USA > Connecticut > The history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, Vol. II > Part 9
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With these was intermingled a class of minds differently tempered - not less tenacious of the ex- ternals of religion, but more zealous in the proclama- tion of its saving truths. In the spring of 1809, the
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Rev. John Kewley, M. D., of Maryland, formerly a Romish priest, became Rector of the parish at Mid- dletown, and for nearly four years he was one of the most active and influential presbyters in the Diocese. He was an eloquent and evangelical preacher, who gained a wide popularity and impressed his hearers in all places with a conviction of his entire earnest- ness. In the summer of 1811, he delivered a dis- course at the institution of the Rev. Henry Whitlock as Assistant Minister of Trinity Church, New Haven, and another in October of the same year, at the an- niversary of the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut. Both these discourses were subsequently printed, and in a preface to the latter, this reason is given for its publication : " The devotional exercises of the day had not long been finished, before the author was credibly informed that some of the brethren present had expressed the opinion that it was a Calvinistic discourse, and consequently, in their opinion at least, not in conformity with the established doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In justice, there- fore, to himself, and to prevent misconstruction and misrepresentation, and to enable his respected clerical brethren to form a just judgment of it, he commits it to the press, with these remarks : That if the doc- trines he herein advocates are peculiarly Calvinistic, he must confess he is unable to decide to what other system the Articles and Liturgy of the Church give countenance ; and if it appears that the sentiments contained in this discourse are in agreement with the established standards of Church doctrine, as he be- lieves they are, and the clergy teach them not, he cannot but express a desire that a reformation may soon take place in this particular."
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Dr. Kewley closed his useful and acceptable minis- try of the church in Middletown on the 10th of March, 1813, when he delivered a valedictory dis- course to his people which, at their request, was pub- lished. A brief extract from it will show the tone of his piety and the style of his preaching. " Unless we feel ourselves undone by the holy, pure, and perfect law of God, we shall never duly prize the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ ; we shall discover nothing in it to command a hearty joy and gratitude to God for its promulgation. Unless we are convinced of the plague of our nature, and of our spiritual diseases and infirmities, we shall never apply to that heavenly Physician who alone is in possession of those remedies which can relieve us and make us whole. But if we are truly and thoroughly convinced of our sinful and depraved nature; if we behold with horror its evil effects as manifested in our lives and dispositions ; if we have a lively sense of the dreadful consequences which must ensue, and groan under the burden of our guilt and condemnation ; if our conscience is thor- oughly awakened, and we are laboring in all the au- guish of a wounded spirit; then the Gospel will be truly to us glad tidings ; the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost will be esteemed the most valuable bless- ings; we shall seek after them as after a pearl of great price ; we shall joyfully embrace them; Christ will then appear to us precious, altogether lovely, and the chief among ten thousand." 1
During his residence in Connecticut, Dr. Kewley had been honored with the confidence of his breth- 1 Pages 7 and 8.
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ren, had been chosen a member of the Standing Committee, and a delegate to the General Conven- tion ; and when he removed from the Diocese, it was to assume the rectorship of St. George's Church in the city of New York. Here he manifested the same zealous interest in the salvation of souls, and for three years filled the position which he had reached with distinguished ability and success. But one morning, his arrangements for leave of absence having been previously made, Bishop Hobart was startled by a note from him, written on board the vessel that was to bear him to the shores of Europe, in which he stated that he was returning to his mother, the Church of Rome, to whose service he should henceforth devote himself and all his energies. Many have believed that, while acting in our communion, he was but a Jesuit in the disguise of Protestantism. It is certain that while in Connecticut, he tampered with one or two of the theological students at the Episcopal Acad- emy, and advocated the duty of celibacy in the clergy with all the zeal of a cloistered bachelor in the middle ages. The only notice which Bishop Hobart takes of his relapse in his annual address for 1816, is, " the Rev. John Kewley, M. D., formerly Rector of St. George's Church, has removed to Europe."
Coeval with this event was the perversion of the Rev. Virgil H. Barber, ordained a Deacon by Bishop Jarvis in 1805 and for several years Rector of St. John's Church, Waterbury. In connection with his ministerial duties he engaged in teaching a school of a higher order, required his household to converse in Latin, and when he relinquished his parish in the spring of 1814, and removed from Connecticut to
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Fairfield in the State of New York, he still united the same occupations. He had already signalized himself in the defence of one peculiar tenet. He and the Rev. Benjamin Benham of Brookfield memorialized the General Convention of 1811 to procure from that body a declaration of the invalidity of lay-baptism. The subject of the memorial was debated, but it was resolved to be inexpedient to take any order thereon. Mr. Barber professed to be conscientiously scrupulous about admitting as members of his congregation per- sons who had received no other baptism, and the very next year after the rejection of his memorial, in giving the statistics of his parish, he reported as the number baptized fifty-nine infants and eleven adults, " seven of whom had previously received lay-baptism." Such teachings and such a course were calculated to disturb the minds of Christian people, and their un- happy effects lingered in Waterbury and its vicinity long after his departure. But in 1817 he had sundered all domestic ties, left his family (whom his own treat- ment had learned to undergo a severe discipline ), and joined the Church of Rome - a church in which it is so far from being heretical to accept lay-baptism, that it is not uncommon for midwives to baptize. "It is a well known property of extremes," says Bishop White, " that they are often seen making the connecting points of a circle."
Mr. Barber was a son of the Rev. Daniel Barber of Vermont, whom Bishop Seabury ordained a Deacon in 1786 ; and the steps of the father were not far be- hind those of the son in entering the Romish Com- munion. The elder, after leaving his Protestant friends, spent his life in Georgetown, D. C., but the
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son repaired to the seat of the papacy, and there, in a College of the Jesuits, under the name of Signori Barberini, a travelling clergyman of our Church found him in Passion Week, 1818, and the brief interview must have revived for both the recol- lection of better days. 1
These defections from the Church, being events of singular occurrence, excited at the time much atten- tion. They were soon followed by another, that of the Rev. Calvin White of Derby, -" a humble coun- try clergyman, whose quaintness, learning, and good- heartedness cast a sunbeam upon poverty itself;" and who, in writing to Bishop Hobart, then in charge of the Diocese of Connecticut, touching his views of Roman Catholic authority, said: "If holding these opinions is inconsistent with my holding a peaceable stand upon Protestant ground, I can retire in peace, unwilling to give my Bishop or brethren a moment's discomposure, - my importance in the Church is not worth it, - only asking the blessedness of sitting under mine own vine and mine own fig-tree, disturb-
1 " On being conducted to this person's room, I found him whom I had sought, transformed in appearance as well as name. He received me with great cordiality and joy, but without any wonder or surprise. I spent a short time with him very pleasantly. He spoke with freedom of the rites and ceremonies of his adopted religion, but with perfect delicacy, and the most studied regard to my feelings. There was even a liberality in cen- suring what he thought blame-worthy, which was somewhat surprising in a new convert.
" A hard bed, laid on bare planks, a table, a desk, two or three chairs, a small crucifix, and the pictures of some Romish saints, were all the articles with which his solitary chamber was furnished. He was dressed in the coarse black cassock, which is the habit of his order; the crown of his head was shaved, and both in his countenance and in all the objects around him there was an air of austerity and mortification." - Rev. Wm. Berrian's Travels in France and Italy, pp. 122, 123.
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ing no man, and by none disturbed. I repose my concern upon your paternal bosom, waiting for a reply." 1
At a later date he was displaced from the minis- try by the Bishop of Connecticut, according to the provisions of the Canon, and lived henceforth the life of a quiet layman in sight of the sanctuary where he had so long officiated. Not one of his children then followed him in his doctrinal errors, and he himself at times evinced such an affection for the Episcopal Church as to lead some of his charitable friends to think that his early faith was still in his heart. He did not, however, renounce his connection with the Church of Rome, and died in her communion.
1 Professional Years of Bishop Hobart, p. 332.
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CHAPTER VIII.
CORNER-STONE OF TRINITY CHURCH, NEW HAVEN, LAID; DEATH OF MR. WHITLOCK; ELECTION OF A BISHOP; AND INCREASE OF THE CHURCH.
A. D. 1814-1815.
THE original proprietors of the township of New Haven reserved for public uses a handsome central square. From the beginning, it was occupied with a house of worship and the graves of the dead ; and then with a second meeting-house, and such other buildings as were needed for the convenience and protection of a well-ordered community.
Besides the Chapel of Yale College and a small wooden structure for the Methodists, the only houses of public worship in New Haven in 1812 were the " Middle Brick Meeting-house," belonging to the First Ecclesiastical Society ; just north of this a wooden building, the church of the "United Society;" 1 both Congregational-and Trinity Church, east of the Greg- son Glebe. The First Ecclesiastical Society, rich and prosperous, and led on by a few of its wealthiest members, prepared at the close of that year to re-
1 The house built for the " White Haven Society," known as the Blue Meeting-house, was also standing on the corner of Elm and Church Streets, but the congregation had joined the " Fair Haven Society" on the Green, and the two were incorporated under the name of "The United Societies of White Haven and Fair Haven." They worshipped alternate months in each building. The Legislature in 1815 reduced their corporate title to " The United Society."
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move the "Middle Brick," which had become too small for the congregation, and to erect on its site a larger and more imposing edifice after designs and specifications furnished by a skillful architect. The contractors had scarcely demolished the old building and commenced their new work before the " United Society " - not willing to be outdone by their neigh- bors - engaged in a similar enterprise, and proceeded to build a " costly and splendid meeting-house." Tax- ation, the usual method adopted in such cases to raise the necessary funds, was not resorted to here, since a number of leading men in each society stipulated, on certain conditions, to complete the buildings and to reimburse themselves for their expenditures by the sale of pews.
The plan to erect a new church had, for some time, been simmering in the minds of the vestry of Trinity Parish, and these movements on the part of the Con- gregationalists served to quicken those of the Episco- palians. They could not but feel that it would greatly promote their prosperity to substitute for the old wooden edifice on Church Street, a stately Gothic structure built of stone in a commanding position on the public square. Drawings were, therefore, ob- tained from the same architect who had been em- ployed by the First Ecclesiastical Society, and a novel and unique scheme was immediately set on foot to secure their execution. At a legal meeting of the parish, held October 18, 1813, the plan or agreement submitted by the vestry for raising funds to build a church, was accepted on the terms and conditions there- in named. The preamble of this plan stated that the members were " desirous of erecting a new church on
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the Green, south of the Court house, for the better accommodation of the congregation, and at the same time to provide that the parish, by the rents of the pews, shall be enabled not only to defray the charge of building such church, but also eventually to dis- charge thereby the annual expenses of the Society." The amount of expense of the new church was di- vided into shares of fifty dollars each, payable in in- stallments as the money should be wanted, and the wardens and vestrymen for the time being, under whose direction it was to be built, were authorized to proceed with the work when four hundred shares were subscribed for, but no subscriber was to be liable for more than fifty dollars upon each share of stock. When the building was finished, certificates were to be issued to the stockholders, the stock being trans- ferable, and the annual rent of the pews was to be considered as pledged for the payment of the interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum, and any sur- plus was to be applied from time to time towards the reduction of the principal, but in no event was the " Society of Trinity Church to be held responsible for the payment of such principal or interest, or any part thereof." The Society might redeem at its pleasure " the amount of the capital stock or any part " of it, and upon its redemption in full the new church was to become the absolute property of Trinity Parish. There was another stipulation in these words. "If at any time after the expiration of four years from the completion of the new church, it shall appear that the rents of the pews and slips shall be insuffi- cient to pay the interest upon the stock, then the wardens and vestry may sell said pews and slips, or
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any part thereof at their discretion, and apply the avails of such sales to the payment of the principal and interest of said stock, provided, however, that no such sale shall be made without the consent first obtained of stockholders to the amount of three hun- dred shares ; and provided, also, that the consent to such sale shall be given by the Bishop of the Dio- cese ; and in case the Episcopal office be vacant, then no such sale shall be made without the consent of the Standing Committee."
The subscription to all the articles of agreement was upon the further condition that when the new church was built, it was to be used by the Episcopa- lians of the city, and the old edifice on Church Street was to be no longer occupied as a place of public worship. Upwards of five hundred shares had been subscribed for when the parish voted its approval of the plan and authorized the vestry to proceed. 1 Thus three costly houses of public worship were going up
1 " In all the official proceedings with regard to the new church, the site is uniformly designated as on the Green, south of the Court-house. As the old Court-house has long since passed away, the meaning of this may not be well understood without a word of explanation. The Court-house was an old and ill-looking structure, located near the southeast corner of the centre green, and projecting into what is known as Temple Street. It stood nearly on a parallel line with the old meeting-house of the First Ec- clesiastical Society. That meeting-house was at the time to be demolished, and a portion of its place occupied by the graceful and symmetrical build- ing, called the Centre Church. On the opposite or northeast corner of the Green, a new meeting-house was also in progress of erection for the 'United Society ' so called in law, but generally known as the North Church. The right of building Trinity Church on the corner south of the Court-house was obtained with great difficulty, on account of the jealousies existing on the part of the Congregational societies. After it was obtained, therefore, no legal measure or usage was omitted that might be necessary to secure and hold its possession."-Rev. Dr. H. Croswell's Annals of Trinity Parish, MS.
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on the Green, side by side and nearly equidistant from each other, at the same time during the war of 1812, - a war which so far had not diminished the gains of the merchants and traders of New Haven. The 16th day of May, 1814, was fixed upon for the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of Trinity Church, and the Rector, the Rev. Henry Whitlock, being absent on a journey for his health, the Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis of New York, " son of Abraham, late Bishop of Connect- icut," was requested to perform divine service on the occasion and make the address. The religious cere- monies were postponed until the 17th on account of a storm, and on that day the congregation assembled in the old church for Morning Prayer, and then a procession was formed to the foundations of the new edifice, where the remaining services were held in the presence of a large concourse of people. The address of the Rev. Mr. Jarvis was a finished production, in which he spoke of " the elegances of life and the re- finements of taste," being the gifts of God as much as any other blessings that we enjoy, and added : - " In this view, it is a source of great pleasure, that you, my brethren, will set a laudable example to your fellow-Christians by erecting your church according to a mode of architecture of which, as yet, there is not a perfect and pure specimen through the whole of the American republic." Before such an assem- blage and at such a time, some allusion to Dr. Hubbard and his own father, both recently deceased, was nat- ural, and the address concluded thus : -
" If blessed spirits, after they have left this busy stage of being, take any interest in its affairs (and I know not that either reason or religion will forbid the
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thought), with what delight must your late venerable Rector, and the friend of his early years, his compan- ion in life, and his speedy follower in death, behold this present scene! You will remember with what in- terest they thought and spoke of this event. For more than five years did they cherish the hope of seeing this church erected ; nor was it till after repeated dis- appointments, that at length they discarded with re- luctance, what seemed at that time to be a fruitless expectation. The feelings of our nature compel us to regret that their evening hours were not gilded by the same prospect which now cheers our view. But it would not become us to repine at the dispensations of Heaven. All events are in the hands of an omniscient God, and it was his pleasure to remove them, we trust to a happier state of being, without having the warm wishes of their hearts gratified. Instead of lament- ing their absence, let us rather be thankful that we are permitted to be present on this joyful occasion ; and let us learn from this signal instance not to de- spond, if engaged in a laudable cause, even when our exertions seem to be most ineffectual. The provi- dence of God often brings about events when they are least expected. Eighteen months have scarcely elapsed since all hope and all expectation that this stone would be laid, seemed as unsubstantial as a morning dream."
While the walls of the new church were slowly rising, the hopes of the parishioners in regard to the recovery of their Rector were gradually diminishing. The health of Mr. Whitlock slowly declined. The pro- gress of the disease which had fastened itself upon him was not abated by the suspension of his labors, and he
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began to feel that he should never be able to resume his parochial duties. In the summer of 1814, when his pulpit was supplied from Cheshire, the Rev. H. Croswell of Hudson, N. Y., then in deacon's orders, spent a Sunday in New Haven, and it so happened that both of the clergymen who had been officiating temporarily were absent on that day, and a theologi- cal student had been sent to take their place as lay- reader. The services of the visiting minister, there- fore, were solicited, and he filled the vacancy with great acceptance to the congregation. "On the fol- lowing morning," said he, "I called to pay my respects to Mr. Whitlock. It was my first and only acquain- tance with him. I was struck with his saint-like ap-
pearance. A spectacle of more lovely Christian faith and humility I never witnessed. He was pale, emaci- ated, feeble, and could scarcely speak above a whisper. He seemed under a little restraint, while his family were present; but the moment he found himself alone with me, he expressed his views of his condi- tion with entire freedom." 1
In the hope of prolonging his days and possibly of being in a measure restored, Mr. Whitlock resolved to seek a southern climate, and early in the autumn of this year he made his arrangements, and leaving his family behind took his departure from New Haven. Soon after the commencement of his journey, he com- municated his proposal to retire from the rectorship, in consequence of ill health, and "requested the par- ish to join with him in asking of the ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese, a dissolution of their pas- toral connection." His request was acceded to and 1 Annals of Trinity Parish, MS.
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the parish voted to pay him, annually, two hundred and fifty dollars for a period of four years, from Oc- tober 21, 1814, the date of his letter of resignation. At the same meeting (October 31st) measures were adopted to fill the vacancy thus created, and the Rev. Harry Croswell was invited to settle as the minister of the parish at a salary of one thousand dollars per annum, which had been the salary allowed to Mr. Whitlock. He ultimately accepted the invitation, and preached his introductory sermons on the first day of the ensuing January, which was Sunday, and made an affecting allusion in one of them to the former rec- tor of the church "even now," to quote his words, "in a distant land, withering as the grass and fading as the flower under the hand of disease." It heightened the melancholy interest of the occasion that, on the same day, an infant daughter of Mr. Whitlock, born during his absence, was presented for baptism by the mother in conformity with the wishes of her husband. Intel- ligence at that period travelled slowly, and though he was arrested in his progress further South, and had died at Fayetteville, N. C., on Christmas-day, yet the news of his decease did not reach New Haven until the lapse of nearly a fortnight.
Of the fourteen years of Mr. Whitlock's ministry, the last ten were passed in Connecticut, where he was honored and greatly beloved by his brethren. He was but thirty-six when he died, and few clergy- men were ever more truly enthroned in the affec- tions of their people, or had richer prospects of use- fulness than he, when he became prostrated by the disease which finally terminated his life. His three published discourses, one delivered before the Conven- VOL. II. 8
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tion of the Diocese in 1806, another at the institution into the rectorship of Christ Church, Hartford, of the Rev. Philander Chase, -whom he calls "my dear brother and friend of my youth,"- and the third delivered at the interment of Dr. Hubbard, all bear marks of Christian scholarship, and of a mind sancti- fied in the love of his Divine Master, and devoted to the edification of " the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
At the Annual Convention, which met in Middle- town on the 7th of June, 1815, twenty-nine clergy- men and thirty-eight lay-delegates were present. There were some new names in both orders; and in the clerical, two or three that afterwards filled a prominent place in the history of the Diocese. Reu- ben Sherwood had been added to the list of deacons ; and Harry Croswell, who in the earlier portion of his life had been familiar with the schemes of wary poli- ticians, took his seat for the first time in that Conven- tion. "I entered this ecclesiastical body " said he, " with some shades of distrust. But I feel bound and glad to confess, that I was most favorably impressed with the general appearance of this council of the Church. And although it was easy to perceive that it was not wholly exempt from the strivings of ambi- tion, and the workings of jealousy and prejudice, these feelings were more than overbalanced by the general air of reverence and devotion which per- vaded the whole assembly."
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