USA > New York > Westchester County > History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the county of Westchester, from its foundation, 1693, to 1853 > Part 10
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" He states that one of the means which he adopted of com municating religious instruction to the people, was preaching at funerals in the more remote districts, whereby he had the op- portunity of addressing those who could not be brought together at any other time."b
In 1768 Mr. George Youngse was appointed schoolmaster at Westchester, in the room of Mr. Nathaniel Seabury, the rector's brother.
The Rev. Mr. Seabury, in his letter of October 10th, 1769, says :- " The people become gradually more devout, and read regular in the public worship. That he had taken pains with the negro slaves, and had baptised five adults with them. The school advances, and the children make a due proficiency in learning."d
The following year he thus writes to the Secretary :-
MR. SEABURY TO THE SECRETARY.
EXTRACT.] Westchester, March 29th, 1770.
REV SIR :
" The violent party heats which prevail in this Colony as well as in the others, engross at present, the attention of the people. But I think yt even the disturbances will be attended with some advantage to the interests of the church. The useful- ness and truth of her doctrines with regard to civil government,
· New-York M. S. S. from Archives at Fulham, vol. ii. 429 to 432. (Hawks'.)
৳ Hawkins' Notices of the Missions of the Church of England, &c.
Mr Youngs continued his services here until 1772.
Society's Printed Abstracts,
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appear more evident from those disorders which other principles have led the people into. This is particularly remarked and publicly mentioned by the more candid and reasonable people, who seem heartily tired with the great clamours for liberty, &c., as it appears evident yt unbounded licentiousness in manners and insecurity to private property, must be the unavoidable consequence of some late measures, should they become prev- alent. I hope the time is not far off when these matters will be settled upon a firm and permanent foundation; but how- ever yt may be, I am confident the behaviour of the church people, considered as a body, has been such as has done her honour, and will be remembered many years in this country with approbation." a Nine months after the date of this com- munication, we find him again addressing the Secretary, as fol- lows :-
MR. SEABURY TO THE SECRETARY.
EXTRACT.]
Westchester, January 3d, 1771.
REV. SIR :
" The state of this mission being much the same as when I last wrote, makes it unnecessary for me to say much on yt head. In general, I must observe, yt though I think appearances are something mended since I have been in this mission, yet my success has not been equal to my first expectations. I find it very difficult to convince people yt religion is a matter of any importance. They seem to treat it as a thing unworthy of their attention, except on some particular occasions, when they are otherwise disengaged. Many come frequently to church and yet continue unbaptised, others come constantly and appear to behave devoutly, and yet cannot be prevailed upon to become communicants, while many others pay not the least regard to religion of any kind nor on any occasion. I shall, however, endeavour to do my duty, and I hope, by God's blessing, in due time, I shall see some good fruit from my labours."b
· New-York M. S. S. from Archives at Fulham, vol. ii. 505. (Hawks'.)
› New-York M. S. S. from Archives at Fulham, vol. ii. 542. (Hawks')
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
During the year 1774, he had baptised forty-nine, and admit- ted three new communicants.a
In April, 1775, he signed the protest at White Plains, in which he and others declared their " honest abhorrence of all unlawful Congresses and Committees," and determination, " at the hazard of our lives and properties, to support the King and Constitu- tion ; and that we acknowledge no Representatives but the General Assembly, to whose wisdom and integrity we submit the guardianship of our rights, liberties and privileges."
The following letter shows that some of the clergy had found it prudent to withdraw from the surrounding troubles and seek refuge in England :---
MR. SEABURY TO THE SECRETARY.
EXTRACT.] Westchester, May 30th, 1775.
REV. SIR :
" We are here in a very alarming situation. Dr. Cooper and Dr. Chandler have been obliged to quit this community and sailed for England last week.b I have been obliged to retire a few days from the threatened vengeance of the New England people who lately broke into this Province. But I hope I shall be able to keep my station. The charge against the clergy here is a very extraordinary one-that they have, in conjunction with the Society and the British Ministry, laid a plan for enslaving America. I do not think that those people who raised this calumny, believe one syllable of it; but they intend it as an engine to turn the popular fury upon the church, which, should the violent schemes of some of our Eastern neighbours succeed, will probably fall a sacrifice to the persecuting spirit of Inde- pendency.
I am, &c., SAMUEL SEABURY."c
· Printed Abstracts of the Ven. Society
b In the old Wilkins mansion on Castle Hill Neck, Westchester, is still shown the place where Doctors Cooper, Chandler and Seabury managed to secrete themselves for some time, notwithstanding the most minute and persevering search was made for them ; so ingeniously contrived was the place of their concealment in and about the old-fashioned chimney. Food was conveyed to them through a trap-door in the floor.
e New-York M. S. S. from Archives at Fulham, vol. ii. 571. (Hawks.')
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The calumny against the clergy, resembles the false charge brought against the Episcopacy itself at this period, viz :- that it was "one of those causes which, as much as anything else, conduced to the horrors of the revolution." It is almost need- less to say that both were unfounded. The real cause of the American Revolution was, whether the Parliament of Great Britain had any power or authority to tax Americans, without their consent. This was the foundation of the whole dispute. But surely the New England people had no right to complain, much less to invade a neighbouring province by force, when they practiced upon all other denominations this taxation with- out representation.a
The following letter from Mr. Seabury to his friend Isaac Wilkins, Esq., (afterward rector of this parish,) dated May 30th, 1775, is preserved among the papers of the Wilkins family :-
MY EVER DEAR WILKINS :
" I hope you are safe in London ; may every blessing attend you. Mrs. Wilkins was well last evening. Isabella has had a rash, but is better. Everything here quiet. Reported that two thousand men are ready in Connecticut for any operation for which they may be wanted in this province. The Asia is arrived-reported that she has demanded a supply of provis- ions for Boston, and that it is agreed that they shall be furnished. The associations went on very heavily at W. C., very few signed. The Provincial Congress have agreed to raise money upon the province-as the representatives of the people. Mr. L. Morris has published his remarks upon the protest, &c., poor me-you are safe-I think I am too. If I knew anything worth writing, I would write it. I think the present
. This was precisely what the Puritans objected to in the English Parliament, at the very moment they were doing it themselves, and for which they revolted. (See Chapin's Puritanism, p. 128.) The Society's Abstracts, for 1775, say :- "Mr. Seabury, has been obliged to retire from his mission at Westchester, but has not been able to secure himself from the ill effects of the present distrac- tions. Mr. Gott, the schoolmaster, a very attentive man in his office, has been obliged to quit the school on account of ill health."
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
scene will not last long. Drs. Cooper and Chandler sailed last week. Tell Dr. Cooper I received his letter, and I will write to him. When I can collect anything worthy your notice you shall have it. God bless you, says your ever affectionate
SEABURY."
The Society's abstracts for 1776, say :- " In the course of this year two letters have been received from the worthy Mr. Seabury. In the former, dated November 14th, 1775, he writes, that his two congregations, though less numerous, were then pretty steady in their attendance, and that between Christmas and mid-summer he had baptised twenty-seven white, and four black infants."a The latter gives the following account of his seizure and detention :-
MR. SEABURY TO THE SECRETARY.
EXTRACT.]
Westchester, January, 13th, 1776. REV. SIR :
" Since my last letter I have been seized by a company of dis- affected people in arms, from Connecticut, in number about one hundred, and carried to New Haven. This happened on the 22d of November, and I was kept under a military guard till the 23d of December. The particulars of this affair I will send you when I find a safe opportunity. On the 2d day of this month I returned to my family. How long I shall be able to continue here is very uncertain ; but I am determined to stay as long as I am permitted to discharge the duties of my mission, whatever personal inconvenience it may subject me to. My private affairs have suffered much on this occasion. I was com- pelled to bear my expenses, and that has not been less than ten pound sterling. My papers were all examined, and are thrown into such confusion that I can find none of my
· Printed Abstracts of Ven. Society, 16 Feb. 1776, to 21st Feb. 1777.
-
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memoranda relating to my mission or correspondence with the Society.
I am, Rev. Sir, &c., SAMUEL SEABURY." ª
This invasion of the territory of New-York, and violent removal of its citizens, called forth a strong remonstrance from the Provincial Congressb to Governor Trumbull, who demanded Mr. Seabury's 'immediate discharge.' The more especially as, considering his ecclesiastic character, which, perhaps is vener- ated by many friends to liberty.c The severity that has been used towards him may be subject to misconstructions, prejudicial to the common cause. Mr. Seabury was accordingly set at liberty and returned to his parish.d
" In many places the clergy, (says the Rev. M. H. Henderson, to whom we are indebted for the materials of this sketch,) nat- urally viewed with a distrustful eye in consequence of their
· New York M. S. S. from Archives at Fulham, vol. ii. 575, 576. (Hawks'.) "In 1776, says Dr. Hawkins, Mr. Seabury was seized by a party of the disaf- fected in arms, and carrie d off toeN Ilaven ; all his papers being examined for proof against him. After describing this outrage, he says : 'God's Providence will, I hope, protect His church and clergy in this country, the disorder and con- fusion of which are beyond description."'-Hawkin's Missions.
৳ The petition of the Rev. S. Seabury, presented to the Governor of Conn. in 1775, for relief and protection, shows that he received anything but gentle treat- ment at the hands of his enemies. He defended himself against their charges, and pronounced his arrest "a high infringement of that liberty for which the sons of America were then so nobly struggling." Whatever might have been his private views and feelings, he seems to have been a conscientious and industrious man ; more heedful of the welfare of his flock and family, than of his country's political relations. Among other things, he stated in his petition, " that to dis- charge his debts, he had opened a grammar school, and had made £100, York money, the previous year, and was in a fair way of discharging his debts,-that he had five young men from the Island of Jamaica, one from Montreal, four chil- dren of a gentleman then in England, with others in his care from New-York and the country,-that it might be impossible to recover his school, in which case he should be entirely at the mercy of his creditors."-Extract from an address delivered in St. Peter's Church, Cheshire, Conn. Oct. 1841, by Rev. C. E. Beards- ley, A. M. The site of Mr. Seabury's grammar school, is still called Seabury Hill.
· Journal of N. Y. Prov. Con. vol. i, 214, 492.
d Doc. History of N. Y., vol. iii, 1062.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
connection with the Church of England, were obliged to leave their stations, suffering at times the utmost indignity and cruelty.
One of the missionariesª writes, Nov. 25, 1776 :- " I have been obliged to shut up my churches, to avoid the fury of the populace, who would not suffer the liturgy to be used, unless the collects and prayers for the king and royal family were omitted, which neither my conscience nor the declaration I made and subscribed when I was ordained, would allow me to comply with : and although I used every prudent step to give no offence, even to those who usurped authority and rule," (allowance will of course be made for such expressions,) " and exercised the severest tyranny over us, yet my life and property have been threatened, upon mere suspicion of being . unfriendly to what is called the American cause." While all the clergy who were unwilling to espouse the side of the colo- nies " were marked out for infamy and insult, the missionaries in particular, suffered greatly." "Some of them," he adds, "have been dragged from their horses, assaulted with stones and dirt, ducked in water, obliged to flee for their lives; driven from their habitations and families, and laid under arrest and imprisonments. These are the bitter though legitimate fruits of civil war. All suffered by their mutual hostility. Brother was arrayed against brother, and the father against his son. God grant that such scenes may never be enacted again."
I refer to these facts, only to show the peculiar difficulties with which our church had to struggle from its connection with the Church of England. In consequence of this, many congre- gations were scattered to the winds ; and it was not until years after the war, that regular organization and discipline were restored.
Bound, as were the clergy, by a declaration solemn as an oath, that they would use, in all their public services, "the prayer book of the Church of England," in which were prayers appointed for the king and royal family, "many able and worthy ministers," says Bishop White, in his Memoirs of the
· See Thomas Bartow. See Hawkins, pp. 139-40.
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Church, a " from conscientious scruples ceased to officiate," when such prayers could no longer be used. " Owing to these circumstances," he adds, " the doors of the far greater number of the Episcopal churches were closed for several years." Whatever we may think of the conduct of these clergy in other respects, we cannot but honour their purity of motive and honesty of principle, thus maintained and manifested by the sacrifice of all that men hold dear.
Yet there were others, and among them the illustrious individual to whom I have just referred, who saw the necessity of the case, and threw the whole weight of their influence upon the side of the colonies. Prominent among these were the clergy of Philadelphia. Let not the Protestant Episcopalian forget that Bishop White, "the father of his church," was one of the first chaplains of Congress,b and invoked, as such, the divine blessing upon their earliest deliberations :c nor let him forget that Washington himself, " the father of his country," that great and good man worshipped at her altars,d attending regularly upon her solemn services. No ;- let him not forget that while her clergy were thus hampered and distracted from the very nature of their position, her laity in the middle and southern States lent a most efficient aid in their country's hour of need. Among the stout hearts and true, that stood up man- fully for their country's rights, who more prominent than Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, and Richard Henry Lee,e
* White's Memoirs, p. 20.
· Mr. Duchè, also an Episcopal clergyman, was the first chaplain of Congress. This was, however, in Sept. 1774, before the Declaration of Independence. He was appointed on the nomination of Samuel Adams. John Adams wrote on the occasion in a letter to his wife, " Mr. Duchè is one of the most ingenious men, and best characters, and greatest orators in the Episcopal order on this continent, yet a zealousfriend of liberty and his country." The remarkable fitness of the ser- vice of the day was noted by all. It contained the 35th Psalm. See letter of John Adams, 18th September, 1774. Also, N. Y. Review, Jan. 1842.
e Bishop White was appointed Chaplain in Sep., 1777, at the gloomiest period of the war, just before intelligence was received of the surrender of General Burgoyne. He did not hesitate a moment to accept.
Bishop Provoost, also, was a warm friend of the Colonies.
d Washington was a communicant of the Church.
. Richard Henry Lee, while President of Congress, wrote a letter, dated New- York, Oct. 21th, 1785, to John Adams, Minister then to Great Britain, earnestly requesting his agency in securing the Episcopate .- White's Memoirs, p. 325.
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
and Benjamin Franklin,a and Patrick Henry.b and Anthony Wayne, and Generals Moultrie, Sumpter and Morgan ? Who, after Washington, contributed more to secure the independence of these colonies ? And yet these men were by profession or preference connected with the Church of England. All the pa- triots from South Carolina and Virginia,c what were they but
* The following remarkable language, Dr. F. uses in a letter to his daughter Sarah. Under what other circumstances would he be more likely to express the genuine feelings of his heart, than to his own daughter, from whom he was about to be separated by distance and the perils of the deep ? He writes from Reedy Island, in the Delaware, Nov. 8th, 1704, on his way to England :
" Go constantly to Church, whoever preaches. The act of devotion in the common prayer book is your principal business there; and if properly attended to, will do more towards amending the heart than sermons generally can do. For they were composed by men of much greater piety and wisdom than our common composers of sermons can pretend to be; and therefore I wish you would never miss the prayer days. Yet I do not mean that you should despise sermons even if the preachers you dislike ; for the discourse is often much better than the man, as sweet and clear waters come through very dirty earth. I am the more particu- lar on this head, as you seemed to express, a little before I came away, some inclination to leave our church, which I would not have you do."
That Dr. Franklin was not only a true Philosopher, but something of a Church- man, too, no one can question after reading the above. It is not pretended that he was what is called "a religious man ;" or that he could not, at times, speak in a vein of pleasantry, which seemed inconsistent with any decided religious attachments. (Letter, July 18th, 1781, from Passey to Messrs. Weems and Gant.) But that he had deeper religious feelings and more decided religious preferences, than the world knew of may not be doubted. His well known motion in Con- gress, 26th May, 1781, to arrest a stormy debate, for the purpose of prayer, shows his sentiments in regard to the power of religion over others. His ex- pression on his dying bed, to Dr. Shippen, of Philadelphia, “ it is safer to be- lieve," indicates its power over himself .- N. Y. Review, Life and writings of John Jay, Oct. 1841 .- Dr. Mc Vickar.
b The seizure and sale of churches and glebes by the Legislature of Virginia must remain a sad blot upon the history of that State. Patrick Henry resisted this act for many years, and it was not until after his decease that it was ob- tained. "He had to resist," says Bishop White, (Memoirs, p. 86, to which the reader is referred,) " through many years the united efforts of men hostile to re- vealed religion, and men who cherished rancorous hatred to the Church of Eng. land in particular."
e Virginia was favored at an early period with the ministrations of the Church of England. Rev. Robert Hunt landed in Virginia with a party of settlers, in 1607. He was " an English clergyman, whose Christian meekness, cheerfulness and perseverance, under the severest trials, were a signal blessing to the colony." Hawkins', p. 3. It is an interesting fact, in connection with the republicanism
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Episcopalians ? Nay, all from the South, with but few excep- tions, a and with them a multitude in the North.b
Such a fact as this but ill comports with the assertion some- times recklessly made, that our church is anti-republican. She hath borne her full share both in the anxious deliberations of the council-board, and the hard toil of the battle-field.c At this
of our Church, that Virginia, an Episcopal colony, should have commenced her career with " universal suffrage and equality." See Burke's Virginia, vol I. p. 302. Coit's Puritanism, p. 77, 463.
""I am well satisfied that a large proportion of the prominent men of the Revo. lution were Churchmen. Of the Southern men who figured at that period, prob- ably not one was otherwise than an Episcopalian, except Charl-s Carroll.' Those from South Carolina and Virginia were so to a man. Such as Rutledge, Laurens, Moultrie, Gadsden, Sumpter, the Pinckneys, Madison, Monroe, Mar- shall, Richard Henry Lee, Gen. Harry Lee, Washington, Wythe, General Mor- gan, Pendleton, President Nelson, the Pages, the Harrisons, the Randolphs, Pey- ton and all the rest. * * * *
At that period there was scarcely any dissenters at the South, from Maryland, down. At the time of the Revolution the congregation of Dr. Davies, a Presby- terian minister in Hanover, Virginia, was, I believe, the only considerable one of that denomination in the State."-Letter from Rev. Dr. Ducachet of Phila- delphia.
The writer of the above letter, than whom no man was more familiar with his country's history, speaks in some cases from personal knowledge-of Rutledge, for instance, Monroe and Marshall, the Pinckneys also, and of Moultrie and Gadsden ; the last two he has seen, in his early youth, standing at the doors of the church, in their military costume, with boxes in their hands, as the custom was, for collections. Marshall was one of Bishop Moore's parishioners. His devout and humble demeanor attracted universal admiration. He contributed liberally towards the establishment of the Virginia Seminary. Judge Story, in his Eulogy on Chief Justice Marshall, says, " Among Christian sects, he per- sonally attached himself to the Episcopal Church. It was the religion of his early education, and became afterwards that of his choice."
b There were, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, Gouverneur Morris, Lewis Morris, William Duer, James Duane, Francis Lewis, Robert Troup, in New- York, Gen. Lord Stirling of New Jersey, with Robert Morris of Philadelphia, whose services, vital as they were to the cause of the colonies, will never be for- gotten, and besides a host of others in both cities.
In regard to Robert Morris, an intelligent lady, who enjoyed with him an in- timate personal acquaintance, states that he married Bishop White's sister, and attended Christ Church, Philadelphia. It is well known that, by his great wealth, he sustained the cause of the colonies in the hour of their greatest peril. This lady often heard him speak of his having been a "blue-coat boy," in his early youth. The members of a charity school in Westminster, were so called.
e Bishop White states the remarkable fact that the General Convention of 1785, comprising a fair delegation from seven States, "consisted, as to the lay part, principally of gentlemen who had been active in the late Revolution,"-
1
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HISTORY OF THE PARISH
very moment, a large number of our highest officers, both upon land and sea,a who hold their lives at their country's bidding, adhere to her faith, and discipline, and worship, as the religion of their choice. The Episcopal Church anti-republican ! that contributed as much if not more than all others-the above names being the witness-to the independence of these United States!b The Episcopal Church anti-republican ! so ready with her best life-blood to uphold the honor and the interests of our common country ! The Episcopal Church anti-republican ! that daily seeks God's richest blessing upon the highest officer of the Republic, with " all that are in authority," and her chosen legislature "in Congress assembled !"c This church anti-re- publican, whose whole form of government is most strikingly analogous to that of the State ? Where else are the checks and balances of ecclesiastical legislation so wisely ordered and so well arranged ? ¡ Where else is the religious denomination among us, where the laity, as such, have a negative upon the acts of the clergy, so that no legislative enactment can have place without their concurrence ?d Surely naught but ignorance or misapprehension could bring the charge.
while the application for the Episcopacy then made, was to " the very power we had been at war with."-Mem. p. 99.
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