USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Narragansett > A history of the Episcopal church in Narragansett, Rhode Island, including a history of other Episcopal churches in the state > Part 7
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This proposal we humbly make, in hopes that, if it be prosecuted, it may be followed by many desirable consequences worthy of the study of those whom God has made, and we are so happy to enjoy, as the nursing fathers of our churches.
COTTON MATHER, In the name of the ministers Assembled in their General Convention."
In council, June 3rd, read and voted that the synod and assembly proposed in this memorial will be agree- able to the board, and the Rev. ministers are desired to take their own time for said assembly. And it is earn- estly wished the issue thereof may be a happy reforma- tion in all the articles of Christian life among his
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Majesty's good subjects in the province. Sent down for concurrence.
Another synod, under any pretext, would naturally ex- cite an alarm, and upon hearing of the pendency of the preceding petition before the general court, the Episcopal clergy in Boston, fearing the effects of the contemplated convention, upon the prospects of the Church of England, and of resolutions to their prejudice, if permitted to as- semble, filed the following memorial :
The memorial of Timothy Cutler and Samuel Miles, of the established Church of England in Boston, humbly presented to the Honorable William Dummer, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of his Majesty's province of Mas- sachusetts Bay.
To the Honorable his Majesty's Council and House of Representatives of the province in General Assembly, this 16th day of June, 1725.
Whereas, we have been informed that a memorial has been presented to the honorable court, and that the prayer of it hath already been granted by the Honora- ble his Majesty's Council, and is now depending in the Honorable the House of Representatives ;
Therefore humbly beg leave to offer the following reasons against said memorial :
Ist. The matter of petition being general respect- ing the miscarriages of the whole body of the people
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in this land, it is presumed to comprehend the Churches of England, wherein your petitioners have no right to intermeddle.
2nd. Whereas, by the tenor of the petition which is to revive decaying piety in conformity to the faith and order of the gospel, in explanations of which general terms, the petitioners refer the Honorable general court to a time (45 years ago,) when there was no Church of England ; we therefore apprehend that the synod petitioned for, is designed to prejudice the people of the land against the said church. And we have little reason to expect, that in such a synod, she will be treated with that kindness and respect which is due to an established church.
3rd. As the Episcopal ministers in the province are equally concerned with the petitioners for the purity of faith and manners, it is disrespectful to them not to be consulted in this important affair.
4th. Whereas, it is desired that the several churches in the province do meet, &c., it is either a hard reflect- ion on the Episcopal Church, as none are, in not in- cluding them, and if they are included, we think it very improper, it being without the knowledge of their Reverend Diocesan the Lord Bishop of London.
5th. Whereas, by royal authority the colonies in America are annexed to the diocese of London, and in as much as nothing can be transacted in ecclesiastical 11A
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matters without the cognisance of the Bishop ; we are humbly of opinion, that it will be neither dutiful to his most sacred majesty, King George, nor consistent with the rights of our Rt. Rev. Diocesan, to encourage or call the said synod, until the pleasure of his majesty shall be known therein.
We humbly beg the honored court to take the premi- ses into their serious consideration.
TIMOTHY CUTLER, SAMUED MYLES.
In the House of Representatives, June 11th, 1725, read.
In Council, June 14th, 1725, read.
Recorded for the benefit of posterity, by
J. MOSPARRAN, Clerk. Church Records.
Upon the presentation of the preceding memorial, the whole subject was referred to the next session of the general court. The Episcopal clergy being doubt- ful of the success of their opposition in the provincial legislature, transmitted copies of the whole proceedings to the Bishop of London, and soon after Lieutenant Governor Dummer received the following instruction :
" WHITE HALL, 7th October, 1725.
" Sir :- The lords justices being informed from such 1
good hands as makes the truth of the advice not to be
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doubted, that at a general convention of ministers from several parts of his Majesty's province of Massachusetts Bay, on the 27th of may last, a memorial and address was framed, directed to you as Lieutenant Governor and commander-in-chief, and to the Council and House of Representatives, then sitting, desiring that the General Assembly would call the several churches in that pro- vince to meet by their pastors and messengers in a synod ; which memorial and address being accordingly presented by some of the ministers in the name and at the desire of the said convention, was in council on the third day of June following, and there approved ; but the House of Representatives put off the consideration of it to the next session, in which the council afterwards concurred.
Their excellencies were extremely surprised that no account of so extraordinary and important a transaction should have been transmitted by you pursuant to an ar- ticle in your instructions, by which you are directed upon all occasions to send unto his Majesty and unto the commissioners of trade and plantations, a particular account of all your proceedings, and the condition of affairs in your government.
As this matter does highly concern his Majesty's Royal Prerogative, their excellencies referred the con- sideration of it to Mr. Attorney and Solicitor General, who after mature deliberation, and making all the proper
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enquiries reported that from the charter and laws of the colony, they cannot collect that there is any regular es- tablishment of a national or provincial church there, so as to warrant the holding of convocations or synods of the clergy. But if such synods might be holden, yet they take it to be clear, in point of law, that his Majes- ty's supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs being a branch of his Prerogative, does yet take place in the Plantations, and that synods cannot be held, nor is it lawful for the clergy to assemble, as in synod, without an authority from his Majesty. .
They conceive the above application of the ministers, not to you alone as representing the king's person, but to you and the Council and House of Representatives to be a contempt of his Majesty's Prerogative, and it is a public acknowledgment that the power of granting what they desire, resides in the legislative body of the province, which by law is vested only in his majesty And the Lieutenant Governor, Council and Assembly intermeddling therein, was an invasion of his Majesty's lawful authority, which it was your particular duty as Lieutenant Governor to have withstood and rejected. And that the consent of the Lieutenant Governor, the Council and House of Representatives will not be a suf- ficient authority for the holding of such a synod.
Their excellencies, upon consideration of this opin- ion of the Attorney and Solicitor General, which they
-
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have been pleased to approve, have commanded me to acquaint you therewith, and to express their surprise that no account of so remarkable a transaction, which so nearly concerns the king's prerogative and the wel- fare of his Majesty's province under your government has not been received from you, and signify to you their directions, that you put an effectual stop to any such proceedings. But if the consent desired by the ministers above mentioned, for the holding of such a synod should have been obtained, and the pretended synod should be actually sitting when you receive this their excellencies directions, they do in that case desire and direct that you cause such meeting to desist, ac- quainting them that the assembly is against law, and a contempt of his Majesty's Prerogative, and they are to forbear to meet any more. And if, notwithstanding any such signification, they shall continue to hold their as- sembly, you are to take care that the principal actors therein be prosecuted for a misdemeanor, and to avoid doing any formal act to dissolve, lest that may be construed to imply, that they had a right to as- semble.
This, sir, is what I have in command from their ex- cellencies to signify to you, that the precedent quoted in the above mentioned memorial, of such a synod being held forty-five years ago, falls in with the year 1680, and that the former charter upon which the
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1
government of your province depended, was repealed by scire facias, in the year 1684, and the new charter was granted in the year 1691. From whence it appears, that if such assembly or synod was holden as is alleged, it happened a short time before the repealing of the old charter, but none hath been called since the grant- ing of the new one.
I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, CHARLES DE LA TSAYE.
A few extracts from the records of the church are here introduced.
" November 8th, 1724, Captain Benoni Sweet was baptised at St. Paul's, in Narragansett, by the Rev. Mr. McSparran; and at the succeeding Easter, Captain Sweet was elected one of the Vestry."
James Sweet, the father of Benoni, emigrated from Wales to this country, and purchased an estate at the foot of Ridge Hill, so called, in North Kingstown-the same in which the late William Congdon, Esquire, lived and died. Benoni had been a Captain in the British service-was well informed, and of polished manners. He was a natural bonesetter and the progenitor of the race in Rhode Island. He was styled Doctor Sweet, but he practised in restoring dislocations only. He was a regular communicant of the church, and officiated as a vestryman, until his death. "July 19th, 1751," says the record, "died Captain Benoni Sweet, of North Kingstown, in the ninetieth year of his age ; Dr. McSparran preached his funeral sermon, and buried him in the cemetery of his ancestors." Job, one of the family, obtained an eminent and wide-spread reputation as a natural bonesetter. During the revolution, he was called to Newport to
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set the dislocated bones of some of the French officers, an operation which their army surgeons were unable to perform. After the re- volutionary war, Col. Burr, afterwards Vice President, invited him to New York, to restore the dislocated hip bone of his daughter Theodosia, afterwards Mrs. Allston. In this operation, which had previously baffled the skill of the city surgeons, Dr. Sweet was suc- cesful. The fear of taking the small pox deterred him from ac- cepting Col. Burr's invitation, when first applied to; but this diffi- culty having been obviated, he embarked in a Newport packet. Doc- tor Sweet used to narrate the adventure in this wise : "that when he arrived, Col. Burr's coach was in waiting at the wharf for his re- ception. Having never rode in a coach, he objected to being trans- ported in a vehicle that was shut up. He was fearful of some trick, and further he did not like to ride in a thing over which he had no control, but fearing the small pox, he was induced to enter it. He said he never was whirled about so in his life ; at last he was ushered into the most splendid mansion that he ever saw. The girl was alarmed at his appearance, when he was invited into her chamber. The family surgeon was soon introduced, and he proposed that the operation should be performed the succeeding day, and ten o'clock was agreed to, when other surgeons would attend. But the Doctor meant to avoid their presence, if he could ; he did not fancy learned men. In the evening, he solicited an interview with his patient; talked with her familiarly, dissipated her fears, asked permission, in the presence of her father, just to let the old man put his hand upon her hip ; she consenting, he in a few minutes set the bone ; he then said, now walk about the room, which to her own and her father's surprise, she was readily able to do." Doctor Sweet would detail this operation with great naiveté. He early in life moved to South Kingstown and settled near Sugar Loaf Hill, where some of his descendants in the fifth generation, are in popular prac- tise as natural bonsetters now. Benoni, one of the sons of Doctor Job, emigrated to Lebanon, in Connecticut, where he continued to practise, as some of his sons have since his decease. Numbers yearly visit South Kingstown, to have their dislocations replaced by the lineal descendants of the first Benoni, at their residence, opposite Sugar Loaf Hill.
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" July 25th, 1725. Martha Bennett and John Launce, both children, were baptised at the Church of St. Paul's, in Narragansett, by the Rev. Samuel Johnson, minister of the Church of England, in Stratford, Connecticut."
Hawkins, in his "Historical Notices of the Missions of the Church of England," referring to Dr. Johnson, says :
" On the 18th of January, 1722-3, letters were read at a general meeting of the society, strongly recommending to its regard and good offices, Mr. Timothy Cutler, late President of Yale College, Mr. Daniel Brown, late tutor of the same, and Mr. Samuel Johnson, late pastor at West Haven.
" The history of their conformity is remarkable. They were in- timate friends, of literary character, and an inquiring disposition. At the commencement of the eighteenth century, learning was at a very low ebb in New England, and those who had been educated in traditional hostility to the Church of England, had but little chance of acquiring more correct notions on the subject of church govern- ment, by the study of ecclesiastical history. But, about the year 1714, a library containing, besides many valuable works of science, several of the best writers of theology, as Barrow, Patrick, Lowth, Sharp, Scott, Whitby and Sherlock, was sent over to the college, which was then at Saybrook. This importation was as springs of water to the thirsty land.
" The young friends entered upon the course of study thus opened before them, with avidity. The doctrines and practices of the primitive church came under examination ; and they could trace but little resemblance to the apostolic model, in either the discipline or the worship established among themselves. This naturally oc- casioned them great uneasiness and misgiving. They determined candidly to re-examine the whole subject, and to read the best works on both sides of the controversy. The consequence was that their doubts of the validity of Congregational ordination were changed into a serious conviction, that it was altogether without authority. The frequent meetings and conferences of the friends, two of them oc-
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cupying chief places in Yale College, could not fail to excite atten- tion. The Trustees became alarmed at the reports which were cir- culated on the subject ; and, accordingly, the day after the com- mencement, they requested an interview with them in the college library. Messrs. Cutler, Brown, Johnson, Wetmore, Hart, Elliot and Whittlesey attended, and were desired from the youngest to the eldest, to state their views on the matters in dispute. Thus challenged, some of them confessed their doubts of the validity of Presbyterian orders ; while others declared that they considered them invalid. This was in Sept. 1722. They were entreated to recon- sider their opinions, and a formal disputation was subsequently held ; but the ultimate result was, that three of them, Messrs. Cutler, Brown, and Johnson, determined upon resigning their respective sta- tions, and seeking holy orders from the Bishops of the English Church. Mr. Wetmore adopted the same course a few months later. Messrs. Hart, Elliot and Whittlesey, although apparently preferring the Epis- copal regimen, yet not deeming Presbyterianism unlawful, remained in their old position, honorably abstaining, however, from taking any part in opposition to the church.
" The three friends who had so deliberately, and at such a sacri- fice, resolved upon seeking admission into the church, sailed from Boston on the 5th of November, and, after a stormy passage, landed at Ramsgate, on the 15th of December. They immediately pro- ceeded to Canterbury, but were obliged to wait three days for the stage coach. Thus an opportunity was afforded them of witnessing a most striking contrast to all that they had left behind them. The beauty, the order, the solemnity of the service must have proved an in- describable comfort to men who had just emerged from the bare and modern system of the Presbyterians ; while the magnificence of the cathedral, and the music of its choir must have been strangely dif- ferent from all that they had been accustomed to in the wilderness of New England. During their stay in Canterbury, they received every attention from the excellent Dean Stanhope and the preben- daries ; and on their arrival in town, they were cordially welcomed by the Bishop of London, (Dr. Robinson,) and the principal mem- bers of the society. The following testimony of their high character and disinterested motives is given in a letter from the church war- dens and vestry of Rhode Island, and which was read at a general 12A
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meeting of the society. 'It is plain these gentlemen have in this important affair, acted like Christians and men of virtue and honor, without any private or sordid views of interest or advancement ; for as they were not dismissed from their posts and offices for any vice or immorality, they being universally acknowledged, and even by our church's greatest enemies, to be persons of unspotted characters and the nicest virtue, so neither were they compelled to a conformity by any other necessity, than that of pursuing the dictates of a good conscience ; and for the sake of that indeed, they have forsaken their dearest interests and valuable settlements.' There was also read on the same occasion, a letter from the Rev. James Orem, who said, 'I can scarce express the hardships they have undergone, and the indignities that have been put upon them by the worst sort of dissen- ters, who bear sway here ; and several honest gentlemen, who de- clared for the church with them, but, by reason of the unhappy cir- cumstances of their families, can't go for England, lie under all the hardships and pressure that the malice and rage of the implacable enemies of our excellent church and constitution can subject them to ; but I hope their suffering condition will be taken into considera- tion at home.'
" After the usual examination, the three candidates were admit- ted into holy orders ; first as deacons, and then as priests, in St. Martin's Church, by Dr. Green, Bishop of Norwich, and vicar of the parish, who officiated for the Bishop of London, then at the point of death. It was afterwards determined that Mr. Cutler should be be sent to Boston, Mr. Browne to Bristol, (New England,) and Mr. Johnson to Stratford.
" Such was the plan for supplying some of the more important stations in the colony ; but it pleased God to call away one of those who had just been separated to His more especial service, before he could enter upon his ministry. Mr. Browne was seized with the small pox, within a week after his ordination, and rapidly sunk under the disease.
" His surviving friends, during their short stay in England, visited the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where they were received with every mark of distinction, and admitted to honorary degrees. They took every opportunity, both there and in London, of entering fully into the condition of the Colonial Church, and of showing the
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injury it was suffering for want of an Episcopate. They had cross- ed the ocean to obtain lawful ordination, and were even then mourning over the death of a companion, who had fallen a victim to the disease of the country, had good right to speak warmly on this subject ; and in Bishop Gibson, who had now succeeded to the See of London, they found not merely an attentive listener, but one who proved himself most anxious to redress the evils of which they com- plained.
"Dr. Cutler and Mr. Johnson returned in the summer of 1724, to their own country, and immediately proceeded to take charge of the missions which had been assigned them.
" Stratford contained, at the time of his taking charge of the mis- sion, about thirty Episcopal families ; and the neighboring towns of Fairfield, Newton, and Ripton, about forty more. Mr. Johnson was at the time, the only clergyman in the province, and as doubtless, he anticipated, was, on his first return there, regarded as an apostate. He makes no complaint, however, of the treatment which he received but only laments the persecution, even to imprisonment of men and women, which certain members of his congregation suffered for refusing to pay taxes to dissenting preachers. In spite, how- ever, of these discouragements, the church gradually increas- ed, and would have done so more rapidly, but for the want of clergy- men. There was no lack of young men willing to enter the sacred ministry, but they were deterred from their purpose by the hazard and expense of a long voyage, so that the members of every sect were forever taunting the churchmen with their helpless condition, and telling them that, if the Church of England were a true church, and that Bishors were necessary to its government, one would have been sent long ago.
"In 1727, he writes as follows to the Secretary :- ' I am just from Fairfield, where I have been to visit a considerable number of my peo- ple, in prison for their rates to the dissenting minister, to comfort and encourage them under their sufferings ; but verily, unless we can have relief, and be delivered from this unreasonable treatment, I fear I must give up the cause, and our church must sink and come to nothing. There are thirty-five families in Fairfield who, all of them expect what these have suffered ; and though I have endeavored to gain the compassion and favor of the government, yet I can avail
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nothing ; and both I and my people grow weary of our lives under our poverty and affliction.'
"In answer to a number of queries, addressed by the society to the missionaries, Mr. Johnson gave, in 1727, the following account of his mission to Stratford : 'The first beginning of the Church of England in this town was about ten or fifteen families, most of them tradesmen, some husbandmen, who were born and brought up in England, and came and settled here, and some of them were born here, and by means the rest reconciled to the church. It is nigh twenty years since they first endeavored to have the worship of God in the method of the Church among them, but were disappointed till about five years ago, ever since which, the numbers have been con- siderably increasing, so that there are now about fifty families within the compass of ten miles square, who pretty steadily attend the church.'
" Another discouragement hung heavy upon the adherents of the church. There was no Episcopal school or college for the educa- tion of their children, and, in many districts, no service, according to the usage of the Church of England, insomuch that Mr. Johnson, resolute and uncompromising churchman as we was, found himself under the necessity of entering into the following explanation, in answer to some ill-natured rumor : ' As to my son, it is indeed a great mortification to me and him, that I am obliged to send him to a dissenting college, or deny him any public education at all, and rather than deny any collegiate education, I confess I do not deny him going to meeting when he can't help it, to which he is himself so much averse, that nothing but necessity would put him upon it. He comes home to church once in three weeks or a month, at least to the communion, if possible, being fourteen miles.'
" Had a theological school been founded, and a Bishop sent forth to ordain elders in every city, and to care for the interests of the church, many, doubtless would have ranged themselves on her side who were led, by the circumstances of their position, to take part against her. Possibly an Orthodox Church might now be flourishing in a country where the unsystematic theology, and the anti-Episcopal discipline of the Puritans have found their natural developement in the general prevalency of Socinianism.
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" Amid his otherlabors he, published several treatises in defence of the church, and " he appears to have been no less successful as a controversialist than he was useful and efficient as a missionary. Indeed his publications in vindication of the church, attracted the attention of the University of Oxford : and, in 1743, the degree of D.D., was conferred upon him by diploma. This, it will be re- membered, was the second time that he had been honorably noticed by that University.
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