USA > Virginia > Sketches of Virginia : historical and biographical > Part 43
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wife upon a pillion and a child on the pommel of his saddle; and then some young people that had met accidentally on the road, or had, perhaps, gone a little out of their way on some pretence, came riding up in the unpretending gallantry of independent mountaineers.
The second pastor, William Wilson, under the pressure of in- firmity, had retired from the office of pastor; you might see his residence on the rising ground, a little to the south of the church ; and the third pastor, of whom high expectations had been formed, was about to be installed. Installation services in those days of health and longevity were rare. Few people had witnessed two on that hill, many had never witnessed one. Though men had human passions then, and felt all the frailties of our nature, and ministers and their people were not exempt from causes of uneasiness, yet the changes in the pastoral relation were not so frequent then as they are now. Pastors lived, and labored, and diod among their people. This third pastor of Augusta lived to fill up with his predecessors the ministerial labors of about a century of years; and all three at last were buried by the people they had served, and will come forth with them, and with each other, at the resurrection.
The old Presbyterian settlers of the Valley were very particular about their personal appearance when they met on the Sabbath for the worship of God. Before the Revolution, their "Sunday clothes," brought from the mother country, were costly, according to their ability to indulge in this almost single approach to extravagance, and were preserved with a care becoming the economy of their situa- tion. During the struggle for independence, the wives and daugh- ters plied the wheel and loom more dextrously, and brought out, as the product of their skilful fingers, the apparel of their husbands, and brothers, and themselves, for their Sabbath meetings, as well as for their domestic pursuits ; and since the war of independence the great increase of wealth had not yet enabled the foreign texture to supplant the domestic fabric. And on this occasion men aud women, boys and girls, youth and maidens, came in fabrics of all kinds and colors, more domestic than foreign, just as suited the taste and opportunities, of independent men and women, dressed all in "their best."
On Saturday, instead of the usual preaching, suited to a com- munion season, and a short recess, and then another sermon, the services suited to the installation of the new pastor, were performed. The Rev. George Bourne, but lately ordained, preached from John 5: 35, " He was a burning and shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in that light ;" and gave a sketch of what a pastor should be, shining as the light, burning like the fire that warms and does not destroy. The Rev. William Calhoon presided, and after the proper questions had been asked and answered by the pastor and the people, gave the charge to each to walk worthy of their vocation. The congregation retired, some to their homes, and visitors with their friends to pass the night. On communion seasons, and particularly on this, all houses were open for friends, all com-
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mon business suspended, and all families gave themselves up to hospitality and devotion. People felt free to talk on religious sub- jects, and review the dealings of the Lord with them, and enquire for the right way. Often, on such occasions, the anxious soul, for the first time, spoke of its fears and its desires after salvation.
On Sabbath morning, at an earlier hour, the families assembled. What a sight of beauty and solemnity all around ! - the mountains and hills, and forest-covered plains, all in the gorgeous dress of frosty yet mild October; and the old fort hill thickening with men and women coming to worship God. The voice of singing and of prayer is heard from the old church echoing among the trees. Had a warm-hearted inhabitant of the North of Ireland been brought, like Ezekiel in vision, to stand upon the hill, he would have recog- nised the cadence and melody of his ancestors, and joined in the sacred old tune he had so often sung; he would never have asked if this were a sacrament, but have looked around for the ministers, and for the tables, whether they were in the church or at the tent in the church-yard. And there, in the capacious seats around the pulpit, and the reading desk, were the ministers for the occasion, and the elders of the church; Wilson the retired pastor, tall, spare, erect, warm in feeling, earnest in delivery, lifting up his voice like a trumpet, in his excitement; M'Cue, short, full set, of a ruddy countenance, pleasant, and earnest in his services ; and Calhoon, of middle-size, spare, with high cheek bones, in appearance and man- ner, and delivery of his message, much resembling John B. Smith, of Hampden Sidney, under whose ministry he came into the church; and the newly installed pastor, tall, square shouldered, athletic, as mild in his demeanor as strong in his manhood. First, the sermon on the death of Christ, and its blessed fruits in the salvation of sinners through faith. Then the fencing the tables, warning the unprepared, the impenitent and faithless to keep back from the table of the Lord, and not to touch the holy emblems. Then the consecrating prayer, and the hymn, and the serving of the first table with the bread and wine, and an address on some exciting subject of gospel hope or faith. And after the elements have been passed down the long tables, extending to the right and left of the pulpit, the length of the house, covered with white linen, and seated on either side with communicants, and the guests have been indulged in meditation and devotion, another hymn; and then another com- pany of guests come out of the crowd to take the place of those re- tiring from the tables, served by the new pastor. Another minis- ter waits on these with the elements and an address ; and with singing, these retire for others ; and thus table after table is served, till all in the large assembly who have on Saturday or Sabbath morning, or some previous time received from the officers of the church a token of admission, have received the communion. The passing hours are not carefully noted ; the solemn devotions of God's people must not be disturbed or hurried, or the decencies of religious habits and belief shocked by the rushing to the communion from
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sudden impulse, or coming burdened with unworthiness, that could not meet the eye of the elder and minister. Then came the closing hymn, and the prayer and giving thanks, and the solemn address to those who had not approached the Lord in penitence and faith. The crowd slowly disperses. The hill is silent, and the tread of horses echoes in the forests as the little groups seek their homes ; some bearing in their hearts the good seed, and some shaking off the solemn impressions made at the supper of the Lord. Larger assem- blies may be gathered at old Augusta Church, but such a meet- ing of the Triple Forks will never be again. On Monday the pastor preached, as usual on such occasions, a sermon calculated to cherish the impressions made on the minds of the people by the services of the preceding days. His text, Acts 3 : 26, Unto you first God, hav -. ing raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Such, with the exception of the installation services, were the communion seasons in the valley of Virginia. These meetings were often attended with great excitements ; and the services were pro- longed through successive days. Deep convictions were not unfre- quently the consequences - and many hopeful conversions. People flocked to these meetings with an interest they could not describe, and carried away impressions they could not forget. Congregations have multiplied in numbers, and grown smaller in their circumfer- ence and number of members ; ministers have smaller fields of labor, and live nearer to each other. Communion seasons in frequent succes- sion may be attended by riding a few miles, and the novelty is gone ; and the interest from visitors at a great distance is gone ; and the laborers gathered at a meeting are fewer in number; and the taste of people is greatly changed with their changed circumstances. Notwithstanding a communion in the summer or early fall in one of the old valley congregations, is invested with circumstances that touch the heart.
From the records of Lexington Presbytery we learn that Mr. George Bourne, calling himself a preacher of the Independent Church of England, made request "to be taken into union with this Presbytery," at its meeting in Staunton, Oct. 18th, 1811. Some reports unfavorable to Mr. Bourne having come to the knowledge of Presbytery, action in his case was deferred. He renewed his re- quest the next spring, at a meeting in New Providence, in April. The Presbytery hearing statements favorable to Mr. Bourne, and in consideration of his having labored about eighteen months in the Presbytery, and a congregation at Port Republic having been formed under his ministrations and zealous labors, resolved to re- ceive him as a candidate. Being introduced to Presbytery, he was examined on his experimental acquaintance with religion, his views of the doctrines and form of government of the Presbyterian Church, and giving satisfaction to the members, he was licensed "to preach the gospel of Christ as a probationer for the gospel ministry." At a meeting of Presbytery on the 29th of the next October, at Tink-
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ling Spring, a call was presented from the congregation of South River for Mr. Bourne's services, and being by him accepted, prepa- rations were made for his ordination, which took place at the house of Mr. Joseph Barger, Port Republic, Dec. 26th, 1812; Mr. Wm. Wilson presiding, and Mr. John McCue delivering the ordination sermon. In the succeeding May he attended the General Assembly of the Church as delegate from Lexington Presbytery. He was again a delegate in 1815; and in consequence of his action as their representative, he was arraigned and tried by his Presbytery on two charges by common fame. 1st. With having brought very heavy charges in the Assembly against some ministers of the gospel in Virginia, whom he refused to name, respecting their treatment of slaves, the tendency of which was to bring reproach upon the charac- ter of the Virginia clergy in general. 2d. And also, since his re- turn, with having made several unwarrantable and unchristian charges against many of the members of the Presbyterian Church in relation to slavery. The trial took place at Bethel, Dec. 27th, 1815. The excitement in the country was great; at the fall meet- ing the congregation of South River applied for dissolution of the pastoral connexion, alleging inability to meet their obligations, and "other causes ;" and Mr. Bourne threw the gauntlet boldly against the Presbytery and the community in which he had cast his lot, maintaining from the press which he set up in Harrisonburg, and by addresses where people would listen, and in conversation, that slavery as known in Virginia, was incompatible with the gospel ; that slave- holding and church membership were a contradiction, and that slave- holding and the ministry was worse than absurd - were no common sin. Had he maintained these sentiments in a manner becoming the decencies of life, the public mind, not then feverish on the subject of slavery, but actually inclining to emancipation, might have borne it in silence as the extreme of a well-meaning man, and been, per- haps, carried on in its course.
Four ministers and four elders were present at the adjourned meeting for the trial -Rev. Messrs. Baxter, M'Cue, Speece, and Anderson received from Hanover Presbytery at that meeting ; with Elders Messrs. John Babb, Samuel, Linn, William Bell, and John Weir. Mr. Bourne, to prevent a trial, had cited all the members as witnesses ; the Presbytery, as a preliminary step, decided that such citation did not bar the right of members to sit in Presbytery. Mr. Bourne then offered an appeal to the Assembly on the whole case ; this the Presbytery refused in this stage of the business. The first charge was taken up, and assertions made by Mr. Bourne on the floor of the Assembly were reported by a delegate from Hanover Presbytery, Rev. J. D. Paxton, who was present as a member of Assembly, very concisely ; the principal part of his testimony being, that Mr. Bourne "said he had seen a professor of religion, perhaps he said a preacher, driving slaves ; thinks he added chained or tied together, through a certain town in Virginia. In answer to some observations by the Rev. William Hill, Mr. Bourne said it was im-
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possible to conceive or describe the state of slavery as practised in Virginia, or in the Southern States, and even by professors of reli- gion ; and, Mr. Bourne being called upon to name the party driving the slaves, refused to comply with the call." Mr. Robert Herron testified that Mr. Bourne told him that he had laid before the last General Assembly an overture enquiring what was to be done with a minister of the gospel who tied up his slave, whipped her, left her tied, went to church and preached, then came back and whipped her again, and called on a bystander to kill the husband of the woman whipped, for his interference, and that he, the minister, would see him harmless. Mr. Herron also testified that Mr. Bourne repeated to him the substance of Mr. Paxton's testimony, and said that on his refusal to name the man there was "a great bustle in the house."
On the second charge, Mr. Herron testified that "he has heard Mr. Bourne say he believed it to be impossible that any man could be a Christian and a slavehaider - that slaveholders were all a set of negro thieves ;" and that Mr. Bourne, on being reminded that the Presbytery would call him to account, "answered, let them quit stealing." Three letters from Mr. Bourne to Rev. A. B. Davidson were read, in which he gives account of the doings in Assembly, and says - "Not a man even attempted to defend man-tnieving boldly, but Mr. Hill, of Winchester ;" -"that the Devil can make better pretensions to be a Christian than a slaveholder - the one is the father of all evil, but he is no hypocrite ; but a Christian slaveholder is an everlasting liar, and thief, and deceiver ;"-"that the idea that a man could be a Christian or a democrat and a slaveholder, was quite a jest among northern and eastern and western brethren in the Assembly -it is absolutely impossible ;"-"a man who says that he is a Christian and a republican, and has any connexion with slavery, only exposes himself to ridicule, for he is so simple that he cannot discern right from wrong, or so deceitful that he professes honesty while he is a thief; - no slaveholder is or can consistently profess himself to be a Presbyterian, if the Confession of Faith is the standard of the Church." A printed paper was read, and ano- ther letter from Mr. Bourne to the stated clerk. After hearing these testimonies and papers, Presbytery decided that the two charges were supported. "The question was then proposed - Can Mr. Bourne, consistently with the conduct exhibited by the evidence, be any longer retained as a member of this Presbytery ?- which question was decided in the negative. Wherefore resolved, that Mr. George Bourne be and he hereby is deposed from the office of the gospel ministry." From this decision Mr. Bourne appealed to the next General Assembly.
On the 21st of May, 1816, "an overture containing an appeal made by Mr. George Bourne from a decision of the Presbytery of Lexington, was brought into the Assembly, and being read, was committed to Drs. Nott, Blatchford, and Mr. B. H. Rice, who were instructed to report to the Assembly on the subject as soon as con- venient." This committee was afterwards enlarged by the addition
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of Drs. Green, Wilson and Neill. This committee reported that as the proper documents were not before the Assembly, there could be no hearing of the appeal. The Assembly ordered - " That a cer- tified copy of the records of the Lexington Presbytery, in this case, be duly made and transmitted to the next Assembly, unless the Synod of Virginia, to which the Assembly can have no objection, shall have previously received the appeal." The Synod of Virginia, at its meeting in October, in Fredericksburg, made exceptions to the records of Lexington Presbytery, "of an appeal to the General Assembly, over the head of Synod, without expressing a disappro- bation," but proceeded no further. The necessary papers and docu- ments being laid before the Assembly of 1817, on the second day of its sessions, Mr. Bourne's appeal was made the order of the day for the afternoon of the fifth day, but was not taken up till the fore- noon of the sixth day, Wednesday, May 21st. On that and the succeeding day, the parties were fully heard. A motion was made to affirm the decision of Presbytery; this, after discussion, was postponed, for-"While the Assembly do not mean to express an opinion on the conduct of Mr. Bourne, yet they judge that the charges were not fully substantiated, and if they had been, the sen- tence was too severe; therefore resolved, that the sentence be reversed." The discussion on this whole subject was brought to a conclusion on the forenoon of May 23d, by the adoption of the fol- lowing resolution : - "That the sentence of the Presbytery of Lexington, deposing Mr. Bourne, be reversed, and it hereby is reversed, and that the Presbytery commence the trial anew."
The Presbytery, during its sessions at Bethel, reinstated the two charges made against Mr. Bourne in preparation for a new trial. A letter from the accused to the moderator says - "The Presbytery will accept of my apology for every thing which they construe to be justly offensive to them. An irritable temper, however palliated, is wrong; indecorous expressions, especially when liable to miscon- struction, cannot be vindicated; and actions incompatible with the charitable sensibilities which the gospel enjoins are unjustifiable. For every thing therefore of this nature, I hope the Presbytery will receive this acknowledgment, both as the proof of my regret and as ample reparation, that the whole subject may for ever be obliterated." Germantown, May 28th 1817. This letter was not considered such an expression of repentance as would justify the dismission of the case. A 3d charge was instituted, "that he (Mr. Bourne) did soon after his trial and deposition, print and publish or cause to be printed and published, a sheet signed with his name containing various and gross slanders against the Presbytery." Also a 4th charge, "that he did in contempt of the authority of Presbytery, and of the sen- tence by which he was deposed, continue to preach before the sen- tence from which he appealed was reversed." On the ground of common fame a 5th charge, "that he did about June 1815, on his return from the General Assembly without any valid plea of neces- sity, authorize the purchase of a house for him on the Sabbath day;
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and afterwards that he acted a grossly dishonest part in refusing to. pay for said horse," and also a 6th charge, "that he had frequently been guilty of the crime of wilful departure from the truth." The trial took place in Staunton, in November 1817. Extracts from the records of Winchester Presbytery were read, containing the evi- dence taken by the Presbytery on the subject of the 5th charge, the circumstances having occurred in the bounds of that Presbytery. The evidence was full and convincing.
Rev. William Hill of Winchester Presbytery attended on citation - and gave testimony on the first charge, having been a member of the Assembly of 1815. He repeated what was already before Pres- bytery with aggravations, and additions, and was confident a deep impression was made by Mr. Bourne injurious to the Virginia clergy and altogether unfounded. Mr. Bourne not attending this meeting of Presbytery, farther action was suspended and new citations issued for the next meeting, which took place in March, 1818, in Harrison- burg. After having ordained Mr. Daniel Baker, now so well known in the Church, Presbytery proceeded to take some evidence in the case of Mr. Bourne. But on account of his absence, though regu- larly cited, Presbytery directing new citations, adjourned to meet in Staunton, on the fourth Wednesday of April. At the time ap- pointed ten ministers and four elders assembled. Mr. Bourne by letter protested against all the proceedings of Presbytery in his case, and all the proceedings of Winchester Presbytery, denying all the criminality expressed in all the charges, and concluded by, "and hereby appeal from all, and every minute, act, resolution, decision and sentence, which have been or may be adopted ab initio ad finem to the next General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church." Mr. Bourne having impeached Mr. Hill's veracity, the Presbytery first decided that Mr. Bourne's statements accompanying that impeach- ment were most grossly contrary to truth," and that his attack, "is a most atrocious slander." Presbytery proceeded to prepare their proof on the 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th charges; and after deliberation pronounced that the charges were all, except the fourth, supported by evidence ; - and that, "Mr. George Bourne be and hereby is deposed from the office of the gospel ministry." The Presbytery, declaring that Mr. Bourne's letter was not properly an appeal, and the carrying a case from the Presbytery to the Assembly, passing by the Synod was irregular, resolved that in the present case they would "overlook the inaccuracies of the case, and allow Mr. B.'s letter to have the effect of an appeal in conformity with his wishes."
On the third day of the sessions of the Assembly, May 1818, the papers in Mr. Bourne's case were read, and the hearing of the parties was made the order of the day for the fifth day of the ses- sions. Tuesday, May 26th 1818, the trial of Mr. Bourne's appeal came on in course, and Mr. Bourne was heard at length. The dele- gates from Lexington Presbytery, Rev. Messrs. George A. Baxter and Conrad Speece, commenced the defence of the Presbytery - which was completed the next forenoon. On the afternoon of that
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day and the forenoon of the 28th, the whole subject was discussed in the Assembly, and "the decision of the Presbytery of Lexington, declaring him deposed from the gospel ministry, be and it is hereby confirmed, on the first, second, third, fifth and sixth charges." The vote was taken separately on each of these charges. In this case protracted through nearly three years, and brought before three Assemblies, the whole subject of slavery in its connection with the Church of Christ was fully discussed. The Presbytery of Lexington in exercising upon Mr. Bourne in 1815, the discipline of the Church, assumed the position and asserted the principles maintained ever since by the Church in the Southern States, and consented to, and acted upon, by a large number of those whose lot is cast where slavery does not exist in the civil state. Messrs. Baxter and Speece took the lead in the first trial, and successfully defended their Pres- bytery before the Assembly on the final appeal. Mr. Bourne cited those texts of Scripture and made the references to the laws of na- ture and of nations, that have been used ever since to enlist the prejudices and passions of men. Messrs. Baxter and Speece gave those interpretations of Scripture and the laws of nations which are to this day, considered as the abiding truths on which all action in relation to slavery is based.
They maintained that slavery had been a political institution or arrangement from time immemorial; that its existence was recog- nized in the Old and New Testaments, and the duties of masters and servants as Christians, were distinctly marked out; that the religion of the Bible wherever it prevailed meliorated slavery, and if anything ever brought the bondage of man to his fellow-man to an end, it would be the gospel operating mutually upon the master and the slave. But whether such a state of things as is styled universal freedom will ever be realized on earth, the history of the past, and the prospects of the present give no decided proof. Un- fulfilled prophecy, in its true yet dim foreshadowings, admit of a construction favorable to such anticipations. Mr. Speece believed that the gospel would be the great persuasive means to accomplish an end he devoutly desired, universal emancipation ; he deprecated ail force, believing that violent measures for the eradication of slavery would cause its perpetuity. The progression in which he believed was - the diffusion of the gospel - peace in man's heart and with Lis fellow-man - and universal freedom. As a friend and supporter of the Colonization Society, the reports he prepared for the Auxiliary Society in Augusta, breathe the most liberal sentiments, and ex- press the highest hopes and most enlarged desires for his native land and for Africa. He lamented the foreign interference, that, under the plea of hastening an event he desired, threw obstacles insurmountable in the path already filled with perplexing difficulties.
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