USA > Connecticut > The history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, from the settlement of the colony to the death of Bishop Seabury > Part 29
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The author and mover of these resolutions was the Rev. Dr. Smith, who afterwards referred to his course herein as the happiest incident of his life, and the best service he had ever been able to render to the Church. With Bishop White, he was placed upon the com- mittee to prepare the address to the English prelates, to forward the necessary answers to the communica- tions which had been received, and also to notify the Right Rev. Dr. Seabury, and the Eastern and other churches not yet represented in the Convention, of "the time and place to which it would adjourn, and request their attendance at the same, for the good purposes of union and general government."
Thus the wall which had so long stood between the two great parties was effectually broken down; and though Provoost had sagacity enough to foresee this result, yet as late as February 24, 1789, he was still implacable; for, writing to his Episcopal brother in Philadelphia, and referring to Connecticut, he said: "An invitation to the Church in that State to meet us in General Convention, I conceive to be neither necessary nor proper; not necessary, because I am informed that they have already appointed two per- sons to attend the next General Convention, without our invitation; not proper, because it is so publicly known that they have adopted a form of church gov- ernment which renders them inadmissible as members of the Convention or union."
The action previously described will prove how little regard was paid to his prejudices and personal dislikes. Bishop White shared with him in the convic- tion that they were both under implied pledges to the English prelates not to join in the act of consecration
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until there were three Bishops in this country of the Anglican line,-that being the canonical number of consecrators; but he did not share with him in his views of the validity of the Scottish Episcopacy. On that point he was entirely satisfied; and if he did not attempt to remove the scruples of his stubborn brother, he certainly made the amiable effort to conciliate him, and bring him into the current that was drifting them all towards union, peace, and love.
No sooner had Bishop Seabury learned the proceed- ings of the Convention, and received the "truly re- spectable invitation" to be present at its adjourned meeting, than steps were taken to comply with the request. The second article of the General Constitu- tion had been so amended as to wholly remove his € first and chief difficulty respecting Lay representa- tion, and that, too, upon the good and wise principle which he had himself laid down, namely, "that there : may be a strong and efficacious union between t churches where the usages are in some respects dif- I ferent."
A special Convention of the clergy of Connecticut was held in Stratfield, September 15th, 1789, to delib- erate upon the invitation from Philadelphia. Dr. Leaming presided in the absence of the Bishop; and the letters and papers relative to a general union having been read, it was voted, on motion of the Rev. Mr. Bowden, that the Convention would send clerical delegates. The next day Hubbard and Jar- vis were chosen, and "empowered to confer with the General Convention on the subject of making alterations in the Book of Common Prayer; but the ratification of such alterations was expressly re-
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served, to rest with the Bishop and clergy of the Church."
The way was particularly smoothed for the cordial reception of the New-England delegates. The Rev. Dr. Smith offered the hospitalities of his house to the Bishop of Connecticut, and begged him to join the Rev. Dr. Moore of New York in making it his home during his stay in Philadelphia. Now that the way had been prepared by others, he could not do too much to further the grand scheme of perfect harmony and brotherly agreement; and in communicating the action of the Convention upon the application of the Eastern clergy, he closed his letter to Bishop Seabury thus: "The College of Philadelphia have, on Dr. White's recommendation and mine, granted the degree of D. D. to the Rev. Mr. Bass and Mr. Parker, which we thought a proper compliment to the New-England churches. We are sorry we forgot to pay the same compliment to the venerable old Mr. Leaming, of the Connecticut Church. I hope he will accompany you to Philadelphia, and receive that compliment from us in person, if he has nowhere else received it before." 1
The Convention met, pursuant to adjournment, on the 29th day of September, and Bishop Seabury with the representatives of the clergy in Connecticut, and the Rev. Dr. Parker of Boston, attended and produced their official documents and testimonials. Some minds were still angry and unsettled, and a danger on the score of politics arose immediately upon their arrival. Bishop Seabury had been chaplain to a British regi- ment during the war; and the fact that he was now a pensioner of the Crown, receiving half-pay for his
1 He received it from Columbia College, N. Y., the same year.
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services, had come to the knowledge of certain Lay delegates who professed to entertain scruples in re- gard to the propriety of admitting him as a member of the Convention. But the mild and judicious reply of the Bishop of Pennsylvania to the only gentleman who approached him on the subject seemed to allay all uneasiness, and the objection was either withdrawn or not renewed. On the second day of the session, for the better promotion of union, it was resolved that the General Constitution established at the previous meeting was still open to amendment and alterations, by virtue of the powers delegated to this Convention; and a Committee, appointed to confer with the Dep- uties from the Eastern churches, after "a full, free, and friendly conference," reported their acceptance of the Constitution as already adopted,-provided the third article was so modified as to declare explicitly the right of the Bishops, when sitting in a separate House, to originate acts for the concurrence of the lower House, with a negative on its proceedings.
The main point was readily conceded, and the other was made the subject of future determination. Bishop Seabury and the Clerical Deputies from New Eng- land assented in writing to the Constitution as thus altered and amended,- the third article of which re- quired that "the Bishops of this Church, when there shall be three or more, shall, whenever General Con- ventions are held, form a separate House." The requi- site number was now secured, though Bishop Pro- voost was absent, and the two Houses were estab- lished, and proceeded to the concurrent work of adopting a body of canons and revising the Book of Common Prayer. The primary rule laid down for
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the government of the House of Bishops was "that the senior Bishop present shall preside,-seniority to be reckoned from the dates of the letters of consecra- tion,"-a rule which gave the Presidency to the Bishop of Connecticut.
To these two prelates, with different moulds of char- acter and opposite tendencies of thought, the Church in this country is chiefly indebted for the establish- ment of its order and worship upon a safe, sound, and permanent basis. The prevailing tone of sentiment in the Southern States, both as to doctrine and dis- cipline, was low and uncertain, while in Connecticut there was the strongest attachment to the old Lit- urgy, to the model of Apostolic order, and the distinc- tive articles of the Christian faith. Bishop White, with natural kindness of heart and a temper of mind leaning to those counsels which bore most faintly the impress of his own communion, might have consented to many of the changes and innovations marked out in the ritual of the "Proposed Book," had he not met in his associate counsellor a wise and vigorous resist- ance. They were precisely the men to bring together in such an emergency; for, by their mutual conces- sions and forbearance in matters not essential, that happy mean betwixt too much rigidity in refusing and too much facility in yielding was preserved, and a result attained which for more than three quarters of a century has given rest and contentment to all shades of views embraced within the bosom of the American Episcopal Church. Their united and har- monious action turned aside every threatened danger. They took as their guides the old forms and offices; but Bishop Seabury advocated the introduction into
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the Communion Service of the prayer of oblation and invocation as it now stands,-a prayer which the Eng- ish reviewers had omitted from the Liturgy of Ed- ward the Sixth, but which he heartily desired to see estored, because he had adopted it in his own Diocese, and learned to appreciate it in his visit to the Bishops rom whom he received his consecration. He was a conservative element in the Convention, and felt that Scarcely with anything besides is the wellbeing of he Church bound up so closely as with the full or- hodoxy of its Liturgy." "To this day," says Bishop Vhite, in the second edition of his Memoirs, published t- C- e, d e ed ıt et t- er hortly before his death, "there are recollected with atisfaction the hours which were spent with Bishop Seabury on the important subjects which came before hem, and especially the Christian temper which he manifested all along." The two Houses prosecuted he review of the Liturgy in the spirit of men who ex- ected the benediction of Heaven upon their labors, - he Bishops originating alterations in some services, nd the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies propos- ng others. d It
The result of the session, besides completing the general union, was the Book of Common Prayer as hen established and now used; and there are con- tantly recurring evidences to illustrate its adapta- ion to the needs and necessities of "all sorts and con- litions of men." It has gone where the voice of the iving preacher had never been heard. It has spoken he story of redemption into the ears of thousands, nd drawn them within our fold, and given them the omfort of its worship and the support of its sacra- nents. While some of the Christian bodies about us
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are feeling the want of our peculiar advantages, and sighing in private for Liturgical forms to give more attraction to public prayer and praise; while aca- demic institutions once wedded to a different practice now seek in dainty Rituals to guide the scanty devo- tion of the youths and make them mount up with wings as eagles; while all around there are voices that laud the majestic inheritance of our Liturgy, and the copious treasury of doctrine and sacred songs con- tained therein, let us hold fast to the Book of Com- mon Prayer, and cherish it, not only as the beautiful child of the Reformation, but as a precious legacy be- queathed to us by the men to whose wisdom we owe so much for settling, at a critical period, the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.
Though the measures for union had all terminated happily, Dr. Bass declined the office to which he had been appointed, and thus those prelates who enter- tained scruples about proceeding to consecrate until another in the Anglican line should be present, were put to no further test. But some years afterwards he was again unanimously elected Bishop of Massachu- setts, and duly consecrated in Christ Church, Philadel- phia, May 7th, 1797.
Fifteen clergymen, besides the Bishop, assembled in Convocation at Litchfield, on the 2d day of June, 1790, and, "by particular desire, attended divine ser- vice in the Presbyterian meeting-house," when the Bishop ordained the Rev. Truman Marsh to the Priest- hood, and preached the sermon. The Rev. Dr. Leam- ing was placed at the head of a Committee to draw B
up rules and canons for regulating the discipline of
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he Church in Connecticut,-the first time that any- hing of this sort had been attempted; but the most mportant action was upon the Constitution and can- ns of the Church, formed by the late General Con- ention. These were read, and after a short examina- ion, the further consideration of them was postponed until the last day of September, when the Convocation het by adjournment at Newtown, and eighteen of he clergy in the Diocese assembled with the Bishop. The question was put in these words: "Whether we Confirm the doings of our Proctors in the General Convention at Philadelphia on the 2d day of October, 789?" and it was decided in the affirmative by the otes of every member present, except the Rev. James ayre. He entered his Protest against the proceed- gs, which, at his desire, was recorded, and the next ay he withdrew and left the Convocation. It shows The extreme caution which was observed, that the .node of introducing the Constitution and Liturgy Into the several parishes was left to the prudence and idgment of each clergyman. Uniformity in the use f the new Prayer Book was desirable, and for this urpose they agreed to approach as near the old Lit- rgy as a compliance with the rubrics of the new could allow. The Nicene Creed was read on Com- duunion Sundays, and the Apostles' Creed on all other ays. But the change from established customs is eldom easy; and whether the people loved to have e t- 1 .- so or not, some of the clergy of that day never arned to carry out in full practice the literal mean- g of the rubrical directions of the new Prayer ook. ℮ ℮
One noble soldier of the cross, "not yet fifty years
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old," who had participated largely in the efforts to re establish the Church in Connecticut, after the event of the Revolution, laid down his armor and went t his rest before the final results were accomplished The Rev. John R. Marshall died on the 21st of Jar uary, 1789, in the eighteenth year of his ministry and just as its richer fruits began to cheer his beney olent heart. The venerable Dr. Leaming, bendin under the weight of age and decrepitude, and fairl worn out in the service of the Church amid such disas trous times, withdrew from the parish in Stratford, afte having been in charge of it for six years, and retire for a season to New York. But he subsequently re turned to Connecticut, and was received at New Ha ven into the house of a former friend, whose kindnes and protection he desired, and where he passed th remainder of his life, chiefly in the solitude of his ow. room, waiting patiently, like Job, "all the days o his appointed time till his change came." Whoeve enters the old Cemetery in New Haven, and passe near the south-east corner, will find his humble grave and the epitaph upon the tombstone in this case tell no untruth when it says that he was "long a faitl ful minister of the Gospel in the Episcopal Church well instructed, especially in his holy office; unre mitting in his labors; charitably patient, and of prin itive meekness. His public discourses forcibly incu cated the faith illustrated by his practice. Respecter revered, and beloved in life, and lamented in deatl he departed hence September 15, 1804, aged eighty seven."
The Church in Connecticut had now, as far as hi man foresight could discern, passed through all th
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reat perils which once threatened her peace and perpetuity. Her zealous Bishop was adding year by rear to the list of his clergy more than death took way, and the care which he used to advance none Do the sacred office but fit and godly persons con- inued to disarm prejudice of its power, and weaken he intolerance of sectarianism. As the pathway of The Lord amidst the mighty waters is secret, so is the resence of His blessed Spirit in the Church unseen a ut felt,-reviving love and purity, and giving life teund strength, peace and advancement.
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CHAPTER XXXI.
INTRODUCTION OF THE LAITY INTO THE COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH; COURSE OF THE REV. JAMES SAYRE; AND CONSE. CRATION OF THE FIRST BISHOP IN AMERICA.
A. D. 1790-1792.
A COLLEGE of Doctors of Divinity was established by the Bishop and clergy of Connecticut, at the Con- vocation held in Newtown, to be considered as then Bishop's council of advice in any emergencies that. might arise, and the Rev. Messrs. Dibblee, Mansfield, Hubbard, and Jarvis were the first four Doctors The origin of this measure in our ecclesiastical pro ceedings may be referred to Scotland, where the Bishops to this day never will recognize the honor of the Doctorate from any Presbyterian institution. Perhaps their feeling in regard to it springs from what was anciently an Episcopal prerogative, and of which traces are yet to be found in foreign universities With a view to perpetuate this body, "the instal ment of Doctors," never less than four nor more than six, unless by consent of the Convocation, was to be by "Diploma from the College of Doctors, and an- nounced in public by the Bishop" at the next meeting.
The publication of these acts was ordered at the time; but whether from the inexpediency or unpop
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larity of the thing in a Puritan land, where the Epis- topal prerogatives and dignity were still suspected, or because the Canons of the General Convention had provided for the appointment of a Standing Com- nittee to act as the Bishop's council of advice in each Diocese, we hear no more of this College of Doctors after the year 1792. However reluctant they might have been to assume the honor thus conferred upon hem, they appear to have been a body of some ser- ice in those critical times. For when the Committee ppointed in 1790, "to prepare Canons for the inter- hal government of the Church in Connecticut," made heir report, it was ordered "that the Canons reported be revised and completed by the Bishop and the Col- ege of Doctors, and laid before the next Convoca- ion." Three of the "first four Doctors" had the honor confirmed, or rather conferred upon them at ater dates, by the corporation of Yale College; and he remaining one, Mr. Dibblee, was doctorated by Columbia College, New York.
The first Standing Committee, as required by a Canon of the General Convention, was appointed at Convocation held in Watertown; October 5, 1791, ind consisted of five members, all clergymen. From hat day to this, with the exception of one year, when he Diocese was under the provisional charge of Bishop Hobart, who was accustomed to a different practice n New York, the election of the Standing Committee n Connecticut has been restricted to the clerical brder.
At the same Convocation, -after the parishes, fol- owing the lead of the clergy, had conformed to the use of the new Prayer Book, and acquiesced in the
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general Constitution,-the first movement was made to introduce the Laity into the councils of the Church. The vote on the subject was very guarded, and to the effect that each clergyman should recommend to the people of his cure to choose one or more persons to represent them at a Convocation to be holden at the church in New Haven, on the 30th of May suc- ceeding,-"which representatives were to be consid- ered as a Committee of Conference with the Convo- cation, at that time and place, on all matters that respected the temporal interest of the Church."
Another Convocation was held in the intermediate time, as will be seen hereafter; but the primary "Con- vention of the Bishop, Clergy and Laity of the Protes- tant Episcopal Church in Connecticut," forty-four mem- bers in all, and twenty-four laymen, assembled in Trin- ity Church, New Haven, the first week in June, 1792, and the chief business of the session was to frame and agree upon an Ecclesiastical Constitution, "to be laid" in a printed form "before the several parishes in the Diocese for their approbation and adoption." But this was not the only important action taken previous to the adjournment. The lay members re- solved to send Delegates to the next General Con- vention, which was appointed to be held at New York; and accordingly they chose four and the clergy four, the full number of each order allowed to a Dio- cese or State.
When the annual Convention met at Middletown, June 5th, 1793, twenty clergymen, besides the Bishop, were present, and twenty-one lay Delegates, the latter representing the Church in every county of Connect- icut. It appeared by the report of their doings, and
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y the certificates exhibited, that the Constitution had een fully approved and accepted by the majority of he parishes; but those in Litchfield, New Preston, orthbury, and Redding had acted upon it and only dopted it in part. They were urged to give it a econd consideration, and make returns to the next nnual Convention; and thus the Constitution was pproved and became henceforth the law for the gov- rnment of the Church throughout the Diocese, ex- ept in one or two parishes where some dissatisfaction as still manifested. As yet, no definite provision had een made for the support of the Bishop. He was hiefly dependent upon his people at New London for he bread that maintained his family. A few of the arishes made him donations. Trinity Church, New Laven, in the autumn of 1785, directed the sum of ten ounds to be paid him; and two years afterwards a ke amount was voted by the Vestry, provided, how- ver, that this donation should not be considered as precedent for any future claims upon the parish by he Bishop. Steps were early taken by the Conven- ion to establish a fund, and application was made to he General Assembly to incorporate a certain num- er of Trustees for the purpose of receiving and hold- ng donations for the support of the Bishop; but Sea- ury was in his grave before the prayer of the peti- ioners was granted.
The Protest of the Rev. Mr. Sayre against the ap- roval of the proceedings of the General Convention n Philadelphia placed him in uncomfortable relations o his Bishop and brethren, and involved the parishes ver which he presided for a time in perplexity and rouble. Since the resignation and retirement of Dr.
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Leaming, at Easter 1790, he had been in charge of the Church at Stratford; and being fresh in the field, and full of Christian earnestness, he gained an influ- ence over the people which he unhappily used to their disadvantage. He accompanied his opposition to the new Prayer Book and the General Constitution with much bitterness of feeling and personal abuse, -traits of character which he had shown at Newport, Rhode Island, where the displeasure of a divided parish fell upon him before he came to Connecticut. Speedy ef- forts were made by the Bishop and clergy to neutralize his influence, and bring the people under his care into harmonious action with the Diocese. At a Convoca- tion in East Haddam, February 15, 1792, this per- emptory vote was passed: "That unless the Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church in Stratford shall transmit to the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of Connecticut, within fourteen days after Easter Monday next, a noti- fication that the congregation of said Church have adopted the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as settled by the General Convention at Phil- adelphia in October, 1789, they (the congregation) will be considered as having totally separated them- selves from the Church of Connecticut." That godly man, the Rev. Mr. Shelton of Bridgeport, acting as Secretary to the Convocation, was charged with the duty of communicating this vote to the Church in Stratford. The counsels of Dr. Johnson, a layman worthy of the days of Ignatius and of Cyprian, appear not to have been very influential at this time, in the venerable parish which his father had gathered and served, and to which he had left a sacred legacy of peace and Christian moderation. But he had been
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rgely occupied in his profession and in national fairs, and his duties had separated him from scenes local interest. Besides, after the revival of Colum- a College, which had fallen into decay during the ar, he accepted the Presidency of that Institution, which he was chosen in 1787, and removed to New ork. He filled this station with great dignity and efulness until 1800, when the infirmities of advanc- g age compelled him to resign it, and he retired to s native village. In this connection it is proper to ention that he died at Stratford on the 14th of ovember, 1819, in the ninety-third year of his age; d his departure was soon followed by that of the nerable Dr. Mansfield of Derby, in the ninety- venth year of his age, and the seventy-second of s ministry. Both these men, of varied and event- I experience, had lived to see the Church in Connect- ut carried through long periods of persecution, peril, d poverty, and finally settled in peace, and with eering prospects, under the Episcopate of him1 ound whose bier we have so lately gathered, and hose wise and paternal administration will ever live the recollections of a grateful Diocese.
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