USA > Connecticut > The history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, from the settlement of the colony to the death of Bishop Seabury > Part 28
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believe that there was no ground for the allegation. The next morning the point was pushed yet farther, on the motion of a clergyman from South Carolina, when it was again unanimously resolved, "That it . be recommended to the Conventions of the Church, represented in this General Convention, not to admit any person as a Minister within their respective limits, who shall receive ordination from any Bishop residing in America during the application now pending to the English Bishops for Episcopal consecration." "What a ridiculous figure must they make," wrote Mr. Bass of Newburyport to a brother clergyman, after hearing of their action, "in the eyes of every sectary or anti- Episcopalian! In the name of wonder, what objec- tions can be made against the validity of Dr. Sea- bury's ordinations, that may not as well be made against those of the English Bishops?"
Thus matters stood upon the reassembling of the Convention at Wilmington, Delaware, in the ensuing October, to hear the answer of the Archbishops of England to their second Address. The answer, more favorable than had been expected, was framed at a meeting of the Bishops in London to take into con- sideration the whole of the communications which had been forwarded; and a brief extract will best show their sentiments of fraternal regard, and their solici- tude for the integrity of the Church. "It was im- possible," said the Archbishops, writing for all their brethren, "not to observe with concern, that, if the essential doctrines of our common faith were retained, less respect, however, was paid to our Liturgy than its own excellence, and your declared attachment to it, had led us to expect; not to mention a variety
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of verbal alterations, of the necessity or propriety of which we are by no means satisfied, we saw with grief that two of the Confessions of our Christian faith, respectable for their antiquity, have been en- tirely laid aside; and that even in that called the Apostles' Creed, an article is omitted which was thought necessary to be inserted, with a view to a particular heresy, in a very early age of the Church, and has ever since had the venerable sanction of uni- versal reception. Nevertheless, as a proof of the sin- cere desire which we feel to continue in spiritual com- munion with the members of your Church in Amer- ica, and to complete the Orders of your ministry, and trusting that the communications which we shall make to you, on the subject of these and some other alterations, will have their desired effect, we have, even under these circumstances, prepared a Bill for conveying to us the powers necessary for this purpose. It will in a few days be presented to Parliament, and we have the best reasons to hope that it will receive the assent of the Legislature. This Bill will enable the Archbishops and Bishops to give Episcopal consecra- tion to the persons who shall be recommended, with- out requiring from them any oaths or subscriptions inconsistent with the situation in which the late Revo- lution has placed them; upon condition that the full satisfaction of the sufficiency of the persons recom- mended, which you offer to us in your Address, be given to the Archbishops and Bishops."
This "full satisfaction" had reference as well to good learning and doctrinal soundness as to purity of man- ners; and under the head of subscription they re- marked: "We, therefore, most earnestly exhort you,
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that, previously to the time of your making such sub- scription, you restore to its integrity the Apostles' Creed, in which you have omitted an article merely, as it seems, from misapprehension of the sense in which it is understood by our Church; nor can we help add- ing, that we hope you will think it but a decent proof of the attachment which you profess to the services of your Liturgy, to give to the other two Creeds a place in your Book of Common Prayer, even though the use of them should be left discretional. We should be inexcusable too, if at the time when you are re- questing the establishment of Bishops in your Church, we did not strongly represent to you that the eighth article of your Ecclesiastical Constitution appears to us to be a degradation of the clerical, and still more of the Episcopal character. We persuade ourselves, that in your ensuing Convention some alteration will be thought necessary in this article, before this reaches you; or, if not, that due attention will be given to it in consequence of our representation."
All the matters so earnestly and affectionately rec- ommended by the English prelates received the prompt attention of the Convention, and the cherished forms which had been omitted from the Liturgy were at once replaced, except the Athanasian Creed, which it was resolved not to restore. In the full conviction that the negotiations were now satisfactorily con- cluded, a third, but brief address was adopted by the Convention, and the members proceeded to sign tes- timonials in the form prescribed by the Archbishops in favor of Rev. Dr. Samuel Provoost, Rev. Dr. Wil- liam White, and Rev. David Griffith, Bishops elect, re- spectively, of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
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Two of these gentlemen, (Drs. Provoost and White,) on the second day of the ensuing month, embarked for England; the other was too poor to bear the ex- pense of the journey, and the Church in the State over which he was to preside had not raised the requi- site funds to relieve him of the burden. On their arrival in London they were introduced to the Arch- bishop of Canterbury by Mr. Adams, the American Ambassador, "who, in this particular, and in every instance in which his personal attentions could be either of use or an evidence of his respect and kind- ness, continued to manifest his concern for the inter- ests of a Church of which he was not a member." After some delay, they were consecrated in the Chapel of Lambeth Palace, on the 4th of February, 1787, by the two Archbishops, assisted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of Peterborough; and to- wards the end of the same month they returned to America, arriving in New York on the afternoon of Easter Sunday, having had a long and tempestuous voyage, during which Bishop Provoost was so ill that serious apprehensions were felt for his recovery.
No General Convention was again held until the summer of 1789, when, in obedience to the require- ments of the first article of the Constitution, Delegates from the States previously represented reassembled in Christ Church, Philadelphia, -Bishop White being present, and presiding by the right of his office.
But before we look into their deliberations, let us come back to Connecticut, and examine the progress of the Church here during this critical period under the Episcopate of Seabury. No canons and no con- stitution had been adopted, and the ecclesiastical af-
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fairs of the Diocese were wholly managed by the Bishop and his clergy, who assembled at stated times, as had been the practice of the Missionaries before the Revolution. At such meetings all differences be- tween clergymen, and all troubles in parishes were, if possible, adjusted, and candidates for orders were examined, recommended, and approved, and ordina- tions frequently held. The Legislature of the State had enacted a general law to protect all societies and congregations instituted for public religious worship; and the Church, in the absence of anything specially fitted to her rules and customs, was obliged to pro- ceed under this enactment in organizing and estab- lishing her parishes. As yet the number of clergymen was insufficient to supply the old cures, and another vacancy was created in February, 1787, by the death of Newton, so long the honored Rector of the church at Ripton. Zealous efforts however were made to ex- tend the influence of Episcopacy, and churches soon arose at Chatham (now Portland), East Haddam, and Middle Haddam, on the Connecticut River; at Granby and Southington, in Hartford County; at East Plym- buth, Harwinton, and Northfield, in Litchfield County; and at East Haven, Bethany, Hamden, and Meriden, in New Haven County. The organization of the parishes n Southington, Meriden, and Hamden was due to the ministrations of the Rev. Reuben Ives, who, in the be- ginning of 1788, had accepted the Rectorship of the church in Cheshire, his native place, for two thirds of the time, with the privilege of occupying the re- maining third in Missionary duties in the neighboring owns. The church in New Cambridge (now Bristol), which had been occupied for thirty years, was aban-
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doned upon the erection of the edifice at East Plym- outh, then more conveniently located for the major- ity of worshippers. But a new parish was organized in Bristol in 1834, which has outstripped its neigh- bor in prosperity, and has the promise of vigorous continuance. On the 28th of August, 1785, the Rev. Mr. Hubbard "opened the Episcopal Church at Beth- any by the name of Christ Church," and preached, and administered the Sacrament of Baptism to seven in- fants. The church at New London (St. James's) was consecrated September 20, 1787, Bishop Seabury hav- ing previously held his services in the Court-House; but he administered the Holy Communion, usually every Sunday, in the large parlor of the parsonage.
Everything seemed to have been done by the South- ern Conventions to alienate the affections of the New- England clergy, especially of those resident in Con- necticut, where the parishes were now even stronger than in New York. A breach once made in a family or a church is more easily widened than healed, and the fast friends of the American Episcopate on the other side of the Atlantic watched the threatened rupture with evident anxiety. The civil disabilities of the Scottish Church had not yet been removed by Act of Parliament, and it was therefore impossible, without conflicting with the State, to recognize in England the Orders of Bishop Seabury. "But with you" in America, wrote the Rev. Jacob Duché, a ref- ugee clergyman from Philadelphia, then in London, and accustomed to the friendly ear of the Archbishop of Canterbury, "there can remain but one point to be settled, and that is the validity of his consecration from proofs adduced of the uninterrupted succession
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in the Church of Scotland." No one manifested such personal hostility, and persisted in such uncourteous acts towards the Bishop of Connecticut, as the Rev. Dr. Samuel Provoost. He accused him of intriguing to defeat the application for the English Episcopate, and was prominent among the "few people in New York, who, from old grudges on the score of politics, had determined to circumscribe, as far as they possi- bly could, his Episcopal authority."
The Connecticut clergy, alarmed for their situation, and bent on vindicating their own rights, prepared to counteract the preposterous measures which were leading inevitably to a schism in the Church. They met at Wallingford on the 27th of February, 1787 and, apprehensive that they might be compelled to fall under the defective Southern establishment, should the providence of God deprive them of their Episcopal Head, they decided to send another Pres- byter to Scotland for consecration, as coadjutor Bishop to Dr. Seabury. The able and faithful Leaming was first selected to undertake the voyage; but the same reasons which had caused him to decline the former election operated now in still greater force. Then the guileless and godly Mansfield was chosen; but he shrunk from the burden as one too oppressive for him to bear;1 and finally the Rev. Abraham Jarvis was elected, and deputed to proceed to Scotland for con- secration. "It was intended," said his learned son, re- marking on the transaction, "to obtain the canonical number of Bishops in New England of the Scottish ine, and thus preserve a purely primitive and Apos- tolic Church, holding fast the form of sound words, and the faith once delivered to the saints."
1 Church Documents, Vol. II. p. 306.
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These steps were taken with due precaution. Dr Seabury, who had kept up a correspondence with Bishop Skinner of Scotland, informed him at once of the action of the clergy, and spoke of it not only with approval, but with the hope that it might have "the full approbation of his good and highly respected brethren in Scotland," whose answer would be awaited before the person fixed upon departed for the voyage. Delays are not always dangerous; and when Bishop Skinner, for himself and the Scottish prelates, re- plied to this communication, the summer had come, and "the English Consecrate" had arrived in Amer- ica. He suggested that they could hardly refuse their brotherly assistance in the measure desired, or yet take upon them to impose their own Liturgy as the sole condition of compliance. "Should this be the case," said he, "and these new Bishops either refuse to hold communion with you, or grant it only on terms with which you cannot in conscience comply, there would then be no room for us to hesitate. But fain would we hope better things of these your Amer- ican brethren, and that there will be no occasion for two separate communions among the Episcopalians of the United States.
"We are well persuaded that neither you nor your clergy would wish to give any unnecessary cause of disgust on either side of the Atlantic; and prudence, you must be aware, bids us turn our eyes to our own situation, which, though it affords no excuse for shrink- ing from duty, will, at the same time, justify our not stepping beyond our line any farther than duty re- quires."
This was a truly catholic letter, breathing a most
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benevolent spirit; and Bishop Seabury, in answering t, expressed his fears that the suggestion could not be immediately acted upon, and then remarked: "The public papers have announced that the Episcopal clergy n Scotland now [November 7, 1788] pray for the King by name. I hope it is true, and flatter myself t will free them, ere long, from many embarrass- nents. I shall still pursue measures for uniting with he Southern churches, and shall acquiesce in any erms consistent with sound ecclesiastical principles. But I cannot give up what I deem essential to Epis- opal government, by admitting laymen into any hare of it, farther than the external or temporal state f things may require. To subject a Bishop to the ensure of a consistory of Presbyters and Laymen, ven with a Bishop at their head, I cannot consent. rom that thraldom the Church in Connecticut must, it please God, be preserved." 1
Nor was he slow to put in execution his good pur- oses. Before the prudent reply of Bishop Skinner as written, and before a month had passed away fter the arrival of the new American prelates, Bishop eabury addressed a letter of friendly congratulation › his most unscrupulous opponent, and kindly in- ited him to be present at a stated convocation of the lergy of Connecticut, to be held at Stamford on the Monday in Whitsun week. "You must," said he in his letter, "be equally sensible with me of the pres- nt unsettled state of the Church of England in this ountry, and of the necessity of union and concord mong all its members in the United States of Amer- ca, not only to give stability to it, but to fix it on 1 Annals of Scottish Episcopacy.
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its true and proper foundation. Possibly nothing will contribute more to this end than uniformity in wor- ship and discipline among the churches of the differ- ent States. It will be my happiness to be able to promote so good and necessary a work; and I take the liberty to propose, that, before any decided steps be taken, there be a meeting of yourself and Bishop White and me, at such time and place as shall be most convenient, to try whether some plan cannot be adopted that shall, in a quiet and effectual way, secure the great object which I trust we should all heartily rejoice to see accomplished. For my own part, I cannot help thinking that the most likely method will be to retain the present Common Prayer Book, accommodating it to the civil Constitution of the United States. The government of the Church, you know, is already settled. A body of Canons will, however, be wanted, to give energy to the govern- ment, and ascertain its operation."
In a like spirit of fraternal regard he addressed overtures for peace and union to Bishop White, who met them with all the gentleness and placability of his nature, and expressed himself as ready to join in any plan, with a view to this noble end, not materially different from that set forth in the pro- posed Ecclesiastical Constitution. Other persons be- sides the prelates became engaged in discussing the points at issue. Parker of Boston, alive to the ne- cessity of union, that the Church throughout the country might be one in all the essentials of doctrine, discipline, and worship, wrote frequent and pacifica- tory letters to Bishop White and to the Bishop and clergy of Connecticut. His prominence had marked
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im out for a mitre in the minds of New-England hurchmen in case the Episcopate should be given to Massachusetts,1 but he was much more anxious to see he schism which was threatened avoided than to at- ain this high distinction. The beloved and venerated eaming, always watchful for the true interests of the Church, availed himself of a private opportunity to pen a correspondence with the Bishop of Pennsyl- ania and urge the same great ends. Dr. William amuel Johnson, the distinguished statesman, had een appointed one of the Delegates from Connecti- ut to attend the Convention in Philadelphia, which as charged with the business of framing the Fed- tral Constitution; and he was not only a medium of Conveying the letters and messages of his Pastor to im, but he must have impressed Bishop White with The truth and justness of what Dr. Leaming had writ- hen in closing his first communication, that "The hurch in this State would be pleased to have the did forms altered as little as may be; but for the sake of union, they will comply as far as they possibly can. f nd I do not see how a union can be more advan- nugeous to us than it will be to you. If it is recipro- ot al, both ought to give way, and not to be too rigid."
Another letter, written three weeks later, indicated he nature of the response to his suggestions, and re- ewed the subject with increased zeal and earnest- ess. What he wished, as a first step towards the nion, was to bring the three Bishops together for
1 Upon the decease of Bishop Bass, he was elected his successor, and as consecrated Bishop of Massachusetts, at the General Convention in ew York, on Friday the 14th of September, 1804. He died on the 6th December in the same year, and before he had discharged a single duty the Episcopal ofice.
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friendly conference, and he saw no impediment in the way unless Bishop Provoost persisted in his refusa to have any Christian fellowship with one toward whom he appears to have cherished a deeply seated animosity. Clear in his conviction that the clergy of New York did not share in the prejudices of their chief Pastor, Leaming urged the personal interview a: a measure that would raise him in their estimation, and "fix their willing obedience to him all his life after.' On this ground he solicited the interposition and good offices of Bishop White, and then added: "I hope you will not esteem me over-officious in this business; if you do, my apology is this, -I have been forty years in the service of the Church, and I believe I am the oldest clergyman in America, and I am very desirous to see it complete before I die. God bless your labors for the converting of sinners and the building up of saints."
The real argument in all this correspondence was with the pens of the North, so far as it related to the advantage and necessity of one united Church; and the prospect of securing this brightened under the conciliatory course of Bishop White, and the kind pe mediation of the clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, especially of the Rev. Mr. Parker. Her never omitted an occasion to further what was so e much in his heart and in his prayers; and as the time drew near for the meeting of the General Convention, he was at the head of a measure which was to bring that body to a direct decision on the validity of the i Scottish Episcopacy, with a view to the three Bishops, now in the States, joining in the consecration of a fourth.
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CHAPTER XXX.
LECTION OF BISHOP FOR MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW HAMP- SHIRE; SIGNS OF CHRISTIAN HARMONY; GENERAL CONVEN- TION AT PHILADELPHIA; COMPLETION OF THE UNION OF THE CHURCH IN ALL THE STATES, AND ADOPTION OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.
A. D. 1789-1790.
Six Presbyters, representing the Church in Massa- husetts and New Hampshire, met at Salem on the orth day of June, 1789, and after recording their grati- ollide to the Supreme Governor of the universe for his podness in "blessing the Protestant Episcopal Church ras the United States, by supplying it with a complete thend entire Ministry, and by affording to many of her mcommunion the benefit of the labors, advice, and gov- thenment of the successors of the Apostles," they pro- indeeded to "nominate, elect, and appoint" their chair- ew an, the Rev. Edward Bass, to be their Bishop, and Heromised and engaged, over their own signatures, to soceive him as such when canonically consecrated imed invested with the Apostolic office and powers. ion, hey then addressed the Bishops of Connecticut, New ring ork, and Pennsylvania, praying for their united as- the stance in consecrating their brother; and authorized opsid empowered the Rev. Samuel Parker to transmit of a pies of their action to each of these prelates, and so appointed him "their agent to appear at any
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Convention to be holden at Pennsylvania or New York, and to treat upon any measures that might tend to promote an union of the Episcopal Church throughout the United States of America, or that migh prove advantageous to the interests of said Church."
The Convention commencing its session in Phila delphia, July 28, 1789, was the first which assemblec on this continent in the full likeness of that ancien council at Jerusalem, composed of Apostles, and elders and brethren. Fortunately Bishop Provoost was ab sent; and Mr. Parker, unable to be present himself communicated his instructions to Bishop White, whe laid them before the Convention, together with two let ters from Dr. Seabury,-one addressed to Dr. Smith and the other to himself,-expressing the hope tha all difficulties might be removed, and reiterating the grand objection in Connecticut to the power of Laj delegates in the proposed Constitution, that "it made them part of a judicial consistory for the trial and dep rivation of clergymen." The signs of Christian har mony at once grew more distinct, for upon the read ing of these letters it was "Resolved unanimously that it is the opinion of this Convention, that the con secration of the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury to the Epis copal office is valid." That was a great step in ad vance of all former proceedings. It put to res forever a matter which had been the occasion o: many misapprehensions, and opened the door fo perfect reconciliation. A melancholy event, too, ha( its chastening effect upon the members. The Rev David Griffith, D. D., who had relinquished his ap pointment as Bishop elect of Virginia, and had come as a delegate from that State to the Convention, died
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after an acute illness, on the sixth day of the session, at the house of Bishop White; and among the resolu- tions of respect to his memory which were adopted, was one "that the clergy of all denominations within the city be invited to attend his funeral."
With feelings tinged by the sorrow of this event, the Convention approached the deliberate considera- tion of the act of the clergy of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and finally, with entire unanimity, resolved that "a complete order of Bishops, derived as well under the English as the Scots line of Epis- copacy, doth now subsist within the United States eof America;" and that Bishops White, Provoost, and il Seabury were fully competent to every proper act and duty of the Episcopal office and character in this country, as well in respect to the consecration of other Bishops, and the ordering of Priests and Deacons, as for the government of the Church, according to such rules, canons, and institutions as then existed, or here- after might be duly made and ordained. Another res- olution embraced a formal request to Bishops White land Provoost to join with the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury un consecrating the Bishop elect of the Eastern clergy; proposing, however, that, previous to such consecra- tion, the churches in the New-England States should meet in this Convention, to be adjourned for that purpose, and settle certain articles of union and dis- cipline among all the churches. If any difficulty or delicacy remained with the two first-named Bishops, or either of them, concerning their compliance with the request, the Convention resolved to address the Archbishops and Bishops of England, hoping thereby eu to remove the difficulty and enable them freely to proceed. e
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