frankly confesses that "whatever might be the case with the people of the North, those of the Middle and Southern Provinces were certainly not remarkable for taking much interest in the concerns of religion." After the overthrow of the establishment, a considerable proportion of the Virginia clergy “continued to enjoy the glebes, without performing a single act of sacred duty." It was estimated that at least two thirds of the population of that colony had attached themselves to other religious bodies. The Revolution bore, of necessity, on this church with crushing weight. It was "reduced almost to annihilation"; many despaired "as to the perpetuating of the communion otherwise than in connection with an establishment." When the struggle for independence began, the clergy, with a few notable exceptions, were hostile or lukewarm. Their conduct was conscientious, but it was not the less fatal to their popular influence. At the close of the war many entertained scruples about taking the oath of allegiance required in some of the States, while others declined to conduct public worship on account of their canonical obligation to use the unabridged liturgy of the Church of England. Doubts were even expressed by some of the laity as to the desirableness of retaining the Episcopal office. In Virginia, where there was no prejudice against the ecclesiastical constitution of the church, Patrick Henry had "hurled the hot thunderbolts of his wrath against the tithe-gathering clergy"; in New England, where it stood opposed to local traditions, "the breath of popular sentiment set so strongly against it, that its continuance was almost as precarious as that of a newly transplanted tree amidst the sweepings of the whirlwinds." Even in Pennsylvania, where neither of the influences just referred to operated, Dr. White "was, for some time, the only clergyman."

About equal to the Church of England in number of congregations, though not in clerical force, were the Presbyterians, who did not exist in the Colonies as an organized body till the early part of the eighteenth century. At the epoch of our survey they numbered three hundred churches, their main strength lying in the Middle States. The original members of this communion were almost exclusively of Scotch or IrishScotch descent, a circumstance which has colored their whole

history. Unlike the Congregationalists of New England, with whom at this time they heartily sympathized in theological opinion, they had brought with them to this country a completely developed ecclesiastical polity, for which they had suffered bitter persecution, and to which they clung with the devotion which sacrifice inspires. The Congregationalists, their veins flowing with pure English blood, had boldly struck out new paths; the Presbyterians, with the resolute tenacity characteristic of the Scottish race, clung to the old. The Great Awakening, which shook Congregationalism to its centre, had also for a time divided them, but attachment to a common system soon triumphed over Old Side and New Side differences, and the controversy left no permanent memorial but the famous college which, founded by the radical party, has since become the Ehrenbreitstein of Presbyterian conservatism. The early Presbyterians brought with them profound respect for letters, and they insisted hardly less strenuously than the Congregationalists that the teachers of the people should be themselves well taught. In the ranks of their clergy were men of varied and accurate learning, not a few having been trained in foreign universities. Some were eminent for classical scholarship. If inferior to the New England clergy in aptitude for metaphysical speculation, they were equal, at least, in Biblical learning, and superior in pulpit power. Their eminence as preachers was mainly due to the fact that they were trained to speak without notes, while the New England minister was closely confined to his elaborately written manuscript. Even up to the close of the last century the prejudice against preaching written sermons was still so strong in the Presbyterian church, "that a man's reputation would be ruined should his manuscript be seen." The Presbyterian clergy also cultivated at all times the practice of Scriptural exposition, while in New England reading a chapter of the Bible in public worship was looked upon as a long step in the direction of a liturgy. Dr. Hopkins, who ventured upon the dangerous feat during his ministry in Western Massachusetts, brought on himself a storm of opposition. When the Revolution came, the Presbyterians were stanch advocates of popular rights, and in the Middle States were the main

support of the cause of independence. All their traditions were on the side of resistance to oppression. Among them at this time were numbered those whose fathers had fought in the dikes of Holland and on the bloody fields of France, as well as in Highland glens and behind the walls of Derry. Nothing in their history or temper disposed them to remain silent when a great struggle was going on. Neither in Scotland nor in this country did they hesitate to act according to their convictions. The direction of their political sympathy was shown in the name selected for their college, Nassau Hall, — and from the presidency of Nassau Hall the accomplished Witherspoon went to take his seat in the Continental Congress. The Revolution reinforced the Presbyterian church by establishing the republican principle on which the Presbyterian polity was rested.

Of the minor religious bodies existing a century ago less need be said, as they influenced but little the general current of events. Of these the Reformed Dutch, the Lutheran, and the German Reformed were in numbers nearly equal, each having about sixty congregations. But the Reformed Dutch, though long established and highly respectable for the character and learning of its clergy, was almost debarred from growth by its close dependence upon the Church of Holland and its persistent use of the Dutch language in public worship, — a practice kept up in many churches till the beginning of the present century. The Lutheran Church, linked in its origin with memories of Gustavus and Oxenstern, was confined to the German emigration, a large proportion of its clergy having been educated at the University of Halle or at Franke's Orphan-House. The German Reformed, as its name implies, included that part of the German population which refused assent to the Augsburg Confession. In form of government the three were Presbyterian. The small body of Associate Presbyterians, a secession from the Scottish Kirk, should be reckoned in the same family. According to Bishop England's estimate, the whole number of Roman Catholic clergy in the country did not exceed twenty-six, though the congregations were perhaps twice as numerous. The rites of the church were publicly celebrated nowhere but in Philadelphia. A few

gentle Moravians had followed Zinzindorf to the New World, and their communion, Episcopal in government, but Lutheran in doctrine, comprised eight congregations. Methodism had been introduced, but whether by Strawbridge in 1764, or by Embury in 1766, is still disputed. Up to the Revolution, however, the body had no distinct existence in this country; and as soon as hostilities commenced, all the preachers except Asbury hurried back to England. As early as 1770, John Murray, whose curious autobiography should be studied by all who would understand the early history of this country, had begun to preach the doctrine of universal salvation; but as on other points he did not differ from the orthodox creed he was at first admitted to Congregational and even to Episcopal pulpits. The Quakers were still numerous in the colony which Penn had founded, and the great Lisbon earthquake sent to Newport a small but wealthy society of Jews. The summer visitor, strolling through the streets of the "fair seaport town," pauses to gaze at the sepulchral stones carved with strange characters which recall a faith whose hoary traditions make our modern creeds seem but of yesterday.

"Closed are the portals of their Synagogue,

No Psalms of David now the silence break;
No Rabbi reads the ancient Decalogue

In the grand dialect the Prophets spake."

The first impression that we derive from the foregoing facts is that of the diversity of religious belief existing in the Colonies, but a more careful analysis will show that beneath this apparent diversity there was a widely pervading unity. Between the ecclesiastical polity of the Congregationalists and the Baptists there was no essential difference; while the systems of the Presbyterians, the Lutheran, the Dutch Reformed, and the German Reformed were alike in everything but the nomenclature adopted. And between all these, with the exception of the Lutheran, comprising together more than three fourths of all the churches, there existed the most entire harmony of dogmatic faith. That faith, whether embodied in the Assembly's Catechism, the Heidelberg Confesson, or the Articles of the Synod of Dort, was the logical and precise system which the Reformer who "pierced to the roots" had knit with hooks of

steel to the sternest hearts of the sixteenth century. It was the faith of John Knox, of William the Silent, and of Admiral Coligny; and could the heroic founder of the ill-fated Huguenot colony in Florida have lifted the veil that hid the two succeeding centuries, and seen the flag of Geneva flying in almost undisputed triumph from the Merrimac to the St. John's, he might have deemed the dark crime of Menendez more than avenged. These churches, too, whether in the parochial autonomy of the Congregationalists or the synodical federation of the Presbyterians, were singularly in harmony with the political movement; and that republican states and republican churches would flourish side by side seemed a conclusion admitting of no doubt. In 1783 the famous Dr. Stiles, the president of Yale College, preached the Election Sermon before the Legislature of Connecticut. His inspiring theme was "The Future Glory of the United States," and, warming to the hazardous role of a prophet, he declared "that when we look forward and see this country increased to forty or fifty millions, while we see all the religious sects increased into respectable bodies, we shall doubtless find the united body of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches making an equal figure with any two of them." Then enumerating the lesser sects, he considerately adds: "There are Westleians, Mennonists, and others, all of which will make a very inconsiderable amount in comparison with those who will give the religious complexion to America." And there was no man living at that time whose opinion on this matter was entitled to more respect.

We have now reached the limit of forty millions, and in the light of the census of 1870 the vaticinations of the learned president well deserve to be regarded as curiosities of literature. The Congregationalists, who in his day were double the size of any other body, now rank as seventh, while the "Westleians," whom he hardly names, stand largely in advance of all the rest. A century ago the more important religious bodies were ranked in the following order: Congregational, Baptist, Church of England, Presbyterian, Lutheran, German Reformed, Dutch Reformed, Roman Catholic. By the census of 1870 they stood: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Christian, Lutheran, Congregational, Protestant Epis