresh in the field, and full of Christian earnestness, he gained an influ- ence over the people which he unhappily used to their disadvantage. He accompanied his opposition to the new Prayer Book and the General Constitution with much bitterness of feeling and personal abuse, — traits of character which he had shown at Newport, Rhode Island, where the displeasure of a divided parish fell ujDon him before he came to Connecticut, Speedy ef- forts were made by the Bishop and clergy to neutralize his influence, and bring the people under his care into harmonious action with the Diocese. At a Convoca- tion in East Haddam, February 15, 1792, this per- emptory vote was passed: "That unless the Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church in Stratford shall transmit to the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of Connecticut, within fourteen days after Easter Monday next, a noti- fication that the congregation of said Church have adopted the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as settled by the General Convention at Phil- adelphia in October, 1789, they (the congregation) will be considered as having totally separated them- selves from the Church of Connecticut." That godly man, the Rev. Mr. Shelton of Bridgeport, acting as Secretary to the Convocation, was charged with the duty of communicating this vote to the Church in Stratford. The counsels of Dr. Johnson, a layman worthy of the days of Ignatius and of Cyprian, appear not to have been very influential at this time, in the venerable parish which his father had gathered and served, and to which he had left a sacred legacy of peace and Christian moderation. But he had been IN CONNECTICUT. 423 largely occupied in his profession and in national affairs, and his duties had separated him from scenes of local interest. Besides, after the revival of Colum- bia College, which had fallen into decay during the war, he accepted the Presidency of that Institution, to which he was chosen m 1787, and removed to New York. He filled this station with great dignity and usefulness until 1800, when the infirmities of advanc- ing age compelled him to resign it, and he retired to his native village. In this connection it is proper to mention that he died at Stratford on the 14th of November, 1819, in the ninety-third year of his age; and his departure was soon followed by that of the venerable Dr. Mansfield of Derby, in the ninety- seventh year of his age, and the seventy-second of his ministry. Both these men, of varied and eventr ful experience, had lived to see the Church in Connect- icut carried through long periods of persecution, perD, and poverty, and finally settled in peace, and with cheering prospects, under the Episcopate of him^ around whose bier w^e have so lately gathered, and whose wise and paternal administration wiU ever live m the recollections of a grateful Diocese. But the parish at Stratford had a judicious adviser in the Kev. John Bowden. The loss or feebleness of his voice had obliged him to rehnquish the public ex- ercise of the ministry, and he removed with his fam- ily to Stratford,, as a suitable place to open and con- duct a school of a higher order for boys. Tlie ex- traordinary course pursued by Mr. Sayre, and the misapprehensions which he had been the means of I Right Rev. Thomas Church Brownell, D. D., LL. D. He died at Hartford, January 13th, 1865, and was buried Tuesday the 17th. 424 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH disseminating, forced him, in defence of himself and of the Church, late in the autumn of 1791, to prepare an Address to the people, which was afterwards printed and circulated in the parish. "Take, I beseech you," are nearly his first words, "what I shall say to you in good part. I do not mean to offend^ but to inform. Excuse the word inform. I do not use it from vanity, but from a conviction that you do not view the sub- ject in its true light; that you are not acquainted with the. principles and reasonings and facts by which the conduct of the Bishop and clergy of this State, in adopting the proceedings of the Convention, may be triumphantly vindicated. You ought, indeed, to have presumed that they acted upon the best reasons, and from the purest motives; for, let me say it, no body of clergy have ever given more clear and imiform proofs of their zeal for the Church than the clergy of Connecticut. I know them well; they are excel- lent men, too honest to sacrifice the Church to any worldly motive whatsoever, and too well acquainted with its constitution to be led into error unwittingly. You, I fear, have had them and their conduct held up in a very different light. God forgive those who have done them this wrong!" To the Address was appended "a Letter to the Rev. Mr. James Sayre," — the two making a pamphlet of thirty-nine pages; and in this Letter Mr. Bowden showed the violent spirit of the refractory clergyman, and his disregard of the peace, unity, and authority of the Church, endeavoring, as he had, both from the pulpit and in private, to impress the people with an idea that the Bishop and his clergy had subverted the foundations of faith, and opened the way for the in- IN CONNECTICUT. 425 troduction of dangerous heresies. "I am curious to know," said the writer, in conclusion, "what a man can say for himself who opposes the sense and author- ity of the whole Episcopal Church in America; who has led a congregation into a separation that must in a few years end in their ruin; who has, in a variety of instances, most shamefully misrepresented; who has treated his brethren with the utmost contempt, and poured upon them the most profuse abuse. You have, I know, sir, an excellent talent at coloring; but whether your colors will be fit for the public eye on this occasion, the trial alone can determine." Mr. Sayre finally withdrew from the unhappy con- troversy, after having been put under the ban of ecclesiastical censure, and denied by the clergy of the Diocese the use of their pulpits. The members of the parish, influenced b}^ better counsels, returned to their duty; and on the 1st of April, 1793, the Eev. Ashbel Baldwin, then of Litchfield, was in^dted to the Rectorship, which he accepted, — officiating two thirds of the time in Stratford, and devoting the remainder to the Church at Tashua. But Mr. Sa}Te sowed the seeds of discontent in an- other parish with which he had connection, and where the evil effects lingered longer. At AYoodbury the people were partial to his ministrations; and s^nnpa- thizing with him in his troubles, and believing in the sincerity of his course, they refused to adopt the Con- stitution of the Diocese, and thus became isolated and without pastoral care. For the clergy, at a Convoca- tion held in New Milford on the 25th of September, 1793, decided, that in the execution of their minis- terial office they could not pay any attention to them 426 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH until they acceded to the Constitution of the Church in Connecticut. The parish in Woodbury addressed a formal com- munication to the Bishop and clergy respecting their vote; but without answering it, at their next meeting in New Haven, June 5th, 1794, they appointed the "Rev. Messrs. Ives, Marsh, and Perry a Committee for the purpose of accommodating matters with the Epis- copal congregation at Woodbury, and reconciling them to a union with the Protestant Episcopal Church." In the fulfilment of their aj)pointment, this Committee met the people in their church on the 7th of the en- suing month, and suspending, for the time, the opera- tion of the original vote, went into a review of the Constitution, and exj)lained it in a manner so satisfac- tory that all former objections were removed, and the parish with great unanimity adopted it, and thus re- gained its old position in the Diocese. If Mr. Sayre had attached himself to the ministry of another de- nomination, he could have been of little service in it, for his mind was diseased, a fact hitherto unknown, and "actual insanity"^ terminated his life in 1798. He left in Fairfield, of which place his wife was a native, seven children, most of whom continued "zealous and useful Episcopalians." He was a brother of the Rev. John Sayre, the Missionary in that place when it was burnt by the British troops, and he appears to have had, like him, a very checkered history. He was educated to the law, and admitted to its practice at New York in 1771; but abandoning this profession, he entered the sacred ministry, and became a chaplain in one of the King's battalions. He resigned in 1777, 1 Hitchcock's History of the Church in Woodbury. IN CONNECTICUT. 427 "impelled by distress, severity of treatment, and by duty."^ The professors of the Church of England in Stratford and Milford, "having long been destitute of the regular administration of God's Avord and sacra- ments in the manner in which their consciences di- rected them to Avorship the Father of spirits," peti- tioned the General Assembly in 1782 for the favor of permitting Mr. Sayre, then at Brooklyn, Long Island, to come among them, and "preach on proba- tion for the space of three or four months, under such inspection and observation as their Honors should think proper;" but such had been his course during the war that the favor was refused. Not a ripple was now left upon the surface of the Church in Connecticut. All was peace. "Jerusalem was builded as a city that is compact together," and the united action and energy of the clergy and laity fore- tokened under God the blessing of "prosperity within her palaces." The care to admit to Holy Orders none but fit and godly persons; the watchfulness to preserve a body of ministers wdtli pure characters and strict devotion to their sacred office; the efforts to establish an Institution of classic learning, begun before the final settlement of the Church in the State, and which ended in the erection of the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire in 1795; the enlargement of the old churches and the buikling of new ones, and furnishing others with organs to make public worship more attractive and soul -inspiring; the Christian benevolence of the laity in thus giving for the house of God when their own dwellings were low and narrow ; the Missionary zeal of the clergy, their learning, their piety, their 1 Sabine, Vol. II. p. 265. 428 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH faith, their spirit of self-sacrifice, — all these are feat- ures which rise to view in contemplating the Church shaking herself from the dust, putting on her beauti- ful garments, and going forth into the waste places of the land to gather those who "with the heart believe unto ri2:liteousness and with the mouth make confes- sion unto salvation." A point in relation to the general interests of the Church must not be passed over without some notice. In the autumn of 1792 the second Triennial Conven- tion assembled in the city of New York, and Bishop Seabury, agreeably to a previous request, preached the sermon. Since the last meeting the House of Bishops had received an accession to its members. The Church in Virginia having elected the Rev. James Madison, D. D., to be their Bishop, he pro- ceeded immediately to England, and was consecrated on the 19th of September, 1790, by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of London and Roches- ter. Thus the scruples of the two American prelates, referred to in a former chapter, were set at rest, and the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country was furnished with three Bishops in the Anglican line of succession. The courtesies of private life are often interrupted by official acts; and the Bishop of Con- necticut had not exchanged visits with the Bishop of New York since the validity of the Scottish consecra tions had been called in question. But etiquette now required that he should wait upon him, and through the intervention of mutual friends the way was pre- pared, and Bishop Provoost received him civilly and gave him an invitation to dinner on the same day, which was accepted. IN CONNECTICUT. 429 But "there was another matter," says Bishop White, "which threatened the excitement of personal resent- ments." At the Convention of 1789 it had been es- tabUshed as a rule for the government of the House of Bishops that the senior Bishop present should pre- side,— seniority to be reckoned from the dates of the letters of consecration. But the two prelates, Pro- voost and Madison, now to sit for the first time in the House, were dissatisfied with this rule; and when Bishop Seabury became convinced that the object was not to exclude him from any share in the approach- ing consecration, he gracefully waived his right, and allowed the rule to be altered so as to give the Presi- dency in rotation, beginning from the north,^ and hav- ing reference to the last Convention. This made Bishop Provoost the presiding officer on the present occasion, and the consecrator of the Rev. Thomas John Claggett, D. D., who had been elected Bishop of Maryland; and the Deputies from that State now applied for his elevation to the AjDOstolic office. The four assembled Bishops joined in the solemn act on the 17th of September; and thus the English and Scottish lines of succession were blended in this first consecration of a Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church on the soil of America. Connecticut was represented in the General Con- vention of 1792 by two lay Delegates, and her influ- ence was felt in every important measure relating to the Canons, the Liturgy, or the Articles of religion. The American Church was at length complete in all its parts and functions, and able to expand itself as ^ The first rule was readopted in 1804, and has ever since been fol' lowed. 430 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH God might give it grace and opportunity. But no- where in our land were the parishes rising more rap- idly from the depressions consequent upon the Revo- lutionary War than in this primal Diocese. Her clergy at this period outnumbered those of her sister Dio- cese (New York); and at an ordination held in Mid- dletown on the 5th of January, 1793, six persons were admitted to the Diaconate and Priesthood, — among whom were the two Blakeslees, Burhans, Butler, and Charles Seabury, a son of the Bishop, all then, or sub- sequently, exercising their ministry in Connecticut. It is to be lamented that no complete record of the earliest confirmations is to be found. The number to whom Bishop Seabury administered the Apostolic rite must have been large, embracing not only the "suffi- ciently instructed" among the youth, but all the com- municants of the Church at the time of his first visita- tion. For there had been no opportunity in this coun- try to ratify and confirm baptismal vows, and persons, in the absence of a Bishop, had been admitted to the Communion upon their readiness and desire to be con- firmed. It was a fittino- reo-ard to historic associations that the first Episcopal visit should be made to the ven- erable parish at Stratford/ but we can find neither the names nor the number of those confirmed. A Com- mittee was chosen by the parish at Waterbury, May 1st, 1786, "to wait on the Bishop at Stratford, and desire him to visit them;" and he complied with their desire; and on the 1st day of October in the same year it is recorded that he confirmed in that parish two hundred and fifty-six persons. Mr. Hubbard entered in his Parochial Register the baptism of a child in Trinity 1 Paddock's Hist. Dis. Stratford, 1855, p. 35. IN CONNECTICUT. 431 Church by Bishop Seabiiry on the 4th of June, 1786; but no mention is anywhere made of the rite of Con- firmation. A third church, of wood, to take the place of that in which the venerated Beach had lifted up his loyal voice to the end of the Revolution, was finished at Newtown in 1792, and was long the largest house of Episcopal worship in the State. It is standing yet, in good condition, "an ensign on a hill;" and though sanctuaries have been built in the neighboring dis- tricts, and have gathered their attendants, still this is the Christian home on earth of a great multitude who arise at the sound of the "Sabbath bell" and move towards its hallowed portals, — " Till pressing thickly through the village street, Around the church from far and wide they meet." 432 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CHAPTER XXXn. INFIDELITY; THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EPISCOPAL ACADEMY OF CONNECTICUT; THIRD GENERAL CONVENTION; AND DEATH OF BISHOP SEABURY. A. D. 1792-1796. The frequent convocations of the clergy, sometimes three in a year, kept them informed of the state of the parishes and of the work which each was doing in the service of his Divine Master. Old prejudices against the Church, her forms, and her doctrines had not all disappeared, and it was needfid occasionally to defend her from unjust attacks, but the bitterness of former controversies was not revived. The battle now was rather of another kind. For upon our eman- cipation from the mother-country, everything seemed to be turned into a new channel, even thoughts and opinions. A body of speculators in morals, rehgion, and poUtics arose and threatened to entail mischief upon the rising generation. The school of French philosophers was just looked into, and in some places received with evident favor. "My own memory," said the late Chief Justice Church, in a centennial address delivered at Litchfield m 1851, "runs back to a divid- ing point of time, when I could see something of the old world and new. Infidel opinions came in like a- flood. Mr. Paine's *Age of Reason,' the works of Voltaire, and other deistical books, were broadcast, IN CONNECTICUT. 433 and young men suddenly became, as they thought, wiser than their fathers; and even men in high places among us here were suspected of infidel ojDinions. At the same time came the ardent preachers of Mr. Wes- ley's divinity, who were engaged in doing battle with Infidelity on the one hand, and Cahdnistic theology on the other." The Church, with her Liturgy and Order, was a power between these ''antagonistic forces and influ- ences." She advised and drew to "the old paths and the good way." She was a defender of "the faith once delivered to the saints." Built on "the founda- tion of the Prophets and Apostles, with Jesus Christ for the chief corner-stone," she spurned the teachings of infidel casuistry; and her clergy, finding access to the works of the best English Divines, learned to feed their flocks with food that nourished their souls and kept them from wandering into the dry pastures of doubt and speculation. It has been recorded of Bishop Seabury, that, as he approached nearer and nearer to the conclusion of his foithful ministry, he frequently directed the attention of his clergy and people to that mighty mystery of Faith — the Holy Trinity — which every true believer is required to keep "whole and undefiled." And when the question was put to him why he thought it needful to insist so much upon a doctrine whose importance was nowhere in the land, among professedly Christian men, doubted or denied, his reply contained a prediction, the fulfilment of which has passed into our religious history. "I seem to see," said he, "that a time will come when, in New England, this very doctrine, which now appears so safe, will be extensively corrupted and denied; and I, 28 434 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH would have it remembered that to the last I lifted up my voice in its defence." Nineteen clergymen and twenty-two laymen com- posed the Convention which met at New Haven in June, 1794. The chief business of the session was to mature the measures to establish the Episcopal Acad- emy of Connecticut, and renew the application to the General Assembly for an Act incorporating the Trus- tees of the Bishop's Fund. Though the laity had been admitted to a share in the councils and legislation of the Church, and worked harmoniously with the clergy in all that concerned its temporal and spiritual wel- fare, the Convocations were still appointed by the Bishop, and continued to be the source of plans and of discipline, and the agent for receiving, directing, examining, and approving candidates for Holy Orders. The manuscript record of the proceedings of this body is often fuller than the printed Journal of the Con- vention, and throws light upon points which would otherwise remain in obscurity. The clergy, at their meeting in the autumn of 1792, took the preliminary steps to revise the Articles of Religion in the English Prayer Book; and Bowden, Mansfield, Hubbard, and Jarvis were empowered to make the revision, and present it for their approval at the next Convocation. It does not appear what alterations they made; but their revision at the appointed time was examined, and, with a few changes, approved as far as to the seventeenth Article, — the consideration of which, with those that follow, was referred to a future meeting. Bishop Seabury had expressed his doubts, at the first General Convention in Philadelphia, about the expe- diency of having any Articles, beHeving that the Lit- IN CONNECTICUT. 435 urgy comprehended all necessary doctrine ; and whether in deference to his wishes or not, no further action, of which any record can be found, was taken in the matter during his Episcopate. He wrote a letter, in obedience to the wishes of the clergy assembled at Cheshire in November, 1794, ad- monishing the Rev. David Perry of Ridgefield for "his neglect to attend the meetings of his brethren, and on account of the apparent contempt" which he there- by threw on them and on his Bishop. He stated, in conclusion, that they "wished to inquire of him con- cerning several reports which were circulating in the country to his disadvantage as a clergyman, and unless he did attend on their next meeting, according to the notification of their Secretary, a suspension from his clerical office would be issued against him." The next meeting was early in the ensuing June, at Stratford, the time and place appointed for holding the Annual Convention of the Diocese. Mr. Perry appeared, and requested of the Bishop and his clergy "liberty to resign the pastoral charge of the parishes of Ridge- field, Redding, and Danbury, as well as to relinquish totally the exercise of the ecclesiastical function." His request was granted, and "the resignation of his Letters of Orders accepted;" and he returned to the practice of medicine, a profession which he had pur- sued previous to his ordination. Proper inquiries were made into the state of the cure thus vacated; and in due time, David Butler, who had "used the office of a Deacon well" in North Guilford, was trans- ferred to its charge. The Annual Convention in Stratford at this time numbered nineteen clergymen and twenty-three lay delegates. The proceedings were 436 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH mainly directed to the final establishment of the Epis- copal Academy, and to the subscription papers which had been issued for the purpose of raising a sufficient fund to carry it into operation. It was the first insti- tution of the kind strictly belonging to the Church in New England, and one of the first in the country; and the agenc}^ of the Rev. Eeuben Ives was probably beyond that of any other man in securing its location at Cheshire. The care which was shown in "framing a code of laws for its temporary government, and also in forming a constitution upon the most liberal and beneficial plan," proved that it was the design to erect it into a College; and under Bowden, its first honored and accomplished Principal, chosen by the Convention, that design was fostered and ripened ultimately into repeated applications to the General Assembly for an enlargement of its charter to colle- giate poAvers. In the autumn of 1795 the third General Conven- tion assembled in Philadelphia, but no representation from Connecticut appeared. Three clerical and three lay delegates had been chosen by the last Diocesan Convention, but not one of them was present, and their absence may have been due to some cause be- sides positive inconvenience. Bishop Seabury forwarded a communication to Bishop White, respectfully and affectionately com- plaining of an encroachment upon his Episcopal pre- rogatives within the limits of Rhode Island, where he had jurisdiction. The congregation of Narragansett had attached itself to the Church in Massachusetts, and the clergy of that Commonwealth had proposed to the Bishop of New York to ordain a clergyman IN CONNECTICUT. 437 for the parish, and he had yielded without consulting the authority of the Bishop of Connecticut. It was a needless official act; and when Bishop Provoost was informed of the complaint, he admitted the impro- priety of individual parishes pursuing such a course, and favored a canon, which was prepared and adopted at that very session, "to prevent a congregation in any Diocese or State from uniting with a church in any other Diocese or State." This was entirely satisfactory; but there was an- other matter which would have been a source of irritar tion had it not been promptly suppressed by the action of the Convention. A jDamphlet, lately published, en- titled "Strictures on the Love of Power in the Prel- acy. By a Member of the Protestant Episcopal Asso- ciation in South Carolina," was "a libel against the House of Bishops," and principally levelled at the Bishop of Connecticut. The author of this libellous pamphlet was present, being a member of the Conven- tion; and steps were taken to expel him, which would have been successful had he not fled for shelter to the House of Bishops. Through the intervention of the President of that body, (White,) he made an ample apology for his misconduct; but while he was saved from expulsion, which he deserved, he "gave subse- quent evidence that his professed penitence was in- sincere, although it had been accompanied by a pro- fusion of tears." The clergy of Connecticut, fifteen in number, met in Convocation at Bristol, (East Plymouth,) on the 21st of October, when the Bishop consecrated a new church by the name of St, Matthew's, and admitted the Rev. Mr. Griswold, so long the venerated Bishop 438 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH of the Eastern Diocese, to the Holy Order of Priests. That was his last ordination; but the next day the clergy assembled, pursuant to adjournment, in the adjoining town of Harwinton, where he consecrated another new church by the name of St. Mark's. At the recent General Convention a canon had been adopted empowering the Bishop in each Diocese or District to set forth forms of Prayer or Thanksgiving for extraordinary occasions ; and Bishop Seabury was now "requested to compose two Collects for the use of the clergy in this State, — one to be used at the sitting of the General Assembly, and the other to be used at the Courts." It was a good fashion which called in those days for such a provision. The Gen- eral Assembly still entertains a lingering respect for it, and invites some clergyman to officiate at the open- ing of its daily sessions, but the Courts in Connecti- cut, judging from the custom of the present day, have ceased to believe in the efficacy of prayers. This was the last gathering of the clergy under the eye of their beloved prelate, and these were his last official acts in Connecticut of which there is any rec- ord. Late in the month of February, 1796, "Mr. Jarvis of Middletown was sitting before the fire," so says an eye-witness, "his wife near him, engaged in some domestic employment, and his little son playing about the room. A messenger entered with a letter sealed with black wax, and handed it to Mr. Jarvis in silence. He opened it, and his hand shook like an aspen leaf His wife, in great alarm, hastened to him, and his son crept between his knees and looked up inquiringly into his face. He could not speak for some minutes. At last he said, slowly and convul- sively, 'Bishop Seabury is dead!'" IN CONNECTICUT. 439 The event came to him with great suddenness on the 25th of February, when he had passed three months beyond the eleventh year of his consecration, and nearly as many months be^^ond his sixty-sixth birthday. Up to that moment of time he had been in the enjoyment of a good degree of health, and his robust and vigorous constitution indicated no symp- toms of early dissolution. He had spent the after- noon of the day of his death m visits to several of his parishioners, and just as he was leaving the tea- table of a Warden of his parish, whose daughter his son Charles had married, he was seized with apo- plexy, and being laid upon a bed, soon expired. It was a departure which he had always desired rather than deprecated ; for in using the petition in the Lit- any to be ''delivered from sudden death," he is said to have excluded all reference to himself, and to have thought only of what most men in the busy scenes of life are quite unfitted to welcome. Though he had lived long enough to leave the im- press of his noble and decisive character upon the Church in Connecticut, yet here and in Rhode Island^ his death was tenderly mourned, and his loss was a severe affliction to his infant communion in America. He was a man for the times, far-reaching in his views, of a bold and resolute spirit, and "better acquainted than any of his coadjutors with those guiding principles which were then especially required." If he had not the lenity and moderation of White, he had the mag- nanimity and courtesy of a Christitm gentleman, and knew when firmness was a duty and concession a vir- tue. If he had not the classic taste and elegant scholar- 1 Appendix C. 440 HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ship of Madison, he had stores of sacred learning, and a mind to use them, and a power "in the performance of his official functions to inspire universal reverence." On the great festivals of the Church, and on all high occasions, he wore the Mitre, which is now deposited in the Library of Trinity College at Hartford. He also wore at times the hood, the badge of a Doctor's degree. Commanding in person, graceful in manner, though with little action, and perspicuous and com- pact in his style, he was a preacher to impress truth upon the hearts of an audience ; and his published dis- courses are still referred to and commended for their doctrinal soundness, and for the proofs which they supply of his thorough earnestness in the work not only of bringing men into the path of salvation, but of building up "the body of Christ, which is His Church." A successor^ in the Rectorship of the parish which he served, and who has had opportunities of gathering up reminiscences of his life, characterizes him as "unit- ing dignity with condescension, and ease with gravity. He was an admirable companion, a hearty friend, a generous opponent. The poor, and men of low estate among his parishioners, loved his memory. And men of all creeds, where he dwelt, held him in esteem and reverence." The unpretending wooden church which he conse- crated, and where he ministered before the Lord, has given way to a noble structure of stone, with massive walls and towering spire, with gorgeous nave and rich adornments of chancel; and long before its completion it was a natural feeling of the churchmen of Connect- icut that its first Bishop should have his resting-place 1 Rev. Robert A. Hallam, D. D. IN CONNECTICUT. 441 witliin those sacred courts which must hi all time to come be associated with his blessed memory. When, therefore, he had lain in his grave for more than half a century, his remains were disinterred in the autumn of 1849, and deposited in a crypt prepared for their reception in one of tlie divisions of the chancel of St. James's Church; and a monument, erected at the joint expense of his Diocese and his parish, tells the hum- ble worshipper in that sanctuary, and every inquiring visitor, that there finally his dust reposes, waiting for "the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." The pious apostrophe which fell from the pen of the writer who recorded the death of Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, will fit his case, and appropriately con- clude this chapter. "Be thou thankful to God for giv- ing His Church so worthy an instrument to His glory, and be careful to follow the good doctrine which he left behind him." APPENDIX. APPENDIX A. Mr. Cutler acted as resident Rector for several months before rcmovino; his family to New Haven. The first town- meeting in Stratford to consider his removal was helcl July 31, 1719, and tlie people were again convened on the 21st of September for the same purpose. His letter of resignation, copied from the town records, is as follows : — "Stratford, Sept. 14, 1719. " Brethren and Friends, — " I hope I have with seriousness and solemnity cons^idered tlie in- vitation made to me for a removal from you to the collegiate school at New Haven, and can look upon it as nothing less than a call of Providence, which I am obliged to obey. " I do, therefore, by these lines give you this signification, giving you my hearty thanks for all that respect and kindness I have found with you, and praying God abundantly to reward you for it, and discharging yoi; from any further care about my temporal support from the date of this letter forever, and praying you to apply your- selves with all convenient speed to the settling of another minister with you. I intend, if it be not unacceptable to you, to visit you and take my farewell of you as soon as I can conveniently on some Lord's day after my return from Boston, where I am now going, if it please God. When I am bodily absent from you, my affHotinn shall per- severe towards you, and my hearty desires and prayers shall be to God for you, that he would preserve you in His favor, and in peace among yourselves ; direct your endeavors for the settlement of an- other to break the bread of life with you, and make your way pros- perous, and abundantly make up my removal from you by his gifts and his painful and successful endeavors for the good of your souls and your children after you. " Thus I leave you to the care of the great Shepherd of the sheep, always remaining an earnest well-wLsher to your souls and all your concerns. Timothy Cuti.kr." 446 APPENDIX. Extracts from the Records of Yale College. "At a meeting of the Trustees, Sept. 9, 1719 : — " Ordered, that Mr. Samuel Andrew, Mr. Samuel Russell, and Mr. Thomas Ruggles or any two of them do pray the next General Assembly to grant such sums of money to the Trustees of College as may enable them to remove the Rev. Mr. Cutler from Stratford to the place of Rector of this College vv'hereunto he hath been chosen. " Ordered, that Mr. Joseph Webb, Mr. Thomas Ruggles, and Mr. Samuel Russell or any two of them do write in our name to the town of Stratford, signifying our acceptance of the town offer con- cerning the removal of Mr. Cutler, and that they do it according to their own viz. said Webb's, Russell's, and Ruggles's proposals made s** town : also we order and impower the above persons to purchase of Mr. Cutler his house and home lot at Stratford, that it may be returned to Stratford, and (if Mr. Cutler seeth it needful) they are desired to be helpful to him in laying out the moneys for his accom- modation in New Haven, and all to be done at the College charge. " Ordered, that Mr. Cutler's family and goods be removed from Stratford to New Haven at the charge of the College. " Ordered, that Rev. Mr. Samuel Andrew, Samuel Russell and Thomas Ruggles do adjust the account which is due to Mr. Johnson for his service in the College, and order him what shall be due out of the Treasury, with our particular thanks for his good service, and that £3 be ordered him for his extraordinary service. " April 20, 1720. " We agree to give the Rev. Mr. Timothy Cutler one hundred and ninety pounds current money of this Colony or Bills of credit passing in the same for his house and home lot in Stratford." APPENDIX B. The following letter, copied from the original draught of the Rev. Dr. Johnson, and addressed to President Clap, con- tains very important statements. It has not, to our knowl- edge, before appeared in print : — APPENDIX. 447 " Stratford, Feby 5, 1754. "Rev? & D? s?,— " Tho' I am but in a poor condition for writing, I can't forbear a few lines in answer to yours of Jan^ 30th. " I thank you for your kind congratulation on my being chosen President of their intended College at New York, and I shall desire by all means, if I undertake it, to hold a good correspondence not only as Colleges but as Christians, supposing you and the Fellows of your College act on the same equitable, catholic, and Christian prin- ciples as we unanimously propose to act upon, i. e., to admit that the children of the Church may go to church whenever they have oppor- tunity, as we think of nothing but to admit that the children of Dis- senting parents have leave to go to their meetings ; nor can I see anything like an argument in all you have said to justify the for- bidding it. And I am prodigiously mistaken if you did not tell me it was an allowed and settled rule with you heretofore. "The only point in question, as I humbly conceive, is, whether there ought of right to be any such Imv in your College as, either in words or by necessary consequence, forbids the liberty we contend for ! "What we must beg leave to insist on is. That there ought not ; and that it is highly injurious to forbid it ; unless you can make it ap- pear That you ever had a rigid to exclude the people of the Church belonging to this Colony, from having the benefit of Public education in your College, without their submitting to the hard condition of not being alloived to do what they believe in their conscience, it is their indispensable duty to do, i. e., to require their children to go to church whenever they have opportunity, and at the same time a right to accept and hold such vast benefactions from gentlemen of the Church of Eng- land, wherewith to support you in maintaining such a law in exclu- sion of such a liberty. Can you think those gentlemen would ever have given such benefactions to such a purpose ! And ought it not to be considered at the same time that the parents of these children contribute also their proportion every year to the support of the College? " Your argument in a former letter was, That it is inconsistent with the original design of the founders, which was only to provide ministers for your churches. But pray, Sir, why may not our Church also be provided for with ministers from our common College as well as your churches ? And ought not the catholic design of the principal benefactors also in strict justice to be regarded, who, in the sense of 448 APPENDIX. the English Law, are to be reckoned among the founders? See Viner, on the title Founders. What Mr. TaWs views were, I had not opportunity of knowing, though, doubtless, they were the same that we suppose. But I was knowing to Bp. Berkeley's, which were, that his great Donation should be equally for a common ben- efit, without respect to parties. For I was myself the principal, I may say in effect the only person, in procuring that Donation, and with those generous, catholic, and charitable views ; though you, (not willing, it seems, that Posterity should ever know this,) did not think fit to do me tlie justice in your History of the College, (ihough hum- bly suggested,) as to give me the credit of any, the least influence on him in that nffair ; when the truth is, had it not been for my in- fluence it would never have been done, to which I was prompted by the sincere desire that it should be for a common benefit, when I could have easily procured it appropriated to the Church. But at that time 3Ir. Williams also pretended a mighty catholic charitable conviction that there never was any meaning in it: it being at the very same juncture, that he with the Hampshire ministers, his father at the head of them, were, in their great charity, contriving a letter to the Bishop of London by means of which they hoped to deprive all the church people in these parts of their ministers, and them of their support ; the same charitable aim that Mr. Hohart and his friends are pui-suing at this day ! And now you. Gentlemen, are so severe as to establish a law to deprive us of the benefit of a public education for our children, too, unless we will let them, nay require them to go out of our own houses, to meeting, when there is a church at our doors. " Indeed, Sir, I must say, this appeais to me so very injurious, that I must think it my duty, in obedience to a rule of the Society, to join with my Brethren in complaining of it to our superiors at home, if it be insisted upon ; which is Avhat I abhor and dread to be brought to ; and, therefore, by the love of our dear country, (in which we desire to live, only upon a par with you, in all Christian charity,) I do beseech you. Gentlemen, not to insist upon it. Tell it not in Gath ! much less in the ears of our dear mother-country, that any of her daughters should deny any of her children leave to attend on her worship whenever they have opportunity for it. Surely you can- not pretend that you are conscience bound to make such a law, or that it would be an infraction of liberty of conscience for it to be re- pealed from home, as you intimate. This would be carrying matters APPENDIX. 449 far indeed. But for God's sake, do not be so severe to think in this manner, or to carry things to this pass ! If so, let Dissenters never more complain of their heretofore persecutions or hardships in Eng- land, unless they have us tempted to think it their principle, that they only ought to be tolerated, in order at length to be established, that they may have the sole privilege of persecuting otliers. But I beg pardon and forbear ; only I desire it may be considered, how ill such a principle would sound at this time of day, when the universal Church of England as much abhors the persecution of Dissenters as they can themselves. It may also deserve to be considered that the Government at home would probably be so far from going into the formality of repealing tliis law, that they would declare it a nullity in itself; and not only so, but even the corporation that hath en- acted it ; inasmuch as it seems a principle in law that a corporation cannot make a corporation, nor can one be made without his majes- ty's act. See Viner, under the titles Corporation and By-Laws. " You mistake me, Sir. I did not say that Professors of Divinity do not preacli. I knew they and the Heads, &c., do preach in their turns at the common church, to which all resort to sermon. But what I say is, that they do not preach as Professors, nor do they ever preach in private Colleges, there being no such thing as preaching in the College Chapels, but only at St. Mary's and Christ Chvrch, which are in effect Cathedrals, where the scholars resort, but not exclusive of the town's people, tho' they generally go to their parish churches. " I wonder how you came to apprehend I had any scruples about the divinity of Christ. I am with you, glad we agree so far; and I would desire you to understand, that my zeal for that sacred Deposi- tum, the Christian faith, founded on those principles, a coessential, coeternal Trinity, and the Divinity, incarnation, and satisfaction of Christ, is the very and sole reason of my zeal for the Church of En"-- land, and that she may be promoted, supported, and well treated in these countries ; as 1 have been long persuaded that she is, and will eventually be found, the only stable bulwark against all heresy and infidelity which are coming in like a flood upon us, and this, as I apprehend, by reason of the rigid Calvinism, Antinoraianism, enthu- siasm, divisions, and separations, which, through the weakness and great imperfection of your constitution, (if it may so be called,) are so rite and rampant among us. ]\Iy apprehension of this was tho first occasion of my conforming to the Cliurch, (which has been to my 29 450 APPENDIX. great comfort and satisfaction,) and hath been more and more con- firmed by what has occurred ever since. And I am still apt to think that no well-meaning Dove that has proper means and opportunity of exact consideration, will ever find rest to the sole of his foot amid such a deluge, till he comes into the Church as the alone ark of safety, — all, whose Articles, Liturgy and Homilies taken together and explained by one another, and by the writings of our first Reformers, according to their original sense, shall ever be sacred with me ; which sense, as I apprehend it, is neither Calvinistical nor Arminian, but the golden mean, and, according to the genuine meaning of the Holy Scriptures in the original, critically considered and understood. I beg pardon for this length, which I did not design at first, and desire you will also excuse my haste, inaccuracy, and this writing currente calamo, and conclude with earnestly begging that neither your in- sisting on this law nor anything else, may occur to destroy or inter- rupt our harmony and friendship, with which, on my part I desire ever to remain, " D-- S' " y. real /riend " and humble servant, " S. Johnson. " P. S. — I wish you to communicate it to the Fellows." APPENDIX C. Correspondence between the Standing Committees of Rhode Island and Connecticut. "Newport, March 29th, 1796. " To THE Standing Committee of the Prot. Episc Church in the State of Connecticut. " Gentlemen, — " Duly impressed with a grateful sense of the blessings enjoyed by the Prot. Episc. Church, in the State of Ehode Island, in common with those in the State of Connecticut, during the Episcopal Regency of our departed Rt. Rev**. Diocesan, we conceive it our duty at this time to join with you in paying our tribute of Regard to the memory of our worthy Bishop, and to call upon you for a continu- APPENDIX. 451 ance of our common ecclesiastical interest and Dioce>enal unity. And, as it hath pleased the adorable Head of the Church to call hence our visible centre of vmity, we have to request you, to use your best endeavors and influence with the churches which you rep- resent, that they lose no time in making choice of a suitable person to watch over the Doctrines, Discipline and Institutions of our faith and common salvation. " From the paucity of our congregations, we pretend not to any share in your election ; only to be admitted, so far do we request, as to homologate your choice, and to give our adjunct suffrage and recommendation in favor of the elect, whom ye, under the direction of Almighty God, may judge worthy of filling the P>piscopal chair. " And may God of His infinite goodness and love for His Church, direct us in all things for the good of the same ; that His Name may be glorified, and the number of the faithful daily increased and re- joice in the salvation of Jesus. " We are. Gentlemen, with every sentiment of respect and esteem, and with prayers for your temporal and eternal happiness, your most affectionate and very humble servants, the Standing Committee of the Prot. Episc. Church in the State of Rhode Island. " WiLLiAJi Smith, RecL Tr. G. N. Port. " ROB^ N. AUCHMUTY. " Abra". L. Clarke, RecC. St. Johns Ch'h Providence. "John J. Clarke." To the above letter, copied from the original in the hand- writing of Dr. Smith, the first signer, whose peculiar marks of authorship it bears, the following answer was returned, in the autumn, by the Standing Committee of Connecticut. " To the Protestant E. Church in the State of Rhode Island. " Gentlemen, — "Your polite and friendly Letter of the 29th of March last was received by us in due time. The occasion of your address was truly a melancholy one. The sudden departure of our late worthy Dio- cesan cast a gloom upon the minds of his numerous acquaintances, and especially upon the members of his cure. We were happy in being favored with so good a man to fill the Episcopal chair ; and we sin- cerely lament the great lo>s we have sustained. "The delay in answering your Letter until this time did not arise 452 APrENDix. from any inattention to the subject. But we concluded that we should be better able to comply with your request after the meeting of our Convention than before. At that meeting your Letter was read, the members unanimously expressed their wishes that the union between the Church of Rhode Island and Connecticut which had taken place under the regency of our late Rt. Rev^ Diocesan might still be continued. The event of our meeting must, ere this, have been made known to you by the Rev**. Mr. Smith. We trust that our unanimous choice of the Rev*^. Mr. Bowden will meet the approbation of our sister Church of Rhode Island. Mr. Bow- den's well known abilities and integrity, if he accepts the appointment, will, we trust in some measure, repair the loss we have sustained, and be a means of continuing and firmly establishing that Diocesenal unity which has been so happily begun between us. That God would preserve, bless, and direct His Church in all things, and finally receive us into everlasting glory, is the earnest prayer, of. Gentlemen, "Your most affectionate and very humble " Servants." LIST OF SOME OF THE AUTHORS AND SOURCES OF INFOR- MATION CONSULTED OR REFERRED TO IN THE PREP- ARATION OF THE FOREGOING WORK. Abstracts from the Proceedings of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Anderson's History of tlie Colonial Church. 3 vols. London, 1856. Bacon's Historical Discourses. New Haven, 1839. Bancroft's History of the United States. 8 vols. Boston, 1839-60. Berrian's Ilislory of Trinity Church. New York, 1847. Bolton's History of the Church in Westchester County. New York, 1855. Botta's History of the American War. 2 vols. New Haven, 1842. Boucher's Discourses on the Causes and Consequences of the Ameri- can Revolution. London, 1797. Bronson's History of Waterbury. Waterbury, 1858. Burnet's History of His Own Times. Carwithen's History of the Church of England. 2 vols. Oxford, 1849. Caulkins's History of New London. New London, 1852. Chandler's Life of Johnson. New York, 1805. " Appeal to the Public, etc. 1767-1771. And Dr. Chauncey's replies. Chauncey's State of Religion in New England. Boston, 1743. Church Documents, Connecticut. 2 vols. New York, 1863. Churchman's Magazine, from 1804 to 1827. Clap's Annals of Yale College. New Haven, 1776. Collections of the Protestant Episcopal Historical Society. 2 vols. New York, 1851-52. Colonial History of New York. 10 vols. Albany, 1856. Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of Connecticut. New Haven, 1861. 454 LIST OF AUTHORS Controversial pamphlets in reference to the Church, from 1734 to the American Revolution. Dr. Trumbull's History of Connecticut. 2 vols. New Haven, 1813. Documents and Memorials in the State Libi-ary at Hartford. Hallam's Constitutional History of England. 3 vols. Boston, 1861. Hawkins's Missions of the Church of England. London, 1845. Hawks's Ecclesiastical Contributions. Virginia, 183G. « " " Maryland, 1839. Hildreth's History of the United States. 3 vols. First Series. New York, 1854. Hopkins's Puritans and Queen Elizabeth. 3 vols. Boston, 1859. Humphrey's History of the Propagation Society. London, 1730. Johnson MSS. Journals of General Convention, from 1785. Journals of Convention of Diocese of Connecticut, from 1792. Judge Church's Address at the Centennial Celebration in Litchfield, 1851. Kingsley's Historical Discourse. New Haven, 1838. Lathbury's History of the Book of Common Prayer. London, 1859. Macaulay's History of England. New York, 1849. Manuscript Records of Convocation. Massachusetts Historical Collections. Different series. Mather's Magnalia, 2 vols. Hartford, 1855. Minutes of the Convention of Delegates fiora the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, and the Associations of Connecticut, from 1766 to 1775. Hartford, 1843. Neal's History of New England. 2 vols. London, 1748. " History of the Puritans. 2 vols. New York, 1843. New Haven Colonial Records. 2 vols. Hartford, 1857. Oliver's Puritan Commonwealth. Boston, 1856. Palfrey's History of New England. 3 vols. Boston, 1858. Poor's English Civilization in America. New York, 1 862. Quincy's History of Harvard University. 2 vols. Boston, 1860. Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolution. 2 vols. Boston, 1864. Stinner's Annals of Scottish Episcopacy. Edinburgh, 1818. Sparks's Life of Washington. 12 vols. Boston. " Life of Franklin. 1 vol. Boston, 1844. Stephen's History of the Church of Scotland. 4 vols. London, 1843. REFERRED TO IN TinS WORK. 455 Stiles's Literary Diary and Itinerary. MS. Yale College. Stone's Life and Times of Sir William Johnson. 2 vols. Albany, 1865. Updike's History of the Narragansett Church. New York, 1847. Vaughan's History of England under the House of Stuart. 2 vols. London, 1840. Wilberforce's History of the American Church. New York, 1849. WLnthrop's History of New England. 2 vols. Boston, 1853. Woolsey's Historical Discourse, Yale College. New Haven, 1850. INDEX. Abbot, Archbishop, 5. Aberdeen, 361, 363, 365, 368. Act of Assembly, N. Y., 178. Act of Toleration, 16. Adams, John, 291, 334, 341, 396. Address to Bishop Seabury, 368. Africans, 186. " Age of Reason," 432. Albany, 156, 272. Allen, 149. Ailing, Enos, 171, 172, 224, 227, 228. Aliington, 271. Amboy, 205. America, 1, 8, 14, 18, 27, 45, 47, 76, 82, 102, 120-122, 134, 1.59, 184, 229, 232, 243, 245, 252-254, 261, 263, 290, 299, 302, 304, 341, 350, 400. " America Dissected," 85. American army, or forces, 305, 309, 328, 342. American Bills, 299. American Church, 79, 381, 412, 429. American Clerg3', 317. American Colonies, or provinces, 76, 144, 247, 252, 264, 265, 340, 342. American Episcopate, 101, 159, 184, 196, 199, 239, 243, 253, 257-259, 261-266, 282-284, 289, 290, 301, 346, 348-350, 357-365, 370, 381, 390, 398. American Independence, 171, 291, 331, 353, 362. American Indians, 186, 261. American Loyalists, 313, 351-353. American people, or public, 299, 315, 335, 343. American Prelates, 428. American Revolution, 361. " American Whig," 259. Anderson, 77,267, 339. Andrew, Rev. Mr., 38. Andrews, Rev. Samuel, goes to Eng- land for Orders, 204 ; sent to Wal- lingford, 206, 236 ; visits New Hamp- shire, 271; mention of, 292, 346; placed under bonds, 317 ; removes to New Brunswick, 354, 355. Anne, Queen, 26, 76. Annual Convention in Connecticut, 420, 435. Annual Report, First, of Propagation Society, 230. Antinoniianism, 239. Aplin, John, 273. Apostles' Creed, 394, 395, 415. " Appeal to the Public," 2-56. Apthorp, Rev. East, 228, 230, 234. Archbishop of Canterbur}', 121, 144, 198, 210, 216, 254, 358, 396, 428. Archbishop of York, 348-350, 358, 389. Arian or Socinian errors, 193. Aristocles to Anthades, 137. Arniinian corruptions, 42, 195. Arminians, 140. Arnold, Benedict, 337, 383. Arnold, Rev. Jonathan, 110 ; goes to England for Orders, 111 ; attempts to get the Gregson land, 113-115; removes to Staten Island, 116, 117; occasional notices of, 130, 168-171, 227. Articles of the Church, 3, 194, 434 Astry, Dr., 114, 137. Athanasian Creed, 381, 395. Atlantic, 51, 228, 269, 361, 400. Auchmuty, Rev. Dr., 250. Auchmuty, Robert N., 451. Autobiography of Rev. Dr. Johnson, 179, 296. B. Babylon, 120. Baldwin, Rev. Ashbel, ordained, 370; sent to Litchfield, 383; Rector at Stratford, 425. Bangorian controversy, 80. Baptism, cross in, 4. Baptists, 14, 71. Bass, Rev. Edw.ard, 393, 403 ; Bishop Elect of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 405 ; doctorated, 410. Bast wick, 6. Beach, Rev. Abraham, 270. 458 INDEX. Beach, Rev. John, Independent Min- ister at Newtown, 58; declares for Episcopacy, 89 ; goes to England for Orders, 90; Missionary in New- town and Redding, 90 ; mentions of, 92, 95. 9G, 110, 110, 130, 141, 158, 188, 189, 211, 239, 346 ; engaged in controversy, 97, 98, 173-175, 193, 194, 228; reports to Society, 192, 202, 241, 248, 250, 298 ; opinion of Chandler's Life of Johnson, 296 ; intellectual strength, 297 ; under bonds, 309; spirit and firmness, 319 ; last letter to Society, 329, 330 ; death, 331. Beach, William, 95, 158, 216. Bearcroft, Dr., Ill, 116, 133, 185, 188. Beardsley, John, Jr., 56. Beardsley, Rev, John, 204, 206, 235, 270. Bedford, 142, 153. Belden, Rev. David, 386. Berkeley, Dean, arrival at Newport, 76; charter for college at Bermuda, 77; composes "Minute Philoso- pher," 78; faithlessness of Wal- pole, 78 ; return to Great Britain, 79; made Bishop of Cloyne, 80; Anniversary Sermon, 80, 81 ; dona- tions to Yale College, 82, 84, 448 ; letters to, 110, 115, 130, 178; letter from, 182. Berkeley, Rev. Dr., his son, 290, 299, 361. Bermuda, 76, 78-80. Bethany, 324. Bishop of Bangor, 189. Bishop of Connecticut, 302, 399, 422, 428, 437. Bishop of Gloucester, 101, 121, 122. Bishop of LandafT, 114, 256-2-58, 261. Bishop of London, 19, 45, 47, 49, 57, 69, 78, 134, 136, 160; letters from, 164 ; addresses to, 250, 282. Bishops, Diocesan, 283. Bishops in America, 76, 229, 267, 350. Bishops in London, meeting of, 393. Blakeslees, 430. Bliss, Kev. John, 100. Bonticou, Timothy, 224, 227. Book of Common Prayer, 13, 16, 31, 64, 96, 132, 167, 373," 380, 381, 390, 409, 411, 413,415. Boston Colony, 19. Boston, 1, 9, 13, 18, 41, 46, 51, 95, 123, 141, 188, 219, 307, 373. Bostwick, Rev. Gideon, 272, 293, 306, 346. Bowden, Rev. John, one of a Com- mittee to revise the Prayer Book, 373 ; Rector at Norwalk, 385, 409 ; Address to the Parish at Stratford, 423-425; one of a Committee to revise the Articles, 434 ; Principal of the Episcopal Academy, 436 ; Bishop Elect of Connecticut, 452. Braintree, 145, 219. Branford, 158, 161, 167, 170, 172, 198, 223, 237, 385. Bridgeport, 154, 173. Bridges, Rev. Christopher, 24. Bristol, Ct., 293, 397, 437. Bristol, R. L, 47. Britain, 4. British army, or forces, in America, 227, 305, 311, 324, 341. British Colonies, or provinces, 17, 353, 356, 367. British Crown, 76, 229, 351, 355, 410. British Government, 304, 310, 341, 352, 363. British Ministry, 302, 336. British officers, 324. British Parliament, 244, 247. Bronson, Rev. Tillotson, 386. Brook Haven, 60. Brooklyn, 273, 281. Brown, Rev. Arthur, 272. Brown, Rev. Daniel, 28, 30 ; appointed tutor in Yale College, 33 ; declares for Episcopacy, 38 ; resigns his tu- torship, 42 ; embarks for England, 43 ; ordained by the Bishop of Nor- wich, 47 ; death, 48 ; occasional no- tices of, 49, 51, 54, 64. Brown, Rev. Isaac, 87. Brownell, Bishop, 423. Buckingham, Stephen, 40. Bulkley, Mr., 39. Bunker Hill, 313. Burhans, Rev. Daniel, 430. Burke, 352. Burlington, N. J., 252. Burnet, Bishop, 7, 35. Burr, John, 154. Burton, 6. Burton, Rev. Daniel, 253. Butler, Bishop. Sermon of, 356, 357. Butler, Rev. David, 430, 435. Byram River, 73. Cabinet, British, 341, 365. Calvinism, 126, 205, 449. Cambridge, Mass., 22, 123, 230. Camp, Rev. Ichabod, 159, 161, 164, 173, 190, 197. INDEX. 459 Canada, 250. Caner, Elizabeth, 65. Caner, Henry, 64. Caner, Kev. Henry, 60, 64 ; embarks for Entrlancl,G6, 69; extent of labors, 73 ; visits England for his healtli, 101-103 ; mentions of, 104, 110, 120, 130, 153, 154, 169; removal to Bos- ton, 143. Caner, Rev. Richard, lay reader, 130 ; Missionary at Norwalk, 138 ; re- moval to Staten Island, and death, 139. Canons, 402, 419, 429. Canterburv, Arclibishop of, 121, 358, 389, 396", 398, 428. Canterbury, Ct.,274. Canterbury, Enjj., 44, 45, 184, 299; See of, 348 ; Dean of, 364. Carlcton, Sir Guy, 227, 341, 351, 356. Caroline, Queen, 79. Cathedral at Canterbury, 44. Chandler, Rev. T. B., goes to Eng- land for Orders, 159; mention of, 163, 196 ; letter to Society, 243 ; to Johnson, 252, 253 ; " Appeal to the Public," and defence of, 256-261, 264 ; life of Johnson, 296 ; flight to England, 302; named for Bishop, 356 ; return to America, 377. Charles I., 4, 5, 13. Charles II., 10, 13, 16. Charleston, 121, 122. 124. Charlestown, R. I., 167. Chatham, 280, 397. Chauncey, Dr. Charles, 231, 256-261. Chauncey, Rev. Mr. Israel, 40. Cheshire, 129, 164, 197, 206, 236, 270, 273, 397 ; academy at, 427, 435. Chestnut Ridge, 55, 68. Church in Connecticut, 23, 60, 74, 90, 92, 94, 235. 247, 296, 310, 345, 356, 376, 383, 401, 410, 439 ; progress of, 396, 416, 422, 423 ; canons or con- stitution of, 419, 426 ; influence of, 433. Church of England, 3, 7, 10, 12, 15 ; members or professors of, 17, 19, 33, 53, 68, 74, 87, 90, 99, 103, 107, 118, 129, 153, 163, 165, 168, 173, 175, 202, 240, 242, 271, 320, 354, 427; Liturgy of, 21, 55; tribute to, 31 ; missionaries of, 32, 293, 325, 347 ; prayers of, 34 ; conversions to, 39, 89, 111, 132; mentions of, 25, 41-44, 49, 52. 59, 62, 65, 73, 84, 95, 120, 126, 148, 179-181, 224, 249, 251, 265, 449; bishops and clergy of, 46, 125, 137, 253; bishops of. 381; clergy of, 72, 92, 107, 182, 801 ; opposition to, 67, 127, 176 ; parishes of, permitted, 70 ; defence of, 96-98, 173, 230-233 ; families of, 103, 161, 272; doctrines or worship of, 108, 112, 273, 390; progress of, 141, 192, 275, 298; laity of, 266; friends of, 283. Church Hierarchy, 260, 291. Church in Rhode Island, 450-452. Church, Samuel, Chief Justice of Connecticut, 432. Church and State, 4, 11, 13, 242. Church of Rome, 29. Churchmen, 14. Claggett, Rev. Thos. J., D.D., conse- crated Bishop, 429. Clap, President, 82, 83, 130, 147, 182, 195, 446. Claremont, 272. Clarke, 80. Clarke, Rev. Abraham L., 451. Clarke, John J., 451. Clarke, Rev. Richard S., 270, 346, 354. Clergy of Connecticut, 101, 111, 115, 134, 151, 154, 156, 159, 169, 197, 204, 208, 243, 272, 276, 306-308, 312, 336, 339, 345 ; choose a Bishop, and send him for consecration, 347-351, 360- 363, 374 ; convention of, 250, 277, 282, 318, 323, 346, 359, 368, 409, 421, 434, 435. Clergy of New Jersey, 257. Clergy of New York, 257, Cleveland, Rev. Mr., 186. Clinton, Sir Henry, 337, 341. Colchester, 39, 280. Cole, Samuel, 273. Collier, Sir George, 824. Colman, Benjamin, 41. 84, 123. Colonial Church, 45, 50, 294 ; history of, 77. Colonial Government, 70. Colton, Rev. Jonathan, 163, 164. Columbia College, N.Y., 178, 410,423. Columbus, Christoplier, 1. Commencement at Yale College, 32, 65, 167, 255, 368. Commission Court and Star-Cham- ber, 5. Commissioners of Charles II., 16. Committee of Inspection, 309 ; of Vig- ilance, 316. Commons, House of, 77. Communion Office, 388, 413. Concordate, 368, 388. Confirmation, rite of, 252, 430, 431. Congregational associations, 147, 255, 261, 283, 286, 288, 460 INDEX. Congregational Clnirches, 17, 72. Congregational Ministers, 89, 50, 67, 95, 98, 104, lOG, 119, 123, 146, 278, 313. Congregational Order, 11, 16. Congregational Society in New Lon- don, 323. Congregational Society in North Strat- ford, 142. Congregational Society in Stratford, 21. Congregational Society in Waterbury, 131. Congregationalism, 42, 84, 110, 131, 140, 154, 159, 195, 274. Congregationalists, 22, 26, 28, 63, 70, 73, 95, 182, 138. 143, 147, 155, 176, 181, 193, 201, 215, 230, 255. Congress of tlie Colonies, 239, 311, 315, 322, 330, 333, 341-343, 351, 363. Connecticut, Coinicil of, 311, 312. Connecticut churchmen, 61, 290, 331, 338, 340, 383, 441. Connecticut clnirches closed, 318 ; churclies in, 388. Connecticut, General Assembly of, 10, 16, 25, 29, 39, 67, 71, 86, 91, 101, 106, no, 131, 140, 165, 166, 171, 280, 302, 311, 318, 344, 353, 384, 421, 427, 434. Connecticut River, 9, 74, 236, 280, 397. Connecticut, History of, 2, 104 ; its settlement, 9; its cliarter, 10; col- ony of, 12, 17, 19, 42, 84, 87, 98, 112, 116, 129, 153, 176, 207, 263, 265, 346 ; people, 20, 85 ; mentions of, 52, 62, 81, 100, 105, 128, 131, 143, 157, 172, 212, 292, 408, 415 ; parishes in, 91, 103, 139, 383, 397 ; laymen of, or laity in, 119, 380, 420; commissary for, asked, 134-136 ; Tories in, 309 ; missionaries in, 177, 189, 317, 332,' 866 ; State of, 359 ; Bishop of, 399, 402, 405, 412, 418, 422, 428, 487 ; courts in, 438. Consociation of New Haven county, 194. Continental Congress, 304, 309, 320. Continental Fast, 304. Continental representation of Church, 374. Convention of delegates, Presbyterian and Congregational, 255, 283-286, 288 29 1 Convention, General, 375-382, 389- 396, 403-415, 419, 429, 434, 436-438. Convocation, 373, 401, 414, 415, 418- 420, 422, 425, 434, 435, 487. Cooper, Rev. Dr. Myles, 261, 302. Cornwall, 190, 200, 201. Cornwallis, Lord, 341. Court of Chancery, 280. Coventry, 261. Cranmer, 31. Cromwell, Ohver, 13, 98, 117. Cutler, Rev. Timotliy, minister at Stratford, 22 ; removal to Yale Col- lege, 23, 446 ; conferencs in library, 32 ; conversion to Episcopacy, 37-39 ; defence of Episcopacy, 41 ; removed from his office, and embarks for England, 43 ; ordained, 47 ; visits the Universities, and ♦.octorated, 49 ; returns to America, and is stationed at Boston, 51 ; death, 52; mentions of, 86, 87, 89, 188; letter of, 146; letter of resignation, 445. Cyprian, 422. D. Dana, James, 194. Danbury, 68, 211, 212, 271, 328, 435. Davenport, Christopher, 12. Davenport, James, 125, 137. Davenport, Rev. John, 9, 12, 13. Davenport, John, minister at Stam- ford, 40. Davies, Rev. Thomas, 204, 205, 237, 292. Davies, John, 141. Dean, Rev. Barzillai, 143. Deane, Silas, 311. Dean's farm, 83. Declaration of Independence, 311, 315, 323, 389. Declaratory Act, 246. De Lancey, Lieutenant-Governor, 178. Delaware, 390, 392, 393. Delft Haven, 1. Derby, 112, 118, 128, 136, 157, 162, 190, 198, 238, 271, 809, 882, 386, 423. Derry, Dean of, 76. Dibblee, Rev. Ebenezer, goes to Eng- land for Orders, 155 ; Missionary at Stamford and Greenwich, 155, 173, 189, 211, 212; letters to Society, 251, 300; mentions of, 346, 365, 884, 418 ; doctorated, 419. Dickinson, Jonathan, 94, 97, 98, 137. Dickinson, Moses, 174. Diocesan Bishops, or Episcopacy, 283, 284. Dissenters in England, 16, 193, 283, 284, 449. INDEX. 461 Dissenters in America, 41, 105, 117, 180, 2G2, 208. Dissenters in Newtown, 75, 174. Dobbs, Governor, 197. Doblois, Mr. Gilbert, 189. Doctors of Divinity, college of, 418, 419. Doolittle, Isaac, 171, 172, 224, 227. 324. Diiche', Rev. Jacob, 398. Duke of Newcastle, 2(57. Dummer, Jeremiah, 35. Durliam, 28(J. Ducliess County, 277. Dutcli Reformed, 269. Dutch, the, 8, 9. E. Earl of Thanet, 45. Eastcliester, 185. Easter meetings, 324. Eastern Colonies, 146. Eastern Diocese, 4.38. East Haddam, 1(57. 422. East Haven, 223, 225, 397. East Jersey, 18. East Plymouth, 397, 398, 437. Eaton, Tlieophiiiis, 12. Edward VI., 3, 413. Edwards, Jonathan, 123, 124, 260. Eliot, Jared,28, 42. ElizalK-th, Queen, 2, 4. Elizai)tthtown, 243, 255, 283, 296. Endicott, John, 1. England, Ri-formation in, 3, 8 ; men- tions of. 7, 9, 11, 23. 43, 46, 49, 64, 66, 69, 80, 87-92, 105, 111, 114, 117, 122, 130, 15.5, 168, 183, 184, 196, 197, 207, 208, 225, 228, 212, 244. 252, 254, 260, 265, 269, 293, 360, 365, 369, 381 ; prime minister in, 77 ; laws of, 129, 226, 299, 448 ; Rrimate of, 256, 266, 390; lossof Colonies, 268; war with other nations, 336; legacies in, for American Episcopate, 345, 357 ; Bishops of, 389. English Bishops, or prelates, 144, 362- 364, 390, 391, 393-395, 407, 408. English Church, 4, 8, 16, 83, 302. Englisli Clergy, 317. " English Consecrate," 400. English Hierarchy, 232. English Protestants, 3. English Reformers, 3. English Theology, 35, 45, 61. Episcopacy, 10, 13, 21, 22, 29, 30, 39, 49, 62, 66, 58, 62, 66, 72, 86, 89, 91, 94, 97, 100, 118, 126, 128, 132, 144, 154, 157, 160, 172, 174, 176, 181, 205, 212, 214, 210, 220, 280, 282, 313, 349, 361-364, 397. Episcopal Academy, 427, 434, 436. Episcopal Church, 21, 38,93, 104, 154, 230, 278, 287, 373-375, 382. 416, 425. Episcopal clergy, 13, 43, 65, 85, 151, 159, 169, 173, 182, 195, 233, 255, 401. Episcopal controversv, 30. Episcopal families, 103, 172, 182, 221. Episcopal Orders, or ordination, 36, 38, 40, 60, 147, 201, 360, 370. Episcopal parishes, 07, 84, 91, 110, 306, 388. Episcopal Regency, 450. Episcopal students, 181, 182, 231, 447, 448. Episcopal separation in New Eng- land, 173, 195. Episcopalians, 57, 70, 72. 73, 84, 142, 154, 189, 197, 201, 238, 278, 286-289, 291, 362, .384, 426. Episcopate, 47, 50, 252, 256, 2-58, 263, 266-268, 291, 349, 362, 370, 373, 377, 389, 390, 396, 403, 406. Europe, 14, 47, 79, 80, 336. Europeans, 163, 186. Evans, Rev. Evan, 23. Fairfield; churchmen in, 21, 23, 53, 66-60, 66, 102 ; their trials and pe- titions, 59, 67-71 ; church built, 58, 64; mentions of, 92, 101, 129, 139, 143, 153, 169, 173, 189, 231, 242, 277, 288, 426 ; larger church built, 103, 118; town and church burnt, 324-327 ; church rebuilt, 384. Fairfield County, 73, 212, 238, 289. Fairfield, North, 211, 325, 384. Fanning, Colonel, 306. Federal Constitution, 403. Fellows of Yale College, 181, 447, 450. Flushing, L. I., 32.5. Fogg. Rev. Daniel, 281, 318, 346, 355. Fort Griswold, 337, 338. Fort Trumbull, 337. Fowle, Rev. John, 156, 173, 189. Foxcroft, 95. France, 4. 142, 336. 341, 342. Franke, Professor, 121. Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, 178, 242, 340-342. Freethinkers, 179. French court, 340. French, the, 8, 76, 192. 462 INDEX. French War, old, 189. Future punishment, 193. General Constitution of the Church, *214, 381. General Court, 9, 25, 56, 227, 262. General Gage, 311. General Putnam, 318. General Tryon, 309, 324-328, 383. General Warren, 313. Genevan scheme, 4. George II., 77. George III., 319, 336. Georgia, 121, 243, 380. Gerr3% Elbridge, 334. Gibbs, Kev. AVilliam, 143, 162, 190, 208. Gibson, Bishop, 50, 78, 86, 267. Giles, Mr., 254. Gold, Hezekiah, 127. Gold, Nathan, 56, 67. Goodrich, Rev. Elizur, 286, 289. Gordon, Rev. Patrick, 18. Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 8. Graliani, John, 95, 96. Grammar School, 303. Granby, 397. Graves, Rev. Matthew, 159, 160 ; let- ter to Bishop of London, 163, 164; opposes memorial of churchmen, 166; letters to Society, 209, 235, 280, 282; separation from his peo- ple, and death, 321-323 ; mentions of, 339, 346. Great Barrington, 205, 293, 306, 346. Great Britain, 244, 246, 283, 300, 315, 318, 320, 362, 366, 369. Green, Dr., Bishop of Norwich, 47. Greenwich, 142, 155, 162, 209. Gregory, Nazianzen, 93. Gregson land, 171. Gregson, Thomas, 168, 224-227. Gregson, William, 114, 115, 168, 170, 224. Griffith, Rev. David, President of Convention, 389 ; Bishop Elect of Virginia, 395; death, 406. Griswold, Rev. Mr., 437. Groton, 84, 86, 127, 206. Griimm(m's Hill, 327. Guilford, 34, 141, 158, 161, 162, 166, 167, 172, 198, 209, 223, 269, 270, 275. Guilford, North, 142, 270. Gunn, Nathaniel, 92. H. Halifax, 243. Hamden, 289, 397. Hampton Court, 49. Hart, John, 28, ?>0, 42. Hartford, 25, 208, 219, 279, 311, 318, 440. Hartford County, 278. Hartford jail, 163, 316. Hartley, Mr., 341. Harvard University, 36, 63, 86, 123 143, 147, 156, 188, 194, 230, 281. Harwinton, 397, 438. Hawkins, Rev. Ernest. 252. Hawley, Capt. Jehiel, 190. Heathcote, Caleb, 19-21, 24, 26, 55, 62. Hebron, 99, 118, 133, 161, 164, 207, .306. Hedge, Lemuel, 313. Henipstead, L. I., 100, 143, 310. Henrietta Maria, 4. Henry the Great, 4. Herbert, George, 34. Higginson, 119. History of the Colonial Church, 77. History of New England, 6, 14. Hobart, Bishop, 297, 419. Hobart, Noah, 81, 173, 195, 231, 448. Hodges, Dr., 296. Holbrook, Capt. John, 308. Holland, 342. Hollis, 41. Hopkinson, Francis, 389. Hopkinton, 113. Hubbard, Rev. Bela, goes to Eng- land for ordination, 210; opens tho church at Milford, 238 ; removes to New Haven, 269, 270; letters to Society, 275, 292 ; mentions of, 303, 323, 324, 346, 355, 359, 367, 409, 418, 430, 434 ; opens the church at Beth- any, 398. Hudibras, 114. Humphrey, Rev. D., 8. Hunter, Governor, 25, 177. Huntington, 53, 189. Huntington Bay, L. L, 327. Ignatius, 422. Independence, American, 171, 247, 264, 291, 342. Independency, 7, 177. Independent ministers, 57, 74, 96, 123, 132, 248. INDEX. 463 Inrlepcndents, 7, 33, 56, 70, 89, 232, 312. Indians, 9, 90, 91, 174, 186, 187, 192, 229. 263, 280. 297. Inglis. Rev. Cliarles. 114; letter of, 316. 318, 350 ; his losses, 356 ; Bish- op of Nova Scotia, 357. Ireland, 76, 80, 361. Ives, llev. Keuben, 386, 397, 426, 436. J. James I., 2, 4, 8. James II., 362. Jarvis, Hev. Abraham, 197 ; goes to England for ordination, 210 ; ex- tract from letter to the Society, 276. 277 ; presides at Convention in New Haven. 318 ; Secretary of Convention, 347-350, 355, 359. 367 ; one of a committee to alter Prayer Book, 373 ; elected to proceed to Scotland for consecration. 399 ; Del- egate to the General Convention, 409; doctorated, 418, 419 ; one of a committee to revise the Articles, 434 ; mentions of, 323, 346, 438. Jay, John, 341. Jeanes, William, 25, 53. Jew, 69. Jewel. 441. Johnson, Rev. Samuel, 28, 30, 32-36; goes to England for ordination, 43, 47. 49; returns to America, 51; Missionary at Stratford. 52-54 ; his trials and labors, 56-60 ; reports to the Society. 64-68, 74 ; visits to Dean Berkeley at Newport, and intimacy with him, 81-84 ; minis- trations in several places, 85. 87, 89, 92 ; drawn into controversy, 94- 96 ; letter to him from the Bishop of Gloucester, 101 ; inquires about Whitcfield, 105; memorial to the General Assembly. 110-112 ; letters about Mr. Arnold. 114-118; per- sonal character. 126-128; White- field and his influence, 130-133; selected for Commissary in Con- necticut, 134-136 ; receives from Oxford the degree of D. D., 137 ; pleads for an American Episcopate, 142, 144 ; letters to the Society, 148, 149, 157, 163, 166. 177, 197, 205, 208, 209, 221, 237-239. 269; letters to the Bishop of London, 152, 164; baptisms in New Haven, 168: an- other controversy, 174 ; President of King's College, 178-183; death of his younger son, and letters about him. ] 84-186; preface to sermon. 193; letters to Archbishop Seeker. 196. 198, 204, 210, 229, 243, 254. 255; preaches at Convention in Ripton. 212; death of his wife, and return to Stratford, 216-218; succeeds Mr. Winslow. 220; let- ter to Franklin, 242; counsels Dr. Chandler, 257, 201 ; death, 293, 294 ; Autobiography, and Chandler's Life, 296, 297; gratuity from Yale Col- lege, 446 ; letter to President Clap, 447. Johnson, Dr. William Samuel, lay reader, 162; special agent to Eng- land, 263 ; correspondence with his tiather about American Bishops, 204-266 ; with Bishop Lowth and Dr. Berkeley, 290. 291 ; reception at Stratford, 294; chairman of committee, 305 ; his course in re- gard to the Revolution, 311 ; Dele- gate to the Convention for framing the Federal Constitution, 403 ; Pres- ident of Columbia College, 423 ; retirement to Stratford, and death, 423. Johnson, Rev. William, 183, 185. Johnson, Sir William, 258. Judea, 190. K. Keith, Rev. George, 18, 20, 252. Kent, 190. Kilgour, Robert, Bishop of Aberdeen, 363. King and Royal Family, 316, 318, 336. King, Archbishop, 35. King, prayers for, 318-321, 325, 331. King's Chapel, 143. King's College. 178, 261, 269. King's Farm. 179. King's troops. 300, 343. Kingsbridge, 306. Kitts, St., 76, 79. Kneeland, Rev. Ebenezer, assistant minister at Stratford, 269, 295 ; suc- ceeds Rev. Dr. Johnson, 297; his death, 317 ; mention of, 346. Knox, General, 334. 464 INDEX. Labarie, Dr. James, 56. Laity, 233, 377, 378. Lainberton, George, 225. Lambeth Library, 267. Lambetli Palace, chapel of, 396. Lamson, Rev. Joseph, assistant min- ister at Kye, li2; Missionary at Fairfield, 153-155, 173, 189; letter to Society, 242; death, 277. Land Records, 169. Landing Place, Norwich, 141. Latimer, 31. Laud, Arclibishop, 5, 6. Lanrens, Henry, 341. Law, Jonathan, 140. Lay delegates, 406, 409, 411, 413, 420. League, New England, 14. Leaming, Rev. Jeremiah, mentions of, 156, 157, 279, 3-50, 355, 3-59, 409, ■ 410, 414, 422; letters to Society, 213, 241, 251, 328; funeral sermon, 295; treatment, 316 ; chosen Bisliop, 347,399; preaches Convention Ser- mon, 370 ; letters to Bishop White, 376, 403; death, 410. Ledyard, 100. Legislature, Lower House, 107, 305, 311. Legislature of Connecticut, 106, 311, 397. Legislature in Massachusetts, 262. Legislature in Virginia, 262. Leighton. 6. "Letter to a Friend," 256. Le.xington, 299, 311. Leyden, Pilgrims of, 1, 7. Liberty, Sons of, 316, 319. Libraries of the clergy, 277. Library, Trinity College, 440. Library, Yale Colleare, 28, 29, 32, 34, 35, 41, 64, 80, 82, 220. Lincoln, See of, 50. Litchfield, 141, 161, 173, 203, 205, 220-223, 237, 273, 281, 293, 329, 414, 421, 42.5, 432. Litchfield County, 190, 191, 200, 201, 204, 237, 397. Liturgy of the American Church, 373, 379, 381, 382, 395, 413-415, 429, 433. Liturgy of the Church of England, 3, 17, 31, 5.5, 58, 92, 97, 102, 141, 152, 156, 179, 194, 199, 236, 312, 315, 318-321, 325, 355, 375, 388, 391-393, 400, 413, 450. Livingston, William, 114, 179, 257, 259 Lloyd, 149. London, 12, 18, 41, 44, 50, 80, 116, 133, 135, 168, 232, 262, 267, 286, 289, 351, 358, 365, 398. Long Island, 60, 100, 148, 305, 310, 348. Lords in Council, 263. Lords, House of, 246, 353. Lords of Trade and Plantations, 259. Lowth, Bishop, 266, 290, 294. Loyal American Regiment, 306. Loyalists, 327, 335, 342, 343, 351, 352, 355, 356. Lyman, Mrs., 303. Lyons, Rev. James, 136, 157. M. Macaulay, 7. Maclcintosh, Sir James, 79. Madison, Rev. James, Bishop of Vir ginia, 428, 429, 440. Maine, 14. Malbone, Godfrey, 273-275, 281. Manhattan, 9. Mansfield, Lord, 246. Mansfield, Rev. Richard, Missionary located at Derby, 148, 156, 162, 173, 190, 271 ; tour of, 272 ; mentions of, 292, 346, 355, 434; loyalty and flight, 308-310 ; chosen Bishop, 399 ; doctorated, 419 ; death of, 423. Mansfield, Stephen, 224. Marsh, 148. Marsh, Rev. Truman, 414, 426. Marshall, Rev. John R., goes to Eng- land for Orders, and Missionary at Woodbury, 269, 271, 329, 346 ; del- egate to Convention, 374 ; death of, 416. Mason, 263. Mass ]\Ianual, 96. Massachusetts, 10, 14, 36, 52, 84, 10-5, 123, 143, 255, 292, 311, 346, 351, 374, 403, 404. Massachusetts Bay, colony of, 1. Massachusetts, Church in, 405, 436. Mather, Cotton, 12, 39, 225. Mayhew, Dr. Jonathan, 228-234. McKenzie, Dougal, 103. Medulla and Cases of Conscience, 183. Memoirs of Protestant Episcopal Ch., 349, 413. Meriden, 206, 397. Methodism, 142, 158. Middle Haddam, 280, 397. Middle States, 376. Middletown, churchmen in, 141, 161, 166; church built, 159, 167, 173, INDEX. 465 277 ; Church in, 237, 348 ; conven- tion in, 370, 373, 376, 379, 'SW, 420 ; ordination in, 383, 4o0 ; mentions of, 157, lt)4, 190, 197, 288. MillorJ, 112, •2iiii, 270, 427. Millington, lb7. Miner, Air. Kichardson, 142, 155. Ministry, Rritisii, 2tJ4, 267, 286, 363. " Minute Pliilosopher," 78. " Minutes of Convention," 288. Mission at Bristol, K. I., 47. Missionaries in Connecticut, 55, 74, 85, 88, 110,112, 119, 143, 151-153, 177, 186, 189, 199, 207. 235, 239- 242; condemnation of, 127; more wanted, 129; convention of, 213, 214 ; born in the colony, 249 ; pleading for an Episcopate, 264; fidelity of, 268, 2;i2, 293 ; resident, 271; bound by their oaths, 315; confined to their nii.-sions, 317 ; loy- alty of, 332; jjloomy prospects of, 345; withdrawing to British prov- inces, 354. Missionaries in New England, 114, 260, 283, 288, 289. Missionary College, 79. Mitre, 440. Mix's Lane, 167. Mohcgans, 186, 187. Moore, Kev. Benjamin, 350, 373. Moravians, 144, 250. Morehouse, Lemuel, 90. Morris, Rev. Theophilus, 117, 128, 130, 132, 135, 136, 143. Mosely, Rev. Richard, 281. Moss, Josepii, 40. Muirson, Rev. George, 20, 23, 24, 55. N. Narragansett, 85, 436. Naugatuck, 92. Neal, Daniel, 6, 14. Newark, 116. New Britain, 317. New lirunswick, N. J., 374. New Brunswick, province, 354. Newburgh, 277. New Cambridge, 293, 397. New Concord, 272. New England, 44, 45, 61-68, 72, 86, 104, 105, 113, 120. 122, 125, 134, 150, 151, 1.38, 242, 218, 251, 256, 338, 367. New England, colonizing of, 4, 7, 8. New England churches, defence of, 261. New England colleges, 147, 230. 80 New England, Congregational minis- ters in, 50, 313. New England, Independents in, 312. New England people, 302. New England Puritans, 14. New England States, 312, 380, 399, 407, 411. New England Theology, 194. New Hampshire, 255, 271, 272, 292, 379, 386, 404, 405, 407. New Haven, 33, 64-66, 75, 83, 113- 11.5, 124, 140, 167, 171, 206, 220- 228, 237, 269, 289, 325, 416, 445, 446 ; General Assembly in, 107, 138, 302, 303, 359; churchmen in, 118, 148, 149, 172, 275; Churcli in, 161, 176, 198, 292, 367, 421 ; church built, 173, 182; convention in, 193, 270, 318, 323, 420, 434 ; convocation in, 373, 380, 426. New Haven, Colony of, 10, 12, 225. New Haven Countv, 146, 168, 19.5, 198, 397, New Jersey, 24, 94, 98, 137, 318, 374, 377, 392' New Lights, 126, 140, 147, 194. New London, visited, 18, 74 ; church built, 60, 85, 92; churchmen in, 84, 86, 99, 161, 165 ; mentions of, 136, 163, 235, 288, 321-323, 367; con- vention in, 113; church burnt, 337; rebuilt, 383 ; consecrated, 398. New London County, 100. New Milfbrd, 141, 189, 190, 203, 204, 237, 270, 272, 288. 293, 425. Newport, 77, 81, 273, 274, 422, 450. New Preston, 421. Newton, Rev. Christopher, 189, 199, 211, 346, 355; death, 397. Newtown, churchmen in, 53-58, 98, 175, 192, 239, 275, 278, 289, 298, 319, 330 ; services in, 68, 75 ; mentions of, 173, 174, 188, 189, 250, 271, 295, 386; church built, 89-92; second church built, 139; third church built, 431; Tories in, 309; convoca- tion in, 415, 418. New World, 62, 362, 432. New York, province or colony of, 19, 20, 74, 75, 85, 101, 143, 1.56, 200, 212, 304, 318, 352 ; provincial congress of, 305 ; city of, 26 52, 122, 124, 136, 178-181, 185, 240, 254, 2-56, 322, 324, 328, 337, 341, 346, 347, 385, 403, 416, 423, 426, 447; State of, 351, 374, 392,398,419; Diocese, 430; clergy of, 356, 404; Bishop of, 395, 399, 428, 436. New York Gazette, 259. 466 INDEX. Nicene Creed, 381, 395, 415. Nichols, Rev. James, 293, 346, 354. Niles, Samia'I, 145. Norfield, 139. North America, 291. Northampton. 124. Northbury, 131, 132, 293, 421. North Carolina, 197, 281, 381. North-Castle, 142, 153. Northern Clergy, 315. Northern Governments, 179. North Fairfield, 211, 325, 384. Northtiehl, 397. North Groton, 86, 91, 100, 118, 126, 438. North Haven, 49, 113, 129, 131, 168, 198, 206, 236, 289. North Miltbrd, 113. Norton, William, 85. Norwalk, Congregational minister at, 40,174; churchmen in, .53, 68, 155; lay reading, and church built, 102, 104, lib, 130, 138, 139, 213; town and church burnt, 327, 346 ; church rebuilt, 384. Norwich, desires a Missionary, 100 ; church built, 141, 161, 186 ; ser- vices in, 160, 167 ; mentions of, 209, 235, 270, 273, 274, 288, 320, 337 Norwich Town, 187. Nova Scotia, 352, 353, 355-357. O. Ogilvie, Rev. John, 155. Old Colony, 9. Old Lights, 126, 140, 194. Old World, 294, 432. Orange, 1 13. Ordination at Middletown, 370. Orem, Rev. James, 46. Orphan House, 121, 122. O.xford, University of, 49, 137, 243, 265; Bishop of, 268, 290, 291, 356. Oxford, Ct., 198; church in, 271, 309. Paine's "Age of Reason," 4.32. Palmer, Rev. Solomon, declares for Episcopacy, 189 ; Missionary in Litchfield County, lyO, 199, 203; letters to Society, 200, 228 ; or- dered to Am boy, N. J., 205; re- moves to New Haven, 220-223; returns to I itchfield, 237 ; death of, 393. Paris, 343. Parker, Rev. Samuel, 373, 374 ; let- ters to Bishop Seabury, 379, 380, 402; Bishop of Massachusetts, 403; mediation of, 404-406 ; delegate to General Convention, 410. Parliament, 6, 244, 246, 247, 253, 255, 320, 341, 358, 360, 361, 394, 398. Parochial Register, New Haven, 323, 430. Parochial Register, Stratford, 53, 85, 87, 89, 111, 186. Pennsylvania, 374, 405, 411. Perry, Rev. David, 435. Perry, Rev. Philo, 386, 426. Peters, Rev. Samuel, 207, 236, 273 ; mobbed, .306; flight to England, 307, 346. Petrie, Bishop, 363. Philadelphia, 23, 178, 283, 311, 315, 375, 378, 379, 398, 403, 409, 410. 421, 434, 436. Philips, Rev. Francis, 26, 63. Pierce, Dr., 189. Pierpont, James, 124. Pierson, Rev. John, 87. Pigot, Rev. George, Missionary at Stratford, 27, 28, 32; removes to Providence, 47 ; letter to Society, 60 ; mentions of, 53, 55, 58, 63, 65, 85. Pilmore, Rev. Joseph, 392. Pitkin, William, 10. Pitt, William, 246. Plaipfield, 273, 274. Plymouth, 131, 293. Plymouth Colony, 1, 9. Pomfret, 274, 318. Pope, 12. Popery, 41. Poquetannock, 100. Portland, 397. Portsmouth, 272. Presbyterianism, 50. Presbyterians, 13, 147, 161, 179, 193, 200, 254, 255. Presbj'teriau ministers, 107, 368. Presbyterian ordination, 29, 30, 86, 38, 58. 231. Presbyters, 40. President Stiles, 172, 343, 368. Price, Rev. Roger, 134, 136. Primacy, 5, 267. Primate, 6, 266, 268, 390. Primitive Ciiurch, 29, 364. Princess Royal, 79. Privy Council, 252. Proctors, 415. Protector, 13. INDEX. 467 Protest, 304. 415, 421. Protestant Bishop, 232, 250, 867. Protestjints, 2. Providence, 47, 273. Provincial Government, 21. Provoost, Rev. Samuel, 3U2, 395 ; con- secrated Bishop in England, 396 ; mentions of, o'J'J, 404, 40G-408, 411, 428, 437. Punderson, Rev. Ebenezer, declares for Episcopacy, 91, 92, 99; Mission- ary at Nortli Groton and Norwich, 100, 110; letters to Bishop of Lon- don, 126, 127 ; letters to Society, 166, 167 ; Missionary at New Ha- ven, 172, 173, 190, 198; at Rye, 22U-223 ; mentions of, 141, 163, 168, 206, 209, 231. Puritanism, 18, 64, 123, 339. Puritans, origin of, 2, 3 ; their suffer- ings, 4-8 ; faith or worship of, 43, 44, 62; treatment of cliurchmen, 61; lingering reverence for the Church, 119. Q. Quakers, 14, 18, 71, 81. Queen's College, Oxford, 273. Quincy's " History of Harvard Uni- versity," 63. Quinuipiack harbor, 10. Ramsgate, 44. Read, Mr., 21, 22. Rector Williams, 84, 448. Redding, 55, 68, 90-92, 173, 175, 189, 202, 298, 318, 319, 330, 421, 435. Redding Association of Loyalists, 319. Reformation in England, 2, 3, 31. Reformed Church, 5. Reformers, 450. Registry Hook, 65. Relief of Widows and Orphans, corpo- ration of, 374. Revolution of 1688, 362. Revolution, American, 246, 278-280, 289, 291, 2'.t4, 305, 361 ; Tories of, 313, 335, 342. Rhode L'^land, 28. 46, 47, 63, 74, 76, 77, 79-83, 85, 122, 124, 141,374, 436, 439; clergy of, 379, 383 ; Standing Committee of, 450-452. Ridgefield, 68, 129, 130, 139, 142, 153, 155, 213,4.35. Ridley, 31. Ripton, 53, 55, 57, 75, 162, 189, 191. Robinson, Dr. Bishop of Loudon, 45, 47, 49. Robinson, John, 7. J\ockingliam Ministry, 246. Romanists, 2.30. Rome, 12 ; Church of, 29. Ross and Moray, 363. Ro.xbury, Mass., 123. Roxbury, 141, 190. Royal Cliarter, 106, 109. Ruggles, Mr. Thomas, 446. Russell, Mr. Samuel, 446. Rye, 52, 101, 153, 169, 205, 220-222. S. Sabine, 313, 351. Sackville, Lord, 353. Salem, Mass., 119, 186, 405. Salem, N. Y.. 192. Salisbury, Bishop of, 441. Saltonstall, Mr. "Gurdon, minister at New London, 18 ; governor of the colon}-, 29 ; presides over debate in college library, 30, 39. Sandeman, Robert, 211. Sanford, Mr., 115. Savannah, 121. Savbrook, 33. Saybrook Platform, 42, 140, 195. Sayre, Rev. James, protest of, 415, 421, 422, 424, 425 ; his death, 420. Sayre, Rev. John, settled at Fairfield, 277, 426 ; letter to Society, 325 ; re- tirement within the King's lines, 327, 346. Scotchman, 18. Scotland, General Assembly of, 255 ; mentions of, 306, 418 ; Ciiurch in, 361, 362, 365, 378 ; clergy of, 401. Scottish Bishops, 368, 377, 400. Scottish Church. 398. Scottish Episcopacy, 899, 404, 407, 409, 429. Scottish Liturgy, 888. Scovill, Rev. James, goes to England for Orders, 197 ; labors of, 237 ; men- tions of, 199, 346 ; removes to New Brunswick, 354, 355. Seabnry, Rev. Samuel, declares for Episcopacy, 86 ; Missionary at New London, 86; mentions of, 91, 110; increase of his parish, 99 ; removal to Hempstead, 100, 136, 143. Seabnry, l^ev. Samuel, liis son, mentions of, 86, 156, 159, 379, 390, 392, 399, 401, 407; letters to 468 INDEX. the Society, 802, 365, 86G ; chosen Bishop, 347 ; goes to England for consecration, 350; arrival in Lon- don, 351 ; letters to tlie clergy of Connecticut, 355, 300-307; imjiedi- nients to his consecration, 358-300; goes to Scotliind, and is consecrated, 303, 304 ; reply to Dr. Home, 305 ; arrival at New London, 367 ; ad- dress of clergy, 308; repl3', 369; first ordination, 370; charge, 371; letter to Dr. Smith, 377 ; letters of consecration, 378 ; letter to Mr. Parker, 380; second charge, 382; Hector of the parish at New Lon- don, 353 ; ordinations, 380, 393 ; consecrates St. James's Cliurch, 398; his orders declared valid, 400; in- vited to attend General Convention, 408 ; attends, 410 ; assent to Gen- eral Constitution, 411; in council with White, 413 ; support of, 421 ; preaches sermon at General Con- vention, 428; joins in consecration of Dr. Claggett, 429 : contirma- tions, 430; foresight of, 433 ; doubts about Articles, 434 ; letter to Bishop White, 430 : sets forth special pray- ers, 438 ; death, 439 : monument, 441. Sears, Captain, 303. Seeker, Arclibishop, mentions of, 184, 294, 295; defence of the Society, 228; letters to, 190, 198, 204, 229, 257 ; plea for religious liberty, 2.30 ; reply to May hew, and defence of the Church, 232, 233 ; letter from, 2-52; liis death and character, 206, 267. Selectmen, .309, 317, 318. " Sentinel," 259. Sharon, 190. Sh.irpe, Rev. Mr., 24. Shelburiie, 352. Slielton, Daniel, 55. Shelton, Rev. Philo, 383, 384, 422. Sheplierd's Tent, 148. Sheridan, 352. Sherlock, Bishop, 80, 267, 294. Skinner, Bishop, 301-365, 400, 401. Smalridge, 80. Smith, Rev. Dr. William, Provost of tlie College of Philadelphia, 377, 378, 408, 410. Smith, Rev. William, 451, 452. Smithfiold, 8. Sniithscn, 34. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, chartered. 17 ; letters to, 19, 50, 52, 55, 57, 59, 60, 65, 66, 74, 8.5, 87, 111, 112, 115, 117, 128, 148, 164, 167, 170, 175, 179, 191-197, 205-215, 218,221-224, 236- 238, 243, 269, 279, 280, 297, 298, 300, 316 ; sends Missionary to Stratford, 26 ; archives of, 38 ; mentions of, 165, 201 ; operations of, 62, 63 ; salary of Missionaries, 68 ; advice of, sougiit, 74, 160; sermons before, 80, 81,^250. 201, 350, 857 ; appeals to, 84, 80, 90, 182; furnishes Prayer Books, 90 ; deed to, 102 ; Mission- aries of, 135, 1.52, 153, 189, 199; abstract of, 139 ; members of, 40, 172, 228 ; charges against, 174 ; defence of, 228 ; declines to establish new missions, 251. Solitary Cove, 225. Soutb Carolina, 392, 437. Southbury, 95. Southington, 397. Spain, 342. Spaniards, 8. Stamford, mentions of, 101, 129, 384; church built, 142, 173 ; parish of, 155; churchmen in, 162; conven- tion in, 401. Stamp- Act, passage of, 239, 243, 248, 251 ; its repeal, 246. Standard, Rev. Mr., 188, 185. Standing Committee in Connecticut, 419, 450-452. Standing Committee, Rhode Island, 450-452. Stanhope, Dr., 45. State House, 167. Staten Island, 116, 139. States, 342, 345, 351, 856, 368, 373- 376, 380, 382, 390, 392, 402. St. Sophia, 93. St. Stephen's Church, London, 12. Stratfield, 154, 155, 173, 384 ; conven- tion in, 409. Stratford, churchmen in, 17, 23, 25- 27, 54, 62, 71, 177, 239 ; application for Missionary, and visits of minis- ter, 19-24 ; church built, 52, 58 ; removal of families from, 74; larger church built, 138 ; mentions of, 28, 32, 55, 63, 69, 85, 89, 127, 158, 204, 2)6, 210, 220, 269, 427, 445-447; Church in, 65, 103, 186, 296, 370, 422, 423 ; its increase, 128, 154 ; organ, 189 ; convention in, 250, 435. Sturgeon, 149. Synods, 179, 254, 255, 283, 288; Synod of Bishops, 868. INDEX. 469 T. Talbot Rev. John, 18, 24, 85, 252. Talbot, Mr. St. George, 212, 238. Taicott, Governor, 72, 124, 140. Tasliua, cliurcli built in, I'JI, 211; clnireli at, 425. Taylor, Mr. J., 193. Teiiison, Archbisiiop, 267. Tenncnt, Gilbert, 125. Thames River, 337. 'J'iieoiofjy, New Light, 147. " The Propo.scd Book," 381, 389,412. Thompson, Rev. Ebenezer, 143, 167. Todd, Samuel, 132. Toleration, Act of, 16. Tories in Connecticut, 309, 315, 337. Town House, 386. Townships, seven, 107. Trinitv Church, New Haven, 171, 226,' 367 ; Vestry of, 224, 227, 421. Trinity Church, New York, 179, 180, 3.50. Trinity College, 440. Trinity, doctrine of, 193. Trowbridge, Daniel, children bap- tized, 168. Trumbull, 142. Trumbull, Dr., 2, 140. Trumbull, Governor, 265. Trustees of King's College, 178, 179. Trustees of Yale College, 33, 37, 38, 42, 43, 83, 446. Tunxis River, 9. Tvler, Rev. John, 2G9, 270, 274, 320, '323, 346, 355. U. Union Church, 129. Union, federal, 335. United States, 343, 345, 375, 406, 407. University of Cambridge, 49. Utrecht, treaty of, 76. V. Van Rensselaer, 311. " Vanity of Human Institutions in the Wor.«liip of God," 97. Venerable Society, 202, 207, 219, 240, 251, 265, 272, 293, 315, 347, 365, 366. Vermont, 292. Vesey, Rev. William, 19. Viets, Rev. Roger, Missionary at Simsbury, 208, 277, 292, 346 ; im- prisoned, 31t) ; farewell address, and removal to Nova Scotia, 354. Vigilance, Committees of, 316. " Vindication of the Worship of Church of England," 97. Viner, 448, 449. Virgin Mary, 29. Virginia, mention of, 392; conven- tion in, 377 ; Bishr>p elect of, 395, 406; Church in, 428. Voltaire, 432. W. Walker, 123. Walker's "Sufferings of the Clergy," 317. Wallingford case, 194-196. Wallingford, Church in, 129,1.59, 161, 164, 106; church built, 167; Mis- sionary at, 190, 206, 236 ; couven- tion in, 359, 399. Walpole, Sir Robert, 76, 78. War of American Independence, 171. Ward, Moses, 70. Warwick, 313. Washington, General, 227, 313, 329, 332, 334, 341. Waterbury, services in, 92, 112, 197, 238; united with Derby, 136. 157 ; separate mission, 197 ; churclnnen in, 130, 131, 162, 288; confirmation in, 430. Watertown, 131, 237, 329; convoca- tion in, 419. Watkins, Rev. Hezekiah, 143. Webb, Kev. Joseph, 39, 67, 446. Welles, Dr. Noah, 231. Wells Society, 19-5. Welton, Rev. Dr., 252. Wesley, 121, 146. Westbury, 131, 237, 329. Westchester, 183, 185, 302, 303, 305, 34S. Westchester County, 20, 304. Westerly, 74. Western world, 363, 864. West Haven, mentions of, 28, 34, 157, 1.58. 270,289, 324; churchmen in, 53, 111, 162, 275, 2'.)2 ; church builr, 113, 114, 118; Church in, Km, 170. Westminster Catechism and Con- fession of Faith, 181, 182. Weston, 139. West Point, 319. Wethersfield, 74. Wetmore, Hev. James, 28, .30, 36, 49 ; sent to live, 52; mentions of, 100, 101, 110, '142, 153, 169, 174, 177; death of, 220. 470 INDEX. Whigs, 321, 333, 337, 343, 351. White, Bishop. 349, 374, 376-378, 381, 390, 392; Bishop elect of Pennsyl- vania, 395: consecrated in P^ngland, 390; good' offices of, 402-418; 436, 437, 439. Whitcfield, Rev. George, 105, 121- 126; results of his teachings, 130, 132, 137, 140, 150, 151, 154, 183, 235 ; principles condemned, 147. White Plains, 304. Whiting, Mr., 39. Whittelsey, 28, 30, 42. Wicklifte, 31. Wilberforce, Bishop, 368. Wilberforce, William, 352. William and Mary, 17. William III., 362. Wilmington, Delaware, 390, 393. Wilson,^Kichard, 85. Windham, 99. Windsor, 9. Windsor, England, 49. Winslow, Rev. Edward, Missionary at Stratford, 188, 189, 206, 209; let- ters to Society, 193, 210, 214, 218; appointed to Braintree, 219. Winthrop, Governor of Massachu- setts, 1, 9. Winthrop, John, Governor of Con- necticut, 9, 10. Wollebius's Theology, 183. Woodbridge, Rev. Mr., 38. Woodbury, 55, 95, 141, 269, 288; meeting of clergy in, 346; church built, 886 ; parish trouble, 425, 426. Woodstock, 159. Woolsey, President, 29. Yale College, Rector of, 22, 28, 32 ; es- tablished at New Haven, 33 ; grad- uates of, 30, 87, 89, 102, 142,' 143, 155-157, 159, 189, 197, 204, 206, 208, 210, 209, 270, 293, 383, 386; Rector Cutler's services approved, 37 ; displaced, 42 ; officers of, 63 ; interest of Johns(m in its welfare, 65 ; Berkeley's benefactions to, 82- 84; students of, 114; new Hector, 130; declaration of the President and Tutors against Whitcfield, 147; candidates for orders in, 149 ; stu- dents fined, 180 ; Puritan teachings, 181, 182; Episcopal students to at- tend college chapel, 231 ; honors from, 419 ; extracts from records, 446 ,' law complained of, 447-450. Yale, Mr., 448. Yorktown, 341. DATE DUE ms 'U PAW 4-1-^ ^ GAYLORD PRINTED IN U E.A.