•i 'ir,i''i''il,'Ti,>i.lr.,'i,'i,,vU, '< '/if* mmmmm ; • > -'¦ ;¦¦¦ ¦¦; * r. :¦•'*-¦- -•¦-!, y-iV'i'j f-:/i:<: -';" ,fiof~fafA - - a ^ — .A._ fa/4 /^:yat4~*&*> -.-¦/&¦¦ Jf"*'* — --"_ Jl^a* <^ "•/* ^^ ' --SQ> %#6#---- ^om^fd*****^^ 2 5 " t/ „ 32. . ^r*/ -- -:~ziz\M^^^/~^- ******** a* ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES UNITED STATES. BY THE REV EDWARD WAYLEN, LATE RECTOR OF CHRISTCHURCH, ROCKV1LLE, MARYLAND, ELEVEN' YEARS RESIDENT IN AMERICA. " The surest pledge of perpetual peace between the two countries is to be found in their community of Faith, and in the closeness of their Ecclesiastical intercourse." — Archbishop of Canterbury. LONDON: W. STRAKER, ADELAIDE STREET, WEST STRAND. 1846. CONTENTS. Chap. Page 1. — Passage, and First Impressions. — New York 1 II. — Long Island Sound. — Newport 7 III.— New Bedford 12 IV. — Boston. — The Bishop of the Eastern Diocess 15 V. — Sister Maty, St. Henry 19 VI.— The North End 24 VII. — Parenthetical 27 VIII.— The Churches of Boston 40 IX. — Boston Sectaries 44 X. — Some Natural and Artificial Features of Boston 47 XI. — Lowell Nashua. — Merrimack. — Amhurst. — Goffs- town. — Hopkinton. — Contoocockville 50 XII. — Concord Epsom / 55 XIII Dover. — Portsmouth. — Newburyport. — Salem 62 XIV. — Salem Witchcraft Delusion. — Object, and Conception of the Plot 68 XV. — Salem Witchcraft Delusion. — Developement and Exe cution of the Plot 77 XVI. — Salem Witchcraft Delusion. — Discovery and Exposure of the Conspirators. — Fruits of Faith among the Victims 86 XVIL — Salem Witchcraft Delusion. — The inquisitors Noyes and Mather 99 XVIII.— Witchcraft Delusion in England Fruits of Faith .. 108 XIX.— General Convention of the Church in 1835 118 XX. — Rhode Island. — Narragansett Bay 140 XXL— The Rhode Island Church.— Dr. Crocker 143 XXII. — Collegiate System of the United States 146 VI CONTENTS. Chap. Page XXIIL— Providence Olneyville West Smithfield Fruits ofthe " Voluntary System " in New England .... 150 XXIV. Rhode Island Convocations 160 XXV My First Parish , 164 XXVI. — Withdrawal from the Eastern Diocess, and Farewell of New England 167 XXVII. — The Church in New England Retrospect;— Encou raging Prospect. — Mr. Newton's Testimony 171 XX VIII.— New York Dr. Milnor. — Dr. Wainwright.— Mr. Colton. — The " Temperance Society." — The Bishop of Vermont 183 XXIX A Sunday in Philadelphia 193 XXX.— Philadelphia Lions 198 XXXI. — Journey to Washington and Alexandria. — Indian Chiefs , 202 XXXIL— Baltimore.— Dr. Wyatt 207 XXXIII. — The " Roman Catholic " Society in America. / 212 XXXIV.— Supplementary to the last 227 XXXV.— Dr. Henshaw. — Dr. Dorr. — Philadelphia Female High School. — Return to New York 238 XXXVI. — Boarding-House Life. — General Convention of 1838. — General Theological Seminary. — Columbia Col lege 224 XXXVIL— Philadelphia. — Dr. Tyug. — Journey to the Interior. — Lewistown. — Harrisburgh. Settlement in my Se cond Parish 250 XXXVIIL— [Old] York 255 XXXIX. — The Church in Delaware. — Pennsylvania Convention 259 XL. — Andalusia Murder. — Bristol 263 XLI.— The Hudson.— Catskill. — Kinderhook 271 XLII Niagara 280 XLIIL— A Week in New Jersey 286 XLIV. — New York Convention. — Bishop Chase. — Dr. Lan- cey 293 XLV. — The Pew Nuisance. — The Church versus Fash ionable Denomination 297 XLVI The Alleghanies 304 XLVIL— The Ohio River Steubenville.— American Climate 309 XLVIII — Pittsburg The Mountains recrossed 313 XLIX.— An Eloquent Preacher. — Reflections 316 L. — Ministerial Preparation in the United States 324 CONTENTS. Vll Chap. Page LI. — Rubrical Conformity 337 LII — General Convention of 1841 ; . . . 363 LIII — General Convention of 1841, continued. — The Pastoral Letter. — St. Paul's Church described 375 LIV. — Journey to Michigan. — Rochester. — Parish Troubles. — Lake Erie 397 LV. — Detroit. — Bishop M'Coskrv. — Natural Features and History of Michigan. — Jackson. — The Indians. — A Missionary Priest 40i LVI. — " New School" Presbyterianism. — Return to Phila delphia 412 LV1I — Philadelphia Suburbs.— The Artists' Fund Hall 421 LVIII.— A Mourning Church 428 LIX. — Removal to Maryland. — Two " Puseyite" Rectors. — "Chapel Royal"" at Washington. — Rockville '- History of the Maryland Church 437 LX. — Maryland Diocesan Convention. — Anti - Tractarian Movement. — Result 448 LXI General Convention of 1844. — Spasmodic Action of Alarmists 445 LXIl. — An Episcopal Consecration. — The Bishop of Pennsyl vania's Resignation. — The Bishop of New York's Trial 464 LXI1I. — Bishop Chase and Jubilee College 469 LXIV.— Consecration of the Foreign Bishops. — Bishop South- gate and the Syrian Church 483 LXV Conclusion 494 MOST REVEREND WILLIAM HOWLEY, D.D. PRESIDENT; THE REV, DR. RUSSELL, AND CHARLES J. MANNTM, ESQ. TREASURERS ; THE REV. A. M. CAMPBELL, SECRETARY ; THE COMMITTEE OF THE VENERABLE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS; %i)t following Pages, EXHIBITING SOME OF THE PRESENT FRUITS, IN THE UNITED STATES, PRODUCED BY THE EARLY EFFORTS OF THE FIRST MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN THE WORLD, ARE APPROPRIATELY DEDICATED. ^ .'C ' PREFACE. The following sheets are intended to follow up the design of several recent works on the same subject ; the success of which, while it affords evidence of a growing interest amongst British Christians in whatever relates to the cause of Catholicity in America, appears fully to warrant another contribution to the same subject. The author has made no effort to shape and adapt his narrative to any established model in the same department of authorship ; nor is he pre pared with any apology for the prominence which is given to himself — unavoidably in a journal embracing travels and scenes in public and domestic life, in the latter of which, it will be observed, he only appears as a " Spectator." That he has spoken favourably of the Ameri cans as a people, arises from his long and intimate acquaintance with them ; during which he has associated with almost every class in that commu nity. He cannot lend himself to a falsehood to make his book sell; though it has to be proved whether defamation or grotesque caricature, ap- b PREFACE. plied to the people of a country, whose glory and greatness are our own, furnish the only staple commodities in this department of authorship. The Americans, as a race of people, inherit most of the good, and are free from many of the bad, qualities which distinguish the nation whence they have sprung; nor has the free intermixture of continental blood effected any deterioration in their mental or physical qualities. The defects of character (arising solely from education) which distinguish a portion of them before the world, and the exhibitions of popular license which the country occasionally presents, originate in a com bination of religious and political influences, in which, as the following pages demonstrate, the former has decidedly the largest share. The picture they present is drawn, however, with far less depth of shade than many which others, belonging to a different religious communion from the author, have given before him. It is, indeed, unnecessary to go any further than to the testi mony of the public teachers and the printed or gans attached to the more respectable protestant sects in America, in confirmation of its accuracy of colouring ; as well as of the utter inefficiency of any existing institution, formed by the " union" of sectarian influence and action, to grapple with the augmenting evils, social and political, now threatening that land. It is in this view that the PREFACE. XI Church Catholic, growing up so strong amidst surrounding strife and disunion, possesses an in creased interest to the Christian philanthropist of the mother-country, to whom every stage of its progress, and particulars — perhaps, in themselves unimportant as matters of record — cannot fail of possessing some degree of interest. This consi deration (added to the other, that persons and scenes as yet but little known to a large class of English readers, are brought forward in these pages) has weighed with the author in yielding to those impulses which an interesting ecclesiastical relationship in a land where he was politically an alien, naturally produced, whilst, as he penned these chapters, the memory recalled seasons of Christian intercourse never to be forgotten, and hallowed by many tender and sacred associations. It was in this relationship that the author first un derstood, in its full meaning, the reality of that ca tholic bond of union which — as intended by its Divine, originator — breaks down and utterly anni hilates the lines of national prejudice. Viewed, therefore, in this light — as a familiar narrative of a religious and social connexion with that' branch of the ONE FAMILY OF THE FAITHFUL which has spread out into a great American country from the larger growth in this, and which already numbers two millions of members, under twenty- eight bishops and thirteen hundred inferior Xll PREFACE. h clergy — no apology is necessary for any minute ness of detail which may contribute to familiarize the reader with every part of the picture here sketched. To Catholic readers, nothing relating to their fellow-Catholics of the United States can be altogether uninteresting ; and it is for Catholic readers that this book is written. These pages are also intended to demonstrate — if further historical demonstration be necessary — the Divine character of that glorious institution of episcopacy, which is the inseparable note and mark of the Church Universal in all its true branches, wherever their blessed shade is afforded to the members of the human family. This, the wonderful success attending the early, and, more especially, the later efforts of those who have been labouring under the banner of Apostolic Order in the Western Continent ; and the remarkable manner in which the ark which they guide (under the pilotage of her Divine Captain) has been saved from those fearful storms which have shattered, or greatly impaired, every other vessel around her, sufficiently prove to the eye of faith. May we not also hope that amongst all classes and creeds belonging to the two nations of a com mon ancestry, whose interests and (it is to be fer vently hoped) whose destiny are the same, the age of petty rivalry, for its own sake, is passing away ? " The rankling ill-will, and mutual backbitings," PREFACE. Xlll that "Regina"* justly "deplores, even more than the prospect of open hostilities," is now almost confined to the lowest class of writers and politi cians in either country. The vulgar brawlers of a presidential electioneering party in the lower house of Congress are no more the exponents of the sub stantial class of citizens in one country, than are the ultra-radical factionists in the House of Commons representatives of the intelligence and virtue of the middle and higher ranks in Britain. Let this be mutually understood, and nothing will be wanting to complete a good understanding be tween the intelligent classes of the two countries. "Regina" is also correct in affirming — what the author's own experience has satisfactorily proved to him — that, even amongst the demagogue poli tical-capitalists, the arrogance and conceit, which is erroneously charged upon the whole nation, is, in fact, only a "defensive" weapon ; resulting from the contempt which it was fashionable for English writers and public speakers to express for America and her institutions long after the war which made her independent of the mother country. Nothing can be truer than the assertion of this sagacious writer : — " Their bragging and blustering is su perficial ; in their heart of hearts every Yankee * The entire article in " Fraser " of January last is recommended to the reader's perusal, as the best paper on our American relations that has come under the author's notice since his return to England. XIV PREFACE. loves and reveres old England. They yearn towards their fatherland, which they still, in unguarded moments, call ' home,' with an affec tion which needs but little encouragement to become decided enthusiasm ! The sovereign of these realms is still by them emphatically styled * the queen,' as if no other female in the world wore the crown." Need anything more be added to shew the unnatural, and it may be added, the unnecessary alternative of a war with such a country? The people of the United States, — the author's experience and intimate knowledge of them enable him to affirm it, — those who form the mind of the nation, and who, it is hoped, will yet recover their legitimate control over the action of the country — are ready and desirous to join issue with us in securing a lasting alliance, and in all the schemes for more enlarged benevolence to which such alliance must naturally lead. Despite their "defensive" egotism, the Americans are fully alive to the fact of British superiority, both in physical power and the higher achievements of art and learning; claiming only equality of moral and intellectual greatness ; the natural ingenuity and skill which have descended to them, and which they have undoubtedly improved ; and the com mercial enterprize which distinguishes both na tions alike, above all others on the globe. Amongst PREFACE. XV the members of the " episcopal " communion this sentiment is universal ; extending to a profound deference to England on all points relative to dogmatic theology and Church polity. England, as the land of the Mother Church, whose " long- continuance of nursing care" gave their own a firm footing in the northern continent of the New World, is regarded with sentiments of reverence and love by every Churchman : it therefore remains with the English nation, and especially the mem bers of our national Church, to reciprocate a feel ing based on such high and catholic grounds, in the spirit of the noble sentiment which forms (ap propriately) the motto to this volume, and in the assurance — a well-founded one, as the author's observation fully convinces him — that "the surest pledge of perpetual peace between the two coun tries is to be found in their community of Faith and the closeness of their Ecclesiastical inter course." Griston, 6th May, 1846. ERRATA. From the difficulty of correcting all the sheets during the pro gress of this work through the press, the following errors (among others, which the reader will recognise as typographical) have escaped the printer's vigilance: Page 45, line 17, for these orders, read three orders. 76, in the note, for gloss, read gloze. 87, for Salem, read Danvers. 99, line 5, expunge — and colleague to Parris. 241, line 4, for miles, read yards. 344, the following note is omitted : ' ' If the author may be allowed to criticise, where rubrical conformity and good taste leave nothing else to censure on the clergyman's part, he would condemn the practice, adopted in a few instances, of his facing the east at the Creed, unless by a change of position (which would not be unrubrical) he also faces the altar, with the rest of the worshippers. The former custom is not only absurd in its effect upon the congregation, but a manifest innovation. To ' stand towards ' the altar is surely sufficient for the priest. He would also suggest that when the Eucharist is admi nistered daily, or on every Gospel day — the lowest requisition of the Church — the stated participants approach in sets (by an arrangement with the clergyman) as in the Latin Church ; thus avoiding the undue press of communicants at one time, and enabling all to communicate once a month ; or (if the communion is celebrated twice or three times every Gospel day) weekly." Page 367, line 10, for such writers, read Latin writers. „ 369, line 15, for quarter festivals, read greater festivals. „ 399, line 23, for communion, read community. „ 411, line 9, for ofthe ages, read ofthe ages of Faith. „ 421, in motto, for Thabas, read Thebas ; for menec, read me nee ; for udae, read uda. „ 427, line 5, for patria, read patriae. The note on Oregon (p. 119) is founded on a misconception ; the original appellation of the river, named by the States' citizens " The Columbia," having been Oregon. The paragraph on the Oregon dispute, in Appendix No. III., is all of that paper that was intended to be placed in brackets. The list of colleges and public schools in the Appendix is as com plete as, from a variety of sources, it could be made ; but omits nine or ten of the latter, of which no report could be obtained. ' ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. CHAPTER I. PASSAGE, AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS. — NEW YORK. I sailed from Bristol on the 25th of April, 1834, in the ship " Copia," a Newburyport merchantman, on its homeward course from Java. The vessel was making its first voyage ; and being found, from its peculiar form, and the faulty construction of its deck, unfit for distant voyages, was condemned on its return to America, for foreign trade, and afterwards employed by its owners as a coaster. Owing to this circumstance the passage was long and dangerous, attended by great discomfort to the passengers (four in number with myself) who were driven from the cabin by the leaking of the deck in that part of the vessel, to the larger berths of the almost empty steerage. The constant leaking in the ship's bottom also obliged every passenger to assist frequently at the pumps, and kept the more timid on board in a constant state of apprehension for worse consequences. These were serious drawbacks from the comfort of the passage, and made me repeatedly regret having given the merchantman the preference to a Liverpool 'packet, which I had been led to do as a saving of one half the 2 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. expense. The Newburyport captain asked twenty pounds for the passage, and the charge by the regular packets was then thirty-five guineas ; the journey from Bath (where I took leave of my relatives) to Liverpool, making the whole expense by the latter more than double. Our captain did all in his power to lighten our difficul ties. He was a man of some intelligence, and strictly moral in his deportment ; indeed, the whole crew afford ed a better example of steady conduct than I have since observed on the Atlantic in five succeeding pas sages. Not an oath was heard between the two ports, nor any exhibition of drunkenness or insubordination. It was the captain's custom to call the sailors together for prayers twice every Sunday, and every evening that the weather permitted ; and their exemplary behaviour was doubtless the effect of this custom, and his own excellent example. The other cabin passengers were an elderly gentle man from Somerset, on his way to Toronto in Canada, accompanied by his son, an interesting youth in his fif teenth year, and a medical relative, bound to the same place. On the 10th of June we reached New York. The first appearance of this city, as approached from the sea, after passing the Narrows, is unquestionably, one of the most picturesque that can be imagined. This arises more from its situation in the most beau tiful bay in the world, than from any prominence of architectural elegance in the city itself; indeed, when the ship neared the wooden and poorly constructed wharfs, and I saw nothing but staring red. unsub stantial looking warehouses overlooking them, I ex perienced a sensation, which I am persuaded every Englishman partakes on his first arrival at this port, NEW YORK. 3 of positive disappointment. Nor do I wonder at the admiration expressed by an American traveller* on landing at Liverpool at "the perfection, the beauty, and the magnificence of the masonry constituting the quays, docks, and basins, contrasted with the wooden, feeble, and perishable docks and wharfs " of his own country. It should be remembered, however, that New York, though pretty ancient, has not had the benefit of a municipal government long enough to compete in every particular with London or Liverpool ; though the changes I have myself witnessed during the past ten years afford a good earnest of what may be expected. Doubtless, within that same period the preference for stone to any less perishable material, which is showing itself in the public buildings and churches of America, will extend itself to the wharfs and quays of the Trans atlantic seaports. Our luggage was soon examined by the Custom House officers, who were as polite and accommodating as could be wished, and conveyed to an hotel near the steam-boat wharf, whence my Canada bound friends designed em barking for Albany the same day. Here we breakfasted with an excellent appetite ; of which, indeed, the quan tity and variety of the viands were a sufficient provoca tive. Leaving our hotel for a stroll through the principal streets of the city, we shortly entered Broadway, which may be called its backbone. Here I soon found my first impressions giving way before those of admiration and surprise as we pursued our way up this noble thorough- fate. About two- thirds of its length is lined with shops, many of which vie with the largest establishments in * The Rev. Calvin Colton. " Four Years in Great Britain." pp. 21. 4 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Fleet Street or Holborn, though inferior in size and outward splendour to the shops of the west end. The rest of Broadway consists of private residences ; several of which, as well as numerous houses in the north, or court end of the town, through which it passes, are ele gant and sumptuous dwellings. The streets in this quar ter are well built, and present an air of great neatness and cleanliness. If, however, I should express my first impressions of the general aspect of the streets in the business part of New York for pedestrian purposes, (and my last too) it might look, and would be pronounced by Ame ricans, New Yorkers especially, as ill-natured and ex aggerated. I therefore, prefer presenting the life drawn picture, given by the editor of the New York " Com mercial Advertiser," a daily paper of high character, and the article written long since the period to which this chapter refers. " There is a great difference between New York and London, in the regulation of side walks for pedes trians. The difference appears to be decidedly in favor of London, as people can manage to get along the pave ments of that city. How much more noble and demo cratic is the practice in New York. Here, the side walks are put to their true uses. Wheel-wrights crowd upon them the damaged carts and waggons which they mean to repair at their leisure ; vendors of oran ges, pine-apples, cherries, stale fish and the like, spread out their stalls upon them ; the boys ' slosh' them with water, from the hydrants, private and public ; grocers pile up their empty barrels all over them, six deep and three high ; stable keepers hitch their horses along them to undergo the pleasing process of currying, BROOKLYN. 5 and the ladies get by as well as they can. All this is delightful to the philanthropic mind, and reflects infinite credit upon the municipal government." We passed some churches in the course of our peram bulations. St. Paul's in Broadway, and St. John's in the square of that name, claimed at this time the first notice on the score of architectural merit ; but they are now eclipsed by the superior grandeur of Trinity, which has been five years in progress ; and will be, when completed, the most important ecclesiastical build ing in the United States.* As I had not at this time an introduction to a single person in this wide city, I only remained another day after seeing my fellow passengers off. We parted with mutual expressions of good will, and protestations of friendship, which the companionship of seven weeks on the ocean is well calculated to engender. I have rarely felt such keen regret, as on the occasion of this sudden and final separation from friends in a foreign land, where everything was new and strange. For the first time was I fully conscious of my situation, and felt in a manner which the untravelled reader can but faintly conceive, the distance of home — the thousand leagues of ocean that separated me from England. Return ing to the hotel, I found little appetite for the meal which was spread, nor could any object or occupation shake off the excessive weight of gloom which pressed on my spirits at the close of this, my first day in America. I employed the next morning in a visit to Brooklyn. The view from the heights is the finest in the neigh bourhood ; indeed, I have never seen anything, except- See Appendix No. 1. 6 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES'. ing Kattskill and London from Greenwich, which- equals it. It takes in the entire Bay, covered with vessels of every size and nation ; promontories, bat teries, and the city itself lying at your feet, completing a toup d'ceil of surpassing beauty. Wordsworth's pic ture of the. latter came in a moment to my recollection, as with the alteration of a single word, equally descriptive of the prospect spread out before me :-•- " Earth has not anything to show more fair, Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty : The city now doth like a garment wear, The beauty of the morning ; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and churches lie Open unto the sea, and to the sky, All light and glittering in the smokeless air, Never did sun more beautifully steep In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill. Ne'er saw I, never felt a calm so deep, The river glideth at his own sweel will , Dear God ! the very houses seem asleep, And all the mighty heart is lying still." CHAPTER II. LONG ISLAND SOUND. NEWPORT. The steam-boats which ply on the American waters have been so often described, that I will only record the important fact that the one which conveyed me from New York to Newport, belonged to the largest and most complete of the class. After tea the passengers formed in groups round the ladies' cabin, or promenaded the spacious deck. Having secured a berth I remained above till near midnight, when descending to the saloon I found the supper tables removed, and all excepting a whist party retired to their separate berths. I regretted afterwards that I had not addressed myself to my couch earlier, as the summons to the "passengers for Newport to get their baggage ready" broke on my ear when most inadequately recruited by scarce four hours rest. But Newport now stands out to view, and in a few moments more thirty or forty of us are landed at the wharf, and the huge boat ploughs her way onward towards Provi dence. We have passed through Long Island Sound and ninety miles of the open Atlantic, and are about one- third of the distance up Nanagausett Bay. The hotel which received our party (all but myself being southern visitors to this favourite watering place) was one of the most comfortable I have put up at in the United States ; and the civility of the servants more marked, both at the inn, and in the families of Newport, than I found elsewhere in the northern States. Indeed, 8 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Newport and its precincts may be considered the Para dise of Englishmen, which is accounted for by the English origin of nearly all its citizens, some of whose pedigree ascends to the best parent stock of the mother country. I soon found cordial welcomes, and warm hearted friends : and received on this, my first arrival, impressions which subsequent visits only helped to establish. There is nothing wanting in the society of Newport, that would be expected in the most refined circle of a fashionable English watering place. The church was one of the first objects which attracted my notice. It occupies a central position, and is graced with a well proportioned spire. Dr. Wheaton was at this time the rector. He had filled the incumbency twenty-three years. At a subsequent period of my residence in America I was admitted to a very near and advantageous friendship with this worthy man, who is now deceased. Zion Church (in which I afterwards received ordination) was not at this time completed. It is about the same size as Trinity, and occupies a fine open site in the west end of the town. The Rev. John West, the first rector of this parish, holds a high place among the New England clergy. He is a good He brew scholar, and well versed in oriental literature ; he has since been transferred to the larger parish of St- John's, Bangor, in Maine ; of which (newly formed) diocese he is the most eligible candidate for the office des?gnedPhim ^ ^ "^ Ksh°P GriSW°ld *"* Newport possesses more interest tn «,«, ». u than any other spot in the United sit dra»,aM» town in Virginia-as hav^ be I VT * ^ dence and scene of the laboufs ofl^ £^ f ^ BISHOP BERKELEY. 9 honored name in the early history of the Rhode Island Church. When Dean of Derry, in Ireland, he con ceived the project of founding a university in America, and with this view, as well as of forwarding the general interests of the American Church, he obtained from Sir Robert Walpole, George the First's minister, a promised grant of twenty thousand pounds, and remo ved to Rhode Island in September, 1728. " Here," writes Bishop Wilberforce, "he awaited the payment of the £20,000 endowment of his college. But a secret influence at home was thwarting his efforts. His friends, in vain, importuned the minister in his behalf, and equally fruitless were his own earnest repre sentations. The promised grant was diverted to other objects. With the vigour of a healthy mind he was labouring in his sacred calling amongst the inhabitants pf Rhode Island, making provision for his future college, and serving God with thankfulness for the blessings he possessed. ' I live here,' he says, * upon land that I have purchased, and in a farm house that I have built in this island. * * * Amongst my delays and dis appointments, I thank God I have two domestic com forts, my wife and my little son ; he is a great joy to us, we are such fools as to think him the most perfect thing in its kind that we ever saw.' For three years he patiently awaited the means of accomplishing his- pur pose; until Bishop Gibson extracted from Sir Robert Walpole a reply which brought him home. Tf, ' said he, ' you put this question to me as a minister, I must assure you that the money shall most undoubtedly be paid as soon as suits, with public convenience;. but if you ask me as a friend, whether Dr. Berkeley should continue in America, expecting the payment of £20,000, 10 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. I advise him by all means to return to Europe, and to give up his present expectations.' " * Thus disappointed, Dr. Berkeley returned, and the wretched minister who had deceived him, continued till his retirement from office deaf to all appeals on behalf of the Church in the colonies or any where else ! — The feeling of the English people at this time was also too " protestant," and the clergy too thoroughly Erastian to feel much sympathy for the distant members of the Church who constantly sent home earnest appeals for a colonial episcopate. Lulled in the arms of worldly selfishness, no efforts of Berkeley, assisted by Bishops Butler, Sher lock and Gibson, proved effectual in rousing either to an effort for their American brethren. The thing was a "novelty, — "an "innovation" on the " old" mode. They doubtless regarded the proposition for supplying North America with an independant episcopate as a " popish" scheme — for look ! in South America the Spanish Church had erected (under a patriarch] and six arch bishops) thirty-two sees all filled, f Bishop Berkeley died in 1773. He had left an exten sive library in Rhode Island, the remains of which still exist. A handsome tablet to his memory is placed in Trinity Church. I shall never forget that I preached my second sermon in his pulpit. Newport was one of the ports in the possession of the British during a great part of the Revolutionary War ; at the termination of which, though the population had diminished, it was incorporated as a " city." The * Wilberforce's History of the Amercian Church, pp. 155. f In Queen Anne's reign the interests of the Church were better under stood. That admirable and pious Queen favoured a plan for founding four bishopricks in America ; two for the continent, and two for the islands ; but her death put a stop to its accomplishment. NEWPORT. 11 beauty of the waters of the Narragansett Bay on which the island stands, and which is overlooked at Newport, is well known. The citizens are hyperbolical in their terms of admiration of the fine bay before their town ; but its " superiority to the Bay of Naples, or any other in the world" asserted by a native writer must be decided by those who, unlike the author, have had the oppor tunity of making the comparison. Combining the ad vantages of a sufficient depth of water for the largest ships, free access from the ocean, and — notwithstanding its size, large enough for whole fleets — of being well land locked by Cananicut Island, it is certainly superior as a harbour to any other on the eastern coast of America. Congress has wisely established a navy yard here ; and government workmen have long been engaged in build ing extensive forts for the defence of the harbour. The occupancy of Newport by an enemy would not now prove so easy a matter as in 1776 ! 12 CHAPTER. HI. NEW BEDFORD. 1 left the hospitable roof of Captain , on one of the warmest days in June, for a visit to New Bedford in the neighbouring state of Massachusetts. The first part of the road lay through the fertile island of Rhode, which forms, however, an inconsiderable portion of the state so called. Two miles brought us to the village of Middletown, like every part of this island, very English in its aspect. At Portsmouth, four miles further on, a stone bridge crosses the strait (about a thousand feet in width at this point) to the main land. The face of the country was now changed for a stony sandy soil, which appearance continued nearly till the coach reached New Bedford, where we found dinner prepared for us at a comfortable hotel in the principal street of the town, to which we did ample justice. New Bedford deserves a fuller notice than the plan of my notes will allow, er than it has yet received from any English tourist. It is altogether one of the hand somest built, and in point both of its fine situation, and the superior character of its society, one of the most attractive towns in the United States. Buzzard's Bay, which indents Massachusetts from the south for about thirty-five miles, is remarkable for receiving no river properly so called. New Bedford, situated near the mouth of a cove or estuary called Acushnet River, is the entrep6t of this bay. The whale oil business has NEW BEDFORD. 13 brought a great deal of wealth to this place, which is seen in the style of many of the private residences, which, from the position ofthe town on a bank declining to the water's edge, appear to great advantage from the river's surface, or the opposite bank, where another town of about a third of the size stands, called Fairhaven. The wealthy citizens of New Bedford manifest much >taste in their dwellings, which are generally surrounded by spacious gardens, with conservatories, shrubberies etc. The morning after my arrival at New Bedford, being Sunday, I worshipped in the congregational meeting ¦house. The '' congregationalists" answer in their views •of church government and doctrine to the "indepen dents" among the dissenters in England ; who regard the •independency of each congregation of Christians as the correct apostolic model ; and being Calvinists, differ only from the " particular baptists " in the matters of infant baptism and open communion. As Massachusetts, which formerly included New Hampshire and Maine, was first colonized by the puritans, who were the proge nitors of the congregationalists, this denomination num bers, as might be expected, many ofthe most respectable families and individuals in that section of the country, and the ministers are proportionably well educated. The Rev. James A. Roberts, the pastor of the congre gation, who preaehed on this occasion was a fluent ¦speaker. I heard him again in the evening when, in the course of an extempore discourse, he showed greater powers than the morning's sermon had brought to view. The style was characterised by vigour of thought, united to great liveliness of fancy, and a good share of elocution. There was no church under episcopal control erected at the time of my first visit to New Bedford. The bap- 14 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. tist, congregationalist, and unitarian, with the quakers, methodists, and a small company of Romanists, embra cing all the church going portion ofthe town. Mr. Bent, a presbyter of the diocess, was, however, holding regular services in a hired chapel lately vacated by a baptist so ciety to a feeble number. Through the praiseworthy exertions of that gentleman the number of converts to apostolic order soon became pretty numerous ; and a fine gothic church of ample dimensions in the principal street is now regularly filled with a serious and devout body of worshippers. It was at New Bedford that I first heard of the apos tolic Griswold, with whose name and position in the American Church I afterwards found the dignitaries and clergy of the Church of England tolerably familiar. As the town was embraced within his diocess, he was ex tremely anxious to establish a congregation at so impor tant a station, and had several times preached, and held services himself in the rooms and " upper chambers " of the primitive disciples, " receiving all that came in unto him." 15 CHAPTER IV. BOSTON. THE BISHOP OF THE EASTERN DIOCESS. Boston is another place which to an Englishman pre sents on first entering it, a striking and pleasing simili tude to home. The streets, — the architecture of the houses, — the very looks of the people abroad, — and the general aspect of almost every thing that his eye encoun ters — all contribute to remind him that, though in the new world, he is in the metropolis of that particular sec tion of it appropriately styled " New England." This English aspect which marks every thing in Bos ton, is no where more strikingly seen than in the churches, whose sombre coloured walls and oaken wood work, with the dark rich shade of drapery, and the cur tained or stained medium, subduing the effect of a Trans atlantic sky, communicate that "dim religious light" which in an instant carries the English worshipper back to the glorious fanes of his native land. Such were my own sensations on taking my seat within the walls of Trinity Church the first time I en tered that beautiful temple, whose battlemented tower, well decorated and substantial, and superb east window had several times attracted my notice in my earliest perambulations. On looking round, the air and appear ance of the worshippers was sufficiently distingue. Nu merous family groups occupied the luxuriantly (too luxuriantly) furnished pews which covered the spacious area. My immediate conjecture that this was the 16 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " fashionable church" of the aristocratic quarter where it stands, proved on after enquiry correct. But who is that venerable looking prelate seated in the episcopal chair which occupies the north of the altar ? His featuies and scanty grey locks, bespeak a man of perhaps eighty ; but no ! his upright form as he rises to the awakening notes of the Te Deum, and the fixed ex pression of his speaking eye tell that only seventy winters have passed over his head. Right — he has per formed the work of eighty years during forty years of ministerial service, twenty three of which have been devoted to the duties of the episcopate. He is the " Bishop of the Eastern Diocess," and the Presiding Bishop of the episcopal church in the United States. I had heard and read of this distinguished ecclesiastic,. and had seen his picture ; but the impression I had re ceived was a faint one of the original, which embodied all that the imagination paints as peculiar to a patriarch or an apostle. Frequently as I met him in after days, and much as I heard of his conversation in the most retired moments of his life this impression was never lessened. His features uniformly expressed sanctity and benevolence, while his carriage combined dignity and the most childlike simplicity. The 'good bishop was present on a visitation of the Boston parishes, and after administering the apostolic rite of confirmation to a number of interesting youth he preached a sermon, which received the deepest attention from the numerous assemblage. The words flowed from his lips naturally and fervidly, and more than one moistened eye among the young recipients of the Holy Ghost, gave testimony to the force of his earnest exhortations. BISHOP GTtlSWOLD. 17 The " eastern diocess" it is known to my older readers, comprised the four states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, since erected into separate sees. At Bishop Griswold's death in 1843, there were 112 parishes and clergymen in that district of country. A small number, I admit, com pared to its population, but considerable when com pared with the number of clergy at the time he was consecrated to his office in 1511 ; when (though at that time the diocess included Vermont) there were only seventeen ! And what was the entire strength of the American Episcopal Church at the time of his ordination to the lower rank in the priesthood in 1795? There were then only five bishops, and forty-nine clergymen in the whole United States. The heathen had come into the inheritance ofthe Lord, and laid Jerusalem on heaps. Her faithful worshippers were become a reproach to their neighbours ; a scorn and derision to them that were round about them. The vine which had been planted in the land by the Church of England, and watched by her with " a long continuance of nursing care," * had been broken down, and almost plucked up. The property of the Church had been alienated, and applied to secular uses , Her enemies had confederated together against hei — Edom with Moab — the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre — Asshur with tlie children of Lot, and had said, " Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. Such was without figure the position of the Church in the United States at the time that the late presiding bishop first entered on his clerical duties, and the future primate was obliged, in addition to very arduous paro" * Preface to the American Prayer Book. 18 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. chial labours, to eke out a slender support by taking the charge of a district school. " During the whole of my life," once remarked the bishop, " I have been con strained to be economical of time ; few probably of my age have spent less of it in amusement and relaxation." And what was the spectacle which this faithful servant in the gospel vineyard was permitted to behold before he was taken from the scene of his labours, after half a century* of persevering industry, during which he had risen by successive gradations to the highest post of ecclesiastical distinction ? — The Heavenly Husbandman had beheld and visited his vine, the vineyard which his own right hand planted ; it has taken deep root, and filled the land ; the hills are covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof are like goodly cedars. She has sent her boughs to ike sea, and her branches to the river. Twenty-one bishops and a thousand faithful clergy f ministering to fifteen hundred congregations attested the gracious and protecting care with which the kind Shepherd of Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, had watched over the interests of his American flock ! * Including the period of his lay-readership. f The number of American bishops is now 28, and of clergy 1240. 19 CHAPTER V. SISTER MARY ST. HENRY. Dorchester Heights, occupied by Washington when he compelled the British to evacuate Boston in the first campaign of the revolutionary war, overlook the city from the south, and afford a fine view of the noble har bour and its numerous islands. As Boston has increased in population and wealth, the limits of the city have proportionably extended ; and Dorchester Heights are now embraced within the regu lar city boundaries, and united to the old part by two bridges. The peninsula was, however, at the time of which I write, but partially covered with- houses, and possessed many delightful walks with country prospects. I was several times attracted to this quarter of the town to catch the sea views, and explore the coves which indent its southern coast. There stood on the northern slope ofthe hill, a Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to St. Augustine. My course lay by this chapel one Monday afternoon, late in the autumn of 1834. A throng of people gathered, about the gates opening on the burying ground, seemed to give intimation of an interment ; nor had I reached the turn ing of the road leading to the bridge, before the sounds of funereal music from beneath caught my ear, and the spectacle of a lengthened procession crossing it was distinctly visible. 20 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The music rose louder on the ear as the procession moved up the hill. First came a cross-bearer with a company of juvenile acolothists ; next a numerous choir of chanters, preceding the coffin, which was followed by several priests in their altar vestments, and a large con fraternity of nuns, " men of the holy cross," sisters of charity, etc. ; the procession being closed by a body of citizens. So numerous was the latter class, that the line of procession extended unbroken from the chapel to the bridge, and was formed, as I afterwards learnt, of more than five thousand persons. Curiosity impelled me to ascertain whose death it was that had called forth this exhibition of sympathy, and with this view I mingled in the train. I soon learnt that the deceased was a nun of the Ursuline Convent, of whose destruction by incendiaries a short time previous I had heard much. The erection of the first conventual establishment in the New England States, where a strong and almost universal jealousy towards papacy may be said to be an hereditary sentiment among the native population ; and that establishment near the capital of the state, and adjoining Bunker Hill was a highly obnoxious circum stance to the people of Charlestown ; and some of the abuses incident to such establishments coming to light, the buildings were one night burnt to the ground by an incensed mob. No good citizen will defend such a breach ofthe peace in a community where all Christians have an equal claim on the protection of the laws, in the exercise of their religious opinions. Bishop Griswold pronounced it " an enormous outrage, condemned and detested by every pious protestant in the country, and calculated to excite SISTER MARY ST. HENRY. 2\ the sympathy of thousands and to tend to the increase of such institutions. I hope," added the bishop, '¦' through God's blessing, I may never have ' little charity' for any denomination of Christians, and especi ally for those who steadfastly maintain so many of the essentials of Christianity as do the Roman Catholics."* The alarm reached the convent, which lay about a mile from the town, after the inmates had retired to rest. They were directed to leave the building, no personal in jury being intended to any one. One of the nuns, called * It is due to the bishop that I subjoin his.strictures on the conventual sys tem. "Imprisonment for life is justly deemed the greatest of punishments, that of death excepted ; many think that even this should not be excepted. And to me it has seemed strange that a civilised people, Christians even, should suffer their citizens, without law or conviction of crime to be thus wholly debarred of their liberty. Isitright ? is it not very great cruelty, that a young girl — because in a fit of enthusiasm or disgust with the world, or for any other cause she enters the convent, she should endure in consequence, this dreadful punishment ? If it is said that she is reconciled to her con dition and happy in her confinement, why not then tear away the grates, open the doors of her prison, and release her from all restraint ? Do this and then — and not till then — shall we ielieve that she has no desire for li berty. That such hopeless confinement has, in ages past caused a vast deal of wretchedness is known to the world. How much suffering has been endured in nunneries we shall rot know till that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, and the works of darkness be brought to light. But I would not dwell on this ; I am pleased in believing that those sufferings, and indeed the number of convents are being diminished. * * No one I believe is more averse to persecution than myself; and though 1 view the vows of those who enter cloisters as sinful, as tempting God, as swearing that they will never do what may afterwards appear to be their duty, and the will ot God respeeting them ; and though I view the impri sonment of nuns as wholly unjustifiable, I am neither authorized nor de sirous to judge those who think differently. To their own master let them stand or fall. As convents have been generally managed I view them as prejudicial to morals, and to religion. Yet if the vows and the imprison ment were discontiuued they might be rendered useful as charitable insti- 22 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. sister Mary St. Henry, did not, however, receive the summons so soon as the rest, and fled scarcely dressed from the building, into which the mob were now rushing, crossed a high wall, and losing her way among swampy lands, became greatly exhausted before she at length found shelter in a cottage. From this retreat she was removed with the rest of the sisterhood to General Dearborn's mansion at Roxboro, which, by the polite ness of its gallant owner, afforded a temporary shelter to the expelled occupants of the Charlestown convent. But the fever which the exhaustion of that night produ ced resisted every effort of medical skill, and Sister Mary died after a few weeks of patient suffering. The victim to popular fury was beautiful, and very accomplished ; and her death excited warm commisera tion from all classes ; not the less among those who had shared in the feelings which originated the act of vio lence than among Romanists themselves : by many of the former was she attended to her last home. Whilst we cannot, with justice, charge the event of her death upon the Charlestown rioters as its purposed instruments, yet who can help sharing the tear of sympathy that bedews almost every cheek in that mournful train which now follows the last remains of one so young and fair ? The foremost part of the procession has now reached the chapel, whose portals are opened for the admission of the body. The De profundis, chanted alternately in its progress hitherto by the priests and choristers, has ceased its mournful long drawn notes ; all heads are reveren tially uncovered as the clergy enter the burying ground, tutions for the benefit of some whose age, or state of health, or other cir cumstances render such an asylum both convenient and justifiable. " — The Reformation, pp. 100-2. SISTER MARY ST. HENRY. SJ3 and one, whose episcopal habit declares him to be a bishop, commences the burial service ; the chapel under whose pavement the body of Sister Mary is to be interred is soon filled with the immediate followers of the corpse, consisting of the attendants, the Eeligieuses and the chief mourners ; and as the lengthened sha dows of the evening become blended with the increasing darkness, the crowds which have been augmenting round the chapel since the procession halted, gradually and quietly disperse. PA CHAPTER VI. ' THE NORTH END. The quarter of Boston familiarly know as " the North End," embraces all that part of the peninsula on which the city is built lying north of Faneuil Hall. Like the east end of London, once the abode of wealth and state, it is now deserted by the denizens of fashion. Its narrow and crooked streets, and the looks of the houses, speak of an age gone by. In the centre of this neighbourhood old Christchurch rears its lofty spire, and the brick tower on which it is based, and which contains a fine peal of bells, is regarded by the inhabitants with an affection truly filial. Salem Street, in which Christchurch stands, is the main thoroughfare of the North End. Here the matronly tenant, and the youthful miss of Snow Hill, and the spinster boarder of Prince Street and the North Square purchase their finery, to be displayed among the throng of church goers who jostle each other in Salem Street on Sunday. In this part of the city old fashioned dwelling houses meet the eye, with projecting upper stories and roofs ; windows, with small diamond shaped panes of glass in leaden frames, and numerous other vestiges of antiquity. Copp's Hill, on which my reader has doubtless stood ; transported thither by the magic pen of the novelist Cooper, on the night previous to the memorable battle of CHRISTMAS EVE. 25 Bunker Hill, is in this quarter. The greatest part of the eminence is occupied as a burial ground, covered with a countless variety of head stones, and ruined monu ments. On many of these are the crests and other heraldic emblems of the anti-revolutionary governors, and titled residents of " Massachusetts Bay colony." But I must not forget the church, which is nearly a century and a quarter old. It is in the style of most English churches, with a spire 175 feet high. Some years ago the interior was remodelled by the vestrymen ; the large east window closed up and its place supplied by an altar piece, the work of a native artist. On the architrave over the chancel, are the words " tE!)M5 10 HOltC otljfr tfjan tljc igouse of ©o5, ant> tfjts is tfje (Sate Of $$t al)£ n," over which is a finely executed representa tion of the descent ofthe Holy Spirit. In this church is a monument and bust to the memory of Washington, the first oue erected in the country. I had been spending a December afternoon inspecting the old burying ground on Copp's Hill, and was return ing to my lodgings through Salem Street, when the bells of Christchurch broke forth into a merry peal; and seeing some persons, from different points directing their steps towards the parish temple, I approached it, and crossed the venerable portals just as the choir commenced the rehearsal of a Christmas anthem. I should have supposed this preparatory musical exercise was the object of the open church but for the illuminated chancel and pulpit which gave intimation of the ensuing service. The practice of keeping Christmas Eve I found to be not an uncommon one in America"; and the numbers who soon began to fill the church this evening betokened no inconsiderable degree of interest in the solemnities of the 26 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. occasion. The service was conducted by two priests, the youngest of whom delivered an animated address from the pulpit on the approaching festival of the Nativity. Before the congregation dispersed, the organ which bad accom panied a full and very efficient choir of singers in the Cantati and Deus Misereatur again struck up in the notes of an anthem paraphased from the second chapter of St. Luke. This observance of Christmas Eve was an example of reverence for ancient usage for which I was quite unpre pared in America. Christmas Eve is a vigil in the Church of England — or to speak more correctly, it is marked in the English Prayer Book as such, on the same table with the evenings preceding fifteen other festivals ; though (with the exception of Easter Eve) observed, I suspect, as little as a vigil as either of those evenings. This table is however expunged in the American Prayer Book, together with the names of all the Saints in the English Calendar for whom no Collect and Gospel is appointed. Q7 CHAPTER. VII. PARENTHETICAL. A few days after, I received an invitation from a vestry man of the parish to a seat in his family pew whenever I attended the church, of which I several times availed myself; but my imperfect acquaintance with the consti tution and peculiarities of the episcopal Church as existing in America, gave me at this time a distaste for its worship which induced my attendance on other ministrations. I regarded it as a mere branch of the English establishment, which had survived the revolu tion ; unsuited in its government, polity, doctrines, and worship to the country where I had taken up my abode. Subsequent examination and study showed me the mag nitude of this error; and brought to my more matured knowledge that the Church Episcopal as existing in the United States, is in its framework more adapted to the genius of American institutions than any other denomi nation in the country — in its doctrines as pure — and in its worship more republican. The book of common prayer is as well suited to the atmosphere of a republican assembly as to the worshippers in the Chapel Royal. "I would very briefly show," writes Bishop M'Coskry,* " the beautiful analogy which exists between the eccle siastical institutions of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, and the civil institutions of the United States. * In his pamphlet " Bishops Successors of the Apostles." p. 51. 28 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " At the time of our civil revolution, the Church, as is well known, separated herself entirely from the juris diction of a foreign b:shop,* and declared her indepen dence ; but she never could forget that ' she is indebted, under God, to the English Church for her first founda tion, and a long continuance of nursing care and protection, f " Having received the apostolic succession from this Church, by which she could increase her ministry, and extend her influence, her first efforts were made to conform her whole human organization and legislation to that adopted and followed by the people of this country in reference to their civil government. The consequence was, that the government ofthe Prostestant Episcopal Church in the United States, became truly republican in its character, as we will hereafter see, and in which I have no hesitation in saying that the rights of the people are better secured than in any other ecclesiastical organization ; for there are no permanent * The Bishop of London. It is in the highest degree creditable to the prelates who hare since this separation [which Monsieur of " The Tablet" will please observe was not a dismemberment of one branch of the Church from its mother stem, but a peaceful creation only of a separate in dependant legislature, conformable with universal catholic precedent] filled the see of London, that none of the friendly feeling and co-operation with the heads of the American Church has been discontinued ; on the contrary they have voluntarily assumed nearly us much interest in her affairs, and given as much time out of that demanded by the greatly augmented duties since attached to the laborious and unenviable post of Bishop of London to this object as was formerly exacted from them. In the case of the present diocesan, frequent pecuniary assistance on the most liberal scale towards the objects of church building, etc. has been added to those offices of friendly welcome and personal assistance which are uniformly rendered to the American visitors to England (not a few) who are introduced to his lordship's notice. t Preface to the American Prayer Book. THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 29 officers, so far as the laity are concerned, but fresh repre sentatives are yearly selected by the people, and have a voice in all her legislation. " But I will present the analogy to our civil govern ment : — " In both, the power of government resides primarily in the whole people. " In both, the forms of government are representative. In the Church, however, there are no limitations in the application of the principle of universal suffrage. " The parish meetings, and the town or district elections are analogous. " The parish vestries, and the select men, or common councils of the towns or cities are analogous. " The union of parishes into dioceses, and the union of towns or counties into states are analogous. " The independence of the several dioceses, and the independence of the several states are analogous. " The union of the several dioceses into one General Convention, and the union of the several states into one General Government are analogous. " The Diocesan Conventions with their secretaries ; and the State Legislatures with their secretaries, are analogous. " The representation in the Diocesan Conventions and the representation in the State Legislatures from the people directly, are analogous. " The General Convention of the United Dioceses, and the General Congress of the United States are ana logous. The House of Bishops in the former corres ponding to the Senate on the latter, and the house of Clerical or Lay deputies in the former corresponding to the house of Representatives in the latter. SO ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. "But sufficient proof is here given to show how scrupulously careful the Church has been to guard as well as secure the rights of every member of her fold. The poorest member has an equal voice in her councils with the most wealthy and influential, and no law is imposed upon any without their own consent." * The testimony of another American bishop, the Right Rev, Dr. Henshaw of Rhode Island, to this almost per fect analogy, and the conservative character of the Church episcopal on even republican institutions, in an address at laying the corner stone of a cathedral in the city of Providence, his see, will be appropriately added to that of the northern bishop. "While we intend that the structure now commenced upon this foundation shall do honour to the liberality of its proprietors, be an ornament to this beautiful and prosperous city, and a credit to our common country ; our chief hope is that it may be, in some humble measure, worthy of the high and holy uses to which it is to be devoted. " The edifice which is to be raised here will have a character stamped upon it widely different from that ¦ of the buildings which surround it. They are designed for the benefit and accommodation of man as an inhabi tant of the world that now is, this is intended to minister to his welfare as an expectant of that which is to come. They have connexion exclusively with the things of Earth ; this will be chiefly devoted to those of Heaven. Not only so. It will differ from many of the religious * That a Church represented by its enemies as incurably aiistocratic in its polity and constitution, should thus mould itself to republican institu tions without a change in its essential features is explained by its being of divine origin, and therefore, intended for " every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 31 structures around it, not only in its style of architecture, but also in reference to important points of faith and order and worship, in whose support and propagation it will be employed. The Protestant Episcopal Church, although among us the eldest daughter of the Reforma tion, has been too often viewed with feelings of distrust and aversion by her younger sisters. She has been too little known in this region of our country, and on this account, has been misapprehended and traduced. She has no dread of the most rigid scrutiny into her princi ples and institutions : for this has uniformly contributed to her elevation in the estimation of the wise and good. She makes no complaint of those who oppose her with the weapons of fair and manly controversy ; for they serve only to illustrate the strength of her position and the granite durability of her bulwarks and buttresses. But there is cause to blush for the honour of our com mon Christianity when, after she has proved impregna ble in the warfare of calm discussion and dignified argument, — the appeal is changed from the understand ing to the passions, from reason to prejudice, and she is assailed by the shafts of sarcasm and satire pointed by the wit of the grave orators of New England dinners, and the Reverend song-makers of the Tabernacle. " We have reason to be thankful that the day is past when our good puritan fore-fathers imprisoned the quakers, ostracised the baptists, and forbade episcopa lians to use the Book of Common Prayer, because, forsooth, they had come to this western world to enjoy religious liberty, and to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences ! But we live in an age of public excitement and gross prejudice, unfavoura ble to the calm investigation of truth. It may not be 32 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. amiss, therefore, on the present occasion, when we are surrounded by many fellow Christians of other names, to take a brief notice of some of the popular objections to our Church, and attempt to show that it is entitled, at least, to toleration and respect in a free and en lightened community. " One of the vulgar objections to our Church is — that it is ARISTOCRATIC. " This objection must be made either with reference to the nature of its ministry, the character of its government, or its practical influence in society. And whichever view may be taken of its bearing, an impartial investigation will show that it has its origin in ignorance or miscon ception. " Does the objection arise from the disparity of orders in the ministry ? Our only answer is — that we consider the Christian Ministry as a Divine, not a human, institution. We receive it as it was appointed by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and transmitted by his Apostles to succeeding generations. The same orders of the ministry existed in the New Testament Church, under the names of apostles, elders, and deacons. The same orders existed without opposition in the Church universal for fifteen hundred years ; and the same orders now exist in every quarter of the globe, and are acknowledged by nineteen- twentieths of the Christian world. If the alleged odious feature, there fore, be inherent in the disparity of orders, we believe it to be one which no human authority has the power to remedy. But unless the two lower orders of the mi nistry universally or generally complain that their Fathers in Christ become their oppressors, lord it over God's heritage, and govern them with the rod of tyranny THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 33 instead of the law of love ; — unless the people complain that our ministry is more intolerant, bigoted and dog matical — more disposed to entrap or oppress weak consciences — and more inclined to impose restraints upon liberty of thought and action than that of other names, we shall view the objection as a nullity ; and continue to believe that the rule established by the Head of the Church for the regulation of his household is best adapted to promote the spiritual good and the true liberty of its members. " Does the charge of aristocracy refer to the system of our Ecclesiastical polity and government ? It serves only to betray recklessness or want of information on the part of the objector. Let any man examine the consti tution and canons of our Church, and he will not fail to perceive the striking resemblance between them and the civil institutions of this great confederation of repub lics. In our parochical arrangements for the annual primary assemblies of the people to elect their vestries and other local officers — behold the counterpart of our municipal elections. The Bishop, Standing Committee, and convention of Clerical and Lay Delegates in each Diocese, answer to the Governor, Council and Legisla ture of the respective States ; while the General Con vention — composed of the House of Bishops and the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, representing the various dioceses, and constituting the supreme legisla tive power of all, — has an exact resemblance, in its general character and powers, to the Congress of the United States, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. And the Presiding Bishop may, to a limited extent, be considered as exercising, in our ecclesiastical constitution, powers and prerogatives 34 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. resembling those which pertain to the chief magistrate of the Union. While the rights of the clergy, as an order of divine appointment, are not infringed upon, the rights and powers of the laity are sacredly secured. So much so, that in this Church (which some ignorantly traduce as a system of priestly domination,) not an election can be made, from the choice of a vestryman, or the licensing of a deacon, up to the consecration of a bishop, without the consent and approbation of the people ; nor can a canon be enacted or a rubric changed without their co-operation. The combined power of bishops, priests and deacons is held in check by the co-ordinate power of the laity, " Is the charge of being aristocratic intended to reproach us with the fact that many ofthe more wealthy and refined and powerful in society are found numbered in our flocks ? We consider it no reproach to the Church that so many of the educated and distinguished are not slow to acknowledge her excellencies, and feel her attractions. But her portals are alike open, and her precious gifts alike offered to the poor and the rich, to the humble and the elevated. They all meet in her courts as upon a level before the Maker of them all ; and, in the privileges of a common communion, realize that they are one in Christ Jesus. " Is it said that the influence of our Church is adverse to popular freedom ? We bless God that his kingdom is not of this world ; that the ministers of this Church degrade not their sacred calling by mingling in the strife and animosity of party politics ; and her people are left free to choose their own sides, and form their own alli ances ; while the conservative influence of the whole body is felt in strengthening the foundations of order — THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 35 Heaven's first law, — and cementing the institutions which bind society together. " If there were any thing in the principles and institu tions of our Church inconsistent with the genius of our free government, it is passing strange that it should have escaped the clear-sighted vision of the Washingtons, the Hamiltons, the Jays, the Pinkneys, the Madisons and the Marshalls* of a departed generation — and many of the brightest ornaments of our legislation and jurispru dence in the living one — who, while receiving the * " The Church, I say, which as American Christians ought to be as dear to every Churchman as that country itself. For as I write these lines the merry peals of eld Christchurch bells linger on my ear j they have been welcoming the birth day of our beloved Washington. And George Washington was a protest&nt episcopalian, a member of the holy Catholic Church in these United States. " Here is a claim which the Church has upon us as Americans which ought not to be forgotten. In her organization, she corresponds most happily with the organization of our country. Sprung as she has from the same source whence we derive our national origin, for as Churchmen and as Americans we look back to old England ; founded as the Church was by the same hands that laid the corner-stone of our Republic ; boast ing as she does that her best loved bishop was the chaplain of our Con gress ; that the leader of the American army was a communicant at her altar; — these things considered, we do well to think and speak of them, and to feel an honourable pride both in the thought and speech. "When, then, you bear the members of the Romish sect boasting of their Carroll of Carrollton, hear them patiently, for a right honourable patriot he was, and does honour to the name of Romanist wh:ch he bore : — but let these friends of ours, be instructed, that to the Church of Lee, and Rutledge, and Middleton, and Jay, and Hamilton, and Madison, and Marshall, and Morris, of Bishop White and George Washington, it belongs to claim the gratitude of this American people. " Long, then, may old Christchurch bells ring their merry chime, to welcome the birth day of George Washington, a communicant ofthe Pro testant Episcopal Church. Old bells, ye have ihe right, for jour music is the music of ancient days ; ye can chaunt the natal song of all the de nominations about you ; and may ye remain to sound the glorious requiem, which shall tell of Romish and dissenting brothers, dead to their viola tions of the Church's unity, and born again to the privileges of tliat apostolic branch of the holy Catholic Chuich, the American Protestant Episcopal Church."— From the Rev. William H. Odenheimer's charming little volume " The True Catholic no Romanist." p. p. 43. This talented youDg preacher and true hearted Catholic is the succes sor of the present Bishop of Western New York in the rectorship of St. Peter's, Philadelphia. 36 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. reverence and honours due to the ablest supporters and expounders of the liberties of the country, deemed it their duty and privilege to attend upon the services of the Church and contribute to her support." From arguments like these, my objections against a eommunion to which (though I had received part of my education from her ministers — .had constantly worshipped in her temples — and had been taught from infancy to venerate) I had never regularly belonged, were effectu ally removed. But how partial is the work in winning converts to the Church in her apostolic integrity, to reconcile them merely to her laws and usages, and acquit our glorious Mother in the eyes of her new children of the libellous accusations, and the gross slanders of her opponents. She needs no "Apology!" Her ministry, sacrament, and ritual, are the blessed heritage, even of returning recusant children. As the spouse of Christ we do the Church dishonour by leaving the argument at this point, when we retort the foul calumnies of her schismatic enemies against the purity of her doctrines, and the soundness of her institutions. It was, however, more than a year after receiving orders in the " Protestant Episcopal American Church," that the true and actual position of that "denomination" was understood. That position is well defined by a distinguished western presbyter* of the same, in a sermon preached in St. Paul's Church, New Albany, Indiana, on the ordination of the Rev. Dr. Wylie, President of Indiana University, (a convert from "new school" heresy to catholic truth) in 1841, with which I close this chapter of extracts. " My western hearers, be not startled by the word, * The Rev. Samuel Rovsevelt Johnson, Rector of Lafayette. THE AMERICAN CHURCH. 37 ' Catholic.' Our Saviour Christ established but one Church upon the earth. This extended itself into various countries, and in them continued one. It filled the land of England among others, where it kept at divers times more or less of its original purity; and at the period of the Reformation especially, while it adhered to every essential of its primitive ordinance and belief, dropt certain modern corruptions. It was one before doing so, one in doing so, one after doing so. Its bishops led, and the clergy and laity united in the re form. Of its more than nine thousand ministers, only one hundred and twenty-seven refused. As the Old, Great, Common Church of the land, it so acted — that is as the Catholic Church ; for this word is not strictly a name, but expresses nature, somewhat as the word Christ expresses office. This word catholic means general ; and when applied to the Church in any nation it testifies that such Church is the true representative in that land of the ancient General Catholic Church, which from Jerusalem spread out into all countries ; that it is a true part and member of that one great society which Christ Jesus founded, and left upon the earth as his church ; that it is a rehgious society not different from that, either by having separated from its fold, or by being an entirely new invention, or a construc tion independent and somewhat similar in pattern. Had the Church in England of itself assumed any other name, or had another been imposed by the world, it would still be the old, general (or catholic) Church of Christ in England. So it remained ; and for some time, the one, only religious body in the land. From it after certain years, the followers of the Roman Obedience at the command of their foreign head, separated into schism ; 38 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. after that, the puritans and others dissenting,, followed them in the same bad way — .bad because Christ had forbid such separation, had commanded unity, as a body. B ut it has ever kept on its steady coirrse, continuing to be what it ever was,— the Old, Great, Common, General, Catholic, Apostolic Church of our Saviour Christ in England. " We are Anglo-Saxons as a nation, ofthe same stock and language, and to us the same Church belongs. It alone had the natural right to be guardian over our spi ritual welfare, and provide for us Christ's ordinances; and that care it has exercised. What claim has the Italian Church over an Anglo-Saxon Christian nation in America, especially where its own native Church was in possession, and her chief pastors were " keeping watch ?" What can elevate separatists in the mother land to be the old, true Church here ? We who are named " episcopalians" are the legitimate offspring of that ancient mother ; our bishops were consecrated by her bishops ; our ministry is derived from Christ through her ; from her we spring as child from the mother, of the same blood, nature and spiritual inheritance. We form not one out of many Christian denominations, but are the original Christian Family from which the other denominations separated, contrary to the Saviour's will and ordinance ; they are sects — we the church. Christians removing from their own country into another, never in ancient times thought of starting as a new " denomination" there, but always fell into the regular ranks of Christ's common Church. Thus ours is the true, and only Catholic Church of Christ in these United States, and to it all Christ's disciples should belong. This ought to be our only de signation, and then others and we ourselves would see THE AMERCIAN CHURCH. 39 our claim and our position aright. The history of a few- years, or one selected principle should not in any nation give name to the Church of Christ, which belongs to all Christian centuries, and which has all the elements of truth. If it may be named " The Protestant Episcopal," because it has protested against Roman additions, and testified to the Episcopal Succession, as well might it be named " The Witnessing Baptist," because, beyond any other religious society in the land, it clearly and fully witnesses true Christian baptism; — testifying to the truth of its administration, excluding none of its lawful modes ; — testifying to the truth as to its subjects, excluding none of its lawful subjects ; — testifying in its instructions to the truth of its nature, excluding none of its lower offices, or its higher and supernatural mysteries of gift and nature ; — testifying to the very essence ofthe sacrament, by the unquestionable validity of the ministry which administers the sacrament. I look for it, that the churchmen in the West, the plain-spoken, straight forward West, which ever likes to call known things by right names, will be those, who knowing that they have the reality, will take the lead in claiming the rightful name of the church of christ, the catho lic, IN AMERICA." 40 CHAPTER VIII. BOSTON CHURCHES. Having introduced my readers to two of the Boston churches, I will add a short historical and descriptive notice of several others. The next in importance to Christchurch is St. Paul's ; it stands in Tremont street facing " the common," as a park-like enclosure of seven ty five acres laid out and planted like the Green Park, is familiarly called. This beautiful church, con structed of fine grey granite, has been built after a Grecian model. A projecting portico is supported by six Ionic columns of Potomac stone approached by a flight of steps. Its general external appearance is pure and classic. " The interior of St. Paul's " writes another pen "is remarkable for its simplicity and beauty, and the mate rials of which the building has been constructed give it an intrinsic value and an effect which have not been pro duced by any imitations of the classic models that have been attempted of bricks and plaster in other cities. The erection of this church may be considered the commence ment of an era in the art in Boston ; and although from its situation it is somewhat obscured, the beauties it displays have already had a sensible influence on taste in archi tecture. " St. Paul's church was several years in erection ; it was consecrated by the bishop of the diocess on the BOSTON CHURCHES. 41 30th of June 1820, and Dr. Samuel F. Jarvis, the first rector of the parish, was instituted on the 7th of the fol lowing month. This gentleman has had three successors ; Dr. Alonzo Potter now Bishop of Pennsylvania, who suc ceeded in 1826, Dr. John S. Stone, who became rector in 1832, and Dr. Vinton, the present rector. Gracechureh stands half way between St. Paul's and Trinity, in the elevated part of the city. Its design is extremely chaste ; the gothic towers, and outward em bellishments making it a great ornament to that section, which is principally the abode of wealth, and comfortable independance, though second in its " aristocratic " pretensions to the south quarter in which Trinity stands. The interior of Gracechureh is in keeping with its external appearance. A plain Latin cross occupies the centre compartment of the chancel wall. Mr. Clark the pastor of this congregation when I lived in Boston, is now the rector of St. Andrew's in Philadelphia, where he succeeded his namesake, to whose skill in popular oratory he adds chaster, and a more concise and logical style of composition. St. Matthew's church. — The parish is situated in the south suburb of the city, separated from the old town by an arm of the sea, though now incorporated within its municipal jurisdiction and called South Boston. It was organized in 1816 and the church edifice was completed 1818 ; it is a plain brick building with a handsome interior. The Rev. Dr. John L Blake, was the first rector ; lately succeeded by the Rev. Joseph H. Clinch. Dr. Blake, now at New York, is a scholar of some eminence, and the author of numerous elementary and other books used in the, common schools of the United States. 42 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Two Free churches, erected at the expense of the Chnrch Missionary Society, for the use of the poor, and transient residents in the opposite quarters of the city where they are situated. All the sittings in these churches are free ; the clergymen being sustained from the same source. A Sunday School of six or seven hun dred children is supported by each, under the superinten dence of the churchwardens. Dr. Eaton was the minister ofthe first free church, which stands in Franklin avenue, at the time of my residence in the city. His place is now supplied by Mr. Wells. Mr Croswell is minister of the other. Church of the Messiah. — I give this " church" a place in the present list for the sake of completeness. No building was erected by the parish when I left Boston ; and I have never been able to learn when it was construct ed, what site it occupies, or what, (if it is in existence) are its architectural pretensions. The Rev. George M. Ran dall, an alumnus of the General Theological Seminary and a young man of some promise, is the rector of the new parish. Trinity Church now contains the episcopal chair. The present bishop having been elected rector of the same conjointly with his elevation to the mitre. He is assisted in the parochial duties by the Rev. John L. Watson. Bishop Eastburn is the fourth head of the diocese. His predecessors are Bishop Bass, consecrated 1797, Bishop Parker, consecrated 1804, and Bishop Griswold, conse crated 1811. The Church is rapidly gaining in the pre ference of the best classes in Boston, who have lost their faith in " unitarianism " since the further defection of several amongst its principal ministers, in adopting Ger man Neology . A few years will doubtless see a large BOSTON CHURCHES. 43 increase to the Church from the ranks, both of Socinian- ism, and Congregationalism. The present bishop has been elected on I believe two occasions to the chaplaincy of the State Legislature — a favourable omen ! He is an Englishman by birth. 44 CHAPTER IX. , BOSTON SECTARIES. For several months after I reached Boston, I continued a former habit, acquired during a residence in Lon don, of frequenting different places of worship in turn ; though an acquaintance formed on my first arrival with an estimable clergyman of the Roman commu nion led me oftener into the church where he officiated than any other. I occasionally attended a baptist, meeting house in which the distinguished Dr. Sharp preached, and derived much pleasure from his clear and happy mode of exposition ; for though belonging to the old (i. e. Calvinist) school in that denomination, I never heard him broach the peculiar, and to me, offensive dogmas of his party. One evening I found myself within the walls of a chapel not far from Dr. Sharp's, which had been hitherto unobserved by me. The preacher on the occasion was a fervid clear-headed reasoner, whose style of address enchained me by its abundant, and very apposite quotations from Holy Writ ; and induced a regular attendance for a time on his ministrations. He belonged to the " General Baptist " sect, commonly called " free will baptists, " from their opposition to the Calvinistic tenets of necessity, absolute decrees, reprobation etc. In England, I am informed, this body occupy a respectable position amongst the dissenters for their zeal and piety, boston churches. 45 and the learning of their ministers ; excelling in the latter particular the " Particular " or Calvinistic bap tists ; though the case with regard to ministerial attain ments seems to be reversed in the United States. There are, however, several preachers in this denomination (amongst whom Messrs. Cheney, Phalen and Hiram Brooks stand foremost) who have few equals in the American pulpit. Mr. H , also, the pastor at this time of the Boston congregation, was an original thinker and a skilful orator, well armed in all the points of doctrinal controversy. The standards of this sect on the subjects of the atone ment, justification, freewill &c. are strictly Arminian; similar to those of a large class in the Anglo and Anglo- American Churches ; after which the form of Church go vernment is more nearly framed than that of any other non- episcopal body. There orders of ministers* govern their congregations, viz. messengers,f elders,:}: and deacons ; || the former of whom exercise a species of episcopal over sight ¦ over the others ; such as the members assert was assigned to the higher grade of ministers in the early Church ; though the form of their ecclesiastical govern ment is nominally congregational. Simplicity, moral purity, and missionary zeal are the characteristics of these excellent unobtrusive Christians. No other prefix is ap plied to their ministers, or used by them than the official titles of " elder" or " deacon" ; and their aim is, at least, to conform in every feature of their system to apostolic precedent. One instance of this exists in the custom of * The threefold ministry is now almost confined to the English General Baptists. See Evans' Sketch, p. 83. and Elder Robinson's ''History." t Philippians ii, 25. Corinthians viii. 23. X I Timothy v. 17. 22. Titus i. 5. || Acts vi. 1—6. Philippians i. 1. I Tim. Hi. 8—12. 46 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. washing each others feet,* which is practised in some of the congregations. There are numerous other sects in Boston, many of whose temples form a conspicuous feature among the ar chitectural embellishments of the town. The most con siderable in numbers and influence is the " Unitarian," though a considerable portion of this sect has since lapsed into " transcendentalism," a form of heresy fully exposed by several late writers. Happily amidst this confusion of tongues the Church is every day gaining strength in the New England metropolis. * St. John xiii. 5—14. I Tim. v. 10. 47 CHAPTER X. SOME NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FEATURES OF BOSTON. A winter in Boston would be very agreeable but for the extreme cold; which during my first winter there fre quently caused a fall in the thermometer of 20 degrees below zero. It is to strangers a matter of surprise that the climate of the United States should differ so materially from the same parallel of latitude in the eastern continents. But the theory of meteorology as affecting the temperature, in conjunction with the proximity of mountains and bo dies of water has been long since satisfactorily explained. I read an ingenious treatise on the climate of North America, in which the writer aims to establish that it exhibits the same specific difference found to exist in si milar situations in Europe and Asia. However correct the position, it is difficult to persuade one's self during the winter season at Boston that you are in the same la titude with Oporto, Rome, and Adrianople. This deduction from the pleasure of open air exercise is greatly counterbalanced by the literary and scientific institutions with which the city abounds ; which added to the fact that Boston possesses more schools than any other place of its size in the world, has doubtless acquired for it the title of " the literary emporium" of the western world. The Historical Society, the Athenae um and the Academy of Fine Arts are well endowed sub stantial establishments, as I can testify ; possessing each 48 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. an extensive library. There are other minor societies for the promotion of literature, besides (at the time of which I write) ten daily, and about thirty weekly news papers, thirty monthly, or semi-monthly magazines, etc. : sixty periodical prints regularly issued in a city with scarce a hundred thousand inhabitants ! Boston, to be seen to the greatest advantage should be approached from the sea. — European visitants by the mail steamers, will meet with few sights in their whole tour through the United States to surpass the spectacle which is presented on passing Nantasket. The voyager enters a harbour of nearly eight square miles in extent, covered with a hundred islands, several of them bristling with fortifications. The eye is filled with the changing scene of enchantment, till the Massachusetts metropolis ap pears in sight. The dome of the State House rises higher than any other object ; the foundation of the building being more than a hundred feet above the level of the water. Around the city, which is almost insular, are extensive piers and wharves ; and as ships of the largest class can ride securely in the harbour, Boston is incomparably better situated for commerce than New York. Rainsford Island, on which the quarantine hospital stands, is six miles from the city. The quarantine system of Massachusetts is famed for being one of the most perfect in the world ; and this beautiful island is an evidence that the opinion is well founded. There is a resident physician at Rainsford from June to Septem ber inclusive, and a keeper who has oversight of all property landed. During the quarantine months vessels are only detained long enough for ventilation. The red flag is the signal for them to come into the roads for RAINSFORD. 49 examination. The island is provided with wharves, at which a number of vessels can discharge their loads at the same time. The hospital is plainly but comfortably furnished, and attached to it are warehouses for the convenience of ship-masters. The physician's residence is a tastefully built cottage, seated on a convenient elevation for over looking the other buildings, and securing an extensive sea-view. The keeper's house used as a tavern, and provided with a reading-room well supplied with news papers. There are also handsome and commodious edifices, with promenades, piazzas, etc., for fever and small-pox patients. In brief, Rainsford Island with its comfortable buildings, its gardens, orchards, and plea sant walks, possesses as much to reconcile any one to the delay which the quarantine laws may render neces sary as a wise and benevolent municipal government could supply. 50 CHAPTER XI. LOWELL. — NASHUA. MERRIMACK. AMHURST. GOFFS- TOWN. HOPKINTON. CONTOOCOCKVILLE. Towards the close of the summer of 1835 I made a tour through parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Leaving Boston by the Lowell railroad, the cars achieved the distance of twenty miles to the " Manchester of Ame rica" within the hour. The ride presents few, if any objects of interest or picturesque beauty. Pine woods, and hop fields making up nearly all the view. Carrying the above cognomen in my mind I experi enced no disappointment on reaching Lowell, where all the marks of a thriving manufacturing town meet the eye. About thirty mills of immense size are in full ope ration. The streets are handsomely built, and at the regular hour for meals, when the operatives are dismis sed, present an animated appearance from the crowds which pour through the public thoroughfares, whose neat and comfortable appearance certainly contrasts very strongly with the filthy and squalid looks of the same class in England. Here were about nine thousand work-people regularly employed in these mills, two thirds being females, who receive, on an average nineteen shillings weekly; the wages of the other sex averaging at thirty-two shillings. The principal articles of manufacture are sheetings, calicoes, broadcloths and carpets ; though in several of the mills brass, copper and tin wares are produced. The LOWELL. 51 city is finely situated on the River Merrimack at its junction with the Concord. The whole fall of water is thirty feet ; sufficient, it is estimated, to carry eight or ten moTe mills, which a few years will probably see erected. Meeting some former associates at Lowell, I extended my residence much beyond the period I had assigned ; and thus had an opportunity, which I improved, of seeing its society, and of learning its moral and religious aspect. There was a large and influential congregation of episcopalians, whose church then formed the greatest ornament of the city, a good example of English rural church architecture, with heavy battlemented tower, and a tasteful interior. Mr. Edson, the rector of the parish had held it since its first establishment. He was inde fatigable in his parochial labours, an excellent preacher and — an efficient Sunday School super intendant. The Sunday School of St. Ann's, which I several times visited, was at this time, and doubtless continues the largest in the diocess. I witnessed the first efforts to originate a new parish in another quarter of the town where church room was much needed, which has since been completed. The parish is named St. Luke's. I also accompanied my host several times to the " First Congregational" meeting house, in which a Mr. Blanchard then preached to the largest congregation in the city. His pulpit talents and learning joined to unostentatious piety, made him a popular man in the circles of refinement. I frequently met him at home and elsewhere ; and am constrained to add that by no one could the universal favour and admiration of his fellow citizens be borne with greater meekness, or more unaf fected diffidence. 52 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The road from Lowell to Nashua follows the course of the Merrimack, and constantly afforded us fine views of that beautiful river. The spectacle which the latter town presented from an eminence which the coach reached before entering it, was, however, the most picturesque one in the ride. It stands on a river of the same name, which falls into the Merrimack. Nashua is another manufacturing town. About 1,500 operatives are employed ; population 6000. I spent the rest of the day in a survey of the town and its suburbs. The next morning I took the stage for Merrimack, celebrated as the place where the first Leghorn bonnets were manufactured. I was informed that some of these bonnets made by the inventors, Misses Burnaps, have fetched fifty dollars in Boston. Finding another conveyance to Amhurst in the afternoon, I reached that place just before dark, and was put down at a wide low roofed inn on the side of a spacious green, occupying the centre of the town. In the morning (Sunday) I entered a huge white meeting house standing on the opposite side of the green ; which, like all the old New England " meeting houses,"* though rejoicing in a tower with its single bell; was both externally and internally as unlike an old English church as possible. The minister de rived importance from occupying throughout the service an immense pulpit which filled the place of the altar; heavy galleries projected from the walls. The sermon was written, and strongly Calvinistic in its complexion — or " orthodox," as the predestinarian creed is commonly termed in New Hampshire, where the congregationalists, * Or " churches " as they are beginning to be called in the cities and towns of America, though the term as applied to buildings was repudiated by the congregationalists till lately. GOFFSTOWN, H0PK1NT0N. 53 originally forming the established order, though compa ratively reduced, are still a numerous body. Amhurst #is an old town, named before the revolutio nary war after lord Jeffrey Amhurst. It has given birth to several eminent men; among them the Hon. Moses Nichols, who served under General Stark in the battle of Benninton. I left it on Monday morning for Goffs- town, twelve miles distant, at which place I had pro mised a friend to make a short tarry. It is a flourishing village, surrounded by extensive fields of Indian corn, rye, and barley, though I did not see an ear of wheat for several days of my ride together. On reaching Goffs- town I found many of the inhabitants attending a " pro tracted meeting," held by the methodists, which had lasted for a fortnight, and which the more intelligent of the neighbors thought it high time to bring to a close. But the excitement was still at its height, and fresh re lays of ministers continued to arrive to further " the work " which was going on. Crossing the Piscataguay ; a romantic river, which branches from the Merrimack, a ride of between twenty and thirty miles brought us to Hopkinton in the county of Merrimack, seven miles from Concord, the capital of the state. It is named after Hopkinton in Massachu setts, from whiclTplace it received its first settlers, just a century ago. It was Saturday evening when I reached Hopkinton, and the next day 1 attended the elegant parish church of St. Andrew's. The congregation appeared to embrace merely the elite of the neighbour hood, and strongly contrasted in numbers with the crowd which I met on my way back to the hotel, retiring from a large white frame meeting house, the most conspicuous object in the town. 54 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. In the evening I took my place in a private con veyance for the residence of a gentleman who lived on the Contoocock river, another tributary ofthe Merrimack. My friend's house was in a retired situation, on the out skirts of a pretty village named Con toocockville, where a valuable water power has caused several mills to be erected. Finding him gone to the only place of worship, a baptist meeting house, I repaired thither, and was much gratified by the exercises, which consisted of seve ral addresses by members of the society, and an exhor tation from the pastor, which for simplicity, appositeness and tempered fervor combined, I have never heard sur passed. Several hymns were sung during the evening ; and at the close, I was introduced to the minister, who supped and slept at my host's house. The next morning he left on horseback for another station which he held jointly with this. 1 found him in private what he had appeared in the public meeting. His English Bible was his text book, and his acquaintance with it was sufficiently critical to make him on practical points, a safe and useful expounder of its sacred contents to the simple flock over whom he was chosen. With good general information, he was not deficient in scientific research, and appeared at home on the popular topics of the day. He belonged to a class of preachers, who (however defective the ecclesiastical system to which they are attached) are highly useful in the moral and religious influence they exert, through their pastoral labours, in those regions which the supineness or ineffi ciency of the church would otherwise leave a moral desert. CHAPTER XII. CONCORD. EPSOM. The approach to Concord was manifested by the neat ness and substantiality of the houses on the roadside. On reaching the hotel, which proved an excellent one, I took a view of the State House, Court House, and State Prison. The former is built of hewn granite, surmounted by a gilt eagle 1 20 feet from the ground ; erected, I was told, at a cost of eighty thousand dollars. The State Prison is of the same material, whose abun dance in New Hampshire has obtained for it the appel lation of " the granite State." This substantial article gives to many of the churches, and public buildings in New England the same enduring aspect which they present in Scotland. After dinner I accompanied a friend to Sewall's Falls on the Merrimack River which flows past the town, where a considerable water power keeps several factories in operation. The lands round Concord present a high state of cultivation. In the evening, hearing several bells ringing, I fol lowed the sound of one, and found myself seated in the congregational meeting house, where the minister, a bilious looking man, was endeavouring by a pointed address to get up his audience to the proper degree of seriousness, the meeting being a " protracted " one. This was the first time that I learnt that congrega tionalists employed this instrument, which I had heard condemned by an eminent minister of that body at New 56 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Bedford ; who in some excellent remarks relating to the modus operandi, and its effects in creating converts, exhibi ted the one as of questionable propriety and the other as only mischievous. In the present case, however, the operator seemed a novice at his work, for little excitement was visible in the congregation. Many of the younger hearers looked about with a listless or impatient air ; the preacher was evidently throwing away his efforts. I spent several days at Epsom, twelve miles to the east of Concord, at the hospitable dwelling of a gentle man to whom I carried a letter of introduction. His house and extensive farm were seated in the midst of a rich grazing country. He took me in his chaise on the following Sunday to a chapel in the neighbouring village, where we found a number of farmers, with their families and labourers in groups near the building, awaiting the arrival of the minister. He shortly appeared on horseback, and was at once surrounded by his people. There was only an hour's recess between the two services, the entire congregation remaining until the close of the second. The sermons were plain and practical ; though the afternoon's discourse would be called controversial by a captious annotator ; being partly directed against the Calvinian theory of a limited atonement. The preacher proved demonstratively that the atonement of Christ was for all; stating that it was necessary to clear this ground before his message of invitation to all to accept this atonement. The eminently pious Thomas Thomason relates in the account which he has given us of his examination before the committee of the Elland Fund, by which he was carried through college, and prepared for Orders, that CALVINIAN HERESY. 57 the points which separate Calvinists and Arminians were not even pressed by his examiners, though they were Calvinists themselves,* and he had hitherto be longed to the Wesley an Society. In reply to the question by Mr. Cecil, whose opinions he followed 1 Mr. Thomason replied, " Indeed, Sir, I have never read a book on the subject, except the Bible, in my life. I have always made it a point to leave those things, as I think it productive of evil to dive into intricacies which can never be perfectly cleared." " You think very rightly," answered Mr. Cecil, " I have acted in the same manner myself. I make it a point never to handle these things in public." The rule might do for England, where the points of difference between the national Church and the great body of dissenters are chiefly political,! and where hyper- * Messrs. Cecil and Foster. t Such was, at least, the profession of the more intelligent amongst the dissenters a few years ago ; and the sentiment has been familiar to the author from the lips of more than one esteemed relative, now deceased, by whom all objection to the " establishment" except in what related to its political shackles, and the secnlarity, and (too justly charged) indolence and ill-living of its clergy was repeatedly and distinctly disclaimed. What then is the writer to think of the following statement by an old and revered friend, which has only come under his eye since the above was penned ? The Church has since the above period shaken herself from her lethargic condition, and is beginning again to answer all the purposes of her glorious institution. Her priesthood are as faithful and vigilant as they were once slothful and careless ; and the professed ground of dissent a few years ago is actually removed in the Church's return to her " first love,'- and the performance of her " first works." Yet Mr. Lucas thus writes in the close of his exeellent " Observations on the Modern Clergy, and the Present State ofthe Church." p. 104. — "The clergy had long been coalescing with the respectable dissenters, joining them in the Bible and other societies ; and among other bonds of amity let me notice that once in the year Christians of all denominations 58 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Calvinism is confined to the lowest and most uneducated of the latter, but in the United States, and especially in New England, the case is widely different. The doc trines of the predestinarian school, formerly the only ones tolerated in those states, have long since driven thou sands upon thousands from the meeting houses of the had been accustomed, under excellent regulations, to partake of the Holy Sacrament together, according to the service ofthe church of England, in certain London churches, granted for the occasion ; thus proving their Christian unity, and their respect for the established worship. And, it is well known how directly as well as indirectly the clergy favoured the abrogation ofthe Acts of which the dissenters complained. I might de cidedly instance the public writings called Evangelical, which, advocating the cause of dissenters, (aye, in a great degree carried on by dissenters,) supported a reform of our Church, not to the stricter exclusion of any honourable dissenters, but to their more ready and conscientious admis sion within the pale. They opened their pages for the advocacy of the dissenters' claims to the abolition of the test and corporation acts, and to the full and equal use of the franchise with themselves. When every thing the dissenters asked for had been granted them, and the clergy looked for their co-operation in return, to enlarge and strengthen the bond of Christianity to the State, they were met by many with decided opposi tion ; and the most noted dissenting preachers, emboldened by recent concession, reckless of every grateful and friendly remembrance, and jealous of one another, came forward, hailed by numbers among them selves, and, eagerly joined by every irreligious and unprincipled man in the kingdom , they all banded together, and called the unnatural union " liberality." Bunyan, a century and a half since, in his inimitable " Pilgrim's Progress," has described Pope and Pagan as two old giants, with their claws cut, and their teeth drawn, sitting helpless and harmless, by the way side, making mouths at the Christian pilgrims, but unable to do them any injury. Had he seen Infidelity, a third giant since his day, roughly handled and deservedly exposed to ridicule and scorn, hiding himself and deserted, what would Bunyan have said while his friends were lifting up this wretched giant, and worst foe of his faith, wrapping a few moral rags about him, and bringing him forward as a fellow-claimant ? * * * " This is a sad feature now so prominent in dissent, never seen before, but in anger against persecution* It is, in truth, a deadly feature, and was not expected to be found in such men as Pye-Smith, and Jay of Bath, and others whom I forbear to name. It has done its mischief, but not in the way expected ; it has dishonoured themselves. Has it not been among them " The Discipline ofthe Secret," kept for the occasion as much as the Roman Catholic one ? Jay, preaching at the tercenary of the Reformation, sayi — ' The Church of Rome was the frog, the Church of England is the tadpole ; ' yet, in publishing the sermon, this most ob noxious and artful sentiment is omitted. Would he have thus spoken to his friends Hannah More, Wilberforce, and others ? Does he not even now try, by the very suppression, to conceal it from the public ? But LAKE WINNIPISEOGEE. 59 once " standing order," and given birth to all the Socinianism, transcendentalism, universalism and atheism which is now rife in that section of the country. Many, however, who are desirous of knowing the truth, and riving up to the precepts of a pure Christianity, yet for whose appetites this strong meat is unsuited, are still under the bondage of those delusions with which early pulpit teaching has enthralled their minds ; and coming under the sound of a Gospel not of man but from God, it is necessary to clear the beclouded judgment, and to strengthen the understanding before applying the word of encouragement ; and this the truly " orthodox " ministers do, imitating the skilful husbandman who pre pares the fallow ground for the good seed. The next morning I pursued my way to Dover, passing through Northwood, and Barrington, and near several lakes not, however, remarkable for picturesque beauty. There is, however, a sheet of water, twenty eight miles long, lying some miles to the north of our road called Lake Winnipiseogee which is justly celebrated, both for the beauty of its shores, and the flavour of the fish with which it is well stocked. On the north of this though it may shrink from the sight, it has spoken too loud and often to be misunderstood. " A national voice of worth and excellence, in Church and State, among the very highest and the lowest, of all ages, sex, and conditions, has silenced for a while the cry of these infatuated separaters. No religionist at present obtrudes the unhallowed sentiment ; few profess it ; many are ashamed of it ; and the best utterly denounce it. I will exclude none, for my hopes are sanguine that there are few who bear a good name that can any longer ' halt between two opinions ;' for the evil is become apparent ; the spurious claim hath, by these destructives renouncing all preference for themselves, betrayed itielf ; and now it remains a mark for the Church — she takes it as a test of our common Christianity — it is the shibboleth of distinction, by which she proves who is on her side, and who against her — and 1 trust that the great judge will confirm her appeal to him, and will apply the words to her that his servant, the Judge of Israel and Judah, did to the true mother, give hes the living chilb, and in no wise slay it ; she is thb mother thereof.' " 60 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. inland sea are some dense forests from which the bears, a native of New Hampshire, are not yet wholly ex> patriated. The driver of my hired vehicle narrated a story of one of these sagacious animals which is too good to be omitted in this place, especially as its literal truth was afterwards corroborated by most respectable testi mony at Dover The narrative was again given to me in nearly the same words at Portsmouth. " Some years ago a cub bear was caught by a stout lad near the borders of Lake Winnipiseogee, carried into the town, and after proper drilling became the playfellow of the boys of the village, and often accompanied them to the schoolhouse. After passing a few months in civilised society, he made his escape into the woods, and in a few years was almost forgotten. The schoolhouse, mean time, had fallen from the schoolmaster's into the school mistress's hands : and instead of large boys learning to write and cipher, small boys and girls were taught in the same place knitting and spelling. One winter's day, after a mild fall of snow the door had been left open by some urchin going out, when, to the unspeakable horror of the spectacled dame and her fourscore hopeful scholars, an enormous bear walked in, in the most familiar man ner in the world, and took a seat by the fire. Huddling over the benches as fast as they could, the children crowded about their schoolmistress, who had fled to the farthest corner of the room, and there they stood crying and pushing to escape the horror of being eaten first. The bear sat snuffing and warming himself by the fire, showing great signs of satisfaction, but putting off his meal until he had warmed himself thoroughly. The screams of the children continued ; but the schoolhouse was far from any other habitation, and the bear did not A BEAR STORY. 61 seem at all embarrassed by the outcry. After sitting and turning himself about for some time, Bruin got up on his hind legs, and shoving the door close, began to take down, one by one, the hats, bonnets and satchels that hung on several rows of pegs behind it. His memory had not deceived him ; for they contained, as of old, the children's dinners, and he had arrived before the holidays. Having satisfied himself with their cheese, bread, pies, dough-nuts and apples, Bruin smelt at the mistresses' desk; but finding it locked, gave himself a shake of resignation, opened the door and disappeared. The alarm was given, and the amiable creature was pursued and killed ; very much to the regret of the town's people, when it was discovered, by some marks in his body, that it was their old friend and playfellow." CHAPTER XIII. DOVER. PORTSMOUTH. NEWBURYPORT. SALEM. Dover is famed for its cotton manufactories; it 'is seated on the Cocheoco River, twelve miles from the ocean, and at the head of navigation. A fall of thirty-three feet turns 30,000 spindles, and about 800 looms be longing to one company, besides those of other manufac turers. After a day or two spent in Dover, I proceeded to Portsmouth, the largest and oldest town in the state. I was kindly received by a worthy family, with whom I remained several days. Every thing about Portsmouth looked more English-like than any other place I had seen since leaving Boston. This is, of course, owing chiefly to its age, having been settled as early as 1623. The town stands on a peninsula extending into the bay, or river mouth, where the entrance is guarded by forts. There is a pier about four hundred feet long, and a navy yard ; the place being like its English namesake, cele brated for its naval architects. On Sunday October 20th, I heard a sermon in one of the baptist meeting houses from Mr. Mackensie. The building was large enough to seat fifteen hundred or two thousand persons, though but partially filled ; owing, I was informed, to the erection of other places of worship. Mr. Mackensie is a fervid, warm-hearted man, a clear, though quaint reasoner, and a ready speaker — wholly extempore. NEWBDRYPORT. Go • I left Portsmouth with many regrets that the neces sity for my return to Boston made it impossible to pro long my stay. After a day's visit to North Hampton, where a relative of my Portsmouth host resided, I pursued my course by the stage coach to Boston. We stopped to dine at Newburyport, where the celebrated preacher Whitfield died after a long career of missionary labours in 1770. The following inscription is placed on a handsome monument to his memory. TniS CENOTAPH IS ERECTED WITH AFFECTIONATE VENERATION TO THE MEMORY OF THE REV. GEORGE WHITFIELD, BORN AT GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 16, 1714, EDUCATED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY ORD4.INBD A.D. 1736. IN A MINISTRY OF THIRTY FOUR YEARS HE CROSSED THE ATLANTIC THIRTEEN TIMES, AND PREACHED MORE THAN EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SERMONS. AS A SERVANT OF THE CROSS HUMBLE, DEVOUT, ARDENT, HE PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OP GOD : PREFERRING THE HONOUR OF CHRIST TO HIS OWN INTEREST, REPOSE, REPUTATION AND LIFE. We had time to take a general survey of this beautiful place, in some respects the pleasantest for situation of any town through which I passed in this tour. It lies at the mouth of the famed Merrimack, which gives it great advantage as a trading port. 64 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. At Salem we were detained about an hour, which -I employed in taking a turn through the principal streets. The houses of several persons were shown me who fell victims to the dreadful proscriptions by the puritan ministers founded on supposed witchcraft. Salem is another English looking town, or rather city, with well built but irregular streets, (no deformity by the way except to quakerly vision) and 15,000 inhabi tants. The bishop of the diocess held at this time the rectorship of St. Peter's parish, in connection with his episcopal duties, though assisted in his parish by two other clergymen. The episcopal residence, used temporally as such, was a commodious mansion of antique appearance. Salem was incorporated as a city in the year following. To the pious churchman it was a city some years before, as much as Manchester, Liver pool, and Birmingham are as yet mere towns. I have, as yet, seen no good reason assigned for the departure in the case of several American bishops from the early, and till these late American examples, the universal custom of bishops holding a parochial charge of their own besides the chief pastoral oversight of the diocess. The precedent is most dangerous ! The rule of the fifth Council of Carthage* that " Every bishop shall have his residence at the principal, or cathedral church, which he shall not leave to betake himself to * See also the XVIII Canon of the Council of Ancyra, the XIII Canon of Neocoesarea, and the IX of Antioch. The writer is compelled to dissent in his view of this matter, from that which seems to be held by the Bishop of Oxford, in his History of the American Church, but which is supported by no authorities. The examples the bishop mentions merely show the need of such a provision as the author recommends above, by which ministerial assistance could be rendered to the bishop in his own church and parish. SALEM. 65 any other church in his diocess, nor continue upon his private concerns to the neglect of his cure, and hindrance of his frequenting the cathedral church," has hitherto held good, and governed the practice of all bishops in every other part of Christendom. The bishop of a diocess should be found the greatest part of the year at his own parish. " The citv* church," writes Bingham " was to be the the chief place of the bishop's residence." It is quite doubtful whether frequent visitations counter balance the evil of episcopal non-residence. The benefits of episcopal government are not be estimated by the number of episcopal visitations to a parish, or the constant presence ofthe crosier and lawn, but by the sta bility and harmony which the chief pastor gives to the ec clesiastical operations of the Church in his office as pre sident in the annual council of the clergy and laity, and as head of the diocess ; acting as the arbiter in all disputes between pastors and their flocks, or between contend ing clergy. A bishop is the representative of the latter, and his church " the eye of the diocess." His influence would be more than doubly felt in every section thereof, were his regular periodical visits triennial only instead of annual or semi-annual. If clergymen could only waive their petty jealousies, and * The original meaning and derivation of the term is understood hy few in the United States; being applied only to large corporate towns, with or without a resident bishop. When the population reaches twelve thousand, a " city " charter is granted on the application of a majority of the taxable inhabitants. Several cities under old charters have a much smaller population, viz : Burlington in New Jersey, Newport in Rhode Island, Munroe in Michigan, etc. Some populous towns on the other hand with more than the requisite number of inhabitants have never yet applied for city privileges, e. g. New Bedford in Massachusetts Hagerstown in Maryland, etc. 66 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. attend episcopal elections on every occasion thoroughly embued with the spirit of St. John's. General Epistle, and divested of " that most odious of all hateful corruptions, ministerial envy"* much time, money, and reputation might be saved the Church by the election of a resident clergyman in every vacant diocess,f respectable for years and standing, and rector of a city parish abundantly able to support him. Should this be objected to on the ground of his supposed bias from parochial influence and ties, (a more imaginary evil than any thing else) the means which a diocess possesses of creating an episcopal fund could easily be stretched to make it the perma nent endowment of a cathedral church. This would be desirable, if only to dispossess the public mind of the vulgar impression that a cathedral is necessarily a build ing of large proportions and peculiar construction ; or, what is a more common error in protestant communi ties, that a/Harge churches built cruciform- are cathedrals ! Out of a multitude of authorities to the contrary, the Encyclopoedia of the " Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," will scarcely be questioned, which gives the following definition ofthe word — " Certain churches are called cathedrals, or cathedral churches. They are so called in consequence of having a seat of dignity (cathedra, a Greek term for such a seat) appropriated to a bishop or archbishop. Thus, there is the cathedral church of Canterbury, the cathedral church of Norwich, the cathedral church of Wells. They have usually also * Rev. J. Sargent. t Where such has been the practise, it has been followed by the happi est results. Witness the examples of the Eastern Diocess ( in the election of its late bishop, Griswold !) Connecticut, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, etc. SALEM. 67 a dean, and body of canons or prebendaries, but this is not essential to constitute a cathedral church, nor is every church that has a chapter of canons a cathedral church.' For a bishop " to be the rector of a parish," said the late Bishop Griswold, " gives him more the appearance of being the head of the family ; it makes his house a better school for candidates, and for the younger clergy ; he can the better instruct them in what of all human teaching is the most useful — the pastoral care ; and it enlarges his means of doing good. Our Church, indeed, supposes that the bishop will have such a pastoral care, having in her xxx canon made provision for the supply ing of his parish while absent on his episcopal visi tations."* The fault, then, is not the Church's ! Order and duty of Bishops p. p. 17. 68 CHAPTER XIV. SAI.EM WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. — .OBJECT AND CONCEPTION OF THE PLOT ! On our way homeward the conversation of the passen gers turned on the witchcraft delusion, of which Salem was the scene in 1692. That event was a dark page in the history of the New England colonists, and the part that the "standing order " of ministers took in the never to be forgotten tragedy is important to be preserved in the recollection of the members of a British community, who are perpetually reminded by dissenting politicians of the superstitions and severities which the English clergy are charged with encouraging, in the reigns of James and the Charles'. A distant land was furnishing throughout the whole period of alleged episcopal persecu tion, including the Cromwellian usurpation, scenes of priestly cruelty and crime only equalled bythe atrocities of papal proscription. To pass over the dark night of congregational tyranny which immediately succeeded the planting of the Ply mouth colony, when the long desired object of the puritan faction was gained, and a Church had been established " after their own model. " * — To pass over the executions, f the nose slittings, the ear shearings^ * They longed for something more than toleration ; they desired to set up churches after their own model of perfection, and to watch their growth and progress." Wilberforce's History oftheAmericap Church, p. 58. f " Many quakers in New England were put to death (or the profes- PURITAN PERSECUTIONS. 69 the tongue borings,* the unmerciful whippings,! the fines, imprisonments^ starvings,§ and perpetual ba- nishments|| for conscience sake, which the early history of the colony affords, the next page in its blood-writ ten annals reveals a scheme, deep and sanguinary, which history with her impartial, because unbiassed, pen will put down as devised and executed solely to uphold priestly domination — as an assault upon the rights of the people, — and a combined and fearfully executed plot to perpetuate the thraldom of a superstitious population to its spiritual heads. Let us glance at the particulars of this plot, and again put on record its principal actors and abettors. The event which was seized upon as giving warrant to the deeds of cruelty which we have to relate affords a sion of their faith, until an order from King Charles II. brought this violence to a close." lb — see also Neal's Puritans, vol. 1, p. 334. * " Some of the " dissenters" from the Congregational " platform" were sentenced, " after the first conviction to lose one ear, after the second another, and after the third to have the tongue bored through with a red hot iron." — Wilberforce, p. 75 f " Convicted anabaptists were fined twenty pounds, and whipped unmer cifully."— lb. p. 74. J "Fines, imprisonments and even death itself were amongst their remedies." — lb. p. 74, § " No food and lodgings shall be allowed a quaker, Adamite or other heretic."— Blue Code, No. 13. || " Two brothers, Church of England men, a lawyer and a merchant, 'who had joined unawares the settlement of Salem, finding how matters stood, ventured to uphold in their own house for such as would resort unto them the Common Prayer worship. But such an enormity they were not long suffered to continue ; for a disturbance arising amongst the people upon this occasion ' the brothers were called before the magistrates, and so handled as to be induced to leave the colony forthwith.'" Wilber force p. 73. 70 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. fearful warning to all persons down to the youngest, to abstain from the use of deception in any form for the purpose of making others the victims either of their amusement, or their schemes of interest. Cotton Mather, a name that will descend to posterity loaded with the just execrations of every friend of religi ous freedom, was foremost amongst his clerical colleagues in his opposition to the various forms of "heresy" which had crept into the colony of New England ; and which, spite of every effort to suppress them, continued to dis turb the reign of congregational ascendancy. The colo nial clergy were losing their influence. How was it to be retained ? , A veracious historian, the successor of one of the prin cipal actors in the drama of the witchcraft persecution, has recorded the well proved, and now generally acknow ledged fact, that " Dr. Mather contemplated the witch craft delusion as the instrument in promoting a revival of religion, and boasted of the success with which it was attended as such.*" Mather was many years minister of the " North Church," now standing in Boston,f and a man of great influence in the colony. Dr. Coleman his eulogist, des cribes him as " the most learned man he ever knew, who combined an almost incredible amount of vanity and cre dulity, with a high degree of cunning and policy; an in- * The Rev. Charles W. Upham, Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Salem, in a volume of " Lectures on Witchcraft " delivered in 1831, from which (an undoubted source) my principal materials are taken. t Not Christchurch described in Chap. VI, but an independant meeting house, built church-like, which has long enjoyed the above appellation ; being the corporate name of the society. A PROTESTANT RODIN. 71 ordinate love of temporal power and distinction, with every outward manifestation of piety and christian humi lity; and a proneness to fanaticism and superstition, with amazing acquisitions of knowledge, and a great and re markable genius." In plainer English, the Brownist archbishop * was an. accomplished Jesuit ; and had he been member of a better devised religious system than the impracticable "platform" of Congregationalism, he would doubtless? for a time have effected his pious object, and rivetted faster the fetters of spiritual slavery on the New En gland population. But how many whose proper field of action would be in the ranks of Ignatius Loyola, have figured prominently under the more convenient, because unmeaning and undefined standard of " protestant. " "Mather aspired" writes the same authority before quoted,f " to be considered the great champion of the Church, and the most successful combatant against the prince of the air. He seems to have longed for an opportunity to signalize himself in this particular kind of warfare, — seized upon every occurrence that would admit of such a colouring to represent it as the result of diabolical agency, — circulated in his numerous publica tions as many tales of witchcraft as he could collect throughout New and Old England, — and repeatedly endeavoured to get up a delusion of this kind in Boston. * Robert Brown was the founder ofthe " independant" [congregational] dissenters, who long bore the name of " Brownists" from him. He is described by Neale the dissenting historian [1-375 376] as being a " fiery hot headed young man; idle and dissolute," in middle life ; and in old age, " poor, proud, and very passionate." He died in 1630." — Wilberforce's History ofthe American church, p. 71. f Rev. Mr. Upham. 72 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. He succeeded to some great extent. An instance of witchcraft was brought about in that place by his management in 1688. There is some ground for suspi cion that he was instrumental in causing the delusion in Salem ; at any rate he took a leading part in conducting it. And while there is evidence that he endeavoured after the delusion subsided, to escape the disgrace of having approved of the proceedings, and pretended to have been in some measure opposed to them, it can be too clearly shown that he was secretly and cunningly endeavouring to renew them during the next year in his own parish in Boston. I know nothing more artful and Jesuitical than his attempts to avoid the reproach of having been active in carrying on the delusion in Salem, and elsewhere, and at the same time to keep up such a degree of credulity and superstition in the minds of the people as to render it easy to plunge them into it again at the first favourable moment."* The case referred to in this extract was that of a young girl, named Godwin, who was said to be " bewitched. " Her talents appear to have been very remarkable ; " She had" writes Mr. Upham, " a genius scarcely inferior to master Burke himself, there was no part nor passion she could not enact." This excellent instrument for the accomplishment of his schemes was taken by Dr. Mather into his family, ostensibly to see " whether he could not exorcise her."t Here our ingenious actress played off her tricks upon the pu ritan doctor. By his own published account — "He once wished to say something in her presence to a * Upham, p. 106. t Yet the pretended power of exorcising evil spirits was one of the principal objections of the nonconformists against the Romish priesthood ! SIGNS OF WITCHCRAFT. 73 third person, which he did not intend she should under stand. He accordingly spoke in Latin ; but she had penetration enough to conjecture what he had said ; he was amazed ! He then tried Greek ; she was equally successful. He next spoke in Hebrew^ she instantly detected the meaning. At last he resorted to the Indian language, and that she pretended not to know. The evil being with whom she was in compact was acquain ted familiarly with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, but not with the Indian tongue. He handed her a book written by a quaker; she would read it off with great ease, rapi dity, and pleasure. A book written against the quakers she could not read at all. She could read popish books but could not decipher a syllable of the Assembly's Ca techism 1 She was very fond of the Book of Common Prayer and called it her Bible," &c. &c. So these circumstances, admitting their truth, served to convince our puritan doctor of divinity that his little patient was in league with the devil. " She was very fond of the Book of Common Prayer." — 'Twere well for Dr. Mather had he been equally fond of a book which a more learned dissenter * than even Dr. Mather, and one * The admirable Robert Hall. The opinion of Dr. Clark may also be cited, who records of the Anglican Prayer Book that " As a form of devotion it has no equal in any part of the universal Church of God." " Its great excellences writes Dr. Comben (a presbyterian) have obtained for it a universal reputation in all the world. It is most deservedly admired by the Eastern Churches, and in great esteem by the most eminent protestants in Europe." " It comes," says Grotius, " so near the primitive pattern, that none of the Reformed Churches can compare with it." And the " Religious Intelligencer," the newspaper .organ of the Dutch (presbyterian) Church of the United States, gives this candid testimony to the instrumentality of the Anglican liturgy in promoting the doctri nal purity of the English and American Churches : — K 74 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. possessing, some will think, as due an appreciation of the spiritual in public worship, has since pronounced " the first of uninspired compositions." Had Mather been imbued with the spirit of that blessed book, instead ofthe cramped and narrow system embodied in the West minster Confession and the Assembly's Catechism, much innocent blood would have been spared, and the cause of religion would have escaped the dark reproach which it shortly after incurred through his agency. — But to proceed with the doctor's account, which is necessarily condensed. To show that the devil stood in great fear of his august presence, the puritan saint records that " There stood open the study of one belonging to the family, into which entering, she stood immediately on her feet, and cried out, ' They are gone ! They are gone ! They say that they can not, — God wont let 'em come here!' adding a reason for it which the owner of the study thought more kind than true. She would be faint at first (after entering the holy and charmed apartment) and say ' She felt something go out of her, ' the noises whereof we sometimes heard like those of a mouse. "When he called the family to prayers, she would whistle and sing, and yell to drown his voice, would strike at him with her fist and try to kick him. But her hand or foot would always recoil when within an inch " Her evangelical liturgy and a scrupulous adherence to it has preserv ed the integrity of the Episcopal Church, beyond that of any denomina tion of Christians since the Reformation. It might be so in our Church — and why not?" [The American branches of the Dutch Reformed, and Lutheran Church es have abandoned the public UBe of their liturgies (though retained in their ordinals) iu compliance with the practise of surrounding sects. The extract is from an article by the editor deploring the same.] PURITAN SAINTSHIP. 75 or two of Iris body ; [thus giving the idea that there was a sort of invisible coat of mail, of heavenly temper and proof against the assaults of the devil around his sacred person.] After a while he concluded to prepare an account of these extraordinary circumstances where withal to entertain his congregation in a sermon. She seemed to be quite displeased at the thought of his ma king public the doings of her master, the evil one attempted to prevent his writing the intended sermon, and disturbed and interrupted him in all manner of ways. For instance, she once knocked at his study door and said that 'there was somebody down stairs that would be glad to see him ; ' — he dropped his pen, and went down ; upon entering the room he found nobody there but the family. The next time he met her he undertook to chide her for having told him a falsehood- She denied that she had told a falsehood. ' Didn't you say,' said he, ' that there was somebody down stairs that would be glad to see me ? ' ' Well,' she replied, with inimitable pertness, ' is not Mrs. Mather always glad to see you ? ' " She even went much farther than this in persecuting him while he was writing his sermon ; she threw large books at his head. But he struggled manfully against these ' bufferings of Satan ' and finished the sermon." * Wonderful man ! to finish a sermon against such fearful odds, and despite such Satanic interruption ! Verily this modern Dunstan deserves canonization at the hands of his sect. By what singular oblivion of memory is it that his conflicts and perseverance in re sisting the prince of darkness are unnoticed on the anniversary of his birth ? Have his followers forgotten * Upham, p. 187. 7G ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. that he once lived ?— or are they desirous tha tthe world should forget a saint whose feats certainly surpass those of the monk of Glastonbury ! Something more potent than red hot tongs must have been used by the puritan doctor to frighten off the assaults of the evil one ; for mark another part of his account. — " They * would bark like dogs, and then again purr like cats. Yea, they would fly like geese, and be carried with an incredble swiftness, having but just their toes now and then upon the ground, sometimes not once in twenty feet, and their arms waved like the wings of a bird." This clear case of witchcraft " originated the delusion in Salem. It occurred only four years before Dr. Mather's account filled the whole country, and it is probable that the children in Mr. Parris's family undertook to re-enact it." f The doctor preached his sermon and then published it. He did more ; he sent the narrative to Richard Bax ter, the celebrated non-conformist preacher, who repub lished it in London, with a preface in which he affirms that " he who would not be convinced by all the evi dence Dr.Mather presented that the child was bewitched, must be a very Sadducee."J * Miss Godwin and her sister who seems to have possessed the same histrionic parts. t In passing from the conception of the plot to its terrible birth, I have preferred, in this short paragraph, quoting the guarded but unmistaka ble testimony of Mr. Upham, who in his notice of these events, aims to gloss over the part which the congregational ministers acted. His honestyi however, compels him to admit the facts ofthe case. . X This gloomy fanatic appears to have taken a lively interest in the work of suppressing witchcraft in New England. " He kept up," says Mr. Upham, " a correspondence with Cotton Mather and with hig father Increase Mather, through the medium of which he stimulated and encouraged them in their proceedings against supposed witches in Bos- 77 CHAPTER XV. SALEM WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION OF THE PLOT. The public mind having now become prepared for the grand act* a pretext for the work of blood was soon afforded in the case of two female children at Salem, the daughter and neice of Mr. Parris, a congregational minister of the neighborhood. This was in February 1692. Elizabeth Parris was nine years old, and her cousin Abigail Williams, was twelve. " They would creep in to holes and under benches and chairs, put themselves into odd postures, make antic gestures, and utter loud outcries, and ridiculous, incoherent, and unintelligible expressions. The attention of the family was arrested. No account or explanation of the conduct of the children could be given, and in an evil hour physicians were called in and consulted. One of the physicians gave it as his opinion that the children were bewitched."f ton and elsewhere." Even Dr. Watts, who was doubtless deceived by Mather's fabrications, writes in a letter to that honest philanthropist dated Februrary 19th, 1720.—" I am persuaded that there was much immediate agency of thedevil in these affairs, and perhaps there were some realwitches too." It is possible that the doctor conceals under this seeming admission a keen rebuke to his cotemporary ; for he expresses in the same letter his doubts respecting the sufficiency of the spectral evidence for condemnation. * "Baxter wrote his work entitled "The certainty of the world of spirits," for the special purpose of confirming and diffusing the belief. The writings of Dr. More, of Baxter, and Glaudil had been circulating for a long time in every direction in New England, before the trials began in Salem." — Upham, p. 216. t Upham, p. 17. 78 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Before continuing Mr. Upham's narrative, the reader is particnlarly requested to note the circumstances which preceded this symptom of the presence of witch craft; which circumstances shall be given in Mr. Up ham's own language. " The population of what is now Salem was at that time, and continued for nearly thirty years afterwards» to be so small that there was but one religious society in the place. All the people were' accommodated in the meeting house of the First Church. A separate religious society had previously been formed in what was then ealled Salem Village, now Danvers. This congregation (the same at present under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Braman, lately under that of the estimable Dr. Wadsworth) had for a long period been the scene of one of those violent and heated dissensions too common in our [voluntary] religious societies at all times. The unhappy strife was gradually propagated, until it had spread alienation and bitterness through the whole town, and finally became of such moment that it was carried up to the General Court; and was a topic of discussion and alteration there. The parties were the Rev. Sa muel Parris on one side, and a large portion of his con gregation on the other." Keeping these events in mind, let us then follow the narrative in the words of the same writer : — " One or two other young girls in the neighborhood soon began to exhibit similar indications of being be witched. The families to which the afflicted children belonged immediately applied themselves to fasting and prayer ; invoking the interposition of the Divine Being to deliver them from the snares and dominion of Satan. Mr. Parris invited the neighboring ministers to assemble SALEM WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 79 at his house, and unite with him in devoting a day Jo solemn religious services, and to devout supplications to the throne of mercy for rescue from the power of the great enemy of souls. During the exercises of this oc casion one of the children had frequent and violent con vulsive fits. These events soon became generally known in the village, and through the whole surrounding coun try. The public mind was "prepared to sanction the opinion of the physician, and it was universally believed that the evil one had commenced his operations with a bolder front, and on a broader scale than in any previous period. " Great numbers crowded to the spot to gratify their credulous curiosity by witnessing the effect of his inilu- •ence upon the afflicted children ; and all were anxious to discover by whose co-operation hethus exercised his malignant power. The pretended sufferers were inces santly importuned to declare who afflicted them ? Who were the witches through whom the evil one acted upon them ? — At length when they had wrought the people up to a sufficient degree of excitement, they began to select and bring forward their victims. They first accused, or as the phrase was ' cried out upon' an Indian woman attached to Mr. Parris's family. By operating upon the old creature's fears and imagination, and, as there is some reason to apprehend, by using severe treat ment towards her, she was made to confess that the charge was true, and that she was in league with the devil. " All can easily imagine the effect of this confession. It established beyond question or suspicion, the credi bility of the accusers, and produced such a thorough conviction of their veracity in the public mind, that if 80 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. any one still continued to have misgivings or doubts it seemed to be all in vain, even if he had courage enough to dare to do it, to give them utterance. This state of things emboldened the young girls, and they proceeded to accuse two more decrepid and miserable old women, who were immediately arrested, thrown into prison, and put in irons. In the meantime new accessions were made to the number of the afflicted accusers, owing either to the inflamed state of the imaginations of the people, which led them to attribute their various diseases and ailments to the agency of witches, to a mere love of notoriety and a passion for general sympathy, to a desire to be secure against the charge of bewitching others, or to a malicious disposition to wreak vengeance upon enemies. " The next person accused was carried into the meet ing house in the village, and confronted with the accusers. As soon as the poor old woman was brought in, they uttered loud screams, and fell down upon the floor. If in her terror and despair she happened to clasp her hands, they would shriek out that she was pinching them. When she pressed in agony her withered lip, they exclaimed that she was biting them, and would show the marks of her teeth upon their flesh. If the dreadful excitement of the scene, added to the feebleness of age, exhausted and overcame her, and she happened to lean for support against the side of the pew or the aisle, they would cry out that their bodies were crushed; and if she changed her position, or took a single step, they would declare that their feet were in pain. In this manner they artfully produced a strong conviction in the minds of the deluded magistrates, and excited by standers. On these occasions the proceedings were WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 81 always introduced by prayer and addresses from the most influential ministers of the vicinity, who were de cided in countenancing, and active in promoting them. The afflicted, as they were called, did not rest with merely accusing their victims of having bewitched them, but testified on the stand that they had been present with them at their diabolical meetings, had witnessed them partaking in the visible company of Satan, of his blasphemous sacraments, and had seen them sign his book with their own blood. " The examination of the accused generally took place, as has always been understood, in the house still standing at the western corner of North and Essex streets, then the residence of Jonathan Cor win, Esq., at that time an acting magistrate. His colleague in the ma gistracy was John Hathorne, Esq. "While the delusion was spreading over the colony, its operations were going on with tremendous efficacy in Salem, and the neighbouring towns ; additions were continually making to the number of the accusers by voluntary accessions, and by those, who, having been themselves accused, to save their lives confessed and became witnesses against others. The prisons in Salem, Cambridge and Boston, were crowded with supposed witches. All the securities of society were dissolved. Every man's life was at the mercy of every other man. Fear sat on every countenance, terror and distress were injtll hearts ; silence pervaded the streets ; many of the people left the country ; all business was at a stand ; and the feeling, dismal and horrible indeed, became general that the providence of God was removed from them, and that they were given over to the dominion of Satan. " To meet the extraordinary crisis, a special commis- 82 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. sion was issued to seven of the principal citizens and jurists of the colony, constituting them a court to try the accused persons at Salem. These were the Lieute nant Governor, Mr. Stoughton, Major Suttonstall, Major Richards, Major Gidney, Mr. Wait Winthrop, Capt- Sewall, and Mr. Sargeant. They assembled by particu lar appointment at the court house in Salem, (supposed to have stood at the eastern corner of Essex and Washing ton-streets) on the second of June, 1692. The first victim, an old woman, was executed on the tenth of June, the court then adjourned. The government during their recess consulted several of the (congrega tional) ministers of Boston and its vicinity respecting the prosecutions, who while they urged the importance of caution and circumspection in the methods of examina tion and the admission of testimony, at the same time decidedly and earnestly recommended that the proceedings should be ' vigorously carried on.' And they were vigorously carried on ! — The court sat again on the thirtieth of June, and five more old women were hanged on the nineteenth of July. The court sat again August the fifth, and on the nineteenth of the same month four men and one woman were hanged. And on the twenty second of September two men and six women were hanged. Eight more were condemned, but this was the last execution. One man refusing to put himself on trial was pressed to death, agreeably to the provisions of the English laws. (f The principal immediate effect of these summary and sanguinary proceedings was to render the accusers more bold, confident, and daring ; they began to feel that the lives of all the people were in their hands, and seemed at last to have experienced a fiend like satisfaction WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 83 in the thought of bringing infamy and death upon the best and most honored citizens of the colony. They repeatedly " cried out" upon the Rev. Mr. Willard, the author of the "Body of Divinity," one of the most revered and beloved ministers of the times. They accused a member of the immediate family of Dr. Increase Mather, who had recently returned from a special embassy to the English court respecting the charter, and was then the president of Harvard College — the man whom Elliott calls ' the father of the New England clergy,' and whose name and character have been held in veneration by his contemporaries, and all succeeding generations. A writer of that period intimates that they accused the wife of the governor, Sir William Phipps ; they even went so far, it is said, as to implicate one of the judges of the court. " But that which finally overthrew their power, and broke the spell by which they had held the minds of the whole colony in bondage, was their accusation of Mrs. Hale, the wife of the minister of the first church in Beverly. Her genuine and distinguished virtues, had won for her a reputation, and secured in the hearts of the people a confidence, which superstition itself could not sully nor shake. Mr. Hale had been active in all the previous proceedings ; but he knew the innocence and piety of his wife, .and he stood forth between her and the storm he had helped to raise. Although he had driven it on while others were its victims, he turned and resisted it when it burst in upon his own dwelling. In crying out upon Mrs. Hale, the whole community was convinced that the accusers had perjured themselves, and from that moment their power was destroyed ; the awful delusion ceased ; the curtain fell ; and a close was 84 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. put to one of the most tremendous tragedies in the his tory of real life. The wildest storm, perhaps, that ever raged in the moral world instantly became a calm ; the tide that had threatened to overwhelm every thing in its fury, sunk back in a moment to its peaceful bed. There are few, if any other instances, in history of a revolution of opinion and feeling so sudden, so rapid, and so com plete. The images and visions that had possessed the bewildered imaginations of the people flitted away, and left them standing in the clear sunshine of reason and their senses; and they could have exclaimed as they witnessed them passing off in the language of the great master of the drama, and of human nature — but that their rigid puritan principles would not, it is presumed, have permitted them, even in that moment of rescue and deliverance, to quote Shakespeare : — ' See ! they're gone — The earth has bubbles as the waters have, And these are some of them ! they vanished Into the air, and what seemed corporal Melted as breath into the wind.' "During the prevalence of this fanaticism, twenty persons lost their lives by the hand of the executioner, fifty-five escaped death by confessing themselves guilty, one hundred and fifty were in prison, and more than two hu,ndred others accused. "One adventurous and noble' spirited young man found means to effect his mother's escape from confine ment, fled with her on horseback from the vicinity of the jail/ and secreted her in the Blueberry Swamp, not far from Tapley's brook in the Great Pasture ; he protected her concealment there until after the delusion had passed away, provided food and clothing for her, erected WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 85 a wigwam for her shelter, and surrourded her with every comfort her situation would admit of. The poor creature- must, however, have endured a great amount of suffering, for one of her larger limbs was fractured in the all but desperate enterprise of rescuing her from the prison. Immediately upon the termination of the excitement all who were in prison were pardoned. Nothing more was heard of the afflicted or the confessors ; they were never called to account for their malicious imposture and perjury. It was apprehended that a judicial inves tigation might renew the excitement and delusion, and all were anxious to consign the whole subject as speedily and effectually as possible to oblivion." * * Upham, p. 20, etc. 86 CHAPTER XVI. SALEM WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. DISCOVERY AND EXPO SURE OF THE PRINCIPAL CONSPIRATORS. FRUITS OF FAITH. Much as fanaticism, and puritanical teaching accomplish, when its sway is absolute, in subduing the human intel lect, and benumbing the moral perceptions, yet there was sufficient intelligence and enlightenment left in the community to produce an early reaction of public feel ing. The triumph of Mather and Ins colleagues was short lived! — one of the first events that opened the eyes of a large number as to the motives which were secondary in the direful transactions, was a " church council " convened at Salem, to compose the difficulties existing between Mr. Parris and his congregation, " It is evident " writes Mr. Upham (Mr. Noyes's successor be it remembered) " from the documents connected with the proceedings of these councils, that the disaffected members of his society regarded his conduct in the preceding tragedy with an aversion and horror that can only be accounted for on the hypothesis, that they sus pected him of having acted, not merely under the influ ence of an indiscreet enthusiasm, but from dishonest and malignant motives. This suspicion was very much confirmed by the circumstance that the old Indian woman, who by declaring herself guilty of the charge of witchcraft, first gave credit and power to the accusers, WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 87 always asserted that she was whipped by Mr. Parris until she consented to make a confession. But however it may have been with him — and in the absence of conclu sive testimony, we must leave his guilt or innocence to the decisions of a higher tribunal — so strong and deeply rooted were the feelings of disapprobation and aversion towards him which occupied the breasts of his disaffected parishioners, that all attempts on the part of the other ehurches to produce a reconciliation, and even his own humble and solemn acknowledgment of his error, were unavailing, and he was compelled to resign his situation, and remove from the place."* Mr. Burroughs the victim of a local conspiracy, had officiated as a candidate for the pastoral charge at Salens, and possessing acceptable talents had received an invita tion to settle there, which brought him into collision with several of the inhabitants. The following is the recantation of a young woman whose testimony had been used by his enemies. She had also been prevailed upon to testify against her own grandfather. Both were condemned and executed upon her evidence. " The humble declaration of Margaret Jacobs unto the honoured Court now sitting at Salem, sheweth. — That whereas your poor and humble declarant, being closely confined here in Salem goal for the crim e of witchcraft ; which crime, thanks be to the Lord, I am altogether ignorant of, as will appear at the great day of Judgment. May it please the honoured court, I was cried out upon by some of the possessed persons as afflicting them . whereupon I was brought to my examination, which per sons at the sight of me fell down, which did very much startle and affright me. The Lord above knows I knew * Upham's Lectures, p.p. 56-7. 88 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. nothing in the least measure, how or who afflicted them ; they told me without doubt I did, or else they would not fall down at me ; they told me if I would not confess I should be put down into the dungeon and would be hanged ; but if I would confess I should have my life j the which did so affright me, with my own vile wicked heart, to save my life, made me make the like confession I did ; which confession, may it please the honoured court, is altogether false and untrue. The very first night after I made my confession I was in such horror of conscience I could not sleep for fear the devil should carry me away for telling such horrible lies. I was, may it please the honoured court, sworn to my confession as I understand since, but then at that time was ignorant of it, not knowing what an oath did mean. The Lord I hope, in whom I trust, out of the abundance of his mercy will forgive me my false forswearing myself. What I said was altogether false against my grandfather and Mr. Burroughs, which I did to save my life and to have my liberty ; but the Lord, charging it to my con science, made me in so much horror that I could not contain myself before I had denied my confession, which 1 did, though I saw nothing but death before me, choosing rather death with a quiet conscience than to live in such horror which I could not suffer. When upon denying my confession, I was committed to close prison, where I have enjoyed more felicity in spirit a thousand times than I did in my enlargement. And now may it please your honours, your declarant having in part given your honours a description of my condition, do leave it to your honours' pious and judicious discretions to take pity and compassion on my young and tender years ; to act and do with me as the Lord above and your honours shall WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 89 see good, having no friend but the Lord to plead my cause for me ; not being guilty in the least measure of the crime of witchcraft, nor any other sin that deserves death from man ; and your poor and humble declarant shall forever pray as she is bound in duty for your honours' happiness in this life, and eternal felicity in the world to come — so prays your honours' declarant. Margaret Jacobs." The poor wretch wrote the following letter to her father after her grandfather's execution, " From the dungeon in Salem prison. August 20th, 1692. " Honoured Father — After my humble duty remem bered to you hoping of the Lord in your good health, as blessed be God I enjoy, though in abundance of affliction being close confined here in a loathsome dungeon ; the Lord look down in mercy upon me, not knowing how soon I shall be put to death by means of the afflicted persons ; my grandfather having suffered already and all his estate seized for the king. The reason of my confinement is this : — I having through the magistrates threatenings and .my own vile and wretched heart, con fessed several things contrary to my conscience and knowledge, though to the wounding of my own soul (the Lord pardon me for it ;) but oh the terrors of a wounded conscience who can bear ? But blessed be the Lord, he would not let me go on in my sins, but in mercy, I hope, to my soul would not suffer me to keep it any longer, but I was forced to confess the truth of all before the magistrates who would not believe me ; but it is their pleasure to put me in here, and God knows how soon I shall be put to death. Dear father, let me beg your prayers to the Lord on my behalf, and send us a joyful 90 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. and happy meeting in heaven. My mother, poor woman, is very crazy, and remembers her kind love to you, and to uncle, viz. D. A. So leaving you to the protection of the Lord, I rest your dutiful daughter, " Margaret Jacobs." The fate of Mr. Burroughs sent a thrill of horror through the whole community, which it required all the art and sophistry of the board of ministers to calm. He was a highly educated man, had received the honours of Harward University in 1670, of a spotless life, and no charge of inconsistency as a minister of the gospel had ever been attempted to be brought against him. On the day before his execution the unfortunate Margaret Jacobs obtained permission to visit him, when she made a full acknowledgment of her perjury and prayed his forgiveness. This he freely gave her, and spent some time in prayer with her. When the hour arrived for his execution, "he was carried in a court with other convicts from the jail, which is supposed to have stood on the northern corner of County and St. Peter's streets, the procession probably passing down St Peter's into Essex street, and thence onward to the rocky elevation called ' Gallows hill, ' about an eighth of a mile towards Danvers, beyond the head of Federal street, where the executions took place. ' While Mr. Burroughs was on the ladder' a contemporary writer observes, ' he made a speech for the clearing of his innocency with such solemn and serious expressions as were to the admiration of all present; his prayer was so well worded, and uttered with such composedness, and such fervency of spirit as was very affecting, and drew tears from many, so that it seemed to some that the spectators would hinder the execution.' To meet and turn back this state of feeling, WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 91 the accusers cried out that they saw the evil being stand ing behind him in the shape of a black man, and dictating every word he uttered. And the [in]famous Cot ton Mather rode round in the crowd on horseback, ha ranguing the people and saying that it was not to be wondered at that Mr. Burroughs appeared so well, for that the devil often transformed himself into an angel of light. This artful declaration, together with the outcries and assertions of the accusers, had the intended effect upon the fanatical multitude. When the body was cut down, it was dragged by the rope to a hollow place ex cavated between the rocks, stripped of its garments and then covered with clothes that had belonged to some poor wretch previously executed, thrown with two others into the hole, trampled down by the mob, and finally left uncovered."* The case of Rebecca Nurse affords a glaring instance of judicial oppression, unsurpassed by any of the acts of Judge Jeffries. The jury having heard no evidence wor thy of the name, returned a verdict of " not guilty." Immediately upon hearing it the malignant and fiendlike accusers uttered a loud outcry in open court ! The jud ges were overcome by the general clamour, and intimi. dated from the faithful discharge of their sacred duty. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict. One of the judges declared his disapprobation with great vehemence, another said she should be indicted anew, and the Chief Justice intimated to the jury that they had overlooked one important piece of evidence. It was this ; — during the trial a woman named Hobbs who had confessed herself a witch was brought into court* and as she entered the prisoner turned towards her and * Upham, p. 102. 92 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. said, ' What ! do you bring her ? she is one of us. ' The jury were thus prevailed upon to go out again ; they soon returned, pronouncing the poor old woman ' Guilty. After her conviction she addressed the following note to the judges. 'These presents do humbly show to the honoured court and jury that I being informed that the jury brought me in guilty upon my saying that goodwife Hobbs and her daughter were of our company, but I intended no otherways, than as they were prisoners with us and therefore did then and yet do judge them not legal evidence against their fellow prisoners. And I being something hard of hearing and full of grief, none informing me how the court took up my words, and therefore had no opportunity to declare what I intended when I said they were of our company, ' Rebecca Nurse." The governor, it appears, wished to grant her a reprieve, but on discovering his intention the accusers renewed their outcries against her, and on the earnest persuasion of his clerical and lay advisers, gave orders for her execution, which took place within a few weeks after her conviction. The case of Giles Cory was also an aggravated exam ple of cruelty. He was a communicant of the " First [congregational] Church" in Danvers and probably one of Mr. Burroughs' supporters. When he saw that trial was a mere mockery, he indignantly refused to plead to the indictment, nor could the threat of the torture change his resolution. He was accordingly conveyed to the press, under the agony of which he expired. His executioners showed a refinement of cruelty during the moments of his suffering. The New England historian WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 93 records that " as his aged frame yielded to the dreadful pressure his tongue was protruded from his mouth. The demon who presided over the torture drove it back again with the point of his cane," and adds with an earnest ness which does him honour, — " The heart of man once turned to cruelty seems, like the fleshed tiger, to gather new fury in the mere exercise of ferocity." * The following touching narrative left by " a respecta ble citizen of Charlestown" near Boston, will afford a view of the common methods of examination ; though in many cases a simple accusation from a " possessed" person was sufficient to procure a verdict of guilty. May, 24th. 1693. " I having heard some days that my wife was accused of witchcraft, being much disturbed at it, by advice went to Salem village to see if the afflicted knew her. We arrived there on the 24th of May ; it happened to be a day appointed for examination. Accordingly, soon after our arrival Mr. Hatham, Mr. Curwin, etc., went to the meeting house, which was the place appointed for that work. The minister began with prayer, and having taken care to get a convenient place, I observed that the afflicted were two girls of about ten years old, and two or three others of about eighteen ; one ofthe girls talked most, an d could discern more than the rest. " The prisoners were called in one by one, and as they came in were cried out at. The prisoners were placed about seven or eight feet from the justices and the accusers between the justices and them ; the prisoners were ordered to stand right before the justices, with an officer appointed to hold each hand lest they should therewith afflict them ; and the prisoner's eyes must be * Upham, p. p. 88, 94 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. constantly on the justices ; for if they looked on the afflicted they would either fall into fits or cry out of being hurt by them. After an examination of the prisoners, who it was afflicted these girls, etc., they were put upon saying the Lord's Prayer as a trial of their guilt. After the afflicted seemed to be out of their fits, they would look steadfastly on some one person, and frequently not speak ; and then the justices said they were struck dumb, and after a little time would speak again , then the justices said to the accusers, ' Which of you will go and touch the prisoner at the bar ? ' Then the most courageous would adventure, but before they had made three steps would ordinarily fall down as in a fit; the justices ordered that they should be taken up, and carried to the prisoner, that she might touch them, and as soon as they were touched by the accused the justices would say " They are well," — before I could dis cern any alteration, by which I observed that the justices understood the manner of it. Thus far I was only as a spectator ; my wife also was there part of the time, but no notice was taken of her by the afflicted, except once or twice they came to her and asked her name. But I, having an opportunity to discourse Mr. Hale (with whom I had formerly acquaintance) I took his advice what I had best do, and desired of him that I might have an opportunity to speak with her that accused my wife ; which he promised should be, I acquainting him that I reposed my trust in him. Accordingly he came to me after the examination was over, and told me I had now an opportunity to speak with the said accuser, Abigail Williams, a girl eleven or twelve years old ; but that we could not be in private at Mr. Parris's house, as he had promised me ; we went therefore into the ale- WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 95 house, where an Indian man attended us, who it seems was one of the afflicted ; to him we gave some cider ; he showed several scars that seemed as if they had been long there, and showed them as done by witchcraft, and acquainted us that his wife, who also was a slave, was imprisoned for witchcraft. And now instead of one accuser they all came in, and began to tumble down like swine ; and then three women were called in to attend them. We in the room were all at a stand to see who they would cry out of; but in a short time they cried out ' Cary ' ; and immediately after a warrant was sent from the justices to bring my wife before them, who were sitting in a chamber near by waiting for this. Being brought before the justices her chief accusers were two girls. My wife declared to the justices, that she never had any knowledge of them before that day. She was forced to stand with her arms stretched out. I requested that I might hold one of her hands, but it was denied me; then she desired me to wipe the tears from her eyes, and the sweat from her face, which I did; then she desired she might lean herself on me, saying she should faint. Justice Hathorn replied she had strength enough to torment these persons, and she should have strength enough to stand. I speaking something against their cruel proceedings, they com manded me to be silent, or else I should be turned out of the room. The Indian before-mentioned was also brought in to be one of her accusers ; being come in, he now (when before the justices) fell down and tumbled about like a hog, but said nothing. The justices asked the girls who afflicted the Indian; they answered 'she,' (meaning my wife) and that she now lay upon him ; the justices ordered her to touch him in order to his cure, 96 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. but her head must be turned another way, lest instead of curing she should make him worse by her looking on him, her hand being guided to take hold of his ; but the Indian took hold of her hand and pulled her down on the floor in a barbarous manner ; then his hand was taken off, and her hand put on his hand the cure was quickly wrought. I being extremely troubled at their inhuman dealings uttered a hasty speech " that God would take vengeance on them, and desired that God would deliver us out of the hands of unmerciful men." Then her mittimus was writ. I did with difficulty and charge obtain the liberty of a room but no beds in it; if there had been could have taken but little rest that night. She was committed to Boston prison ; bnt I ob tained a habeas corpus to remove her to Cambridge prison, which is in our county of Middlesex. Having been there one night next morning the jailer put irons on her legs (having received such a command) the weight of them was about eight pounds; these irons and her other afflictions soon brought her into convulsion fits, so that I thought she would have died that night. I sent to intreat that the irons might be taken off ; but all entrea ties were in vain if it would have saved her life, so that in this condition she must continue. The trials at Sa lem coming on, I went thither, to see how things were managed ; and finding that the spectre evidence was there received, together with idle, if not malicious sto ries against people's lives, I did easily perceive which way the rest would go; for the same evidence that served for one would serve for all the rest. I acquainted her with her danger ; and that if she were carried to Salem to be tried, I feared she would never return. I did my utmost that she might have her trial in her own county. WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 97 I with several others petitioning the judge for it, and were put in hopes of it , but I soon saw so much that I understood thereby it was not intended, which put me upon consulting the means of her escape ; which through the goodness of God was effected, and she got to Rhode Island, but soon found herself not safe when there, by reason of the pursuit after her ; from thence she went to New York along with some others that had escaped their cruel hands, where we found his excellency Benjamin Fletcher Esq. governor, who was very courteous to us. After this some of my goods were seized in a friend's hands with whom I had left them, and myself impri soned by the sheriff and kept in custody half a day, and then dismissed ; but to speak of their usage of the pri soners and the inhumanity shown to them at the time of their execution no sober Christian could bear ! They had also ' trials of cruel mockings, ' which is the more heinous considering what a people for religion, — / mean the profession of it — we have been; those that suffered being many of them church members, and most of them unspotted in their conversation, till their adversary the devil took up this method for accusing them. Jonathan Cary.' " Every idle rumour, " writes Mr. Upham, " every thing that the gossip of the credulous, or the fertile me mories of the malignant could produce, that had an un favorable bearing upon the prisoner, however foreign it might be from the indictment, was allowed to be brought in evidence before the jury. A child between five and six years of age was arrested and put into prison. Chil dren were encouraged to become witnesses against their parents, and parents against their children." It was the worst feature in these transactions, that 98 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. they were first instigated, and then vigorously prosecu ted by the clergy. Such is the testimony of the most prejudiced native historians. " They took the lead in the whole transaction," writes Mr. Upham. " As the sup posed agents of all the mischief belonged to the super natural or spiritual world, which has ever been considered their peculiar province, it was thought that the assistance and co-operation of ministers were particularly appro priate and necessary. It has been mentioned that the government consulted the ministers of Boston and the vicinity, after the execution of the first person convicted, and previous to the trial of the others, and that they returned a positive and earnest recommendation to " pro ceed in the good work."* * Upham, pp. 89. !>9 CHAPTER XVII. THE SALEM DELUSION. NOYES AND MATHER. One Noyes figured conspicuously through the scenes of the tragedy, and won an execrable repute for his furious Bonner like oppression of the wretched martyrs to puri tanical rage. This butcher was the "junior pastor" of the " First (congregational) Church" in Salem, and col league to Parris. Rebecca Nurse whose conviction was obtained by the bullying and threats of the judges, instigated by Noyes and his clerical colleagues, was a member of the " first church." " On the communion day that intervened between her conviction and execution he procured a vote of excommunication to be passed against her. In the afternoon of the same day, the poor old wo man was carried to the great and spacious meeting house in chains, and there in the presence of a vast assembly Mr. Noyes proclaimed her expulsion from the Church, pronounced the sentence of eternal death upon her, for mally delivered her over to Satan, and consigned her to the flames of hell ! It is related however, that as soon as the fanaticism had disappeared, the recollection of her excellent character, and virtuous and pious life effaced the reproach of the spiritual as well as the temporal sentence."* Mr. Upham's further notice of the infamous part taken by the inquisitor Noyes, is too important to be omitted in this record. * Upham's Lectures, p p. 90. 100 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " Martha Cory, the wife of Giles Cory, was a member of the (independant) church in Danvers. A committee consisting of the pastor, the two deacons, and another member was sent by the church to the prison to promulgate to her a doom similar to that to which Rebecca Nurse was consigned the day after her conviction. Mr. Parris declares in the records of the church that they found her ' very obdurate, justifying her self, and condemning all who had done any thing to her just discovery or condemnation.' Whereupon after a little, discourse (for says he ' her imperiousness would not suffer much) and after prayer (which she was willing to decline) the dreadful sentence of excommunication was pronounced against her.' " Mr. Noyes was also very active to prevent a revul sion of the public mind, or even the least diminution of the popular violence against the supposed witches. As they all protested their innocence to the moment of death, and as most of them exhibited a remarkably Christian deportment throughout the dreadful scenes they were called to encounter from their arrest to their execution, there was reason to apprehend that the people would gradually be led to feel a sympathy for them, if not to entertain doubts of their guilt. It became neces sary, therefore, to remove any impressions unfavourable to themselves that; might be made by the conduct and declarations of the convicts. Mr. Noyes and others were on the ground continually for this purpose." " One of the most interesting persons among the inno cent sufferers was Mrs. Easty of Topsfield ; she was a sister of Rebecca Nurse. Her mind appears to have been uncommonly strong and well cultivated, and her heart the abode of the purest and most christian senti- A PURITAN' INQUISITOR. 101 ments. After her conviction, she addressed the following letter to the judges and ministers, by which it appears that she felt for others more than she did for herself. It is a striking and affecting specimen of good sense of Christian fortitude, of pious humility, of noble benevo lence, and of the real eloquence of the heart. " ' To the honourable judge and bench now sitting in judicature in Salem and the reverend ministers humbly sheweth : — That whereas your humble and poor peti tioner being condemned to die, doth humbly beg of you to take it into your judicious and pious consideration that your poor and humble petitioner, knowing my own innocency (blessed be the Lord for it) and seeing plainly the wiles and subtilty of my accusers by myself cannot but judge charitably of others that are going the same way with myself, if the Lord step not mightily in. I was confined a whole month, on the same account that I am now condemned, and then cleared by the afflicted persons as some of your honors know ; and in two days time I was cried out upon by them again, and have been confined and am now condemned to die. The Lord above knows my innocence then and likewise doth now, as at the great day will be known by men and angels. I petition to your honors, not for my own life, for I know I must die, and my appointed time is set; but the Lord he knows if it be possible that no more innocent blood be shed, which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the way and course you go in. I question not but your honours do to the utmost of your powers, in the discovery and detecting of withcraft and witches, and would not be guilty of innocent blood for the world ; but by my own innocency I know you are in the wrong way. The Lord in his infinite mercy direct you in this great work 102 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. if it be his blessed will, that innocent blood be not shed. I would humbly beg of you that your honours would be pleased to examine some of those confessing " witches," I being confident there are several of them have belied- themselves and others, as will appear if not in this world, I am sure in the world -to come, whither I am going ; and I question not but yourselves will see an alteration in these things. They say myself and others have "made a league with the devil." We cannot confess; I know and the Lord knows (as will shortly appear) they belie me, and so I question not but they do others ; the Lord alone who is the searcher of all hearts knows — as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat — that I know not the least thing of witchcraft, therefore I cannot — I durst not belie my own soul. I beg your honours not to deny this my humble petition, from a poor dying innocent person, and I question not but the Lord will give a blessing to your endeavours. ' Mary Easty. ' " The parting interview of this excellent lady with her husband, children, and friends is said to have been a most solemn, affecting and sublime scene. She was executed with seven others. Mr. Noyes turned towards their bodies, and exclaimed with a compassion that was altogether worthy of an inquisitor, ' What a sad thing it is to see eight fire-brands of hell hanging there ! ! ' " John Proctor of Danvers went to court to attend his wife during her examination on the charge of witch craft ; and having rendered himself disagreable to the prosecuting witnesses by the interest he naturally took in her behalf, was accused by them on the spot of the same crime, condemned and executed. Both he and his wife sustained excellent characters in the village, and in A PURITAN INQUISITOR. 103 Ipswich where they formerly resided. He wrote the following spirited and interesting letter to the [congrega tional] ministers of Boston, requesting to be tried there, and protesting against the proceedings of the court. Salem Prison, July 23rrf,1692. " ' Mr. Mather, Mr. Allen, Mr. Moody, Mr. Willard and Mr. Baily :— " Reverend Gentlemen — The innocency of our case, with the enmity of our accusers, and our judges and jury, whom nothing but our innocent blood will serve, having condemned us already before our trials, being so much incensed and enraged against us by the devil, makes us bold to beg and implore your favourable assist ance of this our humble petition to his excellency, that if it be possible our innocent blood may be spared, which undoubtedly otherwise will be shed, if the Lord doth not mercifully step in, the magistrates, ministers, juries and all the people in general being so much enraged and incensed against us by the delusion of the devil, — which we can term no other by reason we know in our own consciences, we are all innocent persons. Here are five persons who have lately confessed themselves to be witches, and do accuse some of us of being along with them at a sacrament since we were committed into close prison, which we know to be lies. Two of the five (Carrier's sons) are young men who would not confess anything till they tied them neck and heels till the blood was ready to come out of their noses ; and it is credibly believed and reported this was the occasion of making them confess what they never did by reason they said, ' one had been a witch a month, and another five weeks, and that their mother made them so' — who has been confined here this nine weeks ! ! My son, William Proc- 104 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. tor, when he was examined because he could not confess that he was guilty when he was innocent, they tied neck and heels till the blood gushed out of his nose, and would have kept him so twenty four hours if one, more merciful than the rest, had not taken pity on him and caused him to be unbound. " These actions are very like the popish cruelties. They have already undone us in our estates, and that will not serve their turns without our innocent blood ! If it cannot be granted that we can have our trials at Boston, we humbly beg that you would endeavour to have these magistrates changed, and others in their room ; begging also and beseeching you that you would be pleased to be here if not all, some of you at our trials, hoping thereby you may be the means of saving the shedding of our innocent blood. Desiring your prayers to the Lord in our behalf, we rest your poor afflicted servants, John Proctor &c. &c. The unfortunate man's appeal to the ministers of the " standing order " was of no avail. No mitigation of his sufferings was allowed by his iron persecutors, on the contrary the spirit of the memorial to the Executive by the congregational ministers " to proceed vigorously with the work" was carried out with augmented seve rity ; and the special agent of the Inquisitor General, the blood thirsty Noyes was the willing agent of the Socie ties' vengeance against a victim who had the temerity to remonstrate (though gently enough, God knows ! ) against its barbarities. "When Proctor was in prison" is the testimony of Mr. Upham " all his property was at tached, everything was taken from his house, his family, consisting of eleven children were left destitute, even A PURITAN INQUISITOR. 105 the food that was preparing for their dinner was carried away by the sheriff. After his conviction he petitioned for a little more time to prepare to die, but it was denied him. He begged Mr. Noyes to pray with him, but he refused, unless he would confess that he was guilty ! II is numerous family was not permitted to starve. The cruel ty that snatched the bread from their mouths was over ruled by a merciful providence. His descendants who are found in all parts of the country, occupy at this mo ment the estate, and cultivate the fields which he owned- The efforts of the prosecutors to extort confessions from their helpless victims is specially worthy of the deepest condemnation ; and completes the portraiture which the other parts of their conduct bear to that of the actors in the famed proceedings by the heads and instru ments of the Spanish Inquisition. "They importuned, harassed and vexed them continually to acknowledge their guilt. The public were prejudiced to suspect and con vict of witchcraft all persons in whose character and conduct there were any marks of eccentricity or traits of peculiarity. Sarah Good had for some time previous to the delusion, been subject to a species of mental de rangement of which sadness and melancholy were the prevailing characteristics. She was accordingly accused of witchcraft, and condemned to die. Mr Noyes urged her very strenuously at the time of her execution to con fess. Among other things he told her ' She was a witch, and that she knew she was a witch.' She was consci ous of her innocence and felt that ' she was injured, op. pressed and trampled upon, and her indignation was roused against her persecutors. She could not bear in silence the cruel aspersion, and although she was about to be launched into eternity, the torrent of her feelings 106 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. could not be restrained, but burst upon the head of him who uttered the false accusation. ' You are a liar ' said she, ' I am no more a witch than you are a wizard — and if you take away my Kfe, God will give you blood to drink.' " * Such was the conduct of a man whom the New Eng land " orthodox" congregationalists still hold up as one of the early ornaments of their communion ; and who was only a few years ago thus alluded to in a Boston paper. " It is no wonder that Salem and the adjacent parts of the country ; as also the churches, university and people of New England justly esteemed him as a principal part of their glory." (! !) Tradition, however, has handed down the circumstances of Noyes's death ; which in Mr. Upham's own words, " strangely verified the prediction wrung from the in censed spirit of the dying old woman" — and which it were not superstitious to regard as providentially designed to fix upon him the mark of divine displeasure. One of his own sect thus sets his seal to the belief which in pro cess of time extended throughout the community, and is now regarded as matter of history. " What are we to think of those persons who com menced and continued the accusation of the afflicted children and their .confederates ? Shocking as is the view it presents of the extent to which human nature can be carried in depravity, I am constrained to declare, as the result of as thorough a scrutiny as I could institute, my belief that this dreadful transaction was introduced and driven on by wicked perjury and wilful malice. The young girls in Mr. Parris' family and their associates on several occasions indicated by their conduct and expres- * Upham p p. 99, etc. THE ACCUSORjji. 107 sions that they were acting a part. It would be much more congenial with our feelings to believe that these misguided and wretched young persons early in the pro ceedings became themselves victims of the delusion into which they plunged every one else. But we are for bidden to form this charitable judgment by the manife:- tations of art and contrivance, of deliberate cunning and cool malice they exhibited to the end. Once or twice they were caught in their own snare, and nothing but the blindnesss of the bewildered community saved them from disgraceful exposure and well deserved punishment. They appeared as the prosecutors of almost every poor creature that was tried, and seemed ready to bear testi mony against any one upon whom suspicion might happen to fall.* It is dreadful to reflect upon the enor mity of their wickedness, if they were conscious of impos ture throughout. It seems to transcend the capabilities of human crime. There is, perhaps, a slumbering element in the heart of man that sleeps forever in the bosom of the innocent and good, and requires the per petration of a great sin to wake it into action, but which when once aroused, impels the transgressor onward with increasing momentum, as the descending ball is accele rated in its course. It may be that crime begets an appetite for crime, which like all other appetites is not quieted but inflamed by gratification. " * It is obvious that during the prevalence of the fanaticism, it was in the power of every man to bring down terrible vengeance upon his enemies by pretending to be " bewitched" by them. There is great reason to fear that this was often the case. If any one ventured to resist the proceed ings, or to intimate a doubt respecting the guilt of the persons accused, the accusers would consider it as an affront to them, and proceed instantly to " cry out" against him. ' The wife of an honest and worthy man in Andover was sick of a fever 108 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. •It has been stated that Cotton Mather endeavoured to escape the odium connected with the Salem persecutions. In his life of Sir William Phipps the governor of the colony " a man " says Mr. Upham " of an exceedingly feeble intellect, whom Dr. Mather appeared to have kept by flattery in complete subserviency to his purposes," he exhibits a true specimen of his Jesuitical cunning- During the prosecutions when the fever was at its height, the governor appealed for counsel and guidance to his spiritual adviser, who it will be remembered, with the ministers of Boston, advocated the carrying on of the work " speedily and vigorously." In quoting the state papers as evidence that the clergy recommended " caution and circumspection," Dr. Mather expunged all those of which she finally died ; during her illness it occurred to him, after all the csual means had failed to cure her that she might be bewitched. He went directly to Danvers to ask the afflicted persons there who had bewitched his wife. Two of them returned with him to Andover. Never did a place receive more inauspicious visitors. Soon after their arrival they contrived to get more than fifty of the inhabitants imprisoned, several of whom were afterwards hanged for witchcraft. A Mr. Eradstreet, the magistrate of the place, after having committed about forty persons to jail on their., accusation, concluded that he had done enough, and declined to arrest any more ; the consequence was that they accused him and his wife of being witches and they had to fly for their lives. A per son by the name of Willard who had been employed to guard the prisoners to and from the jail, had the humanity to sympathise with the sufferers, and the courage to express his unwillingness to continue any longer in the odious employment. This was very offensive to the afflicted children. They accordingly charged him with bewitching them. The unhappy man was condemned to death ; he contrived to escape from prison ; they were thrown into the greatest distress ; the news came that he was retaken ; their agonies were moderated, and at length he was hanged and then they were wholly relieved. It should be added that many of the accusers turned out afterwards very badly, becoming profli gate and abandoned characters. — See Upham, pp. 53. MATHERS DEFENCE. 109 passages urging the prosecution of the work " speedily and vigorously." The real spirit of the man, however leaks out in the following passage, which affords a choice specimen of that language of cant and hypocrisy* of which the English nation received such a surfeit dur ing the Cromwellian usurpation. " And why, after all my unwearied «ares and pains to rescue the miserable from the lions and bears of hell, which had seized them, and after all my studies to dis appoint the devils in their designs to confound my neigh bourhood, must I be driven to the necessity of an apology? Truly the hard representations wherewith some ill men have reviled my conduct, and the counte nance which other men have given to these representa tions, oblige me to give mankind some account of my behaviour. No Christian can (I say none but evil workers can) criminate my visiting such of my poor flock as have at any time fallen under the terrible and sensible molestations of evil angels : let their afflictions have been what they will, I could not have answered it un to my glorious Lord, if I had withheld my just comforts and counsels from them ; and if I have also, with some exactness, observed the methods of the invisible world, when they have thus become observable, I have been but a servant of mankind in doing so : yea, no less a person than the venerable Baxter has more than once or twice in the most public manner invited mankind to thank me for that service. " Wherefore instead of all apish shouts and jeers at histories which have such undoubted confirmation, as that no man that has breeding enough to regard the common laws of human society will offer to doubt of them , it becomes us better to adore the goodness of God? 110 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. who does not permit such things every day to befall us all, as he sometimes did permit to befall some few of our miserable neighbours. " And is it a very glorious thing that I have now to mention. — The devils have with most horrid operations broke in upon our neighbourhood, and God has at such a rate overruled all the fury and malice of those devils, that all the afflicted have not only been delivered but I hope also savingly brought home to God, and the reputa tion of no one good person in the world has been dam aged, but instead thereof the souls of many, especially of the rising generation, have been thereby awakened unto some acquaintance with religion. Our young people who belonged unto the prayer meetings, of both sexes apart, would ordinarily spend whole nights by whole weeks together in prayers and psalms upon these occasions, in which devotions the devils could get nothing, but like fools a scourge for their own backs ; and some scores of other young people, who were strangers to real piety, were now struck with the lively demonstrations of hellj evidently set forth before their eyes when they saw per sons cruelly frighted, wounded and starved by devils, and scalded with burning brimstone ; and yet so preserved in this tortured state, as that at the end of one month's wretchedness they were able still to undergo another; so that of these also it might now be said — ' Behold they pray.' In the whole the devil got just nothing ; but God got praises, Christ got subjects, the Holy Spirit got temples, the Church got additions, and the souls of men got everlasting benefits, I am not so vahij as to say that any wisdom or virtue of mine did contri bute unto this good order of things ; but I am so just as to say, I did not hinder this good."* * Mather's Works. THE PUBLIC VERDICT. Ill Mr. Upham's forcible description of the termination of Mather's career, with the just reflections accompany. ing it, will form a proper conclusion to a narrative, which in its origin, its progress, and its results should never be forgotten ! " I cannot indeed resist the conviction that, notwith standing all his attempts to appear dissatisfied after they had become unpopular, with the occurrences in the Salem trials, he looked upon them with secret pleasure, and would have been glad to have had them repeated again in Boston. How blind is man to the future ! The state of things which Cotton Mather laboured to bring about, in order that he might increase his own influence over an infatuated people by being regarded by them as mighty to cast out and vanquish evil spirits, and as able to hold Satan himself in chains by his prayers and his piety, brought him at length into such disgrace, that his power was broken down, and he became the object of public ridicule and open insult. And the excitement that had been produced for the purpose of restoring and strengthening the influence of the clerical and spiritual leaders, resulted in effects which reduced that influence to a still lower point. The intimate connexion of Dr. Mather and other prominent ministers with the witch craft delusion brought a reproach upon the clergy from which they have never yet recovered. " In addition to the designing exertions of ambitious ecclesiastics, and the benevolent and praiseworthy efforts of those whose only aim was to promote a real and thorough reformation of religion, all the passions of our nature stood ready to throw their concentrated energy into the excitement (as they ever will do whatever may be its character) so soon as it became sufficiently strong to encourage their action. 112. ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " The whole force of popular superstition — all the fa natical propensities of the ignorant and deluded multi tude united with the best feehngs of our nature to heighten the fury of the storm. Piety was indignant at the supposed rebellion against the sovereignty of God, and was roused to an extreme of agitation and appre hension in witnessing such a daring and fierce assault by the devil and his adherents upon the churches and the cause of the gospel. Virtue was shocked at the tremendous guilt of those who were believed to have entered the diabolical confederacy ; while public order and security stood aghast, amidst the invisible, the supernatural, the infernal, and apparently the irresisti ble attacks that were making upon the foundations of society, in baleful combination with principles, good in themselves, thus urging the passions into wild operation, there were all the wicked and violent affections to which humanity is liable. Theological bitterness, personal animosities, local controversies, private feuds, Ion" cherished grudges, and professional jealousies, rushed forward, and raised their discordant voices, to swell the horrible din ; credulity rose with its monstrous and ever expanding form, on the ruins of truth, reason and the senses ; malignity and cruelty rode triumphantly through the storm, by whose fury every mild and gentle senti ment had been shipwrecked ; and revenge smiling in the midst of the tempest, welcomed its desolating wrath as it dashed the mangled objects of its hate along the shore." 113 CHAPTER XVIII. WITCHCRAFT DELUSION IN ENGLAND. It is only just to mention that during the seventeenth century there were numerous executions for witchcraft in England, and a much larger number in Scotland, besides other parts of Europe, though most persons were opposed to this severity. The law authorising it was first placed on the statute book by James the First's parlia ment to please that superstitious monarch, whose parti ality for the study of demonology is well known. It is worthy of note that the most ultra protestants went the greatest lengths in these delusions; which has drawn from a French Roman Catholic critic the following caustic and truthful censure — " So great folly did then oppress the miserable world, that Christians believed greater absurdities than could be imposed upon the heathens." Thus the number of victims were compara tively small in England to those who suffered in Scot land, Sweden etc. — and in our own country the work was principally encouraged by the non-conformists. One signal proof, amongst others, of this is afforded in the case of Matthew Hopkins, who, during the Great RebelUon travelled through the eastern counties in search of witches. His expenses were paid, and a fee was given for each discovery. His mode of detection was peculiar. — " Besides pricking the body to find the witch mark, he compelled the wretched and decrepid victims of his lit ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. cruel practices to sit in a painful posture upon an ele vated stool, with their limbs crossed, and if they perse vered in refusing to confess he would prolong their torture in some cases to more than twenty four hours '•> he would prevent them from going to sleep, and drag them about barefoot over the rough ground, thus over coming them with extreme weariness and pain ; but his favourite method was to tie the thumb of the right hand close to the great toe of the left foot, and draw them through a river or pond ; if they floated, as they would be likely to do while their heavier limbs were thus sus tained and upborne by the rope, it was considered as conclusive proof of their guilt." Such sagaciousness was doubtless worthy the agency of the puritanical faction whose reign had then com menced. Hopkins was sanctioned by the parliament and stimulated in his career of murder by Richard Bax ter and some of his colleagues. Hudibras thus me morializes his exploits — " Hath not this present Parliament A leiger to the Devil sent, Fully empowered to treat about Finding revolted witches out ? And has he not within a year Hanged three-score of them in one shire .'" The career of this " witch finder " was suddenly ter minated by some gentleman who employed his mode of detection on himself. They tied his thumbs and toes together, and dragged him about in a horse pond, when as he did not sink he was convicted by his own test. This put a stop for a time to the work of death and out rage ; not however till upwards of sixty-four had fallen through his means. One of his victims was an aged clergyman named PURITAN CRUELTIES. 115 Lewis, who had been the exemplary minister of a pa rish for more than half a century. " His infirm frame was subjected to the several tests, and even to the trial by water ordeal, he was compelled to walk almost inces santly for several days and nights, until, in the exhaus tion of his nature he was made to assent to a confession that was adduced against him in court ; which however he disowned, and denied there and at all times from the moment he was released from the torments by which it was extorted from him, to the moment of his death ! As he was about to die the death of a felon, he knew that the rites of sepulture according to the forms of his denomination would be denied to his remains. The aged sufferer, it is related, read his own funeral service while on the scaffold. Solemn, sublime and affecting as is this most admirable portion of the excellent ritual of the Church, surely it was never performed under cir cumstances so well suited to impress with awe and ten derness, as when uttered by the calumniated, oppressed and dying old man."* The circumstances of his death, so calculated to stir up all the tenderest sympathies of those filling the same sacred office, only called forth the sneers and ridicule of the anti-prelatist Baxter, who gave him in derision the title of " the reading parson. " So completely does sectarian hatred extinguish all the kindlier feelings of our nature when once it takes undivided possession of the soul. The cases of two women tried and convicted at Bury St. Edmunds before Sir Matthew Hale, who sentenced them to death, has frequently been mentioned in dispa ragement of that great and virtuous judge. But let it * History of Witchcraft, pp. 173. 116 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. always be borne in mind, that he was governed in his opinion by that of Sir Thomas Brown, a man whose position and celebrity as a scholar were unequalled in his age. It is the testimony of a reporter of the trial that " it made this great and good man [Hale] doubtful, but he was in such fears, and proceeded with jsuch caution that he would not so much as sum up the evidence, but left it to the jury with prayers ' that the great God of heaven would direct their hearts in that weighty matter. ' " The credit of putting an end to the witchcraft delusion in England belongs peculiarly to Archbishop Harsnet, who was raised to the see of York by Charles I. in 1628. He exerted himself to bring the charges of the puritan " witch finders" into contempt and discredit, which his wit eventually did much to accomplish. The following is one of his descriptions in stating the real motives and discovering the method of the cheating impostors : " Out of these is shaped to us the true idea of a witch : An old weather-beaten crone, having her chin and her knees meeting for age, walking like a bow, leaning on a staff; hollow-eyed, untoothed, furrowed on her face, having her limbs trembling with the palsy, going mumbling in the streets ; one that hath forgotten her pater noster, and yet hath a shrewd tongue to call a drab, * a drab. ' If she hath learned of an old wife in a chimney end Pax, Max, Fax, for a spell, or can say Sir John Grantham's curse for the miller's eel's [" All ye that have stolen the miller's eels, Laudate dominum de cadis ; and all they that have consented thereto Benedicamus Domino "] why then beware ! look about you, my neigh bours ! If any of you have a sheep sick of the giddies, or a hog of the mumps, or a horse of the staggers, or a knavish boy of the school, or an idle girl of the wheel, ARCHBISHOP HARSNET. 117 or a young drab of the sullens, and hath not fat enough for her porrage, or butter enough for her bread, and she hath a little help of the epilepsy or cramp, to teach her to roll her eyes, wry her mouth, gnash her teeth, startle with her body, hold her arms and hands stiff; then when an old Mother Nobs hath by chance called her an " idle young housewife," or bid the devil " scratch her," no doubt but Mother Nobs is the witch, and the young girl is owl blasted etc. They that have their brains baited, and their fancies distempered with the imaginations and apprehensions of witches, conjurors, fairies, and all that lymphatic chimera, I find to be marshalled in one of these five ranks ; — children, women, fools, cowards, sick or black melancholic discomposed wits." All praise to the honest Christian prelate who did not shrink in an age of fanaticism and misrule — England's " reign of terror " — to expose and denounce the arts and miserable schemes by which the credulous multitude were blindfolded ! 118 CHAPTER XIX. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1835. This year the General Convention ofthe American Epis copal Church was held in Philadelphia when seve ral important measures were consummated. One of these was to change the constitution of the Church Missionary Society which had hitherto been a distinct voluntary association by connecting it with the Church : in other words — the Church resolved itself into a domestic and foreign missionary society, every communicant of it to be a member of the same, and the bishops ex -officio its governors etc. This step has resulted in the most signal success ! There are now in the pay of the society seventy domestic, and thirteen foreign missionaries dis tributed as follows : — Maine 4 Kentucky 9 New Hampshire 2 Ohio. . 7 Delaware 6 Indiana . 14 North Carolina . I Illinois . 14 Georgia 3 Michigan . 15 Florida 5 Wisconsin . 8 Alabama 5 Iowa . 3 Mississippi . 5 Missouri 1 Louisiana . 2 Arkansas 3 Tennessee . 3 Indian Missions 2 These 70 missionaries supply 127 stations, the seeds of future parishes. Their remuneration is, however, GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1835. 119 very small, varying from 50 to 500 dollars, proportioned to the amount raised by the people, which seldom goes towards the missionary salary till a church building is erected and paid for, during which time he is with few exceptions wholly dependant on the missionary sti pend. These "missionaries," it will be remembered, are besides the independant parochial clergy of the country, and are fully under the bishop's jurisdic tion in whose diocess they are located. Of the foreign missionaries five are stationed in Western Africa, with fourteen catechists, ladies, &c;three besides Bishop Boone in China; two in Greece; two besides Bishop Southgate in the dominions of the Sultan ; and three in Texas [now a part of the U. S.] besides Bishop Freeman. These clergymen ar<3 assisted by catechists, female teachers, etc. Bishop Chase having resigned, with the presidency of Kenyon College, which had been founded by his re markable exertions, the episcopate of Ohio, and having been elected bishop of the newly-formed diocess of Illi nois, the latter was " received and acknowledged as a diocess in union with the General Convention." Dr. Hawks was also appointed by the house of bishops missionary bishop to the South West, and Dr. Kemper to the North West territory* Dr. Hawks declined the appointment, which was assigned at the last convention (in 1844) to Dr. Freeman of Delaware. This was the last convocation in which the aged patri arch White presided, after directing its deliberations * A " Territory" is one of those large sections of country not yet sub divided, (and organized) into " States." e. g. Oregon, called (I suppose facetiously) in the English papers, " The Oregon" is a " Territory." 120 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. in that character for forty years.* This venerable man is I presume known to every English reader, as one of the principal agents in the hands of providence in founding and establishing the American Church, of which he was a most distinguished ornament. Connected with Bishop Chase's resignation of the diocess of Ohio, in which he was one of the first mis sionaries, and on whose soil he had reared up for its sons, a noble institution of learning which will doubtless stand many centuries an enduring monument to his zeal and quenchless love for the Church of his land * Since 1795 the office of presiding bishop (as established at the first Convention of the united Church in 1789) is held by seniority of conse- cration. Bishop White's predecessors were Seabury and Provoost. The first held the office till the convention of 1792, when the rule was changed to one of rotation, beginning north, which gave it to Bishop Provoost who presided at that convention, and at the episcopal consecrations following, till 1795, when the same rule placed Bishop White in the presidential chair though against his own avowed, (and recorded) judg ment. The following year Bishop Seabury died. At the first Convention of the Church (that of 1789) at which Bishop Seabury presided, the Constitution of the American Church was established the Convention regularly organized in two houses, and the Liturgy as now used was compiled. To his firmness and excellent judgment the Church is indebted for the slight departure made from the English ordinal the addition to the Communion office of the Scotch form of conse crating the elements (similar to the Greek, and other ancient forms) and numerous other conservative principles embodied in the ritual and canons. Bishop Provoost resigned the episcopate of New York in 1801, when the first (good) rule — succession by seniority of conscecration, — became again established, and stillcontinues. Under this rule, as well as the other, Bishop Provoost had title of precedency to Bishop White, having been, on account of seniority in years and in the ministry, first conscecrated at Lambeth in 1787. The former died September 6, 1815. Bishop White died July 17, 1836, in the 89th year of his age, the 66th of his ministry, and the 50th of his episcopate. By his death Bishop Griswold succeeded to the highest ecclesiastical post, which he left February 15th, 1843 in the hands ofthe present occupant, Bishop Chase. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1835. 121 and the best interests of her children, there were several circumstances of a very painful character ; which the good bishop made the subject of strong complaint. They will be found fully detailed, with all the documentary facts bearing on them, in his " Reminiscences," republishing in London, and are well worthy of the English reader's attentive consideration, as illustrating the practical effects of the democratic principle when carried into schools of learning. The whole history of the pro ceeding may be summed up in a few words : — The sys tem of college government and discipline which Bishop Chase introduced, and his firm though mild administra tion of Kenyon, together with his (English framed) regulations for the rule of the professors, drew upon him from the subordinates of the establishment the charge of an arbitrary exercise of power, and the pupils were most improperly excited to rebellion, and arrayed by their tutors against the venerable president. " Any one," remarks the narrator, " acquainted with human nature, and the influence of instructors over the minds of their pupils, may easily suppose they could not fail to be successful. In this respect perhaps, the world never witnessed a more complete ascendency of designing men on the minds of unsuspecting youth. At length there appeared great boldness on the part of the teachers against the bishop. They found fault with him for almost every thing. The magnitude of Jlosse Chapel was made the subject of great censure among the profes sors. " The compartment for the chancel" they said, " was too large — too much in the style of the English cathedrals" and then it was to be under the rectorial power of the bishop. One of them went so far as to tell the bishop that " this chapel was the cause of all his 122 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. troubles." He was amazed at this observation, till then not knowing that any had complained of him on this score. At length the conduct of the professors and teachers became very disrespectful; they wrote him insulting notes; and to close all, they addressed him jointly in a most unbecoming letter, written in very bad taste, accusing him of " exercising arbitrary power," and signed the same, not with their individual names, but with these words " The Professors of Kenyon College," and published it to the world. ' >. It may be well conceived that this was a heavy blow to the generous-hearted prelate ; whose single and unaided exertions had, after a long trial of perseverance, untold labours, and heavy pecuniary sacrifice, first planted the college,* to which the last six years of his life had been unceasingly devoted ; and to whom these very professors were indebted for their seats. But the circumstances attending the sequel, make yet a stronger claim on the sympathies of every generous reader. The bishop was shortly to meet his convention when this accusation was brought against him, and made it the subject matter of his episcopal address as head of the diocess. On the day before the meeting of this convention the bishop in the act of crossing the timbers of the unfinished college chapel, met with a severe accident, in falling between the joists, which temporally maimed him, and under the agony of whjch he was suffering during the delivery of * Bishop Chase commenced his undertaking with ,£6000, which he collected in England, Lords Kenyon and Gambier being the principal con tributors ; with which, and the money raised in America, he purchased eight thousand acres of land, and commenced the walls. The first College is named " Kenyon," and the village " Gambier: " the chapel " Rosse" after the Countess Dowager, a benefactress. KENYON COLLEGE TROUBLES. 123 the address, which in simple and touching language told the history of his college trials, and exhibited a defence of every step of his presidential course by an appeal to the constitution and laws ; dwelling particu larly on the compact between the donors and the trustees, which he showed that he had scrupulously adhered to, and which it was the aim of the professors to set aside ! The bishop firmly opposed the demand of the teachers to " make and administer laws, by a majority of voices ' in opposition to his constitutional right, which he was bound to maintain. " I have not words " concluded the bishop " to express my astonishmeut at the rash act of these gentlemen* It is not the uncourteous style, and the instances of bad taste which it exhibits in addressing me, their father and friend, as I feel myself to be ; no ! it is the dreadful consequences which, I fear, are but tqo likely to follow this unexampled deed, that causes me to mourn sin cerely. " The peace of God's Church, the peace and honour of our own communion, and the prosperity of our College, Oh ! where are they ? Where are they not, if found on the face of such a letter as this. " Yet it has gone to the world, and, at this moment, is doing its dreadful work of destruction to our Semi nary. { Oh ! tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon ! Lest the daughters of Philista re joice, lest the enemies of my people triumph.'" The bishop's narrative states that during the deli very of his address "the wounded limb became so painful that he was obliged, immediately on its close* to leave the chair to the senior presbyter, the Rev. Samuel Johnston, and retire to his residence in the college. This being the distance of a quarter of a mile, his walk- 121 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. ing thither had well nigh caused him to faint. Mingled with his bodily pain, was that of his mind, for he had seen enough, even in this short visit he had paid his Convention, to convince him that the leading men were one with the conspirators, and had come prepared to aid them ' in putting down the bishop.' " The writer was detained for forty-eight hours by the extreme pain of his wounded leg, ere he could think of meeting the Convention again. In that time much had been done in their own way, both with tools without and within doors. Both the teachers and the unsuspecting scholars had been afresh invited by ' the spirit of the age ' to ' resist and put down authority.' The specta tors at the meetings of the Convention, seeing what was going on there, were well prepared to show disrespect to their bishop, as he walked unattended thither again. As he crept along, every thing seemed to wear the saddest aspect. Scarcely a living object passed him without some signs of disrespect. Even the smallest grammar school boys, in obedience to the example and faithful training of the professors and teachers, had learned to cry out, ' it was too much power to commit to the handg of one man ; ' and the little guns they were allowed by the teachers to load with powder, were fired with shouts of independence of episcopal tyranny. The very clerk in the college-store had been won over to the cause, and was heard often to boast of his belonging to the ' Anti- Bishop Party: "* The bishop's worst suspicions were confirmed ! On the ninth day of the session he took his seat in the chair, and heard the report of " a committee to whom had been referred so much of his address as related to the difficulties of Kenyon College ;" in which " Re. * Reminiscences, p p 742. KENYON COLLEGE TROUBLES. 125 port " the committee took sides with the faculty. The apostolic man made no response — he silently allowed the usual business to proceed, — and, at the stated time for divine service, he took his way unattended to the temporary chapel (a school-house) " lingering necessa rily" as the account describes " by reason of his lame ness. It was a fine day in the first part of September ; the elevated part in which he walked gave him that view of the grounds all around for which the place is so much admired. Halting for a few moments, with no arm to lean on but that of a pitying God, who had sup ported him in all his trials, he gathered strength and composure to think calmly of the past, to contemplate the present, and anticipate the future ; in doing which, never did his breast feel such an assemblage of mingled emotions. He remembered how, led by the hand of Providence, he had descried this ' goodly land ;' how, in laying it out into fit portions for the great purposes in view, he had for some months together reposed in a hut without a floor, with a billet of wood only for his pillow. He called to mind the sleepless nights and the toilsome days spent, the one in anxious thoughts, the other, fatiguing labor. " He contrasted the past with the present, and none can describe the emotions created in his bosom when he listened to the voice of duty compelling him to leave all in the hands of unjust accusers and a misguided diocess ; the former governed by an unworthy jealousy and mean selfishness, and the latter blinded by intrigue, and rush ing on in a course of measures which he could plainly see (if not arrested by a merciful Providence) would end in the utter ruin of the institution. He could not be a partaker with them in this work of 126 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. injustice and destruction! He could not with his own hand sign his own death-warrant, nor legalize, by his continuance in office, an interruption of the consti tution of the Seminary directly contrary to the inten tion of the founders. He must surrender what he could not retain, either in honour, justice, or peace. He at tended chapel, and heard the sermon preached by Mr* Ethan Allen — went home, and wrote the form of resig nation which follows : " RESIGNATION. " To the Clergy and Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocess of Ohio, assembled in Conven tion in Gambier, on this the 9th day of Sept. 1831. "Brethren — We have heard this day a sermon preached by the Rev. Ethan Allen from God's word, which I desire him to publish, — that we must live in peace, or we cannot be christians ; and that to secure peace, especially that of God's Church, great sacrifices must sometimes be made. Influenced by these princi ples, I am willing, in order to secure the peace of God's Church and that of our beloved Seminary, in addition to the sacrifices which, by the grace of God, have been al. ready made, to resign ; and I do hereby resign the Epis copate of this Diocess, and with it, what I consider constitutionally identified, the Presidency of the Theo logical Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocess of Ohio. "The Convention will make this known to the Trustees, whom I am no longer to meet in my official capacity. " Philander Chase." KENYON COLLEGE TROUBLES. 127 The resignation was accepted, and the convention, on the same day elected the Rev. Charles P. M. Uvaine to fill the vacancy. Thus was suddenly and unexpectedly severed a connection which had existed for twelve years. In language not egotistical, the bishop whose services were thus in a moment forgotten, when " liberty " (that blas phemed word) and " release from episcopal restraint " were the objects in pursuit " had organized almost every parish in the diocess, had baptized the young, and con firmed the middle-aged, and administered the bread of , life to all. He had befriended all the parishes as they were brought into being, and to his remembrance never had passed a harsh word or look with any of the paro chial clergy ; so that, if they were sincere in following the deceptive persuasions of the college professors, they could not be blind to these facts, engraven on the tablets of their memories. They might truly say, " Here is our bishop, who has never intentionally done us any harm, but, on the contrary, always endeavoured to do us good. He came over the high hills, and sought us, when there was but little or no care for us in the bosom of all the Church beside. He gathered us together as a diocess, the first of primitive order and truth in the western country, and ever since has presided over us without reproach. Here he now is, our shepherd and friend ; and to add to these most interesting relationships, he is also the founder, under God, of a great institution — of a Theological Seminary surnamed Kenyon College, which he is now building up on Gambier Hill, — names most beloved, because they are those of his personal friends in our mother land, who gave him the means to do this. (If they did not, who did? surely we did not.) Thus, by his hand, was this great tree planted, and 128 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. watered with foreign dews — under whose shadow we are now sitting, and eating the fruit thereof, without being required to bring the smallest offering as a token of our gratitude to a heavenly Saviour for such favours, or as a pledge of our duty to support his minister, our bishop, who is ever glad to see us, ungrateful as we have proved ourselves. Here he is happy to minister to us as a servant to his master, because he thinks we belong to Christ. When we come hither, the servants of the in stitution wait upon us. Our tables are supplied by his orders, and our pillows are smoothed by his command — at his, not our own cost. All this without one word of up braiding language ; no, neither for innumerable kindnes ses which he is shewing unto us, nor for the injuries which we are doing unto him, by caballing with his enemies. And while he is thus doing right and suffering wrong, he maintains his own principles with sincerity and firm ness ; and, what is still more, for the sake of peace he waives all pride of contest, and offers to appeal to the only earthly tribunal left — the heads of our dioceses, as a Constitutional Committee of Reference of difficulties between the seminary and him. To this appeal we refuse to lend a listening ear ! ! We turn from him, as we did just now when he appealed to us for trial and justice against his accusers ; and, what is still more strange, and un-heard of before in a Christian land THOSE VERY ACCUSERS OF OUR BISHOP ARE PERMITTED TO SIT IN THE BODY OF THIS CONVENTION, all this while of trouble, and not only to give a silent vote against HIM, but TO INVENT, AND SET IN ORDER, AND MANAGE, ALL THE PLANS AND APPOINTMENTS OF ALL THE COMMITTEES BY WHICH HE IS TO BE RUINED." There were several circumstances of an aggravated KENYON COLLEGE TROUBLES. 129 nature connected with the act of the Ohio clergy in this unkindly separation with their spiritual father. One was that nearly all had received their ministerial commission from him! "To the laity" also the bishop writes " I might appeal with Samuel : Whom have I de frauded? — whom have I oppressed? Yea, I have withheld from them a just maintenance " seeking not theirs, but them — not the fleece but the flock." The prospect — so painful to a man whose whole soul had been long concentrated in a design, every part of which had, in turn, occupied his waking and sleeping hours — of a general and total alteration of his plans, down to the detail of the building operations was not either a trifling grievance. The English lover of taste in architectural embellishment, and the proprieties of college accommodations, will be prepared to sympathize with the good bishop in one part of his trial in a larger degree, perhaps, than he received sympathy amongst his countrymen, whose (mistaken) utilitarian notions would obscure their judgment in reading this part of his plaint : — "In a great and permanent institution, it is necessary that there be a consistent design ; and not only that the advantages of nature be tastefully used, but that the whole plan speak the character of the institution. This had been the endeavour of the founder of the Theologi cal Seminary. The grounds had been selected with this view — the position of the main building had been chosen for this end. Its material was of the most durable kind, (stone,) put up in the substantial, manner, in semi-Go thic style of architecture, as most suitable for an epis-> copal seminary, or college. Fronting this, and a proper distances, but without obstructing the view, it 130 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. was intended to erect two professors' houses of like material. One of these was commenced, — the part erected being intended to be the wing of a larger building. But scarcely had the Convention risen, before prepara tions began for putting up on the opposite side a profes sor's house, of brick, — thus at once destroying the unity of the plan. [Barbarians !] That this work might pro ceed more expeditiously, the stones which had already been hauled, dressed, and numbered, for Rosse Chapel were taken to build the cellar and foundation of this house. "Even the workmen who had assisted in preparing these materials for the house of God, refused their help to turn them to such a purpose ; and others, less scrupu lous, were employed. "The situation, dimensions, and progress of Rosse Chapel, have been heretofore described. It was not to be supposed that this could escape, since, in the envious eye of some, it had been declared to be the cause of all the writer's troubles. It had been planned and put in pro gress by him ; but those who followed him were, it seems, very scrupulous about ' building on another man's foundation.' " In the first place, its design was Gothic : as that savoured too much of episcopacy, it was changed into the Grecian order, with pillars in front.. Again, its size Was large, and would occasion too much expense ; there fore the chancel (another episcopal appendage) must be cut off, — though double the sum necessary to continue that be expended in excavating a basement story after the walls had been built up solid to the floor, and the sleepers laid. The Corner Stone of the building had been deposited in the chancel wall, in the name of the KENVON COLLEGE TROUBLES. 131 Holy Trinity, dedicating the house to be erected thereon to the service of the Lord for ever. But this formed no obstacle in the designs of these men ! They were not bound by forms, or trammelled by superstition. They could dig up the holy foundation stone, and scatter its contents about, without fear of the punishment of sacrilege. Perhaps the documents it contained were offensive to them, even in their resting-place." Though all the friends of Kenyon would perceive, ana take the alarm at what follows : — " Selfishness now prevailed over great and sacred in terests. Private dwellings of various sorts now appeared in progress, instead of the public buildings ; while the great concerns of the farms, mills, stock, and merchan dise, were given into the hands of others, to avoid care. " Under such a state of things, was it not with reason that the writer felt anxiety for the safety of that institu tion for which he had labored so long, and generous episcopalians had given so much ? — anxiety lest its funds and property should be spent and alienated before a successor (who, it was hoped, would check such a spirit) should arrive. " His solicitude was not lessened when he heard, from his retirement, that, to relieve their embarrassments, the persons who had control of affairs, but having no legal authority to act, had offered the north section for sale !"* I am, however, getting a little in advance of this piteous history. Another aggravating circumstance con nected with the forced withdrawal of Bishop Chase from his diocess and college, was that the "Gambier Observer'' which from the commencement of the persecution had been employed to his injury, — the most effective instru- * Reminiscences. The north section is four thousand acres of rich land. 132 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. ment in the hands of his enemies in the work of prejudi cing the minds of the parochical clergy, and lay delegation before their attendance at the Convention which struck the final fatal bio w, — and whose editor,* the bishop complained, "excluded every thing from its columns which could benefit his cause, and since his resignation had given to the diocess not one word which could inform them of the state of public opinion, except ing so far as to publish whatever would contribute to consolidate the power of his opponents," was printed on the Ackland Press, presented by lady Ackland to Bishop Chase, " amd has never yet" he informs us " been given by him, or sold to the seminary ! !" One is tempted to exclaim, with all due deference to the clerical character of the evangelical editor — Cest infdme ! The Convention, however, was not unanimous. One noble hearted presbyter, backed by seventeen ofthe laity, took a determined stand against the operation of " spiri tual wickedness in high places," and left on the journals of the house his protest against a proceeding of high handed outrage. To the resolution " that the Conven tion proceed forthwith to elect a bishop", C. B. Goddard Esq., of Zanesville presented as an amendment, two reso lutions, one declaring " that the Trustees of the Seminary are the legislative body thereof, and that the President is the Executive of the Institution, bound to carry into effect the statutes &c. by them enacted, until the same shall be reversed by the General Convention ;" and the other " inviting Bishop Chase to revoke his resignation, and resume the duties of the episcopate." In an eloquent speech Mr. Goddard passed a high, and well merited * The Rev. W. Sparrow. KENYON COLLEGE TROUBLES. 133 eulogium on his bishop, in which (on a reply, full of gall and vituperation from Dr. Aydelotte of Cincinnati a prime mover in the conspiracy) he was seconded by Mr. Bezaleel Wells, who declared himself " ready to pro claim to the diocess of Ohio, and to the world that Bishop Chase was, in all this controversy, an injured man — his motives, and his conduct misrepresented;"* which assertions Mr. Wells completely established. The name of the clergyman who supported, and voted for the amendment of Mr. Goddard, was Intrepid Morse, rector of St. Paul's Stenbenville. Well named ! — Mr. Morse's sponsors must have had some foresight of his stern virtue in after life. Amongst his clerical colleagues on the occasion of their defection, the tribute of a sacred bard to the leige love of a kindred spirit may be not inaptly rendered : — Faithful found Among the faithless, faithful only he ; Among [his brethren] false, unmoved, Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept — his love — his zeal ; Nor number, nor example, with him wrought To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind, Though single.f Bishop Chase hastened his departure from the hill of * The numerous English benefactors of Kenyon College, and friends of Bishop Chase will like to know the names of those laymen who voted with Messrs. Goddard and Wells ; they are : — T. T. Fraker, John Cle ments, J. Hickcox, A Holmes, J. H. Viers, J. McCullough, B. M. Atherton, J. Foster, G. H. Griswold, D. Flipping, Arius Nye, C. Curtis, J. Glass, R. Maxwell, S. P. Chase. f I could not resist an inclination, which an acquaintance with the circumstances of the Kenyon business- through the printed accounts, made all powerful, to visit this gentleman on the occasion of a western trip (if the term may now be permitted) so powerfully was I interested in Bishop 134 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Gambier, though his place of ultimate destination could not be determined. Retiring to a farm belong ing to his neice about twenty miles from the scene of his success and his sufferings, he devoted his attention to its cultivation, and ministered in the character of a missionary priest to the spiritual wants of the neigh bourhood. In this " Valley of Peace " as he named his retreat he was visited by one of his former friends, (Mr. Wells) on his way to Michigan, and induced to remove to a richer soil in that state, whither he transferred his family on the fourth of July 1882. He left Ohio— into which he had entered a solitary pioneer of the cross, to plant the standard of apostolic order— with fourteen clergymen, eight parish churches, college buildings ad vancing towards completion standing upon eight thou sand-acres of land.* How wonderfully is the wrath of man made to praise God ! The solitary missionary wandering forth to the then almost desert wilds of Michigan, the staff of his apostleship snatched from his grasp by unscrupulous hands, was to be led by another Hand into a territory far remote even from Ohio,f where, maintained by the same power he was to rear up a second school of prophets, exceeding the former in extent and plan : an institution to which fu ture generations will point as a trophy of the signal and Chase's history, and fortunes. This visit will be described in a subse quent chapter. In Mr. Morse's parlour, with the venerable features of the good prelate looking down on us from the faithful canvass, I richly enjoyed 8 long evening's conversation, of which the history and fortunes of Bishop Chase formed the principal burden. Dear to the heart is such a reminiscence ! * The Ohio clergy now exceed sixty in number. f The wide State of Indiana lies between Ohio and Illinois. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1835. 135 certain success attending — a faithful trust in divine providence ! The indomitable perseverance of the western apostle has overcome every obstacle which selfishness and infidelity throw around the American missionary's path in her western territory ; and in planting another diocess where twenty-two clergymen look up to him with filial love and unreserved confidence, and rearing up a second university he has awakened a zeal among the friends of the Church in the far west which is seen in the rapid extension of her borders over countries many hundred miles even from the prai ries of Illinois. In the present Convention Bishop Chase's election to the mitre of Illinois by the six clergymen of that state was confirmed by both houses, and he again took his seat in the house of bishops— "A veteran soldier, a bishop of the cross, whom hardships never have dis couraged, whom no difficulties seem to daunt, and who entered upon his new campaign with all the chivalry of thirty-five, was cordially welcomed to his seat amongst the councillers of the church." * It only remains to add, in the merest summary of facts, the result to the institution on Gambier Hill, of Bishop Chase's withdrawal from it. Like the vine yard of Naboth to the King of Israel, " the possession of an inheritance " violently wrested from its lawful keep er, " brought evil upon " the Ahabs of Kenyon College. The indecent haste with which they proceeded, — the prompt action by which the episcopal vacancy was filled in the election of Mr. M'c Uvaine — " indicating " as * Bishop Doane. 136 ECCLESIASTICAL reminiscences. Bishop Chase remarks " that they had come prepared to act," — the hurry shown in commencing the work of de molition and sacrilege, — and lastly, the contempt shown for the will of the donors, and the open violation of a so lemn contract made with them in the offer of four thou sand acres of college lands — were all indications ofthe ho nesty of the acting " trustees," and significant earnests of their moral qualifications to undertake the general superintendance of the institution, and more particularly the responsible business of tuition ! The new bishop soon found that he was only elected as a more pliant instrument in the hands of the profes sors, for accomplishing their projects of aggrandizement. " Our newly elected bishop" writes one ofthe delegates of the Ohio Convention in 1832, "is not expected to take upon himself the immediate superintendance of our seminary— nay it is asserted by the ' reformers' that he will do no such thing, — but that he will itinerate and preach to large congregations, which, it is averred, he has a wonderful faculty of assembling ; while the semi nary (which should be in unity with the General Semi nary, and the Church of America) will be managed by those who have sacrificed their father and friend — their benefactor, without whose patronage they would now have been in obscurity, and almost revolutionized the character of our Church merely, it is believed, to per petuate the enjoyment of their salaries/and retain for a longer space their usurped authority on Gambier Hill." The scheme of merging the seminary in the college, was effected without any consultation with the new bishop ; and an act of the Legislature of Ohio was obtained without his consent newly incorporating the Theological Seminary as a separate college, in conformity with the KENYON COLLEGE TROUBLES. 137 views of the professors. The work was completed in 1839 by an act supplementary to this, by which " the Bishop of Ohio is denuded and, contrary to the intention of the foun der and donors, severed from all connection with Kenyon College ; and what is more still, all the property given by the donors or the founder,* or otherwise acquired by his management or industry, is by one sweep thrown into the hands of a separate body from the designed seminary, and all this without even naming the bishop."f This last was an independent action of the trustees ; done, writes Bishop Chase " contrary to the wishes of * Bishop Chase's own contributions were munificent. He had given his farm, library, several large sums of money, — in fact nearly his all ; but, of course (as in the case of the English donors) conditional upon the non- alienation of the lands, and the continuance of t'ae original Constitution, by which the college of Kenyon was essentially a branch, and attached only to the Seminary, with the presidency of which the episcopal officer should be (or Lords Kenyon and (rambier would never have contributed a dollar ) perpetually identified j whereas the institution which Bishop Chase founded was, to use his own words, "defunct, and those who were in possession of the property which he gave and collected would be obliged to surrender were an action, duly setting forth the nature and evidence of the case brought before a court of competent " jurisdiction." This the bishop affirmed was the judgment of both American and English donors. One of the English bishops, who had liberally contributed, wrote to Bishop Chase : — ' ' Surely they have broken through the terms and conditions on which your English trustees transmitted our money to your hands. They have forfeited our money, and can be called on to refund it." It was a heartless act on the part of these reverend repudiators that they refused to refund a thousand dollars which Bishop Chase had set apart for the erection on Gambier Hill of a house for his own residence ; and the delay attending his getting from them some arrears of salary, etc., would have caused him " distressing consequences," but for the timely assistance of a distant brother. t Reminiscem^s, pp. 823. 138 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the present Bishop of Ohio," who "expressed some words of caution to the trustees lest they should go too fast and far." Bishop M'c Uvaine has likewise in his " Address at the laying the corner stone of Bexley Hall,"* done full justice to his worthy predecessor ; on which occasion he stated— that Kenyon College, as originally founded, has " no incorporation, no property, no trustees, no faculty, except as it is part and parcel of the Theological Semi nary; being simply a preparatory branch of that Semi nary ; having this only for its distinctive college feature, " that when the faculty of the Theological Seminary are acting in reference to the affairs of that preparatory branch, they act as the faculty of a college ; and when they confer degrees upon the graduates of that branch, they do so, not in the name of the president and professors of the Theological Seminary, but of Kenyon College." As further proof, to use Bishop Chase's words, that his successor has " endeavoured to throw off the incubus under which he had been placed at his consecration, and has been brought to his right understanding of the matter," he recommended to the Ohio Convention of 1839 a change in the constitution of the Seminary, in conformity with the foregoing, though without falling back upon the whole provisions of the original act of incorporation, obtained in 1824. Though this altera tion (agreed to by the Ohio Convention) did not receive Bishop Chase's concurrence in the House of Bishops, being, as he records, " contrary to the fundamental law of the Seminary, which neither the Convention, nor Le gislature, nor any power short of that of the donors can alter," yet it places the institution at Gambier on a foot- * Named after Lord Bexley. • kenyon college troubles. 139 ing more closely in conformity with the design of the original donors than previously existed, and was carried into effect contrary to the wish of those who planned Bishop Chase's removal. Bishop M'c Uvaine has also greatly exerted himself in gathering funds for the college and schools, which have been twice jeopardized by the ill management of the trustees, whose departure from the original designs of the founder, has proved nearly fatal to the existence of the institution. Though still in some degree under the baleful influence which drove Bishop Chase into the wilds of Michigan in 1831, Kenyon College it is hoped may yet be saved from threatening ruin, and prove an eminent blessing to future generations in Ohio. 140 CHAPTER XX. RHODE ISLAND. NARRAGANSETT BAY. Rhode Island, as all the world knows, was first founded by Roger Williams, a banished exile from Massachusetts, where he had advocated sentiments which were deemed heretical by the puritan magistrates of that colony. This was in 1634. The " heretical" doctrine for which the congregational ministers of Massachusetts obtained Williams's banishment was " that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control opinion — should punish guilt but never violate the freedom ofthe soul."* However unsafe this doctrine may be in the interpre tation which Williams's descendants have given it, it was, at the least, glaringly inconsistent for his enemies to make it the ground of a capital charge, when the found ers of their own colony had left England on the alleged grievance of its violation there, and had established themselves on the professed platform of religious liberty. The rigour with which they persecuted all who dared to dissent from them, even in the smallest matters of doc trine or Church government, affords a melancholy and a salutary instance of sectarian intolerance when its leaders obtain uncontroled power over the persons and consci ences of the community. The opposition of which they complained from the " English arch prelate," the " sur- pliced Laud" in their vexatious labours to undermine and uproot the church of which he was the temporal f Bancroft. Williams was a baptist minister RHODE ISLAND. ROGER WILLIAMS. 141 guardian, though attended with undue severity, was lightness itself compared to their own proscriptions almost as soon as they acquired power, and constituted the " standing order" of a new country : a term still retained by many of the congregational preachers of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, though their " or der" is reduced to an inconsiderable sect amongst a multitude of others ; and in this their once stronghold their religious influence as a denomination is lessening every year. But to return to Roger Williams. — Driven forth from the family of his white brethren, he penetrated the wilderness till he found the habitation of the native Indians on Narragansett Bay, whose chiefs Pokanoket, Massasoit, and Cananicut, received him with a friendly welcome, and in their wigwams he found a temporary shelter. The bay on whose banks these chiefs dwelt, indents what is now Rhode Island State about thirty- five miles, running north from the Atlantic Ocean ; out of it rise five principal islands, named respectively Rhode, Cananicut, Prudence, Hope and Patience. The largest of these, Rhode Island, after which the state is called, is so fertile, and so picturesque in its scenery that it has long enjoyed the appellation of " the Eden of America." Cananicut, the second island in size, is nine miles long, varying from one to two miles in breadth. There is nothing like a town or village in this, or either of the islands except Rhode ; the population being composed exclusively of agriculturists, who cultivate a soil of ex traordinary richness. At the head of this lovely bay Williams established himself; calling the name ofthe place " Providence," in token of his dependence on divine favour. There the city 142 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. of Providence, the capital of the state, now stands ; with its university, its churches, its state house, its arcade, its harbor filled with vessels, and its twenty two thousand inhabitants — the second city in New England. 143 CHAPTER XXI. DR. CROCKER. Ecclesiastically, Providence has much to recommend it. Though the congregations under episcopal government are only five out of fourteen, the attachment of different non-episcopal denominations of Christians to their peculiar systems is more entirely the result of accident in Rhode Island than, perhaps, in any state of the Union. That spirit of opposition to any restrictions of conscience which marked its early history, is shown in the favour with which the rapid growth of episcopacy has been regarded. From looking on the Church with an unsuspicious eye> the intelligent part ofthe community soon discovered that apostolic order and ritual worship were not such neces sary precursors of prelatical tyranny, and priestly domina tion as the congregationalists of Massachusetts had represented them to be ; and on taking a nearer view of her bulwarks and her towers, many thousands throughout the state have been led to enter in ; and to make her ordinances her security, and her peace their own portion, and the heritage of their children. The success of the episcopal Church in Rhode Island has been mainly attributable, under God, to the faithful and persevering efforts of her ministering servants. The clergy have banded together as one man, and planted the standard of the cross in every part of the state. These indefatigable pioneers have left no place unvisited ; and whilst they have attracted numbers to the Church by their 144 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. persuasive eloquence, they have held them there by their examples and holy lives. The distinguished individual whose name stands above was one of the first who commenced extending the bor ders of the episcopal Church beyond the principal towns of Providence, Newport, and Bristol. His labours in a cause (in which his services are voluntary and unpaid) have been arduous and unceasing for more than twenty years. Rector of a numerous and wealthy parish, and the popular preacher to a large congregation, his worldly interests made it unnecessary for him to extend a single effort beyond the bounds of his own city ; yet with the aid of several laymen of his congregation he effected the establishment of another parish in a neighbouring town. The incumbent of this new parish (the Rev. John Taft,) and another labourer who appeared in the field, viz. the Rev John Bristed, rector of Sfr. Michael, Bristol, now joined Dr. Crocker in the work of domestic missions. One parish was organized after another : the completion of one church edifice was followed by laying the corner stone of a new one ; and the pious and disin terested originator of the efforts which have been so signally successful, has now the proud satisfaction of seeing every town in the state furnished with its parish temple, and its parish priest. St. John's church, where Dr. Crocker still officiates, having been its rector forty one years, is a venerable looking stone structure, with a square tower and pin nacles. In the interior good taste has preserved the . arrangement of European churches. The doctor's preach ing, though marked by Httle originality of thought, is of the popular order from the flowing style, and graceful delivery. PROVIDENCE PREACHERS. 145 Differing greatly in the latter characteristic from the rector of St. John's, the Rev. Dr. Vinton rector of Gracechureh * (another parish in Providence) possesses Chalmers's strength of reasoning and vehemence of style^ The latter has been carefully improved, as his sermons evidence in their purity of diction, copiousness, and terseness of expression. It would be no unqualified praise to call him the Barrow of the American pulpit ; nor does he fall short of his great original in the vigour of his intellect or the fervor of his devotional ardor — while the peculiarities of Tillotson seemed, in an equal degree, to appertain to his cotemporary ; with whom, during the period of my residence in Providence, he divided the palm of public favour. The comparison of a discerning writer between the two English divines will not inaptly apply to doctors Crocker and Vinton : " While simplicity, languor and ener vation characterize the productions of one, richness, vehemence and strength form the chief features in the diction of the other. To the former belong perspicuity and smoothness, verbal purity and unaffected ease ; to the latter, a fervid fancy, and a poetic ear, glowing- figures, and harmonious cadences." Since promoted to St. Paul's, Boston. 146 CHAPTER XXIL COLLEGE EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Public attention in the United States has been much directed of late to the college system of that country ; which, in the opinion of many amongst her most eminent teachers, is open to several capital objections : the same perhaps might be said ofthe British Universities, though the evils under which they labour are of a different kind One of the evils deplored by Dr. Wayland president of Brown University, Providence, is common to both countries, viz., residence in the college, and boarding in commons ; but the stricter discipline at Oxford and Cam bridge relative to hours, and general surveillance from superiors gives them an advantage in this particular, which the open doors, and separate residence of the pro fessors in an American college are without. President Wayland is, however, opposed to the principle of the thing under the most vigilant restrictions. He regards it as equally unsuited, both to the younger students, and to those further advanced in years. The one it releases from the wholesome influence of home and friends, and the other it retains under a system of discipline incom patible with his age and habits. Residence likewise favours physical indolence, and engenders the lighter infectious diseases, while it excludes the comforts and attendance which sickness requires. AMERICAN COLLEGE SYSTEM. 147 But Dr. Wayland's principal objection to the present college system is the large amount of nominal study required. American schools require three times the amount of teaching within precisely the same time as formerly, and yet they do not send out graduates with half the real learning that they did before the revolution. The inference is unavoidable that the knowledge ac quired is more superficial. Dr. Wayland's own testimony to this fact in a pam phlet now lying before me, may be received with confidence as coming from a native professor, and one who deservedly enjoys as high a place in the estimation of his countrymen, as any public teacher in the United States. His remedy for the evil is to designate the exact amount of knowledge necessary for graduation, extending the term to five or six years if required, — to enlarge the requirements for admission, — and to limit the number of studies. West Point Military Academy is an example of the true system in this latter particular; to which, and to the English Universities this candid writer points attention. " By learning one science well" he adds " we learn how to study, and how to master a subject. Having made this attainment in one study, we readily apply it to all other studies. We acquire the habit of thoroughness, and carry it to all other matters of enquiry. The course of study at West Point Academy is very limited, but the sciences pursued are carried much further than in other institutions in our country ; and it is owing to this that the reputation of the institution is so deservedly high. The English Uni versity course is, in respect to the number of branches pursued, limited; and yet it is remarkably success- 148 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. ful in developing the powers of the mind. Observe the maturity and vigour which the young men there frequently obtain. They sometimes go from the Uni versity — as, for instance, Pitt, Fox, and Canning — directly to the House of Commons, and are competent at once to take an important part in the labours of that august assembly " Dr. Wayland also recommends the English practice of written instead of oral examinations ; and that most effective one of stimulants to literary attainments, in the form of premiums, fellowships etc. A more important suggestion than either of the fore going relates to the professional study of pupils. Dr. W. proposes the creation of other degrees — such as Bachelor of Science, or of Literature ; a different course being embraced by each ; also that the degree of master of arts be conferred only on those who have pursued suc cessfully the whole circle of study marked out for the candidates for both degrees ; the affix would then desig nate a degree of positive attainment, which at present it does not. How far any of the suggestions of this honest and clear-headed writer and scholar will be acted upon, time will soon show. He is one of those men who have a great share in the work of directing the public mind, which even in enlightened republics " needs a prompter." His " Elements of Moral Science " has taken the place of Paley in nearly every American College; and among American authors is only equalled for closeness of thought and clearness of reasoning by his " Political Economy " likewise a text book in several universities. His independauce and contempt of that kind of popularity so readily gained in republican communities by humour- AMERICAN COLLEGE SYSTEM. 149 ing every caprice, and appealing to nothing but the vanity of the multitude is eloquently exhibited in the following sentiment : — " If we would be popular, let us remember that we " can never attain our end by aiming at it directly. The " approbation of our fellow citizens will in the end be ''conferred, not on those who desire to please them, but " on those who honestly do them good. Popularity is " valuable when it follows us, not when we run after it : " and he is most sure of attaining it who, caring nothing *' about it, honestly and in simplicity and kindness " earnestly labours to render his fellow men wiser, and " happier, and better." 150 CHAPTER XXIII. PROVIDENCE. OLNEYVILLE. WEST SMITHFIELD. — FRUITS OF THE " VOLUNTARY SYSTEM." I received my deacon's orders from Bishop Griswold on the 15th of March, 1837, previous to which and during a short ministerial career in Rhode Island I visited at different times almost every section and corner of the state ; and, therefore, brought away with me a tolerably correct knowledge of its geographical, political, religious and social features. It will be no informa tion to many readers to state that territorially Rhode Island is the smallest in the confederation ; though, as its citizens take care to remind the visitant from the old world, " much larger than many of the European sovereignties." The climate is perceptibly milder than that of the other New England states ; though, except on the Bay Islands already noticed, the soil is usually light, and requires much cultivation. Some parts of the state presents a few natural beauties, but the scenery is generally tame. The city of Providence is almost equally divided by the Providence River which is crossed by two bridges. The streets are generally well built ; many of them elegant. The east side has the largest number of private residences. It rises from the river, and at an elevated point stands the university, consisting of two ranges of buildings, with an elegant chapel in the centre. In the OLNEYVILLE. WEST SMITHFIELD. 151 business or western section of the city, the arcade forms a distinguishing ornament. It faces on two parallel streets, the fronts being ornamented with high columns whose shafts are each a single block of stone. At the head of Providence River, which is the mouth of another river by name rising in the north of the county, a considerable hydraulic power has given rise to some large manufactories for woollen and cotton goods. The village thus formed is called Olneyville, and is a pleasant walk from the city, presenting as you approach it by the turnpike road the appearance of great mecha nical ingenuity in the midst of rural beauty. The first journey I made, after removing to the state was by this road. From Olneyville, where I spent several days in Chris tian intercourse with a beloved friend, the road leads directly to the principal towns in the west of the state. Several manufacturing villages were passed ; vegetable and fruit gardens disclosed their stores ; and the usual signs of cultivation continued for twelve or fourteen miles, when the face of the country changes for a gravelly soil, and a broken surface, till West Smithfieldis reached. Here a worthy baptist minister resided, with whom, during my residence in Rhode Island, I formed a close acquaintance. This meeting house which was very commodious, occupied a square in the centre of the vil lage, and was the only place of worship it could then boast. The " village preacher's modest mansion" stood in a shady lane leading from the main road, sur rounded by his own land, of which he was the sole cultivator. Having the spiritual oversight of all the country within many miles of his dwelling, and deriving a bare support beyond what his farm produced, nearly 152 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES, all his time was occupied by parochial duties ; and his horse was in more constant requisition than the village doctor's. In addition to this charge he preached every alternate Sunday at another village twelve miles distant when the meeting house at Smithfield was closed. I give this as a fair illustration of the voluntary system: besides exhibiting the wretched parsimony with which the ministrations of the gospel are sometimes sustained, and the total inefficiency of non-episcopal ministrations to meet the spiritual wants of a large community. Here in one of the oldest, most thickly settled parts of the country — a region whose inhabitants think they enjoy extraordinary religious privileges — a population of about three thousand souls, besides a distant congregation^ were wholly" dependant on a single minister, to whom they allowed a stipend so small that, but for his farm (the portion of his wife,) it would not have supported him. The consequences of this mode of sustaining religion are — just such as may be expected! In this, and other agricultural districts which I have visited, the closed sanctuary on the returning sabbath drives the idle to the tavern and the industrious to the plough. Even in several parts of New England that day is not in any manner distinguished from the other days of the week. The farmer, surrounded by his labourers', is seen enga ged in the customary labours of the field ; the farm-yard presents the usual busy scene ; flour and saw mills are going, stores and bar rooms are open, and all the avoca tions of business and pleasure go on as usual. But this is only a part of the evil. The absence of that oral instruction which the excessive cares of many country ministers, prevent them from communicating to WEST SMITHFIELD. 153 their people is one, and but one among several circum stances which expose them to the ever ready approaches of infidelity and atheism. Add to these hindrances to the full establishment of Christianity, the perplexity caused by the number of sects,* conflicting in their views and modes — the incompetency of any one amongst them, from their imperfect systems of church government to make any united movement, still more for the whole to combine their strength, — and the small degree of rever ence for the place and forms of religion, which the ex temporary mode of conducting worship fosters, and who can wonder at the result, which I give in the words of a writer in the New York " Churchman," — only remind ing the reader that till lately, the episcopal Church exer cised less influence in New England than in any other section of the Union. " I do not wish " writes this correspondent " to lessen the character of the New Englanders in the estimation of any of your readers ; there is much of real piety and just views of religion among them ; but I am convinced that, for some reason or other, infidelity has made rapid strides during the last twenty years, and that at present, not one half of the adult population are in the habit of attending any religious worship, or even belong to any Christian sect. I am able to state this from statistical facts, gathered by clergymen themselves, from different parts of the New England States. In conversation lately with a physician from a county in Connecticut, whose practice extends through nearly the whole county, and whose acquaintance with the people is not sur passed Jby any man in the state, he remarked, ' I am * In America their name is legion. In Rhode Island alone there are thirty shades of religious belief. 154 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. surprised to find how prevalent infidel opinions are among the farmers of Connecticut. It is very common to find the works of Paine, and other infidel writings making up nearly the whole of their libraries, and with many, the French Philosophical ^Dictionary is a sort of ' Vade Mecum.' The metaphysics of divinity, and the fanaticism of the new school revivalists, have latterly tended to the rapid spread of sceptical notions ; and if things go on for the next fifty years as they have for the last twenty, Connecticut will be as noted for its infidelity, as she has been in former days for puritanical strictness.' " The same testimony is borne by a sagacious writer* whose comments under this head have received high praise from several quarters in America for their correct ness. I shall make no apology for transcribing a portion of them. " Though every where in New England the greatest possible decency and respect, with regard to morals and religion, is still observed, I have no hesitation in saying that I do not think the New-Englanders (or, indeed, the Americans generally, as far as I can judge) a religious people. The assertion, I know, is paradoxical, but it is nevertheless true ; that is, if a strong and earnest belief he a necessary element in a religious character : to me it seems to be its very essence and foundation. I am not now speaking of belief in the truth, but belief in some thing or any thing which is removed from the action of the senses. Now I appeal to any candid American whether^ it be not the receiveddoctrine among nine-tenths of his countrymen, that creeds (religious dogmas, as they are called) are matters of no moment ; that, so long as a * "Letters from America" by J. R. Godley Esq. WEST SMITHFIELD. 155 man acts sincerely up to what he believes he has as good a chance of salvation, for he is as likely to be right, as his neighbour ; and that morality (so called) is perfectly in dependent of, and infinitely more important than religious belief. This is, I say, the avowed doctrine of the great majority now in America ; and as long as such is the case outward morality may, indeed, prevail to a great extent (and I freely admit that in no country have I seen more appearances of it than in New England), un der the influence of traditionary habits, enlightened self- interest, and the law of conscience, — but there is no religion. No man can be said to believe in a religious system if he believes at the same time that another religious system has an equal chance of being true in the points of difference which exist between them ; for all religions profess to be (as to their distinctive tenets) ex clusively true, and propound doctrines to be believed as necessary to salvation : indeed, it is impossible to con ceive a religion that should not do so ; such a course would be not only shallow and unphilosophical, but self- contradictory and suicidal. This is pre-eminently the case with respect to Christianity; the apostolic epistles are filled with passages which, had they been written by a modern theologian, would have been branded as most intolerant and uncharitable : there they stand, however, witnessing against the indifferentism which I have described, proclaiming that if an angel from heaven preach any other gospel he shall be accursed ; and com manding us not even to bid ' God speed ' to any that ' bring not this doctrine.' " I am not trusting to my own limited observation in arriving at this conclusion : I find in M. de Tocqueville's work an assertion of the same fact ; he accounts for it, 156 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. indeed, in a different way, and attributes it (like every thing else, according to his theory) to the operation of equality. I, on the contrary, am inclined to think that the materialism thus admitted to exist may chiefly be traced to the prevailing indifference with respect to religious creeds ; and that this indifference, again, is intimately connected with the compulsory neutrality of the government in religious matters. In public schools, in the halls of the legislature, in national institutions, all religions are placed upon an equality; chaplains are selected indiscriminately from each, as the majority of the day may happen to determine, (one year, perhaps a Roman Catholic, and the next a Unitarian) ; and the smallest preference of one religion to another, that is, the recognition of any definite, objective truth, would not be admitted for a moment. Now, this complete neutrality, entering as it does into so many parts of the system- -every part, in fact, where men act in a corpo rate capacity — may be necessary ; indeed, I feel it quite impossible, under the actual circumstances of the United States, even to suggest an alteration or a remedy : but surely the effect upon the public mind must be very pre judicial to earnestness and zeal ; and without earnestness and zeal religion is a name — a lifeless form ! " On the other hand, I am quite ready to admit that (as was, indeed, to be expected) there is Httle acrimony or bitterness entering into religious controversy in Ame rica. Whether the absence of odium theologicum be attri. butable to indifference (as I think,) or to ' charity ' (as an American would probably contend,) the effect is un doubted, and, pro tanto, highly desirable. Few things constitute a subject for more self-gratulatory contrasts to Americans than the mutual hostility and the prosely- WEST SMITHFIELD. 157 tizing spirit of of European sects, compared with the ' philosophical and comprehensive tone which is fashion able among religionists here.' For my part I prefer the earnest striving after truth, with its accompanying evil, to the carelessness about it, with its accompanying good. A party in Boston will comprise, generally, almost as many varieties of theological opinion as of individuals ; and there will be no danger whatever of disagreeable discussions resulting therefrom. Not merely is the sub ject tacitly suppressed, or set aside, as forbidden ground, but there is none of that embarrassment and awkward ness which it is hardly possible to avoid in the habitual intercourse of parties who, upon subjects which they have very much at heart, entertain radically opposite opinions, and which actually do appear, here as else where, under such circumstances. A man who would feel himself embarrassed and uncomfortable if his next neighbour differed from him on the subject of a national bank, and who would certainly consider particular opinions about slavery as constituting a sufficient cause for avoiding the society of the man who held them, would express the most supreme and contemptuous indifference as to whether the rest of the party, with whom he was associating on the most intimate terms, were Christians or Mahometans, heretics or infidels. Is this habit reconcileable (I do not say in the case of every individual, but generally) with a true view of the relative importance of temporal and eternal interests ? I have strong suspicions of the nature of that ' charity which leads to tolerance and ' comprehensiveness ' in religious matters alone, while upon all other subjects it leaves political rancour, party-feeling, and personal hos tility untouched by its influence. 158 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " Again ; I never heard of a man taking a decidedly rehgious tone in Congress, — that is, openly professing Christian motives of action as influencing him in his legislative as well as his social capacity ; indeed, I have reason to think that such a profession would expose him to jealousy and suspicion, as savouring of bigotry. I hope very many do act from such motives; but that public opinion cannot be in a healthy state, which would forbid their being avowed. America ought to ask herself why she has no such statesmen to boast of as a Wilber- force, a Gladstone, and many others, who have not been ashamed to recognise publicly in the British House of Commons the existence of A LAW paramount to the code of political expediency, and to avow the duty of guiding their political career by its dictates. Where this is not the case — where either from indifference or fear of offence, the members of the governing body in a state can consent to exclude, as inconvenient and out of place, all reference to those religious influences which ought to be continually present to their recollection, pervading and colouring every part of their moral being, there is imminent danger lest that state should sink to the level of a joint-stock company, combined for the mere purpose of securing the material interests of the partners, and political science, the eVicrr^jU.*) a^iTexrovixr;, be reduced there to the possession of a certain amount of economical knowledge and administrative dexterity." The rapid increase of episcopal churches, and epis copal influence in Connecticut, and throughout the eastern states, might allay the apprehensions of this writer. The healing and " ancient regimen of bishops," and an evangelical liturgy, will save Christianity, and preserve its purity too, amidst any influence, infidel or CHEPACHET. 159 heretical from without. Both were divinely appointed in the Church for this very purpose, and will yet prove the conservative leaven which will rescue New England from utter defection.* Pursuing the road to Chepachet the country some what improves in appearance, and the farms bear marks of good cultivation. Chepachet, (since the scene of a civil insurrection,) stands on a river of that name, and contains about a thousand inhabitants. The kind ness and hospitality of a number of friends in this village and neighbourhood during a protracted visit amongst them, will always be remembered with gratitude. * To this a yankee preacher (of the congregational sect) bears his unwil ling testimony. The late Dr. Bellamy of Bethlem, remarked when a Church congregation was gathered in his town " I care nothing for this or that sect, which coming up in a night will perish in a night ; but once get that pesky weed of episcopacy in a place, and you can never root it out ! " " Can we suppose," writes Mr. Franklin (of Newark, Delaware) in his popular treatise on the Church liturgy " that the unitarian preachers who wrought a change in the doctrinal sentiments of a arge body of the Con gregational Church in New England, which is without a liturgy, could with any conscience or success have continued their operations in a Church which required them week after week to address the person of the Triune God — to declare their dependence on the atoning sacrifice of Christ for pardon, — and on the influence of the Holy Ghost for their Spi ritual life ? A part, too, if not the whole of the presbyterian sect in En gland, stabs at the divinity and denies the atonement of Jesus Christ. Had these bodies been blessed with an evangelical liturgy, the ministers who dissented from those grand doctrines which form the Christian's hope, would in all probability, if at all conscientious, have ceased to promulgate their views in connection with them, and thus have diminished their influ ence in the spread of their heresy. The most efficient method then of maintaining the doctrines of Christian truth in the creed of a Church, is the incorporation of them in a liturgy for public worship, to the use of which the minister is bound. The grand doctrines of the gospel are thus necessarily presented to the minds of the people, and the minister who forsakes and opposes them will betray his inconsistency to others, or be compelled by conscience to leave the church to whose doctrines he cannot conform." 160 CHAPTER XXIV. RHODE ISLAND CONVOCATIONS. It is the practice of the Rhode Island clergy to meet in monthly " convocation " for the purposes of deliberating on the general state of the Church within the borders of the state, and to devise measures for its extension. It was under the fostering care of this Convocation that the greater number of the parishes rose into being, and by it weak or declining parishes are upheld. Amongst other means used to sustain the influence, and efficiency of the clerical office, a fund exists, to which the respective members pledge sums proportionate to the value of their own cures, out of which the incomes of clergymen having poor congregations, or occupying missionary posts in the state, are raised to the fixed amount of five hundred dollars if married men, and three hundred if single. This clerical society, though originating with several presbyters, had from the commencement of its opera tions the full countenance and aid of the late venerable bishop, and is sanctioned by the present diocesan.* These meetings are judiciously held at every parish in the diocess in turn. At the first I attended, which was convened at Woonsocket in the north of the state, the proceedings commenced with a clerical prayer-meet ing at the rectory, when appropriate prayers from Bishop Griswold's admirable collection of offices "for which provision is not made in the Book of Common Prayer " * The Rt. Rev. Dr. Henshaw. RHODE ISLAND CONVOCATIONS. 161 were used ; after which the session was opened by the president (Dr. Crocker). The secretary then read the minutes of the last session, and the usual business was prosecuted till the hour for dinner, when the clergy were elegantly entertained at the house of the senior church warden ; whence an adjournment was made to the church, where full service was held, and a sermon preached by Dr. Vinton. Another service was held in the evening, when the Rev. James Pratt, rector of Wes terly, preached. Mr. Pratt is a native of the south, an effective preacher, and one of the most indefatigable labourers in the American field. He has since the period of which I write received promotion to the im portant parish of St. Stephen's, Portland Maine. On each succeeding day the order of proceedings was nearly the same. The Convocation transacted business, after early matins in the church, during the morning, and held public service in the afternoon and evening ;* the duties of the altar and pulpit being divided between the attending clergy. The church was filled on each occasion, and great excitement was manifested to hear the closing sermon by the eloquent rector of St. Michael's Bristol. During the intervals of worship, I took several walks in the town and neighbourhood. It lies on the Black- stone River, where there are falls of about twenty feet, keeping seventeen factories for satinet and eotton in operation. The situation of this handsome and populous town, and the quiet beauty of the scenery in the neigh- * I use these terms in accommodation to a custom of questionable propriety ; the Evening Prayer of the Church being designed for the evening (i. e. sun down) and no later. For a public night service only particular diocesses have provided any form. 162 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. bourhood draw many visitors to it every summer. The Rev. Henry Waterman, then rector of the parish, has since been removed to the charge of St. Stephen's in Providence. The next meeting of the Convocation I attended was shortly after my taking Holy Orders, when I was ad mitted to membership, and appointed to a station, recently organized as a distinct parish. The bishop, on his way from a southern visitation of the diocess, gave it by his presence a character of unusual interest ; especi ally as his coming engagements threatened to lengthen the period of his expected absence from that part of it. As the chief pastor descended from the pulpit after the closing sermon and the apostolic benediction, he was surrounded by his clergy and many of the congregation, with each of whom he exchanged a cordial farewell. Like another sainted father of the American Church, bishop Griswold's exhortations and example " proved as powerful incentives to the zeal and diligence of the clergy under his episcopal superintendance He was the centre of attraction, and the instrument of blessed ness and joy in his diocess. Wherever he went he was received with marked tokens of veneration and love : and even at an advanced period of life, when most men desire repose from public duty he was always ready to preach the Gospel, and to labour for the salvation of souls. " * They cluster'd round, that listening throng, The parting hour drew nigh, And heighten M feeling deep and strong, Spoke forth from eye to eye. * Bishop Henshaw's life of the late Bishop of Virginia, p p. 303. RHODE ISLAND CONVOCATIONS. 163 For reverend in his hoary years, A white robed prelate bent, And trembling pathos winged his words. As to the heart they went. He breathed the blessing of his God And full of meekness said ; " Be faithful in your master's work When your old bishop's dead. " For more than fifty years, my sons, A Saviour's love supreme Unto a sinful world hath been My unexhausted theme. ' ' Now see the blossoms of the grave Are o'er my temples spread. Oh ! lead the seeking soul to him When your old bishop's dead." Full many a sleeper mid his dream, Beheld in snowy stole, That patriarch-prelate's stately form * Whose accents stirr'd the soul. The boats that ask nor sail nor oar, With speed majestic glide, And many a thoughtful pastor leans In silence o'er their side. And while he seems to scan the flood In silver 'neath him spread, Revolves the charge " Be strong for God When your old bishop's dead." * The authoress must pardon the alteration of a word, well applied to the venerable Bishop Moore, to whom this — part only of a beautiful poem by Mrsi Sigourney — originally referred ; Bishop Griswold having been remarkable for his erect form till his death. 164 CHAPTER XXV. MY FIRST PARISH. In " the boat that asks nor sail nor oar," by which I proceeded the following day to my first parish of James town, (the township name of Connanicut Island,) was an estimable brother minister named Dfe Wolf, now la bouring in Illinois under Bishop Chase, with whom I maintained a frequent and most fraternal intercourse du ring my occupancy of Jamestown. His parish was on the west side of Narragansett Bay, (an old station esta blished by the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) reached, as was Newport, by ferries which constantly plied between Connanicut and the main land. The first Sunday I performed duty in the church I was somewhat surprised at the good attendance of the people, having formed my expectations from the scattered appearance of the dwellings and the distance of many of them from the sanctuary. On reaching it I found a good number arrived ; and as the hour for service ap proached, chaises, waggons, and saddle horses set down their different owners, while a few stray parties of pedes trians swelled the concourse who gathered round me, and to all of whom I was successively made knoAvn by the old church-warden. I was also gratified at finding my island congregation very ready in performing their part of the service, and closely attentive during the sermon. MY FIRST PARISH. 165 I soon learnt that the good attendance at church arose from there being no other place of worship, except a small chapel for quakers, in the island. —The parish was in fact one of those fruit bearing branches of the tree planted in North America by " the Venerable Society " before mentioned, Here the Rev. Mr. M'c Sparran, an English missionary sent out in 1719, officiated alternately with other stations on the Narragansett shore, minister ing to a district of country which is now supplied with twelve churches, and the same number of clergymen. Wherever I went I found traces or records of his assidu ous labours. In the old parish church on Tower Hill, supplied at this time by my friend De Wolf, is the original parish register in Mr. M'c Sparran's hand writing, and a quantity of interesting documents ; evi dences of his industry and carefulness. He was sustained, with the first rectors of Providence, Newport,* and Bristol, till the war of the Revolution by the Society ; and from these the Church in Rhode Island has risen to its present position, with twenty-three churches and clergymen, and an independant episcopate.f It is an opinion which I have often heard expressed, and of the truth of which my observation during eleven * The Rev. James Honeyman, was rector of Newport from 1704 to 1749. T To estimate the amount of good accomplished by this veteran society, the oldest missionary society in the world — would be impossible ! It now supports three hundred missionaries. If any society have a strong claim on the liberal contributions of the church's funds, it is this parent association ; especially when it is remembered that in Canada West alone there are 240 townships, each equal to twenty average English parishes without one clergyman of the church ! ! In Australia the bishop visited three entire counties, in which there is neither minister nor ordinance of religion. — Messrs. Glyn and Co., are the London bankers of the Society. 166 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. years residence in the United States thoroughly con vinces me, that if ultimately saved from the worst effects of the licentious and disorganizing elements unhappily at work it will be from the counteracting and conservative influence of that church, which (despite all the op position it has now to encounter,) is growing up so strong within its borders ; and every year uproot ing in its course the weeds of error and schism. How manifest will be the controling Providence which in this way promises to make the Church of England the instru ment of preserving the political existence of the country which the oppression of the civil government of England has separated from her ; and how signally will the sup port of the Church Apostolic be thus proved to be essen tial to national life. 167 CHAPTER XXVI. withdrawal from the eastern DIOCESS, AND FAREWELL OF NEW ENGLAND. The act of parliament passed at Westminster in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George the Third King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, entituled " An act to empower the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Archbishop of York, for the time being, to consecrate to the office of a bishop, persons being subjects or citi zens of countries out of his majesty's dominions " was so little known, or so little heeded in some of its restrictive provisions till another and a more catholic-framed statute was substituted in its place by the British legis lature in 1840, that most persons were either ignorant of its very existence, or regarded it as a dead letter. One American ordained clergyman* was received through his dimissary into an English diocess, and presented to a living ; and all visiting England received invita tions to preach, or otherwise officiate in the cathedrals and parish churches without restriction. I had taken orders in ignorance of the statute, and in the autumn of 1837, urged by a desire to see my family, neither of whom could be persuaded to join me in America, I consulted Bishop Griswold on the step of changing my ecclesiasti cal relations by joining the English Church, should I determine on remaining in my native land. The * Dr. G. E. Winslowe. 168 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. bishop's answer was unfavourable, though he added that what had been done (mentioning Mr. Winslowe's case) might he supposed be repeated, especially as the existing restrictions in England on American clergymen were unpopular with our clerical brethren of England. I asked him if he would give me a letter ? He said that he would, if I called the next morning for it ; and that if I failed in my application for priest's orders in England, he should be glad to welcome me back to his diocess. The next day I received a letter dimissory* from the bishop, when he renewed the expression of his best wishes for my success. He added, however, " Dr C and Mr. H speak very highly of your success in Rhode Island, and I think you had better just visit your family, and return to this country where we are much in want of clergymen."On the following Wednesday (Sept. 27th) the Conven tion of the Eastern diocess assembled in Grace church New Bedford, when the question of electing an assistant to the bishop was for the first time brought regularly before the representatives of the diocess. Out of various * " I Hereby Certify to all whom it may concern that the Reverend Edward Waylen has been regularly ordained a Deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States ; that his services as a mini ster of Christ have been successful, and much approved ; that his character, moral and religious, is fair and good ; and that by his acquaintance he is much esteemed. We regret that circumstances require him to leave us, and return to England ; and we heartily recommend him to the kindness and favour of all Christian people. ALEXANDER V. GRISWOLD, Bishop of the Eastern Diocese. Boston, Massachusetts, September 21st, 1837." DEPARTURE FROM RHODE ISLAND. 169 propositions which had been warmly discussed since the convention of 1 536, the bishop gave his preference to the one of New Hampshire and Maine withdrawing, and becoming separate diocesses ; leaving him in charge of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Rhode Island clergy seemed, however, to desire an episcopate of their own, and the controversy afterwards ripened into a fruitful source of bitterness and party feeling, which in a special convention of the Rhode Island diocess subse quently held, was pointedly and severely rebuked by the venerable bishop, who feared not the face of man. On the 30th of September I took my leave of New port, and New England, though not without lingering several days after the time at first fixed for my depar ture with my excellent, never to be forgotten, friends in Newport, amongst whom the pen involuntarily traces the honoured names of Hazard, Collins, Whitehorne, Gilliott, Van Zandt, and Mumford, while the memory treasures the recollection of many others. My impressions of New England from nearly four years acquaintance with its shrewd and intelligent people are so correctly expressed in the following lines by Halleck, that I can only endorse them, and add that the portrai - ture, though partially drawn in the last stanza, presents some striking points of resemblance. 'Tis a rough land of earth, and stone and tree, Where breathes no castled lord, or cabin'd slave ; Where thoughts and tongues, and hands are bold and free And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave : And where none kneel, save when to Heaven they pray, Nor even then, unless in their own way. A justice of the peace, for the time being They bow to, but may turn him out next year j 170 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. They reverence their priest, but disagreeing In price or creed, dismiss him without fear ; They have a natural talent for foreseeing, And knowing all things — and should Park appear From his long tour in Africa, to show The Niger's source, they'd meet him with — "¦ We kno-w ' They love their land because it is their own, And scorn to give all other reason why ; Would shake hands with a king upon his throne, And think it kindness to his majesty ; A stubborn race, fearing and flattering none, Such are they nurtured, such they live and die, — All but a few apostates, who are meddling With merchandize, pounds, shillings, pence and pedling : But these are but their outcasts, view them near At home where all their worth and pride is placed ; And there their hospitable fires burn clear, And there the lowliest farm-house hearth is graced With manly hearts in piety sincere, Faithful in love, in honour stern and chaste, In friendship warm and true, in danger bravej Beloved in life, and sainted in the grave. 171 CHAPTER XXVII. THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. RETROSPECT. ENCOURAGING PROSPECT. Strange as the assertion may appear, there is no section of the United States where the episcopal Church is making more rapid progress, or where there are more agencies to assist its progress than in the New England States. Amongst all classes the old " orthodoxy " of the puritans and their successors has long grown into very general disrepute ; and it was the opinion of the late Bishop Griswold that had not the teachers of the Socinian heresy substituted their system in its place, the church would now embrace the largest proportion of the wealth and intelligence of the community — which it will, notwithstanding, at no distant day. It is almost the universal testimony of those attending '' unitarian " places of worship throughout New En gland, and one that I have repeatedly heard expressed, that their principal objection to the old order of ministers is their manner of presenting the truth, and their habit of dwelling on two or three topics to the exclusion of others equally important ; added to the unnatural sys tem of restraint, and of "will-worship" which they impose on their flocks. The subtleties of any peculiar doctrine, whether relating to the number of persons in the Godhead or what not, (which few of the younger members of " unitarian " congregations understand or care about) has little or nothing to do with their prefer- 172 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. ence. These, as they settle in the world frequently become " universalists," another step towards infidelity, — or avowed deists. Thus we see that an imperfect ecclesiastical government though classed, in the "liberal" phrase of the day, amongst " the non-essentials," and regarded as quite a " minor " point of difference, ex poses the Christian community to the inroads of infidelity and atheism. How few of the advocates for the congregational system' are aware of the historical fact that their great progenitor, John Calvin, as well as the founder of methodism, both admitted the divine institution of episcopacy, and its superiority as . a mode of Church go vernment, and were both the advocates of liturgical worship. In his commentary on the apostolic Epistle to the Bishop of Crete, Calvin writes : — " We learn from this place that there was not then an equality among the ministers of the Church ; but that some one had the pre-eminence in authority and counsel." Again " It is highly probable that St. James was prefect ofthe Church of Jerusalem."* Again " He who is made a bishop proceeds from God himself. The office of episcopacy was established by the authority, and regulated by the laws of God."f "But Calvin did not engraft episcopacy on the reformed continental Churches" will be the reply. " He gave up prelacy for the doctrines ofthe gospel." True ! so far as the first part of the statement goes ; and how far his example justifies the advocates of minis terial parity in this day may be judged by the other historical fact, that with Bullinger and his fellow re- * Com. on Gal. ii. 9. t Letter to a Friend— DareU's View ofthe For. Ref. Churches, p p. 162 THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 173 formers, he sought episcopacy for the continental Churches from the English prelates, which scheme was frustrated by Bishops Bonner and Gardiner, much to the grief afterwards of Queen Elizabeth ! * * The following is from Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker p. 138 etc" " And this is the account of the popish clergy's letter to the arch bishop, and his behaviour thereon. There was another letter this year sent to him from the hands of a great divine, but of another temper and for another and better end : namely, from John Calvin , the great Reformer, importing, how he rejoiced in the happiness of England ; and that God had raised up so gracious a Queen to be instrumental in pro pagating the true faith of Jesus Christ, by restoring the gospel and expelling idolatry, together with the Bishop of Rome's usurped power. And then made a serious motion of uniting Protestants together, [as he had done before in King Edward's reign.] He entreated the archbishop to prevail with Her Majesty to summon a general assembly of all the Protestant clergy, wheresoever dispersed -, and that a set form and method [i. e. of Public Service, and Government of the Church] might be established, not only within her dominions, but also among all the Reformed and Evangelic Churches abroad. [Anno 1560.] " This was a noble offer ; and the archbishop soon acquainted the Queen's council with it. And they took it into consideration, and desired His Grace to thank Calvin, and to let him know that they liked his pro posals, which were fair and desirable ; yet, as to the government of the Church, to signify to him that the Church of England would still retain her episcopacy. This was a great work, and created serious thoughts in the archbishop's mind, for the framing » proper manner to set it on foot. But he had considered but a little while of these matters, when news arrived at court that Calvin was dead. " And how Calvin stood affected in the said point of episcopacy, and how readily and gladly he and other heads of the Reformed Churches would have received it, is evident enough from his writings and epistles. In his book " Ofthe Necessity of Reforming the Church," he hath these words : " Talem nobis hierarchiam exhibeant," &c. " Let them give us such an hierarchy, in which bishops may be so above the rest, as they refuse not to be under Christ, and depend upon Him as their only head j that they maintain a brotherly society, &c. If there be any that do not behave themselves with all reverence and obedience towards them 174 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " Calvin" writes his friend Monsieur Daille "honoured all bishops that were not subjects of the pope ; such as were the prelates of England. We confess that the there is no anathema, but I confess them worthy of it ! " But especially his opinion of episcopacy is manifest from a letter he and Bullinger, and •others, learned men of that sort, wrote, anno 1549, to King Edward VI. offering to make him their defender, and to have bishops in their Churches for better unity and concord among them : as may be seen in Archbishop Cranmer's Memorials ; and likewise by a writing of Arch bishop Abbot, found among the MSS. of Archbishop Usher; which, for the remarkableness of it, and the mention of Archbishop Parker's papers, I shall here set down : — " Perusing some papers of our predecessor, Matthew Parker, we find " that John Calvin, and others of the Protestant Churches of Germany " and elsewhere, would have had episcopacy if permitted ; but could " not, upon several accounts, partly fearing the other princes of the "" Roman Catholic faith would have joined the Emperor and the rest of "the popish bishops, to have depressed the same ; partly being newly " reformed, and not settled, they had not sufficient wealth to support '" episcopacy, by reason of their daily persecutions. Another, and a " main cause, was, that they would not have any popish hands laid over '" their clergy. And whereas John Calvin had sent a letter, in King " Edward the VI.'s reign, to have conferred with the clergy of England "about some things to this effect, two bishops, viz. Gardiner and ' ' Bonner, intercepted the same ; whereby Mr. Calvin's offerture perished . '" and he received an answer, as if it had been from the reformed " divines of those times, wherein they checked him and slighted his " proposals ; from which time, John Calvin and the Church of England " were at variance in several points: which, otherwise, through God's, '' mercy, had been qualified, if those papers of his proposals had been " discovered unto the Queen's Majesty during John Calvin's life. But " being not discovered until or about the sixth year of her Majesty's " reign, Her Majesty much lamented they were not made sooner; which " she expressed before her Council at the same time, in the presence of " her great friends, Sir Henry Sydney and Sir William Cecil." " Nor does Calvin stand alone, with respect to the general proposi tion, as to the necessity of maintaining episcopacy. Melancthon has thus affirmed'—" I know not with what face we can refuse bishops, if they will suffer us to have purity of doctrine." THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 175 foundation of their charge is good and lawful, established by the apostles according to the command of Christ." And Calvin himself writes again, " If they will give " Peter Bucer, another presbyterian, wrote thus: " By the perpetual observance of the Church, even from the apostles themselves, we see it seemed good to the Holy Ghost that among the presbyters to whom the charge of the Church is especially committed, one should have the singular charge of the Church, and in that charge and state govern others : for which reason the name of BISHOP was conferred upon these chief governors of the Church." " Chamier, a French Protestant divine, Professor of Divinity at Mon- taubon, and who drew up the edict of Nantes, having admitted that immediately after the decease of the apostles, " began the difference be tween a bishop and a presbyter," adds immediately , as if correcting him self: — " What ! the thing itself began in the very time ofthe Apostles, or rather proceeded from them." — (Mills' History of the Christian Priest hood Page 336.) "Anotherpresbyterian, Le Clerc, the Dutch Arminian divine, andeulogist of the learned layman Grotius says, " I have always professed to believe that episcopacy is of Apostolical Institution, and consequently, very good and very lawful ; that man had no manner of right to change it in any place, unless it was impossible otherwise to reform the abuses that crept into Christianity ; that it was justly preserved in England, where the Reformation was practicable without altering it : that, therefore, the protestants in England, and in other places, where there are bishops, do very ill to separate from that discipline ; and they would do still worse in attempting to destroy it, in order to set up presbytery, fanaticism, and anarchy. Things ought not to be turned into a chaos, nor people seen everywhere, without a call, and without learning, pretending to inspiration Nothing is more proper to prevent them than episcopal discipline, as by law established in England; especially when those that preside in Church government are persons of penetration, sobriety, and discretion." " And he further says, " — They who without prejudice read what re mains of the most ancient Christian writers, know well enough that the episcopal form of Church government, such as it is in the southern parts of Great Britain, obtained every where in the next age after the Apostles, whence we may collect that it is an Apostolic institution." " To these, I add finally the testimony of M. Le Moyne, a preacher to z 176 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. us an hierarchy in which the bishops have such a pre eminence as that they do not refuse to be subject unto Christ &c, then I will confess that they are worthy of all anathemas, if any such shall be found, who will not reverence it, and submit themselves to it with the utmost "obedience."* Strong language this, which no English churchman I think, even under the shadow of Oxford (which can hardly be supposed to be more moderate than Geneva on the subject of episcopacy) would be found to employ. Yet what has been the history of the Church in Switzerland? — what is the present degree of doctrinal purity in Geneva? Has it extended beyond its first borders, and planted the standard of the Cross in other parts of the world ! Alas no ! — " It has done nothing to spread the knowledge of a Redeemer beyond its own the Reformed congregation at Rouen, who says — " Truly I believe it is impossible to keep peace or order in your Church without preserving episcopal dignity. I confess I know not by what spirit they are led, that oppose that government and cry it down with such violence ; for, I beseech you let us not flatter ourselves in'jFrance, where we have a pres byterian government, that we are not subject to many divisions, which the equality of pastors is not able to compose ; and which a synod, consisting of equal persons, and of elders and deacons who have often but little skill in eccleciastical government, is not able to stop ; because the authors of the evil hold themselves to be of equal power with those that are of prime note and despise them that are ordinarily employed to heal those dis tempers. It is episcopacy which upholds the Lutheran Churches ; for in Denmark, and Sweden, they are very quiet under episcopal discipline, and seldom are seen to slander and tear each other — from the Rev. F. A. Glover's Patriarchate." M. Le Moyne's opinion would have been strengthened had he lived to witness the present state of rehgious parties in Scotland and Switzerland. — Author.* De Necessitate Reformandarum Ecclesiarum. THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 177 limits — it has utterly failed to sustain within itself the saving doctrines of the gospel." * Nor can I forbear adding the testimony of one of New England's sons,f on the history and present aspect of Congregationalism in those states, and throughout America : — " How has the faith of the gospel been preserved in the keeping ofthe Congregationalist Church here? In what part of this great nation has it planted itself out of New England ? What have been the fruits of its pro duction ? I must here premise, that I have it not in my heart to say one word that should give just offence to this respectable denomination. I have in it friends I exceedingly love and respect ; I honour and admire the piety and zeal for religion, so many among it have exhi bited ; but I cannot close my eyes upon the defective ness, and mischievous workings of its system, and, on an occasion like the present, when I am called upon to enforce the claims of the Church of which I am a mem ber, it is both my right, and my duty, to show its supe riority, as well by contrast and comparison, as by the exhibition of its own inherent merits. I must not, therefore, be charged with wilful and unnecessary offence, in the prosecution of a warrantable and legitimate object. I entertain no unkindly feeling towaras any body of Christians upon earth. " The origin of the Congregational Church in this coun try is well known ; fleeing, professedly from persecution in the old world, it established itself in the new, and closed * The Hon. Edward Newton of Bo8ton. t /*. In a speech before the American Church Board of Missions, at Grace Church, Boston. 178 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. ' forthwith the door against every competitor. It brought to its aid the entire strength of the civil power, and the no less powerful agency of prejudice and resentment ; though a fugitive itself from alleged persecution, it became a stern and unhesitating persecutor of others, and that too, in a day of extended light and liberality. Nevertheless it could not, and it has not extended itself beyond its original limits ; it could not and it has not maintained entire its doctrines and authority therein ; it has given way, by degrees, to every species of attack, until made to swarm with almost every imaginable error. Notwithstanding its assumed claims to scriptural authority, notwithstanding its possession of the exclusive influence of the civil power to enforce its claims, it has declined, and manifests increasing symptoms of still further decay. How seldom do we hear of a new " or thodox congregational church" being erected in any of our towns ! — who witnesses this denomination extending itself in any part of our broad dominion out of New England? — Can such an instrumentality, then, be of divine appointment? Again, has she preserved — does she maintain uniformly, her own original standards of faith ? — Look at her " Covenant, " established in this very city in the year 1680, after most mature delibera tion, and inquire who acknowledges it now, or if any of its individual members do, who preach it from the pulpit ? — Who maintains it publicly ? — Who is honest enough, and bold enough to dare to do so ? — Can such be the accredited agent of a Master, the same yesterday, to-day and forever, with whom is no variableness, nor sha dow of turning ? The age of miracles is past ; the age for God's direct interposition in the affairs of men is alike gone by ; he intends now, as is most apparent, THE HON. MR. NEWTON. 179 to accomplish all his designs on the earth through human agency ; he has done all by direct revelation to his vineyard that can be done for it; and now it re mains for men to work out the appointed salvation, always in entire dependence upon divine grace. Will a weak and inefficient confederacy then, such as the con gregational society is, be competent to such a service ? — Has the like been effectual for any great and good end, for any length of time even ? No, sir, it cannot ! — it may endure for awhile, and do good for a short period in particular states of society, as we have seen it do — but to accomplish and sustain permanent, lasting good, other systems are necessary. This may be shown by a reference to facts : — Fifty years ago there were as many " orthodox congregational " ministers in this com monwealth as there are now. I have no means of pro curing a precise and entirely accurate statement on this head, but I have reason to think I am much within the limits of the truth in this particular, because I hear it frequently and confidently affirmed, that one-half of the churches of this order that were orthodox fifty years ago are the reverse now. — Then let it be considered that, within fifty years the population of this commonwealth has more than doubled. During this time, this sect has put forth all its energies to sustain itself. It has or ganized innumerable agencies to suit its ends — caused the laws of the commonwealth to be modified to render itself more popular, — effected the repeal of that most righteous article of our constitution, which compelled every man to support the public worship of Almighty God according to his ability, because it seemed to ope rate against its influence, — promoted those religious excitements which have led to such frightful extrava- 180 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. gancies, and left such fearful results in their train. Still its object is unattained : it does not increase either in num bers, or in power, or in spirituality, but the reverse. Sir, it gives me no pleasure to lay these statements before you. I do it only under a strong sense of duty, and for just and high considerations. "Compare now the Episcopal Church through the same period. Fifty years ago, the Episcopal Church out of one or two of the Southern states, had hardly any existence in this country ; there were in the whole na tion then, one hundred and seventy of its clergy only. While in this period, the population of the country has more than doubled, and Congregationalism has not ad vanced one step, the Episcopal Church has added one thousand to the number of its clergy. While Congrega tionalism is confined within the narrow limits of New England, the Episcopal Church has posted itself over the whole length and breadth of the land, and is daily and almost hourly increasing. While congregationalists are divided and at variance among themselves, she is united and harmonious. — She cannot be divided. What she believed and taught in 1680, and from the period of the Reformation, she believes and teaches now, and nothing beside ; no essential error in doctrine or practice has followed in her footsteps. She is subject to a firm and decided, though mild and moderate government, — one of written laws, founded in reason and experience, just and wise, complete in all its parts. She has a sound and scriptural liturgy, faithfully guarded against sudden and improper changes, which all the Christian world admires. She has also equally well guarded, fixed and approved articles of faith, which every intelligent orthodox Christian admits to be scriptural. She has a THE HON. MR. NEWTON. 181 body of clergy inferior to none in the country for wisdom, piety, and learning ; - and, where her churches have gone beyond the point of struggle for existence, she exhibits the most delightful evidences of sound religious character in her members ; and even within the circum scribed influence of her body in our own diocese — yet in the very spring-time of its existence — her salutary in fluence on other denominations, by the sobriety, order and intelligence she manifests, is most decisive. Add to all this, she is the most tolerant, mild, and forbearing, towards those who differ from her, of any known body of Christians on the earth. Can we desire better evi dences of her being owned and blessed of God ? " This prodigious increase in the numbers and influence of the Episcopal Church in these United States, it behoves her members most seriously to ponder. It has been wrought in parts seemingly most unfavourable to it, — to wit, in Virginia and in New England. In the former, through the influence of infidel politicians, and the unfaithfulness of the colonial clergy, the Church there, though powerful before the war of the Revolution, became afterwards almost extinct. When the late lamented Bishop Moore became its chief shepherd, about twenty-seven years ago, there were less than ten effective clergymen in that diocese, — now there are nearly one hundred ! Here we see — what never has been or can be seen in any denomination otherwise constituted, — a declining Church restored, re-invigorated, and im proved. In the whole of New England, fifty years ago, there were about thirty clergy of oiir Church only ; now there are over two hundred. In New York, there were then twenty. clergymen only ; now there are over three hundred. And thirty years ago, when you, sir, were con- 1S2 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. secrated Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, there were but seventeen clergy therein, and now there are one hundred and thirteen ;* and let it be remembered, that this in crease was in places where the most deep-rooted prejudices and inveterate hostility against it prevailed." Such testimony and from such a source is invaluable ! * The venerable Bishop Griswold filled the chair on the occasion. In the short time since the delivery of this address, the number of clergymen (regularly engaged) in the same section of country has increased to 151. 183 CHAPTER XXVIII. NEW YORK. — DR. MILNOR DR. WAINWR1GI1T. — MR. COL- TON. THE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. — .BISHOP OF VERMONT. On the first Sunday spent in New York, I made my way in the morning to St. George's church, to the rector of which, the late Dr. Milnor, an English friend had sent me a letter of introduction, which I had not hitherto had an opportunity oi delivering. It proved to be a communion day, and the doctor's sermon was designed to guard his congregation against too high or too low views of the sacraments of the Church. The former he designated as " popish," and the latter as tending to religious indifference, and " practical infidelity." His remarks under the second head, might be useful to many who claim to belong to the same party (if I must use the term) in the American Church of which Dr. Milnor was regarded as a leader, and a high authority. In the afternoon I worshipped in St. Thomas's church Broadway, in expectation of hearing the celebrated Dr. Hawks. I was not disappointed in the intellectual gratification I received, though his place was supplied by Dr. Wainwright of Boston, whom I had frequently heard before, and alwajs with increased pleasure. The sermon (from the text " My yoke is easy and my burden is light,") was a finished and elegant composition, not the less effective from the quiet, unimpassioned style of delivery, whush is natural to this gentleman, and from which he should never depart. " We expect to find " 2 A 184 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. says Dr. Blair "in the compositions. of one man some prevailing character of style, impressed on all his writings, which will mark his particular genius and turn of mind." The same remark will apply to the manner of delivery. An earnest or impassioned delivery is unnatural, and fails altogether of producing any but a disagreeable effect on the audience when the composition is neither concise, nervous, or vehement. Dr. Wainwright's style is not feeble, nor overloaded with finery, but its charac teristics are elegance and diffuseness ; these are well adapted to pulpit oratory in the city congregations of the higher classes, amongst whom his labours are con fined, and in which -sphere he is eminently useful. A court preacher, if by the term is understood a sycophantic time-server, he is not. His rebukes and exposures of the vices of the rich are frequent and pointed ; and his fearless defence on a late memorable occasion of what he holds to be a point of orthodoxy, as well as a fact,* against a host of inoidious opponents both from within and without the Church, and, with about three exceptions, the whole press of the country, religious, and secular, prove him to be an honest man, and one whose example would have given lustre to the best days of primitive Christianity. On the same day in the ensuing week that Dr. Milnor . called on me, I received a visit from the Rev. Calvin Colton, who enjoyed at that time an extensive reput a- tion as a writer of very versatile order ; a reputation however, very unenviable to a mere popularity-hunter which this Erastian divine unquestionably is not. He combines great honesty of purpose, with singular want — «- * Nulla Ecclesia sine Episcopo. CALVIN C0LT0N. 185 of prudence, and consequently exposes himself to as many unhandsome blows on the head as parson Yorick received, though there is no fear of these blows ever giving him his death ! Colton had just raised a storm about his ears in con sequence of a book which, though published anony mously, was immediately recognized as his production in which, under the head of " Protestant Jesuitism," he attacked the various voluntary societies for professed moral reform. He pronounces them all as bearing an uniform resemblance to the institution of Loyola, which he regards as their great prototype ; these protestant crusades being, he says, " all based upon two leading arguments, viz. alarm and necessity." " If, " he argues in his preface " Christianity is indeed as well established in the world as the author has supposed and attempted to show, these alarms are groundless ; and if his views of the design and adequacy of the primitive institutions of Christianity are correct, these other forms of operation are not only a diversion, and consequent subtraction of power, but must ultimately prove an embarrassment, and hindrance to the cause, even if preserved un- corrupt." Mr. Colton's book, written in a masterly style, con tains many truisms ; but the caustic irony and pointed satire which he employs in attacking so large and pow erful a body as come under his lash, many of whom were certainly innocent of the ulterior objects which Colton attributes to them, lost him, in a moment, hun dreds of friends, and consigned him to the shade of very generalcondemnation. None of his intimate acquaintances however, would think the less favourably of him ; knowing as they do, that a love of truth for its own sake 186 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. instigated the step ;— for surely nothing else could induce any man, particularly a clergyman, to put forth such a book as " Protestant Jesuitism," under the very shadow of the institutions he was attacking ; whose silent all-powerful influence was at work in the commu nity of which he was a member. Its merits as a com position and an argument, were of little avail in sheltering its author from the avalanche of public anathema which it instantly brought down on him, and from which, until the public mind again becomes healthy, he can never hope to rise. One third of this obnoxious treatise is directed against the " Temperance Society." Mr. Colton was stirred up to write his book by a " Resolution " passed at some national "Convention " of that body, declaring that the use of intoxicating liquor in any quantity, was " immo ral," and disqualified a person from the natural exercise of his judgment. Under the head of " intoxicating drinks " it will be remembered the society includes all wines, beer, cider, or any fermented, or artificial com pounds, exhilirating or stimulating in their effects. " This resolution," lemarks Mr. Colton, " arraigns and condemns the best men that have ever lived — the best that now live. It spares not divinely inspired men ! it blots the pages of Revelation I ! it impeaches the moral cha racter of the Saviour of the world ! ! !" True, undeniably true ! — and such was the testimony of several clergymen, present at the convention ; such the grave offence brought against the framers of this, and other similar " resolutions " on that occasion ; and the anticipation of one of them (the Rev. Dr. Mc'Mas- ters) has proved prophetic. " The effect [has been] to drive from the ranks a body of men who are in practice. THE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 187 as temperate as themselves." By putting a ban on that high priest who met Abraham ; by saying that the " man after God's own heart " when inditing the 104th Psalm under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, rendered thanks to God for what was in itself an evil, and could not be taken without sin ; by making Solomon, taught by the same Spirit, prescribe it in extreme cases of mental depression ; by making our Saviour employ it in working a miracle, and thus, as well as by his example, incur moral guilt ; by thus voting extreme resolutions [they have long since] driven from their ranks numbers who properly belonged to them.* Mr. Colton's stric tures under this head were true enough ; and the result has shown most demonstratively that, after all, the Church of God in the world, is the one great temperance society, is the only effectual and legitimate instrument for reforming public morals, and the one by which the work will ultimately be alone effected. The sentiment it is true, is scouted by infidel philosophers, but it has nevertheless been long gaining ground in the belief of the community at large. Deny it who can — it was public opinion alone, under the influence of Christian principles and teaching, that commenced, and has effected the reformation already wrought in the drinking * See speech of Dr. M'c Masters at the Saratoga Convention in 1836. See also Exodus 29. 40. Judges 9. 13—19. 19 II Sam. 6. 19. II Sam. 16. 2. Nehemiah 5. 18. Ps. 104. IS, Isaiah 27. 2. 3—29. 9—55. 1— Daniel 1. 5. I Timothy 5. 23 : neither of which passages recom mend, or sanction excess in drinking, which the Bible strongly condemns ; but they stamp falsehood upon the total abstinence " Resolutions, " which is all that is necessary. " Oh, sir,'' appealed Professor Potter now Bishop of Pensylvania at the same meeting, "let us cling to theiruth — let us pursue an honest, straigh forward policy. Be assured of it we shall never triumph on any other ground. 188 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. habits of America. The self constituted, irresponsible body of " temperance reformers " who constitute the office-holders, editors, and agents of this society, had no more to do with it, than the fly on the coach- wheel with the motion of the vehicle, though it exclaimed " see what a dust I make!" Public opinion, without the coercion of any " Society " wrought the total change which took place in the drinking habits of the higher classes of Britain towards the end of George Ill's reign. The lengths of the after dinner sittings are much shorter than formerly, and the habit of drinking to excess on such, or on any occasions, has long become essentially vulgar. It cannot be denied, either, that in America the "temperance" question has become in too many cases the mere tool of intriguing politicians, and religious anarchists ; and this to an extent that has made it in some quarters absolutely disreputable. Its professed champions now turn it against its first founders, whom they unsparingly denounce in language which too truly proves the truth of our Saviour's declaration, that it is from within, from the heart, that evil thoughts, false witness, and blasphemies, proceed. It is too frequently the shield behind which infidelity, and licentiousness entrench themselves, while aiming their poisoned darts at the very guardians of public morals, and the best institu tions of that country. Its system of espionage, is another most offensive feature in a community calling itself " free." The whole of each man's closet, larder, and cellar are laid open to the inspection of the " temper ance " agent. An inquisitorial court sets up the right of analyzing his neighbour's affairs, and of an inspection over his private conduct " and when once," remarks Mr. THE temperance society. 18!) Colton " the prying eye and usurping tread of imperti nence have obtained access within the sacred precincts of our domestic retreats, and dragged out the secrets of our closets to view, it is not only less easy to eject the intruder, than to have barred the door against him, but he considers himself entitled to that as a right which he gained by stealth and violence. " The Church " boldly wrote the gifted Bishop of Vermont when the question was first mooted " is the true school of virtue, the true temperance society, the true preservative from all the vices which infest our misera ble world ; because the almighty Saviour is its guide, its pledges are blest by the power of God, and its rewards are pre-eminent in temporal comfort and eternal joy. Away from Christ you can have no safety ; out of his Church you can have no peace. If you have not sought his forgiveness, through repentance and faith — if you have not subdued your rebellious will, and taken the blessed yoke of Christ upon you, and given your inmost hearts to him, who bought you to himself with his own precious blood, I testify to you, that equal destruction will be your portion. The pruning of a single branch is nothing when the whole tree needs to be grafted ; the damming up a single stream is nothing when the foun tain must be cleansed ; and the outward reformation of a single vice is nothing while the heart continues un- sanctified." * Similar sentiments have been publicly expressed by several American bishops, and are doubtless those of all. The following arguments by Bishop M'c Coskry in exhorting some candidates for holy orders, before laying * Primitive Church Sec. VI. 190 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. hands on them, to " keep aloof from societies designed to supersede the plans which Christ has given for the reformation of man," commend themselves to the con sciences and judgments of all who, having the vows of the ministry on them,' possess the moral courage to carry them out into practice : "You are not to oppose any benevolent effort of men, but only to show that wherever you go, and wherever found, you go, and are found ready to preach Jesus. This cannot be done in these societies ! A minister there fore loses his influence, becomes secularized, and often times excited in a manner unworthy of his character and calling, and soon fails in the performance of the appropriate duties of his office. The religious world is full of such instances."* I heard Mr. Colton several times while in the city and preached for him once. I was somewhat disappointed by his pulpit addresses, which being divested of that playful wit, and that aptness in metaphor, which cha racterise his writings, and wanting some of the essentials of a good elocution were, from their metaphysical cha racter, but little adapted to a mixed city audience. Two years afterwards he preached in my own pulpit twice, during a week's visit at York, when his subjects were much better selected. Mr Colton has long since retired from parochial duty, and resides in New York, f * Ordination Sermon preached in St. Paul's, Detroit, March 20th, 1842. p. 39. t While these sheets are passing through the press a life of Henry Clay has been announced from Mr. Colton's pen. No one could do bet ter justice to the subject. From his political predilections, and a long and intimate acquaintance with that distinguished statesman, both the EDglish and American public may expect a rich treat in such a biography. DR. HIGBEE. ~ BISHOP 0NDERD0NK. 191 I was greatly charmed with a sermon I heard one evening in St. John's church from Mr. (now Dr.) Higbee. Though the preacher was very juvenile in appearance, (the consequence of an unbecoming toilet) his discourse bore marks of a mind well balanced, and a judgment fully matured ; his language was elegant and florid ; his descriptions fresh and vivid ; at the same time free from that " tinsel splendour " which frequently passes for eloquence in America, and of which some specimen orations, and congress speeches are choice examples ! I also, during this visit, saw the Bishop of New York for the first time in public, though he appeared to far less advantage than on several subsequent opportunities I have had of hearing him preach ; the occasion being the opening of the diocesan convention by the usual address, a great part of which is a mere journal of his episcopal acts during the past year. Mr. Colton had previously made me acquainted with this amiable and kind hearted prelate ; than whom, for dignity of bearing, suavity, and frankness of manners, there is no member of the American episcopate who does the office higher credit. An evening was spent very agreeably at Dr Berrian's, the rector of Trinity parish. Present the Bishop of Vermont, Mr. Phillips, rector of St. Luke's Catskill, Mr. Higbee, Dr. Berrian's assistant in Trinity parish, Mr. Loutrell, an active and zealous layman of New York, and several clergymen whom the Convention had brought to the city, on the proceedings of which the conversation chiefly turned, till a book just published by the Bishop of Vermont, contrasting the early and present state of the Romish Church, formed the topic of animated dis- 2 B 192 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. cussion and congratulation. It was one of several volumes of great merit and research, written by this ac complished polemick, and has been since republished in London, with high commendations by the English editor and British reviewers. I expressed my obligation to the bishop for his book on the " Primitive Church," which I had circulated with good effect among my late parishioners, when he remarked that his last work had cost him three times the care and study. This may be well believed from the number of authorities quoted, and the necessity for the strictest accuracy, in a controversy with the Romish hierarchy to whom the second volume is addressed. Bishop Hopkins has since been replied to by Dr. Kenrick, the Roman Catholic bishop of Philadelphia ; to whose work he published a rejoinder, challenging Dr. Kv to a public oral discussion, on the controverted points, which was declined. The Bishop of Vermont therefore, remains master of the field. 193 CHAPTER XXIX. A SUNDAY IN PHILADELPHIA. On every priest a twofold care attends To prove his talents and insure his friends First, of the first — your stores at once produce, And bring your reading to its proper use. On doctrines dwell, and every point enforce By quoting much, the scholar's sure resource ; For he alone can show us, on each head, What ancient schoolmen and sage fathers said. No worth has knowledge, if you fail to show How well you studied, and how much you know. Is faith your subject, and you judge it right On theme so dark to cast a ray of light ; Be it that faith the orthodox maintain, Found in the rubric — what the creeds explain, Fail not to show us, on this ancient faith, (And quote the passage) what some martyr saith. Dwell not one moment on a faith that shocks The minds of men sincere and orthodox j That gloomy faith, that robs the wounded mind Of all the comfort it was wont to find From virtuous acts, and to the soul denies Its proper due for alms and charities ; That partial faith, that, weighing sins alone, Lets not a virtue for a fault atone ; That starving faith, that would our tables clear, And make one dreadful Lent of all the year : And cruel too — for this is faith that rends Confiding beauties from protecting friends ; A faith that all embracing, what a gloom, Deep and terrific, o'er the land would come I What scenes of horror would that time disclose ! Ao sight but misery, and no sound but woes I Rev. G. Cbabbe. Having determined on a visit to Washington before sailing for England, I left New York on the 13th of October in a crowded steamboat, and descending the bay, entered Staten Island Sound, which separates it from the main land of New Jersey. At South Amboy, the termi nating point of the railway across New Jersey, we took 194 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the cars, and pursued our way in darkness the rest of the distance to Philadelphia, ninety-five miles, where I was soon established in one of the comfortable hotels for which " the city of brotherly love" is deservedly famed. Dr. John A. Clark was at this date one of the most popular preachers in Philadelphia ; so having the privi lege of travellers to follow the erowd, I enquired the way to St. Andrew's the next morning, which was Sun day. The appearance of the streets through which I passed greatly disappointed me, after the encomiums I had heard on the elegance of this city. Architecturally it possesses none ; unless the exceptions of some public buildings are admitted. Uniformity in the direction of streets, and the size and character of houses, may answer the ends of convenience and cleanliness, but it can scarcely be considered as a point of beauty. A high authority tells us that uniformity is only beautiful when the thing con structed requires it. " A circle, a square, a triangle, or a hexagon" says Dr. Blair, " gives pleasure to the eye by its regularity as a beautiful figure, yet a certain grace ful variety is found to be a much more powerful principle of beauty. Regularity seems to appear beautiful to us chiefly, if not entirely, on account of its suggesting the idea of fitness, propriety, and use ; which have always a more intimate connexion with orderly and proportioned forms, than those which appear not constructed accord ing to any certain rule. * * * * A straight canal is an insipid figure when compared with the meanders of a river. The apartments of a house must be disposed with regularity for the convenience of inhabitants, but a garden would be disgusting if it had as much uniformity and order as a dwelling house." There can be no reason in the world for laying out a DR. CLARK. 195 city with more regularity, except in its general plan, than a pleasure garden. A straight street may do here and there for variety's sake, and be best adapted for the business part of a commercial town ; but crescents, cir cuses, quadrants, and curves, relieve the eye, and afford opportunity for different styles of architecture. The almost universal rule of plain unparapeted brick houses, wholly innocent of ornament or style, may harmonize with the quaker taste that designed Philadelphia, but will always disappoint the expectations of strangers, especially from abroad, who have heard it described as " the second city in the United States." " Second " it may be in size and population, but in appearance, and beauty of situation, it is greatly surpassed by its sisters New York, Boston, Baltimore, and Washing ton. Another disagreeable feature in the houses of Phila delphia are the primitive appendages of outside window shutters, which, with the doors, lintels, and other wood work, presenting one unvarying covering of white paint, afford a severe trial to the eyes, and mark at the same time the unambitious taste of the citizens. St. Andrew's church, where I first worshipped, like most Philadelphia churches belonging to the " protes- tant episcopal" communion, appears better without than within. It is a chaste Grecian temple, with a row of pillars in front. On entering I found the service, which was conducted by an assistant, commenced. The ser mon was partly extempore, on the danger of " procrasti nation in religion," and closed by a fervid and high wrought appeal to "!the wordly and the pleasure seekers. I could see at once that the preacher owed much of his popularity to his delivery, and none of it to his style, or 196 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. intellectual resources. The former was striking and effective, giving weight to language end ideas generally common place; and never brilliant. This he made up for by his elocutionary tact, and the exciting nature of the topics introduced. In the flowers of rhetoric, and in all the higher elements of pulpit oratory he is said to have been greatly surpassed by his predecessor Dr. Bedell, a distinguished light ofthe American Church ; which, from a perusal of the sermons of that eminent -divine, I am well prepared to believe. As a writer on subjects of ex perimental piety, religious biography, etc., Dr. Clark was, however, very successful, though his books discover no genius. His attempts at description are laboured and ambitious, overloaded with redundances of language, and emulative of pictorial effect ; but, from the many unnatural touches introduced, and the sameness that pervades his scenes, leaving no lasting impress of them on the reader's mind. Dr. Clark's writings have had their day with his career as a preacher, and will add nothing to the standard religious literature of America. I received a very disagreeable impression on this oc casion from the custom (unpractised in old or New England) of turning the back to the altar during the prayers. To say nothing of its gross irreverence, it is attended with noise and great inconvenience, both to the kneelers, and " non-conformists," among which class I was compelled to class myself during my residence in the south, resting the crime of violating the rubric on those churchwardens who, in their solicitude for the comfort and luxurious accommodation of hearers, over look the necessary provision for worshippers. In the evening I accompanied some friends to St. Stephen's church in Tenth-street a fine stone building DR. DTJCACHET. lt)T with Gothic decorations, and two octagonal towers in front. The interior is for the most part in good taste the walls, and wood-work of a sombre tint, with several marble monuments and tablets. The hand of innova tion, which has since the Revolution despoiled and transformed nearly all the other churches of Philadel phia, has hitherto spared this beautiful temple, whose only defect is in the chancel arrangements, where the pulpit, and the Holy Table, have changed places, which makes it bad for the preacher, and bad for his hearers ; besides depriving the church of an end altar, to which — were the chancel arranged on ecclesiastical principles — the fine east window of stained glass would impart an imposing effect. Dr. Ducachet, the rector ofthe parish, who preached on this occasion, was just declining from the zenith of a well merited popularity. To great scholastic acquirements, and a fine intellect, he adds the advantages of a good address, clear, distinct, and emphatic enunciation. These attractions drew large crowds to St. Stephen's on his first arrival in Philadelphia, and still attach to him his regular parishioners, including some of the oldest, and wealthiest families in the city ; but he has long ceased to be the lion of the day, and is now almost for gotten by many of his former admirers. 198, CHAPTER XXX. PHILADELPHIA LIONS. Philadelphia has, perhaps, more historic associations which make it interesting to a foreign visitor, than any other city or town in the Union. One of the first objects which a stranger seeks is the state house, in which the first congress of the United States held its- deliberations and from which the Declaration of Inde- pendance was read to the people, on July the fourth 1776. The building is a little more than a century old,. a plain brick structure, greatly and deservedly venerated by the citizens. The extensive garden behind it is now laid out as a public square, and with its gravelled walks, and avenues of trees, affords a delightful and favourite promenade. Chesnut-street, on which the state house and several other public buildings front, is the present fashionable street of Philadelphia. The pavement, trottoir, and shops, are superior to that of any other, and on a fine day present a very animated appearance, from the num ber of gay pedestrians, and the elegance of the equipa ges. It runs, like many parallel streets from river to river but beyond Broad-street, which crosses it a little more than half its entire length, the houses are private, and the signs of business and pleasure cease. Broad-street promises to form a grand ornament to the city. It runs from north to south through its centre, and is 113 feet PHILADELPHIA LIONS. 199 wide. It is not yet half built, but mansions,* churches, and public edifices are going up slowly; -the double row of trees on each side are progressing towards matu rity ; and when buildings worthy of the site line its whole length, and the dangerous railway tracks which tempo rarily obstruct and disfigure the causeway, are removed, the Philadelphians may pride themselves on possessing the handsomest street in the world. Near the junction with Broad-street stands the mint, a fine marble edifice of the Ionic order. Respectable visitors are allowed free admission to it, and taken round in single parties by one of the officers, who obligingly replied to my questions, and gave every necessary ex planation in our course through the different rooms. This man would regard the offer of a fee as an insult, — and in this particular, we are obliged to own the superi ority of American subordinates over those in our own country. The free admission which is permitted to many public places is not merely nominal, subjecting you, either to the insolent demands of menials for money, or, what is more offensive still, their cringing importu nities, and petty obstructions against a free egress after the performance of a trifling office, till the fee is paid- in every part of the United States which I visited I found the persons in attendance at public institutions' obliging and intelligent, without the expectation of any reward. The merchants' exchange forms a conspicuous orna ment in the business suburb of the city. The front elevation is semicular, with Corinthian columns resting * And, unlike the rest of the city with some pretensions to style ; two in particular are fine specimens of the palazzo style, arguing well for an improving taste in Philadelphia. 2 C 200 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. on a high basement. The principal entrance opens into a vestibule, which communicates with the city post-office and other public departments. A double staircase leads to a landing which opens to a splendid semi-cir cular apartment, richly embellished with paintings and fresco work, the roof supported by Corinthian pillars, the floor composed of mosaic. Adjoining this hall is a large reading-room, containing all the leading papers of the country, including the London dailies, and periodicals This noble structure was erected by the city at an im mense cost, the material being of the finest marble. I reached the hotel, about 3 o'clock after a pretty extensive pursuit of city lions, and found the vestibule or hall, in which is the bar, crowded with the male in mates, who all dine in ordinary as at New York and Boston, unless a separate room is requested, for which there is an extra charge. The company which was numerous and select, manifested unusual hilarity after taking their seats at the dinner table, which, added to the fashionable toilet generally displayed, seemed strangely in keeping with the rules of deportment and dress established by the founders of this quaker city. The dinner was cooked in the best style, and exhibited no lack of variety in the viands. The third course, of which the pastry forms a part, is not particularized in the bill of fare. This third course being " the dessert" at all American inns, fruit, sweet meats etc. form part of it. An English dessert (after the removal of the cloth) I have never known except at private houses, nor is it common in those. I spent the evening at the museum, which was then exhibited in the buildings of the arcade, a handsome structure of marble, with a double avenue, fronting on PHILADELPHIA LIONS. 201 Chesnut street. Amongst the paintings were many well executed portraits of public characters. The whole collection of curiosities with large additions, now occupy a more commodious receptacle in a building of ample dimensions, since erected for the purpose, which is also used for concerts a la Musard. 202 CHAPTER XXXI. JOURNEY TO WASHINGTON, AND ALEXANDRIA. — INDIAN CHIEFS. The next morning I pursued my way southward by the steamboat, which conveyed us down the Delaware. The view of the city would be very fine from the river but from the absence of spires and lofty public edifices. The first place of any note that we passed, after leaving Philadelphia, was Fort Mifflin, about seven miles dis tant, where the river Schuylkill joins the Delaware. It was the principal defence of the latter during the late war, but is now going to decay. Ten miles further on Chester appears in sight on the right bank, one of the first settled towns in the state, and still bearing many marks of antiquity. We were landed at Wilmington and transferred to the railway cars. The railroad crossed the peninsula which forms the state of Delaware, to Havre de Grace, where we passed the mouth of the far famed .Susquehanna by ferry. On the opposite bank we resumed our seats in cars of a handsomer construction, for Baltimore, the chief city of Maryland, 110 miles from Philadelphia. This fine city lies at the head of Patapsco Bay, four teen miles from the Chesapeake and two hundred from sea : it is justly admired for its situation and its numerous architectural beauties. Its size is the same as Boston, and less than half that of Philadelphia. After a hasty dinner, I took my place in the cars for Washington, WASHINGTON. — THE- CAPITOL 203 which city, forty miles distant, I reached by eight o'clock. A crowd of blacks came round us on alighting from the cars, each offering to carry the luggage, and cla- mourously urging the superiority of the respective hotels to which they were attached. These were chiefly slaves, yet who would suppose it from their comfortable sleek appearance, and the look of contented glee that marks , every face ? Consigning my portmanteau to one of the sable tribe, I accompanied him along a wide street, bor dered with trees, t6 an hotel, where I found comfortable entertainment, and pleasant companionship amongst the other lodgers during my stay in the city. It happened most unfortunately that, delaying my departure from Philadelphia till Tuesday, I lost the opportunity of seeing Congress assembled, as it had the very day of my arrival adjourned, after an extra session. The members were all gone, or on the eve of departure, and I walked through the deserted chambers of the capitol the next morning with feelings of keen regret. This capitol is well worthy of its national design, being the finest building I have yet seen in the country, and equalled by few edifices in the world. It stands on an elevation, overlooking the city and the broad expanse of the Potomac river. Its length is 350 feet, and its height 145. An advanced portico on the front of the centre building, is ornamented with a triple row of beautiful marble columns. The wide stone steps ap proaching this entrance conduct to the rotunda, 95 feet in diameter, ornamented by superb reliefs, and large paintings by native artists, representing some of the principal events in the national history. South of the rotunda, occupying that wing of the building, is the 201 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. chamber of the House of Representatives, a semi-cir cular hall, with columns supporting the roof. The se nate Chamber occupies the north wing, and below the senate chamber is the supreme court of the United States; there being, besides these rooms, some sixty or seventy offices for committees, congress officers, refresh ments, etc. The grounds round this noble pile of buildings cover more than twenty acres, tastefully laid out in walks and shrubbery. At noon I took the steamboat for Alexandria, a town six miles further down the Potomac, on the opposite side. The river at Washington, is very wide, and deep enough for the largest ships; notwithstanding which, and the generally excellent position of Washington for commercial purposes, it has as yet made but little ad vances as a trading port ; the number of inhabitants being only twenty thousand, though the plan of the city, if carried out, would be adapted to a population of a million souls. The trade of Alexandria is considerable for its 'size. It lies pleasantly at the foot of verdant hills, and is built with neatness and regularity. I took tea with the amiable rector of St. Paul's, who is much be loved by his numerous body of parishioners. I had several occasions afterwards of renewing my acquaint ance with this gentleman and his accomplished lady in New York. He has since declined the episcopate of Alabama, which was tendered to him by the Conven tion of that diocess. In the neighbourhood of Alexandria is a flourishing theological seminary tor the diocess of Virginia, in which it stands, of which the bishop is ex officio, presi dent, — though more properly the visitor, as he resides at Millwood, in Clarke county. The professorships are CHURCHES. — THE WHITE HOUSE. 205 those of Ecclesiastical History and Pulpit Eloquence, [Rev. Dr. May] Systematic Divinity, [Rev. Dr. Sparrow] and Sacred Literature. [Rev. Joseph Packard, A. M.] Besides this seminary, the diocess has an Education Society, and. two High Schools. In the morning I returned to Washington, and spent the day in viewing the churches, and other public buildings. There are four of the former, viz. St. John's, Trinity, Christ Church, the Epiphany, * and three in ¦ the adjoining suburb of Georgetown. Besides these there are about fifteen places of worship for (lifferent religious denominations. At Georgetown, the Romanists have a seminary under Jesuit tuition, conducted by twenty teachers, and accommodating 140 pupils. Columbian College is a baptist institution, in which are nine teachers, and fifty pupils. Friday 20th. — Mr. Hawley, the rector of St. John's, having offered to introduce me to the President, we reached " the White House " about noon, where I found to my chagrin that a special despatch, just received, had required the attendance of the Secretary of State, with whom he was in consultation. The attendant, to whom my guide's person was familiar, invited us into the drawing-room, and then conducted us through the principal apartments of the executive mansion, which is in all respects handsomely appointed. We then visited the offices of the various departments of state. In one of these is a gallery of Indian portraits, the original De claration of Independance, treaties with foreign powers, and other curiosities. Later in the day, Mr. Hawley introduced me to a deputation of Indians from the tribes of the Sauks, * Three have been since added. 206 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Foxes, Sioux, and loways. The first two are a finer looking race than the others, with more expressive fea tures. I succeeded, without the interpreter (who was absent) to hold something of a conversation with the chieftains Kee-o-kuk and Black Hawk who represented their two tribes ; the former was accompanied by his son " Whistling Thunder." The whole party were familiar with my friend's person, .and gathered round us during our difficult dialogue, which was, of course, carried on by dumb gesture. At its close I drew out a shirt pin, and presented it to Kee-o-kuk. He examined it very minutely, and after handing it round to the other chiefs proffered it to me with respectful obeisance. On signi fying to him that it was a gift he placed it with great care in the folds of his scarlet vest, and extending his hand to me, held it for a short space while pronouncing some friendly speech. I left the city by the evening train of cars, and reached Barnum's Hotel, Baltimore, at 8 p. m. 207 CHAPTER XXXII. DR. WYATT. On Saturday morning, (Oct 21st.) I called with an intro duction, on the Rev. Dr. Wyatt, rector of St. Paul's ; and here I have to record one of the most agreeable ac quaintances I formed whilst in the. country. Dr. Wyatt has long filled the situation of president in the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, to which post no one in the American Church could impart more dignity ; whilst his regular election to it at the triennial meetings of the General Convention is a high testimony of the estima tion in which he is held by the whole Church. 1 may add, that such an office confers as much, if not greater, relative distinction on its possessor than that of bishop, to which, but for the high state of party-feeling in Mary land, Dr. Wyatt would have been elected on two occa sions of a vacant chair. On the last vacancy (in 1839) the votes were nearly balanced between him and a rival candidate, but neither party having the requisite majority of two thirds, the Convention made choice of another, in the person of the Rev. William Rollinson Whitting- ham, Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the General Theological Seminary, a gentleman of the same school as Dr. Wyatt, under whose firm and vigorous adminis tration the diocess has since greatly flourished. I found Dr. Wyatt occupying the old episcopal resi dence, the property of the parish of St. Paul's, with the rectorship of which the bishop's office was formerly 2d 208 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. connected ; it is now only the rectory-house of the parish. Antique in its appearance, it stands back from the street, and is thickly shaded with trees, like more than one old parsonage which I recollect in early days, announcing to the by-passer the abode of piety and learn ing. Its courteous -inmate received me with dignified frankness, and after offering me the hospitalities of his house (which I only partially accepted) invited me to preach in his pulpit on the afternoon of the next day. On reaching my hotel I found the Dr's younger son, a bright intelligent youth, already awaiting my arrival, having been sent to pioneer me to the principal places of interest in the city. These are more numerous for the size ofthe place than in New York, or Philadelphia, and give evidence of greater taste, and regard to ele gance than the latter, of which the monuments, public fountains, and various architectural ornaments which meet the eye in different parts of the city, afford constant evidence. Of the former, the colossal statue of Wash ington by Causici, on a Doric Column and base 180 feet high, is a superb work of art, and gives a character to the whole city as seen from neighbouring elevations. The fountains are also classically embellished with basins and temples of marble, and the architecture of private residences, some of which are truly princely, also shows a prevalence of individual taste to which the Philadel- phians are total strangers. St. Paul's church, in which I worshipped the next morning, is the third in point of dimensions, and beauty of design in the United States. The main building was completed in 1817, and the spire, which somewhat re sembles St. Pancras, has been since added. In this church the communion-table occupies its proper place DU. WYATT. '20'J near the wall ;* but the disproportionate size and situation ofthe pulpit, immediately in front, almost hides it from view : a smaller evil, it must be granted, than giving * This arrangement is of course superseded where, in a large church the choristers occupy the chancel end ; as in our English cathedrals, the Temple church etc. ; when the altar should, according to ecclesiastical rule, and the universal custom of the early Church, stand out somewhat from the wall. Hence the word choir from modo corona. St. Paul's church, Baltimore, is well contrived for the choral chancel service. Who that has worshipped in a church where this primitive arrangement is observed but has been struck with its simple beauty, and its great supe riority to the gallery choir mode ? The chapel of St. Mary's (Romish) College Baltimore affords a fine specimen, which shows how well it can be adapted even to a small church. I need scarcely add that the plan of a pulpit in the rear of-lhe altar, (the latter forming its adjunct) would be even more grotesque in this cse than the present arrangement in many American churches : the idea, originally, of Bishop Hobart, whose catho lic creed failed to correct his early puritanical bias and national utilitarian ism ; and whose strong American prejudices led him to eschew any European precedent in matters which he considered non-essential. I am happy, however, to add, that his barbarous innovations in the churches of New-York are, one by one, being removed ; though the extent to which the miserable models have been copied in that wide diocess, and all over the Union is a thing to be deplored by every lover of taste. While alluding to the subject of detached altars and (antiphonal) choir music, I will add the statement of my brother, who has made the subject of ecclesiastical antiquities his study : — " In many larger churches, and in cathedrals, where the width was greater [than in small parish churches] the spot usually chosen for the altar was the middle of the part hence denominated the Choir. In the- case of a cruciform church such a position was particularly appropriate, as it affords a direct and uninterrupted view to the worshippers, whether standing in the transept, nave, or chancel. In the ancient liturgies was a prayer ' for all those that stood round about the altar. ' The priests and deacons surrounded it when they officiated, aad Durandus, a catholic wri ter, informs us that when a bishop consecrates a new altar, h« must en compass it seven times, from which it was manifest that it could not have stood against a, wall. Additional evidence to the same effect might be 210 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the altar a subordinate place in front of the pulpit, but which is easily remedied by placing the pulpit and read ing-desk (if reading-desk there must be) at correspond ing angles of the transept or aisles, and thus— without any loss in hearing or seeing — throwing open the chan cel, with its edifying embellishments, to the view of the whole congregation. In the vestry-room Dr. Wyatt introduced me to his assistant, Mr. Hutton, now rector of a parish in Mont gomery county in the same state, who read morning prayers, the doctor taking the ante-communion service. His sermon was directed against duelling, and was called forth by a fatal meeting which had lately taken place near the city, and the peculiar circumstances of which had caused much excitement. Dr. Wyatt's pulpit style, though adapted to the class of hearers who com pose his congregation, would be ill suited to the mixed audience within the walls of an English Church, where happily (and may it always be so) the Church is the heritage of the poor man as well as the rich. As a masterly specimen of style, the doctor's pulpit composi tions merit high praise. They combine elegance and idiomatic accuracy, the language being full and harmo nious, and, though richly ornamented, free from the faults of that luxuriance of style which too commonly pervades the American pulpit. For purity of language, and simplicity of expression he is justly considered to cited on the authority of Eusebius, Dionysius the Areopagite, Chrysostom, Athanasius, and in our own country, Austin, first Archbishop of Canter bury, and Venerable Bede. Railing the altar in is usually dated from the period ofthe Council of Aix, held in 1583 ; one of whose Canons ordains ! Unumquodque Altare sepiatur omnino septo ferreo vel lapideo vel ligneo.' " — " Chronicles of The Devizes" by James Waylen Esq. p. 302. DR. WYATT. — DR. JOHNS. 211 excel his cotemporaries. In force, vehemence, and poetic imagery Dr/Hawks may stand alone in the class of popular preachers, and Bishop Eastburn in the smoothness and melody of his periods, and the manliness of his conceptions, but for naturalness and purity, Wyatt has no equal in the American Church. In the language of an eminent critic applied to the writings of the best British authors of Anne's reign, " it is pure English undefiled, flowing in its own native channel, and re flecting home objects and scenes." In the evening I entered Christ-church, next to St. Paul's in point of size and beauty. The preacher was Dr. Johns, afterwards the rival candidate of Dr. Wyatt for the bishopric, mentioned above. His sermon was different in its character from that of the morning, being wholly extempore, and unmethodical, though delivered with considerable fluency. It was, however, marked by a disagreeable redundancy of words, and a want of natu ralness in the preacher's action, which greatly marred the general effect, and which are faults only excusable in a very youthful preacher. The pulpit in Christ- church is made of white marble, and stands out from a recess which should be the chancel, but which is filled with a luxuriant sofa ( ! ! ) raised on a carpeted platform, for the special accommo dation of the preacher during the time of service ; the communion table being actually pushed into a corner on one side of the reading desk to make room for the pul pit, and its appliances. This looks like man-worship with a vengeance, and as total a violation of every rule of good taste, as it is of ecclesiastical propriety. 212 I CHAPTER XXXIII. THE " ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETV IN AMERICA. " What ! shall the vine so nobly brought With blood and fiery toil, From Romish Egypt, turn her roots, Back to its meagre soil ? Nay, strong in liberty she'll stand With glorious foliage decked, For planted by our God's own hand His right hand shall protect. Of no Italian bishop, we The sway usurping own, Which, in the times true catholic, The Church had never known ; But by an apostolic line Descended from of old, We yet the traditum divine Of Bishop Gregory hold. Be't your's to own Trent's false decrees — Rome's popish rod to dread, — We hold the councils catholic, And Christ our glorious Head ; A martyr-bearing Church indeed, We claim our Mother high ; And we have yet, our Ladds to bleed, Our Dinotbs to reply. We pity thee misguided Rome ! In olden time you burned The brightest beacon of the Faith, And noble trophies earned ; But now you've wrapped yourself in night, ¦With error's pall arrayed ; That Holy Faith once pure and bright You almost have betrayed. What ! burned our apostolic light With such ambiguous blaze, That ye should dare true sheep invite In schism's fold to graze ? Our Shepherds true have roused them quick To guard their trust divine, And show we love Church Catholic More, Arath's lord, than thine." spent Monday, in a further survey of the city, in company with Mr. Hutton. The exchange, custom "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 213 liouse, city hall, court house hospital, masonic hall, etc., are well worth inspection ; but the most important edifice in Baltimore is the Roman Catholic cathedral, which I surveyed at my leisure the next day. It falls far short of similar buildings in the old world, but is nevertheless a church of considerable pretensions. The order is Grecian, which is unsuited to the cruciform plan. Some pictures of great merit near the west en trance were presents from Louis XVI. and Charles X. The archbishop's house is in the rear of the altar. He is metropolitan of the Romanists, in the United States, by the title of " The Most Rev. the Archbishop of Balti more,"* the diocess under his control comprising the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia. The Roman Catholic province of the United States, has about half the number of sees and clergymen as the Anglo-American Church. It was constituted by Pope Pius VII in 1808, which year fixes the date of its exist- * The spirited stanzas at the head of this chapter refer to a letter which Dr. Kenrick, a bishop in Archbishop Eccleston's province, ad dressed to the bishops of the American Church, inviting them to join the Romish schism. Gregory the Great, (referred to in the second stanzas) was Bishop of Rome, A.D: 590. He affirmed the title of "Universal Bishop " to be " profane, anti-christian, and infernal, by whomsoever assumed" (Consult the authorities referred to in Murdock's Mosheim, vol. 1. p. 461.) At the interview between Augustine and the clergy of the British Church, Dinoth, Abbot of Bangor (referred to in the third stanza) declined, on behalf of himself and brethren, to recognize the Bishop of Rome in any higher character than as a friendly prelate — "We are bound " he said " to serve the Church of God, and the Bishop of Rome and every godly Chris tian, as far as helping them in offices of love and charity : this service we are ready to pay, but more than this I do not know to be due to him or' any other. We have a primate of our own, who is to advise us under God, and to keep us in the way of spiritual life." Dr. Kenrick (referred to in the fifth stanza) styled himself " Bishop of Arath." 214 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. ence ; being twenty one years after the American Church had acquired its complete form in the consecration of three bishops : or should the American Romanists date the establishment of their Church from the consecration of their first " Bishop of Baltimore," they are no better off, as (to say nothing of that prelate's episcopal powers being confined to the diocess over which he was placed, whose limits were the same as they now are) the date of his consecration was two years after that of Bishops White and Provoost, and five years after that of Bishop Seabury. As regards the question of priority, therefore, the Church planted in the United States by England has the first claim on the support of the nation as an epis copal Church ; and this, by itself, is a material point. There are, however, other points of controversy between the two communions. One of these relates to the validity of Romish American orders. The society of Romanists in England, it is well known, date their origin from the reign of Elizabeth, when the united Holy Catholic Church of England, one and undivided, including the whole nation, was disturbed by a schism amongst some of its members, who dissented from it, and established a sect in this country, which sect took its rise conjointly with other sects. The principles of this new sect were similar to certain exploded tenets, imported from Italy, which had at one time tainted the national faith, and which had been lopped off by the regular guardians (the episcopal heads) of the English Church. In support of their schism, this dissenting body called in the aid of the Italian bishop, who gave his countenance and support to the new society; they in return acknowledging his spiritual authority, conforming to the forms of worship used in his province, though in a foreign tongue, unin- "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 215 telligible to them, and placing themselves under his priests. That the episcopal ordination of these intruding clergy did not give authority to their acts in England, nor communicate to the schismatical body at whose instance they came here, the form or substance of a Catholic Church, nor alter its character as a dissenting body from the Catholic Church then established in England requires no proof, being self evident. Primitive usage, and universal canon law, making it illegal and schismatical for one bishop, or one patriarch to interfere with the province of another ; nor does the elevation of some of these foreign ecclesiastics to the episcopate by a form of consecration make them any the less dissenting ministers amongst us : Romanists in principle — Catholic only in name.* * " The alien-vassals of Rome, properly called papists, and improperly called anything else, have a very adroit method of fixing upon the Church of England the offensive stigma and imputation of the deadly sin of schism. Always anxious to assert and reiterate the same iniquitous false hood, such individuals never trouble themselves about proof. The offence is altogether the papists', not ours. A point of history proves it > and this we proceed to set before the reader. " The case is clear to those who will examine the facts of it ; so clear, that even Father Barnes, the Benedictine, wrote a book called " Catholi- cus Romanus Pacificatue," to induce the Roman patriarch to receive the English Church into his communion, justifying us from the charge of schism and heresy Palmer, ii. 258. With respect then to the schism with which we are charged, we will say a few words, and, for the present leave father Barnes to acquit us of " heresy." 9 Upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth, anno 1558, the whole body of the nation conformed to the purified ritual — the ritual of the papists re trenched, (as Mr. O'Croly, the popish priest, admits) : its errors and novelties being expunged, its ancient excellencies kept, and parts of other ancient liturgies being added ; these form the basis of our present Book 2 E 216 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The "Roman Catholic Church " of the United States is the offspring of this Romanist society as regularly and legitimately as the Church episcopal in that country is the daughter of the Church of England, the Church of Common Prayer, which has, since that time, undergone no materia alteration. Out of the whole body of clergy and dignitaries, fourteen bishops and a hundred and eighty nine priests only, were recusants. Nor was this conformity objected to (openly at least) by the pope, For so long as he had any hope of winning Elizabeth to cede the question of " supremacy," the papists were actually allowed to, and did, conform to the use of the liturgy, and of the public wor ship— the Common Prayer — after its method, with the protesting catholics of the purified National Church, and they were allowed to, and did, receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at the hands of the conforming clergy. It was not until after successive Italian arch-priests found that there was no chance of succeeding in their wiles to insnare the Queen into acknowledgment of vassalage to Rome, that Pius V., in 15 69, issued his " Bull " commanding all to separate from the Church of England who were still willing to submit to "his fraudulent falsehood of false-pretended supremacy" — (as the burn. ing Bishop Bonner had formerly well taught those to say, whom he after wards burned for believing him, and protesting accordingly). The papists doing this, ('. e. obeying the Italian bishop, and disobeying their own metropolitan,) they separated from us ; and, in that act of separation became papal recusants ; and they are, therefore, papistical schismatics from the Episcopal National Church. They separated, schismatized, from us. They and others affirm, that we are schismatics; but let the fact I have adduced assure all catholics, (not Italian catholics,) to the contrary. I repeat it, they, with the secular clergy, conformed to the purified ritual, and used it for upwards of ten years. If that ritual were effective then why not now ? and why rend the " Body of Christ " (Col. i. 24) for points non-essential ? If not ^effective, how came the pope to allow their use of it ? Their then conformity gives the stamp and character to their sin, which, as regards their national standing, is SCHISM ; and which, commencing then, has unhappily continued ever since. A "schism" indeed there is ! — But they have made it, not we. This is a fact-histori cal, that no Churchman should ever lose sight of. SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 217 presbyterial of the Church of Scotland (so called,) the congregationalists of the English independants, the bap tists of the English baptists, and the methodists of the English Wesleyans. Dr. Carroll, the first " Archbishop " I solemnly protest at this moment, I know not why a papist separates himself from our Communion : and cf this I am confident, that out of all the boasted millions of them in this empire, not one could himself give any other reason for it, save this, — that the Pope ordered him. Of res pectable authority, sometimes, in Rome, but none here at any time : and they who disparaged their proper diocesan by swamping his authority, in upholding the usurpation of a pretender to foreign jurisdiction, will be accountable for all the sin of weakening the authority of the Episcopate of Christ, as well as for the guilt, the great guilt, of living in avowed' constant, determined, and depraved schism. — Rev. Mr. Glover. The remarks of the excellent Bishop of Toronto (Dr. Strachan) under this head also put this matter in ittf true light, and in a few words. They are contained in a Charge to his clergy, delivered June 6 1844 : " Before leaving this subject, permit me to remind you that the Church of England is not an offset from the Church of Rome in the sixteenth century, as many of her enemies assert ; for she never separated from that Church, but was orginally an independent branch of the Catholic Church, founded not by missionaries from Rome, but by the apostles or their immediate successors ; and thus she continued till the eleventh century, when the Church of Rome assumed an ascendency over her, but which was never fully recognised, nor was it effected, till after a long and arduous struggle, — a struggle which was renewed from time to time, and on the first favourable opportunity, which happened in the sixteenth century, her independency was regained. The great ignorance which prevails on this subject, even among educated people, is truly surprising ! They speak of the ' Protestant Church of England ' as if it were a distinct body from the Church which subsisted before Henry the Eighth, and as if, at the Reformation, the protestant clergy supplanted the clergy of the Church of Rome. So far was this from being the case, that when the Reformation was established in England, all the clergy conformed to the new order of things, with the exception of eighty out of ten or twelve thousand, and therefore the Church in England, as composed of the clergy and laity in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, consisted of the very same body of persons which formed it in the reign of her father. The real fact 218 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. of Baltimore," was consecrated at Lullworth in Dorset shire, by Dr. Charles Walmsley, one of the intruding priests in the Bishop of Salisbury's diocess, and from that source the Romish clergy of the United States either derive their orders or their parochial appointments. Thus, priority of occupation and origin, both give to the Anglo-American hierarchy an advantage over the rival episcopate. But the Romish- American orders are further impaired by another circumstance. It is well known that the Church, from the earliest period, required the presence of three bishops in consecrating to the highest office of its threefold ministry. Consecration by one bishop was forbidden by the Apostolic Canons, and the canons of the councils of Aries, Nice, Antioch, Laodicea, and Carthage. Church history informs us, that the Patriarch of Con stantinople (Michael Oxites) rejected the ordinations performed by two bishops on the ground of their own imperfect consecration, conferred by a single bishop, and that the first Council of Orange, A. D. 529, directed of the matter is this : — out of the eighteen centuries during which the Church of England has existed, she continued about four hundred and fifty years under the usurped dominion of the Church of Rome, and for thirteen hundred and fifty years she has been an independent branch of the Church Catholic. So great is the absurdity and palpable ignorance of historical facts evinced by those who represent the Church of England as a branch separated from the Roman communion! Our Reformers merely brought back the Church of England to the same state of purity and liberty which it enjoyed previous to the temporary imposition of the papal yoke. They put forth no new doctrines, but merely divested, the old ones of the corruptions which had been fastened upon them during the dark ages. In all essential points, — in the Sacraments,— in the unbro ken succession of Ministers,— the Church of England is at this day the same that it was in primitive times." "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 219 that in any case of such departure from universal and primitive usage both parties should be solemnly de posed. There are good reasons for this law of the Church : the principal of which is, that — as from the bishop proceeds the commission of the priesthood, and the continuance of the succession in his own order — it is important that that there be full evidence of his own regular consecration, which the attestation of two or more consecrators secures, certainly more effectually than that of one. Be that as it may, the practice of the Church has been to have two or more consecrators for each bishop ; and the most emi nent writers in the Romish Church, with Bellarmine at their head, question the validity of consecration by only one. We have, therefore, the authority of that Church in Europe, in pronouncing the orders of the Romish Ame rican Church in the United States doubtful, at the least. The only shadow of a claim to episcopal authority in the United States, which the doctors of this communion possess, rests upon the shallow fable of the pope's supremacy ; Pius VII having sanctioned the establish ment of a branch Church in the United States by the English papists, and recognised Dr. Carroll as the arch- episcopal head of the new province : as though a Bull from Rome could supply the defect of his consecration, any more than a decree from Canterbury or London, pro nouncing Dr. Coke a bishop, by virtue of having received consecration from John Wesley, could have invested him with valid episcopal powers ! Judged by these laws and standards of its own mother Church in Europe, the Romanist society of the United States is proved to be an unsound and schismatical branch of the Church Catholic. 220 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. But would the lawfully existing, and lawfully con stituted catholic Church in the United States deem these defects in the constitution of the rival communion insu perable bars to an union with her, and a recognition of her orders in the three degrees of the ministry ? — This is an important question at the present moment ! That union has been proposed on the part of the Romish " Church" by the present " Bishop of Philadelphia"* in a letter addressed to the American prelates, in which he promises, on behalf of himself and his colleagues, that " nothing shall be wanting on their part to facihtate the reconciliation ;" — hinting that as " the object merits the greatest sacrifices the indulgence of the Church would be extended to the utmost limits, consistent with principle, and the general interests of religion." f An excellent and catholic spirit characterises the language of Dr. Kenrick's proposal, though it is accompa nied with conditions to which it is impossible for the American Church to listen. Concessions must doubtless be made on both sides. On the part of the national Church the utmost which she could yield would be the recognition of Romish- American orders, and some tri fling alterations of the ritual worship, in matters not affecting doctrine. With regard to the first of these concessions, it will be remembered, that though neither the American Church nor her English mother have ever departed from the good rule of " two or more consecra tors," yet it is only in her case a matter of discipline, being bound by no councils or decretals, while the act of union with her on the part of the Romanist society * Dr. Kenrick, then " Bishop of Arath" and assistant to the Romish " Bishop of Philadelphia." t Bishop Kenrick's Letter to the Protestant Bishops, p. 14. "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 221 would repair the defect in the transmission of the line of successsion through a schismatical body in England, possessed by the Romish bishops and clergy ; who, on their part, must relinquish the dogma of the pope's supremacy, with all other doctrines not at present held in common by the two Churches. With this surrender, hypothetical ordination would no doubt be deemed unnecessary, and their bishops could occupy sees ; the conforming clergy under them retaining their present parochial charges. » That such an union, however desirable, cannot be effected till a considerable change has been wrought in public opinion is self evident. The much abused " Oxford Tracts," and the discussions to which these publications have, happily for the cause of truth, given rise, are, however, doing much to enlighten the mem bers of the American Church on the subject of catholi city ; and intercourse with protestants is gradually un loosening the prejudices of Romanists, and weakenin g their attachment to a foreign prelate, whose " infallibility" and " rightful supremacy as St. Peter's successor" (long discarded as a fable by intelligent Romanist in Germany and France) is disclaimed as an article of belief by every educated member of that communion in America. I have myself heard it personally disavowed on repeated occasions. It is this dogma, in fact, which now stands in the way of union. Till the whole Roman Church alters, of course no particular branch* can make any essential modifications in her system ; and while the pontiff retains his temporal sovereignty, reformation we * It is a favourable circumstance in connection with this question that the present " Archbishop of Baltimore," Dr. Eccleston, is a Jansonist, and in open hostility with the see of Rome. ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. may be sure will never begin in corrupt Italy. Remove the Austrian bayonets, which now uphold the temporal throne of St. Peter's present successor, and away it will be carried by the instantaneous sweep of popular invasion — the thing is inevitable ! With that event the figment of Roman supremacy will disappear like a shadow of the night ; the triple crown (blasphemous emblem) will be exchanged for the simple mitre, which irradiated the head of Clement, Cornelius, or Leo the First, in her earlier and purer days. The Church of Rome will not, God forbid that it should, become extinct, or shine with feeble lustre among the Churches of Christendom ; but purged of its dross and its tin, " its bishop" in the language of Bishop Whittingham, " the usurper of an unholy lordship over God's heritage, will be driven back powerless to the narrow limits of his own true jurisdic tion ; the prestage of his usurped authority removed ; the Scriptures, which even now he is unable to keep from his people, will defalcate the doctrine of his subjects; and the many valuable remnants of pri mitive simplicity, and earnestness, and zeal which still survive, like sparks of holy fire amid the ashes and rubbish of accumulated corruptions, may blaze forth, to give light and health, and the vigour of life to those purer forms of doctrine which are now too like the Alpine snows in coldness as well as clarity.-)- Let then this wished for event transpire, and the Churches in those different countries of Europe and South * Proved by Mr. Palmer in his Treatise on the Church, to have been bounded by the Alps. t This eloquent passage is contained in the bishop's introduction to the American edition of Palmer's incomparable " Treatise on the Church." " ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 223 America which are still cursed by thraldom to the Ro man see, will doubtless make early use of their indepen dence by banishing the corruptions which their connec tion with it introduced ; and Uke the Churches of England, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, &c, at the period of their deliverance, will take their stand on the ground of catholic and primitive verity. This result would re concile all the discordant elements which now inter rupt the peace and unity of the Church Militant, and unite the whole episcopal family , which forms more than eleven-twelfths of the Christian World, into one great society : like as it was in the first six centuries of the Church's existence, till Romish usurpation disturbed its harmony. Such an event — and we cannot doubt that it is draw ing near — by releasing the scattered members of the Romish Communion in countries where an apostolic Church exists from their allegiance to Rome, and the deci sions of the Council of Trent, will naturally lead them, if proper means are employed, to seek communion with it ; nor can we suppose that such alliance will be, in any ease, refused. To prepare the way for this union in the United States, the members of her Church should cultivate a spirit and temper of kindness and conciliation towards the clergy and the numerous laity of the sister com munion ; avoiding that uncharitable disposition which deals in nothing but anathemas, wholesale vitupera tion, or taunting ridicule ; which designates the Roman Church as unsound in every part of her system ; retain ing as she does the same ministry, creeds, holy days (and with some additions) the same ritual as themselves ; or by going out of their way, and putting an unwar- 2f 224 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. rantable interpretation on prophetic Scripture, — nick naming her the " scarlet whore " of the Apocalypse, the " man of sin " etc., etc. " Oh no ! " writes the excellent catholic-minded Bishop of Michigan in reference to these ribald attacks, " rather speak of her in kindness— thank her for the good she may have accomplished in preser ving the Word of God— tell her of her faults — of her departure from the old Catholic Church— and endeavour to persuade her to give up the commandments of men, and come back to the uncorrupted Church of Christ. I pray ardently for this happy period to arrive, when she will give up her errors, and come with all her untiring energy, her patience under trial, and her self-sacrificing and self-denying priesthood, and unite in the great work of bringing the scattered sheep of Christ into one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord." * Let the sentiments of this distinguished prelate, so charitably expressed, be carried out to the letter by every bishop, clergyman and layman of the American Church, and by every newspaper and periodical pub lished under its sanction, and the day is not far distant when the united Anglo and Romish American bodies will be cemented into one American Catholic Church ; and like its common parent, the Church of England, en lighten the world by the purity of its doctrine, the lustre of its piety, and the universality of its missionary opera tions.! * " Bishops Successors of the Apostles," p.p. 33. ¦f- Should the above views be pronounced Utopian by the English reader, the author begs to say that he is sustained in them by several distinguished authorities in the American Church. One of these, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Farmer Jarvis, the Church's Historiographer, thus expresses himself in a pamphlet (the best that has been written on the subject) "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 225 repelling the malignant charge brought against those who are labouring to bring the Church up to her proper position, and to exhibit her in her true character, as moulded by the Reformers, by carrying out her own excellent provisions, of a leaning to "'popery :" " There is a large and increasing body of American citizens, who are now in communion with the see of Rome ;. and upon this body, an increasing number of bishops and clergy exert a most untiring energy to make them in all respects submissive to the decrees of the papacy. They are aided by large sums received from Europe, with which they are erecting churches, colleges, and monasteries. The greater part of their bishops and clergy are foreigners by birth and education, brought up under political influences, very different from the institutions of our own republic. I except not even Ireland ; for the Irish as a nation are opposed to the English rule, and are therefore willing to subject themselves to an Ecclesiastical domination in their own communion, from the exer cise of which the spirit of an American citizen must and will revolt. " The present Roman Catholic population in this country, consists in a very large proportion of adopted citizens. Here they are neither tolerated nor persecuted. They are not tolerated because they enjoy equal rights with all other classes of professing Christians. They are not persecuted unless it be occasionally by a lawless mob. Their feel ings therefore must necessarily become kinder ; and their children, being educated among the children of other denominations of Christians, will not feel such horror of them as they might under other circumstances. Then comes the general effect of learning, the unrestrained freedom of opinion, and the occasional intermarriages and other alliances, which must and do take place. " Now, under all these influences will it be possible for the Roman Catholic clergy to bring up their laity to the ultra notions of the Jesuits and the Court of Rome ? I trow not. At the most, they will only get them up, I mean the intelligent part of them, to the standard of Bossuet, and the liberties of the Gallican Church. I doubt even whether, under the influence of our institutions, they will be made to ascend higher in the shades of opinion, than the schools of Port Royal, Pascal, Arnauld Nicole, and the divines of Louvain. " lt is evident that the scandals which in Italy are seen in the glare of day, are here kept carefully out of sight. Their clergy in general lead exemplary lives. The truly catholic doctrines held by the Church of Rome are prominently brought forward, and those which in reality are hereti cal, are softened and explained away. 226 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " For all this I rejoice. Its effect upon the laity of their communion must be salutary. And I am neither sorry nor alarmed when I hear them telling their laity, that we are advancing towards them. If they think that we are advancing nearer to them than the Church of England was at the time ofthe Reformation, it is the effect of their ignorance, if, on the other hand, they do not think so, but merely profess to think so, in order that they may divide and conquer us, they only use the same stra tagem which the Jesuits used at the Reformation. The present stratagem may, for the time, have the same effect as the former. It may frighten a few timid, unstable and ignorant souls to forsake the straight and middle way, and be swallowed up by the Scylla and Charibdis on either shore ; but it cannot have the effect upon us which it was designed to have. The mischief will recoil upon themselves. It will dispose the laity of their communion, to regard us as their brethren ; and although the time may be yet distant, when the convulsions of Europe will sap the Papal Throne to its overthrow ; there may in the meanwhile be a gradual preparation of hearts and minds, which will ultimately lead to a blessed harmony. " A great American Catholic Church, equally removed from the extremes of popery and puritanism ! What a glorious object for the American Christian's contemplation ! ! Let us hope the present agitation will only render truth clearer and hearts kinder. Let us hope, that being united in one holy communion, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, we as the American people may go forth under the banners of our divine Lord ' to the breaking down of the kingdom of Bin, Satan, and death ; till at length the whole of God's dispersed sheep, being gathered into one fold, shall become partakers of everlasting life, through the merits and death of Jesus Christ our Saviour.' " — Ao Union with Rome p. 43. 227 CHAPTER XXXIV. SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE LAST. Thou canst not, Cardinal, devise a name So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous, To charge me to an answer, as the pope ! Tell him this tale * * * * * that no Italian bishop Shall tythe or toll in our dominions. But, as we, under Heaven, our .supreme bead So, under Him, that great " supremacy" Whom we do serve, we will alone uphold ; Without the assistance of a mortal hand. So tell the pope ; all reverence set apart To him, and his usurp'd authority. Shakspeare. Those readers, by whom the circumstance of Bishop Ken rick's letter to the American Hierarchy, mentioned in the last chapter, may be regarded (and truly so) as a sig nificant "sign ofthe times" will not be uninterested to learn something of the terms in which it was responded to by the important body to whom the Bishop of Arath (permissu superiorum) addressed himself. The prelates who formally replied to the popish legate were New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont, Illinois, and the presiding bishop. It must be confessed that these answers were not, except in the latter instance, couched in such courteous terms as the Romish bishop employs. Each, however, contained unanswerable replies to the exceed ingly shallow arguments contained in the " Call to Union." The following are extracts from the Bishop of New Jersey's letter : — " The ' Letter on Christian Union,' addressed to ' The 228 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Right Reverend Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, by the Right Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, Bishop of Arath,' calling himself ' co adjutor of the Bishop of Philadelphia' was received, by mail. It needed but a glance to see that this was but another form of the ' old trick ;' so clumsily played, that it must frustrate its own purpose, and ' return to plague the inventor.' " Let it be thought by none that he is rash, in charg ing schism against the author of the ' Letter on Christian Union.' It lies upon the very title page ! ' Letter on Christian Union, addressed to the Bishops of the Pro testant Episcopal Church, by the Right Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, Bishop of Arath.' All well enough, so far. But what follows, ' and co-adjutor of the Bishop of Philadelphia,' is unmitigated schism. — There needs no question here as to the aged bishop now a resident in Rome, whose co-adjutor Bishop Kenrick claims to be ? The question is, what business has the Bishop of Arath in the city of Philadelphia ? Is it not against all catho lic rule that two bishops should exercise their functions in one city, unless one be assistant to the other ? Was there not a bishop having jurisdiction in Philadelphia, in 1808, when 'the Diocess of Philadelphia,' so called, ' was created ?' Was not the second bishop, called by whatever name in partibus infidelium, an intruder there ? Does not the Bishop of Arath, claiming juris diction, or exercising functions in the diocese of Penn sylvania, convict himself, before the world, and in the sight of God, of schism, and worse ?" *** * * * * * * * "Enough is cited now to prove, that neither the " ROMAN CATHOLIC " SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 229 Right Rev. Henry Conwell, D.D., nor the Right Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, D.D. has any business what ever in the diocese of Pennsylvania, unless they are summoned; and that the sooner the latter of them betakes himself to his proper bishopric of Arath — which he has probably not yet visited — the better. " We pass on to the ' Letter on Christian Union ;' a strange topic for a schismatic in the diocese of a catho lic bishop, and irresistably suggesting the quotation : " Quis tuterit Gracchos de seditione querentes ?" Which may be freely rendered : How strange, a schismatic should rail at schism !" ********** " It is as poor a proof of self-respect, as of the estima tion in which we are held by him, that Bishop Kenrick speaks of ' other serious difficulties in the way of union,' which it were ' premature to treat on this occasion,' besides the doctrinal concessions and ecclesiastical ad missions, which he calls on us to make. When he has brought us to renounce the faith of Cranmer, Cyprian, Ignatius, Paul, ' the faith once delivered to the saints, ' and embrace the gross corruptions which were mingled in the festering and fermenting caldron mixed and stirred at Trent, and to recognize the Bishop of Rome as 'the true vicar of Christ, and head of the whole Church, and the father and teacher of all Christians, ' the ' personal interests and claims, which are at stake,' will not detain us long. God forbid that we should glory ! But, before that time comes, God grant that these our bodies, may be ' given to be burned ! ' In the mean time, permit me simply to inquire, by what right you, or any of, or even all, your colleagues, make 230 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. these overtures to us ? Who authorised you to answer for ' the Father of the Faithful ? ' Who made the ser vant free to give the invitations of his master's house ? Nay, by what right do you, the inferior and vassal ofthe pope, approach us, bishops of the Catholic Church of Christ ; and so— saving the reverence due to occupancy of the see in which the apostles laboured, preached and died— the equals ofthe Bishop of Rome ; and, therefore, your superiors ? We are no vicars of the Apostolic See as you are ; but vicars of the Lord of Heaven and earth. We claim no personal regard, but humbly wash your feet, as well becomes us. But if you touch our office, if you trench upon our trust, which we received from Christ, and hold for Him and Him alone, we plainly say to you, that, if the Bishop of Rome, our fellow bishop, be your superior, you may choose what name or place you will, but bishops in the catholic sense, as we are, we allow you not to be. " To any proper communication which the Bishop of Rome shall ever make to the bishops of the Church in the United States of America, his office and their own will be a certain guarantee of due reception, and respectful answer. To such an invitation as the " Bishop of Arath" undertakes to make for him, we reply not at all ! We respect our order — we revere the catholic doctrine — we reverence the Word of God too much ! We place ourselves at once upon the ground of ephestjs, and utterly repudiate an interference so insulting ! We are freemen — born free. — We cherish, as a sacred trust, for those that shall come after us, that liberty, where with our Lord Jesus Christ, the deliverer of all men, has endowed us by his own blood. We are bishops of the Church of God ; and recognising no higher office in the "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 231 Church save His who is the " shepherd, and bishop of souls" we "give place " to the Bishop of Rome, "by subjection, no, not for an hour." " Not knowing what my brethren the bishops of the "Protestant Episcopal Church" in the United States, to whom it is also addressed, may say to your extraordi nary proposition to become romanists, I have the honour of returning you the following answer for myself : " That branch of the Holy Catholic Church, (not Roman) in America, whose bishops you have thought proper to address, and invite to leave their parent and primitive stock, the Vine Christ Jesus, whose only ' Hus bandman is God the Father,' to be engrafted in the Roman Church, is cherished by the blood of her martyrs. You cannot be ignorant that we are all deeply conscious of the fact of these martyrs having died rather than own the corrupted creed of the Romish Church, or submit to the usurpation of her self-created pontiff. That it should ever have entered your mind to invite us to return to that Church and submit to their hierarchy, seems stranger ; and that we should do it with our eyes shut, and our tongues tied, in obedience to your invita tion, is no compliment to our understanding, and no evidence of your humility." The following morceau from the Bishop of Illinois is sufficiently characteristic : " You are pleased to say that ' you cannot come be yond the precincts of the [Romish] Church to reach us in our present position, and therefore from afar you 2 G 232 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. raise your voice ' to make us hear your entreaties to come to the pope. " Now, right rev. sir, we would spare you the trouble of raising your voice any higher, by answering forth with that ive do hear ; and beg leave to assure you that you being afar off from us might be matter of regret were we acquainted with your personal and private virtues ; but as this is not our happy lot — as we know you only by your present raised voice afar off: inviting us (I cannot say tempting us) to commit a great sin by acknowledging a spiritual monarch, in calling the pope our master, when Jesus Christ is our only universal bishop, as He and He only was such to the apostles and first bishops of the Church in the primitive days, we confess we do not regret your distance from us. If you must ' raise your voice ' and cry aloud to us on a subject so repugnant to our conscience and so abhorrent to our feelings, we can only express our sincere wishes that the distance between us were much greater than it is." It is, at least, just to Bishop Kenrick to add that, however his right reverend opponents might suspect him of dishonesty in his mode of approaching them, he did it in all good faith. He is a gentleman of great Christian virtues; and would surely not intentionally deceive. His letter only shows to what an extent all parties in the Christian world— even the Romish adhe rents—have been misled and hood-winked in reference to what is called " the Oxford movement ; " and how universally the falsehood of the semi-dissenting organs within our own communion, (backed as they are in their unfounded assertions by the political press) has succeeded in confounding the sound and healthy refor- "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 233 mation going on in the Church, in a return to true pro- testant principles, with the extravagant acts, or the apostacy to Rome of some six or eight half-read or light-headed divines. The following is Dr. Kenrick's notice of the severe attacks of the protestant bishops : — " All this ire was excited by a letter — calm, courteous, affectionate — inviting to union and peace. Nothing on the face of it was alleged to be disrespectful ; but it was intolerable boldness in a catholic prelate to invite pro testant episcopal bishops to abandon their peculiar doctrines and claims, even though one of their own body had seriously advised us, in violation of our solemn oaths, and steadfast convictions, to renounce our obedi ence to the successor of St. Peter. My sincerity was denied, and the letter was considered as ironical. I took them to be hypocrites. I called on them to be come traitors. Did Bishop Hopkins think us capable of perjury, when he urged us to vindicate our indepen dence of pontifical authority ? I can solemnly aver that I wrote that letter in all sincerity, and without any design of calling in question the sincerity of those whom I addressed. The advances made at Oxford, with some corresponding symptoms here, raised some faint hope within my bosom ; and I fancied that there might be some one among the protestant episcopal bishops, who, seeing the progress to the ancient . faith in the parent country, might have some yearnings after union. Bishop Smith had deplored the evils of schism, and extolled the blessings of unity, and invited the exami nation and full development of his principles, which he professed himself desirous of carrying out to their legiti mate consequences. I had shewed their just applica tion ; and my letter was favourably noticed in a paper 234 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. published under his eye, and no answer wits ever at tempted. Might not he, or some other one, be secretly mourning over the ruins of Sion, and praying that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up ? I hoped against hope, and concluded that my appeal would be, at least an evidenee of the desire of one catholic bishop — which I was persuaded was common to all — to procure a re union at any sacrifice but that of principle ; and would throw on the protestant bishops the responsibility of defeating the good work, to which things appeared to dispose the minds of men." The quiet irony which twice discovers itself in this paragraph, applied to the soubriquet of the American Church, is the only thing in the Romanist doctor's letter worthy of notice ; beyond the sincerity claimed for his original intentions, which no one can doubt. It must be admitted that the tautological blunder contained un der this clumsy title is not less absurd than the negative prefix of "protestant, " used (in this case) in contradis tinction to the term catholic. Both were unwisely adopted, against Bishop Seabury's judgment, by the Convention of 1789 in compliance with the demands of certain radical delegates from Virginia and the south ; and were deemed in the then state of religious feeling in the United- States, as due, in courtesy, to the other " ecclesiastical " bodies of the country. Such squeamish- ness was, however, wholly uncalled for as, besides the assumption of the title " Holy Catholic Church in the United States " by the Romish intruders, the various dissenting bodies adopted respectively such as the fol lowing — " Christians " (a Socinian baptist sect) " Pri mitive Christians" (a methodist sect) " Disciples, " etc., the congregationalists retaining their title of " the "ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 235 Standing Order." The tenderness shown for the scru ples and feelings of sectarians who themselves adopted titles no less " arrogant " than that of " The American Church, " or " The Church of the United States " was surely morbid; and the result at this day, in the igno rant misconception of terms and, the handle afforded to the papal agents in America against the " catho lic" claims of her apostolic Church prove too truly that there is something "in a name." The evil, however, is easy of cure. As Bishop Griswold's response to his schismatical brother prelate's invitation to " union " was introduced in a work on the Reformation, published in numbers, and only completed just before his sudden death it will form a suitable appendix to this. A few days after these catholic sentences which follow were written but before they passed through the press, the hand which penned them was cold in death. "The Reformation has evidently produced some reformation in the Church of Rome. Compare the morals of the court of Rome with what they were during the three centuries previous, and you will be surprised at the contrast ! The power of the court has been very much diminished. The thunders of the Vati can, at which the world then trembled, are now heard with pity, mingled with contempt. That infernal and horrid machine of popery, the inquisition, we trust in God will not much more be tolerated ! That lucra tive traffic, the sale of indulgences, has, in conse quence of the Reformation, become comparatively an un profitable business. The ungodly spirit, and bloody hand of persecution have been very much restrained ; and toleration, on true Christian principles is, happily, 236 ecclesiastical reminiscences. very much increased. In this good work, the Reforma tion has uniformly taken the lead, and is now far ahead. The true spirit of missions, and efforts to convert the heathen, not by carnal weapons, or by hiding or per verting the truth — but by that " sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God," teaching man generally the doctrines of Jesus Christ, and him crucified, is also among the noble fruits ofthe Reformation. The preaching of the Roman clergy has been changed for the better, especi- - ally in protestant countries. They now preach less of saints and relics, of masses and purgatory, of popes and " mother Church," and more of Christ. * * * " Should any one ask — seeing the Church of Rome has, in some degree, reformed — why we should not, as the Bishop of Arath urges, " return to it ? " I answer : — " First. It is a reformation forced upon it. The Ro manists will tell you themselves that they 'never change ' ! and " Secondly. Why should we go to them ? Rather they reject their errors, and unite with us. Have we not the words of eternal life ? " Thirdly. We never have departed from the One Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We have merely re jected what is unscriptural, superstitious, etc., etc. "Fourthly. We would gladly, and are ready, to unite with them and all Christians in whatever "is good unto the use of edifying," and according to the word of God; but — Fifthly. To unite with any Christians in what is erroneous or unscriptural, is going — not to the true Catholic Church, but from it." * May we not hope — nay without enthusiasm believe, * The Reformation p. 126. '•ROMAN CATHOLIC" SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 237 — that the day may not be very distant when these words of the meek successor of " the beloved disciple " will prove prophetic ; in the return of the apo statized adhe rents of an intruding see — drawn by the cords of love, and the accents of affectionate conciliation — to the bosom of the Catholic Church of America; and when their incontrovertible truth will find a home in every breast now enthralled by the claims — unfounded and vain — of a distant power, whose rule and corrupted doctrine are incompatible both with their own religious position, and the due liberty of American citizenship ? 238 CHAPTER XXXV. DR. HENSHAW. — DR. DORR. FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL RETURN TO NEW YORK. Before leaving Baltimore I had an opportunity of hear ing Dr. Henshaw the rector of St. Peter's, now Bishop of Rhode Island. The congregation, though on a week day, was as large as the building would accommodate. Dr. H. showed great skill in treating his subject, which was on the practical effect of soundness in doctrine : a most important subject, less regarded both in America and England than it ought to be. -The sermon was ex tempore throughout, and in the best style of pulpit address. With a portly figure, and prepossessing countenance, Dr. Henshaw combines a fine voice and fluent utterance. His idiom is not loose, nor marked by the vulgarisms, and entire want of dignity which Ame rican extempore preachers in the non-episcopal deno minations frequently exhibit. I met with a remarkable instance of this style while on a subsequent visit to Baltimore, in a preacher named Knapp, who was conduct ing a " protracted meeting" at the " First Baptist" meeting house in Lombard Street. He was a man of uncommon powers, and skilled in all the tricks of popular oratory, which he practised with the most complete success. He preached every day, and three times on Sundays for a number of weeks, drawing the whole city to the meeting-house. A church adjoining was even closed, from the temporary desertion of the wor shippers to listen to the exhibitions of the revivalist preacher, and the number of communicants added to the A " REVIVALIST " PREACHER. 239 society, on whose behalf the visit was made, was more than quadrupled. His sermons, though frequently ad mirable, and well adapted to a mixed auditory, were sometimes marred by the grossest vulgarisms which even bordered on profanity. Puns, low proverbs, fami liar anecdotes, and dialogues would succeed each other, accompanied with gestures, in which the action was suited to the word ; exciting alternate risibility and sen sation, and lowering the pulpit to the level of the stage making " the judicious grieve." I left Baltimore for Philadelphia on Saturday the 28th. It was a week most agreeably spent ; and I carried away with me the pleasantest impressions of the place, and its society. I have since had numerous opportunities of improving my knowledge of both, which is only necessary to confirm the best impressions. Philadelphia, St. Simon and St. Jude. — In the morning I was attracted by the bells of Christ church, to that venerable edifice. It stands in the old part of the city, and is nearly a century and a half old, resembling the large city churches of England in its general air, and internal appointments. Christ Church parish has existed from A.D. 1691, and was the cathedral church during Bishop White's administration of the diocess. The gilt mitre still ornaments its graceful spire. Dr. Benjamin Dorr, the present rector, is a member of the Standing Committee of Pensylvania, an attractive preacher, and an author of considerable repute. " The Churchman's Manual," one of the best treatises on the doctrine and government of the Church, which has made its appearance in the United States, is from his pen. It contains an admirable defence of diocesan episcopacy, and liturgical worship, and is well adapted to put into 2 H 240 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the hands of inquirers into the scriptural and primitive authority for our distinctive principles. The sermon this morning was a missionary one, and was responded to by a liberal offering from the large congregation. I spent the afternoon and evening at the house of the Rev. Charles Alden, in Spruce-street, principal of the Philadelphia High School for young ladies. The estab lishment is a favourable specimen of similar institutions in the United States, its general plan being similar to a college ; the pupils are carried through every branch of useful and ornamental study, including mathematics, natural philosophy, and the classics, and receive a certifi cate on the completion of their term of residence. The teachers, and several of the pupils in this school are highly accomplished, and everything in the establish ment appeared to be admirably conducted* On Tuesday I left Philadelphia by the steam-boat, and had the opportunity, which my night-journey thither had prevented, of seeing some of the objects on the first part of my way. The banks of the river Delaware above the city, are embellished with numerous farm houses and country seats, their gardens and lawns sloping to the water's edge. Twenty miles from the city, on the right, Burlington, the see town of the diocess of New Jersey, appears in sight. It is regularly laid out, and the "Bank" extending along two thirds of the city exhibits a great variety of handsome dwellings, neat villas, cottages, etc. The most conspicuous amongst these is the episcopal residence, which vies with several English country seats of the medium class. The New Jersey bishop's expansive doors, communicating * Mr. Alden has since accepted a chaplaincy in the navy, and the/- institution is under a different presidency. BURLINGTON. 2-11 with the entrance hall are always open in fine weather, to the verdant bank, with its gravelled carriage way, and the wide bosom of the lovely Delaware, whose ripples wash the beach within twenty miles of the house. The building is a combination of different early styles, with a cross on the highest turret. The grounds attached to it are well laid out in English fashion, and everything in, and about the establishment, gives proof of the well known taste of its proprietor. Just beyond the bishop's house, the front of St. Mary's Hall appears from between the trees. This is one of those designs for the religious and intellectual improvement of the rising generation, which the enterprising bishop has brought to maturity in his diocess. The object is to conduct female education on a Christian foundation, and the principles of the Church. Bishop Brownell of Connecticut some time ago declared,- " that he consi dered female seminaries under the auspices of the Church hardly less important than chartered colleges ; and such is becoming the established sentiment in the United States. The present enterprise of Bishop Doane has already been singularly successful. With the best teachers, in every department of science, literature, and the fine arts, that could be procured in the country, and a clerical principal and chaplain, and [under episcopal supervision, St. Mary's is truly a christian household for the future mothers of New Jersey, for which the community are, and will be under unspeakable obliga tions to the excellent prelate, its founder. A little further, on the Pennsylvania side of the river, is the town of Bristol. It was incorporated by Sir William Keith in 1722, under this name, having been previously called Buckingham. After leaving several 242 ecclesiastical reminiscences. passengers at Burlington, the boat crossedover to Bris tol to land several more, and receive others ; it then pursued its way to Bordentown, thirty miles from Phila delphia, where we took the railway cars. It was at this place that Joseph Buonaparte took up his residence in America. His fine establishment is now running ra pidly to seed, and bears everywhere marks of neglect and dilapidation. Forty-five miles, the distance across the sterile plains of New Jersey, had now to be traversed ; which with the exception of the two thriving villages of Hightstown, and Spottswood, where the train stopped, presented no object worth noticing. At South Amboy we took the steam-boat for New York : the trip having occupied me eighteen days. 243 CHAPTER XXXVI. BOARDING-HOUSE life. — general convention of 1838. COLUMBIA COLLEGE. The time passed in New- York, before sailing, and after my return from England (where I spent the Christmas of 1837*) gave me an opportunity of improving my knowledge of that city, and its agreeable society. None enjoy themselves more, and enter into the social amuse ments of the winter season with greater zest, than the New-Yorkers. The boarding-house in which I was quartered in Murray-street was a favourable example of a mode of living peculiar to the United States. The house was of the largest size, being, in fact, two (double fronted, four story) houses, communicating on each landing, and accommodating about fifty boarders ; prin cipally single young men, professional characters, and store keepers, some being married people. The charge for board and lodging depends upon the floor, and the number of chambers occupied, graduating from six dol lars a week to twenty-five. Meals were taken in a capacious dining-room on the first floor, -J* which, like the other public rooms, was furnished in a style of elegance and luxury. The table afforded every variety ; wines of all kinds were furnished if wanted ; the servants were numerous and civil, and the whole establishment was like that of a large well-regulated family. The lady at the head of this household, was a strict churchwoman} * See Appendix No. II. t Called the " second-floor " in America. 244 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. and a communicant of Gracechureh, under the pasto ral care of Dr. Lyall, a clergyman of loDg standing in New York. TJhe regular attendance of our hostess, with her family, on public worship operated favourably on her boarders, many of whom frequented the same church. This boarding-house was much patronized by clergymen visiting the city, which made it additionally agreeable. Ecclesiastically, New- York is by far the most import ant place in the United States. The parishes are thirty- one in number, one of which (Trinity) is the richest religious corporation in the country, holding several tracts of city land, the ground-rents of which yield a large annual sum. There are two chapels of ease be longing to the parish, besides the church, now erecting at a cost of half a million dollars. On the fifth of September the General Convention of the American Church assembled in Philadelphia, which I was (sorely against my inclination) prevented from attending. The most important act was the appoint ment of the Rev. Leonidas Polk to the office of " Mis sionary Bishop " to the south western territory of the country, south of 36£° with the title of "Bishop of Arkansas ; " the jurisdiction of the first missionary bishop* to be confined north of that line. Indiana, though not a territory, was at the same time placed under, the jurisdiction of the latter. It was also provided " that in case of the death or resignation of a missionary bishop the Presiding Bishop of the Church shall be, and is hereby authorised to request one of the neighbouring bishops to take charge of the vacant missionary episco- * Kemper. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1838. 245 pate until the meeting of the next General Conven tion." Dr. Kemper's appointment, in 1835^fhad been fol lowed by the best results ! From one missionary who was toiling single and unaided in his wide field of labour at the time of the bishop's removal thither, an increase had been effected of twelve settled clergymen, and more than thirty congregations. The Indians had been visited, and many converts made amongst them to the catholic faith. It was also determined to add to the foreign mission aries by sending two to Constantinople, another to the one already in China, another to Cape Palmas, and another to Texas. Three new canons were passed and seven old ones amended. Of the former the first made candidates for orders ineligible to seats in the General Convention ; the second related to the organizing of new dioceses out of existing dioceses, and the third to repealed canons.* The Bishop of Ohio, on behalf of a committee appointed on the subject of emigrating to and from fo reign Churches, reported " that it is absolutely essential to the proper discipline of this Church that no clergyman from a foreign (episcopal) Church, should be received into union with any diocese in these United States, except he bring a regular and formal dimissory letter from the foreign bishop whose diocese he was last connected with; and further, that when so received, he should be regarded on all sides as having entirely passed from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop from whom the letter dimissory is brought to that of * See Appendix. 246 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the bishop by whom it is accepted ; and further that in the opinion of this House no such clergy man, or any^ other, desirous of passing from the Church in these United States to that of any foreign state, ought to be received by any foreign bishop into connection with his diocese, except upon the receipt of a regular and formal dimissory letter from the bishop within whose jurisdiction he was last connected here ; and that when thus accepted, and only then, he be considered as discharged from all obligations of a canoni cal obedience to the discipline of this Church." Whereupon the Presiding Bishop was appointed to enter into correspondence with the different foreign primates, for the purpose of arranging as soon as possible a general concurrence in the above regulations, and to report to the House of Bishops at the next General Convention. Incipient measures were also taken for the formation of a Bible Society in connection with the Church, which design was perfected at the General Convention of 1844. The convention also ratified the act of dividing New York state into two dioceses. The Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis, D.D., L.L.D. was ap pointed " Historiographer of the Church," with a view " to his preparing from the most original sources now extant, a faithful Ecclesiastical History, reaching from the apostles' times to the formation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States;" and Dr. Francis Hawks, the " Conservator" of all the books, .pamphlets, manuscripts, &c, of the Church, was requested "to prepare at his earliest convenience a condensed view of the documents he has collected, so as to form a connected history of the latter." THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 247 The bishops on first coming together at this Conven tion adopted the following resolutions : " Resoloed, That in organising the House of Bishops for the business of another Convention, we cannot refrain from the expression of the lively sensibility which we feel at the loss of our Venerable Brother, who has so long presided over our deliberations. " Resolved, That we shall ever cherish an affectionate remembrance of the person and services of our deceased brother, the Rt. Rev. William White, D.D. ; grateful to Almighty God for his long continued usefulness to the Church, and mindful of the bright example he has left us, in the purity of his life, the integrity of his purposes, the wisdom and moderation of his counsel and the benignity of his entire character." The General Theological Seminary at New- York is a fine Church institution, which I occasionally visited, and where I formed an intimacy with several of the students, whom I found indefatigable scholars. It was first established through the instrumentality of the late Bishop Hobart, about twenty years ago, as a divinity school. All the bishops of the Church are trustees ; the professorships five. There are also twelve handsomely endowed scholarships The requirements for admission are, evidences of being a candidate for orders, and a college diploma, — or the test of an examination in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, with natural and moral philosophy, and rhetoric. To the latter, Sallust, Virgil, Cicero, the Gospels, and Zenophon's Cyropoedia, and the three first books of Homer are sufficient. There are three classes, (senior, middle, and junior) ; and at the comple tion ofthe full course the student receives a testimonial of the same signed by the professors, and countersigned 2 i 248 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. by any number of the trustees. The whole expense of the three years, including board, washing, fuel, lights, etc., can be comprised within a hundred pounds. The seminary buildings are of stone, in the plain Gothic style, and contain the usual departments of private recitation rooms, library, chapel, refectory, and professor's apartments ; it is built for 104 students. A prospect of great beauty is commanded from the win dows of the swelling bosom of the Hudson River, and the opposite shores of New Jersey. On Thursday, October the 2nd, I witnessed the " Com mencement" of Columbia College, another Church institution, which Mr. Bristed, in his elaborate work entitled "America and her Resources" says "ought to surpass any other college in the Union." Yale and Harvard, however, have double the number of students. To give the reader some idea of college pageants in the United States, I will present the order observed on this occasion. The procession moved from College Green at 9 a.m. and proceeded to Trinity church as follows : — Janitor of the College Students of Arts Candidates for Bachelor's Degrees Bachelors of Arts Candidates for Master's Degrees Masters of Arts Members of various Societies Students of the General Theological Seminary Principal of the Public Schools Teachers of the Grammar Schools of the College Graduates of the Colleges Faculty of Arts of the College President of the College COLUMBIA COLLEGE. Trustees Governor of the State Lieutenant Governor Members of the Legislature The Mayor Foreign Ministers Judges of the different Courts City Members of Congress Strangers of Distinction Foreign Consuls City Corporation Bishop of the diocess The Reverend, the Clergy Professors of the Theological Seminary Officers of the State City and County Officers The exercises in the church opened with a prayer by the president, Dr. Duer ; the candidates for the degree Artium Baccalaureus next pronounced speeches and received medals. Other students then received the degree Artium Magister. Some honorary degrees were conferred ; the Valedictory spoken by a graduate ; and the proceedings closed with the benediction^ The candidates for degrees on this, as on all similar occasions in the United States, wore under graduates' gowns, which is the only time they are used, and the principal officers their appropriate college costume, which is the same in each university where any habit is used. 250 CHAPTER XXXVII. PHILADELPHIA. DR. TYNG. JOURNEY TO THE INTE RIOR — LEWISTOWN. — HARRISBURGH. SETTLEMENT IN MY SECOND PARISH. Proud Susquehanna ! Thou art still untamed : Art fails thy noble features to subdue Since first the red man thy wild waters named, Or on thy bosom plied his light canoe. Small change is thine — tho' man has snatched thy vales To build his cities, and his fields to spread, Yet all in vain, presumptuous art assails Thy mountain borders, and thy rocky bed. Small change is thine — yet, River, tbou hast seen Races and nations perish on thy shores. But what to thee is man ? all he has been, Or all he loves, possesses, or deplores ? Ephemeral man 1 Thou seest him pass away, While thy enduring youth time cannot sear. He labours, loves, and weeps his little day And lo ! he is not — and yet thou still art here Here, in the unmarr'd wildness of thy prime : No imprint of thy Maker's hand defaced In all thy lineaments unchanged by time, The finger of Omnipotenee is traced. Adieu bright River — memory shall the while, Oft bring thy deep blue waters to my dreams ; Each frowning border, and each flowering isle, And eddies dancing in the noonday beams. I remained some time in New York, in hopes of obtaining a parochial charge in the south of that state, where some friends of a younger sister who had accom panied me on my return to America, resided. By the bishop's invitation I waited over the meeting of the diocesan Convention, now at hand, in the prospect of a vacancy occurring. In this I was disappointed, and therefore removed to Pennsylvania, recommended by the bishop to the Rev. Dr. Delancey, rector of St. Peter's in Philadelphia. dr. tyng. 251 My stay in Philadelphia introduced me to several of the clergy, among whom, besides the rector of St. Peter's, Messrs. Dorr and Clemson gave me encouragement to settle in the diocess. Dr. Delancey interested himself to procure me a parish just vacant in Wyoming Valley, but an incumbent had been appointed on the very day of his application ; I therefore determined on making a tour into the interior of the state, to which my clerical friends furnished me with letters. The evening before my departure I received high gratification from listening to a distinguished preacher and polemic in the person of Dr. Tyng, rector of the Epiphany. This gentleman enj oys a large share of public esteem on account of his independance of thought and action ; refusing to be fettered by any party shackles in pursuing a course, which frequently places him in a situa tion equally removed from the two parties which are represented, (though in very unequal proportions,) in the American Church. Like a distinguished legal nobleman, in his parliamentary course, all questions are judged of by their inherent merit, without reference to the school or faction whence they emanate, and are supported or opposed accordingly. The church of the Epiphany is externally one of the handsomest in the city, with a large portico in front, supported by a double row of pillars. Dr. Tyng (who is now preferred to St. George's, New York) was rector of the parish twelve years. I set out on my journey on Thursday the 18th of October, taking the railroad cars for Columbia, a town on the Susquehanna. The road lies through one of the most fertile regions in the United States ; the farms, by universal acknowledgment, superior to any in the 252 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. country except Western New York. Everything in this section shows an equal degree of cultivation to the agricultural districts of England. The principal place through which we passed, and which I afterwards visited more lhan once, was Lancas ter, formerly the capital city of Pennsylvania, and now the third in importance. Like Philadelphia, the streets which are well built, cross each other at right angles. There are a college, and several public schools here, with the usual complement of public offices, for the more particular description of which, see the Gazetteer. St. James church, the only episcopal place of worship, is a noble structure, attended exclusively by the wealthy citizens. At Columbia we took the canal boat, which left a short time after our arrival for the western route to Pittsburgh and the Ohio river. The views on the Sus quehanna river are picturesque in the extreme, and are considered by some equal in grandeur and variety to those of the Hudson. My own experience, however belies this overpartial estimate; though it must be confessed, the finest English river scenery sinks into insignificance when compared with the numerous views of land and lake, in almost every state I. have visited in America. After passing Marietta, Bainbiidge, and York Haven, three inconsiderable towns, the darkness which came on apace shut out the view, and on coming on deck in the morning we were near Harrisburgh the capital of the state. A few miles beyond Harrisburgh the scenery assumes a wild and magnificent appearance, which continued till we reached the confluence of the river with its SUSQUEHANNA. 253 tributary, the Juniata, seventeen miles beyond Harris burgh. Here a scene of surpassing grandeur and beauty presents itself; the canal, which is borne up by an immense stone wall extending from the Blue Mountain Gap to Duncan's Island, enters the Juniata valley ; mountain peaks rise one above another on either side, and one continuous scene of loveliness enchants the eye of the traveller till he reaches Lewistown ; — how far beyond I am unable to say from personal survey, as there I landed, after travelling seventy-two miles by rail road and one hundred by canal. Lewistown is the shire town of Mifflin county, con tains several thousand inhabitants, and finely situated on the north bank of the river. I spent a day in climb ing over the mountains which close it in on the north, and felt a wish that it might prove the place of my ministerial labours ; but such was not to be the case. A former incumbent of the parish, to whom application had been made to supply the vacancy in the rectorship, replied by accepting the offer, and his letter reached whilst I was in the town. I preached twice in the neat brick church of St. Mark on Sunday, and on Tuesday morning left for Harrisburgh. Here I met with a cordial reception from Mr. Peacock, and the Rev Charles V. Kelly the excellent rector of St. Stephen's, to which he was just removed from St. Bartholomew's in New York. He had relinquished a populous parish and a large salary from his country predilections and aversion to a city life. Though I had preached in Mr. Kelly's pulpit while staying in New York, this was the first time of our meeting ; and the interview gave rise to a mutual wish that I should fix myself in the neighbourhood, which 254 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the agreeable associations of Harrisburgh made addi tionally tempting. The only vacancy now remaining in the diocess was York, the county town to the adjoin ing county of the same name, and twenty miles from Harrisburgh. The congregation there had been repre sented to me as much reduced from deaths and the removal of several of the principal families, and in other respects as so unpromising a field that I had declined the offer of a letter to the vestry made me in Philadelphia. Whilst in Harrisburg I changed my mind, and taking a letter from Mr. Peacock to one ofthe churchwardens, I made a visit to York and preached there the following Sunday. On the next day the rectorship of the parish was, by an unanimous vote of the vestry, tendered to me, and the bishop, concurring in the election, instituted me on his next visitation to that part of the diocess after my promotion to priest's orders — which latter event took place in St. Peter's church, Philadelphia, on Sunday the 3rd of February, 1839. The latter occasion, in opening an acquaintance with one of my fellow candidates for the priesthood, proved the first step towards the formation of another connec tion besides that of a sacerdotal union to the Church. 265 CHAPTER XXXVIII. [OLD] YORK. York in Pennsylvania is one of the first settled towns in that state, coeval with Philadelphia, Bristol, Chester, Reading, and Lancaster, and laid out by William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania ; who if he exhibited but little taste in the plans of the cities and towns which he founded, was particlarly happy in fixing their sites. Of this York is a proof; its situation in the midst of a fertile, wide extended vale, and on the banks of a navi gable river, near the centre of the county, render it an eligible position for a shire town, and a market. In the old court house, Congress assembled during the revolutionary war when driven from Philadelphia, and here a " tory parson " who persisted in prajing for his majesty George the Third was ducked in the river for his loyalty, and discharged from his cure by a more summary and effectual mode of ejectment, than an episcopal mandate could effect in these days of appeal. St. John's church, the parish temple of my congre gation, was built before the Revolution, and had formerly been one of only four churches in the state. It was a substantial edifice ; the walls of the same solidity as the generality of country churches in England, and standing in a pleasant retired part of the town. Here I minis tered for two years, observing every canonical day in the ecclesiastical calender, though frequently on the lesser festivals with scarce half a dozen fellow worship- 2 K 256 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. pers. My devoted companion proved an admirable fellow-helper in my pastoral duties, and a sharer in my schemes of relaxation, which, however, never extended beyond a day's fishing, or a visit to a country pa rishioner. Our course was therefore a smooth and even one, made doubly so by the attentions and liberality of my congregation. As there are many circumstances connected with the history of the parish at York highly creditable to several of my predecessors in the office of pastor, and to the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to which it owes its founda tion, I cannot forbear in this place giving a brief sketch of it. The church building was erected in 1766 — 7 at the same time with the churches at Lancaster and Reading and when the Rev. John Andrews was missionary from the "Venerable Society" in this and Cumberland counties. The pews were let out by the year, which is still a rule of the parish, and out of these pew holders the vestry, ten in number, were and still are annually chosen. Mr. Andrews left York to take possession of the parish of St. James at Bristol in Bucks county, and was subse quently made Provoost of the University of Pennsyl vania. To him succeeded, in 1773, the Rev. Daniel Batwell, likewise an Englishman, who being a loyalist and exposed to the violence of the revolutionary agents, withdrew from this country at the period of the Refor mation, and was presented by George the Third to a parish, where he died. In 1774, the year of Mr. BatwelFs "induction," the bell was presented to the church by Queen Caroline, consort of George the Second, with whose character as delineated by the graphic pen of Scott in the " Heart of Mid Lothian " it is presumed the reader is familiar. YORH. 257 After the Revolution, the Rev. Mr. Campbell was called to the rectorship of the church in 1784, and con tinued over it for twenty years. To the exertions of this gentleman the congregatiou are indebted for the par sonage house, and the county at large for the academy adjoining it ; the money for erecting which was collected by him, principally in the cities of Philadelphia, Balti more, and Lancaster. He served the congregation faithfully during the period of his incumbency, though it somewhat declined before he left, through the prosely ting efforts of sectarian preachers ; a large portion of his flock were drawn off, and formed into a presbyterian congregation at the other end of the town. He shortly afterwards removed to the parish of St. John, Carlisle, and here he laboured very acceptably till his death. After Mr. Campbell's departure, the parish remained without a rector till April 1810, when the Rev. John Armstrong was chosen; he left in May, 1819. During his ministry the church was presented with a handsome brass chandelier by the members of St. Paul's congrega tion in Baltimore. The Rev. Grandison Aisquith was next instituted, and served two years. To him suc ceeded in March 1821 the Rev. George B. Sehaeffer, who was followed in the year 1823 by the Rev. (now Dr.) Charles Williams who remained till the spring of 1825; this gentleman was related to Lord Chancellor Thurlow, and left England in deacon's orders. He greatly improved the parsonage house by new roofing and flooring it, and did much for the benefit of the con. gregation generally. In the spring of 1825 he was elected principal of Baltimore College. He now resides in Philadelphia. The Rev. Richard D. Hall followed Dr. Williams, 258 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. and enjoyed a good share of popularity for three years ; his wife's remains are in the churchyard. On Easter day 1829 the Rev. John V. E. Thorn was engaged as an occasional supply — after which the estate went very much into decay. Members had died off, or joined other congregations, and the few remaining were discouraged by the frequent changes in the rectorship. In 1834 the Rev. Benjamin Hutchins received an invitation to take charge of the parish, and greatly were the congregation indebted to that zealous missionary labourer for his voluntary and unpaid services. He exerted himself to gather the scattered members, and during the eighteen months that he was at York, expended between eight and nine hundred dollars in improving both church and parsonage ; besides present ing the parish with a handsome set of silver com munion plate. Going hence to another field of labour, his place was supplied by the Rev. Walter E. Franklin, who served two years, and left in August 1838, a few weeks before the writer took charge of the parish. From this brief outline it appears that within a cen tury this congregation has had twelve successive pastors, and that during the last forty years the average term of residence has been two years each : a good practical illustration this of the voluntary system. 259 CHAPTER XXXIX. 1HE CHURCH IN DELAWARE. — PEN NSYLVANIAN CONVENTION. The time, however, arrived, though much before our wishes, for my companion to rejoin her English friends. In the second spring of my connexion with York her return being deemed necessary, a visit to Niagara Falls was decided upon before her departure from American scenes. After a month spent amongst friends in Phila delphia, I joined her in that city on the 7th of May. Before commencing our journey, I received a request from Mr. M'Calla of Wilmington to take his duty the following Sunday. The distance to Wilmington by the railroad is twenty seven miles. It is the metropolis of the adjoining state of Delaware, finely situated on the river Brandy wine near its junction with the Delaware river. The road passes through a beautiful country, and the old town of Chester, settled long before the grant of the colony to William Penn. There are two populous parishes and churches in Wilmington, besides several resident clergy. I received a hospitable welcome from Mr. Bradford, one of the churchwardens, whose house surrounded by grounds laid out in the English style, about half a mile from the town, proved the abode of hospitality and refinement. I heard much of the history of the Church in Dela ware during this visit that awakened my interest and sympathies. It is one of those regions whose spiritual 260 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. wants were early supplied by the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, with that liberality which has marked all its proceedings from its institution, though the Church of Sweden has the honour of having first planted it.* Before the Revo lution there were forty churches in this state erected by the Society, or through the efforts of its missionaries. Many of these are in ruins, and only fourteen clergymen now belong to the diocess besides the bishop, two of them being attached to the college of Newark. The bishop's chair is in St. Andrew's church Wilmington. On Tuesday the 19th of May, the second Convention of Pennsylvania since my connection with the diocess assembled in Philadelphia, in which I took my seat. The proceedings in Pennsylvania conventions are very similar to those described in a former chapter. The Convention sermon on this occasion was by the Rev John Rodney, Rector of St. Luke's Germantown, and was a sound and masterly defence of the peculiar doc trines of the Churctn The ministerial commission afford ed him a theme, on which, in its origin, privileges, and responsibilities, he enlarged with great fullness and power; concluding his discourse by exhibiting to the assembled clergy the Church in her true character, as the nursing mother of her people, in their infancy, their re ligious training, their guardianship, their confirmation, their spiritual sustenance in the Eucharist, their constant counsellor, and their ghostly comforter in the hour of death ; exhorting his brethren in the priesthood to * With the same "nursing care" while Delaware remained a Swedish co ony that the English Church showed to its western progeny. The oldest episcopal churches in Delaware, and those in Pennsylvania were built by the Swedes. PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION OF 1840. 261 " make full proof of their ministry," by a faithful and diligent discharge of their parochial duties. The diocess of Pennsylvania is the tenth in the United States in territorial extent, and the third in population, and in the number of clergy. The rites of hospitality, though not wholly disregarded by the clergy and laity of the cities and towns of the middle states, are less understood than in the north or south. A convention, or clerical gathering of any kind in New England is a signal for invitations to every per son officially attending ; in which there is frequently a struggle among the good church people of the town for the largest number of guests, who not only partake of the hospitality of the table, but are received as temporary inmates of the family. The contrast to this reception in Philadelphia is sufficiently striking ; where the country clergy think themselves fortunate enough if they get a solitary invitation to dinner during the sitting of Conven tion, and are driven to the boarding houses and taverns for lodging, which their slender resources frequently make a serious tax. The Convention was attended by the Right Rev. Dr Kemper " Missionary Bishop of the North Western Ter ritory." He had been appointed to this extensive over sight by the general convention of 1835, as stated in Chapter XIX. Besides taking the temporary jurisdic tion of Indiana and Missouri, (the latter of which has now its own prelate.*) Bishop Kemper's regular field of operation covers several hundred thousand square miles which has been pretty generally visited by him, and * Cicero S. Hawks D.D. brother of Dr. Hawks, who at the Conven tion of 1835 declined the episcopate of the S. W. Territory. 262 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. many parishes planted.- I waited over the next Sunday to hear this episcopal. pioneer of the cross preach in St. Stephen's church. The sermon was practical in its character, delivered with considerable animation. His language is full and flowing, though the effect is some what marred by a strained unnatural utterance, in the more rapid periods. The style and matter are those of a man whose mind is *well disciplined by study and observation, and his feelings absorbed by the subjects on which he treats. In the afternoon I heard the missionary bishop again at Christchurch, and preached myself in the evening in All Saints church ; a plain unsightly edifice in the south division of the city, belonging to a new parish to which the extension of the city in that direction had given birth. 263 CHAPTER XL. ANDALUSIA MURDER. — BRISTOL. The journey to Niagara was commenced on Monday, when the mail line, which takes passengers the whole distance to New York, was preferred. This gave us an opportunity of seeing several towns in Pennsylvania and New Jersey which the other hne of travel leaves out. The first we passed through was Frankfort, in the same county as Philadelphia, a lively country place, seated in the midst of a cultivated plain watered by a river of that name. At Andalusia in Bucks county, a few miles beyond, a dreadful tragedy had been lately perpetrated, in the murder of a schoolmaster named Chapman by a man whom his wife had admitted to her favours. It excited additional sensation by the adulteress's own participa tion in the act. The moral sense is frequently shocked by these acts in the United States ; and latterly, assassina tions, seductions, incendiarisms, highway and house robberies have increased at a fearful ratio. While it is admitted that the perpetrators of these crimes are as frequently foreigners as Americans — perhaps more fre quently — still it is no less one of the legitimate fruits of the voluntary principle in religion, and the absence of a paternal system of religious guardianship, by which the great mass of the people are left under no religious in fluence except that which the methodist ministers acquire over them, which, though beneficial as far as it 2 L 264 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. goes, when the instruments of excitement are not used too freely, is, after all, a poor insufficient substitute for the high, enlightened, scriptural, and rational scheme of popular religious instruction and superintendance, created by the English parochial system. In the present case, however, the parties filled a res pectable rank in society ; and if one cause more than another gives birth to the laxity of morals, which is asserted from the American pulpit and in the other public organs to be spreading amongst this class, it is unquestionably the inundation of light French literature which has lately flooded the country, and which is greedily devoured by almost every class of readers. To suppose that the youth of a country will have the oppor tunity of studying the scenes and portraitures with which these works abound, without imbibing something of the same spirit, and emulating the models so attract ively presented, is to suppose human nature different in America from what we find it in every other clime. The poison, no doubt, is working rapidly and virulently through the whole social fabric of that community, nor are persons in any rank exempt from its influence. The evil is perpetuated, and made more extensive, by the, extreme cheapness which the absence of an interna tional protective law enables the panderers to this cor rupt taste to furnish the reprints. Any of De Kock's, Paul Feval's, " George Sand's," or Victor Hugo's novels can be procured for a shilling, which is doubtless an ex cellent argument against the foreign copyright. Of course, I do not exempt, in this aggregate of influ ence, the novels of Bulwer, who is in high vogue in the United States ; and (startling as the fact may be to English readers) is better esteemed as an author than JOURNEY TO NIAGARA. 265 Scott or Cooper ! The farcical character of his scenes — as sickly as they are against nature, and the usages of society, and their maudlin sentimentalism lessens only in a degree the effect of that " liberalism " in morals as well as religion and politics, of which he is the apolo gist. Bulwer among the higher classes is a fit cotem- porary of Reynolds among the lower. Both are the ene mies of social order, and the unblushingadvocates of vice. To this evil may be added that unbridled licentious ness of the American press, which gives publicity to cases in the criminal courts of the country and in the private walks of life which no English paper would ven ture to print; public opinion would not here tolerate such exposures in any of the daily journals admitted into respectable houses. This remark is not intended to apply universally in the. United States. A large pro portion of the daily and weekly newspapers, and other periodicals, are free from the offence of catering to the worst and lowest passions of human nature ; but from the absence of any. stamp duty on newspapers, and the facilities with which they are therefore established by persons of no character (or capital either) the evils of a licentious and infidel press are incalculably greater, and more wide spread in that country than in Britain. I am sustained in my view of this subject by the fol lowing article, from one of the most respectable class of daily journals published in Philadelphia, which city it may be here remarked, ranks deservedly high for the moral tone of its newspaper press, though the scenes lately enacted there show that its influence for good on the lower orders is very partial : — " It is the opinion of many philanthropists and statis ticians, who have closely investigated the causes and the 266 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. progress of crime, that publicity of the revolting or remarkable murders, etc., that take place, may be assigned as one reason for their increase. This would seem to be a well founded opinion. Individuals who have noticed with care the extraordinary murders which have been committed in this country within a year or two, must have perceived the striking similarity in many of the details. Witness for example, the case of Mr. Adams, of New York, murdered by Colt ; of Mr. Suy- dam, in New Jersey, and also the recent murder of a whole family in Warren county in the same state. In New England, still more recently, two females, residing but a short distance from each other, were robbed and murdered in open day, the guilty in each case adopting pretty nearly the same means. So with other instances which we cannot recal to memory. On looking over our files for a recent week, we find twelve murders com mitted in different parts of the country. The progress of crime, indeed, seems frightful ! Is it not possible to discover some remedy ? Is not the subject worthy the most serious attention of our authorities and philanthro pists ? — Cannot the press assist in some way, in checking the sanguinary spirit which seems abroad in the coun try 1 Mr. Farr, an English gentleman, who has investi gated the subject of suicides and crimes generally, with much attention, suggests that some plan for discontinu ing by common consent the detailed dramatic tales of murder, suicide, and bloodshed in the newspapers, is well worthy the attention of their editors. He says — " No fact is better established in science than that sui cide, and murder may perhaps he added, is often com mitted from imitation. A single paragraph may suggest suicide to twenty persons ; some particular chance, but JOURNEY TO NIAGARA. £67 apt, expression seizes the imagination, and the disposi tion to repeat the act in a moment of morbid excitement proves irresistible. Do the advantages of publicity counterbalance the evil attendant on one such death ? Why should cases of suicide be recorded in the public papers any more than cases of fever ? " Others, however, agree, and not without force, that the certainty of publicity acts powerfully as a preventive. This may be true in some cases, and with some minds. It is equally true, however, that many a suicide has been caused by a newspaper paragraph, or the apprehension of one. The case of Lieut. Wyche may be cited as an example. We have known in our own experience, individuals who have been rendered perfectly mad for the time, by the appearance in newspapers of erroneous or unfounded charges. Under such circumsances, the penalty of publicity is indeed frightful, while the party being innocent, the press is made the instrument of per petrating an enormous outrage. Constituted as society is at present, and vitiated as the public taste is, it would** be impossible for any journal aiming to be a newspaper, to omit all notices of crime, and yet receive a liberal degree of public support. Unfortunately, many of those who most denounce improper newspaper publications, so-called, are among the most eager to peruse them. It rarely happens, for example, that a journalist is com mended, applauded or patronised for omitting the details of an exciting and romantic, and yet indelicate story ; while on the contrary, those who give all the particulars — who spread them out to the greatest length, and furnish the accounts in the most vivid terms, are the most sought for. While we admit the impossibility of excluding every thing that relates to crime, we think 268 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. that something in the way of reform might be accom plished. Minute details might be avoided by the repu table journals ofthe day, and with advantage. But even this could not be done without some general understand ing. If it be true, as the majority of reasoners upon the subject argue, that the publication of all details of sui cides, murders and "other fearful offences, is attended with evil to the public morals, the practice is one which calls loudly for reform. But the best remedy exists with the community. If our citizens eagerly obtain and peruse journals which delight in spreading these details before their readers, and which are known to make a feature of this particular kind of news, they should hold themselves responsible for the offence and the conse quences, at least to quite as great an extent as the journalists." * It is indeed a lamentable fact that the most exception able class of newspapers in America, have by far the largest circulation, and that amongst the highest class of readers as well as the lowest. This has been explained as owing to the superior recommendations which these very papers possess in all that constitutes the most import* ant features of a daily paper — viz., copiousness, and newness of published reports relative to mercantile and political doings, market prices, variations in the publie funds, shipping and foreign news, etc., etc. The latest and most accurate intelligence on these points forms, unquestionably, the principal, and with many readers, the sole recommendation of a newspaper : but is it indeed the case, that the oldest and most respectable establishments in America suffer themselves to be ex celled in these most important requisites of a periodical *Xhe Enquirer, and National Gazette, Nov. 21, 1843. JOURNEY TO NIAGARA. 269 press by rival penny sheets, started sometimes by adven turous and needy foreigners,* whose only object is gain, and with whom the moral feelings of the community is the last consideration that influences them in catering for the public appetite ? If such is the apathy or the want of industrious enterprize which the proprietors of American newspapers of the more reputable class evince, their cases afford a startling contradiction of that spirit of emulation which it is their perpetual boast belongs to all classes in that country ; and a heavy responsibility rests on them for the vast and daily accumulating spread of atheistical and disorganizing principles, produced by the circulation of the smaller class of irresponsible vehi cles of news. There is of private domestic scandal — nothing at which humanity shudders — nothing too pol luting, too incendiary, or too injurious to youthful morals, excluded from the columns of these prints, if it only comes under the department of " news. " But a truce to these reflections, for Bristol appears in sight. Few places are so beautifully situated, and surrounded by so many charming scenes as this thriving town. It stands on the bank of the river, commanding an extensive prospect of the swelling stream and its verdant sides, with Burlington on the opposite shore. St. James's church, belongs to a parish of early founda tion, at present under the pastoral care of Mr. Perkins. The " episcopalians " here are a numerous and influ- * The " New York Herald," the best newspaper in ?America for all the purposes of a commercial newspaper, is the property of an unnaturalized Scotchman, who was first an operative in " The Courier" office in that city. He commenced his sheet as a penny hebdomadal of the humblest class. 270 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. » ential body. I made several subsequent visits to Bris tol ; and shortly before leaving the country formed a very agreeable acquaintance with a clergyman named Johnson of this place, now settled in Maryland. At the sudden bend of the river, nine or ten miles beyond Bristol, we crossed the broad Delaware by a substantial bridge of five arches, resting on stone piers and abutments ; which brings us into New Jersey, some of whose characteristics and principal localities I shall describe in a future chapter. 271 CHAPTER XLI. THE HUDSON. "Tis night — a calm, clear, silvery night, And hill and vale, and wooded height, Beneath the moonbeams sleep, And silence in the haunts of men, In village gay, and lovely glen, Doth peaceful vigils keep ! All quietly we swiftly glide Above thy gentle murmuring tide. Oh ! bright and beauteous stream ! Yet still I stand with swelling breast, And eyes that cannot close in rest, And gaze where dimly in the west, Catskill, thy mountains, gleam ! It seems a dream — a vision fair, That I have breathed thy pure free air, And scaled thy lofty brow, The snowy clouds beneath my feet, Thrown as a veil, a radiant sheet,. O'er all the world below ; Or, floating by, like thrones of light, Revealing to my raptured sight, Scenes such as fancy loves ; While from that distant, lower sphere, Rose up, in notes so soft and clear, An angel might have paused to hear, The music of the groves. Anon. At New York we took the steamboat North America for the village of Catskill, where we had resolved on stop ping on our way. The palisadoes on the left of the Hudson, or North river, are one of the first, and among the most striking objects presented to the traveller's eye. They commence at Hoboken and continue for about twenty miles, hke a high wall of unequal height and broken summit. Well may the American be proud of his rivers and mountains on moving up this noble river. The views are ever changing, and always grand 2 M 272 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. and strikng. Fort Independence, Tarry town, Singuai, Sing, Dunderburgh Mountain, and Peekskill, are passed in succession, and the famed Highlands now bring every one on the highest deck to gaze and admire scenery which surely the world cannot surpass. St. Anthony's Nose, West Point, Fort Putnam, Newburgh, Ham burgh, ^Poughkeepsie, and Hyde Park, familiar by des cription to the reader, are left *behind, and the Catskill mountains are now seen lifting their giant heads to, and above the clouds , making the pulse beat quick in an ticipation of the long-cherished gratification of reaching that glorious summit, and communicating some of the inspiration which has given fire to the pen of poet and legendist, whose glowing descriptions invest its brow, and the surrounding scenes with a romance almost su pernatural. Hiring an open carriage and pair in tbe pleasant village of Catskill, every house and building of which seemed to speak of Rip Van Winkle and his rusty fire lock, we were soon on our way to the base of the moun tain, or rather the heap of mountains, piled one above the other, their topmost apex being lost ever and anon in the mist. At a turn on the winding road which brings you about half way up, stands a humble shed, whose sign informs the by passer that he has reached the veri table spot where Rip Van Winkle took his long nap. Who does not like to favour these " cheats on travellers, and to dwell with credulous complacency in the full persuasion that just there — on that very resting place- shaded by those spreading beech trees, inviting to re pose, slept Rip Van Winkle after taking that powerful potion. A few more turns in the winding road, and the toil- the hudson. ;J73 some ascent is finished, after a ride of twelve miles. From the summit of the Mountain House, what a view is spread out before the eye ! The succession of cities , towns, villages, hamlets, farms, and fields, with the silver stream of the Hudson and her tributary branches seem endless. Distant mountains appear as mere ine qualities of the surface ; and the numberless vessels on the river's expansive bosom look like insects playing and moving about on the surface of the water. We passed the whole of the evening, till these objects were all shut out by its gathering shadows, on the spacious piazza in front of the house of entertainment. In the morning the eyes were feasted with renewed, and increased gratification, and the telescope used repeatedly to bring the different localities pointed out by our host, nearer to our ' view. At eleven we went in our hired vehicle to the romantic Kauterskill falls, where two beautiful lakes discharge their superabundant waters over a precipice of 210 feet ; the water being broken one third of the distance makes two falls ; its further course is concealed among the woods of the ravine below. More dream-like still, that wild, lone spot, That ne'er in life can be forgot, - Where falls thy mountain stream, — Where, varying, beautiful and bright, All radiant with graceful life, Thy foaming waters gleam, That, to the charmed, and wondering eye, Seem gushing from the very sky, To their deep bed below, While through the silent, listening wood, That from creation's morn hath stood, And hath all change and time withstood, Tby peaceful murmurs flow. 274 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. What rapture did our bosoms thrill, As trembling, breathless, pale and still, We stood in that lone glen ! The spirit longed to burst its chain, To seek its native skies again Nor mingle more with men ! From earthly stain and bondage free, To follow its high destiny, To bathe in heaven's pure light, To learn from seraph's burning tongue, More of His skill, whose praise is sung, By nature's harp to music strung By every fountain bright. After dinner at the Mountain House, and again dwel ling for an hour on the unequalled prospect, we got into our carriage, and reached the landing place at the village just in time for the steamboat from New York, in which we pursued our way up the river, forty-three miles, which brought us to Albany. Thy peaks are fading from my view, A lingering look — a last adieu ! Ye mountain heights farewell ! May we, who gazed with kindling eyes, With burning thoughts, in mute surprise, On vale, and stream and dell, In that fair land by angels trod, On Zion's hill the mount of God Once more in rapture stand ! Though never more our paths may meet, May we again hold converse sweet, And feel our hearts in oneness beat, In that far, " Better Land ! " During the passage we passed several towns and villages, among them Kinderhook, the country residence of the then President. It is a small Dutch built village ; the house, from what we' could see of it, much of the same character. Mr. Van Buren was at this time be- THE HUDSON. 275 coming daily more unpopular, as the embarrassments of the country, the result, as it was said, of his predeces sor's policy (in which he had co-operated) increased. Numbers werebreaking from the ranks of " democracy," and attaching themselves to the " whig " party ; and as the presidential term of office was nearly expired, poli tical feeling was now reaching its highest point. The occasion of approaching Kinderhook, often celebrated in election songs, and the political caricatures, seemed to stir up all the party feeling of the passengers, with whom the epithets of " King Martin, " " the little ma gician," with their associates of " kitchen cabinet,'' " cabbage garden," " gold spoons," " paper and twine," and other expressions familiar to every one at this time, through the speeches of politicians, and the rhymes and pictures of caricaturists, were liberally used. As the boat rounded the pier to leave some passengers, several voices struck up the following song to the tune of " Yankee Doodle." For Harrison and liberty Let every freeman shout, sirs ; Let's meet Van Buren at the polls, And turn the despot out, sirs ! For Harrison then keep it up, For Harrison and law, sirs : Too long we have to despots bowed, Now freedom's sword we draw, sirs. When war's destructive blaBt came on, Oh, where was Harrison, sirs ! His country's annals well can show How he the battles won, sirs. For Harrison, &c. 276 ecclesiastical reminiscences. No more we'll trust to cabbage heads, Or Kinderhook physicians ; No more we'll bow to cabin ets Of fox-like sly magicians. For Harrison, &c. We call the Hero from the plough, In freedom's cause to cheer us ; The kitchen cabinet must go, And Van himself must fear us. For Harrison, &c. We strike in freedom's holy cause, 'Gainst those who would enslave us ; And lo ! our Cincinnatus comes, From Goth and Van to save us. For Harrison, &c. The " Cincinnatus " of this popular doggerel was Ge neral Harrison, the " whig " candidate for the Presi dency, whose untimely death a few weeks after his inauguration spread a universal gloom over the country, and appeared at the time, as far as poor human foresight can understand events, the most disastrous one that had ever befallen the United States. A venerable hero, and an uncorrupted politician, the federalists of the nation turned their eyes on him, as what was supposed to be the effect of Jackson's policy began to work its wide spread mischief. Harrison was called literally from his plough, and the quiet avocations of his farm on the river Ohio, to fill the executive chair ; when summoning to his Cabinet the most talented men of his party, he set himself to correct what he regarded as the evil of his predecessor's acts. Before, however, any one important measure could be consummated, he was called away to another world. America mourned one of her truest patriots, and the Church of America, at the same time, lost one of her most devout and most attached THE HUDSON. 277 laymen. The new President had been for many years an active member of the " episcopal " church in Ohio ; had sat in her ecclesiastical councils ; and, in his own parish, had regularly discharged the duties of a vestry man. Like the first American President, to whom his political admirers love to compare him, "he was ga thered to his fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience, in the communion of the Catholic Church, in the confidence of a certain faith, in the comfort of a reasonable, religious and holy hope, in favour with God, and in perfect charity with the world. " * The constitution of the United States, which in such cases makes the Vice President the successor in the executive chair, gave the reins of power to a man of very inferior parts, who had been proposed to his first post by the Convention which nominated Harrison in order to conciliate certain states, whose local prejudices it was apprehended would be in some measure awakened by the nomination of a western man for President ; the force of accidental circumstances had thrust him into public life, in which he had played a very secondary part. His very want of abilities was his recommenda tion ; as the contingency of General Harrison's death made it important to provide against any interruption in the schemes which were to be carried out during his administration, and Tyler, the new Vice President, was loud in his professions of whig principles. The " whig " party greatly erred in this step ! f Whether the country at large was the gainer or not, has yet to be proved. The new President had fallen into the hands of some * Visitation Office. t It must however, be admitted, that the country has greatly improved in substantial prosperity since the termination of the national bank char- 278 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. wily politicians belonging to the opposition, and, without even consulting with his cabinet, vetoed every important measure which his party carried through Congress. His ministers perceived too late that they- were not wanted, and retired from their posts. One only, Mr. Daniel Webster, remained, at the earnest solicitation of his friends ; by which, it must be granted, in his admi rable diplomatic policy in conducting the North-eastern boundary treaty, the country was saved from serious difficulties with Great Britain, and other catastrophes averted. Jackson's and Van Buren's policy was con tinued by Tyler, whose successor, the present President, follows out the same line with a bolder and more states man-like purpose. Whether for good or for evil, Jeffer- sonian " democracy " has certainly long obtained the upper hand in the United States, and the opposition party is hopelessly excluded from any prospect of reco vering the reins of government. The reader must pardon this digression from the simple narrative of a passage up the Hudson river, and a view of its picturesque beauties. If such a theme as American politics disturbs or dissipates his contempla tion of the glorious scenes with which it abounds, though beheld through the faint medium of a partial description, let the owner of Kinderhook receive the blame, and the ter, and that the first shock produced by that act in the disturbance of the monetary system having past, every department of commercial and financial operation has acquired greater stability and firmness. Capital is more epually divided ; exchanges are low and uniform j manufactured goods are cheap ; labour is sufficiently remunerated ; and the ruinous system of speculation, which was doubtless a leading cause of the disas trous re-action in 1834-5-6-7, is effectually checked. Another change in the monetary system of the country, would, therefore, be a misfortune. THE HUDSON. 279 reader may find all the sympathy he wants from the words of another song, in which the male, and a few of the female voices, are now swelling a new chorus as the boat makes its onward way : — Of the little Magician we're tired, And of the Sub-treasury too ; We'll scout him, the people are fired With love for Old Tippecanoe. When Martin was housed like a chattel, Opposed to the war as you know, Our hero was foremost in battle, And conquered at Tippecanoe. The fame of our hero grows wider, And spreads the whole continent through ; Then fill up a mug of hard cider, And drink to Old Tippecanoe. We hear many thousand good farmers. United together so true, Shout loudly, " Van Buren will harm us, We'll vote for old Tippecanoe." To bring down the price of our labour, Van Buren is striving to do ; Then come every man with his neighbour, And vote for Old Tippecanoe. The kitchen of filth must be cleansed, And every thing fitted anew ; And all the materials amended, Directed by Tippecanoe. And now in the month of November, The people together will go, To turn out the great money spender, And put in Old Tippecanoe. The people with plenty will prosper, And homewards Van Buren will go, True principles then we will foster, Through President Tippecanoe. 2 N 280 CHAPTER XLII. NIAGARA. The city of Albany is 240 miles from Philadephia ; a railroad unites it to Buffalo, the great emporium of the lakes, 342 miles from Albany where steamboats con stantly leave for Chicago in Illinois ; thus transporting travellers to the west from New York 14110 miles of the way by steam. From Albany, a place of about the same date as New York, and now the capital of the state, we took the railroad to Syracuse, which we reached about noon the next day ; the rest of the distance to Buffalo was accom plished by stage, one night being passed at Canan- daigua, the shire town of Ontario county, seated at the head of a lake bearing its name. The day afer leaving Utica, which we reached on the first morning of our journey from Albany, gave us an opportunity of enjoy ing a succession of views of rare beauty, as we journeyed through a country which has well been pronounced by various travellers unequalled for fertility in the United States. We reached Buffalo late Saturday evening, and found excellent accommodation at the American Hotel, a house of large dimensions, and possessing every comfort belonging to the most luxurious establishment of the kind. The view of Buffalo the next morning greatly. exceeded my expectations. Knowing that it had been burnt down by the British in 1813, I certainly was npt NIAGARA. 281 prepared to see a city, handsomely and tastefully built, with public squares and buildings all wearing a more European look than half the towns on the Atlantic coast ; much more so than Philadelphia. Yet such is Buffalo, its population only two hundred in number in 1820, is now two thousand eight hundred ! In the morning 1 found my way to Trinity Church, a fine Gothic structure, where I had the pleasure of hear ing Dr. Shelton, its worthy rector. The galleries were half filled with soldiers, part of a regiment then quartered in the city. The next morning we left in a steamboat for the falls, twenty two miles distant. I cannot describe my feelings when, about noon, the column of spray appeared in the distance, and the sound of the mighty cataract first became distinctly audible. They were, in truth, overwhelming ! Landing within a few miles of the spot, we soon reached the hotel, where after a hurried repast, we hastened to Goat Island, and received our first im pressions. Goat Island divides the cataract ; the fall on the left, looking down the river, being about twice the width of that on the right, which is again broken by a rocky projection. The whole fall made by these three streams does not roll over a ledge running at right angles from its course as many suppose, but extends diagonally from one to another, which makes the American four hundred yards lower down the river then the Canada or Horse Shoe Fall, so called from the shape ofthe projecting ledge over which it tumbles. This feature in Niagara Falls gives great variety to the views of it, and takes nothing from its grandeur, as from various points the whole descent of water is seen at once. 282 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The evening was spent on the American side ; after wards we took the ferry to the Canada side to change the scene. On the deep stream where the boat crosses, the objects around and above us were grand in the ex treme. The cataract spanned by its perpetual bow, and the deep, steady, constant, roll of the measureless volume of water enchained us in speechless admiration and wonder. " The imagination baffled, strives in vain ! The wildest streams that ever poets feign Thou dost transcend 1 There is no power in song To paint the wonders that around me throng.' ' On the Canada side we descended the winding stair case leading to a projecting rock which extends nearly half way under the Horse Shoe Fall, having previously made the necessary change in our dress in the frame building at the summit ; and, accompanied by a trusty guide, we ventured under the foaming cataract, amidst a constant descent of spray which several times took my little companion off her feet, and threatened us both with being carried away with its force. The office- keeper had informed us that the river was unusually swollen, and had suggested that " the lady had better not venture," but " the lady " was not one to turn back in the pursuit of such a novel adventure, and was too intense a lover of natural beauties to be deterred from enjoying a scene so awfully grand. The following offi cial certificate possesses, I suppose, the same relative value as a college diploma, with perhaps greater ve racity : — NIAGARA. 283 NIAGARA FALLS, U.C. THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE REV. EDWARD WAYLEN HAS PASSED BEHIND THE GREAT FALLING SHEET OF WATER, TO TERMINATION ROCK; BEING 230 FEET BEHIND THE GREAT HORSE-SHOE FALL' Given under my hand, at the office of the General Register of the names of visitors at the Table Rock, this 3rd day of June 1840. Isaiah Starkey. After dwelling amid these scenes of wonder for seve ral days, and once more crossing to the Canada side, we reluctantly left them for Lewistown, seven miles lower down the river, where we took an English steam boat called " The Great Britain " for Oswego on the south- east shore of Lake Ontario, a further distance of 150 miles. Opposite to Lewistown is the town of Queenstown, the scene of a memorable engagement during the last war, and above it on the hill summit stands a fine monument, erected to the memory of the British General (Brock) who fell in that strife. Our course now lies for the lake, reached by the deep stream formed by that mighty avalanche of waters on which we have lately gazed. In an hour or two, the distant expanse of an inland sea is visible — and now we are borne on its bosom, the setting sun declining amidst a halo of glory — " Curtain'd with cloudy red, Pillows hiB chin upon an orient wave." 284 ecclesiastical reminiscences. I certainly remember nothing so beauteous as the scenes which that lake journey*presented — calm, quiet, lovely and delicious, I wished it could last for ever, or that every evening wonld be as pleasant, and the even ing of life as serene and peaceful. The moon arose in her splendour as the western horizon grew dim, and we lingered on deck till the midnight clock reminded us that our place of destination would be reached by early morn, when a day's travel was before us. At Oswego we took the canal boat, which follows the windings of the Oswego River to Syracuse, thirty-eight miles distant, from whence Philadelphia was reached by the same route as before. At New York Miss Waylen left in a London packet for home. Before proceeding to York I received a request to officiate at West Chester on the Sunday that its rector, Mr. Richard Newton, supplied the then vacant church of St. Paul in Philadelphia; (and which resulted in his being invited to assume the rectorship of the same). I record this incident to express the pleasure which my visit to one of the prettiest spots in Pennsylvania, and the acquaintance there formed (though unrenewed) with the family of Mr. Newton, and the Rev. Mr. Rees of the same place afforded me. The latter was at this time prin cipal of a classical academy in the town, to which he now adds the charge of St. Paul's parish at West Whiteland. The church at West Chester, built in the Gothic order, with a graceful spire, is a good specimen of the taste and enterprize of the parishioners. The east window is of stained glass. Besides Mr. Rees's Academy, there is a fine seminary belonging to the Romanists adjoining the town, the students of which, to my surprise, attended NIAGARA. 285 church in the afternoon accompanied by one of the tutors. This town lies nine miles out of the railroad line from Philadelphia to York. I reached the inn whence the road diverges from the latter a little before the cars passed, and got to my parish in the evening, having travelled in my Niagara trip alone 1377 miles. 286 CHAPER XLIII. A WEEK IN NEW JERSEY. Mild were his doctrines, and not one discourse But gained in softness what it lost in force : Kind his opinions ; — he would not receive An ill report, nor evil act believe ; " If true, 'twas wrong ; but blemish great or small " Have all mankind ; yea, sinners are we all." If ever fretful thought disturb'd his breast — If ought of gloom that cheerful mind oppress'd — It sprang from innovation .- it was then He spoke of mischief made by restless men ; Not by new doctrines : never in his life Would he attend to controversial strife, For sects he cared not — " They are not of us " Nor need we, brethren, their concerns discuss ; " But 'tis the change — the schism at home I feel j " Ills few perceive, and none have skill to heal : " Not at the altar our young brethren read " (Facing their flock) the Decalogue and Creed ; " But to their duty in their desks they stand 1 ' With naked surplice, lacking hood and band : " Churches are now of holy song bereft, " And half our ancient customs changed or left ; *' Mistaken choirs refuse the solemn strain " Of ancient Gregory, which from our's amain " Comes flying forth from aisle to aisle about " Sweet links of harmony, and long drawn out. Crabbe. I continued at York till late in September of the same year, when the increasing feebleness of aged parents, and other family considerations created a strong desire to make a visit to England, for which I obtained the permission of my vestry, who gave me, with the bishop's consent, a six month's furlough, accompanied with *• Resolutions" expressive of their good feeling. On the Friday before my departure, the Rev. Robert Davies, rector of Belleville in New Jersey, arrived on a RIVERSIDE. 287 long promised visit, and preached in St. John's the Sunday following. On Monday (St. Matthew's Day) I took leave of my people in a farewell sermon; amongst those present besides my own congregation were all the protestant ministers of the town, and as many of their several congregations as the building would accommo date. On Tuesday, September 22nd, I bade adieu for a time to York, and, accompanied by my friend Davies, reached Philadelphia in the evening, where on the next morning we became guests of Mr. Neilson, a hospitable and pub hc spirited citizen. His house, table, and whole domes tic arrangements are a fair model of the English gentleman or peer. There was present on this occasion, besides Mrs. Neilson and several ladies, a brother of our host's, who holds an official post near the person of the Governor General of Canada. Thursday morning, we took the steamboat to Bur lington, when I first became acquainted with Bishop Doane, who was one of the passengers ; he invited my companion and myself to the episcopal residence at Riverside, which we reached a little after noon. We met at the dinner-table Dr. Dorr, the rector of Christ church Philadelphia, an intimate acquaintance and frequent visitor of the bishop's, and two of his own clergy. The occasion was a highly agreeable one, en hanced by the presence of Mrs. Doane, whose manners, highly polished and full of kindness, render her a fit mistress of a bishop's house. The conversation related chiefly to England, in which all present showed them selves well conversant with the current literature of our country. Having engaged to be at Hoboken, seventy miles 2 o ,£88 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. distant, the following morning, we left Riverside in the afternoon for Trenton the capital of the state. The state house and governor's residence, city hall, and churches of this pleasant city are all substantial build ings, which a subsequent visit enabled me to inspect. Trenton, it will be remembered, is classical ground to the Americans. Here General Washington in the campaign of 1776, with his army of five thousand men, crossed the Delaware at the dead of a winter's night and taking the British commander's force by surprise, achieved one of his most signal victories ; numbers of the Hessians were killed, upwards of a thousand made prisoners, and the rest fled to Bordentown, while (so, at least, says the American historian) only nine Ameri cans fell in the engagement. Ten miles further brought us to Princeton, celebrated for its college under the management of presbyterians. Here another battle was fought during the revolutionary war. Kingston, New Brunswick, Rahway, Elizabeth- town, and Newark were passed in the dark. We found our friend, the rector of Hoboken, occupy ing a pleasant residence overlooking a great part of that favourite rural retreat. Hoboken is famed for its woods and gardens, and is as much frequented by the New Yorkers as Kensington and Hampstead by the Lon doners. Here, however, as almost every where in the United States, the levelling and innovating spirit of utilitarianism is soon to sweep away its picturesque beauties. The natural inequalities of the ground, now covered with trees, and intersected with winding walks along a most beautiful shore, are already "laid off" — " planned " — as a branch of the city. The ground is to be levelled, and filthy unsightly streets, arranged at NEWARK. BELLEVILLE. 289 right angles like a chess- board, are to take the place of gardens and shrubberies whose beauty now draws thousands from the close unwholesome city on every Sunday and holiday to wander through the verdant glades, and taste the health-giving breezes from the bay. The board of health ought to forbid such a spolia tion ! After an agreea blevisit, which we promised to repeat, we returned to Newark, where I became acquainted with Dr. Chapman and Mr. Henderson, the rectors of the two parishes of Gracechureh and Trinity, in that city. There are about 19,000 inhabitants in Newark, which stands on the Passaic river, fifteen miles below the Falls. Its streets are wide and well shaded, the greatest architectural ornament is Trinity church which stands in an open green in the centre of the city. Dr. Chapman, with whom we spent part of the day, and whom I have since frequently met on different occasions, is the well-known author of several volumes of controversial sermons, which show an uncommon depth of learning, and are masterpieces of pulpit com position. No pubhcations have proved so successful in bringing over members of other denominations to the Church as Dr. Chapman's ; several of the clergy, for merly presbyterian and baptist ministers, were converted by the arguments and proofs in his sermons to " Pres byterians of all sects." After being hospitably entertained at Mr. John H. Stephens's, one of the parishioners of Gracechureh, I accompanied Mr. Davies to his own parish of Belleville, four miles up the river. The place is deservedly re garded as one of the most picturesque and healthy villages near New York, several of whose wealthiest 290 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. citizens have built their country seats here. We were received by Colonel West, an English half pay officer, whose American investments had led him to take up his residence in the country. He occupied a tasteful villa on a high bank, thickly wooded, and ornamentally laid out, overlooking the beautiful stream of the Passaic where he had also built a Chinese fishing house. In this charming retreat, commanding a wide expanse of land and water, very similar to the view from Richmond Hill. I spent several days visiting families in the neighbourhood, meeting dinner parties at the Colonel's house, and fishing in the well-stocked stream. The Sunday after our arrival I preached for Mr. Davies, whose congregation was occupying a temporary building whilst the church, which had been destroyed by an incendiary, wa's re-erecting. Among the worship pers was Mr. Peter Stuyvesant, the lineal descendant of the immortalized Governor of New York of the same name, whose decision of character, statesmanship, and prowess are all recorded with historical fidelity in Wash ington living's " History " of that state. I confess I never was so interested in a new acquaintance since my first arrival in America. What man, woman, or child in England is not familiar with the deeds of " Peter the Headstrong?" I next day had the gratification of seeing the original portrait ofthe hero at Mr. Van Rans- salaer's, and of spending the day in the old hall of the present worthy representative of this truly noble house. The occasion was the visit of the Bishop of New jersey to the parish to administer confirmation, when he was accompanied by several of his clergy. The clerical party, with other neighbouring gentry, were entertained by Mr. Stuyvesant in a manner rarely exceeded in the MR. STUYVESANT. 291 highest English circles. The house itself is the most baronial looking country mansion I have seen in the United States ; and stands in the centre of a park dotted with clumps of forest trees. Its owner is the third man in the country for his wealth, which is seen in every part of his fine establishment. His hospitali ty is unbounded, and his religious and charita ble endowments and gifts are on an equal scale of munificence. The whole party attended the evening service of the church ; after which music, paintings, books, and works of virtu occupied the attention till supper, which was cold, and for its variety and the character of the viands was as recherchd as the most fastidious London gourmand could desire. The next day was a renewal of the social enjoyments in this delightful abode of refinement and good breeding, when our host's beautiful niece played and sung several foreign airs in a superior style. This young lady was in fact the life of the company ; her extreme loveliness* greatly set off by sprightly manners and uncommon in telligence, made her the focus of admiration. After dinner we set out in different carriages, three of which were supplied by our liberal entertainer, for Orange, where the bishop held his next visitation. The ride took us through a beautiful part of the country, and on reaching Orange, I was agreeably surprised by meet ing the new Bishop of Maryland, who had arrived the same day on a visit to some relatives. Many of my English readers have seen and heard the Bishop of New Jersey, and to such, any description of his appearance and style would be tedious. I have only in this place, to express the strong gratification I expe- 292 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. rienced when 1 first heard him preach at Belleville, which was increased on each subsequent occasion. The deep tones of his musical voice, the graceful character of his elocution, with the clearness and simplicity of his style, are no less admired amongst the numerous flocks over which he is a chief shepherd, than they were in the noble fanes of England. Whenever he appears, crowds of delighted listeners attend his preaching, as well out of his own diocess as in it. After witnessing part of the religious exercises at Orange, I left on the following morning, (Wednesday, Sept. 30th) with Bishop Whittingham and Messrs. Ward and Davies for New York, to attend the Conven tion of the diocess whose sittings commenced the same day. '£93 CHAPTER XLIV. NEW YORK CONVENTION. THE BISHOP OF ILLINOIS. DR. SEABURY. At the hour of divine service, the spacious church of St. Paul was filled to overflowing. The Bishops of New York, Illinois, and Maryland occupied seats in the chancel, and the clergy and lay delegates filled the body of the church, the gallery being crowded with spectators. The bishop of the diocess delivered on this occasion his triennial charge, besides the address, and the Com munion was administered by the three prelates to the vast body of communicants. I derived the greatest gratification on this occasion from the long anticipated pleasure, which was enhanced by its unexpectedness, of seeing the venerable Bishop of Illinois, and receiving the Communion from his hand. The first name that I had heard in my own country in connection with the American Church ; the pioneer of gospel truth and apostolic order to the western wilds of the great American continent; the* founder of Kenyon College — that was enough ! — taking with it the remem brance of the difficulties which he encountered, the sore trials he underwent in obtaining the means to com mence his undertaking, and his patient endurance of persecution and opposition of every kind, both then and after his work was commenced, enough to break an or dinary man's spirit. The founder of Kenyon College was a title high enough, without that of " bishop," or "right reverend," to invest him with interest, sufficient to make 294 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the day that I first saw him a positive era in my Ameri can history. In person this distinguished prelate (and now primate) is tall and robust, with flowing hair sur" mounted by a black silk cap, which is always worn. His manners are gentlemanly and dignified, and his whole appearance prepossessing. While waiting in New York during the month of October and part of November, I received intelligence from England which made me again desirous of re moving permanently to my own country. I therefore, formally relinquished my parish at York by letter, and after spending the winter in Philadelphia, set out on a trip to the west, preparatory to taking, what I intended to be my final leave of the United States. In both I was deceived : the western trip, from my commencing it too early, took me no further than Ohio, and during the Christmas season the renewal of an acquaintance with the family of a clerical friend referred to in a previous chapter, led to a connection which changed my final return to England to a mere wedding trip. The lengthened visit at New York introduced me to some agreeable associations. I preached each Sunday in the city or neighbourhood. At Hoboken, where I officiated three Sundays successively, I contracted an intimacy with the amiable rector (Mr. Ward,) and Mr. Van Boskerck's family, which will always be remembered as among the most agreeable of my American reminiscences. I heard Mr. Price, Mr. Cooke, (Dr. Milnor's assistant,) Mr. Marr cus, Dr. Wainwright, Dr. Seabury, Mr. Morris, (the rector of Trinity School,) and Mr. Higbee. Mr. Price, rector of St. Stephen's, is the third suc cessor in that parish of the late Bishop Moore of Virginia. He is one of the loveliest Christian DR. SEAR WHY. 295 characters I met with in the country, and in addition to excellent oratorical powers, the best reader of the Church service I ever heard. In his vestry-room I was intro duced to the Bishop of Ohio. Mr. Marcus, who is of Jewish birth, formerly belonged to the Church of England. He has been about ten years transferred to the American Church, and is ad ditionally attached to the country by his own second marriage, and the marriage of a daughter to one of his parishioners. Dr. Samuel Seabury is the grandson of the first American bishop, consecrated in Scotland, and one of the most distinguished lights of the Church. He in herits all the devotion to her cause and the staunch* orthodoxy of his ancestor, with added brilliancy of talent as a writer and controversialist. No man is better armed for polemical warfare, both from his ripe scholarship, extensive reading, and the wide grasp of his mind. Romanist, non-episcopalian, and infidel have each entered the lists, and been successively worsted. The Churchman of which he is the editor, is the official organ of the New York bishop with his diocess, and in some respects the established organ of the whole Ame rican Church. The leading articles of this able senti nel are not surpassed by the ablest writers in the British Quarterlies, and Monthlies- I yielded to a spirit of curiosity on a very unfavour able afternoon, and set out in a cab for the church of the Annunciation, of which Dr. Seabury is rector. It is a plain building in the north-west quarter of the town, about two miles from Murray- street, my regular stopping place. The altar in this church occupies its proper position, raised on a platform of proper height, 2 p 2.')6 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES." and in the centre of the eastern extremity. At this Dr. Seabury performed the devotional parts of the service ; reading the lessons and delivering his sermon from a lecturn, as recommended by the Bishops of New York, New Jersey and Maryland. The sermon was equal to my highest expectations, and was listened to by a full attendance of worshippers with close attention, which its argumentation, and skilful context drew forth; though the preacher aimed at none of the flights of elo cutionary display. He has little animation, and pre serves nearly the same tone of voice throughout the address, but the attention of the hearer is kept up to the last, by the rich vein of thought that runs through the whole. 297 CHAPTER XLV. THE PEW NUISANCE. THE CHURCH versus A " FASHIONABLE DENOMINATION." Old Heathendom's vast temples Held men of every fate j The steps of far Benares Commingle small and great ; The dome of Saint Sophia Confounds all human state. The aisles of blessed Peter Are open all the year j Throughout wide Christian Europe The Christian's right is clear — To use God's house in freedom Each man the other's peer — Milnes. They lie in valleys buried deep, They stud the barren hills ; They're mirror'd where proud rivers sweep, And by the humbler rills ; A blessing on each holy fane, Wherever they may stand, W ith open door for rich and poor, The churches of our land ! Talk not of England's " wooden walls," Her better strength is here ; Here trust around the spirit falls, Subduing doubt and fear ; Here her brave sons have gather'd power. Nerving each heart and hand — Most fearlefs prove those who best love The churches of our land. They stand , the guardians of the faith For which our fathers died God keep those temples still from scathe, Our blessing and our pride ! Our energies, our deeds, our prayers, All these should they command, That never foe may lay them low, The churches of oar land. Mary Anne Brown. The day after my return to Philadelphia I met an old Rhode Island friend and colleague, under the trees 298 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCI S. fronting the State House, in the person of Lewis Jansen,* who invited me to visit him at his parish of Manayunk, to which he had lately been appointed. Mr. Jansen was a native of England the grandson of a French peer, • whose title and estates were irretrievably lost during the revolution in that country. He has resided about six teen years in America, where he has brought up a large family. Having long contemplated a visit to the inter esting and beautifully situated spot which had become the scene of his labours, I spent the next Sunday at his dwelling on the banks of the peaceful Schuylkill and preached in his church. The latter is a good specimen of rural church architecture, with a high square tower of fine proportions. Manayunk is situated seven miles from Philadelphia, approached by the best Macadamised road out of that city, which leads to Norristown and Reading. A little out of this road another diverges to the side of the Schuylkill river, from which it is separated by a sub stantial stone parapet. In a few, moments the busy town of Manayunk with its water-mill factories and stone built dwellings appears in view, rendered more picturesque by the variegated foreground of bush, brake, river and sloping shores, and its distant back-ground of blue hills. The view, aided as it is by a handsome bridge, whose arches spanning the stream breaks the prospect, is one of surpassing loveliness ; often does the traveller, when he reaches this turn in the road, stop and gaze involuntarily at its picturesque beauty. My friend had taken his new charge at the earnest request of the principal parishioners, to whom he had * A first cousin to Madame Vestris. MANAYUNK. 299 been recommended by the last incumbent. His duties were, however, more onerous than those which fell to him in his former parish, on account of the large popu lation of English and Irish protestant emigrants who were employed in the mills, and nearly all of whom came under his pastoral cognizance. The church had been built originally for this class ; to whom it had pro ved during the rectorship of the former pastor, (the Rev. Frederick Freeman) an eminent blessing. The princi pal manufacturer of the town, Mr, Joseph Ripka, aided by two Philadelphia gentlemen, named Wagner, were the founders of this praiseworthy design to give to the poor episcopalians of the town a parish temple. Several respectable inhabitants formerly from Ireland, who were owners of property in the town, assisted in the undertaking. One who was a builder contributed a portion of the stone ; another, lumber ; and all their labour. The building rose under the direction of a gen tleman of considerable architectural skill, who owned a country seat in the neighborhood.* It was completed and consecrated in 1838; Mr. Jansen was the third in cumbent of the parish. I was much interested in the condition of this parish from the history of its origin and progress ; and became more so when, on entering the reading desk, I observed a spectacle, common enough in England though very unusual in American episcopal churches, yet which is the only type of the Church Triumphant — viz., worship pers of different ranks kneeling at one altar and worship ping one Saviour. There sat the rich manufacturer, and there the tradesman, and there the hardy mechanic, and there the humble, but cleanly looking operative, with * Andrew Young, Esq. 300 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. his .healthy family — all joining in the responsive acts of worship, as their fathers had done, and listening atten tively to the words of instruction from the pulpit. In an instant I was transported back to my native land • where,' following the same primitive pattern, the peer and the peasant, the noble and the very pauper, worship under the same roof, and listen to the same preacher; and where in many places church-people now understand the spirit of Christianity so well that a common bench serves for all without distinction. It is a radical fault in the American Church, and, if countenanced, must work as rottenness in her bones, that she is oftentimes so exhibited, that the poor are ac tually repelled from her communion. It is lamentable to see how this wretched policy sometimes drives whole communities of emigrant English families into the ranks of dissent. A church is erected, the whole floor occupied with pews which are luxuriously furnished, and sold or let at prices which excludes every poor member of the Church from the sacred precincts, and in some cases gives to non-episcopalians of means and wealth the con trolling influence in the parish affairs ! It is true that by the xxxi Canon of the Church, every episcopalian resident within certain fixed boundaries is a parish ioner, and claims by ecclesiastical law the services and spiritual care of the rector, yet what accommodation is made for the poorer churchmen and their families to worship God in ninety-nine out of every hundred churches which are built ? Have the poor of the Ame - rican Episcopal Church the gospel preached to them ? No ! not in fifty parishes out of the twelve hundred which are provided with parish temples — not in fifty of them on a fair computation. a "voluntary" church. 301 Have the great majority of parishioners who frequently occupy no seats at church, being unable to afford the exorbitant price required for them, as much of the minister's attention and guardianship as the more wealthy ones who are the owners of the pews ? — they require — they demand more, double the attention of those whose wealth can purchase a seat in the parish temple, every foot of which has been solemnly made common to all worshippers by the act of consecration, and which it is sacrilege to enclose and occupy with pews for the convenience of the wearers of silk and jewelry, whose accommodations occupy so much room that the poor are thrust out of the Lord's courts. The constitution, canons, and Prayer Book, and the pretensions of the Church episcopal in the United States do not in any place recognize such a thing as a rich man's Church— a genteel denomination — a. fashionable sect. Episcopacy is declared to be a divine institution ; nay, in some of her formularies, and many of her stand ards, as essential to the very being of a true Church ; the exclusive validity of her sacraments, whether a true or false theory, is constantly maintained by her clergy and laity; and liturgical worship is pronounced the only edifying one. Yet with these large claims, Church privileges are in effect extended only to the rich ;* whilst * The following letter addressed to the Philadelphia " Public Ledger," with the accompanying strictures, will serve as an illustration of a crying evil in the American religious system. Messrs. Editors : — You will confer a favour by an insertion of the following, which took place on Sunday evening. A lady and gentleman from the south went to St. Luke's church, and finding a pew unoccu pied, went into it. Service commenced, when another gentleman and lady entered, owners I presume of the pew in question, and caused the two strangers to be ejected, which ultimately obliged them to leave the 302 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the poor are suffered to wander into all the mazes of ruinous schism and even of scepticism. This fact in re lation to the American Church, which I record in the deepest sorrow, it must be admitted is a strong argument in favour of an endowed national religion. The noble Bishop of New Jersey has done something towards church. I know you are friends to the proper rules of decorum, and most sincerely lament such want of courtesy and good breeding. Should this meet the eye of the lady and gentleman in question, it is sincerely hoped they will exhibit a better feeling than they displayed on Sunday evening, particularly at a time when the evening services of the church are alike open to strangers as well as members. A Citizen of Philadelphia. On this the " Baptist Watchman " thus comments, under the head of " Pews, or the Devil's Toll Gates :"— " Splendidly carpeted aisles, pews to match, cushioned and carpeted ; with brass spittoons, brass name plates on the pew doors, may be com pared to the devil's turnpikes in the aisles, and his toll gates in the labelled pew doors. Let not the pew-seyites call this a rude or harsh comparison, for not to call things by their proper names is only one degree removed from worshipping the devil, and St. Lucifer's churches would be more german to the truth than St. Luke's or St. Phillips', for all Pew- seyite temples of pride and vanity. God's temples should have inscribed on their portals, ' Open to All, Closed to None.' " Velvet and silk, gilt and costly embellishments, — are these necessary to prayer, to worship ? The Master said, " where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The inconsis tency we have thus exposed begets another, and that is the anxiety of modern Christians to imitate the ancient Jews in loving tbe chief seats in these synagogues— these pews— as though the seat and its location were of such importance that without both are to the whim of the church goers, they cannot worship ! Two or three hundred dollars paid for a spot in the church to sit in! I Oh! this money changing ! J 'oh ! the selling doves of modern Christians." Such a rebuke, though rather coarsely applied, is well merited. Where will the most costly fanes of England furnish a similar example of effemi nate luxutiousness, and anti-Christian monopoly ? st. luke's, Philadelphia. 303 the correction of the evil in the establishment of Sunday offerings and parochial schools ; let him follow up his plans of improvement, and let others, instead of weak ening and endeavouring to embarrass him in his schemes of far sighted policy, strengthen his hands and second his efforts. Christmas Day 1840. — I this day accompanied two clerical brethren to St. Luke's. It is a new building of large dimensions, lately erected in the fashionable quarter of the town. Mr. Spear, rector of the parish, preached on the occasion to an overflowing audience. His sermon was a practical one, delivered with good effect, and particularly appropriate. The building is a Grecian design, with Corinthian portico and columns in front, and classic decorations in the interior, but the bright colours, and prevalence of white throughout the church, especially at the altar end, was a severe trial to the eyes, which the sofa-backed pews failed to make endurable. 2 Q 304 CHAPTER XLV I. the alleghanies. On Saturday the 30th of January I set off on my pur posed western tour, and reached Columbia the same day. This populous town, which I had before frequently visited during my stay at York, lies on the west bank of the Susquehanna, and possesses great facilities for trade by its canal communication with Havre de Grace at the mouth of that important river, and the railroad east and west which passes through it. A bridge of a mile's length unites it to Wrightsville, on the opposite bank. The river prospects in this neighbourhood are particularly fine. I found the same kind receptions from a circle of private friends in Columbia that I often before experienced, which will live in my remembrance as long at least as gratitude and appreciation of worth is an emotion of my breast. Here I spent Sunday. The next day, after visiting several of my late parish ioners* living in Columbia and Wrightsville, I proceeded to York, where, though fain to prosecute my journey the same day, I was detained by the importunity of friends till Saturday. Mr. Campbell, the vestry's secretary, informed me that several applications had been made for the rectorship of the parish since my resignation was * Messrs. Houston, Atkins, Schull, (ex-churchwarden) Shults and Mifflin. In these worthy families nothing of good English hospitality and refinement were wanting. THE alleghanies. 305 received, but that the general preference of the vestry and congregation seemed in favour of Mr. John H. Marden, the principal of a young ladies seminary in the adjoining county of Adams, who was about to resign his post on account of ill health, which the confinement of school keeping aggravated. This information gave me the liveliest pleasure from a knowledge of Mr. Marsden's devotedness and efficiency. He had been admitted to Holy Orders in St. John's, and was personally acquainted with several of the parishioners, whose children had been trained at his school. Bidding a final adieu to York, I travelled in a stage eoach along the turnpike to Chambersburg, distant seventy miles, where I spent the Sunday. The road took me through Abbotstown, and Gettysburg, the for mer a Dutch looking village in Adams county where we dined, and the latter the shire town of the same, and the seat of a Lutheran college and Theological Seminary. Chambersburg is the capital of the next county of Franklin, situated in the midst of a fertile valley, on one of the tributary rivers of the Potomac. On looking out of the coach as we drove up to the inn I perceived that a heavy fall of snow had commenced since the day closed, and every object was concealed with the fleecy covering. The storm continued all day, and was suc ceeded in the evening by a sharp frost. I began to question the expediency of prosecuting my journey in the winter (which seemed to be almost closed when I . left Philadelphia) but being unable to postpone it, and determined at all risks to see Cincinnati, I proceeded by the railroad to Hagerstown, in Maryland, through which the " National Road " to Wheeling passes. The covering of snow gave Hagerstown a very dismal 306 ecclesiastical reminiscences. appearance. The town ranks the third, I believe, in Maryland ; the houses are handsomely built of stone and brick, and the inns are commodious and well ap pointed. St. John's, the parish church, is one of the largest and best constructed in the state. The capacious stage was soon filled with male travel lers, and the journey over the Alleghanies commenced in good earnest. The national road which we followed runs in a very direct line through all the middle states of the Union to the westernmost part of civilized habi tation, and is intended to be carried to the Rocky Mountains. It was a government undertaking, and is well Macadamized ; equal in all respects, except the absence of any raised side-walks, to an English turn pike. Our six horses were in excellent condition, and the passengers (as American travellers always are) were in excellent spirits. The ascent was very gradual, and the road undula ting till we reached Prattsville, a small village at the foot of Rugged Mountain, which disclosed when we reached its summit, an extensive and variegated pros • pect. The snow was melting fast, and the objects became more defined as we proceeded, till night closed in. At Cumberland we were detained for some time and made an early breakfast before proceeding. It is a town of no particular pretensions, on the north bank of the Potomac River, and near the foot of another ascent called Will's Mountain. After a few miles were passed the road became more precipitous till we reached the " Back Bone " of the Alleghany range, and beheld on looking behind a view of astonishing extent. We were now three thousand feet above the level of the ocean, THE ALLEGHANIES. 307 and soon descended on the west side with fearful ra pidity. About twenty miles brought us to the line between the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania, when we again entered upon the latter, and refreshed our selves at a village called Petersburg. The next twenty-five miles conducted us through the middle of Fayette county, passing several villages and numerous farm-houses, to Union, the shire town, which we reached at eleven o'clock. We now pursued our way in the dark to Washington, the shire town of Washington county and seat of a college, thirty miles further, where we arrived at early dawn. Here we , found an excellent breakfast ready for us, to which after the tedious night travel and a biting wind we addressed ourselves with well prepared appetites. I began now to find that American stage travelling was no joke ; and determined that unless the Ohio river was perfectly free from obstruction, to abandon any further prosecution of my journey beyond Wheeling. The road continued very good till we reached that place, which was about two in the afternoon. Ths cold had increased ever since we left Cumber land, and large masses of ice were on the river when we reached Wheeling. The broad Ohio ! what sensations it awakens in the traveller's breast when first beheld . flowing in its onward course for a thousand miles;* bearing on its bosom the merchandize of a vast country, and carrying the hving freight of the thousands of tra vellers and emigrants who annually pour into Western America. We were comfortably housed at the hotel in front of * Prom its source in northern Pennsylvania fifteen hundred miles long. 308 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. the river, and good coal fires made in our private cham bers. Having discovered that, excepting the episcopal church, there was nothing in the dirty muddy town worth seeing, I returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the day in my bedroom. From the window the view of the opposite shore of Ohio presented a study for the painter. A western evening sky, reader hast thou ever seen one ? American sunsets in the east ofthe Continent greatly surpass anything seen in England, but they are exceeded for brilliancy and variety of hue in the west, and this one will ever remain in my recollection as the most perfect in its beauty and radiance. 30.9 CHAPTER XLVIL THE OHIO RIVER. STENBENVILLE. — AMERICAN CLIMATE. As the river navigation was greatly obstructed by the ice, I waited till the afternoon of the next day before a steamboat passed up, which I entered, being desirous of making a visit to the Rev. Mr. Morse of Stenbenville, who it will be remembered by my readers, and the rea ders of Mr. Caswell's interesting American Notes, has been one of the most active clergymen of the diocess of Ohio from its earliest origin. Mr. Morse was for merly one of only three missionaries west of the Ohio River. Ohio alone now contains above sixty clergy men, and the same section of country more than double the number, besides several bishops ; an inadequate number, it is true, for the wants of the population, but much greater than the most sanguine amongst that devoted band of pioneers who, with Bishop Chase, laid the foundations of the western Church, ever expected to behold. We made slow progress in the boat on account of the obstruction caused by the floating ice to the action of the paddle-wheels. Eight miles brought us to Warren- ton, on the Ohio side where several passengers j oined us. We stopped again at Wellsburg on the opposite shore, long enough for me to go over it. It had the usual complement of Court House (being a county town) county offices, churches, market place, etc., with glass, cotton and carpet manufactories. Seven miles 310 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. fuither brought us to Stenbenville, which I found a large, populous, and well built town. I preached in St. Paul's church, a handsome edifice, the same evening, and spent the residue till a late hour in the society of its excellent rector, whom I found one of the most agreeable men I had met for a long time. " There " said Mr. Morse, the next day, pointing to an extensive building overlooking the river, " is the great secret of success in planting the Church in the western states, whether ours, or the presbyterian, metho- dist, or Romanists. There are nearly two hundred young females instructed under the presbyterian system. Who can calculate the influence these after wards exert in every part of the state, as mothers and teachers." I was greatly interested by several of Mr. Morse's narratives illustrating the early labours and difficulties of Bishop Chase, whom he had frequently accompanied in his tedious and self-denying excursions among the hills and forests of Ohio. He spoke, however, in high terms of the present bishop, (M' Ilvain.) I left Stenbenville after a visit as full of pleasure and in terest as I had been led to expect. The steamboat in which I took my passage to Pitts burgh the next evening had not proceeded far before the captain began to apprehend a stoppage from the ice, and about midnight the frost increasing in severity, we were made fast. We had come twenty-two miles of our way, and fortunately were opposite to a small town called East Liverpool on the Ohio side ; but so difficult of access from the blocks of ice and the numerous holes, that no one ventured to cross the whole day. Next morning the ice the whole distance was sufficiently firm, EAST LIVERPOOL. OHIO. 311 and after numerous falls, and one more serious catas trophe, in which a lad who exercised less caution than the rest, was nearly drowned, we reached land with our light luggage and found temporary accommodation at an humble tavern. Here I met with a gentleman who proved to be the churchwarden of St. Stephen's parish, whose church and modest spire, I had been told, belonged to the " Lu^e- rian" congregation. We walked across the field that led to it, and the warden entertained me with the history ofthe parish, which was of recent date. They were just he said deprived of the pastoral care of a Mr. Kelly who had removed to another and a larger parish, and of whom he spoke in warm terms of praise. The church was still hung with its Christmas garlands of evergreen. Finding that the nearest point through which any public conveyance passed to Pittsburg was at a village about twelve or fourteen miles in the interior, I hired a vehicle, and after an intensely cold ride, the conveyance being an open one, reached a miserable public house kept by a Yorkshireman, where I passed the night, and proceeded by a stage coach from Zanesville at four in the morning. Pittsburg was reached late in the even ing. The only place of consequence passed this day was Beaver, a pleasant town on Great Beaver River, one of the tributaries to the Ohio. The road for the whole distance after entering Pennsylvania affords constant views of the latter. The marked difference in the atmosphere of the interior of the continent and the Atlantic coast, is vul garly attributed to the timber forests, and the absence of the same degree of cultivation. I was, however, satisfied from an investigation of the subject, which 2 R 312 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. strongly engaged my curiosity, that this conclusion is fallacious. A glance at the physical features of the American continent will, I think, explain the phenome non. Two ranges of mountains extend from south to north. The Rocky Mountains or western range, by far the highest and longest, twelve hundred feet above the sea's level, are a continuation of the Andes of South America, and extend to the Arctic ocean. The eastern} or Appalachian range, commences near the Gulf of Mexico, and approaches within a short distance of the River of St. Lawrence, a thousand miles long. Between these two mountain systems, lies the wide valley, or basin of the Mississippi, the mountains extending in pretty exact conformity to the continent, ranging at right angles to each other. These two lines of moun tains produce two slopes to the opposite shores ; and the valley between is formed likewise of two inclined plains, whose waters are drained by the great Mississippi into the sea. Thus it will be seen that the superior elevation of the central parts of North America, accounts for the difference of temperature, as an elevation of three hun dred and thirty- eight feet is judged equal to a degree of Fahrenheit. The western, or more properly speaking, the interior of the United State's territory, being more exposed to the influence of an elevated and frozen table land, the cold is more severe in the winter. To this must be added the influence of the ocean on the coast, which is favourable to a milder and more uniform temperature. 313 CHAPTER XLVIII. PITTSBURG. THE MOUNTAINS RECROSSED. The city of Pittsburg is the capital of Western Pennsyl vania, the seat of a university, the see of a Romanist bishop and " the Birmingham of America." The latter appellation if understood as signifying the largest iron, and greatest hardware manufacturing town in the United States is correct enough ; and there is every prospect of its rivalling our own Birmingham in population, size, and the amount of its manufactures before many years. There are about a dozen handsome factories and rolling mills, each sending out from four to seven hundred weight of goods per annum, worth collectively about 290,000 dollars, (£60,000) fourteen foundries, annually converting 300,000 tons of metal into castings, six brass foundries, and forty steam engines, and a number of coppersmiths, gunsmiths, blacksmiths, and silversmiths' shops; cutlery and tin ware and cotton manufactories ; extensive glass works, tanneries, and steam flour mills. The estimated annual value of the manufactories of this Western Birmingham I have heard stated at upwards of four millions of dollars. Nothing could be finer, or more advantageous for trade than the situation of Pittsburgh. It occupies the point of land at the junction of the rivers Alleghany and Monongahela at the head of steamboat navigation ; coal and iron abound all around it, and are daily augmenting its wealth. Its population is fifty thousand. 314 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Trinity church, which occupies an eligible position, was erected under the direction of the present Bishop of Vermont, formerly rector of the parish, and reflects the greatest credit on his taste and perseverance. It is a stone Gothic building of admirable proportions, with a fine tower. There is also another church called St. Andrew's erected within a few years. During my visit in the city I received calls from both rectors Dr. Upfold and Mr. Andrews. The former was for several years a popular preacher in New York, and is attended by the most wealthy families of Pittsburg. Mr. Andrews was on the point of leaving for a foreign trip to recover his health, which was shattered by over exertion in his parish duties. He has since visited Egypt and Greece ; the parish of St. Andrew's is now supplied by another rector. After several? days spent in Pittsburgh, I left on Thursday morning for Philadelphia, taking another stage route to Chambersburg which led through Greens- burg and Bedford. The latter is celebrated for its springs, which are strongly impregnated with mineral qualities, and are chiefly useful in chronic attacks. In the summer I was told, Bedford is filled with visitors, who come for health or pleasure or both. It is charmingly situated among the mountains. At Chambersburg I took the railway cars for Carlisle, where I had an agreeable meeting with the rector Mr. Greenleaf. I received my deacon's orders at the time that he was made priest, and had constantly met him in Rhode Island, but this was our first interview in Penn sylvania, to which he had removed about two years. I found him fully engaged in one of the most important of his duties, viz. catechising the younger members of his flock. THE ALLEGHAN1ES. 315 The church of St. John at Carlisle is one of the finest in the diocess, and several of the first families of the state for respectability and influence are among the parishioners. The methodists have established an insti tution here called Dickinson College, which is a great ornament to the town. I reached Philadelphia in one day from Carlisle by way of Harrisburg, having travelled in my trip 775 miles. It is utterly incompatible with comfort to make a journey by stage in the United States during the win ter season. The coaches without an exception are open at the sides, or only protected by a leather curtain buttoned to the lower edge of the vehicle ; which with English ideas of comfort is no protection at all, as the cold air is freely admitted through numberless crevices, and the draughts about one's ears, are if anything worse than the full benefit of the wind, which is not always the balmiest in the months of January and December. Why close carriages and coaches, public and private, should be so universally banished I cannot explain. In no country of the world, from the changeableness of the climate, and the severity of the winters, is such a con venience more necessary for two thirds of the year, but it is a fact which I can feelingly attest, that during the whole term of my residence in the United States I never saw one. 316 CHAPTER XLIX. AN ELOQUENT PREACHER. REFLECTIONS. One Sunday, shortly after my return from Ohio, I entered the church ofthe Evangelist, of which the Rev. Nathaniel S. Harris was rector. The sermon had reference to the rite of confirmation, which was to be administered in the afternoon by the bishop of of the diocess. The message from the preacher's lips gave no uncer tain sound. During the first part of his address repen tance and faith were held up and enforced with the eloquence of a Paul ; " righteousness, temperance and judgment to come," were topics in the preacher's hands, which arrested the attention, while they excited the terror of the hearers, or caused the tears of penitence to flow fast and freely down many a cheek. Nothing of gospel truth was withheld ; no leading doctrine ofthe Bible connected with this theme was concealed ; and having reached this point, the Church as the ark of safety — the body of Christ — the New Jerusalem let down from hea ven — the expounder and conservator of the divine oracles — the medium of spiritual sanctification, was next set forth as part of that truth of God which the preacher (in common with every minister of the Church) is unquestionably bound to proclaim; though how few, comparatively, do so in the faithful and pointed manner exhibited this morning ! I could not but be forcibly reminded on this occasion, of a late discussion in one of our periodicals, on the subject NATHANIEL HARRIS. 317 of the English Church's neglect of popular instruments, particularly that of preaching, which secondary as it is in carrying on the spiritual life in the soul, is eminently successful, when judiciously employed, in calling it into existence, and in making efficacious the regenerating principle of baptismal graca. In how many instances — alas they are countless ! — is that seed allowed to lie dor mant, from the pastor's tame use of the important ordinance of preaching. Had our Church the policy of the Italian, Wesley, Whitfield, and Rowland Hill, would never have been the founders of sects. They would have been retained by the episcopal heads of the Church, though, like Latimer the Reformer, they had been per mitted to exercise their favourite gift of preaching as itinerants : of course, under certain canonical restrictions, to which, we cannot but believe, so long as they could travel about, they would have readily conformed. Thus healthy blood might have been injected into the Church instead of the creation of formidable rival communions. But it is too late to spend regrets for the past. Rather let the Church's lethargy during so long a reign of night, stimulate to redoubled action, and a wiser policy. The late Bishop Griswold, who was as remarkable for his sagacity as his piety, thus comments on the superior policy of the Roman church : — "Diversities of opinion, which divide protestants into parties and sects, Rome so uses as to increase her numbers, and strengthen her power. In this she ' is wiser in her generation ' than protestants. We are undoubt edly unwise, in suffering things of little or no importance to divide us ; and not only unwise but sinful, in suffer ing such divisions to excite animosities and unchari- tableness between those of differing views. If we would 318 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. all worship the same God and Saviour, teach essentially the same doctrines, in the unity of one and the same Spirit, and if all of us each in his own way were to labour in love, the ill effect of our divisions would be very much diminished. They who believe in and practice what is essential to Christianity and necessary to salvation should love as brethren ; and especially at the present time, when the religion of Christ is so powerfully assailed by those who add to God's word on the one hand, and take from it on the other, all who build on the foundation of Christ should unite in one and the same spirit. No believer in Christ should however permit his faith to be weakened or disturbed by these divisions ; they were foretold by Christ and his apostles ; they are a fulfilment of prophecies ; and however they may disgrace religion they confirm its truth. And for the encouragement of protestant episcopalians I would add, that if our Church adheres stedfastly to her distinctive principles, and her present standards, she is likely to be a happy asylum for all who would av.oid the idolatrous corruptions or the specious infidelity by which the religion of Christ is beset on the right and on the left." * I am aware of the objections that would be instantly raised to any such " innovation "f as I have referred to by two classes of parochial clergy, viz., the old " ortho dox," and the modern "evangelical." One would dislike the interruption to his indolent peace and quiet, and the other would dread the contagion of doctrines * " The Reformation," p. 128. t The public are familiar with this cant term in the mouths of Eras- tian bishops and indolent priests, applied to that judicious restoration of rubrical conformity which their more faithful and conscientious col leagues are aiming to effect. ITINERANT PREACHERS. 31? conflicting with his favourite solifidian hobby. While however, the Church is recognized by both, and its itinerant preacher's mission does not warrant any course which is calculated to withdraw the people from the parish temple, no one, except the resident clergy themselves, would be inconvenienced. And how many a parish would thus be awakened through such instru mentality from its sleep of practical infidelity, and indifference on the one. hand, and of self righteous inac tion on the other. Of these two classes, happily, but few representatives are found in the American Church. There is a very small and very feeble minority of evangelicals among the clergy, and of the old orthodox — " the high and dry " as Bishop Whittingham calls them — there is only here and there a surviving representative.* A gratifying * "Yorick's" description of this class is a just portraiture! — "They have comfortable livings, backed commonly by snug private fortunes ; they give exemplary dinners ; pay visits in roomy chariots with fat wives, fat horses, fat coachmen ; they are condescending to curates ; in speech rather weighty (not to say authoritative) than ver bose — if the latter, prosy ; they transcribe their divinity from Stanhope, Claxton, and Pyle -, Tillotson is the ultima Thule of their theology ; be yond his period their Church is in nubibus. They call the Church ' ' the Establishment " ; in rubrical observance they follow their fathers (liter ally) to return to the practice of their grand-fathers they consider dan gerous "innovations;" some, indeed, preach in a surplice, but that is from laziness, for the species delights especiallym the rustle of silk gowns with huge pudding sleeves ; dissent angers them, but popery terrifies ; and they would as soon put on the shirt of Nessus as the name of Catholic ; their high Church principle may be supposed to have some connexion with ideas of high place, high life, add high living." And he adds with equal justice, " Really, if the Church is to wait upon these ponderous divines, she might just as well turn round for another long sleep, duller ' than the fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe's wharf.' " 2 s 320 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. proof of this was afforded in the General Convention held in Philadelphia last October, (which I attended) when a counter ' Resolution' to one submitted to that body, deprecatory of " certain writings emanating chiefly from members of the University of Oxford in England " was carried by a full convocation ; only two clerical and three lay votes being given in the negative. And yet the laity of the American Church understand their rights as well, perhaps, as the wiseacres of Totten ham and Ware. On Sunday, March 21st, I heard Mr. Van Pelt preach after the morning service in St. Mark's church in Ninth Street. The preacher and his subject much interested me, and I only regretted the smallness of the attendance, it being the poorest congregation I have seen in this city. Mr. Van Pelt supplied the altar on behalf of the rector, who was absent from town ; the building de serves no particular notice. The same evening the bishop of the diocess preached in St. Paul's, when the rite of confirmation was administered to a large num ber. This parish under the care of the Rev. Richard New ton, before referred to, is one of the oldest in the city. The building is large and conveniently constructed, and like St Stephen's and St. Peter's without that glare from a superabundance of white and red which too many of the Philadelphia churches reflect. It is some relief to worship in a church which does not bear marks of being scarcely dry from the never ceasing operations of painter and whitewasher. But such a luxury is short lived in Philadelphia. People in that city treat their churches and meeting houses like grown up children, who have no sooner well looked at a toy and got accustomed to it, than it must be thrown aside for another. PHILADELPHIA CHURCHES. 321 The same remark will apply to the private houses in Philadelphia. Next to the quakerly uniformity which is observable in their architecture and internal appoint ments, the most wearisome feature to a stranger's eye is the aspect of newness which is every where, and in every thing, observable. An old house, like an old coat, is regarded by the spruce Philadelphian as unfit to be seen by company. Northumberland House would be con demned (like a crazy ship) by the city authorities, and converted into a charitable asylum, or a jail— and St. James's palace would be presented, as an unsightly nuisance. The bricks and mortar fronts of the citizens' dwellings are, therefore, not less bright and fresh to the eye than the paint and paper within — the latter being generally preferred, as being, though less costly, more easily renewed; — and the constant replacing of new furniture, carpets, etc., for old (i. e. two years or so, in use,) gives to each house the genuine appearance of an upholsterer's show rooms. The vulgarity of this taste is relieved, I admit, by a few, though a very few excep tions, among the older families. On Monday, 29th of March, we left Philadelphia for New York, whence we sailed in the good packet ship Europe for Liverpool on the following Thursday. * * THE AUTHOR'S LOG. Our good ship " Europe," Edward G. Marshall commander, left the wharf in tow of the steamer " Sampson " on the first of April, at half- past two o'clock a.m. ; discharged her pilot at 4. Land soon out of sight before a fresh breeze from W.N.W. Second day. The win*! which had hauled to the south during the night continued in that quarter till the afternoon, when it changed to S.S.E. ; the night is very fine.— Lat. 40.15. Lon. 74.15. Third day. Wind varied from S.W. to N.W., blowing strong. After dark there was a thunder-storm with vivid lightning — topsail reefed. "322 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. After a visit to the paternal home, we spent the rest of the time in London. Thence we sailed on the 19th of June, in the packet ship, St. James, and reached New York on the 29th of July. Fortunate was it that we Fourth day (Sunday). Wind blew all day from the N.W. Weather very fine — all sails set. Too indisposed to do duty. Fifth day. Wind from S. to S.S.E. blowing a heavy gale; top sails closely reefed, and the fore sail taken in. Sixth day. Wind continued south till 4 p.m. when it suddenly hauled to the west, and the ship pitched into a heavy sea, which carried away her jib-booms, bowsprit, cap etc. — all which were lost ; the straining of the vessel excessive ! Seventh day. The storm has subsided ; wind in the N.W. A calm succeeded towards noon ; in the evening rain fell, and the weather has become squally. Eighth day. The night was calmer. In the morning a strong wind sprung up from the south, which continued through the day. Wc have reached Lat. 41.23. Lon. 50.25. Ninth day. Wind blew heavy from S. to S.S.W. with a high sea ; constant pitching ; a great deal of water shipped ; about noon the wind changed suddenly to N.N.W. Tenth day. Wind has blown strong from the north all day. Eleventh day — (Easter Sunday). Weather fine this day, though strong breezes blew from S.S.W. The " Queen of Festivals " was cele brated by public worship in the cabin, when I said prayers and delivered a short exhortation suitable to the occasion. The captain and several of the crew used prayer books, and all were deeply attentive. Twelfth day The wind blew from S.W. all this day : all studding sails set. Ihirteenth day. Wind continuedin the same quarter ; we are making good progress. Fourteenth day. The wind suddenly hauled to the north, and died calm. Fifteenth day. A dead calm all night ; day rainy ; wind from ths N.W. We have reached Lat. 47.29. Lon. 21.13. Sixteenth day. Strong breezes from the N.W. ; top sails reefed ; night very fine. PHILADELPHIA CHURCHES. 323 were no later in our English visit, as the first letter after our return to America, brought the mournful intelligence ofthe decease of a mother, and the other parent survived her only a few weeks. Seventeenth day. Wind still from the N.W. ; raining heavily, with strong breezes. Eighteenth day (Sunday). The grateful sound of "land" was the first that greeted my ear this morning. On reaching the deck our ejes were cheered by the view of Cape Clear. Nineteenth day. Occupied in making our way up the Irish Sea ; in the evening the pilot came on board. Twentieth day. Landed at Liverpool about 10. a.m. 324 CHAPTER L. MINISTERIAL PREPARATION IN HIE UNITED STATES. I had put my hand to the requisite canonical papers of an old friend (and my groomsman) just before leaving Philadelphia for England, and a few Sundays after my return to the city had the gratification of hearing him preach in St. Stephen's church. William Sydney Walker is the editor of an edition of the collected Latin poets, and was for many years private tutor in the family of Mr. Johnson, a personal friend of George the Fourth when Regent ; Mr. Johnson's travels in Russia are well known to the English public. He died of pure grief, occasioned by the early death of a lovely and ac complished daughter during a visit to the West Indies for her health, after which as the family broke up, Mr. Walker prosecuted the study of divinity, and on the completion of his term of candidateship was admitted to orders by the Bishop of Pennsylvania. The American Church does not possess a riper scholar, or a man more thoroughly read in general and, theological literature. The preparatory exercises of a candidate for holy orders in the United States, when fully carried out, are more severe than in England ; though the bishop, with the concurrence of his council, the Standing Committee, possesses the same power of dispensation with regard to the higher branches of learning. The indulgence (as required by circumstances) is more generally extended in the western dioceses of the country than in the At- CLERICAL PREPARATION. 3'25 lantic States. The advantage secured by family influence and other accidents are, also, pretty much the same as in England, both with regard to examinations and titles* * Though I may safely affirm that the specimen of an examination by the excellent Bishop Douglass of Salisbury, narrated by a worthy clerical friend of mine in that diocess, has scarcely yet found its parallel in the United States j and this through the check which the institution of the " Standing Committees " have upon the action of American bishops. Bishop D. " Did I not examine you a twelvemonth ago for deacon's orders, Mr. L. ? " Mr. L. " Yes, my lord, you examined me yourself in this room." , Bishop D. " Then I'll not trouble you any further." Though the candidate in this instance was fully prepared for any cano nical literary test, being a scholar, and afterwards an author of some repute, yet the cases, I am informed, were quite numerous in which one of Bishop Douglass's successors admitted dissenting ministers to holy orders, after a scarcely severer scrutiny. In a volume on " The present State of the Church," by the Rev. Charles Lucas, is the following : — " I cannot say the number of dissenting ministers admitted to holy orders by the late Bishop Burgess ; yet is it not unj ust towards the clergy of the establishment who have sons willing and qualified to undergo a ministerial examination and ordination, that if there be an exception to the general rule of a university degree they are refused a trial of their fitness because their fathers have not been able (from some imperious cause) to send them to the university ; while the dissenting ministers, the moment that they are willing to conform, are admitted ; and yet more early is the admission in the case of a popish priest ! The qualification of one of these dissent ing ministers, (I have it from the best authority) for the orders of deacon and priest was of the literary kind, most contemptible. It is proper for my brethren's sake, I should state this. We, on our part, have a most memorable and hard case in which Bishop Burgess refused to advance his own great nephew to priest's orders. This gentleman, the son of an En glish clergyman, had devoted himself to the Church, had acted as a zealous missionary, had beenmost regularry and episcopally inducted into [deacon's] orders by an American bishop, who himself had his episcopal consecration from the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and exclusive of all this, the Ame rican Episcopal Church is an original flow from our own pure stream, — yet Dr. Lushington (O, pudor!) is referred to, and interprets theecclesi- 526 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES, Mammon likewise has the same power in both Churches. It would be unfair to a large class of talented and learned clergy not to admit the notorious fact, that pro minence of position and the occupancy of city parishes in the American Church episcopal is no more a criterion of talent or general qualification than in the Church of England; though it must be admitted that a higher standard exists in American cities than the patrons of London livings require, and that several of the most talented among the American clergy chance to be at this moment holders of city cures. It would be no difficult matter to point to a score of London preachers in the es tablishment attended by good congregations, who would not obtain half a dozen hearers in New York or Phila delphia ; nor are there more than half a dozen London clergymen, if the odiousness of a comparison may be permitted, who for elocution and pulpit tact, can be considered as at all equal to a fair proportion of the regular preachers in the churches of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, which are a sort of metropolises to the several sections of country where they are situated. It may be argued that this fact is creditable to the religious feeling, if not to the taste of the L°ndon congregations, who rightly consider the mere act of preaching a very secondary part of the busi ness of the sanctuary, and are satisfied with the other qualities of pastoral diligence, viz. aptness in private oral instruction, with (what is admitted to be a very essential astical law of England against his admission into our Church. It seems that this true churchman suffers for his conformity. Had he entered the popish priesthood, there would have been no objection to him. While such anomalies check our extra zeal, and narrow our usefulness, they weaken the best efforts of the laity." p. 79. CLERICAL PREPARATION. 327 qualification in the spacious fanes of the English metro polis) a good voice for reading and chaunting. These, it is true, are greater desideratums with a large class of Church people than the mere art of preaching ; but it is equally true, that with another class, constantly aug menting by accessions from the ranks of dissent, there is a great and increasing pansion for preaching, which the London pulpit at present fails to satisfy. The pas sion may be the result of bad education and love of excitement, but as it exists it should be turned into a good channel. A Massillpn in the pulpit will never lessen the reverence of the congregation for the regular service, nor elevate his office of preaching above that which he fills at the altar. I take this opportunity of inserting the canonical requisitions for deacons in the American Church, which is made fitting from the fact, honorable to my friend Walker, that he passed the ordeal of the severest scrutiny in every article ; his examiners in the persons of Bishop Onderdonk and the standing committee of Pennsylvania being reputed as more stringent in their requisitions of literary qualifications than those of any other diocess in the United States. CANON V. Ofthe Preparatory Exercises of a Candidate for Deacons' Orders. Section 1. There shall be assigned to every candidate for deacon's orders, three different examinations, at such times and places as the bishop to whom he applies for orders, shall appoint. The examination shall take place in the presence of the bishop and two or more presbyters, on the following studies prescribed by the Canons, and by 2 T 328 ecclesiastical reminiscences. the course of study established by the House of Bishops. At the first examination, on the Books of Scripture ; the candidate being required to give an account of the different books, and to translate from the original Greek and Hebrew, and to explain such passages as may be proposed to him. At the second examination, on the Evidences of Christianity, and Systematic Divinity. And at the last examination, on Church History, Ecclesiasti cal Polity, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Con stitution and Canons of the Church, and of the diocese for which he is to be ordained. In the choice of books on the above subjects, the candidate is to be guided by the course of study established by the House of Bishops. At each of the forementioned examinations, he shall produce and read a sermon or discourse, composed by himself, on some passage of Scripture previously as signed him, which, together with two other sermons or discourses, on some passages of Scripture selected by himself, shall be submitted to the criticisms of the bishop and clergy present. And before his ordination, he shall be required to perform such exercises in reading, in the presence of the bishop and clergy, as may enable them to give him such advice and instructions as may aid him in performing the service of the Church, and in deliver ing his sermons with propriety and devotion. Section 2. The bishop may appoint some of his presbyters to conduct the above examinations ; and a certificate from these presbyters, that the prescribed examinations have been held accordingly, and satisfac tion given, shall be required of the candidate : Provided, that in this case, the candidate shall, before his ordinar tion, be examined by the bishop, and two or more presbyters, on the above named studies. CLERICAL PREPARATION. 329 Section 3. In a diocese where there is no bishop, the Standing Committee shall act in his place, in appointing the examining presbyters required by this canon ; and in this case the candidate shall be again examined by the bishop to whom he applies for orders, and two or more presbyters, on the studies prescribed by the canons. Section 4. A clergyman who presents a person to the bishop for orders, as specified in the office of Ordinations without having good grounds to believe that the requisi tions of the Canons have been complied with, shall be liable to ecclesiastical censure." The following is the course of ecclesiastical studies referred to in the foregoing canon : — COURSE OF ECCLESIASTICAL STUDIES. " In attending to this subject a considerable difficulty occurs, arising out of the difference of the circumstances of students, in regard not only to intellectual endow ments and preparatory knowledge of languages and science, but to access to authors, and time to be devoted to a preparation for the ministry. For, in accommoda ting to those whose means are slender, we are in danger of derogating from the importance of religious know ledge ; while, on the other hand, although we should demand all that is desirable, we shall be obliged to content ourselves, in some cases, with what is barely necessary. " In consideration of the above, it will be expedient to set down such a course of study as is accommodated to a moderate portion of time and means ; and after wards to suggest provision, as well for a more limited, as for a more enlarged share of both. 330 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. "Let the student be required to begin witn some books in proof of the divine authority of Christianity, such as Grotius on the Truth of the Christian Religion ; Jen kins on the Reasonableness of Christianity ; Paley's Evi dences ; Leslie's Methods with the Jews and Deists ; Stillingfleet's Origines Sacra; and Butler's Analogy. To the above should be added some books which give a knowledge of the objections made by Deists. For this, Leland's View may be sufficient ; except that it should be followed by answers to deistical writers since Leland, whose works and the answers to them may be supposed known to the student. It would be best, if circumstan ces permit, that he should read what the deists them selves have written. "After the books in proof of Revelation, let the Student, previously to the reading of any system of divinity, study the Scriptures with the help of some approved commentators, such as Patrick and Lowth on the Old Testament, and Hammond, or Whitby, or Dod dridge, on the New ; being aware, in regard to the last mentioned author, of the points on which he differs from our Church, although it be with moderation and candor. During such, his study of the Scriptures, let him read some work or works which give an account of the design of the different books, and the grounds on which their respective authority is asserted ; for instance, Father Simon's Canon of Scripture ; Collier's Sacred Interpreter ; Gray's Key to the Old Testament, and Percy's Key to the New. Let the student read the Scriptures over and over, referring to his commentators as need may require, until he can give an account of the design and character of each book, and explain the more difficult passages of it. He is supposed to know enough of profane History, to CLERICAL PREPARATION. 331 give an account of that also, whenever it mixes with the sacred. There are certain important subjects which may be profitably attended to, as matters of distinct study, during the course of the general study of Scripture. For instance : the student jhaving proceeded as far as the deluge, may read some author who gives a larger account than the commentators of the particulars attached to that crisis ; and also the principles on which are founded the different systems of chronology, all which will be found clearly done in the Universal History. In reading the book of Leviticus, it will be useful to attend to some con nected scheme of the Sacrifices ; such as is exhibited by Bishop Kidder, in his Introduction to the Pentateuch, and by Mr. Joseph Mede in some of his discourses. A more full and interesting interpretation of the Prophecies than can be expected from the commentators, will be desi rable, and for this purpose let Bishop Newton's work be taken. — Between the study of the Old Testament and that of the New, should be read Prideaux's and Shuck- ford's Connections. With the New Testament should be taken some book relating to the Harmony ofthe Gospels, as McKnight's or Bishop Newcome's. Let the student before entering on the Gospels, read Dr. Campbell's Introductory Dissertations. Toward the close of the Gos pels the subject of the Resurrection should be particularly attended to; for which purpose, let there be taken either Mr. West on the subject, or Bishop Sherlock's Trial ofthe Witnesses. " After the study of the Scriptures, let attention be given to Ecclesiastical History, so far as to the Council of Nice. This period is distinctly taken, from a desire that the portion of history preceding it, as well as the opinions then entertained, may be learned from original writers, 332 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. which may be considered as one of the best expedients for the guarding of the student against many errors of modern times. The writers of that interval are not nu merous or bulky. Eusebius is soon read through ; and so are the Apostolic Fathers. Even the other writers are not voluminous, except Origen, the greater part of whose works may be passed over. The Apostolic Fathers may be best read in Cotelerius' edition ; but there are translations of most of them, by Archbishop Wake and the Rev. William Reeves. — Cave's Lives ofthe Apostles and Fathers may be profitably read at this period. " This stage of the student's progress seems most proper for the study of the two questions, of our Lord's Divinity, and of episcopacy. The aspect of early works on these subjects, best enables us to ascertain in what shape they appear to the respective writers. And it is difficult to suppose, on the ground of what we know of human nature, that, during the first three centuries, either the character of Christ should have been conceived of as materially different from what had been the represen tation of it by the first teachers of our religions ; or, that there should have been a material change of Church Government, without opposition to the innovation. For the former question, let the works of Bishop Bull and the Rev. Charles Leslie be taken : to which may well be added the late controversy between Bishop Horsley and Dr. Priestly ; and for the latter, Mr. Hooker's Ec clesiastical Polity, Archbishop Potter on Church Govern ment, and Daubeny's Guide to the Church. As the Lord Chancellor King published a book on the Discipline of the Primitive Church, in which he has rested episcopacy on insufficient grounds unwarily admitted by many on his authority — let the student read his book, and the CLERICAL PREPARATION. 333 refutation of it in Mr. Slater's Original Draft ofthe Primi tive Cliurch. " After this, let the student go on with the history of the fourth century, from Mosheim. But it will be of ad vantage to him to turn to Fleury's History, for the epitomes there given of the writings of the eminent men who abounded in that century and part of the next. Let him then return to Mosheim, and go on with that writer to the Reformation. Here let him pause and study as the main hinges of popery, its pretences to supremacy and infallibility, on which there will be found satisfactory matter in Mr. Chillingworth's Religion of Protestants a safe Way to Salvation, and Dr. Barrow's Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy. Here also let there be read Father Paul's History of the Council of Trent. Then let the student resume Mosheim. But it will be best, if, for a more minute knowledge of the History of the Church of England, since the Reformation, he take along with him Collier's History — a very able work, but in the reading of which some allowance must be made for peculiar pre judices. On coming, in the reign of Elizabeth, to the questions which arose between the divines of the Estab lished Church and the presbyterians, then known by the name of puritans, let recourse be again had to Mr. Hooker's work, and to the London Cases. Then let Mosheim be proceeded with to the end. " After these studi.es, and not before, let Divinity be read in a systematic method. Bishop Pearson's Exposi tion of the Creed may be considered as a small system, and, on account of the excellence of the work, is recom mended; as also, Bishop Burnet's Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles. Then let a larger system be taken ; suppose Stackhouse's Body of Divinity, with the addition 334 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. of the following modern works : Elements of Cliristian Theology, by the present Bishop of Lincoln, and Tlie Scholar Armed. That many works of this sort are not mentioned, is because we think their utility is prin cipally confined to arrangement, and suppose that the knowledge they convey is to be obtained from the Scrip tures, and judicious commentators." It seems necessary to this course of study to recom mend the Sermons of some of the distinguished preachers, who have so abounded in the Church of England for some ages past ; and the only matter will be, from among many of great name, to select a convenient number. "It seems unnecessary to require attention to the history of the Common Prayer, the grounds on which the different services are constructed, and the meaning of the Rubrics. Perhaps a careful study of Dr. Wheatty on the Common Prayer, and the late work of Mr. Reeves will be sufficient. Some books should be read on the Duties of the Pas toral Office; such as St. Chrysostom On the Priesthood, Bishop Burnet on the Pastoral Care, and Bishop Wil son's Parochialia. It is however to be remembered that one reason for studying carefully the Book of Common Prayer, and its Rubrics is, that by the help of these, in connection with what belongs in Scripture to the Minis terial character, sufficient information of its duties may be had. " A knowledge of the Constitution and the Canons' should be held absolutely necessary. And it is to be hoped that they will on this account be soon published detached from the journals. " To set down what books shall be essentiaT, no stu dent to be ordained without being fully prepared to CLERICAL PREPARATION. 335 answer on them, is more difficult. The lowest requisi tion is as follows : — Paley's Evidences ; Mosheim with a reference to Mr. Hooker for the Episcopacy ; Stack- house's Body of Divinity and Mr. Reeves on the Common Prayer ; the Constitution and Canons of the Church ; al lowing in the study of the Scriptures, a latitude of choice among approved Commentators : it being understood that if the student cannot, on the ground contained in some good commentary give an account of the different books, and explain such passages as may be proposed to him, this is of itself a disqualification. " During the whole course of study, the student will endeavour by the grace of God, to cultivate his heart by- attention to devotional and practical treatises." This course of studies was established by the House of Bishops in 1804, and usually occupies a student three years. It is that which, with such substitutions as are preferred by the tutor, is followed by private students of theology, and ministers from dissenting denominations who enter the Church. The latter are considered as " candidates," and read English theology for at least six months, when they are eligible to orders on meeting the usual examination for deacons : the period of time du ring which they were themselves students in such de nomination, 'added to this period of six months, being allowed to make up the canonical requisition of three years' candidateship. In such cases the course of study is necessarily abridged, though the order is observed- To instance a case within my own knowledge : two books only on the evidences of Christianity (Paley and Mc'Ilvaine) were read, with the " Analogy." 0' Doyle and Mant, Mc' Knight on the Epistles, with Ernesti's Interpre tations were the only companions in studying the Scrip- 2 u 336 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. tures; a smaller Church History was substituted for Mosheim; Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, and Bishop Hopkins's " Primitive Church," were the only books read on the Church; and in the divinity course the same student read Pearson on the Creed, Burnet on the Articles and the Sermons of Bishops Seabury and Gris wold. Time would not allow of a more extended course, and the candidate had already studied divinity system atically ; — but it may fairly be questioned whether a very large proportion of , the English clergy have given more than a cursory glance at the leading standards in the foregoing list, while not a few have confined their reading to Paley, 337 CHAPTER LI. THE RUBRIC. Habit with him was all the test of truth ; " It must be right : I've done it from my youth." Questions he answered in as brief a way ; " It must be wrong — it was of yesterday." Chabbii. On Sunday the 25th of September I attended the morn ing service of St. John's church, in a part of Phil adelphia called the Northern Liberties. Like London, the city proper comprehends only a limited district, beyond which houses have extended, and now take in several adjoining villages. The Northern Liberties is one of the out districts, holding much the same relation to its progenitor as Islington to the city of London. The church of St. John is a cumbrous piece of build ing. In its interior the churchwardens have, however, shown their good taste as well as their good sense and ~ intelligence by excluding the useless reading desk. The whole sacrifice of prayer and praise was offered from the Altar. The laxity of the English bishops in enforcing the rubrical law, and permitting the grotesque inconsist ences of costume and ritual observances which our churches exhibit to become by long usage familiarised to the public eye, and consequently regarded by vulgar ignorance, as essential parts and features of " a protes tant Church," is now felt in the American communion, and has already produced much dissension in certain local districts. The inconsistency of practice in the 338 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. mother Church with the written canon and rubric law induced the framers of the American canons to omit any legislation on the subject of chancels and vestments. What is the result? Clergymen and churchwardens have felt themselves at full liberty to transform, " mo dernise," and metamorphose their churches to such an extent that scarcely two can be found similar in design, and scarcely one which bears any resemblance to a primitive model. Some look like drawing rooms, others like music saloons, more like methodist meeting houses, and several bear a close resemblance to a theatre, which appearance is aided by the prevalence of bright colours tinsel and glare. A stranger to church forms, stares to see an officiating minister make three distinct exits and entrances, transformed on each occasion from black to white, or white to black; and inwardly asks himself whether a change of dress, and the pomposity of six journeys to and fro,* are amongst the essential features of * To the incredulous, who instead of using their own eyes and ears in this rubrical strife, take for granted the slanderous calumny of infidel editors, and dishonest party churchmen, that the confor mist clergy seek to multiply " forms and ceremonies,'' and who, perhaps, almost start at the above picture of frivolous, and worse than popish,' (because meaningless) parade, the regular journeys and changes of an anti-" innovating" clergyman on each sacrament day are sub-joined. Were such follies even sanctioned by law, and the more than partial usage of a century and a half only, no lover of a simple and protestant framed ritual could object to their abandonment, especially on the grounds stated by the Bishop of London : " First from the vestry to his pew in the black gown ; secondly (at the end of the Litany) from his pew to the vestry, to put off the gown, and put on the surplice; thirdly from the vestry to the altar in the surplice ; fourthly, (at the end of the Nicene Creed) from the altar to the vestry to put off the surplice, and put on the black gown ; fifthly, from the vestiy to the pulpit in the black gown ; sixthly, (at THE RUBRIC. 339 " the true Church ;" and whether a liturgical form of worship requires the use of three or more places at which to perforin the ordinary duties of prayer and oral instruction ? The evil of this neglect on the part of the Church law makers in the United States is begining to be felt and admitted, notwithstanding that some affect to treat the matter with contempt, as unworthy of serious consi deration. It is felt, particularly by the laity, that if uniformity in the words of the public worship is a desirable object, the same uniformity should pervade the internal structure of churches as to their main features. Taste and means may regulate the dimensions, height, and costliness of the altars, but their restoration to the spots whence they have been in many churches sacrile giously torn down, and the nature of the furniture and decorations belonging to them, should be placed beyond the caprice or idle whims of rectors and chuichwardens, or, as frequently happens, female committees, -whose know ledge of ecclesiastical proprieties is usually very profound. The late Bishop of Pennsylvania strongly recommended the entire rejection of the reading desk, on the ground of its manifest uselessness, and the gain effected in additional room, and the Bishop of New Jersey wishes to abolish both in the smaller churches and chapels confining the whole of the devotional part ofthe service to its proper place, the altar, and using the eagle or moveable bible the end of the sermon,) from the pulpit to the vestry, to put off the black gown, and put on the surplice ; seventhly, (when the Communion is over) from the altar to the vestry-room, to put off the surplice when the black gown is again resumed to walk home in, rejoicing in anti- ' Posey ite" simplicity, and despising " Puseyite pomp." — English Churchman. 3401 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. stand, from which the Proper Lessons are read, for the sermon, homily or exhortation.* The practice of the latter prelate is to deliver the sermon or exposition immediately after the Gospel, (the Nicene Creed being thrown out in this place in the American Prayer Book,) and then to proceed to the Offertory as the English rubric enjoins. This course, especially when no metrical hymn or anthem is sung before and after the sermon, does not allow of any change of dress, which the rubric preceding the Offertory impli citly forbids, the Prayer Book no where sanctions, and the custom of the Church immediately after the Reform ation, stamps as anti " protestant." By Bishop Doane's plan, which is similar to the Bishop of London's, of which, indeed, it had the precedency (being, in fact, nothing more than a return to the practice of our fathers) the full service is seen in its beauty and simplicity, as designed by the framers of our ritual, and as the primi tive Christians beheld it. Surely ignorance the most * " For what does the pulpit in most of our churches serve but to- set the preacher to the greatest disadvantage with the people over whose head he is elevated ? For what is a pulpit needed mere thru. a desk ? Why not remove the Holy Table back (again) and set it up a step or two on a broad platform, with the chancel space before it ? Then, as the prayers are offered from the altar why not let the sermon or exhortation be delivered from the reading stand at which the lessons are read ? Why should the human exposition be elevated above the word of God ? Why should that which should be simple, familiar, pastoral, parental, be forced into formality by the position of the speaker. Would there not in such an arrangement be less of declamation, and more of exposition ; less exhibition of the man, more of the message which he brings ? * * * In our smalleE churches, where room for the chancel is with so much difficulty ob tained, the plan may be adopted to the very best advantage." — Con ventional address 1840. THE RUBRIC. 341 unpardonable ofthe intention .and history of ecclesias tical ceremonies and vestments, or a most factious spirit ¦of opposition against constituted authorities, would object to a return to the decent practice of the English Church when first reformed, which is likewise in close conformity to the order of the primitive — antecedent be it remembered to the days of popery — especially when that return ensures greater simplicity, and less display than the practice long in vogue, though at no period sanctioned in the cathedral worship. Our sublime ser vice, in itself complete, is broken in upon by the use of two metrical hymns, set to jig tunes, for the sole purpose of enabling the officiating priest to robe himself in his university habit ; which if he be a graduate is a piece of ill-timed display on such an occasion and if not is a positive cheat. Why should the work of the ritualists of the Reformation be marred, and the devotion of the Faithful be disturbed, and the attention of all be diverted from its proper object, by the addition or introduction of two or more modern hymns, set to modern tunes, and the treble exit and re-appearance of Mr. priest to and from his frippery, for the sake of announcing to the gaping beholders, " Hear the words of a doctor of canon law, graduated at the famous University of ? Common sense, and common propriety rebel against such pedantic and popish absurdity ! The New Jersey prelate did not probably foresee when he made his excellent suggestion relative to the pulpit the opposition it has received on the ground of the reve rence which is said to be felt for that piece of furniture from long association, and the ulterior aim which it is asserted he conceals under it, viz — to banish preaching 342 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. altogether. To both these objections we may reply in the Yankee mode, by asking the question — What is a pul pit? A dictionary lying before me defines it as " The desk where the sermon is pronounced." Is not, therefore, the stand, eagle, or lecturn supporting the Bible, where the lessons are read, as much in every conceivable sense a pulpit as any other form of stand? — If reverence is felt for any particular style or pattern of pulpit, that feeling is certainly outraged in the modern rostrums which are as little like the pulpits once in use, or a "desk" (which the dictionary defines a pulpit to be) as a read ing stand or eagle is unlike the former ; nay more so. The octagonal or the six sided pulpit, the most con venient and handsome form, where, (as in most Enghsh churches) an elevated pulpit is needed, has long since disappeared in the United States, except from a few of the older churches ; and the rage for something new has brought up a countless variety of preaching boxes, all differing from each other in size and decorations, but maintaining a wondrous resemblance in their uniform ugliness, and the luxurious accommodation afforded to the preacher. An English friend of mine entering St. Andrew's church, Philadelphia, for the first time, in which one of these architectural anomalies rears its cumbrous and tasteless form in the chancel, supposed it to be a high altar, richly and gorgeously decorated (which illusion, the candlesticks, or lamps for gas burners re sembling candlesticks, at the top, renders complete) till the sermon, when — as he was speculating what place the preacher would occupy — no pulpit (like one) being in view, his appearance at the summit of the supposed altar, produced the strangest effect imaginable. Several pul pits in which I preached in the same city form a com- THE RUBRIC. 343 plete saloon, where the easy couch, the mellowed light, and partial seclusion invite to soft repose. In others the hanging drapery and festooned canopy impart to them the appearance of a royal throne. In this parti cular our American brethren might with great advantage copy the more becoming English examples. Another feature in the externals of public worship in the American Church, claims a passing notice, viz. — the music. Though choir singing is better attended to as a general rule in the United States than in this country, yet the want of an uniform standard in the style and character of the music, is felt in the same degree as by English congregations. The love of variety creates a constant change in the selection of chants, anthems, and metre psalm tunes ; in which a correct ecclesiastical taste is more the exception than the rule.* In the larger * Since my return to England I have attended service in the following churches, and chapels of the metropolis, viz : St. Mary's, Lambeth ; Eaton Square church ; St. Peter's, Queen-square ; St. John's, West minster ; Christchurch, Broadway ; the Abbey ; St. Martin's, Trafalgar Square; St. Giles's; the Temple; St. Mark's, North Audley-street ; Percy Chapel; the Savoy ; St. Andrew's, Holborn ; St, Anne's, Soho; St. George's, Hanover-square ; Hanover Chapel ; Archbishop Tenison's chapel ; St. Mary's, Woolnoth ; St. George's, Bloomsbury ; All Souls, Regent-street; Margaret chapel ; St. Paul's, Foley-place ; St. Bride's, Fleet-street; St. Pancras, New-road ; Regent-square chapel ; Christchurch Albany-street ; Fitzroy chapel, London-street ; St. Marylebone, New Road ; Trinity, Brompton ; St. Paul's, Knightsbridge ; Trinity, Upper Chelsea ; the Normal School chapel. The contrast in the manner of conducting the service, both in the desk and the pulpit, in several of these places of worship to the care less and irreverent performances once exhibited, affords a gratifying evidence of that spirit of improvement which has latterly shown itself in the public performances of the national clergy. But what a fearful falling off, all but about half a dozen out of these thirty two London (|j| churches present in the altar service, from what our national Church once 2x 344 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. churches of the city, however, a laudable preference has latterly been manifested for the Gregorian tones ; which are (as they are designed to be) slower than in those English churches where they have been introduced ; though not in the measured and feeling strain that gives them their beauty and effect in the Latin Church. In only one church in which I have worshipped supplied to her children ! ! In only four, besides the Abbey, is the catholic ritdal of England's Church beheld as the Reformers moulded it ; and in these four, as a natural consequence, the devotion of the crowded attendance of worshippers, attests the preference which the in telligent of the English community give to the services of the Church of England when properly exhibited, and their excellent effect — so exhibited over the minds of the worshippers. To suppose, indeed, that any commu nity would deliberately give the preference to an ill executed, slovenly performance over one conducted in the manner prescribed by its composers is to pronounce that community destitute, both of taste and common sense. I May add, in parenthesis, that the music at several of the largest of these churches — little as there is of it — is another disgrace to the incumbents : or to the parish authorities who oppose themselves to the wishes ofthe incumbents, to purge the ritual of innovation, and pro duce something like an approach to decency in the public worship of Almighty God ; and who, with the full ability and material for conforming to the model of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, care so little for their public duty as to leaye the whole musical and responsive worship in the unskilled hands of that worse than superfluous functionary, "the clerk" and the charity children (en masse) the screaming treble of these loft-y warblers in the former, and their mechanical monotone in the latter, are sufficient to dissipate the devotional feeling of any but the most inveterate •' protestant' ' What a scandal is it to the Church authorities, that the opera house and the popish chapels, sustained as the latter are for the most part by the voluntary contributions of the poorest class in the community, should furnish better music than our own richly endowed parish churches ! ! ! In the other department of preaching, the names of Bennett, (the model of a parish priest) Burgess, Cooper, Dale, Dodsworth, Duk infield, Harness, Ions, Montgomery, Page, Richards, Tyler, and Villiers, occupy Lmost deservedly) too high a place in public estimation, to be further raised by any panegyric in this note. THE RUBRIC. 345 (in Maryland) in which the plain song was used for the whole service, (appointed to be sung) was the time observed, at all in keeping with the character of these beautiful tones, and the effect produced was corresponding. At first pronounced " monotonous " the congregation in this instance soon became so attached to the primitive metres of Ambrose and Gregory that the more modern chants, unless partaking of their cha racter, proved distasteful to the worshippers and were wholly laid aside. " Who," asks a Scotch writer, " that has ever heard the music of the Gregorian chant in the Latin Church, can forget the solemnity, not unmixed with sadness with which it fills the soul of the worship per ? Whether intoned by devout priests consecrated to God, or by the artless voices of children in the sublimest act of Christian adoration on earth, or at the vespers of each closing day, it seems ever to breathe holiness and heavenly peace. It is related of many devout souls now with God, that they could never hear the Mixolydian song of the Preface without being melted in tears. Sooth, no tongue can be adequate to give an idea of the impression produced by the plain song of the choir. It is full of history, full of sanctity. While the Grego rian chant rises, you seem to hear the whole Catholic Church behind you, responding. It exhales a perfume of Christianity, an odour of penitence, and of compunc tion which overcome you. No one cries ' How admira ble ! ' but by degrees the return of those monotonous sounds penetrates one ; and, as it were, impregnates the soul, without one's ever dreaming of judging, or of appreciating, or of learning the airs which one hears." It must be a source of regret to every right minded catholic, both in England and America, but particularly 346 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. in this country, that the wretched practice of blending the three services of the Morning Prayer, the Litany, and the Holy Communion, should have received the sanction of such general custom ; and the regret is increased that a practice so manifestly opposed to the intention of the compilers of our liturgy, and so utterly at variance with the spirit of their general appointments for the public worship of this nation, should find adoocates even among the clergy ! It is to accomplish the task of getting through the heavy duty within the allotted period that the musical part, where the choral service is used, is executed with such railway speed : destructive alike of religious enjoyment, and intelligent participation in the language of those portions. In the United States, the revisers of the Prayer Book have so arranged the three services when performed together, as to meet the diffi culty in some degree, by avoiding repetitions, and a permitted omission of a portion of the Litany [placed in parenthesis] which permission clergymen universally avail themselves of. An increasing number, however, adopt the better plan of celebrating the first two services at the (intended) hour of early morn, and offering the Eu- charistic sacrifice at eleven ; a practice which has the sanc tion of one entire diocess, where, at the annual meetings of the Convention, the clergy and laity attend matins be fore breakfast, and celebrate the Communion during the recess after the morning's sitting for business. The advantages of opening the churches for several services during the day, are so great and so obvious, that arguments seem wholly superfluous addressed to con scientious parish priests, whose desire is to do the great est amount of good to the greatest number of their flock At a time when want of church-room is severely felt in THE RUBRIC. 347 the populous districts of the town and country, how happens it to have been so overlooked that by this mode the number at present accommodated may be trebled, or even (if there are two clergymen) quadrupled ? To say nothing of the advantages of affording servants, and persons from a distance an opportunity of attending church more than once, and of receiving the Commu nion as often as the rich; (a consideration I would press home to the labour-saving anti " Puseyite " gentlemen,) the different services could then be executed in a manner more suited to their importance, producing no fatigue to the worshippers ; and the temple of God would, by its open porch — its oft recurring tolls of invitation — and the acceptable incense of the sacrifice of prayer and praise, sent up with due intermissions, from morn till eve — pre sent certainly a more fitting type and emblem of the Temple above during the eternal Sabbath, than the pre sent wearisome practice of a compound triple service. Part of a communication which has just come under my eje, in the columns of a London Church journal, advocating this alteration —or rather this return to the orthodox custom of our ancestors — furnishes most completely all the additional arguments in its favour : — " We would strongly urge the desirableness of offering to the inhabitants of populous districts, especially if there be a want of church room, the opportunity of attending shorter services and at a greater variety of hours on Sunday mornings than they have at present, in the combined and, to many persons, tedious and fatiguing service of Morning Prayer, Litany, and Communion, with a sermon of three quarters of an hour, or an hour long. Where there are several churches and a due pro portion of clergy, this boon might surely be granted, 348 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. without any difficulty ; and even where there is only one church, provided there are two clergymen, we do not see any insurmountable difficulty. It would not perhaps be desirable to interfere much with the arrange ment of our ordinary Sunday Morning services, but we would suggest whether some such plan as the fol lowing might not be adopted : " At 8 the Order for Morning Prayer. " At 9 the Litany. " At 10 the entire Communion Office, including, of course, the administration of the Eucharist. This Com munion would be especially convenient for invalids and others, for whom ' early Communions ' (at eight o'clock) are too early. " At half-past 1 1 Morning Prayer, (no Litany) and the an ti- Communion Office, with a sermon, but with no administration of the Eucharist, except on the great fes tivals. In the afternoon there might be the Evening Service with Catechising, and in the evening, the Litany might, we presume, be used, and a sermon or lecture after it. [The Greater Litany was recommended by Bishop Gris wold as forming an appropriate third service, before a lecture, when a night service is necessary, and so used by Doctor Vinton at Gracechureh, Providence.] " To many persons, we are aware, these suggestions and alterations will appear strange and wholly unneces sary, but, from practical experience, we are convinced that some such division and shortening of our Sunday services would be a most welcome and valuable boon to invalids, aged and infirm persons, mothers who are nursing infants, medical-men, attendants on invalids, THE RUBRIC. 349 aud children, persons having any particular physical infirmity,* domestic servants, and young children, all of whom, by our present system of combined, unbroken services, and long sermons, are deprived of many privi leges and opportunities, which the Church had consider ately and affectionately provided for them.f Invalids * " Long services and long sermons not only counteract medical treat ment, and aggravate disease, but send new patients to the doctors. Fe males, of susceptible and weak constitutions, are especially liable to injury, in various ways, particularly by attendance at churches in the evening, where an " overflowing congregation," stoves, and gas-lights combine to render the atmosphere both insufferably hot and most unhealthy ; and where, after listening to the exciting harangue of a popular preacher, they emerge into the open air, which is, by comparison, perfectly freezing, we might say killing. To this source, and to public meetings, and evening parties, may, in a great measure, be traced the fearful increase of con sumption in the present day". f " We feel it to be too doubtful a point to be introduced otherwise than in a note, but we would venture to suggest whether some consideration might not also be bestowed upon those who have really no valid excuse for staying away from church, or for being wearied or annoyed by the length of the services on Sundays. As a fact, many persons, especially young men of active habits, volatile minds, and restless temperaments, are guilty of such conduct ; and the question is, whether we may treat them as we would weak brethren, and make such concessions as the laws of the Church admit of, in order to bring them gradually to a better state. Again, there are some persons who, with more or less excuse, occasionally take the opportunity of their only weekly holiday to go and see their friends at a distance. On sueh occasions they omit going to church, because it would so materially interfere with their plans, but they might very likely be induced to attend an early service, of short duration, and some would be heartily glad to do so. We cannot prevent persons, who are confined all the week, from making a holiday of Sunday, occasionally, and therefore it is, we think, worth while to consider whether we should not provide them with an opportunity for public worship which will leave the majority of them without excuse if they neglect it. We have not much fear that by so doing we should sanction or increase holiday-making on Sundays, while it is certain that a considerable amount of good would 350 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. and aged persons are often tired out, and their ailments very seriously aggravated, by long confinement in nar row pews, and continued exposure to either extreme of heat or cold ; while young children are wearied, and very frequently disgusted, with the monotony of remain ing in one narrow place for two hours, with little that can interest them, and thus' they become an annoyance to every one near them. When we say this, we must not be understood to deprecate the value of discipline for children, but we question the propriety of trying their patience unduly in a place which we wish them to re gard with reverent affection. They should certainly be accustomed gradually to the services of the Church, and not, as many at present have, at their early attendance, to sit for two long hours in a strange place, where they must neither move nor ask a single question. How often have we pitied poor little charity-children, thrust up into the highest and most distant and dark corner of the church, where they can hear nothing but the organ, and where they must, in warm weather, be almost stifled with the closeness of the atmosphere ; without permis sion, and almost without power, to movej during two services, (one of great length,) and two long inaudible, or unintelligible, sermons. We can hardly wonder, if after they leave school, they avoid a place which must be effected. Then there are others, who follow their callings the greater part of Sunday, such- as cabmen, omnibus-men, policemen, watermen, barbers, etc., who, from their very numbers, are worth a thought." This suggestion deserves a more prominent place than that of a note, But if the London clergy do not speedily second the large minded plans of their diocesan, and to (use an Americanism) " walk up to the work " before them, the " City Mission Society " which is practically a per fectly organized episcopal association, will be beforehand with them amongst this hitherto neglected class. THE RUBRIC? 351 be associated in their minds with irksome monotony, and unrelieved weariness. Upon domestic servants, a division and shortening of the services must confer a most valua ble benefit, as nearly all might then go once, if not twice, to church on Sunday, if their employers were disposed to afford them facilities. Where there was the daily service, say Morning Prayer at 8, and Evening Prayer at 7, there might be Litany at 10 or 11, on Wednesdays and Fridays, and this latter would afford two more opportunities a week for the classes whose claims we have been urging. We are quite confident, that if the plan we have here suggested were tried, and persevered in, we should, in time, obtain many worship pers, and those more willing, cheerful, and sincere. This would be the most legitimate, the most immediate, and the most economical ' Church Extension,' even though an additional clergyman or two were required in large parishes. We are no great admirers of novelty in our public services, except where novel obedience is substituted for * old-fashioned ' disobedience, but we cannot help thinking that the novelty, as well as the variety of this arrangement, would be no undue or ill- timed concession to the temper and spirit of the times. This would not be against the law of the Church ; whereas concessions are constantly being made • in the very teeth of her laws, and in violation of the conscien ces of the clergy, and the privileges of the laity." With regard to a distinct hour of service for the Litany, recommended by this writer, it may be remarked that it is the opinion of eminent rubricians, that the word " Sundays " in the rubric appointing when the longer Litany shall be sung, was originally either a clerical or a typographical error : that service being 2 Y 352 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCFS. peculiarly a penitential supplication designed exclusively for Wednesdays and Fridays (hence called " Litany Bays ") and on other fast days " when it shall be com manded by the ordinary." On Sunday, as a festival, the Shorter Litany in the Morning Prayer was alone designed to be used by the Church. The conjecture is more than reasonable ; and accords with the opinions of Bishop Griswold (expressed at the Convention of his diocess during my connection with it) on the inexpedi ency of lengthening the period of worship by the com mon practice of lumping the three offices in the morning worship : " a powerful obstacle " he stated " to the increase of the Church in America." Bishop White also recommended the correction of this abuse. The evil is magnified in England by the greater length of the Litany, the unavoidable repetition of Creeds, Pater Nosters, and Collects, and the introduction of the An them ; which, added to the metre singing, forms a service of such fearful length, that (whilst its oppressive weariness, especially when all read * does not warrant * The indolent practice of reading what is designed and set down to be sung cannot be sufficiently deprecated. Thus the beautiful variety of our service is unperceived, unenjoyed by the catholic worshipper. When in the metropolis, for instance, every parish church and chapel possesses the materials (with proper training doubtless among the school children) of as good a choir as that at the cathedral, the Temple church, Broadway and Margaret-street chapels, etc., how culpable is the negligence which omits all attention to this important part of the public worship of Almighty God. How are the three hundred well paid clergy of London employed that they leave an important part of the duty which is especially assigned to then by the laws ofthe Church, to the direction of ignorant and incom petent parish subordinates ? Was the unrivalled worship of the Anglican Church thus burlesqued in the days of King Edward.and Queen Elizabeth ? The following directions, from the latter's memorable " Injunctions" to the clergy of her realm, show that the slovenly practice of reading (and THE RUBRIC. 353 desertion of the Church, and a relinquishment of her privileges) fully accounts for the extensive disrelish for the services ofthe national sanctuary — so different from the attachment manifested by Romanists to their public worship, and the preference given to the shorter reli- in wretched style too, in nine out of every ten of our churches) forty or sixty pages of ritml. by parson, clerk, and charity children, was never the mode of worship intended by the martyr Reformers, when they framed the offices of England's Reformed Apostolic Church : — " Item. Because in divers collegiate, and also some parish churches heretofore, there have been livings appointed for the maintenance of men and children to use siugiug in the church, by means whereof the laudable service of music hath been had in estimation, and preserved in knowledge : the Queen's Majesty, neither meaning in any wise the decay of any thing that might conveniently tend to the use and continuance of the saitl science, neither to have the sane iu any part so abused in the church, that thereby the Common Prayer should be the worse understandcd of the hearers, willeth and commandeth, that first, no alterations be made of such assignments of living, as heretofore hath been appointed to the use of singing or musick in the church, but that the same so remain. And that there be a modest and distinct song so used in all parts of the Common Prayers in the church, that the same may be as plainly understanded as if it were read without singing, and yet, nevertheless, for the comforting of such that delight in musick, it may be permitted, that in the beginning' or in the end of the Common Prayer, either at Morning or Evening, there may be sung an Hymn, or such like song to the praise of Almighty God in the best sort of melody and musick that may be conveniently devised, having respect that the sentence of hymn may be understanded and perceived. " Item. That the churchwardens of every parish shall deliver unto our Visitors the inventories of vestments, copes, and other ornaments, plate, books and specially of grayles, couchers, legends, processionals, manuals, hymnala, portuesses, and such like, appertaining to the church. " Item. That weekly upjn Wednesdays and Fridays, not being holy days, the curate at the accustomed hours of service shall resort to church, and cause warning to be given to the people by knolling of a bell, and'say the Litany and Prayers." — Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions, p. 10. 354 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. gious exercises of the conventicle. The present Bishop of Chester has remarked that a few, very few alterations in the liturgy would " reconcile millions of dissenters to the Church ;" an assertion which no one can doubt. How tremendously responsible are those parties who oppose every effort on the part of some of our clergy to correct an existing evil by conforming their practice to the ju dicious directions of the rubric, for the multitudes who are lost to the Church on account of an evil so easily corrected ! It will not, perhaps, be considered as irrelevant to notice in this place, that unhappy and unnecessary strife which has latterly disturbed the peace of the Church at home on the subject of rubrical conformity. Never was a civil war commenced and prosecuted on such trivial and absurd grounds ! Several diocesan bishops acting in their lawful capacity as ordinaries, —with the simple and obvious purpose of correcting an useless irregularity in the mode of conducting public worship, and of directing the parish funds for benevolent objects, through the legitimate channel of the Offertory — directed, or merely suggested to their clergy the ob servance of certain neglected rubrical directions in the Prayer Book relating to the celebration of the Commu nion office. Who, but the open contemners of law would resist such an injunction from the episcopal head ? Ad mitting that these proposed "changes" in one (and only one) of the public services are in no possible de gree prejudicial to the established " protestant " prin ciples of the English Church, and intrinsically unimpor tant, which many of the non-complying clergy concede, then, — on what ground, it may be confidently asked, is the refusal to introduce them justified, provided clergymen THE RUBRIC. 355 hold themselves bound by the laws of their own Church ? This is the only light in which to view the matter. It is a simple question ; which is easier evaded than answered. To quote a text of Scripture, or to broach an irrelevant discussion on " the comparative claims of doctrines and ceremonies," etc., are only the evasions of shuffling ex pediency. We cannot believe that a tenderness for the consciences of their people is the acting motive with men whose course of action stirs up in their parishioners all the latent feelings of rebellion against the constituted authorities of the Church. If the episcopal mandate required any thing calculated to wound the most tender conscience, the case might be different — but this is not pretended. The only obstacle urged, is the distrust which so slight an alteration in the order of the public service is calculated to produce amongst the laity in their spiritual teachers — an apprehension that the movement is towards Rome. But who first suggested this bugbear, is the question ? Was it not made the watchword of a party 1 — though the proposed improvements have no pos sible symbolical reference to any thing peculiarly Ro manist either in doctrine or practice ; and it may be confidently asked, Would a general and simultaneous compliance with episcopal directions by all parties in the clerical ranks, accompanied (if necessary) with a simple explanation of the reasons for the alteration, have produced any dissatisfaction, or opposition amongst the laity ? Not, it may be confidently affirmed, in a single instance ! Nay, if the public mind were not in so great a degree misled by those filling the ministerial office, who, forgetful of their obligations, encourage popular resistance to episcopal authority, the intelligent laity would see in the highest officer of the Church, a guar- 356 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. dian of their own rights and privileges against priestly encroachments ; and in the strengthening and upholding of the full dignity and prerogatives of the episcopal office, a certain security against an abuse of the pastoral office. It will scarcely be irrelevant to suggest the enquiry, — what does a minister of the episcopal Church of England promise before he receives his commission from tbe hands of the chief pastor ? Let the office of ordination furnish the answer : — After assenting to the searching question whether " he thinks he is truly called according to the will of Jesus Christ, and according to the Canons of the Church to the ministry of the same ? " and promising in detail a com pliance with the Church's requirements, the bishop asks the candidate : — - "Will you reverently obey your bishop, and other chief ministers, who, according to the Canons of the Church may have the charge and government over you, following with a glad mind and will their godly admo nitions ? To which the candidate for the diaconate replies be - fore the witnessing congregation : " I will endeavour so to do, the Lord being my helper." ' To make this engagement doubly binding, the same party when advanced to the higher office in the sacred ministry — the full priesthood — renews this vow of obe dience to the bishop, adding another " to submit him self (also) to the godly judgment of his superior." Which engagements, so publicly and emphatically made, and inseparably bound to his soul by the seal of the Holy Eucharist — then partaken on his bended knees —an honest man will respect. A knave only, and an arrant one, will set his bishop's THE RUBRIC. 357 injunctions at defiance ; treat contemptuously his bro therly suggestions ; and claim it a mark of his " gospel freedom " that he is independent of episcopal interfe rence. Nor does the "evangelical" preaching and creed of such a man exonerate him from the imputation of wilful dishonesty. But there are other engagements binding on every instituted minister of the Church (" evangelical " as well as " Puseyite ") which, however little regarded by those whose resistance to " episcopal interference " is a test of their " evangelical " soundness bears still more expressly on this subject. In the " Letter of Institution" which a rector or vicar receives from his bishop the new incumbent is only " licensed and authorised " to hold his cure while " com plying with the rubrics and canons of the Church, and with such lawful directions as he shall at any time re ceive from the bishop." He is further admonished " faithfully to feed that portion of the flock of Christ intrusted to him ; not as a man pleaser, but as continual bearing in mind that he is accountable to [his bishop] here, and to the Chief Bishop, and Sovereign Judge of all hereafter." Nor is this all : The interpretation of the rubrics, by the Church's rules, rests with the bishop, who is the only and, if he chooses to exert the legal as well as inherent powers of his office, the final arbiter in every dispute which may arise between a minister and his congregation. In addition to which the Canons of the Church, by which every clergyman is solemnly bound, as distinctly assign to the episcopal officer the jurisdiction in all matters re- latiog to the Ritual. The directions for the regu lation of our public worship are few and simple ; their 358 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. observance easy, and if even complied with minutely would never have awakened the hostility of the laity but for the factious objections of indolent or demagogue priests, to whom the peace of the Church was a secondary consideration when their own ease or temporary popu larity was the object to be secured. That some few have acted ignorantly it is charitable to believe ; not so with those who took a prominent lead in their resistance to " episcopal interference." A more upright and catholic minded course on the part of those clergy whose act of contumacy has been a signal for the lower ranks of Church officials to copy their spirit, would have saved the latter from that unenvi able fame which they have in several cases obtained, by their delicate apprehension of the relation subsisting be tween subordinate parish authorities and the episcopal heads of the Church. Had they informed themselves of the historical, as well as the received meaning of the term " protestant, " and of the custom of other " pro testant " Churches and Communions ; had a little infor mation on these points been obtained from the proper source, before memorialising the episcopal officer, and in said memorials, protests, and vestry speeches deter mining what are, and what are not, the distinctive fea tures of a Reformed Church, they would have escaped the position which they now occupy : a better course this than taking the sagacious judgment of the Sunday newspaper press, or even than forming their opinion on the partial decisions of the more respectable daily jour nalists, whose sphere of criticism, however wide, is cer tainly not legitimately extended to this discussion. If these gentlemen of the daily and weekly press do not write ignorantly when they take up their pens to pro- THE RUBRIC. 359 scribe " Puseyism " even in the innocent form of rubri cal conformity, they only show how glaringly truth, and facts are perverted for party purposes. — But a steady perseverance in the path of duty on the part of the clergy, will neutralise this (usurped) influence in the Church, and in time reconcile even her now malcontent members to those admirable provisions for their spiritual wants, and that decent and significant formulary, which the English Reformers bequeathed to this nation. Though the former has been criminally neglected, and ¦the latter obscured by modern innovations, the duty is no less binding on the clergy to cairy out the one, and exhibit the other to the letter. In this they are justified in resisting to the utmost the unauthorised interference of official subordinates and their mobbish backers ; strong as may be (for a time) the faction which instigates the opposition, and influential as may be the political organ which sanctions and applauds the outrage. The following from Dr. Jarvis's work entitled " No Union with Rome," is deserving the attentive regard of these open-mouthed advocates for "a protestant Church," who, as Dr. Jarvis's account shews, must, to be consistent, be contented to rank themselves with the dissenters from the Church, and the opponents of protestantism on the continent, its original birth-place. " I pass on to that third definition of popery which Mr. Hallam calls ' the last and most enlarged sense' and ' which' he says ' the vulgar naturally adopted ;" I mean that which makes it extend to ceremonies and eccle siastical OBSERVANCES. " Under this head must be included, 1 . The presby- terians of Scotland of all sects ; 2. The independents and other dissenters in England calling themselves 2 z 360 ecclesiastical reminiscences. " protestants ;" and 3. the congregationalists of this country [America] and the descendants of the Scottish presbyterians, with the various sects which have ema nated from them. All these accuse the Church of England and our Communion of popery in our ceremonies and ecclesiastical observances. The use of a prescribed ritual, from which it is not lawful for the minister to depart ; the celebration of festiv als, such as Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Easter and Whitsuntide ; the observance of fasts on stated days and seasons, such as Wednesdays and Fridays, Ember-days, Lent, Passion Week, etc. ; the commemoration of saints on special days; ' daily worship without sermons, etc. ; the wearing of surplices, and other ecclesiastical habiliments ; the sign of the cross in baptism, the use of altars, kneeling at the reception of the elements in the Lord's Supper, and communion of the sick ; the ring as a token and pledge in marriage, and bowing at the name of Jesus ; are all objected to as ' popish,' consequently any increase of such observances, as reverence in entering a church, bowing towards the altar, placing a cross over or upon the altar, burning lights upon the same, are all looked upon as the sure indications of a desire to return to " popery." But they who make popery to consist in these things are little aware of the dilemma into which they bring themselves ! There is not one of these observances, which is not in use among some one or other of the protestants either ofthe Evangelical or the Reformed Communions on the con tinent of Europe. The use of a prescribed ritual is, I believe, universal. One of the pastors of Geneva told me they were about to alter their liturgy ; and upon my asking — in what respect ? he said, to bring it nearer to the Church of England, especially in responsive worship. the rubric. 361 This desire to make their worship more fervent by the united voices of minister and congregation, has already shown itself in the liturgy of the Canton of the Grisons to which reference has been already made, as published by their synod in 1831. They have a Litany which, in substance, accords with ours ; and in many of their ser vices, especially in that for the Communion, the respon sive mode of worship is introduced. At Zurich, though the old system of prayer by the minister's voice only is preserved, I held the prayer book in my hand through the whole service, and can aver that not a word was uttered which was not in the prescribed ritual. The festivals of Christmas, Easter. Ascension and Whitsun day, with the Mondays following Easter and Whitsun day, are celebrated. Passion week is observed by services every day, and there are special services for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday (or High Thursday as it is called, in commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist) and Good Friday. There are also regular week day services, morning and evening, and lectures two or three times a week. Such is the practice of the Calvinists. " Among Lutherans, there is the closest conformity to us in rites and ceremonies. They observe all the fes tivals and fasts and saints' days which we do. In some of their churches, as for example, in Wirtemberg, and I believe iu Baden, they wear surplices ; not merely the simple garment of white linen which we use, but the more ornamented and costly garment used in the Church of Rome. They use the sign of the cross, not only in baptism, but in consecrating the elements in the Lord's Supper. They have altars with lights burning upon them, and not merely a cross, but a crucifix, in the &fi2 ecclesiastical reminiscences. centre. They kneel when they receive the elements, and administer the wafer, as the Church of Rome does, by putting it into the mouth of the- recipient. The Communion is administered in private to the sick. The ring is used in marriage, and they bow at the name of Jesus. Let it be observed that these are the original protestants. If our ceremonies and ecclesiastical ob servances are popish, then were Luther and Melancthon eminently papistical." 363 CHAPTER LI I. general convention of 1841. The following week the General Convention of the Church commenced its sittings in St. Paul's, New York. As this meeting of the great council of the Church is perhaps the most interesting and important occasion recorded in my American journal, a detailed account of it may not be unacceptable. St. Paul's is the second church for size in New York, and well adapted for the services which were solemnized within its walls on Wednesday, October 6th. The entire body ofthe church was filled by the clerical and lay delegates, the former in their collegiate gowns occupying the middle portion. At ten o'clock the bishops, full robed, entered through the great western door, and proceeding up the centre aisle, took their places in the chancel. What an interesting group was that ! The first in the procession was the venerable presiding bishop, his head whitened with seventy-five winters, twenty of these spent in the active, unceasing labours of the episcopate ; his form still erect and manly, though his countenance is deeply furrowed, bear ing the marks of intense concern, inseparable from "the care of all the Churches," and a field of diocesan labour more severe than any other in the country. Following the primate, the reverend form of the Bishop of Vir ginia appears " with shaking hands and whitened locks, an appropriate representative and successor of 364 ecclesiastical reminiscences. the apostles." * Next comes the Bishop of Illinois, athletic in form, yet showing the lines of care, and an aspect of ill-concealed restless anxiety. How instantly does the imagination follow him to the hills and prairies of the west, where his pastoral crook, swayed with wis dom and judgment, has gathered so large a company of converts " obedient to the faith," whose children shall call him blessed ; and where his persevering industry has raised up tivo universities " Ever witness for him Those twins of learning." Bishop Griswold occupied the right of the altar, and Bishop Moore the left. Two priests read the Morning Prayer and Litany at the reading desk, and four deacons served the table by lifting the oblations, and distributing the remaining elements after all had communicated. The Communion service was divided between the two senior prelates. The sermon was preached by the Bishop of New York from the text " For whom he did foreknow them he also did predestinate." It was a note of peace, like the Articles of the Church ; and was designed to produce har mony and peace among the assembled representatives of the Church, by pointing out the common ground on which they stood with regard to controverted points of theo logy ; and the effect was apparently such as was intended. After 1075 persons had communicated, there was an interchange of greetings between the members of the Convention. This affecting scene was thus described by a clerical eye witness : — " What a meeting of Christian brothers ! Brethren beloved, long separated, and labouring in different Bishop Henshaw's Life of the late Bishop of Virginia, p. 310. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1841. 365 portions of their master's vineyard, were permitted to see each other again in the flesh. It is not. for the pen to tell what was felt amidst this brotherly shaking of hands — the affectionate smiles, salutations, enquiries, congra tulations and rejoicings— God be praised for such a meeting, — such a privilege. It was worth travelling a long tedious journey for — a type of what God's children will experience in the land of life and bliss." The session of the General Convention lasted a fortnight ; the house of clerical and lay deputies occupy ing the body of the church, and the bishops a con sistory room adjoining, which was appropriately fitted up for the occasion . Some alterations were made in existing canons, and five new- canons were passed. One of these related to the absence of a clergyman from his diocess without sufficient cause ; another to the election of missionary bishops to the office of diocesan bishop, in which the canon directed that a majority of the bishops and standing committees should concur before such translation should be legal ; and another, on the trial of bishops, requiring the concurrence of two thirds of his own rank, and fixing seven as the quorum of episcopal judges, besides the presenting prelate. Many things were debated, and much eloquence lost in an effort to obtain the enactment of a canon to authorize the consecration of foreign bishops under certain limitations, in order to give Texas and Liberia episcopal supervison ; but a large majority of the lower house withstood the proposition, and likewise returned a proposed canon, sent it by the house of bishops to create a new class of unpreaching deacons. The Rev. Dr. Jarvis, as Historiographer of the Church 366 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. submitted a collection of manuscripts, with the accom panying note which will speak for itself : " Right Reverend Fathers in Christ, " Having been honoured by the General Convention of 1838, with the appointment of 'Historiographer of the Church,' I think it my duty to report to the House of Bishops, with whom the resolution originated, the progress which has been made. " It seemed to me that in order to effect the object proposed, it would be necessary if possible to settle several contested points, in such a manner as to satisfy both learned and unlearned readers. This could be done in no other way than by laying before them in English, that evidence which is now locked up in foreign languages, and scattered* through a great number of volumes, and which, from the scarcity of public libraries in our country, is inaccessible even to persons who by their education are fitted to examine the original authors. It is obvious, indeed, that this cannot be done in the whole course of ecclesiastical history, without swelling the work to an enormous extent. It must be confined, therefore, to points of great importance ; and with respect to the rest, much must be left to the fidelity and accuracy of the historian. But if he be found faith ful and accurate in the discussion of these important points, he will establish a character, both as a reporter and a judge, which will make his readers more ready to trust him when called upon to credit his assertions. " The exact time of the birth and death of our Saviour, the key stone by which prophecy as well as history must be sustained, seemed to be one of those important points. This I have attempted to ascertain ; and the attempt has succeeded beyond my most sanguine expectations. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1841. 367 With no theory to sustain, and fearing to be misled by the theories of others, I have made use of modern writers, only so far as to be led by them to their authorities. In all cases where it was possible, I have gone back directly to ancient heathen as well as Christian authors, as being in the language of your resolution, ' the most original sources now extant.' Not only has every question been setted on their testi mony, but the testimony itself has also been exhibited with regard to such writers, the original text has been generally subjoined. The fear of swelling the work too much, and increasing the expense of publication, has prevented the addition of Greek quotations ; an omission which I regret, but which I have endeavoured as much as possible to remedy by exact references. " I have laboured hard to finish the work before the session of the present Convention ; but the cares of a parish, the necessary instruction of pupils, and domestic afflictions have rendered it impossible to get it ready for the press. I am obliged therefore to lay it before you in an imperfect state, but it is sufficiently advanced to show its plan, its object, and its success. " If it be honoured, Right Reverend Fathers, with your approbation, I propose, after it is published, to add some other dissertations which are nearly ready for the press, and then to go on with the Ecclesiastical History down to the great schism by which the Catholic Church was rent in the fifth century. Whether I shall be able to accomplish this, or more than this, depends upon the will of Him ' to whom alone belong the issues of life and death.' " Being unable myself to attend the General Conven tion, I have requested my assistant, the Rev. John 3 A 36» ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Williams, to proceed to New York, for the purpose of submitting my manuscript to your venerable body. I have the honour to remain, Right Reverend Fathers, Your faithful Son and servant in the Lord, Samuel Farmer Jarvis. Rector of Christ Church Middletown." The letter and manuscripts were referred to a com mittee, consisting of Bishops Hopkins, Doane, and Whittingham, who reported — " That they regard with great satisfaction the progress which the learned author has made in' preparing for the press the first volume of the series, which his appoint ment as Historiographer was designed to bring forth ; and consider it a duty on the part of the Church to give all the encouragement in their power to its publication. It appears to them, as well from the synopsis of its con tents, as from the best examination which their limited time would allow, to be a thorough and comprehensive analysis of all the evidence extant, whether sacred or profane, upon the most difficult and important points in ecclesiastical chronology, namely the precise years of the birth and death of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the committee take pleasure in the acknowledg ment, that notwithstanding their familiarity with the author's long established reputation for deep and accu rate learning, they were struck with the extraordi nary research and exact fidelity exhibited in the work submitted to them, and hail its production as being calculated to reflect honour upon himself, and the body to which he belongs. With these views the committee respectfully recommend the following re solution : — GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1841. 369 " Resolved. That the House of Bishops receive with great satisfaction the first volume, introductory to the Ecclesiastical History of the Rev. Dr. Jarvis, their His toriographer, now ready for publication. They have examined, and approve the plan of the work, and com mend it to the patronage of the Church." A correspondence conducted by the presiding bishop with the Archbishop of Canterbury and other foreign prelates, on the subject of clergymen passing to or from the jurisdiction of different national Churches in Christendom was laid before the House of Bishops, and the canon relating to letters dimissory was remodeled to meet the case ; copies of which accompanied by expres sions of fraternal regard from the American bishops, were directed to be sent to the said prelates. May the day be not far distant when the communion of all Churches as parts ofthe one spiritual body of believers, shall be as it was in the first three centuries. " Each bishop" we are informed, " could then give to any member of his Church who might visit foreign countries, commendatory letters which, on being presented to the most remote Churches, secured his immediate admission to aU the privileges of Christian fellowship,"* This fraternal inter course, it is believed, will soon arise when the Roman bishop exchanges his triple crown for a mitre, and the various Churches now in bondage to that prelate renounce their condition of dependance on a modern and usurped headship. Another resolution which was taken at this Conven tion, related to the preservation of the records of the consecration of bishops, which directed that the librarian of the General Theological Seminary should be the * Palmer's History of the Church. 370 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Register of the same, to be kept in the Seminary library. But the most really important resolution to the Church population of the country, passed by both houses at this Convention,was the following, which will speak for itself: " Resolved. — That in view of the rapid increase in the population of the United States, and also in order to carry out fully her parochial organization, it is the opi nion of this Convention that the Church should call the attention of her members to the duty of providing more ample free sittings." The American Church has been (unfortunately for the millions which her exclusive system of church ac commodation has lost to her) much too late'Jn the day in this part of her duty. But is not our own Church to blame for setting the example, though in a modified degree to her American daughter of " uppermost rooms" and "chief seats in the synagogue," a practice perfectly antagonist to the parochial system and the spirit of our national Church, To carry the parochial system out on Catholic (i.e. Christian) principles, pews ; board partitions, separating patrician^ from plebean worshippers ; . fee'd attendants, and sundry other anomalies which still linger about our parish temples must be banished from the sanctuary of the "poor man's Church." The catholic minded Church benefactor who will chair a new church or chapel, confers the benefits of public worship and pulpit instruction on thousands, while he who pews it excludes thousands from these inestimable benefits; while securing (illegally) accommodation to only a few hundred. "The squire's pew" though very convenient and agreeable to those who desire to carry into the temple of God the privacy, exclusiveness and personal luxuries of home is one of the most odious and un-catholic anomalies of GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1841. 371 our rural sanctuaries ; and the elevated box-pens set apart for the wearers of silks and jewellery are as un- picturesque as they are auti-Christian. In what other country of Christian Europe is this "protestant pew-sy. ism to be witnessed ? Where else but in "protestant England" is the altar, and the priest, and the pulpit par tially obscured, and the sound of the worship intercepted? and the tout ensemble of each beautiful church destroyed by similar deformities ? In this much needed reforma tion, the strictures of Mr. Gresley, in his recent work on " The real danger of the Church of England " on those who " dare to aver that the restoration of the genuine service of the English Church is an approximation to " popery" equally apply. "The folly and falsehood of the accusation" he writes " would be its own refutation, if it were not for the incredible prejudice that abounds. No doubt it is right to make due allowance for honest prejudice. But when thousands of souls are perishing around us for lack of Christian sympathy ; when many are leaving our ranks for dissent, and some beguiled to Romanism ; when too many of our old hereditary wor shippers in the Church of their fathers, are, it is to be feared, dragging out their lives in a listless indifference, making no progress in warmth or vital godliness, and this mainly in consequence of the absurd negligence and want of propriety which prevails in our Church service — it is surely no time to listen to the prejudices, or regard the calumnies, of those who maintain the mon strous paradox, that the restoration of the genuine ser vice of our Church is a recurrence to popery. Honest prejudice deserves to be respected, but such mischievous absurdity must be confronted and exposed. — But it is not only the public service of the Church that needs to 312 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. be thus revivified. The whole personal intercourse between the clergy and the people requires to be placed on a better footing ; and this as regards all classes, but especially the young. How almost universally does the parochial pastor lose all influence over the youth of his flock as soon as they leave the Sunday-school ! How commonly do they fall into sin or indifference, and never, alas, return to the fold! Much, very much is wanting to give the parochial pastor that religious influ ence over his parishioners which shall enable him to be their guide through the thorny paths of life, and train them for Heaven and happiness." The sad truth of these remarks is verified in the success of a dissenting society styled " the London City Mission" ! The success of this league in the large parish of Islington was made the subject of boast at a late public meeting which curiosity and the name of a clerical secretary (//) on the printed circulars led me to attend. In a populous district of Islington a woman, though " sitting under the ministry of one of the most evangelical clergymen " in that favoured region, " was unable to answer the most simple questions relating to her belief as a Christian propounded to her by the dis senting ' missionary ' from the want of oral instruction. The mere preaching to which she had been accustomed to listen having never communicated to the mind of this benighted person a single definite idea: a statement which, judging by a discourse delivered in my own hearing from a preacher of some celebrity in the same quarter I am fully prepared to credit. This may be a digression ; but will it be believed by a future genera tion that in a parish containing 56,000 souls all the churches were in the nineteenth century closed against GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1841. 373 the parishioners, famishing for their "daily bread," morning, noon, and evening of each day except Sundays and the * quarter Festivals V — and that the Holy Com munion was only celebrated once a month ? The practice of the clergy of Islington, whose solemn engagements are thus slighted (while they make no scruple to re ceive the comfortable incomes of their cures) is shamed by the example of a dissenting congregation in that parish, which for the last ten years has maintained daily service at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. ; on Sundays, prayers at 6 a.m., again at 9 with Communion and a sermon ; at 10 the Communion, prayers at 3 p.m., and at 6 (with preaching) ; on Wednesdays and Fridays (in ad dition to the stated matins and even-song) the Litany at 9 a.m. with preaching, and catechising at 3 p.m. By this arrangement a small unendowed chapel, furnishes through its irregular channels, spiritual food to a larger number in that neglected ecclesiastical section of the metropolis than any three of the churches, of whose use meanwhile the 56,000 parishioners are illegally de frauded by their authorised ministers. Oh ! shame, where is thy blush. Compare with this specimen of evangelical indolence and dishonesty on the part of priests who, as the condition of receiving the emolu ments of their office, have promised " to minister the doctrines and sacraments, and the discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded, and as [their] Church hath received the same," and " to use both public and private monitions and exhortations, as well to the sick as the whole within their cures, as need shall require" with the hourly labour of the papal agents in London : The Romish chapel of St. Mary in Moorfields, with four clergymen, supplies the benefit of public 374 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. worship, to a congregation of 30,000 souls. To accom plish this, there are four daily, and six Sunday services. Trinity church, Bermondsey, is used by 9,000 Romanists; and the new cathedral of St. George, in Lambeth, is designed for the stated accommodation of 20,000 regular worshippers. I call the attention of my London readers to the example of Dr. Doyle with his two assistants, ministering to the spiritual wants of such a flock, at the altar, in the confessional, and by private instruction, as contrasted with the cathedral establishment on the north of the river. Attached to the latter are a dean and fifty prebendaries, twelve being " resident " canons ; who receive the ample endowments of the church in trust for performing a corresponding amount of duty, public and oral. Yet these unfaithful stewards not only keep the principal doors of the metropolitan cathedral closed against worshippers the whole year round (except on the occasion of two exhibitions) but use the body ofthe church as a public show, for which the visitor — whose right to it at all hours of the day is unquestionable — is charged admission ! ! The bishop, it appears, under our imper fect canon law, cannot; reach this monstrous abuse. How long will the public sanction so gross a perversion of one of its most sacred trusts ? 375 CHAPTER LIII. THE PASTORAL LETTER. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. During the meeting ofthe General Convention, a pas toral letter from the bishops, addressed to the members of the Church generally throughout the coun try, is submitted to the upper house by the presiding bishop, and if approved by that body, is read by him in an assembly of both houses. This is the last act of the Convention before breaking up — except the supplemental resolution directing the printing of a large impression of the said Letter, to be distributed among the different states ; when it is again read in every parish church. The bishops wait for a notice from the other chamber that they are ready to hear the Pastoral Letter, when they adjourn thither, and occupy the chancel end of the church. Such was the order observed on this occasion ; as the patriarchal Griswold for the second and last time pre sided in the council of that Church of which he had long been the brightest ornament. The interest of the scene reached its height when the presiding bishop rose in his place in the centre of the episcopal group, and commenced the Pastoral Letter. The following extracts will give the reader a sufficient conception of the usual character of this triennial document, and exhibit its most reverend author as a true catholic and a sound divine : — 3 B 376 ecclesiastical reminiscences. "Brethren and Friends, beloved in the Lord: " It again becomes the duty of your bishops, being assembled with your clerical and lay deputies in Ge neral Convention, and at their request, to address to you a Pastoral Letter on the state of our Churches. " Since the last meeting of this Convention, it has pleased the Lord, in his merciful goodness, to continue them generally in a state of prosperity and increase. But with deep feelings of sorrow we find another vacant seat in our House. We have to lament the decease of our much respected brother, the Right Rev. Nathaniel Bowen, D.D., who, in the midst of his useful labours, departed this life on the 25th of August, 1839. " Still, in the midst of judgment, the Lord remembers mercy. We are happy in being able 'to report, that, through his goodness, no less than six others have been added to our number. The Right Rev. Leonidas Polk, D.D., was consecrated to the episcopal office in 1838, as Missionary Bishop of the South West, having for his jurisdiction, Arkansas, and some part of the Indian Territory, with the provisional supervisions of the dio ceses of" Alabama and Louisiana. And at the request of our Foreign Missionary Committee, he has extended his visitations to the republic of Texas, of which we have been favoured with interesting information. " The Right Rev. William H. Delancey, D.D., was consecrated Bishop of Western New-York, on the 9th of May, 1839 : under whose administration that new diocese is highly prosperous. "The Right Rev. Christopher E. Gadsden, D.D., the successor to our much lamented brother, Bishop Bowen, was ordained to the episcopate of South Carolina, on the 21st of June, 1840. the pastoral letter. 377 " The Right Rev. Wm. R. Whittingham, D.D., was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, Septem ber 17th, 1840. " The Right Rev. Stephen Elliott, Jun., D.D., was, on the 28th of February last, ordained Bishop of Georgia. " And during the session of this Convention, the Rev. Alfred Lee, D.D., has been ordained Bishop of Dela ware. " You will, we doubt not, rejoice with us, and bless God for these additions to our apostolic ministry ; and that they have been made with unanimity, and .to the great satisfaction of the Churches over which they are appointed to preside ; and for the lively hope which we already have, that the work of God will prosper in their hands. Our brethren, now in all parts of the United States, have the benefit of episcopal supervision. " We would again ' write unto you of the common salvation ' which is in Jesus Christ, ' and exhort you, that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once,' by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, ' delivered unto the saints,' and faithfully perform those things which are required in the word of God, that we may obtain eternal life. " The religion taught us in the holy Scriptures may be included under two heads : — What we must believe, and what we must do. Under the former head is in cluded a belief in all things respecting our religious hope, and final; salvation, which are revealed to our under standing in God's holy word ; such as the creation and fall of man ; the character of the Saviour, and what he has done to redeem us from sin and eternal death ; the merits and other doctrines of his cross ; the institution and nature of his Church and its Ministry ; the number 378 ecclesiastical reminiscences. and efficacy of his Sacraments ; the persons of the Deity ; the agency of the Divine Spirit ; and the light and im mortality brought to light in the Gospel, which his ministers are sent to preach. These are among the principal things which we are to believe, and which are essential to that faith which is required of those who would have a sure hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. " But the great practical question for those who have this faith ; the question, which, in different forms, was often put to Christ, and his apostles, and which his ministers still should be willing and prepared to answer to all who ask it, and to all who have ears to hear, is, What must we do to be saved ? This, in the same Scrip tures, we are clearly and so fully taught, ' that whatso ever is not read therein, nof may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or neces sary to salvation.' " Our Church has taught in her catechism what are ' the first principles of the doctrines of Christ,' and in her articles and homilies, what is most necessary to the obtaining of a sure hope of salvation in Jesus Christ, and to the perfection of the Christian character. The more carefully you, as Christ commands, ' search the Scriptures,' the more will you see and have cause to ad mire the wisdom and piety of those holy men, who were instrumental in reforming the Church of England, and who compiled, on true scriptural grounds, Articles of Faith, and a Book of Common Prayer. Since this branch of the one catholic and apostolic Church, to which we have the happiness to belong, became inde • pendent of the Church of England in its ecclesiastical polity, our fathers ofthe American Episcopal Church, as the pastoral letter. 379 we may now well call them, made some few alterations and improvements, that our worship and discipline may be better adapted to the state of this country, and the manners of the age ; but, as you may easily see, they have carefnlly adhered to the sure word of God. " But though all Christians may agree that our reli gion is included under two heads : — what are we requi red to believe, and what to do, that we may be saved in Jesus Christ ? — on the comparative importance of these two parts, and what influence they have in our justifica tion and acceptance with God, there is unhappily some diversity of opinion, to which we deem it expedient to ask your attention. Many Christians, indeed, seem to find some difficulty in reconciling or in clearly understanding what the Scriptures teach of faith and of works. To remove any doubts or uncertainty of this kind must evidently be of high importance, " The principle or ground on which we are accepted of God, and may hope to be blest in Heaven as righteous in his sight, is what chiefly distinguishes Christian the ology from all other religions. On the much controverted question, what influence our works have in our justifica tion, some have erroneously thought, that the apostles even are not wholly agreed ; as when one ' concludes that a man is justified, and not by faith only.' But not only are the apostles, on this momentous doctrine, agreed ; but among Christians, truly pious, the difference is probably less than is generally supposed. " The Scriptures teach us that man is naturally in a fallen, sinful state, from which God, in his merciful goodness, sent his Son to redeem us. By the sacrifice of himself, he made expiation for our sins ; by rising from the dead, he has raised our hopes to life immortal ; 380 ecclesiastical reminiscences. and through faith in him, as ' the way, the truth, and the life ;' as our advocate with the Father, and ' the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe,' we are authorised to look for pardon and acceptance, " This is indeed an ' unspeakable gift ; ' it is a work of mercy and grace which passes man's understanding, and that Christians of honest hearts and sincere piety should have views somewhat different respecting what is required of men, that they may obtain the salvation offered us in the gospel, is a matter of regret rather than of surprise. Respecting the councils of God in the vast work of redemption, we know in part only, and can prophecy but in part. In that plan of Divine love which clothed ' the Lord from Heaven ' in human flesh, there are depths of wisdom and knowledge, which no genius of man can in this life wholly investigate, nor human reason fathom. God is graciously pleased to reveal to our understanding, what is necessary for us to know during this present life ; and with this should we be contented, and for it thankful ; not indulging any pre sumptuous curiosity, nor pretending to be wise beyond what is written for our learning. " They who carefully read the Holy Scriptures, cannot be ignorant that salvation is of grace ; — that it is not of works, lest any man should boast, and that we are justified through faith in the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Nor is it less evident that we are required to work out our salvation, — to save ourselves, — to make our calling and election sure. These, and other like passages, all appertain to the sure Word of God, and that is their true sense which reconciles them, and shews their agree ment with each other, and with the whole of the sacred volume. the pastoral letter. 3sl " In searching the Scriptures, our great desire should be to know what God has taught, uninfluenced by what we may prefer, and without any attempt to circumscribe ' the power of God and the wisdom of God ' within the narrow limits of our own understanding. If we search the Scriptures for texts or for arguments to confirm wliat appears to us the most reasonable, or what we have already adopted as our opinions, we shall be less likely to come to the knowledge of ' all the counsel of God.' Sincere and pious Christians, by regarding chiefly, (what certainly merits very much regard) the gratuitous dis pensations of God's mercy in Christ, — the hopeless, spiritual state of fallen man, — the predominence of his selfish, worldly, and carnal affections— , and many passages of God's word, which speak of our works as unprofitable to God, and in his sight without merit, may naturally be led to make too little account of good living, and of what we must do to be saved. A simple belief in the merits of Christ may be so relied upon, as to ' make void the law through faith.' * * * It appears that St. Paul's remarks on the doctrines of grace, were misunderstood in his day, as they also have been in ours. They were considered, St. Peter says, as hard to be understood, and were wrested from their true sense to the support of error. We have also reason to believe that others of* the apostles, as St. Peter and St. James, St. John and St. Jude, designed, in their epistles, to rectify the erroneous notions which some Christians even then began to entertain respecting the necessity of godly living ; — ' to vindicate, (as St. Augustine says,) the true doctrine from the false consequences charged upon it, and to shew that faith without works is nothing worth.' St. James, in his bold manner and strong language, 382 ecclesiastical reminiscences. speaks very decidedly on this point; — he shews the dangerous error of supposing that a mere belief in Christ rendered the works, which God's word requires of believers, unnecessary, or that we can have a good hope of being saved in Christ, while we neglect what Christ himself commands. " Faith is required not as a substitute for good living, but rather as necessary to our living according to the word and will of God. The works which the gospel of Christ requires, that men may be saved, they cannot, or certainly they would not perform without a belief in him as their Saviour. Who could truly pray in the name of Christ ; or in his name, and from love to him, give a cup of water, if he does not beheve in him ? Who could truly pray in the name of Christ, or in his name, and from love to him, give a cup of wa ter, if he does not believe in him ? St. James teaches what' St. Paul taught, that we do not through faith make void the law. The unprofitableness of faith, without submission to God's righteousness, he illustrates by the case of one who should give the needy nothing but fair words and empty wishes ; — c Be ye warmed and clothed.' There is no more of true justify ing faith, in believing the Scriptures to be the Word of God, while we live in the neglect of what they teach} than there is of charity in knowing the 'wants of the poor, while we refuse or neglect to relieve them. St. James teaches us that the faith which justifies, is a living faith, fruitful of good works : it is that faith of the heart, by which ' man believeth unto righteousness." St. Paul teaches the same doctrine when he says, « Though I have all faith, so that I could re move mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.' the pastoral letter. 383 And again, ' If ye live according to the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.' Our Saviour teaches this doctrine when he says, ' Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father. And St. Peter says to the same purpose, ' It is better not to know the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment.' He shews the necessity of adding to our faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotjierly- kinduess, charity ' If — he says, ye do these things, ye shall never fall.' " A careful study of the holy Scriptures, with prayer, will convince you of their perfect harmony and agree ment on the doctrine of faith and works. You have but to observe well, in what sense we are justified by faith only ; and also how it is that good living is essential to our salvation in Christ. By the apostles St. Paul and St. James, you are warned of two opposite errors. By the former you are taught not to rely on any works which you do, as profitable to salvation, but such as are wrought in a Christian faith ; while the other shows that faith, without the works which the gospel requires is unavailing. This doctrine he had learned from his Divine Master, who was careful to teach that the tree is known by its fruits ; that the man whose heart is truly renewed by a lively faith in Christ, will shew it by his submission to God's righteousness ; ' will shew his faith by his works' * * * This doctrine of faith and works you may find to be fully taught and sustained in the Articles and Liturgy, and in all the standards of our Church. She has taken the true mean or middle way be- 3 c 384 ecclesiastical reminiscences. tween the two opposite extremes, and is careful to teach you not to turn to the right hand or to the left. * * "This subject rightly considered will teach you profitably to use the means of grace. Because circumcision now avails nothing you must not infer that the Christian or dinances are of but little importance — that without peril to your soul you may neglect Baptism, or Confirmation, or the Lord's Supper, or Prayer. By a right use of these means, as our Church teaches, and the Scriptures teach your faith will be strengthened and grace increased. GocLhas commanded the use of them, and they who neglect them must either think that they are wiser than God, or they must be in want of that faith which produ ces obedience to his commands. " Thus ordinances appointed by our Saviour Christ and administered by his apostles, should not be viewed merely as duties, but rather as blessed privileges which claim our thankfulness to God. In mercy to mankind and to help our infirmities they are given us as sanctified means of bringing us to himself, and by which we may obtain his heavenly benediction. " Your bishops ask your attention to this subject the rather, because, in our visitation of the Churches under our care, we are often and much pained in observing how large a part of the people of our congregations ap pear to be in doubt, or undecided respecting the use of these means ; how many of them live in the neglect of making an open and public profession of their faith in Christ and submission to his righteousness : and this we the more regret, from considering that not a few of them manifest a sincere regard for religion and a serious sense of its importance. Their morals, too, and their lives in other respects, are, in a happy degree, such as the pastoral letter. 3s5 we desire to see in the disciples of Christ. They appear to have a reverence for God and right views of the Saviour's character and office ; and they shew such benevolence and charity towards their fellow men, that we may say of thousands what Christ said to one, " They are not far from the kingdom of God," Our sorrow is that they are not visibly in his Kingdom. For reasons known perhaps to themselves and to God only, they do not confess Christ before men and become mem bers of his Church. While they so continue they are not assured of God's favour and goodness towards them, " and that they are members incorporate in the mystical body of his Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people." Into a Church so apostolic as this, having a faith so primitive, doctrines so evangelical, a worship so scriptural, and other institutions so truly liberal, we might reasonably hope to see people crowding as doves to their windows. " Our Saviour Christ sent his ministers to preach, ' He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; ' and so far as we know of their acts and their history, they who did beheve immediately made that profession of their faith. It is also evident in the Acts of the Apostles that they confirmed baptized believers by laying their hands upon them, and praying for the aid of God's Holy Spirit to strengthen them in the performance of their baptismal engagements, and enable them to ' lead the rest of their lives according to that beginning.' And it is the re quest and the command of your Saviour that you re ceive the other sacrament in remembrance of him, in a thankful and devout commemoration of his ' one sacrifice for sin.' In that sacrament you shew forth his death — you manifest your faith in the merits of his cross, and 386 ecclesiastical reminiscences. your thankfulness for such unspeakable mercy. By faithfully receiving these memorials of his love, you are also authorized to hope for the strengthening of your souls by the spiritual efficacy of his body and blood, broken and shed for your sins, as your bodies are by the bread and wine. " Some seem to think that the rivers of Damascus are better than the waters of Israel, or that if they live honest and good lives they shall not be ' the worse for neglecting religious ceremonies. And who does truly live an honest and good life ? Who loves God with all his heart and soul and mind, and his neighbour as himself? Who has in all things done to others as he would have others do to him ? In many things we all offend : there is none good but one. Christ died to save, and his gospel is sent to call ' not the righteous but sinners.' Are you so whole, that you need not this Divine Physician ? We might remind you of the ines timable benefits, visibly signed and sealed in Baptism to those who rightly receive it. We might say much to you of the fitness and Divine authority of Confirmation, and the blessings ichich have evidently attended its right and faithful ministration. We might shew that communing in the Lord's Supper is a great comfort to those who believe in Christ, and that it strengthens them much in their Christian zeal. — But is it not enough to know that it is the will of your Saviour Christ that you should sub mit to his ordinances ? — that he, who so loved your soul as to die for its salvation, has appointed his sacraments for your benefit ? Such a Saviour, you may well believe, has not ordained rites which are unnecessary, or which may safely he neglected ; nor has he required you to do that which is useless. Our wisdom, when opposed to THE PASTORAL LETTER. 387 God's word, is but foolishness ! He has ' chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the mighty.' When some inquired of Christ, 'What shall we do that we might work the works of God; he answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' We are to believe in him as the great Prophet — as the word or wisdom of God, by whom the Divine will is made known to men ; and as the only true Priest who has made expiation for our sins, and ever lives to make intercession for us. ' Through him we have access, by one Spirit, unto the Father.' And we are to believe in our King, unto whom all power was given in heaven and earth. Him we are bound in all things to obey. He is ' made both Lord and Christ;' and well may he ask, as he does, ' Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ? ' While we disobey his commands, by our actions we deny that he is Lord ; we rebel against him. * * * We ' beseech you then, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation.' Consider well what you must do to be saved; — how great is the peril of halting between two opinions, and of neglecting this great salvation. We would.be ever cautious not to encourage an undue reliance on religious rites ; but without the use of those which God has graciously appointed for our use, how can we hope to increase in grace and in godliness of living ? ' Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ' We know well that you cannot change your own hearts ; — that God alone can renew a right spirit within you. But he has promised to bless your sincere efforts to know and to do his will. ' Ask and you shall receive ; seek and you shall find.' While you are faithful to do what he commands, you 388 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. may humbly hope that he will enlighten your mindj and sanctify your affections. To him that hath shall be given. To those who ' order their conversation right, shall be shewn the salvation of God.' "The Kingdom of God, or his Church, is the spiritual ark, which Christ, the true Noah, has prepared for the saving of his house ; and your safety requires that you be not only ' not far from, ' but in it. The promise of salvation is to those who are within its pale. The sense in which, as St. Peter says, ' Baptism now saves us, ' is, ils being ordained of Christ, as the entrance into this spi ritual ark, where we are entitled to all the means of grace, and, if we are faithful iu the use of them, to all the promises to those who are '' members of Christ chil dren of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of Heaven.' As our Church teaches, — 'They that receive baptism rightlj, are grafted into the Church, and the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God, by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed.' We should use this and the other Christian ordinances as a manifestation of our faith in Christ, of our trust in his merits, of our hope in the promises of God, and of our submission to his righteousness. In the right use of them there is great comfort ; for they are tokens of his love of our souls, and of what he has done to save them. They are sanctified means, of God's appoint ment, whereby we may draw nigh to him in full assu rance of faith, and obtain his heavenly benediction. Where these ordinances are devoutly and faithfully observed, we may well hope that true religion is in creasing. It is encouraging to all who love the gates of Zion to see multitudes thus openly confessing the name of Christ ; coming to Baptism, and bringing their chil- ST. PAUL S CHURCH 38!) dren ; renewing in Confirmation their Christian cove nant, and regularly communing in the Lord's Supper. ' For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' This paper is signed by the presiding bishop on behalf of the whole episcopal bench. St. Paul's chapel, in which this Convention was held is (since the removal of old Trinity) the oldest church edifice in the City of New York. It was erected by the vestry of Trinity parish (to which it is attached) anterior to the Revolutionary war, and was first opened for divine service in 1766, the clergy of the parish then being, Dr. Samuel Auchmuty, rector ; and Mr. Charles Inglis, A. M. (now Bishop of Nova Scotia,) and Dr. John Ogilvie assistant ministers. " It is," writes Mr. Henry M. Onderdonk, in his History of the New York parishes, and church edifices, " a very imposing, spacious, and handsome edifice, constructed of grey stone, princi pally of the Corinthian order of architecture, and is one of the richest ornaments of our city. Its foundations were commenced in 1764, and when completed in 1766, its interior anangements differed somewhat from the present, and a small and ill-proportioned dome occupied the place of the steeple, which now adds so much to the harmony and beauty of the view. The walls are thick and massive, and form a parallelogram. On the front facing Broadway, a portico composed of four columns of the Roman Ionic style, supporting a well proportioned pediment, extends from the building to the depth of eighteen feet and a half, which, with the tower projection of seven feet and six inches, and the addition of the tower-portico of thirteen feet, make the extreme length of the edifice out to out, one-hundred and fifty-one feet. 390 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The pediment which rests upon the columns above mentioned, is ornamented by handsome projecting cor nices, and by two circular windows, with a pitch mid way between them, containing a richly carved colossal figure of St. Paul, leaning on a sword. Beneath the pediment a large altar window of three compartments, the centre of which runs in an arch, and is separated from its laterals by two Ionic pilasters, .gives light to the chancel, and is the most striking feature of the east front. In the middle of this window, a monument sculptured in basso-relievo, erected to the memory of Major General R. Montgomery, bears an appropriate inscription. With the exception of the pediment, and portico, but little or no ornament decorates the main body of the church. The sides are perfectly plain, being constructed of dark grey stone, without buttresses, or any other projection, except the sills and architraves of the windows, and a continuous line of brown stone between the first and second stories. The windows number fourteen on a side, and are arranged in two tiers of seven each, the lower ones lighting the aisles, and the upper ones the galleries. A balustrade divided every ten feet by a pedestal, supporting an urn, extends along the roof, above the side walls, from the western extre mity of the structure, to the front of the pediment. The tower rises to the height of one hundred feet, and is built of stone, similar to that used for the rest of the building. It is divided, above the roof, into two sections, the lower one, with the exception of rusticated corners, being perfectly plain, and the upper one, having antse, or pilasters on the angles, and two Ionic columns in the centre, supporting a small pedi ment, over which, between two inverted consoles, is the ST. TAUL's CHURCH. 391 dial of the clock. The steeple rises from the tower to the top of the vane, one hundred and three feet, making it, in connection with the tower, two hundred and three feet from the ground. This steeple, which is not sur passed for beauty of appearance, and fine proportions by any in the city, or even in the country, was erected subsequently to the Revolution, and many years after the completion of the remainder of the edifice. As before stated, it occupies the place of a small and ill- shaped dome, in former times a covering for the tower, and, with the exception of the section containing the clock, is modelled [like many other parts of the build ing] after the steeple of St. Martin's church, Trafalgar- square, London. " The interior of St. Paul's for general effect, and happy harmony, will yield to that of no other church in the city of New- York, excepting Trinity. In enter ing the edifice a richness of appearance first strikes the eye, which, combined with a deep and all-pervading solemnity, peculiar to St. Paul's, brings to the mind, mingled feelings of pleasure, and veneration ; and though one may dwell with delight upon the handiwork of the skilful architect, he cannot divest himself of the forcible impression, that it is at the same time, the house of God. A double range of columns, in the richest style of the Roman Corinthian order, runs the whole length of the church, supporting the galleries, and the ceiling of the nave. The capitals of the columns are richly and elaborately carved, after the usual pattern of the order to which they belong, and may be considered as hand some specimens of workmanship. "The nave is well-proportioned, being thirty-nine feet in width, ninety-two feet in length, and sixty feet 3 D 392 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. in height. The ceiling above it, consists of a simple arch sprung from the entablatures of the columns on either side. From the centres of the circular panels upon the crown are suspended three large and elegant cut glass chandeliers. In the ceilings over the galleries arches spring from the entablature of one column to that of another, and to a corresponding entablature, sup ported by a very rich console, on the side walls of the chapel. This arrangement of arching, makes a groined ceiling of regular sections, from the centres of which, hang from foliated bosses cut glass chandeliers. " The chancel is situated in a recess, fifteen feet deep, separated from the nave by a large arch thrown across the body of the church, from the entablatures of two Ionic pilasters against the inner wall of the eastern ves tibules. It is raised one foot and six inches above the ground floor, and is enclosed by a richly carved railing extending between the walls, which are twenty-nine feet apart. The altar, standing directly under the great al tar window, is of wood handsomely painted in imitation of stone, and above it, in the centre compartment of the window, now curtained with heavy drapery, are the two tablets of the law, in letters of gold, surmounted by rays of light, proceeding from a representation of the visible manifestation ofthe Deity on Mount Sinai. The walls on either side of the chancel are perfectly plain, with the exception of six mural monuments of chaste sculpture, erected at different times." The first of these monuments, mentioned by Mr Onderdonk, bears the arms of Elenor Huggett, and con tains a Latin inscription. Next to this, another, also bearing an heraldic device wrought upon an urn of white marble, standing out from a back ground of veined st. Paul's. 893 Italian marble in the form of a pyramid, is inscribed a tribute to the memory of Mrs. Franklin, wife of the British governor of New Jersey, who died at the com mencement of the revolutionary war. On the opposite side of the chancel, is a cenotaph in memory of Sir John Temple, containing his arms, and the motto ' Templa Quam Dilecta.' Sir John was the first consul general sent by Great Britain to the United States, after the war of independence. He died at New York in 1798, aged 67. The next monument contains the following inscription : — WITHIN THIS CHANCEL IN CERTAIN HOPE OF A RESURRECTION TO GLORY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, ARE DEPOSITED THE REMAINS OF MARGARET, THE WIFE OF CHARLES INGLIS, D.D. FORMERLY RECTOR OF TRINITY PARISH IN THIS CITY. SHE DIED THE 21ST SEPTEMBER, 1783, AGED THIRTY-FIVE YEARS. NEAR HER IS INTERRED ALL THAT WAS MORTAL, OF CHARLES, ELDEST SON OF THE SAID MARGARET AND CHARLBS INGLIS, WHO, ALAS1. AT AN EARLY PERIOD WAS SNATCHED AWAY JANUARY THE 20TH, 1782 IN THE EIGHTH *YEAR OF HIS AGE. THE HUSBAND AND THE FATHER, SINCE BECOME BISHOP OF NOVA SCOTIA AS TESTIMONY OF TEN DE REST AFFECTION TO A DEAR AND WORTHY WIFE AND ESTEEM FOR A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN ; AND THE FONDEST REGARD FOR AN AMIABLE SON, 394 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. WHO, ALTHOUGH IN AGE A CHILD, WAS YET IN UNDERSTANDING A MAN, IN PIETY, A SAINT, AND IN DISPOSITION AN ANGEL, OAUSED THIS MONUMENT TO BE BRECTED IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1788. There are two other monuments in the chancel, one to the memory of Colonel Thomas Barclay, son of the Rev. Henry Barclay, formerly rector of Trinity parish, and the other to Anthony Van Dam, Esq., grandson of the Honourable Rip Van Dam. Upon the wall, near the southern vestibule door, is a plain marble tablet to Thomas Barrow, and his wife Sarah, which, with another in the gallery to Christiana, wife of George W. Chapman complete the whole number contained in the church The ground floor of St. Paul's is divided into four parts, by three aisles paved with tesselated marble, and is pewed throughout ; the pews painted in imitation of mahogany. I may here remark that the pews in all American churches are most properly made much lower than in ours. The ridiculous height of the straight- backed boxes called pews (more properly pens) in the English churches where these" protestant" nuisances are retained, would only be endurable if the evil did not promise, in the case of nearly every new erection, to be perpetuated. In this single, respect we may copy very advantageously from America. The reading desk and pulpit face the centre aisle which branches off to allow a free passage around them, being seven feet in advance of the chancel;* and, like * In the engraving it will be seen that the artist has taken the liberty of remo\ ing this piece of furniture to one side, in order to exhibit some thing more edifying. ST. PAULS. 395 similar deformities in English churches of the same " orthodox " age, affords a picturesque protestant screen to the altar. A portion of the west-end gallery forms the organ loft, and contains a fine toned organ built in England nearly fifty years ago. Above it are two smaller galleries, separated by the organ, for the accommodation of the Sunday-scholars. Behind the organ, a door opens into the second section of the tower> whence stairs as cend into the steeple ; which with the tower, is two hundred and three feet high. This steeple has with stood many a severe gale, and has twice been struck with lightning, each time the electric fluid passing off by the lightning rod, doing no further damage, than defacing one of the dials of the clock. The church seats about a thousand persons. St. Paul's church-yard occupies the whole " square '» bounded by Broadway, Vesey, Church, and Fulton streets. A square in America, I may just remark, means the space ordinarily occupied by a block of buildings. Thus persons occupying houses fronting on a gafden enclosure like Belgrave, Berkeley, &c, are described as living on, or fronting such or such a square. This in teresting cemetery is enclosed on three sides by an iron railing, and on the fourth by a high brick wall, with entrances, of a very unpretending character from each street. Amongst the monuments and tombstones, which are very numerous, the most beautiful in design and workmanship is that of Thomas Addis Emmet. It is a white marble monolithe of thirty feet elevation, and has upon the face fronting Broadway, a bust of " the patriot " sculptured in basso-relievo. It is inscribed on three sides in three different languages. The English inscription was written by the Hon. Gulian C. Ver- 398 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. planck of New York; the Latin inscription by Dr. John Duer, and the inscription in the Irish language, by the late Dr. England, the Romish " Bishop of Charleston," South Carolina. There is also a monument of chaste proportions to the memory of the French General Roche- fontain, who fought in the republican army in the War of Independence. The English reader cannot but be interested in even these minute particulars, relative to a spot of such historical as well as sacred interest as St. Paul's. May the day be not far distant when our Trans-Atlantic brother catholics of New York will fulfil their long cherished expectations of rearing a cathedral church in the centre of their fair city, whose ample proportions rivaling those of St. Paul's on Ludgate Hill, shall form the distinguishing ornament of the great commercial metropolis of the New Worldt This magnificent design, the great wealth of Trinity corporation and the known liberality of New York churchmen, renders by no means improbable. 897 CHAPTER LIV. JOURNEY TO MICHIGAN. ROCHESTER. LAKE ERIE. As, since the date of the last chapter, I spent a short time in Michigan, the reader may, perhaps, wish to be conducted into that new and rising: state. We took the same course in reaching Utica, four hundred miles of our journey, as when I accompanied Miss Waylen to Niagara. Here we entered a canal boat, and followed the Erie canal to Rochester, ninety-eight miles further, where we spent a Sunday. Rochester is the great northern metropolis of the state, and one of the best built cities in the country, standing on both sides the Genessee river, not far from its northern outlet in Lake Ontario ; and with a water power equal to two thousand streams of twenty horse power, in the mids*t of the finest wheat growing country in America, it has everything to make it a great and wealthy city. Yet it seems scarcely credible to the stranger who walks its beautiful streets, teeming with a busy population, that in 1820 the same spot was a poor village of fifteen hundred inhabitants ! — there are now twenty thousand ! ! The Genessee Falls at this place are 273 feet in height. The view of these falls and the city in the background is beautiful in the extreme. We walked for a mile above the principal point of view by the river side amidst scenery which, had we time, would have tempted us much 'farther. 398 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Trinity church is a fine English looking edifice near the courts of law and the other county offices. Dr. Whitehouse, the present rector of this parish, has held it, I believe, for many years, and enjoys a good reputation for his pastoral diligence and popular manners-. We heard him officiate at the altar, but were disappointed in our expectations of seeing him in the pulpit, which was filled by another. Gracechureh, the other catholic place of worship, was at the time of my visit closed. The rector of the parish was my former friend, and fellow deacon in Rhode Island, and I had anticipated much pleasure in meeting him amongst his parishioners. A letter written with his usual frankness and hospitality had in part induced me to take Rochester in my route. An appeal to " old associations" as forming an inducement to visit Rochester was sufficiently irresistible. " This" the letter added " is a country well worth visiting — a city which has 21,000 ; planted and grown too within thirty years ! I do assure you a visit will afford me the greatest pleasure imaginable, and you must hold forth in my cathedral church ; —so don't say me nay, at your personal peril ; come if you would retain my friendship — we all, male and female, say come." Who could " say nay" to such a warm and brotherly invitation ? — but what was my disappointment on reaching Rochester to find that the " cathedral church" was closed, and my good friend retired from the city in consequence of difficulties with his parishioners. The worthy rector of Gracechureh was open handed and generous to a fault ; and having a private fortune of his own independant of his parish income, a design ing female in his congregation, who had fallen an easy ROCHESTER CHURCH TROUBLES. 3i)9 prey to a needy profligate, temporarily residing in the city, charged her minister with her seduction, and the jury, on the most slender circumstantial evidence — fully disproved by the statements of a brother clergyman, and other witnesses of high character — mulcted him in heavy damages. An ecclesiastical court, held by the bishop of the diocess, pronounced Mr. Van Zandt " not guilty," and a short time after the plaintiff had pocketed her 3,000 dollars, facts came out in reference to the case which fastened the act on the true party, and re-established Mr. V. Z. in the confidence and good opinion of the public. But what an agony of mental suffering, must th© affair in its whole progress have occasioned the persecuted party ! Besides his heavy pecuniary loss (which was the smallest ingredient in his cup of suffering) how must the distrust and desertion of his flock, and the odium of a credulous public, joined to the circumstances of a pro tracted trial in an open court, have gone like iron to the soul of a man more than ordinarily sensitive, and acutely alive to good or bad treatment ! I classed it as another proof that the generous and the unsuspicious in the Christian communion are the most open to the attacks of interest or malice. The " cathedral church," as Mr. Van Zandt was pleased to style Gracechureh, answers very well to such appellation .in the appearance of some parts of the interior of the edifice, which displays a variety of de coration in carved oak ; " but we must cease to think " judiciously remarks d writer in the Canadian Church* * " The Church,'.' a weekly ecclesiastical journal of great ability, vublished at Toronto. 400 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. " that retiring aisles, and oaken stalls make a cathedral. The church that contains exclusively the cathedra (chair) of a bishop is a cathedral church, just as much as that part of the church that contains the bells is the belfry." This is a truth, and happily being understood in the British colonies. The popular error that a building of certain proportions, with a dean and a chapter of canons is essential to constitute a cathedral church prevails, however, pretty generally in the United States ; though the churches belonging to the American bishops have, in fact, more the character of the early Christian cathedrals than the spacious minsters of England ; and are each of them as much " the eye of the diocess." We took the canal boat for Buffalo, which place we reached in twenty four hours, having been conducted by or through Ogdenj Brockport, Albion, Medina, Lock- port, Pendleton and Tonnowanto. This canal in its whole length from Albany to Buffalo is three hundred and sixty five miles, and was six years in progress : it was completed in 1825. At Buffalo we took passage in a steam-boat bound for Detroit, which we were three days in reaching, owing to stress of weather. We stopped at Dunkirk, Erie, Cleveland and Sandasky on the Pennsylvanian and Ohio shores. Erie was formerly a French settlement called Presgue; the old French fortifications still remain. Cleveland is a well built city, situated on a flat promon tory standing out to the lake ; the views of which are uncommonly fine. Trinity church was the only epis copal place of worship then existing in Cleveland. Ano ther church has been since erected. Sandusky is un attractive enough. When we left this place the evening LAKE ERIE. 401 was far advanced, and I lost, on this occasion, the many beauties which the approach to Detroit, the capital of Michigan, presents. 40:; CHAPTER LV. DETKOIT. — BISHOP M'COSKRY. — NATURAL FEATURIS AND HISTORY OF MICHIGAN. On getting out of my berth the next morning (which was Sunday) I found the boat closely moored to the wharf at Detroit, and nearly deserted of its passengers. We had received an invitation to the bishop's house, where we found a friendly and cordial welcome. Never did the service of the Church appear more Heavenly than on that Sabbath morning, in the beautiful cathedral of Detroit. It was conducted by the bishop's assistant, the Rev. Chauncey W. Fitch, and the sermon delivered by the bishop. The latter was adapted to the occasion of the sacrament which was afterwards administered to several hundred communicants. In the evening I oc cupied the pulpit myself. During my stay in Michigan I had numerous oppor tunities of observing the truth of another testimony t6 Bishop M'Coskry's universal popularity. " One could hardly desire " writes Dr. Clark, " a larger measure of popularity, either with his parish or in his diocess, than Bishop M'Coskry enjoys. Everywhere the highest testimony is borne to the lovehness and excellency of his character, and the faithfulness and evangelical spirit of his ministry. This I heard from all quarters — from clergy and laity. Indeed I think the bishop's greatest danger lies in this quarter." * * Gleanings by the Way. DETROIT. -103 • Detroit is also the seat of a schismatical Romanist bishop, who has a cathedral church of the most singular proportions and general appearance I have ever seen. The present occupant of the assumed see was described to me by the Bishop of Michigan, who lives on the best of terms with him, as a very excellent, liberal minded man, and a good public speaker. It is a neatly built city, with some handsome public buildings, and a noble main thoroughfare, called Jeffer son Avenue, which is thronged on a fine day with carriages and light vehicles. A regiment of the regular troops was quartering in the town on our arrival, which added considerably to its liveliness and gaiety. After a week spent under the bishop's hospitable roof, we pursued our way as far as Jackson, eighty miles westward. This was the westernmost termination of our journey, and just a thousand miles, by the route we had taken, from Philadelphia. The soil of Michigan is alluvial ; and, except on the west coast, free of rocks. There are also few large forests like the other western states, and the climate in winter is, owing to its peninsular form, milder than it is to be found at several degrees south. Its general character is undulating, gentle mounds constantly jising on every side with groups of trees, presenting what are called "oak openings." This appearance is exceedingly pleasing to English eyes, resembling as they do the cultivated parks of the nobility and gentry. I have travelled through many miles of wild^ lands on horseback every foot of which bore this appearance of culture, and every tree looking as if it was planted by the hand of taste. Such a country requires comparatively little capital to render it fit for the farmer's crops, and is, • 40-1 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. unquestionably, the best for the settler of small means. The land in these oak openings yields heavy crops of wheat and barley. Clearing is generally unnecessary at first, as by girdling the trees they immediately decay, and, having no foliage, present little obstruction to the effect of the sun's rays on the ground. In this neighbour hood the average quantity of grain produced is — of Indian corn, sixty bushels to the acre ; of oats, forty- five ; and of wheat, twenty five . Another beautiful feature in Michigan is the carpet of red, yellow, purple, and white flowers, which every where covers the ground in summer. Add to this, a great number of most picturesque lakes, whose banks are clothed with verdure, and their waters filled with fish, and it will be readily admitted that Michigan is a very pretty country. And such it is — Unlike the other western states, every part of it, except the newly built towns and villages, looks but for the odious rail fence, like an old well cultivated country. That a few years will see it a very wealthy and populous state, no one who has visited it, or is acquainted with its resources and the enterprize and industry of its inhabitants, can doubt. Michigan has had several masters. It was first settled by the French in September 1641 ; the shores were visited by Jesuit missionaries, several of whom paid the penalty of their lives in their efforts to plant the cross among the savage tribes on the western lake country, and " during the following years, " writes the historian, " these missionaries were employed in strengthening the power of France over the possessions which she claimed from Green Bay to the head of Lake Superior, and in collecting information respecting the MICHIGAN. 405 region extending towards the Mississippi." * Detroit was founded in 1791, during the reign of Louis XIV. After the great battle of Quebec in 1759, it fell, with the whole country, into the hands ofthe British ; though not without the most bloody opposition on the part of the Indian allies of the French, when Poritiac, a name which fills a fearful page in the history of Michigan, achieved wonders of skill and daring. In the revolu tionary struggle, Michigan passed over to the republi cans, and was recovered back by the British during the war of 1814. Perry's victories on the lake, however, put General Harrison and himself in possession of the Peninsular, since which time it has been rapidly rising to its present prosperous condition. Its history in every stage, is, perhaps, more full of striking incident than that of any other state in the Union. In our journey to Jackson, we stopped several hours at Ann Arbour, and slept one night at Lyma. The first is a charming town with well built streets, the State University, a handsome church, and several meet ing houses. The Rev. Francis Cuming, whom I after wards met on more than one occasion, was at this time rector of the parish ; he has since removed to Grand Rapids in the west of the state. He is (next to his diocesan) the most active and energetic clergyman in this diocess. The first view of Jackson from its eastern approach, is one of the most picturesque I have ever gazed upon. Lying in a valley marked by the swellings and inequalities of this part of the country, crowned with verdure, with the silvery current of the Grand River * Lanman. chap. 2. 406 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. pursuing its serpentine course in full view for several -miles, there was something in the general aspect of the scene, as I several times viewed it from the same emi nence, which always impressed me in a peculiar degree. It is unquestionably one of the best situated towns in the state ; and being intended to take the place of Detroit as the future seat of the local government, is rapidly increasing in population and wealth. The state prison is already erected and a site chosen for the Capitol. During our stay here, we frequently met the principal town's-people, who afford a more favourable specimen of western society than I was prepared to expect ; indeed, I have never received more agreeable impressions than I carried away with me from this pleasant circle. . Mr. D wight, an early settler in Michigan, and his excellent lady, pressed the warmest hospitalities upon us, and made us acquainted with many other families in the neighbourhood. This gentleman entertained us with numerous anecdotes in his own experience, illustrative of the Indian character. The last tribe had been bought out, and sent across Lake Michigan about three years previous, and the place that then knew them, knows them no more. " Ye say they all have passed away, That noble race and brave ; Their light canoes have vanished From off the crested wave. That, mid the forests where they roamed, There rings no hunter's shot j But their name is on your waters Ye may not wash it out. Yes, where Ontario's billow. Like ocean's surge is curl'd, THE INDIANS. 407 Where strong Niagara's thunders wake The wonder of the world j Where red Missouri bringeth Rich tribute from the west ; And Rappahannock sweetly sleeps On green Virginia's breast. Ye say their cone-like cabins, That clustered round the vale, Have disappeared as wither'd leaves, Before the autumn gale ; But their memory liveth on your hills, Their name is on your shore ; Your everlasting rivers speak Their dialect of yore." By a tabular statement of General Cross, made to the United States War Department several years ago, it appears that the Number of Indians now east of the Mis sissippi is 49,365 Number of Indians who have emigrated from the east to the west side, 51,327 Number of indigenous tribes, 231,806 Aggregate 332,498 It is estimated by Mr. Harris, the " Indian Com missioner," that these Indians can bring into the field upwards of sixty-six thousand warriors : that is, when emigration is completed, and they choose to coalesce. To resist such a coalition, General Cross thinks a force of 7000 men would be necessary on the western frontier distributed thus : — Fort Snelling, - - 300 men Fort Crawford, - - -300 " Upper forks of the Des Moines, 400 " 3f 408 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Fort Leavenworth, - 1,200 men Fort Gibson, - - 1,500 " FortTowson, - 800 " The 8 posts of refuge proposed, 800 " The protection of 4 depots, 200 " Jefferson barracks as a corps of reserve ... 1,500 " Total, 7000 men Larger than the whole standing army of the United States, rank and file ! " So that it remains a question," writes a Philadel phia pamphleteer, " for the able financier as well as for the able philanthropist, what is to be done with these 332,498 Indians who yet live to claim a place upon earth ? Is a standing army of 7000 men the cheapest as well as the most honourable way of getting rid of these red men, who pretend to rights, and have had a faith in treaties ? From New York, Ohio, Georgia, are all to be driven to coalesce in the western wilderness ? and are we so bound that we dare not raise a voice for a remnant of the mighty fallen ? In these three states, as in others, a few have lifted their heads, and have adopted the cus toms and manners of their civilized neighbours ; many have good houses, barns, cattle, fenced fields, yet a drunken chief may sign, to a no less unworthy receiver, all another's earthly treasures, save the lives, for whom these alone were valued. And is there no restitution ? Are the Senecas, the Onandaguas, the Creeks, with others, to be driven at the point of the bayonet into the western wilderness, to coalesce there ? and be driven from thence by a standing army of 7000 well equipped fighting men ? And for this is it that every male Indian A MISSIONARY PRIEST. 409 over eighteen years of age is to be furnished with a blanket and a gun ? Forbid it heaven ! Let not the escutcheon of our nation be defaced by so foul a blot ! Let the people learn that righteousness, or as our fore fathers wrote it, " right-wiseness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." I greatly enjoyed a ride while in Jackson, with a gentleman named De Mill, through a portion of the south of the state, which took us by a number of those beautiful features in nature, the lakes. On the banks of one of these , in Lenawee county, my companion (whose acquaintance extends to every clergyman and every parish in Michigan) introduced me to the residence of a missionary priest, employed by the American Chinch Missionary Society, under the Bishop of Michigan's direction, -to exercise his office amongst the scattered members of the Church in the counties of Lenawee, Hillsdale, and Southern Washtenaw ; besides officiating alternately at three churches, many miles distant from each other. Here was a man of education and birth, the nephew of an Irish prelate, devoting his whole energies to the cause of the Church — travelling, fre quently in all weathers, from one post of labour to another, himself the occupant of a log cabin, ministering to the spiritual wants of single families in the depths of the forest, and on the solitary prairie. Wherever the sons and flaughters of the Church were to be found within his wide district was our missionary periodically present, to minister to their spiritual need, to feed them with the body of their God, and admit their offspring to the fold of Christ ; and all this was undertaken, and has been for many years prosecuted for love ofthe ioork alone, as the missionary salary is small, and the missionary 410 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. has sacrificed, together with the comforts and luxuries of his British home, no inconsiderable amount of money. And his labours are shared, and his hands and spirit are strengthened, and his duties are lightened by that graceful and accomplished female who receives us, and is spreading with her own hands (for she has no domes tic) a snow white table-cloth, on which is soon placed a simple, yet excllent meal. How sweet is this bread, and how light and wholesome these cakes, how well-pre served these fruits, and how delicious are these fresh fish, drawn from the lake whose waters ripple against the very foot of the well-cultivated garden — cultivated by the missionary's own hands. When did beauty and grace, set off by enlightened piety, appear less beautiful or less graceful in a checked apron ? Such a garment our hostess wears ; and she but lately adorned and shone amidst a circle of the highest and most distin guished in her own country. And there are more missionaries like L r, in Michigan ; and a number such throughout other neigh bouring states. What marvel that catholicity should so increase in the west, when its settlers see before them such examples of self-denying zeal, and quenchless love for their best interests ? Let the faithful pioneers of the cross, spending their lives in Western America, but persevere in the course which experience has proved to be the only successful one — of preaching the gospel hi the Church ; carrying out all the principles of the Church as she is, without diminution or addition, and it is as morally certain that catholicity will cover the continent of North America, and the American Church episcopal become the greatest light of Christendom within a few years, as that the A MISSION ART I-R1EST. -ill foundation of God standeth sure ! Happy tlay for America, when, from Maine to Texas — from the Atlantic to the Pacific — from every city fane, from every rural village and solitary hamlet — one altar will be raised — one Sacrifice offered thereon ; when one voice of praise, the united voice of a united Church, will ascend (meet offering) in the language of one ritual ; when the prayers of the Apostles and their immediate successors, the venerable liturgy of the ages, will be the medium of all America's supplications. That day shall come if the Church is true to her principles. 412 CHAPTER LVI. RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA. BFLLEV1LLE REVISITED. I left Michigan, after a most agreeable sojourn, sooner than I expected, being hurried back by family matters. I heard the bishop preach several times, both in his own church and during a visitation of the diocess, and every occasion enhanced my admiration of him. When 1 left the state he was in the midst of a controversy with a presbyterian opponent, who had been pleased to take exceptions at some passages in a sermon preached by the bishop at an ordination held in Detroit, pub lished at the request of the clergy, and many of the laity present. Why a sermon preached in the bishop's own cathedral, and stating most properly the views of the Catholic Church and the Prayer Book in reference to the solemn act then transacted, should give offence to those holding different views, so as to draw down on its author the attacks which this printed sermon provoked, it is difficult to conceive — except on the pre sumption that the " reverend " fulminator of the most malicious of -those attacks supposed himself to be invested with the power and prerogatives of an inquisitor general, whose peculiar office it is to exer cise a censorship on the religious 'press, and to sup press, as far as the laws of the United States permit, the free exercise, and quiet enjoyment of private judgment. '1 he spite and vexation manifested by the American "NEW SCHOOL" PRE8BVTER1ANISM. 413 presbyterians at the vapid growth of the Church, exceeds that of any other sect. The weakness which their own recent divisions into " old " and " new school," — the latter embracing several shades of opinion on some of the most vital points of doctrine — while it has led seve ral of the ministers of that denomination, and a large number of laymen to attach themselves to the ranks of episcopacy, seems, at the same time, to increase the rancour of those who remain against the rival com munion. Two specimens, out of a multitude such, will suffice to exhibit the extent of this feeling of op position. The first is an extract from a letter issued by the synod of the " New School Presbyterian Church," in Michigan : — "We want you, beloved brethren, to beware of Satan's devices. Never be satisfied with the mere form of godliness. Beware we beseech you, of that spirit of Antichrist which has grown up within these few years to such giant strength in a denomination of religious people, which we have been accustomed to consider evangelical, but which we fear must, hereafter, be treated as fundamentally erroneous. We now refer you in plain English, to the episcopal denomination. We likewise exhort you not to be deceived with regard to the fatal tendency of those most palpable errors which have taken possession of what is termed the " low church " por tion of that mischievous establishment. Even that portion, in our estimation, has in connection with it, no little false theology and exclusive sectarianism [! ! !] and Jesuitical proselytism ; together with opposition to temperance, and revivals of religion, intermingled with a dependance on forms and successions ; all of which we consider highly^ injurious to the cause of human salvation." 414 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The other is from the New York " Evangelist," an organ of the " New School presbyterian Church." The absolute falsehood which marks every statement, and the tolerant Christian spirit which characterises the whole extract, are too prominent to. require any exposure be yond that which it bears on its face. Its evident design is to entrap a class of readers as ignorant of history as they must be of ecclesiastical and civil polity. Out of such material, we opine, is the " new school " sect mainly formed. " The Episcopal Church, Anglican and Anglo-Ame rican, is in many respects .very questionably protestant at all. Among the Reformed Churches she was late in the day, in her awkward and ambiguous affiliation ; she never protested originally at all herself, but was whirled about by the imperious caprice of her corrupt and tyran nical monarch ; and so prudent in acquiescing, if not in taking originally or at all her own position, she re mained less acting than acted upon, and surrendered all her prerogatives, as a Church of Christ, to the usurping and monstrous headship of one of the vilest beasts of a king, the second Tudor and the eighth Henry, who subdued her as the minister of his will and the panderer to his lawless gratifications — against the honours of his proper wife, and more against the prerogatives of her lawful head, the Lord Christ, the only legitimate King of his own Church. In her protestant relations she was mainly the passive creature of her wicked and hateful king ; she came late, and very gradually, and as we have said, very awkwardly, into the conformity and the confederacy of protestant churches. There are several peculiarities to be noted, in her original not-half reformed adhesion to the protestant cause ; peculiarities " NEW school" PRESRYTERIANISM. 415 in which she was solitary and peerless, as well as incon sistent, raw, and ridiculous, among the sisters of the protestant world ; peculiarities, like those of a felon in the striped uniform of the state prison, worn on the Erastian principle of conformity to the will of Ceesar, that is, of King Henry, the Blue Beard monster, and master, and dictator of her changes. " So true is it that the hierarchy of England is old popish ; that it was never reformed ; that all other changes left its popish, clerical compagination un changed, in every important or characteristic particular ; and that the dark ages, by dark and gradual accretions, and by Romish prescriptions and conformities, made it what it is, stamped with the image of the beast, and then left it unreformed among the glories of the glorious Re formation. It is also a known fact that many of the clergy conformed at the time, who were avowed papists ; and of all orders, from the lofty and the lordly, to the starveling curates and pensioners of pampered prelacy. They conformed on the Erastian principle ; false, con temptible, and unchristian as it is ! They prudently acquiesced — and saved their places and their purses ; in a way of which we shall speak more hereafter. " Now, it is another fact that of all the nominal churches ofthe protestant world, England alone retained her miserable popish hierarchy. All the other churches insular or continental, revolutionized and reformed their order as well as their doctrine in a more Christian style. Whether Lutheran, or reformed, all the protestants were anti-prelatists [! !] They never thought of reform ing away the popish doctrine and retaining the popish hierarchy. They made a thorough purgation. * * * As for bishops of the diocesan mould attempting or 3g 416 . ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. originating a reform, and consummating it, the idea is Utopian ! What history records any such thing ? It never happened. Their collective history is the other way. They have always been badly conservative in respect to reforms. They always hang on the traces of the age, oppose all reforms in the main, and magnify antiquity and the wisdom of the ancients. They are always, like Bishop Bonner, for " what the Church believes." They teach us to worship the authority of the fathers, and infallibility of their oracles of tradition, and their own divine right to do what they please — to govern, dictate, and dogmatize to the wotld. * * * " They and theirs were all tories in our Revolutionary war — with few exceptions. They retarded it, prayed against it, denounced it, and now acquiesce in it — on the Erastian principle probably, or from some policy even more selfish. Their whole history shows them anti-reformers, anti-Americans, anti-protestants. It is the genius and spirit of their order, to oppose all reforms in Church, and in state ; as if innovation were always a crime ; and never can be an improvement and a virtue ! and as if old error was better than eternally older truth ? " Let the American people open their eyes to its true character. This same prelacy is the foe of man and of God. It is essentially un-protestant, and hostile to the simple rationality and righteousness of our republican institutions. It is analogous to the assumed divine right of kings, and other arrogant and wicked assump tions of the feudal system, lt is a shoot from the trunk of the pagan Caesar, not from Jesus Christ." Attacks in a precisely similar strain * are weekly made * The hostility of this miserable sect against a liturgy so purely evangelical as that of the Anglo and Anglo-American Churches is easily "new school" presbyteriamsm. 417 in this sagacious organ upon the order, the liturgy, and the other features of the Church, nor are the other sects backward in taking up and repeating the oft refuted charges ; justifying the complaint of Dr. Jarvis, which to English readers may otherwise appear an exaggerated re presentation : " The present is a period of rebuke and"blas- phemy. We are assailed on the one hand by the prelates of the Roman communion, on the other, by countless numbers among the protestant sects. All unite in no thing but in animosity towards us ; and that, too, in a accounted for in the peculiar views which they entertain touching the sub lime mystery of the atonement, reaching even to the moral greatness of our Saviour's character. The following genuine paragraph from the same print will sufficiently indicate how " New School Presbyterianism " is gelling on. Irving's notion relative to the peccability of Christ, is not a touch to it ! Yet the sentiments it contains are, I can assure the English reader, growing much in vogue in the " protestant " ranks in America. Very similar opinions, variously expressed, have been at different times put forth by other heresiarchs. " What is the example which the sufferings and death of Christ afford ' — an example, if unexplained by any other circumstance, the most frightful and disgusting the world ever saw. If this were Christ's object' he has most miserably failed. He never manifested any extraor dinary exemplary deportment, — his anguish and cries, his bloody sweat in the garden, and his pitiful cry on the cross, seem to be entirely ' unmanly. The desertion of his friends, and the cruelty of his enemies, he might have borne with far greater composure. ^Many of his followers, in all ages, have endured much sorer evil than he experienced, with far more apparent magnanimity and self-possession. So far from setting an example ot patience and self-possession in the hour of suffering and trial, he might be commended to the example of some of his own followers." " Can anything " truly remarked a Church journal, commenting on the article whence this is extracted, " be conceived more atrocious than such language ? We venture to say that the apostate Julian never expressed himself in more irreveient terms of the adorable Saviour ofthe world, nor was even Voltaire, in his infidel ravings, guilty of worse profanation than this.'' 418 „ ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. country, which professes to tolerate every shade of reli gious faith and opinion. The protestant sects raise the alarm cry that we are papists, either openly or in dis guise ; the prelates of the Roman communion help on the clamour in hopes of profiting by our discord, and re pelling the more easily our claims as the reformed branch of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church." I saw more of Cleveland on our return eastward, as the boat stopped there for half a day to receive the Columbus mail. It promises to be the most important port on the south shore of Lake Erie, and unlike most sea [lake] ports, its high state of morals keeps pace with its commercial prosperity. One proof of this was af forded to our view in the well-ordered and cleanly appearance of the streets adjoining the quays, which are wholly free of dram-shops. While sitiing with a group of passengers on the boat's deck, as she left Cleveland behind her, and the proud Erie with its numerous sails opened to our view, its south shore as far as the eye could reach disclosing the cultivated furrows and broad pastures of a civilized and well-peopled region, one of our party repeated the lines of an English poet, * whose eyes never witnessed what (in the licensed hyperbole of poetic language) he so* beautifully pre-figured : On Erie's banks, where tigers f steal along. And the dread Indian chants a dismal song — Where human fiends on midnight errands walk, And bathe in brains the murd'rous tomahawk ; Ihere shall the flocks on thymy pastures stray, And shepherds dance at Summer's closing day. * Campbell, f The tiger is not a native of North America. Though the wild cat be longs to the same genus, and possesses equal ferocity. PATTERSON. 41!) Each wandering genius of the lowly glen Shall start to view the glittering haunts of men j And silent watch on woodland heights around, The village curfew as it tolls profound. Ill a few more short years Lake Superior will cease to be navigated by the Indian canoe, and its banks will swarm like these, with the busy crowds of civilized habitants. I made another visit to " the great Falls " on our jour ney homeward, and varied our course by taking the stage to Rochester, (where we remained ten days) and the canal thence to Schenectady, near Albany ; so that I have followed the entire course of that celebrated work of art. Before reaching our Philadelphia friends, we made a fortnight's visit in New Jersey ; where I witnessed the consecration of the church at Belleville, which had been completed chiefly, through the liberality of Mr. Stuyve sant, who, as is his wont, afterwards entertained the attending clergy, numbering on this occasion sixteen or eighteen, at his house. Among the company were Drs. Eastburn, Wainwright, Milnor and Anthon of New * York. The latter is the Greek professor at Columbia College, and author or editor of nearly all the grammars lexicons and classical school books used in the United States. His manners and conversation are quiet and prepossessing. . I also took a day to visit Patterson, the seat of some considerable manufactories, and the beautiful Falls of the Passaic. Here I met with a friend of former years in the person of the Rev. Alfred Loutrel, the son of Mr. Loutrel before-mentioned, who was supplying the paiish of St. Paul, of which he has since been instituted 420 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. rector. The congregation -of this church is large and public-spirited. Mr.W e a vestryman, at whose house I stayed, is a strong advocate of the free-sitting system, which it is my fervent prayer his influence may prove effectual in introducing in the parish church. — " We should then," said Mr. W. " have to erect another place pretty soon, as there would not be church room for the influx which the primitive mode would create." " But where would the money come from for that purpose?" " The money " replied my host, the colour mounting to his cheek— " It is this selfish pew system which closes up the hearts, and tightens the purse strings of churchmen. Our laity are rich enough to give church room to every episcopal family in the United States, and a good support to every minister, without feeling it. But they never will, under the present system. There is money enough in the Church, and it will flow into its proper channel if we only come back to Christian principles." I was reminded of the late Earl of Aylesfbrd's remark " that, as we cannot fix our places in the next world, we ought not to attempt to fix them in our churches in this world, and that if the poorest man in the village sat side by side with him, he would be satisfied." Patterson has, at least, one Earl of Aylesford. 421 CHAPTER LVII. PHILADELPHIAN SUBURBS. ** Laudabunt alii claram Rhodon aut Mitylenen, Aut Ephesum, bimarisve Corinthi Msenia, vel Baccho Thabas, vel Apolline, Delphos Insignes, aut Thessala Tempe. ***** Menec tarn patiens Laced rem on, Nee tarn Larissse percussit campus opinio?, Quam domus Albunea? resonantis, Et prseceps Anio, et Tiburni lucus ; et udse Mobilibus pomaria rivis. — Hor. Carmen, VII. Having several times repeated my visit to the rector of St. David's, Manayunk, and rambled with him among the scenes of beauty, for which the banks of the Schuyl kill are celebrated, I resolved in the summer of 1842, to select a place of residence in that ni ighborhood. The Schuylkill had always been a favorite river with me ; it is indeed a lovely stream, flowing in its whole course from the mountains of Carbon to the Delaware through scenes of surpassing beauty. The invitations of my friend were added to the promptings of my own inclina tion to reside in his parish. On the first of July, therefore, I took" possession of a liouse which chanced to be vacant, within a few minutes walk of both church and parsonage; and for the two ensuing years divided my time between the pleasing office of assisting J n in the duties, public and private, of a large and populous parish, and the quiet 422 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. enjoyments of home, while regular arrivals of English papers gave us an opportunity of keeping pace with every event transpiring in the old world, as fast as her majesty's semi-monthly mail reached the ports of New York and Boston. " The two countries now" remarked Daniel Webster in one of his speeches, "lie side by side." One of the most attractive places where 1 occasionally did duty, when not officiating in Manayunk, was Phce- nixsville, situated like our own town, on the banks of the silver Schuylkill, twenty miles distant, and sustained also by manufactures ; though having as few of the dis agreeable adjuncts of a manufacturing village as I ever saw. The houses occupied by the operatives form seve ral neat and comfortable rows on the main street, and evidence in their general appearance and the cheerful, healthful looks of the inmates, the care and considera tion ofthe mill owners. One of them, Mr. Mason, has extensive rolling mills, which, in their admirable con struction and the beauty of the machinery, are not sur passed by any English establishment of the same kind. About a mile from the village is one of the most English looking and English kept residences I have met with in the United Statets, standing in the midst of a fine es tate and commanding an extensive south view. It is the property of a Mr. Morris, the senior churchwarden of the parish. Here I was each time entertained, and found in the owner of the mansion — a true son of the Church of the genuine Sir Robert Inglis stamp— every attraction, intellectual and literary, that could make a visit agreeable. At Emanuel church, Kensington, in which I had preached about two years previously to a select few, col- THE *F0ST0LIC SYSTEM. 423 lected under the old (i. e. the exclusive or pew) system, I was gratified to find a change made in accordance with the "Resolution" of the General Convention. By a vote of the vestry, the doors were taken from the pews, and finials placed at the seat ends ; the church doors were thrown open (not in mockery) to the people, with out any other tax than their voluntary offerings on each Lord's Day.* — In other words — the drawing room for the use of a select circle of genteel " episcopalians," was converted into aparish church. What was the immediate result ? — A larger congregation, filling closely every part of the building, as well dressed, and more devo tional than before. What further result 1 — A larger treasury ! Such has been the effect in America, wherever the apostolic sytem has been tried. One after another of the Romanist churches has adopted it, invariably with the best results to the success of that sect. By it the methodists gather multitudes into their communion, many of whom would, — if not repelled from our fold — greatly prefer its worship and ministry. Let but the different rectors and vestries of newly organized parishes give sanction to the practice, and it would soon become universal ; and the American Church would then have, in her possession of an Offertory, a mode of sustaining the clergy, assisting the objects of parochial education, and parochial charity, as well as of swelling the mission ary exchequer, which none of the sects possess. One that will at least guard against the fluctuations and pre- cariousness of the present supplies to these objects ; though it may fail of achieving the larger schemes of * 1 Cor. 16. 2. 3 H 424 ECCLESIASTICAL RE VUXIKCEN'OES. benevolence which a national endowment enables its trustees, the clergy, to accomplish. My clerical engagements also took me several times up the Delaware. ' One of these excursions, which lives in my memory as the most interesting in the incidents which marked it, was to Burlington, the residence ofthe Bishop of New Jersey. I had promised an English friend who, at the joint instigation of D- s and myself, had made choice of the Church as his profession, to be present at the ceremony of his admission to deacon's orders. His term of candidateship, which was made in New Jersey, expired in the summer of 1843, and on Trinity Sunday the bishop, whose canonical practice in this respect is (almost necessarily) single, held an ordi nation in St. Mary's. It was a bright siiuny day, and the ample doors of Riverside were thrown open, discovering the bishop's family at breakfast, while enjoying the prospect spread out by nature's most lavish hand before the house. The sober quiet refinement, and social comfort, presented by the family group, and the unambitious elegance of the mansion, imparted to the scene a character peculiarly English. Several beautiful children occupied their places at the family board, whose deportment gave evidence of their good breeding, and the happy influence of private and maternal training under the check of religious principles. After breakfast, I accompanied C n to the garden, spread round the house, where the gravelled walks, winding their serpentine course through borders of well trimmed shrubs, and the closely shaven lawn, completed the picture, which instantly carried our thoughts home ward. ST. MAItY's CHURCH. 425 The church of St. Mary fronts a street a little out of the closest part of the city- It is cruciform in its plan, but unpretending in its architectural design, and rather low. Surmounting the central elevation is a stone cross, announcing to the by-passer that the building is neither a Mahomedan nor a pagan, nor (by its appropriate sym bol, the weather vane) a sectarian place of worship, but a Christian temple, belonging to the One Universal Church of the Apostles. Groups were gathered in the' pleasant churchyard at the time of our arrival, and many had taken their seats in the consecrated place where the Trinity are worshipped. It was the festival of that Holy Mystery, and the bishop's sermon embraced a notice of the sublime doctrine of the Three in One, which he treated practically in the evening's discourse at three o'clock. The evening's service was also celebrated at eight p.m. in the chapel of St. Mary's Hall, when the bishop summed up the arguments, and enforced the exhorta- tations used in his previous discourses ; adding an appeal, couched in most feeling language, to his female auditors to carry to their closets the recollection of the instructions received during the day. At the end ofthe chapel service the young ladies of the school, numbering about two hundred, each shook hands with the bishop on their way to the supper room. The pleasing spectacle which this, and other opportu nities presented to me of Bishop Doane's efforts to carry out in his diocess a system of religious education on the principles of the Church brought forcibly to my mind the eloquent and truthful sentiments expressed in my hearing, during my last visit to England in 1841, by one of our most catholic minded bishops before the as- 426 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. sembled thousands at the annual meeting of the London Sunday schools. With the vital importance of the follow ing query the republican prelate seems deeply impressed : — " Amidst all the difficulties and disadvantages to which ill-devised and ill-directed schemes of instruction are liable, some system of education will go forward. The great question is not, therefore, whether the rising gene ration shall be educated, but how it is to be educated? Whether in sound Christian principles, or merely in un holy ones ? Or, if it be at once determined — as Christians are bound to determine — that the education shall be Chris tian ; whether it shall be built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cor ner stone, as explained by the Church, or as preached by sectarians and enthusiasts 1" Bishop Doane has nobly encountered the popular view of this question, and the factious opposition of the expediency advocates in the Church's ranks, in his own field of operation, by the establishment of a system of parochial education for the poor, on the plan of the National Schools of England, as well as of high schools for the wealthier classes : [another college of preparatory education for boys having been during the present year (1836) commenced at Burlington under most flattering auspices in addition to St. Mary's Hall.] " For we may rest assured," was the logical deduction of Bishop Allen, " that if we do not exert ourselves in the good work of educating the poorer members of our own communion in the principles of our Church, and teach them to love it by constantly frequenting it, and by feeling they are be nefited by it, they will be led away from it, by those who are more zealous for their sectarian tenets than we are for the orthodox doctrines of our own Church." If good artists' fund society. 427 seed be not diligently and extensively sown amongst them, the enemy will sow tares, and the good seed will be choked and bring forth no fruit to perfection." The Bishop of Ely's emphatic appeal to the true amor patria of his auditors on the same occasion, — of " those who loved their country ; who wished virtue and true re ligion to flourish and abound in it ; -who would turn many to righteousness, and in consequence of so doing shine themselves as the stars forever and ever" — meets, happily, with a warm response from more quarters than one in the United States ; and in finding an echo in the breasts of his brother prelates of New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, etc., proves them to be the real patriots in a community where mere wordy and vaunted " patriot ism" is, notoriously, a superabundant commodity. Amongst the objects of public patronage which are especially worthy the notice of a visitor to Philadelphia is the Artists' Fund Society ; a similar establishment, on a smaller scale, to the Annual Exhibition of native artists at the National Gallery of Trafalgar Square. The buildinp- is in Chesnut Street. Were it consistent with the design of these notes, I should be tempted to give a particular description of its plan with some dis cussion on the relative merits of the artistic contributions of this gallery, which I successively visited during several years of its early existence. Among the best I may mention the names of Sully, Lambdin, Neagle, Dickin son, Barratt and Officer in portrait painting; and Grunewald, Holmes, Neale, Walker, Shaw, Williams, and Hamilton in landscape designs. Some small pieces by Mrs. Newton of Roxbury, were worthy a place in a more national exhibition of design than the Artists' Fund Hall of Philadelphia. 428 CHAPTER LVIII. A MOURNING CHURCH. This wilderness, the world, like that poetic world of old, Bears one, and but one branch of gold, Where the blest spirit lodges like the dove ; And which, to Heavenly soil transplanted, will improve, To be, as 'twas below, the brightest branch above; For whate'er theologic lev'lers dream, There are degrees above I know, As well as here below, Where high patrician souls dress'd heavenly gay, Sit clad in lawn of purer woven day ; There some high Spirit's throne to Sancroft shall be given In the metropolis of Heaven. Chief of the mitred saints, and from arch-prklatb here. Translated to arch-angel there. Swikt. On February 20th, 1843, the Church papers came to us dressed in mourning, The presiding bishop had de parted this life on the previous 15th, in the house, and in the arms of his suffragan, and now successor in the apostolic office, Bishop Eastburn. And the American Church's appreciation of his uncommon worth, and her own loss was now evinced in the unusual marks of regret and respect to his memory, visible on all sides. In several dioceses the interior of all the churches were hung with black, and the clergy wore crape for thirty days, whilst in nearly every church throughout the country the event was improved from the pulpit by a funeral sermon or an appropriate address. Fortunate has it been for the Church of America that, BISHOP GRISWOLU's DEATH. 429 in God's providence, she has hitherto been under the presidential control of four such men as Seabury, Pro voost, White, and Griswold. The first three led her feeble host through the storms of opposition and rebuke that followed to the catholic communion after the Revo lution ; and by their joint wisdom, their moderation, and their most exemplary piety, they disarmed the opponents of episcopacy, and successively presiding during the period of the church's early struggles, piloted her chil dren into the full possession of the promised land. Their office (descending by seniority of consecration) devolved on Bishop Griswold at Bishop White's death : he may well be said to have caught the mantle of his predeces sor who had held the post forty-one years. Bishop Griswold succeeded to his primacy in 1838, having then been Bishop of the Eastern diocess twenty-five years. He presided at two General Conventions. One of his brother bishops* paid his memory the following just tribute in announcing the melancholy event of his death to his diocesan flock : — "The venerable prelate who has thus passed from among us was a man of primitive simplicity and piety. Through a long life he gave wholly to his master's service, rare endowments of mind, and rare attainments in learning, acquired under great and, to an ordinary man, discouraging disadvantages. There has seldom been so indefatigable a student ! He was one of the few in this or any country who could read, under stand, or enjoy the great work of La Place, as made accessible by our own Bowditch. As a parish priest he was a pattern of pastoral diligence and fidelity ; and * Doane. 430 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. through his long episcopate, even to the latest of his days, he continued abundant in labours ; not sparing himself that he might feed the flock of which the Holy Ghost had made him overseer. As presiding bishop the Church is indebted to him for two Pastoral Letters of the House of Bishops ; the latter of which, that for 1841, is a document of the highest value,* and will testify to the remotest generations, his firm adherence to the catholic faith, and his fearlessness and force in its assertion. He has gone from us in a good old age, as a shock of corn when it is fully ripe." The place and manner of Bishop Gris wold's death were both remarkable, and have given rise to much comment and improvement. The following picture of that last scene, drawn at his funeral in Trinity Church by his successor in the apostolic office, the present Bishop of Massachusetts, is too graphic to be with held :— " Amidst the shock which we have all experienced, by this startling termination of the earthly ministry of our revered Ruler and Guide, will not every voice unite, with one consent, in the exclamation, that the exit of him whose remains' now lie in our view, — whether that exit be considered in reference to the precise period of his life when it was made — to the spot on which it was witnessed — or to the manner in which his sainted spirit took its flight,— is marked throughout by circumstances of almost unparalleled sublimity and beauty ? Let us contemplate together, for a few moments, this striking spectacle. As if to call our hearts, in a more than ordi nary manner, to a sense of the presence and the provi- * From this Letter copious extracts are given in chapter 53. BISHOP GRISWOLD's DEATH. 431 dence of God, it pleased Him to take to himself our de parted Overseer, within a few short days after the con summation of a wish which had occupied the thoughts of our venerated Head through long previous years. The desire of his soul had just been accomplished. He had seen the council of his diocese, which had been assembled at his own earnest summons, meeting in harmonious brotherhood, and appointing his official suc cessor. He had received the kind voice of confirmation to this choice from the near and the distant portions of that spiritual Body, of which we are a parcel and a part. And, when all these preparatory measures had been completed, he had, in company with some of his bre thren in office, and in the presence of his assembled clergy, performed the last finishing and apostolic cere monial, within the precincts of this consecrated temple. And now, having been permitted to behold all things done, he walks to and fro, for a few weeks, in the midst of us ; and then, in the fulness of years, he passes instantly away, and enters into an everlasting rest from all his labours. And, to invest with still farther inte rest and solemnity the closing moments of his career, it is so ordered, in the course of Providenee, that his spirit shall escape from its earthly prison-house beneath the very roof of him, who had been destined to stand in his room, and to continue his. labours, and thus, by a most singular concurrence of circumstances, the father lays down his dust, literally speaking, at the feet of the son. But the glorious picture is not yet completed. You have seen this good old man separated from those over whom he presided, immediately after the fulfilment of his dearest wish and prayer. You have seen him yield ing up the ghost within the actual dwelling of his 3 I 432 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. successor in duty. And now, how does he die ? Could any departure have been imagined, more entirely in harmony with the previous tenor of his character and life ? After a lengthened course of calm and meek ex ertion, he resigns, without a struggle, his ransomed soul into the arms of his Redeemer. He sweetly falls asleep in Christ. And as I stood over that noble and majestic form, and watched the almost imperceptible ebbing of existence as it hastened to its close, I could not but inwardly exclaim to myself, in the feeling, though not in the language, of the bard of life, death, and immor tality : — ' ' ' Starts timid nature at the gloomy pass -? The soft transition call it ; and be cheered ! ' " Bishop Eastburn's tribute to the humility and quiet virtues of his episcopal predecessor will complete a por trait, which cannot fail to interest in a strong degree the catholic readers of this country : " My personal recollection of our venerated bishop dates from the period of my early youth. Thrown into his society, at that time, by circumstances of a most interesting character, a near view was thus afforded me, at this season of my opening life of that wonderfully 'meek and quiet spirit,' which accompanied him at all times, and through all places ; and it is impossible for me ever to lose the impression which it produced. It was this quality, in truth, that gave such attractive beauty to his fine countenance, which had an expres sion upon it such as we frequently see upon the canvass, in the embodied conceptions of the great masters ; but which we seldom witness in our daily walks among men. That the habitual feeling of that sainted man, whose loss we are now deploring, was one of entire self- BISHOP griswold's DE<\TH. 433 renunciation, all who knew him will bear witness ; and how instructive for us to survey such an example, in a world where eminent models in that department of Christian virtue are so rarely to be found, I need not surely remind you. To this spirit of humiliation the whole current of the world is so utterly opposed, that it is considered as of slight account in men's estimate of human excellence. And yet who can forget, that, when our Divine Master pronounces his beatitudes upon the mountain, he numbers this same lowly mind among the most resplendent endowments of the creature ; and holds it up to our contemplation as the object of his choicest benediction. " Blessed are the meek ; for they shall inhe rit the earth ;" " Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." Or how can we likewise for get, that this humbleness of soul, so little esteemed by a vain and self-seeking world, is the very mind that was in Christ ; ' who, being in the form of God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a ser vant?' To this chastened and unpretending spirit, therefore, so pre-eminently characteristic of the departed servant of God, whose remains are now before us, let our thoughts be turned this day. Let us seek to form it within ourselves as he formed it, — by daily walking with God, in the secret and subduing exercises of medi tation and prayer. There was something majestic in the simplicity of that venerable man ; something whichj while it awakened love, kept at a distance all profane intrusion, and compelled from others that deference which was his due ; something, which one could never be in the presence of, without an immediate conscious ness of beholding the perfect exemplification of that sentence, ' He that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.' " 434 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The following was Bishop Chase's notice of his brother prelate's death, in a letter addressed to a clergyman of Philadelphia : — " Yesterday the news of the death of our senior bishop arrived in our midst. I speak so because of our little, compact, fraternal, and insulated character. When the mail arrives we hail it as the messenger of good or ill to us all : for what affects one moves the whole ; and often is heard the prayer, that God would enable us to bear the ill, as well as give us grace to keep us humble under the effects of good tidings. If I remember right, yesterday I had forgotten to pray in this manner, when the papers were all poured out of Jubilee mail bag on my table. I say I had forgotten to pray, — • ' Merciful Lord enable me to submit with resignation to whatever of woe may be herein contained,' when the Boston paper was discovered to be in mourn ing. It was immediately opened^ and my wife ex claimed — ' Bishop Griswold is dead!' — It was indeed so : our dear dear senior bishop has, indeed, passed suddenly to his high reward. The short story told in the ' Witness ' was read and re-echoed from mouth to mouth, till the whole number of our faithful ones were in possession of all that now could be known of this melancholy event, — for such it is to me. I knew Bishop Griswold — I believe he is in 'Paradise. But I know also myself; and the consequent miserable ex change the Church must sustain in receiving me in the place of so good, and great a man. Oh, God of mercy, take pity on thine elect one —thine own Apostolic Church — thine espoused bride ; whose garments when steeped in the blood of martyrs, thou hast so often cleansed in thine own atoning blood !" BISHOP GRIS WOLD'S DEATH. 435 Another brother remarked — " Our departed friend and father was ready to be offered. He had fought a good fight — he had kept the faith. All things in the diocess over which he presided were 'set in order.' But six weeks ago a man after the bishop's own heart was con secrated to assist and succeed him in the apostolic office ; and, by a singular providence, the venerable prelate lays himself down to die in the study of his successor, as though he came to leave his mantle with his younger brother, and to resign to him with his own hands the commission which he had so long and so faithfully dis charged." " Yes, the good old man is gone, He is gone to his saintly rest, Where no sorrow can be known, And no trouble can molest ; For his crown of life is won, And the dead in Christ are bless'd." Most truly, when the sainted Griswold gave up the ghost a great man fell in Israel ! A man great in intel lectual powers, great in learning, great in his untiring efforts in the cause of Christianity, great for his piety and holy zeal, great as a prelate of the Church, — in his primi tive life, and the abundance of his apostolic labours, — and pre-eminently great in that singular humility which was the crowning grace of his character. His eloquence — so natural and so winning on the attention of his hearers — and his varied gifts as a divine and a Christian teacher were, however, as remarkable as this shining grace ;' and well is it for the Catholic Church of America that he is succeeded in his responsible office by one who so closely copies that humility, and possesses, also, so large a share of industry and patient perseverance. No one, in the whole company of her spiritual fathers, was better 436 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. fitted to preside in the Church councils. Though mo derate and mild, he was yet firm if occasion required ; he cared not for the face of man whilst engaged in his Master's work. How faithful he was with his own clergy, his numerous conventional addresses, and episcopal charges bear testimony. No bishop, from the apostles downwards, has been more beloved by his clergy, and this love was felt by all who were placed under his spiritual guardianship. In his death the Church of America was wounded at the heart ! Like the solitary city, become a widow, it could be said of her, Her tears are on her cheeks ; she smites her breasts in desolation, her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. " Kind star ! still mays' t thou shed thy sacred influence here, Or from thy. private peaceful orb appear ; For sure we want some guide from Heaven, to show The way which every wand'ring fool below Pretends so perfectly to know. Mistaken idiots ! see how giddily they run ; Led blindly on by avarice, or pride— What mighty numbers follow them, Each fond of erring with his guide." 437 CHAPTER LIX. REMOVAL TO MARYLAND. — A " PUSEYITE " RECTOR. " CHAPEL ROYAL" AT WASHINGTON. — ROCKVILLE. — THE CHURCH IN MARYLAND. In the summer of 1844, I received a joint invitation from the vestry of Rockville parish in Maryland, and the bishop of that diocess, to succeed an old incumbent who was transferred to the rectorship of a parish in the city of Washington, from which Rockville is fourteen miles distant. I readily responded to this invitation as my friend Jansen had now left Manayunk, having received an appointment to a more lucrative post in Ten nessee, through the interest of his brother-in-law Dr. (now Bishop Freeman.) We had already directed our eyes to the more genial atmosphere of Maryland, and the appointment was regarded as very opportune. Nor were we disappointed in any of our expectations. Maryland more nearly resembles England in its climate, and (notwithstanding the institution of slavery) in the general framework of its domestic and social institutions, than any section of the Union, the cities of Boston and Newport excepted. The customs of its first settlers, and the high tone of character they gave to its infant society, still exist in the upper and middle classes, untouched even by the shock of the Revolution, and the political changes to which that event is constantly giving rise. I passed a few days at the bishop's residence in Baltimore, and several more at Elkton, Cockeysville, and Washington, before taking charge of my parish. Mr. 438 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Goldsboi'ough the rector of Trinity, Elkton, is one of the most active clergymen of the diocess. He has been singularly successful in reviving the condition of a large and populous parish, embracing two congregations, by whom he is deservedly beloved. It is one of the parishes in which the provisions of the Church are fully carried out, and the rubrical directions of the prayer-book are followed on occasions of public worship verbatim et literatim. Their admirable propriety, and the superior effect upon the worshippers, was agreeably manifested on several occasions of public worship at which I was present. The substitution of the Church system, in every part of parochial economy, for the " old " (?) system of innovations, has in this case resulted in a large increase of activity and spiritual prosperity amongst the parishioners, and that in a soil of singular sterility. Such results have appeared in each instance where the same course — the only honest one — has been pursued. Of what importance then are the ignorant and factious cavils of semi-dissenting objectors ? At Cockeysville, I found a hearty welcome under the roof of Mr. Callahan the Rector. This parish, previ ously in a declining condition under the " old " system, and an "evangelical" regimen, was fast awakening from the long-drawn slumber of anti-" tractarian" torpor, under the energetic superintendance ofthe excel lent rector. Mr. Callahan is a sound scholar, and biblical critic. He was elected to the wealthier and more populous parish of " William and Mary," just before my withdrawal from the country. May God, in mercy, grant that his disconsolate people in Balti more county, may be saved from any declension from the fervour of their first love ! " CHAPEL-ROYAL," WASHINGTON. 439 In Washington I met a former acquaintance in the worthy rector of St. John's, from whom I received a renewal of kindness. I found him much changed in appearance, and labouring under an attack of fever, the result of exposure to the rays of a powerful sun, which made him request me to fill his place in St. John's church on the Sunday following my arrival in the city.* The church stands in President square, facing the executive mansion. In the morning the president and his daughter, with several ofthe cabinet, and a large number of government officers, were amongst the worshippers. The British minister, Mr. Packenham, occupied the pew which has from the first erection of the building belonged to our repre sentative. In this church a recent judicious alteration has banished the useless reading-desk. The whole service is performed at the altar, and a lecturn in the front centre serves the celebrant both for lessons and sermon-stand. This arrangement possesses the ad vantage of extreme simplicity, as well adapted to a church or chapel of limited proportions ; especially as the lecturn (unlike the cumbrous pile of carpenter's work — those fearful eyesores — in front of many English chancels, with their three square boxes rising pic turesquely one above the other, for the use of preacher, * Mr. Hawley died a few months after the above date, after a ministry of thirty years in Washington. Whilst recording my acquaint ance with him, I cannot withhold a passing tribute to the names of Pyne, Gilliss, French, and Harris, amongst the clergy of that city ; from each of whom I received the kindest attentions, the more gratifying from their being purely voluntary. Such I can guarantee to any clergyman from this country who may visit the American capital. 3k 440 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. reader, and clerk,) presents no perceptible obstruction to the view of God's altar. The parish of which I now took charge was for merly within the limits of St. John's, Washington. With the formation of the chapelry in 1719 the " Book of Records" begins. There were two rectors before the revolutionary war,* when the Rev. Thomas Read took charge of the parish, which he held for forty years ; during which time, as appears from a minute in his own handwriting, he had only been absent from it thirty months. A commendable instance of ministerial fidelity, and the more remarkable in America from its extreme rarity .f The history of the church in Maryland is coeval with its existence as a province and an independent state. The liberal and enlightened policy of Lord Baltimore — " the wisdom of which," writes Dr. Hawks, * The Rev. George Murdock, " inducted" (by the governor) in 1726, and the Rev. Alexander Williamson, inducted in 1761. T Mr. Read was succeeded in the rectorship by the Rev. Alfred Henry Dashields, when the parishioners being increasingly dissatisfied with the location of the church (two miles from Rockville, on the Balti more road), commenced a subscription for the erection of a new one. Before this design could be carried into effect Mr. Dashields withdrew from the parish, in August 1817. The project of changing the situation of the church was, however, soon renewed by the vestry, and a committee appointed to examine the old building and report on the subject. In 1820 the Rev. Thomas G. Allen, now of Philadelphia, was elected ; and the project of " a church in Rockville" was prosecuted with spirit. A grant of land in an eligible situation was conveyed by Soloman Holland, Esq., upon which the present substantial and commodious structure stands. In March, 1828, Mr. Allen withdrew, to become assistant-minister of St. Paul's in Philadelphia; and the Rev. Henry C. Knight, of the diocess of Massachusetts, was appointed to the pastoral charge. He THE CHURCH IN MARYLAND. 441 " was the more remarkable as it was far in advance of the spirit of the age" — -encouraged the. emigration to the new colony of numerous members of the Church of England,, and the Protestant sects from Virginia and the mother country, who in time outnumbered the adherents of the Roman see. In 1664 an Act passed by the Assembly against blasphemy and pro fanity, describes a motley brood : " Schismatic, Idolater, Puritan, Lutheran, Calvinist, Anabaptist, Brownist, Antinomian, Barrowist, Roundhead," &c. The moral aspect of society does not seem to have improved with the multiplication of sects, if a letter addressed by the Rev. Mr. Yeo to the Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1675 may be relied on. He writes : " The province of Maryland is in a deplorable condition for want of an established ministry. Here are ten or twelve counties, and in them, at least, twenty thousand held it for one year, when the Rev. Levin J. Gilliss assumed the rector ship, and retained it fourteen years. Mr. Gilliss' term of residence in Rockville appears to have been marked by great harmony amongst his numerous parishioners, whose attachment to him was the result of his zeal for their spiritual welfare, and the uniform kindness and urbanity of his deportment (of which I had repeated examples during my occasional intercourse with him). His name and character will be long cherished by his former people with affectionate regard. During the period of his residence in Rockville, the parishioners erected a commodious and tastefully arranged parsonage. The land on which it stands was the gift of the Hon. Judge Kilgour (now deceased), a liberal friend ofthe Church. The family of Kilgours are of Scottish origin, and descended from the learned and pious Bishop Kil gour, primate of the Church of Scotland, predecessor of the late Bishop Skinner (the present Bishop Skinner's father) in the s.ee of Aberdeen and the primacy. Bishop Kilgour, it will be recollected, was Bishop Sea- bury's chief consecrator in 1784, by which act the American Church first acquired its complete form. 442 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. souls, and but three Protestant ministers ofthe Church of England. The [Romish] priests are provided for, and the quakers take care of those that are speakers ; but rio care is taken to build up churches in the protestant religion. The Lord's day is profaned, religion is despised, and all notorious vices are com mitted, so that it has become a Sodom of uncleanness and a pest-house of iniquity. As Lord Baltimore is gone to England, I have made bold to address this to your grace, to beg that your grace would be pleased to solicit him for some established support for a pro testant ministry." The want of sufficient support for protestant minis ters, and the high official distinction many Romanists deservedly held, and which they had never abused, did not, however, warrant the grossly unjust act of King Charles the Second, who ordered the proprietary "to put all the offices into the hands ofthe protest ants." The cry of "No Popery !" had been raised in the province, provoked by the religious contentions in England on this subject, and Charles was very willing to seize upon this, or any thing else, which furnished him with a pretext for taking away the charter of the proprietary. Be that as it may, as soon as Sir Lionel Copley, the protestant governor, arrived, in 1692, the first act of the Assembly, after a recognition ofthe royal authority of William and Mary, was to pass a bill " for the service of Almighty God, and the establishment ofthe Protestant religion in the province of Maryland," This law provided, that " the Church of England should have and enjoy all her rights, liberties, and franchises wholly inviolable, as they then were, or thereafter should be established by THE CHURCH IN MARYLAND. 443 law ; that the several counties should be laid out into parishes, and that a record of the metes and bounds thereof should be deposited with the several county courts, and also with the governor and council ; that the freeholders of each parish should meet and appoint six vestrymen ; that a tax of forty pounds of tobacco per poll should be laid on each taxable person in the province, and that the sheriffs should collect the same ; that from the proceeds of this tax the vestries of the several parishes in which there were no churches built should forthwith cause houses of worship to be erected, after which the tax was to be applied to the support of the minister ; but if no minister had been inducted, then to be applied by the vestrymen to the necessary repairs of the churches, or other pious uses in their discretion." * The vestries were also made bodies corporate to receive and hold property ; and it was provided also, probably to secure perpetuity to the system adopted, that each vestry should have power to fill all vacancies occurring in it. Thus Anglo-Episcopacy became the established reli gion of the province. Under this statute, the ten counties ofthe province were divided geographically into thirty-one parishes. An arrival of clergymen from England supplied those newly formed, and the machinery of a state Church was actively put into operation by the executive. Though there are some evils inseparable from this Aind of alliance, and the constitution of that, general government, of which Maryland is now only a federal branch, is framed on principles which forbid, and make * Hawks's " Ecclesiastical Contributions," vol. ii. 444 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. impracticable, a rejunction of the civil and religious office, yet truth obliges the historian to record that the Church once established in Maryland, both in its early operations, in the fulness of its growth as a state- establishment, and in its later fruits, gathered from the maturity of those seeds so plentifully and assidu ously sown before she was humbled in the dust, proved most eminently a blessing to the community, and was the spiritual mother of many thousands, whose children or descendants, however since tossed about by the ever- conflicting winds of schism, will yet bear testimony to the maternal care with which she tended those en trusted to her guardianship. Her gold, seven times purified, shews now, in her renewed youth, brighter than when supported by the law, sanctified by persecu tion, and meeter for the Master's use. With the return of peace after the revolutionary war, the remaining clergy made laudable and self- sacrificing exertions to recover the lost ground occa sioned by its distractions and the accompanying in roads of sectarianism, whose preachers had drawn off a number of families from their attachment to the Church. The old complaint made by the clergy of Maryland was again renewed, viz. " that there were a sort of travelling pretenders to preaching that came from New England, and other places, which delude, not only the protestant dissenters from our Church, but many of the Churchmen themselves, by their ex temporary prayers and preachments, for which they are admitted by the people, and get money of them."* Times, it is true, are changed! Though the latter * In a letter found by Dr. Hawks, in thearchives of Lambeth Palace. THE CHURCH IN MARYLAND. 445 part of this plaint is correct enough, yet the dissenting ministers of Maryland now number amongst them many who are more than mere " pretenders to preach ing" — eloquent expounders, possessing respectable scholarship. It may, however, be stated, that the number of seceding sects has since increased in that one section of the United States from about five to fifty, differing more widely from each other than the first separatists differed from the Church which they left : a strong argument for those who have adhered to Apostolic Order to continue steadfast in " the old paths and the good way." The amended act of the legislature, incorporating " the Episcopal Church of Maryland," strikes out of the old statute all the articles which connected it with the state as a civil institution. Vestries are chosen in the same way, the oath being differently worded. Vestry meetings are to be held on the first Monday in February, May, August, and November, at eleven o'clock, a.m. The rector is a member of the vestry and chairman thereof, with power to call special meet ings. The powers of churchwardens, as civil officers of. the peace, inspectors of tobacco, &c, were taken away, and their duties limited to the preservation of the peace in the church and chapels ofthe parish, and lifting the oblations at the communion. Elections for vestrymen and churchwardens to be held, as before, on Easter Monday. " Every free white male citizen above twenty-one years of age, resident of the parish where he offers his vote six months next preceding the day of election, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and who shall also contribute to the charges 446 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. of the said parish in which he offers to vote," &c, has a right of suffrage in said election. The old parish bounds remain, except where the Diocesan Convention, at the request of adjoining pa rishes, alters them ; and the parochial rights of the rectors are secured in Maryland by the double protec tion ofthe ecclesiastical and civil law. The former in her thirty-first canon makes it penal for " one clergy man belonging to this Church to officiate, either by preaching, reading prayers, or otherwise, in the parish or within the parochial cure of another clergyman, unless he have received express permission for that purpose from the minister of the parish or cure ; or, in his absence, from the churchwardens and vestrymen ;" and the latter subjects the party who violates its pro visions to a penalty of eight dollars for each offence, " recoverable before any justice of the peace, to be applied to the use of the parish in such manner as the vestry may direct." Under a succession of catholic bishops, pre-emi nently distinguished amongst her sister-diocesses for their learning and the vigour of their administration, the Maryland Church has, since receiving an episcopal head, " lengthened her cords and strengthened her stakes." The present excellent prelate who presides over her destinies reports to the last General Convention a hundred clergymen ; five of them instructors in in corporated seminaries of learning, and six, teachers of classical schools, in addition to ministerial duty. Since called to the high office which he has, with such re markable wisdom and prudence, filled, twenty-five deacons have been admitted to the priesthood, sixteen THE CHURCH IN MARYLAND. 447 candidates have been ordained deacons, and there are eighteen candidates now on the list. There are 1 18 churches, many of them elegant structures of stone, affording accommodation for 37,500 persons. Eleven churches are now building, and eleven new churches now awaiting consecration. There are parsonages in twenty-nine parishes 'and glebes in sixteen, varying in size from six to 600 acres ; 3793 Sunday-school chil dren, under strict Church teaching, by 615 catechists. A fine college (on an ample tract of land), has been established, and is in active operation through Bishop Whittingham's untiring efforts; to whom, with the Standing Committee of the diocess, the donors have made it over in trust as a Church institution. It has already nearly fifty students under seven professors, four of them clergymen ! There is an incorporated institute for girls, under the bishop's visitation, and four others (Church schools), partially or wholly en dowed; and a preparatory school for candidates for holy orders; five parochial schools, held in school- houses erected for the purpose; five female orphan asylums, and a fund for the education of poor children ; a diocesan " Prayer- Book and Homily Society," which distributes more than a thousand prayer-books an nually, besides a proportion of the large size for aged persons. Add to these statistics, that the contributions of the faithful in the diocess, for religious and charit able purposes, during the last three years, has been 43,906 dollars; and what Maryland Churchman can help exclaiming, " Surely God is good to Israel!" He has, indeed, visited the vine of his own right hand's planting. 3l 448 CHAPTER LX. A MARYLAND CONVENTION. The Convention of the Church in Maryland was held in Baltimore shortly after my removal to that diocess, but the engagements attending the removal of the family to Rockville prevented my attendance, beyond part of a day, on its sittings. I was much gratified in witnessing the entire proceedings of this body the year following, just before taking, my departure from the United States. The session, in both cases, lasted four days, several questions of considerable interest having to be settled. One of these related to the proposed ad mission of a new congregation, out of the ancient parish of St. John, Hagerstown. The memorialists had with drawn from the pastoral care of the rector* on the ground of his introducing "novelties" in the internal construction ofthe church edifice, and "innovations" on the " old mode" of conducting the service. The " novelties " consisted in restoring the chancel to the original plan, as it is seen in many of our Eng lish churches, and as it was invariably arranged in American churches before the Revolution ; and the " innovations" in a compliance with the bishop's re commendation to lay aside the gown, and use the Offertory every Sunday ! The Convention, however, sustained Mr. Lyman, by a vote of forty-four clergy to twenty-one ; and of laity, twenty-seven to seventeen ; * The Rev. Theodore B. Lyman, A.M. MARYLAND CONVENTION OF 1844. 449 and on the renewal of the application in 1845, it was rejected by more than two-thirds of both orders. And yet the laity of Maryland understand their rights as well as the wiseacres of Tottenham- and Ware! The laity! — Why, the clerical party in the two Conventions I attended, expressly abstained (at the bishop's suggestion) from taking any part in the dis cussion on these rubrical points. The worn-out charge of "clerical infringement on popular rights" having been trumped up by the factionists, whose aim was,' too evidently, to use the uninformed classes amongst the people as the instruments of their own party pur poses, the question was left entirely in the hands of laymen; and well was the contest sustained by the friends of Church order ! The dogmatic expounders of ecclesiastical rule and precedent who figure so learnedly in the editorial columns of certain secular prints in the English metropolis, and their blinded dupes in the "refractory vestries of suburban parishes, would have been put to the blush by the historical knowledge, and the intimate acquaintance with the whole subject of ritual and rubrical law, displayed by the intelligent laics of Maryland on these occasions. The triumph of principle, truth, and common sense was complete! — and, but for the dogged obstinacy of party prejudice, would have been followed by an unanimous vote. But in religious as well as in secular disputes, the old couplet too generally applies : — " A man convinced against his will Is of the same opinion still." It is due, however, to the Church convocations of America to add, that they are, with only occasional 450 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. exceptions, conducted with great good humour, and that but little ofthe acerbity of temper which is engen dered by party spirit in the height of debate, remains after the members have risen from their seats. The interchange of friendly offices continues, even in the intervals during the session, when business is sus pended ; while the greetings on coming together, and the farewells at separation between opposing cham pions in a vexed question, would lead an indifferent spectator to suppose that no hostility could possibly exist between opponents. That much of this appear ance is merely the result of good breeding, and a deference to the laws of Christian courtesy, cannot be doubted ; yet the very existence of this aspect of har mony every where but on the floor of convention, is a sufficient argument (when we look at the many good effects of the institution itself,) against the objections which the Erastian in our own Church, and the timid of every class, urge against the revival of Convocation. Circumstances are, however, daily proving the incom petency ofthe Church of England to act efficiently with out her Convocation, and exhibiting the absolute neces sity, on many grounds, to convene it at an early day. The conventional debates in the diocesan, as well as the General Conventions in America, bring out some of the first talent in the country. In Maryland, Judges Magruder and Chambers, Messrs. Hugh D. Evans, Alexander, Coxe, and Schnebly, are as distinguished at the bar, and in the legislative assembly, as in the coun cils ofthe Church. Judge Chambers has few equals in the United States for his ability in forensic debate. His powers of logic are well set off by a large share of humour and wit, which were brought into play with GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1844. 451 great effect on the occasion of the Hagerstown contest. Mr. Evans is the editor of the " True Catholic," a monthly review, which holds the same rank in Ame rica as the best of our English Church periodicals, and is surpassed in the brilliancy of its articles by none. He is likewise a prominent member of the bar, and an able writer on jurisprudence. Mr. Schnebly belongs to a family distinguished for the ability of its members. He is editor of " The Hagerstown Pledge," and enjoys an extensive reputation as an elegant writer and a popular lecturer on scientific subjects.* Bishop Whittingham's opinion on the subject of the Hagerstown controversy may be learnt from the fol lowing allusion to ritual matters, in the course of his Address: like every thing from his practised pen, a most masterly document, of which, though the prin cipal feature of the conventional discussion on this occasion calls for only this quotation, it was the least important in the whole Address : — " On Wednesday, July 26th, I had the great plea sure to officiate in laying the corner-stone of St. Ste phen's church, Lee Street, in Baltimore, using for the purpose an office prepared (principally from the form put forth by the late venerable Bishop of the Eastern diocess) and published by me for use on such occasions in this diocese. I delivered an address to a large and * The brother of this gentleman, Mr. William Schnebly, has recently visited England, where he has succeeded in bringing before the public some important improvements in the steam-engine, as applied to railway locomotives ; and the direct application of steam to the periphery. He has also invented a new printing-press, constructed on an admirable plan, combining many advantages over those now in use, with greater sim plicity. 452 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. attentive assemblage. It was pleasing to observe how decidedly favourable an impression was produced by these services, and in particular by the attendance of several of the clergy in the proper ecclesiastical gar ment, the surplice. " The edifice commenced on that occasion, has been since happily completed. In it we have a remarkable proof how much can be accomplished by a judicious and economical use of very slender means. For less than 2500 dollars, an edifice has been provided, fur nishing every desirable accommodation for all the rites and ordinances of the Church. If any think its style of arrangement and decoration faulty, it is for them to consider the tendency of a gradual relinquishment of all old practices, usages, and ornaments to ah usurping body that stands ready to claim them, and with them the style and title of ' the Catholic Church ;' of which in our creeds we profess to assert our right of member ship. None of the reformed communions, except the English Puritans and Scotch Presbyterians, have ever shrunk from emblazoning the cross, as distinguished from the crucifix, on buildings and furniture used for sacred purposes. It is, to say the least, an unwise policy in us, placed as we are between the Scylla of Popery and the Charybdis of Dissent, to be more squeamish than Martin Luther and John Calvin. The same remark applies to the arrangement of the chancel furniture, by which, in St. Stephen's, the most has been made of a little room, and a degree of simplicity and solemnity attained which it would be difficult otherwise to combine. If there be a ground of objec tion to the usage of offering the morning and evening prayers at the altar, it is that of an approach to irreve- MARYLAND CONVENTION OF 1844. 453 rence and an unseemly encroachment on the high dis tinction of the Eucharistic service. To that I do not think it justly liable ; while it removes one stumbling- block out of the way of our dissenting brethren, who are accustomed to express dislike of the change of place necessary when the rubrics are duly observed in a church furnished with a reading-pew and pulpit without the chancel rails. Within the chancel those fixtures never were introduced until within the last sixty years. " Change of garment, too, is an objection often made against our services when the surplice is laid aside for the purpose of preaching in the gown. It may be obviated by doing as the reformers did, performing all sacred duties in the one sacred garment. The fact is indisputable ; Ghest, one of the revisers of the Prayer- book in the reign of Elizabeth, having argued, in his official report on completing the revision, in favour of the use ofthe surplice in the 'Communion office from its use in preaching. * * * " Thursday, October the 6th, at the request of the rector, churchwardens, and vestry of St. John's, Hagerstown, I dedicated that church under circum stances similar to those of St. John's in Georgetown. Very great improvement has been made in the church, and, in particular, the chancel for spaciousness, com- modiousness, and tasteful arrangement of its beautiful communion table, pulpit, and lecturn, is, in my judg ment, among the best I have ever seen. Let me not be misunderstood in thus commending it. I well know of how little moment matters of taste and convenience in the material edifice and its appurtenances are, in comparison with the weightier matters of faith and holiness. But where the latter are not left unattended 454 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. to, surely it is but a bounden duty to superadd the lesser things pertaining to adornment, and fitness; and old time-honoured usage ! To substitute punctilious nicety in robings and furniture and architectural pro prieties for the Gospel in its fulness and the Law in its heart-searching power, were madness ; but the Law is not less stringent, the Gospel not less powerful and full of comfort, because proclaimed in a church built, fur nished, and adorned according to the strictest prin ciples of ecclesiastical Jaste and primitive antiquity ; and why should we forego those advantages, when they may be conjoined with such as we already have 1 The folly and the sin is in rating them above their due ; and that is done equally by superstitious dread as by superstitious regard. It is because I feel sure that there is no tendency among us to swear by the gold of the temple that I feel safe in urging, on all due occasions, more attention to the externals of religious worship — to those things which distinguish the house of God and the service of God from all other places and occasions of assemblage." One practice of the Maryland Conventions must not be passed by. It is worthy of imitation in every clerical gathering; and its good effect has, since its introduction in this instance, been visible in the happy union of feel ing beginning to appear amongst the Church legislators of this diocess : it is to assist daily at the Holy Commu nion, which (rubrically) forms a distinct mid-day ser vice. The pious clergy of Maryland, like those of a primitive age, regard the Holy Sacrifice, as indeed it is, "an holocaust of perfect love; propitiatory for sins past, expiatory of pains and punishments due to them, impetratory of new gifts and graces, eucharistical for blessings and benefits received." 455 CHAPTER LXI. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1844. In October of this year I attended the General Con vention of" the Church, which held its meeting in Philadelphia. At this convention the aged Bishop of Illinois presided. The following tribute was paid by the House of Bishops to the memory of the late senior, with whose name was appropriately associated the late Bishop of Virginia, whose death had occurred on November 11th, 1841:— " Whereas, since our last meeting in General Con vention it hath pleased the Almighty, in his wise Providence, to remove from their probation the two senior members of the House of Bishops — the Rt. Rev. A. V. Griswold, D.D., and the Rt. Rev. R. C. Moore, D.D. ; and whereas it has been usual, under like dispensations of Divine Providence, for this House to make a record of its sentiments in relation to them : " Resolved, That we reverently bow to the will of God ; that in the lives and labours of these, our de parted brethren, we recognise the good Providence and Grace of God, without whom no one is holy, no one is strong ; and that we regard their example of unreserved and cheerful devotedness to their high calling, of meekness, humility, and charity in word and deed, as a valuable legacy to the Church, and especially to the clergy." 3 M 456 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The House df Clerical and Lay Deputies unani mously passed the following : — " That this House cannot adjourn without express ing its painful sense of the loss which this branch of the Church of Christ has sustained in the death of its late presiding Bishop, the Right Reverend Alex ander Viets Griswold, D.D., Bishop of the Eastern Diocess, whose humble piety, fervent zeal, and Christian prudence, during a long life of usefulness, rendered him an eminent blessing to the Church, and endeared him to all who were privileged to enjoy the benefits of his ministerial and episcopal labours." This Convention was only surpassed in its interest, since the American Church's first General Convention, by the memorable meeting of 1835. Two new canons were passed,* and seven of the old ones amended.f The first of the new canons allowed the admission to deacon's orders of a class of persons without the usual literary qualifications. The persons so admitted to be assistants to the rector in whose parish they resided, and ineligible to seats in Ihe General or Diocesan Con vention. A similar canon was sent down by the bishops to the lower house in 1841, but was returned. It was designed exclusively for the western and southern dio- cesses, neither of whose bishops can avail themselves of it without the consent of their conventions. It was, doubtless, a hastily concocted measure ; and would, if carried out, more embarrass the bishops than forward the operations of the Church in those districts. 1 be- * See Appendix, No. V. t Viz. the II., XXIII., XXXII., XXXV., LIV. of 1832 ; the IV. of 1841; and the II. of 1835. See Appendix, No. V. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1844. 457 lieve that only one diocess has made the canonical request to the episcopal head to admit persons to orders under this act. The other new canon was highly important ; it related to foreign missionary bishops. It directed that " the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies may, from time to time, on nomination by the House of Bishops, elect a suitable person or persons to be a bishop or bishops of this Church, to exercise episcopal functions in any missionary station or stations of this Church, out of the territory of the United States, which the House of Bishops, with the concurrence of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, may have designated."* Under this canon, the bishops nominated and the deputies elected the Rev. Horatio Southgate as mis sionary bishop in Turkey, the Rev. William J. Boone, as missionary bishop in China, with the title of " Bishop of Amoy,"f and the Rev. Alexander Glennie * See Appendix for the remaining clauses. t Bishop Boone sailed for his interesting field of labour on the 15th of December. The following account of some parting services, &c, is taken from the Philadelphia" Episcopal Recorder :" — ' ' Farewell Missionary Meeting This meeting was held on Sunday evening, the 8th December, in St. George's church, the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of Virginia presiding. " There were present also the Bishops of Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia, the Missionary Bishops to China and Turkey, all the Missionaries to China, and a large number of the clergy of our Church, and an over flowing congregation. " After prayers by the Bishop of Kentucky, the Bishop of Virginia stated the object of the meeting, and with affectionate earnestness com mended the cause of Missions to all present. " The Rev. P. P. Irving, as Secretary and General Agent of the Foreign Committee, then stated that he was about to present to this Mission the instructions which they, as the constituted representatives ofthe Church, 458 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. as missionary bishop in Western Africa, with suitable salaries. The latter gentleman declined the appoint ment, and the two first were consecrated in St. Peter's church a few days after the close ofthe Convention. The Rev. George W. Freeman, D.D., was also elected to the south-western missionary district (including Texas) south of 36^° parallel of latitude, and Bishop Polk's jurisdiction limited to the diocess of Louisiana, had adopted at a meeting recently held, and which were signed by the Bishop of Virginia, then present and presiding. " The instructions were then read to the missionaries, and were listened to by the audience with great attention. As these instructions will doubt less be published at length in the ' Recorder,' your readers will be able to judge for themselves as to their character. " The circumstances under which this mission is sent out, with a chief pastor at its head, the interest it has excited in the Church throughout the country, the importance of the field, and the numbers to be engaged in it, as well as the state of feeling and sentiment within our borders, were all, we trust, considered by the Foreign Committee in the preparation of their instructions. After an experience of nine years, they have given the Church a transcript of the principles and polity on which its missions will be conducted, so far as committed to them for the future, and the voice of the Church will decide whether to approve or condemn them. " The Missionary Bishop to China then addressed the meeting upon the religious and social condition of the Chinese, and made a most interesting and powerful appeal to the Church to sustain and enlarge this promising mission. " The Bishop of Ohio, in a short and forcible appeal, urged on all the members of Christ's Church the duty of consecrating themselves to the work of spreading the Gospel, though all were not privileged to bear its glad tidings as Christ's ambassadors. This deeply interesting and impor tant meeting was closed by the benediction from the Bishop of Virginia. " Embarkation of the Missionaries. — The Rt. Rev. Dr. Boone, Mrs. Boone and son ; the Rev. Mr. Woods, Mrs. Woods ; the Rev. Mr. Gra ham, Mrs. Graham ; Miss Gillett, Miss Jones, and Miss Morse, with the Chinese teacher and attendant, sailed from New York in the ship Horatio, Capt. Wood, on Saturday the 15th December. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1844. 459 which had greatly increased in importance since his appointment in 1841.* The number of clergymen in the north-western missionary territory (under Bishop Kemper) having increased to twenty-seven, Missouri (in which were now twelve) had by her own action become an inde pendent diocess, and had elected the Rev. Cicero S. Hawks to the episcopal office ; which separation and election was confirmed by the General Convention, and Mr. Hawks, with the bishop elect of the newly formed diocesses of New Hampshire and Alabama, were consecrated at Philadelphia during the conven tional session. The Convention refused to ratify the election of the " They were accompanied by several of the clergy and many friends in the ship to the lower bay. Before parting, all were assembled in the cabin and united in singing the beautiful hymn, ' Blest be the tie that binds,' after which the rector of St. George's offered appropriate prayers. " The Bishop of China briefly addressed all present, affectionately ex horting them to prepare for a future meeting in that world where parting would be unknown ; and was followed by the Rev. Dr. Boyd [the catholic- hearted divine and scholar of St. John's, Philadelphia, whose daughter is the wife of one of the missionaries] , in words full of comfort to friends about to part, while he recited to them the precious promises of the word of God. " The Bishop pronounced the benediction, and we then bade each other farewell ; and as the vessel receded from us we could see them smiling through their tears, as the favouring wind wafted this beautiful missionary ship with its precious burden toward its distant haven. May God's bless ing go with them !" * Since the previous Convention in 1841, five new parishes had been added in Louisiana, the number of clergy had increased to eleven, and 3000 -dollars had been contributed within the diocess to benevolent objects. " In the city of New Orleans," reported Bishop Polk, " two or three new parishes might be immediately organised, and church edifices soon after erected." The bishop's residence is now at Thibodoux, where he owns a large estate. 460 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Rev. Dr. Francis S. Hawks to the newly formed diocess of Mississippi, on the ground of unsettled difficulties between that gentleman and the contractors of some seminary buildings in Long Island (who op posed his election), and referred the matter back to the diocesan convention of Mississippi. An incom petency to conduct business involving complicated money transactions was evidently the sole foundation of Dr. Hawk's difficulties, and the impediment to his long looked-for elevation to the episcopal bench communicated the strongest mortification and dis appointment to his numerous friends! Whether with or without the mitre, Dr. Hawks is incomparably superior in fiery eloquence and general talents to any other ecclesiastic in the United States. The following letter from Dr. Jarvis was communi cated to the Upper House by Bishop Kemper : — " Philadelphia, Oct. 2, 1844. " Right Rev. Fathers in God, " Encouraged by your approbation of his labours at the last General Convention, your Historiographer proceeded to prepare for the press his ' Chronological Introduction to the History of the Church.' " The disastrous condition of our country at that time delayed the publication, and finally induced the author to go to England, that, the work might be stereotyped there, and be published simultaneously in both countries. "This measure has been eminently successful, and he is now enabled to lay before you a proof copy, hastily prepared the day before he sailed, for your inspection. GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1844. 461 " If, after due examination, you, Right Reverend Fathers, shall be pleased to continue your approbation, your Historiographer begs leave to express the hope that.ajoint committee of both houses may be appointed to confer with him as to its publication, and the future progress of his Ecclesiastical History. " He has the honour to remain, Right Reverend Fathers, Your faithful son and servant, S. Farmer Jarvis, Historiographer ofthe Church." Dr. Jarvis's suggestion was promptly and unani mously acted upon, and Bishops Whittingham, Doane, and Hopkins, were appointed a committee on the part of the Upper Chamber. Rumours having been long rife touching the ten dency of the instructions, and the practices of the students in the General Theological Seminary (which was charged by the " low church" partisans with being under "tractarian" influence), a formal investigation was made by the bishops in reference to both points, which resulted in a complete vindication of the pro fessors of any departure from the orthodox standards of the Church in their teachings, or in the selection of books used in the seminary ; and the " popish " practices of the students — the alleged "penances,'' " seven prayer hours," " severe vigils," " image worship," "midnight masses," &c. &c, resolved them selves into a cross in the chancel of the seminary chapel, and an early morning service on Christmas-day, "conducted according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America !" 462 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The mountain was delivered of a mouse, and the gaping spectators discovered-they had been made the dupes of a miserable party intrigue. Like Oxford, the f^ew York 'Seminary has its vigilant friends, whose favourite amusement is " To watch at Mary's porch, and well count out Those bad young Sophs who dare to be devout." It is scarcely worthy of record, in connexion with this movement, that a querulous member from Ohio endeavoured, by a " motion," to draw the house of deputies into the Puseyite controversy ; but the poor gentleman utterly failed. His "resolution"'* was negatived, and the house decided by a vote of twenty- five diocesses to two, — " That the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies con sider the Liturgy, Offices, and Articles ofthe Church, sufficient exponents of her sense of the essential doc trines of Holy Scripture ; and that the Canons of the Church afford ample means of discipline and correc tion from all who depart from her standards. * " Whereas the minds of many of the members of this Church, throughout its Union, are sorely grieved and perplexed by the alleged introduction among them of serious errors in doctrine and practice, having their origin in certain writings emanating chiefly from members of the University of Oxford in England ; and whereas it is exceedingly desirable that the minds of such persons should be calmed, their anxieties allayed, and the Church disabused of the charge of holding, in her articles and offices, doctrines and practices consistent with all the views and opinions expressed in said Oxford writings, and should thus be freed from a responsibility which does not properly belong to her ; therefore, — " Resolved, That the House of Bishops be respectfully requested to com municate with this House on this subject, and to take such order thereon as the nature and magnitude of the evil alluded to may seem to them to require." GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1844. 463 "And further, that the General Convention is not a suitable tribunal for theitrial and censure of, and that the Church is not responsible for, the errors of indi viduals, whether they are members of this Church or otherwise." With which sop the " popery" bitten minority had to return home to their constituents ; and the presby terian prints, which stood ready with their paper-artil lery charged and primed, waiting for the result of this momentous discussion, which was to split and divide the Church (like their own headless sect), instantly discharged their fiercest volleys of editorial invective against the Convention, and the "denomination" it represented, which they pronounced " Puseyite to the core," " popish in spirit as well as practice," &c. &c. 3n 464 * CHAPTER LXIL an episcopal consecration. — the bishop of penn sylvania's resignation. the bishop of new york's t^rial. At the close of this important Convention, the two houses, as is customary, met to hear the Pastoral Letter, which was read by Bishop Chase, and in a manner the most impressive and dignified. He thus reverted to the changes in the episcopate : — " Since our last Pastoral Letter to you, our Hea venly Father has seen fit, in his mysterious providence, to take from us two of our number, — our venerable,pre- siding brother of the Eastern diocess, and the no less highly esteemed Bishop of Virginia. " Very worthy persons having succeeded in their respective diocesses, the tears which their deaths occa sioned were in a measure dispersed by the hand of divine mercy, which often strikes but to heal. " The association of states which had composed the Eastern diocess, over which the Right Rev. Alexander V. Griswold presided, has, by his death, been dissolved, and three others consecrated to take the pastoral charge of separate portions of the same flock, viz. the Rev. Doctors Manton Eastburn, over Massachusetts ; J. P. K. Henshaw, over Rhode Island ; and Carlton Chase, over New Hampshire. "Thus the spirit of heaviness at the loss of our senior bishop has been exchanged for the ' garment of praise;' and the same may be truly said of Virginia. In the EPISCOPAL CHANGES. 465 place of mourning for good Bishop Moore, the oil of joy has brightened the t face of that beloved diocess, and caused all hearts to rejoice in the consecration of the Rev. Dr. John Johns to be the assistant-bishop, and the elevation of the Right Rev. William Meade, D.D., to be bishop of that diocess. Two other bishops have been consecrated during this Convention, viz. the Rev. Nicholas H. Cobbs, to fill the episcopate of Alabama, and Cicero S. Hawks that of Missouri. Thus are we comforted in announcing to you the decease of our beloved brother - prelates. As with Elijah and Elisha of old, the mantles of those whom God hath taken to himself, we trust, have fallen on others whom He hath left with us. " The members of our communion, in all places of our extensive country, have cause for fervent gratitude to the Great Head ofthe Church in Heaven, that, by the mighty power of his Holy Spirit, the present Convention of a portion of his Church here on earth hath been overruled for good, and has concluded in great peace ; especially in that He hath inclined the hearts of the members thereof to elect, with great unanimity, a missionary bishop for Arkansas, and other territories of the United States, who is likewise to exercise supervision over our missions in Texas; and also three brother-bishops to spread abroad in foreign lands the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord." At the close of the Pastoral Letter, which was listened to in the deepest silence, the two houses united in singing the Gloria in Excelsis, and joining in a prayer by the presiding bishop, who then lifted up his venerable hands and pronounced the apostoljc benediction. 466 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. The first three named of the additions to the epi scopal ranks, mentioned in the Pastoral Letter, received their consecration on Sunday, October the 20th, when the unusual spectacle was presented of nineteen bishops, full robed', around the altar of that sacred 'edifice ; an altar at which William White had officiated during the whole of his long episcopate. The scene was in vested with uncommon interest, from the reflection that the prelates there assembled would in a short time be spread again over a continent, engaged in their apostolic duties, and the three candidates be them selves stationed at such opposite points of labour. Amongst the other acts of the House of Bishops at this Convention, was that of ratifying an act of the Pennsylvania Church, in accepting the resignation of its aged bishop. Dr. Onderdonk had tendered his resignation on the ground of ill-health, which his statement accompanying the resignation shewed to have afflicted him from the earliest date of his episcopate. The severe labours attending his visit ation journeys, commenced long after he had passed middle life, attended by a total change of habits, with the accompaniments of ague and other epidemic attacks, common in many parts of Pennsylvania, required medical remedies incompatible with the nature of his incessant duties. The case of Bishop Onderdonk, who had accepted his laborious post very reluctantly, excited warm sympathy amongst his nearest friends. Twenty-eight of the Convention refused to accept his resignation, and proposed the election of a suffragan ; especially as less than half of the clergy attended the Convention to which the resignation was made. Bishop Onderdonk is the THE BISHOP OF NEW YORK'S TRIAL. 467 author of " Episcopacy tested by Scripture," " The Causes of Unbelief," " The Atonement," and other tracts, whose reputation, for the compass of mind and strength of reasoning which they discover, is as high in Britain (where the first-named treatise has had three editions) as in the United States. He has, also, stood alone in advocating the ecclesiastical prohibitions of unscriptural marriages ; which it is, perhaps, new to the English reader to learn, are very common in America, extending to marriages with wives' sisters. Dr. Onderdonk, in an able pamphlet on this delicate subject, recommends the restoration of the entire English table, which was rejected by the compilers of the American Prayer-book. The public opinion, he argues, which tolerates such connexions, will in time sanction closer alliances. This question is one which certainly belongs to the Church ; and is another of those matters which were left amongst the " unfinished business " in the first stage of her legislation. Another event of a most painful character followed the sitting of the Convention, which it is the historian's duty (though reluctantly performed) to record. I shall do no more. The Bishop of New York was charged by a clergyman, formerly of his diocess, with whom he had had a disagreement,* with having made improper advances to four females — the affidavits of two (sisters) being prepared by him : and on the accused's presentment to the presiding bishop, by the * The Rev. James C. Richmond, whom the bishop thwarted in a project to obtain episcopal consecration from the British primates ; or, failing here, from the Eastern bishops. Bishop Onderdonk addressed private notes to Drs. Howley, Skinner, Beresford, &c, which brought Mr. Richmond home. 468 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. canonical number of prelates, he took his trial in New York. After a long sitting, amidst the greatest excite ment without, the Court, on the evidence before them, convicted the bishop, and passed a sentence of suspen sion from the exercise of episcopal functions. The acquitting judges, in the persons of the Bishops of Western New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, and the North Western Territory, entered on the official journals ofthe Court their pro test against the sentence, founded on the trivial nature of the charges ; the character of the witnesses, as exhi bited by their equivocal and conflicting testimony ; their (admitted) friendship and professed regard for the accused several years after the alleged freedoms ; his own unblemished character during a long minis terial career ; and, principally, the manner in which the " evidence" was collected. The Bishop of Michi gan, the only prelate who was absent from the bench, has been, meanwhile, invited by the standing com mittee to perform temporary duty in the extensive diocess of New York. 469 CHAPTER LXI1I. BISHOP CHASE AND JUBILEE COLLEGE. Those of my readers whose sympathies have been enlisted by the history of Bishop Chase's early epi scopal labours in Ohio, narrated in a former part of these reminiscences, will, doubtless, feel interested in a passing sketch of his later efforts in the same cause, in Illinois : the cause of ministerial education, and youth ful training in the principles of the Church. On taking charge of his new diocess, he lost no time in addressing himself to this important object. The language of his first address to the public, after entering on the duties of his see, exhibits the spirit of the man, — "What doth the Lord, the Great Head of the Church, require of me ? and how shall his glory be promoted by my feeble efforts ? While, like David, I have nothing save the truth as it is in Jesus, may I not, like him, trust in that truth alone to hurl destruc tion in the face of the great Goliath of Gath, who now presents himself in the valley of the Mississippi, defying the armies of Israel ? But the scrip and the sling are wanting. Give me, therefore, but an episcopal school in Illinois, and the great enemy whom the pope and his Austrian allies have sent among us, with all his boasting blasphemies, will fall to the ground as did Goliath, and the religion of the Son of David shall triumph. 470 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. "This school, the Lord being my helper, shall be founded. It shall be raised and shall stand; that unto it all who are on the Lord's side may flee, and in which they may prepare for battle." " This question," writes a western missionary priest, " thus presented, and so solved, may be regarded as an exponent of all that followed. An institution of religion and learning must be had, and, under God, one should be had. This full realisation ofthe responsibility which his appointment to the episcopate rolled upon him, — and an unwavering determination, under God, to discharge it, — can alone throw light upon the privations, sacrifices, and toils, of the Bishop of Illi nois. Having yielded to this responsibility, he has not shrunk from its discharge." In 1839 the corner-stone of the chapel and school- house of Jubilee College (significant title!) was laid by Bishop Chase, being thirteen years from the laying of Kenyon College, and Rosse chapel, in Ohio. " Its nature," said the bishop, in his address on that occa sion, "is theological; its end is the salvation of the souls of men by means of a Christian education. It is to be a school of the prophets : ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are to be trained there. This is its primary object, and without attaining this, it fails of its end; which end, therefore, is never to be * merged' in any other. Persons of all liberal professions in the arts and sciences are also to be educated here, provided they be willing to be taught the religion of the God of Christians, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Eloim, the Jehovah. All things being conducted according to the well-known principles and worship of the ' Pro testant Episcopal' Church of the United States of bishop chase and jubilee college. 471 America, the design and will of the donors and founders of this institution will be answered, and not otherwise." Without going through the history of Bishop Chase's appeals, journeyings, and personal labours, to obtain an ample investment for his college, sufficient to put the institution on a solid and permanent foundation, which would fill a volume, it is due to the generous donors of land to put their names on record in this place. Of a tract of 4000 acres of excellent land, now belonging to Jubilee College, 3160 were selected, purchased, and entered by the bishop, with money collected in the United States and England (in, I believe, about equal proportions) ; 320 acres were given by Messrs. Imlay and Beach, of Hartford, Con necticut; 160 acres by Mr. Ebenezer Rhoads, of Boston ; 160 acres by Dr. M'Knight, of Washington ; 80 acres by Mr. John Kinzie, of Chicago. The bishop wisely obtained a security against the diversion ofthe college property to uses foreign to the intention of the donors and his own, as well as against all the other evils which had followed his previous foundation of Kenyon, both in his manner of settling the property, and in the laws for the internal govern ment of the schools. Knowing that the holders of fiduciary trusts are invariably more alive to a sense of their obligations than trustees under charters obtained from the state legislature, from the greater facility of reaching them when their trust is violated, he confined himself to a simple deed of trust, setting forth the conditions in his address, on laying the corner-stone of Jubilee College; "which becomes," writes one of his advisers, " ipso facto the deed in virtue of which 3o 472 ecclesiastical reminiscences. the Church is made the owner of the property for the uses and purposes therein set forth ; and, in the event of his death, it will become de jure the deed of trust, and as such may be proved in any court having juris diction in such cases. The diversion or alienation of the property -to any other than the purposes therein avowed, cannot occur in any supposable contingency. Every measure has been taken by Bishop Chase to preserve inviolate, and carry into effect, the wills of the donors and the intention ofthe founder." This writer, however, thus qualifies this assertion in another reference to the same subject, — " So long as faith prevails in the Church, or law reigns in the land." Another most important reason for preferring the deed of trust to a charter is found in the rule of the legislature of Illinois, to grant no charters for institu tions of learning without a prohibitory clause, that "nothing sectarian should be taught!" Thus in the charters of Illinois College, and four others, it is pro vided, that " nothing herein contained shall authorise the establishment of a theological department in said college." In the charter of Shilo College, in the same state, a provision is inserted, that "the said institution shall be open to all religious denominations, and the profession of no particular religious faith shall be required of either officers or pupils " (! !) ; while in that of Chatham college, in the same state (a manual labour school), the anti-" sectarian" legislature, wishing to carry out the "voluntary" principle to its fullest extent, require that " no religious doctrine peculiar to any one sect of Christians shall be inculcated by any professor in said sehool ; but said institution shall at all dissenting toleration. 473 times be conducted upon free, liberal, and enlightened principles." " Free, liberal, and enlightened," with a vengeance ! The legislators of Illinois ought to know that the Church Episcopal is no " sect ;" and she claims exemption from these provisions on the twofold ground — first, of having never called herself a "sect," which in all the formularies, laws, and standards of the Church, is repeatedly disclaimed ; secondly, and princi pally, as being, from the character of those laws and formularies, as well as in her essential doctrines, incom petent to coalesce with the sects. This rule of the legislature of Illinois affords to the English Churchman an example of the kind of tolera tion we, in Britain, may expect from a " liberal" legis lative body, in which dissenting influence has any pre ponderance of influence. I point the attention of my countrymen to it — especially of those baptized mem bers of England's Catholic Church, who, unmindful of her rights and their own responsibilities as her children, would undermine her bulwarks (not her original foundation, that " standeth sure,") by neglect ing her provisions at a time when their observance is necessary for her very existence as a national insti tution; of those who scruple not to join the rabid pack which raise the cry of " popery," " Puseyism," and "innovation," at all who minister at her altars conformably with those provisions. The legislature of Illinois, in thus prescribing religious opinion, "seems," in the words of a citizen of that state, "to have been guided by a rule, which not only renders them guiltless of protecting any religious institution, as such, but even innocent of toleration." 474 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. After nine years' occupancy of his see, we find Bishop Chase more than fulfilling the expectations, and merit ing in a still higher degree the tribute of Bishop Doane, on the occasion of his resuming his seat in the House of Bishops in 1835, — " A veteran soldier, a bishop of the cross, whom hardships never have discouraged, whom no difficulties seem to daunt ; he [had] entered upon his new campaign with all the chivalry of thirty- five." The Herculean labours of these nine years had, however, made serious inroads on the physical powers of the bishop. Wearisome travels over the wide terri tory of the United States, and another voyage to Eng land in the prosecution of his object, added tp constant personal superintendence of the works when at home, shewed their effects on his frame, on the occasion of his visit to Philadelphia, to preside as senior prelate at the great council of the Church, the duties of which office were no sooner closed than he again addressed himself to the great object of his closing life. Never shall I forget the affecting character of his appeals on this occasion ; gathering up his strength, as it seemed, for a final effort to secure, if- possible, the consummation of his darling object before his departure from the world. On one of these occasions I assisted in the altar service at my friend Quinan's church (the Evan gelists), and accompanied the bishop to his host's resi dence after the service. The feebleness of limb which made his journey from the carriage to the vestry a painful process, and required our united support to enable him to mount a very steep staircase, did not prevent him from employing a whole hour in an appeal to the congregation on behalf of Jubilee. His public addresses on the occasion of this visit were nearly all BISHOP CHASE AND JUBILEE COLLEGE. 475 of the same character. After giving a sketch of his labours and their results,* he adopted the following mode of appeal : — " I am required — it seems I am expected — to spread the Gospel, through the blessing of God on the mi nistry of our Apostolic Church, in the diocess of Illi nois, which is larger than all England, without the clergy necessary to such an end ! And whence, dear hearers, can these be obtained ? We cannot get them * * The following shews how the estate stood at the time of this appeal of the bishops. The sums of money received by Bishop Chase from England and Ame rica amount in the gross to 37,530 dollars. The lands in fee-simple owned by the college comprise a little within 4000 acres, well proportioned in re ference to timber and pasture. About 500 acres are well fenced, and 150 under cultivation, from which the college already receives a considerable portion of what it consumes upon its table. The domain around the immediate vicinity of the college site is " un surpassed both for beauty arid salubrity, agreeably diversified, and well supplied with the purest water. There are also inexhaustible beds of bitu minous coal, of the finest quality, within a distance of one-fourth of a mile, from which the college receives its daily supply of fuel." The buildings are the Chapel and School-House, of stone, entirely com pleted, having, exclusive of the chapel, two school-rooms, with dormito ries above. This building constitutes, in part, the south front of the con templated quadrangle. The west wing, also of stone, 27 by 83, is entirely closed in, and the joiners are now engaged in laving the floor and finishing the inside. The College Hall, two stories exclusive ofthe attic; entirely finished. The lower story is occupied for culinary purposes ; the remainder for dormitories. Jubilee Cottage, main building three stories high. This building is, and will continue to be, occupied by the female department, until the west wing of the quadrangle is completed. A Professor's House, entirely finished. This was the first building erected on the hill, and at a time when labour and all materials commanded the highest price. A Brick Dwelling for students in divinity, completely furnished, containmg four rooms. A Warehouse, two stories high, 16 by 28, entirely finished. (The goods in store here are sold at a reasonable profit for the sole benefit of 476 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. from the Atlantic states. All you here educate are engaged before they cross the mountains. Hence re sults the necessity of training up our clergy in the West. Sons of the soil," exclaimed the speaker, with energy, — " sons of the soil must cultivate the wide- spreading fields in the West. Grounded in this truth, Kenyon College was built in years that are past and gone, and now, Jubilee College, five hundred miles further westward, is rising on the same basis of unde rlie college.) A Saw-Mill, with thirty acres of land attached ; cost origi nally 1600 dollars ; but failing to furnish lumber in sufficient quantity to meet the wants of the college, was repaired at an expense of 800 dollars. " The repairs," says the Report, " were of apermanent character, consist ing of Parker's patent wheel, of massive cast-iron, weighing upward of 26 cwt., and heavy and durable timbers. But with all the additional expenses, the saw-mill brings in more than the interest of the money it cost, and will eventually pay for itself." A Barn, 36 by 24, having stables in .the basement and a granary and scaffolds for hay above. Also an additional one, 20 by 24, containing carriage-house, stables, &c, in course of erection. In addition to the foregoing improvements, the college owns, — of live stock, four horses, constantly engaged in the service of the college ; eight cows and some smaller stock ; a flock of about six hundred and fifty sheep, the wool of which is sent to the east, manufactured on shares, and sold for the benefit of the college. ' ' The farming interest as yet, ' ' says the Report, ' ' from the limited scale on which it has been necessarily conducted, has been attended with but little profit. The common labourers and teams have been employed upon the farm only when not needed in preparing and hauling materials for building ; but when it can be made a more direct branch of business, a larger amount of lands brought into cultivation, and the stock increased, it cannot fail to bring in large returns." The library of the college (constantly augmenting) now makes near two thousand volumes, and the bishop's generous friends in England have presented to the chapel a superb set of communion plate, including one flagon, two patens, and two chalices, valued at seventy pounds ; with mounted maps, charts, &c, ancient and modern. BISHOP CHASE AND JUBILEE COLLEGE. 477 niable truth : the necessity of educating in the West, Western labourers. But whence are to be obtained pupils devoted to the priesthood ? The rich, who only are enabled to pay, will not send their children for that purpose. We turn then to those who are less wealthy. But here, alas! we find few who are able to pay the stipend, small as it is, for their sons' expenses at col lege. Not one out of many whom we could obtain can pay a hundred dollars per annum. This accounts for the paucity of our numbers. We have, indeed, six candidates for holy orders ; but the number of classical students is altogether too small to supply the wants of the diocess. " We must, then, have scholarships established in Jubilee College corresponding to the vast demand, or it is more than idle to boast of success. We are not now in ' the full tide of successful experiment.' 'Tis true we have a college out of debt (kept so by a long course of self-denial), but the fact of its being so adds pain to the pang that, through the want of liberality and a sense of justice in our Church people, so little good comes of all our pains. Thus oppressed, I feel as the children of Israel felt when ' they were required to make bricks without straw.' I feel as my hired ser vants would feel were I to send them into the field without implements of husbandry wherewithal to plough the stubborn ground, to scatter the choice seed, or gather the golden harvest, and yet demand of them that my barns be filled with grain ! In such a case I ought to take shame to myself, instead of blaming them. " Be assured, Christian friends, that Illinois resem bles — too nearly resembles — a baronial manor en- 478 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. dowed by the God of nature with the richest soil, yet ruined for want of labourers to till it. The weeds of spiritual blindness and vice are at this moment every where growing and increasing. The trees of God's planting are not watered. The tender flowers of our vast prairies, full of Christian fragrance, are seen, for want of timely care, every where to wither and die. " And is it always to be so ? Is there no end to this long road of stumbling by reason of the darkness of despair? When, oh, when will it be morning to the aged, weary labourer in the field of Christ, now soli citing your kind attentions? Are the sects and parties, ever embittered against each other, as they all are and always are against the Church, for ever to trample under foot every tender blade transplanted from the East? Is there never to be a struggle made to seek the lost sheep? — not ' one,' for instance, ofthe ten thousand lambs whom deceitful men have decoyed from the English fold into the fangs of the wolves of Nauvoo? Are the disciples of Joe Smith, now enraged by bis murder ; are the Romanists, always dangerous to the state, because they owe their allegiance to a foreign prince; are these jarring extremes, error and schism, to take eternal possession of the prairies of Illi nois ? and is the primitive Church of Christ destined, by your neglect, to possess thereon no dwelling-place ? — and all for the want of a few scholarships given to an institution of acknowledged merit ; now ready to teach all who are sent to her care on terms of unexam pled cheapness ? " Bear with me, I beseech you, a little further. There is another view, which should never be taken but in extreme cases, when the glory of God and the success BISHOP CHASE AND JUBILEE COLLEGE. 479 of his cause require it, and that is, to mention what one's self has done, by way of inciting others to good deeds. Do 1 wish to dwell at ease when exhorting others to work ? Do I enrich myself and family while I make you poor by demanding your assistance ? Let the answer to these questions be redd in the history of my whole life. Look at the congregations which were founded by my unworthy hand in the western parts of New York, in the city of New Orleans, in Ohio, and in Illinois ! Who, in these various places, will tell you that I sought ' the fleece and not the flock ? ' Have I ever received anything as a salary since a bishop, from either or both of my diocesses, of sufficient value in all to maintain my family for one or even a half of a year ? With regard to both I can truly say, as did Samuel to all Israel, ' Behold here I am ; witness against me be fore the Lord. Whose ox have I taken? whom have I defrauded? or of whose hand have I received a bribe to blind mine eyes therewith ?' And with the Apostle I can say, ' These hands have ministered to my neces sities.' But the time has come when I can do so no longer. Nearly threescore years and ten — spent nearly all in the service of the Church, planting her banners in those places where few else would go — have now ' brought down my strength in the journey ' of life. The knees which were once strong are now feeble, and the hands which once directed and sustained others need to be held up by benevolent friends. " I come before you, then, with the permission of your worthy pastor, as a pleader for your countrymen in the west. The relation I have long borne to it — I say it without egotism — as its father and friend, em boldens me^ not to ' ask an alms,' but to stir up your ¦ 3p 480 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. minds, my brethren, by way of remembrance, to pay a debt long since due. l'ask eighty-six scholarships for Jubilee College, having obtained fourteen already in coming here. I ask other sums, small and great, to enable me to complete the work which God has given me to do before I die." This and similar appeals were promptly responded to by the Church's friends in Philadelphia. One thou sand six hundred and sixty-six dollars, the sum neces sary for a professorship, were subscribed before Bishop Chase left the city ; one-sixth being the contribution of a lady.* At the conclusion of the above address, num bers of the congregation pressed forward to the altar with their gifts; and the hand of the "aged, weary labourer," who then took his place near the chancel- rails to receive the greetings of his friends, was pressed by many, who felt too truly while offering up the silent prayer for many more days to their most loved, as well as " most reverend," father, that, in all human proba bility, they should " see his face no more" in the flesh. As the fact, now fully proved in the past half-century's history, is undeniable, that the voluntary contributions of the friends of religion in a Church- endowed and tithe-paying country are on a far larger scale (even admitting the disproportion of means) than in one in which voluntaryism is established by law, it may, per haps, assist in forwarding this last great effort of the American bishop to remind many liberal souls who have not yet contributed towards the cause of ministe rial education in the west, that " the past conduct of Bishop Chase (to adopt the words of one of his presby- * Mrs. Kohne, a liberal benefactress to the Church. TRIBUTE TO BISHOP CHASE. 481 ters) inspires future confidence that, whatever funds may be entrusted to him for the completion of Jubilee College, will be judiciously and economically expended in furtherance ofthe object." It is one not undeserv ing the notice of English Christians, from the multi tude of emigrants who annually leave our shores for the western territory of America ; to say nothing of those who drop down from Canada into the United States. The same writer adds : — " Long acquaintance with Bishop Chase, an intimate knowledge of his plans, while they enable him to speak, entitle him to a hear ing. For twenty years he has known him in his sea sons of adversity as well as prosperity ; he has been with him when his most cherished expectations have been blasted — his fondest hopes crushed : and yet in all this the writer has seen no faltering — no distrust. ' Jehovah- jireh ' has been his watchword, and it has been embodied forth in renewed exertions and greater efforts. Recognizing and owning the obligations which his station in the Church imposed upon him he has not failed to discharge them, whether they procured for him ' good or evil report.' The ser vant of the Church, he has regarded not his own but her welfare. A steward in the household of Christ, he has counted nothing as his own, but used it as a talent for which he must render an account. Without any salary or stated income from any source whatever, Bishop Chase has laboured with his own hands for the support of himself and family. During the year end ing June, 1843, he received from his diocess the sum of one hundred and seventy-nine dollars, scarce the fourth part of his travelling expenses for the same time. Instead of realizing anything from his landed property, 482 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. it is a source of expense to him. All of his available means have been consumed in his current expenses. But these sacrifices and privations have been and still are endured by himself and his family with patience and resignation, while they in any way enable him to build up the college. Of these sacrifices and privations the writer might enumerate many instances; but though related with all fidelity, they could be scarcely appreciated unless actually beheld. From first to last the founding and rearing up of Jubilee College has been but one scene of unremitting labour and self-denial to Bishop Chase and his pious and devoted family. Will not the Church, then, again respond to the call of the diocess of Illinois, made through her bishop? He seems in an especial manner, in the providence of God, to have been singled out as one through whom the Church of the blessed Saviour both makes the call and gives the response. Since, then, in the common course of events, he may not hereafter often repeat this call," will not the members of the Church of England deem it at once a duty and a privilege to assist in fulfilling this scheme of Providence for the rapidly augmenting population of the western prairies? What English heart does not fervently respond to the deeply breathed aspiration of this writer, " that . Bishop Chase, ere HE DIE, MAY SEE THE COMPLETION OF JUBILEE COL LEGE ? 483 CHAPTER LXIV. CONSECRATION OF THE FOREIGN BISHOPS. BISHOP SOUTHGATE AND THE SYRIAN CHURCH. On the following Friday (Oct. 25th) the missionary bishops elect for Texas, Turkey, and China, received consecration from the presiding bishop, assisted by eight other prelates, in St. Peter's church of the same city. I was fortunate enough to get a seat near the chancel, which gave me a good view of this deeply interesting, never-to-be-forgotten ceremony. The ser mon was preached by the Bishop of Georgia, founded on the text, " Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes ; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left ; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."* It was a masterly production, and correctly described by a literary critic, himself a finished pulpit orator,f as "one of the most beautiful and scholar-like performances heard for many a long day." In the course of his sermon the bishop made the following allusion to Eng land, and the call for joint action on the part of the English and American Churches : — " Since our existence as a Church, we have been per mitted to witness no such exhibition of faith as that * Isaiah liv. 2, 3. f The Rev. William Suddards, editor of the " Episcopal Recorder." 484 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. which now engages our attention. And if faith be the principle of the Church's growth, and the measure of the Church's strength, then will this day ever consti tute an epoch in the Church's history. What England, in the fulness of her power, in the immensity of her re sources, in the depth of her piety, has just begun to do for her own children, we are bold to imitate, not for our own children, but for the children of our Heavenly Father, of whatever blood and whatever lineage ! Catching from her the noble spirit that has marked her recent efforts, — or rather, I should say, drinking with her at the same fountain of divine inspiration, we have hastened to obey the injunction of our Lord and the practice of the apostles, and send forth men, full, as we trust, of faith and of the Holy' Ghost, confiding to them all the powers which our Lord has confided to us, that they may lack nothing which we can confer upon. them of authority, or grace, or blessing. We lay our hands upon them and separate them for the work whereunto the Holy Ghost has called them, in full confidence that Christ will sustain us in our efforts and bless ^e?^in their labours — that he will furnish his Church with an abundance of treasure out of the self-denial of his faithful people, and fulfil to the minis try of his word his gracious promise of being with' them always to the end of the world ! Had Reason, with her cold, calculating spirit, been permitted to shape our counsels — Reason, which narrows everything to the sphere of sense and sight— we might have hesitated about the mighty labours to which we have pledged the Church; hat Faith was our instrument of vision— Faith, which keeps before her eye one single object, the com mand of her divine Lord, and in obeying that, embraces BISHOP ELLIOTT. 485 things not seen, and realizes the visions of hope. Un der her guidance we commission these, our brethren, to take possession of the kingdoms of this world, as sured that they will one day become the kingdoms of Christ. We send them forth, armed only with the Cross of Christ and the foolishness of preaching, satisfied that they will vanquish the" philosophy and subdue the feel ings of man. We look not at the human strength which is behind us ; we reckon not the hosts, nor the might, nor the associations that are before us. Our power depends not on the one, nor is our courage daunted by the other. Our trust is in the arm of the Lord, and we see as the prophet's servant did when his eyes were opened — not chariots and horses of fire — but what is mightier than all chariots and all horses, the fire of the Holy Ghost, ready to go forth with the minis ters ofthe Lord and with the truth of his Christ." " Nor can 1 think that we have entered rashly into a position which might have been more advantageously occupied by another branch of the Church of Christ. It seems as if God, in his wise providence, has cast upon England and these United States the conversion of the world. None other of the civilized nations of the earth are in a Condition to take any larger part in this glorious enterprise. Some are hindered by posi tion, having but little maritime connexion with the rest of the world, and lacking the missionary zeal which would lead them to seek it. Others are disabled by the withering blight of rationalism from doing more than preserving alive upon their own altars the light of Gospel truth. Others, again, are overlaid by super stition and idolatry, and in their missionary ardour are disseminating falsehood instead of truth, — are dealing 486 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. out death instead of imparting life. With the English and American Churches alone are found those gifts of nature and of grace which make them proper, through the grace of God, to enter with hope and confidence upon the evangelizing of the world. Embodying in their liturgies and formularies, plainly and fully, the truths ofthe Gospel — preserving almost everything of primitive practice which was worth preserving, and re taining very little, if any, of its corruptions — organized upon the closest model ofthe apostolic times — hindered, especially among us, by very few restraints upon religi ous action, we have been evidently set apart for the missionary work. And the enterprise of these nations, and their commercial connexions and the roving spirit of their people, and the rapid growth of both govern ments, all indicate that God is preserving them, and building us up for this very end of spreading his Gospel among the nations of the earth. And, besides all this, a common lineage, and a common language, and a com mon faith, and a common commission, point us to the di vision of this work without any rivalry, save the generous one of spreading the truth — without any jealousy, save a holy jealousy for Zion and for Jerusalem. Wherever our Missionaries meet, it will be as brother meeting bro ther ; souls, united by the ' one Lord, one faith, one bap tism, oneGod and Father of all,' will go out to each other in sweet communion ; and the Church will find that there is in her a stronger bond than that of interest or nature — the bond of a holy faith and a divine charity. " And just as clearly as God has marked out these two nations for the conversion of the world, does He seem to have overruled their policy in such a manner as to give the fullest scope to that particular form of BISHOP ELLIOTT. 487 ecclesiastical organisation which has grown up in each. An establishment, connected so strictly with its govern ment as is the English Church, could not move in its integrity as a Church, upon the great Mahometan or heathen empires, without at once exciting political jealousy. Her bishops and ecclesiastics would be looked upon with a more suspicious eye even than those of Rome, inasmuch as her power is infinitely greater, and the claims of Rome are spiritual rather than tem poral. Wonderfully, therefore, has it been arranged of God, that the English government should have steadily pursued for ages a commercial system which has led her to plant and cherish colonies in many islands and on every continent. Empires have grown up around her emigrants in almost every quarter of the globe, and hundreds of millions of heathen — nearly one-third of the world's population — are linked directly with her, as subjects or dependents. Upon these and over these can her establishment have full dominion, and to feed these growing empires with the bread of life, to pour in light upon the barbarism which surrounds her and be longs to her, will call for all her energies and absorb all her resources. She cannot, for centuries to come, do more — if she can do that, it will be a mighty work — than satisfy the cries of her own children and the necessities of her actual dependents. The heathen world, so far as it lies disconnected from her gigantic embrace, and the great empires of Western Asia, are cast upon us for the knowledge ofthe Lord. We must answer their demand for the Gospel, or it will be an swered from papal Rome, and Christianity will mourn and perish in the house of its friends. While England has opened China, she cannot fill it ; nay, for the rea- 3q 488 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. son given just now, she cannot touch it in her ecclesi astical integrity. Besides her Indian empire, her Afri can colonies, her island continents, her red and black subjects of British America, would feel that every pound and every missionary that was turned towards the heathen was so much taken from them. What are three bishops, with perhaps as many hundred clergy men, among the many, many millions of Hindostan? What is a single bishop for such a world as Australia ? or such an island as New Zealand ? And see what a boundless field spreads away north of the Canadas to the Frozen Ocean, covered with her Indian subjects ! No, we cannot, and we must not hope that England can do and will do everything. She will do the part which God has allotted to her, — evangelize her empire colonies, and rejoice that we are in a condition, from our unshackled ecclesiastical arrangements, from the anti-colonial and peaceful policy of the government under which we live, to make up what is lacking of her ability. She will rejoice that our bishops can go, simply as heralds of the Cross, representing nothing but the Body of Christ, seeking no foothold upon the soil, asking for no privileges save those of scattering the seeds of truth, and preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ." Turning homewards, to a survey of the domestic operations of the American Church, the preacher drew a picture, in which one of his distinguished hearers stood foremost on the canvass ; and to which allusion the emphatic delivery of the bishop, and his position — facing the altar, at the opposite end of the church — imparted an effect which may be readily conceived. '.' In strong contrast with these fields of foreign la- BISHOP ELLIOTT. 489 hour, yet equally interesting and equally important, stand out the scenes of labour of our domestic Mis sionary Bishop. But neither its interest nor its import ance belong to the present, nor yet have they any con nexion with the past ; it is in the future that they lie ; it is through a vista of years that they must be viewed and calculated ! Could the churchmen of a generation back rise from their graves, and look upon the country which they scorned and neglected, how bitter would be their sorrow, how deep their repentance ! It would be hard for them to recognise in the teeming valley of the Missis sippi, with its powerful states, and its swelling popu lation, and its abounding wealth, the far-off land which they deemed it visionary to contemplate and fanaticism to evangelize. It would amaze them to behold eight bishops clustering around that missionary whom they deemed an enthusiast for turning his thoughts, and his prayers, and his footsteps , westward — looking up to him as their ' presiding ' father, as their pioneer, and their guide to the diocesses over which they rule — diocesses whose very names would strike upon their ears as novel and unnatural! Could they speak to us, how anxiously would they exhort us, how earnestly would they pray us, as we loved our Church — as we loved our country — as we loved the name of Christ — not to be to that rising world the cruel step-mother which the Church of their day had proved herself! They would tell us to measure the future by the past, and in that virgin valley to behold the mistress of this western world. They would bid us watch the rolling tide of popula tion, bearing on its bosom the bold, and the enterpris ing, and the reckless of every nation, and commin gling them into one mass of vigorous thought and irre- 490 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. sistible energy, and calculate its power for good or evil to all futurity. They would warn us to ponder upon the reflex influence which must throw back from this seat of political dominion upon the institutions of the East, strengthening their moral power and preserving their religious character, or else corrupting, debasing, and overthrowing them. They would bid us meditate upon the relation this ever-swelling mass of thinking, reasoning, moving creatures must have upon the Church of Christ and the condition of His kingdom, and awake to duty — to zeal — to self-denial — to self- devotedness." Bishop Elliott's elocution is as good as his style ; and afforded me another confirmation of an opinion I have already felt constrained to express in favour of the very striking superiority of American to English preachers in the department of pulpit delivery ; though in the composition of sermons the advantage is, as a rule, on the side, of the latter. Free, however, from those con ventionalisms of pronunciation and tone, which very commonly mar the public performances of our own clergy, the American clergyman, both in the desk and the pulpit, exhibits a simplicity* in his reading and de livery that secures the attention, while it never offends the taste ; evidencing the severe study and culture which has been bestowed on this important branch of clerical preparation. As it was one of the latest, so one of the most inte- * " The last degree of refinement is simplicity ; the highest eloquence is the plainest; the most effective style is the pure, severe, and vigorous manner, of which the great masters are the best teachers." — Nicholas Biddle. BISHOP SOUTHGATE. 491 resting incidents attending my residence in America, was an introduction to the intelligent traveller and de voted missionary, on whom apostolic hands were this day laid. The name of Horatio Southgate, the Ameri can Martyn, is already familiar to the English Church man, who has, I cannot doubt, followed him through his wide wanderings, and sympathized with him in his arduous labours and severe sufferings among the down trodden Christians of the East. Armenia, Kurdistan, Persia, and Mesopotamia, have successively witnessed the untiring zeal of this laborious missionary; who now returns to the ancient Syrian [Jacobite] Church — into which the American Church has already introduced some healthy blood, — as a missionary bishop of the same Catholic family, to aid the Anglican Church in rebuilding its waste places, and restoring, by friendly advice and assistance to its apostolic heads, and their faithful but persecuted flocks, the ancient glory of Antioch's see. I received a volume of Bishop Southgate's recent " Visit to the Syrian Church of Mesopotamia," (the second* book of travels he has sent to the press,) at his hands during our short acquaintance, which details numerous facts relative to that ancient Catholic com munity, f as interesting to the antiquary as to the * The first work (in two volumes) details some of Dr. Southgate's journeyings in Armenia, Kurdistan, and Asia Minor, with observations on the condition of Mahomedanism and Christianity in the East. t I use the word Catholic here, as elsewhere, in the sense in which our Church uses it — its literal, primitive, and only sense; in the sense in which it was used by Christians universally in the first six centuries, and in which every part of the regular Christian family, save only that section of it paying allegiance to the Roman bishop, continue to use it at this day. I 492 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. Christian. Its patriarch, whose residence is at Mardin, possesses in a record of unknown antiquity the annals of his predecessors in the patriarchate of Antioch, back to St. Peter, its first bishop. The signatures of the greatest part of their names, which number 141 , is in the handwriting of the patriarchs themselves ; and are traditionally the entries of each, including St. Peter himself. The fact is not impossible (though Bishop Southgate does not undertake to assert its undoubted authenticity), as the materials and appearance of the manuscript prove its extreme age ; and it is well known to have been (who can doubt, by a providential control ?) the custom of all the early Churches to keep a similar record : by which we are now in possession of the line of bishops in every apostolic see. The sympathy which English and American Church men ought to feel towards this ancient communion is increased by the striking points of similarity between the two Churches, — a similarity extending to almost every part of government, worship, and doctrine. It is to be trusted that the English Church will actively co operate with her American daughter in the great work of Christian unity, nor be turned aside by the ignorant cavils of short-sighted unread objectors, whose visions are filled with a "protestant establishment," and their sympathy for these desolate and forsaken daughters, the first-born of the glorious mission of our ascended leave to the ignorant the commission of such a blunder as " Roman Catholic," which term, remarks Bishop Chase (commenting on the Visita tion Service in the Prayer-book), like French or British Catholic, would be an absurdity ,-" and to the deliberate falsifier of language, the exclusive application ofthe term " Catholic " to the adherents ofthe Roman see. THE EASTERN CHURCHES. 493 Lord, is extinguished in their unutterably doltish ap prehensions that, being catholic and apostolic, they are, necessarily, "popish." " The position of our Church," writes Bishop South- gate, " is one in which she appears as chiefly intent upon a unity of faith, and yet as wanting in nothing which is essential to her character as a. branch of the Church Universal. It is one in which we must feel compelled to stand upon the sure basis of what is evi dently necessary to Christian communion ; one in which we have little temptation to form alliances upon inci dental resemblances in things of minor importance ; one in which it is most needful for their own good that we should appear to the Eastern Churches ; one in which we may sustain the exalted character of seeking a restoration of unity on truly primitive grounds. May we have grace to understand and improve our advan tages, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left ; presenting the Church in her pure faith and her un sullied worship to eyes which will not fail, the more single their vision becomes, to be attracted by the one and love the other ! There is no Church on earth which has the power for good among the Eastern Christians which the Church of England and the sister Church in the United States possess. May we use it as an inestimable treasure, as a precious talent for which we must give account!" 494 CHAPTER LXV. CONCLUSION. One year only was occupied in the duties of my new parish, when domestic affairs abruptly terminated my connexion with Maryland and the American Church. I took final leave of the United States on the 10th of June, in the " fast-sailing packet-ship Switzerland" (commanded by Captain Knight), from New York, being the same month and the same day of the month on which I first arrived at that port, eleven years previ ously. After an agreeable passage, unmarked by any events worth recording, we reached London on the 1st of July ; with which event this record, for the most part hastily compiled, and deprived of many materials which would have additionally assisted me in the illus tration of my subject, is brought to a close. From the foregoing scattered reminiscences, and the statements appended to them, it will be manifest to the reader that the only drawback to the complete effici ency of the Catholic Church in the United States is the want of permanent endowments. Though in its origin and the functions of its episcopal heads an apostolic communion, yet it should be remembered that we do not live in the apostolic age, when, through the faith of believers, produced by the display of miracles, they gave up their entire substance, and had " all things in common." A country professing to be Christian is ¦ under a solemn obligation to provide BLESSINGS OF AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH. 495 a national fund for the support of Christian Institu tions, the maintenance ofthe preached Word, and the dispensation of the grace-giving Sacraments. Without such a provision, she is nationally delinquent : violat ing her pretensions, and keeping bach what is the Lord's. That the Great Head of the Church has abode with his American flock, is evidenced in her wonderful preser vation during so long a period of oppression and trial ; in her resurrection, phcenix-like, from what appeared to be the very ashes of her temple ; and in her present almost incredible aspect of prosperity.* But her efforts are, notwithstanding, enfeebled — her arm is shortened, her zeal is prevented from the full accomplishment of its ends, by the national aversion to religious endow- * It has already even gained on the rapidly increasing population of the United States. Between 1814 and 1838, whilst the population of the Union has httle more than doubled, it has quadrupled itself. Should its increase continue at this rate, it would in fifty years outnumber the mother-church, and before the end of a century would embrace a majo rity of all the people of the West. What is there but want of faith to limit this* progress, or to prevent its dispensing every spiritual and social blessing to the busy people round it? To say that it is beset by peculiar dangers, is only to assert of it that which may be said of the Church Catholic at every period since her first foundation. Never has she been free from danger ; never has it seemed less than imminent and menacing. At one time persecution from without has threatened to beat down and root it out ; at another heresy has raised against her its parti-coloured banner, and seemed ready to swallow up the faithful. Schism has some times divided her ; and sometimes the friendship of the world, and the fair speech of men have almost robbed her of her jealous love for truth, and sullied her virgin holiness. Yet in all trials, and through all opposition, God has ever held her up. And so it must be ; ever ready to fail, but never failing ; leaving it may be one land to rise in splendour in another ; out of weakness waxing strong : this has been and this must be her course.'- — Bishop Wilbebforce's Historyof the American Church, p. 454. 3 R 496 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. ments, and an uniform system of certain support for the clergy. These possess not a twentieth part of their legitimate influence and authority. Dependent upon the wills and caprices of the people over whom they are placed as instructors and spiritual guides, the very qualities which disqualify them from the efficient dis charge of their responsible duties too frequently — and to some extent in all cases — form their principal recom mendation in the eyes of those who elect them ; and often is the permission of the bishop reluctantly yielded to a choice which his judgment tells him is every way unfortunate. A talent to please — to adapt his views, his policy, and his very doctrines to those of his con gregation, founded as they frequently are on false teaching and lax practice ; a subserviency of habit and demeanour ; a pleasing address in the pulpit ; super ficial oratorical powers, — these are the qualifications which most of the congregation seek ; and a pious pastor of acknowledged talents and tried faithfulness — with whom, I undertake to affirm, the most fastidious congregation in England would be more than satisfied — is not unfrequently " starved out," to make way for some inexperienced stripling in deacon's orders, who has caught the fancy of the " leading members," as more likely to attract a larger attendance to the church and to raise the value of sittings. All this is lamentable ! but how it can be separated from the voluntary system I have yet to know. No defence of that system, with all the abuse which its advocates discharge against the English Church and her " temporalities," has yet solved this difficulty. But, in fact, we need not add anything to the testimony of dissenting writers in TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN CLERGY. 497 our own country, to exhibit the secularising effect of voluntary ministerial support.* " That under such a system the American clergy should be what they are, is surely the fruit of God's especial mercy ! In the midst of the busiest people on earth, where all are getting, or expecting to get money, there has been no want of young men ready to devote themselves to the service of their brethren, though they have no security of receiving even the necessary com petence for ordinary domestic life, and are not led on by any possible expectation of obtaining one amongst some few great prizes, or allured by the expectation of learned leisure, or promised an opportunity of leading thereby a literary life. They choose their lot, knowing that in it their days must be spent in constant and exhausting labour, with the smallest earthly recom pense. On such a ministry, God's blessing must rest abundantly ; and in its high character is, no doubt, found the practical escape from many evils inherent in the theory of the constitution of their church." Such is the candid testimony of Bishop Wilberforce to the character ofthe American clergy .-f A testimony the more valuable as coming from one who fills an office of dignity in a Church, both amply endowed and supported (as it ought to be) by the state. With such * A volume could be filled with them. Amongst the authorities of most weight are James of Birmingham, Jay of Bath, (see the " Life of the Rev. Mr. Winter,") Vaughan, &c. &c. And for illustrations in every variety see the " Evangelical Magazine," the " Eclectic Review," the " Chris tian Witness," and other dissenting organs. t In the Bishop's " History of the American Church;" a work of singular merit, which displays much research and a close acquaintance with his subject. 498 ECCLESIASTICAL REMINISCENCES. inherent powers of extended action — such a well-orga nised and well-disciplined array of force as her eccle siastical frame-work presents to our view — especially when the posts of dignity are occupied by men quali fied in the high degree that the Bishop of Oxford is to discharge trusts so deeply responsible, from their eleva tion and the resources at command — I am constrained, in borrowing the sentiment, to transpose the language of a prelate of the Transatlantic Church, on his return to his country from a visit to England — " I revere and love A merica and its Church ; but I love my own Church and country better." APPENDIX. No. I. - TRINITY CHURCH, NEW YORK. (Abridged from Mr. Onderdonk' s History of the New York churches.) With the erection of this magnificent structure may be said to commence a new era in the church architecture of Ame rica. Heretofore, as a general rule, attention to the pure and uncorrupted style of the ancients has been but little regarded in the construction of our churches ; and the symmetrical proportions and flowing lines of the fine old classic models, which might be adopted in very many cases without increased expense, are passed over with indifference, or sacrificed to capricious fancy. With the advancement of the arts, how ever, architectonic taste must necessarily become more culti vated and refined, and it is to be hoped that ere long it will be considered as much a reproach to dispense with the rules of architectural composition in the construction of an edifice, as it now is to dispense with the rules of perspective in the delineation of a drawing. The structure we are now treating of displays elegant pro portions and admirable uniformity, and is in all respects truly creditable to the age and nation, as well as a lasting monu ment of the munificent character of its venerable corporation. The whole of this immense fabric, including the tower and spire, is constructed of solid stone. It was quarried expressly for this church at Little Falls, New Jersey, four miles beyond Patterson, on the Passaic, and contiguous to the Morris Canal, through which it was conveyed to Newark, and thence by vessels to New York. The quarry was originally opened 500 APPENDIX. a few years since, to furnish stone for the construction of an aqueduct over the Passaic, and has there proved to be of a very superior quality, not only in its tone and colour, but for its capability of resisting the action of water and of frost. Throughout the building this stone is laid on its natural bed, the most durable position in which it can be placed, and will, unless destroyed by some unforeseen calamity, almost defy the mouldering hand of Time. The style of architecture is the perpendicular Gothic, the peculiar cha racteristic of which is, that the mullions of the windows and the ornamented panellings run in perpendicular lines. This term originated with Mr. Thomas Rickman, a celebrated architect of Liverpool, and was applied by him to all English buildings erected after the accession of King Richard II., down to the final disuse of the pointed arch, and seems to designate more forcibly than any other the desired distinction. The pointed arch, struck from two cen tres on the line of its base, was adopted by Mr. Upjohn, the architect, and has been strictly adhered to throughout the building ; its simple form having been preferred to the Tudor or flat arch, as more in harmony with the general design. Several fine views of this church may be had from the contiguous streets. In approaching it from the lower part of Broadway, the south side of the edifice and front of the tower appear to very great advantage. The most picturesque ap pearance, however, is presented from the corner of Rector Street and Trinity Place. Here the chancel and south-aisle windows, the clerestory, the tower, and the spire, are seen rising in succession one above the other, each exhibiting its fine proportions and exquisite symmetry, and all alike bewil dering the eye with the plenitude of their ornament and the finish of their decoration. In passing round the church, the extent and arrangement of the plan are more readily discern ible, and an opportunity is given to examine the detail and character of the workmanship. APPENDIX. 501 [When will the same be said of St. Paul's cathedral? whose situation, with shops and warehouses crowding upon it, concealing its fair and matchless proportions, and the dis graceful state of all the approaches to it, are a scandal both to the civic and the ecclesiastical authorities ; besides reflecting on the public spirit of the citizens of London, who pull down a church to improve the site of a merchant's exchange, whilst they voluntarily submit to the inconvenience of an obstructed thoroughfare in their indifference to the situation and aspect of their diocesan temple ! ! So Mammon has the chief wor ship in London, whilst the temple of God, cold, damp, de serted, like a tomb ; its untrodden vestibule and steps green with their unused decay ; and the banished altar,* stands, in its prison-like aspect, a fit emblem and monument of a "pro testant " age I] The aisle wall of Trinity, which rises to the height of forty feet, is supported by eight substantial buttresses? graduated into three stages by set-offs, and capped by richly crocketted gables terminating with a finial. Between the buttresses, pointed windows, elaborately ornamented by bold but deli cately cut stone tracery, and divided into three bays by two perpendicular mullions containing metal sashes glazed by panes of stained glass in the lozenge and other forms, rise to the height of twenty-four feet from the sill to the apex of the arch. A moulded battlement surmounts this wall, extending its whole length, harmonising with the general style, and giv ing a finish and beauty to its appearance. The clerestory, which is supported by massive piers of hewn stone and a succession of arches springing from them, * The glorious dome of St. Paul's was designed by the architect to canopy the principal altar. It looks down upon the money-changers' tables, and the daily sacrilege of a show for the entertainment of the sight seeing, paying visitors ! ! ! Westminster Abbey, also, with its disfigur ing concealments outside, and its dust and dilapidation within, is another national disgrace. 502 APPENDIX. rises in magnificent proportion above the aisle, and contains nine ornamented windows, giving light to the nave, varied in detail, but similar' in general design to those already noticed. The buttresses between them are graduated into two stages by a single set-off, and are crowned, in addition to a gable, by light and airy pinnacles, with crockets at the angles and terminating with a finial. An embattled parapet extends along the top of the wall, from the tower to the extreme west end. The extent of the chancel is denoted by two large octagonal pinnacles, richly ornamented, and rising above the roof to a greater height than any of the others. On the north and south sides of the church lateral porches, supported at the angles by buttresses setsquare,and surmounted by parapets pierced with quatrefoil and other suitable en richments, give entrance to the interior by three doors each The chancel end of the church possesses great merit, and presents to the eye a chastity and simplicity of effect, in strict accordance with architectural taste. It also proves that the beauty and symmetry of a design does not depend so much upon the amount of ornament introduced into its composi tion, as upon the adaptation and fitness of its various parts, and the perfection of its outline and general contour. No ornaments are introduced simply as such, but the whole grandeur and artistic effect of the view arises from that pecu liar harmonising of all the parts, which results from master like arrangement and an intimate knowledge of true archi tectural principles. It is at once perceived that the altar window is the most striking and magnificent feature of this view. Its elaborate and beautiful tracery attests the skill of the architect, and affords also to the admirer of the arts a subject worthy his contemplation and his study. It is distant from the ground twenty feet, and rises to the apex sixty-five feet, and is twenty-five feet in width. Its great breadth is distributed into seven bays by two principal and four subor dinate mullions, and its length divided from the sill to the APPENDIX. 503 spring of the arch into two grand sections by a transom mul- lion in the centre. The heading is distributed into minor lights or openings, formed by numerous sub-divisions, orna mented by feathered tracery exhibiting much skill in the cutting. The jambs and arch mouldings are well executed, bold, and characteristic of the age and style of the architec ture ; the label or weather-moulding is tasteful and appro priate, and the splay on the back is made very effective by the receding of the wall above. Directly over this window is another of small dimensions, which serves to ventilate the roof, cut in quatrefoil, and deeply set in the wall. Above the whole extends a perpendicular perforated parapet, soften ing the asperity of the solid lines of the high pitched roof, and crowned upon the apex by a cross. The centre portion of this front, or that containing the windows just described, is separated from its laterals by buttresses set square, gradu ated and fitted into several stages, and terminating by octa gonal crocketted pinnacles, enriched by finials. The cleres tory, as seen in this view, is supported by flying buttresses springing from the walls of the vestry, which is lighted by the three homologous windows near the ground. In the tower the proper proportion between it and the body of the church is carefully maintained. It measures at the base, outside the walls, thirty feet on each side, and is strengthened on the outer angles by double buttresses four feet in width, set square from the wall, and projecting at their bases seven feet and six inches. These buttresses are gradu ated into four sections, with panelled work upon the face, and rise to the height of one hundred and twenty-six feet, where they terminate by ornamented gables. About sixty feet from the ground the sides of the tower pinnacles com mence, and as the buttresses in their ascent diminish in size, are increasingly developed, until at last the' whole of them is formed. The walls of the tower are six feet nine inches thick at their commencement, and four feet thick 3 s 504 APPENDIX. under the embattled parapet. The tower porch which leads into the vestibule is twenty feet in width including the but tresses, and thirty feet in height to the top of the parapet. In passing through the wall, which is here eight feet and six inches thick, these dimensions are gradually decreased by a receding arch richly ornamented by carved tracery, which renders it at its termination but ten feet wide in the clear and eighteen feet in height. On either side it is flanked by panelled buttresses, with moulded set-offs, terminating in a gable of elaborate workmanship, and is covered by a deco rated label, upon which is sculptured in a chaste and beautiful manner a continuous wreath, formed of oak-leaves and acorns. Over the whole is a perforated moulded battlement, of quatre- foil and trefoil, with the centre compartment running into an open arch, under which is placed a pedestal supporting a bishop's mitre, and continuing the associations connected with the one that crowned the apex of the circular portico of the former edifice. Immediately above this door, and occupying the greater portion of the lower section of the tower, which is sixty feet in height, is a noble window, divided into four lights by mul- lions, and into three stories by a main transom in the centre, and another at the springing of the arch. The compartments thus made form each a pointed feather-arch, into which, as in the other windows of the church, are set metal sashes glazed with stained glass panes. A crocketted ogee label, elaborately sculptured, and crowned at the apex by a finial, runs over this window, and presents a striking and beautiful appearance. Upon either side of this section of the tower are two canopied tabernacle niches, with pedestals containing statues of the four evangelists cut in stone. The next story of the tower contains the clock, which is encompassed by a richly ornamented frame of the lozenge form, with the moulding receding as far into the massive walls as was prac ticable for its uses. Above are the belfry windows, composed APPENDIX. 505 of two independent compartments, separated by a strong pier, and each surmounted by a decorated ogee label, similar to that over the great window below. The belfry contains a chime of eight bells. The coping of the tower cbnsists of a cornice, ornamented at regular distances with clusters of foliage sculptured upon the ends of the long-headers, which pass as braces through the thickness of the wall, and is crowned with a handsome embattled parapet one hundred and twenty-seven feet from the ground, divided at the angles by octagonal crocketted pinnacles rising from the buttresses below, and terminating by richly sculptured finials. Four arches are sprung from the angles of the tower to receive the superstructure of the spire, which for fine propor tion and admirable effect is perhaps not inferior to any here tofore constructed, and may, without suffering by the con trast, be classed with those splendid English archetypes of Salisbury and Chichester. It is of octagonal form, and rises from its base in the centre of the tower, to the top of the cross which surmounts it, to the height of one hundred and thirty-seven feet, which makes it, in connexion with the tower, two hundred and sixty-four feet from the ground. Its base is ornamented by four tabernacle windows, and by the same number of flying buttresses springing from the corners of the tower. Each face of the octagon is decorated at regular intervals by lozenge-shaped openings, and the angles are embellished by crocketted mouldings, which serve to enhance the beauty and effect of its needle-like appearance, without in any way marring its fine proportions. Near the apex, very delicate and beautiful net-work tracery extends around the spire ; and over all, surmounting the very capstone, stands in bold relief against the sky the Christian's emblem — a plain, unornamented cross. A spiral staircase, composed of stone steps projecting from the wall, and lighted by narrow pointed windows between the western buttress of the tower and the body of the church, 506 APPENDIX. leads to the clock and belfry, whence by other stairs access to the spire is had, where an ascent to within twenty feet of the apex is practicable. Having now described the exterior of this magnificent church, at present the finest and most costly in our country, we will proceed through the front porch into the vestibule or tower. This vestibule is eighteen feet square, and nearly twenty feet in height. Its ceiling is constructed of oak beams, resting upon corbels projecting from the walls, and strengthened by perforated spandrils, and has an opening in the centre to allow the admission of bells, &c. into the inte rior of the tower. Continuing onward, we pass through the inner door of the vestibule, into a passage under the organ- loft, leading directly to the body of the church. This view is very imposing to the eye, from the fine perspective produced by beholding at one glance the full length of the nave from the choir to the great altar window, a distance of one hundred and thirty-seven feet, and by the beautiful effect of the light thrown into the church by means of the aisle and clerestory windows. The nave is thirty-six feet in width, and rises to its extreme height, sixty-seven feet and six inches. It is sup ported on either side by a colonnade of seven perpendicular English piers of cut stone, which serve also, in connexion with massive and substantial arches springing from them, to maintain the clerestory walls. The capitals of these piers are of simple design, consisting merely of foliated headings to slender cylindrical shafts rising between their principal pro jections, and the bases of them are formed by three courses of appropriate mouldings. Between every two arches, reeded columns, springing from the principal members of the piers, join with the clerestory wall, and finish with foliated capitals ; from which branch off, in different directions, the ribs of the vaulting. Directly over the arches are the clerestory windows, numbering nine on a side, ornamented by moulded labels, resting upon corbels, and exhibiting in other respects the APPENDIX. 507 same beautiful divisions and feathered tracery already noticed in treating of their exterior appearance. The vaulting of the ceiling over the nave is elegantly pitched, and the ribs diverging from the slender columns before mentioned, spread themselves gracefully over the groining, and are decorated at their various intersections by bosses formed of clustered foli age. The vaulting of the aisles is of the same character as that of the nave, and equally as good, but not so effective on account of the difference in elevation and length. The chancel, which comes next in order, deserves parti cular notice for its grandeur and elaborate decoration. It is raised two feet above the level of the ground pavement and is situated in a recess thirty-three feet deep, separated from the body of the church by a noble arch springing from two great piers on either side the nave. Its walls are richly ornamented by tracery and panel work covering all their space, and it is lighted by the great altar window and four others in the clerestory. Immediately above its centre, in the ceiling of the nave, at the intersection of the ribs, is a large and beautiful boss formed by the letters 3». H. S>. encircled with foliage of different patterns. The altar is situated near the western wall, directly in front of the altar screen, which is thirty feet wide and twenty feet high, and is constructed of oak richly and splendidly carved. The chan cel railing, which is also of carved oak, extends between the two great piers that support the chancel arch. From the chancel a fine view of the nave looking east is presented, taking in the choir and the interior of the tower, which is exposed to sight through a massive arch in its rear wall, to the large front window immediately above the porch. The light from this window, which comes in through stained glass panes, is rendered radiant by the many apertures and projections of the organ, and brings out in bold relief the ornamented pinnacles and handsome perforated work with which this instrument abounds. The choir is supported by 508 APPENDIX. beams laid upon corbels projecting from the side walls of the tower, and is so situated that it does not encroach upon the interior of the church. The screen in front of it, like all the wood work, is of oak, handsomely designed and carved. The organ, a magnificent instrument, is from the manu factory of Mr. Henry Erben, by whom, under the superin tendence of Dr. Hodges, the musical director of the parish, it was constructed. The case, which is of oak, was designed by Mr. Upjohn, and its exceedingly rich appearance adds an important feature to the interior view of the church. The stops of the organ, so far as the stops of pipes are con cerned, barely exceed thirty ; with the couplers, a little over forty : but the range or compass ofthe instrument is altogether unparalleled in this country. There are four diapason and two reed pipes, each sixteen feet in length, a double diapason pipe, thirty-two feet in length, measuring internally thirty by thirty-six inches, besides an innumerable quantity of smaller pipes of various dimensions. The swell is an invention of Dr. Hodges, and is of the most approved kind. From the choir you look down upon the floor of the church, the pews of which are constructed of oak ; and the aisles, which are eight feet in width, are paved with tessellated brown stone. The desk and pulpit stand upon opposite sides of the nave, somewhat in advance of the chancel, and are of beautiful design ¦ and elaborate workmanship. No galleries have been erected in the church, and in fact there should be none, for in an edifice like Trinity, galleries, unless of the character of the ancient triforiutn, would only detract from the grandeur and magnificence of the building. The extensive cemetery in which the church is erected is one of the most ancient in the city, having been the resting- place of successive generations for about one hundred and fifty years. It is crowded with monumental records, some of them bearing as early a date as 1704, and others supposed to APPENDIX. 509 be more ancient, but with their inscriptions entirely effaced. Among their number are two, erected to men, the one a statesman and the other a warrior, whose memories are enshrined within the hearts of all America. The monument of Alexander Hamilton consists of a polyedron of white marble, ornamented at the edges by fluted pilasters, and surmounted upon the corners by four urns, and upon the centre by a handsome pyramid. It bears the following inscription : — to the memory of ALEXANDER HAMILTON. THE CORPORATION OF TRINITY CHURCH HAS ERECTED THIS MONUMENT, IN TESTIMONY OF THEIR RESPECT FOR THE PATRIOT OF INCORRUPTIBLE INTEGRITY, THE SOLDIER OF APPROVED VALOUR, THE STATESMAN OF CONSUMMATE WISDOM; WHOSE TALENTS AND VIRTUES WILL BE ADMIRED BY GRATEFUL POSTERITY LONG AFTER THIS MARBLE SHALL HAVE MOULDERED INTO DUST. HE DIED JULY 12TH, 1804, AGED 49. The charter of Trinity church, a document which makes some thirty printed pages, was granted by letters patent, under the great seal of the colony of New York, and bears date the sixth of May, 1697. It incorporates the parish into a body politic, under the name of the " Rector and Inhabit ants of New York in communion with the Protestant Church of England, as established by law," and grants the plot of ground now occupied by the church and cemetery, together with certain specified privileges aiyi immunities, for the yearly rent of" One Pepper Corn," to be paid on the " Feast 510 APPENDIX. Day of the Annunciation of our blessed Virgin Mary," pro vided the same be lawfully demanded. After the United States had cast off their allegiance to Great Britain and established their independence, the legis lature of New York, by an act passed the seventeenth day of April, 1784, made such alterations in the above charter as were necessary to conform it to the constitution of the state. By the same act, the doubts which had previously arisen on those parts of the charter relating to the inhabitants of the city in communion of the Church of England, were removed for all future time, by the explicit enactment that such persons only as professed themselves members of the Epi scopal Church, and held or enjoyed a pew or seat in the church concerned, and regularly paid for its support, and such others as received the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the said church, at least once in every year, being inhabitants ofthe city and county of- New York, should alone be entitled to the rights and privileges originally secured without distinction to all the inhabitants of the city in communion with the Church of England. In 1788, by another act of the legislature, the corporation of Trinity church was allowed to assume a new title ; which title, however, was not to invalidate any of the grants made to or by it under the former name, nor to abrogate in any mariner its existing rights and privileges. By a subsequent similar process in 1813, the title was again altered to " The Rector, Churchwardens, and Vestrymen, of Trinity Church, in the city of New York." [The vestry of Trinity have proved themselves faithful trustees, not only in furthering the immediate objects of the Church in their own parish, buHn the aid which they are ever prompt to render to the general cause of religion and benevolence.] The communion - plate belonging to Trinity parish is massive and valuable, and consists of a number of flagons, APPENDIX. 511 patens, chalices, and plates, some of which bear the royal arms, and were presented by William and Mary, and Queen Anne. Other pieces, engraved with a like device, contain the simple initials G. R. It seems probable that George I., George II., and George III., were also presenters. There are also a few articles from private donors, among which are two plates, presented one by a Mrs. Mary Leaver, and the other by the Rev. Henry Barclay, a former rector of the parish. Trinity is the parish- church ofthe parish of that name, which includes also, at the present date, St. Paul's and St. John's chapels, the former erected in 1766, and the latter in 1807. From the years 1752 to 1811, St. Georges church in Beekman Street was a chapel of the parish. The three congregations of Trinity church and its chapels formed, for all parochial purposes and in reference to pastoral over sight, but one ; and the rector and ministers officiated in the church and chapels in rotation until the year 1836, when, by an enactment of the vestry, the assistant-ministers had each assigned to him a particular church, in which he was regu- Jarly to perform the morning services on Sundays and holy- days, and whose congregation was to be considered as under his individual pastoral charge : the exchanges, therefore, which were formerly made promiscuously, were confined thereafter exclusively to Sunday evenings. The churchwardens and vestrymen of the parish are chosen by ballot from the three congregations, without distinction, on every Tuesday in Easter week; and pew- holders and members of the congregation, being communi cants, are electors. The rector of the parish, or, in his absence, his assistant, if he have one, is the president, and the only clerical member of that body, and sustains, in refer ence to parochial duty and public administrations, an equal connexion with all three congregations. Divine service is uniformly celebrated in the parish, not only at the Usual 3 T 512 APPENDIX. hours on Sunday, but also on the morning of every Wed nesday and Friday, and of every festival and holyday of the Christian- Church. The present rector is the eighth that has held that office. The succession is as follows :— William Vesey from i 1696 to 1746 Henry Barclay, D.D. ?> 1746 „ 1764 Samuel Auchmuty, D.D. » 1764,, 1777 Charles Inglis, D.D. >> 1777 „ 1783 Samuel Provoost, D.D. bishop . » 1783,, 1800 Benjamin Moore, D.D. bishop, j> 1800,, 1816 John Henry Hobart, D.D. bishop » 1816 „ 1830 William Berrian » 1830 Of the above, Dr. Inglis, after leaving Trinity parish, became Bishop of Nova Scotia, and all except Mr. Vesey and Dr. Barclay were previously assistant - ministers ; in addition to whom, besides the present incumbents, the follow ing gentlemen have at different times held that office :— John Ogilvie, D.D. ; John Bowden, D.D. ; Abraham Beach, D.D; John Bisset; Cave Jones; Thomas Y. How, D.D. ; Thomas C. Brownell, D.D., LL.D. (now Bishop of Con necticut) ; Benjamin T. Onderdonk, D.D. (now Bishop of New York) ; John F. Schroeder, D.D. ; and Henry Anthon, D.D. The following is a list of the present clergy and vestry of the parish : — Rector: William Berrian, D.D. Assistant Ministers : Jonathan M. Wain wright, D.D. Edward Y. Higbee, D.D. One vacancy. appendix. 513 Churchwardens : Thomas L. Ogden Adam Tredwell. Vestrymen: Teunis Quick Henry Cotheal Jonathan H. Lawrence John D. Wolfe Edward W. Laight Thomas L. Clark Peter A. Mesier William Moore Anthony L. Underhill William H. Hobart William Johnson Henry Youngs Philip Hone Alexander L. McDonald William E. Dunscomb Samuel G. Raymond William H. Harison Gulian C. Verplanck Robert Hyslop Philip Henry. No. II. To the reader who may possess any desire to learn the result of my application for admission to the English Church, the circumstances attending it may perhaps afford sufficient interest to warrant my appending them to my American journal. Having been furnished by Dr. C r with a letter expla natory and recommendatory to the Bishop of London, I forwarded the same, accompanied by Bishop Griswold's Dimissory, to his lordship, who gave me an interview at Fulham on New Year's Day ; when he told me that the then statute of the 26th of George III. (which he read to me) was fatal to my plans, unless the special consent of the pri mate could be obtained for a dispensation in my favour, which he discouraged my expecting. Dr. Lushington, he said, had recorded a formal protest against the legality of Mr. Winslowe's ordination to the priesthood, and the title by 514 APPENDIX. which he held his cure. It was in contemplation, the bishop added, to obtain the enactment of a new statute, which would put American ordained clergymen on a different footing in England; the provisions of this Act would make no distinc tion between bishops, priests, or deacons. " His lordship, therefore, recommended me " at all events," to obtain my full orders in America, — and I acted on his recommendation. Before, however, returning to the United States, a cle rical friend and neighbour of my father's volunteered to assist in obtaining for me my desired object ; and kindly enlisted Archdeacon Lear and his diocesan (Bishop Denison) in my cause. The latter made an application to the Archbishop for the legal dispensation, which was courteously refused on the ground, — 1st, that none had been yet granted under the Act of Geo. III. cap. xxvi ; and 2ndly, that the newly framed statute, intending to apply to similar cases, was shortly to become law. Finding, therefore, all prospect of an early change of ecclesiastical relationship hopeless, I prepared to return to America, when accidentally meeting my true-hearted friend in London, he determined on making another effort in my behalf by a personal appeal to the primate, who gave him an interview at Lambeth, when, admitting my " case" to be a " hard one," he repeated his refusal to depart from the rule he had laid down, and I returned to Wiltshire to take leave of ray friends. Here a letter followed me from a gen tleman ecclesiastically connected with the Newfoundland mission, whose acquaintance (one of the most delightful I have ever formed) had commenced under the paternal roof, during the previous winter : — '" 4 Exeter Hall, May 31**, 1838. " My dear sir, " Although I was aware that you left town with the inten tion of proceeding to the United States, yet I cannot resist the impulse to write to you, which I feel produced by the impression that you determined to take that course, from the APPENDIX. 515 conviction that ne door of usefulness could be opened to you here, in your native land ; and at the request of a friend who has desired me to make you acquainted with a vacancy, which from my description he thinks you could and would like to fill. " Mr. D s has built a church, and I believe endowed it with £1000, in N d, M x, which he hopes to get licensed and consecrated ; in this he is disappointed, and will not allow it to be occupied by a dissenting minister, but would give it to a person circumstanced like yourself, willing to conform to Episcopal orders, so far as you are permitted by the higher powers : that is, "in all things in which the law at present will allow you to comply with it requisitions. I believe this is your case. # # # # * # * # " Having given you this hasty and rough outline, I will add the address of the patron of the church, who expects to hear from, or see you ; he has desired me to say there is a bed at his house for you, and he would wish you to see the place and church. It is but four or five miles from town. " May the great Head of the Church guide and bless you for his own glory and the increase of his kingdom. " Will you present my Christian respects to your family, who, I hope, are all well. " I am, my dear Sir, in haste, 1 " Yours faithfully, " M— K W Y." I responded to the suggestion contained in this letter by making a visit to N d ; but the uncanonical and some what anomalous position in which tlie proposed relationship would place me, both towards the regular ecclesiastical autho rities and the parish in which Mr. D -a church was built, 516 APPENDIX. presented to both of us, when the matter came to be dis cussed, insuperable difficulties to a pastoral connexion with the latter, and after a visit to Wales and the Isle of Wight I sailed for New York. This voyage to England, though resulting unsuccessfully in my own individual case, fully tested the impracticability of getting Church preferment in England with foreign orders, and had the effect of deterring more than one from making a similar attempt. The disappointment was in a great' measure counterbalanced by the high gratification I received in the intercourse of numerous friends who took a lively interest in ¦ my case ; nor can I forbear recording that of an esteemed clergyman, whose pastoral tutorage and sound instructions had first sown in early youth the seeds of that preference for the order and worship of the Church which had ripened to maturity in a foreign land. In this work of education my excellent tutor was ably assisted, particularly in the biblical studies of the pupils (nearly all of whom are now in holy orders), by his' accomplished lady ; whose writings, adapted so admirably to the juvenile capacity, have diffused the sweet fragrance of their sanctity, like blossoms and flowers of Eden, into many families of our isle. The pen would fain transcribe several souvenirs from this quarter, did not delicacy forbid ; but the following, so well calculated to assist in lightening the heart when the widening distance from Eng land's ocean-bound shores widened the separation from home and friends, is, I hope, not improperly or inappropriately inserted : — " R y, A 29*A, 1838. " My dear friend, u. Your communication by this post conveys to us two streams of feeling, the one of pleasure, the other of regret : the latter, that of not being allowed to meet ere your return to America ; the former, the consideration of that vital prin ciple of godliness which will, I rest assured, spring up as a APPENDIX. 517 well in your soul unto eternal life. Blessed be our God, the streams from the smitten rock in the wilderness will follow us all the way ; and though it must for our benefit sometimes have the bitter wood thrown into it, yet it will flow to refresh us all our journey, till Jordan's stream itself divides to let us pass over unto the promised ' land of pure delight Where saints immortal reign.' ' Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood Stand dressed in living green.' " Again assure your dear sister she will share our prayers with you for the abundant blessing of the Lord to rest upon each of you. Tell her I send to her, with my Christian love, the little book entitled ' Extracts from Mr. and Mrs. Gutz- laff's Letters.' I knew Mrs. G. previously to her going out, and have put the extracts together for the use and encouragement of missionaries. She was a self-denying missionary, going out alone; and, on her own account, giving herself and her property to the service of the Lord in foreign climes ; and it prospers in and through her labours. But I find God has and does not only honour me by tokens of making my weak labours useful, but he blesses me through them in enabling me to open my purse wider than I could otherwise do for the use of the poor around us. Mr. M k will write to you himself. " With my kindest regard to your parents and family, and every good wishes for a safe voyage, believe me to remain, " Your very sincere friend, " E. A. M k." The other letter referred to, closed with an injunction to " Remember who sits at the helm, and guides the ship.'- It 518 APPENDIX. accompanied a volume of the writer's " Plain Sermons oh Important Subjects for the use of Seamen," whose relative value, though great to the author, scarcely exceeded their intrinsic merit, as admirably designed for persons of the nau tical profession. Their perusal delightfully employed many a leisure hour during the monotonous period of a steam- passage. I am fain to add to this narration and record, two other documents : one a characteristic missive from my Rhode Island friend, under whose instructions I had prosecuted my theological studies, received a few days after our arrival at New York ; and the other, the first renewal of a most valued correspondence with the good vicar of Salisbury Plain, received after my settlement at York : — " P e, 1838. " My very dear sir, " I had like to have said son ; doubtless, because .1 have felt for you so long the solicitude of a father. A thrill of pleasure came over me when your arrival was announced, and I shall be exceedingly glad, to see you and your self- sacrificing sister in Providence. A sacrifice, indeed, it must be to follow your fortunes and share in your labours. "I was in New York several days after the arrival of the Great Western. How glad would have been our meeting I * * Your mother's letter, like all I have seen from her practised pen, was delightful. I owe her much; and am absolutely ashamed that no letter has reached her or yourself during your absence. My only apology is, perhaps, a poor one. * * * * Your little parish is supplied at present ; and should you wish to take some other one in Rhode Island, I doubt whether we have a church to offer which would meet your acceptance. But, at any rate, I hope you wiil make us a visit. We know not what may transpire. I should be glad to have you once more a resident of this State, and the rather because of the excellent coadjutor you APPENDIX. 519 bring with you. Please to make my compliments accept able to her, and believe me " Your very sincere friend and brother, " N. B. C r." " Vicarage, T d, J 13, 1839. " My dear Waylen, " I am truly glad to hear that you are so comfortably settled in communion with your own Church. No doubt by this time you haver eceived your priest's orders and are a ' full-dressed ' clergyman. Both our bishop and arch deacon have several times inquired after you, and seemed glad to hear that your episcopal principles had prevented you from joining the English dissenters. His lordship regrets very much the position in which both he and his brethren are placed in respect to ordaining American cler gymen. ' The unity of the Church,' says he, ' is thereby sadly broken.' " A project is on foot for the more direct union of the clergy here, the commencement of which has taken place in our diocese. We agree to meet our archdeacon in parties of twenty or thirty, as locality permits, at stated periods, to take into consideration public measures affecting the church and local matters concerning our parishes. By which ar rangement, when completed, the whole clergy of the kingdom can communicate their wishes to the bishops on any subject affecting the interests of our commission in a few days. I cannot but hope, under the Divine blessing, much good from the plan both to ourselves and our people. " Mrs. J n and I often speak of you, and wish that we could enter your church some Sunday and witness your proceedings. I shall be glad to hear of your elevation as high as honours and degrees can do so ; still more, that your • congregation increases in grace and numbers. " Mrs. J. requests me to beg the favour, if such creatures 3 u 520 APPENDIX. are to be found (which I doubt) in your part of America, of a humming bird or two, when your convenience will allow you to send them, or indeed any other foreign curiosity that may be rare here. This is a strange request, but, as in duty bound, I make it. But I beg you will not put yourself to much expense or trouble in such matters. It occurs to me that the ' Ecclesiastical Gazette' will be acceptable. I will from time to time forward some for the information of your American friends. I send all I have by me with this note to your sisters at D s, leaving them to pack them up. This will give them an opportunity of previously looking them over, if desirable. " Believe me, " My dear Waylen, " Yours truly, « J. H. J N." No. III. AMERICAN CHURCH STATISTICS BEYOND THE UNITED STATES. Though the term "American" is commonly used amongst us to designate the people and country of the United States, the reader is reminded that the Church in that country is only one branch of the catholic family in the northern con tinent of America. In the vast empire of British North America, one-third larger in territory than the United States, there are upwards of two hundred thousand members of the Church of England, under the spiritual care of five bishops and three hundred clergy (a most inadequate number), with a theological seminary in each diocess. In the West Indies APPENDIX. 521 — exclusive of Guiana, which is a diocess with a bishop — are three bishops and 171 clergy. It is to be hoped that our numerous and destitute countrymen in Oregon, and the fer tile Vancouver, will also soon receive the benefits of episco pal supervision and missionary instruction. A territory so incalculably valuable from its geographical position, and upon which millions of British money have been expended for other purposes, certainly deserves the nursipg care of the Church at home ; and makes a louder call upon the commit tee for endowing colonial bishoprics than others which have lately received the preference. It is impossible for the Bishop of Toronto, whose visitations already extend north and west of Lake Superior, to cross the Rocky Mountains. The United States will soon send a bishop to the south of the wide valley beyond ; and is the vast territory northward, covered with our forts and storehouses, inhabited by thousands of British subjects and the friendly tribes of red men, to lift up its hands in vain for want of spiritual oversight ? Let British Christians make the response 1 [The importance — nay, the coming necessity — of aHiGHWAY across the continent, requiring a navigable outlet, seems wholly hid (by some extraordinary obliquity of vision) from a great portion of the English nation, to whom it is chiefly valuable. The politicians ofthe United States are, however, fully alive to its advantages, and are adopting a stratagem, which, however desperate the risk they run, is deemed neces sary to secure the only thing that makes Oregon, as a colonial possession, worth the trouble of negotiation to Britain'; and are we prepared, by a voluntary and uncalled-for relinquish ment of our share of this advantage, to surrender to the United States the exclusive monopoly in an immense car rying trade ? and to be indebted to them (as we now are to Mehemet Ali) for the shortest, and ere long the only, pas sage to and from China, and our Indian and Australian pos sessions? After expending incredible sums on two ship 522 APPENDIX. canals to secure a river and lake navigation for nearly one- half of the distance, and, by a long course of liberal expendi ture and honourable dealing, having secured the friendly alliance of the Indians throughout the west of America, will any British minister in his senses dare to sacrifice so much of the future interests of the British crown, and to cut off our great and rising colony of Canada from the only means of competing with her southern neighbour in manufactures and exports ? Better assist the States in honourably acquiring California (a compromise they would willingly accept), which by the natural laws of accretion they must ultimately possess, and which the imbecile Mexican is unable to improve, than relinquish the navigation, in perpetuity, of the Columbia, or a foot of territory north of it. This arrangement will secure to the United States two important outlets, besides their share of the Columbia (to which they have honestly no claim at all), and in the Bay of St. Francisco, the finest port and harbour, without dispute, in the world. It will do more — it will allay the national jealousies and mutual apprehensions relative to the now unoccupied provinces of New Mexico, and reconcile all American parties : thus guarding against the recurrence of any possible misunderstanding between the two countries. The speedy settlement of this question rests with Lord Aberdeen. A skilful agent at Mexico city, ac quainted with the ground, could effect a treaty advantageous and satisfactory to each ofthe three parties concerned. I feel warranted also (from living near the seat of government, and frequent intercourse with official persons) in adding, that Mr. Pakenham, if invested with full powers and untrammelled in the exercise of them, could do the same. No one can now sup pose that the United States has had, from the commence ment of the Oregon dispute, any expectation of a war. In Russian America there are about a thousand members of the Russian Church among the whites, besides Indian converts. The Indians number 50,000. A bishop resides APPENDIX. 52 here, whose laboursand zeal for the spiritual interests of his flock formed the subject of a high panegyric in a late num ber of a Philadelphia Church Journal, which I have mislaid. He is assisted by itinerating priests and sub-officials. The Mexican Church, it is no information to the reader to mention, is still under the papal yoke. The following ac count ofthe consecration of its present primate, Senor Posada, Archbishop of Mexico, from Madame de la Barca's inte resting journal of a residence in Mexico, may interest a por tion of my readers. The detail of the preparations describes the old Bishop of Linares as presiding on the occasion, as sisted by two younger brethren of the episcopal bench ; and General Bustamente, the then president of the republic, act ing as " padrino," or god-father to the archbishop elect. The ceremony occupied three hours. The candlesticks and the basins for holy water were pure gold, and the vestments, &c. of " the most elaborate and costly description." " Magnificent chairs were prepared for the bishops near the altar, and the president, in uniform, took his seat among them. The presiding bishop took his place alone, with his back to the altar, and the SeHor Posada was led in by the assisting bishops; they with their mitres, he with his priest's cap, on. Arrived before the presiding bishop, he unco vered his head and made a profound obeisance. These three then took their seats on chairs placed in front. After a short pause they arose, again uncovered their heads, and the bishop Moralez, turning to the presiding bishop, said, ' Most reverend father, the Holy Catholic Mother Church requests you to raise this presbyter to the charge of the archiepiscopate . ' " ' Have you an apostolical mandate ?' " ' We have.' " ' Read it.' " An assistant- priest then read the mandate in a loud voice ; upon which they all sat down, the consecrator saying, 524 APPENDIX. ' Thanks be to God.' Then Posada, kneeling before him, took an oath upon the Bible, which the bishop held, conclud ing with these words, ' So may God help me and these, his Holy Gospels.' Then, all sitting down, and resuming their mitres, the examination of the future archbishop took place. It was very long, and at its conclusion Posada knelt before the presiding bishop and kissed his hand. To this succeeded the confession ; every one standing uncovered before the altar, which was then sprinkled with incense. . Then followed the mass chaunted. " Led from the cathedral by the assistant-bishops, Posada was clothed with the episcopal robes, and read the service of the mass before the altar. Again brought before the conse crator, he saluted him with reverence, and sat whilst the pre siding bishop declared to him the duties of the episcopal office. Again they all rose, and the consecrator prayed for God's blessing on the newly-elected primate. Prostrate be fore the altar, they all listened to the singing of the Litanies. These ended, the presiding prelate, taking the crosier in his hand, prayed three times that grace might abound in the chosen one, each time signing him with the symbol of the cross. Posada alone now knelt, the rest sat on their episco pal chairs. " The Bible was then placed on his shoulders, while he remained prostrate; the bishop, rising up, pronounced a solemn benediction on him, while the hymn of Veni Creator was sung in full choir. Then dipping his hand in the holy chrism, the bishop anointed the primate's head, making on it the sign of the cross, and saying, ' Let thy head be anointed and consecrated with the celestial benediction, according to the pontifical mandate.' The bishop then anointed his hands, making in the same manner the sign of the cross, and saying, ' May these hands be anointed with holy oil ; and as Samuel anointed David a king and a prophet, so be thou anointed and consecrated.' This was followed by a solemn prayer. APPENDIX. 525 Then the crosier was blessed, aud presented to the elected archbishop, with these words, ' Receive the pastoral crosier, that thou mayest be humanely severe in correcting vices, ex ercising judgment without wrath.' The blessing- of the ring followed, with solemn prayer, and, being sprinkled with holy water, it was placed on the third finger of the right hand, the bishop saying, ' Receive the ring, which is a sign of faith ; that, adorned with incorruptible faith, thou mayest guard in violably the spouse of God, his holy Church.' " The volume of the Holy Scriptures, which during these last ceremonies had remained on the shoulders of the kneel ing prelate, was then removed and presented to him, with an injunction to receive and preach the Gospel. The kiss of peace was then bestowed, and Posada retired to his ablutions ; after these he returned, bearing two lighted tapers, which, with two small loaves and barrels of wine, he presented to the consecrator in a reverential attitude. The presiding prelate then washed his hands, mounted the altar-steps, and adminis tered the sacrament to the primate elect. " The mitre was then blessed and placed upon his head, with a prayer from the bishop, that thus, with his head armed and with the staff of the Gospels, he might appear terrible to the adversaries of the true faith. The gloves were next con secrated and drawn on his hands, the bishop praying ' that his hands might be surrounded by the purity of the new man ; and that as Jacob, when he covered his hands with goats' skins, offered agreeable meats to his father, and received his paternal benediction, so he, in offering the Holy Sacra ment, might obtain the benediction of his Heavenly Father.' The archbishop was then seated by the consecrating prelate on his pontifical throne, and at the same time the hymn Te Deum laudamus was chaunted. During the hymn, the bishops, with their jewelled mitres, rose, and, passing through the church, blessed the whole congregation, the new arch bishop still remaining near the altar, and with his mitre. 526 APPENDIX. When he returned to his seat, the assistant-bishops, includ ing the consecrator, remained standing till the hymn was con cluded. The presiding bishop then, advancing with his mitre to the right hand of the archbishop, said, ' May thy hand be strengthened. May thy right hand be exalted. May justice and judgment be the preparation of thy see !' Then the organ pealed forth, and they chaunted the hymn of Gloria Patri. Long and solemn prayer followed, and then they all, uncovered, stood beside the Gospels, at the altar. "The arch bishop rose, and, with the mitre and crosier, pronounced a solemn blessing on all the people assembled. Then, while all knelt beside the altar, he said 'for many years.' This he repeated three several times ; the second time in the middle of the altar, the third time at the feet of the presiding bishop. " And then bestowing the kiss of peace on each of his epi scopal brethren, the new primate concluded the long and interesting ceremonies of the consecration.""] No. IV. INSTITUTIONS CREATED BY THE GENERAL CONVENTION. THE GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK. Trustees. — All the bishops of the American Church, one trustee from each diocess, one additional for every eight cler gymen, one more additional for every two thousand dollars contributed, until the same amounts to ten thousand dollars, and one for every additional ten thousand contributed. Treasurer. — W. H. Harison, Esq., New York. Secretary — The Rev. E. Y, Higbee, D.D., New York. The Standing Committee. — All the bishops, the secretary APPENDIX. 527 and the treasurer, together with an equal number of clergy men and laymen. Professorships — Nature, Ministry, and Polity of the Church ; Biblical Learning and the Interpretation of Scrip ture; .Systematic Divinity; Oriental and Greek Literature; " St. Mark's Church in the Bowery," Professorship of Eccle siastical History ; Pastoral Theology and Pulpit Eloquence. Students in 1844, about 70. Volumes in the library, 7500. The seminary opens on the first Monday in October, and closes on the Saturday next succeeding the fourth Tuesday in June. THE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. The Board of Missions. — All the bishops of the American Church, thirty members elected by the General Convention, the elected members of the two committees below, and such persons as were patrons of the society in 1829. Secretary : The Rev. P. Van Pelt, Philadelphia. Domestic Committee of the Board. — All the bishops, with four clergymen and four laymen. A secretary and trea surer. The latter office is well filled by Thomas N. Standard, Esq., one of the worthiest men in the country. Foreign Committee of the Board. — All the bishops, with four clergymen and four laymen. In the Domestic Department ; two missionary bishops and ninety-four missionaries. Receipts, June 1843 to June 1844, 28,266 dollars. Expenditures, 34,182 dollars. In the Foreign Department ; two bishops, twelve mission aries and twenty assistants. Receipts, June 1843 to June 1844, 31,032 dollars. Expenditures, 29,045 dollars. Official Organ.—" The Spirit of Missions," 20 John Street, New York. The stations and missionaries are as follows : — Greece.— The station at Athens, under the Rev. John Hill ; patronised and encouraged by the king, and the excel- 3x 528 APPENDIX. lent Bresthenes, Bishop of Sellucia and Metropolitan of the Greek Church. There are two other missionaries in holy orders, and four ladies ; at the head of the latter, Mrs. Hill is indefatigable in her efforts in the cause of female education. The African Mission. — At Liberia and Cape Palmas are two missionary priests, and four female teachers, with catechists, &c. Coma. — Bishop Boone, and five clergymen ; catechists. Turkey. — Bishop Southgate, and two missionaries. THE CHURCH SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. Board of Managers. — All the bishops, and sixty members, elected triennially by the society, together with a secretary and treasurer. Executive Committee. — All the bishops, with seven cler gymen and five laymen ; a secretary, and editor of the " Children's Magazine ;" a " general editor and agent."- The Church Sunday-School Union publishes books of in struction and library books for Sunday-schools, the " Chil dren's Magazine," and other periodicals. No. V. CANONS PASSED IN 1844. Of a Discretion to be allowed in the Calling, Trial, and Examination of Deacons in certain cases. Section 1. It shall be lawful for any bishop, upon being requested so to do by a Resolution of the Convention of his diocess, to admit to the holy order of deacons persons not tried and examined as prescribed in the canons " Of Can- APPENDIX. 529 didates for Orders," " Ofthe Learning of those who are to be Ordained," and " Of the Preparatory Exercises of a Candi date for Deacon's Orders," under the following limitations and restrictions, viz. : — 1. Every such person shall have attained the full age of twenty-four years. 2. He shall have presented to the bishop the certificate from the Standing Committee, required by Section 2 of the canon " Of Candidates for Orders." 3. He shall have remained a Candidate for Orders at least one year from the date of such testimonials. 4. He shall have presented to the bishop a testimonial from at least one rector of a parish, signifying a belief that the person so applying is well qualified to minister in the office of a deacon to the glory of God and the edification of His Church. 5. He shall have been examined by the bishop and at least two presbyters, on his fitness for the ministrations declared in the Ordinal to appertain to the office of a deacon. Section 2. A deacon ordained under this canon shall not be allowed to take charge of a parish. Section 3. In every parish in which a deacon ordained under this canon shall officiate, he shall be subject to the direction of the rector of the parish, so long as therein resident, and officiating with the approbation of the bishop. Section 4. A deacon ordained under this canon shall not be transferable to another diocess without the request of the bishop to whom he is to be transferred, given in writing to the bishop to whose jurisdiction he belongs. Section 5. A deacon ordained under this canon shall not be entitled to a seat in any Convention, nor made the basis of any representation in the management of the concerns of the Church. Section 6. A deacon ordained under this canon shall not 530 APPENDIX. be ordained to the priesthood without first going through all the preparatory exercises of a candidate for deacon's orders, as required by the canon thereto relating, in addition to those required of a candidate for priest's orders, nor without pre senting all the testimonials required by the canon of testi monials to be produced on the part of those who are to be ordained. Section 7. In all respects not provided for by this canon, the deacons who shall be. ordained under it shall be under the same direction and control as other deacons. Of Foreign Missionary Bishops. Section 1. The House of Clerical and Lay Deputies may, from time to time, on nomination by the House of Bishops, elect a suitable person or persons to be a bishop or bishops of this Church, to exercise episcopal functions in any missionary station or stations of this Church out of the territory of the United States, which the House of Bishops, with the concurrence of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, may have designated. The evidence of such election shall be a certificate, to be subscribed by a con stitutional majority of said House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, expressing their assent to the said nomination; which certificate shall be produced to the House of Bishops, and if the House of Bishops shall consent to the consecration, they may take order for that purpose. Section 2. Any bishop elected and consecrated under this canon ' to exercise episcopal functions, in any place or country which may have been thus designated, shall have no jurisdiction except in the place or country for which he has been elected and consecrated. He shall not be entitled to a seat in the House of Bishops, nor shall he be eligible to the office of diocesan bishop in any organised diocess within the United States. APPENDIX. 531 Section 3. Any bishop or bishops consecrated under this canon shall, on presentment by two-thirds of the missionaries under his charge for immorality or heresy, or for a violation ofthe constitution or canons of this Church, be tried, and, if found guilty, punished, in all particulars, as if he were a bishop of this Church resident within the limits of the United States. Section 4. Any bishop or bishops elected and conse crated under this canon may ordain as deacons or presbyters, to officiate within the limits of their respective missions, any persons of the age required by the canons of this Church, who shall exhibit to him or them the testimonials required by Section 2 of Canon IX. of 1841, signed by not less than two of the ordained missionaries of this Church who may be subject to his or their charge. Section 5. Any foreign missionary bishop, consecrated under this canon, may, by and with the advice of any three missionary presbyters under his charge, at his discretion, dispense with those studies required from a candidate for deacon's orders by the canons of this Church ; Provided no person shall be ordained by him who has not passed a satisfactory examination, in the presence of two presbyters, as to his theological learning and aptitude to teach. And pro vided further, that no person shall be ordained by him until he shall have been a candidate for at least three years. Nor shall any deacon so ordained be advanced to the order of presbyters, who has not been in deacon's orders for at least one year. Nor shall any deacon or priest, who shall have been ordained under this canon, be allowed to hold any cure, or officiate in the church in these United States, until he shall have complied with existing canons relating to the learning of persons to be ordained. Section 6. Any foreign missionary bishop or bishops elected and consecrated under this canon, shall have juris- 532 APPENDIX. diction and government, according to the canons of this Church, over all missionaries or clergymen of this Church resident in the district or country for which he or they may have been consecrated. Section 7. Every bishop elected and consecrated under this canon shall report to each General Convention his pro ceedings and acts, and the state of the mission under his supervision. He shall also make a similar report, at least once every year, to the Board of Missions of this Church. No. VI. " THE HOLY CHURCH, THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD." As the word Catholic is, through the modern perversion of it, an indefinite term to the apprehension of many readers, and is still applied by some English and American writers and public speakers (in the plenitude of their ignorance), exclusively to the members of one branch of the Church Uni versal, — notwithstanding that the different branches of the Church throughout the world have never abandoned the appellation, nor conceded it for a moment to the sole pos session of the Italian branch and its dependencies : never theless, as this ignorance prevails amongst persons otherwise • intelligent, and a Bishop of Norwich is found, in the nine teenth century, dishonest enough to authenticate the false hood on the platform of Exeter Hall, and to unchurch his own communion, the following table from the United States "Church Almanac," published officially, is subjoined to these addenda, as shewing to the reader, in black and white (by an authoritative document), what portions of the Christian APPENDIX. 533 communion throughout the world are recognised by that apostolic branch of the Church in the United States as lawfully constituting the existing Catholic Church, which was planted by the Apostles in "all the world." It will be found to embrace eleven-twelfths of the nominally Christian community : all bound together by the tie of a common uninterrupted apostolic descent, the same creed, the same epi scopal government, and the same three orders of ministers. It will be observed that this tabledoes not include Romanists, i.e. those adherents of the Roman see in Britain and her colonies, or the United States, Russia, Sweden, Asia, &c, who are — either by dissent and separation from the national Churches, or by naturalization, without conforming to them — in a state of recusancy, like other non-conforming dissenters. If these are included the proportion will be larger. The subjoined table (corrected, as far as I have the means, to this date) was put forth by the " Protestant Episcopal Tract Society," in conformity, I presume, with a declaration ofthe House of Bishops in their Pastoral of 1838 (prepared by Bishop Griswold), in which the members of the American Church are reminded by their spiritual fathers that, though small in number compared with the aggregate of the " denominations around them" it should not be forgotten that, in all the points which we deem essential to Christianity, we agree with what has been and still is held by far the greater part of Christians throughout the world." The necessity, as English and American Church men, of comprehending the Churches under the papal yoke, where they legitimately exist— as in France, Spain, Portugal, &c. — in this Catholic family of the visible Church of Christ, is shewn by Mr. Palmer in his " Treatise on the Church," dedicated, by permission, to the primates of England and Ireland ; while the practice of the Church of England, in admitting clergymen of the Roman communion to our altars, 534 APPENDIX. without re-ordination, gives the lie to those " false prophets " who deny our younger sister's * claims. The unsound doctrines, arrogance, and uncatholic exclusiveness of that Church, lies at her own door, and dates from the Council of Trent. We, as a branch ofthe one Catholic Church, — recog nised as such by a Bishop of Rome since our .separation from that see— admitted to possess valid orders by the most learned writers of the Roman communion — we lose nothing by making such a charitable, such an historically correct admis sion, on behalf of this continental communion. Of course, I do not include in the lawful Church of Rome the Romanist sect of this island, to which Mr. Newman has attached him self, the schismatical position of which is the more sinful as it is taken (on the part, at least, of the usurping priesthood) in the face of light and knowledge ; on the part of the unhappy clerical apostates a sacrifice of duty and conviction to senti ment and feeling. It is due, however, to these lapsing brethren to add, that a morbid sympathy for the unreformed branch of the Catholic Church under papal sway, is not con fined to the clerical ranks "in England. The readiness with which the recent fabrications of the pretended " Abbess Makrena Mieczyslawska," the popish Maria Monk, and her " Basilian nuns" at Minsk, were adopted by the " liberal" part of the English community and press, and the commiseration expressed for the fabled " martyrs," whose supernatural suf ferings and incredible feats (better suited for the nursery books than a sober narrative) are still, in spite of their full refutation, professedly credited by those who are foremost in their opposition to the Church of England in her integrity as a Catholic communion, affords a mournful illustration — either * The episcopal Catholic Church of England, as now governed and con stituted, and in her faith and doctrine, is nine years older than the Church of Rome.— See Bishop Burgess, and the honest "Roman Catholic" writers. APPENDIX. 535 of an increasing preference for the Romish Church, amongst the laity of this country, or of the equally dangerous indif- ferentism which pervades all ranks of politicians and nominal " protestants." Bishops. Presby ters and deacons. Laity, The Church of England IrelandBritish India AustraliaVan Dieman's Land New Zealand West Indies British North America Other British dependencies The Church of Scotland The Church of Rome States of the Church Italy, Sicily, and Corsica Spain Portugal France Austria beyond Italy Bavaria, Belgium, Cracow Prussian Poland, with the European countries in which the established religion is sectarian South America Mexico Cuba Porto Rico The Church of Sweden " Greek Church" or Church of Constantinople PontusAsia Minor Thrace The Church of Russia Missionary Settlement The Church of the Kingd. of Greece The Church of Georgia The Armenian Church The Chaldean Church Mountain Chaldean The Syrian Church (called Jacobite) The Maronite Church The Coptic Church The Abyssinian Church 3 Y 2 archbps. 25 bishops 2 archbps. 12 bishops 3 bishops 1 bishop 1 bishop 1 bishop 3 bishops 5 bishops 1 bishop 1 primus, 5 bishops 1 pope, 67 bishops 39 archbps. 265 bps. 8 archbps. 47 bishops 2 archbps. 13 bishops 15 archbps. 65 bishops 4 archbps. 25 bishops 1 archbp. 11 bishops 1 patriarch, 116 bps. 4 metropolitan, 34 bps. 1 bishop 10 archbps. 30 bps. 42 archbps. 150 bps. 1 patriarch, 6 bishops 1 patr. 1 metr. 8 bps. 1 patr. 21 metr. 65 bps. 1 patr. 5 metr. 13 bps 1 patriarch, 10 bps. 1 patriarch 14,600 1,964 229 5422 18 185 300 19 86 35,934 16,000,000 1,100,000 301,000 2,500,000 19,500,000 13,500,000 3,700,000 30,000,00022,000,000 3,500 12,000,000 11,000,000 1,000,000 195,000 3,000,000 190,000 47,810,525 1,250,000 100,000 115,000 50,000 536 APPENDIX. No. VII. COLLEGES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES UNDER EXCLUSIVE CHURCH CONTROL. Washington College, Hartford, Connecticut. — Dr. Totten, President. Professorships : Ancient Languages ; Moral and Intellectual Philosophy ; Chemistry ; Mathe matics and Natural Philosophy ; Botany ; Law ; Lecture ships in Anatomy and Physiology. Connecticut Episcopal Academy, Cheshire The Bishop, President ; the Rev. S. P. Paddock, Vice-president and Principal. Columbia College, New York. — Dr. Duer, President. Professorships : Moral, Intellectual, and Political Philosophy; Greek and Latin Languages, Literature, and Antiquities ; Natural and Experimental Philosophy, and Chemistry ; Ma thematics and Astronomy. . The holders of these professor ships form the Board of the College for the administration of its discipline. Besides them there is an " Adjunct Pro fessor of the Greek and Latin Languages," who is Secretary to the Board. The Faculty also embraces a Professor of Law, Professor of Hebrew, Professor of the Spanish Language and Literature, Professor of the French Language and Literature ; Manipulator in Chemistry ; Instructor in Drawing and Per spective ; and Librarian. Trinity School, New York. — The Bishop, President; the Rev. William Morris, Rector ; and Assistants. St. Paul's College, Flushing, Long Island. — Dr. Muhlenburg, Rector. Professorships: Evidences and Ethics of Christianity ; Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Languages ; Mathematics and Natural Philosophy ; Chemistry and Miner alogy ; Assistants to the Latin and Greek Professor ; and Ma thematical Professor; Teachers in the French, German, drawing, and music ; Chaplain, &c. APPENDIX. 537 St. Ann's, Female Institute, Long Island. — Dr. Schroeder, Rector. Assistants. An institution of the highest class. Astoria Female Institute The Rev. John W. Brown, Rector. Female teachers in the various departments. Geneva College, Western New York Dr. Hale, President. Professorships : " Startin professorship of Evi dences of Christianity;" Mathematics and Natural Phi losophy ; Statistics and Civil Engineering ; Latin and Greek Languages and Literature; Chemistry; History, Modern Languages, and Belles Lettres ; Latin and Greek Lan guages. Hobart Hall Institute, Oneida County. — The Rev. Marcus A. Perry, Principal. Lockport Seminary. — Rev. Ebenezer H. Cressy, Principal. De Lancey Institute. — A Principal and Assistants. St. Mary's Hall, Burlington. — A female institution of a high character. See pages 241 and 425. St. Mark's Hall, Orange, New Jersey. — The Rev. A. Ten Broek, Rector. The Bishop, Patron. St. Matthew's Hall, Port Colden, New Jersey. — The Rev. P. L. Jacques, Rector. The Bishop, Patron. Newark Female Seminary, Delaware. — The Bishop of Delaware, Patron ; the Rev. W. E. Franklin, Principal ; efficiently assisted. A favourite institution of female tuition. St. James's College, Hagerstown, Maryland. — The Rev. John B. Kerfoot, Rector and Chairman ofthe Faculty. Professor of the Evidences and Ethics of Christianity, the Rev. Reuben Riley, Vicar-rector and Chaplain. Other pro fessorships : Latin, Greek, and Hebrew Languages and History ; Rhetoric, Intellectual Philosophy, and Political Economy ; Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry. Five other tutors, a steward, and a curator. There is (as in several other colleges) a preparatory department, or grammar school. The following is the daily order observed in this college : — 538 APPENDIX. ' " The waking bell rings at six o'cloek-r-in summer earlier — when the pupils rise, and in eight minutes appear at roll. Then they go to the washing-room, superintended by a prefect. "¦¦ At twenty minutes before seven all the household are in chapel for the morning prayers, which on Wednesday and Friday, and on all the Holydays, are the regular morning services of the Church. Immediately after they proceed to breakfast in the refectory, where the students take their meals, always in company with all the members ofthe family. From breakfast until about eight they are at liberty in the open air, or, in bad weather, in the house. About eight the bell calls them to the study-hall, where half an hour is spent in exercises in English grammar, orthography, and elocution, in which all the pupils unite. The succeeding four hours are spent in alternate study and recitation, with ap interval of a few minutes between each for recreation. During study and recitation hours the strictest silence is enjoined, and no inter course allowed among the boys. " At twelve the boys wash for dinner, and at ten minutes past twelve the chapel bell rings, to remind all of the duty of devotion at that hour. Some repair to the chapel, where a short service is performed ; attendance on which is wholly voluntary. " At twenty-five minutes past twelve, the dinner-bell calls them to the assembly-hall, when they go in order to the refectory. Immediately after dinner they assemble for a short time, when the* reports by the professors, instructors, and prefects of delinquencies in lessons or conduct, are ex amined into, and are followed with such discipline as the cas.es require. " From one to two, recreation. " From two to four, study and recitation, " From four to five, recreation. " From five to seven, study and recitation. " Tea at seven. APPENDIX. 539 " During the months of June and July, this arrangement is changed to suit the season. " After tea a short space of silence is set apart for reading the Holy Scriptures ; immediately after which are the even ing family prayers in the chapel. The remainder of the evening is spent in reading, study, or quiet amusement, and by nine all are in the dormitories, where each sleeps in a separate bed." The religious education of the students is also strictly attended to in St. James's ; and " as the sons of churchmen," says the " Register," " the pupils are carefully taught the cha racter and claims of their own communion, as a part of the One Catholic Church of Christ. All attend the morning prayer in the chapel before breakfast, on Sundays and week days; and on Sundays the Litany and Communion, and Evening Prayer. Every canonical-day is rubrically ob served. There are, as usual, four classes. The candidates for the Freshman class are examined in Sallust, Virgil, the grammar, &c. ; Zenophon's Anabasis, the Greek Testament ; Algebra (through simple equations), Geography, History, &c. The senior class read the most difficult books used in the English Universities, and review their previous studies ; besides attending lectures on Geology, Mineralogy, Consti tutional Law, and the higher sciences. Terms, 225 dollars (£45.) per annum, payable half-yearly. The charges in clude everything but clothing, books, stationery, &c. Virginia Theological Seminary. — The Bishop, PresU dent; his Suffragan (Dr. Johns), Vice-president; and three Professorships. See page 204. Fairfax Institute, Virginia.— The Rev. G. A. Smith, Principal. Georgia Episcopal iNSTiTUTE.T-VThe Rev. Charles Fay, Principal. The Bishop of Georgia, Visitor. Theological Seminary, Gambier, Ohio.^The Bishop, President, and Professor of Ecclesiastical Polity and Pastoral Divinity ; three other professorships. 540 APPENDIX. Kenyon College, Gambier. — Four professors and two other tutors. To this college are attached a senior and a junior grammar school. Kentucky Theological Seminary, Lexington. — The Bishop, President ; three professorships. St. Mary's Seminary (Female), Indianapolis, Indiana. — The Rev. Samuel L. Johnson, Principal; Dr. Monro, President ; three female teachers ; five trustees. Columbia Female Institute, Tennessee. — The Bishop of the diocess, President, and Lecturer on Moral Philoso phy ; the Rev. F. G. Smith, Rector, and Lecturer on the Physical Sciences, and Teacher of the Higher Mathematics ; the Rev. John W. Brown, Lecturer on English Literature ; with four other male, and nineteen female teachers, a Li brarian, Accountant, and Secretary. This institution is the largest of its kind in the country, established through the un tiring exertions of Bishop Otey, its founder. The buildings are extensive and substantial, of the Gothic order.' There are three departments of study, — a " Pestalozzian," " Junior," and " Senior." The course of study embraces, besides French, Italian, and the classics (excepting Hebrew, &c), Algebra, Theology, Ecclesiastical Polity, with the usual elegant accomplishments ; and, unlike many " young ladies' schools " in the United States, the training in every branch is thorough. The Church in the West will find the benefit of such instruc tion to her daughters another day ; to estimate it now is impossible. Kemper College, St. Louis, Missouri. — The Rev. E. C. Hutchinson, President ; three professorships. Jubilee College, Poria, Illinois. — The Bishop, Presi dent ; the Rev. Samuel Chase (the bishop's nephew), Princi pal ; two professorships only founded. If the magnificent design of the presiding bishop (now in its infancy) be completed, this willJae one of the most important Church institutions in the country. His nephew reports that " The several depart ments are in operation. In the theological two have pursued APPENDIX. 541 the prescribed course and been ordained, and are now actively engaged as missionaries ; in the collegiate department the Freshman and Sophomore classes have been formed, the members of which were prepared here ; in the preparatory department others are in course of preparation for the next Freshman class." There is also a female department, one mile from the college, under the charge of the bishop's daughter, assisted by himself and Mrs. Chase. In western America, where the weeds of schism and atheism luxuriate, such an asylum for the education of the daughters of Illinois within the Church's own bosom, as " polished corners of her Temple," is a greater boon than the more favoured of their sex in Catholic England can easily estimate. COURSE OF STUDY AT JUBILEE. Preparatory Department. — Reading ; Spelling ; Writing ; Modern Geography ; English Grammar ; Latin Lessons (An thon's First and Second Parts) ; Cassar ; Cicero ; Virgil (Anthon's); Greek Lessons (Anthon's First and Second Parts) ; Greek Reader (Anthon's) ; Arithmetic (Davies's) ; Algebra (through Equations of the first degree). Freshman Class. — Ancient Geography (Butler's); Greek and Roman Antiquities ; Sallust (Anthon's) ; Livy ; Horace (Anthon's Carmina and Epodes) ; Xenophon (Anabasis and Memorabilia) ; Herodotus (begun) ; Algebra (Davies's Bour bon finished) ; Geometry, Plane, Solid, and Spherical (Da vies's Legendre). Sophomore Class. — Outlines of Ancient History, Sacred and Profane, with Chronology ; Elements of Rhetoric and Oratory ; Horace (Anthon's Epistles and Satires) ; Tacitus ; Herodotus (finished) ; Homer ; Euripides : Acts of the Apostles (in the original) ; Trigonometry, Plain and Spher ical, and their applications (Davies's Legendre) ; Nature and Use of Logarithms ; Navigation and Surveying ; Analytic Geometry (Davies's commenced). 542 APPENDIX. junior Class-. — Outlines of Modern History, Sacred and Profane, with Chronology ; Evidences of Christianity (Pa- ley's) ; Intellectual Philosophy ( Upham's and Abercrombie's) ; Cicero de Oratore and de Officiis ; Horace (Anthon's Epistola ad Pisones) ; Demosthenes ; iEschines (de Corona) ; iEschy- lus ; St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (in the original) ; Analytic Geometry (finished) ; Natural Philosophy ; Me chanics ; Hydrostatics ; Pneumatics ; Electricity ; Theory of Storms ; Magnetism ; Optics. Senior Class. — Elements of Criticism (Karnes's) ; But ler's Analogy ; Ecclesiastical Polity ; Philosophical Works of Cicero; Plato (Crito and Phcedo); Sophocles (CEdipus Tyrannus) ; Chemistry; Astronomy (Cambridge); Exami nation of the Geography of the Heavens. Alabama Female Institute. — The Bishop, Visitor; the Rev. A. S. Smith, Rector ; four Assistants. No. VIII. COTEMPORARY PRESIDENTS AND PRESIDING BISHOPS. Presidents. Inaug. Presiding Bishops. Sue. George Washington 1789 Samuel Seabury 1789 Samuel Provoost 1792 William White 1795 John Adams 1797 Thomas Jefferson 1801 James Madison 1809 James Munroe 1817 John Quincy Adams 1825 Andrew Jackson 1829 Alexander V. Griswold 1836 Martin Van Buren 1837 William H. Harrison 1841 John Tyler 1841 Philander Chase 1843 James K. Polk 1845 THE END. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08954 9480 ill