USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of King's Chapel, in Boston : the first Episcopal church in New England : comprising notices of the introduction of Episcopacy into the northern colonies > Part 5
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MR MYLES, being left without an assistant by the departure of Mr Bridge to Rhode Island, remained alone in the care of the Church about two years. Early in the year 1709, arrived Mr Henry Harris, with authority from the Bishop of London to take Mr Bridge's vacated place. The letter which Mr Harris brought with him from the Bishop, bears the marks of the same strong hand which penned the former one al- ready copied. At a vestry meeting on the 1st of April, this year, it was ordered, upon the reading of these instructions, " that the same be entered verbatim as followeth, vizt."
" Having appointed Mr Harris to go over as- sistant to the Minister at Boston ; for his better satisfaction, I have thought fit to declare; that as he is not to go under the absolute command of
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Mr Myles, yet is he to pay a respect to him in all reasonable things, and take an equall share with him in supplying the Church, but not to meddle in anything that relates to perquisites, whether for marriages, buryalls or Christenings, and to be contented with what is alloted him from home, and by all means to avoid the insinuation of any, that shall attempt to make matters un- easy betwixt him and Mr Myles, whom I do likewise require to receive this his assistant with all fair and good usage, and that they both con- spire into so good an understanding, that nothing may creep in to make a breach between them : And that they do agree to relate all storyes, that shall be whispered to them, publickly in the next vestry ; that such little make-bates may be discouraged and made ashamed of such base be- haviour. And therefore I desire likewise that this paper may be read in a full vestry, that they may be witnesses of your sincere conformity to what is appointed. I do also declare that Mr Harris shall have the full allowance of the ap- pointed bounty, by Midsummer next come twelve month at furthest, as not being yet fully informed to what degree, and upon what grounds Mr Bridge hath committed that insolent Riott upon the Church of Road Island : which so soon as I am ascertained of, I intend the full allowance shall commence from that time.
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" Given under my hand this Twenty Eighth day of May. 1708.
H : LONDON."
We may gather, if I am not mistaken, from these instructions, a principal reason of the form- er assistant's discontent. A great inequality, by far too great, existed between him and the rec- tor of the church. Before he left the mother country, he could easily make up his mind to take a curacy abroad, on the same terms of in- feriority on which hundreds of his brethren took curacies at home ; but when he came to New England, and began his duties at her Majesty's Chapel, and instead of being kept contented by the customs of the place, and the example of those about him, saw that in every congregation- al church which supported two ministers, they were regarded as colleagues, having equal rights, privileges and duties, his own subordinate situa- tion must have grown every day more irksome to him, and the task of obedience to his superior every day more difficult. It was not in human nature to rest satisfied with such a condition. It certainly was not in Mr Bridge's nature, and in the sequel we may have cause to believe that it was not in Mr Harris's.
What is meant by the violent riot committed
ACE
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by Mr Bridge upon the church of Rhode Island, alluded to by the Bishop in the instructions above, I have not ascertained .*
All this time the chapel congregation was steadily increasing, and at the Easter meeting in 1708, it was " agreed, that on Whitsunmunday there be a meeting of the congregation about en- larging the Queen's Chappell." The work, how- ever, seems not to have been commenced till the year 1710, when a subscription was raised to
* Mr Bridge did not remain long in Rhode Island, but re- moved to Rye in New York, where he was again settled in the ministry, and where he finished his uneasy pilgrimage on the 23d of May, 1719. The following obituary notice is copied from the " Boston News Letter," a weekly paper, and the first newspaper published in Boston, where it was commenced in the year 1704. The date of this number is " June 1 to S. 1719."
" We have an account from Rye in the government of New York, of the death of the Reverend Mr Christopher Bridge, M. A. a Presbyter of the Church of England, and Minister of the Gospel in that Place ; who Died on Saturday the 23d of May last: He was formerly for many years together, one of the Ministers of the Church of England in Boston, a . Religious and Worthy Man, a very good Scholar, and a fine grave Preacher, his performances in the Pulpit were Solid, Judicious and Profitable, his Conversation very agrecable and improving : And though a strict Church Man in his principles, yet of great Respect and Charity to Dissenters, and much esteemed by them. He was bred at the Univer- sity of Cambridge in England, and was about 48 Years of Age when he Died. Very much lamented."
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effect its accomplishment. It amounted, in- deed, to a rebuilding of the church, which was enlarged to twice its original size ; nor was it till the year 1713, that the pillars, capitals and cornice were painted, and the scaffoldings were taken down. Places were assigned anew to the proprietors, and each person paid for the build- ing of his own pew. And whereas the pews had been built before, according to the usual fashion, with little rails or banisters, running round the top, it was now voted that they should " be built in one forme without banisters." The pulpit was removed from its former situation " to the next pillar at the East, being near the Cen- ter of the Church." The two long pews front- ing the pulpit were made into two square pews, one for Col. Tailer, Lieut. Governor, the other for Mr Jekyll, and the two pews behind them were made into one, for the use of masters of vessels ; and the pew behind that was appropri- · ated to the accommodation of eight old men. A shell was placed over the south door.
A clock was given by " the Gentlemen of the British Society ;" and a more important present still, that of an organ, demands a more particu- lar notice .* The following is a record of a meet- ing held in consequence of the bequest.
* The clock was not given till a year after the organ.
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" At a meeting of the gentlemen of the Church this 3d day of August, 1713, referring to the Orgains given them by Thomas Brattle Esq. deceased, Voted that the Orgins be accepted by the Church, and that Mr Myles answer Mr William Brattle's letter concerning the same."
A few days afterwards, the organ, or organs, as that instrument seems to have then been com- monly called,* was brought into the church, though it was not put up till the following March.t A Mr Price was engaged to be the organist, but only temporarily till one could be obtained from England ; and a contribution was raised from sundry " well disposed gentlemen and other persons," of whose names a list is given, " towards the maintenance and support of the Orgins," which amounted to between forty- three and fortyfour pounds. The wardens were instructed at a vestry meeting, to write to Col. Redknap, their agent in London, to entreat of him his favor in going to Mr Edward Enston, living next door to Mr Masters's on Tower Hill, to inquire into his ability as an organist, and to offer
* It may have been called so only by the ignorant, of which description was the warden who made the entry, as appears by his spelling, which I have not always literally copied, for fear that the original might not be understood.
t " To Cash payd for bringin the Orgins, 10s."
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him the situation at the Chapel, with a salary of £30 per annum, colonial currency, " which," they observe, " with dancing, music, &c, they doubt not will be sufficient encouragement." Col. Redknap attended to the commission at once, and writes, in a letter dated April 27, 1714, that he had engaged Mr Enstone or In- stone, to go over to Boston on the proposed sal- ary, on the condition that £10 sterling should be paid him for his and his wife's passage ; that he would probably sail about the end of July, and in the meantime was to acquaint himself with the manner of keeping an organ in repair. In July he writes again, and sends over a copy of the articles of agreement made with Mr Enstone, but says that he will not be able to sail so soon as was expected. Another letter, dated Sept. 7, same year, mentions Mr Enstone as having taken his passage, and speaks of him as " a person of a sober life and conversation, and well qualified for what he hath undertaken." . He. entered on his duties here as organist, about Christmas, 1714, till which time Mr Price had been serving for the same salary. This interest-
ing business was thus happily concluded and the music of the Chapel must now have been a great and attractive, though to many a very offensive novelty ; for there is no doubt that this
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organ was the first ever heard in public worship in all New England .*
This year, 1714, Queen Anne died, and George I. ascended the throne of Great Britain ; in consequence of which event, the Chapel was again called King's Chapel. The year be- fore, Henry Compton died, and John Robinson was created Bishop of London.
At this period the cause of episcopacy had made rapid strides, and its advocates were un- wearied in their efforts to advance it. The in- crease of episcopalian strength was owing in part, it is likely, to a weariness which some began to feel of the rigid discipline of the puritan church- es, but chiefly to the continually multiplying numbers of emigrants from the mother country, attracted here by various interests, and in com- munion with the established church at home. The exertions which were made by the episco- palians of Boston, and other places in the colo- nies, were greatly aided and inspirited from Eng- land, by the influence and pecuniary aid of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, which was established by charter from King William in 1701. In October, 1712, the Hon. Francis Nicholson having been ap-
* Tate and Brady's version of the Psalms was introduced into the worship of the Chapel about this time.
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pointed her Majesty's commissioner in North America for several purposes, the Society, of which he was a member, furnished him with an instrument, dated the 17th of the same month and year, by which he was requested, in sub- mission to the royal prerogative, and the jurisdic- tion of the Bishop of London, to make inquiry, as he should see fit, " of and concerning such of the Society's Missionaries, Schoolmasters, and Catechists with respect to the good purposes and designs of the Society relating to them, and of the present state of the Churches, Glebes, Parsonage-Houses, and Libraries (sent by the Society) within all and every such part and parts of Her Majesty's Dominions and Countries as are comprized in the Commission now granted to the said Francis Nicholson from her Majesty for the purposes therein mentioned. To the end the said Francis Nicholson may give and trans- mit to the said Society a full, particular, and im- partial account thereof, that the said Society may be the better enabled to discharge the great trust reposed in them, the advancement of the glory of God, the Honour of her Majesty, and spirit- ual good and welfare of her Subjects in those Parts."
There is a record in the old book, which gives us an instance of Nicholson's exercise of authori-
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ty as Commissioner, and is also evidence of the existence of a church in Braintree over which the wardens and vestry of Queen's Chapel had some control. It is a petition of Thomas Eager, clerk, to his Excellency Francis Nicholson, Esq. showing that the petitioner had been appointed by the Society for Propagating the Gospel, to officiate as minister at Braintree, but had found himself very uneasy there with the people, and therefore desired to be dismissed, and to have the arrears of his salary paid him, that he might discharge his debts and remove elsewhere. This petition was referred by Gov. Nicholson to the gentlemen of the Chapel vestry, who decid- ed that it was for the interest of the church that Mr Eager should be dismissed. This was in December, 1713.
But the matter to which, as being of the high- est moment, the Society devoted their most earnest attention, and in the prosecution of which they were warmly seconded by the congrega- tion of the Chapel, was the establishment and endowment of Bishoprics in the colonies. The design met with the approbation of Queen Anne, and though, when it was known here, it created a great ferment among the people, it can hardly be doubted that, had it not been for the Queen's death, it would have succeeded, and this country
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would have witnessed, what in the event it never did witness, the settlement in its borders of Bish- ops of the English Church. This attempt de- serves, as one of the curious and interesting events connected with the history of our church and of colonial episcopacy, more than a passing notice.
The preamble of the "Society's Representa- tion to her Majesty for the sending Bishops into America," sets forth " That as it hath pleased the Divine Goodness to dispose your Majesties Royall Heart for the establishing of Bishops and Bishopricks within your Majesties .Plantations or Colonies, and other your Majesties Dominions of America, in like manner as the Church of Christ is settled for Ecclesiastical Government in Eng- land and Ireland, pursuant to the Apostolical form and order in all Christian Nations where Bishops have been deemed the true Successors of the Apostles, and as is most agreeable to the inclinations of many of the present Inhabitants of those places, whence there have been made for these Eleven Years past earnest application for such Bishops to preside amongst them, that they may ordain some, Confirm more, and Bless all by the most Orderly Administration of the Holy Word and Sacrament." The Society then pro- ceed to lay before her Majesty a complete
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scheme of transatlantic hierarchy, in which they represent it as their opinion after mature deliber- ation, that it is expedient that four Bishops be sent as soon as conveniently may be, " two for the care and superintendency of the Islands, and as many for the Continent, with the appointment of fifteen hundred pounds per annum for each of the former, and one thousand pounds per annum for each of the latter, as the nature of their Dio- cesses seems to require in case the Sees of the former be settled, as is humbly proposed by the said Society, the one of them at Barbados, for itself and the Leward Islands, the other at Ja- maica, for itself with the Bahama and Bermuda Islands ; those for the Continent, the one of them at Burlington in New Jersey (where the Society has been at six hundred pounds charge and up- wards to purchase a very convenient house and land for his residence) for a District extending from the East side of Delaware River to the ut- most bounds of your Majesties Dominions East- ward, including Newfoundland ; the other at Williamsburg in Virginia, for a District extending from the west side of Delaware River to the ut- most bounds of your Majesties Dominions West- ward." The Representation concludes with a particular exposition of the ways and means by which the above Bishops and Bishoprics are proposed to be supported.
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i
As was observed before, this representation of the Society was followed up most cordially by the Congregation of the Chapel, who, by their ministers, wardens and vestry, presented an ad- dress to the Queen on the subject. In this ad- dress they say, that nothing can tend more to make religion flourish among them than the com- pletion of the Society's scheme in all its details, and humbly entreat her Majesty to carry it into execution. In an address to the Bishop of Lon- don, written at the same time,* they enter into a brief history of their church ; mention that the congregation is very much increased and consists of about eight hundred persons ; speak of the late enlargement of the Chapel, and pray his Lordship's good offices that the money from the privy purse may be constantly and regularly paid. These addresses were entrusted to the care of Col. Redknap, their agent in London ; who writes word, the following April, that they were delivered faithfully, and that the gentlemen of the Society, being fully persuaded of the neces -. sity of having Bishops sont to America, were resolved to join their Address to those of New York, New England and Rhode Island to her Majesty, that she would be pleased to appoint some
* December 8, 1713.
6
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proper person for that work so soon as possible. " I did speak," he continues, " to several of the members of the Society, particularly to my Lord of London and Clarendon, that they would be pleased to consider of our Northern parts be- fore Jamaica or Barbados, there being a greater necessity for having one amongst us where Whigs and fanaticks swarme, than in those parts."
But all the Societies and Bishops in the world could not arrest the warrant of death, even though it was issued against a queen. The decease of Anne put a stop, for the time, to the proceed- ings relating to American bishoprics, and though ·the plan was presented and urged in succeeding reigns, it was never accomplished, and perhaps never came so near accomplishment as at this first trial.
The next occurrences of importance in the history of the church, are, Mr Harris's voyage to England, the death of Mr Mylos, and the arrival of Mr Price as his successor.
PERIOD FIFTH.
DEATH OF MR MYLES. - ARRIVAL OF MR PRICE. - IN- CREASE OF EPISCOPAL CHURCHIES.
YOUR FATHERS, WHERE ARE THEY ? AND THE PROPHETS, DO THEY LIVE FOREVER ? - Zech. i. 5.
IN the winter of 1714, Mr Harris the Assis- tant, at the suggestion of General Nicholson, took a voyage to England, having previously obtained the consent of the church. He went partly to attend to some affairs of his own,* and partly to make application to the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for ministers to supply two new Episcopal churches, one in New- bury, the other in Marblehead. So it appears there were now three churches, if no more, which had sprung from, and were in a great measure dependent upon, the King's Chapel; that in
* There was a heavy tax on Mr Harris's allowance of £100, which he wanted to be relieved from, as also to have some arrears paid him. Through the assistance of Bishop Robinson, he succeeded, but not till after his return.
---
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Braintree, and the two just mentioned. An ad- dress of congratulation to George I. on his acces- sion, which was sent about this time, and probably by the hands of Mr Harris, was signed by the members of the churches " at Boston, Newberry and Marblehead." A "publick testimonial," or letter of recommendation was furnished to that same gentleman by his church, in which they say that he has resided among them about six years, in all which time they had observed him " faith- ful in the discharge of his duty, and regular and inoffensive in his life and conversation, by which he has gained the esteem and love of the whole church."
The congregation were not willing that Mr Harris should stay away long from them, and therefore the Bishop sent him back in the summer of 1715. He arrived late in the year, and was received by his people with joy ; but misunder- standings afterwards arose between them.
The cause of episcopacy, continually advancing as we have seen, in Massachusetts, was suddenly and remarkably developed at this period in the neighboring colony of Connecticut. Mr Timothy Cutler, President of Yale College,* and Messrs
* He was the first resident rector or president of that in- stitution.
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Johnson * and Brown, tutors in the same institu- tion, had convinced themselves of the invalidity of Presbyterian or Congregational ordination, and the impropriety of public extempore prayer, as also of the apostolical authority of the English Church and the superior beauty and advantages of its Liturgy, and in the year 1722 came to Boston, to take passage for England, for the pur- pose of being there invested with holy orders. Mr Brown died in England. The two other gen- tlemen, after effecting their object, returned to America the next year. Dr Johnson took charge of a small Episcopal church, then the only one, in Connecticut, and Dr Cutler became the first rector of the North or Christ Church in Boston. This, the second episcopal church in the town, had been built while he was abroad. The design had been greatly encouraged and forwarded by a subscription of the congregation of King's Cha- pel, and was undertaken, according to the pre- amble of the subscription paper, because "the church of England at the south part of Boston, is not large enough to contain all the people that would come to it." The corner stone of Christ Church was laid by the Rev. Mr Myles, on the
* Mr, afterwards Dr Samuel Johnson, was at the time of his resolution to obtain orders, minister of a congregational church in West Haven. - Chandler's Life of Johnson.
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15th of April, 1723, and was opened for public worship by Dr Cutler, on the 29th of Decem- ber.
In the summer of 1727 Mr Myles was obliged, through illness, to cease from his duties at the Chapel, where his portion of the services was performed by a Mr Watts. The next February he directed a letter " to the Parishioners of the King's Chapel at Boston in New England," as follows :
" GENTLEMEN, - Inasmuch as I am at present in a very low and languishing condition, and God only knows when I shall recover my health, so as to be able to perform the Duties of my Holy Function, I therefore most earnestly intreat you speedily to find out some method to procure me a Curate from England, who may come over as soon as may be ; and in so doing you will oblige your very weak and afflicted but faithful Friend - SAMUEL MYLES.
Boston N. E. Feb. 2nd : 1727-8."
In the beginning of March Mr Myles died .* He may be considered the first rector of the Chapel, though not of the Society, because Mr Ratcliffe left Boston soon after the Chapel was
* The expenses of his funeral were nearly £200, and were defrayed by the church.
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built. With the exception of his voyage to Eng- land, and occasional services rendered to the church at Marblehead, he officiated constantly at the Chapel, from its opening till within a few months of his decease, a period of nearly forty years. To judge from the steady increase of his congregation, he must have been a worthy and pious man and an acceptable preacher. His suc- cessful mission to England, shows him to have been prudent and energetic. He certainly was not very happy with either of his assistants, but the nature of the relation between them suffi- ciently accounts for this ; and though he may have committed no aggression or wrong, he pro- bably maintained all his rights. He lived peace- ably and usefully with his congregation, much of whose prosperity was owing to his exertions, and which continued to flourish without intermission under his equable care, till he was called, as we may trust, to higher services in a holier temple.
On his decease, his people paid every mark of respect to his memory, but were divided among themselves with regard to a successor. There was a party in favor of Mr Harris, but they were a minority. The larger portion were much offended with him, and were opposed to his being either rector or curate. The causes of this op- position I am not enabled by the records to
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determine. They could not have affected his moral character, nor could the opposition have been carried to any extreme of virulence, because he all the time officiated at the Chapel, and con- tinued so to do, by vote of the congregation, till his own decease.
Another difficulty was raised respecting the right of presentation to the rectorship of the Chapel. The congregation were afraid that the Bishop of London would claim it, whereas they insisted on its belonging to themselves, and voted to defend it at any expense against any who might dispute it. Their agent in this business in London, was Mr Thomas Sandford. He had sev- eral interviews with the Bishop, in some of which he was accompanied by Mr Charles Apthorp who was then in England, and an amicable settlement was the result. Even on his first visit to the Bishop, the latter told him that he did not pre- tend to the right of presentation, but thought that it was in the congregation who supported the minister ; and it was agreed that his lordship should recommend some fit person as rector, who should be the person whom Mr Sandford, as the agent of the congregation, should present to his Lordship for his license. Accordingly Mr Roger Price was recommended, presented, and licensed.
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