USA > Connecticut > The history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, from the settlement of the colony to the death of Bishop Seabury > Part 25
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ztion of the Church, and provide for its inherent per- [ tuity in this country. They went into no such f mal election of a Bishop as takes place in these cys. The question with them appears not to have Len so much a choice between candidates, as who vll go upon this mission for a mitre, which was liely to be attended with more sacrifice than emolu- rent, more trial than honor. "Deeply impressed vth anxious apprehension of what might be the fate d the Church in America," they deputed their Sec- rtary (Mr. Jarvis) to proceed to New York and "onsult such of the clergy there as they thought judent on the subject, and to procure their concur- Ince. He was also directed," says Seabury in a letter t the Venerable Society, written at a later date, "to ty to prevail on Rev. Mr. Leaming or me to under- tke a voyage to England, and endeavor to obtain biscopal consecration for Connecticut. Mr. Leaming 6 clined on account of his age and infirmities; and te clergy who were consulted by Mr. Jarvis gave it Ta their decided opinion that I ought, in duty to the e hurch, to comply with the request of the Connec- tout clergy. Though I foresaw many and great dif- fulties in the way, yet, as I hoped they might all be Prercome, and as Mr. Jarvis had no instruction to Take the proposal to any one besides, and was, with une other clergy, of opinion the design would drop if np Ideclined it, I gave my consent."
Though born in the colony, and a graduate of Yale ollege, Seabury had exercised no part of his ministry Connecticut. His father had been a Missionary of e Church of England at New London for ten years; it the son had found the fields of his labor in New Jer-
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sey, on Long Island, and in Westchester, N. Y., and, a already stated, for a brief time, during the Revolution ary war, he was "in duress vile," in his native State, fo active hostility to the measures of the Congressiona government. Objections were made to him on this ac count, and on the ground of his being a refugee; bu they were all overruled, and he was the second choic of the clergy of Connecticut to become their apostoli head, and early in June, 1783, he set sail for England t seek the accomplishment of their wishes, bearing with him such credentials as could be most readily obtained
Among these was the letter of the clergy to th Archbishop of York, -the see of Canterbury being va cant, -written in their behalf by Abraham Jarvis, wh dated it at New York, and signed himself "Ministe of the Episcopal Church in Middletown, and Secre tary of the Convention." After mentioning that "the establishment of an American Episcopate had long been an object of anxious concern to them and te many of their brethren in other parts of this conti nent," they proceeded to recite: "The attainment o this object appears to have been hitherto obstructer by considerations of a political nature, which we cor ceive were founded in groundless jealousies and mis apprehensions that can no longer be supposed to ex ist; and therefore, whatever may be the effect o independency on this country in other respects, w presume it will be allowed to open a door for renew ing the application which we consider as not only sea sonable, but more than ever necessary at this time because, if it be now any longer neglected, there i reason to apprehend that a plan of a very extraor dinary nature, lately formed and published in Phila
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elphia, may be carried into execution. This plan is, brief, to constitute a nominal Episcopate by the ited suffrages of presbyters and laymen.1 The pe- liar situation of the Episcopal churches in Amer- a, and the necessity of adopting some speedy remedy r the want of a regular Episcopate, are offered, in he publication alluded to, as reasons fully sufficient justify the scheme. Whatever influence this pro- ect may have on the minds of the ignorant or unprin- pled part of the laity, or however it may, possibly, e countenanced by some of the clergy in other parts the country, we think it our duty to reject such a urious substitute for Episcopacy, and, as far as may e in our power, to prevent its taking effect.
"To lay the foundation, therefore, for a valid and gular Episcopate in America, we earnestly entreat our Grace, that, in your Archiepiscopal character, ou will espouse the cause of our sinking Church, and ; this important crisis afford her that relief on which nter very existence depends, by consecrating a Bishop
1 The author of this plan was the Rev. William White, (afterwards shop White,) and, without retracting its leading sentiments, he spoke of some years later in his Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church thus : Soon after the publication of the pamphlet, the author found himself in inger of being involved in a dispute with the clergy of Connecticut, in ex e name of whom, assembled in Convention, their Secretary, the Rev. braham Jarvis, addressed a letter complaining of the performance, al- ough doubtless mistaking the object of it. The letter was answered, it hoped, in a friendly manner, and there the matter ended. The same onvention, in an address sent by them to the Archbishop of York, al- ded to the pamphlet as evidence of a design entertained to set up an piscopacy on the ground of presbyterial and lay authority. No per- nal animosity became the result of this misapprehension; and other ents have manifested consent in all matters essential to ecclesiastical scipline." The pamphlet was published before the acknowledgment of dependence. - Bishop White's Memoirs, p. 90.
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for Connecticut. The person whom we have pre vailed upon to offer himself to your Grace for tha purpose, is the Reverend Doctor Samuel Seabury,1 wh has been the Society's worthy Missionary for man years. He was born and educated in Connecticut he is personally known to us, and we believe him t be every way well qualified for the Episcopal office and for the discharge of those duties peculiar to it i the present trying and dangerous times."
The letter of the Connecticut clergy was supporte by the united testimonial of Leaming, Charles Ingli Rector of Trinity Church, New York, Benjamin Moore his Assistant Minister, and others. They added separate communication to the Archbishop, enforcin the claims of the candidate, and expressing thei earnest wishes for the success of his undertaking. "I humble confidence," said they, "that your Grace wi consider the object of this application as a measur worthy of your zealous patronage, we beg leave t remind your Grace, that several legacies have been at different times, bequeathed for the support c Bishops in America, and to express our hopes tha some part of these legacies, or of the interest arisin from them, may be appropriated to the maintenanc of Doctor Seabury, in case he is consecrated an settles in America. We conceive that the separatio of this country from the parent State can be no re: sonable bar to such appropriation, nor invalidate th title of American Bishops, who derive their consecra tion from the Church of England, to the benefit o 0 those legacies. And, perhaps, this charitable assis
1 The University of Oxford conferred upon him the degree of Doct of Divinity, December 15, 1777.
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ace is now more necessary than it would have been ad not the empire been dismembered."
Dr. Seabury arrived in London on the 7th of July; id, leaving him there to contend with unexpected scouragements, to overcome, if possible, the ob- acles which rose in his path and checked the ad- uncement of his purpose, let us return to examine e condition and prospects of the clergy and their trishes in Connecticut.
During the progress of the struggle it was not easy, perhaps, to distinguish between those conscientious load pure minded men who from religious principle led hered to the cause of the Crown, and that corrupt mind base class whose loyalty consisted in fleeing thom danger, in abusing their own country and the que patriots who were shaping its destiny. But if e e termination of the war could not have been fol- wed by an oblivion of its offences, the bitterness of ve e triumphant party ought at least to have abated, beand acts of proscription and banishment should have rt en immediately repealed. "At the peace," says thebine, "a majority of the Whigs of several of the ristates committed a great crime;" and he cites Mas- name chusetts, Virginia, and New York, as "adopting I amMeasures of inexcusable severity" towards the hum- matinned and unhappy Loyalists. Instead of compen- o renting them for their losses, as recommended in te the final treaty, a disposition was evinced to make secreir condition uncomfortable, and to place them be- fit ond the pale of a generous sympathy. Sir Guy arleton, before evacuating New York, wrote to the ID resident of Congress that the Loyalists "conceived e safety of their lives to depend on his removing
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them;" and the British Government, by way of doing what it could not accomplish in the negotiations fo peace, offered them inducements to withdraw an settle in their own provinces on the northern fron iers. By the end of the year 1783, so great ha been the emigration to the British territory, that nc less than thirty thousand persons from New Yor and the other colonies had arrived in Nova Scotia and about one third of these, attracted by the beaut and security of the harbor, planted themselves : Shelburne, and soon exhausted their means in build ing a town where nature opposed insuperable barrie: to its prosperity. It was to most of them a pitifi reverse in life; and we are told that, "on their fir: arrival, lines of women could be seen sitting on th rocks of the shore and weeping at their altered coz dition."1
Among the thousands thus expatriated were som of the most intelligent and highly educated peop on this continent, -clergymen, lawyers, physician merchants, artisans, agriculturists. The change them from their old house-roofs to the rigors of severer climate and the straits of new habitations w. anything but favorable, and many a grave was du for the disappointed exiles before the first winter ha passed away. Their case had not been overlook in Parliament, for Burke, Sheridan, Wilberforce, al others lifted up their voice in earnest and solemn co demnation of that part of the treaty which deliver over the unfortunate Loyalists to the tender merci of their enemies, "without the least notice taken their civil and religious rights." One nobleman in tl off 1 Hawkins, p. 373. BI
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House of Lords (Lord Sackville) regarded their "aban- onment as a thing of so atrocious a kind, that, if it ad not been already painted in all its horrid colors, e should have attempted the ungracious task, but ever should have been able to describe the cruelty language as strong and expressive as were his elings."
Connecticut, to her praise be it said, did not share the spirit of resentment and oppression that ap- eared elsewhere. She knew very well that the Loy- ists within her borders had suffered severely during ie war at the hands of their friends; and if the Gen- al Assembly neglected to obey the recommendation Congress and restore their losses, it by no means llowed them with the rod of persecution. But they ere not in good repute with the public authorities, id scorn was likely to attend many of them for 0 pars to come. Fearful of this, and lured with the ospect of retrieving their broken fortunes under the overnment to which they had given their sympa- ies, and for whose triumph they had secretly prayed, rge numbers of churchmen, with their pastors, gath- med up their personal effects and emigrated to Nova cotia and the adjoining territory. A few of them hterwards returned and renewed here their interests okand their business; but the rest remained, and with heir descendants they have marked, to a certain edegree, the regions where they settled with the thrift ven erci en New-England enterprise. The clergy who had een deprived of their stipends from the Society by ie acknowledgment of American independence, were fered new Missions, with increased salaries, in the ritish Provinces, besides grants of land; and Viets e
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of Simsbury, who had served his people so accepta- bly for nearly twenty-eight years, amid the violence of persecution and war, was one of the number to avail himself of this liberality. He delivered "a seri- ous Address and Farewell Charge to the members of the Church of England in Simsbury and the adjacent parts," before leaving, which was afterwards printed, and in which he stated: "From the year 1759 to the present time [1787], the number of conformists to the Church has increased from seventy-five to more than two hundred and eighty families, exclusive of the many that have emigrated and the few that have apostatized."
Andrews, beloved as a man and a minister in the scene of his nativity, turned his face, two years earlier, in that direction, and became the first Rector of St Andrew's Church in the parish of St. Andrews, New Brunswick. Scovill,1 his neighbor at Waterbury, con- trary to the wishes and entreaties of some of his be friends, dissolved his relations with his parish, and ho accepted inviting proposals to remove into the samente province. And then Richard Samuel Clark joined hisft name to the list of Missionaries in the new field, and n Nichols relinquished his charge and withdrew from the State. These removals of people and priests weak o ened the already feeble parishes in Connecticut, and Co
1 " In 1785, Mr. Scovill, against the advice of some of his friends, wen to New Brunswick. He did not, however, at once remove his family For three successive years he returned and officiated in the winter seaso. in his old church." - Bronson's Hist. of Waterbury, p. 302.
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The same remark will apply in a measure to others. The Massachusetts Gazette of October 24th, 1786, notes the arrival of a vessel at New Haver ou from St. John's, New Brunswick, with nearly thirty passengers, "among ain whom were the Rev. Messrs. Scovill, Andrews, and Clark."
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required all the zeal and firmness of those who were eft behind to keep alive the headless Church, until, nder better auspices, its order and Liturgy might be evised and adapted to the new form of civil govern- hent. Hubbard and Jarvis, two friends whose inti- acy had been cemented by the same voyage to Eng- und for Holy Orders; Leaming and Dibblee, Mansfield nd Marshall, Newton, Fogg, and Tyler, with some ue-hearted and far-seeing laymen, strengthened the hings that remained, and besought the flocks not scatter or become despondent. They encouraged nem with the hope of returning prosperity; and being 1 men of irreproachable character in private life, leir influence was felt and their admonitions heeded. eabury wrote from London in May, 1784: "There one piece of intelligence that we have heard from ova Scotia that gives me some uneasiness, namely, at Messrs. Andrews, Hubbard, and Scovill are ex- ected in Nova Scotia this summer, with a large por- on of their congregations. This intelligence oper- es against me; for if these gentlemen cannot, or they and their congregations do not choose to stay Connecticut, why should a Bishop go there? I hiswer: One reason of their going is the hope of en- ying their religion fully, which they cannot do in onnecticut without a Bishop."
The emigration to the Provinces was checked; and ough the Loyalists applied to Parliament for relief, ad the King, in his speech from the throne, recom- ended attention to their claims, and pensions and bunties in land were subsequently allowed to chap- ins, officers, and soldiers who had steadily adhered the Crown, yet the fate of many who withdrew was orse than if they had lingered behind and shared
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the fortunes of their friends in the States. Of the clergy who were scattered by the political storms of that period, none suffered greater pecuniary loss than the Rev. Dr. Inglis of New York; and because his name has frequently appeared in the course of our researches and was closely linked with the Church in Connecti- cut, it is proper, before closing this chapter, to recur to him again, and trace a page of his later history Not only was his private estate, large through hi wife, confiscated, but he was compelled also to aban don his Rectory; and in this misfortune he applied to the Venerable Society for permission to accompany some Loyalists of his congregation to Annapolis, Nova Scotia. His learning, his accomplishments, and hi piety shone there conspicuously among the other Missionaries, as they had shone in the scene of hi former labors; so that, to use the words of Dr. Butler the Bishop of Oxford, in his Anniversary Sermoi before the Society in 1784, "An infant church i rising, under the favor and protection of Government in Nova Scotia; and it is of a singular description consisting of honorable exiles, under the pastoral car of fellow-sufferers." When it was wisely determine to erect this and the neighboring British Colonie into a See, the person fixed upon to fill it was D: Chandler,1 that resolute champion for an American
1 The clergy of New York, in their letter to the Archbishop, comment ing to his regard the object of Dr. Seabury's visit, added : " We take th opportunity to inform your Grace, that we have consulted his Excellenc' Sir Guy Carleton, on the subject of procuring the appointment of a Bishc for the Province of Nova Scotia, on which he has expressed to us his el tire approbation, and has written to administration, warmly recommend ing the measure. We took the liberty, at the same time, of mentionir our worthy brother, the Rev. Doctor Thomas B. Chandler, to His Exce lency, as a person every way qualified to discharge the duties of the Episc pal office in that Province with dignity and honor. And we hope for You
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piscopate, who had used his pen with such distin- uished ability; but a fatal malady occasioned him jany sufferings, and he was compelled to decline an devation which he had so well merited. Being per- fitted to suggest a suitable candidate, he gave the mme of Rev. Charles Inglis, D. D .; and that gentle- jan was consecrated Bishop of Nova Scotia on the 2th of August, 1787, and the legacies left in Eng- Ind to establish an American Episcopate first inured this benefit. The mitre which he wore for nearly Itirty years subsequently fell upon his son; and the a Church under their jurisdiction, planted in such a Nogrange way, the Lord "has made strong for himself." It is impossible not to feel a respect for the men theho endured so many privations and bore so many flowns, that they might be consistent with themselves tleand save the communion which they venerated and moved.
"The character of those worthies," is the testimony nen tion car ine the Bishop of Oxford, from whose sermon we have st quoted, "will entitle them to a lasting memorial some future impartial history of the late events in at country. Their firm perseverance in their duty, onie nidst temptations, menaces, and in some cases cru- Dity, would have distinguished them as meritorious ricanen in better times. In the present age, when per- cution has tried the constancy of very few suffer- ke thus for conscience here, so many in one cause argue menos larger portion of disinterested virtue still existing Bisho bis mewhere among mankind than a severe observer the world might be disposed to admit."
ace's approbation of what we have done in that matter, and for the con- Epis rence of your influence with Sir Guy Carleton's recommendation in "Ipomoting the design."
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CHAPTER XXVII.
ARRIVAL OF SEABURY IN LONDON, AND IMPEDIMENTS 1 ) HIS CONSECRATION. CONSECRATED IN SCOTLAND. RETUEN TO CONNECTICUT, AND PRIMARY CONVENTION AT MIDDLETOWN
A. D. 1784-1785.
ON arriving at London and presenting his testi monials, Dr. Seabury found political or state imped iments in the way of his consecration. The Arch bishops, both of Canterbury and York, appeared to be sensible of the merits of his application, and con vinced of the necessity of transmitting the Episcopat to the United States, if it was intended to preserv here the Church in its integrity. But they foresav great difficulties, and were much embarrassed bath various considerations : among them, that it woul be sending a Bishop to Connecticut, which they ha Ch no right to do without the consent of the State he that the Bishop would not be received in Connect the cut ; that there would be no adequate provision fc the him; and, finally, that the oaths in the Ordinatio bbi Office, imposed by Act of Parliament, could not beer omitted by the simple dispensation of the King.
So much importance did Dr. Seabury attach to th Ind first of these considerations, and so anxious was he 1lgu see the Episcopate introduced into this country, tha Fid he immediately wrote to his friends in Connecticu Ind and suggested that they should apply to the prope
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authority for permission to have a Bishop reside in Te State; at the same time offering to surrender his ovn claims in favor of any Presbyter who might be greeable to them and less obnoxious to the public. 'The State of Connecticut," said he, "may consent at a Bishop should reside among them, though they might not consent that I should be the man."
The clergy lost no time in acting upon this sug- estion, for, shortly after receiving it, they met in Convention at Wallingford, and "voted that the lead- ag members of both Houses of Assembly, which was teden sitting at New Haven, should be conferred with, far as the proposed difficulties had reference to the Arvil government; " and they appointed Messrs. Leam- ed g, Jarvis, and Hubbard a committee to further the ject of this vote. They learned by the conference hat they communicated to Dr. Seabury: that no ecial Act of the Assembly was needed in the case ; res at a general law had been passed embracing the hurch, and comprehending all the legal rights and soupowers intended to be given to any denomination of hristians ; and if a Bishop came, he would stand, by State e provisions of that law, upon the same ground as nectte rest of the clergy, or the Church at large. With n fueir communication, which touched upon the other atio jections that had been raised, the Committee sent ot Fortified copies of the law, which were slow in reach- g their destination ; but the letter did good service, o tid "enabled me," said Seabury, using a military he gure, "to open a new battery, which I will mount th ith the heaviest cannon and mortars I can muster, tied will play them as vigorously as possible."
The " battery," however, did not demolish the oppo-
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sition to his consecration. If it weakened the force of the other objections, it did not remove the great impediment of the State oaths. The American Episco- pate had been a subtle ministerial affair for more than half a century, and nobody in England now seemed willing to risk anything for the sake of the Church, or for the sake of continuing Episcopal ordinations in this country. An Act was passed "to empower the Bishop of London for the time being, and any other Bishop to be by him appointed, to admit to the order of deacon or priest persons being subjects or citizens of countries out of His Majesty's dominions, without re- quiring them to take the oath of allegiance as ap- pointed by law;"1 and a few candidates who embarked for England, soon after the cessation of hostilities, were ordained under this privilege, and returned to their own country. But consecration to the Apostolic office was viewed from another standpoint, and held in abeyance, "partly from an apprehension of giving umbrage to a Power with whom a treaty of peace had but lately been signed." It was, at length, decided to be necessary to apply to Parliament for an Act "to enable the Bishops to proceed without incurring a Premunire ;" and while the incipient measures were concerting, and Seabury was flattered with every pros- pect of success, he wrote to the clergy of Connecti- cut towards the end of July, 1784, and thus fore- shadowed the course that he might yet be compelled to take.
" But everything here is attended with uncertainty till it is actually done. Men or measures, or both, may be changed to-morrow, and then all will be to go 1 Hawkins, p. 403.
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ough again. However, I shall wait the issue of the pesent session of Parliament, which, it is the common onion, will continue a month longer. If nothing be dne, I shall give up the matter here as unattainable, ad apply to the North, unless I should receive con- tiry directions from the clergy of Connecticut."
He had previously written that there was "nothing nt base that he would not do, nor any risk that he would not run, nor any inconvenience to himself that h would not encounter, to carry this business into efect;" and clergymen of influence and extensive aquirements had directed his attention to the Scotch sccession, and assured him that "it was equal to any in the world." Among this number was the eldest en of the Bishop of Cloyne, - a prebendary of Can- bury, - that fast friend to the Church in America vio had so long corresponded with the younger John- sh, and manifested his interest in both the civil and eclesiastical relations of the colonies. As early as 182, while the struggle of the American Revolution ns approaching its end, and before any attempt to or- gnize had been undertaken in Connecticut, Berkeley ¿ sggested to a Presbyter of Aberdeen, (the Rev. John r. tinner, afterwards Bishop Skinner,) "that a most im- portant good might ere long be derived to the suffer- erig and nearly neglected sons of Episcopacy on the other side of the Atlantic from the suffering Church of I gotland." Writing to him again, after his consecra- on to the higher office, he reinforced his original nggestion, and said: "From the Churches of England otad Ireland, America will not now receive the Epis- pate: if she might, I am persuaded that many of Er sons would joyfully receive Bishops from Scotland. 1 1
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