USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > A historical account of Christ Church, Philadelphia : from its foundation, A.D. 1695, to A.D. 1841 : and of St. Peter's and St. James's, until the separation of the churches > Part 10
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October 30. A letter was drawn up and signed by the wardens and vestrymen, recom- mending Mr. Duché to the bishop of London ; and is as follows :
" To the right reverend father in God, Richard, by divine permission lord bishop of London.
May it please your lordship,
We, the church wardens and vestrymen of the united
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churches of Christ Church and St. Peter's, in the city of Philadelphia, in vestry met, beg leave to inform your lord- ship that the Rev. Richard Peters, D. D., our late worthy rector, after many years faithful and approved service, finding the charge of the said united churches too heavy a burden, on account of his bodily infirmities, hath volunta- tarily resigned his rectorship into our hands, and that, in consequence thereof, we have unanimously elected the Rev. Jacob Duché, A. M., to be the rector of the said united churches. We beg leave to observe to your lordship, that the Rev. Mr. Duché is a native of this city, and known to most of us from his childhood, that he has officiated under a license from your lordship's predecessor, as an assistant minister in our said churches, during the space of upwards of sixteen years; in which he has deservedly met with universal approbation. From the unblemished character he has hitherto supported through life, from his exemplary conduct, zeal, piety and learning, we presume to recom- mend him in the warmest manner to your lordship, and flatter ourselves that our choice will meet with your lord- ship's approbation, being firmly persuaded that his best endeavours will ever be exerted for the maintenance of unanimity and concord in the churches, and the advancement of true religion and virtue. We therefore humbly hope, that your lordship will be pleased to take this address into your consideration, and to return a favourable answer to our unanimous request in his behalf.
Ever praying, &c., &c.
Philadelphia, October 30, 1775."
The Rev. Mr. Duche having been officially informed of his election, addressed the vestry as follows :
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" Gentlemen,
I beg leave to return you my sincere thanks and acknowledgments for the honour you have done me, by electing me to the rectorship of your united churches. I consider it as the highest and most affectionate testimony you could give of your approbation of my past ser- vices ; and I hope my future conduct will ever be such as may justify your choice. My change of station, I trust, will have no other effect upon me, than to increase my zeal for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the congregations which you represent. It shall be my constant endeavour, under the blessing of heaven, to preserve the same peace and harmony in our churches, which they happily enjoyed under my truly pious and worthy predecessor."
1776.
May 17. Friday. The continental congress having recommended this as a day of general humiliation, fasting and prayer, through all the American provinces, Christ Church and St. Peter's were opened for divine service, and ser- mons were preached, suitable to the occasion.
July 4. A vestry meeting was held on this memorable day, the minutes of which we give entire.
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" At a meeting of the vestry at the Rector's, July 4, 1776.
Present, Rev. Jacob Duché, rector.
Thomas Cuthbert, church warden; Jacob Duché, Robert Whyte, Charles Stedman, Ed- mund Physick, James Biddle, Peter De Haven, James Reynolds,' Gerardus Clarkson, vestry- men.
Whereas the honourable continental con- gress have resolved to declare the American colonies to be free and independent states ; in consequence of which it will be proper to omit those petitions in the liturgy wherein the king of Great Britain is prayed for, as inconsistent with the said declaration, Therefore, resolved, that it appears to this vestry to be necessary, for the peace and well being of the churches, to omit the said petitions; and the rector and assistant ministers of the united churches are requested in the name of the vestry and their constituents, to omit such petitions as are above mentioned."
1777.
April 3. Thursday. This day was appoint- ed by congress for national humiliation, fasting and prayer, when the churches were opened for divine service.
16
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April 17. From a statement laid before the vestry, it appeared that the salaries of the rec- tor and two assistants was only £800., of which the Rev. Mr. Duche, rector, received £300., the Rev. Mr. Coombe £350. and the Rev. Mr. White £150. In reference to which they say, that these sums to the assistants were " to be paid out of the church funds, at the particular request of the rector, and with his cheerful concurrence." " The vestry at the same time expressed the high sense they entertain of the merit and abilities of the Rev. Mr. White, and sincerely wish the church funds would enable them to place him on a more equitable footing ; but as they have it not at present in their pow- er, and well knowing that Mr. White will kindly accept whatever they can propose, though very inadequate to his services, they have voted the above sum, being all they can offer consistent with Mr. White's repeated requests not to be- come a charge or burden to the church."
June 9. Christ Church steeple was struck by lightning, and " the electric rod and con- ductor were thereby rendered totally useless." A committee was appointed "to procure a complete rod and conductor to be put' up in place of that which has been damaged."
September 6. The Rev. Mr. Coombe is
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arrested and confined, by order of the presi- dent and council of Pennsylvania, on " the gen- eral charge of having evinced a disposition inimical to the cause of America." An appeal is made in his behalf to the supreme executive council, by the rector, warden, and vestrymen, in which they earnestly request "that Mr. Coombe may be admitted, as his undoubted birthright, to a hearing, in the face of his coun- try." The council, through their vice president, George Bryan, reply, that " Mr. Coombe's case is wholly political;", that, before this address from the vestry, " the council had determined to send away Mr. Coombe, and the rest of the prisoners, and that his connexion with their congregations could be no argument in his be- half."
September 16. " The rector informed the vestry, that the clerk and sexton had called upon him yesterday morning to acquaint him that several persons had got into the steeple of Christ Church, and were preparing to take down the bells ;" that they were acting under an order " from the present executive council of Pennsylvania, signed by Timothy Matlack, their secretary." "The rector further acquaint- ed them, that having understood from Mr. Charles Thompson, that the order had been
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issued in consequence of a recommendation of congress, he went up immediately to the state house, and meeting with Mr. Penn and several members of congress, he represented to them the great risk that would attend the taking down the bells, the improbability of ever meet- ing with a person capable of putting them up again, and further told them that, if they meant only the security of the bells by removing them, he was confident they were in no danger, and concluded with requesting them to move in congress, that Christ Church bells, for the rea- sons above mentioned, should be excepted from the general order ; that Mr. Penn and several others had approved of what he said, and pro- mised to make such a motion ; that in the mean while he had requested Col. Flower, who had the charge of seeing the order of Congress exe- cuted, to delay the same till he had received an answer from Mr. Penn, who had promised him that he would do so; that Mr. Penn had called upon him this morning and promised to let him have an answer about noon." An an- swer was received from Mr. John Penn, stating that " the congress only having recommended the taking down the bells in the different churches, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, should they get possession of this
1.
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city, the assembly of this state are to judge of the propriety of the recommendation, and no doubt will postpone the carrying the measure into execution with regard to the bells in Christ Church, until there is a greater probability of General Howe's getting here.",
A committee of vestry was appointed to wait on the president of the council, and remon- strate against the removal of the bells.
November 6. "The rector informed the vestry that notwithstanding the application which had been made to the state president and council, respecting Christ Church bells, the commissary general had taken down and car- ried away seven of the said bells, and likewise the two bells from St. Peter's Church."
December 9. " The rector informed the vestry, that upon a due consideration of the present state of affairs, and his own situation in particular, he had come to a resolution, with the permission of vestry, of going to England ; as he apprehended he could more fully answer any objections the bishop of London might have to his conduct, and more easily remove the prejudices he has reason to think the bishop has imbibed against him .* The rector assured
* These " prejudices" which the bishop of London is supposed to have imbibed against Mr. Duché, probably arose from a sermon of Mr. 16*
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the vestry, that Mr. Coombe had promised to do all in his power for the service of the church- es, in which he would be assisted by the gen- tlemen who are chaplains in the regiments now stationed here ; and that as soon as he has set- tled his affairs, and could with safety, he would cheerfully return to the care of his churches." " The vestry being fully convinced of the ne- cessity of the above measure, gave their cheer- ful consent to the rector's request," and ad- dressed to him the following affectionate letter. " Sir,
We, the church wardens and vestrymen of
Duché's, preached July 7th, 1775, entitled " The duty of standing fast in our spiritual and temporal liberties."
Dr. Smith, the provost of the college of Philadelphia, had preached a sermon, June 25, 1775, twelve days before Mr. Duché's, " On the pre- sent situation of American affairs," which became an object of conside- rable notice and controversy, of praise and censure, in Great Britain, as well as in America, according to the different principles of its readers. It ran through several American editions in a few weeks. Ten thou- sand copies were printed in London in a cheap form, and several editions were published in Bristol, and elsewhere in England and Ireland. Both these sermons breathed the warmest patriotism, and zeal for the Amer- ican cause. Dr. Smith says, that "the first mark of displeasure" which he received on account of his sermon, "was from governor Tryon at New York, who told him that he had considered it as his duty to transmit a copy of it to the bishop of London, as well as a copy of Mr. Duché's sermon. Governor Tryon added," says Dr. Smith, " that he did not doubt but that the bishop would soon signify his highest disap- probation, and severe censure of both Mr. Duché and myself." Smith's Works, vol. ii. p. 253.
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the united churches of Christ Church and St. Peter's, in vestry met, beg leave to offer our most affectionate wishes for your safe arrival in England. The long and intimate affection that has subsisted between us, makes us regard your separation from us with concern, and la- ment the unhappy occasion that calls you from the care of those churches, in which you have officiated with so much satisfaction to the united congregations. Our sincere prayers for your welfare, and speedy return to your native city and the charge of the united churches, with the approbation of your spiritual superiors, which we doubt not you will meet with, upon a proper representation of your conduct, will ever attend you.
Signed by order of the vestry, JAMES REYNOLDS, Church warden.
Philadelphia, Dec. 9, 1777."
As Mr. Duché never again had charge of the churches, although he returned to this country and died here, in 1798, this seems to be the appropriate place for introducing some inter- esting notices of him, from bishop White's " Or- dination offices." On the subject of delivering sermons from memory, the bishop remarks,
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" The only clergyman here known to have de- rived advantage from it, adequate to the pains taken, was the late Rev. Jacob Duché, of the city of Philadelphia. When he began his min- istry in Christ Church of that city, his voice, his pronunciation, and his action, were imme- diately subjects of great commendation ; but he had the disadvantage of nearness of sight. In a short time, however, he was observed to lay by, almost entirely, the help of his manuscript ; his notice of which, when it happened, became visible to the congregation, as he had to bring his face very near to the cushion on which his sermon lay. This amiable gentleman had a very extraordinary talent for that particular exercise of the memory, to which he was thus incited. There are many still living, who know with what ease he prepared himself in this department. And he has been often heard to acknowledge, that it would have been gen- erally impossible for him, a few days after the delivery of a sermon, to have recited a single paragraph of its contents. Certain it is, that he manifested no signs in the pulpit of his being there puzzled in the work of recollection. And this circumstance, added to what has been said of his voice, and the praise due to the correct-
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ness of his action, made his delivery exceeding- ly pleasing."*
On the subject of reading the service, after mentioning Whitefield as the best reader he had ever heard, Bishop White says, "The next best reader of the prayers, within the sphere of the acquaintance of the present writer, was a gentleman already mentioned, under the head of preaching, the Rev. Mr. Duché. He was perhaps not inferior to Mr. Whitefield in the correctness of his pronunci- ation. His voice was remarkably sweet ; although short of the voice of the other gentle- man in the compass of its powers, and especi- ally in modulation. Mr. Duché was frequently oratorical in his sermons, but never so in the reading of the prayers ; although always read by him with signs of unaffected seriousness and devotion." +
We cannot better close this brief notice of this excellent man, than by the following beau- tiful tribute from the same pen. In Bishop White's memoirs, speaking of his consecration in 1787, nine years after Mr. Duché's return to England, he says, "The consecration was performed in the chapel of the palace of the
* Bishop White on the Ordination Offices, p. 169. t Ibid. p. 183.
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archbishop, in the presence of his family and his household, and very few others; among whom was my old friend the Rev. Mr. Duche. I had asked the archbishop's leave to introduce him; and it was a great satisfaction to me that he was there ; the recollection of the ben- efit which I had received from his instructions in early life, and a tender sense of the atten- tions which he had shown me almost from my infancy, together with the impression left by the harmony which had subsisted between us in the discharge of our joint pastoral duty in Philadelphia, being no improper accompani- ments to the feelings suited to the present very interesting transaction of my life."*
1778.
January 29. The British general, Pattison, directed the post and board fence around St. Pe- ter's Church-yard, to be taken down for the use of his majesty's troops, then in Philadelphia. The church warden immediately called on the general, and respectfully requested that the fence might be permitted to remain ; " but was told by the general that the vestry were con- sidered as obstructing his majesty's service ; that it was vain to multiply words, as the
* Memoirs, p. 137.
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workmen were now taking down the fence." It was accordingly taken down and carried away ; with a promise, on his part, that it should be paid for. This promise, it appears by a subsequent record of the vestry, was not fulfilled ; " the general refusing to pay any thing, having, as he said, taken the fence under the orders of the commander-in-chief."
May 26. Mrs. Margaret Kearsley, widow of Dr. John Kearsley, died this day; and by her death, the corporation of the united churches became possessed of the property be- queathed in trust to them, by her late husband, for the benefit of Christ Church Hospital.
July 7. The church warden laid before the vestry the following letter from the Rev. Mr. Coombe.
Gentlemen,
I have given you the trouble of this meeting, to inform you of my having applied for, and obtained, leave from the council to proceed within the British lines at New York, and from thence to England. The step I have taken, is to me a most important one, including a great variety of affecting circumstances ; and therefore it was not entered upon without some heartaches, and many a sor- rowful anticipation. To go into voluntary banishment from my native city, where it was ever my first pride to be a clergyman ; to quit a decent competency among a people whom I affectionately respect and love, and launch
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out upon the ocean of the world, unknowing what shelter may hereafter be afforded me, is a hard trial for nature. By the uncandid, my determination will be censured, as precipitate ; and even persons disposed to form the most favourable judgment, will find it difficult to justify a con- duct so different from their own.
Thus situated, I have only the integrity of my own heart to support me. Having examined the subject in every point of view that I was capable of placing it, hav- ing read such books, and conferred with such wise and good men, as I thought might throw light upon the subject, I found that I could not take the oath to the new govern- ment, without the saddest violation of my own peace of mind. To have taken this oath, while under the smallest doubt concerning its lawfulness, might prove a source of much future anxiety to a retrospective temper ; but to have done so, under the full conviction of its repugnancy to prior obligations, would have been the most criminal duplicity.
I have for some time had the present event in prospect, but was determined to tread with caution ; accordingly I remained in town after the departure of the king's army, to give myself the further chance of continuing in my liv- ing, if it were to be done consistently with my principles ; or if Great Britain had judged it proper to subscribe to the independence of America, my path would have been plain.
But since the sovereign still keeps up his claim of right upon this country, and every inhabitant is called upon by the late test law to renounce all allegiance to him, I had only to choose between my duty and my interest. Through what vicissitudes I am to pass, in consequence of the part I have resolved upon, He only knoweth who is the Providential ruler of the world. When I consider my little family whom I
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leave behind, and the difficulties to be encountered in providing them a heritage in a distant country, many pain- ful ideas crowd into my bosom. Gracious God, who art the guardian of the innocent, to thee I commit them!
In following what I believe to be the clear light of duty, I trust I shall not want his blessing ; and whilst I encou- rage the hope that a door will be opened to me in some more hospitable region, I shall labour to prepare my mind for the humblest dispensations.
As to you, gentlemen, and the congregations you repre- sent, every thing that is due from a minister to a generous and worthy people, belongs to you. Accept my poor thanks for all your kindness. You, I know, will do me the justice to believe, that nothing but a conviction of my - higher obligations could have induced me to quit a charge from which I have received such liberal encouragement. I recommend you, and all my dear connections, to the pro- tection of the best of Masters. Daily and fervently shall my prayers ascend to him for your temporal and eternal happiness.
He hath told us, that in the world we shall have tribula- tion ; but bids us be of good cheer, for that he hath over- come the world. Finally, brethren, farewell, live in peace, and the God of love and peace be with you.
I am, Most affectionately yours,
TH. COOMBE.
July 7th, 1778.'
To the church wardens and vestrymen of Christ Church and St. Peter's.
After the above letter had been read, it was " Resolved, that the church wardens be a com- mittee to draw up a letter to the lord bishop 17
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of London, informing him of Mr. Coombe's reasons for retiring from these churches; and assuring his lordship of their full approbation of Mr. Coombe's conduct as a minister while he officiated in them."
October 22. " The church wardens inform- ed the vestry, that the bells belonging to Christ Church and St. Peter's had been returned by Col. Flower, (for which he had given his re- ceipt) and that they had been replaced at the public expense."
" The Rev. Mr. Coombe having for reasons which he has given, resigned his charge as assistant minister of the united churches, the vestry resolved, that the annual sum of £350. being the sum heretofore paid Mr. Coombe, be in future paid to the Rev. Mr. White ; to com- mence from the 25th day of September last."
Mr. White had now the sole charge of both the churches; as there was no other Episco- pal clergyman in the city.
1779.
April 15. At a meeting of the vestry at the parsonage house, held this day, present, both wardens and fourteen vestrymen, "the Rev. William White is unanimously elected rector of the united churches of Christ Church
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and St. Peter's." The church wardens being appointed a committee to wait on Mr. White, to inform him of his election, and to request his acceptance of the rectorship, received from him the following answer.
Gentlemen,
Your appointment of me to the rector- ship of the churches you represent, is the most honourable testimony my past ministry among you can receive; except that which, with humble hope I aspire to, from our Redeemer and Judge. I accept it, therefore, with the full confidence, that the same candor and affection which you have hitherto manifested to me as your assist- ant minister, will be continued to me in this more distinguished and difficult station. At the same time be assured, gentlemen, that I shall always esteem the honour you have this day conferred on me, an addition to my many obligations to conduct myself in such a man- ner, as to receive your approbation, and satisfy my own conscience.
I beg leave further, to accompany my ac- ceptance of the rectorship, with the declara- tion, that if ever, at the desire of the vestry, and members in general, of these churches, and with the permission of the civil authority, the former rector should return to this country, I
-
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shall esteem it my duty, and it will be my plea- sure, to resign it. The peculiar delicacy of my situation will excuse the liberty I am taking, when I make my earnest request to the vestry, that this letter be recorded with their minutes.
With my best wishes and prayers for your- selves, gentlemen, and the churches you repre- sent, I am,
Your much obliged and very affectionate Humble servant, WILLIAM WHITE. Phila., April 15th, 1779.
To the church wardens and vestrymen of the united churches of Christ Church and St. Peter's Church.
December 9. Congress recommended this day to be observed as a day of thanksgiving ; and accordingly there are religious services in both the churches. 1
By an act of the assembly, the " senior min- ister of the Episcopal churches in Philadel- phia, has a right to a seat as trustee of the University of the state of Pennsylvania."
1780.
April 3. " The vestry unanimously agreed to pay the rector a salary of four hundred
.
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pounds, for the ensuing year ; and in consider- ation of his past services, and the insufficiency of the money heretofore allowed him, do agree to pay him the additional sum of one hundred pounds ; both sums to be paid in specie, or the value thereof.
1781.
March 26. It has been before mentioned, that the Rev. Mr. Coombe resigned his charge as assistant minister of the united churches, and went to England in July 1778, thus leaving to the Rev. Mr. White the sole care of both churches. He seems to have been the only minister, from the time Mr. Coombe left, up to this date; a period of nearly three years. " The vestry," at a meeting held this day, " taking into consideration the necessity of having divine service performed in both churches on Sundays in the forenoon and af- ternoon," propose engaging the Rev. Mr. Blackwell, who resided near the city, " to assist the rector in this duty ;" and appoint a com- mittee to confer with Mr. Blackwell, and to offer him a salary, " not exceeding £150. spe- cie, or the exchange per annum." He accepts the appointment.
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