The titles, "Church of England" and "Church of Ireland," had their origin in the connection of church and state. It may be said also that the present title of the church in America expresses, in a measure, the peculiar mission which the state of religion here has imposed upon her. The Protestant Episcopal Church is in entire accord with the Church of England in doctrine, accepting the same creeds and articles; in worship using services which are substantially identical, and in the essential principles of church government by bishops, priests, and deacons; but she is entirely independent of the state, and, as regards the law of the land, rests upon the same ground with other religious bodies. There are besides certain peculiarities in her constitution, which still further distinguish her from the mother church. The history of this church exhibits, in a striking manner, the vital energy of the episcopal system,' and the tenacity of catholic principles under the most unfavorable circumstances. During the first 150 years, neglected by the authorities of the mother-country, her constitution left incomplete in the most essential particulars, her extension and welfare left almost entirely to individual and voluntary effort, the church nevertheless lived and grew. The adverse influences of the Revolution did not destroy her, and upon completing her organization with bishops of her own she soon entered upon a new period of rapid extension and vigorous life. THE COLONIAL PERIOD (1607-1776). 66 The earliest expeditions fitted out in England, with the object of, forming settlements in America, had in view the extension of the church as well as material interests. For example, in the expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1585) the religious objects proposed were, compassion of poore infidels captived by the devil," and the establishment of a system of government not against the true Christian faith professed in the Church of England." The letters patent granted to Sir Walter Raleigh contained similar provisions for the establishment of the true Christian faith now professed in the Church of England." It was during the temporary occupation of the coast of North Carolina by one of Raleigh's expeditions that the first baptism of a native Indian took place, also the first recorded baptism of a white child. 66 2.9 the clergy. The bishop of London was applied to for By Early in the 18th century the external equipment of the church in Virginia seemed all that could be desired. There were fifty-four parishes, with about seventy places of worship. The supply of clergy was Virginia. The first permanent settlement was nearly sufficient, there were glebes and parsonages, and effected under a charter of 1606 at Jamestown, in Vir- all wore a prosperous look. But, in reality, the state ginia. A decided religious feeling actuated its foun- of affairs was far from satisfactory. The system, as an ders, and found expression in the letters-patent. The establishment, was very defective, and through certain Rev. Robert Hunt accompanied the expedition, and evasions of the order provided by law the worst featdid much to keep the spirit of true religion among the ures of the voluntary system were introduced. contentious and struggling colonists. The holy com- the act of 1642 a clergyman was to be inducted into munion was celebrated by him for the first time in his parish by the governor, and henceforth held a freeMay or June, 1606. The services of the church were hold in his living, and consequently could not be refirst held under an awning hung between the trees. moved except after a fair trial upon charges regularly "This," says the famous Capt. John Smith, was preferred. But the presentation was in the hands of our church till wee built a homely thing like a barne, the parish, and might be withheld indefinitely; this set upon cratchets, covered with rafts, sedge, and became the general practice, so that the majority of earth. "Wee had daily common prayer, morn- the clergy were hired from year to year. This, taken ing and evening, every Sunday two sermons, and every with the indifferent quality of many of those who came three moneths the holy communion, till our minister out from England after failure to obtain a living at died. But our prayers daily, with an homily on Sun- home, and the fatal defect in organization by which it daies, wee continued two or three years after, till more was rendered impossible to remedy existing evils, fully preachers came.". A new charter was granted in 1609 explains the low tone of the church in Virginia. The to a company which included a number of bishops, disuse of induction was in many cases accompanied by and counted among its names Sir Edwin Sandys and the withholding of the glebe by the vestry. This led Nicholas Ferrar, the friend of George Herbert. Un-to a legal contest, which was decided in favor of the der the influence of such men the religious interests of the colony were sure to be provided for. The arrival of a new governor at a critical juncture, known as "the starving-time," was celebrated by a service in the church, which was neatly trimmed with the wild flowers of the country. In 1619 the first legislature of Virginia set apart for each parish a glebe of 100 acres, and fixed a yearly stipend for the payment of clergy, and reaffirmed by an act of assembly in 1748. Another contest sprang up between the clergy and the provincial assembly in consequence of an attack made by the latter in 1757 upon the salaries of the former. An act was passed which compelled the clergy to accept a money-payment at a low valuation in lieu of the tobacco hitherto paid. This act was annulled by the king's council, and the clergy instituted suits for the recovery of the full amount of their stipends. One of these was brought to trial as a test case, and by the exertions of the celebrated Patrick Henry was decided against the church (1763). The relation of the vestries to the clergy in the first place, and these contests in which, first, the clergy and the parish authorities were arrayed against each other, and afterwards the clergy and the legislature, brought the laity into a position of influence in the management of ecclesiastical affairs which, taken with a similar state of things in Maryland, had an important part in the formation of the constitution of the American church of a later period. A second project for the establishment of bishops in North America had received the sanction of Queen Anne, but was defeated by her death. Petitions for this purpose sent in by the churchmen of the colonies were of no effect. A last attempt of this kind was made a short time before the Revolution. At the solicitation of the clergy of the Northern and Middle colonies a meeting of the Virginia clergy was held in June, 1771, which decided against the design, and the chief opponents received a vote of thanks from the legislature. The England to receive consecration to the ep.scopal office, The Carolinas and Georgia.-The early history of the church in the Carolinas unfolds the same tale of mismanagement in its relation to the civil government. Much the same arrangement also existed as regards the incumbent and his parish which was so fraught with evil in Virginia. As early as 1704 an act of assembly constituted a lay commission for the trial of causes ecclesiastical. This law was afterwards annulled on appeal to the home government, chiefly through the exertions of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In 1707 Gideon Johnstone was appointed commissary of the bishop of London in this region, succeeded soon afterwards by Alexander Gordon. The administration of Gordon was judicious and faithful, but was chiefly remarkable for his collision with Whitefield. This famous teacher was producing great confusion in the infant church, but upon admonition hẹ defied the authority of the commissary and treated with contempt the proceedings of the ecclesiastical court which convened at Charleston for his trial in 1740. Maryland.-The first settlers of Maryland in 1634 were Roman Catholics. Freedom of religion was, however, granted to all comers. This was secured, in the first place, by the oath of office. The colony soon had a very mixed population as regards religion, and in 1646 an act of toleration was passed by the assembly. Under the Protectorate, upon the submission of the colony after a struggle, a law was passed tolerating all forms of Christianity except "popery, prelacy, and quakerism." The earliest trace of the Church of England is in 1676, when it appears that there were four clergymen in the province supported by private means. From 1688 to 1692 occurred the "Protestant Revolution,' which ended in the establishment of the Church of England by act of assembly in 1692. The territory of the colony was divided into parishes, and a tax payable in tobacco laid upon the people for the support The Colony of Georgia was established through the of the church. Sir Francis Nicholson, appointed gov- benevolence of Oglethorpe in 1732. The early history ernor in 1694, exerted himself in behalf of the church of religion in this region was marked by the labors of and brought the new act into operation. The number the Wesleys, who had been recommended to Gov. of clergy rapidly increased. Following the same course Oglethorpe as fit persons to aid in carrying out his as in Virginia, the bishop of London in 1696 appointed plans. Charles was engaged as the governor's secreDr. Bray his commissary for Maryland. This officer tary, while John became the first missionary at Savanarrived in 1700, and at a visitation held at Annapolis nah. Charles was soon so involved in disputes with made a determined and partly successful effort to en- the governor that he felt that his usefulness was at an force discipline in the case of profligate clergy. At end, and left the colony four months after his arrival. this meeting also arrangements were made to support John Wesley endeavored to introduce, above and bea missionary among the Quakers of Pennsylvania. Dr. yond the requirements of the church, a system of Bray was compelled in a short time to return to Eng-rigid asceticism for which the society about him was land in order to counteract attempts made to overthrow utterly unprepared. After a career marked by intense the Maryland establishment. In this he was at length ardor and devotion he became involved in an unfortusuccessful. Although he never returned to America he did not relax his efforts in behalf of the church. One good work of his was the provision of numerous parish libraries for the colony, but by far the most important result of his labors was the foundation of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," which is directly traceable to his influence. No new commissary was sent to Maryland until 1716, when two were appointed-Mr. Wilkinson for the Eastern Shore, and The Middle Colonies.-In New Jersey, Delaware, Mr. Henderson for the Western. The latter was a Pennsylvania, and New York the church was never man of remarkable energy, but he was not able to con- established. That was precluded by the character of tend successfully against the extraordinary difficulties the first settlements. The Swedes and Dutch, who in which he found himself involved, resulting from colonized these regions from 1608, brought with them laxity of discipline within and hostile attacks from the the religious rites and usages of the Swedish Lucivil power without. The contest in Maryland had theran and Dutch Presbyterian worship. The English two phases. The absence of any ecclesiastical author- element in New Jersey and Pennsylvania came in with ity empowered to enforce discipline induced the gov- the Quakers, who founded Burlington in 1677, and Philernor and assembly at different times to assert an un-adelphia under William Penn in 1681. Large bodies due control of the affairs of the church. This was of Scotch Covenanters also emigrated to East Jersey carried so far as to resist all attempts to remedy exist in consequence of the severities inflicted upon them ing evils through ecclesiastical channels; thus, in 1718, at this period in their native country. This whole the assembly refused to recognize by a formal act the region, therefore, was settled under influences adverse jurisdiction of the bishop of London, and in 1727, to the Church of England. But while this was true, when the Rev. Mr. Colebatch was invited to come to it does not appear that opposition to the church ever nate lawsuit turning upon an injudicious attempt to administer discipline, and without waiting for its final settlement shook off the dust of his feet against the colony and departed, after a ministry of 21 months. It is interesting to remember that at this time the brothers appeared as very high churchmen, contending for an exact literalness in carrying out the law of the church which was unknown at that day. L assumed an organized form or that laws were made of an intolerant character. In the charter of Penn it was expressly stipulated that whenever twenty inhabitants requested a Church of England minister, he should be allowed to dwell among them without molestation. In pursuance of this arrangement we find the first place of worship belonging to the Church of England erected in Philadelphia in 1695, and the Rev. Mr. Clayton appointed its first minister. But the growth of the church in these colonies, as in those of New England, was chiefly owing to the zeal of new converts to her fold and to the fostering care of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, founded in 1701. George Keith, a convert from the Quakers and the earliest missionary of the society, by his incessant activity in preaching, disputing, and the publication of tracts, spread the principles of the church and laid the foundation of many parishes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. With him was associated John Talbot, who became rector of the church in Burlington, N. J., in 1704, and who remained a faithful and successful missionary of the society until 1725. The crying need of episcopal supervision, disregarded through so many years by the church at home, induced Mr. Talbot on a visit to England in 1624 to receive episcopal orders at the hands of the non juring bishops. Dr. Welton, also consecrated by the non-jurors, came to America at the same time, and was made rector of Christ's Church, Philadelphia. This attempt to introduce episcopacy necessarily miscarried. The association of the non-jurors with the Jacobite party brought all connected with them under suspicion of disloyalty to the established government. The two bishops were compelled to keep their true position a secret, and it is not certain that they ever performed any episcopal acts, though there are traditions to that effect. When the facts became known, Welton was required to leave the colony and Talbot was discharged from the society and inhibited by the bishop of London. The latter, in obedience to the orders laid upon him, abstained from officiating in the public services of the church, and notwithstanding the unanimous petitions of the vestry of Christ Church, Philadelphia, and of his old congregation at Burlington, lived in retirement until his death two years later. 66 The province of New York was surrendered to the English by the Dutch authorities in 1664, but it was not until 1693 that any move was made in favor of the Church of England. An act was passed at that time for the maintenance of the clergy. In 1696 Trinity Church, then said to be the finest church in North America," was built. The first rector was Mr. Vesey, previously a layman, but chosen by the governor and vestry and commended to the bishop of London for ordination, with the approval of all ranks of people. Vesey was rector from 1697 to 1756, and about 1713 was appointed commissary of the bishop of London. The parish was endowed soon after its foundation with the freehold of a neighboring property known as the King's Farm.' Vesey's assistant and successor, Barclay, opened St. George's as a chapel of ease, aided in the establishment of King's College, and designed St. Paul's, which was completed by his successor, Auchmuty. Under these rectors the church did effective work among the Indian tribes and the negroes. An earnest promoter of missionary work among the New York Indians was the celebrated Sir William Johnson, who was a faithful member of the church and conveyed to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel shortly before his death 20,000 acres of land as a basis for the future endowment of the episcopate. Under the methods pursued in these Middle colonies —and the same is true of New England-the congregations were represented by vestries, who did not, however, in all cases, exercise the appointing power, but generally accepted the appointments of the bishop of London and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In the case of Christ Church, Philadelphia, we meet with an exception to this in the election of Dr. Welton in 1624 without waiting for authority from England. In the case of Trinity, New York, the power of the vestry to elect its own rector was conceded from the first. The support of the ministry depended chiefly upon the society, eked out by such contributions as the people were able to afford. In the absence of any establishment the contests, which were so disastrous to the spirit of true religion to the southward, could not arise. Nor was there here any such laxity of discipline as in Maryland and elsewhere drew the civil authorities into attempts to regulate the conduct of the clergy. The bishop of London, with the aid of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was able to exert a direct and wholesome authority by withdrawing the stipends and cancelling the appointment of any of the clergy who failed to fulfil the requirements of their position. New England.-The Puritans of New England were the most violently opposed to the church of all the American colonists. Puritanism in that region was a theocracy in which church and state were identical. Penal laws were brought to bear upon dissenters, under which fines, imprisonment, and banishment were the principal penalties. Two brothers among the original settlers at Salem, Mass., ventured to "uphold" in their own house, "for such as would resort unto them, the common prayer worship," and were ignominiously expelled from the colony. There were attempts on the part of royal governors, under the favor of Charles II., to introduce the church service, but so little pains was taken to conciliate the prejudices of the people that they were rather the more exasperated against the whole system. This was especially the case under Gov. Andros in 1686, who took forcible possession of the Old South meeting-house. King's Chapel was built in 1689, and received many gifts from the king and queen, with a valuable library from the bishop of London. This church afterwards fell into the hands of the Unitarians, who have held possession ever since. For a long time the church remained to the people of the Eastern colonies an alien institution. But at length a spontaneous development, springing up in the heart of New England itself, changed the aspect of affairs and produced results of permanent importance. After the establishment of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Keith and Talbot had visited Connecticut, and in 1707 the parish at Stratford was organized by the Rev. Geo. Muirson, a missionary of the society. But the movement referred to sprang up within the precincts of Yale College, in 1722. Seven gentlemen connected with the college, including Timothy Cutler, the first president, and Samuel Johnson, the first president of King's College, N. Y. (now Columbia), were led by the perusal of certain theological works sent out from England for the college library to declare for the Church of England. They were all ordained pastors among the Independents, and were men of mark in the colony. Four of these men subsequently went to England for holy orders, and, one having died, three returned to exercise a strong and active influence in the formation of the church in New England. Cutler became rector of Trinity Church, Boston, while Johnson continued many years at Stratford. This movement spread rapidly, and, being grounded in the study of first principles and conducted in the face of violent opposition from the authorities of both church and state, it assumed a character of strength and vigor which made an indelible impression upon the State of Connecticut, and affected all New England. Education in the Colonial Period.-The most important educational foundations to which church influences gave rise during this period were William and Mary College, Va., founded by Dr. Blair in 1893, and King's College, N. Y., established in 1754. King's College received as an endowment a portion of the "King's Farm" from Trinity Church, on condition that the "president forever, for the time being, should church was opposed to extreme measures, and though be in communion with the Church of England," and that the church service should be used in the college chapel. Churchmen were also largely concerned in the establishment of the University of Pennsylvania (1749), eighteen out of twenty-four members of the first board of trustees being attached to the church, while a large part of the funds was collected in England by the endeavors of Dr. William Smith, the first provost of the college. Dean (afterwards Bishop) Berkeley came out to America in 1728 in order to establish a college in the Bermuda Islands for training American missionaries, but, owing to the failure of the government grant, which had been promised, was unable to carry out his project. His residence of some years in Rhode Island was not without benefit to the cause of education, which he promoted by liberal donations of books and other property to Yale College, and subsequently by similar gifts to Harvard. He also gave valuable assistance in the establishment of King's College, N. Y. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel from its foundation adopted education as a proper branch of its work, and sent out schoolmasters as well as missionaries. A considerable number of parochial schools were sustained from a very early date in Philadelphia and other places of Eastern Pennsylvania. In New York city, Trinity School, which still flourishes, was established by the aid of the society in 1709. Summary-Under the widely different conditions which existed in the Southern, Middle, and Eastern colonies respectively, the tone and character of the church were so far affected that three distinct phases are readily discerned. In the South the church was organized in feeble imitation of the church at home. The system had more than the faults and none of the merits of the English establishment. In the intermediate region the rise of the church proceeded from missionary effort, and as it met no determined hostility anywhere, it grew quietly and healthfully, but_attention was rarely directed to first principles. In the Eastern colonies the real foundation of the church is due to the movement at Yale College. It proceeded from deep and candid study, and made its way in the face of a hostile religious establishment and amid the strongest popular prejudice. The result was a thorough knowledge of church principles and firm conviction of their truth. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The entire dependence of the American Church upon the mother country which her peculiar position entailed upon her prevented the growth of sentiments in accord with the principles of the Revolution. In the great national movement the clergy generally found themselves out of sympathy with their countrymen. The majority of the Northern clergy, as missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, were in constant communication with their superiors in England. Moreover, the theological principles accepted in the North, especially in New England, were of a High Church tendency, carrying with them at that period the strongest convictions of the duty of loyalty to legitimate authority. Especially they felt themselves hampered by their oath of allegiance taken at the time of ordination. The result was, that the majority of the clergy throughout the North were found on the loyal side. Many voluntarily resigned their cures, while others continued their ministrations until they were silenced by force. In the Middle region some influential churchmen, of whom Dr. William White was a representative, favored the cause of the Revolution. In the South the clergy did not, on the whole, maintain the same attitude as in the North. In fact, one-third of those in Virginia and Maryland advocated the Revolution. It was generally felt, however, that the tone and temper of the Virginia and Maryland might present exceptions to this, the church establishments which existed in those provinces were peculiarly odious to a majority of the people, both for their inefficiency and because they represented English ideas. In Virginia acts were soon passed repealing all former laws in favor of the church. Only the glebes and church edifices were preserved. The incomes of the clergy were summarily stopped at a time when it was impossible to make new provision. They were driven from the country unless they es poused the popular cause without reserve. Churches were everywhere abandoned, flocks broken up, and the sacraments continued to be administered only from time to time by a few zealous men who travelled through the country for the purpose. In Maryland the Declaration of Rights in 1776 secured to the church her property, but during the war a measure was proposed which threatened the very existence of the church as an episcopal body. This was the attempt on the part of the legislature, in 1782, to reorganize the church, and in particular to appoint ordainers to the ministry. This movement was defeated by the energy and earnestness of one man, the Rev. Samuel Keene, who obtained a hearing before the legislature and defended the cause of the church. The close of the war found the church utterly prostrate. In the North and East the work could only be resumed upon an entirely new basis, since the aid of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel could no longer be obtained. In New York Trinity Church had been burned. A few scattered parishes remained in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Virginia, from 164 churches and chapels, with 91 clergy, was reduced to 38 in actual operation, with only 28 clergymen. In Maryland the clergy had fallen from 44 to 20. Thus at the declaration of peace, in 1783, the church was disabled and utterly disorganized. The relation which had existed with the bishop of London was dissolved, and the bond of union with each other and with the mother church which the society had fostered among the clergy was now destroyed, so that nothing was left to constitute, or even symbolize, ecclesiastical unity. Without bishop or even provisional headship, without diocesan constitutions, every parish autocephalous, a slight impulse might have sent the congregations of some regions into the arms of the most congenial sect or might have led to the adoption of such a system as would have changed the character of the church in essential particulars. We have seen measures of this kind attempted in Maryland. About the same time, White, despairing of better things, proposed a scheme of organization without the episcopacy, committing to elective officers the powers of discipline and ordination. But, depressed as the church was, her traditions were still strong enough to preserve her from destruction or perversion. The civil division of State lines and the fellow-feeling between the clergy of the same locality led to the first movement in the direction of harmonious organization. The earliest formal meeting of the clergy was in Connecticut, in March, 1783, which led to the selection of Seabury as bishop, and his departure for England to obtain episcopal ordination. The policy pursued here was to complete the organization by obtaining a bishop before any measures were taken for settling the constitution of the church. Seabury, unable to obtain his purpose in England without undue delay, was finally consecrated in Scotland by Bishops Kilgour, Petrie, and Skinner, on Nov. 14, 1784. At meetings held in Maryland, in 1783-84, no steps were taken to obtain the episcopacy, but declarations were agreed to defining the inherent power of bishops and the rights of the clergy in a Low-Church direction; giving the appointment to a particular cure into the hands of the congregation; asserting the right of the laity to representation in ecclesiastical synods; and proposing that judicial and disciplinary powers be exercised only by such a body of clergy long time exceedingly slow. The reputation which she The organization of the Episcopal Church was completed in accordance with sound principles in all essential particulars. The peculiarities of this organization, while they have been defended on general principles, are easily seen to be based not upon theoretical schemes, but to be a natural development from causes previously existing. The constitution thus embraces ideas derived from the experience of the church in Virginia and Maryland and the South generally, modified by the church principles of the Northern clergy. The most radical innovation was the part assigned to the laity in the government of the church. It will readily be seen how naturally this grew out of the previously existing state of things. The subsequent history of the church seems to justify the experiment, and the laity have often been found to be more conservative than the clergy. The limits of lay-power in legislation and government have, however, been left to adjust themselves in accordance with general principles as they may be instinctively perceived. Such limits have never been expressly defined by legislation. PERIOD SINCE THE REVOLUTION (1783-1882). Growth of the Church.-The growth of the church after the organization was at last completed was for a VOL II.-2 Y The Protestant Episcopal Church was organized under the 1 |