USA > Connecticut > The history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, from the settlement of the colony to the death of Bishop Seabury > Part 26
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The question, then, shortly is, Can any proper per- sons be found who, with the spirit of confessors, would convey the great blessing of the Protestant Episcopate from the persecuted Church of Scotland to the strug- gling, persecuted Protestant Episcopalian worshippers in America ? If so, is it not the duty of all and every Bishop of the Church in Scotland to contribute to- wards sending into the New World Protestant Bishops, before general assemblies can be held and covenante taken for their perpetual exclusion ? Liberavi animam meam."
Bishop Skinner returned a discouraging answer to this letter, and correctly observed: "Nothing can be done in the affair, with safety on our side, till the in- dependence of America be fully and irrevocably rec- ognized by the Government of Great Britain; and even then the enemies of our Church might make a handle of our correspondence with the colonies, as a proof that we always wished to fish in troublec waters; and we have little need to give any ground for an imputation of that kind."
The Bishops of the Church in Scotland were non jurors, successors of those English prelates who, a the Revolution1 of 1688, were deprived of their reve nues and dignity by the civil power, because the' refused to disown submission to James the Second and swear allegiance to William the Third. The validity of their orders was undoubted, and the onl' objection to them was on the score of their politica principles. With these the Church in this country of course, had nothing to do; for, separated from al the entangling alliances of the State, she was hence
1 Anderson's Colonial Church, Vol. II. p. 531, et seq.
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feth to depend, under God, for prosperity upon the zal, the energy, the prudence, and the piety of her cergy and laity. Seeing no prospect of accomplish- "g his object with the English prelates, "the Ministry hving refused to permit a Bishop to be consecrated fe Connecticut, or for any other of the thirteen States, vthout the formal request, or at least consent of Ongress," and unwilling to be longer detained in Indon at an expense inconvenient to himself, Dr. Labury turned his face towards Scotland, where he fund the way prepared for his cordial reception, and te nonjuring Bishops ready to bestow on him the gft of the Episcopate, in spite of all obstacles raised 1 his person or to the manner of his election. Ac- ordingly he was consecrated in an upper room at berdeen, November 14, 1784, by Robert Kilgour, Primus Bishop of Aberdeen, assisted by Arthur Petrie, te Bishop of Ross and Moray, and John Skinner, the oadjutor Bishop of Aberdeen. "Anciently no Bishop il Scotland had the style of Archbishop, but one of em had a precedency under the title of Primus cotic Episcopus; and after the Revolution they re- irned to their old style, which they still retain, one f them being entitled Primus, to whom precedency is lowed and deference paid in the Synod of Bishops."
Thus then three prelates of the Church in Scotland ranted what the British Government, from views of olitical expediency, at first denied, -a valid Epis- opacy to this Western World. "Unacquainted with he politics of nations," said they, in their letter to he clergy of Connecticut, "and under no temptation o interfere in matters foreign to us, we have no other bject in view but the interest of the Mediator's king-
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dom, no higher ambition than to do our duty as mea sengers of the Prince of Peace. In the discharge of this duty, the example which we wish to copy afte is that of the Primitive Church, while in a simila situation, unconnected with, and unsupported by the temporal powers." They shared the sentiment sc fearlessly expressed by Bishop Skinner in his conse cration sermon, which was afterwards published, that "as long as there are nations to be instructed in th principles of the Gospel, or a church to be formed in any part of the inhabited world, the successors of th Apostles are obliged, by the commission which the; hold, to contribute, as far as they can, or may be re quired of them, to the propagation of those principle. and to the formation of every church upon the mos pure and primitive model. No fear of worldly censur ought to keep them back from so good a work; n connection with any State, nor dependence on an government whatever, should tie up their hands from communicating the blessings of that 'kingdom whic is not of this world,' and diffusing the means of salv: tion, by a valid and regular ministry, wherever the may be wanted."
Some of the English Bishops were not entirel pleased with all the steps attending the consecratio of Dr. Seabury, but they could do no less than con mend him in their hearts for his zeal in so good cause; and believing Episcopacy to be a divine inst tution, they could not really censure its transmissio through so pure a channel to the Western World. H friends vindicated his course; and Dr. Horne, Dean ( Canterbury and the Commentator on the Psalms, wri ing to him a few weeks after his consecration, said: “
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m truly sorry that our Cabinet here would not save ou the trouble of going to Scotland for it. There some uneasiness about it, I find, since it is done. is said you have been precipitate. I should be in- ined to think so too, had any hopes been left of obtaining consecration from England. But if none ere left, what could you do but what you have one ?" And Bishop Seabury replied: "God grant hat I may never have greater cause to condemn yself than in the conduct of this business. I have ndeavored to get it forward easily and quietly, with- it noise, party, or heat; and I cannot but be pleased hat no fault but precipitancy is brought against me. hat implies that I have needlessly hurried the mat- r, but is an acknowledgment that the measure was ght in itself." His consecration was the means of pening a correspondence between Bishop Skinner had several eminent men of England, which after- ards proved of essential benefit to the Church of cotland.
Having completed his business at Aberdeen, the thi ewly consecrated Bishop retraced his steps to Lon- on, and prepared to embark for the shores of his tirelative land. Before he set sail, he addressed a noble rationd Christian communication to the Secretary of the con od inst enerable Society, reciting briefly the origin and cir- imstances of his journey to England, and then to cotland, and adding what most intimately concerned isioroth himself and the clergy who were to come under . Hilis Episcopal oversight. "How far," said he, "the an 0 enerable Society may think themselves justifiable in wziontinuing me their Missionary, they only can deter- id: minė. Should they do so, I shall esteem it as a favor.
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Should they do otherwise, I can have no right to com- plain. I beg them to believe that I shall ever retain a grateful sense of their favors to me during thirty- one years that I have been their Missionary, and that I shall remember with the utmost respect the kind attention which they have so long paid to the Church in that country for which I am now to embark. Very happy would it make me, could I be assured they would continue that attention; if not in the same, yet in some degree; if not longer, yet during the lives of their present Missionaries, whose conduct in the late commotions has been irreproachable, and has pro- cured esteem to themselves and respect to that Church to which they belong.
"The fate of individuals is, however, of inferior mo ment when compared with that of the whole Church Whenever the Society shall wholly cease to interes itself in the concerns of religion in America, it wil be a heavy calamity to the Church in that country."
To this manly and ingenuous communication h received an official answer after he had reached New London, the substance of which is contained in th following brief paragraph: "I am directed by the Sc ciety to express their approbation of your service a their Missionary, and to acquaint you that they car not, consistently with their charter, employ any Mi; sionaries except in the plantations, colonies, and far tories belonging to the kingdom of Great Britair your case is of course comprehended under that ger eral rule."
This answer decided the future relations of the Cor necticut clergy to the Venerable Society; and thos who had not removed or did not afterwards remov
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i to the British Provinces, resigned their office as Mis- sonaries, and fell back upon their parishes entirely fr support. The churchmen, though impoverished 17 the war, met, as far as they were able, this new mand upon their generosity. Trinity Church, New Javen, voted to add to the salary of Mr. Hubbard an count equal to the annual stipend which he had re- dived from the Society; and in other places provision ad promises were made to supply the deficiency.
Dr. Seabury was absent from this country full two pars; and in the letter which he wrote from London t the clergy of Connecticut, after his return from Scotland, he said: "My own poverty is one of the greatest discouragements I have. Two years' absence fom my family, and expensive residence here, have more than expended all I had. But in so good a duse, and of such magnitude, something must be isked by somebody. To my lot it has fallen: I have one it cheerfully, and despair not of a happy issue." The next letter, dated June 29th, 1785, announced 1 the Rev. Mr. Jarvis his arrival at New London, and licited the favor of an early interview with him, to consult upon the time and place of holding a Conven- eson of the clergy. No noise attended this first and car disguised entrance of a Protestant Bishop upon the il of New England. He came as a simple Christian fa tizen, and not in any outward pomp and dignity such the adversaries of the Church had apprehended ger fore the war for independence was commenced. hey could well afford to leave him to the quiet pur- Con lit of his Apostolic office, for the political power was nosw in their hands, and if the hated hierarchy that ce flitted before their vision threatened to inter-
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fere with the prerogatives of the State, it could In easily crushed. "The Presbyterian ministers," say Wilberforce,1 "appeared to be rather alarmed; and in consequence of his arrival, assumed and gave on another the style and title of Bishops, which formerl. they reprobated as a remnant of Popery." He wa present at the Annual Commencement of Yale Co lege in 1785; and when some one mentioned the fac to President Stiles, and suggested that he should b invited to a seat among the distinguished personage he replied that "there were already several Bishop upon the stage, but if there was room for another h might occupy it."
With joy did the clergy of Connecticut assemble i Convention at Middletown, on the 3d day of Augus 1785, and publicly welcome and recognize their Bishoy A Concordate "established in mutual good faith an confidence" at Aberdeen, and the pastoral letter ( the Scottish Bishops, were laid before the clergy, an "excited in them the warmest sentiments of grat tude and esteem." At the risk of repeating som things which have already been stated, we cann pass on without quoting a portion of the Address 1 BISHOP SEABURY, unanimously and voluntarily accep ing him as "supreme in the government of the Churc and in the administration of all ecclesiastical affairs."
"The experience of many years had long ago co vinced the whole body of the clergy, and many la members of our communion, of the necessity the: was of having resident Bishops among us. Fully ar publicly was our cause pleaded, and supported by suc arguments as must have carried conviction to tl
1 History of the American Church, p. 168.
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inds of all candid and liberal men. They were, owever, for reasons which we are unable to assign, eglected by our superiors in England. Some of those guments were drawn from our being members of he National Church, and subjects of the British Gov- 'nment. These lost their force upon the separation this country from Great Britain by the late peace. ur case became thereby more desperate, and our iritual necessities were much increased. Filial af- ction still induced us to place confidence in our par- ent Church and country, whose liberality and benevo- Ince we had long experienced, and do most gratefully aknowledge. To this Church was our immediate ap- jication directed, earnestly requesting a Bishop, to allect, govern, and continue our scattered, wandering, had sinking Church; and great was, and still continues at be, our surprise that a request so reasonable in itself, rs congruous to the nature and government of that aChurch, and begging for an officer so absolutely ne- nossary in the Church of Christ, as they and we be- solve a Bishop to be, should be refused. We hope untat the successors of the Apostles in the Church of sshgland have sufficient reasons to justify themselves the world and to God. We, however, know of none ch, nor can our imagination frame any."
Bishop Seabury replied to this passage of the Ad- confess thus: "The surprise you express at the rejec- yhabn of your application in England is natural. But themhere the ecclesiastical and civil constitutions are so y ampsely woven together as they are in that country, suele first characters in the Church for station and therit may find their dispositions rendered ineffect- 1 by the intervention of the civil authority: and
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whether it is better to submit quietly to this state c things in England, or to risk that confusion whic would probably ensue should an amendment be a tempted, demands serious consideration."
The Providence which orders all events in infinit wisdom, may have withheld the Episcopate from America in mercy to the Church, until it could } separated in the popular mind and feeling from a ideas of regal power and oppression. The blendir of the civil and ecclesiastical relations in any for would have excited the jealousy of the sects, and I tarded the restoration and growth of our communio The Church would not have been organized in sur complete harmony with the primitive model; and e tangling alliances with the State would have enclose as in a net, all the efforts of the clergy to advan the cause of pure and undefiled religion.
At this primary Convention in Middletown, Bish Seabury held his first ordination, which was the fi: Protestant Episcopal ordination in this country, a admitted to the Diaconate four candidates, -two them from Connecticut, and long, faithful, and honor servants here in the work of the Church. The R Mr. Leaming, then, from the 18th of April, 1784, t Rector of Christ Church, Stratford, preached the s mon before the Convention; and this and the / dresses and First Charge of the Bishop were print and stitched together in the same pamphlet, fron copy of which another quotation is made, to show forgiving spirit, and his grateful sense of the futi prospects of the Church.
"I have the pleasure to see the day when there a Bishop here, to act as a true Father towards
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cergy, supporting their dignity, as well as his own; to &vern them with impartiality, as well as lenity ; and to ¿mit none to the altar, by ordination, but the wor- ty; to uphold a Church beaten with storms on every sle; to support a Church that has been a bulwark gainst infidelity on the one hand, and Romish super- stion on the other: but by the Divine providence i has continued to this day. And upon this auspi- cous day I cannot forbear to mention (and I do it with pleasure) the conduct of the Civil Rulers of this Sate respecting our Church: they have not only manifested a spirit of benevolence, but an exalted Chris- tan charity ; for which our gratitude is due, and shall paid in obeying all their just commands.
"As the same disposition appears in the ministers ro our neighboring churches to live in Christian har- mony with us, we are all ready to meet them upon Bitle same ground, with a sincerity like their own." 1
e Bishop Seabury's First Charge to the clergy was de- v. Fered the next day, and embraced the points which worse to his mind at that season, as deserving to be spe- really pressed upon their attention. The consideration en one of them was not more proper then than it is stew, and by citing a passage in reference to it, it will he seen how careful the ecclesiastical authority was to ard the entrance to the sacred ministry at a time primen it was so necessary to replenish the ranks. fromAnother matter which my duty requires me to men- LOW n, relates to a business in which you will probably soon called upon to act. I mean the very impor- nt one of giving recommendations to candidates for hemoly Orders. It is impossible that the Bishop should
1 Sermon, pp. 13, 14.
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be personally acquainted with every one who may present himself for Ordination. He must, therefore, depend on the recommendation of his clergy and other people of reputation, for the character and quali- fications of those who shall be presented to him. By qualifications, I mean not so much literary accom- plishments, though these are not to be neglected, as aptitude for the work of the ministry. You must be sensible that a man may have, and deservedly have, an irreproachable moral character, and be endued with pious and devout affections, and a competent share of human learning, and yet, from want of pru- dence, or from deficiency in temper, or some singu- larity in disposition, may not be calculated to make a good clergyman; for to be a good clergyman implies, among other things, that a man be a useful one. A clergyman who does no good, always does hurt. There is no medium. Not only the moral character and learning and abilities of candidates are to be exactly inquired into, but also their good temper, prudence, diligence, and everything by which their usefulness in the ministry may be affected. Nor should their personal appearance, voice, manner, clearness of ex- pression, and facility of communicating their senti- ments, be overlooked. These, which may by some be thought to be only secondary qualifications, and therefore of no great importance, are, however, those that will require your more particular attention, and call for all your prudence. They who shall apply for recommendations, will generally be such as hav passed through a course of academical studies, and must be competently qualified in a literary view."1
1 First Charge, p. 7.
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
RCEEDINGS OF CONVENTIONS OF DELEGATES FROM SEVERAL STATES, AND ATTEMPTS TO UNITE THE CHURCH IN THE NDEPENDENT COLONIES UNDER ONE GENERAL CONSTITU- CION.
A. D. 1785-1786.
ERY little in the way of business was accomplished t the meeting of the clergy in Middletown. The nal reception of the Bishop, the solemn ordination, the public services were the chief attractions of 1 occasion, but some cautious steps were taken to- ds maintaining uniformity of divine worship in Episcopal Church, and adapting the Book of Com- in Prayer to the new civil and ecclesiastical rela- es of the clergy in this country. Two presbyters, of Connecticut, the Rev. Samuel Parker of Boston, the Rev. Benjamin Moore, both of whom were rwards raised to the Episcopate, were in attend- ne, and aided by their counsels, then and subse- ntly, the movement to unite the Church in the teen States under one Liturgy and Constitution. er appointing Messrs. Bowden, Parker, and Jarvis mmittee, to consider and make with the Bishop e alterations in the Prayer Book needful for the sent use, the Convocation adjourned to meet again tNew Haven in September.
t is necessary, at this stage of the history, to look u upon certain proceedings begun and carried on
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elsewhere. As early as May, 1784, ten clergymen and six laymen, from the States of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, assembled at New Bruns- wick, ostensibly to examine into the condition of the Corporation for the Relief of Widows and Orphans, a charitable society whose funds had been dissipated by the war, but really to concert plans for "a Conti- nental representation of the Episcopal Church, and for the better management of its concerns." "The opportunity," says Bishop White, "was improved by the clergy from Pennsylvania of communicating cer- tain measures recently adopted in that State, tend- ing to the organization of the Church throughout the Union." Before they separated, they arranged for an- other informal meeting in October, at the city of New York, and requested three of their number to wait upon the clergy of Connecticut, who were to hold a convention in Trinity week next ensuing, and solicit their cooperation in the projected scheme.
At the voluntary meeting held in New York, Octo- ber 6th and 7th, sixteen clergymen were present from nine of the thirteen States, and eleven laymen. From Massachusetts and Rhode Island appeared the Rev. Samuel Parker, and from Connecticut the Rev. John R. Marshall,-not, as the result showed, to lend any direct aid to the measures in contemplation, but rather in courteous obedience to the request of their breth- ren, and to state distinctly their own views and condi- tion. Mr. Marshall especially, who read his paper of instructions, was only empowered to announce that the clergy of Connecticut felt themselves re- strained by the previous steps which they had taken to obtain the Episcopate, and until the event of their
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application could be known, it would be improper for them "to do anything which might change the ground on which the gentleman of their choice was then standing." There was another objection which was fundamental in their view, and that related to the constitution of the Convention. They were in favor of leaving all ecclesiastical matters to the clergy; and the idea of lay representation in a body legislating for the Church was associated in their minds with that of "the trial and the degradation of clergymen by the same authority." They were opposed also to revision of the Liturgy, and the adoption of any measures affecting the general interest of the Church. n this country, until there was a Bishop to preside over the councils and check undue legislation.
Notwithstanding the refusal of Connecticut by her representative to join in the business of this volun- tary meeting, the body thus assembled recommended to the clergy and congregations of their communion in the several States, to unite in a general ecclesias- tical constitution on certain fundamental principles, which they proceeded to set forth. Among them the first was: "That there shall be a general Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of Amer- ica;" and another, "That the clergy and laity assem- bled in Convention shall deliberate in one body, but shall vote separately; and the concurrence of both shall be necessary to give validity to every measure." They appointed the first meeting of the Convention at Philadelphia, and fixed the time to be "the Tues- day before the Feast of St. Michael," 1785, when they "hoped and earnestly desired that the Episcopal churches in the respective States would send their
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Clerical and Lay Deputies, duly instructed and author- ized to proceed on the necessary business proposed for their deliberation."
The clergy of Connecticut, after they had secured the Episcopate, and fixed the time for their first meet- ing at Middletown, reciprocated the courtesy of their brethren in the Middle and Southern States; and Mr. Leaming, writing to the Rev. Dr. White from Strat- ford, under date of July 14, 1785, invited him and the rest of the Pennsylvania clergy to be present, and then added: "We must all wish for a Christian union of all the churches in the thirteen States, for which good purpose we must allow private convenience to give way to public utility. We have no views of usurping any authority over our brothers and neighbors, but wish them to unite with us in the same friendly man- ner that we are ready and willing to do with them. I must earnestly entreat you to come upon this oc- casion, for the sake of the peace of the Church, for your own satisfaction, in what friendly manner the clergy here would treat you, not to mention what happiness the sight of you would give to your sincere friend and brother."
The only response which came from the Philadel- phia clergy to this cordial letter was an invitation to attend the approaching General Convention. But the Church in Connecticut could not, with self-respect, accept this invitation, for the reason that she was now completely organized, with a Bishop at her head; and the clergy were unwilling to join in any Convention where he was reduced to the level of a Presbyter, or where the validity of his consecration was not fully admitted and recognized. This interchange of civil-
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