USA > New Jersey > Burlington County > Burlington > History of the church in Burlington, New Jersey : comprising the facts and incidents of nearly two hundred years, from original, contemporaneous sources > Part 61
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"GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your com- munication of the 23d ult., requesting me to tell what I can about John Talbot to the members of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, at their next meet- ing, on the 11th of November.
"It will give me pleasure to comply with your wishes, not only from the interest of the theme, but as a proof of the personal respect with which I am, " Gentlemen,
"Faithfully yours,
"GEO. MORGAN HILLS.
Enlarged Photograph of the Seal of JOHN TALBOT, THE FIRST BISHOP IN NORTH AMERICA, A. D. 1722, Discovered on his widow's will, Sep. 1875, by the Rev. Dr. Hills.
721
IN BURLINGTON.
JOHN TALBOT, THE FIRST BISHOP IN NORTH AMERICA.
A Monograph read before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Monday Evening, Nov. 11th, 1878, by the Rev. George Morgan Hills, D. D.
Some three years since, I discovered in the office of the Reg- ister of Wills in this city, an instrument which was admitted to probate an hundred and fifty years ago, having for its seal a mitre, and, in monogram, all the letters of the name "JOHN TALBOT." This is a culminating evidence of what has been wrapped in mysterious obscurity. Tradition, indeed, had vaguely whispered that there were Bishops in America in Colonial times. Documentary proofs of this were brought from Great Britain to this country in 1836, by the late Rev. Dr. Francis L. Hawks. Percival, in the appendix to his work entitled, "An Apology for the Doctrine of Apostolical Succession," gives a table of English Nonjuring Bishops, naming among them Welton and Talbot, with the remark, " They both went to the Colonies in North America (the former to Philadelphia), and exercised the Episcopal functions." Lathbury, in his "History of the Non- jurors," makes a similar, though less definite statement. Haw- kins's " Missions of the Church of England," and Anderson's " History of the Church of England in the Colonies," both enlarge upon it, taking, of course, the Establishmentarian view.
Encouraged by the invitation of this distinguished Society, and with the further materials in my possession, I shall attempt a monograph of him whom chronological accuracy must desig- nate as " The First Bishop in North America."
JOHN TALBOT, Master of Arts, and Priest of the Church of England, had been in the Colony of Virginia as early as about the year 1693. Ten years afterwards, we find him Chaplain of the ship Centurion, Capt. Herne, Commander, during that memorable voyage, when, on the 28th of April, 1702,t she sailed from Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, bound for Boston, in New England ; and freighted with a group of rare prominence, Col. Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts, Col. Povie, Deputy Gov- ernor, and Mr. Morris, afterwards Governor of New Jersey,#
+ See page 20.
¿ See next two pages.
Initial Letter. N
"Admiralty, S. W. "10th January 1880. 722
"SIR-In reply to your letter of the 8th ultimo, enclosing a copy of your monograph on "John Talbot," I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to forward herewith some further particulars with which they have been supplied from the Public Record office, viz: extracts from the Log of H. M. S. 'Centurion,' noting the embarkation of the gentlemen mentioned on page 5 of the monograph, and also their disembarkation in America.
"Their Lordships are informed that touching the various disagreeable circumstances that happened during Mr. Talbot's stay in America, his disagreement with Governor Hunter, &c., &c., much is to be found in the Board of Trade Correspondence of the period deposited in the Public Record office. I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"REV. G. M. HILLS, D. D., Burlington, New Jersey, U. S. A. 1
ROBERT HALL "
ADMIRALTY RECORDS
LOG BOOK C. H. M. S "CENTURION" 1694-1702. Nº 82
Centurion The proceedings of Her Mats sd shipp undr my command between the Twenty third day of Feb' 1701/2 and the First day of March 1702/3
MAY
DAYES
WINDS
COURSE
MILES
LATTD. CORRECTD.
LONGTD. CORRECTD.
BEARING OF THE LANDS
REMARKABLE OBSERVATIONS AND ACCIDENTS
*
*
*
*
Wednesd
6
N. E bE N. W. W. N. W.
S. S. W. 14S
80
49 == 05
00=42 W.
[Noone] N. 23 E. 43 Leagues.
[Moderate Winds and Weather] till midnight then sprang up a fine breese at noone parted with the lands end itt bearing N. N. W. 6 or 7 Leagues from whence I took my departure itt lying in 50 and 20 N. being bound for Newengland having Gover- nor Dudley, Colonel Morris Capt Povey Mr. Gor- den & Mr. Keith with their Retinue passingers
*
*
*
*
*
*
June. Friday
12
E E. N. E
At 2 Anchor'd and moored in 7 fathoms
Faire weather yesterday in the Afternoone An- chored att Nantasketts where the Governour and Georges Island E 12 N. the rest of the Gentlemen and Passengers went for Boston and wee moored. *
*
*
.
J. HERNE.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
ADMIRALTY RECORDS. PAY BOOK (T. O.) H. M. S. CENTURION. 1702. Nº 104
22 FEB. 1700/1 TO 30 JUNE
Centurion Compt 197
( Began rigging and Wages and Petty Warrt. att Woolwich ye 22 Feb : 1700/1 Sayled to the Hope 12 Mar: 17(0 from thence and Ended Petty Warrt att Wool : the the 19 same, went to whole Allowance of Sea Victualls the day following went to short allowance of Beer the 24 do Went to short Allowance of bread ye 10 Apr. 1701 Went to short Allowance of all Provisions ye 20 D°: Went to whole Allowance of all Provisions May 12 1701 Began Two thirds of Allowce of all Species (Beer ex- cepted) the 11 May 1702 Short Allowance mony being all paid. Short Allow paid List # Com's Victg, these few not to be paid herein.
TIME OF
Whence and whether prest
Register Numbers
No. and Letter of
MENS NAMES
Quality
| D. or R.
| Year
| Neglect
| Beds
* | Dead Mens Cloaths
6d. p. Mo. for Green-
wich Hospital
Full Wages
Neat Wages
| Short Allowance
TO WHOM PAID
No.
Entry
Year
Appearance
or not
Tickets
reason
| Slop Cloaths
| Tobacco
Chest
4.0
2.0 3.15.4
3.9.4
2 Aug't Rich'd Gillingham Atty. *
Slopps, Tobacco &c Exed. ¢ N. H. 1 Apr. 1703
(Signed) J. HERNE W. FOWNES JA: YOUNG MATTHEW COMBE
Endorsed Began Rigging Wages the 22 Feb. 1701 Sea Do 12 Mar. 1701 Ended Do 30 June 1702. Paid to that time on board her in hamoaze near Ply- mouth the 10 May 1703
ADMIRALTY BOARD RECORDS
Commission and Warrant Book 28 Jany 1701 to 6 July 1703. No. 5.
Warrant for Mr. John Talbott (recommended by the Bishop of London) to be Chaplaine of His Mat's Ship the Centurion under ye comand of Captaine John Herne. Dated 25th Feby 1701
P (embroke) By &c J. B. 723
IN BURLINGTON.
463 Mar. 12 17015 Mar. 12 3.3.6
Gh
650 Jno. Tallbott
Chapln.
D
| Time of Discharge
Whether or for what
724
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
together with the first two missionaries of the newly-incorporated "Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts. " +
So generous were these Governors to their clerical companions, that they extended to them the hospitality of their table through- out the entire voyage. Judge Sewall's Diary, a MS.} in the Library of the Historical Society of Massachusetts, says, that such deference was paid to the senior missionary that he was called upon to say Grace, although the Chaplain was on board. How intensely interesting, at this period, would be notes of the conversations between these three Colonial statesmen, and three intelligent clergymen, during that long voyage of six weeks and a day ! Must they not have been largely interspersed with the political, moral, and religious condition of the Colonies, and the imperative needs of the hour? No wonder that an ardent, devout, and energetic man, like John Talbot, expressed a desire to exchange the service of the Admiralty for the harder service of the adventurous missionary.
It was a great event when that ship arrived. Prominent colonists went on board to welcome their political officials, while the two ministers of the Church of England congregation in Boston greeted their brethren in the Holy Ministry. This was on the 11th of June.
On Sunday, the 28th of June, the Rev. Mr. Talbot took his turn in preaching in the Queen's Chapel, Boston; and the journal of the senior missionary adds, in connection with this entry, " By the advice of my good Friends at Boston, and es- pecially of Col. Joseph Dudley, Governour of Boston Colony, I chose the above-named Mr. John Talbot to be my Assistant and Associate in my Missionary Travels and Services, he having freely and kindly offered himself, and whom I freely and kindly received, and with the first occasion I wrote to the Society, praying them to allow of him to be my Fellow Companion and Associate in Travels, &c., which they accordingly did." Mr. Talbot began at once his missionary work, although his appoint- ment by the Society bears date the 18th of September. His was
+ Rev. George Keith, and Rev. Patrick Gordon.
¿ This Diary has since been printed.
725
IN BURLINGTON.
a spirit which could not brook delay ; and in the intervening three months much could be accomplished by those who leaped . rather than ran. On the 1st of July he was present at the commencement of the College at Cambridge, Mass .; and, on the 9th, was at Lynn ; and thence proceeded on an extensive mis- sionary exploration. The tour was made on horseback, except where occasion demanded that both men and beasts should be shipped upon sloops. From twenty to fifty miles a day were thus accomplished. Churches, meeting-houses, town houses and private houses were used for Divine Service, and the prayers of the Church of England were duly read before each sermon.
The continual change of scene, the cordial welcomes, the thronged attendance, the politeness of every Colonial Governor, the exhilarating mode of travel, the crisp air, and sweet odors of autumn, as they passed through Rhode Island, Connecticut, Long Island, and East and West Jersey kept the missionaries in high spirits. LAUS DEO APUD AMERICANOS! is the outburst of the full heart of Talbot, inscribed at the top of this page of his register, in bold and beautiful letters. X *
Five hundred miles of travel had now been made; and, to use Talbot's own language, " In all places where we come, we find a great ripeness and inclination amongst all sorts of people to embrace the Gospel." * *
" We have great need of a Bishop here, to visit all the churches, to ordain some, to confirm others, and bless all." This expression, with scarcely any alteration, was transferred to a conspicuous position in the first report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and has been a classic sentence, re- peated in ecclesiastical accounts of the Colonies ever since.
On the 10th of the next April, Mr. Talbot writes from New Castle, * * " God bless Queen Anne, and defend her that she may defend the Faith; and her Faithful Councellours, if they have any piety or policy, I'm sure will take some course with these Heathens and Hereticks, for if they be let alone to take the sword (which they certainly will when they think they are strong enough), we shall perish with it, for not opposing them in due time."
726
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
When we reflect that this utterance was made seventy years' before the outbreak of the American Revolution, we must credit Mr. Talbot with the ken of a prophet. Temporizing continued, with regard to the Colonies, and shameful neglect in manning the Church. Neither the mace of the law, nor the trumpet of the Gospel was adequately employed ; and the power of Britain was swept from its transatlantic Colonies, according * to the minute prediction of this man of God.
A war in which Great Britain was engaged produced in Mr. Talbot conscientious scruples, which caused him to omit that suffrage in the Litany for victory over her Majesty's enemies, and the prayer appointed to be said in time of war. Moreover, he went as far as New York in pursuance of a resolution to sail for England again, but changed his mind and returned to Burlington, where he bought a house and lot on the east side of what is now called Talbot street. The autumn following, Gov. Hunter, in behalf of the Society, consummated the purchase of the " mansion-house and lands" in Burlington, for £600 sterling of England, or £900 current money of New York, for a Bishop's seat .; This famous property, only a few years previous, was described by Gabriel Thomas, in his quaint way, as " The Great and Stately Palace of John Tateham, Esq.," " pleasantly situated on the north side of the town, having a fine and delightful Garden and Orchard adjoyning to it." Its domain, of fifteen acres, was bounded on the north by the Dela- ware river, on the east by Assiscunk creek, on the south by Broad st., and on the west by St. Mary st. It was as level as a bowling green. The posts of its fences were cedar; the cover- ing of its roof, lead ; and there were offices, and a coach house, and stables, and every appointment to make it at once the grandest, and-for want of a purchaser-the cheapest establish- ment in America.
A Bill was ordered to be drafted, to be offered in Parlia- ment for establishing Bishoprics in America; and Burlington was designated as the first American See. Everything presaged
+ N. Y. Colonial MSS. (Hunter), vol. 58, pp. 58, 59. Secretary of State's office, Albany, N. Y.
727
IN BURLINGTON.
success, but before the Bill was introduced, its great patroness, Queen Anne, died.
On the accession of George the First, a different complexion was given to American affairs. The feud between the Jacob- ites and the House of Hanover was reopened. All who held office were required to take the oath of allegiance afresh. This Mr. Talbot declined. Such a political offence, together with his plainness of speech, were made the ground for Gov. Hunter to charge him, in a very scurrilous letter, with "incorporating the Jacobites in the Jerseys." And three of the most distinguished men in the Province-Ex-Gov. Bass, the Attorney-General, Mr. Alex. Griffiths, and the Hon. Col. Daniel Coxe-were included as his main abettors. The allegation was sent to England, and returned to Mr. Talbot. His vestry, who had known him for twelve years, united in pronouncing it "a calumnious and groundless scandal." Talbot, in his reply to the Bishop of London, says that he was a Williamite from the beginning, and took all the oaths at the admiralty office before first leaving England. Mingled with his indignation, he cannot resist a pun upon the Governor's name. "I suffer like my Lord and Mas- ter between two at Philadelphia and New York, but God has been my succour, and I doubt not but he will still deliver me from the snare of the Hunter." *
Eighteen years had now passed, during which entire period Mr. Talbot had been incessant in toils, and importunate in appeals, for what he deemed the chief need of the Provinces.
On the 22d of June, 1720, he sells a portion of his land in Burlington, doubtless to defray the expenses of the voyage, and sails for England, uncertain as to whether he will ever return.
In April, 1721, he applied to the Lord High Chancellor, and received the interest on Archbishop Tenison's legacy, as the oldest missionary. He was absent two years and a half, and became intimate with Dr. Ralph Taylor, t a Nonjuring Bishop.
+ A news-letter written from London, 7th January, 1722-3, contains these words : "A few days agoe dyed the Rev. Dr. Ralph Taylor, who not con- forming at the Revolution to the terms of the Government, followed King James the 2d into France, and for some years was Chaplain to the Protestants of the Court of that unhappy Prince."
3 A
728
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
The original Nonjuring Bishops, Sancroft, Ken, and others, were deprived of their Sees, as Talbot well knew, on purely political grounds. They held to the doctrine of hereditary right. They held further, that when the State persecuted the Church, the union of Church and State was dissolved; and that there was no validity in lay deprivations of Bishops and Clergy. In sympathy with such views, charged with Jacobitism when it was a false accusation, and despairing of an Episcopate for the Colonies in any other way, Talbot was induced to unite with Dr. Richard Welton, t in receiving consecration from this source. The Nonjurors were in undoubted possession of the historical Episcopate. Yet, politically, they were under the ban; and they had recently had a division among themselves on the ground of " usages." These things made the venture desperate. Still, there were arguments that overbalanced them. The American Colonies were not in any diocese, nor at that time, in any jurisdiction. From the middle of Charles II.'s reign until the close of that of Queen Anne, the Bishops of London had exercised Episcopal powers over America under a special seal -the arms of the See of London, surrounded by the inscrip- tion : "SIGILLUM. EPISCOPI. LONDINENSIS. PROCOMMISS. AMERICANIS." In George the First's reign, however, the question was referred to the Attorney and Solicitor-General, " Whether America was so far to be deemed within the Diocese of London, that the Bishop thereof had all power in America ?" The law-officers gave it as their opinion that letters-patent from the Crown were necessary to constitute such Episcopal powers, which Dr. Gibson, the then Bishop of London, refusing to take out, the seal became no longer an object for use .¿ § A well-
+ The Christian name of Dr. Welton was not Robert as stated, on the authority of Percival, on page 168, but Richard, as given in Rawlinson's MS. and in the Register of Christ Church, Philadelphia.
¿ Notes and Queries, third Series, vol. IV., August 1st, 1863, p. 84.
¿ "The practice continued until the appointment of Bishop Gibson to the See of London. Upon inquiring into the source of his authority, he was told that, though no strict ecclesiastical title could be found, yet by an order in council in the reign of Charles the Second, the colonies were made a part of the See of London. For this order he, being a careful man, caused a diligent search to be made, when he discovered that none such existed. Finding,
729
IN BURLINGTON.
informed ecclesiastic as Talbot was, a firm believer in the Divine right of Bishops, and that, without them, the gifts of ordination and confirmation could not be received, his mind was made up. And, previous to the month of October, some time in the year of our Lord 1722, both Richard Welton and himself were con- secrated to the office of Bishops, by Bishop Ralph Taylor.f Percival brackets Taylor and Welton as uniting in the conse- cration of Talbot, but Rawlinson's MSS., in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, say Welton " was consecrated by Dr. Taylor alone, in a clandestine manner," and Talbot " was consecrated by the same person at the same time."} This Rawlinson was himself admitted to the Nonjuring Episcopate five or six years afterwards, although he took the utmost pains to conceal it, using stars to indicate his own name in the very entry of his consecration ; yet his MS. must be regarded as very high authority.
Intent upon offering to his beloved America a purely primi- tive Episcopate, independent of the Civil Power, Talbot pro-
therefore, no ground whatever on which to rest his claim of jurisdiction, he declined even to appoint a commissary. Thus the colonies were separated from all episcopal control."- Wilberforce's History American Church, third edition, p. 137.
+ " The Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America assembled in Council, not meaning to dispute the validity of Conse- crations by a single Consecrator, put on record their conviction that, in the organization of reformed Churches with which we may hope to have com- munion, they should follow the teaching of the Canons of Nicaa; and that, where consecration cannot be had by three Bishops of the Province, Episcopal orders should at all events be conferred by three Bishops of National Churches." -Journal of General Convention, 1880, pp. 264 and 120.
NOTE .- The first Bishop of the Church of Rome in this country, Dr. John Carroll, cf Baltimore, was consecrated by a Bishop "in partibus," viz., Dr. Charles Walmsley, Bishop of Rama, senior Vicar Apostolical, &c., no other Bishop being present. The event took place in the chapel of Lulworth Castle, England, on Sunday, August 15th, 1790.
¿ From these, we extract as follows :
"25 Jan. 1721, Ralph Taylor, D. D. consecrated at Grey's Inne by Mr. Hawes, Mr. Spinckes, and Mr. Gandy; present, earl of Winchelsea, Rob. Cotton, Tho. Bell, and Mr. John Blackbourne, A. M.
" 1722, Ric. Welton, D. D., was consecrated by Dr. Taylor alone, in a clan- destine manner.
* *
* Talbot, M. A., was consecrated, by the same person at the same time, and as irregularly."-Notes and Queries, 3d S., I., March 22d, 1862, p. 225.
730
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
cured his Episcopal ring, and embarked, reaching this port with great joy. t
Nearly two years passed, and, had it not been for another arrival, Talbot might have gone on unmolested. That arrival was Dr. Welton, who was consecrated at the same time with Talbot. ¿ He had been deprived of the rectorship of White- chapel, London, for being a Nonjuror ; had so far defied the law as to assemble two hundred and fifty Nonjurors in a private house for Divine Service, and been imprisoned in consequence. Embittered by such severity, he had come to Philadelphia, and was gladly received at Christ Church, in the room of the dis- placed Urmston. §
+"The political events of that day and the continued failure, which Talbot witnessed, of the efforts of the Church of England to make herself known in her integrity abroad, tempted him afterwards 10 regard, through a very differ- ent medium, the position which he believed of right belonged to her. It led him to take for his associate * * Welton, formerly Rector of White- chapel, and now pastor of a nonjuring congregation ; * * * and in 1722, both were consecrated to the Episcopal office by the nonjurors * *
* Welton returned with Talbot to America, and went to Philadelphia, whilst Talbot remained in New Jersey, from which place authentic reports soon came home to the Society of acts done by him, which, however consistent with the creed of the nonjuror, could of course not be permitted to its mis- sionaries. A refusal to pray in public for the person and family of George I., and to take the oaths of obedience to his authority, were the offences with which Talbot was charged. And receiving not from him any denial of their truth, the Society was constrained at once to remove him from his post. Whether he performed any Episcopal acts in New Jersey, is very doubtful. He certainly abstained from making any public parade of them." -- Anderson's History Church of England in the Colonies, second edition, 1856, vol. III., pp. 239, 240. See also, Wilberforce's History Protestant Episcopal Church in America, third edition, 1856, pp. 160-163.
į Alluding to the pseudo-episcopate of Wesley, Anderson, in his History, second edition, vol. III., pp. 517, 518, says : "It was an impatience like that manifested by Talbot sixty years before, who, eager to apply the remedy which, above all others, was required for the evils which he then witnessed in the British Colonies, sought and received consecration to the Episcopal office at the hands of the nonjuring body. * * * But for him and his coadjutor Welton, the excuse might have been urged, that they received the office of Bishop from the hands of Bishops."
2 " In 1724, Urmston came over again from England and became the Rector of North Sassafrass parish, Cecil Co., Md., and continued there for some years, when he was displaced for profaneness and intemperance, and soon after came to an unhappy end."-Rev. Dr. Ethan Allen's MS.
"He was dismissed here [Phil.] on account of his immoral course after about a year's service. On leaving he went to Maryland, to North Sassafrass parish, Cecil County. Here in July 1731 he was suspended from the minis- try by Mr. Commissary Henderson. Mr. Urmston was succeeded for a while by the Right Rev. Mr. Talbot of Burlington."-Allen's MS.
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IN BURLINGTON.
Information of Welton's privily exercising the functions of a Bishop in Pennsylvania was sent to the Lords-Justices of Great Britain, who ordered a writ of privy seal to be served on him, commanding his return forthwith to England. He left Phila- delphia in March, 1726; and, rather than obey the writ, retired to Lisbon, Portugal, where, in the August following, he died, re- fusing to commune with the English clergyman. Among his effects was found an Episcopal seal.
Talbot was discharged from the service of the Society, and ordered to " surcease officiating." +
Talbot, who hitherto had been wedded only to the Church, and lived with great frugality, married a widow with some property. The venerable couple went to Burling- ton, where they lived in refined simplicity. This serene retire- ment did not last long. The American Weekly Mercury contains the following : "Philadelphia, Nov. 30, 1727. Yesterday, died at Burlington, the Reverend Mr. John Talbot, formerly Minister of that Place, who was a Pious, good man, and much lamented." How like the record of the protomartyr ! "Devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him." The weeds which his widow wore till the day of her death, and her request to be buried by his side, showed the strength of her affection for him. She removed to Philadelphia, where she met her final sickness. She sent for a scribe, and dictated a will, whose value as an historical paper cannot be over-
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