USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. I pt 1 > Part 6
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On the accession of James I. to the English throne, he re- vived the project which had first been attempted by Elizabeth in 1559 and 1572, in the counties of Down and Antrim, of colonizing certain portions of it with a Protestant people. The gunpowder plot in England, And the cotemporaneous dis-
* Naphtali, pp .218-234.
53
SETTLEMENT.
covery of certain Popish emissaries in Ireland, had deter- mined James to discountenance the Roman Catholic worship. Several of the Northern nobles who had sworn fealty to him, resented his determination, and entered into a conspiracy against his government, applying to the courts of France and Spain to aid them. This plot being discovered, its promoters, the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, fled, and their estates were forfeited. A second insurrection, led on by O'Doherty, was suppressed ; he was slain, and another large portion of the province reverted to the Crown. These territories James with great wisdom arranged to plant with English and Scotch colonists. The arable' lands of nearly six entire counties, amounting to about 500,000 acres, were at his disposal, and the way was open to replace its scattered, miserable, and turbulent population with the adherents of a pure faith. The country was exceedingly desolate, and was covered with im- mense woods and marshes. Its towns and villages had been levelled to the ground, its herds and products swept away by the war ; little remaining except the isolated castles of the English and the miserable huts of the impoverished natives, suffering under the evils of pestilence and famine. Sir Arthur Chichester, who had been made Lord Deputy, and was well qualified to superintend the undertaking, first had the forfeited lands of the six counties minutely surveyed, and then drew up the plan according to which they were to be occupied. They were then alloted to three classes of "Undertakers." These were, first, British undertakers ; then Irish servitors of the crown, consisting of civil and military officers ; then na s of Ireland. These lands were divided into lots of 2,000 and 1,000 acres .* The occupants of the largest portions stip ulated to build within four years a castle and "bawn," i. t., a walled enclosure, usually with towers at the corners, and to plant on their estates 48 able men, eighteen years old and upward, of English and Scottish descent. Those who occupied the second class of lots were to build within two years a strong store or brick house and bawn; and those of the third, a bawn, and to plant on them a certain number of tenants. On the lands of the Irish servitors might be settled either natives of Ireland, Englishmen, or Scotclimen. Large tracts were also assigned to the corporation, and some of the trading companies of Lon- don, from which the town and county of Londonderry received its distinctive prefix. There were to be a convenient number
* See note, Reid's Pres. Ch. in Ireland, i., p. 90.
54
LIBERALITY OF ARCHBISHOP USHER.
of parishes and churches in each county ; towns were to be in- corporated, markets established, and free schools instituted. The colonists, except perhaps the Irish, were to conform to the religion and laws of the realm. The escheated lands were thus disposed of to 104 English and Scottish undertakers, 56 servi- tors, and 286 natives. From the proximity of the country to Scotland, the Scotch settlers greatly predominated ; they were a hardier people, stood the climate better, had fewer induce- ments at home, and were more favored by the King. Besides Londonderry, Coleraine and Belfast were planted by the English, though the counties of Down and Antrim were set- tled by the Montgomeries and Hamiltons of Scotland, who brought over many Scotch gentlemen and farmers.
In the Confession drawn up by Dr. James Usher, then Pro- fessor of Divinity at Dublin, there was an evident attempt at a compromise between High Church Episcopacy and Noncon- formity. Indeed, many of the Nonconformists, as well as Scotch Presbyterians, had already been invested with ecclesi- astical dignities ; the validity of Presbyterian ordination was acknowledged or clearly implied ; no authority is claimed for enforcing ecclesiastical canons, no allusion made to the mode of consecrating the higher orders of the clergy. In the first third of the 17th century there came several noble ministers from Scotland, and some from England, whose preaching was greatly blessed to this people. From Scotland were Edward Brice, Glendinning, Blair, Cunningham, Hamilton, Welsh, Stewart, and Livingston : from England, Hubbard, Ridge, and
Caly These were godly, and the most of them able men. Som em ind met with persecution at home, and fled to Ireland for water liberty in preaching the gospel. Welsh was a grandson of John Knox. Under the labors of these devoted ministers religion was greatly revived, and conversions were multiplied. "Preaching and praying," says Livingston, " were pleasant in those days." " And it was sweet and easy for people to come thirty or forty miles to the solemn commu- nions which they had.". These men, though following the Presbyterian order, were comprehended within the pale of the Established Church, enjoying its endowments and dignities. Archbishop Usher, the primeste, was generous and friendly. The day of trouble was, however, near at hand. The spirit of Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, passed over to Ireland. Liv- ingston and Blair were suspended. Livingston was eventually obliged to leave the country ; and Wentworth, afterwards Earl of Strafford, being appointed royal deputy, and having re-
55
THE " EAGLE WING."-THE BLACK OATH.
ceived instructions from Laud, the Presbyterians of Ulster began to look towards New England for an asylum, and de- spatched Livingston and William Wallace to select a place where a settlement might be effected. The commissioners proceeded, however, at this time, no further than England, and returned again to Ulster.
Under Wentworth the Irish Articles were superseded by the Articles of the Church of England. Several of the most influ- ential ministers were silenced. The Presbyterian laity were now convinced that it was their duty to abandon their coun- try, and the intended voyage to New England was hastened. They built a vessel called the Eagle-Wing of 150 tons burden, and set sail on the 9th of September, 1636, having on board 140 persons; among whom were Livingston, Blair, Hamilton, . McLelland, ministers ; John Stewart, Provost of Ayr; Capt. Andrew Agnew, Charles Campbell, John Sumervil, Hugh Brown, etc. They had sailed between three and four hundred leagues from Ireland when they encountered a terrific storm, which caused their return. A warrant for Blair and Living- ston for preaching the gospel being out, they, with the other clergymen, took refuge in Scotland, and were settled as minis- ters of the Scotch Kirk. Their people from Ireland would often go over to attend their communions. Five hundred per- sons, chiefly from the county of Down, were known' to over on one occasion to receive the ordinance from the sands of Livingston, and on another occasion he baptized eight-and- twenty children brought by their parents for the Mirpose.
To prevent the Scots in Ulster from joining the Covenant, or in any way opposing Charles I. in his ogns, Wentworth imposed upon them an oath, in which they should swear alle- giance to him, promise never to mobel against him, nor protest against any of his commands; n er to enter into any covenant or oath without his authority, and to abjure all oaths or cov- enants contrary to this. Tfts oath, which was called "The Black Oath," from its direful consequences, many refused to take, and were imprisoned and fined ; many left their property behind and fled to Scotland; some ladies were subjected to imprisonment for years. One Henry Stewart was fined £5,000, his wife £5,000, his two daughters £2,000 each, and a servant in the family £1,000, and were imprisoned in Dublin at their own charges till these exorbitant fines were paid. For these and other zealous acts Wentworth was made Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford. He then conceived the project of removing the Scottish residents out of Ulster,
56
SIEGE OF DERRY .- FIRST PRESBYTERY.
and sending them into banishment .* He was now at the summit of his power and grandeur. But the necessities of Charles induced him to summon the Long Parliament, and one of their early acts was the arraignment, trial, and condem- nation of this unfortunate but guilty noble, who was beheaded on Tower Hill, on the 12th of May, 1641, the perfidious Charles giving his royal assent to the deed.
The year 1641 was made memorable in Ireland by the rising of the original Irish population of the Romish Church for the purpose of cutting off the Protestants. The numbers slain in this bloody insurrection are variously estimated. O'Ma- hony, an Irish Jesuit, in a work published by him in. 1645, says that his party had cut off 150,000 heretics in four years.1 More than thirty ministers were murdered in a small part of Ulster alone, while many others died of famine and pestilence. Of these, the most were of the English Church, for the more influential Presbyterian ministers, and the principal part of their gentry, had fled to Scotland to escape the tyranny of the bishops, and were so preserved. Those who remained were at first spared, in obedience to the commission of Charles, who had set on this rebellion, and had to arm and provide for their defence ; but the ordinances of religion were interrupted, and the Presbyterian Church was nearly obliterated during this civil strife. It was at this period that the siege of Derry took place, w Ose defence is still read with all the interest of a romance, verifying the proverb, " that truth is often stranger than fiction To assist their brethren, the Scotch sent over an army to Irela ! and according to their custom each regiment was accompanied by its chaplain, who was an ordained min- ister of the gospel. These chaplains, with the concurrence of the general and colonels, ere ted sessions in each of the regi- ments. In the four regimes stationed at Carrickfergus, the ministers found themselves in a condition to hold a Presby- tery, and accordingly one was constituted and held at that town on the 10th c:", June, 1642, which is the first Presbytery, regularly constituted, ever held in Ireland. Through the efforts of this Presbytery elderships were constituted in the several congregations, and petitions were sent for ministers to the General Assembly of Scotland. . This Assembly appointed clergymen to go over and assist those connected with the army in organizing the Irish Presbyterian Church. Great success attended their labors; many Episcopal clergymen
* A. D. 1640-Reid, i.
t Quoted by Reid, i., p. 336.
57
THE SECOND REFORMATION.
came forward and joined the Presbytery ; other chaplains came over with other regiments, and the Assembly sent over faithful ministers to labor successively for the term of three months each. Many of the army chaplains became perma- nently settled over congregations in Ireland.
After the "Solemn League and Covenant" had been entered into by the English Parliament, they requested the Scottish ministers to take steps that it be taken by all the officers, soldiers, and Protestants of their nation in Ireland. The ministers appointed by the Assembly to visit Ireland were directed to administer the Covenant, and it was taken, not only by the army, but very extensively through the prov- ince of Ulster. It not only promoted a strong feeling in favor of the Presbyterian cause, but was blessed, as it had been elsewhere, in the revival of true religion, so that the his- torian dates at this period the commencement of the SECOND REFORMATION with which that province has been favored .*
During the period of the Commonwealth the Presbyterians of Ireland maintained their loyalty to the king. They were among the first to protest against his trial, and to denounce his execution as murder, nor were they pleased with the Inde- pendents, nor the principles they avowed.+ Especially did they censure their " endeavor to establish by law a universal toleration of all religions, which," say they, "is an avowed overturning of unity in religion, and so repugnant to the word of God." It is only in America, and in complete separation from the State, that Presbyterians and others have learned the principle of toleration to all sects professing the Christian faith.
The Independents strove through a period of ten years to establish themselves in Ireland. While Cromwell was in Ire- land, John Owen, the most distinguished divine of the Inde- pendents, was his chaplain, and preached for several months constantly in Dublin. So anxious was Cromwell for the estab- lishment of Independent ministers, that he wrote to New England inviting ministers of the Congregational churches to
* Reid, ii., 44.
t The Presbytery of Belfast freely expressed their indignation at the meas- ures of "the sectarian party" in England, which brought down upon them the indignation of Milton, whose reply was expressed with great acrimony ; but these " blockish Presbyters of Clandeboy," these " unhallowed priestlings" of the "unchristian synagogue" at Belfast, as the indignant poet and repub- lican called them, evinced their sincerity by enduring the consequences of their fidelity to the crown with exemplary fortitude.
# Presbytery of Ulster, in Reid, ii., p. 175.
. 58
THE INDEPENDENTS.
come over and settle there .* At the Restoration the Inde- pendent congregations dispersed, and their ministers returned to England. The Presbyterian Church, notwithstanding these influences, steadily and rapidly increased. In 1653 she had but about a half-dozen ministers in the country ; in 1660, at the accession of Charles II., she had 70 ministers, nearly 80 congregations, and a population of not far from 100,000 souls.t
Charles restored Episcopacy in Ireland and nominated bishops for the vacant sees. The Bishop of Down, Jeremy Taylor, in one day declared 36 churches occupied by Presby- terian ministers vacant, and in the Province of Ulster 61 min- isters, nearly the whole in the province, were ejected from their benefices. Of the entire body of the clergy of this prov- ince only seven conformed to prelacy. They were the first ejected for nonconformity in the three kingdoms, the Non- conformists of England not being ejected till August, nor the Presbyterians of Scotland till October, 1662. In the year 1669, the year before the first settlement of South Carolina, Presby- teries were again established, and gradually began to resume all those functions which, in the dark times which preceded, had been suspended.
THE INDEPENDENTS.
Besides the Presbyterians, another branch of the English Nonconformists were found amongst the first settlers of South Carolina-the Independents or Congregationalists. Robert Browne, born 1550, is often represented as their founder. But
* Nicholls' State Papers-quoted in Reid, ii., pp. 229, 230.
+ Ibid., 337.
The various sects which have arisen in England and Scotland have been comprehended under the general names of Puritans, Nonconformists, and Dissenters. The first name they received because they aimed at a purer and simpler form of worship than that adopted in the Church of England. The name Nonconformist arose about the same time, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, from their inability to comply with the conditions of the Act of Uniformity. The name Dissenter arose in the times of tlic Westminster Assembly, and was first used of those members of that body who maintained the views of the Independents, and dissented from that Presbyterian polity which it was proposed to establish by law. It is used of all those sects which differ from the religion which has been established by public law. In Eng- land, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, etc., are called Dissenters. In Scotland, all who differ from the Established Church of Scotland would in like manner be so termed. In the United States of America, since the Revo- lution, the name is inapplicable, since no one form, except for a season in New England, has been established by the State.
59
THE PURITANS.
they claim for themselves an existence, at least in scattered congregations, as early as the reign of Mary, in 1555 .*
The first separate congregation of Brownists was gathered in 1583.+ This congregation was soon broken up, and Browne, with many of its members, fled to Holland, and reorganized at Middleburg ; thence he retired to Scotland, and in the follow- ing year to England, conformed to the Established Church, and became immoral and dissolute. In 1583 two of his fol- lowers were hanged at St. Edmondsbury. In 1593 Henry Barrowe, a lawyer, and a man of genius and caustic wit, withı John Greenwood, also a man of education, was hung at Tyburn, on the 6th of May, 1693, for the crime of noncon- formity.
The name of Browne having become odious, the adherents of this faith preferred to be called Separatists, to indicate their separation from the Established Church. They were still, how- ever, pursued with bitter persecution. John Penry, a gradu- ate of Oxford, and a native of Wales, was hung on the 29th of May, 1593, having been condemned by the court of High Commission, and Archbishop Whitgift was the first to set his name to the warrant for his execution. Hume calls it a case of unparalleled atrocity. After this there were no more capital executions by ecclesiastical tyranny. Banishment, croppings, branding with hot irons, slitting of noses, stripes, imprisonment, and fines, were the punishments for heretical pravity and opposition to the liturgy and polity of the Epis- copal hierarchy. The first church of the Separatists was or- ganized in 1592, in the city of London. From this time onward they suffered great hardships from the hands of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. The name Puritan was common to these men and those who adopted the Presbyterian discipline. Yet of the Puritans there were two classes. The conformable Puritans, who, though dissatisfied with the church as estab- lished by law, yet adhered to it, and those who would remain separated from it. . Of these the Independents retained the name Separatists, and they regarded the Church of England as the "Mother of Harlots." In 1593 a law was passed requiring all who would not attend on some house of worship of the Es- tablished Church, to " abjure the realm and go into perpetual banishment," or "suffer death without benefit of clergy." " Un- der this act the Separatists retired to Holland. Among them
* Punchard, Hist. of Congregationalism, p. 220. t Ibid. 248. Neal, or 1586.
60
THE "DISSENTING BRETHREN."
[1658-1663.
were Ainsworth, author of the Annotations ;* Dr. William Ames, author of the Medulla ; and John Robinson, from whose Latin Apology, in which he maintained that " every particular society is a complete church, and, as far as regards other churches, immediately and independently under Christ alone," the name Independents arose. A portion of Mr. Robinson's church at Leyden removed to America, and landed at Plymouth Rock, Dec. 11th, 1620, and laid the foundation of the Congre- gationalism of New England. Henry Jacob had returned to England about 1616, and organized in the city of London the first Independent Church in England, of which he was pastor till 1624, when he removed to Virginia, where he soon after- ward died.t Of the members of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, Dr. Thomas Goodwin, Philip Nye, Jeremiah Bur- roughs, William Bridge, and Sidrach Simpson were Independ- ents. These were often called " The five dissenting Brethren." To these Baillie adds as Independents, Joseph Caryl, William Carter, John Philips, and Peter Sterry, naming nine, but saying there were " some ten or eleven." Neal adds Anthony Burgess and William Greenhill .; During the Commonwealth, Crom- well was favorable to the Independents, and indeed his policy encouraged a diversity of sects, and he seemed to dread the ascendency of any one party in religion. The Independents of his day were influential men. Dr. John Owen, " the prince of theologians," was himself a host. In 1658 they saw fit to issue a declaration of their faith and order. About 200 elders and messengers, from above 100 churches, assembled at the Savoy, in London, with the approbation of Cromwell, and drew up the articles of their faith and doctrine. Drs. Owen and Goodwin, with Nye, Bridge, Caryl, and Greenhill, were the com- mittee who brought in the articles, which, after a full discus- sion, were adopted as a declaration of the faith and order of the Congregational churches of England. The Cambridge platform of the New England churches had been adopted ten
* This distinguished scholar and divine was obliged, in his deep poverty, during his exile, to subsist on a few boiled roots, having but ninepence a week for his support.
t To escape the oppressions of their own government, many of the Puritans had already left the country, and more were preparing to do so. Eight ships were lying in the Thames for the reception of emigrants for New England. Among these were Lords Say and Brooke, John Hampden, John Pym, and Oliver Cromwell. These vessels were detained by the royal proclamation, and ordered to reland their passengers,-a measure of which Charles may afterward have repented.
# Baillie, vol. ii., p. 110; Neal, vol. i., p. 262, vol. ii., pp. 275, 360.
1
61
SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
1663-1685.]
,
years earlier, in 1648. In both of these the Westminster Confession furnishes the statement of Christian doctrine. In discipline they differ from the Presbyterians in the two particulars which the name by which their system is known, " Congregational Independency," denotes-viz., that all the members share with its office-bearers in the rule and admin- istration of the church, so that it must be performed in their presence and by their authority; and that each particular society of visible professors is a complete church, with full power to elect and ordain its officers ; synods, presbyteries, and convocations, where they exist,-having no power of jurisdic- tion over them, though their churches may meet by their mes- sengers in synods or councils, in cases of difficulty, to consider and advise for their mutual good.
BOOK SECOND.
A. D. 1663-1685.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
As we turn our attention to the permanent occupancy of our own State by a Christian population, among the earliest of whom were men of our own faith, we are forcibly reminded of the words of the 44th Psalm : " We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old ; How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them ; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them." "
After the attempt of Coligny, no efforts were made for the colonization of South Carolina for more than a hundred years. Sir Walter Raleigh, who had served under that great Hugue- not leader in France, had obtained a patent from Queen Eliza- beth, in 1584, creating him Lord Proprietor of an extensive
£
62
COLONIZATION OF NORTH CAROLINA.
[1663-1685.
region of country on these shores. He fitted out two vessels, under the command of Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow, which, sailing from England in 1584, landed in July on the shores of what is now North Carolina, on the island of Wo- cocken, the southernmost island of Ocracock inlet, and took possession of the country in the name of Elizabeth. These adventurers carried back with them a glowing account of this new-discovered land, and were accompanied on their return by Maniteo and Wanchese, natives of America. The next year, 1585, Raleigh fitted out a second expedition of seven vessels and 108 colonists, under the command of Sir Richard Gren- ville, and planted a colony on the island of Roanoke, with Ralph Lane as its governor. Being visited by Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet of 23 vessels, the disheartened colonists could be prevailed upon to remain no longer, and in June of the following year they embarked on board this fleet and re- turned to England. A few days after their departure a vessel arrived with all needed supplies, fitted out by the providence of Raleigh ; and in a fortnight more three other vessels under the command of Sir Richard Grenville, who made a vain search for the colonists, and left behind him fifteen men to hold pos- session of the country for the Lord Proprietor and the English Crown. In the following year, with indomitable perseverance, determining to found an agricultural colony, he sent out fam- ilies instead of individual colonists, provided for founding a city to bear his own name, and appointed John White governor of the colony. They found at the island of Roanoke only the bones of the miserable men whom Grenville had left, their empty houses and dismantled fort. The " city of Raleigh" was founded by them on the same spot. The colonists in- sisted that the governor should return with the vessel to Eng- land to secure to them re-enforcements and timely supplies. On the arrival of. White, he found the public attention wholly occupied with the Spanish invasion. In the following year he was sent back with two vessels, one of which being taken and rifled by the enemy, both returned to England. Sir Walter Raleigh, having expended £40,000, or nearly $200,000, in these
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