USA > Virginia > A digest of the proceedings of the conventions and councils in the diocese of Virginia > Part 16
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"That there was at this time' not only defective preaching, but, as might be expected, most evil living among the clergy, is evident from a petition of the clergy themselves to the Legislature, asking an increase of salary saying, 'that the small encouragement given to clergymen is a reason why so few come into this colony from the universities, and that so many who are a disgrace to the ministry find opportunities to fill the parishes.'
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"It is a well established fact, that some who were discarded from the English Church, yet obtained livings in Virginia.
"Such being the case, who can question for a moment the entire accuracy of the account, both of the preaching and living of the clergy of his day, as given by the faithful and zealous Mr. Jarratt, and who could blame him for the encouragement afforded to the disciples of Mr. Westley, at a time when neither he, nor they, thought there could be a separation from the Church of England.
"Dissent, from various causes, was now spreading through the com- monwealth; dissatisfaction with the Mother Country and Mother Church was increasing, and the Episcopal clergy losing more and more the favor of God and man, when this devoted minister, almost alone in preaching and living according to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was glad to avail himself of any aid in the good work he was endeavoring to perform. For the time, however, his efforts were unavailing. The war of the Revolution was approaching, and with it the downfall of the Church.
"Many circumstances contributed to this event. The severities exer- cised towards some of the dissenters in times past had embittered their minds against the declining establishment.
"The attachment of some of the clergy to the cause of the king sub- jected the Church itself to suspicion, and gave further occasion to its enemies to seek its destruction. The dispute about church property now came on, and for twenty-seven years was waged with bitterness and violence. At the commencement of the war of the Revolution, Virginia had ninety-one clergymen, officiating in one hundred and sixty-four churches and chapels; at its close only twenty-eight ministers were found laboring in the less desolate parishes of the State. Whither numbers of them had fled, and to what secular pursuits some of them had betaken themselves, it is not in our power to state. Had they been faithful shepherds, they would not have thus deserted their flocks. We come now to the efforts of the more faithful, though faint-hearted ones, to strengthen the things that remained and were ready to die.
"In common with some other Dioceses, the church in Virginia re- solved on an effort to obtain consecration from abroad for a Bishop who might complete her imperfect organization. A very worthy man, the Rev. Dr. Griffith, was selected for the purpose; but so depressed was her condition, so little zeal was found in her members, that though for three successive years calls were made upon the parishes for funds to defray his expenses to England, only twenty-eight pounds were raised, a sum altogether insufficient for the purpose, so that the effort on his part was abandoned through poverty and domestic affliction.
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"Even at a subsequent period, when renewed efforts, prompted by shame at past failures, and a sense of duty to the Church, were made. to secure what was necessary for Bishop Madison's consecration, a. sufficiency, even with some foreign aid, was not obtained to pay all the necessary expenses of the voyage. The object, however, was accom- plished, and at the end of almost two hundred years from the establish- ment of a most imperfect Church in Virginia, a Bishop was obtained.
"But she was too far gone, and there were too many opposing difficulties for her revival at that time. From the addresses of Bishop Madison to the Episcopalians of Virginia, it will be seen that he entered on his duties with no little zeal and with very just views of the kind of men and measures necessary for the work of revival. He plainly admits the want of zeal and fidelity in many of the ministers as one of the causes of the low condition of the Church, and that the contrary qualifications were indispensable to her resuscitation. He made an ineffectual effort at bringing back into the bosom of the Church, the followers of Mr. Westley, for they had now entirely sepa- rated from her.
"After a few partial visitations of the Diocese, his hopes of the revival of the Church evidently sunk; and the duties of the College of William and Mary, of which he was President, requiring his attention during the greater part of the year, at the. Convention of 1805, he called for a Suf- fragan or Assistant Bishop. The subject was referred to the next year's Convention, but no such meeting was held, nor was there another until after his death. For seven years it seemed as if the worst hopes of her enemies, and most painful fears of her friends were about to be realized in her entire destruction. In the General Convention of the Church, held in the city of New Haven in 1811, there was no represen- tation, or any report whatever from Virginia, but the following entry is found on the Journal, 'they fear, indeed, that the Church in Virginia is, from various causes, so depressed, that there is danger of her total ruin, unless great exertions, favored by the blessing of Providence, are em- ployed to raise her.'
"During the ensuing Spring Bishop Madison died, and shortly after a . Convention of the clergy and laity was invited by Dr. Buchanan, at the instance of the Rev. Dr. Wilmer and myself, both of us then min- istering in Alexandria, for the purpose of electing a Bishop. Important as was the object, and imperious as was the necessity of such a meeting, in order to the existence of the Church, only thirteen clergymen, and about as many laymen, were found, who had interest enough in the cause to come together. The result was, the election of Dr. Bracken to the vacant Episcopate, who, however, declined at the ensuing Con-
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vention. At that Convention, only eight clergymen and ten laymen met together for a few hours around a table in one of the committee rooms of the Capitol, in Richmond, and when they separated, scarce expected ever to meet again for ecclesiastical purposes.
"During the following year, however, in the good providence of God, circumstances arose which led to further efforts. The Monumental Church, built on the ruins of the Richmond Theatre, needed a minister; and the minds of a few individuals interested for a suitable supply for that interesting station, and also for the vacant Episcopate, were by a most gracious overruling Providence directed to one at a distance, per- sonally unknown to any, and only by good report to a very few. I need not add that the person alluded to was the good Bishop Moore, so long the affectionate pastor of one of the churches in Richmond, and the beloved Bishop of Virginia. At the Convention, however, which elected him, only seven clergymen were present. It would thus appear, that after the lapse of two hundred years, the Church of Virginia was reduced to about the same number of ministers, which served at her altars during the first ten years of her existence. And is it wonderful that many, even of sincere friends, should think that the effort at resus- citation must be fruitless, and that enemies poured derision upon the same. I well remember, even some years after this, and when our prospects had brightened not a little, as I presented a petition to that great and good man, Chief Justice Marshall, a true friend to the Church, asking a contribution to our Seminary, that, although with his accus- tomed liberality, he freely gave, he yet accompanied the gift with a remark, 'that it seemed almost cruel to tempt young men to enter the ministry of a Church which was too far gone ever to be recovered.' But he lived long enough to rejoice in his mistake, and to see children, and children's children blessed by the fruits of an institution which he feared might be worse than useless. I may be permitted to add, that when the Church of Virginia, at an early period, wished to unite sister Dioceses with her in the great work of ministerial education, it was made an objection to the proposal, that her morals and religion were so corrupt, that it would be unsafe to trust such an institution within her borders. We wonder not at such reproaches, although they may some- times have come with an ill grace from those who made them, seeing that the whole Church largely partook of the same corruption. I can remember too well the time when, in every educated young man of Virginia, I was prepared to meet a sceptic, if not a scoffer. At the time of my first ordination, by Bishop Madison, about a year before his death, although it took place on a bright Sabbath morning, only about fifteen gentlemen, young and old, and two ladies, were present in the old and
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venerable church of Williamsburg. More of the young men indeed did I meet on my way to the church, with guns on their shoulders and dogs at their sides, going into the fields and woods in search of game, than were to be found in the church itself.
"And what more could be expected from the character of the clergy generally at that time, or for a long time before. It is a melancholy fact that many of them had been addicted to the race-field, the card-table, the ball-room, the theatre-nay, more, to the drunken revel. One of them, about the very period of which I am speaking, was, and had been for years, the President of a Jockey Club. Another, after abandoning the ministry, fought a duel in sight of the very church in which he had performed the solemn offices of religion. Nothing was more common, even with the better portion of them, than to celebrate the holy ordi- nance of baptism, not amidst the prayers of the congregation, but the festivities of the feast and the dance, the minister sometimes taking a full share in all that was going on. These things being so, and the churches having been, on accounts of such things, almost entirely de- serted, or else occupied by those who only held our Zion up to derision, what but a firm conviction of God's watchful providence over her could keep alive hope in the most ardent of her friends? How often in look- ing at the present comparative prosperity of the Church, do we say, surely God must have greatly loved this branch of his Holy Catholic Church, or he would not have borne so long with her unfaithfulness, and so readily forgiven her sins.
"It becomes us, my brethren, with deep humility and lively gratitude, to compare together our past and present condition, and say 'what hath God wrought?' If, towards the close of two hundred years, there were nearly one hundred ministers and one hundred and sixty churches, and then in a seven years after, only a few faint-hearted ones, serving in the few remaining and almost deserted sanctuaries; now again, after the labors of only one-third of a century, our hundred ministers are restored, and one hundred and sixty churches at least are open for the people of God. If for two hundred years not a Bishop ever visited the Diocese, and even after one was sent only a few ministrations performed; now two Bishops have full employment in visiting nearly two hundred churches or stations. If it was for years found impracticable to raise sufficient funds for the consecration of one Bishop; now funds are raised for the annual support of two, indepen- dent of parochial charges. If it was once proposed in a declining state of the Church, but in vain, to raise funds for the education of only two candidates for the ministry ; now more than fifty are receiving prepara- tory instruction at our Seminary. Whereas, formerly, we were entirely
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dependent on foreign parts for our supply of clergymen, insufficient as to numbers, and worse as to character; now, by the blessing of God on our Seminary, we are enabled to send forth to the decayed churches, or to the heathen of Europe, Asia and Africa, a goodly number of faithful and zealous missionaries of the cross. Whereas formerly, and for at least a century, numbers were deserting our communion, as that which had deserted God, and was deserted of God; now, for the last thirty years or more, either themselves or their children, or children's children have, in considerable numbers, been returning to our fold, as to one which God himself was keeping and blessing. Whereas, once, almost all men thought and spoke ill of our clergy and communicants, as de- void of piety; now, only those who are misinformed, or most pre- iudiced, refuse to acknowledge that, through God's grace, there is at least as large an amount of true piety in both priests and people as is to be found in those of any other denomination. Whereas, once, we had for many years no conventions, and then, for some years, a few faint-hearted ministers and people meeting together; now, what num- bers of clergy and laity delight to assemble, not for the dry business of legislation only, or for religious controversy, but chiefly for the blessed privilege of joining hearts and voices in the sweet exercises of God's. Word and worship, and thus becoming knit together in love.
"Thus graciously hath God dealt with us. But does it not, out of gratitude to God, and that we may continue to enjoy his smiles, become us to enquire by what means this hath been done; how our Jacob arose, when he was not only so small, but crushed to the earth, trodden under foot of man, after having been betrayed by friends, and dishonored by the very ministers of God, who were appointed to defend him. In the character, habits, views and history of the man whom God sent to us from a distance, to be our head and leader in this work, and in the views of those, whether from our own State or elsewhere, who entered into the service, may be seen the religious principles and methods of action, by which, under God, the change has been effected; and it need not be said how entirely different they were from those by which the disgrace and downfall of the Church had been wrought. Of the effi- cacy of these means we are the more convinced, from the peculiar and very great difficulties to be surmounted, which have, nevertheless, in a great measure, been surmounted. We are persuaded that, in no part of our own land, were such strong prejudices and such violent oppositions to be overcome as in Virginia, in consequence of the former character of the Episcopal clergy, and the long and bitter strife which had existed between the Church and those who had left its pale, which latter were never satisfied until the downfall of the former was accomplished.
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"Let me briefly allude to the means used. Bishop Moore, in his pre- vious correspondence, and his first sermon and address, declared his determination to preach as he had ever done, when God so greatly blessed his ministry, the glorious doctrines of grace, instead of a mere morality, such as many of the English clergy had once preached, and such as had been but too common in Virginia. The young clergy who engaged in the revival of the Church of Virginia, took the same resolve, and made the great theme of their preaching Jesus Christ and him cruci- fied, on the ground of a total apostacy from God on the part of man, which required such a sacrifice, as well as the renewing of the Holy Ghost, in order to meetness for the joys of heaven. But they did not turn this grace of God into licentiousness, and think that either priest or people might indulge in sin. Among the first acts of the earlier Conventions it will be seen that it was at once set forth before the world that the revival of the Church was to be undertaken on principles en- tirely different from those which had hitherto prevailed, and under the influence of which religion had been so dishonored. It was plainly declared that there was need of discipline both for clergy and laity, and canons were provided for the exercise of the same. Not merely were grosser vices stigmatized, but what, by some, were considered the innocent amusements of the world, and which the clergy themselves had advocated and practiced, were condemned as inconsistent with the character of a Christian Professor.
"Baptism, by which we renounce the pomps and vanities of the world, as well as the sinful lusts of the flesh, and which had been customarily celebrated in private, directly in opposition to the Rubric, and often amidst ungodly festivities, was now sought to be performed only in the house of God, and with pious sponsors, instead of thoughtless and irre- ligious ones. Candidates for confirmation, instead of being presented, because they had reached a certain age, and could repeat the catechism, were told what a solemn vow, promise and profession they were about. to make, and that it was none other than an immediate introduction with full qualification to the Lord's Supper. Of course very different views of the Lord's Supper, and the conduct of communicants were in- culcated, and the minister even bound by express canon to converse with each one before admitting him for the first time to the Lord's Supper. Thus was the whole tone and standard of religion changed to the dissatisfaction and complaint, it is true, of some of the old members of the Church, and not without condemnation of some from abroad.
"In due time the important measure of requiring that all who enter our Convention to legislate for Christians and Christian ministers, should themselves be Christian professors, was adopted, though there were
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those at home who feared the attempt, and there were those abroad who prophesied evil in such a manner as to encourage disaffection at home. But God was with us, and has granted most entire success.
"As to the manner of exciting zeal in Christians, and awakening interest in those who were not, it was thought that no better example could be followed than that of the apostles, who preached not only in the temple and synagogues, but in some places, from house to house, as occasion required, and opportunity offered. As to the manner of preaching, written sermons were generally preferred in the pulpit; extemporaneous exhortations were often resorted to in smaller assem- blies, and without slighting the excellent prayers of our Liturgy, there were many occasions, both in private families and in social meetings, when extemporaneous petitions seemed edifying both to the pastor and his flock. As to the great benevolent and religious institutions of the age, our ministers felt that they were doing well to encourage their people to a lively participation in them. The Missionary and Bible Societies, the Colonization and Temperance Societies especially, re- ceived their most cordial support and they considered. it a subject of devout thankfulness to God, if their congregations took a deep interest in the same.
"To provoke each other and their congregations to zeal in all good works, and especially to awaken the careless to a sense of their lost condition, the ministers would meet together occasionally, and for several successive days, make full trial of prayer and God's Word, expecting the blessing promised to two or three who come together and ask somewhat of God.
"To these, I will only add a few words as to the spirit cherished and the course pursued towards our Christian brethren who walk not with us in all things of Church order and worship.
"We have seen how long and bitter the strife that subsisted between them and our fathers, how violent the prejudices that raged against us; and it would have been easy to enter on the work of revival in the spirit of retaliation and fierce opposition. But would it have been right, and as our Master would have had us do? Had not our fore- fathers done religion and them some wrong? Had not God made much use of them for good to religion? Were they not most sincere in their fear of us, and opposition to us? Did it not become us rather to win them over by love, and secure their esteem by living and preach- ing differently from our predecessors ?
"Such was the conciliatory course pursued by our deceased father in God, and followed by those who perceived the good effects of his ex- ample ; and most happy was the effect of the same.
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" And now, brethren, are there any who, in view of the past, and of God's blessing upon the doctrines preached, and the measures adopted, would, for a moment, listen to the proposal of a change? More espe- cially when we remember that, in the course adopted by us, we only followed closely in the footsteps of a noble host of faithful ministers and laymen in our Mother Church, who, during the last fifty years, have been so successfully engaged in the work of her revival. Though not so deeply corrupted as the Church of Virginia, yet was the English Church most sadly defective, both in doctrine and practice. But God raised up the Venns, Newtons, Scotts, Cecils, Martins, Buchanans, among the clergy, and the Wilberforces, Thorntons, Grants, and Han- nah Moores among the laity, to bear their testimony against the jejune morality of the pulpit, and to condemn as well by their writings as example the worldliness both of clergy and people in that day. And what a blessed change has been effected ? None pretend for a moment to question either the effect or the cause thereof. And yet, alas! so fickle, so fond of various experiment is man, there are not a few who, within the last twelve years, while lavishing praises on those who were the chief instruments of the happy change, have yet proposed to do more good by means and instruments widely different from those which heaven has so greatly blessed for the last half century. I need not tell of the confusion, discord and unhappiness already produced by the unwise experiment, and the injury our Church is suffering thereby. We, my brethren of the clergy and laity, will keep to the old ways, assured that he, 'in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,' will continue to bless us as he has done, and yet more abundantly, if we will only be more faithful in those ways.
"And while we have reason at thought of our present, by comparison with our past condition, to exclaim 'what hath God done' 'to thank him and take courage,' yet should we beware of boasting, or of sup- posing that all is done, or that what remains will certainly and easily be done. I consider it as the great error of many in our Church, through- out the land, that we are too much given to boasting, too apt to over- rate our own successes, and calculate too largely on far greater, while underrating the present or probable future successes of others. God will in his own way correct us if we be guilty of presumption. Our Jacob is still small, and it becomes us now, as of old, to ask by whom shall he rise? Much is there yet to be done, and there are many diffi- culties in the way. Though we have a goodly number of ministers, yet by no means enough to carry on the work of enlargement as we could wish, and as the door seems opening to us.
" Although we have many churches, yet how many of the congrega-
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tions are small, and not rapidly increasing, being still unable to afford even a moderate support to the ministry.
" Many are the discouragements which meet us in our efforts to sustain some of the old, and to raise up new congregations. Among the most painful is the difficulty of attaching the poor of this world to our com- munion. When our Lord was on earth he gave as one of the signs of his heavenly descent, the blessed fact that 'to the poor the gospel is preached,' and 'the common people, it is written, heard him gladly '; 'the multitudes followed him.' Such should be our constant endeavor, my brethren of the clergy, and if, from the causes alluded to, in the past history of our Church, one description of the poor of Virginia have been almost entirely alienated from us, let us rejoice to know that there is another description not less acceptable in the sight of Heaven, who if we are kind to them, and will take due pains to win them over, will more easily be led to come under the faithful preaching of the Word. The poor servants will, if we persevere in our labors of love towards them, and be to them what God's faithful pastors in every age have been to the poor, be benefited by our ministry, and may, if we will, in conjunction with their owners, attend to them betimes as we do to our own children, become regular and pious members of our communion. But whether we think of the rich, or the poor, or those of any and every condition and character amongst us, with the hope of converting them to Christ, and attaching them to the communion of our Church, we need not expect much success, without much zeal and diligence, such as was put forth in our first efforts for its resuscitation. Our State is not one of those whose population is rapidly increasing, in which flourishing villages are springing up in every direction, calling for neat churches to fill up the measure of their beauty and excellency, and where the support of the ministry is sure, so that our Zion must needs lengthen her cords, and strengthen her stakes. Very different is it with us now, has it been for many years, and will it, in all proba- bility be, for many years to come. It is only by patient perseverance in well-doing, that we can hope to make advances in the establishment of our Church. Much self-denial, and enduring of hardship, and abound- ing in labors and itinerant zeal, and contentedness with a little of this world's goods, on the part of many of our ministers, are indispensable to the growth of the Church in Virginia, much beyond her present attainment. Without these things she may continue stationary, or even retrograde in some places, during years to come. The want of such ministers, and the pressing demands of our Missionary Societies, and of vacant places in other Dioceses, depriving us of a number of our young men, and of some of those more advanced in life, has left us,
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