USA > Virginia > Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 18
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"I met with the Rev. Mr. Baylye (the one referred to by Governor Spottswood) and admonished him pretty sharply, but I do not hear that it has had the desired effect. I doubt I must proceed to greater severity with him, and some others. But the difficulty is to find proof; there being many who will cry out against scandalous ministers, who will not appear as evidences against them. I hear a very bad character of Mr. Worthen, and I understand that you have mentioned him in a letter to the Governor. I shall take it kind if you will help me to any clear proofs of those scandals; for, although for want of clergymen to fill the vacancies I prefer to lean to the gentle than to the severe side, yet cer- tainly the behaviour of some men is so flagrant, that we had better be without ministers than to be served with such as are scandals to the Gospel. I wish you your health and success in the ministry, in which you set so good an example."
In a letter to the Bishop of London, in 1724, on the same subject, he says, "I have never made but two examples (that is, of withdrawing their licenses during the Bishop's pleasure) in all the time I have been Commissary, now thirty-four years ; and, indeed, for want of clergymen, we must bear with those we have much more than we should do." In the same year a joint letter from Governor Drysdale and Mr. Blair, and others from worthy clergymen, confirm the above. About the same time, several lengthy communications are sent over to England, containing schemes for a supply of more and better ministers for Virginia, and offering some suggestions as to their government and disci- pline. The reigning vice among the clergy at that time was intemperance ; as it probably has been ever since both among the clergy and laity of all denominations, having given great trouble to the Church of every age. The difficulty of proof is stated in one of these schemes for reformation ; and the following mortifying tests of intoxication are proposed to the Bishop of London, for the trial of the clergy in Virginia. They were these :-
"Sitting an hour or longer in the company where they are drinking strong drink, and in the mean time drinking of healths, or otherwise taking the cups as they come round, like the rest of the company ; strik- ing, and challenging, or threatening to fight, or laying aside any of his garments for that purpose ; staggering, reeling, vomiting; incoherent, im- pertinent, obscene, or rude talking. Let the proof of these signs proceed
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so far, till the judges conclude that the minister's behaviour at such a time was scandalous, indecent, unbecoming the gravity of a minister."
It was found then, as it ever has been, that one great source of the scandal brought upon the Church of God by the intemperance of clergy and laity, is to be found in the difficulty not only of witnesses and prosecutors, but of deciding when excitement from intoxicating liquors has reached that point which must be regarded as the sin of drunkenness. And what an argument this should be with both clergy and laity, but especially the former, to abstain altogether, lest they should appear to be, or be charged with, or suspected of this sin !
I have thus brought to a close my remarks on the chief incidents in the life of Dr. Blair, and the peculiar points of his character. Our impression of him is, that, though he could not be otherwise than busy, considering all the offices he held and the relation he bore to others, yet that the charge brought against him by some, that he was too busy, had truth in it. His most minute details of things said and done, in his long and tedious though well-written letters to England furnish proof of this. Still, we must esteem him a sincere Christian and a most laborious man in the perform- ance of duty in all his official relations. The College owed its existence to him, and was probably as well managed by him as times and circumstances allowed; and it is probable that his faithful preaching and correct moral deportment did much to stem that torrent of wickedness which, in his day, flowed over England and America. Few men ever contended with more difficulties or sur- mounted them better than Dr. Blair. Few clergymen ever were engaged with such fierce opponents in high stations, and who not only bore up manfully against them, but actually overcame them. Governors of distant provinces have ever been proverbially corrupt and tyrannical men. Such were Andros and Nicholson. Spotts- wood was a nobler spirit, but he was brought up a soldier, and rose to high command in the English army, and had there learned both to obey and command. As Governor of Virginia, he thought it was his province to command, and that of all others to obcy ; but Dr. Blair thought there were limits to submission. They were both of them benefactors to Virginia. Had there been many such before and after, it would have been well for the State. Of Dr. Blair I have nothing more to say, but that, in a letter from Go- vernor Gooch to the Bishop of London, at his death, he informs him that the Commissary left his library and five hundred pounds to the College, and ten thousand pounds to his nephew and the
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children of his nephew, besides some smaller legacies. His nephew was Mr. John Blair, who was so long President of the Council, and whose character was of the highest order. The son of this John Blair (whose name was also John) was distinguished as a patriot, statesman, and jurist. He represented the College of William and Mary in the House of Burgesses for a long time, took an active part in all the Revolutionary movements, was a member of the great Convention which met to revise the Articles of Confederation, and, finally, was one of the Supreme Federal Court.
GOVERNOR SPOTTSWOOD AND HIS FAMILY.
The following sketch has been furnished me, at my request, by one of the descendants in Virginia, and I take pleasure in adding it to this article.
"Sir Walter Scott, in his History of Scotland, says :-
"'The Parliament, consisting entirely of Covenanters, instigated by the importunity of the clergy, condemned eight of the most distinguished Cavaliers to execution. Four were appointed to suffer at St. Andrew's, that their blood might atone for the number of men (said to exceed five thousand) which the county of Fife had lost during the Montrose wars. Lord Ogilvey was the first of these, but that young nobleman escaped from prison and death in his sister's clothes. Colonel Nathaniel Gordon, one of the best soldiers and bravest men in Europe, and six other Cava- liers of the first distinction, were actually executed. We may particularly distinguish the fate of Sir Robert Spottswood, who, when the wars broke out, was Lord-President of the Court of Sessions, and accounted a judge of talent and learning. He had never borne arms; but the circumstance of having brought Montrose his commission of Captain-General of Scot- land was thought quite worthy of death, without any further act of trea- son against the estates. When, on the scaffold, he vindicated his conduct with the dignity of a judge and the talent of a lawyer, he was silenced by the Provost of St. Andrew's, who was formerly a servant of his father's when Prelate of that city. The victim submitted to that indignity with calmness, and betook himself to his private devotions : he was soon in this last act interrupted by the Presbyterian minister in attendance, who demanded of him if he desired the benefit of his prayers and those of the assembled people. Sir Robert replied, that he earnestly desired the prayers of the people, but rejected those of the speaker; for that, in his opinion, God had expressed his displeasure against Scotland by sending a lying spirit into the mouth of the prophets, a far greater curse than those of fire, sword, and pestilence. An old servant of his family took care of his body and buried him privately; and it is said of the faithful domestic, that, passing through the market-place a day or two afterwards, and, see- ing the scaffold still standing and stained with his master's blood, he was so much affected that he sunk down in a swoon and died as they were lifting him over his own threshold.'
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" His son, Alexander Spottswood, was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marl- borough. Afterward, he was Governor of Virginia. He married Jane Butler, sister of the Duke of Ormond, by whom he had two sons-John and Robert ; and two daughters-Catherine and Dorethea: Catherine mar- ried Bernard Moore, and Dorethea, Nathaniel Dandridge. Robert was killed by the Indians on an expedition with his father beyond the Alle- ghanies. Whom John, my grandfather, married, I am not certain; but I think she was Mary Dandridge, the sister of Nathaniel Dandridge. He had two sons-Alexander and John ; and two daughters-Mary and Ann. Mary married Mr. Peter Randolph. John married Mary Rouzey, of Essex county, by whom he had numerous children. Alexander (my father) mar- ried Elizabeth Washington, daughter of Augustine Washington, and niece of General George Washington, by whom he had seven children, myself the youngest. My father was a Brigadier-General in the Revolution : his brother John was a captain. I think I have given you a correct account of the genealogy of the Spottswood family. There is a difference in spell- ing the name in this and the Old World, the original name being spelt Spottiswood .* >'
* A worthy antiquary of Virginia thinks that Governor Spottiswood was not the son of Sir Robert Spottiswood, who was executed in Scotland, but the grand- son ; that his father was named Robert, but was a physician who died at Tangier, in Africa, in 1680, his son Alexander being born there in 1676. He also thinks that the name of Governor Spottiswood's wife was Anne Butler Bryan, the latter part being usually pronounced Brain, the middle name being taken from her god- father, James Butler, Duke of Ormond. He also states that Robert Spottiswood died near Fort Cumberland, in 1757, when serving under Washington, being killed, as was supposed, by the Indians.
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ARTICLE XIII.
Williamsburg, Bruton Parish .- No. 3.
WITH the death of Mr. Blair closed all conflicts, so far as is shown, between Commissaries and Governors. The Rev. Wil- liam Dawson was chosen Commissary and President of the Col- lege, while his brother, the Rev. Thomas Dawson, was called to the rectorship of the church, Mr. Gooch being Governor. All the let- ters of Governor Gooch and Commissary Dawson to the Bishop of London show them to be truly anxious to promote the best inte- rests of the colony, though many difficulties seem to have impeded its prosperity and prevented a supply of worthy ministers. One thing is set forth in praise of William and Mary College, which we delight to record,-viz. : that the hopes and designs of its founders and early benefactors, in relation to its being a nursery of pious ministers, were not entirely disappointed. It is positively affirmed by those most competent to speak, that the best ministers in Vir- ginia were those educated at the College and sent over to England for ordination. The foreigners were the great scandal of the Church. No vigilance on the part of the Bishop of London, the Governor or Commissaries, could altogether prevent this. Nor was the discipline exerted over the clergy, whether foreign or do- mestic, calculated to be a terror to evil-doers. We have seen what Dr. Blair acknowledged as to his forbearance ; and yet there was more of clerical discipline under his supervision than at any subsequent period. We read of none under the first of the Daw- sons. When Mr. Thomas Dawson, who succeeded his brother as Commissary, (Mr. Stith being called to the Presidency of the Col- lege,) was in office, a most flagrant case called so loudly for notice that Governor Dinwiddie summoned the offender (the Rev. Mr. Brunskill, of Prince William) to Williamsburg, and on trial dis- missed him from his parish. Mr. Dawson, however, shrunk from the proceeding, expressing a doubt whether they were authorized to exercise discipline. If what his successor, Mr. Robinson, stated to the Bishop of London be true, there must have been a secret con- sciousness of unworthiness which operated upon the mind of Mr.
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Dawson,-viz. : that he himself in his latter years became addicted to drink, to such an extent that the Visitors of the College arraigned him for it, but let it pass on the plea that his troubles in office, as President and Commissary, so pressed upon him as to make him resort to this wretched refuge for consolation. It was in the time of the first of these brothers that the troubles about the Rev. Mr. Davis, the Presbyterian minister, took place ; and in the time of the second, that the great tobacco-question agitated the Church and State, and about each of which I shall have something to say in the proper place. The huge folio volume of manuscripts from Lambeth and Fulham Palaces which lie before me contains a num- ber of letters and memorials on these subjects from which to draw materials. At the death of the second Mr. Dawson, the Rev. William Yates, of Gloucester, one of that family which so abounded in ministers, succeeded to the rectorship of the church and Presidency of the College, while the Rev. William Robinson, of King and Queen, was made Commissary. Mr. Yates, dying in 1764, was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Horrocks, in the College and the church, and about the same time, at the death of Commis- sary Robinson, he was appointed to that office also.
In the year 1771, a meeting of the clergy was called by Mr. Horrocks, at the request of some of the Northern clergy, to con- sider the subject of applying for an American Episcopate. The desirableness of this, in order to complete the organization of our Church for the benefit of Episcopalians, without requiring others to be subjected to it, had been felt by its friends on both sides of the water for a long time. Various plans had been proposed for its accomplishment ; but difficulties, civil and religious, (of whose force it is impossible that we, at this distance of time, should be proper judges,) interposed and prevented. Enemies to the scheme, both in England and America, were always ready to rise up against it with political and religious objections. At length, when Episco- palians began to increase in the Middle and Northern States, (though still a small band,) the press was resorted to in advocacy of the measure. Dr. Chandler, an eminent divine of our Church in New Jersey, took the lead in defence of the measure. An effort was made to combine the Episcopalians of Virginia with those of the North, in a petition to the throne for an American Episcopate. Mr. Horrocks, the Commissary of Virginia, induced by various pressing letters from the North, called a convocation of the clergy, to be held in Williamsburg on the 4th of May, 1771, without men- tioning the object of it. But few attended, and they, on being
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informed of the object, determined that it was too grave a matter to be decided on by so small a number, and that another call should be made, specifying the object of the meeting. Another call was accordingly made for the 4th of June, when only twelve appeared, a smaller number than before, although many more than these lived very near the place of assemblage, and about one hundred were in the diocese. There must, of course, have been some serious objec- tion, in the minds of the great body of the clergy, to taking any part in it, for the subject was not new, having been under discus- sion for some time in the Northern papers. After some delibera- tion, it was determined not to address the crown, but to ask advice of the Bishop of London,-the good Bishop Porteus,-who, in a sermon, recommended the measure, but only in the event of the Government, in its wisdom, favouring the plan. It was thought proper, therefore, first to apply to him as the Diocesan and the warm friend of Virginia, where his parents had resided and he was perhaps born. This was passed by a unanimous vote. And yet, by one of those unaccountable revolutions which sometimes takes place in public bodies, before the final adjournment, the ques- ' tion was reconsidered, the vote reversed, and a direct petition to the King determined upon, two only dissenting, who were afterward joined by two others in a protest, with the reasons thereof. It was resolved that the votes of a majority must be obtained in some other way. But we hear nothing more of it. This protest of the Rev. Messrs. Gwatkin and Henly, Professors in the College, and Bland and Hewitt, ministers of parishes, called forth a pamphlet from the united Conventions of the clergy of New York and New Jersey in condemnation, and a reply of the protesters in defence. These were followed by various others, of the most severe and bitter character, by different persons in the Northern and Middle States. I have seen them all bound up in a number of volumes, and read some of them. Many of those, in small pamphlets or in newspapers, were written by those of other denominations, who were entirely opposed to the introduction of Episcopacy; and I feel confident that the Stamp Act, and the tax on tea and other articles, did not draw forth more violent denunciations and threat- enings than were spread throughout the Northern States against this proposal. All New England was in a flame. It may well appear strange that so many Episcopal clergyman as were in Vir- ginia should appear indifferent to a measure so suitable and neces- sary to the perfect organization and effectual working of our sys- tem, and it is right that their reasons, not only for indifference,
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but even opposition, should be stated. It appears, from what was written in their defence, that there was but one opinion as to the propriety and desirableness of the object, but only diversity as to the time and manner of effecting it. It was declared that all things were unfavourable to it at that time. The difficulties about the Stamp Act were not over. There was a root of bitterness still remaining in consequence of some deceptive measures charged on the British ministry in connection with its repeal. Other causes of dissatis- faction were arising. There was a filial feeling in Virginians toward the mother-country and Church, which made them averse to war and separation, and they wished to avoid every thing which would hasten it; and yet there was a strong and firm determination not to continue the union except upon honourable terms. Their just rights they would maintain at all hazards. They believed that the proposition for an American Episcopate, no matter how modified the plan, was so offensive to all other Protestant bodies, both in this country and England, that, united with other causes which were increasing every day, it must decide the question of war if agreed to. The violent tones of the press on this subject were enough to justify the apprehension. But there was another very general source of fear throughout the land. It was believed that if Bishops should be sent they would be men, like the Governors, favouring the royal pretensions instead of American rights, and thus weakening the cause of proper independence. On this account, Bishop White, in his Memoirs, expresses the belief "that it would have been impossible to have obtained the concurrence of a respectable number of laymen in any measure for obtaining an American Bishop." He appeals to the conduct of Virginia, where, if anywhere in the land, such concurrence might be expected. And yet, nowhere was opposition greater than in Virginia, and among Episcopalians, under existing circumstances. We have seen the jealousies of the vestries as to the attempt of Governors and wishes of Commissaries and clergy to deprive them of the right to choose and displace their own ministers. The Governors claimed to be Bishops, or in the place of Bishops, and to have the right of inducting ministers for life, and, in many instances, of choosing them and presenting them. If Bishops should be sent, they would assuredly claim as much, if not more, and be more likely to obtain it, and also to have greater power of discipline. The laity, therefore, were on this account fearful of the experi- ment, and preferred losing the benefit of the rite of confirmation for a time, than be saddled with a power greater than Governors
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and Commissaries had been able to erect. In proof of this general aversion of the laity in Virginia to the proposal of a Bishop or Bishops, we find that soon after the small meeting of the clergy at Williamsburg which voted a petition to the Crown, the House of Burgesses met and unanimously passed a vote of thanks to the few who protested for the course they pursued. The thanks were car- ried them by two gentlemen whose attachment to the Church cannot be questioned,-Colonel Bland and Richard Henry Lee, the latter of whom was our most active agent with the Court of St. James in obtaining our Episcopacy immediately after the Revolution. In proof that it was not a want of due regard to the Episcopal office, but a conviction that it could not be obtained in such a manner at that time as to comport with our civil and religious liberties, which made the Virginia laity and very many of the clergy to object, we would mention the fact that, so soon as we were free to establish it on right principles, the very men who, in the House of Burgesses and elsewhere, were most opposed to it, now came for- ward to our Episcopal Convention and zealously advocated the establishment of Episcopacy. There can be no doubt that the general feeling of the nation, and of no part of it more than of Virginia, was that America was destined to independence, though it was not wished to hasten it by a bloody war. Can any one doubt that the thought was often in the minds of our truest men, that the time for establishing our Episcopacy would not be until we could do it untrammelled by our connection with and subjection to Eng- land ? She, said some, is illy able to establish her own Episcopacy aright, much less one for us. Trammelled as the Church of Eng- land is by the State, her Bishops are almost powerless for dis- cipline, so complicated and expensive the machinery by which they must exercise it. Few as were the instances of clerical discipline under our Commissaries and Governors, it was believed that they were far more numerous than during the same period under the Bishops of England ; and if we had Bishops, they of course must be governed by the same laws as in England, whereas the Go- vernor, acting under some general instruction from the crown, has more liberty, especially when such a spirit as that of Spottswood ruled the Colony. A candid investigation of the whole subject will therefore lead to the same conclusion to which Dr. Hawks, an able jurist as well as eloquent divine and faithful historian, did, when he says, in his work on Virginia, "At this distance of time, it will probably be acknowledged that, on the question of expe- diency, the Virginia clergy judged wisely. In the temper of the
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times, the application could not but have proved unsuccessful : to make it, therefore, could only serve to exasperate a large portion of the Colonists, without the prospect of obtaining the end de- sired."
That the laity of Virginia, as represented by the Burgesses, had reason to complain of the attempt of the clergy to manage this delicate and important matter without any conference with them, seeing that they were so deeply interested in the matter, cannot be denied. In their meeting was no lay element whatever. One of the protesters stated this, and proposed consulting with the Go- vernor, Council, and Burgesses; but one of the leaders of the measure acknowledged that they would certainly be opposed to it, and therefore objected to the reference. The protesters, in their defence, make use of this argument, and say that, to establish a measure of this kind, without the co-operation of the laity, would be to adopt the Popish system of a spiritual dominion within the State, entirely independent of it and dangerous to the liberties of the people. The lay element in England was the King, Parlia- ment, and mixed courts ; the lay element here had been the Go- vernor and Council, House of Burgesses, and vestries ; but now all those were dispensed with, and the clergy proposed to act without advice and independent of these,-that is, the few who adopted and signed the petition ; for the greater part stayed at home, well know- ing the opposition of the laity. The protesters, in their reply, charge their opponents at the North with a leaning to the Non-juring Bishops of Scotland, whom they call schismatics, and bid them, if they wished Bishops, apply to them, and thus set up a separate Church without the support of the State; but not to disturb the peace of the land by endeavouring to involve the Government of England in the measure. They also intimate that some private objects-perhaps ecclesiastical aspirations-influenced the great and sudden change in the meeting at Williamsburg. Mr. Camm had recently been disappointed in succeeding to the Commissary's place, at the death of Mr. Robinson, in consequence of some diffi- culties with Governor Dinwiddie; and Mr. Horrocks was suspected of some desires for the mitre. These were the leaders among the clergy. President Nelson, of York, writing to a friend in London at this time, says :-
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